There we go, I just updated the beginning of each chapter in Italic. No more confusion that way

As for my thoughts on that chapter, you'll have to wait a bit longer

Now here are some thoughts on book 7, which was one of my favorites:

So far, Desjar has been shown as a good leader, commander and overall, a decent human being. Readers had grown attached to him, but I wanted to show that even good people can develop stereotypes and hatreds towards different cultures or groups if something sufficiently bad happened. Arnold’s sudden conversion and the lack of information concerning it was therefore the pivotal point that would explain Desjar’s hatred of the Illuminate for this book.

I used that hatred to also introduce a new shade of gray in the elevator scene when Fletcher and Desjar briefly spoke. Having Desjar admit that he would rather ally with Cybrans than the Illuminate, only to have Fletcher (who is probably the biggest jerk in Forged Alliance) point out that Desjar’s hatred for the Illuminate was felt by other officers but towards the Cybrans, was a subtle but powerful moment. It was like having Fletcher accuse Desjar of being a hypocrite if he could rationalize allying with the Cybrans, but not with the Illuminate. The only difference between both officers was that Desjar eventually let go of that hatred while Feltcher was constantly reminded of good reasons for him to maintain it in the following books.

The biggest theme in the book, however, was the concept of a UEF society being forced to adapt to a Cybran lifestyle. I always pictured the UEF on the model of a western society: capitalism, democracy (and all the good and bad surrounding it), bureaucracy, corruption and the pop culture that surrounds it. The purpose of this book was to take the lifestyle that most readers were accustomed to and then switch it around to a military dictatorship mixed with concepts of socialism and even communism. In short, I wanted readers to step into something completely different and feel uncomfortable if they imagined themselves living that change.

I had written about Cybran nodes before, but now I wanted to really jump into it, painting Cybrans with a near total lack of respect concerning currency, material possession, privacy, copyrights and many rights that we take for granted. On the upside, I wanted to angle their society around the concept of “if we have it or its cheap to manufacture then getting it is only a click away” and “if you pull your own weight, you’ll be respected”. Also, Cybrans would be free to decide their own values, but also be responsible for their own family upbringing (no looking to the government to discipline their children or regulate their quantum access, take care of your own families).

The moment that illustrated that the most was when the mother brought her child to Keith while ordering him to take back the wrist computer because it was “too expensive”. I loved that scene, especially since it allowed me to express my personal beef about something in our society: we take the time to produce “weaker” or “horrible looking” goods not because we want them, but because it justifies the inflated prices of the “latest trend” (and it uses mostly the same materials to make them). Heck, just look at the “ipad/tablet” market.

The “fire drill” further drove the point home and also served as my own personal jab at the Battlestar Galactica series which I was watching at the time. It always bugged me in that series that the humans were wasting time, efforts and resources holding elections, making television reports, running political campaigns, maintaining grandiose restaurants and such to preserve their “humanity” while only a few thousand humans were left and were hunted down to extinction. They would have needed a Dostya (backed up by an ACU) to give them the hard choices

Another difference in Cybran culture which largely went unnoticed was the concept that Minerva Swamp was laced with vital minerals, calcium and vitamins (or “getting healthy as you get wasted”). I always found the thought interesting and it would be one of the rare things that would actually get me to consume alcohol. The idea will never get off the ground, but it would be interesting if it did.

Desjar’s near family explosion was also a poignant moment, but it happened more naturally than I anticipated. I especially like writing the part where Melissa suddenly realized “oh crap, I’m surrounded by Cybran children!” Melissa’s love story with Foil, while slightly cliché, I admit, but it also served a purpose to explain the node’s newfound cohesiveness (which otherwise would have threatened to tear the new alliance apart). Bagby and Desjar’s night out was told in parallel and also served to explain the bridges that were made. That and it was hilarious too; I only need to read it whenever I’m down to smile, lol.

As for the Illuminate… now there was a twisted piece of pleasure in writing about them. Rhiza, a respected pilot trained in The Way who thought herself enlightened, reached out as a friend, only to realize that many thought her to be a monster. The Way, which also promoted open communication, also proved to be a hindrance because she could not bring herself to interact with others in any other fashion. It also gave Hall the opportunity to shine. In FA’s campaign, Dostya was being abrupt if not downright rude, but Hall always managed to keep a cool head and maintain open lines of communications. I wanted this book to reflect that.

Lastly, there were two reasons why I had Weisman come out on top in such a clear victory against Rhiza. The first was that I had thought that the UEF had taken a high enough dose of humility in this book. The second was because all the other factions had something cool and I thought that the UEF deserved something extra. Having Desjar’s team designed with specialists in mind, including a duelist, was a concept that was born here and later exploited in book 9.

A few other inspirations or notes:
- Dostya’s fencing training with Valerie was because I was taking fencing classes at the time.
- The scene when Dostya said: “Your people will die and no amount of efforts on my part will save this colony or any other like it. It’s nothing personal; it’s just how it is” was inspired by a similar line in Resident Evil 2.
- I just threw in the Cybran thinking that the girl’s cat was a rat for fun and so that not only the UEF civilians would be freaked out.
- Bagby’s “All it needs is for two Aeon chicks to come give me a sponge bath!” was indeed inspired by the movie Dogma.
- Bagby’s “Better a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy I always say” followed by “Actually, I never said that before, but it feels as if I’ve been waiting to say it for a long time” was me breaking the fourth wall. I had waited a long time to plug in that quote from another reader
- The video montage at that the Cybran children were watching was of the end battle in book 3.
- The Chapter “Shinigami” (meaning god of death) was referring to Redfog and I knew the word because I was watching Death Note at the time (good series).
- I added the “loading screen” effect of quantum travel because heck, FA’s team had made the effort to make them and I found them nice!
- To spell it out clearly: the people tracking Melissa were the grown up children that Desjar had spared in book 4, Virtual War.

And I think that’s enough for now. Onward to book 8!

I've got to reread book 4

A great explanation. Now I can't wait to see book 8 online

book 7 is probably my fav of all the books. and the entire bar scene with Bagby and Desjar is my abosolute favorite. can't wait for the rest of the books

Dots, is that you I saw playing BF3 beta instead of working on your books? ;p

Mike

Yep!... did I kill you?

Yeah, a couple times, but my team won in the end I think? On BF3 I go by Knight2388.

Mike

Just be happy that Redfog isn't part of the game.

Redfog should be part of EVERY game.

Redfog in Eve Online?

All the other players are going to really hate that

Oh dear lord, I'd hate to be WarDec'ed by his corp.

I would just create a one man alliance and stay docked. He can dec me any time he want.

I wouldn't mind running BGs with Redfog's pre-made in wow

Warsong CTF with 10 rogues(them being assassins and everything)?

I don't know... I mean, being in the same room as Redfog, I'd be tempted to only answer "of course", "right away" and such. I'd rather fight alongside Bagby

On a side note, the next book should be online this weekend

I'd rather work for redfog. Just because his Assumpta node would be perfect for infiltration missions in other corporations. You can let those corporations tear each other apart without them even knowing about Redfog's whereabouts.

And I've got the feeling that he'd not kill you unless he'd think your death would serve a purpose.

Ironically, according to his actions (leaving aside any motivations)

Red-Fog cares for human life.
-Equally
-with no favoritism
-with an eye towards maximum benefits

You're a shoddy ACU pilot; he kills you. Sucks to be you. ACU pilots are easy to train and there's no shortage of new recruits but, the settlement that was saved by the replacement had thousands.

Bottom line, if he sees incompetence in ANYONE whom is in a position to cause harm to the continued survival of humanity; they end-up on his Sh!t L!st. This seems cold and unfeeling to the rest of us, as we see him kill someone whom is (apparently) just doing their job. But, what we don't see is that the guy he killed was doing his job inadequately; and the replacement even if their only 'average' will do a better job. And, because they did a better job the OP went slightly better, 5 less people died; and, Red-Fog was right to kill the guy.

If you're stuck in an infinite war scenario, you WANT Red-Fog to be your boss; do your job better than average and, he'll actually go out of his way to keep you alive. Why? Because, simply there is no guaranty your replacement won't suck. Further, Red-Fog for all his (many) issues does NOT: shoot the messenger, Kill for honest mistakes, or kill random people whenever he's pissed. End result: he finds someone better than you, and you are at least average, he simple replaces you (no killing). You screw-up (through no fault of your own) he simply tells you off (though with Red-Fog you might wish he just killed you). You deliver bad news, he definitely tries to keep you; you just gave him real information, not simpering, now you have value above the unknown random messenger.

But, this is only an analysis of his ACTIONS; not his motivations.

there is no "-" in Redfog, you sir have just been put on his **** list

Given, that I am not merely average. I'm still good.

But, getting 'a talking to' from Redfog of all people is not something to trivialize.

And book 8 is now online! Sorry for the slight delay, but the web site was down yesterday. This forum had better hold together for a bit longer so that I can finish it all!

Definetely. And I might have to redownload stuff or what if I find some error somewhere?

I'm also looking forward to your own comments on no.8

And now here are my thoughts on book 8:

Back in those days, a lot of requests were made to have “more Bagby” and also to reveal Bagby’s past. So I decided to do two things; the first was to grant that request and the second was to create a dark past, one that would explain Bagby’s reaction on the day that Dostya died. I did not know what that reaction would be just yet, but I had a clear image that it would not be pretty.

I decided that instead of going back into the past, however, that Bagby would tell the story himself. This left room for specialized blanks, misinterpretation and Bagby’s ever known sense of exaggeration. In short, the reader would never truly know what was true and what was not. As it turned out, almost the entire story was true with Bagby being sure that no one would believe Thalia even if she repeated it, therefore making it a good way to actually hide the truth.

It was also suggested at different points of the story that Mather might have been Junior (and I purposely wrote it that way to confuse readers), only to have it revealed in the end that Junior was the current Bagby. There were various hints of a “school scene” that Bagby skipped, one which would have revealed that Mather and Keith were fighting as children before they became friends. The book also showed that there was a method to Bagby’s madness (which mostly illustrates that his actions do make sense if taken into context).

Meanwhile, the Loyalist movement needed a buff if it was to be taken seriously by the alliance. This brought me back to the Exiles and to Reue from book 3 (I was glad that I had left story hooks behind). I had to work so that they would refuse at first only to accept when they realized how implacable the Seraphim were. I also wanted to show that Rhiza had grown as an individual, in part because of her talk with General Hall.

It also gave me a chance to show how Illuminate pilots viewed the notion of families (especially since most were women), but I only exploited the notion in book 9.

Lastly, Redfog played a role in that book as well, but a minor one. He actually was on the Exiles’ planet, waiting to impersonate QAI if need be, but he did not need to. Still, he could not just leave an Executor behind and took care of her the good old fashion way. After everything was said and done, book 8 was finished, but there was one problem; it was too short.

Redfog therefore played another role where, after his apprentice told him Bagby’s “lie”, he takes the time to remember what truly happened on the day when his predecessor confronted his failed student. The truth would forever remain buried since neither Bagby nor the current Redfog could possibly benefit from confirming it. Still, it was fun to write how Bagby singlehandedly defeated three Assumpta, including their leader… by peeing himself to create a distraction. Now I admit that a lot of stuff that I’ve taken has been inspired by other sources, but I think this one has (hopefully) never been done before

Having Mather visit afterwards allowed me to tie the event all the way into book 1 and helped me explain two things: first that Bagby knew that Mather had a thing for Dostya (since he was so distracted) and it was for that reason that he took it so hard on her (which makes Bagby’s actions in book 1 seem a bit less cruel).

A few other facts:
- Junior’s “spy gloves” were inspired by Batman Beyond (I liked that series).
- The title of the chapter “duel of the faiths” was a twisted version of “Duel of the fates” from Star Wars (the soundtrack).
- The last scene where Junior and “old Bagby” face off and Junior asks why he’s not furious with him was inspired by the last few episodes of the Avatar, the Last Airbender series.
- When Bagby said “you have to be a sadistic bastard like me” to throw in a cliffhanger in such a fashion was me breaking the fourth wall again, stating that I’m a sadistic bastard sometimes for doing the same
- When Bagby was facing the Seraphim (and yes, it’s the same one that nearly killed him in book 6), I was playing Naruto’s theme song in my mind.
- When Bagby said “sometimes, a guy must know when to run like a little girl!”, it was a reference to a similar line in the series Desert Punk (note: the “hero” in that series can throw sexist insults faster than anyone else I ever saw).
- When Bagby advises to “Tell him your mom’s fatter than his”, this is actually an advise that a high school moral teacher said both to make fun and to startle another student into shutting up. Yeah, that teacher was weird… but fun!
- The tradition of the next Redfog having no name came from Gundam Wing (yet again).

And that’s it! Book 9 awaits!

I hope it will be an inspiration for anyone who finds himself outnumbered

I will have an update sometime this weekend

Yay!

Book 9. I believe that's the part where I joined in. While I tried to come up with ideas about the Titan, I also began reading book 8.

I got all lost (what the hell kind of guy is Bagby?) so then I started reading from the start, which was a much better idea.

But still: what the hell kind of guy is Bagby?

the awesome kind