Futuristic Crash Landing IC

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

Upon seeing the mercenary, Marius, and his subordinate whom was about to take off stiffened slightly, having to fight back a scowl. It was times like these he had wished he was wearing a helmet. "Speak Merc..." The Sentinel said with clear distaste for the soldier of fortune. "Mercenarius autem loquor cito... my brothers and sisters and i are busy..." It was then, Marius' mercury colored eyes locked wtih the visored human, as if measuring him up.

ZeiruliousMakavar xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

"Status report sir" he began crisply, ignoring the man's clear distaste for him and lack of respect.

"Banged up Cryochamber, doors needing manual opening, helmet comm inoperable and living chambers destroyed sir" he said, meeting his gaze with current unflinching professionalism yet clearly not the least bit willing to be intimidated or react to the man's disrespect.

"Superior officer Siddhi Patel and possibly others in need of clothing repairs and/or replacements" he added.

One might wonder if Marius could see what he had gone through in his eyes. Could he sense the hard edge to this man and know that this mercenary was no jarhead? Just how much could one tell from a single look in the eyes that Zanis gave him? Zanis had never been the overly expressive type and hardly anyone ever had any idea that he used to be a slave in another part of the galaxy. In fact, that part wasn't even noted in his official documents. All they know is that this guy supposedly comes from some planet somewhere and that he's a mercenary with some unusual actions in his past. Little did Marius know what he had done to his old masters....

"What are your orders?" He asks, wanting some direction so as to not be out of sync with the rest of the crew.

HighSanguinaryPriest

 

[Kallo]

He simply looked around the crashed ship as he had been left along without anyone really nearby. Shrugging to himself as he turns, walking outside as the automated signal finally shut off. Starting to walk along the clearing without truly taking note of anyone there. Almost seeming to stare through everyone with an almost piercing gaze.

 

[xpstitch]

Zanis walked around the ship and decided to go take a look at the landscape around them. If this was a survival situation, there's going to be a need to know just what they were dealing with.

Hm. Trees. Earth type by the look of them. Not a forest they were in necessarily, but there were some. Grasses. Earth type as well. By the looks of things so far it seemed like they had possibly landed on some planet that humans had planted earth flora in.

Zanis had his visor down just in case it was a dangerous planet. His rifle pointed down at the ground, Zanis saw what looked to be a humanoid with its back turned to him. Zanis made sure to clear his throat before getting any closer. He had learned from experience that sneaking up on somebody, with a machinegun no less, was a bad idea now matter WHERE it was pointed at.

"You are with the colony ship, I suspect?" He asked, wanting to clear the air of any suspicion either may have about eachother.

He suspected the humanoid in front of him might be from his own downed craft, but this of course might NOT be. They had landed on an unknown planet in an undetermined corner of the galaxy. For all he knew, this planet was already inhabited and the figure in front of him was in fact a local inhabitant. He needed to make sure the ship wasn't going to have any uninvited guests over any time soon.

Kallo

 

[Kallo]

He continued to look around for a few moments even after the clearing of the throat from the man behind him. Though upon hearing the question he simply raises an eyebrow as he turns to face him. His eye still glowing softly as he glances at the machinegun. Shaking his head before starting to think out what to say exactly. "No...Not from the colony, another ship from a long time before you guys arrived."

He didn't quite understand what the deal was with such a large number of personnel on a ship made for colonizing, but he simply shrugs the thought off. Planting it on the idea of pirates or the like that might try to get away with something that wouldn't be allowed in the deep space.

Though after a few moments he seemed to look over the man in front of him. Trying to figure something out by the look of it. "How long has it been sense you went through training...? Or did you have an unlucky start?" The question being based on a more...deeper level than most could see with such implants he would have. Or be invisible to someone without any implants of his kind at all.

(Ahem...just to clarify, he may or may not have just seen how 'pure' your soul is...in terms of killing creatures and such. Being able to manipulate and see auras helps with that...he just can't know for sure anything till he asks and finds out through questions.)

xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

Zanis heard the question but didn't quite understand all of it. What had the man meant by unlucky start? Zanis thought he understood vaguely what the first thing he had been asking. Zanis started basic training some months ago but he had the feeling he was being asked something deeper than that. The way the man stared into his eyes was unnerving. Like the man was staring into his soul.

"Well I mean, basic training and orientations was only a few months long so I'd say I was trained some 8 months ago or so given the cryosleep" he said, obviously confused at the question's exact insinuations.

What he hadn't known was that he had been asking about the really deep stuff. Like about how he had killed his masters in cold blood and freed all the other slaves in the process.

Kallo

 

[Kallo]

He shrugs to himself for a moment, almost chuckling slightly as he heard the response. Though sighing almost as he then starts to walk closer slightly. "Oh...I understand that you would have had basic training...but your hands aren't clean...not like most of the colonists that I have seen. So...what's your story...? Of course...I'll be honest, I may be incorrect. A couple hundred years of cryostasis could do that to a man."

xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

"I'm a mercenary hailing from a Wrathari slave state, I'm certain you can guess how I gained my liberties without being too nosy" he said dryly, giving him a no longer so subtle signal that Zanis's story was not really his to know.

He wondered if this human was always this nosy or if it was just with him but he didn't exactly like too many questions in his line of work. He didn't particularly like remembering the bloodshed needed to bring him his liberty. He'd rather those chapters in his life to stay buried in the dirt under his feet, just like his masters remain in the soil of the plantation grounds.

Kallo

 

[Kallo]

He simply nods with the response that was given. Both the tone and the word choice giving the fair impression that he may be trying to dig a little to far into a past. "Ah...Well that's enough to explain your aura...and sorry if my questions...hit a nerve." He then gives a half nod. Starting to look around once more.

xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

Zanis shook his head and cleared his thoughts.

"I wasn't aware that there were any other colony ships to have landed here" he noted with a level voice

"I was under the impression my ship had only arrived on this planet via a crash" he added, wanting to know just how many local inhabitants he would need to use diplomacy with.

Kallo

 

[Kallo]

He tilts his head for a moment before shaking his own head. A slight sigh sounding from him as he returns the gaze and in a level tone speaks. "I didn't land with any other colony ships that have crashed...I was in a convoy of sorts many years before...woke up only recently oddly enough."

xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

"Did your ship land on this planet willingly or did it crash just like mine?" He asked, wondering what besides a crash might incentivize a ship to land here.

Zanis wondered if this convoy of his had also landed here and for what purposes. Zanis wondered why a ship would land here on purpose, but put somebody like this guy in cryosleep for all those years. You'd think whatever purpose they might have would involve waking the crew up, wouldn't you?

Kallo

(Not many other people seeming to be replying. What do you think we should do? Is this thing dead? Maybe we should message some people to put more life into this?)

 

[Kallo]

He shakes his head for a moment, looking around the planet before chuckling slightly. "No, it was a crash from what I have gathered, that or an escape pod landing. One way or another, this wasn't my destination originally."

xpstitch

(I've noticed that. I mean, I guess message people. It's better than just letting it die out.)

 

[ZeiruliousMakavar]

( Mahima18 Shadow Not An Alien Lenny2000 HighSanguinaryPriest Knightling Best Trekkie. Mr.person Kallo Slav xpstitch Time skip post due to lack of activity. If you've officially left the RP already, as in PMed me you're leaving, please ignore this post. If you have not, and wish to, then please PM me.)

It had been a few weeks since they had woken up crashed on the strange planet. They had meeked out a small, stable town in the area near the crashed colony ship. There was just barely enough farm land in the area to feed the whole group of them, which numbered at around 500 people out of the ten thousand that it was supposed to be. At the time, Caelyn was sitting down at one of the mechanist benches they had set up, closest thing to the ship. This was due to how heavy some of the materials were that droids and cybernetics needed. As they no longer had many of the things needed, they had to move many items by hand.

At the time Caelyn seemed to be working on a cybernetic arm, a left arm at that. She was working on repairing some of the wiring as over the weeks it had lost some of its durability. Something that was incredibly important in Cybernetics.

 

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

Marius and his Paladins had set up a small military outpost near the northern section of the settlement. Black Wasp Jetbikes rocketed across the skies as Charley team scouted the surrounding region. It seemed the soldiers were all on task, whether it be from the bravos constructing better fortifications with the now uncovered prefabs, or the Epsilons running power to the newly acquired defenses. Marius himself sat inside the newly furnished office going over the data his brothers and sister collected over the span of a week. much of it surprising to the Sentinel. One of the biomes to the north east had flora similar if not identical to that of their homeworld of Custodia. Once more data has been gained, he and the rest of Alpha and a select few of civilians would explore the region. Perhaps even set up an outpost. I'll speak with the captain about this later. He mused toying with an aetherium combat knife on the desk.


( Mahima18 Shadow Not An Alien Lenny2000 ZeiruliousMakavar Knightling Best Trekkie. Mr.person Kallo Slav xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

Farm work, the irony not escaping him. Just when he thought he had freed himself from such type of work, he had found himself working the feilds yet again. Zanis didn't complain though. Yes it was farmwork. And yes doing things like picking cotton was quite the degrading slap in the face given his past. But at least they didn't whip him. Back on the vampire plantations they used to whip them raw in the back. The vamps didn't even have the guts to go out and do it themselves, the scorching sun that the slaves worked in was too much for their pale undead masters. No. They had some "lesser" species handle the overseeing of the work on those hot slave plantations. Goodness knew what might happen if the colonists attempted to use the institutional tools of slavery here on THIS planet. No doubt many a colonists would have ended up dead if they tried to whip Zanis out in the fields.

In terms of historical equivalents, one supposed this settlement was a strange mixture and really couldn't be equated with any exact category. Zanis came to the planet a mercenary, but there wasn't really much fighting to be found in this area so he wasn't really so much a military person, but more of a citizen's militia member. Since there was no fighting here on this planet, Zanis did not act as a soldier but was more an emergency recruited policeman of sorts. It's a weird situation. Crime is appalling low here in the settlement so he doesn't have to do much actual arresting, not that he would regardless. He more acts a town guard sort of role to keep the peace in the settlement. If there WAS a war, he would of course likely take up arms in the fight seeing as it would make some amount of sense for a mercenary to be in the peasant militia as opposed to some nonmilitary role.

It was a bit boring though, with the settlement so peaceful. Which is something he liked. It was a struggling town but in terms of crime rate, this place was a utopia. And so when he had not been "busy" doing menial labor that any other colonist could have done, he was busy brainstorming ways to make this life here on the settlement more lively. Which is why he was now running about the town trying to track down the people in charge so he could pitch an idea onto them. Navigating the complex social and political hierarchy of this new colony was challenging for Zanis. All these titles and ranks were a chore to memorize and finding anyone who was in charge was a hassle. Zanis couldn't tell the mayor from the governor even if his life depended on it. He had no idea who was in charge of what and who was who's superior anymore. Somehow Zanis didn't think the colony project managers put too much emphasis on instructing the ships on how to create an emergency government with only 500 people so the current power dynamics were a bit improvised and hard to follow.

They had told him to go to Caeylin's cuz apparently SHE was somehow in charge. Of WHAT he didn't know. In fact he had no clue what they meant by 'Caeylin's'. Who the heck was Caeylin anyways? And when they directed him to her, was it to her office or to her home. He had no idea what rank she was or whether she was the right person to talk to about it but he reckoned even if she wasn't, she would let the right people know seeing as they converse amongst themselves. If he remembered, she was supposed to be the captain or something. Whatever that meant. Zanis didn't even know what his OWN title was. Warrior, guard, militia member. His personal favorite was Constable. Constable Melbourne. Titles were rather improvised in this IMPROVISED settlement.

ZeiruliousMakavar
Zanis made sure to take off his helmet and place it against the wall before knocking on the door. He had his rifle he pointed it respectfully at the ground in crisp military protocol. The rifle was not loaded, it had the safety feature on at the moment.

He had heard some men say that this Caeylin lady was beautiful. An Elvish blooded woman apparently. He briefly wondered whether or not this was true as he also hoped that he was not intruding or interrupting something.

 

[ZeiruliousMakavar]

Caelyn blinked softly, as she finished doing the adjustments on the cybernetic arm, sighing softly as she looked it over, smiling to herself. "Did you need something Zanis Melbourne?" She then asked, not moving to look behind herself as he approached her. It was a bit before she finally turned to look at him, a straight look on her face as she sighed. "I'm rather busy with something right now, so make it quick."

xpstitch

 

[xpstitch]

Zanis's eyes widened just a tad bit and blinked in surprise, they had been right. She was rather nice on the eyes.

"Well perhaps I should tell in more detail at a later date" he apologized quickly with a placating tilt of the head.

"But the short version of it is is that I pose we explore more avenues of acquiring food captain" he said quickly.

"I believe we have not extracted all our money's worth on what we might have" he continued.

"I wish to take a look into whether or not there are places to fish around here" he concluded.

"If I could be given leave and proper clearance to build boats and perhaps build nets, perhaps we might even be able to trace the local river's path out into the sea" he said with images of frying fish in his mind as he said so.

"Given the food shortages we're experiencing, I believe the citizens would be quite indebted to us if we were to gift unto them a bounty of some fish or perhaps even bring in oysters for their enjoyment" he said as he entreated the elf to imagine how delicious the smell of salmon would be to the people in the town.

Zanis knew many groups of elves were vegetarian and could only hope that she was understanding enough to allow others to partake in the wonders of seafood even if she herself would not partake.

ZeiruliousMakavar

 

[ZeiruliousMakavar]

Caelyn shook her head softly, leaning back against her desk as she did. "The ship had enough food to sustain the full colony of ten thousand for around 5 years, that's what the seed bank is for." She said softly, crossing her arms as she spoke. "Granted, we lost roughly 90% of the cold storage food in the crash, we still have a fair bit of food." She continued, before sighing. "But, I do agree, that we need to look into every avenue that we can. I grant you permission to do just that, anything else you need?"

xpstitch

 

[Kallo]

Arcane had been more or less exploring the area around the village that had been set up. Not to the brief scanning extent of the jetbikes flying around. But actually taking time to look over each plant like species and the animals around it. Taking note as he seemed to find a few that could be used as a domestic sort but also had quite a few he would have to drive away as they where fairly territorial. Shaking his head to himself as he eventually made his way back. Another log full of information on different species and descriptions of animals for todays expedition. Heading strait back for the captain, as even with the confusing system of authority she seemed to hold the most in the end. Knocking on the door as he waited for a response, glancing around with the more or less notebook in hand.

ZeiruliousMakavar (Somewhat xpstitch From extension.)

 

[xpstitch]

"Whatever it is, it seems we have some company anyhow" he said nonchallantly, opening the door so he could let himself out and the other person in.

"I'll be back some other time when you are hopefully less preoccupied and I'll let you know what I'm thinking" he said politely. ZeiruliousMakavar

"She's a bit busy so I would make it quick" he said goodheartedly to Arcane as he juggled his stuff to grab his helmet and put it back on from where it was up against the wall. Kallo

"Ya'll take care now, I've gotta go talk things over with a certain handsomely scarred colonel" he said with a joking manner as he made his way out.

 

[xpstitch]

And so Zanis made his way over to the nearest military outpost, needing to speak with a certain dashing elvish man with a certain disliking of mercenaries. Zanis knew many military types did not in fact like soldiers of fortune and look down upon them, so he had his doubts about how such an interaction would go. But he also knew that unprofessional people in charge didn't last very long so he had his reasons for believing that this high up guy would at least be somewhat cordial and listen to what he has to say. After all, he wasn't exactly a mercenary in the strictest sense of the word anymore. The organization that had contracted him was very rich and could afford to pay him quite well for his services but the fact if the matter is that without access to them, the transferring of funds to his intergalactic monetary account was.... complicated

This colony ship was now cut off from communication with the rest of the colony project and as an extension, the rest of the galaxy too. Zanis would be receiving no such funds like this, none that he could access that is. So now he had had to work with the local community on setting up some monetary scheme that could pay him in a more local currency. It was a strange thing to behold really, seeing the surviving colony machinery print out a new kind of bill. He wondered if they ever got back in contact with the rest of the colony project, how they would react to the sudden need to exchange this new paper for its galactic equivalents.

Anyways, the fact of the matter is that his job as a mercenary was not strictly speaking necessary anymore. This town had no use for such people given how little actual fighting there is. So Zanis had had to be content with the job of a local constable/town guard. He wasn't really a soldier of fortune much anymore, so much as an extra pair of hands on the colony to do miscellaneous work. Nevermind that these pair of hands had martial training. Not that much has changed from before anyhow. Even when they were connected to the others, he did a very scarce amount of fighting. All that had really changed was his rank and title. Constable Zanis Lee Melbourne they called him. Quite fitting really. A great deal more than 'mercenary' that was at least. And despite how he had been doing much work in agriculture as of late, the colonist CERTAINLY did not have the balls to call him 'farming implement' like how back when he was a slave.

As Zanis approached the outpost, he adjusted the frequencies on his helmeted communications to sync in with the local military codes, once again glad for his high tech watch's utilitarian capabilities.

"Citizen's militia member and constable reporting in to local frequencies" Zanis began on the communications channel of the military installation.

"Requesting audience with Colonel Marius Aurulious, over" he said said nonchallantly to the main communications channel.

From what Zanis knew, there would be a person or two on hand on the other side of that communication listening in. These people had some kind of radio device on hand which acted somewhat like a telephone would. Anhow, the equivalent of a receptionist would then relay his message over to the Colonel and he would be issued clearance to speak to the Colonel. Zanis knew he would gain clearance because he knew how things were working right around here. Zanis had said he was 'requesting' an audience with Colonel Aurulious, but he also knew that was just a formality. As a town gaurdsmen who had taken quite the initiative in helping in the founding of the brand new settlement, he had much more push and pull in the settlement than he perhaps might otherwise have. Despite what he used to be, the colonists knew what he was all about and had much respect for him.

HighSanguinaryPriest Little time had passed but Zanis somehow became a person beloved by the people. Word spread fast in a relatively small populace so for all his work in helping the colony test its wings out, the people saw him as someone they could look up to and count on. Anyways, considering how messed up the political structure had become following the death of more than 90 percent of all the populace in the crash, including many prospective political figures, probably even civilians could expect an audience with the colonel. The political system got so confusing after the ship had lost contact with the rest of the colony project, no one knew who was in charge of what and just went about contacting whoever they could find about their concerns. At the very least, even if whatever the issue was wasn't the colonel's problem, somebody could refer them to who'sever business it WAS.

Marius would be a fool to refuse audience with Zanis. Everybody knew it paid good to keep in good contact with the local police force and Zanis was among the most influential constables in all the settlement, not to mention the fact that the citizen's militia absolutely LOVED him. Zanis using the word 'requesting' was just a politeness in deference to Marius's own rank and title. 'Requesting audience'. Hah. What a riot. If Marius didn't want to hear what he had to say, Zanis could very well do without such a thing. Whatever he was about quote on quote 'ask permission' to do could very well be done WITHOUT Marius's or ANYBODY's permission really. Zanis was just one of those kinds of people. One doesn't just go around telling a person so beloved by the people that he NEEDS the governments permission to do certain things. They've got a voice and the people have their ears.

 

[Kallo]

He nods as the door was opened for him along with watching Zanis making his way out of the building. Taking a moment to let him out of the doorframe before trying to enter himself. Walking on into the building finally as he looked over at Caelyn. Nodding once more as he made his way over, looking around the desk that she was working at before tilting his head slightly at the seeming machines she was working at. Shrugging to himself before holding the notepad out for her. "These, are descriptions and the many distinctions of the animals on this planet. I've even organized them into the known consumption preferences and true consumption availability, along with giving them ratings for how dangerous they are or plainly territorial. Lastly, I even took a look at the more docile animals and made a list of what each one could be used for if domesticated properly. Of course, some are much less likely to be able to be domesticated then others." With that his little speech was done, and he awaited for instructions of where he should put the notepad if she didn't take it.

ZeiruliousMakavar

 

[ZeiruliousMakavar]

Caelyn nodded softly as she listened to his speech, grabbing his notepad as she did. "Thank you for this, it will help in the long run," she added a soft and monotonous tone in her voice as if she had been working for some time on the bionic arm that she was building. It wasn't exactly obvious why she was working on it, instead of managing the colony. After looking over the notes, she set it down letting out a sigh. "I suggest you get back to work then," she then said, after a moment of silence. "We only have 500 of the ten thousand we were supposed to have, so..." she began, before shaking her head, and glancing up at the crashed ship. "Find something to do, anything."

Kallo

 

[Kallo]

He simply nods once more, almost sighing to himself before stifling it with the realization of how poor of a move that would be. Glancing around the room before turning and leaving the building once more. Glancing around the town that was moving and the like, before deciding on his next action. Returning to the makeshift home that he had to gather some more supplies, ranging from blood and skin samples to food and the such for a fair distance of exploration. Sighing out before lugging it over his shoulder. Another notepad in hand as he headed back out to investigate the flora as well, seeing as the fauna had already been discovered.