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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25 Jan 2017, 8:29pm
The Eagle's Flame exited witchspace. The star of SPOCS 280 loomed in front of it. Amar returned to his chair, and glanced through the contacts panel. No security ships, whew. Looking out over the bow of the ship, he saw several other vessels turning towards the Nav Beacon, others heading towards the system docks to refuel.

So far so good.

"Gladstone, pull us into Solar Orbit to refuel."

"Will do."

"Jansen, go check the long range scanner, I do not want any surprises."

"Right, I'll be on the observation deck."

"Fuel Scooping Initiated," Vega declared.

"Gladstone, go ahead and plot our next jump."

"Already on it." she replied.

"Once topped off, go ahead and jump us. You have the con. I'll be in the galley, putting something together for dinner."

"Go easy on the pepper, last time I had one of your meals It took a week for my mouth to stop burning."

Amar smiled as he headed towards the galley, stepping onto the lift, he turned and looked back at the bridge. No beach on any planet could compare to the view he always had. Retirement? Ha I'm only in my prime. The lift closed, and slipped towards the second deck.
25 Jan 2017, 10:32pm
Markus rocked on the back of his heels as the ship punched through space.
"Understood Amar." He turned swiftly and began his trek through the rest of the Anaconda.

From a passing glance the Eagle's Flame certainly looked the part. But under inspection, Markus was even more so impressed. The ship's internals hummed with life and flared with energy. The power generator was massive, nearly the size of a standard house, pouring millions of megawatts throughout the Anaconda's components branching off immediately to the equally massive power distributor, and thick cables disappearing behind walls to where he guessed lead to the thruster and shield generators.
Thick alloy covered each individual component as well, adding on to the already dense armor plating layering the ship.

What Captain Huggin's would've given for a ship like this.. I bet it's loaded with the best weapons too.

Markus glamoured over the abundance of storage capacity. A ship of this size could easily stuff in over a hundred tons, and still have room. Most of the bays were empty though, except one. The cargo hold had a few of the wooden crates in the corner of the room, slightly ajar.

That must be the cargo Commander Epsilon was talking about earlier.
I made a mental note to check them out later.

Eventually Markus reached the FS Drive.

"Davidson?" He called out over the cascading noise of machinery and turbine.
"Aye, that's me!" A small head poked out from underneath the primary control panel.
He leaped out, hands, clothes, even beard, completely soiled in grease. Markus held out a hand regardless.
"I'm Markus, your commander offered me a ride to Nanomam, and in return, I'm here to help."
The older man smiled and crushingly grasped Markus' hand. He winced inwardly as his rough hand scrapped against Markus' still healing cuts.
"So you're the new guy Amar was talking about? Excellent, I could use an extra pair of hands like you. How much experience you got frame shift drives?" His eyes googled at Markus.
"Well, I once smashed the broken pieces of a Taipan and a Viper together, and jumped thirty light years in it. Called it my two sea turtles."
His face was blank for a moment before he reared back laughing.
"Bwah hah hah hah! That's golden! Is that what you told Amar too?! How about you start off by helping me getting this old baby a proper stoking. Configurate, calibrate, computerizate, all the fun stuff for our little journey amongst the stars."
"Sounds delightful Davidson." Marksu smiled amusingly, and set to work.
"By the way," Davidson added. "How you sticking to the floor like that?"
Markus chuckled. "Didnt ya know? The Commander hired a Spider-Man."


Last edit: 25 Jan 2017, 10:48pm
26 Jan 2017, 8:28pm
Amar leaned against the kitchen sink. What to make? Most of the crew would be hungry, and if he remembered the saying correctly, even to the hungry what is bitter tastes sweet... He wasn't a five star chef, but he could make a decent meal in a pinch. Opening the cabinet, he found the Italian, what ever Italian meant, noodles. Pasta it is. He began to rummage for tomatoes, basil,  onions, green peppers, and some chili peppers. Smiling he said to no one in particular, "Now we are gonna have some fun." After a couple of minutes of searching and not finding any tomatoes, he found some beef. How I wish Jess were here...

Jess Thomas, she had been the center of an incident a couple of years ago. After that, they had spent some time together, and then one day she disappeared. He reminisced about how she always made sure the kitchen was stocked, unlike now, and then realized most of the provisions were still in the cargo hold. Scheisse! Turning around, Amar started for the lift, but stopped. Hellen was standing there, towing the pallet of provisions behind her.

"Looking for these?" she said nonchalantly.

"Yes, Thank you" he added as an afterthought.

Reaching for the tomatoes, Amar started dicing them and added to the pot.

Jansen stood on the observation deck, monitoring the long range scanner. Nothing unusual. A few ships, one Imperial Cutter, that was rare. The cutter stayed at a distance, but was stationary. Unusual. The ship lurched as the high-wake alarm blared through the vessel. The scanner blurred as the ship jumped to the next system. Jansen leaned back and pulled out a small round tin. Disgusting habits die hard. He rolled the leaves gently between his fingers, and then positioned the roll gently in his lip. The ship lurched again as it exited into the next system. He leaned back over the scanner, nothing new, relatively empty system. Almost nothing, a few seconds later, a Cutter appeared on the scanner.

Jansen reached for the radio and called the con. "Helm bring us about 240 degrees, need a recognition scan on an Imperial vessel, Cutter Class."

"Roger, coming about."

"Go ahead and charge the drive again. Just hold until the scan completes." he replied. "Alert the commander to the possibility of a tail."

"Roger."

Amar had just started sauteing the onions and added the peppers to the mix, when Gladstone came over the intercom. "Sir, just a heads up, USV on the horizon, charging for next jump ahead of schedule, receiving ID Data in 5." This was concerning, but not that big of a deal. Well, for right now. He continued prepping the meal. Thank God the artificial gravity was working for now... Only places without it were the engine room, and the cargo bay, when the ship was underway. Then, in combat, all power was diverted from things like gravity, lights, and internal atmospheric heating and cooling to weapons and Shields. That's why everyone had a life line harness, grav boots, and an I-C-H jacket (The jacket could be rolled in a tight pouch that  attaches to the utility belt).

The ship lurched again, jumping to the next system. Amar reached for the corded radio, "Engineering, how much strain did that last jump pull?"
27 Jan 2017, 6:20pm
Amar's a voice echoed clearly between the noise of the still cooling turbines.
"Engineering, how much strain did that last jump pull?"

Markus looked at Davidson who was once again underneath something else. An engine block this time.
"Markus," he waved a hand at him. "Go ahead and answer that!"
I picked up the voice comm and pressed the transmitter button. Right as I opened my mouth a loud screeching noise shrieked through the ship.
"Let go of the button Markus!"
I did so and the screeching stopped.

Trying to pretend that nothing happened, I answered Amar's response in a clear tone
.
"We pushed the last jump sir. There was a slight mechanical failure in one of the engine blocks. An easy fix. Well have it back up and running in about ten minutes sir."

I gently set down the voice communicator and awaited Amar's response. I watched Davidson as he tediously continued his repairs.

"Sorry about that. The last ship I was on had a different communicator."

"Bah, its fine, all the newbies around here make the same mistake. At least you didn't drop the thing while it was still transmitting."

"Did you do that?"

"No, it was some lady a few months back. She dropped it, starting cussing, saying other flippant things too, all the while the transmitter happily sounding throughout the ship. The crew found it pretty funny. The Commander.. well.."
29 Jan 2017, 2:23pm


Ting--...Ting--... Ting--...Ting--...

Marcus, splayed across his small unkept bunk, rolls from his stomach to his back, reaching above his head to grab his pillow lethargically.

Ting--... Ting--... Ting--

The digital squawk of an incoming message continues to echo across his quarters. Marcus, with a mellow dramatic moan,  takes his pillow and places it over his face with one hand, and with the other begins to beat it in timing with the prompt.

'Go...' Ting-- 'Away...' Ting-- Marcus rolls back on to his stomach, being sure his pillow follows suit, keeping his face buried within it the entire time. As the prompt continues, muffled curses escape his lips as he tries his best to continue to sleep.

'Your 'nap' is up to about 6 hours now...' Sydney says with an unimpressed candor, a look of annoyance articulated directly at Marcus as she leans against his doorway.

Marcus startles awake as if an explosion had gone off right next to him.

'Je--sus Syd!' Marcus takes a long inhale, clearing the sleep from his presence, rubbing his eyes like a four year old.

ting--... ting--...

Sydney rolls off her hip and into his room, rolling her eyes in the process. She walks quickly over to a holo adjacent to his kitchenette, pulls up the message and cues it for Marcus. The beeping stops.

'You smell...' She says as she looks over at him, now leaning against his far wall as Marcus begins to collect himself, every move exaggerated as he reluctantly pulls it together. He stands lazily and steps over to his sink grabbing a half empty bottle of god knows what, hair of the dog, and takes a quick swig..

'You're not my real dad...' he says to Sydney, giving her a lazy shit eating grin before he returns to the Holo and begins to read Phisto's message. Sydney lets out a sigh of absolute disgust and shakes her head; quirking it to the side, she looks around his unkept room.

Marcus smiles as he reads the message. 'Oh Pal... if you only knew...' He says as he begins to type in a response.

'Phisto... Kill me. Kill me now...'

He waits for a second, prompts down a few lines and writes simply 'See you soon.'

Marcus closes up the holo and heads for his door, his drink from the night before in hand. Sydney waits for a moment as if contemplating whether or not she really wants to follow him. After taking another quick glance at his dirty laundry, she decides she'd rather not catch something and reluctantly follows after.

Up on the bridge Sydney finds Marcus sprawled across his Captain's chair, one leg over the arm rest, the other flopped down on the command panel directly forward of him.

'Sydney...' he says... She ignores him and takes the 1st officer's chair, beginning to plot nav points into her terminal.

'Syyydneeyyyy...' Marcus groans... 'I'm so boooored.'

Sydney stops for a second and looks up at him, raising her eyebrow. 'Really? I've been too busy doing the work of two of us to notice.' She returns to her panel.

'You know we're going to die here don't you?' He retorts, matter of factly. 'Of Septic...'

She looks up at him briefly, a half cocked grin escaping the corner of her lip, still tentatively plotting their next trip out.

'That's not a word Marcus.'

'Sepsicsis'...

'Still not a word.' She mutters.

'Septicity'

'Sepsis, and you might-- I won't.' She stands quickly and heads for the door, Marcus's gaze tracking her as she does.

'Wh-where you going?' She doesn't respond; Marcus sighs and gets up, following after her.

Sydney opens an airlock and enters the main corridor of The Colonia Dream, a half-attempt of a station, held together by matchsticks. Marcus jogs up next to her and matches her gate.

'You really do smell Marcus.'

Marcus playfully puts his arm around Sydney's shoulder and pulls her closer to him... She quickly pushes him off, trying her best not to smile as she does.

'You're not my real brother...' She says cynically. 'So lucky I'm still here.'

They walk over to the Merchant wing of the Coriolis, Sydney seemingly looking for specific items as Marcus watches her, now doing his best not to smile.

'Have you talked to your Mother lately?' He says nonchalantly..

'Yes, and I told her you said hi...' Sydney quips back, Marcus stopping for a second, a terrified look on his face. Sydney looks back at him and laughs.. 'She told me to tell you to die in a fire.'

'Pleasant woman.' Marcus says under his breath.

Sydney stops walking and turns to face him. 'You do realize you left her other daughter on a rock 400 light years from anything close to civilization...'

'It was never going to work out.' He panders back...

'On your Honeymoon...' Syd remarks quickly.

'C'mon, your sister... she's....'

Syd raises an eyebrow.

'Special...'

Sydney turns and begins to walk purposefully towards the vendor down the corridor.

'I love you Marcus, we've been friends a long long time, but you're deplorable. No... you're sub-human.' She remarks as she walks, Marcus a few steps behind.

'You're still flying around in dads ship, a wedding present I might add, that you marooned my sister with-- and then you have the nerve to call me up out of the blue and tell me you need me in Colonia... life and death you said.'

Marcus stops... 'Syd..' He says as she continues to walk.. She looks over her shoulder and continues her gate. 'Your sister isn't a saint either.'

Sydney stops, and turns, staring Marcus down from the distance dividing them.

'You sure you want to keep talking Marc?' She snarls in his direction.

Marcus puts a hand through his hair, visibly stressed over the position he's found himself in... He stammers for a moment and leans up against the guard rail and sighs. His head drops as he shakes it from side to side.

'Look kid, I don't want you to hate your sister and that's why I never brought it up.'

Sydney slowly begins to walk towards him, letting her guard down slightly as she senses an authentic moment resonating from her old friend. Marcus looks up at her and meekly shrugs.

'She didn't love the idea of me from the beginning. On our way out she told me I was going to fall in line, one way or another... and she wasn't kidding.'

Sydney leans on the rail next to Marcus, her cynical demeanor temporarily taking a back seat to her empathetic side. She simply listens.

'Your family, my family, they've had us entrenched in these ideals for so long. Federation, Imperials, your place, my place... Marrying your sister was my last attempt at being a proper part of that system.' Marcus shrugs again... 'I broke-- when I told her I wanted to do something different I thought she might come with me... She had other ideas...'

'I know Marcus...' Sydney said calmly.

Marcus looked at her somewhat perplexed.

'She told me before you both left she was going to 'settle you down', and she told me how she was going to do it.' Sydney begins to crack another one of her token shit eating grins.

Marcus continues to look baffled. 'So you knew... then why the third degree?'

'Well...' She shrugs in an effort to imitate Marcus's previous... 'Colonia's boring.' She lets out a short laugh as Marcus shakes his head.

Sydney nudges Marcus with her elbow playfully as she rests her fingers on her lip.

'She's still my sister, that was a childish thing to do, and you are a child Marcus. But you're also a good human being. Think I'd really fly all the way out here if I believed you were all bad? Besides, I don't disagree with you."

"What part?" He quips.

'That something different isn't such a bad idea.'

Marcus puts his arm around Sydney and feigns a headlock... 'Yeah... we'll see.. Now enough with this mushy shit, can we get the hell outta here?'

Sydney grabs Marcus's forearm as they both stumble off the railing and head down the corridor. 'We're not done with this conversation though Marcus... you still have a few things you haven't explained your way out of yet.' Sydney says cynically.

'Next time you want to wake me up from my beauty sleep... knock...' Marcus says as he returns to his childish antics.

'Goood-bye Colonia!' Sydney says with a sense of relief.


Last edit: 29 Jan 2017, 2:32pm
31 Jan 2017, 5:18pm
Amar winced from the feedback of the com, holding the radio at arms length. Once the feedback had subsided, he heard Markus's response come through loud and clear. 10 minutes, well that's not too bad. I completely forgot to get that block repaired. He berated himself for his haste to leave the Inara system.

"Alright," he spoke into the communicator, "I'll see if we can't improve that time frame. Hellen, report to engineering, give them a hand." He placed the terminal back into the transmitter, and then carefully sealed the dish he was preparing. Something was making the hairs on his neck stand up. He just could not quite place the reason for it.

At that moment, his personal two way went off. "Commander, I need to see you on the Observation Deck." Jansen's voice echoed over the empty room.

"On my way," he said. He walked towards the lift when he was thrown through the air. Immediately all the lights went dim, replaced by the emergency lights.

"WARNING: Artificial Gravity Offline!"
Spinning wildly, he reached for the rail to steady himself. Across the room he spotted his transmitter. Pushing off of the wall he passed though the hall, now spinning on him as he grabbed the transmitter. "OOF!" Amar exclaimed as he slammed into the wall. "Commander to the Bridge, What the hell just happened?!"

*Static*

"Bridge this is the commander, come in over!"

*Static* "I re** y** ***mander! Emer***cy **turn *o Brid**!"

He could barely make out the words. Quickly he pushed off towards the lift. Bracing himself between the wall and the door, he attempted to manually force the doors open. After straining the door finally budged. "COME ON YOU PIECE OF CRAP! OPEN!" The door gave way and the commander tumbled inside. He tried to get the lift moving, but it was now in lock down. Looking around he spotted the maintenance hatch
That'll do. The shaft it opened into was long and dreary, the flash of the warning lights gave the entire area a foreboding feel. Hooking his lifeline into one of the rails, he pushed off gliding down the hall. Spying his "exit" he ground to a halt. Where is it? he looked frantically for the emergency door release. THERE!

Door now open, Amar floated down the hall to the bridge. Gladstone sat going over her diagnostic screens. She then pushed the Master Alarm button which activated everyone's Rem-lock gear, The helmet snapped over Amar's head, narrowly missing his nose. Silently, he activated his helmet lamp. Grabbing his chair to keep from careening into the windscreen, he turned to Gladstone, "What just happened?!"

"I don't know sir, we were well away from the exclusion zone, no ships on my scanners. Something just pulled us out of Frame Shift. and then everything went offline. We are on emergency power right now."

"Wait, so we get interdicted, then everything goes offline."

"It was too fast to be a standard Interdictor. I need help rebooting the systems. Coms are offline for now."

"Alright, I'll work on getting coms. You work on getting the base systems back online. I need to know if we are going to need to restart the reactor. Also, see if you can get Vega running the diagnostics."

"Will, do."
31 Jan 2017, 11:43pm
Davidson cursed from underneath the turbine as the Anaconda pitched wildly.

"Damn it all the fracking hell interdicting assholes on our asses again!"

If it hadn't been for his reaction to grab ahold to a nearby handrail Markus would've been sent flying. The other engineer did not have similar fortune. A crunch rang out abruptly ending his stream of vulgarities.
When the ship's acceleration leveled out once more Markus clambered down besides Davidson.

"Hey! You alright in there?" Markus shook his leg. He was unresponsive.
He gently coaxed Davidson out and was repulsed at his morphed face.
He broke his nose.
Again it looked like.
Must've been knocked out.
"Alright, if you can hear me, stay put, I'm going to find the doctor."

Markus ran back to the communications feed but stopped short when the entirety of the ship went black.
In the darkness the sound of the drives screeched to a stop.
"Oh that's not good at all.." Markus mumbled.

He clicked the comm's. Nothing, not even static.
Alright, this time I'm not waiting to be told to get my ass into the ship.
"Amar I don't know if the transmitter is working but I'm bringing out the Taipan Sir!"
Markus dropped the receiver and sprinted out the engine compartment, readying himself to ignite the Taipan's thrusters.
01 Feb 2017, 2:36am
Amar's fingers flew over the keys, frantically trying to reboot the com's system. After a minute of frustrated and rushed typing the basic text coms were back online. Quickly he typed, "Engines, Sensors, report!"

He waited, temper starting to flare, he exclaimed, "WHAT THE ACTUAL..." He stopped as the lights came back on. Grabbing the throttle and the helm, he tested both functions. No response.

"Reactor won't need a full reboot, but we'll have to jump it." Gladstone said.
"Commander, I have taken the liberty to reboot the coms systems on the secondary channel. The primary one has been disabled through some form of EMP device. Miraculously it did not destroy the circuitry on-board, I will continue running diagnostics and attempt to reboot what I can from my systems." Added Vega.

Amar gave out a temporary sigh of relief, then quickly he queued up his mic. "Jansen, are your sensors up?"
"No sir, I am in the process of making repairs."
In the background Amar could hear the sound of a blow torch and heard the charging of a soldering iron.
"Gladstone, how about you? Sensors?"
"Nothing Commander, mine are all down."
"Maybe the Sensors on the Tiapans are still operable. Vega, can you get a Tiapan ready to launch?"
"One Tiapan already being prepped, by crew designate Markus Omni."
"Great! Have him expand his sensors to maximum range and tie it into the bridge sensor reading."
"Understood."
"Get me a head count."
01 Feb 2017, 7:55am
Markus clambered into the Taipan, sealing the canopy shut. He kicked the ship on, and the thrusters' heart-warming hum sparked and started.

"Markus Omni," Vega's voice rang out suddenly through the narrow sound receiver the Hummingbird had. "Amar Epsilon has requested you to redirect your comm frequency to channel two and connect your sensor feed to the Eagle's Flame."
"Um, alright, how-?
"I've already taken the liberty to adjust this for you."
"Oh. Thanks t-"
"You're welcome sir."
"-then.."
"Commander? Davidson is below deck. He's been downed- knocked out when the ship was interdicted sir. I'm launching from the ship now."

The Anaconda's holding gear clattered and snapped open, leaving the Hummingbird open for departure. With a roar it lurched forward out of the fighter bay hanger, spilling out into space.
The Taipan's plasma repeaters glowed hot as I swung the ship around in search of our assailant.
01 Feb 2017, 6:34pm
Markus's quick response was reassuring. "Vega, reroute all coms through channel two."
"Understood, sir."
"Dr. Harikowa, Davidson is out cold in engineering. Please check up on him."
"Will do, on my way to engineering."
"OK, Gladstone, I have minimal sensors online."
"Sir, I have a fighter launch detected." Gladstone interrupted.
"It's ok, Markus is launching."
"I am showing no contacts, how about you?"
"Nothing here."
"OK, expand the sensor range, power to systems."
"Sir, I am showing minor heat signatures on our 3 o'clock."

Amar peered through the window, there definitely was something looming just outside of his view range. He pushed the button on the side of his helmet. The rem-lock helmet retracted, as it did so, Amar reached for the macronoculars in the console before him. He peered out at the empty space. There! The long dark shape of the cutter loomed at the edge of the zone. The distance on the display read 17.65 km. The cutter's hardpoints were not deployed, except for one. A weapon that resembled a Plasma Accelerator was deployed. But there was something vastly different about it. It seemed to be radiating some sort of luminous energy. As if... His eyes widened, and he grabbed the com.

"EVERYONE BRACE IMPACT INCOMING!!"

Amar watched the light red round close the distance in a matter of seconds.

The plasma round impacted and tore through the shields, throwing the ship wildly away from the ship. Alarms rang out. "Damage report!"

"Shields offline! Power plant at 75% integrity."
"We can't take another hit like that sir!" yelled Jansen as he sprinted onto the bridge.
"Vega, reboot the powerplant!"
"Sir, this will take some time."
"Just do it!"

The lights dimmed further, the warning lights came back online as all the modules shut down and began rebooting.

Using the Tiapan's sensors, Jansen spotted a small ship en-route to the Flame. "Sir Boarding craft detected!"
"Jansen, you know what that means!"
"Here's where the fun begins" Jansen pushed off from his seat. The zero gravity made it hard for him to grab the door to the armory.
"Markus, we spot several boarding craft incoming. Stop them!"
01 Feb 2017, 9:08pm
Markus tracked the red sphere of energy as it streaked past, washing the inside of the Taipan with cascades of ominous light and shadowy hue.
The blotch punctured the shielding, straight in the rear of the Anaconda just behind the cockpit. The same spot that Davidson and Markus previously occupied.
A tinge of regret ran it's course through his stomach. He hadn't know him for long, but Davidson had from what he'd shorty experienced been a reasonable man. If he were dead, it would be Markus' fault for not moving him to safety first.

He flipped a switch and narrowed the communications array to the faint blurs listed on his sensors.
"Hailing unidentified enemy vessels, you have deliberately and unlawfully engaged with a Federation ship. Desist and decease your actions immediately or we will be forced to open fire."
A threat which wasn't backed with much force. I mutely acknowledged. It only took them one shot to blast past both shield and hull. It won't take much more to finish us off. Hopefully we can at least bite back hard enough to frighten them off.

The ship did not answer. The number of targets the sensors were picking up doubled from two, to four. Against the black I could just barely make out the box shaped silhouettes.
"Markus, we spot several boarding craft incoming! Stop them!"
"Aye sir."
The Taipan's minuscule afterburners kicked on, pounding thrust and force into the narrow exhaust folds. The Hummingbird rushed forward, pressing Markus against the back of his seat.
The large black shape suddenly appeared then, the ship's image printing out on the side of the Taipan's control panels. A Cutter.
"Sir, I have a sensor lock on the enemy vessel! I'm sending the target's data collections to you now."

A laser pulsed by the wing of the Taipan, scoring a glancing hit on the shields.
"I'm engaging now." Markus spoke steadily. His thumb hovered over the trigger, tracking the momentum of one of the crew transport ships. When the reticule and the momentum halo connected, Markus' finger pounced on the firing mechanism, and the twin repeaters flashed with anger as blue fire started peppering the nearest ship's thin shields.
02 Feb 2017, 7:20pm
Amar watched the Tiapan streak towards the incoming ships, twin repeaters barking with a vengeance. He peered at the vessels through the macrobinoculars, boxlike devices, with a conical point on the end. He was familiar with the concept, however the Federation had abandoned the design for the safer concept of deploying troops from a Federal Dropship EVA style to the target vessel. These ships were made to break through the hull and deploy forces into the ship, but these were also very dangerous, if the ship did not puncture and then seal the hole, it could vent everything including the boarders into the cold vacuum of space.

*BOOM!*

One of the transports exploded, engulfed in flame that was snuffed out as all burnable gasses were emptied into the void. Parts drifted away from the wreck, among the pieces, the ghostly remains of some of the boarders drifted one or two barely clinging to life. Amar felt no remorse, blind range slowly building. "VEGA! ETA ON REBOOT!"
"30 seconds and counting."

Slowly system after system rebooted.

*Power Plant reboot sequence complete.*
*Sensors online.*
*Thrusters online.*
*Weapons online.*
*A-Grav online.*
*Fighter bay-two online.*
*Fighter bay-one online.*
*Lifts online.*
*Life support nominal*
*Shields online, 50% integrity.*
*Controls established, Ship ready for combat maneuvers.*


"Warning: Hull breach detected! Cargo Hold level."
"Give me a hull scan!"
"It appears we have boarders, sir." Vega sounded off.

"Gladstone, go gear up and help Jansen repel boarders, I have the con!"
Gladstone sprinted down the hall to the armory and began donning her combat gear.
"Engage bridge lock-down."
"Request authorization code" The ships computer chimed.
"Sierra, One, Four, Two, Two, Tac, November, Zulu."
"Authorization accepted."
Two steel plates descended on the door, slamming shut with a loud clank of steel against steel. The bridge was now effectively isolated from the rest of the ship.
His mind flipped over and he glanced at his right panel. Worst comes to worst, I am sitting on a seventy mega-ton hydrogen bomb. Let's do this!

"Hellen, Get to your Tiapan and launch!"
"Understood sir, I am pinned in the cargo hold right now!" The exchange of gunfire could be heard over the com.
"Hold on, help is on the way."

Hardpoints now deployed, Amar pushed the drives to their limit to close the distance on the unknown vessel. OH SHIT! Frantically he punched the FA-Off and put all of his thrust into strafing to the left. The plasma round accelerated past the Flame, dissipating several kilometers to the rear.

He screamed in frustration at the unknown vessel, they were only six km apart, and still he pressed. Two...

"ENGAGE!"

Blue lights flashed as the four pulse lasers fired their first volley. Soon, the entire ship was engulfed in a cacophony of sound as the Multi-Cannons spoke, each one enraged at their inability to respond to the threat sooner. The rounds streaked across the dark void, impacting with the cutter's shields. Shields lit up, flashes from the absorption, blinding to the naked eye. The death game had begun.
02 Feb 2017, 9:31pm
Markus could hear Amar barking orders in the background as the Repeaters hissed in controlled bursts.
The first transport crumbled under the shots, it's hull silently ripping open until a stray plasma bolt tapped the ship's power generator, engulfing it in a white inferno.
Markus' success was dulled as the other two transports passed by the wreckage. They easily slid beneath the Anaconda's downed shields, and imploded themselves upon the hull.
Another release of the heavy red plasma streaked by, barely missing the large ship as her Commander quickly took the evasive. Flame trailed the back the Eagle's Flame as it swayed out of harms way.  Then Markus witnessed something that looked like it came out of a holographic movie played in slow motion.
The guns rose from their ports like dead men rising from the grave, each with the sole purpose of prosecuting their malefactors. It was simultaneous. In an instant they exploded with light, as battery's upon battery's open fired upon the distant vessel.
The Cutter's shields flared, strange enticing purple flickers as the shots made contact, then immediately collasped in on itself. The hull continued flashing as kinetic and thermal weapondry bombarded against shield, yellow sparks soared in the zero-g, and the hull seemed to absorb rest of the superheated lasers.

What the hell..? How did it..? Markus registered. Why had the ship's shields had broken too quickly?
Few ships these days ran without adequte, strong shields. Unless it was money related, generally those types of Commanders were long distant explorers, or daredevil planet racers, both utilizing the cheapest, light generators available, but a Cutter? At first it didn't make any sense. Why would such a luxurious ship risk the chance of being easy prey by other ships, let alone take the chance of purposefully engaging in another combat vessel? Then it hit him.
The Cutter from what Markus remembered his father telling him was an special ship. It boasted in its appearance, its combatility, its enormous cargo capacity, and their massive thrusters.. which came at a cost of power consumption.
Whatever weapon they were using was clearly modified somehow, possibly to allow for longer distant engagements, all the while sitting at ease behind most ship's firing range. Despite the cost of the weapon and engines both sucking the power supply dry, it wouldn't matter. Though the shields were thin, and fragile, if a ship managed to survive the initial volley, more than three meters of armor plating would bare the way between the internals and any returned fire. Then, in less than two minutes, the shield would gather its strength back and form up again.
A straight on attack would be futile.
"Amar-!" Markus began then stopped short as he saw another Taipan exit the Anaconda. An idea sprung to his mind. He quickly relayed the information to Amar then told him of his plan.
He was going to use himself and Hellen as bait, distracting the Cutter long enough so that the Anaconda's primary guns could lock onto the Cutter's Plasma Accelerator.


Last edit: 03 Feb 2017, 4:34pm
03 Feb 2017, 9:36pm
Amar's fury was uncontrollable. Where had they come from? How did they get the jump on him?! How did they know right where they would be?! Questions swirled through his mind only adding fuel to the ever consuming fire. The haze of bloodlust had begun to course through him. Numbing both mind and body there was only one thing that mattered in that situation, the utter and complete annihilation of his opponent. Faintly, he heard Markus's voice, like a wind blowing away a crisp morning fog, his words began to resonate with Amar, building until the haze cleared and and the sun broke through.

Of course! It just might work!

Amar relayed the plan to Hellen, asking her to fire across the hostile vessel's bridge. The bridges of most ships were weak, and this would likely infuriate his adversary. Enough so, that he might seek to engage the small fighters. Like mosquitoes annoying a fearsome creature, both fighters spat rounds at the bridge and exposed engines. Enraged at the combined assault, the beast reared its foul head and bared its terrible teeth. Deploying other hardpoints, it engaged the tiapans. Jets of red laser cut through the night sky, nipping at the ships. Both vessels moved at speeds to great for it to constantly track the fighters. In its rage, it left exposed the soft underbelly to the Flame, and like a bird of prey lunging for its enemies throat, the ship targeted that which had caused it so much pain. Rounds ripped into the Plasma Accelerator, puncturing the assembly and ammunition housing. Gas that fueled the accelerator vented into space. The assembly was blown upwards into the fuselage of the ship. Knocking the vessel off course, she spun wildly, and then corrected. Like a wounded bear, the ship pulled away, using it's armament to hold the Anaconda at bay.

By God! It worked! Markus's plan had actually worked.

He grabbed the com, "Great job you two! Now, go for the power plant and the shield generators! Let's incapacitate her!"

Amar still had questions which needed to be answered, questions that he would ask the Commander personally.
04 Feb 2017, 11:45pm
The Cutter reared from the onslaught, but it was too late. Tracer fire punched clean holes into the ship's assembly, crudely disabling the exotic Accelerator. The fuel that had been used to charge the weapon backfired and caught fire. A detonation beneath the bow of the Cutter threw it wildly, before readjusted course.
It was now on the run.
When the command was given to pursuit and disable, Markus frowned. The Cutter had filled the space with a symphony of dazzling lights and beats. Twice had the turreted weapons missed the Hummingbird by less than a few hairbreaths, the shield's shrieking in response to the overwhelming heat.
This tango had gone on long enough. Markus thought. He did not want to dance for one second more.
Then in the corner of his eye he saw Hellen, partially visible through the Taipan's uniquely exposed canopy. No fear shone in her face. Only determination.
Youre going to retreat, while this chick takes all the glory? Shame on you. Markus could almost hear Huggins whispering in his ear.
With a exasperated moan, he swung the Taipan back around, just in time to see Hellen start firing upon the spacing where the Cutter's power generator lay.
The ship began firing its guns uncontrollably, as precisioned Plasma shot pierced through skin and tapped the Cutter's shield, and power distributor generators.
He saw Amar and the Anaconda attempting to keep up as the Cutter's massive engine's plowed through space as she fled.
A single controlled pulse from the Repeaters blew out one of the the minor engine arrays.
Markus thumbed the communications panel.
"Enemy vessel! Your ship has been disabled. Your shields are disfunctional, and weapon destroyed. Your distributor and engine's are being targeted, with your power generator next to go. Surrender yourselves now, or face your termination!"
Markus readjusted the communications so that any response would be heard by Amar first, before gritting his teeth and continued kneading on the major engine next in line.

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