Dragonruby

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@MissingAxis

There's a long moment of silence after the door slides shut. Noah walked up to the panel that Amenmesh had indicated at earlier, and fiddled with the controls to change the atmosphere in the room. “Well... That was certainly something today...” He says finally, as the cycling air fills the room with a quiet hiss.

Erling gives a sigh back in response, unsure of what else to say. “I suppose so... Feudal politics, and we get a front row seat.”

“A duel to decide who is crowned king... Seems almost like a storybook, don't you think?”

Erling retorted with a snort. “A duel that involves jet powered hammers. Not exactly something that's usually found in most storybooks. None I've read anyways.”

Noah steps away from the console and towards the beds provided for them, pulling off the helmet of his environment suit as it tells him that the air has become breathable. “You just haven't been reading the right books then,” he replies with a joking smile before letting himself sit down. Another moment of silence passes. “So... What do you make of all this?”

Erling, who had walked off to investigate a nearby chair and desk, turned and quirked a brow back at Noah, having taken off his helmet as well. “The diplomat is asking me what I think of foreign politics?”

“Admirals are all basically politicians now anyways, so yes, I am.” Noah retorts with a roll of his eyes.

“Alright, alright... I'll give you that... You don't get to a flag rank without playing politics of some kind, and that's before the Admirality was formed...” Erling leans up against the desk and crosses his arms, tilting his head down in thought. “In regards to the whole duel... I suppose I'm sorry Amenmesh's plans didn't go as he wanted them too. It's perhaps a little too early to call him a friend, he's certainly been a very important figure in establishing diplomatic relations, and he's been more than a kind host. I'd hope he succeeds for the sake of continued relations, even if Zisuthra would do similarly...” A sigh slips past his lips now, and he turns his head up towards the ceiling. “As for this... Union, as he called it... I believe it'd be met fairly favorably by the Admirality. It'd certainly be better war, even if the hawks might disagree with it. They're too caught up in this idea of 'human supremacy'... You'd almost think that they believe that the stars were here to be handed to them on a silver platter. Luckily they're a small minority, so, not too much to worry about on that end.”

Noah tilts his head slightly. “You don't think we'd be able to win a war against the Ophisians? I mean... I don't particularly want one either, but... They have less numbers than us, less resources. They don't seem all that advanced technology-wise either, from what I've seen.”

“It's not that I don't think we wouldn't be able to win... It's more that I don't know...” Erling scratches his chin and goes on to continue in response to another inquisitive look from Noah. “If it ever truly came to blows for whatever reason, I do believe that, in the end, we'd come out on top, but we'd lose a hell of a lot in the process. The Ophisians... They've been at this for a long time. Countless generations of fighting so hard, they nuke themselves back a century of progress. They know what they're doing. Meanwhile, Terran doctrine is... Untested. They're based off old records and texts, most of which were corrupted or damaged. The civil war helped to iron out some of the kinks, but rebels and rioters aren't much of an opposing force to test ourselves against, doubly so when they were using the same unproven doctrines as we were. For all we know, ancient human strategies only worked because of a distinct technological advantage that we no longer have, and we're simply throwing ourselves to the wolves doing what we do.” Erling shrugged. “Too many unknowns.”

Noah simply nodded along silently as he listened, absorbing what Erling said. Finally he rolled his shoulders and yawned. “Well... Either way... I suppose there isn't anything we can really do but watch what happens next.”

Erling gave a grunt in agreement. “That's what we were brought here to do, anyways...”

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Keyguyperson

B-but... I posted something for you... Why won't you notice me

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Willy Vereb

We're saying you're good to go as long as your mechs don't pull the stunts like they do in the video. How well fighter craft/humanoid mechs do in combat will matter on how you use them, not because they can utterly ignore point defense by dodging and boosting around. Newtypes or not, they will likely not be able to pull off the maneuvers shown off in that video since the video is extremely stylized to show off the mobile suits. That's the point we're trying to make. Don't have them ignore enemy defenses like they're non-existent and we're good.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Palamon

Alright, that works with me. Just wanted to run it by you first and make sure we were on the same page. I'll work on that reply.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@CowboyCommando

No real chat room, I just have MissingAxis as a contact on places such as Skype and Steam. It helps to coordinate GM efforts. If someone would like to create one, then by all means, but neither of us have created an 'official' one since we didn't see a real need too.

@Palamon

Also, since I just read your post, do you think our two human factions would speak similar languages? Or at least one understandable by each other? In all honesty, they probably wouldn't, but I figured it'd be easier if we could skip past the whole 'lost in translation' bit and move a bit more quickly into actual diplomacy, unless that was something you'd rather do.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Willy Vereb

I've had a bit of discussion with MissingAxis on your sheet, and as is, we really can't accept it.

First off, though this is admittedly a pretty minor issue and one we talked about with Keyguyperson's sheet is that the anime inspirations might clash a bit with the whole idea that the RP is supposed to be a bit more grounded and with a lower power level. Of course, this is particularly pointed at your mechs, but by itself this wouldn't be a major barrier to your acceptance.

The real big issue is that we have some worries about your tech level in general, though in particular it can be narrowed down to three things, especially considering Gundam and Aldnoah:Zero are rather obviously major inspirations for your faction, and in those settings things get really extreme really fast in terms of technology.

1. As it currently reads and looks like, your mechs are equipped with "mega-particle" weapons on the scale of warship mounted weapons, and your Mobile Castle as well seems to be mounted with turreted versions. Generally in sci-fi, when someone brings out particle weapons, especially one called a "mega-particle" weapon, those are the sorta things that you'd find spinal mounted on warships as pretty massive superweapon sorta deals, and obviously having a spaceship with potentially a whole fuckton of those, as well as comparatively tiny mechs equipped with one each is a really big no-go. Either some clarification or down-teching of this will be required.

2. Fusion power approaching the levels of anti-matter generation is a little much. Not too much else to be said about that, just... It's a little extreme for things as is. Anti-matter generation itself is something we'd consider carefully about someone deciding to pick up, and using fusion to pretty much get a close approximation of it is kind of bending that rule.

3. Your blackhole FTL is something we had a fair bit of discussion about as well. Our biggest concern is with it's ability to be abused, as, well... The ability to generate a blackhole is pretty bullshit in terms of power if you could weaponize or, or "accidentally" have a ship's drive go critical and then just kill everything in the area. If it's just going to be a cool way to get around, then sure, but we'd like an absolute promise from you not to use this as a sort of 'trump card' to just wipe the board if you're losing a battle.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@duck55223

The RP is still open to new applications. Just be sure to post your sheet here in the OOC first until it's been accepted.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

Well, there we go. Posted for three different people. @Palamon, the post's probably a little short in hindsight, but I just wanted to throw out a quick description of the system you were going to be jumping into, plus name the character your Lord would be interacting with most likely. I'll put out a bit more on the next go.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@MissingAxis

The pace of the two men was relatively hurried, not only trying to match the Ophisian Lord's longer strides, but also to try and make the ceremony on time. The pair of them were ushered to the side, up upon a raised platform where they could look down at the proceedings at hand. It seemed that with their arrival, all the seven Lords had finally been gathered.

Erling was familiar with three of them, at least. Or, as familiar as one could get with a colony of eels anyways. It was still a little hard for Admiral Erling to discern between Ophisians he'd only just met, but with the three he'd begun to pick up little cues and tells that differentiated one from the other. Stance and posture, the way they spoke, and differences in their size. The ornamentation of their armor was also one way to tell, though that quickly fell flat if they ever decided to wear something other than what he recognized.

The Terran's familiarity with Amenmesh was self-explanatory as the primary diplomat between the two species, and they'd met fairly often within the embassy. Zisuthra was the second most familiar 'face', known to Erling as some sort of famous general in a civil war not too long ago. Megalu was the third, supposedly the youngest Lord, and apparently a bit of an eccentric, though Erling had never been able to understand what exactly made him so strange. It was enough to earn him the title of the Abberant, however. Megalu had always visited under escort by one of the other two Lords, and they'd spoken the least.

Of course, Erling was at least familiar by name in regards to the other members of the Assembly. Ugar the Old, Ikishun the Poet, Nosi the Last, and finally the most hated Lord of them all, Ua-Menlir the Heretic. Nosi had apparently abused the power of the Assembly once, long ago, and as such was banned from ever reproducing, hence his name, by for such a religious species, for someone to be given the title of Heretic was surely a most terrible and hated member. As far as it'd been explained to him, Ua-Menlir had been the one to wage civil war against his brothers, though Lords warring against each other was a fairly common occurrence, what had made the Heretic's own effort so blasphemous was his attempt to kill his brother Lords, and unite the Ouroboros under his rule by abusing the holy texts of his people.

The ceremony began with a prayer, as most Ophisian ceremonies did from Admiral Erling's experience. A song of some sort, most of it beyond his understanding using much more difficult and archaic vocabulary, though Noah besides him was a bit better educated in such things and whispered to him what he could piece together through a private channel between them. The man had settled down a fair amount compared to only a few minutes earlier, and he quickly settled into his role as a diplomatic observer as he studied the proceedings with great interest.

Once the prayer was done, however, things quickly jumped into business. Every Lord was to cast a nomination, and the one with the most would become king, or Lord of Lords in more ceremonial vernacular. First was a vote for Lord Zisuthra, from Amenmesh himself. Next was a vote for Amenmesh, which seemed to stun Amenmesh for a moment.

Erling narrowed his eyes, using the zoom function within his environment suit's helmet to take a closer look at the Lord's many faces. Ophisians were never the most emotive of species, and the Lords often seemed to have a responsibility to carry themselves with bearing, but even with Erling's limited experience in dealing with the aliens, Lord Amenmesh's surprise was relatively apparent.

“Does he not want to be elected as king...?” Noah muttered quietly. Evidently, the man had noticed it as well. “Or maybe he's just surprised that particular Lord voted for him?” Erling himself stayed quiet, continuing to watch silently.

Another vote for Zisuthra, cast by the Lord himself. Two for Lord Ugar. One for Ikishun. Finally, Megalu voted for Amenmesh. A three way tie. Before either of the Terrans could ask the other what they thought was going to happen next, the priests stepped up without hesitation, casting nominations themselves.

Amenmesh's priest voted for Zisuthra. Another for Amenmesh. Zisuthra's own voted for him as well. Another vote for Ugar. It seemed as if Lord Amenmesh's apparent wish for Zisuthra to lead the Assembly was back on track, mostly. The Lord led by a single vote, but there was one final one yet to be cast. Lord Ugar's priest would likely either vote for Ugar himself, or simply cement Zisuthra's victory, or so it seemed in Erling's eyes. Of course, instead, she voted for Amenmesh instead. A brief study showed that Amenmesh was just as stunned, if not more so than he had seemed earlier. Things had obviously not gone to plan, and a brief look over towards Ugar showed that the Ophisian was obviously upset over something. The Terrans were left to speculate between themselves as to what exactly had happened as the ceremony came to a close, before the Lords were dismissed, and Amenmesh came to gather the humans.

They'd traveled a little ways down the corridors before Amenmesh stopped to ask them a question.

“An election, right?” Noah answered first. “Lugal Gu'Enak is a rite to determine who shall become Lord of Lords. But... You tied with Lord Zisuthra.”

Admiral Erling crosses his arms and tilts his head slightly. “What does that mean now then? One of you has to prove you're the better nomination. How do you prove yourselves?”

---

@Palamon

The carrier fleets of the Terran Remnants were the pride and joy of their military. They are the biggest and strongest collection of military firepower in the Terran arsenal, carrying dozens of ships and entire invading armies, as well as signifying the most powerful form of power projection that the Admirality had at their disposal. It was where nearly all the generals and admirals aboard the Board of Admirals had served in some way or form as part of one of those fleets. To serve with a carrier fleet was the star posting of any young officer seeking to climb the ranks. Commander Sarah Heyes was perhaps stationed in the furthest post she could have gotten from an illustrious position within those fleets.

The colony of New Victoria was one of the Terran Remnant's newer acquisitions. An arid and barren planet that supported no known life at the time of discovery. What it did have, however, were rich mineral deposits, a gravity with similar conditions to Terran Nova, and an atmosphere that could be feasibly terraformed into something much more habitable within the next five or so decades. The colony itself consisted of a number of mining and terraforming outposts surrounding a single population center of perhaps 400,000 or so. And as with all colonies under the Terran Remnants, New Victoria was provided a basic defensive fleet, largely to deter things such as piracy or smuggling.

Every system had a number of 'police vessels', ships equipped with only sub-light engines and without the usual dual-engine design of most Terran military vessels. Slightly less well armed as well, the only advantage they really boasted over proper ships of the line were their tougher armor, but when considering their role in simply policing the system, as their name implies, they didn't tend to need much more than what they were equipped with. These ships were usually supplied and manned by the local planetary or system administration; the civilian governments left intact during the civil war; but New Victoria's developing state meant that what few they had were on-loan from a neighboring system.

When things proved too much for the system police to handle, however, there were small picket fleets of more proper Terran Remnant ships stationed at every colony. Numbering usually at four to six vessels, their role was to provide a bit of a more heavy handed deterrent against pirates, or any secessionist movements that may develop, or if things developed beyond their control, they were tasked with fleeing and sending word to the Admirality in order for them to send a more proper task force to handle things. These picket fleets were the furthest flung from the glory and fame of the carriers, and were often staffed by officers who'd fallen out of favor, and enlisted men who were unruly and troublesome, or perhaps just unlucky. It was where careers went to stagnate and die, and Commander Heyes was the frustrated and tired woman in charge of the local picket.

---

@Keyguyperson

In the wake of First Contact, there was much abuzz through the scientific communities as they asked what else could be out there. Records from Basilica Station made mention of numerous alien civilizations, but many had wondered if the galaxy harbored life aside from themselves anymore. The Ophisians proved that possibility wrong, and almost immediately xenology became the biggest and fastest growing field of science.

While the men and women in white lab coats looked to the alien, many military minds from the Praetorian Admirality looked out for things more... recognizable. If alien life could survive and thrive out in the great beyond, then perhaps what remained of humanity could as well. Were the Terran Remnants the only trace of mankind left in the galaxy? Or could there be other, scattered survivors?

In the span of months, the Admirality had gathered a number of expedition ships, and using what little information they could scrounge from the archives from Basilica Station, they sent these ships out, pointed towards the last known locations of humanity in the stars, blazing rip lanes out in a wild fashion that was before unheard of. The creation of civilian rip lanes was tightly regulated by the Praetorian Admirality, but in the face of potential fellow human life... A few precautions were thrown to the wind.

Lieutenant Commander Lyle Vales was the captain of one such exploratory vessel. Supplied for a mission that could potentially last weeks or months, particularly if something was to go awry the TRNS Celer was crewed by a staff of only several dozen. In all honesty, that was all they really needed, seeing as the majority of the voyage was simply travel, passing through empty systems as they searched and scanned for any signs of inhabitance, either current or prior. It was perhaps lucky for the crew of the Celer that their estimated final destination was a fair bit closer than those of a number of other similar vessels sent out, and the crew made ready for what could perhaps be the final jump to their destination.

Activity was minimal across the bridge, despite the potential end of their already several weeks long journey. Perhaps they'd find something, and perhaps they wouldn't. There never were really high chances of discovering much in the first place, and the crew had known that from the beginning.

“Rip drive is on standby to receive power, and radiation is within safe levels.” One of the bridge crew called out as they readied themselves at the edge of an empty system behind them.

“All non-essential systems have been shut off. Power being rerouted to the rip drive now.” Another says, as the lights in the bridge shut off, and red emergency lights come on.

“Course plotted, we're ready to go on your command, sir.”

Lt. Commander Vales nodded once. “Very well, initiate jump. Let's see if we'll have anything to bring home with us at the end of all this.”

And with that, the TRNS Celer jumped, the space in front of it seeming to morph and bulge until space itself tore open into an angry red wound in reality into which the ship drifted into as it began to pick up speed.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@MissingAxis

Considering the potential alternatives that could have happened, First Contact with the Ouroboros went astoundingly well. In the months that followed, an embassy had been built by the ophisians at the mouth of the rip lane and frequent contact between the two races was established. Admiral Erling and his fleet remained, helping to oversee not only the construction of the embassy, but also as a fairly important figure himself as one of the first humans to meet with an ophisian face to face.

As for the rest of humanity, well... They took the news just as any other new shocking headline. The scientific community was thrilled, while the common opinion of your average citizen was a bit more mixed. Some were excited to know that they were not alone in the galaxy, while others questioned the ability of aliens to empathize, socialize, and co-exist with humanity. Others saw this as hope that other human colonies could exist out in the dark expanse of the void, for the galaxy wasn't quite so lonely after all. Nearly the entirety of the Terran Remnant's media was filled with nothing but news and speculation of their new galactic neighbor until, slowly, it just became another fact of life. As time passed, the news shifted to other, more mundane things, and the Ophisians received less attention. They still made the news, but no longer were they the hottest topic. A mining accident in an asteroid belt costing the lives of twelve workers. A controversy over a singer's new song lyrics having been stolen from another popular work. The recent court martial of an influential admiral who'd been a prospective member of the Board of Admirals. Time ran its course, and people moved on with life.

With time, came understanding, however. Their languages were far too different for the other to learn to speak properly, and so it was decided that both parties would learn to understand each other instead of conversing in a single tongue. A fair decision, all things considered.

Over their course of interaction, the ophisians and the terrans learned much about each other, with the human diplomats explaining their history and their goal to find humanity's cradle, and in return they were taught the history of the ophisians.

One might assume that a race of colony-minds would learn cooperation a fair bit better than their more singular counterparts, and yet the ophisians had long been at war with each other, developing into a martial culture devoted to a dead god who had sacrificed itself long ago, and now led by seven Lords who are guided by their church. Cycles of destruction marked every incident in which they were brought low, only to claw their way back to the stars, and this history was where the terran's name for their governance as a whole was decided. The Ouroboros.

True understanding of each other's culture and language had yet to be fully reached, and so it came as a surprise when the terran diplomats received an invitation from Lord Amenmesh himself, patron of the embassy, to bring two human diplomats to one of their most holiest of places as witnesses to an ancient rite. It was less of a surprise when Admiral Erling, along with a more properly trained diplomat as an advisor, were selected to go, due Erling's prior experience with the aliens as well as his military history and rank.

The pair arrived to the Basilica onboard an unarmed diplomatic vessel, with Ouroboros escorts, and had only just set foot upon the barren moon.

---

Their shuttle had only just touched down, and stepping off, Admiral Erling could not help but turn up towards the sky to try and glimpse at the burning world above. It'd seemed almost eerie from the view of the vessel. The idea that the planet had once held life, and was now a burning hellscape. Admiral Erling's profession had been war for nearly all of his life, but the idea of an entire world's worth of lives -men, women, and children- all set aflame like that was a little much. Through the tinted visor of his environment suit, he could just make it out. Noah Belgrade stepped out beside him, letting out a bit of a relieved groan. The shuttle ride down into the atmosphere had not quite agreed with the man, and Erling wondered exactly how much diplomatic help the man would be in his current state. He patted his shoulder. “Easy there... Ride's over. Just take a second to get your stomach in order, yea?”

“I... Hurgh... I'll try...” Noah moaned pitifully, as he stumbled around slightly. Erling sighed and shook his head. How was it that this man was the one that'd been assigned to a mission like this.