Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[joshuadim]

Vance took a moment to think as he quietly cut up the pieces of meat off from the boar carcass, setting it aside for later use. The shoulder cuts were coming along nicely, the meat was plentiful for him to use in the burgers to come. "By my estimates I'd say six months... give or take a few weeks." he replied, not taking his eyes off his work.

---
"Ah well, taste is subjective." Albert chuckled.

As are opinions. Post-modern my ass. Screw that teacher of hers. he quietly thought to himself as he maintained his composure on the outside.

"Well, what do you hope to get from being with this crew of misfits and criminal types? For someone as green as you, I would've assumed this is the last thing you'd find yourself in." he commented.

 

[KRIY]

"Six months in space huh?. being alone in space with no one to call for help.. its a huge shitshow on its own."

While Vance was still working with slicing the meat. Derrick immediately thought up a way to make it up to Vance by making some lemon tea for the both of them.

He gathered all the ingredients and proceeded to pour the hot contents into two cups.

"I made some lemon tea. just a way of saying sorry about earlier."

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie nodded. "Yes, I do believe he's jealous of your castle."

She was about to ask something when one of the others, a synthetic, stepped up and began chatting with Lucy.

"It's not neccessarily negative," said Nathalie as a follow-up to what Yolandi had said. "But generally speaking if people feel intimidated or scares they tend to avoid the person who is making them uncomfortable."

---

Daniel delivered several Haalsian-style spinning kicks before replying to Petar. "Combat medic. As for you, well, I guess you're my next patient."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"I am aware that my physical features may induce fear and loathing within c-c-certain sapient creatures. This is not my i-i-intention and is a byproduct of my attempted murder," Lucy explained, her voice drawing out certain words in a lower tone of voice, almost like a ghostly moan. "Any anomalous interjections within my s-s-speech is also a byproduct of my attempted murder."

She often thought back to her time at Karos-III. The time where her trusted humans had turned on her, betrayed her, attempted to snuff out her very existence.... It infuriated and saddened her greatly. It wasn't her fault they tried to kill her. It wasn't her fault that they all died begging and screaming for her to stop.

Lucy picked up another seashell beside her. It was pink and white, with a classic clam-shell like design. "This is the s-s-second instance of being notified that recreational construction with sand grain is an activity for children. My initial encounter with such activity was f-f-from: Hammon, S. Franklin, Lumos Geological Survey." Her pronunciation of the man's name and his department was clipped and firmly synthetic.

"I have recognized the need to procure human optical organs to f-f-facilitate placation and mitigation of fear." Lucy reached up to the veil covering her face and raised it up. She tapped one claw against an empty eye socket. "Following detainment of suitable specimen, I will obtain their e-y-e-s," the word came out as a slow hiss of static, "and they will be set into my orbits. Resulting blood plasma and optical fluids will act as needed lubricate."

Lucy was once more performing an unconscious action, caressing her skull-like face with her clawed hand before finally lowering the veil again. She turned to face Nathalie. "I concur with your assessment of the s-s-subject's discomfort. Intimidation and fear are not i-i-intentional designs of my own accord. They must be offset by the sight of defensive b-b-battlements."

---

"I'm not green," Shelby said, giving Albert a look. "I'm just... unfamiliar with this line of work."

"And you are right, I would much prefer to be elsewhere, but circumstances have dictated that I must... um... travel and stuff. I can't go back to Hydraxis right now. A... jealous boyfriend could cause trouble," she said, making that up on the spot. "I would much prefer to be relaxing at a premium hotel. Though this little place here, and the ship, are quaintly adventurous. So its not all that bad."

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie narrowed her eyes. Lucy became more fascinating by the minute. More intimidating than any of the SSOID assassin bots she'd met. Yet her mind was that of a child or a young AI. Simple. Reasonable.

Nathalie tilted her head. Somewhat homicidal as well.

"Your name is Lucy, right? I'm Nathalie. You can call me Nat."

"If you don't mind me asking, who built you Lucy?" Asked Nathalie while extending one of her hands. Resting ontop of her palm was another seashell in a tan and brown color combination.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Just what the hell is Lucy? What the hell is she, and more importantly, how the hell was she allowed onto the crew?! These questions burn brightly in Typhon’s head while the encounter with her makes the rest of him feel cold. He has to relax just to get her out of his head, what better place to do that than the cold storage room? As he entered, he locks himself inside and sits against one of the unshelved walls. For good measure, he pulls out a syringe loaded with the same glowing yellow liquid other Lions were previously seen doping up on, rolls up his sleeve, and injects himself with it. His vision starts to go hazy, his body stops shaking, and his thoughts drift out of his head like a cloud floating away into the sky. He wasn’t on the Mordred anymore, but rather some place somewhere far away where nothing would matter for as long as he’s in it.

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi sighs, "You can't just pluck people's eyes out, it doesn't work that way." She looks over at Nathalie offering a shell then thinks of the sand dollar style shell in her own hand. She offers it out as well figuring if Lucy is build a castle, may as well help decorate it. She continues while proffering her own gift, "You can't just cut people up and take their organs to make you look more human, it doesn't work like that. I know a tech doctor who specializes in synthetics, he could help you get the look you want. I'll even go with you so he gives a discount for referral work. On top of that, I'll help pay him to make you look like what you want to look like, which I'm assuming is you want to look human. He can do that easily."

 

[joshuadim]

"I don't drink tea, but thanks." Vance replied as he finally removed the last bits of meat needed from the boar. "Now, let's begin."

---

Albert raised an eyebrow as Shelby spoke about a "jealous boyfriend". She changed her story. Definitely hiding something. Albert wrote down into his notebook. Nonetheless, he wrote her response down and nodded as she spoke. "I see. Well, good luck then I suppose. You'll need it in this line of work."

 

[Breadman]

"Heh." Petar cracked his knuckles and his neck "Cocky son of a bitch. I like that. They teach you self care?"

 

[Infab]

The night passed by, with each of the group doing their own things. Vance carved up the newly killed wild boar-like animal, preparing pork burgers from the creature to be cooked and served as breakfast in the morning. Petar and Daniel had their pit fight, with Karina observing and keeping score. Best two out of three knockdowns they had agreed on, and Petar came out the victor. Perhaps he was simply more agile than Daniel. Eventually, Lauren returned from the rocky cavern where Valkyrie's grave was, quietly walking across the beach and back to the Mordred. She wanted to be alone, in her bed. Not the ones in the barracks which everyone else was now using.

Morning came, Sielia's sun Krael rising from the west and bathing the beach and area around the shipyard in warmth and light. The first up was Vance, cooking his pork burgers just as he had planned. The smell of cooking food awoke the rest of the group, whom ventured to the mess hall of the barracks to eat. Lauren eventually arrived, looking as if she had simply tossed and turned throughout the night. She sat alone, picking at the burger that Vance had prepared before eventually nibbling on it here and there.

Soon enough, there was a noise outside. A ship arrival...then another. Some of the group made their way out to see whom it was, and found themselves gazing upon a wide black ship accompanied by a modified, kited out Upyri Dardus-class fighter.

From the black ship came a man dressed in an earthy brown-black turtleneck and black cargo pants. His hair was a medium brown, short and spiky on top with bits of grey peppered across it as well as his beard. He had one amber colored eye, the left one covered by some sort of cybernetic ocular device. There were also a pair of long scars over the left eye, probably signaling how he lost it. Lauren introduced him rather promptly to the rest of the group. "Slade Beckwith. Leader of the Red Phantoms." she said, motioning her hand lazily towards him.

From the fighter popped a woman. Spiky, styled yellowish orange hair, pale skin, green eyes, a piercing just under her lip. She was wearing a brown leather jacket, light faded blue jeans, and a black tank top beneath the jacket with a band emblem printed across it. She grinned as she strolled over next to Slade, giving the group a wave. Most of the group recognized her, so she needed no introduction. Aesha Drach, famous across the known galaxy for being the grand champion of the Upyri Interstellar Racing circuit a record total of 49 times. If you ever watched holovision or checked one of the various news organizations on the extranet, you were likely to have seen her at least a handful of times.

Both walked over, with Aesha immediately walking towards Lauren. "Blue! Its been a while! How ya been?" she said, strolling over and hugging her. "Could be a lot better. Guessin' you're the one Slade's giving to us?" she replied, hugging Aesha back. "Yep! I'll let him explain why." she said, releasing Lauren and stepping off to the side so Slade could speak to her.

Slade stepped up, holding out a chip to Lauren which she promptly took. "Information on the job, and the coordinates like I said." he said, before glancing over to the rest of the group that Lauren had hired. As he looked them over, he noticed one in particular that gave him alarm. Typhon, a Kavir Lion. He pointed to Zadra, before motioning for her to follow as he strolled over away from the group with Lauren. Once they were away from them, he looked between them both. "A fucking Kavir Lion? Lauren, I told you about that group. I've had bad run ins with them in the past. And here you go, hiring one of them!" he said, glancing back to Typhon.

Lauren shrugged. "Pops, we needed a doctor. We got one. Hell, Lionshead was actually nice about it. Even cut his fee to a thousand credits." she replied. Zadra spoke up next. "We can keep an eye on him, Slade. Don't worry. As you can see, we have enough to get the job done." Slade eyed them both, glancing back to Typhon once more, before sighing. "Fine. Anyway, the thing I mentioned last night is about your pilot Roku..."

 

[joshuadim]

Vance worked in the early hours of the morning to prepare breakfast, or at least his rendition of it, for everyone to enjoy. Tirelessly, he worked to sear and grill the patties to perfection while he slow cooked the ribs on the side. His mother had always had a knack for cooking, which is something he picked up from her when helping her around the house. He ensured that everything was brought to order and as the sun rose, it was ready. Perfect, American-style burgers with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, and toasted buns with a side of ribs for everyone to feast upon. It was the ultimate American feast for anyone to lavish their taste buds with, as the juiciness of the patties combined with the tenderness and smokiness of the ribs made a great start to the morning to any freedom-loving person. Vance was mighty proud as people were eating it, and seemingly enjoying them, and wore a big grin on his face as he himself ate his own portion.

He did notice that Lauren didn't touch her food all that much, but rather picked at it for the most part. Vance took a moment to observer her as he continued eating, realizing that it seemed that it was almost as if she was in a bad mood of sorts, rather than her not being appealed by the food [which gave Vance some relief].

---

Albert woke up to the smell of food being cooked, and realized that Vance, the strange spaceman who had been quirky too look at, had been cooking since before dawn. As he sat down to eat, he observed the burger for a moment before taking a bite. It was quite delicious, although it was pretty unhealthy to be sure. The ribs were a good addition as well, providing a different pallet of flavor to contrast with the burger. He wrote down his culinary experience provided by Vance into his notebook, describing the taste, as well as the dedication that went into it. It was quite fascinating to Albert, and he immediately wanted to know more about this strange man.

 

[Breadman]

...8...9...10 KNOCK OUT!
After the count Petar raised his hand. His face bruised from a hit that landed earlier and nearly knocked him off his feet, was still bend in a self congratulating smile. Looking down on his fallen opponent, he could only let out a dry laugh.

"You got a few good hits in. I'll give you that." He taunted "But you also entered Dr. Vulkov's dental clinic. And for your first visit, I have good news!" He spat out a mixture of blood and spit that had accumulated in his mouth "No charge!" Having shaken off the rust and won a grueling fight, Petar's ego would become even worse for the remainder of the night. Much to the annoyance of those around him.

The following morning would be another stroke of good fortune for the former Gold dust, as he ate one of the best fast food creations humanity has created. And even more as he could finally see who Slade was from where he was seated. 'Just the same as the news reports all those years back. Did the Vigil fuck up that bad for their media darling to fuck off away from them?'
---
"Vance, I rarely say this, but the lord has truly given you a gift." Vincent commented as he bit down on the burger Vance had made.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

-Centuries ago, on Earth.-

He was thrown down onto the tile floor like a piece of meat, landing with a hard thud and sending a wave of agony splashing over his body. “I’m-I’m sorry! I-“ it stutters through it's petrified lips.

“Your inelegant weeping won’t bring them back.” mocks one standing over him. “Ten men, Typhon. Ten. Men. You lost. Ten of my BEST!” It delivered a hard kick straight into Typhon’s ribs, causing him to scream in pain.

Another man off to the side stretches his hand out, signaling for him to stop. “That’s enough, Beherit. Beatings won’t bring them back either. But...” He kneels down and lifts up Typhon’s bleeding and weeping head in his hand. “Discipline is indeed in order.” He let go, causing Typhon to fall to the floor again.

“Then I call a vote for proper discipline to be upheld! How many are in favor of execution?” Beherit shouts.

Other men were present, dressed in white and wearing masks. They all whispered and looked nervously to eachother for a moment before nearly all of them raised their hand. Every hand raised felt like a strike against Typhon’s own soul, certainly taking a beating now. “I oppose this very notion of execution altogether.” said one gathered near the front. All eyes turned to face him. “We shouldn't take the life of one of our own. Otherwise we’d then have eleven dead.”

Beherit takes a minute to process what his ears are hearing. “You wish to save the life of this man, Moloch?”

“Yes. He wanted to save your men, Beherit. He might've failed, he should at least be given another chance to learn how to do it properly.” responded Moloch.

“Even still, Beherit lost ten of his men. He still should be punished.” said another.

“I understand. But I don’t want him killed. Whatever sentence you bestow on him, let him serve it, but don't kill him.”

“And if his ignorance gets another killed?”

“...I will kill him myself.”

Seeing someone stand up so brazenly to Beherit, the crowd whispers to one another before they all nodded in agreement with Moloch’s decision.

“Very well then. Take him away.” commanded Beherit, cutting Moloch an angry look after.

Two guards lifted Typhon up and began carrying him away. Moloch followed suit, having something to say. “Not sanitizing your tools properly, using obscene amounts of morphine, just what were you thinking?!” he asks.

Typhon weakly raises his head to face Moloch trailing by his side. “I just thought- I could save them... I didn’t want to kill them.”

“...I know. But listen now. I saved you from death and I only ask for one thing in return from you.”

“What’s-what’s that?”

“That you become my student.”

And as fortunate as Typhon was to live from that day onward, even more fortunate for him was that the cold storage is locked so that no one could enter and see him lying in a puddle of his own vomit and tears.

-Now-

There he was, Slade Beckwith, the ex-Death Vigil mercenary Kalag wouldn't stop talking to Typhon about. It was hard to tell what he was saying to Lauren, but Typhon suspected it wasn't anything good. Regardless, his own appearance wouldn't go unacknowledged by him.

"Why if it isn't Slade Beckwith!" exclaimed Typhon, still a little groggy and under the influence. "The only man to survive the Diamond Lady going bust!"

 

[Viper Actual]

Losing against Petar didn't matter much to Daniel. Sure, it hurt but at least he now knew he was getting rusty on CQC.

The morning after he felt relatively good. A combination of icebags and some soft painkillers had done their job.

The breakfast, no, feast arranged by Vance did a number on everyone's morale. Daniel didn't show it but the meal had been one of the best he's ever had.

-

When ships arrived with Slade and Aesha there wasn't much to do but listen. Daniel elbowed Petar gently. "You're gonna have to teach some moves whenever we have time. After that we'll have a rematch."

---

After speaking to Lucy and Yolandi it was time for Nathalie to head off to sleep. She slept relatively sound, mostly because she actually felt calm and relaxed but also because of the loaded handcannon underneath her pillow.

When time came for breakfast Nathalie arrived in the same outfit she had worn the night before. The food was delicious and she made sure to thank Vance for it.

-

Afterwards when the group assembled to greet Slade and Aesha the ex-SSOID agent opted to remain quiet. She stayed close to Shun and once Lauren, Zadra and Slade wandered off to speak she looked towards her cyborg colleague.

"Slept anything? Eaten anything?" She asked, looking at Shun with her piercing blue eyes.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Lucy took the offered shells from Yolandi and Nathalie and happily added them to her sandcastle, putting them in prominent spots to be displayed for their importance. She shook hands with Nat once the woman introduced herself to formalize a friendship, and even did so with Yolandi. Her social contact list was continuing to rapidly expand. When asked who built her, the AI paused briefly before reporting simply, "Lumos Biotech Laboratories." The name would likely be unfamiliar to both women, as the lab often did not directly appeal to consumers but organizations and special buyers; of course, the lab was now bankrupt and liquidized, and a third of the entire staff had been murdered on Karos-III, unknown to the public.

Yolandi's explanation on what she could and could not do with human flesh was somewhat unsatisfactory, but she did find some comfort in the concepts of using synthetic flesh for that would likely be time and labor saving rather than having to find humans to mutilate for her own purposes. The biggest issue with Yolandi's suggestion was there would be none of that natural, organic, living warmth that she could obtain from real specimens. She would have to think more on the matter.

When it was time for breakfast the next day, Lucy joined everyone in the eatery and sat at a table with a plate of food. She stared at it for a long time before she mimicked eating the burger, bringing it up to her veiled skeletal lips, and eventually placing it back down on the plate. Then she eviscerated and mashed the burger with her claws, letting her hands settle into the torn up meat. Anyone who watched the AI close enough would note a little shiver in her frame as she does so.

---

Shelby smiled to Albert and nodded. "Thanks, you too, mister! Hope you do well with your next book!" She scampered off into the barracks, and spent most of the night exploring and watching the others. She spotted Olivia playing a guitar on the beach, and watched the woman from afar, listening to the quiet music from where she was at the barracks. That woman really liked guitar it seemed.

In the morning she dined with all the others, absolutely elated at these pork burgers that Vance made. She had even forgotten that she was supposed to be a cook. These burgers were pretty close renditions to Castilian street food, which were often greasy meats between bread. Burgers. Cheap and delicious. She had initially thought it was gambler's food, but those were usually cold-cuts. With an apparent voracious appetite, Shelby chowed down on the food until her plate was clean. It was her first real meal in a while.

With the arrival of the new ships, she was stunned to see that Aesha Drach was here! The brilliant and amazing racer! Castilia had tried to raise up their own racing circuit to interstellar fame, but it had only ever become prominent as a regional and local race. Important for Castilia and local systems, but not unlike the other races of similar caliber out there. The Upyri Interstellar was pretty high up on the list.

And, long ago, she had actually bet on Aesha Drach in winning. It was one of her first bets for anything at the behest of her brother. You have to get a taste for the gamblers life eventually, Shelby, so start off lucky, he had told her. One of the rare nicer moments between them. Still, she had won several hundred thousand credits just for herself, which jump started her personal funds without having to be handed anything from the family.

 

[Dmaster]

"Your dedication to your field is impressive indeed." Shun compliments with a nod. Soon enough he looked up to the night sky to observe the stars that shifted around them, so incredibly slow and their movements imperceptible from here. Soon enough his head swivels back down, and he looks between Typhon, Grommy, and Nara. "I do believe it is getting late. I am going to retire for the night. I wish all of you a peaceful rest whenever you get to it."

With that, the cyborg Ayr left for the barracks. He entered a room that did not seem to be claimed, crossing his legs and entering a state of meditation. Sometime between the his few hours of 'rest' he moved to the kitchen, sampling the aroma of some lovely tea that had been made the night earlier.

----

In the morning, he stood at attention while Slade took their stock of them. His reaction to Typhon was not exactly unexpected, but he thought it rather unwarranted. It did not matter where a person began or who they aligned themselves to, they were all capable of something greater. For as great as the Empire was, they were still flawed in how they could exile their most dedicated soldiers. Still, it was not his job to change the perception of the man, that would fall to Typhon in proving himself.

Shun slowly turned his head to Nathalie, rolling his shoulders as he recounted his night. "I do not require sustenance. My suit and augments is able to sustain me for several days from charging. That said, I take the long charge times and instance of lowered processing." he replied. "What of you? Was your downtime enjoyable?"

 

[Breadman]

Petar gave Daniel a look of indifference.

"One thing. I didn't get to where I am by just giving advice out for free. You want it, earn it or pay me." He said before continuing to eat.

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi watches Lucy decorate the castle some more and shares a second handshake with Lucy, the first being back in the frozen treat shop on Shadespear. Once she realizes that it's close to morning she decides to go power nap in the barracks. She doesn't actually need to sleep on a schedule like normal human but naps do help her out. She drinks plenty of water in between then and the morning, enjoying the breakfast feast laid out by Vance and giving thanks to him at the end of the meal. She eyes Lucy's burger mangling a little warily but says nothing.

She sees Slade and Aesha, but only really recalls Aesha's last victory in the racing circuit. Yolandi was big into racing, didn't matter if it was animals, cycles, cars, planes, boats, starships, or anything like that, if it went fast it was fun to her. She thinks back to the car she used to have, she sold it to help get the funding for buying Zou. It wasn't rare in the sense of being some obscure model, but it was uncommon in that it used rubber tires and a combustion engine to move rather than more up to date hover tech. She can't remember the exact manufacturer, but she bought it because it looked like someone took a Lamborghini Countach from the twentieth century and made it modern day without changing too much of the styling on it. It was fast, that's what she remembered most though.

She stands in silence, daydreaming about canyon carving in her car again. Maybe one day when she can afford her own transport ship, she'll buy something like it again to park next to Zou and travel across the stars, racing it on different planets. Either way, she remains in this sort of state until something else happens to break her out of it.

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel grunted. "I would expect nothing less. How about a thousand for each lesson?"

---

Nathalie nodded and tilted her head. "It was alright. First time I've slept well after, you know, going rogue. The sound of waves clashiing against the shore helped greatly."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jericho spent all night on the beach, deciding to take a swim and enjoy the pleasant water while admiring the moon. He noticed that back on the beach, Lauren was walking away from that rocky cavern that she told everyone not to enter and heading back towards the Mordred directly. Jericho had no reason to bother his current employer, so he kept swimming peacefully. After a few hours, he returned to the beach and laid on the shore, continuing to enjoy the beauty of the planet. He woke the next day to find that he had fallen 'asleep', which for an android like him is shutting down most of his systems and leaving the basic ones active. Similar to how a human sleeps.

Early in the morning, he joined the others back in the mess hall. The strange spaceman known as Vance had hunted and cooked some alien porcine and made old-world styled hamburgers. For some reason, Jericho flinched in disgust as he looked at the food. He politely declined to eat it, as he wouldn't be able to taste it anyway. As the others continued to enjoy their meals, he polished his nails while listening to a song on his holotablet, till a sound outside caught his attention. Along with a few others, Jericho saw the black ship and Upyri fight arrive. From the black ship came a quite well known outlaw known as Slade Beckwith. Jericho eyed the mature gentleman with a smile. He was attractive! Soon enough, he was followed by famous starship racer Aesha Drach. As Lauren talked with them, Jericho decided to head back to the mess hall and continued to do his nails.

 

[Breadman]

"Do I look like a cheap whore?" Petar almost felt insulted. Almost "10 grand is as low as I'll go."

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel leaned back and inspected Petar from the down up. "I mean..." He grinned slightly before elbowing him again. "It's a deal."

 

[Breadman]

"Alright. Lesson one" Petar leaned a little and slammed the back of his hand into Daniel's groin. "The cheap shot."

"That will be 10 grand"

 

[Viper Actual]

Lucky for Daniel, he was wearing his armor. Otherwise Petar's cheap trick might have actually hurt. He shook his head. "Didn't take you for a conman, Vulkov."

 

[Breadman]

"I hit you too hard last night, didn't I?" Vulkov commented on Daniel's attempt to shame him. His hand hurting a little from hitting the armor, but he's learned how to deny satisfaction. "Nishto. You learned a valuable lesson young grasshopper. Never trust a pirate."

"You still owe me that 10 grand."