Post by Veria Holt on Jun 25, 2011 19:53:51 GMT -5
The Universe…
Humans and various extraterrestrial races on similar levels of technological and evolutionary development have found each other over a period of centuries, mostly by coincidence, as the sheer size of the universe makes extensive charting and exploration difficult. All humanoid races, or “sentients” as they are now known, have formed a network for trade, tourism, exploration, and sharing of information known simply as the Intergalactic Organization or IO. One focus of the Organization is to search for possible habitable planets and/or other sentient races. Whenever a prospect is found, the Organization assigns a ship to check it out.
The Mission…
Telescopes are currently focused on a solar system known as L-0244, one with approximately the right sized sun and planetary distance for life to develop. Now all they need is a captain willing to take a crew out through uncharted space on this highly dangerous and perhaps foolhardy journey to explore the possibilities.
The Captain…
B-Rank Captain Veria Holt, a spoiled and petulant human of just 26 years of age. She rose through the ranks quickly, coasting on her parents’ money and reputation and standing on the shoulders of more skilled crew members. She owns the brand-new, state-of-the-art, and highly expensive ship Tenacious VII. Plenty of discussion went on behind her back when she was assigned this mission. There were more skilled and higher-ranked captains available, so why this incompetent kid? Frankly, some say, the Organization is doing well to get rid of her. Now who is she going to take down with her?
The Crew…
Most times, the captain gets to choose his or her own crew. While it is still technically true that Veria chose them herself, the Organization strongly suggested most of them for her. With a hint of or else. On the surface, it’s an ordinary crew. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see all of them have run afoul of the IO in some way or another. Whether it be side dealings with black market traders, consistent failure to follow orders, or simply because the higher-ups just plain don’t like them. Well, these miscreants and the starry-eyed newbie volunteers who just graduated. So that’s the flight crew taken care of, but what about the potential colonists and general ship help?
The Catch…
The Organization is trying something new. An experimental “outreach and rehabilitation” program known as Second Chance. Convicted criminals will be given the chance to get out of jail free… if they sign up for this mission. The moment the ship clears the Earth’s atmosphere, they become free citizens. But only until they get back. If they help out with the ship and prove themselves as worthy members of society, their status will undergo review upon return to their planet. However, if they choose to stay in L-0244 as colonists or permanent research staff, they’re free. Even though the convicts are technically ‘free’, they seem to be loading up an awful lot of guards.
The Situation…
So what have we got? A ship full of criminals (and the official crew is looking pretty shady too), and a mostly incompetent captain, on a trip to who-knows-where to find who-knows-what. With all the guards on board, is everyone as ‘free’ as they hoped? And is anyone really expecting them to make the return trip, or is this just a not-so-subtle way to get rid of everyone the Organization doesn’t like?
Humans and various extraterrestrial races on similar levels of technological and evolutionary development have found each other over a period of centuries, mostly by coincidence, as the sheer size of the universe makes extensive charting and exploration difficult. All humanoid races, or “sentients” as they are now known, have formed a network for trade, tourism, exploration, and sharing of information known simply as the Intergalactic Organization or IO. One focus of the Organization is to search for possible habitable planets and/or other sentient races. Whenever a prospect is found, the Organization assigns a ship to check it out.
The Mission…
Telescopes are currently focused on a solar system known as L-0244, one with approximately the right sized sun and planetary distance for life to develop. Now all they need is a captain willing to take a crew out through uncharted space on this highly dangerous and perhaps foolhardy journey to explore the possibilities.
The Captain…
B-Rank Captain Veria Holt, a spoiled and petulant human of just 26 years of age. She rose through the ranks quickly, coasting on her parents’ money and reputation and standing on the shoulders of more skilled crew members. She owns the brand-new, state-of-the-art, and highly expensive ship Tenacious VII. Plenty of discussion went on behind her back when she was assigned this mission. There were more skilled and higher-ranked captains available, so why this incompetent kid? Frankly, some say, the Organization is doing well to get rid of her. Now who is she going to take down with her?
The Crew…
Most times, the captain gets to choose his or her own crew. While it is still technically true that Veria chose them herself, the Organization strongly suggested most of them for her. With a hint of or else. On the surface, it’s an ordinary crew. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see all of them have run afoul of the IO in some way or another. Whether it be side dealings with black market traders, consistent failure to follow orders, or simply because the higher-ups just plain don’t like them. Well, these miscreants and the starry-eyed newbie volunteers who just graduated. So that’s the flight crew taken care of, but what about the potential colonists and general ship help?
The Catch…
The Organization is trying something new. An experimental “outreach and rehabilitation” program known as Second Chance. Convicted criminals will be given the chance to get out of jail free… if they sign up for this mission. The moment the ship clears the Earth’s atmosphere, they become free citizens. But only until they get back. If they help out with the ship and prove themselves as worthy members of society, their status will undergo review upon return to their planet. However, if they choose to stay in L-0244 as colonists or permanent research staff, they’re free. Even though the convicts are technically ‘free’, they seem to be loading up an awful lot of guards.
The Situation…
So what have we got? A ship full of criminals (and the official crew is looking pretty shady too), and a mostly incompetent captain, on a trip to who-knows-where to find who-knows-what. With all the guards on board, is everyone as ‘free’ as they hoped? And is anyone really expecting them to make the return trip, or is this just a not-so-subtle way to get rid of everyone the Organization doesn’t like?