Aerial Kilometer Club (ORC Dominion of Hex G-56)

[Kimiko Taiyou]

They hadn't even been dancing for all that long before the gravity failed, and the party-goers on the dance floor began floating. Ki suddenly flushed red and held down her dress with her hands while folding her tails around herself. Around her, other women did the same. The men laughed and poked jokes at their partners. Ki looked at Dax like she was about to cry.

"Mou~ Dax! We need to fix this!" she pouted with wide eyes.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

"Uh I think we got more problems than just a gravity outage hun..." some of the crew who had been attending to the party looked at each other with concerned faces, as did those among the patrons that knew what no gravity meant, other than a look up the pretty girls skirt, "I think life support maaaaay have gone down..." and if gravity went out...well that likely meant waste disposal, water recycling and atmosphere would be next...and atmosphere was exactly the one Dax hoped wouldn't be next.

[member="Kimiko"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHjF8Nw-mco​

​

The boy's head-tails bounced from side to side.

Behind the turntables, the small disc jockey was popping and locking even as he spun the hits out onto the dance floor. Things got a little tricky when the gravity up and absented itself. The music was still playing, but the DJ was starting to float away.

You'd also be surprised just how hard it was to pop-and-lock in zero gravity. Any motion kind of had you going in all sorts of crazy directions.

So, this was definitely going to be a party killer.

The boy's ascent was suddenly halted, as a sharp tug pulled at his neck. The cord connecting the headphones to his equipment was anchoring the Nautolan in mid-air.

Reaching over, the boy pulled the plug from out of the jack on the right earpiece, allowing himself to float freely.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Repairing the artificial gravity is our priority here: floating objects in the engineering section can cause hazards to the equipment down there" she announced to the other attendees.

Luckily Janick was finished drinking her serving of Asobi 95% tihaar while she suddenly started floating around. In this condition, it didn't matter anymore whether there was anybody else to sample it. Here the objective is not necessarily to save the ship outright, but to buy the occupants enough time to make it out to safety while repairs are being performed. Of course I would prefer to be part of the attempt to save the ship, more than simply being some sort of stopgap, she thought, while she might wish to go down to engineering alongside [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] to check on the various systems. With her attempting to get to engineering, she remained mindful that anything that isn't tied down will float through space while artificial gravity is disabled. Alchemy or not, Janick was ready to get dirty to save everyone else onboard. Hopefully there would be a toolbox floating somewhere around in engineering, and also that whatever extra system could be shot, could likely be caused by free-floating objects. Sure capital ship systems were different from starfighter systems, but the commodore was unfazed: presumably there would be some commonality despite the scale differences.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Location: Party
Objective: Fix the Life Support System
Allies: [member="Kimiko"], [member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Janick Beauchamp"], [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"]

"Go away!" Squirming angrily, Sebastian shoved away a Zeltron dancer who clung to him for dear support as the gravity holding her down went straight on the fritz.

The woman's pheromones were useless on Sebsatian anyway and as he made his way through the party, the small engineer looked around for the hall leading to the internal compartments of the ship. Carrying his toolbox, he passed by Kimiko and froze as her skirt blew right up, the expression on his face fixed in stone as he stared at the white haired woman's underwear. Shaking his head, he turned to face Dax and motioned towards the exit.

"I'm on way to repair the system, let's see if I can squeeze in and get things back to normal." Tilting his head to one side, Sebastian wasted no time pondering while the ends of his pin-straight hair stood up on each end, making him look very silly in the process.

With his feet being pulled from the ground, Sebastian dragged his toolbox through the air, wrapping his arms around it to stop it from floating. He batted down Kimiko's skirt on the way, averting his eyes from her knickers as he made his way out of the main hall. Once outside of the party, he pushed himself down the corridor, where he met the alchemist, Janick Beauchamp, who appeared to be already in the process of fixing the artificial gravity.

"Hello Miss Beauchamp!" Sebastian called as he tried to hold down his toolbox. "I have tools if you need any." The problem of the tools and parts floating around while they attempted to fix the system remained. Along with Janick, he floated to the engineering department and looked around for the compartments holding both the life support system and the functions for the artificial gravity.

"Do you think you can hold them down with the Force while we get to work?" The problem of the tools and parts floating everywhere remained and Sebastian held down his hair, which was spiking everywhere like a porcupine. He opened the compartment door containing the life support system and tried to hold down his toolbox, to no avail.

 

[Varik Ice]

Minorous Traske​

---

Location: The Dancing Bantha​

Objective: Provide Security​

​

There were definitely worse gigs.

Bright lights and louder music were definitely not Traske's thing, but maybe he was just a bit of a stick in the mud; compared to most people in the Outer Rim, anyway. There was a whole lot going on, and if he hadn't argued that he needed to keep his helmet, then it might have been hard to keep track of. He stood near one of the entrances, his hands down in front of his waist as he made sure he looked enough like security. The armour, especially at a party, tended to make that a bit obvious, but this was more like a bouncer. Just making sure nobody was causing trouble, which was probably downright inevitable with the amount of alcohol involved.

He'd been recommended by a contact of his out here, and the money was great, so he wasn't about to turn it down, even if the job might've not seemed as exciting as other ones. It definitely had less risk of being shot at or having a lightsaber swung at your head, so as far as he was concerned, it was a bit of a steal. All he really had to do was stand here, look dangerous, and grab someone who decided they wanted to be a problem so they could get carted off to a drunk tank somewhere on the boat. Maybe they'd get jettisoned out in a pod, he didn't know.

Apparently, the ship was the one deciding it was going to be a problem as people began to float in the air along with the tables, drinks, and anything that wasn't nailed down. This unfortunately included Minorous, who had the good sense to wrap his arm around a railing on the side of the wall that you were meant to lean on. He used it to hold himself at mostly floor level, glancing around. Someone was fixing this, right? He could bounce, but he wasn't doing it in Zero G. His fears were alleviated as he saw someone floating off with a toolbox, probably off to try and correct this mess.

It was only as all of this was happening that he even noticed there was a kid, a Nautolan, doing the music. On top of that, he was still messing with the equipment from here, it looked like, gravity be damned. He really was in the craziest part of space.

 

[Linna Beorht]

[SIZE=11pt]

[/SIZE]


An alien vessel, blue-tinted and angular, exited hyperspace nearby. On the bridge, Linna drew a slow breath. She'd just felt a presence she recognized.

<<You know this ship, Doctor Beorht?>> said the Sharuka behind her.

<<No, Captain. I sense an ongoing celebration, a good deal of worry, and someone I know. I suspect this ship belongs to a member of the Outer Rim Coalition.>>

The captain's jaw tightened, displaying sharp teeth. The Coalition existed in the same sphere as various Sharukan client species, and had interacted heavily with parties well-known to the Sharuka: the ancient Kathol, the Aing-Tii, and the Keshiri, among others.

<<Captain,>> said another Sharukan officer, <<the vessel appears to have suffered a substantial life support failure.>>

<<Hail them, Doctor. Ask if their dilapidated ship requires a tow.>>

Linna activated the alien comms panel. "Dancing Bantha, this is the Sharukan Empire cruiser Tyrax. Are you in need of assistance?"

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Location: Engineering section
Objective: Fix the artificial gravity and life support
Allies: [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"]

"Sure: that's why I'm here after all"

Zero-G repairs were much more challenging to perform than repairs when gravity was involved, even with a Force-user performing part of those repairs with telekinesis. That was why repairs to the artificial gravity system were the most urgent of the gang; in fact, she was holding tools such as the sonic spanner. And she could also sense that there was another ship coming in nearby the Dancing Bantha, presumably on patrol. I hope that this ship in question will evac non-essential personnel and any passengers to buy us time to repair the ship, she thought, while finding out that a key cable was severed and showing signs of corrosion. She thus got around to stabilize that cable on her off-hand, so that she could solder it afterward, using pyrokinesis, and yet she may be suspecting that the problems of the artificial gravity generator were not limited to a severed, corroded cable. That was on Sebastian now to repair the machinery, while Janick held down any critical tools that she feels would be necessary to fix that system, with the other occupants relying on it.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Location: Engineering Department
Objective: Fix the Artificial Gravity
Allies: [member="Janick Beauchamp"], [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"]

Clamping down his toolbox, Sebastian tried to nod to Janick and Mara, while the lack of gravity continued to hold his head up in the air. Floating all around made it increasingly difficult to concentrate and he found himself becoming irritable as he opened up his toolbox. All his tools and spare parts were lifted into the air, only to be restrained by Janick who was doing her best to hold everything down while Mara and himself set to work.

"Oh kark it!" The engineer cursed as he tried to grab things as they floated into the air, with Janick collecting them and levitating parts back into the place. "Janick, do you think you can hold me and Mara down as well? I can't get close to the system." The lack of gravity continuously held Sebastian and Mara up in the air and he tried to pull himself downward to open the compartment.

With Janick working her magic, Sebastian was forced downwards with the aid of the Force and directed inside of the compartment. The vast network of wires and buttons lined the generator controlling the artificial gravity, which Sebastian hauled himself beneath with the aid of Janick. His goggles were floating before his face as they hung loose around his neck, disrupting his concentration even more. He pulled them over his eyes and tightened the strap to avoid them floating away.

Finally, Sebastian opened his tool box, the contents of which was caught by Janick's arcane hold. He grabbed his hydrospanner and sonic screwdriver, along with tools to repair any damaged wires. Upon closer inspection, he found several cables had perished and immediately turned off the generator and began to replace them. Grabbing a handful of new wires from his toolbox, he removed the damaged cables and made the adequate calculations to adjust the replacements to the ports.

"The wiring is fried, I'm going to have to replace it." Looking behind at Janick, Sebastian continued to replace cords damaged beyond repair and solder those which were still functional. The alchemist seemed more than willing to help and her assistance certainly alleviated much of the mistrust Bast held towards Force-users.

When the wiring fully replaced, he turned the generator back on and found that the gravity was still not active. "Kark it, hang on." Grumbling to himself and even more determined to fix the problem, Bast removed another compartment which revealed a large gear hanging loose. He tightened the gear back on the latch with his hydrospanner, until it was secured firmly in place.

 

[Linna Beorht]

<<No reply, Captain,>> said Linna.

<<We will move them out of the shipping lane.>>

"Human vessel Dancing Bantha, this is the Sharukan Empire expeditionary cruiser Tyrax. Our sensors indicate you've suffered a catastrophic life support failure. The fault may have spread to your communications systems. We will now move you out of the shipping lane to avoid obstructing hyperspace traffic."

The Tyrax nestled up alongside the civilian vessel. Those aboard might see an immense, sharp-edged, blue-steel warship at very close range. Tractor/pressor beams latched on and kept the ships perhaps twenty metres apart, a testament to the excellent Sharukan navigator and helmsbeing. The Tyrax's hyperdrive registered a significant but controlled power spike. A moment later, both vessels leaped to hyperspace for just a couple of heartbeats. The Tyrax drifted away.

"Dancing Bantha, you have been removed from the shipping lane."

 

[Dax Perl]

Onboard the Dancing Bantha, within the bridge, the crew scrambled...or rather floated in a panic, to sort out the hot stinking mess that had just fallen on their laps. Firstly, get life support fixed, and secondly, who the massive ship that had just dropped out of hyperspace was. None of them had heard of the 'Sharukan Empire' before. And when the vessel had decided to latch onto the pleasure yacht, it had started to give some members of the bridge crew a hernia...who knew where they could be taking them? With the captain elsewhere on the vessel, the second in command was responsible for responding to the mysterious vessel. Sparks flew from the comms unit that the man floated beneath. The comms panel lit up in response, the man pulling himself into a position where he could speak with decent clarity and responded to the call, "Sharukan Empire cruiser Tyrax, this is the Dancing Bantha. Our life support systems are failing, we could use whatever help we can get!"

[member="Linna Beorht"]

---

The problems below deck only grew. Old age and use hadn't been the sole perpetrators of the loss of gravity and multitudes of frayed and destroyed wires. Hanging from the cieling in the dark crevices and pipes of the ship sat mynocks. The bat-like parasites that ever spacer hated, slowly sucking out the power from the vessel that they'd invaded. Even if [member="Sebastian Thel"], [member="Janick Beauchamp"] and [member="Mara"] Valkner-Merril managed to get the life support suite online, they'd soon find it going down again anyways. The parasite would have to be dealt with first.

 

[Linna Beorht]

[member="Dax Fyre"]

Several times in your average day, the bridge of the Tyrax went quiet for a few heartbeats as the captain made a necessary decision. In typical Sharukan form, he tended to ask many questions, accept all input impassively, and then decide almost irrevocably on a course of action.

<<Commscan, how close is their life support system to total failure?>>

<<They will deplete their breathable atmosphere in six hours. It seems repair efforts are ongoing, but I also detect mynocks in significant numbers, both inside and outside the hull. The yacht may not be able to repair itself within a six-hour timeframe.>>

<<Doctor Beorht, what is your impression of the human who just transmitted?>>

<<Under physical strain, Captain. I sense confusion, irritation, and desperation throughout the ship.>>

<<Engineering, am I correct in assuming that our backup atmospheric canisters would be useless to them?>>

<<Totally incompatible, sir. A full solution would take at least ten hours.>>

The anticipated silence fell. After a long moment, the captain nodded to himself. <<Security, deploy two squads of Testoran Guard. They are to cross to the yacht, remain on the exterior of the hull, and eliminate the mynocks without unnecessary damage to the yacht. Doctor Beorht, notify the Cavorting Cow.>>

"Dancing Bantha, we're dispatching two squads of spacetroopers to eliminate the mynocks on your hull. They will not enter your ship for any reason. Please deactivate any security systems as necessary."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

LOCATION: Engineering
NEARBY: [member="Janick Beauchamp"], [member="Sebastian Thel"]
OBJECTIVE: Sell ship bits, fix more ship bits, don't get chewed by mynocks

"Almost had it there, man." She'd heard one of the ship's engineers call him Thel: skinny guy about her age, kind of nebbishy-looking but holding his own. In a few odd ways, he reminded her of her husband Hylo. Minus the being an alien plant thing, of course. Thel was probably a nice guy, but could he grow flowers and vines out of nowhere? Definitely not. But now wasn't the time to get caught up in newlywed bliss; now was the time to fix this freaking ship. Starting with the atmo systems.

You could only hold so many knock-down drag-out parties on a starship before various kinds of smoke and vapor and airborne particulates clogged up everything. Fortunately, Mara had come prepared to sell a Chrysalis life support system, meaning she'd brought a sample, meaning she had all kinds of atmo recirc parts on hand in her shuttle. Cramming them into the Dancing Bantha's filtration system wasn't proving as easy as getting them, but she'd been raised in the engineering decks of every kind of ship. There was nothing her toolkit couldn't handle, given enough time and blessed Corellian luck.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective: Repair the life support systems
Location: Engineering departments
Allies: [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"]
Enemies: Mynocks

"Mynocks: I'll go fight those mynocks before they chew through the cables again"

Given that mynocks feed on power cables, Force-lightning is a bad idea, a very bad one, she thought, while spotting those silicon-based pests in the Force. And it was best to kill those pests, so Neural Storm is out of the question as well, so that left pyro/cryo as the best methods left to kill those pests at range before they could close in. In fact, she knew it was safer to engage mynocks at range first. So she picked out five different mynocks as targets in her mind, while her fingers were charging up in red ichor as her fingertips heated up, and she was to cast the spell once they have charged up enough, with the five firebolts going off like guided submunitions in a cluster missile once said missile has unleashed the submunitions from the bus. But she knew that the method was not without its limitations: she couldn't pick more than five targets at any one time. Or ten if she used both hands for this, but because her off-hand was used for telekinetically holding the tools Sebastian needed to fix the damaged artificial gravity system, she was limited to one hand for that spell. And the mynocks got burned pretty badly by that spell, to death even. But it was not the end of the mynocks...

 

[Cassus Akovin]

"Karabast," The old man swore as his feat unnatural disconnected from the floor not near moments after Triam left him into the thrall of people... who were now floating. Growling, he desperately attempted to grip the bar table nearest to him, as bartenders reacted in their own way and men and woman either rejoiced in the incessant floating or grew more mortified each passing moment, sick with vertigo. It was only a matter of time before some projectile vomited across the room, and Crol was not in the mood for that.

"You knew this would happen, didn't ya, ya crazy damned woman!" Crol referred to, of course, his boss and compatriot Triam.

Who, true to fashion, was relatively unfazed by the sudden loss of gravity, or rather, she would've been if not for her magnetized boots, true to her nature. With the only pair of feet on the ground, the armored woman who was attempting to introduce herself to a fellow businesswoman, a Quarren who was innocently dancing without a partner and having a rather good time before Triam interrupted her for a moment... then of course the gravity.

"Ah, well, this is rather unexpected." Triam exclaimed nonchalantly, she reached out a gloved hand to the alien woman, who accepted it, and Triam pulled her to the floor. There wasn't much she could do assist her unknown acquaintance in being grounded.

"<<Thank you, what is going on?>>" Her friend said worriedly in her language.

"Nothing good, if gravity's out and it wasn't planned, there are going to be a lot more issues associated with that." This did not seem to assail the worries of her potential business partner. Looking back at her worried alien face, Triam smiled and attempted to be charming while in the midst of chaos. "But in the event it was planned, I didn't get a chance to catch your name, I'm Triam, Triam Akovin."

"<<I am Sirzo Mil,>>" She said tentatively, her whole posture dependent on Triam. This sure did make things advantageous to her as far as working out a deal went, a psychological edge that would put her trust in Triam.

"May I call you Mil?"

If a child running the turntables can keep the party alive even in the absence of gravity, Triam could work out a trade negotiation in the absence of gravity too.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Location: Engineering Department
Objective: Fix the Artificial Gravity
Allies: [member="Janick Beauchamp"], [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"], [member="Dax Fyre"]

Tightening the gear in place, Sebastian shook the edges to make sure it was securely installed, when the spline broke clean off. The gear fell from his hands and clanked on the ground, much to his frustration. Clenching his teeth, he inspected the shafts and found that the metal had been disintegrated by rust, which could either mean a leakage or an infestation. When he looked closer, a loud shriek filled his ears, accompanied by the flapping wings of a mynock which flew clean over his head.

Pushing himself backwards to avoid the creature biting his face, Bast shoved his goggles onto his forehead and looked over to Janick. With no weapons or means of defending himself against the creatures, he would need to rely on the combatants to get rid of the mynocks while he focused on repairs. Since Janick was already holding Sebastian and his tools down with the Force, she might need some assistance, he thought.

"Mara, do you reckon you can help Janick fight off the mynocks while I finish the repairs? She's already holding down the tools." Ducking as another mynock flew overhead, the small engineer grabbed his plasma torch and incinerated the creature, which had latched onto the side of the compartment. The smell of burning flesh filled the cramped room as the mynock fell onto the ground with a squeal.

As the witch dealt with the mynocks, hopefully with some assistance, Bast grabbed a soldering iron, along with wire and welding tools which were caught in Janick's telekinetic hold. He floated into the depths of the compartment and pulled his goggles over his eyes, igniting his power supply and welding the spline back onto the generator. The loud hiss of flame melting steel caused the mynocks to shriek even more loudly as Janick eliminated them quickly and efficiently.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective: Repair the artificial gravity
Location: Engineering department
Allies: [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Sebastian Thel"]
Enemies: Mynocks

The loud shrieks of the surviving mynocks made her concentration much more difficult to maintain, and, from there, harder to hold the tools in her off-hand, especially as her energy reserves were steadily declining, but in her mind, better cluster-fire the fire spells at the mynocks than to cast one big bomb using pyrokinesis, given the risks area-of-effect pyrokinesis would cause to the remaining equipment. And yet, a few more mynocks shrieked their last, while Sebastian was welding the spline back into the generator. But she had to think of a way to either lure the mynocks in one place where it would be safe enough to use pyrokinesis as one area-of-effect spell without risking to damage the equipment, or at least not beyond what can be readily repaired, or to repel those mynocks out of the engineering department without causing the ship's occupants to panic. Yet she couldn't afford to do the latter because then the tools would be inaccessible to Sebastian, and he still needed them. Poodoo: I guess I don't have a choice but to keep casting the spells I'm casting, she thought, while another cluster of five fire submunitions became ten in mid-air and targeted that many mynocks.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Kat had been bartending when her ship started to lose life support. Her first cue that this had occurred was when she tried to pour out a drink and instead of streaming out, the liquid floated out like three dimensional puddles. "Well kark." Of course she was the one to win the useless junker in a card game...

Since then the young woman had been trying to float herself down to the engineering deck. The problem with zero gravity though? There was no gravity, and moving without gravity was a pain in the ass. The woman bumped and pushed patrons out of the way and would fly off course, attempt to redirect, and over and over again, rinse and repeat.

Eventually, the Smuggler made her way down though, where the screaming of mynocks could be heard echoing through the near empty deck. 'Great, this day gets better and better...' she thought, rolling her eyes as she floated her way towards those trying to exterminate the pests. She reached them, also reached for a wrench out of the tool box that had been floating around. The woman was certain she'd have been able to shoot the mynocks down with her slug thrower, but she had the feeling if she tried to shoot the weapon in 0-g she'd dislocate her shoulder instead. So the woman took to whacking the mynocks with the wrench and then once more for good measure...she was glad she wouldn't be the one cleaning this all up.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"] | [member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Linna Beorht]

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] [member="Janick Beauchamp"] [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Triam Akovin"]

No response from the Dancing Bantha. As sensors registered more and more systems failures, the Sharukan captain grew visibly less gruntled.

<<Security, status on the Testoran Guard.>>

<<They believe they'll have eliminated all exterior mynocks shortly, sir. The alien passengers and crew still appear to be struggling with the internal infestation.>>

The captain snorted. <<Humans. Operations, please deploy a flight to the local navigational beacons. This region is intensely lawless. It's becoming impractical. Let's exert what control is necessary to make the area at least passable for transit.>>

Starfighters rattled out of the Tyrax's launch tubes and flickered into hyperspace. At the comms station, Linna watched and pondered and considered just how the locals might take de facto Sharukan Empire sovereignty.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Location: Engineering Department
Objective: Fix the Life Support System
Allies: [member="Janick Beauchamp"], [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"], [member="Linna Beorht"], [member="Triam Akovin"]

Once the spline was securely welded back in place, Sebastian turned off the power unit and unplugged the welding iron. He pulled his goggles off for a brief moment to turn back on the artificial gravity generator and to his glee, the patrons and his tools all fell to the floor as the generator worked and the gravity took effect. As he collided on the floor with a thud, Bast immediately stood up and clapped his hands as the tools clanked around his feet.

The success was short-lived, as another mynock flew past his head and tried to bite his face. Batting his hands violently against the creatures, Sebastian grabbed a spanner and whacked the mynock in the head, breaking the creature's skull and sending it falling to the floor in the process. Although Janick would have an easier time combating the mynocks with the gravity now working, there was still the issue of the life support system to deal with.

"The artificial gravity is now functional, but our life support systems are still failing." Holding his comm-link to his mouth, Bast spoke through to Beorht, who had contacted the engineering department via the Tyrax. Ducking as another mynock flew over his head, he gathered up his power unit, along with his toolkit and slung the strap over his shoulder.

"Good work, Janick!" He called to the alchemist who incinerated the mynocks. With the gravity back on, hopefully she would be able to wipe out the mynocks before they tore away at the system again. Gripping the strap of his toolkit, Bast darted around the corner and tried to locate the compartment holding the life support functions and found a steel door baring the numbers he was looking for.

As he opened the compartment door, a huge array of shrieking filled the hall as a flock of angry mynocks flew directly out and into the face of the small engineer. Falling to his knees and cursing, he flailed his arms and tried to knock them away, alerting the attention of Janick to the flock gnawing away at the life support system. How they had found a way inside of the compartment, Bast would never know. He stood up and faced the same problem he had encountered with the artificial gravity system, the mynocks had eaten away at the cables, leaving a mass of perished wires behind.