You have been summoned by Admiral Franklin from whatever fun activities you have been enjoying on Absalom Station at The Fleets office at the station. You know something important is about to step off but you are not sure what because this request is somewhat abnormal. The Fleet has been fairly quiet lately and there has not been much call for such secrecy whatsoever.
Maybe there is an extraterrestial invasion imminent or something else.
DOT!
Standing in rank at a pretty relaxed attention is a somewhat aged looking Nuar. He stands around 7'3" not including the pretty sizable rack, he towers over many of the other humanoids present. He wears an obvious engineer's jump suit, if only obvious due to innumerable tools hanging from belts and bandoliers webbing across this large creature's body.
Kit stands at the end of the line leaning against the wall, weight on one leg, and other foot tapping excitedly. She's a fiery little ysoki with frazzled black fur that sticks out wildly with static. She has beady little red eyes and slightly yellowed teeth. Her ears are big for her race, and each is pierced with a variety of earrings, nails, rings and other tiny knick-knacks. Her attire is a colourful mismesh of different clothing styles all layered on top of each other.
She wears simple armour with the Fleet insignia on it's back, a gauntlet on her right hand, and fiddles with a battery in her left.
"Wonder what they got us here for, eh?" she wonders aloud in a rapid-fire squeaky voice. "Gotta be sumthin' big, eh? Gotta be!"
She sniffs at the air, then glances at the massive fellow standing beside her.
"Heya, pal. My name's Kit, an' I'm the perfect tool for the job!" She smiles winningly, revealing her sharp little yellowed teeth.
"You're a funny looking fellow, eh? Never seen one a' your kind before! Where ya' from? Been with the Fleet long? Guess they pick us up everywhere, eh?"
The nuar looks down at the source of the high pitched voice, stares for a little bit, then snorts and looks back center. After shifting his gaze back center he begins moving his tools to his side opposing the ysoki.
Kit watches with interest as the big hulking fellow moves all his tools to the side opposite her. When he's done she steps out of line, walks around to his other side and stands riiiiiight next to him, mere centimetres from his tools. Then she looks up at him and smiles widely.
A deep rhythmic sound begins emenating from the aged nuar as he looks down at the smiling ysoki. It quickly grows louder and turns into a deep, guttural, somewhat-nasally, booming laugh as the hulking creature throws back his head continuing to laugh for several moments. The unique laughter simmers down and what remains is what looks like a smile, made odd by the structure of this hulking bovine humanoid.
"Whoah! I felt that one in my whiskers!" Kit exclaims with an amazed smile. "That's a powerful instrument ya' got there, eh?"
She tosses the battery in her hand up and catches it. "You got a name, or should I keep calling ya' 'big guy'?"
The nuar pulls out an odd looking datapad that has a cable running from it to somewhere among the various straps wrapping him. He begins deftly tapping and sliding with his large fingers for a few seconds. Afterward he turns the screen to face Kit and it reads;
I am Lieutenant Bronen. My
people live on Absalom Station.
I have been in the fleet for 50
years. You are amusing little one.
"Heya, pal. My name's Kit, an' I'm the perfect tool for the job!" She smiles winningly, revealing her sharp little yellowed teeth.
The Shobhad soldier sits against the wall, cleaning his laser cannon. Even seated he is taller than most of the humanoids standing here; you estimate if he stood up he would likely be about 12 feet tall. His grey-green skin seems to match his battered suit of armor, and his monstrous tusks make you wonder how he is able to get anything in his mouth. Somehow he is able to grin around these massive teeth.
"Heh. Kit, like tool kit. I get it."
The Shbhad nods.
"I'm Lance-Corporal Vyûn. 291st SeRP Recon."
"Are you fron Akiton also? There are many of your kind living there. I am from the hills south of Ka. I haven't been back though since I joined up."
The shobhad looks around at the Ysoki and the Nuar.
"Either of you know what the mission is?" Then he stops, and notices that despite the Nuar's technical gear he bears rank insignia indicating that he is a Lieutenant.
"Uh, I mean Sir."
"Good ta' meet ya' Bronen! Man, oh, man, fifty years, eh? That's twice as long as I've been kicking! It's a long time, eh? You don't get bored? Twitchin' whishkers, I'd be bored outta my fur! Course if you're an important guy, I guess you get the good missions, eh?"
"Whoah! You're a big fellow too, eh?" Kit exclaims to Vagoru. She bursts out laughing when he asks about her name. "You like that, eh? So do I! And it's TRUE!"
"Lance, whatty? Man you've all got fancy titles and ranks, eh? I'm not a military girl myself. Well, course, I am NOW, being a part of the Fleet for like... a week and all, but before that, I mean, eh?"
Kit draws in a quick little breath before continuing in her squeaky voice.
"I was a merc before that. A freelancer, eh? You get my drift?" She smiles excitedly and nods. "Did a few missions here and there for the Fleet over the years, but nothin' big, eh? Smalltime stuff. They save the big missions for their own, don't they? But the pay's been good from these fellers, and well--I MAY have had been involved in a debacle with me ship, a space worm in heat, thirteen vesk teenagers, a rubber ball and two lashunta princesses that ended in disaster! Long story short, can't be a freelancer without your own tub, eh? And man, she was not getting repaired after that mess!" She elbows Bronen and chuckles a bit adding, "I'm a bit of a whiz with a sprocket myself, but I tell ya', some things are unfixable!" She shrugs. "They promised me exciting work if I signed up, eh? So here I am. First mission as a member of the Fleet."
A well built dwarf comes in, his armour has a carvings of flames on it with a great axe over one shoulder. On the chest plate of his armor is a symbol of Angradd, an axe being forged thrust into a fire. He raises an eyebrow and looks for the source of the amused rumbling he heard not long ago, his eyes flicking between the Nuard and Shobhad.
His insignia identifies him as a chaplain. "Snorri Forgefather, I expect we wont be long waiting to find it out."
Kit lets out a high-pitched snort. "Snorri?" She asks with amusement.
"Seriously?! SNORRI?" she bursts out laughing. "Slept a lot as a kid, eh? Snoring shook the ship?" The little ysoki bursts out laughing again, apparently thinking that's hilarious. She laughs for an absurd amount of time, then doubles over and keeps laughing. Eventually she's rolling around on the ground in gales of high-pitched, squeaking laughter.
Eventually she stops and wipes a tear from her eye. She pops back up onto her feet in a flash and says, "Ahhh, good times. Nice to meet ya', Snorri."
This time, she suppresses her laughter, though smiles widely as she says his name.
The large dwarf gives the ysoki a sidelong look. "A traditional name in my family and a strange reaction from someone who's named after a bundle of inanimate objects. I will forgive your blatant ignorance." He gives Kit a grin that shows off too many teeth but there is a not unfriendly twinkle of amusement that he can't keep from his eyes.
"No one tell a mildly amusing joke in the field around this one, or they'll be rolling around the floor when the grenade hits the floor not to be seen again." Snorri "Sorry to hear about your lusty space worms."
Ain't that the truth, eh?" Kit replies with a chuckle as Snorri pokes fun at her.
At mention of the space worms she replies with wide eyes, "Ain't an experience I'd wish on my worst enemy."
After a single moment of sober silence, Kit pipes up, "So all your funny titles and stuff mean what now? Which of you're in charge? Not that I'll listen to ya' or anything, but I'd like to know who to make rude gestures at when they're not looking." She smiles widely, clearly not entirely joking.
"Father," the Shobhad nods to the dwarf as he introduces himself. He knows that chaplains do more than just pray in this army.
"So all your funny titles and stuff mean what now? Which of you're in charge?..."
"Him," the Shobhad nods, indicating the brooding Nuar. "He's a Lieutenant. That's a kind of officer. Didn't you have officers in your mercenary outfit? You call him sir. You don't, he can have you thrown in the stockade."
The Shobhad goes back to polishing his laser cannon.
"Obviously you ain't even been through basic. So this hasn't been beat into yer head yet. But when he says move, I suggest you move, and quick. If you need ta ask questions, ask 'em later."
Vagoru looks around at the strange orange furball that just walked in.
"Ambrose, right. I'm Vyûn. Lance-Corporal."
"Sir?" Kit asks. She looks between Vyun and Bronen and smiles widely. "Naw, I'm cool with Bronen. Sir's not really my thing."
Kit then proceeds to fiddle with her battery instead of listening to Vyun.
When Ambrose walks in she perks up and replies with a chipper, "Nice ta' meet ya', Ambrose! I'm Kit! And you look awesome! What the heck are ya'? Ah, it don't matter, cool is cool and you are cool! I've always wanted extra arms. I mean, think about what I can do with just two, eh? But, man, four? Six! I could-- I could-- do stuff at the same time as other stuff! Maybe I'll get me some cybernetics, eh? A pretty bunch' credit that would cost, eh?"
"You been here long?" she asks Ambrose. "You ain't stuffy like this guy, are ya'? she blatantly gestures at Vyun as she asks this.
Snorri gave Ambrose a considerate look, if he had six arms he could wield his great axe, a heavy weapon and light a cigar all at the same time. Still he'd rather be a dwarf but he could see how such a thing would be useful.
Snorri clears his throat "Seeing as we aren't being briefed yet and the room isn't filling up entirely with personal of one type perhaps it would be a good idea for people to highlight their skill sets and preferred combat style. Personally I've done a few add on courses to give me a decent base of knowledge and to assist specialists including survival, medical and engineering. I'n a combat situation I prefer getting up close but I'll take them on at ranged if that what the situation calls for, I've got a light reaction cannon for such moments."
A captain wearing the distinctive dress uniform of the Fleet walks into the office where you had been conversing and says, "Attenhut!"
After all of you stand at attention, she continues, "We have an urgent mission for you. You have been assembled to perform said task because the SeRPs are the best interstellar interdiction recon unit in the fleet and that your unique skills seem to be available and it is inherently urgent that said mission be completed with utmost discretion."
She pauses, "I am Commodore Janine Ward and Admiral Franklin has authorized me to give you the official orders from the Admiralty."
She opens her palm and presses the holo device and there stands the infamous Admiral Franklin in a greenish hue and he says, "Orders from the Admiral :: Battle Fleet One
Scout ship Sigma is thirty days overdue in reporting on the colonization station over planet Kask. The station should be up and running, ready to process colonists. We have had no report from the station, nor from the crew of the Sigma, who were to initiate its functions. As the Fleet SeRPs, you are to take your team and determine the status of the station and of the Sigma. Send report drones back to Fleet with full details. Proceed with extreme caution."
"I've a nose for trouble," Kit replies with a wide grin, revealing her yellowed teeth. "And I love to get into it, eh? She fiddles with the battery in her hand, tossing it up and catching it as she speaks. "I've a knack for making tech do what I want it to--not what it's meant to do, if you get my drift, eh? A castin' type. Best at short range, but I can pack a wallop in a fist fight, if I need to, eh?" she holds her pulse gauntleted hand up for emphasis. "I speak plenty a languages--and those I can't speak I can usually figure out."
She looks at the others curiously. Interested in their skills.
Kit rolls her beady little red eyes, still chafing at all the rules and orders the Fleet imposes. She stands at attention--sort of. Her posture's not perfect, and she's clearly not trying her best at proper form, but she's paying attention and listening.
Sparks and sprockets! How can folk live like this? All this formality is torture. Can't wait to get to the good stuff. Things never took this long when I worked freelance. Boyoboy I need to get me a new ship.
At the end of the mission orders, Kit gives a sloppy salute and replies enthusiastically, "Yes, sir!"
The commodore sees how kit is lackluster in her courtesy and her eye rolling and says, "Is there a problem? When you are addressed by a superior officer you stand at attention and provide the proper courtesies. Is that clear!?!"
Kit is clearly not intimidated or shamed in the least. Apparently she expects to get scolded and yelled at.
"Clearer than clear," Kit replies, not improving her posture at all. She does finally put the battery away though, shoving it into her mouth, then smiling widely.
"Ma'am." she adds.
"Seeing as we aren't being briefed yet and the room isn't filling up entirely with personal of one type perhaps it would be a good idea for people to highlight their skill sets and preferred combat style...."
"Right. I'm, well, infantry really." the Shobhad explains.
"Back home I learned to fight in our traditional ways which are mostly hand-to-hand combat. My homeworld is cold and dry, and they say that long ago my people used to try and win favors from the sun to make the world warm. They never managed that, but some learned to bring a small piece of the sun to help them in battle. Like this."
The Shobhad opens his hand and a tiny golden mote of light emerges. It drifts up in the air and floats near his head.
"But when I joined the fleet they didn't care about my 'primitive techniques.' They said battle was won with technology. So I trained with the other soldiers in armor and weapons. Because of my size, I was issued this," he pats the laser cannon. "But I never forgot-"
A captain wearing the distinctive dress uniform of the Fleet walks into the office where you had been conversing and says, "Attenhut!"
The Shobhad jumps to his feet in an instant, much faster than you might have thought possible for someone so large. He holds the cannon at post and looks straight ahead as the captain speaks.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Sir, yes sir." Mysterious contact lost with an outpost, could be interesting and might even get to do a counter attack... or a dry investigation or comms repair.
The commodore says, "Do I look like a man to you? "
Snorri's eyebrow just a hair "Ma'am. No offence meant just most officers I've worked with don't care about gender specific versions of a title. May I offer my congratulations Ma'am."
Admiral Franklin says, "Are there any questions?"
Bronen maintains attention through the briefing, albeit a little relaxed, he's getting older after all. With his hands behind his back however he still holds the datapad and his fingers begin deftly working at it.
A little blip appears on Kit's pad (if she has one) with a message:
RESPECTFULLY ask if we have any information on either Sigma or Kask. Like a schematic of either.
RESPECTFULLY.
The Admiral says, "The Commodore will take it from here. Dismissed"
The Commodore depresses her device and the greenish hologram of the Admiral fades off.
She then says, "Planet Kask has been greenlit to be a new colony for the fleet. It has been in the process of terraforming and the station has been sent various animal species to populate the planet but they have not yet been introduced.
The Planet Kask Outpost Station was completed two months prior, and the preliminary data stream received from its A.I. indicated a fully functioning station with no anomalies. Two weeks after the data stream was initialized, however, it suddenly stopped. Differing signal strengths, frequencies, and innovative command codes were used over the next few days as Fleet attempted to reboot the A.I. and re-establish contact. Nothing worked, and the station remained silent.
An Alpha class recon ship, the Sigma, was dispatched to investigate the problem. Its commander sent a preliminary message that the station had been sighted, and that they were going to dock and investigate. Their missive stated that they would report their preliminary findings within three hours. Scout ship Sigma has also gone silent. No word has been received from either Sigma or the Outpost for the last 30 days.
We have not heard of any pirate nor enemy activity within the vicinity. The colony has not yet been started. The Station was to be a staging area to start the colony, we are in the process of recruiting people to join the colony, so we need to get this project back on track and see what happened to our people.
The station has been shipped enough food to start the colony for at least six months , so as to allow for the settlers to have food while they grow their first crop. Lt. Commander Gogol has information about equipment at your awaiting recon ship.
ROE, are if you run into known enemies, you may engage, however you should not look for fights. The main goal is to figure out why communication with the station has been severed and what has happened to our first team."
Kit feels her personal comm unit vibrate in her cheek pouch. She swiftly spits it out into her hand, wipes it off on her shirt and reads a message from Bronen. She smiles widely, the pops it back into her mouth.
"Do we have any further information on Sigma or Kask?" Kit pipes up in her squeaky, rapid-fire voice. "Layout, schematics, that kind of thing? And you say that Kask was terra formed. Into what, exactly? What are its chosen environmental conditions and terrain?" Suddenly remembering Bronens CAPITAL LETTERS she adds in a "Ma'am," and smiles widely.
The commodore says, " The planet Kask is an M class planet was scouted and it was determined the planet was ripe for terraforming. Manzakium, a rare element crucial to starship drive manufacture, was also detected, catapulting the colonization of this planet to a ‘first priority position’ with Fleet. A massive orbital support station was built and placed into a geosynchronous orbit some 23,112 miles above the proposed colonization site. It was crewed by independent automatons, as well as simple robots, and given a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to ensure a self-sufficient operation. The station is designed to Train, equip, provide temporary lodging and even entertain in an effort to speedily develop the planet below the new colonists. Is being terraformed is more apt.
The planet does not fit into your mission, we need to get the station back online.
The Sigma class scout ship is a long distance ship used for exploration and reconnaisance. You should be familiar with the layout of the ship."
The Commodore says, "We have the general layout of the station as shown in this picture taken by the Sigma before it docked with Kask Station. The main platform section is a large circle. Divided up like a pie. The exact layout was not sent to us by subspace before we lost contact."
"If the Sigma is still docked, I say we enter via it. We might still gather information from it before setting foot on the station. Additionally any hostile forces might not be monitoring it's systems as closely."
|
The last member of the group arrives late... Fashionably so. Sorry, I got caught up at processing, they had to make sure I had all the licensing for my weapons approved... she looks at the rest of you, squinting with her yellow eyes. Ah... A bunch of smooth skins eh? she crosses her arms, and smiles, looking to the commander. Sorry ma'am, I won't be late again
"That's right!" Kit agrees immediately. "And my fur's charged with static! You wanna give it a pet?" She waggles her tail at Khall, then eyes it's smooth, hairless length. "Except that part."
The Commodore says, "I am glad you can finally join us Spacebeing 1st Grade Vesper. I suggest seeing the situation firsthand before making any plans to destroy Fleet property."
|
|
Khall Scoffs. Hey! I only blew up one freighter! And it wasn't intentional! She says, coming to the terminal and examining the blueprints. So, From what I heard, There is an AI? Is there a chance it's systems where compromised? she asks, Either by an outside entity or by chance a misstep in the programming. It's possible the AI went rogue.
Commodore Ward says, "There are millions of possibilities, for all I know the station got hit by a solar flare. Your mission is to find out what had happened and come back. Hopefully, bring our people back."
|
|
Khall nods. Alright... Seems like a simple job, find the source of the issue, fix it, return with good news, but this all stinks of a cover up to me. If the job was so simple you wouldn't send a strike team in there to fix it. Nine hells you would send a scout team first, scan the station and figure out the situation first. she Huffs. So either your aware of what is wrong with the station, or any scouts you sent have lost contact. This poses an issue for us, I'm hoping it's the latter issue. Then your justified... But if you are infact sending us up as a clean up then I would like to have all the information now, rather than later...
Kit looks at Khall and then looks at her fellow soldiers with a raised eyebrow as if to say, 'Really?'
Suddenly she bursts out laughing.
"Hahaha! And you thought I was rude!
She continues laughing, clutching at her stomach as tears stream down her face.
|
|
Khall looks to the Rattling and scowls. look, I am one to be suspicious. It is not often that the fleet hires me, after all I'm known to be destructive. So hiring me for a simple job like, fixing a Station that could have been taken down by a simple solar flare makes me wonder. After all... My specialty is putting bullets in skulls and knives in backs