Futuristic The Final Hope - IC

[Satanic Nightjar]

Hello, everyone! Before we begin, I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to stop by and check out this roleplay - I really appreciate it! I will get this started when everyone has completed a character (:

 

[Satanic Nightjar]

TARDIS06 Jackstack Tempestus eggsaladsandwitch Ravenpaw Northless

It had been twenty-one long days since the Savior had lost all communications with Earth. Their long-range telescopes and sensors had already begun the search for a new habitable planet, but the major concern was the alien ships and the uncertainty that surrounded them. Had they escaped unnoticed? Or were they being followed, just outside of what they could successfully scan? Would the invaders even care about humans once they evacuated the planet, or would they continue on their mission to eliminate them from the universe regardless? These were the questions that weighed on every crew member, the questions that occupied the heavy silence in every crew discussion. They were lost, alone, the last hope for humanity, and they were scared out of their minds.

Captain Katelyn Abernathy sat in her quarters (perhaps 56 square feet total, space used for a sleeping bag, a spare uniform and a pile of unfolded casual clothing, and a small computer/communication system), unfocused eyes gazing at the distant stars. There was only one small window in her room, and it was for 'safety reasons'. Nobody wanted a ship full of windows, no matter how thick. Making decisions for the entire crew was a heavy weight that the carried, one that she had trained for for months but could never truly prepare for. Everything from who got to clean the bathroom to how the food was distributed and rationed fell to her to determine. And when the time came, the lives of who were very possibly the last of the human race would be in her hands. Nobody sane wants that responsibility.

The captain was forced out of her thoughts by the alarm sounding. The voice of her second in command came over the speakers, announcing that there was an issue with the ship, and ordering everyone to stay calm until the problem could be resolved. Abernathy stood quickly, honestly a bit relieved to have something to occupy her, and made her way to the command station, located in the front of the ship. Her best officers stood around her, wearing grim expressions, some fighting back tears. "Report," she ordered, her voice not as stable as she had intended. A young man stepped forward, his name tag reading Andre Donovan, Assistant Engineer.

"Captain." Donovan cleared his throat, then said in a low voice, "The engines are giving out. We don't know exactly why, but we're currently on a collision course with an asteroid. Somebody's going to have to go down their and fix the issue manually. The problem is it's overheating down there, releasing gases and heat on the upper limits of what our suits can withstand, if we could make our way down to the storage area where we keep them." He gave her a chance to process this information, but cut her off before she was able to respond. "It gets worse. We're also having trouble with the artificial gravity. Getting down there, even if we manage to get our space suits, would be extremely dangerous. You could be walking normally one second and the next you're flying up to the ceiling. There's no way to predict it or prevent it without getting down to engineering."

Captain Abernathy was silent momentarily, running all of their potential options through her mind, firmly telling herself they would not be defeated so easily only three weeks into their journey. This was it. The last hope for humanity, and there was no way in hell she was going to fail like this.

"Okay then. Options?"

 

[Jackstack]

Ryker Tull
Ryker stood with the rest of the crew, listing to the assistant engineer. This ship was the best, and two critical systems were already failing. With an annoyance in his voice, he stepped forward and spoke up, "Ma'am, first off, the asteroid is a problem that can be solved right now. The engines haven't completely failed, and if we act now, I can use whatever is left of the maneuvering thrusters to put us in a drift around the asteroid. Second, isn't that your job, Donovan? So, who are the 'somebody's' that you've decided to order around? Last I checked, there were two engineers on this ship, who's responsibility was to fix this shit. Are you that inexperienced that you have to run to the captain with every problem? Aren't you an adult?" He calmed himself before he spoke again. They were only a few weeks into their journey, and major problems were already beginning to pop up. He spoke up again, this time, leaving Donovan from his view, "This mission just started, and I cannot believe that these problem are already happening, maybe the aliens have sabotaged the ship?" Then he gave a sly comment Donovan "Or maybe it's just incompetence? Either way, I didn't leave my brother for a mission that was doomed to fail at the start." He said his piece, and stepped back into his original position. Satanic Nightjar

 

[Satanic Nightjar]

Donovan opened his mouth to reply, but the captain waved a hand to silence him. Moving to the far side of the room, she punched a few buttons on one of the panels and entered her authorization code. The computer beeped, and she cleared her throat. "How many life signs in the Engine Room?" The computer quickly processed her speech, then replied in it's robotic voice, No life signs in the Engine Room. All crew members were evacuated five minutes ago at the command of -

"Stop." Abernathy turned to face Ryker and Donovan, giving them a disapproving look, but let her voice carry throughout the room. "The Engine Room is no longer safe or functioning properly. It's been evacuated, so we can most likely assume the engineers are either injured or attempting to solve the issue from the outside. Still, somebody must go in there in a space suit and fix the problem manually, and I am the most qualified member of the crew to do so that we know is uninjured and uncompromised. Call down to Valussi, she or her assistant can monitor my condition while I'm in there." She took a deep breath, then continued. "Ryker, as soon as I'm out, you're going to get us off the collision course with the asteroid. Do whatever is necessary, but we can't take any more damage." She nodded to everyone else in the room. "As for the rest of you, scan the area around us. Make sure this problem is purely as a result of human error, yes?"

So far, the aliens they were trying so hard to escape had left them alone, if they even were aware of their departure from Earth three weeks ago at all. But what if they had found away to interfere with their mission through space, without physically being aboard the ship? They'd been known to do such things: when they invaded humanity's home planet, the first thing they'd done was disable all weapons that could be used to fight them, before they even landed. So they were capable of such an attack. Another idea was sabotage. Perhaps they'd known all along that the ship was being built, and had interfered with it in the early stages of it's construction. There were endless possibilities, each of them as valid as the next, and the captain hated the uncertainty. Maybe everything would become more clear when she got down to the Engine Room.

 

[eggsaladsandwitch]

The stark white walls of the med-bay made it hard for one to feel at ease. Dr. Jonah Park felt as if he couldn't even close his eyes without seeing the bright, reflective surfaces of medical equipment. And God, did he just want to close his eyes for 30 goddamn seconds. While he was technically off-duty for the moment, sleep escaped him, so here he sat at his station, checking and re-checking everyone's charts, making sure he hadn't missed any drug allergies or resistances. This is what he was doing when the alarm sounded through the ship, and the doctor sat idle, for a moment, before finally deciding it may behoove him to head to the command center to make sure that no one was dying.

Once there, it only took a few moments for the issue to be hashed out. When the Captain started laying out her plan, Jonah felt his brows furrow in concern and reluctance. "Captain," he spoke up, approaching the woman, "I must say that I highly advise against this--at least, until we know what 'gasses' are being emitted down there. Going in blindly will only succeed to get yourself--and perhaps the rest of the team--killed." Though his words were smooth and calculated, he couldn't help but notice the small hint of worry that he could feel undermining his voice. The man's frown only grew as he realized this, and made a mental note to do a better job of keeping his emotions safely in check.

Satanic Nightjar