Escape to the Stars!!!!

[Captain Awesome]

Not but a few days ago the ship that you were on left the only home humanity had ever known. In hopes of preventing any further wars, mankind banded together and made great ships that can reach the deepest places into space. The first ship returned, but it did not bare good news. The second ship, a unfinished and under crewed last lifeboat of humanity, hurtles through hyperspace with no guidance. The very place that brought about the end of earth is now sheltering the last of her children. This however is not completely without effect.

Alphas, the greatest creation of all mankind, stand as paragons of the species. These perfect bodies are essentially shells devoid of souls. The poor fools that dared to bring so man alphas into the warp soon found the consequences of opening Pandora's box. Yet just like that box, there is still hope. Whatever Divine force that controls this universe seemed to choose to spare this second craft. Instead of twisting the soulless alphas into something dark and chaotic, a pure force found them instead. The 6 'unborn' alphas that lay cradled in the belly of this craft are gifted with souls so vibrant and pure that it even awakes the humans around them. The empty shells are now full to the bursting with life.

Then with a sudden jerk that life is brought into this world as violently as a real birth. The Tube that the 6 alphas are held in are broken open by the humans that need them. Dazed and confused, six 'newborn' alphas are birthed on the floor of the armory without any formality or tact.

A grizzled man in his late fifties stands before you. His left side is marked as someone that has been burned by tainted magic yet he shows no signs of it slowing him or tainting him," Alphas Designation Jackenn Avis, Rita Hemsworth, Ned [LR-E-P-9763A], Martin, Cypher, and Samson Orcneas awaken and stand at the ready. I am Colonel Alexander Gaston of the United Earth Defense Force. You are all not currently under my command."

[bcool999]

Martin

Coughing and spluttering to empty his lungs of the nutrient thick gel that had sustained him in the tube, Martin takes his first breath of life on his hands and knees. He quickly adjusts to the new sensation of breathing and takes a knee and looks around and listens. He sees his brothers and sisters taking their first breaths alongside him, his eyes burn at the harsh lighting in the room and his ears struggle to focus on the words that the man... Colonel Alexander Gaston was saying.

To focus his raw senses, Martin mutters a short series of prayers under his breath. Once he feels steady, Martin rises to his feet, ready to serve.

[Captain Awesome]

A young teenage boy dressed as a soldier rushes up to the Colonel. the boy looks almost scared, but he hands a clipboard over to the Colonel. The grizzled man looks over the sheets on the clipboard then grins," Ah, Martin. According to this you are from the Vatican. After what we say I am not exactly sure god loves us anymore, but if you can get him on our side more power to you. Your Dreadnaught armor is in the locker marked Martin. Suit up so and start the DNA registry."

[RFLS]

Rita falls on her knees out of the birthing tube, coughing up gel and gasping in the precious air around her. A mass of thoughts rose through her mind, all of them preceded by one simple one.

"Where the hell am I?"

More coughing, and then she voiced the same thought aloud.

"Where the hell am I?"

[alanek2002]

*Jacken Avis*

Jack coughs as he, like the others, hits the ground on his knees, trying to remove the gel from his lungs. "Where... am I? " he thinks after a bit, but the female sage next to him voices it before he gets a chance.

So he shrugs - as much as he can while trying to spit out his lungs - and voiced his next thought. "And what *Hack* is the situation?"


You claimed bold red in the OOC, not blue. :P

[WebTiefling]

Samson faded into consciousness about his surroundings a second later, finding himself face down on the floor. Concepts roil through him, vague impressions of things that don't seem to match what is going on around him ... things that, just, don't .....

Like vapors burning off in a hot sun, the impressions leave him, and he gives a great cough which spews liquid from his mouth and nose. That seemed to have alarmed the feet he can see next to his head, as they quickly jump back. Scaring them somehow seems wrong to him, and he cautiously stood up.

And up.

And up. His head nudged a light hanging from the ceiling.

The lab technician's eyes were getting bigger as he towered over her, and he covered his mouth with his hand to avoid coughing all over her. Gel and liquids sprayed out with several huge coughs, and he took a few breaths as the others asked questions.

The others. Five other beings were getting up, like he was. They were certainly not like the lab technician. The weren't scared, for one. They weren't clothed either. He glanced down at himself. Somehow he knew his own body, but it was still interesting to see it, too.

But curiosity was a brief emotion. He was here to protect the others. This just ... WAS. It was a part of him as much as his heartsbeats.

"Sir."

The voice was familiar, and yet it was new too. Low. Grumbling along. He snapped to a salute. It just seemed right, though he hadn't consciously thought about it.

His elbow clipped a light fixture hanging from the ceiling, sending it smacking up against the ceiling and bouncing wildly on its cord. He ignored it.

"Samson Orcneas, present."

He would learn what was going on in time. He was here to protect and serve. That was all he needed.

[Erik Vale]

Ned
Ned coughs only slightly as he comes out of his tube, having been built for unceremonious awakenings, he however pauses as long as the rest as his senses overload for a few moments being only used to fake stimuli... Slowly he begins processing the world around him, and remembering what was said.
'Not huh... This could be interesting...' Ned thinks to himself as he rises, following the 'order' to get to hiw armor and to DNA registry because it makes sense anyway, after checking his memory and being pleasantly surprised to have the ships layout in his head.

[bcool999]

Martin

Martin frowns slightly at the Colonel's assumption that God had abandoned them, he wants to argue against such a claim, but stops himself before he does so, remembering what he was. What would an Alpha, an Anima Minor or soulless, know about God's grace?

Pondering the question and his unusual reaction, Martin heads over to his locker and opens it. Inside is his armor, though it is the first he has laid eyes upon it he knows it as well as, and perhaps better than, himself. It was as much an armor of faith as it was metal, with prayer engraved in latin script on the inside to bolster the wearer's spirit and thick metal plates that would shift to intercept blows on the outside.

Martin slides both arms into the arm slots of the armor and pulls the cold inert metal chestplate to his own chest. The suit activates as it recognizes it's wearer and begins to encase him in enthmetal. Martin steps into the boots at the bottom of the locker and metal plates expand from the chestplate to the boots and vice versa to armor his legs. Martin turns his back on the locker as the backplates, pauldrons, and the heavy generator are joined to the chestplate providing more power to the entire suit. Finally the helm springs up from the backplate and chestplate to cover Martin's face. After a quick check to make sure he has full range of motion, Martin lowers the helm since he is not in battle.

The locker closes behind Martin as he steps away armored head to toe and looking like a walking fortress.

[Captain Awesome]

The Grizzled Colonel looks surprised for the first time in what has to be many years. The shocked look on his face fades quickly.

"Soldier Rita! Is it your place to ask questions? Your commanding officer has not given you permission to think! Show suit up!
"

Colonel Gaston then turns to Jacken and sighs," You 'sages' always give me a hard time. Stuff the simulated humor. Briefing will begin after everyone is situated and suited up."

The Colonel then whistles as he looks to Samson," Now that is what I call a Titan. Son you and I are going to get along fine. Gear up now boy."

"Ah, I do like the elf models. You lot seem to pick up well on what you need to do. Once you have your gear gene locked head to the briefing room. You have ten minutes. DO NOT make me wait soldiers!"

At that, the colonel leaves the newborn Alphas alone with their new sense of self.

[alanek2002]

Jack

After coughing a bit more, Jack also goes to the lockers... not noticing the small crystal dangling in his hair, nearly against his neck.

He pulls on his Enthmetal fullplate, and picks up a Glaive, starting a tad as the Sage orbs start hovering around him on their own.

After the Officer leaves, Jack speaks to the rest.
"Anybody else feel... off? Or rather, different than what we should be?" He says vaguely, unsure of how much to share.

"But hey, we're technically siblings, right? All born at the same time."

[WebTiefling]

Samson nods and strides off toward the locker room, chest, shoulders, and head above everyone else but the other Alphas. Something about what had happened back there was tickling him, but curiosity wasn't his strong point. He pushed it aside.

But Jack's words bring it back to his mind as he pulls on the clothing, and begins strapping into the battle armor. It was a decidedly ... odd feeling doing something that you knew without a doubt how to do, and yet at the same time knew you had never done before.

"Should I feel something? I am.... *groot*," he grunts as he tugs the chestplate on. "Alphas don't feel things. I know that.

"Alphas are emotionless bioengineered constructs designed for conflict settlement and competition purposes. Emotional thought processes are not a part of an Alpha's brain substrate matrix."

The wording of his last sentence is dramatically different than his normal speech. It was something he knew without a doubt just like he knew how to shoot and fight.

"Doesn't seem quite right, but it's so. I must not be feeling anything."

Samson latches on his arms and waits as the sensors and bondings inside attach and mold to his skin. He needs to wait ten seconds for the nerve-nano interface to fully bond. He knows this too.

[RFLS]

Rita, grumbling under her breath after the colonel leaves, effortlessly straps herself into a massive suit of armor, picking up her rifle, revolver, and, after a moment's consideration, a longsword and a shield. They felt...right.

Even as she's suiting up, she's fiddling with pieces of the armor, moving them slightly, adjusting this strap and that plate. A few moments under her touch and the armor seems somehow more streamlined than before. Already, her technical genius is making itself apparent.

There's nothing actually happening in terms of game mechanics, to be clear. Just characterization.

[alanek2002]

Jack, finished equipping his armor and having said his piece, goes out the same door the officer left through.

[bcool999]

Martin

Grabbing his own weapons, Martin isn't quite sure how to respond to his brother's question. "I suppose it would depend on what you think we should be before I could answer that honestly... But yes I understand what you mean." Martin responds candidly, "I feel... contemplative... curious as to who I am and what I am. Which part of me says is obvious, I am an Alpha there is no who, and the what is a tool, specifically a weapon. Yet... part of me cries out that there must be more, and I don't know how to answer it."

With that said he follows his brother out the door and continues on to where he is expected.

[WebTiefling]

Samson shifts his massive shield around a few times, testing the balance.

He didn't respond as Martin philosophized on ... whatever. Thinking around in circles wasn't about to change anything one way or the other. What he knew of Alphas didn't mesh with the idea of an Alpha thinking philosophically, but maybe that just wasn't described. Wondering about it wouldn't change anything one way or the other.

In his armor, with the massive shield and axe attached to the back of his armor, he added another foot and a half to his already massive height. Fortunately the doors and ceilings in this area were designed for passage of battle-suited alphas, but the 15' ceiling was still close enough to his head that he felt like he needed to keep aware of it.

He followed Martin out the door.

"Naval-gazing hippy. Only way to know for sure is to do."

[Captain Awesome]

The Colonel stood alone in a massive room that looked to have been designed to hold military briefing for hundreds. Instead only one human and the alphas populate this place. Next to the Colonel is a truly strange world. The equator of this world is wrapped in a near perfect hundred mile wide ring of volcanoes and wastelands that completely separates the north and south hemispheres. Other than that the world seems to be fairly similar to earth. The The display then zooms in to show one of the largest land masses in the southern hemisphere. The ship now appears on display embedded in the size of a truly massive mountain range. The mountain range is surrounded by a dense forest nearly a thousand miles thick in any direction you walk from the ship. The forest then opens up into a hundred mile wide band of plains before meeting an ocean.

"This is our new home. When we left hyperspace we crashed into this world. As it stands were are stranded here. Fortunate for us this world seems to be fully compatible with human life. As it currently stands we do not know where we are or if there is an enemy presence here. We have adequate supplies to last a fair number of years, but if we are going to build permanent home for humanity here we will need to establish. Outside of this ship the gravity is twice that of the earth yet there are massive creatures out there. On top of that many of the crew have begun experiencing phenomenon. Your mission is to scout the immediate are for signs of usable resources, search for any signs of the enemy, and to gather specimens from any creature or object the shows phenomenon. Likewise you are to fully document any phenomenon you might generate."

[WebTiefling]

Samson raises a hand. "Query, sir. 'Phenomenon'? What do you mean?"

There wasn't much that worried him - it didn't matter how big and tough the creatures might be - a few plasma bolts would leave them cooked, and his axe could take down elephants with a single stroke.

Huh. He knew what an elephant was. Samson wondered if he would ever see one for real.

[alanek2002]

"Query." Jack says, as emotionless as possible. "What specific resources should we look for?"

He needs more time before he brings up these... feelings, that are different from what he should have. He's only be awake for a few minutes, after all. No reason to make the colonel have a heart attack believing that he is possessed by the enemy, or some-such.

[Captain Awesome]

When the giant titan speaks the Colonel holds out his right hand and a strange blue fire begins to float above it," Everyone on board has begun developing abilities to manipulate the physical world. No doubt the lot of you shall experience other things. We are not sure if this is an effect of this world or otherwise. It is currently being researched. As for resources, your suits have been installed with a matter scanner. You are to look for organic materials suitable for human consumption as well as ferrous metals. If by the very rare change you find any supply of enthmetal on this world, that will be your top priority."

[bcool999]

Martin

Hearing the Colonel's words, Martin nods in understanding. He is somewhat perturbed by the sudden gout of flame in the Colonel's hand, but nevertheless repeats his mission directives for clarity, "So if I have heard you correctly sir, our orders are explore the area and focus on finding resources and eliminating threats to aid in future colonization. As a secondary objective, we are to collect materials and document occurrences related to these... Phenomenon so as to better understand them. Is my understanding of my orders sufficient?"

[alanek2002]

"Your orders are understood, sir." Jack says, and then waits to be dismissed.


Apologies, 1:45 AM here, holiday preparations and other things taking a lot out of me.

[RFLS]

Rita stands in something barely resembling "at attention" while the colonel delivers his orders, listening to the goings-on with interest. She replies to Martin's question with undisguised sarcasm. "You know, it's like that's exactly what he said."

With barely a pause, she addresses the colonel. "We've got it, sir. We'll get going as soon as you give the go-ahead."

[Captain Awesome]

The Colonel nods at Rita's statement. He seems a little worried and confused about the questions and speech of the alphas around him but that it quickly covered by the mask that officers must put on, "Use the stern cargo doors. The atmosphere is breathable but thick due to high gravity and the size of the planet. That should not bother alphas. The communication devices in your helmet have a range of several miles. Even if you find nothing, report in every 4 hours."

[alanek2002]

Jack nods in affirmation. "Understood, sir." He then turns to leave through the stern cargo doors, ready to explore this new land.

...I doubt they had the alphas woken first... how many people did they lose outside to turn to us?

[bcool999]

Martin

Bowing his head and saying a short prayer to bless their mission, Martin walks with the others to the cargo doors, ready to take his first steps on their new world.

[Captain Awesome]

Immediately you feel the different when stepping out into the world. The air is thick and heavy with oxygen and the gravity is twice that you are use to. A lesser human would have trouble, but for an alpha it is only a minor annoyance. Several hundred feet on either side of the ship, there is nothing but a scorched mark. Beyond that lies a vast forest with trees that stand hundreds of feet tall.

[RFLS]

"Hm...well, let's get going. I think our best bet for any sort of food is out in that forest - we'll have to be careful, if the trees are any indication of the size of fauna on this planet."

With that, Rita sets off towards the forest, not bothering to wait for the rest of her squad.

[bcool999]

Martin

Helm reforming around his head, Martin rumbles forth like the mountain of steel that he is. After leaving the shadow of the colony ship, he activates his force-field, shaking off the momentary disorientation the invisible but quite tangible force causes.

Going to go ahead and activate my force field for the 5 temp hp it grants, need a DC 15 fort save or be dazed for a round: [roll0]