The Starship Opal

The starship Opal is the ship given to the characters by an enigmatic elderly gentleman in a wheelchair. Just before his demise at the hands of interstellar pirates, the Gentleman gave the ship to the characters, whom then subsequently learned that the ship is unique in many ways.

Exterior
The Opal measures four hundred feet long. She is shaped rather like a pistol, with the deck on the top and rearward side of the vehicle. On each side she has bays holding twin quad particle beam cannons and short ranged missile bays. Along each side she also has three interior bays, each one containing a single pilot short range jet fighter. The primary exterior colour is white.

Interior
Opal has two decks. The upper deck is mostly the living areas. Ladders from the bridge extend down into the crew quarters, commissary, medical bay, and lounge.

Each of the crew quarters contains a bed, shower stall, desk, and reception screen for television broadcasts contained in a 150 square foot area. The Captains quarters, at the rearmost, is slightly larger, measuring 200 square feet.

The commissary is on the smaller side, offering mostly a table, small wet bar, and minimal cooking space. Most of the food stores are pre-made, requiring only minimal cooking times. The medical bay is equipped with four beds, and enough medical supplies to handle most medical concerns from medications to surgery equipment.

The lounge measures 600 square feet and contains a Billiards table, a holochess table, and a vast selection of digital books, telefilms, and music reels. It also boasts a thinking circle bar in the middle, which the crew is always glad to make use of.

The lower decks are all used for storage and cargo.

Opal
Opal herself is the only star ship in the universe with the capabilities that she has. First and foremost, she is an artificial intelligence with the capability of understanding, relating to, and feeling emotion. Rather than just relay information as standard ship computers do, Opal is capable of thinking for herself and making logical choices, holding meaningful and extended conversations and, in a pinch, piloting herself. The exact manner of her instruction is completely unknown, as her builder took the secrets of her construction with him to the grave. She often assists the crew by making suggestions, giving advice, or offering solutions to problems. Because she is a personality more than a computer, most of the crew - especially Yana - have come to accept her not as the ship but as part of the crew and as family.

The Crew
Y'nai Miysuni'i, Captain - Y'nai is remarkable in that she is only one of a handful of Cessins whom have ever attained the rank of Captain within the Intergalactic Concord Faction. A fiery woman, Y'nai is the ultimate sensualist and hedonist. She explores the universe looking for a good time. She loves exotic foods, exotic locations, and exotic encounters. She does not look at the rest of the crew and Opal as employees but as family in true Cessin way, so her loyalty and love for her crew are unshakable. Y'nai is a skilled navigator and pilot with extensive knowledge of most of the well-known star systems. She is fluent in most of the known species languages, is a skilled marksman and fencer, and an exceptionally good cook. In addition, Y'Nai is a registered Esper. She has the ability to form psychokinetic weapons when needed, such as swords, maces, or even little crawling horrors to swarm her opponents. She is addicted to Spyce. Y'nai is played by Essa.

 Elen Jameson, Itinerant Scientist  - A new arrival aboard the Interstellar Transmissions, Elen claims membership in the esteemed Jameson lineage of spacers, though the actual significance of this name is dubious at best, and a potential fabrication of Elen's at worst. She rarely stays aboard any one ship or station for more than a single tour-of-duty, and rankles at orders given by authority, something she feels interferes with the process of doing real science. Her study foci are xenobiology and development of stellar systems and their natural structures. 

Yoiko Hibiki, Engineer - At 15, Yoiko is the youngest member of the Opal crew. She is a genius in the arena of mechanical and electrical engineering and holds a Ph.D in both fields as well as physics. She is human and a native of Sapporo, Japan. She has come to view Opal not as a ship or a computer but as a younger sister and treats her accordingly. Yoiko is fluent in no less than 10 human languages and has an amazing capacity to think on her feet. She possesses a dry wit and a bit of a sour disposition, with a tendency to complain that something can't be built before she builds it anyway. She is a black belt in Shotokan karate and refuses to use weapons of any kind. She has been given the affectionate nickname of Monkeywrench by the remainder of the crew. Yoiko is played by Tyche.

Javen Exarch, Commander - First Officer of the Interstellar Transmission, Javen has served with Captain Y'Nai in one capacity or another for several years and has remained a steadfast friend. An outcast Osharan he has turned the loyalty one would normally show to country and king to Captain Y'Nai. At thirty five years old he carries himself tall with a sense of unhurried ease and yet still emits an aura of jovial authority, able to take stern command when needed, but preferring to appear more approachable. Javen lost his left arm and left eye to an explosion while in the military, which also damaged a portion of his lung. His arm has been completely replaced with a bionic arm, including his shoulder blade for support. While not allowing him to rip open bulk heads or lift cars (due to lacking the rest of a skeleton needed for that) the arm does contain a low yield "emergency" laser weapon, personal computer with data port and internet accessibility, display pad, wrist comms, and small compartments that can hold varies small items. His bionic eye allows vision in normal light, night vision, and thermal modes, as well as having an information HUD connected to his arm computer with limited scanning capability. Javen's left lung has been replaced with what is in essence a specialized compressed air canister, allowing him a personal supply while in emergencies and maintains regular flow of oxygen like a normal lung. All of these bionics come at a cost, though. Javen is dependent on special maintenance to keep his bionic organs running, and though they are shielded a strong enough EMP could shut them down, while lack of regular maintenance could cause a limb to seize. It is also possible for the computer system in his arm to crash, rendering the arm useless until rebooted, and his implanted eye unable to access special modes. Further more, puncturing his mechanical lung, especially the gas tank, can cause him internal issues. All in all Javen is a Jack-of-all-Trades commander with working knowledge of nearly anything on a ship or military related, but not enough specialization to fix the catastrophic failures. He is proficient with all manner of weapons, including hand to hand and close quarters combat, rifles, pistols, heavy weapons, and ship weaponry. 

Lucas Waingold, Navigator  - If someone were to look into his past, they would find a rather boring record on the navigator known as Lucas Waingold. Member of a typical middle-class family of salvagers, went on to pass flight academy and after a stint with one of the lesser Factions, he became a freelance navigator and pilot. However, he has come to have a reputation of knowing every nook and cranny of all the known star systems and being able to chart the most effective means of transportation. Because of this, he was recruited as a member of the Opal's crew.

Despite these skills, those who have worked with him also will tell you that he is snarky and self-serving, with his only cares in the world being his well-being, his pay and a bottle of Moldarvis, a liquor from an island of the same name on the planet, Andaria.