Post by dracoskip on May 8, 2008 9:48:24 GMT -5
This is a story I wrote for a creative writing assignment. I was wondering if anyone was interested in playing a game based on this.
It was 190 years ago and the Earth was dying, pollution and greenhouse gases were running rampant; man had even managed to destabilize the core of the planet. With natural disasters on the increase and disease and war spreading around the world, three generational ships were created and launched. The first to launch was the Luna; unfortunately terrorists reprogrammed its navigational systems and lockout all the controls, causing it to fly straight into Jupiter. The second and the third, the Tycho and the Luna II, were launched simultaneously under the direction of a new branch of the military called the Space Expeditionary Forces (SEF). Despite precautions, both ships suffered navigational failures from terrorist activity. They each went on a ballistic course towards Jupiter, but safety protocols kicked in and used the gravity of Jupiter to slingshot each ship around the planet and out into space on a different trajectory. The terrorists also knocked out all computer and communication systems on the Tycho. It took the SEF engineers several days to get the computer systems up and running and free of viruses. It took them several more days to get the navigational systems fixed. Almost three weeks after launch, the last of the damaged systems, including communications, were finally fixed. Even with communications restored, contact was never reestablished with the Luna II.
117 years later, while exploring the Tycho’s ‘Alpha’ site in a Scout Craft, a strange energy storm hit the craft. The nine crewmembers inside the craft survived, but the ‘Alpha’ site was deemed inhospitable. The Tycho headed to their ‘Beta’ site. A few months later the “Alpha Nine”, as the scouting team become known, started to exhibit strange powers.
The "Alpha Nine", their specialties, and the powers they developed are:
Lt. Commander Jeremiah Curtis; SEF Scouting Mission Commander; Telekinetic
Lieutenant Abigail Brindle; SEF Pilot; Gravity Manipulation
Ensign Giogi Shinjo; SEF Co-Pilot; Spatial Control
CPO Isabella Zepeda; SEF Security; Air Control
PO 1st Class David Drake; SEF Security; Electricity Control/Transformation
PO 3rd Class Zaid Jassim al-Naseri; SEF Security; Invulnerability
PO 3rd Class Nathaniel Hawkins; SEF Mechanical/Technical Specialist; Machine Control
CWO Michael Goodman; Geological and Meteorological Sciences; Earth Control
WO Elaine McCamri; Zoologist; Animal Control
Now seventy-three years later; the Tycho is three month away from reaching the ‘Beta’ site and has a crowded population of 4,367. The only member of the “Alpha Nine” still alive is Zaid Jassim al-Naseri; he appears to be 23 years old and is now the Admiral in charge of the military although he leaves most of the day to day duties to his subordinates. The 93 descendants, ages 72 to newborn, of the “Alpha Nine” have developed, or will all develop, strange powers as well. Theses descendants are known as “Alphas”. The powers of these Alphas run across a full array of abilities and power levels; though only a small few of the Alphas developed powers considered truly ‘Super’. All Alphas are given the rank of Warrant Officers in the SEF unless they undergo SEF military training, which is strongly encouraged for "Alphas".
All this history is required learning for all “Tychonians” – as we on the Tycho have become to be called. Unfortunately, not all Alpha's have been "good guys”; it seems that some “Alphas”, and humans for that matter, can not live without conflict in their lives. Starting with Nathaniel Hawkins and Giogi Shinjo, both were involved in the open murder of David Drake and more than a few non-Alpha's eight months after the ‘Alpha’ mission before disappearing; some Alpha's have gone "rogue". The SEF have taken most of those into custody, and built a Brig in the lower habitation ring. There are currently eleven Alphas in the Brig.
Earlier today ago a group of seven “rogue” Alpha’s has taken over the upper Habitation ring and sealed off all points of access. They demand that their “friends” be released from custody and that they be given control of the Tycho. They say that they will let everyone off at the ‘Beta’ site when the Tycho arrives there, and then they will take the Tycho and leave with any who wish to stay. They will kill five hostages a day until their demands are met, starting with the first five in 12 hours. There are 1,027 hostages in the upper habitation ring.
That’s why the four of us are here, we volunteered to attempt to sneak into the upper habitation ring. Samuel Goodman can phase through walls and take others with him and he is also an expert in martial arts, though many have underestimated him for his size. Marissa Zepeda is built like a brick wall and is nearly immune to physical harm. Kietsu Shinjo is able to morph his malleable body into all kinds of different shapes; he needed to be physically and mentally flexible having to live with the negative heredity of being the grandson of Giogi Shinjo. And me, Gabriel Curtis, the leader of this small team; my powers are telekinetic in nature much like my grandfather Jeremiah Curtis. I have the ability to change the kinetic energy in objects; altering their velocity and direction of travel, making even the simplest of objects become potentially lethal weapons.
“Is everyone ready?” Curtis asked his team.
“I am ready to go lieutenant.” Marissa added, cracking the knuckles in her hands.
“All set sir.” Kietsu responded.
“Aye sir, waiting for you orders.” Samuel said adjusting his uniform slightly.
“All right, let’s move out, the airlock has been depressurized but Sam will keep us phased out as we pass through it. Marissa you take the lead, Sam right behind her, Kietsu you take the right, and I’ll take the left.” Gabriel ordered.
The team lined up as Gabriel ordered and Sam put his right hand on Marissa’s shoulder and his left on Gabriel’s, Kietsu reached his tail over to Sam’s shoulder and wrapped it loosely around the shoulder and upper arm. The team walked forward almost in step and walked straight through the sealed airlock door, through the airlock, and through the sealed airlock door on the other side into the upper habitation ring. Stepping through the final door the team found themselves face to face with five other Alphas.
Gabriel could help the soft chuckle that escaped his lips upon seeing the Alpha in a full costume. “A little late for Halloween isn’t it?”
“Very funny; try coming up with something original next time sef.” The masked Alpha responded.
“I recognize that voice.” Kietsu said. “How’ya doin’ Sumio?”
“Not to bad cousin and you?” Sumio replied.
“That’s enough you two. Sumio, stand down and come with us quietly, we can not let you take control of the Tycho and we can not let you harm any innocents.” Gabriel cut in.
“Oooh, I’m shaking in my boots sef. You think you can stop us, go right ahead.”
“All right, if you want to do it the hard way; Kietsu take the twins, Sam take Nathaniel, Marissa deal with Stanley. Sumio, this is your last chance to come quietly.”
In response, Sumio sends a blast of pyrotechnic fire and smoke at Gabriel. Gabriel barely manages to dodge out of the way and sends a handful of steel marbles zinging back at Sumio.
Stanley charges Marissa, Marissa stands her ground and takes the charge only sliding back a few inches. “That all you got metal-head?” Marissa asks, goading Stanley to attack her again.
Nathaniel pounces towards Samuel and passes right through him as he phases out. Samuel turns and faces Nathaniel and, seemingly taking his cue from Marissa, goads him saying “Here kitty, kitty.”
Kietsu stretches out and tries to wrap up Juniper and Jasmine, but is blocked by a translucent field of force erected by the twins.
After about thirty seconds of the two groups trading blow, and neither seeming to get the upper hand, and the corridor filling with smoke from Sumio’s blasts; Gabriel shouts “Enough playing, let’s finish this team.” Gabriel then releases the catches on two liquid cable dispensers attached to his belt, and as the cable starts spilling out he telekinetically sends it towards Sumio attempting to wrap him up.
Marissa shouts over to Kietsu, who has still not managed to even get close to the twins, “Kietsu, trebuchet." Kietsu turns and smiles as he sees Marissa motioning towards Stanley. Kietsu morphs into a trebuchet, snakes out his arms and grabs Stanley by the ankles. Marissa jumps onto the counterbalance, adding her weight to it. Stanley is jerked off his feet and slides under Kietsu, around the fulcrum, and slinging back over the top of Kietsu. Kietsu, however, doesn’t let Stanley go flying, instead he remains holding onto Stanley and letting himself get stretched to his limits by Stanley’s weight and momentum. Stanley is slung back the way he was launched and slams right through a force field erected by the twins trying to protect themselves; Stanley and the twins tumble to the floor in a heap, unconscious.
“Kitty wanna go outside and play?” Samuel said playfully to Nathaniel. Nathaniel roars and pounces again; this time Samuel grabs Nathaniel, rolling back onto his back to flip Nathaniel over him, he phases out with Nathaniel allowing Nathaniel’s momentum carry them both through the floor. A few seconds later Samuels crawls out of the floor, hauling an unconscious Nathaniel with him.
Sumio struggles against the cable wrapped around him trying to free himself. A second later he stops struggling and smiles, “This isn’t over sef.” in a flash of smoke, Sumio disappeared.
“Is everyone all right?” Gabriel asked looking around at his team.
“A. O. K. Lieutenant.” Marissa responded.
“No complaints here boss.” Kietsu said as he shifted back to his normal form.
“Not me, sir; a few scratches and a dislocated shoulder from wrestling with the kitty cat.” Samuel replied, holding his arm.
“All right, Kietsu do what you can for Samuel, Marissa help me secure the other three. After that Sam, I want you to go back to base taking these three with you if you can, Kietsu, Marissa, and I will continue on as we still have a couple more Alphas to deal with.” Gabriel ordered.
“At least three more, sir, as far as I know Sumio is not capable of teleportation; his powers are mostly pyrotechnic based blasts and I believe flight.” Kietsu replied as he set about bandaging and popping Samuels shoulder back into place.
“All right, that’s good to know.” Gabriel replied. “Do you know anybody else who may be involved in this? Who did Sumio hang out with?”
“I don’t know sir.” Kietsu started. “Wait a minute; I think he was always hanging out with Madison McCamri. And if she is involved, we may be in big trouble as she is able to copy the powers of others.”
“That’s a risk we will have to take Kietsu. Whoever is behind this has to be stopped. We can not let them take control of the Tycho or to harm any more Tychonians.”
The Good, the Bad: The Alphas
It was 190 years ago and the Earth was dying, pollution and greenhouse gases were running rampant; man had even managed to destabilize the core of the planet. With natural disasters on the increase and disease and war spreading around the world, three generational ships were created and launched. The first to launch was the Luna; unfortunately terrorists reprogrammed its navigational systems and lockout all the controls, causing it to fly straight into Jupiter. The second and the third, the Tycho and the Luna II, were launched simultaneously under the direction of a new branch of the military called the Space Expeditionary Forces (SEF). Despite precautions, both ships suffered navigational failures from terrorist activity. They each went on a ballistic course towards Jupiter, but safety protocols kicked in and used the gravity of Jupiter to slingshot each ship around the planet and out into space on a different trajectory. The terrorists also knocked out all computer and communication systems on the Tycho. It took the SEF engineers several days to get the computer systems up and running and free of viruses. It took them several more days to get the navigational systems fixed. Almost three weeks after launch, the last of the damaged systems, including communications, were finally fixed. Even with communications restored, contact was never reestablished with the Luna II.
117 years later, while exploring the Tycho’s ‘Alpha’ site in a Scout Craft, a strange energy storm hit the craft. The nine crewmembers inside the craft survived, but the ‘Alpha’ site was deemed inhospitable. The Tycho headed to their ‘Beta’ site. A few months later the “Alpha Nine”, as the scouting team become known, started to exhibit strange powers.
The "Alpha Nine", their specialties, and the powers they developed are:
Lt. Commander Jeremiah Curtis; SEF Scouting Mission Commander; Telekinetic
Lieutenant Abigail Brindle; SEF Pilot; Gravity Manipulation
Ensign Giogi Shinjo; SEF Co-Pilot; Spatial Control
CPO Isabella Zepeda; SEF Security; Air Control
PO 1st Class David Drake; SEF Security; Electricity Control/Transformation
PO 3rd Class Zaid Jassim al-Naseri; SEF Security; Invulnerability
PO 3rd Class Nathaniel Hawkins; SEF Mechanical/Technical Specialist; Machine Control
CWO Michael Goodman; Geological and Meteorological Sciences; Earth Control
WO Elaine McCamri; Zoologist; Animal Control
Now seventy-three years later; the Tycho is three month away from reaching the ‘Beta’ site and has a crowded population of 4,367. The only member of the “Alpha Nine” still alive is Zaid Jassim al-Naseri; he appears to be 23 years old and is now the Admiral in charge of the military although he leaves most of the day to day duties to his subordinates. The 93 descendants, ages 72 to newborn, of the “Alpha Nine” have developed, or will all develop, strange powers as well. Theses descendants are known as “Alphas”. The powers of these Alphas run across a full array of abilities and power levels; though only a small few of the Alphas developed powers considered truly ‘Super’. All Alphas are given the rank of Warrant Officers in the SEF unless they undergo SEF military training, which is strongly encouraged for "Alphas".
All this history is required learning for all “Tychonians” – as we on the Tycho have become to be called. Unfortunately, not all Alpha's have been "good guys”; it seems that some “Alphas”, and humans for that matter, can not live without conflict in their lives. Starting with Nathaniel Hawkins and Giogi Shinjo, both were involved in the open murder of David Drake and more than a few non-Alpha's eight months after the ‘Alpha’ mission before disappearing; some Alpha's have gone "rogue". The SEF have taken most of those into custody, and built a Brig in the lower habitation ring. There are currently eleven Alphas in the Brig.
Earlier today ago a group of seven “rogue” Alpha’s has taken over the upper Habitation ring and sealed off all points of access. They demand that their “friends” be released from custody and that they be given control of the Tycho. They say that they will let everyone off at the ‘Beta’ site when the Tycho arrives there, and then they will take the Tycho and leave with any who wish to stay. They will kill five hostages a day until their demands are met, starting with the first five in 12 hours. There are 1,027 hostages in the upper habitation ring.
That’s why the four of us are here, we volunteered to attempt to sneak into the upper habitation ring. Samuel Goodman can phase through walls and take others with him and he is also an expert in martial arts, though many have underestimated him for his size. Marissa Zepeda is built like a brick wall and is nearly immune to physical harm. Kietsu Shinjo is able to morph his malleable body into all kinds of different shapes; he needed to be physically and mentally flexible having to live with the negative heredity of being the grandson of Giogi Shinjo. And me, Gabriel Curtis, the leader of this small team; my powers are telekinetic in nature much like my grandfather Jeremiah Curtis. I have the ability to change the kinetic energy in objects; altering their velocity and direction of travel, making even the simplest of objects become potentially lethal weapons.
“Is everyone ready?” Curtis asked his team.
“I am ready to go lieutenant.” Marissa added, cracking the knuckles in her hands.
“All set sir.” Kietsu responded.
“Aye sir, waiting for you orders.” Samuel said adjusting his uniform slightly.
“All right, let’s move out, the airlock has been depressurized but Sam will keep us phased out as we pass through it. Marissa you take the lead, Sam right behind her, Kietsu you take the right, and I’ll take the left.” Gabriel ordered.
The team lined up as Gabriel ordered and Sam put his right hand on Marissa’s shoulder and his left on Gabriel’s, Kietsu reached his tail over to Sam’s shoulder and wrapped it loosely around the shoulder and upper arm. The team walked forward almost in step and walked straight through the sealed airlock door, through the airlock, and through the sealed airlock door on the other side into the upper habitation ring. Stepping through the final door the team found themselves face to face with five other Alphas.
Gabriel could help the soft chuckle that escaped his lips upon seeing the Alpha in a full costume. “A little late for Halloween isn’t it?”
“Very funny; try coming up with something original next time sef.” The masked Alpha responded.
“I recognize that voice.” Kietsu said. “How’ya doin’ Sumio?”
“Not to bad cousin and you?” Sumio replied.
“That’s enough you two. Sumio, stand down and come with us quietly, we can not let you take control of the Tycho and we can not let you harm any innocents.” Gabriel cut in.
“Oooh, I’m shaking in my boots sef. You think you can stop us, go right ahead.”
“All right, if you want to do it the hard way; Kietsu take the twins, Sam take Nathaniel, Marissa deal with Stanley. Sumio, this is your last chance to come quietly.”
In response, Sumio sends a blast of pyrotechnic fire and smoke at Gabriel. Gabriel barely manages to dodge out of the way and sends a handful of steel marbles zinging back at Sumio.
Stanley charges Marissa, Marissa stands her ground and takes the charge only sliding back a few inches. “That all you got metal-head?” Marissa asks, goading Stanley to attack her again.
Nathaniel pounces towards Samuel and passes right through him as he phases out. Samuel turns and faces Nathaniel and, seemingly taking his cue from Marissa, goads him saying “Here kitty, kitty.”
Kietsu stretches out and tries to wrap up Juniper and Jasmine, but is blocked by a translucent field of force erected by the twins.
After about thirty seconds of the two groups trading blow, and neither seeming to get the upper hand, and the corridor filling with smoke from Sumio’s blasts; Gabriel shouts “Enough playing, let’s finish this team.” Gabriel then releases the catches on two liquid cable dispensers attached to his belt, and as the cable starts spilling out he telekinetically sends it towards Sumio attempting to wrap him up.
Marissa shouts over to Kietsu, who has still not managed to even get close to the twins, “Kietsu, trebuchet." Kietsu turns and smiles as he sees Marissa motioning towards Stanley. Kietsu morphs into a trebuchet, snakes out his arms and grabs Stanley by the ankles. Marissa jumps onto the counterbalance, adding her weight to it. Stanley is jerked off his feet and slides under Kietsu, around the fulcrum, and slinging back over the top of Kietsu. Kietsu, however, doesn’t let Stanley go flying, instead he remains holding onto Stanley and letting himself get stretched to his limits by Stanley’s weight and momentum. Stanley is slung back the way he was launched and slams right through a force field erected by the twins trying to protect themselves; Stanley and the twins tumble to the floor in a heap, unconscious.
“Kitty wanna go outside and play?” Samuel said playfully to Nathaniel. Nathaniel roars and pounces again; this time Samuel grabs Nathaniel, rolling back onto his back to flip Nathaniel over him, he phases out with Nathaniel allowing Nathaniel’s momentum carry them both through the floor. A few seconds later Samuels crawls out of the floor, hauling an unconscious Nathaniel with him.
Sumio struggles against the cable wrapped around him trying to free himself. A second later he stops struggling and smiles, “This isn’t over sef.” in a flash of smoke, Sumio disappeared.
“Is everyone all right?” Gabriel asked looking around at his team.
“A. O. K. Lieutenant.” Marissa responded.
“No complaints here boss.” Kietsu said as he shifted back to his normal form.
“Not me, sir; a few scratches and a dislocated shoulder from wrestling with the kitty cat.” Samuel replied, holding his arm.
“All right, Kietsu do what you can for Samuel, Marissa help me secure the other three. After that Sam, I want you to go back to base taking these three with you if you can, Kietsu, Marissa, and I will continue on as we still have a couple more Alphas to deal with.” Gabriel ordered.
“At least three more, sir, as far as I know Sumio is not capable of teleportation; his powers are mostly pyrotechnic based blasts and I believe flight.” Kietsu replied as he set about bandaging and popping Samuels shoulder back into place.
“All right, that’s good to know.” Gabriel replied. “Do you know anybody else who may be involved in this? Who did Sumio hang out with?”
“I don’t know sir.” Kietsu started. “Wait a minute; I think he was always hanging out with Madison McCamri. And if she is involved, we may be in big trouble as she is able to copy the powers of others.”
“That’s a risk we will have to take Kietsu. Whoever is behind this has to be stopped. We can not let them take control of the Tycho or to harm any more Tychonians.”