What's new
Star Army

Star ArmyⓇ is a landmark of forum roleplaying. Opened in 2002, Star Army is like an internet clubhouse for people who love roleplaying, art, and worldbuilding. Anyone 18 or older may join for free. New members are welcome! Use the "Register" button below.

Note: This is a play-by-post RPG site. If you're looking for the tabletop miniatures wargame "5150: Star Army" instead, see Two Hour Wargames.

  • 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
  • 📅 December 2024 is YE 46.9 in the RP.

RP: The Fringe [Chapter 4.0] - Dawn

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tam's cabin and then outside the ship in the docking bay

Tam decided it was probably wise to leave his weapons in his cabin, then again seeing as how he could in theory shatter someone's spinal column with a punch and/or put a hole through solid steel before ripping it apart with his bare hands weapons weren't really needed for his personal protection on a theoretically safe space station. He knew he had to take care of some other things and so decided to link up with six-four and Shrie before they managed to get too far away from him. "Greetings you two, mind if I come along with you to see what there is to see on this station?" He asked not really looking for an answer but just being courteous essentially.
 
Last edited:
Outside of Ship

Between Sienna, Tam, and Shrie all talking to it in rapid succession, or relative quick succession at least, Six Four was a bit confused as to whom to answer first.

"This one knows where the monetary storage kiosk is, which is this ones primary task which it had no problem waiting to go do so please do not feel the need to apologize Shire. Which that one is called, and I am Six Four and what is the name that you are designated individual who had just come aboard the ship, Welcome!" The freespacer jibbered out, trying to talk to everyone at once, even though Sienna had disappeared into the throng of people. Quite flustered Six Four straightened out its labcoat, dusting it off of any unseen particles with its gloved hands before speaking up again.

"Sincere: This one apologizes for the the jumbled phrasing, please allow it to reiterate." It began in its usual helmet voiced monotone, " Greetings, this one is called Six Four, current medical professional aboard the Concordia Veil, which this one would also like to welcome you on for your current stay. This one is called Shrie, and Six Four is taking her to get an account so she may have use of her recently acquired monetary units. Six Four would not mind another tagging along for further exploration of the space station as well."

Satisfied that it made itself clear it gave a small nod of self agreement before awaiting the others responses, as per protocol.
 
Dawn Station - Sector Nine - Some time later

Amelia sat with her back against the tree once again, looking at the fountain. By then, most of the people in the park had left, either because their breaks were over, or because they had been too weirded out by the spiderbot splashing in the fountain water. The short, raven-haired Nepleslian unwrapped one of the saltwater taffies that the spiderbot had brought and chewed on it as she watched the surroundings. Even though she wasn't much of a fan of food overly sweet or overly spicy, the candy wasn't all too unpleasant, and she idly hummed a tune as she ate it.

It has splashed about with out getting caught by any of station security. Crash was having a blast, ever since the sink in the ship's bathroom, It had developed a love of water. But now Crash was just skittering about in the tree above Amelia. It was pleased to see her enjoying the tasty treats It had brought for her.

"Are you having fun down there?" Crash asked as it hung upside down on a lower branch.

The astrogator nodded, swallowing what remained of the taffy as she looked up. "Yeah. You?" She asked, looking back down at the small cart and grabbing another sweet from their box. She quickly rotated her wrist, looking at the PHC's display to check the time before unwrapping another one of them.

"No... but i am having fun up here." The Bot chittered and allowed colors to flicker down it's back. "You seem to be enjoying that candy." Crash dropped from the tree and landed next to her.

"It's good," she replied, watching the spiderbot go down. "Thanks," she added, unwrapping the candy before also shoving it in her mouth. It had been a while since she had something good like that; always having her savings being under four digits meant that she had to weigh very carefully on what she could, and couldn't afford throwing money into.

"You are most welcome." The bot chittered before walking close to her leg and settling down. "Did you come up with plans for your leave?"

"Not really, but Oreza asked to talk to me later," she said, briefly frowning once she remembered what had transpired inside the Veil moments before she left. Amelia shrugged the thought away, looking back at the spiderbot. "Why?" She asked.

"Because." The bot said before sitting there silently. It had been thinking of trying to take her somewhere nice, but It never could think of anything good. Maybe It could rent a shuttle and take her for a flight.

"Hm," The astrogator grunted as she finished eating another one of the sweets. By then, she didn't feel like having a third, they were simply too sweet after the second. She stared at the park in contemplative silence, watching the pedestrian walking and going about their lives further down and out of the are; It sure seemed like a bleak life to follow a set routine every day, at least to her.

The bot had watched the person walk by, though Crash's thoughts were more among whether or not the people living on this station would report It to the nearest Yammy patrol. The simple fact that It looked like a toy helped calm It's concern. "You want to go and do something?"

The astrogator's expression lightened up at that, and she turned her face to regard the spiderbot. "Sure! What did you have in mind?" She happily asked, bringing her knees close to her chest again and crossing her arms on top of them.

"I don't know... I can hijack a shuttle and we can go joyriding... Or I don't know..." Crash fell silent again thinking about things to do.

"We could," Amelia said, smiling faintly at that. "Though instead of jacking a shuttle we could just maybe rent one, hm?" she added. It was somewhat amusing to her the way that the freespacer thought.

"Why?" The bot knew why, but if Crash admitted to that then it wouldn't be as exacerbating to Amelia.

"Because," The astrogator started to answer again, sounding mildly annoyed at the spiderbot. "It's not in any of my plans to go to jail, Crash," she continued.

"You keep saying that... but it doesn't seem to be a real concern, I'd just break you out." Crash glowed bright blue.

"Maybe, but the crime would still be there," she answered.

"I guess... But we better get going before my purchases arrive at the ship and Sienna comes to hunt me down..." The Bot chittered with a bit of a mischievous click to the sound.

"Why, what did you get her?" Amelia asked with some degree of curiosity in her voice as she got up and dusted her hands on the front of her pants. The astrogator reached down and grabbed the small wagon that the bot had been pushing and held it in front of her.

"Hey!!! That wagon is Mine!!!" Crash started up and glaired up at here, "I got it so I can carry stuff around!" It knew it was a good distraction from her question.

"But I can carry it better," the astrogator answered. "What did you get for her?" she asked again.

"But I can tow it jut fine!" It huffed before shrugging in a spiderbot sort of way. "I replaced the bedding...." Crash chittered again and then climbed up her leg and into the wagon.

"Oh, that's nice of you," Amelia said once the spiderbot was on the wagon. Despite the added weight, it wasn't uncomfortable to the point that she wouldn't be able to carry it without much trouble. "So, uh, where do you want me to leave this thing?" She asked, shaking the wagon that she was holding for emphasis.

"It doesn't matter... When I get time I'm going to as proper wheels and a cargo net to it so I can pull it on ceilings and what not with me. But I can pull it if you like... I didn't get it to be a burden on you. The real question would be what would you like to do with your stuffs."

"I can handle this weight, alright?" Amelia said. While she felt somewhat uncomfortable at receiving gifts, since it had been a long time that someone had simply given her something for free, the idea that it had bought a brand new flight suit for her made her feel outright guilty, like she had somehow coaxed the spiderbot into buying the gifts for her. "Uh, I really don't know yet, probably use them," she started to say, suddenly finding that she was at a loss of words. "Thanks," she quickly added.

"You're going to wear the flight suit and drink the bottle as we walk? What about the movies?" The bot looked at her quizzically." Ehh your call." The Bot was glad she enjoyed the gifts, it wasn't like Crash could use them, and they would be at least appreciated this way instead of just being sold off to some pawn shop.

"I'm not going to use them all now, Crash," Amelia explained, walking out of the park, shaking the contents inside the wagon with every step. Maybe by then Sienna had found something to do and she could put the things back inside the ship, then there was still the meeting with Oreza that she had promised she would take part in.

"Ok.. then are we going back to the ship?" Crash asked trying to see if it could hid in the wagon completely or not.

"I guess, at least so I can put this back there," she said, slightly surprised that the spiderbot had thought of the same thing as her and shaking the wagon again.

"Ok fine..." The bot let out an audible sigh, before pulling the flightsuit over itself.




=== Concordia Veil's Hangar - Some time later ===​

The airlock to the hangar hissed and slid open, allowing Amelia to walk inside. The astrogator pressed her back against the airlock as soon as it slid closed again, bringing one of her knees up against the underside of the wagon to briefly adjust the grip that she had on the sides of it so that it didn't drop. Small beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and she took the time to wipe them away with the back of her hand before pulling the sleeves of her sweater back up towards her elbows. "When were you planning to install that stuff in the computer room, by the way?" She suddenly asked, resuming the pace towards the small freighter.

"I have to get the kit to put it together, plus there is the custom work I need to do this body. But I have a Cargo truck sized tank of liquid nitrogen. So I guess as everyone is off having fun I'll be back here working." Crash said quietly as it peered over the lip of the wagon.

"Just let me know when so I can help you do it," the astrogator said, watching the open loading ramp of the ship as she approached, wary of anyone that might suddenly show up and spot the spiderbot.

"No." Crash responded, not trying to be mean or anything. "You should be off having fun."

"You don't tell me what to do, alright?" Amelia said with some indignation. It took her a few moments before she realized and willed herself to calm down. "I have fun doing that kind of stuff," she quickly added , briefly looking at the spiderbot that was inside the miniature wagon.

"I wasn't meaning anything... I just figured you wanted to go off and enjoy leave off ship... I'm stuck here for a good while anyways. No need for you to be too..." Crash said before crawling out of the wagon and dropping to the floor, just to scurry up the wall.

"But I want to," Amelia insisted, watching as the spiderbot crawled along the wall. "Where are you going?" she asked, standing next to the loading ramp of the Concordia Veil. So far the ship seemed to be mostly empty, with the crew going about doing their own things, which was good for not attracting too much attention for themselves.

"Fine you can help I guess..." Crash looked around before crawling towards an air vent. "Was going go get changed. Then met you in your cabin... Why? You had something else you wanted me to be doing?"

"I promised Oreza that I would meet him somewhere later," Amelia said. "To talk about... Things," she added, suddenly finding the contents inside the small wagon that she was holding to be very interesting to look at.

"Oh..." The bot sounded hurt a little. "I getcha.. I got things I could be working on... See you around I guess..." Crash lifted the air vent cover and started in it.

"Oh, Crash, come on!" Amelia said, noticing the change in the bot's voice tone. She had made that promise to the ship's first mate even before meeting up with the spiderbot, and they could always do their thing later, the talking she was going to do wouldn't take much time anyway. What surprised her was how that seemed to bother the freespacer, out of all things.

"What... You wanted to go and meet up with him. I have things I could do..." The bot froze halfway into the vent. "I don't want to keep you."

The astrogator didn't say anything else after that, walking up the ramp and into the ship.
 
Outside of Ship

Shrie looked at Tam and nodded to him in greetings. Her head then turned back to the Freespacer and if it would be possible then the loraths head would probably burst into flames after few spoken sentences. Shrie had hard enough time getting it all when people spoke normally. Six-Fours way of talk and all that 'this one' and 'that one' made things even more confusing. Still Shrie gathered the important thing. Six-Four introduced them and she was okay with Tam tagging along. That was enough for the Fyunnen, the rest was static.

"I do not mind," Shrie replied simply and gave the gartagen another nod. "H-.. How can we call you?"
 
Outside of Ship

"Understood, Name designation Tam." Six Four said taking out its datapad and taping a few icons on it, "Primary objective is to get Shire a bank account, which can be done at a kiosk that is relitivley close by." Six Four stated flatly as it turned the pad around to show there location and a path to the indicated kiosk. "Afterwards no directives or objectives have been made, so any plan is acceptable."
 
"Seems reasonable enough to me" Tam replied and committed the map to memory just in case something untoward happened in the future. "Shall we find a place to dine after we set up the bank account or perhaps find somewhere for recreation?" Tam asked curiously of the odd woman.
 
Outside of the Ship.

"Meal would be nice," Shrie said with a nod. She was a bit nervous, it was a long time since she actually had proper company. And now she was in company of two individuals, both of races she did very little about. It did not make her uncomfortable, just nervous. She did not like unfamiliar places. "I need a bank account to access money on the credit chit. Then we can go somewhere."
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

It had been surprisingly quick for Six Four and Tam to assist Shrie with getting her funds deposited into a usable account encoded to her identity. From there, it was just a matter of deciding on a place to eat, since the trio had no current plans.

They hadn't walked far from the spaceport concourses before they stumbled upon a little establishment whose garish, flashy exterior lights and huge numeral "9" lit up in brilliant purple and yellow jutting from the squat, square building's facade far outshined its lackluster, all-too-generic interior. The drab red ordering counter greeted them as soon as they entered, a single register terminal at one end beneath a flickering backlit menu whose rearrangable lettering was falling off or hanging sideways in some places, and the open kitchen was crewed by a motley assortment of Geshrin, Nepleslian, and synthetic beings of all shapes and colors. The girl working the register sported bright fluorescent green hair spiked up in an outrageous style that stood a good foot above the top of her head, and there were enough piercings in her face and ears to set off a metal detector from ten yards away. Around the corner from the ordering counter, the dining room was laid out in rows of generic, cheap-looking booths, chairs, and tables, all of whose off-yellow hard surfaces could be wiped clean with little more than a damp rag to make room for the next patron. A black and white checkered floor shone underfoot, and the room was surrounded by windows, giving the customers a panorama of the hustle and bustle in the streets outside, the throngs of people and vehicles going in and out of the thrumming spaceport and the distant glow of the city lights towards the station's center.

For all of its tacky atmosphere, however, the diner was packed to the gills with customers, signifying one of two things. On the one hand, it could easily mean that its strategic location on a main thoroughfare near a major starport and impossible-to-ignore flashing lights advertising its presence primed it for reeling in as many unsuspecting tourists as it possibly could handle, relieving them of their hard-earned cash and then sending them on their way to make room for the next fresh batch of people who didn't know any better. On the other hand, there was the very real possibility that the place was in fact a local favorite, widely-known for the enjoyable (if not entirely healthy, by appearances) appeal of their wide variety of simple comfort foods catering to a surprising number of tastes and cultures.

The line at the counter was very nearly out the door when the trio entered, and Six Four was barely able to squeeze inside enough to allow the metal-framed and glass-paned door to close behind her. The sounds of sizzling, popping, and yelling from the kitchen drifted in concert with the intoxicating smells of oils, cheap meats, and pickle brine throughout the restaurant in a symphony that only a greasy-spooon diner could arrange. Many of the nearby patrons looked like lowly ship's crews and dock workers, still clad in their vacc suits and coveralls, some of them laughing and joking amongst themselves as they waited for their meals to be brought to them.

They had not been waiting in line for very long before Six Four noticed a nearby patron staring at her unnervingly.
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

Getting Shrie a bank account was no real problem, though the freespacer let Tam do most of the talking. After a few times of trying to explain the better workings of an Automated Teller Machine and the marvel that it was, Six Four realized that it wasn't being that much of a help and had amused itself by making several deposits/withdraws from the other units, somewhat fascinated and intrigued by the different language settings that were available.

After being pulled away from its new found interest, more so trying not to get separated from the other two, Six Four found itself observing the crowds on there way to the designated eatery. Normally the freespacer didn't care much for flashiness or the large population but something about this place was intoxicating. As the doctor made a mental note to itself to check the air in the station it realized that they had reached their destination and squeezed itself into the place behind the other two, barely missing the door biting it in the butt.

Judging from the signs and the paraphernalia the doctor guessed that this place was called "9" or it was the 9th of something, though the lack of other numbers swayed it away from that. Smashed between the door and people Six Four had no room to get its trusty datapad out to figure out exactly what this place was called, and also didn't feel the absolute need to access the polisci network in order to get the answer, the doctor decided to have a look around the limited scope of vision it had to see what was going on. Scanning the room it took in the sights and sounds picking up a few odd things here and there, such as the large tattooed man in the back with a spatula saying somehting about two cows and making them cry, how oddly cruel but some cultures.

That's when Six Four saw someone starring at it. Stares weren't uncommon for the rather odd doctor but this one seemed a bit different. Reasoning that it must be yet another culture thing the doctor decided to stair back, though with with its visor on it could of been looking at the table behind the offending party.
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

The man staring intently at Six Four was only a few feet away, visible through a gap in the gathered crowd. He didn't stand more than an inch taller than the Freespacer, but he was built like a truck, or a bulldozer. His thick neck was almost completely obscured by a low-browed head sitting almost directly atop a pair of notably wide, powerful-looking shoulders, and bulging muscles in his arms and chest made the plain white T-shirt he wore look like it would burst open at the seams with the slightest wrong move. A thick head of short, curly silver hair crowned his head, and dark, almost perfectly flat eyebrows sat atop a pair of piercing silvery eyes. The odd patterns in his irises were difficult to miss, and Six Four noted instantly that it must be due to some kind of cybernetic implant or augmentation.

When the stocky man noticed the Freespacer staring right back at him, a disarming smile flashed across his face, the friendly glow about it betraying the otherwise imposing presence his primate-like face and build projected. Pushing a few steps through the crowd, he approached the trio, stopping before he got too close for comfort. "Hello," he greeted her in a pleasant, accented tone. "I apologize for starink. I hope I haff not offended you. Please to forgive my beink direkt, but you are Freespacer, ja?"
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner


"This one is a freespacer yes." Six Four said in its standard projected monotone towards the odd man. The doctor cocked its head to the side, not sure what exactly what to make of him, he was a nepleslian or as far as it could tell, and juding from his demeanor he was either really friendly or incredibly schiesty. Going with the neutral response Six Four followed its previous sentence with "What can this one assist you with?"
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

"Oh, nothink, nothink," the bull-man replied, still with the friendly smile. "I only see so few of zem in my traffels, oddly. I haff only arriffed here recently, and if you vill forgive my presumption, you haff too, ja?" he continued, eyeing Tam and Shrie curiously. "Zese are your fellow crew, ja? May I ask which of ze fine vessels you arriffed on? Perhaps I passed by it."
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

"We have only just arrived correct." Six Four said cocking its head to the side, quite curious how this particular man could tell so much just by looking at the trio. Maybe he was stalking them? Or maybe he was just good at guessing. Shrugging off any malcontent the robotic freespacer went back to answering the mans questions, "We arrived on a Jinsoku Cargo Runner, name designation Concordia Veil. May this one ask what is the name and ship designation of your vessel?"
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

Tam simply waited and observed Six Four's interaction with the man and watched for any reaction he may have to her response.
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

The burly man's flat eyebrows raised upwards at their outer corners, giving his rocklike face the appearance of a kind of off-putting, inverted frown as much as mild surprise. "A Jinsokoo, ahh," he crooned, smiling pleasantly. "A fery reliable fessel, that. Fery popular indeed." He clasped his hands behind his back and straightened up slightly, almost looking as if snapping to attention. "I am a minink superfisor aboard a Yimeya minink ship. We freelance for Origin at times, good pay, ja?" Another pleasant smile flashed across his face, and he glanced forward as the line ahead of the trio moved forward, and a handful of satiated patrons squeezed out the door behind Six Four. "You are here seekink work mit Origin as well?"
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

"Confused: Is that what this line is for?" Six Four said glancing up towards the front of the molasses in winter paced line. "This one thought it was four greasy nutritional consumption. "

Underneath its helmeted visage, Six Fours HUD was alight with data about the 9 Diner. As its hetrocromian eyes darted around the display, it was getting more and more confused as to what this place actually was, all the advertisements pointed towards food but if what this person said was correct than there were origin jobs here. Reasoning that Sienna would get rather mad at it if it went and put the crew up for a job without her knowing, or assuming any sort of command of her ship what so ever for that matter, Six Four made out a simple message to send to Sienna's personal communique.


Code: 
To: Captain of Concordia Veil Name Designation Sienna [Last Name Not Entered]
From: Stichtech *#^ 64-4406-2207 FFCS

Captain,

This one is at a quandary, the location this one is at with other fellow crew members Tam and Shrie is either an eatery of sorts or according to this person that this one is talking to a job acquisition location. With the data this one has pulled up it points towards an eatery, apparently the biscuits with the fat and juices exuding from meat during cooking with added swine product is very good will try and recommend if you so desire. However if this is in fact a job placement center is there any particular job that would be of interest.

Regards
64
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

An booming, uproarious belly laugh erupted from the bulging mass of muscles that was the man before Six Four at her comment, echoing through the establishment and causing several patrons to stop their conversations amongst one another and turn their heads. The man didn't seem fazed, however, and allowed his amusement at what he apparently perceived to be a deliberate joke run its course. "Und such humor you Freespacers have, ja?" he said once his laughter subsided, the giant grin (and bulging vein on his forehead) remaining prominent for several seconds more. Scratching the corner of his cybernetically-enhanced eye, he shook his head as the line ahead of the group advanced another few steps. "Zis is in fact an eatery, ja, not an employment office. I only meant to ask if your gallant crew vas here at Dawn Station seekink employment. But I am certain I haff troubled you long enough, ja? I vill leaf you in peace. Danke fur indulging a curious traffeler." He flashed all three of them another friendly smile, and took a step back, gently pushing a tall, thin man aside to pass by, but paused and turned back to Six Four. "Oh, if I may," he added, "do try ze Al'Guskiaka serffed here, ja?" He glanced at Tam with a wink. "A Gartagen fafforite, I am told, and zey are somewhat famous here for zeir fersion of it."
 
Restaurant - "9" Diner

Shrie did not say much during their walk to the diner, apart for thanking Tam with his help at the kiosk. Hen she was quite, mostly staring at the newly acquired datapad, stating how much she received exactly as the pay. 5500 DA. That was a lot of money, and Shrie could not believe it. That had to be too much, after all Shrie did not do a lot in this mission. She just got a plate of ship back, got hurt and then managed to do a lot more nothing later. Except maybe bringing Oreza aboard the ship, but that was not something, she would want to get paid for. That was something considered to be normal thing to do.

Shrie's chain of thought was broken as the group reached the diner and her face shown a clear fright on itself. So many people. Shrie did not do well with too much people squeezed at one spot. Still her two compatriots chose this place, so it was not like the lorath had any choice in the matter. So Shrie just swallowed her fears and walked in behind Six-Four and Tam. She tried to not pay attention to the smelly, sweaty bodies pressing on her all around. Still she hoped to just get through with it, eat the meal and get out of there.

The fyunnen was too busy supressing her fright that she missed the man that started talking to Six Four. The conversation was pretty much over when Shrie turned to him, peeking from behind Tam. The man was quite big, clearly could be dangerous if he wanted. He shown a friendly face, but that could have been a mask. Shrie frowned at him, but it seemed that the freespacer handled the situation well enough. Still it woke Shrie up enough, so she got a lot more catious about the people around. This was unfamiliar place to her, so it made it dangerous as well and the Fyunnen wanted to be ready to defend herself and her friends, should a need arise.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top