Introduction
The wheels of war slowly begin to turn...
But we don't care about any of that, do we?
HISTORY OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE
-Earth's Abandonment
In the late 23rd Century, the doomsayers' theories finally proved correct: Earth ran out of resources.
International news outlets spread the word that, on June 14th, 2230, the last producing coal mine on Earth - located in Grey Hill, Colorado - tapped dry. The resulting panic swept over every continent as frantic power companies snatched up the last of the crude oil and coal stores, citizens fought over kerosene and the world plunged into chaos. Five years of darkness finally resulted in a glimmer of hope - from the ashes rose the United Nations Space Evacuation Administration (UNSEA), a branch of the UN that had been researching a last-ditch effort to reach the outer reaches of the galaxy.
In secret, UNSEA's greatest minds had labored for decades to build a ship large enough to contain enough people to (feasibly) maintain a population in deep space for hundreds of years, if need be. Mere days after the end of The Conflagration - the name for the five straight years of worldwide rioting and power struggles - the UNSEA revealed their ship. Reactions were severe - some criticised the UN for keeping the ship a secret for so long, others were grateful for the possibility of an escape from Earth, still more reigniting the riots of the Conflagration on a smaller scale, this time unified against the United Nations. Amid it all, UNSEA began making its final tests.
The ship, christened the UNSEV Ark, was finally prepared for takeoff. Families were moved aboard the vessel - first the scientists, the politicians, the rich and the powerful, then the everyday citizens - until it had reached its maximum occupancy. Even as the boarding ramps retracted and the Ark began to tug at her earthly moors, everyday men and women, transformed into beasts by fear and anger, rushed it, hoping to make a last desperate grab at freedom. Many were killed by UN troops and many more by the ignition of the pulse-fusion drives fuelled by the last of the Earth's uranium deposits as the massive ship finally broke free of Earth and made her way skyward like a massive whale.
The vessel made its way into space, leaving behind its home planet for the last time.
-Emergency Situation
And so it was that the Ark made its way beyond our solar system, searching far and wide for a planet that could maintain Earth's population. Years passed; decades; centuries. Eventually the Ark, its hull tired and worn from multiple encounters with heavy objects drifting in space, arrived in what may have been a viable system. Several planets amongst the system had near-Earth conditions, perfect for human survivals - a scientist's wonderland. But with all wonderlands, there is a dark seed - in this case, a massive piece of rock adrift through the system. Under any other circumstances, the Ark would have borne the impact, but her hull - damaged throughout the centuries by multiple other, smaller impacts - couldn't withstand the asteroid bearing down on it.
It struck dead on, ripping the ship into three pieces; fore, mid and aft. Each piece was set adrift, and if it weren't for the quick thinking of the crews aboard the entirety of Earth's last hope would have been lost. As it were, each ship fragment smashed into the surface of a different planet.
This was the beginning of our glorious Consortium.
-Up to Speed
But only Historians know that much now; Earth's great history having been mostly destroyed in the wrecks, its existance now shrouded in myths and urban legends as "the Mother Planet". They can, however, tell you about our three Houses - the Von Kleffs, the Horshams, and the Aracellis - were established by the hierarchy of the families that crashed to the ground on all of the arable planets.
Centuries passed as every family began to establish itself on the planets, more and more technology being developed, until eventually space travel was developed and refined. Planets became a commodity in this massive star system, linked to multiple other systems now by a series of Jump Gates; otherwise known as "space highways" or "warp zones"; man-made entrance and exit points between other star systems.
The three Houses, though, became greedy. Sole control of these space systems caused diplomacy between them to become harsh and strained, and eventually it came to a head on one planet - Fountainhead.
A conflict between Horsham and Von Kleff stormtroopers resulted in the massacre of an entire city on planet Fountainhead and a declaration of war between the two houses, with the Aracellis forced to declare war as well, in order to protect its interests in other systems.
WHERE WE COME IN
So now that the intro is over with, I have to introduce our purpose in this setting.
We (myself and you, the players) are the crew of the Empty Box, a smuggler's vessel plying its trade amongst the few independent systems left in the world that haven't been captured by the three Houses. We're scraping by with simple jobs, making just enough cash to pass customs in every system and keep going. However, one day, we are approached by a courier with a "very important package".
The courier wears no badges marking him as a member of the Houses, but his package is a massive black box with no external markings whatsoever. We've been tasked with delivering it, in secret, to the head of House Aracelli. What does it hold? We don't know. Why do the Aracellis want it? We don't know. All the courier said is that it has the potential to "end the War before it starts".
Then, chaos. As the box is being taken aboard, the spaceport we're docked at is besieged by a massive contingent of Von Kleff soldiers and war machines, apparently looking for our black box.
This is where the roleplay starts. Our mysterious package on board and troopers closing in with obvious bad intentions, and only one way to go - up and out.
Are you ready to stop the war by treading the Starry, Black Path? I certainly hope so.
((No character skeleton required, just fill in the necessary categories. Any questions about the setting, ask me. I realize I did a horrible job describing it.))
- 10 posts here • Page 1 of 1
The Story So Far... Write a Post » as written by 5 authors
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As the Horsham native looked detatchedly out over the harbor, leaning heavily against his cane and clenching a pipe in his jaw, high-caliber explosive shells fired from orbit were raining down on the settlement that spread out in front of him. Massive orange fireballs consumed the squat adobe huts that formed the town, throwing debris and corpses high into the air. A shell struck just a few hundred yards from where he stood, a wave of heat and air causing the check-in building in front of him to implode in a swirling nexus of smoke and flame. The debris peppered the hull of the big transport vessel, the interior of the cargo bay echoing with tiny punk-punk-punk sounds.
"I suppose that this has something to do with the package you brought aboard our vessel..." Searles said in his regal tones, only to drop the statement when he realised that the young man who had guided the massive black box in the cargo hold to the Empty Box was now sprinting down the rows of vessels that were hastily making preparations to leave - those that were capable of motion, anyhow. Ian stood and watched a moment longer as several blocky, gunmetal-gray dropships burnt through the skies overhead, moving towards the spaceport. Even as he watched, one of the dropships came to a hover, its bay doors opening to reveal several platoons of heavily armed stormtroopers. Neither the ship nor the vessel bore any external markings, but their intent became obvious as the troopers roped down from the drop bay and opened fire on anyone dumb enough to be caught outside when they landed.
Such as Searles himself.
The cargo pilot grimaced and managed to let out a sharp "oh dear!" as he beat a path up the boarding ramp, taking the time to remove his pistol from his belt and saturate the landing area with fire before he smashed the emergency shut button inside the bay and watched as the craft sealed itself up tight as a drum, the sound of small arms fire plinking uselessly against the sealed bulkhead.
He picked up the intercom connecting to the ship's PA system and thumbed the speaker to an activated position. "Batten down all the loose objects and man your stations, ladies and gentlemen, we are making our exit!" He resumed his limping gait towards the bridge, the sound of his cane echoing up and down the halls of the ship as he entered the lift, threw open the bulkheads to the bridge, and plopped down in the captain's chair, pulling up various displays, unlocking the ship's thrusters and warming the engines up for takeoff from the command station at his chair.
The sounds of machinery erupted from the bowels of the ship as the beast's drive engines roared slowly to life, belching fire to the outside world as the Empty Box began to rise off the ground.
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Alensi could feel a soft rumbling as the engines roared to life and the old Empty Box roared into life. The PA system crackled on a short second later to admit the captains voice into the room. "Batten down all the loose objects and man your stations, ladies and gentlemen, we are making our exit!"
Alensi quickly dashed through the ship and strapped herself into the chair in front of the Empty Box's weapons terminal. She quickly brought the system to life and turned on the visual display.
The entire space port seemed to be burning as more high caliber rounds continued to rain down from orbit. A ship docked several hangers down began to life off, trying to escape from this hell. An incendiary round slammed into the tail end of the ship and ignited the ships engines. Alensi could do nothing but watch as the trader exploded, sending burning hot metal raining down on the space port. The girl shuddered at the death of the ship but didn't spend much thought on it. Alensi connected her com-link to the bridge. "Captain, All weapons are armed and operational, I don't know about you sir but these peons are getting a little to close. Permission to engage sir?
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Rosa was the most soft hearted person on the ship and she often got picked on for it. Though she liked to consider it a good thing seeing as whether her crew mates realized it or not they needed someone to soften things around them. Someone on the big, metal contraption had to care about lives lost and souls damaged.
With a deep breath to steady herself she rose from her bed and quickly made her way to the small medical bay. Usually she had more time to secure equipment and supplies and so she would have to hurry. She systematically checked the room, closing cabinets, sealing drawers, securing needles and pharmaceuticals. Once everything was up to par she ran down the corridors to the main bay. Taking her seat she rubbed at her eyes and strapped in. βIn position, Captain; ready for orders.β Rosa understood the basics of navigation and other small ship computer jobs, especially with Alseniβs help, and so she would carry out the small jobs assigned to her.
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Grabbing the unfortunate hull technician by the collar Otto grimly dragged the poor lad along behind him through the bustle and hubbub of scrambling workers and calmly stood directly beneath the gaping hole hurling the lad aside Otto swiftly grabbed a large hunk of sheet metal and spot welded it to the hull covering up the hole ( duh hur hur...) with a makeshift bandage. Starting up his shipmans hammer he struck eighteen rivets around the diameter of the patch before giving the entire mess a quick spray of liquid alloy sealant.
"Thar yah go lad, next toime don't make me hold yahs hand."
Otto stood back fondly as the younger man rushed off, no doubt to begin menial ship repairs. In truth Otto loved the little bastards, hed been a junior technician himself ten years ago and had endured no end of hell from his own master tech.
"Hah little barstids think IM bad, ole Johnson musta been Satan." Suddenly the piercing shriek of the PA system waking up grated against Otto's ears, as the static dispersed the frantic orders of Captain Searles could be heard.
Batten down all the loose objects and man your stations, ladies and gentlemen, we are making our exit!
"Ah horse piss this otta be grand."
Briskly trotting to the control room Otto's stopped momentarily to assist with heavy objects and the like, not bothering to knock Otto burst into the control room. Heaving his non inconsiderable bulk into the mates chair Otto finished programing various non glamorous things such as emptying the ships lavatories on the combatants as they glided overhead.
Briskly greeting the captian, Otto fancied he heard the man mumble something along the lines of "Must you ALWAYS do that?" Otto chuckled happily and set back to enjoy the ride.
The setting changes from Black Path Universe to The Independent Territories
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In atmo, however, the massive transport-class ship was an absolute beast to handle. Its size was great enough that it was heavily affected by the planet's gravity fields, which struggled to keep it earthbound even as the massive ship rose upward. The ship drifted forward and upward, a magnificent display of Horsham's great space shipyards, its engines spewing blue fire as the heat of its fusion pulse drives ignited the air in a short radius around the mighty engines. An altogether magnificent display, save for the grayish-brown streams of waste-sludge spewing from the sluice pipes arranged on the ventral spine of the Empty Box. Searles watched, helpless to end the fetid waterfall of human waste products and galley-water as it poured down on the heads of the mercenaries below. "Dear God, Otto, must you always vent the tanks in mid-flight?" He said quietly, still struggling with the thruster output as he pointed the blocky head of the transport skyward. He keyed open a comlink directly to the Computer Suite where Alensi was working with the ship's electronics.
"No, keep the weapons in for now; no need to draw attention to ourselves. But activate the scanner bafflers; let's not draw attention to ourselves on the way out."
The Empty Box continued slowly rising amongst a cloud of smaller vessels, each one chattering frantically back and forth amongst themselves, trying to discern the nature of the attack. Searles, to his credit, managed to say very little, concentrating on regulating the beast of a transport's engines and keeping them skyward.
In moments the makeshift armada broke atmosphere and found itself facing down what appeared to be almost an entire fleet. Each of the massive, hammerheaded vessels that ringed the Independent planet seemed to train its weapons on the little group of transports that were making their break. A cloud of tiny strike craft broke from the fleet and made their way towards the transports on an intercept vector. Searles eyed the swarm of glistening, dagger-shaped fighters with an inkling of fear and anticipation. He re-opened the comlink to Alensi's station.
"On second thought... Shields at three quarters and charge weapons. We have unwelcome guests on an incoming vector."
The setting changes from The Independent Territories to Black Path Universe
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Her com link crackled on "No, keep the weapons in for now; no need to draw attention to ourselves. But activate the scanner bafflers; let's not draw attention to ourselves on the way out."
"Yes sir" she replied with a hint of sadness, she rather liked controlling the ships weapons, not for the damage they caused but she liked to do all the equations necessary to aim the things properly. Alensi also got a twisted satisfaction of completing the targeting equations before the computer could. Regardless she had more on her plate to worry about at the moment. The scanner baffles were easy enough to activate but the shields required a bit more time, especially when she had to manually redirect power to them.
Then the small trading fleet broke the atmosphere. The small fleet arrayed before them was impressive, if deadly scary. Alensi even paused for a second, her normally collected self temporarily frozen. All the ships were unmarked but it was very clear who they belonged too. No pirate or mercenary could ever dream of commanding a fleet this big and the lack of markings made it known that this was a sudden attack. Whoever ordered this had been planning it for awhile.
Regaining control of herself she moved her visual scanners zoom in on the ships. They appeared to be launching strike craft to intercept and destroy the escaping merchant fleet. As if on cue her com link to the captain crackled again. "On second thought... Shields at three quarters and charge weapons. We have unwelcome guests on an incoming vector."
Alensi let out a little smirk, Strike craft always presented a little challenge due to their speed, "Thank you very much captain, All weapons are charged and shields will be reaching three quarters in 5 seconds, Strike craft will be in firing range in 15, lets give them a warm welcome."
Alensi looked at the now scattering ships, they were in a panic and going every which way. "Danmit there going to get cut down" Alensi reopened a com link to the captain. "Sir, those traders are scattering, and though I don't really mind if they get cut down, we could use them. Shall I open a channel to them?"
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"This is Kane, I'm up and at 'em." He reported, heading for the door. The hallway was dimly lit, probably to save power. He wandered past the medical bay, whistling to himself. Since he didn't really have a job to do when the ship was airborne he found himself with a lot of spare time on his hands. Usually that would involve keeping to himself in his room, generally eating, sleeping, and reading.
He came to a halt in front of a small window looking out of the ship. He took a deep breath and peered through the glass at the destruction occurring below him. He watched for a bit longer as if hypnotized. He wasn't able to look away.
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She listened carefully to the chaos around her in an attempt to understand the situation and to focus on something other than her nausea. Even after what seemed like an eternity of flight travels Rosa still required Dramamine when going up into the great beyond. Unfortunately, like Sebastian, Rose was more or less useless on board. There really wasnβt much she could do computer wise and Alseni had that entire area covered anyways.
Rosaβs heart skipped a beat as she gazed upon the small fleet before them. How in the world could they maneuver out of this one? She glanced up at the Captain to get an idea of the danger. He seemed pretty worried and that meant things were just about as grim as they appeared.
"Sir, those traders are scattering, and though I don't really mind if they get cut down, we could use them. Shall I open a channel to them?"
Rose sighed as Alseni spoke of the other ships and their crews as if they were mere pawns in a game of chess. As frustrating as that was Rose had long ago learned to just accept her fellow crew memberβs opinions but that didnβt stop the small sting of anger. Rose wanted desperately to go back to her little medical bay. Sheβd be more comfortable there and even though she still wouldnβt be doing much sheβd feel more useful. But, now didnβt seem like the time to come up with her own ideas and go wondering about the ship. Once more she sat quietly in her chair and patiently awaited orders.
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The captain had seen the wreckage of many a ship that had explosively decompressed due to multiple tiny puncture wounds from cannons like the ones those interceptors now trained on the trade fleet. It wasn't a pleasant sight - hull plates buckled and shrivelled like plastic wrap, their interior superstructure puncturing the plates like the ribs of some half-decomposed beast. The lucky ones were uninhabited, but occasionally you could hear distress signals within, or detect life-signs in the few areas that were sealed. Despite what pulp-fiction novels said, rescue operations on board decompressed vessels were vastly complicated affairs, and there was little you could do - if not properly trained - other than pass by and wait for their cries for help to stop.
"Open a channel, Alseni." Ian said over the comms network. The ship rocked as a nearby merchant vessel cut over the dorsal side of the Empty Box, shearing off a non-essential portion of the vessel's armor plating. "Otto," the captain said, turning to his left, "Take Sebastian down to the hold and start checking the locks. Make damned sure that box we took on doesn't go anywhere." Finally, steepling his fingers beneath his chin, he turned to Rosa.
"I need you prepared to take on survivors in case any of these ships around us go." His face turned grim. "We may as well repay them for acting as our means to an escape."
Turning away, he looked back to Alseni's comm channel. "What's the charge on our beam caster? We will probably need it if we can't just dodge through the fleet."
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Finally she saw that her hacking had gotten her connected into a public channel with all the ships, "Ships of the Merchant Fleet, this is Alensi, weapons and computer specialist on board the merchant ship Empty Box. I will say this bluntly, you will die if you don't do exactly as I say."
"Why the hell should we trust you, We'll do what we always do, run." one captain with a murmur of agreement from other captains. Suddenly there was a large explosion from one of the ships as the strike craft missiles impacted and destroyed the ship. A box on her screen went flat and disappeared. "Because you will end up like him if you don't. If you scatter the strike craft and capital ships will simply pick us off one by one. If you follow my orders I can guarantee you a 40% - 45% chance at survival. Which is better then the 2% chance you have in running."
There was silence on all ends of the channel before a single voice pierced through "Fine, what are your orders."
Alensi transferred the schematics and locations of her plan to each of the ships and they slowly began to come into position. As they drifted into the planned sphere formation the strike craft began to hit them. However due to Alensi's formation the strike craft were quickly being brought down.
- 10 posts here • Page 1 of 1
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View All » Add Character » 6 Characters to follow in this universe
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Sebastian Kane
Well, well. What have we gotten ourselves into this time? Can't be anything a magazine or two won't solve.
Rosabella Maria Virtuli-Romanaldi
In a crew as misfitted as this a medic is almost as much of a necessity as oxygen. Rosa - at your service.
Captain Ian Throckmorton Searles
The captain of the "Empty Box", an eccentric citizen of House Horsham taking "venture capitalism" to the extreme.
Trending
Rosabella Maria Virtuli-Romanaldi
In a crew as misfitted as this a medic is almost as much of a necessity as oxygen. Rosa - at your service.
Sebastian Kane
Well, well. What have we gotten ourselves into this time? Can't be anything a magazine or two won't solve.
Captain Ian Throckmorton Searles
The captain of the "Empty Box", an eccentric citizen of House Horsham taking "venture capitalism" to the extreme.
Most Followed
Captain Ian Throckmorton Searles
The captain of the "Empty Box", an eccentric citizen of House Horsham taking "venture capitalism" to the extreme.
Rosabella Maria Virtuli-Romanaldi
In a crew as misfitted as this a medic is almost as much of a necessity as oxygen. Rosa - at your service.
Sebastian Kane
Well, well. What have we gotten ourselves into this time? Can't be anything a magazine or two won't solve.
View All » Places
1 posts · 0 characters present · last post 2011-01-01 18:37:53 »
The Independent Territories Owner: RolePlayGateway
Settled planets not claimed by any House, these star systems and planets form the outer rim of the Sector.
0 posts · 0 characters present · last post 1970-01-01 00:00:00 »
Black Path Universe ↪ Aracelli Space Owner: RolePlayGateway
The area of the Sector controlled by House Aracelli.
0 posts · 0 characters present · last post 1970-01-01 00:00:00 »
Black Path Universe ↪ Horsham Space Owner: RolePlayGateway
The area of space controlled by House Horsham.
0 posts · 1 characters present · last post 1970-01-01 00:00:00 »
Black Path Universe ↪ Von Kleff Space Owner: RolePlayGateway
The portion of the sector controlled by House Von Kleff.
Fullscreen Chat » Create Topic » By the Starry, Black Path: Out of Character
Discussions
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SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
1, 2by Cypher on Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:17 pm
- 28 Replies
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- Last post by Nanase
on Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:30 pm
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SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Most recent OOC posts in By the Starry, Black Path
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
And I'll post as well XD
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
I believe I win this wordplay competition. >:3
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Do you mean THIS DESU EX MACHINA
I AM MAKING A NEW RULE 34
There is an anime of it, No exceptions >.<
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
is it a giant laser gun :D
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Something will be up tomorrow, I promise. And Nana, anyone you can get into the game to help would be so appreciated you wouldn't believe it.
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
I look forward to your post and if needed I can go and try and recruit some peeps.
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Sorry guys. I've been weighted down as of late and never got around to the post I said I would make. At some point in the very near future I'll have something, I promise.
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cffegK7EmWY&feature=related
or this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_UFVEMrXnQ&feature=related
This one is better :D
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
But I can still do you one better: THIS! (Just look at the name. Seriously. And you can't tell me that acoustic riff wouldn't be right at home on the Firefly soundtrack or something.)
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
(That and Alensi doesn't like to see people dying when she could give them a chance to escape.)
EDIT:
genius song.. but I think I can find a more suiting one. give me a sec
FOUND IT :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhP6F-vxeZI&feature=related
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Everybody:
1) Welcome FDDonut to our merry little crew!
2) And we're a go!
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
Re: SquawkNet [By the Starry Black Path OOC]
EDIT: GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO