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This is a private Roleplay between myself and Suka (AKA Dr. Rex).

But, please, feel free to read along and tell us what you think! ^^

Anyways, here’s the plotline:

In a faraway galaxy, the planet Jurassica is inhabited entirely by dinosaurs! Only, these dinosaurs are, for the most part, anthropomorphized, in that they can speak, use technology, and show facial expressions. Among these dinosaurs is the legendary Captain Raptor! Commander of the space fighter Megatooth, he leads his crew on to dangerous missions throughout the galaxy, including solving mysteries on moons to retrieving stolen treasure from space pirates!

This time, however, he and his crew have been called upon to settle an uprising on a faraway planet called Ionathon, which, if ended badly, could cause uprisings in other planets, and potentially spell imminent danger to the planet Jurassica. So, the president of Jurassica has sent Captain Raptor and his fearless crew on a mission to stop this uprising, and to bring back or destroy the revolutionaries’ resources to prevent future insurrections. What will await them once they arrive at Ionathon?

Among Captain Raptor’s crew are:

Lieutenant Threetoe – Pilot and navigator.

Professor Angleoptorous – Engineer and repairman.

Master Sergeant Brichthorous – Weapons expert.

This plot is based upon the children's books by the same name. The covers for them are here:





The parts:

Captain Raptor: Played by Suka/Dr. Rex

Lieutenant Threetoe: Played by Suka/Dr. Rex

Professor Angleoptorous: Played by Swords of the Wolves

Master Seargeant Brichthorous: Played by Swords of the Wolves

Enjoy! ^^

On board, the Megatooth was as silent as dead space itself. Though the glorious ship boasted a size and features well enough to accommodate each of the four crew members quite comfortably, the artificial air pressurized in the abode was thick with a monotonous tedium that stank more and more with every rotation around the Jurassica star system.

Captain Raptor sat alone on deck, his slitted, yellow eyes staring indifferently out the cabin window. Despite the fact that they looked roughly similar, the composed velociraptor decided that watching the stars go by was only slightly more interesting than seeing static on a screen. Because static on the screen meant no calls were coming through. No help was needed. No daring adventures were on their way. With a disgruntled grunt, Captain Raptor lowered his gaze, slightly ashamed to be thinking that there were reasons why the galaxy shouldn't be as peaceful as it appeared. Heroes simply weren't in very big of a demand now. And so stayed the screen for their past three rotations around the Jurassica star system.

Finally fed up with the silence, Captain Raptor laid back in his seat and tapped his killer claw on the metallic deck floor to a song he knew better than to try and sing aloud. His reptilian eyes centered back to the cabin window, drawn to the movement of a streak of white light dashing across the heavens, as if in some big hurry. At least it had somewhere to go. he thought rather bitterly. And then after a quick breath, he closed his eyes and made a silent wish...

"This is Jurassica Capitol City Headquarters, calling Captain Raptor; Captain, do you read, over."

I can hear it now, thought the captain. So vividly clear in my head.

"Jurassica Capitol City Headquarters, once again calling Captain Raptor; please respond, over."

A thought struck the captain, and his eyes snapped open, snout slightly ajar to reveal an array of menacing teeth that helped to conceal his look of astonishment as he turned towards the screen, where the grainy image of a long-necked dinosaur was speaking unassuredly into its headset. "Jurassica Capitol City Headquarters, come in, Captain Raptor."

A cry escaped Captain Raptor as he leapt off his chair, nearly snagging his tail and tripping as he dashed over to the console, flipped a switch and spoke at the screen. "This is Captain Raptor."

It was difficult to tell whether the dinosaur on the other side of the screen looked glad to see him. "Surprised to see you're still out there and listening, Captain."

"Yeah, so am I," Captain Raptor replied with equal persuasion. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing for me, personally. But the president of Jurassica has requested an audience with you and your crew. He's just received word of an optable mission he believes would be of some interest to your squadron."

An optable mission, thought Captain Raptor critically. That meant he could choose not to do it, which would only imply that the city was in no imminent danger...

...or that this mission could also be offered out to other alternatives, if he refused.

I'm listening," Captain Raptor said, struggling quite hard to keep a composed countenance.

The long-necked dinosaur frowned. Captain Raptor didn't think it knew it was being watched on the screen. "I'm afraid the information is classified. You will be briefed by the president, should you choose to accept. Shall I arrange for it?"

"YES!!" shrieked Captain Raptor. And after a tittering clearance of his throat at sight of the startled dinosaur on the other end, he forced himself to straighten up and continue. "Yes. Please inform President Chakron that he should expect us shortly."

The long-necked dinosaur nodded, its eyes still wide with fright. "I-I'll deliver your word at once, Captain. Over and out."

After that, the Megatooth was not silent, as Captain Raptor rallied his fine crew mates together -- Lieutenant Threetoe; ace pilot and navigator, Professor Angleoptorous; engineer and repairdinosaur, and Master Sergent Brichthorous; weapons and tacticians expert -- and told them the good news of the rare opportunity that had come their way.

"Lieutenant Threetoe. Set a course with all deliberate haste to Jurassica. Get us off this accursed auto-pilot."

Threetoe nearly went pale. He was a stout, green dinosaur whose head was far too small to fit all the maps and star charts that were supposedly kept inside. However, for all he knew, he had the mind to forget the password to unlock the ship from the same setting it had been in for the past three rotations. Under Captain Raptor's steady glare, Threetoe skittered over to Professor Angleoptorous to inquire for some help on reprogramming the navigational controls. "It's only been three whole rotations!" the dinosaur meekly defended himself when Master Sergeant added his own growl of impatience.

Professor Angleoptorous could only shake his head in disappointment. "I'd recommend writing it down somewhere so this doesn't happen again," he suggested as he made his way to the control panels, where he immediately began tapping away at the keyboard.

"See," he explained, "re-caliber the navigation controls to manual, enter password MGT-723 to confirm that it's really you," he continued, demonstrating the password combination so that Threetoe could remember it, "and then you'll be able to program coordinates. I assume you remember the coordinates for Jurassica, am I right?"

The professor glared at the Lieutenant through his circular glasses, the kind of look a professor would give a student after the student promises that he "will do better next time." "There's a pad of paper on the table over there," he added, motioning the frill atop his head towards the table, "I suggest you use it to write down that password in case you forget and you don't have me around to remember it for you."

The Professor wasn't just trying to scare the pilot, though. A good portion of his body was made of mechanical parts, as the only biological body parts on him were his head, neck, arms, and tail. His torso was made up of two metal cylinders joined together by a series of thin, sliding metal circles that allowed him to bend his torso, but they were kept from falling apart by half of a large gear that was welded to either cylinder at the top. The front cylinder contained two openings for his arms, but the back cylinder had his mechanical back legs protruding from it. It was also where he kept most of his equipment stored, as storage space was added to it out of necessity. With all this technology keeping the professor's body together, it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities that errant blaster fire to the wrong spot or other unforseen freak accidents could either knock it apart, or render his hind legs immobile, or worse. The team always had to take into account the professor's relatively fragile bodily state. Although it had been upgraded numerous times with stronger metal alloys, and even plate armor, it wasn't unbreakable. The gear holding the two pieces together was the major weak point, but it, too, had been modified to present less of a target.

Master Sergeant Brichthorous could only close his eyes and put his three-clawed hand to his face as he watched the events unfold. Three revolutions spent waiting for a mission, and when you finally get one, you forget how to undo the autopilot? he thought, Grr... let's hope this situation doesn't repeat itself in a more dire situation in the future.

Brichthorous clenched his hands a couple times and watched as the pilot frantically wrote down the password for the system. He then turned over to his captain. "I'm sure glad to finally be on the move, again, sir," he said, "how long should it take us to get to Jurassica?"

"At hyperspeed, I reckon we'll be there within the hour," Raptor replied as he strode across the bridge, his claws clicking on the floor. "It'll take a lot of power for a small ship, but we can re-energize once we land. After all, we wouldn't want to keep President Chakron waiting now, would we?" He swerved his head over and called out across the deck. "Lieutenant. Professor. Are we ready?"

"As we'll ever be, Captain." Threetoe had finished scrawling something on a piece of paper, which he then loosely placed in any random location before he took his seat next to the navigational console. Captain Raptor said nothing, but merely shook his head slightly.

"Coordinates are set. Hyperdrive, fully charged and functional. Awaiting your command."

Captain Raptor turned to look out the window again, though with new eyes, and gave them the go with a steady gaze forward. "Take us home, gentlesaurs."

Threetoe looked off to his side at Angleoptorous and nodded. With a steady claw, each of them pulled down levers set into the console that would discharge the hyperdrive. All the stars seemed to grow brighter and brighter until they had all molded into a white light that filled the window. Captain Raptor winced and took a small step back. A part of him was still believing that this was just going to be another boring day. Though he could never object to any opportunity of adventure and giving help when it was needed, he hoped none of this was coming too abruptly and with an inward shudder, that he, himself had forgotten the measures it took to be the leader of Jurassica's most trusted squadron.

As seeing that the team wasn't a significantly long distance away from Jurassica, the flight to their home planet was relatively short, though it may have also been that Captain Raptor was aching with anticipation as to what this optable mission may be. He became lost in his own thought, which helped to pass the time before Threetoe finally made announcement that they were leaving hyperspace. When Captain Raptor returned his gaze forward, the white light that filled the window diminished back into regular-sized stars and before them loomed a dominantly rust-colored planet. For a moment, it was all the entire team could do to gaze upon their home with soft eyes.

"Gentlesaurs, fasten your belts. We'll be landing very shortly. How are we on power?"

"Thirty-seven percent," Threetoe replied, not taking his eyes off the console he was at. "More than enough to energize the ship's shield system for re-entry."

"Excellent. Make it so."

After a brief and bumpy duration in which the ship's shield deflected the atmospheric heat of re-entry, it was then the screen in which Captain Raptor was so accustomed to seeing static on flickered to life again. The same long-necked dinosaur with headset on came to focus. "Starship Megatooth, you are cleared for landing within the Presidential radius. The planet of Jurassica awaits. Welcome home, Captain Raptor Squadron."

"No place like it," Captain Raptor said, the corners of his mouth upturned in a toothy smile. "Steady as she goes, Professor. Take us down."

"Yes, sir," replied the Professor as he lowered the landing gear and helped out Threetoe with stabilizing the ship, "it's good to be back, I must say."

"Couldn't agree more myself," added Brichthorous, "I've missed Jurassica..."

Within a few minutes, the presidential area inside Jurassica could be seen out the windows. The presidential palace stood tall, with its elaborate structure, tall pillars, and large doors. It matched beautifully with the surrounding rocky and dusty landscape. The landing pads came into view, next, which essentially consisted of solid marble platforms with markings designating boundaries and such. As they got closer, the crew could see three figures emerging from the palace and descending the stairs.

Everyone gripped on to whatever was sturdy as the ship touched down with a few jerks and bumps. The professor almost fell over, but everyone was fine by the time they had landed. "All right," said the Professor, "we've landed. Engines off... and we're clear to leave!"

"All right, then!" exclaimed the Master Sergeant, "and it looks like President Chakron has come out to meet us."

Everyone looked out the window, and they could clearly see the figure of President Chakron with two of his bodyguards, two Utahraptors cradling large blasters and a device that held a transparent text screen over their right eyes.

"Well," noted the professor, leaving his seat at the controls, "no use keeping him waiting, now, is it?"

The crew all exited the craft, and all stood in a line, and bowed to the President. "An honor to be in your presence again, sir," greeted Master Sargent Brichorous.

The President smiled warmly. "A pleasure to see all of you again, as well," he added, "but we have little time for formalities, now. Come, you must be debriefed immediately," he ordered, turning around and returning to the palace, with his bodyguards trotting behind him, eying their surroundings.

Very nice,and well written,keep up the good work.

-Celtic Kiara

[lol Thanks. By the way, did some research and found out some of the dinosaurs' species names. President Chakron's for one, is a Styracosaurus. Captain Raptor, [obviously] a Utahraptor, and Professor Angleopotorous' is an oviraptor [egg-stealer. XD]. ]

It wasn't the first time Captain Raptor and his team were invited into the presidential palace. A couple times on occasion, in fact. Personally, Captain Raptor found the whole place too elaborate and showy. With all the things he and his team had gone through, it'd be more than he could bare to ask for something and then get it within the same minute. But he supposed it was just him on the matter. Captain Raptor also noticed something about the president; he was older. Well, given three years. But even that span of time seemed material for a Styracosaurus as solid as the president of Jurassica. Hunched over and with a walking stick that clacked against the marble floors, it gave Captain Raptor a brief run-down of what he thought regarding own self-image before mindlessly tossing the thought away. Being in space for so long, Captain Raptor also had a great enough understanding of time to know that it was natural for all dinosaurs.

President Chakron led them to a large pair of doors guarded by very two very stoic-looking ankylosauri. As if their clubbed tails and spiked faces weren't enough, their entire bodies were covered in an impenetrable suit of armor Captain Raptor knew must be a pain to move around in. They nodded respectfully at President Chakron, but the elderly dinosaur waved both them and his personal guards off. "Leave us," he said as the doors swung open for him.

"But sir, their weapons...?" One of them asked in an impossibly deep voice.

"I think we're all well aware of Captain Raptor and his team's loyalties, don't we?"

"Yes, but sir, I must protest --"

"Don't we?" President Chakron gripped his walking stick rather crushingly, his eyes seemingly the only thing powerful enough to bore holes through the ankylosaur's armor. Without any further persuasion, the guard backed down and nodded submissively. "Awesome. Now go have the necessary arrangements made to refuel Captain Raptor's ship."

"As you wish, sir."

As the guards left their presence and the four dinosaur's entered the president's private office, Threetoe leaned in to Brichthorous and whispered, "Did that old fossil just use the word 'awesome?'"

But before any answer could be made, President Chakron sank down on a large and luxurious chair and gestured at the others towards four large cushions set out before them. Each dinosaur respectively took a seat.

"As I'm sure you are aware, Captain Raptor, the details of this mission, should you choose to accept, are not permitted to leave this room."

"Quite understandably," Captain Raptor replied. "Though I feel I could make a better-informed decision if I knew what this mission was."

President Chakron clumsily put on a pair of peculiar-looking spectacles which only amplified the tone of his age; Captain Raptor inwardly bit his tongue. "You and your team have been on star patrol for the past three revolutions," he said, taking up a piece of paper and speaking down to it. "Tell me, have any major threats to our great system revealed itself during this duration?"

"None particularly noteworthy, sir." He looked around at his crew mates, who nodded in definite agreement. "It's quiet in space."

"Hmm. I know a dinosaur of your esteem would have second-nature thoughts about this, but I believe it would be in everyone's best interest for it to stay that way."

"Definitely, sir." Captain Raptor shifted around uncomfortably.

"That is why I have chosen you for a task of a certain kind of nature that has been brought to my attention." He lifted an arm to the door in which they had entered, "Mendestabar here has provided me with such intel and will be the one to brief you on this mission.

No dinosaur in the room needed to be told Mendestabar was coming, for even before the President raised his arm, a thumping pulsation in the ground foretold the coming of a rather gargantuan dinosaur. When the doors opened, all heads turned up as a whooping Carcharodontosaurus came thundering into the room. Having to duck its head low in order to gain entry, It came halfway into the room and sniffed around wearily, eying the team -- but specifically Captain Raptor -- with weary eyes. On its head was a helmet of some sort that covered the flat top and sides of its face, extending down the length of its back in the form of razor sharp, metallic spikes. The room was filled with a rumbling growl as the creature lifted the its upper lip to reveal an array of thick teeth, each with the potential to scrap any one of them.

Threetoe chirped. Captain Raptor revealed his own teeth, though it was in the form of a gaping jawdrop. Even Brichthorous seemed slightly intimidated. President Chakron, however, noisily cleared his throat. "Mendestabar, I'll have you know that this is a civilized meeting absent of any means of ill will."

"BUT THEY HAVE WEAPONS," the dinosaur thundered. The air itself seemed to shatter, and each of the the dinosaurs seemed to be struggling to keep their composure. Captain Raptor didn't think the creature was capable of talking in an inside voice; he was still trying to figure out what he was doing here.

"Yes," the President calmly said. "but blasters don't growl, nor act on any means other than a claw on the trigger. They aren't capable of swallowing us whole. You, on the other hand..."

Suddenly, a new voice called up from above. "It is by your word then, President Chakron, as well as your head." Just then, a miniature feathered raptor, an Archeopteryx, came swooping down from the top of the monster's head. It landed in front of the President's desk and bowed respectfully, though no one believed Chakron could see it; the dinosaur stood only slightly taller than halfway up Captain Raptor's legs. Upon completion of its bow, it turned and flapped its wings at the Carcharodontosaurus. "Leave us," it said.

The menacing creature swerved its head over to gaze unreadably at Captain Raptor before snorting out a puff of vapor from its flared nostrils and withdrawing the half of its body its managed to fit from the room. More thunderous footsteps were felt before finally dying off in the distance. After which, the doors slammed shut again.

"Captain Raptor Squadron," President Chakron said formally. "May I introduce... Mendestabar."

The three-foot dinosaur turned to the four others in the room and smiled.




[For reference purposes, I've posted referred images to the two new dinosaurs introduced in this post. XD]


Carcharodontosaurus


Archaeopteryx

Master Sargent Brichorous' eyes widened. He made a point to keep up with those who are in charge in the armed forces of Jurassica, and Mendestabar, he knew, was the head of the Intelligence Division. He made a brief bow before Mendestabar began.

"My good dinosaurs," he began, "this top-secret mission will require you to travel a great distance," he explained, producing a remote control from his pocket and clicking a button on it. Immediately, a hologram of Jurassica's system appeared behind him. After another click of the remote, the hologram of the planets quickly zoomed away, and then stopped at a much further away system, focusing in on a gray planet that none of Captain Raptor's crew were familiar with.

"This," Mendestabar explained, "is the planet Ionathon."

"What significance does that have to Jurassica?" the Professor inquired.

"We have strong diplomatic ties with this planet," the Intelligence chief stated, "both in terms of economy and military. Being our ally the furthest away from us, they basically serve as our preliminary early warning system for that side of the galaxy. Though, this is a fact that very few people on either planet are allowed to know. Your patrol mission up until now was for the other side of the galaxy, so don't feel that it was at all meaningless," he added, noting the scowl that appeared on Master Sargent Brichorous' face.

"The government here," Mendestabar continued, "is becoming unstable," he clicked the remote showing a street view of both dinosaurs and the native species of the planet hurling rocks, bricks, and whatever else they could find, at windows of government buildings, and police-saurs attempting to fend them off and keep order with anything from stun sticks to blasters. "The revolutionary group behind all of this," he continued, "is attempting to take control of the government and appears to also want to sever all diplomatic ties with us once he does so. This could mean one of two things," he added, "either it won't allow us to have any intel from that corner of the galaxy, which indirectly helps our enemies out there, to get the jump on us or-"

"...they directly attack us outright, if they really hate us that much for whatever reason," the Professor finished, "But why? What does this revolutionary group have against us that could provoke that?"

"We're not entirely certain about their motives," Mendestabar conceded, "though the most probable theories are that they, like the pirates three years ago, want the gold in the palace, or that they see our diplomatic relationship with Ionathon as a form of tyranny."

"Or the leader of this revolution is a complete megalomaniac," added Brichorous, "Maybe he just wants to build an empire that he controls."

"I would appreciate it if you'd keep your remarks to yourself, from now on, Master Sargent," Mendestabar ordered.

Brichorous shut up and stayed quiet for the rest of the time.

"Your mission," Mendestabar concluded, "is to put a halt to this revolution by any means necessary, find out what gave this revolutionary group such influence among the masses, capture or kill the leaders of it, and make sure our military installation on Ionathon is still operational. I have here cards for all of you that will grant you clearance to the base once you get there," he added, holding up four cards with each of their pictures on them.

"Now," President Chakron finished, "whether you accept or not, none of this information is to leave this room, as stated before, do I make myself clear? It's a matter of planetary security."

"Yes sir!" all four of the crewmen affirmed.

"Well, then, I only have to ask if you accept! So, do you, Captain?"

Politics wasn't exactly Captain Raptor's strongest point. Had it been, he'd probably less of the dinosaur he was now. All the time Mendestabar was explaining the background behind their mission, he'd been trying to wave off a small glint of umbrage, harbored by the fact that there were still Jurassican ties he and his team had been kept in the dark about. When paired with the expectation to use lethal force when called for, Captain Raptor suddenly realized he had more qualms about this than he originally thought.

"What's wrong with just sending more reinforcements to suppress the civil unrest?" he asked.

Mendestabar shook his head. "Much too dangerous. Everyone would get the wrong idea about us if they found out their government was receiving help from a relation they aren't even aware about. As a third-party force, it is imperative that we appear as though we're not there to take sides."

"You say for us to prevent a rebellion," the Utahraptor said with narrowed eyes. "But I think what you really need us to act as is your spy." The upfront challenge of Mendestabar's request was met with a brief hiatus of silence in which only Brichthorous broke when a small gasped escaped him. It was then Captain Raptor turned to the other in charge. "President Chakron, my squadron is an emergency response directive -- not a military platoon, not mercenaries for hire, and certainly not a peace corp, as Mendestabar here is making it seem."

"Your squadron," Presiden Chakron said, leaning back in his chair, "is an assurance of security within the Jurassica star system."

"Within," Captain Raptor snapped. "And no one knows our system better than my own navigator, Lieutenant Threetoe." He turned to the stout, green dinosaur. "Are you familiar with this planet Ionathon?"

Poor Lieutenant Threetoe was at a loss, bending to the stares of Mendestabar, President Chakron, and his own Captain Raptor before squeaking out a response no one could hear coherently. So instead he shook his head.

"You cannot treat neither myself nor my team so expendably. We are not responsible for uprisings that occur outside our respective domain!" he exclaimed.

"Careful, Captain." President Chakron spoke dangerously calm, the hand on his walking stick beginning to throb under his crushing grip. His beady eyes drilled straight into the captain, no one in the room would bring themselves to gaze at either of them.

Captain Raptor lowered his stare and took a submissive step back, settling himself back down into one of the cushions. "Forgive me, Mr. President."

"You are the best at what you do," President Chakron said, his grip loosening. "And that is the sole reason why your team has been considered to carry out this operation. However, if you're not interested, our resortment would have to be to explore our other options. And I assure you, Captain... we have made other considerations."

Captain Raptor felt outright dominated. His eyes were locked to the floor and he spoke in a deep, soft undertone. "I... would like to request some time to thoroughly evaluate the matters at hand with my team."

President Chakron nodded. "You have until the end of the day to come to a decision." He lifted his arm, and with that, the large doors from which they entered were then used to invite him out. Captain Raptor took whatever pride he could muster and began to step out, but not before the president called out to him.

Captain Raptor stopped.

"You and your team are the best, Raptor. I mean that."

The captain turned and lowered his head in a respectful half-bow. And then he proceeded to head out, Threetoe, Brichthorous, and Angleoptorus following solemnly in his wake.

As the four walked out of the room and into the grand hallway of the palace, Professor Angleoptorus stopped the rest of the group in the middle. "Listen," he said, "I can understand why you feel like we're being used right now, but think about it! Our mission is to protect Jurassica as best we can. If we wait until these guys come and attack us, their numbers will very likely be far more than we can handle in space!"

"He's right," added Bricthorous, "from a tactical standpoint, it's best to eliminate a very imminent threat such as this while it's small. A bit pre-emptive? Yeah, somewhat, I agree, but would you really rather wait to fight off a large armada in space just in front of Jurassica?"

"If we don't do this now, we might as well hire a bunch of mercenaries to help us when this rebel fleet inevitably comes. Our loyalties still lie here, to the President, Captain," explained Angleoptorus, "dissent may be a higher form of patriotism, but not doing this mission would let down not just the president, but the dinosaurs of Jurassica, as well!"

"We are, if you remember," noted Sgt. Bricthorous, "the go-to saurs for high-profile missions. Hey, didn't we have to leave the system to chase after those pirates? This can't be all that different, right?"

"The only difference being is that they came to us first," Captain Raptor countered, continuing on and letting the others follow. "I don't know," he said, slightly turning his head off to the side. "Maybe I just don't like how easily Mendestabar ordered us to kill the rebel leaders, if it ever came to such a measure... political scoundrels. It's easy for them to say when the blood is on another dinosaur's claws."

"If I may be so bold," Threetoe said quietly. He'd been lagging a short distance behind the others, and when Captain Raptor turned back to him, he noticed the troubled countenance on the small dinosaur's face.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

All four of them stopped, and Threetoe lowered his neck to the ground remorsefully. "The planet Mendestabar spoke of. Ionathon, it was. Well... I lied when I said I didn't know where it was."

The three others all looked at one another, then back at Threetoe, expecting him to continue. Captain Raptor did his best to understand how his Lieutenant must be feeling, and so he snuffed out any hard feelings about his lying.

"I first came across Ionathon while studying the path of a very famous meteor that collided into it a few years ago. Right as we were deployed on star patrol, actually. It was big news then, because the meteor was tens of thousands of years old, and changes in the gravitational pull of nearby planets and stars caused it to alter its primordial course and crash into Ionathon. Apparently, it's been known that this was going to happen, but nothing was done about it, seeing that the meteor wasn't very big and didn't cause a lot of damage."

"What's the point of all this?" growled Brichthorous.

"Yield, Master Sergent. Lieutenant, continue."

Threetoe cleared his throat. "Ionathon -does- lie outside the Jurassican star system, though not very far form it. About 37.4 megameters [mega = 1 million] outside from the boundaries."

Captain Raptor put a claw to his chin. "Hmm. So you're saying this may well be a quick in-and-out?"

"Well... I'm not entirely sure stopping a civil war would be a quick fix, Captain, but the sector in which Ionathon lies is notorious for its lawlessness. Space pirates like the ones we were lucky to apprehend three years ago usually hover a short radius outside our star system, where they know they'll be safe to sell their loot, yet close enough to get right back into business again."

"So now you're saying it's too dangerous?"

"I'm saying... to be cautious. Unlike Mendestabar, I wouldn't withhold anything from anyone here if they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Honest!"

The last remark elicited questionable glances from the other two dinosaurs present, but Captain Raptor gave his nod of approval. "I know, Lieutenant. Thank you."

"Captain," pursued Threetoe. "I love Jurassica. We all do. And as much as we hate it, if keeping it safe means playing by someone else's rules and putting the claw down on someone... quite frankly... I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it but us."

Captain Raptor regarded him for a moment, and then the others, whose silent gazes and nods told him that their feelings were mirrored by what Threetoe had said. He couldn't deny himself that Jurassica meant more to him than anything. Better now, they take the fight there, instead of risk it spreading here tenfold later. Deep down, the captain was aware of the decision he was going to make even before he stepped out of President Chakron's office. But now, he was certain. Now he knew why they'd be willing to take on such a mission...

...because they trusted no one else to.

Captain Raptor knew he had to get over his pride in letting his squadron be used for such a task. He knew he had to get over the fear the sometime, he may have to get his claws dirty. Because if he let someone else do it, what heroes would that make them? No. Captain Raptor had to stop thinking about himself and regard the sacrifices they may have to make so that others wouldn't have to. That's what made them the best. That's why they were considered first. And that's why Captain Raptor nodded back to all his loyal crew mates and said, "We have a day to spend on Jurassica before we depart on Mendestabar's mission. Let's all go get something to drink."




[SCENE SHIFT - The next post will take place the following morning, as Captain Raptor and his elite squadron get ready for launch.]

(I do remember that roleplay... but man, that was a LOOOOOOOONG time ago! But perhaps we could RP sometime. I'm in two RPs, including this one, at the moment, but I might be able to find some time later on. And I'm glad you're enjoying this RP! ^^)

"Personal weapons stored... the ship's blasters are clean, charged, and loaded, exterior is in tip-top shape... we're good at this sector!" exclaimed Master Sgt. Brichthorous.

"Hyperdrive fully functional, landing gear operational, shield generator at full fuel level, engines are well-oiled, fuel is at maximum capacity," noted the Professor, "we're good to go on this end, too!"

"All right, then," said the Captain, "let's get moving, saurs!"

Nodding excitedly, the Master Sgt. and the Professor trotted into the ship, briefly turning around to salute President Chakron before they entered the ship.

Inside, Brichthorous inspected the weapons rack, which held a wide array of blasters that could very easily be picked up, clicked to the "on" position, and fired, should they ever need them.

Professor Angleoptorous went to the dashboard on the right side of the ship, double-checking the computer and navigational equipment, and using it to also double-check on the ship's status and initiating the pre-takeoff procedures.

"All systems go!" he cried out, "We're ready when you are, Captain!"

Captain Raptor was striding along the bridge as his crew mates ran off their respective checklists. Every time one of them gave the go for one of their systems, he would grunt in reply. One by one, they listed off and sounded off until the captain stopped by the last member.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

"The coordinates Mendestabar gave us have been inputted into the console," Lieutenant Threetoe said. "I've referenced them Checked, double-checked, and checked again."

Captain Raptor nodded. "Gentlesaurs, it looks like we're ready for launch. Everyone fasten your seatbelts."

As everyone situated themselves into each of their positions, the screen flickered to life again. President Chakron was looking at them, his eyes glittering with reverence. "The planet of Jurassica cannot thank you enough for your devotion to the safety of our great system, Captain Raptor Squadron."

"Just doing our jobs," Captain Raptor said out in front of him, for he could not twist around to gaze around at the screen.

Mendestabar appeared on the screen, his voice as recognizably high-pitched and bird-like as they remembered him from the day before. "Once you get to our military instillation on Ionathon, use the security passes I gave you to gain clearance through the defense systems. From there, I trust the leading authorities will fill you and your team in on what needs to be done."

"Hm."

"I know President Chakron has already expressed his gratitude to you, but I would personally like to extend my own thanks for your taking up this mission. The fate of Jurassica rests in your claws, Captain Raptor."

"I am not my own team, Mendestabar. Please, hold the pleasantries until after we've returned successfully."

"Oh, I've no doubt in my mind that you will," Mendestabar replied in a tone that made Captain Raptor want to cran his neck to gaze at the screen. However, before he could, the screen flicked off and the console's alert system rang in their heads: "Launch sequence initiated. Take-off will commence in T-minus ten seconds."

"Here we go," Threetoe squeaked, his tiny arms wrapped tightly around his straps.

Captain Raptor had been in many launches, and every time, it felt exhilarating. He enjoyed the feeling of having his heart leap up to his throat and his stomach turning on over, contrary to what most dinosaurs might feel. In no time at all, the ship had lifted off the ground and was speeding up, back towards the stars. Captain Raptor felt a little sad to be leaving Jurassica so soon, and made a mental note to himself to request some much-deserved time off once they came back from this crazy mission.

He was convinced he'd made the right decision in taking up the mission... so why did he still have a horrible sense of trepidation churning deep within his bowels?