Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in This is the forum for a Serenity RPG game run by S' LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
8:59 pm [harko_sajek]	It seems like almost a lifetime ago... One evening, while Harko sits at the local gin joint, nursing a fifth of whisky, he reminisces about where he is and how it all got so screwed up. It wasn't long ago when words like "policy", "operation" and "status" were the norm in his life. How he's alone in three-day-old sweaty clothes reeking of cigar smoke and bad aspirations. Life does give you the 'ole "screw you!" It's been ages since he's been to Santo. Almost five years ago, in fact. Then again, he technically was never *actually* on Santo, since he never left orbit. It was a simple reconnaissace mission. He and his crew were doing regular anti-terrorist duty, seeking the farthest reaches of the 'Verse for anyone working against the "New Peace". A load of hogwash, if you ask me. All the Unification War did was kill a whole lot of people and make a whole lot of others bitter and resentful. Smooth move, Parliament, but I digress. Word had reached us about some preacher who was rallying a whole lot of secessionist sympathizers to his cause and the "New Peace" could not tolerate any of that. So they send us in to see if there's any reason to worry and "enforce proactive peaceful policy." In other words, put a slug in his brainpan if he really was a threat. At the time he seemed harmless enough, so the Powers That Be opted to remove some of his more vocal lieutenants from positions of influence. I never got used to Black Ops directives. It seems wrong to send another man to do your dirty work. But it wasn't my call, and I had to do what I had to do. Part of the job description. Bad move. That only made people even more resentful and bitter, and sided them to his cause. Pretty soon the preacher was untouchable without an incident, and the matter was forgotten. Now look how things are. You can't turn a corner without people talking about The Preacher, how he's gonna change the world, how the Angel of Mercy is on his side... Friggin' Angel of Mercy. I'd bend your ear a bit about him, but that's a story for another time. Right now, my whisky's empty and I need a shower, bath or something to wipe the stench off of me. Sometimes it feels like all the washing in the world won't wipe the stink off. Shit, now I'm getting all philosophical. I need another drink... (Comment on this)
Monday, January 15th, 2007
1:39 pm [serenitygm]	Quickie wrapup of the last two sessions... The crew stopped for some shore leave on the Blue Oasis space station, only to encounter a radiation leak that demaned everyone evacuate...except they got stuck when the blast doors closed. As everyone tries to defuse the situation it becomes clear this was all a set-up, that someone engineered this so they could break in and steal the vault where all the stations' profits are kept. It also starts to become clear that one of THEM is a plant, the insider set to reap the bounty. Much whooduniting and paranoia ensues...every time it LOOKED like the culprit was revealed, it turned out they weren't the culprit and just had some totally non-related agenda (that involved guns), and then it LOOKED like the robbers arrive in their ship (leading to much exchange of gunfire), only to be revealed that they were mercs deputized by Blue Sun to *stop* the robbers, and when all was said and done the PCs finaly unraveled the mystery and beat up the real culprit, and defused the reactor meltdown too. By this time the body count was quite high, and now the situation they were left with was a trashed station with a bunch of dead bodies and they were the ones left holding the money and the guns. Wisely, they decide NOT to loot the place (lest you think Harko has gone all soft, he DID charge "Titanic lifeboat rates" and fleeced fleeing people for "escape passage fees" on the ship). Instead, they find the Mac, who pops out of a secret passage grating with a cheery smile (and his mug), and decide that he will remain when Blue Sun sends more enforcers to check out what happened...because only the Mac could possibly talk his way out of that situation and convince the Blue Sun folk, above the protestations of the actual criminals, that, "hey, this is what happened, we saved the day", and get a reward for it. That way, no one will ask questions about Harko & company's role (which includes, erk, killing half the Blue Sun mercs). Besides, look at it the way an evil corporation would: * Nothing got stolen * There are two captives to take the fall * All the mercs who showed up to stop the robbers are dead, so they don't need to be paid * Mac will demand only a pittance as a reward ...we envisioned some scene like at the end of "Match Point", where some young Scottish detective in the back room of an Alliance cruiser puts the real story all together, and is utterly dismissed and laughed at. :) Harko and crew are hired to find an employee who robbed a one million credit chip from the Lucky Dragon Casino, and who is seeking a hacker to let him access it. * Drake and the Mac have a little unintentional scrap (er, pounding) at the hands of some local thugs before Harko intervenes...and Drake manages to earn the ire of a lovely young french doctor's jealous crew-cut boyfriend by being her "date" for the evening. He and Ellen have a marvelous evening before she summarilly and suddenly ditches him. * Asilin meets Doctor Ron Ames, who, grateful for being treated like anything other than a potted plant, would happily give her some of his research - except he's being paid off by her sister to keep it quiet. He needs the funds for his own plans, but is willing to take between 4-10 thousand credits from Aisilin in exchange. This leads her to swallow her pride and ask Harko for help, even offering indentured servitude. * The Mac is knocked off balance by an old flame, Zoe, who is mum about her mysterious absence from his life for the last 20 years, and desperate to find a hacker named Dim Sum. The Mac asks Aislin the favor of accompanying him to a hacker bar, the Data Tray, where he thinks Dim Sum might be found - he's willing to compensate her for the air of respectability that might help him navigate inside. * Harko, examining the security tapes, learns that the suspect already seems to have hacked his way into an identity in the casino. The edited segments have a "bragging stamp" attached, which, once Drake researches them, seem to lead to the Data Tray as well. He, the Mac, and Aislin head down, while Harko tries to interview everyone who saw the suspect...including one very dead janitor. He sends the security data feed from that room to Drake before taking off in pursuit of the killer...and running right into the gunsights of crew-cut man, ellen, and a bunch of other rough looking folk... (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 4th, 2007
12:21 pm [harko_sajek]	The longest trip... They say that a man can survive for seven days in a space no bigger than a coffin before he loses it. Ain't that the truth. Things on board the Station didn't go as planned. What was supposed to be a quick layover to grab some chow and a shower turned into a royal clusterfuck. Now we're crammed in tighter than a Blue Sun secretary's panties on board the ship as we've taken on six ornery passengers on a one-way trip to Santo. At least the pay was good. No one's gotten any real sleep in days. With only two bunks, sleep rotations are at a premium. The air smells like recycled camel crap and the water tastes like copper and piss. Lucky for me the Kid can keep the systems running, what with us taxing them at 200 percent. Ship's gonna need some serious maintenance when we get to Santo. Lucky for us the passengers aren't acting up much. Could be because of the gun I carry on my belt. Could be 'cause none of them know how to fly a ship. Who knows. Who cares. So long as they don't botch any of the ship's systems, we'll be fine. One thing's for certain. I'm taking a week off once we get to Santo and get me a big room at one of their fancy casinos. No roommates, no noise, just me and a fifth of good whisky... ... I'll see that the rest of the... crew... get some R&R, too. Except for the Kid. He fixes the ship first, then he gets all the action he wants. Wait, scratch that. I've seen the kind of action he gets into, and it usually involves someone with guns. I'll get him a girlfriend for a week, one that'll keep him out of trouble. The kind that is good at ordering room service and opening champagne bottles without using her hands. If things go like I expect, The Mac should come into some serious cash after the Station fiasco. Blue Sun is really good about the pay-offs. Wonder if he'll come to Santo as planned, or tuck tail and bail on us? Honestly, were I him, I would seriously think to git while the gittin's good. Then again, a man like The Mac lives and dies by his rep, and it wouldn't do him much good to stiff an "associate". Yeah, I think we'll be seeing him again. Knowing him, he'll be in Santo before we are, a martini on one hand and a blonde in the other. Now what am I going to do about the doc? Don't know Jack about her, not even what she likes to drink. She's no-nonsense to the core, so I'm thinkin' that flattery and pretty talk won't do her much good. Don't strike me as someone with vices either. Somehow I think she'll take a rent-a-boyfriend as some kind of insult. Something about her screams prim-an'-proper. I think a "thank you" and a bonus may have to do. A bit sterile, but "business is business" seems to be her way. Then again... I've got an idea. For now, I'll pistol whip the next passenger who elbows me, bumps into me or farts and doesn't fess up... Goddamn passengers... never again! (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 21st, 2006
12:14 pm [serenitygm]	Previously on SERENITY: Hiding in a leaky safehouse during a rainstorm, Harko and his crew interrogate Ilzha, who reveals that she used to date Johnny Nguyen, "but men are like pencils, darling - after awhile, they get dull, and easy to erase. I haven't spent time with him in ages." She takes them to an abandoned hotel and (one scuffle with Kung's goons later) attempts to seduce Harko, but he refuses her and ties her up instead. She reveals Nguyen's hideout and a path through the sewers to reach it without running into Kung's men. In traversing those sewers, however, the group gets split up, attacked by strange mutant dogs, and Drake and Aislin get "rescued" by some of Nguyen's band and taken to his stronghold. Once there, when they reveal they are friends of "the Mac", Nguyen, who seems a very amiable rogue, treats them as honored guests - any friend of an enemy of Kung's, apparently, is a friend of theirs. Tracing their tracks, Harko and the Mac secretly gain entry into the hideout themselves, and Nguyen is delighted to finally meet the Mac - so delighted that Harko has little trouble bursting in and stunning the Nguyen's gang with a flashbang grenade. He and the Mac quickly mop up the stunned bandits and arrest them, but as Harko interrogates Johnny he realizes something is amiss...Johnny claims that Kung had been an old partner of his who had stolen a big shipment of the narcotic "juice" from him instead of splitting the profits, and was now smearing his name and posting a bounty. Kung, though, had told Harko that Johnny had cheated HIM in a "business deal." Aislin, in tending to a man's fungal infection, discovers from him that Kung's forces are planning to storm the hideout and slaughter the now helpless bandits. Harko decides to let the two of their forces fight it out on "even ground", so when Kung's men come to collect Harko's prisoners, he lets them loose and helps them get armed, while Mac and Drake provide covering fire and explosive traps for Kung's infiltrators. By the time the dust settles, both sides are ravaged and Nguyen agrees to let Harko deliver him to Kung now that Kung's army of enforcers is no more. Harko does so, with the implication that another "settling" will happen next...as far as he's concerned, he did his job and has his money for it (Kung may beg to differ, but then, it appears that someone tied him up...Mac adds insult to injury by raiding not only his stash of engine coolant but also his refrigerator, sticking an apple in the bound crimelord's mouth). Harko's crew decides to beat a hasty retreat off-planet, but not before they figure out that Ilzha has played all sides for fools, freed herself, and gotten off planet with a small fortune in "juice". She blows Harko a kiss from a heavily armed Firefly that takes off... "I've seen the devil," Harko mutters, "and she is one cold bitch." (In the aftermath, Aislin is approached by a mysterious suited man with blue gloves who asks her if she knows anything about the disappearance of the transport she arrived here on, but she doesn't, and he walks away leaving her very puzzled...) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 9th, 2006
6:45 pm [serenitygm]	Serenity REBOOTED Serenity summary: Previously on SERENITY: In the Coriolus Bar on Whitechapel, a mysterious man named Harkov interviews for a new crew, and soon assembles Drake, Aislin, and “The Mac.” Drake, his new engineer, discovers that Harkov’s ship is out of vital coolant, stranding them on this world for the time being until they can get more. Their best lead, a local gang boss named Mr. Kung, turns out to be of questionable use when it turns out Mac and he have a grudge dating back many years. Still, once Mac roughs up a few of Kung’s men and makes it clear he won’t leave without more trouble, the boss begrudgingly grants Mac a meeting. Meanwhile, Aislin, who proved her medical mettle by saving a hapless bartender from poison meant for someone else, determines the culprit was a deadly dose of the amphetamine called “juice”, and its intended target the very lounge singer that Harkov and Mac feel is their best lead to find Johnny Nguyen, someone Harkov says they’re here to track down. After Ilzha’s performance, the new crew enacts a plan to save her from her intended assailants, apparently in Kung’s employ. One rather nasty series of gun , club, knife, and hypodermic battles later, the crew kills or incapacitates Kung’s goons and makes off with Ilzha. Harkov is revealed to be working as an Alliance marshal, and everyone’s got more questions than answers as they make a quick getaway… (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 28th, 2006
5:40 pm [serenitygm]	Previously on Serenity: PREVIOUSLY ON SERENITY: The failure of Marek and Lakshmi's plan is made painfully evident when the Marie Claire, still cloaked from detection, fires an EMP burst that disables the Four Truths. As the crew tries to recover their senses, Marek realizes he has to buy them a chance - so without consultation, he steals the captured Daedalus shuttle and flies it along the path of the EMP trail on a suicide run, slamming into the Marie Claire and disabling its engines. In his farewell note, he charges his crewmates to try and save Lakshmi, if possible. As the crew hastily effects basic repairs (necessitating Tate's snapping Gwyn out of her trauma haze), Kwang capitalizes Marek's sacrifice and issues one of his usual ultimatums-as-if-he-held-the-upper hand for the Marie Claire to abandon its mission and turn over Lakshmi. The larger ship responds with attacks, but Gwyn, knee deep in the wiring of the Four Truths to manually maneuver its fried-systems, manage to stay one step ahead of the attacks while Amelie sends scrambler missiles and Tate peppers the larger ship with the hull cannon. In the meanwhile Lakshmi manages to get a message through to Kwang, telling him that the crew of the Marie Claire don't even KNOW that they are going to assault Londinium's civilian population; that General Li Tsing has convinced them they are attacking a military target. Although the Four Truths can't really damage the larger ship, they prove to be a disabling annoyance, especially once Amelie penetrates their computer systems and removes Luo Bon's influence, with the help/sacrifice of the Roger program, whom Gwyn eggs on into aiding in the fight. Luo Bon seems wholly unprepared for such an assault, and runs away in a tantrum. Meanwhile, General Li Tsing sends a boarding party in a shuttle. When the raiding party arrives, however, Kwang greets them with a meal and open arms. Confused, they play along, and Kwang manages to establish a rapport with the squad leader and his sidekick, and plays to his doubts about his commanding officer. They take Kwang back to the Marie Claire in manacles, but bring him to confront Li Tsing and make his charges to her. He manages to push her into admitting the truth, and in the ensuing melee she is shot by one of her own crewmen, seeking to save his family on Londinium. The New Year's celebration goes off without a hitch, the unsuspecting people of Londinium are saved, Kwang and the Marie Claire then go their separate ways, with the Browncoats taking the boilers and heading for Santo as a refuge, while Kwang takes Lakshmi back to the ship. The crew mourns Marek and tries to collect themselves for the final task, rescuing Kwang's family from Okigbo. Their ship all-but-destroyed, their bodies exhausted and their hearts heavy, the crew has no idea that Luo Bon has already sent a gunboat from Okigbo's ship to their very location... This meeting was dedicated to the memory of Andre Dec, 1974-2006. Friend, gamer, and one of the best karaoke singers we'd ever met. You and Marek will be missed. I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking. - John Masefield (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 17th, 2006
10:28 am [serenitygm]	Previously on Serenity! PREVIOUSLY ON SERENITY: The crew makes a risky foray into Reaver space, narrowly avoiding traps both subtle and obvious, until they find the ruined remains of the Project Phoenix base. Exploring the empty hallways and eerie wreckage, they finally activate an old hologram of Gwyn’s parents that reveals the Project was an attempt to “maximize human efficiency”, experimenting on children’s neurology through a combination of drugs and implantation. “Gamma” candidates, pretty much anyone, could have their brains altered with an implant that would allow them to process information faster and communicate with/influence computers through telepathy…but only as puppets influenced from a control center, and even then, they would swiftly burn themselves out and experience brain death. The various “Sellers” appear to have been in this category. “Beta” candidates could have a far greater range of influence, but were also unstable and would go insane. Roger fit this bill. Finally, “Alpha” candidates represented the apogee of the project, but only three were found, and they were considered rather unstable to begin with. Gwyn (whose readings were kept hidden), Amelie (who was given over to a freighter clan where she was to act as a sleeper agent for unknown purposes), and Luo Bon. Luo Bon, however, grew too powerful, and took over both the project and the Daedalus, the ship assigned to guard it. He killed the crew and all members of the Project, but all, in his mind, for the Project’s own good…he is now determined to help mankind fulfill the project and improve what he perceives to be its most efficient trait - killing one another. Thus the manipulation of all sorts of computer stuff across the 'Verse, including giving boilers and cloaking technology to the neo-Independents who are about to attack Londinium in the Marie Claire. Amelie has been one of his tools/agents, although she denies he has complete control over her any longer. The crew does not easily believe this – and after a harrowing vacuum-induced escape from Daedalus-controlled robots and an attacking Reaver ship, a confrontation with Amelie almost results in her execution, while Gwyn plans to recreate the project on her own, with stolen kiodrine and Amelie as a guinea pig...that is, until another shootout with the Reavers. Gwyn seals herself in engineering and goes into crisis mode, and no one ever bothers to inform her when they successfully disable the Reaver vessel and reach safe waters. The issue of the MARIE CLAIRE is paramount. Marek has received a message from Lakshmi aboard the MARIE CLAIRE , and the two develops a plan to try and lure the ship over to help with a medical emergency - which Kwang decides to simulate by faking a Reaver attack, complete with self-mutilations (which Gwyn senses above and only confirms her fears of a real attack). In the midst of their preparations, Kwang receives a message from General Okigbo! According to his story, the prophet Dori infected him with boiler germs in an effort to “prepare” humanity in case Kwang and company failed to stop the attack on Londinium. Okigbo survived, barely, but he is scarred and sickly. He tried to tell Alliance Military that Kwang was responsible for both his illness and the subsequent explosion at the prison, but no one believed him…not until the mess on Santo, when Kwang’s “Angel of Mercy” statements matched up with the missile casings that he had been given by Nunez, with whom he collaborated in order to nab Okigbo back on Haven. With this evidence, Okigbo is released, manages to (he claims) arrange Nunez’s death, and now holds command over Nunez’s ship…which is now in orbit of Londinium as part of the security detail for New Year’s. He reveals he has Kwang's family hostage, and is waiting for Kwang to arrive so he can take his revenge on his “old friend”… (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
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Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
2:03 pm [serenitygm]	Previously Previously on Serenity : With the clock ticking and events spiraling out of control, Kwang executes a desperate plan. In the personal of the “Angel of Mercy”, he issues an ultimatum to the Alliance forces to stand down or face “the unholy screaming retribution of the thousand hanged men.” He then describes to Marek, in low orbit in the FOUR TRUTHS’ shuttle hidden in the sensor wake of the cruiser ARCHIMEDES, precisely where a weak spot in the ship lies. When the Alliance ignores Kwang’s threat, Marek flies up to the mysteriously un-escorted cruiser and fires a missile up into its exhaust port, causing massive damage inside, and then a scrambler missile to cover his tracks. Meanwhile, on the surface, Kwang is approached one more time by the mysterious Luo Bon, and refuses his final offer, saying he will have nothing to do with Daedalus and the death it carries. Luo Bob expresses his regret, and tells Kwang that the captain “will be of some use to him once, and then not at all.” Kwang has little time to meditate on that as the Alliance troops storm the Foundry. They begin attacking both the remnants of Roloth’s forces and start moving for the tent city, where Ginger, at Tate’s instructions, encourages the refugees to use the Chinese New Years fireworks to hold off the soldiers. Kwang hastily wakes Amelie and forgives her her trespasses in return for her help with the “situation” on the ground. He and Tate begin to develop a plan with her to hack the Foundry’s systems and create some sort of diversion, but Amelie, with a wicked smile, decides to go further and redlines the regulatory systems of the volcano, forcing a massive eruption that devastates the attacking Alliance forces. The refugees of the tent city also finds themselves endangered, and Roloth (who has something of a shaky “make up” with Tate) heads out to lead his followers on an exodus to safety. As he steps off the FOUR TRUTHS to address his people, Kwang barely fights down a nigh-irresistible urge this hands seem to have developed to strangle Roloth to death. As the mysterious spasm passes, he recalls Luo Bon’s conversation, muttering: “You will be of use to me one more time…and then not at all…” “Um…ok…thanks a lot…” says Marek, who had opened a channel moments ago. Recovering, Kwang orders him and Gwyn back to the ship. Not only must they flee the streams of flowing lava, but a toxic cloud from the burned-up boiler Marek tossed in the volcano days earlier is threatening the entire biosphere. They launch and Kwang orders Marek to go vertical right above the volcano’s mouth…and then go directly into hard burn. Marek pulls off this nigh impossible maneuver, vaporizing the harmful vapors (along with most of the volcano), ending the threat to the refugees. Roloth, with Ginger beside him, now lead their people to an uncertain future…but at least they HAVE a future now, thanks to the crew. As the FOUR TRUTHS leaps up out of atmo and blasts straight for the cruisers, with no ability to change course under such hard burn, Kwang plays a desperate gambit and repeats his threats to the other captains, using the disabling of the ARCHIMEDES and the destruction of the ground army as proof of his power. The governor of Santo finally orders the cruisers to withdraw, just in time for the FOUR TRUTHS to sail on unmolested. Later, they meet up with the freighter clan ship, and exchange their old shuttle for fuel. Then they proceed on course to stop the MARIE CLAIRE before it can reach Londinium. Gwyn and Amelie compare notes, discover they and Roger were all products of Project Phoenix, and that there is still a fourth one out there somewhere. Gwyn insists the three have to work together to figure out how to find their missing member. As if all of that wasn’t hard enough…Marek gets a call from his lost wife, Karen, asking that he meet her at a set of coordinates that would actually help them reach Londinium sooner…via Reaver space, of course. Kwang decides to do this, and he and Marek have it out, even as Tate tries to console the hysterical Gwyn. When the dust settles, the crew uneasily begins to make a fateful journey that might well prove to be their last… (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
4:10 pm [marek_morlaix]	Astrogation: Morality vs. Idealism A replacement gun for Kwangs hung on Marek's right hip. The browncoat gun salvaged from the Foundry on his left. With preparations underway, there was little time to spare, particularly knowing the ghosts of this ship were as likely to sneak up behind him as he was to focus on the task at hand. Londinium. General Lee Ssing's attack would doubtless leave it bereft of life, but what then? Another war. Another hundred billion massacred for the sake of this hunt for revenge. How long would they have, undetected, based on their flight pattern? How long could they hide in the shadows around the Marie Claire? If he could talk to her...then maybe both of their goals could be accomplished in one fell swoop. He punched in the information into the shipboard computer. A certain moon within the inner worlds could be reached by a cruiser, but it would require a great deal of effort to convince the general to turn away from Londinium. And the Captain would never agree to this. He was willing to save the lives of Reavers rather than use the chemicals on them. Londinium...if it were hit, the aftermath would be cataclysmic. If an attack were made, instead, to cripple...would Ssing do it? Especially if... He closed his eyes as he entered the coordinates and began a set of calculations. If the cruiser could stay hidden... ...it might be possible to hit Ares instead. Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: "Time Prophet" from Brigadoom (Lexx) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
11:47 am [marek_morlaix]	The Banner of Truth, Final Chapter(?) by M.P. On the eve of what will likely be the final night of my life, I turn to you, my brothers in arms, to remind you of what we fight for-and what we fight to overcome. For too many of us, the ideals we saw are lost in the desire for vengeance. To mete out the same pain and suffering on innocents under the banner of our foes as they did to us. That has never been who I was, nor, my fellows, do I believe you wish such things either. What has made us who we are has also made us the noble warriors; those who move toward freedom, not to shifting oppression so we would rule over the oppressors. That has never been who I am. I discovered recently, that my words had been used by General Lee Ssing...a hero who escaped the fate many of our brothers had...only to turn to the idea of slaughtering billions in the way our innocents were slain. "If we can't have it, none can." She takes a craft now, shielded by technology, to strike at the heart of our foes. And I must stop her...for if I do not, those billions of lives, and the billions of lives to follow in what will be a second great war...will rest on my head. A villain turned ally turned holy man turned overlord calls upon me to do what is right...by his views, not those that follow the cries of logic, or justice, or even what is best and brightest. His path...and I yoked to it like an ox. He cannot be saved. A brat turned rival turned friend turned victim implores us to find another way that will not bring her face to face with her past. She cannot be saved. A friend turned pawn turned victim turned untrustworthy calls for us to advance to solve the riddles that lie before her, and let what happens happen. She cannot be saved. A fool turned guard turned human turned pawn will march with guns blazing into the fray and end the lives of any who oppose the commands of his captain. He cannot be saved. And me? My words were meant to inspire...and at the same time, to fight for that which I truly believed in. Something perverted by those greatest of heroes, and used to recruit hundreds for a suicide mission that I must now avert. I cannot be saved. That I was so easily manipulated for what I wrote, and you, my brothers, have read...the time has come for truth within the Banner of Truth. If I am to die...let it be known that I died hiding nothing from those who believed in me. My name is Marek Parasceva. Serving on a crew that ran supplies and munitions during the war, I saw what the Browncoats fought for and began to believe in it myself. My Captain ended the lives of countless crewmates...including my wife...in the belief that so long as he lived and profit was sustained, nothing else mattered. He was the first Captain I abandoned, when I joined the Browncoats proudly. Fighting the military that separated my wife, my friends, my crew from me...and men like Catavolcus, may he rot in Hell, who were made in the image of the Inner Worlds' militia. To care for nothing save duty, their own advancement, their own rank...with no ideals, save to follow orders. That good, honest, and noble people such as those on Santo should suffer because of a foundry was unthinkable. Unforgiveable. So it was I who crippled the cruiser in orbit, and I who saw that foundry buried under the weight of its own wickedness. The people of Santo live, and live free now, because there is nothing that the military wants of them. That may change by the time these words are read because sometimes, all the military may want of another is to know they are dead. Not an example of how to live well, or how to rebuild your lives...but of what happens when their farcical order is breached by logic. Were it a world devoted solely to the military, then perhaps I would have died gladly knowing the wickedness of the Daedalus Project poisoned them as they poisoned millions of our own. But Ssing's target is not a military world. And her actions smack of the terrorism and butchery we enlisted and fought to prevent happening to our own. The universe has fought hard to forget what has happened to those who died when the Phoenix rose. If it is allowed to rise once more, there will likely be nothing left worth fighting for when the final battles are fought. Remember me, my brothers, as one who preached an ideal. Fight for what you believe in, but never allow yourself to become the monsters we have fought against. What good is victory, when it is your soul lost in the cause? --------------------------- 在什麼的前夕可能將是我的生活最後的夜, 我轉向您, 我的兄弟在胳膊裡, 提醒您與什麼戰鬥我們為和什麼我們戰鬥克服。 為太多我們, 我們看的理想丟失在慾望為復仇。mete 在同樣痛苦和遭受在innocents 之外在我們的仇敵的旗下如同他們做了對我們。 那從未是誰我是, 亦不, 我的傢伙, 我相信您祝願這樣事或者。什麼做了我們我們是並且做了我們高尚的戰士; 那些行動朝自由, 不是對轉移的壓迫因此我們會統治在壓迫者。 那從未是誰我是。 我發現了最近, 那我的詞由李・Ssing 將軍使用... 逃脫命運許多我們的兄弟有... 只轉向屠殺億萬想法就像我們的innocents 被殺害的英雄。 "如果我們無法有它, 無罐頭。" 她現在需要工藝, 由技術保護, 對罷工在我們的仇敵中心。並且我必須停止她... 為如果我不, 那些億萬生活, 並且億萬生活隨後而來在什麼將是第二場巨大戰爭... 將基於我的頭。 惡棍轉動了盟友被轉動的聖潔人被轉動的霸主要求我做什麼是不錯... 由他的意圖, 不是那些跟隨邏輯啼聲, 或法官, 甚至什麼是最佳和最明亮的。他的道路... 和我結合了對它喜歡黃牛。他無法被保存。 貶小兒轉動了敵手被轉動的朋友被轉動的受害者祈求我們發現不會帶來她面對面以她的過去的其它方式。她無法被保存。 朋友轉動典當被轉動的受害者被轉動的不值得信任的呼叫請求我們對前進解決說謊在她之前的謎語, 並且讓什麼發生發生。她無法被保存。 傻瓜轉動了衛兵被轉動的人的被轉動的典當將前進與槍燃燒入磨損處和將結束任何生活反對他的上尉命令。他無法被保存。 並且我? 我的詞被認為_發... 和同時, 為那戰鬥我真實地相信。某事被那些濫用最偉大英雄, 和使用吸收上百為我必須現在避免的自殺使命。我無法被保存。 我那麼容易地被操作了為什麼我寫了, 和您, 我的兄弟, 讀... 時間來了為真相在真相之內橫幅。如果我將死... 告訴它, 我死於掩藏□什麼從那些相信我。 我的名字是Marek Parasceva 。服務在跑供應和軍火在戰爭期間的乘員組, 我看見了什麼Browncoats 戰鬥為和開始相信它我自己。我的上尉結束了不計其數的乘務員生活... 包括我的妻子... 在信仰只要他居住並且贏利被承受了, □什麼事關。 他是第一上尉I 被□棄, 當我驕傲地加入了Browncoats 。戰鬥分離我的妻子、我的朋友、我的乘員組從我... 和人的軍事如Catavolcus, 可以他爛掉在地獄, 被做在內在世界的民兵的圖像。對□什麼關心保存義務, 他們自己的推進, 他們自己等級... 沒有理想, 之外跟隨命令。 , 誠實, 和高尚的好人譬如那些在Santo 應該遭受由於鑄造廠是難以想像的。Unforgiveable 。如此這是看見鑄造廠被埋沒在重量它自己的慘厲之下的我致殘巡洋艦在軌道, 並且I 。 Santo 的人民居住, 和任意居住現在, 因為有□什麼軍事想要他們。那也許改變當這些詞讀的時候因為有時, 所有軍事也許要另將知道他們是死的。不是例子怎樣居住很好, 或怎樣重建您的生活... 但什麼發生當他們的荒唐次序被邏輯破壞。 是它世界單一地致力於軍事, 或許我然後會死於高興地知道Daedalus 項目的慘厲毒害了他們當他們毒害了我們自己的成千上萬。 但Ssing 的目標不是一個軍事世界。並且她的行動我們徵和戰鬥防止發生在我們自己的擊響恐怖主義和屠殺。 宇宙艱苦戰鬥忘記什麼發生在那些死當菲尼斯上升了。如果它被允許上升更加, 有可能將是□什麼左值得戰鬥為當最後的爭鬥進行。 記住我, 我的兄弟, 作為一個誰講道了理想。戰鬥什麼您相信, 但從未考慮到自己成為我們戰鬥了反對的妖怪。 什麼好是勝利, 當這是您的靈魂丟失在起因? - Marek Parasceva Current Mood: melancholy Current Music: "Soju Han Jan" ("A glass of Soju) by Lim Chang Jun (Comment on this)
Friday, June 16th, 2006
12:01 am [tatum_donovan]	Reaver Proofing the Four Truths After the Kwang finishes his discussion about where the group is heading Tate catches up with him in the hall leading to the cockpit. "Captain, if you have a moment?" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006
3:00 pm [serenitygm]	Previously on Serenity... PREVIOUSLY ON SERENITY: Marek makes planetfall in the ocean south of Roloth's foundry, and fights for survival as he drifts until he makes contact with a mysterious barge heading back towards land. He manages to gain the captain's confidence and learn that the vessel has been commandeered by an Alliance military detachment, which has gathered a small army of local law enforcement in preparation for a major strike...somewhere. In disguise, Marek manages to divert guards away from a jet fighter, which he steals in a daring move...but his attempt to disable the ship and cover his tracks fails...and he finds himself on the run from hot pursuit in the air. Meanwhile, across the planet, Gwyn is pursuing a different kind of menace. With Amelie's hacking help, she gains entrance at night into the skyscraper offices of Shin-Gen Amalgamated, where she tries to confront Arnold Fong, a sinister and lecherous presence from her past. Gwyn overcomes her own childhood fear of him, but cannot persuade him to reveal anything to her. Meanwhile, Kwang, waiting in the lobby, gets a mysterious call from a well-dressed man named Mr. Lao Bahn who says he has been following Kwang's recent activities, and offers him a job. He refuses Kwang's demands to know the details, and reveals only that the firm he works for are "efficiency experts" and that they used to employ Roloth, and now want Kwang to take his place. They promise vast rewards for accepting employment, and veiled threats if he does not...and then they give Kwang one day to decide. Putting their offer out of his mind as Gwyn descends from Fong's tower consumed with emotion, Kwang and she have an emotional confrontation about returning to face the corrupt executive...and finally they decide to do so again. When Amelie disables Fong's security systems remotely, Kwang is able to force Fong to "spill the soy beans" about Project Phoenix and the Daedalus. Claiming that Kwang has already signed all their death warrants by mentioning this aloud, Fong reveals that his company was contracted to supply pharmaceuticals to Project Phoenix, a secret Alliance government project that was doing some manner of experiments on children. "We supplied drugs to stimulate the nervous system, allow for rapid distribution of electronic signals. Why? We at Shin-Gen want to improve quality of life for everyone in the 'Verse. But the money was good. The money and...other perks." Fong hints that he conducted some of his own 'experiments' with the kids, and knows that Gwyn's parents kept her out of the project, and he claims to have demanded some sort of favors from them in return. After his involvement with the project ended, he got a frantic call from Gwyn's mother demanding kaodrine, a drug which suppresses neurological activity, but he refused all of her offers (even, he claims, sexual offers), because the drug was expensive and illegal. Although he remains tight-lipped about the Daedalus, when Kwang mentions it, Gwyn reads an image in his mind of an Alliance destroyer opening fire on the asteroid base where Project Phoenix was located. Having revealed this, Fong then commits suicide by jumping through the window of the skyscraper and falling to his death. Gwyn has more "champions" than she realizes...back on board the Four Truths, Amelie is attacked by the Roger program, whom Gwyn had recently let "out" into the ship's systems. Roger claims that Amelie's existence is a threat to Gwyn, and tries to kill her in a simultaneous battle waged across cyberspace and the real world. After a hard, anime-cliché-ridden slugfest, Amelie triumphs, and wipes all record of the attack, physical and data based, from the ship, going so far as to hire as a cleaning crew a bunch of local roustabouts who showed up early for Kwang's job offer. The only copy of Roger left now exists trapped on Gwyn's laptop. Meanwhile, for Tate, facing death is all part of the job. Crawling and sneaking through Roloth's foundry yet another time, he enlists the aid of the "trapped" armorsmith who turns out to not be quite so trapped after all, and in fact is a power-broker in his own right. His wheelchair-bound nature prohibits Tate from just kidnapping him, and threats are useless against a man who knows he's too valuable...but Tate reveals that if HE could get through the secret vent to grab him, so could others...and so he agrees to seal up the vent if the blacksmith makes him the armor he wants at the price he wants. The transaction done, Tate finds his own way back unceremoniously sealed...not because of the "toxic fume leak" Amelie had faked for him, but by a REAL toxic fume leak from the vapors let off by the boiler Marek had plunged into the lava days earlier. So he progresses onward to find the Daedalus shuttle, which he manages to steal in a pitched gun battle (which at one point involves him caught in the pincers of a giant crane dangling over the shuttle). Once one board and on the launch platform high above the foundry, he discovers the ship has four boilers on board, as well as a diary of Jon Quail's notes, trying to keep himself sane under the Daedalus' influence. There is also a register of who his buyers are, and he sees the names of an alliance officer. With Amelie's hacking help, Tate pilots the shuttle out and away from the foundry, in time to see Marek bobbing in the ocean, in need of a lift. Marek's flight from the Alliance fighterjets ended badly when his craft stalled, then got slammed by several missiles...he only just managed to eject, and would have died out there in the waters of the bay had Tate not conveniently flown by. They return to the Four Truths right before Kwang and Gwyn (a very funny moment ensues when Kwang prepares to dock...oh wait, can't, there's a Daedalus shuttle in the port. A Daedalus shuttle?!? That's ok, we'll just set down next to it...whoops, can't land on that tent city full of workers. Tent city?!?) What follows is one of the strangest, most emotional "kitchen table meetings" yet. When he cannot account for his whereabouts, Marek reveals that he is in fact Marek Parasceva, the Voice of the Resistance, and tells Kwang of the Browncoats' deadly plans to launch a cloaked boiler attack on Londinium. Marek says he'll submit to whatever punishment the captain wants to give, but AFTER they stop this terrible mission - even if Marek has to do it single handedly. Heavy with all of the new information, Kwang nevertheless starts to plan. He asks Marek if they can beat the MARIE CLAIRE to Londinium, and Marek is confident that at full burn with a good enough course, they can. Kwang tells Tate he's "hired" again, and to "take twenty minutes with Ginger" to settle whatever they have to, achem, settle...the implication being clear: none of them might be coming back from this. He charges Ginger with making sure the holiday plan goes off in their absence. Kwang orders Gwyn to check out the Daedalus shuttle and its boiler cargo, but Amelie intervenes. Kwang had denied her request to "borrow" the shuttle, so without warning she takes control of it remotely and launches it into space, with Gwyn aboard! Kwang incapacitates Amelie and has Marek scramble out in the other shuttle to retrieve her. As Marek catches up and as Gwyn finally gains manual control of the vessel, both of them pause in their respective ships, slack-jawed. Four alliance cruisers hang in orbit around Santo. This cannot be a good sign. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006
5:12 pm [serenitygm]	Previously on Serenity Previously on Serenity: Scrambling to avert utter chaos in the wake of Roloth’s dissapearance from his Foundry and the disruption of its computer operations, the crew of the Four Truths sends Tate inside on a covert op to do some scavenging of facts and equipment. He returns not only with armfulls of goodies, but with information that several factions have begun to vie for power in Roloth’s absence. The monks are trying to tend to the wounded and confused, and Ginger and Tate have an uncomfortable conversation. Unbeknownst to anyone, Gwyn does her own “secret reconaissance” by letting Roger out of his electronic “cage” after he promises to be good, and only infiltrate Roloth’s systems. Marek worries about his wife, Amelie seems preoccupied…all looks in shambles until Kwang returns from a night’s vigil and visionquest on the mountainside with shaven head, in the yellow robes and regalia of a full fledged monk. Dinner that night proves interesting, not in the least because GINGER is the one who makes it. Kwang convinces her to stay on as ship’s cook, saving her from having to work all manner of unspeakable jobs on Santo to earn her passage home. Soon her skills at inventory and financial management prove invaluable, and Kwang lets her in on parts of the “master plan.” With things at the Foundry about to get real ugly real quickly, the newly “reborn” Kwang and Marek cobble together a scheme: Amelie will work on creating a “virtual Roloth” that will announce a “holiday” in the days approaching Chinese New Year. Meanwhile, Kwang will take Roloth’s comatose form to the other side of the planet to get medical attention from a doctor who is “out of the local scene”. Marek finds such a doctor, and lobbies hard to be the one to take him, but Kwang insists on going alone. Gwyn, however, persuades him to take her as a passenger. In playing with the computer, she has found a messave left for her by Lakshmi, who explains that she received a summons while the ship was under her charge, a summons that triggered her change to Patti…but with all the work that she and Kwang had been doing, she’s now an “integrated whole.” The problem is, she’s now “in deep” in something she can’t get out of easily, and doesn’t expect the crew to believe her story. As a final “gift” to Gwyn, who she feels she has wronged too many times, she lets Gwyn know that the “dyeing” of Gwyn’s genes in the blood sample she was given by Shepherd Wallace. It turns out, says Lakshmi/Patti, that the dye-job was “signed” by a particular biopharm company, Shin-Gen Amalgamated. They have an office on Santo, headed by a name from Gwyn’s past, Arnold Fong. Kwang takes her along to the bright and shiny world of Santo’s casinos, where Gwyn secures the services of a local “chop-doctor” while Kwang visits the local monestary and begins pulling strings. With their help, he finds his way to a wealthy but invalid casino owner, Xu Fugai, whom he convinces to agree to a deal that will benefit both his soul and his pocketbook – by letting Kwang win enough money to pay for Roloth’s doctor fees (as well as supplies for the Foundary’s inhabitants, enough to make for one hell of a celebration day…oh yes, and for a makeover for Gwyn and Winston). Kwang in turn has Amelie turn over the codes for Roloth’s business contracts to Fugai, who now becomes the operator for all of the projects Roloth’s insitution had been undertaking to serve Santo’s underclass. Kwang has essentially created a global economy, unitied both “halves” of sundered Santo, perhaps atoning in some way for his own role in shattering that world during the War. On the other side of the planet,Tate returns to the Foundary on a twin mission – try and save an armorsmith from being used by one of the two factions (so the FOUR TRUTHS CREW can use him INSTEAD!) and to pilfer the carefully guarded Daedalus shuttle that had belonged to Jon Quail. And Marek… Marek has his own mission. He meets secretly with Takahashi-San as scheduled, and the FOUR TRUTHS’ owner ferries him up to a secret meeting aboard the rogue Browncoat battleship MARIE CLAIRE, somehow cloaked electronically while in plain sight orbit around Santo! There he is taken to meet General Li Tsing, the highest ranking Independent leader to escape death or capture after Serenity. The General claims the ship has been on the run, engaging in petty piracy for years, until Takahashi-San hooked them up with some “powerful friends” who gave them the technology to avoid detection…as well as some deals to purchase boilers. When Marek reacts aghast and outraged and refuses to take part, the General berates him as weak and idealistic, revealing that she feels the same way about Takahashi-San (who she claims is unaware that they even have the boilers), and orders him off the ship. Off, as in, out an airlock without a suit…but Lakshmi appears to save him, incapacitating his guard. Although she now wears an Independents’ uniform and answers to Patti, Lakshmi reveals that she is “herself”, integrated, and tells Marek what she has learned: Li Tsing’s plan is to sail unseen right up to Londinium, and then launch a biological boiler attack on Parliament on the eve of Chinese New Year. Only a few months ago, both Patti and Marek might have accepted such a plan, but their time aboard the FOUR TRUTHS has changed them. Now both vow to put a stop to this. Lakshmi feels if anyone can stop this, it’s Kwang, and she says she will stay aboard and do what she can as a sleeper agent, waiting for Kwang’s signal. She then packs Marek up into a medical waste disposal package and launches him back to Santo. His last sight out the small viewing window is the Marie Claire coming about, embarking on its deadly journey… (Comment on this)
Friday, April 28th, 2006
11:56 am [marek_morlaix]	Marek and Lakshmi/Patti-"There was never the time" Sprinting through the halls, using whatever open doorways and debris could be used for cover as they escaped left Marek time to ask a few questions at least. "This whole operation...they have to have been planning something on this scale for a long time. How many of those damn boilers did they buy from Roloth?" (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 19th, 2006
11:14 am [serenitygm]	Previously on Serenity Previously on Serenity: Kwang and Amelie seek an audience with Roloth, wherein Kwang tries to tell the crimelord that Roloth is embarking on the “wrong path”, and that Kwang is here to help set him on the right one. Roloth in turn speaks about angels and devils manipulating all human events, and that his “new friends” have worked miracles that show them to be on the side of God…yet here Tate and Kwang have also been working miracles. How can he decide, he asks, who serves what powers, and where he should throw in his allegiance? Fortunately, he has a way. He opens up a pit that hurls both him and Kwang into a cell where he has kept alive three Reavers from a raiding party that his men once repelled. He says whoever survives the encounter will only do so by God’s providence. Amelie cries out to the captain down below, but the guards stop her from intervening, and mock her for her devotion. In a fit of rage, she uses her abilities to seal them in their armor, cutting off their air. Then she heads off into the depths of the foundry to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, speaking of havoc, Tate and Ginger are trying to shoot their way out of the docking bay, and almost make it – except, while trying to close a door behind them, Ginger is shot by a stray bullet. Despite her insistence that he leave her, Tate carries Ginger to Roloth’s medical facility and convinces the doctor to operate on her. The doctor stabilizes her condition and Tate wheels her out JUST before the guards he himself wounded (and thus, who could identify him) are brought in for treatment. Marek and Gwyn meanwhile elude a tunnel scrubbing device and enter the foundry through the ventilation tunnels. Accessing a map, they discover the captain’s whereabouts…but when Gwyn senses the Reavers’ presence, she panics and runs off. And then all hell breaks loose – Amelie has let loose the mother of all “hallucinogenic viruses” throughout the Foundry’s computer system. As all manner of devices start malfunctioning, screams for help rise up everywhere, including one that Marek recognizes. Marek pauses in his search for Gwyn and investigates Jon Quail’s voice. He comes upon Quail negotiating a business transaction for the boiler with Mr. Lin, Roloth’s major domo, and shoots Lin dead upon entering. Quail begs Marek to shoot him as well, and tells a similar story to Ming Ho’s about the Daedalus and Karen. Soon enough, however, the chip in his brain takes him over, and Marek is forced to kill him – with his dying energies, however, Quail throws up a map onto the nearby computer screens. The location of Karen? Not far away, having stowed Ginger in a safe location, Tate creeps through the halls, gun ready, hearing footsteps. He rounds the corner and fires, only to find it’s Amelie! Fortunately, his gun picks that moment to jam and blow itself out. (A REALLY fortuitous botch. The dice know. Or the GM has telekinesis. You decide). The two team up, and eventually find Gwyn, who is roaming the halls with a lit blowtorch, muttering about taking her revenge on Reavers. Meanwhile, the Captain fights for his life among said Reavers, and manages to finally kill them all. Roloth himself, in disbelief, is about to take on the captain himself, when Tate, Amelie and Gwn find him and burst in. Roloth is outnumbered and outgunned, and the captain talks him down and convinces him that this is indeed proof that he is on the wrong path. As Roloth begins to seriously consider Kwang’s words, and thus the loyalty of his current “friends”, a deactivated surplus military droid comes to life and moves in on them all. The captain throws himself in the way of the droid, addressing it as Daedalus, blocking it’s line of fire at Roloth. However, Amelie grabs the captain and in an uncharacteristic burst of strength pushes him aside, allowing the droid an open shot at Roloth. It guns him down, but Tate has used this time to set up a shot of his own, and disables the droid with a bullet to its optical sensor. The crew manages to stabilize Roloth and, under the cover of the chaos in the malfunctioning foundry, spirit him out of the facility entirely. Marek soon follows, having first taken a detour to dump the boiler in the heart of the foundary’s magma pool. The crew reassembles at the Four Truths’ landing site to find the ship missing, and a recorded message from Patti saying she needed to “borrow” it. The ship returns, apparently on autopilot, for Patti/Lakshmi is nowhere to be seen. Seeing the chaos of the Foundry behind them, Marek suggests that the monks go out among the masses and tend to them as their new “flock”. The monks agree, giving up their plan to settle the outer rim, deciding they are indeed needed more here. Do’ori visits Roloth in private as per her agreement with the captain, and then approaches Kwang, saying the two will not cross paths again, and that she pities Kwang, for he has made a choice today that she says has irrevocably altered his path for the worse. Then she leaves to join her brethren. “Must be nice,” Marek mutters as he watches her go, “to just lay down pronouncements and then leave, and not have the deal with the consequences.” The crew then sets about dealing with those consequences…burying their dead, removing Lakshmi’s supplies from the ship (as the captain has at this point ruled her too great a risk), and trying to process what just went on. Kwang apologies to Amelie, saying their fates are now tied…yet Amelie herself only looks apprehensive and guilty… (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 13th, 2006
8:51 pm [amelietaka]	Picking up the pieces... Amelie spends the first day after fall of Roloff's fortress wandering through the halls. The digital reality bender she injected into the mainframe has run its course but its effects are still pronounced. The vents blow cold and hot air at random intervals and the monitors blink with ghastly and jarring images. At each terminal, Amelie leans over and seeks out subsystems; explaining who she is and what she had done. It's the least she can do to repair the harm she's done. The dumber units she pats on the head and leaves, but the ones more in the "know" she carefully, over the next few days, begins to interrogate. Never before has Amelie had such an oppressive sense of time inexorably running out, but she wills herself into patience. One misstep could be lethal. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
9:01 pm [marek_morlaix]	Requiem for a slave (tags at end, if wanted) Marek had stepped off the ship before the argument began. The truth was, trust was the hardest thing to give to the others, especially now. Knowing what Pati and Lakshmi had done, every action would now be under greater scrutiny than ever. And that meant at some point, he had to come face to face with his own past. His true past. He stood on the barren ground, a good distance from the ship. He had walked; no sense in wasting the resources they had for fuel. The land here flat, sandy, and having no real value for diggers. No marker, save one. Ride my wave Don’t complicate me It had cost him twice what the stonecutter made in a day to have the marker made. The headstone for a man whose body was likely cremated by now, and whose ashes were more likely spread to the winds by the Buddhist monks than given peace in the earth. A man who he had hunted, like he was a mastermind, an opportunist...that in the end begged for release and nothing more. Jon Quayle's headstone. I am the fortune of your fathers I am nothing more than what you make me Memories of meeting Quayle that first time on the Dulia, of the smart-ass cook with a dirty joke or innuendo for every situation. One of the few people he really could call friend on that ship of miscreants, along with his wife. Drinking contests in bars during planetfall, seeing who had to carry who back to the ships in the morning. Knowing full well that Quayle always had an option, a backup plan, another idea that would lead to misadventure once the smuggling run was done. A killer in the act A mother’s water breaking He ran through the scene in his mind again, like he did every night as he laid to rest. Watching as his ship fired on the bounty hunters, dooming most of his own crew along with the people who had captured them. How he failed to fight off his own captor, and later how he failed to persuade Catavolcus to go back to look for survivors. Quayle's death weighed heavily on him for a long, long time. An old man looking back We all have glory waking Villified because of his role in selling the boilers, when he was finally face to face with his old crewmate, his friend...all he could see was the man who had reached out to him now so anxious, so hungry to die, to escape the slavery that damned Daedalus forced on him. The same slavery that had his wife in its grip. Ride my wave I am solar space The inscription was carved perfectly. The money well spent. 'Jon Quayle You shall be remembered as you were not what you were forced to become; laughter above tears joy above pain You are destined for greater things. You shall be remembered. -M.' I am the unborn in the clouds I am whoever, can you paint my face His hands slid under the collar of his coat, closing his eyes as he pulled a chain from around his neck and over his head. Brushing the soft dusty ground aside near the base of the stone, he deposited the chain...and the dogtags attached...into the hole. The real Marek left this as a memorial to his friend. It should be part of him that was left in tribute, not Morlaix. His true name. For a true friend misjudged badly. A killer in the act A mother’s water breaking Looking around him, all the stones in the distance looked the same as this one. Durable, yet far from valuable. It rested in the middle of nothing, where it would likely not be disturbed. As it should be. Jon...as he knew him before...deserved no less. He swept the dirt pile over the dogtags, covering them completely. We all have needle tracks We all have glory waking It had been a long time since Marek found himself praying, but as he rose to his feet, he clasped his hands and bowed his head-in silent prayer for the man he killed. One day, he would have to face what they had done to Karen. He would have to see the fire that was in her eyes perverted by Daedalus. And he would have to make the hardest choice of his life...to kill the woman he loved, or to die by her hand. To side with his crew, and make the moves that would lead to her death, or stand aside...and know that her hand would now be the one used to destroy the universe if Daedalus wished it. A thin tear slid down his right cheek before he lifted his head again. Knowing that whatever happened, Jon found his peace, and would be welcomed into heaven with open arms. God loved the good men and women of the universe. That's what the shepherds always said-the good ones get by because God knows they're good. No machine could take that away from Quayle. And if it meant Marek would burn in hell for freeing his friend...then maybe God ain't that all knowing at all. And I’m falling over you And love’s the only measure In his billfold, a photograph of happier times. Quayle, his wife, other members of the crew of the Dulia. They were all smiling, all laughing. All of them looking for profit and still doing what they thought was right. Except Catavolcus, natch, but he wasn't part of the shot. On the back, scrawled in Chinese, congratulations from the crew to the happy couple on their engagement. A party he would not soon forget. Back when he had reasons to smile. I’m falling over you I am whoever Sliding the picture back into his billfold, he withdrew a small candle and rested it atop the recently replaced earth. With a lighter, the wick was lit-a flame that would not be eternal, but would mark a grave where no body lay, a memorial that no others would likely ever know... ...from a man who couldn't even call himself by his true name. "Should've never come to this, Jon..." he said quietly. "I'm sorry." Current Mood: morose Current Music: "I Am Whoever" by Angie Aparo (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 9th, 2006
10:24 am [marek_morlaix]	The Banner of Truth, by M.P. Rudyard Kipling's "If". It's always been my favorite poem. Taught to me by my father, as it was taught to him by his, a piece of the history of the Earth that was. Brothers in arms, I have seen two of the three fallen angels. Two of the three turned villainous for the sake of running a string through a snail's shell. To bring the battle back without care of consequences. Two have been defeated. One remains. There are evils far greater than even the Alliance knows of. Deception that goes far deeper than the side that won the war can truly comprehend. My brothers and sisters in arms, there is no guarantee when these words will come to you. These words may be silenced at any time by the opponents of justice, of rights, of the true owners of these worlds-the people who made them. If I am silenced, my friends...know that I died fighting once more against a corruption for those I truly care for. A legacy I would gladly leave behind me. The phoenix will not rise from the ashes. No further tributes fed to this minotaur. So I swear. My brothers and sisters in arms, take heed and know the battle may one day come to you again. When the time is right, stand proud for what you believe in and remember that while history is written by the winners, truth cannot be obliterated. It is the heart of the flame where it is most intense. Where it seems to the naked eye invisible. The fires have twice now burned away the dying phoenix. Watch the heavens and know that when a new star glows, the final foe and his phoenix will see no rebirth in our universe. Until when next we speak, M.P. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream--and not make dreams your master, If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much, If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son! (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 8th, 2006
4:55 pm [serenitygm]	Ginger explores the ship... Madness. The last few days have been nothing but. And Ginger thought she was used to chaos, working in one of the busiest restaurants in New Dunismir. But within a week's time, she trusted her restaurant's future to a crimelord, seen that selfsame crimelord skewered and shock her man, reneging on the terms of the deal...then Tate's lunatic rescue, the gunfire, getting shot, being wheeled around...the smoke, the heat, the monks...frankly it's all something of a blur right now. The mind, faced with some things, just shuts down. Sitting up in the bed in the Four Truths' medbay, she bring the world into blurry focus. The ache in her side draws her hand down to her dress... ...bloody. Soaked through with crimson. Still a little damp and sticky...Ji shi wa, so it was all real! Steadying her swaying body on the edge of the bed, she looks around. No doctor. No sign of Tate or any of his strange friends. Just one other bed, and on it... HIM. Roloth. The man she thought was her new guardian angel, who turned out to be the devil in disguise. No, it wasn't her fault at all, what happened to Tate. It was his. He's lying there now, all bandaged up, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. Ginger's eyes flash across the room. She has to atone for what she did, for her part in this mess. She has to make it up to Tate. A scalpel. Just lying there. Painfully, she rises, staggers over to the desk, seizes the thin metal thing in her hand, surprised at its light weight. Then she draws near to Roloth's form, watches the rise and fall of his neck, holds the scapel high and prepares to bring it down... (24 Comments |Comment on this)