Syndicate of Thieves [FT/IC - See OOC Thread]

[Carpathia and Moldova]

OOC Thread

"...I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world..."

Motivational Soundtrack

The Octagon
Capitol City, Lotan

"Tucked away near the Barrier, at the edge of the Taviric Imperium's territory, is the fortressworld Kyran." said an aide, pointing at the image shown on the holoprojector. It displayed an Earth-class planet with a massive artificial ring facility around it, which was supported by immense pylons which anchored it to the surface of the colony. The Torus, as these facilities were called, were immense installations which served two purposes. One was defense and the firepower these rings were capable of, was horrendous. The second, was industrial, as these facilities built and serviced the Imperium's vast fleets of massive ships. They were a characteristic feature of the Imperium, a symbol of the Carpathians' power, technology and resources and what separated ordinary colonies from fortressworlds.

"The cache came from here?" asked the President. "Yes," responded the aide. "Intelligence on the Taviric Imperium is a bit sketchy, but we believe that it is currently part of Warlord Camoran's territory."

"Camoran. Never heard of him." responded the President, with a dismissive air. "Well, sir, he only recently ascended to the rank of Warlord, following the death of his former commander, Warlord Thor. He rallied the old Warlord's fleets and consolidated his position by crushing all rivals to his claim."

"So, he is the violent type? Well, not that the rest of them are any less violent." asked the President, now visibly distressed, but struggling to maintain a bored appearance. It would do no good to show fear to his cabinet. That would cause a panic and in times like these, that was something which Lotan could not survive. "Well, he is a young Warlord. Eager to prove himself. The theft of this cache will seriously hurt his reputation, if he does not recover it soon."

"Damn it. That cache needs to be sold and taken out of Lotan as soon as possible. What can you tell me of this Camoran's fleets?"


The aide pressed a button on his wristband and the image in the holoprojector switched to a blurry, wedge-shaped object holographed by a spy probe from a long distance. "He maintains a smaller force than the other Warlords in the region. Exact numbers are anyone's guess, but we do know he recently acquired a siege cruiser." responded the aide, causing the President to sweat. A siege cruiser was an eight-and-a-half kilometer long warship, armed with gravity blades which could cause destruction on a planetary scale. It was a formidable warship and Lotan had nothing even remotely capable of standing against it. "Contact the Syndicate and encourage them to sell the cache as soon as possible. Threaten them if you have to, our economy may depend on them, but we can not afford to face an invasion by Camoran and his siege cruiser. Spread the rumors, make sure the entire galaxy knows about the cache, the more potential buyers show up, the faster we can get it out of our hands and the sooner is Lotan made safe again. And order a series of military drills, but raise no alarms. We don't want to cause a panic."

[Taigawa]

Siari walked up to where a holomap of the galaxy was displayed. This interface allowed her to fly her stolen deadnaught, the Ascendant Zealot , anywhere she wanted. To avoid unwanted attention, she disgused it's weapons and took great pains to make it look like any ship a mercenery corporation might already posess.

"Set course for this Planet" She said as she interfaced with the desplay to bring up a holgram of the star system.

Siari Amarli was fairly confident that those forces tracking her would not be foolish enough to attempt the Suicide Run themselves; Hell, even she had second thoughts about it. Sure her ship did have shields and military-grade armor, but would it be enough to protect her and her crew? She had no way of knowing as she had her crew plot that course. It took some time to reach the planet, and despite all the odds, her ship was still intact. Then she saw the first ships.

"Open a channel." She said as she stood on the podium-like platform above the display.

"This is Morila Armarli of the dereadnaught Ascendant Zealot. I am here to investigate rumors of a weapons stockpile."

Morila was not her real name of course, it was an alias she had created in attempmt to throw off the authorities who were after her and who intended to bring her back to the Asari homeworld, where she would almost certainly be executed due to her Ardat-Yakshi genetics. Siari would take no chances here, even this far from Council Space.

[Xiscapia]

AXIS Brut, Cockpit...

Swelling out of space like the diseased pustule that it was, Lotan hung outside the cockpit of the Brut as an offensive gray-smeared orb. Most of the rest of the galaxy liked to pretend that the place didn't exist, Calista Avant thought as she looked out at the wretched planet, and for most people it might as well have not. She would have sooner forgotten it too, but this particular shithole had something that could be very valuable to her organization, so here she was. It was probably too much to hope that the arms shipment had been moved to some other world so she wouldn't have to spend too much time here. No, there would be buyers here, so the weapons cache would be here too, somewhere.

She was aware of a presence at her side, but the Abhuman didn't so much as turn her head to look. There was only one other person sharing the Brut with her, and though she'd hardly seen him all voyage she knew his face well enough. From the reflection in the transparent alloy that the cockpit "glass" was made out of she saw Ryuki staring out at Lotan too, or at least as much as a blindfolded kitsune could stare at something. His staff rested on the deck, and he on it, though he had too much wiry muscle about his frame to truly seem weak. Checking their path to make sure they remained on course, communications bands opened to receive any instructions that what passed for Lotan's "traffic control" might send their way, she spoke up.

"Sense something?"

"Pain," the tod's voice was soft. "Death. Suffering. The teeming misery of hundreds of millions of people. It will only grow stronger as we get closer."

"Is that going to affect your abilities?"

"No. I am used to it. Once we are on another ship my mind's eye will narrow again." He stayed quiet for a few moments. "Though I cannot expect that will be a complete relief. Not if our contacts conform to the rest of this place."

"Probably not," Calista cast a wary eye over the other ships in orbit. "The Xiscapian Syndicate has no real presence here. It's a crime hub, so we have our fair share of Associates, but I wouldn't expect anything civilized out of these people. I'm hoping our contacts will at least be able to point us in the right direction, though. If we can minimize our time on the surface, we should."

Ryuki rapped his staff once on the floor in agreement. The Brut continued her prowl for the contact's ship, slipping from star to star with ease: the twenty two meter Phenian-designed ship was originally made for scouting. She still felt comfortable enough in Calista's hands, as the Syndicate hadn't made too many modifications outside of upping her armament to a tractor beam, dual forward quench guns, two dual anti-proton turrets and a dual rotating missile launcher on the topside. Heavily armed enough to outfight anything she couldn't outrun, and quick enough to outrun anything she couldn't outfight, as the adage for Xiscapian starship design went. With any luck they wouldn't have to do any of that today.

Free Ship Conflict, Bridge...

On the other hand, the Conflict was everything that was all but taboo in Xiscapian ship design. She was sleek, elegant, flashy and practically preened herself. Given that she was stocked with her own complement of cleaning and maintenance drones, Hiromasa wouldn't be surprised if the yacht did. He'd had to take a day just to walk around the interior of the luxurious Alversian Severus Shipyards Royal class and get used to how the fifty meter pleasure ship worked. It hadn't been just to play with the incredible new toy he'd been given, or so he told himself.

But what a toy she was. He could get to almost any part of the ship using a three-dimensional elevator, complete with glass doors, ornate carvings and softly playing classical music piping through hidden speakers, through eight decks of pure luxury. There was a heated pool with attached hot tub, a star lounge for gazing into the void, a dining hall big enough for him and thirty of his closest friends, a baby grand piano in alabaster in case he ever wanted to try to play, a digital library and miniature theater with more titles than he could watch in a lifetime, two master bedrooms big enough to hold a main battle tank comfortably, a plush study, a private gym with sauna room, a fully stocked kitchen and bar, an atrium garden, a hanger bay with a swift runabout that probably cost more than his own house, and more. That he was a sapient of tastes was obvious, and the fact that his cover had his own vices to go with them was evident by the case full of very strong, very illegal drugs in his study, the pleasure gynoid he discovered in one of his closets and the variety of gambling simulators stored on the ship's computers. Given that his previous experiences were mainly disguised as low-level drug dealers, hired guns and junker smugglers, it was almost bewildering to find himself on a ship like the Conflict. But as Hiromasa sat on the bridge and watched Lotan orbit languidly beneath him, he was very glad to be there.

Of course, it wasn't all going to be fun and games. That was why the Conflict's cargo bay was full to capacity with crates of high-end weapons, why there were cells hidden on a secret deck below the elevator, and why he had a dozen drones for security alone. His cover was that of an arms dealer, a merchant of death who went wherever the war was and dealt with the highest bidder, and it was through that he would track down some of the most notorious pirates and slavers of Lotan. Even upon setting out, Hiromasa knew he was going to need something extra. He didn't have the stereotypical Xiscapian's mistrust of drones and artificial intelligence, but even the security designs couldn't do street-level work, deal on his behalf or provide quite the same intimidation factor as a good organic.
So he'd called up a friend to come out and be his "bodyguard."

That profession might end up being all too apt, he reflected as he waited for any sign of the Mayag. To say that Lotan was dangerous was like saying that Xiscapians were promiscuous -it really failed to drive home the reality of it. And like a well-placed spray of kitsune pheromones and a teasing murmur, the situation was about to get a whole lot worse with the introduction of all the weapons he would have to sell to maintain his cover and the rumors of the massive military cache somewhere on Lotan. It was going to be chaotic, lethal and bloody down there.
Hiromasa was looking forward to it.

[Setulan]

SRV Mayag


When the Mayag came, she certainly gave off signs.

Space grew hazy and seemed to flex, a typical symptom of a Blink transition, but it didn't happen quickly. While the transition usually lasted mere seconds before a vessel would rematerialize into real space, but this particular entrance to reality seemed to go slow. It lasted almost six minutes of flexing darkness until it finally popped like a soap bubble and the Mayag trundled alongside the Conflict.

The contrast between the two ships was almost laughable. Fifteen years ago, the Republican Atmospheric Corps had finally begun to retire old Bentnose-variant craft, some of which had been in service for seventy years. Replacing their aging fleet with new and updated craft, there had been massive airfields of Bentnose bombers left to rust. And then First Contact with the Xiscapians happened. After meeting the KEX, Alversians, and Sen, it became readily apparent that Setulan was highly deficient in producing small FTL capable craft for civilian consumption...until an enterprising businessman looked at the hundreds of bombers sitting in the sun gathering dust.

Mayag was a lethal looking beast compared to the opulent Conflict. Sixty meters long but much more narrow, the elongated tube was ridged with weapons mounts that had been taken off before sale on the civilian market and put back on by the buyer. With all of its missile and bomb racks gutted, the inside had been converted into something much more suitable for living. A single "bedroom" and two small guest quarters sat next to an almost ludicrously large armory that contained everything from rifles to power armor, behind which was a small kitchen/living area. In the rear, behind a gene-coded blast door, were four prison cells complete with chains, psy-dampeners, and atmospheric controls. The outside bristled with clearly visible firepower, a twin linked Howler cannon in the nose accompanied by more than half a dozen Banshees in their old turrets.

Rolling slightly to adjust, the old military craft docked gently with the opulent yacht before green lights on various control panels showed a good seal. There was one more hiss as a bulkhead slid open, and Kara Ligess stepped onto the padded carpet. Dressed casually - army issue cargo pants and a black beater, with a heavy handgun in a shoulder holster - the young woman swept the hair out of her eyes and, with a smile, ignored bowing etiquette and hugged Hiromasa instead.

"Good ta see ya, killer." Dark eyes sparkling, she looked around the pleasure yacht. "Niiiiice digs. You owe me this time, officer. Fuckin Blink on Mayag has probably never made a trip that far before, wasn't sure I would make it through. Had me on fuckin hooks the whole ride."

[Carpathia and Moldova]

The Barrier
Warlord Omaz's Fleet
Roughly Eight Months Ago

Soundtrack

The massive dreadnought glided gracefully through space. Surrounded by a large fleet, the commander of the nine kilometer long warship had very little to fear from other vessels. Except for Camoran's damned Siege Cruiser, he thought. The Taviric Imperium's political scene was dominated by Warlords constantly vying for power and prestige. This led to sometimes bitter rivalries and few were more famous in the Barrier region, than the rivalry between Omaz and Camoran. Both Warlords were evenly matched. Both had supercapital ships and large fleets at their disposal. But this is where the similarities ended. Omaz preferred daring hit-and-run attacks, crippling the enemy with sudden, precise strikes, while Camoran favored the use of overwhelming firepower and territorial negation.

The two Warlords never met in person on the field of battle, even though they both hunted eachother. None of them was willing to get caught on his enemy's preferred field of battle, thus their conflict so far consisted of minor skirmishes. However, any of the two Warlords had the military might to launch a direct assault into the other's territory at any given time and they both knew it, which is why they held most of their forces back.

All was about to change, though. The Syndicate of Thieves had managed to deprive Camoran of a large weapons cache and were now busy selling it off on Lotan. Which meant that Camoran would be bringing his fleet to Lotan to recover his stolen shipment. However, if Omaz were to get there first and get his hands on the cache before Camoran, he'd gain a significant advantage. Not to mention, he could ambush Camoran at the site.

Omaz smiled and called one of his lieutenants over. "Notify the rest of the fleet. We will take the shortest safe route to Lotan. This one," he said, pointing at something in the hologram projected in front of his command seat. It showed a route from the Andromeda Galaxy to the Milky Way. "The Sky Road. This should bring us to the Milky Way within six months. Another two months to get to Lotan." he said. All around him, officers were scrambling around and within the hour, the fleet was making its first jump into Riftspace, on the course which will eventually lead them to Lotan and their destined clash with Camoran.

---

Lotan Starport
Space Traffic Control Center

"Ascendant Zealot, this is Lotan Space Defence Forces Command. Before we assign you an approach vector towards the starport, be aware of several conditions for the duration of your stay in our system. Due to a series of scheduled military drills, we are in a state of hightened military alert. As such, there are several guidlines you must follow at all times, to avoid potential unpleasant situations which may arise from confusion. First, leave your ship's transponder on at all times. Second, do not deviate from your assigned course unless an emergency demands it and keep your weapons powered down at all times."

"Second, be informed of the fact that local laws protect business secrecy, therefore you are not required to state the purpose of your visit here, at any time. Anyone demanding to know this purpose under the guise of the local authorities, is doing so under a fraudulent identity. Have a pleasant and profitable visit to our planet."

The officer ended the communication by sending the Ascendant Zealot its approach vectors, then sighed, looking over his shoulder at a co-worker. "Military drills my ass. As if this is going to help us in any way. If a Warlord shows up here with his penis ships, we're screwed. No amount of military drills can stand up to the Taviric Imperium's firepower. They'll squash our defenses like bugs, blow up the planet and be done with it."

Lotan System
Space Near AXIS Brut

The "contact" happened to be a massive, one-and-a-half-kilometer long Light Cruiser of Carpathian design, who's transponder identified it as the "Bandit", a ship belonging to the Syndicate of Thieves. It just jumped out of Riftspace right on top of the Brut and transmitted a coded phrase to the Xiscapian ship, to inform Calista of their identity. The ship appeared to be new and it was strange that the Syndicate contact would bring it here. It must have been part of the weapons cache, which meant that the ship's sudden arrival was an advertisement.

"Calista, is that you?" sounded a voice, across the comms, in an encrypted channel. Moments later, the voice transmission was joined by a visual feed, which showed a rogueish man in his late-twenties, called Jacob Veil. Judging by his new ship, the one-time petty criminal had moved up drastically on the Syndicate's hierarchy. Such a ship meant that the previously small crook had scored big and was probably one of the authors of the theft of the weapons cache.

"Well, long time no see, dear," he said in a playful tone. "What do you think of my new boat? Oh, wait 'till you see what I've done with the interior, you're going to love it. I have a swimming pool and all that. Anyway, please do come aboard and let us talk business, because I'm sure you're not here just to say 'hi' to an old friend."

Lotan System
Space Near Mayag & Conflict

A squadron of fighters from the local Space Defense Forces flew past the two ships, in what appeared to be a standard patrol run. Soon enough, the leader of the squadron messaged the two ships. "Sorry for the close flyby, you two. Had to make sure you're not Carpathian ships in disguise."

The local forces seemed to be on edge, likely due to the weapons cache. The size of the shipment meant that the likelyhood of some Taviric Warlord showing up here with his fleet to claim it, was very high. "Please contact Space Traffic Control at the provided frequency and await instructions."

[Taigawa]

Ascendent Zealot, Bridge

Siari was examining the data in the transmission. After her ship was within the atnosphere she stopped. As her own paranoia led her to believe, if she were to take the dreadnaught down to the spaceport they'd probally attempt to take it from her.

"Matriarch Rila, you have the bridge." Siari said as she left the room to go to her armory, which had a viewport to one of the dreadnaght's fighter bays. Here, she got into a robe that had black titanium plates sewn into it. Here to was all the weapons she could ever want. Siari, however, perfered her arc pistol, which had saved her life numerous times already. After she did what she wanted in the Armory, she went to one of the crew decks and gathered ten guards who were also Asari. Then she got into a smaller crusier that was hidden within the underside of the Dreadnaught, and headed for the facility. She followed the original approach vector assigned for the Dreadnaught.

"Ground Control, This is Morila Armali, captain of the corporate dreadnaught Ascendent Zealot. I left my XO in control of the ship and I am inbound with bodyguards on a M22-Hiyua-class Crusier. Our ship cannot land on the surface so my second is maintaining her posititon in-atnosphere."

[New Pyrrhius]

there is nothing left to hide from

[Carpathia and Moldova]

At The Edge of Lotan Space
Warlord Camoran's Fleet

Soundtrack

The Lotan system was bordered by a dense asteroid belt, a result of the shattering of a planet, several billion years ago. Whether this was the result of an Abomination, or a more natural planetary collision, no one could know for sure. But the belt's collection of high-density asteroids and exotic metals made it the perfect place to hide a fleet, especially given Lotan's inability to properly patrol this space, due to lack of sufficient numbers.

It looked as if space bent, then ripped open to reveal a black nothingness beyond. A jagged tear appeared where there previously was nothing and a ship emerged from it. A massive, four and a half kilometer long battlecruiser. Within moments, more tears appeared and more ships jumped in, until the previously empty space was filled with a variety of capital and sub-capital ships. Last to jump was a massive super-capital ship, a Siege Cruiser, its massive, wedge-shaped hull dwarfing everything else around it. The Light of Altair, Camoran Thorn's flagship, was an area denial vessel who's gravblades could wreak havoc on anything which got too close to it. Ships of this type would rush in close to an enemy's fleet and begin decimating it while the enemy exchanged fire with Camoran's battlecarriers.

The precision of the jumps was astonishing. The entire fleet had jumped into a space filled with asteroids in an extremely precise formation which prevented any collisions with other ships or asteroids. Camoran's navigators were held in high regard for their skill. The constant practice of jumping on top of an enemy in battle formation and immediately opening up on them, had drilled into them a very high degree of proficiency.

The Warlord paced around his flagship's CIC, listening to the status reports coming in from the fleet. "We shall not employ standard strategy on this attack." he told one of his lieutenants. "Chances are, other Warlords have heard of the cache and they may be lying in wait for us. It'd be foolish for us to jump straight into an ambush. So here's what we'll do. Scramble several lance fighters and have them scout ahead. Make sure they do a few passes over Lotan's civilian settlements as well, we want them to know we're coming."

Camoran wanted to start a panic amongst the inhabitants of the planet. His fleet outgunned and outnumbered the defenders. And they knew that as well as he did. Now, he wanted to let them know he was near the system, without giving away his exact location.

---

Lotan Starport
Space Traffic Control Center

"Roger that, Ascendant Zealot. You are cleared for landing." said the traffic controller with a sigh. An unpleasant side effect of being an international trading center, was the variety of ship types they had to deal with. The controller then took the next call and after a few seconds, he put the comlink down to stiffle a laugh. "Yo, Jeff. Guess what this one's called. The Ahriman's Flaccid Ziggurat." he told his colleague from the next booth. "Ziggurat, this is Lotan Traffic Control. Please follow the provided vector for landing." he informed the ship, pressing the button which assigned the Ziggurat's shuttle a course towards Lotan's starport.

Meanwhile, space near the Zealot suddenly distorted due to what appeared to be a gravitational anomaly. For a few millionths of a second, it seemed that two small black holes had flickered into existence. And where the anomalous objects had previously appeared, there were now two fighters, streaking past the dreadnought at high speed. They were roughly knife-shaped and painted in a white color, with red and black stripes covering their hulls. One of them scanned the dreadnought, as they sped up towards the planet.

"Ascendant Zealot, this is Traffic Control. Did you launch fighters? If so, please notify them to power on their IFF transponders." came the voice of the traffic controller. Then came some muffled voices and the sound of someone setting his hand down on the comms console, hard. More panicked voices followed, a full conversation and it seemed the traffic controller forgot to turn off his connection, allowing the Zealot and its captain to overhear everything that was being said. Another voice yelled more clearly. "Unidentified starfighters, transmit your identification codes immediately, or be fired upon!" If there was a response, it wasn't loud enough to be overheard.

Someone else in traffic control yelled again. "My god, they're lance fighters! They're scanning the city!" Then the voice was drowned in a wave of yelling and shouting. I-3A lance fighters, a type of heavy fighter named so for its plasma lance weapons. They were the standard space superiority fighters of the Taviric Imperium. Which meant that one or more of the Carpathian Warlords had arrived, as the fighters just didn't have the life support to make a half-year intergalactic journey.

Meanwhile, near the Ziggurat, another ship jumped. This one was much larger, but was not emitting any sensor readings whatsoever. Some kind of stealth cruiser, it seemed. At four kilometers long, the green-and-white ship was an impressive sight. Roughly the shape of a trident, the immense capital ship was obviously the creation of a civilization with the infrastructure and technological capability to assemble, maintain and field such behemoths. The ship appeared to just sit there, scanning the Ziggurat for a second, then hanging around, probably picking up local communications, before jumping out again, disappearing into a black tear in space.

[Taigawa]

At The Edge of Lotan Space
Warlord Camoran's Fleet

Soundtrack

(Image)

The Lotan system was bordered by a dense asteroid belt, a result of the shattering of a planet, several billion years ago. Whether this was the result of an Abomination, or a more natural planetary collision, no one could know for sure. But the belt's collection of high-density asteroids and exotic metals made it the perfect place to hide a fleet, especially given Lotan's inability to properly patrol this space, due to lack of sufficient numbers.

It looked as if space bent, then ripped open to reveal a black nothingness beyond. A jagged tear appeared where there previously was nothing and a ship emerged from it. A massive, four and a half kilometer long battlecruiser. Within moments, more tears appeared and more ships jumped in, until the previously empty space was filled with a variety of capital and sub-capital ships. Last to jump was a massive super-capital ship, a Siege Cruiser, its massive, wedge-shaped hull dwarfing everything else around it. The Light of Altair, Camoran Thorn's flagship, was an area denial vessel who's gravblades could wreak havoc on anything which got too close to it. Ships of this type would rush in close to an enemy's fleet and begin decimating it while the enemy exchanged fire with Camoran's battlecarriers.

The precision of the jumps was astonishing. The entire fleet had jumped into a space filled with asteroids in an extremely precise formation which prevented any collisions with other ships or asteroids. Camoran's navigators were held in high regard for their skill. The constant practice of jumping on top of an enemy in battle formation and immediately opening up on them, had drilled into them a very high degree of proficiency.

The Warlord paced around his flagship's CIC, listening to the status reports coming in from the fleet. "We shall not employ standard strategy on this attack." he told one of his lieutenants. "Chances are, other Warlords have heard of the cache and they may be lying in wait for us. It'd be foolish for us to jump straight into an ambush. So here's what we'll do. Scramble several lance fighters and have them scout ahead. Make sure they do a few passes over Lotan's civilian settlements as well, we want them to know we're coming."

Camoran wanted to start a panic amongst the inhabitants of the planet. His fleet outgunned and outnumbered the defenders. And they knew that as well as he did. Now, he wanted to let them know he was near the system, without giving away his exact location.

---

Lotan Starport
Space Traffic Control Center

"Roger that, Ascendant Zealot. You are cleared for landing." said the traffic controller with a sigh. An unpleasant side effect of being an international trading center, was the variety of ship types they had to deal with. The controller then took the next call and after a few seconds, he put the comlink down to stiffle a laugh. "Yo, Jeff. Guess what this one's called. The Ahriman's Flaccid Ziggurat." he told his colleague from the next booth. "Ziggurat, this is Lotan Traffic Control. Please follow the provided vector for landing." he informed the ship, pressing the button which assigned the Ziggurat's shuttle a course towards Lotan's starport.

Meanwhile, space near the Zealot suddenly distorted due to what appeared to be a gravitational anomaly. For a few millionths of a second, it seemed that two small black holes had flickered into existence. And where the anomalous objects had previously appeared, there were now two fighters, streaking past the dreadnought at high speed. They were roughly knife-shaped and painted in a white color, with red and black stripes covering their hulls. One of them scanned the dreadnought, as they sped up towards the planet.

"Ascendant Zealot, this is Traffic Control. Did you launch fighters? If so, please notify them to power on their IFF transponders." came the voice of the traffic controller. Then came some muffled voices and the sound of someone setting his hand down on the comms console, hard. More panicked voices followed, a full conversation and it seemed the traffic controller forgot to turn off his connection, allowing the Zealot and its captain to overhear everything that was being said. Another voice yelled more clearly. "Unidentified starfighters, transmit your identification codes immediately, or be fired upon!" If there was a response, it wasn't loud enough to be overheard.

Someone else in traffic control yelled again. "My god, they're lance fighters! They're scanning the city!" Then the voice was drowned in a wave of yelling and shouting. I-3A lance fighters, a type of heavy fighter named so for its plasma lance weapons. They were the standard space superiority fighters of the Taviric Imperium. Which meant that one or more of the Carpathian Warlords had arrived, as the fighters just didn't have the life support to make a half-year intergalactic journey.

Meanwhile, near the Ziggurat, another ship jumped. This one was much larger, but was not emitting any sensor readings whatsoever. Some kind of stealth cruiser, it seemed. At four kilometers long, the green-and-white ship was an impressive sight. Roughly the shape of a trident, the immense capital ship was obviously the creation of a civilization with the infrastructure and technological capability to assemble, maintain and field such behemoths. The ship appeared to just sit there, scanning the Ziggurat for a second, then hanging around, probably picking up local communications, before jumping out again, disappearing into a black tear in space.

Siari was notified that Two fighters had emerged from Jumpspace and were engaging in orbital activities by Matriarch Rila, the older Asari she'd left in charge of the ship.

"Rila, As a precaution, I want you to raise shields and prepare the dreadnaught's point defense turrets. I won't lose my ship."

With that, the crusier landed as an golden bubble encased the dreadnaught and secondary weapons became active.

[Xiscapia]

AXIS Brut, Cockpit...

Proximity sensors blared a warning as the Bandit tore itself into real space right over top of the Brut, but even as the codes were being transmitted Calista wrenched the little scout away. From any perspective it looked jumpy, but she had every right to be, and it was better to be jumpy than dead. "Veil, you asshole," she steadied the ship, hands tight on the controls as she confirmed the code with a ping back to the cruiser, klaxons quieting as the scanners started to sweep the long warship's hull. She was impressive, there was no denying that, and Calista's mouth tightened into a hard line as the readings started to come back. The Abhuman was a moment away from deciding that someone else had gotten a hold of Veil's codes and was trying to draw her into a trap when the comm feed flickered and she accepted the transmission.

Her "friend" popped up onto the viewscreen and she just nodded to him. He was as handsome as ever, and whatever he'd done to acquire his new prize didn't seem to have left him any worse for wear. "It's me, Jake," she lifted her muzzle to look the man in the eye. "I'll be right over." Cutting the line, she put the ship on autopilot before taking its portable command console and standing. There was nothing to gather, so she turned about with Ryuki just behind her.

"Is he a pirate?" the psion asked as they stepped out of the cockpit and into the long hallway beyond.

"No. Well, he wasn't when I knew him. With a ship like the Bandit that might have changed," Calista shook her head. "Jacob Veil was a thief, and not a particularly good one. That's why I was able to get him as a contact. He showed me around, told me who some of the big movers and shakers were, keeps me updated on what was going on, and in return I paid him much-needed cash. Seems those days are behind him."

"That might bode ill for us," the kitsune's words were punctuated by the click of his staff on the deck as he walked. "He might decide it's time to put you behind him too."

"Maybe. I think he knows that I can still pay him for information, and with any luck I should be able to offer him more for the services of the Bandit. We could use a ship like that on our side."

"Do you trust him?"

"Not as far as I can throw him. But him having a cruiser is a good sign. He got it in some way, and he'll be able to tell me how, one way or another." The hatch at the end of the hall hissed open and they stepped through into the ship's kitchen/entertainment lounge.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No," Calista stopped at the far hatch, looking back at him. "I shouldn't be long. Keep the ship ready."

He bowed his head and she turned away and entered the passenger coffin cabins. They were empty at the moment, so she slowed just long enough to check her gear. Her weapons, pistols and knives placed at strategic positions across her body, were small but obvious, while her compartments and pouches concealed other tools: her personal computer, commlink, e-field, credit chips, handheld scanner and medical kit. Satisfied that it was all in order, she passed through the main cargo bay and finally to the airlock, swaying slightly when the Brut docked with the Bandit as her boots produced an anti-gravity field to keep her firmly on the deck. The clamshell hatch spread wide and she walked down the boarding tube, fully ready to meet Jacob Veil once again.

Free Ship Conflict, Foyer...

Even the boarding area to the rest of the yacht was luxurious. It could have been the foyer to a mansion, sans windows, with exotic flowering plants in gleaming vases lining the space to fill it with sweet fragrance, a bowl of candied cherries on a glass table and a long throw rug of some rare furred animal on the deck. Soft lighting from overhead and on the bulkheads came from gently glowing crystals fit precisely into the metal, making the space well-illuminated without being harsh. Music could have been playing from hidden speakers, but Hiromasa had disabled that function for the moment.
He only had eyes for the tall woman who came striding through the hatch.

She swept him up in a hug and he embraced her tightly, able to feel her muscles from that simple action alone. "It's good to see you too, Kara," he took a step back, the suited kitsune giving her an unobstructed view into the rest of the yacht. "Thanks for coming out. I'm glad you could make it, and that you did make it," Hiromasa grinned up at her. "By the time this is all over you should be able to afford a whole new drive for the Mayag, and then some."

With a chime in his head the Conflict neurally alerted him with a proximity warning, and he opened his imaging link to watch the squadron of fighters bolt past all to close. That was one thing, but the rift opening in space and, from all the sensors said, nothing coming out was quite another. Hiromasa wasn't fooled because he could physically see the behemoth of a ship sitting in space, unannounced and apparently unconcerned as the local defense forces went haywire over it and the nearby fighters. The sight of the ship melting away made him relax about three hairs, and even as he cut the link and looked at Kara he knew she had some inkling of what was happening outside. Inhaling, the tod stepped forward.

"Kara." Their eyes locked. "I know this isn't what you signed up for. I wasn't expecting all of that either," he waved a hand in the general direction of Lotan. "But you and I both know that your Blink drive won't handle another jump so soon. Even if you can make it out of the system, you'll be stranded, and you don't want to be stranded anywhere near here. Come planetside with me, just for a little while, and you should have the time to recharge and get out of here if things get worse. I should still be able to pay you something if that happens. Otherwise, I'll pay you double to stick with me."

Hiromasa sighed. "The truth is, I really need someone down there watching my back. The department can't send anyone else at this point, and I don't trust any merc I could hire half as much as I trust you. If you want to bug out then I understand, but I'm not going to. I have a job to do. Even if the Carpathians do come down hard on this system, the worst of the scum is going to get out before or during, and I have to make sure they get brought to justice. If I'm going to be in the middle of a warzone, I'd rather it be with you." He swished his tail and exhaled. "You don't have to make the decision now. But at least come down with me for long enough that I can make sure you can get out safely."

[Setulan]

Free Ship Conflict, Foyer


"By the time this is all over you should be able to afford a whole new drive for the Mayag, and then some."

Kara smiled modestly, but any attempt at innocence was spoiled by the wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Oh, I just might at that. Or a few other...surprises. Girl's gotta have her new toys, after all. Can't make it too easy..."

The Setulan trailed off, a distant look in her eyes. Unlike most Setulans, who eschewed implants and augmentations unless they were necessary, Kara had more than a few; as a Lawman, part of the Huerdaen-Setulan bounty hunting collective, she had access to many augmentations that most Republicans didn't and she made good use of them. One of those - a special little something developed by a Nogitsune - connected her to her ship, and she had just picked up on some dangerous signs.

"What the fuck - "

The Mayag cycled up its weapons even as it was docked to the Conflict, a slight hum being the only sign from inside the luxurious ship. Banshees went from passive to active and began sweeping their surroundings as the flight of fighters ripped by at the edge of weapons range.

"Uh, Hiro - "

The Kitsune stepped forward immediately, looking at her earnestly.

"Kara. I know this isn't what you signed up for. I wasn't expecting all of that either, But you and I both know that your Blink drive won't handle another jump so soon. Even if you can make it out of the system, you'll be stranded, and you don't want to be stranded anywhere near here. Come planetside with me, just for a little while, and you should have the time to recharge and get out of here if things get worse. I should still be able to pay you something if that happens. Otherwise, I'll pay you double to stick with me."

The bounty hunter looked at the cop incredulously for a few moments.

"Not what I signed up for? Damn right this isn't what I signed up for. I'm a bounty hunter, not a soldier, I don't want to be caught in the middle of a -"

"The truth is, I really need someone down there watching my back. The department can't send anyone else at this point, and I don't trust any merc I could hire half as much as I trust you. If you want to bug out then I understand, but I'm not going to. I have a job to do. Even if the Carpathians do come down hard on this system, the worst of the scum is going to get out before or during, and I have to make sure they get brought to justice. If I'm going to be in the middle of a warzone, I'd rather it be with you. You don't have to make the decision now. But at least come down with me for long enough that I can make sure you can get out safely."

Kara backed away and began pacing in earnest, the tall woman's strides eating up the carpet as she walked. She was muttering under her breath and cursing softly, shooting the occasional glance at her companion. She stopped suddenly.

"Ok. Ok, fine. Yeah. You're right. I can't bug out now. I wouldn't make it. And I don't want to leave you here on your own, Hiro, cus you're going to be a goddamn Hero about it." She breathed out a heavy sigh of her own. "Alright. Let's get to the surface before a fucking battle starts." She laughed grimly.

"I haven't dusted off my power armor in a while. This will be interesting.'