NationStates Jolt Archive

Okay, here’s the idea: I’m thinking of a new way to handle my nation’s stuff, and I decided it might be fun to go back to the original source material, and put something of a new spin on RP with it.

So, the Nightacre is a necron tomb ship. For those not in the know, this is an immensely powerful battleship about eight kilometres long and across. There’s more at this link ( http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/cairn.htm). However, for this thread, It’ll be very much ‘godmodded up.’

Anyway, the nightacre is damaged very heavily – written off as destroyed – and has been for centuries, or millennia, and is long out of touch with the rest of the fleet. It’s had to limp on sublight speed to the nearest star system, and has begun using a clarketech system to leech energy off the local star at a colossal rate, in order to power its repairs.

Having been out of contact for a long time, not to mention the almost-complete damage to its structure having rendered its comprehension of its original mission non-functional. the nightacre is operating on old orders, and has basically decided it wants to kill everything. Eventually, when regenerated, it’ll pose quite a serious threat to the part of the galaxy you’re in, or so your characters will presume. (in actuality, my nation’d show up and destroy it…)

There are some infuriatingly common features of II space RP that annoy me, so there will be rules for participation.

Rules:
I R GOD: Well, not quite, but my intention is to act in a GMish role for this thread, so that does mean that I will expect my OOC ‘suggestions’ and ‘rules’ to be followed. Similarly, I also expect to say, call other player’s losses,
The rule of redshirts: It’s my intent for the ship to be found by ‘scavengers’ and salvage crews, not well armed expeditions from governments. While explorers and military groups are not banned, private enterprises more akin to the crew of Serenity or Moya than the USS Enterprise. Similarly, the more ‘developed’ any character is, the less likely I am to off him. Bringing two guys aboard with well developed personalities will get you further than bringing two platoons of space marines with all the gizmos. No more than one interstellar-capable ship per player, please, at least, at first.
Low technology if you please: It doesn’t help me menace anyone if you technology is as sophisticated as that found aboard the Nightacre. Of course, if you are actually as much of a wanker as I am, you should probably go home and rethink your life. Anyone in this thread should be at most around the Star Trek tech-level, and the lower the better, something like the Colonies from the present incarnation of Battlestar Galactica or again, Firefly (Largely modern-tech with some nifty extra widgets, and relatively-hard-sci-fi, respectively) would be ideal. If we’re oversubscribed, priority will be given to the least-uber groups. For the same reasons, I'll give priority to new space nations and so on, rather than massive empires.
If your characters ICly know about my nation, you need not apply: Because ‘hey, that’s a C’tani battleship, let’s call them up about it’ is… very undramatic.

---

So, if you’re interested, the idea is simply, that whether acting on a tip-off, or long range scans of the star being messed with, you end up in the nameless system that the Nightacre is in, and decide to board the ship, intent on either salvaging it or its cargo, or perhaps finding out what it’s up to. Either way, you will at first, not be aware (an explanation will be forthcoming) that other groups are on board the vessel when you dock, initially, you’ll be able to explore the ship quite freely, and hopefully, encounter other groups, and probably conflict with them. Then, of course, things will begin to turn more sinister.

I’ll also be producing maps and whatnot later, at least assuming anyone’s interested.

So, anyone wish to sign up, or ask any questions?

I have my Space Pirates/Rogue Traders/Scavengers of the Black Corsairs for occasions just such as these; the two brothers who lead the group are my only characters of note; Marius and Alexis

Alexis is the leader; a quick thinking, pistol wielding, sword-trained plucky pirate who's generally the brains and the 'hero'.

Marius on the other hand is more of the brawn, the muscle, and the would-be Doctor/Experimenter :D Always dreaming up new gadgets or surgeries for the Men :D

So you're looking for low-FT, could you provide a few examples(or some alternate 'era' tech bases) for those who know next to nothing about Trek, BSG or Firefly?

Also assuming psionics/magick are out?

Being on a Necron ship would really really probably rule out Psionics :P

Pionics are generally good, depending on how powerful they are. Telepathy is ideal, telekinesis and so on are less so. Anyone happening to be using Warhammer 40,000 style ‘psykers’ will be in for problems (in that you'd be the number one target) but other styles of psionics would be fine. Magicians aren’t liable to be that much of a problem, though I would preffer if they’re unable to teleport and such.

It should be noted that telepaths and so on are in for a worse time than other characters in many ways. Especially if they’re normally able to hear spirits/ghosts, etcetera. While there won’t actually be such things, well, I’ll keep the rest under my hat. If you want to use psionics and so on, sending me a link or a TG about how they work would help.


Technology examples: Well, it helps if there’s no teleporting (though the environmental conditions will likely make it impossible anyway) but generally, I want low-tech to both make the ship advanced enough that it’s a valuable prize, and most importantly, to keep the emphasis on humans (or characters, to be more precise), rather than having people just send robot probes into the ship. Robots are fine, in moderation, but if I’m running something intended to be rather horror-movie or ghost-ship-esque, it makes no sense if the characters should just be towing the ship away, or sending in a horde of expendable robot explorers. In the same way, if they’ve got handguns that routinely level buildings, it makes it very much harder to threaten them…

So would something like the T-X(without all the weapons/virus thingy) be acceptable?

So would something like the T-X(without all the weapons/virus thingy) be acceptable?

Certainly. The plasma cannon would of course, fit the definition of building levelling weapons, perfectly. But yeah, as long as you don't bring dozens of them, absolutely no problem. ;)

Then will post characters/send info on psionics shortly(need to make a bank run)

Would I be able to use a small group (9) of Mandalorian mercenaries? I ask because they're fairly heavily armed and armoured as standard, and you stated a preference for low tech. I'd be perfectly willing to lose most of them during the rp, if it makes a difference.

Would I be able to use a small group (9) of Mandalorian mercenaries? I ask because they're fairly heavily armed and armoured as standard, and you stated a preference for low tech. I'd be perfectly willing to lose most of them during the rp, if it makes a difference.

They're certainly permissable. They're very well trained and professional, and quite well armed but not enough to actually make them invulnerable (my Stardestroyer.net membership compells me to say that they can level buildings, but usually they don't.) So, they're certainly fine.

Alright my characters:
A T-Xish chassied A.S.
A Human, psychic(Mild telepathy(read surfacemost thughts/send short(few word) mental messages), occaionally pick up impressions/psychic trauma(violent deaths/rape/ect), Telekinesis(up to 130kg))

(violent deaths/rape/ect),

I pity him already. :eek:

I pity him already. :eek:
It's only occasionally(but I don't like the sounds of this :D )

Can I enter a mixed group? Like, say, a company of space marines (NOT 40K, more like Aliens), who would get slaughtered, and a few core characters, who at least have a decent chance to survive.

Can I enter a mixed group? Like, say, a company of space marines (NOT 40K, more like Aliens), who would get slaughtered, and a few core characters, who at least have a decent chance to survive.

Absolutely!

I was thinking of Aliens particularly when I wrote that intro. :p

Absolutely!

I was thinking of Aliens particularly when I wrote that intro. :p
Cool. I'll come up with some characters in a few minutes.

Dakan Ansu
Rank: Sergeant
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Weaponry: BlasTech Industries DC-15A Blaster Rifle (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/DC-15_rifle), Fragmentation Grenades, Detonation Packs.
Other: Experienced soldier. Been there, done that, blown that shit up before you were born. Dakan is efficient in his speech and actions, and could do his job in his sleep. His helm is marked with the Mandalorian Jaig Eyes (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jaig_eyes) battle honour.
Suffers from combat-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder), but attempts to hide it due to the shame he believes it would bring.
Moran Ansu
Rank: Corporal
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Weaponry: Merr-Sonn Munitions SG-4 Blaster Carbine (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/SG-4_Blaster_Carbine), Fragmentation Grenades, Sonic Grenades.
Other: A resilient woman, who strives to show herself to be as good as or better than her male counterparts. Moran respects Dakan for his knowledge and ability, but has not experienced prolonged combat.
Privates
Jokin Ansu - Generic Blaster Rifle
Rhyric Ansu - Generic Blaster Rifle
Jorek Ansu - Generic Blaster Rifle
Zarin Ansu - Generic Blaster Rifle
Aean Ansu - Merr-Sonn Munitions PLX-1 Missile Launcher (Guided Missile)
Bedge Ansu - BlasTech Industries T-21 Light Repeating Blaster (SAW)
Droid
C9-A9 (http://'http://www.tobiasbrenner.de/pics/Droid.jpg) (Lellat Holdings C9-Series Humanoid)
Gender: Masculine programming
Weaponry: BlasTech Industries A-280 Blaster Rifle (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/A-280_blaster_rifle)
Other: Ablative Plating, Broad-Band Communicator

ALL: Mandalorian Battle Armour (http://starwars.wikia.com/images/3/3d/KOTOR7.jpg)

Docking locations:

Because, yes, it does affect what happens to you. Buuttt… I’m not telling you how. Mwhaha.

http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/images/nightacre/nightacredocking.jpg
(Yes, I fuzzied up the image, because no one's going to have good resolution of a ship that's actually eating a star like a giant mechanical leech!)

Location 1: Near the rear of the ship, this is a section that’s losing air very slowly, and has some lacerations that one could board through.

Location 2: A small hole into one of the top decks, just the right size for docking hatches. There’s nothing beyond it, it seems, however, that section does appear to be the most ‘powered’

Location 3: one of the few actual docking ports on the top-side of the ship that still has the lights on.

Location 4: This is a small ziggurat shape on the underside, with numerous pores in it that allow access. There is a small cloud of debris near it, the only signs of recent external activity on the ship. There are traces of gasses leaking from here, too, but these are not breathable to humans, instead the ship is leaking neon gas.

Location 5: The only intact one of a number of landing bays around the rim of the ‘circle’ of the ship, there are no landing lights, but a number of machines of various sorts, apparently dead.

I’m aiming for four or five people, but if there’s more, they’re just going to have to start cutting their way through the hull. Reasons for no-one being able to share docking areas will be made apparent later. That's about all the information captains would have on each site, and so, take your pick ladies and gentlemen! Think of what mind-bending horrors lie behind doors number one, two, three, four and five.

I call shotgun on Location 5.

I'd like three.

I'd like to apply with the same group I was using in this thread (forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=401965) (which, sadly, died near the beginning). The Hjari are a nation of interstellar wanderers, travelling the stars in groups large and small. They tend to make most of their money through trade and salvage, so discovering a very large, seemingly wrecked vessel would certainly interest them - especially one of unknown technology. The available technology varies from group to group, depending on what they know how to make and can get their hands on; I can make this crew relatively low. None of 'em are likely to have hordes of robotic probes or building-crushing handguns, anyway. In general, their tech is cobbled together from all over the place. Some of it is simple; some is quite effective, but not very reliable. Magic and psionics are both known, but very rare.

If accepted, I'll take location 1. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Actually, now that I think about it, you were in that thread I linked to...

...a nation of interstellar wanderers, travelling the stars in groups large and small. They tend to make most of their money through trade and salvage...

Space Jawas. omg liek, rofl.

I call shotgun on Location 5.
FUCK!!! I use dropships, so I needed the landing bay...

Willing to share if you are...

Ctan said no sharing, so I doubt that'll work. Perhaps Ansu can be persuaded to take a different slot?

I doubt he will... I'll take Location 4.

FUCK!!! I use dropships, so I needed the landing bay...

Willing to share if you are...

There's no air in the landing bay, so you'd need to send people over in suits. As such, the next easiest place to get in for you would be number 2.

I'll change. My freighter can probably use the docking hatches at 2, LNI gets Loc 5.

Thanks Ansu. And my soldiers already have self-contained air supplies, Ctan. Doom-style, but longer lasting...

In-character thread coming shortly. Locations are as follows.
Hjarteln
Clan Ansu
Theao
Chronosia
Liberated New Ireland

And yay! Chronosia gets the most immediately dangerous one! And I didn't even set him up!

IC thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11069387#post11069387)

Next up, basically, is to post something that breifly introduces your characters, and has them boarding the ship; Obviously, you've all actually decided which area you're going for in advance, using scans of the area, but will arrive at different times (no need to post at diffrent times though) - if your characters should, logically, want a better location, feel free to have them go there first, but turn back when they see someone else there. You can handle the docking yourself, if you like, but don't go much further than that.

Shooting at each other's ships in this enviroment, in space, is not going to work, because laser weapons and equivalents will be diffracted so badly that targetting's near impossible, and projectile weapons even more so. Not to mention, heat-sinks on the firing ship will be in serious trouble too, surviving there is hard enough, let alone fighting. Your ships are basically in a super-heated sea, rather than space, and while surviving there isn't impossible, it is... difficult. You wouldn't want to spend too long in a space-suit in any location except number one, too, as well, radiation in vast quantities does bad things... I'd keep the suits in the shadows of your ships, too, if you're boarding in space-suits.

Would it be unnervingly cold inside the ship itself? Demonstrative of awesome tech that can utterly override the heat generated by the Nightacre's proximity to the star?

In places, yes. Area one will have an enviroment of sweltering, yet still liveable, heat. The rest will be quite cold.

(Thank you for the form, Ansu. I'm posting all this info here, because it's too clunky for the IC thread.)
The members of Hospitaler Marine Company, Beta Platoon, Third Squad
Sergeant Nicolai Koslov
Pfc. Ivan Malakhov, Squad Gunner
Private Mikhaillovich Zhukov, Heavy Weapons
Corporal Sergei Gionta, Squad Sniper
Private Jethro Lincoln
Pfc. Scott Langenbrunner
Private Roadkill Rommel
Corporal Mike Tanner
Pfc. Lena Kosovich
Private Zachary Taylor
Private Colin White

Ivan Petrov
Rank: Private, First Class
Designation: Unit Pathfinder, Rifleman of the Hospitaler Marine Company, Beta Platoon, Third Squad.
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Weaponry: LNIM-43 Pathfinder's Rifle, LNIM-22 Recon Pistol, Infantry Knife
Other: An older, experienced soldier. Fought on- and off-world in a variety of campaigns. Ivan is generally sarcastic towards his superiors, who tolerate him for his recon skills, and always shows concern for the younger members of his unit. He is a little under average height and weight, has buzzed black hair, and has several scars on his face. Experiences nightmares of his experiences in the field, and of the many terrors of space. (He's not a telepath or psyker, but he is somewhat sensitive to the Warp. It's one of the things that makes him such a good pathfinder)

Emma McDougall
Rank: Specialist, Unit Telepath, Assigned to HMC Beta Platoon
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Weaponry: LNIM-22 Recon Pistol, LNIM-46 Carbine
Other: A newer member of the unit, forced to leave college when she was 19 because of an intense breakdown, brought on by her psychic abilities. After a year spent in a number of mental hospitals, she was drafted by the military and sent to Telepath Control School (TCS). After TCS she was assigned to the Hospitaler Marine Company (HMC). She has strong telepathic abilities (she can read minds for information, send messages, pick up violent past events, and occasionally has forewarning of an attack), weaker telekinetic abilities (can operated buttons at range, lift light objects), and is not a pyro or polter.


The LNIN Cruiser Hospitaler is a light cruiser, equipped with several MAC guns, torpedo tubes, and a number of point-defense turrets. It is also equipped with two squadrons of fighters, and a wing of four dropships. Each dropship carries a platoon of the marine company assigned to the ship.
The marine company is composed of 200 soldiers, led by Captain Akita. It is divided into four companies of 50, which are divided again into 4 squads of 12. Each company is led by and LT and a First Sergeant. Beta Platoon's Lieutenant is LT Hacker. Oh yeah, and each soldier is armed with a suit of Arachnosteel armor, with SCAS (Self-Contained Air Supply), and, if not company sniper or gunner, is equipped with an LNIM-44 Assault Rifle or an LNIM-40 SMG.

OOC: I know about your nation, but I would still like to enter.

My logic is, an Allanean ship would probably try to salvage some tech/stuff for Allanea before calling the C'tan... crazy in the head as it is.

OOC: I know about your nation, but I would still like to enter.

My logic is, an Allanean ship would probably try to salvage some tech/stuff for Allanea before calling the C'tan... crazy in the head as it is.

I'm thinking: Too late.

np, LNI. Thanks for reminding me to put in details about my ship.

Corellian Engineering Corporation YZ-775 Light Freighter (http://starwars.wikia.com/images/0/0f/Yz-775.JPG)
Type: Light Freighter
Length: 52 Meters
Crew: 8
Passenger/Troops: 14
Consumables: 6 Months
Cargo Capacity: 400 Tons
Hyperdrive Multiplier: X1
Hyperdrive Backup: X12
Shields: Yes
Cloaking Device: -
Other: 2 Escape Pods
Armament:
1 Twin Turbolaser turret
2 Twin Laser Cannon turrets
2 Proton Torpedo launchers
- 12 Torpedoes per launcher

Also, Ctan. How long has the Nightacre been regenerating? If it'd been there for years, it would be relatively well known of in certain circles.

Thanks for reminding me to put in details about my ship.

np.
Halfway through writing my first post.

But I'd say it arrived in orbit of the star a few years ago, and only started actually doing this 'tear the star apart' trick a few weeks ago.

Or rather, to be more precise, it only reached such epic proportions over the last few weeks.

And it's been going from star to star? Exhausting the energy and leaving systems to die in the ensuing supernova?

And it's been going from star to star? Exhausting the energy and leaving systems to die in the ensuing supernova?

Nope. It was almost-completely destroyed in battle, and drifted off into deep space, but managed to make a tiny course correction using the last of its fuel to get it into the chromosphere of the nearest star in a few centuries, where it could begin 'basking' in an abundance of solar energy and material and fixing itself. This is the first star it's reached. Though I should really be doing all this exposition in character. ;)

Made my first post, finally.

Damn. I'd been hoping that it had been, so that I could use it in the intro post.

Ctan.

I realise you're unlikely to allow this, as you turned away someone else earlier, but a friend in my region has asked if he can add a science team to the rp. They'd be treated as part of my group, and would probably hang around with us too.

To enter them into the rp, I'd say that they'd been on standby pending the all clear from the Mandalorian squad, and then let their ship use the docking ring that I cut up.

Regardless of the eventual answer, I had to ask. Thanks anyway.

I realise you're unlikely to allow this, as you turned away someone else earlier,
That someone else was Boris. He doesn't count. (To wit, he'd essentially be breaking the rules, and would end up resolving the issue by just sending a signal to my main nation, and having another necron ship show up and splash the Nightacre.)
but a friend in my region has asked if he can add a science team to the rp. They'd be treated as part of my group, and would probably hang around with us too.
No problem.

Awesome. His nation's called Gargantua City State, and they're a fairly peaceful bunch. I do the fights, he does the data collection. Both of us do the horrible deaths.

Humm. I seem to have given you the wrong impression. The corridor doesn't come to an end there, it turns left.

Every few dozen meters, there's doorways on either side, which are closed, and an open door to the front. At the end, the door on the left is open. On the diagram below, if X is the location of the power pack, And S points towards your ship, N points the route further into the ship.

_______________
| S→
| X ____________
| |
| N |
| ↓ |

I just realized, if the diagram had also shown people on/in the ship, what kind of fun my characters could have had with locking the doors every time someone walked up to them, and unlocking them when they backed up, and when they ran to try and shoulder check the door, beep, door goes open, they go flying.
Such fun it would have been, but alas, it was not to be.

It doesn't. Main internal sensors, fortunately for all of you, are still offline. Things will get... bad if and when they're restored. No posting from me today anyway, too tired.

Hmm, a little late on the sign-up. I found out about the thread on our regional forums, and thought it sounded like fun (Being a fan of the Alien theme).

I hadn't realized we weren't allowed to share a docking area before I joined. I hope the Mandalorians with a few scientists doesn't screw anything up for you! If it does, let me know... I just figured it might be nice to have someone with weapons to escort my scientists, because they're not very warlike. :)

Rickard, Simon
Lead scientist aboard the new Zeego Class Research Vessel. It's actually the first type of vessel that was explicitly made for research by the Gargantuans, and has very light armament and armour, more for emergency escapes.
All of the scientists are equipped similarly, with hand scanners (most advanced tech of my people, but probably still not up to the level of this ship), personal journal data pads, light pistols, their space suits, and backpacks (For carrying the all important artifacts for study!).
I'll be mostly following Rickard, and really don't mind if the whole group dies off. I sort of expect it, seeing as how they're not really built for this sort of horror mission. My feeling is that probably what will happen is one of the hardier Mandalorians will get out alive, and might just take out some of the data gathered from my scientists. But, if you have other ideas, that's certainly fine too. :) I gladly take on the role of a player, instead of GM! ;)

They didn't split up, they just peeked down the corridors.

They didn't split up, they just peeked down the corridors.
Humm. Bah. Well, I'll edit a bit then.