17th Parallel Bar V2.0

[Manus Celer Dei]

Thread posting Rules:

1. No post containing the actions of any other member

2. No destroying the bar

3. No character superpowers (I'll decide what is and is not a superpower)

4. If the previous post has broken any of the rules, ignore its entire contents.

 

Back history:

Since the development of the ZTT drive in 2675, mankind has spread through a small portion of the galaxy, colonising almost 400 star systems. As is usual in human history, conflicts between nations over resources and ideologies escalates into war and then dies down, waiting for the next conflict. The Station Reaches, located in the Tau Ceti system are a leftover from one such conflict. Designed as forward detection posts to locate incoming warfleets and warn the defending forces of their arrival (ZTT drives cannot function near a gravity well), they were scrapped when the Cetan economy could no longer support them and it became apparent that they were never going to be used. Today, the reaches fill a variety of functions, the ones nearer the two inhabited worlds mostly have been converted into microgee manufacturing centres, producing high-tech consumables at a much higher standard than the few remaining robotic factories on the surface. Those further from the planetary markets, such as the curiously named "17th Parallel" station, serve primarily as refuelling and resupply bases for the extensive asteroid mining operations in the system, with several of the larger stations also acting as ore refineries. There are still several stations which were abandonded that are inactive to this day, many of these have already been stripped of any materials of any worth but prospectors can still find a few items which may have some small value if sold on.

 

The current political climate among the human worlds is one of rising tension, the three largest nations; The Terran League, The Ithkul Imperium and The kingdom of Exis vie constantly for supremacy doing everything short of declaring open war in order to gain an advantage over the other two. Industrial espionage and sponsored piracy are the norm in the frontier systems and it is a hard trader indeed that manages to survive in these regions without serious firepower.

 

Nations of Humanity:

 

The Terran League - Centred on Earth, the League is the oldest Nation in existance and is also the wealthiest. The secure core world trade routes provide massive benefits to a largely decadent and arrogant culture. The massive manufacturing capacity and research facilities of the Sol system alone are greater than that of any 6 other systems, and it is primarily here where the Leagues advantage lies. The League has several nominally independant systems under its direct control and its political influence among the outer rim colonies is staggering. Earth, being of course the Human homeworld, demands, and largly recieves, a great deal of respect from much of the human population.

 

The Ithkul Imperium - The most overtly agressive of the great nations, Ithkul power is largely based on its massive space navy, and the fear this generates in the independant worlds bordering its space. The Imperium is, despite rumours to the contrary, a very humane dictatorship, with a perplexingly high standard of living for a nation that devotes such little effort in its economic activity. Several recent advances in asteroid mining techniques and space-surface tranist technology have gained the Ithkul a distinct advantage in colonising new systems.

 

The Kingdom of Exis - Religiously devout Exis is basically a massive police state. While its cons!@#$%^&*ution guarantees its citizens varied and plentiful freedoms, citizens exercising those freedoms have an alarming tendency to disappear or suffer fatal accidents. Exis is the largest of the great nations, directly controlling more than 50 star systems, but it is also the most insular. Almost no trade goes through any Exis controlled space, only a few exotic luxuries and high-tech devices which support the lifestyle of the Aristocracy. That being said, the prices the aristocrats are willing to pay for such goods is enormous and the profits very handsome, if you're willing to ignore the means by which they were obtained.

 

The Kanatis Alliance - A small group of 6 systems located at the frontier between Ithkul and League space, the Kanatis Alliance has had to be extremely resourceful in order to prevent being absorbed by either of the two great nations. With the highest general level of technology and education in human space, the Alliance is ruled not by a central government, but by all its citizens, who determine policy via neural implants, with appointed subsections of the population electing to specialise in the administration of certain enterprises. such as transportation or defence. Apart from the citizenry of the Alliance, the other strata of the Alliance population are the Soldiers. Soldiers of the Alliance are not considered human by the rest of the galaxy (and rightly so, their genetic structure is more than 20% artificial), grown in exowombs and maturing in only 5 years, the Alliance soldier is genetically and cybernetically enhanced for combat. It is these soldiers that provide both its main source of defence (although citizens acting in the capacity of soldiers are not uncommon) and its main source of income (mostly through mercenary work for one of the great nations). Soldiers consider themselves completely expendable next to that of non-soldier citizens and are willing to go to great lengths to ensure their safety.

 

The Independant Worlds - These worlds are many and varied, more on these as they come up.

[Manus Celer Dei]

The Bar on the "17th Parallel" is a small place with bad lighting and excellent drinks. Playing soft music in the background (23rd Century contemporary), with decor to match, this is the excellent place to rest while ships are refitted/refuelled/repaired, and the first place anyone goes for information of a slightly less-than-legal nature. Many shady deals have occurred here and its reputation is beginning to stretch even to systems as far away as Antares.

 

The owner of the bar is known to the patrons as "Manus Celer Dei", both to those who, without his intervention would have died in one of the many scuffles that occur at times, and those who know of his previous occupation as an Alliance Soldier-citizen, and the reputation he earned in several engagements against the Ithkul. He prefers however, to keep his past closed to all but his trusted compatriots, many of whom were also former members of the Alliance defence force.

[Manus Celer Dei]

*Manus, using his implant, sends a communique to several starships nearby, indicating that he has a charter available and that he requests a meeting at his bar on the station*

 

*Manus then sends a similar message through the station communications net*

[Cid Firefist]

*A Crimson-clad man from an unknown independant galaxy enters*

"Sup?"

[GhettoSmurf]

*a small smurf walks into the bar and says "ouch"*

[Raem]

*some thing walks into the bar looking very confused, with a slash wound across the chest, where circuits leak instead of blood*

"How did I wind up here? Oh well, looks like a nice place, guess I'll stay for a while, might be able to repiar myself too"

Edited February 11, 2004 by Mr. Ious

[Tipme]

A mysterious cloaked figure walks into the wrong baring the Emblem of the Kanatis Alliance , only to be worn by season veterans.

Many gasped, wondering...this man must have stolen that Emblem becuase no Kanatis veteran would go around in such peasent-like attire.

Yet other thought differently , this Kanatis must be on a assassination mission, thus avoided Eye contact.

I take a seat in the corner , people nearby moved elsewhere.

 

Btw Let me tell you the specs of my Ship! I have no reason to tell you this but i will tell you anyway!

 

My ship is named the Lanxcaster.Bred directly from a Skithsar*cough* Cosmic Rift *Cough* alien and modded with Kanatis's finest technology.It is not an ordinary ship , it lives. When the owner takes hull of the ship , he does not just control it , he becomes it [plug]Evangelion[/plug] He and both the Skithsar born "ship" take control of the ship , thus the combined skills of a Skithsar and a Kanatis make an unbeatable team. Although , this was not easy to be obtained. It took months of breeding and befriending.The weapons are of the Lanxcaster are of the acidic environment of the Skithsar itself , thus every "bullet" and "bomb" it fires , it "kills" itself. But thank Kanatis Technology, for now it regains its life back, after every shot.

[Guest Guest]

An even more mysterious figure in a trenchcoat walks in after the mysterious cloaked figure. The visible electronics that this person beared were state of the art, implying that this person was from one of the more wealthy areas, although he could just be really successfull.

 

The man walked over, and sat at Ricebowl's table, undeterred by the NPCs scurrying out of the way. He then started a conversation.

 

"I saw you leaving your ship outside. Nice. I would like to make you an offer. Do this one little favor for me and I will make it well worth your while."

[Cid Firefist]

*sigh*

"Looks like that mysterious guest is trying to solicit pros!@#$%^&*ution. What is this world coming to?"

"Manus, gimme the strongest thing you got."

[Manus Celer Dei]

*Manus serves Apple an Aldebaran Crusher*

"Which mysterious guest would that be? The confused guy? The walking targetboard over there in the cloak? or that one wearing the really old fashions?"

 

 

 

(ooc)If you ALL intend to be "mysterious", it makes you look kinda silly.

[Tipme]

*covers his mysterious face with his mysterious cloak and seems be looking mysteriously at something

"nope..not the one"

"what do you want -*BAD WORD*-"i said mysteriously

[Yupa]

"...my bar is better than this..."

 

And i have no pants

[Aileron]

(OOC-Aw geez, I forgot to sign in. Sorry bout that. Besides, unlike some people, I have very good reason to be mysertious.)

 

"Nothing much, I'm just a simple trader. You see, I have a shipment of medical supplies headed for the Ithkul colony of Antilles Sentile Minor coming from Terran League Space. I was passing through Alliance space, when I was attacked by two people. 'Lyta' and 'Swift' were their names I think - some kinda romantic couple being bandits. Even in my Nightwasp, I sustained decent damage and didn't even scratch either of their ships.

 

I need you to escort my ship to the Alliance/Ithkul border, just to keep other bandits from going after me. I'm willing to pay about 1,000,000 for this job, but only was I've reached Ithkul space. If you have any questions, or would like to negotiate your fee, now is the time to do it. I'm not going to change your rate halfway through the trip."

 

With that, the man in the trenchcoat ordered a beer. As the waitress gave him the beer, he reached underneath his coat, revealing a strange simple on his shirt - a two-bladed sword in black and red, not the emblem of any of the four factions. There was the sound of metal clicking, and he pulled out some money to pay for the beer. (OOC-No wallet this time, so you can't pick my pockets)

 

Seeing that some people noticed the symbol on his shirt, he said:

 

"Oh, thats just the logo for my trading guild."

[Aileron]

(OOC-BTW, In case if you were wondering if I violated rule 1, note that I only said Swift and Lyta attacked me. Whether or not they actually did and why is up to them if they show up to this topic. All I am doing is saying they did.)

[GhettoSmurf]

(ooc. without the wallet, there will be nothing for your little wires to grab, and it will make it easier to go straight for the cash )

 

the smurf gets up, rubbing his head after the close encounter with the bar. he walks up to the bar, hoping to get a drink to distract him from the pain.

 

"i'll take a pangalactic gargleblaster." while waiting for his drink, the smurf sits down next to the mysterious figure mysteriously cloaked in mysteriousness. he then begins to wonder what it is looking so mysteriously at, but gets bored and begins wondering around the bar.

[Tipme]

"ill pass go find your own -*BAD WORD*- bodyguard. i've no use for such trivial !@#$%^&*ignments."

taking off the hood of his cloak revealing many battle scars

Eyes radiating blue of the azure galaxy's sky glistening off the lens of his vizors. seems biomedicated like all of kanatis's soldiers but different in a way

Hair cut short..and black

 

"ill take a Radium Ale Anihilator...dont worry...i got the money"

[Cid Firefist]

"The people here still pay with coin? Seems a bit primitive for the Kanatis Alliance if you ask me!"

[Raem]

*The android re-enters the bar, fully repaired, except for a lost memory chip*

"Anyone here willing to help me recover my memory chip?"

*He jacks into a nearby port and posts a request reading: "Android seeking memory chip. Reward of 1,000,000 upon completion"*

"Yo Manus, give me a pint of your smoothest oil"

 

 

 

[OOC- I had a feeling about that whole mysterious thing, so I went back and edited my post a bit...Also, what currencies are used by the different alliances, or are they all the same?]

[Aileron]

Aileron gets up and walks out of the bar, chuckling to himself.

 

"I don't need a bodyguard, fool, I need a Kanatis Ship!" he thought to himself.

 

Outside the bar, he roll up his right sleeve, revealing an arm made out of metal and covered with various gadjets. He pressed a button.

 

"ill pass go find your own -*BAD WORD*- bodyguard. i've no use for such trivial !@#$%^&*ignments." replyed Ail's recording device in Ricebowl's voice.

 

"Computer, analyze this voice."

 

Ail then walked over to his Nightwasp. After scrounging around inside for a few moments, he took out two suitcases. Then he took a few moments on the ships computer remote hacking into the Lanxaster.

 

Ail then got out of his ship. He then waltzed up to Ricebowl's ship, and pressed a button on his arm.

 

"Ricebowl Pi Kappa" it said in a computer rendition of Ricebowl.

 

All of the security systems on the ship shut down, and the door opened. Ail then placed both suitcases inside the ship. One immeadiately transformed into I robotic pilot. Another waited until Ail shut the door, and then released a genetically engineered virus designed to commadeer living ships.

 

"Bio ships, pheh. All it takes is the right equipment, and they will turn so easily."

 

Ail then felt sorry for leaving Rice without trasportation, so he left a Yugoslavian Space S-*BAD WORD*- in the parking space where Rice's ship was. A few minutes later, Aileron was in space in his Nightwasp, being escorted by Ricebowl's now robotically pilot Lanxaster, both heading for Ithkul space.

[ReCoil!]

ReCoil! was spinning out away from Manus's old station when he regained conciousness and felt physically sick..., the gravity generator was out of alignment...and was playing havoc with his senses....

 

He forced himself to focus and regain control of his ship, glancing around he started to feel the ship try to regain a connection with him....but he noticed the neural linking technology had been damaged....he was forced to do everything manually....pressing a few switches he noticed the following -

 

Shields - 250/1400 and rising....

Port Engine - Offline

Starboard Engine - 23% efficiency

Multifire - Offline

Life Support - minimal at 24%...

AutoRepair drones - unknown/!@#$%^&*umed offline

Guns - 40% damage capability

Hull Integrity - 78%

Bomb Cannon - 5 bombs ready....production rate - 0

Antiwarp generator - Offline

Sensors - 23% max range

Neural Link - offline

Fusion Torch Drive Generator - operational (thank god)

RRT drive - uncharged, but operational

 

Laughing ReCoil! felt Zaranth flew onto his shoulder and look at the displays, then she flew and hit her nose off one of the keys highlighting a nearby asteroid......and then pressing another key with her arm...showed to tiny dots on radar flying away....very faint.....well things could be worse.....

 

He stopped the ship spinning and started to crawl towards the asteroid....maybe could do some repairs there?

 

(o.o.c) thats a bit cheeky aileron

[Aileron]

A few hours later, the convoy was on the Kanatis-Ithkul border. There, numerous Kanatis ships were giving routine inspections to all ships passing through. One of these ships flew near Ail's Nightwasp, when the robotic pilot (which was designed with enough compatability with this ship to do basic commands) pmed the inspector in Ricebowl's voice.

 

"This ship has been escorted all the way from the Terran border, and has already been inspected."

 

With that, the Kanatis ship left Ail's Nightwasp alone. Ail then flew his ship into Ithkul space. He pmed the robotic pilot, giving it orders to return to the bar and self destruct (the pilot itself, not the ship.) The Lanxaster turned around, and flew back in the direction of the station.

 

(OOC-OK, I gave his ship back, is everyone happy?)

[Aileron]

(OOC-BTW, would it be a good idea to start another topic for actions outside the bar?)

[Manus Celer Dei]

(OOC-BTW, would it be a good idea to start another topic for actions outside the bar?)

(I wouldn't recommend it, last time we did that it got a bit confusing sorting out the order in which events occurred)

 

Manus turns to Apple while serving everyones drinks and points out that while he is from the Alliance, the Tau Ceti system is an independant and still uses a form of physical currency, but that he can pay in Alliance Credit if he wants.

[ReCoil!]

After several hours....ReCoiL! had repaired enough of the ship to allow it to use the ZTT drive....after that....he piled all available power from the Fusion Torch Generator into the drive....until fully charged......then powering up his terrier he flys to a safe distance from the asteroid......

 

*Bling*

 

ReCoiL! now being only 5 minutes from the station, instead of the 9 hours previously docks in the main landing bay.....very slowly....due to the bad condition of his ship.....

 

He then requests that it be moved to a secure landing bay.....so he can do some personal modifications to it....to bring it up to date so it can compete with some of the new classes of ship around....but these he will do later....he needed to order in some materials and devise a way of adapting some of the technology to his terrier....

 

Firstly though to see Manus and his wonderful bar.....walking through the front door with Zaranth the firelizard on his shoulder....and all his weapons....he casually walks to the bar....and asks for a Gavornian FireShot.....focusing his steely-blue eyes on Manus, and ignoring everyone else in the bar.....

[Raem]

*Talking to itself*

"Seems like nobody has enough time to go searching the universe for a lost memory chip...guess I'll have to start a new life here"

*Taps ReCoil! on the shoulder*

"Your ship looks pretty beat up, need some help fixing it up?"