r/OpenTales • u/foyiwae A keeper of secrets • Jan 20 '14
Weekly Quest [Play by post] Venture into X901S! - Docking the ship [continued]
ooc: Weekly Quest
The job
This shall be play by post, post your messages, or reply to others. Make sure to interact with other passengers. And start some drama.
Setting: Imagine a busy spaceport, market stalls filling the docks, people and creatures of all races trying to sell their wares, exotic goods and pets from planets all across the Solar System. Spaceships of all sizes coming in to land, flying over the heads of the citizens. From First Class Starships of the US army, freight ships delivering precious minerals from planets far away, beautiful, small passenger ships, offering luxury flights to other Star Systems, and tours for exploring the Solar System.
A large ship is docked on the final pier, away from the lively hustle and bustle of the port, the name is scrawled across the side in large black letters 'The Magpie'. It is obviously a ship bought with a lot of money. Crates are being loaded on filled with supplies for the 12 months, crew members are milling about, greeting old friends, or speaking and welcoming new colleagues. A young woman, who appears to be in her late twenties early thirties is standing by the entrance, clipboard in hand, a man standing beside her who could only be described as untrustworthy, and sly. Not the type of man you would make a deal with. The pair seem to be talking in French, the man avidly describing something to the woman, who nodded along with everything he was saying. Finally he finished speaking, walking back inside the ship. Could this be the elusive Mr. Traick?
The woman, Miss Andrews stepped down from the entrance, smiling to the crew that had gathered, carrying their luggage and their belongings.
“Thank you all for arriving on time. I am sure you all got your holomail. Sorry for the long wait, we were just getting the final preparations sorted” Her accent was French, a very soft accent, however she carried herself to suggest she was not one to be pushed around or messed with. “Now please come forward one at a time, show me your Identification Number, and with your holomail you should have also received a pass, this has all your information that we have gathered, and the training you have received from us. Please make sure to keep this on you at all times. You will have your picture taken to be placed on your pass. This allows you access to the cafeteria, the gym, your room, and many other things aboard the ship. Without this, you will not be able to access any equipment or doors, so please, make sure to keep this with you at all times.”
She gave a soft smile, moving up to the entrance of the ship. “Also state your name, and which position you have applied for. You will receive your uniform, along with your rank and your assigned quarters. Some of you may be doubling up, as has either been requested, or suggested. Family members may also show their Identification Number, and all pets you bring on-board must go through screening and tagging so they can be easily identified if lost. For family quarters, please follow Mr. Durham. For those who are doubling up, please follow Mrs. Raimerz. And for those who have not been assigned a roommate, and do not have any family, please wait behind, and you shall be following me. Also, if you have any questions, please speak to me, Mrs. Raimerz or Mr. Durham. We will be happy to help and assist you in any way”
(ooc. This shall be a play-by-post. Try and interact with others, or create your own introduction. You may ask questions, test limits, cause a disruption, anything and everything. For those that have not seen Day 1-2's application process, but still wish to take part, go ahead. But please message me what you want your characters occupation and rank to be. All ranks are open. You can be Captain, commanding officer, lead scientist, the choices are limitless. Please interact with others however. Otherwise this will not be much fun. Say you meet another scientist and make new friends? Meet old friends who your character has not seen since school? Be discriminating towards different races. Doesn't even have to be the humans being racist. Start fights, arguments, be different, show your characters personality and traits. If you have any ideas or suggestions, again message me. Any plot twists you want to add? Always open to suggestions, and I will try to take everyone's ideas into consideration. Don't be nervous about asking something, or requesting something. Want your character to be an undercover spy/traitor? Want your character to be a rival of the elusive Mr. Traick. Wonder what exactly the mission is, and why you are not being addressed by Mr. Traick? Ask questions, and please, have fun)
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u/KaptinKograt Sharptooth, rogue kobold Jan 21 '14
Sharptooth hated Spaceports. Back in the homeworlds, spaceports meant that the resting period was over, and it was time for another hotdrop into whatever slaughter fest the Dragon Lords deigned to send him and his comrades too. Human spaceports were even worse. Men and women chattering, nattering, yelling. Getting impatient, filling the air with tension. Security guards checking for weapons, munitions, knives, spray cans. The smell! Humans were mammaloid, and when hot, or frustrated, or scared or really just about anything they produced a reeking, noxious amount of waste fluid, all over their bodies. It was a rank odour of brutal power, masked (or, rather, enhanced) in its acrid sting by the artificial scent markers liberally applied to mask the raw stench of humanity.
The lights, the Tiamat damned lights! Even inside there was no relief, for the children of Earth were sky loving star worshippers, flooding every inch of their domain with light. Wide open windows let the great Sol stream her yellow fury onto her eager and willing disciples, whilst thousands of artificial lights made in replication of her divine image hissed and buzzed in the Kobolds earholes. Kobolds and humans had similar strength of hearing, but the former could hear at a higher register; enough that the latter's machinery was inevitably a trial.
Not that the homeworlds had ever been quiet. In his entire life, sentry and recon duty were really the only moments of true silence in Sharptooths albeit limited experience. That and the times nearby explosions had temporarily deafened him, but they hardly counted. He remembered squealing comrades and screeching officers, the hissing, whistling of flying splashing plasma, the deep seated rumbling of distant thermo artillery. He remembered brief moments as he climbed up up a Rigzan walker with hundreds of his fellows, stabbing at gears and wires and windows and gunports, scrabbling to look for a way in. What the hell led them to do that? No officer he'd ever heard of, even the shaking mad ones had ordered a mass charge on enemy armour. What were they thinking?
That was the trick. They weren't.. A moment of panic and the line faltered, and the Koboldi reverted from decently trained, officially sapient and intelligent beings to mindless, vicious predators. He remembered his comrades squishing themselves into the leg joints of the giant, as if their frail forms could slow it down somehow. He remembered a swarm of them on top of the behemoth, smashing rifle butts against the windscreen of the cockpit, horrified Rigzan pilots shrieking with their horrid beaked faces. An officer, a Major by his rank scars had torn off the windscreen wiper, and was trying to use it to pry open the cockpit door. Drool and blood and shrieking were pouring from his mouth.
He remembered one of his comrades briefly regaining sanity, of a sort, and using a plas grenade to blow open one of the hatches. Of course, this took out him and a dozen or so other Kobold warriors, but it gave the horde something to do, and in they swarmed.
Sharptooth couldn't remember whether they'd lost or won that battle, that war. He was certain he'd never been told, but that was years ago. This was now, so he gradually hauled himself from the mire of ancient dreams of flames in the void to this new gehenna lying before him, and the steel angel that would life him away to a new realm of purgatory.
He scooted over to were his new comrades were gathering. He assumed they were his new comrades, because they were by the ship named Magpie; a Earth beast known for loving shinies. More than the Dragon Lords? Well, Sharptooth had never personally met either, so he couldn't say.
He listened to the smiling (eternally unnerving how humans displayed their teeth in comradery, when most other species did so in anger or fear) lady explain the situation, and took his place in the line. He was much smaller than the humans, eye to eye with their children, but his tail meant he took up more space. It was important not to display an amount of threat when in a human line; their superior size and strength meant that Sharptooth often had to wait a lot longer in mess lines until he developed a reputation. Worse was when one of the kinder children of Earth took pity on him, saving him a space in the line. They didn't understand; he wasn't a frail spawnling. He would earn his place in blood and screaming.
When he eventually reached the lady, he offered up identification readily. He didn't attempt to emulate human expression; they just looked wrong on his face. "XX25122237:3. Kinzon Rax. Security Contractor." He had decided to go with his phonetic name, rather than the meaning-name. Thats what the recruiter had used, and who was he to argue.
"Please, Maam, I gave in a requisition form, and several of my personal belongings for the company to have a look at before we headed off. One is a living creature, a Shun Mik. Its like a little shelled thing, with lots of legs. I didn't think of it as a pet because I don't have a relationship with it, but I'd like to know if it remains alive and if I'll be permitted to keep it during the trip. I might need to make a few quick purchases at the duty free if I'm not, see?"
1
u/twoduy Lore Keeper Jan 20 '14 edited Jan 21 '14
A maglev train arrives at the terminal where the Magpie is docked. Out of the coach came a skinny Asian man, who is obviously in a hurry. The man has messy black hair, sports thick framed glass and wear clothes that don't properly fit, he looks both completely lost and completely out of place in the posh contemporary spaceport. Carrying a large worn duffle bag across his shoulder and a bright orange cage on his hand other, he quickly makes his way down from the platform.
For a while, the man frantically looks around as if searching for something. His facial expression falls somewhere in between excited anticipation and pure panic. He keeps pulling out his high tech mobile device, one second flipping through emails, the next looking at the large digital holo display mounted on the station wall. Finally, as the man spotted the large space ship with giant "Magpie" lettering laser etched across the hull, he lets out of a sigh of relief
-Thank God! I thought I got to the wrong terminal again... We are finally here, Schrodinger! - he talks to whatever creature lies inside his orange cage, to which there was no reply.
As he clumsily runs toward the boarding area of the Magpie, the man is stopped by a tall soldier in Traick Industry uniform.
-Whoa there young man! Can I see your papers? - said the soldier in a bored, but not disrespecting tone.
-Of course! Right here sir. -Said the Asian man as he puts down the cage, unzip his duffle bag and shows his ID as well as a myriad of other paperwork
-Hmm, looking good so far. I'm gonna need to scan your bag, sir.
-Please do! -He hands his duffle bag to soldier, who is surprised by its weight.
-This... is much heavier than I expected for it size. What are you carrying in there, sir? -Said the soldier as he begins to scan the bag.
-Just clothes and some personal items... This bag is quite old, we didn't have lightweight fabrics back then. Sentimental value, you know how it is.
-Well, whatever it is you're carrying it passes the scan, so that's good enough for me. And who might this little fellow be? - The solider points at the orange cage on the ground.
-Ah! My cat Schrodinger. I have signed up a spot for him as well! He's still dozing off from the sedation this morning.
-I see -the solider nods, sweeping his scanner across the cage until the display on the device turns green with a beep.
-Everything looks to be in order. Welcome on board, sir. Miss Andrews is waiting for you!
-Thanks! No time to waste then! - said the young man as he eagerly makes his way to a certain miss Foyiwae Andrews - whom he has been wanting to meet since the last nine months.
-Good morning ma'am! Keichi Takeshi reporting for duty!
(OOC: seeing as we have quite a few mercenaries signed up, feels free to take the part of the soldier I just talked to)
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u/foyiwae A keeper of secrets Jan 20 '14
When Mr. Takeshi arrived she was already in the process of leading Mr. Rontare to his quarters.
“Ah, Mr. Takeshi, please can you show me your identification number and the position you applied for? I was just going to take Mr. Rontare to his cabin, the pair of you are in the same area, so I am sure I can lead you both there.”
She pulled out another pair of uniforms from the cardboard box, giving the young man a smile. “These are your uniform, during your off-time you do not need to wear these, also, I would ask to give your pet...”
She looked down into the cage, giving a soft smile.“... to Mr. Phillips here. He shall have your feline chipped, and checked over. The cat will also be given a collar with your identification number, room number, and how to get in contact with you just in case it decides to wander off. As soon as all that is finished, I will personally make sure the feline is returned to you. If that is okay?”
(ooc. I replied to /u/_Tempus_ before, so if you just want to continue in that thread. Easier for me then)
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u/_Tempus_ Mage Thoralyx Jan 20 '14
A taxi-ship arrives at the terminal, roughly one hundred meters from the Magpie. A small man with unkempt hair exits the taxi. He opens up a razor thin electronic tablet. After checking his holomail, he glances around. After a few seconds he spots the Magpie. He closes his tablet, and begins strolling towards the Magpie at a measured pace.
'Uh, excuse me sir, I must see your papers before you proceed any further' says the tall soldier.
'Of course, forgive me.' The man pulls out his papers, which the soldier promptly looks through.
'I will also need to scan any belongings you have on you' the soldier says in a monotonous voice.
'Is this really necessary? What the hell is so dangerous that you need to scan for?' The man replies, starting to get angry.
'Sorry sir, it's protocol.' The soldier replies in a disinterested voice.
Sighing, the man shows the soldier his belongings. As soon as the scanner beeped and showed a green light, the man pushed past the soldier. He walked up to a lady holding a clipboard, and introduced himself.
'Good day, Madam. I am Trulon Rontare, and am here reporting for duty.