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.
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 10:11pm
Unlike other raiders, she wasn't shot on sight, and something made me think that I shouldn't do so either. And, the fact that she attacked Venus, not anyone else, not even some of Aventus' commandos who were closer to her... All that gave me a clue. She might've known something. Anyway, while I've been thinking what to do with her, Kasumi took the initiative, leaving me standing behind with my arms crossed over my chest, observing the scene of something that looked like a mix of brutal torture and emotional release. At that point, it seemed to me that this half-cyborg woman was Kasumi's personal enemy of sorts...

Then I remembered what she told me a few days ago, during our first one-on-one talk on board Marshmallow. With those dots connected, I had no more questions about why Kasumi had been so violent to her; moreover, I wanted to say something myself. Something more understandable than words, since, as far as I know people, some of them struggle with words.

"Let her arms go, please," I said to the two identical looking giant men. Gunmen released her arms, now non-functional, and they remained hanging helplessly in zero gravity; woman tried to escape, twitching backwards and preparing to jump, but my reaction was properly quick, I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled back, towards me.

"You Jules, right? Shit. It sucks to be you," I gave her a look that, maybe, executioners of the past times were giving to their sentenced. Something in-between a slight disdain and a sarcastic excuse, though still mostly cold and distant. She looked in my eyes in return, perhaps unable to say anything or realising the futility of such an attempt.

Holding her by the shoulder, I inhaled sharply and leaned backwards, placing my right foot behind and putting my weight on it. Then, instantly, I pushed my body forward, adding my own mass and inertia to the impact, and landed a heavy kick on her stomach. Jules' magboots immediately lost contact with the floor, her body bent in half, and a shriek of sharp pain added to the audible crack of shattering suit plates, and, possibly, bones. Weightless body was violently thrown to the wall behind and collided with it with another loud metallic clank. Her body flattened against the wall and was left floating in the air, without any contact to the floor.

"She's alive," I commented, turning back and looking at Kasumi. "Maybe."

Last edit: 22 Aug 2023, 10:19pm
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 10:33pm
“Well, I guess she might be able to limp to a locker to hide in or something. Providing she can open it.”, I remarked with a shrug, feeling little at the treatment of the woman.

Such an action was rather out of character for me, but I couldn’t feel any remorse, not after going through yet more emotional turmoil at possibly the worst moment in time, and knowing what Silvia had gone through because of Diaz already. An idea suddenly came to me, as I looked at Grenshaw’s body.

“Hm …”

I leaned over it, trying to ignore the rather gory mess that was once his face. Outside the rush of battle, I was not very receptive to such displays, and so quickly grabbed his communicator, to be able to look away. Then, I turned it on, for everyone to hear. Given the barking voice that came through it, I had to assume Diaz wasn’t happy about the lack of reports.

“… respond, damn it! Did Jules reach you?”

I decided to hit the button that allowed me to reply.

“Finally! What the hell took you so long?”

“It took him so long because he’s dead. And you’re next, Diaz. Enjoy the few remaining minutes of your life while they last.”

I cut off the outgoing feed and tossed the device toward Venus, who looked to at least have recovered enough from the hits that Jules provided to stand straight.

“Think you can use that to link us into their comms? Figure we might want to know if they’re about to drop a bunch of troops on us.” I paused for a second. “Almost feel bad for them, honestly. But just almost. You want to make everyone on the carrier hear how screwed they are, go on ahead. I can add a little extra.”
Venus Duval
22 Aug 2023, 10:59pm
I stood there holding my chest my magazines broken and armor plate cracked. I looked over the communication device and paused for a moment. I looked at both Kasumi and Meowers and gave a slight nod.

'I'll get working on this. You go find your weapons. We may need them shortly.'

I turned to look at Jules a feeling of remorse for what was about to happen to her. Diaz once had a slave like Jules back before all of this crap happened. She had become severely injured one day after having pushed Grenshaw out of the path of a large chunk of twisted ship alloy from an exploding ship. Diaz no longer having a use for her activated the kill switch. Her death was horrific to watch. I walk over to Jules clenching my ribs and stomach. I place an arm on her shoulder and embrace her. I activate the communications device and call over to Diaz.

'Your project is in critical condition and your second in command is dead. Your time is counting down. I will ensure you are buried this time and I will have my name cleared in the Empire once more. Fuck you Marcus Diaz.'

'Duval! I knew it! Guards bring Silvia to the bridge!'

Diaz cuts the comms off and activates Jules kill switch. There is a blood curdling scream from Jules as the device near to her heart activates, slowly sending a sharp probe into the soft tissue of her beating heart. Her cybernetics begin to violently convulse as electrical charges resonate through her. There is a disturbing light that begins to emanate from behind her eyes as the electrical current searches for a path to escape like a soul escaping from a body. Her remaining human organs are slowly fried a by the heat generated then the screams stop. I push her away from me black empty holes where her eyes used to be and blood dripping from her ears while smoke drifts off of her cybernetics. A small tear forms in the corner of my eye hidden away by my helmet. No one deserved that death. No one deserved to have everything they knew stripped away from them. Not even the most terrible of people.

Aventus stands staring at the smoldering body of Jules his mouth ajar. He was there the day Diaz did this same thing to his other slave and the sight of if happening again was unsettling.

'Aloy... I mean Venus come on. We have to get Silvia back. We know where she is now. Also you need to get that chest plate replaced. It wont be doing you any good in that state.'

Melli clambers up onto Kira's shoulder and chirps lightly in her ear while nuzzling up against her helmet.
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 11:45pm
I watched the unnecessarily gruesome death of Jules not far from me, not just because it likely was a similar thing that had - effectively - killed me before the Thargoids put me back together, but also because it wasn’t deserved.

“Another thing that bastard is going to pay for.”, I said to myself in a low voice, then listened in to the chittering of Melli in one of my ears. That gave me an idea.

“Don’t really understand what you’re saying, but maybe you can find my weapon. Here, have a sniff and go fetch. Can’t say I have treats, though.”

I pulled off my right hand glove and presented the bare hand to Melli, after which the little critter jumped off and ran around the hangar wildly, trying to find the railgun. In the meantime, I went over to the spot where Grenshaw had ended, a few scorched fragments of skull and blood still floating around. Sure enough, my knife was there, just above the ground.

I stowed it in its respective holder, then came back to the main entryway, finding Melli circling a spot, nose to the ground, but confused at finding nothing.

“You find anything?”

I received excited chittering as a response, but seeing as there was nothing on the ground, I looked up. Sure enough, there it was, just floating a few meters up in the air, prompting me to roll my eyes.

“Ugh. Figures. Stay down here, I’ll grab it.”

I lowered the strength of my mag boots temporarily to jump upward more easily, reaching the railgun in a second. Floating back down took a lot longer, thanks to the lack of gravity. Once I made contact again, I was once more adorned by a scarf made of part not-quite-white-anymore fur, part roughly fox-shaped armor, giving a somewhat comical appearance to an individual otherwise looking ready for war, with a rather oversized weapon in hand, around half the height of my body in length.

At least all my mags were still safely attached to my belt, or in whichever pouch I kept them.

“Alright, let’s go. It’s time we finally put an end to that bastard. He’s not taking another life today.”, I said, in determined fashion, glancing in the direction of Jules’ lifeless body.

“If anyone finds that stun gun that guy was using …” I pointed toward Grenshaw. “… feel free to take it. Looks a bit like one of those old harpoon guns. Might be useful. He said it packs one hell of a charge.”

I took a deep breath, as though to steady my nerves, and remove my mind from the gruesome actions that had just unfolded, not just from the person they were expected from.

“And nobody comment on how I look with a pet around my neck. I didn’t get a say in who the chosen transport is. Also …”

I threw a look at Meowers that very clearly said ‘No more eating bullets’, then waited.

Last edit: 23 Aug 2023, 12:01am
Meowers
23 Aug 2023, 6:48am
"Phah," I chuckled, looking at Kasumi's new, and quite fashionable appearance. "Alright, no more shotguns in my face, I didn't like it either."

"And... I've got ten more magazines in case that Diaz decides to throw another bunch of those idiots at us. I suggest we should stick together and get Silvia out of this godsdamned place."
Kasumi Goto
23 Aug 2023, 8:48am
“My thoughts exactly. Besides, we’ve kept Diaz waiting for long enough already, and if he doesn’t know I’m here yet, he soon will. And I’ll be sure to let him know that him pissing me off is what caused his downfall in the end.”

I looked around, for no particular reason but to take in the room, stopping on Venus.

“Whenever you’re ready. You probably know this place best out of anyone else, and I don’t want to spend any more time here than I really need to. It reeks, and I don’t mean the bodies in here.”
Venus Duval
24 Aug 2023, 12:05pm
I head onto Aventus' ship and replace my chest plates and magazines then return to the main group with a single commando in tow.

'Take her and place her in an escape pod. She doesn't deserve to be left in this place.'

The commando grabs Jules carefully and takes her back to the ship. I shake my head and clench my fists. Taking a deep breath to calm myself I look at Kira an Meowers while pulling out a small holo disk containing the carriers layout. I zoom in towards the middle of the ship and point.

'This is where we are. Upper levels near the middle of the ship. That leave just about 1km between us and Diaz here.*moves the holo to the bridge and selects the bridge tower.* Diaz has his quarters just below the bridge. Just before he did that to Jules he called for his guards to grab Silvia and bring her to the bridge.'

'That narrows down the search quite dramatically. However we may be able to intercept them. There is some form of hold directly below us about 20 levels. With the electronics onboard running on emergency power elevators will be offline which mean we would be going on foot.'

I pull out my data pad and pull up the scanner view. A green blip is seen on the screen indicating a general area for Silvia.

'This shows her about 80m below us but that area is quite large. We also need to remember they are supposed to have 20 or so additional civilians on board.'

There is a loud metal crunching/ scraping sound as a large ship slams into the carriers hull causing a significant vibration throughout the carrier. The impact was a reminder that there was still a significant threat outside once we finished up here.

'Any complaints or questions before we get going. Now will likely be the last time we have a chance to talk before things get heated again.'
Kasumi Goto
24 Aug 2023, 12:59pm
“None from my end immediately. Though, if we are going to try and get Silvia before we reach the bridge, we shouldn’t wait around much longer.”

I moved away from the main group, outside of hearing distance for a conversation at regular tone, gesturing for Venus to follow, looking back at where Jules had met her end just a minute earlier.

“If I’d known that was going to happen …”, I started, raising my arm in the general direction I was looking. “… I’d just have killed her immediately. Or given her some kind of pain killer, at least. That… that wasn’t deserved.”

I shook my head.

“What good is showing even the slightest bit of mercy if assholes like that - “ My right arm pointed up toward the bridge. “ - just throw it right back in your face and laugh at it? We should just kill him right there, and stop anything like that - “ Another gesture toward Jules’ final resting spot, though the body was gone by now. “ - from happening again.”

I knew that there were probably dozens, hundreds, or thousands more like Diaz out there, turning people into their personal tools, to be disposed of when they were no longer ‘useful’, but this particular case just filled my heart with hatred, seeing it done firsthand.

“I wanted to leave her the opportunity to do something right once we were done with that bastard sitting in his tower, like the coward that he is. Instead, it just became another body on the pile that he left behind. But was it really necessary to call out that his ‘project’ was failing to him? Hell, could even have used a signal jammer to at least try to cut his bullshit off.”

I sighed, no longer willing to, or seeing the point in dwelling on it, as Jules was more than dead, but also because I was about to address the elephant in the room between us. My tone was kept a little lower as a result.

“I’m sorry about that mess with the Thargoids outside. I didn’t want to involve them, but those Azimuth idiots decided to try getting involved when trouble kicked off outside, and that thing in my head has a mind of its own. So it did something to call them, when I started to feel unsure about our odds. I’m not planning to hang around to see if they’re as friendly as they currently seem, but at least they haven’t blasted our ships or the carrier yet.”

I lowered my voice again.

“Do you need him alive? The actual transport is gone, so we have time to go after that bastard, but I need to know if I can splatter his brains over his throne or not once we get to it.”
Venus Duval
24 Aug 2023, 1:45pm
I let out a sigh and remove my helmet so Kira could clearly see my face.

'The project comment wasn't about Jules in particular.'

My face softens and a look of guilt spreads across it as I continue.

'He has done this before... he was monitoring her cyberware. She was going to die regardless of our mercy. I held her in that moment so she knew she wasn't alone. She did try at one point to help Silvia. I just don't think she had a choice this time around. He doesn't think like you or I. All he sees is potential puppets.'

I look up to the ceiling of the corridor as my eyes tear up.

'I.. look this all of it is playing out exactly how he wants it to. The fact that Aventus' group was discovered before I even made it onboard means he knew something was amiss and sent in raiders to investigate.'

My tone shifts to something more vile, hate filling each word.

'Killing him would be too kind of a fate. I want to subject him to the same torment he has placed upon so many innocents. I want to force him to suffer just as Jules and Verity did. I want to watch him writhe in pain from his same tools. I will make him regret ever crossing me.'
Kasumi Goto
24 Aug 2023, 2:38pm
I’d listened to Venus’ response silently, not looking to interrupt it, also glad that I had my face hidden behind my helmet when I answered.

“I think I might’ve pissed them off a little by turning their slave operation at that outpost upside down. That blonde guy, whatever his name was again, sure made it sound like I did. Rambled on about bringing me to his boss alive. So yeah… I have another reason to want him gone, besides the fact that he just couldn’t let Silvia go. Like her life wasn’t ruined enough already.”

I sighed, the sound strangely enhanced by getting filtered through the helmet.

“I doubt I’d look much better than her if he’s gotten his hands on me, unless Azimuth made him an offer. And you can bet yourself they would’ve. But if we aren’t going to kill him right away, we need some way to keep him out until you do.”

A memory flashed through my mind, thinking back at what I’d been told of Jules by Silvia.

“Come to think of it, I think Silvia mentioned that ‘Jules’ had an AI of some kind. Might be able to find where they’re keeping it on the carrier. If you’ll allow it, I’m going to look for it once we’re through with him, or maybe just on the way there. It… might want to know what happened.”

I left a long pause between that and my next sentence, blinking away some wetness I felt in my eyes, and composing myself. Part of my reason to care was having an AI of my own that would be less than pleased if I was gone, especially under circumstances like that.

“I don’t know what got over me there. It’s not like me to put someone in pain like that. She didn’t really deserve it, but …”

I fell silent and shook my head, unable to continue down that line coherently. And this woman was not someone I had particular willingness to appear vulnerable in front of.

“Forget it. That bastard just needs to pay for what he did. But what I really asked was if you need him to prove that… well, whatever you want to prove to the Imperials. After that… I guess you can do with him what you want. As long as you make it hurt.”

Another impact shook the carrier.

“Damn… where’s there a terminal or access point around here? We need to see what the hell’s going on out there. I can link an external camera feed to one so we can get eyes on things.”
Meowers
24 Aug 2023, 3:05pm
I gave Kasumi and Venus some time to talk and contemplate, staying at the distance, smoking another cigarette because hells know when I could have a next one, and they, kind of... Were working well in terms of bringing me down to earth, or whatever surface was under my feet, helping my mind to focus on the task at hand. Judging by the looks of them, those Aventus' commandos who were left to guard the hangar, also enjoyed that little break.

I looked at the corpses once more, trying to spot anything specific, and failed at it. Regular slaver goons recruited in some shady bar for a small payment and maybe even hooked up on drugs. Cheap suits with minimal armour, bog standard weapons and little to no skills of using them.

My thoughts were interrupted by a distant loud noise and perceptible vibration, spreading through panels and bulkheads: seems like something hit the carrier again. This vessel was doomed and we had to act quickly. I waved my rifle barrel towards the corridor, the direction where Jules came from, and addressed to people around me.

"Shall we go? This godsdamned tin can can't take much more."
Venus Duval
24 Aug 2023, 3:48pm
I place my helmet back on and nod in agreement to Meowers comment.

'Yes we probably should get going.'

Looking back over my shoulder towards Kira I answer her primary question about Diaz.

'He doesn't necessarily need to be alive. I just need proof of his crimes.'

Melli hops down off Kira's neck and climbs up onto my back and shoulder. She lets out a little trill and stares into the darkened corridor ahead.

Aventus takes a group of his men to the lead position and motions everyone to follow. The two heavy gunners stick near Meowers to allow of a team of three heavy gunners to delete a direction should it need it. The remaining few commandos take up the rear.
Kasumi Goto
24 Aug 2023, 4:02pm
I pulled the railgun off my back after Melli hopped off, holding it in a, for now, lowered position.

“Proof is easy. Just need to get access to his private terminal. But it doesn’t look like it’s connected to the main network, so we’ll have to pay his cabin a visit.”

I decided to stick to the back of the group as it began to move, seeing as my weapon was best suited to long range.

“You need any particular target gone, just point me at it and they’ll be dealt with. Make sure you’re not in the way, though. This thing will kill anything with one shot, shield or not. Anything human-sized, that is.”
Meowers
24 Aug 2023, 6:19pm
As we walked down the corridor with our guns at the ready, I suddenly noticed that red emergency signals were our only source of light throughout quite unexpectedly long distance, they covered more sections than they should in case of damaged power cables that I accidentally shot before. The fate of this vessel had been sealed, and it was becoming more and more obvious with each minute. Whilst being difficult to recognise in the heat of a battle, in the face of imminent danger, the atmosphere had shown itself perfectly in that moment. It was... Bleak. Gloomy. Red lights flooded the surroundings, distant wailing of sirens resonated and echoed through empty corridor, vibrations and screechings of tortured metal ran through bulkheads and wall panels. Our footsteps and our breathing were the only human sounds.

And, essentially, it allowed my ears to pick up something... dissonating with the whole doomed ship picture. Muffled and distant sounds of two human voices, one of them high-pitched and energetic, and the other sounded... defensive. I raised my hand, signalling our group to stop, and listened carefully. There were two technical compartment airtight doors in several metres ahead of us, to the left side, and they weren't sealed, only closed by hand: their lock indicators were looking like two little green spots in the sea of dark red.

I pushed my body forward to gain a little momentum and disengaged the magboots. Floating silently, I reached the doors and stopped, carefully grabbing the handle of the first one on my way. No, it was... Too small to be designed for people, too narrow. Could've been some storage of sorts, or maintenance access point. Second one, however, looked more promising. Quietly, I leaned closer to the door, still floating in the air, and listened.

"...battle should be almost over right now! Tell you, let's go get 'em! Easy money!"

"But, Danny... The pods, the reserve escape pods we should..."

"You've been whining for damn eternity! And, fucking nobody near the fucking escape pods! Dammit, do you want that money or not? I do. Look! I've got only four of... These! Left. How the fuck should I go for two weeks more?"

"Damn it, I told you, stop pumping yourself with..."

"Shut up you piss-pot! I mean, look at me! Never felt better! Come on, let's go finish 'em off!"

"I...don't know, Danny. It's my first flight on this carrier... And now, all this... Happening."

I activated my magboots, quickly landing back on the floor, and pulled the door handle forcefully. Two young men, in their early 20s, maybe even younger, were hiding in a storage compartment and arguing. One of them, presumably that Danny, one with hyped voice, was holding a drug injector in his hand, and the sleeve on his other arm was rolled up. And the second one was... Shocked. Frozen in place. Staring at me with his eyes full of terror. Although, the reaction of his friend was almost instant: that fellow must've been high on those drugs already. He stretched his arm, aiming at my face. Unlucky little bastard. Tried to shot me with a drug injector, might've tried a finger gun with the same result.

Armour-piercing, expansive, armour-piercing, expansive. My standard ammo setup, versatile and reliable. First round pierced Danny's stomach, went through it and hit the metal wall behind, going deeper and causing damage on its way. Poor idiot. Shields were offline, or maybe he didn't even have any. His eyes opened widely in surprise, and, before his suppressed pain signals reached the brain, second round landed a little higher, just below his sternum, piercing the skin and expanding inside. This one was certainly lethal. Inner pressure of expanding plasma round had made his chest bloat for a brief moment, and remaining charge found its way through his back, scattering drops of blood and pieces of ripped, burnt flesh. He was dead already, although, I didn't expect anyone without any shields and armour at all, and that four-round burst was more like a reflex. His body started to lean back when the third round hit the chest, at the angle this time, and pulled it backwards, straining and ripping the skin, shattering the ribcage and spine until it found the way through the body and hit the wall behind. Fourth round entered the dead body with internal organs already turned into mush, and expanded somewhere where his heart originally was, bursting the ribcage open and splattering blood and burnt flesh all over the compartment. His magnetic boots have lost any remaining floor contact at the moment, and mauled, disfigured body was thrown to the wall.

So, that second guy... He stood, pale like a sheet of paper, covered in splatters of blood and flesh, with a piece of his friend's bowel stuck to his leg, and his arms raised in a sign of surrender. He was trembling.

"Name? Age?" I grabbed the guy by the collar of his suit and pulled him forcefully.

"B...Bbbb...Billy. Sss.. Seven...Teen."

"Shit," I pulled him once again and turned around, forcing him to leave the room ahead of me. Whatever lessons raiders have for kids here, there's one he learned already: how to walk, holding his hands on the back of his head. So, we left the room. Once we entered the corridor, Billy began to turn his head from side to side: apparently, that couple hid in the room with mops, spare cables and batteries when the ship was... In better shape.

"Wh...What...What happened? Where's..everybody?"

I didn't answer, just pushed him forward to my group.

"Hey, folks. Meet Billy. Seventeen. What should we do with this sorry loser? Any ideas?"

Last edit: 24 Aug 2023, 6:30pm
Kasumi Goto
24 Aug 2023, 6:55pm
I’d found myself a terminal, kneeling in front of it while messing around woth wires while working on powering it up, finding that task to be annoyingly difficult - the standard energy link had failed to get it up and running.

“The ship shouldn’t be this damaged.’, I thought to myself, and made a throwaway gesture with my hand after looking back toward Meowers for a moment. My tone was about as uncaring as it could get, focused on another task.

“I’d have said to leave an escape pod for him, but with those Thargoids out there, I doubt he’d get very far.”

The terminal screen lit up, finally, after I bypassed another connection. Looked almost like sabotage, more than damage from internal blasts.

“And speaking of which… take a look at this.”

I stood up and waved everyone closer to me, linking an external camera feed that I had diverted power toward, to the screen.

It was nothing short of bedlam. Thargoid ships were absolutely all over the place, with their and human ship wreckage strewn about seemingly wherever it found a spot.

Both original Hydras were still intact, showing some battle damage, but still very much active and engaged in fierce fighting. A third one had joined them as well, along with a number of Medusas. I panned around a little and reduced zoom slightly to get a better picture of the battle.

Azimuth’s own forces were getting shot down just as much as the Thargoid ships. I spotted a few Glaives throughout, but the Guardian weapon fire going around told me they either were only there recently, or not using their anti-Guardian field. Perhaps because they were aware I knew Marshmallow currently sported those weapons, and didn’t want them to be turned into a puddle of melted electronics.

“Those Black Flight idiots really stirred the nest, didn’t they?”

A Thargon swarm passed through the camera, that of a Medusa by the number of drones, suiciding itself against an Anaconda in its entirety. The ship stood no chance against the merciless strike, also caught in the lightning of the responsible Medusa, and caused the camera to be blown out entirely when its fusion plant detonated. The signal was disrupted, then, so I switched to another camera, mounted on the bridge rather than the main hull.

What it showed was no less concerning - the Azimuth ships, or at least those that survived and were not using anti-Thargoid weaponry, were firing at the carrier.

The camera caught one such impact, then a greenish-blue energy wave passed over it, and the image went dark. None of our ships were visible in any of the shots, and if any raider ships remained, they were staying well clear of the fighting. One of the commandos behind me then said what was on my, and probably everyone else’s, mind.

“Have they completely lost their minds?”

“All the more reason to finish this quickly.”, I replied, and turned around, as the lights flickered again, and plunged the carrier into temporary darkness. I hoped, at least, that it would be temporary - not everyone here had enhanced vision like me, if anyone did.

“If anyone wants the good news, I’m reading the ID markers of most, if not all the fleet inside the hangars. Looks like they decided being part of that shitstorm wasn’t on their bucket lost.”

I turned to Meowers.

“What did you say again? Seventeen?”, I asked, a certain disbelief in my tone. “Not sure I’d trust anyone that works on this ship, to be honest. And he doesn’t look like one of Diaz’s servants or slaves that had no other choice.”

One good thing I had found was that wherever Jules’ AI was kept was near the holding cells of the other prisoners, close to where Venus had reported Silvia’s location. The power required to run such a construct was very clear to anyone who knew where to look, if not concealed well - and Diaz didn’t seem to have cared to do so, unlike me, whatever the reason.

That location would give me an opportunity to detour to there without straying far from the main group, or risking to get caught on the ship when it fell. At this point, it was all but certain that it would. The reactor was not in good shape as it was, with multiple decks reporting breaches, and a lot of fires a little all over.

“More bad news, the reactor’s probably going to be on its way out soon. Wouldn’t encourage splitting up… well, we shouldn’t, anyway. I’m going to need to go down to the holding cells where they keep the other civilians, once we’re through with Diaz. That aside, there’s probably going to be a few fires and sections without atmosphere, so anyone who doesn’t have their helmets up might consider putting them on. And check for leaks.”

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