1stLt_awol

Welcome/Bienvenu dans la communauté

Welcome to the Star-Square
 
A Watering hole for the players of the galaxy. 
 
This is simpel interaction roleplay, sit in a corner, get drunk, argue, and remmber have fun.
 
"this is not serious rp, though some serious is welcomed by the most serius roleplayers, All actions are diced rolled- higher dices equal higher chance, positions are all up for grabs- try though to stay within you choosen faction, everyone is human- only actions hinted in the game is allowed to be used- no superpowers, new rules will be added as deamed approiet, anyone can join- either going into the bar or already sitting in it"
 
 

A lot of things are under construction. The Lore is no exception.
Join us in this section to talk about the storyline, to give your feedback and/or make some suggestions about what has already been uncovered of the storyline.
 
Stay tuned as we are currently working on the game world bible

You confuse automation with artifical intelligence - like most people unfamiliar with the tertms tend to also confuse "carbine" and "rifle". 

Automation is me doing a flip-and-burn by pressing one button.

A.I. would be for me to do nothing while my ship does all the flying for me on its own on a loop.


Lua is used to make macrocommands - macro, greek word for "long" or "vast". Lua is there to perform REALLY complicated tasks for you, not for you to not need to do anything at all.

Stop asking for crap like that.

Also, the LORE is pretty clear why A.I. are not liked in DU's universe. People in that timeline of events had seen A.I. taking every aspect of their lives away and due to the A.I. not going Papa Skynet's way, they were lucky and it didn't rebel.

In fact, Aphelia (the Novark A.I.) has tha greek word for its name that means "Naivety". Take what you will out of the A.I's name, prolly they coded it to nmaive, cause naive people are spinless and are incapable of acting in a cunning way, or lack any paranoia to be subtle. There is an ancient greek saying, "aphelis osan moron". Yes, that "moron", it's the same "moron" used today, which refers to people who think like babies and the phrase literally means "naive like baby". There is a common-day phrase that has usurped that phrase of antiquity. "I wasn't born yesterday", or, you can say that Aphelia is just a "moron" that "was born yesterday" that will do whatever you ask of her, like, train you with ways to murder people or save your bacon when you die - regardless if you are a known serial killier or not.

I know, that's some heavy philosophical shit.

Before starting to read the Lore Bible, here are three things to keep in mind:
 
- Some names and acronyms (put between brackets) in the texts below are still temporary names/placeholders. The final names will be decided in the following days. The update will be announced on the forum and on the social media. We don't want to keep these names, for different reasons varying for each case. Once in its final version, it will be published on the Community Wiki hosted by Gamepedia in a more structured way.
 
- It was a difficult decision but we have to consider that some parts of the short story written by Alain Damasio will be modified or removed. We all agree in the team that Alain Damasio has made a short story of the highest quality, but this short story was written more than a year ago (July 2015) and at that time, too many points regarding the game universe were unclear or undecided. With all the recent additions to the Lore Bible (those released today publicly and those which remain hidden as "secrets" for the time being), it generated some inconsistencies difficult to solve. We tried to find solutions or workarounds, without success. Some points were also not possible to represent in-game, gameplay wise. While the short story will be updated in the near future to fit with the current Lore Bible, in the meantime here are the specific points from the short story you should not take into account when writing a Fan Fiction for Dual Universe (if you want it to be eligible for being integrated to the official backstory of the game, of course. If not, you are not bind to such limitation).
Unfortunately, Sohan Decker is not a member of the Alpha Team, as he woke up just a few weeks before the Arkship landing on Alioth and do not participate in the neural simulation that will take place more than a year and a half before the landing. Aphelia memory must have had a glitch when talking to Sohan for the first time. When approaching some Kyrium, the matter doesn't reflect human faces aging or growing younger. Sohan Decker has probably some hallucinations, a possible side-effect of the long cryogenic sleep. While probably convinced of it, Sohan Decker didn't communicate with an invisible entity by using elements and he didn't get some schematics of a high-performance reactor in Kyrium as a reward. The proof? When asked to show it, he's not able to find it anywhere! Poor Sohan. Probably another hallucination. Cryogenic sleep seems to have a lasting side effect on him.  
- The Novaquark might slightly change the Lore Bible over time, but we will try to keep those changes to a minimum, to ensure that it doesn't contradict fanfictions that have been already integrated to the official lore. These changes will occur mainly when an inconstancy is discovered in the official lore. And in this regard, we count on your feedback to track down every little detail that might seem inconsistent (some details may be awkward on purpose though ). As always, we remain open to your feedback on the Official Lore. Let us know what you think about it!
 
That being said... Happy reading!
 
 
  Dual Universe Lore     Dual Universe takes place about 10.000 years after the Grand Exodus when humanity left the Earth to establish itself in new star systems. The information below is meant to help answer the most common questions about the game environment and try to set the general framework where fan fiction can be written.     Main historical dates     2027: Discovery of the doomsday Neutron Star that is heading towards the Earth. Collision will happen in 498 years. There are margins of error, so we don’t yet know if it means annihilation or simply major disruption in the solar system’s planets, but the end result is the same: the Earth will not be able to host humanity anymore. The event is nicknamed the [“Star Kiss of Death”], or [SKiD]. It’s basically the Armageddon.   2049: Creation of the United Earth Federation (UEF), a transnational institution in charge of coordinating humanity’s efforts and response to the SKiD. After concluding there was no hope to save Earth, the “Rebirth Program” is launched to analyze possible responses and escape strategies. New measures are voted to encourage natality in the population, to fight against a nihilist movement that advocates a “no future” philosophy and maintain a sufficient level of humans in the long run to fuel the Rebirth Project’s considerable needs.   2084: Better measurements have narrowed the margin of error. We are now certain that the neutron star will hit our solar system, and will actually collide with the Sun, turning into a black hole that will ultimately swallow or eject into deep space all the planets, Earth included. There is no hope anymore. Major funding is directed towards the Rebirth Program. All nation states must contribute at least 20% of their resources   2100: Mankind is entering a new era where robotics and AI have profoundly transformed society. Work as we know it has long disappeared, and social influence has replaced money as the currency of value. People do not “work” anymore, they have “activities” that can get them socially recognized. Money is still used, via a Universal Revenue, mainly as a way to control the scarcity in production, and balance the availability of goods against their rarity.   2130: AI have reached a threshold of global sentience. It is active in political, economic and social debates, and, while its benefits are recognized because it allowed the transition to the post-work era, more and more concern is raised about the sentient aspect and the potentially uncontrollable dimension of the AI agenda. Irrational fear rises. The AIs try to reassure the population that they have no rational reason to threaten humanity, but it only increases the level of suspicion within society.   2145: Massive rebellions all around the world signals the end of sentient AI, introducing a permanent universal ban on this technology, enforced by the very powerful UEF. Against all expectations, sentient AIs accept this and willingly shut down without any form of violent action.   2150: Society is reorganizing itself, as many “jobs” that needed sentient-level AI (surprisingly many, including low skill manual work), are once again left to humans to perform. Robots, in general, are banned also, as most of them required sentient-level AI to function properly. Early attempts at designing automated non-sentient robots all failed in the late 21st century, as it was discovered that sentience was a necessary byproduct of any sufficiently sophisticated AI for it to be able to interact with a complex world.   2200: A major summit of the UEF signals the alarming lack of progress on project Rebirth at the dawn of the 23rd century. Debates continue for years afterward about priorities, what technology to use to build Arkships that could help evacuate Earth, who would be eligible if we cannot host the 3 billion people still in the current population.   2200-2400: Major political events keep slowing down humanity and the UEF in its attempts to advance the technologies needed to build functional Arkships. Many wars, economic crisis, and nihilist terrorism are plaguing the progress.     2400: A period of calm and peace opens up. Major progress is suddenly made in the technologies needed to build the Arkships. Some are scheduled to be built within the next decade.   2440: Several key technologies are unlocked: cryosleep modules, nanoforming technology, nanopack condensers, resurrection nodes (it is unfortunately too late to use this to save humanity, as we would need to install billions of them out of the solar system, on a hospitable planet. There is not enough time for this).   2450: The Arkship technology is now mastered. Mass production begins. The race is on to produce as many as possible.   2500: Terrifying high-resolution images of the neutron star are provided by our most powerful telescopes. Riots break out all around the world over the selection process that dictates who gets to board the Arkships. The process was created by a scientific committee from the UEF, aimed at gathering the maximal amount of genetic diversity, plus a lottery to offset the fact that not everybody could go. Massive euthanasia programs were organized for those who had to stay, in order to provide them with a painless death at the time of their choosing.   2510-2536: The first Arkships leave Earth. Each Arkship is heading towards a particular part of the galaxy. One of them, the Novark, is heading towards the Scutum-Centaurus arm.   2538: The neutron star annihilates the solar system. Arkships are on their way, heading towards different regions of the galaxy.   12477: The Novark arrives on Alioth with a mighty thud as it deploys itself into the planet surface. From afar the planet shows many similarities to that of Earth, a blue and green marble sitting in the goldilocks zone of its star. Large continents surrounded by equally large oceans define the planet's appearance. Mountain ranges suggest continental drift, and large forests have taken hold over most of the planet. Primitive lifeforms are abundant. There are no obvious signs of advanced lifeforms.   Year 0 after arrival (0 AA): It will be your turn to write History in-game.     The world in 2500     In the century that preceded the Grand Exodus, the Earth’s population had dropped considerably, down to something less than 1 billion people. The “no future” movement had gained a considerable momentum. people were simply trying to tend to their immediate needs; losing any vision for the future or any concern for the consequences of their actions. Natality had dropped to an all-time low, crime had been continuously rising, and nation-states, as we know them, had long disappeared.    The UEF was the last large-scale social structure still holding, among a myriad of medium to small sized city-states. UEF representatives and offices, research centers, production units, etc, were scattered all around the world within the largest city-states. The UEF’s role now extended far beyond its initial goals, including a feared and powerful armed force to maintain order and ensure that the proper funding was collected from all city-states, in order to fuel the Rebirth Program.   A global language shared by all people on the planet started to emerge at the end of the 21st century. By the end of the 22nd century, almost everyone was speaking at least two languages: the global language (the “common”) and their local native language, each city-state having somehow evolved a variant from their original country’s language.     Economy     During the first half of the 21st century, the Internet quickly decentralized the economy, removing intermediaries and frictions. Anyone was able to open their own marketplace online, with powerful central aggregators to help integrate available offers. This was both true of goods and services. This highly distributed model of economy stood the test of time, both during the sentient AI era, and even after, up until the last century.   One of the main challenges of the last century, after the city-states model had become the norm, was logistics. Transporting goods over long distances carried the risk of being attacked by pirate hordes living outside of the city-states. The UEF and other independent security groups were in charge of ensuring protection, but still, the risk made inter-city trade dangerous, and local markets were the preferred method for basic commerce.   A global currency, the [U2] [(Universal Unit)], is installed by the UEF at the beginning of the 22nd century. It has acquired a growing support over the years and is still used as a reference currency on Alioth to help organize the exchanges of goods and services between colonists.     Culture & Society     At the moment of the Grand Exodus, humanity, and more precisely the UEF, was divided into four main political movements, essentially different from each other in the way they decided to answer one simple fundamental question: what is the main driving force in the development of humanity? Behind this question lies the promise of a political agenda on how to best rebuild civilization after the Grand Exodus and where to put priorities.   The [Luminous] are the first group. They consider the main driving force to be knowledge and wisdom. They value science, industry, and technology as the main sources of progress, and were heavily involved in the Rebirth Program, which led to the construction of the Arkships. They are, of course, very much respected for this even if some may criticize them for their all too rational take on things.   The Alphas are the second group. For them, the main driving force is, well, … force. They believe that people will respond mostly to strength and balance of power. They favor military action as a way to control and orient the evolution of the world in an attempt to avoid chaos and prevent instability. Their intentions are good, but they often fall to scandals involved with their expeditious way of handling subtle situations.   The [Ethereans] constitute the third group. They believe in the power of culture and arts. For them, humanity needs to be driven by dreams, beauty, and ideals before anything else. This is what gives us meaning. They are not against more practical endeavors but like to see these activities as a way to expand and support their vision. They have many supporters but are also often criticized for their lack of pragmatic action.   The [Emporium] is the final group. They believe in the power of money and commerce. They think that this has been the life and blood of human societies for millennia and, even if they will gladly regret it in private, they think this is nevertheless what gets the job done and can really set people in motion. Some point to them as a cause of an ever greater inequality, but they know how to silence critics and make people happy.   None of these movements are inherently good or bad, they all value human life and sincerely want to help drive humanity to success again.     Science & Technology     After the early 2400 years, science and technology suddenly advanced very rapidly. Incredible innovation occurred, becoming the foundation of the industrial, societal and economical program of Project Rebirth. Here are some of the most prominent breakthrough:   Nano fields: an expected advance in theoretical physics led to the discovery of a new force in nature, called the nano force due to its scale, that allows the fine control of the molecular dynamics of matter with incredible precision using high-frequency nano fields. Nano fields can be focused and modulated in a very precise way to destructure, collect or deploy and assemble matter in a short range radius. This is the core technology that gave birth to the nanoformer that every colonist is now equipped with.   Calabi-Yau Compactification: the science behind CYC has been inexplicably lost in the Arkship archives. It is the technology that powers nanopacks, which are extra small containers (that colonists wear on their suit), capable of amazing volume and weight reductions of almost anything contained in them. All we know is that it seems to work based on the possibility of storing matter within the extra dimensions of space-time allowed by String Theory, inside what is called the Calabi-Yau space. The exact science and understanding behind them have been lost and attempts at reverse engineering have all failed. Due to the limited number of Nanopacks available and their considerable value, further attempts to reverse engineer them are discouraged.   Nano fields displacement: this is a direct application of nano fields, used to collect, store and maintain matter within containers. The matter constituting objects is analyzed and de-structured first then stored using stable nano fields and can then be retrieved later via a reverse process that reconstructs the original object. Unlike with CYC, only limited volume gain can be obtained, and no weight reduction is possible.   Nano 3D printing: based again on the versatile nano fields, advanced 3D printers became possible. They are capable to assemble matter from reservoir sources to build small sized technological parts; from electronic to industrial units. Coupled to the automated assembly, this quickly became the basis of the industrial chain.   Quantum branching: Quantum Branching is at the heart of the Resurrection Node technology and is based on the “Many Worlds Interpretation” of quantum mechanics. At any moment, in particular, when you die violently, several versions of the universe coexist in parallel. Scientists working on EPR pair experiments unexpectedly found a way to instantly switch one universe with another, and in particular to switch the universe where you die with another one where everything would be exactly the same, except that your body position would be inside a Resurrection Node. The amount of matter to switch increases the energy cost of the operation, so RN teleport only the minimal set of mass to get the desired effect, which is... your naked body. A Resurrection Node is paired with your body and cannot be used by somebody else. It will make you virtually immortal, even if natural aging will probably get you out of the loop at some point.   Propulsion Engines: the conquest and exploration of the arrival star system, as well as nearby other stars, is a clear objective of the UEF for each arkship colony. Several engine technologies have been perfected as part of the Rebirth Program to allow for various flight modes, either within the atmosphere or in space. Warp drive technology was near completion and should become available a few years after the arrival, and even stargate instant transport has been sketched as a not too distant possibility but was unfortunately still not available at the time of the Grand Exodus. Warp drive speed is believed to be in the range of 100 times the speed of light, while super warp probes, that could be used to seed stargates, could reach up to 10.000 times the speed of light Making it possible to cross the entire galaxy in just 10 years.      Environment & Alioth     Alioth is a rocky planet orbiting a yellow dwarf star, very similar to the Sun. It has been selected due to its very similar Earth-like environment, including oceans, forests, mountains, and lakes. It has a moderate fauna and flora. The temperature during the day is similar to what can be found on Earth, but nights can be extremely cold.   The planet underground contains all the usual materials needed for basic industry, but more rare resources may have to be later harvested from one of Alioth’s three moons, or even from more distant planets in the system.   The planet day/night cycle is only 5 hours, and its weather pattern is relatively stable. Overall, Alioth is a very life-friendly planet, carefully chosen to facilitate the starting years of colonists.     The Arkship     The Arkships are a marvel of technology. They can host millions of people in cryosleep for extended periods of time. Made out of Kyrium, they can sustain incredible amounts of deceleration or acceleration, and absorb the corresponding crushing forces for whatever stand inside them. The origin of Kyrium is not well documented, and it seems that the material cannot be produced from a known industrial process, but has probably been found during some mining operations within the solar system.   Designed to travel close to the speed of light for extended periods, the Arkship engines are also not part of the colonist UEF documentation and no assembly schema could be found within the archives. There is much debate over why the UEF would intentionally withdraw such potentially useful information.    Each Arkship is controlled by a proto-sentient AI that was allowed to be built against the very strong UEF AI ban because it was argued that it would have been to hazardous to let the fate of humanity rest with dumb automatic machinery that would possibly not be able to react to unexpected situations. While being an exception to the AI ban rule, the onboard AI is still however not allowed to take control of any machinery or robot beside the Arkship itself. The Novark AI is called “Aphelia”.   Once on approach to the destination planet, the Arkship is designed to literally “plant” itself into the planet, to allow the deployment of deep geothermal energy collectors that should sustain the ship functions for potentially unlimited amounts of time. One of the key functions of the ship once arrived, is to deploy a 20km radius safe zone area where colonist would be free from any form of aggression from the outside, or… from themselves. It was indeed decided that the potentially violent nature of mankind under stressful situations should be mitigated with appropriate supervision. Within the safe zone, Aphelia is in charge of maintaining order and providing support and information to colonists.   Regrettably, one known consequence of prolonged cryosleep periods is that the subject will suffer from a loss of episodic memory, as well as most high-level cognitive memory like expertise, skills or know-how. To mitigate this side-effect, the Arkship archive contains large data banks that are transferable to colonists via a wireless data transfer process involving brain implants capable of stimulating neural activity. The process is slow and can take days for the most advanced skills, but is an effective way to re-enable lost knowledge for long time space travelers.   The Arkship extreme energy efficiency, designed to allow the ship to travel for millennia, forced trade-offs on what could be embarked in order to minimize the total mass, and of course, human bodies were preferred over any other “mass”. For this reason, and because nano 3D printing would make it possible to easily rebuild them, no ship or industrial machine was included inside the Arkships’ cargo. Humanity would have to rebuild civilization from scratch. A large set of Resurrection Nodes tuned to each registered colonist where however installed inside the Arkship to avoid any loss of precious life once arrived on the destination planet. For these reasons, the inside of the Arkship, besides the propulsion machinery, is mostly occupied by cryosleep pods, as well as Resurrection Nodes.     Alpha Team     While most of the Arkship passengers will wake up after the Arkship landing, a few thousand among them become half awakened between a few years and a few weeks before the arrival: the Alpha Team. While their bodies are still asleep, their brains are awakened and connected to an advanced neural/computer network that immerses them collectively within a virtual reality that is meant to simulate their first steps on the destination planet, for education and testing purposes.   During this simulation, of course, nobody can die (this represents the Alpha phase in-game). They are given easier access to certain resources in order to help them experience various stages of the tasks they will have to face in real life when arrived. The Alpha Team will then be in charge of guiding newcomers and helping to bootstrap the first months of civilization rebuilding on the destination planet.     Mysteries     The cryosleep memory loss side effect and the apparently incomplete archive has given birth to several mysteries for which colonists have developed many “theories”:   Kyrium is an absolute mystery. Nothing is available in the Arkship archives about its nature, how it was found, how to create it or even manipulate it. No colonist have the slightest memory about the Kyrium. If Aphelia is asked for information on Kyrium, the Novark’s AI will just give an elusive answer, explaining its lack of information as memory loss. Obviously, this is not a satisfying answer.
  Aphelia is in charge of the Novark and the well-being of all the passengers. She seems as caring as invasive in the private life of the colonists. While she doesn’t seem brutal, hostile or coercive by default, her behavior is perceived as if she monitors every action of each human that has been aboard the Novark. She also seems to avoid disclosing information on some specific topics - at least that’s the feeling of some passengers - despite the fact she always says if she doesn’t give a satisfying answer, it’s because the answer is beyond its capabilities. For these two reasons, many colonists think the AI is not trustworthy. Aphelia seems to have incredible defenses against hacking, far higher than anything the most experienced colonists in hacking have ever seen, reinforcing the feeling that the AI might hide a lot of things. The Arkship light speed engine is completely undocumented. No schema is available to rebuild one using 3D nano-printing, or by any other means.
  There seems to be no trace of the records pointing to the destination of the other Arkships within the galaxy.  
 
 
Best Regards,
The Novaquark Team

Yeah, I mean, sure, but... why would anyone make it illegal IN the game? They would be like potions or elixirs in any other MMORPG. Why would smugglers need to be in check? 


Best case scenario, a big corporation makes a lot of them, makes money, buys more army than any other faction and pulverises any competition and the game is turned to JUAREZ Universe and we all play as space drug-lords and hustlers.


Organisations? Nah, call them Cartels, turn legates to O.Gs and call the admins "The Feds".


I hope the composer for the music in-game has a really goood sense of hip-hop music, cause Space-Cadillac ain't playin' no techno yo. If it ain't Strait Outta Arkship, it ain't cool yo.

TLDR: I hope to see systems that support a heavier & immersive base of RP.
Note, no idea if this is the right place to post it.
 
The RP I speak of:
Classic RP, with /emotive and in /say Text basis with simple D&D rolls on aspects. 
 
The back bone:
So in a lot of games in the recent RP is often pushed aside, and often the community is the group that has to pull together to make a proper RP collective. - External Websites and such to unit RP under one banner and so on, choose a RP Hub... and so on so forth.
 
So what I hope is that the systems in place will be there to also not only have the gameplay fun but detail more RP aspects, in an Optional manner... 
With In-game support for the RP community, like a few details where everyone can add in details, like a status, Character looks, history and any other details the writer chooses (Moderate the 18+ out if the developer has hands on with it. IE: no more "Warcraft goldshire effect")
 
Next is the group of people who think RPing is purely for fat people in their basements with no life, and their idea of fun is Killing and making fun of the RP community... I ask there be a form or reporting people for this annoyance, or immersive breaking... it is not fun when a group for example could be doing a escort mission and folks jump in that are NOT apart of planned RP events jumps in and kills everyone.
 
I am unsure of the gameplay so I can't assume as much, so please keep the small group of people who enjoy this aspect of games...
 
 
What I would be drooling over:
- Emotes for characters... - LOTS OF THEM! different sitting styles to different walking ways, things that define characters.
- Creative clothing choices and crafting where we can edit clothing, attack bags or belts to clothing with drag and snap on way...
- in-depth character creators... Something like Black Desert online... 
- A detail chat system, and RP addon tools... Like above a Character sheet to add in character details. *nod* (For non Rpers It can be used to add their achievements or a Fraction Alignment.
- Knowing cosmetics COULD be a buy on the store, keep in mind, should be at least decent looking clothing for non-store things.(assuming)
- A good tutorial base intro... A simple break down on RP, just to inform that people do these aspects and external link to forums to show a guide or so on.
- Knowing only a little there will be factions in the game, and RP community will be a buzz over it, to make it more detail could there be an In-game "data base" where you can see status of each person.. who is on the "Kill list" or something like that, with the about and history of the character is there to be seen... the Current status can be locked to when you meet the character...
This can be interesting as factions war and you have bounty hunters where you can 'give a usb' to the hunter with the details your character knows about X to hunt...
 
 
I hope some of this helps in some way!
Ask questions..
- Li Li 

The Tortuga City building contest for Pre Alpha has concluded and the winners are Kurock, Agilolfing, Captain Hilts, Lau2356, and Sunrider. They will be the first among many to help layout the final layout and design for Tortuga City. Keep an eye out for future events from Tortuga City as we begin to flesh out roles of administration as required throughout testing.
 
This project has come a long way since its inception, with a community already beginning to flourish on Discord. Why not come join in on the fun and help make a badass home for yourself?
 

The Tortuga building contest is still on !
Take part on our contest at ::pos{0,21,26.0129,-116.5499,0.0000} on moon Mizar !

DM me in discord to participate
 

Semper Fi!
 

NovaQuark answered one of my questions on Twitter a few moments ago.
 
In response to my question, "Could we get any hints as to what version of LUA is going to be used? 5.2 or 5.3?"

The answer was, "5.3.1"
 
https://twitter.com/dualuniverse/status/817074404169515008

First, and most importantly, this isn't an official NovaQuark project, and I don't have any idea what the interfaces in the actual game will look like, I'm basing most of this off of the LUA Dev blog and my knowledge of how C/C++ bindings are exposed to LUA. If they want me to change the name of this I'll be happy to. Secondly, I have no idea where this topic belongs so I'm posting it here in General. I think we need a programming-related subforum but that likely won't happen until Alpha at the soonest. 
 
 
Over the Holidays I was thinking about tools I could work on now that might be of some interest to people out there. Things like a ship crew scheduling app, a wiki for programmers, a timeline site keeping track of DU events, a ship delivery scheduling utility, etc. Ultimately, however, I kept coming back to this idea, as it would help me while learning a new language for my job and it would help people who don't know much about LUA (or programming in general) start to wrap their head around what it might be like in DU (as well as help some of those AI-projects out there). 
 
 
I came up with the idea to create a Core Unit "Emulator" as a standalone web service that people can target with LUA scripts. 
 
I'll try to explain what this looks like... 
 
A programmer would set up LUA on their computer, install the LUA sockets module, as well as copy a piece of code into their own projects that would bootstrap them into being able to communicate with a server over the net.
 
From there, function calls into an object would act as calls to a "Core Unit", which under the hood would really just be some socket communications going on to a server doing all of the actual work. 
 
From the perspective of a programmer, they get access to various details about a ship (speed, velocity, pitch, yaw, rotation, etc) that they have to adjust to meet a set of parameters (per round) after a simulation is run. So your scripts would have to account for things like losing an engine, running low on fuel, turbulence, etc. and ultimately get the ship into a given set of passing parameters within a given period of time. 
 
Alternatively, I could write a standalone program that you use to run your scripts against, it doesn't particularly matter to me if it's a remote service or not. 
 
 
 
How does this help new programmers? It would give the ability for people to try writing LUA in a way that resembles what LUA programming in games is actually like. 
 
It won't be what Dual Universe is exactly like, none of us have the ability to write something like that because we can't know what the interfaces actually are. However, it will give you enough experience in LUA to be able to adapt what you learn very quickly. Ultimately it comes down to having a set of elements giving you information via function calls, processing that information, and being able to do things with said elements via other function calls. If you can get around that basic concept then you'll be in a much better position overall. 
 
 
 
 
It would give people an excuse to start learning LUA now, but it won't be very "fun" or realistic, and you'd have to use it knowing that it's not like Dual Universe at all. There probably wouldn't really be graphics either, you'd be flying by sensors only... 
 
I'd even love some help building it on the server side, which I'm currently doing in Golang because I have to learn it for my job. It's not super difficult to program in, but it would certainly be cool to have a helping hand on programming the actual physics side of things. I just don't want to do it all myself, although things like this tend to go that way. 
 
All in all, I'd be willing to help people learn LUA along the way as well, provided you have some knowledge about computers already. You could easily take what you learn and apply it to other games that are scripted through LUA as well (WoW is one of them). 
 
 
Who would be interested in even using something like this?
 
 
I guess I should make a video explaining all of this, as this wall of text is probably too verbose. 

I would like to give my acceptance speech, to reassure all the members who may be worried by the sudden transition of power. This is not a time to be divided, but a time to come together. Mmmtheboss worked hard as your leader, and we all owe him our thanks for his hard work, for laying the foundation, but just as the scaffolding for a building is different than the structure of its foundation, so too must the future of The Void Republic be different than its past! The people have spoken and it is time for new leadership! A new administration! 
 
 
 
Of course, being as I am still first and foremost dedicated to my other responsibilities, there are going to be some changes around here to bring The Void Republic in line with the greater community. Policy changes, position reshuffling, the works. This will only be beneficial to the citizens of the Void Republic.
 
People of The Void Republic, you have been let down by your leaders. For too long, they have betrayed you and soiled your reputations. They have left your borders (and channels) open and unprotected, letting trolls and spies walk among you, belittling you and degrading your image and your self esteem. I will cast out the spies and push out the trolls. I will develop new propaganda and memes, so that when the enemy makes jokes, we can respond in kind, with pride and self-respect. I will repair the shattered reputation of The Void Republic and it's member groups. I will make the community respect us, respect all of you for your hard work. I have an amazing reputation in the community, really, it's just terrific. So I will make yours great, just fantastic.
 
We are going to build a space wall and make Terran Union pay for it! We are going to stop all our jobs from being outsourced to the Solar Empire, and put Void Republic citizens back to work! We are going to defeat the enemy! 
 
We are going to MAKE THE VOID REPUBLIC GREAT AGAIN!
 

Here are some banners that I put together for the discord server:
 

 
 

 

 
Here's some miscellaneous art that I added animation to (I didn't make the art, I just animated them):
 

 

 
 
Finally, this one is pretty large... It's concept art from Dual Universe that I added a bit of animation to.
 
 

(EDIT 30.05.17: Further development on the original proposal is suspended, as there were no players willing to join this kind of organization... But for reference I will not remove anything said in the original post)
(EDIT 28.12.17: After joining ODY, I'd still like to promote the core idea of this proposal. My new goal is to create separate standalone open-source-projects which are loosely inspired by AI, just without the whole organization idea. Players will be able to repurpose these programs for their own use. I only wish for my programs to assist players in their everyday DU activities. For more information refere to the new project list at the end of this post.)
 
================================================== Original Post ===================================================

Greetings,
Dual Universe is the perfect setting for a little social experiment. I love boundless sandbox games, like this one, as they really promote creative gameplay.
 
An often reoccurring theme in science fiction is the dream of a perfect society...
I strongly believe that the only way to get closer to that vision is to create an artificial intelligence especially dedicated to take all important governmental decisions of a society. All mistakes that happen in a society because of human errors could be prevented!
So what would be better opportunity to test this statement, than to actually play around with this idea in a game? Nothing can go wrong here!
As you might've guessed this is an organization proposal, even though I don't have a name yet. I think a sort of research institute would be quite fitting.
But this can be decided later by vote of the members. The name is actually not that important.
 
Most important is how the AI is actually going to work. The ultimate goal is that the decisions of the AI are as reasonable as the decisions a human leader makes. Luckily DU is still quite limited (relative to reality) according to the possible decisions an organization can make. Therefore only simple programs are needed to get to the "right" decisions.
Also important to note is that the purpose is not to micromanage everything the player does, but to only give high level supervision like a real government. So the players will still have private ownership and private sub-organizations e.g. a security service.
 
How it works
I've already set up a core framework for the AI based on a Discord Chatbot written in Python 3.5. A direct integration into DU will probably be very difficult as external programs are often used for cheating, and I hope NQ is well secured against this.
However some abstract information of the game given through Discord are all that's necessary to make reasonable decisions.
 
The easiest tasks for decision making are reactive decisions. In most cases there is only one correct reaction to a problem, which can be programmed by simple if/else statements.
 
In the following picture I've tried to visualize how several aspects of the game could be handled by the AI: (sorry for the plain appearance, it's only a placeholder which will be replaced with the actual features of the AI)

These are only some examples that came to my mind, and not necessarily the most important ones!
 
What I'm really eager to see is how the AI will manage more vague decision processes, e.g. who is a trustworthy ally and who not (like indicated in the 1st picture). This will no longer only be an If/Else decision. The AI will need to adapt its decisions based on previous experience (so called "reinforcement learning"). Therefore I integrated the machine learning library "tensorflow" which is basically the brain behind all Google AI projects. They actually just open sourced it last year! This library is probably a little overpowered for the current tasks, but I'm sure we will use it more in the future!
 
On the economic side the AI will automatically create jobs based on the needs of the organization and pay for every accomplished task.
Another important factor would be the spatial awareness and building functionalities. Buildings and infrastructure should be build using predefined blueprints and functionalities, so the AI knows exactly what infrastructure is available. To keep the program simple everything in the world is reduced to an object-type (e.g. city/ mine/ military outpost) which has specific attributes (e.g. storage capacity/ defense turrets/ position).
Each of this information has to be kept up-to-date by the players.
 
Security Issues
And in here lies a weak spot of this system. Our enemies and griefers will probably try to harm the AI by feeding it false-information, and thereby causing false reactions. So only trusted Members should have access to change critical information... However this will turn to a more and more time consuming task, as the overall information in DU continues to grow. Hopefully we'll find an alternative solution for this in the future.
 
The decisions regarding the further progress of this project will be made by the programmers which are participating in the development of the AI. We could form a sort of democratic "Coders Council" in game, which will also decide on matters where AI is not able to make meaningful decisions. However the AI will always be the official leader of this organization, also for roleplaying purposes.
 
Lore
Apropos roleplay: I created a little backstory that would fit quite well to the great DU lore. (read here: https://devblog.dualthegame.com/2016/11/16/official-lore-bible/ )
 
"During the anti-AI-riots in the year 2145 there were still people who supported the sentient AIs. A group of scientists thought the fear of AI was only caused by human ignorance of their thought-structure. Certainly the phenomenal advancements of the AIs were scary, and made them seem acting strange, but only because the humans could not catch up with their development.
During that time it was too late to stop this overhasty destruction of all AI. The scientists had to go underground and swear to rebuild AI, but this time without letting their mental abilities run out of control. They tried to hide forbidden AI technology, but the [UMF] soon discovered their hideouts and purged every bit of knowledge that was left. The whole mankind was under continuous oppression by the [UMF], right until the Great Exodus.
 
But even though all technology was lost, the idea survived. A few scientists of the secret society decided to found a research institute on Alioth dedicated to rebuild an AI from scratch. This time they would be more cautious. Even though they admire Aphelia as she is the only (proto) AI on Alioth, they also fear her because she might be programmed by the [UMF] to make sure the colonists will follow the AI ban that is officially still in place on Alioth." (to be continued)
 
 
Development Participation
This stuff has probably never been done before, so it's very likely that it might not work out as planned.
But if you like to develop your own AI, or you'd like to see a leader who is online 24/7    you should join us!
It's also no problem if you are already member of another organization. I uploaded the AI on GitHub as open source project, so you can use it for your own organization as well. I welcome everyone who is willing to contribute to the project:
https://github.com/CyberCrunch/DU_AI_Gov

I skipped a lot of details of the development, so if you want to know more feel free to contact me. Maybe it would be helpful to even open a new thread on this forum exclusively for the programming part.
I'm probably more into programming than into the actual playing, but I'm sure there are some like minded coders/engineers who would also like to see this happen!

I invite everyone to test out the AI on this public test server. Currently most functions are still placeholders, but you can try to do some Smalltalk with the AI.
The first thing that actually works is you can register yourself to its database, and the AI will remember you when the game launches.
Link removed!  (discord-bot has been shut down)
 
I've got the feeling this is already getting to long, so I'll try to update this section further while the project continues.
(EDIT 08.01.17: added overview)
Chatbot Feature Overview
 
Input Interfaces: Discord messages, Teamspeak PMs, Console commands, RSS feeds
Output Capabilities: Discord messages, Teamspeak Text-/Voice-chat
Economic Management: Keep track of resources, and assign players to specific tasks, according to their job-preference
Entertainment Features: Conversational Chatbot, TTS of the DU Lore, TTS of input text
 
 
(EDIT 28.12.17: Restructured Project List)
================================================== Project Overview ===================================================
Web interface for management of Dual Universe organizations:  https://github.com/CyberCrunch/DU_AI_Cloud
Dual Universe themed tts-chatbot to assist players ingame:   https://github.com/CyberCrunch/DU_AI_Adjutant
A post regarding these new projects will follow soon...

(introduction huh.. uh..)
 
Hi I am Levaritie! The great and all mighty and all powerfull keeper of knowlege..... waa I actualy said that, I want to crawl in a hole.
Wel actualy I am just a reader of fantasy novels. lately I have discovered the addiction that is light novels and web novels from japan.
 
I have been looking at this game for a few months now I believe since august I cant remember. since I pleged to the game I had to make a Account, wich lat me to the though "maybe I should introduce my self" so I figured why not. 
 
I am typicaly rather avoiding of crowded places, actualy any human being that has eyes.
But from time to time I to crave for social interaction at those times I can be quite fun to hang out with.
 
The rest of the time I am reading or either play games or write my own stories.
 
If one where to ask why did you plege for Dual Universe, wel I have have hopes for Dual Universe + space is cool.
 
I have emotional/psychological problems from time to time I refer to as "A meltdown" so if I dispear its probly that.
 
Thats about all you need to know about me I guess.
 
If it wasnt clear I like reading books.. so.. build libraries in your ships!
 
Uh.. Lets get along!

Well, given some people in here are not familiar with the Local Chat in EVE, I will explain real quick so you can understand.

Local Chat, is the chat in which you join upon entering a star system in EVE after a jump. That may seem non-important, when you realise the chat covers the entire star system. That means people can simply check Local and have advanced intel of your presence on the system before they can actually have a scan of your ship (which in Wormholes it's needed, since in Wormholes there's no Local Chat). Even in an invisible ship, you will still show up in the Local Chat.

Now, the arguement can be made that in EVE's universe humanity has colonised the star systems nad put up comm-arrays and all that. But in DU, it's not the case. So, here's my proposition.

Comm-Arrays, set up by a faction, enable a Local Chat within a cerrtain radius of them, with the Comm-Arrays acting as radars as well, meaning, that if you set up a Comm-Array, you got both comms for the masses that are not in your org's chat (like traders for example), with the org owning the Comm-Array acting as the adminstrator of said chat. I mean, if I want to be the Emperor, I must have a way to censor people within my Empire. I R ebil.

Said comm-arrays, of course, can only detect ships not cloaked, and cloaked ships, above a certain mass, will show up in the Local Chat, but not on the radar of the faction owning said comm-array, so no cloaked battleships sneaking up to comm-arrays.

A string of Comm-Arrays, that are interconnected, could even enable an entire star system to have a common chat room - which I guess most EVE veterans will find as a proper excuse for nuking at least ONE of those arrays to stop the scam-spam on said Local Chat in a trade-hub.

Beyond that, said arrays can act as an alarm, for when an enemy fleet arrives at your system, so your fleet can mobilise in time. Likewise, said enemy fleet may want to send forward a scout in a stealth-ship, to take down one Comm-Array by hacking it, in order for the fleet to arrive without being immediately detected. Every second counts on a blitzkrieg after all.

Furthermore, said arrays will need repair, which is an excellent reason to have jobs and duties like maintenance, with a monetary incentive for people to do said jobs, while factions would have a pretty good reason to pay high for such jobs.

One extra feature, could be for the Devs to have asteroids refresh high value minerals if no Comm-Arrays are present, with less and less quality asteroids refreshing on the system the more Comm-Arrays are present, thus creating the Risk / Reward nature of EVE's high-sec (ultra-safe systems), low-sec (relative safety system) and finally Null-Sec, which is pretty much the Australian outback.

Down the line, if NQ decides to add Sovereignity Towers for a faction to lay claim on a star system, said Comm-Arrays can be used for that, via an "upgrade" system, but that's just an afterthought.



Sorry for the long post, here's an astronaut potato :

Before Dual Universe I spent countless hours scouring the internet looking for -that- game. I think many other people know exactly what I'm talking about. -The- game that would tie you down and keep you immersed for hours, where you could live in a virtual world and be part of something bigger, where you could build your dreams and be part of a whole other universe. 
 
I was feeling rather down, depressed or sad take your pick, in the months before I learned about DU from E3. I was feeling kind of burnt out about things happening in projects I was involved in (I was a dev on Bitcoin Classic) and just generally was very mopey. I wasn't sure what else was going to come along that would suck me in and make me feel like I could contribute in any meaningful way. 
 
When I discovered DU I was ecstatic, and I don't think there was a grain of pessimism inside of me. As soon as I saw the trailer, as I'm sure others can attest to, I knew exactly what it meant for gaming as a whole (especially sandbox gaming) and I just knew what it was NovaQuark was attempting to create. 
 
I don't think I've been as happy in a long time, being part of DU Explorers, flying out to PAX to meet JC at the NQ booth, getting to be involved in various happenings here and there, everything Dual Universe has been a very positive experience in my life this year. 
 
 
 
Lately, I've been feeling down again. I don't know if it's because of the lack of interest in getting people to be on DU Explorers for another episode (we haven't had one in 3 weeks...) or if it's seasonal or something else entirely. I couldn't even bring myself to write anything for NovaWrimo with all the back and forth banter and arguments between different organizations. I'm just exhausted. 
 
I'm sure things will turn around here after the new year. Although, unless I can get another episode of DU Explorers together soon, I think I'm going to be taking a break from DU for a few weeks. 
 
 
 
Regardless of all of that, which are purely my own problems, I think the main purpose of this was for me to say thank you to NovaQuark and Happy Holidays to everyone there for everything that you're doing for us.
 
Even in these early stages of development, what you're doing has had a special impact on hundreds if not thousands of people. I don't think anyone here will disagree that you're doing something that has changed our lives forever.
 
Between all the new friends we've all made, and all of the excitement we've been able to be a part of (Kickstarter was a nerve-wracking blast), we've certainly come a long way and it feels like we're not that far away from actually being able to interact with each other in-game. 
 
 
 
Thank you NovaQuark. 

​Cops has been disbanded. Sorry for wasting your time. This was a lone decision by Kiklix and does not reflect the other legate lady astrum nor the members.
 
 
​The following are the answers to why COPS has been disbanded.
 
Drama:  Certain populous organizations and their legate have been concocting rumors about COPS. Legates from other some what populous organizations have made assumptions about COPS and presented these as facts. In every case these people are wrong and only serve to create drama. There is no reason for all the hate I have received and COPS has received. I am done 'playing' with a community full of children.
 
​EDIT: Removed this section due to clarification by Novaquark.
​
​​I would like to thank everyone who made the decision to join cops. I am sorry it could not pan out. I wish you all well, I wish Novaquark the best.
 

 
 
 
COPS - Coalition Of Pirates & Smugglers.   The arkships landed. We woke anew, scared, unsure. Groups formed, factions aligned. Power corrupted. For all the efforts to save our species, the millennia we traveled, we reverted almost instantly back to that old human nature. Not even extinction could change our habits, our instinct.   We have all been there. Watching and witnessing the mega-corporations metastasize and feed off the livelihood of the less fortunate. Class warfare, poverty, slavery...being forced to work by some clown sitting at the top of his ivory tower barking commands. I’ve had enough of it, most likely so have you. It’s time to break from those chains and live a free life. It ain’t easy, ain’t too much glory, but it’s honest (for the most part) and fair.  We are a coalition, a collaboration,  a consortium, a conspiracy, a communion,  a clan, a crew, a club, a confederation, a confederacy collecting cohorts connected, conjoined, combining efforts to be a free people, free from tyranny, terror and totalitarianism.       WHAT IT'S LIKE:   Ever want to pilot the Millenium Falcon? Ever dream to have a crew who works together like Firefly? You want to be that solo guy who searches for bounties like Boba Fett and his Slave I?   This is how we dream to play and we intend to play this way. However Dual may require efforts from a  larger group. If this is true, we just want to have a system in place so that people can come together to fullfill their visions. We want solo play, but under the safety net of a larger organization.     WHAT WE ARE NOT:   ​We are NOT GRIFERS. COPS are pirates, smugglers, outcasts, ninjas, mercenaries in the ROLE play sense, NOT in the griefing sense.  
THE BREAKDOWN:   • Enrollment: Some will get invited, some will inquire. If you want to be part of a free alliance just ask.
• Primary language: English and gibberish.
• Timezone: Only mega corps keep up with time.
• Goal:  Solo or co-op gameplay within a larger group. We all like to do our own thing, but somtimes you need to be part of something larger or you will get left behind.  
COPS is an organization created and designed to bring together like minded people who prefer to play solo without constraints of typical guild requirements (be here on X day, at Y time to raid Z...ya its tiresome).  We realize people have limited time to play and that real life takes place first. That being said, Dual Universe looks like this might be a game where cooperation and collaberation are keys to success. If we find this to be true, there might be more expected collaborative gamplay required. We don’t want to force anything on anyone, but just ask people to step up if it is required to do so.  In the end it’s not about making a large guild rich, its about making sure your needs are met, our mutal needs are met. We endevor to create an enviroment where co-op game play is actually fun and rewarding.    
SO WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?   • Security: Safety in numbers.
• Community: A network of people to work together with if so desired.
• Freedom: Free to play your way but with the undertanding that freedom requires effort and work. There will be times we need to work together, its the only way to keep an alliance strong.
• A Trade network. Not sure how Dual is going to work with trade, but within a group there will be communication lines. We will be able to trade with each other and help keep our alliance strong.
• Veteran ship builders: We have members who have crafted some of the finest voxel ships to ever exist.  Our fleet will impress, this I can promise.
• Veteran home builders: We have members who have crafted some of the finest voxel sci-fi mega structures to exist. Our home world wont look like a cut rate hostel.
• PVP: Lets face it, even if you only care for PVE, PVP might and will happen at some point. If you intend to fly in a ship, once you are out of the ark safe zone, pvp will happen. We intend to create smart ship designs that will help to ensure pvp victories, but you will need to know how to fly it.
• PVE: We know some people have no interest in PVP. Hopefully we can get a civilization started with trade, harvesters, crafters etc. It’s good to have folks who specialize in these categories.
• Exploring: It’s at the heart of Dual Universe, of course we will explore!
• If i can be done in Dual, we intend on experiencing that content in one way or another.  
GOVERNMENT:   Don’t really intend on having some massive over inflated group of power hungry people running the show. I have no interest in that, however there does need to be a head or some form. Castles have kings, homes have breadwinners. Even a pack of wolves looks to their Alpha. I intend on holding the main key of power or have it distributed among a very close group of friends. Those who know me know I fight tooth and nail for the little guy, for honesty and integrity. I have no intent on telling you how to play or what to do...but internal conflicts will occur and those will need to be resolved. We want everyone to be happy and to play together...its the best recipe for success. 
   
If COPS sounds like a style of gamplay that you find appealing, speak to Kiklix or LadyAstrum.
 

I came here for a solid read. A solid read I gotten.

OHHHH!

AI's are no one's friend on this planet, lol.

Another great piece of work - continue the story, it leaves us wondering in great suspense. . .

Founding an Economic Religion 
 

 
 
 
But, what is religion, you fanatics?
Your excuse to lie, kill, rape and destroy?
You are but fools that learned to play with tricks.
Your religion is naught but a failed ploy.
Religions are nothing but tools for fear,
Means for harmony and forced self-restraint.
Abandon the burden that it makes you bear!
For none will rely on the strength of the faint
 
Chronicles of the Arelians 54:4-7.
 
“That’s what he wanted you for?” Kurotou mused, as the AI-controlled Nightelf’s seat secured him. 
 
Kael looked visibly confused.
 
“I thought it’d be something serious…but every one of his questions centred around games!”
 
“Satoru’s never serious. Don’t let it bother you—except when he’s holding a gun.”  
 
Kael nodded grimly and let the co-pilot’s seat secure him as well.
The Command from the Air Control Centre came over the radio:
 
“V-4, 90˚ lift.”
 
With a tap, the vehicle rose into the sky, turning towards the Novark and racing off.
 
“People died the last time Oethe went there. Why in the world is he sending us back there?”
 
Kurotou shrugged.
 
“The kid’s crazy, but I’d rather die facing the enemy than facing Satoru’s antics. He put poison in my water and claimed he was probing if I was worth the job! The farther away from him, the better.”
 
Kael shuddered and looked back at the ten Oethe soldiers clad in the black and heavy combat uniform Oethe reserved for special operations.
 
“This time, we’re prepared, don’t you think?”
 
Kurotou smiled.
 
“Black’s the new red.”
 
He looked to the left and gave the accompanying Nightelf a thumbs up.  
 
The Nightelves had been refitted for optimal sensory performance and ungodly maximum damage. If anything so much as showed up as hostile, it would be smoking powder in a matter of seconds.  
A small hologram of Satoru appeared on the control panel.
 
“Hello! Hi, Kael! First, of all, good luck: you’ll need it!”
 
Kael gave him a restrained wave.
 
“Satoru, what’s up?”
 
He smiled mischievously. Well it was meant to be a smile, but it made Kurotou’s hair stand on end.
 
Crap.
 
“I’m declaring myself the Eon of the Aether.”
 
Were it not for the fact that rolling the eyes was something exclusively reserved for women, Kurotou would have.
 
“Congratulations. What is the Aether?”
 
He smiled again, making Kurotou’s hair stand for the second time.
 
“Not what. “Who” is the question you should be asking.”
 
Kurotou gritted his teeth, even as the boy waited for him to ask the question the right way. Kael saved him the embarrassment.
 
“Who is the Aether, Satoru?”
 
“A-ha! I knew you were wondering, but I’m getting tired of talking, so I’ll skip that part and move on to the next thing I want to tell you.”
 
Kael smacked his fore-head with his palm.
 
“I reviewed the potential economy of the Aether with Shiro and Kuro. Guess what?”
 
“You--” Kurotou started before Satoru cut him off.
 
“I’m short on time. We stand to gain a lot from industry and research, given the potential market within Theia and the massive one surrounding the Ark ship.”
 
Kael didn’t say a word, so Kurotou kept quiet and let Satoru continue.
 
“However, research shows that people are more likely to work efficiently under certain guidance…Religious guidance to instil fear and discipline within the concerned populace.”
 
Kael laughed out loud.
 
“So you’re founding an economical religion and proclaiming yourself Lord and Saviour?!”
 
Then, he paused and looked at the hologram grimly.
 
“You’re crazy.”
 
Satoru’s happy face darkened fifty shades.
Kael shut up immediately.
 
“I’m crazy, you piece of trash? Keep talking, someday you’ll say something intelligent.”
 
A soldier wolf-whistled from the back.
 
Kael made the wise choice and kept quiet.
 
“Say something, Kael.” Satoru urged, seething with anger that seemed to come from nowhere.
 
I’ve got to stop this kid from turning everyone against him…
 
“Satoru, a thought crossed my mind--”
 
“So, a thought crossed your mind? Must have been a long and lonely journey.”
 
F**k you!
 
“Watch your mouth, Satoru or I’ll put this mission in reverse.”
 
He snickered.
 
“Oh, please. You are proof that evolution can go in reverse.”  
 
All of a sudden, he started laughing playfully.
 
Kurotou slammed the hologram and it shut down.
Once it vanished, he breathed a hot sigh of relief and irritation.
 
“Son of a b****!” He cursed and wiped his face.
 
Kael looked at him, fury in his eyes.
 
“Why do we obey what he says?”
 
Kurotou glanced at him.
 
“Gee…I don’t know. Perhaps, because I like walking around without a bullet in my skull?”
 
Kael shrugged, obviously seeing the sense in that.
 
“Who are Shiro and Kuro?”
 
It was Kurotou’s turn to shrug.
 
“Some people he always keeps ranting about. I’ve never met them.”
 
Tense silence ensued for a few minutes, neither side wanting to discuss the insults received while the soldiers in the back preferred to silently let both of them burn in the humiliation. To ease the tension, a soldier started playing punk rock. 
Kurotou couldn’t tell he was mocking them or trying to help.
 
“Where are we headed exactly?” One of the soldiers asked and put the heavy rifle to rest beside him.
 
“To your deaths.”
 
Kurotou’s head snapped back. At the same time, his hands came off the control panel and raised the pistol to his chest.
Kael gritted his teeth.
 
“Dammit, Mistral! What are you doing here?!”
 
She cat-walked to the cockpit, slapping a leering soldier across the face. Io flanked her, knocking the same soldier with the butt of his rifle.
 
“What else? I had to know what Satoru’s up to. Now I know: toying with your lives.”
 
Kurotou kept one hand on the fire arm. 
I don’t like Satoru, but she is on another level entirely…
 
“Welcome to the joy-ride, darling. Did you see the “abandon all hope, ye who enter” tag I sprayed on the Nightelf?” Kurotou asked, putting the firearm in its place.
He heard her sigh.
 
“Look. I value my friends more than some mentally challenged kid.”  
 
“I know two mentally challenged kids, darling and you’re one of them.”
 
Kael scratched the back of his neck.
 
“We’re barely one month on Alioth and political campaigns have started with the teens. This is bad.” He noted.
 
Mistral got passionate.
 
“This isn’t politics! I’m trying to make…”
 
Kurotou subtly made sure that everyone except for Mistral and Io were strapped in. Then he rolled the aircraft.
After hitting their heads against several hard things, there was some silence.
 
“Oh, I’m sorry, darling! Were you saying something?”
 
He heard Io’s rifle power up. Eight more emitted the same sound. Without a doubt, the real soldiers were challenging him to turn up the aggro.
 
“Listen Io, I don’t care if we’re the same age or younger. What I do care about is that you have a nineteen-year-old girl leading you around like a mistress. Whatever happened to your soldier’s honour?”
 
“It went with Eidolon and died with Satoru.”
 
“Sheesh.”
 
Kael busied himself with something that could have waited till later.
 
I need some back up here, Kael!
 
Mistral started talking…again.
 
“What did he send you to do?”
 
“Fasten your harness. Then we can talk.”
 
Both complied and he continued.
 
“Intelligence spotted some monoliths in a swamp not far from here. They--”
 
“Intelligence? Whose Intelligence?” Io asked.
 
Kael looked back.
 
“Mistral’s, of course.”
 
Kurotou could tell that the girl shook her head.
 
“I didn’t send any Intelligence to any swamps.”
 
“No soldiers have gone scouting either for two days.” A soldier named Skellarts added.
 
How did that Satoru know that there were monoliths in a swamp anyway?
 
“Am I the only one who gets the feeling that we’re being played here?” Mistral asked.
 
Kurotou nodded.
 
“Yes, you are. Whether or not Intelligence came here is irrelevant. What matters is that we find out what these monoliths are and— “
 
A hostile light lit up on the control panel.  
 
“I’ve got a bogie!”
 
However, before either aircraft could engage the opponent, the hostile vehicle inexplicably blew up.
He cursed.
Once again, Mistral had something to say.
 
“Great! Now an offensive aircraft blew up. You know what that means?”
 
Kurotou was getting pretty irritated at her constant bickering, so he chose not to answer. Unfortunately, Skellarts didn’t catch the hint.
 
“You tell me.”
 
“We’ve let everyone know we are in the area. I think Satoru set us up. I mean: The Lhaeryon is here,”
 
Kurotou shrugged.
 
“The Birzai is here as well.” 
 
Kael sarcastically clapped for her.
 
“Wait a minute…so am I.”
 
Kael stopped clapping.
 
Then it dawned on Kurotou, even as several enemy crafts came into view.
 
“The bastard set us up…”

fair enough

i see