Discussion: FTL

[Silvan Haven]

That and aliens like the Mantis and Rockmen like to get up close and personal.

[avmatoran]

Am I to assume this station is where we pick up our second characters?

[Alex Humva]

1)not a space station 2)probably don't want these to be your characters, unless you want a significant chance of them being space happy.

[Necro]

Why do the important things always happen when I'm in class or at work? All I can do is post on my phone Might be a little bit, I need to pull up the profiles of the other members of my group.

[avmatoran]

Oh, okay. So this is just an event to have fun in?

 

And I didn't mean station as in floating in space station, just as in an outpost or a base type station.

[Alex Humva]

Well, depends on your definition of fun. But yeah this is a more plot-centered episode and due to the fact that the ten lifesigns down on the planet have been there for a long while, it's not conducive to introducing PCs. Secondary characters will probably come up next time skip, though first people need to get their profiles in order. Still working on your concept, incidentally Av, I'll figure something up soonish.

[avmatoran]

Ah, okay. Thanks for the update, didn't want to bother you anymore about that.

[Burnmad]

Sun's going down, beasts are coming through, Pikmin better get in the Onion.

 

-

[Alex Humva]

Eons late but in my defense the profile's always been done, I just never got around to putting it here xD

 

Name: Palmira Ojeda

Gender: Female

Age: 54

Species: Human

Profession: Ship Colonel

Skills: Ojeda is adept at leadership and strategy, and her time running anti-piracy patrols on the frontier has given her plenty of experience in handling stressful situations. While functionally a commander, though, Ojeda is also skilled in gun-fighting, having honed her abilities over the years.

Items: She carries dual plasma revolvers, custom made from back home, as well as a thin katana-like sword, made of high-grade supermetal.

Appearance: Palmira stands at 5'10", with black hair cut short at mid-neck and hard, pronounced facial features. Various scars litter the outside of her brown eyes, a side effect of the goggles once issued in the Terran Space Force, and various plasma burns are scattered around her body. One of her fingers is missing, replaced with a cybernetic substitute. She looks her age, with sun-weathered skin and many visible scars.

Personality: Palmira has largely adopted the persona of the no-nonsense Colonel, taking a serious approach to many things. While not unheard of, it's unlikely anyone will find Palmira taking part in a crew poker game or generally socializing with the crew. She knows what she asks of them and largely leaves them be, though the exception comes in the form of her first officer.

Biography: Palmira grew up in the streets of Mexico City, in a well-off family that was never around much. Her parents worked constantly, leaving her and her siblings to their own devices. The trouble Palmira constantly found herself in was in stark contrast to her academic life, where she did well and was considered a prized student, who would one day go make something of her life. In the end, Palmira did, though not in the way her parents would have hoped. After getting into a particularly bad spot with a local gang, she left to join the Terran Space Force, lured by the promise of free education and a life away from the city.

 

In the Academy she excelled just as much as she ever had, though with substantially less trouble-making. Her happiest day was graduation, not because she had made it, but because she was about to die from boredom. Immediately requesting a post on the frontier, she found herself commissioned as a First Lieutenant to the 2nd Anti-Piracy Fleet. There she would serve the majority of her time, nearly five tours of duty, fighting the pirates and slavers on the frontier and eventually meeting her future first officer, though at the time the future Lieutenant Colonel was far younger and far more junior.

 

She would leave the frontier with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel herself, now serving under the command of General Talos, learning his strategies and accompanying him on diplomatic missions. Six years later she was appointed to the rank of Colonel, given her own ship to command, and would partake in the Engi Homeworld Tour. It was then when the Mantis struck, forcing her ship back to Earth to defend it. She helped coordinate the rescue of the crew of the battleship Tokyo, and would be involved in the repelling efforts on the frontier. After her acts of valor, the Terran Council saw fit to appoint her as commander of the UFS Kestrel, and to carry information vital to the survival of humanity. Having remet her old subordinate from the frontier, now a Lieutenant Colonel herself, it was a clear choice on the XO of the vessel. She spent the better part of two months gathering the crew from the edges of human space, confident that the rag-tag group would be able to ensure the mission's success.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Engineer Alexandra Humva

[Padishah Mehmet II]

Name: Roland Hamilton
Gender: Male

Age: 24
Species: Human
Profession: Dunna. Regularly shoot people/fix engines on request?
Skills: advanced computer skills, decent enough with a gun, and arguably one of the best engine mechanics on planet Cardea (no matter how little that might mean)
Items: Don't really get to retain a lot when you're left for dead on a spaceship.
Appearance: Relatively tall, somewhat slender and thin. A mop of dark, pathologically dirty hair. His skin, whether on his face, hands or feet, weathered by the harsh winds of planet Cardea. A rather short nose, almond-shaped green eyes, a five o'clock shadow all mark his physiognomy. He usually wears a black leather jacket over a blue t-shirt, as well as a silver chain that hangs around his neck.
Personality: Roland is a relatively cynical, snarkish kind of dude with a strong tendency towards very contradictory behaviour. He can stab a man and drink with him on the same day, so long as he sees a purpose in it; not a use per se, but just a purpose. To say that he is selfish or has no principles would be, however, nothing at all similar to the truth. He is, simply put, just pragmatic. Perhaps his philosophy is best described in Roland's own words: "There is no place for principles in the underworld. So it's best not to go there at all."

He has a high level of empathy for people who have it far worse than him, and will seek to do what he can to help them; again, assuming that does not involve death. Death is not cool.
Biography: Growing up in the Terran Confederacy colony of Cardea (pop. 2,798,136), a relatively impoverished agrarian world in the outer territories of the Confederacy as the son of a pair of relatively poor organic farmers, Roland from an early age found himself thoroughly fascinated by two main subjects that the world never had enough of - computers and engines. Upon finishing school, Roland found employment at the local spaceport as an apprentice mechanic; it was here that on one summer day four years ago, as Roland was listening to music and messing around with the engine of a small long obsolete starfighter, that the recruiters for a radical revolutionary group, the Break, found him.

The Break pitched to him a lovely vision of a Cardea liberated from Terran control. Of a Cardea that looked to care for its people first, of a Cardea in the hands of its people, of a Cardea that does not give food to a distant supposed homeworld without anything in recompense like a serf. They asked him to join them and even promised him a command. Naturally, Roland agreed.

For the next two years, Roland worked in secret with the Break, the group aiming, and succeeding, at building up a network of relatively solid support among the populace. Everything culminated in a full scale uprising on the planet, a group of insurrectionaries seizing the largest spaceport on Cardea, New Istanbul Spaceport, as the aftermath to a series of complicated accidents and miscommunications between Terran Confederacy officials and a month of hunger-caused riots in the streets of New Istanbul and other Cardean towns. This group of rebels was only partially composed of Breakers and was a motley, spur-of-the-moment crew of various revolutionaries, radical autonomists and independentists; nevertheless, the Break saw it as an opportunity to kick the rebellion into effect. As the Cardean garrison, over the next days, attempted to reclaim control of the spaceport by setting up a perimeter around it and sending nearly all their forces to deal with the threat, the Break went public, ransacking the garrison's military base.

Things escalated quickly. With vast amounts of rioters and a small group of Breakers now armed with their own weapons assaulting the perimeters of the military garrison, it was ordered to withdraw to their base and avoid confrontation, awaiting reinforcements and protecting the base from further violation; this, however, turned out to be a mistake, with the rebels, with no small contribution from Roland and other talented local mechanics, transforming even ordinary transport ships at the spaceport into machines of war, even if rather makeshift. The rebellion spread, and within weeks the Break and members of other revolutionary groups were able to gather in the first Cardean town completely devoid of Terran forces, Promised Hill, to sign a hastily drafted declaration of independence as the rebels' first handful of fighters engaged Confederacy forces in the skies.

Cardea's self-declared independence was not to last, however. Promised Hill, the place of its declaration, was retaken by Confederate reinforcements in a week after the signing; New Istanbul was forced into months-long fighting in the streets. Roland himself was in the skies, helping a small force of makeshift and stolen starships in evading the deadly bombardment of a Confederate dreadnought. On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the rebellion, the flagship of Roland's commander Alan Craig, The Red Knife, hidden on the dark side of one of Cardea's two moons, received their last message from Breaker headquarters: "Pull out of the system right now." And so Craig did, in the last hours of the planet's defiance, only to be pursued by a whole detachment of Confederate forces.

As far as the Terran Confederacy was concerned, Alan Craig's next steps were fatal for the rebellion. Although he made it to a neighbouring star system, he found that he had been pursued all the way there; so he ordered several small-sized starfigthers to detach and aim for one of the planets in the system, more specifically one of the moons. God alone knows how he intended to do it, but Craig planned to somehow distract the Terran navy's attention, then return to pick the pilots of the starfighters up for an FTL jump. One way or another, it did not work. Or rather, it did, in a way. The Confederates were indeed distracted - enough to aim their fire at the fighters rather than Craig's starship. For about ten minutes.

As far as the Terran Confederacy was concerned, there were no survivors of the following battle, not a one. Well, put simply, they were wrong.

The ship that Craig was using was a retrofitted and upgraded former medicine ship, and was equipped with its very own handful of stasis pods. When all heck broke loose, Roland and a handful of others made their way towards the pods with great haste.

It was traumatic, to say the least, for Roland to find out, five years in a pod later, that his was the last to remain on the drifting wreckage of the Red Knife.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Willy Brandt

[Xomeron]

I'm not interested in this RP anymore, so I'm going to drop out here. Probably won't be back in the group either.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Well, we lost one player and gained another it seems.

 

Balance yadda yadda stuffno-onecaresabout.

 

Curious, anyone making a new character?

[avmatoran]

I'm trying to make an Engi character for that contest-thingy Humva mentioned.

[Alex Humva]

So yeah considering we are now down to 20 crew (21 if we don't space the rebel), peeps can feel free to make secondary characters now. Remember, we're looking for fighter pilots so that's first preference. 

[Shadowhawk]

I don't really have the time to RP another character myself, but if it really becomes necessary in-game, don't forget that one of Wulf's three main specialties is something to the effect of 'driving small-ish combat spaceship around really fast and shooting things'. I forget exactly how I phrased it in his profile, but it's basically 'fighter pilot'.

[avmatoran]

What is the average Engi lifespan?

[Alex Humva]

About a hundred and twenty.

[avmatoran]

So when does their childhood end, and when do their "teen" years end?

[Alex Humva]

Probably eighteen or twenty.

[avmatoran]

Childhood, or teen years?

[Alex Humva]

They reach full maturity around twenty.

[avmatoran]

Name: 01001011 01110101 01100100 01101111 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100101 01100110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01110010 01100001 01101110 01110011 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00101110, often shortened to 01, or Owen.

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Species: Engi

Profession: Fighter Pilot

Skills: Repair, predictions based on current circumstances, reflexes

Items: A pair of computerized gloves wirelessly connected to his visor, allowing him to have a keyboard anywhere.
Appearance: Owen's skin-type covering thing is a dark, dark grey, and his faceplate is sometimes red, sometimes green, depending on the dominant personality type.

Personality: Due to his unique history, Owen has two different personalities, though they are both from the same mind. One, his “real” personality, is whiny, arrogant, selfish, impulsive, demanding, and immature. His implanted personality is wiser, selfless, and thoughtful.

Biography: The only child of an upper-class Engi family on his homeworld 01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101111 01101111 00111111, Owen had anything and everything he ever wanted as a child. This had the unfortunate effect of making him a spoiled brat. His parents realized their mistake and attempted to rectify it as he grew into adolescence, but to no avail. He remained a spoiled brat, and often threw temper tantrums when he didn't get his way. Eventually, his parents resorted to tough love, saying he had three options, join the military, move out, or grow up. He chose the military.

 

In the Engi Naval Academy, it was discovered he was an excellent pilot, due to his reflexes and prediction skills. However, he was terrible at taking orders, meaning he never moved up in the program. Eventually, he was “randomly” (his father had a hand in his selection) selected for a rather covert experiment, meant to implant the mind of an older, wiser Engi into the brain of a young Engi, allowing the young one to mature faster. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as the scientists desired. Whether the procedure was botched or was a bad idea remains unknown, but it didn't pan out. Instead of the mind of an older Engi being implanted, all Owen received were memories and a personality. Embarrassed by their failure, the scientists informed all involved in the project, including Owen's father, that Owen had died, before giving him a new identity (leaving out his negative aspects) and trying to get him shipped out as soon as possible, leading to his service aboard the Kestrel.
Weakness: Is a general troublemaker, and doesn't always obey orders.

[Alex Humva]

Mr. Kudos for going to the effort to translate This is alright, pending Tyler tackling me.

[Constructelf]

Who names a planet "This, too?"

 

Just sayin'

 

[avmatoran]

C'mon, seriously? You guys spoil it like this?

[Alex Humva]

You brought this on yourself son.

[avmatoran]

How? I only made a couple of stealthy jokes, you guys go and spoil it, calling him by his translated name, and calling his planet "This too". I don't mean for those to be the names that are used, use the binary. Chalk it up to mistranslation in-story.

 

Also, you (figuratively) sounded like Engineer from TF2 when you said that.

Edited July 15, 2014 by avmatoran

[Constructelf]

You brought this on yourself son.

Also, you (figuratively) sounded like Engineer from TF2 when you said that.

Ah... I can see it now.

 

EDIT: also, suppose a mantis came to your door (presumably during the invasion of Terra) and you managed to kill it somehow, but it broke your fridge and pantry in the process.

 

Would it be socially acceptable (or even biogically possible) to eat it?

Edited July 15, 2014 by Last Son Amakusa

[avmatoran]

Yes. I hear mantis tastes like shrimp and raw mushrooms when fried.

 

See what? Humva's Engie voice?

 

EDIT: Yeah, Engineer Alexandra Humva's Engineer voice. I made a funny!

Edited July 15, 2014 by avmatoran

[Alex Humva]

Mistranslation doesn't really work with binary, it's kinda something we've known for a very long time. As you said, it's a joke, I doubt we're "spoiling" anyone because I literally figured it out five seconds later when I typed binary translator into google.

[shadow pridak money gang]

I think it's cute.

 

-Tyler

[avmatoran]

No, I mean from the Engi dialect of binary into the human dialect of binary.

[Burnmad]

I imagine there would be some humans that asininely think it alright to eat intelligent life just because it would do the same to them, but I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon by most.

 

-

[Alex Humva]

Mantis freeze-dried meat kept the colonies going after the invasion. It's a bit of a social fopah but when the Mantis killed all your cattle you gotta make due with what you got. Great protein and a somewhat weird taste.

[Silvan Haven]

A bit?

[Burnmad]

Fopah?

 

-

[avmatoran]

I dunno, I think, if seasoned right, mantis meat has the potential to be quite tasty.

[Krayzikk]

Much delayed, but finally completed.

 

Name: Yoshirou Nakahara

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Species: Human

Profession: Engineer/Fighter Pilot

Skills: Yoshirou’s skills lie in two primary areas, with a fair bit of overlap between them. Firstly, he is a computer technician; He is versed in the maintenance, repair and upgrading of computer systems, both with regards to hardware and software. Secondly, he is a fighter pilot and as such is skilled in the operation of fighters. As a result of that training, he is also more skilled than many in the realm of personal combat, though he does not have much in the way of distinct training in that regard.

 

Additionally, he possesses excellent reflexes and mental faculties.

Items:

-Earpiece; serving as a communications device, this is also his remote connection to Delta Sapphire.

-Standard issue 9mm sidearm

-Tools of the trade; wireless keyboard, diagnostic tools, glasses.

-Basic first aid kit

-Artemis C Experimental Fighter; Not yet even produced in a limited run, the Artemis C is a next-gen fighter prototype produced by the prominent company, New Horizons. Though styled similarly to the mass production fightercraft used by the Confederacy, the Artemis C is an entirely different beast. Featuring the standard long, narrow nose and small stabilizing fins, the Artemis is gunmetal in color, with detailing in a metallic cerulean. The fighter’s designation is labeled in the same color, a stylized galaxy appearing on its vertical fin in a more muted version of the paint. The craft’s internal computers do not match specs of any other craft, and its software is locked down behind multiple levels of hardened security, accessible only with an authorized user profile. Subtle indicators in the craft’s silhouette point towards its unusual equipment.

-

-Ion Cannons x2: Ionic weapons that, while dealing physical damage, are primarily intended to disrupt and cripple electrical systems in ships and smaller vessels.

-Rapid-Fire Lasers x2: Standard fighter armament.

-Electronic Warfare Suite: A single launcher is mounted on the underbelly of the Artemis, a kinetic weapon intended to impact and penetrate into an enemy craft. This, however, is a matter of practicality, not offense; each projectile is a waypoint for Delta Sapphire to gain entry into the enemy vessel’s systems and begin affecting them.

-Delta Sapphire: An AI developed on Horizon specifically for this project. A true AI, with few shackles and restrictions. A risk, but one necessary for her to fulfill her purpose in operating the Artemis’ electronic warfare suite, as well as operate its other systems. Being a true AI, she is more of a companion than a piece of equipment, and tends to interact with others as she pleases. While not quite ill-tempered, she is… Sharp. She primarily inhabits the Artemis’ computer core, but she is able to remotely monitor and communicate through systems she accesses. Normally, Yoshirou’s earpiece.

Appearance: Standing at roughly average height, Yoshirou is a man of Asian descent with well-kept black hair. His build is deceptively athletic, though more lithe than muscled. His expression is normally quite pleasant, though occasionally a little absent when he is absorbed in his work. He tends to carry around, and don, a pair of orange-tinted glasses while working in order to filter out the blue light that renders his eyes fatigued after extended use of computers. His garb is an odd mix of both of his vocations, as he tends to have half or more of his flight suit on at any given moment, as well as a belt containing any tools of the trade he might require. A lightweight white, just-past-waist length jacket is often worn, technically a part of the Horizon militia standard uniform, unbuttoned; not out of style, just because he likes having access to the pockets. Notably, he tends to carry a small first aid kit on his person, often attached to his belt.

 

Notably, when injured, he is seen with bandages; due to a rare genetic condition, nanites and similar treatments do not cooperate well with his physiology. As a result, barring certain treatments, he has to heal the old-fashioned way.

Personality: Yoshirou is extremely friendly and amicable, though his antics can be a little eccentric, depending on who you ask. Occasionally voicing thoughts aloud, making comments that seem a little unusual, such things are not unusual where Yoshirou is concerned. No one is ever really too bothered by it, though; his tendency towards irrepressible cheer and forgiving personality more than make up, in the opinion of most, for his minor flaws. When he sets to a task, he tends to devote himself to it entirely, working every waking moment until it’s complete. Food is eaten while working. If at all.

 

Overall, he seems like a very, very good-natured person who wouldn’t be a good fit in a militia. Nevertheless, he also follows orders to the letter; and he doesn’t give up. Ever.

Biography: Horizon is a colony world established not too far from Sol system by a relatively large group of like-minded individuals, with one real purpose; create a world where innovation could be fostered. To that end, Horizon seceded from the Confederacy very shortly after its inception; not through a bloody battle, or a war, but by filing the requisite paperwork. Now self-governed, but still friendly with the Confederacy, Horizon grew. Over the decades, it became exactly what its founders wanted it to be. It was about as close to a perfect world as could be created, with laws designed just as the creators wanted. Individual liberties were safeguarded, while including clauses to allow research to continue largely unhindered. The result, even in the modern day, is a world that stands as a shining example of human achievement, while maintaining a vibrant and happy populace. More dangerous research has been moved to isolated facilities on Horizon’s moon, the entire colony world guarded by a Confederate outpost. Horizon’s breakthroughs often aided the Confederacy, and as such, they had, and have, a vested interest in keeping the world safe. Nevertheless, Horizon is not undefended; a significant portion of its populace act as members of their militia in addition to their normal professions. As such, while Horizon has relatively few regular military officials, they are able to summon a sizeable force for defense in a short amount of time.

This is the world on which Yoshirou was born. The exact circumstances of his birth, and earliest childhood, are unknown, but it is known that he was diagnosed with a rare condition restricting the medical treatments allowable for him. Undaunted, he lived a fairly normal childhood, the son of two top researchers on Horizon. While he went to school for computers, both software and hardware, he also enrolled in the militia, and was tapped to be the test pilot for New Horizon’s new project. Following the Mantis assault, several years later, he has been tasked with meeting up with the Kestrel to aid in the accomplishment of their mission.

[Alex Humva]

I give it my stamp of approval.

[Void Emissary]

So, um.

 

Kray told me this was a thing.

 

So here I am.

 

Hi.

 

Name: Gita Sawhney

Gender: Female

Age: 20

Species: Human

Profession: Fighter pilot / Computer technician

Skills: First rate starship piloting, decent starship mechanic, skilled computer programmer/hacker.

Items: (1) Pair of goggles

(1) Computer tablet

(1) Earpiece communicator

(1) Switchblade

Appearance: If there was ever a standard for what a soldier of the Federation should look like, Gita Sawhney would not be it. She’s a weed of a girl, short and slight, fitting into the cockpit of a starfighter with room to spare for a copilot or three. Her face was constructed for functionality rather than aesthetics, with all of her features being well-proportioned but forgettable in a crowd; for most part, she’s usually remembered as ‘that short Indian girl’ whenever she’s not in an area with a high density of Indian people, in which case she’s normally only known as ‘that short girl’. Her dark, sharp eyes and nimble fingers were, however, made for piloting starfighters, and her dark hair is cut short to accommodate her helmet more easily. Only her right leg makes her stand out, or rather, it’s absence; from mid-thigh downwards it is a robotic prosthetic, made from weather-worn metal.

Personality: A soldier fresh from the press, Gita is nervous and eager to impress. However, her lack of real confidence in her abilities hampers her, and to compensate for this perceived flaw, she’s compelled to rely on the orders of her superiors to accomplish a mission; even if those orders are not adequate for the situation at hand. Regardless, she’s very kind and friendly if one can get her out of her shell, but isn’t known to be a great conversationalist. It’s been said that she’s more comfortable with starships and computers than she is with people.

Biography: Born to parents who were too busy to be parents, Gita ended up being primarily raised by her older sister, who she looked up with almost heroic reverence. She kept to herself for much of her life, never one for parties or shindigs or anything like that; she was much more fond of building computer programs than friendships. However, coming home one day with her sister at the wheel, their car crashed, resulting in the amputation of her right leg.

 

Eventually, her older sister decided to enlist in the Federation and, not sure what to do without her parental substitute, she followed her. But while Gita showed an aptitude for piloting, her sister was far more suited to security work, and their paths split after graduation. Now, on her own for the first time, Gita’s just praying that she won’t mess up her chance to make it in the world.

 

-Void