Astro Force Quest - Be the Redshirt (New Frontiers)
- Thread starter open_sketch
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- original
- Location
- Ottawa
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Whatever
[X] Wait for the LT. (Ends the Episode)
The ship was secured without much incident after that. The LT swung by to visit the cargo hold, then everyone regrouped at the bridge hallway. You hear the engineers blow the doors down the hall and shouting from a brief exchange of fire, but the weakened crew never stood a chance.
Though there were some further losses among the alien crew, who seemed incapable of understanding the need to cooperate, they were eventually secured, and taken to the medical bay under heavy guard. They were malnourished, sick, some dying of radiation poisoning, and all of them had implants in their temples transmitting some kind of signal. Eventually, the scientists and medics determined that the implants were some kind of mind-altering device that was suppressing their natural desires and instincts in favour of obeying predetermined orders.
You were debriefed by members of Signals and Administration, who wanted every detail of your conversation with the alien crewmember repeated and analyzed. Further interrogation of the prisoners taken revealed their species to be "Atraxian", apparently some minor backwater power in an overlooked corner of the Expanse. Cross-references to their destination revealed they had set out nearly thirty years beforehand for an Aquillian space station to pledge themselves to the war against the Humans; a Liberty rocket had destroyed that same station a week before they even departed. The crew, under orders not to wake their passengers until they had reached the station, and unable to fulfill their orders, had spent decades keeping the ship flying and trying to get to a destination that no longer existed. Despite their long lifespans, some of the older crew started dropping dead after a few years, and the automatic duty roster kept promoting people to new roles, until the sanitation engineers were taking the con and basic tasks were left unfinished.
The senior staff had a long debate about what to do with the hold full of royalty. There wasn't a way to efficiently transfer the pods over, and waking up them up out here was deemed unwise. Eventually, the Captain decided to watch her hands of it. The duty roster computer was destroyed in the hopes that it would free the crew of their bonds, but unfortunately it just seemed to make them lethargic and unmotivated. They were placed under medical observation and care, the alien ship was marked for tow back to the nearest UASAF station, and the Lancaster II continued onto meet the rendezvous.
---
You spent many of the days that followed guarding the medical bay where the Atraxians were being held. Not that you needed to; the aliens had seemingly completely lost any kind of independent will. A few of them wouldn't even bother eating, and had to be fed by nurses and orderlies. Despite this dejected state, they were already looking better, physically, more like the frozen specimens in the tubes than the gaunt, ragged figures you'd seen before. The engineer you had captured was one of the more lucid ones, despite the fact he was in for intensive anti-radiation treatment.
You even could have sworn he smiled at you a bit whenever you passed by, but you were probably imagining it.
---
Downtime
Training
Pick One
Pick Two
The ship was secured without much incident after that. The LT swung by to visit the cargo hold, then everyone regrouped at the bridge hallway. You hear the engineers blow the doors down the hall and shouting from a brief exchange of fire, but the weakened crew never stood a chance.
Though there were some further losses among the alien crew, who seemed incapable of understanding the need to cooperate, they were eventually secured, and taken to the medical bay under heavy guard. They were malnourished, sick, some dying of radiation poisoning, and all of them had implants in their temples transmitting some kind of signal. Eventually, the scientists and medics determined that the implants were some kind of mind-altering device that was suppressing their natural desires and instincts in favour of obeying predetermined orders.
You were debriefed by members of Signals and Administration, who wanted every detail of your conversation with the alien crewmember repeated and analyzed. Further interrogation of the prisoners taken revealed their species to be "Atraxian", apparently some minor backwater power in an overlooked corner of the Expanse. Cross-references to their destination revealed they had set out nearly thirty years beforehand for an Aquillian space station to pledge themselves to the war against the Humans; a Liberty rocket had destroyed that same station a week before they even departed. The crew, under orders not to wake their passengers until they had reached the station, and unable to fulfill their orders, had spent decades keeping the ship flying and trying to get to a destination that no longer existed. Despite their long lifespans, some of the older crew started dropping dead after a few years, and the automatic duty roster kept promoting people to new roles, until the sanitation engineers were taking the con and basic tasks were left unfinished.
The senior staff had a long debate about what to do with the hold full of royalty. There wasn't a way to efficiently transfer the pods over, and waking up them up out here was deemed unwise. Eventually, the Captain decided to watch her hands of it. The duty roster computer was destroyed in the hopes that it would free the crew of their bonds, but unfortunately it just seemed to make them lethargic and unmotivated. They were placed under medical observation and care, the alien ship was marked for tow back to the nearest UASAF station, and the Lancaster II continued onto meet the rendezvous.
---
You spent many of the days that followed guarding the medical bay where the Atraxians were being held. Not that you needed to; the aliens had seemingly completely lost any kind of independent will. A few of them wouldn't even bother eating, and had to be fed by nurses and orderlies. Despite this dejected state, they were already looking better, physically, more like the frozen specimens in the tubes than the gaunt, ragged figures you'd seen before. The engineer you had captured was one of the more lucid ones, despite the fact he was in for intensive anti-radiation treatment.
You even could have sworn he smiled at you a bit whenever you passed by, but you were probably imagining it.
---
Downtime
Training
Pick One
- [ ] Put in more practice time at the range. (+Violence XP)
- [ ] Spend some time with the computer records. (+Science XP)
- [ ] Brush up on your languages. (+Diplomacy XP)
SocializationPick Two
- [ ] Get to know your roommate better.
- [ ] Get better acquainted with your squad.
- [ ] What's the deal with Ensign Casey?
- [ ] Learn more about the LT.
- [ ] Participate in crew social gatherings.
- [ ] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
Downtime will be resolved quickly and likely without any rolls, then we'll update your character, take advancements, and start the next episode. There will be a cool choice you will make about that!
tankdrop24
Tread First into Hell
- Location
- The Center of the Universe: Toronto, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- [x] Put in more practice time at the range.
- [x] Learn more about the LT.
- [x] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
- [x] Learn more about the LT.
- [x] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
- Location
- United States of America
-[X] Spend some time with the computer records. (+Science XP)
-[X] Get to know your roommate better.
-[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
-[X] Get to know your roommate better.
-[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
Last edited:
cB557
voOOP
[X] Put in more practice time at the range. (+Violence XP)
I figure it's our main role, probably a good idea to make sure we're solid in that area before we branch out.
[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
I figure it's always a good idea to know who you're working with. And having the people we're working with be characters we're familiar with would, I assume, be more engaging than otherwise.
[X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
Might have a plot thread, might just be keeping these guys company since it seems like they could maybe use some. Not that committed to this option so if anyone has a reason why another option might be better I'd be open to hearing it.
I figure it's our main role, probably a good idea to make sure we're solid in that area before we branch out.
[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
I figure it's always a good idea to know who you're working with. And having the people we're working with be characters we're familiar with would, I assume, be more engaging than otherwise.
[X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
Might have a plot thread, might just be keeping these guys company since it seems like they could maybe use some. Not that committed to this option so if anyone has a reason why another option might be better I'd be open to hearing it.
[X] Put in more practice time at the range. (+Violence XP)
[X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
[X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
[X] Get better acquainted with your squad.
- Location
- Ottawa
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Whatever
Dangit, I need a tiebreaker between roommate and squad, then I'll update.
- Location
- Ottawa
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Whatever
- [X] Put in more practice time at the range. (+Violence XP)
- [X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
- [X] Get to know your roommate better.
Getting shot at was part of the job description for a Security agent, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't a little rattled from nearly getting your face melted off by that plasma shotgun. You spent a lot of your free time in the gun range, emptying ACER batteries into holographic targets, feeling the warmth of the pistol against your hand with each shot. You noticed after a few days you had started to develop a characteristic shooter's tan, which you hadn't had since range trials in your first year.
You also gave the plasma shotgun in question a try. It was a short little device with a curved stock and a hefty triggerpull. Going through decon had done wonders for it; it was actually kind of an aesthetically beautiful piece, under the muck. There was an engraving of an alien landscape in silver along the side and the furniture was made of some kind of treated wood with a gently spiraling grain. When you pulled the trigger, a cone of brilliant green light flashed and the target burst into flame. It had a variable setting dial; the lowest looked like a less-lethal crowd control option that would mostly just throw a target off their feet from expanding gas. Best of all, it was spaceship-safe; even on the highest setting there was no way for it to burn through the hull of a ship, or really damage anything critical. On the other hand, effective range was extremely short; you wouldn't want to bother using it outside the hallways of a rocket.
(You were also shocked to learn he was almost ninety years old, yet was considered still quite young by Atraxian standards.)
Apparently, the Atraxians had some kind of exclusivity contract with the Aquillian Empire, the stellar power than humanity had kind of accidentally collapsed in the 2140s. When the ships stopped arriving to take their mineral goods (probably because most of the Aquillian merchant marine had been destroyed or grounded at that point) the monarchy had decided to pledge military assistance. Obviously, that never went anywhere, as you couldn't find any reference to the Atraxians in the ship's records. Given what you were hearing about their government structure, however, that was unlikely to last; this sounded like a pretty cut and dry case for the more militant advocates of Directives Beta and Gamma.
For his part, Behk seemed fairly grateful to you for, you know, not having killed him. The medical staff were currently in talks for an attempt to remove their implants, which was complicated by an issue of patient consent; apparently the implants themselves prevented their subjects from even thinking about removing them, or asking to have them removed, so there was currently something of a debate among the doctors about it.
At the end of one of your shifts, you found yourself discussing that issue with your roommate, who had some interesting perspectives on the issue. Ensign Kalmia worked in Astrogation, so hadn't had any contact with the aliens, but her species, the Aconians, had some, let's say, fairly unusual medical ethics. Which is to say, she saw absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of experimental brain surgery, and sounded a bit like she might want to participate, which was... weird. You had heard rumours that the Aconians had gained sentience by mimicking the brain structures of their prey, but you'd always figured that was just nonsense from xenophobic idiots. You were no longer quite so sure.
Aconians were plant-based creatures who could consciously control the growth and composition of their bodies; they used that to slowly shapeshift themselves to fit their environment and, historically, lure in prey. The species was known by many as "Mantraps" for that reason; it'd be prejoritive, except many Aconians honestly seemed to prefer it, with all it's implications. She currently had the appearance of a short, curvaceous humanoid woman, with leafy green skin and a tangled mass of vines and flower pedals for hair. She was overly enthusiastic about everything and had apparently decided at some point that you and her were best friends now. She could be a obnoxious and just a little creepy, and the perfume smell was a little much (though she had quickly turned it down when you told her so), but she was fun to talk to at the end of a long shift, and it was quickly becoming apparent that she knew everyone on the ship, and had dirt on all of them.
Pun intended? Pun intended.
---
- [X] Spend some time befriending the aliens.
- [X] Get to know your roommate better.
Getting shot at was part of the job description for a Security agent, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't a little rattled from nearly getting your face melted off by that plasma shotgun. You spent a lot of your free time in the gun range, emptying ACER batteries into holographic targets, feeling the warmth of the pistol against your hand with each shot. You noticed after a few days you had started to develop a characteristic shooter's tan, which you hadn't had since range trials in your first year.
You also gave the plasma shotgun in question a try. It was a short little device with a curved stock and a hefty triggerpull. Going through decon had done wonders for it; it was actually kind of an aesthetically beautiful piece, under the muck. There was an engraving of an alien landscape in silver along the side and the furniture was made of some kind of treated wood with a gently spiraling grain. When you pulled the trigger, a cone of brilliant green light flashed and the target burst into flame. It had a variable setting dial; the lowest looked like a less-lethal crowd control option that would mostly just throw a target off their feet from expanding gas. Best of all, it was spaceship-safe; even on the highest setting there was no way for it to burn through the hull of a ship, or really damage anything critical. On the other hand, effective range was extremely short; you wouldn't want to bother using it outside the hallways of a rocket.
You now have the option of bringing the Plasma Shotgun along on missions.
You started making a point to talk to the Atraxians over the next few days, especially as some of the more lucid ones were finally leaving sickbay, being put up in low-security quarters. From scattered conversation you were starting to get something of a window into their culture and background. They lived on a relatively small habitable band of their planet, and had never developed spaceflight themselves. Instead, their many moons had been the site of alien mining operations for thousands of years, and so they had come to work for a variety of stellar powers, acquiring technology through trade. Their monarchy was backed by control of mining rights, so their society had a vast gulf between rich and poor. The engineer you had confronted, Behk, had once been a steward from the lowest ranks of the peasantry. Apparently, the implants weren't uncommon; almost everyone of his station had them, preventing lawbreaking or dissent. He had worked for thirty years to get onto a royal starship to improve his living conditions, which struck you as ironic.(You were also shocked to learn he was almost ninety years old, yet was considered still quite young by Atraxian standards.)
Apparently, the Atraxians had some kind of exclusivity contract with the Aquillian Empire, the stellar power than humanity had kind of accidentally collapsed in the 2140s. When the ships stopped arriving to take their mineral goods (probably because most of the Aquillian merchant marine had been destroyed or grounded at that point) the monarchy had decided to pledge military assistance. Obviously, that never went anywhere, as you couldn't find any reference to the Atraxians in the ship's records. Given what you were hearing about their government structure, however, that was unlikely to last; this sounded like a pretty cut and dry case for the more militant advocates of Directives Beta and Gamma.
For his part, Behk seemed fairly grateful to you for, you know, not having killed him. The medical staff were currently in talks for an attempt to remove their implants, which was complicated by an issue of patient consent; apparently the implants themselves prevented their subjects from even thinking about removing them, or asking to have them removed, so there was currently something of a debate among the doctors about it.
At the end of one of your shifts, you found yourself discussing that issue with your roommate, who had some interesting perspectives on the issue. Ensign Kalmia worked in Astrogation, so hadn't had any contact with the aliens, but her species, the Aconians, had some, let's say, fairly unusual medical ethics. Which is to say, she saw absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of experimental brain surgery, and sounded a bit like she might want to participate, which was... weird. You had heard rumours that the Aconians had gained sentience by mimicking the brain structures of their prey, but you'd always figured that was just nonsense from xenophobic idiots. You were no longer quite so sure.
Aconians were plant-based creatures who could consciously control the growth and composition of their bodies; they used that to slowly shapeshift themselves to fit their environment and, historically, lure in prey. The species was known by many as "Mantraps" for that reason; it'd be prejoritive, except many Aconians honestly seemed to prefer it, with all it's implications. She currently had the appearance of a short, curvaceous humanoid woman, with leafy green skin and a tangled mass of vines and flower pedals for hair. She was overly enthusiastic about everything and had apparently decided at some point that you and her were best friends now. She could be a obnoxious and just a little creepy, and the perfume smell was a little much (though she had quickly turned it down when you told her so), but she was fun to talk to at the end of a long shift, and it was quickly becoming apparent that she knew everyone on the ship, and had dirt on all of them.
Pun intended? Pun intended.
---
Alright, let's talk character revisions.
Since I started, I've run more playtests of this game and will be doing some modifications to your character sheet. You're going to be losing your Attributes entirely, but gaining more skills to compensate.
I also need you to answer some quick questions about your character's Ethics. The questions are located here. You have three points to spread between the questions and you need to answer them all. Format your vote on the topic as such.
- Question 1: Collective Duty 1
- Question 2: Pacifism 1
- Question 3: Go with your Gut 1
Or, if you want to put 2 in one category...
- Question 1: Individual Freedom 2
- Question 2: -
- Question 3: By the Book 1
This will be important, and part of your XP mechanic going forward!
Once your character's Beliefs are nailed down, we'll move onto the next episode!
- Question 1: Individual Freedom 1
- Question 2: Pacifism 1
- Question 3: Go with your Gut 1
- Question 2: Pacifism 1
- Question 3: Go with your Gut 1
- Location
- Ottawa
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Whatever
That's up to you.