((Attack R4 w/ 1 chiv joss & 1 mal joss:
10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 7 & 2

Disrupt dodge w/ awareness: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Flowed strike: 57+10+15 = 82 / better dodged))

"That would be really intimidating if you were..."

Arkady Stops mid sentence, focusing entirely on the movement of his opponent. Any slight twitch, any smallest movement will not escape his eyes. He ducks down for a sweeping kick, but feigns it and his blessed 1911 gleams as it points at the ghost lady, aimed dead straight at her pretty mug.

"Well... Intimidating."

His aura glows with essence as it's channeled to his divine armament and is released in a silver sheen flash and the near deafening sound of as a .45 caliber pistol is fired at point blank range.

((Ghost Defense:
6, 6, 5, 4, 4 & 2
*Defense vs Strike 26 + Dodge 5 + AB 10 = 41 vs 82, 3 ripples + roll

RR on Ghost:
*17 + Damage 10 + Bonus Damage 5 = 32 - Toughness 5 - IKF 15 = 12, a Trivial wound

Ghost Attack:
8, 8, 8, 7, 6 & 4
*Floods 1 for Disrupt if attack hits
*Attacks back with 38 + Strike 10 + AB 10 = 58, inflicts a Disrupt if it hits, has other effects if it hits, Better Dodged))

The ghost hardens its corpus as the bullets zip towards her- and to some degree she's successful.  But the auspicious bullet still penetrates some of her defenses, causing her to stagger back as corpus-blood oozes from her ghostly flesh.

She howls with rage, her hair standing up in a horrible mane as she lines up another shot with his torso- then twitches towards his shoulder and squeezes the trigger.

((Defence R4: 10, 7, 7, 6, 4, 2 & 1
Dodge Strike: 27 + 10 + FW15 = 52 vs 58, A ripple))

A bullet scrapes Arkady but he doesn't lose his focus. It was a good trade. The  ghost puppy's enraged expression made him feel good, despite the pain. He's not an easy piece to chomp. This bastard bites back, and even if he'd eventually bite the dust, he'd do it with drunken bravado and a fixation to resist. No respect for traitors, and no mercy for those who took everything away from him.

He bites his teeth and taunts once again.

"Taking it like a champ! Guess this isn't your first time dripping oozes? Just wipe it off and get ready for a new rodeo, Cyka!"

((Arkady takes a Disrupted Strike, Recovery 58 and a single Petal.

Ghost Init R5:
10, 9, 6, 5, 5, 4 & 2
*Float 5-5
*Init 19 + Speed 5 + AB 10 = 34))

Arkady feels his body go wrong for a few moments.  His actions feel dulled, his bones a little bit more brittle.  She grins at him like a shark.

But she doesn't have any witty reply...

((Init R5: 10, 10, 8, 6, 6, 5 & 2
Float: 6-6
Init: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40 - Goes first
FoB: 18 + 10 + 10 = 38 - 2 chi

Attack R5: 8, 7, 5, 5, 4, 3 & 3
clarity in openness +10 craft - 3chi
Disrupt Strike w/ craft: 23 + 20 + 10 = 53
Metal resonance touch - second Disrupt strike w/ craft: 25 + 10 + 10 = 45
Strike: 18 + 10 + 10 - 5 = 33 - better dodged))

Arkady gathers his focus and dashes for his opponent. His body felt sluggish but he tried his best to ignore it. He pulls the gun on her and fires it in close quarters, but his primary objective was something else.
That gun is dangerous, whether it be from the weapon it self or the ghost wielding it.
He grabs the cocking handle of the SMG and pushes it back a bit, and gives the gun a good smack sideways at the base of the barrel with his metal arm.

Objective: Feeding malfunction by bolt misalignment and distorted chamber axis.

That should turn the pipe down a bit.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Tue 07 Aug 2018.

((Defense vs Attack:
10, 9, 8, 7, 3, 2 & 1
*Defense vs Strike 19 + Dodge 10 + AB 10 - Disrupted Dodge 5 = 34 vs 33, dodges
*Takes both Strike disrupts

Attack R5:
9, 8, 5, 3, 2, 2 & 1
*Flowed Strike 35 + Strike 15 + AB 10 - Disrupt 10 = 50, Better Blocked
*Disrupt Dodge 22 + Inspire 10 + AB 10 = 42))

The ghost is caught off guard by his earlier attack- suddenly realizing that she can't do much against anything but his bullet.  She jukes out of the way of that, but he gets a good hold of her weapon and twists it, causing it to jam.

But it's a supernatural weapon, and she's a powerful ghost with a beating heart of stolen power.  It still fires grey-green ripping bullets in a quick spray that threaten to rip through him.  But it's not as powerful as it once was, and she knows it, and there's shit all she can do about it.  She snarls at him, beautiful features turning to a rictus of ghostly rage.

((Defence R5: 7, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3 & 3
vs. strike: 35 + 10 + block 10 = 55 vs 50 - blocked
Clarity in openness +10 confidence - 1 chi, 1 solar chi
vs disrupt: 23 + 10 + 15 = 48 vs 42 - "you won't play me"

Init R6: 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 4 & 4
Analyze style fears w/ learning (twilight): 28 + 10 + 15 = 53
Init: 24 + 10 + 10 = 44
Fob: 19 + 10 + 10 = 39 - 2 chi))

Arkady instinctively pours essence in his metal arm and shoves it in front of the muzzle. As the bullets ricochet and shatter he locks his eyes on his opponent's, and doesn't flinch a bit and gives the woman an expression between pity and despite as his aura begins to glow. He stays in his stance with his open palm towards the ghost and steadies his stance examining her for any signs of weakness.

"Calm the fuck down... I'm gonna take you on a date with Mr. Sandman with a slap behind the ear blyat."

She sure is mad. Better keep pushing her buttons until she fucks up.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:02, Tue 07 Aug 2018.

((Init R6:
9, 7, 7, 7, 6, 4 & 3
*Float 7-7
*Init 19 + Speed 5 + AB 10 = 34

Style Fears:  Hidden, unorthodox methods; being outnumbered and surrounded))

She scowls as she watches her attacks flow around him like water around a rock.

"You'll be on your knees sucking Death's cock," She rasps.  Looks like she's gotten her voice back.

((Attack R6 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, 2 & 1
Strike: flowed 36 + 10 + 15 - 5 = 56 - Better dodged
Disrupt speed w/ Learning: 22 + 15 + 10 = 47))

"If that day comes, I'll bite as hard as I can! Ha!"

He takes a relaxed pose and continues

"You think you know how the world works? You think that anyone will buy your pretty lies and a pretty face? Well I won't. I know I alone can't change the world and I sure as hell can't save It alone, but what I do, what I create, Invent, maintain... It all makes it a lot easier for others to save it... I will help humanity save itself. You think you know how everything goes? didn't see this one coming did you? The very people you betrayed biting on your ass ,blyat! I know only one thing for sure... I know nothing! HA! And I have one thing you don't have It's-"

-He cut's his monologue short and suddenly pushes his pistol forward, but takes and odd turn and instead in a flowing motion he ducks down a bit and spins towards his opponents right side, closing some distance, and goes for a cheeky pistol whip aimed directly behind her right ear.

"- It's that I have the ability to choose, And you don't. I can choose to bite death in the dick, You can only swallow."

((Defense vs Attack:
10, 10, 7, 5, 4, 1 & 1
*Defense vs Strike 21 + Dodge 5 + AB 10 = 36 vs 56 - 2 Ripples + Roll
*Defense vs Disrupt 20 + Tactics 5 + AB 10 = 35, takes Disrupt

RR on Russian Stooge:
*19 + Damage 10 + Bonus Damage 5 = 34 - Toughness 5 - IKF 15 = 14, a Minor wound.  This is pretty much over; she has a Minor wound, a Trivial wound, and a -10 to Strike.))

The ghost is no match for Arkady.  She listens to his speech, gnashing her teeth, a ghostly moth drawn to the flame of his exaltation.  The pistol whip catches her right behind the ear, sending her sprawling across the deck.  Her corpus quivers, flaking off bits of ectoplasm all over the floor.

"Your- people are doomed-"  She rasps, "Even if- you think you're going- there's no point.  No point!  Yama comes for you..."

((awareness: 29+10+10=49))

"Shut the fuck up and look at me." he points fingers at his eyes.
"I'm the captain now, blyat."

He stares down on the once beautiful woman, now reduced to an oozing corpse and checks the chamber of his pistol, wiping some ooze and ectoplasm off it's handle.

"You might be right, but I'm not gonna make it easy for him. I'm a huge pain in the ass to get rid of, blyat, and I'm gonna take any chance I get to take a shit in his cereals... "

Arkady confidently takes aim at her once pretty mug "...I'm gonna start by commandeering this tub. Idi nahui, cyka."

Once the trigger is pulled, he falls down on his ass and exhales in a long exhausted sigh."Holy shit that was rough... I need a drink." he thought.
This shit is now over yet. Oh shit. He has to contact the remains of the fleet so that Spiderweb wouldn't tear this ship apart whilst he was in it.

He starts scanning the bridge for communications equipment that could be usable, in repairable condition, or shit to build some with.

"I really should have thought this through. what kind of an idiot bombs a ship he's in. fuck me..."

The woman tries to gasp out a "WAIT" before her corpus is splattered all over the bridge.  It oozes away, the chunk of Malfeas throbbing on the floor.  It's making a sizzling sound, like a piece of meat dropped on a hot griddle.

Apparently the Dead aren't big on communications equipment- or else he's splashed it.  They do seem pretty in-tune with their masters.  But there's more than enough equipment here that he could splash together a short-range radio or two.  Longer range... that might be a problem.  Hell, it's entirely possible that he's stuck in this twisted hulk, floating alone and unnoticed in space.

It certainly seems quiet, after all.

((establishing comms: 8, 8, 8, 6, 6, 3 & 1
38+10+10=58))

Arkady stares at the sizzling shard for a moment and felt a bit better about wearing his environment suit. He didn't really know how hazardous the shard was, but he didn't intend to take unnecessary risks.

He takes a self made lead lined container off his tool belt, the kind that was meant for nuclear fuel, and places the shard in it using a pair of pliers. That shit is creepy, but he can't help his curiosity.

Then he gets to work, inspecting and scrounging for usable parts to make as good of a radio as possible. He tries to pay extra attention to the transmission. He just needed to contact the closest friendly vessel. That should be enough... He hoped.

Radios are simple shit.  Hell, any kid could make one with a crystal, wire, prayers, and too much time on their hands.  He's able to cobble together a pretty damn good short-range one- if short-range is defined as 'within a light year'.

Of course, radio's not going to go faster than light, but...

He flicks it on and gets a signal almost instantly.

"*--*/*/-*/-*/-* Spiderw-*/-*/-*eb here does any-*/-*/-*one read *--*/*/-*/-*/-*"

Arkady almost jumps up in relief. Almost. He grabs the radio and states in a loud, clear voice:

"I read you Spiderweb!! This is Arkady Dragomirov of the paddy wagon! I have captured the enemy frigate! I repeat! I have captured the enemy frigate!!! I wanna get the fuck out of here!!! I'm..."

He pauses for a moment as he realises the gravity of what he was about to say, the continues:

"I'm the only survivor..."

"Mother-**-fu--/-*"  His boss swears over the intercom, ""*--*/*/-*/vity we*--*/*ll, you *--**--* start up*--*/*/-*/ines, going to tow /*/-///*-..."

There's a blast of static and her voice comes in loud and clear, boosted by her focused essence.

"I AM COMING FOR YOU."

The static starts to build up again.

"*--*going to *-../-/-* alone."

Arkady is just one member of the crew of a shitty ship in a salvage fleet, that Spiderweb commands. An acceptable casualty, yet she still would come for him. This is exatly why her crew is so loyal to her. The thought made him fgeel a bit better, but didn't Improve his situation much. at least not until she arrives.

"Spiderweb! This is Dragomirov! I'm losing you! FUCK!"

He slams the radio in a fit of rage, and immediately regrets it. He puts his hands around his contraption and checks for if it still works. He exhales and continues.

"I can't read you! Too much static! I'll try to start up the engines but there is a few problems!!"

He checks the radio if it's still sending.

"I blew up one of the reactors, and totally demolished the bridge! I'll improvise! I'm stuck on the bridge, but I'll manage!"

He starts to look around the bridge for the controls while keeping his ear on the radio. Abyssal tech is not his strong suite, but he tries to manage.

"Did she just say gravity well? I really fucking hope she didn't say gravity well."


He knew the basic concept of gravity wells. Bodies with large mass attract smaller bodies. The ship he's in is part of that equation, and to control the equation he'd need the engines. To be pull a ship of this size into a gravity well, the countering force would have to be reallly big, like a planet or a star... a black hole. The former two are out of the equation, and the latter would make the rest of his life very uncomfortable... and a lot shorter.

"Yep. She said gravity well. o, yebat'."

The radio is still transmitting- thank the Sun- but he's lucky in that regard.  Plus, Glorious Soviet Engineering is made to take a bang or two before it explodes.

There's plenty of controls around there for him to play with- most of it pretty easy and intuitive in his Exalted state- but with the power down and engines cut, it's not like he can do much to the ship.  He can feel the ship groan as it starts to move, but from his own internal sense of balance he can tell it's going the wrong direction.

"/*/-///*-..."/*/-///*-..."/*/-///*-..."/*/-///*-..."/*/-///*-..."/*/-///*-...""

The radio transmits more static, then a high-pitched whine.

"§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ /*/-///*-..."- hawking rads inte-/*/-///*-.../*/-///*-...§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ jury-rig §§§§ power source?"

((9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6 & 1
Open the door: 27 + craft 10 + 10 = 47
float 6-6))

"I'll try to jury rig some shit togethe- I-I mean, Im on it!"

He probably won't be able to do anything from the bridge like the ghost he just splattered across the floor. The ghost was probably doing exactly what he is about to do. Shit. He's still open for any sudden inspiration. His gut is usually right about crazy ideas.
The shard. A FUCKING SHARD OF MALFEAS!

He shouts towards the radio: "I GOT AN IDEA!!! HOLY SHIT YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ONE! AHAHAAA!"

Back to the engine room it is. Goes back to the bridge door he just shut and starts fiddling with the control panel. He really wasn't keen on blowing it up again, not that he'd have the materials for it. Better just re-route some power to the mag-locks and hydraulics.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Mon 20 Aug 2018.

The radio call doesn't go through.  At least Arkady doesn't think it does.

There's no ghosts anymore- well, there PROBABLY are, but they've made themselves very scarce.  The engine room is a loud, clanging pile of steam and misfiring parts, all useless from his earlier sabotage.  But at least now he doesn't have to worry about ghosts coming after him.

((10, 10, 9, 8, 8, 2 & 1
Clarity in openness +10 craft
Jury rig power source: 28 + craft 20 + 10 = 58))

He looks at his own handiwork wondering why is he so good at fucking shit up

He calms his mind and looks around him, envisioning his design in front of him. Creating from what he has.

It comes to him. The way he'd solve this problem. He'd create something others would think as insane or not think at all. He gets to work, scrounging materials from the ruined furnaces and reassembling them into something better. He attempts to make the furnaces draw power not from the ghosts that were feeding it, but from the shard of Malfeas it self.

After he had created his new reactor, he opens a heavy hatch on its side, takes the shard from his pocket and inserts it in the machine like a last piece of the puzzle.

It's the moment of truth. His aura start to glow intuitively as he grabs a heavy lever and whilst pooling essence he pulls it to start his machine.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Mon 20 Aug 2018.

((Neverborn resist:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 3, 3 & 1
*Draw In Ship 26 + Might 25 + 10 = 61 vs 63 (58 + Outside Help 5), fails!))

An essence engine, powered by a shard of Malfeas' hate and rage and yearning to be one with itself, versus the combined might of what can only be a black hole.... he pulls the lever.

The engines seize for a heartstopping second.  Then the shard whines, groans... snarls.  The engines build in power.  He can feel the entire ship start to shake as it burns away from the gravity well, but it's not quite enough.  Not- quite-

But then there's a sudden jerk as the ship lurches forward again, getting just enough force to slip out of the well.  He hears a screech of metal as part of the ship flies off, but it's not enough to destroy him.

And then there's nothing as he coasts forward. The air feels cleaner, more serene.

"AHAHAHA!!! Holy fuckin' shit it works! IT WORKS!!!"

With a manic laughter he rushes back to the bridge.
He picks up the radio off the floor with a fluid sweep and places it on the control panel as he's doing a system check, And pushes the throttle lever to see it's at full speed ahead.
He even diverts power away from the weapon systems to makes sure any remaining crew on board wouldn't try any stupid shit with the rail guns.

He tries again with the radio:

"Check in! Check in! Spiderweb, this is Dragomirov! We have power! WE HAVE POWER! AHAHAHA! Lets get the fuck out of here! Davai davai, blyat!!!"

"I can see that, you beautiful bastard!" Her voice is clear, clean of static or radiation, "Fuck, you brilliant bitch, I've got some video of this you'll need to see later!  What the fuck did you do, throw a half ton of dark matter in there?  I've got some cables attached and I'm pulling, but you're doing most of the work!"

There's a pause,

"Hey, now that you're not getting sucked into a baby Neverborn, you've gotta watch your ass.
 These ships are crawling with ghosts and I had to kill a pair of Imperators.  You keeping them back with salt?"

It suddenly occurs to him- she may not know what he's become.

"I got a crazy idea for the jury rigging! I just dismantled the abyssal reactor and redesigned it to draw power from the shard of Malfeas I pulled off th captain I smeared across the bridge floor! Must 'ave been one of those Imperators you mentioned. Damn tough cyka she was!"

He doesn't sound manic anymore, but way more excited than a person in his situation should be...

"Oh yeah! The Captain sent her first mate after me first, but she's a puddle in the hallway, and I really needed to get to the bridge, so I had to blow up the blast door with an IED and kick the Imperator Captain shitless! A cleanup crew would be cool too, since the ghosts on this ship don't seem to wanna fight me, and I have better things to do than kick them out by myself. I'm outta salt too blyat."

...and he realizes that's the kind of shit a normal human could never pulls off. He pulls out his pistol and mirrors himself on the polished slide. Something was in his image that was not there before. He pull off his hood and sees a still glowing golden sign on his forehead, resembling a setting sun.

"...Oooooh holy shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit!! And if you thought that shit is unbelievable, I've got something to tell that you that you'll never believe unless you see it!!! IT'S GONNA BLOW YOUR MIND I TELL YOU!!!"