Into the Unknown (Sci-Fi, Accepting Characters)

[MagicalPen]

Have you ever wondered when - or how - man took to the stars and colonized other planets for the very first time? I always have, and there is little literature or movies on that aspect of human development. So I watching Battle: Los Angeles the other day and thought that was a great leaping off point. Alien invasion, defeated (partially due to luck) and eradicated, leaving behind tons of Alien Technology. This is where my story takes off.....
-----

Its been 10 - 15 years since the Drones invaded and were defeated. Millions of lives were lost in those initial 24 hours - the majority of populations along the coasts. A global catastrophe that forever changed the world. Things looked grim until those famous moments in LA where the Drones were first defeated. It took nearly a month to eradicate all the threats around the world, as Armies lacking the technology to defeat the Drones needed to rely on outside help.

Amid all the death and destruction, however, remained an unwarranted gift: Alien Technology. The greatest technological advances in years lay at their fingertips. A new Coalition was formed amongst the world Governments, comprised of the smartest scientists in the world and an endless supply of funding. The general consensus was: when next? When would the next Extraterrestrial Attack occur? Getting lucky once was one thing, but twice...no one wanted to chance that. And with all this Alien Technology laying around, what better way to fight the next invasion then with their own weapons?

To say that things were rushed in reverse engineering the Alien Technology was an understatement. There were several 'instances', hundreds more of people and soldiers were killed trying to contain the worst of them, and everyone agreed that they'd have to take things slowly despite the 'eminent' risk of reprisal attacks. Military technology soon skyrocketed and the US pioneered a new fleet of Drones - essentially gaining control of all Air Aspects of Alien Technology.

And now, now we have arrived on the cusp of it all, the pinnacle point in human history: Mankind is about send its first Research Team out into the stars to investigate some habitable planets.

The Drone Technology allowed Mankind to send proves deep out into space, as a warning system of future Alien attacks. This was accomplished early in the years of great research. About 5 years ago, the first manned flight of an Alien-designed Spaceship took place, flying to the moon and back in only 2 hours. But now, now things are ready for the next step: Possible Colonization. 
---

Essentially, a game set in modern times, with some weird, not quite understood technologies, on a maiden voyage. What could possibly go wrong?

If interested, respond here.

[Kate]

sounds great !

[Frelance]

I am definitely interested.

[Kate]

Open theme ? So none know what to expect ?

[Frelance]

That seems like a good way to go. Although a little bit of planning would be good I think.

[MagicalPen]

Read the Title :)  Into the UNKNOWN. Steeped with mystery. The characters are not going to know what to expect or quite where they will end up.

This is just to gauge interest. If 1 - 3 more people show interest, then i'll spend the time to flesh out the information a little more.

[Kate]

well you have two :)

[grovercjuk]

Sounds interesting count me in.

[Frelance]

Sweet that gives me three

[Branwen]

I'm keenly interested.  Please let me know what I may do to audition should it come to fruition, and what I may do to help develop the idea further.

[Kate]

Name:

  Aurani

Role:

Xeno-Archeologist


Disposition

  She is one that often pressures for the ship being primarily used to hunt these new objects.

Talents

  Maps / ie "where are we?" stuff.
  Xeno-Archeology

Background


Aurani's guesses on uses for certain aspects of ships left behind by the alien race greatly aided being able to figure some core aspects of their technology so quickly. She soon became famous from being interviewed frequently to give her opinion to the public on what has been discovered, and her reasons for thinking so. Aurani's unusual insights into the mentality of the deposed aliens quickly elevated Archeology back into headlines, Xeno, being its grandest. For this reason she was selected to be on board in the hopes that she may do the same for what else the ship may find.

Although she often wears a body suit that glows in sections, its not for attention (although she certainly doesn't mind it). Firstly it acts like armor and a space suit and can be pressurized quickly by donning a matching a helmet and shoulder coverings. Something she believes she may have to be ready for on short notice.

Furthermore her suit constantly uses her energy to illuminate objects in different types of light. This is something she has requested for her eyesight has been enhanced with cornea implants allowing her to see a computer read out of properties of what she sees, ones which natural eyes could never know.



Stuff

  - She has a spacesuit that's comfortable enough to wear.
  - She has semi-bionic eyes that can see ghost-like images of moving maps over her landscape, enable her to see in the dark, and see readouts of some materials properties of her surroundings.

[Branwen]

Clever idea, Kate.

What is everyone else thinking about playing, role wise?  This is always the hardest part for me, and I would hate to copycat someone else's idea, especially since it would undoubtedly be done better than I could. 

[MagicalPen]

You kinda jumped the gun there with the character. She doesn't quite work for what I have in mind. Like I said, think modern day military.

I will post more info later as far as what sort of characters I am looking for.

[MagicalPen]

Ship Name: The Galileo

Ship Crew:  26 Personnel

-14 'Space' Marines
Fire Team Alpha
2LT Peter Simon - Played by Eeyore
Sniper. #1
Rifleman #1
Rifleman #2
Rifleman #3
Comm. Man #1
Demolitions Expert #1

Fire Team Bravo
SSgt #1
Heavy Weapons #1
Medic #1 - Sarah Watson, by Branwen
Rifleman #4
Rifleman #5
Rifleman #6
Demolitions Expert #2

-2 Medics
Lead Doctor #1
Doctors Assistant #1

-4 Engineers
Chief Engineer #1
Engineer #1
Alien Technologies Expert #1
Alien Technologies Assistant #1

-3 Scientists
Xeno-Scientist Expert #1
Xeno-Specialist #1
Xeno-Specialist #2

-1 Ship Navigator
Petty Officer #1

-1 Communications Officer
Petty Officer #2

-1 Ship Commander - CO of the Mission, CO of the Marine Detachment
Commodore Konrad Roht - Played by Eeyore

Ship Technology: Human/Alien Hybrid
-1st Generation Hyper-Drive
-3rd Generation Sensor Array
-4th Generation Navigation System
-1st Generation Weapons System
-1st Generation Evacuation Pods
-2nd Generation Propulsion System
-2nd Generation Shields System
-2nd Generation Ventilation System and Waste Management
-1st Generation Science Lab
-1st Generation Green House
-1st Generation Medical Lab and Sickbay
-1st Generation Crew Quarters
-1st Generation Cyro-Hold
-1st Generation Cargo-Bay
-Classified Armory Berth

Crew Clothing and Technology:

-Standard Issue Marine Fatigues

-Standard Issue Marine Exoskeleton Body Armor

-Standard Issue Marine All Climate Headgear

-Standard Issue Armalite Combat Rifle + Grenades

-Standard Issue All Climate Boots

-Standard Issue Advanced Communications Gear

-Standard Issue Advanced Targeting System

-Standard Issue Advanced Air Filter

Standard Issue Uniform for Crew

White and Black = Scientist

White and Red = Medic

White and Navy Blue = Ships Crew (Navigation, Communications)

White and Orange = Engineer

White and Forest Green = Security or Military Pesonnel

[Branwen]

If no one else minds, I'd like to be one of the medics.  That's a role I think I can play with a fair chance of not screwing up.  Now if it's a comedy, let me be a Marine.  That'll be funny.

[MagicalPen]

Some notes on Available Roles:

The Medics:

There is 1 Combat Medic and 2 Ship-board Doctors. The Combat Medic fills in when on board the ship and is also passed around between the two Fireteams, depending on Mission Assignment.

The Heavy Weapons specialist is essentially some one with a SAW. Can also be transferred between Squads based on Mission Assignment.

Essentially, all specialized roles can be passed around between duties.

The Engineers are split - all have general human technology knowledge, but only the Xeno Technology Specialists know anything about the Alien parts of the ship (and their knowledge is limited with that).

The Scientists are essentially the only non-Military personnel, all will have studied the Drones (Alien Bodies) extensively and will have their own pet projects going on onboard the ship.




If you are interested in any of these roles, state so in this thread or to me via PM.

Below, you will find my desired character sheet.

YOU MUST SEND ME YOUR CHARACTER SHEET FOR APPROVAL. DO NOT post character sheets here until I give you permission.

[MagicalPen]

Character Sheet.

Please keep in mind the information already revealed and the fact that the year is 2025.



Character Name:

Character Ethnicity:

Character Age:

Desired Position:

Character Description: (Please write a description + include a picture)

Character Personality:

Character History: (at least 2 - 3 paragraphs please)

[Frelance]

Hmm, mark me up for a scientist. I will get a profile to you soon.

[Wintercat]

Interesting tale and could become pretty amusing. I am definitely interested, sending in a character sheet to you then, Eeyore.

Interested in the Ship Navigator (Petty Officer).

[MagicalPen]

One thing I have noticed with the backgrounds is that there is almost no mention of the background information I have provided.

Every character here is over 15, so they've lived through the Alien Invasion (as seen in Battle: Los Angeles). We're talking the death of millions here. Anyone living along the Coast would have seen the death and destruction and would have survived it some how. I'd like to see some reference to it in these Character sheets. Its an event that has forever changed every ones lives.

It would have created Trillions of $$ in damage, scarred people for ever, killed relatives and friends etc. In the years since then, there is the world-wide-sense of "Whens the Next Attack coming?"...and a race to decipher Alien Technology in an effort to use it against them. At the point in our game, Humans have coupled Alien and Human Technology in the first spaceship designed for inter-planet traveling. How big is this? The biggest event in Space History since Man first walked on the moon. Success with this maiden voyage - which will test a host of Alien Technology - will forever change the Human Race. It will lead to advances in Planetary Colonization, Stella Travel, new Weapons, etc. A lot is riding on this voyage so only the cream of the crop are taking part. The large military presence - well, the reasons for it are Classified, so you'll have to wait to find out about that.

Prior to this point in history, only a Hybrid ship has been used, to travel to the moon and back in record time. It made THIS MISSION possible.


So keep those facts in mind when creating your character sheets. I'd like to see characters heavily influenced or touched by such events in this game.

[MagicalPen]

Character Name: Captain Peter Simon

Character Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Character Age: 28 Years Old

Position: Head of the Space Marines Detachment, Fire Team Alpha Leader

Character Description: Peter is an imposing Marine, standing 6'3" tall. His body is muscled and toned, almost the perfect soldiers body, used to hardships and having to carry a heavy load. By no means a heavyweight with muscles, he also posses a lightness on his feet - almost like an NFL receiver - though this isn't useful in most situation.

Character Personality: Peter lives for the Army. Ever since the Aliens attacked when he was 13 years old, he has become obsessed with the Military and did everything he could to prepare himself for enlistment at the age of 18. He doesn't stand for nonsense and believes in doing everything by the book. He doesn't take flak from anyone and expects the best from everyone under his command. He has seen active duty combat for yeas and has a keen combat sense. He is used to making quick decisions and changing plans on the fly.

Character Background: Peter was born in New Jersey. He grew up playing soccer and running track. He also enjoyed reading, his lifelong goal of becoming a History Teacher the only thing on his mind. But all of that would change one morning, at the age of 13. That was the day the Aliens had attacked. Peter will never forget that day. It changed his life.

Up early for school, living in a suburb just outside of New York City, he had said goodbye to his dad as he left on his way to work. It would be the last time he ever saw his dad. An hour later, Peter was waiting for the bus when a large booming noise startled him. He looked up into the skies and saw what he thought were meteors crashing towards the nearby ocean, each one exploding for some reason hundreds of feet in the air, seconds before impact. But these were no Meteors.

They were Aliens. Not the friendly kind either, but ones bent on destroying everything. New York City was on fire. Peter ran home and watched the madness unfold on the TV. He knew his father was dead long before he was officially declared. His mother was heartbroken. And Peters childhood dreams were forever changed. From that moment on, he vowed revenge against the Aliens, and changed his career goals to joining the Military.

Peter kept up the long distance running, but also started working out with a passion. He needed to be the best that he could be. As the years passed in high-school, he pretended to entertain the idea of going to College like his mother wanted. But he finally told her that he was going to join the Army. At the age of 18, he applied for OCS and was accepted, and began his path in the Military.

After basic training and OCS, he was granted the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and was shipped off to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served several tours in each country, attaining the rank of Captain while also getting his Ranger and Special Forces Bars. The more skills he had, he figured, the better he would be when the Aliens came back. But since that fateful day, Alien Technology was being turned into stuff that Humans could use. With his passion, and a new mission approaching, he was assigned command of a mixed group of a new armed group, a new experiment, like something out of the Warhammer 40L universe - Space Marines.

[MagicalPen]

Character Name: Commander Konrad Roht

Character Ethnicity: Caucasian, German Ancestors

Character Age: 35 Years Old

Desired Position: Ship Commander

Character Description: Konrad is 6'2" and has an athletic, toned body. His hair and features are all dark - dark black hair, hazel eyes, and a masculine jawline. The long scar over his left eye to left cheek and the one in the corner of his left mouth also help distinguish him from the rest of the group.

Character Personality: Konrad, despite his position, is a very quiet, reserved person. He is a man of few words but strong actions and disciplines those under his command with ruthlessness. Any breach of protocol and his iron fist comes crashing down.

Character History: Little is publicly known about Konrad. What is known is that he was part of a Special Forces unit at the time of the Alien attacks, and was scar-free before the attacks. He was also quietly awarded the Medal of Honor during the same period of time and received several battlefield promotions over the coming years. He has been out of the spotlight for many years, quietly moving further up the ranks, before re-entering the spotlight as the overall Commander of the Ship Galileo. No one but the US Chiefs of Staff hold rank over him in this matter.

[Phantasmatical]

Has anyone applied for the lead doctor position yet? If not, what would the title of that position be? Also, what kind of doctor would most likely be chosen for this position?

This idea sounds quite cool. I'm looking forward to getting involved. :-)

[MagicalPen]

Phanta - that should work.

Still accepting character bios.

[MagicalPen]

Can I please get a response from people who are still interested. Things are rather quiet and I get the feeling no one is interested anymore.

[grovercjuk]

I have sent my Character and am still interested.

[Branwen]

Character Name: Sarah Elizabeth Watson

Character Ethnicity: Caucasian / British

Character Age: 23

Desired Position: Combat Medic / Royal Army Medical Corps

Character Description:  Corporal Watson is a young woman in her early twenties.  She has unremarkable brown hair that tends to escape a regulation hairstyle after a few hours, and brown eyes.  Her front teeth are a little more prominent than she'd like and there is a slight gap between them, making her self-conscious about them.  Underneath her fatigues, she has a muscular, compact body with more than average upper body and leg strength for a woman her height.  She stands 1.7m (5'7") and masses 61 kilos (135 lbs)




Character Personality: Upbeat, never given to dramatics, utterly British under fire.  Insecure with relationships and uncertain of her sexuality.  Tends to find the loners and brooders and tries to cajole them out of their isolation. 

Character History: Sarah Elizabeth was born in Stevenage and attended public school until the age of 16.  At 16 she was tracked into a health care preparation school, and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps upon graduation at 18.  In the five years she's been in service, Sarah has proven to be capable, upbeat with her squad and patients, and very cool under fire.  She was promoted to Lance Corporal after four years, two of which were spent policing the ever fractious Afghanistan hinterlands.  The Americans, for political and economic reasons, had been unable to remove themselves from Afghanistan and are now in their third decade of occupation.  The British military uses Afghanistan to blood their combat troops and to test new equipment and operational tactics.

Last year, then Lance Corporal Watson wason patrol with her squad and an Afghan military squad near Nad E Ali in Helmand Province.  An ambush split her squad in two, leaving her with the Afghan squad with a single interpreter.  Pinned down for almost twenty minutes, Watson and the Afghan squad were exposed to continuous fire from enemy combatants in an irrigation ditch a few hundred meters away.  She ran to give medical care to a wounded Afghan, and carried him back across one-hundred meters under fire to treat him in a safer location.  During that time she also used her weapon to help fight back a probing attack.  After the firefight, Watson carried the man for almost half a mile on her shoulders, refusing help, until they were able to link up with a vehicle mounted patrol on the road. 

Along the way back, she treated the soldier she'd personally rescued and two others, allowing all three of them to reach the field surgical hospital alive.  For her actions she was recommended for, but denied, the Military cross.  She did receive a meritorious promotion to Corporal and went back to her squad.

Her name, along with several others, has been forwarded to the Project for consideration.  As of yet, Corporal Watson is unaware of her nomination.  She remains in Afghanistan along with her regiment.

[Frelance]

I am still interested and I will be sending your my character in a few hours.

[Hesperus]

I'm interested in playing the sniper on Fire Team Alpha. I'll work up a bio first thing in the morning!

[MagicalPen]

If you haven't sent them in yet, send me your character profiles.

Ships crew is still looking a little skimpy, but another day or two and I plan on getting things started.

[Branwen]

Yay!  And there was great rejoicing.

[Frelance]

Character Name: Kail Macarth

Character Ethnicity: Causation, Canadian from German decent.

Character Age: 32 years old

Desired Position: Xeno Engineer

Character Description:
Kail is 6'0" even and has a slim body but well defined body. This is only broken by the increase of muscle mass up the right half of his torso. This is necessary for support of the robotic-Drone hybrid arm that starts a few inches above where his right elbow would have been. The support frame that is fused to the bones of his arm, ribs (front and back) and shoulder but the only sighs of it are the raised tissue that clearly defines it and the scar tissue that covers most of the area. His green eyes are always alert and can be found searching an area most of the time. Light brown hair is kept short and out of the way. Character Personality: A fairly friendly person but will not stand for much intrusion when it comes to his projects or things that he thinks are no one else’s business.

Always couscous to find out how things work and to find something that has never been discovered before. He is always thinking of new ways to use the things around him. When he has a project he will work hard until it is finished and has risked bodily hard when he found that the situation was worth it.


Main section of his robotic arm:



Character History:
Born October 3, 1993 Kail in Calgary Alberta. He attended a public school until the age 18. In that time he entered 90% of the contests offered at the school that had to do with engineering, robotics or biology and coming out in the top five in each. Even with his heavy involvement with the science programs in his school he stayed fit and joined a track team when he was given the chance.

Soon after graduating high school he entered college where he did a double major in robotic engineering and Bioengineering. He was in the top five percent in all of his courses so when summer break came along in his third year he took the chance to get away from his college and go to a conference in Los Angeles. It was barely a day after he arrived the aliens attacked sending the city into chaos. Kail ran and hid for the first day only to get caught in the cross fire from the Drones and a squad of Marines.

When the fire fight was over the squad tried to send him back towards the rest of the human forces but he would not leave. Instead he went to the nearest drone body and started examining it. He paid particular attention to its weapon and how it was attached to the drones arm. He spent a good ten minutes trying to cut it off with a combat knife but only succeeded in cutting of a section of the material that attached the arm. At that point he agreed to leave with the marines.  He spent the rest of the war fighting with the squad but two months before the war was over he was injured in battle.

When he woke up a two weeks later from a comma he found out that he had lost his arm from just above the right elbow. As soon as he was released he went back to school and finished off his degree and at the same time he kept up on the research that was being done on the drone technologies and the development of robotic arms. When he graduated he was accepted for a job in the nation’s top research facility where he rose through the ranks with surprising speed. By the time he was leading a research group they rapidly closed the gap between what he thought was just a dream and turning it into reality. A few months after the trip to the month was accomplished Kail and his team revealed the prototype alien-human robotic arm. The arm was made of metal and plastic, but it used the reverse engineered inorganic material that the drones used. Since then he has continued to provide more and more reverse engineered inventions. He was one of the first Scientists picked to go on the mission and is currently in the International space station.

[Chrystal]

PMed you a Char sheet, Eeyore... I am totally willing to change her as required to fill whatever roles are still open...

[Kate]

I sent Eeyore a version of my original character but without any of the mod cons (she was too futuristic).

A more humble form of her will appear I hope.

[Frelance]

Eeyore have you decided on a design for the ship already?

[Kate]

Name:

  Aurani Peel

Ethnicity:

  Caucasian

Age:

  33

Desired Position:

  Xeno-Archeologist (Either as expert or one of the scientists)

Personality

  She is one that often pressures for the ship being primarily used to hunt these new objects.

Description

  Height: 6'0
  Height: 70 kilos
  Gender: Female
  Appearance: See photo

Ms' Peel dark-haired bob haircut has always been distinctive and one for loud outfits, and the one she has taken to now is no exception.

History

Aurani's guesses on uses for certain aspects of ships left behind by the alien race greatly aided being able to figure some core aspects of their technology so quickly. She soon became famous from being interviewed frequently to give her opinion to the public on what has been discovered, and her reasons for thinking so. Aurani's unusual insights into the mentality of the deposed aliens quickly elevated Archeology back into headlines, Xeno, being its grandest. For this reason she was selected to be on board in the hopes that she may do the same for what else the ship may find. Most know the ship is for exploration for its own sake, but the idea that some other aliens may have left some equipment from past failed projects all to eager to have their secrets known to fresh eyes consumes this girls mindset.

She would come over similar to lady Ga ga if you were to meet her, but distinctive personalities and views are common place from the city she comes from, what remains of it. Her entire family was lost to these aliens. Her ability to stay focused on what is interesting was a role model to some in her generation. Not a good reason to be popular but one that was appreciated by some. A pseudo celebrity, no red carpets, but she is well known for comments which rang true in many hearts. She wouldn't be the best scientist in the xeno division but she would likely be the best known to those outside her field.

[Chrystal]

Character Sheet.

Character Name:  Chief Petty Officer Dana Spears

Character Ethnicity: British, Caucasian

Character Age: 25

Desired Position: Navigator

Character Description: Dana is pretty, in a skinny sort of way, blonde, tall, and fit. In her mid twenties, she works out regularly and eats healthily to maintain her figure. She stands 1.78m (5'10") tall but masses only 49kg (108 lbs). Her bust is a slender 34B, 28 waist, and 32 hips

Character Personality: Dana is rock steady when under pressure, but tends to go to pieces in social situations. A lot of people think she is shy, but in fact she has a very mild case of Asperger's syndrome. This does, however, give her the unusual ability to be able to perceive spacial relationships in her head, in three dimensions, that would fox many a "normal" person. She can also perceive patterns that others cannot, making her good at data analysis and programming.

Character History: Dana was still in school when the aliens attacked. The horror of the attack was something she never wants to live through again. She was lucky to be living well inland, but even so, she lost most of her family. She survived though, actually joining the resistance at age 14.

At 16, Dana joined the newly reformed Royal Navy, showing an immediate aptitude for navigation. She seemed to get on well with the alien technology, being able to some how figure out things intuitively that even the brightest scientists spent hours looking at. She quickly rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

When the manned mission was announced, she volunteered immediately. This was the chance she'd been waiting for, to go back out there and kick some alien backside!

[Phantasmatical]

I'm still interested; just been quite busy working a show the last few days. My idea is still firmly in my mind, and I plan on refining it and putting it in proper format tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to this. :-)

[Kate]

to go back out there and kick some alien backside!

lol. If this is the worlds first star-ship, chances are its everyone else who is going to kick ours :)
But I do hear the resentment... loosing one's family to something does that.

We are sort of newborns playing in sand pits compared to other races that can build, ... in some ways. Hopefully not all. Finding friends is the best hope... unless you find ...

Makes one wonder though, if we didn't have the dark ages literacy wouldn't have been lost to the western world.
Which means we "could have been" 500 years ahead, or most likely more because some translations are impossible now, where if the dark ages didn't happen - more relics would be more meaningful, and more of their knoweldge gleaned.

We only really started the scientific approach since the renaissance. 14-17 century to now 21st century.That's JUST a few hundred years with ONE methodology. There could be other methodologies of understanding/exploration or creation that could return accumulative benefits like the scientific method, but different. Where there is one their could be many more, (not just the same one with a different focus or lean.. but utterly different landscapes).

Even having 100 years head start. Would be the very first automobile build (working prototype or "project") against the latest car / truck / tank (refined, tested, mass produced ... PRODUCT ).

Knowing NOTHING else other than gives steven hawkin's view credit (who believes that aliens are likely to exist but its not a hot idea contacting them while we are so primitive, from a scientific perspective they would "own our ass and do with it as they please, without even a chance of options from the human race changing its own fate or destiny. I.e. unless they happen to be benevolent ... Race over. "Game Over" Human "race"

Imagine being the person making the decision on that one.

About as big as "oops" can get... "um opps sorry all, I just well assumed they would benevolent because I assumed that if they were not they would have killed each other off before they could make space-ships.
The idea that its not necessary because we can now and are not makes me feel a little silly. I also thought if they didnt need us or our resources they wouldn't be cruel for fun, I was wrong on that one. Still to my credit, I just thought because we got luckly last time we probably would this time too. Yeah yeah, opps. Really sorry about that." lol

[MagicalPen]

Still waiting on a final character sheet or two.

Then I will get the OOC Started up and we can go from there.

[Chrystal]

Eeyore, dear, may I make one or two suggestions regarding bridge crew? Obviously if you don't get sufficient players they will need to be NPCs, but you need a pilot or helmsman and a weapons control officer.

Please follow my reasoning:

This is a military vessel, it is armed. We know there are hostile aliens out there. We've met them. We don't know how widespread they are, we don't know whether they are alone, we don't know whether they are the dominant species in the Galaxy, in fact we know Jack-Shit! (IC-ly speaking).

So, the ship has weapons adapted from alien technology which are capable of taking out an alien ship, we hope.

I don't know who you had planned to have flying the ship, but as the crew list stands it would be you, me or the comms officer as we are the only three bridge crew. That won't work.

In a combat situation, the Captain needs to be concentrating on the big picture: What are the enemy doing, where are we going, how much fuel do we have, how many shots do we have left, is there a way out of this? He can't do all that and fly the ship.

Likewise, the navigator needs to be looking at where everything is in the system (whether in combat or not). She needs to be aware of all the spacial relationships between all the various things in system, where the gravity wells are, how they interact, what effect they will have individually and collectively on the ship's course, where other ships are, where they are heading relative to where we are heading, is there any chance of a collision... And she can't do all that and fly the ship. Especially not while being shot at!

So you need someone to push the buttons, pull the levers, turn the wheels, or think the thoughts into the interface to actually make the ship go where it's heading... and who can concentrate SOLELY on that task, including taking evasive action when required if the navigator screws up or the captain is distracted.

A computer won't do. A computer is needed to make it possible for humans to control a ship travelling at the sort of real-space speeds we are talking about, but a computer is not capable of making the sort of snap judgements required in a combat situation.

Now for the weapons officer - unless you classify shooting at someone as a form of communication, which I guess it is! Again, neither the captain nor navigator should be the one who actually targets and fires the weapons, for the same reasons. The captain should just order "Target that ship, fire when ready", and go back to worrying about everything else. The navigator is too busy worrying about everyone else's weapons to fire our own.

The communications officer actually has nothing to do in combat and so is the ideal candidate - unless we are contemplating fleet actions with allies - in which case the comms officer is going to be busy too!

Oh, and Comms can't fly the ship for the same reason as it is illegal in most sensible places to drive while talking on the phone!

Hope that isn't too technical. I'm a sci-fi geek and I love the science of space travel.

I'd love to talk to you about the actual "mechanics" of the space ship at some point?

[MagicalPen]

They'll just be NPCs. I was actually hoping for a larger PC Marine Contingent.

I also don't want to ruin any of the tricks I have up my sleeve, but the ship-crew will eventually find itself on a planet where there will be very few ship-board things to do.

[Chrystal]

Figured as much... Of course "Navigator" becomes "Cartographer" in that situation...

Going to PM you about something...

[bigwad73]

Say, would you be willing to change one of the Xeno scientists to an astrophysicist? 

This would be someone who'd be involved in surveying new systems ("Big gas giant, right here in the habitable zone.  Worth checking for large moons with atmospheres, or even habitable ones."), understanding the worlds that the ship encounters ("There's lots of volcanic activity here, so there's a lot of particulate matter in circulation in the air.  Plus some noxious gasses.  We'll probably need filter masks, or even environment suits, even though it's got an nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere."), helping with navigation duties ("Ah, that's a flare red dwarf.  A lot of them are.  We need to keep track of the flares coming out of it.  They can double it's brightness, or more, and flood nearby planetary space with hard EM radiation--UV and X-ray, and even Gamma-rays."), and even keeping an eye on sensors ("We're picking up a lot of high frequency radio signals, though I can't deceipher them.  But it seems like data transmissions, not voice or anything like that.  And, it seems pretty sophisticated.")

Just some examples.  I'm picturing an ex-military type who later got a Ph. D., then signed up to help out after the invasion.  How's that sound?

[Chrystal]

Say, would you be willing to change one of the Xeno scientists to an astrophysicist? 

This would be someone who'd be involved in surveying new systems ("Big gas giant, right here in the habitable zone.  Worth checking for large moons with atmospheres, or even habitable ones."), understanding the worlds that the ship encounters ("There's lots of volcanic activity here, so there's a lot of particulate matter in circulation in the air.  Plus some noxious gasses.  We'll probably need filter masks, or even environment suits, even though it's got an nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere."), helping with navigation duties ("Ah, that's a flare red dwarf.  A lot of them are.  We need to keep track of the flares coming out of it.  They can double it's brightness, or more, and flood nearby planetary space with hard EM radiation--UV and X-ray, and even Gamma-rays."), and even keeping an eye on sensors ("We're picking up a lot of high frequency radio signals, though I can't deceipher them.  But it seems like data transmissions, not voice or anything like that.  And, it seems pretty sophisticated.")

Just some examples.  I'm picturing an ex-military type who later got a Ph. D., then signed up to help out after the invasion.  How's that sound?

*giggles* Okay I can't resist this.

"Captain, I can plot us a sling-shot around the giant that will bring us within scanner range of the three largest moons, but the window is pretty tight. If you want to do this it has to be in the next half hour."

"I'm not sure I can even find us a place to put down, Skipper. The only flat areas on the entire planet are molten, and frankly, if I did find somewhere flat, chances are it won't stay that way long!"

"Roger that, I'm on it... Uh, yeah, Skipper, might be best if we plotted a course the other side of the star. If what (Bigwad) says is accurate, we're currently heading for barbecue central!"

"Plotting us a course to triangulate the source of the signal now, Sir. Helm, make your heading 220 by 120 by 85 galactic, 75 percent thrust. Run for five minutes then cut engines and take another bearing.



Kate, I just read your post. You are almost as big a geek as I am! (That's intended as a complement, by the way).

My own personal "bugbear" is that science fiction generally assumes that, because an alien race has superior technology to us in one aspect - i.e. transport, being able to travel between the stars - they must be superior to us in every aspect of technology.

I once wrote a spoof sci-fi story where the aliens arrived on earth to conquer it, but were armed with cross-bows. Gunpowder was a totally unique accidental discovery confined to one planet in the galaxy. Ours! And because we have gunpowder we have kevlar. Which is capable of stopping a crossbow bolt at anything but point-blank range. The aliens didn't have anything like it!

So, of course, the invaders were defeated easily, all their technology captured intact, and Humanity became the new master race!

It was a spoof, and was not intended to be taken seriously at all. But it did get the point across!

[grovercjuk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Crusade

This is a interesting book about a similar thing, space tech versus medieval warriors. 

[Chrystal]

*Giggles* Only Poul Anderson could come up with that one!

[bigwad73]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion

There's this, too.  And I remember a story that involves a human pilot fighting against a fighter piloted by a amoeba-like alien that can take acceleration in any direction at high levels, as opposed to humanity who needs lower gees and more single vector stuff, instead of multi-vector boosting.

The prologue of the story, though, mentions an invasion in Central Park by a group of squirrel-oids with muskets who are quickly overcome by the National Guard unit that is responding to the UFO landing.  That's how Earth got an FTL drive.  I don't think it's "The Road Not Taken" though...

Anyway...  If you don't need scientists...

[MagicalPen]

I should imagine we could use one more scientist, but I was somewhat hoping for some more Space Marines. ^-^

[Phantasmatical]

Do I hear a call for another marine? I started writing up my doctor idea and found that I wasn't too intent on the idea after all, but I reworked the character and I think he'll work much better now.

Edited Again: Character officially accepted, and thus re-posted. :-)

- - -

Character Name: Corporal Ethan Patrick Kastner

Character Ethnicity: Caucasian (mixed Swedish, German, and Irish descent)

Character Age: 36

Desired Position: Rifleman, Fire Team Bravo

Character Description: At a height of 5’7” tall, Ethan is not the most intimidating of men upon first glance. Not that he is inclined to be such either, of course. Broad-shouldered and solidly built without being musclebound, he is in peak physical shape (though he is not inclined to show it off). Usually, he prefers to dress in layers when given the option, tending toward being what his friends sometimes call unnecessarily formal. He does not carry himself with a swagger, but rather shows a kind of quiet confidence, being quite comfortable in his own skin.

His features are considered pleasing to the eye by many, though he is not necessarily considered extremely handsome. He comes across as a very genuine man, finding it both difficult and normally unnecessary to hide his feelings from others. He always has a warm smile ready for a friend, and though he is not inclined to go out of his way to be unpleasant to others, it is usually apparent when he doesn’t like someone.

Character Personality: Ethan tends to be the level-headed one in any given group. He is the one others go to when they need to get things off their chest, and need someone they can trust to be discrete with the information. Approachable and earnest, he makes others feel comfortable about talking to him, and as such tends to have a wide circle of friends. He enjoys spending time with these people, but there are times when he needs to be alone as well, and with few exceptions those he knows are respectful of that.

He likes to remain active, both physically and mentally, though he knows perfectly well that he is no savant. He believes in hard work, and believes that the mind is something that can be improved upon just as the body can be. Still, he does tend to enjoy being physically rather than mentally exhausted, and as such tends to spend more time outdoors than at home when he can.

Character History: Ethan was born in North Dakota to a combination of architect mother and author father, and grew up being homeschooled along with his younger sister, Ashley, who was born three years after he was. His parents felt that it was unfair to him to drop him into a different school every year or even more often, and so they decided to spare him the social trauma of perpetually being the outsider. Or they did as best they could anyway. Friends came and went over the years, and as they did Ethan’s relationship with Ashley got stronger. The two were inseparable from the earliest age that they could communicate with each other on a meaningful level.

When he came of age to be going away to college, Ethan found that he was unable to come up with anything he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Raised around both art and math all his life, he found that while he enjoyed the former and was good at the latter when he applied himself, he didn’t have a passion for either. Ashley, by contrast, knew from the time that she was barely a teenager that she wanted to be a psychologist. That was exactly what she set out to do, and though it was hard for the two to be apart, the family didn’t have the money to send both children to college if they didn’t know quite what they wanted to do. So Ethan went to community college part time, continuing to live at home and travel wherever his mother’s job took the family as a whole.

It was at one such college that he met a recruiter for the US Air Force. At first he wasn’t terribly interested, both because he had no idea what the air force did other than flying planes (and he knew he wasn’t qualified to be flying fighter jets) and because he knew his parents would object, but he did a little late-night research, and eventually decided that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. That mediocre commitment turned into genuine interest once he met the officer who later became his mentor: Warren Higgins. He was recommended to join not the air force or national guard, but the marines, and after some consideration he presented the idea to his parents. Neither was thrilled with the idea, but the world had been reasonably peaceful and they did not expect that he would be thrust into any danger.

Two months out of training, the attack came.

His sister in California disappeared; nothing was seen or heard from her for weeks. Ethan himself was only able to contact his parents once during that time, to urge them to go inland to less populated areas and keep moving as others did the same. He saw many of his friends killed, and was himself hospitalized for three months recovering from severe burns. He took the skin grafts remarkably well, and now the only clue that he once had such horrendous injuries can be found in a neat line of skin that stretches from the left side of his ribcage, around his back almost to the spine, and down across his left buttock and flank. His left leg is severely scarred on the thigh and as far down as his calf, but he did not require grafts there.

When the invasion was thwarted, he remained on duty for an additional year before being given any decent amount of leave. He spent a week with his parents, then immediately left for California to search for any trace of his sister. For the next two years he spent almost all of his downtime looking for a trace of her, but the closest he ever came to finding out exactly what happened was viewing the security video at the practice she had been interning at. The video showed her walking out the door for lunch. After that, he found a friend who said she had a missed call from Ashley at almost the exact time the attacks began, but beyond that there was no trace whatsoever. Finally, he gave up, knowing she was dead. Over the years, he has had a handful of relationships, but for various reasons none of them ever came to marriage. One day, he hopes that still might happen.

Once he was released from service, he tried to go back to a civilian life, but in the end he was unable to do so. He was comfortable with the support and camaraderie to be found in the military, and so he returned, serving in a half-dozen different missions. Recently, he was given the offer to join the military personnel assigned to the Galileo, and he agreed. Although a marine of his rank would normally be leading a squad, given the nature of the mission the traditional structure has been modified slightly, which doesn't bother Ethan in the slightest. Now he is on leave until the ship is ready to take off.

[Chrystal]

I can do a marine too if you like?

[bigwad73]

I think I'm going to back out of this one.  Sorry folks.  I hope you have fun, though!

[MagicalPen]

If you can manage a second character, go ahead.

I'll look to start up this game this week,.

[Chrystal]

Character Name: SSgt Madeline McGuire, RM MP

Character Ethnicity: Scottish, although you'd hardly know it.

Character Age: 36

Desired Position: Team Leader, FT2.

Character Description: Maddie is blonde, but not in the head. In fact she's plenty smart and has a lot of savvy. She stands a good 1.85m (6'1") tall, weighs in at 76kg (168 lbs) of solid muscle and takes great pleasure in arm wrestling squaddies in the infantry. She rarely looses! She's not what you would call "pretty", unless you were short sighted, drunk or desperate, though.

Character Personality: Everyone who ever met her described her as "hard-nosed bitch", with the possible exception of her girl-friend - who only ever called her "Mistress". Maddie is a total dominatrix, used to giving orders and having them obeyed instantly. It's how she made it to Staff Sergeant so quickly. Of course, she is fully capable of taking orders too, but is rather inclined to think for herself and is firmly of the opinion that a "Rupert" should leave the running of the platoon to the non-coms. If given an order she thinks is stupid, she will invariably question it.

Character History: Maddie joined the Royal Marine Commandos straight from school, aged 16. It was what she'd always wanted to do. She served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan and was still there when the aliens arrived.

Although well inland, she led her men through Pakistan towards the coast, to get in on the action against this new enemy, that appeared to be the common enemy of all mankind.

Her service record and her small success rate against the invaders - but let's face it, no one really had a huge success rate - led to her name being put forward for the mission.

[Kate]

cool :)

[FallenFeather]

Hi, did the sniper position actually get taken or is it up for grabs? :)

[Kate]

there is never such a thing as too many snipers... unless its the enemy.

Certainly help me feel secure :)

[Chrystal]

Agreed. Snipers FTW!

[FallenFeather]

Character Name: Elaine Admete

Character Ethnicity: Texan

Character Age: 27

Desired Position: Sniper

Character Description: Elaine is a tiny, tiny woman, standing barely above 5 feet tall and only around 105 lbs in weight with a bust of 32C, though just barely. Regardless of being so petite, she’s very athletic. Not strong particularly, but extremely flexible and quick. Her long brown hair is normally tied back, either in a pony tail or a braid while her green eyes are framed by dark, long lashes.

Character Personality: Despite looking adorably young, Elaine is extremely serious, all about the business. She doesn’t have time for games or idiocy. If it were possible, she’d go alone, but the military doesn’t work like that and she’s usually stuck with stupid people. She has little patience or tolerance for what she considers inadequacies and silliness, having little to no humor whatsoever. And no, this is not a, hard shell but deep inside there’s a teddy bear kind of case.

Character History: Elaine grew up in San Antonio, the military city of Texas. Her father was a Marine sniper and her mother was in the Army, both stationed at Fort Sam Houston. She grew up with stoic parents that never showed her their fun sides. Not to say that they didn’t have them, they just kept her with a babysitter when they went out. However, because her parents never played with her, she assumed that they didn’t have fun and whenever they went out, it was due to business. Elaine never played with dolls and other girls like most girls her age. Instead, she either played by herself with puzzles or blocks, or outside in the mud with other boys.

She could remember the exact day that the attack happened: she was playing an important soccer game, one that would decide whether or not her high school would go to state. As always, neither parent was there to watch her. When the invasion hit, all the other kids rushed to their parents while Elaine merely stared up at the sky, watching it turn dark. Despite herself, she started crying, though was unable to pinpoint exactly why. It took her a while before being found by military rescuers, one of whom she recognized. Soon after, she joined the Corps, flying through the ranks and being handpicked to be trained as a sniper due to her fast thinking, sharp aim, and sensibility to know when to take the shot.


Hope that's ok. On a side note: Chrystal, I was reading your other profile and holy cow that girl is anorexic! I'm 5'2" and weigh that much and I'm considered underweight. You can almost wrap two hands around my waist. 5'10" and 98 lbs?! Check this chart Just saying for reference xD

[Chrystal]

*chuckles* When you're 5' 6" and weigh over 200 lbs, it's difficult to judge what a tall skinny person should weigh. Thanks for pointing that out. If Eyeore has no objections, I'll up her weight to 110 lbs.

[FallenFeather]

No problem lol

I personally am tiny person and can never figure out what a healthy weight is for tall people. Personally, I think it's a great resource and I use it a lot. xD

[Frelance]

Nice profile, I can't wait for this to start :)

[Kate]

did this end up happening ?

[Chrystal]

Not to my knowledge. Which was a shame...

[MagicalPen]

If the interest is still there, my life has settled somewhat so i'd be able to start this one up again.

[Kate]

Interested !

[Phantasmatical]

I'm still interested. ;D

[Chrystal]

I was looking forward to this one when we were planning it and then it never happened.

Unfortunately, I have already committed myself fully again. If one of the group games I am in dies suddenly, between now and when you start, or one of the ones I've said I will join doesn't happen, I will certainly join, but as it is, I'm not physically able to join another group game right now, with the commitments I have already made.

Sorry.

[FallenFeather]

Still interested! :D Was actually gonna ask you about this in Hades OOC Eeyore but you left before I had the chance  XD

[Phantasmatical]

I am withdrawing interest from this roleplay.

[MagicalPen]

Alright, can I get an official show of hands in regards to whom is still interested in this game?

[Kate]

[FallenFeather]

inspired by you Kate xD

[orderNchaos]

It there still a push to make this game happen??  I'd love to join.  I think an engineer or some sort of tech role would be fun to play considering how new and strange everything is.

[MagicalPen]

Yes. Trying to figure out how many people are still interested in it. I've got a confirmed 2 people right now.

[orderNchaos]

I'm interested.  I have a plan for an engineer if you go ahead!

[Chrystal]

Hey Nachos, long time no see.

Okay so, one of the games I was hoping to join isn't happening, apparently.

Thus I once again have an open group slot.

Count me back in?