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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29 Apr 2023, 11:08pm
69 G. Carinae A

Taking notes:
<No interception in the shipping lanes from A to B or B to C or C to A.>
<All ships scanned belong to local factions. There is a war going on in the system.>
<Preliminary scan shows no settlements active or abandoned near Garter Point>
<War might give us cover from Diaz' forces.>

Desdar looks over to the comm display when the covas informs him that he received a message.

Silvia Sharpe
"We just left Amenta. We are en route to 69 G. Carinae. No word yet from Eli hopefully they are ok. We will send you a wing request as soon as we make it to the system."


His hands hover over the keyboard for a second before answering:

"I received your message, and I'm waiting in system. So far no hostiles spotted. Will be waiting for your wing request.
Don't about Eli. While I haven't heard anything either, I'm sure she's fine."

The message finished, Desdar entrusts it to the void.
30 Apr 2023, 12:55am
The Dauntless II lurches and groans as it drops out of witch space. Silvia looks up at her message console as an alert rings through about a new message.

Desdar Elrius"I received your message, and I'm waiting in system. So far no hostiles spotted. Will be waiting for your wing request.
Don't about Eli. While I haven't heard anything either, I'm sure she's fine."


*Good he's still alive* Silvia relaxes a bit and readjusts herself to be more comfortable in her seat.

'OK Jules go ahead and send the request. Once we have Desdar's location we will group up with him.'

'Copy that. Wing request sent.'
30 Apr 2023, 2:21pm
Desdar checks the origin of the wing request before accepting it.

He moves from his parking position 150ls above the ecliptic of 69 G. Carinae A to meet up with Silvia and Jules. There are no other ships jumping into the system from their direction during the time it takes to fly down to them.

He opens a comm line to Jules, Silvia and O'Donnell.
"I hope you've been well. Let us be on our way. It doesn't seem we have any unwanted visitors yet, but if they are coming I'd rather be in the lane where you can see them."

He moves onto a course to C A 5 and accelerates.

"Now, I like to introduce to you an old colleague old mine, Miraya O'Donnell, she'll be flying fighter support from the Serenity."

"Hullo, Gled tae meet ye all. Let's go laigt that bastards arse up." O'Donnell answers with a heavy accent.
30 Apr 2023, 3:26pm
Normally I would take advantage of the AFMU doing its work and take a much-needed shower, get something to eat, and relax for a while. Nowadays though, I'm more careful even out here you never know who's going to drop in unexpectedly. Instead, I pulled up a control panel and started manually checking the systems. Primary AFMU exhausted, I was almost out of raw materials to repair damaged modules. Enough for three FSD emergency boosts. That was it. So, my pet hate - go mining for raw materials or run for Jaques Station, Colonia.

I turned to my companion for inspiration. I don't know where the term ‘third man syndrome’ came from but there are only two of us. I do know that it's a construct of my mind, does that make it imaginary or real? I’m not sure if it’s a man. I get the impression of black hair, white face and Ruby red lips

As if on cue the system pinged with incoming message from Willow:

"No, not like rebuilding an alien ship, but like, that'd be a thing you know? For real. I'm on a station crew repairing Citi after the Goids attacked it. Like wow, you must have been gone a long time huh?"
"So its like this, the Goids have gone loco and are attacking like, for real now. It's real scary, but work needs doing and I'm EMU tech qualified. That's like, a spacewalking mechanic you know? Yeah, so I'm doing that for now. Kind of back to basics for me.”

Of course no one would be crazy enough to try and rebuild a Goid ship. Would they? Smiling, I composed a reply.

"So, working on a station? That sounds, hopefully, safer. Makes a change from your usual line of work. You're right I have been gone a long time. I shipped my new little fleet out to Colonia and use that as a base. Now I'm light-years from anywhere, finding little worthwhile, and gradually working my way back. It's been a long time, feels like forever. Keep in touch whenever you have time.

Descartes"

Pressed Send.
30 Apr 2023, 4:29pm
'Pleasure to meet you. You find anything yet?'

Silvia chimes in. Her voice cheery with a hint of concern. She was understandably nervous about facing Diaz. She lets out a sigh and tries to come up with a plan.

'I don't really know what to do here. Only thing I can think of is sending him a message and laying out a trap.'

'Idk Silv, that seems dangerous you have seen what his ship is capable of.'

'Precisely my point we know what his ship can do. He has no idea what we have in store for him. If we catch him off guard we stand a better chance.'

Silvia and Jules stop conversing remembering they aren't the only ones here this time.

'So Desdar, O'Donnell what do you guys think? I only have experience with system wars. You guys are the bounty hunters here.'

Jules finishes speaking allowing Desdar and O'Donnell chine in with their advice.
30 Apr 2023, 9:09pm
"Well, ye don't let him kno ye ar comming." snaps O'Donnell

Desdar smile is a little strained: "I'm sorry, she is a little brash. But correct. We don't want him to bring every force he can muster. The best approach would be to find where he is operating from and then either intercept him or set a trap for him, which is more dangerous."

"Which I don't think tae wee cunt is gonna do." interjects O'Donnell.

Every few seconds he checks the contacts and scans unknown ones as possible, one eye steady on the radar.

"So what we were hoping for was to find his old outpost in this system, find out where he moved to, and follow the breadcrumbs until we identify his current base. Then we either find a chance of catching him directly or we'll need to thin out his gang until he is forced to his operation or we have a chance to catch him. Most importantly we need to dictate engagements as much as possible." Desdar quickly summarises.

"Most people dinna kin, how slow tis work canna be."

Desdar voice is stern when he next speaks: "I understand that you would want this to be over quickly, but that means in this case to gamble your life. And such stakes are never worth playing." his voice softens " We'll go steady and we'll find and catch him.

Jules do you remember the coordinates of the base?"
01 May 2023, 5:38am
Silvia thinks about snapping back but holds her tongue. She calms her mind and responds.

'I suppose you are correct.'

Jules takes a moment to send over the coordinates for Gardner point.

'Coordinates oh that's easy. Gardner Point. We had a section of the port to ourselves. It was 2 floors. The main floor was a large room with a map table in the center. There were 2 rooms to the right of the entrance were Diaz and Grenshaw's the 3rd room next to the stairs was the command room. Downstairs was........ was where.......... Silvia and I were held..... if we could avoid that area it would be appreciated. You can check it out but we will not be joining you there.'

Jules explains the layout as well as the location. She pauses and checks her nav panel.

'We can touch down nearby the station the should be a Challenger and a Clipper. We will proceed on foot. If you need a rifle I have 2 unregistered old war plasma rifles in my weapons locker. Once inside we will see if I can find anything on the operations terminal.'
01 May 2023, 10:06am
Desdar pulls up a landing course he had plotted beforehand and nods. It'll work for an under-horizon approach to Gardner Point.

"I understand your apprehension about this place. We might be able to secure the crucial information from the port computers and we won't need to enter the compound."

A worried frown forms on his face when hears how nervous Jules is.
"Thank you for the offer but we have our equipment. ... " Desdar's voice is warm but stern " Silvia, Jules this isn't a military operation, if either of you feels unable to continue or if I decide to, we'll exfiltrate and rethink our plans. Else your plan is sound Jules, but what about the approach?"

Desdar sends the landing course he had been working on.

"This course allows us to approach under their horizon and radar. It's longer than a direct approach and will require some careful maneuvering, but with some luck, we can get in and out without being detected."
02 May 2023, 4:58am
Jules looks at the approach path and runs a simulation.

'It should work. I don't see any reason it wouldn't. Hey Silv why don't you head back to your place at Jameson.'

Silvia is shocked by the request but obliges. She was feel uneasy as it is just being in this system again made her sick.

'OK. Let me know when you guys head out. This place just brings back terrible memories and the thought of going back......... No I can't do it.'

Silvia disengaged her wing beacon and plots a course back to Jameson Memorial. She disappears with a flash and Jules chimes in.

'Right now that she's gone here have a look at this.'

Jules sends over an encoded data log showing the personnel on-site. 4 men all registered to Diaz outfit are reported in the old outpost. One of whom is a key player in Diaz's operation.

'I have access to the outposts data logs still. Appears either Diaz wants this man eliminated or he is getting sloppy. This may also be a trap. Be prepared for anything. Adrian Vasquez is Diaz's number one slaver. He has personally transported over 1000 civilians affected by the thargoid war, to black market dealers. He is number 1 priority here.'
02 May 2023, 2:56pm
"Fly save, Silvia" Desdar bids goodbye as Siliva turns to leave.

He makes a turn to fly past the moon, so they can turn onto the precalculated approach. He then reads carefully through the log files, time of arrival, ship registrations, registered cargo, and time of log events.

"Can you send me the time and date of the first log entry in the system?" His eyebrows furrow deeply while crossreferencing the men with the bounty database, all four are registered. "I don't think he's getting sloppy yet. Lashing out at a potential rival or risk, sure I can see that. Do you recognize the ships they came in with?

Furthermore our number one priority is a lead to Diaz, Vasquez is a close second to that. I understand where you are coming from but if we don't get information on Diaz, we will be back to square one."

Desdar checks the radar again, no other ships are picked up around the planet. About 2 minutes until the long glide in.


Last edit: 02 May 2023, 3:28pm
03 May 2023, 12:46am
'Let me check. Time and date of first entry.......'

Jules searches the data banks and comes across an interesting bit of information.

'Uh..... this doesn't make any sense. The first date entry in the logs shows the day before Silvia's capture. December 31st, 3308. Someone scrubbed the earlier entries.'

She looks over the ship logs and finds one that catches her attention.

'That Beluga. "Revenant". That's Vazquez's ship. The others huh... I don't see their ships on the registry.'

Jules course corrects slightly and proceeds along the predetermined approach vector. She grasps her controls firmly and activates her helmet.
03 May 2023, 2:43pm
"So either the logs are falsified or they all came on one ship. And you can pack much more people into a Beluga. It's a trap. They want us to storm the compound using Vasquez as bait."

With small light corrections on the controls to stay at the correct glide angle, Desdar guides his ship down to the moon.

"We can scout it out but if they know what they're doing they'll carefully show what they want us to see.

...

Can we get exterior access to the Beluga? Hack into the ship and extract the manifest and origin from it. If the log is correct and they only brought 4 people we can then still take them out."

Radar is still clear of other ships and the altitude from the ground is 31 km.

"If you insist on killing Vasquez, but we can't ascertain their numerical strength, we can try to spoof a rescue ship signal to bait him into and interdict and attack him in the void."
03 May 2023, 7:49pm
'My goal is not to kill Vazquez. I want him alive. I want to squeeze every bit of information i can out of him.'

There a a venom in her tone and she sounds as if she has an even worse fate than death in store for him. Her tone softens as she continues speaking.

'Touch down outside the port. Once that's done I will scout ahead on foot. I know the service corridors well. I can gain access to the beluga and attempt to hack into the logs. Wait for my signal.'

Jules cuts comms and boost off towards the port. Her Imperial Eagle was designed to be as fast as possible. Leaving Desdar in her wake she touches down near the Clipper and Challenger she had mentioned before.

She grabs her plasma rifle from the rack and wastes no time making her way into the compound through a service corridor to the south side. Once inside she locates a service computer and quickly locates the hangar the Beluga is located in. As she makes her way to the hangar she notices 2 guards. She carefully makes her way to the one closest to her and performs a non lethal takedown as it was extremely like this man was forced into this position just as she was. She makes her way past all the crates and boxes on the pad. Taking care to check the markings. She makes a mental note. *seems like an awful lot of weapons and explosives for a small detail*

She boards the beluga via the cargo hatch and accesses the manifest. The only known personnel on the list were the 4 men on the data logs. She departs the ship and makes her way towards the exit. Jules stops behind one of the crates and makes sure the other guard is still not paying attention. She opens her comms channel with Desdar.

'OK ship manifest shows only 4 men. There is a large amount of weapons and explosives here in the hangar. Once we have Vasquez in our custody we should blow this shipment to prevent it from making its way into the black market.'

Jules departs the port and waits near her ship for Desdar and O'Donnell to arrive.
04 May 2023, 5:43am
Unknown to Jules a ship running ice cold has been watching her from a distance. He sends out a message to an unknown recipient.

'They are here. What would you have me do?'

The reply from the sender is quick and deliberate.

'Dispose of them.'

In an instant the cold running ambush ship moves in on the landing zone. It opens fire. A barrage of missiles and frag cannon rounds impact the area.

Jules takes off running a the rounds strike the ground and ships. Pit Viper is the first to go. It explodes in a brilliant display of color similar to a supernova. Jules jump jets away from the site but is not fast enough to escape a chunk of debris. It strikes her in the backside of her left knee with enough force and velocity the cut clean through. The impact sends Jules flying. She lets out a massive cry of pain as her lower leg is removed.

'Desdar! Abort mission! It's an ambush! Ahhhh!........'

The com line goes quite as Jules strikes the ground rendering her unconscious. Her suit activates emergency aide protocols and seals off the beach in her suit and disperses a cauterizing agent to halt the bleeding.

The krait mk2 that began the ambush activates a heat sync and shuts down all non essential systems and blips off the radar once again becoming "invisible".


Last edit: 04 May 2023, 5:57am
04 May 2023, 7:46am
Desdar
Silvia Sharpe
'Touch down outside the port. Once that's done I will scout ahead on foot. I know the service corridors well. I can gain access to the beluga and attempt to hack into the logs. Wait for my signal.'


Desdar watches the Pit Viper recede into the distance faster and lower than he could manage in the Serenity.

"Yer just gonna watch h'er leave?"

"If I don't want to set off a plasma flare that alerts the entire solar system, yes we'll just watch. Let's hope she maintains radio silence until she's back."
It takes a while to reach the landing zone and even longer to land the cutter. He finally touches down about 600m from Jules' ship. His large floodlights light up the area around it.

Silvia Sharpe'OK ship man...fest shows only 4 men. There is a large am...t of weap ... explosives here in the hangar. Once we have Vasquez in ... we should blow this ship ... to ... making its way into the black market.'



The message is barely audible and intermixed with small cutouts.
"When she's back, I'll ask her if they ever taught her anything about OpSec."

He briskly wakes back to the cockpit sits down and switches off the floodlights and night vision on.

"Get in the scorpion in case she gets followed. She must have alerted the entire base to her presence."

A tense 20 minutes pass before they see a lone figure marching over a northern ridge. She walks right over to the parked Eagle.

Moments later the area erupts into a carcophany of sharpnel and fire. Expletives ring through the Serenity's Cockpit.
"I'm dropping the Scorpion, we need to get her out of there."

Silvia Sharpe'Desdar! Abort mission! It's an ambush! Ahhhh!........'


Jules' cry rings through the ears of Desdar and O'Donnell as the latter guns the engine of her SRV. Seconds pass agonizingly slowly as Desdar waits before he can fire up the engines of his ship.

Finally the engines awake and the ship starts lurching. Over his distance, with night vision even as the Serenity loses sensor look the Krait remains visible to the naked eye.
Silent running means that shields are disabled. A weakness now exploited as triple-round railguns rip through the engines of the Krait Mk II.

It starts accelerating as the second volley hits but the surprise of the attack and specialized ammunition means that the damage is towards more systems. After the fourth volley, the engines sputter and the ship starts dropping under the moon's gravity.

"I got h'er in the Scorpion, she's barely hol'in together."

"Get her in! Get her in medical! Then get to the cockpit to umbrella." Flying so low that Desdar can hear the paint getting scratched in the cockpit as he maneuvers over to O'Donnell's position.

"SRV on board." Sounds the calm voice of the covas oblivious to what happened.

Slowly other, through incomplete reflection, much more mangled radio signals are showing up on radar.

As Desdar is flying to the crash site he flicks through available stars to high wake out.
He gouges a landing zone, not 20 m from the crashed and mangled Krait.

120 seconds later as ships emerge overhead he has the memory core of the Krait and as returns to the ship, O'Donnel starts it up, shields holding steady under the fire of the first cobra to arrive.

Even as more ships arrive they cannot penetrate the green glowing shield in time to prevent it to jump into Witchspace and out of the system.


Last edit: 04 May 2023, 9:49am

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