Ex Vessel Moscow: The Prophecy of Brocht (Rob, Dylan, Carter) - D8

The gray sky of New Mars looms overhead, beckoning the crew of the Moscow upward. Thousands of lights ignite the IAO station in a brilliant technological white and differentiate it from the forest that expands in every direction. New Mars is a bustling planet, but the constant launching of IAO vessels necessitates a certain distance between the station and civilization.

Due to the prestigious nature of assignment on an Ex Vessel, most crew members are already present, but mechanics from the station are still running last minute diagnostics on various parts of the ship. The viewscreen flickers to life and a large, red faced man appears.

"Moscow at attention!" he barks. "I am IAO Representative Calvin Benedict. Congratulations on your acceptance to the Intergalactic Alliance of Orion's newest Exploratory Vessel; you've just made the greatest career move of your life. You are all here because you excel in what you do so I don't expect to have to explain how this all works. Get to know your crew members and do your job."

Benedict clears his throat and looks down in his lap for a moment.

"Your first mission is simple, but important. A very dangerous prisoner has been loaded into the primary holding cell. All you have to do is transport her to the outer rim planet Bastion 9. The natives there are believers in the Church of Brocht, but they have been working closely with us to catch this particular criminal. She works for the Trazen Allies so steer clear of Trazen vessels on the way. They cannot know that we have her. I will get in contact with you once that is completed." Benedict looks down at the man sitting in the command chair. "Captain, they're all yours. Good luck."

The viewscreen flickers off and the New Martian sky reappears. The gray haired captain surveys the bridge and stands up. It is clear from the extended features of his face and excessive facial fur that he is Warpian. He turns to the crew.

"Alright. Evening everybody." His calm voice is a stark contrast to the harsh tone of the Representative. "We made it!" A few people in the back clap and cheer.

"Is everybody here? Even the hangar guys? Yes? Alright! I don't want this to be hard on you or me so let's just do the painful introduction stuff first. I'm sure you've all read each others' files by this point and some of you may already know each other, but breaking the ice has got to happen at some point. I am your Captain, Leopold Ghoshus. I am from Ghoshus 7 and I am Warpian, in case you can't tell by my cheerful demeanor," he strokes the fur on his face as he says this and the girl at the Navigation portal giggles a little. "Let's see... I graduated from the Nerzus Aerospace Academy and I captained 8 other vessels before this one. No Ex Vessels of course! And uh... my favorite food is Breaj Rats. Love those little guys. Live ones especially. So yeah, who's next? Anybody? Rickard?"

DM Note: Everyone is outfitted with a standard Ex Vessel ground crew starter kit. You receive an IAO grade blaster (2d4 damage), 3 revival shots, and a wrist encyclopedia. The wrist encyclopedia can be used to access the IAO database of knowledge of the universe, but it can also be used to upload previously unknown entities which is its primary purpose in the hands of an IAO officer.

I step forward and clear my throat. "I am Commander Rickard Shen of the Sphinxian naval command. I was schooled at the Manticore Naval Academy in Old Gryphon. It is the most prestigious naval academy on Sphinx and I had to work very hard to get in and even harder to graduate. I have served as helmsman on the I.A.O. Majesty and the O.O. on the I.A.O. Redtail. I am honored to serve as the X.O. on this fine vessel and I'm sure we will all accomplish great things in the coming missions."
At this point Garside will climb onto my shoulder and offer a salute. "This is Garside, he is a treecat native to sphinx, and to those of you unfamiliar with them, it is a great honor to be chosen by one. He has a fondness for celery but it is bad for him so I don't expect to see any of you sneaking it to him. Now before I step down and let introductions continue I just want all of you to know I will be around to inspect each department before take off, so I expect things to be in the high state of order that we have maintained thus far. Just because we're finally ready does not mean its time for slacking off." With that said I step back.
Once everyone is finished introducing themselves myself and Garside will begin to walk the ship ensuring that everything is squared away and ready for launch.

Waiting for my turn at the front of the engineering officers, paying enough attention to seem like I'm totally there while mentally calculating emergency scenarios to stay sharp, I watch each officer before me, then set in on my own speech:

"My name is dHerlis dRein. You may address me as 'Darwin,' I'll be the head engineering officer on this voyage. I've trained on various vessels from the time I was young, and can repair anything from a puddle jumper to flagship. I'll be spending the majority of my time in the engine room. You'll likely find me there should you need me. It should be a smooth flight from here, and if it's not, I'll make sure it turns into one."

After delivering my spiel, I step back and motion to the next engineer to continue, recalling the exact actual capabilities of Ex Vessels, based on stories from veteran Ex Vessel engineers.

I put away my knife for a moment, and step forward to speak. "Howdy all. I'm Dewey Alers, but feel free to call me Goat. I had no trouble getting in and out of my training and that's how I became deck chief. As a note, you will not be in my hangar without my permission. But, if I'm whittling, I'm available, so feel free to come on over and have a chat." I settle back to my whittling, mostly listening to the rest of the introductions. When the meeting comes to an end, I head back to my hangar to make sure everything is in order for Rickard's inspection.

The girl who giggled earlier looks up from her work at the Navigation Center and turns towards the rest of the crew. She appears human in every way except for the circular insignia on her forehead.

"I am Nina 8.7.0. I am an Android of the Turing 6 Operating System. I am your Chief Navigations Officer and ship's helmsman. Pleased to meet all of you."

Nina smiles and turns back to her station. She begins plucking away again at its interface. Maps and coordinates whirl across the screen as her hand moves in steady brush-like strokes. At the back of the bridge, a pale-skinned figure steps forward. His head is completely deprived of hair and his large black, pupil-less eyes make up the majority of his large forehead.

"Hello everyone. Pleased to meet you all. I am Norp Gomon, the Chief Medical Officer on this vessel. You may call me Dr. Gomon. I am a Querian medical expert, specializing in-"

A heavy southern voice interrupts him from across the room.

"You're a Grey!"

Dr. Gomon's impossibly large eyes grow even wider for a moment, but he relaxes before the expression can settle in.

"THAT is a derogatory word miss and I would take it kindly if you would not use it again." Norp hesitates for a second. He rubs his face with his unnaturally long fingers. "But yes, Earthlings and other human sects may know us as Greys. Our races have a... complicated history together. And who, might I ask, are you?"

The girl who shouted out tries to hide the slight red on her cheeks, but her outgoing demeanor remains in place. She has dusty blonde hair and looks very young to be an officer.

"I'm very sorry doctor. I have rarely had occasion to leave my homeworld on Mars. I had no idea... I am Sicily Redwood your Communications Officer."

"Communications Officer!?" Gomon scoffs. "With all due respect Miss Redwood, are you qualified for this job?"

"I know over 70 alien languages, not including dialects, and I graduated from the Saussure School of Linguistics with top honors.'"

"Communications are much more than languages dear. You are going to need to learn to know the cultures of a number of characters much more unpleasant than myself if you want all of us to survive our careers on an Ex Vessel."

"Alright alright." Ghoshus' voice carries from the front of the bridge. "Let's all get off on the right foot. We were all selected to be here. We are past the point of questioning rank."

"Sorry." Sicily nods to Dr. Gomon. Gomon smiles in a way that appears warm but can easily have been meant to be condescending.

"I was just trying to help you miss."

"There's just one more of us then, isn't there?" Ghoshus continues without heeding them. "Ma'am in the back, could you give us your name please?"

A figure in the back of the room moves slightly. She was almost unnoticeable behind Dr. Gomon. Her skin is a powdery blue white and her hair is long and grey. It covers her eyes completely. She hoists herself up from her leaning position on the back wall with arms that appear almost skeletal.

"I'm Rasthmene Trenardi. I'm the Security Chief. Can I go? There are things that need attending to."

"I uh... sure Rasthmene. Thank you for coming." Rasthmene stepps to her left and allows the door to split before walking out. She is followed by two large men in full black uniforms. Captain Ghoshus turns back to his crew. "Well. Shall we set off? Into the great beyond? Please everyone get your crews in order and make sure we are running as efficiently as possible."

Ghoshus turns to Nina and nods. Nina returns the nod and pushes a sequence of symbols. A warning siren blares in the background and the ground shakes as the Moscow lifts from the New Martian station up into the air.

"Prepare to jump." Nina chimes.

Ghoshus speaks into the loud speaker. "Brace yourselves for time jump in 3... 2... 1"

The ship lurches for a split second and time slows to a halt. A short moment of pain as mass is distorted and the next thing anyone can remember is being surrounded by an ocean of stars. The crew waits as the ship cools in preparation for the next jump.

DM Note: If you have anything you would like to do while waiting for the time jump cool down, please do it now. Otherwise, the adventure will continue.

More than familiar with the sensation of jumping, I am "on my feet" without having ever been off, and am in the engine room before some of the more rookie crewmen have even caught up to what's happening.

I check the Moscow's vitals and give status and assignment to each engineer as they enter for the first in-flight check. Once the last of my crew has checked in and given their cool-down assignments, I address them myself.

"You've been selected to engineer the Ex Vessel Moscow. Congratulations." I pause to let them enjoy the moment. "You have your assignments; we need to be ready for the next jump as soon as she's cool, so let's have 'er that way."

"You never qute get used to that," I say to myself after the jump. I gather my mechanics and pilots in the main hangar area, and check my rosters one last time. Since everyone is there, and they've all been given their permanent assignments ahead of time, I set them all loose to work. My second and I run visual inspections on the main tag of skiffs, me leaving him to it when one strikes my fancy. "It'll be nice getting to know you," I say as I thoroughly inspect every system aboard her. After this, I settle back to my corner, listening to the buzz of the hangar, and whittling.

I return from my rounds shortly before the jump, and take my position at the tactical console. I begin the slow rhythmic breathing taught by the sphinxian navy to help cope with jump sickness. I close my eyes during the jump, but as soon as we are on the other side I call for reports from all departments. Once I receive the ready I let the captain know that we are good to go as soon as the engines are cool.

Another jump. The ship settles and then Ghoshus' voice comes calmly over the intercomm.

"There is a Trazen vessel in our vicinity and we don't have the juice to jump just yet. Please shut down all energy consuming systems other than life support and we will wait it out. Thank you."

"Divert power into life support and cut the secondary generator. Dyarnyr, vent the engine chamber to reduce our turnaround. Stahl, be at the ready to power the shields if we need it. Jenkins, trade stations with Reynolds." I orchestrate while swinging through the exposed rafters of the engine room, flipping switches and adjusting knobs as necessary to expedite the transformation.

As we detect the Trazen ship I burst into action readying the crew for any eventuality. "Rasthmene prepare to go full power to weapons, and get me firing solutions on their engines and comms. Nina prepare for combat maneuvering, get me all the information you can on that ship, and get ready to jam their radar. Darwin prepare to have a significant power drain, me have have to go full power to engines, weapons, and shields if this thing kicks off. Alers get a squadron prepped and ready to launch." Once I hear back from everyone I report to the captain. "All sections ready to go captain, just waiting for your orders."

The Trazen vessel continues to drift for a moment. It doesn't seem to notice the Moscow, but it also fails to move for a long period of time.

After several minutes of agonizing silence, Nina's shoulders jump as a light ignites on the panel in front of her.

"Sir, the ship appears to have sent out a distress signal! They must be in trouble! Do we... do we help them?"

Ghoshus' eyes narrow. He seems to ponder for a moment.

"Yes. As an Ex Vessel, it is our duty to help out those in need. However, I respect your opinions. All of you. If anyone is opposed, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"Sir I advise we at least open comms. It may be a trap, but I don't think we should risk leaving them to die if its an actual emergency. I know I wouldn't want to be left alone out here. All stations are still at ready so if they do try something we can still deal with it, but I advise against getting closer unless we can guarantee that they can't pull anything. I think we should help, but we should be as sure as possible that they can't do anything to us first."

I stand ready in the engine room. All of the engineers on duty are standing by, ready to put the ship in combat mode at a moment's notice.

The situation hasn't changed for us. We're all trained, all prepared. It'll take more than one unexpected traveler to throw us off our game.

I smile quietly to myself, noting how ell my crew is handling the situation.

"I appreciate your input Officer Shen." Ghoshus states approvingly. "Nina go ahead. Sicily, please be ready."

Sicily and Nina both nod. Nina taps the flashing icon on her interface and Sicily begins:

"Attention Trazen vessel. This is Communications Officer Sicily Redwood of the IAO Moscow." Sicily's voice comes clear and surprisingly confident. "We have received your distress signal and are here to help. Please state the nature of your emergency."

The visual feed cuts on for a moment and the cockpit is visible. Smoke billows from the left of the screen and sparks fly from a console at the back. Several crew members lay immobile in the background. At the forefront of the image, a bald, dark-skinned man mouths frantically, but no audio reaches the Moscow. The feed cuts out.

"My gods... What could have done this to them in the middle of nowhere?" Ghoshus ponders. "Keep your eyes on those radars everyone."

The feed returns suddenly with audio. However, the dark-skinned man is turned and talking to someone offscreen.

"... the fucking Moscow! We need to ... the hell out of here!" His voice is out of sync with the image. "Madman Shen is on the Bridge right behind her!"

Nina shoots Shen a confused look.

"We don't mean you any harm," Sicily pipes in. "Repeat. We are here to help you."

"That's fucking bullshit! We know who you are!" the visual feed cuts out and the man's disembodied voice continues. "Somebody fire something! Anything!"

Silence. A pair of ships emerge from the hangar at the back of the Trazen vessel and begin heading towards the Moscow.

"What should we do captain?" Sicily asks.

"Captain." Nina interrupts. "It doesn't appear that the weapons systems on the ships are functional."

"Very well. I say we open the hangar to them and try to sort this whole thing out," Ghoshus responds. "Shen, please take Sicily and collect Officer dRein from engineering. Perhaps we can get their vessel working again."

I quirk an eyebrow at the mention of my name. I've never been called madman before. Perhaps they had me confused with someone else. In any case it seems like they were none too happy to have encountered us, and the man was shouting for them to fire on us. "Captain I would advise caution. He doesn't seem happy to see us, and he is ordering them to fire on us. I think we should be careful about letting those ships on board, at least conduct thorough scans before we let them dock. Also I would like some security personnel to be on station when we meet up with them."
Having said that I take Sicily and head towards engineering to collect dRein. I check my blaster just in case. I don't like this at all.

Seeing Rickard Shen walk into my engineering room, I smoothly lope my way in front of him and stand at attention.
"Sir" I bark giving the appropriate salute, four limbs to the ground, two tucked to my chest, one to my forehead, and one straight at my side.

After being told that I am to be collected, I give a round of standing orders and shift changes, then dutifully follow Shen.

The hangar is bustling with personnel who are not sure what to expect from the incoming ships. A group of security troops stand ready to defend their commanding officers.

Nina's voice comes over the comms.

"After scanning more thoroughly,

it seems that there are a number of potentially dangerous chemicals on board one of the incoming vessels. Please use caution in dealing with our guests."

A click signifies the end of her message. Sicily shoots a worried look at Shen and Darwin.

The first ship docks without much of an issue. It is obviously a ship intended for combat and is not very large but its make is unique and foreign. The second ship, a Trazen cargo vessel, comes in awkwardly. A group of hangar crew members are forced to dive out of the way as it screeches to a halt.

The hatch on the first ship falls forward slowly, as if designed to appear ominous. After a short pause, a young lean bearded man steps off onto the Moscow hangar floor.

"Thank goodness! The IAO!" The man's voice lacks urgency considering the hostility of the situation. "I thought I was going to be trapped on that loony bin forever! Please tell me you have running water. I'm Dr. Carl Soanaize. Nice to meet you." He extends his hand to Shen.

I hold up my hand towards thee man, and keeping my voice calm and level speak to him authoritatively. " Sir I need you to keep your distance, and keep your hands in view until I can verify the safety of this vessel and her crew. Scans have detected hazardous materials on one of your ships. So we're going to have to perform a search before we progress any further. I ask for your complete cooperation in this matter. Now please stand aside and call out any other crew in the ships so we can conduct the search."

I keep my eyes fixed on the first ship. I'll wait for the order so Shen won't throw a hissy fit, but I'll have my hands on that unique ship before the day is out.

Carl shoots his hands into the air. After a moment, he sighs.

"Go ahead. There's nobody in there." A group of troops rush around him to enter the ship.

"Don't tell me you guys are as paranoid as those Trazen loons. I don't have any dangerous substances! If anybody has dangerous substance it's my uninvited partners." His head tilts in the direction of the other ship. "Come out here you bastards!"

The door on the other ship slides open and a crew of nervous looking crew members in tattered uniforms step out. A four armed Syrillian lizard wielding two blasters steps forward and speaks.

"I a-am Dronar Chronyl of the Trazen Warship Joura 7. We demand parts for our ship. One of our technicians has remained on the ship with the components a chemical explosive. I-if you do not comply or if you try anything funny, he will detonate it."

I smirk ever so slightly. Having had the suspicion since we encountered the ship that something precisely this stupid was going to happen I can't help but be disappointed that it did. Once again I speak authoritatively, and calmly. "First. Drop your blasters and present the open palms of all four hands. Your crew mates are to likewise disarm and present themselves as harmless. Second. The man in the ship is to step out slowly and disarm himself. Third. You are to remain calm and cooperative while your ship is searched and any hazardous substances are made secure. You fail to realize that if you blow up the hangar you will not only die, but you will receive no parts. Your only hope of not only surviving, but of having any chance to repair your ship lie in cooperating with me to the fullest extent possible. If you find my terms disagreeable you will be ejected from the ship. Should you try anything I will personally ensure your death. You have five seconds to comply." I keep my hands at my sides, and maintain eye contact throughout my speech. Should he try anything or should he fail to comply within the given time allotment I will draw my blaster and fire on him. (8,3,3) don't know if I need to roll to draw if so (1,2,7)

I stand at the ready, my eyes still fixated on the alien vessel. Should a fire fight break out, I hide behind the nearest large object and fire at the largest enemy.

-potential- Hide: ( 1, 4, 8 ) [Success]
-potential- Fire: ( 1, 8, 8 ) [Critical Failure]