Ah well. I'm the type of person who reads the back of the book first when I'm really excited. I like teasers, spoilers, previews, etc. However, I will take to heart the assumption bit. Must watch that...

Any way, I figured the authors wouldn't contribute to this one...that's why it's rampant speculation.

As for the timing questions. My bad. I re-read that section of SOS 5 and concede idiocy the whole "1 hour" thing.

That said, Gryphon had 45 minutes to whip up an uniform that Utena then modified in her own, special style. I doubt our beloved Hero could be that serious about just a duel between a Klingon and Utena.

Or am I assuming again?

yours,
t.

rigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

Trigger Argee
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

This may well be my favorite Forum exchange this month. :)

--truss.

I was wondering about the ranking structure of the IPO, whether it followed the traditional naval system, or the police ranking system. Captain Utena, Lieutenant Kate, I can't spell Sgt. Dorothy.

-----------------------------------
Chris can't handle chemicals

Recreational?

Nope, just the default signature when I don't remember to change chemicals to something else relevent to the post. Play Resident Evil for Playstation as Chris and you'll understand (or find the other thread where I explained this)

-----------------------------------
Chris can't handle explanations

The International Police Organization itself follows a rank structure similar to that of the British police - Constable, Sergeant, Inspector and so forth. The IPO Space Force, though, uses a version of traditional naval ranks, similar to such organizations as Starfleet and the Wedge Defense Force. The enlisted types, equivalent to Constables in the regular IPO, are Able Spacemen; there's a confusing mess of NCO ranks (what, precisely, is the difference between a Master Chief Petty Officer and a Senior Chief Petty Officer, and who gives a damn?). The commissioned ranks begin at Lieutenant and theoretically advance to Admiral, although with a fleet of only two ships which operate more or less independent, there's no need for anyone to hold that rank.

In practice, the IPO puts only a semi-formal importance on the rank structure. It's more important that the jobs get done than that the proper forms of address are used.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

About 45USD a month. The Master Chief. He's got 45 more bucks a month.

--
-Pasha
Umm, right....I'll be with you in just a sec now...

why...more ships, of course!
sometimes, you ask the silliest questions :)

<wild speculation>

1HW's actually more than the family's second car?

(Sorta like finding out you pulled over a minivan w/ $500k worth
of upgrades in Car Wars)

Like maybe a reserve vessel of the Zetna Cygni naval forces?

Combine that with a sworn officer of the IPO (Utena) and the legality
& ease of pulling the 1HW over for a quick search and
seizure would get complicated from a political standpoint.

Of course I could be completely wrong, but it strikes me as a quick
and easy way to throw a sheltering wing over the kids if the Psi
Corps ever get too pushy.

</wild speculation>

I've come to realize half the fun of waiting for each chapter is just guessing what's next.

(Not just plot lines, Eyrie packs more believeable growth into characters
than you can shake a sword at.)

Thanks for the wonderful tales,

Grell

o~o Hang on to my hat will you Charlie,
there's a good fellow... o~o

p.s. Not asking for more info, just buzzed by the possibilities ^_^

Terrorist scum wanna battle hearty? Well so do I, c'mon let's party!

What, you mean you never saw the early episode of Babylon 5 where it was revealed that the Centauri had, while they were being driven off Narn, seeded the entire planet with large, carnivorous bats? The Narns quickly developed squads of crack troopers, much like our Special Forces, which were specially trained to exterminate the winged menaces. They became an integral plot point during the fifth season, when...

<tromptromptromp>

Uh-oh. I'd better get out of...

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

ouch

-- Bob
---------------
500 plastic ducks.
1 world.
Infinite possibilities.
http://www.ifoundaduck.com

I don't watch television all that much, just an occasional cartoon and WWF wrestling, so a lot of references made on this website tend to go over my head. This includes a lot of literary works and sci-fi TV shows.

Terrorist scum wanna battle hearty? Well so do I, c'mon let's party!

1: Paperwork. What, no vast bureaucracy? No "Pentagon"?

2: Cold storage. As we say in software, "You never know when somebody's going to get run over by a truck."

3: Decoy. So long as the Admiral is ordering the second captain around, the ship's skipper can do his job unmolested for a change.

--rR

>Anyway, I'm not going to comment on this one way or another, except to
>ask you to consider the following: The IPO Space Force has, at the
>time of Roses in Springtime, only two ships. What, then, would
>it need another captain for?

Um, what's the other ship and who's the other captain?

edit:
nevermind, just read it in another thread.
-------
Y. Michael Chang
Mechanical Engineering major, Berkeley, CA

Imperial Klingon Cruiser HoSghaj (Powerful), Captain Krontep vathKesek, commanding.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I had a couple of thoughts on this.

1) I'm not sure if UF-Gryphon knows some of the 'background' events (e.g. the observation of WDF children and their friends), but if he did, I could see him giving Utena some official connection to the EoJ for an excuse to act on her behalf.

2) Utena's learning Klingon right now. Out of all of the classes she's taking, I have to wonder why this is emphasized. Hazarding a guess, I'd say that this is (part of) the foundation for her...career in UF. It just maybe that this link to the EoJ is another. Also, her customization of the uniform includes a Klingon warrior's belt, and she has a great deal of respect for Professor Kraalgh. Either this is just a bunch of co-incidences, or there's a theme here.

Ah, well... we'll just have to wait and read. ;)

--Chris

"What is the difference between a fighter and a warrior?"
"The warrior is defeated, especially at higher levels."

Oh - I guess there's no harm in explaining this. The belt and baldric (which she can't wear with that uniform because it would cover her rank bar) were gifts from a Klingon member of the Challenger crew who is related to Professor Kraalgh. When Utena defeated Kraalgh, the professor should have given her a baldric himself, but it slipped his mind. He's been away from Qo'noS too long. (The belt isn't usually part of the deal; it was an improvisation because the baldric wouldn't work with the uniform. :)

That was originally covered in a longer version of the scene aboard the ship itself, but it turned into a tremendously long-winded "meet the crew of the ship" sequence, so I deleted it. It will probably get covered in retrospect at some later point.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Could it just be a simple pleasant comment from her date? Remember Utena DOES look sharp in a uniform. I mean come on.. Utena called her date LORD Corwin. :p

-Malis out

That's sort of an old joke, as much as people who've known each other for four months can have old jokes. When he told her he was a demigod, back at Christmastime, she asked him if she ought to address him with more respect - Sir Corwin, perhaps, or Lord Corwin. He didn't give her an answer, so sometimes, when she wants to tweak him a little, she uses one or the other.

As for him calling her "captain", though - that's what the rank bar on her uniform says.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I always thought it had not-a-little-bit to do with how his namesake was commonly addressed

or, at least, that was the one of the coincidences, along with the rose pin, that caused him to look at her so funny :)

No, not really. She's just twitting him about being a demigod. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I hope you didn't throw it away totaly. If it never gets covered you can always finish it off and release it as a side story. Yeah, it doesn't move the main story forward, so maybe it doesn't belong in the main line, but there are bunches of us who would love to read it anyway. ^_^

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<

No, I didn't throw it out. As I said, I'll probably use it as a flashback later.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

My problem with this sort of thing is I'm a bit of a tech nut. I hit that section and couldn't stop from asking,
"How far away was the ship?"
"Exactly how long did it take to get from point A to B"

Gryphon has already said he's icorperating tech from a favorite series, "Lensman" and with several of the core UF crew already bearing Lens' this seems to be a done deal. Though I do wonder about the conventions that's being used to incorperate the basic precepts that go along with the Lens in the Lensman series.

You're in for a disappointing time in UF, then, since I'm deliberately trying not to pay attention to fiddly details like that.

>Gryphon has already said he's icorperating tech from a favorite
>series, "Lensman" and with several of the core UF crew already bearing
>Lens' this seems to be a done deal.

I'm not really sure you can call the Lens "tech"...

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

what format is the lensmen saga in and where can i get it/find out about it

Reply moved to:

http://www.eyrie-productions.com/Forum-docs/DCForumID11/197.html

Eric J. Heckathorn
ericjh@stargate.net

Or you can just release it as a stand alone aside scene. I had to do that... Had this great sort of air combat scene that started of a chapter of my story, then realized that it didn't do a darn thing as far as moving the plot forward, so I cut it and made it an interlude.

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<