Oy, gameplay thread here, fellas!
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You all meet in the barracks for the Exploration Teams. You are Team B, there are long coats made of leather for each of you. On their left shoulders are a patch. These patches are black and blue, with five stars in a semi-circle and explorer team written in white below them. Team A has already left to explore a planet you recently came up on. They used the Talaron for their dispatchment.
Although you are naked, it makes sense to wear something before you are dispatched. The showers are communal, and the locker rooms are communal. Here, you meet everyone in team B. The colors are perfectly white and baby blue.
Long before the meeting time, a Vesk can be seen near the barracks, hands folded behind his back, pacing nervously in front of a window. A neat and clean backpack is slung over his shoulder.
The individual, a male, is considerably less brawny than most of his Vesk brethren, although with a thick spine covered in dull, grey scales. His complexion ranges from green to slightly blue.
As the doors to the barracks are unlocked, the Vesk quickly moves inside, heading for the coat identified with his name. His eyes shimmer with excitement as he examines the coat and tries it out. As the rest of team B comes in, he greets them with a wide grin:
"Well met!" he begins, offering a big hand to anyone who would shake it. "Exciting, isn't it? I'm Brother Raloveg. Well, that's what the faithful call me... Of course, you may call me Raloveg." he says with a tone that hardly masks his excitement. "Hard to turn down, such an opportunity, no?"
C'tikt-6 seems to arrive at the exact designated time their presents is requested. They might be confused for a Host Shirren until you notice the soft pulsing of the lines and circuits covering their body. The bright green exterior of their shell seems to glow, but it might just be the lights of the ship reflecting off the strange lines. Maybe a bit of both.
As 6 walks into the barracks, they nod over to Brother Raloveg, "Greetings Ralevog. Thank you for clarifying the correct designation. I do not wish to confuse. I am C'tikt-6. You may call me C'tikt or just 6. My event interrupts recognize both designations. It is nice to meet you."
6 walks over to the coat, and puts it on over their insectoid looking exterior. "What faith do you follow, if I may ask? In my limited experience Brother represents a higher level of importance to some of the religions here. Color me curious"
It's only at this point that you realize that there is no actual voice leaving 6's body. It is hard to tell at first, but the voice is very clearly being projected into your head. Not fully uncommon for Shirren, as their actual voice can be hard to process at times.
An android only about five feet tall with black hair and brilliant green eyes, and apparently modeled after a very curvaceous woman, enters.
The beige humanoid with glowing lines is the first to shake the Vesk's hand.
She tilts her head "to call you Raloveg?"
Then, after a moments pause, realization strikes. "Oh, to leave the ship! Yeah! It's really exciting. I can't wait! Oh-"
She turns to address everyone, rather than just Raloveg.
"and I'm called Emerald Eyes. M for short. It's great to meet you all!"
M starts to put on her own jump suit. "I can't remember ever being so excited. We're going to see whats out there." She says, unable to contain herself.
Grinding and creaking as it moves, an immense humanoid figure lumbers into view. Obviously designed for functionality over form, AX-498 looks positively antique when compared to the sleek lines of C'tikt-6. Of note is their battered and dented hammer, and a polished and buffed datapad worn on the wrist, the only clean thing about this creature.
As AX walks into the barracks, they put their coat on over pitted plates of metal, some of which seem to be bolted to the frame of this creature. Two lightly glowing eyes are visible from recesses in their head.
AX takes Ralevog's hand in one of it's own, and shakes it gently."I was designated AX-498 upon construction. You may call me AX. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance Ralevog, and I look forward to working with you all. This is Betty." He gestures to the datapad on his wrist.
Hearing AX mention betty, "Oh fascinating! Do you have a functional AI on that datapad? Or is it just a terminal to an AI elsewhere? I would be fascinated to hear how it got a name like Betty." 6 seems genuinely interested in the device.
After looking over AX as a whole, then M, "Whoever created our shells really decided on 3 different form factors didn't they?"
6 speaks as they sit on a bench and seem to focus. Though they still seem communicative during. Small green lights appear just above the circuits on their body. The coalesce into complex equations and diagrams. 6 Starts to move through them at a fast pace. Something between meditation and research.
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"Greetings Ralevog...
It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance Ralevog...
"Raloveg." the Vesk repeats with a smile, not thinking that perhaps his designation might somehow be difficult for some androids. "Raloveg."
"What faith do you follow, if I may ask? In my limited experience Brother represents a higher level of importance to some of the religions here. Color me curious"
"Fair question. I am a humble servant of The Light. The entity whose essence resides in every star, every nebula, every cosmic phenomenon, and who grants us safe passage through his eternal realm." he waits a few seconds to see if the android recognizes said faith. "May He guide our path today."
"I can't remember ever being so excited. We're going to see whats out there."
"I'll say! All my life I've gazed at the stars, wondering what it would really like to be out there. And now The Light is welcoming us into his realm. It really is unbelievable!"
The Vesk turns to AX as 6 inquires about the datapad. His eyes take in the sheer size the metal giant for a moment. "Greetings, AX. I also look forward to working with you."
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"Ah, I apologize, I will remove that error from my systems. Thank you for clarifying" 6 projects as they continue their meditation.
"Yes I know of the Light. The source of much of our power. Solar, or long term creation of higher weighted elements for burning fuel. I can see the appeal. I tend to think further down the chain in the local creations, and the power within. Still that can't exist without the solar furnaces to power everything"
Stopping their meditation. "I am ready. Does anyone know the exact plan? I was left out of the specifics."
AX seems somewhat confused by 6's question. "Betty lives inside here."gestures at his wrist"Her name is Betty because I knew a Betty a long time ago, and it was a nice name".
A small holographic face appears over the datapad, and seems to respond in a very tinny voice to C'tikt-6, "I am the artificial interface designed to assist the owner of this datapad! Current owner: AX-498. How may I be of assistance?"
"You can talk to her if you like," says AX, "She knows a lot of stuff, and helps me with downloading instructions off the infosphere."
"I am designed to be able to withstand the heat, radiation, and gravitational fluctuations of the heart of the Asimov in order to do repair work! Everyone can detect a sense of pride in AX's voice as he describes his design specs, and yet there is no sense of superiority in it. "What were you designed to accomplish?"
With a brief pause "I believe my shell's original creator was attempting to focus on manipulating the technological nature of the ship around me. Mold it, twist it, use its properties to create new forms of output. I think it maybe interpreted as magic."
6 does not emote too much when discussing this. "Not sure what the original purpose was of this shell, as I am the 6th soul to inhabit it. I can say that my plan with this body is to better the knowledge around us. Learn new things. More intellectual, I guess. Maybe help the Asimov repair itself at some point. Your skillset is impressive though. I expect us to work well together"
A twitch of their antenna as they look around the room.
"Designed to accomplish? I'm not sure... I do have strange circuitry in my optical processing systems. Maybe I was originally designed to be a scout? I'm also rather small, now that I think of it..."
M trails off as she walks over to AX and pats their datapad gently. "Nice to meet you Betty."
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This is before. I want all the player characters to introduce themselves before being sent on their mission.
15 minutes after the appointed meeting time, a human red-haired female arrives in the barracks, her panting showing that she had clearly been running - for more than a few minutes.
"I...Alyson...am...I late...too late?", she holds on to the wall for support as she attempts to catch her breath.
Her body features several piercings, on the belly, the face and human genitalia. Her hair seems relatively short for her kind, and she has a very slender body, quite possibly underweight considering her size of about 6 feet.
After a few moments with ragged breathing, and after realising the team she was assigned to is still here, she calms down. "I apologise. I was held up. A minor issue regarding an outstanding loan. I...when will we get paid for this?"
Noticing the long coats, her expression darkens again slightly:"Do we HAVE to wear those?"
Raloveg turns at the sound of panting at the threshold. He squints for an instant, then his eyes widen when he recognizes the human.
"Alyson? Am I surprised to see you here, young lady!" He smiles calmly and adds: "Don't worry, we're still waiting for the briefing, you didn't miss a thing." after a while, he adds in a softer tone, so as to not embarrass her: "I truly am glad to see you've found some honest work. I knew you would come around. How have you been?"
"Who...oh...Brother Ralo-something, was it?", the young woman mentally grasps for the right name. "Ralowek, right? I...I didn't recognize you at first. I'm not very good with non-human faces, sorry...what brings YOU here?"
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Raloveg laughs a bit at his name being butchered for the third time today. "Raloveg, yes. And it's quite alright. I seldom forget the people whom I sermon." he says with a wink. "As for me, well, I wouldn't have passed the opportunity to get closer to the Light for anything in the world. Perhaps they thought it would be good to bring some of His powers to the team."
"My programming mandates that I should ask those made of meat if they need any assistance in carrying anything heavy when setting out on a group activity, or when meeting new individuals. I would like to extend that invitation to include all present, as well as offering to carry anything unwanted."
AX turns towards Brother Raloveg, and states matter of factly, "light is very good, yes. It lets us see. If you can make light on command, you are already doing much better than I did."
"Hi Alyson! I'm M. Unrelated: I recommend the uniform. Hm- I forgot to ask about when we'll be paid, though..." the smallest android nods to herself before sitting down and going very still.
"I'll look it up."
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"But seriously, an uniform? Couldn't they have given us an armbrace or something." the girl sighs, then turns to AX: "Nothing heavy, Domo arigato misuta Robotto. You can carry my coat for me, it's not heavy, but unwanted."
Looking through those present, then at the coats, she quickly counts:"One more missing, is he? Or did someone bail at us?"
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AX takes the coat. "Armband... Betty, make a note of that."
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"Er, yes, sorry, that would be me," a young human spoke up from the doorway, smiling apologetically, "Terrible difficulty convincing the family that I really did need to get out the door." Although he'd had a relatively low-key going away do the previous evening, he'd still had to run the gauntlet of well-meaning relatives just wanting to pass on some good wishes, and in hindsight he hadn't allotted enough time.
He was of middling height and build, with dark, blue-streaked hair and henna patterning on the left side of his chest and arm. He looked a bit less puffed than Alyson had, but he was definitely catching his breath after a bit of a jog to arrive... Oh dear, he was late. This was not a good start at all.
"Retri Valnik," he introduced himself, stepping over to pick up the remaining coat and settling it in place after a false start or two (haste wasn't helping), "I do hope I haven't held you up." He felt distinctly self-conscious about the coat, but he'd probably acclimatise over time.
"Okay, so we have some late stragglers," said a man all suited up and wearing the uniform. "I see that some people have some problems with the uniform. No matter, it's expected thanks to the way we don't wear clothes."
This is your commander. He has short purple hair, dark skin, brown eyes, and heavy hands. He is wearing the jump suit and the long coat of an explorer. "Team A is already exploring the planet you're going to explore. They are exploring site A. You're exploring Site B. So get suited up and lets go!"
Standing up, uniform falling down around their not so smooth body, projecting their voice, "Have there been any reports back from Site A? Any idea of what we might expect while we are there?"
6 Stands and seems eager to go, but doesn't want to go in with out all possible information.
M gets up, salutes, and turns to head out. Then she stops to listen to the reply to 6's question.
"They did a radiation scan of Site A, to see if there is lingering radiation for our colony," said your commander. "There is a definite presence of elves. We don't know how they got there, but there is a ruined city that can offer clues."
Nodding, which involves the head, antenna, and a shift of color to the exterior shell.
"Thank you. Lead on." They gesture forward. If you could read their expression you could see a element of excitment, though it is rather obfuscated through the shirren and android exterior.
Raloveg simply nods at the commander's words, following him.
"Has Team A already made first contact with the elves? Will you accompany us once we touch ground?"
"They have made first contact with the elves," said the commander. "All will be revealed on their progress in the ready room."
The commander leads you to a room that contains a big screen, a table, and computer terminals. On the screen is the elf planet in green wireframe. The commander is just a simple man in a jumpsuit and leather coat. "Welcome to the exploration teams. You are Team B. I'm Commander Nawli. I'm your leader, and advocate. Both Team A and Team B are assigned under me. We are not part of the military, but a different organization altogether."
"As you know, we are running out of space aboard the Asimov. So we form colonies a long the way. We make sure we always choose an Earth like planet to colonize, so as to give our colonies a fresh start."
M squeezes her way to the front and nods along.
I wonder why he's wearing a suit too. Could it be camaraderie? or does he ever deploy into hostile environments?
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Following the command to suit up, Alyson pauses for just a moment.
First day on the job. You don't want to make a bad impression...
Reluctantly, she retrieves the coat from AX-498, then puts her hands through the armholes, disgusted from the strange material on her skin.
If only that could be protective nanofiber...or anything synthetic...but no...
Leaving it wide open, covering as little as possible - and making as little physical contact as possible, she takes her position at the end of the line. While the others ask their questions, she eyes Retri - it was somehow reassuring that there was another human on the job. 3 Androids and a Vesk Preacher - she would have felt alone, in a way. She had no prejudices, but their minds simply worked in a different manner. It was easier to empathize with other human-kin. But then, the Vesk had been pleasant enough company - didn't even try to blackmail her or something.
As her mind wanders, she listens to the Officers answers, and follows into the other room. When he mentions earth-like, she raises her hand and asks: "I remember I read that earth-like planets had settlements in temperature zones from -100 to plus 70 degrees or so. And there were seasons with intense heat on one end and frozen water falling from the sky on the other - what kind of situation can we expect at the landing zone?"
"Greetings Commander Nawli. If team A has met with the elves, we are to look into the ruins. Are we at risk of stepping into those Elves's spiritual center. I do not wish to jeapardise Team A's work with the Elves themselves."
Looking into the screen's projection, 6 analyzes the planet. "Does there seem to be any form of technology on this planet? At least present currently. City lights, beyond fires?"
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"You're landing in a temperate zone, so you can expect anything."
Raloveg stretches his arms as the commander speaks -- not used to being clothed, but obviously not as disconcerted as Alyson. He looks out the window, lost in his thoughts. When he hears 6 speaking about a spiritual center, his attention quickly shifts back to the conversation.
"Indeed, we would not want to disturb a place of worship. Do we have any additional information related to those ruins?"
Once the commander answers, Raloveg nods. "Ready when you all are."
"Team A's xenoarchaeologist is on the scene with the ruins. So far, they met the elves. You are investigating another site, site B. One of these two sites will be for colonization."
With a pulse of excitment. Chittering mandibles and antennea shaking, C'tikt-6 audibly speaks out, "Lets do this". Their voice, out loud is filled with clicks and hissing sounds. Almost sounds guttural to human ears. It comes out with a very flat expression, but you can tell there is excitement behind their words.
"Just out of curiosity - say our site is radiated, that would only leave Site A. Would the elves get a say in the matter? Or WILL there be a colony...with or without elves? What was the proper term - Manifest Destiny? And if both Sites are deemed acceptable, will both be used?", Alyson asked once more.
If there were any locals at their site, it was important for her to know what fate awaited them.
She was desperate for a job outside the recycling plants, but she still had morals and a conscience...
"That's what we're here for. To determine if a particular site is ready, or not, for colonization. This isn't about manifest destiny. This is about finding a site so our people can thrive."
With the others expressing readyness, Alyson stands down. She was not fully satisfied with the answer given, but she strongly suspected that rephrasing the question would not help much...
Instead, she was contemplating the possibilities and potential outcomes, playing with her tongue and lip piercings, rubbing them against each other.
Raloveg clears his throat as if to add something, but refrains from doing so, instead putting his hand to his chin pensively.
She makes a very valid point, I had not considered that. And even if we ignore the ethical problem it poses, nothing tells us that the colony will 'thrive' if the elves consider them as intruders, quite the contrary.
"Interesting question. While there may very well be a moral dilemma, I believe we will be better equipped to act on it once we have more information on the matter." He raises his eyes quickly, then lowers them as his gaze crosses the commander's. "I mean... We will give you the information, and you will make the decision. But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet." Raloveg almsot seems to shrink in front of the commander, losing much of his initial excitement.
"I'm sure It'll be fine." M asserts, before becoming suddenly bashful.
"Um, do we know what language they speak?"
The massive android had stood perfectly still, absorbing the information, but now it spoke. "It seems likely that we may find ourselves engaged in some form of violence during our time exploring. I must request that for your safety, should violence occur, you all stay behind me." AX shifts slightly, and absently puts a hand on the pitted and dented metal hammer it carries with it.
Retri had found his own spot near the projection, studiously avoiding trying to settle his coat more comfortably. That was probably a lost cause for the time being, and he'd just end up looking fidgety.
"It seems like very early days yet, with a lot of information for us to gather," he said, "I'm keen to begin, but are there any parameters or concerns we should be aware of?"
He would be interested to know how the elves had come here in the first place, but it would probably be a while before they knew that. He'd have to look up in past mission reports how common it was to encounter familiar species along their journey.
"Becareful not to spook the locals. This is a first contact situation, and it could be sour if you spook them. As for parameters, try and gain as much information as you can, since we're building a colony here."