[FTL RP, WE'RE BACK, REBOOTED!] The Rogue Cadets

[TheLonelyAI]

"I am saddened by this, I would have hoped they would have learned to curb those violent tendisies but since my people must either be dead or back in the home sector hiding and reforming, perhaps thats why they kept like this. So who is in control of this universe, the engi, those...humans?" he asked, "Humans right, you mentioned them earlier. Or something else? "

"Ah, I forget. Many races are unknown to you. To answer your question, I guess everyone controls this Galaxy. Some races are more plentiful in certain areas than others, but no one race really stands out. Well, I guess Humans count as an exception. They have only started appearing in the past few centuries, and there are plenty of them. Their technology is relatively primitive compared to other races, and most of them have no advantages, or traits that stand out among other species."

"However, collectively as a race, humanity is by far the most ambitious. In the short amount of time that they've appeared, they've already established a presence in the Galaxy, in the form of a "Galactic Federation". They also have the most potential out of any species, for better or worse.

"In my opinion, humanity is a very confusing species indeed. I have read much of their history, and find it very fascinating. They are the only race in existence, that have ever declared large scale genocides on their own kind. Yet somehow, they love as much in return. "What makes a human, human?" A question that not even I could answer"

[BrenTenkage]

Bren sighed a bit, Lux had a point, "Well...if they know, we might have a target on our back. Lets hope we can install the new weapons in time, the good news, is that we got a nice load of crystals we could load off, and around 40 units of scrap giving us a grand total of 100"


With the others, Ruwen gave a smile

"A federation, an alliance of different species, that is very wonderful to hear." he said, "And some group wants to destroy that, thats terrible. Well if it means keeping it alive and helping keep the universe in peace, I'm more then willing to help' He said

[stylesrj]

"What makes a Human, Human? The same thing that makes an Engi, an Engi" Lux replied over the comms "I don't know much about my Engi history but I'm sure you may have had a genocide or two. You just wouldn't call it that because anything that is not up-to-date is rendered obsolete or called a "Virus" or something."
She put her hands on her hips and looked to Bren "I kept hearing that same "Humanity only does genocide but also has the capacity to be good" crap in the first three seasons of Captain Awesome until they went to Gamma Ten and encountered a bunch of sapient dolphins. They all learned an important lesson that day that yes, Humanity is just as bad and as good as everyone else and we shouldn't be judged on those characteristics."

I think Lux is losing it, comparing everything to her favourite TV show
Then again, considering her circumstances, she finds great comfort in her favourite sci-fi cartoon.

[JakeCollins]

Jumping back in time a little, to respond to Lux - and others

"Guys, it's 400 years in the future. I encrypted the transmission, knowing the Decode Parameters of the Robin. It's all good - one transmission won't hurt us. But you're right, encrypted or not, we should keep important stuff on an in-person-only basis. The transmission was encrypted. So it's OK to do confidential stuff in short bursts, but it won't work forever. (encryptions can be hacked) So just this once it's ok, but from now on we can't do it anymore."

Jumping forward in time a little, after Jake cut the transmission

Jake signed off of the radio, and spun around in his chair, grinning at his new shiny ship.
"If only you could talk, you could tell me all your secrets," he said, merrily tapping the overhead plating. Suddenly he remembered... this ship had an AI interface! If he could get it working, piloting this ship would become incredibly easy! Jake pulled out the instructions the Fed researcher gave Jake. The scientist said the fix wouldn't be too complicated. All the hard stuff was already done, and only a few circuits would need connecting.

Jake unfurled the instructions. It looked complicated. Very complicated. "Allright..." he muttered to himself. "Open control panel A1, located below the piloting console." Before Jake began, he grabbed a tiny LED backup flashlight hanging on the wall near the door. He clicked it on and stuck it in his mouth. He unlocked the piloting chair and slid it all the way back, before scoothinh under the console. Using a screwdriver, he managed to remove panel A1. "Here we go" Jake grumbled, still clutching the flashlight in his mouth.

3.5 Hours Later

Jake let the flashlight slip down his face and drop to the floor. He unplugged and set down the circuit router. As he wearily got up, he banged his head on the bottom of the console. Stretching, he looked around the piloting deck. It was a mess. Tools, wires, cables, and circuits were strewn everywhere. Jake was normally a somewhat exceptional and neat engineer, but this fix was so complex that he had just forgotten organization and made a total mess of everything.

He wiped sweat from his forehead, as he pushed a pile of circuits off of his chair, which he let clatter to the floor. He took a seat, exhausted.
"All right, let's fire you up..." Jake wheezed, rolling his eyes. (This was the third time he'd tried this.)
He entered some commands in a console window, and braced for an error message. He had the instruction packet ready for failure. But to his utter disbelief, no error message came. Instead, the console window displayed the following: with a delay of a few seconds between each line:

-------MAIN COMPUTER | DIRECT SOFTWARE LINKUP-------
>Initialize AI Interface? (y/n)
y
>Initialization begun! Enter 'c' to cancel.
>Locating AI Archive
>Unpacking files....
>Files ready! Initializing boot sequence!

This is the part where the screen usually froze, displaying Error! Error Code: followed by a sizable number, that Jake would need to research in the databanks of the ship. But instead, this happened:

>Booting....

This was followed by about 1 minute of delay, while Jake could hear the whirring sounds of the computer. The whirring noise was the only thing that kept Jake from deeming the program stuck, and retrying. Just before Jake was ready to give up and cancel, a new line appeared on the screen.

>Booting Complete! AI interface will begin momentarily.
>Program Exit with Exit Code 0

Jake smiled. He waited for what came next. And it was extraordinary.

[TheLonelyAI]

"What makes a Human, Human? The same thing that makes an Engi, an Engi" Lux replied over the comms "I don't know much about my Engi history but I'm sure you may have had a genocide or two. You just wouldn't call it that because anything that is not up-to-date is rendered obsolete or called a "Virus" or something."
She put her hands on her hips and looked to Bren "I kept hearing that same "Humanity only does genocide but also has the capacity to be good" crap in the first three seasons of Captain Awesome until they went to Gamma Ten and encountered a bunch of sapient dolphins. They all learned an important lesson that day that yes, Humanity is just as bad and as good as everyone else and we shouldn't be judged on those characteristics."

I think Lux is losing it, comparing everything to her favourite TV show
Then again, considering her circumstances, she finds great comfort in her favourite sci-fi cartoon.

WOL released a sigh of defeat "Touché, I believed you humans called it"

[BrenTenkage]

"I wish to mediate, is there a quiet area I can go into?" Ruwen asked

"Try the life support room, even a ship this old the oxygen cycler and filter are pretty quiet" Bren said on the coms

"Thank you" Ruwen said walking off

"And we are heading off, gonna be a slightly longer trip as we have to jump through asteroids and avoid them but we should be at the station in about an hour" Bren said flying towards the jump beacon to begin their jump

"And Lux, good work, glad we could save someone today, I'm sure your folks would be very proud of what you did" Bren said turning his head and smiling

"By the way, I'm really enjoying being in the captains chair, wouldn't mind taking over this ship, I'm sure you guys would prefer the awesome tech ship, me, I feel comfortable he-"

There was an alarm as they got near the beacon, they instead saw a pirate ship with a slug ship (the small one)


The captain, a slug shown himself on screen

"Ah another vessel for us to obtain some new slaves, surrender one of your own or we will take you all"

Bren glared at the slug, "Guys...I think i speak for everyone when I say FUCK YOU!" he called out ending the call

"Lux take control, I want people in the shields room and the engine bay, I'll take weapons. Its about to be a bumpy battle!" he said quickly running out of his seat to switch with Lux, he was completely pissed off

[stylesrj]

"Yeah... I'm sure mum would..." Lux said sadly, smile broken for a second. She then perked up again quickly as the Slug ship hailed them.

She stood defiantly as the Slug showed himself on the screen. "Do you even know who you're messing with?" she demanded to the Slug, hands on her hips, a wide smile on her face "Because if you did, you'd turn your pathetic little ship around."
Of course, she didn't quite understand the range or power of the Slug's telepathy (or empathy). It couldn't get a read of her mind but it definitely could pick up the emotion of fear and perhaps in Bren (mixed with anger).

Bren had then suggested she take the helm "Dammit Bren, I'm a doctor, not a pilot. Jake seemed to be in there practically throughout all of the free periods" she said "I'll be running security with the doors; I don't think we can take them on with our current firepower. But if we let them board..."

[BrenTenkage]

"Yeah... I'm sure mum would..." Lux said sadly, smile broken for a second. She then perked up again quickly as the Slug ship hailed them.

She stood defiantly as the Slug showed himself on the screen. "Do you even know who you're messing with?" she demanded to the Slug, hands on her hips, a wide smile on her face "Because if you did, you'd turn your pathetic little ship around."
Of course, she didn't quite understand the range or power of the Slug's telepathy (or empathy). It couldn't get a read of her mind but it definitely could pick up the emotion of fear and perhaps in Bren (mixed with anger).

Bren had then suggested she take the helm "Dammit Bren, I'm a doctor, not a pilot. Jake seemed to be in there practically throughout all of the free periods" she said "I'll be running security with the doors; I don't think we can take them on with our current firepower. But if we let them board..."

"Fine I'll take the piloioting, alright controlling the weapons myself" he said boosting the engines and heading forward to them

(so KIDS NEXT DOOR, BATTLE STATIONS...sorry always wanted to say that)

[Chickengames]

"As soon as the crystal man had left, Kyrie had gone back to shields. She thought of how the crystal race would be accepted by the other races. The rocks would definitely want an alliance, and the federation would definitely want them on their side to fight the rebels. If all of them are like Ruwen, I think they'll be well accepted.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Bren sounding the alarm. She jumped a little when he said that, startled. Kyrie spun around in the chair and brought up the shields quickly. The sensors showed there was a pirate ship threatening them. Bren wanted them to the ship instead of fighting. "I'd rather them stay over there!"

[JakeCollins]

Next to him, there was a shimmering light - and a translucent, holographic person appeared next to Jake. She (the hologram manifested itself as a human female) appeared to be about 14 years in age, (Jakes age) and very pretty. She had brown, curly, and translucent hair. (Well, her whole body was translucent) She wore some sort of futuristic uniform, which was basically a white form-fitting suit, with black lines running across it in various positions.

Her face (again) was quite pretty, in a modest sort of way. She had deep brown eyes and a small nose, as well as a holographic mouth. Her whole form shimmered slightly, and glowed brightly. She remained frozen in what Jake assumed was her startup position for a few seconds. Her hands neatly at her sides, smiling slightly. After a few seconds, she unfroze, and she looked around. Her smile was gone, and she looked quite frightened. Upon seeing Jake, she shrieked and jumped back. She blinked a little bit and then calmed down.

"Sorry... Captain. SASDD has always been quite frightening for me, even after doing it a few times." The AI said, taking deep breaths. (Which Jake thought was quite strange, considering the obvious.)

"Um, it's allright..." Jake said, nervous. He held out a hand, to assist the AI to her feet. Jake immediately realized the futility of this gesture, considering the holographic hand would go right through him. But to his surprise, when she took his hand it was solid. In fact, it was warm and soft, less like human skin, and more like what "touching sunlight" might feel like.

When the AI got to her feet, Jake supposed he should introduce himself.

"My name is Captain Jake-"

"Collins, yes, I know. Jake Collins. Woah."

"You know about me?"

"Jake, I'm from your future" The AI chuckled lightly "I know more about you than you do. But of course, history is subject to change. Which I am here to stop. Well that's the theory anyways. My databanks were wiped. I know nothing, other than your name - and your mission. I suppose whoever sent me didn't want me to contaminate the timeline with my knowledge. The Federation must've wiped my memory, with my consent, of course."

"Damn." Jake said. "I was hoping you could give us a few pointers."

"I still have some knowledge." She said, smiling. "I know your name, your mission, and this ship. I know how to work this ship, and I know about the technology it has. But all of those history lessons are gone."

"What's it like from where you're from?" Jake asked

"I have no idea..." She said, slightly sad. "But I also know I signed up for this mission to assist you with destroying Black Hole Induction technology. Technology also from the future, by the way."

"What? Black Hole Induction is from the future?"

"Yes. According to my limited data, Black Hole Induction technology was sent by Neo-Rebels back in time. That's why the Federation gave you this ship. Under normal circumstances, time travel would be taboo."

There was a long pause.

"So tell me about yourself... If you don't mind me asking... do you have... emotions? Like, feelings?"

The AI laughed happily. "Yeah. I'm not just a machine. I have emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc. I signed onto this mission voluntarily. Just like humans, you go through training until you eventually earn rights to a ship. You are transferred into that ship, and serve the crew of that ship. Just like humans do."

"Why do you appear as a human, and not an Engi or Zoltan?"

"I mean, I could. But AI's usually choose what species they relate to the most. They choose their identity. I felt like I related to a Human Female the most. I chose this age because it is the age of you and your crew - I didn't want to be the only adult on the ship."

"Wait, how did you know of the age of the rest of my crew?"

"This ship has a telepathic interface. I am linked to your mind directly."

"Oh! Uh! Ok!" Jake said nervously. Don't think about how hot she is... Jake thought. He saw the AI smile. Oops.

"Don't be embarrassed, I am used to Human Males your age thinking similar thoughts in my Avatars presence. Unfortunately, I can't stop reading your mind. It's involuntary. "

"It must be hard to have a relationship as an AI, then" Jake laughed.

"I have not had a relationship. But many other AIs have dated and married humans in my century."

"Do you have... like... a name?"

"Not really. Crews or Captains on ships usually give me a nickname, of their respective species. While some AIs really care about their names, you can call me whatever you want. I really don't care."

"How about... Sarah?" (It was the first name that popped into Jakes head, and sounded OK.)

"All right, Sarah sounds good. Actually, I really like that name." The AI laughed.

I had a random idea, but it's cool to think about:
CRYSTAL LANGUAGE DICTIONARY:

Lan - Metal

Ius - To Eat

So, "Lanius" is just the Crystal word for "Metal Eaters" (Or a direct translation would be "Metal Eat")