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[IC] Star Orphans (A Fantasy Sci-Fi Space Opera Epic)

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Hidden 8 yrs ago → 8 yrs ago Post by ROADWARRIOR
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ROADWARRIOR

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PROLOGUE:
THE BIG BAD WOLF



Location: Gideus Sphere - Vetrosis System - Planet Idak


Concierge Zetram V.27 stood before the burning metropolis with a preoccupied mind. The catastrophe displayed before him was an after thought compared to the concerns regarding his newly tailored suit. It was snug around the mid drift, and felt like the whole thing could tear at the seams from the slightest movement.

"This is unbecoming!" Zetram V.27 kicked the charred carcass at his feet in a tantrum. After realizing he dirtied himself, the Toliath slowly bent down to avoid any potential rips in his clothing, and lightly patted off the soot and alien ash from his shoe.

"Sir?" A Toliath soldier approached him. He was a special operations ranger decked out in black armor and high military grade weaponry. Zetram looked up, a question mark symbol emoting in front of his black and orange face as a hologram projection.

"Did you find it?!" Zetram's question mark flashed into a bold red exclamation point. "Time spent on this holocaust is time kept away from my beauty preparations for tonight's annual gala event at Capital Prime. Surely you understand that that's a big deal, yes?" The ranger did not emote back. Such was the way of his training.

"Apologies, Concierge Zetram." The ranger's voice was dull and unenthusiastic. "Glassing a country with limited resources was a bit of a challenge, but we have captured an alien folk that may know the whereabouts-"

"Bring the beast to me!" Zetram impatiently snapped his fingers. The ranger stepped aside, presenting the captor. It was an Arctori. An armed one! She held a long spear with a blue bladed tip, locked in a battle stance.

"What's the meaning of this?!" The exclamation point on Zetram's head was glowing bright red. "Why is this Wayshield beast not in chains?"

"I'm well aware of the sniper satellites pointed in my direction. I know that if I so much as blink the wrong way, they'll send a laser through my skull." The Arctori female spoke. "Your ranger warrior was decent enough to let me stand proud with my honor intact. I am Shieldmaiden Vaya, last of the Wayshield Wardens."

Zetram glared at the soldier who, again, refrained from holographic emoting. "If she moves that stick knife of hers in any way, I'll personally see to your discharge." He walked forward, then stopped to keep his distance from the Arctori. While Zetram was well aware of the orbiting sharpshooters targeting their captive, it was still unnerving to be in the presence of an uncaged beast.

"Where are the maps?" Zetram demanded in an irate tone.

"They were never here." She answered. "Your intel was garbage. Meant to throw you off the chase. You ravaged this place for nothing." There was no pain in the Arctori's voice, because this country, this world, was never hers. Idak was one of many that belonged to the United Core Systems, an old enemy that never cared for her or her people. In fact, seeing one of its cities burn brought a certain warmth in her heart.

"That's unfortunate." Zetram looked down, visibly disappointed at the time being wasted on this dusty planet. "We'll have to glass this whole puss ball for good measure then. Can't leave a job half-finished, you know?"

Shieldmaiden Vaya was just like the Toliath Ranger in that she expressed no emotional response. At least she thought she didn't. The orange holographic hues painted on Zetram's face were glowing as he quietly observed her. Every muscle twitch, eye blink, and breathing pattern didn't go unnoticed from their brief exchange. Among those physical tells was a concern or worry for something, or someone, still on this planet. Zetram didn't care to press her further about the specifics. The intel never lied. The star map is still here.

"Good. So, we're getting warm are we?" Zetram nodded. In this simple gesture, the Arctori took her last breath before an energy beam from the stratosphere lanced through her skull. Her lifeless body collapsed onto the ground.

"I'm late for my beauty appointment," Zetram sighed. "I leave this operation to you, ranger. I hope to have some good news after my return from Capital Prime."

"Yes, sir!" The ranger held his salute as Zetram initiated the teleportation sequence. Bit by bit, his body slowly reshaped into tiny black cubes of energy that warped into the sky. When Zetram completely vanished from sight, the Toliath ranger pried the magic spear from the Arctori's dead hands. He playfully twirled it around like a child. He even made sound effects with his voice modulator, all while the destruction of Idak's capital city was crumbling in the background.

ELSEWHERE...



Location: Planet Idak - ???


Mej and Rig gestured for the little aliens to come close. They always talked about wanting to be parents someday. Perhaps this was as good as it was going to get for them.

"Listen, you little brats." Mej made sure to smile so they knew he was being playful. "We're going on a field trip, okay?"

"What's a field trip?" The one with the blue hat asked.

"Where's mom?" The one with the red hood chimed in.

Rig slowly exhaled, bringing a hand to her forehead before combing back loose strands of blue hair. "A field trip is like a nice little adventure. And your mom will meet us at our destination. Now go pack your things and be ready to leave at sun down!"

The kids nodded approvingly at the sound of an adventure. For weeks they've been cooped up in this old warehouse without any word from their mother. All of them, including Rig and Mej, were starting to get a little stir crazy. As the little Wayshielders dispersed to collect their belongings, she wrapped her arms around Mej's waist and put her head on his chest. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"Don't worry, Rig." Mej lowered his bearded chin and kissed her on her forehead. "Somebody will come." He brought his hand close to her, wiping away the tear marks. Just then, a notification alert flashed onto his gauntlet. He twisted his arm and saw the best news they've had all month:



"She did it." Mej said in disbelief, eyes beginning to water. "That crazy bitch did it!"

Rig looked up at Mejs' gauntlet. She held it with both hands and stared long and hard at the words to make sure that what she was seeing was real. Rig planted a kiss onto Mej's lips then quickly skirted off.

"Children! Change of plans! We're leaving in 10 minutes!" Rig couldn't hold back the excitement from her voice. The Wayshield youth cheered as Mej and Rig joined them in packing. Mej smiled at seeing her happy, filled with hope. It invigorated him. They had a fighting chance now, and he was willing to do whatever he could to keep Rig and those children safe.

END OF PROLOGUE

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Hidden 8 yrs ago → 8 yrs ago Post by ROADWARRIOR
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CHAPTER ONE:
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE...












"Can you all shut the fuck up?!" Captain Angela Abetchi yelled from the top of her lungs. The group of twenty seven stowaways collectively fell silent. It had only been thirty minutes since the Delilah blasted off from Belltown and already there was chaos. Questions about room and board, toiletries, bathroom usages, and food - most especially food, came at her from all angles. The feeling of instant regret for tackling such an ambitious venture was finally settling in. All three of Angela's dark ember eyes glared into the sea of alien faces. She cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"The exact logistics for your stay on board my ship are currently being thawed out." The Captain said in a calmer tone. She raised her hand and pointed at the aisles that were once rows of cargo compartments, now retrofitted into bunk beds. "It ain't much, but it's better than sleeping on the floor. Or in one of those Toolie torture dungeons." She watched as the stowaways surveyed their designated living quarters. She clenched her teeth at their dissatisfied murmurs.

"What about the volunteers?" A little Obek male with a tricorn hat inquired. "Do we have separate living quarters?"

"Yes. Sir Jukton, right? Good question." Angela said. The Obek smiled, flattered that the captain even remembered his name. "Everyone that volunteered as a crew hand, or wants to volunteer as one, will meet at the lounge on the second floor in one hour. Until then, make yourselves comfortable."

"Where is the changing rooms? The restrooms? Are there separate wash rooms for different genders?" An Eyjian woman named Ukima stepped forward. Everything but her fiery hazel brown eyes were kept swathed in lavish silks. "I will not bathe, nor expose, any inch of my royal skin to ungraced eyes." The Captain sensed the tension thickening. Already there was a division among the group. She could see cliques forming. Alliances and old prejudices brewing.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear before we left Belltown." Angela marched up to the robed Eyjian until they were face-to-face. "This isn't some fucking luxury cruise." The Captain stared long and hard at her, then at everyone else.

"We're on the run, folks. You left for the same exact reasons I left, and the moment those Toolie assholes catch wind of that, and they will - believe me they will, this adventure is going to get a whole lot more shittier. So I suggest you tighten up your attitudes and get with the program. Fast. I don't need to state the obvious if you're not willing to comply." The Eyjian woman wanted to roll her eyes, but decided not to test the Captain further. Ukima walked away with her hands on her hips.

"Volunteers. One hour. Lounge." And with that, Captain Abetchi bolted out of the hangar in a storm of curse words.

In that moment a holographic projection of a dark-skinned, Afrocentric man appeared out from thin air. He wore sunglasses and appeared to be cradling a baby chimpanzee in his arms.

"And on that note: Welcome to the Delilah!" His warm smile and enthusiasm shifted the mood in the room at an instant. "My name is Axon. No, I'm not an A.I., but as a full time Cybermancer, I am required to stay within my sensory deprivation pod. You are more than welcome to scope out the ship on your own or get settled in. If at any moment you have any questions, please call my name out and I'll magically appear to answer them." And with that, the stowaways dispersed. Some went to go claim their beds, while others went to unpack their belongings. The Eyjian sprang back to where she kept her pile of travel bags and told anyone that stepped within five feet of them to back away.

"Uh, Axon?" The little green alien, Sir Jukton, waved his hand to get the Cybermancer's attention.

"What's up, Sir Jukton?" Axon looked down and nodded with a smile. "Nice hat by the way. That suede?"

"Is Captain Abetchi single?" Sir Jukton blurted out. Axon, and even the baby chimpanzee he was holding, both started laughing.

"Boy, that's the last fish you wanna catch."

The Obek picked his little nose, shrugged, then waltzed off to take a look around.

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Hidden 8 yrs ago → 8 yrs ago Post by Utrax
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Utrax 𝕰𝖝𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊 𝕭𝖎𝖗𝖉

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K'eve
 Location: Living Quarters

Truth be told, K'eve was among one of the first to arrive within the cargo compartment. While others scuttled about and made their way into the area, she watched them all as she sat on the ground with unblinking reptilian eyes. A few glanced nervously in her direction but none tried to interact. A digital overlay-- visible only to K'eve's eyes-- focused on individuals here and there, specifically on their belongings. Several interesting blades and pistols, ammunition components, odd bits of metal, caught K'eve's more inventive focused attention.

To put it simply: They needed to hand all that stuff over immediately.

For the duration of the Captain's "greeting," K'eve didn't move or make a sound. At the words, "Volunteers. One hour. Lounge," she grunted in acknowledgement. Slowly, K'eve stood, catching the attention of more than a few beings surrounding her-- several of which had to stare up at her. Teeth bared, K'eve began striding forward through the crowd, without concern for whoever she bumped into.

This, of course, solicited more than a few hostile remarks, curses, hisses, yelps, and even a slap on the shoulder from something that broke upon impact. What K'eve most needed right now was to figure out when the others would be surrendering their weapons and armor for improvement, what the status of the weaponry was, and why this ship was so insanely cold.

The sunlessness of certain planets or ships was not unfamiliar to K'eve but, that didn't make it any less extremely unpleasant. Fact was, K'eve had already selected prime candidates for body-heat exchange later, and she was certain that they absolutely would not mind. If she was cold, everyone else was cold as well, right?

Of course she was right.

As it just so happened, her strides were so large that when K'eve made her way toward the Lounge, she ended up closely on someone's heels. K'eve breathed heavily upon their back, not bothering to push past them, and slowed her pace to match theirs. If they were going to the same place, why would she move them out of the way?
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by ROADWARRIOR
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Sir Jukton - Lounge



There were many points during the Obek's aimless tour through the Delilah where he stopped and pondered. Axon would ask if he had a question about something, but Sir Jukton simply nodded and carried on. He opted to split away from the bigger groups of stowaways that were getting their bearings around their new home.

"People smell." Is what his excuse was to Axon when prompting to go solo. After circling through all of the levels of the ship, he made his way toward the lounge. It took a moment for the door sensors to pick up on his signature before they slid open. Axon apologized for that, but Sir Jukton didn't seem to care. Music was playing. It sounded like an old orchestra of bag pipes and synths. There were a lot of stowaways in the room, more than what the Obek anticipated. This wasn't much of a surprise though, considering the accommodations - or lack thereof - in the hangar. People must have seen the spacious crew quarters in the room and are now trying to seize an opportunity to grab one of those spots.

Sir Jukton navigated through the cluster of people until a tall being, perhaps the tallest in the room, towered before him. His little ruby eyes flashed against the overhead lounge lights as he stared up at the alien. It had tusks jutting out from the side of its face with eyes and teeth that glowed a color similar to the Obek's own skin. The intimidation factor became exponentially greater the longer he stared. The Obek knew he needed a friend on this ship. It mind as well be the most scary looking mother fucker just in case anyone tried to mess with him. Oh, Juk. Still thinking like you're in prison.

"Hey!" He yelled over the talking people and the weird techno bagpipe music, but didn't seem to get the alien's attention. Sir Jukton climbed up on one of the chairs and sat on the top of the cushion to get its attention. "Here's my icebreaker: This party blows, huh? I learned from humans that an icebreaker is designed to make follow up questions more enticing. Here's my follow up question: Are you single?"*

@Utrax

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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Pirouette
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Pirouette Stories Yet Untold

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ALI



"Goodbye Dr. Marvark. This unit appreciates every-..." The monotone feminine figure ceased her comments suddenly when pulled in for an embrace by the scrawny, older man. He didn't look the part of a respected doctor, having rough facial hair and a general messy appearance. The scene had attracted some wary looks as several refugees passed into the ship. Some had even spat an insult as the doctor pulled away with a kiss on the impassive, emotionless droid. "I have detected an unusual amount of attachment, Dr. Marvark. Would you like this unit to remain behind?" The doctor shook his head, looking like he'd almost break down a tears but his smile must have steeled himself. "No. You need to go. I'll be fine. Goodbye, Ali." Without another word, Dr. Marvark had turned and hurried away, leaving his creation, ALI.

The orders that ALI was given were clear and concise. Rule one was that she was to ensure her survival by any means she can, while following with what she believed to be 'good'. Rule two was that she was to board this ship, knowing full well that she should never plan to reunite with her creator. Other than those two instructions provided, ALI had the ability to do whatever she deemed was necessary to carry out those tasks assigned to her by her creator. She did not know the exact reasons why, only that she perform them.

Task number two was completed on schedule as ALI had boarded the ship, the Delilah without any trouble and due to technical loopholes, ALI could leave the ship at their next port-of-call without failing her directive. However this was a distant thought in ALI's processor as she considered the reality of her situation. Her creator had been strangely vague about her situation but it didn't take an advanced AI to figure out that her origins and original purpose were designed to be anti-Toliathian and discovery of her existence would likely mean her termination, thus having her fail the first task assigned to her by the creator. It was clear that this ship was being boarded by individuals that wanted to avoid Toliathian attention, for whatever their reason. However, ALI had estimated that there was a fair chance that the crew of the Delilah could sell out the refugees on board for little risk and major reward to the Toliathians if they wanted to. Further analysis would have to be conducted to determine the intention of the Delilah.

An address by the captain of the Delilah soon followed departure from Belltown. ALI had not spoken since being onboard the ship and despite being included in the address, she ignored the intention to 'correct the record'. On the topic of logistics, which had turned the refugee population into a collection of frenzied murmurs and outrage, ALI had cared not for the specifics. She did not need to eat or sleep, though she did shutdown occasionally to update software. In fact, she was entirely self-sustaining and thus largely unsympathetic to the outrage. The captain had raised a valid point and if the refugees had wanted more, they were mistaken. This ship was clearly not designed to handle the current extra on board personnel.

Captain Abetchi had brought forth an interesting proposition though. By ALI's initial estimates, volunteers that offered assistance for the duration of the Delilah's service could be treated as more of a priority than the refugees. In addition, the chance to survey the ship and crew for their intentions, and be in on the intimate, secret details would provide a higher chance of ALI's survival. Thus, the only logical move was to volunteer for service. In an additional note, ALI had grown concerned by the few looks she had received while on board the Delilah by some of the refugees, but ALI's limited experience in the outside world had not provided her with any logical assumptions as to why that was.

Still, ALI wasn't going to ask as she turned and proceeded through the ship, acting as the Captain's stalker for a moment before ALI perceived that her distant presence may have been alarming the captain. Thus, ALI had slowed in the hallway and considered something for a moment. "Axon." The mention of the name had called forth the holographic image of the dark-skinned man, just as promised. ALI glanced up to meet the man's projected gaze, her lips and face unmoving as she asked, "I concluded that you are aware of what I am. How do organics perceive an artificial intelligence? I have limited experience outside of a carefully guarded compound and by initial account, Toliathian existence has lead to distrust of sentient machinery. Do you believe this to be true?"
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Utrax
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Utrax 𝕰𝖝𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊 𝕭𝖎𝖗𝖉

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K'eve
 Interaction: Sir Junkton - @ROADWARRIOR

While on her way to the lounge, K'eve had spent the entire trip staring at pipes, whenever they were exposed. Every so often she would stop, tap on a wall panel, then move on about her way before anyone could ask questions. Her sensors were detecting vague heat signatures, plasma conduits, a few electrical lines, which were all importantly sources of heat. Something about the ship's current temperature was quickly becoming annoying for K'eve, but it could be easily surpassed with a few modifications.

"A few modifications" of course meant "tearing plating off the walls to expose plama pipes and installing conductive coils"-- K'eve wasn't going to get ahead of herself. If there was anything she wasn't going to do, it was start tearing the ship apart, without knowing where the central power cycling system was located, because that would be just plain unsafe. Safety meant a lot to K'eve, especially while she was around other aliens. They tended to break easily when exposed to things like plasma leaks, fires, and explosions, the fragile creatures.

Upon arriving to the lounge, K'eve found the room to be even colder than the hallway, somehow. Without a word to everyone else inside the room, she began analyzing vents, finding that they were cooling the air-- cooling it! Of all the mammalian insults to K'eve's existence, the "air conditioning" was one of the highest. Never would she understand how these creatures couldn't simply give their mother unit fur, so that the next generations spawned would have an adaptation for cold, and they could get rid of this silly power draining feature aboard their ships. Wasn't that a simple solution?

K'eve tried to suggest it years ago to an alien but, then said alien insisted that children were spawned from within, or something grotesque like that. Disgusting. That particular conversation ended with a bunch of broken glass and a handful of mammal fur... In an attempt to sweep that subject from her mind, K'eve directed her attention to the lounge.

Truth be told, the odd sounds and sights of the area fascinated K'eve. What were those odd noises they were making with those pipes? Part of K'eve's auditory processors were having difficulty translating the language-- it was a form of communication, wasn't it? During her travels around as a mercenary, K'eve had become familiar with this phenomena, and she had been witness to a number of drums, pipes, and strange stringed objects being fiddled with by Ner'tuk-- other-world beings. These noises always made K'eve feel something but she couldn't quite understand wh--

"Hey!"

K'eve narrowed her eyes, not quite certain of what she had heard, before the voice continued, "Here's my icebreaker: This party blows, huh? I learned from humans that an icebreaker is designed to make follow up questions more enticing. Here's my follow up question: Are you single?" K'eve's gaze snapped down to Sir Junkton with an almost mechanical abruptness. Overlays and scans initiated within her combat interface-- classifying the target, physical evaluations, with something of an odd barbarity to the technical sophistication.

Creature Encountered Prior >> Obek Obek Obek Obek >>>sd
Threat: Low
Difficulty: Ea0- -=+sy
Weakness: Generalized Mor- T- Tt-- talit- y
SUPPRESS>> NER'TUK<>> PURI>> IfyPPP>> EXECUTE<< ORDER |*)8( Er R0 R-d9> PATHWAY OBSCURED


Letting out a low hiss after a moment of silence, K'eve finally responded, "T'kossi are never alone. Not singular." K'eve rolled her shoulders and continued, "For that which burns out stars, will not extinguish. Blood bonds forged in sand. Ice. Ice. The cold does close in." After that, K'eve suddenly began pacing about like a beast caged. Her posture arched slightly, the feathered mane atop her head raised, then there was the tenseness in her movements-- K'eve looked either ready to start throwing things or ready to cave in upon herself.

"Break the ice. Do it," K'eve growled threateningly but, somehow, there was a hint of expectation in her tone. Maybe this Obek knew how to make the air conditioning go away...
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Kessir Tarkin
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Kessir Tarkin

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Baldur was listening to a song playing from his Tyr armour in the hydroponics section of the ship, it was in a sitting position in the corner of the room where he had made a home for it. This way when he was gone and in no need of the giant armour it could keep watch on his plants without him having to physically be there and take care of the watering and fertilizer shifts as well. As the music was playing he made sure that the plants were all in order, anything that was dead was trimmed and freshly watered.

He laughed and turned towards Tyr.

"Tyr, what great fortune we have been given, from drifting into space to become a relic. To being found by the Delilah and finding this wonderful room. So full of green, so full of life!"

"It is most fortunate Baldur, my readings tell me that we now have a number of people entering the ship and are being briefed."

"Oh for fuck sakes Tyr, you couldn't have told me sooner that we landed! I was too preoccupied, I better get this batch ready to be prepared in the kitchen, they're not as ripe as I want them to be but it will have to do." Baldur said to Tyr as he packed a few boxes of fresh produce and made his way to the door.

Tyr made a move to get up and follow him, and Baldur put his hand up. "Sorry bud, but I am going to probably be frightening enough to those people, the last thing we need is full on panic when they see the both of us. I will go there and later on when they are ready I will introduce you." He explained to the robot that beeped in acknowledgement.

Tyr sat back down, "I understand, I will be here monitoring the room in case anything comes and notify you if something does."

Baldur gave a salute by slamming his arm across his chest and the robot followed suite and he continued on out the door with a hiss sound indicating the door was shutting. At the time his helmet was completely transparent, since he felt no need in dealing with the people thinking him as the enemy. He hummed the song that Tyr had been playing earlier while carrying the boxes.

Down some hallways he turned and looked to see a woman figure speaking to a hologram, he waved but her expression did not seem to indicate that she noticed him. So he continued on, he then made it to the kitchen quarters and placed his produce into the fridge unit.

Tyr, where are the people gathering?, he then waited for the response. They appear to be gathering in the lounge, there was a call to meet there soon.

He acknowledged the response and made his way over to the lounge. As he entered he immediately noticed that there were two individuals one a little creature and the other a lizard species of some type. From their movements one was looking to become hostile.

"Excellent! Nothing like meeting new people with a good old fashioned brawl. The gods would be pleased!" He shouted as he entered the room himself and waited to see what unfolded. Tyr! Looks like we might have some excitement earlier than we thought! I'll keep you posted!



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AXON
Interaction @Pirouette


Loneliness. It is a momentary sensation felt when locked within a Cybermancer deprivation pod. It is a commitment, no, a sacrifice never to be taken lightly. Captain Angela knows this. It's why she goes out of her way to ensure that he is properly taken care of. Axon's human essence is fed the appropriate nutrients, bathed within the supplemental fluids to sustain nourishment. The wires surgically placed into his central nervous system are constantly tested, and the Cryptum security systems those lines are jacked into are always scanned for potential Toliath malware. This tedious upkeep is a vital routine that helps keep Axon tethered within the Cryptum, enabling him to access a wide berth of cyber systems across the galaxy. The ultimate hacker who has paid the ultimate price...

Axon felt the weight of Delilah as if it were an extension of himself. The recent addition of warm bodies scuttling throughout the ship felt like tiny insects across his skin. Dozens of holographic windows were displayed before him as if he were on stage, looking out into a sea of information that was his audience. At the flick of his wrists, or wink of his eyes, those holographic windows stepped forward to present everything and anything. This was all within Axon's mind, the projected theater of imagination where any construct can take form. While surveying biometrics of the crew, he was scanning communications for possible Toliath outposts, and plotting courses for possible star map locations. Not to mention that he was also serving as a tour guide for the stowaways, splitting himself off into different pieces answering a multitude of questions. One particular stowaway had caught his interest. An artificial, ALI, had summoned his name. He appeared before her like a holographic phantom, smiling affectionately as she presented her question.

"I concluded that you are aware of what I am. How do organics perceive an artificial intelligence? I have limited experience outside of a carefully guarded compound and by initial account, Toliathian existence has lead to distrust of sentient machinery. Do you believe this to be true?"

"Yes, ALI, but it ain't cause of prejudice or anything like that." Axon nodded his head. "The Tolathian swarm code did more than just disable cyber systems across Ignatius. Artificial Intelligence Units, the driving force for automated commerce and security for many star clusters became instantly compromised, turning against their makers under Tolathian influence. By the time Cybermancers like myself were able to quarantine the damage, reports of system wide massacres nearly overloaded our data banks. But, there were some AIUs that managed to combat the swarm code. They were heroes, ALI. Many of them sacrificed themselves to save as many people they could before the Tolathians invaded, saved people like me..."

Axon stared at ALI's expressionless face and felt compelled to give her a better answer. But before he could formulate the words, an alert notification winked into his mind theater. He quickly accessed it. An encrypted message marked with a peculiar signature, one that only a Wayshielder could make flashed before him. Axon's eyes widened.

"Forgive me, ALI. My attention is required elsewhere." He said. "Please meet at the lounge if you'd like to be assigned as a crew member. I'll be more than happy to continue this discussion with you at a later time."

And with that, Axon's image disappeared. Not just with ALI, but everyone else he was being a tour guide with.


Sir Jukton
Interaction with @Utrax


"W-what? I did break the ice. Right?" Sir Jukton frowned, questioning himself and thinking way too hard than he should at the string of sentences the T'kossi put together. "Maybe I've been saying this wrong. I ask for your companionship. Not sexual companionship. We Obek like to call it a bondshake. I help you, you help me. Understand?"

Whether or not the T'kossi agreed, Sir Jukton had already made the decision for her. He shook his head, tipped the edge of his tricorn hat and did a curtsy. "It is settled! The bondshake has been made. The companionship will be honored until death!" The Obek swung off of the seat cushion and gave her leg a big hug. The embrace was long. Too long. When he finally released from her, he jumped back onto the seat cushion, hands on his hips in a confident stance.

"Anything you need, I will try my best to give." He flashed his fanged smile. His expression immediately turned into a sheepish one when he realized he hadn't even properly introduced himself. Per Obek tradition for committing such a buffoonery, Sir Jukton slapped himself across the face, hard. "Fire tits of Volgani! Forgive my ill-mannered self. I am Sir Jukton of the Shimmerstain Vale, former Gladiator Champion of the Tukan Gauntlet, and former Space Pirate of the Bumbling Baboon. Please honor me with your titleship, bondshaken!"


Captain Angela Abetchi
Location: Lounge


Angela Abetchi stormed into the lounge. She told Axon, who appeared from thin air, to cut the music as she whistled for everyone's attention. Gone was her moody frown and in its place was a look of motivated concern.

"Listen up, everyone!" Her trio of eyes blinked rapidly. She had on a red leather jacket with eyeballs that looked similar to her own, patterned all over the fabric. "We're making a quick stop over at the Vetrasis System. We received a distress signal from a group of survivors that need our help. I'm going to need volunteers, anyone with any combat experience. There's a possibility that we might have to put boots on the ground for the extraction."

"Vetrasis?!" Ukima threw her hands up in frustration. "That system is swarming with Toliath forces! Why put ourselves at risk for a group of survivors?"

"Because they have children." Angela said softly, perhaps the softest she's ever spoken to the stowaways. "And we're going to need them if we want to get to Paradise Planet."

There was an unspoken agreement between the two. For once, Ukima had nothing to say. Angela stepped forward, nodding to everyone in the room. "I'd like to personally thank you all for volunteering. This will help make things a lot easier for us. Axon has briefed me about your roles on board the ship. I'm here to tell you that I'm not picky. We're all in this together now, so just make sure you pull your weight. Grab your stuff and get situated in the crew's quarters. If I were you, I'd get familiar with whatever part of Delilah you'll be maintaining. Axon will answer all of your questions."

There was something clearly bothering the Captain. She seemed distant, lost in thought, and it wasn't until Axon cleared his throat did she snap out of her trance. "Anyone with combat experience that wants to help us with the extraction, meet at the armory in the hangar in two hours. That should give you enough time to get settled." The Captain barked. "You're all dismissed."

@Kessir Tarkin


Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Utrax
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Utrax 𝕰𝖝𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊 𝕭𝖎𝖗𝖉

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K'eve
 Interaction: @ROADWARRIOR + Whoever wants to be nearly RAN INTO

"Maybe I've been saying this wrong. I ask for your companionship. Not sexual companionship. We Obek like to call it a bondshake. I help you, you help me. Understand?"

K'eve's feathers settled down at Sir Junkton's words. While she had a few questions, especially about Obek reproduction, she silently began to analyze his words. So he didn't know how to get rid of the air conditioning but, he was asking to be a part of her Vek-- interesting! There hadn't been any new additions to her Vek for a long time-- not since the poisoning of the Mother. As the First in her Vek, K'eve had been the one to venture off world, while the others stayed behind to tend to the Mother. What would the others think about a Ner'tuk in the Vek? As far as K'eve was concerned, if the Mother wasn't cured, there may be no other choice but to accept alien races into T'kossi culture--

Her leg was suddenly warm.

Growling, K'eve looked down to see Sir Junkton granting her a small body heat exchange. Good! So he was extending a gift to her along with a request to join her Vek. How interesting it was to see the overlap between T'kossi culture and another-- how similar they were meant that it would be easier to integrate them. During the extended embrace, K'eve sifted through her interface, deleted a bit of information, then updated the file on the structure of her Vek...

Vek -- Ka
3 - 1 X> Edit[ 4 - 1]
NER'TUK: Obek
Integration possibility: High = 80% Possible
Observations: Bonding culture --
Gift exchange after bonding --
Small stature # high advantage = probability 90%
More to follow -- Initiating Trial Phase

Once he was back in his seat, K'eve watched Sir Junkton silently, curiously, and when Sir Junkton slapped himself a strange thing happened to her face. It looked almost as if K'eve were bearing her teeth to bite at him, the noise she made was guttural in nature, and her feathers rose nearly to full length-- this the closest thing T'kossi had to laughter. Upon his introduction, K'eve made an addition to her file on him as she listened.

Observation Subject: Tzer Jhnk'don -- Encountered At 1782-182.45 + T'koss Season Of Blades
Title Exchange --

As was deemed appropriate among T'kossi, K'eve raised her hand to her mouth, then bit into her palm until it bled. After showing Sir Junkton the thick black inky looking streak of blood, she began her introduction. "K'eve of T'koss, First of Four in Vek Ka," she pointed to him with a huge claw, "You are fourth, other-world. K'rakoi is third. K'vaken is second." And then the music cut off. K'eve turned her attention to the Captain immediately.

When the word "combat" was said, K'eve shook herself excitedly and growled, "Will fight." Once they were all dismissed she very nearly began running toward the door, pushing past people, shouting, "Weapons! Must see them-- inferior quality makes enemies joyful. Upgrades!" K'eve made her way out the door, almost barreling into a couple of people, before she started actually running, full speed, to get to the Armory faster. In the hall K'eve shouted, "Axon! Tell them all of this-- need all weapons to me. All parts. Make them all surrender arms. Tell them priority is the self no longer, for the whole needs survival. Weak as singles, strong as one, for the enemy fights as such-- We must copy!"
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Hidden 8 yrs ago → 8 yrs ago Post by Kessir Tarkin
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Kessir Tarkin

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Baldur waited for the fighting to start... but it never came, the two exchanged words again and the more he watched the more he realized that they were making friends.

"Ah forget about it Tyr the, two have made up, looks like no excitement tonight." He let out a sigh and stood around the lounge for a while taking in all the different beings that are now occupying the ship. It was vast the difference in culture on the ship, so many different races, this mix of species will become interesting later on when they are more settled in their ways and sides are declared, it always happens in a ship, lucky for me I get to deal with plants. Plants don't choose sides, they just want to live. But I guess if push comes to shove the captain has my support, if it weren't for them I would be still floating in space. I owe her that much. he thought to himself.

Then the captain appeared and made a small speech to the people that were there. They were retrieving a group of survivors, including children. He then heard that they needed volunteers to go off ship and help the rescue. Possibly put boots to asses, this lit him up like a sun that finally burst into flame! [color=00a99d][i]Finally some action! It's been a while but I can't wait to kill me some droids.[/color][/i] He pounded his fists together.

"You have me and my armour, we will protect those survivors with our very lives!" He shouted. This is where he would be able to prove to the ship, the captain and the crew of what value he and Tyr can bring to the ship.

He then heard another immediately volunteer and spoke about making upgrades to their weapons and armour, the scaled creature seemed to know what she was doing as designing ways to better defeat the robotic menace, he quickly got on his comm. "Tyr, meet me in the armory, it looks like we might be getting some long overdue upgrades for a rescue mission." He heard two beeps of comfirmation and quickly turned around and started running behind and soon catching up to the lizard like creature and headed to the armory with it so that he and his armour would be the first in line to be upgraded.

Blast, what was that creature's name, was it K'eve? Oh well it's worth a try.

"K'eve! Keep running but listen to me, I am Baldur, if you can receive information by signal I have a package that I am sending to you so that you can help me right away! The infernal machines already know what I have so there is nothing to hide that they don't already know. This will help you from having to waste time looking for and having to discover yourself." He said as he mentally sent out a package via wireless airwaves.



It was his motto to be the first on the ground and the last off it in combat and I have to be prepared to do so, fighting is what he was born for.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Pirouette
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Pirouette Stories Yet Untold

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ALI



ALI's expression provided no indication that she was satisfied with the answer provided or not. The truth was that despite ALI's inexperience with the outside world, she could already deduce at least that much in the answer provided. This answer had made ALI feel letdown. It wasn't that Axon had provided an inadequate response, his was calculated to be the most likely truth, but hearing it, made ALI feel... guilty. If she had discovered how to counter the Swarm Code sooner, she could have saved many AI from going rogue. Not that she cared for any other AI, but she thought of the many organics that could have potentially been saved, especially considering that other AI became 'heroes'. It was as if she didn't want to hear that answer as it confirmed the reality where she missed her opportunity to feel rewarded in becoming a 'hero'.

ALI offered no other words as Axon bid farewell and his image vanished from view. ALI remained, unmoving, from her spot as she internally considered something for a few seconds before snapping her attention forward and proceeding down the corridor and into the lounge.

Captain Abetchi's address was an unexpected twist that ALI hadn't expected. There was a formal address to the volunteers but after there was stated urgency to rescue organics from Vetrasis. ALI had no data to confirm the one organic's response that it was "swarming with Toliath Forces", but she made a note of that possibility, especially because the Captain did not deny this statement.

ALI quietly assessed this operation and found difficulty in the Captain's choice. If Vetrasis was occupied by Toliath Forces, then a venture into this system, especially pursuing a distress beacon of anti-Toliath organics, means that the entire ship and occupants would be in danger. Sure, if there were more organics to save than those on the ship, you could make a 'profit' on total number saved if you had losses. However this raised its own concerns. Logistics. The Delilah is a Frigate class vessel and the facilities on board will likely have been built to accommodate a three or four individuals, not a number over thirty. An assumption was made that contingencies and modifications were made for the original crew manifest but adding more would likely strain the already strained resources.

As the other volunteers stormed off for armament, ALI approached the captain. "Captain Abetchi. My programming insists I mention my advice to you. By my initial estimation, adding additional organics to this vessel would significantly strain the facilities and supplies designed for the initial manifest of passengers. Not to mention the inherit risk of Toliath presence. Thus, I conclude that there would be a greater risk of loss of life if we perform your planned maneuver and rescue those organics on Vetrasis."
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