Unknown Person

Re: Boston Marathon Bombing

April 20 2013
and alive now we can see what the hell happened.
S'Raru

Aio

Visitor's Register

April 20 2013
Aio here, S'Raru in game, friendly kitty!
Eric

chemkarate

Re: Star Trek: Pandora , Ep 2.1 "Augmented Reality"

April 20 2013
Captain’s Log, Effective Stardate 88124.7. While we were successful in regaining control of the Pandora following her theft from Utopia Planetia, we are now faced with a new problem. Though we remain in the Sol System, we have been transported back in time to the year 2013, by Earth’s calendar. To compound an already delicate situation, our would-be thieves have escaped the ship, save for one prisoner. My senior staff and I have been hard at work determining our current situation and I have convened a meeting to determine our next course of action.

Captain Oren-De entered the conference room and quickly took his seat. Upon seeing that the rest of his staff was present, he began by looking at Will.

“Mr. Lacera, has there been any indication that Earth has noticed our presence?”

Will shook his head. “No, sir. The computer is monitoring broadcast frequencies and nothing of note has turned up. Our current orbiting position, which maintains Luna between the Earth and the ship, seems to be keeping us out of Earth’s primitive detection systems.”

Oren-De nodded. “Good. At least our thieves had the sense to hide the ship. And on that subject, Dr. Redwing, what have you found?”

“Well, since they left one of their own behind, I took the opportunity to learn what I could while he was unconscious. At the genetic level, the man in our brig is identical to Shrel. There is no evidence of cosmetic surgery, nor is he a shape-shifter. However, he is not a perfect duplicate, either. A more detailed medical scan revealed differences resulting from lifestyle and history. For example, our Shrel broke his left arm at age 8, which is evident from miniscule deformations left over from bone remodeling. The Shrel in our brig shows no evidence of having ever broken that arm.”

“Do you think your findings apply to the others?”

“Well, I can’t know for sure without performing the same analysis on them, but it would be reasonable to assume. Shrel found some corroborating evidence, actually.”

Shrel looked at Oren-De. “They left the ship via shuttlecraft, almost immediately after they flew the Pandora to this position, and used the transporter to get to the shuttlebay. They may have been expecting us to break out of Sickbay. When I compared the transporter logs of the culprits against our own from when we beamed into Sickbay, the computer found a near-perfect match for all cases. Additionally, we now know that, in addition to my duplicate down in the brig, duplicates of Ms. Matoya, Dr. Redwing, Mr. Sadda, and Mr. Lacera were involved in the theft and have escaped to Earth.”

Will frowned when Shrel mentioned his own duplicate. “So... what are they? If they’re not clones... and none of us have long-lost twin siblings...

“Actually, I have a theory on that, Mr. Lacera, and I’ve asked Ms. Matoya to investigate it for me,” Oren-De said calmly.

Maggie nodded and tapped a few commands into a panel in front of her at the table. The room’s main display showed a complicated wave pattern, running along the top portion of the screen.

“This is a quantum signature extracted from a series of transporter logs from Deep Space 9 in the early 2370’s. Specifically, it was obtained each time the transporter was used by someone who had spent a significant amount of time in an alternate universe that runs parallel to our own. You may have heard it referred to more colloquially as the ‘mirror universe’.”

Maggie tapped another command in and a second pattern appeared below the first. It looked almost exactly the same.

“This... is the same signature, but this time extracted from the transporter logs of our duplicates.”

War’en raised an eyebrow at the screen. “Duplicates of ourselves from another universe? That seems a bit far-fetched. There’s no other explanation for this quantum signature?”

Oren-De shook his head. “Actually, Starfleet has had several encounters with this ‘mirror universe’ before, Mr. Sadda. And, in addition to the quantum signature, their aggressive behavior has been consistent with what we know of intruders from this universe. Dr. Redwing, you took note of something your counterpart said in Sickbay?”

Dr. Redwing nodded, his lips pursed. “Yes. He mentioned his... my... grandmother, but spoke about her in the past tense, as if she were dead. But I spoke to her just a few days ago. And... he took special note of the fact I’m a doctor, as if she wouldn’t have known that.”

“And Mr. Shrel, what did your investigation of their activities find?”

“While they were stealing the Pandora, they were also stealing our technology. Large data downloads occurred in Sickbay and Engineering, as well as on the Bridge at the Helm and Science stations. Additionally, the transporter logs show that they took several devices with them to the shuttlecraft, including phasers and tricorders.”

“... which has been a standard motive with intruders from the mirror universe. There have been several recorded incidents where they have crossed into our universe to steal our technology.”

Will’s brow furrowed in thought. “But... why steal our technology just to travel back in time, in our universe, with it? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to travel back to their own universe first?”

Oren-De nodded his head in agreement. “I admit, that is still an open question.”

“I believe I can at least answer the ‘how’, Captain,” interjected War’en. “I first suspected that our counterparts were stealing the Pandora because of the Partition. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that they targeted her just after she had been outfitted with an experimental protoype, but before a full crew was aboard. However, when I checked the ship’s sensor logs, I found that they were also after the Borg gate.”

“What does the gate have to do with it?” asked Will.

“I’m not sure, but shortly after we beamed aboard, our counterparts flew the Pandora to the Borg gate, as we were planning to do. However, instead of just testing the Partition by having it interface with the gate, they used it to activate it. A series of commands were sent to the gate and our sensor logs show that the gate suddenly powered on and opened a temporal rift. That turbulence we felt was the Pandora traveling through the rift to this time period.”

Redwing frowned and began ticking off fingers as he spoke. “So... in summary, there are duplicates of us from a parallel quantum universe running around early 21st-century Earth with technology stolen from a 25th-century starship. Did I miss anything?”

“We currently don’t have any way of getting back to our own time,” Maggie added.

“Oh, yeah. That. Fantastic.”

“We will figure out a way to return to our proper time later,” said Oren-De with a serious tone. “At the moment, our top priority is to determine what plan these intruders have and to stop them from damaging the timeline. The amount of damage they can do is impossible to quantify.”

Will nodded. “This is a rather sensitive time in Earth’s history. From that very fact alone, I’d say they came here specifically to cause a lot of damage.”

“I’m a bit rusty on my Earth history,” said War’en, a bit sheepishly.

“I can provide a bit of a refresher course...” suggested Will, his voice trailing off as he looked at the others. When Red cocked an eyebrow in surprise, Will shrugged.

“Before I went to Starfleet Academy, my plan was to go to college to study Post-Atomic Earth History. I’ve always been a bit of a history buff. How do you think I got into sword-play?”

Oren-De motioned to Will. “Please, Mr. Lacera. I think we could all use a bit of a... refresher.”

Will nodded and grinned, eager at the chance to dive into one of his passions.

“Well, as you know, we’re currently in the year 2013, which is roughly in the middle of The Interbellum. That’s the period between two of the most devastating conflicts in Earth’s history: the Eugenics Wars and the Third World War. The Eugenics Wars, which ended seventeen years before our current date, were a series of cold and overt conflicts fought to depose genetically enhanced Augment dictators from power. They were mainly fought in the poorer regions of the planet, and when all was said and done, those areas were devastated and over 30 million people were dead.”

“They’re why Earth has always been opposed to the non-therapeutic genetic enhancement of sentient species and continues to support bans on that research within the Federation,” added Red.


Will nodded and continued. “In thirteen years, the Third World War will begin. The use of atomic weapons will leave much of Earth’s current civilization in ruins and most of the planet will be in a new dark age. Some places won’t be lifted out of it until the early 22nd century.”

Shrel raised an eyebrow. “The Third World War is what leads to Zefram Cochrane’s invention of Humanity’s first warp-capable vessel, correct?”

“Yeah and, more importantly, Humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans. The Phoenix went to warp just at the right time for the Vulcans to detect it. The Borg actually tried to interfere with Humanity’s history once by going back in time and trying to destroy the ship beforehand, but they were stopped by the Enterprise-E.

Maggie’s eyes looked down at the table as she rapped her fingers on the table. “And now our mirror counterparts are on early 21st century Earth with stolen data and technology from the future, prior to the start of one of Humanity’s most pivotal conflicts.”

Oren-De nodded. “The introduction of such technology at this point could easily shift the trajectory of history, possibly preventing the foundation of the Federation. While it’s not certain that’s their motive, it must be prevented. Mr. Lacera, were you able to determine where they landed the shuttle.”

“Approximately. The shuttle’s trajectory took it to the peninsula north of San Francisco. It was night in that area when they entered the Earth’s atmosphere, so they likely had no problems landing without catching attention. However, to keep the shuttle hidden, they probably landed in one of the heavily forested areas. Muir Woods is the most likely candidate, given its proximity to a town connected to transit infrastructure. Unfortunately, anything more accurate will require getting closer.”

Oren-De thought for a moment before speaking. “It seems we have two immediate goals, then. First, we need to send an away team to search for and apprehend your counterparts. Unfortunately, manpower is limited. Ms. Matoya and Dr. Redwing, as the only natural-looking Humans aboard, will be going. Doctor, do you think you can make Mr. Sadda look sufficiently Human to join you?”

Red looked at War'en and nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Simple application of skin pigments to his skin patterning should do the trick.”

“Excellent. I want the three of you to start with San Francisco. It seems like that’s the place where they can do the most damage. However, I won’t permit another shuttle going to Earth. Since the Pandora’s transporters won’t reach Earth from our current position, Mr. Lacera, I want you to fly them in a shuttle to a point close enough and beam them down from there.”

Will nodded and affirmed the order, but even behind his VISOR he looked crestfallen he wouldn’t be joining the away team. Maggie noticed and offered what she could.

“We’re going to need support while we’re down there. You can’t come with us, but we’re going to need your expertise.”

A small smile crossed Will’s face. “Yes, ma’am.”

Oren-De turned to Shrel. “After the away team has beamed down, I want you and Mr. Lacera to use your closer proximity to Earth and determine the shuttle’s location. Under the cover of night, I beam down and fly it back to the Pandora.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If there are no further questions, you are all dismissed.”

The officers nodded, stood, and quickly exited. The gravity of the situation now seemed greater than ever. If they were worried about how they would get home when the meeting started, they were now worried if ‘home’ was even there anymore. 400 years of intergalactic history now weighed in the balance.
Unknown Person liked this
Edited April 20 2013 by chemkarate

Czar_Rick

Re: Music

April 19 2013
Although I have a rather limited taste in music, my taste is of a wide variety.

I was born and raised on classical, and I must say that the concerto that makes me smiles the most would be The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. If I ever need to relax and forget about the world for a little bit, I grab my vinyl copy of The Four Seasons, pop it in the record player, and sit down with a snifter of fine cognac. I also enjoy suites by Brahms and Mahler (in particular I love the various dances that Brahms composed).

When it comes to songs that make me sad, I don't like those; therefore, I do not listen to music that makes me sad.

More music that makes me happy though is anything from the soundtrack to The Phantom of the Opera (musical not the movie) and even more so if it is the French version.

In addition, I enjoy hardcore techno, trance, dubstep, drumstep, chilstep, and anything by Basshunter.
Eric

chemkarate

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
Yeah, but not exactly. I've heard theories ranging from Devros to the Master. My theory is that it's actually a future version of the Doctor, who has become so self-hating over his long life that he is attempting to destroy his past self.
Edited April 19 2013 by chemkarate

Unknown Person

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
I do remember the screen in the Tardis cracking and that voice saying "Silence Will Fall." It sounded a lot like Devros to me.
Eric

chemkarate

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
The poster for the Series 7 finale has been revealed!



It looks like this episode may resolve a number of plot threads that have been left hanging over the course of Moffat's run on the show. Alex Kingston is in the episode, so we may see how River Song knows the Doctor's name. Additionally, The Silence's acts in Series 6 were all apparently to stop the Doctor from answering The Question, to which is name may be the answer, according to prophecy.

I'll also be interested to see if it resolves one of the questions left at the end of Series 5. It was never revealed who took control of the TARDIS when River Song was piloting it in the Series 5 two-part finale, though presumably it had something to do with The Silence (a voice saying "Silence will fall" as a monitor cracked, after River left to investigate Amy's house .) The fact that the poster shows the TARDIS windows smashed hints that we may get an answer.

Anyway, very excited for the episodes to come.
Edited April 19 2013 by chemkarate
Joffrey

KingJoffrey

Re: Your daily GW2 laugh

April 19 2013
lmao love that vid, ''nothing shall touch me'' *gets hit* lololol
Robert

Elquin

Re: Your daily GW2 laugh

April 19 2013
It was tough... I laughed... I cried... threatened to throw my pc out the window. :whistle: Finally made it... for 2 greens and a blue. :S
Ben

Gravity

Re: Crystalline Catastrophe Event

April 19 2013
Well easily solution to that, plan your life around star trek obviously :P

Unknown Person

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
I don't think the M.C. Escher stairways are actually going to be featured in the episode. I think the poster art is just to illustrate the labyrinthine aspect of the TARDIS. Having said that I'm sure we'll see some sections of the ship that definitely defy the "normal" laws of physics.
Angel

Angelsilhouette

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
I'm not too enthused about the whole M.C. Escher stairways in the Tardis. It was neat in Labyrinth, it was appropriate in Warehouse 13, but now it's just a bit overused and I'm not really happy about it being in the Tardis. I have lots of memories from watching the old series where there were adventures inside the Tardis; it gave you a sense of...

Not so much scale, but of vastness. As I child the episodes gave me anxiety because it made me feel that the Tardis had nearly infinite space, inside, in which one could easily get lost and NEVER be found.

The new Cybermen episode looks excellent from the artwork, but then I looked up the production shots and the costumes disappoint me. I was MUCH happier with the costumes introduced in "Rise of the Cybermen." I just hope they can clean them up in post.
Gareth GXV3

GXV3

Re: Crystalline Catastrophe Event

April 19 2013
aww cheers mate, yea I did the Mirror event few days ago.. my rank shot straight up.
The event always happen when im in work.. or in bed sadly =P
Thanks for the advice
Ben

Gravity

Re: Crystalline Catastrophe Event

April 19 2013
VA (55) to do the crystalline entity.

If you need to level up fast look out of the mirror universe event and ask some level 50 fleeties to go with you. Over the course of an hour you can easily for up 3-4 levels.
Unknown Person liked this
Gareth GXV3

GXV3

Re: Crystalline Catastrophe Event

April 19 2013
What rank do you have to be exactly, to do CE?
Im RA(44)

Unknown Person

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 19 2013
This just in folks:

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS Spoiler
PLEASE DON'T
READ IF YOU
DON'T LIKE
SPOILERS

Rodger

RodgerPM

Re: Your daily GW2 laugh

April 18 2013
Yeaah...I'm never gonna do that one.
...
I bet in six weeks I'm doing that one. :P
Robert

Elquin

Your daily GW2 laugh

April 18 2013
If you've run into a frustrating jumping puzzle (everyone has) you'll get a crack out of this. I was dying... crying it was so funny. The long pause after dying... priceless. Missing easy jumps because you're frustrated... yeah.

[url=
Edited April 18 2013 by Elquin

Unknown Person

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 18 2013
They all look really cool and I'm particularly interested in The Crimson Horror. Clara looks so good in period attire and I'm digging the bowler hat on Matt Smith. I wonder if the sign above (SWEETville) is a reference to our dear Mrs. Song.

I love it when Neil Gaiman writes for DW and his episodes are always great. I hope he can put a bit of scariness back into the Cybermen as their recent appearances have been a little one-dimensional.

And I'm always eager to see more of the Tardis. They appear to be using the infinite stairs room from The Labyrinth, wonder if there'll be a Goblin King at the center. :laugh:
Eric

chemkarate

Re: Doctor Who?...

April 18 2013
No idea when they're premiering, but I imagine it's soon. If they're not coming directly after "Hide", I imagine it will be within the month. Guess we'll see at the end of that episode when they're coming.

I have to say, these all look awesome. I'm personally excited for Nightmare in Silver because it's written by Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors and the writer for the excellent "The Doctor's Wife" episode.

Also excited for this "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" episode. I'm always happy to learn more about "the other main character" of the show and this looks like it will continue to play with the odd physics of the Doctor's ship.