Camping is the WORST [Red Ravens Dominion of Orrazerus]

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

After all the work they'd done to expand their reach, the Ravens found their powerbase suddenly yanked out from under them when the majority of the population disappeared, and those who were left were too busy panicing to remember who was supposed to be in charge. The Ravens contacts on Orrazerus had suddenly gone dark. Chances were good, they were gone. Of course it was also possible that normal criminal things had happened to them like say, being brutally murdered by their enemies or the more mundane, being caught in bed with someone elses significant other and shot in the unmentionables before being left to die. These were basic risks that came with the job though, nothing to get worked up over. This bloody disappearing act though..

Chiasa had gotten used to delegating. Now suddenly there was hardly anyone to delegate things to. It was probably a good thing she'd bought her ship before all this idiocy went down. Of course, it was fairly easy to just walk into any major corporation, shipyard or port and just take a ship, plus there were all the suddenly ghost ships left floating around, but she'd had hers set up the way she wanted, so that was something. Besides, it was hard to find a decently sized ship that could be crewed by one woman and could jump to hyperspace. That was a chilling thought. How many people were left to slowly die because they were suddenly stuck alone on ships they couldn't fly without other beings?

Maybe flying alone was not the best time to think about this sort of thing. She'd put out the call to the Ravens she knew were still around and hopefully some of them would meet her at Orra.

The only 'town' on the whole bloody planet.

As if a bunch of patched together sheds counted as a town. Though they had built a tavern last she'd heard, so that was something. It upped the chances of the other Ravens showing up. There'd been fewer than 100 people on the bloody planet to start with.. How many were left now? And wasn't it dangerous? Something something stuff on the planet will kill you.

Frig she wasn't a biologist. She had her hold-out blaster, if it moved and had teeth or claws she'd shoot it. Easy peasy. Besides, she had her two 'dogs'. Were you supposed to name robot dogs? Whatever.

She switched the ships communications on and broadcast, both to anyone on Orra, and any Ravens who might be joining her.

"This is Chiasa Kritivaas, setting down in Orra. We've lost communications here, trying to re-establish. Hoping to see some friendly faces when I get off this ship folks."

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Hello?"

She called, not sure whether she was hoping for an answer or not. It was a lot easier to be fearless when you had folks to be fearless at, and honestly the Twi'lek was really missing her Gen'dai bodyguard. The two metal hounds padding at her sides only alleviated a little of her concerns.

It felt like her voice should have echoed. It didn't, probably because of all the moss or mold or whatever it was that was growing over most things. The Jungle worked fast. Already one of the blastdoors that made up the defensive wall was bowed where a giant tree was pushing against it, it's branches overhanging the wall. Chiasa had views about nature. She liked to see it through windows. A manicured lawn was all right once in a while. Behind that it tended to be too dirty. And there were usually bugs. And it played merry hell with her wardrobe.

Place sure was looking awfully empty. And spooky. Nope. Chiasa was not keen on being alone. This was not enjoyable. Maybe she'd just send an extra ping out to the Ravens. Just in case. There were at least three she'd never met who were still active and hadn't disappeared. They might have their own things going on, or be out of comm range but whatever.

//Incoming message from: Chiasa
To: [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Val Cardin"]

Hey boys! Don't know if you gents monitor the general Ravens frequency, if you're free, we've got a situation on Orrazerus. Our folks here went silent. I'm on the ground, don't see anyone. Also; super creepy. Forests are not my thing. If you're in the nighbourhood, swing by! Bring some guns, and bug spray.

///end transmission

"One, go do a sweep for sentients would you?"

The two R.I.C.O units cocked their heads at her.

"Oh. Uh. You're One. You're Two. Off you go."

She was never going to be able to remember which was which. They looked literally the exact same. Oh well. The newly designated One streaked off, into the nearest building. They'd been fairly expensive, but if there were scary things in there, better it than her.

 

[Armand Temi]

On her B-7, Dak was in the middle of sorting through her recent looting haul. She had stolen three lipsticks, glitter body paint, five perfumes, one curling iron, some nail polish, false eyelashes, and a blow dryer that was supposed to cut the drying time in half! IN HALF!!! Forget electronics or recreational pharmaceuticals. Someone had to look good during the apocalypse and it might as well be her.

She happened to be monitoring the Ravens frequency, mostly to chuckle at the mayhem and anarchy that was caused by the strange disappearing act of half of the galaxy, when she heard Chiasa Kritivaas calling for some backup to head to Orrazerus. What the slatt, she might as well check it out. She needed a reason to try out all of this new makeup.

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Roadblock]

orr-ahhh-soo-rus?....or-azz-erh-us? ahhhhhhhhhhhh i hate planets... hope there is something to eat down their * using the comm frequency on his ship to send a voice message to [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] * hi there roadblock here ill be heading to...the planet momentarily send me the landing coordinates ill be the one in the stolen jedi starfighter.. end message.come on go to tatooine for one second and you get sand in...sh..t you.....piece...of..ow..there we go end message....

 

[Foebacca]

Foehamner got the message from @Chiassa Kritivaas. Hmm another call for help from the Ravens. Why not. He ordered the Crimson Hunter, Zenva Vrotoa's Starship to a loose orbit around the planet and he gathered his gear back at his starship and decended to the planet. Before landing he sent a message over the open Ravens channel. "Foehammer here. Where am I bringing my guns and blades? " Wuth that he circled around a clearing he had picked to land in just incase they didn't give him a position.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Chiasa grinned as the replies came in and her ship pinged her to let her know about another ship signal recognized as a Raven vessel. Even just with folks on the way, the planet got a little less oppresive. It was always comforting to know that someone would notice if she got dragged away by jungle beasts.

"Good to see you folks! Sending out the coordinates for Orra now, land anywhere you've got room, don't worry about damaging anything or sound pollution, doesn't really look like there's anyone here to care.."

The Twi'lek glanced around again, One hadn't returned from it's sweep yet, so it didn't look like it had found anyone so far.

"I expected some of the population to be gone, same as everywhere else, but there should be someone left. From what I understand, this place has always been dangerous, so if the majority of their hunters slash guards went poof, could be the rest of the population got taken out by the native predators. Which I don't actually have a file on."

Orrazerus was not one of those planets with a big thick file on it. Most people had written it off as a big ol' Nope, filed it under too hard, and gone somewhere else. Because this part of it was covered in jungle she assumed it was predators that made it dangerous. Jungles usually had toothy beasts, right?

"Basically if it moves and its not a Raven, assume it's dangerous. See you on the ground folks!"

[member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Dakita Calfur"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Orrazerus. The last time Cryax Bane visited this hot, blasted jungle of a planet with its fractured moon, he was eviscerating a warlord during a power outage. It seemed like Red Raven Criminal Syndicate had just taken over the planet on their crusade to control the underworld of the Outer Rim, and now it was like deja vu. Given the catastrophic event of the rapture or whatever it was being called, Orrazerus had been thrown into a state of disarray, and the criminal syndicate had lost their hold on the place.

The Red Ravens Twi’lek diplomat and one of Cryax’s most trusted friends had sent out a message over the Cryptnet that she went dirtside to see who or what was left of the tropical planet. The Chiss couldn’t very well let one of their best Ravens hack through the jungle on her own, so he had his assistants add some camping gear, like bug spray and mosquito nets to his normal arsenal of armour and weapons, and arranged for his Galaxy One to shuttle him to Orrazerus. There was certainly not going to be a five star hotel to stay in once he got there.

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Dakita Calfur"]

 

[Foebacca]

Foebacca landed his starfighter in a clearing near Chiasa. He didnt know what they were after but a call for help was a call for help. He climbed out of the fighter and grabbed his weapons belt. He took his vibro mace with him but left the ryyk blades and the grenades in the fighter.The jungle was dense but nothing like the forests of his homeworld Kashyyk. He knew how to survive here. Making his way over to Chiasa he spoke."What are we lookin for here?"

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

 

[Isaac Ideus]

Isaac lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Space flight was so boring. Of course, he didn't exactly relish the thought of beating a path through inhospitable jungle either. In all honesty, he knew absolutely nothing about the god-forsaken planet except for five minutes of cursory research during breakfast. He was aboard his boss's luxury yacht-- a Gaillard Galaxy One. If it had a name, Isaac didn't know it. Usually he loved being on these kinds of ships, as they were often crowded with scantily-clad women and overflowing with liquor. This was not one of those times. Isaac was simply a security attachment for Mr. Bane.

He had a good relationship with his boss, who was six years Isaac's elder. The Chiss slicer's rise up the ladder of success within the Red Ravens was certainly astonishing. But the wide-eyed hacker who Isaac had first met was long lost. Isaac's travels had led to him feeling unacquainted with much of the Ravens membership. The death of Lysle had changed everything. It was a new era in the syndicate, and the Cryax of just a year ago was gone with the old.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Dakita was used to instructions like "land your ship in docking bay 135" or "that spaceport you'll park in has a stellar video arcade." When Chiasa said to "land anywhere," Dak knew she was truly out here in bumblekark space facing an inhospitable planet. As she drew closer to Orrazerus she scanned the ground for movement and picked up Chiasa and Foebacca. Dak made an ungraceful landing in some jungle bushes but didn't appear to damage the ship. "Wilhem you'll have to stay here," she said to her pet ropo. The ropo blinked up at her and she emptied out a whole bag of treats for him just in case she had to leave him for awhile. He began munching on the treats and wouldn't stop until he passed out or was sick.

Dak opened the hatch and went to find Chiasa and Foebacca.

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

An old friend was accompanying Cryax to Orrazerus, and filling the role of his protector for this mission. Isaac Ideus, a gritty merc he’d known since he himself was first recruited into the ranks of the Red Ravens as one of the slicers. Ideus was back with the Red Ravens after travelling around in the Fringe for a spell, but the two men had been through alot together. When the Dragon Palace Casino was first erected, every lone wolf schmuck had tried to hit with a bomb or a shooting spree, and he remembered how he and Isaac had both been there to help thwart those attacks. He was a man the Chiss could trust, and those were few and far between these days.

Isaac had a morose air about him, but there admittedly wasn’t much to be celebratory about these days. For anyone. Lysle had been murdered and worse than that, half the population had just disappeared off the face of the galaxy in a bizarre celestial cleansing. Where the two men might have shared a conversation before, now they flew to the jungle planet in silence.

[member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Roadblock"]

 

[Isaac Ideus]

Isaac made his way towards the private quarters of the Galaxy One with the ship beginning to bump and roll as it entered the planet's atmosphere. He held his arm against the corridor wall to keep his balance. The planet was warm, and these kind of habitats always provided a jostling descent. He leaned into an open room where [member="Cryax Bane"] was readying himself. "We're landing shortly, Chief. Ground party is standing by ready to go. I hear we've got a scheduled rendezvous with some Ravens at, umm..."-- Isaac glanced down at his mobile device-- "Orra. That's it. Do you know anything about this place? I could barely find information about it on the freenet, for kark's sake."

For once, he was wishing that there would actually be something to shoot at on this hellhole.

[member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Roadblock"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

There was something extremely reassuring about a wookiee, at least when they were on your side. For one thing they tended to loom over everything and fill whatever space they were in. Once that might have been oppressive. Now, on a deserted world in a galaxy pointedly not filled with people.. Someone who could fill a room was nice to have around. Plus, even if she didn't know Foebacca well, if you had to pick one species to have with you on a jungle planet, you could definitely do far worse than a wookiee.

"Anything really. Clues to where the folks who didn't just poof into mid air went. If it's a big bad toothy we're probably going to have to scrag it before we can import more people. Normally I'd just say bring more folks in and they'll probably figure out what the danger is before they all die but we uh.. We've got a shortage of warm bodies these days."

That was probably heartless. In fact, there was no probably about it, but that was the way of the galaxy. There were plenty of overcrowded, miserable, oppressive, slums filled with millions of people who'd love to give pioneering and a new life a chance. Or there had been. It used to be more cost effective to just throw people at a problem until it went away. That might no longer be the case.

The Twi'lek waved when she saw the Zeltron woman approaching, looking fab as usual. That brought a slight smile to her face. There was one girl not letting the whatever-the-kark the disaster of the day was get her down.

Looking up she saw the Galaxy One approaching as well, even better. Cryax might not have looked like much, but he was a canny bastard. Had a tendency to get in over his head, but the fact that he was still breathing said something.

[member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"]

 

[Foebacca]

So this place was hit by the mysterious case of mystery. Even the ones left behind were missing. Hmm. " So pest extermination. Great. Here I am wanting to kill something worth a challenge and this place gives me pests. Hmm maybe I will just leave the guns and use my fists." With this said he heard the other lady walking up and he turned to acknowledge her. His respirator clicked with each of his breaths and the sight of the durasteel plating where his chest should be was at the very least offputting. Not to mention he was a big karking wookie with a cybernetic left arm. "Hello. I am Foebacca. Yes I am a talking Wookie."


[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Dak sliced through the dense foliage with her vibroblade like some karking mad planetary explorer. She was wearing extremely skimpy cargo shorts with lots of pockets for things that would be vital to their survival like death sticks and makeup.

"Hola, lady!" she said, waving to Chiasa. "Seriously all of the people who disappeared. Are we really going to miss them? I mean with all those galaxians gone there is just more left on these planets for us." It was easy for Dak to say. Being raised by reckless gypsies she didn't really have any family to miss. "Now Chiasa, check out all of this makeup I looted on Antecedent when everyone was rioting and going after stuff like electronics and pharmaceuticals and weapons. Can you say SCORE? Do you want any of this?"

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Foebacca"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Nice to have the big and tough on our side for once hey?"

The Twi'lek commented with a slow grin in response to Foebaccas introduction of himself. A talking wookiee was unusual it was true, she'd rather just assumed that with his obvious physical modifications he had a few that weren't as obvious to go with them. With the newer influx of Ravens, Dakita was promoted to something like a veteran. Plus, against all odds she'd been present through a lot of quite heavy operations. It didn't really shock Chiasa, after all, she herself was often underestimated.

"And your fists might actually be enough, but maybe bring one gun along just in case. Even if it's a little one. You never know, you might need to kill something airborne."

That could actually be read as 'Something airborne might threaten me and then I want you to kill it'. Alright, so yes, she did have her own blaster, and she was all right with it, but whenever possible, let someone more intimidating kill the threat and stand behind them. You know. Just in case.

"Not most of them, Xalus is gone too though.."

Uncharacteristically, for a fraction of a second the Twi'lek showed grief and fear. Only for a fraction of a moment though.

"Lip balm?"

She asked, recovering instantly and peering at the others haul.

"Jungle sun and all."

Being from a desert planet she coped with sun quite well as a whole, but no one liked chapped lips.

[member="Foebacca"] [member="Dakita Calfur"]

 

[Foebacca]

Foebacca grinned which for a wookie with a respirator on his face was menacing as all hell. "Airbourne is for the trees. I grew up on a planet like this. Jungles are my home." With that he headed for the nearest tree and climbed up as far as he possibly could. Which just so happened to be the very top. He looked around and all he saw was jungle. Why the hell did we want this planet? What does it offer to them?

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"See anything suspicious?"

The Twi'lek called up after him, not game to try climbing the giant trunk before her. She was pretty sure it would take like.. seven of her or more with their arms outstretched to circle the trunks, and this was a relatively small one.

Her nose wrinkled in displeasure as she sniffed the air. Something smelled horrid. Glancing down at the flowers beneath her feet which carpeted the base of the tree, she reached down and plucked one, bringing it to her nose.

"Yech."

She tossed it away in distaste, bringing one delicately perfumed wrist up under her nose. It helped, but not as much as one might hope.

"Toothy things, a pile of corpses, a sign that says 'Back in 10'.. I'd take any of the above!"

She added. It likely wouldn't be that easy, it never was, but one could dream! The faster she could leave this planet the better. There was nothing of interest here, and even the flowers stank. What was the point of flowers if they were going to smell disgusting? It was probably the set-up to some terrible proverb about beauty not being everything or some such nonsense.

[member="Foebacca"] [member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Roadblock"] [member="Dakita Calfur"]

 

[Roadblock]

whizzing around chiasa landing coordinates he couldn't find a landing spot big enough for his ship to land close by, so like any other sane explosive experts he opened his cockpit put the ship on auto hover and cut of 1 of the small bags full of thermal detonators and then shooting the bag with his d12 heavy blaster pistol as it hits the ground...even tho it took 5 or 6 shots from that distance.

as the bag explodes it shakes the ship forcing him to fall back into the cockpit bottom first. as he lands he uses the downward airflow to put out the small fires around the ship site after all he didn't want to start a bushfire

 

[Armand Temi]

For a giant furry beast, the wookie was pretty spry as he scrambled up the tree. Dakita marveled at Foebacca's impressive upper arm strength. "What do you see big guy?" she asked.

When Chiasa took the lip balm, Dak smiled. It sucked that Cryax Bane was not here to see her being all handy and stuff. It seemed like her boss was only around when she was borking things up.

"P-U what is that smell?" she asked. She watched as Chiasa found the source of the smell which happened to be the flowers under their feet. "Hey I have just the remedy for that," she said, smiling. She pulled out a bottle of perfume from her seemingly endless pockets and sprayed it into the air around them. The fragrance was also looted from a fancy department store on Antecedent.

And just so the others didn't think she was going to fight any jungle creatures with beauty products, she pulled out a blaster and kept it down at her side. She had been visiting the shooting range with Val Cardin recently and could now in his words, "shoot the broad side of a Bantha."

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Foebacca"] [member="Roadblock"]