Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Well, he can absolutely positively scratch out 'recreational use' from his list.

But something inside him surfaces as she talks. Something deep within, buried beneath miles of memories and instincts, screams out in agony... and it's gone, just as quickly as it appeared. He takes a moment to just think about it, looking around the room as he does. His eyes catch a glimpse of the bio-hazardous disposal bucket where he dumped any used syringes. The sight of it as she speaks makes him freeze, and he feels it one more time. He wipes his face in his hands and tries to focus.

"...I don't want to die, doc. Its something else."

"But it's killing you inside..." he says. His posture didn't change nor did his expression, but his voice certainly did. The way he spoke just seemed... softer than usual.

 

[Infab]

"I know, I know...Its just...Its how I cope right now. I'll find something else, but for now...its all I got. Till I can get my hands around that bitch's neck." she responded. She eventually sighed again. "...I'll try and slack off. Just...please don't let Zadra hear about it. She'll tear me a new one, and I don't want to hear her ranting...I heard it enough the last time when I quit." She noticed his voice had softened a bit. Maybe what she said struck a cord or something inside.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"Just... stay away from it. All of it." responds Typhon, seemingly in a trance now. "I know what it can do... and I know more of what drives men to it."

 

[Infab]

Lauren gave Typhon a look, tilting her head to the side. "...You okay, doc?" she asked. "You sound weird."

---
​

Karina's response was a simple 'OK' gesture with her hand, as she continued to test out the various systems on the battlesuit. Once she was done, she took it back to the garage where they were storing the mech and suits. It wasn't long afterwards that she arrived in the Mordred's lounge to find that someone had left a bunch of dead fish on the counter. "Disgusting." she muttered, sliding it all off into the trash and shutting the lid. She wiped down the counter, before reading the note that Yolandi left. Next stop, base mess.

She arrived minutes later, taking note of the broken coffee mug and spilled liquid on one of the tables as she approached where Yolandi was sitting. "Someone doesn't know how to clean up after themselves." said Karina, as she sat down across from Yolandi at the table.

---
​

"Hey, Shel. What's up?" asked Aesha, walking up near where Shelby had been mostly standing during everything that happened. Aesha seemed to be dressed for the tropical weather instead of for flying her fighter about, wearing a unbuttoned short-sleeved white shirt and a black sports top underneath. She also short blue shorts and flip-flops. How she even flew the fighter with flip-flops on was a mystery, but she still did it. She lifted the pair of shades she was wearing from her nose, looking down at Shelby before looking around. "Decided to hang around out here or something? Figured you'd be talkin' to Jerry or one of the others like Nara and Grommy."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Silence. Nothing comes from Typhon's mouth as he slowly turns to look Lauren in the eye. But the dead look in his face and especially in his eyes said everything that needed to be said.

 

[Frankafurter]

"I know right." Yolandi slides the Upyri her babyfood shake, "It's what I'm eating just... pureed." She slides a second beer towards Karina, "So, what sort of stuff can I do to your suit to make it work for you? You said it was mostly good to go, but again, any suggestions and tweaks I can do I am all ears for." She takes a bite of her sandwich, "Also, what was the deal back on the station, you just ripped that poor sumbitch's throat out and started drinking him like a juice box. Is that normal for the Upyri or what? I mean, you have to understand, I've only seen that sort of shit from actual cannibals out in a canyon on Moribund we used to just call The Slaughterhouse."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Oh, hi Miss Aesha!" Shelby smiled, driven from her curiosity of what went down at the beach. Jericho was... somewhere, she had waved at him when he walked by earlier and she was trying to figure out who would be best to chat with about her starpop stream.

Aesha... maybe? She was definitely nice, and one of the prettier members of the crew. That meant a lot for these kinda things.

"I'm looking for someone to help me with my streaming. I was going to do some dancing like I used to back home to make some money... for the crew," she added hastily. "I need someone to, like, conceal the signal. It would be pretty silly if the... um... adorning fans could track me. And all that, haha. You know how it is!"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"I am here!" Jericho made himself visible after decloaking right next to Aesha and Shelby. Giving the impression he was always there. He wasn't of course, after talking with Roku and being called weird. Which was a regular thing, to be honest. Jericho was bored once more, and decided to roam around invisible. Lucky for him, he heard Shelby and Aesha talking. And he heard Shelby talk about the stream. "Hi Aesha, darling. How are you doing?" He then looked to Shelby. "Streaming, huh? What would you be streaming? Songs?" He crossed his arms, smiling at Shelby. "Good thinking, darling."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Oh!" Shelby gasped when Jericho appeared. She flapped her arms about. "Hey, that was sneaky, no fair!"

After taking a second to calm down, she nodded. "Yeah, starpop songs. I'd sing and dance and all that. I'm a-" she hesitated to say idol around Aesha and out in public, "huge fan of starpop!"

 

[joshuadim]

Vance climbed on aboard, taking the seat proposed by Drav and taking a rod. "Yeah, the grey ones looked kinda nasty now that I think 'bout it. I kinda left it on the kitchen counter because that freaky robot was chasing me." Vance said with a chuckle as he cast the line out. He stayed quiet for a few moments, taking in the relative peacefulness of the waters before speaking up again.

"My pops always took me fishing by the Missouri River. Had plenty of fish to catch there when we go stay at a small fishing lodge near the banks. We'd go out often and throw back in the minnows and small fry while taking back some catfish and carp back to cook. Course that was before I joined the army and all, so I haven't done it in a while..." he said with a nostalgic tone and a big smile. He then shook his head quickly and focused on the line.

"I hope both my folks are alright. Probably worried sick 'bout me going on some crazy rocket adventure. How 'bout you? You fish often?"

 

[Dmaster]

Shun was walking along the beach as the others began to gather once more, and he turned on his heel and looked to Shelby, Jericho, and Aesha. Aside fromthe foolish android threatening to stab him, some light conversation would do well to calm him down further.

Not much one for waiting for an invitation, the cyborg inserted himself into the conversation, thinking nothing of it. "Greetings. What are you all discussing, if I may be so bold to ask?"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jericho almost froze as Shelby was about to give her identity away. He let out a small sigh as she quickly corrected herself. "Well, darling, if you ever need a backup dancer..." Jericho did a little flamboyant pose. "I'm your guy!" He then crossed his arms again. "As for singing and music and technical stuff? Why don't you ask Nara and Grommy? They're a band after all, plus..." Jericho was reluctantly trying to admit something. "I have struggled to, but I'd love to talk to them. They seem like cool people. Like...total dorks." He then looked at Shun as the Ayr cyborg AND terrorist approached them. "...Don't you have better things to do such as bomb stuff and kill your own people for...like...no good reason?"

 

[Dmaster]

Jericho only received a slow head tilt of confusion at first, only for Shun to respond suddenly. "You speak as if slicing apart any person for payment from an often faceless benefactor is any more noble, unit." he states without any emotion. "I do not expect you to understand my cause, and frankly it is none of your concern. I wish to discuss more leisurely matters at this time."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby looked between Shun and Jericho, fidgeting with her hands. Shun was not cool. He was definitely on the creepy side. Totally didn't understand personal space. Or thoughts. Besides, she could definitely pick up on some not-so-happiness between the pair. She knew they were both dangerous but this was kinda scary.

"U-um...."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jericho just smiled at Shun. "Hey, I'm completely honest with what I do." He leaned in close to the Ayr. "You should do the same. Ain't no shame in being a pretentious bloodthirsty savage trying to send some messages using violence." He then looked over to Shelby and Aesha. He noticed Shelby was getting nervous. "But you know what, wanna be technopriest guy...Fine. Want to talk leisurely? You can definitely do it. Tell me, my good Ayr terrorist, do you know anything about starpop? Any instruments? I imagine you can play some sick techno being a cyborg and all that."

 

[Dmaster]

"I could recount to you every tenant that I live by, every standard I hold, what has driven me to such drastic ends, and why I swallow the remorse of my actions each time I awaken." he starts, staring on at the android. "But do you honestly care? Would your attention span not fail you for long enough to digest that information?" Shun asked, quite confident about the answers to those questions.

"... Starpop? I am unfamiliar. And beyond passive listening of music I do not know any theory, or possess the skill to use an instrument." the cyborg explains. "Yet producing tones with software would be simple enough, though my lack of knowledge in musical notation or timing would hold me back."

 

[Infab]

Uh oh. Lauren glanced towards the door. "Do you want me to leave so you can be alone? Or do you want me to just stay and talk to keep your mind off it?" she asked. The man was going through withdrawals. Likely that yellow shit she saw the other Lions taking.

---
​

Karina shook her head, before drinking some of the slushified food through the straw. "The battlesuit is fine for now. We could potentially tweak the grenade launcher in the future, as it can be belt fed instead of using a drum magazine. The suit was only made to take on heavy infantry and light mechs in enclosed spaces anyway." she responded. Then Yolandi brought up the incident aboard the station. "...I have anger issues." she said simply. "Its only common to see that sort of thing with the Upyri Marines...they use it as a scare tactic for other organic races. Nothing instills fear like the enemy ripping your comrades apart and feeding on them. I recall that they put it to good use during the war against the Divinity Creed. Their knights started calling our troops 'demons' and 'hellspawn'. We scared them more than Sol ever did."

---



​

As music continued to play from the radio nearby, Drav listened to Vance talk about fishing and things back home. "Drav fish when Drav get chance." she responded, when he asked if she fished often. "Drav from fishing village....Reminds Drav of home." There was a bite on her line again, which she jerked and reeled up quickly. Once it was up, and she was attempting to take it off the hook, she continued. "...Drav not been home in years."

Once the fish was off the hook and in the bucket next to her, she baited the hook once more and recast it. She soon grew quiet again, just taking in the music and calm waters.

---
​

Aesha listened as Jericho and Shun went back and forth. She eventually rolled her eyes, before looking to Shelby. "Streaming, huh? That's cool. Could probably get Pearl to set up some stuff so you aren't tracked. I could rake you in a bunch of subscribers too. All I'd have to do is show up on the show, and promote it. It'd be easy money." said Aesha, with a smirk. "Nara and Grommy would be perfect for supplying music and such."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jericho was just standing there, looking at Shun as he finished talking. He was just completely baffled by Shun. "...right." He decided to get back to Shelby and Aesha. "Yeah, I think Nara and Grommy would be perfect for this as well!" He got a bit close to Shelby to whisper something to her. "But do be careful. The last thing I want is Bubblegum noticing you." He then looked to Aesha. "Where are Nara and Grommy?"

 

[joshuadim]

"Yeah... seems like we both want to see home again at some point." Vance remarked as he felt a bite on his line. He reeled in a fish and put it into the bucket. He then rebaited and recast the line once more back into the water. "I kinda feel like the fish in the bucket. I'm out here... god knows where and how far from home. I meet weird aliens and alien robots, fought said aliens and robots, went against a giant of a man that hits like a tank, and now I fly in a spaceship. None of this makes sense to a farmboy like me."

He stayed quiet again, listening to the water and the radio for a moment and taking it all in. "Can't argue with the view though. It's quite pretty out here."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Y-yeah, Grommy and Nara could be cool. I don't know what kinda music they play, though," she said, considering it over. More help was nice, but she didn't want anyone stealing the spotlight, so to speak. And even Aesha, while super cool, could steal some of her energy. She was the idol after all. Not them.

She whispered back to Jericho. "Don't worry, we will mask the signal. No danger!"

 

[Dmaster]

He paid no mind to Jericho, his point about low attention span proving itself immediately. He learned a bit more information through Aesha, prompting him to turn to Shelby as the android whispered in their ear. "Concealing a signal? I could also assist. Signal bouncers, coded encryptions. All relatively simple to implement." Shun added.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"Do you want me to leave so you can be alone? Or do you want me to just stay and talk to keep your mind off it?"

Just slightly and gently, Typhon's head shakes and his eyes drift off. "Won't work... won't work..." he mumbles.

"The killing... the-the stealing... every-thing we do..." His eyes snap back onto Lauren's face and his breathing becomes much more distressed. "It... Doesn't... Work..."

 

[Breadman]

Before Petar could say anything to Roku and his seemingly bottomless chasm of bullshit and stupidity, Shun was already ready to go for the throat if the pilot didn't shut up. There was no point to say anything as the cyborg ayr made his stance on the topic very clear and Roku kept it up with the attitude. As much as he liked to threaten, jab and feel like he was in the right, blue boy still failed to account on how much real leverage he had and with whom.

Soon enough everyone had dispersed and left him alone in the mess hall. Nothing much to do, but grab something to drink and go do something else. Of course beer supplies have gone down. Thanks Jackson. he managed to find something at the back worth a damn. 'Should use the money to get a private supply.' Walking out of the mess hall, Petar walked around a bit. Eventually stopping to sit down and observe the work being done by the Ironbloods. The rebuilding was going well so far. Soon that monstrosity is gonna wreck havoc.

While looking at the workers perform their jobs, someone caught his eye. Petar squinted, looking at a woman. Something about her felt familiar. He couldn't quite figure it out from this distance.
---
Vincent's walk along the shore was drawing to a conclusion when he noticed the gathering of crew members.
"Howdy folks. What's going on here?"

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi nods as Karina explains the tactic she used, "I see, but I mean, you guys drink blood anyways right? I know the Upyri have that synthetic alternative stuff and it's kinda taboo to drink the real deal. I just had the impression that it was just because deep down everyone still drank the real stuff and just wanted to hide the fact to not scare off the other races."

Yolandi thinks a moment about what she said, "I guess that's just my own ignorance though. I come from a stretch of backwater called the Periphery and the only Upyri that came out that way were homesteaders just looking for a remote place to settle without too much of the galaxy's woes following them there. Lotta human folks would blame stuff on them and avoid their homesteads like the plague... cattle going missing, sons and daughters being turned into thralls for the 'vampires.' Really, it was just their kids were curious enough to look past the bullshit of their elders and came to learn that the Upyri were just like anyone else for the most part." She takes another bite of her sandwich and a swig of her beer, "Most of them just wanted to be left alone, only came into the towns when they absolutely had to stock up on supplies because they know the townsfolk would give'm the stinkeye for the duration of the visit."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby wrinkled her nose at Shun's response, offering a slightly strained smile. "Erm... t-thanks! That would be... be cool... and nice." Now he's going to be around more often, nooooo.

She saw Vincent approaching from behind the group and she put her attention on him instead. Like a few others on the ship, she didn't know him really. "Hi Mister Vincent, we're just... talking about starpop."