the_mask

I'd go as far and call the last worldcup crazy France not even scoring one goal. Italy & England gone too soon. Holland not even there at all. And the final game between Brazil and the spoiled football millionaires of Germany. Frankly, I didn't expect them to get this far at all. After seeing the last team 'on strike' during the former worldcup, just because they didn't like their coach, I sort of lost interest in watching them playing and losing more often after that. One day I hope, there'll be a German soccer team, that'll be interested again in winning that cup once more and not in how much they could've earned playing 'at home' or making commercials during that time. The last German team that won the cup, in '91 IIRC, was fun to watch. The current (new) coach Rudi Völler was still playing then and they were eager to win back then, but nowadays I mostly don't watch anymore, cause it's disappointing with all these young and inexperienced players.

You know, this reminds me of a movie scene: 'Oh a motorcycle.' 'It's a chopper, baby.' 'Who's chopper is this ?' 'Thrawn's.' 'Who's Thrawn ?' 'Thrawn's dead, baby. Thrawn's dead.' Could've been another name in the movie, I'm not sure

Thanks, I wanted to write this for some weeks now and ideas were added every day and the got even more wacky with every passing moment So I asked Jahled, what he thought about it and he kindly 'set the stage' for me, thanks Darth Gif Socl, think about the following there's always a bigger fish [/i]

Hi ramoth, if my site would be running at the moment, I could tell you to get the patch there, so I've put it here. You simply replace the original dlls in your Rebellion dir with these and you should have enough space for long names and descriptions for character cards. Be sure to backup any your images and card texts. Due to the nature of this patch, you'll have to import the pics and description texts manually with RebEd, to be able to add more to them. Btw, members from Australia are rare here, so could you tell me, if Steve Irwing is still shooting new episodes of 'Croc hunter ?' . He's just awesome

Well one day before the release on dvd a tv station showed them in Germany as well. I was surprised to see them do this, but I didn't complain Although I had to get up the next day on 05:00AM I fell asleep about at 01:00AM and it was shortly after that episode, where that young guy 'rescued himself', at least I don't remember anything happening later Gotta go to the video rental and see the rest though. I liked 'the last flight of the Osiris' very much, especially the beginning. That was precision fighting and nice to watch as well

Yep, smiling from ear to ear It's sad, that Trej and Scath already made Warlords in a way, cause it would've been cool to have 12 Grand Admirals around

Hmm, yes, but if Han's captured the travel bonus you get with him, shouldn't be available to the other characters as well. But that's just my theory.

Hmm, good ideas.

Umm, you mean Rebellion 2, Miggell dude

As Scathane joined the trio went once more into that well-known freighter of Elvis, he learned more about the Mask's plan. Due to his double agents within Zoot's evil empire, the location of the new feline HQ wasn't a secret anymore and the time to end this menace was running short. 'And with this pass-code you can simply walk into the back-door of his secret hideout ?' Scathane asked eying the Mask doubtful. 'Trust me, it'll work' the other replied calmly. From the cockpit Elvis was shouting down the hallway 'Destination approaching, fasten your seatbelts !'. Under his breath Trejiuvanat muttered 'Joker'. Flying low Elvis' modified freighter had avoided all of the scanners set up to detect any incoming hostile forces. It was a beautiful and remote island, that misteriously was also the home of a large number of monkeys, nobody would've suspected the presence of the sinister feline there. They dropped the ship well out of sight and marched through the rainforest to reach their destination. At some time during their trip Scathane suddenly shouted 'Look, a three-headed monkey !'. 'It's just not funny anymore, Scath.' Elvis said, while turning to look over his shoulder. When they finally reached the inconspicuous back door, composed of some darkened metal, the Mask simply walked to it and knocked. A little hatch opened and a eye-shaped object, attached to a stick shot out of it. The upper lid opened and through the speaker they could hear something uttered in huttese. The Mask replied in an even tone 'Mooljee guma.'. The eye raced back into its shelter and Scathane asked in disbelief 'Room service ???'. Before Mask could say anything the door opened, and the slight whine of servos could be heard underneath the grinding of the metal. The Mask grinned, shrugged and beckoned the others to follow him. Meanwhile in the main chamber at the head of a large wooden desk, Zoot adressed his three most trusted lieutenants, who were sitting next to him. Except for them the room was empty. After some incidents with hidden spygear and strange behavior of some of his mice agents, he searched his chambers for listening devices more often. After looking each of the three into their eyes, he began his introductionary speech. 'Gentlemen, welcome to my new layer. It's a hollowed-out volcanoe, we're surrounded by liquid magma and the rent was also very cheap.'. Just at this moment a read light at the console on his side of the large desk turned from red into green. Almost casually, Zoot pressed down the button next to it with one of his claws. 'So, where should we go now ?' Trejiuvanat asked. The Mask looked at the three corridors before them and scratched the back of his head. 'Ah, the description is a little bit ... sketchy ... at this part of the map.'. The others groaned and no one noticed, that suddenly the floor opened and everyone was falling into the darkness below. With a loud thud, that knocked the wind out of their lungs the four landed hard on the floor of the chamber below. Scathane was the first one to rise. 'Trust me, he said.' he began, the other three members of the group were getting up now as well. They were trapped in a large, featureless room and it was mostly dark in there. At the end of the room, a spotlight winked into existence, iluminating a short figure. He stood there with his grey cloak, that he thought made him look more like Yoda, but those who had already met him knew, that he preferred the other side of the force. Locking eyes with them, Zoot spoke in a raspy voice 'So, you've finally come to meet your destiny'. Another light started to shine behind Zoot, as he went on. This one gave a better view at a wall full of monitors and a console with countless buttons and targeting devices. The monitors were showing scenes from all over the world, where people were under attack by Zoot's evil cappuccino rockets and the console was undoubtably triggering the missiles. 'You can't stop me now.' the cat continued, 'soon all of the world will be under my control. Nobody will escape my wrath.'. Trejiuvanat advanced a step and drew the lightsaber from his belt. 'And how do you expect to stop us all ?' he asked, his tone slightly amused. 'We'll think of something', Zoot replied while three more cats stepped into the light, every one looking exactly like their master, Zoot. The three newly arrived felines bared their fangs and lurched forward to meet Trej, Scath and Elvis. The latter two were also drawing their sabers now. The three clones each came down with activated sabers on their targets and cackling, hissing noises erupted as thrusts were blocked and parried. In the center of the furious battles, like in the eye of a storm Zoot and the Mask were facing each other, both drawing their lightsabers as well. Zoot's saber had intricate markings, made to look like claw marks and the end of the hilt resembled a paw with extended claws. The saber of the Mask was the same as the last time they had met in combat, a reproduction of the saber that belonged to Exar Kun, a Jedi who had fallen to the dark side thousands of years ago. Mask's double blade sprung to life slowly, one blade a yellow beam, the other as green as the mask he wore on his head. He eyed Zoot closely, knowing that the little feline's anger and rage was what fueled his power, but that could also work against him. He drew back the hood of his yellow cloak, revealing once more the green mask on his face, as he spoke. 'Very well, you can attack me, but you lack the will of the warrior. You have the will of the housecat, therefore the battle is already done. The winner ? Me. Rematch, you lose again. Had enough ? I thought so. Hahahahaa !'. Zoot was fully giving into his anger and launched himself at the Mask whith a feral snarl, while thumping on his weapon. Mask stepped aside and let the force of his attacker's blow take him a bit farther, as the other had planned. An instant later, the small figure was already striking low at his feet and the Mask had move fast to block the strike. All four groups of fighters moved through series upon series of attacks and parries, none wanted to give up, but the speed of the feline attacks proved taxing to the humans. Although he had little time to spare, the Mask couldn't resist taking a glance at how his companions were doing. Zoot used this moment to sommersault over his enemy's head and twirled around with the saber sweeping a horizontal arc toward the Mask's spine. The other turning around as well, bringing his blade up just in time to deflect the blow, that would've sliced him in half. Zoot shifted the angle of his pressure to move the tip of his blade towards the hand of his adversary. As the Mask moved his saber around to intercept, the cat rotated his blade in a fast, tight circle and at the end of it he moved the saber outwards. The saber was flung from the Mask's hand and he was glad, that he didn't grab for it on reflex, otherwise his hand would have been severed and flying were his saber was headed. Zoot used the force to shove the Mask backwards into the wall they had come close during their fight and was rewarded to see the other's head bang into the wall as well. He threw his saber away and made a tiny gesture towards his stunned opponent. Mask's eyes flung open, as he clawed at the invisible, steel-like hand that clenched his throat and lifted him above the ground. Calmness, he needed to be calm and summon the force to absorb this effect. Yes, he could feel it surging into him, like a cool wind at first, a warm breeze thereafter. And with each passing moment he was more at peace. With a gesture of his own, he directed the force to shove Zoot away. When he landed on his feet again, he glanced once more at his fellow swr members and was proud to see them still holding their ground. Having regained his composure, Zoot started a series of punches and kicks, that ended in a posture, that somehow resembled an animal about to strike. 'And what style is this ?' the Mask demanded from his opponent. The feline hissed 'Teraes Catti, or steel claw, if you need to know.'. 'Could we skip this ? I don't have enough Whiskey with me for drunken boxing.' Mask said. Unimpressed, the cat started a series of punches, that were almost too fast to perceive. Deeply into the force, Mask simply let it direct his movements and was more reacting, instead of acting himself. Time seemed to stretch and the blows and kicks were coming in slow motion and relatively easy to deflect. But something else tugged at the edge of his awareness, a need to hurry, like everything could be lost, if this didn't end soon. Seeing that his attacks were ineffective, Zoot made a slight jump back and bared his teeth in frustration. Channeling his rage he let loose a storm of lightning from the tips of his paws that hit the Mask right in the chest. Immediately thereafter Mask's throat was again in the grip of the invisible hand and he was tirering. Looking over to his companions, he saw similar fates for them as they suffered the same attacks as he did. Everything seemed to be lost. Zoot was deeply satisfied with his nearby triumph. Soon, his cappuccino missiles would rain the liquid from the skies. The countdown he had set on the console would make certain, that no matter how long the battle lasted, the devastation would still follow. Thoughts were racing through his mind, too fast to trace, they were inconsiquential althogether. What mattered was his victory over these human fools. Nothing would stop him this time, absolutely nothing. He was so blinded by his emotions, that he didn't even register the sound coming from the side wall. The Mask however did notice the slight 'bling' coming from the wall beside him. When he managed to turn his head into the direction it came from. A part of the wall was dividing and the slit of light in its center slowly broadened to show someone standing in the cabin behind the doors. He couldn't believe it, as Dinochick slowly emerged from the cabin, how did she always find these elevators ? Why did nobody else find ever them ? Looking upwards, he thought he recognized something of a cosmic sense of humour, but the pressure on his throat made him shift his attention again to more immediate concerns. Witnessing the carnage around her, remaining calm seemed to be an effort of its own, but thinking of the object in her possession reassured her. Seeing Mask hanging in the air, feebly struggeling to free himself, she couldn't help but grin. 'So, you finally stopped running, hmm Mask ?' she inquired. Intrigued, Zoot turned around and momentarily lost his interest in his captive. Having regained the freedom to breathe the green-faced combatant was inhaling deeply. 'I don't understand ... how you could ever think ... this cat's cute.' he managed to say in a raspy voice. 'Well, this ' ,she produced an item from a pocket as she told him, 'always makes him much nicer.' 'But ... it looks like a ...' 'Yes, it's a ball of twine.' She let it roll towards Zoot watching for his reaction. The cat merely snorted 'Such primitive, feline weaknesses are beneath me !'. Although he remained standing in one place, he seemed to get increasingly nervous and glanced at the ball more often. 'It's just ... ,it's only ...' ,he stumbled. Unable to resist any longer, he jumped to it and moaned aloud 'TWIIIIINE !'. Hearing his call, his clones also let go of their captives and were also totally obsessed with the little ball of twine. The Mask got to his feet and turned to Dinochick, slightly grinning while he started to feel better. 'Thanks, but you know, I almost had him.'. 'Sure.' she added drily, but grinning nevertheless. As all five of them closed in on the console, they noted the countdown running steadily towards zero. 'I got a bad feeling about this.' Trej remarked, while Elvis and Scath were already busy removing the panels from the console in order to stop the countdown. Staring at the wires and chips beneath it the Mask, Dinochick and Trej tried to figure out, which one would be needed to severed. Looking into the other two faces, the Mask asked them 'What do you think ? The red wire or the blue wire ?'. Scathane answered with his head sunken into the inner of the machinery 'Well, there's only an orange and a purple one. Oh and some cleverly wired explosives.'. Seeing the countdown racing towards zero, the Mask made his decision 'Orange. Cut the orange wire.'. Elvis did so, mumbling 'Fifty-fifty.'. A slightly increasing whine emitted from the device and the countdown increased its pace. 'Errm ... I meant purple, yeah cut the purple one'. Everyone else groaned. Scath shrugged and cut the purple one as well, they didn't have anything to lose now. Nothing changed. Everyone looked at each other and all Mask could say was 'Oops.'. Now it was too late to run, they would never reach the exit in time, there was no other option left. They would die in a room with four cats, all arguing on who should have the twine ball. As the countdown dropped below ten, Trej said 'Well, it's been nice knowing you all.' and at the count of one, the display stopped. 'Now what ?' demanded Elvis as the display changed to show a string of letters that read 'Evaluation period over. Demonstration mode ends.', it was only the shareware version. Zoot had been too miserly to actually buy the real thing. They had averted the danger, the world was safe once more and it was also the end of a long day. Tired but relieved, everyone headed for the exit. As they reached the door the Mask put an arm around Zoot's shoulder and asked him 'So, what do you want to do tomorrow ?'. Turning his head Zoot answered with a grin 'The same thing I do every night, I try to take over the world !' END. (?)

Well, were I learned German I only had this explanation for "etwas zum Besten geben" : someone is entertaining his audience with a story. This would apply to a storyteller as well as to a comedian. Basically it's just someone standing before a crowd, telling them somehing. So, while this could also work with stories that are just made up for example, it doesn't mean that the story isn't true. Pride has nothing to do with it in my opinion.

Thanks Admiral Elvis, I now look at the world without time Ok, I've been in Reloaded , but my timetable still is the same as ever, so I still have to cut of time, but so far it has worked out alright. Our TC ? Well, we're (dll team) now editing the event pictures. Since there will be easter eggs in some of them, I can't show you samples. But any good raw material is welcome If anyone has good pics, especially of C'Baoth for example, I'd be very glad

You got the big Webster's ? Jesus ! Last time I saw this was back in school with my advanced english class teacher. How much did it cost ? It's still green, right ?

Hmm ... I can't say the same about my dreams, at the age of 5 or 6 I sometimes had to stop playing such classics as "International Karate" or "The way of the exploding fist" on my C-64, because my wrist hurt so much and I could barely move my fingers at all. Today after .... (insert number) years later that doesn't happen to me anymore. With enough Coke I can play like that bunny from the Duracel ad, I can go on and on and ...

Still it's not nice to call us something that doesn't even show up in my dictionary, just because we copy and paste phrases in a made up alien language from a fictionous universe that brought us all here. Damn, this heat makes me write even longer sentences

I don't know if it helps you, but I move around with the mouse and keyboard as well. Walking's on my second mouse button and shooting on the first. Strafing and the other movement keys are on the cursor keys with my left hand and the more important things like changing force powers, jumping and secondary fire are all close around to the cursor keys. This way I won't have to leave the controls for most of time and it's a lot easier to play IMHO. I've always played 3D shooters with the mouse-keyboard combo and I've sorta got used to the layout above.

The MASK was sure, that something had slipped his mind, when he checked his room, he just couldn't put a finger on it ...... the BOOKS !!!! running back into his room, he only stopped his pace as he reached the stacks of StarWars books at his bed. Trembling, because of the slowly dissolving adrenaline in his bloodstream he began counting ... "28, 29, ..." Pheeew, nothing was amiss.

-MC90 : sure although I don't know of an Mc90a, maybe you're mixing something up there. -Centerpoint : sorry, I don't have a model for this. -Eclipse : already done, look in the downloads section. Until my site's running again I can't offer screenshots. -bigger than the Mc90: how about Pucho's Viscount class StarDefender ? -Chiss clawcraft : the chiss fighters ? Show me a good pic and I'll make the fighters. I'd love to see them as well -Jedi Regiments: IIRC, there should be one card by John M. Stone in the cards database. -NJO stuff: the problem there is, that there are almost no models for these ships and fighters at this time. But I expect that to change soon

Like vakundok already said, that's it. Also be careful to use short DOS-like filenames with a maximum of 8 characters, cause I don't think the converter will accept longer names. To keep things in order I always make a folder for each fighter, f.e. 'X-Wing' and the bin files are called 'red.bin', 'blue.bin', 'gold.bin' and so on. Then I copy the converter into this folder and convert the bins there. The convert all feature never crashed any computer I used it on. Are you sure your's is behaving 'normal' (well, as normal as they get ) the rest of the time ? What operating system do you use ? Could there be other programs running in the background, that might interfere with the converter ? Although I can't think of any, at the moment.

Jahled's stuff gone ? Gulp... The Mask turns around in his leather chair and counts the StarWars artifacts in his room. Movie posters, Dvds, X-wing dangling from the ceiling, early 80's Y-Wing and Millenium Falcon (holding most of the action figures), X-34 Landspeeder, Snowspeeder, remaining action figures on the Tv and the monitor of the pc .... check. He let's out the breath he only then realizes, he has been holding and slumps slightly in his chair. Jahled, where did you get that INT ? I've been trying to get one to dangle before my X-Wing for years now, but they're all too small.

Just as I imagined

Me too Beati pauperes spiritu

Scath, maybe you mixed it up with another language ? Btw, not all abstract concepts are used in combination to females in German, for instance take the abstract concept of logic

Well, since I saw a Mercedes Smart Roadster ( ) this morning on the highway, that is just going to happen as well, sooner or later

Ahh, just wait till I got the money for DSL