Legion02

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Obviously, Avira is joining into that one as well.

Ocean Rescue

Interacting with: Charlotte Kirk_@Belle

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There were few things Elizabeth didn’t take well. She was used to hearing no. Every old guy her mother kept around told her no on so many things. And then she got what she wanted and removed them. Now too she’d get what she wanted. Still, she somewhat expected a no the second she saw Charlie. Of course, Elizabeth already had an inkling about who Charlotte Kirk would be. She had to be confident, strong and smart. Charlotte wasn’t just that, she radiated it. So when she told Elizabeth that she wasn’t accepting the offer, Elizabeth wasn’t that surprised. The million dollars was still planted in each and every one of them. That was just a matter of time. Sure, she hated the island. But she didn’t have to be here. Instead, she could just jump on her cruise ship and play the long game. Maybe but a private detective to dredge up whatever secret he could find about the people working there. No, there was nothing really keeping her here now that she had seen it.

But then Charlotte turned her back to Elizabeth. Suddenly all the rational thoughts vanished. Every idea of playing it long and patient were gone. Nobody turned their back on Elizabeth. Her mother did for years. Now she made sure that nobody would every disregard her again. So when Charlotte did what her mother did for years, something snapped. For a second she saw the image of her mother turning her back again and again and again. It almost seemed as the very air around Elizabeth turned frigid. “You will regret that.” She simply said, passing the wetsuit-clad woman. With rather forceful steps she made way towards the exit. With Sam close in tow.

The bodyguards gave everyone one last look and then walked behind Elizabeth as well. For now, she looked calm, controlled. Internally she was raging. She could barely keep it contained. Eventually, they reached the boat. Nobody dared to ask anything. They just got in, not even caring if Max was anywhere near. The bodyguards, ushered by Sam, went full throttle to get Elizabeth, who was no visibly seething towards the island, away. They couldn’t manage it fast enough though. Before anyone knew it she went to the locker, grabbed a pistol and starting firing into the water as she let a horrible, scream. The magazine was quickly emptied and everyone but Elizabeth took their hands from their ears. But the scorned woman still looked very angry.

They reached the inner dock of the mega yacht. “Move this damn thing closer! I want them all to see what money gives you!” Elizabeth commanded a random sailor. Who knew better than to question her. She went straight for the little office built in on one side. While small, it was thoroughly state of the art. With a fury, she barged in. Everyone inside looked up, surprised at the sudden visit. “Drop. Everything.” She ordered. Behind her, Samwell and a bodyguard moved. “I want all names on that board.” She ordered. Her voice calm but her demeanor anything but. The two people moved in to write every name on the board that they had heard. “I want everyone’s info on that board. I don’t care what it is, a maiden name. First boyfriend’s name. I want every little piece of data on them. I want their god damn DNA mapped!” She didn’t have to say much more. The people that worked were more than a little experienced in gathering data. The office manager though looked up from behind his desk towards the bodyguard. “Time to call in Hector?” But the bodyguard shook his head.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was placing a phone call:

It’s Elizabeth. My mother will be tired tonight. Make sure she’s not behind a laptop. In fact, it’s probably for the best that she gets an early night’s rest.
Listen… I’m not entirely comfortable doing this.
Is the pay not enough?
No! No it is! It’s just… I’m a nurse. This isn’t right!
You do this and I donate 5 grand to the children’s hospital. Anonymous.
Ok...
Good Girl.

After that, she hung up again. Her mother wouldn’t get the Skype message anytime soon. That gave her valuable time to get IT to work on her account. No matter what happened, Miriam was not allowed to know that Elizabeth was ruining Haven. Elizabeth didn’t want to admit it, but there were bylaws that made her very, very afraid.

Ocean Rescue

The rumble is here...

Ocean Rescue

Interacting with: Max Walker_@Kitty and Charlotte Kirk_@Belle
Mentioning: Naomi Jensin_@RisenSun

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Elizabeth let a small, sly smile slip. “Of course. Boys?” The bodyguards jumped back on the boat in an instant and put the weapons in a locker. Even though they only out for less than a minute, it became quickly clear from the appearance that they were guns. The bodyguards were soon right behind Elizabeth and Sam. Who was sweating in his suit that looked a size too big for him. Elizabeth felt a little offended by this person walking backwards. She wasn’t a savage! She wouldn’t just suddenly order her people to grab her! Not in broad daylight! And definitely not by the guys she had brought. Eventually, she learned the name of the person: Max. And the name of the boss: Charlie. She couldn’t remember a Max but Charlie was suspiciously close to Charlotte. The name on the contract.

At the cafeteria, the two bodyguards took position next to the door. Crossing their arms scanning the room. Everyone could see their eyes darting from head to head. Gauging their threat. The boys weren’t too worried about anyone here. Well except for Max. The bionic girl had barely finished her sentence and Sam was already rushing to get an apple. He started eating while he held it with his two hands. “Sam!” Elizabeth yelled for the whole cafeteria to hear. The man couldn’t help how he ate, sure. But she didn’t give him permission. She hadn’t told him to eat the apple. For half a minute there was a raging fire in her eyes as she looked down on her lawyer. Who quickly and shamefully put down the apple and didn’t move anymore. The raging inferno behind Elizabeth’s eyes vanished as quickly as it came as she turned back to Max. “Thank you for your hospitality.” She said with her usually, trained, sweet voice. After which she simply went to get a glass of water. The lawyer hadn’t moved an inch still.

Then Charlotte appeared. In a wetsuit no less. Everyone was sitting here, having breakfast. While she was already hard at work? She liked Charlie already. Maybe she could convince her to come work for Camwell Conglomerates. There was always room for hard workers. Her unwavering eyes only made Elizabeth want her more. “Ah… I’m afraid my mother has fallen very ill. Cancer. Inoperable.” She had practiced that sentence for months on end in front of a mirror and perfected it against so many business partners of her mom. It became the usual response. A dog of Pavlov sort of thing. People ask about her mother and she says that her mother has inoperable cancer. It sounded as if Elizabeth felt bad. But it barely raised her pulse. “But I haven’t come just to visit.” Now her pulse raised a little. “I’ve come to make an offer.” One you cannot refuse, she mentally added. “Ten million for the island. And a million for everyone working here if you agree.” She said loud enough so everyone in the hall could hear it. Elizabeth hadn’t been wasting her time in the cafeteria. Some wouldn’t need the money. But there were others. For a second her eyes looked over Charlotte’s shoulder straight at Naomi. She looked very young. Young enough to have student debt. Young enough to believe that a million could really help her out. The million per worker was not just an act of charity. There were always people strapped for cash. They were her seeds should Charlotte refuse. Sooner or later someone would voice their desire for a million. Money was such a versatile tool.

Besides, the girl looked kind of cute. Her eyes focused back on Charlotte. “So what do you say?” Elizabeth was positively beaming right now. There was certainly something predatory about everything she said so far.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

@GreivousKhan I can say with certainty that Aivira will come in to take him to Aurax for safe-keeping against the current established Senate. As said, Aivira is fiercly loyal and will send out people to find the Emperor's children or anyone who is close family of the Emperor.

Ocean Rescue

I too am genuinely glad this RP exists. As 2plus said, it's so different from everything else. The cherry on top for me is that I get to play the villain. Something I love but I'm rarely allowed to do in other RPs.

Ocean Rescue

Interacting with: Max Walker_@Kitty

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The three security guards sprung alive when Max appeared on the docks. As if they were ready to jump the second Max would do something ill-advised. When she asked what their reason for being was, the lawyer stepped up. “I am the representative of Miss Camwell. We are here to exercise our right of the contract under section 7, header b, subsection three, second paragraph, third line from the start.” He said with a voice that Elizabeth could only describe as ratty. He even looked like a rat and a sick one at that. With his disheveled suit, wisps of hair, his foul taste in food and horrible manners. She scrapped him from the barrel of Harvard Law graduates. Now he was the best corporate lawyer money can buy. The guy wouldn’t win any juries though.

“That is quite enough now, Samwell.” She said with a surprisingly friendly voice as she took off her sunglasses. “We aren’t here for any trouble, I can assure you that.” Elizabeth stepped forward. She had practiced her smile for months when she was young. Now nobody could tell if it was fake or not. The fake friendliness she gained when forced to go to galas she hated, talking to people who saw her as a child. The whole façade made Elizabeth dangerously good at appearing friendly. But under the nice, warm smile hid her real version. One that had calculated this first meeting to the second. The two guards were meant for nothing more than physical posturing and even some intimidation. Who on the island would attack her anyway? They were civilized scientists. The lawyer speaking was meant for even more intimidation. Nothing frightened normal people more than hearing about a contract that could be thicker than a book. One that a lawyer had all the time observing while they barely heard of it. That’s how she took over companies foolish enough to take her money. One slip-up in the bylaws and it could all be ripped out of your hands.

“I’m Elizabeth Camwell. There is a… admittingly long and boring story behind why I am here exactly so I will try to keep this short. You may have heard of my mother: Miriam Camwell. She gave up this island for this…” she looked over the water towards the bungalows and the roofs of the other buildings in the distance. “… facility.” She hoped that would come over well. She had no idea what Haven actually did. “However my mother fell rather ill recently so she gave the company over to me. And as the contract that gave up this island to you is in the name of the company, I can now exercise my rights.” The words came out as if they were dictated and prepared. Several times over. All the while she spoke she kept stiff and strong. Though now she visibly relaxed as she let out a heavy breath. “Ugh, this weather really doesn’t work well with corporate speech. I assure you, it’s all way less bad than it sounds. One part of the contract states that the CEO can come visit this facility whenever they want.” This was true though.

Elizabeth remembered the reason behind it. The old woman loved swimming with the sea animals and seeing how well they were cared for. That’s what she told Elizabeth. To Charlotte, Miriam had confided another part of the truth. Very late in her life she realized how little attention she gave her daughter. They still talked and both sides were friendly about it. But Miriam could feel that her daughter didn’t share what a daughter would usually share with her mother. She never saw her graduate or cry about her first break-up. Miriam had never been in Elizabeth’s life. Now it was too late to reconnect. Instead, she wanted to do something else. Though in her old, somewhat frailer state she could hardly care for animals. Haven saved her from her own guilt. That was the truth she had told Charlotte. And that was why she loved to come over sometimes. To see the care and love. To be part of it in the smallest of ways. She kept that section in the bylaws as an act of hope for her daughter that when Elizabeth would find the island, she could visit it as well and witness its splendor. So maybe her little girl could realize what she realized so many years ago.

Elizabeth did not realize it. “And I want to make your boss an offer.” She added. “Ten million for the island. Oh and a million for everyone working here.” She said a million as if it was barely an inconvenience. She said ten million as if it was ten bucks. But Elizabeth meant the number. Who could resist a million bucks? Who could resist ten million!? The visit would soon be over. Obviously, she’d throw a party on her cruise near Haven then. To celebrate its acquisition. After that though, she’d never set a foot on the island again. “So if you’d be so kind, could you show us to the boss of this place?”

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

@GreivousKhan Played it, loved, should probably play again. It was the first RPG I've played (aside from RS). Though little 13y old me probably did not appreciate the story as much as he should. I remember the scar-in-the-force dude though I don't remember him nullifying the force around him. It's possible he did tho! I may have glossed over it as I was feeling like a dual lightsaber bad-ass.

EDIT: Just a question for you all. Is my description of the Vacare their stuff sufficient? Did anyone have anything else in mind? Do you want to add to it?

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

I only now just realized how close Order of the exalted Suns, the anti-Vacare guys, are to my place which I'm making Vacare central.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

To be frank with you all, I didn't really have anything betters to do and I greatly enjoyed writing this:

Vacare Powers explain

Branches

Navigation of the Void

Probably the most well known use of the Vacare powers. While they are no longer unique in possessing this ability, several ideologies would prefer their hands to be in a living, breathing entity rather than a vat-grown brain. Vacare’s understanding and interaction with the Void allows them to lead ships through spaceplanes between systems. What exactly forms these lanes is yet unknown. The navigation of the Void appears to come natural to most Vacare. Relative little time studying the Void and their powers is required to safely guide a ship from system to system. Due to the low danger and generous pay of the job, many who hold Vacare potential chose to never advance beyond Navigator. Recently Vacares have been suggesting alternative methods of navigation. Where they abandon the safety of the established spaceplanes and travel directly through the Void. However, the dangerous of this kind of transportation and navigation have been shown by the Order of The Exalted Suns. Where nearly a whole expedition was lost.

Mentalism

Named after the focus upon mental powers, the mentalism branch of the Vacare powers encompass many disciplines. Ranging from empathy for diplomats, to dread for integrators. Mentalism allows Vacare to delve in the minds of others through meditation. This can be done passively to gauge a person’s emotions or actively to alter their thoughts. Vacare diplomates are sought all through the Empire for their ability to gauge the probability of a deal. As well as to read the minds of the other party to see what they truly want. Interrogators often apply their powers more aggressively. Either by forcing illusions upon the brain of their victim, making them feel, see, hear and smell things that are not real. Or by directly delving into the memories of a subject to retrieve the memories. Strong Vacare are even to control the part of the brain that controls motor functions to such an extend that a body becomes a puppet while the mind fights the control. The greatest Vacare around are able to control even the brain as a whole. Though this clearly requires uninterrupted focus and can only be maintained for several minutes at best. Upon discovery of mentalism, a great many institutions developed ways to fight this control. Mental conditioning and training was enough for soldiers to fight off any mental control during combat situation. Others created circlets using certain traditional technology or parts of a cloned Vacare brain to fight off mentalism. However, much like digital or physical defense, mental defense is very much a matter of probing and finding weaknesses.

Physicism

The realm of Physicism governs all Vacare powers that manipulate reality in one way or another. The most obvious, well known and most spread use is telekinesis. Where a Vacare can apply force upon objects. The manipulation of the solid state of matter appears to be the easiest to master. As many younger Vacare accidentally end up using this power from a young age. Liquid state control requires exponentially more control. Theories of why diverge though Aivira claims this is because with matter, one can simply exercise force upon one point. While with liquid force must be spread over a surface, creating a forcefield. So far telekinetic control over gas has had none to negligible results.

Visism is the second sub branch of phycisim. It is certainly the most variable branch as it can manifest itself almost entirely unique within each Vacare. Though similarities can be drawn. Vis is the force that can be drawn from the Void. While Vacare’s understanding can and often does vary, a certain level of comprehending the concept is required. This power can then manifest in several ways. Lightning and fire are two very common applications. The third most common is often referred to as Voidmass. It is theorized that Voidmass is Vis directly manifested. Though due to the sometimes very divergent understandings of Voidmass of several Vacare, it is very hard to be sure of anything. Other forms of Visism exist. Especially as many older Vacare, upon discovery of their powers become reclusive and go on a journey to discover their powers on their own.

It is to be noted that Physicism is the favorite branch of any and all directly offensive Vacare. This has led to a centuries of research into negating these powers. With little to no success (certain technologies have been develop to nullify phyicisim. However, it often requires the application of a shackle-like device. Which means it is next to useless on a battlefield. Less so for arrests). This changed with the creation of the Order of the Exalted Suns. Or specifically with the Knights of Null, who somewhat are able to deny a Vacare access to his magic. Very little is known on how they do this.

Mysticism

The Mysticism branch is by far the most variable, chaotic and incomprehensible branch. It is often used to classify facilitations of the Void’s power that are not home in Phyicism or Mentalism. The most well-known sub branches are pre-cognition and divination. Under pre-cognition, we understand the ability to predict or see a ‘vision’ of an event that will happen within 3 minutes. Pre-cognitions are often surprisingly accurate (though not always 100%). Which makes their use in combat invaluable. Still, the accuracy and clearness of the vision very much depends on the strength, understanding and training of the Vacare in question. Divination is a much more ‘muddled’ branch that tries to predict futures much further away. While not entirely inaccurate all the time, divination is never a sure way of predicting the future. According to Aivira, divination’s predictions are not its primary purpose. The Vacare of Aurax have theorized that divination’s main purpose is communication with the Void. This would explain the sometimes alien, incomprehensible things diviners claim to have seen. Or the strange sounds the muttered when divining the future. But again, proof is at best inconclusive.

Invocation is the third most well-known Mystic sub branch. Invocation governs every act of pulling something from the void that, at best, can described as ‘an entity’. The most common (even though summoning is very new and highly uncommon) use of summoning is bind an entity to an inanimate object. This can something as simple as a carboard box. Though the entity will soon return to the void in that case. Recently summoners have put these entities in Hosts. Metal ‘bodies’ akin to robots with very little actual mechanisms inside. In the most basic examples, they use suits of armor as Hosts. This way these entities appear to be able to move. Communication has been one way only so far. The summoner can order the entity and mostly the entity obeys if it can. But when commanded to talk, apparently nothing happens.

Many more small branches exist. These small offspring are often underdeveloped and practitioners have a crude understanding of what they do at best.

Enhancement

As is natural with humans, Vacare have sought out ways to improve their powers in one way or the other. There are locations, for example, the Aurax system that for some reason allows a Vacare greater control over their powers. Which in turn allows them to learn said powers easier and practice them safely.

Petrichor

A psycho-active secretion of the Tantalum fungus native to the caverns and hives of Celestine V. It only appears on Celestine V and the planet is highly xenos-infested. Petrichor must be refined before consumption. The secret of this cultivation and refinement are a closely guarded secret of the Choir of the Subtle Voice. A Vacare Sect within the Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius.

Cognition Engine Anomaly

When the Aurora Foundation first used its newly created Cognition Engines, an accident must have occurred. Speculation is rampant and what happened is subject to a lot of debate. What exactly happened is unknown and reports are kept behind lock and seal. Never the less, it is well known that the sole ship to return housed several children of extreme Vacare potential unseen before. This has led to the belief that direct exposure to the Void could lead to greater enhanced abilities. So far this is unconfirmed at it appears that very few institutions are not willing to give up the manpower the resources.

Aurax Implants

While called Aurax Implants, these implants can be found all over the empire and can be manufactured by all. The first of these implants were manufactured at Aivira, hence the name. Aurax Implants are a safe way to increase a Vacare’s control (and depending on the model, even enhance it slightly). Despite not possessing the monopoly on the designs, Aivira is at the forefront of developing the new designs. Lately they have split up 2 branches named after their local Vacare ideologies. The Aineth Kairn Implant (or Kairn-Implant) enhances a Vacare’s Physicism potential while the Ither-Implant enhanced the Mentalism side.