This thread is for any introductory role-playing you want to do in the time period before the ship departed Acheron for the first voyage.  The first adventure begins several weeks later, well into the mission, on the assumption you know each other and most of the three crews: ship, science and security (mercs).  The top three command staff are visible, but not friendly in the fraternization sense.  They are polite and professional but do not socialize.  The second tier (Cpt. Volkan, Chance Darwin, Dr. Spence) are more social as they are more involved int he day-to-day routine of the crews.

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Departure -15 Standard Days, Local Time 16:00 at University Campus and Magellan Station (which is geostationary above it).

The Archimedes is docked to Magellan Station taking on final crew and supplies.  The Mercenary Company is loading their mecha and equipment, the scientists are reporting in by ones and twos, and the ship's crew is enjoying a few days of R&R before hitting the deep black again.  Captain Volkan is already aboard seeing to the final preparations.  Major Castellano is also aboard already, familiarizing himself with the ship.  Dr. Kaspersen has not reported to the ship and is still aboard the station.  Ms. Mojgan has not been seen at either the station or the ship.  Dr. Spence is reporting to the ship today, expected in the next hour.

Jherad Monroe walked the station briefly.  His distinctive Skinsuit with it's blue body but left arm and left leg Red stripe and a gold pin stripe separating the uneven colors-scheme showed of the impressive physique Jherad raised a Highrider has spent all his life perfecting.  He had already gotten situated into his cabin bunk area on the ship, and was only armed with his blade strapped to his left thigh the rest ~ his vacc-suit, armor, broadsword were all stowed on the ship.

He'd lived in and seen orbital station habitats on a much larger scale so nothing on the station interested him much save the commercial district as he browsed the cyber-shops and weapons distributors, his expression somewhat sour as he contemplated how little he could spend for cyber-upgrades, gear, arms and armor...

He hoped he'd have opportunities to actually purchase the upgrades with this current contract but he had a sinking feeling he'd find himself far away from any chance to purchase ANYTHING he wants as it was All here ... and they would soon be light-years away.  It left a bitter taste in his mouth...

Then his Datalink chimed in that the shipping Que had gotten to the Archimedes Mecha loading.  He wanted to be there when his Starknight 'ORION' was loaded and run some routine diagnostics to get a head start on system check from the long trip in storage to Acheron.

He made fast time through the transit tubes his data link automatically routing him and flashing the clearances through the security station checkpoints and security doors he found himself in the mecha bay on the "Archie" {a name he actually hated, but the crew seemed to enjoy using for the exploration ship}, only 10 minutes after the push noticed had been received by his datalink.

He watch keeping out of the way of the cargo loaders watching as the Starknight was unloaded in its more compact Starfighter mode and towed to her launch cradle.

As soon as the loading personnel gave him the thumbs up... he walked up to his Starfighter and entered the passcode and bio-metrics to pass its security measures and climbed into the opening cockpit to begin running some system checks to make sure nothing had been damaged or jarred out of alignment in transit.  He also opened communication with the ship communications net to establish hand-shaking protocols for pre-security integration with the Ship's TACNet. Basic preflight prep... not that he was planning a launch but every ship had its own communications procedures best to get that all set up and uploaded before tactical deployment was needed...

He pulled the picture he had of Valkyrie set into his consoles as the system check came back and wonder where she was now... and how much he missed her bold sass... and easy laugh.  The pink haired young woman was smiling at him from the photo her red and white skinsuit hugging every lovely curve...

"...this gonna be a long tour without her."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:53, Thu 21 Mar.

“Hey, hey! Careful with that thing!” Rulee said. Unfortunately, her shouting wasn’t having much effect; Rulee was closer to “cute little sister” than intimidating.” She was wearing her green mechanic’s jumpsuit and a ballcap.  She’d decided to supervise loading the mecha and related equipment, since anything done wrong there was going to be more work for her later. She wanted to wanted to do some shopping and some dancing before the ship left, but work before pleasure. It would have been easier if more of the ground crew were here yet.
The chance to work on the Archie-she loved the nickname- was very exciting. Seeing new planets, new technologies; it was quite an opportunity. It would be a lot of work, but that never frightened her a bit.

She looks up at Jherad when he climbs into his fighter “All systems green, sir? Anything I should look at?” Her smile is friendly but her voice tinged with shyness; Rulee admired and even hero-worshipped the pilots.

Jherad was almost about to close his cockpit sleave-clamshell to cut out the outside noise to run a few Combat Simulations... when he heard a female voice call out to him...

The Starfighter Mode of the Starknight 'ORION' was a sleek stylish powerful weapon.  It was Blue and Gold with Red panneling... not the typical gunmetal grey of traditional Alliance Star Force mecha and fighters.  The war machine was painted and decorated with an eye to appeal aesthetically to an eye for style and decor not usually seen on stock starfighters an expensive addition to be sure [+3Cool]. The pilot turned to look at Ruleee from the seat suspended within the open clamshell of the pilot's compartment

The pilot seat of the cockpit was a clamshelled configuration with the flight seat suspended in a VR Screen configuration that when the clamshell was closed would give a 360 Degree Global screen of the mecha's surroundings.  An expensive cockpit system usually reserved for high performance stunt racing or scouting/Exploration craft.  It had a dual thruster system of powerful large HEPLaR {High Energy Plasma Re-combustion} thrusters tandem with a Gravitic Propulsion drive.  The Mecha fighter was clearly a transforming variable configuration model of some custom design not a standard military model perhaps a limited production model or a test-bed modified construction.  From its outward appearance.. it looked Fast and highly maneuverable!  The sheen on its main-body armor and the micro hexagonal pattern to the metal revealed it was not standard armor plating... but Beta-Grade alloy of Coherent Lunar Titanium-Osmium composite, very hard and durable!  Currently its wings were folded for ease of storage purposes.

Looking down at the woman in the mechanic jumpsuit in his Blue and red skinsuit and flight helmet the handsome pilot [App 7] met her gaze his dark eyes clearly intent on readouts from his console, the hair barely visible in at the edges of his flight helmet began shifting to black and white striped Zebra-like pattern ~ Tech Hair Cyber-implant.

When he spoke spoke his tone was neither annoyed or distracted [Cool 8 '11 in fighter'], "Uhm. Hello ma'am... you are with the Maintenance Personnel? I am 'Orion' ~ Retired Alliance Star Force Lieut Jherad Monroe ~ currently attached to Archimedes on a Security Contract by the Mercenary Agency, glad to meet you."

He regarded the female technician his thoughts, {Cute~}, but pushed such thoughts away instantly with no change in expression as he  returned "Val's" picture to it usual spot on the left of his console panel...

He glanced back at his virtual screens a moment and continued, "..I am currently configuring the handshaking TacCom system encryption protocols with Archimedes Flight Control.  I'd rather not search for the right frequency and encryption when deploying.. best get that set up first.  Every ship's encryption and TacCom is different."

Still reading his screens he pauses answering, "The Starknight 'ORION' seems systems all green, but you might want to look at her thrust balance calibrations.  She's been idle in transit storage for almost 10 days under stardrive.  Her gravity Propulsion sometimes gets out if balance with the HEPLaRs as the ambient gravity of this area of space is different from where she was days ago and the stardrive warp field can misalign the gravitic propulsion over long periods and distances of travel.  Not catastrophically.. but annoying to find out in pre-combat deployment. Settings on the console may say the alignment is true... but testing can prove otherwise.  A manual diagnostic look at that alignment would be appreciated?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:08, Mon 25 Mar.

Hilda Garret and Gary Kosta walked towards the ship, chatting happily after having diner on the station. Even though the restaurant hadn't been a very good one, it was nice to have a meal with the two of them instead of a rushed chow in the ships galley. At least that was his experience with his tours with the coastguard. As they were about to enter the ship, and having presented their papers and he asked the attending crew-member, "Say the letter was a bit unclear to whom we must report, can you clear that up?" and a moment later, "Oh, could you point us to our bunks?".

After having dumped their bags near their bunks, both travelling lean, they visited the medbay. After a quick meet and greet and a short tour by the active staff, Gary decided to get to know the shuttle crew. Hilda wanted to check the medical stocks, all work girl that she is.

Gary continued to the hanger bay. He had some experience in zero-g operations, but the bustling activity going on here was a new sight for him. Seeing mechs moved into the ship, large containers of supplies arriving and being dismantled, Gary just stands near a wall, marveling at the size of the operation.

Rulee admired the impressive fighter and its equally impressive pilot. She blushed and saluted. "Yes, I am sir. I'm Rulee Canera, one of the mechanics. We'll be working together, I think. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Monroe" she said cheerfully.
She swung her gaze from the front of the mech to the back. "It's a really impressive machine sir! But the more advanced a mech is the more can go wrong. I'll check out the gravity drive and make sure everything's purring nicely. Is she fresh off the assembly line or has she been to war before?" she asked curiously. "If you have any special ways you want the mech configured, just shoot me a note and I'll take care of it!"

The ship's purser, Connor, greets passengers and crew at the portside airlock where the gangway is connected.  There are some pretty amazing views of the planet below from the gangway windows and many of the passengers stop to look en route to the ship.  "Ah, Ms. Garret, welcome aboard Archie," he says holding a datapad with crew and passenger rosters, though it's clear he accessed the relevant information using his datalink.  "We assigned you a cabin near sickbay, you're bunk mate is already on-board," he informs her.  Turning to Gary, "Mr. Kosta, you're with the pilots near the flight decks," and he gives Gary his cabin assignment as well.

Meanwhile, in one of the mecha bays, Udgo comes rumbling and tumbling along ending up near enough to Rulee to count as 'standing beside her.'  He is fairly tall for his species, at least right now, standing on three stumpy legs at 130 cm.  "YOU TWO are new to the Company, aren't you?" he says, practically bellowing the first two words before adjusting his volume.  It seems complicated to speak, using what looks like a vacuole as a sort of lung/bellows to do so.  "I hope you last longer than the last guy," he adds to Jherad, then turns its eye ganglia to Rulee.  "You have two weeks before we depart to familiarize yourself with the Company gear.  The Archie has a decent workshop and we have a fine selection of tools," he points towards the maintenance workshop door.  "The mecha bays are for two mecha each, compartmentalized for safety," he adds pointing to the large doors that divide the flight deck into individual bays.  "If you need anything before we depart, holler," he prepares to move on, but will pause if either has any questions.

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Passengers means science or merc personnel.  Only the ship's crew is 'crew.'
Rulee is considered 'enlisted' equivalent, has a bunk in a quad room.  Jherad and Gary are  'officer' and share a cabin with one other person.

This message was last edited by the GM at 10:36, Tue 26 Mar.

In reply to Rulee Canera (msg # 6):

Jherad finally smiles and chuckles slightly, "Orion or Jherad will do Miss Canera, I 'm no longer a Lieutenant, I don't work for Alliance StarForce anymore... I work for myself.  I'm a much more reliable boss."

He nods in support of her comments on complexity, "To a certain extent that is correct, but if that complexity increases combat effectiveness... its a balancing art.  You will note 'Starknight' has no additional vernier upgrades, instead her frame has been stripped down for more weight efficient more expensive materials... same effect as added verniers but far less maintenance to repair replace."

He shakes his head, "No. It's not 'new' in fact it's a salvage.  I got her on the 'supposedly' cheap as the damage was extensive enough it was more than repairs wanted to deal with.  I invested in it and had the cockpit rebuilt and had the Variable-Configuration Energy Pool weapon installed.  I've been in 5 engagement over the past year in it... worked out the kinks... added some personalizations that were more costly than I wanted but yeah 'Starknight' has seen battle, but its a custom rebuild.  I have detailed files of its rebuild hardware specs for the techs to go over."

At the arrival of the Chief Tech Drasalite, Jherad waves, "Greetings Chief Udgo, yeah I'm new to the company, my last Chief was a Vrusk Engineer with OCD... funny guy him.  That seems to be everyone else's curse 'of sorts'.. I Always come back."

"So Chief Udgo ~ what's the Company policy on salvage - spoils of war?  Can I 'Keep What We Kill'... within reason, of course, at least to strip for weapons, special systems, and armor salvage?"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:48, Tue 26 Mar.

"We don't usually leave much to salvage, gotta be honest," the engineer said, his expression somewhat inscrutable.  "And I don't think Darwin would be happy if someone went easy on the Bad Guys for the chance," he chortles what must be a laugh at the pun.  "In any case, the anything we recover goes to intel and analysis first, then Darwin decides what we do with it."

"Oh!" Rulee squeaked, surprised by Chief Udgo's shouting. Still, she acted respectfully and salutes him. "It's good to meet you, sir. I'm looking forward to seeing those workshops, it's all very exciting. Will us mechanics be assigned to a specific bay, or will we roam as needed?"

Rulee perked up as Orion spoke. "Less maintenance, my favorite words" she jokes with a giggle. She begins to walk around the mech, exclaiming admiringly over its systems. "A custom rebuild! Nothing like a chance to work with a machine and really make it your own, right?" It implied a close relationship of the pilot to his machine which meant he'd understand it better than many pilots, who simply expected their mechanics to work everything out. On the other hand, a custom job also meant her past experience would be less useful. "Five engagements? I bet you're an ace!" she said excitedly. Rulee had piloted mechs before but it was mostly just moving them from one end of a base to another; she'd never been close to in battle.
"I'll look forward to reading those files, sir" she said. Brand new machines, brand new adventures. Life was good.
"Oooh, I wouldn't mind the chance to look at some exotic salvaged equipment" she says at the mention of salvage.

In reply to Rulee Canera (msg # 10):

Orion snorted at the innocent inference he was ANY kind of 'Ace' ~"Pshaaw... surviving 5 engagements and winning 5 engagements are two Very different things!  I'm not what I'd call any kind of 'ACE' of any sort.  But I do know my machine and its Energy Pool - 'Hyper-Plasma Beam Saber' configuration is a Rating 10 in firepower almost Double any off the rack energy melee weapon on the market!  Cuts ship scale armor like butter... so.. I do ok. I'm still here at least for now.  Call it UNequal parts Skill, TECH, and luck..."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:30, Thu 28 Mar.

"Rating 10? I'll have to be careful around it. If it vaporizes me, I don't count as a kill" Rulee says. "Keep surviving, and you'll get to ace eventually. I've got confidence."
"And yet, it's so unfair. When pilots destroy five mechs, everyone says they're big heroes. And yet, when a mechanic destroys five mechs, we get fired. Tell me, is that justice?" she jokes.

In reply to Rulee Canera (msg # 12):

Jherad shrugs ~ "...most things are vaporized around Energy Melee ordinance... be careful. I don't keep track of kills."

He chuckles, "...not a glory hound either... I'm satisfied being well-paid with a satisfactorily completed job/ticket.  Lets the rookies tie themselves into knots seeking ACE recognition... they get reckless and usually get whacked for it!"

After several minutes he finish communication with the Tac Comm and got the handshaking communications encryption and channel shifting protocols for the Archimedes established.  So he shut down the flight systems and unbuckled from the cockpit ...climbing down he turned and handed Rulee a data cube, "Here are the Starknight 'Orion' custom specs... I'll get out of your way and let you do your system check."

Taking off his flight helmet ~ clearly part of a bigger vaccsuit his hair became fully visible as long straight fibers of Tech-hair a cyber replacement-Cyber fashion thing.  It shifted in pattern based upon his mood between a black and white shifting 'Zebra' like pattern.  Right now the color was a mate-black with white strands here and there that winked in and out.

"Take care ~ Miss Canera, pleasure to meet you and you too Chief Udgo... I'll try to keep your work load small. If you need me I'll be down in the workout gym... 'tickling' practice dummies."

When he spoke Canera's name his hair actively briefly shifted color a vibrant Zebra pattern... then faded quickly.

He turned away to leave the flight deck his muscular body clearly athletic in build but lean well displayed by his Blue and red skinsuit.  Strapped to one thigh was a combat knife...

----

Jherad when not doing daily simulator practice in his Mekton was in the workout room practicing his Panzer Kunst Martial is a very acrobatic spinning style that built up momentum with acrobatic twists and spinning jumps to hit with devastating impact, though Jherad never seemed satisfied no matter how HARD he hit the practice dummies.  The Martial Art was meant for augmented cyborgs to use and as such as an un-cyber augmented man.. he could never achieve the effectiveness of the style fully... but not for lack of effort!

Hew did socialize with the other pilots at meals even if just the ship's small craft pilots.  He also volunteered to help the loading crew as he was a skilled pilot of work pods as well...

If anything was odd about him its was his total lack of modesty when it came to undressing... a Highrider cultural thing.  Sure he weirdly always wore his skinsuit... but when showering after a strenuous workout he had no compunction about stripping naked to walk into the showers to clean off without a thought.  Add to this his almost obsessive level of cleanliness his side of his shared cabin was immaculate likely driving his room-mate up the wall.

Personality-wise Jherad was friendly, but seemingly always on duty very serious not given to pranks or 'horsing around'... and his hyper competitive nature to continue to sculpt his body into a weapon and hone his combat prowess.  He was not a bully but every challenge in practice was always against himself to improve especially if he noted superior piloting of combat capability in others he Always ... in silence upped his game pushing himself to improve until he'd surpassed the prowess he's seen displayed around him.  A somewhat strangely focused and obsessive man... though friendly enough to be around.  Kunstaleers ~ as martial artists of his style were called were cut from a similar cloth ~ obsessive about improving their martial might... they don't 'need' weapons they ARE weapons.  Clearly, Jherad was an adherent to that same martial philosophy.

Though strangely Jherad instituted "Anime' Night" once a week a 4 hour anthology of various anime series from his electronic media collection was showing in one of the conference rooms aboard ship inviting all to watch and or volunteer their own anime' collections for viewing.

ooc: Panzer-Kunst is the martial arts Yoko ~ the BattleAngel Alita employs.. and Jherad has plans to cyber-enhance his body eventually
This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Wed 10 Apr.