Description

Personality

Demeanor: Autocrat. Malhotra seems aloof and cold. He reveals little of himself, prone to long periods of silence when left to himself. Though he never raises his voice, his commands and comments cut through the loudest chatter like a chill wind. His gaze is predatory, assessing the value and worth of everyone he meets.

Nature: Visionary. While more than a little resentful of his lot in life, Malhotra has developed a dry and sarcastic wit that is completely missed by those who know him little. He is an explorer at heart, his desire is to see as much of the universe as he can before he dies.

Equipment

Enhancement 1: Multiple retinal implants. While not overloading his senses, his implants track common weapon heat signatures, they also note pulse and eye movement when he concentrates on someone else, and last but not least his left eye (dominant) is capable of a short range zoom.

Enhancement 2: Genetic alteration. While in the womb his genetic structure was altered to drastically increase his intellect and capacity for thought. Malhotra is quick with calculation, remembers small details, and draws viable conclusions from limited data.

When forced into an environment with earth norm gravity, impure oxygen, or any contaminants Malhotra is forced to wear a full body environmental suit with servos to assist his joints and their movement, as well as an oxygen filtration system.

History

Gregory Malhotra, board member of Galacto Limited (The drink with a flavor that spans five systems!), was held hostage with his wife when the honeymoon cruise they were on was hijacked by terrorists. The group called itself "Sour Aftertaste" in reference to the flavor of a failed Galacto product that had caused bone and cell degeneration. The negotiations went on for over year. Gregory and his now pregnant wife were rescued by a mercenary special ops team on the pay roll of his company and quickly returned home.

Upon learning that his first child would be a Snake Gregory paid for the best medical advancements money could buy (which are better than any other kind) to make sure his son's only limitations were physical. The young Franz Malhotra was raised on an orbital station above his father's home planet with the best in entertainment and private tutors. At the age of sixteen his parents were assassinated during a coup in which the CEO of Galacto Limited was replaced. The family's property and other assets were seized and liquidated. Using his wits and head for numbers he was able to broker passage on a Galacto tour ship before he was also liquidated.

The tour vessel would pass through a system with a planet where he had an uncle. Breaking his own legs, he convinced the captain to set him on the planet with 30,000 creds and he would not sue Galacto, the Captain, the crew, and the makers of the second terrace balcony railing. His medical bills were minimal, even after he had caught a slight cold on the planet's surface that almost killed him. With the help of his uncle, Ingvar Jackson, he purchased his first ship, Gregory's Last Drink or The Drink.

It's been many, many years. With a few failed ventures, countless adventures, his first retirement, and some exploration behind him Malhotra is looking forward to new adventures aboard the Fat Dragon.

So begins...

Franz Malhotra's Story

• Seen 3 Times • Page 1 of 1

Setting

The Rud'bul System

Characters Present

Tag Characters »

Tag Them! »

Add to Arc »

new arc »

0.00 INK

#2012-05-28 03:03:00, as written by varxint

Neil woke just before the gel started draining. He let his body float in a relaxed state of mind. Having been involved in many diplomatic missions, across many systems, Neil had spent more time in the gel than he had in a real bed. He learned to enjoy the floating sensations. He also knew that relaxing worked better than fighting against the sensation of the gel in your lungs. He held his breath, there was no need to try and breath yet. The gel in his lungs would have enough oxygen to sustain him for a least 20 mins now that it wasn’t being recycled. So, Neil relaxed. He slowly allowed his legs to take his weight as the gel drained. He kept his eyes closed, another trick he found helped suppress the panic most felt in the gel. “Don’t let your sight fool your brain that your body is in trouble. Your brain knows better but your eyes can easily sway it.”

When he heard the capsule open he knew it was time to start moving. He stepped out, one step. Still holding his breath he shook his hands sharply to clear them off as much as he could. Then he wiped his face and eyes. Finally, like a diver clearing a snorkel, he ‘exhaled’ in one hard push. He felt his lungs clear easily and heard the gel splat to the floor.

Now he opened his eyes and grinned. A short breath with another hard exhale to get the remaining gel from his lungs and he headed to the showers. This was the one thing he did appreciate like others in the gel. Nothing felt better than a hot shower after a long gap sleep. He took his time, stepping out to hear the first of the captain’s orders. His stomach rumbled at the thought of breakfast. This ship was equipped with fairly nice dining options. Of course, anything compared favourably to military style rations. And even those sounded good compared to what Neil had to settle for while on the run.

Neil hadn’t been on one ship for longer than one gap run since he’d went AWOL. This was the first one he’d been on with the Dragon. Most times, whenever they entered a new system and the captain heard the typical list of wanted and missing they always gave Neil a funny look. Neil took the hint. Changed his hair and eyes, picked a new name, and tried to find a new ship to sign up with. Mal gave Neil a different feeling though. He got the sense Mal liked Neil’s ability to shift idents.

“I guess we’ll see soon enough,” he thought cheerfully, “No doubt Fede was pulling in the wanted list right now.”

Neil looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess of colours. Another thing gap sleep did to him. It made it hard to keep everything from shifting too much. He chose his typical red hair and blue eyes and shrugged. He never remembered if this was the description on the wanted list or not but didn’t care too much. It was best to get the AWOL thing out of the way quickly. See if it was going to be an issue or not.

Neil dressed and headed to the bridge as the captain issued the second order. “Uh oh. Well, here it comes I guess. Emergency meeting to discuss the implications of their language expert and co-pilot’s interesting history.”

He walked onto the bridge with an expectant grin, “Rested and ready Cap. I expect you’ve something to discuss?” He looked over each member of the little crew with a cautiously friendly gaze. Trying to get a measure if one of them were going for the bounty this time or not.

---

Setting

The Rud'bul System

Characters Present

Tag Characters »

Tag Them! »

Add to Arc »

new arc »

0.00 INK

#2012-06-02 10:08:01, as written by Kohananinja

Alanys greeted the rest of the crew with her customary morning smile, practically radiating positivity towards them. Whether this was because she’d recently taken a hit, or because it was her natural default with people was a question she was in too good a mood to ponder. She listened silently as Mal seemed to be taken with another one of his more melodramatic moods, observing him carefully for signs of hidden stress. Maybe it was just the gap sleep she decided without comment. Then he showed them the starseeds. They were undeniably pretty, and she stared quite attentively for a moment, relishing in the pure untainted pleasure of witnessing something new and pleasant. And then, as tends to be the case with most fleeting pleasantries, the moment was lost and Alanys turned her attention to Neil as Mal addressed him.

She tried to get a read off the red headed man, but while her specific mutation perhaps gave her a better sense of other people’s emotions than what could be considered normal, she could influence people’s emotions, not feel them. There was a big difference between the two. Alanys could testify; she’d known more than one empath. She wasn’t given much time to observe though, before Mal was calling her away to the cargo hold. “You’re the boss.” She drawled almost lazily as she turned and followed after him, resisting a snarkier comment at being referred to by her last name. They’d been friends for five years now, and though she knew it was simply Mal’s need to keep a professional formality with the crew, she didn’t have to like it, and barring situations where it was a dire necessity, attempted to foil his attempts at every turn.

Alanys looked up at the machinery mildly as she approached Mal in the cargo hold, and felt no desire to touch it. She didn’t need to feel the grime to know it was there thank you very much. She returned his half smile with one of her own, and took the data pad he handed her gingerly. She’d have to find a safe place to put it, somewhere in her room she imagined would suffice, though perhaps keeping it under computerized lock and key wouldn’t be a bad idea either. She might like Hank and Neil well enough, but she sure as hell didn’t know them well enough to not keep important valuables locked away.

“And since when exactly have I ever been a good judge of character?” Alanys half quipped in response to Mal’s question before shrugging with a sigh. “I don’t know Mal, they both seem like good enough guys. They both…are obviously hiding something, but having crap in your past you’d rather keep buried is something I don’t typically judge people for you know.” Which was entirely true, though from both a command and personal perspective she knew that crap sometimes had a tendency of finding its way to the surface with disastrous consequences. Not the ideal condition for your crew from a captain’s perspective either.

“I feel better about Neil than Hank.” She felt obligated to report. “I’m not entirely sure why though. Do you want me to keep an eye on them, see if I can find anything out?” Alanys asked carefully after a moment. She hated using her ability on people to make them need to talk to her, especially about things that could be private, but if the safety of the ship could be assured, and if Mal asked her to, she would. Even if it made a part of her cringe on a base level.

---

Setting

The Rud'bul System

Characters Present

Tag Characters »

Tag Them! »

Add to Arc »

new arc »

0.00 INK

#2012-06-03 20:59:37, as written by varxint

Neil listened to the captain’s opening lines, waiting for the questions. He was amused by Malhotra’s dragging it out. When the outside view was revealed Neil was stunned momentarily. He watched the starseeds, admiring their beauty. The colours washing over his face, reflecting in his eyes. The tint of his eyes shifted and changed with the colours of the starseeds. Neil was lost in the view and didn’t realize how his eyes were reacting.

Neil’s reverie was broken by Malhotra’s statement. He blinked and turned to look at the captain, his eyes shifting back to their normal view as he did. He was about to address the question when Malhotra asked him to think and walked away. Neil watched him walk away, confused, and slightly annoyed.

He couldn’t figure out what Mal’s angle was, “Why ask a leading question, then walk away? What the hell is there to think about? Is he trying to make me more nervous, thinking it’ll get me to talk? He obviously knows, so why draw it out. I’ve nothing to hide. It’s not like it’s a big secret that isn’t plastered all over the universal wanted lists. He doesn’t like it, the crew doesn’t like it, then I do my thing. Get them through the cargo inspection and move on. Whatever.”

Neil shrugged at the departing captain and move his gaze to Alanys. Even though he’d only had a few chats with her before the gap he realized he kind of liked her. She was friendly and easy to talk to. Now, though, she was giving him the once over. He watched her striking blue eyes take in all she could in a brief glance. He nodded to her, “Yup, she’s gotta know too. Why give me the eye like that? I bet she’s trying to figure out if I’d be a threat to the ship before the inspection. Whether to dump me now or take advantage of my contacts.”

Again, Neil was about to speak when the captain called her away, “Alright then. Typical drill. It’s not like I’ve not done this multiple times before. Same thing every time. They pretend they don’t know. They take a measure of how much I might lie to them. They figure out it’s not worth the risk to have me around, but they don’t quite want to go through the hassle of turning me in. Too many other things to risk having the military police poking around. So, I’m encouraged to seek another ship, since maybe I want to move around more than they plan to. Or maybe the next job doesn’t need my contacts. Or a hundred other excuses to kick me out. Wish it would have happened quicker, but I’ll deal with it when they come back. At least with all the activity in the area it shouldn’t be hard to find another ship to jump to if they decide they don’t want me around.”

Neil gave a satisfied nod and looked back to the controls. Keep the ship steady and bring her in easy. That’s all he figured he’d be asked to do while the captain was in the hold, “Easy enough. Not much going on out there right now. The inspection will be the challenge. Better start making inquiries around to find out who the ‘right’ inspection officer is.”

Neil turned to Hank. Neil hadn’t had any significant interactions with their techie and couldn’t really pinpoint how he felt about him. However, at this point he needed some secure communications and no time like the present to meet someone, “Hey, Hank right? Or would you prefer Fede on the bridge? Anyway, can you set me up with an encrypted communication line? It will probably have to jump around various end points in customs and inspections. I need to figure out who we want to come aboard and play the inspection game with us.”

---

• Seen 3 Times • Page 1 of 1