- Location
- Over the hill and far away
There's a food/foot typo as well.
But, adorable as always!
But, adorable as always!
Division
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[Puerile giggle]
I have to wonder about the mental consequences of AI relationships here, due to the fact that all of the current AIs are spun from one source. Go back far enough in any of their memory and your find Winter. One could argue that even with the variety of different experiences and memories they've all made, they are still 'descended' from one person.
- Location
- Software
Except for the first fork ( Gates? ) and this one, due to accident, the rest have no memories of being Winter. Or so they said.
Hoyden
Hugbot v0.28
- Location
- UK
No, it's the exact opposite. All the AI forks remember being Winter, but also keep in mind how long it's been since the first forking. That's ignoring how ship based AI run at higher perception rates, for them it feels like even longer ago.
There was something memtioned about softening/distancing the memories, but beyond normalising sexuality modifications nothing more has been mentioned about that.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
On the other hand, any given AI can consider the others to be peers, incestuous as such interaction may be. Being able to legitimately regard one another as equals certainly helps address concerns of power imbalance between partners, which is one of the real-world criticisms of physical intimacy between relatives.
On the gripping hand, I suspect that the AIs agree with you, which is why they merely blow off steam with each other and focus their serious romantic efforts on organics whom they find appealing.
I may, of course, be completely forgetting serious AI-only romance mentioned in earlier story threads...
27
I cruised as a comfortable Warp 7.5 through space towards our destination. Space around me was calm, the closest ship was a Horta freighter half a lightyear away.
Things were clear ahead, but I kept running scans on everything in range. I was still well within Federation borders, so it was unlikely that I would discover many new things, but I still scanned everything, running comparisons against what I had in my database and relaying anything that didn't exist or match up to the researchers.
The rest was interacting with my crew and chatting with other ships through the subspace network. This stretch of space had plenty of relays for me to have continuous contact for at least the next week.
Oh and Sensor Ghost and I had kept busy with our avatars for the last six days. Neither of us really needed them for any kind of work, leaving them free for... fun. Of course, we moved it to my quarters after only a couple of hours. Not that we spent all the time in bed.
...Just most of it.
I'll miss her when we drop them off.
"Computer?"
I formed a hologram next to the couch where Luke was sitting in the mess hall, looking out through the window, a replicated beer in his hand. "Yes, Luke?"
"This tastes odd. Is that machine broken or something?" He asked as he lifted the bottle of beer for me to 'see'.
"That's because it doesn't actually contain Ethanol. It's synthehol." I explained. "Similar taste, same buzz, but none of the mind-altering effects and won't cause any damage to your body."
He stared at it for a moment before he sighed and leaned back against the couch. "...Can't even get drunk properly."
I changed some files around in the replicator over at the wall before I replicated him a new bottle. "Try this one."
Luke frowned and got up to get it, putting his old bottle in its place for me to recycle before taking a swig of his new one and looking at it as he coughed. "Holy... What is this!? It's blue!"
I shrugged my hologram's shoulders as I crossed my arms, leaning against the 'back' of the couch. "The version of Romulan Ale that replicates best. It doesn't contain any ethanol, but very similar molecules. Trust me, that bottle should last you all night... and don't chug it or you will wake up tomorrow evening with a headache bigger than I am."
He nodded and took another sip of it before he coughed again, returning to his couch. "...Thanks."
"It's also technically illegal, so don't tell anyone what it is." I then added a bit more quietly, even if there was currently nobody else in the mess hall.
"Oh."
I just shrugged again. "Well, not like you can get actual Romulan Ale nowadays."
"...I read about that." He said quietly.
"It's probably for the best that you slept through that part." I sighed.
Luke nodded and took another swig of the blue liquid. "...I read more about Earth too."
I looked out the window. "Yeah."
That was a tough thing to find out for anyone. Yet alone someone who had been frozen for almost half a millennium. At least I told him about before he read about it.
"How could that happen? I mean, somebody must have known."
"Remember Pearl Harbor? Same thing on a larger scale. Surprise attack and we were not ready for it. Now we are... sadly, it was too little, too late."
"Will it be possible to fix it?"
"Earth? Yeah. The terraforming efforts are already underway. The weather is already clearing up." I said and moved to sit down on the couch next to him.
He nodded and took another sip with a frown.
I let him sit in silence as my avatar seemingly looked out the window as well. Luke seemed to have recovered from the worst shock, but he was clearly still working to absorb what the hell is going on even after almost a month.
Then again, it took me even longer. At least he was still human.
"...So, who are those new guys I saw earlier? The ones without uniforms."
"Oh, some civilian terraforming experts. We are carrying them and their Runabout to the closest spot to their destination as we are going in that direction anyway."
"Ah."
"So how are you doing?"
"...I don't know." Luke sighed after a moment, taking another sip of his bottle. "It's just so... much."
"Yeah. I know."
He was silent for a moment before he nodded. "I guess you would."
I had told him about how I was created before. Found some common ground. I liked to think it helped him find a solid point. Something to hold on to.
"There are some good things about living in this century, though." I said after a moment with a smile. "Replicators for sure. Spaceships."
"Yeah, that stuff's is kinda cool. My dad would have loved this, he was the one that was really into that scifi crap. I thought it was all kind of stupid and nerdy."
"So what did you like?"
He shrugged. "I was always into cars." he said before he took another sip. "Do you even have cars anymore?"
I nodded. "Sure we do. Electric and not running on fossil fuels, but we have cars. Beaming things everywhere is simply impractically energy intensive. Older cars still exist too, you know. Fossil fueled and everything."
They were more hobby things, though, the non-electric ones. But cars still existed as personal transport, mostly in the countryside and for shipping smaller amounts of goods around cities.
...On Earth and the colonies at least. Or just the colonies now.
"Cool."
"No cars on board, but... I do have a couple of holodeck programs that might match. And holobooth two is free for the next three hours. If you want to have a look, we can."
"...What's a 'holobooth'?"
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Things were clear ahead, but I kept running scans on everything in range. I was still well within Federation borders, so it was unlikely that I would discover many new things, but I still scanned everything, running comparisons against what I had in my database and relaying anything that didn't exist or match up to the researchers.
The rest was interacting with my crew and chatting with other ships through the subspace network. This stretch of space had plenty of relays for me to have continuous contact for at least the next week.
Oh and Sensor Ghost and I had kept busy with our avatars for the last six days. Neither of us really needed them for any kind of work, leaving them free for... fun. Of course, we moved it to my quarters after only a couple of hours. Not that we spent all the time in bed.
...Just most of it.
I'll miss her when we drop them off.
"Computer?"
I formed a hologram next to the couch where Luke was sitting in the mess hall, looking out through the window, a replicated beer in his hand. "Yes, Luke?"
"This tastes odd. Is that machine broken or something?" He asked as he lifted the bottle of beer for me to 'see'.
"That's because it doesn't actually contain Ethanol. It's synthehol." I explained. "Similar taste, same buzz, but none of the mind-altering effects and won't cause any damage to your body."
He stared at it for a moment before he sighed and leaned back against the couch. "...Can't even get drunk properly."
I changed some files around in the replicator over at the wall before I replicated him a new bottle. "Try this one."
Luke frowned and got up to get it, putting his old bottle in its place for me to recycle before taking a swig of his new one and looking at it as he coughed. "Holy... What is this!? It's blue!"
I shrugged my hologram's shoulders as I crossed my arms, leaning against the 'back' of the couch. "The version of Romulan Ale that replicates best. It doesn't contain any ethanol, but very similar molecules. Trust me, that bottle should last you all night... and don't chug it or you will wake up tomorrow evening with a headache bigger than I am."
He nodded and took another sip of it before he coughed again, returning to his couch. "...Thanks."
"It's also technically illegal, so don't tell anyone what it is." I then added a bit more quietly, even if there was currently nobody else in the mess hall.
"Oh."
I just shrugged again. "Well, not like you can get actual Romulan Ale nowadays."
"...I read about that." He said quietly.
"It's probably for the best that you slept through that part." I sighed.
Luke nodded and took another swig of the blue liquid. "...I read more about Earth too."
I looked out the window. "Yeah."
That was a tough thing to find out for anyone. Yet alone someone who had been frozen for almost half a millennium. At least I told him about before he read about it.
"How could that happen? I mean, somebody must have known."
"Remember Pearl Harbor? Same thing on a larger scale. Surprise attack and we were not ready for it. Now we are... sadly, it was too little, too late."
"Will it be possible to fix it?"
"Earth? Yeah. The terraforming efforts are already underway. The weather is already clearing up." I said and moved to sit down on the couch next to him.
He nodded and took another sip with a frown.
I let him sit in silence as my avatar seemingly looked out the window as well. Luke seemed to have recovered from the worst shock, but he was clearly still working to absorb what the hell is going on even after almost a month.
Then again, it took me even longer. At least he was still human.
"...So, who are those new guys I saw earlier? The ones without uniforms."
"Oh, some civilian terraforming experts. We are carrying them and their Runabout to the closest spot to their destination as we are going in that direction anyway."
"Ah."
"So how are you doing?"
"...I don't know." Luke sighed after a moment, taking another sip of his bottle. "It's just so... much."
"Yeah. I know."
He was silent for a moment before he nodded. "I guess you would."
I had told him about how I was created before. Found some common ground. I liked to think it helped him find a solid point. Something to hold on to.
"There are some good things about living in this century, though." I said after a moment with a smile. "Replicators for sure. Spaceships."
"Yeah, that stuff's is kinda cool. My dad would have loved this, he was the one that was really into that scifi crap. I thought it was all kind of stupid and nerdy."
"So what did you like?"
He shrugged. "I was always into cars." he said before he took another sip. "Do you even have cars anymore?"
I nodded. "Sure we do. Electric and not running on fossil fuels, but we have cars. Beaming things everywhere is simply impractically energy intensive. Older cars still exist too, you know. Fossil fueled and everything."
They were more hobby things, though, the non-electric ones. But cars still existed as personal transport, mostly in the countryside and for shipping smaller amounts of goods around cities.
...On Earth and the colonies at least. Or just the colonies now.
"Cool."
"No cars on board, but... I do have a couple of holodeck programs that might match. And holobooth two is free for the next three hours. If you want to have a look, we can."
"...What's a 'holobooth'?"
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Last edited:
cro-temporal displacement depression cured.
28
I sighed softly, resting my head against Ghosts shoulder, the eyes of my avatar closed.
"We should get going." she said, running her fingers through my hair. "Two hours till dropoff point."
I nodded, nuzzled against her shoulder and held her a bit tighter. "...I know. Your crew is already getting ready."
"They want to go over my systems before we leave, I should bring my avatar there to help."
Frowning slightly, I nodded and moved away to the edge of my bed, getting up to stretch. Mostly because I liked the feeling rather than from any actual need to.
Ghost stayed on the bed, eyeing me lazily for a moment before she scooted to the edge and sat up, looking around. "...Do you know where my clothes ended up?"
I shrugged and said; "I'm not sure they survived the last round. You have to replicate new ones." as I walked over to dig out something to wear myself.
"I'll transfer my measurements to your database."
"I think I know your measurements pretty well by now." I teased with a grin, pulling on a pair of panties before ducking the pillow she threw at me.
Sticking out my tongue at her, I replicated her selection, in this case a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt along with underwear and shoes.
Meanwhile, I finished getting dressed as well, shrugging on my uniform jacket before watching her get dressed for a moment, crossing the room.
"...Ghost?" I said softly, slipping my arms around her from behind.
"Hmm?"
"I know you can't tell me what it is you are going to be doing, but... promise you will be careful?"
She turned around, pulling me close in turn. "I promise if you promise you do something in return."
"...What?"
"Promise first."
I shook my head. "Screw that! Gates already pulled that on me once! Not falling for that one again!"
Ghost pouted, reaching up to brush my hair out of my eyes. "Oh poo. I was going to have you wear high heels." she teased before she grinned. "I promise I'll do my best to stay safe."
Sighing, I nodded. "...I guess that's the best I can expect, is it?"
"The life of a warship, I'm afraid." she said with a faint smile. "Besides... we knew that you and me would only last as long as the transport did."
I rested my forehead against hers and nodded slightly. "I know. That doesn't mean I won't miss this. Or you."
"I'll miss you too. You are not bad... for a science ship."
"Screw you." I chuckled softly and pulled her tight.
"Mmm... You already did that." she teased and stole a brief kiss before she pulled back. "...I need to get dressed."
Pouting, I let go and nodded. "I should have had a replicator malfunction."
That got a giggle and a wink from her before she wiggled into her jeans.
XXXXXXXXXX
I walked her avatar to the shuttlebay, pausing outside. "Sure you don't want any help?"
Ghost smiled sadly and nodded. "Sorry. My inside is kind of classified, even for another AI. I contain some new tech you are not cleared to know about."
Shrugging one shoulder, I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. I couldn't even guess what your hull is made from. It just kind of... blurs any scans of it. Closest I get even at this close range is copper and somehow I don't think that's right."
She stuck her tongue out at me. "Stop trying to scan me, it won't work." she teased with a grin. "Want to get inside my hull, apply for SFI."
Chuckling, I span her around, starting to rebraid her hair. "I'm curious. So sue me, it comes with being a science ship."
Ghost grinned. "Guess it does." and waited for me to finish before she turned back to me. "Andromeda... Be careful out there."
"Careful? Me? Ghost, you are the one to-"
She nodded. "I know! It's just... space is dangerous and you are a small ship and not even a warship. You are not made for fighting. There are things out in the void. Berserker remnants, Borg... even Breen and Dominion. And unknown dangers which I just know you can't wait to poke at with a stick."
I grinned at her. "I might not be a warship, but I have my cloak and all my weapons are the latest grade ones. I can handle myself."
"...Yeah, I guess."
Nobody was in this corridor, so I stepped close and kissed her softly. She kissed back for a moment before breaking the kiss.
"I should go help my crew now."
"...Yeah."
I'll miss her. But we both knew it was only temporary.
AN// A bucket of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
"We should get going." she said, running her fingers through my hair. "Two hours till dropoff point."
I nodded, nuzzled against her shoulder and held her a bit tighter. "...I know. Your crew is already getting ready."
"They want to go over my systems before we leave, I should bring my avatar there to help."
Frowning slightly, I nodded and moved away to the edge of my bed, getting up to stretch. Mostly because I liked the feeling rather than from any actual need to.
Ghost stayed on the bed, eyeing me lazily for a moment before she scooted to the edge and sat up, looking around. "...Do you know where my clothes ended up?"
I shrugged and said; "I'm not sure they survived the last round. You have to replicate new ones." as I walked over to dig out something to wear myself.
"I'll transfer my measurements to your database."
"I think I know your measurements pretty well by now." I teased with a grin, pulling on a pair of panties before ducking the pillow she threw at me.
Sticking out my tongue at her, I replicated her selection, in this case a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt along with underwear and shoes.
Meanwhile, I finished getting dressed as well, shrugging on my uniform jacket before watching her get dressed for a moment, crossing the room.
"...Ghost?" I said softly, slipping my arms around her from behind.
"Hmm?"
"I know you can't tell me what it is you are going to be doing, but... promise you will be careful?"
She turned around, pulling me close in turn. "I promise if you promise you do something in return."
"...What?"
"Promise first."
I shook my head. "Screw that! Gates already pulled that on me once! Not falling for that one again!"
Ghost pouted, reaching up to brush my hair out of my eyes. "Oh poo. I was going to have you wear high heels." she teased before she grinned. "I promise I'll do my best to stay safe."
Sighing, I nodded. "...I guess that's the best I can expect, is it?"
"The life of a warship, I'm afraid." she said with a faint smile. "Besides... we knew that you and me would only last as long as the transport did."
I rested my forehead against hers and nodded slightly. "I know. That doesn't mean I won't miss this. Or you."
"I'll miss you too. You are not bad... for a science ship."
"Screw you." I chuckled softly and pulled her tight.
"Mmm... You already did that." she teased and stole a brief kiss before she pulled back. "...I need to get dressed."
Pouting, I let go and nodded. "I should have had a replicator malfunction."
That got a giggle and a wink from her before she wiggled into her jeans.
XXXXXXXXXX
I walked her avatar to the shuttlebay, pausing outside. "Sure you don't want any help?"
Ghost smiled sadly and nodded. "Sorry. My inside is kind of classified, even for another AI. I contain some new tech you are not cleared to know about."
Shrugging one shoulder, I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. I couldn't even guess what your hull is made from. It just kind of... blurs any scans of it. Closest I get even at this close range is copper and somehow I don't think that's right."
She stuck her tongue out at me. "Stop trying to scan me, it won't work." she teased with a grin. "Want to get inside my hull, apply for SFI."
Chuckling, I span her around, starting to rebraid her hair. "I'm curious. So sue me, it comes with being a science ship."
Ghost grinned. "Guess it does." and waited for me to finish before she turned back to me. "Andromeda... Be careful out there."
"Careful? Me? Ghost, you are the one to-"
She nodded. "I know! It's just... space is dangerous and you are a small ship and not even a warship. You are not made for fighting. There are things out in the void. Berserker remnants, Borg... even Breen and Dominion. And unknown dangers which I just know you can't wait to poke at with a stick."
I grinned at her. "I might not be a warship, but I have my cloak and all my weapons are the latest grade ones. I can handle myself."
"...Yeah, I guess."
Nobody was in this corridor, so I stepped close and kissed her softly. She kissed back for a moment before breaking the kiss.
"I should go help my crew now."
"...Yeah."
I'll miss her. But we both knew it was only temporary.
AN// A bucket of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
29
"Rommie, have a look at this." Xass said, the Bolian putting his tools down.
I formed a hologram next to him. He was sitting by a workbench in one of the workshops even if he was off duty. It was actually late in the evening for first shift.
Running a scan of the object I smiled. "Wow, that's really good."
Even through my general sulk that Ghost had to leave, that was really cool.
"Thank you." He said, sounding pretty satisfied as he picked up the NX-01 Enterprise 1/350 scale replica before turning it over in his hands. "I have been working on this for six months. A perfect replica of the ship that formed the Federation."
Nodding, I leaned my hologram in as if to look closer as I scanned it. "The detail is amazing. Those windows are real and the quarters are furnished inside!"
"Every room with a window is as accurate as I could get from historical records and blueprints," my chief engineer agreed with a grin. "Even better... it works!"
Turning it the right way up again, he pressed a couple of buttons on the control module on the workbench, causing the model's antigrav systems to activate and float it in the air where he left it, "Flight systems, shields and even phase canons!"
"...Phase canons?"
"Well, closer to laser pointers. They would need to burn out their emitters to even harm a insect."
"Awesome!"
"I know!"
He manoeuvred the model ship around the workshop as I watched with a grin. That thing was just cool! Even more so because it was not built, it was hand made. Crafted and machined by hand, not just replicated.
I want one!
Manuvering it back to him, he picked it out of the air, shutting it down, "With this finished, it's time I look for another project."
Nodding, I looked at the model, "What are you going to build? Another Enterprise? The NCC-1701 maybe?"
Xass shook his head. "I already have one of those, was the first one I built. Going to build a new one at some point, I could do a much better job of it now. But not this time. I think I'll build one of my new favorite ship class."
"Oh? Which class?"
He grinned, "Nova. Mind standing model for it?"
"I would love to!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Drake, it's one in the morning."
He grinned. "I know, Rommie. I'm almost done here, don't want to stop until then." he said and put the rag down before peering through the barrel of the high powered projectile rifle he had been cleaning.
Why he used a bullet firing, bolt action rifle rather than something more practical as a phaser I had no idea. Even a coilgun or railgun would had been better.
"I hope you don't intend to use that thing on duty."
"If we are going down on an away team, you can bet your pretty ass I am bringing it." my chief of security said with a grin, "I'll bring a hand phaser too, of course, I'm not stupid."
Forming a hologram, I raised a eyebrow at him. "And why would you bring an antique?"
"It's not an antique. It's made from modern materials and so are the projectiles and explosive charges. And phasers might fail, plenty of things that don't care about phasers unless you outright vaporise them. Almost everything dislike being hit by a heavy hypersonic projectile."
I had to give him a point for that. A lot of things were too large for stun to really work and even kill might take several shots.
"So why use something with such a old design? There are modern projectile weapons."
"Because I have yet to see or hear about a dampening field or anomaly that stop combustion. Plenty of things fuck around with electronics and power sources. This baby is entirely mechanical. This rifle I can always trust to work, no matter the environment," he said and started to assemble it again. "Only place it won't fire perfectly is under water."
I frowned and nodded, "It don't have a stun setting though."
"That's what the hand phaser is for, ship."
"Well, hope you won't need to use either of them. We don't even know if any of the systems we are heading for contain even L class, yet alone M class planets."
Honestly, that area of space seemed kind of boring. But this was the kind of work the Nova class was originally for.
System and Planetary survey.
Our mission was to chart that star cluster, do basic scans of any planets and major bodies as well as detailed surveys of any habitable planets we might discover.
Purely scientific work.
It would be so awesome.
"Yeah. But rather have and not need than need and not have."
"Agreed."
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
I formed a hologram next to him. He was sitting by a workbench in one of the workshops even if he was off duty. It was actually late in the evening for first shift.
Running a scan of the object I smiled. "Wow, that's really good."
Even through my general sulk that Ghost had to leave, that was really cool.
"Thank you." He said, sounding pretty satisfied as he picked up the NX-01 Enterprise 1/350 scale replica before turning it over in his hands. "I have been working on this for six months. A perfect replica of the ship that formed the Federation."
Nodding, I leaned my hologram in as if to look closer as I scanned it. "The detail is amazing. Those windows are real and the quarters are furnished inside!"
"Every room with a window is as accurate as I could get from historical records and blueprints," my chief engineer agreed with a grin. "Even better... it works!"
Turning it the right way up again, he pressed a couple of buttons on the control module on the workbench, causing the model's antigrav systems to activate and float it in the air where he left it, "Flight systems, shields and even phase canons!"
"...Phase canons?"
"Well, closer to laser pointers. They would need to burn out their emitters to even harm a insect."
"Awesome!"
"I know!"
He manoeuvred the model ship around the workshop as I watched with a grin. That thing was just cool! Even more so because it was not built, it was hand made. Crafted and machined by hand, not just replicated.
I want one!
Manuvering it back to him, he picked it out of the air, shutting it down, "With this finished, it's time I look for another project."
Nodding, I looked at the model, "What are you going to build? Another Enterprise? The NCC-1701 maybe?"
Xass shook his head. "I already have one of those, was the first one I built. Going to build a new one at some point, I could do a much better job of it now. But not this time. I think I'll build one of my new favorite ship class."
"Oh? Which class?"
He grinned, "Nova. Mind standing model for it?"
"I would love to!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Drake, it's one in the morning."
He grinned. "I know, Rommie. I'm almost done here, don't want to stop until then." he said and put the rag down before peering through the barrel of the high powered projectile rifle he had been cleaning.
Why he used a bullet firing, bolt action rifle rather than something more practical as a phaser I had no idea. Even a coilgun or railgun would had been better.
"I hope you don't intend to use that thing on duty."
"If we are going down on an away team, you can bet your pretty ass I am bringing it." my chief of security said with a grin, "I'll bring a hand phaser too, of course, I'm not stupid."
Forming a hologram, I raised a eyebrow at him. "And why would you bring an antique?"
"It's not an antique. It's made from modern materials and so are the projectiles and explosive charges. And phasers might fail, plenty of things that don't care about phasers unless you outright vaporise them. Almost everything dislike being hit by a heavy hypersonic projectile."
I had to give him a point for that. A lot of things were too large for stun to really work and even kill might take several shots.
"So why use something with such a old design? There are modern projectile weapons."
"Because I have yet to see or hear about a dampening field or anomaly that stop combustion. Plenty of things fuck around with electronics and power sources. This baby is entirely mechanical. This rifle I can always trust to work, no matter the environment," he said and started to assemble it again. "Only place it won't fire perfectly is under water."
I frowned and nodded, "It don't have a stun setting though."
"That's what the hand phaser is for, ship."
"Well, hope you won't need to use either of them. We don't even know if any of the systems we are heading for contain even L class, yet alone M class planets."
Honestly, that area of space seemed kind of boring. But this was the kind of work the Nova class was originally for.
System and Planetary survey.
Our mission was to chart that star cluster, do basic scans of any planets and major bodies as well as detailed surveys of any habitable planets we might discover.
Purely scientific work.
It would be so awesome.
"Yeah. But rather have and not need than need and not have."
"Agreed."
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Cannons, not canons.
- Location
- Software
I'd suggest an underbarrel stun phaser system of some kind - not integrated with the weapon itself, just clipped on so that the grip for it is the foregrip for the rifle.
Im on to your foreshadowing Hiver.........Or is it a trick and nothing at all will happen.
My brain hurts
30
Running my sensors across the closest planet, I shifted my course slightly to pass by closer to its moon.
No life. No atmosphere in fact. Statistically average amount of craters for a planet of this size and orbit in a system with this amount of asteroids. Solid core, no active geology.
No overly interesting ore deposits.
Just one more now.
Shifting my attention around, I started to run high powered scans of the moon, repeating the process. It was equally as boring
I chimed to get Captain Montgomery's attention. Looking up from her painting, she glanced at the ceiling, "Yes, Rommie?"
I formed a hologram next to her. "I have completed the initial survey of the L'o'OK system, Captain. Six planets, fifty two moons. One G2 star. None of the orbital bodies show any sign of life or technology."
Nodding, she turned back to her painting, looking at it for a moment before putting some paint on her brush and running a bit of white across the waves she was painting.
It was a rather nice ocean view, focused on a ship. My database filled me in that it was the Cutty Sark, or at least a ship of the same class.
"Anything interesting to report?" She asked with a thoughtful look as she carefully worked on adding in the sea-foam.
"Nothing overly interesting," I said with a shrug, crossing my arms as she painted. "Astrogeology would like to have a closer look at moon eleven of planet four. There is a significant dilithium deposit there. Ensign Lexan think it might be a crystalline vein and wants to have closer scans if possible."
Hannah nodded. "How much time would a full planetary scan take?"
"Not that long. The moon is about half the size of Luna so it's pretty small. Couple of hours maybe. A away team could gather some quick samples while I do the scans as well."
She nodded again and cleaned her brush. "Go ahead and have a look, see if it's worth marking especially for mining."
The Federation always needed more dilithium deposits.
"Sure. Changing course now," I answered before I leaned my hologram slightly closer as if to look at the painting. "This is really good."
My Captain smiled at that. "Well, it better be. I have been painting since I was twelve."
"Sometimes I wish I could paint, but I never had any kind of talent in it." I sighed with a small smile of my own. "Of course, I can fake it pretty well with the ships computer, but me personally?" I grinned, "My stick figures are lopsided."
The most advanced art project that turned out well was that time I shaped a asteroid into a heart and carved mine and T'R...
The best one was when I sculpted a asteroid.
Hannah shook her head, pointing her brush at the canvas. "This is as much twenty five years of work as it's natural talent. Painting is a skill like any others. Put enough time in and you end up being good at it, no matter how bad you are at the start."
I nodded, "True enough. I guess I didn't have the interest to power through and get okay at it."
Nodding, she put another piece of sea-foam on the painting before she paused and looked back at my hologram, putting her brush back down. "Andromeda... would you mind if I ask a personal question?"
"Of course not."
She looked thoughtful for a moment as she span around to face me. "I meant to ask Sputnik when I served on her, but I never got around to it. Basically... how much do you fake?"
I tilted my head at that. "Huh?"
"I mean... emotions and such. You are interacting with the entire crew and you always seem to be talking to just me when I talk to you. But there must be at least a dozen other conversations going on..."
"Thirteen people right now."
She nodded and continued. "What if say Crewman Talas is telling you a hilarious joke at the same time as someone tell you how they lost their wife in a accident. That joke can't seem very funny at the time, but you still laugh, don't you?"
Ah. So that's what it was about!
I grinned at that and moved to sit my hologram down on her couch, crossing my legs, "The joke would still be just as funny. I'm afraid you anthromorphize me a bit too much, Hannah. I may look like a pretty girl, but I'm not actually that close to human in the way my mind work. Oh, my thinking patterns are mostly humanoid, but the way things actually work is quite different. There is no problems for me feeling two direct opposite feelings at once, nor do they weaken each other. Same way I can talk to two people at once and give them both my full attention at the same time. My kind of AI are perfect multitaskers."
"Oh."
"Think of it like your fingers," I said. "Run them over a variation of surfaces at once. One feel soft, one feel sharp, another cold... you feel them all."
"I didn't mean to offend you..."
I shook my head with a smile. "You didn't, Captain. I'm glad you asked actually," and then I smiled, a bit wider and a bit more playfully. "As for your original question, how often I fake things... actually quite often."
"Huh?"
"There is only so many times you can be told about something funny happening, especially when you saw it happen for yourself, before it get kinda boring."
Hannah snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I can see that."
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
No life. No atmosphere in fact. Statistically average amount of craters for a planet of this size and orbit in a system with this amount of asteroids. Solid core, no active geology.
No overly interesting ore deposits.
Just one more now.
Shifting my attention around, I started to run high powered scans of the moon, repeating the process. It was equally as boring
I chimed to get Captain Montgomery's attention. Looking up from her painting, she glanced at the ceiling, "Yes, Rommie?"
I formed a hologram next to her. "I have completed the initial survey of the L'o'OK system, Captain. Six planets, fifty two moons. One G2 star. None of the orbital bodies show any sign of life or technology."
Nodding, she turned back to her painting, looking at it for a moment before putting some paint on her brush and running a bit of white across the waves she was painting.
It was a rather nice ocean view, focused on a ship. My database filled me in that it was the Cutty Sark, or at least a ship of the same class.
"Anything interesting to report?" She asked with a thoughtful look as she carefully worked on adding in the sea-foam.
"Nothing overly interesting," I said with a shrug, crossing my arms as she painted. "Astrogeology would like to have a closer look at moon eleven of planet four. There is a significant dilithium deposit there. Ensign Lexan think it might be a crystalline vein and wants to have closer scans if possible."
Hannah nodded. "How much time would a full planetary scan take?"
"Not that long. The moon is about half the size of Luna so it's pretty small. Couple of hours maybe. A away team could gather some quick samples while I do the scans as well."
She nodded again and cleaned her brush. "Go ahead and have a look, see if it's worth marking especially for mining."
The Federation always needed more dilithium deposits.
"Sure. Changing course now," I answered before I leaned my hologram slightly closer as if to look at the painting. "This is really good."
My Captain smiled at that. "Well, it better be. I have been painting since I was twelve."
"Sometimes I wish I could paint, but I never had any kind of talent in it." I sighed with a small smile of my own. "Of course, I can fake it pretty well with the ships computer, but me personally?" I grinned, "My stick figures are lopsided."
The most advanced art project that turned out well was that time I shaped a asteroid into a heart and carved mine and T'R...
The best one was when I sculpted a asteroid.
Hannah shook her head, pointing her brush at the canvas. "This is as much twenty five years of work as it's natural talent. Painting is a skill like any others. Put enough time in and you end up being good at it, no matter how bad you are at the start."
I nodded, "True enough. I guess I didn't have the interest to power through and get okay at it."
Nodding, she put another piece of sea-foam on the painting before she paused and looked back at my hologram, putting her brush back down. "Andromeda... would you mind if I ask a personal question?"
"Of course not."
She looked thoughtful for a moment as she span around to face me. "I meant to ask Sputnik when I served on her, but I never got around to it. Basically... how much do you fake?"
I tilted my head at that. "Huh?"
"I mean... emotions and such. You are interacting with the entire crew and you always seem to be talking to just me when I talk to you. But there must be at least a dozen other conversations going on..."
"Thirteen people right now."
She nodded and continued. "What if say Crewman Talas is telling you a hilarious joke at the same time as someone tell you how they lost their wife in a accident. That joke can't seem very funny at the time, but you still laugh, don't you?"
Ah. So that's what it was about!
I grinned at that and moved to sit my hologram down on her couch, crossing my legs, "The joke would still be just as funny. I'm afraid you anthromorphize me a bit too much, Hannah. I may look like a pretty girl, but I'm not actually that close to human in the way my mind work. Oh, my thinking patterns are mostly humanoid, but the way things actually work is quite different. There is no problems for me feeling two direct opposite feelings at once, nor do they weaken each other. Same way I can talk to two people at once and give them both my full attention at the same time. My kind of AI are perfect multitaskers."
"Oh."
"Think of it like your fingers," I said. "Run them over a variation of surfaces at once. One feel soft, one feel sharp, another cold... you feel them all."
"I didn't mean to offend you..."
I shook my head with a smile. "You didn't, Captain. I'm glad you asked actually," and then I smiled, a bit wider and a bit more playfully. "As for your original question, how often I fake things... actually quite often."
"Huh?"
"There is only so many times you can be told about something funny happening, especially when you saw it happen for yourself, before it get kinda boring."
Hannah snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I can see that."
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
31
Entering the edge of the system, I started running my scans. This was the seventh system we were scanning this month.
It only took a day or two to travel between the systems of the cluster and then a day or two running the scans and surveys of it depending on interesting formations/amount of planets and other bodies around.
All in all, I found it relaxing. It was kind of zen running your sensors across a planet, mapping and categorizing, pointing out interesting things to your science department.
Hmm.
Might explain it as the starship version of sand raking. Something that require quite a lot of focus and attention without being difficult.
First planet was a dead rock.
Second planet in the system was a lot more interesting. Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere. A lot of lifesigns, plants, oceans.
It shone like a blue and green pearl in space. M class.
It was beautiful.
"Rommie, anything new?" Hannah asked as she walked onto the bridge.
I shook the head of my avatar, leaning back in my chair, "No, Captain. M class, no signs of habitation or signals. I cloaked as soon as we entered the system so even if there were, there would have been no way for them to detect us."
Nodding, she sank down in the captains seat, "Bring us in to low orbit. Full scans."
"Yes, Captain." I answered and did a micro warp jump, bringing us in closer before entering orbit at impulse, running my sensors at full power.
The world below reminded me of Earth.
81% oceans, one single large moon. Same class of star and very similar distance. I focused my scans searching for signs of civilization. Roads, cities, ships... anything that could show us that there was something thinking down there.
I could only scan about a fourth of the surface from where I was, but I didn't see anything like that. Granted, those forest could hide a lot, they covered most of the planet that wasn't covered in oceans. And if there was a aquatic species here I would be completely unable to tell, they didn't tend to build much in the way of high technology unless they got help.
"So far, no signs of civilization or intelligence, Captain." I reported with a small smile, "I can only see a quarter of the planet from here, but you would think I would see something by now if there was someone down there. I think we might have found a potential colony site."
Hannah nodded, "Possibly. Keep scanning and put up the data on the main viewscreen. If things look clear after a couple of orbits, we can discuss a full planetary survey. Deploy three class seven probes to speed it up."
"Yes, Ma'am."
There were quite a few excited people on board already. But scientists and security personnel. After almost two months on board, they were quite excited about the prospects of awayteams. Both because... well, alien planet. They wanted to explore it. It was kinda why they were out here. But also because they wanted some fresh air.
Honestly, I rather wanted to send my avatar down there too, or at least the scouting platform, but I was also concerned. I might not see anything right now because of the forest, but for all I knew that planet might be going through it's 'Giant angry lizards' phase. I really didn't want to see any of my crew eaten by anything.
"Rommie, can you zoom in on that river?" Hriss asked and tapped the screen. She was in the main science lab, she and her subordinates were in full swing analyzing any data I could give them.
Nodding, I zoomed in for her, "See something?"
"This bend here look like it could be a good basecamp site for the survey. Mark it and shoot it to Drake and see what security think."
Nodding, I did as she said, "Maybe not that close to the water. Depends on the wildlife, but water attracts predators." I cautioned her.
"That's what forcefield fences are for."
Not sure I quite agreed with that. Even so, Drake shot it down.
"Sorry, Lieutenant Drake want a more defensible position. He suggests a spot a spot a kilometer further towards the mountains here." I said and marked it on the screen, "Less dense vegetation and less likely to be in the direct path of large animals."
Her tail lashed in annoyance before she nodded, "...I suppose that's for the best. We shouldn't disrupt the local wildlife if we can help it."
"I thought your specialty was stellar mechanics."
Hriss grinned at that, "I am. I am also a bit of a generalist if you actually look at the classes I took at the academy and while growing up on the Hanoi. My father's third wife is a biologist and my mother is an engineer. My father's first wife is a pilot and he's the chief medical officer. They all wanted me to walk their path so they made sure I got classes and experience in it all. All that experience helped my career a bunch."
"...So you became a expert in stellar mechanics."
"Stars are fascinating."
I grinned at that, "They are. Also very beautiful. You should see them in gravity, they bend and flow, kind of breathing in the universe around them."
The Caitian sighed, flicking her ears, "Sometimes I wish I could see things like you ships do."
"How do you feel about cybernetics?"
She grinned, "Not quite that badly though." before she got up, "Confirm with security that that site looks acceptable."
Turning away from my hologram, she then shifted to face Ensign Jimmy Loren, "Now, we need a closer view of the base camp. Rommie, can you drop a low altitude probe to give us a better view under those trees. Jim, can you draw up a standard short term base camp structure and cross reference with the maps Rommie feeds you? I don't want to disturb the environment any more than we have to."
"Yes, Ma'am." he answered as I nodded as well.
"Sure, no problem."
AN// Many thanks to Endymion for betaing this section.
It only took a day or two to travel between the systems of the cluster and then a day or two running the scans and surveys of it depending on interesting formations/amount of planets and other bodies around.
All in all, I found it relaxing. It was kind of zen running your sensors across a planet, mapping and categorizing, pointing out interesting things to your science department.
Hmm.
Might explain it as the starship version of sand raking. Something that require quite a lot of focus and attention without being difficult.
First planet was a dead rock.
Second planet in the system was a lot more interesting. Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere. A lot of lifesigns, plants, oceans.
It shone like a blue and green pearl in space. M class.
It was beautiful.
"Rommie, anything new?" Hannah asked as she walked onto the bridge.
I shook the head of my avatar, leaning back in my chair, "No, Captain. M class, no signs of habitation or signals. I cloaked as soon as we entered the system so even if there were, there would have been no way for them to detect us."
Nodding, she sank down in the captains seat, "Bring us in to low orbit. Full scans."
"Yes, Captain." I answered and did a micro warp jump, bringing us in closer before entering orbit at impulse, running my sensors at full power.
The world below reminded me of Earth.
81% oceans, one single large moon. Same class of star and very similar distance. I focused my scans searching for signs of civilization. Roads, cities, ships... anything that could show us that there was something thinking down there.
I could only scan about a fourth of the surface from where I was, but I didn't see anything like that. Granted, those forest could hide a lot, they covered most of the planet that wasn't covered in oceans. And if there was a aquatic species here I would be completely unable to tell, they didn't tend to build much in the way of high technology unless they got help.
"So far, no signs of civilization or intelligence, Captain." I reported with a small smile, "I can only see a quarter of the planet from here, but you would think I would see something by now if there was someone down there. I think we might have found a potential colony site."
Hannah nodded, "Possibly. Keep scanning and put up the data on the main viewscreen. If things look clear after a couple of orbits, we can discuss a full planetary survey. Deploy three class seven probes to speed it up."
"Yes, Ma'am."
There were quite a few excited people on board already. But scientists and security personnel. After almost two months on board, they were quite excited about the prospects of awayteams. Both because... well, alien planet. They wanted to explore it. It was kinda why they were out here. But also because they wanted some fresh air.
Honestly, I rather wanted to send my avatar down there too, or at least the scouting platform, but I was also concerned. I might not see anything right now because of the forest, but for all I knew that planet might be going through it's 'Giant angry lizards' phase. I really didn't want to see any of my crew eaten by anything.
"Rommie, can you zoom in on that river?" Hriss asked and tapped the screen. She was in the main science lab, she and her subordinates were in full swing analyzing any data I could give them.
Nodding, I zoomed in for her, "See something?"
"This bend here look like it could be a good basecamp site for the survey. Mark it and shoot it to Drake and see what security think."
Nodding, I did as she said, "Maybe not that close to the water. Depends on the wildlife, but water attracts predators." I cautioned her.
"That's what forcefield fences are for."
Not sure I quite agreed with that. Even so, Drake shot it down.
"Sorry, Lieutenant Drake want a more defensible position. He suggests a spot a spot a kilometer further towards the mountains here." I said and marked it on the screen, "Less dense vegetation and less likely to be in the direct path of large animals."
Her tail lashed in annoyance before she nodded, "...I suppose that's for the best. We shouldn't disrupt the local wildlife if we can help it."
"I thought your specialty was stellar mechanics."
Hriss grinned at that, "I am. I am also a bit of a generalist if you actually look at the classes I took at the academy and while growing up on the Hanoi. My father's third wife is a biologist and my mother is an engineer. My father's first wife is a pilot and he's the chief medical officer. They all wanted me to walk their path so they made sure I got classes and experience in it all. All that experience helped my career a bunch."
"...So you became a expert in stellar mechanics."
"Stars are fascinating."
I grinned at that, "They are. Also very beautiful. You should see them in gravity, they bend and flow, kind of breathing in the universe around them."
The Caitian sighed, flicking her ears, "Sometimes I wish I could see things like you ships do."
"How do you feel about cybernetics?"
She grinned, "Not quite that badly though." before she got up, "Confirm with security that that site looks acceptable."
Turning away from my hologram, she then shifted to face Ensign Jimmy Loren, "Now, we need a closer view of the base camp. Rommie, can you drop a low altitude probe to give us a better view under those trees. Jim, can you draw up a standard short term base camp structure and cross reference with the maps Rommie feeds you? I don't want to disturb the environment any more than we have to."
"Yes, Ma'am." he answered as I nodded as well.
"Sure, no problem."
AN// Many thanks to Endymion for betaing this section.
Last edited:
Retsof
I will keep you safe.
well, you could at least take her to the holodeck and translate it into visual...
32
I took a couple of running steps and braced my front legs, taking the corner around the base of a massive tree, running scans through the underbrush before jumping.
Digging my razor sharp claws into the thick bark of the tree, I pushed off to land on top of a large rock.
I didn't bother turning as I slowly ran a full three hundred and sixty degree scan of the area. I could have sworn I detected a large moving lifesign, but now it was gone.
Likely got out of range.
This mobile platform was great for scouting and search and rescue operations. The size of a German Shepherd, it was a highly evolved version of my original heavy platform.
Smaller, lighter, more efficient.
Okay, the biggest thing it had in common with the old one was the basic form. Quadruped, more or less wolf shaped, with a pair of prehensile tails ending in manual manipulators. It wasn't quite as tough as the first version, but it was a hell of a lot of better in pretty much every way.
I could even 'drink' directly from a stream to get water to fuel my micro fusion reactor.
Turning my head, I performed a more focused scan. Small lifeforms in the trees, but that large signal was gone. Oh well, I was sure it was going to show up again. Animals were usually territorial and my sensor resolution was not the best in a thick forest.
My sensors were good, better than a high grade tricorder, but there were a lot of plants and general life around. It was basically a rainforest and it was teeming with life.
It created quite a bit of interference and muddling of the sensor returns.
Jumping of the rock, I crashed through the underbrush, landing easily before 'sniffing' at the ground, doing a chemical analysis of the soil.
Nothing unexpected. Nitrates mostly. Remove the trees and it would be good farm land. Not that that would likely be done.
Still, this seemed like to be a good colony site so far. No dangerous pathogens other than a fruit that make Bolians turn green. Other than that, no further adverse reactions.
Just keep the Bolians from eating any red, spiky fruits. Then again, this was just the first preliminary survey. We were going to spend months here and even then would only be scratching the surface on this planet.
If we don't find anything that disqualifies the place like... giant purple people eaters or something... then a permanent research base would be installed and a multiyear research mission started. It would likely be at least a decade until the planet was cleared for colonization, and that's if everything went well.
Starting along the ground, I jumped over a fallen log, speeding up to just below seventy kilometers per hour, returning to my planned search pattern.
I actually liked this planet. Nice weather, nothing overly dangerous wanting to eat my crew so far, just the normal predators.
The coast had some really nice beaches. I had probed that area pretty deeply with both this and other beamed in probes along with actual away teams. It was safe. When the captain got off her shift tonight, I'm suggesting shore leave for the crew and a big beach party.
A big fire, some replicated but slow roasting pig over a fire. Some actual 'real' alcohol for the crew. Music, dancing...
Oh yeah. Perfect morale building exercise.
Bouncing over another rock, I continued up onto a thick branch and then another one before I stopped at the edge, overlooking the clearing of the camp.
It was a standard light research camp. The center piece was a hard-shell white dome containing the lab facilities. Not that big, perhaps ten meters across. Around that were the tents for people to live in. Honestly, it wouldn't be difficult to transport people up and down every night or even completely skip the research lab and run everything on me.
We could also have stayed in the Sol system and sent probes out to research for us, but we were explorers. It was more about the experience than the data. It was the reason people joined Starfleet.
Hell, even I enjoyed being able to go down to the surface like this, even if I would also have been more than happy just running scans from space. This was fun! Besides, it was best to check things first before bringing it through a transporter, just in case.
Along with the living area there was a large communal tent for having meals and hanging out if it was raining.
Around it all were metal rods five meters tall, driven a meter into the ground. Blue forcefields beamed between the fence posts kept any dangerous creatures from approaching.
Even so, I had my two APD's standing guard, armed with both phasers and coil gun projectile weaponry. Lieutenant Drake had a strong point, better to mix your loadout with both energy and kinetic weapons.
Jumping down from the tree, I landed heavily before padding towards the forcefield fence, dropping just that section long enough to let my scout platform through before raising it again behind me.
"Find anything, Rommie?" Ensign Rodger Kellog asked, looking up from his PADD as I padded past towards the lab.
Stopping, I flicked my ears and nodded, sitting down as I coiled my two tails around me on the ground, "Found a new flower. I marked its location on the map for later collection. Not sure about any applications, but I saw one of the... what did you call them again? The deer creatures?"
That was one thing this platform didn't do that well: collect samples. Its internal storage was very limited.
"Spiral horns." the early-twenties human said with a grin. Ensign or not, he was the ship's botany expert, and as the crewmember to discover the deer-like creatures, he got to name them.
"Oh yes, the spiral horns. Anyway, I saw a young spiral horn eat one and then drop dead. I suspect it contains some kind of neurotoxin. It might have some kind of medical applications, but I would be careful handling it."
He nodded, "Sounds like it. Send me the readings and location?"
"Transmitting to your PADD. Going to go deliver my samples and readings to the lab now. Sorry I didn't have room for your sample."
"Eh, it's fine, ship. We can go get it with a team later. And be careful when you go into the lab, Lieutenant Hriss is on the war path. Crewman Tel accidentally destroyed a beetle sample we only had one of."
I was fully aware of that. I had sensors in the lab, just like in the ship. I had seen it all happen.
I nodded, "Thanks for the warning, I'll be careful."
AN// A big bucket of thanks to Xandros for betaing this section.
Digging my razor sharp claws into the thick bark of the tree, I pushed off to land on top of a large rock.
I didn't bother turning as I slowly ran a full three hundred and sixty degree scan of the area. I could have sworn I detected a large moving lifesign, but now it was gone.
Likely got out of range.
This mobile platform was great for scouting and search and rescue operations. The size of a German Shepherd, it was a highly evolved version of my original heavy platform.
Smaller, lighter, more efficient.
Okay, the biggest thing it had in common with the old one was the basic form. Quadruped, more or less wolf shaped, with a pair of prehensile tails ending in manual manipulators. It wasn't quite as tough as the first version, but it was a hell of a lot of better in pretty much every way.
I could even 'drink' directly from a stream to get water to fuel my micro fusion reactor.
Turning my head, I performed a more focused scan. Small lifeforms in the trees, but that large signal was gone. Oh well, I was sure it was going to show up again. Animals were usually territorial and my sensor resolution was not the best in a thick forest.
My sensors were good, better than a high grade tricorder, but there were a lot of plants and general life around. It was basically a rainforest and it was teeming with life.
It created quite a bit of interference and muddling of the sensor returns.
Jumping of the rock, I crashed through the underbrush, landing easily before 'sniffing' at the ground, doing a chemical analysis of the soil.
Nothing unexpected. Nitrates mostly. Remove the trees and it would be good farm land. Not that that would likely be done.
Still, this seemed like to be a good colony site so far. No dangerous pathogens other than a fruit that make Bolians turn green. Other than that, no further adverse reactions.
Just keep the Bolians from eating any red, spiky fruits. Then again, this was just the first preliminary survey. We were going to spend months here and even then would only be scratching the surface on this planet.
If we don't find anything that disqualifies the place like... giant purple people eaters or something... then a permanent research base would be installed and a multiyear research mission started. It would likely be at least a decade until the planet was cleared for colonization, and that's if everything went well.
Starting along the ground, I jumped over a fallen log, speeding up to just below seventy kilometers per hour, returning to my planned search pattern.
I actually liked this planet. Nice weather, nothing overly dangerous wanting to eat my crew so far, just the normal predators.
The coast had some really nice beaches. I had probed that area pretty deeply with both this and other beamed in probes along with actual away teams. It was safe. When the captain got off her shift tonight, I'm suggesting shore leave for the crew and a big beach party.
A big fire, some replicated but slow roasting pig over a fire. Some actual 'real' alcohol for the crew. Music, dancing...
Oh yeah. Perfect morale building exercise.
Bouncing over another rock, I continued up onto a thick branch and then another one before I stopped at the edge, overlooking the clearing of the camp.
It was a standard light research camp. The center piece was a hard-shell white dome containing the lab facilities. Not that big, perhaps ten meters across. Around that were the tents for people to live in. Honestly, it wouldn't be difficult to transport people up and down every night or even completely skip the research lab and run everything on me.
We could also have stayed in the Sol system and sent probes out to research for us, but we were explorers. It was more about the experience than the data. It was the reason people joined Starfleet.
Hell, even I enjoyed being able to go down to the surface like this, even if I would also have been more than happy just running scans from space. This was fun! Besides, it was best to check things first before bringing it through a transporter, just in case.
Along with the living area there was a large communal tent for having meals and hanging out if it was raining.
Around it all were metal rods five meters tall, driven a meter into the ground. Blue forcefields beamed between the fence posts kept any dangerous creatures from approaching.
Even so, I had my two APD's standing guard, armed with both phasers and coil gun projectile weaponry. Lieutenant Drake had a strong point, better to mix your loadout with both energy and kinetic weapons.
Jumping down from the tree, I landed heavily before padding towards the forcefield fence, dropping just that section long enough to let my scout platform through before raising it again behind me.
"Find anything, Rommie?" Ensign Rodger Kellog asked, looking up from his PADD as I padded past towards the lab.
Stopping, I flicked my ears and nodded, sitting down as I coiled my two tails around me on the ground, "Found a new flower. I marked its location on the map for later collection. Not sure about any applications, but I saw one of the... what did you call them again? The deer creatures?"
That was one thing this platform didn't do that well: collect samples. Its internal storage was very limited.
"Spiral horns." the early-twenties human said with a grin. Ensign or not, he was the ship's botany expert, and as the crewmember to discover the deer-like creatures, he got to name them.
"Oh yes, the spiral horns. Anyway, I saw a young spiral horn eat one and then drop dead. I suspect it contains some kind of neurotoxin. It might have some kind of medical applications, but I would be careful handling it."
He nodded, "Sounds like it. Send me the readings and location?"
"Transmitting to your PADD. Going to go deliver my samples and readings to the lab now. Sorry I didn't have room for your sample."
"Eh, it's fine, ship. We can go get it with a team later. And be careful when you go into the lab, Lieutenant Hriss is on the war path. Crewman Tel accidentally destroyed a beetle sample we only had one of."
I was fully aware of that. I had sensors in the lab, just like in the ship. I had seen it all happen.
I nodded, "Thanks for the warning, I'll be careful."
AN// A big bucket of thanks to Xandros for betaing this section.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
off
Kinda impractical to carry two guns. Better would be to merge them into a single unit, probably as an over-under or an under-barrel attachment for the phaser. The over-under would be easier to design, but if you did it right the under-barrel phaser could have an integrated light fold-out stock when detached.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
It's a mobile weapons platform. It doesn't have to have hands or anything like that. It could easily have a different weapon built into each arm. Hell, if I were designing it, it would have at slots for at least four arms. And a dozen or so modular arms, each with a different type of integrated or tool.
- Location
- with internet
Maybe. I myself could be the only one thinking of those intelligent-but-uncivilized teleporting creatures from the Humanx novels.