Transcripts 2001-06

Transcripts from June 2001 strips.
==June 1==
Panel 1Gates looks up into a glowing blue light, frowning.Gates: ...Wait, let me make sure that I heard you right old man. You're saying that Dr Cook, the terminal coward, has suddenly grown a backbone?Off-panel (Oracle): Yes. He has rendered the commander unconscious and there is a %89.76 chance he will try escaping with the prototype.Panel 2The camera pans around to show that Gates is looking up at the Oracle, projected into the air as a hologram.Gates: WHAT! Why the hell didn't you consider the doctor doing something like this when we started planning this attack? Even if the risk was nominal I expect you to tell me about it so I can at least make a plan B! Damn it! Adams would have given us the ship!Oracle: I'm sorry but the doctor was a total surprise but he isn't the problem. I predict he will never make it to the Wildfire.Panel 3Close-up of the Oracle, one eye larger than the other.Oracle: I am the greatest AI ever created; however my knowledge is not infinite. When we travel in time we automatically change events so things like this can happen... For example, not even I could predict the lieutenant dying in that freak toilet related incident last week!
==June 4==
Panel 1Gates gives the Oracle (off-panel) a skeptical look.Gates: Hold on, didn't you say that the Doctor isn't a problem? Then what is?Off-panel (Oracle): I'm afraid I don't know...Panel 2Close-up of the Oracle, projecting from a glowing orb on a pedestal.Oracle: We knew already that the prototype would throw my predictions. That's why we "planted" that stupid POW with the loader-droid on board to get the time to attack correct...Panel 3Close-up of Gates and the Oracle, eye-to-eye.Oracle: Having two devices so close together is creating... problems. I can't seem to predict anything correctly longer the a few minuets away... You have to carry on without my assistance.Gates: Very well... I have almost all the enemy forces imprisoned and more fire power then the station, so this shouldn't be too hard without your help...Oracle: UNLESS someone reaches the prototype first! But fear not! I've taken... "liberties"...
==June 8==
Panel 1Gates is shouting angrily at the Oracle.Gates: "Liberties"? Liberties! You'd better fucking not have gone over my head again old man!Oracle: Oh heaven forbid! I just thought I had better act straight away.Panel 2Cook is racing down a hallway in the E11 in a panic. An Inlay waits for him around the next corner.Oracle: We both now what could happen if Cook reaches the prototype, so I decided that making sure he doesn't was a priority!Panel 3Cook turns to see the Inlay, mostly out of panel except its claws, and starts with a large red exclamation point and beads of sweat.Panel 4Silhouette of the Inlay reaching out to grab Cook with its claw, as Cook falls backward.
==June 11==
Panel 1The Inlay's claw reaches for a wide-eyed Cook with a "SHHHH!"Panel 2Cook slams his eyes shut and grits his teeth as the claw snaps closed with a "SHANG!"Panel 3Cook opens his eyes slightly to see the claw inches from his nose.Panel 4The Inlay stands still, facing the camera.Panel 5The Inlay's glowing red eyes peter out, and it shakes a little.Panel 6The Inlay collapses with a "CLATTER!" to reveal an annoyed Tessa in CORE-issue armour and holding a smoking Black Rose.
==June 15==
Panel 1Cook breathes a sigh of relief, clutching his chest and closing his eyes.Cook: I... I don't believe it! I've still got my head! I'm still alive! I'm still...Panel 2The tip of the Black Rose appears in front of Cook's face as he opens his eyes and panics again.Cook: ...a dead man!Panel 3The camera pans out to show Tessa standing over Cook with the Black Rose aimed at his face. A box with an electrical warning label on it is in the background.Cook: Er... Thanks for the save? Like I thought all of the guards had been captured when we lost the mess hall... where did you come from?Panel 4Tessa faces the camera, looking very angry. The Black Rose is also pointed at the camera, but partially off-panel.Tessa: I got... held up. Anyway don't be too glad I saved you as the only reason I've not shot you yet is that the Inlay droid was trying to kill you! That means you know something so spill it! What the fuck is going on?Panel 5Gates is shaking his fist in rage.Caption: Meanwhile, back on the Inglorious...Gates: WHAT DO YOU MEAN "ANOTHER PROBLEM"!Gates: THIS BETTER BE GOOD OLD MAN!Panel 6The Oracle tilts to one side, eyes somewhat narrowed.Oracle: The Inlay droids I sent in have been neutralised by a member of the station security. I remember it wasn't my job to ensure that they were all incarcerated...Gates: WATCH YOUR MOUTH!Oracle: Very well, Shall I blame and brutally punish an innocent officer for your mistakes again?
==June 18==
Panel 1Gates glowers up at the Oracle.Gates: Hold on a sec... Why can't we just space shift the doctor over to the ship like the guards? Surely he's worth more alive anyway?Oracle: I concur, but we can't risk putting another large hold in the station's super-structure. If the station implodes we'll lose the prototype!Panel 2Close-up of the Oracle, looking vaguely in mid-thought.Off-panel (Gates): That's something I still don't get. How come we can place objects from this ship to there's, accurate to within a few inches but have to bite out a lump of the station to get one room of people to over here?Oracle: That's complex but all you need to know is that the further away an object is the harder it is to aim and lock onto it. Therefore I don't aim and just grab everything around it. However I know within millimetres where all objects are on this ship.Panel 3Close-up of Gates's eyes as he looks slightly confused.Gates: Hmmm... are you sure that the station can't take another hit? It's clear that shifting is the only successful tactic we've used so far.Panel 4Closer close-up of the Oracle.Oracle: True, but remember this is an old commercial E class station. It was made on the cheep by the mining corps and they cut a LOT of corners. It's amazing it can hold itself together anytime let alone during an attack! Think of the E class as a space-aged Ford Pinto!
==June 22==
Panel 1Tessa holds her face in her hand as if in pain.Tessa: If I hadn't just seen an Inlay droid pop out of thin air just now I would have shot you for insulting my intelligence with the crap you told me... Okay lets pretend you're not nuts and all this time travel shit is possible.Tessa: ...why does Gates want the original time machine when he already has a better one? God this is making my head hurt!Panel 2Cook side-eyes Tessa, looking annoyed. Tessa returns the favour.Cook: Simple, he doesn't want to create a paradox. There's no way in hell that the anarchists could have come up with a Philadelphia device by themselves so they must have stolen the Wildfire in order to create the Inglorious to use to steal Wildfire. If we stop them getting the Wildfire the Inglorious won't get built and all this will never happen! But I think it goes beyond that. Due to the anarchists string of apparently blind shit luck over the last 400 years that's made them so powerful, I'm starting to believe that they've been messing with the time-line since the 21st century! Conspiracy theorists say the global economic collapse in 2008 was manufactured to cause chaos and I'm starting to believe them.Panel 3The Oracle with an extremely vertically elongated face.Off-panel (Cook): Out of the rioting came the anarchists and from the mob rule floated Gates to the top of the pile. For the first year of his rule it was true anarchy! Gates was a mindless thug and proved it many times. Then *poof* suddenly he's a brilliant military leader capable of wiping out the USA! I don't buy it! Gates is a puppet, but hell knows who is pulling the strings...
==June 29==
Panel 1Tessa blasts another Inlay with the Black Rose, with a "ZAM!" She shudders slightly from the recoil, standing tiptoe on one foot while lifting her other knee in the air. The Inlay falls toward the camera, its chest and shoulder exploding from the impact.Panel 2Gates raises a fist and screams, spitting as he does. A blurry monitor is visible in the background.Gates: DAMMIT! She's taken out another one! I've seen onle Inlay droid take out 500 men but this bitch has already nailed six of them! Why aren't they even firing back for fuck's sake?Panel 3Close-up of the Oracle.Oracle: The droids I have sent over are ordered not to use any weapons that could puncture the hull of the station. Normally this isn't a problem but "that bitch" has a plasma cannon...Oracle: The droid's buckminster alloy armour can repel projectile and laser weapons, but hot plasma will go straight through it!Panel 4Gates shouts at the Oracle.Gates: GAH! I thought nothing bar explosives could nail an Inlay! If they are that damn fucking good, why don't we get some?Oracle: Plasma cannons are very unstable and have a habit of exploding and killing everyone around them.Panel 5Tessa is blasting away with a "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" with no particular concern for her surroundings, evidenced by the plasma-beam-size hole in the wall exposing damaged wires, and an electrical box hanging out of its outlet.Oracle: Also it takes a very special kind of lunatic to not only strap a small fusion reactor to their backs, but to also run around a battlefield with it too!
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