Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[joshuadim]

"Yes ma'am." Vance replied as he attached his helmet to his suit. As it clicked and locked into place, a small hiss sounded as it became pressurized from his oxygen tank. He gave a thumbs up to Shun, Nathalie, and Karina. "Let's get ready."

 

[Doomevil]

Grommy dusted himself off and his coat, he didn't think it would take this early for the first day at work. He cleared his throat. Yet, there was no weapon he could use. Grommy sighed, raising his hands when he played charades with Shuren. He tilted his head, wondering if he could do the same like he did when this bounty hunter invaded. He heard Lauren say her piece, nodding in response.

"Uh huh." Grommy said.

 

[Dmaster]

Shun swiveled his head in a puzzled gesture as he saw the shotgun pulled on Roku, finding such measures to be a bit of a surprise. It was certain that he was an Ayr exile, but the nature of his condemnation from their home was not known to him. Did they suspect treachery? Odd since the Ayr had shown to be quite agreeable thus far. In the current moment, these details did not matter.

His job at the navigation console finished, he dismissed his screens and started to step out of the bridge when Vance began to coordinate them. "Ready as ever." the cyborg replied, moving to the ship's airlock where the others would prepare for boarding. "So we have the option of sparing them if we wish? Interesting, though likely more effort than it is worth." Shun reasoned.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

After spending some more pleasant time with Lucy, and listening to Jackson's nonsense, Jericho readied himself in the lounge by drinking and watching more videos on his holopad. When the time was right, he quickly stood up and headed back to the airlock. But as he headed towards the airlock, he caught a look into the bridge to see Drav pulling her shotgun on Roku. He stopped dead in his tracks for a moment. Apparently Lauren had ordered the amazon lady to stay near the Ayr pilot. She must have her reasons, but seeing the cute thing worried like that made him pout slightly. He eventually arrived at the airlock and stood near the people he wanted to go with. It was funny seeing each of the crew wearing masks and oxygen tanks. He pulled out his datapad again, and began to look for a song to play. To get in the mood of the raid, but also certainly to get a few reactions or stares from the others in the airlock. "Lets see here." he said, looking around while murmuring to himself. "Too exciting. Too boring. Too slow... why do I even have this song? Oh! here it is, nothing like some retro love." He then played the song, dancing a bit.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Typhon stands there among the rest of the group in an intense silence, still meditating to himself in his head. In his hand, he holds his SMG with his finger off the trigger. His other hand is in one of his pouches, wrapped tightly around various syringes all containing that glowing yellow fluid.

 

[Breadman]

So we have the option of sparing them if we wish? Interesting, though likely more effort than it is worth.

"Sure it is. What good is a corpse to anyone?" Petar answered as he got into his position "Especially if that corpse belonged to someone with money or power. Waste of an opportunity as my old man would say." One final check before they go. The shotgun Drav gave him was exactly what he needed. Something to help him shake off the last remnants of rust.

 

[SniperComZero]

Olivia had, in fashion suiting her, slipped off away from the group a while back, heading to her bunk and getting on her combat gear. Weapons loaded, of course, should things go awry. Before they'd broken atmosphere, she'd climbed to the top of the ship, getting into her own. Pressurizing the cockpit, lights glowing-- and occasionally flickering, as the same canned introduction. "Good morning, Staff Sergeant Kovak."

She placed it out of her mind, focusing on her own thoughts. [It's just a simple run'n'gun. Nothing too crazy-- only two fighters... their freighter -probably- doesn't have anti-fighter capabilities.] She didn't know for sure, but it was nice to reassure herself, rather than worry about it on the way. [Slow... deep breaths.] Lights began to flick to green as pre-flight checks-- at least all the important ones, returned as positives. No sense in going up now when she could just piggy-back off the Mordred, and not waste her fuel, right?

--------------------​

Phobos flew a few clicks in front of the Mordred, keeping a watchful eye out on sensors for the three ships that were supposed to be coming round here right... about...

"...This is Phobos, I've got tally-ho on three bandits, moving to engage their largest, over." A much more serious voice than what the crew had been used to crackled over the radio. Not to say that she acted much differently, but the risks of getting shot down steeled her up some. She was rather confident in her ability to get a hit on that freighter, too. Her ship's long range, coupled with getting the drop on them? Easy clap.

"Target identified. Locking... Locking..." The phrase repeated for a couple seconds more. "...Target locked." Accompanied by a shrill whine, before the pilot's thumb scraped over a well-worn switch. "Fox two!"

Her missile soared spectacularly, yet silently, through the empty void, careening towards its target with blazing, ion-induced speed. With her advantage, it was a direct hit, crashing into the more decorative than practical administrative undercarriage of the vessel, blowing it to bits in magnificent fashion. "Confirmed hit, the freighter's bridge is down! Repeat, they're blind, deaf, and stupid over there! Perfect for you all to take'em out. Me'n the has-been over there'll get to work on the fighters, and clear a path, over!" She'd regained a little bit of herself with that stunt.

 

[Dmaster]

The cyborg Ayr turned his head to Petar, only to move it from side to side negatively. "Doing so would incriminate us as a group. Hostage situations incriminate us and allow for an easier trail to follow. It is only something one should do when it would be extremely advantageous." he explains, having plenty of knowledge on hostage situations at this point. Namely, creating the situation.

"I would personally advise against it. As freighters affiliated with the Federation will have little monetary gain for us aside their cargo."

 

[Infab]

Karina listened to the two nearby, before finally speaking up. "The captain said to deal with them as you see fit. Just make sure they're dealt with." Her plans in regards to the freighter's crew were simple. Kill them. No exceptions, unless ordered by the captain to spare someone. She glanced over to Vance, Shun, and Nathalie, before making sure her laser rifle was primed and ready to fire. The battery was fresh, the scope calibrated for short range indoor use. Her pistol was also ready, mounted in the small of her back just like always.

 

[Breadman]

"It's why I said money and power." Petar looked to Shun. "On the flipside leaving the cargo hold full of corpses will just antagonize the locals. Make them mad. Want revenge. Next thing you know, patrols start showing up more often and in a bigger number."

"Ideally, you only shoot two times. Once to frighten them. Once to put the brave one down."

 

[joshuadim]

"Unless they surrender, we ought to deal with whomever we come across is my two cents." Vance said as he primed his ray-gun and inspected it. "Rules of engagement and all."

 

[Viper Actual]

With only minutes left untill their arrival Nathalie spoke into her microphone to hail Olivia and Aesha. "Mordred Tactical to Phobos and Demon. Estimated arrival in three minutes. Warp-deceleration in progress." She flipped a switch at her station, causing a bright red light to turn on. "Magnetic clamps have been disengaged. You are free to detach at your own discretion. Good hunting."

Once the Mordred dropped out of warp the bridge more or less handled itself. By the look of things the freighter and its escorts had been caught completely off guard. Confident in the abilities of their own pilots Nathalie decided against unleashing a small missile salvo, choosing to instead put the weapon systems on stand-by.

She followed Shun and as they marched towards the airlock to meet up with the others she made sure to check the ammo on her hand-cannon. Currently it was loaded with a laser cartridge to minimize the risk of structural damage caused to ship interiors.

Nathalie stretched her neck and gripped her weapon with both of her hands while standing close to Shun in a ready stance. She did a thumbs-up towards Vance and Karina.

---

Once more folks started to gather at the airlock Daniel finished up his calibrations. He noticed that Shelby had geared up and, by the look of things, intended to the enemy head-on if her gear was anything to go by. Daniel stepped up next to her. "Stay close, stay alert." He tapped a button on his wrist, causing his helmet to pressurize, before gripping his rifle tightly.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder. "If anyone gets shot- call it. Typhon, Galloway and I will do our best to keep you all alive. We can only do so much though if people don't call their hits."

He rolled his shoulders. "Personally I'd prefer it if we didn't have a casualty the first ten minutes due to a lack of communication."

 

[Frankafurter]

The Mordred's cargo bay depressurizes then opens to space to let Zou out, he uses his magnetic clamps to lock up against the hull and begins his spacewalk across the Mordred to get into a good firing position. Once he's there, he begins tagging targets with IFF codes and targeting locks, the built in bitching betty gives internal commentary to the empty space that would contain Yolandi normally, "IFF system online, assisted targeting system online, auto-cannon online, systems nominal." Once the enemy fighters present openings to him where he wouldn't risk hitting the friendly fighters, he lets loose with some controlled bursts. His ammo stowage had three internal chambers which typically allowed to carry three different belts of ammo, however Yolandi typically filled the first two compartments with the same mixture of AP-IT and HE-T and the third compartment with SABOT for heavier armor threats. The autocannon chugs away happily, whether any of it successfully hits is entirely on if Zou's predictive calculations are correct. If he has to, he can just walk the fire into the fighters using the tracers but the risk of blue on blue increases exponentially and he'd rather not hit the wrong people.

Yolandi stands by at the airlock where the boarding party is meant to enter though, waiting for the Mordred to attach itself to the Hermes. She makes sure her carbine is locked and loaded and finishes her last cigarette before she puts her suit helmet on and engages the life support and pressurized seal. She's not as nervous now having had a second bottle of whiskey and a half pack of cigarettes between entering and exiting warp. She looks around at the others and wonders if they're nervous at all either, it's the first real test of the crew and also the only chance they'll have to make good impressions not just on Lauren but with each other. She decides she's gonna stick near the medics in case she hits a snag, better to be within arms reach of medical attention than off in fuck knows where. She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath to center herself.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby waited with the others in the boarding area, SMG held firmly in her hands. She felt like she was just acting in a movie or something. Surrounded by all these strange people, holding a gun, getting ready to go attack innocents alongside pirates. It was something out of an action flick. Except there were no cameras. No director. No movie crew. It was all real. The scariest part out of all this was that this was actually going to be a battle where people were going to kill and be killed. It was somewhat ironic... her family had made their fortune from shipping. And now an heir of that very family was now a pirate, preying on a freighter.

Her attention was mostly on herself as they waited, the minutes dragging on. She didn't register anyone else's voices - or Jericho's music - or really anything. The world was just her, the gun, and the prospect of fighting.

---

Lucy was just as quiet and idle, standing firm among the others. There was nothing to worry about, nor was there anxiety. This was simply another step and another day.

 

[joshuadim]

Vance turned his attention to those at the airlock, looking them over before moving to Lauren. "How many groups total are we looking at to sweep the ship with?" Vance asked. "Tactically speaking, it would be best if you designated who goes with who if they haven't decided already."

 

[Infab]

Lauren looked to Vance. "How the hell should I know? If you want to be on a team, find someone to team up with. If you don't, gun it solo. if you want to sort that shit out some other way, play spin the fucking bottle or draw straws. I don't care as long as it gets done."

----------

Outside, the fighters began to engage one another in a magnificent dance of a dogfight. Automatic fire was unleashed here and there, along with missiles and counter measures. Aesha, going by the callsign Demon, gracefully dodged and weaved through incoming fire from the other Upyri ship. If a missile was launched her way, she easily dodged it or deployed countermeasures at just the right moment to force the missile to veer off course. Eventually, it was time for her to do her own shooting. And she wouldn't miss like the enemy fighter had been doing. After a few maneuvers that placed her hot on the tail of the Upyri fighter, a single missile was launched and collided with its rear before the enemy could fire off any counter measures. "Bullseye." she said, quickly turning away from the detonation of the craft as to avoid debris.

Things for Olivia were a bit different. Moving closer to the Mordred, Zou was able to get involved and take a few pot shots at the remaining fighter. One was lucky enough to hit one of the engines, but not enough damaged was caused to put it out of commission before it moved to the opposite side away from the Zou. It would take some more maneuvers and moves from Olivia, including a very sharp (and painful) loop to get above the opposing fighter. A rapid burst from her fighter's guns peppered the cockpit, a few shots piercing and killing the pilot inside before detonating the enemy craft.

"Nice work, Phobos. I would have helped, but you seemed to have things under control." said Aesha, with a chuckle. She had nothing to prove. Her record as an ace pilot in the Federation spoke for her. She switched comms to signal the Mordred. "Mordred, this is Demon. Scratch two fighters. Beginning guard duty, over."

----------

Roku guided the Mordred in, lining it up with the crew airlock on the freighter. Occasionally, he'd glance over to Drav as he moved the Mordred about, eyeing her and the shotgun gripped in her hand. Which was leveled on his head. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. What was going on? Did Lauren find out?

Soon enough, the ship was in place. "M-Mordred is in place, captain! You can begin b-boarding procedures!" he said loudly, so that the crew at the Mordred's airlock could hear. Lauren looked back to the others and gave them a nod, before reaching over and tapping a few times on a holoscreen next to the airlock. There was an audible thoomp noise outside the airlock, before a loud thud sounded off. Then a hissing noise which lasted for two minutes. Then the airlock door opened, revealing a long bluish white tube with a white walkway that stretched over to the other airlock.

The crew moved through the tube, carefully walking across the white platform in the tube before arriving at the other door. "HEY, LOUDMOUTH. NEED THAT CUTTING TORCH." sounded off Lauren, yelling back down the tube towards the Mordred. Loudmouth came rolling down through the tube after a few minutes, plasma cutter in hand. Once he arrived at the group, it was passed through to Lauren, who then began to cut a large circle in the airlock door. "Once this is open, toss in a grenade or two. Then, Vance's bunch will breach through first." she said, as she started to cut a large circle into the door.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Typhon taps a few smoke grenades hanging from his vest. “I have several smoke ones here. They’ll mask our entrance if we’re fast enough.”

He places a hand on one so that when she says go, he’ll be ready to throw.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

It was time. He had hoped that he and Lucy could walk in and do most of the damage, but unsurprisingly Lauren had picked the astroboy to lead the team. Which was understandable. Jericho looked at the nervous Shelby and patted her on the shoulder. "You'll do fine, sugar. Words first. If they shoot, you shoot back." He looked back at Lauren as she shouted down the tube. "I do hope they shoot back, though. Its been a while since I killed Federation goons." Once Lauren finished shouting, the small adorable robot known as Loudmouth came rolling down the tube and gave her a plasma cutter. Jericho looked to Lauren and asked "Once this is done, can I pet the robot?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel hurried down the tube with his rifle leveled against the door. Once the order to throw grenades came he let his LPM AR-17 hang freely in its sling as he produced a flash grenade.

Turning towards Typhon he gave a quick nod.

---

Nathalie stayed close to the left wall of the tube. She pulled up her facemask and entered a ready stance, waiting for the breach to be carried out.

 

[Dmaster]

Shun positioned himself to the right wall of the tube, finally starting to mentally prepare himself for this encounter and closing his eyes for a few moments. Tranquility and focus will see to victory, and his augments worked best when there was little interference.

Silently his stance shifted, his mechanical right arm curled at his side and stayed there, soon balling itself into a fist. That motion triggered several reactions at once, the network of glowing segments and symbols on his suit growing brighter as the cybernetic Ayr began to casually levitate several inches off of the ground. Once he achieved this lift a sphere made of polygonal, almost transparent light green energy flickered around him before solidifying. A kinesis bubble of sorts? Shun snapped his eyes open, combat information loading into his helmet's HUD. Target acquisition would be an incredibly simple matter once the breach was complete.

"Understood captain. May we all be victorious in this venture."

 

[Breadman]

Petar got himself ready for the breach. It was good for Vance and the others to go first. If anyone was dumb enough to pull something, they could take care of it...or eat the bullet. As Lauren cut through, he wondered what he should do with his share. He then wondered what the ship was carrying. He then realized that he missed that part of the briefing if it was said. 'Oh well' he shrugged. 'Will find out once we're inside."
---
Vincent stood at the ready at the back. Whatever prayers he had were said back before the tube was deployed. Now it was in the hands of someone else if the crew would make it off without a scratch or not.

 

[Infab]

"[Get ready! I think they're cutting through the airlock door!]" shouted one of the crew on the other side of the large bulky door, as Lauren sliced through it slowly with the plasma cutter. "[How the hell are we supposed to fight 'em off?! We've only got a few guns between us!]" shouted another. "[KRENAN! GO GET THAT FUCKING LMG OUT OF THE CARGO HOLD!]" sounded off another voice. Karina spoke up as Lauren made her way down the final stretch of metal. "They're panicking. One is being sent to the cargo hold to retrieve a light machine gun. They have only a handful of weapons on hand." she said, informing the crew around her.

"Well then, lets fuck 'em up before they have a chance to break out the bigger gun." responded Lauren. A moment later, the plasma cutter had finished carving a large hole in the airlock door. Lauren stepped back, dropping the plasma cutter on the floor next to the airlock, before planting the heel of her boot into the center of the door. It didn't give. Another kick. Still didn't give. "You mothafuckin' son-of-a---" she grumbled, before planting a third heel kick into the center of the door. Finally, it fell inward, slowly tilting over till it hit the floor inside the freighter with a loud crash.

She quickly moved out of the way, and said aloud "GRENADES." as she slung her stocked pistol back up into her hands. Typhon tossed in a smoke grenade, the small cylinder popping and filling the entrance to the freighter with smoke. A pair of flashbangs were tossed in afterwards, to stun the crew inside. Now, it was time for Vance's group to move in.

​

 

[joshuadim]

Vance had been preparing for the breach as he stationed himself near the airlock where Lauren was cutting it open. He stretched his arms and legs a little, loosening himself up as he did so. One had to be flexible in order to fight. He holstered his ray-gun when Karina translated what was being spoken, realizing he didn't need his trusty weapon at the moment. His fists would do just fine. He crouched slightly as Lauren start to kick in the door. The time has come and he felt his strength ripple through his muscles, causing them to quiver with anticipation. At last, when the cutout fell and Lauren feigned to yell grenades, Vance launched himself forward at an inhuman speed through the door. With his fist clenched he launched himself at an unfortunate soul nearby as he threw an all-American pummel straight at their face.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

“!الله اکبر” screams Typhon as he springs to action.

Activating the thermals on his helmet to see through the smoke, he zeroes in on the closest target with his SMG and lets loose a volley of projectiles towards them.

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson spent the rest of the time in warp drinking and smoking, getting himself properly ready for the raid. Soon enough they exited warp and the freighter was just ahead. He put on his helmet and mask, and made his way to the airlock as action began outside. Everyone else was already there, so he took out the hand cannon in one hand, and his pistol in the other. Rock and roll music was blasting inside one of his ear pieces, as the other was open for any required comms. He danced around in his spot behind Jericho and Lucy, excited to see them work.

Soon enough Lauren and the rest came down from the bridge and things were ready to go as the docked to the freighter. As the door was cut and the lead group moved in, Jackson cocked his guns and was either to push his way inside behind the rest. "LET'S FUCKIN RAID LETS GOOOO MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!!"