• If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: Lorath [LSDF] Project Herald

DocTomoe

Well-Known Member
It had been five years, five years since a return to land, a return to the embrace of the Matriarchy, and the mission which had returned wayward children of the Matriarchy to their home, and had reached out to the farthest reaches of charted space, where ties were formed between the Lorath and the Iromakuanhe. A relationship was formed from the efforts of the LSDF Trishka, and the ship’s captain; Korr’ih ‘Chambers’ Yann Fyunnen, a woman who had found herself home, but, apart from the person who gave her reason to cherish that home.


A year had passed since the order was delivered from the High Priest for the Princess of the Fyunnen, Obelisk, to begin a ritualistic seclusion. It was something that was sudden, abrupt, and left Korr’ih on the brink of questioning so much, if it were not for the joy that Obelisk had displayed upon the personal summons from their spiritual leader, and for the meantime, their political leader as well. Seclusion, it was as if a vast distance were suddenly set between her and the woman she loved, a rift that was uncrossable, but for reasons that were simply beyond the Fyunnen’s knowledge as to just why the Fyunnen princess had been given such a calling. Even with the implication of the call being for a divine purpose, it did not change the fact that Korr’ih would wake in the middle of the night, stirred awake by nightmares that she had no desire to dwell on, instinct churned inside of her, and made her restless, restless enough to reapply for active service to her people, not as a guardian to the woman she loved, but as a leader, a field officer, a forceful hand of the Matriarchy which would exert the will of the Lorath upon the stars beyond.


Applying for an assignment and receiving an assignment were two different matters entirely however, the LSDF Trishka was not a ship that belonged to Korr’ih, and had been reabsorbed into general service. Once the Trishka had been maintained and restocked, it was dispatched to the Northern Annex, where it was assigned to scouting and border patrol operations in cooperation with the Occhestian Republic Navy. Local operations of the Matriarchy and Lorath Self Defense Force had recently been shaken up by the Yamataian refusal to cooperate in the offered alliance which they had seemingly been a part of for the better part of a year. Yamatai’s refusal had resulted in renewed tensions which had put the Lorath Self Defense Force on high alert, and had also put the industrial sector of the Matriarchy into high gear. It was a climate like years prior, and it put Korr’ih on edge, as if there were something she needed to personally do to secure her homeland.

There was simply nothing for her though, the Matriarchy had already dispatched colonial expeditions within its space, and was not yet prepared for any expeditions beyond the borders of the Matriarchy, it left her in an unfortunate position of being a commander without a command, at least until she received notice of a new expeditionary operation which was in its pilot stage, a scouting expedition it seemed, at least from initial orders which had crossed Korr’ih’s proverbial desk, and had put the commander back into a position of importance.


Something was happening, however, she just did not know what she did not know, as she was set upon with a seemingly mundane task; preparation. Just what she was preparing for, there was no indication, and that had been months ago.


Present


Still no word from Obelisk, still no expedition beyond the borders of the Matriarchy, still the Yamatai Empire thumbed its nose at the Matriarchy. Everything was the same, but not, something had changed for Korr’ih, as situations developed, and suddenly her role in the Matriarchy was something far more important than she could begin to grasp, aside from the stack of documents which had been emblazoned with the runic script which could best translate to ‘CLASSIFIED’, documents which spelled out to her just what her mission was.

Korr’ih was to assemble a crew, for a ship, that would tear through the heavens themselves. Embossed in black upon one of the folders residing upon Korr’ih’s desk were two words, which in Trade would best be spoken as: “Project Herald”
 
Virtual Space

In less than two years time, Sesshoseki Tamamo had been disturbed to find that she had gone from listless and suicidal, to driven and terrified. Graduation had not gone to plan, at least not the usual plan. There was no comfortable military posting, or shower of medals, accolades, and a rapid rise through the ranks in recognition of one who some claimed was horrifyingly effective. Instead there had been the raw terror of being faced with an unknown universe, isolated, and mostly helpless.

Of course none of this was apparent as she lay nude on a massive, snow white, feather bed, her cradled blue skinned form illuminated by the dancing patterns of light shining through water from above. Shifting beneath the literal blanket of pale lilac hair and fluffy tails she looked around the room once again indulging contemplating her chosen surroundings. The polished, speckled, seamless, diorite lent to an illusion of being in a space composed of display static, something that she had chosen intentionally. Cleverly hidden light fixtures, flowing water, and the diamond ceiling holding a pool of water above, through which the majority of the light filtered through gave the room a calming ambience in her opinion, and it had been one of her favourite locations to relax and unwind of late.

A discordant, source-less chime signalled an alert, likely the completion of one of her many calculation processes. The simulation she presently occupied, an undersea palace, was a relatively tiny portion of carefully rationed computing power. This was especially apparent when compared to the calculations and development that the majority of her available hardware assets were presently burning through, in some unfortunate cases almost literally.

While Koa adamantly insisted that she continue to maintain psychological health, Tamamo honestly wasn't sure that these environments were worthwhile. She'd have much more peace of mind once she was safer, which was after all the purpose of the months of constant research, tedious calculations, and careful planning. It was the whole reason she had gone into public business mining for the Lorath Matriarchy, a chance to carve out a small portion of the universe where she could be a little secure.

The chime sounded again, perhaps another completed process? The idea was discarded as the chime sounded a third, a fourth, looping faster, until it was a cacophony of ringing layered on top of itself pretty for a moment before becoming nothing more than noise.

With a sigh, Tamamo called up an interface and checked her system logs, discovering that of all things an advertisement had managed to slip its way past her filters. Worse, the bit of code seemed to have been written with a cycling timer which triggered a function that rebuilt itself within the system. All to repeatedly trigger new content alerts without flooding the inbox with duplicates. It was in a way admirable in its cleverness as it avoided behaviours that would have caused it to be eliminated as spam. Of further interest was the timer was self shortening with every iteration taking less time. Whoever had written this deserved a raise.

Pulling herself away from digging in the source code, Tamamo eyed the sender and opened the file plunging the room into relative silence as the advertisement's purpose was fulfilled, ending its quest for her attention.

The advertisement was from the Lorath Matriarchy, specifically the LSDF. This explained how it had gotten to her at all. Why they had chosen such a curious method of communication was however far from apparent. They could have quite literally just called her, she was physically in Lorath space, and encountered their personnel like clockwork on a monthly basis. More direct means existed, but were avoided.

True to form the message was written with a gleeful tone, casually chiding her for being lazy during her last job, while also implying that they wanted her services for something.

Code:
"We could use a hand, or two! Though we'd prefer if you kept them attached this time~"

The rest of the message was a relatively more formal suggesting that there was some importance attached to whatever the task was and to be at her best. Something that Tamamo couldn't help but note was an awkward notion at present.

Suspending the advertisement and for the moment dismissing it, Tamamo pulled herself to her feet, lifting off of the feather bed like a marionette before padding out of the room and around the dog-leg section of hall that led into a lavish lounge room that could have accommodated a hundred individuals with room to spare. Though at the moment it was presently deserted save for a single muscular figure seated at a table reading.

Approaching Tamamo reached up to slip her fingers into the mane of verdant green hair as she spoke softly, "Koa love, it seems we have work again."

Kotoku V - Asteroid Belt - Somewhere

In reality, Tamamo's eyes opened staring into the interface of the interior of a Gust-kit equipped Wind armour. Reaching down, her armoured hand opened the clasp on the tether that held her in place, and she drifted out into the room carefully avoiding the vats of fluid that took up most of the space in the sealed cargo container.

Checking on the growth status of her latest batch of processors, as well as the temperature readings on the actively cooled modules in other parts of the growing cluster of cargo containers that had become a small space station, a structure conveniently made by her lone Caernarfon unit from the excess materials that her mining enterprises provided.

For the first time in months, she would venture forth from the isolated structure. As she considered this Tamamo, decided that perhaps she'd procure travel accommodations in Kotoku I orbit, heading for Lor. From there she would address a small number of business interests that she had been putting on the back-burner while she worked on her personal development. The first order of business would be the acquisition of new hardware, as her own was unfortunately... Flawed. A couple of bodies and some expertise would likely be affordable, as well she supposed she could get around to applying for Lorath citizenship while she was on the core world. A mundane task that she had neglected for too long.

With a bit of amusement Tamamo navigated to the airlock and pushed herself into space, a short EVA jaunt would take her to the lone 'living space' module that she had bothered to build and from there she would collect the items required for an important business trip. Within the day, she'd be on her way to Lor and answering the call of a random advertisement.

For adventure, and profit. Or so it said.
 
Last edited:
Taela lounged in her lounge. It was a dull day. Mark was off doing his pirate radio thing on the other deck, and Ilsa was off. . . probably punching some guy's face in or saying something culturally insensitive about food, or both. The once-again-renamed Kazuma was charging, or maybe cleaning. She didn't know. Or really care.

It was a dull day. A soul-draining, pantsless dull day.

"Uggghhh," she groaned, turing around on the couch to be sitting the entirely wrong direction to stare at the ceiling.

Her communicator began to ring.

~~~

Taela stared at her communicator. It had now been. . . four minutes since the conversation with him. That bastard of a creature who had been the source of her suffering for several years.

She knew what Shlock wanted. He made it very clear. She was the only person with just the right amount of experience, with the cleanest record out of those that had worked for him.

And it sure was a LOT of money he was offering. Transferrable in raw resources - something that was relatively inocuous and easy to sell to a trader as a bulk goods purchase.

She had to hand it to him, he was smart.

All to be on the ground floor of. . . "Something" the Lorath were doing. An expedition that seemed very hush-hush? It confused Taela. Government and military confused the former supersoldier.

Shlock knew she wasn't hurting for funds at the moment, but both of them knew Taela had no real source of income to supplant hers, her lovers', and her ship's expenses. And sooner or later, that money would run out.

It really was a simple job. Get in, do the work the Lorath required of her, and then simply leave once the job was done and tell Shlock about it. No tactical espionage or elaborate heist like she'd been forced to do in the past. Just work.

"What could go wrong?" she muttered warily, punching a quick reply in her communicator and then setting the Opportunity's Knock on a route to birdspace.

---

Taela received and sent in the application the next day. Her accredidations were impeccable. Five years doing work for Origin, three of which were as a test-pilot for their cutting-edge mech program. Most of that time was spent during the NMX war on a pseudo-military ship, so there was structure and logic to the program - and a willingness to accept and follow orders. A nekovalkryja who seems to have all but aesthetically abandoned Yamatai. Somebody who was very expendable and could still provide excellent data for the Matriarchy without being a risked asset.

Really, it was the attendant's lucky day the moment they read Taela's application.
 
THEN...
He'd been running with the Hunters, trying to chase down St. Burnard, but something had struck him wrong as Desmond's team came in the back way whilst Jaina's frontal force was getting ready to mount the distraction. "Desmond, I don't like the look of this." Danny Hanley-Lewis was right to trust his gut as an ambush was sprung on them. It was like they knew they'd be coming. There was gunfire, shouting, blood, confusion. Pain.

The backup didn't arrive, the enemy hardware was stronger than initially thought, and the lengthly observation data was flipped on its head. The possibilities for such a catastrophic failure plagued Danny as he retreated into the night, bleeding and delirious. Were they sold out by the cops? Was there a mole? It didn't matter - the team was routed. The bug out plan proved difficult to follow through on - and harder still to reconvene with his group. Everything was compromised.


NOW...
With the former Hunter out of a job as the rest of the team he was in were scattered to the wind, Danny was left in his apartment as Desmond was whisked to another safehouse elsewhere, getting himself put back together. He had to examine his options as he looked at channels through a heavily encrypted line. Nothing felt secure without a team at his back. The one contact he still had in the back of the array was where his career as a bounty hunter had began had gone dark too. He really was alone.

On the flipside, with nothing to lose any more he could make any decision without hesitation - all he had to do was follow through on whatever he pointed himself towards. Danny had desirable credentials built over his four year career: Accredited search and rescue emergency operator in the three major nations, a frequent Bounty Hunter in the Nepleslias with a couple of high-profile hits on his belt, the ability to bring his own equipment along and keep it maintained, and survival and a knack for learning languages. Worse to worse, he could also pilot light aerospace craft as well.

He spotted an advertisement in one of the papers, grabbing a worn marker and circling it, submitting a digital resume to the application. Perhaps now, as the right man in the wrong place, he could make all the difference he wanted. The sooner he peeled himself away from the stifling interior of his apartment and got a move on - the better.

And somehow, all of this felt familiar: A newspaper advertisement, a dingy apartment, and a man at the end of his tether - ready to leap into the unknown again.

"It never gets easier."
 
Matriarchy External Contact Operations

2.39x10^23 floating point operations per second, that was the computing power required to monitor, receive, and react to the full scope of communications which traveled in-and-out of the Lorath Matriarchy's communication grid that was reserved for contacts involving the civilian population, unassigned service personnel, and other non-active service persons which had an intent to speak with an agency within the Matriarchy. Effectively, the Matriarchy was able to route all of these communications through a quartet of ARIA units while not exceeding twenty-five-percent of each of their computational loads. What was provided by this system was a client service experience which was responsive, streamlined, and tailored to each individual call, with each client able to be engaged in a unique conversation, with dialog both official and unofficial, allowing for a more 'organic' contact experience, as opposed to a 'dry' conversation which would take place with a strictly task-oriented AI.

One of the quartet was all it took to handle the influx of contacts from inside and outside of the Matriarchy which were responding to the ads which had been published by the New Tur'listian sciences and research division, which had the half-baked idea to seek out candidates for a new exploration project via want-ad, citing it as the ideal method for outreach to a wider demographic than the state-run broadcasting system, and the internal government assignment recruitment bulletin board system. Dialog for the applicants was simple, questions regarding species, subspecies/race, gender, age, medical history, genetic history, psychological condition, financial condition, current employment... well, simple perhaps was an understatement. On average, each applicant was given a series of questions which took one hour and thirty-three minutes to respond to in full. During that hour and thirty-three minutes, it was sufficient time to covertly trace the contact data-stream, which allowed for further information gathering, and the accurate assessment of applicant data, which was collected and forwarded to the next link in the chain, assuming that the applicant in question met a series of minimum criteria.

Matriarchy Application Review Services

Beyond the massive computational power of the external communication grid, there were some more conventional processes which came into effect as the applicant review process moved up the chain. Out of twelve-thousand plus initial applicant contacts, five-hundred-thirty-seven managed to meet the minimum criteria which had been established by the New Tur'listian sciences and research division, which the initial contact point ARIA units applied to weed out the undesirables. What was left were mercenaries, pilots, military veterans, miners, explorers, scientists, pirates, practically anyone who had experience handling themselves on a frontier, had a history of space-travel, knew how to handle both scientific and military equipment, and most importantly would not be missed if they died terribly.

Persons who had previous contact with the Matriarchy and had already obtained operator licensing were placed on the 'priority' list for evaluation, which resulted in a number of gems, many of which fell out of the running because of their somewhat noteworthy profile among various groups and organizations, some even having some minor celebrity status. Within the 'priority' listing, one specific applicant stood out the most, being placed at the top of the evaluation list due to experience in regard to mining operations, military operations, exploration operations, and economic status. It was simply good sense to reign in someone before they became too big of a fish in a pond, and what better way was there than to put them to work.

Next down the hierarchy of persons of interest came veteran personnel, there were dozens upon dozens of applicants which fit into the category, but far too many were deemed by the evaluation process as likely loyalists to external nations, which was simply unacceptable. What made one applicant stand out was not the matter of her supplied history, but the extended investigation into the applicant, specifically their legal record which had a small 'gap' that was of sufficient interest when placed against public service records which indicated a unique psychological profile. Professional, but not perfect, the sort that was ideal to serve as a test subject to indicate the impact of a new environment upon the 'common folk'.

Then, came the 'explorer' and 'mercenary' categories of applicant, which tended to overlap with persons who possessed expired Matriarchy operator credentials, or received such credentials as an affiliate of a larger organization. In the case of the applicant which came up as ideal in the category, a hit came up on a Lazarus Consortium database, with a far more detailed profile than what was collected on any of the other applicants, which took any guesswork out of taking on the Nepleslian of the group.

Messages were sent out to the successful applicants, informing each that they would be provided transportation via Merula-Class personal transport to the Biesi system, one transport to be dispatched for each of the three successful applicants. Beyond the message of acceptance, information was still slim, aside from instructions to 'pack light'.

Biesi System - Orbital Operations Platform

Waiting for the trio of applicants was the orbital operations platform which lingered over a lunar-grey and rust-orange streaked planet. It was a platform that was more patchwork than a Nepleslian mobster after a carbomb and a stop through a back alley cybernetics clinic. Scaffolding comprised of caenarfon drones and salvaged colony ship components clung to the primary structure of the platform which was part Wh'ki shipyard, part Paragon produced manufacturing platform, and part conventional Matriarchy shipyard. It was the kind of operations platform to be expected of a frontier outpost. Landing pads that would recede into the structure served as the arrival points for small shuttles, and upon being lowered into the station, it was clear that the exterior of the outpost was a facade, as pockmarked metal and clutter gave way to pristine slate grey plates, locked together tightly to form the elevator shaft for the landing platforms, until they reached their destination of the interior of the station, a destination reception bay, which was polished clean and was void of seating or control instruments.

All that would indicate an acknowledgement of the new arrivals was a shimmer of light, which congealed into a floating sign; "WELCOME APPLICANTS, PLEASE WAIT." What was unseen, were the sensors that peered so closely at each of them, an accurate count was made of each atom that comprised their bodies, each molecule, and the way each molecule linked to the next. Even as they were scrutinized closer than a microbe beneath an electron microscope, it left the applicants to speak to one another, as their transport drivers went about unloading their belongings.
 
Kotoku System

Gathering what was necessary was a simple task for someone who lived as minimally as Tamamo did in the physical world. A jailbroken Lazarus data slate moulded into the shape of a collar found its way around her neck, while a generic pre-paid communicator and phial of pico-jelly were slotted into a sealed pouch at her waist. Into a weather proof backpack went a trio of clothing bundles, a two litre canister of pico-jelly joined it along with a sealed, rubberized impact resistant case containing a collection of crystaline high density data storage chits. On the outer side of the backpack she clipped her Deshe'vo and slipped a few battery packs into the pockets ensuring that she had some extra in the event that the worst case occurred. Tamamo's wallet, a mostly empty thing containing a couple of DA bills, ID, physical versions of her licences, and a credit chit were tucked into the momentarily loosened neck of her Wind letting them rest safely against her chest where idle fingers wouldn't be able to grab them. After that the armoured hood of her Wind was pulled over her head and sealed, followed by a moment taken to adorn herself with a scarf and construct a simple hooded sweater and cargo pants from pico-jelly for travelling clothes. With that done, Tamamo grabbed Koa's spherical chassis and tucked it under her arm as she made her way to the airlock and departed to meet up with her caernarfon drone.

The journey in-system from her remote retreat was a quiet one as her makeshift space station shut down behind her and she began the trip from Kotoku V to Kotoku I. Fortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly the journey in a small cargo container borne by her lone caernarfon drone had proven uneventful. The time in orbit around Kotoku I amid the flurry of activity in light of recent colonization efforts was something that was fairly rote all things considered and the negotiations to board a cargo ship headed from Kotoku to Lor passed without a fuss, after all it wasn't unusual that someone wanted to visit the heart of the Matriarchy.

Lorath Home System - Lor

Upon arrival Tamamo found herself making her way off of the small cargo ship, into the terminal, and within moments was officially setting foot on the Lorath homeworld. While her progress through, and from Kotoku had been uneventful and in many ways no different than moving through many other places in local space, Lor itself was on the other hand not what Tamamo had expected. The slowly shifting silvery overcast skies gave the refined stonework of the Lorath city a curiously dreamlike quality as she caught glimpses of the world beyond throughout the starport terminal. The infrequent, though tantalizing scenery made even the tedium of passing through customs, having her equipment tagged, and the awkward shuffling amid the crowd flowing from the starport to the streets a curiously intense experience. As she pulled away from the crowd and made her way to relatively quieter streets, Tamamo began the process of navigating the unfamiliar locale toward the Lorath government facility deeper in the city, and her eventual goal.

As she wandered down the living streets amid the crowd, Tamamo found herself thankful that she had been wise enough to look into local customs before her interactions with the Lorath. Though she had been pointedly encouraged not to walk down the streets with her Gust kit's helmet on, Tamamo had the foresight to ensure that she had brought along a scarf, making sure to wrap it around her neck in respect of local sensitivities while also looping some of the light fabric over her head forming a makeshift hood to shade her face and hide her ears. While her efforts did not hide the fact that she clearly was a foreigner, she managed to avoid some of the attentions that the more obvious tourists that speckled the crowds drew. Particularly the affections of clusters of cheerfully helpful Lorath that seemed to be making offers perhaps benign, or otherwise to show the visitors local sights and offer advice help them stand out less. Leaning how these interactions turned out were not among Tamamo's goals, and she was relieved to see her goal come into sight before any tried to approach her.

The arrival at the administrative office had sparked a fascination with the local architecture, in turn leading to an extensive amount of time spent looking around, exploring the structure in silent discussion with her digital companion before she was cornered by one of the staff and forced to admit the truth of her visit; that she was there to respond to an advertisement.

The response curiously seemed expected, though instead of answers Tamamo had earned a request to wait patiently while the pertinent documents were prepared. While confined to a waiting area, Tamamo had in the time between being told to wait and actually receiving the questionnaire, managed to secure the paperwork to apply for Matriarchy citizenship, something that she took the time to carefully fill out in Ly'thir rather than Trade. In the process of turning in the paperwork, Tamamo remembered that she had wanted to inquire after hiring some expertise from the Matriarchy, and had begun making inquiries about where she could obtain the information relating to the purchase of a military grade SILVER or similar hardware briefly before being shepherded away to participate in her intended appointment.

Biesi System - Orbital Operations Platform


Unexpectedly the appointment had been a stack of papers, a questionnaire, which had led to a trip on a high speed sealed maglev transport system, and eventually the visit of another starport in a different Lorath city, the name of which Tamamo had been unable to discover before she was sent away in a Merula-class to one of Lor's more remote territories. As she found herself in a glorified waiting room, Tamamo noted with some curiosity that she had never been in the region of space she presently occupied. On the other hand the waiting room was familiar in the way that all waiting rooms are, empty and rather dull.

The presence of a small crowd of mixed race individuals left Tamamo a little uneasy, and the small figure found herself gravitating to the left hand wall where she slipped off her backpack and seated herself with her back pressed firmly against the wall. It was here among unfamiliar faces, in a decidedly unfamiliar place, that the relatively tiny form of Tamamo sat scanning the crowd slowly, while hugging her spherical companion, and backpack to herself. She was not sure what awaited her in this place, or even what the whole reasoning behind the hiring process had been, as such she had to content herself with watching, and waiting.
 
In Transit, A trader's Freighter
Danny had called a favour, securing passage in a freighter whose owner owed him after the Hunters got the Burnouts out of his neighbourhood and his warehouse. It just happened that his next route would be to Lor, and his freighter had a spare room. Packing himself a tight duffel bag of equipment, the clothes on his back, an attaché case with a sword in it, and the second skin beneath his casual clothes, Danny was sitting at the common room table with the ship's owner and his robotic companion.

Cups, cans, and pre-packaged snacks were peppered on the table. "So where's this job taking you?" The owner Bryce asked, cup of coffee in his hand and a gappy smile. He knew that this run would be fairly successful if the market data was trustworthy. The Lorath were making trade much friendlier for Nepleslians, "where's the rest of those hunters you were rolling with?" The robot sitting at the table kept their hands in their lap as a monoeye scrutinised the blonde.

Danny looked aside for a moment, drumming his fingers against the teacup before looking at Bryce, trying to overlook the gap in his two front teeth. "Don't know," he answered, omitting any significant detail he had on the job - mostly because he didn't have many leads aside from the published advertisement. "We're all on separate jobs for a little," he lied.

"Ah, business as usual then?" Bryce queried. Danny nodded, taking a sip from his teacup. "Been to Lor before?"

The teacup tapped against the table gently. "Yes." Danny replied, remaining aloof before grabbing his can of Phoenix Energy! drink and finishing what was left in one gulp, shaking the can around to see if anything was left, then putting it aside with an empty beer Bryce had drunk. "Want to play some Idiot with Rosalind?" The robot lit up, producing a deck of cards with all the cards between 5 and 2 removed. Bryce mumbled in agreement - if nothing else, it was something to do on the trip to Lor.

Rosalind dealt everyone six cards each, drew another card and placed it face up (a Queen of Spades) under the deck a 90 degree angle, and they started playing...


Biesi System, Orbital Operations Platform
Parting ways with Bryce at Lor and wading through customs, Danny was greeted by friendly Lorath personnel who put him on a shuttle to Biesi. During the trip, they dropped a large survey in his hands as a helashio offered to take his bag. Danny wasn't entirely sure if he had a negative reaction to shellfish, but it was one of many things to consider on a trip through the orbital platform, then whisked away to a starport, and a city out in the boondocks. That said, he didn't expect such a smooth looking waiting room to greet him.

Danny was leaning against the wall on the right hand side and eyeing the other occupants standing, sitting, or laying down with earphones in his ear, listening to some Aoi Tanaka songs. From what he could see, the races and visible professions were mixed, the employer's selection was diverse - but Danny was still no closer to figuring out what he'd gotten himself involved in, even with the arcane questions tossed at him. Anyone looking at him closely could see that his hands, and his neck were covered in a thin Altex layer, navy blue. His clothing also seemed quite loose too, if only to conceal the whole from onlookers.

He did take some relief in knowing he wasn't the only one apprehensive of what was going on. The blue-skinned ... Nekovalkyrja? Maybe? Danny wasn't too hung up on specifics - also seemed to be worried, clinging to her belongings. To tell the truth, Danny was on edge too, after how sour the last job went, he kept his duffel bag between his legs, and attaché case in his hands.
 
Last edited:
Somewhere in Space

Taela had spent the better part of a day explaining to her various lovers why she was going to Lor, and what it was all for. A brief mention of large pay was enough to silence the smaller questions, but the bigger questions remained unanswered. Namely, "how dangerous is this going to be for you?"

She didn't have an answer for this.

Her packing for the excursion was as light as she thought the word meant, throwing together a set of condenseable microfiber clothes into a small canister at one hip and her lightest pistol at the other. Cargo pants held the other necessities, namely her wallet and ID. Otherwise, she had nothing else with her but the clothes on her back.

Biesi System, Orbital Operations Platform
The trip took Opportunity's Knock to Lor proper, where she was kindly guided (after a hilarious scuffle involving somebody insulting her ears) to the station that would ultimately bring her to meet the other candidates that made it through the vetting process. Taela reached the room, looking as open as ever while she observed the small crowd of the space.

Then she noticed a familiar face.

"Heeeey! Tamamo!" she cheerfully greeted, spotting the telltale blue skin of the fox on the wall. She trotted over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She led the fox into a hug once attention was had. "Looks like we're on the same job!"
 
Biesi System - Orbital Operations Platform

Hearing her name was not among the things that Tamamo had anticipated, at the very least she had expected the group to be addressed before anyone even bothered to mention her name, and in that event she expected it to be read off of a clip board by a bored Lorath. The advent that not only had her name been spoken, but that it was by someone was supposedly happy to see her was a mild shock. Turning her attention to the source of the greeting Tamamo's disquiet was turned to unexpected joy as she was met with the sight of a pleasantly familiar face. Rising to her feet as Koa's snowy chassis floated into the air taking up the vigil of the crowd, Tamamo put one foot through the strap of her backpack, before returning Taela's hug with a smile and some enthusiasm.

"I didn't think you were the sort to work with the Lorath." Tamamo admitted quietly, "Though I suppose for a freelancer a job is a job. Looking forward to the 'adventure and profit' we were promised?"

It was a pleasing prospect that she'd be getting a chance to work along side Taela, at the very least it would be a friendly face in a crowd of opportunists, and unknown variables. As a bonus she'd also be getting a chance to learn more about the curiously pleasant Nekovalkyrja that she'd met some months ago.

Despite the good news and the surprisingly pleasant encounter, Tamamo noted with some disquiet that some elements of the milling applicants had taken notice of their encounter, some with surprise, others curiosity, and a few with hostility. The usual mix of reactions she supposed given the mix of Lorath, Nepleslians, Jiyuuians, and the occasional rare Yamataian. Monitoring the feed of Koa's visuals, Tamamo quietly wondered just what they were going to be looking forward to and whether or not the less encouraging elements of the crowd would be getting a chance to try to vent their frustrations, or if they would have to learn to work together. Though, maybe she was making assumptions and they'd all be assigned unrelated tasks and they just happened to be located in the same waiting room by happenstance.

Who could really say?
 
Biesi System - Orbital Operations Platform

"Well, I'm just looking forward to the payoff, really. So I guess 'profit' more than adventure." Taela replied with a cheeky smile.

Taela didn't notice the subtle change in the social atmosphere of the place. There were folks talking to eachother sure, but it was all nervous or awkward chatter, the kind professionals have at networking socials when they don't want to be there.. The whole system was disrupted by one friendly greeting and interaction.

"Tell you what though. We get through this, and I'll take you to dinner. Give us both something to look forward to," The pseudo-neko said.
 
Beisi System, Orbital Operations Platform
Danny watched the two acquaintances conversing in the crowd. Most of the people in the featureless waiting room were either trying to strike up boasts with each other or speculate baselessly about the details of what happened next, when it happened, if it happened.

Lorath being who they were, could've been sitting on something truly confidential, so all the discretion wasn't foreign to the blonde. Another Nepleslian nearby seemed to be getting restless, but Danny was more interested in the friendly interaction between the the two Nekovalkyrja.
 
Beisi System, Orbital Operations Platform - Control Room

"Recruit group 'Gospel' has attended in full." Spoke a disembodied voice within the control room which clandestinely looked upon the transit bay where there was the skimmed flotsam and jetsam of the universe, glistening with tiny flecks of precious talent and flesh, surrounded by the expendable mass of 'necessary expenditures'.

"Recruit group 'Chaff' attendance at 78%, acceptable group quantity to satisfy 'Chaff I' and 'Chaff II' operations."

"Recruit group 'Offering' attendance at 81%. Genetic scans of 'Offering' group indicate sufficient biological and synthetic diversity has been satisfied in accordance to 'Offering' operation."

While the words uttered from the machinery were spoken in a combination of 'L'uri syti' and 'Zeh'mebi' dialects of the Lorath language, the words were woven together to blend the symbolic and utilitarian aspects of both to deliver a meaning that caused a frown to cross the lips of the Fyunnen that looked down upon the gathered persons. 'Chaff' and 'Offering' as they were translated to in Trade had their own unique multiple of meanings in L'uri syti.

'Chaff'
or as spoken in the once Occhestian-favored language 'Ku'rulu' carried the meaning of being the necessary outer layer of a more important object. In its necessity it had an importance of its own and could not be discounted entirely, but once used it had little to no purpose other than to be left as garbage. Those in the group which were marked for that designation had served their purpose in merely making the trip to the Bisei system, their varied backgrounds and points of origin serving to obscure the precious few that were within the group.

'Offering' was a crude translation to Trade as there were forty-two commonly used words in Lorath dialects that could have such a meaning. With the application that was used for the group below, the word used was 'Ma'alel', which when fully understood, carried the meaning of being an offering of blood and soul to improve the disposition of another individual of greater importance than the larger group. Every use of the word required an association with the giving of blood, flesh, or freedom.

'Gospel' however was something with a far less painful meaning when spoken in the original Lorath as 'Ah'veh'. In the original utterance, the meaning was joyful, it was reference to promises that were spoken by parents to children, promises tied to faith and worship, which were fulfilled within the lifetime of both parent and child. It was a concept of fulfilling joy, a comfort that was unique to the moment of enduring truth, when the unworthy would expect such words to fall as mere fairy-tales.

"Separate the groups into their subgroups." Came the voice of the Fyunnen, Korr'ih, as she looked to the diminutive Lmanel-like android that was bonded to a control harness with cables and tubes that sunk into open cavities along the android Lmanel's ribs, spine, neck, and skull. "Staggered separation, let's not make any of them too nervous."

Transit Bay / 'Waiting Room'

Sound poured into the room, authoritative but courteous, coming from unseen speakers; "Participants with invitation IDs that begin with 'A', 'F', and 'N', please exit the transit bay waiting area via the marked exit. All other persons please wait for your ID to be called." as the words were spoken, one of the flat paneled walls split as a faint blue glow began to shine around the edges of the opening which apparently was a passage into an adjoining corridor. At a glance, it was clear there were LSDF personnel on the other side, armed, but not outside of the ordinary.

With the announcement, a dozen of the people gathered made their way out of the room, and similar announcements followed, separated by varying quantities of time, but never less than fifteen minutes, and the announcements continued until there were a mere handful of people left in the 'Waiting room'; Danny, Tamamo, Taela, and what appaeared to be some sort of owl-pig humanoid, a Phodian. Anyone who had traveled the vastness of space knew one thing though, the person who was quietly spending their time waiting was very quiet for a phod, as they sat away from the remaining persons in the waiting room, talking to themselves?

During the time of persons being called upon to exit, Korr'ih had made her way down from the control room, along with a small cadre of LSDF soldiers. Her arrival to the 'Waiting Room' was only announced by one of the walls of the transit bay disappearing entirely, revealing the rest of what was apparently a far less than sterile transit bay, as cargo loading equipment and boxes were piled behind what was a hard-light guise, and with the wall gone it was simply the Commander, and a squad of LSDF personnel who stood guard at her flanks.

"Welcome!" Korr'ih spoke, as she stepped toward the gathered persons. "I apologize for the wait. We needed to process our other program participants before we could get to addressing you." spoke the Fyunnen, in Trade, with an accent that belonged on one of the backwater worlds of the DIoN. "I am known to off-worlders as Chambers, the program leader for the operation you three have been recruited to participate in... wait..."

A brief flurry of communication silently took place between the control room and Korr'ih, before she pointed to the Phodian; "Hey, you there, what are you doing here?"

A guttural series of sounds came from the Phodian, with high pitched and shrill tones, their meaning reaching back two-hundred-thousand years, before the sounds gave way to something resembling 'Ci'kesa' dialect of Lorath speech; <"THE JIG IS UP! SCATTER!"> All at once, the 'Phodian' split into three different parts of an elaborate Phodian costume, before three fluffed up masses of feathers and shrill sounds rushed past the dumbfounded LSDF personnel.

<"Goddess, why do you do these things sometimes?"> Korr'ih mumbled as she covered her face with her palm. <"This is just outright embarassing...">

"I apologize, again, we've been having some issues with Lorthet stowaways as of late." The Fyunnen shook her head softly; "With any semblance of efficiency now shattered, I would like to invite you to follow me to the adjoining ready-room, so I can give an overview of the project which we hope you will decide to stay on for." With that, Korr'ih gestured to the doors behind her, which opened onto a small conference room intended for pilots prior to deployment, and from the room came the smells of food and beverage. "We have refreshments for you, since we have kept you waiting for some time."
 
Orbital Operations Platform - 'Waiting Room'

"I'll look forward to it." The soft reply to Taela's proposition came only moments before the announcement that broke the otherwise idle air of the waiting room. As the indicated door opened, Tamamo watched as some people checked their IDs, while others started immediately to file toward the opening. This process occurred amid mixed responses of relief, envy, and excitement depending on the point of view of those who had been selected first, and those who had not been among the first to be addressed by the Lorath running the station. This pattern continued lending to a slowly building, bubbling air of excitement as more and more people were sifted from the group at large giving many of those present a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

When Tamamo found herself mostly alone save her unexpectedly present friend, one of the quiet Nepleslians, and a Phod of all things, she began to wonder if they had been among the few which were of no use to the Lorath. Left in a void with none of the previous energy suffusing the room, a moment was taken to contemplate the contrast before she began to wonder after the reasoning behind their relative isolation and lack of direction. In the moments that followed the departure of the last group and the sealing of the doorway, she found herself half expecting a polite apology for the inconvenience to be on its way. As if to counter the pessimistic thought, the small woman was startled by the disappearance of a wall. The sudden change, though momentarily confusing was recognized as an application of hardlight, a curious use of the Lazarus technology, though she supposed it lent to a more dramatic change than the more mundane act of walking through a door.

The greeting, and apology for the wait that were opened with was in Tamamo's opinion a curious occurrence leading the small woman to wonder just what the other applicants were being sent off to do, and what had made her own small group special. Unless each group had been moved off to a similarly theatric introduction to their handlers, something that she found herself doubting. This last thought was considered closely as only the knowledge she had was that instead of being moved to a different location to be processed, her group had been purposefully met by their handlers. Taken at face value that meant that there was some value placed upon their persons by the LSDF.

The brief moment of space after Chambers had introduced herself allowed Tamamo the time move on from her more practical considerations to wonder what variety of 'chambers' the name referred to. The whimsical curiosity was soon interrupted by the indication that the silent and still, Phod was not supposed to be there. In the moment that followed the assertion, and the ensuing burst of noise and half recognized Ci'kesa, Tamamo found herself with the grip of her Deshe'vo in hand. Despite the initial urge to fire on the scattering animals, the response was averted and the barrel of the rifle was directed down toward the floor as she observed the LSDF personnel's lack of hostile response to the unexpected event.

The mention of Lorthet that followed sparked a momentary reference to her memories, drawing a line to one of the many digital tourism pamphlets that she had skimmed on the way to Lor. This resulted in her pulling up a picture of tourists fawning over a bird-like species eager for handouts in one of the cities that Tamamo had avoided precisely because of their tourist trap status. With the identity of the birds matched, Tamamo noted idly that none of the information provided to tourists mentioned the intelligence of the species, nor their implied habit of stowing away.

The second apology was followed with an invitation that came while Tamamo was returning her Deshe'vo to to the straps on her backpack, an action that turned into her slipping her arms through the straps and fussing with her hood before plucking the floating white sphere of Koa's chassis from the air, as she decided it would be best to take Chambers' offer sooner than later. Looking toward the Nepleslian, Tamamo took a moment to dip her head in acknowledgement to the man, before bowing to Chambers and by extension the other LSDF personnel present before speaking in accent-less Trade, "I thank you for your hospitality."

After a moment spent debating whether she should ask after her business interests then or after the initial introductions, Tamamo straightened and started off toward the indicated door with all the appearance of someone who was glad to be leaving the dull waiting room, a sentiment that she assumed would be expected. Beneath the surface of her facade, Tamamo found herself with many questions that for the moment would have to remain unanswered and a careful maintenance of cautious alertness, that while she was uncertain it would be necessary she much preferred for her to pointlessly expend energy on a wasteful vigilance than to be caught by surprise by something.

As she closed the distance to the doors and the waiting LSDF personnel, she supposed that at the very least once they were in the presence of the foodstuffs provided by their hosts that they'd begin the process of answering the questions of what had led to this particular group, as well as their mission. Maybe if she was lucky she'd even have the opportunity to make the purchases that she desired.
 
Orbital Operations Platform, 'Waiting Room'
Danny wasn't far from the wall that split open, and he stood away from the wall as he watched it unfold, and listened to the radio. His identifying number didn't start with any of the letters initially called, and he waited for the announcement to read the identification numbers out. One by one, people disappeared until he could only see the blue Nekovalkyrja, the Nekovalkyrja with a tail, and the Phod.

He tried to recall some Phod greetings he'd picked up along the way in his travels, but held his tongue as he realised they appeared to be mumbling to themselves. Turning his attention to the remaining people present, he tried to deduce why two Nekovalkyrja and a Phod would be left behind. With so little detail on the job at hand and no particular pattern to those that were called, Danny exhaled gently in acceptance of rejection, lifted his datapad from his side to see if any other job offers were present, paying little mind to the others now.

As he was flicking through a popular Nepleslian periodical, a blue glow from afar caught his attention, and he watched another wall disappear and a cadre of LSDF personnel, including a captain standing just behind the space revealed by the wall. Stowing his datapad, Danny straightened his back and faced the Captain as she introduced herself. Danny was about to ask a question regarding the screening process and what all the other people were for when Korr'ih's words trailed off and she went quiet.

As she exchanged words with someone unseen, the blonde glanced over to the two Nekovalkyrja to gauge their reactions to what was unfolding, then back at the Phod - who proceeded to split into a trio of Lorthet troublemakers when subjected to scrutiny. The surprise made him draw his pistol in fright, but the LSDF personnel appeared to be all over it. In the ensuing scramble, Danny figured out some of the words being tossed around in Ci'kesa as the LSDF flanking Korr'ih rounded up the Lorthet, but never whole sentences. It was the swear words and insults mostly, and Danny lowered and holstered his pistol, still feeling tense as he glanced at the more considerable piece the blue Nekovalkyrja was putting away.

With the invitation to head further in and the smell of fresh food wafting in gently from beyond, Danny nodded at Korr'ih. "Thank you." He replied simply, bending down to pick up his duffel bag and attaché case, brushing Lorthet feathers away from his baggage with a huff of annoyance. No telling where those have been... he grumbled internally. Of course, he was still no closer to figuring out what this job actually entailed, but the offer of free, fresh and warm food was a deal sweetener after eating cup noodles, ration cookies, and microwave wraps in transit.
 
Orbital Operations Platform, 'Waiting Room'

Taela spent most of the announcement time idly checking her communicator for both the time and her ID-tag as folks shuffled on out. When it was apparent that the remaining four's letters weren't going to be called, Taela took a moment to double back in her memory to check whether she heard her letter called already and didn't realize it.

It was an unfounded fear, as the wall disappeared and Korr'ih appeared. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to noticed the Fyuunen pointing out the interlopers in their midst, but when they shouted in unfamiliar words and ran, she snapped out of it. Taela's tail poofed as a response, but she didn't reach for her pistol.

"Well that was fuckin' weird," she mumbled. At the mention of food, Taela perked up. "Oh, man! I hope you've got powdered cronuts."

She gave a shoulderpat to the Fyuunen stranger as she went by into the room, and pulled up a swively chair to inspect the food that was there. "So then, we're the silver ticket winners of the lot?" she asked, eyeing a hot water dispenser and teabags nearby.

Taela was less-than-secretly pleased that Tamamo was still in the group, causing her tail to wave as she sat. She also gave a once over to the only other recruit of the lot, and decided he was some weirdo with a chinstrap beard. Though, there was a slight chance she'd be working with him, so Taela resolved to keep an open mind. Even if his beard was weird.
 
Setting the disturbance brought on by the Lorthet aside, Korr’ih was able to direct her focus upon the small group of recruits which she had in her care. One biological Nepleslian, and two Kessaku-built synthetics comprised of hemosynth and the lie of false life. Including a Nepleslian in the plan was something of a courtesy, a consideration made to those which were friends of the Matriarchy, and relied upon the continued relationship between species. It was the inclusion of the two NH-Types that was without courtesy in the slightest, it was a matter of practicality. Jiyuuians, immigrants from Yamatai, potential refugees, possible pursuers, they were concerns that lingered on the mind of the decision making bodies of the Matriarchy, and needed to be addressed. It was simply a matter that could not be handled by mock-ups and imitations, it needed the real genuine article, and substitutions would just not meet muster, for what, was something that the Fyunnen commander knew, but would not speak, in fear of contaminating the test results.



Two ‘Thank you’ and one being greedy. I suppose I should be happy that at least two of them have some semblance of decency, it will make the trip somewhat bearable. Korr’ih mused, as she gave a light nod of her head in response to the thanks from the two participants-to-be. “Silver ticket?” Korr’ih asked, semi-rhetorically, the cultural reference being lost upon her but being understood well enough by relating a precious metal with a pass for entry. “It would not be entirely inaccurate to phrase your position as such.” She shrugged softly, before stepping behind the presentation podium which was placed before the seats that were arranged in front of it, there were enough seats for a flight of pilots, leaving plenty of seating options for the three recruits. “When each of you are done grabbing your plate…” Korr’ih paused, looking at the trio, judging them with her amber gaze, “Plates, you may take a seat of your choosing, and I will give you a preliminary briefing as to your purpose of being here. Mind you, it will be a heavily summarized statement, with specific details omitted until you have passed initial test procedures, and commit to follow through with the endeavor.”



As the Fyunnen gunslinger-turned-commander waited for the group to sit, she organized her limited presentation documents. It was a thin stack of real, genuine, paper, but on those papers were the initial seeds of what was going to grow into what the Matriarchy hoped would be a game-changer, something that the Matrharchy had been in need of for half of one of their decades, but a full decade of Yamataian time. The vessel is nearly complete, initial test probes have been lost and found, sensor analysis has been carried out… We’re on schedule, assuming these three will cooperate.



Once the trio found their places, and their food, Korr’ih began to make her presentation for consideration. “We, the Matriarchy, welcome you here today as the select group of applicant candidates who we have determined as suitable to receive consideration in regard to a prospective expeditionary mission. “ She started, as a hybrid hardlight-volumetric projector hummed to life beside her. “You have been chosen as compatible crew to operate a mission-specific TAEC-0008, an experimental spacecraft which has been designed for specialized navigational requirements for this specific operation.”



“You have been chosen for your documented talents and skillsets, adventurous spirit, non-government affiliation, individual biology, and the fact that you three have an established behavioral record in regard to continued perseverance and dedication to a task when monetarily motivated.” When condensed, it was simple; they had a skillset, they had specific bodies, and they could be bought.



As Korr’ih, or as the offworlders knew her ‘Chambers’, spoke on the operation at hand, the projector beside her brought up an image of the spacecraft she spoke of, along with a live feed of the very same craft in dry-dock, with personnel moving about the exterior like ants upon forgotten food, but instead of picking away, the personnel were completing the build process, as the exterior skin of the craft was being secured, and with it, there was a divergence from the initial draft images of the craft which were still on screen.



“Due to the sensitive nature of this endeavor, we will have to secure your persons once you agree to participate in this operation, and, we also will have to conduct medical examinations to be absolutely sure you are mission compatible. Some of you may require modification as well.” There was a momentary lingering of amber eyes upon the azure-bodied synthetic that was prospectively part of the operation. “You may check your personal data devices, as each of you have been forwarded documentation detailing potential risks, as well as requirements of this operation. If these conditions are acceptable, you may submit your signature with our registration servers, at which time you will become documented ‘secured persons’, which will require specific security measures as to guarantee your safety, as well as our own, in the event of complications.”



“You may now review your documentation.” Chambers spoke, not so much as allowing, but ordering.



Atmospheric Regulation Shaft 37-B-100

“Whaddya mean we can’t leave?!” Spoke the shrill voice of primitive vocal cords.

“I mean, we ain’t got a way outa here.” Came the response, raspy, rough, and undeveloped.

There was a chittering sound, before a whiny voice spoke; “But mates, I’m hungry.” Besides being whiny, the voice was even a bit dopey.

“Shhh.” Came a hushing utterance from the raspy voiced Lorthet, as eyebrow-like feathers wiggled, and others fluffed out, a clear sign of when a member of the species was listening intently. “I hears metal and scraping… sounds like a kitchen.”

“KITCHEN MEANS FOOD!” Came the outburst from the hungry dope of a bird.

“Shaddap will you? Yer going to get us plasma’d.” As if hearing those jinxing words, a whine of capacitors sounded nearby.

“Hustle! Scoot scoot!” Exclaimed the shrill-voiced Lorthet, as the trio scrambled through the regulation shaft, just as the section they were in was bathed in rolling bluish-purple fire.
 
Danny helped himself to a dish of vegetables and a meat from the buffet offered. On the side was a sweet - a doughnut. He heard his tablet bleep as he was putting his plate down. He swiped his finger across his tablet to read what'd been forwarded to him as he got tucked in.

As he was eating and reading it, he put his cutlery down and started examining what was forwarded to him in greater detail, mouthing little words, mulling over what the documentation was entailing. Test piloting a ship? Fine. Going somewhere? Part of it. Where? Still no answer. What to expect?

He suspected even his employers weren't sure, exactly.

Incredulous, Danny looked up at Chambers: "I have a question; secured for what exactly?" he asked. He was waiting for a 'Go to X, do Y, see Z', but he still wasn't getting it from anything he'd been given, or seen Chambers do. His brow furrowed as he leaned in, over his half-eaten food. "This isn't going to be a test flight down to the shops - so - where?" He kept his voice as even as he could, but nothing could hide his concern.

Even with the questions, he'd still left an 'X' in the signature box of his form.
 
Last edited:
When Tamamo had made her way into the room, it had been her every intention to settle against one of the walls and observe the room, however with the suggestion made to have some of the food and settle in one of the chairs she found it difficult to refuse the token hospitality. To this end she gathered the minimum amount of food to be polite and settled into one of the relatively oversized chairs, seating herself to Taela's left. Despite having little on her plate, Tamamo took her time with it tasting and considering the food curious as to what sort of quality the LSDF had decided to lay out, and puzzling over whether it had any bearing on the attitude of her prospective employer.

It was at this time that the initial question posed was answered, at least in passing. The indication that there was further evaluation beyond this point suggested that whatever the LSDF intended for them required a higher level of competence than she had previously heard tell of, something that she supposed fit with the manner that the operational details were held close to the chest. With this thought in mind Tamamo watched Chambers with her unblinking gaze, her more social behaviours for the moment discarded in favour of honest interest.

As information was given, rather than being comforted by the additional information instead Tamamo found herself somewhat unsettled. That Lor had gone to the effort to produce a new dedicated exploratory vessel suggested that they were not going to be dropping in on nearby star systems which many of their present vessels could easily accomplish, but instead were venturing much further out. Were the Lorath intending to try for another galaxy? The mention of biology was also a point of interest, after all there were not many circumstances that it would be important to have foreign materials involved, the Lorath castes covered almost all possible roles that could be desired assuming Helashio were not sufficient to test with. To this end Tamamo felt it was safe to consider that they were not only exploring space, but the effects of whatever was intended on the crew. This left the question of why?

Tamamo's attention was briefly taken by the presented ship schematics, only to return to Chambers as she spoke once more this time mentioning medical examinations reinforcing Tamamo's hypothesis that the crew were as much the subject of the mission as where they were going. The mention of modification, and the look that she received as the word left Chambers' lips confirmed that her prospective CO had been informed of her state before arrival. This meant that it was known, and of interest that she was moderately less Nekovalkyrja than what came out of the tube, something that had been highlighted months earlier when she had been infected on Kotoku I by something that a properly functioning hemosynthetic body should have never experienced. Perhaps Chambers had also heard tell of Tamamo's inquiries on Lor relating to the purchase of bodies, something that given her history was indicative of her goals.

When it came time to review the documentation, Tamamo found herself at an advantage as the document could be absorbed, processed, and considered at the speed of thought. To this end by the time the Nepleslian man scrolled the first time, Tamamo had already internally debated the terms of the document and signed, seeing little use in travelling so far only to turn the LSDF down. This however left her with some time to herself while the others read, time that she decided to fill by consulting her spherical companion taking advantage of the quantum modem to leave dead air both vocally and wirelessly.

Tama: Despite the circumstances the LSDF has been fairly polite.
Koa: It almost sounds like you like them~ Though it is curious that they displayed their new vessel before 'securing' you all.
Tama: At least we know that the new hardware is the least of their concerns.
Koa: Your own hardware is something you should be attending to. After all we can't leave you with a fat wallet burning a hole in your pocket forever.
Tama: Well if you insist.
Koa: You say that like it isn't something you've been working toward for half of your life.
Tama: Can we honestly call that a long time? That Fyunnen has probably seen more than ten times my years. A year and a half is hardly noteworthy.
Koa: Stop stalling.

Digitally pinging the station, or anyone who might be listening in a wide band broadcast Tamamo made the inquiry; May I please be directed, and possibly connected to someone who can handle purchases?

Though the request might go wholly ignored, she supposed it was worth the attempt to multi-task leaving her to be able to focus on whatever would be expected of her when the Q&A had ended.

As if on cue the Nepleslian spoke up asking after the destination intended by the mission, a question that once again directed Tamamo's attention toward Chambers, how the Fyunnen answered would be just as important as what she answered, after all even what would be considered a non-answer would fill in a piece of the picture by giving a hint at what wasn't being said.
 
Taela spent most of the initial brief stuffing her face. There was mention of danger and a bunch of market-ese that could have just as easily been summed up as "mercenaries", to which Taela hardly batted an eyelash. Then chinstrap spoke and asked a stupid question and Taela whipped out her pad and signed it before finally speaking.

"Who cares," Taela said, gingerly picking up something a drumstick and eyeing it before taking a bite. She continued talking with her mouth full. "If there's one thing you gotta know about testing shit, it's that they don't like telling you until last minute. You test guns, you get shot at. You test armor, you get shot at. You test ships, you get shot at. No matter what, you're gonna get shot at so it really doesn't matter, like, at all. It's the law of space. So if you're asking questions like that, you clearly don't know the answer is 'to somewhere you're going to be shot at' because that's exactly what the answer is. Am I right, Chamberlain?"

Meanwhile, under the table, her tail decided to nudge Mau's leg like an excited child's foot at a holiday dinner.
 
Last edited:
Questions, they were a thing which had an importance, yet, were so prone to carrying a stigma of being a burden, a pesky action, something simply undesirable. Questions likely earned their stigma due to the feeling they so often evoked; annoyance. When Danny asked his question, Chambers could not help but to feel a swell of annoyance surge in her, it was a tactless question, and it was one which was near impossible to give a reliable response to due to the nature of the mission ahead. When Taela spoke her own response, the Lorath commander was quite happy that someone within the group could appreciate the dynamic of their situation; they were hired to do something that was meant for the competently expendable.

"Mister Lewis," Chambers started, "Your questions, while valid, are not to be answered at this time. Taela's answer to your question is the best that you are to receive at this time. However, being shot at is not entirely likely, it exists as a possibility. However, I can tell you that your concern is to be directed at things which are unknown; such as the unknown effectiveness of the ship you will be aboard, the unknown nature of your destination which is even unknown to us, and the unknown effect which your endeavor will have upon you, and the ship." Chambers explained, while leaving next to no genuine explanation of anything in her wake. It was tactful, but, it was also honest, as they were destined for the unknown.

What did irk Chambers worse than the question however, was Taela's use of the name 'Chamberlain', which was offensive twice over due to inaccuracy, and threatening to tread upon the grounds of theological insult. "Taela, my name is Chambers, not Chamberlain. If you have an inability to recall my name, with your synthetic OS driven brain, then it would only stand to reason that you are possibly defective, and would have to be included on this mission simply as an organic test sample, a meat puppet." She spoke, revealing her annoyance, and at the same time making it entirely clear that snark was not to be accommodated by the Lorath commander.

As Chambers spoke, another voice sounded, but only for Tamamo, as she received a response to her attempt to initate a connection, the response came upon a synthetic feminine voice which was purely simulated within Tamamo's perception, it was the voice of the ARIA in charge of communications; "I am sorry, visiting and test personnel do not have access to external or internal communication channels at this time. Administrator authorization must obtained for visitor or test personnel access. Furthermore, sales personnel are not authorized to interact with test personnel at this time." It seemed, Tamamo was without a means of reaching out to the world beyond the orbital platform. However, there was a possibility of authorization at a later time.

What was left unspoken, was the contents of the data attachments made available to each of the test personnel. Much more was answered in the documentation than by Chambers. Specifications of the ship seemed to favor speed, durability, and reactor output, at least for the portions of the ship specifications which were not redacted. Medical advisories seemed to focus on warnings associated with hemosynthetic blood, cybernetic augmentations comprised of specific materials, and cautions to personnel requiring medications which were unable to be synthesized by mobile manufacturing equipment. Cautions in regard to spatial phenomena were far more numerous than anything else, with a word count of around 75,000 words, spread across what would amount to a hundred and sixty pages of disclaimers, advisories, and cautions, much of which were accompanied by so much math it would even be unapproachable to the synthetic brained pair, and most especially beyond the reach of the Nepleslian of the group. But what could be discerned from the more understandable portions was a clear warning of :"BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN."

"If you are each in agreement to continue, we can continue the evaluation, medical screening, and securing process, at the end of which, we will decrease your restrictions in regard to computer and communications access. We will also begin individualized mission preparation once the evaluation, medical, and securing processes are complete." Chambers explained, before she strode in the direction of a heavy door that would lead into a direction opposite of the receiving bay they had just recently left. "Once you've finished reading, and have signed up, come along, and we will get you started with the preliminaries."
 
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top