Interest Check: Beyond Mankind [Scifi Apocalypse Roleplay]

Started by GloomCookie, July 29, 2011, 07:59:48 AM

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GloomCookie


December 12, 2112
100 years ago, the last signal was intercepted from an orbital relay station in space.  Mankind disappeared off the face of the planet, leaving it to crumble in ruin.  Before disappearing, those few who knew that mankind's hold on the planet was fragile began construction of a secret underground bunker inside Mt. Rushmore, to protect it from anything that might befall the planet.  Inside, sealed away for over a century, was a group of men and women, some from the military, others from civilian jobs deemed vital, kept in cryogenic suspension until the computer declared it safe for them to awaken.

Emerging from their tubes, they find a world left barren and empty.  They're safe inside their bunker, and it is there that they live, protected from the savage wastes.  But, unknown to them, there is a danger lurking in the dark recesses of the base.  A remnant from their past that will threaten to finally wipe out the human race forever.  Will they survive and repopulate the world?  Or will the human species finally disappear from the world forever?
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Napanee


Kuje


GloomCookie

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dakabn

I'm interested too... :)  I take it that that is the official character sheet?

moriablu


GloomCookie

It is.  I wanted it to look like an actual sheet of paper from a government agency.  You don't have to fill in every detail, but it wouldn't hurt either.  Also, a little background story for anyone who's interested.

Countdown to Doomsday
Inside the Oval Office sat President Obama, watching the events on the television as they relayed to him the going-ons of the world outside.  CNN, ABC, MSNBC, Fox, all of them showed the same thing: protests.  Protests about his government's handling of the financial crisis and the constant naysayers who claim its the end of the modern world, and that the 2012 doomsday will be the death of the US economy beyond what's already happened.  Turning off the TV, Barack rested his face in his hands, sighing.  Things were bad, and he knew it.  There wasn't a thing he could do to stop the tumble.  He'd tried, tried his best to do what he felt was right.  In the end, he knew part of the problem was both the Republicans and their damned Tea Party, and his own left wing idealists.

Getting up, he went to the window, looking out over the manicured lawn of the White House.  His home for four years, he'd come to know it like most other presidents had.  It was a brief affair, but one that no one forgot.  Straightening his tie, he went to the door and opened it, stepping out into the outer office where his secretary was currently seated.  With a pleasant smile, he looked up, "Yes, Mr. President?"

Barack shook his head, "Don't worry just yet.  I'm just taking a walk."  As the President, he could do that.  Usually.  Secret Service kept a close eye on things, but all it took was a single slip.  He began walking around, not really paying attention to where he was going, just taking a stroll.  He would smile and wave to people as he passed, maybe even given an occasional fist bump to someone, but otherwise he kept to himself.  Gone were the carefree days of change he'd been elected on, now it was the grim reality of trying to stay ahead of the game.  So many things to do, so little time.

"Mr. President?" asked someone from behind him.

Barack turned around, "Yes?"

A man in his early sixties stood there, hair grey with age and thinning appreciably, holding the rank of a full General, spoke, "Mr. President, I think you might want to take a look at this."

Barack sighed inside.  Another problem it seemed.  "Alright, Martin, I'm coming."



Five minutes later, he was seated in a comfortable leather chair gently worn with age, reading from a file handed to him, "Gentlemen, what am I looking at?"

The general who'd found him, General Martin Dempsey of the United States Army, glanced at the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen, "Perhaps Michael had better explain this one."

The 65 year old Admiral laughed, "Sure, hand things off to me.  Mr. President, approximately ten years ago, immediately after the Nine-Eleven attacks, we began taking precautions against future calamities that might cripple us during a disaster.  This was known as the Gibraltar Project, which was at first composed of two stages, but we expanded to three after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Louisiana shoreline.  The project, in a nutshell, is set up to be a complete backup of the United States in the event of an emergency such that even if the United States ceases to exist, some semblance will remain."

President Barack glanced up from his reading, "Wait a minute, guys.  You're telling me for the past ten years a secret project has been going on that I was completely unaware of?"

Glancing at the others in the room, the Admiral nodded, "Yes, sir.  We were operating out of a black-budget at the time and we had strict orders not to reveal it to anyone until we either had to cancel the project or proceed with the final stage.  We're at the final stage now."

Barack sat back and rubbed his chin in thought, "I want to know what the goals of this project are before I start promising to sign anything."

"Of course, sir," Admiral Mullen said, and he turned on a projector, "The Gibraltar Project is, essentially, an ace in the hole.  There are three stages, depending on the situation that arises, and it remains completely dormant otherwise.  Stage one is an emergency government to take over in the event our own collapses.  We of course have the precautions already outlined in the Constitution, but in the event of a full-scale invasion, that plan might not amount to much.  This emergency government has only one task, and that's to take the reigns of power until a civilian government can be restored.  Their only job will be coordinating a war-time status nation."

Barack nodded, understanding where it might be important to have such a contingency in place, "As much as I dread it, what's stage two designed to handle?"

Taking a sip of water, Admiral Mullen continued, "Stage two is designed to handle a devastating series of natural disasters that occur simultaneously.  Say if California and the Midwest were both hit by earthquakes while the gulf was pounded by fierce hurricanes.  It would stretch our current capacity to handle disasters beyond their limits.  Stage two would offset that by providing emergency relief to areas where necessary to free up other assets for use elsewhere."

All of it made sense so far, so Barack had faith in asking the next question, "And stage three?"

This time Admiral Mullen looked nervous, "Well, sir, stage three was devised before stage two, but moved to stage three because of what its meant to do.  Stage three is designed to handle the complete destruction of the United States.  Not just the government, not just one or two major cities, all of it.  In the event that the United States is completely destroyed, either through natural disaster, nuclear or biological attack or any means we haven't thought of, Stage three automatically kicks in.  It will analyze conditions and when its satisfied everything is safe enough, it'll release approximately twenty thousand individuals from cryogenic suspension."

Barack quirked an eyebrow, "Excuse me, Admiral?  Are you serious?"

Gulping, Admiral Mullen nodded, "Yes sir, we are.  We didn't include the plans at first but we were asked to at the request of the Senate Oversight Committee.  We know it sounds fairly ridiculous but, to be honest, it does help put my mind at ease knowing that we have every possible contingency covered."

Barack rubbed his chin again.  If he scrapped the project, he could free up quite a sum of money from the budget.  But if he kept it... it would be a fallback plan that would come in handy if the US ever needed it.  His decision wouldn't ever be known beyond the walls of this room, but the chance that one day it might be useful...

"You said we're at the final stage, Michael?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. President," Admiral Mullen said, greatly relieved by his tone of voice.

"Start selecting people.  Try and get some diversity though, so that we're not stuck with twenty thousand soldiers who might get used elsewhere."
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GloomCookie

Countdown to Doomsday part II
It was a blistering hot June day in Atlanta, Georgia, as Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, swiped his badge to gain entry into the office complex that was the Center For Disease Control and Prevention.  Director since 2009, he was greeted instantly by the secretary, who smiled and said, "Good morning, Dr. Frieden."  Waving, he walked to the elevator and pressed the call button, waiting patiently for the doors to slide open.  Inside, he selected the top floor, riding quietly to the top and stepping out.  The office at the end of the hall was his, and he waved to some of the cleaning staff as they finished up their work for the night.  Entering his office, he found his daily mail waiting for him, along with a copy of the Atlantic Journal-Constitution.  Knowing it would be almost another hour before his secretary, or most of the 6,000 staff that worked in the CDC, arrived, Dr. Frieden sat down and checked his mail for anything important while glancing at the headlines.

The headlines, of course, told the same grim tale they always did.  Since August of last year, when the Republicans had pulled out of a deal to increase the debt ceiling, the US economy had been dropping like a rock.  Unemployment in some areas was reported as high as 25%, with rising figures across the country.  The lack in employment meant people couldn't afford healthcare, and that would see a spike in diseases in most urban areas.  To make matters worse, the government wanted to start slashing spending on everything, the CDC included, when it would need more money just to fight the new outbreaks of everything from STDs to tuberculosis to swine flu.

After spending almost half an hour reading the major stories of the day and sorting through his mail, Dr. Frieden pulled up his email on his desktop.  The crisp blue background featured the CDC's seal in the center, slowly rotating as he clicked on his email inbox.  Most of it was the same routine messages from doctors within the CDC, some were from others reporting dangerous cases of diseases on the Center's watch-list, and the rest was from people he knew or who were interested in a job.  One, however, was red-flagged as important, and the address listed it as coming from Vice Admiral Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General of the United States.  The email was short and to the point.  V. Admiral Benjamin wanted a minimum of five volunteers from the CDC to participate in a long-term operation for the government to serve as crisis management personnel for emergency situations.  She also explained that because of the nature of the project, it was to remain a secret, but the President had asked for non-military personnel to be included. 

Leaning back in his chair, Dr. Frieden pondered this.  Something big... requiring a minimum of five doctors specifically from the CDC.  He would need to carefully consider this before he sent a list back to Regina.  No doubt she would be putting out feelers in other civilian foundations, as well as within the military.  The military had some of the best trauma doctors in the world, so it would make sense to call upon them.  But the five doctors from the CDC would probably be best put to use in disease management and containment.  Quarantines and the like.  He was already working on a list of possible candidates when his secretary arrived.  He was almost done when she came in with a message, "Doctor?  You've got a call coming in from Los Angeles.  They say it's important."

Looking at his list, Dr. Frieden hmmed, then handed it to her, "Send that list to Vice Admiral Benjamin please.  And transfer the call to my phone in here."

"Yes, Doctor."



If ever there were a place hit hardest by the economic problems, Los Angeles was it.  While certainly a focal point of culture and business even in such a dire economy, the City of Angels had certainly taken a hit.  While the city itself contained over 3.7 million people, it's proximity to Long Beach and Riverside made it the second largest metropolitan area in the United States.  With so many people of different backgrounds living in such proximity, it was easy for tempers to sometimes boil over, and with the economy spiraling down, riots were becoming all too commonplace.

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officer Joey Hernandez was on the front lines of the daily battle for control, as violence within the poorer districts broke free of the now almost common police checkpoints.  Dirty, hungry, and often extremely pissed, each person Joey arrested ended up just like the others, stuffed in an overcrowded jail cell until either a place was found further along in the system or released because there was too little evidence.  The ones that got released sometimes got arrested just because they got a free shower, bed and meal for the night, so they were becoming frequent customers.  Eventually, they'd use up their free tickets and find themselves in prison for a long time.

They were on their way to another riot when the van suddenly veered out of traffic and stopped.  Each officer started bitching, wondering what was going on, until they realized that the sound they heard was bullets pinging off the armor of their vehicle.  And from the sound, there were multiple shooters.  Spinning in their seats, each officer began looking out the armored windows to spot the shooters, only to see nothing but traffic.  Whoever was shooting was concealed, probably with long-range rifles.  From the confusion and screaming, it was getting hard to spot any small movements beyond the crowd.

More rounds pinged off the armor, and another officer, Pete Johnson, fired a short, concentrated burst from his MP5 towards a dark area across the street where he thought he'd seen movement through the slits in the armored van's armor.  Nothing moved, but the shots continued, aiming for the glass and the slits, slowly zeroing in.  "We're sitting ducks out here!" Joey called, "Get us out of here!"

The armored van lurched into motion, and the rounds started raining harder as the van crossed the street, attempting to get closer to the location of the shots.  As they got nearer one of the apartments, fire slacked off, but didn't entirely end.  Joey, as team leader, called out, "Get us to those apartments.  The shooters might be inside."  The driver obeyed, pulling as close as he could without backing up and putting the bulk of the van between the shooters and the doors.  Throwing the doors open, Joey yelled, "MOVE MOVE MOVE! INTO THE BUILDING!"  The eight person squad rushed in, one staggering as a round hit him, but he didn't go down.  They ran inside and Joey ordered, "Search each room, find the shooters!"

Breaking into each room, the stunned occupants screamed and threw anything they could at the officers, causing confusion and mayhem as they searched.  Joey joined, going floor to floor, most turning up dead ends.  Joey was on point when he kicked in a door, yelling, "POLICE HANDS UP!" only to receive a .357 magnum straight to the chest.  The Kevlar armor he wore, plus the metal shock plates, saved his life, but barely.  He landed in the hallway just as automatic and shotgun fire poured into the room, shredding the interior.  The shooter was dead before he hit the ground, the bolt action rifle he'd been holding landing beside him.

Joey was dazed as a hand reached down to help him up, along with a thickly accented, "You alright, Boss?"

Joey got up and winced, feeling a few broken ribs.  Even with the shockplate, the kinetic energy from the round had shattered at least two ribs.  "I'll be fine.  Keep searching and everyone be careful."  Joey had no idea that throughout the city, officers were responding to similar situations as the normal riots began to turn even more deadly.  Even if he'd known, there was little he could do.  He and his men were taking out armed gunmen who'd brazenly fired on officers in broad daylight, who'd chosen the wrong target.  The driver was thankful the glass was armored, because if not, he reckoned he'd be dead.
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Roo

I'd be interested in this as well. Do you want character sheet submissions sent to you by PM or posted in this thread?
"Are you crazy, is that your problem?" -Jack Burton

GloomCookie

In this thread please.  That way people will see other people interested.
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Roo

Proposed Character



Madeline’s scars are the result of an encounter with a domestic violence assailant. The man had been subdued by the police, and cuffed, but his wife was not. High on methamphetamine, the woman mistook Madeline’s proximity to her husband for some type of attempt to harm him, or perhaps seduce him. The woman attacked Madeline with a knife she had kept hidden on her person and was able to get in a few slashes, which Madeline blocked with her right arm. The scars still mark her relatively pale skin.



Background:

Madeline is single and devoted to her work. She spends most of her free time hiking and cycling, so she stays in relatively good shape, something she views as essential to her work. Aside from her aging mother, she has no close relatives and leads a rather solitary life that involves her hobbies and occasional volunteer work at local animal shelters.



Character Image (her hair is more reddish):


Edit: Added scar explication, short background information and a character image.
"Are you crazy, is that your problem?" -Jack Burton

GloomCookie

Any additional information you want to provide is entirely up to you.  I'd prefer illustrated pictures over real photographs, because too many people tend to favor celebrities for my tastes. 
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Kuje


Kuje

Stupid question here but on the sheet for contact info, does that mean contact info for the next of kin or contact info for my character?

dakabn

Quote from: Roo on July 31, 2011, 07:29:44 PM
Proposed Character

Linna, can you let us know if you'd like some background story in addition to the information on the sheet and/or if you'll want character pictures, and if so if you favor photographs over illustrations? Thanks!


How'd you get the text on top of there? I'm a designer so I know I could do it in photoshop or something, but if there's a editable PDF that'd be AWESOME.

Roo

Quote from: dakabn on August 01, 2011, 04:01:33 PM
How'd you get the text on top of there? I'm a designer so I know I could do it in photoshop or something, but if there's a editable PDF that'd be AWESOME.

I just inserted text on top of the image in a photo editor. So it took a little while. Wasn't too bad though. Sadly I've no PDF to offer.  :-(
"Are you crazy, is that your problem?" -Jack Burton


GloomCookie

Quote from: dakabn on August 01, 2011, 11:47:13 PM
Dare I try to make an editable file?

If you want to, sure.  I lost the original text file that I was using as a template, so you might want to try using the image and just letting people fill in over it.
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Roo

It might be good to have a small spot for background information on the sheet if possible; I've just modified my post above in order to include some background information on my character and also included a picture.
"Are you crazy, is that your problem?" -Jack Burton

GloomCookie

I think everyone's missing the point in that you can just write out what your sheet says rather than trying to stuff it on the original image XD so just do that.  Any additional info is up to you.
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abandoneddolly

interested I'll come up with a character when I can.

Kuje

I can post my char shortly. Just was still confused about the next of kin part that I asked earlier. Otherwise, I'm done but will add a few lines for desc/background.

GloomCookie

Quote from: Kuje on August 03, 2011, 06:05:47 PM
I can post my char shortly. Just was still confused about the next of kin part that I asked earlier. Otherwise, I'm done but will add a few lines for desc/background.

Sorry missed your question.  Um, just imagine where your next of kin might live.
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MajorTeroh

(minus animal ears of course)

Last Name: Teroh     First Name: Nicole     Middle Initial N/A
DOB: Oct. 4, 1984     City of Birth: Wilson     State of Birth NC
Height: 5'10"     Weight: 170     Hair Color Naturally Auburn     Eye Color Amber   
Distinguishing Characteristics:
    (x) Tattoos- Has the insignia of her unit on her upper left arm
    (x) Scars- Has several scars from a troubled youth. Also has shrapnel scars along her              collar bone, throat, and left cheek from an IED that was detonated during one of                her combat tours, along with two scars from gunshot wounds. The first is located                on the right side of the chest, on the inner curve of her breast. The second is                      located on the right portion of the collar bone.
    (_) Piercings- N/A
    (_) Amputations- N/A
    (_) Birth Defects- N/A
    (_) Birth Marks- Has a small, red area of flesh on the center of her brow that appears               when she becomes flushed.
Body Type: Slightly above average height, with a toned and fit body due to her years of                       military service and conditioning. Leg and arm muscles are well developed,                         more notably the legs due to a focus on long distance running.
Occupational Experience:
    (_) Construction
    (_) Private Investigator
    (_) Survival Instructor
    (_) IT Technician
    (_) Martial Artist
    (_) Law Enforcement
    (_) Paramedic
    (_) Engineer
    (_) Security Guard
    (_) Farmer
    (x) Military
Have you been convicted of a felony? No
If yes, for what crimes? N/A

Medical History:

Next of Kin: Reggie McLaughlin     Relation to NoK:Sister
Blood Type: AB

Other Important Medical Information:

Partial loss of hearing in left ear and minor loss of mobility in right shoulder.

Personal History:

Nicole grew up as a child of divorced parents. She was raised by a distant mother. By her teenage years Nicole was involved heavily in drinking, violence, and on her 16th birthday was involved in a robbery that resulted in her receiving two gunshot wounds. Put into a juvenile detention center after she her recovery, she was kept there until her 18th birthday when she was released. With no true options to keep her off of the streets, she joins the military shortly after. Moving through basic training with a determination to create a better life for herself, Nicole was completed the course with commendations from her commanding officers and was given the rank of lance corporal in the Marines. Serving multiple tours throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, Nicole received recognition for exceptional services when she was wounded by and explosive while serving as a key factor in the survival of her fellow squadmates during a firefight. Continuing her service with the Marines after recovery, Nicole had been promoted to the rank of staff sergeant when she received the notification that she was to a part of the Gibraltar Project.

Major T's O/O
Look in my O/O's for a couple general plot cravings.

Kuje



Last Name: Haroldson      First Name: Christina         Middle Ini: V
DOB: June 15th, 1975         City of Birth: Chicago      State of Birth: Illinois
Current Residence: Chicago
Height: 5 Feet, 4 Inches   Weight: 120 Pounds           Hair Color: Blonde         Eye Color: Blue
Tattoo and piercings. Silver studs piercings in ears. Tattoo of a snake around right ankle.
Paramedic/Nurse. Two years experience.
Blood Type: O
Never been convicted of a felony.
Next of Kin: Elizabeth      Relation to NoK: Mother
Contact Information: Chicago, Illinois.

List of Medication: Only for blood pressure.
No family history of cancer.
Diseases: High blood pressure. Sometimes bouts of low blood sugar that can cause dizziness. Not diabetic.

Her blonde hair is below her shoulders. The colors of the snake tattoo are green and red.

Her father is deceased and she is an only child with no spouse or children. Mother is still alive but subject lives alone due to spending most of her time at the hospital or being on call.