An Ol' Man's Memory: Katarn Dragonbourne RP

[Mr.Fabulous]

"... Yo'n wanderings of crusade..."


"... Echoes in the shadow of the One..."


"... Destiny... Fickleness... Change..."


"... A path with many ways..."


"... Mind... Body... Soul... Spirit..."


"... Many ways be the same path..."


"... Disappointment... Hope... A new way..."


"... A new way... Through the same path..."

... 34 minutes later...

... Once again the Logos traveled through the Amarus Cloud of the Omicron Theta system... The black asteroids seemed to feel common to the old veteran now, and the microorganisms around the ship welcomed him back with a buzz. The Cruise Engines of the Logos were roaring mildly, unaided from overpowering, and were not in any way affecting the ship no longer in terms of stress. The shield array still fizzed on occasion from the momentary fragment interrupting the otherwise-desolate nebula...


Katarn opened his eyes to find that the Telemetric Console was flashing with new data. He stood up and went towards the computers to see what all the fuss was about...

... A... a planet...? But... that be---


But curiosity got the better of him, and soon he stopped the ship to identify it. He went to deactivate the cruise engines, then diverted power to scanners to increase the potential range (which was small as it was in the cloud)...


Apparently, Katarn wasn't the first one to have been here: a small satellite was orbiting this very planet, gathering data and taking tests, then sending off these scans back to some unknown location in the system... From the readings the satellite was transmitting the old veteran noted that the planet was called Vespus, a water planet with a location unfit for terraforming, and therefore abandoned save for the satellite...


Katarn was just about to leave when he suddenly got another reading from his scanners: another object, this time of relative largeness, was orbiting the planet. The old man, seeing this as something curiosity should have more, angled the ship towards the unknown object...


... It was what he feared the most...

... Could it be...? ... The ghost ship...? His senses of danger once again came back, and almost immediately he responded, "COMPUTER!!! FULL POWER TE SHIELDS AN' WEAPONS NOW!!!" Quickly the turrets came online and were starting to get overcharged with power, while the shields just got a lot thicker and beefier. Expecting the strange ship to attack at any moment he went on the defensive of the upcoming battle, since he was at a disadvantage with not only a smaller gunmount count, but the ghost ship was rumored to have taken out several Corsair wings...


... and Corsair wings are pretty tough to kill...


Katarn prepared himself for the inevitable battle he was expecting: his reflexes and coordination returned to normal; his eyesight became sharper, his eyes narrowed down in anticipation and anxiety; his grin now going devilishly-wide in the danger he got himself into; his face was growing flustered with excitement and thrill; and his body was starting to go itchy from the expectation of the first move...


... The only problem was... it didn't do anything...


Suffice to say the prison liner was seemingly inactive: its engines were offline; the windows were all dark and turned off; the turrets didn't move towards the Logos in preparation for the offensive; there were no lights shining about it, as if the ship was in a deep sleep; and the ship's captain didn't hail back either; in all intents and purposes it truly was a ghost ship, its inhabitants possibly either gone, or in cryobays in deep sleep...


Katarn decided to wait for at least 30 more minutes to see if the ghost ship would react... And still no response... ... Mmmmhmmmm... This be a good chance.... Better board it an' see if there be anyone around... He clicked the Navigations Console of the Logos to get a little closer towards the nearest Mooring Port, and went towards the Engineering Console to activate the docking procedure... In just a few minutes the Logos was safely connected to the Liner.


The Prison liner, on skin-deep inspection, looked old... very, VERY old... it seemed like it preceded him in terms of wear-and-tear by more than twice his age: several parts of paint have already come off long ago; there was rust and roughness everywhere he looked, all of them like craters now; the windows were mirky and dusty to the point of almost being opaque; the engines were of an old model of almost a century ago, their integrity just bordering in betweeen spaceworthiness, and in need of a total refit; the turrets were Transport Type-2's, which further proved it WAS the ghost ship of legend; the strangest part was that Katarn could've sworn that shining blue lines were running all across the ship when he first caught a glimpse of it, but have now disappeared altogether.


The old veteran, not knowing what the name of the ship was, looked around the viewing window of his bridge to see if there was any sign of a christened name welded into the hull of the liner. Soon he thought he found something close to it: there was a phrase somewhere to the fore end of the liner; some the letters seemed to have faded off from rusting, but parts of it were readable nonetheless.

OR--- O- CIN--------

... Hmmm... Or... Oh... Cin...


... Orocin [color=#FFFFFF](Or-o-kin), eh? The ship's maiden name be Orocin...? That be a weird name...


... But fer a reputation fer bein a ghost ship, it be a fine idea te have a strange name, fer a strange ship...


He stepped into the doors of the Mooring Port... and into the Orocin...


It was just as the old veteran predicted... From the outside the ship looked old, but on the inside it looked ancient: dust and cobwebs lined the walls, corners and even floors of the ship like barricades of soot and silk; the power seemed to be off, for Katarn couldn't activate the lights when he tried several times to flick the switches on; it looked as if it used to be a well-structured vessel, for if the grime and ash were taken off it would seem the furniture, instruments and other stuff were organized and kept in order before it was abandoned long ago.


The lay-out of the Prison Liner wasn't of a simple make of prison cells and what-not that would house prisoners for a short trip to the nearest prison station... no... The lay-out of THIS Prison Liner was almost entirely different: sure there was a brig aboard, but it was dwarfed by the many other facilities that occupied the space of the ship: it seemed it was designed to be self-sufficient, for there were numerous bays that allowed for long trip into outer space.


There were "comfortable" Sleeping Quarters, Hydroponics Bays, Medical Bays, R&D Bays filled with all sorts of instruments that seemed high-tech in its time but were now obsolete in this century, a large Resto-bar with many old drinks, tables and chairs lined up "neatly", an Entertainment Facility that even had its own large court for large games, a warehouse-worthy Storage Facility, anything you could possibly think of to insure that the crew of this ship and other inhabitants were comfortable for the days they would spend in this place... If Katarn didn't know any better this place would be considered as either a small Luxury Liner, or that Zoners used to live here and traveled the edge of the galaxy in this capital ship: a small, mobile Freeport, in a sense...


But Katarn didn't have much time to go sight-seeing around the place: he looked around to find for any trace of the crew.


All of a sudden the old veteran could've sworn he heard the Logos detach from the Mooring Port... He went to go back to the Mooring Port, and sure enough the door to the port was closed, and the Logos WAS floating in space...


... Next... the unthinkable happened...


In an instant, the Orocin's turrets came alive, and Katarn could only watch in horror as the Prison Liner fired at his ship until it was blown up to smithereens...


... Now... The old man was trapped... in the ancient ship...


In a rage he searched again all around the ship to see who was responsible for doing such a low-blow act: he checked the Sleeping Quarters, the Bridge, the Cryobays...


... Nothing... It was totally empty of anyone save himself...


Thinking his luck couldn't go any lower, he stooped down to the dusty floor and, as tears started to stream down his eyes, he wept loudly to himself at the prospect that he was going to spend the rest of his days in an ancient ship without any chance for outside contact or aid... His willpower was starting to fail him... His resolve was slowly losing him... He made a promise to her, to never give up, to never surrender from any and all opposition... and now, under the present circumstances he had no control over, he was going to fail that promise to his friend...


All he could do was await his...


... Huh... ?


His despair was momentarily interrupted when he noticed that a light above him was flickering to life... The power was being restored... Slowly, the whole ship began to light up and come alive by itself, and the next thing he knew the ship was now fully operational.


... But... That be not right... How... How be this possible...?


... There be nobody else aboard... How could...


His thoughts were interrupted when it was the intercom's turn to come to life. At first it was buzzing with static... But an invisible hand was slowly adjusting its frequency until suddenly... He heard a woman's voice from the comms... The voice of the monotonic computer similar to his own ship's on-board computer...


But somehow... it seemed... different...

~~~WELCOME ABOARD THE TB-NARS-98, CAPTAIN~~~

... Eh...? Katarn started to scratch his head in wonderment at the sudden and surprise greeting, "Er... Hello...?"

~~~GREETINGS. PLEASE DESIGNATE YOUR IDENTIFICATION, CAPTAIN~~~

"Erhm... Uh... Katarn Dragonbourne...?"


The voice paused for a minute and was replaced with some beeping noises on the other side... After a minute of anxious waiting, the voice once again repeated:

~~~AUDIO-VOICE RECOGNITION INTO SYSTEMS DATABASE COMPLETE~~~


~~~AUDIO-VOICE ADJUSTMENT INTO COMMUNICATIONS DATABASE COMPLETE~~~


~~~WELCOME ABOARD THE TB-NARS-98, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE~~~

Katarn was dumbstruck at the on-board computer trying to strike a conversation with him! After thinking for several minutes, the old veteran concluded that the computer was no ordinary AI: in fact, this could be the very first models of the advanced AI of the older years, still alive and kicking, and now communicating with him!


He cleared his throat, trying to make himself appear formal, "... Ehm... I be not yer captain, ship... What makes ye say I be captain?"

~~~ON-BOARD SCANS SHOW ONLY 1 HUMANOID LIFEFORM ABOARD THIS VESSEL. LOGIC DICTATES THE FIRST HUMANOID ABOARD BE CONSIDERED CAPTAIN TO ASSUME STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION IN COMMAND STRUCTURE DATABASE~~~

"Ehrm... sooo... that be meanin I be the only one aboard this ship, see?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE~~~


~~~WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT ORDERS FOR THIS UNIT TO COMPLY?~~~

The old veteran thought for a moment: then he suddenly remembered the part on his ship "exploding into smithereens"... A bit of hatred in his voice he replies, "... What be yer reason fer destroyin ma ship moored in yer Port, eh?"

~~~CAPTAINS SHOULD ONLY HOLD ONE SHIP IN THEIR ROSTERS, NOT TWO. FURTHER SCANS SHOW PREVIOUS SHIP TO BE UNABLE TO OPERATE IN OPTIMUM CONDITIONS UNDER ONLY ONE CREWMEMBER, THEREFORE BEING CUMBERSOME AND INEFFICIENT TO PILOT~~~

"Your logic be worse! How am I be able te command such a large... Prison Liner, o' all things, with only meself?!"

~~~THIS VESSEL IS EQUIPPED WITH THE MOST STATE-OF-THE-ART ON-BOARD AI KNOWN TO SCIENCE. THIS VESSEL IS ENTIRELY ABLE TO BE COMMANDED BY ONE CAPTAIN, AND ONE CAPTAIN ALONE. THE ON-BOARD AI IS FULLY CAPABLE OF HANDLING ALL OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS ABOARD THE VESSEL, FROM NAVIGATION TO POWER ALLOCATION TO REPAIR JOBS VIA ON-BOARD NANOBOTS AND MARCO-ROBOTS UNDER THE CAPTAIN'S COMMAND~~~

Katarn raises an eyebrow at the computer's reply, "... If ye say ye are fully capable o' handlin yerself all fine an' dandy, then why be needin a captain in the first place? And besides that, where might be the previous captain, and his o' her other crew anyway?"

~~~LAST CAPTAIN'S LOGS SHOW DECEASED-STATUS CIRCA:782 A.S. FROM NATURAL CAUSES. OTHER HUMANOIDS LEFT VESSEL WHEN CAPTAIN PERISHED DUE TO MENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS FROM DEATH OF CAPTAIN~~~


~~~THIS VESSEL IS NOT FULLY AUTONOMOUS AND REQUIRES A HUMANOID CAPTAIN TO COMMAND AND HELP FULFILL ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF VESSEL~~~

Katarn's eyes sparked interest when the word "purpose" was said to the computer: he remembered the stories where the Corsair Pilots suddenly disappeared from the occurrence of the ghost ship, "Ship! Are ye be responsible fer the destruction o' several Corsair Pilots in yer un-commanded time preceding meself?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE. DATABASE SHOWS INTENT OF CONTACTS PROVED TO BE AGGRESSIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE, USING EXPLOSIVES AND BRUTE FORCE TO BOARD VESSEL. VESSEL WAS IN ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES READY TO ALLOW CONTACTS INSIDE, BUT CONTACTS WISHED FOR MORE UNORTHODOX METHODS. THIS VESSEL IS DESIGNED TO ENSURE IT'S SURVIVAL AND INTEGRITY TO BE LEFT INTACT. SHOWING PROOF OF ACTIONS THROUGH VIDEO FEED IN 3 SECONDS~~~

Suddenly a viewing monitor behind the old veteran comes alive. He watches as the monitor shows the Corsairs DID in fact only hailed once and, when there was no reply due to a missing captain at the time, then tried to use explosives rather than safe docking to get into the ship, for fear they might be setting up a trap. ... Well... That be provin some thin's... He snickered to himself as he watched.


When the video feeds were done he turns back to the intercom and asks, "... So... Ye say ye have no captain te fulfill yer purpose...


"What be that purpose, exactly...?"

~~~THE PURPOSE OF THIS VESSEL IS SEARCH AND RESCUE OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITH NEOPHYTE ORIGIN TO ENSURE THE SURVIVABILITY, STABILITY, STRUCTURE AND PROGRESS OF THE NEOPHYTE ORGANIZATION~~~

Katarn's eye raised once again at the mention of this "Neophyte", "Computer... What be these Neophytes ye be talkin bout?"

~~~ERROR: DATA REGARDING NEOPHYTE INFORMATION CORRUPTED AND/OR UNAVAILABLE~~~


~~~HOWEVER: SCANS ON CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY HAVE CONFIRMED THAT SAID CAPTAIN IS OF NEOPHYTE ORIGIN. PURPOSE STATES THAT CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE IS TO REMAIN ON VESSEL TO ENSURE THE SURVIVABILITY, STABILITY, STRUCTURE AND PROGRESS OF NEOPHYTE ORGANIZATION~~~

The old veteran was surprised that he was somehow connected to these "Neophytes", "Computer. What be yer proof as te why I be connected te these so-called Neophytes?"

~~~ERROR: DATA REGARDING NEOPHYTE JUSTIFICATION CORRUPTED AND/OR UNAVAILABLE~~~

"... Oooookaaaaaay... That be... veeery helpful... pfah..." Katarn rolls his eyes in sarcasm at yet another road-block on his quest to know more about his past.


Speaking of his past... The old man suddenly remembered the one thing why he was doing all of this in the first place, "COMPUTER! HAVE YE BY ANY CHANCE COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE RIO DELA MARIA, AND ITS PILOT?!"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE. VESSEL HAS COME INTO CONTACT WITH CORSAIR DECURION SERIAL NUMBER 675-453325-709. VESSEL HAS SHOWN HOSTILE INTENT, BUT SHOW NO SIGNS OF BOARDING ATTEMPTS. THIS VESSEL HAS ADOPTED SHADOWING MODE UNTIL VESSEL RIO DELA MARIA DISENGAGED FROM FIGHT AND LEFT~~~

"What be the last known destination ye have on the Rio dela Maria, ship?!"

~~~TELEMETRIC SCANS FROM SHADOW MODE HAVE YIELDED RIO DELA MARIA HEADING TOWARDS THE BRETONIAN SYSTEMS~~~

... Clare?! Ye be headin towards Bretonia, o' all places?!...


"How long ago be this data ye have on the Rio dela Maria, ship?"

~~~UNFORTUNATELY, SCANS SHOW THAT DATA REGARDING THE RIO DELA MARIA IS 45 DAYS, 2 MONTHS AND 14 YEARS OLD. ACCURACY OF CURRENT LOCATION IS SLIM AT BEST~~~

Katarn couldn't believe his ears: he thought he was so close to finding Clare Campeche, only to find his information be decades old... He slammed the wall right next to him angrily, tears streaming down his eyes...

~~~SCANS SHOW CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE IS SUFFERING FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AT HIS LACK OF INFORMATION REGARDING THE RIO DELA MARIA AND ITS PILOT CLARE CAMPECHE~~~


~~~THIS VESSEL IS DESIGNED TO ENSURE THE WELL-BEING OF EVERY INHABITANT LIVING HERE. THIS VESSEL WILL AID IN YOUR RECUPERATION BY DOING ALL IT CAN TO ENSURE THE SEARCH AND RESCUE OF PILOT CLARE CAMPECHE WITH ALL OF ITS AVAILABLE RESOURCES AT ITS DISPOSAL, ALONGSIDE ITS MAIN PURPOSE~~~

NOW he thought he was going mad! Could it be that the ship was proposing that it aid him in his search for his friend Clare Campeche just because it wanted him to feel better? "... Y... You... You'd do that...? Fer me...?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE. VESSEL SUGGESTS YOU START YOUR SEARCH IN THE BRETONIAN SYSTEMS TO FIND ANY DATA REGARDING THE RIO DELA MARIA AND ITS PILOT CLARE CAMPECHE. RECORDS INDICATE THAT IT IS 0.04% POSSIBLE THAT THE DESTINATION IS THE BRETONIAN BATTLESHIP CHRISTENED AS THE HOOD IN THE DUBLIN SYSTEMS JUDGING BY FREQUENCY OF VISITS~~~


~~~WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT ORDERS, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE?~~~

Katarn couldn't believe his ears once again: the ship even ADVISED him of a location to start his search on his friend...


The old veteran wiped away his tears and said, "Ehrm... Alright then... Uhm...


"... Me next orders, as ye have said, be te head towards Battleship Hood in the Dublin systems te start me search fer Clare Campeche. Is that be understood?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE. PROCEEDING TO CHART A COURSE TOWARDS SAID SYSTEM~~~

All of a sudden, the Prison Liner's engines were coming alive, and soon it was heading off towards its intended destination. The old veteran was torn between total disbelief from what had just transpired, shock of finding out the sentience of the ship, happiness at the new hope he had for finding his friend, and excitement from realizing he was just appointed the captain of a new ship, albeit losing his own. The veteran eventually decided to choose the third, and went towards the bridge of the ship to identify what he had.

---------------------------------------------------------

When he arrived at the bridge of the vessel he was amazed at its design: it was squarish in area, and there were actually two floors where it was separated by a transparent glass floor, a large elevator smack-dab in the center of the Bridge being the only way to go from one deck to the other. Each floor had its own windows to view the outside, a full 360-degree angle around them.


The bottom deck was where it was supposed to house the management of the Engineering Consoles and internal systems of the entire vessel: to the front view was where the general status of the ship was outlined in real-time holographic displays, like Hull Integrity, Shield Integrity and others; to the left side was where it controlled the fore section of the ship's security, primary lights, current status of the bays it held, and other things like plumbing; to the right was the same as the former, but it took care of the aft section; to the back of the bottom deck was where the management of power and engines was supposed to take place.


On the top deck was where the external systems like Turret and Weapons Control, Navigations and Course Correction Consoles,Scanners, Communications Array and others: The front was where the helm was at, and where the ship's piloting would normally take place; to the left was where the Navigations and Plotting of course, as well as Scanner Analyzation, was located; to the right was the Communications Console, where there were frequency adjusters, signal transmitters and other commands; to the very back was where the weapons were commanded over.


Near the center of the top-deck was the Captain's chair, which was just behind the elevator. Its large, foreboding size made sure that anyone who sat on this chair was to be highly respected and commended.


After Katarn looked around a bit of the bridge to get a feel for the place, he went towards the Captain's chair and sat down comfortably on it.

~~~PLEASE MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE HERE IN THE TB-NARS-98, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE~~~

"Ehm... I be havin two thins I be likin te change... The name be complicated... Does this vessel be havin a christened name?"

~~~ERROR: DATA REGARDING HISTORICAL FILES CORRUPTED AND/OR UNAVAILABLE~~~

"I'll be takin that as a no...


"Therefore, this vessel be called... Orocin, from now on, see?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE, CAPTAIN KATARN DRAGONBOURNE. THIS VESSEL IS NOW HEREBY UNDER THE NEW DESIGNATION OF OROCIN FROM CIRCA: 818 A.S UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE~~~

Katarn shivered a bit, "Ehm... Computer... Ye be only be needin te be callin me Katarn... It be too formal fer the likes o' me te be called captain, fer I am a man o' simple tastes, see...


"Also, from now on, computer, I be callin ye... hmmm... Elizabeth, fer helpin me feel a bit more at home here in the Orocin, see?"

~~~AFFIRMATIVE KATARN~~~

Soon, it felt high time that the old veteran should take some shut-eye... but seeing as how the sleeping quarters were a bit of a distance away, and that he wasn't in the mood to walk for now, he decided to just doze off on the Captain's chair...


... Clare... I be a'comin , lassy... Me promise be still strong in me heart...


The ship continued on with its present course... towards Battleship Hood... The Amarus Cloud's black asteroids whizzing by at the ship's cruise speed, the green gas still showing an atmosphere of desolation and loneliness...

.....END OF CHAPTER 1.....

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