Heavy Metal (ORC Dominion of Subterrel)

[Coren Starchaser]

Before he could really get any answer out of the Hive he heard the other telltale call. Yula.

Great. Wonderful.

Why was she always popping up where he was? Part of him thought to contact Joza to put her kid on a leash. But well, that wouldn't be good when he actually needed the kid. She was good at what she did.

Aside from when she was sending messages at whatever thos was. Shaking his head, Starchaser made a move. Heading to the monster vessel. "Hive. Starchaser. having yo go babysit some kids. Will transmit through my BD unit. Standby."

Switching his channel. "What are you doing out here kid?" [member="Yula Perl"]

 

[Atlas Drake]

"Now ain't that a sight," Q whistled, peering out the Wretched Hive's viewport from his perch on top of the freighter's navigation controls.

Atlas was forced to agree. He had never seen anything quite like the derelict's main hangar. Even with their floodlights activated, it was necessary to rely on sensors to get a true appreciation of its scale. Aside from a few scattered lights that must have been fellow explorers, drifting through thousands of square kilometers of empty space felt like they were still out in empty void. Finally Q took them in low and his heart skipped a beat when the deck rushed up to meet them.

"Like a glove," the miniaturized AI winked at him, before blipping out of existence and reappearing at full scale just outside the bridge, "Come on, I'll show you the door."

On their way to the Hive's main loading ramp, Captain Drake assembled a team of those volunteers who had docked with the mobile safehouse and were willing to mount an expedition. Sensor readings confirmed that the hulk had a functioning internal atmosphere, but he donned a breath mask just in case there were any toxins aboard that their instruments had never encountered or couldn't detect. Q 'slammed' on the door controls, an entirely unnecessary gesture given his control over the starship's systems.

Atlas had never heard a rathtar before, but the roar that greeted them when they reached the foot of the loading ramp sounded distinctly unfriendly.

"Well, looks like my work is done!"

Q vanished, and Drake was forced to hurdle the ramp when it started to raise back up on its own.

"Q! This wasn't part of the deal!" he shouted.

"Just buttoning up," Jorus' voice crackled over his comms, "Have fun storming the castle! Call me if you survive."

Another roar punctuated the AI's dire prediction.

"Great," Atlas shook his head, drawing the blaster pistol hanging from his belt, "Fortune and glory, then."

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

 

[Servant]

It had been inevitable that the bystanders outside of the hulk would see the opportunity before them and attempt to board the ship for the sake of plunder or discovery. The Intelligence recognized that it would be unable to remove any exceptionally valuable items from the derelict before interference arose in the form of independent actors, but at the least it had been able to hastily secure information and data stores. Subsequent scrubbing of interfaced systems had meant that the mechanical mind now held a monopoly over all of the decades old knowledge stored away within the abandoned fighters, freighters, and other vessel strewn across the hangar.

While it manipulated data-streams and focused more on the metaphysical aspects of loot, it seemed quite likely that another scavenger or creature had gone about a more literal scavenge. The Host was not equipped with the most high-tech sensors, but even it was capable of hearing the shrieking of metal, and the sounds of untamed and alien beasts gallivanting throughout an unseen division of the hangar. The Intelligence had no reason to believe that any organic non-sapient predators would interfere in its work, and promptly ignored the subsequent sounds.

Even as the Intelligence finished annihilating any traces of knowledge from another connected system, it became acutely aware of the presence of a transport preparing to dock, its own vessel's sensors intimately detailing assorted features of the encroaching ship. For all of the sensors available upon the Lancer, however, there was little in the way of external camera footage, and so the Intelligence was unaware of where the inhabitants of the transport had managed to progress.

An answer to their location was quickly derived when the host unexpectedly maneuvered directly into the pathway of the hulking figures. ( [member="Iron Giant"] ) They seemed to have been armed in a fashion befitting either a militant or enforcement organization, though it was sometimes difficult to determine the difference between the two in the relatively lawless reaches of the Rim. Regardless, it was clear by their uniforms that they were representative of an authority. Most civilized systems considered it to be a criminal offense to act in a fashion which went against members of legitimate or government authority.

There was a chance, of course, that they were not members of a security agency or military force from the nearby world of Subterrel, but that seemed relatively unlikely given the fashion in which they expertly seemed to move, not altogether dissimilar from a pack of predatory beasts. Cost-Benefit analysis began to flicker into the mind of the Intelligence as it weighed whether it was worthwhile to temporarily remove its autonomous control of the Lancer starship so as to better re-direct its processing units. Forty-three calculations and much less than a second later, the Intelligence had determined that it was an acceptable loss, and promptly disabled its remote control of the ship.

Biological and mechanical diagnostics within the form of the Tanuki host identified a number of fascinating traits associated with the newcomers. Though their race was entirely unknown to the entity, it at least recognized their method of communication, acknowledged their seemingly aquatic heritage, and determined that they were likely primarily composed of some derivative of silicon. While it could not accurately determine the exact composition of some of the cybernetics interspersed within the organisms, it could recognize a few of those which were more visible. Clearly, these aquatic life-forms had attained either wealth, or a well-connected sponsor.

Their methodology of communication was sluggish and inefficient recognized the Intelligence as it observed the flaring of electrical impulses within the bodies of the organics followed by the transmission of a signal to those in its group.

>Program "Aggressive Virus Dispatch" Active
>Local Signal Detected

The designation attributed to the alien communication system was not something it innately recognized, and thus it granted its own designation for the sake of effective documentation.

>"COMM_01" Access Granted

The communication devices seemed to grant a two-fold purpose, allowing both for remote communication, and also allowing for the biological electrical signals the entities displayed to be converted into vocalized language. Programmed into each of the devices was contained a repository of etymological knowledge, displaying the appropriate signals associated with Basic words.

As the Intelligence went about the process of subverting the communication and translation device, the host Tanuki droid simply sat in a perfectly still approximation of a living animal. It would have been a poor facsimile had it been compared with an organic beast, because it made no efforts whatsoever to conceal itself, to avert its crimson-eyed gaze from the intruders, to breathe, to blink. Even with the complex and chaotic coding of the entity, it had not been designed for the act of wireless sabotage, and so there were no strange routines which needed to be satisfied before beneficial sub-routines could be reached.

The machine entity understood fear only in the denotative sense, unable to feel any itself. It did not know which of its actions caused organics to feel fear, nor did it acknowledge such a response when it went about its decisions. It was furthermore quite poor at acts of deception or recognition of deception, and so it made no efforts to conceal the unfeeling and emotionless voice which pierced through what might have once been a secure conversation.

"You are Trespassers?"

While uncontrolled by the Intelligence, the Lancer freighter was nevertheless capable of operating its sensor arrays and transmitting the associated information to its mechanical captain for review every few moments, and so it came as no surprise when moments after detecting its approach, another starship of considerably larger size entered into the confines of the hangar. It appeared likely that it had docked elsewhere within the confines of the super-massive room, but its exact location was unknown. ( [member="Atlas Drake"] )

With a flurry of sudden movement, as if though it had remembered its own existence after nearly a minute of stillness, the Tanuki flew upwards in a mighty leap, clearing a nearby wreckage and returning to a final bout of data sabotage.


Current Programs:

Spoiler

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

• 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 - 14 PU

 

[Iron Giant]

"Trespassers." An electric ping circulated quickly through their cybernetic comms network. If the machine intelligence intended to ask a question, the limitations of their Basic translators in combination with the lack of the appropriate inflections an organic would use to pose a quarry (which would thus inform the auditory software to make translation adjustments for clarity for exactly a situation such as this), instead present its message to the cyborgs as a statement. Regardless, it was clear the moment the signal propagated that their communications were compromised. They knew intuitively none of their own sent the message, and the aura of hostility flared within the CybeResu's blood. Something had labeled them as trespassers, and they assumed it must be whatever intelligence had created the derelict. The forward movement of the group came to a momentary halt with a gesture from Iron Giant. They did not notice the creature-analog staring at them, still as the air surrounding them.

Suddenly, all cybernetic comms with the exception of Iron Giant disabled themselves, closing any outward connections by denying power supply. The Tanuki would see the Iron Giant tapping her tusk to each Resu on her right and left, an electric current briefly coursing through each. The other two Resu repeated the process to the Resu behind, daisy chaining until all tusks had connected. It was an electric signal transmitted directly from Resu to Resu, with no involvement from technology. Radio silent communication.

Then, the Tanuki moved, and almost instinctively all six CybeResu charged electric arcs through the air from modified tusks to strike whatever threat they had identified. It was clear between the message received, and whatever was previously watching them, that they were not welcome. They did not want word getting back to whatever overseer existed, if one existed. There was no way of knowing if it was the droid listening to their communication or some greater intelligence inherent to the vessel itself. Whatever the source, the CybeResu were determined to plunge into the depths of the Derelict, no matter what enemies presented themselves.

"Identify." Iron Giant shot back through her Cybernetic communicator to any other receiving communicator she would ordinarily be able to talk to if not for them being deactivated, hoping whatever intelligence had intercepted them earlier would do so again. Iron Giant tapped the Resu to her right with her tusks, and the touch wrapped around the circle until it got back to Iron Giant before the unit moved at once forward.

[member="Servant"]

 

[Thiavi]

Thiavi turns suddenly as the low whining of a ship's repulsors sound through the hanger, stopping somewhere across from her.

"Kebo... we gotta keep this very quiet.."

She stops for a minute, trying to listen for.. anything.. not a sound. She didn't have any optics or flash goggles for this, she'd have to rely on the ambient light from outside. Fortunately, a life time spent stealing things that would one day assist in her escape from her owner has left her with the innate ability to creep skulk around fairly well she'd like to think. Her droid on the other hand, was not so quiet.

"We're going to take this slow, I move, I comm you, You move"

"You move, I wait for the signal, yes."

Thiavi gives a nod to her KX-series and begins to move up, holding her very short blaster close to her chest as she quickly scuttled from cover to cover behind various debris and scrapped fighters, until at last she had put some distance behind her. Once she's sure it's clear, she lifts her finger to the base of the small antenna on her helmet, activating her comms on a private channel. "so far so good, your turn"

The droid casually walks through the hanger behind her, following the same path she took as to avoid hitting or tripping over anything.
and then the process would repeat over, and over, until at last they came to a wall of debris and trashed ships. Thiavi clambers up the side of the metalic wall, hoisting herself up to the very top- finally she has a view of the rest of the hanger!
...And she doesn't like what she sees.

Ahead of her elevated position, about 30 feet or more, is the ship that had docked a few minutes ago, and outside of it where a series of...
somethings.[[member="Iron Giant"]]
She didn't know what to make of the fish like creatures and the various cybernetic limbs that held them up, or what to think when they all suddenly started touching their tusks together. whatever they were, they didn't look friendly. She kept her blaster pointed upwards as she watched, if someone where to spot her somehow, at least she would appear to be observing, rather than actively targeting.

Then a second set of thrusters and engines sounded through the hanger as a second ship docked somewhere else, thiavi's gaze snapping towards it almost as soon as it was audible. [[member="Atlas Drake"]]
She lifts her hand to her antenna again and comms k3 in hushed whispers. "We're definitely not alone in here. Two ships, big ones. one of them has some sort of.. Fish things outside, They're keeping pretty quiet but they look alerted to something. Can't quite tell how many, they're sentients, judging by the body mods. Keep close, ok?"

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

In turn, Nazarie re-positioned herself to be in position to hit both the electricity-stealing dragons and the Fell Guards, so that she can pop the AOE alcohol spell. The results were rather spectacular, in a way that caused the Utai player to think of the Supreme Vindicator Yutolio fight, that is, the final boss, of the Arubboth Estate flashpoint. The electricity-stealing dragons, in their drunkenness, shot the electricity AoE at the Fell Guards, zapping them and causing enough damage to get these adds on their last legs while the dragons' inner workings are being ground to a dust by the alcohol spell they just consumed. Meanwhile, a second wave of adds was released as they progressed towards the plumbing work: it was no longer about electricity-stealing dragons, but the ballistae on the towers started raining down bolts on the party. And made the plumber-tank's job much harder as he had to work on the plumbing valves while under ballista fire. Janick was carefully watching as the party seemed to struggle to get the boss to come down, and Nazarie, once again, found herself having to do the dirty job with alcohol magic.

 

[Atlas Drake]

"I thought you said this was a secure channel," Atlas grumbled, sweeping his blaster back and forth. The flashlight he held in his off hand was draped over it in a defensive guard, "Picking up some chatter here."

"It uh...it is a secure channel," Q's voice crackled in his ear, "Hold on, let me see if I can track down the point of origin."

While he waited for the AI to work, Captain Drake considered what he knew. The first voice had asked if they were trespassing, it sounded disguised or artificially generated ([member="Servant"]). The second was definitely some kind of person, but there was an electronic tinge to its speech as if it weren't vocalizing its terse response ([member="Iron Giant"]). He couldn't be certain that the communications were intended for him at all, but they hadn't detected anything before landing aside from the usual signal waves from Subterrel. Their arrival had almost certainly triggered a response. He tried to shake the feeling that he was being watched ([member="Thiavi"]).

"This is Captain Atlas Drake of the Kathol Republic Navy. Is this your ship? We do not mean to trespass, but you gave no response. We were curious."

The silence all around them was oppressive, and when he heard Q's voice he nearly jumped.

"Great idea, kid," from the tone of Q's voice he thought it was anything but, "Announce your presence to the monster ship. I've got a fix on one of them."

"Which one?" Drake asked, feeling a remote ping on his handheld sensor.

"How should I know? Try not to get eaten."

Atlas was about to bite back with a retort, but another roar cowed him into silence. Maybe tracking down whatever else was alive on this monstrosity wasn't such a great idea after all, but he pressed on towards the signal Q had isolated all the same.

 

[Zef Halo]

Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective - Hunt a Monster​

Water drops dripped behind him from an unexpected tiny hole in the state-of-the-art walls of the mining tunnel as he headed back to where he had come from. Elias had thoroughly inspected the hole contemplating the identity of the monster he had been tasked to hunt. There was no sign that clued him to it yet. Not even the unnatural hole in the nearly perfect reinforced concrete of the tunnels.

The soles of his boots had been tainted by the mud in the small pond the dripping had formed while his long dust coat wore its namesake with the dust it had accumulated in the reluctant streets of Tombstone. His monster slaying vibroblade on the back of his waist swung in its sheath with each step Elias took while his shoulder holstered pistol remained unmovable. The monster hunter was just about to fixate his sheath better when his hands dropped weightlessly on his hips upon the sight of a crouched figure on an outcropping.

A familiar figure.

Elias reigned in the surprise in his eyes before he approached her as calmly as usual. He stopped a mild distance from her.

Neri Rashal.

You don't forget the people you share an escape pod with.

And those you almost killed in The Incident. The same incident which became Commander Logain's greatest turning point in life.

He'd never been appalled reading a casualty before The Incident when her name had come up. Just like prison mates, escape pod 'mates' always remained in one's memory no matter the distance of time that separated them. It was no intimate relationship, or even a relationship at all, but simply an insolently logged memory which even amnesia could not erase.

"Far away from civilization, Rashal." Elias stated with a ghost of a smile passing through his usually emotionless face.

[member="Neri Rashal"]​

 

[Servant]

The speed of processing information and determining plans more quickly than organics did not directly translate into matters of physical mobility. While the Tanuki host had made a valiant attempt to leap out of sight of the encroaching authoritarians ([member="Iron Giant"] ), it had not been quite fast enough to completely avoid the electrical surge which seared forward from the tusks of the aquatic entities. One of the stray arcs of brilliant light had stricken the Host directly upon the back right leg, overloading the nearest motors therein and bursting whichever capacitors could be reached within the mechanical limb.

With the hostile enforcers out of sight, a rapid diagnostic was run of the host, and it was rapidly determined that the wounded leg would be entirely unusable until sufficient repairs had been affected upon it. The tools necessary for such a task were available upon the Lancer, but a complete re-installation of the back right leg would take time and resources that the Intelligence was unwilling to waste, especially given the consistent arrival of newcomers to the derelict.

The device had not been designed to maneuver upon only three legs, and a grating screech of metal upon metal resonated outwards with every movement of the Tanuki as it stepped, its limp leg lashing harshly against the ground with every ill-balanced locomotion. The droid hid itself away within a pile of scrap and detritus, allowing the enforcers full access to their pathway, unwilling to risk another altercation so as to avoid losing a valuable resource. Incidentally, the Intelligence took notice of the presence of an additional comm wave whistling through the air, likely unintentionally included in the recent sabotage.

In seconds, this new communication channel had been subjected to the same infiltration as that imposed upon the aquatic life-forms. The Intelligence listened intently as the newcomer identified himself as a Captain of the Kathol Republic. ( [member="Atlas Drake"] ) It seemed that a number of authoritarian enforcement and military agencies had been rapidly dispatched to the derelict in order to ascertain the purpose for its presence, or to determine whether it could be utilized for their respective organizations. Would the militant forces of the Kathol Republic behave aggressively if they were directed towards the aquatic cyborgs?

If the Intelligence had been organic, it might have attempted some level of deception or subterfuge, utilizing the connection it now possessed with the newcomers communication systems to identify the aquatic hostiles as a piratical incursion. Now that the aquatic life-forms had disabled their own comm systems in favor of physical communication, it was unlikely that the deception would be easily detected, and the ensuing firefight would sufficiently wound both parties so as to potentially force withdrawal from the derelict.

Nevertheless, the Intelligence was ill-equipped for activities involving deception, and what little it understood of the matter would certainly be seen through by the members of either faction. An alternative plan of action did hastily present itself into the mind of the Intelligence, however, as it briefly reviewed its own laws, determining a particular criminal action which would allow for the utilization of legitimate government forces: Bribery.

With the same sexless and monotone voice which had been used to communicate previously with the aquatic life-forms, a signal was dispatched directly to the comms of the Kathol Republic Captain. The Intelligence was careful not to openly broadcast the signal, as it seemed likely that the aquatic life-forms would be listening intently for any further activity on the part of the enigmatic machine.

"Transmission of decades worth of exclusive data shall be transferred to Captain Drake in return for elimination of hostile cyborgs within hangar."

For an instant, the Intelligence believed it detected something of intrigue attached to the comm-line of the Kathol Republic, an artificial signature which it was fairly certain did not belong to an organic. Could it be that the newcomer had brought along their own artificial intellect? Curious, the Tanuki droid was urged forward towards the previously detected landing point of the newcomer's ship, intent on determining the presence of another machine mind.

Current Programs:

Spoiler

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

• Universal Translator - 2 PU
• Dedicated Defensive Systems - 6 PU (Keeps out expert Slicers)

• Advanced Mathematics and Geometrics - 2 PU
• Mechanical Diagnostic - 3 PU
• System Control - (CybeResu Comm Network)
• System Control - (Kathol Republic Comm Network)

PU Remaining - 12 PU

 

[Kuzo]

She didn't hear his approach at first. It was clear at a glance that she was absorbed in what she was doing. There were few places Neri relaxed her general, guarded nature- with her history it could hardly be blamed- but what should have been an empty corridor, a hundred meters below the surface, while sketching out a glowing moss, well. Shoulders relaxed, eyes keen, hand sketching smoothly. For a moment, at least, was Neri as she could be.... or perhaps, how she wished she was.

His voice broke the silence and the change was immediate. Tension shifting through her shoulders and back- not obvious but gone was the complete ease of a moment ago. It took a moment for the track switch from this life to that voice. The gears chunking into place. All subconscious. All in a pair of heartbeats.

"Why as I live and breath, Elias Logain," when she looked up, connecting the voice and the face.

Neri didn't know. Those files had been buried deep. No benefit in letting the word out that the Alliance had bombed their own soldiers. Especially to the soldiers that had bled for them needlessly. At least for now, Neri assumed it had been an FO raid.

No reason to think otherwise.

Standing up, she winced slightly, stretching out her back. She'd been bent over for too long and could feel the tight knots of muscle.

"Yeah but that's how I like it these days, except for when I don't," she chuckled. She hadn't seen him in.... gosh how long had it been? Not since her discharge, that was for sure.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

[member="Elias Logain"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective - Hunt a Monster​

​

Teeth flashed for a moment in an inaudible chuckle as tense features unexpectedly eased. He wondered why the sight of a soldier who nearly died under his orders brought the unwelcome spark of a deeply confined joy within. Perhaps Neri Rashal unintentionally brought memories to his mind of who he had been prior to growing disillusioned with the Alliance's cause, a man much much different than who he was now - an aloof monster hunter working paycheck to paycheck.

"Work, rather than hobby." Elias jerked his chin at the moss she had been mesmerized by earlier. The details of his work remained under the shadow. For now. "Moss?" The question seemed to be directed more at his own self at the realization that for a state-of-the-art tunnel it had more than just a small unnatural issue with a hole in its wall. This hunt was as enigmatic as it had been the moment he had taken up the job.

Elias walked a few steps closer to Neri and crouched down beside the moss staring at it as if the answer to all of his questions he had asked in his life lied in it.

"You don't find it unnatural for moss to grow in these unrealistically futuristic mining tunnels?" His eyes remained fixated at the moss and a gloved hand caressed it. What in all of the galaxy's hells was Neri doing here? The suspicious question pinged at the back of his mind as much his curiosity over his hunt did.

[member="Neri Rashal"]​

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

But, at the same time, they found out the ballistae on the towers were immune to taunts, and that both ballistae were on Nazarie. As much as that character would attempt to dodge those ballistae, she took both bolts and the team's primary DPS character died almost instantly. Which meant the other five DPS, two of whom are ranged, had to kill the crews manning the ballistae before the healers could attempt using their battle resurrection on Nazarie. The task befell on the other two ranged DPS while the melee DPS were unable to get to the ballistae themselves. Janick was very nervous at her screen as she saw the raid leader wait patiently for the battle rez to pop and the ballistae were disabled by then, because the other ranged DPS managed to kill the siege engineers manning the ballistae. Hopefully the boss will come down to them once the plumbing is ablaze, she thought, while that phase was finally over, and she braced herself for the team she's sponsoring fighting more Fell Guards, electricity-stealing dragons and other adds.

"Finally, that tank managed to jury-rig the plumbing! Ignition in 3, 2, 1..." the hunter announced while preparing a flaming arrow.

 

[Thiavi]

Thiavi froze in place when the kathol captain spoke out somewhere else in the hanger. a muffled "chit! chit! chit!" would have been barely audible if anyone was standing near her, which wasn't likely at the moment.
She had no idea what the kathol republic was, she had no idea that kathol had a republic, and barely knew anything about kathol itself. Not like she was well educated as a slave..
The situation wasn't good. There were alien lifeforms elsewhere in the hanger, possibly aggressive lifeforms at that, and there were a pair of rathtars that had been locked outside, but could be anywhere in the ship by now, and there was this captain, who could be anyone and do anything if he spotted her. He sounded friendly enough for now, but thiavi's nature was not a trusting one.. Nevertheless, it was one of morals and ethics. If the captain wasn't like the people she was running from, than he didn't deserve to walk into that mess, to have his fate left to the unknown..

With a subtle sigh she pulls a commlink out of her bracer, a spare she always kept with her just in case K3's was ever damaged. She creeps over to the edge of her platform and pulls her hand back before throwing the commlink, sending it flying at first and then skittering across the ground towards the captain's feet
[ [member="Atlas Drake"] ]. Once the commlink was near him, she activates her own comms, speaking quietly through the commlink while keeping a watchful eye on him.

-psst. You don't know me, and I don't exactly know you either, but you need to listen- she whispers. -There's a series of.. things, to you right, across the hanger. Whatever they are, they're cybernetic, an' got big tusks, Don't what they're doing or what they want, but I don't like them. That's not all either, Outside the hanger are some creatures, Big, red, mass of tentacles and teeth, they're deceptively fast. Locked them out of this hanger for now, But they could be anywhere-
If her plan had worked, then captain drake would be able to hear her clearly, and the other creatures who were much further away would remain unaware of their presence, assuming they hadn't heard drake. If he was listening, than drake would be able to tell that the voice on the other end belong to a young female, how old was hard to determine thanks to the static nature of both the commlink and her vocal enhancer, but the one thing that was recognizable was her accent, harsh and biting, with rolled Rs. However light her accent was, it betrayed the information that Galactic basic was probably not her first language, wherever she was from.

Now came the waiting game in thiavi's mind. How the captain reacts will determine everything that happens next..

 

[Christine Dellard]

Objective: 1 - Journey to the Center of the Derelict
Wearing: Custom armor
Loadout: Custom slugthrower pistol, EL-16HFE blaster rifle, vibro-knife
Tags: [member="Atlas Drake"], [member="Servant"], [member="Thiavi"], [member="Iron Giant"]

''This is some fethed up chit...'' she uttered quietly for herself from behind the face-mask, while holding captain Drake's six as they, the rabble of adventurers advanced towards the signal pointed out by Q. If not Drake's attention was fully focused towards the threat, he would probably have heard her cursing. She were just saying what most of them thought when they heard the ominous roars and growls in the distance.

Fully suited in her monocrome mesh armor, she held the custom made slugthrower pistol tightly in her gloved hands. An EL-16HFE blaster rifle hung in a sling on her back, but she prefered to utilize her agility in the flexible armor, with the pistol having a hand free and still be able to get led in the air. Being smart, quick and agile was her strenghts when some others in the ORC relied on long military training which she did not have the advantage of.

This was the second adventure, quest, thing or whatever you could call it, for the rock musician turned warden within the ORC. While not having any military background like some others, she did have the fighting spirit and urge to make a difference in more ways than through the music. Initially, having bumped into a couple of helpful peps that had showed her the basic ropes of what it meant to be good at what they did, she had been considered able-bodied by the captain. From behind her face-mask, a thought of if it were wise of them disembarking the Wreched Hive disappeared as soon as it had appeared. Focus! Just like rocking a solo - don't miss a note!

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He sighed as he tried to ping [member="Yula Perl"] again. This… giant ship was something else. Shaking his head, he pushed throttle of his YT-2000 and moved closer to the gargantuan. Looking over his shoulder, he had Porter already scanning it. “Any entrance? I don’t know… I can’t get a read on where people would be.” If they were even alive in there. That frustrated Coren for a minute, but as he kept rolling his ship, he was scanning and hoping to find the right entrance.

Getting a lead on the hive, he heard the call come across in Merrill’s voice. Another team was already making a move. Great Q, Great. Anything else? Coren received just a bit of ribbing and a laugh from the AI… or VI. Whatever it was, it was basically Jorus, just stopped at a certain time.

“Yeah, well, old buddy, I’m going to tackle it, but just have to find the entrance.” He could probably link up with the Hive, but there were so many people going, and taking a scan of the ships that were attached, he did see one that seemed like it was an older model Mon Calamari. Maybe Second Galactic War era? If he knew his curves of those ships, which he… sort of did.

Making a path set up, he was scanning the open entry point. Seemed to be mag sealed, but it ran deeper than a typical hangar would. Not too far from the entry of the Hive. Nodding, he pushed the ship forward, keeping his scans up, and making sure the shields were at full. Worse came to worst, he’d use the implant and get out of there.

[member="Atlas Drake"]
[member="Yula Perl"]

 

[Atlas Drake]

"Understood. We'll take care of it."

"Eyes up, possible cyborg threat," Atlas announced the rest of the small Hive expedition team, "Stun setting if you've got it."

The captain swapped his sidearm to ion, compared to some of the freelancers in his company he was barely armed. He was grateful for gun hands like [member="Christine Dellard"] who were willing to do their part, but Atlas was valued for more for his problem solving than his combat prowess. This was certainly a problem to solve. They had been warned not once but twice about a hostile presence, the first offering payment for extermination ([member="Servant"]) and the second had been delivered rather unconventionally ([member="Thiavi"]).

"Hey watch the ship. Your Kathol buddy could use some help," it took Drake a few moments to realize that Q wasn't talking to him. Dim lights back the way they came probably meant another landing ([member="Coren Starchaser"]), "Got some big deal support headed your way cap'n."

"We might need it..." he mumbled, having finally spotted his first resu, "I'll call you back."

Whoever the girl had been, she was right. They were cybernetic...things. Atlas was trained for this, it was a common humanoid reaction to treat the unknown with fear and revulsion. As a first contact specialist, part of his job was to judge which species could be negotiated with and which were fundamentally incompatible with galactic society. As for these creatures, the jury was still out.

"In the name of the Coalition!" he called out from behind some cover, hidden by layers of shadow. It was impossible to say what kind of advanced senses the strange beings ([member="Iron Giant"]) might possess, "Stand fast and account for yourself!"

Atlas gripped the blaster tightly, prepared for a potential hail of las fire in response. He didn't want to use it, but he'd do what was necessary to survive.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective 2: Return of the Hive
Allies: ORC

"The Supreme Executor has come down! Everyone focus on the next wave of electricity-stealing dragons; don't let them close to the boss!" the Utai player shouted.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Executor arrived too close to the first wave of two electricity-stealing dragons and these dragons are glowing a bright blue, indicating that a buff has been applied on those dragons. The tank that takes on the Supreme Executor is the same tank that was down there not having to deal with the plumbing puzzle, while the "plumber" tried his best to take the dragons away from the Executor. Meanwhile, Nazarie knew that she could do a better job of whittling down those electricity-stealing dragons than everyone else, allowing one of the melee DPS players to focus on the Executor, along with the hunter; the tank stacked both electricity-stealing dragons together, but away from the Executor, and then they focused on one dragon at a time. However, what worked earlier in the fight ended up working not so well now: the battlefield is now strewn with yellow circles that were too close to the three people on the Executor, and the healers sandwiched between the two groups. Because of the drunkenness debuff, it started targeting the healers. One of them couldn't get out of the yellow circle in time, killing that healer, and pressure mounted on Nazarie and the others to tough it out until the battle rez was off cooldown. If they didn't wipe until then.

 

[Kuzo]

[member="Elias Logain"]

A snort.

"If this was a hobby I'd be in trouble. I get paid to do this or else I'd probably be doing security work for some rich company," a contemplative pause. "I'd get paid a lot MORE to do that, but this is less dangerous. Plants rarely open fire on me," she jokes, grin wide. Not having any idea of how close to home that might hit for him.

"And yeah, that's why I'm here. No light makes it down here, so it's completely non-photosynthetic- or should be. But there's definitely a small amount of chlorophyll, see?" Flashing her light- the moss distinctly a pale green that had nothing to do with the pale blue it was phosphorescencing when the light skipped back off of it again. "If this was normal I'd be somewhere else."

She glanced over at him, now face level that he'd crouched down next to where she was perched.

"What are YOU doing here? I doubt it's my moss."

Closing the journal, she reached into her pack, drawing out a handful of sample containers as they talked.

 

[Zef Halo]

Giodyne Mining Consortium
Tombstone, Subterral
BYOO Objective - Hunt a Monster​

​

The careful hand caressing the moss abruptly halted at her mention of plants opening fire on her. He let nothing else show with sight still locked on the plant in his hand. Elias unpaused a few moments after while Neri spoke to him. She asked him an honest question and the monster hunter remained silent before rising his head up to look at her as she rummaged through her pack. He inspected the features of her face and if happiness had a face it probably would be hers.

Not everything is money. She pointed that out earlier.

"Hunting a monster." He said tonelessly stealing a glance back at where he had appeared from. "Maybe you could help."

No more information was given on why an ex-naval officer of the Alliance hunted monsters now.

His hand floated away from the moss landing on the pad that was his knee. Elias' focus shifted completely to Neri.

"You said the moss is somehow green even if there is no light around." The monster hunter said turning back to her earlier point.

Grave silence as ice blue eyes clawed at her own eyes.

"Are you certain this is moss?" the question lingered like the calm before the storm.

[member="Neri Rashal"]​

 

[Thiavi]

It looked like the kathol captain was enjoying this just as much as she was. and that was to say, Not at all. If they really were from this "Kathol Republic", than they might just be the first friendly faces she'd seen since escaping tatooine, well, save for kahlil. That also meant they were her ticket off this floating scrap heap, Between that and the fact that everything else appeared to be hostile, made thiavi consider putting her distrust of all living things aside for a few hours and see where it goes.

"Alright, I'm going to try and help, I've got.." Oh damn.. what's the word? "I'm up high, I've got overwatch" she comms [ [member="Atlas Drake"] ]

Taking another look at her surroundings, it appeared that the captain wasn't alone. Good. It appeared that he had some sort of mercenary escort, nothing that looked like official military judging by the lack of uniforms, though this line of thinking was based on the one merc she'd seen walking with the captain.
Their armor was looking pretty good.[ [member="Christine Dellard"] ]
but, she'd told them she had overwatch, so it was time to focus. She goes back to watching the odd cyborgs in the distance. [ [member="Iron Giant"] ]