MKJoshA Posted July 3, 2016 Posted July 3, 2016 Location: B06 Sorn Tags: Engineering. Civil Building Last time, in Ender's story: A Space Saga Begins Is it Mine Mine? Okami Bike Kawashita Hummer Where Was I Supposed to Be? Spaceman Spiff Black Hair, the Pirate Merry Men Adventures (Where There's Lava There's Water) Car On A Plate Too Girly Underwater Junk Aggressive Wildlife The Truth Underwater Segway Filing System The Coffee Shop At the End of the Universe “Turk,” Ender said, “we need to talk. I’ve discovered some disturbing news.” Turk had agreed to meet Ender in a Kawashita water purification plant off Sorn. The information Kirk had dug up had shed some light on the Zoid’s sordid past. Turk, the Zard, had told Ender that the Merchant Confederation was over exaggerating the Zoid’s part in the slave trade and genetic experiments that had been the bane of the Confederation for so long. Since Kawashita had allied themselves with A.L.I.E.N., Ender wanted nothing more than to believe this version of the story. But what he heard from Kirk was that the Zoids were indeed a race well known for the advancement in genetic mutations of other races. Ender laid all this information before Turk and said, “Well? How do you explain this?” Turk looked very nervous and started fidgeting and mumbling. Just then, two strangers walked into the room. “How’d you get in here?” Ender demanded. “The room requires a Kawashita access code?” The first stranger flashed a badge that said “Kawashita Water Plant Inspector.” The stranger looked at the paper and then sighed. “Jamie, please read my badge to me.” “It says you’re a Ka… Kawa… Kawashita Water Plant Inspector” Jamie finally finished. “What’s that?” “Don’t ask too many questions Jamie” said the first stranger, “And stop swearing at me.” “But Doctor, I wasn’t swearing at you…” Jamie began but the Doctor waved him to be quiet. “Now that the pleasantries are over,” said the man known as the Doctor, “I believe I overheard you mention something about the Zoids and the Zards.” The Doctor paused for a moment and seemed to notice Turk for the first time. “Ah, yes, well you would be one of those now wouldn’t you?” Turk looked insulted, but was still too flustered from Ender’s accusations to respond. “Well since this is year…” The Doctor squinted at the corner of the room and then continued “3816 that means the Zoids have been out of test subjects for their genetic mutation experiments for a few dozen years now. And that also means humans have had a presence here long enough to become the new favorite subject for the Zoids to run tests on.” “That’s not true!” exclaimed Turk. “The Zoids are a respected member of A.L.I.E.N.” “Ah yes,” answered the Doctor, “The Zard habit of believing that the intended truth is the actual truth. You see, when the Zoids were invited to be a part of A.L.I.E.N., a stipulation was made that they couldn’t capture any more slaves. The ‘northern’ half wanted nothing to do with A.L.I.E.N. and so continued to practice and slavery of humans and thus the Merchant Confederation was born. But the ‘southern’ half worked hard to reform so that they could benefit from an alliance with the rest of A.L.I.E.N. Zard culture dictates that the intended truth is truth. As you have seen first-hand Ender, this can lead to some very confusion situations.” As the Doctor finished Ender pondered what he had just heard. If what the Doctor had said then it was safe for Kawashita to be allied with A.L.I.E.N. It also meant that Octan had not been actively smearing Kawashita’s allies, they had just been defending themselves against a very real threat in their part of the galaxy. Lastly, it meant that Ender would have to be very careful before taking anything a Zard said at face value. “Come along Jamie,” said the Doctor. “I think the Silurian we’ve been tracking is around here somewhere.” With that the Doctor and his companion left and so did the confusion about the Zoids. OoC: I wrote this story to end my Zoid story arc. When Kawashita's leader introduced the Zoids as part of A.L.I.E.N. they had been very little to no lore behind the Zoids. As Octan started to flesh them out as slavers I personally felt responsible to defend my corporations involvement with them. The resulting stories, to my shame, came across as ret-conning all that the Octan players had done so far. It was never my intention to discount what other players have done, all I wanted was to make it clear that Kawashita did not condone slavery. After talking with one Octan player in particular, I decided to come up with the solution you've read in the story above. I hope that clears up any confusion there has been about the Zoids and my take on them in particular. Quote
SpacerSteve Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 Doctor Who! I personally like the lighting. Your pictures look good. I have a hard time with mine looking grainy in the dark. Quote
Kodan Black Posted July 6, 2016 Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) I really like the lighting and the dark with the eerie glow seems to go with the intended mood of the scene. I think like in the world today there aren't many "good guys" and "bad guys", it is all shades of gray. Perhaps even 50 shades. But I digress... one corporation could view the group as freedom fighters and another views them as an adversary. I would certainly expect each corporation to have a different take on various alien races that likely has a strong correlation to how friendly the corp and the aliens are! Edited July 6, 2016 by Kodan Black Quote
Dannylonglegs Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 Great job here. I love your builds and how clean they all are! Your use of light really works here. It sets the mood quite well! I also like how you've developed this story. I like that the truth of an issue for one corporation can be drastically different for another one. It's realistic, considering who we all get our news from is most assuredly biased. It's something I'll be playing with in my own Invasive Species arc. Maybe Octan looks like and alien invader to one person, and a savior from on high to another. It all depends on who you get your truth from. Also, love the Doctor Who reference. ~Insectoid Aristocrat Quote
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