Artemis-cellaneous: Memorable whatevers from The Borderlands

[Talos Dakora]

22 minutes ago, Yalu said:

Haha @Jovenan has shooting Genkostalgia.

 

Technically shooting Genkos is still her main goal at the moment. Just in a more broad sense.

[Robin Hopper]

This exchange - including the narration from Yalu's POV - between @Yalu and @Savel really amused me. There's often a lot of question and concern from new Ensigns about how to sim as a Lower Decker, when all the more senior officers should really be making the calls... and this is it. Sim to your duty post and, if a more senior officer disagrees, they'll just overrule you! Hahaha

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Savel: I will take two security crewmen with me to take the room. That should suffice. ::to Yalu:: Commander, I know I cannot order you to remain here, but I strongly suggest you not open yourself up to further injury. If I understand the rules of this 'game' correctly, one more will conclude your participation. ::to Vedic:: I am leaving a crewman with you. Please remain vigilant for any threats outside of the room. This could very well be an ambush.

The thought had also occurred to Yogan that the longer he went without having his “injury” healed, the likelier he was to sustain further simulated injuries. The computer was smart, and would extrapolate any number of things to befall an officer who went into battle with a broken ankle. He would have to be extra careful.

He also mused for a moment on the weirditude of junior offers deferring to him. It wasn’t so long ago that he was the newly minted ensign offering his insights and recommendations, knowing full well that his superior officers would probably disregard them out of hand simply because they outranked him. Or, at least, that’s how it seemed.

Yogan chuckled. Now he was in the position to do exactly the same thing. How quickly things change.

Yalu: Your concern is noted, Ensign, but I’ll join you.

 

[Robin Hopper]

Another great quote today! This time from @Hiro Jones:

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To free up a hand, Osuna handed one of the bluezers [blue-handled training phasers] to Hiro, smirking as he did so.

Osuna: Forget the hippocratic oath for the next few minutes, will you, Doctor?  ::Gesturing down the corridor::  If you see anyone – anyone at all – shoot ‘em, alright?

Jones: Hippocrates mentioned not using the knife. ::Checking the charge on the weapon, generating a soft whine as it proved ready for service:: He didn't say anything about phasers.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Robin Hopper

[Talos Dakora]

And today's award for most ridiculous sim title goes to @Robin Hopper:

 

[Genkos Adea]

@Yalu - I had to pause my reading because of you

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Yalu: oO Mizari loves company. Oo

 

[Robin Hopper]

This exchange, particularly this punchline from @Savel was brilliant!

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((USS Artemis | Deck Somewhere | Jeffries Tubes))

Silveira: OK, deck 4 right?

Kader: I’m pretty sure we passed 3, maybe 5? 6? At most.

Savel: I...was not counting.

They needed some navigation signs and maps in here, a big picture of the ship with a red dot and a big arrow. You Are Here!

Silveira: You sure? I thought it was 4.

Savel: At least we are confident our current location is on board the Artemis.

 

[+ Yalu]

@Addison MacKenzie This was just too funny

 

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HMMT: I am the Emergency Medical Howogwam. I am pwogwammed with the entirety of the Starfweet Medicaw wibwawy and am twained in a vawiety of medicaw techniques. How may I hewp you today? You may speak to me in compwete sentences or in short cwauses like: “Hewp! I’ve fawwen and I can’t get up,” or “Sing a sea chanty.”

 

[+ Gila Sadar]

@Jovenan  This part of 'A flaming sword across the darkened land' - which is also just a baller title to begin with - took my breath away. What a capital way to not only portray a science officer suddenly forced into combat, but how to bring Edo culture to the forefront as well! 10/10!!

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Her finger met the interface, and right then, two bright pulses of energy began to circle around the round saucer section before meeting in the middle, and there, a ray of orange departed them, split the space in half, finding its way to the Suliban ship.

For a split second, Jovenan just stared at the beam. She had done that. She had pressed the button, and the beam had appeared.

A beam so powerful that it could destroy ships. Eliminate cities. Wipe out civilizations.

This wasn’t the power of a mere Edo, but of a God.

All at her hands.

It scared her.

[...]

And again. Now, with both the primary frontal phasers and the upper phasers simultaneously. Again!

 

She felt rage. These people had disabled their systems. Poisoned the ship, the crew, the families. Hurt her friends.

Attacking a Starfleet ship – execution without trial.

Exposing people to dangerous chemicals – execution without trial.

Piracy – execution without trial.

Phasers. Again!

 

[Robin Hopper]

@Ensign Sadar that quote warrants a 😨 reaction, but that isn't an option! 😆

[+ Vitor S. Silveira]

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Adea: What the absolute ::REDACTED:: is that?

HMMT: ::stamping a fuzzy foot:: Is there a medicaw emergency or not?

Jones: Uh. No. Computer, deactivate EMT.

HMMT: That's just wude.

The diminutive medical puppet dematerialized, leaving the Human and Betazoid standing there.

Jones: Mostly surprise-free.

Adea: Kill it with fire.

 

@Hiro Jones and @Genkos Adea this one just...

 

 

[Robin Hopper]

@Vitor S. Silveira:

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Silveira: Please call me Sil, or Vitor. Whatever pleases you the most, we are on shore leave. ::He winked.:: Given enough time if I bother you too much you can call me anything else.

If that isn't quintessential Sil, I don't know what is lol.

[Genkos Adea]

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Amy’s Winehouse and Spirits. Freddy MerCurry, home of the fish tikka masala. Avril Living, transforming your interior space from a Damn Cold Night into Springtime in Paris. 

@Yalu You are a monster.

[+ Gila Sadar]

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As they got to the dock, the whole street opened up, and off the dock, on an island on the sea, there were four large statues of Caitians that were illuminated with torches. 

Flames rolled around the arms, body and legs of the statues, one of the statues had flamed her. At the foot of the statues was four stages, on each stage were the drums and the players, setting the rhythm for this symbiotic symphony that slammed the entire dock area. 

The atmosphere on the dock was charged, and all of the revellers danced and thronged together to the beat. The music from the musicians travelled down through the streets to the dock, for Caitians this fusion of sound was as powerful as any drug. Luxa felt herself carried along, and joined the dance along with the others. 

In other news, @LuxaLorana has me wanting to visit Cait on my next vacation. GPS coordinates, please?

[+ Gila Sadar]

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As they sped onward, three grazu came to investigate. Hiro remembered the huge creature off the walking path, and was momentarily frightened. When he saw the large, curious, almost whale-like eye of the beast, it became a magical moment. He dove a little lower; the grazu matched his decline. He pulled up way harder than he'd meant to, and accidentally sent himself into a backward summersault. The grazu gave a huge flap of its wings, which sent it skyward, then wrapped them in tight, hanging weightless for a moment before arcing back down. It whizzed passed Hiro by about two meters. Heart racing, Hiro couldn't help but laugh. He was flying with a huge Caitian bird-thing. Scientific nomenclature be damned. This was fun.

The Grazu flew off with a trumpeting call that rang through Hiro's whole body. This little game had increased the distance between him and Luxa though. He needed speed now. Maybe it was playing with the grazu, maybe he was just getting comfortable, but he slapped his arms to his side and spread his legs wide, turning him into a missile. The speed was incredible. His cheeks flapped furiously from the resistance and his eyes streamed freely, but he did catch up to his friend just as she arced away into another spiral, apparently slowing her descent for an eventual landing. He followed suit.

A few, loopy minutes later, Luxa landed gracefully on an unbelievably thick carpet of moss not far from the watering hole. Hiro was ... less graceful. His landing, while not a crash landing, was more of a semi-controlled, flop/tumble/roll. Whatever it could be called, he was grateful for the springy moss. He looked up panting with exhilaration and excitement from the ground at his friend.

Jones: Best. Shoreleave. Ever.

This is what exploration's all about. The mental image @Hiro Jones conjured for me with this Sim was just 10/10.

[+ Gila Sadar]

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Lorana: ::out of breath:: Sorry I'm late! ::catches another breath:: I don't want to miss out on all the fun … I can play with balls!

@LuxaLorana takes the win today 🤣

[+ Gila Sadar]

Honorary quote from the Artemis’ discord channel that perfectly examplifies why Artemis Poker Nights are a BAD IDEA, all around:

 

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Talos Dakora:

> MacKenzie: ::standing up:: It starts as Go Fish, but it always ends in someone getting stuck picking up extra shifts at work, and my job is hard enough. ::raising her mug:: I’ll see you all for the tour.

Weird, my card games always end up with people losing clothes...

I honestly don’t know which one between @Addison MacKenzie and @Talos Dakora is the worst kind of card game 😂

[+ Gila Sadar]

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LtJG Hiro Jones - Chef Grr'Don Rawrmsy

Is there a word for hating and loving something at the same time, @Hiro Jones? 

[+ Hiro Jones]

On 8/27/2023 at 9:54 AM, Ensign Sadar said:

Is there a word for hating and loving something at the same time, @Hiro Jones? 

I think "Ambivalent" would do the trick. lol

[+ Gila Sadar]

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Then he nodded. Kliss decided in that nanosecond it was her least favorite gesture a humanoid was capable of. What does a nod mean? "Ah yes, I now know all your deepest secrets?" or "Ok, you're clearly insane?" or "I'm making sure my neck doesn't cramp up from being still for too long?" Seriously, how could one gesture be THAT ambiguous?

Dakora: I see. 

The verbal equivalent of a nod.

@Hiro Jones's PNPC Kliss'lai is a precious cinnamon roll, and she's doing great interpreting our Intel Chief's body language 🤣

[Talos Dakora]

This made me smile. I love this game because you can have little character connections and plot threads like this that stretch back for actual RL years.

💘@Yalu
 

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As round nine dragged on, Yogan pulled from his memories of Talos, far and away the most athletic person who’d ever shared Yalu’s consciousness. Despite the good friendship and solid working relationship the two men had developed, Yogan still found it somewhat… inappropriate… to think of Talos as one of Yalu’s past hosts, given the extraordinary circumstances of their Joining. He still tended to keep Talos’ memories apart from the others’. In the two years since the encounter with the telepathic orbs of Cyratis V, Talos Dakora had matured far beyond the static version of ‘Talos Yalu’ which was part of Yogan. Drawing on Talos’ memories felt a bit like conjuring a ghost.

But, Yogan wanted to win, and Talos knew a lot about pew-pew and run-run. It worked, and Yogan scored his third consecutive victory, bringing the score to 5–4 and putting him within striking distance of a draw. He was proud to have denied Savel the satisfaction of a match-ending sixth win. But Yogan was also starting to feel the strain on his joints and muscles. His thumb blanched from trigger pressure, and his knees were skinned from a few poorly-executed shoulder rolls.

 

 

[+ Vitor S. Silveira]

As you all will agree, we started this new mission of ours with quite a push. And honestly I would likely post everyone's introduction of their characters in Appreciations, but at the fear of over flooding it I have to put in the first lines from @Kuva and @LuxaLorana that really sold me.

 

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Although Kuva’s expertise lay more in offensive capabilities, he bridled in place, arms crossed defiantly over his chest as he considered the implications of a stealth and infiltration mission. His eyes, both real and artificial, slid over to meet Colonel Adea’s; of all the Desdemona’s crew, Kuva was most well acquainted with Genkos. The colonel had saved his life after all; plasma scarring welled up along the right side of his face, a reminder of what would have been his fate without Adea’s - and the Confederacy’s - intervention.

  

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Lux tried to return her focus on Didrik as darker thoughts forced their way in. Screams in the night. In a jungle on Cait. 

Lorana. 

It was a name she heard in her nightmares. Four cubs and their mother hidden in the undergrowth. Lux’s face pressed hard into the soil, struggling to breath. Fighting the urge to cry out as she dug her paws into the earth, her brother on one side and her sisters clutching each other on the other. Mother’s body pressing down on them, hissing for them to remain silent and still. 

They did, each of those small cubs, did not move or make a noise beyond the whispers of their breathing. Except for their eyes and their tails. It was the only contact they allowed themselves. Tails interlinked with each other for days, the coiling together becoming tighter and tighter as they listened to the cries and pleading of the elder cubs and their father, and eventually their death throes.

The great leader S’nar and his children made an example for the entire galaxy. Resist and die. It was a performance.

The Shint didn’t find them, perhaps it was luck or they wanted to keep them alive, so they could hear the cries for the rest of their lives.

 

[+ Yalu]

I really enjoyed @Hallia Yellir describing the shaking of the ship thusly:

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Another round of fire slammed into their vessel, and Luana caught herself in the motion— just before she fell rear over tea kettle.

 

[+ Gila Sadar]

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And there it was. He wasn’t falling, walking or even running into the trap. 
He was jumping head on and shouting "TRAP ME".

To be fair, that is a very ‘Trek’ kind of trap response, @Vitor S. Silveira 😂

[+ Ollie Bergmen]

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Black: We came here to honor you in death, as we never had a chance to honor you in life. You were different, unknown. We don't know what you believed in, we don't believe in what you believed. We bury you and honor you in our own tradition, as we don't know yours. Forgive us our nescience, and find your own absolution in our respect for your sacrifice.

Adea: But also, please don’t come back and kill any of us.

Most honest mic drop which made me laugh for honest five minutes straight. Thank you @Genkos Adea for a really great pun in that situation. ^^

[Jovenan]

@Vitor S. Silveira, I love you and I hate you (not really)!

 

For context, Silveira calls Jovenan "Nan". A few days ago in Discord, some of us admitted they were initially confused by that!

Sim

 

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That wasn’t right. That wasn’t exactly wrong either.
In all true it wasn’t something of true importance.
But to him it felt strange as he watched his Grandfather Jonas holding hands with Nan.
The fact they were inside his quarters, but that it looked exactly as the inside of his grandparents Risa beach house, that he was watching while holding hands with Jo, and that there was a soft breeze with sweet forest scent, like he felt when he visited Betazed, didn’t triggered any sort of weirdness alert.

Maybe it was one of those chaotic mind association things. Nan, Granma, they sounded exactly the same right?

Later

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((USS Artemis, deck 3, Silveira’s quarters))
((Not dreaming now))

Vitor sat up in his bed waving his arms around… His breathing was heavy and he was sweating. Blinking, he shook his head.

oO Another nightmare? Weirdest thing… Who in their right mind would confuse granma with nan? Oo