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Main OOC Board / Re: Main OOC Thread
Last post by Griff -3
Alternate Universe Stories / Re: Star Wars: The Wanderer and the Teacher
Last post by Ellen Fitz -It was quiet. Too quiet. Eny’dInraln Mirwirr, Eny for those she deemed close enough to drop the formalities, sat alone, contemplating finding some space debris to blow up to pass the time. Her mentor/boss/friend had opted to finally take that vacation he’d been complaining about putting off, leaving her in charge of the Sojourner 2 (named the second as a jest since there’d never been a first) until his return in three weeks. That left plenty of time to be driven mad with boredom. Or find something to blow up.
To put off the temptation to burn unnecessary fuel and send new coordinates to Khanak for when he decided to return, Eny dropped her booted feet off the console and shimmied out of the pilot’s chair. She could check on the plants in the hydroponics bay and maybe feed the fish. When she’d first come aboard about eight years prior, Eny had mistakenly named one of the more colorful and personable fish. Khanak had found it more than a little amusing at dinner one night, telling her she was eating Davin. Only after she’d eaten had Eny found it amusing as well.
Hooking her boots over the ladder rungs, Eny slid down, hands protected with black gloves. She preferred to wear a light-weight, form-fitting black suit at all times, something suitable to wear as the base layer under her armor. Even before taking up with Khanak, Eny had learned the necessity of remaining vigilant.
The Soujourner 2 echoed with a salacious drinking song as Eny went to work. She knew every bolt and joint of this ship like the back of her hand now, having helped Khanak make repairs in the middle of more than a few skirmishes and even adding on new modifications as they came available on the market, whether legit or black. The mimicked VT-49 Decimator base had been built in the shipyards orbiting Fondor. While Khanak hadn’t been able to install the two sets of quad laser cannons, he had four laser cannons, two atop the main hull and two below. He had been able to keep with two concussive missile launchers like the Empire’s official Decimator boasted. The YT-1300 Corellian light freighter modular aspect for additions and maneuverability had been manufactured in the Corellian shipyards, with the Firespray-31-class patrol craft wing shifting and hull stabilization capabilities and class 1 main hyperdrive and 0.3 back-ups installed at the Kuat shipyards. Capable of docking and carrying two smaller starfighters or shuttlecraft at the airlocks on either side of the wings, Khanak kept one heavily modified N-1 starfighter, the Saina, docked for personal use, leaving the other open for visitors. He’d taken the Saina for his vacation, destination uncertain, though he’d at least given her the frequency he’d keep open for communication.
With enough hull space to transport six full-sized Empire speeder bikes along with their drivers and supplies, steerage for six passengers aside from pilot and co-pilot, and storage for consumables last up to a month between hubs, the Sojourner 2 was a nomadic base of operations for the nefarious and do-gooder alike. It just so happened that Khanak was a bit of both, depending on the contract, and Eny was happy to go along with either aspect as well, so long as they got to end idiocy in whatever form it was manifesting. As a former Jensaarai apprentice, she was well-equipped to live happily in the borderlands between so-called good and evil.
Khanak Ris was Myr Rho, a subspecies of the noble Cathar, so while he possessed some feline aspects in his appearance (fine golden (hair covered him from head-to-toe, maintained retractable claws, and stood at 1.9 meters tall) and reflexes, he did not possess the exact drive for high morals as the Cathar. Khanak was just as passionate and quick-tempered as a Cathar and an efficient hunter and fighter, but he was rarely plagued with moral questions. He took jobs that aligned with what moral compass he did possess and ignored the rest. Having a hydroponics unit on the Sojourner 2 and a vast network of allies across the galaxy allowed Khanak to focus on jobs for the sake of jobs and not just for the sake of profit.
When they’d first met on Susevfi, the Jensaarai home planet in the Suarbi system, he’d found her feline-influenced armor “adorable.” Having never met a Jensaarai before, being among the majority in that regard, Khanak hadn’t known that such a term could be deemed offensive to a Jensaarai apprentice. Though they abhorred the Jedi and their faux perfection, they did have in common with them the development of light sabers as a part of completing their training and, like Mandalorians, the development of customized armor. Over a generic cortosis-imbued flexible frame reminiscent of ancient Sith battle armor, the armor took on the style of the animal the apprentice felt most kinship to. The chosen animals were typically not overly aggressive but were capable of fierceness when threatened, showcasing a typical Jensaarai mindset.
Eny had always felt an affinity for the sand cat common in the savannas of Susevfi, the fel’tro’ik. This was why she’d installed retractable claws into her armored gloves and boots, dual hand spears that could extend from the gauntlets, and feline-like ears atop her atmospheric breathing capable helmet with built-in macro binoculars that acted as UV and IR sensors. With the cortosis elements of the armor, an element that had
unusually high energy absorption and transmission coefficients, to the point where many energy weapon blasts dissipated along the fibers without damaging the fibers themselves, she could walk through a barrage of blaster fire for limited time periods without risking injury—unless the bastards targeted one of the weaker joint areas repeatedly.
Her preferred armament was an energy short sword and a blaster, along with multiple pouches that she kept filled with various metallic debris of numerous shapes and sizes. In the few times she’d been disarmed, the fools had left these pouches alone to their own detriment. Eny, like most Jensaarai, possessed ballistakinesis, a Force power that allowed her to accelerate objects at lethal speeds. She could also use mechu macture, a Force power that allowed her to deactivate and destroy machines through a purple stream of pure energy. With these abilities, along with Force push and thrust and an unprecedented ability to mask her presence in the Force, Eny presented herself to Khanak as the perfect partner for his growing business.
As a not-quite bounty hunter, not quite marshall for hire, he presented himself as a jack-of-all-trades problem solver, and with Eny’s Jansaarai background, he could expand the types of jobs they took and their working area. At the time, Eny had been more than keen to leave Susevfi. Years prior, her parents had been killed by the Jedi when they’d murdered the Jensaarai’s first leader, Nikkos Tyris, and her cousin, the son of the Saarai-kaar, the leader of their people, had then been cut down by Darth Vader himself, with members of the Inquisitorius coming to Susevfi soon after to destroy the remaining Jansaarai. But just as they’d masked their presence from the Jedi many years before, they did so again, and while many were lost to both attacks, a foundational number remained to build back.
Though Eny believed in the tenants of her people, she no longer felt tethered to them. Her cousin had been the last tether keeping her there, and with his death, she’d been left adrift, no longer focused enough to finish her training to become a Jansaarai defender. Khanak’s arrival had been timely and beneficial to them both. The eight years since had been filled with more than a few near-death experiences, jobs that pushed Eny far past the reaches of her Jansaarai training. Khanak had been the one to bestow the nickname “Kiss of Danger” on her, telling her that every great entrepreneur required a moniker for further success. While Eny knew the name stemmed from the tendency for things to backfire on her, therein requiring her to use all her abilities to get out of the hole she inadvertently dug for herself, Khanak claimed no one else would. They’d think she was a sexy fighter. This had earned a heavy sigh and eye roll from the former Jansaarai apprentice.
Eny was still sipping from a portable packet of Sullustan ale when she meandered into the shared office space just below the command deck. With a wall-sized viewing glass, it was the perfect place to kick back and –
“Oh, what have we here?” Eny rose from her near attempt to sit on the plushy sofa they’d acquired on a recent job and deviated to the communications console.
It took her only a few minutes to read, deliberate, and decide. The job seemed simple enough, the location not too terribly far that Khanak would be hard-pressed to join her here if it took longer than three weeks to solve, and the reward was humble enough to tell her that the people were desperate and the idiocy level of the nefarious circumstances were high. Quickly sending off a message to the sender that The Mureyca di Grezme would arrive in less than a day to take the job, Eny then sent off another message to Khanak updating him on the job and coordinates. She was fairly skipping as she returned to the helm, no longer so bored that she felt the need to blow up space junk.
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1435 hrs] When Trolls Dance, Vulcans Growl
Last post by EnigmaTales -"I think I can clear my own schedule to accommodate.", V'lana mused. She had been grabbing every shift available - yes, against the medical advise to take it easy - and didn't really have any other plans other than sit in her quarters and look at the not-very-interesting wall. Which sounded bad, but was essentially just what V'lana had always done after depleting her social batteries either in the company of friends or patients. That, and reading badly written novels.
"Those things are not bad to vent.", she grinned at the remark on the journal idea. "Just make sure no one ever finds it, or you earn yourself mandatory counselling for the next ten years. But usually, your brain is pretty good at filtering out what matters. Even chewing too loudly might be an indication of what is going on. Vulcans have a keen sense of smell and better hearing than Bajorans, so that, too, could be the cause of your headaches. I suppose I just want to exclude the minor stuff in case it's a relatively easy fix."
She closed down the console, sending a follow-up appointment to his personal calendar.
"Is there anything else I can do for you? Reasonable requests only, please. Oh, and can you recommend a counsellor? Apparently I have to meet with one, and I need someone who won't judge me for putting it off as far as I already have."
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Interregnum 01-02 S2 / Re: Day 17 [2200 hrs.] Aftermath's Embrace
Last post by EnigmaTales -V'lana had not the slightest idea what a Fluffernutter sandwich was, nor was she entirely sure what the main ingredients - Peanut butter und marshmallow fluff - were. But she knew bread, so there was that.
"I think I would like to try it.", she nodded at Arven's offer, and then considered his question. "No physical differences, no. The lights are still always too bright, the sound still always a little too loud. I have come to terms with that never truly going away. Starfleet in general is very accommodating, but when you have so many different species and personal preferences, it's not reasonable to expect everyone is entirely happy. What do they say? Compromise is when the one person wants one thing, and the other person the other - and they agree on a third thing that makes both equally unhappy?"
She finished her order, placing the menu to the side.
"But enough work today. I will come by tomorrow and bug you with ever single question I have. I promise."
Right now, however, she very much wanted to stop being the "stasis-person" and concentrate on being herself, and figuring out how she fit into the story that had unfolded.
FIN
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!
Last post by Krajin -The big guy was starting to get just a tiny, itty bitty bit annoyed by the two women, though it was more leaning to in part his own pride, experience and understanding that they seemed to assume he had no idea what they were going through. He did know, he was briefed and understood the life-and-death situation they were all in. “I do not need a realistic life-or-death-scenario. I have been briefed on your situation before I took the assignment.” Dominic responded to Goldeneye as she explained the situation. He was about to say something further when he watched Goldie start skipping around the place like she was missing a few fries from that happy meal there.
He did his best attempt at a smile that Humans would recognize. “A little.” At the response to the challenge. “I do appreciate the chance for the flight pattern to get a feel of the ship in its basic form. I don’t mind flying a ship raw with no experience and have done it. But this deployment requires that trial run at least.” He added. Tail tip slowly started to twitch as he relaxed some.
Dominic looked over to Shadow and tilted his head slightly when she spoke her piece. “Firstly, ego has no play here. However I do have some play here, as I am learning to fly and operate a craft in eight hours and be able to trust I can perform at expectation and support my wingmates confidently.” He responded with a touch of sharpness in his tone.
Walking over to the Valkyries with her, Dominic looked at the one he had generated with the altered specifications and walked over to it. “I do appreciate what you are trying to do, understand that. But a few laps will be very beneficial for me, otherwise you’re going to watch holo-paint peel with my frustration when I am trying to figure out aspects of the craft midflight and getting vaped.” There were other reasons to it, the Dominion war was not something Dominic enjoyed reliving in any form and this mission being picked sported stark similarities to missions he had undertaken which were of similar suicidal danger.
He started walking down the side of his ship, running a gauntlet-covered hand down its hull. He understood it wasn’t real in any form here beyond photons and forcefields. But there’s always a certain magic to being introduced to a new ship and learning to fly it. “Every ship is different, each has a personality in its quirks.” There’s a possibility that Dominic might be an aerophile or astrophile in some form. Boys and their toys right?
“Unless the weapons have changed drastically my qualifications for the majority, bar the fancy tetryon cannon should still stand. That is a different story.” He added as he removed the helmet from under his arm and stuck it on and began to climb into the cockpit. He appreciated the explanation of how the ship’s systems worked and functioned, a little bit like a salesman in approach but otherwise a lot better than the manual.
“Is there anything about the system I need to be wary of, bugs, glitches, quirks and things not to do?” He asked, looking to Shadow as he settled into the cockpit. Bringing up on the right-arm PADD the pre-flight checks he had noted down, Dominic did a check out of sheer habit for everything else inside the cockpit that is meant to be there.
Phaser Rifle, Medkit, Rations, knife, Water, shelter. Standard kit. There’s a ritual to it that he had inherited from flying the Peregrines and always needing to make sure everything is present. Even in a Holodeck where it would be likely to an almost certainty that it would be there.
“I like being hands-on, it’s how I learn better. Alrighty. Let's start walking through it and get the first go around finished.” Forearm PADD up and reading with her the steps on this. Dominic is a fairly quick study at least and knows his way around enough that he is figuring things out.
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Interregnum 01-02 S2 / Re: Day 09 [15:30 hrs,] Once Upon the Island
Last post by P.C. Haring -Hathev found herself in the rare position of being caught off guard when Cross took her and kissed her. She felt the sense of being dipped and the even more welcome sensation of his strong arms supporting her. Despite the danger she almost…purred…under his touch before he fell on top of her, when the Klingons opened fire over the rail.
“We survive this,” he whispered at her, “and I’m going to fuck you.”
He pulled away from her but she grabbed him and pulled him back on top of her. “We survive this, and I’m going to hold you to that.”
As he scrambled away, they fired at him. Their shots had no chance of finding their target given the angle, but it did provide Hathev the opportunity to make crawl to the deck gun and pull herself into position.
The weapon was as old as the rest of the ship, but it’s age also made it a bit easier to figure out. Throwing the switch, Hathev heard the weapon hum to life. The hand controls were somewhat intuitive, a logical design choice given the intended usage. Even so, they took a little finessing before the turret responded as she desired.
One of the Klingons on shore took notice of the movement on the deck and turned, his disruptor raised. Hathev squeezed the trigger, opening fire the first round missed, exploding on the beach, but Hathev kept the trigger depressed while she adjusted the aim and before the fifth round fired, the first Klingon exploded.
She continued firing, strafing the beach line as her targets either fell under her fire, or retreated back inland. Vengeance, she knew was illogical but she also had no desire to allow them to regroup so she continued her assault, using the deck gun to chase her would be attackers back. Only then did she cease her attack, all the while keeping the weapon trained on the path they had used. Occasionally she fired another volley to discourage anyone from trying to charge again. She had them well pinned, but even so she continued to watch the entire shoreline to make sure they did not try to circle back around and hit her from a different angle.
All she needed to do now was make sure no one else tried to advance and wait for Cross to get the engines on line so they could get the hell out.
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Interregnum 01-02 S2 / Re: Day 17 [0845 hrs.] (R)idiculous (I)nconvenient (O)rnament
Last post by P.C. Haring -For a moment Reggie was back there; back at Tac-CONN Omega, watching the engines of her student’s training craft; burning from the damage they had sustained from Reggie’s own friendly fire, fire she had delivered to save her other students from a pilot who had lost his grip on reality and suffered a psychotic break. His craft careened out of control, away from her students and straight into…
Her attack killed so many more than she was trying to save.
She heard Janus in her com his words slowly pulling her back to the moment and giving her the needed leverage to push that disaster down and she, not for the first time, wondered what it would take to make peace with that incident and be able to move on.
“…you asshole’ speech you’re cooking right now, it is helpful to watch you do a combat…”
The Betazoid’s mind locked in when he called her an asshole, only for her to realize he wasn’t actually calling her one. He wanted to see her perform. Oh she would perform. She would kick his ass. Maybe then, she might be able to put it out of her mind for a bit.
“Hold on to your neck ridges, Janus.”
She triggered another TVD simulation and watched as three holographic target bouys appeared to launch from Theurgy.
“Engaging.”
She cut to starboard and fell in behind the formation of targets. Her target locked immediately she pulled the trigger on the phasers. Her shot hit home and the number three target disappeared.
Predictably the remaining two split off, one arcing to port, the other to starboard. Tactically her best option was to stay on the target which required the least amount of course correction to pursue. Instead, she cut hard to port a harsh, sharp maneuver that might have been ill advised, but did well to show off just how sharply the Valravn could maneuver.
She executed a wingover roll as she maneuvered, and settled into position, the nose of Wolf-13 gently leading the target before she launched a simulated torpedo. Target 2 cut hard to port as expected, but Reggie was already there, her phaser beams cutting through the simulated engines.
Target 2 disappeared.
The engagement only lasted a handful of second, but in breaking for Target 2, Reggie had left herself open for Target 1 to swing around and settle in behind her. She did not need to check her sensors, nor did she need telepathic contact with her Rio or the enemy pilot.
Without a wingman in the sky with her, it would take more to lose the target. She cut hard towards Theurgy, weaving between the nacelles before cutting hard under the ventral hull. The maneuver opened enough of a gap and she fired the RCS, flipping her ship in a hard 180 and opened fire, wiping Target 3 from the simulation.
She flipped Wolf-13 around again, resuming a ‘forward’ direction along her current course vector.
“What do you think, Janus?”
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Parallel Universes - "What if?" / Re: An Assassin in Agra Fort
Last post by Dree -Sasch sat between her ‘parents’ on a square cushion behind a low table. A servant brought her a large chalice filled with a smoking burgundy liquid. Because it was smoking, she thought that it would warm her, but it was an incredibly refreshing drink. ‘Maybe it works on a similar principle as dry ice - without being dangerous to ingest,’ she thought. She watched the vapors as they ascended and dissipated into nothingness. The way the steam gamboled around was almost hypnotizing.
Her father clapped once again, and servants scrambled out of many different entrances with platters of food. The royal family was served first. Her ‘father’ then her ‘mother’ then the woman who Sasch guessed was the second wife. But only seconds later, a large plate of sumptuous meats, cheeses, nuts, fruits, and cooked vegetables was set in front of her. The smells were tantalizing. How the holodeck was able to make all of the different elements not only look and feel real, but smell and taste real as well still boggled the Wolf’s mind.
She indulged in the meal, despite the fact that she knew it wasn’t real. Like everyone else, she used her fingers whether she was eating the meats, cheeses or cooked vegetables. The flavors and sumptuous juice of the means or fruits burst into her mouth and filled it with textures and flavors and spices and scents. When she dropped, a small reddish potato into her mouth the juice from the sauce that covered it, dripped down her fingers.
She quickly grabbed her napkin and wiped away the liquid. But after she cleaned away the mess, her eyes swept across the room and alighted on a scantily-clad buxom Andorian. She quirked her head as she tried to decide if she had seen her on the Theurgy in passing. The Zhen looked slightly familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her. ‘Besides,’ she told herself, ‘I have to figure out to she had to kill my father in a way that would go unnoticed.’
This time she returned to the refreshing drink while her eyes flitted here and there across the room for something or someone she might be able to use in her quest.
It was then that a pompous, burly man strutted in with an entourage of people and even creatures. It was the stallions that especially caught her attention. They were such majestic creatures and high stepped into the room in sync. It was all that Sasch could do to keep her seat instead of heading down to pet the steeds.
But as she popped another piece of cheese into her mouth, the man announced, “Thank you for allowing me to grace your presence. I have come from very far on behalf of my Emir to offer these humble gifts as a token of your esteem.”
To which her father replied, “Come. Sit and enjoy the show….We just had a wonderful demonstration from the girl of a most entertaining dance. We must have another performance. Perhaps something with more life in it.”
Sasch wanted to stick her tongue out at her ‘father.’ ‘I know, so mature,’ she thought. With a sigh, she extricated herself from her seat as the man-bearing gifts ousted her from her seat. At least she had already eaten, but she took her cup and a few apple slices with her and made a face at both men behind their backs as she walked away.
But as she did, a thought struck her. She was just a character in this program. ‘Maybe my character would know about horses and how to work with them and dance with them.' She tossed back the rest of her drink and deposited it on a tray for that purpose. Sasch jogged over to one of the horses. She approached it slowly. The horse pawed at the ground and shook its mane. With hand extended and holding one of the apple slices in her fingers, she inched her way closer and closer. The horse lowered its nose to smell the apple slide. Sasch offered it to him. He took it and chomped on it. Sasch fed him three more slices before she tried to pet him. He did whinny, but as she ran her hand down his mane, he whinnied contentedly.
Sasch held onto his bridle and led him back out into the middle of the room. She faced her ‘father’ and holding the bridle out, she waited for him to nod that she may begin. Once he nodded, she looked over at the musicians and they started their music. She started by leading the horse in a circle around the middle of the room. After which she mounted and rode the horse around twice in a circle. Holding onto the saddle horn, she swung herself over one side of the horse so that her feet were just out of reach of the floor. Then she lowered herself so that she could run for several more steps before using the saddle horn and a jump to help her swing over the other side of the steed.
She continued the spectacle for almost five minutes before she dismounted and she and the horse walked forward together. Both bowed to her ‘father’ before standing back up to another rousing round of applause. She patted the horse’s neck and led it over to the side of the room before she grabbed another of the smoking drinks and began sipping on it. She found a quiet corner to hole herself up, drink the liquid in her cup, and consider how to assassinate her 'father'.
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Parallel Universes - "What if?" / Re: Theurgy: What If...? Below Decks Lounge
Last post by Dree -Azure eyes noticed the shift in emotions and thoughts that flashed across Zark’s face, as the lanky Andorian gently touched the Medico’s face. And the way that she drew her ponytail over her shoulder - there was something provocative in it.
And then the story of this movie and how it played into Zark’s own style of fighting. Reika tried to picture this manner of fighting - just as much of a dance as it was a fight. It certainly would be enjoyable and intriguing to get a chance to see the buxom Andorian fight using that technique.
“Would I like to stop by and see?” Reika’s laugh was light. “Of course, I’d love to get a chance to watch.” The Shen pulled her plaited hair over her shoulder. It fell to just above her bust and stood out starkly against her blue skin and her red top. Sh’laan stepped away from the bar that she had been reclining against and took a slight step closer to the Zhen as she continued, “but I want to see that movie first so I have something to compare your method to it. I’d love to see the woman who gave Ida a run for her money and dealt out as much as she took. So are you in tactical on Theurgy?”
“You learned fighting because of your Zhavey. Interestingly enough, so did I. But for me, I grew up an angry kid. A lot of the reason was because there was a lot of turmoil in our home growing up. My parents weren’t always on the same page when I was younger.” Reika half laughed half scoffed. “I was kicked out three schools for fighting by the time I was 14. But my Zhavey - an incredibly intuitive zhen - realized what was causing my frustration. So she got me into Xi’fo’ral - so I would learn to defend myself without hurting the person attacking me. But it also taught me self-discipline and how to calm myself down. But interestingly it was that training that got me ready to become a tactical officer.” Reika picked up her mug of ale once again and took another pull of the blue liquid.
Before Xenia could bring the Ale, the shen offered her mug to the Zhen. “Need to quench your thirst? I’m happy to help.” Her mouth split into a wide grin and her tongue added to the smile as it pressed against her top teeth.