Good Morning Storybrooke

Houma Movie Club: Hellraiser

Battletech 3087: Dragoons Pact Turn 1

New Earth

January, 3087

Connor McArty grinned. He wasn't going to win this battle, but he'd qualified almost six times over. Black Hand had seen a bit of action, just enough to get him into the thick of things and drop a Crescent Hawk Mateaus and one of two Fleas painted in ComStar colors. Unlike the commander of the similarly-painted Daishi in a ravine to the north, he preferred his command unit to play the back of the field; mobile and capable of leaping on any opportunity that presented itself instead of wading into the middle of battle.

Of course, the Daishi's plan had worked. The Dragoon command platoon had broken down into lances; one supported the pressed forces to the north while the other, faster, two circled around (McArty's lance to the west, Major Kim's to the east) to press the opfor flanks with hit and run attacks. With any luck, their forward elements would break off to regroup when surrounded. McArty couldn't make a win with it, but if he could slow them down, most of his company could avoid (simulated) destruction and escape.

The Essential DS9: Season 1

You know I love Deep Space Nine. Not everyone has the time to invest in a new show, and DS9 has a rough introduction. To help some people get into it, I've compiled a list of five episodes from each season of Deep Space Nine that focus on essential stories and character moments of the series. I've also added a few supplemental episodes that are very good, but don't quite make the cut.

The Emissary (1x01): This is the pilot and introduces the larger conflicts and characters of the series.

A Man Alone (1x04): This episode explores Odo and his place in society. In addition, it marks the beginning of Keiko's school and the friendship of Jake and Nog, one of the series' most important friendships. 1x03, Past Prologue, is really great too, but there are better Kira episodes.

Nick Offerman: How to be a Man

Houma Movie Club: Stand Up Guys

So Houma Movie Club happened this weekend. Stand Up Guys was really good. My final estimation for this round is:
1) Cabin in The Woods
2) Stand Up Guys
3) Europa Report
4) Stephen Seagal is the Force of Execution

Anyway, our viewing order for the next round:
1) Hellraiser
2) The Prophecy
3) License to Drive
4) Planet of the Apes
5) C.H.U.D.

Battletech 3087, The New Year: Dragoons Pact

So a while back I wanted to run a Battletech Strategic Game. I set it in the "distant future" of 3087. The Battletech timeline has since moved on 31...something? I'm not in a blogging mood recently, but I did find some of my old fiction for it. Each piece covers a different faction. This one is a news clip giving an overview of The Dragoons Pact, a mercenary nation-state that sits around Terra.

Harlech, Outreach, Dragoons Pact

            While other parts of the Inner Sphere and Terra have already celebrated the New Year, on Outreach, the party is just beginning. However, the proud parade of battlemechs and the procession of war heroes, government leaders, and celebrities are not the most remarkable New Year’s events here.

            On Outreach, every holiday sees Harlech’s main boulevard, Outreach Avenue, shut down, and the bustling traffic replaced with peaceful, but passionate protestors.

            The city’s 3072 redesign, one of the first public acts of the Dragoons Pact, saw government buildings with no discrete side or rear entrances, no private garages, and no rooftop helicopter pads, all fixtures of modern government architecture--even reported Clan designs built on a central structure of classical stonework. On days like this, constabularies form the only barrier between protestors and government officials making their way to and from their offices.

            Protestors in the capitol city, and across the Dragoons Pact, speak out against a variety of causes: the mercenary work performed by the Pact, the prominence of the war industry, official policies on the prohibition of technology exports, the blockade of Terra, and both excessive and anemic expenditures on public assistance programs, depending on who you ask. Others still lobby for aggressive action against what they see as totalitarian or chaotic states; the Mercenaries Alliance, the Jade Falcons, the Federated Hellfire Territories, or the Capellan Confederation, though it is hard to find a nation that isn’t the target of at least one protestor.

            While other states and pundits scoff at security issues, citing the 3073 assassination attempt against New Earth proxy Chase Fe, rigorous security measures, friendly and omnipresent constabularies, growing national pride, and above all else, trust between the citizens of the Dragoons Pact and their government, have kept major incidents of violence from erupting.