[RP] New World: Team Dämmerung

[Sentama Lin]

New World

As time went by, humanity continued to expand in population, but also in intellect. With each new discovery, they seemed to get closer and closer and closer to being as deities themselves. Intelligence expanded, science expanded, technology expanded, and, also population expanded, which created a need for new places in which humanity could reside. Gigantic space-traveling arcologies (self-contained and self-sustaining ecosystems in spacecrafts, capable of supporting a high density of life) were built, then launched from Earth. And, thus, humanity began to set its sights into the infinite realms of space.

World Information

No longer is the world contained in the limited realm of planet Earth. Now, with humanity and other races living in the gigantic arcologies in space, it really is the final frontier. Advances in science and technology have made living in this new world quite comfortable. The arcologies support themselves and the citizens who live in them, providing food, water, oxygen, and the basic necessities for survival. Medicine and technology has given birth to nanomachines capable of destroying harmful foreign bodies inside organic races and repairing many kinds of wounds.

However, space is still very new to many of the new inhabitants of the arcologies. Methods of communication is spectacularly easy inside an arcology or a ship. However, inter-ship communication is still quite a challenge, particularly when huge distances, larger than the radio technolgoies of today could traverse, separated arcologies from ships. In addition, there was a need (or, rather, a curiosity that needed to be sated) for new planets to be researched and explored. Many people of various races have formed groups that could be hired by the governments or private individuals to explore new worlds, or deliver messages, or accomplish other tasks (of varying degrees of shadiness). These people are called Hunters, for many of them hunt for the jobs that offer lucrative rewards.

Races

There are four main races that dominate the world's culture: Humans, Androids, Beasts, and Newmans.

• Humans: They're the people who created the other races. The demeanor and ability of humans is as varied as the stars in the sky.
  
• Androids: Originally created as a tool of service, Androids have become a legally-recognised race of their own. All androids, by law, are required to be sentient, though many of them are still optimised for certain purposes in mind. With new advances in technology, biological android creation (a robot made to look and feel human) has been a possibility. Androids are rational and focused on their tasks. However, even with installed empathy chips to better interface with more emotional races, many androids are utterly incapable of understanding the subtleties of emotions.
  
• Beasts: These are genetically modified humans, another human creation designed as a tool of service. They have now attained equal rights compared to humans. The DNA of Beasts have been spliced with animals, thus creating beings of potentially incredible feats of strength and alacrity. Beasts are also capable of morphing into super-powerful versions of the animals with which they were spliced. Their empathy with wildlife has proven useful when scouting new areas or communicating with animals and other beings in new worlds, but the feral tempers normally associated with animals can make many a Beast hot-tempered easily.
  
• Newmans: With the creation of the Ether Drive (ED), a piece of technology that utilised brain activity to create effects that mimick magic and break many scientific laws, humans created Newmans, beings with significantly increased mental strength, to best utilise the powers granted by ED Devices. Newmans are empathetic and (perhaps overly) sensitive individuals, sometimes even described to be capable of reading mental thoughts of the other races (save for Androids). They resemble elves.
  

Ether Drives

An Ether Drive is a unique device created by humans which utilised the mental powers of an individual to create effects which mimicked magick. It is, physically, the size of a watch that is usually attached to one of the wrists. It is a device powered with the user's mind energy that creates a certain effect: a fire ball, a bolt of lightning, or perhaps a small storm of ice. The effects are programmed into the ED using small memory cards inserted into the data slot of the devices. Androids, while possessing a processing capacity significantly more powerful, rational, and logical than even the smartest Newman, are incapable of using such devices.  

[Sentama Lin]

Rules

• This is a DM(s)-Moderated RP. Whatever the DM(s) say is what goes. The current DMs are: Sentama Lin. Currently, the story is controlled by this DM: Sentama Lin
  
• People will make only one post after each DM post, to ensure that the story doesn't get ahead of all participating individuals. This is a measure to help people from becoming lost due to too many events, and also accomodate for the RPers who have busy schedules.
  
• Please do not godmod, but I feel this is a given rule.
  
• The DM is the person that will respond to all non-obvious interactions with the environment (finding a certain item in a container, successfully hitting a non-player character, etc.). Example, if a player says he looks inside a container, the current DM will decide what item, if any, is found inside the container.
  

These rules should be self explanatory enough, I feel.  

[Sentama Lin]

Characters

Please use this character sheet to make your character, then either post it in this thread or PM the character to Sentama Lin.

[b]User Name:[/b]
[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Appearance (Tektek or Description):[/b]
[b]Description[/b]

Current Characters
Karloseth
Played By: 0-0Roland Deschain0-0

Karloseth is a modern day mercenary, and will take pretty much any job he can get as long as it doesn't go against his morals and the pay is right. Not much is known about his past, as he has taken the appropriate measures to make all documentation on him either disappear or false. He is really good with weapons and computers, and he likes to tinker with whatever junk he can get his hands on. He is very fond of music, especially Rock music, and tends to listen to music while he works.

His holographic eyepiece serves as it's own little computer, and operates by either voice commands or a projected keyboard. It can be used to do almost anything possible to do with computers, and his work is untraceable. His headphones have a filter on them to let sound in (if he so chooses, this function can be shut off) but not out. Due to this, he can listen to music and hear everything else around him perfectly.
Ethen Rubar (James Billinger)
Played By: Saverio C.

Billinger officially died three months ago in combat with insurgents in the Sirus system. This was, of course, a ruse to throw off the man who tried to kill him. James was a weapons dealer posing as a soldier in service to the Odin (A colony ship). Another weapons dealer , for a reason unknown to James, tired to have him killed by the very rebels he was selling weapons too. James stole a fallen comrades ID and faked his death with a shot to the stomach. He woke up as Ethen Rubar, a man mourning the death of James Billinger, and free of his tour of duty to handle the psychological impact of losing all but three men (him included), and his eye. The latter was replaced with an eyepatch that simulated an eye plus a zoom in feature.

Ethen needed to get a job that put him in a good position to get information, and he remembered that gun runners use hunters often, so he joined a crew. He was great under pressure after all the things he had to do to sell weapons, and certainly knew his product. You can’t sell something you don’t know after all, and shooting them was a useful skill he picked up. Getting a ship was easy, now he would have to find a way to get the man who killed him.
Shard E. Weiss
Played By: Phaeton

Shard is an ex photon researcher who worked with R&D. Having become disillusioned by some of the negative effects of A-Photons, she left the labs behind for the life of a hunter. Being a hunter started as a struggle, she managed to do well all around and is capable of some tech usage and firearm proficiency but prefers to get her aggression out in melee combat. Being a bit of a misanthrope, she's rather abrasive and doesn't particularly enjoy small talk. She tends to function better with less emotional androids.
ESP 1-99: Nils
Played By: Erverain

Built as the last of the 100-series of his type, 1-99 stands at seven feet tall, and almost 1000 pounds. Is proficient in the use of small arms and the occasional heavy rifle.

Developed in an effort to further the newest, tentatively termed, "emotional webwork." Somehow, through some mix of chance, overwork, and quantum mechanics, the programmer on deck developed an enhanced Emotion Emulation Routine, surpassing the previous 99 of the series. However, this gave rise to unforeseen complications, as 1-99 rocked back and forth between nearly human emotions and almost completely emotionless. After extensive testing, it was discovered that 1-99's EER chip had fused, giving rise to the "tripping" in the emotional data. In an attempt to repair the chip, a critical error was made, and the "Emotional Webwork" system crashed. It took nearly five years to get him operational again.

By that time, however, the 200-series was on its way out and the 300-series units had already started development. Shuffled away under a pet project, 1-99 was finally revived by the same scientist who had made the fluke work. Unfortunately, the long sleep and the fusing of multiple circuit paths had stunted the emotional response systems, and left 1-99 nearly emotionless. Oddly enough, 1-99 had acquired a love of classical Earth music during the repair period, and would request it played whenever he could.

Once all the necessary repairs to the hardware was finished, 1-99 stepped into the universe in order to learn and naturally develop emotions, as per the request his "father".

Before his departure, 1-99 was outfitted with several updates to his frame, as well as data on several weapon usages. As a parting gift, 1-99 was given a small disk containing thousands of songs and compositions stretching from Earth classics to the newest ones.

Non-Playable Characters
Asher

Asher is the beast pilot of the H.S. Dämmerung, a salvaged United Nations federation carrier in the same class as the H.S. Kamaitachi and with the same modest features.

He had a start as a mine worker in Earth's moon, working and toiling until he could afford this ship and the proper licenses needed to be a hunter. The money to afford the ship wasn't exclusively from mining however. He also did odd jobs here and there, some clean, some not so clean, to earn the money he needed to get supplies and pay a crew. When he got his Hunter's license, his reputation had already preceded him as a qualified thief and smuggler.  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

Asher, the beast pilot of the Dämmerung, sat in the bridge with all the lights dimmed, his eyes scanning each block of text scrolling through the screen with care. Someone close by accepted a job recently, and he was trying to find information about it. The rest of the bridge was dimmed and the floor lightly littered with disposable chopsticks and ramen cups around where Asher sat. Asher's eyes seemed to close, becoming tired, when, suddenly, the computer blipped.

"Intercepting... Intercepting... Got it!" Asher roared from the bridge. He flicked a switch on the console and spoke into the microphone to announce his findings with the crew.

"Ah, guys, guys! I found a job for us! Do you want to ta -- oh, hell, we're going. WE'RE GOING!" He said, turning off the intercom and grabbing the controls. The planet destination was close by; he just had to mosey over toward it, land, check the damage of the ship, and salvage what he could find. "A simple salvage mission, and we can probably make a pretty penny off of everything..." He thought to himself, rubbing his hands.

Dämmerung's engines activated and roared as in it more energy was fed. The wings adjusted and calibrated for the correct location and the ship lurched it's way toward the planet. Asher could see the planet well from the bridge. He thought it was mighty clever to be pre-emptive with the crew, especially if the rewards are good. "We do need a bit of cash... well... I guess... I would want to eat something better than ramen, and I'm sure the others could do something with more money..."

He tilted the stick down a bit and activated the heat shields, preparing for a descent from the atmosphere.  

[Erverain]

Nils felt the floor shift and vibrate as the old ship launched forward.
Having grown accustomed to the boisterous, and sometimes impetuous, captain's personality, he busied himself readying his gear for the mission. After he was sure everything was there, Nils heads to the bridge.
Thinking back, it had been some time since their last job.
I suppose that's why he's so keen on this one. I wonder what sort of mission it is. He never did say... But, he never usually does until we're about to start anyway. Regardless, Hunters in our financial situation can't be picky. Especially when most of the rewards go to keeping this old hulk operational.
Nils arrives on the bridge as they begin their descent.  

[Phaeton]

Shard marked and closed her book, looking up to hear the pilot's energetic voice over the PA on the wall. Feeling the ship's sudden acceleration threw off that calm balance and almost made her fall off her bed. Leaving the book on the center of her bed, Shard slid to the edge and stood up.
I suppose Asher isn't actually going to tell us what we're supposed to be doing until it's time to get started.
She let out a disdainful sigh and exited her quarters, heading for the bridge. A job was nice, less subsiding off instant noodles and other non-perishables but the lack of disclosure grinded on her nerves sometimes.  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

"Ah, it's quite about time you got here!" Asher barked happily, spinning a bit on his pilot chair before hopping off it, facing the android in the process. He walked over and patted Nils on the shoulder, chuckling heartily. "Where's our ice pri -- ah, speak of the devil." He said as he saw the door open once more, seeing Shard walk in.

"Well, our job is simple. This planet we're landing in..." He began to brief, pointing at the green-and-red-gassed atmosphere they were entering. "...Has a ship that crashed. We're to salvage what we can find, return the cargo to some so-and-so research company, and try to figure out who caused the crash. Though... I will add... if we find anything interesting that isn't cargo... I say we claim it too."

Asher looked around to see if the other members had any input on the matter. He figured it would be easy to make any reason as to why the ship crashed, and it might be easy to say that they only found such-and-such pieces of equipment.  

[Erverain]

Nils nodded in greeting to Shard. She was actually a decent conversationalist, when the topic interested her. Perhaps she thought the captain simply had nothing interesting to say? No matter. A few points had already arranged themselves in his mind about this mission.
Speaking in a light baritone, Nils offered his thoughts.
"It would perhaps be wise to scan for any survivors, captain. If there are any, and we are lucky enough that it's one of the essential crew, then they should have access to the ship's manifest. We would then have a clear outline of what you refer to as 'fair game' items. The last thing we need is to be accused of piracy over a misunderstanding.
"If there are survivors, we would also procure a rescue fee. Of course," at this Nils's gaze swept the bridge. "you will have to clean up a bit first so that the risk of contaminants are minimized."
Finished with his piece, Nils waited for the others' reactions and input.  

[Phaeton]

Shard nodded in return greeting to Nils before facing Asher. It seemed like the captain was already about to dive head first into the mission, though it sounded like he didn't have all the details of the situation and wasn't particularly interested either. It sounds like we aren't doing it by the book. We aren't common pirates, are we? Last I checked, piracy was an infringement of the HLA. For the moment, Shard kept her thoughts private. She didn't have anything to point out that Nils didn't already. Instead she chose to get a quick glance at the planet rapidly approaching.  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

Dämmerung began its descent into the planet, making the cabin shake ever so slightly, though standing was still a capable task. Outside the ship swirls of red and green flowed around for a good five minutes before clearing up. The planet, as seen through the bridge, was a giant rainforest, peppered with bodies of water in various places. The ship's life support system blinked results of the atmosphere, revealing it safe to be exposed without any kind of life support outside the ship. However, it did recommend gas masks to filter out particular new bacterias and some small strains of mild allergic irritants.

Asher nodded to both Nils and Shard, resting his chin in his palm, thinking about each alternative. "Mm... Yeah... Yeah... That's a good point. I do hope, then, that there will be some thing to inform us about what we can take. 'Course, we could just take everything, bring it back to the client, and they can take what they want, if no survivors were found."

He paced around, thinking a bit more, his fur standing on end with the excitement of a completed job soon. He kicked an empty styrofoam cup and sighed, crouching down to pick up his mess, accumulated from many a day staring at the computer screen. By the time he picked up the last chopstick, the planet has landed with a splash, floating on the water.

Busied with the task of cleaning, Asher had no time to notice a beacon symbol blinking on the ship's radar. Information available on the screen said it was an emergency beacon from an Elrus class cargo ship.  

[Phaeton]

On the other hand if there are survivors, their guns might inform us about what we can and can not take. She thought as she let out a mental sigh but her facial expression began to reflect it. Figuring there would be a bit of turbulence, Shard took a few paces over to the wall near the door and rested her hand on a bar to stabilize herself during the landing.

Shard's eyes traced to the glow from the monitor. "A distress signal from the cargo ship." She blandly announced. It seemed even more likely that there were survivors from the crash. She might have only been stating the obvious but Asher seemed preoccupied with cleaning up his mess.  

[Saverio C.]

Ethen walked out from his quarters and onto the bridge, and leaned on the wall. "We should answer that before they get the wrong idea about us." His mellow tone had an air of cool to it. "One day we will get in a heap of trouble because of you." He muttered as he noted the environment was safe to breath. Thinking about it he said "Lets be careful, we can't know that the beacon wasn't set off by a fellow hunter." Thinking about the cargo Ethen wasn't expecting anything big; "Most people who have something nice to transport have lack personal security, so we should be ready for disappointment." he said as he pondered the people who set of the beacon  

[Erverain]

Nils had almost forgotten about the other crewmen. One still hadn't shown himself lately, and this other one wasn't terribly sociable when it didn't matter. Nils still didn't quite know what to make of Rubar, since he rarely offered anything about himself.
"We should also be ready for anything else, Crewman Rubar. We might not be the only ones who have received this signal, given the time it has been active."
Nils scanned the planet before him once more.
There are more ways to bring down an El-class cargo ship than just external means. There might have been transporting something they weren't supposed to have, though the chances of that outcome are infinitesimally small. Not many black market vessels send out distress beacons...  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

Asher's cat ears perked up, his gaze turning to Shard for a moment, a toothy grin on his face. Tossing the last batch of ramen cups into a trashcan, he dashed toward the radar and typed rapidly, though clumsily, on the keyboard. A few errors came up on the screen, with a few obscenities leaving Asher's mouth, as he pinpointed the location of the beacon. Some of the ship crew could wonder, through this feat of "genius" , how Asher was even able to operate the ship's console.

"Ah! It's about a mile from us. I suggest we get ready for a hike." Asher growled happily, reaching behind his back for a rather large holstered shuriken. He pressed a few more buttons on the keyboard, a few more obscenities leaving his mouth, as he opened up a communications line with the other ship. Nothing but static could be heard.

"Looks like it'll just be a surprise... Let's hope, if there are survivors, that they are okay..." He muttered to the crew before stepping out of the bridge and walking to the hangar. He flicked a switch and opened the doors, his body blasted with a hot waft of humid wind. His fur stood on end as he wiped his brow. "Jeeeeeeezus! It's hot!" He cried.

(( The trek towards the ship. Respond to things as you please until you get there. The animals that attack are ones that you can beat easily, should you decide to beat them. It'll be about an hour hike through the forest. ))

The forests of this planet was humid, and the flora was chaotic, ungroomed, and made it incredibly difficult to walk through the denseness. Asher sighed and whacked around with the blades of his shuriken and the rake of his claws, trying to clear some form of way for his crew members. On occasion he looked at a digital compass he stored in his cargo pockets to double check they were still heading toward the emergency beacon.

The fauna of the planet seemed to resemble rainforest life found on Earth, though the colours of many of the animals were different and seemed to glow flourescently, making them easy to see. While some of them were docile and beautiful, like some butterflies and birds and even some lizards moving across the forest floor, others were not so friendly. Many an occasion through the trek, feral feline-like animals growled at them. Asher growled back, signaling the crew to continue, after sensing that each cat they encountered would not attack. Other occasions, some animals attacked as well, but their strength was no match for the strength of the crew.

After an hour trek through dense and terrible jungle, the crew could see a wrecked ship between the trees. Smoke did not rise from it, and it seemed still and silent among an evironment full of life. If any member of the crew would take the time to listen well, the faint roar of another ship could be heard, though a direction could not be guessed.

(( Please post into Multiple Teams. Get ready for interaction, which means less work for me, save for intervention if too many people are powerplaying. biggrin ))  

[Saverio C.]

"I'll go grab my equipment, an get ready." Ethen said as he left the bridge. He learned when he first got on the ship not to question how Asher runs things. "He just needs nudges when things get really bad." He thought to himself as he grabbed his rifle and knife. His weapon of choice was the XM-124, a staple among the elite soldiers in armed forces. It shot both an energy lazer and a bullet as one projectile. The Bullet was turned to molten metal in transport but with the speed it shot at still had real penetration power. Of course you could chose to shoot only one mode at a time, which Ethen did usually. It wasn't the cheapest gun to shoot, but it was a very high quality weapon.
Walking off the ship Ethen chose to wear the gas mask to protect him from the tropical environment. The first thing he noticed as he walked off was the oppressive heat and humidity. "Welcome to the Jungle!" He said loudly as he switched his gun to purely physical mode, lazers didn't break through underbrush that well after all, and started to walk to the ship with the others.

Ethen was in good shape, for a human, but the walk was brutal. The heat and humidity was one thing, but the god damn plants made walking a fight of its own. "Maybe we should splurge on a planet based transport one day." He yelled to the others as he ripped through some tropical plant. Asher kept most of the big stuff at bay, so Ethen stuck close to him. He avoided most of the sacry stuff, and he made it through the forest only having to kill the snake he saw. "Wouldn't want it to get into the cargo hold. I saw this movie about that once. Scary stuff." he said in all seriousness before he took a sip of water and kept walking through the oppressive jungle.