"Hey Dwan." Joseph said as he entered the bar. "I vould like something zat could calm my nerves. Don't mind ze blood, I vas in an operation a while ago."
[B]The Feeblian notices all the different races inside the bar. He begins to start poking around and observing them. [/B]"My first job as a biologist is to better understand the crew mates. Everyone submit a urine sample, a saliva sample, and a stool sample. I also am going to need a little bit of skin and hair and other parts of your anatomy I have not mentioned. I can't wait to examine all of this very closely. It gets me so excited! If you are plant like please keep all samples sealed in an airtight container. I will be in the Science Lab in the mean time taking record and studying existing samples you have already taken. Now if only I was good with directions."[B] With that, Squish heads out of the bar and down the hall, stumbling and breathing heavily.[/B]
Lion had been working on some new weapons for the crew for several hours straight. As they lay on the equipment table he smiled. This was the third batch of personal weapons that he had made for his new family.
He opened up the ships intercom: "Attention! Can Viper, Iska, Sledge, Lemmy and Collin please report to the armory for distribution of personal firearms. Thank you."
Just as Colin was about to contact everyone and tell them about the archives, there was another message that asked crew members to head to the armoury.
"I can save it for later" Colin sighed.
He made his way to the armoury, twirling his stun baton in his fingers and wondering what his personal weapon would be.
As Colin entered the armory Lion turned to greet him. "Hi, name's Lion. Pleased to meet you." He extended his robotic arm towards Colin.
Colin put on a fake grin when introduced to Lion.
"Hello. Name is Colin, crew's scribe. Wonderful to meet you," beamed Colin, shaking Lion's hand.
Lion smiled. "You shouldn't fake your expression, the bonus of being a robot is that I can see when someones facial muscles are overly tense." He gestured towards the weapons at the table.
"Either way it is my duty to make sure that everyone aboard this ship are properly armed. Please, let us begin."
He approached the table and picked up a small handgun.
"This is the LWA Servant; seeing as your dossier didn't mention anything about previous combat experience I did something that will both help you as a scribe as much as it will help you stay alive."
With the click of button the tiny white-colored weapon deployed a barrel from a sphere-shaped part at the front.
"This pistol fires small bursts of plasma, the barrel is connected to a joint which allows it to rotate separately from the main weapon. A onboard computer auto-locks potential targets, allowing you to just pull the trigger rather than aim."
Lion clicked another button which made a blue hologram window appear on the left side of the weapon.
"The onboard computer is also connected to a scanner that both saves and translates data in text format. It supports over 300 languages."
He secured the weapon and motioned for Colin to take it.
"If you use this right you can easily pick off lightly armored and unshielded targets. Just make sure to fire in bursts and mind the heat."
Colin laughed at the weapon that had been made for him. It was brilliant.
"I like you, robot. Thanks," said Colin as he took the weapon.
Colin was glad to see that someone on the ship knew what they were doing considering he hadn't seen other crew members do their respective work unless you count the bartender. He was exceptionally pleased by this new weapon, it seemed useful in every way. Of course, he would still use his stun baton at times but this thing was amazing. Unfortunately, Colin now realised he didn't know what to say.
"This is amazing. If you ever need any info from the archives, let me know. Well, if it stops going haywire that is. I have to go find out the problem with the archive database so I'll see you later. Thanks again."
Colin smiled one last time before making his way to the archives. Good to know he now had a new tool at his disposal.
Lion did a quick salute. "No problem, I hope you'll find it useful. Good luck with the archives."
The day had been a long one. It seemed as if it had dragged on for weeks, but at last, Yanim retired to her quarters to rest, having been awake for more than 22 hours. She had been in firefights with acid-spitting alien insects, disabled a truck with a gunship-mounted rocket launcher, drafted plans for an elaborate pet robot, got drunk and un-drunk within the span of an hour and a half, and then helped to rehabilitate a bizarre silicon-based lifeform in a triumph of inter-species cooperation and the ultimate definition of engineering "crunch time."
She was totally spent. As she walked back through the Archius, its large engines carrying it aloft after so much activity on Rigel, others could be heard carrying out their routines through the walls and just around the corner. In such a short time, the crew quarters had lost their empty silence in favor of the reassuring white noise of... people, allies, maybe friends.
She had made a lot of money, too. That was nice.
"[This is why you didn't join the Black Fleet,]" she told herself as she lay in bed, her eyelids already heavy. "[If you had fallen in with them you'd be lubricating service drones by hand, for minimum compensation... you'd be wearing a white uniform made of acrylic... trimmed in red... same as everyone else on a ship of hundreds or thousands... Your OBV would be in the foot locker, polished to a perfect shine and unused for months... unless you're working in the hangar bay when the sereks decide to raid... the ship would hold their strike craft at bay with hundreds of automated turrets... firing their bursts in patters devised by military bureaucrats... who have never seen combat themselves and base their assumptions on averages and expectations...]"
She didn't need to continue down that train of though, because she already knew exactly where it would take her. Life for a technician in the "Osch Batakya" was either rigidly productive and thankless, or cruelly short and without significance. Despite it all, however, it wasn't so easy to dismiss the choice when she had been offered a commission. She was the daughter of a civilian infrastructure analyst and a industrial chemist, both jobs highly tied to the homeworld in an era of starships and adventure. Yanim always knew that she would depart Kanadys one day, and her brother Ryvik was the same way, but the family had few close relatives in the fleet. The military had always been dominated by the Rozel clan, and while it was easy to enlist as a Sidikan or a Vor'Pangn it was difficult to promote, especially so for Sidikans. The stigma stretched back for centuries, since the formation of the Collective itself.
Yet, when she finished her education less than a year ago, there was a stable job offer waiting for her which came with a guarantee of food and shelter. It also promised to take her to other worlds, even if it was just to Koda or Tredet, or some other colony world held by the Collective. Aside from the threat of being annihilated by a well-placed missile barrage from a pirate craft, her survival prospects would be good, and she would spend her time in the company of her fellow kin, even if most of them would be Rozels. She could remember the pride she held as she carried her ID card back from the Naval Department of Commissioned Officer's Affairs. She arrived by mag-train to her family's lodging in southeast Ébo, an apartment block. It was a dull gray monolith of concrete battered and aged over six decades as its concrete facades stood against the piercing winds. Somewhere in its worn halls there was a door, anonymous from the outside, marked only by the number 381225. Her hands trembled as she turned the key over in the lock, bursting into the living space with jubilant excitement. Her father lifted her into the air and cheered his daughter's name, delighted to hear that she would soon be sailing with the Collective's finest. Her mother emerged from another room, covering her mouth and sneering repeatedly in joy. Ryvik was in class at the time, finishing his second semester at the State Naval College of Combat.
Taking out of her wallet in the present and examining it under the dim light of her maintenance tablet, the word "Zygochtka" appeared in blue text under her name [Unsolicited.] She had stared at the same text that night as she thought about the mixed feelings she had for her future. Maybe when that word was replaced by the name of one of those massive ships she would be able to find happiness. Maybe she would settle down with one of her comrade technicians; male or female, it didn't matter. Highbloods, with their entitled use of the genetic sequencer to handle reproduction had long since abandoned sexuality as the primary means of life-partnership. Maybe she could enjoy her life without feeling like a machine.
She had a feeling that there was something better out there.
As she fell asleep in her darkened room, she had hopes that it was close at hand.
Dwan noticed Joseph enter the bar. "Hey Dwan, I vould like something zat could calm my nerves. Don't mind ze blood, I vas in an operation a while ago.", he told him, as he sat down.
Dwan wasn't sure if he wanted a alcoholic drink or a non-alcoholic one. He decides to give Joseph a glass of red wine. The Feeblian spoke about getting samples from everyone before leaving the bar. He didn't like the idea of that. To relax himself, Dwan makes a piñita colada. As he is drinking it, he decides to check under the counter to see if he missed anything. Apparently, there was a tablet device. He grabs it and sees it is nothing special. It's got everything a tablet is supposed to have. He opens up the news app to see what's going on in the galaxy.
[QUOTE]INTERGALACTICA
LINGUISTS STILL TRAPPED
---
The linguists who convinced multiple closed off planets to open up to them are still trapped on said planets.
---------
GEMMA EXPANDS
---
The Gemma Empire continues to expand itself throughout its nearby star systems, killing off life forms on multiple planets to allow for the creation of more of their own species.
---------
KILLER QUEEN KILLED
---
The Inquisition on planet Rigel was a rousing success, killing off the Screecher Queen that was harassing the mines of Rigel.
---------
GAIA EXPERIENCES DICTATOR
---
The Human planet of Gaia has been shaken up, as its planetary council has been taken over by a dictator named Marian Besarionis.[/QUOTE]
As Dwan was reading the news, he had realized something. He left his Howitzer at the Armory and he doesn't know if Lion has finished giving it a checkup. He set his intercom's frequency to the armory. "Lion, Dwan here. How's my Howitzer's check-up doing?", he asked.
Iska entered armory and gave Lion a puzzled look and gave Colin a quick glance. "You ask for Iska" she said while walking over. She still looked very puzzled, "But Iska already have weapon".
Arthur broke out in an angry sweat at being ignored again. Not by the captain this time, but by some craven little alien who didn't even take the time to reply to his question. Arthur began contemplating chucking himself out of an airlock, but he was suddenly kicked out of this line of thought by the Feeblian announcing to everyone his job; the new biologist. The prospect of this little... thing, working under Arthur worried him, especially with the alien being so neurotic and overbearing. He jogged to catch up with it as it ran aimlessly along the halls, approaching it as it ran out of breath.
"You know, ignoring people and asking for samples of their shit is no way to introduce yourself to a prospective crew, especially if one member of that crew is your personal boss and head of science." Arthur told the Feeblian, extending his arm for a handshake.
"Hello there. My name is Arthur Beasley. Doctorate, geneticist, head of science. Your name?"
[Guys, I know it might seem daunting to read though all the posts you missed, and this probably goes to the new players mostly, but [B]please make sure none of the new posts involve you before you post.[/B] Been ignored twice recently; it really throws off the RP for people.]
Lion nodded. "Yes, that is true although I decided to do a spare wepaon for you anyways." Lion picked up what appeared to be a rotary LMG.
"Meet the LWA Iska LMG!" With a second trigger Lion made the barrels spin with a near-silent humming sound.
"I scanned Jorvu from the combat footage and while we we're in the Helix lobby, this is the result."
He gestured towards the weapon. "This fully-automatic plasma machinegun uses three rotating barrels to function as a plasmarepeater. Based on your Jorvu design, albeit more refined, I've designed each part of the Iska to be compatible with Jorvu. Meaning that you can configure and switch parts in any way you want."
Lion clicked a button which made a small plasma blade come to life underneath the front of the weapon.
"Khergian-class plasma balde is integrated into the forward grip, use it to either smash heads or entrench the weapon into an object."
Once again Lion clicked on a button, opening up the receiver. "Magwell is compatible with the same magazines that Jorvu use, with the added benefit of having a extra internal kinetic cell which allows you to switch between plasma and kinetic slug-rounds."
The weapon returned into it's normal state and Lion motioned for Iska to take it.
Iska took the LWA-i from Lion and weighed it in her hands.
"Little weight difference, but more toys for Iska" she replied with a big, satisifed smile.
Iska remembered how Lion Tried to greet her when they first met. She stretched her hand out to Lion.
"Thank you, friend".
Lion shook her hand with a big smile. "No problem, I hope that the LWA Iska will bring you many moments of joy."
The DomeEval activated as the ship's sensors were picking up on the radar. "Unidentified pod in our range, I've detected possible life signs Captain. What are your orders?"
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Life signs eh?" who knows what could be inside, a three legged alien out to kill them? Well whatever it is I'm sure Arthur would like to experiment with it.
"Alright, DomeEval we'll reach this pod and bring it to the hangar." The Captain walked over to one of the comms and tapped it so he can speak through the ship. "Attention all personnel, Head of Science and all of Security please report to the bridge at once. Thank you."
[I should have said this before but going to Termina Central will not END the game. Think of it like progressing through the story from Act 1 to Act 2. We still have lots of arcs to do.]
As Viper was done filling out several security reports about miscellaneous issues. Such as the archive database being incomplete and complaints about the new Biologist's bizarre request from the crew. Viper received Lion's massage and went down to the armory straight away. "Yes, Lion? I'm assuming you have new equipment for me?" Before being intupented by a report coming from the Intercom, from Captain himself. "Sorry Lion, I'l made sure to return later." Viper wasted no time going to up to the Bridge.
Lion went for the bridge as well, carrying the weapons that he was about to give to Viper. "Lion reporting for duty."
Varn was busy watching the monitors in case of something happened on the ship. Everything was normal and extremely dull. The long hours spend fighting bugs, delivering a carcass and the time spend at the bar caught up to him and he fell asleep on his post. Truly the image of a proper security enforcer.
The message over the intercom made him leap out of his chair. "Is it payday already?" he muttered grumpily. He got up and went to the armory to pick up a tranc gun and stun baton. He got his equipment and made his way to the bridge.
[Just assume this is after everyone he called for is in the bridge right now]
"Right." He said as everyone he called for came to the Bridge. The captain looked at everyone especially Viper, 'he seemed to be in good shape already. That's good.'
"The AI picked up a strange unidentified pod in our range, it stated it was possibly holding life signs so that's why I wanted to call you here. I made the decision to bring this pod to the hangar. However, I'm not thinking this might be friendly inside so I want all security to secure the pod and arm themselves if this turns out to be hostile. Head of Science Arthur will analyze the pod."
"So, any questions?" Captain Jeremy asked, hearing the annoying silence from his crew.
[QUOTE] "Attention all personnel, Head of Science and all of Security please report to the bridge at once. Thank you."[/QUOTE]
"Vat? Ve just took off!" Joseph said in surprise, almost choking on his wine.
"Gah." Joseph put on his blood soaked coat from the coat hanger and proceeded to the bridge, but not before leaving some money behind for the wine.
Lion nodded. "Solid copy. Viper, if I may I'd like to arm you before we go down into the hangar."
"How old is the pod sir?" Viper asked while overlooking the scan report from visor within the helmet. Viper was highly nervous after seeing the ship model that this pod originates from.
As this pod seems to match similar ones that came from a model of ship that served in the doomed fleet that was part of the UGC's first contact with the Shanghvi. Of course, Viper thought. The ship was highly common around that time, So there nothing to fear. I mean what's the chance that could there could be from the same fleet? As Viper continued to think.
As Lion started to speak, Viper jumped a bit before turning to face Lion. Viper took a second and said to Lion. "Sorry to shock you Viper, I was..deep in thought." Viper paused again before saying. "Yes, lets us do that before continuing."
[Sparkeagle isn't online right now, so Doom said I can take control of him as an NPC for a sec.]
The Feeblian introduced himself to Arthur, throwing his limbs around and making all the classic conversational norms as expected from a Feeblian. Just as Arthur pointed to the direction of the science lab, a message pinged to his communicator from the ship's AI, signalling him to make his way down to the bridge to deal with a foreign anomaly. Arthur left with posthaste, though not before turning to Squish and to tell him something.
"Feel free to conduct experiments as you need in the lab, but don't use up too many resources, or contaminate it too much. On Earth, we have an expression for this; don't shit where you eat. Because, otherwise, I will shit all over you, though I'm sure you'd be happy for more stool samples. Good day!" With that, He headed over to bridge, and listened to Jeremy's orders.
"No problem, my friend. Leave it to me and Joseph. We'll crack this thing in no time, whatever the hell it is. I'll be ready and waiting when everybody is ready to move out."
Colin finally finished analysing everything Varn had provided him and adding necessary information to the archive database. Unfortunately none of the information on the crew members had returned and Colin couldn't figure out the problem because he had run a check who hsd used it recently and what for, as well as scanning the database for any viruses, infestations or other technical issues. He had no theory on how the information had just disappeared and it seemed he wouldn't have a theory for quite a while.
Now he was left with nothing to do. No one had provided or requested new information / data and he had updated all logs and files within the archives with everything he already knew and / or had found. Colin sighed before deciding to take another walk around the ship because that's all he could do. This time, however, he decided to take the bag of credits with him. He still hadn't made a decision about whether he would say anything.
In fact, he hadn't really said much about anything in general. He had postponed telling people about the database, he couldn't / refused to find someone that would listen to his thoughts of guilt and betrayal and his last attempt at social interaction resulted in him getting angry. Colin had been sitting back and contributing little. And people hadn't blinked an eye. Was he really so useless?
"No, I'm needed. I have brains! B-but so does the Captain. I know about literature, though! But is that any use on a spaceship? I have initiative and ideas! But so does anyone working in Engineering, as well as Lion. And how many ideas have you pitched forward, Mr.Oxfon? Zero. If I take a moment to be realistic, what do I actually do? Update archives, which isn't exactly difficult. Complain a lot. Get angry at people that don't want me butting into their conversations? Oh yeah, I add a lot to this ship!"
Colin stopped in the corridor after having his personal rant. He needed to talk to someone, open up, tell them the truth and tell them he wasn't even meant to be on the ship. But he knew about 5 people. Three were busy, one was not exactly his friend and he had no idea about the other. Right now, he had only himself to talk to. It was ok, though. Colin wasn't new to that concept.
[QUOTE=Deathgrunt;47552342]"How old is the pod sir?" Viper asked while overlooking the scan report from visor within the helmet. Viper was highly nervous after seeing the ship model that this pod originates from.[/quote]
"Well I can't really say for sure, the scans are reading that this pod could be in cryo for more than a decade. Maybe around 30 years?"
Varn felt uneasy when he heard the news."If you don't mind doctor, I would like to stand with a shotgun near the pod. After an encounter with a pod containing a brain-controlling parasite inside, I don't want to take any chances."
Arthur scoffed at Varn's reaction.
"For all we know soldier, there could be pure, unadulterated [I]science[/I] in that pod, and I'd rather not have [I]that[/I] get its head blown off. Leave it to me and Joseph. I'd consider it an honour to have my brain become controlled by a parasite like that." He told Varn. As he turned away, he could feel an angry pair of eyes trained upon his head; the Welshman who so rudely interrupted his conversation with the bartender previously. Arthur put on a smile, and sauntered up to him.
"Why hello there, Mr Colin. Silence this time? Quite a step up from the first time we met. I can, er... I can tell you don't quite me, so I suppose we should change that, provided you don't butt into anymore of my conversations. My name is Arthur Beasley. Doctorate, geneticist, head of science on this ship. Your role?"
"Alright, we're going to move in and bring the frozen pod to the bay. Security arm yourselves and get to the Hangar Bay when you're ready. Take Arthur with you to find out what the hell is this thing." Jeremy commanded his pilots to get closer to the pod, every inch counted.
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