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Post by ch00beh on Feb 9, 2007 21:19:12 GMT -5
OOC: What's with the boldface dialogue?
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Post by prime on Feb 9, 2007 23:22:43 GMT -5
The first thought on Hex's mind was that the person behind him was an idiot, having butchered English in such a spectacular way. He glanced over his shoulder, froze, and then turned all the way around. He tapped Ethan on the shoulder, to get his attention. The man standing in front of him was wearing an Earth forces uniform.
"No," Hex said slowly. "No, I don't think I can help you." He noticed the medical insignia on the uniform, and glanced down at the man's right arm, covered by the hoodie. "In fact, I'd prefer not to. As far as I'm concerned, the Earth forces are just as bad as the Martians."
Keeping his voice even, Hex added, "And that aside, I'm not a Belter native, so I suggest you ask someone who might be more inclined and more able." His eyes narrowed; he hoped the man would get a clue and move on. Hex had no desire to start a bar fight.
POHATU SEZ: No more, please, my sides are splitting.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 9, 2007 23:27:46 GMT -5
Aidan then turned to walk away, back toward his ship, to ask for directions.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 9, 2007 23:36:15 GMT -5
Ethan saw the medical insignia on the man's outfit. Unlike Hex, he wasn't anti-Earth forces. In fact, he held them in the highest regard, especially the medics. He used to be one, after all. It was just the relentless, power-hungry higher-ups that he resented. He glared at Hex before running up to the guy.
"Hey, Ethan O'Connor," he said while extending his hand to shake. "So, this is new. The Earth forces generally don't send free supplies to the Belt... You work for some small, well-funded interest group or something?"
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Post by kazkame on Feb 10, 2007 11:25:06 GMT -5
"Umm, Aidan Marx," he said, shaking the man’s hand. "Sorry -- when I’m nervous I kind of can’t get the right words out." Still shaking the man’s hand he said, "I’m not part of any group. The Earth forces sent me up here to deliver this package." He then showed O'Connor the package.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 10, 2007 12:53:55 GMT -5
"Huh. I especially wouldn't have thought they'd be sending things during war time... Wait." Ethan paused. "No, no, that couldn't be it. They wouldn't be stupid enough to send a bomb up here... they need allies against Mars... don't they?"
Ethan stared at the box. The thoughts of bureaucratic idiocy filled his mind again, the incident that got him discharged from service being the prominent memory. He remembered the grisly scene of his transport quickly descending into one of Luna's many docks and flying over what the Earth Alliances deemed an "illegal" marketplace with smuggled goods and the like. At the time, Ethan hadn't even felt that Earth had any jurisdiction over Luna... The higher-ups had said to kill everyone, which was even more out of line. Of course he'd refused. He'd had to.
Ethan's thoughts quickly came back to the present. "Er. You might want to run that package through a scanner of some sort, just in case."
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 10, 2007 18:27:26 GMT -5
Sly opened all four of his eyes and looked up into two familiar faces, Gionalre and Shejirili.
<Sir…> It was Shejirili, Sly’s second-in-command. She didn’t have the usual demeanor of second-in-commands but she was an excellent leader and tactician. <Um... Are you okay? You took a big fall there. The railing up on the Command Station gave way when you hit it and the fall must have knocked you out.>
<The fall? You stupid female! It was when he struck the floor that rendered him unconscious. And how dare you refer to him as "sir"! He is our War-Prince and you will refer to him as such!> Gionalre, the lead Science Officer, said with contempt. It was widely known among the crew that Gionalre still held to the archaic Andalite traditions.
Sly pushed himself up. <I thought I had made it clear to Gionalre that I am to be addressed as the addresser wishes to address me.>
<But sir surely a female-->
<A female is equal to a male,> Sly's voice boomed inside Gionalre's head. <And if you ever address a superior officer like that again I will have you relieved of duty. Now return to the Science Laboratory. I want you to continue running the tests and find out if there will be any long-term side effects.>
Gionalre's tail twitched as though he were about to raise it. He must have decided against it, because he saluted Sly and quickly galloped out of the room. Sly turned back to Shejirili. <All right, what caused the ship to jerk like that? It had to have been an explosion, and if there was an explosion on my ship I would very much like to know about it.>
<Well sir, as you know we were testing the zero space engine,> Shejirili said as she followed Sly on the way back to the Command Deck. <We had been in zero space for roughly 3.967 seconds when the Z-Drive failed, pulling us back into normal space. Since the zero space engine was never designed to be active during the transition from zero to normal space, the engine overloaded, resulting in an explosion.>
Sly looked through the glass dome of the bridge. At the other end of the ship he could see the dome portion of the ship. There appeared to be no damage, which meant that their food supply had not been affected. Sly turned his attention to the front of the ship and what lay before it. There was a small station. Far too small for a dome ship like this to dock at. Sly studied it a moment before he realized what it was, a Belter station.
<Do we still have communications?> Sly asked.
<I’m afraid that communications are down, sir. The technicians are working on it round the clock but-->
Sly cut Shejirili off. <Get down to the flight deck as fast as you can. When we don’t respond to their hails, they're most likely going to assume that we are unfriendly. Use the first fighter you see and send out a message. We’re close enough that the fighter's comm devices will reach them.>
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 10, 2007 19:27:43 GMT -5
The asteroid's emergency klaxons began their annoying wail. Ethan looked up, his eyes drawn to the nearest flashing bright light. The intercom boomed, "Proximity alert, high alert." The message repeated every few seconds at regular intervals.
"What's going on?" Ethan shouted at a Belter who was running by. His fishbowl helmet was already on, so he had to press a button on his wrist to activate the suit's microphone.
"Aliens. Looks like it could be an Andalite dome ship, but we ain't quite certain as of yet," he drawled.
"Andalites? Didn't they lose basically all interest in Sol after the Yeerks were kicked out?"
"Yeah." The Belter's speakers squealed due to feedback. His eye twitched as he quickly adjusted the settings. "That's why we're so suspicious. But 'scuse me, I gotta get goin'." The Belter tapped the side of his helmet and ran off to where he was going.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 10, 2007 21:09:36 GMT -5
The main pilot's room of the Nostrils of God was a rather noisy place. Gofer1 was running around randomly, warbling like an excited child, while a little boy in the captain's chair desperately pegged away at a keyboard, trying to pull up some kind of data. In his brief life, he had heard mention of Andalites and their ships, but he had never gotten full experience with them. He was trying to pull up all the info on them that he could, but very little had come up... Some obnoxious tourist stuff, some conspiracy theories, but precious little information.
The door retracted into the floor, and Rienne entered, slinking along in her trademark sinuous stride. She sighed, and gave a sideways glance to Gofer1.
"Gofer, clean the hallway floors," she muttered, stepping away from the doorway. The malformed man immediately sprinted for the exit, forgetting to open the door again, and tripped over it as it rose up again.
"Andalites? That's something even I haven't seen much of." She took her seat at the pilot's console, easing the small craft away from the approaching fighters, though not turning from the sideways orientation they had towards the ships. She didn't want any mistaken cues, so didn't turn and flee or face them as if expecting a fight.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 10, 2007 21:21:10 GMT -5
“I think the package is safe and wouldn’t hurt anybody, right?” said Aidan with a quivering voice. “Guess I should just open it to check... not like it’s sealed or anything.” Aidan then opened the package, revealing a voice recorder and a note. The note read as follows: “We are in no longer need of your services -- Officer Dwight Eisenhower III.”
The voice recorder began to spark and make odd noises. Not knowing what to do, Aidan panicked and dropped the package.
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Post by prime on Feb 10, 2007 22:50:43 GMT -5
Hex raised an eyebrow sharply at the sudden activity, then took on a look of pure terror as he read the note over the Earth officer's shoulder. "Yep! It's a fucking bomb!" he practically screamed, but nobody heard him over the sirens.
He grabbed the tape recorder, very much at the risk of his own life, and ran to the closest dock. As it happened, it appeared to contain several humanoid VS units, all boldly proclaiming themselves to be the "WOLVES" unit, in black paint on their left breast. He ran to the nearest one and crudely manipulated the controls to close the cockpit and open the airlock. A humanoid VS had far too many moving parts for someone without a PDM to control effectively, and sadly his neural spike was only designed for interface with the Anubis. Hex chucked the tape recorder out as the cockpit slid shut, and grabbed it with one of the VS unit's oversized hands.
As soon as the hatch was open, he hit the thrusters, launching the VS units sharply out into space. He quickly wound up and threw the tape recorder as hard as the VS could, which sadly also caused the shell on the arm to crack from the strain. It flew out into space, then exploded. What appeared to be a microfusion explosion spread out in front of Hex, but thankfully the vacuum of space kept it contained, for the most part, only gently pushing Hex away from the explosion due to gas concussion.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then looked around sharply as a red light started blinking. He'd drifted too near the Andalite dome ship -- any closer and he'd hit the advanced ship's shields. He quickly fired the thrusters to bring himself to a halt, and looked up at the alien ship in wonder.
It was so much more magnificent up close. He smiled, and keyed his radio, requesting permission to come aboard.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 11, 2007 0:25:31 GMT -5
Shejirili galloped as fast as she could. <Sorry!> and <Excuse me!> was all she said as other Andalites hugged the walls lest she barrel into them. Some of the areas she passed through had not been designed for running, and her hooves had trouble keeping their grip.
<Attention! This is War-Prince Salon. Gunner positions are to stand down and not return fire if we are attacked. All ion cannon operators are to do the same. No fighters will be launched and all pilots are to remain on the flight deck. Thank you, this should be resolved soon.>
Shejirili listened as Sly’s voice played a second time on the ship board's psionic device. She rounded the last corner and onto the flight deck. As she reached the fighter an explosion rocked the ship. She reached in and put a small black device on the center of her head, while she pressed another button.
<This is Shejirili-Sigenes-Kealsoi, second-in-command under War-Prince Salon-Learwie-Yardic, aboard the Andalite dome ship Tsunami. Please cease fire. Our communications are down and were unable to respond to your hails. Please cease fire.>
There was silence for a moment before the rarely used speakers activated. “We hear you loud and clear Tsunami. We will not attack but we will need a group of you to come aboard the station in something a bit… smaller.”
A sigh of relief flushed over Shejirili as she responded, <Understood. I will relay the message to our Prince. Tsunami out.>.
The Andalite was about to return to the bridge when the radio kicked back to life. “Requesting permission to board. Please comply.”
Shejirili put the device back on her head. <Negative, we are to send a party over to your station. Please turn back.>
“Well that’s kind of hard to do. Would it help if I told you I think I can see you?”
Shejirili’s stalk-eyes twisted in confusion. She looked over at the fighter bay exit. There was no glass, just a clear force shield that allowed objects to pass through. Floating through space as though it belonged there was a large mechanical suit. Shejirili stared at it in disbelief as the suit's arm waved in greeting.
She galloped to the control panel and activated the ship's retrieval system. Two long energy tendrils formed outside the ship and wrapped around the suit, then slowly pulled it through the force shield and lowered it to the floor. Shejirili stared for a moment more. <Who are you and what were you doing out there?>
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 0:42:04 GMT -5
"Ever heard of a letterbomb?" Hex asked the Andalite with a slight grin. "Well, I was throwing one in the trash. Hi, I'm Hex!" He offered his hand in greeting. It was quite obvious this Andalite was female, and sadly Hex had a great deal of trouble avoiding looking at her chest.
"This is a magnificent ship," he said, looking around at the fighters. "I think I'll show you mine. It might give you an idea of humanity's capabilities, since it's probably the most advanced ship currently in the solar system." He contacted the Anubis through his neural spike. It flew to the side of the Andalite ship, controlled by Hex's mind, despite the fact that he wasn't in it. It was somewhat clumsier than usual however, considering his commands were delayed by radio transmission time. He undocked and brought it carefully to the Andalite ship's port, so the Andalite woman could see it through the force screen.
"Feel free to scan the hell out of it," he said generously. "But I also ask permission to have a look around this glorious monstrosity. It's so much more than any human shipwright has ever dared to imagine."
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 11, 2007 3:32:56 GMT -5
OOC: Andalite females don't have boobs... They're just more slender than their male counterparts, with smaller tail blades...
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Post by Beelzebibble on Feb 11, 2007 7:08:18 GMT -5
OOC: Maybe there was an enormous purple mollusk in a top hat clinging to the Andalite's chest. I think we'd all find that difficult to ignore.
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 7:39:25 GMT -5
OOC: More like Bulbs physical description of a female andalite included nippleless breasts.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 11, 2007 13:19:51 GMT -5
OOC- nippleless mounds was I bielve my excat wording... just slight bumps in the fur where brests would be...
Shejirili had never heard of a letter bomb, but its name suggested something dangerous. The human and his large mechanical suit were an oddity to her. When she was younger she had seen pictures of humans, and it was now rather intriguing to see a real-life one up close. She couldn’t understand why he kept looking at her chest; she ventured a guess that maybe it was how humans addressed each other.
Her main eyes focused onto the chest of the suit while her stalk-eyes observed the rest of its design. <Yes, we will most likely scan your ship and record it in our database. I’m afraid we cannot permit lower species to roam our ship. You will accompany me to the bridge where our Prince will decide what to do. You may leave your suit here. Now, please follow me.> With that Shejirili turned and started for the door.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 11, 2007 14:56:58 GMT -5
Aidan couldn't understand why the Earth Alliance had tried to kill him. He hadn't done anything wrong, nor done anything to anger them. Everything he knew was gone and would never come back.
He turned away from the man in front of him and ripped the medic badge off his uniform.
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 14:57:20 GMT -5
"Well that's no good, I guess your species doesn't do well with the term 'trading'." Hex made a pouting face, though he doubted the Andalite would recognize the gesture. He silently keyed the Anubis' sensor shields back on. If he couldn't look around, then neither could they.
While he was at it, he had several of the almost imperceptibly small maintenance robots detach from the hull, launching themselves toward the giant dome ship. The shields weren't on, so they silently killed their speed and attached to the Andalite's hull. Hex doubted they'd be able to detect them. His own ship's sensors couldn't even find the bloody things: positioned as they were on the surface of the ship, they needed the same kind of stealth capacity of the Anubis itself.
Hex shrugged, smiled brightly, and gestured forward. "Lead on, some is better than none."
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 11, 2007 15:05:08 GMT -5
OOC: How should I get involved here? I'm suffering from Space RP difficulty of entry.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 11, 2007 15:07:16 GMT -5
OOC: well you could say you were a stowaway on my ship of like something like that.
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 15:13:45 GMT -5
OOC: He's already in his own ship. Best bet for the moment Lee, dock at the station and see what's going on there. Or if your feeling ballsy, fly over to Sly's ship and knock on the dock.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 11, 2007 15:16:13 GMT -5
OOC: Well, actually, my own ship, a small freight runner, is in range of the Andalite craft.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 11, 2007 15:16:32 GMT -5
OOC: yeah,something like that would work. Could he get my old distress call and track it ?
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 15:27:38 GMT -5
OOC: And the andalite craft is setting parked right beside a Belter station.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 11, 2007 16:05:03 GMT -5
"Well, we have to take action of some kind..." Meese said, quickly making sure that at least some of the primary weapons systems were online, as well as several of their defensive devices. He called up the main shields, and was about to attempt beginning communications with the Andalite ship, when a distress beacon caught his attention. He called up its location.
"Hello? I received your distress signal. Can you still communicate?" He sent out his own call, attempting to discern the nature of the trouble. If it was pirates, he'd have to steer clear. They were bad mojo.
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