KittyUmbrass wrote: Tue Jun 10, 2025 12:17 am
Loved the worldbuilding, and as a writer who loves writing stories purely to describe a new sci-fi or fantasy realm, I understand the tendency to splurge everything, whether or not it's relevant to the story you're telling. A lot of the time, I end up only using 10% or so of the background info - and maybe this story was a situation where maybe it didn't need the infodump to set things up, and perhaps some of the details could have been worked into the main narrative in a "show, don't tell" kind of way?
I think I am very much influenced by David Weber: Middle of a space batte, people dying left and right, entire sections vaporised and opened to space. Situation critical, the heroes are on a clock.
And now: An excursion into the technical history of the impeller driven ship-to-ship missile used in modern space combat...
Sometimes however I feel it better to explain this as a "historic narrator" because the characters have no reason to talk about these things. I could have tried to weave in some historic dates into Jorans thoughts however.
Either way, the story does what it sets out to do, so good job.

Thanks
Nickamano wrote: Tue Jun 10, 2025 9:23 am
Enjoyed this. Good world building. I enjoyed the "its like the past but in the future" idea. Kinda reminded me of Warhammer 40k.
Thanks.
Yes, 40k played into that. The whole breakdown of society reeked of the Age of Strife
Good clear descriptions. I pictured tech stuff like the whips would create the sensation of pain without physical damage to the flesh. But maybe that just a me thing?
That was the intention. I do like a whipping that leaves scars at times, but especially when you want to use it often one has to either go with BDSM style whips and floggers, or go technical.
I could maybe have explained it a bit better.
The whipcords will sting on their own, but they are too soft to gouge deeper wounds. Just faint marks/reddening of the skin. But they activate nerve receptors and hurt more than would be expected from the cord alone.
The 66% idea was certainly clever, but (unless I've miss understood it) really disturbingly dark. Are the other 33% getting spaced? Floating by outside the windows of the space station? really wasteful! I could help picturing looking idly out of your window and you spot your perfect blue-skinned-sex-slave-kink-babe floating out there sucking on vacuum! You'd really be kicking yourself!!
Thanks your throwing your hat into the contest (mixing metaphors now!).
It is meant as a customer-orders-on-short-notice kind of situation.
"Joe, we need 30.000 units by next week."
"Bill, you know we produce 10.000 per week on normal operation. Even with extra shifts and overtime it won't be more than 15.000"
"Thats the number. Make it work!"
Let's say Jorans target rate, set by outside circumstances, was 4000 in a day. 4000 to clear the decks before the next shipment arrived.
Normaly he could process 1500 a day, but he surpassed that and reached around 2640.
Still not enough, but at least his superiors could not say he didn't try.