Welcome to Voyages in Andromeda, a character RP set in a galaxy close to our own. In this RP you will have the option of playing as a lost human explorer or an alien prisoner on the former prison ship 'Defiance'. Either way you are stuck on the ship, running from the law and struggling to survive. Maybe, in time, you'll get home or maybe, just maybe, make the Andromeda galaxy a better place.
Of course, no alien galaxy would be complete without lots of aliens! We have a few pre-made races below, but there is plenty of room in the galaxy for others. Feel free to be as creative as you like!
This is not going to be a spaceship RP in the sense of big space battles, this is an RP about the people on the ship and will mostly be set on a variety of strange alien planets... although there is scope for missions on the ship.
Finally, this RP is open to latecomers. Part of the story of the Defiance is that there is a hold full of stasis pods. The IC is up and running but if you'd like to join in, we'll just write another pod activating and bring you aboard!
SETTING
The Vanishing of the Destiny
In 2026, a multi-national mission to mars was launched from Earth on the spaceship, 'Destiny'. The voyage was expected to last 300 days, though on day 104, abruptly and without any prior warning, the ship disappeared. As far as the Governments of Earth were concerned, the Destiny and all her crew were lost. Eventually, it was decided it must have been some kind of mechanical failure, though no sign of the vessel was recovered.
However, those on-board were not killed. While exactly what had happened was unclear, some would remember a collision, boarders in black armour... and then waking up behind bars on a ship full of strange life forms, some of which looked a lot like humans, but many of which were creatures straight out of fevered dreams or nightmares. Somehow, and without any immediate explanation, the crew of the Destiny had been transported to an entirely different galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy, where they had been taken prisoner by an Alien faction known as 'Kiellar Command'.
Prisoners on the unarmed Prison Ship 'Defiance' (the English translation of the Kiellar name), the crew of the Destiny (along with the other aliens on-board) were set to go to a Kiellar mining colony where they would work out the rest of their, probably rather short, lives. All of that, however, was about to change...
Mutiny on the Defiance
The addition of alien prisoners of unknown origin had left the Defiance in a precarious position. Prisoners were supposed to all be held in stasis pods until they arrive at their destination, but there were too few pods to hold them all. Some had to be housed in unused crew quarters. The Captain tried to split them up so there weren't too many of any given group to collude with one another and plan anything, but there were other problems as well.
There should have been twenty marines on the Defiance. There were four. The crew was a skeleton crew as well, with only ten on-board (including the Captain), many of whom were from conquered species whose loyalty to Kiellar Command was wavering at best. Even some of the Kiellar were of dubious loyalty, including the Chief Engineer whom the Captain suspected of harbouring Federalist sympathies.
His suspicions were proven correct. A number of the crew, assisted by the prisoners, whom they released, revolted, killing or capturing the rest of the crew. After the fighting was over, the prisoners and rebels elected the 'human', Nathan Carter and the ship's former pilot, a Dhasath named Thanica Vari to lead them. The ship, however, was heavily damaged in the scuffle and in dire need of repairs which the new crew of the Defiance, initially, had no way of financing.
Visit to 'Pleasure Haven' Station
The crew came up with a scheme to win ship parts from a local from casino/brothel operator known as 'Azar Konkara' by gambling Thanica's freedom in a game of cards while Yp discretely read them and telepathically informed the crew on what to do. The scheme was a success, though before they could collect their winnings , Kralmon-Lokar, a rival crime lord with a desire to kill Konkara, take over his casino and devour Thanica burst in on them with his robotic forces, injuring several crew members before eventually being defeated by Carter.
Following the battle, the crew left on good terms with Konkara and with all the parts and equipment they needed to repair and upgrade the Defiance, though before they were able to complete all the upgrades, word reached the crew that a Keillar Battlecruiser known as the Zerataca was coming for them, specifically hunting for the humans Carter and Krystyn.
Crash landing on Gadawei IV
After moving on from Pleasure Haven, the Defiance managed to stay one step ahead of the Zerataca until they encountered a hostile vessel in the Gadawei system. With the newly acquired weapon systems still not working properly, the crew attempted to evade the vessel only for the Defiance to take a hit from a missile fired from the primitive surface dwelling civilisation.
While not critically damaged, it was discovered it would take some time to make the Defiance ready to make orbit again. While this was going on, the crew took up defensive positions, coming under attack a short while later. In the chaos Thanica was captured and taken back to a holding facility which turned out to have been already infiltrated by members of Kiellar Command (surgically altered to appear like the local Gadaweians).
The crew launched a rescue mission, killing a large number of local guards and scientists before Thanica was eventually handed back over. Little did anyone know but, prior to being handed over, Command agents had installed a 'saboteur chip' in her. To make matters worse, the slaughter of so many of their people caused the Gadaweians to quickly agree to an alliance with the 'friendly' aliens who showed up shortly later - the Kiellar crew of the Zerataca...
The Defiance
The Defiance is an unarmed prison ship of around 100 metres in length, although only the front 50 metres or so is inhabitable, the remaining area at the rear is used for fuel storage, inaccessible parts of the engine etc. The main, inhabitable section is divided into four floors.
The Top Deck (Main Deck): contains the bridge at the front, a secondary armoury and sleeping quarters along two corridors leading to the rear of the ship.
The Second Deck (Engineering Deck): Contains controls for the artificial gravity and provides access to most essential ship components. At the rear of the deck there is a secondary control module which allows the ship to be piloted in the event that the bridge is destroyed.
The Third Deck (Utility Deck): Contains a gymnasium, recreational facilities, medical bay, galley and the main armoury.
The Lower Deck (Stasis Chamber): Contains stasis pods full of criminals and malcontents, and a shuttle bay with a single shuttle.
LORE
Politics in the Andromeda Galaxy
The known Andromeda Galaxy is dominated by two huge Empires, Kiellar Command and the Ragon Empire. The two Empires have been at peace for fifty years, though everyone knows it is a peace that cannot last. Both Empires are searching for something to give them a decisive edge over the other. If either empire feels it has gained the upper hand it will strike at the other, drowning the Andromeda galaxy in blood.
The space controlled by Kiellar Command is not a very nice place to live. While Kiellar cities are beautiful and orderly, they are built on the labour of billions of slaves who live short, wretched lives in the mines, farms and construction sites of the Kiellar worlds. Most slaves are prisoners, criminals or conquered people. Others are born into it, though the poor life expectancy means that Kiellar Command is in constant need of more slaves. Above the slaves are the conquered species live within Kiellar space whose lives are governed by the arbitrary whim of the local Military Governor. There is one route to citizenship, which is to serve a period of 20 years in the Kiellar military as an 'auxiliary', though auxiliaries tend to be used as cannon fodder and completing 20 years of service is rare. While citizens enjoy a variety of rights protecting them from arbitrary punishments, they still enjoy no political freedoms - Kiellar Command is ruled by the military, with Grand Admiral Reinnarr being the final authority.
Perhaps predictably, Kiellar Command has a problem with unrest. Revolts are not uncommon and tend to be put down brutally, acting as the pretext to enslave more members of the rebellious race. Additionally, there is a growing Federalist movement within the Empire which calls for a Civilian Government and self-government for the planets. Thinkers in the Federalist movement often refer back to the long dead 'Dhasath League' as an example of how a just society could function. Promoting Federalism is regarded as an act of Treason and those who do so can expect harsh treatment.
If Kiellar Command is a bad place to live, the Ragon empire is even worse. Huge, reptilian creatures, the Ragon do not view other creatures as their equal and have a tend to view them as a plentiful source of food. Within the Empire itself there are calls from some parties for better treatment of prey species, though the idea of not eating them at all is seen as a strange and radical concept.
The Ragon Empire is noticeably more technologically advanced than Kiellar Command and on ground an individual Ragon is much more of a threat than a Kiel or any of their auxiliaries, the Kiellar enjoy an advantage in numbers that have made previous conflicts end in a bloody stalemate and which has kept the two Empires from focusing on the 'Neutral Zone'.
The Neutral Zone
Outside of the two big empires is a broad fringe of semi-explored space full of small independent worlds and pirate havens. While in previous eras, the Ragons or Kiellar might have moved to take control of sections of the zone, neither empire can spare the ships or soldiers to mount an expedition into the Zone - to do so would be to invite the other empire to attack.
Recently, a third potential power has appeared in the Neutral Zone, the Gollar Confederacy. Little is known about the Confederacy at this point except for the fact that they have restored a powerful facility belonging to a long-extinct precursor race. The facility, known as 'the Forge' has allowed the Confederacy's military to expand at unprecedented speed though they are still many years from being a credible threat to either Kiellar Command or the Ragon Empire.
Technology in the Andromeda Galaxy
As this is sci-fi, there are a number of pieces of technology that will be mentioned in the RP. Here is some info on them:
Skrim Drive: The Skrim Drive is the basic FTL drive used by all species in the Andromeda galaxy, allowing them to phase across to hyperspace where an object can travel faster than light. Opening a hyperspace window requires a lot of energy and several minutes to 'spin the drive up'. Skrim Drives are prone to overheating and longer hyperspace journeys will need to be made in hops. That, along with the speed limitation means that most journeys between stars will take days or weeks and movement between galaxies is believed to be impossible.
Most ships can detect a hyperspace window opening or closing a few minutes before the ship utilising their Skrim drive moves through it.
Translator Microbes: Translator microbes, injected into children at birth and which inhabit an individual's brain, allow people to understand most, though not all, alien languages. Some species are known to have a poor reaction to the microbes and cannot safely use them meaning they need to resort to more traditional means of translating an alien language.
Energy weapons (Blasters): Most weapons used in warfare are energy weapons. Units that are not connected to a generator (such as handheld weapons) will require a battery pack that usually allows for around 100 shots to be fired before needing to be swapped over. A person struck by an energy weapon can expect serious, deep burns with a high chance of death if the discharge travels through a major organ.
Shields: Large ships are always fitted with energy shields to prevent damage from space debris as well as weapons from other ships.
Body Armour: Body armour is in use in Kiellar Command, though it mostly minimises injury from handheld weapons rather than completely absorbing the energy from a shot.
Saboteur Implants: It has recently been revealed that Kiellar Command have the technology to implant a chip in a victim's brain which will lie dormant until a preordained time. Once the chip is active, and the victim has gone to sleep, the chip will take over their body, perform a preordained function, then cause a cardiac arrest, killing the saboteur.
Species of the Andromeda Galaxy
THE RULES
And because it seems important to write these out, here are a few rules for making a better society:
- Decisions
My word and the word of anyone I appoint as a Co-OP (want to be a Co-OP?) is binding. If you don’t like a decision, you can, of course, ask for us to reconsider it. Once. If we made a decision you don’t like, complaining for pages and pages is not going to endear you to anyone. Not me, not the Co-OPs and not your fellow writers.
On that note, I intend to run this thread as an anarcho-communist cooperative. This is an unnecessarily complicated way of saying that my word DOES NOT overrule theirs. If there is an appeal and a dispute amongst the Co-OPs we will take a vote on the matter. - Post Quality
I don’t have a problem with short posts but please use proper spelling (I don’t care what regional variant), grammar etc.
Ideally also try to include a 'hook' when you write a post, which is to say something that gives other people something to respond to. If your post is something along the lines of 'Bilbo Baggins stayed in his room and read a book while the world was ending', don't be surprised if nobody responds to you. - Posting Commitment: Nothing is worse than making an RP only for it to die. Please try to make at least one post every 48 hours or so. If you find yourself unable to post, please let me know in the OOC thread. If it looks like you've abandoned a character in the middle of a fight scene I might decide to kill them off if I'm feeling particularly malicious.
- Posting Speed On the flip side, blitz posting can also be infuriating. So, especially during the important scenes, I recommend giving your fellow players a reasonable time to make a reply. We all have real lives. That being said, if someone leaves everyone waiting for over 48 hours, feel free to carry on the scene without them.
- OOC thread Manners
Nothing annoys me more than bad manners on an OOC thread (apart from that 'Look at my horse, my horse is amazing' song). Swearing, passive-aggressive sniping or any other rude behaviour are not welcome on the OOC. I will warn you once. If you can’t control yourself I will ask you to remove yourself from the thread. - IC thread Manners
Remember, we are writing a story together, not playing to win. - Character Death
Player death is possible in this RP, though will be quite rare and easily avoidable. Please don’t write that you have killed another character unless you have OOC permission from the character's owner to do it. Beat them into a pulp or take them prisoner, but don’t kill them. Having said that, if someone does something really stupid, I reserve the right to announce your character has got themselves killed. Likewise, if someone goes inactive in the middle of a fight scene without explanation and cannot be raised, I may decide to kill their character off. - Keep it PG13
Shouldn’t need to be telling you this really but keep the erotica and gorn off the thread. Hopefully you all know how to write forum-safe stuff. I will be extremely disappointed if the mods have to pay us a visit. - Banning Players
I really don’t want to be doing that but reserve the right to do so if you cannot follow the (hopefully, rather simple) rules above.
APPLICATION FORMS
When filling in an application form, please delete everything in parentheses.
Character App
- Code: Select all
[box]
[size=150][b]Character Description[/b][/size]
[list][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Species:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [spoiler](Feel free to describe with text or put pictures in here. If you are using a picture, personally, I find it easier to picture a character who is shown in photo/realistic drawing though I'm not going to get funny about anything else. Unless it is your personal stick-man art. I might draw the line at that.)[/spoiler]
[/list]
[hr][/hr][size=150][b]Strengths and Weaknesses[/b][/size]
[list]
[b]Skills[/b]: (Is there anything you are significantly better at than most other people?)
[b]Weaknesses[/b]: (Is there anything your character is really rubbish at? Not essential you put anything in, but can be fun)
[/list]
[hr][/hr][size=150][b]Background:[/b][/size]
[list][b]Role on Ship[/b]: At this stage that is (former) prisoner
[b]Crimes Committed[/b]:(what did you do? If you are running a human explorer, put down 'Entering Military No-Go Zone')
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Backstory[/b]:(How did you come to be here?)
[/list][/box]
Species App
I am going to assume that anyone making a species app would prefer the species be reserved for their use. If they would like their creation to go on the list of pre-designed races, let me know. Additionally, there are a few rules for new species:
- You cannot create a psychic race. There are a sufficient number in the RP already.
- Your race cannot be inedible to Ragons. This is to maximise the threat the Ragons pose to your character/s.
- Your race cannot be allied to the Ragon Empire. The Ragons regard all other species as animals and do not form alliances.
- Your race cannot be another great power. The two great powers (and the Gollar) are important plot elements. Extra players makes it too chaotic.
- Code: Select all
[box]
[size=150][b]Species Description[/b][/size]
[list][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Singular:[/b] (what do you call one of your species on their own)
[b]Plural:[/b] (what do you call a whole lot of your species)
[b]Adjective:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] (If you are using a picture, please include a bit of info on how much variation in appearances there is among the species) [spoiler](Feel free to use a picture here)[/spoiler]
[b]Biology:[/b] (what is special about your species that you can't tell by looking at them? Night vision? Super-strength?)
[/list]
[hr][/hr][size=150][b]Background:[/b][/size]
[list][b]Homeworld[/b]:
[b]History[/b]:(Tell us a bit about your species)
[/list][/box]