- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
- Messages
- 3,777
- Age
- 35
Set in an unknown time, in Humanity's distant future.
War is nothing new to the species of Humanity. Our bloody past is riddled with equally bloody battles, and little has changed today. The only difference is now, we're not fighting ourselves anymore.
Humanity, in the eyes of many, is akin to a virus. Unthinkly, we spread and grow, colonising, building, consuming. We should have seen it coming. The Va'koth had ruled this galaxy for thousands of years before we arrived, selfishly staking our claim to their territory. Sure, other invaders had come before us, though each had treated the native races with the respect they commanded, colonising only uninhabited worlds, or coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement, bargining for a continent or region on their more habitable homeworlds.
We, however, swept in and took all in our path. Uninhabited, inhabited, it made no difference to us, we just moved in, and set up shop. The squatters of the universe, but with one crucial difference: We had guns, and warships, and they had trade and exploration craft. War was not a concept known to the Anorith Prime Galaxy: we brought it with us, and yet, for some reason we were surprised when they learned from our example.
The Va'koth Rebellion began with a day we now call the bloodiest day in Human history. A hundred thousand Va'koth mining vessels, re-outfitted with higher intensity, refocussed mining lasers, and strengthened particle shields, abruptly turned on Human forces all across the galaxy. There was no warning, no ultimatium. They had learnt of our history, though they cared little for the traditions or rules of Human warfare. They made no pretense, they did not bargin, and they did not barter. They simply began the co-ordinated attempted genocide of every Human in Anorith Prime. As a result, the galaxy was split into three vaugely defined regions: Va'koth space, occupying over a third of the galaxy, centred around their original homeworld of Vagraii. Human space, occupying under one-quarter of the galaxy, our heavily defended clusters of colony systems, including our capital world in Anorith Prime and seat of the Galactic Alliance of Terran Races, Paragon. Last, the remaining galactic space, interspaced between, and through Human and Va'koth space, are neutral regions, the worlds of other species, both those indiginous to Anorith Prime, and those that had immigrated from their own home galaxies, unwilling to take sides in the brutal conflict, despite it often spilling over into their territories.
The Va'koth's brutal and unpretentious strategems stymmied our forces, who attempted to fight according to the traditional human concepts of honour. Despite the best efforts of the brave men and women of the G.A.T.R. Military Force, and the media's best attempts to maintain a positive propaganda campaign, we had to face the fact that while we were holding our ground, we were losing this war.
While we could effectivly defend our colonies, our forces were spread thin, a fact the Va'koth realised and quickly exploited, positioning armadas between our major worlds, and attacking cargo and transport convoys, depriving remote settlements of much-needed supplies. As a result, the G.A.T.R. passed an unprecedented initiave, offering select groups of incarcerated criminals, comprised mainly of smugglers of prohibited substances and arms, their freedom in exchange for cargo service, using their years of experience evading Human military forces to turn a profit as an advantage over the Va'koth raiding parties. The offer was almost unanimously accepted, despite it's reputation as literal suicide, due to the extreme circumstances freed criminals were forced to operate under. With the skilled smugglers handling transport, former Human cargo vessels were re-outfitted as defence ships, allowing our military to use their more advanced warships to launch offencive missions, at last giving Humanity the break we needed to turn a one-sided slaughter into an even fight.
The Last Shaper follows the crew and passengers of one such smuggler ship, the Azure Vagrant, in what was supposed to be a routine delivery, but will become a desperate struggle for survival that will test each of them to their limits, and reveal the dark and deadly secrets of Anorith Prime's past.
War is nothing new to the species of Humanity. Our bloody past is riddled with equally bloody battles, and little has changed today. The only difference is now, we're not fighting ourselves anymore.
Humanity, in the eyes of many, is akin to a virus. Unthinkly, we spread and grow, colonising, building, consuming. We should have seen it coming. The Va'koth had ruled this galaxy for thousands of years before we arrived, selfishly staking our claim to their territory. Sure, other invaders had come before us, though each had treated the native races with the respect they commanded, colonising only uninhabited worlds, or coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement, bargining for a continent or region on their more habitable homeworlds.
We, however, swept in and took all in our path. Uninhabited, inhabited, it made no difference to us, we just moved in, and set up shop. The squatters of the universe, but with one crucial difference: We had guns, and warships, and they had trade and exploration craft. War was not a concept known to the Anorith Prime Galaxy: we brought it with us, and yet, for some reason we were surprised when they learned from our example.
The Va'koth Rebellion began with a day we now call the bloodiest day in Human history. A hundred thousand Va'koth mining vessels, re-outfitted with higher intensity, refocussed mining lasers, and strengthened particle shields, abruptly turned on Human forces all across the galaxy. There was no warning, no ultimatium. They had learnt of our history, though they cared little for the traditions or rules of Human warfare. They made no pretense, they did not bargin, and they did not barter. They simply began the co-ordinated attempted genocide of every Human in Anorith Prime. As a result, the galaxy was split into three vaugely defined regions: Va'koth space, occupying over a third of the galaxy, centred around their original homeworld of Vagraii. Human space, occupying under one-quarter of the galaxy, our heavily defended clusters of colony systems, including our capital world in Anorith Prime and seat of the Galactic Alliance of Terran Races, Paragon. Last, the remaining galactic space, interspaced between, and through Human and Va'koth space, are neutral regions, the worlds of other species, both those indiginous to Anorith Prime, and those that had immigrated from their own home galaxies, unwilling to take sides in the brutal conflict, despite it often spilling over into their territories.
The Va'koth's brutal and unpretentious strategems stymmied our forces, who attempted to fight according to the traditional human concepts of honour. Despite the best efforts of the brave men and women of the G.A.T.R. Military Force, and the media's best attempts to maintain a positive propaganda campaign, we had to face the fact that while we were holding our ground, we were losing this war.
While we could effectivly defend our colonies, our forces were spread thin, a fact the Va'koth realised and quickly exploited, positioning armadas between our major worlds, and attacking cargo and transport convoys, depriving remote settlements of much-needed supplies. As a result, the G.A.T.R. passed an unprecedented initiave, offering select groups of incarcerated criminals, comprised mainly of smugglers of prohibited substances and arms, their freedom in exchange for cargo service, using their years of experience evading Human military forces to turn a profit as an advantage over the Va'koth raiding parties. The offer was almost unanimously accepted, despite it's reputation as literal suicide, due to the extreme circumstances freed criminals were forced to operate under. With the skilled smugglers handling transport, former Human cargo vessels were re-outfitted as defence ships, allowing our military to use their more advanced warships to launch offencive missions, at last giving Humanity the break we needed to turn a one-sided slaughter into an even fight.
The Last Shaper follows the crew and passengers of one such smuggler ship, the Azure Vagrant, in what was supposed to be a routine delivery, but will become a desperate struggle for survival that will test each of them to their limits, and reveal the dark and deadly secrets of Anorith Prime's past.
The Va'koth
Originally from the world of Vagraii, the Va'koth are a technogically advanced race on par with humanity.
The average male Va'koth stands about 7 feet tall, and has a vaugely humanoid form. By nature, they live underground, digging vast subterrean settlements. With their dark skin, ranging from deep red to mottled brown, slitlike glowing eyes, and commanding height, they strike an intimidating presence. Their mouthes take up the entire lower half of their face, stretching from ear to ear, and they have several rows of teeth, not unlike a shark. Their hands are tipped in wicked claws, and on each wrist, they have a biologically extending and retracting 'blade', used for digging through hard soil. Reverse-articulated legs, naturally hardened skin, and a prehensile tail give them an almost lizard-like appearance.
The Va'koth have a tribal culture, with each individual awarded status based on his or her own contributions to the race. As a result, Va'koth commanders are all constantly active in both social, industrial and military aspects of their society.
While Human ships are designed as 'floating buildings', built around the comfort of those inside, Va'koth ships are completly different. Within a Va'koth's military service, there is no room for comfort, and this is reflected by the cramped, circular interiors of their starship designs, reminiscent of underground tunnels like those their race dug hundreds of years ago. A soldier on a Va'koth ship will sleep standing up, in a room the size of a small wardrobe.
Their starships, asthetically, are spindly, skeletal designs, wasting no space or weight where it is unnecessary. This leads to difficulty in finding firing solutions, as fire can easily slip between the seperate 'bones' of the ship. Armed with high-intensity laser weaponary, a Va'koth cruiser can literally slice a Human cruiser into pieces with it's lasers in a matter of minutes once it's particle shields are down.
Common Va'koth ship include:
Vyr'seii (Fighter-class ship)
The Vyr'seii are the fighters of the Va'koth military: small, compact ships, that resemble the bones of a human hand, minus the thumb, with five spindly 'fingers' reaching fowards from the ball-shaped cockpit, as if to grab the target. At the end of each finger is a weapons array. Due to their small size, and light weight, the Vyr'seii are amazingly fast, and in sufficent numbers, can overwhelm a slow-moving Human Cruiser-Class before it can bring weapons to bear.
Armaments
3 x Hi-Intensity Cutting Lasers
2 x Pulse Fusion Torpedo Tubes.
Vyr'nei (Fighter-class ship)
A bulkier varient of the Vyr'seii, the Vyr'nei are better armoured, yet slower. They are the Bombers of the Va'koth military.
Armaments
3 x Pulse Fusion Torpedo Tubes
2 x Homing Plasma Impulse Rockets
Crew Manifest
Positions marked [Open] are free to be taken. Positons marked [NPC] are characters that may be powerplayed by anyone at anytime.
As far as character design, I'm placing NO limitations on you, so long as your character is appropriate to the role you choose to play. Want to be an alien? Go for it! Want to be a robot? Cool! Apart from the brief introduction above, I have no more information or limitations on the galaxy I've created for this RP, so feel free to flex your creative muscles when writing your bio. I don't mind if you invent cities, worlds, or even entire solar systems in your character's backstory. There's an entire empty fictional galaxy for you guys to populate, so get to it.
Note that certain roles will have certain limitations, however. For example, the defecting Vos'kyr must be a member of the Va'koth race.
1 x Captain [Endgame]
The Captain commands the Azure Vagrant and it's crew. A former prisoner of the G.A.T.R., along with some members of his crew, who took their offer of freedom in exchange for service.
1 x First Mate [Open]
The First Mate is the Captain's loyal second-in-command, a member of his crew from several years prior to their capture by G.A.T.R., who served time alongside the Captain, and also took the military's suicidal offer.
1 x Navigation Officer [NPC]
The Navigation Officer handles the plotting of courses and piloting of the Azure Vagrant.
1 x Weapons Officer [Open]
The Weapons Officer handles the firing solutions, and command of the individually manned and automated weapons of the Azure Vagrant, and distribution of personal firearms. However, due to the G.A.T.R. Sanctioned refit of the ship, he/she has very little rescources available to him/her.
1 x Technical Officer [Open]
The Technical Officer handles the sensors, scanners, detection capabilities, onboard maitanance and detection of systems, and particle shields of the Azure Vagrant, and serves to provide the command crew with damage reports in combat.
1 x G.A.T.R Representitive Official [Open]
The G.A.T.R.'s official representative is a government-appointed supervisor, and former military officer, who oversees the function and missions of the ship. The Government's eyes, ears, and fists on the Vagrant.
25 x Crew [Open]
(All unplayed crew are NPC's)
The crew are unranked smugglers working on the Vagrant, some former criminals who took the freedom offer, some honest men and women hired to man the ship. They are not exclusivly Human, but Human races form the predominant numbers.
20 x Passengers [Open]
(All unplayed passengers are NPC's)
Passengers are civillian or misc. characters who have been unfortunate enough to find the Vagrant their only means of interstellar transport.
5 x Elite Military Squad Theta [Open]
(All unplayed EMS are NPC's)
The Elite Military Squad, Squad Theta, is a commando squad working under the direct command of the Grand Admiral of the G.A.T.R. Military Navy. They have been assigned to the Vagrant to travel to a Human shipyard-world, where they will board a Human warship that will carry them into the heart of battle against the Va'koth. Each member has his/her own specialisation, and all are deadly combatants.
1 x Va'koth Defector [Open]
The Va'koth rank of Vos'kyr is an analogue of the Human rank of Field Commander. This particular Vos'kyr claims to be sympathetic to Humanity's plight, and is being escorted under armed guard to a Human shipyard-world, where he will be interrogated for crucial information.
2 x Black Op's Guard [Open]
A pair of elite G.A.T.R. Blackop's commandos, deadly, highly trained stealth operatives. Modern-day, high-tech ninjas. They are assigned to guard the Va'koth defector.
Template
Name:
Age:
Species:
Gender:
Appearance:
Attire:
Skills:
Equipment:
Personality: (Optional)
History: (Optional)
Racial Preferences: (Optional)
Is your character a xenophobic human who despises all aliens, or an open-minded advocate of peace?
Technological Preferences: (Optional)
Are you an old-fashioned space pirate who can't stand these new-fangled laser guns, or a tech expert who can't wait to get his hands on the newest, state-of-the art weapons?
Theme Songs/Media: (Optional)
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