Unofficial Literary Challenge #16 Discussion Thread

starswordc

This is the discussion thread for Unofficial Literary Challenge #16: "A Future That Many Will Never See". Posted this a day early because I'm not sure how much time I'll have tomorrow.

As usual, be honest and polite.

gulberat

"The Obvious Weakness"...I won't be writing it, but the topic DOES raise the interesting point that the Ferengi and Cardassians seem to have developed alternate approaches to warp engines that works for them. At least in my own stories, this has benefits for Cardassian ships, which are more maneuverable than normal for their weight class, due to not having those huge structural stress points (i.e. nacelle pylons).

takeshi6

Interesting prompts this time around.

I'll see if I can come up with anything, and yes, I still intend to finish the entries for ULC 15 Prompt 1 that I have in the works.

azniadeet

gulberat wrote: »

"The Obvious Weakness"...I won't be writing it, but the topic DOES raise the interesting point that the Ferengi and Cardassians seem to have developed alternate approaches to warp engines that works for them. At least in my own stories, this has benefits for Cardassian ships, which are more maneuverable than normal for their weight class, due to not having those huge structural stress points (i.e. nacelle pylons).

I think that's true of Klingon ships too, as those are canons on the ends of the wings.

I vaguely remember seeing an interview with Matt Jeffries... where his rationale behind extending the warp nacelles away from the main hull of the original enterprise design, was that it was for the well being of the crew. I think he assumed a close proximity to something warping the very fabric of space would be bad for the crew's health or something.

And maybe the Cardassians, Klingons and Ferengi are just comfortable risking it.

antonine3258

This should be an interesting set!

starswordc

azniadeet wrote: »

gulberat wrote: »

"The Obvious Weakness"...I won't be writing it, but the topic DOES raise the interesting point that the Ferengi and Cardassians seem to have developed alternate approaches to warp engines that works for them. At least in my own stories, this has benefits for Cardassian ships, which are more maneuverable than normal for their weight class, due to not having those huge structural stress points (i.e. nacelle pylons).

I think that's true of Klingon ships too, as those are canons on the ends of the wings.

I vaguely remember seeing an interview with Matt Jeffries... where his rationale behind extending the warp nacelles away from the main hull of the original enterprise design, was that it was for the well being of the crew. I think he assumed a close proximity to something warping the very fabric of space would be bad for the crew's health or something.

And maybe the Cardassians, Klingons and Ferengi are just comfortable risking it.

According to Andrew Probert, who designed several iconic Star Trek ships including the Connie Refit and the D'deridex-class, the reason had to do with warp physics. His intention was for nacelles to be required by physical laws to be placed in pairs, with line-of-sight between them (this is the official reason given for the big cavern in the center of the D'D). But TNG's other modelmakers didn't pay attention.

gulberat

But was that "principle" even held to consistently in TOS? Not being sarcastic...I'm not a big TOS fan, so I'm genuinely asking.

azniadeet

Blueprints from the original Enterprise seem to back up the theory that warp nacelles- at least in the original era- were separated away from the hull to limit radiation exposure.

"Entry beyond this point only permitted with special anti radiation suits." Etc...

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/star-trek-blueprints-sheet-11.jpg

"According to Star Trek Blueprints, while the Constitution-class nacelles are powered up, they produce dangerous levels of radiation..."

http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Nacelle

Of course, that rationale all goes out the window with a ship design like the Oberth or the Defiant. We can assume that over time, radiation shielding improved, and warp capable ships allowed for a greater warp output with a more compact design.

starswordc

@gulberat : I don't know how consistent that was in TOS, either. The T'liss-class and D7 followed the rule but the Tholian ships didn't have obvious nacelles.

artan42

Say I wanted to have a crack at one of these ULCs, what am I looking at doing? word counts, time limits etc? Do I just pick a prompt and write a small story on it?​​

starswordc

^Your last sentence sums it up: Pick a prompt, write a story. The only actual rule is to keep it safe for work (i.e. no explicit sexual content).

artan42

starswordc wrote: »

^Your last sentence sums it up: Pick a prompt, write a story. The only actual rule is to keep it safe for work (i.e. no explicit sexual content).

Thank you .​​

marcusdkane

Double Post...

marcusdkane

Prompt #1: "Aftermath" Doesn't apply to any of my characters at their present times...

Prompt #2: "In Session" Ael had her annual session with T'Reya in Part 6 of Academy Daze...

Prompt #3: "The Obvious Weakness" I might consider this one when I've finished other pieces, such as ULC15...

cmdrscarlet

^ Resistance is futile. Write something!

antonine3258

My Fed engineer has in the chronology I've been writing to internally, had her shovel-whale (er, Star Cruiser. I love 'em, really) shot out at one point - I've made a couple tries at a story of her on leave in Florida in the aftermath, among some of humanity's first steps to the Stars, think I may give it another shot. Earth in the future is such an untouched pallette.

(And it's Canaveral and not Baikonur totally because Florida is a more comfortable temperature range and its proximity to San Francisco for the character. Not because the author's more familiar with Florida)

starswordc

I've certainly got a good idea for "Aftermath", two side stories for the Bait and Switch continuity starring Morgan and Jaleh Khoroushi, with metaphors of reconstruction in Morgan's section.. The only tricky part is going to be avoiding giving too many spoilers for the four-part novella series on the Iconian War I'm plotting with Worffan101 and Takeshi.

artan42

I'm liking the look of 1 and 2.​​

grylak

#2. Perfect for a Kazzur epilogue. I really hope I get to write something this month.


There we go. Actually got ideas for the other 2 prompts as well.

antonine3258

Glad there's a real sense of closure, and I enjoyed it but I am sort of hoping Simba's not around in a year - the future's difficult to predict at the best of times, and they did break causality.

starswordc

Wow, managed to actually get part of a story out in four hours. Mhirrafv Terrhai, Part One is one of two semi-connected vignettes with Morgan's crew.

Cast in order of appearance:

• Khre'Riov Morgaiah ir'Sheratan t'Thavrau, CO, RRW Bloodwing: Dina Meyer
• Erei'Riov Veril, chief engineer, RRW Bloodwing: Ali Hillis
• Riov Sarsachen i'Amriel tr'Sauringar, XO, RRW Bloodwing: Christopher Eccleston
• D'Tan, Proconsul of the Romulan Republic: Vidal Peterson
• Khre'Enriov Klau i'Serhos tr'Kererek, Supreme Commander of the Romulan Republic Fleet: Bill Corkery
• Erei'Riov Tovan ir'Hfihar tr'Khev, chief of security, RRW Bloodwing: Jon Huertas

cmdrscarlet

/swoon @ Dina Meyer

antonine3258

starswordc wrote: »

Wow, managed to actually get part of a story out in four hours. Mhirrafv Terrhai, Part One is one of two semi-connected vignettes with Morgan's crew.

Oh, Morgan, you can be more honest with yourself than that for why picking that particular dustball. Liked the dialog flow.

jonsills

antonine3258 wrote: »

starswordc wrote: »

Wow, managed to actually get part of a story out in four hours. Mhirrafv Terrhai, Part One is one of two semi-connected vignettes with Morgan's crew.

Oh, Morgan, you can be more honest with yourself than that for why picking that particular dustball. Liked the dialog flow.

Oh, I think she was honest with herself. Possibly not so much on the total honesty with D'Tan, although the reasons she presented were sound enough.

wombat140

Warp-nacelles-wise: Let's not even mention the Fesarius.

grylak

Both theories are correct. The engines were positioned away from the ship by Matt Jeffries because he thought they would be harmful to the crew, and 2 of Gene's rules about the starships were:

Warp engines always have to be in pairs with a line of sight between them.

The front of the engines have to be visible from the front view. Which is why they are always elevated above the saucer.



@antonine3258 Thanks. There's already massive changes because of this: The Tomalak isn't taking Hugh's colony, so D'Elon won't get assimilated and killed by K'hotiim. Which means she gets to still be in command in future Romulan stories. Yay butterfly effect!

starswordc

jonsills wrote: »

antonine3258 wrote: »

starswordc wrote: »

Wow, managed to actually get part of a story out in four hours. Mhirrafv Terrhai, Part One is one of two semi-connected vignettes with Morgan's crew.

Oh, Morgan, you can be more honest with yourself than that for why picking that particular dustball. Liked the dialog flow.

Oh, I think she was honest with herself. Possibly not so much on the total honesty with D'Tan, although the reasons she presented were sound enough.

One of the things The Romulan Way's glossary says about mnhei'sahe is that you're supposed to be thinking of your own best interest first, but ideally what you do will also benefit everyone else involved. On Earth we call that enlightened self-interest, a concept you may be familiar with from Babylon 5. There wasn't anything to be gained by lying to her commander-in-chief's face about her real reasons for wanting to resettle Virinat and plenty to lose (e.g. his trust in one of his top flag officers), especially when the reasons were that obvious: she's never made any secret of her intention to go back and rebuild her winery at some point. Hell, she even told the Romulan Star Empire's praetor back in ULC 4 (when she was trying to get him to come back to the peace talks with the Republic after D'trel insulted him).

But I did think pretty carefully about how to justify to the brass allowing a prominent flag officer to take her ship off on a personal errand. This isn't a T'varo with a 50-man crew, after all: she commands a D'deridex-class, several billion credits' worth of state property and a crew of 1500. It was either she took extended leave (which limits future writing options) or find a way to give resettling Virinat official backing. So she played politics.

BTW, I'm disregarding Season 10 moving Nimbus III up to Hobus sector. That may jibe with Star Trek: Star Charts but it doesn't make much sense in terms of what Star Trek V said about it (which was why it was where it was on the old map).

antonine3258

Virinat was apparently in a decent position for inter-colony trade when it was settled for the second time (and possibly the first, as well). There's a lot of good reasons from a larger perspective, and the political points of reclaiming from an Elachi attack are probably reasonable too. I was mainly being facetious.

gulberat

Hmm...I'm starting to mull something over for Prompt 1, with a flavor of Prompt 2...but it requires a really sideways interpretation of what the prompt is about...

jonsills

gulberat wrote: »

Hmm...I'm starting to mull something over for Prompt 1, with a flavor of Prompt 2...but it requires a really sideways interpretation of what the prompt is about...

Sideways interpretations are the best ones, I think. I'm noodling one of those myself - it all hangs on exactly how you define "intelligence agent" and "assigned to"...

artan42

I think I've settled on No 2... With my Klingon, should be interesting with no councillor on-board .​​