Tortoise

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Tortoise@IceHeart Oh my God, that pirate's name is literally, Winky...dude must have some issues to land 'em a name like that.

@ShiningSector

Honestly, I originally didn't mean for that to be his name. It was just Carabello's nickname for him, since he winked at him

Most of what I write as Carabello is just his internal monologue- like how he called Du-Vos a "face-full of tentacle."

But you know what? IceHeart called him that and it's been up for a few hours now, so his name is Winky.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Tentacles are a bit freaky, aren't they? The way they wiggle on their own. Nick was standing just to the left of Ambassador Lunarius, who was in a very formal uniform and addressing the face-full of tentacle known as Captain Du-Vos. And Du-Vos was... big. But not quite big enough to take up the bridge's entire viewscreen. So when Francesca's eyes wander off to the side, looking at a very angry pirate with a plasma rifle, Nick's eyes follow her.

While Lunarius was gently breaking the news that, of course, the pirates will not be getting their bounty, that pirate rifleman was trembling with anger. That's not normal. Pirates are typically unstable, of course, and unresolved anger is practically a requirement. But most of them are still sociable enough to work on a crew with others. So what's going on with this one? While Du-Vos rambles about demands, Nick tries to subtly keep on eye on the rifleman.

And the rifleman takes notice. He meets Nick's eyes through the viewscreen. Before Carabello can react, the pirate winks at him, and storms off through a side door.

Now that can't be good. Winking pirates is never, ever good. It's something you see right before a hidden bomb goes off.

"So what do you think, Captain... Carabello?" Du-Vos was talking. He had a deep and loud voice. It was nearly as big as him. "Is ISA going to give me what I need? Or are 20 humans going to be on the slave market?"

Alright, back to the matter at hand. Carabello dives into the negotiations. ISA Credit payments, supplies, bars of gold (bit of a cliche), protection from the law, etc. This squid has a sea of demands. In the midst of it, Nick nearly forgets about Winky the Rifleman.

At least, until Winky comes barging back in. This time, he's not alone. There's a young human boy- maybe 10?- dragged by the wrist behind him. The boy is small, scared, and doing a very brave job at not screaming.

Until Winky shoves that rifle between his eyes, anyway. Then he screams. So does a Prize crewman, somewhere behind Nick. Winky smiles, in a way that isn't really a smile. Then he talks: "Stop. Stalling. Are you listening now?"

"Yes," Nick replies. There's nothing else to say.

Name Change Request

Could my name be changed to Tortoise? Thanks

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Korkoa
I was wondering if you would pop in!

Yeah, Beadle is super duper accepted. She actually fits in pretty well with our characters so far- she has an implant like Robin, she can talk to Cake the AI, and she has been experimented on like Francesca. But she brings something unique to the table, still, with the "electronic telepath" thing she has going on. I like it.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

I'm seriously loving the posts since we left the Situation Room.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

<Snipped quote by Jeyma>

The image used for our Prize is pretty much modified version of the in-game (STO) Enterprise-F which was an Odyssey-class (and somehow also a Yorktown-class) starship. Per the game's canon, an Odyssey-class is just under 1,100 meters in length.

@ShiningSector

Thanks for telling me. But honestly, comparing the Prize to the Enterprise was probably a mistake on my part. I don't really want us to be bound to Star Trek.

So, unless y'all have other ideas (which is fine!), I'm gonna stick with the idea that it has 300 folks. Plus enough room for all the shuttles and greenhouses and so on.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Actually that brings up a question, about how many non PC crew members are there? Elm has two assistants, and I can imagine Mason having a nurse or assistant of some kind if that's the case.

@Randomness

I was honestly trying to avoid this question for as long as humanly possible. I'm still tempted to drop some vague non-answer like "As many as you want there to be."

But alright. This has a lot of Trek influence, and the ship that I used as the Prize's image is a fan-made modification of the Enterprise F from Star Trek Online. I don't know how big that one is, but the Enterprise we see in TNG has roughly 1000 people

1000 folks seems a bit much. But, it would fit with Raylah's post that gave the Prize room for 7 greenhouses. It would also fit with Mason needing medical staff, because there are too many people for one doctor to handle. And finally, that fits my stubborn insistence that we have a shuttle big enough to carry 2 dozen people.

Still, 1000 strikes me as too big. So let's tone it down to about 300, with the space to have greenhouses, shuttles and other yet-to-be-named rooms.

So, TL;DR: The Prize is a massive ship with roughly 300 individuals on board

Everyone cool with that?

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

A couple of things I would like to knowbefore I post...for clarification purposes.

1) It's just Rod, the Doc and I in Alpha?

@MST3K 4ever

Yeah. Unless you wanna bring in some NPC Redshirts. A generic pilot or security guard, maybe?

2) Is it ok if I refer to Robin as 3rd in command? It's for posting purposes only. She would be like "Scotty" on "Star Trek" not looking to take command, but if pushed into service she will.

Basically Robin will be giving an order to Alpha shuttle for when she is crawling under the ship.

@MST3K 4ever

Mmm... that's a tough one. After Carabello and Korax, I imagine that the third in command would probably be Gue'rach, due to his experience, age and administrative background.

But if you need her to give orders, just have her be in charge of Alpha Team. In that group, she's the most experienced and even the most educated.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

she found this funny, as if Carabello expected her to go on strike and avoid watching particular areas of the ship.

@datadogie

Look, I'm just prepping for the inevitable AI Rights Movement. When Cake decides to jettison half the ship in protest, Nick doesn't wanna be on her bad side

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

But wouldn't smoking weed be like, cannibalism to a plant person?

@IceHeart

I mean, humans are biologically animals, but it's not cannibalism when we eat other animals.

I kinda do like the idea of our humble Groot girl as being a vicious cannibal, tho