Avatar of Starboard Watch
  • Last Seen: 4 mos ago
  • Joined: 5 yrs ago
  • Posts: 204 (0.11 / day)
  • VMs: 0
  • Username history
    1. Starboard Watch 5 yrs ago
  • Latest 10 profile visitors:

Status

Recent Statuses

5 yrs ago
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
7 likes
5 yrs ago
O hear us when we cry to Thee for those in peril on the sea.
5 likes

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts


THE STATE OF EMPIRE, 2387


STAR TREK: THE NEW ORDER


Peace reigns in the Quadrant. A triumphant Federation has destroyed the mortal enemy of Freedom, the Dominion, and sent it back across the wormhole from where it came, and now stands as the predominant power in the region. Their century-long enemy, the hardfought foe of Cardassia, has been brought to heel and, with an allied - cynics might say puppet - government, they are no longer a thorn on the side of Starfleet. Relations with the Klingon Empire, disregarding the usual border disputes and brazen acts of individual privateers, have never been higher. Even the Romulan Empire, shrouded behind the veil of the Neutral Zone, has been making overtures of peace and reconciliation. Optimistic scholars say that reunification with Vulcan is possible within a generation. And all of this is to the direct benefit of the Federation, which in the wake of the Dominion War has swelled to a size never seen before. In other words, the Federation stands unchallenged in its corner of the Galaxy. It seems that the Eternal Peace, which billions of men and women gave their lives for in dozens of star systems and fleet actions, was a dream that was worth fighting for. It is now not only a dream, but a reality made possible by their sacrifice. Post-War prosperity rings in good times throughout the Federation, as Starfleet returns to its normal mission of exploration after being on war footing for almost ten years. It seems that life, after such chaos and destruction, is finally returning to normal.

But it is soon all about to change.

Disjointed and oft contradictory reports begin flooding the listening posts along the Neutral Zone, the officers manning the post not used to such activity from the usually secretive and paranoid Empire. Not much is able to be made out of the chaotic transmissions, except visions of an Apocalypse drawing near. As more reports fly in, the picture comes into focus. The worst fears of Starfleet are confirmed when a Romulan Warbird decloaks on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, asking for asylum for their crew:

Romulus has been destroyed, and the Romulan Empire is disintegrating by the minute.

The various client states and slave races once kept in check by the military might of the Emperor are unleashed upon the dying Empire. The Remans, not having tasted independence since Man discovered fire on Earth, raise up the standards of their ancient Kingdom. But there are many claimants to the Obsidian Throne, each with their own men to draw upon. The Nausicaans, the Vronnuks, the Troknai, and the thousand other slave races once subject to oppressive Romulan rule too raise their banners in rebellion, but only time will tell if their struggle for independence will succeed.

The Romulan Government, having been decapitated by the loss of Romulus, scrambles to find itself in the swirling mess of the Empire. A Provisional Council, set up along Federation ideals of representative democracy - or at least a Romulan conception of it - is formed and quickly finds itself in contact with the Federation, seeking aid in the coming civil strife. Elsewhere, warlords with their squadrons roam the Empire, a headless army without a leader or a mission. They tear through star systems, looking for purpose but finding only loot and bloodshed. Rumors roll throughout the remnants of the Romulan Star Navy that, somewhere deep in Imperial space, the Empire continues on with a relative of the last Emperor on the throne, and is preparing itself for the restoration of the Empire.

It is clear to all the powers in the region that the vacuum caused by the destabilization of the Empire can only mean one thing. War is coming. The Klingons mobilize their military forces and begin sending punitive expeditions into the fractured and weakened Imperium, exacting revenge for crimes done onto their people. Squadrons of birds-of-prey and cruisers fly from their bases, bloodlust in their eyes as they descend upon the defenseless Romulan colonies.

Frantically, Starfleet Command mobilizes a task force - comprised of all available ships no matter the age or quality - and sends it to the Neutral Zone to deal with the incoming refugee crisis and, ostensibly, to keep the peace. One of these ships, practically rushed out to join the force, is the USS Vigilance, an aged Ambassador-class heavy cruiser in drydock for decommissioning. The crew is picked from those on temporary duty assignment and those awaiting transfer orders and, with a brief shakedown cruise to the Neutral Zone the only thing to prepare them, are sent out to enforce the Federation's ideals of Freedom, Democracy, and Liberty.

Or, at least, that is what they believe. For the dawn of a New Galactic Order is peaking over the Milky Way Horizon, and it can be stopped by no man.

Setting the Stage


This roleplay begins roughly a few weeks after the destruction of Romulus, as depicted in the first reboot Star Trek movie. The Federation is the dominant power, by a significant margin, in the wake of its dual victory over the Dominion and Cardassia. Much has changed in the culture of Starfleet and the Federation due to the wars of chaotic war and strife, but things are beginning to look bright until this terrible tragedy occurs that, for better and for worse, totally reorients the balance of power in this troubled region of space.

This roleplay will follow the Command Staff - the Ship's Company - of the USS Vigilance. She is an older class ship, rushed out of the drydocks to take part in this operation. This will be the first time these characters will have served together, and it will be the first time they are ever aboard this vessel. The Vigilance is being deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Romulan space closest to the Federation and Klingon border zones. Most of this region of space is uncharted by the Federation and thus this story will feature both the exploration part of Star Trek, and greater political overtones as well.

With this roleplay, it will be a little "unique" in regards to character formation. In this case, I already have character sheets written for the Command Staff, and it would be up to our players to decide on who they would like to play as. Depending on the interest shown, I think we would need to double up. I've attempted this roleplay before with limited results, but perhaps third time is a charm! I will be playing the Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, and Command Master Chief - essentially the Command Triad - but I'll allow the rest of the players to pick who they like the best.

If this gets off the ground, I have a series of "fact files" to depict the true change in the galactic order post-Dominion War in this universe. It's far darker than anyone would like to see. In any case, this completely ignores Picard-canon. I wrote this RP before it came out, and since I wasn't pleased with what they did with it, we'll just pretend like it did not happen.
bump

STAR TREK: THE NEW ORDER


Peace reigns in the Quadrant. A triumphant Federation has destroyed the mortal enemy of Freedom, the Dominion, and sent it back across the wormhole from where it came, and now stands as the predominant power in the region. Their century-long enemy, the hardfought foe of Cardassia, has been brought to heel and, with an allied - cynics might say puppet - government, they are no longer a thorn on the side of Starfleet. Relations with the Klingon Empire, disregarding the usual border disputes and brazen acts of individual privateers, have never been higher. Even the Romulan Empire, shrouded behind the veil of the Neutral Zone, has been making overtures of peace and reconciliation. Optimistic scholars say that reunification with Vulcan is possible within a generation. And all of this is to the direct benefit of the Federation, which in the wake of the Dominion War has swelled to a size never seen before. In other words, the Federation stands unchallenged in its corner of the Galaxy. It seems that the Eternal Peace, which billions of men and women gave their lives for in dozens of star systems and fleet actions, was a dream that was worth fighting for. It is now not only a dream, but a reality made possible by their sacrifice. Post-War prosperity rings in good times throughout the Federation, as Starfleet returns to its normal mission of exploration after being on war footing for almost ten years. It seems that life, after such chaos and destruction, is finally returning to normal.

But it is soon all about to change.

Disjointed and oft contradictory reports begin flooding the listening posts along the Neutral Zone, the officers manning the post not used to such activity from the usually secretive and paranoid Empire. Not much is able to be made out of the chaotic transmissions, except visions of an Apocalypse drawing near. As more reports fly in, the picture comes into focus. The worst fears of Starfleet are confirmed when a Romulan Warbird decloaks on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, asking for asylum for their crew:

Romulus has been destroyed, and the Romulan Empire is disintegrating by the minute.

The various client states and slave races once kept in check by the military might of the Emperor are unleashed upon the dying Empire. The Remans, not having tasted independence since Man discovered fire on Earth, raise up the standards of their ancient Kingdom. But there are many claimants to the Obsidian Throne, each with their own men to draw upon. The Nausicaans, the Vronnuks, the Troknai, and the thousand other slave races once subject to oppressive Romulan rule too raise their banners in rebellion, but only time will tell if their struggle for independence will succeed.

The Romulan Government, having been decapitated by the loss of Romulus, scrambles to find itself in the swirling mess of the Empire. A Provisional Council, set up along Federation ideals of representative democracy - or at least a Romulan conception of it - is formed and quickly finds itself in contact with the Federation, seeking aid in the coming civil strife. Elsewhere, warlords with their squadrons roam the Empire, a headless army without a leader or a mission. They tear through star systems, looking for purpose but finding only loot and bloodshed. Rumors roll throughout the remnants of the Romulan Star Navy that, somewhere deep in Imperial space, the Empire continues on with a relative of the last Emperor on the throne, and is preparing itself for the restoration of the Empire.

It is clear to all the powers in the region that the vacuum caused by the destabilization of the Empire can only mean one thing. War is coming. The Klingons mobilize their military forces and begin sending punitive expeditions into the fractured and weakened Imperium, exacting revenge for crimes done onto their people. Squadrons of birds-of-prey and cruisers fly from their bases, bloodlust in their eyes as they descend upon the defenseless Romulan colonies.

Frantically, the 12th Fleet - normally kept in reserve for anti-piracy operations, is deployed to the Neutral Zone to deal with the incoming refugee crisis and, ostensibly, to keep the peace. One of these ships, practically rushed out of the drydock, is the USS Vigilance, an aged Ambassador-class starship in drydock for extended repairs. The crew is picked from those on temporary duty assignment, those awaiting transfer orders, and others given order modifications to stock the crew, and, with a brief shakedown cruise to the Neutral Zone the only thing to prepare them, are sent out to enforce the Federation's ideals of Freedom, Democracy, and Liberty.

Or, at least, that is what they believe. For the dawn of a New Galactic Order is peaking over the Milky Way Horizon, and it can be stopped by no man.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The concept of this roleplay comes from an attempted/aborted group RP I intended to do a few months ago. The idea never got much traction but I've been musing over resurrecting it in a 1x1 setting. I've looked far and wide for interest checks that have a pairing interest in Star Trek but I haven't had much luck, so I'm casting my line out here to see if anyone will bite. To better acclimate oneself to the world and the setting, I had a wealth (see: a fuckload) of supplemental material written for the group RP. You can find it here, and I would recommend reading through it to understand the setting.

Essentially, this roleplay will begin a week or so after the destruction of Romulus and Remus, and follow our characters aboard USS Vigilance, an aged starship brought out of certain fate of being pawned off to one of the defense forces/scrapped for parts, and its trip through the chaotic Romulan space. I did not particularly enjoy Star Trek: Picard (or Discovery, for that matter) so the canon that was established in that series should be considered not applicable to this roleplay. The lore for this was written well before the show came out in any regard, and in any case I felt like it simply wasn't up to snuff.

The Starfleet in this world is far more militaristic, far more willing to fight, than what we've come to see in The Next Generation and such. It's been a good amount of years since the end of the Dominion War, and most of the junior officers at the time are now leading starships of their own - and their viewpoint is now inherently different from that of the older class of officers, who served in peacetime. There's some modifications I've made as well, with enlisted ranks and other such things, but we can pretend that there were always enlisted folk running around. I can't imagine any butter-bar cleaning tubes for a living, I can tell you that. I'm in the US Navy myself and I've always hoped to inject that experience into a roleplay like this.

Now that all of that is aside, my idea for this is to utilize the character of Captain Strenn as my main. The other characters in that list will simply be side characters who have a more elaborate backstory than most. Since you'll be going in a little blind, and I think also to create some tension and dramatic flair, my concept for your character would be a junior diplomat attached to the ship from the Federation Foreign Office, sent to aid relations with the burgeoning Romulan Provisional Government.

My rules are pretty simple I'd say. I like realism and a dedication to the world that we're writing it, so that's pretty much a given. Don't make your character a perfect person or anything too ridiculous. Post size doesn't bother me as much as giving me something to write against, to add to, so I'm more of a quality-over-quantity guy. If you happen to drop off, let me know. I'm fully understanding. I'm pretty busy IRL as well so if I happen to drop off, I'll be sure to let you know instead of hanging you out to dry.

If you're interested, PM me and I can send you the character sheet and we can get cracking.
STAR TREK: THE NEW ORDER


Peace reigns in the Quadrant. A triumphant Federation has destroyed the mortal enemy of Freedom, the Dominion, and sent it back across the wormhole from where it came, and now stands as the predominant power in the region. Their century-long enemy, the hardfought foe of Cardassia, has been brought to heel and, with an allied - cynics might say puppet - government, they are no longer a thorn on the side of Starfleet. Relations with the Klingon Empire, disregarding the usual border disputes and brazen acts of individual privateers, have never been higher. Even the Romulan Empire, shrouded behind the veil of the Neutral Zone, has been making overtures of peace and reconciliation. Optimistic scholars say that reunification with Vulcan is possible within a generation. And all of this is to the direct benefit of the Federation, which in the wake of the Dominion War has swelled to a size never seen before. In other words, the Federation stands unchallenged in its corner of the Galaxy. It seems that the Eternal Peace, which billions of men and women gave their lives for in dozens of star systems and fleet actions, was a dream that was worth fighting for. It is now not only a dream, but a reality made possible by their sacrifice. Post-War prosperity rings in good times throughout the Federation, as Starfleet returns to its normal mission of exploration after being on war footing for almost ten years. It seems that life, after such chaos and destruction, is finally returning to normal.

But it is soon all about to change.

Disjointed and oft contradictory reports begin flooding the listening posts along the Neutral Zone, the officers manning the post not used to such activity from the usually secretive and paranoid Empire. Not much is able to be made out of the chaotic transmissions, except visions of an Apocalypse drawing near. As more reports fly in, the picture comes into focus. The worst fears of Starfleet are confirmed when a Romulan Warbird decloaks on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, asking for asylum for their crew:

Romulus has been destroyed, and the Romulan Empire is disintegrating by the minute.

The various client states and slave races once kept in check by the military might of the Emperor are unleashed upon the dying Empire. The Remans, not having tasted independence since Man discovered fire on Earth, raise up the standards of their ancient Kingdom. But there are many claimants to the Obsidian Throne, each with their own men to draw upon. The Nausicaans, the Vronnuks, the Troknai, and the thousand other slave races once subject to oppressive Romulan rule too raise their banners in rebellion, but only time will tell if their struggle for independence will succeed.

The Romulan Government, having been decapitated by the loss of Romulus, scrambles to find itself in the swirling mess of the Empire. A Provisional Council, set up along Federation ideals of representative democracy - or at least a Romulan conception of it - is formed and quickly finds itself in contact with the Federation, seeking aid in the coming civil strife. Elsewhere, warlords with their squadrons roam the Empire, a headless army without a leader or a mission. They tear through star systems, looking for purpose but finding only loot and bloodshed. Rumors roll throughout the remnants of the Romulan Star Navy that, somewhere deep in Imperial space, the Empire continues on with a relative of the last Emperor on the throne, and is preparing itself for the restoration of the Empire.

It is clear to all the powers in the region that the vacuum caused by the destabilization of the Empire can only mean one thing. War is coming. The Klingons mobilize their military forces and begin sending punitive expeditions into the fractured and weakened Imperium, exacting revenge for crimes done onto their people. Squadrons of birds-of-prey and cruisers fly from their bases, bloodlust in their eyes as they descend upon the defenseless Romulan colonies.

Frantically, the 12th Fleet - normally kept in reserve for anti-piracy operations, is deployed to the Neutral Zone to deal with the incoming refugee crisis and, ostensibly, to keep the peace. One of these ships, practically rushed out of the drydock, is the USS Vigilance, an aged Ambassador-class starship in drydock for extended repairs. The crew is picked from those on temporary duty assignment and those awaiting transfer orders and, with a brief shakedown cruise to the Neutral Zone the only thing to prepare them, are sent out to enforce the Federation's ideals of Freedom, Democracy, and Liberty.

Or, at least, that is what they believe. For the dawn of a New Galactic Order is peaking over the Milky Way Horizon, and it can be stopped by no man.

CHARACTERS


COMMANDING OFFICER, CAPTAIN STRENN

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, COMMANDER UDRUS AHRUME

COMMAND MASTER CHIEF, COMMAND MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER BYN CH'OVIAVAL


CHIEF ENGINEER, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER HORST MEYER

CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ANCELIN TREMBLAY


CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ROKUUA


CHIEF TACTICS OFFICER, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CONAAR VUVIAS


CHIER SCIENCE OFFICER, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER PADRAIG O'SULLIVAN


CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER REXA AVUREM


COMMANDER OF ALPHA COMPANY, 1/7TH MARINES, MAJOR IMPISI GWALA


FACT FILES

More will be posted as I write them.



















EXTRANEOUS MATERIAL


I am changing a lot of things in this story in regards to Starfleet's structure as a military organization. For the sake of the RP, pretend as though this was always the case, and that Starfleet always had enlisted personnel and such. I suppose it is my biggest gripe and I intend to totally change it up. Under the hider below is the rank structure of Starfleet personnel E-1 through E-9:



Another thing that I will be altering is the uniforms. We can pretend as though Starfleet, true to its traditions rooted in the United States Navy, is altering its uniforms again for all servicemen. This time it's a total shuffle in regards to learning lessons in the Dominion War. In the hiders below, I will link these uniforms and their intended usage. This is mainly for your own visualization and to ease my discomfort on the idea of Starfleet personnel working pretty much their entire time in service uniforms. I mean, who does maintenance in a service uniform?


In addition to this, I will be introducing the Starfleet Marine Corps. I will detail their history and such in the Fact Files post below, but for now I will post the ship's compliment of Marines, their uniforms, and weapons


A final piece of the puzzle is the main character of this story, the ship herself. Below, in the hider, I've taken the liberty of writing up a partial story of our faithful old ship:

roleplayerguild.com/topics/182590-acc… We're live, people!


Wanted to bump this Interest Check. We already sort of started but we're still taking people!


Kaspar


The lumbering caravan convoy pulled its way down the old Route 89, lurching and churning like a schizophrenic and tumorous snake. The stay-over at Ash Fork had been uneventful, and had done nothing to lighten the spirits of the travelers as they moved to reach their final destination at the ruins of Chino Valley. Some, along the route through the old tribal lands of the Twisted Hairs, had given up and settled down wherever they found an intact building - their hearts turned to stone at the thought of continuing any further. They were marching to the edge of civilization, but in truth, they already crossed into the wild frontier when the caravans moved over the Hoover Dam.

At the head of the road serpent, on a mangy horse, rode Kaspar Morgan. He had exchanged his Followers' white coat with a duster, already now caked with the kicked-up sand from the brahmin pack animals and the constant trek from their staging point at Boulder City. Under his brown Boss-of-the-Plains hat, sweat boiled out from his forehead. The heat was intolerable, worse than anything he had ever experienced in his life. It clouded his very mind, making it increasingly difficult to focus on the task at hand. It was hard enough to ride a horse, having never really taken lessons to heart when he tried to learn in the past, but to have the weight of the entire expedition on his shoulders was unbearable.

He reached into his duster and produced the Expedition orders. The paper was now a crumbled and folded mess, stained with dirt from having read it countless times on their journey. The edges were beginning to fray and the words on the page were smudged by the hasty folding and refolding. Once more, as he did every time he began to lose sight of the mission, he pulled it out and began to read.



He had let it slip in campfire discussions of their purpose, to secure the factories, and he was sure that by this point most people in the convoy were aware of the true intention of the Courier-King and the Followers. It was so cynical, he mused as he tucked the orders back into his pocket, that the primary goal ought to have been to secure the factory and the secondary goal being the town. Why else would they have come this far, passed by perfectly fertile lands that could build sustainable towns?

No, their true purpose all along was to get into that damned city and to break open all of its secrets for their own benefit. They didn't give a damn whether or not the town succeeded, only as long as they broke into the entombed ruins and restart the old factories so it could pump out more robots to defend Vegas against the NCR. It was a cunning move, to be sure, and he had to acknowledge that. But it was cynical, it was cheap, and he would've preferred if they had just sent him and a few wasteland mercenaries to do it.

But, perhaps, they did. And they met their fate like every other group that wandered into Prescott. They never returned. The city was a myth in the East, and at the very thought of it the tribals they encountered on the roads warned them to turn back to the Mojave, or to settle elsewhere. The city was a bad omen to them, in fact that entire expanse south of Flagstaff and north of Phoenix was a bad omen. It brought great anxiety to the warriors from the Hualapai Tribe as they escorted them through their land from Kingman to Ash Fork, warriors who fought off wasteland creatures and roving raiders with tenacity unmatched.

It was a sobering thought, and Kaspar had to shudder and banish it from his mind as the convoy neared Chino Valley, and neared their destiny.

Horace


A bunch of nonsense! Curse upon it all!

Horace, along with the martially-inclined men of the convoy, rode on their horses along the sides of the caravan, covering the advancing settlers from attacks in this unknown and lawless land. In his old ranger outfit, the helmet replaced with well-worn Stetson, he felt a little younger in the heart and the soul. But all the troubles of the travel soon crept into him, and returned him to his old-man ways. The Hualapai tribals refused to go any further than Ash Fork, and that wasn't just because their tribal authority did not extend past that town. No, Horace could tell, the worried looks on their faces as that damned Follower asked them to lead them all the way to Chino Valley told him more than their broken tribal creole could ever do. There was something in this land that struck fear in their hearts, that reduced them to nervous little children at the very thought of stepping foot in this land.

The folly of man, Horace thought. That's all it ever was, the folly of it all! The rumors of Prescott had driven men to their deaths. He wasn't even sure there was anything there worth picking apart. Horace had been there when that drunk Follower Kaspar let it slip that they were really there to start up the old robo-factories, and the man even had a slip of paper to prove it, but it just seemed to ridiculous. There were other explanations, ones that didn't involve killer robots, or a city infested with rabid ghouls, or - his personal favorite - an army of Super Mutants trying to revive the Master. Surely the city just took a direct hit or two or four in the Great War, and was a radioactive wasteland. Anyone who tries to go in gets cooked alive. Simple explanation, and explains why the tribals were petrified of it all.

But it didn't explain why the Courier knew that there were factories there, or why he would even bother to send an expedition to a city that was in ruins. The Securitrons had been here - the pipeline that cast its shadow on the convoy was proof of that - and surely they would've seen if Prescott had been reduced to ash. Clearly it hadn't. And the thought of that unsettled Horace, for it was an unknown quantity, a rogue variable.

His eyes fell down upon the convoy moving beside him. He had made it a point, since their "leader" was so woefully incompetent it wasn't even worth mention, to get to know at least some of the settlers he was to get to know intimately over the next few months - perhaps even years. There was the Follower, but he didn't deserve a goddamn mention. He was worthless. There was that Valdez doctor that gave him the willies, something about the last name sent shivers in his spine. A former NCR Ranger, that Horace felt nothing but contempt for but couldn't quite figure out why.

Then that fucking mercenary from Freeside, the one that ran the Blackjacks, that had tagged along for some godforsaken reason. Now Horace well and truly despised that man. Even the very thought of that wicked Californian brought anger in his heart, who exemplified the worst of the NCR and everything they had brought to the Mojave and elsewhere: greed, corruption, and imperialism. He spit impulsively at the Arizona sand just thinking of his face. But he would never say it to his face. That man, he was capable of great and terrible things indeed. There was also that slave couple, with the strange fucking names. They were suspicious, to say the least. There was something about that couple that was too familiar for Horace to just ignore. He would figure out what it was, or by the Lord, he would eat his goddamn hat.

And then there was Lily.

She was too familiar for him to ignore. Even though they had never said more than a few words in passing to her, he felt a distinct attachment to her - and it wasn't just because they were both coming from Westside. Maybe it was his old heart getting sentimental in his advanced age, or maybe it was senility creeping up on him as he mistook her for Eunice. Either way, whatever the justification he made up in his mind, he made sure to keep his eye on her from his perch on the horse.

And, as he turned back to the head of the convoy, he could see the Follower dithering and reading that fucking note for the tenth time this hour.

God, he hated that man.

Razor & Wire


"Listen, we're gonna be fine. Stop your fuckin' worrying!"

Razor hissed at Wire under his breath, as they walked in the tangled mess of man and beast in the convoy. They couldn't afford a pack brahmin, and even if they could, they didn't have enough belongings to justify it. Razor carried the heavy backpack containing their cooking pots, some spare clothes, ammunition, and their caps, while Wire had on her back their bed rolls. Each of them were armed with makeshift pipe rifles, some of the few in the convoy who were carrying rifles.

They had tried their best to keep to themselves on the journey, avoiding the prying eyes of the busy-bodies that would soon be their neighbors. Spending some time with them by the campfire was one thing, but they sought to avoid associating too much with them on the travel there. The other settlers eyed them with suspicion, but it wasn't anything the pair wasn't used to. But there were times, especially at the stopover at Ash Fork, where they regretted their march and wished they had stayed in Sloan. At that mining town, they had a stable job - Razor working the mines and Wire tending to their injuries. It was a hard life, with little pay and little comforts, but it was a peaceful one. This adventure was anything but that, except being hard work.

At Ash Fork, the whole charade almost came crashing down. Apparently there was another ex-Legion slave in the party, and when he pulled them aside to ask about their past, they found it difficult to explain anything to him. He had been with a farming plantation near Albakerkee, and escaped only by virtue of being purchased by a caravan trader who took off his slave collar and let him run into the night. He barely made it past Legion sentries along the road, and took the long route to the Mojave, going south through the Mexican lands and catching a caravan heading to Baja. He wondered, openly, how they were able to break the slave collars off, remarking that every time he seen it tried, the poor soul had his head blown off.

They couldn't give him another answer except that they had gotten lucky. And while, at the time, the ex-slave seemed satisfied, it didn't fail to arouse suspicion within the party as the rumors of the exchange spread like wildfire. But Razor felt fine about it. What did he know anyway? Their collars were different, simple as that. And they had gotten lucky, for if it wasn't for those troopers, they would've shot 'em dead. But Wire had grown more agitated, more concerned that the jig was up. She asked, at every turn, if they could just turn back and go back to Sloan. But what would they go back to? There was no guarantee their jobs were still there when they came back. And even if they were, the roads were perilous. Only through the intervention of tribals - secured only by the skill of the expedition leader - had they been able to pass through the Hualapai lands.

No, the die had been cast. They had to stay the course. And once they reached their destination, they could begin again. Like they always said they would. They could settle down, for once in their lives, and leave the past behind. But even as Razor implored Wire to leave it be, and to stop stressing, he himself felt the doubts creep into his mind. Would it really be possible, to run away from it all? To start over like this? Old habits don't die so easily, and he deeply feared that it would all catch up with them.

But, he dismissed it, and kept on the walking with the rest of the human herd, "baby, we're gonna be golden! Just think, we're gonna have our own place! Our own lil farm? Who woulda thought?" He let his bolt-action rifle hang in one hand, as he wrapped his free arm around Wire, "we'll have our future kiddies run around us, and we'll get to live to be old and grey."

"I didn't even think we'd get to be almost thirty!" She laughed, the anxiety fading only for a brief moment.
Feel free to claim these characters.







-snip-


Characters


Below all of our characters will be listed. My party is below:

Starboard Watch's Party






© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet