Fandom FTL: Faster Than Light

[Epic]

@Fezzes @Deltorian Nephran @AlphaDraco @UdonIrvine47


Sounds of engines firing up echo across the docking bay, your ship the "Kestrel Cruiser" is preparing to leave from the Federation HQ of Sector Xe-29, your mission is simple "Deliver Intel to The Federation of Alpha-23 that could lead to stopping the rebellion." It's unknown how long you have until the rebellion will catch up to you, though they are closing in behind you quickly. With a simple crew of an Engi, Zoltan and two Mantis you prepare to set off. Suddenly, the intercoms come up, "Launching in 5 minutes." All of you are aboard the ship entering through door control, preparing to leave on a dangerous mission that not all of you are likely to survive from.

 

[Axion]

Gunther, arriving near the Kestrel Cruiser, recruited by some guy, Federation, whatever- he just wanted to be rid of the boredom he had been plagued with- as he boards the ship for who knows what will happen on this trip.

 

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

P4S-1U8L maneuvered its bipedal body in through the airlock joining onto the Door Controls, immediately beginning to glance over the systems to see that the doors were in working order. Satisfied with the quick overview, it moved on through the ship to check over all the systems and memorise every detail of the Kestrel he could. He was acutely familiar with this class of Cruiser, but he was more than aware of the individuality of each ship, and as such he would need to record all the little intricacies and details that he could, for future repairing efficiency.


Partway through his tour, he saw the back of a Mantis. His memory logs told him of their aggressive and warlike tendencies, along with their habit of taking Engi slaves. Immediately, he set his vocal tones to what he believed conveyed an annoyed tone, setting it as the primary default for conversing. To be so trusted in the Federation, a Mantis had to be at least a little more peaceful than normal, but a Mantis is a Mantis. He continued his tour, noting the trajectory of the Mantis, its probably path, and replotted his route to avoid it.

 

[AlphaDraco]

Trr'Kit walked up to the Federation vessel with a metaphorical smile on his face, metaphorical in the sense that it was impossible for a mantis to smile, but the emotions were still their. Today would be the day that he could finally learn more about the other species that he shared this galaxy with, and not in the manner of how to kill them. He chirped in delight as he walked through the airlock and began to tour the craft.


The ship was in a lot better shape than the pirate ship he had snuck aboard several weeks earlier, and everything seemed to be in its place. Trr'Kit was disappointed that the first other crew member he saw was another mantis. This disappointment, however, turned to glee when he saw the massive hulking and shifting shape of an Engi in the distance.


They were such an interesting species the Engi. Made up of nano machines, they constantly shifted their shape and could understand ship systems better than any mantis ever could. Trr'Kit had to go meet the being.


"Greeting fellow crew member, my name is Trr'Kit, and I cannot wait to work together!" The young mantis held out his hand, scythe unextended, just the way he heard humans did.


@Fezzes

 

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

P4S-1U8L froze in its movements as a distinctly Mantis chatter emanated from behind him, greeting it and introducing himself rather cheerfully. Either it'd somehow miscalculated, or there was another Mantis wandering the halls of the ship. It swivelled its body around to face the other way, and began walking towards the Mantis curiously. This one seemed to be somehow... different. Like it was a Mantis body but a Human mind. Curious. It seemed to grasp the tradition of handshaking that Humans have.


P4S-1U8L reformed its right hand into a more human-like hand instead of the complex collection of tools it originally was, and cautiously held out a hand for a handshake. This Mantis was difficult to judge, but P4S-1U8L estimated the chances of betrayal at an 0.0035% chance, so it chanced the risk. It activated its vocal components, switching the tone to a more neutral one. "Greetings. I am P4S-1U8L. You are a curious specimen of the Mantis race." it stated rather bluntly.


@AlphaDraco

 

[Axion]

Gunther had taken a some corridors, marking places that would be the most important room to defend and where his living quarters would be. It was certainly bigger then that tugboat elders ship, he's glad he took that chance to get off or he'd be stuck listening more about rocks and asteroids. How boring that was, he wants some killing and rampaging on ships to boast his morale.


He soon heard other voices and checked out who it was. It seemed to be another Mantis, but way smaller than him, and in front of him was a Engi, strange creatures made out of littler creatures. He had no reason to partake in their little conversation and just went back exploring the back of the ship as he ended up in the storage space, looking through some of the crates left here.

 

[AlphaDraco]

Trr'Kit shook the Engi's recently formed energetically. He could barely contain himself as the Engi replied to his greeting. For an Engi, the race who had the most to fear from a mantis, to actually reply back without suspicion was an amazing event. Perhaps he could even develop a friendship with the mass of machines.


Trr'Kit, take it one step at a time, no need to frighten the sentient off. Trr'Kit chastised himself before he could scare off the seemingly friendly Engi. He could not risk screwing this up. He needed to reply to the being.


"I know many of my hivemates that would agree with you P4S-1..." Trr'Kit could not believe that he had forgotten the latter part of the Engi's name. It had slipped his grasp in his excitement. Hopefully the Engi would not take offense to his forgetfulness.


"Crrrr, sorry, but what was the rest of your name again? It seems to have slipped my mind."


@Fezzes

 

[Epic]

@UdonIrvine47


The storage of the ship held mainly cobwebs, crates and the occasional cardboard box, there was even a small freezer storing some backup food. Inside of most of the crates were simple supplies such as spare blankets, clothing, and even a flashlight or two. Though, within one of the crates is something that may be of interest to Gunther, a large military crate labeled "Armor, Weapons, Ammunition".


Meanwhile, the entire crew could once again hear over the intercoms, "Two more minutes until take off, prepare your stations." Signaling for all of the crew to prepare themselves, they would be able to keep within radio contact at each of their stations, of course.

 

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

P4S-1U8L was amazed to see that the Mantis did indeed have the best of intentions, even if he did forget the rest of P4S-1U8L's name. Most did, on first hearing it, and they tended to shorten it in their various ways. It was of no consequence that the name was forgotten the first time around, or even at all.


"P4S-1U8L. This is difficult for most non-Engi to recall on early encounters, and I take no offense to a contraction of my designation. Humans on this station have taken to calling me 'Paul', as a simple example." P4S-1U8L paused for a moment as it computed his next words, a slight whirring audible from its internal systems. After a second, he made the effort to select the right tone for this, something he hoped would sound a little curious. "I am intrigued to know more about you. Explain..." it hesitated, searching its word banks for the correct procedure. "Please. I will be able to answer questions about myself, in return."


@AlphaDraco

 

[Axion]

Gunther noticed a box labeled with one of many of his favorite words. He grinned how a Mantis would grinned though it looked a little devilish, he opened it up and took a gander at what equipment they had in store. A couple of human weapons they called "guns" were set with what looked like the stuff they put into those guns, Gunther had no interest in those, even for him he'd rather go the traditional way of a Mantis and slice his way through. He then picked up what seemed to be armor for a human's head as he put it on, it didn't fit well as the helmet was half on his head, but Gunther didn't mind, as long it protected his little pea brain, he had nothing to worry about.

 

[AlphaDraco]

"Ah, thank you Paul! So sorry for my forgetfulness." Trr'Kit replied, his antenna swaying in excitement. The alien not only forgave him, but even gave him an easier name to remember! Everything was going great! But now the Engi was asking about his past, so of course he should answer truthfully. No need to start a friendship off of lies.


"Well, I was hatched on the planet Zrr'Lrrk, and was pretty much an outcast since my pupation. I've always been interested in other species. Heck, I even snuck aboard a pirate ship to try and meet other species." Trr'Kit reached up and rubbed his antenna, whistling in amusement.


"As you can guess, that did not end well. I got ejected out of the ship in an old escape pod. Luckily," Trr'Kit raised his arm for effect. "I was able to fix up the rescue beacon enough to pull over a federation ship. A couple of signatures and interviews later and I'm here!" Trr'Kit gestured to the general location.


"So, what is your story?"


@Fezzes

 

[Epic]

@AlphaDraco @UdonIrvine47 @Fezzes


Suddenly, over the intercom comes the voice of a man saying, "Everyone, get to your stations we're going to begin launching soon. We're a bit pressed on time so we need to get you out of here as fast as we can." The ship doors begin to seal themselves shut as the ship readies itself for takeoff.


"Alright, to recap your mission: this ship contains vital information that is imperative to the survival of The Federation, you'll be delivering it to Sector Alpha-23. Remember, the rebellion is slowly capturing systems near us so you'll need to get moving as soon as possible and deliver that intel at any costs necessary."

 

[Nexus Placater]

"Oh no, I'm late..." Torazel seemed to yell as he quickly rushed through the crowd of humans that were standing around the small cruiser class ship that seemed like it was about to depart at any minute. Torazel's speed was incredibly quick, mainly because he was not really made up of much matter, but it still seemed like he was going to miss out on his ride out. It was a miracle to him when he slipped into the ship, "sighing" in relief. "Thought I was going to miss it..." He mumbled to himself as she slowly continued into the ship, hovering at a nice gentle pace.


Inside he soon found himself in front of something that was rare in the wide expanse of space, a mantis that was not trying to enslave an engi. "OH MY! This is scandalous!" Torazel said in a moderately loud tone, his "hands" cupping his "face" in mock shock. The next few seconds were him introducing himself but due to an annoying habit of speakin like hi words were on a highway, it would seem like he was literally speaking gibberish. The slowed down version is, "It's good to meet you guys. I just got here and you shouldn't worry. I am allowed on this ship. It was a nightmare to find this thing. I asked around thirty humans and they all looked like I was some mad man or just continually asked me to repeat what I had said. And so I did for about three times and every time, they would just stare blankly at me. I decided to go and check out this bay and I was like, 'Hey, that's the ship' and then the intercom in the place began to say something like, 'Prepare for launch!' or something like that and I realised that I was on the far side of the bay. I had to rush like the wind to get to this ship and I'm glad the doors haven't closed. But the next thing I knew I had hovered in and what do I find, a Mantis and an Engi shaking hands. Not a hand lock or something, do you Engi have hands? No, but a hand shake. And this surprised me a lot because I... well most of the universe thought that the Engi and Mantis were on bad terms. But hey, sometimes, good things happen. Oh... nearly forgot, my name is Torazel."

 

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

P4S-1U8L started to formulate a reply, but in this briefest of times the intercom sounded. They would be departing shortly. Then a Zoltan moved in, speaking incredibly quickly. If it were not for the Engi's computer systems, the words would have been almost unintelligible. It removed its hand and swiveled its head to face the Zoltan, who introduced himself as Torazel.


"Greetings, Torazel. In the interests increased crew efficiency, I request that you decelerate your speech patterns." It turned its head back to Trr'Kit. "I will share my origins later. At the present moment, it would be prudent to station yourselves wherever you are most useful, as will I."


P4S-1U8L began to walk away, towards the engine room. Here it could ensure the efficient running of said engines, as well as be in close proximity to engines, weapons, and shields in the case of damage to those systems. As it walked, its right hand formed back into its normal collection of tools instead of a hand.

 

[Axion]

Gunther heard the intercom and quickly got out of the storage taking a right out of the living quarters and through the shield room all the way to the teleportor room where his expertise of close-combat will surely be used a lot. Though he remembered there was a another Mantis on board, he seemed a bit strange, all Gunther knew,: he probably was gonna take all the kill and fun for himself. Gunther got real grumpy imagining this scenario, he hoped that squirt wasn't like that.