Multiple Settings Alliance: Servitus Indcuta Animi

[YsFanatic]

The small, modified freighter slowly burned from the Hell's Heaven space station while its inter-dimensional drive charged up, a process that would take still another few minutes. Aboard the old, blocky vessel was the team hired to raid the Blissful Dreams laboratory plus their pilot, a man only known as Robert. Having only gathered the team minutes before boarding the ship and launching, the barrier mage Dennis had them meet him in the small cargo hold as they prepared for transit. He knew that they needed a chance, however brief, to get to know each other before they arrived. Otherwise working together in the field would be almost impossible or at least more difficult than it already was going to be. Using the cargo bay to handle the introductions would also give them a last second chance to check their gear, if they needed to.

"Alright people, I know our departure was rather abrupt, but the client moved up the timetable for the mission." He held up a hand to forestall any questions. "No, I don't know why, but I did mange to get a small bonus added for the trouble. Not much, but better than nothing." Of course that wasn't exactly true, the 'bonus' was actually coming out of his own pay, but Dennis wanted to make sure the team's morale was good and they remained invested in the job. Lowering his hand, the mercenary mage leaned against a wall, his hands clasped in front of him. "We've got a few minutes before we hop over to the target, so how about we take this time to get to know each other? I'm not asking for your life story, but your name or callsign with the basics of what you can do is rather important to being able to function as a team. As you may know, my name is Dennis and I'm a mage that excels with barrier magic, both making and destroying them."

The blond haired man then glanced at each team member in turn. "Alright, who's next?"

 

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

Tobias was among the first to enter the modified freighter and to say the least, he was not impressed with the vessel. There were several structural weakpoints and plenty of exposed wiring. Seeing as he had time, the Amped human took the time to reinforce the weaknesses and optimize the wiring, he was not doing to risk his life on a job with a shoddy vessel. As he completed the repairs, their "Boss" had deemed it time to grace the other mercs with his presence. Tobias just finishing his work, retracted his mechidendrites and recalled the remaining unused nanites. Upon completion of the Barrier Mage's introduction, Tobias' modulated and synthesized voice filled the hold.

"Greetings Fleshlings, I am Tobias Blackwood, Known Aliases include The Fabricator General, and Techpriest. I am an adept in the manipulation, fabrication, and control of most forms of mechanical technology. I have also become adept in patching others up and have recently earned my medical licence."
He said rather joyfully, although it could also be a symptom of his synthetic voice. Turning he spotted one of his "Co-workers" and was immediately unimpressed with the human. "Your combat skin is several hundred degrees below suitable for this mission. I would recommend you upgrade your gear, arsenal and self for greater chances of survivability. I am more than up to the task of augmenting your chassis and implementing several recommended genemods."

YsFanatic DovahBeat Tetro Carorcyn

 

[Carorcyn]

Tanner sat on one of the crates in the cargo hold, the masked helmet of his camo suit resting on his lap and his sniper rifle leaning against the crate near him. He mindlessly shuffles a deck of cards as he looks from one person to another, smiling when introductions begin.

"Well too bad you don't want my life story, you're missing out" He quips with a chuckle, "Tanner Hayward. Callsign..." He flips a card up, and looks at the queen of spades before shaking his head and drawing again, revealing the Jack of Clubs. "Jack or Jack of Clubs. I watch over everybody from a distance, scout out dangerous areas and Monica here-" He grips his rifle for emphasis, "She makes the heads that need to go pop....go pop"

Tanner shuffles the cards one more time before putting them away, "Oh I should probably mention the experimental stealth suit I got on. One of the few things my former employer made that didn't blow up on people. It takes a few to get just the right look but it does the trick"

 

[Tetro]

Milicent waited with crossed arms while Dennis spoke, then Tobias, then Tanner. Millicent didn't bother looking at Tobias when he made his comment, assuming the robot man was speaking to the other human, because why wouldn't he be? Milicent was perfect, while that poor thing was just a simple human. Milicent uncrossed their arms and stood up straight, their hands now on their hips. "I am Milicent. Biomancy is my inherited craft. On top of that, I hold a perfect body and mind, making me an equally perfect warrior in any situation." After their small introduction, they smiled proudly.

"Oh, and you may refer to me as 'she' and 'her' as I am currently taking a form inspired by my mother." Milicent looked to the human man now, signifying that they were done with their turn. So far Milicent was enjoying the smoothness of it all, and no one here seemed boring! Except maybe Dennis.

 

[DovahBeat]

Sabjorn figured it was his turn to go next.
"I'm Sabjorn Fenrarke, known Hero of the Ebonheart Pact, but I won't get into that. I'm a poison-based Dragonknight, trained with greatswords and bows. I have a high poison resistance, too. I'm pretty good in a fight, but I suggest staying away from me if I'm getting my ass kicked. I, uh, have a unique ability that will definitely severely hurt those around me if I'm severely hurt."
He purposefully kept the fact that his soul would explode vague, it was kind of a long and hard story to explain why that happens. They didn't have time to get into it right now.

 

[Hawke.]

Poltroon had been gazing around the vessel rather idly, rocking on his feet a bit. The ship was remarkable, something far beyond what even the Dwemer had been capable of, and he couldn't help but admire. Until his attention was snapped back to the present as the others began to introduce themselves and his turn came around. "Oh- The name's Poltroon, Polly for short, I'm a Nightblade working for the Ebonheart pact. Kinda like an assassin, I have... knives, I can drain my enemies life force, make potions... And I can cook too." He offered a small smile to his new companions. "A pleasure to be working with you all."

 

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

Tobias looked at the stealth suit and frowned under his respirator mask, humming in thought as his mechadendrites emerged from his back and began swaying about. Stepping up to their long ranged support, one of the mechanical tentacles began collecting nanites that was being produced from the fabricator general's nanoforge forming an oculus on the end that quickly started scanning the suit. Humming in thought as data rolled across his vision, Tobias quickly saw the issue.
"It appears your suit is lacking in power capacity hence the slow activation. That and your suit's photoreceptors and projectors are subpar. If your would allow it, I could Upgrade your combat skin making it 128% more efficient.It would take but a few minutes to preform the upgrades."
He said as nanites swarmed around the Amped human, various tools and devices forming on the ends of his mechadendrites. Not being idle in his request, the tendril with the scanning oculus collected data on the two primitives in their group, his brow furrowing under his hood in concern.
"Forgive me Dunmer Poltroon, but it seems you like your "Ebonheart pact" companion are severely under equipped for this mission. I reccomend getting better gear or allowing me to upgrade your fleshy chassis."

Hawke. DovahBeat Carorcyn

 

[Carorcyn]

Tanner waves his hands in front of him "Whoa there. Slow down a tick. I appreciate the offer but this is still proprietary technology of Wiscot Arms Corporation. I don't need to violate any part of my contract until I'm sure it has been voided. I can take you up on it later"

Don't need any grey goop scenario while I'm wearing this thing. Tanner thought to himself

 

[YsFanatic]

“Even if Tanner was willing, we don't have time for upgrades now. The drive is just about charged and ready to jump.” Waving for everyone to follow him, Dennis led to the adjacent bay where a dozen wall harnesses awaited them. Opening a small storage compartment in the wall and fished out a small earbud like device. “Anyone who doesn't have a communications until put one of these in. Its already tuned to the frequency we are using and this way you can at least hear when the rest of us are using the radio. After you've done that, get strapped in.”

As soon as everyone was secured in a harness, the barrier mage gave the all clear to the pilot. There was a whine of energy followed by a brief moment of disorientation. The disorientation passed within a moment or two, only for the team to be greeted by the lights shifting to emergency red and the pilot's voice coming over the communications channel. “We've got a problem, there are two fleets in orbit locked in battle with each other. One's the expected defenders, the other is the friggin' Freedom Army. Stealth systems are active and it doesn't look like either side has seen us.”

Dennis cursed as the pilot relayed his report. The Freedom Army was an inter-dimensional military force that was often called a bunch of do-gooders. While they typically stayed out of the way of native governments that didn't have inter-dimensional drive tech, they caused no ends of problems to less savory groups and merc teams such as theirs. Pulling up the sensor readouts from the ship as it moved closer to the planet, he saw that the target lab was still intact and didn't seem to be under attack yet, causing him to curse again. He would have liked to have just turn around and left this shitty situation behind, but the facility was in one piece and thus the objective could possibly be accomplished. In which case just leaving like that would not get them paid and would be bad for their reputation. Steeling himself for the objections he was sure that would come, he addressed the group.

“Plan hasn't changed, we are going in and getting the data we need from the lab. For any of you who are not aware, the Freedom Army boasts extremely advanced technology and are outright immune to magic and all other kinds of supernatural powers. To make matters worse they are allied with two other factions forming a group that they simply call the Alliance. Thankfully our target seems to have escaped their attention for now, so we have a chance to get in while they and the PMC defenders are busy fighting elsewhere. All this means that we have to move faster once we land.”

He was about to ask if there were any questions when there was suddenly a loud bang and the ship violently shook. Alarms blared and there was a feeling of weightlessness as the artificial gravity failed. The pilot's voice could be heard again, now tinged with stress. “Stray shot disabled our engines and we are losing altitude fast. Better hold on for dear life as this is not going to be a nice landing!”

The pilot's voice cuts off as he focuses on the now much more difficult task of getting the freighter safely down to the planet. This left the group with several minutes of being shook around in their harnesses while the temperature steadily climbed from the heat of atmospheric re-entry. Finally there was the bone-jarring impact against the planet's surface and the vessel bounced and then slid for dozens of meters. By the time it came to a stop everyone would have bruises and most likely headaches from the violent shaking they had just endured.

Slapping the release for the harness, Dennis stumbled forward and almost toppled to the floor before he got his bearings. “Status report!”

The pilot was quick to respond. “Ship's mostly intact, but doing enough repairs so we can leave is going to take time. On the plus side we are near the target location.”

Dennis took little comfort at the fact that the ship could be fixed. Waiting for repairs in an active warzone was far from ideal. “Alright team, addendum to our orders. While in the facility we are going to look for any hidden hangers that might have a ship that Tobias can hack for our use.” The merc's face becomes grim. “Otherwise we hope our ship doesn't get spotted before we are able to leave." Shaking his head for a moment, he then looks at each other member of the group in turn. "I hope all of you do well under pressure, as we still got a job to do. Let's get this shit done and get the hell out of here."

 

[Carorcyn]

Tanner puts on his helmet as soon as everyone starts strapping in and as soon as the crash landing finished, unfastened his belt and pulled himself up.

"HOOOO!" He exclaimed as he checked to make sure all his gear was intact. "Had worse. Haaaad worse."

Tanner turns his comms on and begins to speak with the relaxed smoothness of an airline pilot "Alright guys, gals, and enpals. In a few moments we will be making our way to the target. I will be doing my guardian angel act in raaaadio silence. If you end up pinned down and need a target eliminated, just go and give a thumbsup right beside your ear like your thumb is whispering secrets to you. Iiiiif you happen to have lost one or both of your hands due to combat or catastrohpic weapons malfunction, just raise a stump and I'll get the jist. If we are ever in retreat mode, I'll provide covering fire so keep your heads down and move in a hunched sprint to reduce chance of accidental friendly fire. Remember friendly fire is not so friendly"

 

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

Slapping the release on his harness and retracting his mechadendrites from the wall to further hold him in place, the Techpriest stood with little issue and soon activated his nanoforge once more. Holding his hand palm up, a small chip formed in it.
"I shall remain here and begin repairs on the ship. But do not fret fleshlings, I shall still be aiding you in this mission. Simply install this datajack into any console and i shall slice into their systems. Security, Drones, and any tech within range of the compounds wireless network will not escape my ever watchful gaze."
he said, his synthesized tone not brokering any argument, as his forge began to form into a humanoid form. within a few moments a man sized drone was completed.
"I shall be diverting 25% of my processing power to controlling this drone while i repair the ship and cause distress to the enemy systems."
And with that, Tobias set to forth, as the oddly similar looking drone stepped forward and awaited the other fleshlings to get their shit in order.

 

[Carorcyn]

"I prefer my comrades give a hundred percent but I guess that's just me" Tanner quips over the comm, "I can't literally put my head on a swivel so I can't give you a heads up if you get encroaching bogies, and I can't provide support in two different directionsn so act like you're on your own"

 

[Tetro]

Milicent watched in amusement at the potential upgrades their new companion would receive, only to be let down at the declination of the offer. When they themselves were offered an earbud they didn't hesitate to quickly put it on, getting it nice and snug. "Not the prettiest accessory, but it'll do," Milicent joked. After getting strapped in they waited patiently and listened to the words of Dennis. They took note of how these Freedom whoever's were immune to magics of all kinds. Hearing it made Milicent smirk, almost being too amused. Their biomancy would easily bypass any magical resistance in a number of ways. The only downside would be having to worry about their teammates becoming collateral damage. "If it lives, it can die. If it can die, I can kill it."

Milicent blinked and looked up, feeling the ship shake as they were suddenly hit. They giggled and clung on tightly while being shaken by the landing. It wasn't their first crash landing and it wouldn't be their last for sure. Either way, it was always a good time! After they finally landed (crashed), Milicent was out of their harness right along with Dennis, standing tall and proud, taking a deep breath and sighing confidently, "now that is what I call a ride!" They seemed oddly unphased by the thrashing and impact.

"Just be sure to tell me who I can't kill. I'll leave the boring stuff to Tobias and the others. I'll take out anyone who gets in our way." Milicent fixed their hair and adjusted their breastplate, hefting it up a little and tightening the straps. "Lead the way, Denny boy."
YsFanatic

 

[HighSanguinaryPriest]

The sniper's remark had no affect on Tobias as he set to work repairing the hull and systems while his nanites scattered about breaking down the natural resources to be converted to ship parts. "Your words mean little to me meatbag. While the majority of my processing power will be put towards the repairs, a large percentage will also be in use disrupting the target's systems and turning the security systems on these Freedom fighters." He said not looking up from his work.

 

[YsFanatic]

Dennis frowns in Tobias' direction. "Unless they've taken this facility already, we shouldn't be fighting the Freedom Army. If that does happen, we run for our lives and hope they don't care enough to follow."

Motioning for the others to follow him, the Barrier Mage leads the team to the nearest airlock and quickly cycles it open. Stepping out they find themselves on a dry, rocky landscape in the middle of the day. If they were to look they could see flashes of light, fighter craft, and other signs of battle in the distance. Occasionally they could catch the sight of a ship exploding in orbit. A short distance away they can see the blocky shape of the target facility. Surprisingly there are no signs of any guards on the exterior of the facility, and the reason would become clear as they closed in on the building.

"A barrier, that explains why the Freedom Army has left this place alone," Dennis says as he examines the nearly translucent spell covering the lab. "They are likely waiting for specialists from another Alliance member, Neilgo. Gives us time to get in and out." With that he begins to focus on the task at hand, hands glowing with arcane energy as he presses them against the barrier. A couple of minutes pass before Dennis is able to create an opening large enough for the group to slip into the building's main entrance, the mage left panting for air as the spell seals itself behind them. "Whoever did that was better than most, but I should be able to get us back out when the time comes."

As Dennis finishes catching his breath, the group has a chance to look around. The room they are in looks like a typical lobby entrance for a lab with a large, wooden front desk for receptionists to work, benches by the walls for visitors to wait, doors to public bathrooms, and even a couple of water fountains for people needing a drink. In the back behind the desk is a single door deeper into the facility. It is empty of other people, but off in the distance the team can hear the sounds of people moving in a run to their location.

Swearing once, Dennis motions for everyone to prepare themselves as he begins to gather energy for a spell.

 

[Carorcyn]

Tanner activates his camoflauge and slides over the desk and settles into a position behind it, shouldering his rifle and pulling out his laser pistol. "Alright, Mara, it's close combat. Time for you to shine." He whispers

After a few moments, Tanner practically appears as a part of the desk itself. He keeps the laser pistol low and under him to mask its presence. He keeps as close to the desk as possible

Let's see if these folk got what it takes.

 

[Tetro]

Milicent was disappointed at the lack of action on their way to the facility, but as luck would have it, as soon as they got into the lobby Milicent could hear people coming their way. Milicent took two benches and lifted them up, not caring about whether they were bolted down or not, and held one in each hand. They stood by the door ready to smash anyone who may be coming through. If it were human they would make sure not to kill them. If it were some kind of robot or whatever else, then Milicent might take out their legs and arms. You can never be too careful.

"What does the person I'm not supposed to kill look like? I wanna make sure I don't mess up his face on accident." They looked to Dennis for their answer, still prepared to swing the moment someone stepped through the door.

 

[YsFanatic]

Dennis shakes his head briefly. "We are looking for data and I wouldn't expect guards to have it."

 

[YsFanatic]

The door connecting the lobby to the rest of the facility slid open and a guard decked in grey combat armor and carrying what appeared to be some kind of energy carbine rushed in. Unlucky for him Millicent was ready and brought the twin benches down, squashing the man against the ground with a sickening crunch. The second guard paused in the doorway, completely caught off guard and shocked by what she had just seen and that was all the opening Tanner needed to shoot her in the throat with his pistol. A shouted order to hold could be heard from beyond the doorway before a spherical object is tossed into the lobby.

Thankfully Dennis completed his spell at this time, a translucent barrier forming around the team before the grenade exploded, deflecting the explosion of shrapnel and thus preventing any injuries.

 

[Tetro]

Milicent tossed aside the benches, moving back towards the others just in time to be protected by the barrier. In response to the grenade, Milicent grabbed a large chunk of one of the benches that had been torn apart by the grenade. Without hesitation, they threw it in the direction of where the once intact door had previously been. A sound similar to the man Milicent had crushed with the benches could be heard again. Letting out a loud laugh in response to the impact, Milicent called out, "does anyone else want to have a throwing contest~?"

 

[Carorcyn]

Tanner puts the pistol away and pulls out the rifle, sliding away from the desk and the door, slinking into a corner and staying prone, ready to take someone out. His camoflauge suit gradually shifted as he moved and it's only a moment before it acclimates to his new surrounding.

I'm already not sure about this group, but what can you do. Keep your head down and keep firing. Close quarters is not the best but what can ya do?

 

[YsFanatic]

There is no response and after a moment a cylinder is thrown into the room. Unlike the previous one this device exploded with a bang and a bright later, immediately followed by the sound of footsteps as the surviving guards started to retreat. Periodic bursts of gunfire are unleashed at the doorway to discourage pursuit