Survivour Border Worlds

[Raptor]

Hey all, Raptor here.

Here's something that I've been thinking about. While the HTL battles to date have caused some major casualties, there are a lot more to come. One of the things I do as the co-ordinator is pick which ships and units get "written out". It would be interesting to see what the readers think though. Which ships do you want to see more of, and which can you live without? I want you to vote for your favourite battlegroup or unit, kind of like a Border Worlds version of Survivour.

Best, Raptor

 

[beergod]

i could live without the cruiser, destroyer, and corvette squadrons

i want to see more of the Confed/BW reserves and Tanfen

and of course i want to see the carrier groups

but what i really want to see is what the Hades ends up doing

 

[NeoDevilbane]

TCS Hades

The TCS Hades will basically be replacing the TCS Valley Forge as flagship of CVBG-A. Lots of cool shit ahead.

- Neo

 

[Unregistered]

Stupid pilots...

I'd like to see a storyline in which the 'good guys' do something supremely stupid, or plan something which tragically backfires. I think it'd give a lot more tension towards the story if we don't know if they really will win.

 

[Raptor]

Re: Stupid pilots...

Beergod: Don't worry, there's a lot of good stuff to come regarding the reserve forces and Tanfen. We're moving away from the Loki battle for the next few chapters to llok at what's happening elsewhere in the Universe, and a good chunk of that focuses on the reserves.

Unregistered: We've touched on the 'backfire' storyline in "The Fallen" (Nephele arc) and "Further Down The Spiral" (Loki arc.) You can find both in the Archives at http://htl.solsector.net (don't mind the mangled frontpage- that was just me trying my hand at some amateur HTML editing and finding out I should have stuck to writing instead.)

In addition (without giving too much away) there are lot of plot twists to come, and some major setbacks for our heroes. The shadowy group that calls itself "The Movement" will figure a lot more, there are also a lot of political complications, and some very big and blood battles. I didn't put up "Who do you want to survive" poll out of idle curiousity.

Best, Raptor

 

[NeoDevilbane]

Whatever happened to our fellow writers on the Yorktown? I don't seem to recall any Yorktown chaps in a pretty minute... I think some late-season recasting of the creative crew on the York should be done to get things going. Or write the Yorktown out. Something.

- Neo

 

[beergod]

yay, the loki arc is getting kinda long in the tooth right now

that would be one interesting battlegroup neo, definitely would have to use some unique tactics

 

[NeoDevilbane]

Yeah, the "new" CVBG-A will use some new tactics, with the Hades at the forefront of it all (we've basically come to an agreement to shrug off, however, the "stealth abilities" mentioned in various Secret Ops tidbits since... well, nothing canon really seems to specify just what these "stealth abilities" of the Hades-class are). In Nifelheim we will definitively (if we succeed creatively - with guys like James "JAG/Rambo" Greenhow & Dan "Bugfix" Klette & Dundradal & Kevin Tan & even OLD-skool Ace Peter "Guru" Birdsall in our ranks I'm confident we will, and top at least "Further Down the Spiral") show how and why ConFleet approved and greenlit the TCS Cerberus mission we saw in Secret Ops. Apart from that, the usual fare of death, carnage, and drama-fo-yo-mama... in CVBG-A we've got a melting pot of Confeds, Border Worlders, and even Cats, and it reaches something of a boiling point in the final phase of "End of the Spiral," "The Way out is Through" (which was proceeding nicely... until I've managed to hold it up on my creative end of things - sorry, guys... it's coming!).

- Neo

 

[Raptor]

Beergod: Yep, at sixty chapters long altogether, the Loki arc *is* a little on the long side, but we're into the closing stages now. There are about another 15 chapters to go, in which we wrap up the Tiger Hunt and Forge's story, along with setting up a few other things for the big finale in Nifelhiem.

Neo: The Yorktown crew contributed well in Tyr and Nephle, but we haven't anything from them recently. I'm still considering my options regarding the Yorktown. On the one hand, it would be great to have the Yorktown as an active ship in the finale. OTH, recrewing a ship is a big task, and with just one battle arc to go, I'm seriously tempted to use the Yorktown for...story purposes, let's say. *Evil Grin* I'll probably make the final decision oer the next couple of months. For now, I'm focusing on one of my own finale chapters that I've been seriously procrastinating over.

Best, Raptor

 

[Death]

Do I really have to tell you who I voted for to survive...?

(Mind you, whether they do or not is still undecided... it's down to "coin toss" time, I think... my next chapter is way behind. )

 

[Raptor]

Which is a good incentive to keep up. You know what I do to units that fall behind.

Best, Raptor

 

[Rambo_UK]

Kill 'em all!

DIE!! DIE!! DIE!!

Kill 'em all, women and children first!

 

[Raptor]

Re: Kill 'em all!

Heh. Well, seeing as this is the age of equal opportunity, the women have to take their chances with everyone else.

Best, Raptor

 

[ijuin]

I want to see the BWS Valeria group come through--they are the pride of the Border Worlds and have been the centerpiece of the story since it began.

 

[Raptor]

Not to mention that the Valeria is the *only* operational fleet carrier the Border Worlds Navy has left. We were kind of caught with our pants down when the invasion started.

Best, Raptor

 

[NeoDevilbane]

Say, whatever happened to the Concordia-class BWS Princeton, captured in the WC4 novel?

- Neo

 

[Eder]

I think it's busy supporting the BW forces in Unknown Enemy

--Eder

 

[Raptor]

Heh. According to the Aces, it was one of the ships that fought in KOM (renamed the Charleston or the Carthage or some such- too long ago for me to remember now) and was decomisioned afterwards. As for the rest of the Arcadia class, the Arcadia herself was in drydock for repairs when it all hit the fan, the Littenia fought with the Valeria but was lost in Loki, and neither the Pannneria nor the Mounteria are ready for space yet.

PS: I just realised just how badly your WC skills deteriorate when you haven't used them for a while. I installed Secret Ops ( in anticipation of UE, of course ) and just barely made it through the first mission. It's been more than an year since I last did some serious WC flying.

Best, Raptor

 

[beergod]

im still pissed that the littenia didnt take out half the fleet in some mad border worlds suicide charge , then again it seems like every ship is doing that so whats the point? although it would be interesting if the littenia made a made a reappearance and saved a battle by showing up just in the nick of time (can you say Max Kruger?)

 

[NeoDevilbane]

Landreich

I personally, both as an HTL writer & reader of everbody else's stuff, would like to see an appearance by the Free Republic of Landreich in HTL. One would think the Landreich Republic & the fledgling Union of Border Worlds would be good buddies. Maybe the Free Republic of Landreich Navy could spare a few ships, courtesy of Kruger...?

- Neo