Meat n' Greet

[cityship]

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. They are also told they must read information about their current situation and a survival guide with their new omnicom. New crew-mates might see a tall dragonish guy with wings (but don't call him that) and purple girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

Comments

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Mortals choose to address us in different ways. My Lord, is popular, as is Brother, Champion, or Sir. I do not care, personally. My concerns are more tactical than semantic in nature to begin with. Let others talk, I am a man of action. And honor is found in deeds, not flowery language."

He considers the earlier question second, and nods. "If you can find some engineseers to my bolter and Blade that would be acceptable. My Augmetic leg may also need maintenance."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, if Erhart didn't care, Zouichi was just going to call him Erhart. Brother sounded a little too close, and 'My Lord'? Uh. He did agree about the action thing, though. For the most part.

He blinked. "You have an augmented leg?" Well, who knew? Cyborg knights. "I'm not sure if that falls under Medical or Engineering, but I'm sure someone will be able to figure it out. Anything else you brought with you?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Yes, my leg was severed during the Orbital War on Armageddon, and replaced by an augmetic at that time." He nods, regarding other things brought with him. "Yes, I brought my frag and krak grenades, but I did not think they would be necessary at this point."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Probably not. We just had a pretty large engagement with the Ohm, so it'll probably be a little while before we're in another big fight."

It was important to keep some high explosives around! You know, just in case.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

Erhart somehow contrives to look disappointed despite being utterly obscured by his Astartes war-plate.

"I see. Was it an orbital war? A planetary engagement? A full on void fight?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, Erhart. You'll get your chance. "There was a ground battle, a space engagement, and a number of them also infiltrated the ship. I'm not sure what a void fight is, though."

He glanced at Erhart's armor. "I'm guessing you're more of a ground combatant?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"We fight wherever we are needed, in space, on land, or in the sky with our Thunderhawks. We are known to the mortals as Space Marines, but I find this vulgar. I prefer to be called a Knight."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Space... Marines? Marines in space?

"I see. I'll keep it in mind. So you're a pilot, too?" Zouichi was assuming a Thunderhawk was a kind of plane or ship.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"I have not piloted a Thunderhawk in over 100 years, but I could probably remember it if needed. Do you think they have one here? Or a Caestus assault ram?"

He sounds almost hopeful.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"It's possible. If the vehicle you're looking for is here, it'll probably be in the Hangar, along with all the other ships. Uh, but try not to fiddle with anything that isn't yours. Some people get kind of touchy about it."

Boy, it was hard to imagine this guy as a pilot. "A hundred years? Why the big gap?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Our younger initiates are pilots, when I became a member of the Sword Brethren, my tasks called me elsewhere in the command echelon." He gestures to the armor and sword that he bears.

"In time, I took up the Armor of Faith and the Black Sword... and my task was set entirely on the field of battle. Seek out the enemy's commander and slay him."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I see. I think that's the opposite of how things worked on Earth. Piloting was a fairly specialized path; more of an end result than an initial profession. Planning to do the same with the Ohm? Find their commander and take a sword to them?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

He nods, then halts briefly, asking Zouichi, "You speak of Holy Terra? Cradle of mankind and the resting place of Him on Earth?"

And regarding his plans, he says, "It has worked for the last 10,000 years. I see no reason to stop now."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Okay, that was weird.

"That's right. Except where I come from, no one calls it Holy Terra. I'm from Earth, 3005 A.D."

Point, Erhart. "Well, I hope you find the guy."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

Erhart halts, shocked by this, "You are from the times before the Dark Ages of Technology, then. Before the Age of Strife, the Heresy... indeed the Age of Imperium itself. I am privileged to have lived in the forty second millennium of mankind. It would appear you are from a time before Terra was overtaken by warp-storms, and fell into a long state of techno-barbarism. That is intriguing."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Uh... guess so, if you're from 40,000 A.D. That puts your further ahead in the timeline than most anyone I've met so far. Wait, what do you mean, 'techno-barbarism'? What's this about warp storms?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Interesting." When questioned about techno-barbarism and warp storms he coughs, almost embarrassed. "I am afraid I am not a historian who can explain this at great length, but the gist of it is that Earth was cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and techno-barbarism is what happened after. We had weapons and machines we could no longer understand or reproduce being used in a massively destructive war."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I see." Zouichi paused for a moment. "And you have recovered from this loss?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Not entirely. There is still much that has been lost, things that may never be recovered. The Dark Age of technology was a time of danger for man. We had built thinking machines which enslaved us... and worse. Nanytes that could destroy entire star sectors as a form of plague. One such was unleashed as a weapon, within the history of my Chapter. It was known as the Blood Tide, and it was a terrible thing."

He shakes his helm-clad head, obviously pained at the thought of it.

"The man who unleashed it was an enemy of humanity by the name of Voldorious. It was only recently that he was hunted down and slain by the White Scars and Raven Guard."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a bit of a recurring problem, then. Humanity experienced a state of catastrophic data loss some centuries before my time, from which they more or less recovered. But sometime around the date I was released, an organization released a genetically engineered virus into the population. Disaster all over again."

He glanced at Erhart. "Can't say an AI ever had anything to do with it, though. My partner is an artificial intelligence."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Humanity rises, falls, and rises again. Such is our way." He nods, and then freezes regarding the choice of partner. There's a long silence, and then the moment passes, as he decides that this man is most likely from before the dark Ages.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I guess that's one way to put it. Personally, I think it'd be nice if humanity could stop imploding in on itself every so often." A zombie virus that threatened to kill everyone? Really, humanity? Really?

Zouichi noticed the pause, glancing at Erhart. "Problem?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"The Emperor stopped the cycle of self-destruction. Even the mortal wounds he received from his son, Horus, didn't stop him from holding the Imperium together."

He shakes his head. "No... you've just made a lot of allies that are generally viewed as... unreliable allies, at best. In the end, Humanity could only trust itself in the stars."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a lonely existence. It would be best if mankind could get along with other species." Although for him the question was academic at best, considering humans were the only known sentient species in his world.

"But I'm not human, either. So there's that."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"We tried for many years, or so I understand it. We were viewed as upstarts, playthings or merely something to fight."

He looks down at Zouichi, "You do not appear inhuman. Are you simply enhanced in some way, like myself? I would call myself a human, despite being 8 feet tall, and being able to put a fist through steel."