Thinslayer

Star Trader

I think I've still got writer's block, and I am so, so sorry for making you wait so long! I came up with an idea, though, so the writer's block is going away soon. The Raving Maiden will be a repurposed Warp Fighter, a relatively small vessel designed for about 3-6 crew members. Made up entirely of SEED, Warp Fighters are a form of artificial life, complete with a brain and central nervous system. This gives them a tremendous amount of survivability and autonomy, at a cost of computational performance and reliability. Their substantial individuality is both a blessing and a curse; it can make them supremely capable or unfortunately stunted. The Raving Maiden is among the latter, designed as a combat ship, but with little of the mental capacity for one. Thus, she was robbed of her Q-Core (Quantum Singularity Core - a black hole, basically; an immensely powerful reactor) and turned into a civilian vessel.

These features are not broadly known, however. Warp Fighters are better-known for their transformation abilities (which the Raving Maiden lacks, due to not having a Q-Core), and are rather famous for their sleek and powerful humanoid forms. When the troops needed heavy armor and firepower on the ground, the Warp Fighters filled that role. Their designers wanted them to take on a more tank-like appearance for ground combat, but the humanoid form was the Warp Fighters' own choice, and the designers had little say in that. :P

In short, the Raving Maiden is a character all on her own. ;)

Our first mission: Locate the Raving Maiden's Q-Core!

Star Trader

I developed my username from a combination of my real-life physical build and my favorite Halo game mode - Thin Slayer. Very rarely do I play any games lacking combat mechanics, so the Slayer part is more often appropriate than not. I mainly picked it for the Cool Factor. :P

As for what to write...I can definitely see how you developed writer's block. I'm getting writer's block just thinking about what you should write, lol. That's what took me so long to respond your OOC post, actually - I was mulling over story options, couldn't think of anything, and forgot to reply. xD

Take your time, ineffable. We'll work something out together. ;)

Star Trader

Ed did not fail to notice Sofie's kindness when he woke up that morning. While he didn't mention it to her, ever since that day, the two worked together on friendlier terms. Ed wanted to learn more about her, but more often than not, homework got in the way, as did the chronic sleeplessness. They settled on a daily routine - Sofie made breakfast since she got up early, and Ed made dinner since he got back early. Homework they did together, and their instructors always complimented them on their quality and timeliness. When the externship began, Ed and Sofie were the first ones selected for starship duty.

Their first assignment was at the helm aboard the Raving Maiden. The transport's former helmsmen were arrested for Piloting Under the Influence, and their captain, Richard Darcy, was strapped for cash and couldn't hire an experienced crew.

"So we're slaves, in other words," Ed clarified, crossing his arms.
Darcy shrugged and slipped his hands in his pockets. "I prefer to think of it as a non-monetary exchange, barter, if you will. You get free helm experience, I get free helmsmen. Win-win! Come on, it's a sweet deal."

Ed gave him The Look, and held it for a few seconds before allowing himself to smirk. "Aww, okay, I won't push it. Deal." They shook hands and made to board the Raving Maiden. Unlike starships in other nations, where function took priority over form, Crescent manufacturing processes were so advanced that both form and function were attended to in equal measure. Thus, even a lowly vessel like this one looked more like luxury liners or battleships. The Raving Maiden was highly modified, with very little of her original baby-blue colors left on the hull, revealing the natural muted ebony of her semi-organic construction.

"Arrowhead on the base of a teardrop. That's what she looks like," Ed concluded aloud. "I've seen pictures of the type on the internet, bt never seen it up close. She's a beautiful ship."
Darcy gave him a laugh and a playful slap upside the head. "Don't suck up to me, boy. Go read the manual. It's over there in the glove box, under the copilot's console."

He turned to Sofie and sized her up. "Well well, what do we have here? Honestly, girl, you look like you could kill a man a thousand different ways with your bare hands. You gonna be okay?"

Star Trader

I'm also attempting to build a lego model of our starship in my spare time. Wish me luck!

Star Trader

Sweet! So, we need to do a timeskip, and I'm not sure how to proceed from the current hook. Tentatively, I'm thinking it'll look like (and this is a very rough draft)...

"Ever since that day, Ed and Sofie studied together on more amicable terms. Ed relied on Sofie for her remarkable intuition and superior knowledge, and such were her abilities that he often wondered whether she was really taking this course anew. Since they had much material to study, they had little time to develop their friendship, so by the time they were ready to board their first starship, they still knew very little about each other. They both applied for crew positions aboard the [ship name pending], captained by an old war vet named [name pending]. [More description pending]."

"Their first job was [to be determined]."

Still working on it. :P

Star Trader

Crud, I am SO sorry for the long wait! I won't pretend I've been doing anything productive - I've been on a World of Warplanes kik for the last week, and haven't had much desire to write during that period. I get on these "kiks" for a few weeks every several months, so it's kind of cyclical. My previous kik was was NieR: Automata. It's died down a bit now, so I'm ready to write again.

I have an idea. RPs rarely seem to use an episodic format, and I think it would help considerably, since it's easier to come up with a short plot than to map out an entire story for a human playerbase. So what I'm thinking is this: We'll come up with some interesting situation, create a short story around it, and wrap it up so we can start another short plot. With each one, the characters should be working toward a larger goal, which we can expand on bit by bit with each episode.

Down to experiment with me?

Star Trader

"Don't try to help, Edward. We are not deserving of it."

That was all she said.

Ed stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah."

He could think of no justification for helping people. They certainly didn't deserve his help in any sense of the word; if they did, any assistance rendered would merely be their due wages. By that measure, nobody deserved help. Even the poor beggar thrown to the street by bad luck didn't deserve help. He could not accept that. Perhaps the profit came on the giver's end, not the receiver's; after all, do not people feel better after having given generously? Does not a well-spent gift earn allies in the battle for life? But then, what does it profit a man to give in secret, so that the recipient knows not the giver? There was no answer to that.

"I guess you're right."

He turned under the covers.

Ed still couldn't accept that answer, though. The truth seemed so obvious, just on the tip of his tongue, yet so distant, that when it finally came to him, he felt a genuine sense of relief.

"It's their life," he concluded. "Their circumstances are their responsibility. And my circumstances are my responsibility. This is my life, and I have the freedom to choose how I shall spend it. I choose to help. That is all."

He closed his eyes and smiled.

"You spoke my name for the first time. I'm glad."

Sleep well, Sofie.

Star Trader

Dang, Sofie made a good point. The longer I think about it, the less justification I can find for Ed's actions beyond "I just feel like it." And if I have to think about it, so does Ed. I'll try to post soon. ^_^

EDIT: I think I figured out what his response should be.

Spoiler! Don't look if you want to keep it a surprise.

"It's my life. I am free to live it however I want, and this is how I choose to use it."

Fate/Kali Yuga

I still can't decide whether I want to play George Washington (wields an axe for chopping cherry trees), Wyatt Earp (wields a Colt revolver), Jacques de Molay (Templar swordsman), or a female character of some sort. Or genderbent variant of the aforementioned three. Got any preferences?

Star Trader

Professor Gregory Bahnsen explained the fundamentals of starship operation, couching his explanations of the controls in pictures of what they do. The class spent hours playing with buttons and switches on the simulators to see how they affected a ship. Then, after lunch, they shuffled off to a math class where they were introduced to differential calculus. They would come to use this material in their subsequent class, physics, where they learned how to calculate basic starship trajectories.

That evening, they returned to the dorms exhausted. Ed did his nightly routine - remove the outer layers of clothing (leaving behind his T-shirt and pants), take care of oral hygiene, do his daily devotions, and get to bed. Ed let Sofie take the bottom bunk, since it required less effort to get into and offered more security. As he lay in bed looking up at the ceiling, his thoughts drifted to Sofie again. He wanted to talk to her, get to know her better. But what to say? She was a tight-lipped individual, the kind of person who doubtless saw interpersonal interaction as tedious. Truth be told, he didn't blame her. Interaction was exhausting. But at the same time, it was pivotal to becoming a good trader, and it was an area she was weak in. This brief window of time when they were alone was a rare opportunity to engage her.

"Hey, Sofie..." he began quietly, "I've been meaning to talk with you about something. During that 'Two Truths and a Lie' game, I implied that my becoming Emperor was a lie and my being wealthy was the truth. Actually, the reverse is true. Everything I possess was given to me by my parents. I have nothing to call my own, not a penny to my name that I earned with my own two hands. Part of the reason I joined this course was so I could learn how to support myself. But it's not the only, or even primary, reason for my being here. The primary reason is because I aim to become Emperor of the galaxy someday. I need to go out there and see my future subjects, and learn who they are, what pleases them, what they struggle with, what challenges they face. I need to see the galaxy. Being a star trader lets me do that at my own pace."

He clenched his fist. "When I was younger, as part of my history lessons, I learned a little about the other people we share this galaxy with. The Terran people suffer under the thumb of tyrannical overlords, with no freedoms, little food, and no future. The Zeranian people live in decadence, suffering in their own way under the weight of their own cultural corruption. The Confederates have to deal every day with rampant lawlessness and piracy. But here? We Crescents enjoy a prosperity not seen in centuries. Our justice system is solid. Our military is strong. Our moral compass is calibrated. The people of the galaxy are crying out in pain, and we have the means to help them. That's why I want to become Emperor."

"What I'm getting at is, I'm serious about becoming a star trader. If I want to rise to the top of the galaxy, I have to first show that I can rise to the top of my class. What I'd like to know is how serious you are about being a star trader. A big part of being a trader is connecting with people, and it looks like you're having a lot of trouble with that. I was thinking maybe you could...you know...practice with me. If you're serious about this path."