DJAtomika

Lone Star (Sci-Fi/Space Exploration/Criminal) - Party Full

Somehow my medical officer seems a lot less applicable in this sea of badassery.

The Spirits Within II

Illustration of Selene done. Now to ink and tone.

Lone Star (Sci-Fi/Space Exploration/Criminal) - Party Full

@TheUnknowable I have only one thing for you.

Lone Star (Sci-Fi/Space Exploration/Criminal) - Party Full

Tadah! A post from the doctor!

Lone Star (Sci-Fi/Space Exploration/Criminal) - Party Full

The soft spoken medical officer, one of the only few people in the transport shuttle not in handcuffs, was busying himself with the Holonet. His employers, the pharmaceuticals corporation known around the galaxy as PharmCo, had sent him this mission dossier in the hopes that he'd be able to field test their newest creation, but currently he was trying to evoke a response from his contacts in the staff. Slow going, out here in deep space, but at least he had a working Holonet connection. With his rifle laid out on his lap, his elbows rested on its smooth plas-steel surface as he tapped and scrolled away, trying to compose an email to his employers updating them on his situation.

Then his datapad bleeped and abruptly cut the mail feed he'd been streaming.

Well, he had a working Holonet connection. With a grumble he folded up his pad and stowed it in his rig. Stupid thing. Here he was in deep space, trying to get an update to his employers, and the damn thing refused to send it. Oh well. The message was saved and archived on his holomail account. He'd send it later.

Simon sighed and stretched and rolled his shoulders upon hearing Felix come over the intercom with the pleasant update that yes, they were here, and no, the Lone Star had no power so they couldn't dock. One of the crew shot a suggestion into the air, the only other human in the crew, upon closer inspection, though he knew that Farvis was no ordinary human; the vitals and bio signs his armour's visor was displaying into his eyes told him all the story he needed, along with the vitals and basic details on every other person in the shuttle. PharmCo's Reactive Armour line was living up to his expectations so far, although he knew the 'reactive' part was yet to be tested. Supposedly the plate armour he wore could react and adapt to protect against any projectile or melee threat thrown at him, from bullets to energy weapons to knives and explosives, but that feature was untested. He was here to test it, mostly anyway. His real reason...lay in his head, something he was unwilling to even think about before they were able to board.

Getting back to it, Felix shot down the suggestion, leaving the air open to more ideas on how to get the shuttle, and its passengers, into the Lone Star. Simon was but a doctor, but he had an inkling of an idea. First though, he needed something confirmed. He stood and ambled to the pilot door.

"Felix, are the hangar bay doors of the Lone Star armoured? If we had a large enough armament, we could theoretically blow open those doors or a fragile structure next to them to allow us entry."

Us, Redux

Well I made a post. Took way too long (read: he procrastinated) but Ames now has a post!

Us, Redux

Warren Ames

Apartment 303

Ames woke up in a sense of confusion. His surroundings were...different. He could sense it, even in the darkness of his room. As he stood and whipped the curtains back from the window, he realised why.

Shit...I'm not downtown no more.

The apartment was a lot more spacious than his old hovel a few streets down. Looking back, he was grateful that Annette had let him in. His previous home was cramp, decrepit and on the verge of falling apart from mold and rot. That was during the first weeks of the outbreak. He'd been forced to leave after a section of the floor had caved in on him. It'd almost been him in the dirt, dead. Yet here he was, a stroke of luck amidst the death and destruction. The weeks had been tough, transporting him back to an era which he thought he'd left behind. Eating cold food out of cans, living without heat (at least he had a bed and blanket), pissing and crapping into a bucket that he emptied down the drainpipe regularly enough to not make the place as dirty as hell, it felt just like Vietnam, only this was the middle of Canada, not some war-torn jungle out in the middle of nowhere. He'd been able to survive only because he had the sense to prepare early. When the first inklings of the viral outbreaks started in South America, he had immediately gone down to the nearby grocery store and stocked up on canned food, toiletries and water. His foresight had saved him, most of his neighbours weren't so lucky. When the bug hit Rittendale, he'd battened down the hatches (read: barricaded his door and sealed the windows) and waited it out, while all around him the rest of the apartment complex succumbed to the silent killer. When he re-emerged a few weeks later everyone was dead, even the poor widow Richardson. No one had stood a chance.

He stretched the kinks out of his back and made his way to the bathroom to clean up. Without running water, it made it a stretch, but hey at least they had water. He dressed, plainly in a plaid shirt, jeans and work boots, and went outside. It was the morning, as usual, and the rest of the Towers were waking up to go about their business. For him? His usual thing was to amble around the place, see if anyone needed any help or manual labour. It took his mind off of things, really; if he had time to walk around, it meant time to think, and time to think meant time spent going back on his memories of the outbreak, and of the war. He didn't want to dwell on the past, so distraction was key. He'd been part of the team that was working on the other tower, setting up the necessities there while keeping himself out of trouble. Occasionally he volunteered to go out on scavenging runs with the younger men and women, keep himself on his toes and such. Not much else for an old man to do anyway.

Today was no exception; as he made his way downstairs he caught wind of another scavenging run being prepared, no doubt helmed by the young Elliot and his two compatriots. Supplies were running low, as usual, and the run today would be like every other. When he approached the ground floor the crack and roar of the pickup's engine startled him -
_{bullets whizzing over his head
men screaming in pain
his men}
Ames caught himself before he lapsed into another bout. Weak in the knees, even trembling a little, it took him a good few minutes to calm himself down.

Long, deep breaths. Relax. Breathe in, count to four, breathe out, count to four.

It'd been ages since his last relapse, but ever since his doctor had prescribed him with this strange white tablet, the nightmares and episodes had significantly reduced. When the outbreak had hit, he'd been the first to stock up on that particular medicine; a traumatised soldier would break under these circumstances, but he convinced himself every day that he wouldn't. Not that easily. He still had the meds, took one every morning, and that was when he realised he'd not taken this morning's dose.

It could wait.

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and proceeded forth. Ahead, Annette was busying herself with dispatching the runners, and when he was but a few paces away the truck left. All was good and fine, and he caught snippets of conversation from all around him; other survivors, just like him, going about their daily business of living.

Suddenly

BANG

MOVE YOUR ASS PRIVATE OR I WILL MOVE IT FOR YOU WITH MY BOOT

BANG BANG

_{GET DOWN KENNETH FARLEY MOVE UP ON THE RIGHT GIVE US MG COVER NOW}

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

_{MAN DOWN MAN DOWN COULSON'S DOWN}
Ames awoke just a minute later, broken from his stupor by one of the nearby men shaking him back to the real world. He was lying prone on the floor, shivering badly, a sheen of cold sweat on his face, body and muscles tense as imaginary gunfire whizzed over his head, artillery shells screaming down into the fake bush and setting illusory soldiers ablaze, if not tearing them to pieces first. The war was not kind, hell, no war was kind on the soldiers who fought it. He was no exception to the unspoken rule.

Dammit, I really need my meds.

He gratefully accepted the younger man's help to get back up. He'd get that dose as soon as he figured out what the hell went wrong. He knew it was gunfire; it had to be, nothing else would trigger him that badly, and as he marched right up behind Annette he caught her conversation with Ned that yes, it was gunfire, no it wasn't from the direction the runners had gone, no she had no idea what it was, everybody needed to relax and continue what they were doing.

But he knew what he was doing. After this he'd march straight back upstairs to down his pill. Then he'd go see what the hell was going on, by hook or by crook.

"Annette, ma'am, I just got down here looking for work, but suddenly I heard gunshots. What's going on?"

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

Name: Bait. His original name has long been forgotten.

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Appearance: (Will add picture later)

Bait is a six foot two tiger shark on legs. His physique is that of a regular athlete; lean, toned muscle, not much body fat, streamlined body. But where a normal person would expect skin, instead he has rough scales. They cover his entire body in a slightly thick layer, making his flesh more rubbery to the touch than anything else. He also sports other shark-like features; a dorsal fin, a tail replete with the other smaller fins, a wedge-shaped snout and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. That's where the similarities to a shark end, as he also sports a head of scruffy brown hair and light brown eyes. Normally he dresses in a baseball cap with a pair of goggles strapped to it, a neckerchief on top of a tanktop, cargo jeans, arm warmers and sneakers.

Hybrid Animal: Tiger shark - 75%

Abilities:

• Hunting Senses - The human's keen sense of smell, coupled with the shark's ability to detect electromagnetic waves in the air and their ability to taste even the most minute amount of blood, be it hanging in the air or water, makes him a very potent hunter and tracker, being able to follow someone or something simply by the way they taste in the air.
• Water Breathing - Sharks are fish. Normally they wouldn't be able to breathe in air, but Bait is an exception. His human lungs have been genetically modified and adapted to filter oxygen out of water he breathes in, just like a fish would.
• Thick Skin - Shark skin is quick thick and rough due to their scales, and this translates to a thicker layer of skin on Bait, which is not only tough but also stab-proof.
• Shark Bite - Sharks have sharp teeth that easily puncture flesh. He has sharp teeth that easily puncture metal and ballistic armour and a grip like a vise.
• Fluid Movement - The tiger shark's natural agility in water is translated to enhanced reflexes and agility for Bait. Not only is he an expert and very fast swimmer, he is also able to free-run more fluidly and quickly.

History: Being part shark is no joke, and after he'd been abducted as a child on the streets of Miami, or rather, from the pool of a particularly deluxe condominium, he'd been consorted to the fish bin from day one. The scientists experimented with making the perfect aquatic warrior; able to breathe in both air and water, absolutely fluid in movement and fitted with a mind adaptable to any scenario presented to him, and for the most part they succeeded. Bait was one of the best hunters they'd ever produced, and yet when the inevitable breakout occurred, little prepared them for his wrath. His broken aquarium's water supply flooded the testing chambers and hallways, turning the scientists into shark bait, little more than fodder for his escape. Eventually he'd escaped to open water and to relative safety, though he knew that he was now the prey in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. He had to hide, and hide he did.

In the city nearby, he scavenged for scraps to live on, escaping to the rooftops by night to sleep. His natural abilities of movement and fluidity helped him immensely when being chased by cops or other vagrants, and when that didn't help him, his teeth did. More than one hospital admission was due to a severe case of shark bite, even though the patients had sustained it in strange places like alleyways, the street or, once, in a mall.

Of course, all this havoc wasn't to go unnoticed, and eventually he was tranquilised and recaptured by the replacement scientists. They brought him back to the facility wherein they replaced the aquarium's regular glass with laminated glass. The same mistake wouldn't happen again.

Lone Star (Sci-Fi/Space Exploration/Criminal) - Party Full

Name: Simon Brewer

Race: Human

Appearance: Simon stands 6' 1" tall, weighing in at a paltry 165 pounds. His physique is that of a lean, muscled man, not much weight on him but he's fit enough for his duties. With a head of messy blonde hair and brown eyes, freckles and a slightly crooked nose, he isn't a real looker either, all in all putting out an image of your average everyday human male.

Personality: Simon is one of those people that sticks out his neck for his friends. Very humble, helpful and caring for those under him, he regularly makes himself out to be one of those guys that is liked by everyone in the workplace, even though he's mostly silent. He communicates his happiness or pleasure the most with his bright smiles and cheerful demeanour, even if he says little. More often than not, his actions convey his feelings more than his words do. He is also slow to anger, and takes criticism with a level head and optimism to soften harsh words or gestures. He is also often referred to as a mediator or a counsellor, in part due to these tendencies of his.

Class: Medical Officer

Skills:
Expert
Class - Field and General Medicine
Class - Combat Surgery

Skilled
General - Electronics

Proficient
Combat - Marksmanship

Non-standard Abilities: N/A

Equipment

PharmCo Corporis Reactive Plate

This set of lightweight, high strength, flexible plas-steel armour is the latest in PharmCo's line of military-grade medical gear. It comes in built with multiple sensors on the gloves to detect a casualty's pulse, breathing rate and blood pressure, along with a small array of miniature x-ray beams that transmit a direct image of the skeletal or organ structure of the casualty to the user's helmet visor. The armour also monitors ambient weather conditions like oxygen, pressure levels, temperature, harmful gases and radiological or biological hazards in the vicinity of the user. Finally, rounding out the armour's sensory capabilities, it also monitors the user's own vital signs, displaying injuries where they are sustained on the body. Its crisp, white design also comes with a red cross on the left breastplate and on the shoulder pauldrons, not depicted in the picture due to the above being a representation before final painting.

PharmCo Full Surgical Field Assembly

One of PharmCo's finest inventions, the FSFA is a set of armour rigging and webbing that is designed to fit over any of the company's many lines of combat armour. The rigging is specially made for field doctors or surgeons, and contains a myriad of sleeves and pouches designed to hold medical equipment designed by PharmCo, or otherwise. These include the AMSD, the LASC, and a wide array of other medical devices, such as medigel tubes, morphine syrettes, disinfectant sprays and other related equipment. Simon's rig comes fitted with the following:

• 5 x PharmCo MediGel Tubes (Instructions: twist open top, squeeze contents liberally onto wound) - These small, palm-sized tubes are full of PharmCo's proprietary MediGel, a non-toxic gelatin-based healing agent that speeds up cellular growth and regeneration, and prevents profuse bleeding. Its method of action is, after application, the cold gel rapidly warms from body heat and melts, turning into a liquid that diffuses and is absorbed quickly into the body. Once there, haematostatic agents within the liquid act quickly on open blood vessels, causing clotting and preventing any further bleeding, while regrowth agents activate and superspeed the body's ability to heal, quickly sealing any small or medium-sized wounds. The gel is quick-acting, and are normally used in the field by combat medics to stabilise casualties with small to medium-sized wounds. Larger wounds, however, will require more stabilisation than just gel and morphine. Designed by PharmCo to be effective on any form of biological tissue, human or alien!
• 5 x PharmCo Quick-use Syrettes (Instructions: pop top with thumb, insert needle end into exposed flesh, wait five to ten seconds, remove and dispose) - These syrettes are filled with numbing morphine, and are made from a special 3D-printer and refiller within his armour's chest plate. He can only carry five at a time and the amount of spare morphine he carries is limited to another ten syrettes.
• 1 x PharmCo Disinfectant Aerosol Canister (Instructions: pop top, shake well, spray on area to be treated) - Also known as a simple disinfectant spray, this hand-sized spray canister contains a specialised liquid that, upon being aerosolised, is capable of removing 99.9% of bacterial or viral agents in a specified area. It also contains a moderate amount of a topical anesthetic that numbs an area in preparation for treatment.
• 1 x PharmCo Malleable Splint - A mid-sized device, this roll of malleable, high-strength plas-steel is made for casualties with broken limbs. Once removed from its plastic seal, the splint can be unrolled and then formed precisely according to the limb that is injured. Once formed, the material will stay solid and stiff while the casualty is being transported, and is easily cut open or removed upon reaching a field hospital or surgical suite.

PharmCo Laser-Assisted Surgical Cutter

Everything it says on the tin, the LASC is a glorified laser cutter, small in size so that it fits within one of his kit's recesses. The LASC operates on the basic principle that doctors or medics in the field need quick and easy access to wounded soldiers' flesh, and PharmCo's solution was a high-powered laser cutter that could easily eat through the layers of adaptive armour and webbing that comprised a regular Terran soldier's gear, yet was safe enough to use without cutting the casualty underneath. Their solution was a high-strength, low-intensity laser that merely heated flesh to a slightly uncomfortable level, but was strong enough to penetrate multiple layers of armour and clothing with ease. All this was packed into a neat pen-sized device that is able to be carried anywhere feasible on the body.

PharmCo Adaptive Medical Solution Device

Unlike what its elaborate name suggests, the AMSD is essentially a medigun. Developed by PharmCo's experimental research division, the AMSD, or Amsad as it's affectionately called by the staff, is a hybrid between a battle rifle and an all-purpose field medical apparatus. In its battle rifle form, it fires slugs made of superheated steel shorn from a single rectangular magazine within its grip through the use of magnets powered and operated by an onboard computer system, making it an effective railgun. Its medical uses are far more diverse, as apart from being able to preserve the life of its user through rapid application of molten metal into potential aggressors, it is also able to be loaded with alternative ammunition, by way of overriding the main barrel's load with an external feed. These are:

• Painkiller Rounds - These special capsule rounds are designed to be fired at allied targets. When they burst on impact with a solid surface, say armour, the pressurised liquid painkillers within aerosolise and disperse into a cloud that a soldier can inhale to suppress his pain and keep on functioning as long as it takes for a medic to reach him.
• Morphine Syrettes - If the medical officer or orderly on hand does not have the time to reach for a syrette from his back pouch, he can instead load a syrette that's already attached onto the gun's side into the rifle's breech on the top of the assembly. Once done, the gun's onboard computer system detects that it is firing syringes, and will lower its power output significantly to reduce injury. Pulling the trigger will apply the syrette similar to an injection gun, and the syrette is easily removed by simply pulling the gun barrel away from the patient's flesh. Of course, if the gun's safety system is overridden, it can and will fire a syrette at railgun speeds with deadly accuracy, though it's not designed to. Each AMSD comes pre-fitted with two syrettes on either side of the gun assembly.
• Surgical Staples - Just like the syrettes, each AMSD comes pre-fitted with a double load of superstrength alloy staples, on either sides of the gun in small, disposable loader magazines. When a load of staples are pushed into the rifle barrel, its computer detects the wanted function and lowers its power levels to make it function as an overly large staple gun. Once this is done, the AMSD can be used to quickly close gaping wounds, similar to a modern medical staple gun. And, just like the above mentioned, if the safety system is overridden, the AMSD will fire its staples with deadly force, though it's not designed to.
• MediGel - The only load for the AMSD that is not dangerous when fired, MediGel is able to be loaded within the AMSD and applied over a longer surface, much like how a glue gun works. The rifle's barrel is more suited for insertion into slightly gaping wounds, thus allowing the medical officer or orderly to apply gel to deeper wounds, thus stimulating healing from the inside out and enabling him to quickly treat a casualty with moderately serious wounds.

Bio: Simon Brewer is a surgeon and combat doctor, human of course, but not born on Earth. Instead, he came to be on a colony on Mars, and his interest in medicine was piqued due to his family's attachment to the colony's lone clinic and surgical suite. From an early age he was attracted to the study of biology, the human body, what makes it tick and so on, and his parents were happy to help him in his studies. After high school they enrolled him into medical school back on Earth, specifically in New Boston, after which he graduated as an assistant medical orderly. Shortly thereafter, he furthered his career in medicine and became a full-fledged doctor, specialising in reconstructive surgery, before returning to his home on Mars to work at the family clinic.

It wasn't long before Simon's talents were found by PharmCo. The roving military medical company's talent scouts approached Simon with a proposition: work at one of the most prestigious medical firms in the galaxy, and in return have the opportunity to explore the furthest reaches of space in their everpresent attempts to understand alien biology and to deepen their studies of medicine in both human and alien physiologies. His interest highly piqued, he signed on, and after three months of preparatory training, he was shipped from Mars to one of PharmCo's largest life ships, the PCLS Nightingale. Once there, he was given a lab for his own use and he joined the Nightingale's research staff as one of the doctors en suite. With the PharmCo staff, he looked into the effects of their proprietary products, like MediGel, on both human and alien test subjects, as well as helping them test various sets of equipment meant for their military wing.

Soon it dawned upon him that PharmCo, as ambitious as they were, were a primarily military company in structure, as most of their inventions went to the Terran Federation military, for use in battlefield scenarios in the hands of field medics and surgeons. And, by that time, Simon had grown bored of the ship life. Tempted by the prospects, he approached his superiors with a request: have him be a field tester for their medical military gear and technology. The job came with high risks - death obviously being one of them, injury being another, getting shot at being a third - but the perks were higher; he'd get to visit more alien worlds, use the gear provided by the company, along with a larger risk pay packet and hefty bonuses for putting his life on the line in the name of medicine. He agreed on the spot. A new contract was signed and two weeks later Simon was on his very first deployment as a medical officer attached to a Federation Navy vessel, where he underwent rigorous physical training to meet the military's standards.

His first deployment is to the Lone Star, where he was to assess the vessel's safety, along with assuring the safety of his squad and keeping them in tip top shape. However, the details of who he was going with were sketchy, nonexistent at times, and though he isn't really looking forward to working with unknowns, he keeps his chin up, in the hopes that this first mission will be a success.

Quote: "Stay still, I'm trying to help you. Just keep calm, relax. You're safe."

Animal Instincts (interest check)

Interested. The furry in me is squealing in glee.