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I always like throwing in a little history into the story. It’s almost like real learning, excepting that it’s totally made-up.
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Holding up his hands to Audri and Val, Gerek said, “please. be calm, you’re safe. I can explain. Let me tell you the tale of my people and how things went bad. The bollyck home planet was an impoverished one. No mineral wealth, nothing standing-out as far as industry goes, and its location was not strategic in any way. But we were clever, and in time developed meaningful space travel. and also we did have one quality desirable to others… …we’re laser-proof. The G.O.B. was thrilled to recruit us into their military. And so, both to elevate our people through honorable service, and also to earn income because our planet was poor, we joined.” Sympathetically, Val said, “don’t worry. we’ve all been duped into doing stupid things like that.” Gerek said, “what? No. That wasn’t the bad part.” Val said, “oh. Sorry. Go on.”
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You think a lot of “real” history isn’t made up by the winners? This is EXACTLY like real learning!
” excepting that it’s totally made-up.”
You mean it’s a load of bollycks?
Noice!
Well, I am always learning something new which you’ve made up!
That makes it “lore”, which makes Spacetrawler literature, not just a comic!
I suppose it might depend on how they were laser proof but that quality seems like it might have a lot of applications.
Bikkie skinned one and used it as armor for story, but the effect only lasted for a couple of weeks past the Bollyck’s demise as I recall.
Here is Bikkie saying “Oh, downside is freshly flayed Bollyck skin only laser-resistant for week or two.”
While I can wait for it, I really want to know what they are gonna do with the pistons, con rods and crankshaft from a Merlin……
What are the odds that sustained peace broke out eliminating the need for laser-proof troops and that they turned to piracy to put the skills that they learned replacing their lost income.
Invented lore is fine so long as you remember Mark Twain’s observation on fake narratives: “Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.”
…and know how to abuse it jeeeeeest the right amount.
The Merlin crankshaft can’t be made today to the precision that the Brits made them on leather belt powered machines in the 1940’s. A Merlin crankshaft in good condition is worth a small fortune all by itself. I live by the Reno airraces and have listened to their beautiful sound for over forty years. I am a real fan of that engine.:)
I’m sure it could be, if anyone ever bothered.
Um, my father was part of the engineering team at Packard that found a way to mass-produce the Merlins to meet the catastrophic need for them. (They needed an overhaul at 7,000 hours operation; the number that survived combat that long could be counted on one hand). The Yanks DID find a way to make those engines just as precisely and in about half the time, a fact Rolls-Royce has kept quiet about for nearly eighty years. Including their crankshafts. Would you care to hear the argument RR made to retain the eighty man-hours put into each engine to hand polish the crankshaft covers?