First RP to be finished on Anonymatrix....hopefully....

First topic message reminder :

Ok, I said I was going to post this, and I will. I expect people to join, as many people expressed an interest.

Alright. I will keep this simple. It is the year 5052AD, and mankind has long since extended its reach to the stars and outside its solar system. It has encountered many new sentient races, some hostile, some friendly and some who are just trying to get by. The governments of mankind have banded together under one banner, the "true" UNEM; United Nations of Earth and Mankind. It sits on the grand galactic council alongside representatives from every other race in the galaxy, and ostensibly have Human-kinds best interests at heart. However, politics corrupt everything, and every member in the council has their own agenda, even within the parties. The miniature councils that run the solar systems are just as corrupt, allowing bandits and slavers to operate in many of the outlying systems where the UEP- the Universal Enforcers Patrol- have a very weak presence. Whether this is due to lethargy or corruption on the councillors part depends on the system. There are many different groups outside the councils, be they mercenary groups, terrorist groups, bandits or just wealthy, independent businessmen.

Of course, what do we care about this? You are all simple creatures- humans and aliens alike- who live a simple life, living in a colony on the planet Liberty, located in the Terminus System in the far reaches of the galaxy. News from the rest of the galaxy doesn't reach you, and your biggest worries include the occasional bandit raid or whether next years harvest goes rotten. Humans and aliens alike live together, side by side, reacting to each other based solely on personal virtues rather than racial stereotypes. You are all stuck here, after all, and you grew up here; most of your families have lived here since the colony was founded, or close to it. Liberty is an earth-like planet, albeit with different wildlife and a slightly higher climate, and completely isolated, more or less.
That is, until a ship from an unknown organisation- it could be military, it could be something else- drops out of hyperspace above the planet, and sends down six soldiers of mixed race in a dropship that lands just outside of the colony limits, near the outlying farms. They have heard rumours of a massive attack being planned by an unknown force, and they have been sent to find out why and to hopefully stop it. What in Gods name is about to happen to the peaceful planet of Liberty?

Ok, now most of you will be farmers or shopkeepers or working in personal security...generally an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. Myself and someone else will be playing the military personnel in charge of the other four who were sent down, and sorry guys, but that role has been reserved. This is simply to keep the story moving.
You can be human or alien, and I will not give you a list of aliens. It will be up to you to invent them yourselves...just PM me with your ideas and I will review them to see if they are viable to include. Alright?
If you wish to be one of the four soldiers, you may, but I do not want everyone choosing a soldier, and if you choose to be a "grunt" you will be wearing a red shirt. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedShirt

We start just as the dropship is finding a place to land.


Roles:

Civilians:
-Danny, farmer, Crystalline
-Faith, Book Shop owner, Human

Soldiers:
-Murdoch, Scout Leader, Human
-Jordan [Eljordo], Human

Other:
-Brandon (Dragon...symbiote...thing...)

OOC- It's fine.. Im swarmed with exams anyways. I may not be able to reply to anything tonight :/

"After you!" Danny said with a gesture to move forward. There wasn't much to say at this point. Danny was still wondering if he really knew what was going on, and he was beginning to question them, or at least what he knew of them. Why were they here? Sure, they need parts for their ship, and that's fair, they do, but why were they at this part of the galaxy to begin with? Not very many people come around these parts. Regardless, Danny held his questions to himself, and walked along the path with the rest. He was sure his questions would be answer eventually.

Murdoch follows after them, falling into step with Kristie and Danny in the order that Kristie suggested, trusting Jordan to keep step. They seem friendly enough, but they do have them surrounded...so he keeps a hand near his weapons just in case. He may be friendly, but he's no fool.

The trails were extremely narrow; you could only fit one person at a time, your arms were kept near your sides or they’d bump into the tall vegetation. It was either something regular like corn, or just a field that the farmers neglect to cut, which is handy for a lot of people who don’t want to spend the extra time on the main paths. I never did stop to think what else could be living in this isolated little home of a field.. Didn’t think it ever matter. But the thought suddenly crossed my minds with the worry already in my head thanks to the mysterious strangers walking behind my back. Oh, I’m positive there’s nothing out here but us! But..

“Try not to rustle up the vegetation. Makes too much noise.. You never know.” Now I was just having fun with them! Maybe I could put one of them on edge.

Danny was happy to take the rear of the line, but the fact that they walked in silence, made him uneasy. It wasn't the people really, more the fact that on one was talking. Unless he was working on his farm, Danny enjoyed conversations. "So uh, why'd you guys head up in this part of the galaxy again?" Sure it wasn't the best conversation starter, but it was something right? Even despite Kristie's warning to keep quiet, he still wanted to talk.

"I don't think I'm at liberty to answer your question, even if you seem to have harmless intentions" Jordan replied.


Ooc: sorry for the short post

Murdoch looks at Jordan, nodding slightly. Although it's meant to be a harmless attempt at a conversation- or, at least, designed to appear that way- they really can't say until they A) Have a way off, and B) are sure that they can trust this lot....also, C) they need more information to make a conclusion. So the answer has got to be no.
"Sorry. Jordan is right; it's on a need-to-know basis, and right now, you don't need to know."

OOC- Sorry for being late!

BIC-
Need. To know. Basis.. Huh, if they’re trying at all to relax the suspicion, that surely didn’t help. God, just make something up! Lie! It’s not that difficult. And it surely would have made it a lot more comforting to hear something than nothing. Who knows, we may have believed it. Nice try Danny.. But these guys weren’t budging.

“Hold it.” I stopped walking, thus blocking the line of us from moving on any farther. The end of the path was about 6 feet in front of us, behind a turn to my left that was only visible after getting to the corner. I deliberately stopped them from seeing how close we were, so that I could say what I wanted to, and not have the walk for them to respond much on it. I looked at the two men, only being able to see Danny between there heads. “I can see I’ll need to lay down some ground rules. When we get there, you can’t be acting like that. ‘Need to know basis.’ ‘At liberty to answer your question’,” I imitated them by lowering my voice. “The people here will want to start conversations, be friendly, open, hospitable to you; our guests. If you go in there, and Lord forbid someone should ask you that same question.. You both better agree on a believable lie right now. Yes, it is none of our business, but people WILL ask. If you say to them what you just said to us, they’ll be a bloody riot as to why in God’s name you’re here. You don’t exactly blend it. Do not give anyone a reason to be threatened or worried. We’ll avoid talking to anyone much as possible for you, but be prepared for it. I will NOT let you two cause a bloody uproar.” I turned from the group, went around the corner and stood in the opening of the path. From this little hill it exited on, you could see a good chunk of the markets, and the hundreds of beings in it. Not all of it.. But a good portion.

Murdoch has to smile at the ridiculousness of what the girl is saying. A riot because they choose to keep a secret? Highly unlikely. True, their denial may get people suspicious, but an outright lie, if they are caught, will just increase suspicion even more. If you tell someone right up front that they can't know but that it's important, yes they'll be curious, but they won't suspect your motives as much as if you're caught in a lie. Then people will question why you had to lie, and you've then got a reputation for being dishonest, which makes trust harder to come by later. Yes, he can see the advantages of lying, but given the nature of why they're actually here, trust is more important.

"Whilst I appreciate the concern, miss," he says, no hint of sarcasm in the politeness of his manner; just because they disagree, doesn't mean that they can't be civil, after all, "I think we shall be fine. From what I've seen of your colony, and from what the databases on our ship can dig out-" not exactly a lie; they were briefed before they travelled here, but technically the information was on the ship. This just leads them to believe that they got here on accident...it isn't lying, it's just misleading. That 'exact words' stuff. "- Your populace is unlikely to riot because they've been told that we can't tell anyone. Surely you can appreciate that us being up front about not being able to tell them our reason for being in the area is far more preferable to us being caught in a lie. The simple fact is, we were in the area, we launched a scout mission and damage to our ship forced us to perform an...emergency landing." Again, the truth, if a little warped to omit that they were going to land anyway because the colony is their mission. "Anything more than that would be unprofessional and, frankly, unnecessary. I will attempt to phrase it better than 'you don't need to know' but I will not tell an outright lie. That could end up causing more harm than good. A lie makes it easier to make a slip up and cause trouble. So no. I will not lie. And I find it disturbing that you are encouraging dishonesty to your friends and family from complete strangers." Another technique; shift guilt onto them to try to change the topic. It doesn't have to work, but it can be used to raise a valid point. Hey, just because he's friendly doesn't mean he has to be an idiot.

I wouldn’t argue. To me, he sounded like he was basing how we act as a colony on what he pulls from a piece of technology. I’ll agree, that maybe I took what I was trying to say too far in terms of consequences, but the intentions of it got through at least. How we act, and how we THINK are two completely different things. I’d like him to find how we really think in his ‘database’. People here hide suspicion, negativity, doubt, hostility and anything along those lines. Rarely will we ever show it.. Except for me some others, who don’t feel the need to keep anything they have to say bottled in. We’re peaceful, kind, and generous. But we aren’t blind. As for the dishonesty topic.. I won’t start. Lying, in my opinion, is going to be at least once in your life, a necessity. He won’t get me to shut up forever with that angle.. Only for now, because we’re I don’t want to cause any more of a scene then needed. I’ll get in the harassment much later. For the moment, I’d rather not even continue talking to them.

“Danny, once I get you into the main of the market, you can continue on without me, yes?” I asked, moving to the side of them and looking at Danny, as if I was ignoring them even being here altogether. A small sign to show I don’t want them here, and I want them gone as soon as possible. And take whatever damn reasons they’re here for with them.

"Whoa hey," Danny quickly spoke after Murdoch and his little blurb. The tension rising was quite obvious, despite the tone of voice. "It may not of been the right thing, but she was just trying to do what was right. Unlike you, she does know this colony, and although that may not be the best solution, she was just trying to protect them! It's something we-" he starts to fade and stop as he looks at Kristie, who begins to speak again. Switching the topic. Kristie met Danny's gaze and it was clear she didn't want them there. "Yeah. Will you be showing them around then?" he asked, still keeping eye contact with her. It wasn't that Danny disliked the men, far from it. But it was almost second nature to protect one from the colony - for him. If they asked for help, he would still be there, or if they were curious about something, he'd answer still. It was more of a "spur of the moment" type thing, though he was sure they were already asked the whole thing.

“I’ll get you to the main,” The main, being a large square in the center of the markets where people tend to meet up and use as a landmark. The market’s a busy place; it only takes a couple seconds to lose someone in a crowd. “I’ll give you directions to get wherever you need to go the quickest, and I’ll take off.” I finished. I’d been looking away from them the entire time, looking out to the direction of the markets. Finally though, I turned around and again looked past the men and right to Danny. “There are some things I need to take care of.” I said straight out, as like my explanation for me taking off, rather than just saying I don’t want to be around the goons. I’ll give them directions.. The longer ones, and send them on their way. No reason to make it easy for them.

Murdoch watches the following conversation with some interest; they obviously don't know each other well, but it seems like this 'Danny' is the more friendly of the two. That's good, then; maybe he could help diffuse situations before they start. The girl, on the other hand, seems to exist to throw up barriers. When given an alternate viewpoint- albeit one that has been poorly phrased- she throws what could be considered a temper tantrum. No matter. She is leaving, the man is not. That is all well and good; he has a rather graphic image of Jordan getting fed up with her and shooting her.

But still. She'll give them directions, and that is all they need. Although, since she appears to be in a strop- and stroppy people could become rather spiteful- he'll just make sure. In their databases, they have a rough map of the colony. Not one that tells them what each building is, but one that tells them where the buildings themselves are. More of a blueprint map, to be honest, but the ship up above should have updated the maps with satellite photos as soon as they entered orbit. So, he'll just program the directions she gives into the helmet's HUD, which will pull up a map. The directions will help the helmet pinpoint their destination on the map and figure out a new set of directions which will take them the shortest way. If she does give them the shortest way, then all to the good; but if not, they have a contingency. They don't have forever to fix the ship, after all; the threat that they got a report about could occur at any moment.

There wasn't much I could do, but wait. If I left the shop I might loose money, but if I stayed, I'd miss everything. I shook my head. I had been getting more than enough moolah the past few days, s I hoped I could get by with one short day.

I pulled a hand under the counter, flicking off the small light which displayed more of the expensive books. I looked around. This wasn't something that I did often, but it saved a little more money if not alot. I turned, pulling the cloak from off the back of the chair inwhich I usually sat. I pushed it over my shoulders, tying it off.

I felt wrong leaving my shop, but I had to. I coughed, looking around a moment before walking to the door.
"Lock in 5" I spoke simply and a voice started counting down. I opened the door-one. Taking a step outside, and turning-three. Closing the door-Five. There was a beep, and the door locked with an audible 'click'

"SH*T! Ouch!" Shock pierced through Klaire, and she jumped, bashing her head against the underside of the monitor. Sliding out from underneath, she rubbed her head and stared dizzily at whomever had just entered the room. "Sorry, I was using the circuit compresser to rewire your monitor. Hardware. Didn't want you losing your files on your harddrive. There have been recent complaints. You know, you really should back up your files." Her vision slowly returned to its original state so she could focus on who she was talking to. "And politeness costs nothing" She straightened her shirt while had crumpled as she lay on the floor.

"How am I 'meant' to react when I come into my quaters and find a strange woman fiddling with the wires under my personal computer. Where is your clearance?Aki replied as he folded his arms and looked down at the woman. His flight helmet was resting by his stomach, the built in radio still crackling with general tower chatter, however the recent train of conversation caught his ear

"This is tower over, Meteorite confirmed as crashed ship, I repeat, confirmed as crashed military ship, all surveillance ops cancelled as well as search and rescue, no casualties" This, and other variants of the message crackled to and from pilots to the tower and back.

Aki glanced from the woman to the street, crowds were starting to grow around holo screens, it was as if these people had never seen outiders or shuttle crashes before, It was a backwater planet but it wasnt totally cut off from Earth Comm.

Klaire reached into a pocket and brought out an ID badge, walking over to the man and passing it to him. As the radio sputtered into a new topic, she too caught the urgency of the situation.

"What did they say??" She almost dropped her ID as recognition hit her. These men were soldiers, and she hadn't the faintest idea how to handle the situation of a crashed ship. Who knows what the ship was. Klaire was just a techy, her life surrounded by cables and computers. She barely knew how to defend herself.

ooc - sorry I've been gone for a really long time. It's a long story, I hope this hasn't caused too much of a annoyance.

bic - Danny followed along the men. He could see that Krisite didn't want to be with the military men, or at the very least, she didn't like the military men, which was understandable. Danny had a few questions himself. But what was he to do? Leave them here to wander? That wouldn't help him. Beside, with the crash, and the harvest ruined for the day he had nothing better to do. The bottom line was that these men needed help - for whatever reason - and Danny was always on the more helping side. "Gentlemen," He said and nodded forward to them to continue.

I took one more look behind me, at the men and at Danny, gazing over their faces. In a short time I’d be rid of them, and then I’d have to decide what it was that I was going to do about the situation. Not positive as to how smart it would be to go back the way we came after they’re gone.. Maybe find the crash sight, because God only knows how many of them there are. My luck of today I could walk into a pit of humans like them and wind up dead shortly after. Or.. There would be no one, and I could find out exactly who they are. But the risks? A bit too high for me. I’ll have to decide on something by the end of this guide.

“Down here.” I said to the three of them, and turned my back to the men. I whipped down a steep trail on the hill, which put me at one of the end sides of the markets. The noise from the people’s commotions now in full volume. I turned around, and waved my hand to urge them to follow as I slowly stepped on into the crowds.

Murdoch looks around at Jordan, and gestures wordlessly. The chances are that she won't take them the easiest route, but without directions to pinpoint the destination, they are effectively blind. So they have no choice but to follow.
Turning, he moves to follow the two colonists down into the market area. They still need spare parts, and they can't leave this rock without it...well, they wouldn't leave anyway, as per their mission, but the crash, while genuine, does offer a good excuse to scout out the colony. The buildings here are fairly modern, and quite structurally sound, but none that he would choose to hole up in in a siege. Still, they look sturdy enough and there are windows on the second floor, so they could hold up for a fair amount of time if they had enough firepower...let's just hope that the Bandits attack after the ship is finished.

ooc - sorry what's really going on, cause it seems that we're going in circles now (perhaps it's been because I've been absent for so long), but what is going on?

What's going on is that we're heading into the market area so Jordan and Murdoch can get parts. I'm trying to pace it and introduce most if not all of the characters to each other before I launch us in. I'm pacing it.

I looked around, realizing how long it had been since I had been to the markets around me. I had taken steps onto the front balcony of my apartment above the shop.

I simply stood on the front stoop of my store, smiling as I watched all the people, bargaining over foods and items that they could use for their tractors and the items that kept their money coming in.

I sighed, taking a step from the store's safe haven, and out onto the streets. The cloak was held close to my body as I walked, slowly, through the groups of people rushing to and from their own lives. They were people I would never see again, people I wouldn't think of ever meeting, but they were still people.

I didn't have a clue where I was walking. I was simply walking, seeing what all the buzz was about. Alot of people had stopped talking about the new visitors, but some still whispered in the dark corners of the colony. I sighed, shaking my head. What did I care? It might bring more buisness.

OOC- Just a heads up guys, I am going on vacation for the next week starting Saturday morning. I will probably be able to get on the computer during the evening to post once in each RP, but that's about it. I've singled myself out a bit here, so it should be easy for me to be a bit less active for a while without causing the rest of you to wait up on me. I'll post whenever I can!

I sighed as Faith left me, so I turned and headed back towards my home. As I was going, two men crossed my path. Both human. I grinned and began to follow them. They made their way to the markets with slight ease. This town wasn't set up in the most practical of ways.

I became more interested in these men and I decided to take a different approach. Interested in how they would react. Considering everyone so far has been fairly agreeable with them.

I sneered before moving quickly and swinging at one, hitting them in the back of the head(Murdoch). After it connected, I stepped back and got into a ready position to defend myself.

Murdoch staggers forwards as something hits the back of his head, hard, and he hears something from behind him, like someone shifting into position. He isn't injured, on account of his helmet, but he is surprised, which stops him from reacting as quickly as he may have before. If he hadn't been so complacent in the company of these colonists, the person who had hit him would be dead already. As it is, shooting someone is not likely to win them any friends, regardless of reason.

So instead of just turning around and opening fire as he would have done- and as Jordan would have done, had it been him that had been assaulted- he turns the stagger into a pivot, drawing both his pistol in his left hand and his blade in his right, holding the sword behind him a ways and pointing the gun at the Asari that attacked him for no reason, making sure to keep out of arms length. Asari may be fast, but they aren't faster than a bullet. This colonist may be able to defend himself, but he highly doubts that the Asari is able to defend himself against a fully armoured, military-trained swordsman.
But he doesn't fire. Instead, he charges up the weapon- it making a very obvious whirring sound- and opens up the commlinks.

"Sir?" crackles the voice of Tarya in his ear.
"be advised. Some of the locals appear to be hostile. I will attempt to diffuse the situation, but be ready to move out and rescue us." he tells her, ignoring the male for the moment.
"What? And risk myself for you?"
"Yes."
There's silence for a moment as Tarya notes his serious tone of voice- one that doesn't get used often- and then there's a crackled "Affirmitive. Waiting on your order."
Murdoch nods to himself, then focuses on the male in front of him, comms still on.

"So. Any reason why I shouldn't put a bullet in you and walk away? Anything you have to say to try and explain what was going through your mind when you attacked me?" He asks coldly, all mirth gone from his voice. It's cold, his voice like sharpened steel as it cuts through the air with a chill. "Because let me tell you; I kill hostiles. You can use all the fancy martial arts you want. You are not faster than a bullet. So, what is it? Are you hostile, or did you just think you were being funny?"