0002: A Proper Q&A

[crux_npcs]

Early in the morning, everyone's comm devices start jangling in pleasant tones, marking a new message. It's text, posted over the network, and at the top is an official looking seal, featuring the rotating pyramid that seems to be the Confederacy's symbol.

So, I hear you people woke up yesterday. Congratulations. I'm sorry you had to deal with that simpering incompetent, Baker. Allow me to illuminate you so that you can better appreciate your situation.

It is 0458 A.C. That's After Confederation, marking the date in which humanity, the Dorfs, and the Jool chose to band together for power, security, and knowledge. By old Earth calendars, that puts us somewhere near the end of the 27th Century, but I don't know exactly when. Ancient history is not my area of expertise and we had multiple calendar changes before settling on an interstellar standard.

I am Thaddeus T. Thrax III, deputy mayor of the Teuberg, the mighty cityship on which you stand. The city in which you now live is in a ship sixty miles across, with layers bringing our great vessel up to thirty miles in height. At the time of this writing, it houses some five hundred thousand souls. We are a great city, born and bred to colonize brave new worlds and explore unseen frontiers. The mayor, the honorable Ms. Maria Masters, will address you when we've finished this latest round of memorial services. Fleet Admiral Bulsara may also address you. Do not try to address him first.

You have been given two months to examine this city, see its needs, and decide where you fit in. Will you join the government? Perhaps you'd rather see what lower-level employment there is, such as becoming a baker or working at a market? Furthering your education is highly suggested and, unlike some more primitive cultures, we respect students and will provide you with living expenses as you work. As a note, this will be mandatory for citizens up to the age of sixteen, our legal limit for adulthood. I should also bring up that we do allow apprenticeships for our younger citizens and guests, should they decide on an employment track they desire early on.

Scholarly pursuits and regular life too boring for you? Fair enough. There is always the military, of course. We just lost thirty of those brave souls in a skirmish yesterday, I'm sure the recruiters will be happy to hear from you. We have tracks for Medical, Command, Engineering, Security/Infantry, Pilots, and Science. That said, you will still be expected to go through training. It will not be easy but after a few swift weeks, you too can go to interesting new places, meet fascinating new people, and pray to whatever God you worship that they don't speak with acid rainbows. Some of them do. I've met them.

Of course, not everyone will want such a rigid, disciplined life. You can hardly be blamed, the military isn't for everyone. But if you still want to defend this city, you may wish to join the militia. Civilian operated, funded, and supplied, the militias of old Earth traditionally answered to the county or the Count, with no connection to the military. Here, though, the military is in command. The militia will have a military liason, but you will not have to follow the same strict discipline of our men and women in uniform. You will deploy when they say and do your utmost to follow their orders in a combat situation, but the rest is up to you. God help us.

Of course, if you want off this ship, there are plenty of other jobs other than fighting. We are always on the lookout for skilled farmers, educators, diplomats, pilots, traders, and asteroid miners! Plus, we will provide training for any of these jobs. We have two agricultural vessels available, and they could use all the help they get. Or, if you fancy yourself some kind of pop star or athlete, you could try for a job in the entertainment sector. I should warn you that competition is stiff. I could not in good conscience honestly suggest any of those jobs.

The more irritating among you might be asking now, "What if we don't want to help out? We didn't ask to come here." Well, we certainly would regret it if you felt that way, as we are doing our best to help you fit in and return you safely to your homes. However, after two months we'll no longer have the resources or the patience to assist you. We will drop you off at the nearest inhabitable planet or neutral space station and leave you there.

Ultimately, I hope it won't come to that. I wish for you to be as happy and productive as any average citizen. We will do our utmost to reverse the accident that brought you here, and it is my hope that when you do, you leave our universe a richer person than you entered it.

Your servant,
Thaddeus T. Thrax III
Deputy Mayor

Comments

(frozen comment)

[crux_npcs]

Thaddeus T. Thrax III is an ass.

Science Captain Urist McEngineer
Captain of the Glorious Dream of the Uncontested Starfall

(frozen comment)

[crux_npcs]

Science Captain McEngineer is a drunken sot and he smells of vegetable oil

Thaddeus T. Thrax III
Deputy Mayor

[crux_npcs]

You took us by surprise yesterday. Please, ask your questions calmly here and my people will do their best to clarify them here for everyone to see. The last thing we want is a spread of misunderstood information. I'm sure you understand.

Also, if no one else has gotten around to it, allow me to be the first to offer my humblest apologies for this. We only wanted to return to a place we could call 'home'. This was not what we had planned, but even in our quest to return home there is no excuse for dragging you from yours.

- Fleet Admiral Bulsara

[Video]

[soul_sister]

"I only have one. I know we're heading back physically, but what if the issue is time?" Rosette normally isn't one for overthinking things, but there was nothing like this, barely dreams of something like this in the 1920s. It may even be an issue of universe, but frankly, that's a bit too far for her to take in.

text;

[velveteened]

I'm sorry if this has been explained already, but you spoke of memorial services and thirty people dying yesterday. What exactly happened?

[tinywife]

[After peering at her communicator for awhile - as the jangling at woken her up - Pinoko blinked and typed in a response.]

Is it possible to be a nurse and not be in the military? I have medical training from where I'm from. I was wondering if I could get a job as a civilian nurse.

[After all, Pinoko wasn't sure she wanted to be in the military.]

[crux_npcs]

[The response, to its credit, is swift.]

Of course! We'd still need to catch you up on modern medical techniques and equipment, of course, but after a few tests to check your current understanding, maybe some kind of apprenticeship working with qualified nurses and doctors, and we'd have no problem with getting you in our hospitals.

The military's nice and big, but they can't take care of everything. Best to leave the civilian stuff to the civilians, right? They're officially in charge of the ship, but the city government actually runs most of the non-military happenings.

-Graham Baker

[greatone]

[ it's still all a lot to take in- but Jaina hasn't survived as long as she has without learning to roll with the punches ]

How do you contact a military recruiter?

[crux_npcs]

That'd be at the Renaissance Center, ma'am. The main government building has a recruiter tucked in. Hold on and I'll upload some directions to your comm device.

[Sure as shooting, there it is! They're rather good instructions, even ending at the door to knock on.]

You're aware that if you go that route, you've got a training period ahead of you? No offense to any of you arrivals with military experience, but we can't be too safe. Especially if our gear and tactics are different from yours.

[ex_trustandobey915]

[ Christine reads it, and then reads it again, trying to take in as much as possible of what she's been presented with. It's a lot, and she has to take note of some of the content for further investigation.

One thing does stick out to her, though, out of all of that — ]

I'm sorry — 'old Earth'?

[ The implication in the question is what happened to it? ]

[crux_npcs]

[There's a quick reassurance arriving... now!]

Earth's old calendars, he meant. My great-grandfather was born on Earth, it's still there. Just a tad overcrowded.

[Video]

[norefunds]

About that entertainment sector... About how well do you think a new bar-type establishment would do there?

Re: [Video]

[crux_npcs]

Ensign Navarro, surrounded by the clutter of his section of the mechanic's pool, rubs his chin and frowns. "Another bar? Well, if you got a license, I don't see anyone really having a problem with it. You might want some kind of gimmick, though, because we've already got a few pretty good ones."

There's a pause as someone calls something to him from off-screen. He groans and rolls his eyes, then ducks a greasy towel thrown his way before looking Quark's way with an exasperated expression.

"...And nudie bars have been done."

Video

[zerolimits]

"My question is in regards to the war mentioned in the briefing. What is this empire that you are fighting like? Their level of technology, manpower, specifics like that would help."

Quick and to the point. While he already had an idea of what he could do to help the fleet, he would like as much information as possible before settling on anything specific.

Re: Video

[crux_npcs]

The video screen flickers to life and a stout, bearded woman in a red and black uniform answers. "Corporal Plansacks. The Wadjit Empire claims the entire galaxy for itself. From what we've been able to tell from other groups, their territory is extremely patchy, with small systems and civilizations setting up their own laws inside of it, but their reach extends to roughly forty-two million cubic light years. We're smack dab in the middle of it."

She brings up a galactic map, with a good chunk of it covered in red, a blue dot marking the Fleet's current position. The territory she claims the Wadjit cover is about three hundred by four hundred by three hundred and fifty light years.

"They're still catching up to us in terms of technology, but this war has increased their scientific and technological growth like gas on a fire. They were already highly aggressive, and they think we're thieves trying to take their territory from them. Culturally, they're a feudal society. Lots of class boundaries, rigid structure of nobility. It doesn't mean much, except that each 'system' has its own separate standing army to bring against us at the behest of their War Princes. We've managed to work out agreements with some of the systems, but the Loyalists can bring armies of several hundred troops to bear against us." She tugs her beard irritably. "Luckily, this same culture also allows for a lot of in-fighting, and some will let us pass just to rub dirt in someone else's face."

She taps a few more buttons, and several figures appear. Finely scaled, with colors ranging from aqua to a pale purple, several of them have fins or horns. Three of them look almost human, one has an elongated snout filled with sharp teeth. "They descended from lizards but are warm-blooded. Compared to a human, they're slightly stronger. Denser muscles, you see. A lot of them have claws. Getting into close combat is usually suicide, but the higher-class lizards think that battle is an honorable thing and will often take the time to 'announce' themselves if they think you're worthy. Their weapons loadouts for personal combat tend to be lasers and swords, but about sixty years ago they started dabbling in genetic manipulation and battle armor. The result: Bigger, stronger, uglier lizards with worse tempers."

She shrugs.

"Their ships are small compared to ours and they still largely rely on nuclear-powered weapons. But they can swarm us easily, and they've started packing energy weapons we haven't quite figured out yet." There's a beat. "...I could have phrased all of that better. Didn't plan on giving a speech on the Wadjit today. Sorry. Did you have any specifics you wanted to ask about?"

[Text]

[kingtyrantranger]

So, uh. This is a little awkward, but when I got into the temporary housing room, the bathroom just had these... three shells.

What's that about?

Re: [Text]

[crux_npcs]

Someone's idea of a joke.

Talk to your building manager and she'll show you how plumbing works.

-Ensign Papadapalous

text.

[peterpanic]

[Mandatory schooling up to age sixteen--well, he sort of expected that. An apprenticeship sounds like it could be more worthwhile already, but it depends...]

What sort of education is it? Is it possible to test out of basic courses?

Re: text.

[crux_npcs]

Yeah. It'd be a waste of time to keep you in a course when you already knew the material. All you need to if you test out and pass is take some specialized courses or find someone willing to teach you a career.

-Ensign Papadapalous

Voice

[stellarcoffee]

[The 27th century. Well, that will definitely explain a few things. Probably the biggest catching point Janeway has as she gets her bearing and contemplates how to resolve the whole problem of getting fleet and its new guests home is actually a discomfort with the idea of stepping out the structure Starfleet's provided her crew. Seven years of having the final say makes a difference -- she wonders if maybe this is how the Maquis felt when they had to mold into her crew.]

Mr. Thrax, could you elaborate on the social structure of the fleet -- the hierarchy at play here? With science captains and deputy mayors, I'm sure you'll understand if the picture is a bit muddled from here. Does the admiral make all the calls?

I'm also wondering, are the command and science tracks mutually exclusive? Not to sound ambitious. I'm just trying to start figuring out what path will work best for me.

Voice

[crux_npcs]

Unfortunately, Deputy Mayor Thrax is indisposed at the moment.

[Baker, at least, doesn't sound too unhappy with this. He seems a lot braver when he's not dealing with people face-to-face.]

Basically, the military's in charge of everything. They say 'jump', we say 'how high'. That's just how it is, until we get the colony established somewhere. Then the military will stand down and, theoretically, establish a garrison and wait until the Confederation Spacy gives them further orders. Of course, our position is rather unique, so who knows how that will actually work. Fleet Admiral Bulsara is a good man, though. I don't know how much longer he'll be around, but as long as he's in charge, that's how it will be.

Really, though, the Fleet is pretty hands-off when it comes to civilian matters. Oh, they'll sometimes put the kibosh on one of the Mayor's celebrations, but for the most part we get to govern ourselves according to the laws of the Confederacy.

[He finally pauses to take a breath. Whew.]

...But I'm sliding past one of your questions. Let's put it like this. Fleet Admiral Bulsara is God. What he says goes, period. And thank God for him, Admiral Bailey probably would have let you all float out there. Admiral Bailey the Mayor, Madame Maria Masters, are roughly equal in rank. He has power of veto over her, but there are some tricky by-laws that let her treat some of his order as suggestions.

Normally, the presence of a second Admiral, traditionally a retiring one, would serve to keep her from exercising those tricks. But, well. Admiral Wilforth was aboard the Intrepid when it brought you here. They found him fused with his battle post.

[There's an uncomfortable pause and he coughs.]

Erm. Well. Ah, anyway, the Captains technically rank as unelected senators, but that would require them to actually spend time off of their ships. I had to get on my knees to make Latoya, that's Captain Allerdyce. show up and she was about the only one who'd give me the time of day! It really makes a guy feel unappreciated, you know?

[Baker coughs again, realizing he probably sounds like he's whining and desperate for attention.]

...I'm sorry, what was your other question? OH! Um. From what I understand, the Fleet prefers you get some experience in another track before trying for the blue shirt. It doesn't stop a lot of people, like Admiral Bailey and Captain Hollis from going pure Command, but from what Latoya's told me? They think you need some experience in dealing with people and actually learning how things work before you start taking responsibility for their lives.

Whew! I got a little carried away. Did any of that make sense to you? I could probably get someone else if it didn't.

[bestowmercy]

[ 27th century A.D., 458 years. That's.... a pretty long way from home, if it is the same universe at all. ]

Do civilian medical staff provide assistance to the military on expeditions, or is that only handled by the military medics?

[crux_npcs]

Most of the time, civilian doctors stay on the Teuberg and military doctors stay on the military vessels. If there's a need for specialist knowledge or if we're going to need more helping hands, the Fleet might take volunteers from the civilian community, but there's not a lot of trading positions going on.

-Graham Baker

[voice]

[blight_phoenix]

Me and my fellow Vault Hunters don't really fall under military or militia. Mercenary is a fair enough word for what we are. I don't suppose you've got a place for odd jobbers like us.

... Assuming said odd jobs have to do with shooting things. I mean, we can do other things to! It's just, well... We're used to shooting things. For money.

... I realize this is making us sound like terrible people.

[voice]

[crux_npcs]

Little bit.

[At least whoever's on the other end sounds amused.]

Ensign Navarro. Anyway, doing the whole 'mercenary' gig sounds like something you'll need to take up with my superiors. But, well. They're already letting you stay here. Telling them you want more money than what the military already gets for fighting probably isn't the best idea. They might just drop you off somewhere where people would appreciate a group with your talents.

Then again, maybe not. If I were you lot and I wanted to approach in the military or city government about mercenary work here, I'd get together with my buddies and find a really good way to phrase it. Maybe work up some kind of business card.

Of course, there's always ah... Trying to put a spin on it. Maybe you could approach one of the trade groups and offer your services as freelance security specialists or something like that. Not that I'd know anything about that kind of tricksy wordplay business.

[ Text ]

[freeprince]

If I wanted access to your databases, archives, or libraries, who might I need to to talk to?

[ Unless it's out in the open, but the most useful things are probably hidden. He'll work it out himself if needed, but might as well ask first ]

[ Text ]

[crux_npcs]

A few things are classified, but you can find pretty much everything if you check out the museums and library in the Renaissance Center. Would you like instructions on how to get there?

-
-Ensign Papadapalous

[text]

[weeabhoo]

Thank you for the introduction, sir. I'm sorry if this question is insensitive but could you tell me more about the skirmish yesterday?

[text]

[crux_npcs]

I think I explained this to someone else, but we walked into a pirate trap. There was a merchant vessel giving off a distress signal and it turned out to be pirates rather than anyone who actually needed help. My best guess is that they didn't expect a few dreadnaughts coming over to investigate.

Anyway, we only lost thirty pilots, they lost a lot more. We've got the survivors held captive until we can hand them over to local authorities. Their ship is being broken down for materials.

This may sound cold, but it wasn't a major engagement.

-Ensign Papadapalous

Text

[icy_heavens]

[Privately, he rolls his eyes at that initial exchange between Fleet members. He's with the captain on that one, if nothing else; a military should not present itself like a mess of squabbling children.

[Speaking of children . . .]

And do you take someone's word on their age, despite the fact that some of us are far older than we appear and are frequently mistaken as children?

[Damn you for making this question necessary. But he will not be forced into schooling based on his appearance.]

Text

[crux_npcs]

No. But if you've got some sort of issue where you look a lot older than you are, a tissue sample could help. Or you could take a quick lie-detector test. We sit you down in a chair, have you put your hands on a pair of sensors and read your nervous system and brain chemistry for anything that looks like a falsehood when we ask your age.

If you're secretly a million years old but look like a third-grader, then we'll find that out pretty quickly. Then we'll note it in our files and let you go. Process would probably take less than half an hour.

-Ensign Papadapalous

text;

[fonewearl]

Sixteen...years? I'm assuming you mean years. 365 cycles of 1000 beats each? Correct me if that's wrong.

But what race do you consider to be the standard here, if you're basing your age limits and such on any one in particular? Humans? Or something else?

I'm asking because Newmans age at some pretty odd rates. I mean, some of us age at what you'd consider a normal rate but then some of us go pretty fast compared to Humans, and then sometimes it slows down for who-knows-what reason. Don't ask me how it works, it's some genetics crap and biology is a thing that I could care less about.

Anyway. I'm seven, but as far as Humans are concerned I might as well be seventeen. That going to be a problem when it comes to looking for work?

text;

[crux_npcs]

Ah, that's a little humano-centric of us, isn't it? Sorry, but we also include the equivalent of being sixteen for some of the races that age differently. Though it sounds like you're a bit of a special case.

Hm.

Well, if we can get a tissue sample from you or a lie detector test saying that you're for real on being of a legal age, we can add that to your comm device's ID tag. It will pretty much make it illegal for anyone to tell you 'no' based on your age, at least.

-Ensign Papadapalous

voice;

[fuckaccuracy]

Can you guys go back to that part about needing engineers?

[This is so very relevant to her interests. She's only the best. engineer. ever.

Or so she likes to claim.]

voice;

[crux_npcs]

Ensign Navarro here.

Yup, I can confirm we're hurting pretty badly for engineers. We lost a little over a hundred of them during the accident that brought you all here. Are you any good?

[meddler]

[ On one hand, the Doctor would love to stay around and help for a little. He's got one mystery he would really love to figure out right now, but he could juggle both with the TARDIS, couldn't he. On the other... ]

Where's my blue box?

[ It wasn't in the regular items requisition, and he might be a touch worried. ]

[crux_npcs]

[There's a slight pause before any answer arrives.]

It wasn't listed with the rest of your personal items?

[There's a longer pause.]

Can you give me a description? It might have been one of the loose items that wasn't near enough for us to decide on an owner.

[Audio]

[asymboled]

I was a soldier back... [He hesitates. Home? In the 1940s? New York? Earth? For lack of a good idea for a specific thing to say, he clears his throat and continues.] where I'm from. A captain.

I can fight, I know how to use firearms. If I am going to have to remain here, I'd like to help keep these people safe. How do I approach someone about the Military.

[Audio]

[crux_npcs]

[A chipper female voice answers him promptly.]

I'm sure your civilization appreciates your service, just as we appreciate your offer!

If you've got your heart set, you can enlist in the Renaissance Center. We can give you instructions on the map, if you like. Of course, you might have to go through training again, since our methods are probably a little different from wherever you're from, but... Well, this isn't official yet, but I've heard some stirring that Admiral Bailey's considering authorizing an expedited training course for our visitors who already have some experience.

Of course, that's all unofficial. Could just be rumors, but it's something to consider isn't it?

[ungrounded]

How large is your fleet? What manner of ships does it have?

[crux_npcs]

We have eleven ships. We started out with more, but... Well. It's been a long time.

First, we've got our Pilgrim-class ship. That'll be the Teuberg, which you guys are living on. Like Deputy Mayor Thrax said above, it's sixty miles long, thirty miles wide, and thirty miles high. We've also got a few additional environment nodes about twenty miles long. Heavy shielding, real light on the armament. Most of the power goes towards making it livable, you see. We've got a few hundred starfighters and mobile armors on board, but those are more a last resort than a real line of defense.

Also on the civilian side of things, we've got two Chicomecoatl-classes. Thirty foot agricultural vessels. They grow all the food and meat that we eat here and trade. Well, the stuff that doesn't come out of fabricators, that is. We've got about four hundred people aboard each one, making sure that everything's running well and it's all edible. Pretty cushy job, if you ask me.

Then you've got your Juggernauts. We've got four of those left, and they're the big guns of our fleet. Six miles long, very heavy shields, gravimetric weapons, plasma and nuclear torpedos, void cannons, a hundred rail cannons, hundred and twenty particle beams, four hundred and fifty mobile armors and starfighters aboard each one, and about twenty attractor beams on each one. They're crewed by one thousand, two hundred people at any given time. If you want to get your fight on and survive, get on a Juggernaut.

Now we've got our Spartans. About a kilometer or so long. They're pretty much crap, but they hold about three hundred mobile armors each and they've got these sub-space shields that... Well, the short version is that they can take a section of space and stretch it out to damn near infinity. They're totally immobile while doing that, though, so if someone gets around those fields the entire ship's in trouble.

And, finally, we've got the Glorious Dream of the Uncontested Starfall. It's a gift we got for helping this planet out a few years back. Basically, it's our science ship. Not too hot in the weapons department, if we're gonna be honest, but it's strictly not for combat anyway. The AI on it, an AI, is a pretty strict pacifist.

Except for the Uncontested Starfall, most of the crews rotate from their ship to the Teuberg every few weeks. A good few folks aboard the Uncontested Starfall have pretty much been 'adopted' by the ship, so they live there now. Apparently it gets sulky if they don't get on every two weeks.

-Ensign Papadapalous

Video!

[sigrid_hunter]

At the time of this message's arrival, Sigrid is most likely awake and actively poking her head into things, wondering why the prank show thing is still going on. Like really, this is starting to get excessive. Oh hey, there's a message! She skims through it... Blah blah, jobs, blah blah, two months, blah blah, nearest planet or space station... When's the punchline already?

Anyway, Sigrid puts on her happiest face and video responds. Despite talking in fairly official terms, her tone and body language are far from it.

"Hello, T T T the T, mayor of the T! Thanks for filling me in on what your expectations of me are here with such good detail. Chances are I'll end up in the military or the militia, but I want to look into them both firsthand and see if I end up with any friends in either field before I make a decision.

"I'm looking forward to this journey despite its dangers and uncertainty. I've been in the midst of comparably dangerous circumstances before, so it's not like I'm afraid of or unready for this kind of thing!"

Half of Sigrid's forwardness and directness is from knowing that she's still in the middle of an elaborate prank. Clearly that's the only explanation for what's going on, so there's no point in beating around the bush!

"Whatever job I end up taking, though, you can rest assured that you have my full support." Sigrid grins wider than she was grinning already. "And for the record, I think Baker is awesome."

Video!

[crux_npcs]

The guy answering her is yawning. It's apparently pretty late, but he's surrounded by wires, blinking boxes, and cans of drinks. His uniform is all black, an Engineer.

"Ensign Navarro here. Sorry, Deputy Mayor Thrax is a bit busy right now. Though I'm sure he'd be happy to see someone as chipper as you amongst this lot."

He waits for a moment, then blinks. "...Did you have a question, or were you just, um. Going to be cheerful and helpful?" Not that he had a problem with a bit of cheer, but... Well, it was a bit odd. In his opinion.

[phaseshifted]

Who do you contact to speak about engineering or science pursuits?

[crux_npcs]

Military or civilian?

-Ensign Papadapalous