((Edited some grammar mistakes from when I posted this in the EGS RP section...I just copied it from there last year. I also realized that when I originally posted this I forgot the description of the hangar and cargo bays _and_ James' private fighter.))

Alright, Qesun and Twitch know this RP and how it was run. For those of you who don't, here is a brief description. This is a space-based RPG, most of the characters will be pilots or captains of ships. You can be a pirate captain, a fleet captain, an admiral if you wish, a merchant ship pilot, some rogue pilot with a starfighter and a hyperdrive...whatever. This game is UnDMed...this does not mean "Wee, ultimate power!" This means that this is my game, but I am going to be playing and therefor not DMing. The only time I'm going to step in and do the DM thing is if your character is getting out of hand. If you choose to be the admiral of a sector's fleet and you send the entire fleet after another player's pirate ship...I'm going to have your next door neighbors kill your homeplanet and all of their sabatoge devices aboard your fleet's ships will succeed and blow all but your heavily damaged ship to oblivion. Other than that, you make your own calls, in the instance of player battles, you make calls on what happens to your character or ship. Do not godmode and do not constantly be in battle with npcs...or...umm...your missiles will explode because as they were being launched they hit inconveniently placed space rocks that somehow got in the tubes or the couple of pirate ships you were fighting will turn out to be the uncloaked scouts in a fleet of 10 capital-class destroyers...I'm not joking when I say I loooooove coming up with odd ways to kill people off if they're godmoding. I'll give you a warning or two, just don't do it though and you won't have to worry about it =D...Try to make multi-player storylines, singular storylines will get boring quick...SO Qesun, Twitch, and I had a great time with this thing as far as I know. It was really fun and was working quite nicely, it could've used a few more players though.

Next, please post your character and ship description here not in the character description area. This is unorthodox and I don't reccommend doing this, but in an RP like this we may be frequently checking character profiles. It will be easier to just go back to page one which contains everyone's character and ship description than going to the character description topic. You can put one up in there too, by all means, please put one here first though...before posting. Thanks.

Lastly, if I remember correctly Twitch, your character was one of my right hand men. If you're interested in playing you can come back and play as him. I'll make the changes to my hangar bay if you want to, just post your character description and I'll know.

Anyone interested, join in anytime. =)

James O'Daniel stood at the bridge window on the Forgotten Ages. He watched the starscape drift gently by as his ship's powerful engines pushed them through normal space on their newest run. He was a quick thinker, a good tactician, a man able to talk himself out of many situations, and a pirate. A human of a slightly muscular build, standing about 6' 2" with red hair and dark green eyes, this pirate was among the better looking of the scruffy bunch. However he didn't have the honor of his mug on a poster in any spaceports yet...and he intended to keep it that way until the day he breathed his last. He wore a long brown cloack, black pants, and a long-sleeved tan shirt, on either side of his hip was an always loaded laser pistol, just in case things went...ill.

O'Daniel's ship was a YDS Remorse Type Light Cruiser, heavily modified. His ship was manned with 31 of his best men, leaving 8 back at their hidden base. He carried enough men to have all six gun stations manned at all times, a man at both scanning stations, 8 engineers, 14 pilots (who, when not flying, were helping at other non-essential stations and engineering jobs), his lead engineer Skyp, and himself at the helm; he liked piloting his baby, and he did it as if he was trained from birth. The ship and he virtually became one. He was a pirate, a good pirate, and his ship ran at peak performance to make sure he stayed a good pirate, and not a dead pirate.

The Forgotten Ages was an "aquired" mishap with a rival pirate group, in which he and his crew just escaped with their lives and a new ship, he had spent months modifying it afterwards. The story goes that he was shot down onto the rival planetoid-base. His lead engineer, then just a teenager and exceedingly brilliant, had rigged their ship to make a very convincing fatal crash. They had run away while the search party casually went to the wreckage, not thinking anyone could've survived. Even more luckily, the rival group had just finished stealing the Ages, they landed it an hour beforehand in fact. Thus, they had been celebrating, leaving the Ages in a hangar bay, after their victory against O'Daniel, they continued celebrating, even more heartily than before. They haven't had a alcoholic-drink on that planetoid since...O'Daniel's men, however, have.

The 250'W x 500'L x 200'T cruiser was originally built for fighting, after he and his men were done with it, it could match fire with the best of them. The unmodified YDS Remorse models carried the impressive firepower of 20 medium laser cannon batteries, and 25 light ship to fighter laser cannon batteries along with a hangar at the bottom of the ship that could house 15 light fighter craft. James kept 12 G190 fighters and his own modified Y2000 fighter in the hanger, mostly for missile defense, his turrets could handle the rest. Once his engineers were done messing with the ship, it was a fortress. He replaced 10 of the medium lasers with 5 Heavy ship to ship phase cannons that he had been collecting over the years, and overhauled the hull and shields. The cherry on the cake, however, was the Doverian Destroyer Cannon, for which he had to remove both top aft medium turrets and his one top aft heavy turret, so in reality his turrets numbered 25 light laser turrets, 8 medium laser turrets, 4 heavy phase cannons, and his DDC. The ship was a tank, and he wasn't afraid to use it. But was always reluctant, preferring the way out where no-one had to get hurt.

The YDS Remorse Type engines were sights to behold. Three huge plasma burn sublight engines, set in an inverted triangle formation at the back of the ship. They took up about a fifth of the ship's length. Though they weren't the biggest engines that the cruiser could've had, they were certainly faster than a good few of them. YDS ships were noted for their speed while retaining their combat ability, this one succeeded with flying colors. Though he lost speed and manuverability when he installed the phase cannons, he didn't lose much. The hyperdrive system on the ship was just as impressive as the engines themselves, reaching whatever is considered more than average for this space RP's purposes...they're a little faster than average for a ship of this size.

YDS ships like to keep their trademark streamline looks, so all of O'Daniel's weaponry is hidden beneath hatches on the outer hull. Which was just fine for him, it helps keep prying eyes off of his phase cannons and DDC, which are illegal in this section of space, he didn't need the attention anyway. With a flip of a switch the weaponry could be out of it's hatches and tracking a target in under 5 minutes (plus five for the DDC at full power) including the time it takes to power it up. A phase cannon was positioned on the fore top, bottom, starboard, and port sides of his ship, most times two, and many times three of these cannons can be pointed at a target, 4 can only be pointed at a target infront of behind his ship. He only pulled the DDC lever if he ran into a ship he thought would present a small challenge, he didn't believe in waiting until he was almost destroyed then pulling out the big guns. The DDC was positioned between two of his three engines. The gun took up two thirds of the length of the engine's themselves, it emerged from a hatch like the rest of his turrets. He had 3 of his medium laser cannons on either side of his ship, and two on the aft-bottom side. Hiis light laser cannons were spaced out 8 on either side, 5 top, and 4 aft.

The one thing YDS's weren't known for was their shields and hull strength. James did the best he could, working with his engineers day and night trying to solve this problem, and eventually coming to a solution that provided a somewhat improved defense. He reinforced the hull in vital areas, such as shield generators and engine rooms, and he beefed the shields up a tad. But if he went up against anything big, he'd have to rely on mobility and attack, rather than defensive strength.

In addition to the hangar bay, there was a smaller cargo bay just foreward of it. The hangar bay started where the engines ended. It took up a space of 250'W x 200'L x 50'T. This comfortably housed the 12 G190 fighters and James' Modified Y2000, if the pilots got in there and squeezed everything together they could fit another 5 light crafts or a couple mediums. The cargo bay and hangar bay were connected at the foreward end of the hangar bay. The cargo bay's dimensions were smaller, measuring only 175'W x 150'L x 50'T. The cargo bay had an entrance on the port side of the ship measuring 150'W x 50' T, the hangar bay had an entrance on either side of the ship so fighters could take off and dock at the same time. The hangar bay's entrance measured 200'W x 50'T. Both bays had emergency drop-down doors that could be closed in case of a force-field failure. For the most part, however, the bays were protected by two way force-fields covering the entrances. The only time James had the doors closed was if they were pulling into Federation space with an illegal cargo.

Luna: Modified Y2000 Medium Fighter
Engines: Two Twin Y2000 Engines, hyperdrive capable
Life Support System Included Standard
Hull: Dextronium/Crystallinium reflective alloy plating, reenforced over engines and shield generator.
Shields: No Shields
Weapons: Two light phase cannons, single tube light torpedo launcher
Dimensions: 20'L x 25'W x 15'T

Yamato Drive Systems has been long known as the premium starship manufacturer. This old model YDS ship, a final gift from James' late pirate-father is named after James' mother. Though old, this series is still in wide use because of how efficient it is as a fighter. Maintainance costs are extremely low because of the lack of a shield generator. This is because of its unique hull. YDS has kept its Dextronium/Crystallinium alloy formula very secret. Dextralinnium, as it's been named now, is an extremely hard, reflective metal. Though expensive in large amounts, it's economical to make medium fighters out of it. Medium fighters are large enough that they can have a thick enough shell of Dextrallinium to discard shields, while not too large as to cost more than it would cost to include a shield and normal plating. This special alloy acts just as effectively as a shield against any kind of weapon up to a medium phase cannon blast, going so far as to reflect most of a light laser hit away from the ship. Heavy lasers and Heavy Phase cannons will make James sweat a little, but the ship is manuverable enough that he does not have to worry too much about them. Enough hits from light and medium lasers and cannons will weaken and eventually breech the plating, suffice to say, however, that James is very well protected in the ship. This metal also distributes heat exceedingly well. Even the cockpit is encased. James relies on sensors, nestled in the ship's core, to see. The ship comes with a sophisticated headset with two small "windows" infront of the eyes. The ship has a visual sensor, along with a standard 360-degree sensor. The headset looks a bit like glasses when viewed looking at James' face. It responds to James' head movements. In this way he can see as if his cockpit was not encased in a thick layer of metal. A targeting crosshair appears on his screen to tell him where his guns are pointing. The headset is voice sensetive, so there's no fiddling with controls to switch displays, and it works in a hud format.

The fighter's light cannons are mounted inside dextrallinium shells to protect them, they are both foreward mounted. The ship's torpedo launcher is mounted on the ship's belly,  down the center of the ship. It is capable of holding a 5 torpedo payload. It is also armored.

((Subject to change, I think I made a few balance changes or misc edits after I started last time...this is the frame of it though, it won't make any game changing shifts.

One more thing...and this is to make sure that you read this thing...please post your character and ship (if you have one) description then wait for my go ahead to post any story...this will keep this thing organized. People can still join in later, but if most of the players are on the same page it'll make it simpler. Please post in the OOC if you want us to wait for you to get a description up.))

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Curse you stumble button!

((Sure, I'll join again... but this time I will start solo and I may join a crew through roleplay. Anyway I still have Cassidy's Bio))

Name: Robert Cassidy (real name undisclosed)

Race: Agantian (Pretty much human in looks however there are some differences. Such as: the Agantian home world Xerecsus is a heavy gravity world so the inhabitants are built whole lot tougher and denser than most. Agantians can see a light spectrum wider than a human allowing them to see ultraviolet and infrared light in edition to the standard visual light.

The Agantian people are also highly technologically advanced and xenophobic; they will not allow anyone not of their people into their system which is heavily patrolled by their advanced warships.

There is one major problem that any Agantian who decides to leave his home system faces; the large jump in technology. Agantian ships do not have a standard control set up but instead are set up for a Vehicle Control Rig or for short VCR (explained below). Because of this fact no Agantian knows how to fly manually, they have never needed to. They also have a hard time dealing with some forms of lower technology. As a result of the xenophobic nature of the people they do not deal with outsiders. So and Agantian outside of the system will have a hard time finding such things as replacement parts, new missiles and torpedoes.

Description: Robert Cassidy is in his mid 30’s; his rugged appearance is intimidating with his short cropped hair, wide jaw and numerous cybernetic replacements. His hair is dark and wavy auburn and his eyes are metallic copper like every other Agantian, being an Agantian he is tough as nails and as strong as an ox. He is very tall, just under seven feet, broad shouldered and very muscular. All his cybernetic replacements are Agantian make, truly technological marvels. Robert’s history is shrouded in mystery, no one but he knows why he left his home world and he is tight lipped about his past. What can be told from his appearance and demeanor is that he has had some military training and that he has been in many fights. A decent shot with a gun he can hold his own in a blaster fight, but where he really shines is in the *** pit of his modified Lance Guardian, Agantian LRHF; Dortmunder. Robert is an ace fighter pilot, he can’t stand captaining a large vessel; he prefers a more personal relationship with his ship.

 

Dortmunder:

Alpha Class Lance Guardian, Agantian Military Long Range Heavy Fighter

[Modified]
Crew: 1
Cargo: Very Small
Armor: Reinforced reflective neuro-steel bulwark, a shiny black metal designed to reflect low to medium powered lasers.
Shields: 360° gravaton particle shield.
Engines: Xion pulse drive, allows for light and sub-light speeds plus warp capability.
Sensors: Full sensor array.
Weapons: Duel Vanquisher assault cannons, quad Destroyer class heavy laser cannons, and duel Sun Slayer torpedoes.
Special Systems: Mk.V cloaking device, heat masker, missile disrupter, and full neural jack.

Cybernetics:

Reinforced cyber arm (left)

Reinforced double joints with hydraulics (most joints)

Reflex Enhancers

Smart-link (connects to gun with proper modification which produces a cross hair within the field of vision of the wielder allowing better aim.)

Internal Data-jack with headwear memory

VCR [Vehicle Control Rig] (Connects the users consciousness directly to the ships sensors and controls allowing the person to “see” through the sensors and control the ship and it’s systems at the speed of thought. This is the main reason Robert Cassidy is so awe inspiring in his ship, no one without a VCR could possibly contend with his ability; he is not flying the ship, he IS the ship.)

Nickname: Tweak

Going Name: John Gran

Real Name: Eleron Alliqueri Nostican (Unknown to pretty much anyone)

Race: Relnian (Appears to be a humanoid with very light skin, pointed ears which allow them to hear sounds that are incomprehensible to the human perspective, feline eyes allowing sight in complete darkness, and varying colors of hair)

Racial Description: Relnians are a technologically adaptable, in the sense that their own technologies developed from adaptations based off experiences with other races, creating somewhat eclectic ships and space stations.  Yet there is a prevalent style in their ships, something that makes their ships look elegant and creative, expressing the creativity of the species, and these ships are able to be repaired relatively easily if you're a Relnian.

Relnians are a species of very intelligent beings, who usually turn into pilots, techies, explorers, or scientists, and their colonized worlds are characterized by places of high learning, medical facilities, and numerous experiments running continuously, day and night.  Relnians show a great ability to pick up knowledge and retain it, as well as holding a great desire to simply fix things.  Most Relnians are pragmatic in their dealings with technology, messing around with it until the object works; however long that may be.

Although the Relnian system is filled with scientific facilities, there is an incredibly dangerous aspect to it, the Relnian people have created advanced space stations which orbit the fringe of their controlled space, these stations acknowledging access codes and allowing entry to those who are able to give up those codes, they also allow for entry into the system if there is a suitable request sent to the station, which will instantly transmit it to the correct facility which will go over the request in detail and then request that the ship be scanned.  If everything holds up, the ship will be allowed into Relnian space, if the ship allows for the station to attach a probe to the ship, which will basically latch itself onto the hull and detonate should the ship betray its bad intentions.

Relnians have also developed a specific dampening technology which protects the innards of their space from detection, that protects them from long range sensors causing them to appear to be mere unnoccupied space, although their advanced protective space stations would tell otherwise, the way they are linked allowing near instant response to any invasion attempt.

Description: Tweak stands at about 5'8 and weighs in at about 120 lbs, if that, with golden eyes and short spiked blue hair.  His clothing is simple, wearing a variant of the mere tech uniform of the Relnian military / exploration agency.  His words are light, and he tends to be friendly and sociable, although he is highly intelligent and able to take apart most advanced pieces of technology with ease.  And yet, he has had training in nearly every medical field that he has come across, allowing him to do surgery and work with chemicals, create antidotes, and yet also develop high-grade explosives.  He is an advanced engineer who understands concepts allowing galactic travel, and can work with nearly any technology and try and improve on what he sees, as that is the Relnian way.

History: Tweak is the result of many years of education, including an educational period where he worked on a starship before returning to a space station to work with advanced electronics.  His people were experimenting with cybernetics, with no progress at all, their inability to mesh the nervous system with the electrical impulses of the machines were the largest problem.  He served there for several years before gaining access to an experimental Relnian ship, scheduled for a test flight, because of it's advanced space drive, which he gained a position on as chief engineer / secondary medical officer.  On the maiden voyage of the ship, it launched into space, and the entire crew died, something which Tweak has yet to understand, as he was knocked unconcious mid-jump, which may have caused his continuous survival.  The bodies of those who disappeared were nowhere to be found, and thus he assumes that something malfunctioned in the jump, and their bodies could be lost in any number of dimensions / locations in space.  Currently he is attempting to manage a ship which requires a crew of about 7, and although he has created programs which allow him to run the main systems while the ship navigates through space, he still requires aid in keeping the ship operational.  His goals include navigating back to Relnian space, but at the same time to explore as much as he can before he returns home, in order to fully test all of the systems on his ship.

[Ship Data]

Model: Numerian Class - RJ-7991

Name: Starflame

Crew: 7

Cargo Hold: Moderate

Armor: Neutronium-Based Electrically bonded metals, primarily armored because of the advanced sensor distortion technologies that the Relnians have created.

Shields: Electromagnetic Fields, built to catch projecticles, and can sustain light damage from lasers, although their secondary aspect is a cloaking system which makes the ship undetectable to nearly all sensors.

Engines: Four In-system drives, particle based, and one experimental Distortion Array, built for inter-system / galactic transport, Back-up Hyperdrive Engines

Sensors: Numerous Sensor systems built for detection on several spectrums, all slightly electrically based.

Weapons: Electro-magnetic Disruptor (Used to destroy the electronic systems on a ship), Dual Fusion Cannons, Quad-Assault Missle Array, Quad-Light Lasers, Dual Cutter Beams (Used to cut through hulls and space debris), Dual Grabbing arms (Used primarily for dealing with space debris, although there are some militaristic uses including Magna-lock grabbing capabilities)

Special Systems: Magnetic Cloaking Device, Experimental Distortion Array already mentioned, Long Range Communication Array (Requires parts that he doesn't have)

((OOC: He really does want to not have to scrap his ship, but he is willing to join a crew if there is one in order to follow his own goals.))

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"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

(OOC: I hope no one minds if I just jump in here.  I haven't written in a while, and I don't want my creative muscles to atrophy on me. I'll try and make it interesting.)

[Character 1 Information]

Name: Saundaharr

Alias: Zapps

Race: Svivreni

Racial Description: The Svivreni are a species of stocky and short humanoids. They possess a remarkable toughness bred by the harshness of Svivren, their home planet. The Svivren are heavily muscled, only average between 0.6 meters and 0.9 meters in height, and have a cranial structure that strongly resembles that of a Terran pony. They are almost entirely covered in short, coarse hair. Svivreni custom calls for adults to never trim their hair, which grows longest on the head and arms; Svivreni regard the thickness of one's hair as an indication of fertility and intelligence.

The Svivreni are excellent mineralogists, miners, and skilled engineers. Their expertise in the mining business is widely known, and many are hired on by corporations as prospecting scouts, or just as often to help design effective mining operations. However, few if any, would hire a Svivreni as a machinist. While the Svivren are remarkable engineers, they have a habit of overly complicating any mechanized object that they set their minds too. While the outcome of such dedication can be quite remarkable and efficient, it could just as easily blow up in your face.

Personal Description: Zapps stands at a whopping (at least by Svivreni standards) 1 meter tall. And though he is a giant amongst his own people, being only 3 feet tall in a universe of such diverse and tall species, one could easily take on an inferiority complex. His hair is a light brown except for some white mottling across his chest and abdomen. The long hair from his head (that reaches to about his waist) and the feathering from his lower arms (which is about 8 inches in average length) is somewhat stringy and always dirty from the engineering work he loves so much, but is a dark chocolate in color.

Zapps is usually wearing sturdy boots, loose fitting pants, and leather utility vest, but no shirt.  All about his person, his clothing is covered in pockets and pouches. Many of which, at any given time, may contain spare parts, tools, hardware, or any other number of random objects.

History: Saundaharr contracted a childhood ailment when he was young that caused him numerous health issues in youth, but most noticable about him is that his hair is stringy and and limp looking, the other being that he is a full three and a half feet tall (which amongst the Svivreni is a vertiable giant). He was a prodigy of an engineering, anything he worked with being made better than it was before, but couldn’t land a job with anyone. Feeling that with his freakish nature (by Svivreni standards) he would never make it in the homeworld, he jumped on the first freighter that needed a mechanic, and would take him, and never looked back. This was how he met up with JakTorr.

[Character 2 Information]

Name: JakTorr Ferrlo

Alias: Slider (Saundaharr tends to refer to him as Twitchy)

Race: ZeHethbra

Racial Description: The ZeHethbra are a well known, and well traveled species. They have settled on a number of planets in their own region of space, and have spread out to inhabit other planets along side the other species of the galaxy. ZeHethbra are most known for their almost natural piloting and tracking abilities. Even in space flight, a ZeHethbra has an uncanny knack for tracking down a mark. The ZeHethbra species has no less than 80 distinct cultural, racial, and ethnic groups that have developed due to historical and geographic variances. And while many non-ZeHethbra have trouble distinguishing between the different groups (to the casual observer, ZeHethbra seem to have only five or six major groupings), ZeHethbra themselves have no trouble at all due to subtle markings, body language, slight changes in accent, and pheromones.

ZeHethbra are tall, brawny humanoids, with a short covering of fur, and a small vestigial tail. All ZeHethbra have a white stripe of fur that begins at the bridge of their nose and widens as it stretches to the small of the back. The width of the stripe denotes gender; wider stripes are present on females, while males tend to have narrow strips, with slight 'branches' running out from the main stripe. A ZeHethbra's coloring varies by region and heritage, but can range from black to white, brown to gold, and even the occasional red and amber. In times of danger, a ZeHethbra can expel a "spray" that is blinding and unpleasant to the individual that is being sprayed.

Personal Description: Standing 1.4 meters tall, and lean but agile, JakTorr appears to be an average ZeHethbra. His white stripe breaks up into lightning bolt like streaks from his shoulder blades to his waist. His most notable feature though is that he is completely black otherwise. This has lead to more than one skunk joke, though never more than once by the same person.

History: Having always dreamed of flying, JakTorr had often taken his father hover-cruiser out without permission. It wasn’t long before he was offering his services on ZeHethbra as a short range pilot. From there he found himself being offered jobs as a merchant pilot, taking shipments between planets in ZeHethbra territory. After making a few lucrative, if not entirely legal shipments, JakTorr had enough to buy his own ship, and he did just that. The Star Duster was a piece of junk when he first bought it, and though many might argue that it still looks the part, the inside is much improved. On one particular trip to Svivren, JakTorr found himself hiring a Svivreni mechanic, simply because the maintenance of the ship was becoming too much for one person to handle and still be able to fly the damn thing. He hasn’t yet regretted his decision, but Zapps definitely gets on his nerves every now and then.

[Ship Data]

The Star Duster

Craft: Soderran Drive Yard's T6 Mini-Hauler

Type: Ultra-light freighter

Length: 50 meters

Crew: 2

Passengers: Up to 4

Cargo Capacity: 50 metric tons

Armor: Low-yielding ablative plating (provides minor protection against debris, only minimum protection from vessel mounted laser-based weaponry)

Shields: Type IV Deflector Shields (for frigate-class vessels, moderate protection against light vessel mounted laser-based weaponry, minor protection from vessel mounted missile weaponry)

Engines: 2 Rocthen FDS X-type engine assemblies, single Manjax 3500-series fusion core generator, Danai QRT117 reaction control thruster system (though all parts and systems are mostly low-grade, on the small frame of the Star Duster, it makes for an incredibly quick and agile ship)

Sensors: Standard sensor package, plus specialized ore and mineral detection arrays.

Weapons: 1 dual-barrel laser cannon [retractable] (defensive in nature, but effective against smaller pirate craft)

Special Systems: Top mounted manipulating arm (used for recovery and docking purposes), Fusion cutting torches(mounted to manipulating arm), Medium range sensor jamming equipment (prevents sensors from detecting the Star Duster, unless they close to within a very close 100 meters), Experimental PSFAG [Photonic-Scattering-Field Array-Generator] (an experimental piece of equipment 'liberated' from a science station, in essence, it bends light around a vessel, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye. This in conjunction with the sensor jamming equipment can make the Star Duster almost impossible to locate, when it all works that is.)

Intro

  JakTorr braced himself against the navigation console in front of him as the Star Duster lurched heavily to port, the shield generators whined in agony as they dissipated yet another laser blast. Trying the helm again, JakTorr growled and slammed his fist on the arm of his chair as the computer continued to ignore his attempts to regain control of his vessel. Slapping the comm switch on his control panel as another jolt shook his ship, JakTorr barked his question for what seemed the thousandth time, "Dammit Zapps! What's taking you so long? Where's my korrdink helm control?!"

  In the rear of the Star Duster, amidst a jumble of countless wires that trailed from numerous wall panels, Saundaharr was up to his waist in the ship's innards. Of course this wasn't saying much, considering his extremely short stature. But to be wrestling with so many wires and components with the pressure of two pirate freighters bearing down on him, all the while trying to keep his footing as the ship rocked from the assault of pirate weapons, made getting anything to work very annoying, not to mention difficult. As JakTorr's shouting came across the comm system yet again, Saundaharr shouted back partly because the engine room was noisy, and partly because he felt like yelling. "I fixing, I fixing, okay? Nasty pirates fire ion pulse. Scrambled everything! I fixes, Twitchy flies!" And with that, Saundaharr ripped another panel off the wall, grabbed a new dual-polarity flux damper and his fusion torch, and threw himself into the bowels of the ship.

  Back in the cockpit, JakTorr smacked the comm panel a little harder than he meant, slightly denting the panels surface plating. "Damn you, you little runt! How am I supposed to fly this bokcha thing without any control?! Zapps?! Zapps, what the blazes are you doing back there?" Silence answered JakTorr, whether it was from no response on Saundaharr's part, or due to the last heavy blow he had dealt the comm panel, he couldn't be entirely sure. Again the sip rocked, and this time JakTorr could definitely make out the sound of one of his four shield generators failing with a painful sounding whine accompanied by grinding metal. Checking his instruments, he wasn't surprised to find shield generator number three offline and not responding. However, finding out that his already damaged starboard engine pod was now almost completely exposed and undefended, was not the highlight of his day. Mumbling to himself, JakTorr made a last ditch plea to the Star Duster. "Come on old man, hold together just a little longer. I promise a full overhaul next time we see Neela, okay?" His plea was answered by a familiar, if unwelcome, voice over an open comm channel.

  "Give it up, Slider.", came the raspy sounding voice of the lead pirate craft. "Your shields are failing, you have no weapons, and you’re out of control. Pretty dire circumstances to be in just to protect some lousy crystal statues of abstract art." JakTorr growled to himself, wondering how Herlick had not only gotten a hold of his manifest, but had figured out that his filed manifest wasn't an entirely accurate reflection of his cargo. "Look Slider, you and I both know that you're not hauling art, so why don't you just lower your shields, power down your engines, and just let us have what we want. That way we get what we want, and you get to stay in one piece. How about it Slider? What's it gonna be?" JakTorr just stared out into the space ahead, calming himself and readying for his possible demise. Now would be a good time Zapps.

  Saundaharr ripped a burnt out control conduit from its brackets, and began hastily jumping the control cables to one another across the new gap. That done he pulled himself further down the access track until he was eyeing what appeared to be a molten piece of metal slag where a flux damper used to be. He tried the disconnects, but they too were fused into a single useless piece. Pulling his torch out, Saundaharr began cutting the away the conduits that connected to the ruined unit. Realizing that the unit was also fused to the hull plating behind it, he pulled the conduits loose enough to begin jumping the wires and cables directly into the new flux damper. It was while doing this that he realized that the ship hadn't rocked lately. Either the pirates had left, an unlikely event, or they were about to attempt boarding. Scrambling back along the access tunnel, he tumbled out into the engine room, and rolled to his feet. Swinging himself to face the engine control station, he punched in order to reinitiate the navigational control systems, and the same time hit comm button on his wristband, "Slider, try now!"

  At the sound of Saundaharr's instruction, JakTorr shot forward in his seat and grabbed the controls. Setting his systems for full manual, he punched the throttle to maximum and swung the Star Duster hard to port, trying to get the unshielded portions of his ship out from under Herlick's guns. A startled cry came from the comm panel as he did, "Easy Twitchy! I got engines working again on foil and solder. He not hold long with those maneuvers." JakTorr grunted as he swung again to starboard, this time with a half roll and some positive pitch, trying desperately to lose his attackers. "Zapps, the sublights were a nice start, but we really need to get the fotkar out of here. Get me FTL now!", and with that JakTorr set the navicomp to begin auto-plotting for the nearest spaceport.

  Saundaharr tugged at the ends of his long hair grunting to himself, "Augh, there no pleasing that fur bag!" Leaping over to the hyperdrive control console, Saundaharr began running three low-level diagnostics simultaneously. Glancing over at the hyperdrive unit that took up most of the aft section of the engine room, he looked it up and down. As far as he could tell, there didn't appear to be any external damage to the unit. At the alert of a beeping sound, Zapps glanced down to find that there wasn't any apparent internal damage to the unit either, and that all programs were running correctly.  Typing away quickly at his console, he began reconnecting the hyperdrive to the navigational computer, and again had to start holding on to something as the ship was once again being rocked by laser fire. The computer stated that it had successfully interfaced with the navicomp and was trying to initiate some function, but was unable to start the proper systems. "What? What now?! You fine just moments ago. Why you not work now?" The deck felt as if it dropped out from under him, and Saundaharr found himself falling face first into the mess of wires that now covered the floor. Quickly picking himself up, Saundaharr noticed something amiss with his hyperdrive unit. The main drive node at the center of the unit had been knocked loose and was now hanging by its cables. Leaping over to the unit, he lifted the delicate assembly carefully into place. As the assembly locked in, lights began to flicker as the drive unit came to life. Turning to go back to his console, Saundaharr cursed as the floor spun out from under him as the ship swung hard to starboard, and the hyperdrive groaned as it began to force the ship to hyperspace and faster-than-light speeds. "Ack! Twitchy! How man times I say?! No start hyperdrive 'till I say?!"

---

"Apparently getting your ass kicked is now part of a complete breakfast." - Roy Greenhilt, Order Of The Stick


- An Answerer of questions, and Questioner of answers.

And so it begins.

Anyone can start their own storyline at this point. Whoever's interested is here, and the only way to interest them further is to start something up. Go ahead and make up names of planets, space stations, systems, whatever, and have some fun. If you want to meet up with another PC, by all means, just don't step on their story's toes.

I'm going to moderate, but I'm going to be starting up a storyline here pretty soon. Happy RPing

---

"SATAAAAAAAAN!!!" --Alex

30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest like peanut butter; except grandma. She drives a Buick.

"No, I'm quite capable of dressing myself...where's my pants?"

Three Years Ago....

Sparking and fluctuating, the systems which lay before Tweak began to fire off a rapid display of numbers and letters, the sensors indicating that the Distortion Array would be hitting critical mass within moments.  It wasn't necessary undesired, as Tweak had been working with the device for about half a year now and would soon be activating the ingenious device.  It would hopefully pull through with the estimated travel plans, at least, as much as one would hope that they could follow as the sector of space designated was somewhere off in the horizon of space charts.  A location in space that is uncharted, the most interesting place in the universe to one of the most brilliant Engineers in the fleet.

"Hey Tweak, whatcha worried about?"

Interupted the charming captain, a man who was about 10 years Tweak's senior, and was probably one of the few people who was intelligent enough to understand something of what Tweak was trying to do.  The Starflame was an experimental design which had proven well in simulations, as such, Tweak and jumped at the opportunity of being on the first model of the ship - and probably the last model, considering the advanced composition of the ship required someone of Tweak's calibur to run it, and Tweak was the leading scientist in the project, in fact the only scientist whom had understood the concept in the slightest.  Maybe in a hundred years someone else would be able to comprehend his notes which he had left behind, but he figured that no one would really spend that amount of time on it.

"I'm not so much worried as I am concerned..."

"That's the same damnable thing Tweak! Ha! You have some strange things to worry about."

"I'm only obsessive when it comes to my work... if you aren't going to help Captain..."

The captain smiled and got up, the stuffy engine room being a place that few actually could find comfort in, and the fact that the control console was looking just a tad bit dangerous as it sparked and flared with great frequency.  Under no circumstance would the captain wish to grow nearer to the console after his first experience with it, managing to catch his uniform on fire with only the first few sparks...

"No, I don't think so... not again."

He turned and left in a hurry, giving Tweak a small reason to laugh as the room's lighting changed once again, flickering as the energy that the Distortion Array was drawing peaked, the entire system looking like it would be ready to either overload or pull of it's originally designed goal - to warp time and space in such a manner for near instantaneous travel between two locations.  It was based off a principle related to the cloaking technology that the Relnians had invented awhile back, and Tweak was merely looking at the theorems relating to that when he stumbled upon an equation that spoke to him.  That equation allowed him to design this entire ship, down to the last nut and bolt, and he'd be damned if he wasn't the first Engineer on the ship.  Although the entire project to produce the ship was top secret and even military, he pulled it off, and now here he was, waiting for any excuse to activate his final test, the test which would allow the navigation of the Universe which few could compare with.

"Captain, get the rest of the crew ready... she's starting!"

Shouted Tweak as he noticed that the Distortion Array had switched Cycles, finally prepared to act in the manner for which it was designed, and with the thwack of a wrench Tweak adjusted the control panel enough to stop it from sparking and fluctuating, making the engine room a far more cozy place.  At least in that regard.  Before he had a chance to even relax, he heard the sound of the Captain's voice, telling him the words he'd been waiting to hear for some time now.

"Start her up, we'll be ready for it!"

A smile crossed Tweak's face as he hurriedly adjusted his panel so that it gave the specifications of the Distortion Array, a device which few could understand, and it was lucky that Tweak: the inventor of it, was there to control and monitor the device through-out the next stage, where the fluctuating energy waves began to intiate the jump, and within moments the entire ship appeared to fade in and out of reality, and then, with a flash of light, all time stopped for those onboard the ship, then it all began again in super-speed before returning to normal, the ship lurching back to real space-time, deep within a new place, where the sensors instantly went to work analyzing the location.

"Uh... Tweak, you might wanna come out here and see this..."

"In a moment Captain!"

"I don't know that we have a moment..."

"We always have time."

Busily, Tweak started to check all of the systems, then specifically turned to the Distortion Array's panel, looking it over meticulously and considering it for a portion of time, until he turned again to look at the normal engines, where he hoped to activate them for a bit of exploration before they used the Distortion Array to travel back to the specified location; however, he didn't get that chance as the shields activated and everything lurched as Tweak felt the shields block oncoming fire, the sound of the shields on energy weapon announcing to Tweak the previous problem that had been an issue to the Captain.

"Captain!"

But that was all he got out before the ship tossed again, his face smashed into a console as the shields went down, the sounds of something attaching to the hull being his last lullaby as everything went white...

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

James O'Daniel sat in his helmsman chair. It was actually a rather uncomfortable chair to anyone but James, consisting of a normal looking, boxy, metal chair with thin cushions running from the top to the bottom of it. The chair was tilted back almost horizontally, the back was curved and the headrest set in such a way that the occupant could simply sit down and be looking straight ahead. If one were to describe it, a pod chair (one with a big disc and a cushion on a stand) would fall closest, however the chair had armrests also, not simply a disc. James, felt at home in this chair, in fact, he had had the previous chair, which was something more suited for a luxury resort, complete with a gyrolift base for no rocking or jostling if the ship was disturbed, removed. That chair was now sitting in his first-mate's cabin, a gift for constant loyalty and years of friendship. The new chair James sat in now suited him perfectly. He felt connected with the ship in it, alert, and safe.

The moveable flight control console, which James had linked with every other system in the ship, was sitting in its lowered "corral" centered at the front of the bridge, about an inch away from the shielded titaniglass view window, which stretched around the entire room. This position kept the console out of the way, but still easily accessable. With the push of a button the console would move foreward on two bars to a comfortable position just infront of James. There were also two straps to manually pull the console to the helmsman's seat, just in case. That was only used in tactical situations however, James could control everything he needed from the armrest consoles under his right and left hands. The console itself consisted of a flight yolk in the center, complete with a throttle handle and other flight control related analog switches and buttons, James preferred flight that way, natural, not computer generated. The console branched off on either side into two identical touchscreens. From those configurable to the situation screens James had access to every system in his ship. He could have navigation on one screen and radar/scanner info on the other, he could have split navigation and system/planet status on one screen and split ship system status/scanner information on the other...they were very useful screens.

James was now sitting  with his ankles crossed and his fingers weaved behind his head in his chair, staring into the swirling cloud of purplish light, like a corridor, which was hyperspace. He watched dreamily as they hurtled through space, well past the speed of light, and felt as if they were gently cruising in a landspeeder across sand.

He watched now as a star, a mature sun just beginning to turn into a red giant, began to grow infront of the ship, slightly to starboard. He continued to watch it, not fearing for his eyes as the ship's "window" was completely rayshielded, as the sun grew closer and bigger, then zipped by as they passed within an AU of it. He uncrossed his legs and hands, took up his flight position, and tapped the button to bring his console to him. It glided from its corral to him quickly as he reached out and tapped up a navigation map before it had stopped. The reading showed 5 seconds to hyperspace corridor exit. He tapped the map into nothingness and brought up his normal flight heads up display, which consisted of system, navigation and region, radar, scanners, and ship flight control related information, watching as the ship's velocity slowed. He let the computer handle the hyperspace corridor droput, waiting the remaining seconds then feeling the familiar slight tug as the inertial dampeners kicked into full...trying to keep the ships occupants from staying at an AU a second while the ship slowed to several hundred kilometers per second. Hyperspace being a thing of the past he slid the throttle handles foreward to cruising speed, around a hundred Kps and pointed the ship's nose to a distant speck now in the center of the window. Yuroi IV space station.

Yuroi station was a bustling starport, good for smugglers as it was an outer rim station with little to no Federation, Alliance, Legion, Catalyst, or Red Star police interference (These will be the 5 main factions in the galaxy, each control their own sections of space, each with its own police force, alliances, and regulations. I'll post a bit more about them later, but for now, anything anyone makes up I'll try to include in the final description.). It was truly neutral, a veritable haven for anything and everything shady in the region. These types of stations were scattered across the galaxy, Yuroi IV only being one of the big names.

The great thing about being a neutral station is that all of the big guns that were illegal in all five controlled space regions were fair game here...and most of them were somewhere on or around Yuroi. No one, but no one, started a fight with or around Yuroi...the station keepers didn't appreciate it, and if the ships involved weren't destroyed, the occupants knew never to try anything that dumb again. Phase cannons, Ultra-phase cannons, turbolasers, railguns, anti-matter cannons, ion cannons...anything. The police force inside did a good job keeping peace among the occupants as well. In fact, as long as you weren't looking for 5 star, Yuroi was a quite enjoyable place for the most part.

James continued to watch Yuroi grow closer, as the Forgotten Ages' engines propelled the ship closer to the mammoth space station. He glanced at his hud, which showed around 10 thousand KM, he brought up communications and requested a docking pass, which was quickly granted. He continued his course, slowing the ship slightly as they entered the security grid of the station, and waited for docking range. He ran over in his mind the supplies the ship and crew needed, the base needed, and he needed to relay to the crew. He then ran over his purpose for being here...which wasn't a bad thing, but he wasn't sure if it was a good thing. He hadn't seen the person he was here to meet in a while, and hoped he was in good health, and even alive to meet with. He continued his thoughts until the station was in sufficient range.

Pulling the throttle into the all stop position he tapped the button to retract his console. The ships foreward thrusters blasted to life, slowing the ship to a stop and turning it so its starboard was pointed at the space station, which now completely filled the window of the ship. Other vessels darted too and fro; docking, undocking, running errands, leaving the station and activating their hyperdrives...etc.

James stood and walked toward the bridge turbolift. He tapped his communicator, calling up his first-mate Robert Cassidy, "Robert, we've arrived. I'll meet you in the hangar bay whenever you're ready. Take your time, I have to prep the Luna for takeoff anyway." He waited for a reply as he talked to his commander, "Thad, you've got the bridge. We're going to be here a couple of days, so there's no rush on anyone. There's some maintainence things to do in engineering, talk to Slip, and I've left the supplies list in the main computer database. Assign some people to the duities, after they've been finished everyone deserves a break. Half shifts for normal ship upkeep, anyone not on a shift has leave." Thad smiled and tapped his forehead with the side of his index finger, "Will do Cap." With that James entered the turbolift with a "Hangar Bay" command to the computer. He waited then for Cassidy's reply.

---

"SATAAAAAAAAN!!!" --Alex

30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest like peanut butter; except grandma. She drives a Buick.

"No, I'm quite capable of dressing myself...where's my pants?"

((OOC: I can’t really think of a way to get Cassidy into the game, originally I was going to have him start as a bounty hunter like I did on the Edge of Infinity board when we played this but now I’m playing Rutgar and I don’t want to play two bounty hunter characters, perhaps we can have him be a part of your crew again MM. Last time he was like first mate I think but since you already have one he will have to fill a different roll, Head Security Officer, Flight Group Leader, Senior Armsmen, Personal Bodyguard, Public Relations (Firefly joke… :D) or whatever… ))

   JakTorr finally heaved a sigh of relief, once he was certain that the ship had made the jump into hyperspace in one piece. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes and thanked the stars that he had once more eluded an early demise. And though he had no doubt that his skills would hold out for many more years to come, the Star Duster’s hull plating was a different matter. Just as he was thinking of how much it was going to cost to repair the shield generator, and do permanent repairs on all the affected systems, he heard a familiar tapping sound from out in the hallway that led into the cockpit. Saundaharr was coming, and guessing by the sound of it, he apparently had his hair in a knot about something yet again. The door to the cockpit whooshed open, and sure enough, little brown Saundaharr came huffing in.

 

   Pointing, and vehemently shaking, a stubby forefinger at JakTorr, Zapps launched into the admonishment that had begun burning him since they had jumped to hyperspace. “I tell you hundred times before! You can no just crank hyperdrive like that! It need time to ready. Plus, you never plot course with drive offline. It could plot bad, send us on sun dive. That what you want Twitchy?”

 

   JakTorr rolled his eyes, then settled his gaze on the ranting engineer. “Look, it was either fire the damn thing up as soon as possible, be boarded by Herlick, or worse. The way I saw things, having the ship fly itself to pieces was much less likely to happen, than was Herlick’s chances of blasting us to pieces. Kind of a lose-lose situation however you look at it, but yet again we won.” Glancing down again, JakTorr saw a sneer of reluctant acceptance come over Saundaharr’s face, so at least he had calmed down enough to admit that jumping was the right thing to do. “And I’ve told you before, don’t call me Twitchy.”

 

   Saundaharr stepped over to the engineering station, and sitting in the chair that rested near the floor, pressed a button on the arm that caused the chair rise up from the deck plates on a metal arm, until it was of proper height for him to access the control panels. “But you are twitchy, Twitchy. You open mouth when is best kept shut, you shoot from hip when need be sneaky, and you fly Star Duster like it a stunt fighter. You too antsy for own good.” And with that, Zapps turned to his panels and began to conduct the various tests and diagnostics on the ship to determine the full extent of the damage they had taken. Glancing off to his side while it got underway, Saundaharr noticed the comm panel. “What happen to that panel?” he said, pointing it out as if JakTorr didn’t already know exactly which panel he meant.

 

   JakTorr through his hands up towards the ceiling, “Alright, alright. I get the point, I need to calm down, and take it easier on Star Duster. It just gets a little agitating up here when he goes out of my control, you know. Look, we’re alive. We’re alive, and we still have our cargo, which means that once we get to Talos III we’ll have a lot more money than we do now. Altogether a very profitable day, I’d say.” Smiling quickly, if somewhat forcefully, JakTorr spun his chair to look back out the windows to watch the streaks and blurs of hyperspace float by. Saundaharr huffed to himself, and went back to tapping at the diagnostic readouts, grumbling every time something new came up. Secondary cooling vents, starboard engine pylon and its supports, and the number three shield generator would all need replacing. As well as countless other small components that would’ve been fried when they were hit by that ion pulse. Grunting at the extent of small component damage, and the relative low amount of damage to the more expensive parts of the ship, Zapps supposed he should consider himself lucky.

 

   Deciding to get a jump on the chores that lay ahead, Saundaharr began making a list of the items and parts that he would need to procure. He had just entered in the need for a whole case of plasma conduits when a thought struck him. He had no idea where they were headed. Spinning his chair around to face Slider’s back, he inquired as such.

 

   “Slider, where we headed anyways?”

 

   JakTorr looked up sharply, as if he had begun to doze off whilst space gazing. “Ah, what? Sorry, what’d you say?”

 

   “I say, where we headed. I got to get new stuff to fix busted old ship. I was wondering where we headed. So I plan acquisitions list accordingly.”

 

   “Oh, uh, right. Well, in the heat of it all, I didn’t have time to actually plot anything specific, so I just had the navicomp plot for the nearest port.” JakTorr left it at that, hoping that Zapps wouldn’t do the math, but he always did.

 

   “But we in middle of nowhere, Slider.”, he said, almost cautiously.

 

   “Um, yes. That we are.”  JakTorr started to undo his safety restraint, preparing for a swift exit from the cockpit.

 

   “JakTorr. The only station capable of handling freighters, this far out from regulated lanes, would be…”, the words trailed off as a look of disbelief came over Saundaharr’s face, and JakTorr started to slowly stand to exit, but all too late. Zapps was standing in his chair and tugging at the ends of his hair. “Are you out of MIND?!?!” JakTorr raised his hands in a defensive posture, as if to ward off Saundaharr’s verbal assault upon him. “Kor’tann Slider, last time we at Yuroi IV we left in big hurry, unless you forget that!”

 

   In fact JakTorr remembered all too well the events that transpired the last time they had visited the station. “No, I’m not out of my mind, and yes I remember what happened last time. And if I recall correctly, you were the prime reason we had to high tail it out of there.” Satisfied that he had successfully turned the argument around, JakTorr crossed his arms and leaned back against a bulkhead. That was when he saw that Zapps had curled up his fists and planted them square on his hips. A sure sign that he had chosen his position and wasn’t about to back down, which usually meant he was right about something.

 

   “Oh no. You no blame that on me! You the one that told me to acquire those rare engine parts, even though they in other engines already. I told you it was bad idea, but you say I could be in and out, and no one would know. You lied on that one, Twitchy.”

   JakTorr had heard enough, despite the fact that Zapps was right, and spun on his heels and started out the door. Stopping in the doorway, he glanced over his shoulder to see Saundaharr frowning, with his bulging arms folded across his chest. “Look, Zapps, that was almost a year ago. I’m sure that things have cooled down significantly. And you know they carry many warrants much past six months on Yuroi.” Zapps didn’t look convinced, and continued his staring. “Whatever runt. I’ll be down in the hold checking the cargo. We should be there in a little under two hours. You might want to have your shopping list done by then.” And with that, JakTorr exited the cabin, letting the door close softly behind him.

---

"Apparently getting your ass kicked is now part of a complete breakfast." - Roy Greenhilt, Order Of The Stick


- An Answerer of questions, and Questioner of answers.

((Nonsense, a few minor changes to my post and you're back as right hand man Twitch =P...it's way more interesting when my second in command is a PC rather than controlled by me. More counter strategies, NPC relations, etc and so forth. I'll pm you with the details and make a few changes to my post...pm me back if you don't want the second spot, but it'd be awesome for you to fill it =D))

---

"SATAAAAAAAAN!!!" --Alex

30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest like peanut butter; except grandma. She drives a Buick.

"No, I'm quite capable of dressing myself...where's my pants?"

 The comm. buzzed to life and the sound of whooshing water was audible. “ETA… one minute captain.” Came the gruff reply followed by the squeak of a water faucet turning on. “I’ll be along shortly sir.” The communicator clicked off.

Three Years Ago

It was all a blur, as the shadow lifted up Tweak and shook him a little bit, a blurry combination of light and movement, and Tweak was unable to distinguish.  He merely groaned, and as he did the shadow seemed to slow down for a bit, and then another sound erupted from the quiet shadows, a deep low voice which sort of frightened Tweak but he felt too weak to respond correctly to it.

"Any survivors?"

The answer sort of faded out from Tweak's perception as he realized about 5 seconds later the shadow was moving again, the sounds going about him being too difficult to understand.  Then, suddenly, he felt himself being carefully lifted into a small place, and put into it, before the a different voice sort of spoke, and these were the last words that Tweak heard before it all faded back into darkness again.

"Nothing, nothing survived.  I'll take care of the bodies..."

------

The deep cold of space is a dangerous place, where threats such as asteroids, planets, stars and other people are all threats to ones continued existence.  But there is one bane which few can survive, and that is the darkest most blackest pit that a person can fall into: a black hole.  And that, unlikely, was where whatever threat had attacked the ship had decided to leave the Starflame, and the black hole was quick to take advantage of the situation.

Quickly, the force of gravity came into play, pulling the prone ship into the event horizon, the vortex grabbing onto the ship with it's terrible cold fury, wrapping it's gravity onto it, and pulling it into the black core, the hole in space and time, the bend which would cause the utter destruction of the ship should it ever fall into it.  If it had ever fallen into the black hole, who knows what could have happened to the Starflame, but because of some fluke, some random chance, it was at this moment that the duality of the Distortion Array and the black hole, two bends in spacetime occurred at the same moment, causing a shift in reality for that single moment, causing the ship to disappear from the pull of the monstrous black hole, and cascade through time to a different place...

------

Now

The space outside of Yuroi IV had seen many ships come and go through the years, and many of them had had intriguing entrances, but in many ways, there was something special about what was about to occur.  A blur of color and light shot past several ships before it seemed to become more and more solid, and in a flash which temporarily blinded anyone who looked at it,