DeLarge

So, in speaking to Darth Vader about our current Bounty I've realized there might be some confusion about the role of the Outlaw in these threads. Basically, the purpose of having a player writing from the point of view of the Outlaw is not to post regularly and consistently throughout the thread: it is to post occasionally in order to move the story along and to throw up obstacles in the way of the Hunters. So when writing your way through the Bounty threads, don't just tread water while waiting for the Outlaw-player to post, do everything you can to try and find your Outlaw, think creatively and use your imagination: the Outlaw-player will post and introduce their character once they feel you have done sufficient groundwork towards finding them.
 
If this doesn't make sense to anyone, please don't hesitate to use this thread to ask any questions you might have about how the Bounties will progress, one of us will be happy to address your concerns!

Fistful of Credits: Body Snatcher
 
Bounty Hunters:
DeLarge as Garrick Flynt
Darth Vader as Xionis Vasimo Zulas
 
Outlaw:
Orcus as Arrien aka 'Leech'
 
ICARUS Headquarters, Burst Nebula
 
"Garrick Flynt," said Garrick to the strange, cold-eyed Bounty Hunter who had taken him up on his offer, extending his hand for a handshake. The Hunter looked at his hand, almost emotionless in his reaction, and ignored it.   "Xionis Vasimo Zulas," the Hunter replied, turning on his heel and walking swiftly away from the Bounty Board, "We should depart now if we are to catch the Leech and his host."   "Oh good, you're one of those Hunters," said Garrick, rolling his eyes and following Xionis, "Let me guess...dad was distant and unloving and mom was a simulant? No, I've got it - you've got a computer instead of a brain, right? I worked with a guy like that once, no sense of humour at all, but ruthlessly efficient."   "Do you intend to continue this incessant talking, Terran, or will we be attempting to complete this assignment quickly and decisively?" snapped Xionis, and Garrick held his hands up in a gesture of mock defensiveness.   "Well, in the spirit of speed and decisiveness, we should get to my ship and head towards Elrich so we can get this over with as soon as possible," said Garrick, gesturing in the direction of Felicity's spot in the loading bay. Xionis stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to face Garrick.   "I believe we would be better served by taking my ship. Ter'Rasth is equipped with Advent technology, and tracking this Outlaw will be far easier if I have access to my onboard AIs," he said, a vague air of smugness in his tone.   "Oh yeah? And what kind of ship is Ter'Rasth?"   "A heavy corvette class that I have personally upgraded. I guarantee that it will be more effective in this mission than whatever vehicle you may have access to."   "A heavy corvette class? My apologies, Xionis, I was under the bizarre impression that you actually wanted to catch this Outlaw, but that must be my mistake."   "What do you mean?" asked Xionis, raising an eyebrow.   "Well this thing's a Vemmen, a slimy little brain-worm that's managed to latch itself onto an Ayenean, one of those big golem things you hear about in school. The two constituent parts are a frankly cowardly criminal, and a big stupid animal, and both of those parts are likely to run and disappear into the wind if they see a goddamned dreadnought of a battle cruiser coming at them. I have a five-man starship that's more than capable of getting us to the Alphonse Train Junction in one piece."   "That may be true," replied Xionis, realising that he had overlooked the drawbacks of having such an imposing means of transport at his disposal, "But my AIs will be invaluable in this situation..."   "Flick could kick your AIs up and down this galaxy," said Garrick dismissively, "But if you're that desperate, bring 'em. Felicity's got an external interface for foreign AIs, they can come along for the ride if you can't bear to be without them. Just meet me at loading bay G-87d4 in thirty and we can head out."   "Very well," replied Xionis, "But if this decision hinders our ability to capture our Bounty, I will hold you personally responsible, Garrick Flynt."   "If I had a credit for every time I've heard that...well, I'd probably still be broke. Catch you on the flip, Johnny Five!" he broke away from his fellow Hunter and headed back towards Felicity.   As soon as he could see that he was out of Xionis' presumably-enhanced earshot, he punched a few digits on his wristpad and called through to Flick.   "Did you get it? Are we rich?" she asked, the sarcasm practically dripping from her words.   "That's...complicated. Listen, Flick, they've got me teamed up with an Advent for the next Bounty..."   "Did you give him a demeaning nickname yet?" interrupted Flick.   "I might have called him Johnny Five," replied Garrick, the tiniest shred of guilt in his voice.   "And you wonder why you have no friends."   "I have friends!"   "Women that you slept with once and then never called again don't count, Garrick."   "Alright, I have one friend. That's not really the point, Flick - I need some information on this guy, to see who I'm working with. His name's Xionis Vasimo Zulas, can you pull up some details for me?"   "Did you ever think about just talking to the guy?"   "Flick, just do it ok?" snapped Garrick, and all the humanity drained out of Flick's voice as she responded.   "Fetching records."   And now I've got to deal with a pissed-off AI. This day is going from bad to worse.   ---   "This guy's kind of a badass," said Garrick, flicking through the holographic records hovering in the air in front of him in Felicity's console room, "Ex-PsiOps, that's the blackest of ops. His rep seems to be pretty solid, good feedback from ICARUS personnel. A few instances of partners dying, but who hasn't had that happen?"   "Wouldn't your time be better spent working out how to track down this...'Leech', rather than the guy you're supposed to be working with?" asked Flick, still a little grumpy from their earlier interaction.   "There'll be time for that on the way to Elrich. I'd like to get a handle on this guy while I can..."   He was interrupted by a short, sharp alarm blaring out throughout the ship.   "Registered Bounty Hunter Xionis Vasimo Zulas, ID number 64977-xxv approaching," said Flick, the holographic representation of her on the ship's dash adding a sarcastic smile to the message. Garrick rolled his eyes and waved his hand to shut down Xionis' records, even though he was sure Xionis had done the same to him. He punched the cargo bay release button on the console and headed out of the back of the ship to meet Xionis.   "Welcome to Felicity!" Garrick exclaimed with his arms oustretched, "Let's go get us a Body Snatcher!"   "My ship has superior weapons capabilities," sneered Xionis as he walked past Garrick up the boarding ramp and into the console room, "And this ship is oversized for a five-man vessel."    
"Yeah, this is gonna be fun," sighed Garrick, following the Advent Bounty Hunter into the bowels of the ship.

[font=georgia,serif]Brilliant! I'm always glad to have the opportunity to work with you, mate. I updated the backstage with the info you provided about your city and gang, both of which I'm looking forward to learning more about (I do love a good mystery). Darth Malgus should have his sign-up later today, so let's keep this train rolling folks![/font]

[center][font=georgia, serif]Sounds fun, I'm game![/font]

[b]Name: [/b][font=georgia,serif]Unknown[/font]
[b]Codename: [/b][font=georgia,serif]Maine[/font]
[font=georgia,serif][b]Age: [/b][/font][font=georgia, serif]Unknown, appears to be in his mid-thirties[/font]
[font=georgia, serif][b]Gender: [/b][/font][font=georgia, serif]Male[/font]
[font=georgia, serif][b]Appearance: [/b]Maine stands at just over 6 feet tall, and cuts an athletic figure, muscular but not too bulky. His sandy-brown hair is short and tufty, the shortage of clean, fresh water making it difficult to wash regularly, and a short beard covers the lower portion of his face. His eyes are icy-blue and unforgiving, and he bears a number of small scars from previous encounters across his face.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif]He tends to wear a dark brown leather jacket, made lighter in places by years of fading and a thin coating of dust which refuses to shift regardless of how many times he attempts to clean it; and dark combat trousers with a number of pockets stuffed with anything useful for survival or trade. Underneath his jacket he wears a lightweight flak-jacket, sturdy enough to resist small-arms fire and knife-blades, and a tattered red bandana around his neck. Black fingerless gloves on his hands and scuffed black steel-toed boots on his feet complete his ensemble, but the most important thing he wears is his backpack.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif]In his tattered black backpack is everything he needs to survive: a respirator mask for occasions where he is required to go somewhere where air is scarce and goggles for dusty or smoky areas; a large metal canteen which he fills up at every given opportunity; a small rifle-scope for scouting out safe locations; a pop-up tent and a small refillable gas burner and much more. He has also rigged a couple of straps which hold his knives in place underneath his backpack, placed for easy reach in combat situations.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif][b]Personality: [/b]Maine is all business, even though his chosen business isn't particularly pleasant. He seems, to the outside observer, to go about his profession with grim determination, although in reality he is just fully focused on the task set out before him. This can make him seem cold and distant, and in many ways he is, but this is more due to the fact that he doesn't trust people easily than any innate dysfunction. Nonetheless, it is difficult to make him angry, as anger implies that he cares about the situations he finds himself in, and thus he does appear to be largely calm throughout his missions.[/font]

[b][font=georgia,serif]Power:[/font] [/b][font=georgia, serif]Maine has the ability to see a few moments ahead within his own timeline at will: not far enough to predict major events, but enough to make him a preternaturally skilled fighter. He can see where a punch is going to land in time to block or dodge it, he can see where to aim a projectile to inflict the most damage, and he can see the trajectory of his own movements, allowing him to display incredible agility and reflexes. Combined with an increase in his relative strength and speed, he is close to unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat. However, due to the unpredictability of the abilities of other Ascended and Augs, he often has some difficulty fighting them.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif][b]Gang: [/b]Whilst Maine has no current affiliation, he was at one time part of a loose-knit gang known as the Freelancers, and it is from them that he received the majority of his combat training. At present, he considers himself a drifter, taking the occasional piece of mercenary work in return for water and food, but always heading to a singular destination.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif][b]Weapons: [/b]As previously stated, Maine prefers to fight hand-to-hand, and likes to improvise when it comes to weaponry, using whatever is to hand to injure his opponents. His style of combat is based around inflicting as much damage in as short a time as possible, so his blows are quick and well-aimed, usually at joints and the weaker parts of the human body. His training with the Freelancers has also given him a certain proficiency with a number of ranged weapons, but as ammo is hard to come by he prefers not to rely on them. The only weapons he actually carries on him are a pair of long-bladed knives which he carries on his back, below his backpack.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif][b]City: [/b]As a drifter, Maine prefers not to reveal his city of origin, and he moves around a lot. But he seems singularly obsessed with a city called Valhalla, situated in the north, and it would seem that this is his ultimate destination.[/font]

[font=georgia, serif][i]Hope this all looks good, let me know if I need to change anything![/i][/font][/center]

[center][img]http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k528/PhilBoothman/gallery_447_1.jpg[/img][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif][i]Your past holds the secret to our future...[/i][/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]In the year 3082, the nation of [b]Argyll[/b] was a prosperous, peaceful land populated by happy citizens and ruled by a benevolent monarchy. Clean, renewable energy powers the nation, disease and pestilence had been eliminated by advances in medical science, and poverty was almost non-existent.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]In short, people were happy.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]But come the dawn of the 32nd Century, things began to change. People started getting abducted from the streets and their homes, disappearing without a trace; [b]the Citadel[/b], an enormous and supposedly-abandoned building in the centre of [b]Argyll City[/b] becomes a hive of mysterious activity; and highly advanced new weapons began appearing on the streets with terrifying destructive power.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]Within a few short years, the world had become a far darker place.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]Finally, in the year 3109, the cause of this change made itself known. A race known only as the [b]Beholders[/b] revealed themselves to have infiltrated every single aspect of human society over the past three millennia, acting as passive, peaceful observers. But after so long spent merely watching the human race, the Beholders finally decided that they deserved more.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]They began to take control, and before long they had deposed the monarchy and established their own totalitarian government, ruling over humanity with an iron fist. As the human resistance soon discovered, the Beholders were beings of great power, unmatched by any normal human strength, and for every one Beholder killed, forty humans were killed. It was not long before the resistance faded, and only a select few still championed the cause.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]But there is still hope. There was an [b]organisation[/b], known by many names throughout history but now forgotten, dedicated to fighting the influence of the Beholders: a war in the shadows, neither side making themselves known to the wider world. By the end of the 30th Century, this organisation was all but wiped out by the Beholders. But a handful of descendants of the organisationâ??s members survive to this day, the ability to fight the Beholders laying dormant in their DNA.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]Until now.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]A mysterious man, known only as [b]Washington[/b], has spent his life attempting to find these individuals, and now his research is finally coming to fruition. He has worked long and hard, and he finally believes he has found them, scattered across Argyll but brought together to face their spiritual and biological destiny.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]They are humanityâ??s only hope.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]---[/font][/size][/center]
[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]Welcome to an epic, ambitious and as-yet untitled new RP (suggestions on the title would be helpful, Iâ??m pretty much drawing a blank). The above description gives some detail as to the world in which we will be playing, but itâ??s not quite as simple as that. This RP will span millennia, and the lives of dozens of characters throughout that time, in the quest to rid the land of Argyll from the tyranny of the Beholders.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]The initial setting will be the present-day (the year 3115) Argyll, and in terms of tone weâ??re looking at a distinctly neo-noir quality to proceedings: grimy surroundings, heavy rain, darkness and neon, all adding to the oppressive, dystopian nature of the Beholdersâ?? rule. Iâ??ll get into more detail as I see interest, but this is a general idea of the kind of thing weâ??ll be looking at.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]As you may well have guessed, our characters will be the descendants of members of the organisation dedicated to fighting the Beholders. However, every player will also be writing for four other characters, namely the ancestors of their â??coreâ?? characters, as we traverse the ages: the mechanics of this will be revealed in the beginning of the RP proper, but the basic information youâ??ll need is that for every new chapter, or â??Eraâ?? of the story, you will be required to create a bespoke character for that particular time period, with some similarities to your core character but also a number of differences. Ideally, Iâ??d hope that every character we create gets a roughly equal amount of play-time, with the core characters probably getting slightly more than the ancestors.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]As for the different Eras, the style of them is up for discussion amongst those involved. Due to the fact that Argyll, the world in which this RP is set, can be considered a â??parallelâ?? universe to our own, we can play around with the history of the world: for example, the early Era could be a skewed version of the Roman Empire, while for the late 19th-early 20th Centuries we could even fit in some steampunk as an altered version of Victorian times.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]In terms of plot, I have an idea of the basic structure as well as some gnarly plot twists to throw in at various points throughout the narrative, and Iâ??m interested in maintaining a fairly high level of mystery and uncertainty to the plot. Essentially, while defeating the Beholders is the main plot, the characters discovering what is really going on, and what exactly Washington is up to will be a secondary, but similarly important plot strand.[/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]Itâ??s likely to take a fair amount of work from everyone involved to build both numerous characters and numerous worlds, but I believe if we invest a little time and effort into this RP, it could be really rewarding. If and when this RP comes to fruition, bear in mind that I am more likely to take people on board who have offered assistance in character- and world-building, so at the very least give it a shot![/font][/size][/center]

[center][size=4][font=georgia,serif]You can use this thread to register interest, give feedback and raise any enquiries you may have about the RP. Iâ??m looking forward to hearing your input![/font][/size][/center]