Trinity RPG: Earth Surrounded - Earth, Surrounded

[BlueNinja]

The ship hung in the empty space, silhouetted against a planet. Ten years ago, it had been a vibrant world, filled with little more than the most basic of organisms and the potential for something more. Then the first ship came, depositing more complicated forms of life, which grew and spread out across a tiny corner of the dustball. Then the ship vanished, leaving them trapped, alone, on a planet that was little more than a glorified rock in the middle of nowhere.

The people there fought, aged, loved, worked, explored, and waited for the day when another ship would appear. But some of them were harboring careful secrets about the future of their race.

----

Major Rodrigo Vargas stood calmly at parade rest as he waited for the doors to open. He had been sent here by his superiors to meet with the Aeon Trinity agents about the upcoming mission to Averiguas, and what other conditions he had to put up with this time. Beth Haudin finally opened the door, and gestured him inside. "I apologize for the delay, Major; I know you've had your own problems dealing with the suppliers who are supposed to be rushing parts and equipment for the several Leviathan missions leaving next month, and who view it as the perfect opportunity to line their own pockets. I'm half tempted to shoot one of them to see if it will get the importance across."

Tapping a spot on the top of her desk, the holographic display sprang to life again, displaying dossiers for several individuals. "These are the psions we're selecting for that special mission. None of them have been approached yet, but they've all worked with Aeon Trinity before. We're going to make sure that they get a sufficient amount of R&R before getting this assignment, and they're going to be on board the Mau de Cèu before they get specifics. Exactly when you tell them is up to you, but it has to be far enough out that they can't contact anyone on Earth."

Vargas sat there for several moments, scanning over the dossiers. "They look acceptable. And you're certain they can accomplish the mission?"

Haudin shrugged. "Hell if I know, I didn't pick them. But the people who did are convinced, and that's good enough for me."

"Very well then." The Norça rose to his feet. "Alert me the day before they arrive so that I may properly welcome them aboard for the mission." Without waiting for a response, he strode out of the office and out of the Aeon building. As he waited in the elevator, he quietly mumbled to himself, "Why are they sending me amateurs?"

[BlueNinja]

Aeon Trinity archives:

Progress Report, retrieved from lab Alpha on Averiguas.

Date of report: 8 August, 2118

Date retrieved: 30 Jan 2120

So far, our research is progressing well. The Taint detector design #57 that we tested last week appears to be fully functional, as well as 48% smaller than the models available at the time contact was [severed. It also draws] less than 20% of the power than the base model.

This bodes well for the future of these developments, but the testing process itself is sorely lacking. The cultures of taint-ridden cells are enough to test the basic functionality, but the more advanced functions built into designs #22, #27-35, #38, #42, #44, #49-52, #55, and #57 cannot be tested short of actual Aberrant contact. Since [we seem blessed with a lack of] Aberrants, unless and until they show up or full contact is restored, there is little we can do to progress with our actual theories.

You know I'm not usually one to listen to rumors, but talk around the room is that Delta Labs, or someone in contact with them, captured an Aberrant about twenty klicks downriver of Justica. If you have information >>text lost<< the models - and then kill the abomination.

Senior Researcher, J. S.

[BlueNinja]

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[BlueNinja]

And it all begins ...

Four psions report to the Mau de Ceu, as ordered in their Aeon contracts as their first missions after training. All of them are due to arrive on board one of the frigates at the same time, and mixed in with two hundred other reporting personnel, their arrival goes fairly unnoticed as they step off the transport and into the third Leviathan jumpship scheduled to leave Earth for points beyond. The officers on duty check everyone's paperwork, ensuring that the proper shipboard maps are distributed and new personnel report to their quarters. Two dozen VARGs are loaded, and other psions can be seen, moving equipment and supplies onto the ship as the four psions join a group of humans heading to one of the three frigates docked with the Mau de Ceu.

As they stop in the new airlock, a small printed sign says "Welcome to the Caliente." The officer on the frigate's quarterdeck gives each person individual instructions, directing the four psions to the captain's briefing room. After waiting for a few small minutes, an Indian looking man steps inside, captain's bars on his shoulders. "Well, the four of you must be the new Aeon team I was told to expect. I'm Alfred Hama, captain of the Caliente, and your current Aeon superior. Our immediate mission, once we arrive on Averiguas, is to seperate from the Mau de Ceu and take up orbit over the city of Justica. That city is where the majority of the research into combating Taint was taking place. You four, once you arrive, will be dispatched to talk with the researchers, make sure that none of their work has been damaged or lost in the five years since we lost contact. It shouldn't take you more than three or four days to visit all of the major complexes, and after that, I'll be adjusting your orders according to our needs."

He glances at the four psions in turn: Antiel, the ISRAn pilot; Douglas, the rex and former Legionnaire; Risco, the Norca bioVARG pilot; and Karl, the PK and also a former Leggionnaire. "Any questions, before I let you spend the most of your thirteen hours and," he pauses to consult a clock, "forty-nine minutes before we break from the station to Jump?"

[SkyLion]

He glances at the four psions in turn: Antiel, the ISRAn pilot; Douglas, the rex and former Legionnaire; Risco, the Norca bioVARG pilot; and Karl, the PK and also a former Leggionnaire. "Any questions, before I let you spend the most of your thirteen hours and," he pauses to consult a clock, "forty-nine minutes before we break from the station to Jump?"

,,

Of the four psions present, one in particular looks particularly out of place. Standing there with a blank face, the short Brazillian kid looks like he just stepped off the beach. At five feet tall,with sleek muscles, board shorts and a bronzed skin, all that's missing is the surf board. His dark shaggy hair sticks up in a burgeoning Brazillian afro and a necklace of shark's teeth adorns his neck. A faded green short sleeve shirt is unbuttoned to reveal his tanned torso and his flip flops make flip flop noises when he steps. Dark sunglasses shield his eyes from the flourescent glare of the office as he stands there, clearly bored out of his skull.

,,

At the mention of "any questions" his hand raises in slow motion. When called upon he says "uhhhhh..." before breaking into the biggest s**t-eating grin you ever saw. "I think theres been some kind of mistake...I was looking for the mess deck."

::cool ::biggrin ::cool

[BlueNinja]

At the mention of "any questions" his hand raises in slow motion. When called upon he says "uhhhhh..." before breaking into the biggest s**t-eating grin you ever saw. "I think theres been some kind of mistake...I was looking for the mess deck."

The captain smiles broadly back at Risco. "The mess deck is at four, one hundred twenty-three, five. However, they only serve people in uniform, though fortunately for you, three uniforms should be waiting in your quarters. For the purposes of this mission, all of you," he sweeps his gaze over the other three psions as well, "those of you without military rank will be attired and treated as Ensigns by the crew; you former Legionnaires will have either your former rank, or a temporary promition to Ensign." He grins at Teage and winks. "Which means you get to eat in the officer wardroom, and believe me, it's a slight improvement."

Hama looks back at the BK. "Any other questions, Ensign Risco?"

[Blu3l10n]

The captain smiles broadly back at Risco. "The mess deck is at four, one hundred twenty-three, five. However, they only serve people in uniform, though fortunately for you, three uniforms should be waiting in your quarters. For the purposes of this mission, all of you," he sweeps his gaze over the other three psions as well, "those of you without military rank will be attired and treated as Ensigns by the crew; you former Legionnaires will have either your former rank, or a temporary promition to Ensign." He grins at Teage and winks. "Which means you get to eat in the officer wardroom, and believe me, it's a slight improvement."

Hama looks back at the BK. "Any other questions, Ensign Risco?"

Sgt Teage stands at ease wearing a 7th leagon dress uniform with the sleave rolled up. he is clean and well groomed but not a handsome man by anyones standerds. He has a thick tan but it looks more like one you would get form working outside. on top of his legion rank tat on his left forearm is a tat of a T Rex biting into some tenticled looking hentia monster. His head is cleanly shaved and his nose is crooked like its been broken a few too many times. T RX smiles and winks back to the captin

"Hmmm.... I bet the officers mess serves some good grub. Much better than what they give those of us who work for a living"

he coaghs "Sorry Sir...was that outloud? I do have a real question. When's our briefing?"

[BlueNinja]

he coaghs "Sorry Sir...was that outloud? I do have a real question. When's our briefing?"

Hama grins. "My younger brother is a staff sergeant, so I know what you mean. We'll have three days of travel time moving away from Earth before we jump, and then another three days when we arrive before we seperate from the Mau and into orbit around Averiguas. The three days before the jump there will be some informational briefings about the state of Averiguas when contact was severed, as well as the," he clears his throat and uses his fingers to make little quote marks in the air, "best projections of what has happened since. Expect it to be boring.

"Once we arrive in the system and everyone has shaken off the effects of the jump, the four of you will be getting briefed on any communication broadcasts from the planet, as well as visual telemetry during the last day as we approach. Before you're sent down to the planet with the other four dozen assorted UN operatives, you'll also be given the best maps we can get you of the city of Justica and the labs you'll be visiting. We're not anticipating armed resistance from everyone, but," he glances at the two VARG pilots especially, "since the planet was in a state of civil war, and the increasing number of Aberrant attacks in the last few months, be on guard in any unfamiliar location."

[Blu3l10n]

Hama grins. "My younger brother is a staff sergeant, so I know what you mean. We'll have three days of travel time moving away from Earth before we jump, and then another three days when we arrive before we seperate from the Mau and into orbit around Averiguas. The three days before the jump there will be some informational briefings about the state of Averiguas when contact was severed, as well as the," he clears his throat and uses his fingers to make little quote marks in the air, "best projections of what has happened since. Expect it to be boring.

"Once we arrive in the system and everyone has shaken off the effects of the jump, the four of you will be getting briefed on any communication broadcasts from the planet, as well as visual telemetry during the last day as we approach. Before you're sent down to the planet with the other four dozen assorted UN operatives, you'll also be given the best maps we can get you of the city of Justica and the labs you'll be visiting. We're not anticipating armed resistance from everyone, but," he glances at the two VARG pilots especially, "since the planet was in a state of civil war, and the increasing number of Aberrant attacks in the last few months, be on guard in any unfamiliar location."

Sergeant Teague nods at the mention of being on guard. "Thank you Sir. Do we have any other orders before we are dismissed? I don't mean to be disrespectful, I'm just eager to get my baby tucked in so I can get down to the mess for some chow before all the biscuits and gravy are gone."

[SkyLion]

Hama looks back at the BK. "Any other questions, Ensign Risco?"

The Brazillian kid (still smiling like a stoner) adjusts his shades closer on his face. In his Sudamerican accent he replies.

"Nah man, thanks for the directions." Then with an expression of slight annoyance," Oh yeah...and that's Ensign Cruz to you...uh, sir."

,,

Sergeant Teague nods at the mention of being on guard. "Thank you Sir. Do we have any other orders before we are dismissed? I don't mean to be disrespectful, I'm just eager to get my baby tucked in so I can get down to the mess for some chow before all the biscuits and gravy are gone."

Risco (Rees-ko) looks over to the Rex with his eyebrows raising up above his darkglassess and an expression of surprise on his face.

"Whoa...you brought your family on-board?...man you're more loco than I am!"

[Ithuriel]

God it was good to be back in the real world. Unfortunate that in the end it required signing on with this psuedo-military group in order to secure the Peregrine, but sacrifices had to be made to get ahead. Hopefully these VARGies weren't complete jarheads. The kid didn't seem to be your standard issue salute-waver, but time would tell. Antiel wondered bemusedly how they would react to living with someone for whom walls weren't any gaurantee of privacy. Other than the Proteus training he hadn't spent much time as a psion around those who couldn't just as easily (or even accidentally) do the same. Well at least there were no hot young things among his own crew to even tempt him in that regard. As Hama blathered on, Antiel kept enough attention focused to catch the high points while privately observing his new team members' appearance and reactions. At the mention of uniforms, he frowned, and looked down- perfectly satisfied with his own worn coveralls and shop boots. Inwardly he sighed. Best to eat on their dime for now, and he'd be back to the Peregrine's newly upgraded system soon enough.

As soon as Sgt Teague speaks Antiel mentally checks off one linguistic box after another ('mess,' 'chow,' refers to his VARG as his 'baby,' AND he's a 'biscuit' eater) groans silently and jots one down in the jarhead category. Without betraying any of his dismay, the guy in the jumpsuit with the relatively slight build, dirty blonde hair, and an apparent aversion to shaving regularly, speaks up. "S'pose I can see to that if we're done here. Just follow me."

Once it is clear that Hama is finished for the time being, Antiel (already lost in thought again) gestures to Sgt Teague and leads him to his hybrid where the VARGs are being docked for transit.

[Blu3l10n]

"S'pose I can see to that if we're done here. Just follow me."

Sgt Teague nods in responce qand turns back to the Capt waiting to be dismissed before departing.

[BlueNinja]

(Sorry for the delay folks; I've been trying unsuccessfully to get ahold of Grizzly. So I'll be treating him as an NPC until I hear from him.)

Hama dismisses you, and Antiel has no trouble leading the VARG pilots to the docking bay. Teague and Risco's VARGs are being secured next to a trio of other VARGs, and both of yours are getting envious looks from the size and obvious sophistication of the war machines.

The next three days on board is, just as Hama predicted, boring as hell. Every day you have to trek over to the Leviathan, where two senior Aeon operatives blather on and show presentations and biographies of the leaders of the sides of the civil war. Then the jump, leading to all of you staying in bunks with splitting headaches from the backlash for a few hours before the fun really starts.

As the Mau de Ceu closes in on Averiguas, they start picking up the communication signals from the planet. Most of the signals, obviously, are indistinguishable due to atmospheric interference, but within a day of arrival, messages start coming in from the planet. You're briefed (by the same, boring Aeon agents) that the civil war ended shortly after contact was lost, with the Brazilian loyalists moving into Justica (your destination) and the sepratists controlling just about everything else.

On the last day before the cruiser is due to seperate, you're ordered to Hama's ready room, and he meets you with a rather grim face. "I have good news and bad news, gentlemen. The good news is that we have visual photos of the Norca labs you'll be visiting and inspecting for damage." He pops up a map of Justica with four locations marked, moving progressively further out of the settled areas; then three pictures of various buildings. Then the last picture is of a giant section of bare, lichen covered ground. "This is where Delta Labs is supposed to be, and that's the bad news."

He glares at the screen showing the picture. "From our communication and visual surveillance, the entire building has vanished, as though we never put it down. And neither computer records nor human memory has any idea what we're talking about. So when you four psions land, you've got two priorities. First, check the existing three labs for any kind of records about Delta Labs - the weapon testing facility. Second, find out what the hell can make a building with two basement levels vanish like we never blasted a hole in the rock for it.

"Any questions?"

[SkyLion]

{{BN, I didn't expect you to jump ahead so quickly...if its alright with you Id like to play out our characters meeting a bit more...after all we just met!}}

,,

Once it is clear that Hama is finished for the time being, Antiel (already lost in thought again) gestures to Sgt Teague and leads him to his hybrid where the VARGs are being docked for transit.

As they walk down the labrynthine living corridors of the bio-frigate, the sun-bronzed latino scopes out his companions with a curious eye. He himself is not much to look at. He is short and average in appearance and seems to walk around slightly dazed-and-confused. Nevertheless there is just something immensly likeable about him. (App:2 Cha: 5) With good-natured goofiness he gives a slight elbow to the ununiformed Antiel and asks him in a mock-conspiratorial tone,

,,

"So...what are you in for?" ::sly

[Blu3l10n]

{completely Out of Character. Whats going on? has the game stalled out? sorry for the OOC posty}

[Blu3l10n]

{{BN, I didn't expect you to jump ahead so quickly...if its alright with you Id like to play out our characters meeting a bit more...after all we just met!}}

,,

As they walk down the labrynthine living corridors of the bio-frigate, the sun-bronzed latino scopes out his companions with a curious eye. He himself is not much to look at. He is short and average in appearance and seems to walk around slightly dazed-and-confused. Nevertheless there is just something immensly likeable about him. (App:2 Cha: 5) With good-natured goofiness he gives a slight elbow to the ununiformed Antiel and asks him in a mock-conspiratorial tone,

,,

"So...what are you in for?" ::sly

Trex gives Antiel a friendly clap on the back. and looks to Risco

"I think our buddy here is a little space sick. Happens to me all the time, just be thankful our boots are still clean." He glances to Antiel and winks before he continues. "So... 'Ensign' how did you get roped into this OP?"

[SkyLion]

The Norca shrugs. "Family obligations. Averigaus is very important to the Nova Forca...You?"

[Blu3l10n]

The Norca shrugs. "Family obligations. Averigaus is very important to the Nova Forca...You?"

"Well... I don't remember being rightly asked, you know how it is. Ya get called into a briefing and told were you are going next, with the promise of leave and frosty drinks with fruit and little umbrella's.... But its not every day you get to hitch a ride on a jump ship so I can't say that bothers me none."