Tales of the Belt pt.15 Obloid sphere

by | Oct 25, 2021 | Comic, Fiction | 171 comments

Pt. 15

Obloid Sphere

 

1 day out

 

 Seamus, when we meet again, we’ll take a year off, see the Stars with some pretty ladies, and go fishin’, it’s been a while. We were having drinks in the stateroom before Moria left. I decided to send the Miners to our new finds and begin moving them to a stable orbit.

“Cat, I understand why we are splitting, but I don’t like it a bit, leaving you with the bloody Mercs-”

Stop right there, I trust the Conchos with everything we own, and our lives, the Gibbons family goes back 1k years longer than my own, Remember the 10 Thousand? That was them, so we are done here, go do your job, Dismissed! With that Moria took a right turn at the Dairy Queen, (an actual  ‘roid) and left for the Titania Prime area.

 

The Chieftain

 

 Two Brigades?!

“Easy there Cat, let me give you some details and options, let’s begin.” I was impressed by the opulence of his Stateroom, elegant yet subdued, and several real marble busts were located in niches throughout, very fitting for a Warrior class. A Holo appeared in the center of the room.

“We located at least 6 operational mining facilities, and what appear to be several defense bases, including railguns, and barracks for a whole lot more than they need to house miners.” The holo pinpointed the locations and it was clear they were encircling the Anomaly, it seemed like a simple problem, “See, here’s the thing, they haven’t approached it at all, as if they are waiting for something, backup? We are unsure, but for now, we set up bases here and here, and wait.” The locations were acceptable so we moved on.

 

Argument

 

 With our bases quietly established, we sent out some soft probes to get more details, this Anomaly was larger and a perfect sphere, unlike any we have seen so far, what was odd is watching the CCP launch probes directly at it, and they appear to vanish, we lose all trace when they get near the Thing. With the men in good spirits, I left for the Leopard and dinner with the Cat, we had much to discuss.

JR, what do you have for me? Cat was in a mood again, so I chose to tread lightly, “Cat, our mission profile is to eliminate the CCP threat, they are right in our faces, we could clean this up in a day, why are you holding us back?” I have never seen him in a mood like this, pacing the floor, head down, right then we got a message from Concho base, a shuttle had been attacked, 9 souls lost, now I’m pissed off.

“Well Cat, what now? Do my men stand around and wait to be blown out of the sky? Choose your answer well, my friend.

 I knew I just stirred up a hornets nest, then he asked,”how soon JR?” What? 6 hours Cat, say the word, “The word is given” With that Gunney Cole and a Tactical officer moved out, shuttles prepped, and railguns sighted, we were going Normandy on their asses, if we do it right the CCP won’t ever see us coming,with  simultaneous landings at each base, we should make quick work of them.

 CCP weren’t very clever when it came to establishing orbits, so they were very predictable, I had the railguns ready for a quick pounce, and I led the main group to our first objective, while the other ships headed to points of readiness, close, but not to close, we were ready, waiting for the signal,

To be continued

 

 

 

About The Author

Yusef drives a Kia

Yusef drives a Kia

Punctually illiterate But never late

171 Comments

  1. Yusef drives a Kia

    I hate WP!

    • UnCivilServant

      Any particular reason?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        No matter how I format and preview how I laid it out, save it and send it on to TPTB,
        it never sticks, making the dialogue very confusing, to me,

      • rhywun

        If you send a Word document (?) I think it’s supposed to preserve formatting like headers and stuff.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        I copy pasta word docs, and the formatting sticks pretty well, a few adjustments, no big deal. I save it, then preview it, and it looks great, so I send it up to the Editors. All my bold, italics, and some spacing are gone, so it looks like a mess.

      • rhywun

        Are you editing in WordPress? You can apply formatting there too.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        I tried that way as well, it’s gotta be me, we’ll see next week,

      • hayeksplosives

        Yeah, it takes a little effort to track the dialogue.

        I wonder what a more reliable way to get a true preview would be?

      • straffinrun

        Maybe just get it formatted the way you like on word or whatever program you like, screen shot it and then post it as a photo?

      • straffinrun

        You should see how I change the oil in my car.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I too, think William Penn was a douche.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Silent Lulz!

    • Chipping Pioneer

      wypipo?

  2. trshmnstr the terrible

    Hey Yu! I just got back on the disc golf wagon after not playing much for a few months. The rust was showing, as I shot a really pathetic +11 at one of the easier courses. Probably lost five strokes to cagers, which is 100% due to rust. I did notice that the time off has given me a “point and let’r rip” mentality that gets me through some of the obstacles that used to catch me. Mental game is much better, but the muscle memory could use some tuning up.

    I played a 6 disc bag this time. 1x distance driver, 2x fairway, 2x mid, 1x putter. I’m hoping it makes me improve a bit faster since I won’t be jumping between 15 discs.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Glad to hear you’re back! I still run my 17 discs in my bag, but it’s also on a cart, however at my local, I use 2x drivers, 2x fairways, 1x mid and 3x putters. We play the Labirynth last week and I used at least 12 different discs, so it’s worth it to just take em with.
      OTOH I could play any course with 1 disc and be fine, DGED

  3. Not an Economist

    Baldwin news: The 24 year old armorer may not have been on the set when the accident happened due to COVID restrictions. This is just a rumor but it would probably remove her from any criminal or legal consequences if true.

    • hayeksplosives

      I know it’s too soon, but I smiled at one reply that said “Well, at least they can say she died of COVID.”

  4. rhywun

    I remember ABC Monday Night Football was big when I was a kid. Now it’s on ESPN so I just asked myself, “I wonder what is on ABC?”

    LOL it’s Dancing With the Stars.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      That which is old is old again,

  5. kinnath

    Thanks for the story Yusef

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Thanks,

    • hayeksplosives

      Uh-huh.

      Space debris. Sure. The Chinese are all about cleaning up.

      • db

        I could totally see the CCP rounding up a bunch of disabled people, handing them straw brooms, and launching them into low orbit, telling them they’re going to be China’s Space Sweeping Corps.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Dude, the Uighurs were Amazon slaves on Luna, they worked in shipping, all from the CCP to Bezos, Don’t you even space opera?

      • Gustave Lytton

        *pictures Dilireba and Gulnazar wearing SHADO Moonbase outfits*

        I’ll be in my space bunk…

      • Ownbestenemy

        I laughed and cried at this.

    • rhywun

      We were never immune. We were only lucky.

      This year, that luck did not hold.

      Turgid prose is turgid.

    • Hyperion

      Didn’t you know that guns are bad and that the pandemic is still raging all around us? Don’t you even CNN?

      • hayeksplosives

        Surprising amount of rain in the desert tonight, isn’t it, OBE?im severely outnumbered by guns in my house.

        When they develop language skills, I’ll be screwed.

      • dbleagle

        HE, Did you see the addendum I added to Yusef’s book recommendation?

        I totally agree with him about “Suspect Terrain” and the larger volume you can find it in.

  6. Hyperion

    Tall cans, Yusef. They have that shit in space?

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I like to go to Rose’s Cantina, great beer selection,

      • tripacer

        Did you make it to um… Rosa’s back door?

  7. kinnath

    Watched Dune on my new 75 inch 4K tv.

    I will never set foot into a movie theater again.

    The movie was quite good. Except it ends quite abruptly. Might as well put “to be continued, we hope” just before the end credits.

    • Hyperion

      What platform is that available on? I have a 70″ 4K TV, but even us peasants want to know.

      • kinnath

        HBO Max. Comes free with DirectV through ATT.

        Going to dump DirecTV in the near future and go all streaming.

      • Hyperion

        Oh. So no, no pizza dish or HBO. I’ll check on Amazon, Netflix, and Sling.

      • kinnath

        HBO Max — streams for one month while the movie starts showing in the theater and then disappears again.

        It’ll be awhile before it shows up anywhere else.

        Of course, this is how Disney screwed over Scarlett.

      • one true athena

        WB worked it out earlier, I think because they always knew at least some of the properties (I.e Snyder Cut) would premiere on HBOMax. Part of the issue with Black Widow was ScarJo had a multi-picture deal of which BW was one, and Disney just basically said ‘fuck you we’re putting it on D+ and you get none of that, because your contract was only for a percentage of ticket sales, sucks to be you lol”

  8. Ownbestenemy

    Moar space! Thanks Yusef

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Thanks OBE, you keep reading them and I’ll keep writing them.

      • hayeksplosives

        Yes, please!

      • Ownbestenemy

        It was a great thing to come back to after having a beer with none other than the Ozy..the man…the legend

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        A great guy!

  9. hayeksplosives

    That’s weird. I made a comment about the surprising amount of rain here in southern Nevada tonight, but it got lost in the ether.

    There will be lots of happy desert tortoises and plants tomorrow.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      It’s there, enjoy, maybe some thunder?

      • hayeksplosives

        Nope, lots of wind and hours of rain.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Get ready for windy days that rival Chicago.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Buy Control line kites and neck Gaiters!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Its that time of year. We had a decent monsoon. Expect snow this year again

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        One of the more delightful things I have seen, snow on the Joshua trees,

    • Ownbestenemy

      You made the comment..just misthreaded it 😉 Yes it is a good rain. We like rain. Drivers are shit, but we like rain.

    • slumbrew

      I’m sure the deserts miss the rain

      • Ownbestenemy

        Just the desserts

    • Chafed

      How is the drainage where you live?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is quite the personal question

      • Chafed

        I feel like I know HE.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        It’s not called drainage, it’s called flash floods, seriously,

      • Ownbestenemy

        A balance in allowing the kids to play in the control plains vs….you will die in 5 minutes

  10. straffinrun

    The coffee shop is playing a song about passing around a blunt. The salary man next to me seems oblivious.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Pass him the blunt then…

      • straffinrun

        I’m waiting for them to play Billy Squire.

      • Chafed

        I love his music but that one God awful video means I must never see him.

      • slumbrew

        That video pretty much killed his career.

      • Chafed

        For sure.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Heh..

      Which, made me think. I am sure the IRS wants to know about the Eve economy because you can translate in game ISK(game currency) to real money. Or so I have heard.

    • straffinrun

      Yellin looks like she’ll be perfectly spherical soon.

    • creech

      How has she overlooked taxing the fmv of all Christmas gifts that Americans receive each year? Hire 80,000 new IRS agents to ferret out those who undervalue gifts such as Aunt Martha’s hand knitted mittens for your 12 year old.

    • Chafed

      It won’t be long before it’s real.

  11. Brochettaward

    After The First That Will Change Everything, science fiction will be obsolete along with Yusef.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Bro, when I die, I still won’t be obsolete, that’s how indestructable I am,

    • straffinrun

      You’re a riddle dipped in dysentery slathered in smegma.

  12. Ozymandias

    OBE!
    So very nice to shake your hand, my friend! Now I’ll have a reason to keep my eye on your Kings this season.
    We hit the Italian place there after our beers and it was pretty good. Temp dropped and I froze for a short while waiting on my Uber.
    (I forgot to grab my windbreaker out of the closet on my way to the airport, but I’ve been getting away with it this past week. Luck ran out tonight.)
    Anyway, very nice to meet your lovely bride.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thank you sir. It really was a pleasure. Wife had a great time and she is my rock, so she approves!

    • Ozymandias

      Oh, I wanted to tell you my one Kings story. I met Scott Thornton – he owned a CF gym in Canada and came to the CF Games a couple of years. A truly great guy. Brought his son with him, too. We sat together both years and I was introducing him to some people and mentioned when making introductions that he was a former NHL player – and had once won the “Fight of the Year!” on NHL Fights. After I said that to the second group I introduced him to, he looked at me and said: “Hey. You know I did manage to score 285 points in the NHL, too, right?” It was pretty funny. What was great was (a) that it only took me 15 minutes to get under Scott Thornton’s skin, and (b) that he was kind enough not to pound me into dust. We kept in touch for a few years, but then he shut his gym down in Alberta. Super cool former King. I think he told me that after LA won the Cup in 2012 he actually got a day with it as he had lived out there and was still around after his retirement in 2008.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I enjoyed Scott Thornton. Wished he played a bit longer for the Kings. I hope the sport and culture hold up to just people playing hockey and otherwise..normal guys.

  13. Gustave Lytton

    Rumor round the work water cooler is mandate (fed contractor) is going to drop tomorrow. Pretty sure my boss is going pack it in.

    • straffinrun

      That sux.

      • Gustave Lytton

        He has his faults, but as time goes on, I’ve developed a finer appreciation of how many of those are strengths in the corporate environment. He also has a good sense of balancing calling bullshit while towing the company lion.

    • straffinrun

      Public school has always been brainwashing nonsense. Be a gud citizen! Obey! Snitch! And if you question our right to steal from you, you’re a traitor! Now, it’s gone from physical busing to mental busing.

      • Chafed

        All true. I’ll say (mildly) in its defense, the goal was a form unity. This CRT stuff is divisive poison.

    • Gustave Lytton

      The winds are blowing in different directions and he’s trying to stay at the forefront.

      • Chafed

        I think you have this one backward. The backlash in VA seems to be intense after the blow up in Loudon County. The race is tied when Team Blue should walk away with the governorship. I think he is floundering.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        He’s still going to win. I don’t think it’s going to be particularly close, either.

      • Chafed

        We will find out soon.

      • Gustave Lytton

        What I was trying to say that it’s bifurcating. The left is still moving in a radical direction and McAuliffe can’t ride both horses. Either he tacks to the center, and gets regarded as a has been or he embraces this sort of thing and hope it’s enough to scrape by.

  14. straffinrun

    Look at any ATF officer with his douchebag tatts and tell me he cares about your safety. Why must every alphabet letter law enforcement agency be filled with these particular brand of fuckheads?

    • Gustave Lytton

      Personal appearance and grooming has slid among both law enforcement and the military over past twenty years.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I have two tatts on my arm but I will be damned that in a professional setting they are exposed. Our current crop of law enforcement are no different in appearance from street gangs wearing their colors.

      • straffinrun

        Tatts are fine. It’s their version that are terrible.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        I’m with you on tats, mine are above sleeve, my bother is what happened to dreesing nice just because? are we nation of slobs? i hope not.

    • Chafed

      Thug with a badge marking time until he gets his pension.

  15. KSuellington

    Presently watching a great episode of Magnum. TC crashed the copter under mysterious circumstances and is in a coma while Thomas and Rick and his brother are diving go check out the wreckage. Somehow in all the episodes Tom Selleck never shot anyone for real in the cast or crew. You have to be some kind of anti gun nut to do that. I just read a gun guy saying, that if the scene called for Alec to shoot himself in the head he would have definitely checked the gun before.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well the gun is alive and goes off on its own. Sometimes, it gets into the nasty stuff that can really do damage.

      • KSuellington

        I can see how there would be an exception to two of the four rules for firearms for movies. Not all simulated shots can be directed away from people. But if you are doing this you do have to have multiple checks for live ammo. You really have to have a deep ignorance in relation to guns to not do so when you are pointing them at people and pulling the trigger. It boggles the mind. Alec is negligent as fuck. He will likely get away in the criminal sense, but get sued to oblivion, as he well should be.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Was thinking the other day since remakes are in fashion that Baldwin’s next project should be The Deer Hunter.

      • Chafed

        Harsh but fair.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Isn’t it just as likely that he’s a loudmouth who folded and rolled over on others in exchange for leniency as soon as the feds came-a-callin?

  16. Ownbestenemy

    Alright…teen got me pissed off. So Im going to bed. Fuck teenages. I cannot and will not accept I was that big of an asshole

    *narrator* you were that big of an asshole.

  17. The Bearded Hobbit

    Any other insomniacs out there?

    • rhywun

      Nope. I got a nice night of sleep for once. Going to bed early agrees with me. I should do it more often.

      • Tulip

        Me too. Instead I act like a five year old and avoid going to bed

    • Trigger Hippie

      Yo. Well not insomnia per se, just three hours of sleep over the last two nights because of a stomach issue yesterday evening and a pinched nerve in my neck last night.

      I’m tired, in pain and cranky. Work is going to suck.

      *Flashes false grin, waves enthusiastically*

  18. Sean

    Morning Glibs.

    • rhywun

      “Parental consent” ?

      The next stage is stabs without the child’s consent.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’d be furious even if I was a rabid provaxer.

  19. Sean

    Still raining here. It was quite the downpour last night with a nice light show.

    Power blinked out for a minute last night too.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Mohammed Zubi needs to toughen the fuck up and grow a thicker skin.

    • Tres Cool

      Im not sure if that’s tasteless so soon, but people didnt wait to mock Cheney for taking a shot @ that guy.
      0/10 would not buy

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        It wouldn’t be quite so bad if no one had croaked but considering someone’s dead it’s tasteless as hell. The lady that got ended doesn’t deserve this.

      • rhywun

        This. Bad Donald Jr.

      • Tres Cool

        One the one hand, I wish it was Baldwin that took the bullet. On the other hand, it would be just one more avenue they would exploit for the gun-control soap-box he’s always lectured from. Just like making a Muslim a martyr, Baldwin getting shot would just lay him on the altar of altruism.

    • Ghostpatzer

      CWAA.

  20. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam
    whats goody ?

    *Ive been up all night on my “day” off. Jugsy left behind bananas, so I made…banana/chocolate cupcakes.

    (dont worry Sean- not for my consumption)

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, homey!

      I’d ask for the recipe for those cupcakes, but after three days at the lodge last week, I REALLY need to get back to the Y.

      • Tres Cool

        photo sent. Recipe as an addendum.

      • Gender Traitor

        Thanks! I see the photo but not the recipe.

    • Sean

      ?

  21. l0b0t

    For those that would like to see New Dune, a link to both a 1080p and a 4K copy may or may not be in the film section of the forum.

    • rhywun

      Oh, you. I may or may not look.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Arr, ye done good, matey!

  22. Ghostpatzer

    Mornin’ all

  23. UnCivilServant

    I hate absurd serving size suggestions. This jar of pickles claims that a serving is 2/3 of a spear. I mean, who’s going to trim down a pickle spear?

    • Ghostpatzer

      Winston’s Mom?

    • Gender Traitor

      I don’t think even Teh Hype would do that.

    • rhywun

      I can’t wait to see what the construction-site basement hole next door looks like when the sun rises.

      I hope the workers bring their galoshes and maybe SCUBA gear today.

      • Gender Traitor

        Good news! Your building now has a pool!

      • rhywun

        No pool 🙁 Just lots of wet, dirty material to haul out of there.

      • Ghostpatzer

        “basement hole next door”

        Hope it doesn’t leak into your basement.

      • Tres Cool

        There’s a joke there, but Ill let it pass.

      • rhywun

        Not my problem.

        /sixth-floor renter

      • UnCivilServant

        I donno, damage to the foundation seems like it would matter more the further up you are and the longer the fall and the greater the distance to evacuate when the tower comes down.

      • rhywun

        “Sorry team, I have to drop off. My home is collapsing.”

      • Tres Cool

        On the other hand, if you’re at the top, everyone below gets buried in the rubble. A collapse would be a wild ride, but being near the top would mean less on top of you.

        /yet another joke Ill let slide

      • rhywun

        I’m at the top.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Oh, and that useless fuck Murphy declared a state of emergency. Must maintain order

  24. l0b0t

    Daughter’s school just sent a message saying that due to rain, drop off will be on the same street the busses use so the kids can go directly into the building. I can’t wait to see what a clusterfuck this will be.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Lol

    • Ghostpatzer

      Wow, times are tough. People can’t afford raincoats for their kids? We’re doomed!

    • rhywun

      grants Inslee the ability to enforce argle bargle

      Bullshit.

      Well, this will get interesting.

  25. Sean

    https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/10/25/the-hi-power-is-back-new-springfield-sa-35-hi-power-pistol-review/

    Follow up link.

    Springfield pulled out all of the stops making this clone and even tweaked the original design to improve upon its weaknesses. Mainly, the original magazine safety has been removed, allowing Springfield’s version to have a much better trigger. The hammer has been re-contoured to eliminate slide bite that the older models sometimes caused. It uses improved 15 rounds magazines instead of the 13 round magazines of the original Hi-Power. The safety has been improved as well, and the SA-35 has a beveled magazine well.

    • UnCivilServant

      So, it’s not a Hi-Power.

      • Sean

        It’s an assault weapon and you can’t have one.

        Neener neener.

      • UnCivilServant

        Don’t you start using the language wrong too.

  26. Festus

    Why am I completely alone in my struggle against Dictats? Two corporations lied today about work and safety procedures. My parent company just went along with it. Where the fuck is my Union? I had to get into a heated exchange with my supervisor and do one of those “teaching moments” that the kids seem so fond of. Fuck you, I will not change bulbs over ten feet high while working alone! Bitch from Canada Post made up a new measure of 3.5 meters and her Cuntey ceiling happens to be just under 11’6″. I checked the book. Nothing over 10′. Then I had to snark back and forth with my supervisor.

    • Sean

      Why am I completely alone in my struggle against Dictats?

      You are not alone.

      I, too, enjoy tilting at windmills.

      • Festus

        Dude, I’m not Don Quixote, I’m Sancho. Pulling wings off flies or pure laziness? Who can tell, anymore?

    • Festus

      She treated me like a goldbricker and said that she’d just get one of the girls to come in. They could change the bulbs. Ya know when your vision starts turning red? Yeah, like that.

    • Tres Cool

      I’m assuming you pay dues (aka they TAKE dues). Make those assholes work for you. Call the hall.

      • Festus

        It’s solved. I can stand up for myself but I wish that I didn’t have to so often.

  27. Mojeaux

    It is autumn. My mulled cider wax cubes are warming my space via scent. The leaves are turning late this year, which means an easy (or at least, late) winter. Yet it is sunny out and not raining. WHY?! I WANT RAIN, dammit!

    The Ikea people and handyman are coming today. I must make myself presentable. Sadly, my house is not. I don’t know where I’m going to put this ginormous cabinet together, but it was an emergency purchase. My one-butt kitchen has almost no storage space and what it does have goes up to the heavens and I can’t reach it even with a stepladder, much less try to hoist heavy baking pans and glassware up there.

    You don’t appreciate wall-to-wall carpeting until you have a hardwood-floored house with cathedral ceilings and everything echoes like Fantastic Caverns.

    THAT SAID, we are OUT of our POS house and into a nice place that I am proud to call home (or will be, when I get all my stuff sorted). And my landlord lets us mount stuff on the walls (like TVs). When we move (when our nest is definitively empty), I will repair everything before we leave. I already asked the LL what color he used to paint the walls so I could do so.