Post of the Month - April, 2013

[kawolsky]

The last thirty days has certainly gone by quick as it's now time to announce April's Post of the Month!

[USS Gibson, Deck 7, Exercise room]

Kylik had only barely gotten the shaky Hobson prepared for transport when the Gibson rocked violently. It took the Rutian a moment to register that something had impacted the ship, and that something had not met resistance from the shields. Two more hits registered, sending the medical crewman tumbling.

Kylik half-stumbled, half-crawled to the viewports lining the side of the room, and didn't like what he saw. He wasn't sure of the configuration, but several smaller attack ships had surrounded them, and were flying complicated manoeuvres all around the ship. It appeared, however, that the attackers were choosing their targets carefully. Kylik noted that several of the small ships had fired in exactly the same pattern as they had come bearing down on the Gibson. Before the Rutian realised why, though, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the training room doors hissing opening.

He heard Lloyd gasp first. Next, he noted the reflection in the viewport, a figure blocking out nearly the entirety of the light that should have been flooding in from the corridor. Next, a fetor pervaded the room, smelling as if it had been allowed to fester from years. Yet none of these were enough to prepare him for what he saw when he turned.

Even standing, Kylik barely measured 5'8". Slumped against the wall, however, it appeared to be a bastion rather than a beast standing in the doorway. Sheets of black plating adorned the creature and glinted as if metal. All of the limbs and the neck were thicker than Kylik's waist, hinting at powerful musculature. At the extremities, the creatures were covered with hairs, small and dark. Small amounts of bluish-grey skin could be seen peeking out from underneath parts of the armour. Worst of all was the mouth, an abnormally large jaw with protruding incisors that glinted as if generously covered in liquid.

'Poison.' Kylik thought.

The beast looked down upon the Rutian, clearly in no hurry to make a move. It knew as well as he did that Kylik was no threat. Slowly, the creature started approaching him, a muffled clicking sound escaping from its closed mouth, as if it eagerly anticipated the coming kill.

Kylik was frozen with fear, stuck in place. But he wasn't alone, and as Lloyd charged the beast from the side, the Rutian almost believed there was hope. It proved false, though, the Braxian catching the blow at the last second and sending Lloyd crashing into a nearby stack of weights.

Realising this would likely be his only opportunity to do something, Kylik reached for the phaser at his belt.

His hand grasped at air, and the realisation of the phasers hidden in sickbay came crashing down on him. Other than a futile charge, there was nothing he could do.

The Rutian watched in horror as the Braxian approached the downed crewman, apparently deciding to deal with him first. This time it did not see the blow coming, the injured Hobson attacking the beast from behind, wielding a training weight as a weapon.

Hobson, although smarting, was throwing his full weight into every attack, and appeared to be shouting.

It was only then that Kylik realised that Hobson was shouting his name.

"Roth! Roth! Snap out of it! Do something! Do something or so damn you I'll let him eat you! Roth!"

Kylik barely registered how loud the screams actually were, but it was enough to galvanize him. Only, he had no idea what he could do. Lloyd had recovered enough in the distraction to begin a two-pronged attack on the Braxian, but even together it was obvious that they were only a momentary distraction. But without any real weapons nearby, there was nothing the Rutian could do to help.

'Nothing. Except, maybe...' Kylik's eyes fell on the medkit he had brought along.

He looked from the kit to the Braxian, who had again sent Lloyd crashing and was now toying with Hobson.

Back to the kit.

There was no way to be sure the hypospray would penetrate the creature's shell.

Back to the Braxian.

It had grabbed Hobson around the neck, raising him several inches off the floor, seemingly wanting to consider the human at eye level.

He had to try.

Kylik rushed to the kit, easily releasing one of the pre-loaded hyposprays from the satchel. He selected Neurozine, set it to maximum dosage, and turned. The Braxian had sent the crumpled form of Hobson flying into the far corner of the room, and had rounded on the Rutian. As it started approaching him, Kylik mirrored it.

The Braxian's gait became more cautious, the creature obviously uncertain why the terrified Rutian was actually moving closer.

"What are you doing on my ship?" Kylik taunted. It worked exactly as he'd hoped, the creature opening its mouth to respond. Kylik stepped in, trying to jam the hypospray he was holding into its mouth. Its reflexes were lightning, though, and it easily caught his arm. Kylik wasn't sure whether it was shock or reflex, but he dropped the hypospray, only to catch it with his left hand.

This time it definitely was shock that prevented the Braxian from reacting fast enough as Kylik jammed the metal cylinder into its mouth and activated it.

For a moment, the Rutian and the Braxian simply stared at each other, not sure what would happen next. After a few seconds, it appeared that the answer was nothing, and the Braxian spat the hypospray to the floor.

With a savage grin, the Braxian grabbed Kylik's collar with its other hand, picked him up as if he weighed no more than a pillow, and sent him flying. He felt his head hit something hard, and his vision dimmed.

Congratulations go out to Crewman Kylik Roth on a stunningly detailed post that describes not just the scene around him but his character's thoughts and feelings in a clever and extravagant way that maintains an exciting flow for the reader.

Speaking of Roth's post, Acting Commander Zuriel Soreka commented, "Kylik very early on set the mood of the current situation of the Gibson. Feeding off his fellow shipmates he has given an in depth look at how his character reacts to an emergency situation. With posts like these he has established himself as one of the Gibson's premier members."

Please congratulate Crewman Roth on his achievement this month and don't forget to send you nominations for May's Post of the Month to your Commanding Officer.

[Alexander Wu]

Nicely done, shipmate!

Edit: By the way, that's three in a row for Gibson =)

[Michael J. Tritter]

Gibson ain't got nothin' on the Gettysburg

[Kirok]

Nice job, Kylik!

[Michael Ferdinand]

Nicely done, shipmate!

Edit: By the way, that's three in a row for Gibson =)

False, Tulley won last month and he was a Churchling.

Congrats on Post of the month!

[Alexander Wu]

False, Tulley won last month and he was a Churchling.

Congrats on Post of the month!

Ahh, that's true, my bad. Still three out of four so far, we're on a roll =)

[Jon Tulley]

Congrats, great post.

[Joanna Langford]

Well Done

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

Great job Kylik! Gibson is the #DreamTeam!

[Gabe Crouch]

Nice job!!!

[Mikey010178]

Well Done Mate!

[Kylik Roth]

Oh hells, kinda missed this topic while it was hot.

Belated thank you for the honor and the congrats! All credit to the Gibson crew for inspiration!

[Fala Awen]

Great job! Congrats!