Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Table Talk - General OOC Thread.

[Mr Fox]

Guys, I think the game has become bogged down a bit too much. Washington thread resolves some hanging plots that are preventing a lot of other things from going forward and we've spent too much time on it. I plan to push it forward tomorrow unless there are objections.

LotL can continue as is since it is not time-dependent and locked in the timeline.

[z028 Riley]

Mission threads might help. I think most of us are waiting on either the resolution of Washington or to push forward with plot threads. Only so much we can do in side fics.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but current ST threads are:

Washington (in combat)

Nice Genes (after Washington chronologically)

LotL (out of continuity right now)

I think wrapping up Washington is a good idea, as is poking whoever's up in LotL. I think Genes is waiting on ST input.

Perhaps you could sticky those threads so they don't get lost in the shuffle?

[Mr Fox]

Good idea on making the threads sticky. Also, I'll check on the Nice Genes thread today and kick it into gear as well.

[Mr Fox]

Note: All characters will be allowed to take 1 dot in Eufiber for free. This is Asgard manufactured Eufiber, made from Kyria's eufiber, which in turn was 'modified' by the Ascended when she entered this reality.

The new eufiber does not grow, and it's only property is to change shape at the wearer's mental command. It does not provide any armor or quantum storage capability.

Consider this a reward for your patience. I am aware that I'm a couple months behind in handing out exp. I should be getting that resolved in the next day or so.

[Aradia McConnell]

Okay, so help me out here.. I know I got busy with the move and the holidays and my trip to St. Louis, and I'm trying to get caught up in some of the stuff that's kind of fallen by the wayside. So here's what I'm confused about. In LOTL, initiative is supposed to be as follows:

Ryan (22)

Declan (22)

Bad Guys (21?)

Gwyn (20)

Kyria (15)

Vinny (14)

Olivia (12)

Omar (12)

Yseult (12)

Aradia (11)

So far, the attack order has been as follows:

Round 1

Ryan

Bad Guys

Vinny

Omar

(Which was because they're team one, I do remember that)

Round 2

Ryan

Kyria

Gwyn

Omar

Declan

Yseult

Aradia

Olivia

Vinny

Omar (subbed by Fox)

Yseult

Declan

Kyria

Olivia

Round #3

Ryan

Bad Guys

Declan

Gwyn

Kyria

So, at this point I think we're going in order other than the fact that Ryan and Dec have the same Initiative. Shall I just wait until it reaches Aradia's turn to go, and ignore her last round? I've been waiting for Yseult and Omar and Olivia to all go, but I've been waiting for the people on the initiative list right before me to go, and then all of a sudden it's the top of the round again and I've been passed over. Fox, could we please get a note from you as to when we're skipping people, or should I just assume and post if it's been more than a day or something? I'm not quite sure how to handle this.

Thanks.

[z028 Riley]

I know Fox has instituted the 24 hr rule, but he's been in and out with RL stuff himself so it hasn't really been getting enforced.

I'd say go ahead and post with Aradia. I'll put my aST hat on again and start keeping track of days with people. I'll post in the combat thread every 24 hours to say who's turn it is. Hopefully that'll get this up and running again.

[Rorx]

Thanks Kyria it would be appreciated - lets get this done and gone

[Mr Fox]

Thank you Kyria. I'm still having some issues with looking at computer screens for too long, but it's getting better. Your help enforcing movement in LotL would be greatly appreciated.

[Mr Fox]

Another question, do I need to wait for anything else in Like Lazarus or go ahead and move everyone forward?'

Actually same question applies to Nice Genes. Everyone ready to move forward?

[Ryan Hawke]

go ahead

[Yseult Sierra]

I'm good if you want to move things ahead. Just, would it be possible if Janet Frasier came too (Not sure if you want a non-specialist, NPC there, or if she can even get away from the SGC for a bit.)

[Rorx]

Nice Genes is ok to go as far as I'm concerned

[Mr Fox]

I think that can be arranged.

[Yseult Sierra]

Thankee! Since Janet is a family friend and knows François as well as works for the SGC, I thought she would be very appropriate to accompany Yseult.

[Mr Fox]

Nice Genes has been updated. Everyone please post your settling in and once everyone has had a chance to do that then I'll move things forward again to the science of the mission.

[Mr Fox]

Sorry Mala, I know I told you last night that I'd let combat in LotL run through the end of the present turn before they surrendered, but after what Red did... well, there just weren't that many left.

Combat is over for the scene. Please post freely in the thread.

[The Red Man]

Yeah... Someone tell Red they've surrendered. He thinks they're just trying to take all the fun out of it for him.

[Dawn OOC]

I'd like Olivia to take a brief 'free' action - shouting that they're surrendering, since she understands Goa'uld. Is that allowed?

[Mr Fox]

Sure. It's pretty obvious they are surrendering though. They are throwing down their weapons and prostrating themselves before the group.

[Dawn OOC]

Um, no offense, but we have Red. They could be picking up skillets and cracking open eggs, and he'd still just see targets to take down.

[The Red Man]

[Mr Fox]

If anyone is interested in becoming host to a Tok'ra let me know. The Tok'ra's current host is dying and this would be a good plot opportunity to get hosted.

[z028 Riley]

I'd be more than up for it with Kyria, but if someone else really wants to do that with their chracter I'll step aside as I'm already playing a Tok'ra in the other SG game.

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult is actually extremely leery of providing the Tok'ra with any sort of host, let alone a Specialist one. She is going to insist that the hosting be only temporary. Also she wouldn't want the host to be Kyria, Cameron, Olivia, or herself, as they know too much or can find out too much too easily, and with little chance of discovery. The way Yseult has seen it, they are too condescending and don't share as much as they ask for.

The Tok'ra better hope his is still in a condition to make a deal, and it better be a good one to convince her otherwise. She's also not sure if she'll be able to trust it's word either. The Tok'ra are fanatics and are willing to do anything for their cause, keeping a specialist host might be too tempting for it.

[Mr Fox]

Well, we've never actually seen a Tok'ra keep a host against it's will more than temporarily and even in that case it was O'Neill's own sense of 'never leave a man behind' that caused his symbiote to go on a rescue mission that surprised everyone.

However, I just want to be clear, this is the ST saying that if someone wants to acquire the ability to use Goa'uld tech, OR just wants to explore the blending thing then this is a great opportunity. It can be either temporary or permanent. We can easily say that the symbiote was too injured to heal itself after keeping the host alive so long and survives just long enough to pass on it's knowledge of it's mission to the new host. Or it could be an ongoing plot issue. Up to whoever wants to do it.

Just let me know.

[Mr Fox]

Also, Ysuelt, you'll have to bend a little to allow it to happen. I know you can heal and thus in theory prevent the Tok'ra from needing a new host, but this is a plot opportunity.

[Dr. Yseult Langlois]

Oh, I fully understand, Fox, no worries. I was just stating Yse's concerns from when we were talking about this very thing in another thread (I don't remember which). I'm willing to let Yse be convinced, but please, whoever goes for the goa'uld, at least make a token effort to plead your case with Yse.

[Rorx]

Our long standing orders are not to let the Tok'ra know about our abilities and having one of us play host would certainly blow that. So Gwyn would favour Kyria extracting the information rather than anyone playing host.

As for the ability to use Goa'uld tech, Gwyn would rather examine Carter and other former hosts to see how the naquadriah is safely maintained in the blood stream post-host and find a way of duplicating that. Hell, it shouldn't be much harder than coming up with the gene therapy for the Ancient gene was.

[Yseult Sierra]

That was going to be one of the next possibilities on Yseult's list to do, after finally making the Goa'uld Anti-toxin, so they can finally extract the snakes themselves.

[Dawn OOC]

No offense, but I would really oppose seeing a synthetic way to introduce naquadah into the human blood stream. Why? Because it removes all of the 'deal with the devil' you have to make to get access to Goa'uld tech. Everyone who had naquadah in their systems has a story of loss and triumph to go with that addition. The Ancient's gene therapy is different; that's just dumb luck, so I don't mind the genetic therapy to hand that out. But the ability to use goa'uld tech is a completely different beast. I think it'd really cheapen the story to have that available in just a shot or a pill.

That said, no matter which specialist gets the snake, it's going to 1) blow orders and 2) give the Tok'ra lots of information they shouldn't have. I personally would love to explore the story of blending, as well as everyone else struggling to deal with Livy's snake-friend. I think that the interaction with Vinny would be especially interesting, given how much he hates the Tok'ra. So I'm putting Livy in the hat, if only because of all the specialists, she'd be the easiest to constrain by baselines, depending on who's echo she retained. She could always retain a copy someone's appearance or something non-useful like that before being blended, and then not touch the other specialists.

Last, Olivia would be opposed to letting the Tok'ra die when it could be saved. Even if Kyria could get the important information, what else would be lost? What beautiful things has it seen, what accomplishments has it achieved? And that's discounting the needless loss of life, which Olivia, as a pseudo-hippy would oppose regardless (before the rant about her coming on this mission starts, let me say that she opposes killing people, but is smart enough to know that others are far too willing to die for their ideals, and she can't really stop them, though she doesn't have to take their lives herself).

Besides, Olivia guessed that it might come to this. Yes, she hated coming on this mission, but TBCH, she knew that there would be some who would let the Tok'ra die, and she's here to preserve the knowledge that a centuries-old creature would have.

[Mr Fox]

Guys, be sure to bring up those objections IC. However, I am using this as an opportunity for one player that wants either the Naquadah in their blood or wants to actually do the blending thing to do it. Even if you only want naquadah in your blood I still expect it to be fully and well roleplayed out. In the show both Carter and O'Neill got blended with Tok'ra and it was traumatic for both of them and that was with symbiotes willing to leave the hosts.

Things to remember about blending:

You have flashes of memory from the symbiote

You feel the emotions of the symbiote, that can mean awkward things if you run into someone they love or hate.

Even if only blended for a very short time it is traumatic and like losing a close friend.

Blending provides a sort of gestalt between the host/symbiote, only one is in control at a time but each feels the other and knows what the other knows.

[Yseult Sierra]

No Naquadah-blood infusion, check. I don't really see the difference from the ATA-Gene therapy, but I fully understand the setting/storyline component to it, so that's fine.

For the goa'uld, I can see that it could be great drama and could be a source of great stories. That said, it's still asking Yse to set a lot aside. She's not particularly fond of the Tok'ra herself. She's mostly played by the rules, so, well doesn't expect the same from the others, but for something this blatant... In theory, Yse can also heal the thing, though I suppose we could say that Yse couldn't align with its genetics quickly enough or something.

It's all story/character for Yse's objections to the blending. I guess she is sort of a racist (alienist?) in that regard. The way she sees it, the goa'uld/tok'ra are more or less half a species - they have no right to a host. They could survive without one, if they hadn't spread so far from their native habitat. Because they can subjugate another's will and steal their body does not entitle them to it. And every single accomplishment they have ever made is only have theirs - the other half belongs to their hosts.

But let the good times roll. It'll be... interesting how Yseult will react to any of this.

God Help everyone if it is Anise though.

[The Red Man]

Don't let the Tok'ra have a Specialist. If we can find another host, great. But not even a goauld-lite should have access to that sort of potential power, even if the alternative is the thing dying.

That's going to be Dec's pragmatic approach.

[The Red Man]

OR...

Let Dec be the temporary host. Trust me, not even a Tok'ra is going to want to share headspace with Red for longer than the minimum time. We're talking about a personality that is pretty much the embodiment of violence, murder and bloodlust.

Twenty-four hours, and the Tok'ra will be screaming for a new host even if all they can find is an asthmatic three-legged cat.

[Rorx]

Hell, what are we worried about? If he is that desperate there re plenty of Jaffa around he could take as host. It's not done very often, but they can do it.

[Mr Fox]

Actually, I don't think they can take Jaffa as hosts. If you have an episode that proves that wrong let me know, but I think I remember them saying that in one of the episodes.

[Rorx]

Hmm, don't think I know of an episode that says definitely either way. My comment was based on the rpg which said that they could, but they didn't unless in extreme circumstances. Perhaps Livy knows?

Having said it would seem pretty stupid to surround yourself with a race that can only ever serve as incubators and never a host

[Mr Fox]

For lack of evidence, and since it helps the plot, we're going to say they can't. Probably has to do with the fact that the larval goa'uld has control of the jaffa's immune system and would use it to attack the invading goa'uld. At the very least it would mean extra effort on the part of the invading goa'uld to take over and that's something our damaged friend can't handle at the moment.

[Mr Fox]

Anyone need to post in Nice Genes? I'm am ready to move it forward if no one posts by tomorrow.

Speaking of. Am am aware that I have not handed out Xp in a while and what I had thought to do is give out a few NPs instead of a big pile of xp. Plotwise Cam is very close to understanding how to direct the Ascension device to do what he wants it to do. (Not with great accuracy perhaps, but enough to get it to grant specific abilities.) This means if there is something that is a bit out of theme you are interested in there is a plot reason for you to be able to purchase it. Also, the sudden jump in power that comes with the spending of the NPs is justified so you don't have to deal with the normal downtime requirements. Of course there are certain things that the device can't directly grant like Asgard Tech knowledge, martial arts and other knowledge and skills so keep that in mind. Some however, would be justified like Languages: Ancient, Medical knowledge, athletics, etc. If you have questions feel free to hit me up in chat or send me a PM.

Everyone will be granted a base of 6nps.

[Ryan Hawke]

OOC I would be interested in Ryan having the Tok'ra...

I will need some help RP'ing it and would be open to suggestions and outright aid on this.

IC Ryan would argue he's the best candidate for several reasons. His powers are very basic and focus on defending himself. He can easily be restrained by a number of the other specialists. Beyond that his powers are much less Compromising for SGC than say Cam or Kyria.