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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 16:05:56 GMT -4
You sat on a bench, looking out into the vastness of space from above. You were in a K'Talun space station called the KSP Hai'Lee. You weren't suppose to be dawdling originally, by now you should've been on your ship, the KSS Red Sun, when it left Fremutania for a going away ceremony of sorts, but your ship to your home moon was delayed to the point it forced the ceremony to move here, the last location the Red Sun would need to visit in order to pick up supplies. Of course, you came here earlier than your ship, and as such you found yourself in the garden located at the space station's center.
"You are Captain Nakov, correct?" a voice says from close by. A look would reveal an alien who looks remarkably human, except in place of ears he has three ear holes in each place they would be located for humans, six ear holes in total. He was a Zathrelle.
"My name is Kem Argi," he explains, "I am a member of your crew. We have just arrived here, and I and a few others have figured to try and find you and introduce ourselves."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 16:10:05 GMT -4
I'd reply in a quiet voice, not being one for small talk, but I managed to greet and exchange a few pleasantries. "Well, Kem Argi, as you probably are aware, I am Captain Nikolai Nakov. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 16:18:52 GMT -4
Kem seems kinda annoyed, or more like offended, by something for a few moments, but doesn't seem to want to talk about it.
"Well, it's good that I found you. We'll be stuck here for a day while we load the cargo on the ship and prepare for the ceremony. Well, from the sounds of it, it seems to be more like what you humans call a party. We'll be leaving tomorrow in the morning. Would you like to call some of the other crew members over?"
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 16:27:52 GMT -4
"I would," I'd quietly and carefully say, I couldn't make a fool of myself to my crew members. "Make sure they are all here and accounted for." After I spoke, I take out my caked briar pipe from years of use. I'd take some tobacco from the tin and go through the rituals of packing and lighting pipes. I puffed on the pipe as he walked away, taking in the flavor of the rich english blend.
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 16:36:01 GMT -4
Kem nods and pulls out his CEM, the most current form of communication. He sends a written message to a group, which you can only assume to be the whole crew. In a few minutes of silence, he receives a few replies. He opens the first one.
"It is from a Howard Wilson. It says 'No.' I suppose it is to be expected. Only a few of us wanted to come visit you. The maintenance crew also wishes to inform you that they're too busy to come and chat. So far the only people who have agreed to visit are Security Chief Kaminski, Lieutenant Greengrove, a human named Drake Combs, a ta named Chess Kipo and another human named Ulysses Wiseman," he says, scanning and reading through the messages at near godly speeds. "I've received more refusals from three other crew members. The remaining crew members have so far ignored the message."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 16:40:54 GMT -4
I'd take my pipe from my mouth with my right hand and reply "Alert the crew members that since many refused to come see their Captain, that I will visit those I can.
"If you wouldn't mind showing me, of course."
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 16:49:08 GMT -4
"Of course, although I will warn you Captain, there's something incredibly off about this crew," Kem replies as he sends the new message. "It would seem that of the entire crew, only six of you are direct members of the Keepers. Everyone but you, your second-in-command, your third-in-command and the security team are civilians, including me. There are a few ex-military, but everyone who was in the Keeper force before being assigned on this ship was honorably or dishonorably discharged before arriving."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 16:54:35 GMT -4
"Of course, although I will warn you Captain, there's something incredibly off about this crew," Kem replies as he sends the new message. "It would seem that of the entire crew, only six of you are direct members of the Keepers. Everyone but you, your second-in-command, your third-in-command and the security team are civilians, including me. There are a few ex-military, but everyone who was in the Keeper force before being assigned on this ship was honorably or dishonorably discharged before arriving." "Let's not look into it, if it becomes a problem we will deal with it later. I all I care about is if everyone can do their job and do their job well." I'd stand up and signal to Kem to begin walking.
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 17:21:58 GMT -4
"Well, I don't know about well, but they can do their job. I think," Kem shrugs. As you begin to walk, you're stopped by a human woman in full uniform. She's been running.
"C-Captain. I hope you weren't planning to leave without me," she says.
"Lieutenant? Didn't you get my message?" Kem asks.
"I did," she replies, before turning to you. "Lieutenant Miranda Greengrove, your third-in-command."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 19:03:39 GMT -4
"Well, I don't know about well, but they can do their job. I think," Kem shrugs. As you begin to walk, you're stopped by a human woman in full uniform. She's been running. "C-Captain. I hope you weren't planning to leave without me," she says. "Lieutenant? Didn't you get my message?" Kem asks. "I did," she replies, before turning to you. "Lieutenant Miranda Greengrove, your third-in-command." "Hello Lt. Greengrove, I hope that you and I will get along," I'd reply.
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 23, 2017 19:17:13 GMT -4
Your words seemed to shock her. They didn't irritate her like they did with Kem, but you could tell she wasn't happy about something. However, she clearly bit her tongue as she refuses to speak about it.
"I see," she says. "Anyways, I uh..."
"Let us move on," Kem says, ushering you two out of the garden. You did happen to hear the brushes behind your group rustling, but it was likely just some rodent that snuck on a ship and wound up here.
"Where are we going?" Miranda finally asks Kem.
"A bar," he explains. "Evidently, Mr. Combs has kindly tricked our pilot Howard there so that the Captain can meet with them."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 23, 2017 19:41:23 GMT -4
Your words seemed to shock her. They didn't irritate her like they did with Kem, but you could tell she wasn't happy about something. However, she clearly bit her tongue as she refuses to speak about it. "I see," she says. "Anyways, I uh..." "Let us move on," Kem says, ushering you two out of the garden. You did happen to hear the brushes behind your group rustling, but it was likely just some rodent that snuck on a ship and wound up here. "Where are we going?" Miranda finally asks Kem. "A bar," he explains. "Evidently, Mr. Combs has kindly tricked our pilot Howard there so that the Captain can meet with them." "Mr. Combs?"
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 24, 2017 22:17:39 GMT -4
"Drake Combs. Human. He'll be working the information desk when I'm off shift," Kem Argi replies.
"Drake Combs? Why does that sound familiar? Did I meet him already?" Miranda asks.
"You haven't met him yet, Lieutenant. The familiarity comes from his station, or his former station. He was on the Board until yesterday."
The Board refers to the Board of Conscience, the group that makes all political dissensions for the Keepers, a mostly militant organization. In short, he's a politician. Or an ex-politician you could guess.
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 25, 2017 7:17:13 GMT -4
"Drake Combs. Human. He'll be working the information desk when I'm off shift," Kem Argi replies. "Drake Combs? Why does that sound familiar? Did I meet him already?" Miranda asks. "You haven't met him yet, Lieutenant. The familiarity comes from his station, or his former station. He was on the Board until yesterday." The Board refers to the Board of Conscience, the group that makes all political dissensions for the Keepers, a mostly militant organization. In short, he's a politician. Or an ex-politician you could guess. "All right," I say, then proceeding to walk in silence until we arrive at the bar.
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 25, 2017 15:04:07 GMT -4
Once at the bar you see a lot of K'Talun, and a few humans. One signals to your group while he laughs alongside another.
"And that would be Drake, as well as our pilot, Howard."
"Please tell me we don't only have one pilot," Miranda pleads. You couldn't blame her: Howard was incredibly unkempt, not the kind of person you'd trust a ship to, and in his ears were earphones, technology that hasn't been around since the late 21st century. Only collectors have them nowadays.
"We have a second, afterall it's entirely unreasonable to expect a person to pilot a ship 24/7. But that logic also applies to the other pilot and we have no one who can replace Howard right now."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Aug 25, 2017 17:05:25 GMT -4
Once at the bar you see a lot of K'Talun, and a few humans. One signals to your group while he laughs alongside another. "And that would be Drake, as well as our pilot, Howard." "Please tell me we don't only have one pilot," Miranda pleads. You couldn't blame her: Howard was incredibly unkempt, not the kind of person you'd trust a ship to, and in his ears were earphones, technology that hasn't been around since the late 21st century. Only collectors have them nowadays. "We have a second, afterall it's entirely unreasonable to expect a person to pilot a ship 24/7. But that logic also applies to the other pilot and we have no one who can replace Howard right now." I'd greet and exchange formalities with them, as I did witth Kem and Miranda.
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Post by Tikobe on Aug 30, 2017 15:14:46 GMT -4
"Huh? Hi. I'm Howard," your pilot says with a total lack of enthusiasm.
"Now, now. I'm pretty sure your parents advised you against half-assed greetings," Drake replies at quite clearly both Howard and you. "Some people aren't fans of the idea that you're only being nice to them because of the job. That's why waiters get poor tips sometimes."
"Really? I always thought it was because they were assholes," Howard shrugs.
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Sept 3, 2017 20:10:14 GMT -4
"Well, I hope the voyage will be productive. You all are entrusted to the safety and security of the ship. The Red Sun should have arrived by now, so if you don't mind, let's all head over there."
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Post by Tikobe on Sept 3, 2017 20:52:10 GMT -4
"'By now?' It's here. I drove the damn thing over here," Howard mutters, taking one last shot. "Pilots: They do so much and yet almost all of it goes unnoticed. Sad, sad life."
"I'm sure it's not that bad. We have a few famous pilots. What we don't have are famous maintenance crew members," Drake replies in a transparent attempt to change the focus of Howard's mind. He was trying to hide it with a calming, friendly voice, but there were subtle hints that Drake didn't really care about all this.
"There's a difference between us and them. If a maintenance guy does something amazing, no credit is given. If a pilot does something amazing, the captain take all the credit."
"Are you two coming or should we just leave you here?" Miranda snaps.
"Um... Coming," Drake says, forcefully pulling Howard's arm with you.
A Zathrelle, a former Board member, Miranda and an asshole pilot. Your group looks like they're ready to take on 5e dragons now.
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Sept 3, 2017 20:55:41 GMT -4
As we are walking, I ask the various crew members their pasts and what brought them to the Red Sun. After that, I tell Kem to notify the remaining crew members to start heading out.
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Post by Tikobe on Sept 3, 2017 21:42:09 GMT -4
You ask about their pasts, but they didn't seem all too willing to show it.
Drake explains that most of his actions are confidential, just that you could be sure that while his career may seem empty, he has certainly had a hand in what he called the worst things the Keepers have ever done since the time he came to the Board. He states that if you want to know more, you'd need to see him alone and actually try to have meaning in your conversations. He feels that you've been lackluster with your simple questions and half-assed greetings.
Miranda says that she is simply a soldier, and refuses to speak beyond that.
Howard apparently has been flying all kinds of ship since he was schooling age. He provides a full list of all the ships he's been licensed to fly in Keeper space, which is every single one of them that needs a pilot. Doesn't say how he started this career or why he's here. He has nothing against talking about it, he just frankly doesn't care to right now.
Kem was a prominent inventor of his race until he went into hiding some odd number of years ago. Some of his family actually worked on the Helpers with the company that produced them, Nest Industries. Like the others, he won't say anything else. Except...
"Uh, Captain. We're not cleared to leave until tomorrow. We still have a ceremony that was already relocated and rescheduled to perform," Kem explains.
"Do we really need to do that?" Miranda replies.
"Yes. The Keepers explained that it was absolutely necessary that this project began with some awe-inspiring final image of us going away beyond the bounds of known space. They won't let us leave otherwise."
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Sept 3, 2017 21:48:17 GMT -4
(i have half a mind to hijack the ship and do whatever but thats probably not allowed, lol)
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Post by Tikobe on Sept 3, 2017 22:06:38 GMT -4
(If you wanna try to hijack the ship you can hijack the damn ship but without someone who can hack open the bay doors for the space station's hangars you'll fail miserably. Not to mention your crew wouldn't help you.)
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Patriot
Themes
trump is dope, yo.
Posts: 269
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Post by Patriot on Sept 3, 2017 22:23:54 GMT -4
(Exactly, lol. Can we timeskip to the next day?)
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Post by Tikobe on Sept 3, 2017 22:30:43 GMT -4
(No. There's stuff that's gonna happen today. Do the stuff. Here, I'll help.)
"So, what do they expect us to do until then?" Miranda asks.
"There seems to be a party of sorts at 7:00 P.M., Earth Standard. Violet wing, conference room 12. I hope you've all packed something nice to wear," Kem smiles.
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