Hey y'all. Yeah, I know that Undiscovered Country is the sixth Star Trek, and does not come after The Search for Spock. However, the availability of the movies isn't there. Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock are on Netflix, and we own Undiscovered Country and Voyage Home on VHS. Dad said he was in more of a Star Trek VI mood, so here we are. It's not like I began with The Motion Picture, anyway.
So anyway, Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country is a metaphor for the collapse of the Soviet Union, which happened about the time the movie came out. This actually makes a lot of sense, as one could argue that the Klingons were influenced possibly by the Soviet Union. How the Klingons treated certain races certainly reflects how the Soviets treated several smaller countries here on Terra.
Anyway, a Klingon moon blows up, polluting the atmosphere of Qonos, their homeworld. Kirk is called in to negotiate with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon. However, through bizarre circumstances, the Klingon ship is attacked and Gorkon is killed. Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy end up captured and sent off to the penal camp Rura Penthe. Spock must take charge and save them, all without hindering the peace talks between the Federation and Klingons. Includes a new Vulcan, Valeris, a bird of prey that can fire when cloaked, and lots of Shakespeare quotes
----- Top Ten Comments on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country -----
10. So many offensive lines!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Me and Aldaris (p20): Total Recall
It was a boring night. I had just finished a whole bunch of Quickbooks homework, and had about forty percent of it left. Yeah, I'm so looking forward to next semester when I have to do income taxes. The teacher gives a crap ton of homework, including a discussion board every day. But that's next semester. For that moment, I was completely done with homework. I'd been sitting at my kitchen table for the past three hours, and while admittedly some of that I was watching Minecraft Quick Builds, that's way too much time to sit in one place. I stretched and got out of my chair to get some tea. And then facepalmed.
"Oh crap." I groaned. "I haven't planned out what I'm writing for November."
You know, National Write a Novel in a Month, where you write 50,000 words for the month of November. I'm going to win this year! I swear it! Or I will if I ever sit down and make plans for what exactly I want to write. I've got this primary story I'm working on, but there's alternates too, and I want to get my Starcraft choose your own adventure novel on its way to being finished by the end of the year.
"But not now!" I announced to my imaginary audience. Sheesh, even when I'm not writing these journal entries, I'm talking to you guys. "Now I...I sleep. I'm tired."
Actually, I wasn't that tired, but my eyes were starting to hurt from being on the computer so long, and that's kind of like being tired. It's really hard to think when your eyes are groggy. But I had so much homework to do, and I wanted to get as much as possible done for November so I wouldn't have to think about it. I've got a report on franchising to do, and that's not going to take two minutes. So I lay down on the couch, expecting to just sit with my eyes closed for ten minutes, or at least until my anxiety about getting everything done nagged me into working again.
Well, that's what I intended. Anxiety had hold for only a minute or two before sleep took over, and off I was on the sleepy train. I don't know how long it was, but it felt like only a minute later that I was awake. And instead of having my face half-smushed in the purple cushions, my nose found itself stuck against something cold. I wasn't sure what it was at first, as it was so dark. Not completely, though, as after only a few seconds of blinking the cold stuff was obviously a metal floor.
Suddenly something heavy started nudging against my side.
"Get up! Get up at once!"
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Nitpickery: The Search for Spock
Hey y'all. So while I'm on this Star Trek kick, I thought I'd go ahead and review the bona fide sequel for Wrath of Khan. Now, there's always been a saying for the Star Trek movies, that the even ones are good and the odd ones aren't so good. While that saying is generally true, and this is the third of the Trek movie series, it's actually a pretty good movie. Sure, it does have several flaws, but the acting is good, and the story isn't as bad as the Star Wars prequels. Not even close.
So this movie goes that Spock's father, Sarek, wants to know where his son's katra, or soul, is. Sarek presumes that Kirk has it, but he doesn't. Instead they discover that Spock's personality is trapped within McCoy's mind (it's not as off the wall as it sounds) and that McCoy, now appearing crazy, has a sudden desire to go back to the Genesis planet, which was created in the last movie when Khan set off the Genesis device at the end. The crew of the Enterprise then take their ship illegally out of a space station and head to Genesis, hoping to find out if they can save Spock. Only now a Klingon who found out about Genesis is in their way, and both Saavik and Kirk's son are caught in the middle.
And now...
----- Ten Things I'll Say about The Search for Spock -----
10. This movie reverses everything done in the previous one.
So this movie goes that Spock's father, Sarek, wants to know where his son's katra, or soul, is. Sarek presumes that Kirk has it, but he doesn't. Instead they discover that Spock's personality is trapped within McCoy's mind (it's not as off the wall as it sounds) and that McCoy, now appearing crazy, has a sudden desire to go back to the Genesis planet, which was created in the last movie when Khan set off the Genesis device at the end. The crew of the Enterprise then take their ship illegally out of a space station and head to Genesis, hoping to find out if they can save Spock. Only now a Klingon who found out about Genesis is in their way, and both Saavik and Kirk's son are caught in the middle.
And now...
----- Ten Things I'll Say about The Search for Spock -----
10. This movie reverses everything done in the previous one.
A Note on Getting Dates
Hey y'all. So this blog is for just whenever I find something I want to rant about, and today's rant is about dating. Specifically, on whether or not a girl should ask a guy out.
I just watched a video where a guy said that girls shouldn't, but they can definitely "put themselves in the way" (make themselves noticeable, I suppose) and question the guy if he's leading them on. As I was watching this video, I realized something. Some people might be a bit confused by the wording. Hence, a bit of nitpickery is necessary.
"Should a woman ask a man out" is the incorrect way to ask this question. After all, it is neither a sin nor a virtue if a woman goes up to a man and asks if he wants to hangout at Coffee Scene. The choice the woman is making is neither moral nor immoral, it's what economic people call "nominative". Like the simple equation 2 + 2 = 4. This equation does not question if it is morally right for two and two to be four, it merely states that it is. Likewise, a woman is not deserving to be punished or entitled to a reward for asking a guy out. It's not a moral question.
I just watched a video where a guy said that girls shouldn't, but they can definitely "put themselves in the way" (make themselves noticeable, I suppose) and question the guy if he's leading them on. As I was watching this video, I realized something. Some people might be a bit confused by the wording. Hence, a bit of nitpickery is necessary.
"Should a woman ask a man out" is the incorrect way to ask this question. After all, it is neither a sin nor a virtue if a woman goes up to a man and asks if he wants to hangout at Coffee Scene. The choice the woman is making is neither moral nor immoral, it's what economic people call "nominative". Like the simple equation 2 + 2 = 4. This equation does not question if it is morally right for two and two to be four, it merely states that it is. Likewise, a woman is not deserving to be punished or entitled to a reward for asking a guy out. It's not a moral question.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Nitpickery: The Wrath of Khan
Hey y'all. So I was thinking about Star Trek a lot, and how I used to be so into it. Granted, it still amuses me, but I could never be a Trekker. That, however, doesn't stop me from nitpicking it as much as I want. And I will do so with this blog. I shall nitpick what is arguably the best Star Trek thing ever, the Wrath of Khan.
This movie was not one of the ones I saw a lot as a kid. This is perhaps the primary reason why it's only my third favorite of the Trek movies, behind The Undiscovered Country and Voyage Home. However, it's on Netflix now, and quite frankly I'm astounded at the production quality of it. Not just the sets and the camera, but the acting is delightful, the sets all work, and the story makes me smile. No wonder half a dozen Trek films have ripped off -- er, "homaged" this film in some way.
But in order to keep this from being the rantiest rant that ever ranted, I'm going to control myself in at least one way. How so? Like this:
----- Top Ten Things I'll Say about Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan -----
This movie was not one of the ones I saw a lot as a kid. This is perhaps the primary reason why it's only my third favorite of the Trek movies, behind The Undiscovered Country and Voyage Home. However, it's on Netflix now, and quite frankly I'm astounded at the production quality of it. Not just the sets and the camera, but the acting is delightful, the sets all work, and the story makes me smile. No wonder half a dozen Trek films have ripped off -- er, "homaged" this film in some way.
But in order to keep this from being the rantiest rant that ever ranted, I'm going to control myself in at least one way. How so? Like this:
----- Top Ten Things I'll Say about Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan -----
Friday, October 25, 2013
Me and Aldaris (p19): Reporting In.
It was true what Aldaris said, almost. I didn't see him for a long time. Instead I started school, and normal stuff happened. I had to drop my online tax course because it was too much work and too nitpicky to be online, and managerial accounting is proving....interesting, for reasons I probably shouldn't gossip about.
I know, I know, you guys are reading my journal here because you want to be entertained. Well, I'm sorry. This was meant as a record for all the weird stuff that was supposed to happen to me now that I'm one of the few people familiar with an alien that shouldn't even exist. You'd think a lot of weird stuff would happen in the meantime.
Not so much. Aldaris kept his side of the deal, though. He reported in to me once a month, grudgingly. By "reporting in", I mean he signaled me (how in the world was he doing that? What kind of comm system can signal directly into my head?) and left sort of this...I don't know, presence in my head. He didn't actually say anything, but I knew he was there. And then he was gone.
Really, that's all. No wackadoo adventures or anything. I'm starting to think this whole alien thing is a bit overrated. That's one of the reasons it's been taking so long to update this journal. Since nothing much has been happening, I've been feeling really lazy about updating. I guess it's for the best, because I really do have a lot of schoolwork that needs to get done. My economics teacher literally bickers at me if I don't get an A -- I'm the class nerd, you see.
Fortunately I at least have a little bit to mention, and somehow...I don't know. If wackadoo adventures haven't been happening, I just have this weird feeling that they will soon. Either that or I'm going to get arrested. I've giggled to myself for days on end at the thought of being a secret conspirator, but the truth of the matter is that I could very well be punished for my actions, and I'd deserve it. There's a lot being gambled on our Judicator's good mood.
This feeling isn't entirely out of nowhere. The last time Aldaris contacted me, I decided to probe a little. After all, John is really starting to get antsy about us hiding important information from the public. He thinks what we're doing is wrong. I love Toby, because he thinks the whole thing is as hilarious as I do. But even he's getting a little bored, and well, I want to know what's going on too.
So I was sitting at my livingroom table (my whole first floor is one room, so I can't exactly have a kitchen table), and expressing with unintelligible grunts my distaste for the tedium that is Quickbooks homework. It broke my concentration when I sensed that Aldaris was there, but honestly, he might as well interrupt it. There are a few times when accounting is as boring as it sounds.
"Hey, Charlie." I said before he could go away. "Any news on your ship?"
This question startled him, for some reason. Maybe he wasn't expecting me to catch on to him so quickly. Or maybe he didn't want me to ask.
"It is fine." he answered smoothly, not quite smoothly enough to be convincing, but just enough to imply that I should shut up. "The repairs are...progressing."
"Heh. They're not going well at all, are they?"
"They are fine. It is simply more work than I had at first estimated."
Somehow I doubt that the Judicator know all that much about ship repairs, but maybe Aldaris took some classes or something. "Huh. You're not missing any parts, are you?"
"No."
"Charlie, the past three months you've been telling me that you'll be gone soon. Is it true this time, or is my own personal meaning of the word 'soon' too narrow?"
"So you grow impatient with me? I should like to see you attempt to cross over from an apparently fictitious world to your own. Or were you under the impression that such doings are the simplest of child's play?"
I blinked. That was a whole lot more information than Aldaris had given since August. Normally he only answered me with "yes", "no" and silence. Maybe I was assuming too much about his ship.
"Well, sorry then, but I have no idea what's going on up there."
"I fail to see how any of it is your business."
Facepalm. I swear, I'm not going to have this conversation again. How many times already do I have to explain to Aldaris that an alien hanging around my planet is kind of my business? Whatever. No more.
"I'm not asking for the specs of your ship, Aldaris." I rubbed my eyes. Between Quickbooks and this, I was risking a tension headache. "I'm just saying that I'm kind of worried about you. You're stuck by yourself in a flying box, trying to keep yourself hidden. I can't imagine that's not a tense situation. If you're not going to talk to those few of us that know about you, then you might just go stir-crazy up there."
I didn't remember it until I spoke, but I'd forgotten about the Kensley property. Aldaris could probably take walks or whatever there, and even when that Kensley guy comes home he can find somewhere else. Still.
Aldaris took a minute to answer. I think my colloquialisms got in the way of him understanding what I was saying. Weird. The guy can talk the most perfect, formal english, and I say the slightest redneck thing ("stir-crazy" is redneck?) and he doesn't get it. Isn't the Starcraft world full of hicks anyway?
"Your concern is unnecessary." he said. "And I do not require your help. As I recall, the last time you attemped to make use of yourself you very nearly shorted out my engines and left the acrid smell of a rancid corpse to waft ever through the ventillation. No, I do not need assistance from you."
Translation: stay the hell out of my business, human scum.
"One, I was not touching your engines," I huffed. "I was trying to spare you having to mess with a bag of rotting oranges. And two: are you sure it's fine? Iffy as it might be, you may have to consider getting human substitutes for broken things on your ship or fuel. I've still got that cash from earlier, and I converted some of it to dollars, so if we figure out that anything needs replacing and can find a substitute, there's always that."
Oh great, now I'm going to get in trouble for providing machinery to an alien. I'm just asking to be charged with treason. Fortunately, I guess, Aldaris was rather less than enthused with the idea.
"That is laughable. To replace highly sophisticated Protoss technology with mere human substitutes, and obsolete substitutes at that? No thank you."
"Son of a bleep, Aldaris, I'm just presenting to your your options." Quickbooks homework was really starting to sound a whole lot more appealing. "You have some resources down here if you need it, that's all I'm saying."
"I understand you perfectly well, Bethany. You are helplessly excited by the novelty of a being foreign to your narrow experiences. You delight yourself in any opportunity you might have to please me, in the hopes that I might shine my favor upon a groveling creature such as yourself."
Is there any good way to reply to that? Heh, it was kind of funny, actually. Okay, fine, I like hanging out with aliens. Is that a flaw in my personality just to like new things? Sheesh.
"My dear Aldaris," I began. "You certainly have a funny way of treating someone who has every intention of just being friendly to you. It's okay. I know you're under a lot of stress right now, and I can guess that you're having a lot harder of a time figuring out how to get back than I thought. I forgive all of your petty insults. Though I will say, it's rather unbecoming of a Protoss Judicator to lower himself to such name calling."
I shouldn't have said that. Instantly the connection was gone, and I knew Aldaris was up there trying to decide if he was more mad at himself or me. After all, it wasn't me that lost my cool. But still, the smile faded from my face. I didn't need to put any more pressure on Aldaris than he already had on him. After all, he's far away from the world and people he knows, and he might never see any of that again.
"I wonder how that would affect Starcraft..." I wondered out loud. "I guess that means his followers have to go on without him...."
Ouch. Aldaris couldn't like that. Well, for now, I'd have to forget about my cranky Protoss and just get going on the Quickbooks nonsense. Yay....
I know, I know, you guys are reading my journal here because you want to be entertained. Well, I'm sorry. This was meant as a record for all the weird stuff that was supposed to happen to me now that I'm one of the few people familiar with an alien that shouldn't even exist. You'd think a lot of weird stuff would happen in the meantime.
Not so much. Aldaris kept his side of the deal, though. He reported in to me once a month, grudgingly. By "reporting in", I mean he signaled me (how in the world was he doing that? What kind of comm system can signal directly into my head?) and left sort of this...I don't know, presence in my head. He didn't actually say anything, but I knew he was there. And then he was gone.
Really, that's all. No wackadoo adventures or anything. I'm starting to think this whole alien thing is a bit overrated. That's one of the reasons it's been taking so long to update this journal. Since nothing much has been happening, I've been feeling really lazy about updating. I guess it's for the best, because I really do have a lot of schoolwork that needs to get done. My economics teacher literally bickers at me if I don't get an A -- I'm the class nerd, you see.
Fortunately I at least have a little bit to mention, and somehow...I don't know. If wackadoo adventures haven't been happening, I just have this weird feeling that they will soon. Either that or I'm going to get arrested. I've giggled to myself for days on end at the thought of being a secret conspirator, but the truth of the matter is that I could very well be punished for my actions, and I'd deserve it. There's a lot being gambled on our Judicator's good mood.
This feeling isn't entirely out of nowhere. The last time Aldaris contacted me, I decided to probe a little. After all, John is really starting to get antsy about us hiding important information from the public. He thinks what we're doing is wrong. I love Toby, because he thinks the whole thing is as hilarious as I do. But even he's getting a little bored, and well, I want to know what's going on too.
So I was sitting at my livingroom table (my whole first floor is one room, so I can't exactly have a kitchen table), and expressing with unintelligible grunts my distaste for the tedium that is Quickbooks homework. It broke my concentration when I sensed that Aldaris was there, but honestly, he might as well interrupt it. There are a few times when accounting is as boring as it sounds.
"Hey, Charlie." I said before he could go away. "Any news on your ship?"
This question startled him, for some reason. Maybe he wasn't expecting me to catch on to him so quickly. Or maybe he didn't want me to ask.
"It is fine." he answered smoothly, not quite smoothly enough to be convincing, but just enough to imply that I should shut up. "The repairs are...progressing."
"Heh. They're not going well at all, are they?"
"They are fine. It is simply more work than I had at first estimated."
Somehow I doubt that the Judicator know all that much about ship repairs, but maybe Aldaris took some classes or something. "Huh. You're not missing any parts, are you?"
"No."
"Charlie, the past three months you've been telling me that you'll be gone soon. Is it true this time, or is my own personal meaning of the word 'soon' too narrow?"
"So you grow impatient with me? I should like to see you attempt to cross over from an apparently fictitious world to your own. Or were you under the impression that such doings are the simplest of child's play?"
I blinked. That was a whole lot more information than Aldaris had given since August. Normally he only answered me with "yes", "no" and silence. Maybe I was assuming too much about his ship.
"Well, sorry then, but I have no idea what's going on up there."
"I fail to see how any of it is your business."
Facepalm. I swear, I'm not going to have this conversation again. How many times already do I have to explain to Aldaris that an alien hanging around my planet is kind of my business? Whatever. No more.
"I'm not asking for the specs of your ship, Aldaris." I rubbed my eyes. Between Quickbooks and this, I was risking a tension headache. "I'm just saying that I'm kind of worried about you. You're stuck by yourself in a flying box, trying to keep yourself hidden. I can't imagine that's not a tense situation. If you're not going to talk to those few of us that know about you, then you might just go stir-crazy up there."
I didn't remember it until I spoke, but I'd forgotten about the Kensley property. Aldaris could probably take walks or whatever there, and even when that Kensley guy comes home he can find somewhere else. Still.
Aldaris took a minute to answer. I think my colloquialisms got in the way of him understanding what I was saying. Weird. The guy can talk the most perfect, formal english, and I say the slightest redneck thing ("stir-crazy" is redneck?) and he doesn't get it. Isn't the Starcraft world full of hicks anyway?
"Your concern is unnecessary." he said. "And I do not require your help. As I recall, the last time you attemped to make use of yourself you very nearly shorted out my engines and left the acrid smell of a rancid corpse to waft ever through the ventillation. No, I do not need assistance from you."
Translation: stay the hell out of my business, human scum.
"One, I was not touching your engines," I huffed. "I was trying to spare you having to mess with a bag of rotting oranges. And two: are you sure it's fine? Iffy as it might be, you may have to consider getting human substitutes for broken things on your ship or fuel. I've still got that cash from earlier, and I converted some of it to dollars, so if we figure out that anything needs replacing and can find a substitute, there's always that."
Oh great, now I'm going to get in trouble for providing machinery to an alien. I'm just asking to be charged with treason. Fortunately, I guess, Aldaris was rather less than enthused with the idea.
"That is laughable. To replace highly sophisticated Protoss technology with mere human substitutes, and obsolete substitutes at that? No thank you."
"Son of a bleep, Aldaris, I'm just presenting to your your options." Quickbooks homework was really starting to sound a whole lot more appealing. "You have some resources down here if you need it, that's all I'm saying."
"I understand you perfectly well, Bethany. You are helplessly excited by the novelty of a being foreign to your narrow experiences. You delight yourself in any opportunity you might have to please me, in the hopes that I might shine my favor upon a groveling creature such as yourself."
Is there any good way to reply to that? Heh, it was kind of funny, actually. Okay, fine, I like hanging out with aliens. Is that a flaw in my personality just to like new things? Sheesh.
"My dear Aldaris," I began. "You certainly have a funny way of treating someone who has every intention of just being friendly to you. It's okay. I know you're under a lot of stress right now, and I can guess that you're having a lot harder of a time figuring out how to get back than I thought. I forgive all of your petty insults. Though I will say, it's rather unbecoming of a Protoss Judicator to lower himself to such name calling."
I shouldn't have said that. Instantly the connection was gone, and I knew Aldaris was up there trying to decide if he was more mad at himself or me. After all, it wasn't me that lost my cool. But still, the smile faded from my face. I didn't need to put any more pressure on Aldaris than he already had on him. After all, he's far away from the world and people he knows, and he might never see any of that again.
"I wonder how that would affect Starcraft..." I wondered out loud. "I guess that means his followers have to go on without him...."
Ouch. Aldaris couldn't like that. Well, for now, I'd have to forget about my cranky Protoss and just get going on the Quickbooks nonsense. Yay....
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Me and Aldaris (p18): Wings of Liberty
Aldaris stopped the program. He'd had enough. First of all, the converter program that enabled him to see human data was in english, and he hated not being able to comprehend the letters. He could make the program play and stop, but it was such a hard time trying to fast forward or rewind to a specific point. That, and for some reason it was only barely light enough to see what was going on. The Judicator guessed that he probably had an old program, and that possibly Protoss intelligence had already found a better version that was simpler in form. As it was, he simply couldn't read how to make it work properly.
But neither did Aldaris particularly care. Starcraft 2 was every bit as terrible as Bethany had claimed, and worse. Or perhaps humans found it entertaining. After all, it was meant to be a game, not a film, and it certainly wasn't meant to ever be shown to a Protoss audience.
Aldaris tapped the controls, and the human data disc ejected. Holding the disc briefly and examining its shiny exterior, Aldaris considered breaking it. Alas, he wasn't in the mood. Destroying the thing would in no way erase the images from his head, and what he had seen. Sure, most of it was just the tedious conflict between Raynor and Mengsk, which Aldaris cared very little about. He attempted to read Bethany's summary of the plot, but if he couldn't handle the brief english of a video program, then even her failed attempt at brevity was almost entirely a mystery.
Still, Aldaris put the disc back in the plastic cover....and threw it on the floor with the other trash. Though all those random Earth items had long since been cleaned out (left to burn in Earth's atmosphere), the floor of his engine control room was now covered in piles of Protoss technology. Nearest to the far window, and the padded seating where a timid Cheonha had sat some months ago, was the pile of things that had to go back into the ship. The pile in the middle of the floor, and the bigger of the two, was the trash pile; the conglomeration of things that had been shorted out, used up, or were just plain unnecessary. A third pile, not quite as large as the others, lay at the foot of Aldaris' chair. It was the stack of things he didn't understand the purpose of, and therefore couldn't get rid of. About half of it he was almost certain could be scrapped, but without complete certainty he was stuck with the stuff. No sense in getting rid of anything when the nearest replacement was a universe away.
Aldaris was tired. Tired of the mess in his engine room, tired of cleaning it up, and most certainly tired of Starcraft. He didn't understand it at all, and what little he could understand was extremely offensive. The Taldarim were never so simplistic as they were portrayed in Wings of Liberty. He'd known a few himself. Still, a nagging doubt refused to subside. Them, working with the hybrids? It was impossible! But then again, there were those "Protoss renegades" in the secret mission of Brood War that had somehow given Protoss technology to Duran. They had to be someone, unless that technology was stolen.
After a moment of thought, Aldaris rolled his eyes. He couldn't possibly take Wings of Liberty seriously. Not only had they changed Raynor's motivations from the first game -- motivations which Aldaris knew for a fact were accurate -- and made him some kind of rebel leader.
Raynor is no rebel. Aldaris glowered as though the human were in front of him. He flees his own kind because he does not believe he can change them. He is an ineffective coward.
It was an unfair accusation, but Aldaris didn't care. If Raynor really had kidnapped Mengsk and allied with Kerrigan just to defeat the United Earth Directorate, just like the games said, then what little faith Raynor had earned from Aldaris was gone. Whatever the Directorate was, Aldaris refused to believe it was worse than Kerrigan or Mengsk.
Of course, I am relying too much on THIS. Aldaris rose from his chair and stood above the trash pile. There was the disc, lying right on top. This detritus that claims the Zerg were "good" all along, and that the carcass of the Overmind would not have rotted entirely in four year's time. And however cowardly Raynor is, attacking Protoss simply for the sake of artifacts and money is not the least way a part of his nature.
There were so many things about Wings of Liberty that confused Aldaris. For one thing, why did Kerrigan hide away for so many years? If those artifacts were so important, why didn't she come and get them right away? Why didn't Raynor get immediately suspicious when a group of Protoss wanted to defend them? Aldaris had never heard of these artifacts, and was certain he would have done so unless they were specifically Dark Templar in origin, which the game did not indicate.
For a moment, the Judicator was uncertain. Here he was, in a world where apparently the history of the K Sector was written out with surprising accuracy. Bethany seemed to know a lot about Starcraft, and Toby was probably finished with the Zerg part of Starcraft 2 already. John knew something about Starcraft as well. Simply put, there was no reason why Aldaris couldn't find out anything he wanted to know.
Aldaris, no longer in doubt, retrieved the disc from the pile and took it out of the plastic case. The case fell back into the pile, and after a snap, so did both halves of the disc.
If the humans that made this do not care, then neither shall I.
But neither did Aldaris particularly care. Starcraft 2 was every bit as terrible as Bethany had claimed, and worse. Or perhaps humans found it entertaining. After all, it was meant to be a game, not a film, and it certainly wasn't meant to ever be shown to a Protoss audience.
Aldaris tapped the controls, and the human data disc ejected. Holding the disc briefly and examining its shiny exterior, Aldaris considered breaking it. Alas, he wasn't in the mood. Destroying the thing would in no way erase the images from his head, and what he had seen. Sure, most of it was just the tedious conflict between Raynor and Mengsk, which Aldaris cared very little about. He attempted to read Bethany's summary of the plot, but if he couldn't handle the brief english of a video program, then even her failed attempt at brevity was almost entirely a mystery.
Still, Aldaris put the disc back in the plastic cover....and threw it on the floor with the other trash. Though all those random Earth items had long since been cleaned out (left to burn in Earth's atmosphere), the floor of his engine control room was now covered in piles of Protoss technology. Nearest to the far window, and the padded seating where a timid Cheonha had sat some months ago, was the pile of things that had to go back into the ship. The pile in the middle of the floor, and the bigger of the two, was the trash pile; the conglomeration of things that had been shorted out, used up, or were just plain unnecessary. A third pile, not quite as large as the others, lay at the foot of Aldaris' chair. It was the stack of things he didn't understand the purpose of, and therefore couldn't get rid of. About half of it he was almost certain could be scrapped, but without complete certainty he was stuck with the stuff. No sense in getting rid of anything when the nearest replacement was a universe away.
Aldaris was tired. Tired of the mess in his engine room, tired of cleaning it up, and most certainly tired of Starcraft. He didn't understand it at all, and what little he could understand was extremely offensive. The Taldarim were never so simplistic as they were portrayed in Wings of Liberty. He'd known a few himself. Still, a nagging doubt refused to subside. Them, working with the hybrids? It was impossible! But then again, there were those "Protoss renegades" in the secret mission of Brood War that had somehow given Protoss technology to Duran. They had to be someone, unless that technology was stolen.
After a moment of thought, Aldaris rolled his eyes. He couldn't possibly take Wings of Liberty seriously. Not only had they changed Raynor's motivations from the first game -- motivations which Aldaris knew for a fact were accurate -- and made him some kind of rebel leader.
Raynor is no rebel. Aldaris glowered as though the human were in front of him. He flees his own kind because he does not believe he can change them. He is an ineffective coward.
It was an unfair accusation, but Aldaris didn't care. If Raynor really had kidnapped Mengsk and allied with Kerrigan just to defeat the United Earth Directorate, just like the games said, then what little faith Raynor had earned from Aldaris was gone. Whatever the Directorate was, Aldaris refused to believe it was worse than Kerrigan or Mengsk.
Of course, I am relying too much on THIS. Aldaris rose from his chair and stood above the trash pile. There was the disc, lying right on top. This detritus that claims the Zerg were "good" all along, and that the carcass of the Overmind would not have rotted entirely in four year's time. And however cowardly Raynor is, attacking Protoss simply for the sake of artifacts and money is not the least way a part of his nature.
There were so many things about Wings of Liberty that confused Aldaris. For one thing, why did Kerrigan hide away for so many years? If those artifacts were so important, why didn't she come and get them right away? Why didn't Raynor get immediately suspicious when a group of Protoss wanted to defend them? Aldaris had never heard of these artifacts, and was certain he would have done so unless they were specifically Dark Templar in origin, which the game did not indicate.
For a moment, the Judicator was uncertain. Here he was, in a world where apparently the history of the K Sector was written out with surprising accuracy. Bethany seemed to know a lot about Starcraft, and Toby was probably finished with the Zerg part of Starcraft 2 already. John knew something about Starcraft as well. Simply put, there was no reason why Aldaris couldn't find out anything he wanted to know.
Aldaris, no longer in doubt, retrieved the disc from the pile and took it out of the plastic case. The case fell back into the pile, and after a snap, so did both halves of the disc.
If the humans that made this do not care, then neither shall I.
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