Where the Krunkalo Roam

I hate leaving the blog quiet like this so here’s another story fragment. Partially inspired by a random gun picture someone posted on Twitter.

Looks like something you hunt werewolves with.

 

Ky looked nervously at his friend. “Seiko, we gotta lift soon. Last chance to take a hand blaster or something with you.”

Seiko ears flickered slightly. “Mission parameters.” He said coldly. “No high tech or anything that could draw attention to me.”

“Yeah., yeah John Wayne not Bruce Wayne but dude?” Ky protested.

“Do I tell you how to fix a hyperdrive?” Seiko said harshly. “Don’t tell me how to ranger.”

Ky didn’t have an answer for that. He’d made his opinion on this mission quite clear the night before and he hadn’t been the only one completely baffled by Seiko’s choice of weapon.

This was first and foremost a reconnaissance mission. Although Seiko had been given authority to attempt a solo rescue if he saw an opening his first objective was to locate the hostage. This meant he was going to have to think more like a spy, than a soldier.

He’d settled on the revolver carbine mostly because it was the sort of weapon a down on his luck dinosaur-riding desperado would be carrying. However there were a number of other advantages.

First and foremost the primitive firearm wouldn’t stand out as an obvious military weapon. Some computerized security systems might not even recognize a ‘wheel gun’ as a firearm. Seiko had only the vaguest idea what sort of scanners or surveillance aircraft he might be facing and not looking important enough to shoot had proved to be a useful strategy in the past.

The second point was that a revolver type weapon would not jam even in a full strength “gremlin field.” Even in the event of misfire all Seiko would have to do was keep pulling the trigger. Not a huge deal but noone who had ever survived a gremlin field ambush forgot the experience.

The final point was that .357 magnum was very popular among the Fenririan mercenaries known to be operating on this world. So if things truly went to shit Seiko would at least have chance to resupply from captured ammo, before he went off in a blaze of glory.

Well if he was going to dress up like a space cowboy, he might as well act the part.

Pondering Space Bikers

\

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I’ve been even more scatter brained than usual.

I’ve also been playing a lot of Aurora 4X and watching the 90’s Justice League cartoons (which I missed at the time.)

As a result of this I’ve been reconsidering the closely related concepts of ‘Space Truckers’ “Space Truckstops’ and ‘Space Bikers’ and how I might be able to work them into a more pulprev friendly setting. The Breylandverse is out completely but upon further reflection I can slot space bikers into the Nekoverse at the very low end.

Besides travelling in a ‘space bike’ over interstellar distances is possibly the craziest pulpiest thing I can think of. So not having space bikers in what is  supposed to be a ‘fun’ setting is therefore a crime against pulp.

So how you get space bikes and why would anyone actually use one?

We need to give them clear advantages and drawbacks.

The first advantage is the simplest… space bikes are fast. In fact they are the second fastest way to send a message over interstellar distances making them vital for coordinating dispersed military campaigns. Even more so if you military force is operating on a tight budget and can’t use massive planetside FTL comm facilities. This creates a military and commercial purpose for space bikes and plants the seeds for a space biker culture to form.

Space bikes are also very small craft and able to operate planetside or from a very Spartan base. This means that they can operate at the fringes of the law.

How small? Well it turns out that the very high tech Hogg drive which powers the space bike is mass limited at around roughly eight tons. Which is still a decent size aircraft but not much for a space craft that requires interstellar range.

This means that every kilogram counts when building or refitting a space hog… and logically results in a great many “no fat chicks” jokes in space biker and space trucker culture. If you’re over the mass limit you can’t use the micro-wormhole function and are stuck in system until you lighten your load (often by dumping a few rounds of ordinance in the direction of your enemy.)

As for the Hogg drive itself. These devices are very valuable and require some very rare industrial technology to produce. In some sectors Hogg drives and Rigg drives (which power Space Trucks) are practically irreplaceable artifacts from the height of the Codteki Empire. The good news however is that these engines are very durable and long lasting. Even a badly worn and battered Hogg drive salvaged from an ancient battle field is still going to be worth building a space hog around.

So what about the space bikers? What roles do they fill? Often they find themselves working as low budget pirates, smugglers and discount mercenaries. A space bike is no match for a proper starfighter; even an advanced trainer is probably going to able to take on two or three space bikes. So this means that space bikers have to pick their fights very carefully. High tech but low end. Watching, waiting, scavenging but then when the time is right risking everything in one great gamble. Such as the life of a space biker gang.

Catgirls Needs Claws

Catgirls need claws: The standard weapons of the Nekoite militia.

Armies need equipment but what do you when you need to fight an interstellar guerrilla war and your army consists mostly of ninety pound catgirls?

What if resources are desperately scarce and you need to focus all of your high tech industry towards building up your space navy and keeping as many starfighters operational as near-humanly possible?

Well then one possible solution would be to mass produce low technology weapons copied from history and use those to equip your ground forces. Not an ideal solution but at least it’s a solution and the Nekoite Clans just so happen to have excellent records, blueprints and databases of a lot of Old Terra technology.

 

Lightweight, reliable and significantly better than nothing; the standard weapon of the nekoite militia is a folding stock copy of the M1 carbine.

https://infogalactic.com/info/M1_carbine

“The M1 carbine was also one of the most cost effective weapons used by the United States Military during World War II. At the beginning of World War II the average production cost for an M1 carbine was approximately $45, about half the cost of an M1 rifle at approximately $85 and about a fifth of the cost of a Thompson submachine gun at approximately $225. The .30 Carbine ammunition was also far cheaper to produce than the standard .30-06 ammunition; used less resources, was smaller, lighter, faster and easier to make. These were major factors in the United States Military decision to adopt the M1 carbine, especially when considering the vast numbers of weapons and ammunition manufactured and transported by the United States during World War II.”

Again the Nekoite clans are very lightly equipped and need weapons that can be mass produced while conserving high tech alloys and rare minerals. A 1940’s tech rifle requiring only a few basic computer assisted machine tools and some medium grade steel is for all practical purposes free. The only real cost is getting sufficient ammunition produced and distributed.

Officers and better equipped “Ranger units” are occasionally equipped with P90s or late model M-4s although that does complicate the ammunition situation. Ranger units are also going to have at least handful of laser or plasma weapons which can come as rather nasty surprise to an opponent who gets a little too dismissive of mere catgirls.

 

The next weapon is the M-79 grenade launcher. Why? Because why not? It also happens to be a very flexible weapon. Standard HE rounds are all fun and games but the nekoites have also developed a hollow charge HEAT “crackerjack” grenade that is just powerful enough to punch through a typical armored spacesuit. Again cost-effectiveness is the key. That said commando units can get their paws on some pretty exotic ammo of the mission is important enough.

https://infogalactic.com/info/M79_grenade_launcher

 

And then we have the panzerfaust. Yes it’s a direct copy of the WWII weapon. Well usually a direct copy… sometimes you get a special snowflake panzerfaust with a plasma core warhead but that’s strictly for fighting giant robots. Again the panzerfaust was chosen as a low tech weapon that could be ridiculously mass produced and handed out to anyone who needed one.

https://infogalactic.com/info/Panzerfaust

 

Nyan! Desu! Banzai!!!

https://infogalactic.com/info/Wakizashi

Well? What else would an army of catgirls carry as a sidearm? Besides if you’ll going to die for Holy Mother Terra you need to die with style as you take as many Face-Eating Giant Space Spiders with you as you can.

 

—Wolfman Out—

“I regret that I have but nine lives to give for my county. We’ll meet again in Meowhalla.” —Seiko

“Don’t be so negative, Bro. You got this.” — Ky’s response.

Well It’s a Start

To excited not to post this. Working title is To Seek A Glorious Death.

 

In hindsight perhaps telling the Anti-Human League to go pound sand hadn’t been the wisest of decisions but the Don’sora system was too valuable a piece of real estate to not give up without a fight. Besides if the Armed Forces of Humanity in Exile were ever going to retake Sol they needed to make a stand somewhere and this was as good a place as any. The problem was that it was very likely to be a last stand.

“Tell me Karika, what do you think of our chances?” General Fletcher asked the alien mercenary standing next to him.

The codteki seemed confused by the question. “This battle is unexpected and our enemy has been taken off guard. It is doubtful that any of their planners would have foreseen the need to prepare for a full scale planetary invasion. Too long have they feasted on unworthy prey.”

“We’re hardly prepared ourselves…”

The codteki turned to face the general in a sudden motion that was frighteningly uncanny even after all the years Fletcher has spent around members of his race. “Do not discount the conviction of our warriors or the sharpness of our claws. On this battleground we shall fight for victory and not merely for a glorious death.”

The human was stunned for a moment. The Free Terrans were only a fraction of the Coalition Forces holding Rylis spaceport, yet the burden of command had fallen to him for almost symbolic reasons. “This seems like a strange place.”

“So was a place called The Alamo.” The alien replied.

Fletcher didn’t let the surprise show on his face but his heart raced at the reference. If the codteki had studied human history that thoroughly… He let the thought go. That was something for another time. ”A moral victory, a hill to die on.”

“Let the Enemy come and we shall see who will do the dying.” Karika replied before turning and walking away. “God stands with us. It matters not what stands before us.”

A Quick Checklist

The PulpRev crowd has been a very bad influence on me.

This is mostly at the brainstorm stage but I’ve been thinking about how cram all of the following into a single battle. Definitely keeping Rawle Nyanzi’s recent articles about romantic weapons in mind here.

 

-Swords (Katanas included)

-Tanks

-Flamethrowers

-Starfighters

-Interstellar cruise missiles

-Giant Fucking Robots!!!

Super Heavy Combat Walker: Callsign “Big Stompy”

-Catgirls

-Powered Armor

-Combat Hovercraft

-Kaiju “Bio-Titans”

-Dinosaurs

-Submarines In Space “Subphase ships”

 

Optional: These are in the maybe section.

Psychics

Dragons

Cyborg Alien Bear Gangster*

Wolfgirls

Deus Vult

Motorcycles

 

*Not sure if this character will be present. I’d have a hard time justifying him getting stuck in the middle of a planetary invasion. He’s usually pretty good at avoiding those sorts of sticky situations.

Nerdlife Five: Just Here For the Catgirls

Nerdlife Five: Just Here For the Catgirls.

Sort of rushing this one but I have enough links for a post and I’m too caffeinated to sleep.

Quick fictional interlude: No idea where I’m going with this…

Zeps or (zeproru in Codteki) were difficult to describe in Terran biology terms. Seiko kept thinking of them as horse-dog-lizard-things. The nekoites had never figured out what planet the zeps came from or even if they were a natural creature at all or perhaps rather a genetically engineered animal creation of a distant alien race still completely unknown to the clans. The strange mammal-like reptiles had quickly become the low tech mount of choice on the rare niche occasions that such animals were called for. Zeps were intelligent, easily trainable and able to eat plants from a half dozen protein profiles. In addition they were tough, loyal to their handlers and had a nasty enough bite to fend off most local predators but their best trait (from the nekoite perspective) was that unlike Earth-horses, they responded well to being cryogenically frozen and could safely be put in storage aboard starships until needed planetside.

Of course getting them off the spaceship wasn’t always easy.

“Come on Fluffy. Easy does it,” Seiko crooned as he tried to lead the confused creature down the offramp.

 

World Building: Gas giants and habitable moons

Lot of heavy geek math here but still a fun watch for us soft scifi plebs.

 

Yakov Merkin on why the Pulp Revolution will win.

https://yakovmerkin.com/2017/06/16/why-the-pulprevolution-will-win/

 

Important piece of history

Here… fishy, fishy.

 

It’s big beautiful world full of wonder and surprise.

 

Treas… errr… Reason Magazine goes over Gary Gygax’s FBI records.

https://reason.com/blog/2017/06/15/dd-creator-gary-gygaxs-fbi-records-make

 

Skiltron Bagpipes of War

Starts a little slow but this one’s worth the wait.

 

Bradford Walker discusses the principle of simplicity in gaming. He uses WoW as his main example but then applies the same principles to tabletop gaming.

https://bradfordcwalker.blogspot.ca/2017/06/revealed-preferences-in-gaming.html?spref=tw

I do see some of this while say playing Aurora 4x (which is about as complicated a game as there is.) Fighters in Aurora are very effective, and extremely cost efficient but I don’t use them because it’s too much micromanagement and I’d rather focus my efforts elsewhere. Player attention span is also a resource in 4x games.

Steampunk Author and airship mechanic Jon Del Arroz on character voices and dialogue.

http://delarroz.com/?p=1136

 

JimFear138 makes an compiling argument that Manowar is THE band of the Pulp Revolution.

http://jimfear138.blogspot.com/2017/04/manowar-is-pulp.html

“In much the same fashion, Manowar came out with a specific mission. They were going to play HEAVY METAL, they were going to sing about whatever the fuck they wanted, they were going to play fast and loud, and anyone who had shit to say about it could get fucked.”

 

Electric Cars bad for the environment?

https://theoldcontinent.eu/electric-cars/

 

Seems legit.