The Big One

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-12-04 05:19am

Andras wrote:HighFrontier7

Thanks! As always, excellent!

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-05 09:26pm

You know, I'm really starting to wonder what's going on with the planes talking to pilots. I could buy that it was something that happens once or twice with unusual aircraft, but as common as it's implied to be? Something has got to be up it seems to me.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-12-05 09:36pm

Stormbringer wrote:You know, I'm really starting to wonder what's going on with the planes talking to pilots. I could buy that it was something that happens once or twice with unusual aircraft, but as common as it's implied to be? Something has got to be up it seems to me.

Maybe there's been some "contamination" of SAC's water/food/air/whatever supplies...

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » 2004-12-06 09:31am

Stormbringer wrote:You know, I'm really starting to wonder what's going on with the planes talking to pilots. I could buy that it was something that happens once or twice with unusual aircraft, but as common as it's implied to be? Something has got to be up it seems to me.

Its based on three seperate strands. One is the Thai belief in spirits that inhabit things. According to those beliefs, everything is occupied by spirits called prets that can be friendly or hostile (or just plain indifferent) and that it is a good idea for humans to treat those spirits with friendliness and respect. If you go to Thailand, you'll see small ornate "houses" on the corner of plots of land and outside buildings. They are spirit-houses; when humans move onto a piece of land and build on it, they displace (or at least annoy) the pret that lives there. Buy putting up a spirit house, one sort of apologizes to and makes friends with the spirit. So its not actually the bomber that is talking to the crew, its the spirit that lives in it. Prets are immortal by the way; when the bomber is decommissioned and scrapped or shot down, the pret simply leaves it and finds another home.

Second thread is that a startling number of aircrew I've talked with talk to their aircraft and are convinced their aircraft answer. Related to this is a third thread, its a basic engineering principle, machinery works much better if you go to the trouble of making friends with it. There is no logical or rational explanation for that but it does seem to work.

In a plot sense, the talking aircraft are representative of the US at a given point. Texan Lady was diffident, a little uncertain of herself and reluctant to get involved. Marisol was brassy, assertive, more than a little arrogant and self-confident to a fault. Sigrun was much more mature and reflective that the earlier aircraft and much mroe inclined to ask "why are we doing this" (in plot terms giving te crew the chance to explain the logic behind various doctrines). Jolene is a conceited feminist yuppy.

By and large, the bombers only speak to their crews and a few very privileged outsiders. Also, only a minority of the bombers do actually speak to their crews (you may remember in TGG, one bomber actually hated its crew and not only wouldn't speak to them, it got them into trouble at every opportunity), its just that we don't run into the ones that don't talk while telling the stories.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-06 04:38pm

awesome, awesome fanfic. Im up to 1950.

I love reading alternate fics. you can always get ideas on what you could have and can do better.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-06 07:53pm

Stuart wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:You know, I'm really starting to wonder what's going on with the planes talking to pilots. I could buy that it was something that happens once or twice with unusual aircraft, but as common as it's implied to be? Something has got to be up it seems to me.
Its based on three seperate strands. One is the Thai belief in spirits that inhabit things. According to those beliefs, everything is occupied by spirits called prets that can be friendly or hostile (or just plain indifferent) and that it is a good idea for humans to treat those spirits with friendliness and respect. If you go to Thailand, you'll see small ornate "houses" on the corner of plots of land and outside buildings. They are spirit-houses; when humans move onto a piece of land and build on it, they displace (or at least annoy) the pret that lives there. Buy putting up a spirit house, one sort of apologizes to and makes friends with the spirit. So its not actually the bomber that is talking to the crew, its the spirit that lives in it. Prets are immortal by the way; when the bomber is decommissioned and scrapped or shot down, the pret simply leaves it and finds another home.

Second thread is that a startling number of aircrew I've talked with talk to their aircraft and are convinced their aircraft answer. Related to this is a third thread, its a basic engineering principle, machinery works much better if you go to the trouble of making friends with it. There is no logical or rational explanation for that but it does seem to work.

In a plot sense, the talking aircraft are representative of the US at a given point. Texan Lady was diffident, a little uncertain of herself and reluctant to get involved. Marisol was brassy, assertive, more than a little arrogant and self-confident to a fault. Sigrun was much more mature and reflective that the earlier aircraft and much mroe inclined to ask "why are we doing this" (in plot terms giving te crew the chance to explain the logic behind various doctrines). Jolene is a conceited feminist yuppy.

By and large, the bombers only speak to their crews and a few very privileged outsiders. Also, only a minority of the bombers do actually speak to their crews (you may remember in TGG, one bomber actually hated its crew and not only wouldn't speak to them, it got them into trouble at every opportunity), its just that we don't run into the ones that don't talk while telling the stories.

Thanks, that's pretty interesting stuff and it's neat to see the logic behind it all.

PS: what story is Sigrun from? I haven't managed to read all of them yet. Or is it a not yet finished one?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-06 08:51pm

Sigrun will be featured in Ride of the Valkryie, which has been postponed for now.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-12-06 09:16pm

Stuart wrote:Its based on three seperate strands.

They could also be the Guardian Angels of the aircrew; for what it's worth
from a Christian viewpoint.

And Stuart, you should probably write a TBO FAQ so you don't have to
type these kinds of answers again and again.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-06 09:19pm

^That could work, but there aren't too many female angels. I guess "Saraphim" or 'Sara' for short could work.

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » 2004-12-07 08:58am

Stormbringer wrote:what story is Sigrun from? I haven't managed to read all of them yet. Or is it a not yet finished one?

The B-70A Valkyrie Sigrun made her appearance in "A Matter of Returns" although she didn't speak to her crew in that short story (possibly because there was a stranger, Selma Hitchins, on board). In works waiting to be posted, she's the star of "Ride of the Valkyrie" and a couple of short stories set later. In the TBOverse, she's still in service at time of writing although she's been rebuilt to a later standard.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-10 11:26am

Saigon Morn

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-12 04:44pm

High Frontier 8

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-12 06:11pm

It's awesome as always Stuart. And I appreciate the fact that it's moving along at a good clip as well.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-12-12 06:57pm

muy delicioso!

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-12 07:12pm

If only aerospace defense was run by Star Wars fans....
*sigh*

edit:

Is Pakistan still a part of India, or is it with the Caliph, now?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-13 01:40am

The one thing that has me wondering is who is behind the communication center attack. It's clearly some one not very good and terribly unprofessional, which combined with the methodology, suggests to me that it's internal. There's a point made of the internal conflict with in The Caliphate and it seems that it might be the beginning of the wheels coming off.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-12-13 01:42am

Stormbringer wrote:The one thing that has me wondering is who is behind the communication center attack. It's clearly some one not very good and terribly unprofessional, which combined with the methodology, suggests to me that it's internal. There's a point made of the internal conflict with in The Caliphate and it seems that it might be the beginning of the wheels coming off.

In Crusade, there was a similar attack against a Caliphate facility IIRC. The wheels have been coming off for some time now, it's just that so little information gets out that nobody's really noticed.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-12-13 01:57am

Stormbringer wrote:The one thing that has me wondering is who is behind the communication center attack. It's clearly some one not very good and terribly unprofessional, which combined with the methodology, suggests to me that it's internal. There's a point made of the internal conflict with in The Caliphate and it seems that it might be the beginning of the wheels coming off.

Try reading the timeline? It gives a few hints...

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » 2004-12-13 10:16am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Is Pakistan still a part of India, or is it with the Caliph, now?

What in @ is Pakistan is part of India with The Caliphate/Triple Alliance border running more or less where the Pakistan/Afghan border exists in @. There is a certain amount of fighting along that border with Caliphate terrorists trying to infiltrate over into India and Indian security forces undertaking counter-terrorist and hot pursuit missions into Caliphate territory. However, Indian long-term policy is to dilute seperatism by moving large quantities of Hindu nationals into the area (reverse ethnic cleansing if you like). Their objective in the end is to allow population shifts to reduce the impact of Moslem inhabitants ina given area. We aren't dealing much with India this time around; instead we'll be taking the story of Chipan further and putting them into context.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-15 03:17pm

Ten Plagues

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-15 05:03pm

Interesting. I wonder how much of this is actual history and how much is intellectual conjecture and how much is your own creation.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-12-15 06:15pm

phongn wrote:Ten Plagues

whoah......

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-15 09:51pm

Hmmm, it's really interesting. I'm really interested in who the Contractors are. Seems you really are going heavily for a Highlander sort of Immortal.

Makes you really wonder about them. And makes you wonder who and what they're up to. For some reason there are a couple of historical figures that could be a Contractor-Immortal.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-12-16 12:20am

Stormbringer wrote:Hmmm, it's really interesting. I'm really interested in who the Contractors are. Seems you really are going heavily for a Highlander sort of Immortal.

Makes you really wonder about them. And makes you wonder who and what they're up to. For some reason there are a couple of historical figures that could be a Contractor-Immortal.

I'm going to stick with aliens until proven otherwise.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-12-16 12:21am

RedImperator wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:Hmmm, it's really interesting. I'm really interested in who the Contractors are. Seems you really are going heavily for a Highlander sort of Immortal.

Makes you really wonder about them. And makes you wonder who and what they're up to. For some reason there are a couple of historical figures that could be a Contractor-Immortal.
I'm going to stick with aliens until proven otherwise.

Except Stuart/they have said they're human, sort of. I don't know if Aliens would work for that.