Faction Punk Crawl [Darkwire]

[Darkwire Prophet]

"Any more stragglers from the shadowport?"

Jonnath Dundavi was no stranger to minced words, taking a fondness to the precision of language when the terms seemed weighted against him. That had been his defining feature in youth, as an otherwise common scallywag nibbling at the borders of Confederate and Silver space. On more than one occasion, the Vultan pirate managed to slip through a loophole or an error of technical oversight, earning his maintained freedom alongside a reputation.

In space, however, all warriors were cold warriors. Captain Dundavi didn't mince words on his bridge, even if the crew was a scraggly assortment of rough spacers or fresh-off-the-shore recruits. They would learn soon enough from the old pirate, now an honorary Shadowrunner in Darkwire. Even if his pay made him more of an independent contractor, Dundavi ran the Darkwire flagship as he would any ship of his own.

"Just a few, sir. They wound up at a bar on Hosk-240 instead of someplace onboard."

"Didn't get the 'No Shoreleave' memo, huh?" The gruff Vultan ran a hand through the fleshy folds on top of his head, the cartilaginous ridges his species grew there instead of hair. He blew out a noise of air, then decided. "Give it ten minutes and then they'll have to find their own ride back."

It took the Captain enough of those minutes to check in with the rest of the bridge crew. The ship was fueled, stores and ammunition stocked, and their contacts were all waiting at the various waystations before the flagship's final destination. The Samhain's Derelict, for the ship had never been given any other name than how Darkwire first came to know of it, was ready to jump into Denon space for the first time in its short life with the group.

To anyone who had boarded the vessel in its derelict state, the ship would look very different. Most of the internals were gutted, the remnants of the monstrous infestation burned or cut away, and the retained components brought as up to date as possible with the resources of a scrappy outfit like Darkwire. More of their funds and energy went into the onboard cantinas —one for each side of the ship— and tech workshops, with other empty spaces claimed by a tattoo and mods parlor, a fighting ring, along with a gathering space for droids. For being a floating relic of an ancient culture, the starship was essentially brand new.

"Alright, seal the hatches and prepare to undock. And remind everyone who did get onboard that they're here as security, not to party." The olive-skinned man hid a chuckle under another derisive huff, all too familiar with Darkwire's custom for doing so anyway. At least onboard his ship, he could ensure the drinks were half-strength until they could stand down from alert. "From now until we're secure in Denon space, expect CorpSec hostiles at any point."

His crew might not need the reminder, but Jonnath wasn't ready to rely on a gaggle of drunken Shadowrunners for protection.

"Captain? One of the starboard airlocks is having trouble breaking the connection."

"Again? This old bird has a tighter grip than my first wife." The Captain ran another hand over the fleshy folds on his head, stepping over to the engineer's station. A flashing light on the ship's diagram told the story as well, drawing a sigh from Captain Dundavi. "Seal the bulkhead in front of it, and rock us free with the thrusters. Send our regrets to Hosk once we're clear."

Shadowports weren't the best maintained docking systems, after all. It could have just as easily been their system causing problems. Jonnath would make it right with Hosk-240 once the ship was secure once more.

"Take us to Altier, we've got more punks to pick up."

"...and now the latest on the Terrorist Front, our intelligence sources captured telemetry of this vessel leaving the known shadowport of Hosk-240. Believed to belong to the terrorist organization Darkwire, a ship matching its specifications was spotted entering Loronar space shortly before the assassination of the late DireX Qanatain Xopsaloff. Its course and destination after leaving Hosk-240 are unknown, though it is likely moving to support a new wave of Darkwire operations. We'll keep you updated..." —news clip from an internal Corporate Information Network

"You seen the latest?" The Devaronian Lieutenant dropped a stack of datapads onto the desk, relief peering out from the lines clawing back around his eyes. He tossed his horned crown down the bullpen, to the end where the Captain's office sat. It was empty now, though for the past hour all eyes had been on the closed door and the higher-ups meeting behind it. "They want you on it, straight from the District Commander himself. C-BoP will assist, Denon's Chief Inspector has all the resources you need, but I guess the Captain really went to bat for you."

He gave the platinum-blonde woman a toothy grin, only glad it wasn't his problem anymore. "Good luck, Lieutenant, you're gonna need it. This isn't sewer rats or street punks this time, this ship is slipperier than a Tynnan covered in engine grease. If it's what they think, it's gonna be a big score. I'm just glad it's not my career on the line."

The Devaronian walked off chuckling, leaving Lieutenant Lucia Ives to her latest assignment.

OOC:
For now: This is a social thread. Bring your Shadowrunner onboard to protect the Darkwire Flagship during this high-security move into Denon space, introduce your new Shadowrunner, get a Darkwire Tattoo at the tattoo/mod shop, or just enjoy the other amenities that serve as compensation rather than credits onboard the Darkwire Flagship.

The ship will be making stops at several ports along the way to pick up weapons, supplies for Darkwire operations, and punks (that's you).

For later: Get ready to meet, suspect, and maybe thwart a CorpSec attempt at infiltrating the flagship. Perhaps Darkwire will need to run interference for the flagship until it can slip past CorpSec's Customs & Border Patrol, or see their flagship flee to safer ports once more.

 

[Under Foot]

[ post theme ]​

There was only so much excitement a Squib could take.

To start with, this ship! The Squib was practically bouncing off the walls for the opportunity to get his hands on her ample fusion transfer casings. The reactor core had to be an amazing piece of engineering. Was it solar ion or regenerative? There were so many questions!

Second, the droid corral had already turned into a haggling market. If he recalled, Hex had mentioned she was looking for some droid guidance chips. Well, he'd met a Sullustan who was looking for moisture evaporators. That might look like it had no connection to droid guidance chips, but the Sullustan knew a Rodian who knew a Chadra-Fan who dealt in droid guidance chips.

Where was Under Foot going to get his hands on a moisture evaporator? He had no idea. But that didn't stop him from talking a good game, because he knew business potential when he smelled it -- and this Sullustan smelled terrific!

And also slightly like brine.

Thirdly, and finally, the ship was headed for Altier! If there was a Squib heaven in this universe, then Altier was as close as one could get. And thanks for his connections in Darkwire, he was getting a trip there for free!

Gotta admit, he loved the price.

 

[Callista Volpe]

Somewhere between the port docking bay and the starboard docking bay Callista had found the Starbird Saloon. Instead of continuing on to investigate the other hangar bays she had stayed at the bar.

Then she'd found someone to stay the night with from the crew. And returned there the next day instead of getting on with her job.

"Another," she called, slamming the shot glass down.

"Is this helping the investigation?" the small voice came in her ear. There was a compact defence droid smuggled aboard for backup, but Q3 was instead getting bored in his box whilst Callista drank.

"Shhh. We've got days til the next stop," Callista hissed.

"Sorry?" asked the barman.

"Nothing, more drinks."

She had told the barman she was in insurance reclamations and he had laughed. Unfortunately it was true. Someone had stolen a corporate yatch from Denon and rumour was someone had it stashed on the Derelict. If it was there she would steal it back.

If she could stay motivated and sober enough for a day.

 

[Lucia Ives]

L U C I AㅤI V E S

'Plastic Heart'​

Work never stopped. Several hours of investigative action and report reviews had Lucia and her team of detectives burnt out~ yet

they couldn't stop, not after news of the suspected Darkwire flagship hit the precinct. Lucia was the primary on the Darkwire issue, at least for Precinct 7, meaning that she would be the first to spring into action~ all she would need was the green-light from the Precinct Captain or a definitive lead.

"Ah crick.." she mumbled, exasperated at her fellow Lieutenant as he dropped a number of datapads on her desk, "They're really pulling out all the stops, ain't they.." she muttered to herself, "from the District Commander?!" she continued, growing more concerned as a routine follow-up surrounding rumours swiftly turned into a full-scale investigation with the involvement of command, solidifying her lead.

Eyeballing the Devaronian as he smugly left the bullpen, she took a deep puff of her cigarra to think for a second. As a few moments passed, she turned to one of her detectives as she gathered her belongings and her service weapon: "Get me C-BoP~ I need a ride.."

 

[Hex]

Location: Samhain's Derelict
Objective: Meet with contacts
Tags: Under Foot

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• Big Bigby
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (4 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

Hex landed her little M3 hard in the hangar aboard the Samhain's Derelict. She wasn't a good pilot and it wasn't a good landing, the glares from the Darkwire ground crews made that much apparent. They glared at her and she glared right back, and quickly a silent understanding was reached.

'...We're here to make friends remember...' Hex just shrugged and continued down the gantry towards the rest of the ship.

"Its pretty jumbled in here... I like it." she joked to noone in particular as she walked through the dimly lit corridors towards one of the cantina, she hoped it was the right one, her contact we apparently already here, likely having to be tied down for he doesn't strip the ship while in transit. There was so many people about, it felt strange being in what amounted to a Darkwire military base, when to her the Darkwire had been all about bar meets so far. She slipped into the bar. Hex didnt have an ident tattoo yet, despite Daiya encouraging her to get one, maybe she might grab one here. She had been feeling the urge for some new ink anyway, if she didn't get the ident she had the image of a gorgeous phoenix saved to her pad that she might stick on her calf.

But, either way, they didn't seem to check her on the way in, maybe it was something to do with her distinctive look. The probably scanned her ship too on the way in.

Across the cantina she saw Under Foot , and walked over to him. "Undie! How is my favourite little squib?"

'...isnt he the only...'
"shhh you!"

"Sooooo.... got any goodies for me? Or any more fun... oh wait! Did you hear, out little escapade made that scrap heap miss the sun by just enough for it to slingshot into the outer system before corpos finally caught it! So cool!" she spotted his drink "oooh, do you think they make a neon lady here?"

'...you're babbling girl!...'

She gave herself a crooked smile before continuing.

"It was mostly burnt up from passing through the sun's outer atmosphere, but what a wonderful waste of corpo time and resources." she laughed, and them smiled as a clearly hawk eared bartender brought her her favourite neon cocktail. Hopefully this would cool her nerves a little bit.

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Ruby's stomach was howling. Yes, howling for food.

She was here aboard this derelict ship for a reason, to act as security as it made its way towards Denon. And in exchange, they'd be able to enjoy what the ship had to offer. Which, she had been led to believe included free food of some kind. At the moment, she was parked outside of the tattoo parlor. Her patrol, if you could call it that, included this area and came with the job of ushering any new shadowrunners to the shop to get their tattoo. Or, if anyone needed directions to the nearest 'fresher... she had that information, too.

Her boots took her down the corridor, so she could see around the nearest corner. "Anyone?" she called flatly to the empty space. Maybe there just weren't many new recruits aboard yet. But that'd probably change once the ship stopped by Altier. With a small groan, her eyes shifted in the direction of the nearest pub. Just maybe her route would take her there, too.

<Tag: anyone! Esp any new peeps >

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

thoughts | speech

"Another adventure in 'what the hell am I doing here?', starring yours truly..."​

Johnny muttered under his breath as he traversed the the corridors of the derelict, wondering why in the ever loving kark he consented to this. Honestly, the reasons eluded him. Somehow, he'd end up back on Nar Shaddaa, back in that grungy hole in the ground he called an apartment. The one with the cracked walls, the rusty vents, and the only loyal friend he had; his computer setup. That's most likely why he was here, not like they were paying him any creds after all. Which honestly blew his mind when he thought about it. He usually had a very strict 'No Creds? No Thanks.' policy. Still, the young Corellian slicer-dicer shoved his hands in his pockets, his hood up over his head and low on his brow.

The Force was a strange thing, sometimes. It led him places he wasn't sure he ever wanted to be, yet he usually found himself exactly where he was meant to be. Lately, however, it didn't really seem the case. After he was on the smuggler's moon last, he'd found himself out on Denon, and mixed up with a bunch of teenagers who didn't know their asses from a hole in the wall. They weren't exactly a bad sort, but Force knew they didn't seem to care much for him, and the feeling was mostly mutual. Then again, he still was keeping up this act of his, this chilled out ne'er-do-well with the 'meh' attitude who only cared about himself. And for the most part, it was true. The real distinction was that he was, in reality, not some sort of space bum who didn't have a care in the galaxy. The truth was far, far more simple. And maybe one day, one of them, or all of them, would figure that out.

Did he care? Not really, no. At least not for the time being. So off he kept walking, looking around at the various 'amenities' the ship had to offer. Pausing a moment, he looked out toward the tattoo parlor, and mused about maybe getting some new ink. Didn't really get the vibe that the place was anywhere he wanted to be to have needles stuck in his skin over and over for an hour or two, though. Reaching into the inner pockets of his coat, he pulled a small silver-metallic packet out, and jiggled it until a cigarra popped up just enough for him to pull it out fully with his teeth. Lighting it with a disposable lighter, he put both back into the pocket, and took a drag.

And that's when he spotted her. He remembered her from that warehouse where a few of them were supposed to be learning about various things to help them survive. Johnny didn't really learn anything new, most of it he was well aware of, the rest was, well... maybe it helped the rest of em'. But there was at least one pleasant sight, and he walked over to her, thinking if it went well, someone to talk to. And if not, well, at least it would be a distraction until he could get off this fething hunk of poodoo at the next port. As he walked up, he noticed she was looking around a corner, calling out to, well, anyone. And he responded in kind, not too far away now.

"Not anyone. Just me. Johnny, 'member?" he said with a bit of a lighthearted laugh. 'Smooth, dipstick. Real smooth...' he thought to himself.

Ruby Jaxx​

 

[Under Foot]

"Undie! How is my favourite little squib?"

The Squib's ears perked up. His two tails alternated, as they seemed to wag slightly at the familiar voice. Turning his head, the yellow-furred alien found himself looking up at one of the stalwart soldiers of the scrap pile that had gone up to salvage a wrecked star destroyer with him.

And a valued customer, to boot! On that note, the woman asked, "Sooooo.... got any goodies for me?

"Greetings and salutations, Miss Hex lady person!" the Squib chirped brightly. It was always important to greet a customer with a smile. To her question, the Squib turned and gave a tip of his snout toward where the Sullustan was presently haggling over the price of a used gonk droid with one of the traders that had showed up. "And, not yet, but I may have a line of a new source of... merchandise... for you."

"oooh, do you think they make a neon lady here?"

The question caught the fox-like alien off guard. His blue eyes flickered up to Hex in confusion, before realizing that she was looking at the drink in his hand. To be honest, he didn't drink. For starters, Squib were extreme lightweights compared to species many times their size. Second of all, it was always more profitable to be the one sober person in a room full of drunks.

He still liked to pick one up at the bar to help blend in with the humans. Very social drinkers, the furless were.

"Allow me to purchase you a tasty beverage of your choosing," the Squib offered., gesturing toward the bar.

Anything that cost credits was always an easy expense for schmoozing with his clientele. Credits were fungible. Parts and equipment, those were significantly more valuable to him.

"It was mostly burnt up from passing through the sun's outer atmosphere, but what a wonderful waste of corpo time and resources."

"Normally, I would weep for lost profits," the Squib opined somberly before his ears flopped forward and he added wryly, "But when its on the Corpo dime, I really don't mind!"

 

[Hargo Zur]

Reports had been streaming in for hours, and the District 7 Commander was up to his eyeballs in the murky swamp of Denon Politics. He'd already fielded numerous calls from his higher-ups, who'd fielded numerous calls from their counterparts in the DireX Board... And everyone wanted answers.

Answers he didn't have. Answers he would have killed for.

Lunch had come & gone; a half-eaten tray of sushi from a nearby local restaurant seemed forgotten atop a dark datapad screen, and the wet stub of a cigarra had been deposited in a glass of amber liquid - cast aside angrily and dying in a scream of protest which had been ignored.

The latest report from his investigators on the ground had been reviewed multiple times, as-if he were trying to gleen some unnoticed bit of data which would help him in his quest to find that blasted ship.

In a way, he missed his days of field-work. He'd been quite skilled, in his day, in "advanced interrogation"; breaking the will of any who resisted, then burying them so deep in the justice system that they would be forgotten.

Now, he would have to rely on his best officer to do her job, and bring him results.

Sleep would not come easily tonight.

Daiya Lucia Ives Hex Johnny Diamonds Cartri Keswoll Under Foot Ruby Jaxx Callista Volpe

 

[Ivory Stroud]

The Samhain's Derelict was immense, and questionably operational. Ivory had spent two hours in one of the upper cabins, pouring over the schematics she'd been given - noting each of the vessel's secure areas, evaluating it's maze of corridors & crawl-spaces, and committing as much of the layout to memory as possible.

She'd taken on the role of "Head Of Security" for this trek across the system - taking the safety of everyone on-board into her own hands when nobody else seemed willing. She wasn't out to prove anything to anyone - the responsibility of leadership was one she gravitated toward, regardless, and she felt little desire to party amidst the crowd of Shadowrunners which milled about the ship.

Rather than join the majority, she went off on her own - treading the darkened, lonely halls mostly unaccompanied. She was armed; a long-gun slung across her back and a holstered blaster snugly resting beneath her left arm-pit. In a pocket, she kept a key card which would allow her unfettered access to every region of the ship including the bridge & engine room. A handful of other Shadowrunners, including Ruby Jaxx , wandered the ship with her... But most would undoubtedly stick closer to the excitement. Ivory, on the other hand, committed herself to her task with a certain grim focus.

She'd provided local comms with her fellow Security Staff, allowing them to communicate on an encrypted channel, and expected them to check in at least periodically... For the moment, she figured their job would be a bit more relaxed, but as time went on, they picked up more people, and those people became increasingly more altered, she knew they'd have more excitement of a different kind.

"Ruby, it's Ivory. Checking in; aft section, hallway 3b outside comms support. What's your location?" Her voice would transmit clearly through the ship, and squawk in Ruby's ear.

The dull metallic bulkheads were quiet; before and behind her, the hallway stretched on - brightly lit in sections, while other areas were black wells of shadow.

Hex Under Foot Johnny Diamonds Lucia Ives Callista Volpe Daiya Cartri Keswoll Cassus Akovin Brie Jaxx

 

[Hex]

Location: Samhain's Derelict
Objective: Meet with contacts
Tags: Under Foot

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• Big Bigby
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (4 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

She sipped her bright blue drink and felt the sherbet liquor tingling in her throat as she did. "mmm... yummy" she did a weird thing with her tongue trying to control her straw before her eyes widened and she remembered she was in company with a grin.

"And, not yet, but I may have a line of a new source of... merchandise... for you."

"Ooooh, what have you found, you know I like a droid guidance chip. I was going to get you to have a look at my ship too at some point, not right now, I can bring it to your yard or something." she laughed, he didn't look big enough to carry the components on him right now. "Did you know, they built those old M3's with a hyperdrive but no nav computer? I literally have to pay a fee for someone to calculate my jumps, its not exactly sneaky right?" She nearly got caught leaving Kestri not long ago whole she waited for customs to plot her jump course, luckily she got the coordinates just moments before they realised she had a bounty on her head and so was out of there in time. It was way too close though.

She peered at the Squib and sat on a nearby table with her legs dangling down. She slapped the table three times to ask Undie to sit next "Hop up here, tell me what you think of all this? I didn't even realise the Darkwire had a space ship, its so big, I keep forgetting I can't just go outside to get some fresh air." Being in space was still a strange sensation to her, and the vast ship made it easy to forget, without external windows she could easily be in a denon tenement block ready to hop out a doorway and into the street. But she had been told very clearly not to open any external doors, as if she would.

'...you might...'

Ivory Stroud Johnny Diamonds Lucia Ives Callista Volpe Daiya Cartri Keswoll Cassus Akovin Brie Jaxx

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

​

Near: Johnny Diamonds
Also Interacting w/: Ivory Stroud

Ruby was about to turn on a heel and walk back, but a voice did respond. Craning her neck slightly, she squinted at the form of Johnny approaching. He asked if she remembered, and she almost responded 'no,' out of habit. She didn't remember a lot of things. The name Johnny almost didn't ring any bells, but his surname Diamonds did – Mr. Sun-In-His-Eyes from the thing.

"Oh. It's you." Ruby said, matter of factly. "Uh, hello."

Why was he coming over this way? Then, she remembered where she was. "You gonna get your tattoo?" She was supposed to be helping folks do that, after all. Ruby pointed up ahead, back the way she'd come. "It's just there. I bet even you can find it." Ruby chuckled.

There was a voice in her ear, which may have interrupted Johnny if he was talking... Ruby had a hard time focusing on more than one thing at a time, her braincell couldn't take it. "Ivory," she responded, almost more so to just confirm that she'd heard and knew it was Ivory because that's what she said.

"Up the way from Bodylass," she responded. "Actually, heading back that way... I think. Unless you need me to go somewhere?"

 

[Zenric]

Aha.

Ahahaha.

The nervous laugh just continued in the back of his mind as he stared out the ship window. At space. Actual space. He'd done a lot for Darkwire against the Corpos. All kinds of hacking and infiltration and.. Well. Lots of shadow runner stuff. But never, ever, absolutely.. Ever, did he go into space. As a cyborg, probably wasn't a problem. His body could probably survive the vacuum of space easily, right?

Didn't change the fact he was shaking in his boots. If he could.

He couldn't.

Zenric kept his hood up over his masked face and just.. Wandered. Through the halls, exploring. Casing the joint, really. He'd only recently started to mingle with the organization of literal hackers and thieves. He'd be a fool not to take a look for some kind of exit, right?

Or he was just paranoid. Hard to tell.

[Open]

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Darkwire: Ruby Jaxx Johnny Diamonds Zenric Hex Under Foot Daiya
CorpSec: Callista Volpe Lucia Ives Hargo Zur

"Up the way from Bodylass," she responded. "Actually, heading back that way... I think. Unless you need me to go somewhere?"

Ruby's voice came through clearly. Ivory looked back the way she'd come - down the long, dull-grey hallway with its flickering lights, then ahead; noting two junctions coming up; one, which would lead her toward Engineering, and another which would lead her to a bank of hyper-lifts & deliver her to other areas of the ship.

<<"Affirmative. I want to run a check of all the bars & businesses on the ship... Make sure we don't have any stowaways. We've already taken on some passengers, and we're about to get more. I know how much you like fighting; run a check of Frankie's Parlor, then meet me in the Starbird Saloon. Look for anything suspicious; anyone who doesn't fit in.">>

Then, the tall, raven-haired, tattooed rebel departed for the hyper-lifts.

She turned the corner ahead, then another; noticing that in this section, the lights appeared even dimmer than before. She shook her head, silently cursing under her breath... then reached out toward her right side and steadied herself against the bulkhead as two things happened: First, there was a deep, metallic groaning sound from somewhere deeper within the ship, and secondly (for a split second) all the lights in the hallway went out & plunged her into total darkness.

Almost before she could react, the lights all flickered back to life.

Ivory rolled her eyes, adjusted the FDS-15 ScatterGun slung across her back, and arrived at the doors of the first Hyper-lift on her left side. She reached out, depressed the button, and silently hoped the blasted thing didn't shut down with her inside... or else she'd have to climb.

No sooner did she think that thought, then the circular light behind the button she'd just depressed suddenly died.

She stared, saying nothing, for a few heartbeats... then, shook her head and keyed her communicator again. Ruby Jaxx

<<"Looks like I'm taking the stairs. Hyper-lifts are down, for the moment.">> With a sigh, she turned around and retraced her steps - back the way she'd come, until she found an emergency stairwell she could take up toward the higher levels. Ivory craned her neck upward, surveying the long climb ahead of her...

Fifteen minutes later...

With a ker-chunk, the metal bulkhead separating the stairwell from the main starboard thoroughfare popped open and Ivory stepped through, shutting the door behind her with her boot. Beads of sweat dappled her forehead, and her grey & white dappled fur-coat had been tied around her mid-section. She took a deep breath and let it out, willing her heart-rate to settle from the long climb.

"Damn, maybe I need to cut back." She muttered to herself, shaking her head. She was in good shape - worked hard to keep it that way - but climbing multiple staircases in such a short span of time had taken a small toll. She paused for a few minutes, listening to the distant hum of conversation & music from somewhere nearby; then, once she'd caught her breath, untied the sleeves of her coat, shrugged off the long gun, then replaced both. In the lonely corridor, the Shadowrunner took a moment to compose herself, then began striding down the hallway toward the noise.

The Samhain's Derelict was a massive ship; one of the largest she'd been on in recent memory, and without her study of the ship's plans, she was certain she'd have gotten lost worse than she'd already been. Down below, the interconnected corridors were a poorly-lit maze of ancient construction. At least in this portion of the ship, there were signs of retrofitting & overhaul - lights had been replaced, bulkheads repaired, electronics rewired, and glass panes replaced. It hadn't taken long for Darkwire to make its presence known, however... Already, Ivory recognized signs of graffiti. She passed a mural which at least two people had started, mixing art-styles & colors to create a psychedelic backdrop which glowed in the light like a rainbow beacon.

She suppressed a smile, pleased in the artistic expression. This was the Darkwire she loved.

Then, she rounded the corner, and found herself in a large room with multiple levels rising above her; wide-open, and interconnected by hallways.

The hum of conversation & music had steadily increased and now was front & center. Small gaggles of individuals from all over the Denon System mingled amongst themselves; talking, drinking, smoking, laughing, yelling, dancing, and cavorting. Some were heavily augmented, gesturing with metallic limbs or flashing metallic teeth, while others appeared "factory-default"; but all were (apparently) friendly, either making new friends or engaged with their old crews.

Very few of them paid Ivory any mind, as she passed. She figured it was unlikely they'd know her - only the District 7 Cell would be familiar enough to recognize her.

<<"Ruby, I'm in the main hall; starboard side. Almost to the Starbird Saloon. I'm gonna grab a drink. See you when you get here.">>

It didn't take her long to find the brightly-colored neon sign depicting "The Starbird Saloon". The bar had been erected in what had once been the starboard Mess Hall, but redecorated in classic Darkwire fashion: dim, multi-colored lighting, artwork painted on the walls, and the smell of cigarra smoke & booze.

With a nod toward a trio of Shadowrunners standing just outside, Ivory entered the Starbird.

Her first stop was, as always, the bar; approaching and slapping a credit chit on the counter.

"Whiskey, neat." She said, paying little attention to the bartender until he arrived to join her.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

thoughts | speech

It seemed like Ruby didn't care one way or another, although he got the distinct impression she really couldn't be bothered with him. Well, if there was one thing that was abudantly clear, it seemed like no one ever smiled when ol' Johnnyboy walked up. Didn't surprise the Corellian one bit anymore, if he was going to be honest with himself. It's your own fault, kiddo. You were the one that decided to act like some sort of hep-cat stoner who doesn't think his poodoo stank, after all. Couldn't really argue that, but he was still kinda scared, he had that fear nipping at the base of his skullsponge. That's what a year of... eh, best to put that out of mind for now, Johnny. It was then that she mentioned something about getting his tattoo.

"No, uh, no tattoo for me. I just figured it's a huge ship, and well, I saw you of all people, and uh..."

Johnny had an awkward smile on his face as he looked down at the bulkhead beneath their feet, one hand reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck slightly. He didn't notice it when she looked away, seemingly having a conversation that didn't involve him. Must be on the comm. Must be on the foot patrol part of the security team. He was on active holonet duty, the ocular implant which had replaced his left eye and his custom datapad both linked up with the ship's mainframe and AI as well as the holonet and cryptnet. It's what he did best, after all. Out in meatspace, he was just this odd twenty-something Corellian with sub-par social skills. On the net? He was like thermonuclear wildfire, a blazing entity within the circuits that was nigh impossible to keep up with.

Still, it seemed Ruby was waiting for a response to her question from whoever was on the other end of her comm. Johnny opted to stay off voicecomm for now, as there were other, more discrete ways to keep eyes on anything that might be going on. His ocular would cycle through some various cameras until he was looking back up at Ruby with his right eye, and seeing through a security camera the entrance to the Starbird Saloon. He had been heading there anyhow, as he could use a drink. The ocular then defaulted back to 'first person' vision, and Johnny spoke up as Ruby was about to move on.

"Hey...you uh, wanna grab a drink? S'on me, if your up for it." he said, that awkward smile still playing on his lips as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat.

Ruby Jaxx | Ivory Stroud
​

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

"Alright, yeah," Ruby responded to Ivory's instructions. "I mean, affirmative. See you at Starbird."

So, she had a job to do now – check for stowaways, check Frankie's and look for anything suspicious. And speaking of suspicious... Johnny had just asked if he could buy her a drink. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she returned her attention to him.

"...why?" she asked, her expression that of a genuinely confused person. "Uh, I mean... "

No one had ever offered to buy her a drink before. Not even in a creepy 'hey babe wanna drink' kind of way. So, why was he suddenly offering? Ruby watched him, his hands were now in the pockets of his coat. He didn't look threatening. In fact, he looked earnest. Maybe he just wanted to do something nice? Something to apologize for the fact that he'd punched her in the guts and made her spit out that jelly donut in Peyton's class?

She might have looked like her brain was about to explode for a moment, but she tried to shrug and act nonchalant. "I guess that'd be okay. I'm supposed to head to the Saloon after finishing this round anyway." Ruby wasn't going to pass on something for free, after all.

Ivory was in her hear again, too. "The hyper-lifts are down," she said aloud for Johnny to hear as well. Having two conversations was... two conversations too many. "Let's head to Frankie's first, gotta check it out." Ruby momentarily forgot which way it was, but after a moment of turning in almost a circle, she got it.

Ruby crossed her arms as they started off. There was something about this place that gave her the willies. Or was it the fact that someone had offered to do something nice for her? No, it was probably because of the last time she'd been on the ship. "I was here before, on this ship," Ruby started to explain. "Before it was all fixed up. There were... monsters in some of the rooms." It might have come across like a spooky story, Ruby trying to make something up to frighten him. But it was actually true.

Johnny Diamonds Ivory Stroud

 

[Cassus Akovin]

She had told the barman she was in insurance reclamations and he had laughed. Unfortunately it was true. Someone had stolen a corporate yatch from Denon and rumour was someone had it stashed on the Derelict. If it was there she would steal it back.

If she could stay motivated and sober enough for a day.

Somewhere along the journey of Samhain's Derelict, Cassus was to make a rendevouz. There was an interesting piece of cargo he was intending to drop off as the vessel made its leisurally retreat from the former Pirate's Republic of Wann Tsir. Which was too bad, he liked Wann Tsir the way it was, but such a republic was never going to last long with the sorts of neighbors the planet bordered.

So, he was pretty sure he'd be given a warm welcome aboard given his present participation in the fleeing culture. That is, his cargo was actually an entire ship: a Mirage-Class Superyacht appropriately named The Gift of Presence.

Acquiring it from its corporate owner back on Denon had been a tricky exersize, but was more than worthwhile. He took every precaution to make sure he couldn't be followed, and the ship itself provided him incredible latitude to do just that. He did, however, make a point of ensuring the bastard knew who had stolen it before he jumped to Hyperspace. Let him know, that the next time they crossed pathes, he'd be losing more than just a ship. Sending a message to his adversaries was important, and it didn't always require assassination. Sometimes just the threat of it couple with financial loss was enough to satisfy him.

At any rate, after hanging out in Hyperspace for a while, eventually he piloted the 92 meter long ship into an appropriately sized hangar/hole in the ship.

"Are you crazy, or just flat out stupid?!" A plump Latero yelled at him with mechanical legs that seemed to extend their height based on how angry they are, and right now they were taller than Cassus.

"I'll go with crazy-" Cassus managed to mumble in before the variously tall alien stilt-walked their way into a tirade. Cassus couldn't help glancing at the legs. How do they manage to walk with the right pace if they're always changing height? He wondered throughout the criticisms.

"--Are you listening to me grounder? Y'all can't just park your damn ships wherever the hell you feel like just because you own the place! Animals! The lot of you!" Cassus didn't manage to get the Hangar Master's name before they stormed off, slowly shrinking as they got farther away from Cassus.

Callista Volpe

 

[Under Foot]

"Did you know, they built those old M3's with a hyperdrive but no nav computer? I literally have to pay a fee for someone to calculate my jumps, its not exactly sneaky right?"

"Hmmm," the Squib mused aloud, taking the offered seat as he hopped up next to the woman. As he did, the Squib slid the untouched beverage across the table in case she cared to imbibe. After all, he was just carrying it for appearances. Someone should get to enjoy it.

"Have you considered loading an astromech brain into the chassis?" the fox-tailed alien inquired, mostly thinking aloud. He'd need to get a look at one of these M3's for himself to understand the interior volume and electronics, to determine if there was even room. But, if nothing else, something like a BB unit's brain ought to be able to go under the seat. Then it was just a matter of running a bypass to the hyperdrive.

"It'd only be able to hold five sets of coordinates, but that would at least cut down on the number of times you'd need to pay for new calculations," Under Foot mused aloud, his tails flicking in different directions as the Squib's large blue eyes looked up at the colorful woman.

"I didn't even realise the Darkwire had a space ship, its so big, I keep forgetting I can't just go outside to get some fresh air."

"Stepping outside is an entirely possible bad idea," the Squib noted in an almost sing-song voice, but holding up a solitary finger as he advised, "But with a decidedly lack of fresh air as an option, you bet'cha."

With a solemn nod, the merchant added, "But, I can attest that the vacuum is very lovely this time of year."

Mostly owing to the space walk he'd had to perform on their scrap-gathering outing.

Much not advised. Many not agains.

Hex​

 

[RAV]

A blinking white light jerked a pair of glowing blue 'eyes' down to their wrist comm, alerted with a simultaneous beep in her ears. The press of a button with a gloved finger, transferring the call to her helmet as she sat upright in one of the lounge chairs on a secluded deck. "Problem?" The masked figure answered, androgynous voice heavily modulated. An attentive pause and huff followed, listening to the rattle of technical issues at hand. She knew this patchwork bucket of bolts would break down sooner or later, the moment she stepped foot on the Derelict. If not for the burnt hole in her pocket, pressed for options on Hosk, she would've boarded a much sounder, discreet vessel back to Denon. Now she could only try to help keep this ship afloat and pray it got her home in one piece.

"On my way." She checked the time on her bracer. Her legs had gotten too comfortable, aching for another forty winks. But she'd given her word and put her name down on the service list, guilted by the old honor code that had reared her. Duty calls. She'd catch up on shuteye, later.

She set off briskly against the tide, her swamp green coveralls a murky blot against the neon and black multitude of a populated intersection. Filtered air helmet passing her unphased through clouds of cigarra smoke and alcoholic breath. She had outgrown the parties, the drinking, the fun. Now was all business, keeping to herself when not in use. She wasn't exactly dressed for a party, anyway, rather looking like some creepy Jawa gremlin. Uh, she could explain… but no. Instead shrinking along the walls to hide herself among the shadows and isolated paths, as she turned a corner towards Engineering, still a ways to go as she strolled along a vacant, half-lit corridor. No big rush. It was only hyper-lifts, not a hull breach.

Spoiler: Outfit

⌧​

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

thoughts | speech

Great, you broke her skullsponge. She's got a point, what's the end game here, Johnnyboy? he thought to himself as she asked him why, looking at him like he was a Hutt with legs. Guess all that bravado he spouted off was finally taking a back-seat to the real deal Johnny D, at least with Ruby. Why her, of all people, he couldn't say. Not a fething clue, no ma'am. Seemed like ol' Johnnyboy had stumped her this go-round. Then, a funny thing happened; her face went into a sort of nonchalant 'whatever' kind of look, as she shrugged her shoulders and she said ok.

She said ok! Alright, JD, this is good! Ok, don't go weird here, act casual or something. The thoughts ripped through his brain at lightspeed, and he nodded lightly, smiling a bit more, nothing too odd or freaky. He was just trying to be, well, nice. He was, and let's admit it Johnnyboy, you're kind of a dick. He didn't mean to be, but it seemed like that was his default mode. Defense mechanism, really, not that he was aware of it. Too much had happened to him in the past couple years. The fact that he wasn't dead right now was a minor miracle. And that he was still 95% organic, double the miracle, double the sense of disbelief.

As Ruby mentioned heading to Frankie's, he nodded and fell in stride next to her. She crossed her arms, but not in that stand-offish kind of way he would expect. This seemed more...creeped out. Was it him? Maybe. Was it the ship? Wasn't all that sure until she mentioned she'd been on the ship before it had begun to be refit and patched up. "Monsters? Like, what kind? We talking squatters trying to oogie-boogie people away from their makeshift homes, or we talking like, legit scary animals and such?" he asked her, genuinely curious to her answer. Her voice betrayed nothing, he could hear it in her tone. She was as serious as a rancor attack. "I've seen some pretty damn scary stuff in my 'travels' too." he added. Johnny was just trying to empathize with her, cause well, isn't that how you are supposed to act when it came to people you actually wanted to hang around?

Ruby Jaxx​