Chapter 72 - Status update

Finally it posted!

Dennis Aston

F5...F5...F5...F5...

Man, dat's jest wicked, Tefler!

Lol Tefler. It's almost like you're trolling Jedi. Hahaha

Dennis Aston

quick we need expresso line stat. maybe we can hyper drive him with pure caffine

Morris Crawford

You have more restraint than I...I mean crazy, does. I...I mean he's refreshing every two minutes. What are you talking about Jedi? I don't have a physical body, how can I be refreshing the page? Shut. Up. Crazy.

Jedi Khan

By god, man, don't stop to chat! Get to it!

Jedi Khan

I'm just editing at the moment. :-) Maybe an hour or two?

Tefler

Man, i am refreshing this page every 5 minutes or so. I can't wait anymore

Sid1712

Come on tefler, I need something to binge read, I am so excited for the next chapter!

Joke's on you, I'm not on meds! Although, I probably should be...might keep me from having to hear crazy's pacing back and forth as he waits impatiently for the chapter. Is it up yet, Jedi? No, not yet. We've got a few hours left. Hours?!? *groans in frustration, continues pacing*

Jedi Khan

Release or I will hide Jedi Khan's med's (again)! Grr.

Penfold

Are we there yet...

Wookey

No matter where I am when he uploads. I will make a break and read n.n I just entered here after 71. I am so happy that I found this platform!

MaydaysSin

I just hope he doesn't post it between 20:00 and 22::30 GMT, since I'm supposed to be on a conference call then, and it would not be good for me to be reading while I'm supposed to be speaking on the call! ;-)

Evan

It's 4 in the morning in the UK. Tefler has his whole Friday ahead of him so we are looking at maybe 14 hours before he is off work and able to post 72. About 10 in the morning PST. At least I get to sleep through most of it.

Soon.

Evan

Here we go again!

Brent

Are we there yet? Are we there yet

Its Friday.... the tension mounts. 1. Will there be a blue two-some ? 2. What happens to Hades? 3. What happens to the Underworld? 4. Will Tashana succumb to John? 5. What happens to the Vizier? 6. Will Jedi Khan lose the plot entirely? 7. Will Tefler get to 700 by Saturday? 8. Who gets first dibs on John for the next week? 9. What tech secrets can Dana requisition from the Underworld? 10. Can Alyssa "ship-train" Tashana? So many questions. Will we get the answers in ch 72 or will it be ch 73

Wookey

Just wait it won't be long.

Grimlakin

I don't know that it's that much of a delay. More like a 3-5 day delay, which actually causes more people not to become patrons, since they know they don't have a long wait, and they get the final, polished product as soon as anyone else, anyway.

Evan

Yippee

Wookey

Chapter 72 is finished! It's 32.5k long, and I just handed over part 2 to the editors. Assuming a couple of days for edits, I hope to have it up here on Friday!

Tefler

I'm chomping at the bit here. Sooo ready for 72!

Maybe but gravity is holding it in place already. It could also damage the ship doing that.

I didn't catch that. Interesting in deed. So technically they could open a wormhole in atmosphere... Boom bye bye atmosphere.

Grimlakin

Just had a thought. In the Regulus battle, the BSP ship left with its wormhole generator when the gravity field interdictors were turned on. Handy tech to have.

Dennis Aston

It's actually an interesting idea, but the idea isn't to absorb the bulk of the energy and redirect it, but rather, to reflect it entirely. Now, the ship *should* be almost 100% reflective of such energies - really, making it more of a mirror than a white ship - after the next upgrade. Now, mind you, a mirror in the darkness of space that has almost no light shown upon it appears to be black... with maybe a few stars reflected in it, if their light is strong enough... But if the ship's hull were properly angled and configured, it could indeed reflect energy attacks back upon the attacker. An interesting puzzle would be what would happen if two such vessels were configured to reflect and focus such attacks, and then encountered each other...

Evan

A question for the knowledgeable out there . In rereading the story again I came across something that sort of bugged me way back when ,in constructing the shields & skin of the ship they were able to absorb a lot of the energy being shot at them until they over load the capacitors . Couldn't Dana come up with a way/weapon that would take any overage & shoot it back at their attackers ? It would allow them to take on even the biggest & most powerful enemy ship & use it's own devastating power against them . Just a thought from someone who is not into physics . Thanks for your patience & any ideas .

bigdawguw65

Go Tef, go. Ignore us all and keep writing without distraction. Once the various other sites know that that its out and they are on 6-7 day delay then the current "almost" 650 should cross the 700 pretty darn quickly. With some luck 750 and closing in on that $1500 target

Wookey

Please hurry. Crazy has been in a funk for the last few days. As annoying as he is, seeing him moping around is just depressing.

Jedi Khan

I've written 25k so far, so I'm nearly there. Just a few more scenes to write to wrap up the end of it, then I'll post it up here. Friday is looking likely at the moment.

Tefler

Waiting with bated breath.

Smart wombat

Tefler had said in an earlier post that the Deity category was created because a new sponsor wanted to compensate for work already submitted. They intended this to be a one time donation, after which they would reduce the monthly giving to a more sustainable level. That being said, I believe my donation is more about supporting Tefler ; or anyone else, spend more time on the craft than their otherwise normal employment. It is like the donation box at your local museum..... if you have it, give $25, or $1... either way is completely acceptable. The support is appreciated either way. My 2¢

Tony Bates

Isn't Monday close enough to a week from the original post? <grin></grin>

ETNSosa

And you might just get that extra 150 supporters to break the $1500 mark...

Wookey

Tefler, stop teasing us. After leaving us on the brink at the end of Ch 71, we can't handle any more.

Wookey

Wow.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Oh man that is awesome and scary!!

Grimlakin

<a href="https://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2017/03/new-technique-efficiently-stores-error-resistant-data-in-dna/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2017/03/new-technique-efficiently-stores-error-resistant-data-in-dna/</a>

Science is catching up with TSM!

No worries, Tefler. I hope the weekend was as good as it was busy.

Evan

Hey everyone, Thanks for the birthday greetings! I was hoping to get a lot written this weekend, but things came up and I didn't get any free time unfortunately. I've written 15.5k so far and made a good start on part 2. I'd guess end of the week to finish it off.

Tefler

He said about....

Two more days?

Muledrvr

Happy (belated) birthday!!. Hope it was celebrated with lots of friends and family. I;ll hoist a glass of single malt to another great year for you (and of course, TSM).

Old Salt

He goes "crunch" Or would that be "fizzle"

I'm thinking that before they leave, Vizier Sag’kalyak of the Enshunu Empire is going to be arriving... you know, Tashana's "owner".... anyone care to lay bets on what happens next? ;-)

Evan

BTW, its more like a couple of days without water.

George41

So Tefler! Happy birthday! If you have had as many as I have I know you have to stop and think a second as to which one it is....lol. Hope your day was full of love and care and family time. (I have to have the fire department approve my birthday candles these days...lol.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Do you usually write them out as two parts or only when they get over a certain size?

Dennis Aston

Thanks guys! I thought about posting the first half, but I might go back and change a few bits as I work on the second. I'll see as I start going through part 2.

Tefler

Happy Bday Tefler! Also, if first part's a good stopping point, post it over the weekend please. We like starting a new week with a new chapter on our hero's journey. Or just enjoy ur birthday as a semi-pro writer. Big accomplishment. :) No pressure!

Happy Birthday !

Hey, It was my birthday, so I've had a couple of days off. I'm just editing the first half of Chapter 72 at the moment, then I'll crack on with the second half this evening. My weekend is pretty clear, so I'm hoping to get a lot done!

Tefler

leave a line for new update. Tef!

Good and evil are simplistic one dimensional concepts.  There are somethings that we universally think of in these terms but those are just shortcuts so that we don't dwell on unpleasant thoughts too long.  Concepts of good and evil are used in lazy story telling so that we don't have to go into the details off why the audience shouldn't like this group or that.  The real world is never sterile like the screen. Concepts of good and evil are used in propaganda regularly.  Politicians tell us to do what they are suggesting because this or that is evil.  What they really mean is they are at cross purposes to what is proposed. I don't think Tefler will stoop to simple good vs evil.  He has explained the motivations behind many of the groups.  Perhaps the Enshunu need to feed on pain or terror life you need food?  It is Sci-Fi after all.

The Invictus gives off Cherenkov Radiation, and runs off of Tachyons a ftl particle that increases in speed as it degrades more or less, at some point its getting its energy from somewhere. . . .

The used it for the singularity driver they said.

I would also like to add that there may also be different sources of power between each individual ship and/or faction. Or, as another possibility, the hydrogen emissions may be the direct emissions from a Tyrenium power core, whose molecular and chemical make up w have not been told. I do have a theory as too why the Tyrenium is so valuable to the Terran Federation Military. From what I have been able to surmise, Tyrenium fuels all of their major spacecraft, suggesting that Tyrenium may be a long-lasting, stable power/fuel source, and, in turn, justifying its extreme buying/selling price. Also, given what we know about Admiral Charles's willingness to procure any Tyrenium that he can get his hands on, plus backed by Johns claim about inner world raw material resources, Tyrenium may be increasingly rare and dangerous to find on worlds closer to the Terran Federation's seat of power.

Unbroken Sage

Commander Rupert Grant? Probably around the same time as Admiral Norwood, I bet. That is to say, whenever Tefler wants them to. :D

Jedi Khan

Yea what's with the fuel ? Do they need it to their FTL drives or something ?

Fuel? The first reference to fuel is found 71 chapters into the story?  Yes there were tankers in 68, but they could be for things other than large ships (like dropships, fighters, tanks, missiles, etc) or fuel (like coolant, water, lubricant, Orange juice). Are the Enshunu the only ones needing fuel?  Why is there really no mention of the Terrans needing a fill up? Is the fuel for hyper drive or the local system drive? Since the Invictus uses special drives does it need custom fuel?

Vizier

Don't forget about the Rod and the soon arriving

I expect we will see Irrillith dive into the station computers and enable the rest of the defenses. Her body is vulnerable, will Tashana attack?

Oh, and after my earlier comment, I Realized I forgot something... Dana is going to be ticked that she doesn't get "fireballs" first :P

ETNSosa

The unclaimed wastes would work but they need habitable worlds and it sounds like most are gone. They will have to Terraform and that takes a long time.

Could the staff be the rod that Tashana retrieved?

Maps are out of date :P

And looking at the maps can't see any Enshunu territory . With some luck there is another 20 -30 chapters in this series.

Wookey

i wonder when the commander that sold ships to the pirates will show back up

dominick vigil

So way back so many chapters ago, my first thought about the progenitors is that they fight amongst themselves, some good some bad (or maybe some bad and some worse) because 'there can be only one' (you know what I'm talking about.) Yes Highlander, but also the same as Jedi versus sith, and good versus evil in Fifth Element. The same idea of the force of evil versus the force of good - at whatever barely conceivable level.

I just had an enlightenment mainly Unclaimed Wastes and destroyed civilization could be the same civilization from Ashanath stone pictographs of the red skinned humanoids, also the staff one of the Progenitors wielded could still be somewhere. It would be intresting if by objects Progenitors could channel more psychic power.

I absolutely agree with you. With a story that leaves so much room for expansion, there's almost no limit to what he can do with it. I just hope that he doesn't get gassed out with this story. There would be no justice done by the story to stop after the Prognitor arc. Relatively speaking, the galaxy is still a small place within this story. I use Tefler's map as justification. There is so much more to be done. Tefler, here's hoping you read this and real inspired to keep on keeping on.

Unbroken Sage

I think for there to be a meaningful 3SM sequel then the story (as epic as it all ready is) has to fit into an even larger saga. You can't go from the life and death fight between good and bad (progenitors) to a side mission. That's why so many sequels suck - you blow your wad on part 1 then have little in the tank for future. This story is already epic in duration but there could be much more to say. Let's say that the progenitor they are fighting is not johns father but older brother for example. Leaves more room for visiting "progenitor space (once they figure out how the space folding tech works.). They could realize this fight is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. And that is where answers about johns mother and history could come from as well as what Athens is about etc. But that does not mean that they can't have green babies first.

I just had a thought maybe not for this part of 3SM, but in maybe sequel it would be nice to see one of the current empires ( Maliri or T-Fed ) expand their territory not by war but by colonisation, even beyond this sector of space, it could lead to lot of discoveries and potential adventures. Probably had this thought after watching some gameplay from Mass Effect andromeda or new Alien trailer not sure... :)

But not book 5... ( at least the second half of book 5 ). Wolves and Dragons of the Blood lack dramaturgy after 1 book to be honest.

I honestly think he could start having children with the Malari now.

Tefler has already said he has started thinking of plots for the sequel to this story so we have 4sm to look forward to maybe lol

Jim lynch

I definitely agree with that, and it's certainly not something that you can just go "Do". But I think that even a limited e-book run would help him out immensely, not to mention that it would give him a solid foundation for other works.

Unbroken Sage

I think he's mentioned putting it out as an ebook eventually, which is really the only way to make something this size cost-effective on a large scale. Others have mentioned doing limited-run print versions, but the cost on those is likely to be significantly higher than the average person would spend because of the size. ~Morningfrost

Morningfrost

You know honestly, with some editing and variation with the sex scenes, and a little more storytelling in terms of immersion, as well as some expansion and cleaning on some of the earlier chapters, there's no reason why this story couldn't get published. It's well written, descriptive, fun to read, and has a plot that is intriguing and easy to follow while still being mysterious and deceptive, like all good stories are. Granted, no matter what you do, this is a selective audience sort of story(you know what I mean), but it seems like that audience is extremely large. And from what I've seen, there aren't any other stories like this out there. Tefler, if you're reading this, give it some consideration man, you never know.

Unbroken Sage

no babies, still got lots of women to get jet, this story could go on to be like Wolves and Dragons of the Blood:

Warren Thomas

Tefler, As always love your work and can wait for the next chapter!

Loved the last chapter full of action little sex, 72 should be a bit of a tear jerker

Warren Thomas

Stop hoping for babys! Babies mean the story is wrapping up. 😥 We all want 40 to 60 more chapters! Please get your Prego fix somewhere else so you can just enjoy the wild 3SM ride!

You're right, I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. It's 3SM man, and Tefler's making progress! How can you possibly hate that?

Jedi Khan

Try Shift+Enter to get a new line, Wookey.

Jedi Khan

See? I told you he couldn't possibly be almost done with chapter 72. ... Oh, come on. Don't pout you big baby. ... Let's go reread the last chapter. That always cheers you up. No! Come on, it's your favorite story, the whole reason why you exist. No! We can get some ice cream to go with it. ... That sounds good, doesn't it? Some ice cream to go with the story? ...Fine. There we go. Feel better now? No. Oh, well. Get over it.

Jedi Khan

My storyline tips Ch72 Tashana's re-integration plus Dana upgrade (needs to get brain upgraded so can upgrade Invictus with Progenitor Tech) Ch 73 Invictus refit &amp; John's Maliri 4some Ch 74 the House of Blake &amp; Maliri Federation Ch 75 Brimorian adventures/new shields Ch 76 Master Assassin returns Ch 77 Progenitor John Ch 78 Drakkar - Kintark alliance Ch 79 Everyone else vs D-K Alliance Ch 80 Underworld defences re-ignited as Progenitor 1 returns Ch 81 Invictus acquires Wormhole technology Ch 82 Kintark seeks alliance with John Blake &amp; Friends Ch 83 Terran Federation High Command goes rogue (again)

Wookey

If we look at the time between 70 and 71 and we stop bothering Tefler so he can spend all his extra time writing we may see 72 on 3/5/17. I sure hope so cause i'm already starting to get the jitters.

I have already read the last chapter 3 times. Looking forward to the next one. Thank you for this adventure.

morris ridgeway

How long can you last without food? A couple of weeks. How long can you last without water? About a week. How long can you last without the next chapter? Define "last"....

Dennis Aston

Actually it was Faye but she also kinda blueish 😊

Kim Biel-Nielsen

So I guess I know who you voted for as your favourite character?

... and blue babies

Kim Biel-Nielsen

...still waiting for green babies! But I am a patient man. :)

Looking forward to it

Oh man... Jedi isn't going to love this.

Grimlakin

Looking forward to it!

Thank you for the update!

Evan

The sooner done, the sooner you can crack $1500/chapter &amp; write full time. Still reckon it will happen prior to ch 73

Wookey

This is what makes or breaks internet publications. The interaction with the audience that just isn't possible in other mediums.

Braincase

Same

Unbroken Sage

Thank you for keeping us informed!

Car Crash

Seconded

Asap please I can't wait

Jim lynch