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.
Silvia Sharpe
26 Aug 2023, 8:13pm
Diaz watches as the remaining ships from his fleet are vaporized by both the Thargoids and Black Flight. The few ships that had been previously targeting smaller ships now direct their attention to the Queen Anne's Revenge. Diaz can do nothing but watch as his empire crumbles around him. He turns his attention to the security officer on the bridge.

'Where the hell is our support fleet?'

'Are you fucking stupid? We have no fucking control over the carrier. For being intelligent you sure are fucking oblivious......'

Mid sentence Diaz draws out a large pistol from his left hip aims it directly at the security officer and fires. The round from the pistol rips through the mans chest cavity incinerating bones and organs in its path and blowing out a much larger section of the mans back. The plasma round continues into and through the command console behind where the security office stood.

'Anyone else have anything to fucking say?.... No?.... I didn't fucking think so. If any of you value your lives get me control over my fucking ship!'

An alert pops up on a holo projector next to Diaz stating that the containment field around June had been breached and the AI was no longer being monitored. Enraged Diaz rips a large section of a half wall off the floor and hurls it an insane velocity towards the right side of the bridge. Raiders duck out of the way and hide behind what little cover they can find on the bridge.

I am drug into the bridge by my hair kicking and screaming a blue and purple bruise appearing on my face. I look around the bridge and horror set in as I look out the viewing panels to see Thargoids and Blavk Flight ships zipping around the carrier the latter actively attacking the carrier. The carrier's defence turrets seem to only be firing at the Black Flight ships. The thargoids much to my surprise are actively attacking only the Black Flight ships.

Diaz grabs me by the throat and tosses me against a wall near him.

'Don't fucking move from that godsdamned spot.'
Kasumi Goto
26 Aug 2023, 8:45pm
Meowers
“Kasumi, Aventus put me in command of his troops. Hold on there, we're coming to get you out."

“Yeah, no sweat. We’re not gonna go anywhere until you get here, anyway. Do remember the mine.”

A spark appeared, quickly turning into many, the sign of a welding cutter.

“The one behind our door, that is. And maybe hurry a little bit. They got bored of trying to force the terminal’s lock.”

I turned my attention to the two commandos.

“Get set up. If they take a little longer to arrive, we might have to actually do some work.”

They nodded and posted up in the respective alcove, while I fell back to the end of the corridor, using the doorframe of the containment chamber as cover. A better position for me, anyway, given my choice of weaponry, partly wishing I had another for close encounters. But, after my experience of juggling a Manticore Intimidator on top of the railgun and pistol at Gardner Point, I found carrying a third weapon to be more cumbersome than useful, given how large my primary was.

So I simply aimed up my weapon and waited, closely watching the orange glow indicating the progress of the cutter, while hoping Meowers got here before they were through. Thankfully, given how reinforced the bulkheads were, it was taking its sweet time.
Meowers
27 Aug 2023, 2:59pm
Heavy clanking sound of eleven pairs of magboots resonated through the corridor as we were making our way down to Kasumi's position. No need to be stealthy: the sooner the raiders figure out they've got another trouble the better, and we were prepared to draw their fire.

A step round the corner and three raiders, presumably their 'early warning' measure, spotted us and fired their first, and last shots: blue clouds of disturbed shields enveloped most of us, and massive return fire, on the go, non-stop, wiped out the pirates along with their improvised barricades.

"Go, go! Don't stop!" I shouted on the comms. "Kasumi, get ready, coming in hot!"

Soon, we reached the storage compartment. Some of the raiders were ready to meet us, covering those who tried to breach the armoured door with a plasma cutter, and some of them kept their aim on the door. Through the thundering roar of gunshots, I tried to give orders and maintain any kind of control over the situation that desperately tried to get out of said control. Without a proper cover, we were forced to scatter around and use every little piece of interior, strong enough; personally, I dropped flat on the floor once the first shots were fired, using armoured magnetic pads for a connection. Damn thing on the left elbow was damaged, though three were okay.

Thankfully, whatever we had for a surprise effect, had made their return fire chaotic and uncontrolled, terrifying at the first sight, but too scattered, inaccurate, unfocused, and the forces I've had under my command were experienced enough not to waver in the face of another danger. A pair of unlucky commandos took more shots than their shields could handle, in the very beginning, being still in the open, I ordered another one to drag those wounded around the corner to safety and apply first aid, and the remaining troops quickly clinged to their positions, unwilling to give away an inch.

Burst after burst, I've emptied two magazines in quick succession, suppressing the foes, giving the riflemen those sweet moments to grab their bearings and take aim properly; Aventus' gunners quickly turned improvised barricades into piles of jagged metal debris, and, another thing I noticed... A small shadow, that dashed from behind our backs, jumping left and right in a blink of an eye, evading the gunfire... Was it Melli? I guess so. I couldn't see properly what she was doing, and had no measures to communicate with her, but I certainly enjoyed the view of raiders abandoning their covers, with open, bleeding wounds, screaming wildly and running straight under the crossfire.

Some stray, or maybe not-so-stray but well-placed rounds hit the raider with the plasma cutter and now that bastard was dead, his body floated in zero gravity, with hands still holding the tool. Several other goons were already dead or dying. Intense battle was turning into a positional exchange again, and, even having the upper hand, I knew we were fighting the clock: Silvia was still nowhere to be found. All these skirmishes here and there could've been our tar pit, and the ship was falling apart.

"Kasumi, can you hear me? Let's make things spicy. Open the door and hit them in the backs. Once you do so, I'll command my troops to charge."
Kasumi Goto
27 Aug 2023, 3:34pm
“Oh, you bet I will.”

With that reply, I turned off the mine, and picked it back up, giving the terminal the command to open the door up.

Which it did… only barely. Whether due to the cutting or the shots that had impacted it, it jammed when they were barely apart, just enough to slip two hands between.

“Oh, for …” I stopped a curse word from slipping out, then looked at the commandos. “You two provide covering fire, I’ll get right in there and give them some trouble for a second, before I get out of the way.”

One of them moved toward the door to try and pry it open, but I put a hand in front of their left shoulder.

“Allow me.”

I moved forward and put my hands below the middle of the door, where it hadn’t yet been melted.

“Surely you aren’t going to …”, they began to remark, only to be shut up by me quite literally slamming the doors open like they were made out of cardboard.

A teasing look behind myself, then I jumped right into the fray, knife in one hand, pistol in the other. I jammed it right up into the spine of the raider I had targeted, roughly at neck level, fired at another that turned to respond to me, stripping their shield with two shots, ending their life with a third, before they had a chance to respond.

Then, I kicked the body of the other raider, which life had already left, into another, causing them to stumble by taking the mass of a full body, also pulling the knife out in that same motion. Bodies were falling around me all during that, both from my commandos and the other group firing into it.

Next thing I knew, I had Melli on my shoulder using me as a sort of jumping pad, to land on the raider that I had sent into a stumble, accompanying the action with a vicious snarl that made it hard not to grin behind my helmet as I backed off to clear the line of fire.

The distraction - which itself was permitted by the chaotic response of the raiders - had worked well enough that Meowers and the commandos were able to charge forward, causing the remaining pirates to surrender. Five, maybe six total left. Melli paraded on top of the corpse that had just been mutilated, covered in blood, head held high, a piece of flesh in the mouth. I put away my weapons and looked to Meowers.

“Nice of you to show up. I thought you were going to miss out on the fun.” I looked over the group in more detail, and found a few figures missing, two distinct ones in particular. “Venus?”

The question was simple - asking where, without directly saying so. Other than that, I was looking at the raiders, who weren’t quite so keen to fight back now, with three heavy plasma rifles pointed at them.
Meowers
27 Aug 2023, 5:32pm
I sighed and made a pause, preparing Kasumi for the answer. Not too dramatically though: the situation was far from perfect already, yet none less far from being awful. However, we were obviously reaching our breaking point, a point that could've been a point of no return for some of us.

"Venus... Wounded. Corrosive rounds, in the back. Aventus took her to the ship for treatment, and put me in charge of his remaining troops," I motioned towards the commandos behind me. "Also, he took two riflemen with him. So, I have six more in the fighting shape and four wounded, two of which should really stay clear of any more trouble. Glad that pair of your... assistants is okay."

"At ease, soldiers. Check your gear, ammo and bandages", I announced, turning around to see all Aventus' commandos and have their attention. Then, coming closer to Kasumi, I lowered my voice to sound more 'private'.

"So... Glad your guys are fine. Every rifle counts now. I ordered lightly wounded to help those who got it worse, with moving, meds and bandaging. And they gave all their ammo to those who still can fight, all but one mag per person. So that they can keep up with the rest of us. To... To an extent. Shit... It looks like fate, you know."

I turned my blank gaze to the side, with my vision turned inwards, skimming over my recent memories.

"Being put in command when things are starting to fall apart. Been there already."

Making a few steps back, I lit up a cigarette and continued, with more usual voice.

"Speaking of ammo. We should definitely count it from now on. And this gun of yours... May I?" I inquired Kasumi about her sniper railgun. She handed the weapon to me and I gave it a quick look. "Hmmm. Looks promising. You know what? Let's test this thing."

Keeping my own rifle menacingly pointed at surrendered pirates, and adding Kasumi's one that I held in left hand, I came closer to them and chuckled. That must've been quite a view: me, with two rifles, smouldering cigarette still stuck in my mouth, and a vicious grin. Damaged armour plates on the left shoulder and left forearm certainly added to the picture nicely.

"Come on, come on folks, form a line... Yeah, like that... No, no, no running away, see those big angry men with big angry guns over there? Come on, we don't want to make them even more angry..." I was giving my 'instructions', waving both rifles as a wicked orchestra conductor and sounding like none less wicked rollercoaster worker. Unable to recognise any words in the desperate, muffled muttering I heard from the raiders. "Yeah, like that... Stand close to each other... The choo-choo is about to depart! Who's a good choo-choo? You're a good choo-choo!" I made a drag of my cigarette and, letting my rifle float freely for a moment, put what was left of it into the mouth of the first raider in the line.

Pushing the muzzle against the chest of the first pirate, I pressed the trigger. At first, there was a quiet click of the trigger itself. Then, a whistling chorus of loading capacitors appeared, overshadowing the last notes of the trigger's part. This sound hit an inhumanly high pitch in a split second, and, at its highest point, was instantly interrupted by an infernally synthetic, loud clang that left an electric, droning echo. Thumping of the railgun projectile hitting the first body drowned in the echo completely, but the following meaty, fleshy, wet and chomping noise of that projectile tearing through the rest of the bodies, six in total, reached the ears, mine and my audience. Finding its way through almost two metres of flesh, blood and bones, the projectile travelled further and pierced the wall panel, adding another metallic sound to the ending.

That first pirate was still standing and looking at me, with his empty, glazed, unblinking stare. I winked in return. Shortened, almost finished cigarette remained in his mouth.

"Nice thing", making such a laconic conclusion, I returned the rifle to Kasumi. "Let's go get Silvia. No time to waste."

Last edit: 27 Aug 2023, 5:41pm
Kasumi Goto
27 Aug 2023, 6:06pm
“Death is a better fate than what the Thaegoids intend for them. They would have been dead anyway.”, I stated, I looking at the mess left behind by the projectile.

“That was the high power setting, by the way. Pretty much acts like a standard, boring railgun that way. One shot per charge, anything smaller than a ship will be very sorry it ever got hit.” I pointed to an almost imperceptible button on the left side of the weapon, tilting it to make it more visible. “Three shots per when you hit that. Figured it’d be better for human targets - they don’t expect it either. And it still kills them with a single shot.”

I turned toward Meowers.

“Thing looks better on you. Like you’re actually supposed to carry something that big. Anyway …”

I sighed, registering the information about Venus in my head properly.

“She had better survive. I don’t want to explain to Silvia that her wife died again. Especially not in this place, and because of him. And speaking of …”

I turned toward the remaining commandos.

“Listen up! I’m not much one for speeches, so I’ll just say this - Diaz knows we’re coming, and anyone that’s left on this ship now is going to be his most loyal. That means we still have the hardest part ahead of us. But I also know we can do this.”

I left a pause to think about my next words.

“I don’t know any of you by name, but I’ll sure as hell remember that you were here to do this with us, if you live or die. History might not remember us, but if none of us make it off this ship, we’ll die knowing we brought that bastard down with us. He will die today, that much is sure. But everyone needs to give it their best. Now let’s go get Silvia.”

I looked back to Meowers, turning away from the crowd, keeping my tone lower, between us.

“Did I do it right? I suck at this when I don’t get to prepare ahead of time.”

Melli came running between my feet, suddenly.

“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten about you either, you crazy bundle of fur.”

I sighed again.

“This isn’t going to be easy. But then, I guess none of this has been so far.”

I threw a look toward my lower back, making sure the blue-glowing AI core still sat there safely. I at least wanted to get that thing out of here in one piece.
Meowers
27 Aug 2023, 7:20pm
"Uh," I shrugged, replying quietly, "I've never been good at speeches too. It's... happening occasionally."

"Though, you were right about Diaz's most loyal," I continued, while fiddling with my own inventory. Had only four spare mags left, put them onto the belts on my thighs. Also, one coolant container.

"Hey, gunners!" I shouted, attracting their attention. "Sorry, still can't tell... Ah, craps, anyway. One of you had a coolant leak. Catch this. Should keep your demon machine firing a little longer. And, these..." I removed both field medkits from their pockets and tossed them slowly in their direction too. "Give these to the wounded, they need them more than I do."

So, my backpack has been gloriously empty. I flattened it with my both hands, making it as slim as possible, closed the airtight seals and put it on my back again.

"That's an arse, I'd say," I spoke to Kasumi quietly, "Whoever we fought, weren't even soldiers, I bet the most intense action in their lives to date has been packing unarmed peasants into a slave pen with a shotgun stock. How many of them we've nailed so far? A hundred? A hundred and a half? Something tells me that their latest effort, that surprise attack with chemical stuff on us and trapping you in the AI room at the same time, was the last thing they're able to pull off. Maybe some of them are dropping their weapons right now, and putting on slave rags to make a run for it, to the hangars."

I shrugged, but not without a bit of sadness and desperation.

"I don't know. We're to face Diaz's most loyal guards on the bridge, and with what?.. I have those two gunners, and six riflemen, under my... temporary command. Really hope I'm not going to be their last commander. Four more wounded, and I'm seriously thinking about sending them back to the ship. The corridors should be almost safe by now, but shall we go to the bridge, and we may expect a strike in the back, an ambush, anything, there's only one way up there. Hate to say that... things might get ugly."

I lit up another cigarette and stood motionless and silent for a little while, contemplating, analysing. Preparing a decision.

"Everyone, listen to my command," I turned around and looked at the bruised and battered troops, "You four, wounded troops, get back to the ship. Stick to the trail of dead raiders, don't stray away, the path should be clear by now. But be on your guard. Rest of the forces, brace yourselves. We're through the meat and bones of that beast, and now we have to make its heart stop, once and for all."

"Aventus," I activated my comms, "I'm sending four wounded back to you. Too roughed up to fight. Two of them should be fine, but two more are quite bad."

I clapped my hands forcefully a couple of times.

"Come on, let's do the thing."
Kasumi Goto
27 Aug 2023, 8:17pm
I checked my own ammo as we began to walk off.

“Five mags for both. I’d like to think that’s going to be enough. Also still have two mines and shield disruptors, whatever use those are.”

I took a deep breath before talking again, still keeping my voice low. The others didn’t need to know the two guiding figures of the group weren’t certain about the odds.

“I can’t lie to you about this - I’m not sure how this is going to go. Who’s going to die, who’s going to live. Only thing I know is that I’m going to kill that bastard, whatever it takes. He can’t be allowed to continue living.”

I couldn’t help but to sigh again - even though we’d done most of the work already, the hardest part was still to come.

“Well, I guess if I die, you get a free AI companion.” I knocked on the core attached to my belt, just above the rear curve of my body, lightly. “They didn’t trap me in there, though. I decided to lock things off so they couldn’t get in. Worked out fine, so… yeah. Anyway. Here’s to a possibly stupid idea.”

I tapped on my wrist computer while we were still in the clear and I didn’t need to shoot anything, connecting to the main internal comms network, broadcasting through speakers everywhere in the carrier. Then spoke through it.

“We’re coming for you, Diaz! I’m coming for you!”

I looked back at Meowers after cutting the link again, a mildly apologetic shrug accompanying that.

“Couldn’t help myself. Besides, the hornet’s nest is stirred already, and I want him to know I’m not done.”
Venus Duval
27 Aug 2023, 9:08pm
James catches the coolant canister and looks down at his gun then back up to Meowers. Marcus looks at the coolant tank on the James' back and chuckles.

'You are down 30% in that reservoir. Don't know if you'll stay cool enough.'

James pulls the pack off his back with a magnetic click as the locks release from his armor plating. He looks it over and grabs the plasma torch as it floats by having been detached from its previous owner. He activates it and begins to heat the metal alloy until it is molten. Taking a chunk of metal floating by he heats it to a molten temp and rolls it against the cooling metal on his pack. In order to cool the tank he jostled the canister ensuring the cooling liquid impacts the spot. The internal coolant instantly boils as the temps are quickly drawn to a cool temp. The repair was rudimentary but effect the breach in the tank was sealed. James tosses the canister back to Meowers and shakes his head.

'You'll need it more. I'd rather not lose your versatility over my power. Besides our ammo counts are low. I'll be going hand to hand soon enough.'

He reconnects the tank on his back with a satisfying click and a small hiss as the heated portion of the tank is hit with coolant once more. Marcus taps the tank and laughs again.

'You continue to surprise me James. Your tank looks better than mine now. It has character.'

****

Meowers"Aventus," I activated my comms, "I'm sending four wounded back to you. Too roughed up to fight. Two of them should be fine, but two more are quite bad."


'OK as soon as they show up I'll have a team of four sent over to the bridge. The FDL group has it held off resistance should be minimal. 6 fighters are there waiting they will have fresh ammo and a few coolant canisters for that rifle of yours.'

Aventus replies to Meowers as he places me on the medical bench. The restraints hold me in place and he places a mask over my nose and mouth. The anesthetic agents in the gas begin to take effect. The room around me fades to black and Aventus removes my clothing peeling some of my skin off in the process unintentionally. He places me in a chemical treatment chamber and types in the chemical agent needing to be treated and lets the machine begin treatment. The chamber fills with a liquid solution specifically designed to treat Hydrogen Fluoride burns. Pumps in the chamber force the solution around my body cleaning off and neutralizing the chemicals even further. Had I been awake the process would have been painful as the solution ran across the burns.

As Aventus is cleaning up and disposing of the contaminated clothing the troops Meowers sent back to the hangar arrive. He asses everyone and treats the most severe injuries first. The injuries for everyone were able to be treated in a less invasive process than my own. He patches up the two with the worst injuries and has them tend to to recently freed slaves.

The 4 commandos Aventus had uninjured headed off towards the bridge column with the supplies needed for Meowers group.

****

Diaz's security leader manages to break the code locking them out of the camera feeds and puts it up on the viewing panel. Silvia's eyes go wide when she sees the identifier on the commandos armor. The medical snake winding itself around a central sword, ice shards protruding from the body of the snake.

'Knights of Cold Harbour? Here? But that means..'

She sees Kira and Ina walking with a small group of commandos two heavy gunners walking in complete unison lets her know exactly who these people are.

'Venus... is alive? But how?... where?...'

She stands from the cowering position she was in and goes to step closer to the screen. Diaz swings around with lightning speed striking Silvia with so much force her head snaps to the right and she is sent reeling in pain against the wall again. Tears forming in her eyes as the pain overwhelms her. Her mind races trying to catch up and process what just happens. Diaz turns to look at her while pointing at the screen.

'Take a good look little girl! This is the last time you will see these people alive.'

'Sir how should we deal with them? All the raiders have either fled or died fighting. This group doesn't seem like the average band of mercs.'

'That's because they aren't. The Knights of Cold Harbour were a special operations group formed after the fallout of my original battalion in the Imperial Navy. Those two gunners James and Marcus are some of the most lethal heavy gunners I have ever seen. Well over 1200 confirmed kills each. Their leader Aventus Harkon is a damned skilled medic and one hell of a shot. Owes Venus a life debt after she pulled him out of a burning Cutter I shot down a few years back.'

'Ok... well that didn't exactly answer my question sir.. What should we do to deal with them?'

Diaz turns and glares at the man who spoke up. Fire burning in his eyes as rage begins to consume him. He takes a step towards him and Silvia pushes herself off the floor and laughs.

'For being an intelligent maniac you have backed yourself into a corner. You have no options so you stand there and assault and kill your advisors because you have no plan.'

Silvia swallows hard bracing herself for a strike from Diaz which never comes. Instead he stops and turns slowly towards her.

'You have some gall to speak to me like that. I should tear you limb from limb. Make those two bitches....'

'Make them what? Watch as you tear me apart futher sealing your fate? You are pathetic. You are just like Jenna angry, trigger happy, brutish. You don't think about everything because you think you know everything. You are intelligent you built a fucking empire and yet you let it fall to rubble because you went after revenge. You let your hatred blind you and you....'

'Shut the fuck up cunt!'

Diaz launches himself forward as quick as a pouncing lion driving a fist full force into Silvia's stomach. The impact is a forceful as a silver back gorilla slamming it's fists down onto its enemy. Silvia has the air forced out of her lungs as as she sent flying into the wall again. The impact knocks her out cold as her head strikes the solid bulkhead. She sits floating there seemingly lifeless the only sign she is alive is her chest rising and falling from her breathing.

Silvia regains consciousness a few seconds later and clutches her chest and stomach curling into a ball as the pain from the punch explodes through her body. Diaz turns back to the security personnel and issues an order.

'Find a way to vent the atmosphere from the lower decks.'
Kasumi Goto
27 Aug 2023, 10:49pm
I raised my right hand as a fist in front of a door, leading the group with Meowers, reading a warning sign on it, which was also flashing up on my wrist computer.

"Trouble?", I heard a commando ask behind me.

"Not exactly.", I replied, running a check on my helmet seals. "No atmosphere in the next section. Looks like one hell of a hull breach, but whatever caused it, internal sensors aren't telling. Check your seals and signal me when you're ready."

I waited everyone to give a positive return, observing Meowers listen in to a transmission, presumably from the team in the hangar. She was about to tell, but I raised my hand.

"Let's cross this section first, then say. Bit close to the outer hull to be comfortable for me. Seal up, everyone."

I depressurized the room once given the all-clear, and stepped forward, now surrounded by mostly dull thuds carried by the metal of the hull, and my own breathing. Opening the door revealed a mess of caustic residues, scattered all over the place, eating away at the front section of an Anaconda, the rest of the ship either broken off, or hidden behind the jagged metal of the hull section it had pierced.

"Ugh... nobody touch that slimy stuff. The Thargoids might be on our side for now, but that caustic shit's still going to burn through your suit in a second."

I looked around a little more. Structural integrity looked less than ideal.

"And watch where you step. Zero G or not, I don't trust the looks of this deck."

Things appeared to go smoothly at first, despite the somewhat unsettling creaking of the metal. I was almost at the other end of the breached room when the wreck of the Anaconda moved and pulled a piece of the carrier with it... the one I was standing on.

"Ah, shit!"

The outcry, which unintentionally went to everyone in the team, was followed by a heavy hand pulling me off said metal piece before it could yank me into the void with it. The heavy gunner that had pulled my mag boots off then placed me on a more stable section, where I breathed out in relief.

"Thanks." I looked out to where the wreck had now pulled itself loose, slowly getting dragged by the nearby planet's gravity. "Little too close for comfort."

"I rescue the princess again, you owe me a drink.", he replied, mildly amused at his own remark.

"Ha ha. This 'princess' is more likely to cause bloodshed than she is to need rescuing."

I received no further response for now, and so moved back to the door taking us out of this breached room, which was slowly getting dissolved by the caustic substance, also likely responsible for freeing the wrecked ship. Other side was pressurized, so I had to make everyone wait again. With everyone through, I sealed the door off and re-enabled local life support. A warning showed on my wrist computer, the worm informing me that its lockdown of the camera systems had been bypassed, and that attempts were being made to access life support on lower decks. This, in turn, prompted me to connect to the bridge speakers and give Diaz a piece of my mind.

"Oh, finally making some progress, are you? Too bad it's nearly too late for that. Your ship is already falling apart, Diaz, just like your empire. Trying to fiddle around with that worm will only delay the inevitable. And I can see what you're doing."

I paused for just long enough to let the annoyance build, but not respond.

"You're a dead man, but I don't think you know that just yet. But well, I guess that's what happened when you're so blinded by hubris that you think nobody can hurt you. Well, guess what. I can. What you saw at Gardner Point was just the beginning. You had one choice, and that was not to piss me off. But well, you did, and it turns out I'm the one person that you shouldn't have. Instead, you just had to try fucking with Silvia again, as if you hadn't screwed her life up enough already. All for some petty legwork for Azimuth. Con-fucking-gratulations, you did a great job. All this is your own fault, and you're going to die knowing that. Any more harm you do to Silvia will just make us want to kill you more. Oh, and since you're actually fighting back now, enjoy this. Good luck running with no more ways to run."

I cut off the link to the bridge intercom, then removed almost all safeguards from the worm, letting it wreak full havoc on whatever it could find, with the exception of systems in our surroundings and the hangars, as well as vital things to the carrier's operations, not that any of those were still in good shape. On top of it all, bridge consoles were flooded with junk data that needed to be cleared to continue operating, and every escape pod on the carrier was now disabled, as was access to the pads with ships not owned by me, Meowers or our support fleet. June called out to me in that moment.

"Please allow me access to the hangar containing Julia's ship, the Pit Viper.", she requested. "I will remotely pilot it to a safe destination once possible."

"Sure.", I replied, and added the AI to my list of exceptions, and the ship to those allowed to land at my carrier. "There you go. I guess the ship means something to you, so I'll let you bring it on my carrier. It's nearby, but just make sure Diaz hasn't left any nasty surprises on it before you land."

"I will."

I nodded, and turned to Meowers, though talking to the group overall.

"Those idiots are trying to vent the lower decks. I let my worm go nuts a bit more, but they might still get around it anyway. So watch your batteries and try not to get hit while your shields are down if we're shot at."

A short pause, then a direct question to Meowers.

"You were going to say something earlier?"
Meowers
28 Aug 2023, 6:20am
"What? Ah, yeah..." I paused for a bit, still not sure if I should say it out loud. "So, a weird part of me wanted to ask you, like, maybe you can upload some shitey cheap comedy show music and let it play on repeat on the bridge. Diaz might totally lose his shit. Though... If Silvia is with him at the moment, I doubt she will appreciate."

"Then, on a serious note. Do you have the schematics for this carrier? We have some reinforcements incoming, and I need a point somewhere close to the bridge, yet relatively... uh, safe, to meet them."
Kasumi Goto
28 Aug 2023, 7:06am
“Well, didn’t Venus send a team ahead of us to clear a path to the bridge or something? Might be good to figure out where those guys are, and just meet up there. As to that other question …”

I felt tempted to scratch my head thoughtfully, and to take care of an itch, only to realize my helmet was in the way. I took it off for a short moment to do that, continuing to speak when I put it back on.

“I might have some stuff from those data drives you find around the settlements - the small ones - that everyone was so happy to scatter all over the place, like making a seed bomb explode in high atmosphere… and abandon at the first sign of trouble. Humans, never change.”

The last three words were thrown out with some exasperation at our tendency to build random shit in places everywhere, whether it served much of a purpose or not. And I couldn’t really find much of a purpose to a tourist site built at the fringes of a solar system, on the night side of an ice rock. Better if it is tidally locked, too.

“Anyway, pissing the bastard off more won’t do us much good at this point, much as I like to shove it in his face. And since we didn’t find Silvia on the way to or from that disgusting slave hold, safe bet he’s holding her on the bridge for some of that old-fashioned hostage bullshit.”

I paused for a second, again.

“And I want to be able to keep a straight face when we get to him, not that anyone’s going to see it behind that helmet… but it would do to not be busy laughing myself to death when we’re supposed to kill that brute.”
Meowers
28 Aug 2023, 11:35am
"Ah, well," I sighed and lowered my voice, for some reason. It wasn't a secret anyway. "We're on our own. Four people more, pilots of those FDLs, are heading our way with some supplies. That's why I want to meet them sooner rather than later, distribute the supplies and regroup before the attack. There's no other way except the one we're going now."

"Saying 'things might get ugly', I meant 'things will much likely get ugly'".
Kasumi Goto
28 Aug 2023, 11:45am
“Well …”

I pulled up the interior layout of the carrier, currently still accessible to me, displaying it as a hologram from my wrist computer.

“It looks like there’s a point between here and the bridge where two main pathways intersect.” I highlighted the section in question. “Not sure how much I like it, though. Looks like a place where an ambush could easily be set up, and catch us right out in the open. If I were in Diaz’s position, I’d expect the enemy troops to meet up right there.”

I held my arm closer to Meowers.

“You have a look yourself. You find a better spot, let me know.”

The look I was throwing at her provided two additional remarks - ‘I know things are going to be messy’, and ‘Try to keep it short. Don’t want to be on these decks if they decide to vent them.’.
Meowers
28 Aug 2023, 12:29pm
"Gods-bloody-damnit," I whispered, taking a brief look at the map. All paths to the bridge were converging into a choke point, the hall with elevators and emergency ladders access. I spent some time on a carrier before, the Atlas, though, memorising its schematics in detail wasn't of any priority, and I can't remember being close to the bridge. I was only a rookie pilot back then. So, I expected all those corridors to end up in one spot, but not without alternative routes. Or maybe it was Diaz's design. There were some technical shafts too, made for maintenance personnel, not for a group of people with heavy weapons.

"Following our trail will take too long, but a direct route will lead them straight into... there. I'm not expecting Diaz to retake any lost positions, this ship is fucked up already. He knows we're going for him and he's waiting. And we have no other way."

"Soldiers, move, double time!" I turned around and shouted. "We should clean the hall below the bridge, our only chance to get reinforcements!"

"Aventus, can you hear me?" I activated the suit comms. "Tell those guys to slow down and wait for a signal."

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