[WRITING] Miscellanea's Misbegotten Daughter (c)

[Expendable]

The Mothership

Formerly known as the Theocratic Empire warship Divine Flame, it is a saucer-shaped craft 1024 miles across and 12.5 miles thick. Built for the Theocratians by the Dysonians, it was intended to be their flagship in their war of conversion, outfitted with barracks for legions of clerical shock troops, hospital wards for treating the wounded, massive hanger decks, and should a planet prove to be particularly stubborn, a 1 zettawatt plasma cannon.

In an effort to ensure no counter weapon could be developed by the Dysonians (and to avoid further payments for the ship), when the Theocratians took possession of the Divine Flame, they targeted the Dysonian sphere and opened fire. The resulting recoil sent the ship hurdling away at one-third the speed of light, destroying critical elements of the Plasma Cannon while crushing the crew and guests under 2000g of force. The bolt fired by the cannon was intercepted and routed to the Dysonian sun, which they said had been "looking peaked".

Reportedly, it perked up considerably.

The Dysonians then confronted the remaining Theocratians on their home world to demand payment in full for the Divine Flame. As they could not pay for the ship, the Dysonians confiscated all their assets, including their planet and moon, which was torn apart and shipped back as construction materials. The Theocratians were relocated to various remote colony worlds on the outer edges of the galaxy.

The Divine Flame was salvaged and spent the next thousand years as an automated orbiting museum and theme park. The massive chamber that used to house the plasma cannon became a water park. The hangers were filled with various small and moderate-sized ships, with all weapons disabled by the ship's AI.

Really Big Entertainments fell into bankruptcy and I wound up purchasing the ship at auction for the price of a large coffee (this will teach me to raise my hand while ordering a coffee at an auction). I renamed it The Mothership and currently have it parked behind the Moon so as to not alarm anyone.

[Expendable]

25 Words or Less - How to confuse a guy: Wear a sexy Santa outfit then point a very nasty gun in their face. Ain't the holidays grand?

[Sirena]

25 Words or Less - How to confuse a guy: Wear a sexy Santa outfit then point a very nasty gun in their face. Ain't the holidays grand?

Interesting lol

[Expendable]

"25 Words or Less" is a practice tool I picked up from another site for writing opening sentences for hooking the reader. It can be fun!

25 Words or Less -

"But I'm not a virgin!" I hissed.
The witch doctor heaved a sigh as he finished tying the knot. "Nobody is, kids these days."


"If we die here today I will never speak to you again!"
"Stop trying to talk me into this," I growled.

[Expendable]

RPG Concept - Working title: Hero Complex

Premise:
Ships escorting a colony ship to a Goldilocks Planet come under fire by alien ships.

Shortly afterward, other colony and mining facilities along the alien boarder come under attack.

Earth orders a colony to be evacuated before it comes under attack, warships are sent to defend the colony.

The last ships bearing colonists are exiting the system when the fleet comes under attack by the invaders.

In trying to escape the attack, a wild warp is triggered, dragging a significant part of the colony and a few of the invaders along.

Colonists and escorts arrive in a binary system. Invaders break off the attack and head for deep space, apparently wishing to establish their position.

There are three inhabitable planets in the primary's life zone. While the fleet tries to determine their location and work out how to get back to Human-controlled space, they decide to start a limited colony on each of the three worlds.

Military needs are prioritized, with tenders turning out standardized equipment for fleet and marine use.

Years later, a human outpost is raided, reports are consistant with the invader's style of ship. The invaders themselves were wearing mil-spec powered armor, but decorated in what the survivors called... "Spooky". Other raids follow.

Fleet goes to establish a position to protect the civilian colonies. The military governor establishes mandatory military service for two years for all colonists, in the junior and senior years in HS.

A possible route is discovered, the governor sends a ship to make contact.

Invaders have set up their own colonies on planets orbiting the second star.


Player scenario: The need for security for the mining outposts creates a market for former soldiers to form mercenary companies. They also do some bounty-hunting on the side. A group of mercenaries form a small company.


Reserved information

  Spoiler:  

Radiation has affected the birth rate for the invaders, where more girls than boys are born. Boys are sheltered, the women don powered armor and demonic masks while going on these raids.

[Expendable]

RPG Concept - Crashlanded

Premise: It was just suddenly there, racing past the ISS as it fell into the atmosphere, taking a few satellites with it.

It flew over the US, Central America, and just before crashing into Eastern Island in the Midway Island Atoll group made a sudden attempt to slow down before it hit the tiny island, throwing dust and sand everywhere.

Except meteors don't try to slow down. What was in that shallow crater slowly filling with water was an alien spaceship.

As Midway is a protected wildlife reserve in the middle of the Pacific now closed to the public, it was easy enough to secure the site. The retired airfield made it a handy location to fly in troops while ships of the Pacific battle group cordoned off the island under the pretext of wargame exercises.

The DOD has decided to scramble in a team to go into the ship - with a last minute addition of a Department of Homeland Security agent and his prisoner.

Premise: Players are given hazmat suits and are sent in to investigate the interior of the ship.

[Sirena]

I really do love your RPG concepts.They are so interesting

[Expendable]

The problem is what should they go after inside the wreckage?

[Expendable]

RPG Concept - PAX Confederation - Interstellar Cruise Ship Scorpio
__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Shuttle at Beaumonde, Port Charles)

"Gentles, good afternoon," beams a smiling fight attendent from the forward viewscreen and on the smaller screens mounted in the backs of the passenger seats. "This is the passenger shuttle for the Zodiac Interstellar Cruise ship Scorpio! We are taxing away from the terminal and should be lifting up shortly. Crew members are checking to make sure your seat belts are fasten. Please make sure that any loose items are stowed and any bags are tucked under your seat or in an overhead compartment. Your seats should be in the upright position and your serving trays closed at this time. Thank you!"

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Mythic world of Zayas, Court Room)

The banging of the judge's gavel silenced the soft mutterings of the crowd. Everyone was looking at him, he knew. The verdict had never been in doubt - but the sentence, while traditional for this crime, had not been enacted for generations.

The judge paused for effect, then carefully intoned for the watching cameras and visitors, "Bring forth the prisoner."
__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Shuttle, low orbit over Beaumonde, night side)

The last whisper of atmosphere faded away from the shuttle's hull as the contragrav coils lifted it into the inky black of space, the planet revolving slowly below their feet. There was a soft "bong" from the cabin speakers.

"Gentles, this is your pilot speaking. We are currently in a low orbit over Beaumonde, we hope you enjoyed your visit there. Those passengers wishing to experience free-fall, please signal your flight attendants for assistance. We will be spending the next thirty minutes in free fall as we swing closer to the Zodiac line's cruise ship Scorpio. We recommend that seatbelts remain fasten until you are directed to release them by a flight attendant, in the unlikely event we have to maneuver suddenly."
__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Mythic world of Zayas, Court Room)

At the side of the courtroom, the tall doors swung open, revealing the prisoner in orange coveralls and paper shoes, standing quietly between two guards in their traditional uniforms of navy blue with silver pipping, their weapons gleaming in the bright lights. Their faces were hidden under the traditional executioner's hood. A soft muttering could be heard among the visitors. The blank, curious expression on her face was at odds with the screaming young woman who had weapt while fighting futily with the guards from being taken away after the sentence had been pronounced last week.

The guard on either side of her grabbed an arm and lifted her off her feet, making the prisoner squeel with surprise as they carried her in front of the judge's bench. She looked up at the judge with wide, blank eyes. He repressed a shudder.

"Has the prisoner's mind been wiped, as per the instructions of this court?"
"Yes, Your Honor!" the guard on her right said.
"Then you may withdraw with the thanks of this court."

The two guards came to attention, then took a step back. The seal under the prisoner's feet lit up, surrounding her with a soft, hissing field.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Shuttle, low orbit over Beaumonde, day side)

"Gentles, on the forward viewscreens, you can see the Zodiac line's Interstellar Cruise Ship Scorpio," the fight attendant announced as the viewscreens flickered back to life. The gleaming starship shone with reflected light from Beaumonde's sun. "We will be docking in just a few minutes on the ship's port or 'left' side at Amidship's Reception on Deck 8, also known as 'The Life Deck'."

"For those of you who visiting us for the first time, the Scorpio is fourteen decks tall, containing our famous Skylight Park, eleven restaurants and consessions stands, seven bars and night clubs, a casino, art gallery, theme park, convention center, mall and of course, our pool area with four different sized pools filled with actual water. Gravity is maintained in all public areas to Earth Standard, but your cabin gravity can be set anywhere from 0.5 to 1.3 gravities for your comfort."

"The ship will be getting underway in three hours, continuing our year-long tour of twenty-three worlds before returning to Earth. Passengers who have toured all twenty-three worlds will receive a special certificate to commemorate their journey at the Journey's End Party."

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Mythic world of Zayas, Court Room)

"Prisoner," the judge intoned, leaning forward to glare sternly at the girl staring blankly back at him without comprehension. "For your crimes against your people, you have undergone the first part of your sentence - the death of personality. Now it is time for us to impose the second part of your sentence - banishment."

The crowd gasped.

"These are the last moments you will spend on the world of your birth. You are now no longer a citizen of Zayas. May the Ancesters watch over you."

He paused, then nodded slightly.

"Energize"

The seal under the prisoner's feet became a column of bright, silvery light. The girl vanished.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Shuttle Portside Docking Station / Airlock, Deck 8 Midships)


There was a several echoing thumps as magnetic grapples locked onto the contragrav shuttle, then a tug to the right as they were reeled in. Two muted thumps sounded at either end as the shuttle pressed against the docking port collar, which hissed to silent life on the viewscreens.

There was another soft "bong" from the cabin speakers.

"Gentles, this is your pilot speaking again. The time is now 15:10, we have docked with the Scorpio. You may now unfasten your seat belts and move freely about the cabin. We ask everyone to check and make sure you have all your hand-carried bags and possessions with you when you exit the shuttle, the Zodiac Line will not be held liable for any lost or missing items. Those passengers boarding from Beaumonde, please report to the reception desk for your reservations. All checked luggage will be send to your rooms shortly."

"We hope you enjoy your stay with us!"

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Deck 11 - Ship's Laundry)

There was a shimmer of brillant light, then the prisoner found herself screaming wordlessly as she fell onto bags of dirty laundry. It took her a few moments to catch her breath. Finally, with a frown, she sat up and looked at the brushed metal walls and the mesh bags with room numbers stenciled on them. With a worried moan, she wiggled towards a gap on the edge, and slipped over the edge to land with a squawk in the Ship's Automated Laundry. The robot handling the laundry bags blinked at her then helped her to her feet with a scolding tone, then went back to picking up bags of laundry.

She looked around curiously at the robots, filling the washing machines, unloading the driers and working the steam presses. One of them came up behind her and beeped impatiently. She lept aside with a cry and stared widely at the robot, who slipped passed her with two bags of dirty laundry.

A robot working a steam table paused, then stepped away from its station.

"This is a crew service area, passengers are not to enter. Please follow me," it said, latching on her arm and leading her gently to the large door that slid open at their approach. The robot paused on the other side of the door, then led her to the nearest elevator. "You are currently on Deck Eleven, passenger decks are decks one through eight."

The first elevator opened at their approach. The robot gently guided the girl inside, the pointed to the buttons. "Please select your destination deck. Have a pleasant day."

With a bow and a slight florish, the robot backed out, the doors slipping shut.

The elevator waited for a moment, waiting for the passenger to pick a button. After a minute, the elevator bonged and headed up the amidship's vertical shaft to Deck 8.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

(Mythic world of Zayas, Judge's Chambers)

There was a knock on the Judge's chamber doors. He looked up with a frown from placing his judicial wig on a head-stand, then called out, "Come in!"

The dark door slid open and a autocrastic gentleman stepped in.

"Lord Vargas!" the Judge blinked, stepping forward. "What an unexpected surprise! How are you today?"

"The Riva girl," Lord Vargas said impatiently. "Where did you send her?"
"Lord Vargas!" the judge rumbled in surprise. "Surely you're not here to protest about her being banished, are you?"
"My concern is merely to be sure that banishing her to some distant world will not reveal our own existance."
"Then you're in luck, because I did not banish her to a world."
"Eh?" Vargas demanded in surprise. "Beamed her into interstellar space? Well done!"
"No! We've been monitoring an Earth ship for a week since I passed my judgement. We beamed her into the heart of the ship. They'll have no idea where she could have possibly have come from. We are safe, my lord Vargas!"
"An Earth ship?" Vargas demanded, balling his fist.
"A cruise ship. They shuttle passengers to distant worlds."
"How... Earthican."
"Is there anything more, Lord Vargas?"

"No," Lord Vargas said, shaking the judge's hand. "Thank you very much!"

As the door slid shut behind him, Lord Vargas looked back, then pulled out his personal comm as he strode away.

"Shade, what is your location?"
"Beaumonde, I'm at the Grand Hotel in Port Charles. What is your instructions?"
"We have a problem; the target has been sent elsewhere."
"Elsewhere?"
"There is a ship in orbit...."
"There are several ships in orbit," Shade growled.
"How many cruise ships?"

Shade grunted, then responded, "One. The Scorpio."
"Your target is on that ship."
"Cruise ships are difficult. Security is tight..."
"That does not concern me."
"Diplomats and world leaders are not easy targets!"
"Then this should be easy for you. Your target is a stow-away. A girl with amnesia. I'm sending you her picture."
"You want me to abduct her?" Shade asked after a short pause.
"I want you to kill her!" Vargas snarled, his face contorted with rage. "I want her completely destroyed, assassin! Nothing left! Her ashes scattered to the four dimensions! Succeed, and I will reward you handsomely! But if you fail me human, you shall suffer as you never have before under the careful attentions of my staff! Remember, not even in death can you escape my revenge! Am I understood?"

There was a long pause.

"Understood."

__________________________________________________ _________________________

Players interact with the banished Zayan, protecting her from the assassin sent to kill her.

[Expendable]

Reborn (Rough draft)



I died, screaming....


...and found myself strapped down in a chair, staring at this thin man wearing a lab coat, smiling nervously while clamping a pair of industrial earmuffs against his skull with his hands.

"Are you done yet?" he asked, loudly.

The pain was gone. I was.... where the hell? Some kind of lab? I was strapped to some kind of padded chair, but with my head restrained I couldn't see much.

Gingerly, the man lifted the left earmuff cuff and sighed with relief, taking them off.

"Well," he said, snagging a stool and plopping down in front of me, "I bet you've got some questions. First of all, that wasn't a dream. You died. Very violently, I suspect, sorry about that. And now you're here."

He waved his left arm towards the side of the room.

"For that, you can thank the guy up there," he pointed. He winced, nodded towards the ceiling.

I looked - and the ceiling moved, some sort of hanging lump of whiteness that blinked at me couriously.

"You were one of several 'test subjects'," he said, making air quotations, "who were implanted with a special virus. It was like a cold, you were mildly miserable for several days, and then you were fine - except your body was, well, taken over or rather colonized. Everything about you was, well, broadcast on special frequencies to the M'hrg, right up to the moment of death. And now you're back, implanted into a fresh body."

"Whhh," I managed to rasp out.

"Oh, good! Talking! Yes, you're a bit out of practice," he smiled, leaning eagerly forward. "Keep at it!"

"Whhh. Whhhha? Whhhaay? Whhhhy...?"

The smile fell away from his face and he leaned back. While his head didn't look up, his eyes did.

"I don't know," he admitted. "The M'hrg haven't told us yet. Still, you're alive again! In a brand new body! That's something, right?"

The smile he wore now look forced. I wondered it it was for me, or the lump looking down from the ceiling?

[Expendable]

Roleplay Concept: H-Block

Setting: Resettlement Block/Individual Units. Building is shaped like the letter "H", with the legs containing individual apartment units that are precast 10' concrete cubes. The central cross-member has the two building elevators and vending machines. Stairwells are located on each end of the legs.

Four units in the middle of each leg segment are public toilets / shower stalls, with the inside units marked for female use, and the outside units marked for male use.

Each cube contains:
Light switch by the door that controls the overhead light in the middle of the ceiling.
A modest-sized heating/ac unit in a slot built over the central windows. On the right-hand side of the window is the thermostat.
Two power outlet in the center of the side walls and door wall.
Wifi is built in, but there's also a small outlet for a network cable next to the power outlet on the door wall.

Only the bathroom cubes have plumbing.

Bottom floor contains the reception office on one side, with store rooms and a small workshop. On the other side is a laundry room and large common room with couches, games, and better vending machines. In between the elevators are the mailboxes and package lockers.

Scenarios:

1. Following a natural disaster/meteor crash, characters get evacuated to emergency shelters. With families getting priority, they are moved out to larger apartment units. To provide for the individuals, a number of low-rent basic apartments are built. Each person receives a cheap smartphone that acts as their cyber-wallet for purchases and allows them to check their status with the Emergency Management Agency.

However, the residents have drawn the short straw and have moved into the last H-block to be built, so furniture is in short supply, so it's what they can salvage and make do with the emergency funds they've got.

What they don't know, is that what wiped out the town wasn't a meteor, but an alien spaceship - and there are two survivors who are now in the H-Block with them.

2. Low Rent Dorms set up for individual occupancy.

[Sirena]

You do really good RP concepts.Why don't you make an RP in RPN of some of your ideas? They seem so interesting.

[Expendable]

You do really good RP concepts.Why don't you make an RP in RPN of some of your ideas? They seem so interesting.

I've tried with Scorpio, it didn't take, and after a ton of work including deck plans and a radical engine concept. I may try one of the others.

[Expendable]

RPG Concept - Escaped!


Premise
Earth has been invaded, and you have been enslaved by reptiliods. Founding to be more or less in good health with easily corrected health issues, you and your fellow humans are spared from the culling and are loaded into a transport on your way to the mines, where you will work until you drop.

Those deemed useless are simply killed, and their bodies harvested.

Except half-way towards the mines, the slaver comes out of warp because there's a ship drifting alone in space, of a design unknown to the reptiliods, but unmistakably very advanced. However, the ship is fending off the shuttle that has the prize crew aboard, including most of the guards of the ship. They attempt to use an unmanned decoy shuttle, but the ship's deflectors ignores it completely.

So the Captain tries a little gamble. Not having sufficient crew on board to risk, he's loaded you and a few others into the second shuttle to draw the other ship's attention so the guard's shuttle has a chance to board. Of course, you're all shackled so you can't do anything but sit there. However, in the first approach, a deflector hit causes a power surge aboard the shuttle, and the shackles burn out....

Needed
Planets
Tech
Cast of NPCs
Collaborators.

[Expendable]

RPG Concept - Midnight City

Premise: An ancient crater, cloaked in darkness, surrounded by ancient stone walls and the more modern walls of the Outer City, shielding it like the scar tissue around a puckered wound in the Earth and mostly forgotten, never appearing on any map.

Some say it's the resting place of an ancient god.

Some say it was created by the summoned heart of a fallen star.

Whatever happened, it left a crater surrounded in perpetual midnight, underneath a rift in space and time.

A place of power. It has many names - The Watching Dark, the Hidden Quarter, Midnight City.

Only those who are incredibly lost or have guidance can find it - you couldn't tell by the mob that throng the center, drifting among the market stalls and clubs that lit the night. But the crowd is more than human - one could easily finding themselves brushing elbows with the fae, demons, aliens, even the occasional god - all drawn by the power of this place.

And at the heart of it all sits a pub, The Rose and The Anvil, kept in perpetuity by descendants of a single family. The curious can venture into the cellar - however nobody but the family ever comes back up. And they never venture down until the screaming has stopped for a while.

Along the outer sections you'll find the homes - mansions for the wealthy, homes and apartments for those who have no better place to go, factories that make the various products found in the market stalls.
You can also find the gates, each linked to a gate somewhere else. And sometimes, somewhen else. The Cemetery gate, for example, is well known but not a place to linger. At least, not for the living.

Welcome to Midnight City.