Take a Trip with PCP : Touch of Sci Fi comes to Empire of the Dead

These are the voyages of Starship Drowsy Wombat.  Well, that isn't the actual name of the ship, but there are no direct translations into English, and the imagery certainly looses something in the translation... but trust me, it's a pretty slick and stirring name in native Vel.  That aside, these are their voyages.  A half-goun mission of exploration, to seek out new and strange life forms, and see if they might be nice neighbors, or not.. you never can tell, especially out in the boonies like where they are now. To recklessly wander and hope for the best, in the name of the Pan-galactic Confederation of Planets and offer non-binding membership contracts.

Oh things didn't go at all well with the Centaurans.  Right beastly.  Smart enough mind you, but without an ounce of desire to pursue it... no clothes, no building anything that lasts, not even an appreciation for record keeping in triplicate.  The crew could not have gotten out of there fast enough!  Pushing further out, the next stop is a promising yellow star, nice and cozy... have you noticed how any peoples from blue stars are simply unfriendly? I'm just saying... well anyway, right away they could see that the mostly-water planet had the most potential, and sure enough even from low orbit it was easy to see that some areas had the thick oily smoke that showed an appreciation and propensity for needless productivity: very good sign indeed!  Where it was the thickest was a medium sized island off to one side of the longest landmass, rather near the north, shaped like a sticky-sweet. 

Technology levels did appear rather low, but science officer Zyoop did find trace readings of energies that suggested trans-reality tapping.  Most curious!  Perhaps things were more advanced down there than it appeared!  Following the PCP code of contact, when first encountering an unknown and possibly hostile environment, the Captain, first officer, lead science officer and anyone else aboard with any significance should go down and explore. And so this is what they did, much to the annoyance of first officer Bvill, who was supposed to be on vacation! One way or another, he was determined to find a spot for a bit of holiday.  

He didn't know it at the time, but no one in 1888 went to London on holiday, even if the last place they'd been was Alpha Centauri.  And that is saying something.  

And while we're on the subject of desirability... Oh sure, everyone thinks aliens are hot for their women...

But really, humans are just not that attractive.  Maybe to their own species, but most of the galaxy is just not that interested.  Truth be told, in most of these cases, it's the primitive natives who come throwing themselves on the visitors with strange requests about 'probes'.

Not that the PCP would prohibit such activities: 

what two members of sentient species agree upon is their own affair after all

So let's meet our brave heroes! 

Captain Vok: Brave, loyal, with overconfident self-importance that is the mark of a great leader. 

First Officer Bvill : "I'm supposed to be on vacation drammit!"

Science Officer Vyoop: Brilliant mind.  Has a tendency to send out eruptions of hyper-static electricity when flummoxed.. often when Bvrill is around. She, He, It (?) seems to have a secret crush on Bvill: secret meaning no one has told Vyoop that everyone knows. 

Tactical Officer Tag-At-Ot: Violence is low priority in the PCP, and therefore wages are sub-optimal, even for the exploration division.  So Tag-At-Ot moonlights as a Bounty Hunter

Tactical Violencebot, Certified 1-5, or TVC-15

Some situations call for more than what an exploration crew is certified for, in these cases protocol insisted on a 1-5 certified tactical violencebot. Provided they are well maintained collateral death is rare. 

Engineers Tibbit and Plon: If they can't fix it, no one can.  

Good thing, since they're often the ones who break it.

Tactical Away Team.  Off all the species of the Pan-galactic Confederation of Planets, the Pyan-oon are consistently the most aggressive, and so more find their way to enlist in the Tac-ops than any others. 

Don't let their small size and big gentle eyes fool you! The tally marks of Pyan-oon killed in action on the PCP con-congress house now stretches all the way down the expanse to the dome of ennui. 

The Brave Crew of the PCP Starship Drowsy Wombat

(click for bigger)

............

I love to come up with -more unusual- ideas for warbands and teams, and this time I've taken the Gentlemen's Club for Empire of the Dead and asked: Must Gentlemen be Human Beings? I say no. 

I've seen enough Doctor Who to know that Victorian England was thick with aliens. 

This crew have come to London to explore, to find out what the strange readings are, that show unusual energy signatures, and once here, to find out which species might wish to join the PCP: the relatively hairless ape-folk, the large mutating canine creatures, or the living-but-not sanguinivores,or maybe they all will? 

Stay tuned for their adventures! 

Enjoy!