Faction Trash Panda's 11 | Darkwire

[Brie Jaxx]

Brie ducked behind the old crate and debris she had been quick to slide into cover of. She held her breath and shut her eyes for the brief moment when Hex's detonator went off with a sharp bang. Wierd girl knew her explosives and the effects of it, because when Brie opened her eyes again she still had two arms and two legs. Looking to the side, Brie saw Daiya still in one piece too! Brie waved at her in confirmation that she was alright, before taking another peek for Hex . The blue haired girl had not been as lucky, with an injury in her shoulder spraying blood out in the freezing cold vacuum.

PEW!

A red blaster bolt hit the metal floor beside Brie, so dangerously close to her exposed hand that she could feel the brief warmth of the bolt, which made her duck back into cover and blindly fire a spray of blaster bolts in the direction of the Hackjackers firing at her position. She heard Hex call that she was alright, about at the same time as Daiya insisted that they should head for the ship and get out of here. As did the Squib and Johnny Diamonds over the comms. It sounded like a great idea, if they were to avoid getting blasted to pieces, eventually. There was only one problem. Everyone were not back yet. Daiya weren't thinking...? No, of course not!

Suddenly, in between the blaster bolts flying above them and her friends urge to get going, Brie got an idea as she saw Johnny spraying the bad guys with his some sort of rail pistol. It was powerful enough to keep the majority of them down, and giving them a small window to retreat for the Falcon. They needed more firepower. They just had to reach for it and use it.

''I got an idea! We don't have to run! Not yet!'' Brie called at Daiya under the sound of Johnny's rail pistol firing. ''Could you cover me while I try to reach the Falcon?'' she asked and looked for trust in her best friends eyes. They had a whole ship armed with laser cannons. Honestly, it looked like a piece of junk, but they had to try, right? Angering Hex with giving up their loot was almost an equally unappealing idea.

Brie hoped that Daiya would buy her idea, but they had mere seconds do decide. If so, Brie would join Daiya in a spray of fire against the Hackjackers before heading for the Falcon and her cockpit as quick as her magnoboots would carry her. Out of pure curiosity, and partially in an effort trying to find something else to think about than Hex's and Daiya's interesting topic of bodily functions, she had studied the controls of it on their way there. She were fairly sure that she could start it up and maneuver its laser cannons. They wouldn't know for sure until they tried it, right?

Under Foot , Abigail Meredydd , Saija Kwann , Lilianna L'lerim , Samnai Rouber​

 

[Samnai Rouber]

“You ain’t getting awa—” The burly, near-frothing man was quickly silenced by her bullet. As she reloaded, another hackjacker threw his knife at her, which she grabbed and threw right back at him. It pinned him through the shoulder to the nearby wall, from which he struggled to free himself. The next moment, he did get free but slumped down from a shot to the chest. His blood joined his numerous comrade’s.

Samnai thought she was doing pretty well for herself, but the close call made it clear that unless they managed to stop the flow of the hackers, their defenses would break down soon.

As she thought, a strange sight outside caught her eye. Jumping behind a corner, she looked through the window as Under Foot jumped in a specific direction, but gravity impeded his progress and pulled him down.

“What the kark?” she muttered, dodging a stray bullet. As her eyes drifted and locked with one of the hackjacker’s, she got a—most would say stupid, she would say resourceful—plan. She’s running low on bullets anyway.

The woman was close enough to attempt to shoot at her point-blank, but Samnai moved to the side and grabbed her hand, twisting it painfully so that the other would release her weapon, then using both hands to hurl the body over her shoulder and right into the window. It was easily broken through by sheer force, and the hackjacker, too shocked to react, was shot down in space by her own gun.

The corridor was thankfully quieter now. Samnai could afford to look out the window at Under Foot while keeping her new gun trained behind her. Eh, not that far. Hopefully he can fit in through this opening. “Need a hand?”

Batch Daiya Lilianna L'lerim Johnny Diamonds Saija Kwann Brie Jaxx Hex Abigail Meredydd

 

[Daiya]

"Oh my stars!

Daiya winced at the blue girl suffering under the onslaught, grimacing under the helmet of her suit. She gasped, her chest growing tight every time another of the Hackerjackers shot at or closed in on Hex. The teen was too far away to do much besides shoot at them, her blasters doing about as much damage as theirs did to her suit. Her ears pulsed with the blood from her heart, every limb in her body straining against the unfamiliarity. On a planet, this kind of firefight might have emboldened the young shadowrunner, it certainly would have energized her to find more creative solutions.

In space, Daiya was only focused on solutions to live through this fight.

She squeezed the trigger anyway, firing off blaster shots above her head as she ran toward their ride off this doomed rig. Daiya ducked under their return fire, trying to dodge more hits than she took. Her body jostled with every step she took with her Magno-Grip boots, and it threw off the young shadowrunner's aim more than she enjoyed. The teen cried out in frustration, the crossfire in vacuum had her head nearly spinning.

"Yeah, Brie, go!" Daiya told her best friend, nodded as best she could in the helmet. The young shadowrunner set her jaw, firing with a renewed sense of purpose, only wishing she could do something to even the footing against the veteran spacers shooting back at her.

"Oh feth...yes!" The teen whooped with ecstatic joy when she noticed the first Hackerjacker flailing away from the ceiling. Others quickly joined them, too far from the structure to adhere their boots back. She glanced around for more cover, spying one of the Shadowrunners firing rail projectiles into the squirming mass of Hackerjackers now. Daiya was too driven by survival instincts, and a fair amount of experience in shootouts planetside, to stop and gape like she wanted to. Instead she offered a short prayer to them both, "Thank the stars!"

The stars seemed to twinkle back at her as she lit up the hangar bay with shots from her blaster, aiming for the vulnerable Hackerjackers above her. Some of them were starting to take advantage of the small momentum granted to them by each shot and hit they took, turning collisions with each other into an opportunity to throw them both onto opposing vectors. From her fixed cover just under the Aluminum Falcon's hull, Daiya could track their movements far easier than even planetside. She unloaded the last of one gas canister into one of the pirates, her whole face brimming with satisfaction as the body started to slowly spin, trails of blood turning it into a macabre sort of pinwheel.

"Take that, bucketheads! Ha Ha Ha HA!" The young shadowrunner's melodic laughter rang clear over the open channel, her mood growing far more calm and confident than just a few minutes ago. She reloaded her blaster, stepping behind the landing strut of the Aluminum Falcon to keep out of the crossfire as she did. Her body picked up a new sensation as Daiya leaned against the vessel's hull, feeling the vibration of its laser cannons firing bright blasts of energy within the enclosed space. "Oh feth, who let—oh BRIE!"

At last the teen recalled her friend's disappearance while the Hackerjackers squirmed mercilessly short of the ceiling, warmth growing over her cheeks. Her eyes swung around, spotting Hex and the man with the handheld railgun, but not seeing many of the others returning yet.

And where the feth was their furry pilot?

"Do what you gotta do, Hex, me and Brie —oh and Railgun Guy— we gotcha covered." Daiya spied a twitch of movement again in her wide vision of the bay, swinging her blaster up to shoot it still once more. The young shadowrunner was starting to get the hang of this now, her breath coming in tandem with her pulsing heart and limbs. Her comms went out to the whole team, hoping they were on their way back already.

She wasn't going to last forever like this.

"Just get it done fething fast!"

Under Foot Hex Brie Jaxx Johnny Diamonds Samnai Rouber​

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

[Johnny's Soundscape: Wires & Energy]

thoughts | speech | << comms >>

​

You ever have a moment that seemed to be frozen in time? One of those moments where everything around you slowed down to a snail's pace, and you could see everything as clear as a bright, sunny Corellian day? Those moments were very rare, pure moments of nothing but sheer adrenaline, fueled by the will of the Force. You might not know of the Force, you may not be able to touch it let alone influence it. But the Force was there, ever-present in all things. Even the Force-dead could be affected by it in ways even the most knowledgeable practitioners of the art could not fathom. And Johnny was no exception. He understood the Force to a degree, but even he had a lot left to learn. Maybe that's why he was so keen on keeping his abilities hidden away from prying eyes. He was going through his own sort of malaise and emotional growth, just as much as the next script-kiddie or adolescent netrunner. But in this singular moment, it all was so clear to him as it all ground to halt for just a split-second.

The bright red bolts firing off from the Falcon's gun batteries, the smile upon Daiya's face as her outstretched arm held her blaster tight, the sound of the echo coming from the hull as their Squib captain bounced along it's outer hide. The feelings of anger coming off Hex, and the surprised from Samnai, the panic from the Hijackers, and the feelings of indestructibility from Brie. The twinkle of the stars beyond the blazing light of the sun that loomed large ahead of them. It all just stopped in that one singular moment, and Johnny took it all in with a sense of wonder and amazement.

Just as quickly though, time sped back up and everything began to go back to the velocity of reality. And the reality was that while they were a bit more defended, the Hijackers were still doing what they did best; improvising. Some began to grab at one another, and use the inertia to toss one another toward the shadowrunners gathered, still firing off their weapons at the crew. It seemed they were hellbent on getting what they came for, but the rest of the team seem invigorated somehow. And Johnny? Johnny was still spinning like a corkscrew toward the Falcon, picking up speed as he flew through the void of space within the Hangar. Just as he was about to slam into the hull of the smaller ship, he twisted himself, somersaulting himself so his boots hit hull first. Activating his maglocks, his boots adhered to the hull with a thud, and he used his cybernetic eye's aiming aide to get a vector on where the closest Hijackers were. Slamming another clip into his rail-pistol, he concentrated upon the Force, praying silently that his aim was true.

And then, like dominoes falling one after another, the Hijackers began to cry out, one after another. They might not be able to hear it due to the lack of atmosphere in the hangar, but the Hijackers wailed as one, then two, then four, and then six of them began clawing at their necks. The slugs from the rail-pistol had slammed into the face-plates of each one of those six helmets, shattering them to the point of failure. Johnny wasn't exactly proud of it, but those six hijackers would begin to asphyxiate, choking on the void of nothingness before passing on into the great unknown. Sighing lightly behind the glasteel of his own helmet, he quickly walked his way down the side of the Falcon, and dropped himself down next to Daiya.

He checked his messenger bag, only two clips left. Hopefully, it would be enough. Looking to Daiya, he spoke through the comm. <<So, how do we save our score? Any ideas, choom? I'm fresh out.>>

Johnny hoped the rest of the team were alright, he'd been too focused on not getting flat-lined himself in all this insanity.

Daiya | Brie Jaxx | Hex
Under Foot | Samnai Rouber​

 

[Hex]

Tag: Daiya Under Foot Brie Jaxx Lilianna L'lerim Abigail Meredydd Samnai Rouber

Location: Aboard the derelict
Objective: aquire components for home tech construction.

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (5 3 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

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 cackled manically as heavy bolts from the Falcon streamed out into the defensive position of the hackjackers and it felt like the atmosphere changed, as much an ice cold hard vacuum could be called an atmosphere? The intial suprise attack from the hack jackers had stalled and the initiative seemed to be on the side of the scavengers at last. Rail rounds whistled through the void from Johnny Diamonds , cutting down more of them, how many more could their possibly be? Hex clicked down and reactivated her mag boots, Candles continued to spin away toward Daiya and Brie Jaxx . "Grab that for me would you, i have something I need to do." she turned and grinned at her friends, her eyes were a beautiful combination of blue and pink and her loose floating braids made her look like a demon.

Before anyone had chance to hand her her pistol she was off again, running down the corridor towards the now retreating hackjackers. The girl's shoulder hurt as the fusion of skin and nano-tech cloth pulled at the wound site, but it just pushed her harder.

'...They hurt us, they tried to rob us! Let's see how much we can hurt them!...'
"just point me in the direction and I'll make them pay!"
'...excellent news...'
"Their ship?"
'...perfect...'
'...LEFT!!...'

Hex ducked as a shimmering blade whisked out from the left hand side of the corridor and barely missed her neck. She twisted and her butterfly knife found the armpit of the would be executioner, spraying arterial blood out into the vacuum. She barely stopped to confirm the kill and carried on down the corridor. The grav boots and the lack of reference, coupled with her mental detachment had helped her forget that she was still fighting in such an unusual environment as the abandoned starship. That was until she came face to face with a damaged external window and very nearly ran head long into space. Her stomach span as she saw the twinkling of the stars, and further down she saw the hackjackers ship parked silently on the external hull of the old star destroyer.

She had run out of sight of both her friends and the bulk of the Hackjackers and she smiled with ruthless grin as she pulled Confetti off of her back and loaded a guided missile into its tube. Lifting the tube up, she couldnt hear anything but the laughing of one of her voices. Hex imagined the familiar "bip bip bip bipipipipipip beeeeeeeep" before pulling the trigger with a smile. There was a flash of back pressure behind her as the missile went out into the darkness, sailing into a long loop and giving the shocked pilots of the hackjacker's transport a few seconds to ponder their impending fate. The cockpit was blown apart in an explosion that likely would have been felt reverberating back through the hull the few dozen metres she had run from her friends. She saw other hackjackers spill put into space as their ship suffered explosive decompression.

"Hahahaha! Boom baby!" she spoke through her comm channel, at the very least alerting her friends that it was a good explosion.

 

[Under Foot]

[ post theme ]​

Samnai Rouber gave the Squib a helping hand.

"Much appreciations!" Under Foot chimed brightly, his high pitched voice likely seeming entirely too cheerful for the situation that they were in.

They were definitely taking a profit loss on this venture, but they weren't up against bankruptcy just yet.

Squeezing through the open window, the Squib hit the deck and started scurrying back to the hangar. Bounding up the loading ramp, the fox-like alien leapt into the air, landing hard in the pilot's chair as he dove to the flight control to start powering up the Falcon.

"I'm firing up the sublight engines," the Squib announced. If anybody's suit sensors lit up at the ship powering its systems, he didn't want to give anyone the impression that he was about to bail out on them.

They'd been willing to come up to a derelict flying into the sun in order to collect scrap.

These were definitely the sort of human fellows that the Squib wanted to keep around. And keep on the payroll.

Not to mention the Squib Reclamation customer family. He should get them all added to the mailing list.

As the Squib tried to cycle the engines, all the lights on the ship went black. There was a shudder, as the ship just seemed to seize and die. Scrambling around the cockpit, the Squid opened up a maintenance panel, to discover that his patch job had transformed into a smoldering mass of melted spacer tape and wire.

"Oh, come on, I just fixed that!"

This was definitely going to set back their launch time.

"Everybody get back to the ship!"

Now, when they got here, just how was he going to get them out of here?

"Also, we might need a push-start. You think those Hackjackers would mind?"

Daiya Hex Brie Jaxx Johnny Diamonds​

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Not wanting to lose sight of her friends for longer than necessary, Brie hurried inside the ship, panting as she crashed down into the gunners chair and gripped the joysticks controlling its laser cannons. She gave the dash and interface a brief glance and assessment. Seeing the Hackjackers in full assault upon the outnumbered group of shadowrunners outside forced her to more or less take a chance in her first shots. It was a well weighted guess, as the Hackjackers were soon bombarded with a barrage of starship artillery sending them flying by the explosions it made in the hangar.

Even though the feeling of invinsibleness were growing inside the young former scrapper girl, it was a moment of intensity at a level she had never experienced before. She had certainly never used a force like this before to defend herself or anyone else. Lives were lost, but it wasn't her friends lives and she tried to disregard the destruction in the distance.

The suddenly added firepower turned the tide in their favor. Brie saw Hex and Johnny Diamonds gain new strenght, she remembered Daiya had been close behind her and were probably taking cover close to the ship, and Hex left her field of view. Soon there after, an explosion rocked the old Star Destroyer and they could hear the Wierd Girls maniacal but victorious laugh through the comms.

Brie jumped at the sudden movement and noise behind her, and spun around just to see their furry employer in the captain's chair. In another setting, those small legs dangling from the for humans made chair and him reaching over to the dashboard would have looked so cute and funny, but that was something Brie failed to see right now.

It was not far into the launch sequence that the Squib hit rocky ground as the engines stuttered and died.

''Looks like whatever you did wasn't enough...'' Brie said plainly in response to the Squib insisting that he had ''fixed'' something.

Brie fired a few more shots, before calling back to ''Mr. Fixer Upper''. ''Uh, you want to switch places? I can have a look, if you want?''

She were anxious to handing over the laser cannons to the jittery little furball, though!

Under Foot , Lilianna L'lerim , Abigail Meredydd , Samnai Rouber ​

 

[Daiya]

Tucked into cover now, hidden behind and around the Aluminum Falcon's landing gear, Daiya began to feel the comforting calm settle around her. Like a familiar friend during firefights, she embraced it, feeling a patient, deliberate hand guide her blaster to one Hackerjacker, and then the next, and the next. Squeezing off blaster bolts, the young shadowrunner scored one hit through a hijacker's suit, sending the others dipping back into cover like she did between most shots.

Heavier bolts streamed from the ship's laser cannon above her, obliterating the Hackerjackers' cover and Hackerjackers themselves when it hit. Daiya took advantage of the new tide in the battle, leaning out bolder, and for longer again. She squeezed her trigger, her eyes brightening to see another of the hijackers start to list backwards, a trail of red beads forming behind them from the wounds her blaster made. The teen felt her breathe hesitate behind her tongue, tasting the first sense that they might be able to escape in one piece.

Assuming everyone was still in one piece, that is.

Daiya glanced around to take stock, her eyes rolling at the sight of Railgun Guy spinning like a dancing top as he whirled toward them. Her eyes grew wide to watch Hackerjackers flail and cling to the broken faceplates of their helmets, tracing the cause back to the dancing form of the man with the diamond railgun. She grinned behind her helmet, giggling when he landed on the ship above her, and walked sideways down the side of it to join her underneath it.

"Our score?" The young shadowrunner asked, ducking behind the sturdy beam of the Falcon's hull in time to feel the vibration as it absorbed a hijacker's shot meant for her. She leaned out, her eyes quickly searching for the shooter, but her blaster found it first. Her finger squeezed before she realized it, only managing to catch the shooter's limb before she had to hide again. Daiya glanced at the man, watching his face beneath the glasteel helmet, and her eyes narrowed. "I'd rather save our fething asses."

Daiya was alone in that, but the more spacer-experienced Shadowrunners around her weren't giving up on their loot. The teen shrugged her shoulders, apathy stretching past everything that wasn't her blaster and her survival right now, confident in her abilities with those two. She turned, meaning to look for another hijacker to target, when something caused her to spin around and grab for an object flying through the —well, it wasn't air. Her hand closed in around it, grasping Hex's heavy blaster in her palm.

"Feth yeah, now that's more like it!" Wielding two blasters now, Daiya eagerly took to the fight with a renewed sense of security. Imagined or now, the teen could sense they had the hijackers on the verge of retreat. Squeezing the triggers in tandem, left then right, right then left, she popped off more of the suited thugs, grinning with glee as they listed or tumbled helplessly in the inanimate shells of their suits.

"We might just have time for your score," she told Railgun Guy, whooping with delight to see the small Squib rejoin them, running up the loading ramp of the ship. Daiya shot at more of the hijackers, hitting a few, but they were growing as cautious as she was bold now. With the Squib's voice in her ears and the thinning herd of prey, the young shadowrunner paced herself back to the loading ramp, hanging around its bottom end.

With the latest suggestion from the Squib rattling between her ears, Daiya opened her own comms wider. "Hey Hex, get back here. We need more explosives."

The teen giggled at the thought, finally making enough connection from what she had seen today. "A boom is as good as a push in space, right?"

Under Foot Hex Brie Jaxx Johnny Diamonds Samnai Rouber​

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

​

<<"Fething hell, what WAS that??">>

He could feel the vibrations as Hex's missile turned the Hijacker's ship into a smoldering crater of technological wildfire, burning for however brief a time the oxygen from within it would last before the void consumed it like everything else. Still, he couldn't really bother with that whole deal right now, too much going on right in front of him. And then, like clockwork, he could hear the whine of the engine's as they began to cycle. A split second later? Nothing. And the squib captain asked the sixty-four thousand credit question.

<<"Hang tight, fox-dude. Mr. Fix-it incoming!">> he said over the comms with just a bit of a laugh under the words. Couldn't help that. Looking to Daiya, he smiled as she grabbed hold of Blue's blaster, and began firing off bolts in rapid succession. She's got this, Johnnyboy. Time to get us all off this damn rusting hulk, lest it be our coffin, dig? he thought to himself. <<"Keep it up, half-pint, we got em on the run now!">> he said as he turned and started hauling rear up the ramp into the ship proper.

Johnny's thoughts went just about everywhere in the small amount of time it took him to reach to cockpit where Brie and Under Foot were. How many times did he end up having to fix a droid, or a terminal, or a blaster, or some random piece of tech? How many times did he grab broken piles of wire and metallic pieces and turn it into something useful? He was a jack of all trades, that much was certain, but there was trepidation as Brie offered to switch places with the little Squib. Well, Johnny, leave it to them, or do what you always do and pay the price later? the thought toyed in his mind for a few more moments before he just dived into the damn mess of wiring and connectors. He'd deal with the fallout later. Right now, they needed to get their arses off this damn floating coffin.

"Oh come ON! It's a fethin womp-rat's nest in here, Fox-dude. Ugh...Ok, hang on, hang on." he said, reaching into his messenger bag. He pulled out a small durasteel case, and set it down next to him, flipping it open with one hand. Within, precision tools for doing very tedious and complex work on electronics and electrical systems. Slicer's gonna slice, after all, but you never knew when you'd need to liberate a computer chip from it's mainboard, or need to free a few circuits from their housings. All why he always called himself a 'Slicer-Dicer'. Grabbing a small set of flush-cut wire snippers, he began tearing away at the Squib's so-called 'handi-work'. Johnny began to work more and more quickly as the seconds turned into minutes. Soon, the other hand darted toward the case like a snake striking out at it's prey, grabbing a cylindrical, auto-fluxing soldering iron. With surgical precision, the natural Technopath began to rewire the hack job, muttering here and there as the ship shook from time to time.

"If you want to get out of here, keep them off our hides for another few minutes, would ya? I'm trying to work here!" he said, absentmindedly. He didn't much care if they got mad, or upset, or what have you. He was trying to save their skins. It was just what he did. You can take the Johnny out of the Jedi, but you can't take the Jedi out of the Johnny, it seemed. Damn emotions, all this random caring and all.

Under Foot | Daiya | Brie Jaxx | Samnai Rouber | Hex​

 

[Hex]

Tag: Daiya Under Foot Brie Jaxx Lilianna L'lerim Abigail Meredydd Samnai Rouber

Location: Aboard the derelict
Objective: aquire components for home tech construction.

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (5 3 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

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

​

"Are we winning yet? Came the half insane voice from hex through the comm as she admired her handiwork. "Hey Lilianna L'lerim You like blowing stuff up? but it can't be anyone innocent? How bout you come out here and we make up over some pirates?" she giggled as she sent the communication on the shared channel they had all agreed to use. However, they hadn't heard from him in a while so he may have disconnected. Finally stepping back from the hole in the hull she was suddenly at a loss with what to do. But she had a little brain wave which might make this foray even more valuable.

'...You don't even know how to fly it...'
"How hard can it be right, just don't crash into the star and wait.... hold that thought!" he eyes widened with delight.

"Oh undieeeeee, if someone was to steal the other hijack the other hackjack... hey, I get it now, that's funny, sorry. If I stole their other ship, could you rescue me from space and tow the loot home?" she didn't even wait for the answer before running down the corridor at high speed, further from her friends and toward where the two shuttles were docked. She had no idea what was on store for her down there, but she wasn't thinking as rationally as she otherwise might. Right now though, she was an invisible and silent assassin running down the corridor in a vacuum, until she slid round the corner and was confronted by two Hackjackers guarding and air lock, they raised their guns towards her and signalled her to halt.

"Oh hey! I'm Hex!" She was still connected to their channel from when they connected earlier, but they looked suprised to hear her voice. "You must be the guards, that fake leg looks cheap! Is there many of you guys left at this point?" The angle of her neck and the grin laced across her face gave the image of a mad woman.

The two men reached for their guns and hex drew both of her pistols.... except she didn't, one was missing, but in the heat of the moment she forgot and and one of the men went down, the other fired his gun. If felt like she had been kicked in the gut as she went down onto her knees, steadying herself just long enough to stick one in the second guard's chest.

"Chit!" She cursed to herself on the still open comm.

 

[Under Foot]

Everyone was a critic.

"You shoot the shooting, I'll fix the fixing!" the Squib tossed back at Brie Jaxx

For one thing, he was very bad at shooting things that needed to be shot. Much better at sorting the fix or fixing the stuff. Or cooking the numbers, but that was a fixing of an entirely different kind.

Thankfully, Johnny Diamonds was there to lend a hand. Or, you know, rip out half the wiring he'd spent months perfecting into a glorious womp-rat nest of connections he no longer understood himself, just accepted that it worked.

Oh well. If this didn't work, the Squib wouldn't live long enough to be mad. And if this did work, then he'd likely offer Johnny a contract doing electrical work.

Under the table of course. Ain't no one got time for filling out that labor paperwork. And what the Corpo tax man didn't know wouldn't hurt Under Foot's filing status for this year.

"Oh undieeeeee"

The Squid didn't even know what Hex had gotten herself into yet and he was already concerned. Not about Hex, more so the idea that she was going to blow them all up.

Which, where was Daiya ? "Now boarding zones 2 and Cresh for Air Squib to Denon," the Squib announced, hoping to signal to the teen girl that she needed to get her tail back to the ship.

Right, Hex.

"Rest assured, Miss Hex, ma'am, your rescue shall be forthcoming, yes, sir'ee. Best quality rescuing, you bet'cha!" the Squib chirped. "Just as soon as we get the engines started."

Order of operations and all that.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Brie threw a glance backwards in the chair just as Johnny Diamonds entered the cockpit, before she needed to concentrate on the firing again. Finally, people were boarding in case they needed to get out of here.

"You shoot the shooting, I'll fix the fixing!" the Squib tossed back at her upon her suggestion that they switched places.

''Furball have really taken a lot of water over his furry little ears back there! Would you help him, Johnny?'' she uttered quite stressed about the fact that the Hackerjackers seemed to not give up despite their temporary advantage in firepower, and Johnny proceeded to help their jittery little employer.

The teen giggled at the thought, finally making enough connection from what she had seen today. "A boom is as good as a push in space, right?"

<''A BOOM?! Don't give her any crazy ideas now, Daiya!''> Brie almost shouted through the comms as the heard her best friends suggestion to Wierd Girl. Daiya had just given the most explosive girl in history an idea that involved using her little toys against their own, and their only, means of escape. Holy stars, this could either end in success or complete destruction, Brie thought as she wiped off a pearl of sweat running down her forehead.

"Chit!" She cursed to herself on the still open comm.

Brie heard the curse through the comms, getting worried for the shadowrunner she perceived as a friend. <''Hex?! Where the kark are you?!''> Wierd or not, Shadowrunners cared for each other and the Hackerjackers had really put the band of friends between a rock and a hard place.

Under Foot , Hex , Samnai Rouber , Lilianna L'lerim , Abigail Meredydd​

 

[Daiya]

The young shadowrunner gasped at the rumbling of the ship around her, grabbing hold of one of the supportive struts of the loading ramp. Vibrations coursed through her hand making it unmistakeable, they were finally leaving. Her eyes flicked back to the Hackerjackers, the survivors still peering through their cover at her. Daiya glared back, daring the pirates to shoot one last time.

"Now boarding zones 2 and Cresh for Air Squib to Denon."

"Chit. I'm coming, I'm coming, alright?" Daiya grumbled back at the Squib over her comms, wincing at the sound. It seemed almost louder, knowing he was just a few meters above her head. She sent her glare up through the hull plating, as if it could actually penetrate, while the teen holstered her own blaster, leaving just Hex's tossed one in her hand. She grinned instead as the comms exploded again with her other friend's voice, and Daiya's face wore a smirk as she shot back, "It can't be any crazier than a bunch of space thugs fighting us over scraps!"

Her giggles. and Candles in her hand. gave the teen confidence as she spun around to start up the ramp, gripping the support strut as her world turned back upside down. Daiya could feel her stomach flip over as she transitioned back to gravity plating beneath her feet, moving from one handhold to another up the ramp. She was grateful that the hijackers were no longer shooting, but they were the last thing on her mind. The heavy thud of her boots, having real weight again on the deck, and the loud sounds of her own breathing rattling through her head.

Daiya swallowed back the bile, and it was the absolute wrong thing to do.

She lurched, her eyes throwing wide glances around the ship's interior, only the faintest of reminders pressing on her brain. With the only atmosphere in her suit, Daiya ran through the ship, scrambling for an enclosure or refuge of some kind. The whole ship couldn't be depressurized! Pressing a hand to her suit's helmet did nothing against the waves of revolt in her stomach and throat, ticking down like a clock as the gravity plating beneath her feet sent the teen on a nauseous trip through the space.

It felt like the very last second when Daiya found the small room, no bigger than a closet, stuffed with equipment and assorted junk. There was enough space to squeeze herself inside before shutting the door behind her, scrambling with the latches and seals on her helmet. The teen felt like she was going to explode!

A minute later, the teen was on the decking, her hands on her knees, heaving nothing out of her mouth. Saliva dripped, but the bile stayed firmly in her stomach, where the meds she had taken finally, painfully, paid off. She pressed her forehead against the decking, her face dry of the tears she expected then too. All wound up with frustration from the flight and adrenaline from the fight, it was all she could do to grip the helmet against her revolting stomach and scream inside the tiny enclosure.

Daiya was far too ready to be back planetside again.

Under Foot Hex Brie Jaxx Johnny Diamonds​

 

[Hex]

Tag: Daiya Under Foot Brie Jaxx Abigail Meredydd Samnai Rouber Johnny Diamonds

Location: Aboard the derelict
Objective: aquire components for home tech construction.

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (5 3 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

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 saw stars and the darkness of the nether threatened to consume for long moments. She felt like she was floating in space, her back and her stomach no longer hurt and she no longer feared the horrors out in the void. It was nice, she was calm and a smile began to form on her lips as she gently exhaled.

'...Sweet girl, its not your time yet...'
"But I just want..."
'...its not your time...'

The mists began to clear and her eyes cracked open, a silhouette formed in front of her, in a shape reminiscent of the hackjackers. Maybe she should have waited to see who was looking over her but her instincts took over and her dervish blade whipped through the vacuum and through the man's throat, showering her in bright red arterial blood. She coughed, adding her own blood to the inside of her visor shield.

Hex shoved the weight of the man off of her and staggered to her feet her comm was crackling with the voices of her friends, but she had lost a lot of blood, it floated in the vacuum around her and pooled in her now re-sealed suit, if it wasn't the taint in her blood she would be dead already.

<can you still... hear me?> she sputtered through the radio as she walked along the gangway. Was the man she just killed the last of the jackets of this transport? Couldn't be, could it? There was still likely more hack jackets running riot in the rest of the ship, but she knew what she had to do. She pushed her way towards the cockpit and was greeted by a droid and old model. "Who are you? You are not registered to be aboard this vessel, so I must ask you to...." The babbling was silenced with a single shot through its central processor. Hex rounded the cockpit and slunp3d jnto the pilots chair before looking at the rows of switches and dials in front of her. "Chit" she said aloud, she had no idea what to press here? Maybe, no, that didnt do anything. No, that was something else.

"hmm, any ideas?" she said to noone in particular.

'...big lever perhaps? marked docking tube?...'

The blue girl grinned peacefully and flipped the switch. There was a grinding of metal as the pipe ripped itself clear of the Destroyer's hull and the pressure from the interior atmosphere blasted out, Hex not having the forethought to seal the door first. The decompression gave the shuttle enough thrust to knock it clear and it gently began to roll away from the larger vessel and into the darkness. The comm channel would cut out soon so Hex needed to send one last message, then she could have a little sleep while she waited. "Daiya, Undie, I'm out here, come and get me please."

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

thoughts | speech

Johnny payed no one else any mind right now. Focus. Focus, Johnnyboy, Focus. The Corellian youth kept at it, snipping a wire here, soldering a wire there. Closing his eyes, he let the Force flow freely, letting it guide his fingers, showing him the next move. To anyone who might look on at him for more than a moment, his hands, even his tools, would begin to look like a motion-blur special effect from some dammed holofilm. Quickly, he worked, as the Squib kept chattering about, and Brie kept hollering about this, that, and the other thing. It was all background noise to him. He just kept on doing what he did best...

red/purple wire to pin 7a...

blue/white wire to pin 89e...

yellow wire spliced into connection 62...

solder this chip into series with this one...

and...

Like some sort of techno-genius, Johnny sighed in relief as the lights and panels on the Falcon began to hum to life, the engines firing up once more. A glance over at the status indicators would show the engines operating at 97% efficiency, fuel ratios near perfect.

"I'd wager tokens to creds that's our cue to get the kark outta here, El Capitan."

Johnny grinned widely, scooping his tools back into their little durasteel case. Sliding it back into his messenger bag, he affixed the panel once more into it's home, and got up, quickly sliding into the co-pilot's seat. He began to tap on the control panels in front of him, familiar with them as it were. "I'm just making sure the engines stay active this time. Let's go grab Blue an' ditch this garbage scow! I feel like I need 2 tetanus shots and a day in the bacta tanks at this point."

Daiya | Under Foot | Brie Jaxx | Samnai Rouber | Hex​

 

[Under Foot]

[ post theme ]​

There was a hiss and sudden pressure as the loading ramp closed behind Daiya , as the ship restored gravity and the life support kicked in.

At least both of those were still working.

Inside the hangar bay, several Hackjackers were pelting the Squib's ship with blaster fire. Sparks and bolts flew by the canopy, as the Squib and Johnny continued their work.

Finally, as Johnny got the repulsors back operating, the Squib raised the ship and then rotated it so that the engine thrust washed over their attacked, forcefully blowing them backward as the Squib angled the ship for take-off. Tossing his helmet to one side, the amber-furred Squib fitted a headset to the side of his head, dropping into the pilot's chair, as Hex could be heard to ask, "Daiya, Undie, I'm out here, come and get me please."

Beside the Squib, Johnny Diamonds took the co-pilot seat as he remarked, "I'd wager tokens to creds that's our cue to get the kark outta here, El Capitan."

"I won't ask what odds you're giving," the Squib quipped back at the man, before craning his head back to call, "Bree, take the gunner mount just in case there's more of them out there!"

If Brie Jaxx could watch their backs, that just left the pick-up. "Daiya, I need you on the cargo loader," the Squib announced, before turning his attention back to the controls. "We're picking up a package for Hex. Express delivery!"

With that, the Squib took hold of the controls and guided the ship from out of the hold and out into space. Adjusting the thrust, Under Foot looped the ship up and over, rolling on the axis as he prepared to do a fly-by on Hex.

"Get ready, here she comes!"

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Another useless charge from the hackerjackers, and Brie had to concentrate on the firing of the front laser cannons. Why were they even trying to attack a space ship? Had not they had enough? That they did this, all for some salvage loot, was beyond Brie. There had to be something other to this. Something they had not yet seen. Something valuable.

"I won't ask what odds you're giving," the Squib quipped back at the man, before craning his head back to call, "Bree, take the gunner mount just in case there's more of them out there!"

''You got it, furball!'' Brie uttered, stressed that everyone was not on board yet, which meant that they had to hold onto this position for just little bit more. Brie prayed for Hex, who seemed to be the last one out there, before she rose from the chair and moved to the central gunner mount of the ship.

Before Brie entered the central gunners position, she passed the small cabinet that Daiya had searched refuge in. Brie heard and sensed the troubles going inside the small space, and opened it to find her bestie on her knees, chipping for air.

''It's just space sickness, Dai! You'll be better soon!'' she said, before she headed off to the central gunners position to keep their six safe.

Under Foot , Johnny Diamonds , Hex , Samnai Rouber​

 

[Daiya]

Daiya struggled to hold herself upright as her body shook, her chest heaving from the effort. She stared forward at the back of the tiny compartment, refusing to let her eyes wander down to the mess she'd made on the floor. Flecks of it polluted her suit as well, and the teen tensed with embarrassment at the sound of her name.

She fumbled for her helmet, holding it awkwardly to activate the comms unit embedded inside. "Cargo loader, right."

The young shadowrunner didn't exactly know where that was, but at least she had something to do. She grimaced as her eyes caught a glimpse of the vomit covering the floor and items in the small enclosure, promising the empty air that she'd come back and clean it all up. They weren't home yet, and her veins coursed with that knowledge, delicately picking herself up off the floor when an enemy assaulted her again.

They were inside the ship!

"Oh chit!" Daiya started, scrambling for her weapon as she turned around to face Brie looking back at her, encouragement written all over her face. The teen relaxed, not easily grinning, but at least able to draw the reaching hand away from her holster again. "You scared me to death Brie! Thank the stars it was you, I thought it was one of those fething spacer goons again."

After a moment, not bearing to glance back at the mess again, she added, "Or worse, Under Foot!"

Daiya giggled at the thought, not relishing the moment when she'd have to explain it to the Squib. She hurried back out into the rest of the ship, making a quick sweep of the cargo hold before affixing her helmet once more. The young shadowrunner found the cargo loader controls right next to the largo hatch set into the hull, forming part of the floor itself when closed. She could feel the ship moving again, it didn't take much for her to work out what was going to come next.

"It's just like aiming a blaster," she told herself, lining up at the controls. Daiya tapped them experimentally, watching how it responded to her commands. The loader arm swung much farther and faster than the young shadowrunner expected, forcing her to use short, delicate movements instead. "A big, fething blaster."

The young shadowrunner was ready when the ship swung around to Hex's position. As ready as she was ever going to be with just a few minute's preparation. Activating her comms and opening the cargo doors, Daiya aimed the cargo loader as carefully as she could. "Daiya to Hex, hold still. Can't promise this won't hurt..."

Daiya fired the loader projectile at Hex, hitting the control to reel it in as soon as it made contact.

Under Foot Hex Brie Jaxx Johnny Diamonds​

 

[Hex]

Tag: Daiya Under Foot Brie Jaxx Abigail Meredydd Samnai Rouber Johnny Diamonds

Location: Escaping
Objective: aquire components for home tech construction.

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (5 3 explosive, 2 gas)
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

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 won't make it...'
'...why did we follow her here...'
'...we'll never see her again...'
'...the girl that did this to us?...'
'...we did it to ourselves, it was a matter of time...'
'...she's going to die out here...'
'...we need her to wake up... wake up now...'
'...Its too late... she's gone, she'll never... wake up!
'...Elyssa! Wake up!...'

"Huh?!..." The blue haired girl opened her eyes as the navigation lights of the ship carrying Under Foot and the others glowed brightly in her cockpit. Her head hurt, her stomach hurt and her back hurt, she needed to sleep, why wont they let her sleep.

'...just one more job...'

She staggered down the length of the ship, feeling her blood slop inside the leg of her suit, but she dared not open it to the vacuum in case the barely healed blaster wound in her stomach was torn back open by the pressure. She stood in the doorway of the stolen ship. Across the void, she could swear that she almost felt Daiya calling out to her... no.... aiming at her.

'...left! now!...'

In her weakened state it was more of a fall than a duck, but a grapple hook sailed past her in the zero-G and clattered silently into the corridor of the ship before beginning to slide back towards the door as the distance between the two ships fluctuated. She lifted her blaster, not thinking, just acting and fired at the control panel of the main airlock door that the harpoon had come in through. With a shower of sparks, the door slammed shut, closing off the void of spade but trapping the grapple cable with just a few feet to spare. A shudder in the metal of the craft signified she was now under tow of the larger ship and she smiled. She might survive after all.

"Thank you" she said allowed, to the stars, to her rescuers and to her voices before shutting her eyes again to rest.



Minor Epilogue

Hex was critically injured, but had been right to try and steal the ship from the hackjackers. Whilst this was their last raid, they had carried out many more before. Once she had been saved, the ship was found to be full of stolen technology, plenty for the beleaguered team to sell and make enough money to call this a profitable mission. There was even enough cash for Underfoot to repair the torsion damage to his ship from suddenly grabbing hold of a fast moving shuttle.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

thoughts | speech

The Falcon began to really hum to life as the Squib began to expertly maneuver her out of this rusty tin-can monster. Johnny kept up with the readouts on his side of the cockpit, tapping a few switches here, adjusting some other knobs and what-have-you there. All very technical, ya' see. Point was, that they were delta'ing the kark out and actually doing so while keeping themselves in one relative piece. He saw Brie nod and haul major rear toward the gunner station, and with that, Johnny turned his attention back to the co-pilot's read-outs.

A light on the panel began to flicker from green to orange, and kept on doing so as he quirked a brow. He tapped it, and it just kept on going. Waiting a moment, he side-eyed Under Foot, and then thudded his hand into it, and the light went back to solid green. "Green across the board, let's go pick up our package!" he hollered a bit as Under Foot maneuvered the falcon into position. And just as they got the ship Hex was on in-view, he felt the Falcon shudder as the loader projectile took flight into the void of space.

<<Nice shot, half-pint. Reel 'er in nice and gentle-like, eh?>> he said over the comms.

Looking to Under Foot, Johnny shrugged lightly. "You do realize that's gonna leave a mark, right? Hope we got enough to afford to fix it." he said, winking with a smile. He leaned back as they began to reel Hex and her shuttle in, content in the fact that they indeed made it out of this mess alive, and with a fair bit of scrap to boot.

~ Minor Epilogue ~​

Under Foot seemingly thanked Johnny for his help, and Johnny offered to take the co-pilot's seat again if the Squib ever needed. Plus, the hefty little amount of credits and tech Johnny made it out of this with definitely didn't hurt. It would seem that Mr. Diamonds would hang around Denon a little longer than he had originally planned. He was sure that he'd see them again, after all... what's life without a little adventure?

Daiya | Hex | Under Foot | Brie Jaxx

~Fin~​