As of the year 6072, Tharian Emperor Dominus took charge of Haylor (or "Base 3") and in so doing, got enough of an upper hand on the rulers of the other planets in the same system (Known as the Eternity Lords). Rather than go to war with them, Dominus offered a shared rulership where the Eternity Lords still had all the power they had prior, but Dominus would have final say on matters he deemed especially important. Although that is an oversimplification of the Eternity Pact, it was clear from then on that Dominus was in charge of the Eternity System. And although he ruled the one system just as Sarah Anselmo ruled the Merchant System (more popularly known as the Neo System), Dominus was considered the most dangerous man in the star cluster and would soon become both feared and hated by everyone across the star cluster.

However, evil though Dominus was, he had many who were quite loyal to his cause. The loyalty was not blind, either. Dominus had plans that he believed would bring a lasting peace to the star cluster and begin further exploration of the galaxy. He had powerful people under his command, certainly, but the ones who got the most first-hand experience to Dominus's plans were actually his blackops team. Elite individuals who had been hand picked by Dominus himself to perform tasks that would shake the very foundations of all the civilizations in the star cluster. This team was called "The Galaxy Imperative" and was initially formed in 6074. Although the members of this team have changed, it is the team of '94 that we will be focusing on...

The current year is 6094 by the universal calendar. It is the middle of the year. You are a member of this elite team. What your specialty is is up to you. The only requirement is that you are really good at a particular thing while being competent at most things.

The team has been called to Dominus's secret meeting room. The room that is almost exclusively for The Galaxy Imperative.

OOC: Please introduce your characters. All of you have the same rank of "specialist" and it is up to you if you have been on this team longer than just now, but Angel Bard is a fresh member and will be introduced to your characters in the next post. If your character is brand new, you too will be "introduced" in the same way as Angel.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:02, Sat 02 Nov 2019.

At first Pyrus tried to act cool.  But that didn't last long.  Secret and exclusive though this may be, it is still a meeting room.  Not designed to be fun.  So he hacks into the big screen so he can play his latest favorite game, "Giant Bug Slaughter 5!" with a better display than what his portable computer has.  (Well... not better than his top-of-the-line wireless V.R. sunglasses, but it just wouldn't do to be wearing a fancy blindfold before a meeting in case something important like snacks were to show up.)

Rock thumbs means he had to order a Barakian-sized folding travel controller in order for it to both fit his hands and his pockets.  He used to have to make his hands smaller every time he gamed, but that just looked and felt too weird.  Soon enough he's racking up the carnage count.

"So I hear a rumor that we've got a premo solo agent joining our group.  Some super spy assassin daredevil thingy nobody's ever seen the real face of or whatever.  I'm worried that he's one of those 'Doesn't get along with others' types, and we're all going to have to adjust our style to match his, not the other way around."

  In spite of how on point Pyrus's comments could have been, Joe Zahenshmin's face is not permanently obscured by dramatic shadows in this setting (and he doesn't dress like a trenchcoat stereotype either).  Which means having to actually restrain his facial expressions for tasks such as-

  -Repair VR glasses after a giant dragon man headbutts something.
  -Patching up Thermal Cool Tactical Suit when people shoot at dragon man.
  -Ordering new beanbag chairs that can survive a dragon man as an item on a special elite team budget line.
  -Having to remember WHICH secret meeting room is in use today.  Because his redacted pirate resume is just lousy with projects where everyone wants their own secret meeting rooms. It's a good thing Base 3 is so big or they would run out of room from all the secret meeting rooms, wowie zowie.

  After a point, a habitually blank expression is just a time saver for the grey furred coyote.  "Pyrus, you are a 'primo solo agent', I'm a primo solo agent. Everyone who gets put into this team is always a primo solo agent."

OOC : If not for the fact it would probably melt both your computers, I would totally desire to play EDF5 with you guys for some top quality giant bug slaughter.

Pay no attention to that "Darkthorne" last name. I just don't have a GM tag here for fill in names.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:38, Sat 09 Nov 2019.

Angel enters the room. She's wearing a black cloak around herself, but the hood is down, so Pyrus and Joe can clearly see her face and the fact she's a half-blissian (or a blissian that decided to dye their fur black). She looks to be a teenager, probably mid-teens. Because of the cloak, it's impossible to tell what all she might have on her without some means of being able to see past a cloak.

She gives a sweet smile to Pyrus and Joe. "Well hello there. I'm Angel. Nice to meet you."

She keeps her eyes on the two, as if expecting them to introduce themselves.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Sat 09 Nov 2019.

Well gee, if Joe's done all that for Pyrus, he's likely his best friend in the whole Universe!

Pyrus smiles, blushing from being called premo.  "Aw shucks.  I'm just a big ole-"

Surprise Angel!  Talk about shattered expectations!  Instead of Dominus entering with some Darth Vader dude you can't see the face of, no Dominus and pretty bunny instead!

"Um..."

You have been devoured by a giant bug!

"Aw dangit!  Phoey!"

He stands and raises his arm to slam the controller down in frustration, but stops himself.  Not only is there a Blissian present, but he'd have to wait who knows how long for a replacement to be shipped to his apartment.  So instead he just sheepishly sets the controller down on the table.

"Um... Hi.  I'm Pyrus.  This is Joe, Larry*, and Moe.*"

A flood of questions start popping to mind, but Pyrus keeps them to himself for the moment, too embarrassed to say much for now.

*Placeholders for any other members of the team assuming Pyrus and Joe weren't the only members of this team.

  If only 'I did a bunch of assistant work for pirate mad scientists' had the sort of results Pyrus assumes more often. Then he would be one of the most popular people on Base 3. Instead, Joe was an efficient background extra shuffled from project to project until his name popped up on every list of 'who do we get to babysit the lava dude' requirements.

  At least Pyrus isn't an asshole, so that was one notable benefit to the job.  A low bar, but such is life working in the upper circles of a guy calling himself Dominus.

  "Hello, Angel. As he says, I am Joe." the lingering lack of questions also means not interrupting the urge for monologue, but that's always harder to gauge when appropriate.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Sun 10 Nov 2019.

Larry: 50 years old.
 - Lion
 - Explosives expert

Murphy (Moe): 34 years old.
 - Ferret
 - Grifter
 - Is one of those guys who just seems to mysteriously know when to do things.

Angel nods to the group and goes to have a seat before Dominus does finally enter.

Dominus: 53 years old.
 - Korshare Barrakian
 - Opportunist politician
 - War veteran
 - Has mecha wings attached which has often had people mistake him for a beefy Fou, much to his annoyance.

Dominus says, "Welcome, Galaxy Initiative. And as you see, you now have a new one in your ranks. I'll expect you all to get to know her on the way to your latest mission."

He brings up a holo display of Planet Morose* and then zooms in on a specific area. And then a specific building in some of the ruins. "I sent a forward team to this area and they have not reported back. They were not incompetent, but they also were not the Galaxy Initiative. Go there, retrieve what you can of the forward team, and retrieve what they were after; The Heart of Stone."

*Oft nicknamed Base 1 for reasons that have since been forgotten, Planet Morose is a barren world with ruins on it that hint at a civilization having once been there. But there are no records of the civilization. There is a superstition that when any of the planets in the Eternity System experience a solar eclipse via Morose, the Night Dreamers are about.


OOC Sidenote:
Depending on how long Joe or Pyrus have been on the team, they may be used to the idea that Dominus sometimes has to send them on missions in his own solar system despite technically owning it all. So for example, he has had them take missions on civilized planets in the Eternity System, such as Pirace, Tavern, Tharia, and Coal. I mention this because I almost had the mission take place on Pirace, but changed my mind for plot reasons.

Pyrus has been a member of the team for less than a year, but he's learned to heart each member.  Explosives are cool!  And so is tricking the badguys!  And Dominus is cool even if his wings are fake, poor guy.

No hugs.  Well that answers one of the many questions about Angel.

"Gosh.  Hope they're OK.  Heart of Stone?  Is it a heart-shaped ruby?  Or... we don't know what it is?"

  Officially (so far as Elite Pirate Team is official), Joe was brought on around the same time as Pyrus.

  Those who have paid attention to such patterns would have already noticed a long list of Successful Plot Gadgets used by the Galaxy Initiative, were unofficially (less any secrecy, more 'no credit for the help'... and ALSO secrecy') worked on by Joe long before he became directly involved with the missions.

  "The important thing is that Dominus wants it.  Knowing what it is always makes that task easier, of course."

Dominus says, "It looks like this" and gives a visual:
https://www.mediamatic.net/ima...84d61afea2a7e%29.jpg

Larry is still staring at the map of the location they are supposed to go to.

Dominus says, "There is a 24-hour time window. After that, any survival supplies the forward team took will run out. If there are no further questions, I'll be going to my next, more political meeting."

Like Larry and Murphy at the moment, Angel is silent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:01, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

Pyrus' eyes go wide upon seeing the Heart of Stone.  He knows he'd be sorely tempted to eat it if he found it.  But he'd hate to disappoint Dominus.  And questions about, "Is it dangerous?  (So I'm not as tempted to eat it,)" or whatever are always met with "If it were dangerous to eat I would have told you already," or "If it weren't dangerous, would I be sending the Galaxy Initiative?" so kinda too sheepish to ask those sorts of questions anymore.

"You got it, Dominus!  Good luck with the dumb politicians..."

Dominus is so brave!  Pyrus doesn't like being in the political hall even when there's no one else there.

"Let's go, team!"

  So either Dominus doesn't know and wants to sound cool, or thinks he'll sound cooler by withholding the information.  It is these parts of the job that make Joe almost miss paperwork.

  "I'm sure all information you require us to know will be available in transit, Dominus." Still, at least Pyrus didn't have to be told not to eat a precious artifact... Though the dragon might end up too polite and not bother Angel with obvious questions for him, at this rate.

Dominus nods and exits the room.

Larry, Murphy and Angel get up and head off for the docks where the Galaxy Initiative ship is. Dominus has given the Galaxy Initiative full reign with the craft; allowing them to do whatever they please with it. One might think the ship of some super spies might not look impressive lest they draw attention. But actually, this ship has an exterior that can project any color all along its hull so that for those missions where 'looking cool' would help blend better, it can do so with ease. Larry is explaining this on the way into the ship. "Murphy and Pyrus like it when we pretend to be a pirate ship because Murphy can put images of pretty ladies on the ship and Pyrus can have fire decorating the ship. I like when we act like a cargo ship because we attract pirates who we can defeat and take their stuff. Joe likes it when our missions go without any equipment taking damage, so keep that in mind."

Once inside the ship, Larry sets the ship on auto-pilot heading for Morose and says, "Alright, little girl. Dominus said we should get to know each other on the way, so since you're the newbie, you get to tell us about yourself first. Then Pyrus will share about himself. Then Joe. then Murphy. Then me."

Angel says, "My full name is Angel Melissa Bard. If you want to use a code-name for me, I like using my middle name for that. I'm a trick-shot, meaning I can hit whatever I'm aiming for; be it with a gun or a thrown object such as a dart or ball. I know a lot about guns, so I can tell you all about any capabilities our enemies armaments include as long as it is a firearm of some sort. I'm good at reading people, so I can be useful for detecting lies or figuring out motives. As I'm sure you all already know, I'm an assassin. So I have a skill set that reflects that. As for who I am on a personal level, you will have to find that out over time."

Larry nods, satisfied. Then looks at Pyrus.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Tue 12 Nov 2019.

Pyrus grins and nods to the comment about putting flames on the ship.  He listens curiously to Angel's self-description, trying to wrap his mind around a part Blissian person being anything Angel describes.  Oh well.  Never actually met a Blissian, so maybe a lot of what he's heard was exaggeration.  Or you just lose all the Blissian quirks when only one parent is Blissian.

"Um.  I'm a lava monster.  I'm tough and can pick up heavy things.  And I can do hacking and stuff.  And uh...  Oh yeah!  I can make really funny faces!"

Pyrus changes the shape of his head to be that of a horse.  "Reheheheherr!  I'm a horseless headman!"

( commando creepy horse mask: https://memeworld.funnyjunk.co...k_70ccc8_4453497.jpg )

  While Joe can hardly claim he won't mangle equipment if it means the team not dying, it's okay if he does it because what is the point of being a pirate if you can't be wildly hypocritical?

  "While 'mysterious ancient artifacts' are not the usual, I'm mostly kept around to get things working for people that don't have time to remember how every one of a kind devices or project turns on." Which is often interrupted by 'get him! he's the weak ner-AAAARGH!' , the nerve of some people.

Angel widens her eyes at Pyrus shapeshifting, looking rather unprepared for that, and then giggles. "Wow... that's... impressive."

She then nods to Joe as he intros himself.

Murphy says, "In a way, I'm kinda my namesake. If something bad can happen to anyone, I almost seem to 'sense' it and know exactly how and when to make bad things happen to people. I'm also what they call a 'grifter', which is someone who swindles people."

Angel slowly nods with a frown that says "OK cool."

Larry says, "I'm an explosives guy. Our team technically doesn't have a leader besides Dominus. We're expected to work out among ourselves who leads if anyone. I naturally took the role because I've been on this team longer than the rest present and because I have a bit of an alpha personality. But if you feel leading is your thing, be sure to show us what you got without failing and I'll be fine obeying your orders. Until then, or until I die, I'm in charge."

Angel nods and says, "Feels kinda ragtag. Like maybe the person I'm replacing, if I'm replacing anyone, didn't have the same skillset as I do."

Larry says, "You're correct. This group has been as small as three members and as large as seven. We only gain team members when Dominus finds someone he thinks would be an asset to our team. Despite our elite status... or maybe because of the nature of it... we're a bit laid back. As long as you are capable, you are free to do whatever you want."

Is it really wildly hypocritical for a fix-it guy to prefer survival over things breaking?  Pyrus would argue if that's hypocrisy, then being a hypocrite is very sensible.

"I get the feeling like this is one of those that we don't want to activate," Pyrus answers, "Could be wrong, though.  Could be that it generates an endless supply of rock candy."

Yay!  Pyrus got bunny giggles!  AND a compliment!  Better be careful not to overdo the gag or it won't be funny anymore.  So his face returns to normal.

"Yeah I really like it on this team.  Exciting stuff to do and great folks to look out for me.  Don't have to squabble over spoils like pirates do.  Don't have to go to a boring job like most everyone else does.

"Not interested in being anyone's boss, though.  Never understood why anyone would be.  I like Dominus and all, but he's nuts to willingly take on all that responsibility.  He and Larry make it look cool, but it's soo not for me."

  Joe has been working under the logic of 'If the explosives guy wants to lead, that means the bombs are in front of me instead of behind me'.

  "It doesn't really fit the PR packet to say 'Dominus picks what he thought sounded cool'.  Officially, all members assigned are here for carefully considered reasons."