Off topic: Spacefarers (a sci-fi RPG)

Captain Trek · Post by **Captain Trek** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:38 pm

"All shuttles have docked, sir!" Kevin reported, now back at his station. "The nebula's expansion is continuing to accelerate... I'd estimate 60 seconds to impact!"

"Get us out of here!" Henry shouted.

Suddenly, the ship was buffeted by a massive energy discharge from the nebula. Red alert klaxons sounded and crew men below decks were thrown clean off of their feet as the intertial dampeners struggled to compensate. Henry and his bridge crew were locked firmly into their seats by the safety harnesses that had recently become standard for the bridges of most ships, but the noise and shuddering still made communication and taking action difficult...

"The energy wave just collapsed the warp field!" Dante shouted, starting to panic. "I can't restablish it!"

"Full impulse then!" Henry insisted.

"I can't maintain a stable tractor link to the Ragnarok, sir!" Tabatha cut in, also back at her station. "We need more power!"

"No!" Henry replied. "We need that power to keep the Ragnarok from being torn apart!"

Henry knew he was in a bad situation. A very bad situation. Even under impulse power, his ship could, on its own, easily outrun the encroaching nebula. But whilst it was trying to tow the Ragnarok as well, they were practically stranded. Transport between the ships was being made impossible by the energy discharges, so towing them out was the only option.

But without more power, how could they? The ship was already running above the normal maximum. Henry seriously considered cutting the Ragnarok loose and ordered his helmsman to leg it, but he found himself unable to deal with the moral implications of either staying or going. To him, it wasn't as simple as there being more deaths if the Adelaide stayed...

"Sir!" Kevin shouted, breaking into the captain's thoughts. "I'm picking up an energy reading from one of the small craft... it looks like some kind of miniature wormhole!"

"Sir, I'm getting a transmission from that ship!" Albert added. "Putting it through!"

"If you need help escaping the nebula, fly through this to get away. We'll hold it open as long as we can and still escape ourselves."

"Can you get us to the portal, lieutenant?" called out Henry.

"Not without more power to the tractor beam!" Dante called back.

"Another transmission sir!" Albert shouted. "It's from the the Crykeen this time! On speakers!"

"Adeleide, suggest immediate withdrawal from area. No data is available on this phenomenon, and our mind-sight is withered by the depth of the nebula."

"Tell them we're trying!" Henry ordered.

"Transmission continues, sir!" Albert shouted back.

"Attention the Adeleide. We have deployed a module to the Sword - suggest you lock onto our module for increased tractor beam stability, whilst the module uses our power to remain locked onto the Sword with minimal structural integrity. Matching your speed now."

"The ship is deploying the module!" Kevin reported.

"That's doing it, sir!" Dante shouted. "Power supplies are being automatically redistributed to the tractor beams! We have impulse capability!"

"It's too late!" Kevin yelled. "20 seconds to impact!"

"Cut the Ragnarok loose, get us out of here!" Henry shouted.

Fear had finally got the best of him....

"I can't shut it off all at once!" Dante replied. "The power feedback'd rip the ship apart!"

"15 seconds!" Kevin called out. "Sir! I'm getting a zero-point quantum energy surge from the Sword of Ragnarok!"

"On viewer!" Henry shouted.

"Sweet Jesus!"

The ship was being engulfed by a brilliant white light...

"10 seconds!"

"All hands, brace for impact!"

Henry thought it would be his last order...

"5 seconds!"
_____________________________________________________________

The last thing Henry Baker remembered was seeing a brilliant flash of blinding white light. For a moment, he thought he was dead, then he opened his eyes to see, to his amazement, the bridge of his ship come into focus. It was dim, which made it slightly difficult to see, but he could easily make out the silhouette of Dante Keating slumped over the helm console.

"Mr. Keating?" he asked concernedly.

"Erghh... sir?" came the groggy reply. "What happened?" he asked, rubbing his throbbing head.

"It... looks like... we made it..."

It wasn't captain Baker who had replied. It was Kevin Wilcox, who was completely unable to hide his amazement at the fact that he was still alive.

"But how?" asked another voice.

This time, the voiced belonged to Albert Harris. He too sat up and looked around in awe at the ship's apparent good fortune. On the view screen before them, was the image of the Sword of Ragnarok, still connected to the Adealide via the tractor beam...

"What's our status?" Henry questioned.

"..."

It was Tabatha Siege, who had just now rose to her feet, lucky not have hit her head as she had fallen.

"Are you alright?" Kevin asked.

"I think so..." she replied. "What the Hell just happened?"

"I'm not sure..." Kevin shook his head. "I can tell you that the ship appears not to have suffered any damage... I've got casualty reports coming in from the lower decks... mostly nothing serious... looks we're here in one piece..."

He paused for a moment...

"Wherever here is..." he added...

"What do you mean, lieutenant?" Henry asked.

"These stars don't match any on known charts..." Kevin replied simply. "I don't think we're anywhere near where we just were..."

"Great..." Dante muttered.

Apparently, their ship had just turned into the new USS Voyager...

"We're no alone though," Kevin added, trying to make some light of the situation. "I'm picking up our friends from before... looks like they're all here with us... The Ragnarok's here, obviously, the Merchant's Pride and it's escort aren't far away, the ship we just made contact with now it still along side us, the small living ship's still here and the ship that was launching probes at us is still here..."

He paused for a moment.

"I'm also reading three contacts I didn't pick up before. One of them's near the Merchant's Pride and her escort, the other's closer to us and the third is just approaching now... it appears to be deploying probes of some kind..."

He paused again...

"And the whole damned nebula's been transported here! But it's stopped growing... it's no longer a threat..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that...

"Sir, I'm getting a transmission from one of the three unknwon ships..." Albert reported.

"On speakers," said Henry.

“Attention all ships, I shall attempt to explain what just happened. Long story short, the very damaged ship among you shot a laser powered by a quantum drive. It hit the warphole, which expanded, and took us and the rest of the nebula with it. As well, the nebula has stopped its expansion, so your ships shall not be damaged by it anymore. Unfortunately, the sentient race that would be born of this nebula has reached near completion, and shall assemble itself within 15 minutes. My ship AI is currently scanning for just what may be coming next. As well, we seemed to have picked up a newcomer right before the warphole expanded. I shall wait for you to respond after you’ve gotten everything sorted out, as this was a very reactive event.”

"A lifeform? In the nebula?" Tabatha seemed stunned.

"He might be right..." said Kevin. "I'm getting some extremely regular energy patterns coming from inside the nebula..."

"What do we do, sir?" Dante asked.

Henry mused for a moment...

"Transmit a request for a conference to all ships in the area..." Henry ordered." Along with standard Federation greeting to any unidentified ships..." he added.

He thought it was about time for this rather ad hoc scenario to come to an end, and for some order to be established... if he could get the captains of these ships all sitting at the same table, they might be able to find their way back to known space more quickly... As well as be ready to face whatever it was that the nebula was about to spawn...

He sat back for a moment, waiting for their responses.

"Kevin, What time is it?" he asked suddenly.

"0830 hours according to the ship's chronometer..." Kevin replied.

Henry couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. He had only reported to duty 90 minutes ago... And all this had happened in that time... One of the perils of space exploration, he guessed...

Natch · Post by **Natch** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:49 pm

OOC: Err, you would've gotten Captain Noldum's broadcast regarding what the heck just happened. And you would've noticed my ship fly right in front of the Sword of Ragnorak before the laser fired.

Anarki · Post by **Anarki** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:31 pm

Tal-Ket turned to his crew.

"What in the name of the Kira just happened!"

"Commander... we are receiving an audio-only transmission..."

"Lets hear it."

“Attention all ships, I shall attempt to explain what just happened. Long story short, the very damaged ship among you shot a laser powered by a quantum drive. It hit the warphole, which expanded, and took us and the rest of the nebula with it. As well, the nebula has stopped its expansion, so your ships shall not be damaged by it anymore. Unfortunately, the sentient race that would be born of this nebula has reached near completion, and shall assemble itself within 15 minutes. My ship AI is currently scanning for just what may be coming next. As well, we seemed to have picked up a newcomer right before the warphole expanded. I shall wait for you to respond after you’ve gotten everything sorted out, as this was a very reactive event.”

"I guess that explains it, Commander."

Tal-Ket gazed around. The cyborg in the corner, just reaching his teens, smiled at him. Tal-Ket was relieved - he was not dissapointed in him.

"Technician Sal-Net, what's our status?"

"No casualties, superficial hull damage, Sentinel drone shield grid almost established. Advanced long-range sensors are online, but long-range scanners are offline. We are re-establishing power to Anthem Cannons."

"Alright... can you display the alien ships and what is left of the nebula?

"Affirmative, commander."

Suddenly, the holotable in front of Tal-Ket buzzed to life, and the nebula, including all the alien ships, were displayed. Tal-Ket noted that the Spirit of Flame was not in a very tactical position, if the alien ships all attacked at once. However, it was highly unlikely, as their hulls were quite different - most likely either aliens to each other, or allies. If they were hostile to each other, they would have fired already.

Tal-Ket looked outside, through the bridge forcefield, at the closest two ships, which the Flamestrike class dreadnought was facing - The Adeleide, and the Sword of Ragnarok, whose names were unknown to the sentient machine.

"Load one of the Pyroclasm racks with scanner pods, and fire at all contacts. Even these ones." Tal-Ket pointed to the smaller ships. "Reload with Pyroclasm ship-to-ship missiles, and load the other racks with the same payload. Inform the Core engineers to increase power output from the ship warpcore - we might need it. Target those two closest ships with three forward-facing Anthem Cannons and all forward Pulverizer Turrets, and target the rest of the ships with all other Anthem Cannons."

"Affirmative, commander. Scanner pods launched at all ships. Sentinel shield matrix online. Core engineers replied that now we have maximum output from the warpcore", Sal-Net replied.

Tal-Ket looked outside at the wonderful array of blue the shield matrix generated. The drones would deactivate parts of the matrix to allow allied projectiles to pass through, but would deny access to enemy projectiles. Unfortunately, ships with shields could simply pass through the matrix. However, the Heavy Plasma Beamers could simply fire upon them, as they would not be used - it would be a security risk to fire them through the matrix, as it would create an overall weakness in the matrix.

The cyborg finally talked for the first time, addressing Tal-Ket, with an ominous voice, which, among the Kira, are usually considered rather corny. Obviously, the cyborg did not give a damn at all.

"Tal-Ket... you have not failed anyone. I thought you might like to know that."

Tal-Ket turned around, to face the cyborg.

"Thank you, my Lord."

Captain Trek · Post by **Captain Trek** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:35 pm

IMPORTANT OOC: In case anyone misses it from my last post, my ship has send out a general request for a conference between the various captains to discuss recent events and they're going to need a reply fairly quickly (we only have 15 miniutes untill the nebula lifeform is released).

Since we don't have much (in universe) time, I suggest we make it an 'open airwaves' conference (ie. we all tap into the same com channel and conduct the conference from our ships, rather than wasting time trying to meet in the same place)...

Himura.Kenshin · Post by **Himura.Kenshin** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:09 am

Argh... Ok, I'll be the bad guys myself. Expect an update tonight (Eastern Time). Right now I'm eating up valuable study time just writing this post =O

Normandy · Post by **Normandy** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:24 am

Eh, wow we've just completely deviated from eachother. Not much time here either, much like ^, but I can type faster ^.^

Temujin · Post by **Temujin** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:40 am

" Sir, all contacts just disapeared through a jump portal. Blind."

Hiron swore for a few minuts. A blind jump, however inaccurate, also couldn't be traced. If the jump had been plotted, his gravimetric sensors could have plotted it and jumped to its end point.

" Xargon carrier just jumped in, launching fighters.", his sensors officer stated.

" Bring us around, straight down there throat, Grav Cannons and Particle Beams are free to fire.", Hiron ordered.

The blueish bolts of a Grav Blast mixed with the miriade of colors from a Particle Beam, and began to burn off hull and armor from the Xargon ship. The Xargon fighters began swarming around the Astari, but the railguns were keeping them at bay.

" Configure Grav Cannons for Black Hole firing."

" Aye sir."

" Fire."

A black hole formed next to the Xargon ship, then vanished. Larger ships could sustain it longer, but the black hole had done its job. All the fighters were now pieces of super dense debris, and heading into the carrier, while the carrier itself was badly scrambled and beaten up from the massive radiation and gravity. The return of fire from the Astari brought about its ruin, destroying it.

" Navigation says that they have found the ships, and the nebula."

" Jump to 1 light year away."

" Aye sir."

1 light year was the maximum range on gravimetric sensors. And that was true only because the Astari was a scout cruiser.

" Communications, ask for reinforcements."

" Aye sir."

Post by **Arcalane** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:55 am

OOC: Argh. I never intended for the lifeform to be strictly EVIL. What happened here would have a distinct impact on it's outcome!

IC:

As the organic crew of the Asimov were recovering, the mechanoid inhabitants were already scrambling to action following the surprise jump. MHD was one of the first into action, moving quickly for the comms.

"MHD to all hands of the D.S.S.V Asimov. All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. All hands to battle stations. Cancel all active scans and power up the Ion Turrets and Point Defense Guns. Mechs, get to your jump stations and prepare to engage if necessary. Full power to shields, all fighters responding, Defense Code Six Beta Seven, repeat, Defense Code Six Beta Seven."

NHD's comm buzzed impatiently for the third time before he noticed as the tumbling fighter pilots regained control and swung back around to a tight and fast patrol pattern around the Asimov. The entire ship had weapon signatures on full and was surrounded by a swarming mass of thermal signatures and energy traces.

"What the hell is going on?!" queried the Administrator, sounding furious, if shaky.
"Quite frankly I'm at a loss myself. Whatever happened, we're all here, along with the goddamn nebula. What were those idiots THINKING? A beam like that? I'm no major in this stuff but even so!"
"What happened?"
"I didn't catch much before the jump. One of the ships fired some kind of weapon at the portal, or at the nebula. My memory cores are shorting. Nanos are working on it."
"Full alert?"
"Of course."

The Administrator collapsed into the chair in his quarters. The comm beeped again.

"Yes?"
"Captain Baker is requesting a conference with all ships in the area."
"Can I trust this matter in your hands, NHD?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Leave no stone unturned."
"Of course, sir."

The comm link closed, and the Asimov accepted the conference request. Baker was once again greeted by the imposing warmech, who seemed surprisingly alert given his relaxed state in the previous communication they had.

"MHD-072947c, Chief of Security for the D.S.S.V Asimov responding affirmative."

MHD nodded formally, then waited.

Himura.Kenshin · Post by **Himura.Kenshin** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:58 am

Arcalane wrote:What the hell is going on?!" queried the Administrator, sounding furious, if shaky.
"Quite frankly I'm at a loss myself. Whatever happened, we're all here, along with the goddamn nebula. What were those idiots THINKING? A beam like that? I'm no major in this stuff but even so!"
"What happened?"
"I didn't catch much before the jump. One of the ships fired some kind of weapon at the portal, or at the nebula. My memory cores are shorting. Nanos are working on it."
"Full alert?"
"Of course."

Wait, what?!? Hows is the nebula with them?

Also, I had forgotten I had a soccer game after school today (no worries, we won 3-0... I got a goal and an assist =P, and the other goal was an own goal). So I'll try and update whenever possible... I have to finalize my entries for a tourney at Penny-Arcade by tonight first.

Post by **Arcalane** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:55 am

OOC: Don't ask me, ask them. They're the ones saying it got sucked through.

Natch · Post by **Natch** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:31 am

OOC: See my post for details.

The Nebula came with us because I found a plot hole, and needed to fix it. I took control of the story for a bit. Also, Arcalane, Captain Noldum(my guy) did a mass broadcast saying what exactly happened.

Also, we need to take into account Anarki's charging of his weapons. Please note, he's aiming them at US.

Also, Anarki, you're screwed. I need to remind you that your ship has no chance in hell of beating all of us, since you're not really allowed to be super powerful this early in the RP.

Anarki · Post by **Anarki** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:00 am

Hoping to use the Kiran unconventional warfare, or try to start a firefight between two other parties, if a battle occurs. No way would my ship be able to stand up to all parties, even if it is built by a military orientated civilization.

Normandy · Post by **Normandy** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:27 am

OOC:

I suppose Anarki's logic is okay.

IC:

"Uhhh, this is captain John Faraday, of the Sword of Ragnarok, is anyone there?"
The telecommunications screen suddenly blinked on, revealing a completely unknown organism in a cockpit which was rather, strange to say the least.

"WAdiojÈ »asdæ? §4awdÇaWsÈ§c."

"Oh crap, where did we end up?"
"Well, apparently the wormhole had originally been plotted to teleport us back to safety, but apparently when we overloaded it with our beam, it simply just spit us out elsewhere."
"Well, pull out the starmaps, where are we?"
"Apparently... We are... Right... Here."
"Where's here?"
"I don't really know... It says we are 'out of bounds'."
"Ugh..."

Natch · Post by **Natch** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:56 pm

OOC: Um, wow. I got a lot of responding to do. Better get to it.

IC: Captain Noldum had nary a moment's time to himself before things started up again.

"Captain Noldum" Al spoke. "We have a transmission from one of the ships. To summarize, they're sending out a standard greeting, and also requesting a conference. As well, I notice that one of our..."friends" here is charging up his weapons.........and he's pointing them at various ships. Us included."

"Very well" Lasérrou replied. "I'll leave the ship to you. Please inform all crew members to prepare for battle. My only orders are that the damaged ship behind us shall remains unharmed. Also, don't fire until they fire first."

"Aye aye, captain." Al cheerfully replied. He was always one to enjoy scrapping with other ships.

Lasérrou got onto the comm. system, and got onto the video conference channel. His appearance looked very humanoid. The part that was a large, thick strip of black that occupied his entire forehead. This is actually a pigment line, and determines the intelligence of a given Latairian. Captain Noldum was of good intelligence, considering he was a mere 204 years old. To a human, he looked to be in his late 30’s. Other than that, he looked completely human. Well, that and the fact that his eye color was completely depended on his mood, which rarely fluctuated these days after a century of practice. Right now, they were blue, which meant he was in a calm mood.

“Well, I, Captain Noldum of the starship Drill Bit, am present for the conference. To start with, I’m observing that the ship that has most recently jumped in with us is charging it’s weapons and looks as if it’s going to try and fight with us. I’ve currently instructed my ship AI to take care of my ship until then. As it stands, I think we ought to settle the issue of our attacking new comer before commencing with the meeting. Agreed?”

OOC: NOTE: This transmission will only be heard by those in the conference. That means Anarki won’t be able to listen in.

Deathguard · Post by **Deathguard** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:11 pm

"MHD-072947c, Chief of Security for the D.S.S.V Asimov responding affirmative."

“Well, I, Captain Noldum of the starship Drill Bit, am present for the conference. To start with, I’m observing that the ship that has most recently jumped in with us is charging it’s weapons and looks as if it’s going to try and fight with us. I’ve currently instructed my ship AI to take care of my ship until then. As it stands, I think we ought to settle the issue of our attacking new comer before commencing with the meeting. Agreed?”

"This is Reaguin Heiros, shipjoined of the Crykeen, responding. Captains - That ship is charging weapons, deploying pre-emptive flak countermeasure."

A side panel of the Crykeen, indistinguishable from the surrounding armour plate, slid out of place revealing a hollow interior. A breif haze played around the ship, and then dozens of magnetised metal fragments emerged - or rather, a stream of metal forming into fragments emerged - and flung themselves into place, floating freely between the ship with charged weapons and the remained of the "fleet".