[OOC] No Turning Back - Surving the Abyss

[ShwiggityShwah]

Ok soooooo

The Martian Defences failing, there wasn't much hope. Until Admiral Roland Constantine, an Admiral from the Roslin Federation convinced Federation and Conglomerate forces to abandon their petty standoff above Earth and move to Mars to help defend their sister planet, the combined forces of humanity stood together and managed to take out the enemy force, however the price was high. An uneasy coalition was formed, the United Earth Council out of the Federation, Conglomerate and Unity. With the remnants of the Fleeters electing to remain independent.

When did this happen?
@Sep

That's what I'm referencing

[Sep]

@ShwiggityShwah That's the Three Day War. 25 Years ago.

[ShwiggityShwah]

Forget it I have to start the whole bio over

[Sep]

@ShwiggityShwah I edited to make it clear, thanks for bringing this up.

[ShwiggityShwah]

Yay I'm not dumb!

I had to read and type by phone so wiki wasn't practical for me to cross reference.

[Heat]

@Sep my character is ready for review.

[Xandrya]

I think it's about time Mel has a partner. Any takers? She's 34, btw.

[ShwiggityShwah]

@Xandrya

Im remaking my character if you don't mind working something out.

[Xandrya]

Melanie 2.0

Player Name: Xandrya

Character Name: Dr. Melanie Denise Larson

Character Age: 34

Character Gender: Female

Appearance

Image

Profession: Psychologist

Nationality: Roslin Federation

Strengths:

• Humanist and social justice advocate
• Multilingual--speaks 4 different languages
• Hand-to-hand combat knowledge

Weaknesses:

• Doesn't take heavy criticism too well
• Will relentlessly try to get her point across
• Shuts down at times and bottles up her feelings

Personal Effects: A suitcase with her clothes, some books, a media player to download music, videos, TV shows, and movies.

Bio: Melanie was born and raised in one of the northern territories of the Roslin Federation. Her backyard slightly resembled a desolate tundra, and she spent most of her free time exploring the vast landscape or tucked away in her room practicing various languages. Her father, Raphael, met her mother when he was on medical leave recovering from his wounds he acquired in one of his missions. From that moment on, the couple was basically inseparable.

As Melanie grew older, she decided she had had enough of such lonely lifestyle. She applied to a number of universities--all of them located in warmer climate--in order to get into one of the social sciences programs offered by the school. Up until that point, her interaction with people had been minimal, therefore she decided that the best way to learn about people was to get inside their heads and learn how they function.

She was away at school again at the beginning of her third year when the unspeakable happened. Her family, more specifically her parents, had been targeted by a few members of a rival force from Raphael's past. The news reached Melanie very quickly, her temporary mental breakdown concerning a few of her professors who proceeded to alert the head of the program at the university. Melanie took a semester break from school, concerning herself with tracking down the murderous faction and preparing herself both physically and mentally in order to go up against them whenever they eventually happened to cross paths. The search wasn't easy, not with the chaos going on around the world, but she eventually managed to track down one of the members responsible for the hideous act and tortured him for days until his body ceased to function altogether. But the man never gave her any names, yet oddly enough, Melanie admired his perseverance. She scared herself by violent she'd become, but eventually, Melanie returned to her studies where she eventually received her PhD with high honors after receiving some mental help of her own provided by one of her professors.

After some time away, Melanie returned to her alma mater where she kept busy with work regarding Project Genesis, although the true nature of her work was never revealed to her or her team as their work was disguised in order to maintain total confidentiality. Melanie, along with her team of three other members, were tasked with researching the best therapeutic approaches to combating the effects of long space travel and how to best overcome various other negative effects. When the big announcement finally went public, well after they had made quite the progress with their work, Melanie was offered a spot in one of the arks for her contribution and dedication to the research project. Melanie accepted the offer and the rest is history.

Relationships: TBD

Code Word: Mom's spaghetti

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@ShwiggityShwah

Sure, sounds good. Maybe we can start off our posts with the two meeting or something?

[ShwiggityShwah]

Engineer Personnel Profile

VITAE Personnel Profile
Chief Engineer Keith Sullivan

Age: 37

Gender: Male

Appearance: Current Appearance
Additionally, Sullivan has implants in his eyes, neck, and wrist, all for the purpose of scaning, looking up software for component technical manuals, and a compartment containing tools for intricate fine tuning repairs.

Role aboard the VITAE: Chief Engineer

Nationality: Fleeter

Strengths: Sullivan was born less than 50 yards from his ship's impulse engine. As a child he played with circuit boards and ran universal wrenches for his father, sisters, and uncles. As a teenager, he learned to pilot a laser miner drone, jury rig weapons onto civilian ships and received his first omni-purpose implant. At eighteen years old, he was already planning and leading mineral gathering operations to build the Ark, and then was consigned to the teams that built their Jump Drives. Sullivan lives and breaths mechanical engineering, computer systems, robotics, ship systems, FLT drives. While lacking actual education, his working experience more than makes up for it.

He has shown to be a capable leader and is respected by his team. Additionally he has been recognized as a much needed morale officer, often times organizing and scheduling crew events designed to showcase movies or strengthen working relationship. His artistic capabilities have also been considered to add a breath of color and fresh air to the VITAE, a welcomed distraction from the growing tension.

Flaws: Sullivan has a very stubborn and superior attitude when it comes to his duties. He will frequently rail against his superiors when it comes to matters of maintaining the ship and its systems and will often resolve issues his own way. Normally this results in a problem solved, but as expected on occasion he is wrong, most commonly for not knowing all the specifics that a superior might have known.

Lately his behavior has been erratic and agressive. While Sullivan is considered social by other crew members, his increased consumption of alcohol has been noticed. While he has never reported for duty under the influence, he has been on record for causing eight public disturbances and has been reprimanded on two accounts for instigating two brawls and one case of assault, all within the last ten months. Evaluations for this behavior has been linked to depression and survivors guilt. The medication he has been taking for these symptoms no longer effects him the way it should, and the VITAE medical staff has not yet found an effective cocktail for him. He is currently to attend mandatory weekly psychiatric sessions and attend group therapy sessions.

Personal Effects: Sullivan keeps a rather extensive collection of old world animations in old fashion plastic cassete boxes as well as posters and memorabilia of the characters starring in that media. He also keeps a number of sketching, painting, and inking supplies with various incomplete works filling a sizeable corner of his quarters. Other items include the suitcases that belongs to his living descendants which includes a oversized teddy bear and basket ball. He also has a hidden stash of alcohol which is common knowledge to pretty much everyone.

Personal History: An armada of fleeters called the Belt their home, often times being hired by the inner planets to scan and prepare asteroids for mining. Entire families would be born and live on these vessels, always replacing and improving to keep them functioning. They were home and occupation with entire families pulling together to see to it that their home remains just that. Sullivan followed this ideal throughout his life. This was his childhood, only taking a few moments to learn the usual academics in 'home schooling' before working along side the adults in their duties.

Not much changed even as the Devastator fleets moved inward from beyond the Sol System. If he were older, he would probably be off to fight to protect the fleeter colonies and die in the process but as luck would have it, he was crewed from ship to ship as they made their way towards Mars to find sanctuary. The constant loss of family, friends, and homes desensitized the young man to the rigors of war. Even at thirteen years old, he volunteered to join the defense of Mars during the Three Years War. He never actually saw combat, as his station was aboard a towing freighter to pull the heavily damaged ships that managed to escape the conflict. On board it was his quick thinking and innate knowledge of systems that saved hundreds of lives from crashing into the Mars atmosphere when a towing crane stalled. Still, even for his age, he received commendations for going above and beyond his station.

Following the Three Days War, he attempted to reconnect with the fleeters who were now few and scattered. Eeking out a living from that point on was rough, and the young man attempted to work on ship repair and construction whenever the opportunity arose. It was in years that Sullivan found his passions, his love of old earth movies and animations, and the love of his life, a Rosalin named Rosita, strangly enough. Though they never married, the two managed to be assigned on the same project, and bent the rules to remain together. The children mostly followed him, who easily adapted to his duties and family life. It reminded him of how things were when he was a kid.

The projects that Sullivan was put on, mineral extraction, specific part commission, salvage. It all culminated to the Genisis Project and Sullivan was asked to not only assist in the construction of the Jump Drives, but maintain them on their maiden voyage. It was a task that Sullivan gladly accepted. The Ark's to him represented more than a hope, it was technological achievement, it was a unified humanity, and it was a new home.

Sadly though, he had to leave his love behind, genetically susceptible as she was to Heart Disease, she wouldn't even be on the list to be among the population fated for the cyrochambers. It was always like this, find a home, and then something gets lost behind. And now, his children wouldn't even be with him, they'd be frozen off in some forgotten part of the ship. He had always contended with loss, and he had healthy and unhealthy ways of dealing with it.

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With the death of his Chief after a catastrophic coolant burst a year ago had also killed a few of Sullivan's crew, Sullivan had begun to fall back into bad habits but had taken to his new duties with equal comitment and efficiency. The growing malaise among the crew combined with a number of personal factors had caused Sullivan's depression and drinking to effect his psyche. This is having a cumulative effect on the rest of the crew whom had become more and more desperate for not only a new home, but anything to contend with the hopelessness of their travel through the endless void. Sullivan butts heads with the admiral and command staff on official buisness, but off the clock still has developed personal relationships with them, as they have something in common, the burden of command and loved ones lost.

Relationship:
While Sullivan is a father of two, he claims never to have married.
Amelia Sullivan - Daughter - Age 4 when set into Cryostasis.
Ricardo Sullivan - Son - Age 12 when set into Cryostasis
Over the years on board, Sullivan developed a strange relationship with the medical staff, as he attempts to introduce the concept of prosthesis and implants to the crew at large. While he is mostly unsuccessful, a friendship over their discussion has formed.

Code Word: Spaghetti

[ShwiggityShwah]

@Sep

Okay, I redid my character, different bio and nationality.

@Xandrya

I think we are RPing the take off and beginning of the Arc's voyage, it might be a great place to start.

Incidentally, they could also bond over movies.

[InfamousGuy101]

@Xandrya

Maybe Matthew if the offer is still up.

[Heat]

@Xandrya maybe our characters could've met before. Michael probably wouldn't be going to therapy sessions but he'd likely have met her around the ship.

[ShwiggityShwah]

@InfamousGuy101@Heat

If I get approved I'll probably reach out to all of you for some kind of social link.

[Sep]

@Heat Accepted.

@Xandrya Accepted.

@ShwiggityShwah Only issue is Genesis* and Ark, not Arc. Ark is a type of ship, arc is a curve :P

[ShwiggityShwah]

@Sep

Words mean things is something I heard alot this weekend. Done.

[Xandrya]

@InfamousGuy101@Heat

You got beat to it by a little bit, but no reason they can't be friends.

@ShwiggityShwah

They're going to be 5 years into the mission at this point I believe.

[Sep]

@ShwiggityShwah Gratzi.

Also if everyone accepted could be a star and remove the code word from your accepted CS that'd be great.

In terms of something you should all know, I've edited the number of awake people on the Ark. It's not 15,000 with 3,000 crew.

You may be wondering, "Why the change Sep?!" The answer is with the addition of frigates to the ship I never changed the crew compliment to include the addition of its crew.

[Sep]

@Xandrya We are 5 years in, but we're going to do a little prologue first. The whole escape part, as I feel it's a major event in all our characters lives.

[ShwiggityShwah]

@Xandrya
Your character and mine are easy. Sullivan has a problem with substance abuse and is considered pretty belligerent so he has to take weekly sessions with a councilor or psychologist. That could be how our characters could develop which can move in certain directions if you wish to discuss.

@Heat
Another easy tie. As a fleeter, Sullivan had experience with cybernetics and robotics. He meets all kinds of people and wouldnt have problems with a synth. Hell, Sullivan would even be interested in his construction.

@InfamousGuy101
A little bit trickier for the engineer to be talking with military commander but everyone needs something fixed, and in a military environment, things need to get fixed alot. It's possible they butt heads when it comes to procedure, but the two had similar life experiences, so maybe while they fight at work they'd have alot to talk about over a drink.