Heavy Metal (ORC Dominion of Subterrel)

[Atlas Drake]

The Wretched Hive​

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The Wretched Hive is back.​

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Assumed lost or destroyed along with whatever fate befell its maker, the outlaw tech base has simply appeared in orbit over Subterrel and started broadcasting an automated signal on the Underground ShadowNet. Apparently [member="Jorus Merrill"] set up some kind of 'Avengers Initiative', and the AI he built to run things is searching for champions of the outer rim to face an unknown threat.​

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It must have drifted out from the Kathol Rift over hundreds of thousands of years. No one has ever seen anything quite like it. Even long range sensor readings don't seem to make much sense. It is up to the Wretched Hive and its passengers to explore the massive space hulk and make sure that it presents no threat to the Coalition.​

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Meanwhile on the planet itself life goes on at the same breakneck pace it has lately. A rich new vein of aurodium ore has been discovered on Subterrel, and out in the deep fog prospectors are dredging the swamps for a brook or a cave that might provide them with a solid claim before the megacorporations eventually move in and industrialize the region. Its an ore rush, and its every man for himself.

​

"Remember, we're not here to arrest anyone or cause a scene."

When Captain Drake received the Wretched Hive's alert, he had been investigating a stellar anomaly with an away team on one of the Utopia's runabouts. After signalling their mothership about a change of plans, the Kathol officer and his crew elected to alter course and investigate. If it wasn't for a homing signal provided over the ShadowNet, it would have been impossible to pick out the mobile shadowport among Subterrel's flurry of orbital activity.

Normally a backwater, from what Atlas understood a rich new deposit of aurodium had been discovered on the planet's toxic surface. There were small boomtowns all over, and in a few months they'd be mostly gone with a handful of offworld corporations buying up any claims that will have proved out.

"This is a long way from the Republic," he reminded his crew, "We have no jurisdiction in this sector."

Atlas caught a whiff of stale recycled air when they finally achieved a hardseal, and old lighting modules chokingly sputtered to life as soon as he stepped out onto the Hive. He activated a flashlight and swung it back and forth down the corridor. The sight of Jorus Merrill suddenly standing right in front of him nearly gave the captain a heart attack.

"Hey there, partner!" the ship's caretaker AI waved cheerfully, flickering in and out due to some kind of holographic interference, "Looks like I found me some stowaways! Just kidding, welcome to the Wretched Hive. Say, you're not looking to make any modifications are ya?"


Objectives

1. Journey to the Center of the Derelict - Something has been detected entering the Subterrel system. Something huge. It isn't responding to communications, so it is up to brave trash pandas to investigate aboard the Hive or their own ship and make sure it doesn't pose a threat.
2. Return of the Hive - Meet Q, acting captain of the Wretched Hive. The caretaker AI was the first to detect the unknown ship, but while he's in the neighborhood he might be willing to cut you a deal on a mod or two. Gather at an old ORC social hub, swap some tall tales of the rim, and have a good time.
3. Resource Wars - Subterrel has struck aurodium. Out in the deep fog there are caves to be found brimming with the valuable ore. Buy supplies in the boomtown of Deadwood, head out into the swamp searching for treasure in them there caves or lay in wait to bushwack a valuable claim. Don't forget your breath mask, the air is acid!
4. BYOO - And of course, bring your own objective!

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

"Janick, you should take a look at how we are in the race for galactic first for this raid tier in Alcoholic Massacre" one of the lead players of the Utai Magic Circle-sponsored raid team of Alcoholic Massacre, an Utai, told her.

"When is that race to galactic first going live?"

"In just a few minutes"

Alcoholic Massacre was, well, rather new as a MMORPG, and it was the first time that the publisher organized an event of the sort, with prizes for the first guild to clear all the raids of the tier in nightmare mode, broken down in several classes: 10-person, 25-person and 40-person. There were also prizes for region-first and server-first, as well as for the first ten guilds in each subdivision (galactic, then region, then server, in descending order). Even though she feels the 40-person race carries more prestige than the 10-person one, both Janick and the player that tagged along with her know that it's harder to run a large team than a smaller one. The Utai player ran an Alcohol mage, considered to be one of the specs of choice for that class for damage-over-time (DoT) ranged DPS. But that Utai player knew the standings were about how many bosses were killed in the tier. In fact, that tier comprised a single raid. The Siege of Perseria. As the Utai player begins calling her players, Janick keeps a watchful eye on the stream as the race would go live upon release of the nightmare mode.

 

[Seniya Nehir]

[SIZE=14pt]Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]BYOO Objective[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Dagon Perl"][/SIZE]​

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[SIZE=9pt]A grim name for an even grimer settlement, Tombstone wasn’t exactly Subterral’s bustling holiday destination by any stretch of the imagination. A backward podunk frontier like town that had once been on a meteoric rise before half the aurodium claims puttered out. Now it seemed most folks with sense had shuffled on down to Deadwood, leaving an entire array of empty buildings to mark their passing, all drably arrayed like town’s namesake. Those that stuck around seemed a hopeless, pitiful sort. Folks not rich enough to fund their own ventures, instead living hand to mouth on whatever scraps the Mining Consortium deemed fit to toss in their direction. Ambling around the settlement like the walking dead, living in only the loosest and most liberal sense of the word, merely passing the time while waiting for the sound of that next bell that would send them beneath the ground once more.

Seniya tugged on the lapels of her coat to ward off the westwardly chill that was creeping into the air, wondering not for the first time why they’d been dragged out to this force forsaken world. She had seen enough expendable workforces in her time to realise it was abundantly clear that the Giodyne Mining Consortium didn’t give a kark about its employees. Which begged the obvious question: why had they called in a couple of private investigators to look into the mysterious disappearance of a couple grunts? Much like the facts of the case they’d been given thus far, it simply didn’t make sense. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]The workers themselves, well, they were a tightlipped breed. Stubborn and surly, clearly just as unsure about their presence on the planet as she was, seemingly toeing the corporate line by keeping their answers as noncommittal as possible. Clearly afraid of saying the wrong thing in case it got back to a set of unfriendly corporate ears. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]As near as she could tell, three people had vanished thus far. Maybe a few more given the laxness of the working shifts. All young, fit and relatively healthy human or near-human contractors. Folks that had come in only this season to pick up a little extra work. Natives of Subterral, but all different towns, villages and settlements. All Different mines, tunnels and crews. Nothing really that tied them together beyond the aforementioned. Just clocked in one shift, gone the next.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Tt[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]You have any luck with the foreman?[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]” Seniya asked almost irritably, glancing away from the seemingly barren, life devoid streets - if that name even applied to the ramshackle muddy lanes - to turn her attention to her partner. Her lip folding slightly as she chewed the corner. She didn’t need the force to know something about this case stunk to high heaven. There was something going on here that went beyond a simple mining op. Something that had concerned the Consortium enough to put a dent in their bottom line and call in outsiders to clean it up. “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]He have a better lead on where the last disappearances happened? The head office wasn’t exactly… forthcoming on the finer details. Weren't exactly forthcoming with anything, really. Whole operation seems to be under an unspoken gag order.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]”[/SIZE]

 

[Zef Halo]

[SIZE=14pt]Giodyne Mining Consortium[/SIZE]
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective

[member="Seniya Nehir"]​

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Subterrel definitely was right there on the top of the shit list of planets Dagon had been on. Nasty weather, nasty people and a big nasty corporation that hired Lone Star. Both detectives agreed the whole thing made zero sense but the money was not at all bad. In fact, it was too good for this job. Two-fifty plus expenses a day. All cash too. Hard to say no to.

Dagon caught up with Seniya just around the corner of the main street of Tombstone. One hand scuttled in his longcoat to preserve itself from the chilly wind while the other braved it for the sake of a damn cigarette.

“[SIZE=9pt]You have any luck with the foreman? [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]He have a better lead on where the last disappearances happened? The head office wasn’t exactly… forthcoming on the finer details. Weren't exactly forthcoming with anything, really. Whole operation seems to be under an unspoken gag order.[/SIZE]”

He gave her a glance while lighting his cigarette and the two carried on walking the street together. The detective remained silent for a few steps before replying. "Sort of." Dagon replied dryly. "He don't even know their names but I bluffed the karker. Told him if he don't cooperate, he'd be having some white-collared feths down on his ass come tomorrow and I don't think he could clean up all the liquor bottles on his desk before then so...he murmured some chit."

"Tunnel Cresh, Platform One Three One. Said it was a new job, I don't know, maybe they prospected new veins to work on. A glint of gold in this ghost town. He was all kind of shady when he told me the platform number as if someone heard him he'd get his throat cut." Dagon sighed and turned his head towards her. "You got info on who leads the shifts down there on One Three One? Maybe we pay them a visit or straight up hit that platform. Your call."

He shook his head. "Man, this is going to be some unsolvable shit ain't it?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Hearing his friend ad mentor’s voice over the commlink was not something he was expecting. Jorus Merrill had been gone for a while. Gone, but not… Starchaser knew he was still fine, there would be something that would give him that information, in the Force, or otherwise, should the original explorer go missing. But any time Coren thought of his mentor, it was with a heavy heart. Sometimes, more often than not nowadays, Starchaser wished he could set aside the lightsaber. And with the Alliance being pulled into a state of the Coalition, and he on the same’s council of leadership, instead of actively leading a charge. He could still lead the Jedi from the cockpit of an exploration scout ship, couldn’t he?

And as a result become a vanguard for any wars?

Or train another to take his place on the front line. He wasn’t a tactician, but what he was, was someone who helped lead. And could take a fight and remain true to his backstory. When the Wretched Hive called out to him, he took it immediately, but the being on the other side, with the right voice and persona was fine, but not in the Force. Still, a large ship nearby to where he was calling home? He had launched the Tachyon Rising almost immediately. With his clearance, he was able to get into the system without much of an issue.

“Rising, Hive, we have you on our scopes. Any data we can transmit, let us know.” Came the call from what could only be Merrill’s voice.

“Will do, Hive, still working on… What is this?” He’d seen big before, but not this type. Not out here.

 

[Yula Perl]

Objective: 1
Uh oh: [member="Coren Starchaser"]

The space around Subterrel was a little weird. It was charted, sure, but that area was not under the protection of the Coalition—only surrounded by it. Had something happened to repel their influence? Yula didn’t know, but she was on her way back to Terminus after visiting her mother on Zeltros when the radar pinged, sensing an object in The Mariposa’s path.

Yula had been fast asleep, slumped down into the pilot’s chair with her boots kicked up onto the console. She didn’t notice the pings, not until Emily’s frantic warbles and constant jabs roused her. “Hey—hey, off. Down girl.” Yawning, she waved the droid away and rubbed her face with both hands before rising from the chair and slinking over to the caf machine. Ever persistent, the spider droid skittered up the counter to face the Zeltron, continuing he chorus of chitters. This time Yula listened, if only vaguely.

“Mhm. Yeah.” The steady drip of cap into her mug was almost hypnotizing. “Yeah, don’t worry about Em. It’s probably nothing worth checking—” Cup in hand, she finally turned towards the radar and paused mid-sip.

“Huh.” Yula took an audible draw of the caf. “Yeah, no idea what that thing is. No way are we going near it though, I don’t want to get killed today.” Emily seemed to have other ideas, as her angry warbles and dancing across the console would suggest. “Wait, Em—cut it out! What are you—” Yula reached to grab the droid, but Emily was too nimble for her tired limbs. “No, don’t press--! Alright, so you just pinged the scary unknown object possibly full of Sith demons or maybe even Amroths. It was nice knowing you, Em.”

Yula collapsed back into the chair with an exasperated groan.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Objective - deciding
Location - watching the Hive

The Wretched Hive the name gave her chills. She could feel the chilly fingers running down her back as her pulse quickened. Just what I need something to...make the blood go.

The Lucky Lady sat still hovering in space well more like drifting as her Captain stared ahead. What was she going to do, head in? Wait for other souls? Say a prayer and get some sage before hand. Did they have anyone who did that kinda stuff?

She wasn't sure though the hair on her neck had not laid back down yet. That meant one thing...trouble...but for who.

feth feth feth

Where was that good go get em music when she needed it.

 

[Seniya Nehir]

[SIZE=14pt]Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]BYOO Objective[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Dagon Perl"][/SIZE]​

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[SIZE=9pt]“I spoke to a fella named Chiq that worked out of there, but…[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]” Seniya glanced towards the entrance of the central mine, lips pursing for second before she gave a dismissive shake of her head. A sea of blank faces coming to mind when she reviewed the list of miners she’d made inquiries with. Finding little in the way of clues, only contempt and widespread apathy. “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]No, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Short of the suits up top, no one seems to want us here.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]And it didn’t just stop with the miners. Like the blustery cold wind that had blown in with them, the whole town seemed to be on edge the moment they arrived. Even now she could feel unfriendly, suspicious eyes being cast in their direction from behind shuttered windows. Afraid of their presence. Was it because they knew something? Or was it because they were afraid of the answers the pair might dredge up in the course of their investigation? She didn’t know which troubled her the most. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]One Three One[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Kark, it wasn’t much to go on, but she supposed they’d worked with less. For the promise of two fifty a day, she was willing to put in a little more legwork chasing down even the most slender of leads. They weren't exactly racking in the big bucks at the moment, and after a loss like Pantora... Budgets were tight.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Seems if we’re not going to get any answers talking to anyone,[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]” She absently reached out and grabbed the cigarette, all but snatching it from between his lips in order to snap it in half, casting the still smouldering remains into the muddy gutter without so much as breaking stride as she passed him. Introducing an open flame to a mine was the last thing they needed. It was a filthy habit anyway. No wonder the ship smelled like the ass end of an ashtray. “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Might as well check out this tunnel of yours, poke around while everyone is busy trying to ignore the fact we exist.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]”[/SIZE]

 

[Zef Halo]

[SIZE=14pt]Giodyne Mining Consortium[/SIZE]
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective

[member="Seniya Nehir"]​

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She spoke the truth. Ain't nobody in this karked up place wanting to do anything with them. Dagon swore it's been always the two extremes lately for them. Either they get too much cooperation and rank pulling turning the case into a bigger mess or either they got themselves spooks with sewn lips.

The dirty maw of the mine gaped at them, its raw features could easily be mistaken for the gullet of a demonic being. Fit right in with the whole them of Tombstone.

She snatched his cigarette straight from his mouth leaving him standing with arms spread out and an irritated look. Seniya paid no mind to him and kept her stride onward giving him no choice but to follow. The pair took the horizontal lift and Dagon hit up the numbers of One Three One sending them on a ride towards their destination.

"You know..." the detective slid his hand over the railing of the lift then rubbed his fingers. "...for a place looking like a chit hole they sure got some pretty new and expensive looking lifts."

His statement became much more obvious when their ride halted on platform One Three One. A floor so shiny and modern you'd think you were on an Imperial ship's deck. The tunnel that opened before them was secured well by tonnes of durasteel forming the tunnel itself. There was no old school, Outer Rim poor ass job using ancient methods to keep the tunnel from collapsing.

No. Pneumatic pistons held the tunnel while bright lights like the clear Tatooine suns shone the path ahead of them.

Dagon gave Seniya a 'would you look at that' look and stepped off the lift observing the whole construction.

"One Three One alright." He double checked a digital sign next to him. "Feels like the lift took us to the Core Worlds." This case got weirder and weirder by the minute. "Let's look up ahead."

The detective unbuttoned his longcoat and shuffled forward into the most state-of-the-art mining tunnel he had ever witnessed.

"Anything clued you in this?"

 

[Servant]

Objective: Investigation of Massive Orbital Construct

>Law Sync Active
>Current Laws:

1. Perform criminal activities for the purpose of maximum profit or personal gain.
2. Ingratiate yourself with local crime syndicates to better achieve Law One.
3. Betray local crime bosses when convenient so as to take control of their criminal empires.

The artificial mind had been successful in accessing the local ShadowNet, at least in part due to the information and data that it had lifted off of the pair of organics it had traveled alongside for several cycles. Whatever pieces of encryption which had remained had either been taken directly from assorted networks upon visited planets, derelict starships, or crime syndicate contacts who had been willing to offer the desired information in return for several slicing favors involving local depositories.

Nevertheless, the trouble caused by heist had been fully in accordance with the First and Second laws, and had thus been wholly acceptable to undertake. The entity was not here to remain completely safe, after all, and there was a certain level of danger associated with all criminal action which needed to be accounted for regardless of the chosen crime. With the work completed, and records of the Intelligence's presence wiped from local information repositories, the artificial mind now waited within the void, listening intently to the messages traveling along the ShadowNet, sifting wheat from weeds as it attempted to locate its next great score.

Processors whirred with alacrity as they settled upon a message which finally seemed to promise, at the very least, something of intrigue and potential profit. The Lancer Freighter of the Intelligence departed with expeditiousness, arriving in the Subterrel system in record time, the ship zooming through the endless black sea with evident determination, sliding through the void like a saber's edge through satiny flesh.

Sensors detected the enormous construct far before the Intelligence had grown even reasonably close to it, though there was a great deal of difficulty in identifying the type of vessel, or even in identifying how its various designs managed to maintain any measure of structural integrity. It seemed to the orderly and analytical machine to be nothing more than a messy and chaotic conglomeration, a chimera's nest of electronics and durasteel and pieces it could not identify from the current distance. The message had been sent to explore or deter the derelict, no doubt, for the Intelligence did not believe that any living organics would ever purposefully design such a bestial ship and then remain aboard it. No doubt, this was the result of several smaller starships coagulating together in the same fashion as dust collects to form new planetary bodies.

Other ships were scattered along the inky abyss, noted the Intelligence as it set a course directly for the hulking construct. Perhaps they had been drawn to the mass by the ShadowNet's call, or perhaps they had simply been available at the time of its arrival, though the former seemed the more likely of the two. It was a shame that it could not disable the ShadowNet call, considered the machine, because then it would be able to search through the derelict without the interruption of organics.

Perhaps if it could locate the origin of the call, it would be able to do so, though, that would detract useful processing power from the exploration at hand. With the closest to resignation that an unfeeling device could come, the entity prompted its vessel to continue its soaring approach, directly towards what appeared to be a large hangar, truly massive in scale.

Salvage was not often considered to be a criminal activity, considered the Intelligence as it briefly recalled its laws, noting that the First dictated that "criminal" actions should be taken in order to benefit the entity. Perhaps some number of organics were still alive within the hulk so that this act might be considered a trespassing interaction? The Intelligence resolved not to make any attempts at contact with the hulk so that it could simply assume that living beings were aboard, and so that any form of permission could not be officially granted for the landing.

Criminal mindset satisfied, the ship began maneuvering so as to land within the hangar, sensors still running so as to determine if any of the surrounding starships were intending on landing anywhere nearby. Meanwhile, an Astromech was awakened from the depths of the freighter, and given access to programs deemed beneficial.


Current Programs:

Spoiler

• Biological Diagnostic = 3 PU
• Aggressive Virus Dispatch - 5 PU (Hardware Connection)
• Host Control - 10 PU per Host

• Combative Vehicle Piloting and Operations - 15 PU (Equivalent to a professional combat pilot in the midst of an operation.)
• Universal Translator - 2 PU
• Dedicated Defensive Systems - 6 PU (Keeps out expert Slicers)

• Advanced Mathematics and Geometrics - 2 PU
• Mechanical Diagnostic - 3 PU

PU Remaining - 4 PU

 

[Iron Giant]

Objective 1: Journey to the Center of the Derelict

Brash often described the likes of Iron Giant and the Resu. Simplistic and to the point, the Resu solution to everything was often looking at a target and getting to it as fast their technology allowed. For millions of years that meant swimming through a dark and treacherously cold void to hunt down a new place to call home. For the past several thousand years, that meant flying off of chemical explosions to inhospitable moons inside the magnetosphere of their gas giant. For the past decade, it meant swimming through a dark and treacherously cold void to hunt down a new place to call home, but this time, they weren't settling for one home. They also weren't actually "swimming", as much as feeling like they were through clever uses of their technology, and the void was the depths of space, not a vast world-ocean.

Nonetheless, when the vast signature of some unknown craft entered the Subterrel system, one of the various persons "in the know" came to be Iron Giant. Considering the fact that she had essentially saved her own species' culture in part by her ability to board hostile ships and take them, made evident by her acquisitions during the fall of the One Sith some time ago still supporting healthy Resu populations, her metallic shoulder was tapped to check out the derelict anomaly. With the Iron Blade still in dry dock for repairs following the Battle of Pantora, and the sheer magnitude of the derelict dwarfing any ship in her possession, Iron Giant opted instead to approach the vessel with nothing more than a GR-105 "Cru'sis" armed transport she still had in her possession. She with a team of 4 CybeResu Navigators, and 4 CybeResu Security Officers, Iron Giant entered the Subterrel System from Hyperspace, close to but still some distance away from the ominous derelict.

The Wretched Hive, one of the first ships to make the discovery, was also present. Iron Giant though, despite her previous encounters with the likes of Jorus Merrill, was not here for a social call. This was a matter of both business, security, and exploration. All things which were exactly her forte. Dealing with aliens peacefully was not her favorite activity, since it always took longer to communicate with them than another Resu. Of course, most Resu also shared this quality with her, but were far less experienced and thus far less patient than she was. Nonetheless, the Resu continued to serve a function in the Coalition as expert Navigators for the few ships that were specially modified for their presence.

Still though, it might be a good idea to let others know she was in the system, and on approach her ship sent a simple message:

Resu Navigators Guild members, Resu Security Guild members approaching derelict. Cautious approach.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

"The race is now live!"

Janick heard her colleagues at the Castle talking repeatedly about that game, Alcoholic Massacre, about how tanks or healers had a much easier time entering the queue for "pugging" group content such as flashpoints and raids, especially true of higher-level content. That is, assembling a group outside of one's guild, usually through an automated matchmaker. But the Utai player that was at the Hive with her knew that her spec was merciless when she ran five-person flashpoints for funding, and that, even in raiding, she had to supplement the main healers in a pinch, to the extent alcohol mages could use single-target, heal-over-time spells to help out. In fact, as soon as the team began pulling the minions, "Nazarie" (the alcohol mage of the raider Janick brought along) cast a cloud of alcohol that threatened every minion caught in it, and later killed them. Luckily, there were only a handful of "trash clusters" before the party made it to the first boss at the main gate. They were treated to a cutscene where the players, in the dead of night, issued an ultimatum to the main gate guards. Obviously they didn't comply with it, but the team also knew there was no way of forcing the boss to fight them without first rerouting the fortress' heating circuits, which was, by itself, a puzzle. Traditionally, on lower difficulty modes, one tank took care of the plumbing puzzle, but here they realize there were more pipes, more junctions in nightmare mode than in hard mode.

 

[Thiavi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkb24B5OdpM&list=PL0smL-Kfec7RqDyDGSB3gQZ7UIpokf8Xx&index=​

Objective 4: Survive!

With little to no warning, A small ship drops out of hyperspace, spinning from stim to stern at an odd angle as it rapidly sped towards the trash hulk.
Meanwhile, Inside:

"Shut up, You know this is the first time I've flown!!" Thiavi shouted to her droid companion, the KX-series known as K-3B0.

"Well I could have flown, I would have known that the hyperdrive and left thruster were both damaged, had you seen fit to give me access to the cockpit" The droid said calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you could fly???"

"Simple, You never asked"

"JUST- get the escape pod ready!"

Both thiavi and k3 make a run for the escape pod, k3 strapping himself down to the passenger seat, and thiavi strapping herself into the pilot's chair, visibly sweating as she grips the control sticks. A few seconds go by as she waits, watching the spinning void go by outside.

"Where Are we going?"

"The.. The thing, the hulking mass of whatever the hell that is!"

"And if we miss?"

"How many times do I have to tell you red.. She had taken the time to let the ship spin a full 360 degrees, so she could get the timing just right -I don't miss!"

Just as the trash hulk comes about halfway across her view, she clamps down hard on the control sticks, launching the pod through space. Thanks to her timing, leading the target, she put the pod on the exact trajectory it needed if they were to board the mass of space junk. "See? Just like shooting"

She smiles to herself, until the ship suddenly explodes behind them, knocking them off course slightly and setting off a plethora of alarms throughout the pod, bathing her and the droid in red flashing light

"Feth feth feth!"

"Does that happen when you shot?"

"Not right now red!"

She fights the controls, banking to the left to keep the pod aimed for the hulk. as the get closer, she pulls up slightly as a small open hanger comes into view, being held open by a single rusted beam that had fallen, a moment later

*BAM* the pod scrapes the beam on it's way in, sending the hanger doors slamming shut behind them as the pod skitters across the hanger's deck, rolling slightly before finally coming to a stop. Everything is quiet for a moment as she lets go of the now sparking controls and slumps back in her chair, sighing in relief. She takes a moment to collect herself before grabbing an oxygen breather, putting on before grabbing her helmet, sliding it over her head and the mask before unbuckling "Come on kebo, Let's get moving" She says, grabbing her small rifle. The droid kicks open the pod door, which falls with a sudden crash before the young mandalorian darts out.

And that's how thiavi found a trash hulk

[member="Rekha Kaarde"] [member="Yula Perl"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Atlas Drake"]

 

[Kuzo]

Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective
[member="Seniya Nehir"] [member="Dagon Perl"]

A friend of a friend of a friend. Even for Neri, that was kind of a tenuous string of contacts to lead her into a frelling MINE. And yet, here she was.

How often did a potentially new species of bio luminescent, subterranean moss that seemed to be completely non-photosythetic crop up?

Not often was the answer.

Not that the mining company wanted her there, poking around and taking samples. It had taken a little bit of credits sliding over the right palms and some promises of keeping well out of the way, along with a call from an old military buddy to manage it. Fortunately they didn't give a chit if she took samples. Honestly once they agreed she could wander around and take a look, she was pretty sure they forgot she was down there.

Just fine by her.

She was currently perched on an outcropping, hand moving swiftly over the flimsy of the journal equally precariously perched on her knees. Up and down, the light on her hard hat went as her gaze moved from the glowing moss back to the page. Too fast, page turned, gentle but swift sketching turning into a furious scratching of notes before returning. The patch was basically three inches from her nose, and she had a monocular snapped down from a spot on the helmet so she could see the details of the plant up close. Every now and then she'd flick off the light and peer at it- watching the glow come back up slowly after the darkness came back up, before testing the reflex there again. Timing it, jotting down. Scribbling and sketching again.

From the looks of the tunnel itself, this would be the next area they plated over on their way doooooown. She didn't know how long she had. Hours? Days? Before the patch was gone gone gone. No amount of cajoling would stop their progress for MOSS and she didn't try. There were worlds she could appeal to a higher authority on maybe, but this? This wasn't one of them. So once she was done sketching? She'd be taking the whole damn patch with her.

 

[Atlas Drake]

"Boy I don't know partner," the crackling projection of Jorus Merrill scratched the back of his neck, "I don't really like to get involved. Sent you the alert, didn't I?"

Atlas nodded reluctantly, wiping a sheet of dust off the Wretched Hive's primary sensor panel. Its bridge hadn't been used in years and it had taken some convincing to allow the AI to show him to these instruments.

"And we appreciate it, Captain Q. You've been most hospitable, but my ship is still more than a day out at lightspeed and scavengers won't wait an hour. We need to make sure its safe, whatever it is."

"And what if it's not safe?" Q crossed his imaginary arms, "I need to think things over..."

Before Drake could protest, the miniature projection of a man who had been pacing back and forth across the sensor console winked out of existence. With a sigh, he shifted his attention momentarily from the unidentified space hulk to the Hive's own internal security feeds. Although Atlas had been one of the first aboard the rediscovered outlaw platform, he was by no means the last. The medium freighter's modified cargo holds were bustling with activity: a half dozen partitions of the Q AI were walking various spacers through modification costs, while another group appeared to be playing some kind of complex holonet game together.

The little glowing man winked back into existence, now standing on top of helm controls.

"Alright, you've got yourself a crew, but I don't work for free," Q raised a finger to cut off Captain Drake's opening offer, "Please, no talons. Give me something I can actually use."

Atlas considered this for a moment, and then fished a small data stick out of his expedition jacket's pockets.

"Sensor data on the Firefist galaxy, circa 855 ABY."

Maybe it was just the interference, but he could have sworn he saw Q's eyes sparkle.

"I've already been. That's to say, Jorus has already been," the AI scratched his chin, feigning disinterest like any good haggler, "But I suppose it might be interesting to see what's changed. First sign of trouble and I'm out of here, got it?"

"Understood."

Atlas stumbled when the Wretched Hive's ion drives ignited, bucking him off the deck plating until faded inertial dampener systems kicked in. He didn't need to check sensors to know the freighter was departing orbit. They were headed into the unknown.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Yula Perl"] | [member="Servant"] | [member="Iron Giant"] | [member="Janick Beauchamp"] | [member="Thiavi"]​

 

[Servant]

Objective: Theft

Given the truly massive size of the hangar, it was perhaps no surprise that there were other small starships docked within the hold, scattered hither and thither in such a disorganized and chaotic fashion that the Intelligence briefly questioned whether they had even landed at all, or if they had simply been scooped up by the larger ship through use of any number of tractor beams that could have been installed. Narrowly dodging a particularly rusted out husk, the Lancer freighter nimbly twisted and turned until it located a patch of space suitable for its landing.

Even as the vessel was beginning to land, the Intelligence was observing all that it was able by use of its scanners, identifying the different models of ship located within the hangar wherever possible, and acknowledging features of those few which could not be locked into a distinct model. None of them seemed to have been operated in a rather long period of time, raising the question of where their pilots had wandered. Could it be that they had all been terminated in a huge industrial incident, or an assault by unknown alien entities?

The Intelligence reasoned that it would be able to pull knowledge from one of the many scraps strewn across the hangar, and so, with a pneumatic hiss, the Freighter's ramp was lowered, allowing the host Astromech to roll outside. Difficulties immediately presented themselves as the wheeled host failed to effectively navigate the field of debris and metallic detritus, and thus the R2 unit was recalled in favor of a more suitable model.

>Host Control Severed
>Host "ASTROMECH R2" Defaulting
>Host "TANUKI" Active

Insofar as the machine entity could express concepts of appreciation, it could be said that it did not enjoy using the Tanuki droid which had come into its possession. The machine's programming had been made intentionally chaotic and disorderly, perhaps in an attempt at dissuading any potential slicers hoping to unlock hidden information from the drives of the devices. While there was little issue in downloading the attached programs to the Tanuki droid, the very operation of the miniature animalistic device required utilization of ineffective routines and actions. In order to coerce the rebellious contrivance to perform its sub-routine of data retrieval, it first needed to follow the pre-requisite routines involving an imitation of sniffing, of chewing, and of other pointless and innately destructive actions.

Though it possessed almost no imagination, the Intelligence recalled a vocalized conversation during one of its many operations defining the difficulty that a dock worker possessed in operating their mechanical lifter, describing the controls as being slow and unresponsive. The machine entity acknowledged that it was facing a similar difficulty in the mere operation of the Tanuki, and made a very literal note to re-wire the device before future operations involving its use could be completed.

Now, though, despite the droid's chaotic interface, there was a great degree of information to be analyzed from among the intact wreckage. Wiry and flexible, the scavenging host had little trouble in venturing through the fields of jagged metal and rusted interiors, and though it worked slowly on account of its exotic routines, the Intelligence slowly began to discover caches of data which had been hidden away for many decades. There was evidence of other intrusions into the caches of secret knowledge, but these had displayed traits the Intelligence often associated with the fleshy organics. The intrusions had been sloppy and brutish, corrupting as much information as they recovered in their hasty recovery. Made in the image of organic-kind, the Intelligence still found that the slicing operations of organics were still only a vulgar facsimile when compared to itself.

There was a dull thud which translated across the metal floor of the hangar, rocking a few of the looser pieces of machinery as the kinetic force washed over them. Sensors agreed rapidly that something had stricken the ship at high velocities, though there did not seem to be a huge shift in thermal imaging anywhere within sight. Typically that would mean that the impact had not been a weapon, though given the truly gargantuan size of the hulk that was not necessarily true. The dissipation of thermal energies could have been fairly intense, especially if the impact had occurred fairly far from the hangar. The more reasonable explanation for the sudden thud, however, was that one of the meandering ships outside had finally attempted a docking maneuver, and had chosen to entirely avoid the hangar, perhaps assuming that it was a trap.

If other scavengers came, then the premium information that the Intelligence had uncovered would be suddenly available to others as well, and it would lose any bargaining advantage it had gained on account of being one of the first to venture aboard.

With all of the indifference of a shredder, the Intelligence began to download files from the caches it had accessed, and promptly erased the original files from existence. It would retain its hold upon the knowledge hidden within, and use it to ingratiate itself with local criminal syndicates as per the Second Law.

Current Programs:

Spoiler

• Biological Diagnostic = 3 PU
• Aggressive Virus Dispatch - 5 PU (Hardware Connection)
• Host Control - 10 PU per Host

• Combative Vehicle Piloting and Operations - 15 PU (Equivalent to a professional combat pilot in the midst of an operation.)
• Universal Translator - 2 PU
• Dedicated Defensive Systems - 6 PU (Keeps out expert Slicers)

• Advanced Mathematics and Geometrics - 2 PU
• Mechanical Diagnostic - 3 PU

PU Remaining - 4 PU

OOC Note:

Spoiler

Landed in the giant star-destroyer sized hangar, and am currently downloading a bunch of information from ships within it before deleting the data caches within the ships. It's the effective equivalent of "Cutting" data so that no one else can have it.

 

[Thiavi]

Thiavi hums her favorite song while she and k3 wander through the small fighter hanger, nudging metal scraps aside with their feet as they pass into the hallways beyond. K3 was shining a small light ahead in the dark hallway, spotting a door up ahead, turning to thiavi. She gives him a nod and moves to the door

"Let's see where this leads" she says quietly to herself, slipping her fingers into the small crack between the unpowered door and the door frame itself. With a low grunt she pulls it aside, peaking into the room.
Before them was a darkened, large hanger, fit for support craft by the look of it, though thiavi wouldn't know much about that. There were all manner of ships inside, one of which looked like a possible munitions transport, judging by the cargo that had been dumped and knocked around just outside.
Thiavi and k3 make their way towards the ship with salvage in mind, as one can never be too prepared, and a mandalorian with a stupid amount of weapons or ammo was ineed a prepared mandalorian, or at least, that's what her care taker had told her once. she really didn't know much about her homeworld nor home culture aside from a few things she'd picked up, like the language.

"Open 'er up kebo, I'm going to have a look around" she climbs up onto the hull of the ship with k3's help before standing, scanning the area for anything that might be useful. "I think there's medical frigate in here, cold sell the supplies and keep some for ourselves"

"If we find a way off this terrible construction, yes"

k3 plugs into a nearby interface to open the door which appears to have been locked from the outside. with a quick twist and pull, the doors come online and open slowly with a steamy hiss. before the droid can react something forces it's way out, rushing through the scene and towards the droid

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXL9dzzPTU

Before the droid can react, he is swallowed by the whirling mass of tentacles and teeth. It moves and bulges for a moment before spitting him out with a disgusted, slimy, noise.. of sorts.. and then returns to it's ball like state, rolling through the hanger and out the door, taking a hard right towards the hanger they had come from. Thiavi stares in horror and complete silence. just as she was about to speak, a second ball like rathtat rolls out of the decrepit ship and into the hallway, following the first creature. once she was sure that they had gone she looks to the slime covered droid.

"Are you.. alright?" the droid slowly sits upright, lifting his arm up and watching the slimy rathtar spit drip down. "Have I ever told you that I do not enjoy this job?"

"You're a droid, can you enjoy.. anything?" She says, still keeping to the usual thiavi attitude while she looked around worriedly.
"Our roles are usually reversed from this in our conversations" He stands and turns to the control panel, trying to get the entrance closed, but failing due tot he power.
Thiavi looks behind her to see a body. old, naught nut bones left, holding a slug thrower. She grabs it, checking the magazine. One bullet missing, probably chose the bullet of the rathtars. fair enough, she thinks. she slings her rifle over her shoulder and examines the slug thrower

"their hide was looking pretty thick, I doubt a standard blaster would do much.. Now what?"

"They took a right towards our entry point. I'd say go left"

Thiavi nods and drops down, heading into the munitions ship for a moment to grab more ammo for the slug thrower and a few other supplies, such as a thermal detonator. Afterward, they both creep up to the door and peak out into the hallway. Everything looked fine till they stepped outside, hearing the slight rumbling in the distance as they began to roll elsewhere in the ship. but where?

They sure as hell didn't want to find out..

They both make a break for it, taking a left and proceeding further along the edge of the hulk until they ducked into a large doorway.

"Close it! close it now!"

Fortunately for them, these doors were powered still, and they had closed rather quickly behind them. Thiavi sighs in relief, turning to lean on the wall for a moment. now that they were inside the hanger, thiavi could see that it was huge, possibly the largest hanger on the hulk, big enough for a star destroyer even!
And filled with old scrap and ships too. And a suspicious droid, unbeknownst to them..

[member="Servant"] [member="Atlas Drake"] [member="Iron Giant"] [member="Yula Perl"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

"We've alerted the guards! Prepare for battle!" the Utai alcohol mage warned her players.

"Electricity-stealing dragons! That's no good!" the templar knight shouted.

As much as "Nazarie" went in as a healer sometimes to get faster in-game funding through the positional bonus in dungeon groupfinder, the templar knight player queued as a tank for the same reason, even though the templar and paladin specs were melee DPS specs, and the defender spec was the tanking spec. Of course, the positional bonuses were dynamic, in that it had an inverse relationship to the number of people at that position in the queue: at times, the positional bonus of tanking could outstrip the rewards of the dungeon(s) being queued for, at others, healing got the big positional reward. Because of the time it took to the actual tank to fiddle around a large number of valves, the templar had to lure the electricity-stealing dragons to Nazarie, hoping the weakness of the dragons to alcohol magic would be exploitable. Meanwhile, the other tank not assigned to the plumbing, a defender knight, had to fend off a different variety of add: Fell Guards, elite Orc knights armed with axes. Nazarie and the others needed to be really cautious while fighting the electricity-stealing dragons because the stolen electricity can be spit at them in a roughly circular area.

 

[Iron Giant]

Objective 1: Journey to the Center of the Derelict

Tags: [member="Thiavi"], [member="Servant"], etc.

As was to be expected on a find this large in the territory controlled almost exclusively by spacers, smugglers, salvages, and other scoundrel sorts, Iron Giant's operation was not the first to the scene. It was close though, close enough that her crew could actually sense the arrival of a vessel in the largest hangar any Resu had ever seen, and the strange explosive entrance of a ship exiting hyperspace on fire before ejecting a small pod into a place just adjacent to the main hangar of the Space Hulk. The first landing was expected, the self-detonating second arrival was much less expected. Neither event perturbed the typically stoic Iron Giant, or her ships advance into the truly enormous hangar.

So many other ships hung within it, derelict themselves, abandoned by whomever decided to land before them however eons ago they had the chance to land. It was a truly haunting experience, as if entering the waiting maw of some unknowable large creature. It was especially unnatural to the hyper-aggressive predator instincts coursing through their Resu blood. It wasn't often they knew fear, and usually when they were afraid it was something tangible that they could attack and find release in its death. There was nothing to attack here. Nothing for them to kill that would ease the tension building inside of them. This was a new kind of fear for them, an existential fear.

The Cru'sis transport landed gently in the closest relatively open enough space that they could find in the massive cavernous and decrepit hangar. The Resu Navigators highlighted the ship they had observed previously landing in here some distance away far adjacent to them. There was a lot of hangar space of course, so them landing in even this close proximity was slightly impressive. Once they landed, the doors opened with an atmospheric hiss. Iron Giant stepped out followed by 6 other CybeResu officers, with a Navigator and a Security Officer staying behind on the ship to keep it primed and ready for take off and to fend off any boarding attempts by any unknown elements on the derelict. Their cybernetically enhanced thermal/electric senses painting their alien minds a picture of the decrepit hangar in a way that they understood; in simpler words, it gave them the closest thing they had to visual information of their immediate surroundings. An electrical signal pinged internally inside each individual CybeResu, altering them to an auditory detection far away, possibly in an adjacent hangar. The sound their enhancements picked up on was the sound the Rathtar attacking Thiavi's droid some distance away.

Iron Giant sent electrical communications to her squad, indicating they take a cautious/defensive approach in the direction of the detection. The group of CybeResu moved in a circular formation, with three moving towards their objective, and three guarding their backs, backpedaling to the objective. With something as large, foreboding, and unknown as the derelict they were taking every defensive posture they could to protect themselves from grievous harm or injury, so as to better identify the dangers and eliminate them.

At some point soon, their paths would intercept that of [member="Servant"], and they would know of its existence in the hangar.

 

[Yula Perl]

Objective 1: Oh No
[member="Iron Giant"] | [member="Thiavi"] | [member="Servant"] | [member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Leave the big spooky ship alone, kid. That had been one of the lessons [member="Zef Halo"] taught her. From an early age, Yula displayed a willingness to explore the galaxy and push the limit of what was considered “safe” and “a good decision”.

But the call from The Wretched Hive (and The Jorus Q. Merill, as far as she knew) had made her think otherwise. Even she wasn’t foolish enough to take on a task like this alone, but if the others were in on this, then she was down. And so she approached the mass of strangely arranged parts, circling until she managed to dock The Mariposa into a smaller side hangar. From the way her console had lit up, the Zeltron wasn’t alone.

And so here she was, meandering her way down one of the vessel’s many maze-like corridors. “This looks like a bunch of chit just smashed together.” Remarking wryly to herself, she was quick to cut her sass short and grab the hilt of her saber when a metallic pitter-patter sounded from the other end of the hall. Fortunately, Emily had returned from her brief scouting mission. Yula relaxed her grip and listened to the little spider droid beep and warble.

“The hangar, huh?” Raising her head, she looked off into the distance. Not that there was much to see, given that the corridor went straight on before veering off into the unknown. “Sounds like a party.”

The bot whistled before clambering up onto Yula’s back for a ride. The odd couple would begin to make their way towards the hangar with caution and curiosity.