Announcements: Cutting Costs (2024) » January 2024 Copyfraud Attack » Finding Universes to Join (and making yours more visible!) » Guide To Universes On RPG » Member Shoutout Thread » Starter Locations & Prompts for Newcomers » RPG Chat β€” the official app » Frequently Asked Questions » Suggestions & Requests: THE MASTER THREAD »

Latest Discussions: Adapa Adapa's for adapa » To the Rich Men North of Richmond » Shake Senora » Good Morning RPG! » Ramblings of a Madman: American History Unkempt » Site Revitalization » Map Making Resources » Lost Poetry » Wishes » Ring of Invisibility » Seeking Roleplayer for Rumple/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time » Some political parody for these trying times » What dinosaur are you? » So, I have an Etsy » Train Poetry I » Joker » D&D Alignment Chart: How To Get A Theorem Named After You » Dungeon23 : Creative Challenge » Returning User - Is it dead? » Twelve Days of Christmas »

Players Wanted: Serious Anime Crossover Roleplay (semi-literate) » Looking for a long term partner! » JoJo or Mha roleplay » Seeking long-term rp partners for MxM » [MxF] Ruining Beauty / Beauty x Bastard » Minecraft Rp Help Wanted » CALL FOR WITNESSES: The Public v Zosimos » Social Immortal: A Vampire Only Soiree [The Multiverse] » XENOMORPH EDM TOUR Feat. Synthe Gridd: Get Your Tickets! » Aishna: Tower of Desire » Looking for fellow RPGers/Characters » looking for a RP partner (ABO/BL) » Looking for a long term roleplay partner » Explore the World of Boruto with Our Roleplaying Group on FB » More Jedi, Sith, and Imperials needed! » Role-player's Wanted » OSR Armchair Warrior looking for Kin » Friday the 13th Fun, Anyone? » Writers Wanted! » Long term partner to play an older male wanted »

0
followers
follow

Aranoth

"Ah yes, here's your problem... the device hasn't even been switched on."

0 · 333 views · located in A Sad, Sad Place

a character in “Martyrium”, originally authored by Gamer_Templar, as played by RolePlayGateway

Description

Full Name: Aranoth, Dreamer of Unity

Age: 42

Race: Xilass

Appearance: Standing at 5'10", Aranoth's physical form is quite slender, with the conventional "two arms, two legs" design shared by most sapient life. However, this is hidden from the shoulders down by a long, silvery-blue nanomesh cloak that goes down to his feet. As for the head, it is not designed to look like that of an organic; the face consists of three optics which are capable of showing many forms of expression with several tiny panels that function as β€œeyebrows”. These optics even switch from their normal faint blue glow to a brighter red colour in combat situations.

Personality: Aranoth's general demeanour is actually a very calm one, in stark contrast to the usual madness that goes on around him. It is this behaviour that makes him a valuable asset to the team; when outright chaos runs rampant among the group, Aranoth keeps calm and carries on with whatever he's doing. Unless he's getting shot at while trying to hack into a locked terminal or something, in which case he'd run for cover like any sane person.

Organic life simply fascinates Aranoth, and in his spare time he might try to strike up a friendly conversation with one of the more approachable members of the crew. That is, if he's not too busy with ship repairs or requisitioning supplies while the ship's docked at a station.

If anyone gets on his bad side, he wouldn't be the sort to punch the offending individual in the face. No, he'd go for a more passive-aggressive option. Did your datapad suddenly purge itself of all its precious files? Aranoth might have a backup stored somewhere, if you ask nicely.

History: As a newboot, Aranoth stayed on the Dephdra where he had been constructed, assisting with ship maintenance and dealing with alien stations, trading shiny Xilass tech for fuel and supplies so that the mothership could continue its endless journey. It was through these dealings that he made a hobby of studying the emotions and body language of organic lifeforms. Over the space of about a decade, Aranoth had made gradual adjustments to his physical form while gathering data on organic life, resulting in the appearance he has today.

At 11 years since bootdate, Aranoth decided to go directly to the leaders of the Thalassocracy and pitch his idea of researching the behaviour of organics, so that the Xilass race may be accepted into the Tribune, and show the Elders just how far they have come. Backed by the Xilass government, Aranoth began his official career of research, which eventually branched out from merely observing organic behaviour to subjects such as philosophy and the study of alien cultures. The minimalistic nature of Xilass administration allowed him great freedom at the cost of having to work odd jobs in order to pay for travel expenses. It was during these years of study that Aranoth devised a second name for himself that functioned more as a title, Dreamer of Unity, in subtle defiance to the common Elder belief that Xilass were incapable of dreaming.

So I bet you're wondering, how did a guy like Aranoth get a job with a ragtag buncha misfits like the Second Horsemen, eh? Well, while Aranoth was stopping at a station in a pretty rough part of space he was passing through, the station got attacked by a pirate vessel. Shortly afterwards, another ship showed up and managed to eliminate the marauders, though not without sustaining some damage in the process. Sensing a good opportunity to make some cash, Aranoth went over to the docking area where the ship was at and offered to assist with the repairs for a small fee. Although the Xilass ended up doing most of the work, the Captain was actually pretty impressed, and offered Aranoth a full-time position as shipboard engineer for a mercenary group known as the Second Horsemen. Aranoth wholeheartedly accepted, on the condition that they would make trips to the Dephdra at least once a year for transferral of data collected on organic life, in addition to hardware and software upgrades.

Over the next two years, Captain Zack Archer actually stayed true to his word, and Aranoth managed to learn a great many things, most notably that it simply wasn't worth it trying to calculate Captain Archer's precise behaviour patterns, as well as sometimes it's better to take a laser cutter to a locked door instead of trying to look for the terminal for it.


General skills/specialities: Aranoth is an expert with particularly intricate pieces of technology, as evidenced by some of the modifications he has added to himself. A personal anti-grav unit allows for a whole new level of mobility in combat and low gravity environments. An integrated laser/plasma weapon system offers adequate self-defence capabilities. Combining the use of these can make for an effective hit-and-run strategy in a shootout. Outside of combat capabilities, Aranoth even has a few components designed to mimic the vital signs of an organic, including a device that generates body heat.

Typical weapon loadout: Despite being more suited for tasks requiring intellect, Aranoth can still hold his own in a fight. Built into his body are two retractable weapon arms, the first having a medium-range laser for general purpose combat, but when the situation calls for breaking out the fancy china, the other arm is equipped with a compact plasma cannon. Due to the experimental nature of plasma weapons, not to mention their high maintenance needs, Aranoth uses this weapon sparingly.

So begins...

Aranoth's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Tyraus Ravia Pratix Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Salis Hunar Character Portrait: Aranoth Character Portrait: Jag
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader




A long, long time from now...

Actually, it's not really that far into the future...

In a galaxy far, far away...

Wait, that's not right either...

It's THIS galaxy...

Yeah, this one...

The one with the spiral, or whatever...


MARTYRIUM





Well here we are, folks... The beginning of the story... The moment that started it all... Well, maybe not all of it, I mean, I'm not the guy who created the universe-- I'm just the guy who wrote this little introduction to an epic tale following a ragtag group of mercenaries doing whatever the hell they please throughout the Milky Way Galaxy IN that universe. No... No, that other guy was God. God did that. I'm not God. If you want creativity, then go and talk to that jerk. But hey, thanks for reminding me of my insecurities! Assholes... Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah; The beginning of a...really long journey...filled with...epic...stuff-- OKAY, YOU KNOW WHAT? FUCK THIS SHIT. JUST... Here it is...



It was a rather boring day for one particular crew of mercenaries that were currently stationed at a sad, sad place, in their equally sad, sad ship, doing God only knows what. One of them, however, was very clearly snoring quite loudly with the side of his face stuck to a desk thanks to the help of his own spit. In one hand, he held a near-empty bottle of whiskey. In the other? Well...that one... That one was digging around in the front of his pants. Again; doing God only knows what... This man, who was not unlike the common lowlife of a man you'd regularly find in any dysfunctional family's study each night after getting drunk for no other reason than simply because "fuck you", was none other than Captain Zack Archer: founder and current leader of the widely unknown mercenary business, The Second Horsemen. But hey, at least the name is cool. How many better names for a mercenary group can you think of other than the second horseman of the apocalypse? None, that's how many! Well, probably none aside from the actual horseman's name, War -- but that was already taken by another group known as War & Ruin, so fuck you anyway! Know why? Because that group doesn't have Captain "Mother-Fucking" Archer on-board their ship, now do they! No, they do NOT. And he's fucked a LOT of mothers, most likely, so deal with it!

So there was Archer, sleeping his troubles away without a care in the world. Wait, that doesn't sound right... If he's got troubles to sleep away, then doesn't that mean he's caring enough about them to do so...? Ahhh, that's right-- he's sleeping his cares away without trouble! What was I thinking? The Second Horsemen don't have any "troubles". Least not yet, anyway... Well, that was more-or-less the run-down of an average morning for Captain Zack Archer. A killer hangover from the now-passed Sunday night. Which meant that today was Monday. Which meant that something terrible was about to happen. Because Archer totally forgot all about it until that terrible something reminded him that it was so incredibly terrible.

The phone rang...

Well, it was the future, so it wasn't really a 'phone' phone, but rather the thing that acted as our sense of the word's replacement, which was in the form of an inter-galactic bridge of communication networks stretching across to every corner of the Milky Way Galaxy. In other words, a fancy-ass cellphone. But I'm going to call it the "holophone". So yeah-- suddenly, the "holophone" rang. And it was loud. At first, Archer just kinda grunted slightly, trying to turn his head the other way, only to give up because his face was too damn stuck to the surface of the desk he never used for anything other than...well, that. Then again, there was the occasional female bartender he'd pick up and bring back here from time-to-time... Anyway, as the "holophone" continued to ring, the orange light from the Caller ID's 3D hologram flashed the name of one of his clients, which illuminated the immediate area. This bright light was beginning to annoy the young captain, although he still managed to fight it with a scowl and a grit of his teeth.

Because someone on his ship chose to change the settings of his "holophone" so that it would continue to ring louder and louder each time he didn't pick it up; by the 4th ring, Archer was practically screaming inside his head, telling himself to 'Just pick the damn thing up already!' However, being Archer, he didn't actually give in until the 7th ring -- which was a good thing he did, too, because if he would have waited even one more second, he would have lost his chance at what was supposed to be their biggest job to date!

"HWAT!?" he yelled, rather stupidly, dropping the bottle of whiskey after forcefully ripping his face off of the desk. "D'YOU rEALIZE WHaT TiMe it...is?" Pausing to check the time on his holophone with squinted eyes, Archer nearly vomited all over his desk, but somehow managed to keep it down for the time being. "S'like... 12 iN the afTeRNOon, bro...!" he grunted into the receiver, burping a little. The voice that spoke from the other end of the connection sounded rather annoyed with Archer's usual lack of professionalism.

"Yeah, today's the day, asshole." said the client. "You know, THE day... I'm gonna need you guys out here to pick up the package within the next couple 'a hours, or else I've been told told to pass the job off to someone who can tell me with certainty what fuckin' day it is..." Archer merely scowled in disbelief before looking to his right at the calendar on his wall.

"Well I'm certain you sa..id it was on...MONDAY..." hiccuped Archer, looking ahead once more with a slight wobble. What happened next nearly made him drop the "holophone" out of startle.

"IT IS MONDAY, YOU JACKASS!!" screamed the client. "Now sober the FUCK UP, get DOWN HERE, and DELIVER THE PACKAGE!" With each raise in emphasis, Archer pulled his ear away from the receiver, creating something of a comical head-wag.

"O-Okay, okay! Jeez... You don't to yell--" began Archer, only to be cutoff by the sound of his client hanging up on him. "H... Hello...? Pssht, little bitch hung up on me...!" Turning off the "holophone" and setting it down on the desk he was now propping his elbows on top of, Archer sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. Trying to kick his thoughts into overdrive so that he could remember how important this job was supposed to be, Archer just sat there, barely breathing. And then it started coming back to him... For over a month, Archer had been promised a "special job", as it were, by a reliable client that would regularly get him jobs from various groups and other businesses. However, this one was said to be completely anonymous; Archer's client telling him how little he knew of them himself, other than the fact that they always pay well. This job in particular required some sort of package to be picked up and delivered to the mother ship and home of the Xilass race: The Dephdra. Until a week ago, Archer was beginning to lose hope, as most everyone on his ship figured he was spouting the regular nonsense that came out of his mouth each day, since there had yet to be any "big" or "special" jobs. The job itself was easy enough: Archer needed to swing by The Dephrdra again anyway in order to keep his promise with a certain Xilass crew member of his, so there was nothing all that "special" about it... And then he remembered the best part. The main reason why he accepted the offer back when he was first told about it.

"THE PAY!!" he suddenly shouted, waking up the female bartender that was crashing on the floor beside him. Her shout having made him give out a rather high-pitched scream of his own as he turned his head to look at the bizarre creature that was capable of making such a sound. Pausing for a moment to look at her, he scowled. "The fuck are YOU still doing here...?" he asked her in a strained voice. Her reaction to such words was less than pleased.

"Well, excuse ME for not being able to walk home after last night!" she sassed back at him. That's when they both smiled at each other, Archer giving her a nod.

"That good, huh?" he asked with a suave tone of voice.

"Oh, yeah~" she replied, giving him a suggestive look, by which Archer just leaned back in his chair, one arm over it as he stared at her until his smile began to fade.

"Well that doesn't quite answer my question, now does it!" he gradually shouted back at her, making her flinch slightly. "You can walk NOW, can'tcha'?! So get the fuck off my ship! I've got important mercenary crap to do here!" Finishing with that, he stood up and walked over to his coffee pot next to the sink. Scoffing, the female bartender stood up, albeit weakly at first, before moving towards the cabin door.

"Fuck YOU, Archer!" she said back, giving him the finger.

"Too bad you already beat me to it, lady!" said Archer, waving the back of his hand at her in farewell as he poured himself a cup of fresh coffee while the woman growled at him before leaving. There was nothing like a fresh cup of coffee in the morning to Archer... Well, it was 12 in the afternoon, but that wasn't the point. Taking a few sips of the delicious concoction, he let out a satisfied sigh, walking back over to his desk to sit down once more. Head still pounding quite fiercely, he took a couple of sips more, already thinking that he would be needing a bit of the hair of the dog that bit him in order to make a comeback from last night's binge. But instead, he figured he had better get to work, so to speak...

Leaning over his desk a bit, one hand grasping the handle of his mug while the other stretched out its index finger to click in the ship's intercom system. Speaking into the mic, Archer made his first announcement of the day.

"Well... It's that time of the day once again, kiddies." he started, his voice low and soft over the ship's speakers; evidence that he was suffering from yet another hangover. "Just got off the phone with one of our top clients... Looks like that big job I mentioned awhile back is happening. Like, right now. That means it's time to WAKE UP, you lazy sacks of shit! Ow... It's time to go to work! Hnng... Let's get Rev started up and heading for planet Alta Jarvis, located in the...Centaur Region. Don't keep papa waiting! Guh..." Finally done torturing himself with the sound of his own loud voice, Archer took his finger off the switch to the intercom. And then, on cue, one of the hands stopped while passing by his doorway.

"Archer, dear." she said, pausing to give him a look. "It's 12 in the afternoon; the only one who hasn't already been awake since morning is you..." At this, Archer made note of two things: 1, that bitch bartender left his door wide open, and 2, Kelly was looking rather hot today for someone who wasn't even compatible with his species.

"I know, Kelly." replied Archer. "I was just doing the 'professional' thing for once." Taking another sip of his coffee, he then kicked back with his legs up on the desk, looking relaxed. "By the way; your ass is looking especially awesome today."

"My name's not 'Kelly'..." she said with a bored tone, giving the impression that she'd told him this many times before. "It's Kei'Hally..." Placing her hands on her hips, she blatantly ignored his 'observation'.

"Knew that too, Kelly." said Archer, giving her a tilted nod while looking away from her. This just made Kei'Hally smile wryly and roll her eyes before hanging her head back in defeat as she walked away. Things were looking good, Archer thought to himself as he finished his first cup of coffee. By then, Rin-Naera should have already been prepping the ship for departure just as the bartender finally left, and the others would be getting ready for any problematic situations that may arise to meet them in the near future. For while Archer's crew knew how much nonsense he spewed out each new day to be his regular thing, and no matter how much they figured on this "big job" having been just another one of those things, they also knew one very important thing: Archer never joked about a job...

They knew it was go-time.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Having little else to do, Aranoth was at the terminal in his quarters, since there were only so many times that he could run a maintenance check on the Revenant's systems, be they engines, gravity control, or life support. While he had no need for sleep, Aranoth enjoyed having his own room. It offered privacy, as well as a place to call home. Granted, one with very unusual neighbours, but that was neither here nor there.

What Aranoth was doing at his terminal, for the nosy types who wish to know, was research. The usual stuff. Finding out things about the behaviour of organic life. Of all the duties he had, Aranoth held this one above almost all others. However, said research was interrupted when a rather bleary message was delivered over the intercom. Well, that answered the question of when Captain Archer was going to wake up, as well as when they were going to be doing that big important job he had been talking about for so long.

Rising from his seat, the Xilass exited his quarters, locking the door with the control panel. Assuming the Captain would require him to navigate the ship, Aranoth walked down the corridors to the front end of the Revenant, where the flight controls were located, and waited outside the room. Upon reaching his destination, he called Archer on his built-in communicator. "I have reached the cockpit, Captain Archer. If you wish, I can plot a course to Alta Jarvis." Going on the fact that the Captain was having another hangover, it was likely that Aranoth would have to pilot the Revenant.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Tyraus Ravia Pratix Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
Yup, things were going great on the Revenant, as they always did when a job came up. Archer was still kicking back in his seat when his holophone rang once again. Not picking it up right away, despite giving it a quick turn of his head, he smirked a little. Knowing it was likely Rin who was even bothering to call at this point. Finally picking it up, he was greeted with the small voice of the ship's scout, as was predicted.

"Heya, Tink. What's happening?" said Archer, speaking in his usual, confident tone of voice. Rin then went on to tell him that the ship was ready whenever he was, wondering whether or not he'd be doing the honors of taking her out. Archer pondered the thought of flying it out to Alta Jarvis, but decided against it, as it wasn't exciting enough to him as it were. "Nah, I think I'll pass. You take her out if you want to, Rin." he said, only for her to move on to a different topic. "Ohhh, certainly! I just love our talks! Especially when they're about finance." Giving her a "You got it, dude." he ended the call. Archer has had many "talks" with Rin over the company's finances, usually resulting in the scolding of something that Archer did, followed by some sort of compromise he was forced into. While he wasn't particularly excited at the thought of losing yet another privilege on his ship, he wasn't all too interested in the matter for the time being.

Not even a minute later, he received yet another call; this time from the ship's technician. "Aranoth?" asked Archer, feigning surprise. That quickly faded back into his previous smile. Aranoth explained that he was at the ready for any commands to fly the ship, should Archer want him to. "Well, that's up to you, my friend. I already gave the go ahead to Rin, but if you wanna give her a hand, go right ahead. Never know what those little hands might need help with!" He added in a wink, as if the Xilass could somehow see such an expression over a communication link. Hanging up, Archer went back into his kicked-back, relaxed position, heaving a comfortable sigh.

Another couple of minutes, and this time, Archer had an actual visitor. Walking into his cabin without question, the explosives expert known as Tyraus was standing before him; the desk sitting between the two mercenaries. Archer turned his head in the Execrul's direction, acknowledging his presence without any qualms regarding his informal conduct. This was a rather usual encounter the white-haired captain had with the stoic man, so it was of no surprise to see him so suddenly. Without greeting his visitor, Archer waited for him to finish speaking his mind before looking away for a moment to smirk at nothing, and back at him, finally sitting up straight in his seat, leaning forward with his hands together over his desk. Once finished, Archer nodded, understanding where the Execrul was coming from.

"No idea." he said, a short silence between both men following after. Scoffing out a slight chuckle, he continued, albeit a little more serious this time out of consideration to who he was talking to. "Our 'contact' is the same guy who gets us all those other jobs from the smaller companies of the galaxy, so no change there. The only difference is that this specific group doesn't want anyone to know who they are or what they're up to-- not even the guy they hired to hire US. I don't know a damn thing about these guys, and I don't care. All we need to know is that someone needs a package delivered somewhere, and they're willing to pay us a loooot of money to do it for em. That's all that should matter to a bunch of lowly mercenaries like us, my friend." Archer paused, kicking back into his usual attitude as he leaned back in his chair again. "The job is simple: we head to station Z93 on Alta Jarvis, grab whatever the hell it is that needs grabbin'; take it to the Xilass' Dephdra, and get the fuck out of there. Easy money. The credits will be wired to the Second Horsemen's private account as soon as I send the confirmation order of the delivery to our client, who will then send word to our employers that the job is done." Finally finished with his explanation, Archer clapped his hands together. "Boom! And that's that. Any other questions?"

Archer understood why Tyraus was so curious over the details of such a sudden job, as any mentally sound mind would be, but he wasn't personally interested in such details. Someone needed the Second Horsemen's services, and the Second Horsemen needed a job; it was a win-win, whatever that job may be. Any worries over the possibility of picking up a device that could turn out to be potentially threatening to either them or the place they were meant to take it to was just unnecessary. They had an explosives expert and a master computer on-board the Revenant; any threats of that nature could easily be scanned without even peaking at what was inside the box, which they would do either way, as they did with any package they picked up. It was just common sense to at least run a security check on anything they brought aboard the ship, so that wasn't a problem. And given the fact that this specific group of mercenaries have only ever done so much throughout these past 3 years, it was hard to believe they would have any enemies out to get revenge on them, so a trap was also unlikely. Either way, Tyraus's discretion was taken into account, as Archer had done with most everything the Execrul brought to his attention. He was, more or less, Archer's only sliver of hope when it came to common sense. Something he made to remind himself of ever since he recruited the man back in the canyons of planet Gallek...

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Salis Hunar Character Portrait: Aranoth Character Portrait: Jag
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Rann
And sure enough, the giant stepped out of her room, looking somewhere between enraged and enraptured before setting her glare upon the Minagora. Rin offered a slight wave - she had long since been desensitized to Jag's violence, and more or less knows she's the only one really able to keep her steady. There was the problem of life span, of course.... but it wasn't time to worry about such things for now. She was exasperated by Archer's refusal to really mature - but she had expected more or less nothing at this point from him - and at the very least, their illustrious leader had the charisma to keep the team together, on some level, right? At least, she hoped. There was no accounting for the nickname, though. Tink? What did that have to do with anything?

"Just checking in on you." Rin said pleasantly. "Really. You - eh." She looked at the holes made by what appeared to be more fits of psychotic rage, and internally sighed, still keeping her relaxed cat-like smile on. "Glad to see you're as strong as ever!" She made mental calculations - to repair the holes, the materials needed would put them in the red by a little bit. Not a crucial amount, of course, but it was still noteworthy. She'd have to try and do some non-combat jobs on the side to reign in more cash. Once landing on the planet, she'd try to establish connections with anyone who might need it.

"I'm about to go and pilot the ship again." Rin said warmly to her large Noxchi friend. She almost gave the Minagoran equivalent of a shrug, invitingly flitting closer to the door, still faced towards Jag. "You heard Archer on the speakers, right? do you mind preparing the weapons for me? Moderate to light arms, I don't think this will necessity anything too major."

With a wave and a happy "bye!" the Minagora left Jag's room, and darted her way back towards the area to pilot the ship; wondering why Archer just didn't buckle down and hire an actual pilot. Air support during a mission could be invaluable, after all, and without a pilot at the helm, they lacked that option, most of the time. And without that, it limited possible plans Rin could make during an engagement - and god knew she didn't really trust the others to work as a team if she didn't try to outline exactly how they'd move. Everyone was really skilled individually - Rin was trying to make it so that they were strong as a team, too.

So far, though, that wasn't really working. It was a while until she noticed that her holophone was ringing. Rin pressed the holographic button in front of her, feeling a bit of guilt, as she picked up, already having set up the auto pilot for take off. It was Salis.

"Hey Rin," The Tatari medic said. "I hope you're not to busy, but is it possible that I could talk to you about the state of the medical supplies?"

"Yeah." Rin replied. "I'm on my way, just give me a sec."

She then set the controls on standby mode, before ringing up the Xilass - Aranoth. It seemed she wouldn't be piloting, apparently.

"Aranoth! Do you mind flying the ship, please? I have to talk to someone. And if Jag comes by, tell her I'm at the medic bay. thank you!"

And with that, the overburdened Minagora flew her way to the med bay, feeling further guilt and slight awkwardness - she still wasn't quite used to talking to another free Tatari yet, not after what happened to her old friend. In any case, this wasn't the time to dwell on such things. Rin smiled kindly at the canine-like medic, pushing her own personal feelings away in favor of more professionalism.

"What do you need? Is this about the supplies, Salis?"

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Being tasked with piloting the ship was good, since the captain's skill at doing so was... a little hit-and-miss, though thankfully he knew how to perform a few maneuvers without crashing the ship. Getting to fly the Revenant with Rin on the other hand was something Aranoth looked forward to. With the order given to get the ship underway, the Xilass entered the cockpit to start the hyperdrive.

Just as Aranoth had finished preparing the hyperdrive, he received another call, this time from Rin herself. What she had to say was admittedly kinda disappointing, but everyone on the ship did have important jobs to do, after all. Only thing was that Rin seemed to be doing nearly half of them by herself.

"Understood. I am already in the cockpit, and the hyperdrive is now ready," Aranoth replied. "One more thing though, this is not an urgent request, but I would appreciate being able to speak with you when you have the time." And with that, the call was ended as both crew members went about their respective duties. As if being alone during the night hours wasn't enough. Still, at least there was something for Aranoth to focus his attention on at this time.

The journey to Alta Jarvis was a relatively short one, only two jumps through hyperspace. As the ship prepared to jump, Aranoth sent out the notification over intercom. "First jump to Alta Jarvis will begin in five... four... three... two... one..." Once the ship entered hyperspace, one could see the stars streaking past the ship, a familiar sight to any seasoned space traveller. All Aranoth had to do now was to figure out how to make the next couple hours or so pass by. Well, it wouldn't be long until the next trip back to the Dephdra. A quick self-diagnostic of internal systems and vitals seemed like the most productive way to while away the hours.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tyraus Ravia Pratix Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Messiah
Tyraus listened respectfully to Archer talking about the job. There was definitely something up about this. If this was such a simple delivery job as he claimed it to be, why were they getting paid so much? And what exactly did this company have to hide?

"Walking into this blind isn't a good idea, Archer. The money is only good if we're alive to spend it." The execrul paused, then, and stepped closer, "You know I respect you." It was true. The human had managed to get the better of him once, and that had earned Tyraus' respect. "But, if any of the crew is killed because you didn't do your research or kept us in the dark, I will be holding you accountable." Tyraus didn't allow any hint of anger or resentment show through. It wasn't a threat, it was honesty - a warning, maybe. He wanted to be clear about what he intended. And, of course, his promise could only be fulfilled if they both managed to survive.

If Archer was going to be this casual (as he often was) about this, Tyraus would just have to do his own part to keep ahead of this. That meant that he was going to have to make another stop.

With a respectful nod to the captain, "I'll leave you to... whatever it is you're doing," and then he exited the human's quarters. His next stop would have to be to see Aranoth, the xilass tech expert, who was sure to either be in his quarters or in the cockpit. The quarters seemed empty, so he headed to the cockpit.

Aranoth was at the flight controls, just as Tyraus had expected of him. For a moment, he stood near the back of the cockpit, just watching, and not saying anything.

Finally, after a little while, he spoke up.

"We don't know what we're picking up. Aranoth, I want it checked before it's allowed on board the ship. I want it checked three times. I want you to make sure there's nothing in that package that could be harmful to the ship or the crew. I'll be checking it as well for explosives."

And, without waiting for a confirmation from the xilass, Tyraus turned around and vacated the cockpit, and made to return to lower parts of the ship where his quarters, the armory, and the cargo bay were all located.

He took to his quarters and sat at his desk. Inside one of the drawers, he took out some more appealing cuisine. Today, he'd be dining in his room.

Archer only ever ate chili dogs, and he only ever got the ingredients for it. Chili dogs were the first meal he'd shared with Archer, and it was then that he discovered that he didn't like them. Tyraus had told him, several times, that he didn't like the messy concoction, but the captain just looked at him like he was insane. Now the execrul had taken to dipping into his personal account that the crew was unaware of, maybe except for Aranoth. That was precisely what he hated to do, as he was saving the money there for something else - something other than himself.

When he arrived at his desk, he discovered that he had a message on his holophone that hadn't been there when he had left his quarters in the morning.

He recognized the frequency, as it had been used to contact him on several occasions before. It was surely from Nexa, a "representative of the Federation".

The message would be the same as the others. Some higher-ups at the Federation were trying to get a hold of him to save face at their handling of the Toeckel Incident. They wanted to bring him in, probably apologize, and maybe pin a medal on him and call him a hero for saving those civilians at great personal cost.

"This is Nexa Asa Veces," the message began. He knew it. Nexa was young, probably younger than Tyraus had been when Omega Squad had been killed by the Toeckel settlement. She would have been much too young to even remember. "And I'm calling on behalf of Sparas Kelun Ordranus," it continued. Tyraus knew that name. Ordranus had been one of the ones as part of his trial to recommend the punishment of discharge. No doubt the man wanted to clear his own conscience for his part in Tyraus' judgment. "He would like to meet with you and discuss the Toeckel Incident from approximately fifteen years ago." That said about as much about it as anything else. It had taken fifteen years. "This is the most recent number listed under your name, and I do hope you are getting these messages. Please contact us when you get a chance."

Just like every other time they had called him, the message would go without a response from Tyraus. He held no grudge against the Federation or Ordranus for the judgment levied upon him, but Tyraus wasn't interested in apologies, nor was he interested in ceremonies.

It was as simple as that.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Salis Hunar Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Rann
Rin was doing mental acrobatics in her mind. There simply wasn't enough cash to stretch out, was there? More medical supplies, too, was added to the list, along with the high price of whoever Archer felt like fucking at any moment in time, and how many chili dogs he felt like eating, or the repairs to Jag's room ... -so many times this has happened, too, Jag just wrecking things and Rin having to clean up after her, but Rin tried her best to not get frustrated at her psychotic friend, she had her reasons, after all - whatever repairs Aranoth needed to his body from whatever he did. Or if not repairs, at least money for the materials used to do self-maintenance, right? Sure, this new job would dole out a lot of money - though Rin herself already had misgivings about the mission at hand; not really certain whether it was really smart to just blindly take it, despite them giving many previous assignments and clients - but nonetheless. She'd find a way. Probably would have to go without sleep for the next while, but such things are unavoidable. Better not to have a conflict, that'd just make them even more of a rag-tag group of individuals who happened to be travelling together, rather than an actual team. Teamwork? What? Was there such thing?

Now for these people, there wasn't. The Minagora forced herself not to sigh as she listened to Salis's request, nodding her head pleasantly, taking a seat as best as she could, opposite to the Tatari. Her wings went flat to make room for the back of the chair, and she more or less snuggled in. She couldn't be long, though - Aranoth was waiting for her, wasn't he?

The Tatari made a bit of a laugh as she shook her head. "This job's supposed to rake in a large sum of cash, and the medical supplies are running dangerously low." Salis said derisively. "I have enough for some minor injuries or if someone gets the stomach bug or a hang over... nothing more serious though. All I'm asking for is enough of budget to keep this place afloat and the people on board alive and in one piece."

This was a bit of a problem, wasn't it? Rin was correct in her assumption, and she knew, more or less, that she really would have to pull off a lot of smaller, miscellaneous jobs in the background. Somehow.

"Sure." Rin said. "Medicine is important, after all. If someone get's injured, we need to be able to treat them. According to how much Archer's job will net us.." She thought in her head, and decided to fluff the numbers a little bit in Salis's favor. It wouldn't do any harm as long as she managed to complete extra jobs on the side, after all. "You should have enough for most combat injuries and some general illnesses common to space travel - we can't develop a native immune system, after all."

"How do you do it? All those jobs that Archer palms off on you... how do you manage?"

Rin smiled again.

"Someone has to do it, right?" She did the Minagoran equivalent of a shrug, acting as if it was nothing major to her. "If I do it, and it helps, then that's what matters." She wasn't necessarily lying, but it's not as if Rin was just going to let anyone have an inkling of the exhaustion she felt. They depended on her, after all. "In any case, Salis, I gotta go, Aranoth needs me for something." She let out a bit of a chuckle. "See you later!"

And with that, once again, Rin flew off to head back to the cockpit where she heard Aranoth's voice drone over the intercom - they were going through hyperspace now, were they not? The stream of stars blurring past stunned her momentarily, but then she continued on, only stopping to check up on any requests lined up at station 293 in Alta Jarvis, numbly noting that a rival Merc Team (or possibly gofers) were taking up quite a lot of the jobs. The Nolai Regents - presumably named after the star in the Sothoth Quarter - and Rin quickly jotted the name down in her mental notepad, before accepting various jobs; specifically the ones where she'd help balance people's finances. The major one that caught her interest was for the small budding business, "Yolanum Softworks", that specialized in little apps and modifications to the standard holophone, in which she had to more or less help them win the stock market rat race by investing and buying the right stocks and whatnot in order to stay afloat in the hyper-competitive business world.

Hopefully, the Nolai Regents didn't have a Minagora on their crew that was equally or more skilled than Rin at finances. In any case, it gave her little things to do during the wait for reaching Alta Jarvis. She also looked at a few other jobs, like finding another domestic pet, or... entertaining the client, in another one. Rin more or less stared at that one a bit - sure, the reward was awesomely high, and she did fit the criteria... (Minagora females only) but then again, it didn't make much imagination to deduce what that job would entail. She sighed - if things got drastic, she just might have to take that one. Otherwise, she'd pretend she'd never even saw it. How Jag would react if she found out - that was possibly even worse than the act itself.

Rin then took her seat next to the Xilass, once again maneuvering her wings so that they didn't fit awkwardly. She regarded him -it was a him, right? She didn't know much about Xilass and self identity - with a kind, if not very slightly worn smile.

"Well, I'm here." She said easily enough, already looking up the stocks for Yolanum to put their shares into, and doing even more mental acrobats in her head. "What do you need, Aranoth? I'll help with whatever I can." With that, she tapped a holographic button, securing Yolanum's finances for now, when she got a sudden notification. Curious, Rin tapped into it, hearing a pre-recorded message going into her neural link. She set it to private, to make sure no one else overheard it.

"Vintar Sharathra Nurvat here, leader of the Nolai Regents." The voice, as well as the name sounded incredibly Execrulian. Rin did a few cross-checks, halting her work with Yolanum, and quickly brought up basic information, a 52 year old female, with some military service. She listened carefully to the rest of it. "Rin-Naera, of the Second Horsemen. You should know, that you taking up some of the jobs doesn't sit so well with us. We suggest that you leave the Centaur Region entirely, unless you want a conflict. Because this is our territory, and you muscling in on here makes money-getting harder for us. Let's hope you listen to this warning, between Mercs."

And that was that. Rin only let herself make a bit of a troubled frown, before beaming again at Aranoth. she'd have to talk to Archer about this, in private, wouldn't she? Might be best to just ignore the job completely, if it meant conflict with another team. But on the other hand...

"If you have time..." She whispered quietly to the Xilass. "Look up whatever you can on the Nolai Regents. Keep this private, and please relay whatever information you find to me."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Tyraus Ravia Pratix Character Portrait: Zack Archer Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
Archer merely sat in his seat, a simple smile on his face as he listened to his friend mention a few important points regarding the suspicion that came with this job. All obvious ones, but important all the same. Archer scoffed out a small chuckle at that. He didn't know what package it was they were supposed to be picking up; he did know that it was odd for someone to be paying a small group of mercenaries like the Second Horsemen such a large amount of credits to deliver such a simple package; and he was aware that it could prove more troublesome than his client had originally let on. All of this meant that the package had to be either very valuable... or very dangerous. Either way, Archer was well aware of these strong points Tyraus was bringing up, yet didn't drop his usual confident gaze whilst waiting for the execrul to finish.

When he finally did finish, however, Archer was no longer smiling as prominently as before; his expression now containing a hint of annoyance, as though he were upset that a member of his crew could ever believe that he'd put any of them in harm's way so ignorantly... Then again, the impression he had given them all upon meeting and working with them over the last few years wasn't all too commendable, so it was understandable if none of them truly got what he was about. Realizing this, he frowned wryly, giving the air an understanding shrug and nod, as if to say 'Well played, Life'. Bottom line, Archer wasn't about to let his lovable crew die because of some stupid delivery mission. Not even for the pay it came with. Just wasn't worth it to him. He was leading a rather comfortable life with them at the moment, and he wasn't about to let that end over something so small. If Tyraus was ready to hold Archer responsible for such a thing, then Archer was ready to accept any punishment the execrul thought to be fair, because there was no way in hell he was going to let any of them die. And if he did, then he wouldn't deserve to be this ship's captain anymore, so he thought it was perfectly reasonable for Tyraus to punish him accordingly. He gave him another smile and a dismissive wave, nodding along with him to show he understood. With that, Tyraus bid farewell to the captain and left him to his devices.

Archer sat there in silence as he mulled over the mission in more depth. He was -- like he had when his client first brought the idea of this mission to him a month ago -- wondering if the possible risk that came with not knowing anything about the job other than what to do and where to go was even worth it... Sighing, he pulled up a datapad that was sitting at the end of his desk, now looking at his recent financial activity-- something Rin had forwarded to him about a week ago, which he had only barely looked at until now. It was obvious that what Rin needed to talk to him about involved this very issue, but that was beside the point. He really went all out over the past few weeks, and it showed on the data in front of him. He knew he was probably getting a little crazy, but he never could have imagined it would be this bad... His shoulders falling as he let out another, depressed sigh, he realized he was going to have to force himself to take a break from the high life of chili dogs and sex. At least for a little while. When was the last time he had a simple steak dinner, anyway...?

Whatever the case, risk or no risk, they had to see this mission through. They needed the money now more than ever, and it was all because he went overboard with the company's money. Not even Archer was dumb enough to miss how serious this was. Dropping the datapad back onto the desk with an audible clatter, he began massaging his shoulder as he continued thinking about the whole thing. The mission itself was beyond suspicious, but it wasn't their job as mercenaries to pry, and seeing as how they needed the money, it left him little choice.

"Hmph..." he grunted aloud while scratching the back of his head. "Guess I'll just have to be extra careful on this one." That being said, he was still doubting that there would be any significant trouble to worry about. But being a little mindful of the possibility couldn't hurt this time around, as long as it meant keeping his crew alive. Either way, he chose to stop being so dramatic about the whole thing, knowing that there was no sense in worrying about any 'what-ifs'. If it was too late to cut their losses by the time they picked up the package, he'd take the lives of his crew above all else once trouble finally came uh knockin' -- just as he always did with anything else. He would deal with any future problems whenever they decided to meet him in the present. Until then, this was just like any other job...

It was then that Aranoth's voice came over the intercom, counting down the ship's jump into hyperspace. With that, the now-sober Archer jumped up from his seat and walked over to the door of his cabin, grabbing his iconic red leather jacket on the way. Throwing it on, he eyed himself in the mirror for a moment, giving himself a wink before heading towards the elevator that would take him down to the main floor of the Revenant. It was time he payed the rest of his crew a visit.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rin-Naera Character Portrait: Tyraus Ravia Pratix Character Portrait: Aranoth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

As Aranoth sat back in the pilot's seat, waiting for the internal scan to be completed, he heard the cockpit door open. Since the self-diagnostic was running in the background, his ability to carry on a conversation was unimpaired, so the Xilass glanced round to see who it was. Ah, it was Tyraus. Aranoth was just about to ask what the Execrul wanted when the latter managed to answer that question before it had even been spoken.

"We don't know what we're picking up. Aranoth, I want it checked before it's allowed on board the ship. I want it checked three times. I want you to make sure there's nothing in that package that could be harmful to the ship or the crew. I'll be checking it as well for explosives."

"Acknowledged. These are indeed valid concerns. Once we receive the package I will -" The sound of the doors opening and closing again caused the Xilass to stop talking. He looked round again to see that Tyraus had left the cockpit. That was... actually somewhat rude, but if he had pressing matters to attend to elsewhere, then so be it. His brief appearance was a welcome break to the monotony of waiting in the cockpit, if nothing else. Leaning back in the chair, Aranoth prepared himself for more of said monotony.

Some time later, the doors opened again, and this time it was Rin who entered. She was just sitting in the chair next to Aranoth and already she was asking how she could be of assistance. Aranoth was going to answer when he saw that the Minagora's attention was diverted. A message going directly to her neural link, perhaps? Regardless, it was rude to interrupt her concentration. Once she had finished, Rin instructed Aranoth to search for information on a group called the Nolai Regents whenever possible, and to keep said findings private.

"Understood." the Xilass replied. "I would likely be able to... acquire some information from local databases once we arrive at our destination, but what I currently know is that they are a dominant mercenary group within the Centaur region. Hopefully we should be able to avoid an encounter with them while we receive our cargo." As much as Aranoth would've liked to believe those words, it didn't seem too likely that the Second Horsemen would be able to keep quiet for that long before raising some hell. Still, the Nolai Regents couldn't be everywhere at once, so if they were lucky, they just might be able to quickly get in and out, right under their noses.

Aranoth swivelled the pilot's seat round to face Rin, his brow furrowed as he tried to think of how best to respond to the offer of help she had given just as she had entered, even though Aranoth hadn't even asked for help of any kind. Eventually, he reasoned that blunt honesty was probably the best option here. No point in trying to sidestep the issue.

"The reason I called you was not because I required help in anything, Rin," he told her. "In fact, it is the other way around. With the amount of work you do it is a miracle you have not yet exhausted yourself today. Please do not hesitate to ask me for assistance in your duties in the future." Without waiting for a reply, Aranoth swivelled the chair back to its original position. The Xilass kept silent for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Since you have made yourself comfortable, I assume you have no other duties to attend to as of now. It will be several hours before we reach our destination, so if you want, we could chat for a while. I think it has been a while since we last had a proper informal chat, wouldn't you agree?"