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

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"There's a time for mercy and idealism," said Zouichi. "But that time doesn't generally tend to be when someone's trying to assassinate you and steal your DNA."

He crossed his arms. "You might not have a choice about the matter, though. Missions tend to start with the ship ordering a set group of people somewhere, without much choice about who goes along."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

Erhart's sudden belligerent silence seems to indicate all Zouichi needs to know about his opinion on THAT. It continues for a minute or two before he asks,

"What can you tell me about the nature of the undertaking you mentioned earlier... the one with the assassins?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi shrugged. "About thirty of us were sent to an unfamiliar planet to 'negotiate for some vital medical technology'. It turned out the people we were supposed to be negotiating with were a bunch of tyrants using a clone undercaste to prop up their regime. They wanted our DNA to construct an invincible clone army, and so did the rebels opposing them. And either side had the technology to render pretty much any of our abilities useless. So long story short, the ship threw us in a meat grinder with no warning and no inkling of what we were getting into."

He smiled a little cynically. "But we did steal some of the medical technology. So mission accomplished, right?"

Zouichi was simplifying things a little, but the bottom line was that he didn't trust the ship or the Daligig as far as he could throw them. Okay, bad example in the case of the Daligig.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Sounds almost as foolish as the way some of the Imperial Guard operates. The Black Templars hold ourselves to a higher standard. But we must. There are only 6,000 of us to defend and cleanse an entire galaxy, so our blood, the blood of Dorn, is precious. We must die for a purpose, not for vainglory or to support a foolish ideal."

He shrugs, "Was the medical technology of any real use long-term?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He frowned. "I'd say. Our allies apparently don't trust us with the information we need to complete our missions. What kind of way to operate is that?"

"It was..." Zouichi paused. "If we'd succeeded in negotiating for it, supposedly it would have helped regrow limbs and regenerate from severe injury. But it looks like that won't be in use for some time since we have to reverse-engineer it from stolen equipment."

He didn't think it would have been worth it even if the technology had done exactly what it said on the packaging, though. Worse, there were other ways they could have accomplished the exact same thing.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"In truth, it sounds hardly worth the effort and difficulties of the undertaking. As for your.... 'Allies', that seems rather dishonorable of them." He glowers randomly, as if expecting more dishonorable fellows to come out of the bulkheads at any moment, then continues. "I suppose we do as needs must, but this hardly fills me with confidence.... You do seem a man of sensible opinions, though. That is valuable. What is your position and specialization?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi crossed his arms. A question with potentially more than one answer. "On the ship? I'm a Variable Fighter pilot. I'm also part of Security; we protect against onboard threats and maintain the peace.

"...but on Earth, things were a little less defined. So I guess you could say combat is my specialty."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

Erhart grins behind his helmet, and sets a hand on the smaller fellow's shoulders, the cold gauntlet massive.

"I think we shall be friends then. Tell me more of these variable fighters."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well. That was an awful big hand. Zouichi was more or less used to being around giant, hulking mountains of muscle, though.

"They're transformable fighters of Earth origin, designed to accommodate fighting in multiple environments. There's a Battroid form for ground engagements and one-on-one duels, a fighter form for air and space dogfights, and a hybrid form for maneuverability in tight quarters. There are a number of them in the Hangar, but they're not for everyone."

He hesitated for a moment. "It's probably easier to demonstrate it than explain, honestly."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"At this point, after talking to the Grand Master, I see no further reason to tarry here. Show me, if you are permitted to do so. I find war machines intriguing, though I am no techmarine."

He sheathes his sword for the first time since anyone has seen him leave Armory, with the sound of steel on steel, and his stance is... almost cheerful?

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Actually... maybe the Sensoriums would be a better idea. Engineering is probably in the middle of repairs on the Quarter anyway." Zouichi motioned to Erhart to follow him as he started down one of the ship's corridors. It wasn't long before they reached an empty Sensorium, in which appeared to be a replica of the Hangar with its large and varied array of spacefaring vessels (and a few nonspacefaring vessels, in the case of the Impala).

Once there, Zouichi pointed out the Nightmare (http://www.macross2.net/m3/macrossf/vf-171ex.htm), still in fighter form.

"These are the Sensoriums, if no one's explained them to you before. It's possible to imagine up just about anything here. A lot of people use them for training purposes." Himself included.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"How strange." He folds his arms over his chest, looking over the fighter.
"It looks almost... Eldar. Not properly solid for imperial technology."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"You probably won't like my bike, then. But it's definitely of Earth origin." He hopped into the cockpit in one easy motion. No need for an EX-GEAR for the purposes of this demonstration. "The fighter is for air and space dogfights, obviously."

The silvery craft shifted smoothly into the form of a large, humanoid mobile suit, a good deal taller than the fighter. "Battroid mode is for duels and ground battle."

Finally, he brought it into its intermediate form, a hybrid of the two. "And there's GERWALK mode for maneuverability. Makes it a lot easier to navigate crowded asteroid fields and urban environments."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"How strange. Interesting but strange. Almost like the benighted Tau, in some ways."

He crosses to the fighter and touches it with a gauntleted hand.

"Hmmm. How does it function without sigils and signs to the Omnimessiah?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure what that is, but it runs on a miniaturized fusion reactor. What exactly are the Tau?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Xenos. They claim to fight for a greater good, but trick humans into fighting for them while subtly sterilizing them, and feeding them to their Kroot mercenaries. The templars fought them during the Damocles Gulf Crusade, before the coming of the Tyranids, a race of chitinous monsters rather like the Ohm."

His fists clench for a moment.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"...what? They eat their own allies?" He had no reason to think Erhart was lying, but the whole thing sounded like a bizarre conspiracy theory. Next thing, the guy was going to tell him the Tau ate their own babies or something.

...Although they had discovered a den of flesh-eating chemical warfare zombies on-ship the other month or so, so maybe it was more likely than he thought.

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"The kroot eat anything they think will make them stronger. The Tau have honor, of a sort, in battle, but the Kroot are nearly daemonic. Savage, brute things."

He walks away from the Nightmare for a moment. "They fly across the galaxy in ships known as Warspheres."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Savage, brutish? Sounded like how the Eldar regarded the humans.

"And what is it you fly across the galaxy in?"

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Great ships. Strike Cruisers, Battle Barges... other kinds of mass-conveyances. Far more reliable than the Warspheres."

He looks a bit crestfallen.

"I wish I could show you an example."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"You can, actually. Just envision it clearly in your mind; the Sensorium will materialize the rest."

Zouichi was sort of curious about these ships now. What did vessels in 40,000 A.D. look like?

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"A moment then." Erhart growls, and concentrates, creating huge, blocky for the education of Zouichi.

He points to the first, and says "Thunderhawk. My brothers and I ride to war in these, striking from the skies and bringing doom to our foes." http://www.ironhands.com/thawk.jpg

The second makes him spread his arms, encompassing a ship too large to actually fit in the hangar, obviously abstracted somewhat, looking something like a flying cathedral or castle. "This is a Strike Cruiser. It can hold an entire fighting Company of Templars like myself, and brings us through the Warp to various war zones in the galaxy."

http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/0/0e/Space_Marine_Strike_Cruiser.jpg

"There are larger ships... but these should give you some idea. They are the vehicles of the Adeptus Astartes, like myself. Heavily mechanized for efficient deployment of assault troops, not the great wallowing mass conveyances of the Imperial Guard, or the Navy."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Blocky, heavily-armored passenger craft that looked like they'd seen about a million space battles. In other words, not his kind of machine at all, regardless of how powerful they were. Zouichi tended to prefer the sleek, streamlined vehicles of his own world... which, come to think of it, had probably been part of the reason he'd taken to the Variable Fighters. Maneuverable, swift, no worrying about anyone else. Also missiles.

"It must take tremendous effort to maintain ships of that size. The Thunderhawk, in particular, somewhat resembles carrier craft I've seen in holoimages."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

"Yes. We have a huge amount of serfs and other servants who maintain our war-gear, and assist the techmarines who oversee it." He nods to the comment about the Thunderhawk. "It is a carrier aircraft, though because of the sheer thrust, and the fact that space marines need very little in the way of grav-protection and life support, it also doubles as a super-heavy gunship. We have no dedicated interceptor-class vehicle for this reason."

He considers, then asks, "Has your culture left Terra yet?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Serfs? Servants? Wow, this guy is from the dark ages. "I see. So it suits your needs. What do you mean by not requiring much in the way of life support? Do you have decreased oxygen requirements?"

Zouichi blinked at the question. How to answer?

"It has... in fact, we established a colony on Mars a few centuries ago. However, the entire colony was destroyed by a virus of human manufacture. Supposedly, there's not a single person left alive there. There was an expedition to Mars shortly before I was brought here, though."