ERS Medusa: "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."
The ERS Medusa is a private player ship, with median difficulty and a roleplaying focus. It deals with personnel problems, cultural exploration, and bizarre science, with an emotive tone. Its captain is Patton Abrashoff.
The ERS Medusa is nominally a Daimajin-class Star Destroyer vessel, but it is the most unique ship in the fleet. After it was disabled due to enemy action, the Medusa Project sought to get the ship back into space through the addition of Praezorian and Tardek technologies and systems, as using salvaged systems and sheeting from the disabled ERS Chupacabra. At its second launch, the Medusa was limping but capable, carrying only a fraction of a Destroyer's normal capacity. Its commissioned officers were in disgrace but eager to prove themselves and rehabilitate their reputations; its engineers were pressganged from One Republic, and its Science section featured an ethically-questionable civilian genius.
The Medusa was sent to explore the Xi Sector. During this period, it met the Cadalians and its crew were inducted into their culture. The Cadalians gave biotech to the Medusa in the form of large and small irken, which have incorporated themselves into ship functions and made up for some of the shortfalls in the Medusa's rehabilitation. The Medusa assisted the Cadalians against a sinister force known as the Dead, before discovering that the Ginali homeworld at Ixion had been devastated by the Dead fleet. The Medusa traveled home to carry word of the Dead and to put together assistance for the Ginali.
In its second arc, the Medusa fleet, including the ERS Phoenix and the Cetian ship Dialectic, as well as several transports full of aid and supplies, traveled to the Ginali homeworld to provide humanitarian assistance. Building a repair station at Ixion, the Medusa was able to replace its reactor at last. When the Ginali were again threatened by the Dead, the Medusa fought the Dead fleet and warded away the disastrous explosion of a nearby star.
When Earth was directly attacked by the Z in 2156, the Medusa returned alone to Earth in order to defend it. At that time, it was ironically the only undamaged and fighting-fit Star Destroyer left protecting Republic space.
In July 2156, the Medusa relaunched to explore the Bridge Sector and forge a path to Cadalian space with the Exigent-class ship Dialectic of the Astral Directorate.
Crew
Commanding Officer: Captain Patton Abrashoff
Executive Officer: Lieutenant-Commander Søra Kuromoto
Third Officer: In its second tenure, the ship has had a number of nominal third officers, but the first one of note (as of 2156) is Lieutenant Cassidy Barca.
DAISS Officer: Medusa's previous DAISS ensigns include Mari Zelle, now a lieutenant and CO of an escort. The Medusa's current DAISS officer is nominally the Kalisar irken Sashta.
Chief Engineer: De jure Chief is Corporal Hank Mort, son of Dr. Havilah Mort. De facto Chief of Engineering is Corporal Kaino Qinisa.
Chief of Science: Dr. Terra Thorn, a civilian.
Former Crew: Until April of 2156, one of Medusa's most steadfast and important crew members was vas'Tri'el, a member of the Astral Directorate. She operated in Science and later assisted on the bridge as an honorary officer.
Starfighters
For much of the Medusa's tenure before and after its destruction, its starfighters were known as the Asp Wing. However, as the ship has modified and much of the hangar has been given over to Cadalian biotech, its starfighters have largely been replaced wholesale by Warfliers, which are pterodactyl-like irken capable of flying in space in packs of five and shooting tassat from their mouths. They hunt much like wolves, and can be grown in the Medusa's lab, but also need regular training and field exercises (usually encouraged with big juicy steaks).
Irken
Tiny Irken
Umos: Medical irken. Umos are very intelligent and, with time, can achieve some telepathy and thus communicative potential. The ship has three Umos, one of which (Mmmfzd) can communicate effectively, and another (Nnfrzt) which was created on-ship by Lt.Cmdr Kuromoto to be more comfortable with human anatomy and metal, and more advanced in terms of speech. The third Umos, Drrfzd, is the most typical of Umos technology on Cadalia, and it is not particularly communicative. All Umos are about a yard long, blue, fuzzy, and caterpillar-like, with lots of legs; to walk on metal, they have been equipped with specially-made booties.
Bulon: Bulon are endocrine irken who regulate the hormones, health, and overall effectiveness of all irken systems. They are small and worm-like, each being about the length of a human finger. They may be used to soothe other irken or to help give commands, and perform feeding and cleaning functions. The ship has approximately 4000 of them, with an additional 100 or so that are hypoallergenic to Dakluti, created especially to be so by Lt.Cmdr. Kuromoto; as an independent type, she has named them Dakbulon. Bulon are too numerous to be named, though the XO has been taking notes on their appearance and begun to construct a taxonomy.
Juhoog: Engineering irken. Juhoog are efficient problem-solvers and assist in the upkeep of irken systems, as well as helping human engineers incorporate Cadalian and human technology. Unlike the Umos, Juhoog do not have personalized and independent names, but are instead named for their "lines," and hence their teams. Juhoog come in teams of five, of which the Medusa has three (with a fourth being built). The teams are: XoXo (1-5; XoXo 3 died in a Dead attack in 2155), VenXo (1-5), and MaXo (1-5). The fourth team will be named KuXo (1-5).
Verdrao: Messenger irken. The Verdrao act as unrooted routers, amplifying the Kalisar's psychic signals and feedback signals around the ship to help irken coordinate and synchronize. Their appearance is bat-like, and Medusa possesses three. There are currently no plans to make more yet.
Big Irken
Kalisar: A Kalisar is absolutely necessary for irken systems and functions as a kind of brain for the ship; for Cadalian ships, it essentially is the ship. Onboard the Medusa, the ship's Kalisar (Sashta) is responsible for the coordination and functionality of all irken-based systems, and he can be spoken to generally on the bridge. Because of a neurological quirk, Sashta loves the Earth and feels very strange about the tiny irken, even having antisocial impulses to hurt them.
Kadan: The Kadan is a tree-like irken that acts as a reactor for all Cadalian systems, producing a special form of power that they require to operate. It does not speak but appears to have feelings, like a complex mammal, and is sensitive to the ship's condition.
Warflier: The Warfliers are pterodactyl-like flying irken that hunt in specialized packs and act as Starfighters. The Medusa has fifteen, and the XO is growing a sixteenth. They hunt in packs of five, and have team names as granted by the XO: Team Kali, Team Gorgon, and Team Cobra. The fourth team will be named Team Aegis.
Ship-Based Organs
Tassat Launcher: The tassat launcher may be operated from a console on the bridge, thanks to an Earth-Cadalian technological interface, and it allows a member of the crew so trained to launch tassat crystals at enemy ships. Growing tassat crystals with the proper training can refill its ammunition load.
Hyperspace Organ: The hyperspace organ is a supplemental hyperspace drive system that allows the Medusa to properly and effectively traverse hyperspace, without resorting to Tardek or Praezorian versions of the same. It is operated in conjunction with the bridge console system while coordinating with the ship's Kalisar.
Mottoes and Alternative Names
The Medusa has lived two lives, a fact that makes it unique among Star Destroyers. In its first incarnation, the ship's motto was "Communitate Valemus," or "Together We Are Strong." It was considered bad luck to send it out again with the same motto under which it was destroyed. A plaque now hangs in a central corridor of the ship leading to the bridge (where the captain went down with his vessel), which reads "Communitate Valemus" and features pictures of the crew who died during Medusa's first destruction. These represent a celebration of life and service, as well as a humbling reminder of what the "final sacrifice" can mean in the Star Navy. There is also a small portion of this motto still emblazoned onto the exterior of the ship's hull, showing clearly how much devastation the hull underwent during the ship's destruction.
In its second life, the inaugural crew chose for Medusa the new motto "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," a saying that is manifestly true of both the new Medusa and its crew, who have modified the ship ceaselessly in order to help it function and even excel beyond its original design parameters. Some joking names for the Medusa amongst its crew (and among the ERSN in general) are the ERS Chimera and the ERS Frankenstein's Monster.
The crew has given the Medusa several unofficial mottoes during their time, but the one that has stuck the most is "Get Out and Push," in reference to the ship's crippled systems for its first mission after being revived and sent back into space, and the sometimes jury-rigged nature of making it work.
Because the ship was brought back to life in no small part due to the salvage and parts from the ERS Chupacabra, the Chupacabra's joking slogan "chup chup" can be found carved into a piece of the bulkhead in one of the Medusa's operational bunkrooms, and it is traditional to offer a toast to the Chupacabra in the mess on Saturdays (the day of the week on which the Chupacabra was disabled).