Thrill of the Chase RP MA15+ (Language adult themes horror) IC (closed)

[James StarRunner]

"Thank you master Captain." Jaes nodded. "I am Jaesguamarj of tribe Yichu, clan Haveril, son of Nuwancii and I am told that you are looking for hard workers. I will serve you well and make up for your act of greatness."

[Sunblink]

Pandora Rosendahl strode down the ramp of the ship she just exited, sighing and rubbing her temples with two long, clever fingers. Around her, the docking bay was bustling with activity; people were occupying themselves by removing and transporting goods loaded onto the cargo ship she was once on. While the small, relatively unprotected cargo ship, only fortified with rudimentary artillery intended to ward off any space pirates, was hardly a pleasure-cruise vessel, Pandora found that it adequately provided her needs. Besides, it was one of the only ships that was available - most others didn't bother visiting her home planet. As long as Pandora reached her destination, she wasn't going to complain about the lack of frivolous luxuries. Plus the captain was fairly understanding about allowing her to hitch a ride, so the convenience more than compensated for the uncomfortable trip.

Pandora arched her back, shaking away the tension from her spine, and adjusted the enormous and gaudy rifle strapped to her back. Although it was intimidating in size and served as an effective weapon, the rifle was crude and primitive in comparison to the more technologically advanced types brandished by the guards. Other than that rifle, Pandora carried very little: a toolbox stuffed with the essential equipment, a bag of clothing draped over her shoulder, and the money she had saved for the occasion.

Sighing a little, Pandora looked around, busily striding in search of her next destination. If the instructions she received were correct, then she wouldn't have to look very far for The Thrill of the Chase. Ignoring the few stares she got for her luridly pink appearance (considering she was among a menagerie of alien species, these weren't as plentiful as she normally got), she started to look for a hologram or any indication of the ship. Occasionally, Pandora assessed the directions sketched onto the piece of lined paper in her hand. According to the captain of the cargo ship, The Thrill of the Chase was recruiting crewmen, so that would be her best bet.

[Cogidubnus]

"Oh, oh course." Ambrose said, sitting down and putting his hands in his lap. "I'll just wait here, then?"

As soon as Will left, the raccon's expression changed, more pensive than before, but still with the same genial expression. From inside the labcoat, he produced a number of papers that he set on the table, straightening them with a few taps before squaring them away in front of himself. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, his foot swinging in tune with an invisible beat.

[Paladin Sheppard]

'Edge of Nothing' Cafe

"Well Jaesguamarj...Did I say that right? Would you mind having a seat in here? I'm interviewing someone right now, once I'm done we can discuss your options."




Thrill of the Chase

Watching the Raccoon sitting at the table Will was using as a interviewing desk through the cafe's security cams Ephrael wondered what he was up to. "What are you up to..." She asked the holofield in front of her. An alarm notified her of the Raccoon's biometrics registering with a match and the associated file came up in a window in front.

"Lets see now....Theodore Ambrosius..." Reading through the rest Eph came to where Theo's education and employment record was and swore as the rest of the file was garbage. "Goddamn piece of junk hypercomms on this station..." The devil hybrid said at the ceiling of the bridge.


Docks


Pandora's question as to the whereabouts of the Thrill of the Chase, was quickly solved as the ship she had just left was sitting in the bay next to it, at least that's what the ships listing that was posted in a nearby sign said.

[James StarRunner]

Jaes nodded. "Yes, that is right. I will try to say your name right too, Captain Connor." Jaes sat in a booth nearby, watching everything around him. He felt a little out of place, he didn't even have any money to order food and people seemed to frown at him hunting down these things called 'pets'.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Keeping one eye on Jaes, Will made his way back to his table where Theo had laid out some sheets of paper. "Sorry about that Dr Ambrose, where were we?" He asked as he sat down opposite the raccoon in the lab coat.

[Sunblink]

Now that she had arrived at the Thrill of the Chase, Pandora took a moment to admire the impressive-looking vessel. This was definitely more advanced than the cargo ship. Analyzing the directions on that piece of paper one last time, Pandora pocketed it, then approached the door gingerly. She noticed a communications panel beside the door and pushed and held the button, speaking into the panel. "'Ello?"

[Boog]

Rekk celebrated getting his new job, primarily with alcohol but with no small amount of hitting on the bartender (not for any particular reason; his species didn't really go about things in such a way, he'd simply seen other species doing so and picked up the habit out of curiosity. He quickly found that it was fun, useful, and he had a bit of a knack for it, and he'd been doing it since, which just goes to show that we all find our niche wherever we can), starting arguments, and other forms of general pub activity that he so enjoyed. The Anomaly was the sort of bar that warned spacers of EXACTLY what it was; an unknown and usually dangerous section of an otherwise known quantity, best avoided unless you recognize it and go there regularly. Exactly the sort of place he loved to just wander in to; no matter how dangerous the regular crowd, there was rather little threat to be had from species you could probably lift one handed.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Celine headed back towards the bay area of the station. There was a supply depot closer to the cafe but she had her preference. As she walked she checked out the supply list and the credits available to get them with. Her eyes widened behind her sunglasses when she saw the figures she had to work with. The tales of the Thrill's success hadn't been exaggerated by much in the telling.

She quickly arrived at her favorite source of supplies. This was the smallest of the three but the proprietor was content to overcharge a lesser amount. "Hello Elf," came a voice like an avalanche from a dark corner of the shop. "I wasn't expecting to see you." Celine rolled her eyes, news of her resignation had traveled fast and Rocky was one who kept his fingers on the pulse of the station. Most people thought him slow and stupid just because he looked like a granite sculpture that the artist had abandoned halfway through, but he was one of the most observant beings around. "I'm on the Thrill of the Chase's account this time Rocky." She beamed her authorization to his computer.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Docking bay 25 'Thrill of the Chase'

Just where a normal flatscreen would be a holo field powered up showing Pandora a small furred face of some sort of marsupial humanoid.

"Hello! I'm Pilot Falco of The 'Thrill of the Chase'. Can I help you with something?"



Anomaly Bar and Casino

The bar was lit up normally except for a few corner booths where the lights had been turned down. The place was fairly empty bar the small crowd playing the betting machines in one corner. Two bar persons were on duty, one a brunette human female who would be considered cute, and a blond headed hybrid fox girl.



Rocky's Equipment and Supply

"I told Dante they were reading to much hentai..." The Man/mountain rumbled "now what can I do you for? I've not had the pleasure of supplying the 'Thrill' their last QM bought from Jamersons'" The granite shelled humanoid thumped its way over to the counter.

[Cogidubnus]

 "Of course!" Ambrose said, smiling, and he slid the shuffle of papers over to the Captain. "I'm sorry to say that my PDA has been mis-shipped and is currently floating around somewhere in Jupiter's upper atmosphere, but I did manage to bring my paperwork with me. I don't have a lot of experience, but I have graduated with an M.D. and a specialization in the care of Trauma patients." he rubbed the back of his head. "I've never actually served as a crewmemeber on a ship, I'm sorry to say, but I have interned for a fair bit on the Black Schiest. This would probably be my first real commission, so let's hope I impress, eh?" he gave a crooked smile.

"You are looking for a ship's doctor, yes?" he said, resting his hands on the table.

[Paladin Sheppard]

"I'm a basic medic but yes we are looking for a trained doctor" Will picked up the papers and read through them. "You may want to buy a new PDA, I mostly pay directly to accounts, you really don't want to be carrying around the amount of credits we sometimes earn on a job."

"As for it being your first time out, that's ok most of the people we are getting are." Will paused waiting for Ephrael add any comments, but received nothing over his comms. "Well Doctor I'll give you a...Oh shoot no PDA, wait where are you staying at them moment?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Celine stepped up to one of the shopping terminals she muttered something under her breath of which the only word audible sounded a lot like calamari. As the terminal accepted her authorization and screens began flashing she responded "They seem to be pretty much out of everything at the moment so we can start with the basics and I'll improvise from there until I get a feel for the ship. I don't even have a ships roster at the moment to know if I have any special needs to deal with."

[Sunblink]

Pandora nearly squeaked in surprise as the furred visage of the anthropomorphic marsupial flashed onto the console, but managed to censor her reaction to a slightly uncomfortable look. This was probably common among those new to intergalactic travel and alien species, so she didn't let this break of composure bother her. Deep down, she was truly fascinated, even in her discomfort.

"Ah, yeah," Pandora murmured in her unfamiliar dialect, resting her rifle against her shoulder. "I'm here f'r t' apply f'r a job as an engineer." Just to make sure, Pandora flashed the identification card she had in her hand in front of the screen. Her picture and personal information were all listed on the laminated surface. "I hear y' needed one?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

Rocky's Equipment and Supply

The screen quickly showed two windows, one marked ship's supply and the other as crew purchasable:


Ship's Supply:

Consumables
Oxygen Mix 2000 credits per ton
Food (Synth-Meats) 10 credits per kilo
Food (Prime Meats) 100 credit per kilo
Food (Essential cereals and vitamin boosted foods) 800 credits per ton
Food (Fruit and Vegetables) 10 Credits per kilo)
Water (Ice) 3000 credits per ton

Spare Parts Packs
Shuttles 10,000 credits per pack
Cargo ships (Small) 30,000 credits per pack
Cargo ships (Medium) 70,000 Credits per pack
Cargo ships (Large) Unavailable no stock at this time
Cargo ships (Ultra)  Unavailable no stock at this time
Universal EVA suit oxygen replenishment pack 700 per pack


Crew purchasable:

PDAs

Basic replacement PDA (Includes data recovery)  100 credits
Mid range PDA (Boosted Comms, data transfer, file storage, and increased hack protection) 200 credits
Top Range/Military Grade (Further Comms range, data, files, hack protection and includes increased EMP hardening) 3000 credits (Currently out of stock)

Tool kits:
Basic 50 Credits
Mid sized (Includes basic diagnostic attachments for a PDA and more tools) 150 Credits
Large (Includes fine grain sensors and attachments for a PDA, has most tools available) 750 credits (out of stock)

EVA suits:

Hedain-Kellar Armorworks:
Basic lvl 1 suit. Minimal kinetic shielding, no armor. 500 credits
Light lvl 1 suit. Minimal kinetic shielding, thin armor, maximum mobility. 750 credits
Light lvl 2 suit. weak kinetic shielding, thin armor, maximum mobility. 1500 credits
Light lvl 3 suit. Light kinetic shielding, thin armor, maximum mobility. 4000 credits
Light lvl 10 suit (Mil grade). High capacity kinetic shielding, improved light armor, maximum mobility, enhanced strength (+1) 120,000 credits
Medium lvl 1 suit. Minimal kinetic shielding, medium armor, high mobility. 1000 credits
Medium lvl 3 suit. light kinetic shielding, medium armor, high mobility. 5000 credits
Heavy lvl 3 suit.  kinetic shielding, thick armor, medium mobility. 6000 credits

Personal Weapons:
Basic:
10mm Guardian 2 semi-auto pistol 15 round mag. 450 credits
8mm M12 semi-auto pistol 18 round mag.  350 credits
10mm Hawk sub machine gun 30 round mag. 550 credits
5mm Jagaer Assault Rifle 35 round mag. 1000 credits
7.62mm AK-201 Assault Rifle 30 round mag. 850 credits
7mm Masker Laser pistol. 80 shot mag. 1250 credits
7mm Masker Laser rifle. 200 shot mag. 2000 credits

Advanced:
10mm/7.62mm Mk118 Assault Rifle (Interchangeable barrels) caseless or shelled ammunition, 40/30 round mag. 20,000 credits

Match grade:
10mm Guardian 10 semi-auto pistol, ceramic caseless chemical impulse ammunition, 18 round mag. 40,000 credits




Bay 25 'The Thrill of the Chase'

"Oh great!" Ephrael said happily thought the screen "well seeing as your interested Captain Connor is at a cafe in the center of the station called 'Edge of Nothing' He'd be happy to see you there we haven't had a competent engineer show up yet. I"ll ping your PDA with a map." The Tasmanian Devil looked away from the camera for a second before Pandora's PDA pinged as the Hybrid sent a file to it.

[Cogidubnus]

"I'm staying at the Marble Lodgings, sir." Ambrose said, writing down his room number and location onto a peice of paper. "And I've been planning on getting a new one, but I didn't want to spend the money until I was sure of a new commission. So, thank you very much, Captain Connor." he said offering his hand. "To a safe and profitable venture."

[Paladin Sheppard]

"Indeed Dr Ambrose" William said shaking his hand and then watching him on his way out of the cafe. Once Theo had gone he looked around for the feline, spotting him he waved Jaes over.

[James StarRunner]

Jaesguamarj never understood what the others meant by Pee-Dee-Eh but figured he my learn soon enough. Once waved over, Jaes got up from his former seat and sat next to William. "Yes master captain Connor? I spoke your name right now?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

"You did Jaesguamarj, but you don't need to add the master bit, I hire crew not servants. Now do you have a PDA?  Its a machine thats about the size of a small notepad and one side of it has a glowing pictures on it." Will said going on the fact that Jaes didn't seem to be able to read. "The people who let you into human space should have issued you one..."

[James StarRunner]

Jaesguamarj stared blankly at Will as he listened to him explain. PDA? Machine? Was that something like a clockwork device? He felt quite stupid not knowing all these things. Then again, he, nor anyone from his world had heard of such things growing up. Not wanting to seem slow in the head, the feline pulled out the only thing he had received since leaving his world, guessing that is was the PDA. Luckily for him, he was right.

"So PDA is what this is called?" Jaes asked, holding it out to the Captain. "The guide who brought me this far made it speak for me since I am not good at reading the language yet. I have not yet figured how much this magic tablet can do. I think I am good at this thing called 'Tetris' though. I keep stacking the things so fast that the game is finished very fast."

[Sunblink]

Pandora nearly sighed with relief. Well, that was easy enough. She was worried that the issue of her questionable anarchistic background would come into play, but she anticipated that would surface during the interview with Captain Connor, the actual employer. Pandora watched as her PDA briefly flashed and emitted a sharp beep, then activated it. After a momentary fumble (Pandora wasn't used to this type of technology) she managed to select the file and open it, displaying the map. Looking back to Ephrael, Pandora nodded gratefully and respectfully.

"A'right. Thanks, ma'am," Pandora said, and, after turning off the communication, walked toward the location of the cafe conveniently indicated on the map.

[Paladin Sheppard]

'Edge of Nothing' Cafe

"'Tetris?' Jesus that's old school..." Will said before shaking his head and returning to the subject of the interview, took Jaes' PDA and plugged it into the slot in the table. "Jaesmuarj...Can I call you Jaes? I'm sorry but your name is a bit of a tongue twister." Will looked at the readout  "Well it seems you do have enough credits to cover the door, but not enough to live on much longer with out a source of income. And you come looking for a job, and I'm hiring. You look strong and tough enough for a loader/lifter position." Will paused for a second thinking "Look normally I would wait till I have a list of people and pick the ones I wanted, but I'm going to throw you a bone."

He typed a command into his own PDA strapped to his wrist and Jaes' PDA beeped. "Jaes, see this line on the screen here? It will lead you to my ship called 'The Thrill of the Chase', Once you get there my second in command called Ephrael Falco will take care of you."

Conner again patched himself through to Ephrael "Eph sending you a newbie. Little short on the language and reading skills, so take care of him for me."

"Will do Cap. Just letting ya know, a chick all in pink came by, said she was an engineer, sent her to you. Can't miss her." Ephrael said back.

Will looked back at Jaes "See you soon, kid. Welcome to the crew."

[James StarRunner]

Tetris is a school? Jaes thought, confused. Bone? I do not need a bone... do I? Why do people here have to speak so weird?

Though the otherworldly sayings were confusing to Jaes, he gathered that Will was doing him a great favor. "Jaes will be fine. Thank you Mas..." Jaes cut himself off mid sentence and tugged nervously at the sash that covered his slave marking. "...Captain."

He took back his PDA and nodded politely to Will before taking his leave. Following the directions given to him, he walked out the still broken door.

***

After only doubling back a few times, he found his way to The Thrill of the Chase. He still had no idea why these were called ships, they didn't look seaworthy at all.

"You have now arrived at your destination." the PDA chimed in.

Jaes looked up at the massive metallic beast. Not wanting another accident with a door, he knocked on the hull. "Eff-er-eh-all? Err... Fall-coo?" Crazy outsider names... Why do they not have easy names like Yiigrequegh?

[Sunblink]

Pandora arrived at the Edge of Nothing Cafe in record time using the coordinates provided by Ephrael. After double-checking the location (and reading the sign on the door in a standard alien language Pandora knew the basic linguistics of; not to mention it was accompanied by a familiar insignia for visual reference), Pandora entered and searched for the captain. She found the man Ephrael described sitting at a table and approached after allowing security to temporarily confiscate her rifle as a precaution. Pandora approached captain Will and casually sat down, tackling the introduction as she would a typical job interview.

"'Ey there," Pandora said amiably, "Y'r Captain Will? I'm Pandora. Pandora Rosendahl from Planet Celio. I 'eard y' were lookin' f'r a good engineer."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Bay 25 'Thrill of the Chase'

Thankfully for Jaes, Ephrael was watching the exterior cams waiting for him. "Jeez newbie is right" She said to herself as she made her way to the front cargo hatch, which was the closest to the Anielf.

As the massive 20mX20m hatch opened on its hydraulics, the diminutive hybrid Tassie Devil was waiting at the split. "You must be Jaes? I'm Ephrael." She said sticking out a hand.


'Edge of Nothing' Cafe

My god the pink...Will thought at first before shaking his head before Pandora sat down. "Hello Miss Rosendahl" Will smiled as she sat down "yes I am Captain William Connor. Thanks for coming I am looking for an engineer. Can I see what your qualifications are?" He said waving to the PDA port on the table.

[James StarRunner]

Strange... She kind of looks like an ani-elf. He looked at her silently, trying to figure out what she was until he discovered that he was staring.

"Eff-ray-al? Yes, I am Jaesguamarj." Jaes looked at the extended hand, thinking she wanted him to hand something to her. So, he put his PDA into her hand and bowed in greeting rather than shake her hand. "So what is it that I do now?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Celine quickly ran through the ship supply list ordering a fairly standard set of supplies for a ship that size, erring to the side of generosity. She didn't want to be responsible for running out of anything before the end of the trip. She turned to the crew side of the screen and looked over the list of new EVA suits. Although the one the captain had for sale was a true bargain and wonderfully pink Celine knew that she had a hard time being treated as an adult at her size. Adding to her problems with the rather youthful looking suit didn't seem wise. Yet when she pulled up the stock of suits in her size there appeared to be only one available and it was a glaring shade of yellow with a design of dancing monkeys across the surface. "Hey, Rocky. Why aren't there any plain EVA suits in my size?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

Bay 25 'Thrill of the Chase'

Ephrael looked at the PDA in her hand and then facepalmed. "Oh, dear Lord." she muttered under her breath, before shaking her head as if to clear it. "You should hold onto this." she said handing the PDA back. "Lets get you a bunk." Eph motioned for him to grab his stuff and follow into the ship.


Rocky's Equipment and Supply

"By the Stones!" Rocky exclaimed as he saw the numbers Celine had punched in for the supply order. Recovering some of his composure and then laughing at her predicament, he went on. "Face it, Elf. The standard suits can't be adjusted that small. Heh Heh."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Johnny sat in a corner table, fiddling with his PDA, and feeling sorry for himself. More of the latter than the former, really; the PDA was purely to give him an excuse for not talking to anyone.

After an interview like that, his chances were pretty slim, he figured. Still, he'd given it a shot. Who knows? Maybe they'd be desperate enough to let him take a job scrubbing the decks or something. In the mean time, he ordered a cup of hot chocolate (no self-respecting pilot, in his opinion, would use caffeine, when you never knew what it was doing to your reflexes, nor when you'd need them; not that that stopped most of his classmates from indulging in massive doses) and started picking through the job sites, seeing if there was anything else that he might do.

After all, there was only so much money in his account, and if he wanted to go back and increase his training, he'd need enough to live on for another term, at least.

[Sunblink]

Totally unaware of Will's aversion to her color scheme, Pandora clasped her hands pleasantly in front of her and inclined her head, smiling a contagious smile that was sincere only in its saccharine sweetness. She tried to look as professional and prepared as possible, probably without realizing that she wasn't being terribly convincing. Without saying anything, Pandora reached for her PDA and inserted it into the port, hoping that it would not jam. At first, she imagined the port sparking and violently regurgitating her PDA, propelling it like a frisbee across the bar, and very nearly lost her composure at the envisioning. She always hated job interviews; they seemed like the best opportunity for the morbid parts of her imagination to wreak havoc.

Fortunately, the PDA registered, and the information flowed onto the screen. Miscellaneous information about Pandora's past experiences in engineering and repairing - how she had worked as a plumber for a short period of time in her early twenties, and how, shortly after, she entered the business of reconstructing broken machinery. Pandora knew, unfortunately, that a job of this caliber would probably find her qualifications lacking. In a world that outlawed aviation, Pandora's involvement in the construction of a flying machine was kept secret, hence its official exclusion from her credentials. She decided she would give Will something she had prepared in advance, just for this occasion. She set her toolbox on the table and flipped it open, then reached inside and started to rummage around in the tools. Once she brushed aside a wrench or two, Pandora unearthed a large beige folder, something considered obsolete when people could automatically record and organize personal information on a convenient floppy disc. Such an approach might have seemed unorthodox, but she assumed this would probably be much more effective than her publicly-known qualifications.

Pandora felt more secure when she could keep the folder on hand. PDAs could be hacked. People who would try to steal her folder or peer into it without any permission would be faced with a double-barreled rifle pressed against their foreheads. "Th' PDA doesn't say much 'bout wha' y'r lookin' f'r," Pandora explained, rifling through the folder's bulging contents. "So I set this up, somethin' I didn't include in my PDA 'cos i' woulda gotten me arrested on my home planet."

Finally, Pandora clandestinely flipped open the folder and rested it on the table in front of Will, rotating the folder around so he could peer at it right-side-up. Nestled comfortably among the papers and other informative pieces packed into the folder was a picture, fastened to the corner with a paper clip. The photograph clearly displayed an immense machine, aerodynamically structured and modeled somewhat similarly to a plane; remarkably designed even when confined to the frame of the picture. Other photographs included in a side compartment of the folder showed smaller, less extravagant apparatuses, all which looked capable of flight. They varied from propeller-clad platforms similar to the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci to tiny, intricate model airplanes, each labeled with a number that corresponded to the appropriate information.

Underneath the picture of the giant flying machine was a vast list of information; knowledge about the internal mechanisms and personalized details of the monstrosity that could not have been plagiarized from any possible source, calendars chronicling the step-by-step processes Pandora went through to build the machine, blueprints, concept sketches of flying creatures used to study bodies capable of flight (even marked with notes about the artist's observations and blemished on the backs with tic-tac-toe grids), and other documents that were almost excruciatingly complicated to read... Similar papers belonging to the other, inferior flight machines (as indicated by the numbers scrawled in black marker) were added among the notes just for insurance, in case Pandora's employer needed any further convincing.

For any law enforcer on Celio, the discovery of this folder would be like a serial killer turning himself in and presenting the evidence necessary for his conviction. If Pandora had showed this to anyone else on Celio, she would have been apprehended immediately - they wouldn't even need a trial or an investigation to determine her guilt. But Pandora had no intentions of returning to the oppressive atmosphere on her planet, and without fearing any legal repercussions in this station, she felt safe in using all this knowledge as her "qualifications." Considering no other person on Celio would have access to this knowledge, and there would be no sources from which to copy the countless papers, there was no doubt that Pandora was the irrefutable creator of these flying machines. Resting her arm on the table, Pandora grinned, this time with voracious, true enthusiasm.

"Does this meet expectations, Captain Connor?"