Now that exams are done, some test results are in, and I can legally drive, it's time to actually update this thing...
Superblast didn't post anything specific about his powers. I'll retcon something in if he posts again.
Roll 24Name: Russano Neskratt
Race: Aldros II, Unknown Origin
Abilities: (Active)
-
Breeze of Life -
Flash Portal -
Lightning Bolt -
Twisted Transistor - -
Spell Flux [1/2] -
Universal Clock -
I Like These Odds (Toggle)Traits: -
Diplomat -
Ironmind -
Warlock -
PsiboundInventory: +
"Torque" Chainsword +
Ceremonial Battle Robe -
Black Clothing +
Bandages (clothing) (8/8) -
Holo-President -
Lesser Warp CrystalConditions:0x
Twisted Transistor Charge Name: Steven Cobalt
Race: Polarian
Abilities: -
Cryokinesis [0/3] -
TeleWARp -
Rejuvenation - -
MorphTraits: -
Ladies' Man -
Professional Artifact Hunter -
DIY or Die -
I'm Older Than You, I Swear Inventory: x
'Hot Lead' Revolvers (6/6) (6/6)
x 40x Lead Revolver Round
x Sniper Rifle (4/5)
x 2x 14mm Rifle Magazine
x Kevlar Jacket
x Police Kevlar Jacket and Uniform
x Scoggles
- Borealis Jumpsuit
Conditions:
Morph (Active) (CHARISMA Bonus: 0)
Name: Davis Theul
Race: Edgeworlds, Sirian Father
Abilities: -
Telepathy [0/3] - -
Tagging (Passive)Traits: -
Military Training -
Electrician -
Tactician -
Never Bring a Knife to a GunfightInventory: +
Marktan Combat Armor X
TR4 Assault Rifle (30/30) - 2x 30 Round Plasma Round Magazine
-
R341 Rocket Gun (2/2) -
Handyman's Tools Name: Ryan
Race: Unknown
Abilities: -
Pyrokinesis [0/3] -
Technopathic [0/3] -
Healing -
BurnoutTraits: -
Backtrack -
Perception -
Instant Reflexes -
Lack of Common Sense -
AmnesiaInventory: -
Ragged ClothesConditions: Name: Dominic Zoshan
Race: Ross/Polarian
Abilities (Human Form): -
Geokinesis [1/3] - -
Discipline of FormTraits (Human Form): -
Gentleman (+1 Gentleman Points) -
Duelist -
PoliteAbilities (Myslef Form): -
Metallokinesis [0/3] --
Seismic Slam --
Bladestorm -
Entropy LeechTraits (Myslef Form): -
Epicenter of Rage (0 Fury)*Inventory: +
Gunberd - 20x Gunberd Round
-
Armored Trenchcoat and Top Hat -
Repair Kit - 3x Large Paper Cup
-- Popcorn
-
=Granite Dagger=Conditions: -----
-----TIME: 0634 GST-----
-----DATE: 28|3|4942----
----CREW STATUS----
-DECK-
Cpt. Neskratt, Russano [OK]
1st. Mate Astley, Ronald [OK]
2nd. Mate Geminus, Solomon [OK]
3rd. Mate Astley, Daniel [ON LEAVE]
-ENGINEERING-
Chf. Oktar, Richard [OK]
Travelmaster Reynolds, Lawrence [OK]
-RESEARCH-
Chf. Anyas, Horatio [OK]
Tech. Anyas, Elise [OK]
Cad. Orion, Marcus [IN MED BAY]
-MISC-
Cook Antioch, Bart [OK]
Dr. Rogers, Calvin [UNAVAILABLE]
Crewman Phillips, Jack [OK]
Crewman Jackson, Herman [OK]
Crewman Yamato, Janet [OK]
Pilot Teno, Ares [OK]
-UNAFFILATED-
Theul, Davis [GUEST]
Ryan, Ryan [GUEST]
Zoshan, Dominic [GUEST]
Cobalt, Steven [IN CRYO]
-----
As its voyage drew to a close, the crew of the
Borealis began to make preparations. Cargo was tied down and loose objects were placed into boxes and lockers to prevent them from flying all over the crew quarters when manuvers were made.
In a dimly lit room close to the research wing,
Steven slowly regained consciousness. As he realized he was still alive, he became aware that he was submerged in a tub of viscous fluid. Contrary to his instincts, his lungs made no demands for air. He saw foam at the surface of the vat he was in, moving with the current made by tubes that constantly refreshed the breathing fluid. He tried to lift himself out of the tub, but his skin stung with immense pain as he raised it out and touched the metal rail.
This troubled him, but it wouldn't kill him, he thought. He tried again until he could ignore the pain. Then, lifting his head above the water, he saw the image of himself reflected off the clear patches in the water. His skin was blue and spotted with patches of necrosis and mold.
"I'm ugly!" he croaked. Immediatedly, Steven called on his ability to regenerate damage and focused on regenerating his outer appearance. Meanwhile, he attepted to make sense of what had just happened. He remembered a lady, a beautiful lady, and then flashing lights and unconsciousness.
As his skin reformed, he found a jumpsuit hanging on the wall and put that on.
-----
Davis had meditated on his abilities for most of the voyage. Days of theorizing about the essence of psionics had given him deeper understanding of how his powers worked. More importantly, he also understood how other people's psionics worked. Observing the Travelmaster and the other psionics aboard allowed him to truly understand the way people created changes in their surroundings. His ability to affect people's minds, he believed, could be used to inhibit another person's abilities. Against an opponent like the woman at the tram station from a few days before, the ability to "silence" people, as Davis called it, would prove extremely useful. From a strategist's perspective, any amount of training dedicated to perfecting psionic skills in combat had an opportunity cost. Thus, nullifying a soldier's psionic training, if applicable, would always result in an advantage for him.
Now that he was done thinking about what
could be, it was time to test his powers on somebody expendable. None of the crewmen, unfortunately, had any abilities or potential, as he had determined. This left one option without compromising the ship: Steven.
Since Russano knocked Steven out, he had ordered for Steven to be put into cryo-stasis until the end of the voyage. This way, he wouldn't cause any trouble, especially with the female crew members.
Davis made his way to the room Steven was left in to thaw. He approached the door, but heard footsteps. Assuming it was Steven, he opened it and instead saw the accountant in the room, squeezing cryo-fluid out of her hair.
Immediately, he unslung the rifle from his shoulder and flipped off the safety.
How does he do it!? he thought.
-----
In the lab,
Dominic was helping Chief Scientist Anyas pack some alien granite back into a storage container. When they came to weigh the sample, however, Anyas noticed that he was missing about half a kilogram compared to what was originally in the container. Unaware of Dominic's powers, which would have made the culprit obvious, he asked Dominic,
"Mr. Zoshan, I think we missed a piece. Can you go look for it on the tables?".
Dominic clutched the stone dagger in his pocket.
-----
Over the course of the voyage,
Russano had been reading various entries about the Van Buren Mining Company in order to get a better understanding of who he and his team were going up against. The most useful entries, by far, were courtesy of the Freelancer's Union, an organization dedicated to helping new faces find their way around space.
He also brushed up on his basic history. The Van Buren company was undeniably guilty of heinous crimes against humanity. Russano regretted that even a milenium of technological advancement beyond what humanity has ever before known failed to produce a society where every person had dignity. Even with space travel, resources beyond abundance, and plenty of worlds to grow and expand into, governments are still overtaken by corruption--or at least, that's what the government of Aldros II thinks about the Ross.
For the purposes of the mission, Russano also worked to perfect his newfound spell flux perception. Knowing where the others are by simply feeling it meant that he could coordinate with them moe easily. And since the Van Buren company was owned by rich shareholders, Russano was bound to run into an elite mercenary or two with psionic powers.
Three hours before the ship was due to reenter space, Russano was sitting in a chair reading about political unrest in the Centauri Empire. Across the room,
Ryan happened to be sneaking into the shelves in order to return a book he had
borrowed the other hour. He had been doing this for the latter half of the trip, sneaking into the library when the coast was clear and grabbing books about the Ross, border worlds, and currently a biography of Steven Cobalt he found that was published twelve years ago.
Ryan didn't expect Russano to be there and catch a glimpse of him.
"You could simply ask, there's no need to be secretive about it."He quickly ran back to the shelves to return the book. Meanwhile, Russano recapped his studies: according to the Freelancer's Union, the primary workforce of the Van Buren company consists of poor inhabiants from border worlds mixed in with freelancers looking for quick work. The company's key interests are the asteroid belts in the Doradus system and neighboring stars, mining rare metals used in ship construction. They supply the Centauri government with these materials at reduced prices, so the Centauri government trusts them and will likely oppose anyone who aims to discredit the company.
The company's founder and president, Charles Van Buren, is a charismatic person who assimilated smaller businesses and unlawful groups to create a coalition of slave drivers, essentially. Their soldiers are a constant sight on all of their worlds and bases, working to maintain productivity near resource deposits and train for future encounters on mined out asteroids--now military bases. They do not use Centauri equipment. In fact, most of their bases are outside of the Centauri sphere of influence, avoiding inspections and the discovery of their general practices. They are still well-armed, but mostly due to their association with large pirate organizations.
Russano strategized for a moment. The location the
Borealis was travelling to was an old, rich asteroid base on the cusp of Centauri territory. If the Centauri military could be alerted somehow and persuaded to search the building, they could provide the distraction needed to sneak through security and connect to the local database. On the other hand, the relative age of the base has resulted in diminished competetive and unlawful activity surrounding it, and thus its defenses could be weaker than usual. He called the navigator on his communicator.
"Geminus, I need you to keep an eye out for Centauri patrols. They could be useful. Avoid them, of course, but I want to see if they could be used as a tool to help us.""Roger," he replied succinctly. Now Russano prepared to help ready the shuttle for take off and also check on the crewmen tasked to cover parts of the
Borealis in stealth paint. The plan was to hide the vessel near another asteroid and send out the shuttle. The shuttle's transponder was already masked as a friendly pirate vessel and one of the Queen's agents in the corresponding pirate faction had arranged for a meeting with the local administrator. One of the party members--most likely Steven--would be tasked with pretending to be a high-ranking pirate leader named
Azobos. The real Azobos was actually on a raid in a more remote system, but hiding this fact by detaining messengers was no issue. This mission had been planned out over a long period of time, Russano found.
As he began to put away the device, it shook in his hands.
"Captain Russano! The psion that attacked us, she's on the ship!" shouted Davis, through the speaker.
((EDIT: This... might be painful to look at. Be honest, is my writing tedious to read?))
Author
Topic: RTD 3 -- Space Wizards for Real (Read 66823 times)