Quote from Jeanette on Jun 16^th, 2017, 6:44pm:

Note:
 
"Without drama, there is no story." That is why Fernando and Hondo said for Moro to leave it alone. Let them deal with the story that unfolds.

Quote from Fernando on Jun 16^th, 2017, 9:39pm:

You just quoted why Moro is leaving it alone.
 
Jeanette Isabelle

As General Jastrey continues lecturing with the group, a couple of large supply trucks roll into the back unpopulated area of the parking lot the camp is situated in. Several of her specialized trained men walk into the rear of these trucks and walk out in full body armor of various designs and mission options. On the lot they test the units and makes adjustments and repairs as needed.

 
A couple more supply trucks come in, setting up an open tent for the kitchen and another set of large open tents where tables and chairs are put in. A couple of converted 55-gallon oil cans ovens, grills and stoves are set up inside first tent as the mess crew gathers together to account for supplies and an approximate head count of how many mouths to feed and double that amount for under counting and second meals for the very hungry. A couple of other work tables were set up, and a nearby spigot is accessed for its water.

 
A couple of smaller trucks roll in with the food and the crew begins to prepare the food. Though cooking should not take long, preparing for meal for some 250+ mouths will require some time to do. The main chef prepares a menu for the troop to pick and choose from:
Grilled Beast (Beef) Steak, Baked Giant Mutant Chicken, Assorted Vegetable Platter, imported brown rice with separate peas and beans in sauce, Fruit Cake Desserts, Sweet Roll Desserts, Garlic Bread, various sodas on tap, various fruit juices, milk, coffee, and tea. Various condiments are listed as well, including herbs and spices. And this was just a sampling of what they had to offer. The “army travels on its stomach” and General Jastrey’s Army was no exception to this rule.
 

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Quote from Jeanette on Jun 17^th, 2017, 12:17pm:

 
Let me give you a hint, Jeanette...
 
You want to have the ZPMs power up the entire rail line. That is not technologically possible because as stated time and time again electricity can only travel up to 60 miles on a wire. For the sake of the RPG, I would extend that to 100 miles. This cannot power the rail system unless you put in a ZPM every 90 miles for some overlap of the system. This is not possible as you are going to need hundreds of ZPMs across hundreds of miles from Charlton as its center hub.
 
The one thing you never considered is to power the train with the ZPM and not the railways. This will give a train infinite distance using the ZPM. The issue with this is in 2 parts. 1) The ZPM can overload a train’s electrical system and burn out its motor. 2) The rail ways themselves need work. That is why I had the people from Town One clean and fix up their rail connection to Centraville, eventually connecting the two towns as they did. This establishes the railway between the two towns as long as no one tampers with the rails. This tampering of the rails has always been an issue in the past. Current rail train technology is steam or gas/diesel. The trains from Charlton would be Electric-ZPM. The technology is not an issue here, it always was your implementation of it. Here all you would need is a few ZPMs to power the number of trains Charlton has. Let’s say they have 20 trains on 5 different branch lines, that would only be 20 ZPMs required to power those trains for hundreds and thousands of miles, and not the hundreds of ZPMs on the tracks to power the trains. If they add another train to the line, all they need is one more ZPM for that train.
 
As for the Texas Spirits, not all people will be trust of ANY spirit because of negative bad dealings with them. It is not just the Texas Spirits, but all spirits. Only the Native Americans would truly know which spirits are benevolent and malevolent to mankind. Except for the beginning when Hondo “broke out of prison” which showed both good and bad spirits, there was no other proof of this.
 
 
Quote from Jeanette on Jun 17^th, 2017, 12:17pm:

 
Do not make Fernando as the almighty here. Half of what he did he could not do without Hondo’s help. Plus he thinks and he plans, looking at the resources available to him before taking action. As a Time Traveler however, he does not take his power so lightly as with every action he takes in manipulating events he knows there’s a consequence to follow. He will not take a Time Travel Correction step unless one of the major characters are killed. And then he will be very pissed off.
 
Jeanette is supposed to be the most powerful in this group because she is the leader of the group. Fernando takes a second seat to her. Unfortunately you do not use her in her leading role. You have her trying to figure out why things are happening instead of taking the initiative in asking, planning, and acting out decisions as a leader should. You literally have her sleeping away days, which for a leader is not good. In short, she has led herself into a corner where control of the group can be easily taken away from her. Fernando is not interested in leading the group, though he will work out where the group should go in order to take the best and safest route to get there.
 
The Spirits can have all the technology they want but they can do this without the group. That says that they are very inept and incompetent in what they should be able to do but can’t do. If they wanted Gabrielle so bad, all they need to do is teleport her out of her home and into Charlton before any harm comes to her. But no, they got a rag-tag group looking for her, rescuing her and taking her to Charlton for them because they cannot do this on their own. That alone says a lot about them, and that they cannot be trusted in making deals with because they are too inept, incompetent or lazy to abide by their end of the contract. But yet they are using trickery to make Jeanette do as they want? Fernando figured that out a long time ago.
 
This RPG lies in a world that is not nice. You got race manipulation (DNA manipulation to create the Wessens and other mutants), slavery, drugs/chemical addiction, violent entertainment, sexual enslavement and prostitution, and so on; and that is only the tip of the iceberg. The group could have said “The hell with helping everyone out, we are a mission from god to get to Charlton...” and it would be just a very long and boring trip with twice as many stops as Fernando needs to recharge his batteries every day. And that is if we were lucky not to be attacked at night by the highway biker gangs. But in Fernando taking actions to help others out, others are willing to help him and his group. As such, we have safe passage through the highways, protection with the convoys, lowered prices on supplies and services, extra manpower and vehicles, and many friends across a large area. Their reputations are extending outward with every radio-sent message of their journey. Here the one thing the Spirits have not figure out is there are other journals being created about the group, and not by Jeanette’s hands. Somebody trying to undo this groups trek can easily go into future and gather the records of that what was written and follow the group to either help them or send them into their demise. That is a twist I am throwing onto your lap as a writer, Jeanette. When you realize how powerful a construct this (unimplemented) story element can be, please pick up your jaw from the floor. Hint: All senior military personnel must keep a journal of the day’s activities they and their troops were part of.

Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Prior to the last change in the time line that is exactly what was going on. After the last change the ZPM was aboard special built trains.
 
Quote from Jeanette on Jul 29^th, 2016, 10:15pm:

Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

I made some changes to the "map" since the last time I posted it. As you can see, there are two main hubs, one minor, and none of them are in Charlton.
 
Quote from Jeanette on Oct 8^th, 2016, 11:35am:

Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Let me see if right. They are able to step down the voltage to power a 110 light bulb and yet they are somehow unable to supply the right amount of voltage to make a train go forward?
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Of course they do.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

There are a lot more than that. Just for the 80 Line, one of their longest lines before the Happening, I calculate that they will need 108 trains. For most places a train stops at a station every twenty minutes. The passenger train service acts as a nation-wide public transportation.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

I'm aware of this problem. There are people who do trust the Texas Spirits. Otherwise, they would not buy electricity from Zero Point Energy or ride the Charlton Railroad.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

I'm not suggesting Fernando takes it lightly but as a Time Lord he can prevent the Texas Spirits and their Japanese relatives from ever existing.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Jeanette may be co-leader but she is an ordinary human with no powers.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

As co-leader Fernando is not second.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Jeanette was sleeping for two hours because she was sick. That's it.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

The Texas Spirits don't know where Gabrielle is. They can't scan for her because she is not in the system, not yet. They know from reading the journal that this party will find her.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

What contract are they not abiding by? They made a promise to protect everyone in the party but Fernando and Hondo threatened to leave if the Texas Spirits continued to protect them.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

Jeanette does not want immortality as she is. She wants to be an immortal child but can't because of the laws. It is for that reason a legal solution is being worked on.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

I know that anyone can keep a journal but Jeanette's is the only one from the future that the Texas Spirits has.
 
Quote from Fernando on Jun 17^th, 2017, 3:25pm:

I am doing something along those lines though not exact. Since Wilbur Robinson could not be arrested, allowing Jeanette to know what really happened, I'm using him again. Hint: Wilbur is not the pervert he seems to be. He's up to something else.
 
Jeanette Isabelle

Notes:
 
Val is in a “dirigible,” not a Zeppelin. A dirigible, or “blimp”, does not have an extensive internal frame inside the “gas bag” that a Zeppelin has. If anything, they have a minimal chassis frame at the bottom of the gas bag where the gondola, engines and ship’s controls are connected too. This is why when they deflate, they tend to fold in half. Zeppelins have a full light-weight frame inside the external covering which houses several gas bags, and machinery to maintain the ship, its engine and its gondolas (more than one). A Zeppelin can be over 500ft in length (The Hindenberg was 804ft long), while blimps can only be around 150 – 300 ft (ZPG-3W, a US Naval Cold War Blimp was 400ft long). Gondolas on a Zeppelin can be at the front (a pilot cockpit) and another (for passengers, equipment and cargo) at mid-ship (middle of the ship) with galley ways inside the envelope to connect the two. Blimps only have 1 gondola at mid-ship and is houses the cockpit as well as areas for the passengers, equipment and cargo. Due to their size, Zeppelins tend to be slow and hard to maneuver while blimps tend to be faster and quicker to turn.
 
Though “dirigible” is constructed similar to a “Zeppelin” with an internal air-bag frame, they tend to be a lot smaller and are more blimp-like in their appearance and function.
 
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In looking over the rail lines, despite the many lines you have, the issue is distance and how far electricity can flow through a wire. In seeing many “out of state” connections, one would need a about tens of thousands of ZPMs to power the grid. That is why I say one ZPM per train would be suffice. You stated that there are over 100 trains over 80 lines; that would make it just over 100 ZPMs, one for each train. Again, that is not a problem.
 
But before The Happening, one can connect to several lines from Nome Alaska and end up in Terra de Fuego in Argentina – South America. And the lines are Passenger, freight or both, depending on the line one is on and where on the map they are on. That is over 4,700 of track. As you stated, The Happening destroyed much of the infrastructure. For the train system, that’s the power stations, maintenance/storage areas and much of the trains. The rails are still embedded on the railway unless somebody took them for their steel, which is a problem in some areas. Proof of this is in NYC, where many streets where the old railways of the 1890s-1950s still have the rails embedded on the asphalt.
 
The problem is this, you flip-flop on how much the Spirits have rebuilt Charlton and Texas, and areas outside of Texas. You have stated that they only rebuilt Charlton and area around it. Then you stated that
the neighboring cities around Charlton were rebuilt. Then you stated that Texas was rebuilt. Then you stated that Charlton and what cities connect to them by train were rebuilt, including a few outside of Texas. It would be impossible for them to rebuild areas in that short of time unless they had a massive manpower resource. Furthermore places like Tybee Island, Georgia; San Diego, California; Grand Canyon Village, Arizona; Savannah, Georgia, and San Antonio, New Mexico would be destroyed and underwater. Places in places like Minnesota are too far away for them to have reached there by now. The same with going south to Mexico.
 
You need to decide how far they have rebuild, and how far they are currently planning to rebuild and in the end how far they want to rebuild. Remember, one must keep in mind that many places would not want Spirit help for their rebuilding efforts for one reason or another; especially their “Freedom of Religion” beliefs.
 
As I see it, the Texas Spirits rebuilt Charlton and its nearby cities, connecting the rail and highways. This reach is about 200 miles with over 100,000 people population. But they also had to rebuild and reclaim the farm lands and ranches between the cities to make sure the cities have food to feed the population and the trains and highways to transport these foods and goods. They are trying to reach outward to other cities – up to 500+ miles away, with those outside of Texas giving them some problems as some of them do not want to deal with Spirits. The Spirits are in a quandary with this as they need the food resource and are willing to deal for it. They are going to have to deal with other ways to do this. In this case the Spirits do not have to do anything here but their human representatives do the dealing. Thing is you do not want to lie about the spirits hand in these deals. You have too or end up with a far away city that fails because of lack of or high expense of food. 500 miles would put them in southern Kansas, half way between where we are and Charlton is.
 
The USA is not rebuilding because of the Texas Spirits. It is rebuilding because he people want to unify what once was. The Texas Spirits are just one factor in that rebuilding process. If they want to be Xenophobic in their religious rights, no one is going to deal with them. So they are Jews, big deal. There are Christians, Jews, Islamic Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Wicca, Voo Doo, Santareria, Satanists, so one and so forth. I bet there are Eastern European Gypsies in the mix. It does not matter. So the Texas Spirits only wants one land for themselves to call their own. That’s fine, but that does not give them the right to force one religion onto others in the name of Religious Freedoms. This is not done in Israel, which is the true promised land. This forcing of one religion is one of many reasons why people will not deal with the Texas Spirits. And the Texas Spirits better get off their “Our God is mightier than Yours” mentality because we all pray to the same god in different ways. If they continue to be like this, then they are going to continue to lose people from their flock.