Galactic Adventures (SciFi/Char/Mechanics/Captains/IC)

by **The Empire of Tau** » Sat May 30, 2020 9:12 am

Merchant Man, Sam

Tungsten-spikes hit Sam’s shields. A series of massive flashes of blinding light illuminate the void as Sam’s shield absorbs the kinetic energy, leaving the sikes deformed and bent to all hell in their wake after impact. Sam’s cargo ship was in range for a laser-shot but the sensors on board were still bugged. There is no way that the crew could be able to properly calculate the shot with the worm still in the ship’s systems. Damn, this bug is annoying. Sam still sets course to exit the system, using that small planet nearby on the holo-map as a marker. Sam wonders if there is any data on that planet. There could be some info on the database, unless this was an unsurvey system - untouched by the systems and planets census. There is not much to do now, but hope to god that Sam’s sensors go on soon, and that the ship’s course is smooth. The whole crew is blind right now. They can barely tell the difference between an asteroid and tungsten spikes coming their way. The captain can only hope that this is all worth it for Yelm. It better be, or Sam is going to get really mad for risking his life and ship.

by **Sao Nova Europa** » Sun May 31, 2020 5:27 pm

Jaim nodded approvingly to Johan's request to enter into the cave. "We should explore it. After all, that's why we are here. We are explorers."

"Hopefully there will be some crazed alien animal to kill," Johan chuckled. "I never thought that in going into the wildest regions of outer space, the only action I would encounter would be finding a damaged vessel..."

"Your propensity to glorify violence perplexes me but I am glad to have someone like you in case your wishes come true. Having a sociopath on our side might just give us the advantage we need..."

Both Johan and Jaim laughed. Professor Garcia remained stone-faced, showing no signs of emotions. 'They are like children...' he thought and sighed. "As I said, there is the possibility that those caves may contain more advanced forms of life, but that is only one possibility."

"We will be going inside regardless," Jaim said. "Professor, stay here in case something happens. We need someone who can communicate with the ship in case anything wrong happens."

"I should probably come with you," Garcia replied. "You will need my skills if you do find some life form."

"Professor is right," Johan said. "We should stop playing it overtly safe. Sometimes risk need to be taken."

"Very well," Jaim nodded. "Let's go inside. But please no rush moves. If we do find anything hostile, we retreat. No heroics and no action, unless we are forced to. Also, we should be careful with our steps. Always check the ground. We cannot afford any misteps."

"Got it," Johan replied. "Watch our steps, retreat if we meet opposition and if we cannot retreat, then we have fun."

Orders:

Jaim, Johan and Garcia will move inside the cave. Johan will be in the front, followed closely by Jaim and then Garcia behind. They will be extremely careful in their steps and on alert mode, ready to shot. If they encounter opposition, they will fire and retreat, trying to make their way out. If they cannot retreat, they will fight back with careful shooting and trying to take cover.

If they do find anything interesting, such as life forms or geological phenomenons, the professor will examine them carefully (assuming they are not dangerous) and make entries into their logs.

by **Gudmund** » Mon Jun 01, 2020 9:40 pm

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:

Katar Ann

He crossed the street back and forth, asking around from suspicious shopkeepers but most asked him to leave with a fearful look. As Katar would soon learn after a few hours of investigation, there were a number of, well, they called themselves "Guilds", rings of suppliers and purveyors who didn't like people unaffiliated with their organisations speaking too much about them. The suppliers were often pirate captains who took the survivors of ships they captured and small colonies they raided and sold them to the slave traders back on the station who would then sell the slaves to whoever wanted them. The buyers came from all across the Outer Rim and some from the Coreward Powers that allowed slavery within their borders, namely a good number of Imperial Successors, the Hemoh Purity and the Greater Kharrash Combine. Katar, tired after asking around in the market areas of several levels and districts finally sat down at a small streetfood stand, ordered something that looked tasty enough and pulled out his hand-terminal for some idle browsing while he ate. "I heard you're quite the busybody, am I right?" A man's voice sounded behind Katar. A human man dressed in a suit, shirt and porkpie hat sat down next to him, ordering a tall glass of water from the streetfood vendor. He turned to Katar, the man had a harshness about his gray eyes, his bear was shaved to a stubble. "Now, most people who want to do business with the kind of people I represent don't tend to come fresh off the docks you see, you piqued my interest." The man took a sip of his drink. "Name's Josias, and I'm here to figure out if you are a customer for the Hiridran Collective." For the next several minutes, Katar would have to rely on his ability to lie convincingly enough for this dreg of sentience sitting next to him. Josias, if that even was the man's actual name proceeded to ask many questions of Katar, who he was, why did he come here, why does he want, "indentured service" as he seemed to refer to the slaves he and the Hiridran Collective were selling. It seemed Katar had brought his finest deceptive tricks, even though Josias seemed hesitant and suspicious about Katar, the Ellirean still managed to coax some information out from the Human. Katar had, at least tentatively gotten Josias to believe that he represented a landowner on the large Ellirean Outer-Rim world of Chasca where, in addition to much of the station's food coming from there, lots of psychoreactive substances grown by local farmers also came in to be processed in the drug-labs of Port Noctis, now, this landowner had purchased land on the planet of Chorlis and wanted to jump-start production of psychoreactives with "cheap labor". A believable enough story, Chasca was one of the few islands of order in the Rim thanks to it's connections with the Renegade King and slavery was, largely and overtly forbidden, it made sense for a person of rank and influence on the world to do any slave trading through a deniable proxy. The Hiridran Collective worked together with dozens of pirate captains as permanent partners in business, but they dealt with many more on an irregular basis, getting their shipments on the docks, surviving crewmembers of taken ships, survivors from raided colonies. Hiridran worked from Harbor X-5 and X-6, the various Guilds operated from different ports on the station and didn't take kindly to the presence of other Guilds in their territory. Then the slaves were kept in "holding", a number of borderline prisons on the station before being taken to a market where buyers who expressed interest were invited to bid. Every word sickened Katar more and more, to the very core of his being.

Skill-check: 88 - Large Success.

Noctis Station

Katar stroked his non-existent beard in thought, a habit he'd picked up from his father years ago, brow crinkling in dissatisfaction. A feeling he'd been becoming all too familiar with. Unfortunately, he'd failed to coax Josias into detailing what kind of slaves they had, so he wasn't sure they even stocked up on psionics. It wasn't unheard of for his kind to be avoided, since, regardless of how valuable they could be, they were also far more difficult to capture and detain without proper equipment. As proven with Katar, it was much easier to capture his kind whilst they were young and inexperienced, rather than a trained adult. After all, one might kick your shins, whereas the other could kill you with a thought.

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Katar found himself once again questioning his goal for revenge. While it was entirely possible that the slavers who'd murdered his parents were hired by one of these guilds, it was just as likely they'd been some random band of solo slavers who didn't know their ship housed psionics at all. Despite knowing the slavers exact ship, unmarked as it were, and the general date they'd gone missing, explaining this to multiple unrelated parties could draw all sorts of unwanted attention. A lone, possibly psionic-Ellirean, wandering around asking about missing pirates and their employer wasn't exactly subtle. Unless he found someone on the first try, his brief investigation would likely come to an end.

"How am I gonna spin this one," mumbled Katar, trying to piece together an explanation as to why psionics could benefit his imaginary psychoreactive drug business. "I suppose psionic guards would be a reasonable excuse, then I can slip in the question of where to find them."

Using his new armored space suit, he tinted the helmet's visor to obscure his features before heading towards Harbor X-5 and X-6. Where he'd meet up with the Hiridan Collective. He'd pop in, ask about psionic slaves and spin some lies about what his influential Chascan employer wanted. Once satisfied he'd simply excuse himself on grounds of making contact with his employer. If done successfully, he'd know how well-defended Hiridran is, how many slavers worked there, what kind of resources they had, and whether or not this group had a hand in his poor childhood.

Action: Head to the Hiridran Collective at Harbor X-5/6, continue ruse as Chascan landowner rep. Mention Josias. Ask about prices of slaves, whether they stock psionics, where they usually obtain their slaves (with the lie of avoiding those areas), then casually leave once done to "contact" Chascan employer.

by **The National Dominion of Hungary** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:32 pm

Derek Waudman

The tension was thick enough to be sliced with a knife, in the distance, a misty haze was still in the air where the shotgun had been fired, the darkness of the lower levels that they moved through was overpowering, thankfully the visors on their armor were equipped with low-light vision systems which allowed them to see well enough, not needing to rely on flashlights same as the scavvers, they could move in the dark without giving themselves away. Flashlights could be used for other purposes Derek thought as one of his crewmen pinned the scavenger to the floor with his knee and tied his hands behind his back with a strong zip. The mercenaries quickly pulled their latest prisoner in behind cover and threw him to the ground, Derek looked toward the doorway where the tarmassian had disappeared. Still no reply, wasn't the reptilian there? Did he run off somewhere to get his two other buddies? Derek swore under his breath, did these idiots seriously think they had a chance against a unit of well-armed mercenaries who already captured half their number basically without a fight? Damn shame to waste these guys over some data, those folks were just trying to make ends meet, not an easy thing in the Rim. He knew that from experience. Still silence, but also no sound of running or walking, at least not from what Derek could hear, only the quick breaths of the captured scavenger next to them. Were they trying to coordinate some kind of attack? That would have been pretty damn foolish in Derek's mind. As a few minutes passed with no answer the mercenary captain turned to the scavenger tied up on the ground, a young, swarthy human man with frizzy hair. His left eye had a lightly glowing green ring around the iris, clearly a cybernetic replacement. Derek wrenched the man to his feet and pushed him to the wall. He then explained very clearly that he hoped for the man's own sake that the scavengers would be more moved by the voice of a comrade. Derek hoped that allowing one of them to talk would be a sign of good faith, that it would show them that they weren't dealing with some kind of murderous pirates here, just some guys with a job to do. One of Derek's crewmen gave the scavver's hand-terminal to the Captain and Derek held it out in front of the prisoner. "Call whoever's in charge buddy, I don't want you or any of yours to die today, such a fuckin' waste, isn't it?" The man nodded nervously and quickly tapped on the hand-terminal trying to make a call. He tried again and again with no result growing more and more nervous each time. Then, one of Derek's men tapped on the captain's shoulder. Footsteps. Emanating from behind a turn of the hallway. "Before we make any kind of deal, I need to know I can rely on your word." A voice rang out. "Release your prisoner right now." Had to be the leader of this group. Of course, releasing the man would show some goodwill, maybe it would be enough to defuse the whole situation? But then again, could he rely on this scavver? Perhaps this was some kind of ploy to get a drop on Derek and his boys? He wasn't the greatest negotiator in the Galaxy, Derek was well aware of that, but if he played his cards right he was sure that they could defuse the whole situation without a shot being fired.

Skill check: 41 - Small failure.
Skill check: 49 - Small failure.

A’Barathos Tábulïsi

The Fishmen staggered drunkenly about the docking berth that their vessels was moored in, heavy clamps keeping it in place as the Tarmassian cultists of the war-gods of the deep attempted to get the ship ready for launch and takeoff. Their work was more often than not sloppy and rushed, forcing Captain Tábulïsi to order his men to do it and redo it multiple times in order to make sure the ship would not experience kind of some severe malfunction along the way making this trip their last one. Crates were loaded and supplies stowed, especially the five crates of diverse liquors that A’Barathos had gone around to purchase from vendors across the station, if his boys, or himself for that matter, needed a little boost in morale they could crack those crates open and pass around the bottles. Hopefully it didn't have to come to that, one of the main reasons behind the trip to Aleemu was to make it a bit of a detox for his crew of loyal cult members. Of course, rapidly shrinking funds were also a factor, they needed to get their little group going, needed to spread their faith and take from those too weak to keep what they had. Just as the Sacred Ones, the Gods of the Last Wave had decreed in their divine texts. Finally, after many checks and re-checks supervised by himself, A’Barathos was finally ready to reach into the stars. Taro’Ë’s Pride raised the Port Dusk traffic control station and asked for a departure vector. After a while, the alarms blared throughout the berth as the airlocks were opened and the old sloop was released from the docking clamps. Soon, they left the station and made their way through the system toward the Warp-Gate that would take them from the cluster. Making their way out into the space lanes of the Galaxy, Captain Tábulïsi proselytized to his crew, sharing the ancient, holy mysteries of the Gods of the Last Wave as they came closer and closer to Aleemu with every day that passed in the darkness of the void. He would gather the crew in their makeshift onboard shrine and tell them of the blessed water-world where they would go to find ancient artifacts and make themselves a proper place of worship on one of the small isles that stood surrounded by sacred waters. The crew were in good spirits as they finally arrived at the final Warp-Gate which took them into the cluster, only one in-system FTL-jump later, they soon found themselves above their destination after the rather uneventful journey. Now, they were going to start their holy work. There was a multitude of small outposts and settlements on the isles, and many islands were still untouched or the colonization of them had failed. It was up to Captain Tábulïsi to decide as his crew looked to their leader for guidance, after all, he was the one who communicated their will, he was the one who had showed them the truth of what lurks in the dark depths. A’Barathos thought for time, he had been reading as much information as he could obtain about the planet in general, their scans were already picking up energy readings from the surface, small colonial outposts made up of pre-fab buildings, all he had to do was ask to land. Then again he could always try to find an abandoned colony and try to set it up as a base of operations for the faithful, a holy place to grow his flock.

Gain 5 Crates of Alcoholic Beverages.

T'kra Tyawerai

The lights flickered, the ancient robot's voicebox stuttered some baleful cacophony, twisted beyond any recognition. The machine moved forward slowly, corroded joints bending and moving long after they were supposed to do so. Say what you will about the Builders, they sure made their things to last, wonders like the Warp-Gates and... whatever it was that stood before them now, taking careful steps forward, twitching spasmodically. T'kra was no stranger to split-second decisions, she made made them before in battle, before the King cast her aside and since when she drifted from one end of the Rim to another. But this, this sure was a first. And she hoped with every fiber of her being that this was not a combat robot. Shouting her response, the took her hand away from the holster on her hip which held the laser pistol. There was no use tempting fate like this, a death down here, in these ancient ruins would not be her end, oh not at all. On the mark, both T'kra and her crewmate broke to their side and sprinted across the metal flooring of this dust-covered Builder ruin as fast as their legs could carry them, this sprint could very well mean the difference between life and death if that machine was hostile. T'kra's boots pounded the metal loudly as she ran, heart beating and blood-vessels bulging as she threw a quick glance across her shoulder, Roai was right on her heels, eyes wide and breathing heavily as she ran as fast as she possibly could. Behind them the ancient robot moved as well, limping as fast as it's old metallic legs allowed, it's beetle-like upper-body structure shimmering in the flickering lights. It hobbled after them as best as it could but some old servo seemed to finally give out, T'kra slowed for a split second to allow Roai to go through the large doors to the control room first, which is when the Werai captain saw the droid fall to the floor with a loud clangor of metal on metal. She didn't stay too look what it did next, the Werai women both bounded down the massive staircases and that is when they heard an ear-splitting metallic whine behind them. Roai cried out in pain and almost stopped to cover her ears but T'kra quickly grabbed a hold of her and pushed her forward, snapping her out of her daze and getting her to keep running. The shrieking ended but blood still pounded in T'kra's ears as they ran down the corridor and finally got out into the open area of the cargo loading bay they had opened. T'kra threw her gaze around her shoulder again, nothing, but that didn't mean there was no danger here. They had already lost the rover they found at that mysteriously empty campsite, it lay smashed upon the floor of the cargo bay where it had fallen in through the doors bathing in pale moonlight. T'kra couldn't really remember the last time she had been so happy to see the sky again as the cold air of a desert night filled her heaving lungs. T'kra helped an exhausted Roai to get a good grip on the rope they had used to get down into the ruin and helped her as much as she could before turning and keeping watch as well as possible. They still had no idea what exactly this lost Builder installation was or what purpose it served, there may very well be more droids than the one they encountered, more and more dangerous. T'kra didn't waste any time, as soon as Roai got up she jumped on the rope and let Keyu and Roai drag her up quickly. As she got over the ledge, she sprang to her feet immediately, it was time to move, and something, something was making noise in the ruins.

Skill-check: 74 - Large Success.

Kyr Mirhorn Van

"Fire all missiles and light em' the hell up!" Kyr's voice boomed across the ship's bridge and intercom system, just as quickly the crew got to work hurriedly locking the tracking systems of their missiles on to the enemy ship and making sure the launchers were all ready to fire. They found themselves needing to re-calculate several times, at such close range they would need to link their missiles directly to their ship's sensors and targeting systems and basically just dump the missile from the launcher and let it fire up it's engine outside the ship after aligning itself with its own RCS to improve hit probability. All was said and all was done by the ducks of Clan Van, hard at work in the ship to ensure victory and survival alike. Soon, checks came in across the comms and small icons on Kyr's holoscreens previously orange lit up in green. She pressed the large red button on one of the screens and the gunnery crew in the missile bay confirmed the launches. Soon she could see eight blue blips on one of her screens which streaked through the void at great speed heading for a large red dot not too far away. When the missiles closed in the pirates tried to shoot them down with their point defense cannons or jam them out electronically as their shields hadn't recharged and they had already suffered damage to armor and hull in the exchange of fire between the ships. Two missiles were shot down and two more jammed and diverted, four hit their target however, bright, soundless flashes lighting up the dark void. One impacted the bow of the ship and did little damage, one struck the underbelly and blasted a hole in the hull opening up the enemy's cargo hold. The other two struck the port-side of the ship where much of the earlier plasma carronade hits scored by the Dunkidor had struck the pirate vessel, melting the armor and even causing a small hull breach. The missiles struck with great force, blasting a large hole in the ship's side, venting several compartment and causing a number of secondary explosions, looking at the real-time scans of the Corbas gunboat that the Battered Fly's scanners fed to the Chieftess and bridge crew they could see the heavy damage the missile volley had caused, the pirates tried to turn and limp away, a secondary explosion no doubt caused by raging fires aboard their ship lit up the scopes. Kyr looked over the scans, they couldn't be fully relied on but it looked like the pirates had lost a number of critical systems due to damaged power-couplings and a need to reduce reactor output to avoid a meltdown. Fires burning, the pirate ship was attempting to limp away, slowly since they'd lost one of their thrusters and didn't dare fly at all-ahead-full to not strain the systems to the breaking point. A loud cheer went up from the dunkidor crew as the Chieftess let them know of their success over the intercomms. Now they could try and make a dash for the Corbas and take it out with a few plasma volleys, maybe even try to take out the engine and board it, but with that amount of damage it might be best not to get to close in case their fusion reactor went critical. It may be best to try and get the other ship still seemingly trying to intercept Sam's freighter, firing at it with it's rail-cannons. But they were probably also weighing their options...

Skill-check: 80 - Large Success.

Thorpodeas

The shopkeep looked down at the cred-chit Thorpodeas had slapped down on the countertop and gave the strange alien a nervous smile. This small, young colony world at the border between Coreward Space and the Outer Rim saw a great share of strange, esoteric and diverse individuals from half a galaxy stop over along their travels. The locals was thus largely used to seeing a wide variety of alien visitors but every once in a while, a particularly strange, unusual and mysterious individual such as Thorpodeas would draw a fair share of staring even around here. The salesman put his hand-terminal back into a vest pocket and walked up to the counter. "You are in luck, friend." The man half-stammered trying to get a grip on his initial shock and calm down. "It's a world which draws many to it, at least many of a certain sort." He gestured toward a small holographic ball of light, waking the screen to life and began tapping his finger toward the shimmering blue hologram. Soon after he went to a shelf lining the small nearby wall full of OSD's in neatly organized rows. Thorpodeas looked around the small store while he waited, the roof was painted with constellations of stars and was lit by a number of orange lights, a simple establishment, like many others on the planet, typical for a world such as this one where the locals did their best to capitalize on the great numbers of transients going back and forth, hoping they'd leave as much of their creds behind as possible. Soon the shopkeeper took out one of the optical storage discs and slotted it into a small holoprojector on the countertop. A shimmering yellow starmap projected above Thorpodeas, drawing the strange reptilian's gaze. "Rakodan is a rather well known world, many good, reasonably safe space-lanes have been mapped to it even though it is rather out of the way, so it won't cost you that much, just 80 credits." The Emyaar said, pointing to the slowly rotating holomap above them. "This OSD has all the data needed for you to take the Listheol Run to the planet. Just upload it to your nav-system when you get back to your ship, traveler." 80 credits, now that was a good price but then again it did regard passage to a rather well-known world, a place that psionics from around the galaxy had gone to across the millennia to commune with strange forces and denizens from beyond the Veil between Casual and Paracasual Space. It was an especially good price when one took into regard that the trip from Sathas to Rakodan was a rather long one, piracy was always a threat in the Rim, greatly more so than in Coreward Space. Then they might find something worth investigating along the way, should the fancy strike them. Explorers largely lived off of sell star-charts after all, the better and more detailed the better and it seemed the Listheol Run passed through many poorly mapped clusters along the way before Rakodan. It could be a good idea to look around in the town and get some more equipment for the journey that awaited Thorpodeas and his band of spacers out there in the vast blackness of space.

Samuel Bridge Iron

A tungsten spike zipped through the void, missing the merchant-ship as it sped away at all-ahead-full, a hot blue-white flame blasting from the exhausts. "Shields are holding captain!" One of Sam's bridge crew called out. "Capacitors are at 29%" It's damn good that the Dunkidor damaged the engines of the pirate vessel with their first missile volley, a lucky shot sure, but you need a good bit of luck out there in the void too. If they hadn't hit the engines then the pirates probably would have had a much better chance at putting a spike through the engines and boarding them. Maybe it was time to get some extra guns when they land on the planet? Hell, maybe get a battle-droid bay should they ever get boarded? Sam's thoughts very quickly returned to the task at hand, as he sat in the captain's chair and worked furiously on trying to find, isolate and delete the damn malware that had taken out much of their eyes and ears. Using what sensors they had and the local star-map they used a nearby planet as their reference point to calculate an FTL-jump to the Ylem's system but first they had to clear any possible gravity-wells that could mess up the calculation and send them off somewhere into deep space. The small planet of Kyrik which served as their reference point had a scorching-hot surface temperature nearing 400 degrees Celsius. Sea upon sea of scorching hot iron oxide sands wearing away at marbleized cliffs. Kyrik's atmosphere is thick and made up mostly of oxygen and helium, unable to be breathed by the vast majority of the sentient species of the known galaxy. Initially, surveyors detected traces of iridium from orbit, only to find a surprising archaeological discovery when they sent an automated probe to the surface, the iridium had come from bunkers on the surface that were blown apart by a orbital bombardment with heavy mass-accelerators. Those thoughts would have to wait however as Sam was still hard at work with some of his crew to try and get a handle on the system and finally, finally it seemed they had started pinning it down. Samuel managed to find and delete a file that flooded their RADAR with garbage data while one of the bridge crew had gotten the EM-Scanners to work, mostly. IR-Scanners were still down however but they were getting very close to finding the worm and deleting it all together. "Hell yeah!" Carnegie exclaimed. "Radar is up! We're clear Cap'n!" Sam immediately pulled up the radar on one of the holoscreens in front of the captain's chair. He smiled, calculations showed that they had run far enough to get beyond effective mass-accelerator range for the ship that was chasing them. If the pirates kept shooting, there was a good chance Sam's pilot would be able to use the radar to see and evade incoming shots. Now, they had a laser gun which was able to outrange the enemy, if they wanted to get some payback, it might be time to get that old blaster on target. Or, they could of course keep to the plan and retreat as soon as possible, Sam could see that the other pirate dueling with his hired protection was breaking off and looked like it was trying to make a run for it. But then again, more pirates might be on the way... perhaps it would be best to run after all?

Skill-check: 65 - Small Success.

Jaim H. Johnson

The three men slowly, steadily made their way inside, squeezing through the entrance one by one. It was dark and the rock walls were covered in moisture, the cold water of the stream rushed along their feet. The cave entrance led to a narrow passage, forcing the men to move slowly, hopefully, it would be narrow for any possible predators too, allowing them to escape if any creature proved too much to handle. The thermometers on their suit-HUD's showed ever rising levels of temperature as they got further and further in. There! In the distance Jaim noted a light, that meant that there either had to be an opening in the cave or some kind of bioluminescent plant-life ahead. The narrow passage opened up, turning wider allowing the three to comfortable walk in a line, then, after a few minutes they found themselves on a rocky ledge looking out at a grand scene stretching out before them. A cavern of vast size stood before them, great pools of crystal clear water were surrounded by rocky ground covered in strange mosses and some hardy grasses and what looked like bulbous, bioluminescent flowers, however, there seemed to be no larger flora here, at least not from where they were able to see. Great jagged and arching pillars of stone held up the cavern roof with small sinkholes opening it up to the world above allowing some light to trickle in and the air to circulate. The cavern was vast, they couldn't quite see the end of it, wreathed in dark shadows and pales mists. A keening cry resounded to the right and immediately they were snapped out of their almost trance-like state and turned in the direction of the noise, Johan having his gun pointed toward it, a flock of flying creatures with membranous wings could be seen gliding down toward one of the great pools. Not seeming to care too much about the alien visitors who stood on the ledge observing them. Jaim gestured to Johan to lower his weapon which he did, if reluctantly. Professor Garcia was overjoyed however and as soon as they started moving he was talking about all the samples that he was going to take back and analyse on the ship. The didn't quite have much of an on-board laboratory other than the limited equipment that he had brought along with him but he still reassured the captain that he would not skip any detail in analyzing these plants. Who knows what beneficial applications they could have, perhaps in the field of medicine and pharmaceutical production, Johan was also quick to point out that they could be completely useless and unable to be grown in any other environment. Jaim could see the sense in the argument, perhaps there were large cave systems down here, but that would mean an even more specialized niche. The made their way down the rocky ledge at which point Garcia took off his backpack, setting it down on a rock and taking out a scanner along with a number of sealable containers and some other equipment, he started scanning the plants before taking out small spades and taking them with root and dirt into his containers for more proper analysis. In the meantime Jaim wondered how much the discovery of the cave would increase the value of the information gathered on the system, while Johan kept an eye out, looking for anything more hostile than the flying creatures. Should they perhaps try to shoot or catch one alive? A good analysis could reveal much information about the planet's biosphere.

Gain 5 Various Plant Samples.

Katar Ann

Katar walked the cramped hallways of the station, his thoughts racing, to the past, to the future, to the personal mission of revenge, slavers, scum of the galaxy. He had seen the sadism and the depths of depravity they were very well able to sink to while imprisoned on the ship before his timely rescue. Truly some of the worst scum that sentient life had to offer. He pushed his way past the throngs that crowded the narrow streets and walkways bathing in the neon light of signs above the shops, bars and other establishments that lined the streets of Noctis station. Haphazardly built habblocks piled atop each other told him that he was going the right way, getting closer to the station's long spindly docking spires. Soon came a part of the station whose streets bathing in neon they too. Not from homes or shops but from hotels, bars, clubs and cantinas primarily serving the great and diverse menagerie of spacers that docked at the station every day. Getting really close now. Katar thought to himself as he let a band of drunken spacers, mostly human and salunri stagger out of one of the cantinas in front of him and tumble out on the street before trying to find the next watering hole. He took out his hand-terminal, looking over his nav to make sure he was going to the right elevator that would lead down to the dock areas. Boarding the massively sized elevator with a whole bunch of tired dockworkers, half-drunken spacers and cargo-laden hoverhaulers. The elevator slowly made it's way down the shaft, passing many levels of dock, habs and shopping areas before he finally reached his destination. Katar stepped out into the walkways and street of X-Harbor, a place where it seemed like the more... unruly visitors, such as pirates liked to make port. Loud bands of scarred pirates barged through the hallways, X-Harbor was far from the only place like this and it was not always that traffic control managed to keep track of which pirates docked where, sometimes ships from rivaling pirate armadas or ships whose captains and crews despised one-another for some reason ended up in the same harbor, at which point large brawls, stabbings and even the occasional gunfights were far from unheard of. Moving through the loud clangor of the drydocks, the goods being loaded and offloaded, the loud voices, the heavy doors and clamps of the ship-berths. It was an unassuming building by the end of a lonely walkway, a heavy metal door barred any access and a camera surveiled the area. Katar had rehearsed the story, he knew what to say, here we go. He knocked on the door and had barely finished by the time it opened. A well-dressed but harsh-looking and scarred Ulthar woman exited the building, followed by six others, three were Ulthar men, two Human men and two grizzled Zorvishi men, all undoubtedly armed. Katar introduced himself and stuck to the story but the longer they spoke, the more worried he was getting from watching the scowl on the Ulthar woman's face. He tried to reassure her, to convince her but it seemed that even when he dropped Josias´name for the fourth time, she wouldn't budge, neither did her goons. "Well, I don't give the slightest shit if you spoke to J." She said with a hard stare. "I say there's something off about you, and I guess I'm not in the mood for takin' any chances today." She said brusquely, jabbing a finger at Katar's armor. "Leave. Now. Before we toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock." She turned and was about to head back inside, perhaps Katar would have to rethink his plan, get some help maybe, there was alot of spacers around here looking for work, do some more research about the Collective, he knew at least one of their hideout and could try to scout it out... or maybe he'd try to convince the Ulthar woman, though he had to admit, part of him just wanted to flay the slaver scum alive with his mind...

Skill-check: 27 - Bad Failure.

by **Tysklandia** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:21 pm

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:

Derek Waudman

The tension was thick enough to be sliced with a knife, in the distance, a misty haze was still in the air where the shotgun had been fired, the darkness of the lower levels that they moved through was overpowering, thankfully the visors on their armor were equipped with low-light vision systems which allowed them to see well enough, not needing to rely on flashlights same as the scavvers, they could move in the dark without giving themselves away. Flashlights could be used for other purposes Derek thought as one of his crewmen pinned the scavenger to the floor with his knee and tied his hands behind his back with a strong zip. The mercenaries quickly pulled their latest prisoner in behind cover and threw him to the ground, Derek looked toward the doorway where the tarmassian had disappeared. Still no reply, wasn't the reptilian there? Did he run off somewhere to get his two other buddies? Derek swore under his breath, did these idiots seriously think they had a chance against a unit of well-armed mercenaries who already captured half their number basically without a fight? Damn shame to waste these guys over some data, those folks were just trying to make ends meet, not an easy thing in the Rim. He knew that from experience. Still silence, but also no sound of running or walking, at least not from what Derek could hear, only the quick breaths of the captured scavenger next to them. Were they trying to coordinate some kind of attack? That would have been pretty damn foolish in Derek's mind. As a few minutes passed with no answer the mercenary captain turned to the scavenger tied up on the ground, a young, swarthy human man with frizzy hair. His left eye had a lightly glowing green ring around the iris, clearly a cybernetic replacement. Derek wrenched the man to his feet and pushed him to the wall. He then explained very clearly that he hoped for the man's own sake that the scavengers would be more moved by the voice of a comrade. Derek hoped that allowing one of them to talk would be a sign of good faith, that it would show them that they weren't dealing with some kind of murderous pirates here, just some guys with a job to do. One of Derek's crewmen gave the scavver's hand-terminal to the Captain and Derek held it out in front of the prisoner. "Call whoever's in charge buddy, I don't want you or any of yours to die today, such a fuckin' waste, isn't it?" The man nodded nervously and quickly tapped on the hand-terminal trying to make a call. He tried again and again with no result growing more and more nervous each time. Then, one of Derek's men tapped on the captain's shoulder. Footsteps. Emanating from behind a turn of the hallway. "Before we make any kind of deal, I need to know I can rely on your word." A voice rang out. "Release your prisoner right now." Had to be the leader of this group. Of course, releasing the man would show some goodwill, maybe it would be enough to defuse the whole situation? But then again, could he rely on this scavver? Perhaps this was some kind of ploy to get a drop on Derek and his boys? He wasn't the greatest negotiator in the Galaxy, Derek was well aware of that, but if he played his cards right he was sure that they could defuse the whole situation without a shot being fired.

Skill check: 41 - Small failure.
Skill check: 49 - Small failure.

Derek Waudman
Bakkan Jungle Surface
Laboratory Interiour

The blitz was over now. Whatever happened now would decide if this ended up in a bloody mess or not. Derek had been in tight spots like this many a time before, but it never had been him calling the shots and the idea made him queezy. These guys could be some hotshot petty criminals not worth the oxygen, or they could just be some guys down on their luck with families back home somewhere... When it was someone else deciding life or death, it was easy to void yourself of responsibility. Derek found it comforting, it allowed to hide from the fact that he found it easy to kill, easy to end life. Now that it was him deciding that, he couldn't hide behind that authority anymore.

Forcing himself to stay his breathing, derek checked his Tac-Com for available cover and potential avenues to box them in and more pressing, their potential to flank him. Checking over their situation, he ensured he and his men were ready for the fight. Even if his bois weren't trained killers, he was. Beyond that, their gear seemed to give them the clear advantage here. If he lead the way in a gunfight, he was sure they could clean up the situation swiftly.

The fledgling captain went through the options through his head one last time. Giving them another unarmed pair of hands wouldn't give them an edge, but was he willing to risk this job for the lives of men just as desperate as he once was? He knew how ugly life could be on the other side of situations like this, but he also realized how far one could go if they thought they could make it out with guile or brawn. But then again, he had already downed half of their fighting men. Checking over to his bois to ensure they were staying frosty Derek made his choice.

As Derek kept a gun trained on the hallway, keeping himself half in cover, he motioned to one of his bois to keep an eye on their rear. And as he slid into position, Derek made his call. Calling out loudly, his voice echoing in the abandoned building, he addressed his opponent. "Look, my employer is going to have my head if I let you guys get in the way of this. I can't have you walking around here waving guns around, it's too much of a risk. If I wanted you all dead, you'd be dead by now. Your choices are giving up and write this up as one bad pay day OR you die... You die in this mud-pit... I'm giving you a minute... ONE minute, before the shooting starts..."

Nodding to his man that was keeping their bound captive in check, the scavver was pushed up to his feet. With his hands still tightly bound, Derek motioned towards the hallway with his shotgun, waving for the man to start walking. With a tense and muddled voice, filtered through his helmet, he addressed the released scavver. "You better convince him quick, clock is ticking..."

Ready to pop off a shot at the first sings of trouble, Derek told his men to get ready for a fight as he counted down from a minute. Somewhere he hoped they would take the bait and take the offer to survive the day, but he wasn't so noble to risk his own life and payday for a batch of scavvers who would likely had never done the same for him, were the tables reversed. He was Ready and willing enough to start advancing and clear the building, should this gesture of good-faith fail to pay off.

by **Exalted Inquellian State** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:18 pm

Thorpodeas
Sathas

Thorpodeas had just finished his encounter with the shop dealer. It was... unorthodox, but he got what he wanted, and for a reasonably small price at that. Now, he needed weapons, and enough to defend his crew. After deliberation in his head, he decided it would be best to buy 6 T25 DEP's. They were reasonably good, were for a normal price, and would be able to defend about 2/3's of his crew by sheer numbers. The other ones wold be saved by their fellows and him with his superior rifle. Of course, they couldn't travel Rakodan's surface on foot. They needed steeds. So he split his money with his crew, and ordered them to buy two Animals.

"I don't care how smelly, or disgusting, or bad-looking it is" He told M.J.J, one of his crew members. He was named after famous people from Old Earth. Obviously, Thorpodeas didn't care about some rock whose sun was glowing the same as when it was lost, so he never questioned what his crewmembers initials meant."As long as it's agile, fast, large, and listens, we need it".
"Got it sir." said M.J, holding the credits in his hand. The crew set out. True, he would probably run out of money soon, but he could just sell leftover artifacts from Rakodan to a museum or something.

Alright, this time, he would need to be clear in his goals. Now, he would talk to the owner in a language that would specifically say what he wanted from him, and get to the point that instant.

He found a local shop just for that. This one, however, had an Ulthar. Thorpodeas went up, and said what he prepared in his head for about the last 30 seconds. "Hello, random stranger." He said in a voice that was between normal talking and shouting. "I would like if you gave me six weapon systems from which emerges a stream of extremely hot ionic atoms with free moving electrons, or in laymans terms, plasma. So I want six T25 DEP's, but you already understood that."

Action 1: Purchase 6 Irinur Combine T25 DEP's and two transport animals.

Action 2: Go to Rakodan with fastest possible route.

by **The Empire of Tau** » Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:10 pm

Merchant Man, Sam

“Kyrik, interesting place to say the least. Sadly, we don’t have much time to discover anything here,” Samuel states as he minimizes the holoscreen displaying info on Kyrik. It was time to get out of this system. There was no reason to stay here for longer than once should, given the pirates. The amount of activity born here from the pirates trying to gain some sweet booty from Sam’s ship must have caught the attention of nearby other ships, likely more pirates within the system. The worm itself has proven itself to be no match for anti-virus software and manual clearing protocols from the crew. Sensors were now online and able to scan decently. All and any gravity-wells and objects that could have messed with the FTL-jump has been marked and calculated into the FTL-navigator software. The only thing to do is to set course to Ylem and wait a few seconds for the FTL-drive to power up before launch.

“Good job, Kyr. I’ll be able to get out of the system and get safely back to Ylem. The pirates are retreating now. Meet me at Ylem, Discovery,’ Sam sends his message over the comms towards Kyr’s ship. No need to shoot on the pirate breaking off of Kyr. Sam has over-welcomed his stay here and rather not risk any more funny business within the system. His overall goal is to get out and get back to Ylem. Without much delay, Sam’s cargo ship tears and warps space-time as it enters FTL-travel. In a blink of an eye, the Suvura 3300 Light Freighter disappeared, and that was that. The whole crew cheered with a sigh of relief. For Sam, something still poked at him. That pen, the spy-device. Someone was still on the heels of Sam. Someone was out for Sam. Now that Samuel was getting into more bigger plots then himself, threats and things will only get more complex from here. For now, Samuel has gotten himself out of the claws of a major failure to his career. The next goal was to get to Ylem and bring the good news to the officials.

by **Ralnis** » Sun Jun 07, 2020 2:17 am

Kyr Mirhorn Van,
The Battered Fly

When Kyr heard that and the sensors confirmed it, she was happy. Her clan burned their enemy as it was running from their duel. The pirate horde that plague the sector had been defeated this day by Clan Van but this wasn't all that she wanted to do. There was glory in completing her mission, there was glory in pulling back but she had held back her bloodlust for a bit too long. Talou could see it in her eyes as she would want to seek further glory by banishing these pirates to the gods for judgement.

In one way, this was about glory, one to brush aside the pirates of the armada that struck at the backwater colonies. The other was to make sure that they don't trouble the Clan since they didn't need to be getting more trouble than they already have. From the slavers of the Wicked Grin to whatever smaller corporations and businessmen that were disrupted by their raid on Chasca. Something like the armada lead by an influential pirate warlord was something that Kyr just couldn't handle.

No, downing these hurt pirates would make sure that they get the message that Clan Van has done this job. That Kyr isn't to be messed with and that these pirates knew the risk of their lifestyle. The chieftess gave the order and target the Cobras. They will not survive this encounter and once done then she will aim at the crippled pirate ship and see if she can get something out of this.

Action: Have the Fly target the Cobras and try to destroy it.

by **Elerian** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:35 am

Old Man, Rakodan

The Old Man was ready to leave this strange world behind. He wasn’t even sure how long exactly he’d been on Rakodan. And yet, he wasn’t familiar with the Hysh system either, for all he knew it could have been just another Rakodan.

“What can we look forward to in this Hysh region of space? I think I’ve had my fill of worlds that blur reality.”

Then there was the question of Ket, what should be done with him? It wasn’t a question that he was altogether comfortable with answering. He’d proven he was unstable, but the old man could scarcely blame him for it. He figured at the end of the day, Ket would have to decide for himself what he wanted.

“Well, luckily it is not far away, only a few days of travel and three gate-jumps to go.” T’Kess answered. “I think the Beyond does not bleed into Realspace in the same manner over there, the region is likely much more… physical than metaphysical let’s say. I’d say we’re walking into an ancient battlefield, dead husks of ancient warships, unexploded munitions, mines, pirates and scavengers. You’ve proven more than capable of dealing with those kinds of threats as well when we fought the Rakodan guard robots, that’s why I’m offering to extend the length of our work together.” T’Kess said sitting down, apparently still a bit dizzy.

In the meantime, Ket made his way down to the camp on weak, shaking legs, holding his head with one of his large hands. T’Kess turned around, looking at the large reptilian, her mouth a thin line. Perhaps she understood why he did what he did, be she probably hasn’t excused him in any way, shape or form yet. Ket walked up to Leon. “Human.” He grumbled. “You awaken me from sleep, bring me to look upon ruin, alone. This world is dead, all dust, all rot. I have nowhere to be, to go, but you have starship. I would travel with you, I only ask that we go to the Last Refuge when we can, I must pay my respects.”

The old man sighed to himself then. Despite the fact that they could travel at the speed of light, bend the laws of reality, and had a vast cornucopia of knowledge at their fingertips, this damnable translator still hadn’t picked up on the nuances of the Salj language.

The old man could empathize with Ket from one soldier to another. He couldn’t count how many times he’d had to fulfill the regrettable duty of informing a sailor’s family of their son or daughter’s early demise. The sense of hopelessness and anguish that Ket must feel was not lost on him. Whatever work T’Kess had for him at Hysh, could wait. It was time to allow Ket to grieve for his kin that had been lost.

“I think I’ll need to take a short break to help Ket make amends. It's the least I can do after what he’s done for us.” The old man looked to the forlorn Ket, who looked just as confused and dazed as when he had been brought from stasis.

“I guess we’ll see you soon, T’Kess.”

The Ellirean nodded, looking down at the dusty ground beneath their feet. “I understand.” They said with an expression of mixed disappointment and sympathy. “I hope you find… closure, or whatever you’re looking for out there. Wait here for a second would you.” They said and then made their way over to a nearby tent before emerging soon again, they handed a credit chit over to Leon with the rest of the agreed upon payment for the work done here. Then, Leon also received an OSD. “The optical storage disc has our ship’s direct contact information, if you cannot reach my hand-terminal and want to help us with our further research, don’t hesitate to contact me. We will be going to Hysh in a couple of days, but if we are anywhere near a comm-bouy, you’ll know how to reach me.” They said with a nod to the OSD. “Good luck out there, I hope our paths cross again.” T’Kess said with a smile and held out her hand for a handshake. “You humans shake hands, right?”

//

Gain 800 credits, 450 already payed at the start of the cooperation.
VIP Contact Gained: Mieemth T’Kess - Xenoarcheology Researcher in the Ellirean Accordance

(In collaboration with Hungary) Action: Take Ket to pay his respects, and if there is time along the way, reach out to the paracasual to look for disturbances

by **The National Dominion of Hungary** » Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:53 am

Derek Waudman

The young human scavenger ran as quick as his legs could carry him, surprisingly quick if a bit wobbly from the adrenaline that was no doubt pumping through his system. You got one chance, boy. Derek thought as he peeked out from behind the corner of the hallway where he stood, watching the man bound down the hallway, his bound hands straining against the zip. As the scavenger reached the end off the hallway, Derek could see a hand emerge from behind the corner, pulling the man in behind the wall and into cover. Derek listened intently and he could hear rapid, high-pitched words being exchanged. The were doubtlessly afraid, good, maybe then they'd make the right choice. But then again, fear had the potential to make people suicidally stupid as well, Derek had experienced that a number of times in his line of work back on Noctis Station. He wished that he could hear what they were saying, but there was no idea to sit behind a wall and make wishes when there is a very real possibility that the shooting is going to start soon. He instead looked as his Tac-Com displayed simulations of various possible maneuvers by his foes and ways for him to counter them on his helmet-HUD. Their armament and equipment, especially the fact that Derek and both of his men were armored would give them the edge in any possible exchange of fire. He was sure that the three scavengers had heard from their young friend all about how they were equipped. Derek hoped that it would be among the factors leading to a peaceful resolution. They hadn't taken any life yet, and they wouldn't if Derek had his way, he watched the timer on his HUD counting down, 22... 21... Luckily he didn't have to wait too long until a voice resounded from behind the filthy, once sterile white corner of the wall at the end of the dark hallway. "You still out there?" The question came and Derek quickly responded with an affirmative. "Look. We're just scavengers, places like this can have good stuff if they were abandoned in a hurry, old research equipment that can be sold for valuable parts, lots of high-grade wiring. Most of us got, families, kids to feed. If you don't shoot us, we don't shoot you. We'll leave and get the rest of our guys, you left them with the rover right? We'll go, but we'll take the rest of our people and we will wait until you leave, we still have work to do here. Is that an acceptable compromise for you over there?" Derek was glad that the scavengers had apparently seen reason, of course there was a chance that they might plan some bad shit and try to ambush them as they leave, but there was only three armed men, only one of whom had any kind of protection from firearms and their rover was unarmed. Derek could try to make another deal, but it seemed that he had managed to defuse the situation, now it was up to him to decide if the deal on the table was good, did he trust them enough for them to uphold it? Or would he try to change the terms of the agreement?

Skill-check: 72 - Large Success.

Thorpodeas

Thorpodeas went about his preparations with his goal fixed firmly on the distant desert world of Rakodan, where ancient ruins abounded and four-dimensional reality itself was in a state of flux. With the map purchased at a low price, Thorpodeas patted the OSD in his pocket with a gentle touch, he now had a path to follow to his destination. But there was much more that needed to be done, he needed some basic weaponry and transport. With little money to spare, installing a rover bay on the ship was sadly out of the question. However, there were some tried and true methods that had been used since far before the invention of the first combustion engines, the beast of burden, able to carry people and their gear alike. Finding arms dealers in a frontier colony such as this one was not overly difficult. At the intersection of two small streets he spotted a neon sign in the shape of a rifle. The door was heavily reinforced and there were no windows in the direction of the street, only holographic boards running ads for the stores´ merchandise. and entered a small, smoky room lit by a faint lights mounted on the ceiling. A stern Ulthar man stood behind the counter, a mess of smoking lho-stick butts in an ashtray next to him. The four-eyed being met Thorpodeas´ gaze and soured at his words. "They don't teach ya any manners from wherever you're from huh." The shopkeeper said and leaned back, he then motioned to one of the many lines of shelves where weapons stood in orderly lines and rows. Thorpodeas paced over toward one of the shelves where what he was looking for could be found. The shopkeeper quickly scanned the six weapons and produced plasma canisters for them from behind the counter. Thorpodeas swiped his credit-chit over the reader on the counter and it's blinked with a green flash. With his newfound firepower, Thorpodeas left the store, he could have sworn he heard the shopkeeper muttering good riddance as the door slammed shut. As he returned to the ship, he met M.J.J and two other of his crewmen standing and holding the muzzles of two reptilian creatures. "This is the only thing we could get our hands on with the kind of creds we had on hand. I think the guy selling was just trying to get rid of them... to be honest, we should have them looked over by a veterinary after we sell some charts." Thorpodeas cocked his head to one side, looking at the two creatures. They were called Grynns apparently, bipedal reptilians from Sentus V. Relatively intelligent and easy to train to obey simple commands. Grynns have been used for many varying purposes besides mounts and pack animals, including tracking. As omnivores, the grynn diet mainly consists of plant-based foods but they have been known to occasionally consume meat. Thorpodeas grumbled, they'd have to do, they had a long. Weeks long trip ahead of them before reaching the distant world of Rakodan. The crew prepared the ship under the captain's supervision and as soon as possible, they lifted off from the spacedock and shot up through the atmosphere. Weeks of travel awaited them, they could try to scan the systems they passed through for anything of interest, or they could of course, try to make it to Rakodan at best possible speed. It was up to Captain Thorpodeas.

- Lose 120 Credits.
- Gain 6 Irinur Combine T25-DEP's.
- Lose 120 Credits.
- Gain 2 Grynns.

Samuel Bridge Iron

Soon, soon he thought to himself as he looked as the blue-shifted blur of space that could be seen through the windows of the freighter's small bridge. Samuel rose from the captain's chair, exhaling and taking a deep breath as the adrenaline slowly filtered out of his system. Carnegie and the other crewmen had wide smiles on their faces, they had just gotten out of a really damn sticky situation. The traders were now on their way back to their home port at best possible speed, the familiar sights, sounds and smells of Discovery beckoned. Even though it was a world in recovery, it had still grown on Sam and his crew, it had in a way become their anchor among the stars. The trip was not long at all, at these speeds and considering how close they were, the Freighter soon found itself in orbit above Ylem. Sam enlarged the holoscreen displaying the sensor reading and actually noticed what he thought was a number of small freighters. Perhaps carrying not only refugees but goods as well, if that was indeed true it meant that some more merchants out there had decided to bet on making a profit by selling the materials a world in reconstruction desperately needed. "Carnegie." Sam called out across the bridge. "Link us into the net through the nearest comm-buoy, tell them that we'll need help to unload as soon as we set down." Carnegie nodded and replied with an aye-aye capt'n before passing on the order to the comms operator. As the ship neared they sliced through the atmosphere and made their way directly to Discovery's spaceport. Samuel looked out as the city as they were setting down. Lots of rubble had been cleared and heavily damaged buildings seemed to have been picked apart for parts and demolished, leaving a number of dusty open areas in the city where ruins had once stood. As the freighter set down on the docking platform and shut down the engines, Sam ordered the cargo bay to be opened and walked over to the hold with Carnegie and two other crewmen to help direct the dockworkers in unloading the cargo. The harbormaster himself had come to welcome Samuel back home and when he saw the cargo, a smile lit up on his face, stretching from ear to ear. The hold was filled to the brim with the ten large containers packed with construction equipment, tools, and spare parts for industrial machinery, and, of course, the twenty heavy-duty industrial exo-suits very well suited for construction and mining alike. Now, Sam would have to arrange a meeting in order set up the plans for how this gear was to be used, quickly pulling out his hand-terminal and making the required calls. He would go meet with several high-ranking government officials, including the Governor herself. The street-kid from Qharlaq sure was making his way up in the Galaxy now, that meant opportunity, and, of course, it also meant risk. As the incident with the listening device had so clearly demonstrated, Sam frowned to himself at the thought, and he still needed to try and get a grip on that whole situation...

Morale Rises! Status: Happy.
Gain 2 Fame!

Kyr Mirhorn Van

It was like shooting fish in a barrel as some humans tended to say. The pirates were trying to limp away but the Dunkidor cutter made that whole attempt utterly futile, Kyr didn't even have to order the ship to speed up too all-ahead-full in order to catch their prey. They chased them down quickly at a comfortable cruising speed, letting the engine cool off a bit after burning hot through much of the battle at the same time as the gunnery-crews prepared the plasma carronades, making sure that they were ready to deliver the coup-de-grace to the heavily stricken pirate ship. With precision and a fluid, lethal grace the Dunkidor ship cut through the void, the plasma guns ready to dispatch one final volley. Kyr looked at the orange circle around the ship on one of the holoscreens projected in front of the captains chair, showing when they would enter effective range for their carronades. Just a while longer, just a bit closer. The outline of the circle got closer and closer to the large red dot that represented the enemy. She looked once again at the image data collected by the sensors, the ship's VI highlighted structural weak-points on the screen and then, the orange circle turned to a green one as the red dot got inside of it. "Give her a volley, their spirits will recognize their own in the Afterlife." The Cheiftess commanded with a slight growl in her tone as the sound of plasma weapons firing reverberated through the hallways of the Battered Fly, the plasma turrets traced the target, firing as the Fly bared. Kyr's eyes fixed firmly on the real-time rendered image of the enemy vessel. There, a hot blueish bolt zipped past the pirate ship. Then another miss, then a hit, striking the hull and melting into the ship's armor. One of the shots fired by the Dunkidor in their cannonade finally struck something critical on the enemy ship, the reading picked up by the Fly's sensors all went into the red and a powerful blast lit up the void soon after as either the reactor or capacitor of the pirate Corbas spiked and overloaded. Talou raised a fist into the air from his seat at the bridge. "For Clan Van!" He roaded and the rest of the bridge crew answered, pumping their fists into the air with loud cheer and whoops until an order from Kyr silenced them. The Fly's shields flared as a shower of parts and debris thrown across the void from the powerful explosion struck. "This is the captain to all stations. Status report." On one of Kyr's holoscreens, compartments of her ship flared up in green as all compartments reported an all-clear. Talou turned and looked at the Chieftess of Clan Van with an unspoken question. Should they try to catch the second pirate ship as well? It had it's mobility reduced after their first missile volley in the beginning stage of the battle and now, after Sam's ship had safely warped-out of the system, the other pirate vessel seemed to be poised to do they same, shall Clan Van attempt to lunge at them, or was the day considered won?

Skill-check: 92 - Great Success!
Morale Rises! Status: Happy.

Leon Tchaikovsky

The strange pair of beings thrown together by circumstance entered Leon's small Pinnace, climbing up the extended ladder and into the small door which led to the airlock. Ket squeezed in first and stepped into the ship while Leon climbed up behind him. As he reached the door he stood for a moment, gazing out at the camp, and waving one last time to Mieemth T'Kess who waved back before going back to their own business, preparing to strike the camp and depart for the ancient battlefield in the void. Leon had a good enough share of those to last a lifetime, he would instead to the decent thing, he would help someone else, an old warrior just like himself, whose story mimicked his own to find closure and hopefully a way to move on into this brave new Galaxy with a new purpose. He gazed out for a second across the red dunes of this distant world, thinking back, the months he had spent here were hard, he had searched for... something... anything really. It would take some thought to determine if he had found it, whatever it was, but he had at least found something that resonated within him enough to board the small starship once more and venture out into the dark voids of space. He had no idea where they were heading, and he would have to show Ket how to enter the destination into their Nav-computer in order to plot the course, hell. He had no idea how long the trip would be, could be weeks in the void ahead of them for all he knew. What Leon did know however, was that this, it was the decent thing to do. He shut the door to the airlock and entered the ship. Leon walked over to the cockpit and sat down in his pilot-seat with Ket squeezing into the seat next to his, looking at the controls with a quizzical expression. Leon's translator was finally starting to grasp the intricacies of the Salj language, making their conversation run smoother and with less misunderstandings as Ket tried to explain the navigation coordinates to Leon. Finally, they had found their destination on the star-map. The planet Ket wanted to go was located in a star cluster still in the Rim but closer to Coreward Space, closer to the outer borders of the old Imperium Galaxis... Leon took a deep breath and warmed up the engines for takeoff. Soon after that, his Pinnace shot up through the skies of Rakodan, piercing through the reddish-green skies and out into the vastness of the void. They had two weeks of space travel to look forward too, Leon often sat alone in the cockpit, leaving the helm to the autopilot when he went to sleep. Both men were rather silent, and didn't speak much more than needed, at least for now, as they went through systems and clusters toward their goal, swapping automated greetings when the occasional freighter and probably smuggler ship came close enough. As they went, Leon spent much time in meditation, casting the tendrils of his mind into the Beyond. It had led him down the path which had gotten him back here, out into the stars. He did not see too much with his third eye this time for most of the journey, only whispers from beyond the Veil, as the laws of physical reality remained strong along the path. However, as they got closer and closer to their destination, he could feel that there was a foreboding power emanating from somewhere ahead of them, there was great strength, but also malevolence there. Was it somehow connected to the place they were going to? Maybe it was time to ask Ket?

by **Tysklandia** » Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:09 am

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:

Derek Waudman

The young human scavenger ran as quick as his legs could carry him, surprisingly quick if a bit wobbly from the adrenaline that was no doubt pumping through his system. You got one chance, boy. Derek thought as he peeked out from behind the corner of the hallway where he stood, watching the man bound down the hallway, his bound hands straining against the zip. As the scavenger reached the end off the hallway, Derek could see a hand emerge from behind the corner, pulling the man in behind the wall and into cover. Derek listened intently and he could hear rapid, high-pitched words being exchanged. The were doubtlessly afraid, good, maybe then they'd make the right choice. But then again, fear had the potential to make people suicidally stupid as well, Derek had experienced that a number of times in his line of work back on Noctis Station. He wished that he could hear what they were saying, but there was no idea to sit behind a wall and make wishes when there is a very real possibility that the shooting is going to start soon. He instead looked as his Tac-Com displayed simulations of various possible maneuvers by his foes and ways for him to counter them on his helmet-HUD. Their armament and equipment, especially the fact that Derek and both of his men were armored would give them the edge in any possible exchange of fire. He was sure that the three scavengers had heard from their young friend all about how they were equipped. Derek hoped that it would be among the factors leading to a peaceful resolution. They hadn't taken any life yet, and they wouldn't if Derek had his way, he watched the timer on his HUD counting down, 22... 21... Luckily he didn't have to wait too long until a voice resounded from behind the filthy, once sterile white corner of the wall at the end of the dark hallway. "You still out there?" The question came and Derek quickly responded with an affirmative. "Look. We're just scavengers, places like this can have good stuff if they were abandoned in a hurry, old research equipment that can be sold for valuable parts, lots of high-grade wiring. Most of us got, families, kids to feed. If you don't shoot us, we don't shoot you. We'll leave and get the rest of our guys, you left them with the rover right? We'll go, but we'll take the rest of our people and we will wait until you leave, we still have work to do here. Is that an acceptable compromise for you over there?" Derek was glad that the scavengers had apparently seen reason, of course there was a chance that they might plan some bad shit and try to ambush them as they leave, but there was only three armed men, only one of whom had any kind of protection from firearms and their rover was unarmed. Derek could try to make another deal, but it seemed that he had managed to defuse the situation, now it was up to him to decide if the deal on the table was good, did he trust them enough for them to uphold it? Or would he try to change the terms of the agreement?

Skill-check: 72 - Large Success.

Derek Waudman
Bakkan Jungle Surface
Laboratory Interiour

God Damnit... Derek supposed he couldn't expect them just to give their lives in his hands. He surely would have never done the same... But letting them team up again? That would make him give up any advantage he had. Was he really willing to take that much of a chance? Whatever semblence of a moral code he had begged him to take the deal, but his experiences in his lchosen line of work screamed for him just to end it here and just make sure he and his came out of this on top, no matter the cost. He would never be able to live with himself if he lost a man, just because these scavvers decided they wanted a bigger payday.

A tense few seconds passed as Derek made a choice he hoped he wouldn't regret. Some dark voice in the back of his mind already wispered that he would. That this day would end in bloodshed regardless and he was a fool by trying to see the good in people. Calling out to his faceless advesary, derek put on the most authorative voice he could muster, hoping to make clear that he wasn't one to be fucked with.

"If you make me regret this, it will be the last mistake you ever make..."

Giving a nod to his bois, Derek made the choice to let the scavvers leave the facility, although ensuring they kept their guard up none the less. Giving one more glance towards the hallway as their tense standoff came to a conclusion, the fledgling captain called out another hail mary, with somewhat more mirth in his voice.

"But on the other handl, If you play your cards right, I might even buy you guys a drink after this is over... Anything down their I should worry about as I go about my business?"

by **Gudmund** » Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:24 am

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:Katar Ann

Katar walked the cramped hallways of the station, his thoughts racing, to the past, to the future, to the personal mission of revenge, slavers, scum of the galaxy. He had seen the sadism and the depths of depravity they were very well able to sink to while imprisoned on the ship before his timely rescue. Truly some of the worst scum that sentient life had to offer. He pushed his way past the throngs that crowded the narrow streets and walkways bathing in the neon light of signs above the shops, bars and other establishments that lined the streets of Noctis station. Haphazardly built habblocks piled atop each other told him that he was going the right way, getting closer to the station's long spindly docking spires. Soon came a part of the station whose streets bathing in neon they too. Not from homes or shops but from hotels, bars, clubs and cantinas primarily serving the great and diverse menagerie of spacers that docked at the station every day. Getting really close now. Katar thought to himself as he let a band of drunken spacers, mostly human and salunri stagger out of one of the cantinas in front of him and tumble out on the street before trying to find the next watering hole. He took out his hand-terminal, looking over his nav to make sure he was going to the right elevator that would lead down to the dock areas. Boarding the massively sized elevator with a whole bunch of tired dockworkers, half-drunken spacers and cargo-laden hoverhaulers. The elevator slowly made it's way down the shaft, passing many levels of dock, habs and shopping areas before he finally reached his destination. Katar stepped out into the walkways and street of X-Harbor, a place where it seemed like the more... unruly visitors, such as pirates liked to make port. Loud bands of scarred pirates barged through the hallways, X-Harbor was far from the only place like this and it was not always that traffic control managed to keep track of which pirates docked where, sometimes ships from rivaling pirate armadas or ships whose captains and crews despised one-another for some reason ended up in the same harbor, at which point large brawls, stabbings and even the occasional gunfights were far from unheard of. Moving through the loud clangor of the drydocks, the goods being loaded and offloaded, the loud voices, the heavy doors and clamps of the ship-berths. It was an unassuming building by the end of a lonely walkway, a heavy metal door barred any access and a camera surveiled the area. Katar had rehearsed the story, he knew what to say, here we go. He knocked on the door and had barely finished by the time it opened. A well-dressed but harsh-looking and scarred Ulthar woman exited the building, followed by six others, three were Ulthar men, two Human men and two grizzled Zorvishi men, all undoubtedly armed. Katar introduced himself and stuck to the story but the longer they spoke, the more worried he was getting from watching the scowl on the Ulthar woman's face. He tried to reassure her, to convince her but it seemed that even when he dropped Josias´name for the fourth time, she wouldn't budge, neither did her goons. "Well, I don't give the slightest shit if you spoke to J." She said with a hard stare. "I say there's something off about you, and I guess I'm not in the mood for takin' any chances today." She said brusquely, jabbing a finger at Katar's armor. "Leave. Now. Before we toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock." She turned and was about to head back inside, perhaps Katar would have to rethink his plan, get some help maybe, there was alot of spacers around here looking for work, do some more research about the Collective, he knew at least one of their hideout and could try to scout it out... or maybe he'd try to convince the Ulthar woman, though he had to admit, part of him just wanted to flay the slaver scum alive with his mind...

Skill-check: 27 - Bad Failure.

Noctis Station

Leaning against a post Katar huffed, fogging up his visor. While the thought of rampaging against the slavers eased his mind, he couldn't possibly beat all of them at once. That Ulthar woman seemed a cut above the rest, too, seeing through his admittedly poor ruse with ease. To be fair, Rakodan wasn't exactly the best place in the galaxy to improve one's communication skills. Katar knew this failed stunt may result in the slavers keeping tabs on him, and while that may just be paranoia, he'd rather not take any risks.

"What I need is money," he surmised, eyes wandering over the area.

He couldn't just ask stranger to help assault a slavers' base. The chances of anyone helping out of the goodness of their heart, was very low to say the least. His goal was to become a symbol of fear amongst all slavers, and such a title wouldn't come cheap. However, in a criminal cesspit like this, where could one find a high-paying legal job? He'd killed people in self-defense, and monsters for training, but was he truly prepared to slaughter countless people?

Putting those thoughts behind him, Katar pushed on. Distancing himself from the Collective's area of influence, winding through alleyways and roads.

Action: Look for work on Noctis Station, or some other source of income.

by **Ralnis** » Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:08 pm

Kyr Mirhorn Van

The sight of the Cobras being sent to the afterlife had got the entire crew cheering. The glory was there's and it should send a message that the Clan was not to be underestimated. Kyr had a daring look in her eyes. It was a fair trade that they dared to attack her ship and home. The pirates perhaps expected that the ducks were going to be destroyed and the merchant but this was not their day. The gods favored Kyr and her broken clan and the glory they would receive from the void combat but they were still not done yet.

The other ship was about to jump out from the scans and Kyr didn't want that. If the pirates were to jump then they would perhaps come back with more ships to harass the planet further and her client. Kyr knew that they could be targeted at Port Noctis should the pirates come looking for blood so it was better to destroy them. Also Kyr would be looking to take something from this adventure, a captured ship would be well worth the lack of monetary value that they got from this.

"Full speed to that ship, get everything reloaded! We're going to cripple that ship and take for our own!"

The order came across the whole of the comms. Kyr was still looking to take more glory and even a ship for her clan. If they can do such a thing then it would be even greater glory. That's if they can catch up and cripple them in time.

Action:Try to close the distance on the ship and cripple them with everything the Fly has! Aim to try and board the ship and take it over.

Galactic Adventures (SciFi/Char/Mechanics/Captains/IC)

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