Tortoise

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@IceHeart
No problem. I mentioned you in my post just now, but if you don't reply, don't sweat it. I'll just assume that Ambassador Fran was silent.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

(Addressing: @datadogie, @IceHeart, @Korkoa)

And so the negotiations chugged on. Du-Vos was not a brilliant negotiator, but he was smart about ISA's system, and very greedy. Greedy, but not a child killer. That was Winky's job, apparently. Now that the boy was safe back in the holding cells (Du-Vos assured that he was, and Nick cautiously decided he could be trusted) what would happen to Winky?

Just as Nick thinks this, Du-Vos suddenly juts in- "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to go deal with my crewman." Well, that's ominous. The records show that Du-Vos keeps his crew loyal, but not how. Is it with threats or bribes? Or violence? Whatever it is, it's coming for Winky. Du-Vos's hulking form squeezes through the side-door, just as the viewscreen cuts out from the pirate's end. And as it does, Nick breathes a sigh of genuine relief. That was intense. Nick was never going to read an adventure story about "charming rogue" pirates again.

Okay, well, not for a while.

The Captain gets his bearings, straightens his uniform, and turns to his crew. Time to be the Captain again. "I'm proud of all of you. Good work. Franscesca, you were invaluable- and Cake, could you check in on Beta team? It's about time for a progress report." After a pause, where glances across the still-tense faces of his assembled bridge crew, Carabello continues: "Now, who is the one who shouted? Are you alright?"

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

I'll be posting tomorrow or the next day, when work lets me off for a while.

Heads up, everyone: I want to conclude this first adventure around this Sunday.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Post by this time tomorrow.

@MST3K 4ever

I'll hold you to that

Someone set a timer!

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Semi-Important Announcement

So, I don't want things to get too stale around here. For that reason, I'm planning on moving things forward and concluding our first 'adventure' within a week. So, everyone who wants to post about fixing the Moray or freeing the captives should do so by then.

Also, because of work and other obligations, I won't be able to post or interact much until about Wednesday.

EDIT: Tagging everyone, so we're all on the same page: @Korkoa@Zanavy@Raylah@MST3K 4ever@Flamelord@datadogie@IceHeart@ShiningSector@Randomness@Starlance

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Zanavy
No problem.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Haha I thought you wanted him to be called Winky and so I obliged. Of course I don't think we've actually said what he look like or his race yet, so Winky could be a perfectly legit name...maybe.

@IceHeart

Winky the Rifleman, of planet Rifleon in the Winkler system. Totally legit alien.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Tortoise@IceHeart Oh my God, that pirate's name is literally, Winky...dude must have some issues to land 'em a name like that.

@ShiningSector

Honestly, I originally didn't mean for that to be his name. It was just Carabello's nickname for him, since he winked at him

Most of what I write as Carabello is just his internal monologue- like how he called Du-Vos a "face-full of tentacle."

But you know what? IceHeart called him that and it's been up for a few hours now, so his name is Winky.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Tentacles are a bit freaky, aren't they? The way they wiggle on their own. Nick was standing just to the left of Ambassador Lunarius, who was in a very formal uniform and addressing the face-full of tentacle known as Captain Du-Vos. And Du-Vos was... big. But not quite big enough to take up the bridge's entire viewscreen. So when Francesca's eyes wander off to the side, looking at a very angry pirate with a plasma rifle, Nick's eyes follow her.

While Lunarius was gently breaking the news that, of course, the pirates will not be getting their bounty, that pirate rifleman was trembling with anger. That's not normal. Pirates are typically unstable, of course, and unresolved anger is practically a requirement. But most of them are still sociable enough to work on a crew with others. So what's going on with this one? While Du-Vos rambles about demands, Nick tries to subtly keep on eye on the rifleman.

And the rifleman takes notice. He meets Nick's eyes through the viewscreen. Before Carabello can react, the pirate winks at him, and storms off through a side door.

Now that can't be good. Winking pirates is never, ever good. It's something you see right before a hidden bomb goes off.

"So what do you think, Captain... Carabello?" Du-Vos was talking. He had a deep and loud voice. It was nearly as big as him. "Is ISA going to give me what I need? Or are 20 humans going to be on the slave market?"

Alright, back to the matter at hand. Carabello dives into the negotiations. ISA Credit payments, supplies, bars of gold (bit of a cliche), protection from the law, etc. This squid has a sea of demands. In the midst of it, Nick nearly forgets about Winky the Rifleman.

At least, until Winky comes barging back in. This time, he's not alone. There's a young human boy- maybe 10?- dragged by the wrist behind him. The boy is small, scared, and doing a very brave job at not screaming.

Until Winky shoves that rifle between his eyes, anyway. Then he screams. So does a Prize crewman, somewhere behind Nick. Winky smiles, in a way that isn't really a smile. Then he talks: "Stop. Stalling. Are you listening now?"

"Yes," Nick replies. There's nothing else to say.

Name Change Request

Could my name be changed to Tortoise? Thanks