posted 11-21-98 10:12 PM ET        

Having nothing to do today (yes, I'm shocked myself!) =), and wanting to do this for quite a while now, I took the time write a short story based on Alpha Centauri. Like many stories posted by others members on this board, this one is about war, but I think in a way that hasn't been approached here before. I used names from the peacekeepers members list in "Am I the only Peacekeeper?" thread, so I hope you don't mind. Please let me know what you think and if you want to add a story of your own in the same format, even if unrelated, feel free to do so. Oh, before I go, I have to give credit were credit is due: inspiration for this story come from the novel "The Assassins" by Raymond E. Feist.

I hope you like it (and that this thread doesn't end up in the Nexus!),
-Maya

Shattered Dreams

Lines of vehicles advanced along the ridge.

The armored column had been broken into two segments, the first of which was now departing with the wounded and the dead who would be cremated with honors back at the UN Headquarters. Clouds of dust rose from the trail as wheels and tracks moved toward home, the fine powder mixing with the acrid smoke from the burning remains of combat vehicles. The rising sun streamed through the haze, orange and pale gold, rays of colors in an otherwise grey morning. In the distance a native lifeform sang, ignoring the aftermath of the batter.

Roland, UN military commander of the western peacekeeping forces, took a moment to enjoy the majesty of the sunrise and the serenade of that yet-to-be-identified specie as he watched his troops heading home. The fighting had been blessedly short but bloody, and while casualties were lighter than anticipated, he still hated to lose even one soldier under his command.

Roland still resembled the youthful man who had rose to the rank of general ten years before, though lines around his eyes and a small scattering of grey through his otherwise black hair revealed the toll of leadership on him. For those who knew him well, he was still much the same man, a competent administrator, military genius, and fiercely duty-bound man who would surrender his own life without question to save the lowest soldier under his command.

His gaze went from APC to APC, as if somehow willing himself to see the wounded men and women inside, as if he could communicate to them his sense of gratitude for a job well done. Those closest to Roland knew he paid a silent price, pain kept within, for each injury done to someone who served the UN and its ideals.

Roland pushed aside his regrets and considered the victory. The enemy had been in full retreat for two days, a relatively small force of morganites. A much larger Spartan force had been prevented from reaching High Garden when its command post had been destroyed by the Peacekeepers Air and Space Defence Force. It had cost the life of two of the UN finest pilots, but their sacrifice in this suicide mission had allowed the invaders to be delayed long enough to allow his troops to arrive, saving thousands of innocent lives. Roland cursed the existence of that mysterious and ancient alien artefact under the Gaian outpost of High Garden, and wondered if its mystery would ever be understood, or even the conflict surrounding it removed, in his lifetime.

The peacekeeping forces in and around High Garden were now dispersing to their various garrisons, the majority returning to the west, and some heading back north to the Believers/Hive border, where trouble was breeding once again. They would start moving later in the morning.

Sunlight began to bathe Roland as the morning mist burned off, leaving only the smoke and dust to cloud the air. The day was already growing hot, and the cold of the last season was already a fading memory. Roland kept his distress deep inside as he considered the latest assault upon the tranquillity of this region.

Roland glanced to his right and saw two very fatigued young officers sitting beside a medical APC. Roland permitted himself one of his infrequent smiles, a bare upturning of the sides of his mouth, which served to soften the often sober expression on his still youthful face. "Tired officers?" he asked as he moved toward them.

The Chief Medical Officer returned her general's gaze from eyes surrounded by dark circles. Maya, and her assistant sitting beside her, had gone through a very punishing experience, abetted by an experimental drug which had kept them awake for days trying with the rest of the medical staff to save as many wounded as possible. The after-effect of the prolonged use of the drug was to unleash all the pent up fatigue and body ache at once. Both had slept through the night but had awakened tired and bone weary. Summoning up her usual brazen wit, Maya said, "No, sir, we always look like this when we wake. Usually you don't see us after our morning coffee."

Roland permitted himself a laugh. "I see none of your charms have faded Maya."

A short man with dark hair and beard walked over to where Roland and the two officers sat on the rise.

"Good morning, general," said Ryan, as he saluted.

Roland returned a polite nod and said, "Lieutenant, do you have the final report?

Ryan's expression betrayed his feelings. "Yes sir: sixty-three dead, two hundred forty-nine wounded, eight MIA, thirty-six hovertanks destroyed or damaged beyond repair, twelve APC destroyed, fifty-one..."

His voice seemed to fade away as Maya turned to look at the retreating convoy, tears filling her eyes. She tried to no avail to let the beauty of the vista of the new planed they now called home soothe her frustration and regret for a few moments.

posted 11-22-98 01:24 AM ET            

Since they're fighting the Spartans, see if you can't fit me in there. Rich is my name, unless you didn't know. Ah well.

posted 11-22-98 10:14 AM ET            

Oh yes, and if you need volenteers to warf off those Spartans, you can partener me with YYYH !!! I hate those irrational spartans .. So count me in if they attack first !!!

posted 11-26-98 10:53 AM ET            

Unlike Maya, I don't have a day with nothing to do, but my concentration span on my work is quite short these days, so I gotta do something to get a bit away from that stuff, anyway. From Maya's story and other threads, I got some ideas that I'm going to "present" in a rather lose fashion. I hope you like it.... ah yes, if you don't like the symbolism stuff, I'm sorry, I'm just into it... ;-)

Shattered Dreams

On the way back to the Headquarters

Maya woke up from a hefty bump the medical APC took. Still under the aftermath of the performance enhancing drug, it was like ages until her brain answered the simple question of "where am I ?". She looked around, and the view of the many wounded brought her back into a reality that had been hidden under the comfort of a deep, dreamless sleep just a minute ago.

Another hit to the APC reminded her that during this neverceasing line of conflicts the peacekeepers had endured for the last 20 years, hover APCs had become items of luxury. Her eyes rested on the badge of a badly wounded soldier of the 19th devision which had paid a high price for being considered the peacekeepers' elite division. "He may be 25 chiron years or so, only few of the 19th reach that age", she thought. The badge showed the PK forces symbol: A shield with the two alpha centauri stars and chiron, behind it a sword, and the letters SEQP beneath - SCUTUM ENSISQUE PACIS, the shield and sword of peace. "Hard to find a better description of the peacekeeper's dilemma, fighting wars to prevent the worse..." In the dirt of the battlefield, such words quickly change from noble to pathetic.

She remembered her ethics teacher at the New Geneva Medical University, when she had asked her why the peacekeepers were so fond of latin abbreviations. "Officially, latin represents some of the heritage from earth. But I never really bought that; I think it's just because our first commissioner, Pravin Lal, was a surgeon, and he just loved fancy latin terms." Maya felt a smile hushing over her tired face. "Yes, that was the one thing I missed with all the holo teachers... humour. On the other hand, their main advantage is the incredible patience with all the beginner's mistakes and questions. I would have easily driven a dozen of human teachers crazy with all my questions..."

Somehow, not being really awake, memories and thoughts kept flowing without Maya really controlling them. She had learned to enjoy that state of "enlightened dizziness", as her friends had started calling it back at university. Often, her ethics teacher had been talking about the famous third resolution of the first council, requiring the peacekeepers not to take advantage from intervening in conflicts. Like herself, many had started doubting that resolution, as it seemed to get the peacekeepers nowhere.

Still, it was the official doctrine, and by abandoning it, the peacekeepers might just become a faction like all the others. "And I always had a bad feeling when some within the peacekeepers spoke of the other factions as traitors and mutineers who should be destroyed... I'm really glad I don't have to take those political decisions." Somehow, the history of Chiron had just repeated humanity's failure in a new world on earth, america. A quote from a history file came to her mind: "Soon, the new world was spilled with the blood of the colonists and the home of many shattered dreams...". "And still, despite all the wars, human population has increased sharply over the years. So much, that despite we kill ourselves, we also manage to destroy much of the indigenous life..."

Her mind seemed to dig ever deeper in her memories, bringing up things she had deemed long forgotten... Suddenly, she felt a slight electric shock from the medical surveillance comm on her wrist. One of the wounded had started bleeding. As she got up and she concentrated on her work, the comfortable numbness faded away. She took a look at the soldier from the 19th devision she had watched after she had awakened, at the area of his uniform with the badge. For an endless second, Maya had to stare at the letters "SEQP", as they started turning from white to red. She tried to shake off her thoughts and turned to the medical kit in the corner of the APC, but in the depth of her mind, the situation brought back the notorious words of the spartan general Junack at the 9th plenetary council peace summit, though obviously, he had meant something completely different....

posted 11-26-98 11:48 AM ET            

Rolland .. I think we're both in for it !!!

I think we should both dessimilate (SP sp SP ?� that just looks sooo wrong) and get as far away from Maya as posible !!! She is Canadian you know !!!

Actually, speaking of that, Maya .. I've been curious as to why you haven't stuck you head into 8th Faction threads ??? Any reason in particular, or is it just that you couldn't be bothered ??? Or are you against assimilation ??? We don't forcefully assimilate people you know .. look at Roland, he joined willingly !!! Being apart of the 8th faction by definition means that you don't impose your beliefs on anyone !!!

Oh well .. anyways .. I think I've disrupted this story line a little too much ...

posted 11-26-98 12:00 PM ET            

Maya: "The armored column had been broken into two segments, the first of which was now departing with the wounded and the dead who would be cremated with honors back at the UN Headquarters."

Apart from the fact that it is very cruel to cremate the wounded, I thought the wounded were also being brought to the headquarter ? And the medic staff with them ? Hmm....

BTW, how do you know my usual nickname here is Rollie (or Roli) ? It has a lot of potential:

Playing the chinese in civ: emperor Ro-Li, or just Ro-Li-Ti.

Speaking of chinese, some friends of mine used to turn it into Loli - So you can call me LOL... any ideas for the "I" ? "Internetwise"?

posted 11-26-98 02:25 PM ET            

To all:
Thank you. And since everyone seems to want it, I'll try to continue the story as soon as I got some free time on my hands (which, unfortunatly, isn't going to be anytime soon).

To Imran:
*shaking hand*
That was very sweet of you! =) It is strange indeed that we nver really "meet" before. Of course it will be fine, for even if, as you said, it would be very hard to find two people on this forum with views on, well... nearly everthing, that are further appart than ours, the world would be a boring place if everyone was agreeing on everything, don't you think? =)

To YYYH and DJ RRebel:
Okay, if the opportunity arise, I will use your names.

To SnowFire:
Sure, that would be great.

To Gord McLeod:
*waiting anxiously* =)

To Shining1:
(Guessing you're talking about the novel "The Assassins")
Hum... a bookstore comes to mind! =) No, seriously, the novel hasn't be published yet. It should be out sometime next year.

To CClark:
Yup, I didn't take any chance and wrote it with Word Perfect first. And go ahead, write a new one, it would be nice. =) IIRC, your story in the old forums was about a Spartan officer in charge of building an underwater base, right?

To DJ RRebel & Roland:
I knew that there was something very wrong with me not having anything to do for one whole day, but since that didn't happen in a long time, I didn't ask myself to many questions and instead went to enjoy it. However, I found out yesterday that something wasn't quite right indeed. The report I thought was for the next thursday was in fact for this thursday (today), and it cost me a slepless night to write it. =(

To Roland:
If you would be so kind as to allow me to paraphrase you:
Hey, thanks for the leading role, Roland! ;-) Great work.
=)

To DJ RRebel and Roland (again):
No, it's fine. And I'm glad that Roland took some of his time to write it, it's great.

To DJ RRebel (once again):
It's just that I don't have the time to read all the threads, and even less to reply to the one I would like to. Last time I visited your "8th faction: Canada" thread was when there was that big separatist/federalist debate, and I didn't want to get in that. Since then, I didn't had time to check it again. But I will, promess! =)

posted 11-26-98 05:17 PM ET            

Shattered Dreams

The land was desolate, utterly desolate that first lieutenant Rederwolf looked on. A result of long decades of warfare between the Human Hive and the Believers, where every weapon conventional to non-conventional had been used, save nuclear weapons. It used to be flat land well suited for farming, but it was almost directly in-between the starting areas of both factions. Since both factions had initial food troubles, the land became hotly contested. An intense hatred for the atheistic freedom killing Hivesters had developed for the Believers, and the Hive hated the blind dumb charlatans with a passion. Even though both factions were actually somewhat similar in actual life. But there was hope now. With nothing left to fight over, there might be peace at last between the Hive and the Believers, who had sent hundreds of thousands of their young off to die in the war. Not only that, they both were combined in a common hate. Whenever one faction would gain the upper hand, and possibly unify the torn northern continent once and for all to stop the war, the Peacekeeper force would intercede and restore balance. Ironically, it would only make the wars go on longer. Now, at last, a new territory had been found for expansion that satisfied both sides. The Peacekeeper continent to the south.

Rederwolf's radio crackled with new orders. "Our spies report that the vile Peacekeepers have noticed the troop movements. However, they believe it to be another war against the Hive. So we are safe for now. Just in case, engage the new cloaking system as we move south toward the Isthmus that connects to the PK's continent. Understood?"

posted 11-27-98 12:21 PM ET            

Gord, how about a review of the other contributions ? ;-)

Maya: "If you would be so kind as to allow me to paraphrase you..."
Well, as you didn't wait for an answer, what can I do ?
Ah, yes: If I couldn't disagree with Imran, I'd really be missing something...

posted 11-27-98 12:42 PM ET            

At least it's not another religious debate !!! LOL

OK ... I'll do it !!!

Maya >>> The 8th Faction seperation debates were over long ago !!! Unfortunately, I'm sure they'll come back next week after the PQ is re-elected !!! I'm so sad .. there goes any chance we ever had at having a decent economy .. this vote will mean that I won't stay here forever (something I was really looking forward to, as Montreal is truly a fabulous city) !!! Anyways, I hope the 8th Faction threads won't be overcome by that ... hopefully someone will actually start a thread on Quebec seperation, that way both will be seperate !!!

As it stands, no seperatists are truly welcome into the 8th faction, simply because we believe in a united humanity .. ANY division is a bad one ... and it's even worse when it's based on such a stupid issue as language !!!
I see the most beautiful country in the world on it's way to economic destruction !!!
Hell, I'm already paying upto almost $9/KG of grapes !!!
And they say the PQ didn't change anything !!!
Within a couple of years, we'll be "the most beautiful 2nd world country in the world"

Oh well .. enough politics in this thread !!!

I'm curious if anyone will write the 8th (or any other new) faction into any literature !!!
For anyone who does, the "Canadian 8th Faction for Humanity" thread has a good background on our origins .. there are alot more details to come, but the basics are there !!!

posted 11-28-98 12:12 AM ET            

Roland: I liked the quote, though it sounds a little too sophisticated for me. =) Something I'd say would be like:

"I have a bigger army than you, my soldiers are better trained than yours, & I'm a better general then you, so please surrender immediately, or suffer the painful & bloody consequences."

"War is cruelty, & you cannot refine it"
-WTSherman, I love that quote! Sherman's my hero, I wish I could of rampaged through Georgia, making those crazy southerners pay!

posted 11-29-98 05:11 AM ET            

Gord McLeod:
No, English is not my first language, French is. English is my second and Spanish my third (although I can't say I'm completly fluent in it yet). I also want to start learning a new one next year, but I don't know which one to pick between Japanese, German, Mandarin and Latin. Any helpfull thoughts?
Why did I choose go to medical school? Well, to make a very long story short, one, because I liked it and two, because it is were I think I will be the most usefull.
Btw, thank you for taking time to review my text and for the compliments, but I'm really not a great writer (no false modesty here).
"I hope we can play against computer-controlled custom factions, I'll create one led by the guy who stuck these smilies into the forum program, and post an in-game bounty on his head." [Gord McLeod]
Glad to see that others have seen the evil nature of these smiley ("The only good smiley is a dead smiley")! =)

Roland:
"Apart from the fact that it is very cruel to cremate the wounded [...]" [Roland]
Oups... I was saying that only the dead would be cremated, but I guess my sentence wasn't very well build. (See Gord?) =)
"I've been thinking about writing a short piece about a war crimes trial, inspired by the pinochet [...] proceedings." [Roland]
Go ahead, I'm sure it will be good and I'm looking forward to read it.

SnowFire:
Great story, but would you be offended if I was going to say that I'm not really sure that I want to use it since it takes me off in a completly different direction (nearly the exact opposite) that the storyline I was starting to put on paper?

YYYH:
"Oops, better use Maya's smiley =)" [YYYH]
Good, you're learning fast! =)

Now, to the story. I originaly thought of it as a one shoot thing, but since it would seem that you would like me to continue it, I will. So here is a short introduction that should go _before_ the first part I posted and that should, I hope, help to set the general direction and overall mood of the story I would like to create.

*Hugs*
-Maya

Shattered Dreams: Darkness Ascending

The days of Humanity had swung back and forth between war and peace, always following a cycle that seemed unavoidable. Once again, the pendulum was swinging back into troubled times after years of uneasy peace. A world which was once humankind last and best hope was now a world divided, seven factions clashing against each other.

These former allies form the United Nations Spaceship Unity were now ordering their soldiers to fight one another. The economy demanded it, people demanded it, politicians demanded it. The three always go together. Soldiers just followed orders. Gun barrels which were once pointed at a common enemy were now lifted toward former friends. Times were changing.

Those were dark days. Technology did not offer the glittering, sleek and marketable items which mankind had dreamed of for centuries. Technology meant weapons, gray and flat, or sturdy war machines made of hardened steel, spewing forth death and destruction. Technology meant hovertanks, inhabited by battle-hardened, cold-hearted soldiers. Technology meant guns, personal armors, piercing ammunitions and detection systems. Technology was not life, it was man-made death.

The arms race, which begun on Alpha Centauri only a few decades after the beginning of colonization, had culminated fifty years ago with the creation by University of Planet scientists of the first singularity device. It was picking up once again. Those who stood in the way of progress were discarded with a backhand slap or a casual hail of bullets.

posted 11-30-98 05:39 AM ET            

Maya: "Japanese, German, Mandarin and Latin"

Latin is a very good foundation for learning roman(ic ?) languages, mainly vocabulary, less grammar. If your native language is french and you know spanish, I don't think it will help you a lot. Unless you want to read some roman authors in the original. I've had latin for six years in school, and read some late roman literature - it's fun to see the first signs of roman(ic) languages there, like replacing the ablativ with "ad" (�) and "de"...

German should be pretty easy with the vocabulary, but the grammar will be a real pain. Trust me, it's my native language... ;-) But while it is not the language for light conversation, it is great for scientific purposes as it can be very exact. If you are interested in german literature (philosophy etc), I'd recommend it, as translations usually tend to loose a lot. I know that the other way round, when I compared some of Camus' "Le mythe de Sisyphe" (sorry for the spelling).

Chinese and Japanese, well, you should have a real challange there as both languages work quite differently from indoeuropean ones. I'd only try that if I had a lot of time on my hands (doesn't sound like you, does it ? ;-)).

So out of the 4, I'd recommend german.

posted 12-06-98 11:46 PM ET            

Nice, but just a little bit too much of the "In a world consumed by darkness..." fraternity. I almost missed the fact that there were some people involved. Is this a prequel to Shattered Dreams, or did you intend to being a whole new story?

From personal experience, I definitely don't recommend learning german, although with your french and spanish it should be a breeze.
My Japanese friend tells me that Japanese is very easy to pronouce, so despite the difficulties involved with the change of structure, there are some good points. And Latin is, of course, a very classy lanuage to knon, though a bit short on practical use =).

posted 12-07-98 01:27 AM ET            

Latin has no practical use, but its definitely cool and I know want to study it sometome later. Maybe I can read the new translation that just came out: Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit, and get in the spirit of the season.

posted 12-07-98 01:48 AM ET            

About the only Latin I know is:
"Et nomine patre.
Et File.
Et spiritus sanctu."

Pardon any spelling errors too.

Gotta admit though that Latin just sounds so cool. Then again, I also love the sound of Russian (the scene from "A Fish called Wanda" anyone - though I suppose the fact that John Cleese was talking to Jamie Lee Curtis had a bit to do with it ), and also French can be such a lovely sounding language when spoken by a native French speaker.

posted 12-07-98 11:15 PM ET            

I definitly prefer Italian and Russian to French - although they're both much nicer sounding than German (hrrr.)

Snowfire: Is that some reference to the bible?

posted 12-07-98 11:46 PM ET            

On the story:
Don't worry DJ RRebel, I won't forget it! =) In fact, a new chapter (episode, whatever) should be ready for friday, but don't hold your breath to much, for I still have to study for all those exams.
Yes Shining1, Darkness Ascending was intended as a preface to my story and will be the only episode without characters! =)

Now, for those who haven't read it yet or are (understandably) a little confused about the order of the posts, here's a little help:

Shattered Dreams
- Introduction: Darkness Ascending (my second story post)
- Chapter 1: War Without End (new name, my first story post + Roland's post)
- Chapter 2: Where All the Honor Lies (not sure about the name yet, should be posted soon (hopefully))
- Chapter 3: ???

As for the story itself, the first few chapters will introduce some characters who will have a role to play later in the story and give background information on the current state of the world.

One last thing about the story: I need names for my Spartan characters in the next chapters, so if you want to be in, just tell me.

On language:
Yes, it is perfectly normal to be able to speak English in Quebec. We start learning English when we enter High School (although we learn it a little in Elementary School) and we still have English classes in college. That's how I learned it (and Spanish too, although this one is not mandatory).

On the whole "Language Police" thing:
Please! Enough propaganda! Nobody is preventing anyone from speaking English in Qu�bec. Law 101 only requires that if you put a sign in English (or any other language for that matter), then you must put one in french too. It's not like it's the end of the world! We also have English radio stations, English TV channels and English magazines just like everywhere else. And nobody is going to give you weird look if you speak English. So come on, stop that crap...

posted 12-08-98 12:09 AM ET            

On Latin. I know a few words, & these are from 'Event Horizon'.

Liberate tuta mae, ex inferis. Not sure if I spelt it right, but translated it means 'Save yourself from Hell'.

The next one is: Liberate mae, 'Save me'.

Basically it. I said something to my teacher like 'Liberate mae ex inferis', or what I think it means, 'Save me from Hell'. That was his English class, so you can understand. Any English class sucks!

posted 12-08-98 05:45 AM ET            

But it is a cool language ... beautiful country ... spectacular architecture.. etc etc ...

I'd like to return some day !!!

posted 12-14-98 02:12 AM ET            

No, that was not a refrence to the Bible. try this:
Quomodo: How, yeah that was a tough one.
Invidiosulus: Individual, doable.
Nomine: named, you can get that.
Grinchus: ******. You get this by getting the rest.
Christi: Christ, or in this Case Christ's. Definitely know this one.
Natalem: Birth. Nacir=to birth in Spanish, and pre-natal care anyone? Easy cognates here.
Abrogaverit: Abrogated, or stole without cause. More easy cognates.