Elite roleplay: Off station

OFF STATION

Your ship, deep space, anything that is not happening inside the Citi Gateway or Ingaba...

General Roleplay Etiquette:

1. Control only the actions of your own character(s). (AKA: God Mode)
This doesn't matter how small the action is, even if it is as simple as scratching their nose or a direct reaction to something else that just happened. This applies to everything from casual conversation to full blown fight scenes. If you'd like someone to do something specific, PM that person, however keep in mind they are completely within their rights to say no. Especially if said action is inappropriate to their character and/or circumstance.

2. Don't brute force your way into another persons RP.
Approaching with a conversation starter is fine, or indeed some other small action. However charging in, guns blazing and disrupting the flow of another person/pair/groups conversation/arc is about as rude as doing so in real life. If something is going on that you'd like to participate in, be subtle about it. Put out a gentle hook for someone to take, but again, be aware that said hook may not be taken. If you fear it was simply unnoticed, PM the person or people it concerns. Or even leave a message in the OOC forums.

3. Good grammar and spelling is preferred.
We're not asking you to be perfect, but please at least demonstrate willingness. no1 iz gna tak u srsly usng txt spk. There's a wide variety of people here, many who speak English as a second, or even third language. There are even some with varying degrees of dyslexia and/or likely other issues that affect spelling/grammar. We accept them all here. However, people who aren't accepted, are those unwilling to accept polite correction. Remember that even a small thing like the placement of a comma, or the wrong use of there/their/they're can completely change the definition of an entire sentence.

4. Accept constructive criticism gracefully and politely.
If someone spots an issue with your writings, they may wish to help you improve that writing. They may do this through PM or even publicly air their thoughts on the OOC forum. If they have taken the time to be polite and explain what is wrong with your writing, the best way to behave is to respond in kind, using the same manner they have approached you with. It means they have taken an active interest in what you have written and wish to see more. Basically, you have a fan!

5. Don't take the actions or opinions of things done IN RP, to be directly relevant to the writers thoughts or opinions.
Basically, if some ones character calls your character a jackass, it doesn't mean the writer thinks you are a jackass. It's a ROLE they are PLAYING. Watch a movie. The argument between the characters isn't an argument between the actors involved. The same applies here.

6. It's not a popularity contest.
Your RP might be bustling with participants. You have 3 people off station in a fire fight, while another 2 are infiltrating the darkest areas of the station, meanwhile a group of 4 others are tracking your movements in an effort to stop you. Good for you, I'm sure it will be a thrilling read! But you know what? Sometimes the absolute BEST work, comes from two RP characters having a simple heart to heart. Both are valid, both are great, but NEITHER is categorically better than the other. Period.


Inara RP Etiquette:

1. Respect the setting and rules of the universe.
Inara is an Elite: Dangerous 3rd Party Tool. The RP Forums are set in the Elite: Dangerous universe. Elite: Dangerous has rules, as any fictional universe does from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars, or Game of Thrones to Star Trek. If you intend to RP within the Elite: Dangerous universe you are bound by the history and rules of that universe. Simply put, this RP forum is bound by the same rules as the game, so if it can't be done in the game, it is not permitted here. This applies to things from a 50Ly Jump Range on a normal, unmodified Sidewinder, to the destruction of entire stations.

2. Respect the characters created by others.
We have a wide variety of characters already here. It's expected that some will be similar, just as it's expected that two characters will be vastly different. Opinions of each persons character will naturally be varied, but all are valid provided they follow the rules of the universe. You are allowed to interact with, or avoid interaction with, any character in the RP forums. But you have no right to belittle others for their creation. You are not an authority figure on writing, nor are you directly affected by another persons imagination. You might not like it, but you MUST respect it.

3. Be caught up on current events before joining in.
You need basic things like character descriptions in order to interact with them. You also need to know what's going on in the surrounding areas. This is simply because the people you are hoping to RP with, might be gearing up to something that you might not want to be part of. Or simply that the most recent post, out of context, could leave a different impression on the goings on than if you gather that context. We don't expect you to read every single post from the beginning of the forums, just enough to get that basic understanding.

4. Either subscribe to, or frequently check, the Roleplay: Q&A and OOC forum.
People may be discussing something relevant to you there, or even discussing you directly. Perhaps someone asked what the general consensus on the existence or non-existence of a certain object. Or we're just chatting about random gibberish. Either way, be aware of it and use it. If you're unsure about something, such as how guns would look and or behave, or even the music selection, use the OOC forum to ask. We don't have all of the answers, but the collective knowledge and logic usually allows us to overcome an issue and come to a decision on what should be allowed. Frontier Developments, and even David Braben himself, don't have the answers to every possible question that can be asked.

5. Large Scale events exploding out of nowhere are a complete no go.
We get it. Everyone wants their character to be noticed and for people to be tripping over themselves to interact with them. In some audiences, an introduction involving you blasting in for landing in a fiery wreckage of a ship, before cart wheeling out and sword fighting 35 Ninjas before whisking off with the local celebrity for a glorious night of passion, is in fact, cool. This is not one of those audiences. It is generally considered better to build your character up slowly over time. Eventually, you might even have a legitimate excuse to fight those Ninjas. Maybe even with other RP participants by your side.

6. Perfect characters are boring.
The point of a character arc, is that it is in fact, an arc shape. One who is morally unquestionable, fully kitted out and an infinite fountain of knowledge, cannot go through an arc. Give your character flaws. Be it a tendency towards befriending the wrong people, or a bad knee that frequently gives out at inopportune moments. It gives readers something to latch onto and empathise with. You can give your character exceptional capabilities at something, but it requires balance. She's a damn good pilot with no equal, but can't drive an SRV for peanuts. It can lead to some very interesting moments between characters, be it heartfelt or comedic.


Other Notes:
It should be noted that there can be exceptions to these points. For example, good grammar when a character is speaking is actually rare. Few people in real life actually speak with perfect eloquence after all. Or previously arranged actions during a fight scene, such as someone stumbling back after a punch. What's key to remember is context.

All in all, remember this is purely for fun. We have some seriously talented writers here, and others whose writing history starts and ends at high school. But many are willing to help out in whatever way they can. All it takes is that you ask nicely.

Also keep in mind that many people who RP here, also have logbook stories related to the character, or characters, they portray. If it looks like there's an "in joke" going on that you're unsure of, it's probably in those.

In fact, some users have even gone to the trouble of creating "alts" to RP with. If you read back far enough, it's usually pretty clear who has and hasn't, and which ones are the "alts". It's therefore not unheard of to see the apparent seizing of control of other characters. If you do spot one, point it out in the OOC section. If intervention is needed, it will be sorted quickly and (hopefully) politely.

Most, if not all RP participants here have Logbook stories pertaining to their character(s). These are for the reading pleasure of anyone who wishes to do so. While it can be useful to read them in order to gain a bit of backstory on a character you wish to interact with, it should not be assumed that your character shares that knowledge. Within the E:D Universe, these Logbooks either don't exist, or are private diaries kept by the characters. Either way, without explicit statements to say otherwise from the writer, your interactions should reflect that your character is in the dark about any information you, the writer/reader, have gained from reading the stories.
Khelan
05 Sep 2019, 11:41pm
The Prid arrives in the Tionisla system, Khelan sets course for the Orbital Graveyard and engages supercruise. He gets up from his chair, cracks his neck and heads off out of the cockpit to his room.

Inside he opens a door built into the wall and carefully takes out a plain black bag that was hanging inside. He places the contents onto his bunk and starts to change into the tailored suit that was in the bag. He pulls off his ancient t-shirt revealing a torso covered in a mixture of intricate tattoos and scars. They get covered by the crisp white shirt and then by a simple slim metallic black tie.

Khelan looks at his wristblade and debates putting it on for a few moments before putting it back onto his bed and shrugging on the black suit jacket.

"Well look at you looking all respectable for once." comes the soft voice of Omi from the doorway "Not at all like the scruff my father warned me about before we first met."

"Really?" responds Khelan "Yer da warned ye aboot me?"

"Only that you needed to get a long hot shower with plenty of soap and your clothes needed a good washing or preferably incinerated."

"Well in ma defence Ah'd just goat oota jail because of the shite he hid me haulin fur him. So ma appearance an odour wis partly his fault." Khelan smiles at her.

She smiles softly.

"I miss him." she whispers

"Ah dae too, but Ah'll tell ye somethin he'll always be wi ye an as long as ye dinnae forget him he'll always be wi ye."

"He always said that ye wur his proudest achievement, everything he did wis fur ye. He telt me that if it wisnae fur you he'd have been dead a lang time ago. Ye gave him the strength tae bend his wee part of the bubble tae his will."

"Commander." interrupts Leo "We've arrived at the Orbital Graveyard. Do you want me to start docking proceedings or do you want to do it?"

"Oan ye go Leo, Ah'll be up tae the cockpit in a wee bit."

Khelan looks at Omi and gives her a hug.

"Time tae go dock this big beasty, Ah'd let Maul dae it but he'd probably ram us intae the port oar something." he says with his trademark smile before heading out the room and up towards the cockpit.
EvilCreamsicle
06 Sep 2019, 11:56pm
Falcon15e
EC welcomes her onto the Arbiter. "Now the fun beings."


"Check this out!" EC says excitedly, leading Kaisla toward the cargo hold.

"Should I be concerned?" she replies, following him and watching as he begins to climb down the hatch.

At the bottom, Echo is cleaning up some of the mess of tools and remnants from dicing up the guardian artifact and building a cryo pod into it. He looks over at EC with a tired but proud grin before finding a home for a large piece of scrap he was holding.

"OK what is it?" Kai says, reaching the bottom of the ladder.

"Check it out!" he points at the cannibalized Guardian artifact. Echo had done a good job disguising it. It wouldn't hold up under intense scrutiny but at a glance, you wouldn't notice the difference.

"No way, is that the thing? The completed thing?"

"Yeah! Let me open it up!" Echo says, hurrying over to the object and flipping open a discreet panel on the side, and pressing a few buttons on the panel it concealed. There is a hiss as the pressure vents, and a large section on the top flips open like a hatch lid, revealing the innards of the pod.

"Awesome." Kaisla says.
"How are we both going to fit?"

"Uh... its a one person pod." EC says, confused.

Kai raises an eyebrow at him.
"You're really gonna go board a large enemy ship, possibly even a capital ship or something, and clear it bottom to top all by yourself without raising an alarm?"

"I... uh..." EC looked defeated.
"I guess I didn't think that far ahead."

"OK, well, then we need to figure out how we're both going to fit."

"We also need to find a way to actually bait the ambush." Echo interjects.

"Lamb is good at that rusey espionagey disguisey stuff, you think she has any ideas?" EC asks Kaisla, who shrugs.

EC walks over to a display perched on one of the workbenches and opens a camera feed of the bridge, where Raven was sitting with headphones in doing something at one of the screens. He launches the intercom and speaks.

"Raven! Send a message to Lamb for me."

Raven doesn't stir. EC shouts louder into the intercom.

"RAVEN!"

On the feed, Raven jumps and pulls out one ear of his headphones.

"Yeah boss what's up?"

"Are you still listening to that trivia dump from the Conduit escape?" EC asks accusingly

"YEAH! It's amazing! Did you know elephants have prehensile penises?"

"DUDE... what? What the hell? What am I supposed to do with that information? Don't answer that. Send a message to the hand, tell Lamb we're ready to bait the ambush, and that her particular talents could come in very handy."

"Ok, on it." Raven says, replacing his headphones.

EC turns to face Echo and Kai, unsure whether to laugh or facepalm his skull in half.
Maul Montresor
07 Sep 2019, 4:24pm
Khelan"Time tae go dock this big beasty, Ah'd let Maul dae it but he'd probably ram us intae the port oar something." he says with his trademark smile before heading out the room and up towards the cockpit.


Maul sits in the cockpit alone patting out a rhythm on his legs as Leo begins docking procedures.

He turns at the sound of the door opening. Vega nods at him and walks up next to him to look out of the canopy.

"How're you feeling?" Maul asks.

Vega sighs. "Considering everything that's happened I'd say I'm alright...not good but just...alright."

Maul nods.

"What about you? It doesn't look like Omi kicked your ass too bad." She says with a sarcastic tone.

Maul lightly punches her arm. "Shut up."
Khelan
08 Sep 2019, 11:31pm
Khelan wanders into the cockpit and carefully sits in the pilots chair. He turns to Maul and smiles.

"Omi must be getting soft in her auld age, Ah wis expectin ye tae be hiv been slapped so hard yer kid's wid be coming oot stunned. Although she did dae a number oan yer face..... Naw wait a minute yer still the same ugly basturd ye've always been. Widdae ye think Vera?"

Vega snarls slightly at Khelan but smiles afterwards.

"It's Vega actually." she retorts "But you're right it's a bit hard to tell sometimes."

"Oh aye so it is, please accept ma apologies fur gettin yer name wrang Verity" he says with a smile.

"Either of ye ever been tae an Orbital Graveyard afore?" he asks conversationally "How it works is we dock at the port here an transfer tae a wee shuttle that'll take us tae Shin's site, we'll then get oor comms linked tae the Priests service an Shin's ship will get towed tae it's final restin place. The Priest will conduct his service an we listen, we say oor goodbyes and then afore we head back tae the Prid Ah've goat tae visit somewan else. Then we head home an ye can find oot if Dr Kojima his managed tae figure oot how tae heal up yer case of galloping knob rot that ye picked up oan that station just afore Ah fired ye at that majestic class interdictor." he says the last part with a bit of a smile on his face "Ah mean, ye were punching above yer weight there wi that wee burd mate oar did ye pay her fur it? Ye can tell us we're all pals here."

Vega takes a step back from Maul and looks at him slightly horrified by what Khelan has said while Khelan tries not to burst out laughing at her response. He distracts himself by taking over from the docking computer and lining up with the port manually.

The Prid gently docks at the port and an access tunnel comes out from the port to connect with a hatch just behind the cockpit.

"Ah'll get you two inside the port" he says before getting up from the pilot's chair. "There's a wee place inside where ye can rent yersel a suit if ye need wan."

He heads out of the cockpit to meet Omi and then head into the port.

Vega looks at Maul.

"So galloping knob rot eh?" she says half jokingly. "When were you planning on telling me about that?"
Falcon15e
08 Sep 2019, 11:32pm
Everybody sits demurely around the central table on the Hand. Raven leans back, picking at “something” under his fingernails. Echo checks the bandages on his hands to ensure they’re not seeping onto the Hand’s furniture. Kai absently spins a stylus through her fingers, feet kicked up on the table deep in thought. EC crouches over his data slate writing ideas and then scratching them out.

Raven glances at Echo. “Dude, did you change? Where did you get those clothes?”

“These?” Echo tugs at his button up shirt. “I’ve always had this. Just never makes sense to wear it working on the ship or spacing pirates is all.”

Raven leans forward. “Did you *shave* and comb your hair?!”

Echo looks defensive. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Jesus Christ man! You trying to impress someone?” Raven snorts, leaning back digging more aggressively at his nails.

Echo turns several shades of scarlet, “No, but there ain’t no point in cleaning up for you lot! Ms. Mercy has us over for tea and I figure we owe her as much to at least celebrate it by lookin’ nice and havin’ good manners!”

Kai and Raven sit, mouths open exchanging glances before staring at Echo. EC cuts in, “Hey you two! Enough, I’m trying to think....Raven, stop gawking, Echo, you look fine. Now both of you quit your squawking.”

Lambast enters the room, a tea serving tray in hand. She pauses a moment and surveys the room. Everyone glances in her direction. She approaches the table, using her hips, nudges Kai’s feet off the table, sets the tray down and tuts at EC for having his elbows on the table. She begins passing out cups, saucers and setting out the biscuits. She pauses when she gets to Echo....

“Why Mr. Echo, you look simply dashing.” She sets down his saucer, cup and then another smaller jar of jam.

Echo fumbles in his lap for a moment before finally snatching a lighting-speed glance at Lambast before muttering, “S’thank you, umm...mumble mumble, nice mumble...”

Lambast continues around the table setting out tea and fixings. Everybody sits and stares at Echo. Kai, Raven and EC now all exchange conspiratorial glances. Ravens eyes dart down to his lap as he hurriedly jams a messages out on his slate.

“Do you think.....nah....” Ravens message scrolls across EC’s slate.

“We’ve worked together for *years* and he’s *never* acted like this!” EC’s message pops up beneath Raven’s

“Hey! We talking about Echo acting all funny?” Kai’s message forms underneath the other two.

“Dude! Echo has not got a chance!” Raven’s message pops up.

“I wouldn’t be so fast to assume,” Kai’s message scrolls across the screen as she types, “I’ve known Lamb a long time and if any one of you lot has a chance, I would guess it would be Echo - she might look all proper but she can appreciate someone quiet who can just get the job done without any flair or flourish. She likes to provide the flourish.”

“Both of you - as odd as this event is, can we focus on why we’re here?”

“Do you want me to pull his pants down?” Raven’s typing formulates as he punches it out on the screen keypad.

A series of emoji’s pop up from Kai indicating hilarious laughter.

“God sakes - no, leave the dude alone. Let’s focus on the plan.”

“EH-*HEM*” The sound of Lambast clearing her throat makes the other three snap their heads up, looking around the table. Echo works at spreading some jam on a biscuit.

“Everyone slates down except Silas since you’re actually taking proper notes.” Silas blushes slightly as he closes out the chat window.

“So we have this wonderful device that Silas and his crew have completed,” Lambast starts, “Now what are we going to do with it?”

“Well, the obvious thing is to drop this in to a Guardian site as close as we can to the Conduit and let it get snatched up by that hit squad that Johnston told us about. Then, Kai and I could work on clearing out the ship and maybe ascertain some information about who we’re dealing with or what their intent is and forward that on to Sen.”

Some loud munching and the clatter of cutlery on china draws everyone’s attention. They all turn to look at Echo who noisily munches on a biscuit. He pauses as everyone stares at him before wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Lambast raises her voice a bit to be heard over Echo’s noisy demise of crunchy treats. “That’s foolish, I’m not sure that its realistic to assume you and Kai, as talented as you both are, could easily take on an entire Command ship.”

Kai interjects, “No, Lamb’s right. I’m not sure we’re talented enough for an entire Command ship, but we’ve all been on one. Often, the tertiary crew is the red-shirt cannon fodder. They don’t even issue those guys name tags. We could easily filch some uniforms and then work from there.”

“Yeah, but you guys are going to draw a lot of attention after you get picked up,” Raven cuts in, “You’ll have to lay low for a few hours until after business continues as usual. Do we even have the tech on board to cover your heat signatures long enough?”

Kai shifts uncomfortably, “Yeah but its already starting to chaff. I’m not sure I could endure wearing this cold suit for another eight hours.”

“No, quite right,” Lambast says looking from Kai to EC, “Besides that, if one of those Corvettes has half the tech that the Hand has, they’ll start bombarding it with radiation within a few hours just to analyze it. That cold suit, even a standard pressure suit can withstand the latent radiation from vacuum, but you both would be boiled alive with a typical material scan.”

“No doubt - the ionizing radiation used in mobile material scanners and for surface scanning and material density testing easily exceeds 6,000 parts per millisieverts, which would easily kill you in a month.” Echo says between bits of biscuit.

“What the hell is a milly cevert?” Kai asks.

“Typical radiation dosing is measured in sieverts but given how extensive the dosage on scanners entail, those are measured in millisieverts which effectively measures the radiation dosage rather than Grays which are used based on unit of size. This varies between alpha, beta or gamma rays But, if we were to discuss radioactive material, then it would be measured in Becquerel - for discerning radiation in natural and in-natural material. Bacquerel equates to one atomic decay per second.” Echo pops another piece of jam-slathered biscuit in his mouth.

Everyone continues to stare.

“How long have I been flying with a fuckin atomic scientist?” EC remarks.

“My, my Mr. Echo,” Lambast looks at him appraisingly. “Never judge a book eh?”

“So why am I not cooked in servants right now being out in space? Especially with FSD drives and the like?”

“Sieverts dear,” Lamb corrects her, “And direction and shielding is why. We’ve come a long way. Our modern beam lasers focus ionized gas through partical accelerators and gamma enhancers to provide a focal beam lengths which effectively melts shielding.”

Raven becomes impatient, “Okay! We got it, you people are smart.” He gives a side-ways glance to Echo, “But back to Kai’s question, how are we going to sneak you guys on board long enough to survive without being blasted by scanners?”

“That’s the trick,” EC says, “We keep them busy enough not to bother scanning. If we’re bombarding them with opposition, then its likely that they won’t bother with trying to scan the artifact before Kai and I have a chance to get out. It will be a classic rope-a-dope and bait-and-switch.”

Now it was Lambast’s turn to be confused. “Rope a what?”

“Rope-a-dope,” EC says, “We feint left then get them with a right hook. Meanwhile, they take the bait and then we switch out what’s really important. So you guys keep them busy shooting at them while Kai and I have time to get out and at least find some decent disguises.”

“It might be easier with another ship...” Kai says while she dials in a code on her wrist.

“Yeah, but where are we going to get another ship this far out?” EC asks.

“I just recalled the Dracul. It will be here in three hours.” Kai says, a sad look in her eye.
Rhaynne
09 Sep 2019, 12:44am
After sending Sen a message that they were on their way thru the slot and into the Black Raine lets out a soft sigh and glances over at Jerr. He still had half a scowl on his face from having to miss his favorite past time whenever they were docked. "Hey Jerr, I'm really sorry I interrupted your umm,,sexy time" she say's holding back the small grin "But if what Sen say's is true we might be getting a huge payday for this run! Then you can have a week off for all the extra fun you can handle!"

Jerr looks over most decidedly not a happy camper "Gawd Raine, you..do you KNOW how long it's been?!" Huffing softly "what makes this run so special, aside from doing a favor for a friend"

Raine can't help the grin that forms now "No and I don't want to know! If things go right we might get our hands on some Bug tech! You know how much that stuff is going for! We could be sitting pretty , well at least for awhile anyway" she was already thinking of the upgrades she would make to the Wicked Wench.

Jerr whistled low "No shit? And here I thought all that data was useless. But it's going to lead us to the good stuff." He chose to ignore the little fact that the Bugs might still be attached to that tech.

Raine's grin gets even bigger. "Yeah well hopefully it will be smooth. But I'm not so sure. Sen say's the Bugs are creeping closer to the bubble. Something or someone is setting them off. Almost like weapons." That got a sobering look from Jerr. They both knew what that meant. Turning back in her seat she gets ready to begin searching for radiation levels on her way to meet up. A frown forms when a staticy message comes thru. Very hard to hear.

Jerr "Did you hear that? Wait, hold on I can clear it up some" One of the reasons she kept Jerr around was his ability with comms and all things electronic. And he was a pretty damn good pilot to boot. "ok lets have another listen "

Pressing a button he replays the message: (((Dreadnaught CNV-301 in distress, recovery needed. Life support needed. )))

Raine looks over her eyes wide with surprise. "what the hell? That's Sen! Jerr lock on to that signal! " They both go silent as they take care of what needs to be done. "Ok Raine locked in let's get to it" Turning her ship she heads as fast as she can to the coordinates of the last ping whispering "hellsbells. Please be in one piece"

Reaching the coordinates she drops into normal space and a small gasp of surprise and panic escapes her. "what the...That's the Dreadnaught! Holy hell!" glancing again at the ping she searches out the signal source. Finding it leads her to an escape pod floating not to far from the burning remains of the ship. Turning she yells "Jerr!" she didn't have to finish he was already unstrapping and headed to the door of the cargo bay. She drops the scoop and makes her way over to the pod. Grimacing every time a piece of his ship floats by. As gently as she can she scoops up the pod and closes the hatch. Jerr pushes inside to have a look at the pod as Raine looks for any other pods or survivors.

Jerr comes thru the coms. "It's Sen. He's alive but it looks like he's hurt pretty bad. " She nods as she looks for Kat. "please be out here, please" She swallows back the tears, she didn't have a galaxy full of friends. But these two she counted among the few. "Jerr I can't find Kat! I can't find her" there was a bit of a panic in her voice that had him rushing back to the bridge. He comes up behind her to look out at the carnage. "There is no way she would survive if she's not in a pod. There aren't any more Raine. " he rests a hand briefly on her shoulder "She's gone. And we shouldn't hang around here to long either" he moves away back towards the cargo bay to work on Sen. Raine brushes away the tears she just now realized were falling and opens a comm to some salvagers she knew. "I need a recovery of Dreadnaught CNV-301, sending location of salvage and destination. Contact me on delivery"

Pointing her ship to the nearest station she sets the destination and calls out to Jerr to secure himself and Sen before she makes the jump. As they head to the relative safety of the station anger starts to overtake grief. " Come be my wing he say's , It'll be fun he say's. Yeah? I'm not having fun Sen, this is not fun!"
Maul Montresor
09 Sep 2019, 4:59am
Khelan "So galloping knob rot eh?" she says half jokingly. "When were you planning on telling me about that?"


Maul shrugs as he stands up.

"You think I'd just go around telling people about that? Besides, what's it matter?" He smiles at her as he starts to leave the cockpit.

Vega lets out a small chuckle and looks at him confused. "Wait, you guys were joking right?"

Maul continues out of the cockpit without answering.

"That's disgusting!" She says as she quickly jogs to catch up with him in the access tunnel. He continues walking and remains silent with a smirk on his face. She narrows her eyes and looks at him. "Yeah, you're joking. I bet there wasn't even a "burd" as Khelan puts it."

Maul suddenly stops to give her a brief look over.

"What is it?" Vega asks as she pats around on her self in confusion. "Does this Remlok suit not fit right or something? Those assholes back on Hondo City! I told the damn sales associate that it was too bulky looking but she was all "No, it looks great! Did I mention it comes with this free keychain?" and I really wanted the damn keychain..."

He smiles and waves his hand dismissively. "It's nothing. Let's go." He says as he catches a glimpse of Khelan and Omi ahead of them.

The two of them meet with Khelan and Omi.

Maul shakes his head and smiles at Khelan. "Really man? Galloping knob rot?"

Last edit: 09 Sep 2019, 5:16am
Lambast Mercy
09 Sep 2019, 7:57pm
Falcon15e
“Yeah, but where are we going to get another ship this far out?” EC asks.

“I just recalled the Dracul. It will be here in three hours.” Kai says, a sad look in her eye.



Lamb reaches across the table for Kai’s hand. She understood how much of a sacrifice the Dracul would be, but it would also sell the deception perfectly. After all to the oustside observer, Kaisla and Silas would appear to have been killed when the Dracul was destroyed.

“If it’s any consolation honey, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to contact my fleet manager. What with all the subterfuge and my lack of expertise with stealthy communications, I haven’t had chance to do so, but I have been intending to have the Point made ready for you. The Point is a K-Two armed with Rail Guns and a couple of heat venting Beam Lasers. It has a fighter bay equipped with one of them Guardian craft you seemed so enchanted by”

Kai let a big grin paint her face even though she didn’t feel like it. Right now the promise of a new ship was not going to overpower the deepening pit in her stomach, but she could always count on Lamb to try and cheer her up. She squeezed Lamb's hand a little tighter.

“Thanks Lamb, you’re a star”

Echo looked at Lambast, she was curt and austere one moment, and then warm and caring the next. He felt had to say something.

“You’d give away a whole Krait and a Guardian Fighter just like that?”
He asked trying to gain a little understanding to how Lambast's mind worked.

Lamb let go of Kai’s hand and straightened up.

“Mr. Ramón, I could and would buy you all a shiny new A-rated K-Two, and I wouldn't notice the subtraction from my funds. However, only the one in my personal fleet has been improved to a standard worthy of becoming a gift, and for Kai I still feel it is inadequate for what she is about to sacrifice for our cause”

Lamb paused for a moment to make sure everyone appreciated the personal gravity of Kai’s offer. Silas broke the moment’s silence.

“We still have some details to work out, so we better talk it over”

“Quite so Mr. Cousland” replied Lambast shifting into shepherding gear.
“We can’t just drop the pod over a Guardian site and hope all goes well, we must spin the tail as we go, forcing the series of events we desire. We shall play interstellar cat and mouse. Each ship and its crew will have its part to play, and we must have our radio chatter reflect that. Kai and Mr. Cousland will be leading the chase aboard the Dracul. Their false objective is to deliver the pod to an orbit above the Guardian Site to awaken the Old Ones”

She stopped a moment to survey the group’s faces. They were all listening intently. Echo and Raven looked like children listening to teacher at storytime.

“Go on Lam.. bast” said Raven.

“I will be chasing them in the Hand trying to convince Kai and Mr. Cousland, the Artefact will be better used to unlock humanity’s potential. I picked that line because I feel if the people that made that blond Behemoth are at all involved in chasing us down, that may tempt them to come out and play”

Silas leaned forward to take the forum.

“Speaking of our Russian friend, did you manage to find any weakness we could exploit? We could come across one or two of them when we’re looking around the ship”

Lambast looked down and shook her head.
“I’m sorry to report I did not. My expertise is with weapon systems and hull repair. The Cyber-organism is far beyond my scientific exploration capabilities. All I can say is it is susceptible to anything that hurts us, but four to eight times more difficult to harm. One thing, and I must stress I have no proof to support this, sticks with me. The thing has, as far as the sample leads me to believe, a full set of human-like organs. Now if I were making a kill-bot, I wouldn’t give it a set of lungs, let alone a spleen. The only reason I can think why this is not so, is because the brain used expects to find a spleen and what not. I suspect the brain is a copy of a real persons mind, and if the body is not a close enough match for what the human mind can accept, the thing does not work properly. I don’t know how this may help, but it’s all I came away with in that regard”

Silas leaned back an exhaled slowly.

“Well, we’ve been lucky so far. Can’t expect a smooth journey all the way when we’re working hard to make it rough. So, you got as far as what the Dracul and the Hand will be doing. Better outline what’s expected of the Arbiter”

Lambast nodded and continued.

“As ever, Mr Ramón and Mr Eugene will be flying the Arbiter and giving chase to the Hand trying to convince the rest of us to stop fighting and see sense. Mr Eugene, if you could take into account the jump range of each ship and plot us a route to our chosen site giving each ship enough time to scoop some fuel before the next of us arrives and starts firing that would be most useful. We are going to require synchronised jump times on each ship to see we jump, scoop, attack, and jump again just long enough to be noticed by anyone watching, and we don’t get ahead of each other messing up the chase”

Raven cracked his knuckles.
“No problem Lambast. Even us non- Nuclear Physicists have their uses”

“Once we arrive at the chosen location, I will be hitting Kai and Mr. Cousland heavy. They will be getting in the pod while Kai is using her clever remote piloting device so they are safe in case anything goes wrong. Kai will do what is necessary to her ship once they are in the pod ready to eject. At that point, if the crew of the Arbiter could passionately endeavour to claim vengeance on me while I am of cause suitably distraught, that would help sell the deception. I will endeavour to retrieve the pod, but I feel Mr. Ramón will make that next to impossible”

Before we get that far, our victims should be if not very close, right on top of us. I hope Mr. Johnston will have his fleet and the party from whom we can gain the most intelligence in system crawling towards us, and just about close enough to engage shortly after the pod is in position. Kai, if you would be so kind as to contact Mr. Johnston and let him know what we intend to do, that will give us a bit of leeway from our opponent's side.  He’ll be able to get things manoeuvring his end once he starts getting reports of us jumping and firing upon each other”

Kai held her forehead.

“Yes, I remember where I put the stick he gave us. I’ll get on the horn to him once EC Raven and I have picked a Guardian site to set the .. Is it an ambush? Well the whatever”

“Good, Holly has a record, wait, no he doesn’t. If you look up my exploration logs, you’ll find a list of Guardian sites I’ve visited more than once for the RSXA. Cross-reference them with and sites Mr. Cousland has visited and pick one of them as that may also add validity to our story if our pursuers have done their homework”

“I have a few modifications I would like to make to the pod to help the deception. I have a good back catalogue of Guardian signal data I have collected and also some recordings of the ambient sounds from the Guardian sites. I want to modify the escape pods transmitter to send a pattern of Guardian signal data and if time permits, make the amplifier play Guardian sounds. We have about three hours to play with so I can also put a little shielding in the pod in case it does get scanned. I don’t have the right plating in my workshop, but we can take some from my hazardous materials storage unites in the lab and salvage a bit from the drive room if necessary. They always overprotect that. Mr. Ramón, I believe you are good with your hands. Would you care to guide me in these endeavours?”

Echo look around for a moment and then figured out he was being addressed.

“Um, sure. What? I mean great. Sorry I was just thinking about. Stuff?”

“Jolly good” Said Lambast clasping her hands together.
“We have about three hours until the Dracul arrives. Say an hour or two for it to be unpacked and made ready, and another hour for fannying about with all the little details we forget. That’s six hours. I think Mr. Cousland and Kai should be on watch in case the Dracul has brought any unwanted attention along with it when they are not helping with Interstellar cartography or lugging heavy things around with Mr. Ramón and I. First things first, let’s get you out of that Cold Suit Kai. I’ll help tuck you back in closer to the time”

Lambast gave Kai a conspiratorial smile that Kai had got to know very well at school. It meant Lambast was toying with someone.

“I say Mr.Ramón, if you and I work with expedience I may have time to cook us all a lovely pre-mission roast dinner. What would you say to a succulent leg of lamb?”

One person in the room blushed crimson. Two others furiously started to text.

Last edit: 10 Sep 2019, 12:07am
Khelan
09 Sep 2019, 11:50pm
Maul Montresor
Maul shakes his head and smiles at Khelan. "Really man? Galloping knob rot?"


Khelan turns and smiles at Maul.

"Well ye will go stickin it in places ya fuckin durty shagger. Ah'm amazed it's no drapped aff yet!"

Omi nudges him sharply in the ribs and raises her eyebrow at him.

"Aye OK ye've made yer point, Jesus Christ!" he exclaims slapping the button on the airlock to open the access to the terminal.

Omi enters the terminal access her plain white kimono flowing, giving her an almost ethereal look as she walks down into the main concourse. Several men in dark suits bow to her as she approaches.

Khelan leans into Maul and whispers "They're frae the Kuroi Kiri family, oota Turtle Bay. They're the wans Ah wis transportin Omi tae sign that peace treaty wi' Ah telt ye aboot ages ago."

"Kon'nichiwa shinshi" says Omi "It is an honour to see you here."

"Kon'nichiwa Lady Omikuma" replies the leader of the group "Your father was a great man and he brought peace between our two families and the news of his passing shocked us greatly. Please accept our sincerest condolences."

Omi smiles politely "Thank you Sakamoto San for your kind words, I know that your presence here would have meant a lot to my father."

Khelan whispers to Maul again "Franklin Sakamoto, heid of the Kuroi Kiri family, he's a decent enough bloke who like Shin only wants wits best fur his folk. He shudnae cause any bother. No if he disnae want another war between us both that is."

Franklin nods politely to Khelan who returns the gesture.

"How are ye Sakamoto San? It's good tae see ye again. The years hiv been kind tae ye." Khelan says smiling "Allow me tae introduce Maul Montresor, he's ma number two so ye'll probably see a lot of his ugly mug when yer dealin wi us."

Franklin extends his hand to Maul.

"It is an honour to meet you Mr Montresor, I hope you are easier to understand than Khelan here." he says with a smile before turning to Vega.

"And you are?" he asks.

Vega goes to answer but Khelan interrupts "This is Vera, she's like Maul's burd but it's complicated."

"A pleasure Vera" says Franklin as a tone plays in the background to indicate that the groups should make their way to their shuttles

"It looks like we'll see you after the funeral Gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming" says Omi as she heads towards the shuttle access door.

Khelan opens the door and gestures to the group.

"After ye, Ah insist." he says.
Maul Montresor
10 Sep 2019, 2:15am
Maul follows Omi onto the shuttle and pats Khelan on the shoulder.

"You're pretty good at that." He gestures at the button Khelan had pressed to open the door. "I reckon you missed your true calling, huh?"

He chuckles and continues inside.

Vega follows behind him and stops to give Khelan an angry look.

"I'm no ones "burd", as you say."

Maul erupts into laughter inside the shuttle.

"Sorry!" Maul shouts. "Everyone just keeps saying "burd" and it's starting to get to me."

"Oh, grow up you moron!" Vega shouts back at him before entering the shuttle.

Maul smiles at Vega and shrugs before turning to Omi.

"Wow, you know, looking at you dressed like this makes it hard to believe you're the same person that was just kicking my ass a little while ago."

He pauses and looks down at the floor and back up to her.

"I'm sorry, that was actually supposed to be a compliment. I'm not sure if that was clear or not."
Khelan
10 Sep 2019, 6:33pm
Omi smiles at Maul.

"Don't worry about it, I know what you're trying to say."

Khelan walks past and takes his seat as the shuttles door closes and heads towards where Shin's beloved Viper "Hatamoto-Chi" will be moored for the rest of time with his body interred inside.

The shuttle cruises past the silent forms of various ships from the last few centuries and Khelan sits looking out the window as they pass along the length of a massive rectangular ship.

"Woah!" exclaims Khelan as he looks at the massive vessel "Ye ever seen wan of these afore mate? That's a Panther Clipper! Apparently they things could haul over two thoosand tonnes of cargo. Creepy Auld Uncle Albert used tae tell me stories aboot how wan of them landed at a port an bought up all the food oan the planet an it caused a famine! Ah never thought Ah'd get tae see wan in the metal so tae speak."

The shuttle eventually passes the massive bulk of the Panther and continues along its journey eventually stopping before a small, freshly painted sleek triangular ship with the name" Hatamoto-Chi" on it's flanks.

"Viper Mark 1." Khelan explains to Maul "Back in the day the cops used tae use them tae deal wi toerags causing trouble in system. Shin earnt his Elite wings in that ship. It's goat mair kills tae its name than ye've had hot dinner's."

The shuttle is joined by several other identical ones and a tone sounds in the vessel. Khelan and Omi get to their feet as the holo display at the front of the small vessels interior flickers to life showing the almost spectral form of a Buddhist priest.

Vega quickly gets to her feet to join Khelan and Omi and hisses at Maul to do the same thing.
Maul Montresor
10 Sep 2019, 8:23pm
Maul jumps up to join the group. He looks at the holo display for a moment but his attention casually drifts back to the window.

"Hatamoto-Chi." He says under his breath as he admires the Viper. "I should probably learn Japanese."

Vega thumps him on the arm, grabbing his attention away from the ship.

"What?!" He says in a hushed tone as to not be louder than the priest.

She points at the holo display.

"Can you at least try to pay attention?"

Maul nods and briefly looks at the display before his gaze drifts back to the ship.

"Thank you, Shin. You helped me when I needed it the most. I look forward to returning that favor." He says to quietly to himself.
Khelan
10 Sep 2019, 11:41pm
The group stand with their heads bowed as the elderly priest on the holo display performs the service in Japanese.

After a while Khelan and Omi direct their attention to the Mk 1 Viper in front of the shuttle and Omi thumbs a small remote, the ships running lights fire into life and lights set into the fuselage of the Viper shine brightly to illuminate the ships name plates. The display changes from the priest to a holographic tombstone showing Shin's name, dates of his birth and death and the words "There's always a tomorrow."

Omi turns to the group and bows respectively to them before flicking on the comms to the other shuttles around them.

"I cannot thank you enough for coming here today, your presence means a lot to me and to all of us. The respect you have shown my father and I will never be forgotten for as long as I breathe. There will be a small wake held in the port and I hope you will do me the honour of attending."

She flicks off the comms and Khelan set course back to the port. The small shuttle soon arrives back and docks smoothly.

He turns his chair around and looks at the group.

"Ah've goat somethin Ah need tae dae while we're here. Ah'll no be too long Ah promise."

Omi nods at him.

"I understand, I'm proud of you for doing it."

He looks at Maul and smiles.

"And dinnae ye go eatin all the buffet ye better save some of they wee cocktail sausages fur me oar Ah'll kick yer arse y'hear me?"

He presses the button to open the door to let the group off into the port and starts to program in a new destination into the shuttles navigation computer.
Maul Montresor
11 Sep 2019, 4:52am
Maul and Vega follow Omi to the location of the wake. The room is bustling with people eating and chatting among themselves. As Omi walks through the crowd everyone quietens down and bow.

Omi turns to Maul and Vega with a smile.

"Go on and help yourselves to some food. I'll be over at that table if you two want to join me." She points to an empty table on the other side of the room. "I'm sure everyone will be coming by with their condolences. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not available to talk much."

Maul nods and smiles. "No problem. I'll go ahead and offer my condolences now so they don't get mixed with the others."

Omi smiles. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me."

She wanders off to the empty table with people already approaching her before she can even sit.

Maul turns to Vega to see she is already across the room filling a plate full of food.

He comes up beside her and begins shoveling food onto his plate as well.

"I'm freaking starving." Vega says as she briefly eyeballs a small mountain of rolls before grabbing two.

Maul quietly chuckles and nods in agreement.

They begin to head toward Omi's table but find it full of people chatting her up. Vega points out an empty spot across the room and they both make their way over.

Seconds after their plates touch the table, Vega begins downing her food.

"Wher do uo dink Khelam wen?" Vega struggles to say with a mouthful of food.

Maul narrows his eyes at her and tries to decipher what she had just said. "Where do I think Khelan went?" He asks.

"Mhm." Vega responds with an overly exaggerated head nod.

"I'm not sure. The dudes got so many layers that I've lost count. You know about as much as I do at this point."

"Mmm." Vega shrugs and nods.

"I've decided to stop asking about this part of his life. I figure he'll tell us if it's important enough." Maul says as he takes a sip of his drink.

Vega gulps down her mouthful of food. "Fair enough."

She reaches out to grab her glass and stops to look at her bracelet. It was made of string and had plastic charms hanging off of it. She slides it off and shows it to Maul.

"Lydia made me this before I set out to try to contact you."

Maul drops his eyes down.

"We should do something for her. Something to remember her by." Vega says.

Maul looks back up at her and nods.

"Absolutely. I refuse to let her passing just slide by. She was more than just another casualty in this fucked up war with the corporation."

Vega slides the bracelet back on and looks at Maul.

"It kind of feels like it's over."

Maul sighs. "I wish it was. I really do."

Vega follows with a sigh and holds up a small cocktail sausage.

"Well, let's just try to enjoy these little fuckers and worry about all of that later. How's that sound?"

Maul smirks and picks one up off his plate to hold up as well.

"I'll toast to that." He says as he begins to eat.
Khelan
12 Sep 2019, 12:17am
The small shuttle flies silently through the countless number of ships in the orbital graveyard until it reaches a small almost arrowhead shaped craft with a long single cannon mounted on either side of the fuselage. Khelan looks at the ancient Krait noting how it's far smaller than the modern ship that carries the same name. He sits in silence for a few moments looking at the battered vessel, the garish red and yellow paintscheme criss-crossed with black scars from incoming fire, wounds received in fights long ago forgotten. The name "Smiggens Folly" painted onto each flank in faded letters.

Khelan opens the comms to the tiny vessel and begins to speak.

"Hullo Uncle Albert, sorry Ah've taken so long tae come and visit ye. Ah hope yer taking care of ma mum like ye always said ye wid."

He leans forward in the pilots chair and continues to speak.

"The truth is Ah've been avoiding coming here y'know, Ah felt like if Ah didnae come an visit then ye cudnae really be dead y'know? But Ah've seen a lot of stuff recently an it started me thinkin that maybe it wis time tae come an see ye an let ye know Ah've no been blasted intae tiny chunks yet."

He chuckles slightly

"Ah'm engaged, fancy that eh? Ye'd like her she's called Omi and she's a right wee stunner, fuck knows wit she sees in me afore ye say it yersel but Ah know she's the wan fur me even if some folks cannae see past their gud auld fashioned racism. In fact Ah actually left her a couple of years ago tae try tae protect her frae the shite but Ah ended up back oan the station she lived on tryin tae help ma mate Maul an boom there she wis an ye'know wit? She took me back wi-oot a second thought."

"Her da wis the head honcho who ran the station, afore he died he named her his successor and made me her second in command. No bad fur a poor bhoy frae Glasgae eh?"

He sits back in the chair, slides his glasses down and rubs the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"It's like ye always said though "Wits fur ye will no go by ye" an Ah guess ye were right like ye always were. Plenty of folks had written me aff as a useless bum but ye never stopped believin in me even when Ah wis at ma worst."

Khelan chokes a little bit but forces himself to continue to speak.

"The truth is Uncle Albert, Ah've had tae dae stuff Ah'm no proud of but Ah always believed that Ah wis daein it fur the right reasons an Ah tried tae leave it in the past but a couple of weeks ago Ah wis forced tae become that person again an Ah'll tell ye it scared me a bit. That's why Ah asked ma mate Maul tae be ma right hand man just like Ah'm Omi's. Ah know he'll try tae keep me oan the straight an narrow an he'll no stand fur me bein a twat an hopefully that'll be enough tae stop me frae making too much of a mess of things in the future."

Khelan smiles as he talks.

"It's been good talkin tae ye again Uncle Albert, Ah swear Ah'll no leave it fur as long next time."

He flicks off the comms to the battered old ship and sets course back to the port to rejoin the wake.

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