mercenary
âListen up, you bastards! For the rookies and anyone whoâs conveniently forgotten how we do this, here are the rules. Official loot â anything the client or the skipper wants â goes in the BLUE crates. Other loot of military value, in the GREEN crates. Plunder, in the YELLOW crates for
Claithmat Annulments
âYou donât want us to touch this one.â âI thought you were the best demolitions company in the Worlds!â âWe are.â âThen why canât you demolish this?â âI never said that we couldnât demolish this. I said that you didnât want us to demolish this. Look
meta
For those concerned with such things or just a mite irritated with Patreon at the moment, I am pleased to announce that I now also accept monthly donations via Liberapay. Patreon wonât be going away, so really, this just means you have a bit more freedom of choice, and
sophont rights
âThere are those, pacifists they name themselves, who proclaim that no manâs life is worth anotherâs; that it is better to die, or witness murder, than to take a life. And if one first grants that all lives have equal value in some mythical sense, this may make
Imperial intervention
From: Capt. Eladin Cineätreos, CS Fustuary Castigation To: Adm. Hars mor-Lanak, CINCTRAIL Subject: Intervention on Sorn (Olost Belt) Per received advisory and request, we proceeded to Sorn (Olost Belt) to investigate pre discretionary Imperial intervention to preserve peace and order on Sorn Actual, under authority of the appropriate Intervention Act.
meta
As a quick note to my Patreon patrons, as of the start of July they will be charging sales tax on assorted, but not all, patron pledges, thanks to new legal requirements. This affects 36 states of the US and assorted foreign parts, in different ways for each, and may
Orbit Guard
If They Want To Leave, Let Them Leave Malefactors in command of a docked starship are always to be permitted to depart if they request it. There are no âland-locksâ or armored space doors for a reason. Do not forget that even a tramp merchie or private yacht has point
Era of Steel and Steam
INERTIA WARNING MAGNETIC DRUM STORAGE IN USE ACCESS BY AUTHORIZED TECHNICIANS ONLY Magnetic drums rotate at 36 rpm when in use. Do not enter drum room unless steam valve is closed and padlocked, drive clutch is disengaged and padlocked, and spin-down is complete. (Governor ball check is insufficient; spin gauge
myth
Once, there was a proud city whose towers touched the heavens. But the people of the city were not its equal in pride, and they grew afraid of the world, for it went on forever, and they believed that such reduced their measure, and the measure of their city. They
barbarian
In assessing the governmental and cultural structures of a world to determine whether contact should be made â or, indeed, further interactions carried through â it is best to approach from a cosmopolitan perspective. The cultures of the greater galaxy vary widely, and we must not allow parochialism with regard to the
mourcalt
No discussion of approaches to gender in the Associated Worlds would be complete without mention of the peculiar customs of the mourcalt of the Trailing Assembly. The mourcaltâs biology gave them an exceptional degree of sexual dimorphism, which is typically correlated with strong gender archetypes, as indeed it was
information physics
Well, last month was kind of crappy, productivity-wise, what with one damn thing after another going wrong in non-writing-friendly ways, even without the coronavirus. Letâs hope this coming month works out better. In the meantime, I hope the lack of posting here has been in some way compensated for