Forums of the Megaverse®

Posted: **Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:32 pm**

Here is hoping that the prototype (in this 'verse anyhoo) Lighthawk will take wing this week.

Posted: **Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:47 pm**

An Evening of Food, Drink, and Discussing Contractual Obligations

And If You Think That's Unusual, Should've Seen What Was on T.V. When They Got Home...

February 5th [contd]: With Kyros returned to them, the group (and Isis) passed back through the portal to Ma'Ip, where they were given some time to rest, clothe themselves in less battle-worn clothes, and then to the obligatory celebratory feast. [Honestly, how better to celebrate the end of a millenia-long war than to eat until you pass out? ]

More than plates were exchanged at the table, however, with Alice arriving via her personal dimensional powers to deliver the final pieces of Osiris, much to the pantheon's gratitude, and Cloud took the infernal secretary aside with Thoth for a moment, though the others were left in the dark as to what they discussed. In addition, Sebek proposed an idea (steeped in his propensity for trickery) to deal with Imala's contract with Sahtalus, without forcing Ra to bind himself to a blood-signed contract with Sahtalus; specifically, giving Ra a vial of his (Sebek's) blood to use at the signing of the contract, thereby fulfilling Imala's contract to the letter. Ra's signature, in blood. Its' just not the CORRECT blood. :angel:

With her freedom restored, the group thanked the deities kindly for the meal and entertainment, and the clothes for those who had decided to try out something new (Kyros being one of those, opting for a sleeveless robe belted at the waist, splitting below the belt for freedom of movement. In Cloud's words, a 'gang-thrasher' look. ) [Basically: http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/vastolordeulquiorra/Warriors/GazilleIntrocopy-1.png but... without the feathery thing on the one shoulder, and all the rivets. ] and asked Isis if she would kindly open a portal back to Lazlo for them, to which the goddess gladly obliged, bidding her son, daughter-in-law and their friends a fond farewell.

Back in Lazlo, the group found they had reappeared with a stranger in their midst, a novice Ley Line Walker by the name of Tark who had arrived in Lazlo that very day, and (lacking funds of his own) had noticed an article painting the D.A.R.T. in a poor light, referring to them as 'overpaid mercenaries with a penchant for causing trouble'. Well, overpaid was fine by him.

[A strange one, huh. He's going to fit in fine. ] Taking him inside, the group (okay, well, mostly Anna ) were greeted by Albtraum, and after the initial discussion to decide if their visitor was a viable addition to their team, Cloud directed Tark to put in his registration with Alice, and promptly went upstairs to crash, with the remainder of the group following suit. [Persia performing her medical examination of the new recruit first, while Kyros and Imala did the 'parent' thing and pulled Anna and Albtraum (respectively) aside to discuss their intentions pertaining to one another. Embarrassment abounded, but the green light was given. ]

February 6th: Waking the next morning, the groggy group were surprised by Kyros making a ruckus in the living room, and after dragging themselves in to see what was the matter, saw he was pointing at the current broadcast, (a parade in honour of Xarl's official stepping-down from the position of General) demanding to know who the man seated between Xarl and Plato on the main float was, apparently recognizing the man from somewhere else. When informed that the man was none other than the new General, Lassiter (who the group was less than taken with, what with the rumour mongering rampant in the city of late) he seemed to forget what had alarmed him so.

Perturbed by her husband's sudden change in attitude, Imala used their mental link to dig up the memory, a surprisingly difficult thing for so recent a memory. Once done, however, she saw that Kyros had seen Lassiter as someone else entirely, and when he was told who he was, what he saw on the television had literally changed to the smiling face of the now-General Lassiter. Trusting her husband completely, Imala did not doubt what he had seen, and when she looked back at the television, she saw that she now could see the same thing, and hurriedly explained to the others; Lassiter was an illusion, a disguise, the product of some manner of viral magic that seemed to affect anyone who held even a shred of belief in Lassiter's false identity. And who was the man walking around in broad daylight cloaked in this elaborate, magical ruse? None other than Dominus himself. Perhaps the greatest threat to the established order of Lazlo, seated between Plato and Xarl, and already sworn in as General of the city's defence forces after having wormed his way into the city just over six months ago.

The group understood immediately where the rumours had stemmed from, and Cloud was seized by a fear for Xarl's safety, and she decided she had to pay a visit to the parade to request that certain citizens of Lazlo accompany the D.A.R.T. on their planned voyage to the stars, to safeguard them from the wolf amidst the flock. She asked the others to prepare themselves for departure, and for Kyros to ask the Earth elementals to prepare to move the Casa out of Lazlo, while she went for Xarl.

It was never said aloud, but the fact remains: Dominus had won. He had had six months to solidify his position within the city. The citizens BELIEVE in Nathan Lassiter, and it was by popular demand he was made the next General. Nothing those of the D.A.R.T. could possibly say or do would convince them otherwise, and as long as they held belief that Lassiter was who he claimed to be, they would not see Dominus for who he was. It hurts to swallow a defeat at the hands of a hated enemy, but the group has no illusions that Dominus will allow anyone sympathizing with the D.A.R.T. to remain in power, and before long he would likely find ways to imprison them, if not form covert teams to pick them off one at a time as 'threats to Lazlo's security'. Rule number one in Cloud's book is: We look after our own, and keep our pack safe. And the only way to do that now... is to run.

Posted: **Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:54 pm**

And the chat-log.

Spoiler:

Posted: **Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:46 pm**

Keep Your Seat Belts On And Your Tray Tables In The Locked And Upright Position

February 6th [contd]: With their most personal enemy revealed in their midst, the group got themselves organized to leave quickly, alerting their friends in the city to the danger as best they could. Caesar, the once-Cosmo-Knight, opted to stay behind to organize a resistance, of sorts, to try and show people the truth, while Mouse and Raphael decided to stay behind as well, their lives and business too rooted in Lazlo to be moved so quickly, but they promised to keep an eye on Dominus as best they could. Xarl, it was believed, was not safe in Lazlo any longer, and Cloud managed to convince him to come with the group on a 'short vacation [tendering the D.A.R.T.'s resignation from the Lazlo Security Forces at the same time, giving the form to Plato, technically dissolving the D.A.R.T. as an official organization then and there], while the new General re-organized the security forces' command structure.' Naturally, once they had the Wolfen back at the Casa, they revealed Lassiter's true identity, and Xarl agreed to stay at the Casa, along with Anna's sisters in the Adepta Sororitas and their mentor, Lady Megan Mbulu.

Knowing full well that the Casa, while their stronghold, was not safe in Lazlo, Cloud had also asked Kyros to communicate with the element of Earth, and once the group's friends were safely aboard, Kyros asked the elementals to see to the safe transportation of the castle and its' surrounding grounds, quite literally forming an island of raised earth (about 8 feet up from the land around it) and began heading off to the east, bound for the ocean and the lands across it. Its' final destination? The holy land of Kyros' family, where the group's friends were certain to be safe; Egypt, on the site of what was once Alexandria, far enough north to escape the notice of the false-Pharaoh, Rama-Set and his Empire of the Sun.

With their friends taken care of, the group had their own hides to consider, and they gathered at the ruins of the old Pearson International airport, where the Scarab was typically parked. This time, however, they were to enter the adjacent hangar, which had previously been locked up. Upon entering it, they beheld the results of six months of work on the supersonic transport the group had stolen from the Coalition/NGR; a space-worthy craft capable of sustaining their members for long-term space exploration. Climbing aboard, those with computer skills took their stations, and the Lighthawk-class vessel "Stellar 1" was soon airborne, and headed through the debris field around the planet's atmosphere, hailing Freedom Station to give them safe passage.

Once in space, and exiting orbit, the group set their course for an as-of-yet unexplored region of space: the Alpha Centauri system, Sol's nearest neighbour. But, of course, there were other matters to address; first and foremost, IF they encountered intelligent life out there, how would they acquire the funds to resupply? Calling a brainstorming session, the group batted a few ideas around, though each seemed too specific to apply to very many species (elementals to assist in farming, for example, depends largely on a race's diet and how sophisticated their technology is) so Cloud put forth her idea; "How'd you all like to be the first ever trans-stellar roadshow, rave and epic rock concert group?"

The group were dumbstruck, at first, and while some did not take to the idea, the majority's reaction was positive. The D.A.R.T. no longer exists as of their official resignation, but it looks like they'll be making new names for themselves before too long.

Posted: **Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:47 pm**

And the chat-log.

Spoiler:

Posted: **Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:51 pm**

Uh-oh. And not a Ludicrous Mage in the group...

Posted: **Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:57 pm**

Time to brush up on my fiddling skills...

Posted: **Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:01 pm**

Monkra wrote:Time to brush up on my fiddling skills...

Tomato-dodging too, or whatever the local equivalents of rotten vegetables are...

"Oh no, sir, on our world we register our distaste for bad art by throwing explosives!"
"So...you get Simon Cowell transmissions all the way out here?"

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:02 pm**

The First Discovery

February 6th [contd]: With their plans for the future beginning to take shape, the group grabbed some shut-eye, but woke when their ship's sensors began to alert them to the presence of an unnatural object at the edge of the solar system. Peculiarly, not only was the object not registering as naturally-occurring, but it appeared to be entirely stationary, with no orbit of any kind. Curious, the group voted to alter their course to take a closer look as they passed by towards Alpha Centauri. Realizing they would have plenty of time before they got there, they also divied out some tasks, with Kyros practicing his guitar skills while Mondo and several of the other crew members brushed up on their skills relating to operating the ship's systems, with Cloud's prepared computer programs helping out when the crew needed to brush up on their technical expertise. Cloud had also brought along an alien archive, of sorts, from her original 'verse, given to her by her old comrade Rika Hanlah of Phoenix Force Alpha. With no one present able to decipher the texts, Hope volunteered to serve as their official translator, taking to the task with enthusiasm given her role of diplomatic envoy of the Shemarrian people, as the chance to understand other cultures appealed to her greatly.

March 1st: Having occupied themselves over the course of the twenty-two day trip, the group were indeed anxious, and excited, to finally be approaching the curious object they had detected. Nearing it (relatively speaking), they beheld a peculiar construct of alien design, a nearly cylindrical shape with a lengthwise oblong bulge in the center, at the core of which was a crackling sphere of some manner of energy. The construct had no traces of life signs aboard, and did not attempt to establish contact, but when the group tentatively established a computer connection, they found they could query the systems, which quickly translated to English after a language file was sent across the link.

The group learned, through a combination of Mondo's trial-and-error querying and Jase's dimension-sense as a Shifter, that this 'node' was but one in a network spanning the entire Milky Way galaxy, and served as a hyper-advanced transporter that could facilitate near-instantaneous transit from one node to the next. (Jase felt that the energy core had the ability to 'compress' distances, and theorized that being carried by one of the core's arcs of energy could transport them vast distances in no time at all.) Unfortunately, it seemed that whoever had built the nodes had significantly more advanced technology, to the point that they could traverse star clusters in short periods of time, and had only placed a single node within each cluster of stars. With the team's destination of Alpha Centauri being considered within the same cluster of stars, there was no corresponding node in that system for them to use, and were forced to start out on their planned route towards the nearest system to continue their exploration, but made careful note of the node's location, as well as its' on-system map of the other node locations.

What will our group find when they finally arrive in Alpha Centauri, and what lies beyond any of the 'doors' the node has made available to our group? They certainly don't know yet, but that's what exploration is all about, right?

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:04 pm**

And the session log.

Spoiler:

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:00 pm**

Very cool. I like the concept of the intergalactic transporter. Please keep us posted on what they end up discovering.

Posted: **Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:19 pm**

Arrival In Alpha Centauri

March 2nd: Utilizing their hyper-drive once they had their route opened to them, the crew arrived in Alpha Centauri a mere 15 hours after departing from the jump-gate structure in their home system. Scanning the binary system from extreme orbit, they detected planets rotating both stars, but only one with promise in regards to supporting life; a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B at about the same distance Venus orbits Sol, the world receiving a level of warmth comparable to our (more-distant) Earth from the smaller and cooler star.

Activating the hyper-drive once more for a short, but controlled, burst, the crew emerged much closer to the planet, though with the ship groaning at them all agreed to be cautious about in-system hyper-drive usage in future. Preliminary scans of the world showed life signs, a breathable atmosphere, continents, water, and two distinct anomalies. One was a lump of various alloys and other unnatural elements that had no business all being in the same spot, and the other was... well, nothing. A hole in the scan's readout on the far side of the planet, registering as utterly nothing, except for an unhelpful outline on the radar.

The crew quickly decided that, since space was still a pretty new thing to most of the crew, landing on the planet and asking around was a better idea, since the scan had also detected a dense pocket of life-signs that did not match any known animal behaviour, hopefully a settlement of intelligent beings of some kind. Landing, the crew got their first look at the new world, coming to rest on an expansive plain, where small, bounding animals scurried from low-lying shrubbery in order to escape the metal 'monster' descending upon them from above. Following protocol, Cloud, as captain, had to stay behind, but most of the crew was more than anxious to get out to look around.

Amazingly, the settlement they had scanned from orbit turned out to be home to a collection of human beings, and the first 'anomaly' the remains of a very old ship, presumably the Golden Age vessel that was sent out towards Alpha Centauri before the Cataclysm. The people were, understandably, a little odd, having developed away from Earth for a while, but had retained a semblance of society, with a governing council of elders, medicine, and electricity. They were very friendly and inquisitive, asking about the group with curiosity. They also made (frequent) mention of a 'Pohiang', a man on the original crew of The Explorator who's ingenuity had prepared their home for future generations.

Intrigued, when asked if they wished to see Pohiang's tomb ('shrine' might be a better word), kept inside the remains of The Explorator, the group agreed wholeheartedly. It was only once inside, having watched the hologram left behind to speak to those who came after the original crew's passing that the lights turned on, revealing scribbled and disjointed writing all over the walls, which seemed to bother the elders not in the slightest. It was then the group realized; these people couldn't read. But... how was that possible, if they could maintain the study of medicine, the practice of engineering, preserving their technology? Taking a moment to read what they could of the near-insane writing, they made out the following;
-The name is wrong, the letters are wrong but I can't tell how, can't read, can't show the others, but would they act, their names are wrong, never using them, never asking of them, not even realizing it... if someone comes, rearrange the anagram, fix the name, don't tell the people until you're sure they can take it... ASK THEM THEIR NAMES!-

And even as they read it, the group realized they had never asked the names of those living on this world, or been asked theirs in return. Acting like they could not read the writing, the group casually inquired, and the elders responded: "Name? Oh, certainly, forgive us for being so rude as to not introduce ourselves." *Nods to the others, and he leads off.* "Gen Eleven John Alpha." *The other elders also respond, oldest to youngest.* "Gen Eleven Jane Gamma, Gen Eleven Jane Lambda, Gen Eleven John Omicron, Gen Eleven Jane Tau, Gen Eleven John Omega, Gen Twelve Jane Alpha, Gen Twelve John Alpha."

This... does not bode well. :shock:

And what's up with this 'anagram' stuff?

Posted: **Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:21 pm**

And the session log.

Spoiler:

Posted: **Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:21 pm**

Cytibor wrote:Arrival In Alpha Centauri

And even as they read it, the group realized they had never asked the names of those living on this world, or been asked theirs in return. Acting like they could not read the writing, the group casually inquired, and the elders responded: "Name? Oh, certainly, forgive us for being so rude as to not introduce ourselves." *Nods to the others, and he leads off.* "Gen Eleven John Alpha." *The other elders also respond, oldest to youngest.* "Gen Eleven Jane Gamma, Gen Eleven Jane Lambda, Gen Eleven John Omicron, Gen Eleven Jane Tau, Gen Eleven John Omega, Gen Twelve Jane Alpha, Gen Twelve John Alpha."

This... does not bode well. And what's up with this 'anagram' stuff?

I'd say right off that 'Gen Eleven' might refer to 'Generation 11'? And the greek number surnames...clone or testtube baby creche batches?

Posted: **Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:44 pm**

Hmmm. I wonder if they are like the invitros from "Space Above and Beyond."

Posted: **Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:40 pm**

"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation) :frust:

Posted: **Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:15 pm**

DhAkael wrote:"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation)

Gene-Splicer: "I have a sudden hankering to do something...SNAKE-based."

Posted: **Fri Sep 09, 2011 10:54 pm**

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation)

Gene-Splicer: "I have a sudden hankering to do something...SNAKE-based."

Don't even kid.
Old Doctor Skin N' bones has already gone about trying to make personifications of the 7-deadly sins.
Forge only knows what he has in his "failed" file drawers / storage cages :shock:

Posted: **Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:47 am**

DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation)

Gene-Splicer: "I have a sudden hankering to do something...SNAKE-based."

Don't even kid.
Old Doctor Skin N' bones has already gone about trying to make personifications of the 7-deadly sins.
Forge only knows what he has in his "failed" file drawers / storage cages

"Oh my gawd.....it's Anne Coulter! ARM THE NUKES! ARM THE NUKES!"

Posted: **Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:32 pm**

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation)

Gene-Splicer: "I have a sudden hankering to do something...SNAKE-based."

Don't even kid.
Old Doctor Skin N' bones has already gone about trying to make personifications of the 7-deadly sins.
Forge only knows what he has in his "failed" file drawers / storage cages

"Oh my gawd.....it's Anne Coulter! ARM THE NUKES! ARM THE NUKES!"

*shudder cringe wince*
I was thinking Killer-clown monkeys with Fluouric-Acid setlzer bottles, but yours is, by far, scarrier. :eek:

Posted: **Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:44 pm**

DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:"Gene-splicers....why'd it have to be gene-splicers?" (Harrison Ford impersonation)

Gene-Splicer: "I have a sudden hankering to do something...SNAKE-based."

Don't even kid.
Old Doctor Skin N' bones has already gone about trying to make personifications of the 7-deadly sins.
Forge only knows what he has in his "failed" file drawers / storage cages

"Oh my gawd.....it's Anne Coulter! ARM THE NUKES! ARM THE NUKES!"

*shudder cringe wince*
I was thinking Killer-clown monkeys with Fluouric-Acid setlzer bottles, but yours is, by far, scarrier.

Fantasy Horror Palins Before Reality. :twisted:

Posted: **Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:25 pm**

Well dear readers...wish the crew luck.
We're gonna need it.

Posted: **Thu Sep 15, 2011 5:36 pm**

DhAkael wrote:Well dear readers...wish the crew luck.
We're gonna need it.

Luck? Seems to me you need more high explosives!

Posted: **Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:08 pm**

zedjagder wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:Well dear readers...wish the crew luck.
We're gonna need it.

Luck? Seems to me you need more high explosives!

Heavy artillery and percision guided bombs might help too!

Hell, a fast enough starship is its own kinetic bomb(er).

Posted: **Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:19 pm**

Gaphion (Again), Sloth, and Gluttony

March 3rd: With the reality of the situation still ringing in their ears, the group decided falling back to their ship to discuss what to do next was a wise move, with Tahlor going ahead while the others tried to extricate themselves politely. While Jase, Kyros and Imala headed back to the ship after having smiled and nodded at the elders for a while, Mondo was keeping an eye on the locals, and noticed all but two of the elders gathering up groups of people before heading away from the settlement, towards the mountains that they had previously mentioned to be... well, rather unpleasant, to say the least.

Reporting back, the group quickly agreed on several points; First and foremost, that the anagram mentioned in the deranged scribbles was without a doubt the name of the people's much-lauded hero figure, 'Pohiang', as (once re-arranged) it read as an all-too-familiar name: Gaphion (everyone's favourite Gene-Splicer). Second, that the exodus of people, who had gone without supplies and to a destination they obviously didn't expect to return from, was likely a part of the mad Splicer's plans, whatever they happened to be. Third, after a quick aerial scouting trip from Persia and Tahlor in the Colol Tyl, that the forest did, in fact, move, and was being used as a sort of 'arena', where creations from the far continent were being let in at the same time as the people from the settlement arrived. Most peculiarly, however, was that after the creations had killed the people, their life signs began dropping off of the Colol Tyl's scope on their own, with no other life signs being detected, save the trees. Kyros speculated that it was possible one of Gaphion's 'Seven Masterpieces' was the guardian (puppeteer?) of the forest, with the gang agreeing it would have to be one that wouldn't mind being in one place, so as to separate the dangerous creations on the far continent from the 'stock' human colony. Following this train of thought, they decided the most likely candidate to be Sloth, since the Sin he/she/it was named after was best known for its' remarkable laziness.

Arranging a detail (which once again, to Cloud's disappointment, did not include her) to head after the departing citizens and into the forested mountain range to see what there was to see and determine the nature of the forest's denizens. Just as Persia and Tahlor had reported before, the trees closed behind them, and with only a single path to follow, they had no choice but to move forward, deeper inside the sinister foliage. Arriving at the heart of the woods, they found an enormous tree, with an almost-human face to boot. Looking about the clearing for signs of any threats, they were surprised when Imala called out for the guardian of the forest to respond, and were surprised more so when the tree rumbled an answer. They learned that the tree, or whatever spoke through it, was indeed Sloth, and had a distinctly alien viewpoint, caring nothing for the lives lost under the boughs of the forest, seeing them only as life returning to the soil to feed the trees, all a part of the cycle of life.

The group did, however, learn several things from the Slothful one; that the seventh of Gaphion's Sin-themed creations, Gluttony, was finished, and had been loosed onto the planet; that Gaphion had a 'kill-switch' ready and armed, specifically an airborne pathogen that had a 100% lethality rate on any creation of the Gene Splicer's, including Kyros and Albtraum; and, fortunately, that Sloth didn't have the energy to kill them just then, since he was rather lazy and had decided to nap until Gluttony turned up to try to tear down the forest, as Sloth believed it would. The group hustled out of the forest before the lazy creature got his second wind, and agreed that they needed to head up to Gaphion's station in orbit, the 'blank spot' on the radar. Kyros, however, was displeased that he had to stay behind, as the kill-switch posed too great a threat.

And so our heroes head for Gaphion's private lab of horrors, suspended over his personal genetic experimentation farm, while the seventh and, if Sloth is to be believed, most dangerous of the Sins runs amok on the world below, on the far continent. This should be interesting, to say the least.

Posted: **Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:14 am**

Another nice chapter. Please keep it coming!

Posted: **Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:25 pm**

Okay...here's a twist, but a logical one.
The gene-splicer wished to create the ultimate expression of gluttony.
Impossible to do so in a single discrete organizim.
So...
The Great Devourer is come (albeit in an infant stage at this point)! :eek:

...

Anyone know where I can hire on a couple of chapters of Astartes or a decent Magos Biologis?

Posted: **Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:52 pm**

I do not know where you can get those chapters. I suppose if you look around with a telescope you might see their chapter world. I have used gene splicers before. And actually had the players almost in tears for what I did as a GM.

You'll have to ask in order for me to tell you what I did to get the players to almost cry.

Posted: **Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:01 am**

Alrighty folks, s'been two weeks, and while it hasn't been the best having things coming up to keep me from running I must admit I enjoyed the break a bit. So, with batteries fairly recharged, and feelin' pretty good, I'd say it's about time to get back in the saddle. Here's hoping things work for everyone tonight.

To get things rolling back into place; the summary from our last game, to get you folks, and myself :angel:

, to remember where we were at, and back into the mood.

Knock, Knock, Knockin' On a Gene-Splicer's Door... And Having Something Else Answer It

March 3rd [cont'd]: Having gotten themselves space-side previously, the group did their best to prepare for what was coming. To Imala's irritation, Kyros and their two children had to be placed in quarantine in case Gaphion's virus bombs were used, but she agreed that isolating them was better than potentially losing all three in one swoop. The others armed and armoured themselves as best they could, and made ready.

Upon reaching the station, they discovered some oddities; first one of the 'wings' of the laboratory-like sprawl that made up the station was leaking atmosphere from a recent breach, and the automatic systems only managed to close it off as they arrived. Second, the hangar bay doors were open, and they could see Gaphion's golden-hulled ship already cradled within. No matter how bad their luck had been up to now, or past this point, one thing gave them satisfaction; the Doc was in, and they were going to be able to pay him a visit.

With the help of Stormglider and Hope, immune to the problems inherent to space that the rest of the crew had, the ship docked safely. Unfortunately the halls of the station were not built with giant robot eagles in mind, and Stormglider remained behind to watch the ship while the others pressed on. As they made their way towards the hub of the station, Persia began noticing something watching them from around a corner, but whenever they got near enough to it, it ran away. Eventually concluding it was more scared of them than they were of it, they pressed on.

Reaching the hub, they saw they had seven possible paths, six marked with a number, and the seventh bearing no mark at all, while the tunnel they emerged from bore the universal symbol for the hangar, a ship. Deciding to take the unmarked tunnel, they soon came up against a security door that proved problematic, for it was rigged up to read genetic codes and it would not allow them through, nor did it have any access port for it to be hacked. Beginning to consider using force, the group were interrupted by their silent watcher from before; a small child, who, after the group's initial surprise, actually turned out to be quite cheerful and helpful, showing them an air duct they could use to bypass the door. Wishing the little one to be kept safe, Jase escorted him back to the Stellar, leaving him in Stormglider's care before returning to the others as they made their way further into what, they hoped, was the administration wing of the station.

Spoiler:

The shore party, meanwhile, had pressed into Gaphion's inner sanctum, and found some rooms containing unsettling things, including operating tables, a cage full of Gaphion's unsettling little gremlin-scout things, and a room stained with blood from no discernible source. Moving to the end of the hall, they found a door that stood slightly ajar, the soft glow of computer screens filtering through. Charging in, they saw walls of screens, and seated at the keyboard/control center was... Gaphion himself. Attacking as a knee-jerk reaction, Hope unfortunately missed her leap and smashed one of the many screens, but the added illumination of the sparks that resulted showed them something they had not seen before; Gaphion was dead, a hole literally driven through his head in the place where his left eye used to be, and his body thoroughly taken apart by something with large teeth. Their surprise was rather profound, you can imagine, when the body began to move, and speak in an unearthly tone that tripped over words like it was unused to speaking with them.

The speaking cadaver, though incredibly unsettling, did prove to be useful, telling them that the pathogen bombs were armed and set to launch, thus enabling Persia and Hope to disable them, and that some of Gaphion's creations were angry with him (for obvious reasons) and it had entered the Gene-Splicer's dead body in the hopes of freeing them, apparently not knowing how exactly it came into being given that it had no physical form. Persia decided research was the order of the day, and, with Gaphion's ship gone and the bombs disarmed, they had some time to do so. She quickly determined that every wing of the station outfitted for holding creations, all 6 of the unexplored wings, had contained the same thing: organisms for the Magnum Opus Project to create Gluttony. Gaphion had not created a monster. He had created a species. She also learned that all escape pods had been jettisoned, with those organisms aboard. Not one remained on the station, which meant the only place they could be was the planet below. The corpse, not quite silent yet, shuddered itself into motion once more, and as a precaution, Hope shredded it by laser-fire. A nimbus of palpable energy spilled forth, and delivered a message; "Run. We will warn you only once, for you have assisted us. You will not be spared a second time. Run."
To further punctuate this message, it then filled their minds with visions, showing them hordes of man-sized, leaping creatures running between giant, lumbering behemoths, and even those dwarfed by creatures of such size it boggled the mind. [http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/134/c/c/The_Great_Devourer_by_MajesticChicken.jpg]

The hordes of Gluttony [a.k.a. The 'Tyranids'] are loose upon the planet below, Gaphion's ship escaped bearing their new young friend, the virus bombs have already been disabled, and even if they weren't there are innocent people down below... this is so many kinds of bad.

Posted: **Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:03 am**

They are very scary enemies. I wouldn't want them on my planet.

Posted: **Sat Oct 08, 2011 12:24 am**

The Great Devourer is NOT something one messes with. :eek:

Posted: **Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:00 pm**

DhAkael wrote:The Great Devourer is NOT something one messes with.

I'll just have R&D look into ways to give the wee beastie a nice big tummy ache, shall I?

Posted: **Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:13 pm**

taalismn wrote:"Warriors shoot from inside and behind cars. Laborers THROW cars. Either way, it's going to hurt. Take my advice; don't pick on people who either shoot at you or throw cars at you. Just my personal preference."

I don't thing anyone going to disagree with you.

Posted: **Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:39 am**

Alright folks, with the rash of scheduling issues lately, we've decided to pack it in until after the holidays. We will therefor try to get ourselves organized and back on track for early-mid January. Sorry for the wait for you who are following, but we'll do our best to make our return an eventful one.

- Cy

Posted: **Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:15 am**

Thank you for telling us about the scheduling changes. We can be patient.

Posted: **Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:21 pm**

*Peeks out onto the forum, dusts off his stage, cleans up the forgotten litter, and fetches a podium.*
-ahem-
Hello!

It's been a while since I've been here. Hopefully those of you who made a habit of reading this thread are still keeping an eye on it, and looking forward to our picking up in January. Speaking of, I intend to make as certain as possible that our return heralds a long-term spell of excellent roleplaying and fun for all, and as such I have been contemplating some adjustments to the rules, both standard and house. So, I was hoping to get the community's thoughts, and shall post my initial proposal for the rule adjustments here for you to comment upon. Constructive thoughts only, if you please, but that's what I've seen on this thread so far, so I'm not worried.

Proposed Rule Adjustments

Characters: Thinking of using the original Rifts system for rolling attributes. Any attribute which rolls 3D6 (without any other modifier) that falls in the area of 16-18 may roll again, but that is the only additional die that is rolled. My reasoning is simple in this case, I have simply seen a few too many characters with extraordinary P.P. stats (and yes, that's the worst offender of any attribute bonus.) +8 to strike, parry, AND dodge? That's better than having HtH Commando at 15th level proficiency, at level one! A highest possible bonus of +5 from a P.P. of 24 is MORE than enough (especially when you consider there are two Physical skills which can raise that amount to 26, conferring a +6 bonus). I certainly appreciate that humanity is an adaptive species, but out-statting augmented soldiers and other supernatural beings, who are intended to be superior to mere mortals, has to stop.
In complete honesty, I am considering changing the above to simply capping P.P. at 20 (24 for augmented characters such as 'Borgs, Juicers and Crazies), but I'm not sure if it would be fair to so radically alter things, and impose limitations. I would appreciate thoughts on this idea in particular before I finalize the rule corrections.

Cy's Thoughts/Motivation for the Adjustment: I just find it somewhat appalling that a 15th level Cyber-Knight with HtH Martial Arts (a common choice for our good Knights) has +4 to strike, +6 to parry and +5 to dodge (includes Zen Combat bonuses) while a first level Rogue Scholar with HtH Basic can out-do them if they're lucky rolling their P.P. attribute. I get that some people are quicker than others, but being able to handily out-do a veteran warrior with nothing but good reflexes seems to take the idea too far.
I should also clarify my thoughts on the potential P.P. cap, should it go through: It is not intended as an arbitrary restriction. For a while now I've been noticing a lack of augmented human O.C.C.s being used. I have not seen a Juicer, Crazy or 'Borg in play for a long while, and I think it is largely because many players see that they can equal, or exceed, these supposedly augmented soldiers as long as they roll high on their P.P. in order to attain superior bonuses (and while I may be pessimistic in saying so, I have seen many more characters who achieve P.P. attributes of more than 20 than those with less than 16.) The cap's intent is to restore, in part, the augmented warrior's feeling of actually being augmented. 'Borgs, for example, have a maximum leg P.P. (dodges) of 24, and a maximum hand P.P. (strikes and parries) of 26, but they need to pay out large sums to attain this. Crazies and Juicers are meant to be fast, difficult-to-beat warriors, but more often than not they are overlooked because the benefits do not outweigh the cost of their unique playstyles (dead in 4-5 years, or permanently unstable/insane.)
A P.P. of 20 gives a +3 bonus to strike, parry, and dodge. Perfectly respectable, you get similar bonuses from a HtH skill. An augmented character's maximum P.P. of 24 would give them a +5, better conveying that they ARE in fact faster, and harder to beat, but still only a 2 point difference. Significant, but hardly insurmountable. Supernatural beings would have no cap, and be subject only to their respective race's attribute rolls. I should note also that any race which mandates the character roll higher than 3D6 for their P.P., such as elves (4D6) would be given the augmented character's cap of 24, as they are similarly meant to be faster. Now, if a character is dead-set on exceeding the cap, we all know there are two physical skills that can be taken which provide bonuses to other combat rolls as well as a permanent increase to P.P., so it can be exceeded in this manner if so wished.
Again, I realize all of this is something of a drastic revision, but that is why I am running it past the community first. Yes, I may be pessimistic in my assumption that most characters end up with a P.P. of more than 20, but, well, I AM something of a pessimist, and I have also seen a lot of characters who DO have P.P. attributes of mid-20's and up.

Extracurricular Skills: Up to this point, if any player wished to learn a new skill, and was willing to invest in-game time, I'd let them do so. Gradually I realized that this could lead to some exceedingly qualified characters. That being said, simply gaining new expertise through leveling is a long and often excruciating process, particularly in a game such as Rifts where new things pop up fairly often. With this in mind, I will be introducing Extracurricular Skills to my game's house rulebook.
The idea is simple: each character will have a set number of available skill slots (4 being the present number I have in mind) that can be filled at any time (provided they have a tutor/other means of learning their desired skill) but at the cost of experience, and I intend to make it a not inconsequential amount, as this should be a carefully considered decision.
Each skill will cost 1,000 experience, roughly equivalent to three weeks' average experience gain. Each skill will be learned in two weeks, in-game, still requiring the RP and effort to acquire their new knowledge. This time can be halved by expending DOUBLE the experience cost, and of course one cannot spend experience if they do not have it (i.e.; if the character has recently levelled, and the expenditure would bring them below their current level's required experience, they can't un-level themselves to take the skill.)

Cy's Thoughts/Motivation for Adjustment: Pretty much as stated above, I like that characters have an ability to adapt to circumstances as they arise without needing to gain tens of thousands of experience points first, but I also know letting them learn an unlimited number of new skills negates the point of leveling in the first place.

Katas: From this point forth, a kata can only be selected by a man-at-arms/warrior class (as I think it probably already was), and only as an extra-curricular skill. Each kata will cost 4,000 experience, and require the character be no less than level eight, and able to spend a solid eight hours a day for an entire month training with their selected weapon. The ability to halve the time for double the experience still applies, but the training warrior must practice for sixteen hours a day, basically to the exclusion of all else.
The experience cost and level requirement are both steep, but a kata is a significant accomplishment, and the ability to merge HtH bonuses with W.P. bonuses is equally significant, making any dedicated warrior who bears the expense something of an elite.

Cy's Thoughts/Motivation for Adjustment: This originally was a sub-set of my qualms with P.P., as warrior classes often get inherent PP bonuses, which, when coupled with a kata (W.P. and HtH bonuses) gave them truly impressive bonuses. I didn't like the idea of just taking them out, however, as hard work toward mastering a weapon SHOULD result in something palpable.
A Weapon Proficiency in Rifles, for example, confers +7 to strike (further increased by current house rules, giving +3 to aimed shots and +1 to burst firing.)
W.P. Sword confers +6 to strike and +5 to parry. With HtH Martial Arts and Kata: Sword, this can be raised to +8 to strike and +9 to parry, equal to the rifle's strike bonus for burst firing, with the added advantage of having a method of defending while on the attack, without needing to expend actions to dodge. (Not taking into account that the warrior could very well be wielding two swords via Paired Weapons, as that isn't relevant to the bonus discussion.)

Taking Cover: Something I never found concrete rules for is taking cover. Obviously the core idea of hiding behind something to escape damage makes sense, but how to express this in the (common) occurrence of troops firing from behind obstacles, with most of their bodies obscured? Called shots jump to mind, but imposing penalties and such feels cumbersome to me, so I thought perhaps to simply alter the minimum score needed to strike your target.
Our current rules state that any roll to strike that comes up (unmodified) 5 or less automatically misses (and watch out for those natural 1's!) but my proposed alteration is to increase the chance to miss to (unmodified) 8 or less against targets in cover you are attacking at range (as obviously close combat negates cover rather well.)

Cy's Thoughts/Motivation for Adjustment: Not a major change, just seeking to offer actual incentive for utilizing cover and bringing a slightly more tactical feel to our battles. A room where the enemy has a clear advantage, such as raised cover, should give the players more pause than an empty room where each side has no cover whatsoever, just as having cover in their possession should give enemies reason to hesitate, or at least to think things over. It also presents the possible tactic of using specific equipment against cover, such as grenades, flamethrowers, or simply destroying the cover altogether, all things I see rarely, if ever.

End-word: As I'm sure you can tell, most of my adjustments are to the numbers, and I realize some may disagree with whittling down bonuses, but I hold the actual RP of our games as the most enjoyable part, and I simply wish to make sure combat is as smooth as possible so we can keep things moving along at a fair pace. Too often games get hung up in endless bouts of math, calculations and hesitant decisions as to how to proceed in combat. With slightly reduced bonuses, the numbers are less cumbersome, and I hope with cover actually being made useful beyond simple hiding, it will offer a sound default action when in doubt, hopefully letting players feel more secure as they work out how best to combat their enemy.

And that's pretty much it, for now.

I look forward to your constructive thoughts and feedback.

Posted: **Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:31 pm**

Thank you for the update. We peanut gallery observers eagerly await what impact these changes will have on the flow of events, the exclamations of joy or the lamentations of those who are about to die. We shall pop up fresh popcorn and refresh our cold drinks in anticipation of the grumbling post-game reviews and updates to follow.

Posted: **Tue Dec 06, 2011 10:53 pm**

well . . i tend to agree about the stat rolls being mostly hedged. i know i've been guilty of that a few times to 'make a char on par of everyone else. now? . . if i really am worried, i'll do a 1d8+8 for the roll . . and only do the additional 1d6 IF i get a 8+8 for hte stat.
but that's me. i've been guilty and now choose a different way to make it interesting.

the 'extracirrectular skills'
the timing for some will need to be lengthened out. i would think more along the line of 6 months minimum to learn. and the cost is a tad off. maybe that much every month at least . . but once again . . thats me. these are special for your game.

in regards to the Kata's
these are known ONLY to those that come from N&S. i don't think that they are actually readily available to every 'man at arms' occ there is.
they might take a kata IF they have a specifically named style thats from that book.
sadly, thats how i see it and know that Kata's are 'uber rare and special' and wouldn't be out there for anyone to learn from some . . shall we say . . . a Rifts version of a street corner break dancer . . . .

taking cover.
i'm sure there are rules someplace about that. i'm sure they were in teh RUE someplace. but yeah, shooting from behind cover to protect oneself is an excellent idea

but those are my comments about these. some good . . some bad. . . but all mine. best of luck then

Posted: **Mon Dec 12, 2011 2:20 pm**

Fair enough on all points.
Don't see too much reason to complain about the proposed tweaks...
I'll have a more coherent answer later on when I can get back into swing of things. JUST got my computer back from the body & fender shop... again.
This time the virus attacked my hardware, BIG-time.

Posted: **Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:39 pm**

Thanks to all who commented, I will have the final word out by the end of the week.

In more exciting news, just 10 days (counting today) until our regularly scheduled gaming gets back under way! That's right folks, January 5th is the night, Gaphion's sinister space station is the place, and 8PM (sharp

) is the time! How will our group proceed, with the infant Hive Mind revealed, the Tyranids revealed as the true identity of 'Gluttony', and a settlement of humans on the planet below for these ravening monsters to feed upon? Only time will tell, so be there to see it for yourself! (Yes, that means lurkers are allowed, and even encouraged.

)

Posted: **Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:42 pm**

Cytibor wrote: (Yes, that means lurkers are allowed, and even encouraged. )

I'll see if my cloaking field is repaired by then. :bandit:

Posted: **Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:08 pm**

Happy New Year, one and all, welcome to 2012.

To usher in this new year we have... well, the confirmation on those rule adjustments. :angel:

A big thank you to all who lent their opinions to the thread, it is much appreciated. So, without further delay:
1] The (Infamous) P.P. Attribute Change: I was pleased to find that most of those in my group who weighed in on this one supported the idea of cutting out the additional d6 (making 4d6 the highest possible roll) and held the mindset of "Role-play over Roll-play." I was pleasantly surprised when they seemed just as open to the idea of the P.P. cap, particularly once I explained the difference between a P.P. of 20 and 24 is about 2 points on the actual bonus chart.
So it is with no small amount of satisfaction that my game will be bidding farewell to inflated P.P. bonuses, and we shall see how the new P.P. cap at 20 sits with everyone in practice.

2] Extracurricular Skills: These met with a warm reception overall, and will be implemented as well (1000 experience, 2 weeks for most skills, can double the experience cost to halve the time.) The number of these 'bonus' skills will remain at four (4), however in certain situations a skill's cost (both toward the limit and in terms of experience) may be waived. For example, one of our players has created a new character (which shall be introduced in the near future

) who hails from a distant part of the galaxy. With no contact from the races of Rifts Earth, there is no plausible way to explain why this character could know English, or even Dragonese, the two tongues our group is most familiar with. So, in the interest of overcoming this language barrier as quickly and painlessly as possible, these lessons in English will not count toward their Extracurricular total, as it was a necessary skill they simply could not justifiably have had at char-gen.

3] Katas: I should explain that the katas used in our game essentially function solely as a skill that allows a warrior to combine their HtH bonuses with their W.P. bonuses, something that, yes, the core Rift rules allows already, but I find our game's balance is much smoother this way.
On that note, Katas will be counted as Extracurricular Skills, with the aforementioned costs involved (4000 experience, no less than level 8, eight hour training sessions each day for a month.) My hope is that this leads to more definite roles in the group, with our warriors/soldiers spending time investing in their chosen specializations. (* See below for additional thoughts.)

4] Taking Cover: As I've said before, I'm sure there are rules for this somewhere, but as I have yet to stumble upon them or have them pointed out to me, the suggestion I made before stand, and were well-received. So, from here on out, taking cover raises the chance that a ranged attack will automatically miss from a 5 or lower to an 8 or lower. Not a ground-shattering increase, and I may tweak this later after seeing how it works in actual in-game combat.

*I have additionally considered tweaking the Kata rules to include guns, though nothing immediately springs to mind (since HtH bonuses are of little use to a ranged weapon.) I just like the idea of our warrior-types being able to specialize in particular weapons, disciplines and such. It makes it easier for the gang to know who fits what position, and which niches remain open. Our current rules already cover how aimed shooting confers a bonus over burst firing (+3 to aimed shots, +1 to burst) but this is automatic as long as one possesses the relevant W.P. for their fire-arm. If there are any suggestions for this, I would be very pleased to hear them.

So that about wraps it up, hopefully these changes to the rules will fill their intended purposes in-game and all will go well, but I will keep the thread updates with any further tweaks or additions. Happy New Year, everybody.

Posted: **Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:09 am**

Ahhh... it's good to be back in the saddle. A satisfying start-up to the game indeed. Will have the details up in the next few days.
In other words:

"We're back!"

-ahem-

Posted: **Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:20 pm**

Good of the Many, Pain of the Few

March 3rd (cont'd): With the unveiling of the Tyranids' identity and location, Hope decided it was time for the shore party to withdraw. Cloud, listening over the radio, had no comment on the matter, instead staring out the window at the ominous station, pensive. Upon her team's return, she asked several of them how familiar they were with mathematics (to which most replied they had a basic understanding, but advanced uses eluded them) before retreating to the eco-lounge, asking she be notified when Persia had completed the download of the Gene-Splicer's files for later analysis.

Hope, who had been with her partner, Stormglider, in the vehicle hangar up to this point, appeared on the bridge and quietly set to work on the computers, telling the others to pay her no mind, while Jase went in search of his wife, to tell her that Persia had completed her task. He found her where she said she would be, but not in her usual garb; in place of her 'urban-aggressor' style, she wore her formal kimono, and was inked with wolf silhouettes, seated seiza before a paper lantern; praying. Waiting for her to finish, Jase was surprised when she asked him if he thought she was a monster. Caught off-guard, he assured her he did not, and though she appreciated his words, confided that she believed she was. Confused, and concerned by his wife's tears, Jase was further perplexed as she kissed him, and then, voice hoarse, spoke two words into her communicator: 'Do it.'

Hope, at the ready on the bridge, executed the order immediately, processing a command to Gaphion's station to increase the power to its gravitic stabilizers, and begin an immediate descent. The crew could only watch as the station entered the atmosphere, gaining speed rapidly, before smashing into the planet below, its bulk making it a veritable asteroid, though one that was built to be more than durable enough to withstand re-entry. With their Commander's improvised missile hammering into the planet below, the crew watched as the tremors shook the planet, triggering seismic events even as the blast destroyed everything for miles around the impact site. The colonists were assuredly wiped out, along with most life on the continent below them, and the clouds of dust and ash would ensure the rest of the world followed suit. Gluttony was halted, but at the terrible price of destroying not just a large community of humans, but an entire world's ecosystem.

Their journey home was a quiet one, Cloud unconscious after having fainted, Jase silently watching over her, and the others spending much of their FTL travel time alone in their quarters and thoughts. Persia and Tahlor, however, spent much of the time modifying the ship's systems to house an A.I., though this was not revealed to the others just yet, nor the program's purpose explained. Re-emerging in their home system, they agreed to risk activating the hyper-drive once more to reach Earth that much faster, and for once, luck was on their side. Finding the same hole in the debris field that they had used to leave (indeed, the Orbital Community seemed to have decided to leave it open permanently), the crew re-entered Earth's atmosphere, though they encountered extreme turbulence as they accidentally skimmed the edge of their tunnel. After taking emergency measures to prevent a crash, they corrected their course, and soon landed beside their Casa, which (after being carried by Elementals across the ocean itself) had come to rest on the Nile delta in Egypt, far from Lazlo, far from Dominus.

March 6th: Having taken a few days simply to relax, the crew received a note from Cloud to convene at 1200 hours sharp, and did so, though not all were present. Cloud revealed that, while their relaxation was pleasant, they had things to see to. The alien construct they had discovered, which they were relatively certain was a transporter of some manner, had gone unused (as far as they knew) in all of human history, but they had no idea what lay beyond it. Therefor, they would take it upon themselves to find out what was there, and establish contact with any races that might be found there.

There were some sobering announcements as well, however. Kyros and Imala (and of course their little one) would be remaining behind, as they felt it was time to begin shouldering their responsibilities to their divine relations, and had a great deal of work to do here in Egypt. Tahlor and Persia would be staying as well, to provide their support to the young couple's endeavors. Finally, Cloud revealed that she herself would be staying behind, prompting shock from the remaining crew, which consisted of only Hope, Mondo, and Anna. (And even young Miss Krios mentioned that she may not be accompanying the exploratory mission, for with Kyros and Imala staying behind, odds were Albtraum would stay as well, and she wished to remain with him.) Cloud assured them, however, that they would not be leaderless, and named Hope then and there to assume command, ignoring the flustered gynoid's surprise and protests. Anna, Mondo and Persia reassured the new Commander Brightlance, making sure she knew they had faith in her, and she decided to do her best to be worthy of the position, third antennae or not. (As most 'leader' class Shemarrians sport three. :angel:

)

And so the group has been reduced to (in all probability) a trio; the new Commander Brightlance, Sir Armondo Calvinus, and of course, Stormglider. They are slated to leave in several days' time, giving Anna some time to decide her course of action, but it seems likely the Stellar will be operated by a two-humanoid crew, with their mechanical flier and (still unknown

)A.I. to support them. Hoo... talk about your crash-courses. Time to see if their experience is enough to get them through alien lands. Stay tuned.

Posted: **Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:24 pm**

Oh, and a teaser of sorts that I put up for the gang post-session:

(GM_Cy): *Meanwhile, impossibly far away, lines are drawn upon a wall that is barely visible amidst the darkness that permeates the room. Twin points of red survey their handiwork with an almost gleeful light in their depths. The drawing is a large one, circular, though none but its' artist would be able to tell what it was for the scribbles and erratic scrawlings across it. The eyes dance in the dark, pleased with their rendition of a planet's devastation, a dim flash of white amidst the shadows the only hint of a semi-deranged smile. Plans were forming behind those eyes, behind that smile, and all because of one simple fact, delivered in a half-remembered nightmare to the mind of the darkened room's resident. And that fact, hissed between grinning teeth, consists of six words.*
"They are coming. Time to go."

Oh this is going to be such fun. :demon:

Posted: **Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:29 pm**

-snff-

it's such a bitter-sweet event when the new generation of GM takes up the olde-ways.

Looking forwards to the new story arc. :ok:

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:29 pm**

An Accidental Meeting

March 10th: The morning of the crew's departure is an early one for most, with a great deal to do. Despite their best attempts at working quietly, Hope and Mondo are roused by their friends' activity anyway, the new Commander Brightlance being quickly assailed by those requiring her attention once awake. Legion, the group's resident cyclopean robot, requested he be allowed to accompany the space-bound voyage, seeming to know something of their destination. Persia, meanwhile, requested the Commander's presence in the Stellar's medical bay. Giving her consent as to Legion's joining them, Hope made her way from her quarters in the Casa to the resting place of their vessel, outside. Mondo, in the process of moving his belongings to the ship, bid the Shemarrian good morning, before being hijacked by Cloud, who had something to show the Cyber-Knight.

Excusing herself from Cloud's unveiling Mondo's present, Hope made her way to the med-bay, where Persia had an unveiling of her own. She revealed that she and Tahlor had set up an A.I. to run the medical equipment and fulfill other, basic, tasks normally attended to by the ship's doctor, though she cautioned the programmed entity would be unable to treat serious injuries requiring surgery. Upon summoning the avatar of their new A.I., Hope saw Persia had also made it in her image, an exact duplicate, so as to be more comforting to the crew. Hope was curious to know if the artificial Persia was sentient, but Persia assured her that, while she was able to think within certain parameters, she was merely a program to fill in for her while she remained in Egypt, a temporary replacement. Hope thanked her for her work, before moving to the bridge.

Meanwhile, Cloud had revealed Mondo's gift; a suit of power armour, of the Templar Scout variety she wore herself. It had been Imala's suit, but had been refurbished for its' new, male, occupant, and included some design modifications to reflect that. A detachable fore-arm particle blaster, for one, and while its' TW enhancements were incomplete, it sported several features that would come in handy. Mondo was very enthusiastic, and though he had little experience with utilizing power armour, was eager to begin practicing. Deciding she had done her part for the moment, Cloud headed outside, and was met by Imala. She had come to offer her Wolf-Sister some comfort, knowing how she was wrestling with various issues, not the least of which was the memory of her actions in Alpha Centauri. With all aboard, Hope called all hands to the bridge, and she, Mondo, and Legion soon had the Stellar in the air. Though their departure was a bumpy one, they soon settled into their course for what Legion referred to as a "Mass Relay." Rather than risk activating their FTL for a second time this week, they opted instead to take the long route, giving Mondo time to practice with his new suit, while Hope and Legion tended to bridge duties and their own tasks.

April 1st: Arriving at the Mass Relay after their twenty-two days of travel, the three aboard the Stellar considered their options as to their destination, consulting Legion for his experience. He informed them of an enormous space station known as the "Citadel", which formed the heart of what was considered the more law-abiding portion of space, though the Geth also mentioned the governing forces of this segment of space were also distrusting of synthetic life. Deciding it was a suitable place to start, Hope asked that he set their course for this Citadel. Unfortunately, Legion was not experienced with space-scale navigation, and upon their emergence, they beheld no vast station matching his description.

While Legion deciphered where precisely they had emerged, the ship's sensors picked up and identified a distress signal very near to their present location. Deciding to respond, cautiously, the Stellar was piloted toward the source of the signal, but was prepared for combat if necessary. Upon reaching the source, they beheld a shuttle-craft of some manner, though its' design was not one they were familiar with, appearing to have been designed for aesthetics more than practicality. Establishing contact with the vessel, a confused conversation followed, with neither side understanding the other in the slightest. Fortunately, Hope had a translation program at the ready, and as it absorbed context and words, it gave her the basic gist of what they meant. She learned (while translating for Mondo and Legion) that the ship was experiencing engine trouble, and while it was nothing serious, it was delaying them somewhat. The trouble was, they had a passenger aboard, who had some manner of appointment to keep, and was utterly unwilling to be late for it. (In fact, it was implied that she had set off the distress signal herself, as the Captain that Hope was speaking with seemed slightly surprised at her mention of it, though he adapted well.)

Agreeing to meet face to face, Mondo and Hope met with a small group from the other ship, comprising of the Captain and two of his officers. They were of alien species, of course, the Captain a reptilian-esque species, and his officers almost amphibian, though all were humanoid. Upon seeing Hope and Mondo were alien to them as well, the Captain mentioned that there were conventions that were typically followed when a new species was encountered, but due to their predicament, they could not escort them to the Citadel as they should. A female voice from within the shuttle, obviously displeased and impatient, demanded the Captain get a move on, and, with a sigh, he asked the group if they would listen to a request. The group said they would, but would prefer to meet the one who the request came from and have her ask them. The Captain flinched a little at this, but obliged, returning at the shoulder of an elven woman, who's posture and manner suggested her to be of some importance, if only in her mind. She and Hope quickly reached an agreement; if they would take her aboard and ensure she reached her appointment post-haste, she would direct them to the Citadel. The elf introduced herself as Gliriel T'Loak, but, oddly, when Hope inquired if she truly was elven, the blonde woman seemed genuinely confused, stating "Mother simply said I am a T'Loak."
Captain: http://masseffected.pbworks.com/f/12030 ... ian_02.jpg
Officers: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/ ... lfears.jpg
Gliriel T'Loak: http://www.pulsarmedia.eu/data/media/90 ... 348205.jpg [Minus instrument.]

Departing from the stranded shuttle, Gliriel was shown around the Stellar, and moved into one of their (many) empty crew quarters. Getting comfortable, she asked some polite questions of Mondo as he moved her in, before entering the co-ordinates for her appointment into her personal terminal, identifying the station she was bound for only as "Exodus Alpha 01." Fortunately, it is but a short trip to the co-ordinates by their reckoning, and the crew settles in for the short trip, thoughtful as to their passenger's origins.

Several hours later, the Stellar 1 approached 'Exodus Alpha 01'. Now well within visual range, they saw it was a station of considerable size, and armoured to match, including turreted weaponry. As they hailed the station to request permission to land, a voice speaking in the same language as Gliriel replied. "This is the prison station Exodus Alpha 01, your request to dock is granted, proceed to dock 7."

Time will tell if their navigational error was fortuitous or unfortunate, for they likely would not have met Gliriel T'Loak otherwise. And just who is their new passenger, and what could she want at a prison station? Hmm.

Posted: **Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:26 pm**

An almost-jailbreak. A prison where you can purchase its' inmates' sentences. A cell embellished with drawings etched in blood, both its' occupants' and the guards'. An inmate who's single possession, aside from a well-maintained suit and mildly unsettling top hat, is a small silver icon of a hooded skeleton holding a scythe. And a T'Loak who is treated with reverence by all she comes in contact with, without any indication she knows them personally.

More on that... with the summary I'll post in the next few days.

Posted: **Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:29 pm**

The Madman, The Debutante, And The Prison Facility

April 1st [cont'd]: Upon docking with Exodus Alpha 01, the gang immediately noticed something was wrong. The docking bay was bathed in the pulsating red light of an alert, with the blaring sounds of an alarm as accompaniment. Deciding to venture out, cautiously, Hope, Mondo and Gliriel disembarked to ascertain exactly what it was that had the station in lock-down. They did not have to wait long. A voice (gasping and wheezing as though through a respirator device) hailed them over the public address system, and asked for their help in apprehending an escaped criminal, who was bound for their present location. With the gravity abruptly shut off, and the lights dimming the docking bay into a twilight-like state, the speaker was quick to sweeten the deal, promising payment for Orion's unharmed re-capture before the group could even answer. He was interrupted, however, by the criminal, 'Orion', arriving on the scene.

Refusing to give up quietly when requested to do so by Hope, a short zero-g scuffle ensued, though it proved difficult for Hope and Mondo, as they had the additional complication of needing to take the inmate alive. Breaking free of their hold, Orion attempted to make for the ships docked nearby, but was halted in mid-leap by Gliriel, utilizing an odd form of telekinesis that caused her body to be swathed in an odd, dark purple-hued aura. With Orion captured, however, their odd welcome to the station was over. As a detail of guards took him back to his cell, one (a four-eyed fellow with six nostrils) answered a few questions from Hope, revealing that the inmate was so important because he was to be sold to an important party. With Hope's people so vehemently opposed to slavery, this agitated the good commander greatly, and she was quick to go where she might find answers.

The Warden (a short, rotund fellow in an environment suit, and the voice behind the wheezing) met with them in the reception area/waiting room ahead, but, oddly, nearly ignored Hope and Mondo entirely, focusing completely upon Gliriel. He behaved nearly as though she were royalty, and the pair quickly left Hope and Mondo behind to conduct the 'business' she had come to the station for. Hope, no less agitated over the potential slaving issue, allowed Mondo to redirect her more urgent impulses into questions, and they made use of the amphibian-like humanoid behind the desk for answers. They quickly learned that 'slaving' was not precisely the correct word for what went on here. It was against Council laws to enslave sentient life, but they had developed an industry around willing, contract-based servitude. The difference? The indentured servant still have rights, and their employer had to respect the rules of the engagement. The problem was, that Exodus Alpha 01 was in the Traverse, a region of space outside of Citadel jurisdiction, and the rules had gotten a little... distorted. One could literally purchase an inmate's sentence, and, until their time was served, the criminal's new 'owner' had total power over them through (basically) blackmail. If the criminal did not do as he (or she) was told, it would be a simple matter to report them as having run away. Resulting in their immediate re-capture, often in an even less forgiving prison, and sometimes just executed outright.

No less fond of the system here, Hope and Mondo decided to talk about something else, and the topic was chosen by the receptionist. Orion. With their interest piqued, Hope and Mondo agreed to a tour, and were led through the facility, to the asylum segment. They noticed immediately that this portion of the station was entirely empty, without guards or inmates, and their guide explained that the area was mostly used for solitary confinement purposes. Arriving at Orion's cell, their guide opened it (since Orion had been moved to a new one in preparation for his potential buyer's arrival) and the pair beheld a cell riddled with the hallmarks of a disturbed mind. The walls, floor, and even ceiling were marked with blood of various colours, drawn into bizarre shapes. A recurring shape was that of a vague hourglass, disturbingly similar to a female's outline. But it was what was amidst these bizarre outlines and senseless scribbles that seized their attention most; a circular drawing riddled with cracks, crude representations of fire and screaming faces etched into its' design. Hope made sure to take pictures, so as to be able to study these drawings and scribbles later. Their guide, meanwhile, explained Orion's history, or what they knew of it.
[Excerpted conversation from game.

]

Spoiler:

(Guide): "He was brought to our facility at the age of sixteen, four years ago. He was... well, nobody. He was the only example of a race we had never seen before. He had murdered some Volus on the Citadel, and supposedly had killed a few others earlier on. We locked him up, and figured that would be that, he had a life sentence. Until, at the end of the month, and every month after that, he took it upon himself to escape. He would slip out, we never knew how, and hack the station's systems." *He swallows.* "He would leave us in the dark for hours, sometimes releasing other inmates... He seemed to think of them as 'tests' to see if we deserved to keep the inmates in their cells while we walked the halls. It was... an unsettling time. He would literally vanish from his cell, while guards watched him. We could never explain it... In any case, the Warden got tired of his antics eventually, and threw him in the asylum indefinitely. Up until then... none of us would have predicted..." *He gestures around the cell.* "This."
(Brightlance): "I like him already... disturbing choice of art though. Sounds almost like a Ghost-rider or Wolfs-Path, among my people." *looks at some more of the images, carefully going over each one for later up-laod to the Stellar 1*
(Guide): "He would behave... oddly, sometimes, during the few recess periods we allow our inmates, but nothing that would hint at this level of mental instability. Once he had been locked up, we forgot about him for a time, aside from his daily meals. One day, he started screaming, ranting at things we could not see. He seemed to possess unnatural powers, perhaps he could. We were legally obligated to send someone in to check on him, from time to time, and... well, that is how he found the medium for... his 'art', as you call it."
(Mondo): "hmmm...what evidence was there, that he killed these beings?" *attempting to make out the title on the floor*
(Guide): *He looks to Mondo, seemingly glad to have something else to think about.* "The report said he attacked the Volus with a wrench. Supposedly shattered his skull with one swing, though I think that's exaggerated. The previous killings had been swept aside before, given his age at the time. Eight, I believe. He was passed around by various well-meaning Asari families after that, before finally disappearing to live in the Wards on the Citadel."
(Brightlance): "So he killed his "observers" then? Hmm; not so likeable, unless they provoked him in some way."
(Guide): "They attempted to restrain him during his bouts of screaming." *He shakes his head.* "Perhaps that qualified."
(Brightlance): "In the grip of madness; what may seem kindness can seem to be torment." *goes quiet at the end*
(Mondo): "...he did not seem unstable on the platform...almost, calm...calculating..." *trying to make the title on the floor clearer*
(Guide): *Their guide simply shudders.* "Yes. After the screaming was done, that... that was what remained. Are... are there any other questions?"
(Brightlance): "None from me at this point...Mondo?"
(23:31:16) (Mondo): "no...thank you." *looking up from the floor*

With their curiosity spent for the moment, Hope and Mondo returned to the waiting area with their guide, and waited for Gliriel's return, looking through some of Orion's things that had been confiscated from him years before, in case they could find a clue as to his sudden onset of madness. They found only a silver representation of a hooded skeleton wielding a scythe set upon a chain so as to be worn as a necklace or pendant of some kind. Gliriel finally returned, seeming content that her business had been concluded. When asked as to what her business had entailed, she smiled, and beckoned her new 'property' into the room: Orion himself. He wore a black suit, with a red shirt painting the area below his neck a bloody colour, matching his eyes. His new ensemble also included a top hat. A top hat with what appeared to be upside-down V's etched in a disjointed scrawl, with a crooked, rambling line zig-zagging through their center. When looked at for more than a moment, the disjointed lines created an optical illusion, making it seem almost as though the hat bore an infinite loop of 'HAHAHAHAHAHA' in red letters. :eek:

And so it seems that the Stellar's crew has grown once again, this time adding the obviously unstable Mr. Orion to their ranks, with Gliriel T'Loak becoming ever more mysterious to the original crew. And perhaps more odious as well, for whatever it is that compels others to nearly worship her may just begin to interfere with the ship's chain of command... Oh dear.

Posted: **Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:02 am**

..BUT FIRST... a polite drink and small talk

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