Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson watched Aesha write her signature across his bicep, as he flexed with anticipation trying to show off. "Oh my god yes! I'm never washing this bicep again." He said beaming.

"Better than signing your ass or...you know." She folded her arms, before glancing back to Olivia. "Did that only once, then I started charging a thousand credits every time someone asked. They changed their minds to another body part real quick."

Jackson's smile quickly dropped to a small frown. "You mean I could have... paid... only 50 thousand....for...man...." he said, disappointing in himself. But his demeanor quickly changed again as he kept looking at his bicep, all proud. The boys back home would love this. "I dont have that any way..." Little do they know...

"Thanks again Ms. Aesha!" He said to her, yet again beaming after taking a couple drags of his cig. He offered one, "Cig? Classic ol' style. Olivia hates these so they must be good," he said looking at Olivia.

 

[K0mori]

Renate nodded as Lauren explained the mission ahead. It was a good thing that Vixaya was staying behind on this one. The kanad was relaxing alone in their quarters now that she had slept a bit, and that meant it was relatively safe to leave her alone. For the upyri cyborg, it felt a bit brash to use her refined skills on something as lowbrow as piracy, but knowing what sort of hole this company was clawing its way out of, she understood the necessity and was willing to give it her all. She checked her sidearms and confirmed they were loaded and ready for use before nearly disengaging the limits of her augmentations. She would hold off on that for a while longer, however. It took a lot of power to run at full strength, and so she'd save that energy until right when she needed it.

---

March 13th, 2424 - Nagashy - Seloveha

Beneath the churning waves of the restless, stormy seas above, Silver-6 waited calmly as the elevator delivered her to the underwater metropolis that was Seloveha's grand capital. Here, the republic's leaders ruled their planet with a compassion unmatched by nearly every other government in the Foxglove Region, an achievement which was most impressive due to the tumultuous past of this place. Not quite four decades prior, the capital had been stormed by the forces of the Selovehan United Labor Party, or SULP, a coalition of various trade unions which had mutinied against the arrogantly self-serving monarchy which once tyrannized society. That victory came at a dear cost, but it was partially mitigated by various off-world alliances, one of the most crucial of which being the Belladonna Company, which supplied weapons and other equipment throughout the war with unwavering commitment to SULP's success. Afterwards, Seloveha became a member of the Interstellar Liberation Alliance, a security pact managed by one of Belladonna's former executives.

To this day, Seloveha maintains good terms with its wartime allies, and as such, the Belladonna Company operates a massive manufacturing plant in Nagashy. Along with everything from TAC series rifles and torpedo grenades to underwater assault vehicles and starfighters, the factory also had an agreement with the enigmatic Terika Systems laboratory to produce a type of battle droid known as a Hunter-Killer. It was one of only two such factories in the galaxy, the other located on the dusty desert planet of Duroma. The Hunter-Killers, or HKs, were unique in that they weren't produced for sale to any private or government buyers. They weren't meant for profit at all, actually. Terika Systems was paying for their production purely for the laboratory's own use on a specific mission: to eliminate the mass-produced androids sold by Moriaen Laboratory. Other than those very specific targets, the HKs would attack only robotic systems which would attempt to defend said androids, never a living opponent. However, they were quite good at finding ways to nonviolently neutralize living foes, which is why Silver-6 had to be created.

She, like other HK-Killers, was too fleshy for the machine to kill outright. Upon targeting, HKs, would be unable to attack her thanks to their core programming. But unlike an ordinary, living opponent, Silver-6 was equipped to overpower the nonviolent methods of neutralization. Earlier models of HK would then lock up, unable to process the situation as the HK-Killer destroyed the machine mercilessly. Newer models would attempt to run away from the HK-Killers. It didn't really matter; Silver-6 was the very best of her kind. She could chase down a fleeing HK and destroy it no matter how well its evasion routine was programmed. That's why she was being sent to Nagashy today. She was going to destroy the factory and cut off the problem at its source.

The only problem is that Silver-6 hadn't been behaving very well lately. She was beginning to have independent thoughts, ignoring or disobeying orders. Once, she had even dared to ask a question, and she was immobilized by her owners for the effort. They were beginning to lose confidence in her abilities; if she didn't continue to perform, she would probably be shut down. That's why she felt no remorse as she strangled the elevator operators who tried to restrict her access to the capital.

She was coming heavily armed whether they liked it or not.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Silver-6 was confronted by an entire firing squad of melora SWAT officers- the melora being those aquatic people that lived in the oceans of Seloveha. They began to unload, but Silver-6 simply threw up an electromagnetic shield and marched directly into the storm of plasma being generated by the meloras' TAC-18 rifles, closing in on and grabbing one of the soldiers before hurling him into his comrades with such force that it broke bones. Casually, Silver-6 raised her bolt pistol and fired it into one of the others, who was both impaled by the heavy weapon as well as dismembered by it once the large projectile exploded within his chest cavity. Without looking back, Silver-6 walked directly to a shuttle vehicle, which refused to operate due to a police override. Silver-6 merely used her electronic multitool to hack the system and force it back into operation, and it whisked her away toward the factory.

It was during this silent ride that Silver-6 suddenly suffered a major malfunction. Staring at her own reflection in the shuttle's contoured glass, Renate suddenly found herself awakened for the first time in her life. Upon her arrival at the hidden factory, she was greeted by an even larger army of actual soldiers, as well as several armored vehicles. And to their utter and complete surprise, Renate lifted her hands in surrender.

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel placed a credit chit infront of Petar. "Here," he said as his expression reverted to its neutral self.
Once the briefing began Daniel listened intently, making sure to make mental notes on expected casualties, risks of indoor fighting on ships and common injuries sustained during boarding operations.

He raised a hand to get Lauren's attention. "Ma'am, where do you want me? Alongside the main assault party?"

---

Nathalie did a simple thumbs-up to Vance as he asked her, Shun and Karina to join his fireteam. She was pretty happy he had asked her- frontal assaults weren't exactly her thing.

Once the briefing concluded and turned into a Q&A Nathalie leaned in towards Shun. "Got ant secret weapons I should stay clear of once the shooting starts?"

 

[Dmaster]

Shun merely chuckled at Nathalie's question for a few moments, eyes still on their command staff just in case they would add any extra details. The woman was certainly perceptive, as the Ayr had no visible weapons to speak of on his person, lending to the suspicion that he may have several tricks up his proverbial sleeve.

"Several, though none that you should be any more mindful of than conventional friendly weapons." he reassures her. One hand moves from his back, extending a finger to tap at the side of his helmet where his temple would be. "As you may suspect, my mind is now far more capable than just transmitting mere words. It can impact the world around it in much grander ways after my transformation."

 

[Infab]

Aesha shook her head in regards to Jackson's cigarette offer. "Nah. Might grab a beer later, though, if you guys haven't run through all the booze yet."

Eventually, Lauren looked back to Slade and Zadra before speaking up once more. "Alright. Load up into the Mordred and get ready. If you need a gun or armor, check with Drav in the ship armory. She'll hook you up. Let's go, people. Ain't got time to screw around." she said aloud, before motioning towards the ship. Slade gave the group a faux salute, before turning and strolling off back to his ship. Aesha did the same, giving the group a wave before returning to her fighter. Lauren began her walk towards the Mordred, motioning for the group to follow.

 

[Doomevil]

Grommy and Nara dwelled in their inevitable consequence, slowly walking to the Mordred, heads lowered. It was all they could do at this point.

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie nodded. "Noted. Just give me a heads-up though if you decide to something a little bit more...unorthodox."

Once Lauren spoke up again Nathalie tapped Shun on the shoulder. "I'll seeya on the bridge, Shun."

With that said she made her way back towards the Mordred. It tool her about five minutes to gear up as she simply wore her grey coverall above her tights and sports bra. After zipping up the coverall she pulled on her combat harness as well as her mask.

Nathalie went over her ammunition, gear and suit systems- which included a limited invisibility cloak for infiltration purposes.

Once she arrived at the bridge her mask was strapped to the harness while the suit hood was resting on her shoulders.

"Let's get this show on the road," said Nathalie out loud. She grabbed her headset and booted up the tactical systems. Nathalie adjusted the microphone and spoke into it, broadcasting on a proximity channel for Slade, Aesha and Olivia to hear.

"Mordred Tactical is now online, stand by for further updates."

---

Daniel wasted no time and went back to the Mordred. He was ready to go as soon as he put on his helmet.

Once he was ready to go he went for the boarding module which looked like a modified docking collar with an airlock tube.

He kneeled down and started to calibrate his rifle for the upcoming mission.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

With nothing else being addressed and having all the info he needed from Karina and Lauren, Typhon returns to the Mordred to prepare for the mission. Unlike certain specific individuals with their fancy powered and composite armor, he settles for something lighter that he's more used to. Previous experience of hijacking ships taught him that armor isn't as protective when engaged at especially close ranges, such as the narrow hallways and small cabins of a ship, and he adjusted his weaponry to compensate: an old Terran submachine gun modified to fire specialized kinetic projectiles with an increased rate of fire at the cost of accuracy. He also pockets a handful of med-shots and a few smoke grenades as well, just in case a retreat is necessary.

Suited up, armed, and prepared for combat; he had one last thing he needed to do, a special ritual the Lions did before undertaking any mission. Carrying a rug and a datapad in his hands, he travels down to the cargo bay and lays his rug down in a corner behind some crates. Changing his direction while carefully examining his datapad, he finally sets it down as he raises his palms, quietly mutters something to himself, and begins to bow while on the rug. Finally, he begins to prostrate deeply as he meditates.

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"Grommy! Grommy!" says Shuren, chasing after Grommy.

 

[Doomevil]

"Huh?" Grommy turned towards one of the people both spotted at the shipyard. Despite their weary attitude towards the mission, they at least held some positivity.

Shuren called out his name, "How's it going? Shuren. Yeah Shuren! You need something?" Grommy asked.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Shuren points at Grommy, then hunches over and walks all slowly like a zombie before returning to his standard posture.

'Why are you like this?' he meant to express, but the few bits of English he's started picking up in the last couple of days made him say: "M-manifest of this?"

 

[Doomevil]

Grommy couldn't really articulate how he felt about this news. He and Nara were stoked to meet up with another band, only to turn out fruitless. He tried to save face but it would probably be dishonest to a friend. Grommy and Nara turned to each other, jerking their thumbs towards the Mordred. "Wrong place. For us." They admitted. However, they were here now of all things. Going back and traveling towards Home is risky in the RQ, unless they hired escorts that is. To waste their moments spent on the ship, however little it was would be a shame. Nara recalled something in her past, don't quit. She patted on Grommy's shoulder.

"We'll stay." Nara declared.

 

[Dmaster]

The cyborg Ayr gave a nod in turn before Lauren spoke up, and he spoke up again after Nathalie tapped him on the shoulder and left for the Mordred. "Indeed. See you soon." Shun said, immediately moving from their little crowd and back on to the ship. Once he traversed through the halls and made his way to the bridge yet again, he stood at his station as he had been earlier. Yet again he gestured with his hand and several more screens appeared around the navigation console, standing straight as he took stock of the situation.

Shun looked to Nathalie as she announced her tactical systems being online, giving a nod before he moved his attention back to his console. "Navigation systems operational. Awaiting destination data." he added, his direct speech now even more so due to a desire to keep the channel clear.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby was feeling increasingly nervous as the briefing went on. She was going to have to fight people? She had nothing against the people they were going to attack. In fact, she didn't have much against anyone - except most of her family. Criminals were of course an unseemly bunch, but up until now she didn't really think about what these people did. Real piracy. Not movies. Not the news. Real, upfront crime.

Oh dear.

While many of the others seemed like killers, she didn't think she would have to go so far. Taking prisoners should be easy enough. Point your gun at the other people, tell them to stick their hands up, and... yeah. If they knew what was good for them, they wouldn't resist. She didn't want to shoot anyone, but if she had to... well, she'd do what was needed. Her self-preservation had brought her to flee from one of the richest families out there. What more was killing someone who tried to kill you?

When the meeting concluded she hurried to see Drav in the armory.

"Hi... Drav... I'm going to need some armor. And a bigger gun, too. All I have is, well, what I'm wearing. And this pistol. Do you have anything strong but, um, light? Like a vest, and probably a helmet, too? I guess since we are fighting on a ship I should have a little air supply for the helmet, too."

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson quickly bowed to the two ladies, "Lookin' forward to seeing your work Mrs. Aesha!" With that, he then made his way towards the Modred, excitement building once again. It was a good thing he had some firing practice last night to calibrate his senses and muscle memory a bit. He quickly found his room now that he knew his way around the ship, and opened up his pack. Inside, he took out a ballistic vest, ballistic helmet, small earpiece for comms, and plenty of ammo for both guns that he stashed into his pockets and vest. Even clipped a couple frag grenades to his belt in case he needed them. What about oxygen?

He quickly made his way to the armory looking to see if there was any free gear to help with air supply in case shit went bad, and he walked in right after Shelby. For a moment he was confused, who was this new short black haired, emo lookin' twink? Oh it's Shelby. He cleared his throat and walked past towards Drav.

"Got any breathin' gear so I don't die from not breathing out there?" He eyed Shelby a second, looks like she's serious about this whole pirate thing. Goodluck kid.

 

[Infab]

Drav glanced over to Shelby and Jackson as they both arrived in the armory and requested gear. "Breath gear there." she pointed to a locker near the door, before motioning for Shelby to follow her to a weapons rack. As they strolled over, Drav began to look through the weapons, glancing down to Shelby every once in a while as she pulled a weapon from the locker before shaking her head and putting it back. Eventually, she pulled one out, looked to Shelby, then nodded before handing it to her. "SMG. Small, like you. Kinetic." she stated, before handing Shelby a black and white colored sub-machine gun. "Load stick bottom, pull handle, point, shoot. Easy." she then stated, pointing to the magazine then the charging handle on the side. She then moved over to an armor rack nearby, and drew out a helmet and armored vest. There were several slots on the vest where one could store additional magazines. "This fit. Fill pouch with sticks." she stated, before pointing to a table nearby with ammunition like what was used in Shelby's new SMG.

She then looked back to Jackson. "Breath mask fit helmet. Use helmet." she stated, before holding up the helmet she was giving to Shelby. A few moments later, Lauren arrived in the armory behind them. In her hand was a large brownish-black plasma pistol, apparently her personal one. It looked more like it should be a larger weapon, but had its barrel sawed off and stock removed. She wandered around the room, grabbing gear and ammunition for her weapon, before eventually fishing a skeletal stock out of a drawer in one of the benches in the room. She attached it to the rear of the pistol, and it seemed to fit like a glove. Soon enough, she herself was ready. She strolled back out of the Armory, heading back towards the bridge. Once there, she fished out the chip that Slade had given her, and handed it to Shun. "Coordinates are on it." she said, before taking out her star chart chip once again and plugging it into the console.

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson looked over to where Drav pointed, and went and picked up the breathing gear. He tried to figure out how to put it on and it didn't seem to connect or come over his own helmet. What the fuck? He looked back at Drav.

"Breath mask fit helmet. Use helmet." she stated, before holding up the helmet she was giving to Shelby.

"Oh...cool." He took off his own helmet, clipped it to his belt and put on the new adaptable helmet with the breathing mask, trying it on. Everything seemed to fit ok. "Thanks Drav." He began to walk out, before turning around and giving Shelby a look. "Shelb, hold that smg down tight and push the stock into your body as hard as you can. You'll control it better and not shoot any of us." Then he gave Lauren a nod and quirky salute before heading out back down the hallway to his room. He quickly tossed his helmet in there and then went and sat in the lounge. Nobody said where to meet up...did they?

 

[Dmaster]

Shun takes the chip and inserts it into the navigational suite before him, zeroing in on the coordinates while he gets an adequate zoom of the surrounding system on the map. Though the several screens allow him to look at the location from a variety of levels, some incredibly close and others quite far so that the Ayr can easily get his bearings and plot a course.

"Understood. Plotting a course. It will be sent to you momentarily, Roku." he stated as his fingers rapidly tapped across the vast work surface. True to his word, Roku received the route to take on his work station after a short wait. As always it was carefully planned out to make sure the ride would be smooth, though there were always the unforeseen dangers associated with space travel. His typing and manipulation of the console concluded, Shun's hands returned to his sides while he looked to Lauren.

"Will we be following you out of the bridge when it is time to commence boarding?" he asked.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby gathered up the pointed out equipment, grabbing the helmet and breathing gear, along with the armored vest. It was a little heavier than she expected, but the gun was actually lighter. This was not the first time she held a gun like this, or fired one for that matter - though it was only one occasion in which she did. A couple years ago, an independent weapons manufacturer that was not affiliated with Sinclair had made his attempt to sell some weapons to the du Pont security forces, and Shelby and her older brother, Casey, were there to examine it. Casey was always extremely business oriented, and he wanted Shelby to come along to get a look at how business played out. Both of them tested the gun out, though Shelby only did so once. Too loud and unseemly, but this was before the starpop tours.

Not unlike earlier when she got into her tank top, cargo pants, and military boots, she felt like she was dressing up for a concert or cosplay. This was so unusual to her typical lifestyle and manner of dress that it seemed unreal. Her, in combat clothing, with a loaded gun? Father would find it amusing, but mother would be absolutely incensed.

"Thank you, Drav." She made sure the safety on the gun was on, finger was off the trigger, and she slung it under one arm and held firmly onto the strap. Her vest was loaded with several box magazines, her vest was adjusted, and she now had the helmet firmly on her head. The oxygen mask part was dangling on a strap, like a pilots breather, currently unclasped.

She ignored Jackson for the most part, not wanting anything to do with his vulgarity, but she remained polite when he spoke to her. "Thank you... I think I know what I'm doing... mostly." She didn't know how much recoil this particular gun would have, so holding it firmly with the stock against her was definitely the best plan as Jackson suggested.

Shelby thanked Drav again as she left the armory, now suited up. Stuffed into her vest were a few more little items needed for the coming attack that could be useful.

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi awakens in the lounge, having heard people walking through it to reach the armory. She looks around, did she sleep too long was the job already done? Then she realized that everyone is just now getting their gear. She shrugs and lights up a cigarette before resting her head back on the couch again. She stares lazily at the ceiling, running over a maelstrom of thoughts in her head. She idly smokes while zoning out, the ashen end of the cigarette growing longer as time whittles by.

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson looks over to Yolandi, who just lit a cig. He didn't even realize she was here. He saw the cig and remembered his own, pulling the pack out his back pocket and lighting a smoke after taking off the breathing helmet. The hell did I have it on anyway? He suddenly felt an awkwardness in the room even neither of them said anything.

"Hey.. what brand of smokes you got there? They smell fresher than mine."

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi doesn't break her hazy gaze on the ceiling as she remarks, "Something, something, filterless, I dunno, it's real tobacco though." She takes the cigarette out of her mouth and picks herself up enough to ash it in the tray on the little table in front of the couch. Once she's done that she sticks it back in the corner of her mouth and goes back to zoning at the ceiling.

 

[joshuadim]

After notifying the ones he had chosen for his fireteam, Vance went back to the Mordred and collected his helmet from his room before arriving on the bridge, prepared to do battle. "Once I get the ship schematics, I'll form a plan for once we get on the ship itself." he said to Nathalie and Shun as he approached them.

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson shrugged, "Real tobacco? Nice. Mine is some shit from my homeworld. All I got though, maybe I should go huntin' for more. I'ma scout them out on that freighter if there's any hehehe." He looked over at her again and could see she was just starring at the ceiling, not all there in little conversation. He shrugged his shoulders again and walked to the bar to fix himself a drink. How did that kid Derrick make it? He looked around and mashed a couple bitters and a peel of orange together with whiskey and called it good enough.

"Always need a lil' energizer before any raid, helps the aim you know," He stated out loud.

 

[Breadman]

Petar pocketed the chit with a satisfied smile. "Next lesson will come soon enough. But we got work to do now." He told Daniel and listened to the rest of what Lauren and others had to say. All in all it sounded like a standard 'get on your feet' job crews would do. Money won't just fall out of the sky for them.

In a few minutes everyone was going back to the ship in order to get their gear. While he usually would have something on hand himself, that was no longer the case ever since he got unfrozen and let loose. The knives were a good start, but hand to hand is not the standard. He entered the armory and started looking around for anything that would suit his needs. Maybe an expert opinion was needed?

"Need your opinion on something." He started talking to Drav "Along with the standard armor and such, I'm looking for something that stops someone dead in their tracks. Elegance is not required, but a plus. You got any recommendations?"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

After dedicating a long time to his nails, Jericho finally gathered his gear which consisted of his armor and three swords, each on a different sheet on his back. Originally he had four of these fine beauties, but Lauren had cut one of them in half during their confrontation. Since he's an android, and one that had been modified greatly, he didn't need oxygen so he didn't need to bother blue amazon lady for a suit or anything. In was now time for him to choose his companions, since he didn't want to follow Vance and his selected team. He walked through the halls looking for Shelby, but also searched for Lucy. Having a fellow killer bot would help greatly, even if she was a crazy one. Eventually he finds her in the lounge. He gently sneaked towards her, and booped her on the nose again. "Boop." he said with a smile. "...wanna team up? Two killer bots are better than one. Besides, I want to see all your crazy techniques."