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driftfleet_ooc2015-06-11 10:37 pm
spaceshipit) wrote in driftfleet_ooc2015-06-11 10:37 pm
Information Part II (JUNE BUGS!)
As the Marsiva pulls the ships past the asteroid belt, some strange things start showing up in the Fleet's path...
→ Looted stations
Now that the Fleet is apparently flying far off the beaten path again, there is very little traffic in this part of space. Even the ships that were hiding out in the asteroid field don't seem to have followed you. The way-stations you find along the way are the standard default, automated affair... But most of them show distinct signs of looting or damage. Stores have been broken into and emptied, vending stations are busted open, and the NPCs are all long gone. The few machines that are not ripped open or trampled can still give useful goods, so it's not impossible to get things you need from the stations--but it might take extra work to find what you're looking for. This is a great opportunity for people to act as searchers or fetchers for other ships in the Fleet. With a little teamwork, everyone can get taken care of.
→ A ship in distress
From somewhere out in an empty area between way-stations, the Fleet picks up an automated, unmanned distress signal. The vessel in distress ignores all hails and attempts at long-distance communication, forcing the Fleet to wait until they drift within range to check it out up close.
The ship is roughly ten times the size of a standard Drift Fleet ship (but nowhere near the size of the Marsiva), and looks pretty alien. Though it's built of standard metals and synthetic materials, it has a very organic design. Like the Marsiva, it is rather ovoid in appearance, but flatter, and the surface has a distinctive rippled, grooved look.
Those with an Engineering or Pilot augment will find that they recognize this as some kind of merchant class ship. Those with a Communication augment can confirm that it's floating dead in the water. Readings show that the engines and major power systems are shut down, that life support is still working... and that the ship is still teeming with life. These life-form readings are a little nebulous and 'busy,' but definitely present. As the Fleet draws closer, some sort of space-faring 'vehicle' spits out of one end and goes propelling off into the darkness of space beyond the Fleet's range.
Since this is a vessel built for on-board trading, the docking ports of the ship all merge into a big communal entry space in the interior. It's meant for the crews of many smaller ships to be able to park and interact together--and it is from this entryway that brave and curious crews will begin their adventure.
→ The creatures and their bizarre behavior
The mysterious ship is crippled, but still suitable for life. Most lights and other non-vital systems are shut off, due to the ship idling on emergency power. And as the first crews begin to disembark, they are almost immediately met with nearby life-forms springing on them from the darkness--attacking without hesitation or any reaction to communication attempts. It promises to be a surprising battle, but a short one, as the few in the entry hold can be quickly defeated. There are more, but they don't immediately swarm from other parts of the ship to help.
The creatures are about three feet tall, covered in a fierce red-orange exoskeleton, and look very much like oversized, alien insects. The creatures that immediately attack do so without restraint, and those that do not (see the What's Going On section below) go about their tasks blindly, only reacting to stimulus if they are somehow hindered from what they are doing. When they are bothered or blocked in this way, they then attack. No efforts at communication are returned--either verbally or mentally/supernaturally. Whether violent or nonviolent, these 'bugs' are much like mindless animals or programmed robots in their demeanor.
→ What's going on?
Basically, the Fleet is coming upon an ailing ship, mysterious and full of strangely-acting bugs. Without much else to do in this stretch of space, and with how the ship seems to be periodically launching some sort of pod in a very specific direction, there is a lot that crews can explore, discover, and work on. There are bugs to fight and study, and a ship that can possibly be brought back to life, if a little bit of teamwork is applied.
Starting mingle - There will be a mod-posted mingle going up in the beginning, with a few different prompts that people can opt to join in on. It isn't an event post that everyone needs to immediately swarm in order to get involved--it's just a themed mingle to help kick everything off.
Projects - As for what everyone can work on, discover, or ignore--there are plenty of provided options for things to do, none of which are vital, and we encourage you all to play with this in whatever ways you want, or come up with new things! For characters who want things to work on, this is a good opportunity for them to get involved with others of similar skill-sets. For those who don't want to get involved, the ships and stations may be quieter and more peaceful than previous months, as attention turns toward this other mysterious ship. Also, when prompts are divided by augment or skill-set, those are only suggestion--you are absolutely not bound to them in any way, and nothing is exclusive to only certain kinds of characters.
Timeline - The information below is enough to get you all started as the Fleet begins to explore this event. More info will go up around June 17th describing what there is to discover and work on later on, regardless of how far along threads have gotten by that point. So, no one should feel like they have to rush or get involved in absolutely everything. The information and projects will be open for everyone to play with, regardless of where you are in the event.
June 11th-17th
The first exploration of the mystery ship begins! Those who choose to dock can either help defend the entryway from the scattered bands of space bugs that filter in and attack (and perhaps help set up some kind of base or staging area there), start studying the creatures or elements of the ship, or even take up arms and go exploring. There will be a mingle set up for some of the beginning activity, but feel free to branch off with your own prompts and ideas. Here are some specifics to get you started:
The bugs - They are vicious things, with fierce mandibles and strong natural armor, but they can be fought and killed with Atroma-brand weaponry. They absolutely do not seem to acknowledge or respond to any forms of communication, and don't seem to be doing much in the way of thinking if they are read psychically. Those that are roaming tend to travel in packs of two to four, and unfailingly attack on sight. Only a few of these packs travel to the entryway every day, but further in the ship, there are many more.
Traveling deeper into the ship is extremely dangerous, so don't go anywhere without an armed escort. The bugs seem to generate a minor disruption field as a natural defense, which renders some magic and supernatural attacks less effective against them. They are also fast, strong, and they take some effort to kill, so exercise caution when facing them in a physical battle. There may be injuries sustained during these skirmishes, so having someone with medical skills around might be helpful.
Once passengers begin to explore deeper areas of the ship, they will find mobs of bugs busy at various tasks, much like worker ants mindlessly toiling away at whatever job they've been given. Some are chewing holes in the walls and mechanisms to create storage chambers, some are filling said storage chambers with food and organic matter (some of it recognizably looted from nearby stations), and others are busily set on less-obvious goals. All nonviolent bugs seem ignorant or blind to any outside stimuli, until their paths or goals are blocked. When this happens, they immediately turn violent until the obstacle or enemy is no longer in their way.
It's relatively easy to procure dead specimens to take back to study in ship labs, but living ones prove to be tirelessly violent captives. If anyone is dead-set on trying to accomplish this, it would take a large effort to catch one, and strong confines to keep it successfully. Either way, the results of most sorts of testing will be shared in that batch of new information that will be posted around the 17th.
The ship - Beyond the main entryway, the ship is primarily made up of several tall, open corridors that wind around in huge loops, with numerous large, uniform rooms branching off all along the length. Most objects and devices seem to have been broken, dismantled, and removed, with only useless scrap left behind. Absolutely all organic material has been looted. The layout is rather simple, but it will still take most of the month to explore the whole thing with all the bugs slowing down exploration.
While the other rooms are mostly full of bugs, the entryway is pretty safe by comparison. The aliens don't seem to use it much, so it's only the few wandering bands of violent bugs that bother those who are staying there. It would be relatively easy to set up a sort of staging area here, for passengers working in the ship to interact and coordinate with each other. Those who aren't investigating, building, or fighting could help with medical, supply, or simple morale needs. They could also just sit around here to watch the activity.
While there isn't much in the way of computer systems accessible from the entryway, there are consoles and servers to be found a short distance further in. Those who might be interested in getting the ship running again, or exploring what data might be stored on its internal network, can play with those.
Finally, if anyone wants to try and catch one of those pod things that launch out of the ship every now and again, give it a shot! But with how unpredictable the launching intervals are, and how fast they fly, it will likely take some work. (In other words, if anyone wants to try for it, there will be information about what you catch on that post that will go up around the 17th.)
→ Go forth!
Whether you decide to explore the ship, or hang back in the comfort of known territory, the audience is watching. Dear passengers, are you going to help, fight, warn, or ignore? The show is yours.
Especially with all the new folks joining the Fleet right now, it's a good time to meet new faces, maybe find other passengers with similar skills or interests. Go shoot some bugs, do some science, fix up a wreck, hand out lunch, or bum around with those who are smart enough to stay out of a spooky bug-infested mess.
In the mingle and elsewhere, all divisions of projects and skillsets are merely loose suggestions. Wander wherever you want!
As always, please post all questions here (for clarification, planning, or otherwise), and feel free to use this post for any plotting, discussion, or idea-sharing needs you might have. Have fun!
→ Looted stations
Now that the Fleet is apparently flying far off the beaten path again, there is very little traffic in this part of space. Even the ships that were hiding out in the asteroid field don't seem to have followed you. The way-stations you find along the way are the standard default, automated affair... But most of them show distinct signs of looting or damage. Stores have been broken into and emptied, vending stations are busted open, and the NPCs are all long gone. The few machines that are not ripped open or trampled can still give useful goods, so it's not impossible to get things you need from the stations--but it might take extra work to find what you're looking for. This is a great opportunity for people to act as searchers or fetchers for other ships in the Fleet. With a little teamwork, everyone can get taken care of.
→ A ship in distress
From somewhere out in an empty area between way-stations, the Fleet picks up an automated, unmanned distress signal. The vessel in distress ignores all hails and attempts at long-distance communication, forcing the Fleet to wait until they drift within range to check it out up close.
The ship is roughly ten times the size of a standard Drift Fleet ship (but nowhere near the size of the Marsiva), and looks pretty alien. Though it's built of standard metals and synthetic materials, it has a very organic design. Like the Marsiva, it is rather ovoid in appearance, but flatter, and the surface has a distinctive rippled, grooved look.
Those with an Engineering or Pilot augment will find that they recognize this as some kind of merchant class ship. Those with a Communication augment can confirm that it's floating dead in the water. Readings show that the engines and major power systems are shut down, that life support is still working... and that the ship is still teeming with life. These life-form readings are a little nebulous and 'busy,' but definitely present. As the Fleet draws closer, some sort of space-faring 'vehicle' spits out of one end and goes propelling off into the darkness of space beyond the Fleet's range.
Since this is a vessel built for on-board trading, the docking ports of the ship all merge into a big communal entry space in the interior. It's meant for the crews of many smaller ships to be able to park and interact together--and it is from this entryway that brave and curious crews will begin their adventure.
→ The creatures and their bizarre behavior
The mysterious ship is crippled, but still suitable for life. Most lights and other non-vital systems are shut off, due to the ship idling on emergency power. And as the first crews begin to disembark, they are almost immediately met with nearby life-forms springing on them from the darkness--attacking without hesitation or any reaction to communication attempts. It promises to be a surprising battle, but a short one, as the few in the entry hold can be quickly defeated. There are more, but they don't immediately swarm from other parts of the ship to help.
The creatures are about three feet tall, covered in a fierce red-orange exoskeleton, and look very much like oversized, alien insects. The creatures that immediately attack do so without restraint, and those that do not (see the What's Going On section below) go about their tasks blindly, only reacting to stimulus if they are somehow hindered from what they are doing. When they are bothered or blocked in this way, they then attack. No efforts at communication are returned--either verbally or mentally/supernaturally. Whether violent or nonviolent, these 'bugs' are much like mindless animals or programmed robots in their demeanor.
→ What's going on?
Basically, the Fleet is coming upon an ailing ship, mysterious and full of strangely-acting bugs. Without much else to do in this stretch of space, and with how the ship seems to be periodically launching some sort of pod in a very specific direction, there is a lot that crews can explore, discover, and work on. There are bugs to fight and study, and a ship that can possibly be brought back to life, if a little bit of teamwork is applied.
June 11th-17th
The first exploration of the mystery ship begins! Those who choose to dock can either help defend the entryway from the scattered bands of space bugs that filter in and attack (and perhaps help set up some kind of base or staging area there), start studying the creatures or elements of the ship, or even take up arms and go exploring. There will be a mingle set up for some of the beginning activity, but feel free to branch off with your own prompts and ideas. Here are some specifics to get you started:
The bugs - They are vicious things, with fierce mandibles and strong natural armor, but they can be fought and killed with Atroma-brand weaponry. They absolutely do not seem to acknowledge or respond to any forms of communication, and don't seem to be doing much in the way of thinking if they are read psychically. Those that are roaming tend to travel in packs of two to four, and unfailingly attack on sight. Only a few of these packs travel to the entryway every day, but further in the ship, there are many more.
Traveling deeper into the ship is extremely dangerous, so don't go anywhere without an armed escort. The bugs seem to generate a minor disruption field as a natural defense, which renders some magic and supernatural attacks less effective against them. They are also fast, strong, and they take some effort to kill, so exercise caution when facing them in a physical battle. There may be injuries sustained during these skirmishes, so having someone with medical skills around might be helpful.
Once passengers begin to explore deeper areas of the ship, they will find mobs of bugs busy at various tasks, much like worker ants mindlessly toiling away at whatever job they've been given. Some are chewing holes in the walls and mechanisms to create storage chambers, some are filling said storage chambers with food and organic matter (some of it recognizably looted from nearby stations), and others are busily set on less-obvious goals. All nonviolent bugs seem ignorant or blind to any outside stimuli, until their paths or goals are blocked. When this happens, they immediately turn violent until the obstacle or enemy is no longer in their way.
It's relatively easy to procure dead specimens to take back to study in ship labs, but living ones prove to be tirelessly violent captives. If anyone is dead-set on trying to accomplish this, it would take a large effort to catch one, and strong confines to keep it successfully. Either way, the results of most sorts of testing will be shared in that batch of new information that will be posted around the 17th.
The ship - Beyond the main entryway, the ship is primarily made up of several tall, open corridors that wind around in huge loops, with numerous large, uniform rooms branching off all along the length. Most objects and devices seem to have been broken, dismantled, and removed, with only useless scrap left behind. Absolutely all organic material has been looted. The layout is rather simple, but it will still take most of the month to explore the whole thing with all the bugs slowing down exploration.
While the other rooms are mostly full of bugs, the entryway is pretty safe by comparison. The aliens don't seem to use it much, so it's only the few wandering bands of violent bugs that bother those who are staying there. It would be relatively easy to set up a sort of staging area here, for passengers working in the ship to interact and coordinate with each other. Those who aren't investigating, building, or fighting could help with medical, supply, or simple morale needs. They could also just sit around here to watch the activity.
While there isn't much in the way of computer systems accessible from the entryway, there are consoles and servers to be found a short distance further in. Those who might be interested in getting the ship running again, or exploring what data might be stored on its internal network, can play with those.
Finally, if anyone wants to try and catch one of those pod things that launch out of the ship every now and again, give it a shot! But with how unpredictable the launching intervals are, and how fast they fly, it will likely take some work. (In other words, if anyone wants to try for it, there will be information about what you catch on that post that will go up around the 17th.)
→ Go forth!
Whether you decide to explore the ship, or hang back in the comfort of known territory, the audience is watching. Dear passengers, are you going to help, fight, warn, or ignore? The show is yours.
Especially with all the new folks joining the Fleet right now, it's a good time to meet new faces, maybe find other passengers with similar skills or interests. Go shoot some bugs, do some science, fix up a wreck, hand out lunch, or bum around with those who are smart enough to stay out of a spooky bug-infested mess.
In the mingle and elsewhere, all divisions of projects and skillsets are merely loose suggestions. Wander wherever you want!
As always, please post all questions here (for clarification, planning, or otherwise), and feel free to use this post for any plotting, discussion, or idea-sharing needs you might have. Have fun!
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