Rock and roll

1118H 08/30/08 (GMT +0800) ~START~


As of now, I'm sleepy more often than before & I've been like this for 13 or so days already. Upbeat songs help keep me awake, though said songs don't work all the time. The only things I remember changing are my cinnamon consumption (I've been using it daily in my coffee in an effort to stay awake) & my arnis routine (I've stopped having a nearly daily dose since I've been unable to meet up with the local kids I've been teaching). I've restarted doing my dance just this morning & I'll keep off the coffee starting tomorrow. Right now, I'm slowly finishing off a 750mL bottle of Mountain Dew, a drink renowned for its caffeine content.

The drowsiness makes thinking so much harder. It's a lot worse than going without my glasses. Going without my glasses inside a mall for an hour made me feel blind. The only thing that brings me to full alertness whenever I'm drowsy is anger. Unfortunately, the anger burns me out, thus making me drowsier in the end. Being drowsy is like knowing you can be but being denied the ability to be. It's so frustrating to be drowsy [smirks in annoyance]. I've made a lot of spelling & grammatical errors I'd usually not make. At the very least, I'm no longer having idiopathic headaches.

My memory palace is still in relative disarray, though its CIC is nearly totally solid since I've been using it a lot during the past few days. Of course, nothing beats pen & paper when it comes to remembering things. If it wasn't written down, it doesn't exist. Most unfortunately, the Veritech hangar lacks the Veritechs it's supposed to house. That's no less than 24 mnemonic touchpoints & I haven't included the cranes, lorries & ammo racks in the equation. Though [shrugs], the Samurai itself is still basically empty so I've little rational reasons for complaints or rants.

Come Monday, I'll perform an extended search for additional probable places of employment while I obtain a document & tickets for the oath-taking ceremony from the PRC while I have photocopies made of other important documents. Afterwards, I'll return to a preferred probable place of employment because I've (stupidly) forgotten to obtain the phone number of the place, something I can't obtain through the 'Net since that hospital doesn't have a functional web page. At least [tilts head to the right in thought], I haven't found a functional website for said hospital. I'll see if my charm can work its usual magic on people when I go out this Monday. The fine thing about said charm/charisma is that it plays well with my Mentat Engine.

[sighs in resignation] Well, I've currently no options for a probable Lady. Right now, I'm listening to Princessa's "I won't forget you", Utada Hikaru's "Moving on without you" & Simply Red's "Stars". Tis frustrating that I'm twenty & six years of age & I've yet to find Her. If my worst fears come to pass, I'll die of a cerebral hemorrhage by my fourth decade because I've maxed out my mental capabilities. Of course [tilts head to the right], I could start eating a healthier diet to ameliorate the extant vascular damage. Will that be enough?

Come Wednesday, I'll be going through a series of hoops in my quest for gainful employment of my license's profession. [smirks in irony & amusement] "Here, kitty, kitty. Jump through the flaming hoops to please the crowd & earn your dinner."

By the end of the week, if my luck holds true, I'll have a copy of "Mr. God, this is Anna" by Fynn. That my first copy of it was lost by a (now former) friend was a tad annoying. That no visible effort to replace such an important book was made by said former friend is irksome.

Since I'm more inclined to write, I've written e-mails to friends. It's a tad disappointing that I haven't received replies to some, though such an outcome was one of the probable scenarios (since I can't expect every friend of mine to want to reply through e-mail). It's been approximately 9 weeks since I sent them mail. Some have replied while some have kept quiet, which was expected. What does the silence mean? Am I really & truly alone? Are the only stalwart friends I have the ones I've put inside my memory palace, friends who're extensions of my person, friends that are not separate entities from my soul? I hope that my future place of employment will provide the friends I seek. I'm lonely, almost terribly so.

I've been tinkering with Magenta. I've mounted my hopelessly crippled Freedom Gundam's waist on it so it'll have integral weaponry in the form of a pair of rail guns that serve as sheaths for a pair of beam sabers. I was annoyed that Magenta's only weapons outside of its striker packs are a pair of armor schneiders. Come on, my personal mobile suit only has a pair of piddling knives? After an hour or so of looking at Magenta wearing a waist unit not its own, I decided that the transplanted waist created an aesthetically unpleasant mobile suit. In my opinion, my mobile suit has to be dangerous AND pretty. At any rate, I'm considering the acquisition of the kits that have the IWSP, Sword & Launcher packs, which means I'll be buying two extra kits just to get those three packs. Magenta is Adaptive. It can't perform that function if it only has the Aile Striker pack, can it? The fact that I've got a relatively big armory because I've other 1/100 scale kits is a salve to the spirit of the disciple of General George C. Patton.

Wizard's Ninth Rule

NOTE: I do NOT own the copyrighted characters or licensed materials. Standard disclaimers apply.






What is, is.

~~~Location: Inside the Samurai - Heavily modified Pellaeon-class Imperial Star Destroyer, currently traversing Infinity

~~~Dramatis Personae:

Bridge Crew:

Commanding Officer : My self
Executive Officer : Hannibal Lecter, MD
Weapons Officer : Teletha Testarossa
Launch Officer : Lisa Hayes
Tactics Officer : Lacus Clyne

CIC (Combat Information Center)

CO: [sighs as I plunk down on the command seat] Nothing new, is there?

XO: Event "Third Impact": Coruscant has come to pass, Captain.

CO: So it has [slumps in weary relief]. That's one less thing to stress about. That one went out with a whimper of a bang. [smirks in annoyance] That one was almost a waste of time, wasn't it?

XO: If not for the lesson learned & the reinforcement of a previous lesson about avoiding specific entities, it would've been a disappointing waste.

CO: Anything else?

TO: The Quest's current Target is a "non-responsive", Taichou.

CO: [nods in acknowledgment] Let's hold our current status. At the moment, we've got a lot of time to burn & rushing or forcing the issue is moot. The target's reaction, or lack of it, will state what subsequent action is most apt.

TO: The Mentat Engine predicts that the Quest's Target will maintain status quo.

XO: [snorts in a dignified manner] Just goes to show that when pushed, some people raise their defenses out of fear of the unknown.

CO: We're not exactly better, sometimes, are we [makes a sidelong glance towards the good doctor]?

XO: We make occasional & scheduled calculated risks towards the unknown to make substantial gains. That's hardly what I can call raising our defenses when pushed.

WO: That's because we go in with our defenses ALREADY raised, Lecter-sensei.

CO: Touché, Doctor.

XO: The safety of this ship is paramount. We're responsible for lives beyond ours, sir.

CO: [looks to the stars at the main screen, pondering] So we are, so we are.

LO: [taps her screens] Your personal mobile suit is about to arrive, sir.

CO: My Strike Rouge's coming? [grins as if Christmas came early]

XO: [snorts, again in a dignified manner] Your predilection towards pink is appalling. I'm still wondering why I agreed to serve in a PINK warship.

LO: The Samurai is privately owned & if the owner, who also happens to be the commanding officer, wants it pink, then it'll be pink. The Veritech squadrons & mobile suit squads have no complaints about launching from a pink warship. [taps keys to bring out a form] Of course, Flight Officer Koiso Ryoko continues to submit daily protests on the Samurai's color scheme, which this bridge humors.

CO: [grins cheekily] We've yet to slap her down with a punishment for insubordination, haven't we? How about we let it get around that her complaints will earn her a HOT PINK veritech as her personal ride?

LO: [smirks in amusement] Noted, sir. I'll pass it on to Major Miriya Sterling.

CO: Doctor? The Samurai's not pink. It's painted in old rose.

WO: You already have a name for your personal mobile suit, don't you?

CO: MAGENTA is what she'll be named, as is her OS.

TO: We'll begin installing the necessary software ASAP so you can coordinate your actions within MAGENTA with the Samurai's operations [taps her schematics].

XO: Why would you want to go out in a personal mobile suit when you're safer & more powerful inside the Samurai?

CO: For the rush, Doctor, what else? Besides, having a wild card in a game has the ability to swing the odds to our favor. The opposition doesn't have to know we've got ANOTHER mobile suit that we can throw against it, does it [grins evilly]? Since MAGENTA can go out using any of the Striker packs, we can throw any surprises we need, yes? Also, I'll personally be able to access two POVs nigh-simultenously, from up-close with the mobile units & from afar through my link with the Samurai. I can always dock with the Samurai if there's need.

TO: We'll have to time your launch so we'll get the most out of the maneuver.

LO: Any of the egress ports & launch catapults will meet MAGENTA's needs.

WO: I've already set up MAGENTA's upgrade from battery-powered to nuclear-driven.

XO: To maximize our gain from your use of MAGENTA, I'd suggest we leave no survivors in any encounter whenever you launch, Captain.

CO: [nods] True. We can't have news leaking out that we've a wild card. That'll be the SOP unless there are circumstances that supersede it. [taps chin with right index & middle fingers] We'll leave a survivor if we need someone to spread terror or if we're going to capture & turn the survivor/s.


0846H 08/27/08 (GMT +0800)


TO: Taichou [taps various holograms], sensors indicate that the Quest's current Target has reacted. Bringing it up on the main screen.

XO: The reaction is significantly delayed. It's also remarkably erratic.

CO: [steeples fingers as I sit on the command chair] The reaction is still within the predictions of the Mentat Engine, though. Weaps, Tac-O, speak up.

WO: We've executed the appropriate counter within seconds of intercept.

TO: Target has reacted with a very short burst of information & has yet to react to our succeeding counter-volley.

LO: Attack MS squad Officer Sagara requests that his unit be allowed to sortie & attack, request approved by Squad Commander Pendragon.

CO: [leans forward on chair, squints in thought, left fingers tap armrest it's on & right hand cups chin] Yes, we could go on the offensive on this one. Unfortunately, the Target's reactions are almost always delayed & we've already spent a reasonable amount of time on it. I say we remove it from our sights, pull anchor & put it out of our minds. [shrugs] Seems we'll have to look again.

XO: Setting the Samurai on a course away from the current Target as I speak.

TO: Setting the Quest's sensors to passive acquisition mode as I speak.

WO: My sympathies, Taichou.

XO: At least we didn't get another Third Impact. That would've been unacceptable.

CO: True, that. Lacus, what's next on our list?

TO: [taps holograms] We've an appointment with a probable source of usable Credits.

LO: Attack MS squad will launch minus the units equipped with the Aile & Launcher packs. Defense MS squad will be on standby, with the remaining units from the Attack squad.

WO: Tannhäuser cannons ready for use, Taichou. We've got 50% output & its good for [taps screens] at least seven volleys. Scottie says he can give you an additional three if you can buy him 15 minutes. He'll use the time to replace the parts we'll vaporize with the last & seventh volley.

CO: Very well [nods]. All hands, stand down until 1100H. We'll use the time to recalibrate & recuperate. Those who wish to run drills or play in the simulators are allowed to do so but will rest at 1000H. Our battle standard will arrive on 09/07/08 & will be usable a day after. We'll begin our recon for Credits on that same day. Doctor Lecter & Ms. Clyne will acquire whatever information that'll be useful for our recon. Ladies Hayes & Testarossa will perform simulations for those recon runs & will pass on the approved plans to the concerned mobile units.