OPEN SIGNUPS RECURRING IWAKU CHAT TOKO AIDA: GATORBAT CULLING FESTIVAL - SAT SEPT 23RD @ 8PM-11PM CEN

[Diana]

TOKO AIDA STATION: GATORBAT CULLING FESTIVAL
IWAKU CHATBOX
Sep 23, 2023 at 8:00 PM ​

The Toko Aida. A space station on the grandest of scales. Funded by the Imperium Republic of Sol (Commonly known as the IROS Alliance), Toko Aida is a neutral territory with a conglomerate of different species and nations pulled together for one purpose – gratuitous capitalism. Trade, Business, Shipping, Vacation, Tourism… if it can be sold, it can be found on Toko Aida. Information, Black Markets, Galactic Police, Bounty Hunters, Business Owners… everyone finds a need to visit Toko Aida.

Every few years the Toko Aida Station needs to remove the vermin. With all the weird space bugs and beasts across the galaxy, what can you do! Over the decades this has evolved into a fun cultural festival on the station where studious business folk do some vermin hunting and then sell them at market as souvenirs and delicacies. It is the last day of the culling and the Trade Market is bustling with activity.

It might just be the perfect time for something criminal to go down.

EVENT INFO

WHO: Everyone is invited! Character Bios/Pics are not required, but totally encouraged! Post 'em if you got 'em.

WHAT: You are at the Trade Market. Are you a seller? Buyer? Are you using the crowd to do something nefarious? Are you just trying to buy some pants and get pulled into shenanigans? In this space sci-fi setting the sky is the limit.

WHERE: Join us in the TOKO AIDA chat room. You'll find the link to our chats in the CHAT tab when it's time to play.

HOW: This is a ACTION SETTING WITH IMPROVISATIONAL GAME MASTERING. That means the object of this roleplay is to interact with other characters, and from those interactions I will create a plot and story around you. There will be action moments, where strange events will happen and your characters will have to work together to resolve it. With this ChaRP "lol random" behaviors are discouraged -- what your character says and does will have in game consequences, so choose wisely!

My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY so even if you are terrible at roleplay or have never participated in a ChaRP before, this will be easy for you to get involved in. :D Ask questions, let me know when you need help. I often give tips and direction out of character in the main chat room when people need a little direction. You can also reference our MINI CHARP GUIDE!

 

[Diana]

reserved for bios?

 

[Diana]

reserved for bonus?

 

[rissa]

gatorbats? count me in

 

[littlekreen]

Accessing recent news report....

In today's news we have a stranger story for you. It appears on one of the lower docking rings there was an attempted robbery that turned out to be a novel kidnapping, then to murder, then to self-defense. Much to security's surprise this one was a wild ride! No details on the assailants has been released at this time. The victim Captain Declan of the Golden Crane was found dead on his spaceship's bridge along with two assailants after an emergency call was raised by a single survivor. That, folks, is where our robbery turned into attempted kidnapping. The loot they were after was a little fellow who called security for help. A fact that this particular murder causes a bit of concern among security administration and science types alike the rare silicate biocontrol species, we're told is sometimes found in the reactors of long haulers, was a party to the incident and appears to actually be a sophont. Details are currently very scarce due the lockdown but as far as Sunspot we're told they are usually small amorphous scooting minerals racing through ductwork that grow slowly over time and desiccate pest creatures. This particular one is reported to have a long multilegged body at nearly four feet, hands, and stands about a hundred centimeters tall. With its gleaming green uranic back the emergency report indicates it calls itself 'Sunspot'. As ship records do show it named by its captain as a member the former pet has been temporarily assigned survivors rights by security administration until an official determination is made in lieu of any surviving family. The murder investigation has just started but Sunspot is not named in the investigation of the captain's death though is named in as responsible for one assailant whose photo is sealed. While that means they're under docking hold until it's all worked out, remember, gatorbat cullers: the green glowing critter's on our side! We'll update you as soon as we have the preliminary report on the murder.​

Searching for first known incidence of 'Sunspot'...

Today we have a strange critter in our series on universal ship denizens. This one, we're told, isn't particularly the vermin kind. An incomparable creature of singular rarity located from places yet unknown. Very few examples of this neon green rock even known to the various merchant guilds. Early reports submit the rock as an infectious deposit on a radioactive hauler. In time examination proved it was not an inanimate ore but crystalline creature. A clonal crystalline colony reorganized to move by some phasing ability for hunting. Captains involved reported isolated specimen submissive even curious about the glove probing. While not in distress but mere awareness of the world it did not show in the reactor chamber.

This scalloped rock much resembles Autunite, a uranic crystal. Analysis indicates it contains such a mineral yet no radiation to speak of. Even dampening radiation levels in showing itself an advanced radiotroph. Capable of thriving within excesses of radiation thousands of times stronger than the background. Later proving difficult to confine demonstrated a rudimentary intelligence to escape. Larger specimens, about that of a human finger, instead chased away from sealed food storage. Able to perceive both sound and light if nothing else to hunt other creatures. Remains of that 'infestation' then directed its aims toward another food source. Other ship vermin earned a terrifying foe that phased through thin walls. Mild food territoriality shown among the separate colonies demonstrated though not to crew. The largest showing threat demonstrations of sudden long spikes toward hostile individuals. Ship engineers then induced violent pursuit of other pests to maintain the peace. Nudging dead pests or dedicated foodstuffs into the clonal colonies. Similarly, a mere hand barrier dissuaded by physical contact hunting of his pets.

Those same spikes are used for territory employed by phasing to penetrate an organic body. They then 'bump' it to a pile to absorb calcium skeletons or deoxygenate biomass. Desiccated corpses found in the ventilation system with slight increases in hydrogen levels. Ignorant of depressurized cargo holds some trained to chase vermin in cargo containers. Growth of total mass despite their eating was at glacial rates. At least outside of the heavy radiation content of the initial trader growth is very slow leaving them averse to damage. Thus soon enterprising characters convinced the creatures to divide for sale. The small pebble-sized cleaves advertised as inorganic pest control.

We're giving this one a thumbs up. If you do encounter one of these clonal creatures don't burn them out! The heavy metal smoke will kill you and it'll be your fault. You would need a plasma fire to even scorch them anyway. They're quite handy to have around the ship and can clean a whole scow by the time you get to another dock doing a long haul. If they know food is there they remain but sell them off if you have to. Consider them unscented beneficial vermin. While you'll have them lurking in the walls you'll only have these squeaky clean guys in there before long. Not intintionally stealthy, UV scans find the crystals by the gravel and rocks in your ducts fluorescing a bright green as they thwip about.​

Loading picture of initial report sample

Unreleased addendum to document sourced from social media feed...

We've recently found scuttlebutt that the creatures are taking it upon themselves to domesticate. Adult sized specimens are learning to communicate with hardware inside of doors. Escaping ships with little regular food or to more friendly sapients to which they're docile. The largest even powering the said doors to make their escape. Given bare breeding rates with harmlessness to people we're deeming it not a threat. Nobody's certain if the larger ones are intelligent creatures in their own right. The largest known, named Sunspot, has taken on a different morphology than a moving pile of green and does demonstrate a proven listening ability. Frequent phasing across surfaces to hunt creatures after someone speaks of sighting vermin. We haven't been able to reach the Captain involved for comment. Dockworkers say they've seen it listen to the captain's orders with these fuzzy but really sharp pointed ears and small hands with toe beans. Guess the pets taught them a thing or two! Have a look! Just don't pet the little guy: they're sharp as hell. It looks like sunspot travels a foot or two at a time like some weird teleporting statue but can't get through walls anymore. Can definitely carry stuff with them though, someone get a squint on this!​

Loading attached picture of specimen: Sunspot

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Name: Aure
Species: Void Walker
Gender: Ummm....?
Age: ???
Pronouns: They/their/theirs/we/ours
Personality: Always cryptic, sometimes mischievous, Aure travels through space without need of a vessel. Aure has shown a considerable degree of curiosity about Planetaries (planet-born life). It is uncommon for a Void Walker to enter structures such as vessels, stations, or planet-bound buildings, but Aure seems to have developed a fondness for the practice.

Void Walkers: Void Walkers are mysterious beings that live in open space. They do not seek to control territory, nor do they respect (or even necessarily understand) territorial claims made by other species. They gather the resources they need from uninhabited regions, such as Oort clouds, Kuiper belts, and the coronas of stars.

Though they are usually encountered as individuals, Void Walkers are believed to be able to temporarily or permanently merge or fission, as well as inherit or share memories and elements of personality. Because of this, conventional understandings of age and gender do not apply to them.

Void Walker language is complex and multi-layred. Many of their concepts do not translate very well into common languages, and vice versa.

They do not seem to have any comprehensible political organization. They spontaneously converge to accomplish collective tasks, almost like flocking creatures, then diverge to go their own way either as individuals or groups. Void Walkers do not employ money or acquire possessions, but they do seem to have a form of trade in experiences, performances (analogous to songs, poetry, stories, and the like), and knowledge.

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Uli and Ahirant

Uli was born into poverty among the teeming masses of New Shenzhen, a vast megastructure that specializes in mining, heavy industry, and salvage. At the age of six, her parents farmed her out to be a cleaning girl for a salvager/mechanic shop. When the proprietor caught her taking apart an old carbon scrubber, he said, "Aight. Take it apart all ya want. Clean the parts, then put 'em back together. Then we see if it works. It better."

Somewhat to his surprise, it did, and Uli's job gradually transitioned to an apprenticeship. She had an insatiable curiosity, and a talent for making things work. She devoured the shop's repair manuals, parts catalogs, and any other scraps of learning she could get her hands on.

When she was 10, the Delmok Empire incorporated New Shenzhen into the Seven Systems and began cracking down on the dodgy enterprises of its seedy underbelly, consolidating all business under the control of pro-Imperial megacorporations.

Uli joined the resistance as a low-level smuggler and spy, learning how to fight, hack, shoot, and evade pursuit. However, the resistance was disorganized and divided, no match for the New Shenzhen megacorps and the Czarina's elite Koshak special forces troops.

In truth, Uli had no love for the New Shenzhen criminal underworld. It was just the only way she had to make a living. What she really wanted was to get a ship and escape out into the Black, where she could be free. Her efforts to save up enough money for even the most dubious "fixer-upper" ship fell far short. With options for escape quickly being closed down, she made a desperate move: stowing away aboard a fast-looking ship while its crew was busy making arrangements (and paying bribes) for a quick, off-the-books departure.

Ahirant is a member of an ancient warrior race called the Mic!tek'ari. One of the first races in the Galaxy to expand into space, the Mic!tek'ari adopted a policy of exterminating every intelligent species they encountered, lest they reach technological parity and return the favor.

Long ago, a coalition of alien races including humans managed to halt the Mic!tek'ari expansion at great cost. Contained and no longer assured of military supremacy, the Mic!tek'ari ideology crumbled. In their paranoia, factions within the Hegemony turned against each other in a civil war that shattered their civilization. Rather than facing genocidal reprisals from alien forces, they brought it upon themselves. The Mic!tek'ari race scattered, becoming renowned as soldiers of fortune, mercenaries, and enforcers.

Ahirant was just such an enforcer aboard the Dead Man's Hand, a fast, well-armed freighter. Though the extreme paranoid xenophobia of the Mic!tek'ari is ancient history, Ahirant was still a cutthroat in a crew of cutthroats. They launched from New Shenzhen, only to be betrayed by a mutiny led by the second-in-command with a plan to turn the ship and crew in to the authorities in exchange for amnesty. The resulting gun battle left the ship badly damaged and adrift in space, and Ahirant the only survivor.

Ahirant was the muscle, not the mech. It took only a couple attempts at fixing some of the damaged systems for him to realize that he was doomed. The comm panel had been hit with a blaster shot, and besides, any ship close enough to come to his aid would almost certainly be a Delmok warship or New Shenzhen corporate cutter. Then, to his astonishment, one of the system status indicators went from red to green. Then another, and another.

As he searched the ship, he caught a blur of motion here, an abandoned repair operation there. But whoever it was, they weren't a member of his crew, whose bodies had all been accounted for and shoved out the airlock. Finally, his search was answered with a voice: "Look mate, it'll be a lot easier t' patch up this crate o' yours if y'aint chasin' me around. If ya can agree that ya don't wanna choke t' death on yer own CO2 any more than I do, or get caught by the Demoks an' the Corps, how 'bout we make a deal?"

With no other options available, Ahirant agreed. The mystery person turned out to be a 15-year-old human girl with a quick mind and a mischievous streak a light-year wide. To his befuddlement, Uli found him to be adorable (!) and offered him something he'd never experienced before: open affection, as to a beloved gruff uncle.

She got the Dead Man's Hand running, and together they figured out, with more than a little trial and error, how to fly it. Uli had quick reflexes and a love for crazy maneuvers and high speed, and Ahirant was a deadly shot with the ship's guns. Together they slipped through the cracks of Seven Systems society, engaging in various capers, heists, and smuggling runs. They might not have any friends out in the Black, but they've got each other, and one hell of a fast ship. Catch 'em if you can.

 

[Lyrikai]

Owl Mom's internet is down and this charp will have to be rescheduled! Let's all riot at her internet people!!