H.M.A.S Badger ~ Online Æther Ship ~ Member's Wanted (OOC Thread)

[Zuttle D. Curious]

Vacuums? no, NO! NOT THE VACUUMS ! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH....

 

No! Seriously! When was the last time you took a walk down the vacuum aisle at the store? I'm really accustomed to my moms non threatening, old fashioned bag vacuum. It's purple too. And I was walking through the aisle making a mental list of what I would need when I left home. And I'm looking at all these things... And they look like something out of a horror movie! There are sharp parts, and dull parts, and lots of see through bits and thingies and lots of metal parts... They looked like some sort of robots from another planet who were suddenly sitting on the shelf in front of me.

Of course I watched transformers 2 a few days later. That just sealed it. Vacuums are definitely robots from another planet.

[MWBailey]

the vaccuums in the store have been specially fixed and sedated; its not until they come home that they develop demonic possession and diabolical intelligence.

[Alexis Voltaire]

I picked up on the fact that we never fully explored why the Royal Botanical Society would insist you go to mars to solve an unnamed problem - maybe one of your superiors is a Freemason?...

Interestingly enough, I never did come up with a reason for that, and since Mars is now taken over by an enemy force, I was spared having to come up with one. That idea does sound good, perhaps something will come of it?

Alexis, I found it interesting that the shaman was focusing on Shi-iri and not you, and talking about being part or not part of someone else (if I got that right) - perhaps moondragons are truly sentient, and an untapped ally...?  Interesting that they can adapt so easily to Mars...

Moon dragons are about as intelligent as humans, and can understand human speech, but are not able to speak human language. My idea on this is that they communicate between one another telepathically, and use their calls just as a 'general' indication of what they feel, but not as a spoken language. Unless the human they sent a telepathic message to were also telepathic, they wouldn't be able to receive it. I had no idea how to put it into the story even indirectly though, so it was just an interesting fact. The martian shaman is a thought reader however, so Shi-iri is able to communicate directly with him.

---

In my last post, what the Martian Shaman said is essentially that the Godkings bound themselves to the beast, or 'strength', hoping to control it for their own uses. but the 'strength' proved to great for them to handle, and as they were then irrevocably bound to it, having sent the key to earth, they were destroyed and took their empire with them.

The key is what keeps the 'strength' bound to the Godkings, like a lock on a chain. In destroying it, the 'strength' is still bound by the 'chain' or the Godking's will, but the lock is broken, and it's only a matter of time before it gets loose. After the Godkings were consumed, the 'strength' was still bound by the key, so it could not get loose entirely. With the key destroyed, if the Godking looses control or dies, the 'strength' will be let loose, and nothing will be able to bring it back under control. Without the key, the Godking is not bound to it by anything except his own will, but he cannot hold out forever and cannot let the 'strength' go. What seems most likely is that he is trying, or has found, some way to bind the strength to himself and keep it under control. When the 'strength' was first bound with the knife and chains, it was already held under some control by the key. Without the key the knife and chains are not powerful enough to hold it.

Oddly enough, the meteorite of Parvah might be made of neptunium.

[MWBailey]

Anybody who wants to can create a newfie recruit to join Bailey's knife-fighting class, or I will add one just for the effect, not necessarily as a permanent fixture; I don't want to flood the RP with my characters (yours can be permanent if you want, of course, or so I assume).

I'm off to bed, I have a jam session in the PM tomorrow, and various things to go bonkers with during the daylight hours.

Night....

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Hullo hullo! Been awhile since I've poked around the department of stories and tales.

I wonder, what precisely is this adventure all about? And would a navigator be required, or is one already obtained? I am E.V. Kettell, at your service. The E. stands for... well, it's stood for many things. But Kettell stands for excellence in adventure.

[Theosophus Grey]

{ Oddly enough, the meteorite of Parvah might be made of neptunium. }

Oooh, I like that one Alexis, keep that in your back pocket for later... 

And Mr. Kettell, yes, the Mad Badger is actually in need of a navigator now that I've been made Captain.  Please post a backstory and report aboard, we are currently in the graving yards on the moon Deimos being refitted to fight the New Seldon Empire on Mars.  Feel free to peruse the prior story posts, although I will be posting a summary for new recruits on this thread ASAP.  Best, Theo

[Theosophus Grey]

TERRIFIC posts, Jim and Alexis, way to run with a story element!  So, we're NOT out of the Martian woods yet... 

[Theosophus Grey]

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE SHIP...

This is a story summary for new recruits to the aethership HMAS Mad Badger who have just joined us for Chapter 2 of Red Sands and Red Swords: The Moons of Mars!  (beginning at Post #209)

THE TIME:  1899

THE PLACE:  The inner planets of the Solar system.  Earth is as expected (steampunked, of course), but the Lunar and Martian worlds are inhabited by both native species and terran colonists from the various European powers.  Moon Base Victoria is the oldest off-world colony and the most developed, surrounded by oceans of fine white silica sand cut by crystal-clear streams, with vegetation confined to the upper plateaus.  The colonial city of Syrtis Major on Mars is only a decade or so old, in addition to a number of independent human colonies named for their sponsors on Earth (i.e., New Khathmandu) located in the dry, red deserts of that world, the only water and vegetation confined to the polar regions; Mars' moons, Deimos and Phobos, just barely support life and are home to mining operations and aethership docking stations. Whether there are inhabitants on Mercury or the outer planets is unknown, although telescopic observations indicate Venus is covered by steaming swamps and jungles (think Dagoba).  The Asteroid Belt is home to numerous independent mining operations, and the pirates that prey on them.

THE STEAMPUNK:  Aetherships ply the trade routes and patrol the military outposts maintained by the Great Powers, with lift provided by a Cavorite core and thrust by special Aetherscrews, maximum speed relative to the number and size of the unique propellers versus the mass of the ship.  Atmospheric maneuvering is by mach-pressure fans, driven by steam power (of course), fueled by a simple decay reactor (think Nautilus) that also provides electrical power, and balanced by a compressed-helium ballast system.  Breathing air is stored in compressed form, and gravity is provided either by the acceleration/deceleration of the vessel (as for most military vessels), the rotation of decks about the long axis of the ship (as for new ships such as the Badger), or not at all (as for most small freetraders and other private vessels).  Vacuum Suits are made of vulcanized rubber, with armored aluminium joints and 'diving helm', and are equipped with personal shortwave radios with limited range; emergency air onboard is provided by Breathing Masks with compressed gas cylinders and built-in goggles. Tesla Cannons are the standard energy weapons, ranging in size from squad-manned field guns to ship's guns, and are adjustable for width of field, intensity, and range, all dependent on the amount of power available; these are also used as 'deflectors' to clear asteroids and other debris from the path of the ship.  Vilhaus Guns are a secret invention introduced by one of our RP'ers, and are rapidly earning a favored place in the Badger's arsenal.  The Radiograph acts as a primitive sonar, using UHF signals generated by the ships's Aethergraph antenna to capture bounce-back from objects within a fixed distance from the ship, positions and courses being plotted in a three-dimensional sphere using the Aethercompass.  Moonbuggies are six-wheeled steam-driven hacks, and Flyers are low-flying, open-deck Martian 'landspeeders'.  While there are some new German-engineered Blasters being seen, conventional guns, swords, and similar arms are still the primary hand weapons.

THE PEOPLE: Please review the main characters' backstory posts above for details.  

(BTW, no disrespect meant to others who have posted only once or twice on the main thread, please provide me with a backstory and your character's intentions if you'd like to be included here.)

Captain T.M. Grey, Commanding the commercial aetherliner HMAS Badger in place of its builder (and founder of this thread) Major Dan Badger, and for whose later descent into insanity the refitted warship was renamed the Mad Badger.  Expert with the sabre, and a 3rd Degree Master Mason.

Mr. Cornelius Nightshade, a representative of New Lloyd's of London, the ships' backers, traveling to Mars with a mysterious 'artifact' in a plot somehow connected with the Bank of England and the British Foreign Office.  A cunning villain and manipulator, it is unclear how much he really knows of the ultimate plan.

RSM M.W. Bailey, highly decorated ex-Royal Marine and professional soldier, serving as the Badger's Senior Security Officer; a combat zealot and expert with the khukri knife.

Miss Zuttle D. Curious, agent of an unnamed 'company'; an accomplished spy and expert in hand-to-hand combat, she was sent to retrieve the stolen artifact for clients unknown.

Mr. Frank Vilhaus, botanist for the Royal Botanical Society, originally stationed in Victoria; an expert naturalist, bearer of the prototype resonance rifle and a daring sniper.

Miss Iphigenia B. Askew, passenger searching for her missing brother, who may have unwittingly learned of the Martian plot while serving aboard an airship in London; having been raised on an aetherliner, she is expert at ship's operations.

Dr. Malcolm Moriarty, professor, physician, scientist, and mysticist, having just joined the crew as Chief Surgeon in the service of the Crown for the war on Mars.

Mr. E.V. Kettell, a well-traveled young cartographer and the Badger's new navigator.

THE STORY: Eons ago, the Martian people were much more human in appearance and enjoyed a high level of civilization and technology.  In an arrogant attempt to claim ultimate power from the magnetic energy of the planet itself, their ancient "GodKings" literally created a monster, a "Beast" of pure energy that would consume all living things in its path until sated, then disappear for a period of years before hungering again.  Some Martians escaped offworld to the inner planets, fostering new races there (including Earth), while most remained to witness milennia of decay of their great race and beautiful blue planet, reduced to warring tribes eking out an existence in a harsh, red desert world.  Later, the discovery that a special metal from a long-revered "Gift from the Sky" (meteorite) would diminish and repulse the Beast when it appeared, led to the creature being entombed with it under three of the four Great Keys, the remaining pieces of Martian technology that had been used to create it, the Fourth Key having been sent off-world with the first exodus to prevent them from ever coming together again.

Jump to present day.  Certain secret societies, including Freemasons and the Illuminati, and scholars of the Cthulhu Mythos are aware of humanity's true origins on Mars, differences in current appearance explained by milennia of evolution in very different environments.  Such legends as Atlantis, Hyperboria, and others could be attributed to civilizations built by descendants of the Martian diaspora, pre-dating recorded human history.  In a repeat of the all-too 'human' arrogance that created the Beast, those in the know and desirous of all-encompassing power over the known worlds believed that the creature could be harnessed and used.  Arranging for the recently-discovered Fourth Key (having been identified as an 'Aegyptian' artifact in a Cairo museum) to be quietly removed under cover of a purposefully blatant theft of other items of greater perceived value, they were determined that it be returned to Mars towards that end.  Lower agents of those ultimately behind this plot (whoever they may REALLY be... ) were told only that the artifact was of 'cultural significance' to the Martians, and could be used to seize political power over them during an upcoming festival, giving them access to the vast mineral resources and wealth of the Red Planet; only a few knew the real agenda, and we're not entirely sure that they're all accounted for...

Jump to the HMAS Badger.  After a rushed launch from London without the captain (Major Dan Badger) yet aboard at Nightshade's insistence, the navigator and third officer Lt. Grey is in nominal command.  Mr. Bailey joins us late from a motor launch, and takes up his Security duties.  Miss Curious infiltrates as a cook's assistant, which goes unquestioned due to the shortage of crew resulting from the unexpected launch, and begins to stalk Nightshade to recover her 'package'.  Miss Askew had boarded as a passenger, the trail for her missing brother having led her to the Badger.  On the way to the Moon, we are introduced to Nightshade's abhorant personality, Curious's judo skills, Bailey's by-the-book color-sargeant manner, Askew's unselfishness in aiding others, and Grey's suspicions that "something bigger than ourselves is involved here."  Surviving a mysteriously uncharted meteor shower from the direction of Deimos, the Badger sets down safely at Moon Base Victoria.  While ashore to pursue Nightshade, who had slipped from his confinement-to-quarters under Grey's orders, Bailey is attacked by a German agent of old acquaintance, giving him reason to believe that his prior encounters with certain unsavory persons might have some bearing on their current situation.  Following his own suspicions, Grey visits the local Masonic Temple, and barely escapes after witnessing the assassination of the temple's Master by a representative of the Bank of England, apparently spurred by his questioning of Nightshade's activities; leaving a mysterious package with a brother Freemason he has reason to trust, we learn for the first time of the Illuminati and their connection with Earth's true origins.  After conducting a brilliant PR campaign to have himself declared a hero for (no particular) actions during the meteor swarm, Nightshade is freed from confinement by order of the colony's Governor General, and makes a devil's pact with Miss Curious to cooperate in their own best interests.  Preparing to leave for Mars, the young Mr. Vilhaus boards by the request of both the Royal Botanical Society and the Governor General, though he can't imagine why he is being singled out.  Under way, Grey proposes they all put their cards on the table, but is interrupted by a bow shot and boarding party from an Imperial German cruiser, apparently after whatever Nightshade is concealing.  Before their parlay time is up, Grey confronts the man with the possible ramifications of his actions, causing him to jump ship via escape pod to the Germans with Miss Curious just as the Badger is about to be fired upon; it is in the company of their 'new hosts' that Nightshade reveals to Curious that the highly-publicized 'stolen relic' the Germans are now in possession of was only a ruse, and that the real artifact is still safely hidden aboard the Badger.  Making repairs with the aid of a nearby Royal Aether Navy ship, the Badger limps to Mars, only to have Curious sneak aboard and recover the artifact that they thought had already been taken away by Nightshade.  Determining that he has already turned over the real object to a European with contacts to the 'next Martian Emperor', forces from the Badger join with the colonial British forces to converge upon his conspiratorial party among the huge throng of Martians gathered for the expected festival, only to encounter the Germans doing the same and the Martians defending their own.  Mass bloodshed from the three-way conflict being averted by the Martian's taking possession of the real artifact as well as Nightshade himself, Grey and Bailey lead a two-pronged assault on the Martian temple where he believes a secret ceremony will be taking place to release the Beast.  While successful in thwarting what turned out to be the High Priest's plan to become the next GodKing, the result of their assault was the declaration of war by the Martians on all offworlders, under the banner of the New Seldon Empire.  Retreating to Deimos to regroup, the Mad Badger results from the refit of the liner for military purposes, and she takes on new recruits for the coming war...

THE RULES:  Standard RP protocols apply, specifically:

1.  Mind your manners and your language.
2.  Give others time to post in response before getting too far along in the story.
3.  Avoid irrevocable changes in the storyline, especially as they affect other player's characters.
4.  Remember that this is a shared-story project, and everyone will be writing from their own point of view, which may not agree with yours; be flexible and patient.
5.  Post OOC comments on this thread, not the storyboard.

[Theosophus Grey]

All - the recruitment notice has been posted on the Textual forum, and the summary in draft form just above.  Please chime in with any edits or suggestions to either while I continue to tackle this piecemeal.  Theo

[Cornelius Nightshade]

It just might be my PC but that blue just washes out for me making it hard to read.
Its great, only one thing I noticed Mr. Nightshade never worked for The British Foreign Office.

That I think was proved to be a lie he told Bailey to confuse him and stop him from asking questions.

[MWBailey]

And Bailey feel for it. *sigh*

By the way, WELCOME V.A.P.!

(or Mr. Kettel, I should say!)

[Cornelius Nightshade]

Don’t feel bad, Nightshade lies so much that he no longer knows what the truth IS anymore.

I also think we all should now refer to Gray as “ Now-Permanent Captain Grey “ as Mr. Bailey did, and as opposed to “ Acting-Captain Grey” , lol

OHH ,I have been wanting to ask you Grey, Did you communicate with Dan Badger, or are we just assuming he wont be active any time soon?

[Zuttle D. Curious]

You guys sure keep me reading this morning wow.

And welcome to you, Mr. Kettell

[Alexis Voltaire]

Some backstory on the 'Vilkaus gun'

In 1831, a scientist by the name of Klaus Wilhelm was commissioned by the German navy to construct a larger prototype of his famous 'sound cannon'. it consisted of a long hollow tube, with a long series of holes drilled into the top, and covered with hinged 'stoppers' that could be raised and lowered, similar to a musical instrument. in this manner the frequency of sound could be controlled, and in some cases even prove destructive. It was obvious that the small prototype had potential as a weapon, and with a more tightly spaced row of holes and a longer barrel, it could be controlled to a very small degree of frequency. The new prototype was built at a naval dock, mounted on the ship Valhalla II, and sent to the Caribbean for testing. The tests proved more successful than the inventor could have imagined, and with an added electrical fluctuator to make up for the frequency gap left by the hole spacing, the cannon was capable of short burst of sound at any frequency. In a demonstration held for several high ranking officers just off the coast, it successfully sank a small metal-hulled trawler that had been used for testing. The cannon, nicknamed the devil's flute, was a success, and the Valhalla II was ordered back to Germany, where more of the cannons would be made and designed and mounted on warships.

Several weeks went by, and the Valhalla II did not appear back in port. About a week after that, ships, and even planes, began to disappear without a trace in the Caribbean. The German government had until that time been open about the fact that a new weapon was being developed in the Caribbean. After several European ships vanished, suspicions were raised about the use of this new weapon, and whether Germany was still peaceful. The German government denied everything, covered up the story, destroyed the evidence, and spread an effective rumor about the 'supernatural' powers of the area now known as the Devil's Triangle. Efforts were made to hunt down the Valhalla II, and all failed. Many of the ships sent were never seen again.


All of the material and writings about the cannon were destroyed, and it's existence forgotten. All except for a long letter written by Klaus Wilhelm before he left for the Caribbean, detailing the design of the cannon and it's construction, that had been sent to his correspondent and friend, Maurtin Vilkaus.

---

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Ah! MWBailey, my old nemesis... er... acquaintance. We meet again. 

Now, for business. Acceptable?

----
Name : Mr. E.V. Kettell (Just Kettell, please)
Age : 24
Appearance: Kettell is tall and slim, fair of skin with messy brown hair. He has vague blue eyes set in a thin, intelligent but masked face. He wears black trousers, boots, a white shirt and a grey waistcoat. He has a set of pouches with equipment slung over his shoulder and more around his belt, noticeably a case of maps, an advanced spyglass with rangefinders and modified settings and a Planet Compass. He wears a short cylinder hat with a pair of goggles wrapped on it for safekeeping. He also keeps a revolver by his side and always has a knife or two stashed somewhere... just in case...

Biography: Kettell's history is not well documented. He was born within the British Empire but has lived across it, in most dominions and colonies. He appears to not have had parents, or they died when he was at a younger age. Where ever he went, he mapped and studied navigation, eventually taking this up as a full time job, getting a solid resumé. He is quiet, but stubborn and confident. His main concerns are  continuing to live and get pay so he can continue to travel, though he has sides to him that may force him to take a stand...



History :

[Theosophus Grey]

Don’t feel bad, Nightshade lies so much that he no longer knows what the truth IS anymore.

I also think we all should now refer to Gray as “ Now-Permanent Captain Grey “ as Mr. Bailey did, and as opposed to “ Acting-Captain Grey” , lol

OHH ,I have been wanting to ask you Grey, Did you communicate with Dan Badger, or are we just assuming he wont be active any time soon?

I will color-correct and edit the post above.

And no, I did drop Dan a personal message awhile ago but never heard back, hence the "he went mad and was taken off the ship" scenario so we could move forward with my promotion... 

[Theosophus Grey]

Alexis, love the backstory on the gun, you should post it on the main thread for our readers!  maybe in a conversation with the engineers refitting the ship's guns - ?

[Zuttle D. Curious]

So wait, are we on are way to Deimos, on Deimos, or on our way to Mars?

(Apologies, my post was written under the assumption we were on our way to Deimos, I can remove that part of the post without consequence if you like.)

[Dr. malcolm moriarty]

On Deimos, as far as I know
And making ready to assault Mars

[Dr. malcolm moriarty]

"Yes. I got the idea from an experiment a professor of mine tried a while back, replacing all the blood with liquid made primarily of processed seaweed, and sending a jolt of electricity through, it revived the dog he did it too for about three minutes. Or at least it had motor functions. It was rather like a chicken with it's head cut off. I think that is because it wasn't recieving signals from the brain. Luckily there was an engineer with the brains to put it's brains on Ice when it died. Don't know if we will be able to revive it's cognitive functions, but we are going to try."


Miss, Curious
Is your friend trying to find a way to reanimate dead tissues?
I can tell you I know of a gentleman in eastern Europe who came to a bad end a on a similar project.

[Theosophus Grey]

So wait, are we on are way to Deimos, on Deimos, or on our way to Mars?

(Apologies, my post was written under the assumption we were on our way to Deimos, I can remove that part of the post without consequence if you like.)

Yes, mustering on Deimos, Badger on a shakedown cruise, clock ticking on Mars assault.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Seems a very complex story! I wonder, have you considered marking some things down using the brassgoggles wiki?

http://editthis.info/brass_goggles

I've done two RPs with this and it really helps new people catch up. You can put down important plot points, word information and characters, both central and peripheral. 

(E.G. http://editthis.info/brass_goggles/Steam_and_Sand)

[Theosophus Grey]

Good idea, VAC, I wasn't aware of that option.

{ Still, a good manufacturer would have known that any proper navigator never used the Edison orientation set up. The Tesla method was miles superior. }

BTW, I edited my last story post to indicate that you were NOT new to aetheric navigation, as was my intention - obviously someone of your qualifications is highly experienced in such things... 

[MWBailey]

It seemed logical to me that, given the Royal Aether Navy's bent toward producing militaristic solutions to militaristic problems, they would have developed an Invasionary landing craft, but that the  Mars crisis would have left them with plans that were probably not yet fully fleshed out; the United States (NASA) and NATO came up with a really weird concept and test single-person aircraft back in the 50s and 60s, based on the idea that  if you could muster enough power and speed at the right time, you could make a brick fly (that was not really the way the theory was written, but look at an aircraft called the "rock" or "flying rock" sometime, and you'll see where I got the idea.

basically, it was an object to be dropped from extreme altitude by a b52 or similar craft, and afer initial testing, would serve as a reentry vehicle from, say, a space station, perhaps, for military purposes. it was dropped and then it would attempt to level out and "fly" by free-fall standards, to the ground.

Such is the concept of the "Plummets" that Bailey examines in the Badger's Staging Hold; think the ship-to-surface craft from the Aliens movie, where the marines descended to the surface of the Aliens-infested mining world. Yeah, like that, only this is a steampunk-type craft, so it's propelled by the gravity-induced plunge, switches to and glides on biplane-type wings, and then is powered for the return up-well by steam-powered ducted fans, using the wings for lift (Or alternatively by a gasbag, I suppose). I'm thinking I'll remove the name s from teh othe rcraft, so that if others want to they can name one for their own buch of marines or whatever. anybody game for that?

of course, I'll rewrite it without the "plummets," if desired, or supply a series of 'quickie' drawings to illustrate the concept if it is accepted...

[Theosophus Grey]

Not at all Mr. Bailey, love it, reminds me of Starship Troopers.    

Great storylines, I'm eager to see where the moondragon thread ends up - combining mysticism and technology is one of my favorite writing challenges, keep it going!

Alexis, I edited my previous "assault on the temple" post to remove the reference to the Fourth Key actually being destroyed, which on consideration was not really necessary to achieve our goal at the time, and fits better with where your story thread is going.