School started for me! In case you're wondering, modern physics is hard. So's thermodynamics. Def. Bod's is fun, though. It's like Statics, except more so, and I liked Statics problems. They were straightforward and fun!
I've noticed the comms-problem, too. I don't see why we have to respond to everyone with each post. We could try out shorter, slightly-more-frequent posts with partial responses. I mean, my problem is that I always end up with a post four times the length I thought it would be, so I'm terrible at that. But, that's why I'm posting a summary to the first OOC post every ten posts. That way you technically don't have to read everyone's post to know what's going on.
@Sep@boomlover What if it was simply a boarding party sized shuttle? IE a Caestus Assault Ram? Ship wouldn't be able to handle large scale firepower but the crew inside could prove to be a boarding party wrecking-ball, particularly if their Space Marines or similar.
Also, can I claim a spot in the waiting list? This looks wizard.
You've been added. Ryker Rohrer is officially out of the RP; I'll throw his ship out of local space via wormhole in my next post. Which means, @Dawnscroll, we've got an open slot. Make an application.
I've noticed that, too. Why? Not enough things to react to? Intimidation by post length? Whatever it is, we can try and fix it. And if anyone's not feeling it, let me know - no hard feelings; but it would be nice to know so that way we can get fresh blood in.
Did anyone else know that there was a Black Widow comic out? I just picked it up today. Well, issues 1-3 and 5-6. The comic book store I went to didn't have #4 and that made me sad. On the other hand, now I get to look around for other comic book stores!
@Ryker Rohrer You've got two days to post before you'll be dropped from the RP.
@Sep I'm actually rather surprised at how few of the "usual crowd" ended up applying. I can add you to the wait list, if you like. That goes for you, too, @boomlover, although you'd be behind Sep.
"New radar contact!" the radarman said. "It just... appeared!"
“This is colonel Darius Mills, commander of the United States Air Force Vessel Helios. We do not wish to engage in any form of hostilities.”
Venera eyed the transmission incredulously. Was it possible that the United States had sent up a rocket covertly before the war had ended?
"Seal the bridge," she ordered. Venera turned to the commsman. "The identity of the aliens is now a Particularly Important state secret. Burn all relevent tapes in the document handling room." More loudly, she said, "Anyone failing to adhere to procedure will be shot."
What sort of Imperialist trickery was this? Undoubtedly they had no intention of peaceful contact with a Soviet ship - not if they had come from Earth. Not after the U.S.S.R. turned on the sleeping Imperialists and crushed their weak and corrupt forces to install benevelont leadership. But if they had launched before that, when the two superpowers had united to destroy the evil traitor Yuri, then it was possible that they were serious.
On the other hand, what were the odds that a ship from the same planet just happened to end up in the same chunk of space that the Romanova had been thrown into? Perhaps they were the ones responsible for dragging the Romanova here-
"New radar contact!"
"My Name is Raiden Korten, and I am the current SOSCOM commanding officer of the Heavyweight Research ship codename:Oblivion. We are a research Vessel. and intend no harm. our ship shall remain open to communications, Good day to you."
Apparently aliens spoke... English. That was unnerving, but at least most crew on the Romanova could speak it. English was a necessity when half of the ship's technology came from-
"New radar contact!"
Venera growled. A spaceman handed her a report from cosmogation. They weren't in known space anymore. As a matter of fact, they appeared to be outside the galaxy. She immediately classified this, too, as a state secret.
"Unidentified contacts, this is Captain Leonard Powers of the United Earth Government Naval Command battlecruiser Paramount. Please identify."
'United Earth Government'? Impossible! The only Earth government was the Soviet governement, and we speak Russian, not English! Again with the English! "Commsman, broadcast the following message at the-"
"New radar contact!"
"VV Pale pendet operam magistratus Markurio foris. Foederis Valinosian verum boni sumus, et audite verbum tuum in pace. Quamdiu nolueris perpetrando barbare habeo quod naviculas elit. Dabo varietate aliena arma humili virtutem spei non est errare; si iusta vindicta sicut ceteri erit."
...Venera had no idea what that meant. At least they weren't American. "...as I was saying, broadcast the following-"
"New radar contact!"
Venera sighed, and waited for the communication to come through.
"Keia luna o ka Intrepid o Sara Parker, aole he poe hoaaloha a kakou i ko kakou mau moku e hiki ia ia ke kaumaha i ka hookahi-manawa pilikia? Aiiio lawelawe. Ina oe e pono ai kekahi kokua, aole he poe olioli, e hoike maikai makemake, a me kōkua."
She glared at the spaceman manning the radar station. He steadfastly stared at his screen, risking an occasional glance back. Venera kept waiting, shaking her head with annoyance.
"Commander, two new radar contacts!"
She waited. No communications came through. Fine.
"Broadcast the following message at the Paramount," she continued. "Attention-"
"New radar contact!"
'To hell with it,' Venera thought. "-Paramount. Whatever 'United Earth Government' you claim to represent-"
"Greetings unknown vessels. We are the Advent, and we come with no ill intentions towards those who mean us none in return. To those who do, know that we will not hesitate in defending ourselves as we deem fit."
Venera's head hurt; her brain was telling her they spoke Russian while her ears heard... something else.
"-either has or will be crushed under the heel of the Soviet Union as the rebellious upstarts that they are. There is only one government, and it resides in Moscow. ...however, given our obviously extraordinary circumstances, we will overlook your identification 'mistake' in the spirit of goodwill."
"Attention Paramount. Whatever 'United Earth Government' you claim to represent either has or will be crushed under the heel of the Soviet Union as the rebellious upstarts that they are. There is only one government, and it resides in Moscow. ...however, given our obviously extraordinary circumstances, we will overlook your identification 'mistake' in the spirit of goodwill."
The central status display finally updated itself, line by agonizing line. A spaceman flew between sensor stations, updating which ship was which via grease pencil on the screen. Suddenly, Venera was very glad to not further antagonize the Paramount. It dwarfed the Romanova.
Time to try her luck on a completely different gamble.
"Re-aim the dish at the Helios," she ordered.
"Romanova to the Helios. In the spirit of goodwill, we would like to send an envoy to discuss our situation."
If they accepted, at least she could confirm if they really were American. A spaceman handed her a note. Apparently Zelinsky had managed to get the tesla coils online, although there was triple underlined, "Ionizable materials tanks will blow if used at present; you get one shot!" Better than nothing, anyway. Possibly she could sneak Zelinsky over to re-appropriate some of their technology.
"Finally, broadcast this to all ships:"
"Romanova to all ships. We propose a meeting on a any other ship to discuss our situation and confirm our present location."
Member
PrinceAlexus
Izurich
Sep
Forsythe
