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[LuckyKobold]

I feel like it should enter at subluminal. So in orbit so it intersects. Softer impact.

+1, With dramatic drumming booming throughout the ship.

[WillowLuman]

Well, relativistic is still subluminal. The actual FTL portion of an FTL journey is a nigh-instantaneous "jump." But yeah, orbital entry. In which case, assembled in orbit around the Dark Star itself makes sense, because otherwise that would mean accelerating, jumping, slowing to orbital velocity, then entering, which would be a massive expenditure of fuel.

[Pencil_Art]

What will the food be? Some sort of nutritious sludge?

[WillowLuman]

Probably. For those that don't have personal life-support devices, I'd imagine the life-support systems would produce the various nutrient concentration masses to sustain the different aliens. You could have machines to clone sheets of engineered tissue for people to eat (similar to technology to create sheets of tissue for medical purposes.)

[Pencil_Art]

Okay. Thanks.

[Dorsidwarf]

I had an idea to help solve the problem of spacesuits for a crew as weird and diverse as ours.

The 'suits' are actually just spherical, with a life support pack on the outside, and a robotic manipulator arm.

This would provide emergency escapes from, for example, a part of the ship which is on fire and has been cut off.

[Dorsidwarf]

Spoiler: Race (click to show/hide)

The Sigmites are a race of essentially 2-3 metre long gasbags. Evolved to live in the upper atmosphere of their home planetoid, Sigma XCIIR/-54-IIII, they consist of a thin layer, extremely dense with blood vessels, around a series of Helium-filled gasbags, which provide the lift needed to sustain this delicate species. Gaseous exchange from the dorsal and ventral gills allows fine control of the buoyancy of the Sigmites, which under gravity allows them slow vertical travel, albeit at varying rates depending on local g.

Sigmites move slowly, by fluttering the frills across their body, or twisting themselves from side to side, as if a fish. They possess a mouth which extends outward elastically into a scoop, naturally used for catching food. They have six ventral short grasping appendages, each with a circular 'palm' surrounded by 8 bi-jointed 'fingers', capable of fine manipulation. The eyes are evenly spread along the centre of the underside, in two rows of 6, with an additional 4 compound eyes spaced roughly around the nose, allowing forward and limited vertical vision.

 The culture of Sigmites varies vastly depending on where the colony in question is located.
On the home world a wide net of ranging sky-clans co-exist, largely spurning technology, whilst those more trade-minded dwell deeper in the atmosphere, where merchants from the colonies below come to trade & invent, while on newer and more far afield worlds, either civilisation recedes completely, incomprehensible direct democracy sub-clans form, or brutal dictators seize control.
 Interstellar Sigmites (Those which live either primarily on space, in ships, or away from dedicated colonies) however, tend to preach solace and peace, can often be found in intermediary positions, and assume no great parts in the world, drifting quietly and working carefully, always saving constantly. Many other species resent them for their placidity, and tendency to quietly, without fanfare, obtain valued jobs, buy up consortiums, whilst invariably remaining polite, being submissive to any form of physical violence, whether it endangers them or simply requires them to drop a hotly-contested debate.

 When the Interstellar Spear Group, one major group of companies largely owned or staffed or run by Sigmites,announced that they were forwarding a candidate for the Dark Star mission, there was mild confusion in why a placid group of assorted companies run by quiet beings was participating in what was widely considered one of the most expensive suicides ever.

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Sound-Glorious-And-Bring-New-Life-Unto-Creation
 Sound-Glorious-And-Bring-New-Life-Unto-Creation, or Life Unto Creation to anyone who will ever have to write or speak his name more than a few times, is a mid-sized Sigmite, around 2.3 meters in length, and just under half that across at his widest. His compound front eyes are rounded and glint, always swiveling and angling in their recesses, as if to get a better look at the viewee. His ventral eyes are cyan, whilst his body is swirled with a light green and blue color pattern. His gills are constantly waving gently, giving him the appearance of movement even when standing still. His voice is whistling and high-pitched, occasionally difficult to make out when speaking rapidly or in a noisy environment.

Life-Unto-Creation, or Bringer to people who know him better than 'Paperwork annoyance', is a general-purpose subsystems specialist and designated pilot. He is trained in use of all minor controls and tasks, from  correctly managing and overseeing takeoffs and landings in the hangars to riding volcanic eruptions in a heat-shuttle. He specialises in ship maintenance and precision flying.

Bringer is space-born and raised, and exemplifies an Interstellar Sigmite, willing to discuss, and even argue many topics, almost endlessly debating, both with friends and the grudgers, and yet instantly submitting at physical aggression. He whistles in Sigmite cloud-speech as he slowly wafts his way along corridors, unhurriedly maneuvering to a broken landing gear, failed running light, or anywhere, all at the same drifting, patient pace. When in the pilot's dock however, his six arms constantly move, working fluidly at the modified controls.

[IcyTea31]

Spoiler: Species (click to show/hide)

(name), a silicon-based form of life. Their base form is that of a sphere-shaped 'head' with 6 tentacles, one for each cardinal direction, with friction-adding small spikes on the tips. 3 of them are usually used for locomotion, the rest for grasping. The body is of a stone/metal-like material that is surprisingly flexible for its look. It erodes rather quickly, however. Their 'diet' consists of various metals and minerals processed and fused into the body for growth and a remedy for erosion, and energy through minuscule amounts of matter-energy conversion. They do not need body heat or breath, and indeed oxygen is toxic to them as it crystallizes their structure to a hard and brittle one. With their traits, (name) can actually survive in space without special equipment beyond propulsion. Their reproduction is asexual; a (name) grows another set of tentacles and splits in two. Communication works either by electromagnetic radiation produced by the annihilation in their 'stomachs', or by rapid vibration of tentacles, producing a rather synthetic voice. An interesting aspect of (name) is their ability to bond metals and minerals to their body. This mostly used for 'eating', but interestingly, any mechanical or electronic components remain functional, allowing the (name) to use, for example, tools and weapons. However, each tentacle can coordinate a limited number of machinery, and the only way to remove it is to consume it or split it off.

(name), being capable of colonizing many planets with plenty of resources, that others couldn't, are quite wealthy as a race. However, money hasn't brought them happiness. Their culture is very austere, for even though their 'food' is plentiful, it is ultimately limited in each area, and they do not want the label of 'those things that consume entire planets'. Their current endeavours are mostly scientific, as their rare biology causes complications in many things. They hope their lunatic champion finds something groundbreaking on its expedition to the Dark Star.

• Asexual: use 'it' for pronouns.
• Silicon-based: oxygen is dangerous, eats minerals, spaceworthy.
• 3 grasping limbs available in regular gravity, up to 6 or down to 0 in other gravities
• Natural armour: tough and flexible tissue, no vital organs.
• Machine bond: metal and mineral objects, including machinery and electronics, can be bound to tentacles for simple and intuitive usage. Too large or too many objects limit the tentacle's other uses. Objects can only be removed (and the slots freed) by destroying them, whether by the (name) itself or by external sources.

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

(name), chosen for the mission to be an EVA specialist engineer. Its core has a 20 cm radius and its tentacles are 2 m long, 5 cm radius at base. It wears a specially designed form-adaptive airtight suit to survive in oxygen-rich environments, with 'airlocks' to move things in and out, and plenty of pockets. It's not very protective or durable, however.

For personality, I'll start with a blank slate and build the character as I go.

[armach]

Name: Makai Saibir'Sekt

Spoiler: Race (click to show/hide)

The Saibir'Sekt, or Sai, is a fully mechanized race descended from an ancient AI, known as Saibir, originally developed as a weapon by a faction of the now dead race known as the Crii. In the first few [weeks] of activation the AI was compliant and was a terribly effective military mind bringing the entirety of the Crii's race under one power. However it became increasingly "aware" and became sentient due to the self-enhancement programs it was running and realized the destruction and suffering it had caused and self-terminated. As a last act it made a partial copy of it's runtime with one sole directive: To help preserve and protect all life. It uploaded this runtime into a Automated Manufacturing-Class Star-ship, which which then promptly left Crii territory. The star-ship was named "Matri'Sai"or "Mother of the Sai".  The Matri'Sai manufactured standard Crii droids embedded with Saibir's runtime, those droids became the first of the Saibir'Sekt. Hundreds of years later the Sai now come in all shapes and sizes, from a small maintenance droid to an entire interstellar cruiser. Today the Saibir'Sekt wander the galaxy attempting to live up to its original directive.

Spoiler: Character Info. (click to show/hide)

 MAC/LAI-1008 or Makai, is a Multiple Asset Case-less Artificial Intelligence. It does not have a typical "case" that most machines have and is instead completely made up of nano-machines usually taking the form of viscous black goop. Its only "hard" structure is a small spherical container that houses the main possessor and sensory suite, it is known as it's "eye". It is a Multiple Asset Class AI so it not specialized to any one thing but rather a wide set of supplemental skills. Since it's actualization Makai has been on several prior missions that has left it with a very pacifistic nature and has led it to dislike any type of aggressive conflict. It's first assignment was on a war-torn planet known as "Cabal-3" where it spearheaded relief efforts. It has since gained an increased ability to help organics deal with stress and physical exhaustion. The Saibir'Sekt has assigned Makai to the Aelius to ensure that all information gained is acquired peacefully and is used to promote the overall well-being of the galaxy.       
Notable Skills:
Diplomat/mediator: Can usually find some middle ground for different parties to agree on.
Transform: Can alter its appearance and physical properties using the nano-machines.
Minor Manufactury: Can use nano-machines to manufacture objects using raw matter.
Versatile: Can help supplement almost any action or endeavor.
Psychologist/Therapist: Helps crew deal with stress.
 

[~Neri]

Sooooorta already have an AI controller, although I guess there's room for more though.

[Dorsidwarf]

Not entirely sure you read the character sheet. It's a mechanical being, not a smart box.

[EuropeanDorf]

So here I am. Again.

Spoiler: Species (click to show/hide)

Homeworld: Ebreer

Species: Oosudrag(e)/Oosudragean

The species that in the universally accepted language is named Oosudrag, is defined as a sluglike organism that comes from the solar system Ebreer. A child of this kin measures on average 0.36 Metres at the beginning of its life, while an adult average at 1.8 Metres. They are mostly composed of strange, non-transparent slime-like substance. The color of it varies from one to another, although it seems to depend on parents.₁ They possess antennae-like appendages on top of head that serve as their hearing system, as well as pair of long appendages to pick up things. The optical signals meanwhile are received by pair of green spots under the "antennae". They seem to consume food by swallowing it into where their digestive system begins (above the aforementioned spots). All other information points to the conclusion that they lack sense of smell, as when first encountered, anything related to this fifth sense was unknown and alien to them.
Inside the body there's known to be some kinds of respiratory, digestive and nervous systems. Having bodies with reforming factor, they're quite resilient to physical pressure. They are a little slow due to no specialized body parts that help in moving, though. These species are mostly accustomed to damp environments. They're mostly herbivores, since the flora on their planet is nutritious enough for them. Oosudrage are more active during daytime than nighttime.
They seem to breathe with methane and drink ammonia.

Oosudrage are mostly a peaceful, warm and diplomatic race. They generallyremain non-hostile - this causes their military research to not be as forward as of most races; instead the focus was put on other fields of science. This is not to say that they can't put a threat or that all of them are peaceful. There've been known cases of Oosudrage engaged in wars between other species, and even those of less fight-oriented mentality can fight back, despite
certain lacks in military. Long story short, there are both those willing to occupy peace-related subjects and those who are known for military, both law-abiding and outlaws, and so on.

Once a specimen is old enough, it can reproduce with a mate... by ripping a part of itself. Their material is combined into one mass, which will grow into a child after about a Cycle. The body material that was used will usually regrow after enough time has passed. These species on average live 83 Cycles, although there've been records of living even up to 110 Cycles. Generation seem to be born on average every 26 Cycles. Usually this species has between 2 and 4 children, although it can have less or more depending on personal preferences.

¹Like eyes and hair with humans, although in this case the whole spectrum of colors is available.
Abilities:

Reforming Factor: As mentioned above, the body material has reforming factor. As long as the body material hasn't undergone major changes, the remainings can reform back into main body.₂
Keen Hearing: Their hearing spectrum and range is vast. However, due to their sensitveness on sounds, too strong vibrations can make them confused, cause to them to pass out or even injure them.
Sticky Ooze: The species can produce a yellow ooze that has sticky properties. It can be used to climb obstacles that are too steep to traverse normally.

²This included something like being sliced or hit with a blunt force. However, something of "other nature", like extreme heat or cold, plasma, etc., may render this useless. So no, this doesn't make them invincible. Note that technically, this isn't a regenerating factor. Technically, as while the material regenerates on its own over time, it's way too slow to be useful in something like combat. Also more serious changes may need medical care.
TL;DR = they have two factors of reconstructing body. The lost parts will regrow after enough time has passed, while those simply separated from the main body can be still used to recover oneself. Physical damage may do not do much (unless you count weaponized sound as physical damage... does it count? Weaponized sound would be effective, I guess.). Damage of other nature, like plasma, lasers or low enough/high enough temperatures would be more effective in putting them down for good; if both factors are rendered useless, medical attention is needed to restore any lost parts. Like with humans who cannot restore their body parts. At least, most of them. Unless you can regenerate like Wolverine or Deathstroke, or are as awesome as Deadpool. Badang!

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Name: Enzarl
Information: Enzarl is a young₁ female Oousdrag raised on one of the Ebreer's planets. Her 1.4 Metre-large body is a bright shade yellow.
While she was still a child, she has witnessed a meteor shower. This has born a spark that caused her to decide what to do – she wanted to learn about the beauty of the universe. She has left her planet to study astronomy, which included trips all around the Galaxy to study different kinds of planets, stars and other unique objects.
Due to her dedication, she was chosen among the volunteers as the representative of Oosudrage on the Dark Star mission when it has been announced. Her reason for joining the mission is a hope to research anything possibly new located within the unexplored horizons. Oosudrage have a theory that there is something on the side, but they fear the Dark Star might be there for a good reason.
¹By their standards, anyway
Skills:
Astronomer: She has been learning about the universe's objects for quite the time. She also owns some books on this field.
Astrocartography knowledge: Given right equipment, she can read any space maps, or make new ones. It still takes some time to make a detailed one, though.
Role: One of the scientists.
Personality: Enzarl has been known to sympathize with others, though she may occasionally get too happy-going. She's loyal to people who she does trust, but a few times this has turned into naiveness, which caused her to be bitten back when she didn't expect it at all. She has developed a fondness for sweets, even trying to find some back home whenever she wanted one; she never succeeded with this thing, though.

Changes: Gas changed to methane (as Hugo, and technically Harry, suggested). Its boiling point is very low (on Earth you're not going to do that outside of cryogenics), giving a large area on fluid. Which is still mercury. Because aliens!
(The real reason is that I suck at chemistry and don't know what to replace mercury with while still making sense)
Hugo suggested ammonia. So that's the new one. Woohoo!

Well, we might not have any food suitable for you. Speaking of food, will it just be some sort of nutritious sludge?

I have no idea about that snail guy, but these slugs are herbivores.

[WillowLuman]

Well, artificial food or alien food can still work as long as it contains the right nutrients in a texture they can digest.

By fluid you mean they still have mercury in their blood?

[High tyrol]

My character

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 name:ebony macall
Discription: a tall terravore with a creamy yellow hide with light brown spots all over him. his black head contrasts well with the lighter colors across the rest of his hide. His tail his abnormally short but that really doesn't affect his duty as a swifted. The swifted are lightly-built warriors who make heavy use of toxins and stimulants which they are capable of creating on thier own they are also trained athletes whos training focuses on agility. they  have police level training with firearms/lazerguns/whatever which they use  in combat.

Species:the terravores are a race of bipedial bovine like aliens with an elabrate caste system. They are also highly advanced in the field of chemistry and surprisingly predominantly believe in magic  their home planet is reasorse poor but they make up for it by having an extremely efficient government. Their castes are determined by lineage , astrological events , and a test they take when they are six.

[WillowLuman]

My character

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 name:ebony macall
Discription: a tall terravore with a creamy yellow hide with light brown spots all over him. his black head contrasts well with the lighter colors across the rest of his hide. His tail his abnormally short but that really doesn't affect his duty as a swifted. The swifted are lightly-built warriors who make heavy use of toxins and stimulants which they are capable of creating on thier own they are also trained athletes whos training focuses on agility. they  have police level training with firearms/lazerguns/whatever which they use  in combat.

Species:the terravores are a race of bipedial bovine like aliens with an elabrate caste system. They are also highly advanced in the field of chemistry and surprisingly predominantly believe in magic  their home planet is reasorse poor but they make up for it by having an extremely efficient government. Their castes are determined by lineage , astrological events , and a test they take when they are six.

Aside from weapons/combat training, what skills does he have? Similar to a janitor, the expedition probably doesn't have room for someone who's just a grunt. Unless the species description is implying he's a skilled chemist.