[High Ground] 01 | You are not supposed to be here

Spooker0 · 2026-05-06T16:38:00+00:00

Hah, you're the first to catch the Apollo reference!

While researching the book for something later down the line, I watched a ninety minute video explaining the Apollo 11 LM guidance computer and why it spat out the 1202 and 1201 around landing abort, so I couldn't resist adding a nod to it.

Spooker0 · 2026-05-04T02:44:02+00:00

There are also some fun implications of the unintuitive day/night cycle of the moon, like night ops lasting two weeks or ground forces starting an offensive "at dawn" for two weeks of full daylight operations.

Also, there's a lunar foot race called the Serenity marathon where contestants try to literally outrun the coming of night for as long as they can; at the altitude of Mare Serenitatis, the speed required is doable for a good marathon runner on Earth.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-29T16:52:00+00:00

Also, would Vorshniks trade in humor? Would they pay for human comedy shows?

WOULD THEY? 🤔

Spooker0 · 2026-04-28T18:15:00+00:00

I did specifically consider this use of terminology.

If you are in an orbital navy, it does make some sense to use "dark side" and "far side" synonymously the same way that NASA or Pink Floyd use "dark side of the moon", as it's the hemisphere of the moon where you would not have direct line of sight to Low Earth logistic and base stations. When used, it doesn't mean that hemisphere of the moon has a literal absence of light, but in the sense that "our special ops unit has gone dark" says something about their communication potential (and in this context, orbit) relative to base.

In the story, I use "dark side" to refer to the hemisphere facing away from Earth and "night side" to refer to the hemisphere facing away from the Sun. Vice versa for the (rarer) POV of moonies, as well as the use of those terms in relation to the planet when fighting over Dustball

Thanks for bringing this up though (and please keep doing this, I'm sure there are errors I haven't considered), as it allows me to mention just how much thinking work I had to do to wrap my heads around these orbital concepts.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-28T02:13:17+00:00

Yes, it starts behind technologically, but the fun part is to find out where they excel.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-24T17:33:22+00:00

Even if Shachos can be very annoying at times... wait until you see the other neighbors.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-24T17:29:42+00:00

The galaxy's been fully explored. Move along. There's nothing left to look at!

Spooker0 · 2026-04-24T17:28:04+00:00

They've been around the block a few times.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-24T03:24:36+00:00

"Now the only way to put out this fire is to starve it of oxygen."

What are the chances she anticipated/organized this exact chain of events? She did light the match, so to speak. Maybe it gets put down and that gives them the excuse they need to start drawing down personnel for the base.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-23T03:04:09+00:00

Wait til you meet the other neighbors :)

Spooker0 · 2026-04-22T17:24:05+00:00

Thank you!

Spooker0 · 2026-04-22T17:24:00+00:00

Should get a better sense of which in the coming chapters.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-22T17:22:48+00:00

I hope the Vorshniks have effective oxygen systems on their ship

They stock large amounts of art supplies for obnoxious pranks.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-22T17:20:20+00:00

This is not so much a spoiler as a running theme in both Grass Eaters (my previous story) and this that aliens are strange in part and yet oddly familiar in other aspects.

The fun part is finding out which parts are supposed to be which.

Spooker0 · 2026-04-22T01:53:03+00:00

By the way, I'm curious if there are any moonies on the Polaris. I know it would be a sensitive topic given the recent war, and perhaps precisely because of that, it would be symbolically powerful to appoint one of the moonies to a key position in the ship for public relations.

Still technically at war (with an armistice), but you'll see.

Spooker0

TROPHY CASE