✦follow you forever✦ sci-fi ✦ semi-lit/lit

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UMDS Members Identified

Karma Kamaxus | Lepaxian | Inventor | "Honeycomb"

Rogacz |??? | Botanist/Medic | "Sei"

Anemoia | Homokiwaedus Gacuvier | Mechanic | "mr. man"

Lincoln | Aphroix | ??? | "Sleepy"

"Trench" | Beta Xeon | ??? | "Bunny Boy"

Amery Murphy | Tekenu | ??? | "satan"

!!!Lone Ships Detected!!!

Rogues Identified

Sydney Sisson | Human | "Mageia krania"

Sappho | imp?? | "Sei"

Apepi | Ra | "Sleepy"

Ming Ya-Win | Altorian | "Magpie"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Ship Issues Detected

-low fuel-

-issues with take-off-

-potential fuel leak-

Current To-Do List (plot)

Mysterious Signal located on living, hostile planet. Upon entering atmosphere, the signal vanished, only to reappear all the way on the other side and under water. By this time it is too late to redirect ships. Rogues and UMDS land in the same area. 

UMDS ship malfunction. Unknown problem. Mechanic trying to figure it out currently. With every problem on the ship that is solved, a new one seems to take its place, or was merely unnoticed.

Karma and Lincoln have gone resource harvesting off-planet. In the meantime, everyone is encouraged to try to get along and maybe group up, harvest local resources, and trade with each other. 

Sappho

(Warning there's a bit of gore in the first bit)

Horrendous...

The pitiful creatures which surrounded her, mouths agape, assumedly in bloodcurdling screams. She couldn't care less. Horrible how they made their noises which she couldn't hear or mimic on their own. The panic around her was unnoticed as she sat, bloody and hungry over her prey, a humanoid which was in the process of losing its limbs. The bones crunching in her mouth, leaving her to only imagine what horrible screams the foul being was making, its pleas for mercy falling on deaf ears, literally. Her jaw unhinged, unfaltering as she tore into its torso, organs and blood spilling onto the ground near her. There were still quite a few beings that remained near her, in shock or hoping they could be the one to defeat the beast. Good. More food for her. She huffed quietly, grabbing another of the species, tearing into its body with her rows of teeth, the bones cracking easily into manageable pieces, being swallowed without hesitation. She felt the vibrations of the creatures struggles, the only way she could tell they were trying to make noise. 

It didn't stop her.

She kept herself busy with the new victim, letting the partially eaten one fight for its life, pitifully at best. She had barely taken a chunk out of the creature, its shoulder and arm completely missing from its body when she felt a sharp searing pain suddenly enter her back. 

How dare they...

Blood gushed from her wound, and she dropped her current meal, leaving them to scurry off and hope they could be saved. Her head slowly turned to see who... what dared to harm her. There were a select few of the creatures staring at her, various weapons held in their shaking hands. Most of them were guns, but others were blades, spears, whatever they could gather. Her scarred figure was then attacked, she had barely any time to react. Her acidic blood seeped across the ground which she stood on, her attackers yelling from the substance which covered them, eating away at them slowly.

The entire planet suddenly seemed to shake beneath them, an earthquake...?

She turned slightly and looked up, a scowl crossing her face at what she saw.

Shit.

What were the chances? Low apparently.

She could recognize the UMDS ships by heart, even the little ones used for brief escapades. This was it. This is how she dies.

Sydney // Human Rogue // M: None

There it was again, as it had been for the past week or so. A little white dot on the radar, resembling nothing she'd ever seen, and every time she tapped it to get info a mechanical "Unknown" would growl from the speakers.  Old girl might finally be glitching out at last. Should've known an ancient earth-machine wouldn't last long among advanced spaceships. 

Sydney had to find a rest stop on one of these planets. She'd settle down and wait for someone who had a nice ship to come along and present hers for trading. If they refused, she'd just have to wait. She hoped they accepted. Sydney could transfer her old starship's information to a brand new one, full of fancy alien technology and hopefully some pretty comfy seats. A few ships she saw when travelling were so big she was absolutely certain they had multiple rooms besides the cockpit. Imagine being able to sit in a kitchen and sleep in a bedroom and have a full storage room that wasn't just a little box under her chair. As you probably assumed, she didn't have that luxury. All she had was a tiny control room. Food was stored in the walls behind and beside her. Her chair could lean back and become a bed. Her storage was little drawers and boxes, the biggest storage bin under her seat. Everything else was devoted to piloting.

Earth had really screwed her over when they gave her this and not whatever huge ships sped by her in the night.

Maybe though... maybe this signal wasn't a little glitch. Her ship, despite how cramped it was, was still very fast and good at identifying anything that came across her radar. Now, she might have still insisted it was the first time her ship had failed if she hadn't noticed them.

It must have been a day or two ago, if she's to go by her earthly time measurements. She was nearing the planet even then when her a new, dark green dot appeared on her radar. She didn't need her machine to tell her what it was. When she looked out the window, she could see it just fine.

An enormous "space station" managed to look intimidating even in the starry void. There was no mistaking the black and red color palette. The UMDS were coming in, probably for the same signal as her. Despite her better judgement, she knew those ships to have multiple smaller ones stored inside. Maybe she could trade? 

Curiosity over the signal was soon overpowering her in the following day, and she ruled out requesting trade. No, she wanted to know what was up with the signal too. If anyone knows, it's them, and maybe they'd be willing to share. Or she could race them to it, if it's a valuable resource cache.

....

Whatever. She'll figure it out. Besides, she's almost landed anyways. With a few swipes on her finger, she initiates landing just behind the UMDS's ship.

APEPI

M: Open

The scene that Apepi was currently placed in was one that you would've never imagined them in. Standing underneath the dim glow of a purple LED light in some club bathroom, they loomed ominously in the corner, peeking down to a little device that resembled a phone. Not that it was, though; it was a slab of metal that showed a slice of light in the middle. On it showed a set of coordinates, and a smaller set underneath that showed where they were currently positioned.

They were almost perfect.

They lowered the device, the light that shone in the middle immediately shutting off as it sensed it was being put away. Apepi lowered it to a boxy pocket on their pants, tucking it away into a hidden spot. They dropped their hands to their side, still leaning against the wall next to the double sink of the bathroom, and turned to face their reflection in the mirror. They were wearing the typical outfit of an Inferna soldier; black shirt with a blue waist to signify their rank, and cargo pants that were tucked into two high boots.

They put their hands on top of the sink slowly, as if to take in the cold touch of the space marble. They leaned in, gazing back at themself thoughtfully. The music in the background was slightly distorted, as they were not standing in the main room where the speakers were. They could hear the people jumping up and down and yelling along with the synthesized beat, enjoying every bit of this party like there would be no tomorrow. Literally.

The bathroom was barely lit, besides the glowing lights near the door that slowly shifted from blue, to pink, to purple, and to red, only to repeat the process over and over again. The sliver of space underneath the door showed a ray of light leaking in from the club, the lights fading in the exact same order as the ones in the bathroom. Such a pretty place… But so loud… And full of reckless people.

"They should've spent their lives being useful… All this partying when they could've been working," Apepi muttered bitterly, glancing back to the bathroom door. Staring longingly at the exit, they clenched their jaw and curled their fingers deeper into the marble sink. As much as they'd like to admit how fun it seemed to be to be living like a teenager, they repressed that idea down. "Sheltered."

---

LINCOLN

M: Karma (Slightly)

The errand that he was currently running should've been around 30 minutes in length, yet it felt so much longer. He had boarded the ship with a fellow UMDS member with the goal to fetch some supplies from a nearby system. Sitting in the command chair at the front of the ship, he leaned backwards into the seat lazily. The ship was set on an immediate course thanks to lovely airplane mode (or spaceship mode, here), they seemed to be heading in the right direction.

Lincoln had been sitting idly by, watching the front of the ship as it hurtled through space. Every now and then he'd check the GPS to see how close it was, though this time, he saw the brink of a solar system on the horizon, and clicked off the device with a button. Readjusting his position, he sat upwards and closed in on the planet where the signal was leading them. On the rings of this stranger planet, the residents made use of the odd landscape they had been given. It was like a barren desert, but humid, and warm colored and filled with mammalian life.

Angling the steering helm of the UMDS ship downwards, they grew closer to their desired destination on the planet. A concrete building built next to a fuel station for other ships. Lincoln reached forward across the helm, tapping two of his fingers down at once onto the touch-sensitive dashboard to extend the legs. He brought the ship to a soft landing, the fire at the back of the engines ceasing once it touched ground. The loud, roaring sound which was once heard at the back of the ship was no longer there.

The ship rocked back onto the legs once, then fully steadied. Lincoln stood from the command chair, spinning it to the side and leaning above it to shut the ship off with the dashboard. Slipping away from the front, he cupped his hands over his mouth while he came over to the side door of the machine. "Hey, Black Widow, time to board off. We've got an hour of errand time."

Karma Kamaxus | UMDS | Mentions: Lincoln

A set of arms pulled backwards, hands joining together as the rather tall Insectoid stretched from previously keeping herself in a hunched over position, not the best of choices- but she got tired of sitting in a chair so chose standing, particularly in a way that seemed uncomfortable. Another set of arms reached forward in the same motion as the other set, with yet another set shifting from side to side with balled up hands, which afterwards flat-side down met the cool metal surface of the workbench she stood in front of. Said bench had seemingly extended from the wall behind it, being held up thanks to metal support beams on either side that appeared to be detachable at the ends. Red eyes both big and small peered down at the few sheets of deep blue paper spread around the surface of a darkened wide screen. Karma preferred to have her plans out for her to just get whenever she pleased, it wasn't that she care for the technology fit for keeping documents for contraptions such as hers. Her preferred ways simply differed from the now established norm among inventors in her current standing.

Despite having set off on a side mission with one of her UMDS crewmates, the teams resident six-armed spider lady is back at it again trying to make a invention, having left her crewmate in the front of ship to mess with some ideas. And these ideas in particular all had one thing in common. They were all plans for a weapon. However, it was unfortunate that Karma was struggling, where while normally she'd go head first into completing the process of creating what pops up in her head. This time she wanted a particular thing for a particular purpose; a weapon her team could use against hostiles that'll aid in capture instead of the ending of an aggressors life. As her face falls flat as she does a quick sweep of what shes drawn up, she is left unimpressed; these plans are not doing it for her. Her fingers flexed momentarily, causing a few joints to pop, before she releases a huff out of her broad mouth then goes to reach for her plans.

As she stares at the moving sheets, rearranging them in her hands, her face shifts to that of thought before her top eyes squint and the tips of her spider jaws touch together making a light tapping sound. These fail to give what I please. I'd say back to the drawing board, but at this point the board is filled with plenty of drawings. She thought to herself. Karma knows what she wants, something compact yet capable of extending for range, something that releases some kind of shock which should give off a stunning effect, she just wished she could form an idea for a weapon that is of the quality she so desires. Just inventor troubles it seems. Regardless, the female with a wide stride stalked the other side of the room, but not before using her boots heel to hit the hidden button on the workbenches bottom, causing the support beams to detach and retract then the table itself to slide in the table with a audible whir. The wall was soon left bare with what used to be an entire set up.

It was on the other side of the room did she fold before packing up her recent attempts at weapon plans safely into a pack sitting on a chair, the pack was then reattached to her belt, accompanying the other ones that were a number aplenty. Her tongue clicked and she let out a chitter upon feeling the beginning of the ships descent, causing her to lunge at the chair in front of her, instead of taking a seat she wrapped her arms and legs around the back. Was she supposed to be standing as the ship was landing? No, it certainly isn't something that is encouraged. Had she been insisted on standing? Yes, it was only her in the room so she could get away with such. Was her reaction something new? Definitely not, pretty on brand when it comes to how her reactions can be. Karma's body was kept stiff as a board, firming grasping the edge of the chair. It was only when the ship settled did she do so in return, releasing the chair from her jump and putting her feet back on the ground. So I've been too occupied with my works to consider how soon the ship might be landing. She mentally noted to herself.

It was then her head perked up when she heard a voice address her with a familiar nickname. Karma shortly chittered to herself before responding with a,  "Heard, Echo." making it known that she had heard him and understood what he had told her, while using her own nickname for the other. There was a bounce in her step as she jogged to the tall metal door, with her long legs it was a fairly short jog, and while she slowed to a mere walk she still moved a bit speedily. Using one of her hands, she hit the softly glowing panel on the side that would trigger the door to open for her, it was fortunate that she did not have to duck passing through the door-frame with it being just tall enough for her to not hit her head accidentally. The door closed behind her, from there she approached the form standing next to the side door. Her spider jaws touched together a few times, the tips coming in contact making the same mild tapping as prior. Eyes gazing down to her belt, her hands moved in quick succession as she opened one of the packs to bring out a datapad she had been given that was filled with the list of supplies they needed to retrieve.

Her feet started to shift in place, Karma showed signs of restlessness, though it would seem that she was also a bit excited to stretch her legs, like she was experiencing some anticipation even. Unlike her spacious workspace back on the main ship, she couldn't climb around and move as much as that other room in the smaller ship. Swiping at the screen it lit up revealing fluid, animated movement of the symbols that acted as buttons to press that led to gateways of information, "In this hour at least there will be considerable time to move about," Karma commented, confirming that she was aware of what her sudden change in bodily behaviors was giving off, claw-tipped fingers tapping away to set the timer for the remaining time of that hour. "And the timer has been set." She looked towards Lincoln as she spoke.

Rogacz

Mentions: Anemoia, Trench, Sydney

Rogacz sat calmly in the equivalent to a toddler's car seat, tightly buckled into place until he heard the chime of the landing signal, at which he quickly flung off his restraints, running around the ship. He practically threw himself at the window, gasping as he gazed upon what would be considered his heaven. A dense forest, seemingly lush because of the humidity of the atmosphere. Who knew what plants would be hidden within the depths of the greenery. He had his trademark smile plastered on his face, quickly sprinting into the cockpit where Trench happened to be, jumping up and down. 

"We're here! Aaaaaahh! I'm so excited there's so many plants!" He squealed in delight, running around in his lil' jumpsuit. He suddenly froze dead in his tracks when he heard Trench say something about a ship. He frowned, his expression looking scared. "What if they're going to rob us? What- what if they're gonna cut down the trees and steal the plants? Wh-" He cut himself short when he heard that the ship was non-threatening, his demeanor immediately changing. "What if they're friendly? What if they want to join our crew! Ooh they could help Anemoia maybe!" He quickly ran out of the room, giggling like a mad man.

He quickly ran around, trying to find Anemoia, squealing when he did. He quickly launched himself at the old man, giggling uncontrollably. "Anemoia! Anemoia! Anemoia!! We're here! And there's someone else here too, and they're not hostile!" He quickly dropped off of the fuzzy bastard's back, jumping up and down as he ran circles around him. "There's so many plants! Ah I'm so excited!"

Rogacz, despite his old age, seemed to had endless energy. He was the oldest in the crew, but he acted like a toddler. He basically was a toddler. He squealed again as he ran, this time to the exit of the ship. "Big Booty has arrived!" He yelled as the door opened, allowing him access to the new world ahead of him. His first immediate thought was to check out the stranger which had seemed to be following them. His baby blue jumpsuit contrasted against the rich greens of the flora, his lil' legs running around, trying to spot the old ship. 

He found it. It caught his eye easily, the metallic sheen of it standing out against the matte leaves it was surrounded by. He sprinted over to it as fast as he could, humming to himself as he wondered who was piloting the old model. He was not at all embarrassed by what looked like pajamas, lil stars and planets painted over them. He made dye out of flowers to constantly draw them back on, feeling he looks hella nice with them. He hopped up and down, trying to be able to see inside the ship, but he was too short. His gills bounced up and down wildly at his movements, probably being just barely visible to whomever was piloting the ship.

MING - Mentions APEPI

The entrance to the Moonlite All-Nite is surprisingly pedestrian for the upper echelon civilians it serves. It’s bare and concrete, the only sign being a neon purple moon and the glint of high-tech security cameras watching from far above. If forced to describe it, Ming might say it was almost military in its clean, ordered sparsity. How odd was it to know that the imposing building was not, in fact, a prison, but rather a club of epic proportions? One might suppose they were at the wrong place entirely. If Ming was at all intimidated at this, she did not show it. Her hand rose up, curled in a fist, and lightly tapped the solid concrete. One, two, pause, One, two, pause, pause, One. She felt somewhat foolish knocking on what, for all appearances, was a solid concrete wall. It was distinctly gratifying when the wall turned out to be more than that. 

“Can I help you?”

The voice is sneering and nasal, mocking almost, and at this Ming does wonder if she is in the wrong place. Surely such a high-end club would be able to hire a pleasant receptionist. 

“I’m here for Ban A’an.” 

There’s a crawling feeling, like someone is thinking especially nasty thoughts while looking upon her form. It isn’t a pleasant experience and Ming’s fingers itch to wrap around the cold glass neck of whatever alcoholic beverage she could get her hands on. 

There’s an awkward pause of complete silence where she considers repeating herself. Right as she begins to open her mouth, there’s a low click and the wall begins to shift in front of her. All eight eyes as wide as they can be, Ming takes in the sight. Now, this is what she expected. A smooth, matte black wall with veins of neon purple running towards a nexus, a glowing sign above a massive door reading The Moonlite All-Nite. She takes a step forward and the massive door melts away like an optical illusion, revealing a pulsating underbelly inside. Sound washes over her like a tidal wave and the flashing lights assault her eyes like a physical blow. Regardless, Ming steps inside without fanfare and is careful not to look too closely at anything. She needs to act as if she belongs here because her excuse won’t stand up to questioning. It’s a bit of a rookie mistake but Ming is running on borrowed time already. She’s got a deep-space vessel ship to stow away on tomorrow if she wants off this planet before winter sets in. It’s a terrible idea to go clubbing so close to her deadline but Ming hasn’t made a good decision in her life and she isn’t about to start doing so now. 

Purple and blue lights throb around her, casting her skin in a particularly unappealing shade of muddy brown. She makes her way through the crowd, taking care not to breathe in too deeply. It smells like ozone in here, like the burn of hard alcohol and high-tech accessories. It reeks of perfume, cologne, and bullshit. Of deals being made and horniness sated. Ming could probably continue waxing poetic about it for longer but by now she’s reached the bar and drinks are the only things on her mind. There is one issue, though. She’s entirely out of credits. Luckily, being the enterprising young Altorian she is, Ming is certainly not above conning free drinks out of wealthy singles. 

She’s close to eight drinks in when she can feel it starting to come back up. The blue melon liquor in front of her starts to reek and she can feel the familiar overwhelming burn in the back of her throat. She gags and stumbles to her feet, the slightly raised platform suddenly swaying beneath her feet. Ming falls. Classy exits were never her style anyway. Pulling herself up and willing her revolting stomach to settle down, she tears her way through the crowd in pursuit of what she assumes is the bathroom. The glowing LED is swirling around, making it a tad hard to read. There’s someone else in there but she ignores them with all the rushed panic of someone about to vomit. Ming reaches the (only slightly dirty) stall and doesn’t even bother to close the door. A faint hint of regret pulls at the corners of her mind but she pays it no attention.

MING + APEPI

Vomit tastes pretty fucking nasty and Ming has had enough of it come out of her to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, to actually avoid vomiting, she'd have to give up heavy drinking and well, Ming has never claimed to have that much sense anyways. Wiping her mouth with toilet paper, Ming struggles to her feet, leaning heavily on the stall wall. She's pretty sure that flushing the commode would require a degree of hand-eye coordination that she currently does not possess. She resists the urge to gag as the scents of the public bathroom seemingly surge back in full force. Mmm yes, organic gas. Just what she needs to settle her writhing stomach. Struggling to not become violently ill again, Ming sways as she stumbles out of the stall and into the bathroom. Her mouth feels drier than dust and slightly wooly, like she'd just eaten dairy before exercising. Snatching a martini glass from the counter, Ming goes to fill it up in the sink. She gives no fucks that the glass is definitely not her's and probably diseased. Just before reaching the counter, the glass falls from her shaking hands and remarkably doesn't shatter upon impact but it does roll and Ming watches it go with a forlorn gaze. The stranger is exiting the room, seconds away from doing so, and Ming, struggling with basic brainpower at this point, shouts "Oi asswipe, grabthaj uh that-" She slurs, eventually giving up on naming the glass and just pointing dramatically at it and making grasping hand motions.