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.

Maul Montresor

21 Nov 2019, 2:52am

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Maul stood firmly among the sea of bodies fighting each other. Half of them were Black Dragon Society and half were convicts attempting to escape. He was being shoved around too much to tell who was winning but there were definitely a few dead bodies laying on the street. Suffice it to say, none of this was turning out exactly how he had planned but most of his plans never did. Still, seeing the gang fight against the convicts, will win some of the public's trust and that's all that what mattered most. Turning around to face a parked Black Dragon Society car, he crawled on top of the hood to get a better view. He could only assume that Khelan had escaped during all of the chaos.

He felt his slate vibrate. Luckily, because he would have never heard it over the roaring crowd. It was Omi asking how things went. Maul forwarded Khelan's message about the Houdini room and Omi responded with directions. He pocketed the slate and hopped down of the hood of the car and got inside. After revving the engine a few times a small gap was made in the crowd for Maul to leave.

As Maul drove through the station's streets, he received another message. This time, from one of his old hacker pals that he had reached out to for help with the Corporation.

"Gh0uli3, it's Al Capwned, you won't believe this, man. We found an off site data storage facility that belongs to those Corporation pricks. I think we'll have it owned before the night is up. What should we do with the info we dig up?"

Maul glanced back and forth between the street and his slate as he typed a quick response.

"Leak it."

He pocketed the slate and continued the drive to the warehouse district to meet Khelan.

Last edit: 21 Nov 2019, 7:44pm

Lambast Mercy

22 Nov 2019, 3:17pm

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EvilCreamsicle

The deckhand stopped and turned smartly around.

"Commander?"

"Yeah, can you have someone get me a change of sheets?"

"Yes Commander!" the deckhand acknowledged, spinning on his heel for a final time and exiting the mess hall.

Kai’s advice just wouldn’t stay out of Lamb’s mind. Here she was across the table from Echo, and they had hardly said a word since Lamb had opened Raven’s excellent gift and read the message aloud. Lamb didn’t have a problem broaching most subjects and Raven had already got the ball rolling, but Echo was a good man and she was loathed to upset him and make the rest of the party put up with the awkwardness. Get to the point is what Lamb would say if it way the other way around, so she decided to address the sticky point for Echo right off the bat.

“How is Ms Silca?” She asked.

Echo took a moment to see if there was a good way out of this conversation that didn’t involve running away. There wasn’t.

“She was great; we both enjoyed the little get together in the forward lounge”

Lamb didn’t answer; she just put her fork down and looked at Echo waiting for him to fill the weighty silence. He had to say something, having someone like Lambast just stare silently at him was like being in a low powered microwave.

“I haven’t seen her this morning, but I ..”

Lambast interrupted sounding like a teacher that was trying to explain a very simple concept to a child that just couldn’t grasp it.

“Mr Ramón, you are the hero of the hour and the hero should get the girl. Valentina is very attractive, long legs, narrow ankles”
Lambast made a face at Echo he would expect from Raven, in fact it was very much like the face Raven made while he was walking behind Dolf’s bodyguard Amberley. Lambast continued.
”Italian decent if her name and accent are anything to go by, and I happen to know she took today off. I don’t think she did that to recover from the small amount of alcohol she was drinking last night. We have been in space under stress for an unfair number of weeks now Mr Ramón, and passionate sex is very high on the list of excellent methods of stress relief. If I was you, I would get along to her cabin with a pot of coffee as an excuse toot sweet”

Echo checked this really was Lambast Mercy in front of him. It could have been Frank Frankly; the frankest person you could have a frank discussion with. He was feeling ambushed and unfairly set upon so he decided to fight back with some astute observations of his own.

“Look, we’re probably leaving in less than a day and we’d both been drinking.. Anyway, I didn’t see you *walking anyone back to their berth* Miss Good Stress Relief.

Lambast sat up straight and leaned forward a little. She had visited someone else’s cabin, but she had done so with discretion.

“I know you didn’t. I saw you trying not to let me see you checking. So what if we’re leaving in less than a day? Do you think Mr Eugene and Ms Kimika are planning their wedding or enjoying the few hours before we leave?”
A bit of mischief that entered Lamb’s head couldn’t be left alone.
“Besides, Ms Ioneer and I have a very good evening”

Lambast, keeping a straight face watched Echo analyse the last sentence to find out why it sounded wrong. A number of expressions moved Echo’s face in entreating ways settling on a look of hunger mixed with realisation.

“Ooh, so you’re a les..” Began Echo

“No I am not! Your just easily mislead on such matters you numpty” Interrupted Lambast with a friendly chuckle.

“Look you and I are friends Mr Ramón, and I am most fortunate to have a friend like you. But please don’t let me get in the way of you enjoying the scintillateing Ms Silca. I am not ignorant to your flattering interest in me, however we would not work. On the other hand, I did mean what I said about the importance of dealing with stress and I would not be adverse to us being friends with benefits as long as you can be discreet Mr Ramón”

Echo sat there with a vacant expression on his face. He wondered if he’d put on a new aftershave, he’d had no interest in an age and now he had two at once giving him the nod.

“Kay”

Is all Echo managed to say in response. Lambast felt it would be better to come back later to eat after Echo had a little time to process everything. She gathered her plate and cup to take to the waist station and tucked the box with her new sword under her arm.

“I’m going along to the dry dock to see what’s going on. I think I’ll see if I can rustle up a Kai on the way. Good morning to you Mr Ramón”

Echo watch Lambast leave. He did like Lambast plenty but she was right about Valentina. Her cascade of thick dark hair and long legs played in Echo’s mind. He got up from the table leaving his breakfast half eaten and grabbed a pot of coffee.

Last edit: 22 Nov 2019, 4:05pm

Khelan

23 Nov 2019, 11:48pm

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Maul Montresor

He pocketed the slate and continued the drive to the warehouse district to meet Khelan.

The van with Khelan inside pulls up outside a nondescript building in the warehouse district and Khelan gets slowly out aided by a couple of members of the Black Dragons. He heads in and collapses on a couch.

"Are you OK waka gashira? Do you need anything?" asks one of the Dragons.

"Aye Ah'll be OK in a wee bit." grimaces Khelan "Ah just need a wee rest an Ah'll be peachy."

"Montresor-San is heading here as we speak and we've arranged for the Doctor to come here as well."

Khelan nods at the news.

"There is wan oar two wee things" he says "Ah want that chief prick in fronta me so Ah can hiv a wee chat wae him aboot a cuppla things. Ah also want tae know everything there is tae know aboot him afore he gets here."

The Dragons member bows in response to the orders before turning to head out of the room.

"There's wan mair thing." Khelan says and the other man turns around

"Anything you want waka gashira."

"Get us a cuppa tea wid ye? Ah'm gaspin fur a drink."

"Hai waka gashira, at once!" replies the man before heading out of the room.

Khelan lies back on the couch and closes the eye that isn't swollen shut.

"Ma life wis a lot easier when Ah wis haulin shite frae wan port tae the next." he says to himself with a world weary sigh.

Maul Montresor

24 Nov 2019, 2:18am

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Maul pulls the car up to the seemingly ordinary building and parks. He pulls his slate out to check the directions again but his attention went back to the message from Al concerning the Corporation data facility. A brief smile crawled across his face as he reflected on the past jobs that he and his small group of anonymous friends pulled off. This mess would have been over a long time ago if he wasn't so determined on taking down the Corporation alone but none of that mattered now, it was finally coming to an end.

A knock on the window startled Maul. It was one of the Black Dragon members. Maul opened the car door and stepped out.

"He's expecting you." The man said.

Maul nodded as he threw his tie inside the car and began unbuttoning his dress shirt.

"How is he?"

"Honestly? He's not looking good."

Maul took the shirt off, revealing a white tank top underneath. His tattooed covered arms glistened as the station lights bounced off the sweat. He then threw the shirt in the car.

"I wish I could have gotten there sooner."

The Black Dragon member shook his head and smiled.

"You did what you could. Besides, waka gashira is a resilient man and what you did was very courageous."

Maul slammed the car door shut and headed towards the building.

"Montresor-San!" The member called out, causing Maul to turn around.

"Your belongings, the ones you put in the van, I carried them inside. You may need them. Waka gashira has called for the security chief to be brought here, it's best if you're seen carrying protection. It's also more intimidating."

Maul's eyes dance around as he tries to put together exactly why Khelan wanted the chief here. He nods at the man and continues inside.

He enters to see Khelan lying on the couch with his eyes closed. Well...eye....the other was swollen shut. The bag with his gear was laying on a counter on the other side of the room.

"Mornin' sunshine." Maul says with a smile as he crosses his arms. "Looks like you're going to be needing a lot of beauty sleep with a face like that."

Last edit: 24 Nov 2019, 3:52pm

Khelan

25 Nov 2019, 12:09am

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Khelan smiles at Maul as he opens his good eye.

"Ah'm still prettier than you are Goolie bhoy."

Noting the concern on Maul's face he continues to talk

"It looks worse than it is trust me mate. Gimme a cuppla days an Ah'll be right as rain. Besides the condition ye wur in when Ah furst met ye back oan Citi Gateway wisnae much better an ye turnt oot OK. Well fur a givin value of OK that is."

The man from earlier comes back into the room carrying a tray with a tea pot and a couple of cups on it, he sets it down beside Khelan, bows and heads out of the room again.

"Seriously though mate" Khelan says as he pours himself a cup of tea "Ye did good, they pricks woulda ended up killin me if ye hidnae goat me oota there. Yer a good man an Ah'm proud tae hiv ye as a mate."

Khelan pours a second mug of tea and passes it to Maul.

"Here's tae life's simple pleasures." he says holding up his mug.

Maul Montresor

25 Nov 2019, 1:58am

︎

Maul sits down and picks up his mug and raises it.

"I'll toast to that." He says as he takes a sip and sits the mug back down on the tray.

"So, I just got word from my buddies and it looks like they've made some serious headway with their digging into the Corporation. Turns out, they keep all of their important data in some off site storage facility. If everything goes according to plan, we'll own everything that they deemed important enough to keep and we'll own it tonight. Hell, I wouldn't doubt that it's the same data site that Anton was looking for."

He leans back into the couch and sighs.

"I told them to leak anything that they find. So, no more hiding, no more secrets, no more running. I'm tired of them constantly doing terrible shit and then scurrying back into the shadows in an attempt to solidify that they're some sort of myth. But it's all finally going to come to an end tonight."

Maul rubs his eyes and looks over to Khelan.

"It's weird, I don't know why but I always pictured this ending differently. I'd been dealing with it alone for so long in an attempt to keep others out of their crosshairs, but it's thanks to others that I'm even here. Vega saved me all that time ago, you helped me on Citi Gateway, Shin payed off my bounty, you and Omi saved me on Ray Gateway, and now some hackers that I used to work with a year ago are helping me bring this to an end."

Maul shakes his head and takes another sip of his tea.

"Life is just one big fucked up wild ride."

He sits the tea back onto the tray and turns to Khelan.

"So what's this about you having the chief brought here?"

Khelan

27 Nov 2019, 11:40pm

︎

Khelan smiles at Maul after he finishes talking.

"Ah'll admit Ah didnae picture yer stuff endin like this, Ah'm glad ye've finally foond a wee bitty peace."

Khelan lifts his head up as a black dragon comes in and hands him a hard copy of a file.

"As you requested waka gashira." the man says before heading out again.

Khelan glances at the name on the file and turns his attention back to Maul.

"Just a wee bitty light readin before ma guest gets here." he says with a humourless smile "Dinnae worry yersel aboot it, Ah'm jus gonnae have a wee chat wi him all nice an civilised like."

Khelan picks up the file and starts to flick through it.

"So it turns oot that oor security chief is oanly half Japanese an tae think he called me a gaijin when his own da wis wan too." he says idley "Ah fuckin hate a hypocrite"

Khelan smiles at Maul.

"This might take me a wee bit tae get through, do ye wanna check in oan yer bhoys an make sure they hiv'nae blown themselves tae kingdom come yet?"

Maul Montresor

28 Nov 2019, 2:24am

︎

Maul nods and pats his hands on his thighs as he stands up and grabs his gear off the counter.

"Yeah, I reckon I'll get back to the workshop and see if I can give them a hand with that pod. Should probably stop by and see how Vega is doing on my way there. Considering your condition right now, we could use her help with your plan to draw out whoever it is that's gunning for her. If it really is the corporation, then we may have a serious fight on our hands tomorrow, with this hack and everything."

As he heads for the exit, Dr. Kojima walks through the door.

"Ah hello again, Mr. Montresor. It seems like I'm seeing you everywhere lately. How are you feeling?"

Maul raises up his shirt a bit and looks at the incision.

"Not too bad doc. It's still a little sensitive but I've had worse."

The doctor nods with a smile.

"Excellent. Excellent. Well now I must be-"

"Of course, fix him up doc." Maul interrupts Dr. Kojima and steps aside to let him pass so he can check on Khelan.

Maul turns back around to Khelan.

"Try to get some rest tonight and just notify me tomorrow when you're ready. I'll have the guys prepare Shinigami, then we can load the uh..." He pauses and makes a face of slight disgust. "...corpse...into the pod once we've got it on board the ship."

He exits the building and walks to the nearest maglev and heads for the clinic.

At the clinic Maul is greeted by a nurse at the front desk who directs him to Vega's room. He enters the room to the sight of Vega sitting up in the bed flicking through the channels on the holo-display. She reminded him of himself when he had spent time here after the Bryce incident.

"I hate to tell you this but there ain't shit to watch on that thing." Maul said from the doorway.

Vega quickly turned to look at Maul.

"I don't know how the hell you stayed here as long as you did. There is literally nothing to do."

Maul walked over next to the bed and sat down in a vacant chair.

"How're you feeling?"

Vega sighed.

"I'm honestly fine. I don't know why they won't just let me go. Dr. Kojima mentioned that you came in and had your tracker removed today. So why the hell am I stuck here while you get to walk around freely?"

"Um, well I heard that you started freaking out when they started the scan. So they had to sedate you."

Vega rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"It wasn't the scan. There were..." She looked over at Maul and hesitated to continue. "...There were needles in the room and it freaked me out, okay?"

Maul leaned back in his chair as he laughed. He noticed the small bear sitting on the table next to the bed. Vega noticed that he had seen it and chose to change the subject from needles to the teddy bear.

"Yeah, I woke up and that was just there. I don't know who sent it."

Maul smiled and picked up the bear for closer inspection.

"I bet it was Khelan. The big softy."

"You think so? I thought he hated me."

Maul sat the bear back down and leaned towards Vega a bit.

"Nah, he's just a complicated fella. He actually likes you a fair bit. I mean, hell, he's devised a whole plan to catch whoever put these trackers in you."

Vega's eyebrows raised.

"Seriously? What's the plan?"

Maul leaned back again.

"We're essentially putting the trackers in an escape pod with a corpse and some explosives so we can trick whoever it is that wants you dead, into scooping it up."

Maul could tell Vega thought the plan was a little insane and now that he had finally said it all out loud, he agreed.

"Also," He continued. "My old hacker friends from The Network came through. By tomorrow morning, the current leaders of the corporation will be ousted. The public will finally know the truth."

Vega was speechless. It was finally coming to and end and she could hardly believe it.

"So if your friends are ousting them, why are we going through with that insane escape pod plan?"

"To prove a point, don't fuck with us." Maul said with a grin.

Vega's expression became one of relief mixed with pure happiness.

"I'm glad I didn't listen to Anton and chose to save your ass at that manufacturing plant." She relaxed into the bed and sighed with relief. "Everything that I've lost, everyone that's died. We finally get to avenge them."

Maul's brow furrowed as he thought about what Vega had said. He hadn't realized just how much she had lost because of this corporation. Her sister, her niece, her parents. She truly had lost everything that meant anything to her. She'd endured so much but was still able to hold everything together. He looked at Vega again and smiled. She was by far the strongest person he'd ever met.

Vega looked over at Maul and smiled back.

"I can't believe that it's finally happening." She said, a little giddy.

Maul nodded as he stood up.

"Tomorrow. It's happening tomorrow. I'll be back to pick you up in the morning. So get some rest and be ready, okay?"

Vega nodded at Maul as he began to leave.

"Hey!" She called out causing him to turn around. "Come here."

Maul walked back over to the bedside.

"Is something wron-"

He was cut short by Vega pulling him in for a hug.

"Thank you." She whispered as she squeezed him tight for a moment before releasing him.

Maul stood back up straight and smiled at her.

"Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

She nodded as he exited the room.

Last edit: 28 Nov 2019, 2:36am

Khelan

01 Dec 2019, 12:31am

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*****A few hours later *****

Khelan stands in a brightly lit room with plastic sheeting covering the walls, floor and ceiling a single chair is in the middle of the room and a small metal wheeled operating room type rack with a metal tray on it sits to the side of the chair. On the tray are various medical tools and syringes full of various drugs.

He carefully checks the tools over and smiles humourlessly. He'd changed out of his bloodstained clothes and into a plain white pair of overalls, surgical gloves and boots. His movements slow and careful so as not to hurt his ribs broken by the various beatings from his time in custody, now wrapped up tightly by the doctor.

In the chair sits a restrained and unconscious figure a heavy black bag over their head.

Khelan picks up one of the syringes from the tray and lifts the bag up to reveal the figures neck. He sticks the needle into the flesh and injects the unconscious person with its contents.

Khelan carefully puts the empty syringe back onto the tray and cracks his knuckles as the figure starts to stir.

"Well hello there cupcake" he says humourlessly "Wan of us is in serious trouble."

The person in the chair grunts groggily and Khelan pulls the bag off their head.

"Hullo again chief, it's nice tae see ye again." he says

"Ye see Ah left in a wee bitty a hurry so Ah never goat the chance tae thank ye fur yer amazin hospitality."

The chief looks around the room his eyes wide with fear.

"Wuh? Where am I?" he asks a slight tremble in his voice.

"This here's wit Ah call a houdini room. Ye ever hear aboot a bloke called that? Real famous bloke frae waay back used tae make a livin daein magic tricks like escapin frae certain death an daein vanishin acts. This wee room here an a few others like it aboot the station is where folk who need tae vanish end up.""

"I have a wife and three children." says the chief

"Ah know ye dae, Station security chief William Stroker. That's no a very Japanese soundin name ye know? But then again Ah already know yer a hāfu and yer da wis a gaijin like me. D'ye mind if Ah call ye Wullie by the way? Station security chief Stroker is a bitty a mouthful."

The chief keeps looking at Khelan as he continues to talk.

"Ye see Wullie Ah kinda take it personally when folk gie me a kickin an threaten ma family. Noo a cuppla years ago Ah wida just killed ye an been done wi it an hopefully yer replacement widnae hiv been as dumb as ye are. Instead Ah'm gonnae try a different approach wi ye so Ah'm gonnae ask ye tae dae me a wee favour."

"You're getting nothing from me, you're nothing but a thug and a common criminal."

Khelan smiles and picks up the folder with the chiefs information in it, he takes out a picture of a young boy not more than 10 or 11 years old and shows it to the chief.

"Nice lookin kid, yer wee daughter looks a lot like her maw doesn't she?" says Khelan as he takes out another picture. "Yer eldest looks like you dae, poor wee basturd."

"Yer wife works in the local office fur the bank of Zaonce, where she's a mid level manager, Ah've goat tae tell ye yer punchin well above yer weight wi her mate."

Khelan idley picks up an electric bonesaw and fires it up causing the chief to flinch.

"Nooo like Ah said, cuppla years ago Ah'd hiv just killed ye an thought nothing of it. These days Ah'm no fully decided yet, it depends oan wit we agree oan in here."

"What do you want?" says the chief visably shaken

"Ah want tae tell ye that masell an the rest oaf the black dragons are aff limits. Hiv ye no noticed that there's no really any problems wi drugs oar the like in Hondo City? We're the reason fur that afore the black dragon society took over this place wis a war zone an you lot wur worse than useless. Noo Ah know ye wurnae here at that time but that's no the point. The point is that the black dragons keep this place nice an safe an the people want us here. So wit Ah want is fur you an yer bhoys tae leave us alone an go aifter the stuff like muggings an hoosebreakin like yer supposed tae."

"And if I don't?" says the chief

"Then yer family is gonnae find themselves in a wee room kinda like this wan an they'll be sent back tae ye wan bit at a time." responds Khelan matter of factly "So wit dae ye think? Dae Ah just kill ye noo an leave yer kids wae oot a da oar dae Ah let ye go an ye leave us alone? Oar dae ye lie tae me, get me tae let ye go an then Ah hiv tae dae something aboot it? Ye know how quickly Ah goat ye here in front of me so ye know how fast Ah'll get hauld of yer family. "

The chief lowers his head." I'll do what you ask." he says softly.

"Ye better no be lyin tae me oar ye know wit'll happen tae ye." says Khelan his voice a dangerous low growl.

"I'm not, I swear." replies the chief.

Khelan nods and picks up a second syringe from the tray. He sticks it into the chiefs neck causing him to yelp in pain before injecting him with its contents.

"Night night sweetheart" says Khelan as the chief slumps forward unconscious.

Khelan crosses the room, pulls back the sheeting and opens the door to two members of the Black Dragons stood outside.

"Take him an dump him away frae here." he instructs them and they jump to their feet.

"You didn't kill him?" Exclaims one in disbelief.

"It's like ma creepy auld uncle Albert used tae say "A leopard can change its shorts if it tries hard enough." Ah didnae see any benefit tae killin him even though Ah wanted tae. Noo get him oota here. "

"Hai waka gashira." replies the man and they both hurry in to take the unconscious chief out of the building.

Khelan sits down on the sofa and takes off his gloves.

"Ah hope Ah've made the right call." he says to himself before tipping his head back to look up at the ceiling.

Maul Montresor

01 Dec 2019, 3:06am

︎

*****At the workshop*****

Maul entered the building to the sound of arguing coming from the back room. He quickly made his way behind the counter and into the workshop area. Akio and Chikao were yelling at each other in Japanese while gesturing towards the escape pod while Caden and Daiki sat silent observers of the argument. Their gaze was jumping back and forth between the two.

"What the hell is going on?" Maul said, interrupting the two.

Akio turned to Maul.

"We're trying to figure out how to trick the pod into thinking there is a live body inside. The old man says it's as easy as tampering with it's programming but we don't have time for that. It wouldn't be done by morning."

Chikao shrugged off the "old man" remark and pushed Akio aside.

"Listen kid, if me and you tackle this, we can knock it out in no time."

Maul ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"What about masking the explosives? Any progress on that?"

Akio's eyes grew wide as he looked at the rest of the team. They had completely forgot.

"So that's a no then?" Maul said as he pulled a nearby chair over to sit in.

Akio nodded.

"Sorry. It's just...with the hack on the security station and everything. It's just been a stressful day."

Maul looked over at the escape pod that was now taken half apart with wires hanging out of it.

"Boys, we have to get this done tonight, and you still have to prep Shinigami too. These were direct orders from Khelan."

Everyone fell silent. They were disappointed in themselves.

"What about heaters?" Caden said half heartedly.

Everyone glanced at each other in pure confusion.

"What about them?" Akio asked.

"Can't we just like, wire some tiny heaters to the pod for power and heat up the inside of the pod? That's one of the things it does to check for a living body, right? So what if we like, tear out some of the other components that check for heart rates and all that stuff and just like leave the one that checks for a temperature in there? It'll just seem like its a banged up escape pod that's using what it can to check if the person inside is dead or not. Then pow. The scanner will read the signal like its a real live person in there."

Akio raised an eyebrow and looked at Chikao. Chikao sighed and looked at Maul who was grinning. Everyone was in disbelief. The simplest plans are often the best and that's exactly why Caden was a part of the team.

"Well, okay then. Sounds like Caden has this one. I guess I'll start working on figuring out how to mask the explosives." Chikao said as he threw his arms up and walked towards the storage room. "Let's go Daiki, I'm going to need help getting some stuff off of the top shelf back here."

Maul rolled his chair over to Caden and gave him a fist bump.

"Nice work. You're running lead on this one. I'm going to see what I can do to help with these explosives. If you need anything, just tell Akio."

Maul got up and followed Chikao and Daiki into the storage room.

Caden gave Akio a smug grin.

"Well, well, well, look who's the boss now."

Akio kept a deadly stare on Caden.

"You're not the boss, Caden. We're a team, remember?"

Caden stood up and shrugged.

"Mmm, sounds like someones jealous. Now fetch me the teeny heaters from the...uh...teeny heater place."

Akio ignored Caden and rolled his eyes as he went to "fetch" the small space heaters from the storage room so everyone could finally get to work.

Lambast Mercy

03 Dec 2019, 3:54pm

︎

Silas’ room didn’t contain Kaisla and Lambast was very glad she had knocked and waited for an answer. Raven sounded fed up but Tamiko just laughed at Lamb’s confused and muddled apology. Kai was already awake and was busy dealing with her hair when she opened the right door for Lambast. Kai sat on the edge of the bed while Lamb brushed her hair and told Kai what had happened this morning.

“You said what to Echo?” said Kia with a snorted laugh because she need to check she had herd Lambast correctly.

Lambast suddenly feeling self-conscious tried to word her last statement differently.

“I told him it would be ok if we.. you know.. It helps with stress. You told me to sort it out the other day so I did” finished Lambast defensively and a little moody.

Kai turned to look at Lambast and cracked up with laughter. She laughed even harder when Lamb folded her arms about looked away to pout.

“Christ sake Lamb, I wanted you to tell him yes or no, not ask if you could use him as a fff.. sex toy. And if people are gonna have that kind of relationship, ya don’t blurt it out over the breakfast table after encouraging him to go bang some other girl he only just met”

Lamb chucked the hairbrush on the bed and mumbled some insults in between telling Kai she’d wait for her in the officer’s mess. With that, she stomped out of Kai’s room while Kai tried to stop laughing and say sorry.

When Kai got to the mess hall, Raven and Tamiko were there as well sitting opposite Lambast talking with her. Kai was happy Raven had sorted out his problem with Lambast and the gift was, as far as Kai knew out of character for him. Kai sniggered to herself as she imagined Lamb asking Raven and Tamiko if they would like to be her bang buddies as well. She regained her composure and joined them for Breakfast.

“Hi Kai” said Raven before he returned his attention to Lambast “So did Creamy say what it was they found on the Arbiter?

Lambast gave Kai a polite nod although her eyes were still saying *shut up cow* and continued her conversation with Raven.

“Not really, I just over herd the deckhand say tracking beacons and Faraday cage so I imagine they are active”

Raven had just stuffed three rashers of bacon into his mouth so Kai took the opportunity to join the conversation.

“Trackers on the Arbiter? So has anyone checked the Hand for bugs as well?

“As I was saying to Raven, I only know what I shouldn’t really have been listening to, then I went to put my new training sword away” Said Lamb with a friendly smile to Raven “then I stopped in for a chat with you Kai. I would think the Hand is being checked now bugs have turned up on the Arbiter”

Raven swallowed hard.

“Has anyone seen Echo this morning? He should know about the do-hickies on his ship”

Kai beamed a big smile and just couldn’t stop herself saying something.

“Lamb saw Echo this morning, he was there when she opened your present and she read the card out loud”

Lamb just carried on eating and somehow, Raven missed the connotations of *Lamb saw Echo this morning* Kai took some small comfort when Tamiko met her eyes and gave her a knowing smile.

“I hope he turned red as you read Lamb. Had a feeling he’d be up and about bright and early like you. He’s with Creamy right, we’ll eat up and go see what’s what down there” slurred Raven as he tried to dislodge a piece of bacon that had got stuck in his teeth.

Lambast glanced at the coffee makers. One of them was missing a pot.

“I wouldn’t rush Mr Eugene. Mr Ramón is sorting out his bags as we’re leaving soon”

Kai was not ready for that and her laugh made her spit out beans all over the table.

Again Raven somehow missed the joke. He was usually so good at catching that sort of thing.

“Chill out Kai, my name ain’t that funny. Fuck sake Lamb, you do know I don’t like it when you call me Eugene. From now on its Raven yeah?”

“As you wish Mr.. Raven, I’ll do my best”

Everyone but Echo caught up with Silas in a Dangerous Materials Containment Lab once they had finished eating. The devices had been put in a portable Faraday cage and brought here so the techs could have a good look at them. Kai bounced up to Silas and leaned on something glassy and expensive looking that made the lab techs wince. Lambast and Raven followed in and flanked the pair.

“So what we got Si. Who’s being a cheating bastard and tracked us?” asked Kai.

Silas was standing in front of a worktable opposite a technician that was poking a long cuff looking device with probes.

“We got a lot of trouble. Someone had plenty of time to get on board the Arbiter and put shit all over the place. It’s not just trackers, they found small explosives on key systems and inhibitors on others. Someone didn’t just want to follow us; they wanted the Arbiter at a disadvantage or dead in space whenever they need it to happen”

Raven sucked air through his teeth while he looked at all the devices being investigated on tables in the rest of the lab.

“Anyone come up with a when and who? If all that crap was pulled out of the Arbiter, it would have taken time to install”

Kia was interfering with the cuff device much to the annoyance of the lab technician. She was half interested in working out what it was, but she also wanted to put it on her writs to see if it would make a good bracelet.

“Looks pretty high tech to me guys. Looks like the toys I wish I had the money to buy. I don’t think it belongs to a pirate or merc taking a passer-by opportunity for a lil sabotage”

Kai put the cuff back on the table and grabbed the lamp and pointed it at the technicians face.

“Where were you on the night of.. .yesterday you shady lookin dude?”

The technician stared at Kai for a moment and then looked to Silas for help. The poor guy didn’t do well in social situations as it was and a pretty woman messing with him was new territory. Silas pointed the light back at the desk and pushed Kai back a couple of steps.

“Sorry about that buddy, she’s fun to be around once you get used to her” Silas turned his attention to Kai and the others. “They were fitted here or when we abandoned the Arbiter. That’s the best time frame I came up with. As for who, I couldn’t start to guess with any certainty” Silas paused when he noticed Echo was missing “Lamb, where’s Echo? I really want his input on this”

Lambast glanced at Kai when she answered Sails’ question.

“He’s up to his eyeballs..” Kai snorted trying to contain a laugh as soon as Lamb slipped in the word balls “. .with preparations at the moment Mr Cousland. I sure he is aware of the urgency of the situation and will disentangle himself from his task once it is complete”

Kai had turned away from everyone and she had her hand over mouth. Raven looked between Lambast and Kaisla as the penny dropped and reached for his slate, Kai had some text-splaining to do. Silas was about to insist someone go fetch Echo when Kai whispered in his ear. That cleared it up for him.

“Ok, umm .. Well like I said someone here installed the stuff or it happened out there before Raven towed her back, hell even after you had her back to the rescue fleet. Whoever did it had plenty of opportunity”

The Brigadier General from the hearing swept up to the group like a unit of heavy armour outflanking the enemy.

“I can promise you it ain’t our guys. Brigadier General Silver ma’am” he said taking Kai’s hand and shaking it. He did the same to Lamb and nodded to Silas and Raven “Trent wishes he could be here to lay your suspicions to rest concerning our boys trackin ya ship, but he’s off sorting out your reputation with the other organisations within the Federation”

Silas returned Silvers nod.

“Honestly Brigadier General I think this stuff was put on my ship after that nice old couple picked us up. The Federation may want to track us, but I don’t think they would want to cripple the Arbiter before taking us down. It’s not that I don’t believe you Brigadier General, but I wanna follow my investigation through to the end”

“Boy, I didn’t take you for a stooid ass hole. I’d have been disappointed if ya answered me any other way. Man, I even kept that insidious Dolf guy out of here coz I don’t trust anyone with words so honeyed up to tell me what's what. Hell, I could have watched Dolf fit that shit to ya ship and he’d convinced me otherwise over a drink. That honey-tongued hombre should be registered as a walkin talkin threat to state secrets. I did talk to Maggi, I mean Dame Smyth an’ she wuz devastate to hear this happened on her watch. She’s raisin all kinds a-hell tryin ta find out if it’s her boys pullin this crap on ya. I don’t know how much credence you give an old warhorse like me, but I give you my word it ain’t us and I trust Maggie to be honest with me on this matter too”

Silas looked to his friends to see what they were thinking. Lambast looked as plane faced as ever, but gave Silas a small nod, Kai shrugged and Raven shook his head and got back to texting someone on his slate. It was a good thing Silas knew the body language of the people around him otherwise the small movements would have told him nothing, or at best contradicted each other.

“Thanks for your assurances Brigadier General. We’ll know more once the techs have had time to check out the stuff and tell us what it all is. If you learn anything new please let us know at once. We do appreciate your assistance and what you did for us at the hearing”

“Ar hell don’t mention it boy. Couldn’t let the Imps, no offense ma’am” Said Silver nodding to Lambast “have all the good publicity and your actions truly deserved recognition beyond all that political mumbo jumbo. Speakin of ya rewards, no one’s taken a single weapon off my hands. Trent and I brought you the best the Federation has to offer. You desperados tryin ta insult me now?”

Finished Silver with a smile. Silas returned his friendly jibe in the same manner.

“No sir Brigadier General, we’ve just been overwhelmed with hospitality here and didn’t get round to it. As we gotta wait for some results, we may as well get down to the dry dock and re-arm. Looks like the Hand is clear or I think we would have been told otherwise by now. Kai, Lamb you go sort out the Hand and I’ll wait for Echo, then get the Arbiter armed once I know what you girls settle on ok?”

Kai saluted Silas.

“You got it Captain” Kai turned to Brigadier General Silver with a cheeky smile. “Thanks for the hardware Brig, you know a girl loves a big gun. Come on Lamb I had some ideas about the refit ..”

Kai’s voice trailed off as she dragged Lambast out of the lab and off to the dry dock. Silver made his pardons and left right behind them leaving Silas with Raven who was looking at his silent pad dejectedly.

“Hay Raven, how long do we give him do ya think”

Raven puffed out a long breath.

“I don’t know man, it’s been a while for him and that security officer is hot. I’d say he’s done already and he’s havin a coffee to get ready for another go”

Silas and Raven enjoyed a laugh at Echo’s expense.

“We’ll give him another twenty while we poke around with this stuff. I want Echo’s opinion on the Arbiters refit before we decide anything”

Lambast sat with Kai in a nice office overlooking the Hand. It seems Kai had used the opportunity to change the ships loadout already. She sat quietly listening to Kai outfit the Hand for her.

“Great” said kai to the dry dock manager. “so that’s all in and good to go already. Now about the weapons, here, let me have that loadout slate. I want Plasmas here and here with tracking and target interference. I’ll need a Beam Laser with heat vent in that hardpoint and .. Oo I’ll take that Experimental Missile Pod if you can up the launch rate and make it used anti-armour shells yeah? Aaaand the last hard point needs a Rail Gun modded for real punch and penetration. Never hurts to have a sniper rifle on ya ship”

Kai scrolled up and down the list umming and arring about her choice of weapons.

“Hey, can I get a Remote Release Flack Cannon as well with umm.. oh a couple of Guardian Gauss Cannons and two of the biggest Guardian Plasma Chargers the Hand can manage. Jus ta stick in the hold in case we have to re-arm to fight the bugs. Kay?”

The representative from the dry dock marked off all the items Kai wanted and didn't even blink at the request for the extra hardware.

"No problem at all Ms Deana. Now, as for the Bourbon tap you asked for, I take it you want it in the dash. Where exactly were you thinking?"

Asked the rep while Kai tried to make shushing hand gestures without Lamb seeing.

Lambast cleared her thought.

"While you're at it sir, could you install a bordello stage with stripper poles flanking it, and some of them lovely little curtained rooms that men make crusty? I’ll want all the external lights replacing with red light emitters and change the ship's name to The Handjob. Oh and make it smell of sweat and desperation while you're about it?"

The rep had stopped making notes on his slate and twirled his finger in the air waiting for Lambast to finish.

"Soooo, no Bourbon tap then?" he said.

"No" replied Lambast with the finality of a heavy stone slab sealing a tomb.

Lambast filled the empty slots in the Hand with some support systems and stood up to leave.

“Thank you for your time sir, if you could send the final load out the Mr Cousland’s slate including the Anit-Thargoid weapons we’ll be taking in the hold I would be most grateful. Come along Kai, I don’t trust you not to turn the Hand into a night club if I leave you here unattended”

Kai followed Lambast down to the dry dock a little defeated. She was so close to having a bourbon tap fitted.

“It would be an awesome night club if I did it Lamb. Hey Lamb, do you still use the Hand of Mercy much?”

Kai quickly dodged the swipe Lambs made for Kai’s shirt and laughed off the face of thunder Lambast directed at her.

“Chill out babe, just messing with ya. I wouldn’t even dream of touching your baby without your permission.. . unless I really needed to”

After a bit of a play fight having a look around the Hand to talking with Holly about the re-fit, Kai and Lamb went to join Silas and the guys on board the Arbiter. They were sat around a table in the common room with a beer each. Kai and Lamb took a can and joined them. Silas brought up a hollo-image of all the devices taken off the Arbiter and pointed out the appropriate device as he talked.

“They found everything from disablers to inhibitors with backup devices in case we found the primary surprise. Echo is busy checking the computer for anything that shouldn’t be there, but he doesn’t think it’s goanna be a problem at this early stage of his probing”

Echo had a laptop open on the table with a hardwire link to the ship's computer and COVAS.

“Still looks clear boss, but if you say we got the time, there’s no harm in replacing the logic core if ya want. I’ll keep looking all the same”

“Right, thanks Echo. Ok, we feel like the stuff was installed after we all bailed so whoever was aboard that Corvette is the best suspect we’re come up with” Continued Silas “Kai, Lamb, you got ant thought to add?”

Kai went over to the display to have a good look at the tech and be a bit closer to Silas.

“I don’t think so Si. The Hand was all clear and Holly didn’t come up with anything suspect, and he was watching everything during the rescue and here. Suspicious old grump that he is”

Lambast nodded in agreement with Kai.

“I’m glad you don’t think it was anyone here. I would die of shame if I ended up leading us to a nest of vipers”

Silas clicked his fingers and pointed at Lambast.

“Oh hey, that reminds me. Lambast, excuse my language but three fucking billion. I don’t know how we’ll ever make that up to you, but you can bet you got our thanks”

Lambast blushed a little.

“Pershore! You can thank my mother for that, but I would have gladly paid had I been given the choice. I did have a little plan to make us a small dry dock on that rock we used as a hiding place, but that’s off the table until I can get back to work and earn back my prenatal wrist-slapping. I say, that reminds me Mr Cousland is the not Animus still there?”

“Yes Lamb it is. I’m making arrangements to have it picked up and dropped off with Captain Trent’s people. They’ll give her the same treatment we got here, can’t pass up a free upgrade. Anyway, back to the Corvette. We wrecked that thing so I reckon it’s still there and we want in. If they had this sort of tech just kicking around, we have to check it out”

Silas waited for the guys and girls to think about that for a moment. He could see Lambast running boarding scenarios through her mind and Raven was flexing his sword hand.

“So, you all up for boarding a dangerously unstable wreck that could be crushed by a passing rock at any moment potentially harboring a well-armed privet army with a personal grudge against us?” asked Silas.

“Wow Si, your pep talks are really shit. I’m in” answered Kai with a big smile.

“Oh blast. There was a time I’d have called that an easy Wednesday morning. You have my help Mr Cousland” said Lamb with more enthusiasm than her words let on.

“We ain’t staying behind this time Si” mocked Rave “You guys keep having all the fun right Echo?”

Echo who wasn’t really listening while the check the Arbiters network agreed with Raven by way of a snort and offhand “Yeah, what he said”

Silas rubbed his hands together. It was good to know he had people around him just as crazy.

"Right, let's talk prep"

EvilCreamsicle Inara supporter

03 Dec 2019, 11:18pm

︎

Lambast Mercy

"Right, let's talk prep"

"So, that thing was dead in the water, but it didn't explode. I'm not sure if we broke the pressure seal or not, or maybe only in select parts of the ship." Silas recollects, coaxing the Arbiter to project an artboard in front of the table.

"We'll need to be prepared for the possibility of variable artificial atmosphere, and if we find pressurized cabins we have to assume there will be someone hostile in there struggling to get their ship spaceworthy again, or at least comms."

"And if not?" Raven asked

"Well, if not then we have the trials and tribulations of an extended stay in space to deal with. Our suits can only sustain us for so long, limited oxygen, booster fuel, etc for us to explore an entire destroyed Corvette full of corpses with. Then there's hoping there is some way to access the systems to make that thing any kind of useful."

"Someone survived, lest who would have installed all of your unwanted new toys?" Lambast offered

"Hmm... good point. We determined that happened after that fight was over." Silas paused to think, glancing at his still empty artboard.
"Alright, well, I guess we should see if our gracious hosts can get us some fancy new pressure suits while they're feeling gracious."

Raven suddenly got excited
"Yeah, yeah, and they can be like, matching colors, like superheroes or something?" he said enthusiastically.

Silas, Lamb, Kai, and Echo all turned to look at him, unsure how to react. Silas was actually more fond of that idea than he was willing to admit.

"I mean, they're a military so probably..." Echo was first to respond. Raven sat back and pouted into his beer.

"OK, I'll be right back, you guys brainstorm on anything we might need. Lamb, you have experience with this sort of thing so anything you think we'll need I want to see it on the list." Silas reaches up to the holographic artboard and writes down 'pressure suits' in the upper left corner and looks back at Lamb, who stands and nods, walking over to the board as Silas passes her on the way to the Arbiter's ramp.

Out in the hangar the ship's maintenance crew was just hooking up the hardpoints Silas had requested. A heat-transferring beam laser, two small pulse lasers and two experimental multi-cannons which, apparently, had some anti-xeno capabilities, although they'd have to manually change ammunition types. Silas walked over to the crew lead, who was directing a couple of his hands who were hauling an anti-bug missile launcher over to be stored in the cargo bay.

"Excuse me." He says, getting the lead's attention, who looks up at him and reaches out to shake his hand as Silas approaches him.

"Hello, Commander, Staff Sergeant Colcannon. Yes like the soup, no I've never had it." he says.

"You're missing out." comments Silas with a sensible chuckle.

"What can I do for you?" says Colcannon.

"I was hoping you could hook us up with some pressure suits. We have some spacewalking to do and I'm not sure how much I can trust our onboard equipment, given everything."

"Sure, I can have some sent over. I'll send a message to the Arbiter and you can just respond with some sizes, I'll make it happen. Anything else I can do for you?" Colcannon replies

"No, thanks." Says Silas, beginning to walk away, but he stops and turns back to SSgt Colcannon. "Maybe one thing..."

Colcannon looks back at Silas, waiting for the request.

"What kind of style options do we have?"

-----------

"...and of course, not everyone prefers kinetic weapons, but in a pinch a kinetic gun can be used to help direct you in the vacuum, so at least a sidearm is recommended." Lamb was saying as Silas entered the common room back on the Arbiter. He was pleased to see that Lamb and the gang had a pretty good list going on the board.

"How we doing?" he asked her

"I think we're about there. Any more and we'd have trouble carrying it."

"Alright. I need everyone to send me sizes and uh... if you could only choose one color, what would it be." Silas says

Raven looked up like a puppy who just heard someone say the word 'cookie', Lamb simply raised an eyebrow.

"Now, Si, you know it's not polite to ask a lady her size." Kai jokes

"Perhaps, but you'll be even more offended if I guess." Silas says, winking at her. Kai puts on her best exaggerated playfully-hurt face.

The next hour was spent preparing, acquiring necessary gear, obsessively function-checking it (at least in Silas' case), and getting their mind's right for the task at hand. Raven practicing his sword movements, Echo checking the ship's systems, Lamb and Silas going over the equipment while Kai watched with a bourbon.

Once everything was in order, Lamb got the crew together for a crash-course in hullbreaking. Everyone had had some limited experience loose in the void, but this was a whole different animal. It was a bit overwhelming, and it quickly became clear that nobody was becoming an expert in a single session, but by the end Lamb was confident that they were basically-trained enough in the concepts to get onto the Corvette. Obviously classroom experience is nothing compared to field trials, but since the ship was already disabled the risk was much lower than trying to board, say, a fully-functional combat cruiser for the first time.

"Alright... we're leaving in 30 minutes. If there's anything else you need to do before we go, now is the time."

Khelan

04 Dec 2019, 12:42am

︎

Maul Montresor

Akio ignored Caden and rolled his eyes as he went to "fetch" the small space heaters from the storage room so everyone could finally get to work.

Khelan gets up slowly wincing as he moves, the derms stuck to his neck were starting to wear off and the pain from his battered body was returning with interest, pushing himself to move as quickly as he did during his escape clearly took its toll.

He crosses the room to a first aid box and takes out a strip of derms, tearing the ones on his neck off one by one and replacing them with new ones. Khelan sighs in relief as they kick in lessening the pain almost instantly.

He carefully gets changed out of the overalls he'd been wearing earlier and pulls on a flightsuit with a pair of black combat trousers, a T-shirt with the words "Let Freedom Ring With A Shotgun Blast" emblazoned across the back of it and the album artwork for a long forgotten band on the front of it. He pulls on a lightweight bomber jacket, picks up a replacement pair of mirrored sunglasses, slips them on to cover up his cybernetic eye and looks at his reflection in a mirror.

The glasses do a good job of hiding the fact that his other eye is swollen shut but the bruising is still visible around the edges.

He fixes his hair into rough slicked back spikes and heads out into the street. He starts walking towards the residential area of the station but stops and heads to the docks instead.

After a short while Khelan arrives at bay 01 and steps through the door to be greeted by the hulking sight of "The Prid of Ankh-Morpork" sitting in its docking restraints. He walks over to the huge ship and taps the entry button.

"Passphrase please" comes the voice of Leo from a small speaker.

"Little pig, Little pig. Let me in" replies Khelan

"Not by the hair of my chinny, chin chin." responds Leo

"Then Ah'll huff an Ah'll puff an Ah'll blow yer hoose in"

A small tone plays and the door to the access elevator slides open.

"Welcome back commander, you have no new messages." says Leo as the elevator swiftly takes Khelan up to the habitation level. He gets out, goes into his quarters and sits down on his bed.

"Leo?" Khelan says softly

"What's happening dude?" responds Leo.

"Activate full lock doon, naewan in wi-oot ma say so ye goat it? Activate point defenses as well wid ye? Anywan gets too close gie them a warnin an if they keep comin zap the deck afore them. They keep comin after that then ye know wit tae dae."

"What if it's Mr Montresor or Miss Yodama or even that lovely Vega woman?" asks Leo.

"Ah telt ye wit tae dae Leo. No even Maul's daft enough tae come closer after a warning shot. So dae it OK?" snaps Khelan.

"As you wish commander" says Leo "All access to the ship is stopped, point defense is activated. Full lock down is in effect. Is there anything else?"

"Naw that's all fur noo mate, thanks." says Khelan before giving the command to turn off the lights in his quarters.

In the dark Khelan pulls his knees up to his chest, wraps his arms around them, bows his head down and starts to softly cry.

Maul Montresor

05 Dec 2019, 2:24pm

︎

*****The next morning*****

Maul yawned as he watched the workshop crew load the escape pod into the back of the business transport van. They had spent all night making sure that it was finished and ready for Khelan's plan. Maul moved his attention to the large graphic that was painted on the side of the van that read "Hideo's Repairs: Engineering With A Smile". Khelan was right, the name needed to go. He pondered on a few ideas while Daiki, Caden and Akio fumbled around as they finished loading the escape pod.

"Hey Akio," Maul called out as Akio hopped out of the back of the van. "We're going to be needing a new sign for the front of the shop."

Akio wiped the sweat from his forehead as he approached Maul.

"Sure thing. Should we just put your name in place of Hideo's or...?"

Maul shook his head.

"Fuck that, we're a team. We need a name that suits us as a whole, you know?" He turned and grinned at Akio. "I was thinking "The Technomancers: Where Tech is made Magic". What do you think?"

Akio smiled as he nodded in agreement.

"Nice, I like it. I'll be sure to have a new sign and graphic finished, ASAP."

Maul yawned again and rubbed his eyes. Akio patted him on the back.

"You going to be okay, man? You look exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Maul said with a nod. "Now, you guys deliver this pod to the docks and start prepping Shinigami. I've got a few things to do before I meet you guys there."

Akio gathered the rest of the crew into the van and headed towards the docks.

On his way to the nearby maglev, Maul messaged Khelan informing him that the pod was finished and that everything would be ready within the next hour. He rode the maglev to the clinic to pick up Vega.

He entered the room to see that Vega was already dressed and ready to leave. She was wearing her flight suit underneath a black jacket that had orange graffiti lettering covering the arms and a pair of black pants stuffed into her remlok space boots. She was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed looking at her slate.

Maul knocked on the already opened door to get her attention.

"Hey, are you ready?" Maul asked.

Vega didn't even look up from her slate which concerned Maul. He approached her to see what she was looking at.

"It's happening..." Vega said faintly.

On her slate was a news article about the recent arrests of a few of the corporation's current leaders. It mentioned rumors that they were believed to be a involved with a company that was secretly responsible for large large distributions of illegal narcotics across most of the inhabited galaxy. It went on to confirm that the rumors came from an online leak by a group of apparent hackers and that the leaks were being investigated.

Vega sighed and looked up at Maul who was still caught up in the article.

"You know whats funny?" Vega asked.

Maul finally looked away from the slate and brought his attention to her.

Vega continued. "People who read articles like this will think that all of this was about stopping a bunch of narco pushers." She paused before continuing. "But for us, it's was just revenge...What does that say about us?"

Maul sighed heavily as he sat down beside her and pondered on her question.

"I learned a long time ago that sometimes you have to do some bad things to allow some good things to happen, and our reasons for doing those bad things are just that; our reasons. People can try to pick apart exactly why you did this or that and probably even try to convince you that what you did was right or wrong, but...it's never really that simple. Just look a it this way, we did what we felt we had to do, all while helping put a dent in the narco crisis that parts of the bubble suffer from. I think that's about the best outcome you can hope for in this situation really."

Vega put the slate in her pocket.

"You're right. I did want this but now that it's nearly over, I just feel...empty."

Maul nodded and looked at Vega.

"Me too."

After a brief silence, Vega gathered her things and they headed towards the docks to meet with Khelan.

Last edit: 05 Dec 2019, 3:01pm

EvilCreamsicle Inara supporter

06 Dec 2019, 11:28pm

︎

EvilCreamsicle
"Alright... we're leaving in 30 minutes. If there's anything else you need to do before we go, now is the time."

With the last of the necessary items from their brainstorming session checked off the list, Silas settled into the pilot's seat of the Arbiter. It felt good to have it back in working order again. He had a moment of zen, almost, as he took a rare opportunity to actually run through the pre-flight checklist, considering the amount of work that had been done.

Looking around the bridge to ensure everyone was ready to take off, he radioed their gracious hosts to ask for takeoff clearance. It was Captain Ioneer herself who responded.

"Cleared for takeoff, Commander. You're welcome anytime, stay safe out there."

"Roger Captain. We'll be back soon... we still have ships and gear on your bird. Stay away from bugs while we're gone." Silas replied

"10-4 Captain, your fleet is safe with us. Have a safe flight."

And with that, the landing platform began to shift as it rose them to the surface of the Atlas.

Blasting off, the Arbiter felt great. Silas wasn't sure if it was because the ship was in even better shape than before or if it was just because he was so glad to have it flying again, but he felt like butter melting into a chair made of one of Lamb's fresh warm rolls. It could also be because the last time Silas was on board the Arbiter, it was barely not exploding.

After a couple of boosts, rolls, and flourishes to test sytems (and get the buttery feeling out of his system), and a very Silas-like function check of the system's weapons just outside the no-fire zone, Raven locked nav on the last known location of the Corvette and Silas jumped them into supercruise.

The crew was mostly silent while they closed the distance to the Corvette... which would be much to the surprise of anybody who had ever interacted with them should they happen to be observing.

Silas was sure to drop out several kilometers out, both to avoid detection by any enemy recovery efforts that may have located the ship, and also to get a wide scan going in case it floated off-course from its last known location. Which, of course, it had.

"Got it on scanners, looks like it floated further into the asteroid belt." Echo said, locking navigation onto the husk of the Corvette.

"Good. I guess they must still have some semblance of power to be emitting a signal."

"We'll want to be careful where we leave the Arbiter floating. We can't land on a rock, lest its rotation cause us complications trying to get a proper trajectory once we're out of the ship." Lamb advised. Silas simply nodded, not thinking she may not have seen him across the bridge.

As they approached the Corvette husk, they could see that much of it was dark, but that some areas had visible light emitting from windows, including the bridge.

"What do you think Lamb?" Kai asked

Lamb got up and moved to the front of the bridge to observe better, searching for the best place to breach. She saw a point on the top of the hull just in front of the bridge that already appeared to be cracked open, either in the dogfight with the Arbiter or since.

"There." She said, pointing out the breach to Silas.

"Alright. Suits are in your cabins, let's gear up."

Silas entered his cabin to find his pressure suit hanging in the corner. It was nice... nice looking but also high quality, Orange and white, divided diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip with the orange on top, white below. The fit was perfect as well, the crew on the Atlas had done a nice job. It also had toggleable orange lights in various places like a flight suit, which would make it easier for the rest of the crew to see him against the void if needed.

He was the last one besides Raven to make it back to the bridge, and was met with a nice splash of color. Everyone's suits had the same stripe design, but everyone's chosen colors were different.

Kaisla had red on top, black on bottom, divided by a white stripe, and white lights.
Lamb's was white on both top and bottom, with an imperial blue divider stripe and matching blue lights.
Echo had a dark forest green on both top and bottom, with a black divider stripe and green lights.

Just then Raven entered the bridge, electric blue on top, black on bottom, white stripe, matching blue lights.

Seeing everyone and realizing what Silas had done, his face lit up like Christmas.

"We look like fuckin' Power Rangers." he shouted excitedly.

"Like what?" Lambast asked, puzzled.

"Power Ran...gers? Nevermind, whatever, its awesome."

Indeed, everyone seemed pretty pleased with the effect as ridiculous as it was, except for Lambast who was looking around the room with a scrunched up face like something was bothering her.

"Ok Lamb?" Silas asked her.

"Um... yes, everything is fine." It took her long enough to answer that Silas knew she was probably lying, but he let it go for now as she continued.
"OK, just like we went over. You all have enough of an understanding of space-flight mechanics as you are all capable pilots. Just remember the caveats we discussed and you should all be fine. Grab your weapons and follow me." Lamb said, exiting the bridge toward the ship's exit.

Everyone had taken a kinetic pistol, as Lamb had recommended, in addition to their usual gear. Raven strapped his swords to his back, while Echo grabbed a laser rifle from the ship's armory on his way out. Silas checked his pistol one last time before attaching his carbine sling to his suit and following them out.

They filed out of the Arbiter, one at a time, following Lamb's lead as she pushed off toward the selected breaching point, carrying a long strip-shaped device on her back about the size of a plumbing pipe, but rectangular with what appeared to be hinges.

Landing first, Lamb turned around to catch Raven who was coming in a little fast. She managed to mostly prevent him from injuring himself, but he did slam into the hull pretty hard.

"I'm OK," he said over the comms, exasperated.

He was followed by Kaisla, then Echo, and finally Silas. Once everyone was on board the surface they climbed down into the depressurized part of the ship through the already breached hull. Lambast was first, on account of her experience in such matters. Silas was the last through, making sure everyone made it inside before dropping below the outer hull himself.

Inside was a bleak picture, like a zero-gravity ghost town. They grabbed what they could inside the corridors to pull themselves along, trying to save limited and valuable booster fuel and keep the noise down as they passed, bumped, and moved various objects, furniture, and frozen corpses of the former crew from their path toward the bridge.

At the end of the corridor, Lambast reached a door with a powered panel. This must be the current seal keeping the artificial atmosphere inside. She turned around and waited for everyone to arrive, removing the strip device from her back before sticking it to the floor behind them with a magnetic 'thunk' before unfolding it. What appeared to be hinges were for flexibility, and it also had the ability to telescope. Lamb ran it across the floor, up the edges of the wall, and across the ceiling of the corridor, connecting it back to itself. Then, she flipped a switch on the side, activating the portable pressure barrier.

"We have 30 seconds!" she shouted over the comms to the crew. Echo, who was nearest to the door, reached for the panel as everyone braced themselves.

It was all anyone could do to hang on as the pressure from the ship rushed in to fill the void between the door and the pressure barrier like a sledgehammer, but it was over as quickly as it occurred. They had about ten seconds before the battery drained on the pressure barrier and the entire ship depressurized into space.

Raven rushed in first, much to the dismay of the only poor sap in that part of the ship. He reached for his gun. At least, he tried to reach for his gun, but he couldn't move his arms as his spinal cord had been severed when Raven skewered him while the rest of the crew filed in behind him and Lamb closed the door, re-sealing the ship.

"Alright, let's get to the bridge." Silas said, feeling better to be back in his element.

Lamb drew her saber and went first, with Raven next in the stack, as they made their way toward the lift.

The corridor was quiet at first. It was nervewracking to Silas, as he knew it was a matter of when, not if, the ship would be alerted to their presence there.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a door from one of the side rooms opened up and a security crewmember walked out into the hallway between them.

"Holy shit!" he shouted, raising his rifle, but Echo was quicker as a blast from the laser rifle melted a hole through his face.

There was no mistaking that sound, or that smell, and other crew were alerted. Four rushed from the mess hall in front of them as Lamb and Raven charged forward to close the distance before they would shoot. Raven slid on his knees, slicing at men on either side of him, as Lamb went for the wrist of a third, then the throat of the fourth before the gun and hand clattered to the floor.

Silas scanned the other doors while holding his carbine at the ready, but no more came.

"Was that all?" Kai asked him

"I don't see any more. Maybe they really are down to a skeleton crew?" he replied

"I mean, you can fly one of these with a crew of three if you're desperate." said Echo

"OK, well, eyes up. Stay frosty." Silas said, walking past Lamb and Raven to take point.

After that first encounter, Silas had expected a lot more resistance, but the rest of the trip to the lift was relatively uneventful, which was more disconcerting than it was comforting.

As they entered the lift, they took up positions that would offer them cover if met with an ambush at the top. Blood ran cold as the ride seemed to take an eternity.

Finally, the soft electronic 'ding' informed the passengers that they had reached the top, and the door slid open.

Silas had been expecting hell to break loose when they'd reached the bridge level, but what he didn't expect was that they would be late for it. However, that's exactly what they were. The lift opened into a receiving room, on the other side of which was the door to the bridge. Between the two, the floor was barely visible, strewn with bodies and weapons. This was clearly a result of close combat, and not casualties of the dogfight with the Arbiter.

"What in the hell...?" Kai says, tiptoeing cautiously over the first couple bodies into the room.

"For the record, I am really uncomfortable with this." Raven said, following her lead.

Echo was silent as he made his way to the door panel for the bridge, and waited for everyone to get in position.

Silas walked up to the front of the stack opposite Echo and looked left and right, making sure everyone was ready before nodding at Echo, who opened the door and all five of them rushed in, spreading out to cover different sectors.

Silas was surprised to find a shield barrier bisecting the center of the bridge, and after scanning for threats among another pile of corpses, turned his attention to the other side of the shield barrier, noticing for the first time a dark figure in the shadows.

"Ello, Commanders." he says in a thick African accent, stepping forward into the light.
"I have been expecting you."

Everyone leveled their weapons at him as he walked slowly right up to the shield barrier. A symbolic gesture, as their handheld weapons would deplete it slower than it would recharge.

"Who are you." Silas asks him.

"You may call me Grim, for what difference it will make you here, in these final moments of your life." Grim says, turning his head toward Silas and peering at him through the round-lens sunglasses inside his helmet.

"Awful big words for someone who wears sunglasses indoors." Silas quips

"Hey, wait, are you blind?" Raven asks

"Yeah, like, do you even know where you are?" Kai chimes in

Grim was, for the first time in his adult life, briefly speechless. He had never encountered anyone who was unaffected by his intimidating presence, especially when surrounded by large quantities of his victims.

"Silence!" he shouted, regaining his composure.
"I will only ask once... where is the data you received from Sen Zaurak?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, blindeylocks." Silas again poked the bear.

"And I am a man of my word. That was the only time I will ask. My God will be pleased to simply download the information from your lifeless brain once we fish what is left of your remains from the void, just like we did to your precious nephew Leith, Commander Cousland."

It took a second to register with Silas just exactly what he had been told. Kaisla saw the exact moment that it happened, as his face changed in an instant from playful sarcasm to a burning rage the likes of which Kai had not seen in him since she had known him. It was almost scary.

Silas charged forward, screaming and raising his carbine in spite of its futility. He managed to get one shot off, the shield barrier glowing as it absorbed the impact, before Grim, grinning, depressed a button on a device he had been discreetly holding.

Kaisla tackled Silas just in time as a series of explosions ripped through bridge.
It was enough to rupture the canopy, and Silas, already disoriented from the explosions, was barely able to process the events as the crew were sucked out into the void. He wasn't sure what became of Grim.

"Listen to me, and only me, and do only what I tell you and nothing else!" he heard Lamb shout over the comms as they all floated away from the Corvette, in different directions but all roughly toward the asteroid belt.

Last edit: 06 Dec 2019, 11:48pm

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