[TWI] Twilight, The Final Frontier: Twipires IN SPACE!!!!

[Cracklord]

Shevak, Doggie, Riker, Bridge
Around you, ignoring your faux pass verging on confrontation, the various tecnicians and officers required to actually fly the ship get on with their work. Data, however, raises a hand politely, as he had observed you anarchists doing when discussing things with each other.
"Actually it is quite the opposite. Since ranks are determined entirely on merit and training in the skills necessary to do their job, the ship is far more efficient and requires half the number of personnel that would be needed in a more informal situation, not accounting for inter-party friction and lost time spent in largely frivolous debate." When you stare at him, he opens his mouth, no doubt to begin explaining exactly how he reached that calculation, until Riker stares at him and he closes his mouth.
He looks at you, then shrugs and shakes your hand. "I can't tell you everything. Understand that's as much for your own safety as anything else. But let me promise you that as long as you're on this ship, we'll do everything we can to keep you safe and comfortable."

Kirk
"You really have no shame. Well, if you want a hint, make sure your packing plenty of firepower." He vanishes in a flash of light, to reappear at the helm again. "Well, try not to get too much done before I make it back. I just found a way to contort myself into a universe I have fond memories of, and I think I'll go there and recuperate for a while." He vanishes.
Spock raises an eyebrow, having managed to get through the meeting relatively unruffled. It was a gift of his, indeed the corner-stone of your friendship was in many ways you pushing the boundaries to try to make him have an emotional response.
"So he does have limits to his capabilities afterall. Fascinating." He pauses, then stares at you. "It does not take a complex calculation to determine that the warning and this impossible trail we are following are connected. A ship too big to exist burning as much power as several suns travels this way, and we happen to find it, only to be warned to expect the worst. It seems to obvious, and too chaotic. Therefore I calculate he has an ulterior motive."

Legato
With the vanishing of the young psychic, you are the only one on the moon, bar the tiny talents of the Guild Navigators that have been mostly atrophied by dependence on The Spice, and the latent, untapped potential in the Dukes' concubine.
Meanwhile, your men begin arming up and readying their weapons and equipment. They were all very confident in their own abilities, but given The Duke had an army there was going to be hell to pay trying to get through, and they all knew it.

Outlaw Starr
A long time ago, there was a movement that did away with conception and created people right off the assembly line, where each would step into their roles in a rigid caste system to live in a society that promoted happiness above all else. They'd lost a war, and been mostly wiped out, along with their world.
Except the factories that built them had not been destroyed, and continued manufacturing the people, who had been made imperfectly. Without anyone to instruct them or any of the resources they'd needed to live, they'd gone feral, and initially turned to the only food source on the dead, blasted worlds they came to being on: Each other.
The Reavers were terrifying by any stretch of the imagination, mostly inhabiting enormous space hunks where they simply drifted around, with no idea how to drive the ships, waiting for contact. Some of them could figure out how to steer the ships, and took to raiding and pillaging, destroying and destroying like rabid animals until someone took the time to put them down. To any frontier settlement, they were a nightmare worse then the slavers, rebels and anything else, worse even then invasion. Pray they don't take you alive.
Ahead, there was a veritable field of the ships, gruesomely decorated with still, broken corpses and crude symbols of fresh blood. They kept painting them, because it changed color when it dried. Somewhere beyond is your missing young heir. Unfortunately, you don't see how he got through without alerting them. Even now, a few are starting to drift towards you.

Bebop
It's about now that you get the first sign of the Reavers. So far they're only appearing on scanner, but you can see the thousands of evil red dots ahead, like some sort of human asteroid field.

Han Solo
When you picture the most important world in the galaxy, most people will think of soaring crystal spires and the centers of wealth, power and culture. Akkaris was sand, stone, and broken dreams. The Hardokens were already in the process of wringing every scrap they could from it with their heavy handed ways, and life was almost unbearable. The natives were in theory protected, but since they refused to recognize any authority or submit for inspection, nobody could tell if they were being killed. For a moment, you feel a brief pity for them, born on the most inhospitable place imaginable and kept that way out of policy, and now under the yoke of tyrants as well. It makes Tatooine look positively idyllic by comparison.
You land in a cave. Liet-Kynes, the imperial paleontologist and your contact is waiting for you. It's fairly simple, least in principle. Hand over the supplies (they're working on gradually transforming the planet's climate from a harsh desert into a temperate one) and take the Spice, then get off world and lay low. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to trust you, and that's slowing things down.

Jasper Cullen
The pale figure smiled his stainless steel grin. Despite being smaller and less imposing then the gathered men, he endeavored to seem infinitely more menacing. He was of average size and height, lean with a rangy toughness to him and a hint of mongrel in his make-up, with features that were at once gaunt and sharp, with eyes like molten brass that bespoke sudden shifts in mood as extreme as any change in climate, and a certain indifference in the suffering he caused. His skin was pale, as if it had never felt the sun. Jasper had hidden his true nature for too long, but that was to change. here he was, in a vast stretch of galaxy in which he had an advantage too great to calculate in technology and weaponry. The thought of carving it into his own empire and playing everyone off against each other like a child playing with toy soldiers suited his dreams of paradise perfectly.
He'd come here, a fortress on a thought to be uninhabited moon with no functional atmosphere, simply shown up at the door, and as though compelled by his presence order had come with him. The backbiting, recriminations and ideological rhetoric; all the neverending insane babble ceased, and instead people had begun to talk in low, confident voices, and things were being agreed upon. And now here he was, talking to the dozen or so men who styled themselves as generals in this backwater, as far from the light of civilization as they could get.
They were predominately asiatic, as the feudalists tended to be. But that was all that could really be said for them, they didn’t have uniforms, nor insignia nor discipline, equipment, a real government, armor, battleships, legal protections, rollers, officers, or a thousand other things an army needs to be more than a passionate mob. To be honest, all they had was a sort of weary defiance and prices on their heads, and the dull sparks of desire for freedom from the Alliance.
Their military was of the people, and all volunteers who had learned how to be killers, but not soldiers. Their war was over, and they had lost. There were enough of them to make a fight for it against local militaries, most of whom were used to comfort and had less combat experience then them, but once the Sardaukar showed up it was all over, and they died like flies.
So they attacked settlements in the name of 'the people' and told themselves one day they would be heroes, but they were tired, and weary, and had stopped believing a long time ago.
Jasper had killed ten men before they got the picture and let him into this meeting. A few had tried to stop him, others had tried to kill him, and one had said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jasper had met his gaze, and his mechanical limbs clacked together, then lashed forward with the speed and accuracy of a striking snake, driving itself through the mans eye and out the back of his skull.
"I do not have a sense of humor." He had noted, as the limb folded back into place, the man sliding off it messily. "I am aware of it intellectually, but only in a theoretical way. It's actual composition is completely alien to me. So keep that in mind when you have the urge to say something you'll regret."
The generals he was facing who were unarmed and rapidly realizing that around this man that was a very bad idea, didn't know what to make of him. He had promised to give them weapons like nothing they'd ever heard of, ships like nothing they could conceive and other pieces of equipment they didn't even know what to do with. Why? Entertainment.
"Stability bores me. Following patterns bore me. I like to experience, and simple monotony is amongst the most torturous existence I can imagine. I much prefer chaos, or rather the illusion of it. Which is what brings me here. You are not the most powerful group, or the most organized, and you are no more backed by the common people then any other, nor any more hypocritical. Indeed, their is nothing spectacular about you whatsoever. Which is why I chose you, as it happens."
They sway away from his gaze like wheat before a scythe, quite conscious of just how precarious their futures were. "You are going to start winning, as long as you can hold my interest you'll keep my favor, and things will go very well for you. But don't take my word for it." A hand flicks up to brush away a dirty yellow strand of hair, and his eyes gleam. "Let me demonstrate my power."
And the world explodes with white light.

[Colesign]

Shevek

"Really?" Shevek asks, bemused, in response to Data. "I've always concluded Military Hierarchical Structures are inherently inefficient and slow: Imagine all the effort wasted in Generals giving orders to the captains who give orders to the lieutenants who gives orders to inferiors who give orders to their inferiors and so on! It suppresses natural initiative, as if thinking beings were simply cogs in a seventh-millenium steam engine! With such a rigid, inflexible system of coercion, how do you get anything done?"

Then he takes the time to ponder Data's words in more detail.

"I can understand rank as a means of categorizing the skills and roles of certain people, as you've argued. What I don't understand is why you view debate and 'friction' as an unpardonable hinderance to a functioning crew. Cultural differences, I suppose."

Then Riker butts in with his commentary.

"I appreciate your concern...Commander Riker." Shevek says, trying to be polite. "But rest assured that I did not come here to be safe and comfortable. Nor, I suspect, did the fellow Annaresti. I personally implore you not to place my safety above the safety of the crew."

[Cracklord]

Data
"It is the fact that they are cogs in a machine, each knowing their role and performing their tasks, that makes them more efficient, and thus requires less personnel, thereby allowing resources to be conserved and more people to do less work." He says, quite aware that the conversation has moved on to other things but wanting to get a last word in.
Riker listens, then nods. "Fair enough. But you're not part of the Federation yet. We'll get you to Earth, let you and the politicians take care of the rest. And I know keeping information from you is not the best way to get you to trust us, but these are hardly ideal circumstances."

Kirk
"Everything that happens, happens for a reason. And that reason is me." Q says, without reappearing. Then he's gone to go play mindgames and the prisoners dilemna with Ponies.
Spock simply tilts his head slightly, and stares out at space. "Any change of plan, captain?"

Mal Reynolds
There shouldn't be an asteroid field here. There should be a green and blue planet, covered with forests and oceans, cities and life. There should not be a torrent of ice and stone and rapidly cooling rock drifting, like crumbs against the black, the moons bobbing silently out in the emptiness, suddenly adrift with no celestial body to give them purpose or anchor.
Something destroyed the world, shattering it to pieces.

[darkblade]

Bridge and Doggie

"Nothing is wrong with a little debate but it has it's time and place. In the heat of the moment in a combat situation it can cost lives." Doggie says gravely. Bridge shoots him a glare but neither say anything more on that matter.

Instead Bridge turns the subject to the matter of secrecy. "I'm going to tell him. If the Captain takes issue with it he may discipline me as he sees fit. Shevak, this is not an official Starfleet mission. We have been contacted by an interdimensional being that has taken a fondness to the Captain and he told us something was going to happen on Mars that would rival the Bug Wars in sheer scale and tragedy. While we have our doubts about how much his word can be trusted we cannot afford to ignore the threat both as Starfleet personnel and as people of moral fiber."

***

Cowboy Bebop

Faye watches the blips on the radar screen. "Are those..."

Jet's eyes widen with terror as he sees them, he ran a few Reaper clean up operations with the SPD back in the day. While he never was around for one of their attacks in person he knew all too well what they are capable of. "Ed, get the dog and stay in the panic room. Faye lock down everything and get us ready to run. Spike get your fighter warmed up, we'll need cover fire."

[Cracklord]

Cowboy Bebop
The ship trembles and rumbles as a few steady impacts patter along it's sides. Harpoons, with massive cables begin dragging the ship towards the hulks. In many ways, the Reavers were stupid, but they had enough base cunning and logical ability to figure out how to reel in their prey and use an air-lock. To get away, you'd have to sever them quickly.
There is no sound in space, for there is nothing to carry it, but you can feel it. The rumble with a desperate undertone, the madness and thudding of their frenzy, like the arhythmia of a disseased heart. Right now they'd be working themselves into a frenzy, biting iron until their teeth cracked and worrying the flesh of their arms until it bled, or scraping their fingers along the edge of their blades until all they could feel is a red haze and desperate desire for murder. They’d be stomping their feet and beating their fists in an infernal pounding, like some terrible drum. Then they'd come rushing in, and no matter how many you killed they'd keep on coming, hate and bloodlust eclipsing self preservation completely.

Bridge and Doggie
Riker glaress at you, then sighs and turns to the anarchists. "Right. We've encountered him before, and he seems to view us existing for his ammusement. Indeed, he caused our first mettings with the Borg. The captain is of the belief that we had best follow his instructions, given that if we don’t he’s quite capable of delivering his threats. So that has taken over as our primary priority.”

John Carter, Paul
Barsoom is a savage world where a man may carve his own destiny, one of honor, noble sacrifice and constant struggle, where martial prowess is paramount, and where many races fight over dwindling resources. It is filled with lost cities and undiscovered ancient secrets, some best left undisturbed.
The Mi-Go and the Yaga had visited here once, and remnants of their work could still be found in the ruins and hits of nameless things best forgotten. Now cultures less developed and saturated with evil carve out a living, and slowly but surely Barsoom is rising again.
Your group boards a flier, making a leisurely way back to the city, while Paul gets his first good look at the landscape, the dry highlands and hills eroded down to stunted giants, the red dry sands, interspersed with moss covered valleys. You pass a canal, and the city can be made out on the horizon as the sun sets behind you.

[darkblade]

"Ed! Seal off and depressurize all non essential parts of the ship!" Jet orders the Tiny hacker who was unable to get to the lower decks fast enough. She sets about it locking off everything but the bridge and adjacent weapons locker and turning off their life support. The reavers may be monsters but they still need to breathe.

The three remaining crew members barricade off the cockpit and get heavy weapons ready without any of their usual sarcastic fare, they had been in space long enough to know what happens when the Reavers get you and even they couldn't make jokes about that.

[Colesign]

Shevek

Shevek blinks as the two officers finally give them the full explanation.

He thinks it over for a bit.

"I thank you for your honesty. I assure you I don't plan to do anything stupid, and I would be more than willing to help you prevent the outbreak of a savage war."

He smiles suddenly, the glint of a scientist in his eyes.

"It would be interesting though to talk with a Being of Pure thought such as you describe. I wonder what his perception of time would be like..."

[Draxx]

Mal
The captain looks out at the field, trying to make sense of it without success. "There should be a world ere. WHole worlds don' just get up and walk away." He mutters, trying to reassure himself, but there is no denying the evidence of his eyes, much as he wishes there was.

Paul
He stares about, curious to see this world. The snatches he's seen before now pale in comparison to the entirety laid out before him. It is rugged and beautiful, ad speaks of faded grandeur and might. Once this had been paradise. But the world had moved on.

He came from an civilization so vast it was difficult to comprehend, with technology so complex it was almost beyond the comprehension of even those who designed it, and if he spoke of it's wonders he believed this ageless man would call him a liar. And yet still he saw things that pricked at the edge of his curiosity, things he'd never imagined or expected.

He could be happy here, if he chose it, at least for a time. He could let go of his responsibilities, and follow in the footsteps of the warlord he had met. He would shake his addiction to the Spice, and for a time the two would be close, having adventures great and terrible and rebuilding much of the world, until the two of them quarreled mightily and he killed the other man. It would be simpler, and less painful, yet it was not in him to take the escape it offered, as much as part of him longed for the escape that it promised. Inaction would just as surely doom humanity as anything else.

He sighed, returning to the present, and looks again at John Carter. It is a strange thing, to know someone before they've spoken, to understand them before you know more then their name. But it is one he is becoming well acquainted with. He has read the myriad of destinies that await them based on his choices, and knows the importance of this man, has seen him in every future, and knows the result of his choices before he even learns that they exist to be made.

River
"I don't remember." She says in a small voice, almost meek, and you spot an animal yearning in her wide eyes, a desperation to be whole. "The numbers stopped adding up, the answers went away, and I'm lost and alone inside myself."

For a moments you think she's bout to start sobbing, then she regains her composure, or at least changes direction drastically.

[doliest]

Kirk
"No, Mr.Spock. Q's hints rarely seem helpful except after the fact, at least based on Captain Picard's, Sisko's, and Admiral Janeway's reports. Unless you gleamed something I did not, Mr.Spock."

Solo
Han sighs; honestly, what did this man want from him? "Look, I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, I have the delivery, it's right here. You have the spice. What part of that do you not understand?"

Jack moves beside Solo, a slight, friendly smile on his face, "Maybe we can throw in a few credits to sweeten the deal?"

[The Tygre]

Legato
Readying their weapons? ... The nerve. Bluesummers would kill them if he didn't need them as well. No psychics. A good sign. This could go faster, but for the moment, a minor display of his power would do. The soldiers needed to work out their aggression, and the unwashed masses had to be processed for questioning.

Legato felt out. He reached with his senses, moving from target to target with an energy as old as the universe, latent in him since birth. The possibilities of psychic power are not so unusual, but one of Legato's nature could practically be a god. An image starts to form in Legato's mind's eye. Strings. Hundreds, maybe thousands of little glowing strings. The tapestry grew and grew. When at last, the points of light stopped their infernal production, Legato focused on them.

What to do? What to do? It was a difficult decision. There were a lot of options. But it would be a shame to let a good massacre go to waste. And his... 'men' (slaves? pets? hounds?) had to understand his power. Even just an inkling of it.

The tapestry snaps. Like a tether, each string twists and snaps in half. In the base, every living thing falls to the ground. Screaming and pulling themselves with their arms, they seek to know what happened, why it happened, and how.

For Legato Bluesummers, however, it's simple; he just rendered an entire military base paraplegic with nothing but a thought. Coldly, Legato orders his soldiers, "Process anyone who might have information. Kill the rest."

The Outlaw Star
"Faye? Faye, is that you? What are you talking... a... bout..." Gene and Jim freeze at the sight of the oncoming Reavers. How the Hell did they sneak up on him? This was bad, really bad. The Outlaw could run, maybe even fight some, but the Bebop wasn't built for combat like the Star. There was no way in Hell that just Spike and Faye could fight their ways through. Panicking, Gene hits the trans-ship intercom, "Faye, get the Hell out of here. I know you don't like being told what to do, but your ship can't hold them off. Be reasonable. Get your fat ass moving and get the Hell out of dodge! Now!"

Without even a second for a beat, Gene orders Gilliam, "Get the ship ready. We'll try to hold them off until the Bebop's clear and then we're out of here. There's got to be another way around them. And put me on speaker-comm!" Gilliam has no quip, no witty observation for the outlaw as he opens up the whole ship to Gene's orders; "All hands on deck! Melfina, sweetie, we need you at the wheel! Aisha! Suzuka! I need you at the arms!"

Static comes from the kitchen, "Right away!" Melfina knows Gene's panicked voice. No time for questions, it's just best to run. The bio-android makes a dash for her stasis tube. An angry voice growls, "Starwind! What the Hell is this?! A Ctarl-Ctarl does not stand for this treatment! And what's this 'all hands on deck'? What, are you my captain now? Do I work for you! I'm declaring mutiny! Power to the Ctarl-Ctarl! Glory to our empire!"

"Aisha, now's really not the time. I need you at battle-stations, so unless you breathe vacuum, get up here and pilot the starboard! ... Actually, that's not a bad idea. I don't think even Reavers could stand up to a pissed off Ctarl-Ctarl... Where's Suzuka?"

"Present."

"Ah!" Gene lets out another panicked scream at the presence of the assassin. "Geez! Don't do that! Put some bells on or something."

"I'm wearing a belt of them." Indeed, the orthodox assassin has donned a belt of bells around her sash. Gene can only stare for a moment of perplexed, and somewhat awed, horror before ordering, "Well alright then. Take the port side. Gilliam, once everyone's in the cockpit, lock this place down tight! I'm serious, full-code xenos on this one!"

"Understood." Melfina emerges in her stasis tube behind Gene's chair. Her eyes widen at the sight of the Reavers, and her dove-like voice whispers, "Oh, Gene... There are so many."

"I know. Try to find us a way out of here. We'll just have to think of some other way to get in."

"Oh, Reavers. Is that all?" A feline voice yawns. Aisha Clan-Clan of the Ctarl-Ctarl has arrived, strutting to her position on the bridge. "Bunch of spacer trash and inbreds. Next time don't call me unless it's important."

"Yeah, you're great. I'll try to remember." The crew watches as the Reaver ships harpoon the Bebop. Gene yells out, "Damn it! Aisha, the axe!"

"Way ahead of you!" The ctarl-ctarl is practically laughing. The grappler ship rushes to the Bebop, raising its right arm and bringing down a tremendous axe. The cables are cut, and its clear that Aisha is aiming to hit the Reaver ship next. Suzuka and Gene have already pulled up ranged weapons systems and are taking aim. Melfina desperately searches for an escape route, a hyperspace point, just some kind of exit. And Jim and Gilliam are focused on keeping the ship up and running, alive and tight as a drum.

[AnimeKid]

Ratchet and Clank

"Ratchet we have been walking around for hours, and we have not come across any intelligent lifeforms in this establishment. I think we may have to deal with the fact that they all fled." Ratchet shakes his head in negative confirmation with his friends assessment. "Naw we just haven't been looking hard enough. We have to get that starmap! HELLOOOO, IS ANYONE HEEERRRREEEEE!"

Junior

Junior hops out of his seat impatiently as he says, "Arrgh that is it. Mary, Shelley beam me down their. Anything has got to be better than just sitting here!" Mary calls after him, "Wait Little Master, we still haven't got full data on the situation. You could end up picking the wrong side and creating a catastrophic butterfly effect!" Junior turns as he looks at her and says, "Aw like I'll be the first person to majorly screw up in the universe. Yo, old geezer you coming, cause if not I'm leaving your ass here." He then heads to the transporters to be beamed down to the Klingon world.

[Cracklord]

Ratchet and Clank
You arrive into the base to find most of the soldiers in a mindless stupor being cooly executed by a series of menacing figures. The soldiers don't move, don't even react as weapons are placed to their foreheads and their brains are splattered everywhere.
One of them sees you, and turns, pointing a pair of high-powered chain guns at you, one in each arm, and opens fire in an explosive hail of shells.

Junior
You teleport directly to the ground, on the main street of the capital, a place of deep religious significance to the Klingon people as The city is deserted, the streets empty, the lights off. There are no signs of life at all.

Legato
The duke and several key members of his retinue, including his consort, have escaped into the wilderness. The world is hostile, no doubt they'll soon die. Of the men you captured, only a few were deemed worth bringing to your attention.
Thufir Hawat, their mentat, and no doubt aware of almost everything that goes on (human, rather then vulkan. That's rare), Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho, a pair of warriors who seem to be in command of the majority of the army, and Wellington Yueh, a Suk Doctor. The remaining thousand personnel and soldiers were put to the gun and executed. The mind fog kept them from suffering, but it's still enough to put you in a good mood.

Outlaw Starr
Fighting Reavers was a lot like fighting a school of piranhas. They swarm you, all their ships closing in at once, cables flying and the black filled with silent explosions as you smash at them, trying to clear yourself out. Just like fighting piranhas, it's not a matter of knocking a few aside, it's a matter of getting away before they can turn you into chunks. Already, a few have latched onto you like enormous ticks, drilling into the exterior to try to force entry.


Kirk
"As with many such beings, it's what they don't say that's important when calculating results." Spock says, his eyes slightly glassy. A trained mentant, he was capable of performing computer level calculations in his head.
"The wars he alluded to were civil wars. Humans against humans. I judge this to be particularly significant as to the nature of the problem. The Alliance is still unstable, with the attempts at secession barely half a decade dead. Why should it be an out of context problem?"
"Now hold on there, people don't go to war with each other for no reason." It's McCoy. "The issues that led to the wars are no longer relevant, they're not just going to start killing each other because..."
"Rational beings would not." Concedes Spock. "But aren't you the one always telling me that everything doesn't come to percentages and liogic when humans are involved?"
"Well yes, but this is different!"

Solo
"I understand more then you would imagine, young man." He crosses his arms. "You are attempting to extort me. Deny it." He looks at you with the brilliant blue eyes of one who has been long exposed to the spice, and you feel your retort die on your lips.
"And don't try that. I have no need for money. I simply have a dream to one day rework this world into a paradise, and a lifetimes work to look forward to. I shall not live to see the results."

Shevak
"Not to kill your enthusiasm, but you'll find he's essentially more a pain in the ass then a sage ready to answer your questions about the universe." Riker replies, rolling his eyes. Q had a way of shattering illusions.

Cowboy Bebop
The engine halts, the pumps that supply the majority with fresh oxygen grinding to a halt. They won't notice straight away. But in a few minutes they'd use it all up and start dying.
The Reavers who have entered are thundering against the blast doors, trying to open them and having less then no luck. It would take atomics to rip them down, you only have cause for alarm if they manage to deactivate the alarms, which is unlikely, or find some method of cutting through, which is closer in the realm of possibility.
Their lungs had noticed the problem, even if they themselves were too deep in a killing frenzy to pay attention, and already they were taking hundreds of shallow breaths to try to boost their oxygen intake. A bow plate clanged as the pressure differential grew, then another one actually buckled with a crack like thunder, silver stress-lines cracking through the paint. It was a risk, if you depressurize the ship will crumple like a ball of tinfoil, but it's also your only method of fighting the Reavers.

[nanobot_swarm]

John Stalvern
Seeing them all horrified and bewildered, John decides he must try and clarify his argument that they will all be horribly killed by demons unless they arm themselves to the teeth. "Well from what I hear of this experimental drive thingy on this ship, it will be like a teleporter to teleport the ship to another place in space. Well back on Mars the UAC did teleportation experiments, and that summoned demons into the base and I had to kill all the demons. Logically teleporters must use hell to teleport because demons come out, and so logically, if this ship tries to teleport somewhere, we will teleport into hell, or demons will teleport into the ship, and we will have to kill them all before they kill us."

[Corvond]

Flash Gordon
A different sort of man would have dismissed the claims that the marine gave, discounting them as delusional or even subversion. Or simply ignored them, letting the man say his piece without paying him any attention. Or even ordered him off the bridge as soon as he began talking about what seemed impossible.

Flash Gordon was not like that. He never assumed anything, particularly where danger was concerned. Stepping up to the marine, he looks him in the eye, silently gauging him. Satisfied by what he sees, he raises a hand to shut up his officers, then lowers it.

"Alright. What do you suggest we do? Abort the mission?"

Riddick
He stares at his new cellmate, luminous eyes widening a little behind the goggles he wears to protect them. "Must have done something pretty bad to end up with a cellmate like me." He says, dislocating his wrists and removing the shackles, then walking over to the door, running his blunt, sensitive finger down the hairline crack looking for flaws or irregularities to exploit.

[Colesign]

Shevek

"What?" Shevek said. He found this particularly and horrendously astonishing.

"...Why?" he asked in a frustrated tone (not frustration directed towards Riker)

[Cracklord]

Shevak
"He doesn't confide in me either." he replies. "I suspect it's the simple matter he has no inclination to further humanity on the path towards knowledge, and simply watches us to amuse himself. Really, why should we expect him to act human at all? He's not human, it's foolish to assume he acts in a way that would make sense to us just because he sometimes looks human."

Flash Gordon, John Stalvern
"You can't possibly be serious!" Janeway says, shocked and horrified at the thought. This isn't just some spur of the moment improvised expedition, the technology was developed over a decade and an incomprehensible amount of work has gone into building and fitting it.

Riddick
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He replied, then jangles the arms of his containment suit, fastened securely to the wall. "Could you remove my restraints as well? I have an inclination of how to open the door from this side."

[Colesign]

Shevek

"But playing super-dimenionsal pranks on less-evolved lifeforms for the purpose of laughter? Pranks and laughter are traits humans share too! So why would he be different enough from Hu–from Hominid lifeforms to not care about scientific discourse, but close enough to the values of carbon-based hominid life to appreciate pranks?"

Shevek'll probably be shedding later from his Physicist aneurysm.

"But I digress. Rest assured I personally won't try to antagonize this Q."

[darkblade]

SPD

"Pranks are played upon equals. Q views us without roughly the same way we would see a pet." Doggie explains as Bridge starts to giggle slightly at the unsaid irony of the Anubian comparing them to pets. He stops after Doggie glares at him for a moment though.

***

Bebop

Ed takes Gene's call as the others stay ready a the blast doors. "Faye's busy now Gene. Don't worry though bad guys probably won't kill you now. Too many Reavers for them to get here."

Jet grabs the controls and starts the ship's engines trying to make a break away from the ships that hadn't already started to try boarding the Bebop.

[Colesign]

Shevek

"...Perhaps these analogies are just as insufficient as comparing space/time to a piece of cloth is."

He turns back to the bridge, squinting at the viewscreen and readings of the navigation crew.

"We're bound for Mars in the Sol System: does that mean we'll be routing through the Proxima Cetian system?" He asks, tracing the route on the Star Map on display.

Spoiler

Show

[industrious]

Captain Picard

"Actually, Ambassador, we won't need to route through any particular system."

Picard has just emerged from the turbolift, still dressed in his Dixon Hill costume. Trenchcoat, fedora, suit...the works. A walking anachronism, and yet, he makes the look work in a room filled with Starfleet uniforms.

"The Enterprise has a fully functional and fueled warp drive system. We'll be headed directly to Earth."

Preem Palver

"There, there, girl," he says, patting her arm awkwardly. For a man who can manipulate emotions and memories with a subtle and deft hand, he's very bad at showing genuine emotion himself.

"May I try something?"

[Cracklord]

Shevek
Riker raises an eyebrow at your explanation. "That's not even remotely logical. 'My dog has four legs, my cat has four legs, therefore my dog is a cat'." He replies, shaking his head, then suddenly glances over at Kruger. He opens his mouth, then closes it, figuring drawing attention to his canine appearance would be far more tactless then simply ignoring it.
As Picard steps on deck he stands to attention. "All is in readiness, captain. We can depart as soon as you give the order."

Bebop
You manage to shake off a few more of the ships, breaking out of the cluster and drifting along the edge, your ship studded by dozens of ugly little ships full to bursting with Reavers who have broken in. Most of them are dead of asphyxiation or floating around weightlessly now that you've turned off the artificial gravity in the outlying parts, but three score have made it into the center and are trying to break into the bridge.

[AnimeKid]

Junior

He walks around calmly yet with a perturbed look on his face. He then puts his hand up to one of his ears and brings up his left arm to his mouth as he activates the comm link. "Hey Mary, Shelley? What the heck is going on here I come down here expecting guns to be pointed at me and I get a ghost town. Not that I'm complaining or anything but I thought that these guys were in a civil war?"

Mary replies quite snappishly to Junior's questions, "Weeellll since someone went off half-c*cked we don't have the data to exactly reply to that Little Master." Shelley replies after her sister in a much more calm fashion. "It is probable that you landed in an evacuated city because of advancing opposition. If anything there should be clues to where the townspeople where heading or at least how long ago they left. The only thing that I can tell you is to look around and see what you find."

Junior sighs as he says, "Fine, Scooby-Doo to the rescue." There is a pause before Mary says in her usual southern accent, "Little Master you have got to stop watching those antique cartoons."

Ratchet and Clank

As the machine turns towards them Clank eyes widen. "Ratchet, I think we are in trouble." "Oh no were not! Aphelion aerial support, now!" "Affirmative."

With that command Ratchet's small compact ship soar down low before hovering in place above the clearing where the base is. She (according to the voice of it at least) them lays down fire on the mechs targeting Ratchet. While she does that Ratchet, who is experienced at dodging gunfire of all kinds at this point, runs to a nearby cover as he tosses three fusion grenades in rapid succession at the mech that is targeting him.

[doliest]

Kirk
"It's true, the entire Alliance could fracture any day-sometimes it feels like all that's holding us together is fear of every empire that rises up from nowhere to try and conquer us. The Klingons, the Romulans, the Dominion, the Borg....heh. Really, we're defined by our enemies just as much as our own nature. Still, I can't see the Alliance shattering without something truly immense taking place..." His eyes narrow, "The more I think about it, the more interested I get in finding that ship."

Solo and friends
Lev shakes his head quickly, "No, no no, we're not trying to extort you. We're trying to bribe you."

Solo sighs; he didn't like doublespeak, but did Lev have to say it like that? "Look, you've got a dream? I've got a dream involving a land free of creditors and a retirement to Risa. Maybe we can work together and see we both get what we want."

[Colesign]

Shevek

"But cats and dogs do share similar traits besides their similarity of four legs, and...never mind Commander Riker: analogies can go too far."

"Captain Picard." He says in greeting as he comes on the bridge.

{Does the Warp Drive act precisely like in Dune, behave like the Star Trek Drive expect with the addition of Spice Navigators, or like the Warhammer 40k Warp Drive with the addition of Spice Navigators?}

[Cracklord]

Kirk
"Indeed. It seems it will answer a lot of questions, not to mention be the key to learning a great deal." Spock replies, as the warp drive hums to life and you shoot off into space.

Solo and friends
He looks at you, his stare somewhat worrying, then nods once. "Lets make it simple then. You give me the equipment, and I provide you with five." Lando said six, but somehow you doubt you're going to push him for that much. Hell, the equipment isn't worth one where you brought it, it's just that The Alliance isn't keen on making Dune temperate and losing the only way of producing Melange, so won't let anyone import weather satellites.

Ratchet and Clank
Monev the Gale continues firing, quickly overloading your shield as you look desperately for cover as the bullets continue to fire. His eyes are white and disconcertingly wide, and he's smiling as he unleashes the hail of bullets.

Legato
A spacecraft is approaching.

Shevek
(Warhammer 40k drive DOES have navigators. They are called Astropaths and get eaten by demons a whole lot. But that's beside the point, it doesn't work like either. It moves space, not matter, as matter can't move faster then light it moves the space around it in a sort of bubble that allows it to travel wherever the hell it's going, neatly bypassing relativity in both time and distance).

[Colesign]

{Okay: that sounds like the classic Albicurie Metric of Warp Travel: bubble of negative energy, cut off from the universe, space contracting at the front and expanding from the rear,etc.: the isolation from the universe would necessitate a travel sequence worked out ahead of time, which ties in nicely with prescient navigators.}

Shevek

Shevek blinks. "Ah. Right. Most of the traders that stop in Abbenaey Port don't have the reactors to sustain a prolonged Warp Drive Travel sequence of that length: I need to adjust my thinking, I suppose."

[doliest]

Solo and Friends
"Fine. Magnoda, Jack, Chewie? Can you get the good doctor his equipment?" The three of them head into the Falcon and start removing the equipment, as Solo turns back to the scientist, "See, it's easy when we all work together."

Kirk
Captains Log. Stardate [Stardate Retracted]
It appears we have visitors from another universe; visitors that could endanger the alliance and all we hold dear. With a warning from Q heavy in our minds, we have set course to follow it as fast as we can without alerting the Romulans to our presence. This missions, and our lives, are in Mr.Scott's capable hands.

[Cracklord]

Solo and Friends
As you begin unloading the ship, the door that leads to the caverns slides open with a clank and a hiss, and some threescore men file in, each one carrying a crackling shocklances, their points directed at you. They are not wearing stillsuits as the natives did, but rather the articulated plates of armor favored by House Harkonnen, and their faces are shrouded behind hoods and scarfs. Unlike most houses, that recruit their soldiers from specially determined worlds sanctioned by treaties and the Alliance, the Harkonnen's are secretive about the source of their soldiers, and rumors abound.
At the head of the thirty soldiers is a smiling man with spiky red hair, strong, high cheekbones you could shave with and a lean, whipcord thin build. A knife is at his hip, and is eyes are brilliant blue.
"I've finally caught you in the act." Feyd-Rautha says, smiling his lazy grin that dimples the side of his mouth, and drawing his knife. "Oh, I've wanted to kill you for a long time. It's nice to finally have an excuse." His face darkens gradually, like a summer sky before a terrible thunderstorm.
"You've made trouble for us, complaining about all a manner of things. It's good to know I have you now just where I want you."
He looks at Solo. "And here you are, in the act with him. You migntn't know it, but you're in violation of the law, and are no longer counted as citizens of the Alliance."
Before you are able to grasp exactly what is happening, or what had already happened, Jack Harkness was staggering backward, his eyes bulging in surprise and pain, his hand grasping at the slim black hilt bulging grotesquely out of his chest that hadn't been there a second before. You realize the man had made some sort of move, no more then a flicker, and his knife was now on the other side of the room, so fast it was like some malign magic trick. He lowers his hand, flicks on his shield, which hums to life around him, the air wavering as though a forge were burning within, and he begins stalking towards you, drawing another pair of knives and holding them delicately.
"Well, maybe you can give me some sport. What do you say?" The guards fan out behind him, weapons leveled.

Shevak
"Tell me about it." He grunts, before turning back to Picard. "On your order, sir."

Kirk and Solo
The two enterprises meet orbiting Mars while waiting for confirmation to approach Earth. I leave the next part in your capable hands.

John Carter, Paul
The martian has returned to the ancient, decaying city, and made it's way to the pyramid where the master of it's people sits. At the top of the steps on a magnificent golden throne, sat the Emperor himself. He was of gigantic stature, larger than the majority of his subjects, and sixteen feet in height. His broad, mis-shapen head bulged and his face seemed almost squashed, though there was a terrible cunning in his enormous, milky white eyes.
They spoke for a time in clicks and whistles, as the subject informed its liege that the traveler had arrived in his chariot of fire, and the Emperor let out a triumphant shout.
The time had come to take back Barsoom as the prophecy foretold they would, as it had been in the time of legends.

[nanobot_swarm]

Doomguy thinks for a minute, taps chin a few times, and then it seems a few neurons in his brain managed to form a coherent idea. "Well if we have to go through with this mission for the taxpayers, I think everyone in the crew should be give armaments to defend themselves, so the hoards of hell don't tear them all to shreds. Everyone should be instructed to watch out for any ghostly beings, because they will turn them into zombie slaves, and if in the process of being turned, they should shoot themselves in the head to save us all the trouble. Since invasions from hell tend to warp the surrounding enviornment, all radioactive materials should be extra specially secured, and all personel should be instructed to watch out for possible lava flows, because demon portals tend to bring that in with them. I think I will make a demon classification guide, and distribute that among the crew so they know what to do when encountering our hellish foes."

[darkblade]

Bebop

Ed keeps pushing the ship out of the cluster of Reavers hoping to escape before anymore grab hold.

"Back up and open the door." Jet says as he throws down one of the console chairs to use as cover. "If they break through on their own it'll just make them madder."

Spike nods and presses the button to open the bast door and both Jet and Faye start to unload submachine guns to the subhuman monsters charging towards them.