Badarby

Empire of the Clouds

Giogoula Giorgio

The last few days has been a roller coaster of events since the airship's arrival to Elvesland. First was the whole gold incident with Carter, that Mainer fool who tried to steal from the Empire's treasury during the nation's darkest days and evaded the policewoman's attempt to apprehend him first at the airship and then at the embassy. She heard that the Commonwealth ambassador got to Carter before the Mittevolk authorities did and refused to hand him over to them, hence the news of embassy staffs exiting the country.

Good grief to that event, Giogoula thought. Still, she kind of regretted that she didn't stay any longer to see the events fold out with her eyes. At least the gold transfer went off without any other issues.

Then there was the whole event of a small standoff between the crewmembers of the airship and the Mittelandische army before Arkadios's arrival to defuse the situation while she and Volodar were out looking for the Mainer. Giogoula wasn't sure what she would have done had she remained in the ship while it unfolded. Would she just let them in and take command or get defensive? She didn't blame Robertson for being defensive based on what she heard, everyone appears to be in the dark about what is going on.

And finally, Zoe Spyrou is actually the lost princess Philazoea. Giogoula couldn't believe it; the hastily formed crewmembers of the airship was keeping the Princess safe all this time. She wasn't sure if she should feel ecstatic that a member of the royal family is safe after the Emperor's capture or ashamed that she didn't recognize the Princess and only written her off as some aristocratic girl despite Giogoula being in service of the Ministry. Then again, it's not like working in the Ministry of State Security would give her contact to the Emperor and his family; the highest rank she met with was the Minister and that's it. Not as if she ever performed a curtsy to anyone of the Imperial family before, let alone speak to one in person.

Giogoula should be happy that at least the Princess is safe and accounted for by the crewmember. It is the best piece of news that she heard since the hasty escape from the city with the depressing news from the front. Now that the Princess has reclaimed the airship under her authority, guess it is time for Giogoula to join Zoe, er Princess Philazoea.

Lost World: The Lost Expedition

Wade Sim

Wade Sim

Gender

Male

Age

37

Appearance

Clean shaven 6 feet tall 37 year old East Asian man with short but curly black hair. Wears neutral clothing.

Personality

Cynical outlook on life due to the disappearance of his younger brother. While willing to help those in need, he operates on a trust but verify worldview.

Skills

Firearms training, outdoors survival skills, decent stamina and strength

Personal Belongings/Equipment

Flashlight, bowie knife, survival backpack, binocular, MREs, lighter, spare clothes, , compass, sleeping bag, portable radio, first aid kit, Daniel Defense M4 V7, HK USP .45, spare ammunition, canteen, satellite phone,

Missing Loved One

Cooper Sim - Younger brother

Background

Wade was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska to Korean immigrants Daewon Sim and Yujin Sim (née Oh) as the eldest of the two boys; his brother Cooper was born three years after him. Both Wade and Cooper were outdoorsy growing up, joining the local Boy Scout chapter, got involved in after school sports (Wade with football, Cooper with swimming), and joined their parents in camping out in the Alaskan wilderness before the family moved south to Houston, Texas. Wade enlisted in the Marine Corps and then used his service benefits to attend Texas A&M. Cooper, being academically gifted, was able to get a scholarship to UC Berkeley and graduated with a BS in biology, using it as a foundation to be a paleontologist.

Despite being apart by multiple states, the brothers still maintain contact with each other, Cooper even flew all the way back to Houston to attend Wade's wedding to his fiance, Hannah Adler. Last Wade and his family head from Cooper, he was joining a science expedition with some crack theorist named Henry Coswall, whom Cooper was in acquaintance with while working as a researcher at Stanford. The family warned Cooper against joining the expedition, believing a trip to the wilderness of South America to be both dangerous and a waste of time for paleontology. However, the young brother still joined the expedition, transferring a large sum of money to his parent's bank account and promised to keep in contact if he can to ease their worries.

Not a lot of news went by from Cooper or the expedition team and the fear of his demise grew as years gone by. His father passed away due to old age and his mother moved with Wade and Hannah to help take care of their son and daughter. Five years later since Cooper's trip to South America, Wade was contacted by Lucas Bryne, an individual who also lost a loved one in the expedition and someone who found possible clues of the expedition's route, inviting him to join on an expedition to find what happened to the expedition. Although Wade didn't want to abandon his family in case he goes missing, he did want a chance to bring Cooper home or at the very least, closure. After a lengthy discussion with Hannah and his mother, he sent a tacit acceptance to Lucas and send in his two weeks notice at his job. He also updated his will. if he is going to die looking for his brother, he wants to make sure that his family would still live comfortably for some time. He also sent instructions to his friends and neighbors Mike Kim, Jeff O'Donnell, and Matteo Gonzales to look after his mom and wife while he's gone. Jeff gave him a spare satellite phone to contact them.

Lost World: The Lost Expedition

Wade Sim

Gender

Male

Age

37

Appearance

Clean shaven 6 feet tall 37 year old East Asian man with short but curly black hair. Wears neutral clothing.

Personality

Cynical outlook on life due to the disappearance of his younger brother. While willing to help those in need, he operates on a trust but verify worldview.

Skills

Firearms training, outdoors survival skills, decent stamina and strength

Personal Belongings/Equipment

Flashlight, bowie knife, survival backpack, binocular, MREs, lighter, spare clothes, , compass, sleeping bag, portable radio, first aid kit, HK USP .45, spare ammunition, canteen, satellite phone,

Missing Loved One

Cooper Sim - Younger brother

Background

Wade was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska to Korean immigrants Daewon Sim and Yujin Sim (née Oh) as the eldest of the two boys; his brother Cooper was born three years after him. Both Wade and Cooper were outdoorsy growing up, joining the local Boy Scout chapter, got involved in after school sports (Wade with football, Cooper with swimming), and joined their parents in camping out in the Alaskan wilderness before the family moved south to Houston, Texas. Wade enlisted in the Marine Corps and then used his service benefits to attend Texas A&M. Cooper, being academically gifted, was able to get a scholarship to UC Berkeley and graduated with a BS in biology, using it as a foundation to be a paleontologist.

Despite being apart by multiple states, the brothers still maintain contact with each other, Cooper even flew all the way back to Houston to attend Wade's wedding to his fiance, Emma Adler. Last Wade and his family head from Cooper, he was joining a science expedition with some crack theorist named Henry Coswall, whom Cooper was in acquaintance with while working as a researcher at Stanford. The family warned Cooper against joining the expedition, believing a trip to the wilderness of South America to be both dangerous and a waste of time for paleontology. However, the young brother still joined the expedition, transferring a large sum of money to his parent's bank account and promised to keep in contact if he can to ease their worries.

Not a lot of news went by from Cooper or the expedition team and the fear of his demise grew as years gone by. His father passed away due to old age and his mother moved with Wade and Hannah to help take care of their son and daughter. Ten years later since Cooper's trip to South America, Wade was contacted by Lucas Bryne, an individual who also lost a loved one in the expedition and someone who found possible clues of the expedition's route, inviting him to join on an expedition to find what happened to the expedition. Although Wade didn't want to abandon his family in case he goes missing, he did want a chance to bring Cooper home or at the very least, closure. After a lengthy discussion with Hannah and his mother, he sent a tacit acceptance to Lucas and send in his two weeks notice at his job. He also updated his will. if he is going to die looking for his brother, he wants to make sure that his family would still live comfortably for some time. He also sent instructions to his friends and neighbors Mike Kim, Jeff O'Donnell, and Matteo Gonzales to look after his mom and wife while he's gone. Jeff gave him a spare satellite phone to contact them.

Graveyard Orbit

Saeyeon Kim

Kim could feel the eyes from the bar patrons locked on her. Like her time in that Command prison camp, she stuck out like a sore thumb with her East Asian features betraying her as a human. If looks could kill, she would be a pile of ashes due to the glare. When the barman said something about the group not being welcomed, Kim decided that it was best to not cause any trouble and turned around, just in time to see the exit blocked by some of the patrons. Neri was about to say something but dodged a bottle thrown at her and then chaos ensued as a brawl erupted in the bar.

"I don't want any trouble," Kim said to a burly dhasath male glaring and then charging at her, stepping sideway just before he got close, causing to stumble a bit. Like a raging bull, the dhasath turned around and threw some punches at her while she dodged them all. The burly dhasath made another charge and she jumped to the side just in time for him to crash into the wall, his head stuck. Kim barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before she evaded a bottle thrown at her.

"Please, I said I don't want trouble," she pleaded as a dhasath and a kiellar attempted to corner her. She picked up a chair to defend herself, blocking a punch from the kiellar, who elicited a scream from his fist making contact with the wooden service of the chair, and then forced the dhasath back by jabbing him with the legs of the chair. However, the kiellar was able to recover and grabbed the chair away from Kim. Feeling cornered, she hopped onto a table and dodged their strikes with her legs, stepping on both the dhasath's and kiellar's hands with her boots. Both the males yelped from their hands getting stepped on.

"Sorry," she apologized, still trying to avoid their attacks. The kiellar slipped on something and fell and the dhasath was hit by a stray object and also fell, both groaning from the pain. Kim jumped back down and saw a bottle and a cue ball rolling around, likely what saved her from the two. As she looked around, she thought she a kiellar female with an unmistakable braided white hair underneath a wide brimmed hat just standing at the distance. Was that Vesol? What was she doing here? Her thoughts were interrupted when someone punched her gut. Gasping for air, she stumbled back to another table, a billiard table it seems and grabbed a pool cue for defense, feeling her senses back.

Graveyard Orbit

Saeyeon Kim

Neri and her group's arrival was well timed and the clothes and food are welcome surprises. Dusk begins to speak to her with lowered voices.

"No we don't," came her reply as she walked towards the pile of clothes to replace her jumpsuit with. She picked up a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans and got dressed. They luckily fit her figure and that's all she could ask for at this point, a clean pair of clothing that fit.

Neri talked about heading over to the town to do some odd jobs and Saeyeon nodded. If they're gonna be in this place for a while, they would need ways to earn money for now and if she can get away from the place and the ragon, that would be swell.

Saeyeon shrugged when Dusk talked about security work.

"I mean, we don't have any weapons on us to do such work for now," she said, as she considers other possible career options.

Graveyard Orbit

Kim Saeyeon and John Dusk
Cowrite between @Badarby and @InfamousGuy101

Dusk didn’t bother waiting on the rest. If they were staying even a short while, they needed shade. He moved off and started gathering what he could find; dry brush, sticks, a few solid rocks.

He began setting up a rough frame with a couple fallen logs. He noticed Kim stepping in to help and gave her a nod. “Appreciate it.”

As they shifted one of the logs into place, he kept his voice low, enough so she could hear him. “Between you and me, I don’t see this group lasting long. Too many different agendas.”

He adjusted the frame, then grabbed another armful of brush.

Kim shrugged as she squatted down to grab an armful of brush. “We are all out in a desert with just our prison clothes on, left abandoned by the ship transporting us to another prison camp,” she said. “We’re all just surviving, unsure what will happen if we’re found by the locals.” She stood back up.

“Though I imagine that giant lizard is probably not going to be of much to us.”

Dusk shook his head slightly, keeping his hands busy with the frame.

“Yeah, I don’t like it either. It’s calm now, but it’s still the biggest threat out here and everyone’s thinking it.”

He glanced briefly toward the Ragon, quickly his eyes returned to his task.

“We should keep our distance from it. Humans aren't very appealing to them from what I heard but any animal hungry enough will eat just about anything..."

He took short pause. “Soon as we can, we should find a way off this rock. Hopefully that town’s got a port or something that gets us back to UN space.”

“I imagine any way out would require a lot of money which we don’t have,” Kim responded, wiping part of her face with her left sleeve. “Unless help of any sort comes quickly, we’re stuck in this place for some time and I don’t have high hopes of a quick way out.”

“Yeah… it won’t be cheap.," Dusk agreed as he packed more brush into place. "But we can work something out. Talk to the locals, trade labor and such... We’re still UN at the end of the day.”

He made a faint smirk. “Guess this is where the whole hearts and minds thing comes in.”

He straightened a bit, glancing toward the ridge again. "If we can’t buy a way out maybe we find another way to get word out. Comms, traffic, anything. UN’s gotta be looking for missing personnel.”

“I wouldn’t keep my hopes up for that,” she replied, shaking her head. “Earth isn’t exactly the big boys in this galaxy and I don’t think we’re the only missing UN personnel dispersed here. We might be the lucky ones who were let go by our captors in this desert world instead of slaving away at a camp.”

Dusk let out a small breath as he pressed another layer of brush into place.

“Yeah… fair enough,” he admitted. “Could be worse.”

He adjusted one of the logs, giving it a firm push to settle it with a grunt.

“Could be breaking our backs in some camp instead of out here,” He gave Kim a dry almost sarcastic smirk. “Now we just get to choose between working for scraps, starving, or cooking alive in this heat. Real upgrade.”

“Well at a labor camp, you’d be doing all that including a beating from the guards for not meeting quota,” Kim replied. “Though depending on the location, you might be freezing to death instead. Having been transferred from one, this is slightly an improvement.”

Dusk paused for a second at that, hands resting on the frame.

“You were at one?” There was a genuine surprise in his tone now. He glanced at her, then back at the structure as he adjusted a branch into place.

“What’s it like?” he asked, genuinely curious. “The camps, I mean.”

“It’s hell,” Saeyeon answered, recounting her experience. “Working under grueling conditions in the cold. Beatings were common from both guards and inmates alike, especially since the camp tied rations and certain privileges to quotas. Deaths at the camp weren’t uncommon. If you die, someone else will be pushed in to take your place.

“I’d probably be stuck in that camp until I die if it wasn’t for her,” she added, closing her eyes.

"Her?" Dusk asked, listening attentively.

“Vesol of Rirbrach, a Kiellar inmate,” she replied. “When we first met, we fought but we struck up a friendship since we were forced to share our cells. She was the one who lead the uprising in the camp.

“We pretended to be in a fistfight to distract a guard which set up a chain of events that lead to the entire camp breaking out,” Kim added. “We overwhelmed the guards with numbers and weapons that we made ourselves or stole from the armory.

“Thought we had a chance to escape, hotwire some vehicles, and taste freedom,” she said. “But the guards had reinforcements showing up in armored vehicles and when they arrived, most of us were gunned down. Haven’t seen Vesol since the guards came with reinforcements and because the camp was on fire, the survivors were rounded up, separated from each other, and shipped off to other camps. I was alone when they move me with you guys. Guess I was lucky that I ended up here instead.”

Dusk didn't say anything right away.

He stood there, one hand resting against the shelter frame, staring past the brush as Kim finished speaking. He’d heard rumors about camps like that, but hearing it laid out like that… it hit different.

“…Yeah,” he muttered under his breath. He glanced at her.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think that was just luck,” he said. “People don’t walk out of something like that on luck alone. You held on. Fought through it. That’s what got you here and to freedom in a certain way...”

He shifted slightly, his boot scraping the dirt.

“I was on my way to one too,” he added. “Perhaps we both would've been in the same one, lead our own uprising...”

A faint, humorless breath left him.

“I wonder if anyone from my unit did… or if they’re stuck out there like me.”

His face formed into a slight melancholic glare.

“Feels wrong, being here when they probably aren’t,” he admitted. “Like I got handed something they didn’t.”

He shook it off, just slightly.

“But if we both made it out,” Dusk said, looking back at her. “Then we might as well make it count.”

"Call it luck or not, we're not in such camps anymore," she said. "While I'm not sure of our chances in this part of the world in this part of the galaxy far away from home; we are free at the end of the time. Free but limited in our options which we'll have to take our chances with the people with us.

"And don't feel bad that you're here while your comrades are not," Kim continued. "Perhaps there could be an opportunity for you to come back and save your comrades but right now, the best thing you can do is to survive and make it out."

"Perhaps," Dusk nodded. "Well I guess you're right that we'll have to take our chances, but if we work together like you and I then hopefully that will get us out of here sooner than not."

"And hey," he added. "after this whole thing is over, I owe you a beer at my favorite place back in San Diego..."

"I'll take you up on that offer if I'm ever in Southern California," Kim replied, giving a small smile. "And I owe you a beer and fried chicken if you ever find yourself in South Korea when we're back home. And I'm buying"

Graveyard Orbit

Saeyeon Kim

Kim heard what some of the people in the group proposed to get out of their current predicament, most of what was said she did not like at all. Trying to grief the locals isn’t what she signed up for. Granted, she didn’t sign up to be taken captive, be subjugated to hard labor, and dropped off at some desert part of a planet either.

She nodded when Dusk gave his opposition to the plans and provided his alternative.

“I have to agree with Mr. Dusk,” she said. “I doubt trying to pose as bounty hunters or government tax inspectors are going to net us enough money to find transportation and leave the planet. Might as well try and be friendly the locals while we can. I don’t need to have an actual legitimate reason for bounty hunters to go after us.”

Graveyard Orbit

Saeyeon Kim

Saeyeon got off the ship with the other prisoners at the "persuasion" of the guards.

"Well, guess they're just dumping us here to die in this godforsaken desert," she thought. She looked around for Vesol of Rirbrach, the female Kiellar whom she befriended in the last work camp she was in. Last she saw Vesol was when the guards fired upon the crowd containing her during a prison uprising so the chance of her being hit by blasters and being left to die was there.

That is, until Saeyeon swore she saw Vesol in the prison ship. She couldn't confirm it but she was sure to see a kiellar female with white hair braided into a ponytail. Maybe she can find her now that everyone is off the ship. So far, she didn't see anyone matching the description at all.

A small group was beginning to be formed with a dhasath female, a kiellar male, and a human male who she heard refer to himself as Castelton. She gotten closer, maybe they'll know a way out of this desert. When the dhasath female called out the group, a few stepped forward, including a human male who called himself John Dusk of the United States Marine Corps.

Someone of the military, that could help with the chances of survival. She also stepped forward.

"Saeyeon Kim of the UN convoy missions, formerly of Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command," she said. "I'll join you guys as well in visiting the town."

Graveyard Orbit

Saeyeon Kim

Character Description

Name: Saeyeon Kim
Species: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 28
Reason for being on the ship: Captured during a raid and held as an “unlawful combatant”

Appearance:

My Hider

Strengths and Weaknesses

Skills: Military training, vocal mimicry and ventriloquism.
Weaknesses: Decent chance that she might be brainwashed by warlord scientists when captured at a prison camp. Also might be imagining someone

Background:

Backstory: Kim Saeyeon was born and raised in Sejong City, South Korea. Growing up, she was active in performance arts and took part in her high school and college drama and theater clubs. Though after graduating from college with a degree in accounting, she decided to enlist in the South Korean Army, having found the acting scene to be quite limiting and overcompetitive after finding minimal luck in community theaters and extras in shows and commercials. She also couldn’t bear to continue working as a cast member at some theme park for more than a couple of years.

In the military, she developed important skills such as teamwork, survival, and energy weapons training and found herself part of the Army Special Warfare Command, 707th Battalion. She remained in the military for a few years and was honorably discharged. Still needing ways to make a living since her Seoul apartment isn’t that affordable even sharing with a roommate, Saeyeon took up work as an accountant. It paid the bills but it wasn't really a job that she wanted for the most part.

When the United Nations started to send mercenaries to the Andromeda galaxy, she quickly volunteered, eager to visit another galaxy and get some excitement in her life. Working alongside other UN backed mercenaries, Kim took part in fighting warlord soldiers, guarded refugee camps, and provided security escorts. Occasionally, she would use her ventriloquist skills to perform with a puppet for the refugee youths and if some of the other mercenaries are up for it, little stage plays. The job had its ups and downs but she found it preferable to working at an office job.

At least until rather recently during a mission, her unit was ambushed in a raid by warlord soldiers with her being one of the few survivors and was knocked out. Saeyeon was taken to a labor camp after her capture. She doesn’t remember much about her experience there. She remembered being woken up by Kiellar doctors there and then being sent to work under grueling conditions. She remembered that she struck up an unlikely friendship with a Kieller female named Vesol of Rirbrach. Vesol was a soldier who was disillusioned by the Command, ultimately opposed the Command and their many warlords and was arrested as an anarchist. She also remembered that Vesol led a bunch of inmates to riot and break out from the camp. Kim herself took part in the uprising and was close to escaping with some of the other inmates but the uprising failed when the guards were reinforced and many were mercilessly gunned down.

Saeyeon and the remaining inmates were taken by Mazdul ships to be sent to another labor camp and she was separated from the other inmates who took part in the uprising. She didn’t see Vesol after the guards fired upon the inmates but in the ship she was in, she swore of seeing a familiar face. Kim also has felt some headaches while in the ship, possibly a fever of some sort.

Graveyard Orbit

Kim Saeyeon

Character Description

Name: Saeyeon Kim
Species: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 28
Reason for being on the ship: Captured during a raid and held as an “unlawful combatant”

Appearance:

Strengths and Weaknesses

Skills: Military training, vocal mimicry and ventriloquism.
Weaknesses: Decent chance that she might be brainwashed by warlord scientists when captured at a prison camp. Also might be imagining someone

Background:

Backstory: Kim Saeyeon was born and raised in Sejong City, South Korea. Growing up, she was active in performance arts and took part in her high school and college drama and theater clubs. Though after graduating from college with a degree in accounting, she decided to enlist in the South Korean Army, having found the acting scene to be quite limiting and overcompetitive after finding minimal luck in community theaters and extras in shows and commercials. She also couldn’t bear to continue working as a cast member at some theme park for more than a couple of years.

In the military, she developed important skills such as teamwork, survival, and energy weapons training and found herself part of the Army Special Warfare Command, 707th Battalion. She remained in the military for a few years and was honorably discharged. Still needing ways to make a living since her Seoul apartment isn’t that affordable even sharing with a roommate, Saeyeon took up work as an accountant. It paid the bills but it wasn't really a job that she wanted for the most part.

When the United Nations started to send mercenaries to the Andromeda galaxy, she quickly volunteered, eager to visit another galaxy and get some excitement in her life. Working alongside other UN backed mercenaries, Kim took part in fighting warlord soldiers, guarded refugee camps, and provided security escorts. Occasionally, she would use her ventriloquist skills to perform with a puppet for the refugee youths and if some of the other mercenaries are up for it, little stage plays. The job had its ups and downs but she found it preferable to working at an office job.

At least until rather recently during a mission, her unit was ambushed in a raid by warlord soldiers with her being one of the few survivors and was knocked out. Saeyeon was taken to a labor camp after her capture. She doesn’t remember much about her experience there. She remembered being woken up by Kiellar doctors there and then being sent to work under grueling conditions. She remembered that she struck up an unlikely friendship with a Kieller female named Vesol of Rirbrach. Vesol was a soldier who was disillusioned by the Command, ultimately opposed the Command and their many warlords and was arrested as an anarchist. She also remembered that Vesol led a bunch of inmates to riot and break out from the camp. Kim herself took part in the uprising and was close to escaping with some of the other inmates but the uprising failed when the guards were reinforced and many were mercilessly gunned down.

Saeyeon and the remaining inmates were taken by Mazdul ships to be sent to another labor camp and she was separated from the other inmates who took part in the uprising. She didn’t see Vesol after the guards fired upon the inmates but in the ship she was in, she swore of seeing a familiar face. Kim also has felt some headaches while in the ship, possibly a fever of some sort.