Avatar of FreeRanged
  • Last Seen: 2 yrs ago
  • Joined: 7 yrs ago
  • Posts: 11 (0.00 / day)
  • VMs: 0
  • Username history
    1. FreeRanged 7 yrs ago

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

I was into the Roleplaying scene a few years back but had to take a break from it to deal with real life situations that had arisen, as they do. Now I'm just looking to get back into the swing of things. I think it's fun, creative, and a great way to keep the mind active if you've got time. Looking forward to some great stories and some fantastic people.

Most Recent Posts

Field Post Alpha, 5 kilometers from Colony


There had been a fair amount of radio static that had interfered with the transmission between Doctor Randall and Jamie. This had stopped communication after Jamie had initially responded to the radio call from Doctor Randall. Static between calls was not a usual problem, in fact, it was quite unusual considering how hi-tech the gear was. That being said, Jamie was not a 'techie' so he did not bother trying to find a solution, rather he just continued on with his work. The task he elected to take on for the better part of the morning, and more than likely the rest of the day, was taking reports from the few Field Posts that were set up to find suitable habitats for the soon to be arriving species, as well as to monitor the status of the ones currently living on site. The first stop was Field Post Alpha. This post was on the out lying range of where the non-venomous snakes were deployed into the wild. Though there were more than just snakes and field mice on the planet now, those were the only two on the list that were still new enough to be monitored regularly.

Dust and sand kicked up beneath the tires of the Weyland-Yutani rover as it neared the Post. The rovers that they used on Hestia Prime were much more advanced than the one he had used in Africa when he was there. They were faster, easier to maintain, and had a sleeker look to them. The rovers in Africa had a nostalgic feel to them though and that was not replicated with these very new ones. The road from the colony to the first Post was the nicest and most developed of all of them. As much as Weyland-Yutani loved to colonize and make nice the landscape, they also knew the importance of a low impact on the environment these critters would be living in. After roughly two kilometers, the road that was paved slowly shifted into a dirt road and then shifted into a tighter fitting path. Trees, fields, and creeks littered the landscape around the Post. A moderately dense forest stood nearby the Post, you had to pass through it to reach it from the colony, and thus the colony was not visible from Alpha.

This first Post was nothing special, it was just like any other and all the rest. A large concrete wall, standing as tall as two men, surrounded four buildings. The first building was the research portion of the Post. This is where the computers, data, and other equipment was stored, and where a good portion of one's time in Alpha was spent. Two of the other buildings were dormitories with three rooms each and a toilet for overnight researchers. The fourth building was a small cafeteria, essentially. It was nothing special, it was simple, but it was what Jamie was used to and he loved being there. The road accessed the Post via a gate on either side, for coming and going. It opened as the rover approached. Field Post Alpha was empty today. There were no researchers there and no field workers hard at work. It was just Jamie now.

The rover came to a halt next to the research building. The sleek driver side door opened, metal glistening in the sun, and Jamie stepped out from it. The smell in the air was natural, it was lovely for Jamie. The weather was not so bad either, a tad warm but with a nice breeze coming through infrequently. Clouds gathered in different sectors of the sky but these were not rain clouds signaling a downpour. The sun was unobstructed. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of the rover door closing and of the electrical systems powering the Post. Jamie was in his natural environment now.

Inside of the research building it was cool, the air conditioning was hard at work. There were a few desks spread out with different computer systems and notes from the scientists working maybe a day or so prior. The floor was a silvery gray shade, metal. The walls were no different. There were a few windows casting light in, but not enough to completely illuminate the room. Jamie switched a light on to remedy this. The lights flickered at first, hesitant to come to life, but then they erupted and filled the room with light. The nearest desk held the weekly report that was Jamie's to read. He casually strolled over to it and retrieved what he had came for. This report was a quick read, which was always a good thing. Only updates on population numbers and expansion of natural ranges. There was no distressing news in this report.

Once the report was read and collected, Jamie made his way back from the building. He switched the lights off again, casting darkness back into a fair amount of the room. The next stop on his list was Field Post Foxtrot, this one was a bit of a drive. Due to the large amount of distance between himself and the colony that was going to be had once he arrived at Foxtrot, Jamie was required to report in to the Security Force. This was a safety precaution as a while back someone had taken a nasty fall and was left alone for a day and a half before being found. Jamie was only required to report his destination and estimated time at Foxtrot. Using his right hand Jamie pressed a few buttons on the panel of his rover, opening the frequency, and made his report.

"This is James Lancaster. I will be departing for Field Post Foxtrot. I shouldn't be more than an hour or so out there. I'll radio in within two to let you know I haven't fallen victim to a sudden tree falling on me or something like that" he joked.
Internet went down last night whilst writing my post, but I finished it and saved it onto my laptop. So I'm posting now.
I got sucked into a bunch of work related things, so I had very little free time. That being said, I'd like to get an IC post up by the end of today.
Once Hart posts I will post as well. I'm still around!
7:20 AM, Office of James Lancaster


The business of animal translocation was, in the past, not a widely accepted one in the biological fields. In fact, Jamie remembered reading papers and studies and thesis' written back many years when the process was first being trialed. Of course back then the scientists and doctors were only moving a species from one continent, or country, to another. Today, Jamie was being cast in the roll of a scientist moving a species native of Earth, to another planet. Even with the terraforming, this would still prove to be a difficult feat. Insect species and a small number of reptiles had already been successfully introduced to Hestia Prime but it was time for something new, something bigger. This is why Jamie had been brought through space. With the insects and reptiles here, it was time for birds and smaller animals. The avian world was not one Jamie preferred to work in, nor was he the most well-versed. But there were enough scientists and doctors with enough variation in their backgrounds for this to not make much of a difference. What area did interest Jamie was the small prey animals he would be introducing soon enough. Squirrels, rabbits, and he was even lucky enough to get some raccoons. The latter took some smooth-talking but it worked out. Jamie was beyond excited to get working on this project, in a general sense. Today he was just today.

Before Jamie had a chance to open the manila folder on his desk, an intruding knock erupted at his door. Without beckoning the person in, the door opened and they entered. Standing in the doorway was one of the scientists that Jamie knew well, a good friend and colleague. The man was wearing his typical outfit on a workday. This consisted of clean, always clean, blue denim jeans, a white company shirt, and his lab coat. Jamie also could not help but notice that the man was wearing an interestingly sharp pair of dress shoes. The footwear they were supposed to wear daily was not supposed to be that formal.

Jamie brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead and did a very informal salute. The other scientist raised both of his index fingers from his hands which were sitting near his waist. It was Doctor Vang, Derrick Vang. The man was Asian-American, brought in a few months after Jamie. The two both loved American sports and enjoyed a drink, they got along well from the get-go.

"What's up Derrick." the normal greeting between the friends, "you look to be in a lot better shape than me this morning. Hope you are because I've got a fuck ton of data from the field for you to go through while I go collect more". Normally this was not how Jamie would speak to another in his department, but the two were close friends and often spoke this way. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe you'd feel better if you hadn't taken those two extra shots last night. Man you were already slapped. I guess we aren't as good of drinkers as we were in our college days, if yours were anything like mine", he paused and they both chuckled for a minute. "That women who does corporate advertising was all over you too, what was her name? Alice or something right? I bet you didn't go home alo..." Jamie raised his hand and stopped him there. "Unfortunately I did, today is not a Saturday and yesterday was not Friday. Anyway, what do you need?"

"Obviously you didn't check your messaging this morning. Weyland-Yutani sent us a huge report on the status of our animals. Basically, to skip all the boring analytical stuff, it won't be long before you've got your critters running about" Derrick raised an eyebrow to gauge Jamie's reaction. "Are they serious? I told them I would need at least another two weeks personally for my data. It's like they expect me to cut corners. Well they're the bosses. Thanks for the heads up D", the other scientist nodded and left the room. Jamie would now grab the manila folder. All of the data he collected was stored in two formats. The first was in the department's data servers, which was the normal way. It gave everyone else access to read and see what he had learned and collected in the field. The second was handwritten and stored in notebooks or folders, this was where Jamie kept his personal notes and scribbles.

Each week Jamie had a large list of tasks that needed to be completed. Not all of them were time sensitive, so typically he would be able to space them out to his discretion. Today was a typical day. The task that he would be completing would be monitoring the development among the populations of the snakes that he had helped to introduce not too long ago. Originally Jamie was not a huge fan of this type of animal being introduced, but he did some research and was also convinced by others that it was best for the developing of an ecosystem. Jamie just thought they would slow down the population growth once the prey species' were located to the planet. At any rate, he had come to develop an attachment and love for the snakes. They were fun to find and very entertaining to watch. At the moment they did not have much variety in their own prey, which was not the best. But again, Weyland-Yutani had shipped them to the planet a bit early and that had not given a lot of time to the ecological department. Field mice were the top prey animal for the snakes at the moment, he had personally had a large number shipped to the planet. The snake to mice ration took some time to fine tune, but once it was, mother nature handled herself pretty well. The population of mice was not overwhelming and they were far enough from the colony that they were not often seen unless one or two stowed away in a rover, the same went for the snakes except the field staff were more cautious of bringing them back.

Another interruption stopped Jamie whilst he was reading his own notes on the snakes. This time it was a page, it was coming from Rover 8. Undoubtedly this would be Doctor Randall. The two of them had worked together a few times in the field and being colleagues in the office allowed Jamie and Doc Randall to have some familiarity. There were two options available. A video call with Rover 8, or voice call. Today Jamie did not feel like having his hungover face plastered on the camera for Randall, they would probably see each other later in the day so it would be easy to hide his state for now. Jamie pressed the voice call accept button.

"What can I do for you Doctor Randall?"
The sun was high and hot this day, with almost no clouds in the sky to obstruct the scorching veil. A gust of wind would only bring heated air as well as a plume of dust. All of this and it was still early morning. In the distance, very far but with a lacking of clouds it looked near, was a gathering storm. If it were not for the coming storm then it would surely be a hot day. But this was the usual for this part of the world, sweat filled, long, days. What animals were out and about were making their way from one shaded spot to another. There were surely others nearby, but they were concealed by a thick layer of waist high brush and clumps of trees. A recent drought had come to an end, one could see it in the faces of the animals and the look of the vegetation. A new green hue covered the landscape and the look of optimism could almost be mistaken on the faces of the indigenous species'. Storms had been frequent, almost one every week if not bi-weekly. It was as if they were on some sort of schedule and to be late was not an option. It was a gift for the locals, both human and inhuman, for it was saving them.

As the storm neared, a cooler breeze crept forth. Grass, bushes, and smaller vegetation leaned with the breeze. Leaves did as well but the tree trunks stood tall, unwavering. The air had picked up dust, carrying it to the sand of the parked Land Rover. The vehicle was originally white but rust and wear were beginning to show. Blotched stains of mud were above the wheels and painted the bumper and fender. The driver side window was opened slightly, maybe only an inch. A thin, quiet, trail of white smoke flowed like a creek from the inside. The source of the smoke was soon flicked from within the vehicle, a cigarette butt. Another flick, but this time on a lighter. Click. Inhale. Smoke trail.

"He will not come" a deep, African, voice produced this first sentence, breaking the silence.

"He will. I know he will." an American this time.

"De lion does what he wants, you Americans..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, Americans this, Americans that. Have some faith Sepou. I know he will be here. Another male intruding on the territory of his pride, and with cubs. We may be lucky enough to see the lionesses, fuck, lucky enough to see his cubs." the taste of optimism dripped on every word. "I am not usually wrong, my friend".

"Mr. Lancaster, you are funny", the sentence was followed by a brief chuckle.

The Land Rover sat idle, still in the serene African bush. Jamie, the driver, had been near this site many times before. Though his actual task was observing the habits and environmental interaction of African buffalo, Jamie wanted to learn more about how they reacted to predators. At first he started by following the herd, he called them the Lexington Herd, named after the street he grew up on. This yielded very little results. Predators often came near, near being a few hundred meters, but they did not often engage. So he shifted his gaze from the herd to a nearby pride of lions. The pride consisted of a male, Charles was his name, and four females with some a pair of cubs in the mix. This pride was of real interest to Jamie. Not long ago, when he first came across them, Charles was actually in a coalition with another male lion. Unfortunately the other male had made a go at the cubs which resulted in Charles removing him by force. Though this was a spectacle to see, it also saddened Jamie as he would have liked to observe male lion coalitions more, but it is nature.

No more than twenty meters from the Land Rover, the brush split and out came a magnificent golden beast. It was Charles, as Jamie had predicted. And as Jamie predicted, the king of this pride immediately sought out the intruder. Excitement burst from Jamie as he turned the key in the ignition. The rusted Rover roared to life, the lion not even paying any mind as he was completely focused on his adversary. Jamie shifted and the vehicle slowly lurched forward, he kept it at a crawl. As he moved towards the spot where Charles had just crossed, he spotted the other male moving in as well. Not only that, but they were going to meet in an opening in the curtain of vegetation. How lucky, Jamie thought. The two large cats closed distance. Posture changed. Everyone knew what was coming next.

It started with a roar.


Beep, beep, beep, beep

Jamie, now a few years older and more clean cut, slowly opened his eyes. The fog of sleep took an abnormal amount of time to clear from his eye. The alarm was still crying out to him. Though he knew that it was time to rise and meet his day head on, he liked the sounds of lions roaring more than an electronic system designed to drag him out of bed. Reaching over with his left hand, Jamie placed two fingers on a light blue panel on the wall, silencing the alarm. A bit of sweat had formed just below the hairline, nothing compared to what had been produced that day. He brought the hand back from the panel and brushed the sweat from his forehead, then wiped it on the leg of his pants. The morning had just begun and already Jamie was tired, not very enthusiastic about leaving the comfort of his bed. The night before had been one to remember, though he was struggling with portions of it. After a long day of hard work, he and a few members of the team gathered at the bar for some drinks. Though the night should have ended there, it carried on to a colleague's apartment. Oh, the state that that place must be in. Jamie chuckled a little then rose to his feet.

Every morning the routine was the same. Identical to the day before. Jamie would pop a pill to relax the muscles in his knee, though it did not pain him to go without the medication, it was just an inconvenience that was easily remedied. Then he would proceed to shower, take care of all of his hygiene related tasks, get dressed, and head to work. Today Jamie decided that he would going to wear a white t-shirt with his outfit. Not much variation there. A bit of sweat was gathering on various parts of his body, the usual when he rushed to get dressed and leave right after a shower. Resting on a table by the door was his Weyland-Yutani identification badge. Rather quickly he clipped it on, gathered his work materials, and departed for the day ahead.

The walk to work was the same every day, he took the same route. When moving to the colony, from Earth, Jamie had requested an apartment close enough to the labs so that he would not have to venture far and so that he could maximize his time at work. This was really just an excuse to spend more time with animals or working for them, it was his passion and his calling. There was one portion of the walk that Jamie enjoyed most, it was a sky-way between the building his home resided in and the labs. Both sides were paneled with glass windows, Jamie would often spend a few minutes looking out onto the beautifully terraformed world before him. This portion of the colony was exceptionally clean and shiny, the only bits of dirt that Jamie resonated arrived would be from his own boots in the evening or the dried mud in the morning. This was almost certainly true. The sun was shining today, not producing the same heat as Africa, which was a relief. As Jamie crossed from the bridge into the building that housed the labs, he would always take note of the sunlight fading and being replaced by artificial light. He was an outdoorsman at heart.

Very quickly Jamie made his way to the ecological labs. Daily he did his best to be the first one in there, today he did not know if he would on account of the hangover slowing his pace a few steps. Jamie turned down a hallway, at the end of it was a double door with the Weyland-Yutani logo on it, next to it was a scanner for his badge. With a wave of the badge, the doors slid open and Jamie entered. The lab was quite nice, Jamie spent as little time there as he had to. There was a small office located down a hallway that had his name on the door, he made quick work to get there. Once inside he breathed a sigh of relief, sat down onto his chair, and felt as if he was melting into a lazier pose. There were a few folders on the desk, Jamie preferred to take his notes in paper and pen. Each had a different label. The top one being labeled "Phase 1 Prey Introduction", Jamie place his hand atop of it.

"Another day in paradise" he mumbled to himself with a smile.

I am excited to get to work on an intro post! Also @Heat, what didn't you like about Covenant?
@Highland Hart, Sounds good to me! I figured that, at the early stages while things are still stable, Jamie would be searching out suitable areas for wildlife. @Heat has given me some ideas for animals that could be introduced to the planet. If you want we could trade some PMs before the IC kicks off regarding what animals the characters are actually working with.
I posted over in the Interest Check. I think I have finished my character, I feel good about it, but please let me know if I should change anything or if there are any questions.

@Highland Hart, I feel guilty for not reading any of the posted character sheet WIP's until I was nearly done with mine. After finishing most sections of my own I did read yours and realized that our characters are in similar, if not the same, occupations. I'm sure it's fair to say that Deacon and Jamie would be aware of each other but anything beyond that is up to you. Let me know, I'm fine either way.

© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet