Elite roleplay: Off station

OFF STATION

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

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30 Dec 2022, 7:55pm
The door opening made Willow recoil hugging her knees up to her chest. The pain in her hand made her let go of her defensive curl, and cry out in pain.

“That’s gotta smart huh?” said a short wide man in deck fatigues. Even through the overalls, Willow could see he was wide with muscle. “Shit, weren’t fucking around with you were they?”

Outside the cell, Willow saw another man waiting with a SMG in his hands coving his partner. The short guy went to the small bathroom and started checking everything.

“You spent a while in here” he said after a quick inspection “What were you doing?”

After a moment, contemplating what to say and trying to find the bravery to speak Willow showed him her hand.

“I was trying to clean this up” she said quietly “and see if I’ll ever be able to use it again” she whispered not quite bold enough to get sassy.

“Yeah, so I got a pain killer here” said the guy holding up an injector pen “If we wanted you dead, we’d do it. You gonna trust me?” He held the pen up towards Willows neck.

Pushing her hair aside, Willow presented her neck and her captor applied the pen.

“Hope it helps. So, how did you know where to find the primary?” He asked placing Willows good hand on a cotton bud he’d put on her neck.

“Primary?” asked Willow confused.

“The primary, the woman in the pod. How did you know she was there?”

She didn’t want to be helpful, but these people could decide to kill her or hurt her some more so Willow told the truth.

“I didn’t; I was looking for Goid artefacts. They have been getting real pissy leaving sensors and other Goid-tech all over the place, and there’s good credits in that stuff now. De.. the primary’s pod was in the frequency band I was scanning”

The stocky guy gave Willow an apprising look “For real?”

Willow nodded.

“Girl, that is seriously bad luck. If you were just an hour later, the Primary would have been scooped by our client and”

“HAY. What the FUCK?” interrupted the guy with the gun pulling the stocky man out of Willow’s cell.

The door shut and locked while the shouting continued, but Willow couldn’t tell what was being said now. Besides, the pain killer was already working and Willow stretched out, floating comfortably. She was exhausted, and now the pain in her hand was calming, at last she could close her eyes.
31 Dec 2022, 4:41am
Maul stared out of The Ghoul's canopy at HIP 62154's Nav beacon floating straight ahead. He clicked on the coms to Descartes' ship as he started the scan.

"Running the scan now. Just a few minutes and we'll know if they've been here and if they're still here."

Absorbing this brief moment of calm, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This 'calm before the storm' feeling was all too familiar. Years of partaking in half assed cobbled together plans had taught him to relish in the brief stillness before all hell broke loose. He hated the quiet and being in his own head but this was always a different feeling.

The scan finished and the ships computer began to feed him a readout on a holo screen in his center of vision.

"....I don't feel a thing.....And I stop remembering...The days are just like moments turned to hours..." Maul softly hummed and sang out of tune to himself as he scoured through the traffic log.

"Kunopegos!" Maul exclaimed.

"They were here. Looks like a brief stop at Fort Xeno before..."

There was a heavy silence before he continued.

"...Uhh...trajectory readings seem to point towards them heading back to the bubble. There's nothing else notable between here and Imperial space."

He dropped his head back in defeat against the head rest of the pilot seat.

"...Without any nav's to scan along the way, we'll never be able to follow their course....and once back in the bubble, It'll be even harder to find what system they're in. That Conda they're in is likely specced out for high jump range too. Probably couldn't keep up if we tried."

"Does this sound like your head of security pal's 'M.O.'? Cause I'm starting to think you were right."

Maul glared at the small moving sound wave icon on the coms holo display, waiting for Descartes to respond.
31 Dec 2022, 2:33pm
Pulling an ancient keyboard towards me I started manually checking through the systems. Apart from the unmistakable odour of scorched electronics there were few signs of damage. The cockpit screen appeared to be crazed in places. A fire extinguisher was floating around. Several computer screens looked burnt. It made no sense. The ship was not about to blows itself apart, so why the alarms and eject warnings? Computer malfunction?

A call from Maul.

"...Without any nav's to scan . . . never be able to follow their course...back in the bubble, It'll be even harder to find what system they're in. . ..

"Does this sound like your head of security pal's 'M.O.'?."

All the essential systems were working, not at 100% but near enough to safely jump and cruise. Easing out of my seat I drifted towards the crazed screen to check it up close. Smoke damage, a greasy smear, nothing more. I began to clean it with my sleeve.

Laughing to Maul. "Computer malfunction - hacked maybe. Now I'm cleaning windows!"

Bordering on hysterical the pressure of the last few weeks painfully slammed into me. I felt light-headed.

Wasted time. Wasted life. What now? The only person I had to care for was now locked up somewhere. Half a hand missing. And for what? I don't need old books. Don't need millions. I need Willow free and safe

"Sounds impossible. Any ideas? I'm ready to pay anything. Do anything."
03 Jan 2023, 5:40pm
Descartes
Laughing to Maul. "Computer malfunction - hacked maybe. Now I'm cleaning windows!"


Maul smiled at hearing Des laugh. It was a brief yet pleasant change of tone in the situation. But she could be on to something.

"It very well could have been a systems hack. That'd explain your fuzzy memory on the whole situation. A sudden jolt from the escape pod activating like that could have resulted in a solid blow to the noggin."


Descartes
"Sounds impossible. Any ideas? I'm ready to pay anything. Do anything."


He was about to ask her how she was feeling after such a traumatic experience but clearly her mind was on one thing and she had chose to throw her own well being aside for the time being. A notion that he too was well acquainted with.

"They did mention contacting me with a location to...well..."

Maul hesitated.

"...Ya know, do the exchange for Willow. They want you...but we aren't going to let that happen either."

A feeling of nausea slowly crept up his throat. At this point he was uncertain if it was the meds or his nerves getting the better of him. With a deep breath, he swallowed the feeling down. He had to think of something.

"If we agree to the meet, we'll be outgunned for sure. No way a crazy operation like this doesn't have a lot of hands in it. But even then, once you turn yourself over, whose to say they'll even let Willow and me walk outta there. Loose ends and all that, ya know?"

He slid down in his seat and glared out at the stars in silence.

"So this is how it is, huh?" He said in a hushed tone, as if he were questioning the galaxy itself.

"Des, they've really got us in a corner here. The way I see it, we've got two choices: Wait for them to contact with a location and actually do the exchange and hope they let Willow walk or go into this exchange ready for a fight that is very one sided. You already know which one I choose. I mean, if they were willing to hurt Willow, I'd hate to even think what they'd do to you."
05 Jan 2023, 8:17pm
The cockpit was cleaner, at least anything I might have to touch was cleaner. I was getting out of my filthy flightsuit.

"We prepare for a fight then." and "Don't call me Des"

OK It's a petty remark. I was not feeling good.

Despite the EVA helmet I was wearing to feed me with fresh air, my nose was suffering from the smell of acrid fumes, my eyes watering. The last thing I wanted, the last thing we needed was a fire-fight. Anything would be better than death and destruction, but we needed to prepare for the worst.

"Arrange a meet as soon as they get in touch. A planet maybe, populated to make a swap, my stuff for Willow."

In the meantime we might get to a station to re-equip, stock up.
06 Jan 2023, 7:04pm
Waiting, doing nothing, feeling useless. The total lack of control was way outside my experience. I felt dirty, badly in need of a shower. Hungry but my stomach in knots. I looked for something clean to wear under my EVA suit. The clothes Willow loaned me were on top of everything else, they were totally inappropriate, too tight, too small, but clean. I glanced up at a camera. Luckily Maul only made voice contact. Why on earth would I think of something like that right now.

I felt guilty, leaving her alone for so long. Her clothes reminded me how slight she was. Fit, yes. Young, yes. Inexperienced, maybe. I needed to do something. . .
06 Jan 2023, 9:05pm
Maul had taken Descartes' advice and made way to Fort Xeno to stock up on anything they could offer that may help. With the Ghoul now sitting in a hanger he took the time to check his personal weapons stash and prepare his equipment for any potential combat. While fiddling around with a plasma pistol, he looked over at the coms panel to see the connection was still intact.

"Hey Descartes!"

Maul called out across the flight deck as to make sure the microphone picked him up.

"Sorry about the 'Des' thing earlier, by the way."

He wasn't sorry. That's just how he talked. But he wanted to make certain that they were on good terms going into this dangerous scenario.

"So, if this truly is your old pal pulling the strings on this OP, is there anything I need to know before hand? Like, any weaknesses? Health issues, cybernetic implants or any thing we could use to our advantage?"

Maul finished with the plasma pistol, putting it back on the magnetic weapon rack and approaching the pilots seat again.

"Being a chump with two eye implants myself, I learned the hard way that they are a total weakness, ya know?"

Killing time right now was all he could think to do until Willow's captors finally reached out with a location. Time was ticking and it was nearly time for them to make contact and he'd hoped they'd be as punctual as they said they would be.
07 Jan 2023, 1:33pm
I tried to tug my top down but it still didn't reach my pants.

"He's old. Using a team of hired thugs as front men, maybe just a couple - the ones we met before even. Probably someone in place early to observe things from a short distance ready to step in if things get sticky, that's we we need somewhere public."

Surely eye implants would improve one's vision. He needed an upgrade.

Our only real chance, my only option of a life without looking over my shoulder, was to make a trouble-free swap, then outlive Kohatu. I had long given up any idea of calling him out to his employers, (they probably didn't care how he did his job as long he got results). Involving any higher authority would risk implicating myself. No need to trouble Maul with any of that.

"What happened to your eyes?"

I sat in the pilot seat massaging my neck. What I wouldn't give for a proper massage.
07 Jan 2023, 6:46pm
“Is Willow on the Phantom?”

“Yep, and the meet-site is set. We just need to test the up-link”

This had been a long job that had gone wrong twice. Once, because a scavenger had scooped the target, they had been hired to separate from her ship. That was dumb, but it’s what the client wanted, so that’s what the Outfit did. Then, when they got a report of Descartes on a distant station, they hired some local talent that were total garbage and fucked up a simple snatch. He was surprised the Marshal was still messing around with this.

“Great, guess I’ll do the test myself then” The Marshal activated the uplink on the planet below and checked it was playing the feed from Willows cell.

“There she is” He was looking at an image of Willow sitting in a cell on another ship “It’ll look scary when Emmeline is in there wanting to shoot hands and feet” The Marshal explained to his assistant. He shook his head. “That woman is nuts, but she’s great when you need a believable psycho threatening your nearest and dearest”

He cracked his knuckles and shook his lips to get ready for a performance.

“Ok man, root the signal round a few stations and get me Maul”

With communications secured, The Marshal called the Hacker.

“Hay Maul, so we’ve looked into you, and I’m gonna assume you got Dez-Crez with ya. Capable little keyboard worrier ain’t ya? It’s a shame you aren’t worth more or I could make up my losses with you. Hey, after all this you’ll have to give me your contact, I could use a guy like you in the Outfit”

“Ok, anyway, I’m going off-topic. I want you and Dee-Crats on Synuefe HK-C d14-113, Planet 4. You’ll pick up an irregular signal with a light radio pulse. You’ll only detect that pulse if ya looking for it. I want you and her on the surface, along with your ship. You can drive over to the irrg, but leave your SRV at least 200 meters out, ok? When you get there, activate the up-link and we’ll get this thing going”

“Oh, I suggest you bring a light ship, or at least something with a great boots-to-weight ratio. You’ll be dealing with almost 4 time earth normal gravity. Tell Descartes not to forget the data or we’re gonna have to get professional. See ya there man”

For good measure, the Marshal let a little footage of Willow looking around her new cell play for a moment before he ended the call.
09 Jan 2023, 7:52pm
Descartes"What happened to your eyes?"


"Lost one from a rogue piece of glass from a broken canopy. Remlok helmets deploy pretty damned fast but that teeny bit of glass moved a little that day. That was just a few months after I got my license to fly these things. The other...uh..."

Maul paused, thinking back to that horrific time in his life.

"...it was gouged out actually. A form of torture some dipshit used to try to pry answers out of me. They kept me stable but conscious. Wanted me to feel the whole thing. Fucking asshole....but that's all in the past now though and that prick was zeroed."

Just as Maul finished speaking, the coms panel lit up. Once he'd realized who the request was from, he patched the audio into the open channel he and Descartes were using so she could hear as well.

Willow Thorn

“Hay Maul, so we’ve looked into you, and I’m gonna assume you got Dez-Crez with ya. Capable little keyboard worrier ain’t ya? It’s a shame you aren’t worth more or I could make up my losses with you. Hey, after all this you’ll have to give me your contact, I could use a guy like you in the Outfit”

“Ok, anyway, I’m going off-topic. I want you and Dee-Crats on Synuefe HK-C d14-113, Planet 4. You’ll pick up an irregular signal with a light radio pulse. You’ll only detect that pulse if ya looking for it. I want you and her on the surface, along with your ship. You can drive over to the irrg, but leave your SRV at least 200 meters out, ok? When you get there, activate the up-link and we’ll get this thing going”

“Oh, I suggest you bring a light ship, or at least something with a great boots-to-weight ratio. You’ll be dealing with almost 4 time earth normal gravity. Tell Descartes not to forget the data or we’re gonna have to get professional. See ya there man”

For good measure, the Marshal let a little footage of Willow looking around her new cell play for a moment before he ended the call.


Maul looked around the cell Willow was in for anything of importance before the feed was cut.

"You catch all that, Descartes? I could only patch the audio through but there was a small video clip Willow in a cell at the end of the call."

He pulled up the galaxy map and began planning a route.

"Okay, that system is about 235ly from here. With gravity that high, we really should heed the warning and take something smaller and lighter. The Ghoul over here is barely holding together with all the weapons and modules I've got crammed in it. I'd be a stain on that planets surface."

Exiting the galaxy map, he began scouring Fort Xeno's shipyard.

"So we could like, buy a cobra and outfit it for the haul out there or wait around and have some unfortunate soul deliver one of our ships from the bubble."

Maul leaned back with arms crossed and determination on his face.

"What're you thinking?"
10 Jan 2023, 4:09pm
I was trying not to think of having an eye gouged out: My assumptions about 'the hacker' would need to be reconsidered. He obviously had a more colourful past than I'd imagined.

"OK Maul. Checking Synuefe HK-C d14-113 4 on the map, 4g planet, not difficult to land on. But as far as I am aware, a Cobra only has room for two".

On the other hand, I could blushingly remember fitting two people into a Viper in various positions.

"Engineering will take a while. We also need a SRV. Something bigger would be better. My python could be shipped in twenty-four hours. Maybe take two ships. What do you have available?"

I wondered if Maul was thinking of just two people getting out alive. Besides, I didn't relish the idea of having to rely on him, or anybody else, to pilot me around.

I made a start on retrieving my little library piece by piece from what appeared to be portable data modules in the extensive RAID units. The complete text of them all had long since been digitised and made freely and publicly available. The once powerful documents which had been enough to bring down USA presidents (The Pentagon papers and Operation Dark Heart amongst them) were now just a historical curiosity valued only by collectors of such things. Hardly worth fighting for.
13 Jan 2023, 5:16am
Maul scrolled through a list of various ships he'd purchased over the last few years.

"Hmm, I've got "Desumashin"...a little Courier back home that's been outfitted for planet side contracts that require me to be quick and discreet. It's fast, light and has automated landing as well. It'd take that ship about 7 jumps from here to the target system but at least I know I won't splatter on the surface in it."

An order to have the ship transferred was pushed through to his home station.

"Shouldn't take the ship too long to get here. The crew running that system owe me a few favors anyhow. Especially after I helped them deal with that little altercation they had with OMNIPOL."

Maul laughed.

"Yeah, I bet Carlo is already loading her up on the faction's carrier to ship her out!"

After another chuckle, he cleared his throat and his tone took a turn for the serious.

"Right, so two separate ships it is. If things start to get hairy, you two can get in the Python and scoot outta there and I can cover you with a few missile sweeps on the ground troops. Now, if they're smart, they'll have a couple combat ships standing by. So...worse comes to worst we just gotta be quick about it. Cause we'll be outgunned and won't last long."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation and the amount of lives potentially on the line, Maul tried to think of something optimistic to end on.

"...But again....that's all hypothetical. Hopefully your old pal will just the damned relics and let us be on our way."
14 Jan 2023, 4:14pm
Cracking open the first of the data modules I took a last look at an original edition of 'Operation Dark Heart' in its own hermetically sealed protective container. The U.S. Department of Defence tried to destroy the entire print run of 9,500 copies on the grounds of national security. Very few copies went astray. This was one of them. Another sealed container held an original microfilm copy of all 50 unredacted volumes of the Pentagon Papers. Altogether just 39 carefully preserved documents and books, each in its own unit and worth many millions to the right collector. I hurriedly transferred everything, in several trips, to a container in the ice-cold cargo bay, regretting not dressing properly first.

I buckled myself into the pilots seat and put in a transfer order - my Python to the nearest station.

"OK Maul my ship's on its way, should be at Fort Xeno by this time tomorrow. We'll meet there before flying out. I'm on my way.."

Without remembering in anything in between and unaware of time, I arrived, docked, and waited for Maul.

"Pad 22 Maul, meet on my Vette while we wait."
15 Jan 2023, 7:54am
Maul was lingering around the station concourse chowing down on something that'd barely pass as food at the time he'd received Descartes' message. After shoveling the rest of the burrito shaped food down his gullet he made his way to landing 22.

It was a good trek across a now noticeably long landing pad to the lift that would take him to the door to enter the ship. A short ride and few long nearly nauseas breaths later, he found himself grasping onto the handrails of yet another lift within the ship that was taking him to where Descartes would presumably be.

He spoke into his wrist computer to send her a message.

"Hey, Des..sss...cartes...." He nearly shortened her name again Hopefully the speech to text conversion didn't pick up on that. "....I'm coming up the lift now. Well...a lift. One of many...apparently. Meet me at where ever this thing is gonna pop me out at, yeah? I'm liable to get lost on this giant beast."
16 Jan 2023, 3:52pm
How could he get lost?

Colour coded, numbered and lettered decks and bulkheads, red for port, green for starboard, blue for ceiling. 'A' at the front. '1' at the top. The bridge is at B1. In the dark with zero G on an unfamiliar ship - tricky perhaps. Not in the docks. Maybe he'd been dumb enough to get monochrome eye implants, perhaps dyslexic ? Neither should make a difference. If the writing was upside down he was standing on the ceiling.

Locating the hacker on CCTV I steered him towards the accommodation and bridge. Be nice when he gets here.

"Hello at last."

He was looking healthier than I remembered, pointing toward an empty cabin. Belatedly remembering to smile and fasten the front of my flight-suit.

"Use that if you need privacy for anything. No outside boots or food on the bridge There's the galley. I'll be on the bridge. that way." I said, pointing again.

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