Best chapter ever!

Dinner

Dinner was hilarious.

I vote that you write a comedy.

The dinner was epic.

I second this - properly eerie.

But a superb finish to an utterly excellent book! Out of curiosity, who is your favourite character, dots?

Yes, I'd love to see Alpha Seven furthered.

I concur. Excellent book, I loved all of it. Whatever you decide to do I am sure it will be top notch.

One of your best books so far. Excellent introduction of the younger commanders and the new Redfog. While we've seen Megan before now we got to see her in action.

And while the dinner didn't contribute to the plot itself, it was a nice way to see what happened to our favorite commandos & co after the events of FA.

So my top 5 books to this point are:

1. Rise of the Aeon
2. Echoes of the Seraphim
3. The Kidimer Incident
4. Operation Titan
5. Resurfacing Pasts

Keep up your good work!!

Here are a few answers (to current and past questions which I could not always answer)

Why the chapters were a bit shorter

First of, I wanted to take more time to describe the battles over several weeks and I wanted this book to last longer especially since there were a lot of new characters. It also gave me ample opportunities to readjust a character to be ‘cooler’ or ‘darker’ as need be. That and dancing lessons are taking a lot of my time these days (I’m there every week day) so I had less time to myself

(The festival scene was inspired by my dancing lessons as well)

The Kidimer Incident

I wanted to introduce an element of tension, one which could be referenced to in future books. What better way than having a moral dilemma introduced by a guy seizing the opportunity to exact his revenge and survive? For those wondering, yeah, Kidimer is just a guy who flipped out (no conspiracies involved). As always, however, people will use incidents with high visibility to fuel their own agendas.

The Seraphim’s lack of guilt

For those wondering, Ethanavoawh’s lack of apparent guilt was not an act or a ploy. The Seraphim, having a philosophy that focuses exclusively on the present and the future, do not pay as much attention to the past which includes past transgressions. That was why he did not mind telling Weisman that back when the Seraphim war started, destroying humanity had seemed like the right thing to do.

His desire for peace was genuine, but if that failed then he also knew that his mere presence could become enough of a catalyst for humanity to start fighting itself again. Either end could safeguard his people in the quantum realm.

(old) Redfog’s ever constant battle with destiny

What can I say? I can’t let the poor guy die nobly or of old age. I needed an excuse to keep him around for Supcom 2.

Bagby’s obsession with staying near or in his ACU

The reason is obvious: I want him alive for Supcom 2 as well

Melissa and Foil’s love story

Why did I break it up? Well relationships are not meant to work at a distance and people do change over time. That and it might become an interesting element in Supcom 2 (but that’s just speculation on my part, it will depend on how the game turns out).

Anders’ betrayal

No, it was not planned initially, but it seemed oddly appropriate at the time. You can’t have 100% top pilots 100% of the time. Sooner or later, someone that should not be there will be there.

Stokes’ dark nature

Of all the exchange pilots that I made, Stokes was meant to be the most ‘evil’ one. He was there to learn about his enemy in preparation for future battles. Yet despite it all, he was loyal to a fault and fought harder than most. He was kind of the opposite of “hell is paved with good intentions.” (His intentions were not good, but he ended up fighting the good fight anyway)

Parallel between the story’s web of intrigue, distrust and betrayal compared to the forum’s

There was a deeper message to this book which might have gone unnoticed by some, so I will underline it here.

None of the exchange pilots, not even Anders, was in on some secret conspiracy theory. Anders surrendered in the end, but mostly out of self preservation and fear. Yet all it took was a single thought, that there was a traitor amongst them, for the pilots to become wary of each other and nearly turn on each other. That single suggestion was also all that was needed for you guys to jump in the suspicion game as well

Eventually, a few paid attention to how I had worded my suggestion and realized that there might not be a traitor in the first place, but by then, the damage was done and the conspiracy theory was launched.

This, in combination with Desjar’s speech to Melissa in the end, was to underline how easy stirring up trouble is, especially when the memory of war is still fresh, and how incredibly hard it can be to achieve AND maintain peace. It takes a lot more than a public figure saying ‘we’re at peace’ and a few months for everyone to shake hands and put it behind them.

Who is my favorite character

Um… hard to say. I would have to say it is a race between Bagby and Redfog, but each for wildly different reasons. I liked writing many other characters as well because of the different challenges that they imposed.

Well, thanks for the explanations.

I don't really have a favourite either, but Bob's awesome anyway.

i got a bit bored, and started Facebewking SupCom characters. guess who i found; http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9821173..1

i vote we make a Red Skull Node FB group, and make dots' create a Bagby page too!

Brackman's name was Gustaf? I thought it was written with a "v" at the end?

Too bad for my stories, I'll keep it with a v I just like that more.

Wait, Brackman is befriended with Samwise?
LOTR + SupCom = WUT

Hey Dots, fantastic book! I think it's one of the best so far. I really liked your hint of conspiracy theory, because people really love it. The reality is that often simple human nature just drives many of these things. Conspiracies are very hard to manage!

PS: I really liked the tiny glimpse we got into the new RedFog!

Just to let you guys know, I'm working on updating the information thread for this week. Since the thread is divided into many sections, I'll be making multiple small updates during the day and only change the date when it's done.

Finally the forum is back online! So anyway:

Short story 1 First Strike is now online!(after the epilogue)

It's a small story which was actually hinted at in the end of this book. Enjoy!

it appears you haven't lost your touch.

another epic read there. well done.

nice, i like the princess bride reference at the end

That was great!

Nice short story dots. This is just the kind of entertainment we need while waiting for the next series of books.

Thanks a lot,

Marc

That was awesome!



What do you mean?

hahaha, omg that short story was hilarious. i was always curious as to what exactly happened in that bar fight bagby told thalia about XD

i think one of the funnest moments was when the random cybran stood up and yelled "BAR FIGHT" lawl

the Sicilian

EPIC!!!! Short story

Damn you Dots. Damn you!

I'm sick and my throat feels like it contains the fiery rage of all the suns in our galaxy, and then I stumble upon that short story.

I don't think I will be able to talk the whole week.