Commonwealth [Inactive]

CelticHero37

CelticHero37

The Druid
Michael Dineen submitted a new role play:


Commonwealth - A spaceship captain was wrongfully accused of treason and needs a new crew.

Captain Mark Fuller was a spaceship captain for the galactic Galactic Commonwealth (GC). However, he was wrongfully charged of treason, and thus most of his crew abandoned him. Flying to a distant system in the Norma Arm (Milky Way Galaxy), he touched down in a less than habitable outlaw town. He didn't wish to be there, but he needed a team.
This is a fairly open role play, looking for creative minds that want to have fun. You can either be a loyal crew member, an outlaw, a good person...
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Read more about this role play...
 
Captain Mark Fuller stood at the helm of his ship, surrounded by the few loyal members of his crew. They had been wrongfully accused of treason by the corrupt leadership of the Galactic Commonwealth. Their battle cruiser, the Rogue Prudence, exited slip-space into the middle of a space skirmish. Almost immediately, their starboard engine was shot before they could raise an energy field. Now damaged, the ship slanted lazily toward the nearest planet. This planet was the outlaw haven, Gorge. It's jungle-like atmosphere made for easy hiding. This didn't look good.


Captain Fuller pressed a button on his earlobe comms unit and began to speak. "Rogue Prudence… this is your captain speaking. Our starboard engines have been damaged. At even half crew capacity, this problem would be easily rectifiable. However, under these circumstances, with you loyal skeleton crew, it seems we have little chance of staying in flight. It was an honor serving with you all, and an even greater honor that you stuck with me." There was a long pause as Mark began to realize that he had failed the loyal crew that had trusted him. It cut deep, but all he could do now was be a strong figurehead for them. He then said softly, "Prepare for emergency landing… abandon ship." Immediately a siren blared throughout the ship as the AI repeated the phrase, "Abandon Ship… Abandon Ship"


Mark leaned heavily on the main control panel of the ship. This was it. He always knew he'd go down with the ship. Perhaps by some miracle, he would be able to maneuver the ship out of the path of any settlements. Yet, there was little chance for him to survive.
 
Ms. Maeva was recording in her Traveller's Log that the past few days had passed without unrest in this outpost, and that she was considering moving on. She was just recording the ambient temperatures of the past 48 hours, obsessing over decimal places and the laws of significant figures. She was jolted out of her concentration by a large siren wailing overhead, and it took her a few seconds to place what the word "Abandon" meant. She understood ship, but abandon... Her 9 years of foreign languages had not taught her that word. However, the wail of the siren was a universal signal, no language required. A ship was going down. As she looked up, she saw a faint outline of a burning comet, or maybe the ship, she wasn't sure from this distance. She rushed to record the event in her Log, taking a shaky video recording of it and running towards the scene. In another life, she was probably a stormchaser, fearless as she was. She estimated where it would fall and placed herself about 50 meters away, hopefully far enough to avoid any fallout from the blast.


She watched the fall with interest, taking snapshots to sketch later. The falling ship was glowing with the resistance of this planet's atmosphere, it plummeted through and burned up, creating a sickening beauty. Her sadness at the impending loss of life was offset by her awe of the sheer golden-bronze beauty heading towards her. Her jaw dropped slightly and she smiled, her face similar to that of a small child witnessing their first falling star. She knew of two settlements on this planet, but at the rate the ship was falling, she was quite doubtful that it would make it. She knew land shourtcuts, but she hadn't flown in eons, so as for quick paths through the air... She did not know. She held her breath and watched the finla few seconds with eyes only half open, bracing herself for the impending chaos.
 
Sweat waxed Captain Fuller's brow, whether from the stress or the heat of the crash, he couldn't tell. The outer visual sensors had been melted and were no longer functioning, so he had to open the blast shield. He attempted to squint through the bright flame determined not to hit something important. As it neared the planet surface, he noticed a bystander standing near his trajectory. "Are salvagers that desperate here?" Mark yanked on a lever next to him. This sent the ship in a slow barrel role, giving it just enough tilt to steer away from the bystander, however, now the ship would be landing on it's top rather than on the bottom. Things just weren't looking good for the captain. Captain Fuller slumped back in his chair, defeated. Then the Rogue Prudence crashed.
 
Alexei ran the code another time, the ship suddenly shuddering to a large impact. What is it now, he mused irritably as sirens started blaring into his ears and red lights started flashing. He curled his fingers into a fist and rested his head on it at the temple, checking his monitor. A voice came over the announcement system, ordering everyone to abandon ship. "Three more bugs in the code," he sighed in frustration, lifting himself out of his chair before pushing it into the corner of the room. He paced to the door and slammed his fist on the open key just prior slipping out into the hallway. He glanced in either direction, pulling his coat over his shoulders. After a brief moment of consideration, he decided to head left and dashed down the hallway. Alexei reached the end, a locked door blocking his path, flanked by a window. Pulling a small tablet out of his pocket, he glanced outside, flames embroidering the metal frame. Looks like we haven't got much time left, he noted as the ship suddenly spiraled in its decent to the surface. He opened a program on his tablet and held the palm-sized device in front of the code lock. "Come on, come on!" he hissed under his breath, anxiously kicking the door. The program stopped for a moment, waiting for a command, but Alexei knew their wasn't enough time: He was going down with the ship, whether he liked it or not. He slumped himself against the door, slowly sliding himself to the ground and burying his face behind his arms. A safety barrier hastily slide in front of the window. There were just a few more moments before it was all over -- before everything was almost over.
 
"Vex?" a female voice rang out in the small confines of the ship. The cyborg's head shifted slightly, glancing in the direction of a small holographic projection of a woman standing on the weapons console. "Yes, Alice? What is it?" he asked, his voice grinding as his voicebox shorted out. He tapped a few times on the side of his neck, fixing the issue for now.


"I just got a report of a ship matching the Rogue Prudence's description, on a crash course for Gorge. They exited slip-space in the middle of a skirmish and took heavy fire." she would say with a small tilt of her head. The hologram wasn't a transmission, but the ship's own AI, manifesting as a girl hardly into her 20's.


"Good. Go ahead and plot a slip-space trajectory for their last known location, and set the end point for somewhere near the planet's northern pole. Hopefully we can avoid the same fate as the Rogue Prudence." The AI standing on the console nodded and the ship began to shift direction. "At least we won't be caught off guard." he said, just as the ship suddenly jumped.


After several hours of waiting, the ship finally exited slip-space. Vex was tense at the controls, ready to evade and counterattack if need be... but nothing happened. He could faintly see explosions and flashes past the planet's equator, and after a quick scan he realized that the battle was happening further south. "Alice, break atmo and release two of the probes. Let's see if we can find where our little wounded beast went off to." he said, the female voice chirping an affirmative. He guided the ship down, flying it towards where the bulk of the battle's wreckage was falling. Vex wasn't racing there, he let the ship lazily fly at an altitude high enough to avoid fire from anyone on the ground. "Alice, can you give me a current roster on this guy's crew and any possible bounties attached? I'd like to make a couple paydays with this job."
 
The world was a blur, its voice a pulse and its only feeling pain. Everything slowly became sharper, more distinct, a watercolor vision of chaos slowly giving way to distinctive shapes and defined shadows. I'm alive, was the first thought that went racing through Alexei's brain as he regained consciousness. The taste of copper filled his mouth while he slowly climbed onto his feet, relying on the wall for a crutch. He let out a haggard cough, releasing a scarlet concoction of saliva and blood with it. He ran two fingers along the back of his head, the epicenter of his pain. A warm liquid sluggishly flowed over his fingers, making him wince. Alexei pressed the rest of his hand on the wound, trying to keep some pressure on it. Aside from another few minor cuts bruises, he was able to come out unscathed for the most part. Compounding his fortune, the emergency seal-breaker on the window directly across from seemed functional. Using his unoccupied hand, he delicately pressed the button, releasing a shower of sparks mere meters away. Alexei's heart was racing in fear, but to his relief, the barrier over the window jolted open. He hastily scurried out of the opening, trying to avoid the jagged shards of broken glass everywhere. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and tossed himself onto the ground, his head facing the sky, unable to find the willpower to move. The nearest town was too far away to get to own his own in the condition he was in. He would just have to hope someone found him in time, and that they weren't with the Galactic Commonwealth. He hated resorting to something so petty as hope: It's a comfort blanket for those too weak or too incompetent to actually do something.
 
Kuzzuk stood on top of a small building, and took a long glance at the fireball tearing through the sky that was the Rogue Prudence. He then looked back to the small holographic figure held in his hand, memorizing the face of one "Captain" Mark Fuller before deactivating the holoprojector. He then took the projector into his smaller more claw-like second hands, which clasped the projector back to his belt while he looked once more to the falling ship. Memories of his boss' orders ran through his head.


"Can You Believe it? A bounty as high as that one falling right into our lap! Do try to bring him back alive, he's worth more that way."





Kuzzuk let out a clicking chuckle. This was one order he'd have to disobey, and hopefully the last his so-called boss would be giving him. He had no love for the Commonwealth, and as such would not have anything to do with a bounty issued by them, although he still had his own reasons for seeking out the Captain. Kuzzuk leaped off the roof, his wings slowing his descent enough for him to land safely next to his small hovercraft. He hopped onto it and started off in the direction of the crash, hoping the Captain was still living.
 
Vex landed his ship on a nearby mountaintop, the voice of Alice ringing in his ear. "Vex, it looks like most of his crew is clean, aside from a slicer by the name of Alexei. It's only a small bounty, but it's something." she said. Vex nodded and stepped out of the ship, pulling his sniper rifle from the gun rack next to the door. He found a good vantage point and looked through the scope, eyeing the damage. "Wow, that's not a pretty landing. I wonder if the Captain's dead." he said, seeing a bleeding form pull himself from the wreckage. "There's the slicer." Alice said, pausing.


"Uh, Vex? There's a hovercraft on a direct path to the wreck. Sensors are picking up an insectoid." Vex sighed, swinging his rifle around to look. Sure enough, she was right. "He's probably after any survivors. He looks like he's in too much of a rush to be a scavenger. Another bounty hunter, maybe?" He shook his head and punched a series of commands into the datapad on his wrist, his ship suddenly vanishing. If he was going to sit up here and watch, he couldn't let him or his ship be seen.


Vex let out a small sigh and attached a suppressor to the end of the rifle, before leveling it at the hovercraft again. He chambered a round as his HUD locked onto the target, one of the hovercraft's engines. He wasn't going to try and kill the insectoid, but he was going to at least slow him down. Stabilizers in his arms whirred quietly, steadying the shot he was about to make as his targeting system finished it's lock. Vex slowly squeezed the trigger, firing a high-caliber round at the starboard engine of the speeding hovercraft. The suppressor would hide where the shot was fired from, and trying to see someone up in the trees at this distance would be near impossible. Vex was confident that his location wouldn't be compromised.
 
Kuzzuk's Hovercraft buckled when hit by the sniper round, and begin to drift off course into the woods. He quickly jumped out of the craft, using his wings to glide to a sturdy branch of a nearby tree as it rammed into a stump, unusable. "Of course there would be others here..." Kuzzuk mumbled to himself. He knew better than to expose himself in a vain attempt to find the sniper, so instead he crept ever closer to the wreckage, using his wings to keep himself hidden in the upper foliage of the forest. The leaves of the trees was good cover for has naturally dark green exoskeleton, which would keep him well hidden to most. His small claws were kept resting on his pistols, just in case.
 
Thomas smirked, the debris trail was visible from orbit, that would make things a bit easier.


"Set us down 5 kilometres from that crash site"


The woman manning the helm of the Providence Spirit nodded, and proceeded to bring the vessel into its de-orbiting burn. The thermal shields deployed over the front window of the ship, and one of the panels stuck briefly before clicking into place. As the engines engaged, every member of the crew on the bridge lurched backwards slightly.


"I'll have to get that fixed when this job pays out" Thomas muttered to himself.


The Providence Spirit survived re-entry, and Thomas clenched his teeth as the retrorockets fired, giving the crew another uncomfortable jolt. The metal bones of the ship groaned in protest as the vessel settled on the four large landing legs, and Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that the ancient vessel had survived another landing.


"Extend the loading ramp, I'm going out, have a fire-team ready by the time I get back, body armour, assault rifles, stun grenades, we're bringing this traitor in today."
 
Captain Fuller was pinned against his chair by a bulkhead. During the barrel roll, it had ripped out its rivets and went tumbling around the cabin. The chair was the only reason Mark was alive. Yet he wasn't sure he wanted to be. A few sirens whined out the Rogue Prudence's last breaths. AS if he wasn't disoriented enough, the ship wanted to make sure he was. Mark was trapped under a bulkhead and he couldn't feel his legs. If only Gorge was a low gravity world, he might be able to get out. Mark winced, pushing up desperately on the bulkhead, he was able to move it some. Perhaps he was on a medium gravity world. Mark thought it was ironic, brought down by his own dying ship. No, he refused to let it end that way. In one final effort, Mark heaved on the bulkhead. It lifted and he was able to squeeze out. However, he found a new sort of pain as the feeling returned to his legs. He slammed his fist on the ground, sending a soft 'pang' through the ship. The ship shuddered and he heard a crash. He didn't know what was wrong, but at the moment, he couldn't move. He looked to both sides for medical supplies or something to defend himself with. All he found was his blaster-pike, just out of reach.
 
Vex turned his attention back to the shipwreck, checking for any signs of life. From what he could tell, it would only take him a few moments to get to the wreck on account of his jump boosters, so if anyone decided to jump his claim he could stop them. "Vex, we have a ship inbound. Mercs, judging by the markings." Alice said. Vex cursed under his breath and looked up, his vision zooming in on the craft. "Damn. Looks like I can't handle this the stealthy way..." he said, slinging the sniper rifle on his back and pulling his assault rifle forward. "Alright, change of plans. Auto-pilot the ship in a holding pattern over the wreck, this is gonna have to be a smash-and-grab."


His ship suddenly whirred to life, lifting off the ground. It stayed cloaked, but it would be impossible to mask the sound of the engines. He would worry about that later. Vex took a deep breath and began sprinting in the direction of the wreck, launching himself into the air with his boosters. He wasn't capable of true flight, but he could cover a lot of ground very quickly if he had to. And in this situation, he -had- to. As he neared the ground he used his boosters to soften the landing just enough for him to take another leap. He had picked up considerable speed, and a few jumps later he landed, sliding to a stop next to the downed ship.


His assault rifle at the ready he stepped inside, entering through a large hole in the hull. The ship was trashed, and nearly devoid of any life at all. "No wonder they crashed... There's hardly a crew." he mumbled to himself, picking his way towards the bridge. Well, what was left of the bridge, anyways.
 
Thomas scanned the horizon with his binoculars, making sure the coast was clear before focusing on the flaming wreck.


"Looks like this is going to be easy" he cursed himself for saying that, he always regretted it. He opened the front of his black trench coat and felt for the concealed holster, removing the pistol stored within, he checked to make sure it was loaded. By the time he had finished checking his side-arm, the fire-team had emerged from the vessel. Three men, clad in dark grey armour and carrying black assault rifles piloted a small hovercraft from the wide loading bay. They stopped briefly for Thomas to get in, then sped toward the wreck.
 
Vex reached the bridge, pausing for a moment when he saw that a huge chunk of metal had blocked the way. He sighed and slung his rifle, grabbing hold of the errant metal. "Vex, the merc ship is approaching, and fast. I suggest you hurry the hell up." Alice said, an odd amount of urgency in her voice for an A.I. Vex cursed, pistons in his arms hissing under the strain as he pulled. Metal started creaking, and after what seemed like an eternity the metal finally gave. Vex tore the metal away and forced the doors open, his assault rifle back in his hands.


"Vex..." Alice warned. "Alice, I know. I have the Captain now." he said quickly, leveling his rifle at the downed man. "You look a little beat up, buddy. Drinking and flying?" he asked, his eyes and targeting system locked on him. He might have been joking, but the weapon he held showed that he was no friend. "Now, a little explanation before we get out of here. The Commonwealth has a nice bounty on your head for treason and sedition. I'm here to collect on that bounty, but I'm not the only one it seems." he said, as Alice put a mini map on his HUD, showing the location of the incoming ship. "So, you have one of two options. Either you can come along quietly and we can get out of here, or you can try something stupid and rope us both into a Merc firefight." he said, inching closer. "Make your decision quickly, we don't exactly have any time to waste."
 
Mark started could felt that he had some control in his legs returning. However, a man… or rather a cyborg entered. So that's what that crash was. The cyborg was no friend, as Captain Fuller could tell from the rifle barrel piercing the darkness. The cyborg gave him two choices, but there had to be more. "You'll find I'm a harder target then it's worth," replied Mark as he rolled over, grabbing his blaster-pike and pulling his chair into place between them. He winced again, but held his ground. One misstep and he'd no longer have a head. He hoped that he could lure the Cyborg close enough to get under the rifle. "You really think, you, of all the bounties contracted to kill me over the years, are going to be the one to do it. I bet you couldn't even touch me if you tried.
 
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"It wouldn't be fun if I could just slap you in binders and go about my merry way." Vex said, standing his ground. "We, however, don't have the time for this, Captain. We've got a ship full of bad news barreling down on this position, and we're both gonna have a bad day if we don't get the hell out of here." he added. He knew it was going to come to this. The Captain wasn't the type of person to just give up without a fight. "We can deal with whether or not I'm gonna be able to turn you in later. Jump in my ship, we'll go somewhere quiet, and then we can fight man-to-man."
 
Captain Fuller held his blaster-pike poised as the bounty hunter spoke. His words seemed reasonable enough. Yet he could not be sure. He heard the sound of others approaching. Perhaps they were friendlies, and thus would be in danger just like hijm. Or they could be salvagers and bounty hunters, in which case he was surely dead. He looked to the cyborg and said sarcastically, "Don't rush getting to your ship on account of me. I'm sure you can handle your own with whoever's coming. But heck, I'd take anywhere other than here right now." Mark still gripped his blaster-pike, but lowered it slightly to show that he wasn't in the mood to fight yet either.
 
"Alice, land the ship. We need to get the hell out of here." he said, lowering his weapon and slinging it onto his back. "Roger. It's about time, too." she replied sarcastically. Vex just sighed, lifting his hands to show them empty as he took a few cautious steps towards the Captain. "If it helps the situation, I'll even let you keep your weapon. If we go off-world, you can blast me in the back of the head." he offered, slowly moving close enough to offer the man a hand to help him up. Vex may have been a ruthless bounty hunter, but he knew when a fight wasn't fair. There was no honor to be had by hunting injured prey.
 
This bounty hunter was acting strange compared to others Mark had faced. Perhaps he was actually founded on honor, there was something to be said about that. The bounty hunter put his gun away, so Captain Fuller returned the blaster-pike to it's holster, cautiously. The bounty hunter approached, offering to help him up. "I may have been in a crash, but I'm not dead." Before the bounty hunter's ship was fully on the ground, he leapt up onto the side, showing more strength than the normal human. Mark had grown up and spent countless years training on heavy gravity planets, he felt he could almost fly on this, even if his legs hurt. Then he looked back to the bounty hunter, "Coming?"
 
Vex would have raised an eyebrow at that, had he eyebrows anymore. He couldn't help but chuckle though, and followed him outside. "That depends, you want your slicer to come along?" he asked, and before he was given an answer he quickly ran over to the downed man. Vex knelt next to him, checking his wounds. "You and the Captain are coming with us. There's a Merc ship coming in fast, and I don't think they're here to talk." he explained quickly, picking him up before he could get a response.


Vex turned and boosted back to the ship, sliding to a stop in the cargo bay. "Let's go!" he shouted at the Captain, laying the slicer on a set of crates. "Make sure your friend's secure, this isn't going to be a smooth ride!" he called back, sliding into the pilot's seat. The engines roared as the ship lifted off, and within a few moments he could see the Merc ship bearing down on them. "Alice, lock onto that ship and get me on their comms." "Done, and... done. You're patched in." she said. Vex cleared his throat and spoke clearly, banking the ship so he had a clear line of sight for his ship's weaponry. "Mercenary vessel, if you're here for the Captain, stand down. This bounty has already been claimed. If you do not stand down, I will have to use lethal force." he stated calmly, as the missile pods opened up on each side of his ship. The underslung gatling cannon whirring up to speed. Vex was not going to give up his target easily.


((Sorry for just grabbing your character, Alexei. I just wanted to make sure that the Captain's current crew wasn't split up.))
 
Thomas used his comm to reply to the transmission, "I recommend you stand down yourself, for all I know, you're working with the fugitive, and last I checked, we outnumbered you. My ship is landed just a few kilometres away, and a vessel that size can pack a lot of long range fire support"


He pressed the button to switch the channel to a closed one between himself and his bridge crew.


"Prepare long range anti-air missiles and target that ship, aim to cripple."
 
Vex sighed. "Sending my hunter credentials now. If you open fire on us, you'll have the whole of the Bounty Hunter's Guild up your ass. I'm a veteran Hunter who's been put up against bigger threats than you, so I suggest you don't do anything you're going to end up regretting." he said, turning his attention to the ship's A.I. "Alice, jam their targeting systems and prepare for evasive maneuvers. I don't trust these Mercs further than I can throw 'em." he ordered. "I'm getting a bad feeling about these guys, Vex. I wouldn't egg them on too much." she warned. "I know, I'm just trying to diffuse the situation before it gets bad. Hey, Captain?" Vex said, glancing behind him. "This might turn sour fast, I'd hold onto something if I were you."
 
Thomas sighed, it seemed his only option left was to wait.


"I want you to keep tracking him for as long as you can, I want two men in every major settlement keeping both eyes open for that ship. Plain clothes, pistols only, nothing so bulky that they'll be spotted. If he lands in any of those settlements, I want to know."


Thomas and his soldiers climbed back into the hovercraft and started back to their ship.
 
Captain Fuller ran over to Alexi. "Thank God you're alive. How are you feeling Alexi? Brace yourself for some hard flying, we've run into a couple of bounties. Do you have a blaster-pike?"
 
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