VR Room

Aria and Arif had come into the VR room to practice, and to see her new ability set.

"Okay, so... Uh. Simulation, urban environment, difficulty level, maximum."

PROCESSING REQUEST. SIMULATION LOADING. SIMULATION LOADED.

THIS WILL BE FAIRLY EASY. Aria beeped.

The simulation completely loaded.

Aria extended her dual-machine guns.

The countdown started, and got to zero. Six enemies popped up, targeting Aria. She made quick mincemeat of them, the scoreboard increasing faster than it could cope.

Another set. Aria rolled quickly around, only getting hit a few times, firing back with gusto, knocking seven more with great accuracy.

WAVE ONE COMPLETE

ACCURACY WAS 97%. I SUFFERED MINIMAL DAMAGE.

Aria chirped.

WAVE TWO START

These enemies were larger and more aggressive. They attempted to swarm Aria, but she merely gunned them down as easily as the first wave.

WAVE TWO COMPLETE

WAVE THREE START

There were three, excessively large, and incredibly brutish enemies. In fact, they were more droid-like than the humanoid projections beforehand. They fired shot after shot at Aria, one clipping her and causing a dent.

Aria fired as many shots as she could, but they only served to slow them down.

But in a moment, her centre panel opened up and pushed out her laser cannon.

"Let's see how this goes..."

She charged up the blast, firing at one of the three. It tore right through it, the digital corpse bursting into pixels. She charged up two more shots, firing them at the other two.

WAVE THREE COMPLETE

"That was amazing, Aria!" Arif was elated.

THE USE OF THE LASER CANNON DEPLETES MY CELLS BY APPROX 5% PER SHOT. IN COMPARISON, 20 MIN OF FIRING REGULAR WEAPONS ACCOUNTS FOR 5% BATTERY DRAIN.

"Well, it's worth it, right?"

THE TACTICAL ADVANTAGE OUTWEIGHTS THE LOSS OF POWER. I SUFFERED LIMITED DAMAGE, THANKS TO INCREASED ARMOUR-PLATING.

If Aria wasn't battle-ready before, then she was now.

Troperia Armory:

"Gun mine, nobody touches..." Torvahk replied insistently. He figured that most people wouldn't even be able to hold it, but for all he knew, the crew members that had psionic powers could probably levitate it almost effortlessly, and he couldn't afford that risk. Torvahk realized that subconsciously he was fearful and paranoid of such powers he didn't understand, and hoped it didn't mean he had some sort of subconscious prejudice or anything.

Eventually Torvahk reached the armory and found the footlocker he stored his weapon in. He got the combination wrong twice before finally remembering the correct combination and pulled out what looked like a heavy metal backpack to the uninformed viewer. "Gun this...mine is...is too powerful to use in ship this." He explained, telescoping and deploying the Devastator Fusion Cannon to its full size that he had to hold with both arms. Its design was hard to describe, but looked very bulky and dangerous, held in the same way one would hold a minigun. There was an arm rest for the trigger arm at the very least, and a space that looked like it was reserved for attaching a bayonet. He set it on a metal table in the armory with a distinct THUNK to emphasize its weight.

Living The Fever Dream

[Godsgift, Approx. 3.8 Mm from the Nos Lycarin and the Troperia]

"I'm booooored," Godsgift said.

Sy glanced up from whatever he was reading. "Seriously?"

"No. I'm more or less incapable of boredom unless I actively choose to be bored. I'm entertaining myself with calculations. In the distance between us and Nos Lycarin, with this ship's mass and capabilities, I could accelerate us to a velocity sufficient to completely obliterate a 2-mile-high mountain with the force of a crash landing. You might even survive the impact, but the jury's out on how well the inertial dampening would hold up. Isn't science fun?"

"Looks like we have a message," Whistler said irritably.

"So we do. Relaying." The AI repeated the message from Orbital Control.

"Ah," Whistler said. "Okay. Relay an acknowledgment to Orbital Control, and let the Troperia know that we're on a course for their ship. We're in no rush, we can dock whenever and wherever it's most convenient for them, as long as they don't make us wait two weeks, because, you know, we'd starve to death."

"You could go into coldsleep for a few years. Should I update your request?"

"Request? What? No. Don't actually tell them to make us wait two weeks. Just tell them that we're not in a rush."

"So long as we don't starve to death. Well, so long as you don't starve to death. I'll last longer than some suns."

"No, just... Damn it, just record this and transmit it: This is Whistler Eddirastfinar of the Godsgift. Thank you for granting us permission to dock with your ship. We're en route now and should arrive at orbital distance around Nos Lycarin in..." he paused, "...about 700 seconds. However, we can remain in a holding pattern in orbit if you need us to wait to dock. Transmit that, Godsgift."

"Message away."

Vincent spun his stick lazily, offering an incline of his head to Izzie as they passed. Entering the armoury he came just in time to see Torvahk drop his gun on the table. He slipped the staff into a loop on his belt and took out a small screwdriver, reconfiguring and modifying his glove as he walked in properly and sat down on a makeshift chair.

"I can see what you mean by heavy weaponry" he joked, twiddling with his device.

Inspirational quote against powerful image of nature.

Armory

"Okay, sheesh..." Izzie says as she backs off, somewhat annoyed.

...For, like, five seconds, since Torvahk pulls out his fusion cannon right afterwards. "Too powerful? What kind of ammunition does it use? Can I take it apart?" She asks excitedly.

Troperia Armory:

"Joke this is not, need training physical to use. Rip off arms the recoil can." Torvahk said in response to Vincent's comment before continuing to explain, "Devastator Fusion Cannon, this is called. Weapon this was made to destroy aircraft, spaceships light, and vehicles other. Hole shot through wall, this could make." Torvahk explained to Izzie before adding, "Beam fusion nuclear concentrated, this can fire. Powered by plasma cells that cause fusion. Very dangerous it is, and only one shot left it has. Let you take it apart, I am not sure..." While most of his reluctance to let some complete stranger take apart his weapon was based mainly on possessiveness, he also couldn't help but feel concerned about the possibility of Izzie burning herself trying to dismantle it.

"Put it together again, you think you can absolutely?" He then asked with skepticism.

Living The Fever Dream

Armory

"I've been studying engineering since I was a child, don't worry. Besides, at the very least, I can reverse all the steps I would make to take the weapon apart and put it back together again, since I can remember all of it. Having an artificial brain does come with its perks." Izzie says proudly.

Troperia Armory:

Torvahk spent a few more moments mentally debating with himself over whether or not to allow Izzie to work on his Fusion Cannon. After hearing her mention her background which seemed to solidify the ethos behind her argument, Torvahk eventually agreed to let her take the FTX-45 apart. "Fine...work on the gun you may. With luck any, find a way to create more ammo for it you might." He said, having gone through one of what was sure to be many tests of trust. In hindsight, such events would prove important Torvahk though. After all, if he was going to be a long-term crew member of this ship, he would need to establish a sense of trust among his crewmates.

Living The Fever Dream

Zevai stopped suddenly, noticing something... off. She couldn't place what, but something was off. Nothing looked off. Not that she could really tell what was "off" for this ship, having been in it for a total of a few minutes, at most. But something felt... wrong. She shook her head, figuring it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. But... last time this had happened, LEVIATHAN ASCENDANT happened. Not eager for a repeat of... that, she started patrolling very carefully around the cargo bay, looking for anything that would be out of place in a starship's cargo bay. Hey, if nothing else, it was a good way to pass the time while waiting for someone to come talk to her.

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Armory

"Oh, thanks." Izzie immediately starts working on the weapon, partially dismantling it and taking a look at both the internal systems and the ammunition. "Hm... cold fusion... pretty good use of the CNO cycle... plasma as projectile with magnetic propellers..." She mutters, then turns to Torvahk. "How come you use deuterium as a power source and not typical hydrogen? It's less efficient."

Training Room

Lex glares at David for a bit but eventually nods to Greg, "No. I haven't asked him..."

Not turning her back on David, she goes ahead and asks Kijo, "Well..? What would you prefer?"

Bridge

Chris receives the message from The Godsgift and relays it to Greg, before sending back one of his own, This is second-in-command Christopher Blackwell. Thank you for your cooperation thusfar, it's greatly appreciated. The captain will respond to you in short order, but as far as I can tell, remaining in a short-term holding pattern would probably be for the best. We're wrapping up down here and should be able to meetup with you soon.

Biolab

Merrick inclines his head in a nod, laying down in preparation for the MRI, and speaks to Kyerine, "After what I've seen from you, I'm not overly surprised by that. Do you know if you have organs of any description, or..?"

edited 3rd Jun '16 4:04:33 PM by GhostElm

"I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."

Cargo Bay

Greg steps out of the lift as it reaches the cargo bay, tugging at the collar of his shirt slightly. As his terminal buzzes again, he sighs. "Ugh, I'm trying to deal with stuff...can't somebody else handle the damn messages...or you know, something?" From his vantage point, he can see Zevai wandering about. Raising his eyebrow, he hesitates a moment before interrupting her. "Uh...can I help you find something?"

---

Shard Starport - Outside the Troperia

Amos is about to respond to Russell before Nova calling out draws his attention. "Oh, hello." he says to Nova, with a smile. "No, it's not my ship, but I do work on it. Were you interested in joining up? We're always accepting new members." He looks as if he;s going to continue before he glances down, noticing the purple feline. "...Huh? Is that a cat...?" he glances over to the boy and the woman with the pizza box in slight confusion.

---

Med Bay

Tor stays quiet at the exchange and moves onto using his Essence to provide some healing to Mitch. How well it will work on his body, though...

"Blake, perhaps you should lay down." he suggests.

Rakiri just kinda stares. "Oh. Huh. Well, I guess I'm sorry for calling you a human all this time. Why didn't you ever correct me?" he asks.

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

Troperia Armory:

"Know the reasoning, I do not..." Torvahk simply replied with a gesture similar to a shrug. He thought about it for a moment, but all he could reply was, "The way only we know, it is...How our ancestors made weapons heavy that used fusion nuclear." He had to admit, he couldn't help but feel a bit humbled, but he was also amazed at the intricacy of his Fusion Cannon that he only started using when he was promoted to the Specialist Rank about half a Preskan year ago. If he could remember how Izzie dismantled the weapon and possibly how she reassembled it well enough, he might have been able to make his own modifications.

Living The Fever Dream

Vincent took off the glove and put it by the chair, walking over to look at the dismantled weapon. He whistled in appreciation. "Impressive. I'd gauge just over five years ahead of Lycan technology. We use fusion and fission for shield generators. Massive amounts of power, creating impenetrable barriers. We don't focus much on weaponry" he explained, opening his case and pulling out a pair of black gloves.

Adjusting to his hands, he peers closely, eye magnifying his sight. "May I?" he asked, flexing his hands. "We don't need powerful weapons if nothing anyone has can get in, you know?"

He turned his head slightly to look at Izzie. "The name's Vincent, by the way, Ex-Chairman of Lyca IV."

Inspirational quote against powerful image of nature.

Troperia, Lab/Biolab

Mireille waited for Merrick to lie down before turning on the machine yet again before turning back to Kyerine again "That sounds quite interesting... to say the least. Say - are you interested in science? If you are, might I inerest you in coming to the lab no a regular basis? I could study you while also teaching you."

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Troperia Armory:

Torvahk was surprised to hear this as he replied with a blunt sense of self-depreciation, "Pathetic we are, when what we used to have are compared!" He sighed and apologized for unexpectedly raising his tone as he explained, "Catastrophe major, lose many technologies it makes culture of one's. It, I would rather not talk about..." He then changed the subject as he replied to Vincent's remark about not needing advanced weapons, "Backups, always thing good to have they are."

Living The Fever Dream

"You misunderstand. Technology wise, it is not that far, but weaponry wise, it is definitely a few decades. A weapon like this, to be stable, to be in one piece after being fired, even once, requires ages of hard work and focus, development" He picks up a piece of the generator and eyes it, the gloves reacting visibly to the energy coming off it.

"Yeah, this is a more refined and practical fusion generator. Miniaturised as well. This is a pretty impressive weapon, although I guess it must be hard to aim it." He put it back amongst the piles, stepping back a little and looking at the rest of it.

Inspirational quote against powerful image of nature.

The Troperia - Medbay

Blake winces with minor pain as the IV is put in, more than you might expect him to but taking Dominic's lack of a answer of an answer to say he was right, or at-least he would drop the sensitive topic. Even if Blake was prepared to say more.

Then looking over to Toraq and shaking his head with a determined look, though the literal glow in his eyes had faded. "Later maybe, I want to make sure Matt's okay first." His eyes looking over to those still treating him nervously.

The Troperia - Biolab

Kyerine looks over to Merrick and shrugs, even if he can't see it. "I have some of the same organs but I don't know how much... Never been seen by a doctor before." His response still confused.

Kyerine then looks a little sad at Mireille. "I like all the cool machines and sciencey things but they don't like me. Whenever I touch electric things they just stop working." He tries to explain with clear frustration simply laying a hand on the side of the MRI machine Merrick was in. It suddenly sparking near his hand and just suddenly powering down with a red warning light flickering. The computer its connected to flickering for a few seconds, nearly turning off before restoring and just displaying NULL INPUT.

Shard Starport - Outside the Troperia

Michael was distracted by Amos when the purple feline showed up and jumped up on him, frightening him and causing him to comically fall backwards with it laying atop his face. "What the...?"

Russell couldn't help but just laugh at seeing, kneeling down and holding out a hand for the purple feline hoping it would nuzzle or lick it. It was difficult to pet it without sight and while it was on Michael. "Sounds like you guys have got some new friends."

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

Troperia Armory:

"Weapon this like? Difficult very it is to use. Fire correctly user must to avoid injury." Torvahk answered, subconsciously rotating one of his shoulders as if to hint that he knew exactly why proper aiming and stance were essential for using the Fusion Cannon effectively. He then made a noise he almost never made throughout his life: He chucked (well as well as a raptor-bird could), as he said, "Weapon this, if any bigger it were, attach to vehicle one would need. Use as booster perhaps? Scorched scenery from behind, all one worry about would need to."

Living The Fever Dream

Troperia, Lab/Biolab

Mireille's jaw dropped. "T-The... t-the... t-the MRI..." Tears came into her eyes "B-But... h-how... it never broke since I was born. T-The professor... I..." She looked to Kyerine with empty eyes "How... Professor Beauchene... she will kill me... I made some of my first experiments with that... gone..." She sat down, looking at the broken machine. "I'm so dead..."

edited 3rd Jun '16 4:57:06 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Near the Troperia at the Shard Starport

The boy running ahead moves towards the younger pair and the purple feline rushing to get it back. In a tired and exhausted tone trying to call it towards him. "Roltz get back here!" The boy picking up the cat hastily from Michael's face though not before it reaches and licks Russell's hand.

The woman trying to catch up exclaiming the boys name, trying to make sure he will stop running away. "Simon!" Her tone very concerned and a tinge annoyed, the pizza still under her arm. Its smell spreading throughout the nearby area for anyone interested in a mostly vegetarian pizza.

The boy responds, clearly too distracted by the feline to realise why she was following was not the feline but him. "Don't worry I caught him." He replies panting quite a bit rather tired. All he could think about was the fact he managed to catch it before it crawled into the ventilation again and got its tails stuck on something.

The woman shaking her head disappointed before looking to the group. "I'm so sorry for the two of them and no, well yes it is a cat in a sense. A Roxillen from Ea Garcean, raised from Terran cats and something else." The woman tries to explain and apologise, though she didn't actually know much about Roxillen breeding. The woman had a regretful and sorry tone looking at whatever scene she interrupted, or more specifically her brother and his pet did.

edited 3rd Jun '16 5:04:47 PM by CLionheart

Training Room

Kijo watches Gre my before turning his attention to Lex and David. He crosses his arms, and it should be visible that his wound from the training drones was still open and had spread a considerable amount of on his shirt (though the water might have had something to do with that). He doesn't seem to notice.

"Me? I'm not the one to answer - not really my body after all. But my opinion? Kid is too stuck on the high of freedom. Running. Love. Too stuck to realize he needs to face it. And he knows it, if not before then now."

Shard Starport - Outside the Troperia

"A bit, but it kind of depends on what you do" the gynoid replied, "I am kind of looking for some new employers since my personal ship does not exactly have much range to it, but at the same time, I dont really know much about you sorry."

Zevai whirled around to look at Greg, nearly drawing her pistol in the process. She composed herself, brushing down her dress uniform. No need to - hell yes there was a need to. If it was nothing and she spoke up, hey, she looked paranoid. If it was something and she didn't... well, that was a long walk outside without a suit. That she deserved. She paused before speaking, "Gut feeling. I don't think we're alone in here." She did an about face, resuming the search for... whatever the hell it was that was in here with them, if there was anything. "Zevai..." She hesitated, not entirely sure how much of her name to use. Zuvok. She was wearing a military dress uniform, for gods' sakes. "Zevai kes-Izvaizovyn Mezsh-iv-Kaas Izva Mezai Duvoztazsh an-Izshdan. First-in scout for the Raasavai. Would it be possible to speak to your captain about a place on your crew?" Eh. It's not like they'd be able to translate any of it. The Azshtani trade pidgin was about as close to true Raasav as English is to Latin, and a number of the proper noun forms were of an even older version of Raasav. Besides, it sounded more impressive.

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Armory

"Well, somebody should've caught the flaw in that time, which means this is a deliberate design choice. I have no idea why, though; there's no benefit to using deuterium over hydrogen." Izzie says again to Torvahk, starting to put the fusion cannon back together. "Also, if you don't have the technology to create mass-reducing fields, why isn't this considered artillery instead of a manned weapon?"

"I'm Izzie." She says offhandedly to Vincent.

Medbay

"Because it's amusing."

"And also because I like myself that way. Don't get me wrong, I like this form too - hell, I feel a lot more 'free' right now. But some people will stare at the guy that looks like a mishmash of different aliens, not to mention I have wing stumps. They're going to ask about that too." Mitch answers Rakiri. "It's just a lot less of a hassle. Promethean, Epimethean - we're all still human in spirit, even if we don't look that way."

Peter and Val are currently in the process of cutting out burnt tissue. The monitors suggest he's currently stable.