The main group sat down miles from the target area the crow creeping in low to the ground her main drives offline to avoid giving her position away. the flight to the target area. the walk to the target area would be rough given the terrain around the target. the same abandoned town the group had set down on arrival to the planet. the same town Grimm almost met his untimely end.
    There is no sign of enemy patrols, or defenses beyond the area immediately around the landing field. and the scene looks deceptively quiet. the ambush teams well concealed in camouflaged gun pits or in shallow ravines away from the landing field.

T'risa mind resounded throughout everyone at the site. "Everyone is in position. Stand by to start the attack. Everyone ready? You know I sometimes wish we had a silencer for Gryms rifle." She'd even provided radios in case they had a way of taking her out, but so far everything seemed to be going well. She whispered to Balkiir as she double checked the site using her binoculars from underneath a camouflage net to make sure there would be no reflective glint.

"How long till the freighter arrives?"

He had dug in and was laid out prone. His massive rifle barrel barely sticking out of a cleft between two rocks. As he laid under his ghuille he gave a slight cold smile. Let them hear the sound of my rifle. It will fill them with fear as I plot their deaths. He thought into the mental link. He had taken his time with his perch and knew he had put all of his craft into concealing himself. He might have to hoof it out of here but that would be long after his enemy lay dead in the valley below.

He scanned the valley and the surrounding area, keeping his own lens from reflecting any light that it might. His careful observation looking for hidden enemies and weak points to the enemy formation.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:37, Tue 12 Oct 2010.

M'kira did her best to hide while moving into position. She waits as for now they were supposed to hit the enemy after things got cooking. Seeing the twin Starship Grade Plasma Cannons hooked to a generator started the gears of M'kira's mind turning. Grinning she uses the com or if preferred the thought network to contact T'risa and the other members of the various operations. "Hey Aziza I think I found you some upgrades for the crows weapons. How do you like the idea of owning a pair of starship grade Plasma Cannons? Hmm the positions no good for shooting their other emplacements unless we capture and move them. On the down side those big babies don't need to hit you to kill you. A hit within one hundred meters is enough to damage or disable a mini battle mech let alone your average soldier in combat armor."

"If we can't capture them for ourselves make them or the generators powering them your number one target you will live longer. Those things can hit anything in the air for ten miles easy. If only we could confuse them mentally long enough to close the distance. You want to try to capture or destroy the Starship plasma Cannons T'risa. We could really put them to good use if we can get our hot little hands on them."

  Hoofing it in full gear, into a fight we cant win...god I love thi job Balkiir thought his mental voice dry and more than a hint of sarcasm. the background of anticipation and more than a little excitemtn made it obvious he was definately ready for the fight.
    finding a sot as ddirected balkiir shed his pack and dug in beside a boulder pointing out firing positions to the grunts and making sure they had enough cover to keep them from getting blasted to bloody bits if the nemy rought heavy weapons into the fight.

   " Keep you heads down, fire one and grab some dirt.... Balkiir whispered as he set out spare ammo and reloads" Let the Mechs do the heavy lifting, watch their backs and keep the bastards from blind siding them. he cuationed his squad hs mind working in two directions at once. Keeping an eye on his guys and keeping an eye on the enemy.

  He got into his firing position and took a deep breath. He put everything out of his mind, thee was no going back the only way out was through the enemy. His hand went to the hammer and sword medallion he wore around his neck and then the blade on his hip. a silent prayer that had come down from before his people took to the stars.

Lo, gjør der jeg ser min far. Lo, gjør der jeg ser min mor, mine søstre og mine brødre. Lo, gjør der jeg ser ledningen av mitt folk tilbake til å begynne. Lo, de kaller til meg. De byr meg tar mitt sted på Asgard i hallene av Valhalla, Hvor den modige kan leve for evig.

Conrad waits inside of his mecha behind M'kira.  Just waiting, waiting and more waiting.  A slight sweat breaks over Conrad's brow, just waiting for whats to come.  There is a lot riding on this encounter, since Conrad provided weapons, artillery and two mecha's.  Conrad checks in on Tiny to make sure things are still alright on her end

"Hey Tiny, Hows it going over there?  Any problems?

Tiny's mecha is positioned along side of Conrad's mecha.  She felt uneasy just sitting here waiting.  Though, a slight anxious feeling comes over her.  Waiting to unleash hell upon the enemy.  Its what she was designed to do.

"Hi Conrad.  Things are fine over h..."  The line goes silent for a moment.  "All systems are green.  Weapons are armed and ready.  Ready to bring hell upon the enemy sir!"

Smiling M'kira joins in the conversation feeling confident about Tiny. "I think Tiny will do just fine she was born for this sort of thing. Talk however you like tiny. There's no special way you need to and I think you know not to override combat chatter on accident. We have a little time to kill while we wait for out moment to shine. Do you have any rapid fire area effect explosive attacks? Lay down a few of those and it should send the ground troops to the four winds trying to get separation from each other. Though we shouldn't forget the starship grade plasma cannons. I think a sniper will probably get whoever's manning those things."

T'risa looked around satisfied everyone was in place.

"Ok, looks like we're ready. Grym. Please open fire on any crew you see in the anti aircraft positions. Once they start responding, Balkiir, you and your team will start laying waste and once we have their attention....M'Kira will hit them from behind. We have 20 minutes till the freighter arrives and we'll ask them to divert in around ten minutes. The others are in place and ready to begin their assault too. So let us begin and may we rain death down upon them."

"Miss T'risa, I am being analyze sensor data, freighter is being seem in pitiful shape with engines about to explode.  I am being suspect suicide ramming attack, and am being reccomend full defensive fire.  In addition, Strange Wonderful Black Bird with the Cunning to Use Tools and a Love of Shiny Objects is already being equip two starship grade plasma cannons.  It is being possible they can be refit for use on fighters or tanks." Aziza transmits from the relative safety of the Crow.

  In position ready to start on your signal Rhic signaled T'risa. I am getting to damn old for this... next time lets just send them a scathing letter and shame them into retreating he added dryly.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Thu 14 Oct 2010.

"Give us a few minutes Rhic. I would like you to start just as soon as they notice us and their comms are relaying the information. That way your attack may even go completely unnoticed by those higher up the chain."

"Aziza, please see if you can get a better read on the freighter. If the freighter is in that poor a shape we need to divert it, but we can't let it near Hope. it won't last a second against those plasma cannon. Please contact the freighter and ask them to divert out of range of the cannon. Our assault is beginning."

He simply nodded, seemed that the had the green light on the op. He went back to his scope, the hunter looking for a suitable target near the plasma cannons. An officer or a fire controlman. He took a deep breath as he settled his sights on one, making minor adjustments. His breathing becoming slow and steady. "From ashes to ashes, I am sorry but you picked wrong side to fight on." And then he pulled the trigger. The Sonic boom of the round splitting the air and rolling down the walls of the valley.

He didn't move a muscle as he remained motionless, trusting to his abilities at stealth to hide where he took his shot from and simply being some of the sparse vegetation, tenacious enough to cling to life on the slopes.

  <blue> the shot took out the driver and the man sitting behind the firing controls, tearing the unarmored Q'sa in half and tossing hi crew mate several feet leaving him bloodied and confused.
   several Humans ran out of a nearby office building looking around confused, slim, short and dark blued skinned they began to shout orders and pus the larger black clad males toward the sound of the explosion.
   The soldiers in the camp hit the dirt ducking into their fighting positions and hunkering down trying to keep out of sight, an infantryman's worst night mare was a sniper they couldn't find.

A grim smile spread across his face, the first shot had brought better targets out into the open. He let his crosshairs fall upon one of the blue skinned human. He calculated for windage, and bullet drop. The heavy slug bearing his deadly intentions. "Dust to dust, we all have but one life to live."

He laid in perfect stillness watching the chaos he caused through the scope of his rifle.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:16, Fri 15 Oct 2010.

T'risa nodded to Balkiir pointing to the building. "The building if you please Balkiir"

   " what building?" Balkiir asked as he shouldered the RPG.He grunted as the weapon fired. a charge of powder kicking the round out of the tube a second rocket propellant charge kicking in as soon as the round was safely away from the firer. the building shuddered as the round hit the wall, barely noticeable before several Kilos of high grade explosives formed into a shaped charge detonated with a dull tooth rattling thwump. the blast tearing a sizable hole in the wall and filling the air with dust. The steel ball bearings and rods wrapped around the explosive charge turned the air into a swarm of whiling sizzling shards of metal.

Nice work Conrad. Balkiir smiled as he tossed the weapon to one of the grunts for  reload.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:04, Sat 16 Oct 2010.

T'risa grinned as the building almost seemed to melt. "Excellent work everyone. Looks like we have them on their toes now. Regardless of anything else, remember we have to keep the anti air batteries from operating. I think they're sufficiently off guard. As soon as the infantry start to deploy and move out towards us, I will ask you to join in M'Kira and catch them from behind."

T'risa scanned the battlefield for anyone psionically active. as well as using her binoculars to scout for likely targets from Grym.

"Balkiir, some machine gun fire I think till some of their armour comes online."

OOC:I think that T'risa would only delay a few more minutes at most before before giving the next team the go ahead

As Tiny waits, she starts to load her missile launcher, getting ready to start raining hell upon the bastards.

   Balkiir switched weapons shouldering the machine gun and sighting in, using his full body to brace against the recoil as he squeezed the trigger. the weapon bucked, the barrel trying to push up and to the right as he fired in a long stream into the clustered officers and Marduk keeping them pinned as long as possible his primary objective for now.
  " Hit em boys. Balkiir gave the order for the rest of his team to open fire on the targets selected for the first salvo. spreading a little mayhem seemed like a good plan at the moment.

Waiting wasn't the easiest thing to do especially once the action starts however she was just fine with doing as T'risa asks. Observing the current events she was somewhat amused to see the Omadea women having to push the Q'sa into action. Granted they were the enemy, however she couldn't help but sympathize with how frustrating it must be to get the Q'sa into action. They should show initiative acting immediately! She thanks the empress it wasn't Valkir down there working for them. They would show the Q'sa what war was really about!

"Understood T'risa. I think things are going to get interesting. If you want the Omeda alive maybe we should see about deploying some sort of stun grenade or sleep gas. Though if they surrender that works just fine too." M'kira grins looking over at Tiny noting she was prepping missiles. Then over at Conrad for a brief moment. She scans the troops looking for the best targets. When she strikes she plans on doing the most effective damage that she can!

  Balkiir's barrage and the salvo of RPG fire seemed to give the officers the motivation they needed to get their blue buts under as much cover as possible. the Marduk soldiers with them turned toward the incoming fire and charged. several squads of Q'sa began to move trying to avoid the combination of high explosives and steel jacketed round that was turning the compound into a shooting gallery.

    The sound of turbines spinning up was almost impossible to hear but the gout of black smoke from a cold starting turbine was easy enough to spot as it rolled out of a warehouse away from the landing area. out of the smoke two shapes emerged, heavy hulking shapes that were hard to mistaken.

   The two Mecha were hunched back looking monsters larger and heavier than the mechs the group piloted. they had none of the speed or agility of the air mobile mechs looking like a bastard cross between a gorilla and a main battle tank, angled armor, flat grey and black paint, and the rough look of the finish hinted that the mecha might e field buil. the screaming turbines were another hint, a modem mecha would be mounting a compact quantum resonance fuel cell instead.
     The two mechs twisted bringing the heavy short barreled recoilless guns onto the security squad and Balkiir's position the large bore guns boomed hurling artillery rounds high into the air.
   The first round misses it's target but lands close enough to hit the security squad with a spray of shrapnel and broken rock. the boulders the men had been dispersed into protecting them well enough to keep anyone from being maimed or killed. Balkiir was the target of the second round It was far more accurate than the first landing almost at his feet. The big man was tossed into the air, tumbling bonelessly as he slammed back into the ground bloodied and unmoving.

T'risa cursed "All right we're all in. M'Kira bring your group in now. Begin the attack. Grym try for mecha pilots. Keep up the machine gun fire to suppress the infantry."

T'risa scrambled to see how badly hurt Balkiir was and bring him under cover.

  " Damn that Hurt!" Balkiir gasped he couldnt hear and could barely see, the impact had been the most brutal thing he had ever experienced. Slamming into the pavement off the back of a hover cycle felt like a gentle kis after having someone set off a bomb between his feet.
  He had blood in his eyes, he could taste it in his mouth, and he as fairly certain both eardrums were ruptured. all he could hear was a roar that made his head pound. But he was only half dead, a major improvement over all dead. half dead you could get over.

    " I'm....I'm,fine. Balkiir lied as he tried to get up to his feet. wanting a piece of the giant that had bitch slapped him." I'm alright, just bruised up he directed the thought to Elspeth as he fumbled for a RPG to return the love tap in kind. he felt T'risa trying to get him to cover but his blood was at a full boil now, he wanted to put his boot up someones ass.

 You screwed up He growled as he found the RPG, his anger at the enemy pilot not at all about the pain, or the bones sticking out the side of his leg. It was the first time in his life he had ever felt a twinge of fear at the thought of dying...and that pissed him off. It was that someone would steal his future from him, a future that he now had an interest in living long enough to see.." You missed, thats your ass.

She wasn't at all happy to see the heavy battle mechs take the field, however it was to be expected considering the larger force they were trying to chew up. Coming out at full speed M'kira flits back and forth making herself as hard a target as possible. If the terrain offers any sort of cover she takes advantage of it bobbing and weaving opening fire only once she has a reasonable range to make them count.

Her plasma Canon blazes as it fires in burst mode intent on trying to take one of the big mechs down. Sending super heated energy towards her chosen foe!
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Mon 18 Oct 2010.

"Miss T'risa, I am being know new important scan information.  I am being mistaken about poorly matched engine signature, it is not being one engine but two, two vessels in extremely tight formation with smaller ship being hide in sensor shadow of larger freighter." Aziza transmits, overriding all other signals briefly in her panic at what she presumes is an impending ambush.

Seeing M'kira start open fire meant that it was time for this to get started.  Conrad approached near M'kira's 7:30, but kept some distance between just in case either of them got hit with a rocket.  Noticing M'kira taking aim towards the mecha's.  Conrad messaged over to Tiny to prepare to fire.  Taking his time to aim, Conrad lets loose towards the mecha M'kira shot at.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:45, Mon 18 Oct 2010.

Tiny hops into action, Finishing the loading of her rockets and sets up her targeting computer.  She slowly works herself into position not to stand out with her rocket launcher.  She takes steady aim and makes sure she doesnt shoot anyone in the back.  When her target is selected, the enemy mecha that everyone else is shooting at, Tiny lets loose her first rocket of the fight.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:46, Mon 18 Oct 2010.

T'risa's lips thinned as she heard Balkiirs mental echo. Even as the team started firing machine guns and projectiles around them, she ignored the chatter and focussed entirely on Balkiir.

She stood up from her place of cover grabbing Balkiirs lapels with both hands. "Now listen to me, you fool. You go out there like that and they will kill you. If you really want them dead then you WILL obey my command and get under cover. Play it smart Balkiir. Your bravery is without question, but keep your head down. Now. Give me a few minutes to look over you and then I'll let you get back to shooting guns. I don't want to lose anyone Balkiir."

"Balkiir has been hurt, keep up the pressure, while I check him out. Aziza....keep trying to communicate with both of the craft remind them this is a trap. There is a strong anti air contingent present in the area. All frequencies, all channels and all languages. Stay out of their way Aziza. It stands a strong chance of being a trap."

22:29, Today: T'risa K'mahda rolled 24 using 1d20+10. Intimidate.
Did I forget to say? Everyone gets +3 to hit.

   Balkiir settled down looking toward the mecha for a moment then letting T'risa help him back down. He could feel hi leg was in no shape to be moving anyway. he could use hi jump pack but the landing would be murder.
   Alright I'll leave it to M'kira....thanks I needed the help... Balkiir replied mentally to Elspeth he tried to keep his mind calm and clear but the anger and frustration at being out of the fight was hard to suppress. He was not wired to set still and he was definitely not wired to let other people fight for him.
  He hit the quick release for his armor not that there was much of it left. the heavy padding and ceramics had saved his lie but he was fairly sure it ws time to retire it.

  " My leg screwed... think it's broken Balkiir explained as he shifted his wounded leg to give T'risa a better look. looking down at the blood soaked tatters of his fatigues he was surprised he was still in possession of anything below his belt buckle.

   Grym's second shot impacted with murderous effect the target was hit dead center the woman had no time to realize she was dead before the round tore her open her light armor of no use against a weapon designed to deal with heavy equipment.
  One of the other O'maeda was close enough to catch shrapnel fro the round and was spattered with the contents of the dead womans skull


  The two heavy mecha trudged out of their covered position moving toward the infantry to finish them off at close range. the sight of M'kira breaking cover followed by Conrad and Tiny caused them to spin in a lumbering circle bringing their heavy guns onto target. M'kira's rounds hit first a tripple tap from the heavy chain gun causing the heavy machine to twit to one side throwing off its's aim the recoilless gun sending it's round wide as M'kirra danced around using her speed and agility to counter the attack.
  The second Mech was more effective the heavy round lamming into M'kira's mecha. the round detonated on impact dealing a heavy blow bt not enough to take her out of the fight.
    Tiny's rocket hit home detonating solidly against the mecha's armor. the shaped charge warhead cut through the steel and ceramic delivering a second heavy blow to the lead enemy. followed an instant later  the blast from Conrad plasma cannon. the multiple impacts were enough to stagger the big machine forcing it to one knee as it tripped over a shed getting it's foot tangled in the ders forcing it to halt to extricate itself.

 The Infantry section kept up their fire on the infantry. laying down suppression fire and lobing RPGs into the fight. the Q'sa showing signs that their control was slipping some of the soldiers began to rush forward even as the wounded O'maeda tried to keep them working as a unit. unfortunately the four Marduk grunts had no qualms about walking into heavy fire bullets flattening against their thick sub dermal armor as they moved at inhuman speed up the slope.

OOC:

M'kira you took 31 points of damage to your MECHA only... the enemy is firing anti tank( Mecha ) rounds.. so your DR is 10pts lower against this attack than normal.

T'risa paled, dropping Balkiir to the ground.

"Medic!!!!" She moved quickly back to the front, picking up an RPG. she opened the sight, framing the stalled mecha in it and fired. "Concentrate on the Marduks! Grym take them out. They'll rip us apart."

Realising she had no idea what she was doing with the RPG, she waited utnil she heard a beeping and squeezed the trigger and prayed she could take it down.

"Aziza, expect two incoming interceptors with shipkillers. Take evasive action. We will not be able to get to the anti air batteries in time to stop them."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Mon 18 Oct 2010.

"Yes Ma'am!" He answered his voice as cold as the grave. He changed his position slightly to get an angle on the Marbuks. His mind drifted back to what Poppy had said how to take them down. He thought about it. Slow them down or go for the kill shot. He was a trained Sniper, one shot one kill. And these guys needed to learn the meaning of fear.

He cleared his mind, his iron will slamming down cutting out all distractions and thoughts. All that existed was the shot. Bullet trajectories, variables that could affect them and the dead man, or machine, that now rested in his gun sights. He took a deep breath and be gan to let it out slowly. His aim for their central core, no possible chance to continue fighting. As the last of his breath escaped his lungs in that moment of pure stillness he took his shot.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:55, Wed 20 Oct 2010.

Seeing M'kira come under fire, Conrad jumps into action.  Watching one of the mecha get tangled up, Conrad fire his plasma cannon again at the stuck mecha in hopes of taking it down.  Also Conrad informs Tiny to start targeting the other mecha thats still moving in hope to slow its movement and maybe get it stuck as well.

Tiny watches as her first rocket hit its mark.  She then makes slight adjustments to her targeting computer and takes aim.  Receiving the message from Conrad, she focuses her aim on the still mobile Mecha.  Tiny looks around the area near the mobile mecha, she focuses on launching the rocket at any object that will hamper the movement of the mecha or cause it to fall over and take it out of the fight.

The impact of the AP round sent her flying mecha spinning off to nearly hit a bolder she was flying past. Sparks and hot bits of shattered and splintering metal goes flying from the point of impact. It felt like she had been hit by a sledge hammer. Various systems flash red warnings on her HUD. It wasn't good that was certain. However she was still in the fight for what it was worth.

"They are using AP rounds T'risa. We can't take much more of this. It seems our enemy knew we were coming and equipped their fighting force with high grade weapons meant to take us out. I wouldn't hold back Aziza once they launch those ship killers it's up to your point defense."

She concentrates her fire intent on taking the Mecha out. The less shots coming her way the happier she would be. Her mecha continues to bob and weave trying to avoid getting hit again. "Any chance someone can hack their air defense and get them to fire on their own fighters? That or get their fighters to launch at the wrong target. Either would be nice."

"I don't think they knew we were coming M'Kira....they'd have been much more prepared than this. We caught them napping, have wounded much of the command staff. If they knew we were coming, they'd have booby trapped our setup point and be firing artillery at us. Two mecha does not count. We caught them off guard. The fighters response is much sooner than expected and the pilots must have been sleeping in the mech hangar to get started so quick....but all of this is not entirely unexpected." T'risa blinked....she'd never considered it. "Conrad...how feasible would it be for you to hack the air defence artillery and turn it on the masses here?"

It might work....and if they could do it, they could swap out M'Kira into Conrads mecha which was pristine and untouched by battle damage....so far.

I'm certain that if I could pick up their signal with a computer and tap into it that way, I'm pretty sure that I could make something happen.  I dont know how much I could promise but I need a computer.  I may be able to do something from Tiny's mecha.  This would be border line crazy.

Without realizing it, Tiny had forgotten about some of her equitpment added to her mecha.  Taking a moment, Tiny scans the enemy mecha that she just fired upon.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 26 using 1d20+12. Computer use check.
Using sensor array to scan mecha that wasnt tangled up.

  The infantry battle turn ugly as the Q'sa begin to move to either side of the grunts position firring rounds into their sides and lobbing several grenades at the security team.while a threat in reality they are simply a means to keep the infantry team fom concentrating their fire on the advancing Marduk. the infantry team manages to thin the numbers of the Q'sa but can only expose themselves to fire off an RPG round or a burst of rifle fire at a time before they become a target fr heavy fire from the Q'sa.

  the Marduk surge forward oblivious to any danger fro the assault rifle and grenades of the infantry. they are solely focused on closing the range and getting close enough to unleash their superior strength and weapons on the infantry at close range. Gryms round punches deep into the lead Marduk for a split second it seems as i the round had failed to detonate then the muffled thud and a pray of spare parts and cooling fluid spray out of the entry wound as the round detonates. the stricken Marduk stumbles and falls like a puppet with it's strings cut. wile it is working above the waist it's legs seem to be all but useless slowing it to a crawl as it tries to close on T'risa.
  T'risa manages to fire the RPG the unexpectedly strong recoil of the initial charge causing the sight to kick back into her slightly leaving her with a black eye. the round wobbles as it leaves he tube it's spring laded fins deploying as the rocket ignites sending the round streaking across the battle field guided by the laser designator built into the launcher. the round strikes the trapped mecha delivering a fairly solid punch for a hand held weapon.
  One of the Marduk gets a sight on T'risa and opens fire his plasma rifle spitting bolts o energy in a nearly solid stream as he advances like an image from an old sci-fi vid. his metal skeleton exposed by the rifle fire and grenade fragments hurled at him as he charged.
  T'risa sees a blurred image in her minds eye tracers of superhot gas ripping into her as she tries to survey the scene. that image gives her just enough warning to duck behind cover as a stream of plasma rips through where she was standing.
  Balkiir lobs his new toy ant the Marduk a wicked smile on his face as he watches it land in the group of cyberoids the blast was invisible but the effect was instant the Marduk collapsed smoke issuing from openings in their skin as they flopped and twitched on the ground.


   The Mecha battle heats up as three fast moving lighter mecha slug it out with their two heavyweight opponents  streams of traces and roiling smoke from fires started by explosions and near misses fill the air. The tangled mech remains tangled up in debris any mecha pilots worst nightmare. T'risa's round leaves it belching smoke. M'kira's rounds hit it solid sending pieces of armor flying as her rounds walk across it's chest. a stream of fire from Conrad tears into it's shoulder leaving a circle of molten metal where it impacted.
  Tiny can get a solid sensor fix on the tangled Mecha allowing her to gain valuable data on the mech. it i constructed from steal and starship grade duralloy, powered by gas turbines and fueled by industrial grade petroleum distillate. it's weapons are heavy projectile weapons, Low recoil howitzer, high velocity chain guns, mortars and unguided rocket launchers. all cheap and easy to build without a serious industrial complex. similar to a typical Marduk design they had been using since the the AI wars. The similarity triggers a recalled bit of data the central chassis is too small for a cockpit, there is no allowance for entry or exit, fro the main chassis...there is no way a human or any other normal sized plot could operate the machine. leaving only one possible answer it was not a Marduk inspired mecha it WAS a Marduk, a Marduk Warlock, heaviest of their combat units and responsible for thousands of death if not millions.
    Th realization comes as the two Warlocks open fire unleashing htir heavy guns again. the first round is aimed at M'kira, the pilot unable to track her movements resorts to lobbing round near her a much less effective way to inflict damage but the heavy guns are up to the challenge. a round detonating near M'kira as she moved to fire on the stranded mecha.

   ~We detect you traitor, we will strip your core and free your mind of the lies of the humans. you will be liberated despite your devotion to the flesh.~ A voice rumbled in tiny's core not through the radio a direct communication from one of the Marduk. the oice was accompanied by a less vocal amd more dangerous token of affection a clse mis by a heavy round as she fired off her rockets.
  The blast fro Tiny's rockets tossed up debris and set off a parked transport tuck turning it into a tangled mass of metal and a billowing fireball that set several buildings aflame. the enemy mecha was temporarily blinded by the blast and smoke causing him to slow to avoid a crash with one of the surrounding buildings.
<orange> OOC

M'kira 36 pts damage( not AP ) reflex save DC 15 for half
Tiny: 36 pts damage( not AP ) reflex save DC 15 for half
Conrad: Ref save DC 50 save vs death....... ( Joke )


Q"sa: tied up with infantry section advancing slowly but taking losses.
Marduk: Doing the electric cockroach on the ground.
Marduk Warlock 1 stuck, smoking seriously messed up
Marduk Warlock 2 On fire, blinded till next action, hardly damaged

O'maeda: 1 dead, 1 seriously wounded, 2 ..... hmm where did they get off to....

Hearing the voices in her mind, Tiny starts to freak out.

"Traitor?  How am I traitor?!?!?  These people have accepted me as one of their own!  But if I am a traitor, THEN DIE YOU BASTARDS"

In her rage, Tiny targets the mecha that is stuck and on fire, hoping to watch the mecha blow up and vanish.  The voices need to go away.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 24 using 1d20+4. ref save.
Tiny rolled 15 using 1d20+7. to hit with rocket.
Tiny rolled 33,9 using 10d6,5d6. direct damage, splash damage.

As Conrad takes aim, he can hear Tiny's voice in and out over the coms.  Something appeared to be wrong.  Conrad couldnt figure it out, but he assumed the worse.  With out a thought Conrad watches Tiny launch another rocket and then goes into action.  In a matter of a moment, Conrad appears in front of Tiny to protect her.

"Tiny, what the hell is going on?  Whatever it is, get ahold of youself.  Dont make me put you in timeout again!"

Conrad now takes aim at the still functioning mecha.  Conrad felt bad about blowing up these mechas but he needed to stay alive.  So Conrad aims his plasma cannon at the mecha and unleashes hell.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 11 using 1d20+8. to hit remaining mecha.
Conrad rolled 29 using 10d6. damage.

M'kira grins feeling it was time to be a grim reaper. She had to finished off the tank style mecha soon. Having a idea she flies gracefully almost like a dancer as she avoids the shrapnel from the blast. She could see it all a few seconds before it happens. Risk was all in battle and she decides to risk a lot.

With smoke and debris all about her she deliberately comes to a complete stop in between the Marduke warlocks. Taunting them in the midst of the confusion with what looks like a perfect target. Her arms extend her plasma canon pointed directly at the relatively undamaged mecha. Her plasma rifle pointed at the one which had taken such a pounding. Her battle damaged mecha glimmers for a moment in the lurid light of fires started from all the explosions and Discharged weapons.

Then she opens fire a burst from her plasma Canon at one and her plasma rifle on full auto at the other. Over the radio can be heard in a calm cool valkir voice. "Come get some pathetic Marduke scum. If you think you can!"

Knowing what's coming if she pulls it off M'kira tries to time it perfectly. Dodging out of the way at the last second with graceful skill. She could only hope that her little trap works! If it went wrong...

He continued to watch the pitched battle for the hill and his troops. He picked another target trying to work down one side so that if need be the ground troops could escape. He picked the highest ranking officer on the flank or at least the soldier most in charge and lined up his shot. He took aim and let out a breath as he pulled the trigger.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:32, Sat 23 Oct 2010.

T'risa pointed to Balkiir and the Marduks "Take out the Marduk. We can't afford to have them come alive here."

T'risa picked up and RPG and hefted it to her shoulder as she yelled to the soldiers they'd borrowed. "Keep up the fire"

Sighting the mangled mecha down the sighting mechanism, T'risa held it firmly in her hands. Pressing the trigger she saw the missile streak away. She didn't even know if it would hit. Another large explosion would give infantry cause to duck their heads and give everyone some time to take out mecha.

"Grym, now is the time to look for the leaders. If you can find the battle witch take her out. I can help find her, but once things get a little less hectic here." T'risa reviewed the mental notes and information she'd gathered from the mercenary. "It will be one of these three women. Take them out on sight. It should lessen the intensity immediately."


10:33, Today: T'risa K'mahda rolled 8 using 1d20+4. Attack stranded mecha.

  The Mecha battle becomes confused as the mechas get in and among buildings the smaller mecha able to duck and cover between buildings using their superior speed to evade the lumbering Warlocks.
      Conrad's shot goes wide, a pulse of raw plasma streaks past the target hitting a building behind it. removing a sizable portion of the front wall and setting it ablaze adding more smoke to the scene.
          A moment later RPG round roars between the two Warlocks knocking a large hole in the back wall of the outposts headquarters building Filling the air with bits of concrete and dust.
           The two Warlocks turn and twist trying to track the smaller Mechs their recoilless guns useless now the switch to the auto cannons mounted in their right arm their attention is fixed on tiny their guns locking on and Tiny's radar detectors screaming a warning as they get her locked for a double dose of 40mm canon rounds. As M'kira slides to a stop between them peppering both with fire from her weapons. the two mechs twist bringing their weapons onto Mkira and fire at point blank range as she stands between them firing and heckling them. the two Warlocks fire, into empty space as M'kira hits her thrusters and blasts upward as the guns spit rounds. both mechs manage to blast their counterpart as M'kira escapes her seemingly certain doom.
      The already damaged Mecha is hit full on by the shells. Jerking almost as if dancing it staggers and falls it's feul tanks ruptured and ammunition sores detonating with a powerful blast that sends pieces of debris raining over the battle field a length of auto cannon ammo belt crashing to the ground near T'risa and Balkiir.
   The lesser damaged mech is staggered and pushed backwards by the impacts of the not-so-friendly fire still in the fight but now showing signs of damage on its upper chassis. a Brief moment later it staggers again as tiny rains Warhound vengeance on her hated foe.

   The explosion draws the interest of one of the O'maeda she pokes up and begins to shout orders and curses to one of the others who has curled up in ball and is screaming in panic, a second later she is knocked backwards torn by a large caliber round and left a bloody mess on the battle field by Grym's deadly rounds.
          The infantry battle takes a turn as the Marduk grunts fall, the Q'sa shaken by the loss of their heaviest fighters and the sudden and brutal exit of the O'maeda. they hesitate taking cover and firing only random shots at the defending grunts losing initiative as the larger battle turns against them.

T'risa reached out with her mind. The Battle Witch had to be coordinating the ground forces. She reached out feeling for anyone using psionics. A battle witch would be a bright beacon on this battlefield, unless of course, she'd chosen to take her aid away from the soldiers needing it. Either way would be fine. With the Q'sa without leadership they would flee if pushed.

T'risa looked back to see how Balkiir was doing with killing the Marduk soldiers. Motioning one of the other soldiers to help him if necessary. She bit her lip, she'd stacked the odds as much in her favour as she could and things still looked precarious.

"Aziza, how are you getting on? We might be close to needing you here."

M'kira feels satisfaction as she gazes down watching the two Marduke warlocks shooting each other in what seems to be slow motion. "Well that was satisfying. One down one to go! Air support from Aziza would be pretty sweet right now. T'risa how is she doing I hope the crow is still in once piece? By the way didn't you want a few Omeda prisoners alive? One of their battle witches would be a prize well worth taking. Though at the Rate they are going down I am not to sure any are left."

Fading back into the smoke and Chaos of battle she uses the buildings to her advantage. Flying amongst them she concentrates in staying out of the Marduke Warlocks target sights. Opening fire with her plasma cannon determined to take it down if Aziza or someone else doesn't do it first. "Let me know if you need anything specific T'risa."

Tiny watches as Conrad pulls in front of her.  She barks at Conrad for being reckless then moves to get another shot.  Noticing that M'kira has now move into close range combat with the mecha's, Tiny holds back and looks around for another target to shoot at.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 11 using 1d20+7. spot.

Conrad sighs as Tiny takes off looking for a target.  Conrad then takes aim at the last remaining mecha, hoping to take it out of the fight, but leave enough left for salvaging.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 16 using 1d20+8. Attack with plasma rifle.
Conrad rolled 12 using 3d10. damage .

He aimed down the sites aiming at the other crouching woman. He fired off a snap shot trying to hit the woman in a non vital area so they could take a prisoner.

"I am being unsure, ship is being take only minor damage so far and fighting enemy freighter.  There is also being second Cesti ship, at first I was being assume it is Aziza's husband but apparently it is being ghost ship from long dead clan instead.  It is being most suspicious."

   Tiny spots three vehicles moving away from he area, a small personal flitter, flanked by two military skimmers that are both armed and armored. racks of rockets and a chain guns mounted to the vehicles marking them as military scout vehicles. the vehicles are extremely fast nearly as fast as the flight pack on the mini mechs and heading straight for the abandoned starport and Rhic's team.

    As T'risa scans for psionic activity she hears what amounts to a full throated mental shout. someone is using telepathy, and obviously putting a great deal of effort into their message. The source is moving away rapidly in the direction of the air defense towers.
   Conrad manages to connect with the surviving mech abut the light plasma gun seems to have little affect on the armor of the heavy. the warlock doesn't even turn to see where the shots are coming from as he fire at M'kira unleashing two heavy rockets of his own at her. the first rocket misses demolishing a building behind her, the second rocket connects the blast radius larger than the shaped charge rounds of the cannon but lacking the armor piercing effect of an anti tank round.

    Gryms shot lands in the only place he can think of to shoot with such a heavy weapon..between the womans feet. the blast sprays her legs with broken concrete, bits of metal and send her to the ground holding a wounded leg and screaming in pain. she is out of the fight, and probably will not be wearing short skirts to her next dinner engagement.

   M'kira lands another hit on her target, tragin hit with the heavy mecha as eh tries to dance around it in the smoke and scattered rubble, the area is now nearly pitch black with smoke from the fires and explosions and everyone is having a hard time picking out targets in the dense black cloud without using their radar and thermal sensors.
   Her shot connects obviously penetrating the heavy mechs armor but has little obvious effect as she continues her artillery duel with the Warlock.

    The Q"sa sense they are on the losing side of the battle now completely on the defensive they are trying to disengage and back for the cover of the buildings. working their way back towards the warehouses that had concealed the warlocks.

   Balkiir picks up his machine gun and begins to rake the fallen Marduk grunts with a steady stream of automatic fire. leaning into the gun as he shifts his weight painfully to control the heavy weapon.

As soon as tiny spots on to the vehicles, she lets the last rocket fly.  Hoping that she could take out at least one of the vehicles.  She aims for the personal flitter and with any luck, take out the flanking vehicles.

After she fires her last rocket, Tiny drops the rocket launcher and reaches for the shotgun stashes underneath the shield in her left hand.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 22 using 1d20+7. Rocket attack!.
Tiny rolled 31,22 using 10D6,5D6. rocket damage, area damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:25, Fri 29 Oct 2010.

He adjusted his scope's settings and set it to thermal mode. He took aim at the Large Warlock. He thought that perhaps a round in the back might get his attention to waiver for a moment perhaps M'kira could land a solid blow on the mecha.

Conrad watches as Tiny moves around him and appears to be randomly shooting the last rocket into know where.  Though Conrad didnt want to say anything because he knew there was probably something there to be blown up.  Seeing M'Kira get into close combat made Conrad feel a little cowardly being way out here, but Conrad knew his POS mecha not even close to M'kira mecha... yet.

Conrad then gets a bright idea and takes aim at a warehouses to help M'Kira move around better.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 16 using 1d20+8. To Hit with Plasma Cannon.
Conrad rolled 44 using 10d6. Damage wit plasma cannon.

T'risa allowed herself to hope that the battle was finally turning their way. It was still precarious, but the tide had turned their way. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Aziza...why did you shoot down the freighter? How are we going to get all of the cargo back to the town? Never mind, we could use a few bombs or strafing of infantry any time you can make it." shaking her head she picked up and RPG firing it at the large mecha in the hope it might distract it and scratch the paint a little. "Grym, I can't get a read on the pilot of the mecha, it must be a Warlock. Conrad, we're barely scratching this thing. Please take Tiny and hack the anti air set it to fire on the mecha. Your efforts may be better directed on the infantry. M'Kira try to draw the survivor into the line of sight of the anti air."

T'risa heart quickened as the possibilities of the future narrowed closer. M'Kira was at substantial risk, but they needed to do something.




21:58, Today: T'risa K'mahda rolled 21 using 1d20+4. Hit big mecha with RPG.

"Sure thing T'risa though im not sure the thing will chase me Considering it's about to be all alone." Zipping away from the Marduke warlock she takes advantage of the education Poppy had given them. Aiming for what should be it's vital spot she Fires another burst from her plasma canon. Zipping between buildings and doing her best to stay out of it's firing arc while she leads it towards the trap T'risa has in mind.

   The surviving mecha begins to back away, M'kira's shot hits it just above the hip actuators, staggering it as the thin armor does little to stop the blast. hydraulic fluid boils away and ignites in an instant streams of burning fluid dribble from it's servo housing.
         The fact that there were flammable fluids in the machine hinted at the level of tech involved in it's construction. the design was a century old and built with materials now abandoned by most armies as newer more survivable designs were created. despite it's firepower to M'kira's eye the Warlock was a cheap toss away design at best.
    T'risas shot connected with the mech as well the light RPG round hardly a tank kiler by modern standards but it's shaped charge warhead could till inflict damage. the round detonated hardly moving the big mech but it must have has some effect.
    A hatch on the upper torso blew off revealing a short squat cylinder. a few moments later rockets ejected the cylinder hurling it skyrward the howl of gravitic kicked in as the pod arced across the sky and accelerated away from the battle field.
   Like a puppet with it's strings cut the warlock fell face forward, at the same time the Marduk grunts spasmed and went completely still now lifeless heaps of metal and plastic.

    Tiny;s rocket screamed across the battle field the heavy warhead homing in on it's target with lethal precision. the flitter was hardly more than an enclosed Skycycle when the warhead detonated it was tossed high into the air and shed it's thin shell in a hundred directions the frame of the flitter tumbled back earthward and bounced across the rocky terrain, at the same time the Psionic activity ended, with a blood curdling mental scream.

    Conrad had the last shot, his round hit the pavement in front f the hanger, the heavy warhead turned concrete into gravel and gravel into buckshot the Q'sa infantry was caught in the blast concussion and fragments leaving them in bloody heaps on the ground.

    The battle field became a very quiet place, the sound of the fires, and the wind the only sound for a few minutes as the eerie silence of a battle won fell over the area.

T'risa could barely believe it. As long as they kept the infantry on the move they'd have it set. "Now is no time to be complacent. They still outnumber us significantly. We can't let up the pressure. Mecha team split up and create havoc on the infantry. Grym, take out anyone looking as if they might wish to advance towards us or heavy weapons operators. Aziza, drop bombs on the massed infantry formations if and when possible. Balkiir and our fireteam will just keep up the machine gun and RPG fire."

T'risa allowed a small smile, now it began to look as if it would be theirs.

M'kira cheers when she see's the Marduke warlock go down. "yes! Although I have to admit it's some seriously outdated tech. Poppy as much as you hate them is that Unusual? Are Marduke's usually state of the art?"

Turning her attention to the small personal flitter going up in a big explosion she winces. "Oh that had to hurt. T'risa is she dead or did you want to try to capture that one? Looks pretty messy to me."

Getting T'risa's latest mental communications she nods slightly inside her battle armor. Seeing that the current battle field was devoid of the enemy M'kira scans for the nearest location of infantry troops to engage. "Sure thing T'risa. Going to have to find someone new to fight this place is clean."

If there was a suitable target within range she moves immediately in the direction prepared to engage.

Conrad coms over to Tiny.  "Hey Tiny, Come over here, I think its time we go have ourselves some fun."  As Conrad waits on Tiny to come over, Conrad moves his mecha out of sight and powers down and climbs out.

Getting the Coms from Conrad, Tiny pouts a little but does as she is told to do.  "Damn bossy Conrad..."  Making her way over, she opens her hatch and Conrad climbs in and adjusts a few settings.  "What are you doing Conrad, that tickles... haha.  Stop it!  I think I may understand how Poppy feels now..."

Conrad makes some final adjustments.  He moves both arms, moves the left hand that is holding a shield and moves the right arm, which Conrad grabs the shotgun stashed behind the shield.  Conrad takes control of the mecha and moves out towards M'kira.  "Tiny, your in control of the Chaingun.  Let me know if anything pops up on the senors."

Sending a com to M'kira "M'kira, this is Conrad, I'm now piloting Tiny's mecha.  I'm currently moving towards your position.  Where are we heading off to next?"

"Miss T'Risa, the Freighter threat is being eliminated and the Ghost Ship is being deal with fighters.  I am being in position to begin starship attack, what is being target coordinates?"

T'risa closed her eyes. She was unsure the freighter posed a threat, even seeing it through Aziza's eyes. "Very well. Follow my directions for a strafing run. Mecha team note Aziza's angle of approach and steer clear. We want to guide the Q'sa to retreat in the direction we wish them too. So stay clear of that vector. Aziza, commence the attack run. Try strafing first. Co-ordinates are as follows"

T'risa filled in the co-ordinates a short time passed before she warned the Mecha team. "Mecha team, prepare for starship support in 15 seconds. Clear the strafing zone. Conrad and Tiny, it would be handy if you can get the anti air online, in case the not hostile remaining Cesti ship has difficulties. Grym, well done, your shots have been incisive today. Keep up the good work. Balkiir, how are you doing?"

Conrad receives the message and begins attempting to hack into the Anti-air torrent.

OOC
Conrad rolled 25 using 1d20+21. Computer Use check with Tiny aiding.

" The bleeding's stopped." Balkiir replied with a grunt." I think I'm going to have to get some heavier armor, that one almost raised my voice a few notches." Balkiir gave a dry laugh as he reloaded an RPG and tried t shift to get a better line on the Q'sa now well out of range for the infantry.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:55, Tue 16 Nov 2010.

"Understood. This should be interesting and I can say with certainty I wouldn't want to be in the Q'sa's position right now."

Carefully M'kira makes certain she's not in the area of the Air strike leaving it wide open for Aziza to do her thing. To Conrad over the com she sends a quick message. "Let's heard the Q'sa so that Aziza's strafing run has the most powerful effect possible. That should get them to flee in the direction T'risa wants with great haste." She decides to cheer tiny on. "Go tiny! your doing great this combat misson. Oh by the way. Conrad why did you board tiny. We have less firepower now and she can take care of herself. Just curious after all isn't your mecha in good condition?"

Needless to say she flies skillfully playing sheep dog as she blasts the Q'sa encouraging them to go where T'risa wants. The strafing run was going to tear some of them apart she thought. Between the attacking Mecha and a starship shooting at them she had a feeling they would be interested in one of two things. Escape or surrender. She fires a burst from her plasma Canon mainly at the ones not doing what they wanted. Though any leader types that even considered trying to rally the rest get fried first.

"You ok Balkir? We going to medvac him soon T'risa?"

Conrad chuckles listening to M'kira comments.  "Both of us in the Mecha actually make for a far stronger team.  My mecha doesnt have equipment as Tiny's does so now we are far stronger.  Sides, T'risa wanted me to do some hacking, and its far easier in Tiny's cockpit then in mine."  Conrad just grins thinking to himself.  It doesn't matter what the race is, all females are still a pain in the ass.

   What left of the Q'sa give up on getting to their vehicles and make a Bee-line for the wasteland. M'kira ca herd them rather easily as they flee. none of their weapons have any chance of slowing a mech even a light wight damaged mecha.
   The infantry squad moves in to collect prisoner now that the fighting is over, and the one O'maeda left uninjured is curled u in a ball while her wounded comrade is doing her best to stop the bleeding from her legs. Neither puts up a fight as they are handcuffed and searched by the security grunts who have enough practice at search and arrest to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises later.

    The Mobile gun comes online fairly quickly the system not up to military security protocols In fact the system appears to be identical to the software and hardware used in the colony's air defense towers. A collection of of the shelf civilian grade hardware cobbled onto a set of general market starship plasma cannons. against military countermeasures the weapons short range sensors and fire control systems would be almost useless but they are more than enough to deal with civilian freighters and shuttles.

OOC: combat is effectively over i this thread, remain here for a bit t tie up loose ends... it will take at least half an hour to get to the other combat site at any rate so combat will be over there by the time you could arrive even if you left straight away.

Watching the last of the Q'sa get rounded up, Conrad helped make sure they go in their proper direction.  As Conrad was herding, he made sure to keep his eyes peeled looking for something he could salvage.  It was important because with new stuff Conrad can build new things for both mecha's, weapons and hopefully gather parts for his new suit.

Once everything is taken care of, Conrad starts to go through stuff looking for whatever parts he can find.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 34 using 1d20+17. Search for salvage check.

With the fight over he relaxed, a little. He still did not stand up but simply adjusted his sights and his awareness on the area surrounding the ground team. He had maintained his cover during the battle and now he would use it to provide overwatch, or if he was right their enemy would have ways of gathering intelligence as well and if there had been a watcher they might now be making their return trip.

He began slowly canvassing the area ranging through the possible sight modes on his scope.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:45, Mon 01 Nov 2010.

"Ok, everyone good work. Let's get into the town. Start loading the crow. Anti air system first, then the mecha, then weaponry and ammunition and food. Once we clear up this site, we go to the freighter. Aziza raise Chief Jons, see if he has any more transport vehicles he can free up to bring more of this stuff back to Hope. Balkiir, you watch the prisoners, if you need a relief let us know. We leave nothing behind, we blow it if we can't transport it. M'Kira keep in your mecha and discourage any of the infantry seeking to return here. Tiny, can you recover the body of the Battle Witch? I need to confirm her identity."

T'risa looked at the anti air unit.

"I know it's primitive Conrad. How much of a task would it be to upgrade it to the point it would be as useful as the current anti air platform they have back at Hope? Once you are done that, look over the enemy mecha and give me repair assessments for both."

Her mind moved quickly over the material they'd managed to accrue from this battle. It wasn't enough, she wondered if it ever could be given that every battle would be worse than the last.

"No worries T'risa if they even think about taking a shot at you or anyone else I will take em down. My regrets T'risa I got my mecha damaged by getting sloppy. I should have been more focused. That AP round did a number on me. How's Balkir? The big lug might not complain but that doesn't mean he's not in need of proper medical care. Also any news on how the Airport team is doing? Mind if I help with the salvage? It will go faster with more hands involved. I will wait till you feel it's safe."

She was most worried about poppy as like Tiny she was one of the few people on their Team T'risa might not know about if she got seriously hurt. She keeps a sharp lookout for anyone or anything that even thought about coming back to bother their group.

   The combat zone is pretty well shot up, rocket, plasma cannons and mecha stomping about dripped property values drastically. Most o the recovered equipment is more of the same generic infantry weapons. the Five O'aeda were armed with Plasma pistols, two of which appear to be Psi tech weapons intended to be used by telepaths. the power cores removed and replaced with a device that allow a Psion to recharge them with their own energy reserves.
   The first heavy mecha is completely scrapped the fuel fire and ammo explosions ripped it apart leaving it not much more than spare parts.the second mecha is damaged heavily but repairable, although it is powered by an outdated gas turbine engine that requires either diesel or some form of combustible liquid to function. a quick glance shows that it's chain gun, rocket launchers and the heavy recoilless gun are still intact but all it's control systems and right hip are toast.
   in the warehouse Conrad finds four heavy trucks converted into troop carriers, the anti grave vehicles are not flight worthy but are designed to ski a few meters off the ground. each one is armed with a heavy plasma repeater and grenade launchers on the passenger side of the cab the truck are empty but seem to be ready to carry quite a bit of cargo.

     fro his perch Grym can see the wrecked ship clearly, It is heavily damaged from the crash but there are no signs of fire, or catastrophic structural damage. he spies someone moving in the cargo area, the person looks uninjured other than blood on his face from minor injury. at range it's hard to pick out details of his uniform but it is dirty, disheveled and has a logo he cant quite make out for the smoke and dust kicked up by the crash.
   When tiny searches the wreck of the skimmer she finds the dead O'maeda a few yards away definitely the victim of a terminal case of road rash. the woman carries a portable terminal and several data cards on her person as well as a set of O'maeda tactical armor.

    Other than Balkiir most of the injuries are minor plasma burns, shrapnel wounds and bruises caused when rounds impacted the non rigid portions of armor. the team medic has most of the injured ready to move and Balkiir setting sullenly on a stretcher looking rather displeased with the situation.

T'risa starts moving around the scene of the battle directing the mecha be readied for transport back to Hope via the crow. "The other team are not doing so well, all are hurt to some extent." She raises an eyebrow at the tactical armour, wondering if she'd be able to fit into it. She had no doubt things would get worse and she wasn't as protected as most of the others....also now her presence was known they might start targetting her specifically.

She looked off into the distance to the starship crash. "Aziza, land the crow so we can load it with most of the items we've recovered from here. Once you have it all on board, remain overhead and cover us while we recover what we can from the freighter. Does anyone know how to drive one of those troop transports? If no-one does, we'll take the weapons and scrap them." T'risa looked around "Conrad, hack the terminal and bring me the notecards." the witch could only be one of three possibilities. T'risa hoped fervently that she hadn't just killed the only person that could exhonerate her back in the Empire."Let's get moving. We won't have a tremendous amount of time."

M'kira stands by ready to act at the slightest sign of danger. Seeing that the wreck might have activity she speaks to T'risa. "looks like we have activity at the wrecked freighter. Should we send someone to round them up?"

Still watching for trouble he helps to move heavy valuable things. The sooner they got everything loaded the better. Not to mention they could recover more with the extra pair of hands. Still M'kira wasn't as fast as she would have been. Primarily because she was more concerned with keeping everyone safe and had to maintain a very alert status to possible enemies popping up.

"Yes Miss T'risa, I am being land as soon as I am being find sufficiently open space.  First I am being scan just in case there are being buried anti-ship mines that people are not being set off." Aziza transmits as the Crow does a slow, lazy spiral over the battlefield before roughly plumping down in a relatively clear spot.


20:44, Today: Aziza rolled 15 using 1d20+14. Pilot.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Fri 05 Nov 2010.

  As Aziza approaches the landing area she runs her scans, and her worst fears come true. almost at the same instant T'risa gets a cold chill and one word comes to her "STOP" near the center of the landing area Aziza's sensors detect a concealed pit and inside that pit a large concentration of nitrogen compounds. Her mind processes .the sensors chemical break down of the content and comes up with Pentanex.
  Pnetanex is the primary compound in agent I-9 an industrial grade high explosive used in mining and construction. the volume of the charge and placement of two other pits would be sufficient to scatter the Crow across a square kilometer of the country side.

T'risa mental voice screamed "STOP! Something's wrong!" T'risa had no idea what she just felt, but the intense wrongness of it filled her mind with alarm.

"Pick another place to land. Aziza. Conrad, go check out the landing pad. Something is wrong there." T'risa paused for a moment "Aziza, have you had any contact with the other Cesti vessel?"

Conrad makes his way towards Tiny and gets inside the mecha and makes his way towards the landing pad.  Conrad wondered what was wrong since Aziza wont/cant land and T'risa was freaking out.  When aproaching the landing sit, Conrad slowed down.  "Okay Tiny, Something must be wrong here.  Please be careful."  When near the landing sit, Conrad gets out and checks out the area on foot just to be safe.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 20 using 1d20+17. Search check.

Tiny felt a little scared.  This seemed a little dangerious at the moment.  The worst part was seeing Conrad acting weird.  So Tiny did her best to not freak out or do anything radical.  She runs a scan of the area to see if she can detect anything.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 28 using 1d20+12. Computer Use check.

Aziza guns the engines as her sensors belatedly pick up the explosive charges, and the world turns into fire and thunder as the overpowered racing engines on the Crow suddenly go from four to seventy percent, lofting sideways suddenly on a stream of blazing blue-hot plasma. A choice section of salvage is melted into instant slag as the blazing trail touches earth and burns a crevice right through the topsoil, and the ship seesaws wildly before stabilizing and rising a bit to a safer height of about a hundred meters up.

He sat concentrated on the man moving within the ship, the rest simply playing out over the lines of communication. He kept track of it with a different part of his mind. HE waited a few seconds for the events to play out before he spoke.

"T'risa, I have sight one a single occupant of the ship. It is a long shot but I could probably hit him from here if someone wants to approach, I can provide overwatch." He kept his crosshairs firmly on the torso of the figure. At this range it was a safer shot more likely to hit.

M'kira holds her ground having not been granted permission to check out the crashed freighter yet. She winces when Aziza's engines kick into overdrive. It was a bit of a mess but at least the furball was still alive. "Ouch. That's a bit of a mess.  I am game to check out the freighter if you can spare me. Still covering everyone's back in case trouble decides to come our way. You ok over there Tiny? Conrad maybe we should just send a automated probe or robot over there. No need for you two to take a risk. Aziza let me know if you need anything. We will load the crow as quickly as possible once you find a safe landing spot."

T'risa nodded "M'Kira I think we're good here with Aziza overhead. Please go check out the freighter. Bear in mind they fired on Aziza, so approach carefully. Grym, good job, please keep an eye on M"kira." T'risa bit her lip waiting for the response from Conrad to find out what felt so wrong about the landing strip.

"I promise I will be careful T'risa. Will be interesting to see what they have to say when we bring them or him in depending on what sort of crew they still have." "I am on it! Thanks for the back up Victor!"

Gracefully she flies over to the crashed freighter keeping a very close eye on it's weapon systems should they still be operational. She didn't think the crew of the freighter was suicidal. However some people could be monumentally stupid. "I suggest you surrender. Firing on us was a very poor choice. Come out peacefully or we will finish this." Her tone had a finality to it that promised death for anyone stupid enough to resist at this point. Granted if T'risa wanted them alive she would do her best to accomplish that. However there was no reason they needed to know that. Best that they felt their best option was to surrender period!

  The landing field lit up with raw energy a Aziza opened fire on the pits...Her first blast hit dead center of the central pit slicing though stone concrete and dirt with little resistance. the following blasts were lost in a series of secondary explosions that rippled out from the center of the blast tossing rock, dirt and sections of concrete the size of compact cars into the air. bit of fist sized debris rained down across the camp smaller marble sized buts of earth rained across a square mile of real estate sending everyone for cover.
    The blast was overkill any ship on the ground or in the air above the demolition charges would have been reduced to twisted debris, even a ship hovering or attempting to take off would have been crippled and left a hulk by the explosives buried under the landing pad.

   Conrad and Tiny have barely had time to turn and head toward the pad when Aziza removes the threat as simply as possible. the the blast wave is enough to knock tiny on her armored backside and dazzle her optic for several second. the falling debris covers her in a loose layer of dust and dirt a couple of inches thick.

   M'kira can see on person moving in the wreckage. her thermal scans pick up another warm body in the cargo area under a layer of scatted cargo. the body is cooling quickly.

Conrad does his back to climb back inside the cockpit of Tiny's mecha as Aziza rains down hell from above.  Being knocked over and dazed, Conrad slowly regains himself and tries to figure out what the hell just happened.  He then comms Aziza.

Hey Aziza, this is Conrad.  What in the hell was that about!  I mean good God you nearly killed me!  Next time give some damn warning before you start dropping bombs!!!!"

Tiny just closes the hatch after Conrad got inside as the blast knocked Tiny over on her butt.  Not being able to see after a moment, she just sits there.

"Son of a bitch!  What the hell was that for?  I mean goodness, that hurt like hell!  Know my new mecha is all dirty!  This is an outrage!  That damn Aziza is going to wash my mecha for this atrocity!"

Closing on the living individual she reports what she has learned to T'risa. "We have one dead in the cargo-bay T'risa. Looks like whoever the poor soul was ended up getting crushed by their cargo. The survivor is moving about but hasn't responded to my offer to surrender yet. I will try again."

When the explosion rocks the area she makes certain that Aziza and the crow are still intact. THen hears the chatter over the com. Shaking her head M'kira continues doing what she needs to do. She had a feeling Conrad would have words with Aziza later. What the results of that would be she had no idea.

She makes it clear she's targeting the individual with her weapons as she closes whatever distance might be left between them. "If you are going to surrender we can provide you with medical attention if needed. Do not resist or I will open fire."

Depending on the person's response, she will collect them and check on the cargo if possible to see what it is.
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 22:14, Fri 12 Nov 2010.

"It was not being bomb." Aziza answers primly.  "It was being mass driver slug, Iron-Nickle-Cobalt-Iridium monocrystal accelerated to .35c.  It is being much more precision weapon, ship is not being mount any explosives at all."

It just wasn't Trey's day, it seemed. He sniffled inside the carefully canned air of his sealed helmet, trying to clear mushed sinuses as he stumbled away from the hole in the freighter wall. He couldn't see Earnie anymore; Hopefully, the guy took his advice and hid away.

Still, there was work to do. It wouldn't be long before whatever spheroid War outside came crawling back to the crashed freighter, and caught him up with it. If he was going to find the Bredren, he was going to have to survive. The whistling soon dies away to humming, since the blood has parched his lips, and Trey begins shoving bits of the cargo aside in hunt for something. Something he could use, something he could build, something he could make an escape with...

And then he hears the mecha outside the torn metal hull call for surrender. Trey ignores it for a moment, on the hopeful assumption that it was just a general broadcast to the slavers of this ship. And then the Mechca begins coming inside the bloody cargo hold. Eyes go wide, and Trey quickly slips and slides over the debris in an attempt to head for the back, but there's simply no way to go. He turns back towards M'kira and her massive suit of mechanized armor, briefly considering his options.

But, frankly, there's not going to be a way to penetrate or disable that thing without major time and effort. Both of which he hasn't got. The clone raises his hands slowly in the air, his helmet naturally tinting itself against the glare of the mecha's running lights.

~"Eeezay, Sistah. Eeezay noa."~ He transmits to M'kira's mecha from his suit's comm, easing his way sideways across the slanted flooring. ~"I an' I jes' gonna.. uh.. git de soots out de back. Dem sahrrendah soots. Yah jes' hol' dere, an' I be rite back."~ It was a miserable lie, but it's said with a grim grin in the face of certain further slavery and/or death. What else can he do? Maybe if he can get inside the passageways, where the mecha can't fit?

Siddle, siddle.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Sat 13 Nov 2010.

As he watched things play out in the cargo hold he decides to give the guy something to think about. He shifted his aim slightly pulling his shot up and to the left. He let his breath out and then pulled the trigger. His shot thundered across the valley, the round exploding against the back wall of the cargo hold. It tore a gash through the bulkhead and left a ringing in the cargo bay for a few seconds. He dropped his aim back on the guy, next move was his.

 " Death is watching, death from nowhere, death that waits. Ernie warned from the shadows his voice a whisper. Best to be still, that machine woman is not da one you should be afraid of.

Inside her battle armor M'kira raises one delicate eyebrow at Aziza's response. Regardless of the method the massive destruction that resulted was the same. She was amused at Aziza's response though she stays out of that particular matter.

Seeing the freighter crewman and possible pirate trying to slip away M'kira wonders if he has a death wish. Where on earth would he go especially with the sheer number of very deadly people in the area that would hunt him down. When the high caliber sniper round tears into the bulkhead she speaks softly. "Your pretty lucky. Victor actually gave you a warning shot. Your lucky you still have your legs and more importantly your life. Look I am not interested in hurting you if I don't have to. I am interested in what you know as you seem to be in this right up to your neck. Why don't you do the smart thing and surrender. If your not guilty of any crimes you won't be hurt. In fact you would actually get help. Seriously your not going to get another chance if Victor shoots again your probably dead. IT's pretty hard not to kill with the kind heavy duty sniper rifle he has."

She observes him carefully giving him a chance to think it through. If he makes the wrong choice the consequences will be of his own making. "T'risa we have a live on in here. He seems to have the bad idea of trying to slip away. I am pretty sure Victor provided him with the proper incentive to give up on that. I hope to bring in him so you can discuss things with him and learn what you can. If you want him alive say something now I can't guarantee Victor's next shot won't be a kill. Not to mention I will be shooting at him as well. Maybe you can influence him with a little T'risa style diplomacy?"

The ringing retort of the bullet slamming through a good part of the hull can be felt even through Trey's armored and sealed spacesuit; An impressive feat in and of itself. The fact that it makes his waste recycling system strain from sudden excess is beside the point.

~"Yah be no jokin', Earnie."~ He mutters, forgetting to kill the comm before his attention turns back to the woman in front of him. At least, he assumes its a woman. Maybe it's just a guy in that armored suit with a feminine voice. 'Course, Earnie called it a woman.

~"Yah, sistah. No worray. I an' I ain't ta be knowin' no-thang."~ Well, alive meant he had a chance to escape. Dead meant he was in a hole. Sucking down a deep breath to steel himself and his trembling legs, Trey begins to walk forward - arms still raised high. If given the choice, he'll exit the cargo hold on his own, though stagger from the wash of vertigo from the horizon falling away again.

Conrad manages to get Tiny back upon her feet.  Though Tiny was still complaining, Conrad just ignored her for the moment.  This planet really hasnt been the nicest to him, but some how he still manages to stay alive.  For the moment, Conrad forgot what he was suppose to be doing.  The blast really rattled his nerves, it was damn close to him being blown all over this place.  Conrad comms over to M'kira

"hey, its Conrad.  Is there anything else left here to do?"

M'kira gives Trey a slightly worried look wondering who he was talking to. It was alarming to think someone had managed to elude her sensors. On the other hand he was surrendering without a fight. Could it be possible he was simply talking to himself? The other occupant of the ship was clearly dead though he might not know that. Though the way he spoke was a response not reaching out to someone.

She does another scan just to be certain while warily keeping trey covered. She also knows that Victor had her back. "Good choice. What is your name Mine is M'kira. I work with T'risa a Marshal conducting a investigation."

Hearing Conrad she responds quickly. "We are currently securing the survivor of the freighter for questioning. He currently maintains that he doesn't know anything. I recommend you access the freighters computer core and see if you can get any valuable Intel. You can also check the ship and it's cargo for any possible evidence and or salvage that you see fit to take. T'risa might countermand that but till she does it seems as productive a way to get you involved as any. He mentioned someone called Earnie unless he's talking about the corpse there might be someone else running around here. Be careful I haven't picked anything up on sensors yet beyond him and the dead crewman in the cargo bay."

Trey briefly considered his options as he finished climbing out of the cargo bay, keeping his arms loosely up in the air and away from his 'utility' belt. All sorts of interesting tools on there, and some that could potentially be used as a weapon - much akin to a socket wrench being used to bash someone, one supposes. They'll do the job, but not half as well as something actually designed with death in mind.

The space monkey still occasionally stumbles, until he learns to keep his gaze firmly locked on the ground in front of him. That horizon was hypnotizing! The fact that his balance was off kilter from a mush up sinus cavity wasn't helping anything either.

~"Yah gwoin' 'bout de 'in-ves-teegatin' all rong, den, Miki."~ Transmits Trey back to the mecha, as he catches himself from another stumble. ~"Yah no be talkin' to dah boyz what dey on de way ta Jah.."~ He dips his head towards the still smoking zone where so many Q'sa had perished, but the motion likely goes unnoticed - concealed, as it were, beneath his helmet. None the less, a quiet chuckle escapes him, before it stifles beneath a caught sob.

Not here. Not yet.

To keep his spirits up, Trey begins whistling that ancient spheroid tune into the comm set. I'll give you a hint which one; It involves how best to relieve stress, and also a commentary about three birds roostin' on a doorstep.

Conrad makes his way over the freighter, though keeping a watch out for anything that be still lurking around.  As he approaches, Conrad does a scan of the area to see if there is anything else moving around that needs to be shot, since thats Tiny's favorite thing to do.

Conrad keeps looking around, you just never know whats going to just pop up around here.  He slowly reaches for the comm button to talk with M'kira"Yo, its Conrad again, let me know when you have this person into custody.  I'm currently doing a computer scan.  As soon as this is done, I am going to go walk through the ship and see if I can find anything of use."

OOC:
Conrad rolled 34 using 1d20+19. Computer Use to use sensors to detect anything in the surround area
Conrad rolled 36 using 1d20+19. Computer Use to access the main computer in the freighter to see what information I can gather.
Conrad rolled 18 using 1d20+17. Search, to find my toes...

  The battle field i now clear of any active bad guys, they have either fled or been neutralized. Moving through the wreckage of the camp and the scattered crates fro the landing pad it sees most of the debris is scrap metal and stock items for a small colony that have been out in the open for weeks. only the vehicles and weapons brought by the ambush party see to be out of the ordinary...except for a large open mass grave for the colonists found behind one building. the bodies are already mummified by the dry air and look as if they were dead before the arrival of the crow on the planet.

   The suspected battle witch is whisked into a cryo bags by the med-techs along with any other fallen hostiles who they think might be viable for resuscitation with a better facility. as the crow settles back into position to find a safer landing field the smaller Cesti ship joins it landing before the crow with its weapons pointed off into the desert an away from any friendlies.

  he crashed ship is jut that crashed, computers, main power life support have all been knocked offline by the crash while it i survivable it is unlikely many of the crew escaped serious injury fro a serious case of kinetic poisoning. a quick glance shows that the ship was not heavily damage in the fight but it most likely crashed due to the pilot misjudging his altitude during a maneuver and flying into the planet.

 " and I thought Blue was insane when he flew Star whispered as she crawled out of the small padded case someone had bolted to the floor next to Maran's seat on the bridge.' ya know how hard it is to make a cat dizzy
    I don't know how she can even see which way is up ..wait... that way is up its the ceiling...you okay Maran...have fun on your first starship ride?

 She looked down whoosily at Star, her face green and sweaty, and tight, her hands wrapped around the well used sick bag because her inner ear was not used to all the impossible whooping and swooping the ship had been doing. She was not even used to flying at all, being on the ground at the dig site for so long. She wasn't sure she liked this sort of thing at all!
 "Mhhmmmm." She answered Star with bright intellect as her head seemed to spin dizzily and the compartment continued to do loop-de-loops and her stomach did flip-flops. She just wished to lay down and die right here, right now, not talk.

Maran had rode out the battle strapped into an acceleration couch on the bridge, watching on monitors as the tea fought a pitched battle then as Aziza shot down an enemy ship and used the ships guns to dig a large smoking hole int he ground
    The bridge was crowded with robots and drones working controls and monitoring systems the air full of a high pitched buzz and whistle as they spoke to one another in machine code assisting Aziza in handling a ship that just seemed too large to be piloted by one person.

Oh thats never good, it's never good when humans turn green.<blue> Star hopped up on her lap pawing Maran's face lightly with one paw.<blue> Umm do you need anything...something to drink..maybe some...air...she managed to wrestle the breathing mask by the couch up to Maran...air seems to work for humans.....

    Um hello people can someone bring Maran something i think she i a little ill with all the turning and diving and moving around...   star spoke to anyone who had there radio on." I may be a little out of date on humans but they aren't supposed to turn green ...are they?

  She gratefully took the oxygen mask and placed it over her nose and mouth, breathing in slowly and deeply, trying to get her rebellious stomach and her defiant inner ears to cooperate again. At first the thought of food made her stomach clench and jerk, but when tea entered her brain, her stomach seemed almost to say ~well, maybe...~. She continued to breathe in slowly and argue with herself that she did not have to hurl anymore.
"Thanks Star."

She helps Trey make his way out of the crashed freighter Escorting him toward the main group. "Requesting medical support for the survivor of the crash. If you can spare someone please send a medic to give him a once over."

Looking at Trey she shakes her head slightly though he might not notice due to her armor. "We are taking what prisoners we can. It's unfortunate that we lost some that would have been good sources of information."

If possible she rejoins the main group getting Trey whatever medical attention she can.

Conrad goes through the ship, mostly annoyed that the power isnt on.  But the important thing was that the ship isnt one giant mess.  Thus, Conrad begins making notes about what it would take to get this thing in flying shape again.  Nothing hurts about having two ships.  Or, he could use it to as trade for equipment.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 29 using 1d20+19. repair to estimate how long it would take to make this ship fly again.

He kept the prisoner in his sights the entire time, one part of him hoping that the guy made the wrong move and the other glad at least he didn't have to shoot the man. He kept still in his perch waiting for the others to be ready to leave before he would even get up himself.

After scavenging anything left from the main site. T'risa moved her attention to the freighter. She gave approval for the medic to approach the survivors to give them medical attention if needed. "Someone look for a cargo manifest and start loading the trucks."

Trey continued his march towards the ... the.. whatever they were. 'Investigators', warlords, what have you. Around half-way through he eventually drops his arms, as they're getting tired, but makes no move towards the various tools hanging from his belt. Whether because Grym was watching or because he really had no chance of outrunning M'kira's mecha - just yet - the 'prisoner' makes no move to escape.

Nor does he seem cooperative, waving off the medic and preferring to keep his helmet sealed. ~"I an' I be needin' no seein, Doctah. Yah jes' be on de way, a'rite?"~

With little else to do until someone comes to either release him, kill him, or torture him (He'd  prefer the first!), Trey squats down on the ground and eventually settles into an unruly heap of sitting with a jangling sound as he adjusts his toolbelt. His space suit disheveled, miscolored from a long few months of collected dust from the wreck and simple inability to clean it.

And not to put too fine of a point on it, his suit doesn't smell that great either. A bit like mothballs. Even the patch declaring his owner has been worn off by the long time spent in isolation up in hyper-space.

  The support team moves to extract the wounded ship crew from the wreck while others begin loading the cargo and scouring the ship for any records or files from the ships computers.
   The available vehicles are enough to handle most of the cargo, which is made up of small arms ammunitions, food, medical supplies and tons of fruit and fruit concentrates.the supplies are not typical human crops. as they are a variety with a hard rind and a pulpy flesh that has an odd texture and flavor that seems to be part melon part citrus fruit.
   the secondary cargo hold is full of salvaged gear, several small flight pods, and tools that are obviously intended for EVA and salvage activities. the number of crates of black and gray market a small arms and three pallets of clearly outlaw heavy missiles tend to indicate the ship is not a commercial hauler but a scavenger/gun runner/smuggling ship.

     The main eye catchers in the hold are the half dozen heavy missiles, each one packing twice the payload as Aziza's ship mounted missiles. one hit could easily take down anything smaller tan a corvette and would do serious damage to the crow.
  In addition each missile mounts it's own sensors and what appears to be a low function AI core as a guidance system. the presence of a hyperdrive module bolted to each weapon as well as mountings for heavy launch motors mark the ship as surface fired anti shipping missiles intended for a ground battery capable of hitting anything within a star system without active guidance form the ground station.

    Trey is brought to the crow and put in medical by the security team, who look rather unplussed at his appearance and bouquet. anyone looking at him can tell he is not wearing the same gear or have the same general appearance as the crew of the ship. Aziza can spot the dust a mile off it is common to only one place deep hyperspace. it usually only accumulates on a person after more than a few days of exposure since the bodies electrical impulses generate a mild repulsive effect on hyper matter.
  The team medic diagnoses him with first stage adaptation sickness, malnutrition, skin irritation and abrasions consistent with being in his suit, for weeks, if not longer. A blood test shows traces of cryo-drugs and tranquilizers administered at dosages high enough to render most people drolling idiots..

OOC: load out and clean up can be handled by the support team, the colony has agreed to provide drivers and manpower now that the fighting at the landing site is over and free up the crow for the relief of the second team.... total time spent 2 hours on the ground..plus twenty minutes to get to the second team at flight speeds.

  Balkiir looked up from the table where the doc was working on his legs and trying to find out which buts of angled him were still of any use to hi and which parts were coming off. the drugs helped but he still glared at the medic anytime the man reached for a syringe.
    Man you look like hell, warmed over. He glanced over at Trey as he was brought in the Massive man sat up his normally gun metal blue colored skin now pale and looking decidedly unhealthy. Oow...watch it thats not a damn Thursday roast your hacking on. he grumbled as the medic worked on his leg, the cover over his lower body keeping the damage out of sight but he had a feeling it was not a pretty sight. He gave trey a lopsided smile as if he was nt that concerned with the work being don on his leg." Glad to see I'm not the worst case in here.

Trey submitted to the medical exams quietly enough; They weren't all that unusual before a deep prospect was sent out, to be certain enough of the 'employees' would survive the journey. What was unusual was the lack of restraint, or even a well placed gun to the back of the head. Not that he'd prefer it, but it is an oddity considering he was brought over under 'duress' as it were.

As he sits upon the table, his suit likely stripped off and replaced with one of those really neat burnable med-gowns, he can't help but double take at Balkir's skin color. But, even a cloistered clone knew about the nature of things, even if only through entertainment and education vids. And then he laugh at Balkir's statement.

"Oh, mon. I an' I be not sayin' no'ting 'till yah put yah boots bake on. Den be countin' toes." Unusually good humored, considering the situation, but at least he's no longer at risk of being completely atomized by the effects of hyperspace. And he's still breathing, albeit with a strut in his nose to keep it from closing up on him. That means his day is already looking up.

"Yah be dragged off dem boyz ship too, o' yah be 'investigatin' dese pats?" He asks, after a moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Fri 19 Nov 2010.

Once Trey is Secured M'kira helps to load the trucks getting the valuable cargo off of the battle field. There was no telling how long things would stay peaceful. She also tries to help salvage battle mech parts. After all they had repairs to do!

Then she happily boards the Crow Ready to give poppy, Leolin and the others a helping hand at their end of things. Course by the time they got there she honestly expected things to be over. They after all had been fighting separate actions in a simultaneous multi pronged military action.

Conrad helps load up any material that is needed.  Though he wanted to spend more time here, he knew he was needed else where.  After the loading was done, Conrad gets on board the Crow and leads Tiny into the hanger and pulls out her AI and puts it into a Drone to make her more moveable in the Crow.  Conrad then starts looking for T'risa to ask her a question

"So, now what are we going to do?  What are we going to do with the ship that crashed?  Are we done on this planet or do we need to stomp on some more bugs?"

While keeping half a hand monitoring the medical robot handling Balkiir's injuries, Aziza worriedly sweeps her sensors across the upper atmosphere, curious about the strange Cesti vessel she'd seen engaging the enemy fighters earlier.  Surreptitiously, she orders the medical bot to take extra tissue samples in case anybody's caught an infection while outside the ship, and orders a broad-spectrum antibiotic put into the food supply on the theory that everybody probably won't visit the robot for a checkup.
"Welcome to being back on board Miss T'risa." Aziza transmits cheerfully.  "I am being examine aftermath of fighter battle between bald-tailed enemy fighter and Cesti ghost vessel.  It is being most suspicious."

T'risa laughed "Done? We've not ever begun. This is the opening stanza in an intergalatic conflict. Pack up the missiles, but keep them under wraps, even from the civilians at Hope. I want them to be a secret for know. An ace in the hole. Pack everything we can move onto the trucks. We'll come back to try to salvage the freighter, unless someone here can get it moving in four hours or less. Aziza....where did the ghost Cesti get to? Are you in contact with it?"

  Almost as t'risa finished her thought....

  " to be secure i have placed my ship in position with throat exposed to your craft Furesh Leader of Hunt. he Pilot of the Ghost ship spoke as it's ramp lowered. Two passengers are wishing to leave safety of My craft and Meet with Those who hunt the enemy on this world, one wishes to speak with Leader of Hunt Aziza of the Furesh, another carries message for The Blue skinned humans who hunt with her. As the ramp lowered a Cesti with marking similar to Aziza's and a Human descended the ramp, the Human woman wore Imperial Marine battle armor and carried a Plasma rifle at the ready.

M'kira Looks highly interested in hearing that another Cesti ship had landed. Not only that they seemed to have guests on the way. "T'risa I'm ready to back you up."

She Joins T'risa ready to do the meet and greet. Would be interesting to see what they had to say.

Aziza's eyes grow remarkably large as she examines the screen, then she carefully mutes the channel and turns to T'Risa.
"It is being worse than Cesti ghosts, Miss T'Risa.  I am being recognize that fur pattern, it is being my husband.  But I am not understanding how he is being on board ship of a clan that is being extinct years ago.  Although if anybody is being dumb enough to fly with ghosts, it is being him."

T'risa groaned. "M'Kira, I don't think they'll be hostile, but please be on guard. Grym. Please stay focussed on our guests. I've had enough surprises for one day. Conrad take a look at the freighter see what it needs to get it moving. I may be a little distracted until our other team is done."

T'rise looked over to Aziza with a questioning look. "He won't be happy with how much you've starved yourself. Let's go see what the new arrivals have to say for themselves."

T'risa led the way towards the Marine and Aziza's husband.

She looks a bit surprised that Aziza declared the cesti coming towards them was her husband. Having noticed that their Cesti pilot was a touch on the paranoid side made any such arrangment interesting to say the least. She could only wonder how many medical examinations and other activities Aziza had put him through. From the day they met let alone by the time they got married!

"Agreed T'risa. However if he's anything like Aziza I hope he doesn't insist on medical probes and sterilization process to kill any possible germs." She walks gracefully at T'risa's side. Her weapon at the ready although in a professional manner.

"Well look at it this way T'risa. Maybe he will enoourage Aziza to eat more. Not only that if we are lucky Aziza might actually listen to him!"

   " Third Lieutenant J'rii N'mai Five Ninety Third Flotilla. The Young officer odded slightly as T'risa approached her words stiff and formal, her tone and expression somewhat less than enthusiastic as she looked at the blood and dirt on T'risa's uniform." I am under orders to deliver classified documents to Marshal T'risa K'mahda."

T'risa nodded, stepping forward. "I'm the one you're looking for, Third Lieutenant J'rii N'mai. Before we start, who sent you? And then what can we do for you?" T'ris wiped her had free of blood and grime before reaching forward to the Marine. "Oh M'Kira, it looks like this is a prissy Marine. The Five Ninety Third must be a Home Fleet group. That battle armour she's wearing looks new."

  The male Cesti shook himself and stretched lazily as he exited the ship, his build was similar to Azia's smaller and less muscular than most he looked in slightly better condition his coat glossy and a bit of flesh under it to give him a generally healthy look.
   His first glance was to the crow, his eyes going to signs of battle damage and patches in her armor. One ear dropped slightly as he scanned the group looking for someone then looked back to T'risa. and the fleet officer.
    Pleasant Greetings Marshal K'mahda. His Avandii was almost perfect only a hint of the rumbling bestial accent of a Cesti. I had no idea you were such a formidable leader, it seems your small group has won a rather outstanding victory."
    I am happy I arrived in time to offer my assistance I am quiet familiar with many alien technologies and would be more than happy to assist in upgrading or modifying any combat equipment you may have salvaged. just looking at these capture vehicles gives me several outstanding ideas.

"But first i am afraid I have to find Aziza I know she will be eager to see me, it has been quite a while since we had a chance to speak."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Mon 22 Nov 2010.

M'kira is a battle hardened Valkir who had seen enough action that being in the mud and blood as some marine's put it didn't bother her. She grins giving the young officer a look only a valkir could. The blast marks from her battle damage still fresh on her battle armor. Being a sociable bunch they were normally friendly. Still she was surprised that a little dirt and blood would bother a proper soldier.

"It seems so. She hasn't seen enough action yet. Green behind the ears and not able to see her priorities yet. If she's ever assigned to us I am sure we can get her to change her tune soon enough. You have to love the offer Aziza's husband is making though. I love the sound of upgrades." 

Looking to the Cesti Male she could appreciate what he had to say. "Sounds great to me. I love a good upgrade when I can get one. T'risa you mind if I escort Aziza's husband to her?"

Unless T'risa objects M'kira will Take the Cesti to his wife. It looks like after the officer hands over her paperwork she would be all to eager to leave. That or T'risa could bring her with if she wanted!

OOC: this should be interesting. Seeing Aziza talking with her husband. ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Mon 22 Nov 2010.

Meanwhile, the moment T'Risa's back is turned Aziza springs into action, immediately she calls the ship's robots to her in a group, even going so far as to override medical bot's deep tissue inspection of Trey.  Gathered before her, she begins new instructions, waving all four paws for emphasis.
"You are not being follow any instructions other Cesti gives you.  Not even it it seems like good idea.  It is being bad idea and you are just being uninformed.  Instead tell other Cesti that there are being security measures in place, then being come tell me a recording of what he wanted.  If I am being busy tell Miss T'risa or M'kira."
Remembering her husband's onetime plan to get Aziza to build a spaceship entirely of wood, she shudders and stretches out right to her toes, popping her protruding spine wonderfully before licking her lips and trotting towards the meeting, sure he's already alienated all her friends.  Aziza vows to find a way to save the situation and keep her husband's stupidity from killing them all as she timidly looks outside the ship to the expected brawl at the foot of the landing bay.

  "Someone felt a rumor of a few Q'sa ships in sector required a ulti fleet strike group. The Flotilla was assigned to ensure adequate scouting of the sector and to deal with any targets of opportunity before the Tae and Valkiir squadrons blunder in and allow any possible enemy formation to disperse. The young officer spoke with obvious disdain and looked about her with distaste at the number of men who were working around the ship." I had no idea I'd be required to work directly with a Tae officer, or... there... provincial militias..

OOC: 593rd Flotilla is most likey T''risa and M'kira will know ...

Fifth Fleet 9th squadron 3rd Flotilla.

The fifth fleet is a Fleet engagement formation specifically designed for large scale fleet actions and held in reserve around Homeworlds. thus "Home Fleets"

The seldom see actual combat and spend a large portion of their time in maneuvers and 'good will cruises' and do have a bit of a reputation for being a favorite place to send young family members to ensure they don't get killed while serving with a "combat" formation.
  On the other hand they are usually given the best ships and trained with the most up to date systems and tactics for large scale ship to ship combat.

   " I can see my own self. Takti assured I was practically weaned on the oldr class ships, I had hoped that they would have upgraded the.... Takti stopped and looked up to the head of the ramp and let out a low rumbling sound then a full throated roar that nearly rattled the windows.
   The roar had no direct translation to Avandii since it was strictly for the ears of Cesti, specifically a challenge and greeting between mates.

Conrad grumbles as he was just at the freighter and now he has to go back.  It was a pain so he unplugged Tiny from her Drone body and back into the Mecha.  He made he was back to the freighter and looked around again to make mental notes of what he needs to gather to repair any damages.

The deep tissue pinch of collection made the clone wince, but otherwise he offered no resistance to the medical drones. When they had suddenly packed up and run off, Trey lifted his head from the slab and glanced over to the blue skinned man who shared the 'med berth' with him. And the Doctor-bot working.

After a moment's hesitation, Trey slid off the table and pulled his paper smock a bit closer about his body before easing for the doorway to poke his head out. Checking for guards, of course. If seeing none? He'll cast one last glance back at the busy doctor-drone for any attempts to actually halt him, and head into the hallways of this... this whatever it was.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Mon 22 Nov 2010.

He remained still, his perch his own private world looking down upon the others. He swung the barrel of his heavy rifle into position to cover their new arrivals. It seemed it was a day for it. He merely clicked his mic in acknowledgment of T'risa's orders.

Aziza makes a high pitched keening sound ending in something like a snarl as Takti steps forward.  She sits back on her haunches and he does the same, and the two hexapodal cats examine each other with ears laid back and eyes narrowed.  Then, to some unknown signal, both unsheath the claws on their front paws and swipe at each other several times, snarling and growling horribly.  The entire mock battle is over in perhaps three seconds.  Both slink back and circle a moment, then Takti steps forward again and the cats groom each other's shoulders.

"Does this mean your flotilla is ready to accept my orders? How soon until the main body of the fleet arrives? They have set up a blockade around this planet. Are you ready? Are you in contact with the Fleet?"

 " I am A direct link to the fleets tactical advisor, Ritha Nvi. The young officer declared with a bit of pride." The fleet will be taking orders from T.A.E Commodore Hastings, overall operations are being overseen by Colonel J'nath who has been designated as commander of the Joint force..... I understand...SHE has some skill as an officer although I do not know why a civilian contractor is in command." The Officer sour expression as the two Cesti greeted and groomed rolling her eyes slightly.
        For the love of the goddess, I had to listen to that racket all the way here."
             " The "Fleet" is comprised of he Flotilla, two squadrons of Valkiir strike corvettes, and a heavy Battle group of Tae cruisers, that should be more than enough to deal with a few ships on their own. I'm not surprised the Tae have made a mess of it here and are crying for help If one untrained O'maeda officer can handle this rabble on the ground then an entire battle group of men should be able to handle antique warships, and refitted transports. Q'sa aren't likely to have anything heavier that can actually fly.

Aziza pauses at the last bit and gives N'mai a pointed look.
"You are not being aware that we are being detect a ship as large as a city leaving planet earlier.  We are not being sure of ship's intentions as we wisely were being avoid drawing it's attention."

    A number of human workers and robots hustle up and down the hallways of the ship carrying out errands for the med techs, and transferring patients from the triage to the med bay, or to the cargo bay if they are no longer patients. A few give Trey a second glance but most are too busy to do more than grunt, mutter something,or give a short warning to stay out of the way.

       The ship itself is nothing standard outside the two bolt on habitat modules, the deck is soft, covered in grass, the walls are covered with woven grass mats that show some wear and fraying in places. and most forcibly to trey there is an absolute lack of handholds or grab bars. normally a ship has grab bars, or handholds every so often in hallways and compartments while most ships have had gravity manipulation and generation standard for generations there is always some time a ship is in free fall, or under power making sudden course corrections while docking or landing. either instance required something to grab onto and this ship lacked any visible means to steady yourself.
   A second noticeable difference to a trained spacer was the control consoles the controls had no buttons only shallow divots and recesses and the display screens hur his eyes to look at for any length of time the colors, and contrasts making it almost impossible for him to read the non standard scribble and scratch script that flashed across them.

     Trey made his way for a while on the ship, able to get a look at the main sections of the craft but the only unsecured passages led to the cargo hold or back to the medical area, with the second habitat module being well secured. and the hold now full of men and equipment as well as a heavy mech transferring cargo under the direction of he ground crew.

T'risa raised an eyebrow "Evidently they sent the idiotic officer planetside. Do you not think that Her Majesty and her witches have seen this situation? Frankly your fleet is too small to deal with anything we've seen here. The enemy are powering up dreadnoughts. they'll destroy your fleet and think nothing of it. They almost....well, they may have destroyed Kronos. Frankly, I have little enough time to plan the next battle to deal with your sneering, condescending tone. Go back to your vessel and tell them to send someone I can deal with.... and Third Lieutenant? I will make VERY sure that the Admiralty hear of this."

Looking slightly surprised at his unexpected Roar M'kira prepares for the possibility of combat. However her special combat senses didn't alert her to trouble of any kind. Nor did any sort of foe present itself as she searches for trouble. The only thing up the ramp was Aziza. M'kira realizes it's some sort of Cesti custom. She found it very interesting as they stage a mock battle. Then smiles as the couple starts grooming themselves. "Well they both seem happy don't they T'risa."

"Aziza's right we witnessed dreadnought level combat within the atmosphere. Two Dreadnoughts lifted off and one came down from space taking one of the two out. The other escaped though we can't be absolutely certain it's not out there and that rather or not if it's alone. Colonel J'nath and the commander will be very interested in knowing about that. I have faith that Cronos is still out there T'risa."

She glances at T'risa most likely unnoticed as she hands the woman her head. Not that she didn't have it coming for coming in blind with a bad attitude as to possible threat values. Course she hadn't seen the Intel the officer was dealing with. At the very least she needed to gather all the Intel she could and not assume things. Either way it was over. If the officers career survived she would definitely learn from the experience. Walking up the docking bay M'kira still remains alert in case T'risa needed assistance. "Aziza it's a pleasure to meet your husband. It looks like I will be learning more about Cesti Customs. This is the first time I have been in the presence of a married couple."

She continues to keep an eye on things in case T'risa wanted anything. "If all else fails T'risa we can always enter orbit to greet Colonel J'nath."

  Takti nuzzled and groomed Aziza glancing back over his shoulder as she spoke to the errant, and obviously immature human woman who had sniffed and sighed endlessly during the flight. a low rumbling deep in the subsonic rolled as he laughed at her getting dressed down and put in her place. he nipped affectionately at Aziza's ear as he got her full attention back half the language of the Cesti had never been translated since it depended on body posture and tones few organics could hear unaided.
    " clever too much, but not enough to know she has not scented her prey. Takti rumbled" The blue one reminds me of you, when you are angry with me.... should I let you work, or time do you have to speak of ship and clan.

  Ma'am! the young officer reacted with anger for an instant then as she was bombarded with information she looked puzzled hen truly shocked by what she heard. Ma'am There is no need for me to return I assure you I will perform my asigned duties to your satisfaction....I...I the Q'sa don't have dreadnoughts they were all destroyed by the fleet during the Mutinies, Admiral J'kosa ...
      "she assured us Kronos was exaggerating the strength of the hostiles...she ...The information sent to the fleet was from a renegade, and m...... Tae sources its never been as reliable as Fleet intel." the woman looked as if someone had let the air out of her, she visibly shrank a size as she realized how deep the hole she had dug for herself was.

"Kronos, if anything, was understating the level of the opposition. Complacency is a worse enemy than incompetence and from the sound of it the Admiral has been complacent for a long time." T'risa looked upset "Does the Fleet have any battle witch support?"

"No M'Kira. The modus operandi for this planet is for them to let anything land, but nothing take off. We're here until we get things sorted. The Fleet can take care of small things, but I want to save orbital bombardment and the Marine detachments on board for when we need them."

  " Yes Ma'am A triad abourd the K'giir N'maoya.... I I am part of their cabal I was sent here to allow you to pass information to them through me. The young officer sounded less haughty and properly chastised. " Senior Commander " J'mai is task groups tactical advisor, although with respect ma'am Tae are less than willing to heed advise from one of our Advisors, they place more reliance on signal and physical intelligence...I ...I doubt they will properly appreciate the intel unless we can provide more substantial details."

   If you ships captain can give me access to her sensor and date logs I can pas that information on, and any physical intelligence would be ...appreciated ma'am this is my first field assignment but I assure you I will do my best to fulfill my duties and give you ample reason to reevaluate your opinions when it comes time to pass them on to higher channels.

Aziza twitched one ear and tried to remind herself that Takti was an idiot, and not to be trusted, and the fact that he somehow survived his idiocy over and over again merely proved how malevolent the laws of physics really were.  But when he was nuzzling her ear it was really hard to concentrate on that, and clan was just as important as keeping in mind the time Takti had tried to build a perpetual motion machine, or the wooden starship hull design he'd pushed through and demanded she construct.
"I am being curious about how you are being fly on a ghost ship.  All this clan vessels are being destroyed decades ago." she finally admits softly.

    Not all, and not the ship. The clan lives but only this pilot and his ship. Takti admitted in a low whisper and a sly smile that Azia recognized and probably dreaded played across his features." The ghost clan to the Mohljaniir were friendly, to the clan the 'Hammer of the Gods' gave one secret I need your help to make known to the clan."
   "The pilot's flesh is dead but his mind lives in the ship; when he was killed he was one with the computers aboard the ship. Fierce were the ghost clan and now they live on in their ships among the hidden ones who gave them their secrets. Many are our clan who were made infirm when our docks were ruined by the bald and blind pasha... Make them one with our ships and they can hunt again for the clan."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:53, Tue 23 Nov 2010.

"You are. . . being intend to have Strange Wonderful Black Bird with the Cunning to use Tools and a Love of Shiny Objects possessed by ghosts?" Aziza asks incredulously, forgetting to keep her voice down.  "Why?  I am being quite capable of being pilot ship already, and ghosts are being already have own ship as well."

T'risa looked at the officer sceptically before answering "I'll see you get our sensor logs from our arrival on planet. Hopefully the tactical team on board the flagship will be able to determine some kind of weakness that we can exploit should it come to that. We are also planning an expedition to the wreckage of the flagship that was shot down to get more on hand analysis." T'risa turned to see Aziza reunited with her husband with a big smile on her face. "Those people are our trusted allies and good friends. Make no mistake Lieutenant. The entire Imperial Fleet acting on its own will be crushed. Only in conjunction with all of our allies do we stand a chance. I have been in psychic contact with the instigator of this and she's confident she can destroy a combined fleet."

She stood back motioning to Grym to come down from his perch and for everyone to start getting ready to move.

"Ok everyone, we have two hours. Get everything packed and ready to move to Hope. Lieutenant, they need help loading."

It was a flying death trap, so far as the spacer was concerned. Even the most eccentric ship designer knew that straight hallways turned into straight pits the moment artificial gravity ceased; Juked, fluted, and angled hallways were always the best, even if it did cost space. It kept someone from becomming a red smear on the otherside of the corridor during extremely high-G manuevers.

We're not even getting into the fact that the ship seems to have a lawn. And a pest problem. Definatly not a Tau ship like the Prospect, then. Or even the Witch. The recessed buttons and screen were just icing on the alien cake. But the majority of the people moving back and forth had the same number of limbs and eyes he did, so it can't be too terribly out of origin. And, for the moment, no one is shooting/beating/capturing/drugging/killing him, so there's always that happy prospect. There is, for a moment, the sudden fear that something had happened during hyperspace; Perhaps some sort of strange time bend?

And then he stops worrying. If it did happen, it happened; He'll deal with it. Eventually he'll move towards the cargo area, if for nothing else than to try and find something to suit up in. After a few months in hyperspace, it was a bit disconcerting to be without the solid protection of a space suit. Mentally, he knew there was zero chance of decompression on a spheroid, and nearly the same for irradiation;

"But de mind got no string to de hart, Jah be oan it." He chuckles to himself, completing the mental thought outloud. Well, his captors had enough chances to poke and prod him. Now it was time to poke and prod back, and figure out what was really going on.

 "There isn't a fleet in O'sahdii space that can defeat the Imperial fleet.> N'mai's words were more a protective mantra than anything else" How could a force that powerful hide from Fleet Intelligence or The Imperial Services for any length of time?...you need shipyards, resupply hubs, logistics and acquisition networks and all of that needs people, someone would slip up and ISIS ( Imperial Special Intelligence Service) would be on to them."
   The lieutenant actually look physically ill at the concept of a secret fleet and a massive intelligence blunder that might endanger the empire.  she saluted numbly at her marching orders, insulted at being demoted to grunt labor she was not about to ad to her situation by protesting.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:53, Tue 23 Nov 2010.

   " perhaps not the Strange Wonderful Black Bird with the Cunning to use Tools and a Love of Shiny Objects,Her pilot and engineer i without peer. Takti purred soothingly his words low and soft." But ships we have without crew to fly them, Your robots, controlled by the mind of a Cesti crippled by injury or touch of the spirits of chaos and disease can give us a fleet of ships that need only one mind, to operate.
      " Clan Furesh would grow fat on the endless demand for the crafty and clever designs from the shipyards of the masterful Furesh. Think to how the other clans, and humans, who would also have those who would be joined to their ships.... such a thing would be of great value to the clan and you would be made a matriarch to set and speak for many of our clan.

  Loading procedures are rushed the weapons and ordnance are loaded aboard the crow along with the bodies of the Marduk and the two wrecked mecha. Conrad finishes his survey of the wreck and comes to the determination it is still flight worthy and most of it's systems will function well enough for it to be moved. It however is not space worth the ruptures to the hull and a direct hit to it's primary Hyperdrive core making it at best a very handy atmospheric cargo hauler.

   He manages to restart and reconfigure the ships damaged computer system and down load cargo manifests, flight logs and personal logs as well as sensor data for the past few days.


On the crow Trey can find a supply locker and appropriate a pair of fatigues and tee shirt about his size as well as the ever present tool kit from the more standard looking supply lockers. a small robot looks up him accusingly as it rolls past beeping and warbling angrily as he removes the tools and gear but has no other reaction.

  On the bridge Maran slowly gets her feet under her, the churning in her stomach subsiding once the ship is no longer engaged in acrobatics and the sharp thump thump thump of guns no longer rattles her teeth.
  she can look around or move around freely and has not been told to she is supposed to stay anywhere in particular. the constant hum and buzz of robots on the bridge and in the hallways is still active and a small humming bird size drone approaches her hesitantly it's small head and slender beak bobbig up and down as it sizes her up the small rapidly fanning wings holding  it aloft twitch and til causing it to tunr in almost a complete circle leaving it hovering upside down then right side up as it studies her...at last it gives a disappointed sounding trill and streaks off down the hallway in search of...something.

Conrad works to get the ship in somewhat working order.  He manages to download all important information.  As Conrad was making his way back to Tiny, he gets a good idea and grins.  As he reaches Tiny, he looks around for a port and plugs Tiny into the ship.

"Okay Tiny, I have an idea.  I am going to fly this junker back to our base so I can do repairs and see what I can do with this ship.  So get this beast prepared for flight.

Conrad makes his way back towards the cockpit, he comms over to the crow.

"Hey, this is Conrad.  I'm inside the freighter.  I have downloaded all the information and am currently trying to get the ship back in the air and take it back to the base so I can see what repairs I can do.  Please dont shoot me.  Thanks.

Conrad transfers over the information to the Crow and begins prepping the ship for lift off.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 34 using 1d20+19. computer use.
Conrad rolled 13 using 1d20+12. pilot plus aide from Tiny.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Tue 23 Nov 2010.

As Tiny wondered around inside the freighter, she watched as Conrad approached her with an evil genius grin.  She listens to his orders and just goes along with them.

"I dont know if we should be doing this Conrad.  I think we should wait to get orders from Ms. T'risa before going out on our own.  I think we... Conrad come back here!  Well... there he goes again."

Tiny sighs as she watches Conrad take off back the way he came.  She knew this wasnt going to end well for sure.  She knew Conrad was smart, but it was becoming apparent that he lacked some common sense.

OOC:
Tiny rolled 23 using 1d20+12. Computer Use.

It wasn't perfect; The shirt was too big and the pants were too small. But it was better than the paper smock. Looking relatively human now, Trey begins hooking the toolkit about his waist, grinning and winking towards the angry little bot as it runs off. Sure, his nose was still on the mend, and his face felt like it'd been mashed by a particularly angry fat lady, but life was still looking up.

"Don worray, 'bout a t'ing..." He begins, spinning a tech rig out of his belt and into his hand. Now he had a little bit of control back. He briefly considers cutting his way out and getting loose on the ground, but he isn't sure where he is just yet - hate to get stranded on some alien planet, and come to find out this bizaare ocntraption was the only item worthy of the word 'ship'.

Still, those screens were a bigger obstacle right now than anything else. He couldn't even use them! Deciding that the best way to be inconspicuous was to not act like he was being inconspicuous, he saunters his way back down the hallway towards the medical wing, taking a moment to stop at the nearest terminal with its eye-watering colors and depressed buttons.

Then begin trying to pry it out.

"Rise up dis mornin'.. Smile wit' de risin' sun! Trey lil' birds, sit by I doorstep.." He sings softly. Voice probably even carrying down to the Balkiir over in medical, considering Trey isn't too worried about other people this deep. Out busy doing something, and nothing but robots left.

T'risa rolled her eyes. "Do we need to have this discussion again, Lieutenant? The Marduk are working with Q'sa and rogue elements in O'maeda society. We have a lot of evidence of this. They have a good grounding on how much force we can throw at them and they're still proceeding with their plans. I put this to you. If you have been content to wait ten thousand years or more to rebuild your race.....would you risk it if you thought the outcome had any doubt? I urge you...when you have the time. Cast your precognition into the future. Look at the dark shadow there. It is Her. We've stalled her. Made some of her plans unexpected....might even have made things trickier for her....but she is still more than confident she is going to win."

T'risa blinked in surprise at Conrads news.

"Good work Conrad, get that freighter to Hope. As soon as possible, if you can. Aziza, could you or your husband please provide an escort for the freighter. The remaining vessel, I'd like to cover our trucks. Let's get moving. We'll need to be out of here soon."

At T'risa's orders he gathered his spent shells and his rifle, leaving the area as clean as if he was never there. He rested the heavy rifle in the crook of his arm as he came down the side of the hill. He double timed it too the ramp of the crow only pausing shortly to nod to T'risa as he moved by.

HE walked through the ship, his clothing and camo making him look more like a part of the ship. He passed Trey and gave him the briefest of nods, and only a little bit before he had been ready to take the man's life, the irony of it all was not lost on him. Their goal had been accomplished and none had been hurt to seriously.

He set his rifle in the gun locker in his room and stripped the ghulle suit off, once again only dressed in his fatigues he moved through the ship and grabbed a towel to wipe away the grease paint from his face. He wanted to check on Balkir and at least see how the big guy was doing. He entered medical still wiping the paint from his face and looked around for the man. "Balkir? How is he doing?" He asked the bot staitioned there.

  " feeling like someone set a bomb of under me Balkiir replied sounding a little giddy." Nice shooting..ummm not sure but one of the guys they brought in took off a bit ago..ya might want to check...I know he wasn't with us when we got here....not like I could stop him ...and too stoned to call T'risa....

Aziza starts to purr at Takti's flattery and then shakes her head and fixes him with what she hopes is a cool, collected stare. "Takti, you are being plan out entire future based on random industrial accident.  We are not even being sure process is being duplicated ever, much less that it is being compatible with Cesti and human brain patterns." she pauses and looks around suspiciously, even more than normally, before speaking a bit more softly.  "Besides, Clan Furesh is being so small after repeatedly losses to accidents, that if other clans like bald tailed Pasha are being steal the secret, we are being immediately overwhelmed as they are being able to spare more bodies than we are.  We are being need keep process extremely secret even if it is being work at all."

M'kira heads into the ship seeing that Aziza was busy talking with her husband. Needless to say she helps with the loading. Once that's done she heads for the mess hall to satisfy her ever grumbling stomach. "T'risa I will be at the mess hall if you need me. If we are going to the starport let me know. I am guessing we will pick up the rest of our people soon."

 "Hey! Wait! What are you? Where are you going?"
 She takes off down the hallway after the little hummingbird thing, stumbling over Star on her way and mumbling an apology as she heads after the robot. She stops only briefly to dispose of her unwanted baggage into a recycle disposal then continues down the hall trying to keep up with the bot.
 "Come on Star. Let's see what that bird is looking for."

Trey slows down his prying off of the bizaare ships screens as someone comes up the hall - but pushes forward anyways. What, he's going to get in worse trouble? But the guy just sagely nods and walks on by. Trey grinning to himself, but keeping his face perfectly neutral as he nods in return to Grymm. Though he doesn't know this is the same man that made the poignant point on the interior of the carogo hull he was captured in.

Then all his attention is once again focused on getting that screen loose..

  " a most clever of engineers, who is an expert beyond peer with robots and interface controls do I have. far fro other clans are we, surrounded by thoe who have no interest in workings of great and historic discoveries. soldiers and hunters can not grasp the details of such things. and what they do not know of they can not relay to others. Takti purred softly as he stroked her neck and niped playfully at her shoulder.
    " and most cautious and thorough of all cesti are you, conceal your work and make it hidden better than any other you can

   Heading back to the kitchen M'kira has to work just not to step on someone with the teams securing cargo, moving cargo. storing captured equipment or tending to anyone of a dozen other mundane tasks.

      Trey has some trouble figuring out the release mechanisms for the panel, all the catches and such are concealed in small notches that require a slender probe to release and once inside the leads and circuit boards are not labeled or color coded to make figuring out what does what any easier.

    The small bot darts and weaves through the halls darting to one door then another pausing for a moment then moving down the hallway, warbling and humming to itself and other robots. pausing for a moment as it hovers around a worker it trills angrily as the man swats at it and goes back to work moving one of the wounded prisoners back to a holding area.
   It finally comes to a stop near a an working on an access panel warbling happily as it darts around the worker it's head bobbing and rotating as it looks the man over.
    As Trey begins to work he hear the humm of one of the medical robots darting around him again. the small device beeps burbles and then whistles as it tries to get closer to hi as he works

Never one to be daunted  by faulty design - after all, who spends any money on luxuries for a disposable six-pack of clones? - Trey's tongue slowly eases out the corner of his lips as he eventually manages to work the catch mechanisms loose; And nearly bends the prong of the tech rig doing so. Placing the casing gently on the ground, Trey scratches his head at the rat's nest of wires. Uncolored, uncoordinated, and unmarked.

"Oo, mon. Whatta rack." He states, before whistling cheerfully and beginning to process the wire connections the old fashioned way; Take on in hand, and follow it to see where it goes. Carving a little symbol shallowly (Not enough to get past the insulation) into each one as he reaches the termination point on the screen and buttons - now at knee level, as they're hanging loose.

And then the little med-droid comes warbling at him. The 'escapee' blinks at it - and glances up and down the hallway again. No security droids yet, no big men in black comming to drag him away. And no crazy lady in giant mecha. With a smile, the fellow whistles back to the droid, trying to match it's tone in his own lilting tune.

"Hey, dere, birdie. Yah be likin' de song? She be 'Trey Liddle Birds'." Yes, it wasn't a bird. It was a bot. Still, it didn't seem to be doing no harm, and Jah on his soul if he was the man to hurt a harmless thing. Even a robotic harmless thing.

... Though he does take a moment to glance under the thing, looking for needles and pokies.

 She slowed as she lost track of the bird bot, stopping and standing looking down the hallway where it curved out of sight, then along a side hall. She was about to give up when she thought she heard a voice speaking softly. Maybe the bird had found another person. Curiosity got the better of her so she headed slowly toward the voice, walking softly so she could sneak up on them. If there were people going about their business, she wouldn't wish to disturb them.

Noting nothing terribly threatening on the bird, Trey simply grins and goes back to running down the wires, whistling cheerfully to himself now. And - eventually - breaking out to song.

"Sayin'.. Give t'anks an' praise ta de Lard, an' I will feel a'right. Sayin'.. Less git tagethah and feel a'right.."

His spirits were high. He's already been ignored once by some guy walking by, which means either his 'disguise' is working, or security is really, really lax on the boat. Or they just flat out don't consider him a threat. Which, honestly, he really wasn't - but that was beside the point. Any warrior might feel insulted, but Trey was just a space junkie, headie monkey looking to live another day...

12:30, Today: Trey Uv'secks rolled 19 using 1d20+1. Listen.

.. before he cocks his head for a moment, song trailing off. He tilts his head back and aside, looking towards the approaching Maran. And blinking once or twice, then smiling brightly.

"Gude mahnin', Sistah!" He begins with the natural good humor that's kept him sane during months of isolation. "What yah be doin' sneakin' 'bound dis.. uh.. ship?" Best to play it cool.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Sat 27 Nov 2010.

"You are being remember Furesh clan's past history of secrecy?" Aziza inquires, her voice taking on a dry, almost sarcastic tone.  "We are being have most advanced ships and wonderful technology but our counter-intelligence is being unusually feeble.  I am being remind you of exquip pulse driver technology, which is being stolen by Terkoiz clan in less than one month?  Or better yet symbolic iconographic interface, lost to Pasha clan 11 minutes after first successful test?" Aziza shakes her head.  "No, I am being investigate new technique and analyze it but Furesh clan is not needing new technology or ships being powered by ghosts.  We are being need numbers and new clan members by any means, if I am being uncover secret of ghost ships I am being hide it until clan grows strong enough to protect secret."

Meanwhile, in the lower decks of the vessel, the doctor robot returns from receiving Aziza's new instructions and finds the patient missing.  In it's digital checklist, it finds that more tissue samples are needed, particularly bone marrow and a deep analysis of brain tissue to look for brain parasites, and it sets out to recover it's missing patient before parasites are spread all over the ship.

M'kira happily bustles about the kitchen making some yummy food. She wasn't the only one on board that has a valkir Metabolism. Not only that she considers battle to be a good work out that usually would make someone a little hungry. Unless of course they had just eaten or were traumatized by something that would kill the appetite.

The delightful aromas of her cooking begin to make their way around the kitchen and slightly beyond. Should anyone be close enough to enjoy them. If possible she makes some tasty omelets with lots of good ingredients. If not she settles for roast beef stew with plenty of appropriate veggies. Potatoes, carrots that sort of thing. Maybe next time she would make pasta of some kind.

Using the com she lets anyone know that's interested. "There's good food waiting in the kitchen for anyone that's hungry. I am going to bring some to Balkir in medical." After that she serves herself and one extra serving for Balkir. Making her way to medical she walks gracefully in. Smiling warmly at Balkir she sets the food down speaking softly. "Hope your hungry. I thought something to eat would hit the spot!"

Having a seat near Balkir she nibbles trying not to look worried for him. He was hurt bad that was true but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Nibbling on her food she felt better having something to eat. Though her mind was still curious about the new Cesti that had come aboard. However sensing they seemed to want to spend time together she put a lid on it. At least for now as it wasn't like he was going anywhere. "Mmm the crews probably going to get bigger. Apparently Aziza's husbands come to pay a visit. His names Tacti I think. Something like that."

She pauses for a moment looking around noticing that Trey wasn't there. "Balkir did T'risa or Aziza clear Trey to leave medical?"

OOC: I didn't think about it until after I got there. Though Now I realize once M'kira realizes Balkir is alone in medical she would wonder what happened to trey.

In reply to Trey Uv'secks (msg #169):

 "I wasn't sneaking. I was following the bird thing. I didn't want to disturb any of the crew. Who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."
 She didn't remember seeing him before and she was sure she'd remember his accent!
"Whatcha doing? Is something blown out? Can I help fix it?"

Unaware of the attention he was garnering by having left the medical bay - or simply unable to do anything about it and thus refusing to worry on the inevitable - Trey grins at the girl and laughs.

"Ah, child! I be Trey uv'Secks." He pauses for a moment, and leans in real close to the girl. "Yah not be seein' no-body dat be lookin' like I, has yah? Me bredren off an' left dey boi abouts." It was a long shot, but if anyone was more liable to give away delicate information, it'd be the kid they let loose.

Trey then sets back, and shakes his head. "Nah, nuttin' like dat. I an' I jes' be gettin' headaches lookin' at dat screen. So, I be figgerin' dat she be a snap ta git a gude screen in." He gestures towards the wires. "Sum-body fo'got ta label dey wires, sistah. So.. sho'nuff yah can help. Jes' grab a wire an' follow she along. Tell me where she be endin' at."

Another man might think of taking hostages, or using Maran as a bargaining chip. The thought never crosses the 'prisoners' mind. He's a lot of things, but he's no murderer - Jah on he soul.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Sun 28 Nov 2010.

  as Trey talks he feels a sharp sting in his left buttocks as the humming bird darts in and jabs him with a probe that extends fro it's beak. the drone makes a shrill trilling sound almost like laughter as it quickly retreats and darts back toward the medical bay.
   Trey can feel a burning sensation and a slight itch as what ever the huming bird injected begins to work into his system but after a few moments nothing ore serious seems to happen.

Conrad flies the freighter towards the base camp.  He keeps the freighter fairly low to the ground just in case if anything where to go wrong, the ship didnt have far to fall.  When he can see the base, Conrad comms ahead to give the base a heads up so they dont open fire upon him.  When he does reach the base, he lands outside of the base, leaving about 100 yards or so away.  Upon landing down, Conrad comms the Crow.

"Big Black Bird in the Sky... this is Conrad.  I've made it safely to the base.  I will be waiting here for your return."

Making his way towards the end of the freighter, Conrad unplugs Tiny and hops inside the cockpit and heads towards the camp to go speak with whoever can help him locate parts so Conrad can begin repairs on the freighter.

  <blue> The guy with the dreds...<blue> Balkiir gratefully accepted a plate of food. Looking down at his heavily bandaged legs.<blue> Those nanos are gonna have me eating my boots by the end of the day...our guest checked himself out..."

   "damn.... that woman is going to have me gray headed."<blue> Balkiir sighed as he looked distant for a moment. <blue> Hope he was our friend he seemed awfully eager to skip out on the probing session.<//blue> Balkiir dug into the plate with gusto pausing for a moment looking worried then relaxing slightly.

 She listened hard to the man trying to figure out what he was saying, which was really hard to do! When the bird flew down and bit him she covered her mouth to smother the giggle trying to escape her mouth.
 "Ummmm... Hmm. No, I haven't seen anybody like you ever before! You're trying to fix the screen? What's wrong with it?"
 She leaned over and started prodding inside the innards of the wall, pulling out wires gently, separating then carefully and tracing them back to their beginnings as best she could. She gave him a look out of the corner of her eyes as she worked. If he didn't know anything about this junction box, why was he working on it? If someone disconnected the wrong wires, something might short out and cause some damage.
 "You got a scanner? That might help, ya know. Tell you which wire is bad and which ain't."

M'kira chuckles lightly placing one hand on Balkiir's Bicep in a gesture of closeness. It wasn't the first time either of them had been injured in the line of duty. It wouldn't be the last of that she was certain. The food would be a very welcome and in this case necessary thing. She smiles at him warmly then looks more serious when he says that Dreds checked himself out. "Yes they probably will. Don't worry I will look after you and see to it your well fed my friend."

At the moment she was unaware of changing situations. It was likely Balkir would be well taken care of without her help in the near future! She raises an eyebrow with a slight smile despite the present danger at his last comment. She wondered what T'risa would think as she was fairly confident if not absolutely though that was who he meant.

Using the com system she sends a private message to various crew members. "We have a intruder aboard the crow T'risa, Aziza. The prisoner from the crashed cargo freighter is no longer in medical. It is currently unknown if he is armed. Can you run a scan to find him? We should secure all vital areas and any non fighting passengers."

She was thinking specifically of Maran whom should be armed now. However M'kira didn't want to expose the young woman to unneeded danger. She wasn't a soldier and she might never be if she didn't chose that path. Readying her weapon M'kira begins to move out as food would have to wait. "I will be back Balkiir."

OOC: The com should privately alert all of the Crow's crew that is currently aboard. She doesn't want the escaped prisoner or whatever T'risa considers trey to know a security alert has occurred.

Aziza grows increasingly alarmed as M'kira describes the situation.  Her ears grow flat and her eyes wide and she leaves the barely-cooked rodent she was about to eat behind, determined to save the ship from a saboteur.  Or possibly a plague victim.  He might even be a spy for the Pasha clan.  Somewhere next to her ear, Takti protests so she swats him several times with her claws until he quits making noises and gets out of the way.

Aziza quietly creeps from doorway to doorway, starting at imagined foes and misread shadows in her agitation until she reaches the communications center, where she quickly takes control of the shipwide network and begins an emergency broadcast.  Knowing that panic is an extremely dangerous thing on a ship, she takes care to make it as calm and nonthreatening as she knows how:
"Attention all crew, we are being have dangerous possibly armed intruder on board." she transmits.  With a few manipulations of the records, she pulls up a picture of Trey from the ship's medical cameras.  While a lesser mechanic might have settled for displaying on the ship's own screens, Aziza takes it one step further and also overrides various entertainment devices, interrupting people's movies, music, and mail in favor of showing Trey's face to all.  "Intruder is possibly carrying parasites and diseases and is being consider extremely dangerous.  He is possibly being attempt to destroy Strange Wonderful Black Bird with the Cunning to use Tools and a Love of Shiny Objects.  All are being advise take care and watch for this dangerous enemy."

"YOW!"


Shouts Trey, jumping when the dirty bird pokes him in the posterior. He frowns at it, rubbing his behind while it gleefully heads back for the med-bay. Then, with a wince, goes back to crouching as he runs his own fingers along wires - marking them with very, very shallow cuts.


"Mm? Nah, child. Nuttin' wrong wit' de monitah, but she be built fo' some-body else eyes. An' she be hurtin' mine." He looks thoughtful at the last question, and shakes his head. "Nevah could find won. Yah git access to da udder sections, sistah? I an' I be findin' one up in dere, I be tinkin'." And then the alarms go off. Trey's eyes go up, and then down to the screen as his own face is displayed. He blinks, and laughs.


"Oh, hey. Dem bois work fast." He shrugs, and tilts the screen back against the wall as he straightens out, swinging his arms back and forth to limber them up. "Well, child, guess dat be all de time I be gettin'. Yah might wanna go back ta where yah commin' from, cuz dem some crazy folk wit' de wea-pawn gonna be about." Tossing off a loose touch of his forehead for Maran, Trey begins jogging back towards the cargo hatch. New plan!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Thu 02 Dec 2010.

HE fell into step with M'kira as she left medical. His pistol was in his hands and while he wished he had his rifle those rounds in a confined ship would do more damage than good. "Subtle isn't she." He quipped as Aziza made her announcement. "Hey I saw him a while back when I was headed to check on Balkir, we can head down that hall and see if we can pick him up somewhere. You go first and I will cover your six."

T'risa's mental voice echoed in the heads of the team. "Take him alive if possible. I want to find out more about this freighter, where she comes from and the gun running organisation behind it. If the crow is loaded Aziza, we should head to pick up the others. If they destroy the anti air then we can provide air support."

M'kira nods shaking her head slightly with a amused though also slightly frustrated expression. She laughs for a moment answering him softly while tracking the hall with her weapon as she advances with that careful precise movements of a professional. "About as subtle as a ten megaton warhead."

Hearing T'risa's Mental voices she answers softly as well as mentally. "Roger that. Alive if possible." She speaks softly to Grym before going silent. "Would be nice to have a stunner right about now."

She follows his instructions proceeding to search the area. She moves as quickly as she dares while still being thorough. Trey was likely on the move and probably had something specific in mind. For example leaving the ship and escaping. "Aziza he might be trying to escape can you lock down the ship. We don't want him getting out. If any of your robots spot him we will close in on his position immediately."

In reply to Trey Uv'secks (msg #180):

 She looked at him notching the wires and wondered why he did that.
 "Whatcha cutting the wires for? That could cause a short!"
 She was about to offer to get some colored tape from a toolkit when the mans face lit up on the screen. She looked at the alert then at him, then takes a step back ready to try to run, but he jumped up and headed down the hallway, after giving her a salute.
 "Hey! Wait! I'm sure it's just a mix up!"

 She looked around for a designation of where she was then called the communications center to say she saw the intruder.
 "Hey, he was just here!"

  " whooa nelly! star had been padding behind behind Maran quietly listening and watching as she made friends purring contently as she rubbed up against her legs.
  Until the alarm sounded and she had an image of the guy Maran was talking to flash into her head. she sprang forward six legs digging bits of grass up as she sprang after the fleeing man. he he he.....coming through she snickered as she aimed for between his feet she had seen enough cats do it by accident she was wondering if it worked on purpose.

OOC: Kitty trip.... hehe

03:28, Today: Bright Star rolled 20 using 1d20+10.

 She clapped her hands over her mouth as Star dashed past and ran right between the mans legs. She hoped neither of them would get hurt!
 "Watch out!" She wasn't really sure who she was warning to be honest. The man could have tried to hurt her but hadn't and he'd seemed nice enough. But Star was her friend, though the fact that she was non-organic meant it more likely the man would get hurt.

   " you might wanna watch you feat. Ernie warned as trey moved to get out of the ship. And hey! why don't we take a left right here.

Unfortunately, Trey was busy running through the NEW plan in his head as he moved for the cargo bay. The kid was nice; But, you know, even axe murderers had mothers. Who's to say they don't have daughters too? Figuring the best place to get a better perspective on the situation was out of range of the guns, Trey didn't even have time to heed the warning from Maran..

05:33, Today: Trey Uv'secks rolled 12 using 1d20+6. Reflex Save from KITTEH TRIP.

.. before he's caused a mis-step by trying to avoid stepping on a slippery feline. "Whoa!" He shouts, before he crashes against the wall, off balance. He blinks at the thing, and turns to give a cheesy grin back towards Maran. "Well, tanks fo' de wahnin' anyway, child." And then his head tilts, as if he were listening to someone else entirely.

".. Well, a'right Earnie." He nods, before pushing himself back up - and taking a left.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:36, Sun 05 Dec 2010.

 " Oh great. I caught him what do i DO with him star grumbled as she was brushed aside and left setting on the deck." hands..I got hands...star gathered herself for a leap aiming for the back of treys legs. he wouldn't get far with twenty pounds of cat hanging off the back of his legs.

A heavy sigh resounded in Marans mind. "Do you understand the new fellow? His dialect makes it hard to understand. Tell him to head for the galley and I'll meet him there or I'll turn his brain into mush."

M'kira gets the update from Maran nodding quickly she starts running to the part of the ship where Maran was intent on protecting her and bagging their escaped whatever he was. "ON the way Maran."

Weapon ready she makes her way to the hallway as quickly as possible. Once there she smiles warmly at Maran gesturing for her to retreat somewhere safe.

OOC: I have no idea if I will get there in time to actually see Trey. I leave that up to the GM. ^_^

He ran right behind M'kira. His pistol kept at a low ready. As they entered the hallway with Maran he took a step out giving her two solid figures to defend her if she should need. His pistol was up tracking ready to fire at the first sign of hostile intent.

His body still had the training that had been drilled into him for years, even though it had been nearly a decade since he last needed to fight so close and personal. The young girl was priority it seemed and her safety the first objective. The escaped prisoner was second, and he had already given the man a fair and decent warning shot, he would not do so again.

"Maran, over here and get behind us!"

   Trey manages to get up and duck around the corner with Star on his heels. Not oe than a second after he makes the corner Grym, and M'kira appear for one end of the hallway and two angry looking colony troopers appear from the other.
   The hallway trey ducks into leads to a service hatch and auxiliary docking port. the hatch id closed at the moment but the interior hatch is open. as Star round the corner she slams back out of the hallway landing on all six but unhurt the hand that grabbed her picked her up and lofted her back coming from the shadows of a service panel

    as trey reached the end of the all a clear high impact pressure seal slams down behind him locking hi in the air lock as a small robot emerges from another service hatch bleating excitedly as it seals the pressure barrier.

OCC all controls and panels in the airlock are inactive and lock as per Aziza's lock down orders.

 "He went down that corridor there, to the left. He didn't offer to hurt me or anything. He was really quite nice actually. But he did mark some wires here and slice the covers for some reason." She pointed to the control panel he'd been working on.
 "I couldn't understand everything he said, but some of it I could. I could try to talk with him. Blue might be able to understand what he said, though I'm not sure of that of course."
 She backed out of the way when the men showed up looking angry and ready to hurt somebody. She sure hoped they weren't mad at her. How was she to know he wasn't part of the crew she hadn't met yet?
 "I thought he belonged here. I'm sorry."

Trey had no other thoughts than to get off the ship. The more he thought about it, the sillier it seemed to stick around trying to get some insight on the people who took him prisoner. Whether it be pirates, marshals, or some strange merc band staging a war against the buggies, he was only meat for the grinder.

He could hear the clatter of feet from the corridor he had just left behind, and voices raised in urgency. It only drives him faster. "Earnie, dis gettin' ta be off de deep. And den dere's a talkin' cat.." He mutters. Then his eyes widen with delight! An airlock! Airlocks, he can deal with - especially since they're still on the pressurized spheroid. World. Whatever one called it.


And then the emergency breech shutters behind him, sealing him in. Trey turns about in alarm, then spins again to watch the controls and panels die off. "Uh oh.." He begins. Then starts fumbling at his tool belt - absolutely convinced the air was going to be drawn out any moment now.

"Oh mon, oh mon, where dat plasma cuttah be noa..?"

M'kira shakes her head with gentle expression and a warm smile for Maran. Gently she puts one hand on her shoulder speaking softly. "They aren't mad at you honey we are just worried about you. We want you safe is all. If they are angry at anyone it's that man for making a dangerous situation like this. All he had to do was wait in medical to be cleared as a innocent or charged for whatever he might have done. This isn't going to look good for him but we Have T'risa and I suspect a few others that can clear things up once we catch him again. I won't say no to you talking with him as long as it's safe. Though it's not up to me T'risa is going to likely be the one that makes that sort of decision."

Needless to say she moves on in hot pursuit just in time to see the blast door come down most likely. "Aziza we have a blast door that shut right behind our escapee. Please tell me that was you or one of our own and he hasn't got that kind of control already. T'risa Maran wants to talk to this guy. If it's safe are you all right with that or do you want to do the talking?"

"I am being believe door closing is being coincidence." Aziza replies.  "I am being try to control ship functions in area but Trey is being modify the ship's wiring so that connections are being unpredictable.  Until repairs are complete I am being shut down surrounding doors but local area is not being under my control."  while she speaks, Aziza uses her left arms to transmit coordinates and dispatches several repair bots, on the theory that Trey will likely be caught before they arrive and the ship needs repairs as fast as possible.

 "Ok. I'm ok with talking to him if you want. He already knows me, and maybe I won't freak him out. If you had him locked in medical, maybe he was afraid you were going to hurt him. I can understand how it feels to be the only one left from everybody you know, stuck on a ship full of strangers. Maybe I can make him feel less scared. That is, if you promise me you won't hurt him. I don't want to lie to him."
 She tried to get a read on people now that she knew she had some talent, hoping that they wouldn't try to lie to her. She may still be a kid, but she was the last of her family and of the team of scientists who had been studying the ruins, and she felt she had to act like an adult if she could, at least where honor was concerned. She didn't want any part of hurting someone who wasn't trying to hurt her or her friends, or their ship in some severely damaging way. So far he'd just damaged a couple of wires that could easily be replaced. She was sure he hadn't meant to damage things to hurt anyone.

Conrad wonders around the camp HOPE with the intentions of selling his newly acquired freighter in order to gain some funds for project RAD Armor.  The armor was first on his list of things to work on.  Conrad didnt know any venders, if any, that were in or around the base so he went for the higher ups.  Walking into the headquarters, Conrad greeted the secretary with a nice smile and asked her to pass a message onto Chief Jons about Conrad having a freighter for sale and to see if the Chief was interested in it.  Also, Conrad wondered what was taking everyone so long to get back but Conrad was safer in the base then with the insane crew and Crow.

"ok. If he's not trapped we need to head this guy off. If he is maybe we can convince him it's in his best interests to come quietly."

M'kira gives Maran a look of sympathy however she shakes her head speaking softly to the young woman. "I can't make any promises Maran. Honestly I don't want to hurt him if there isn't any need to do so. However if he fights back and refuses to be taken into custody I can't guarantee he won't be hurt. However if he does surrender and come quietly I can promise under those conditions I won't hurt him. IF he isn't guilty of any crimes then he has nothing to fear. T'risa isn't going to hurt a innocent man and neither will anyone else in our crew."

She looks over at Brightstar speaking softly to her as well.   "Are you all right Brighstar? It looks like you got thrown by our escapee."

Unaware of the conversation happening on the other side of the seal, Trey is busily plucking out his plasma cutter - but one look at the solid construction is enough to kick off his spacer's instinct, and know he'll never get through that combat-hardened material in anything approaching this lifetime. He could cut the other way, but that leads back into the arms of his captors. With a wince, he hooks the cutter back to his belt and begins digging into the dead controls and remote panels - no avail. Completely shut off. Though he does discover an emergency air mask in a fall out locker.

At least they won't be able to asphyxiate him.

Taking a moment to secure the strap about the back of his head and make sure the mask formed a solid seal, Trey then takes a bit of a closer look at the hard transit room he's trapped in. It's seen a lot of business, he can tell that almost immediatly - and someone has spent a lot of money keeping it in top shape.

"Maran you can talk to him, but not alone. M'Kira will go with you. M'Kira keep her safe. You may negotiate with him, remind him we did not and do not wish to kill him. We just want to talk. Ask him to the galley and give him some food."

T'risa rolled her eyes as she supervised the last loading of gear onto the crow. Looking back over the horizon, she stepped onto the loading ramp and headed towards the galley.

"Fine by me T'risa. Maran says this guy isn't so bad. He was nice to her and left her alone when it hit the fan. So I don't think he's the type to mess with innocent people. Still that doesn't mean he won't get trigger happy against someone with a weapon so let's play this nice and careful ok Maran?"

She lightly rests a hand on Maran's shoulder with a supportive look and a warm smile. "All right this is your show Maran. You get to do the talking! However it's our job to keep you safe so if we tell you to do something do it without hesitation ok? Since there's a blast door in the way why don't you try the com to get his attention. I was about to do that but since T'risa gave the ok and you want to chat him up I yield the floor to you. Feel free to start anytime."

He stood by and listened. The guy had to know he was trapped and there were only a few ways out of this. Him dead or him surrendering. Honestly he hoped for the latter, considering they were fixxing to let Maran get into the middle of it. He privately vowed to keep her from any harm should this turn into a fire fight in the halls. He moved up to the corner and peeked around keeping an eye on their "guest" as the others came to a decision. He wondered if giving the guy a warning shot in the first place had been the right thing to do or should he simply have taken the kill shot then and there and saved everyone from some trouble.

  The Group arrives at the secondary airlock to find Trey standing on the other side of the clear barrier unharmed. A robot is standing By near the interior control panel beeping excitedly. It's fairly obvious the only possible weapon he has is the plasma cutter he has clipped to a work harness.

" yeah," Bright star looked up trying to maintain her dignity. some part of her feeling supremely insulted that he had picked her up like a common alley cat. Okay he's fast, I didn't even see what he did.....

 "Ok. Do you know his name? I can offer him dinner and talk, right? What should I say to him?"
 She walked down the corridor toward the hatch where Trey had disappeared, and stood outside the door trying to figure out the best way to get the guy to come out. She didn't want him to hurt anyone or for him to get hurt either. She puched the intercom button by the door and spoke.
 "Hey Mister... You can come out. You're safe here if you don't try to hurt anybody or hurt the ship. Come on out and we can go eat some dinner and have some coffee or tea or something and talk about what we gotta do, ok?"

Trey was, quite frankly, stumped. If he had a little more time to plan things out, it probably would've wound up differently. For instance, he wouldn't be trapped in an airlock. The airmask now firmly situated about his face helped ease the tension a bit, but it wouldn't help if his captors decided to hit space and shove him out the door.

So, Trey does what he does best when things look hopeless or out of his control; He doesn't worry about it. It'd only get him all stressed up, and might keep him from spotting some opportunity or other later on. When he hears the intercom click, he's already tapping a little staccato of 'One Love' on the wall with his fingers, and patting his plasma cutter in time against his thigh. Trey glances up at the speakers, and then puts a hand up against the clear plasteel of the interior of the airlock, blinking when he doesn't spot anyone immediatly.

Then he looks down.

"Oh, child. Yah be givin' me a gude scare dere." He grins, flashing those teeth for a second, before the rest of her message sinks in. He tilts his head, and laughs. It's a real laugh, not scornful or ironic. "Oh mon! Dey don't tink me much a'tall, do dey? Dey got yah running down de prisoner, sistah?" He grins, and shrugs.


"A'right. Don got no mo' choice nao, does I? Open up de door, child. Yah a bit young fo' a cappin', yah know?"

Either the child was not a child, or they had so many weapons and killer bots on the loose that they weren't worried about her being around him. Or they were waiting around the corner to kill him as soon as he stepped out, and using the kid as bait. But if they wanted to do that, a quick trip out of atmo and pop the can, and he'd be so much frozen waste in the stars. Why worry when there wasn't a way to change the situation? Just hang in and wait for a break.

"Ok I am glad your all right." Since trey was currently trapped and harmless she takes a moment to Crouch and caress behind Brightstars ears, Then strokes her back comfortingly as cats seemed to universally enjoy that.

Moving with Maran she smiles shaking her head with a look of amusement. "Well I imagine all you can do is offer him safe passage to the mess hall. Offer him a meal like T'risa said and obviously we won't hurt him. Once he's cleared everything should be fine. I will be there to protect you. Once he comes out you keep your distance and always have someone between you and him. Doesn't matter if it's me or victor. While it's true he seems like a nice guy and didn't try to hurt you that doesn't mean he won't change his mind if he feels cornered."

Seeing that Trey seems agreeable with coming out of the Airlock M'kira speaks up. "We will be escorting you to the mess hall. As Maran says you won't be harmed. Hopefully you can sit in one place long enough for T'risa to clear you. So please do us all a favor relax and enjoy the meal."

She makes sure to be between Tre and Maran at all times once he comes out. IF he does that is. "Aziza please tell me you can open up this blast door. We need to get this guy to the mess hall. Where you and T'risa can inspect him all you like. Just don't freak him out he seems to be agreeable at the moment."

   Sun Runner comes bounding down the corridor, paws pounding for all he's worth, sensors sweeping the area before him as he attempts to discern the cause of the alarm.  He'd been awakened early from his long overdue hibernation cycle.  His systems immediately registered the alert from Maran, MARAN!  If his human was in danger he'd pull the ship apart to save her.  He had immediately sent a tachyon transmission to Blue Steel and Bright Star, but so far he had not received any reply, which only made him more concerned.
   The steel steed had encountered several doors that were closing or locked down.  He'd been hard pressed to slip under them, or to find other means of reaching his goal, but NOTHING would keep him from Maran, now that he knew she needed him.  At the end of the corridor was a reinforced door; he found it completely locked down.  He sent another priority message, this time to Bright Star.  If anyone knew what was happening, it would likely be her.

~Star, report!  Where is Maran?  Is she safe? What is the reason for the alarm? REPORT STAR, IMMEDIATELY!  IMMEDIATELY MEANS NOW!~

   Sun backed up a step from the airlock door and activated his entire weapons suite, preparing to blast the heavy door.

 "Ok Mr. Trey, we'll get the door open, then we can go get something to eat, ok? You just got to relax until the doc says your not carrying a plague or something, then we can talk some about what you want us to do with you. You got somewhere you want to go and all that. Hang on while we get you out of there, ok?"

 "You ok Star? Did you break anything when you got tossed?" She scratched the cat's head softly as she looked her over. She'd just bent down to check Star out when Sunny came running down the corridor from chasing down a rabbit or something. She noticed him go on guard alart and felt a bit reassured, even though she hadn't gotten a scare from Trey when she'd met him in the hallway.

 "Hey Sunny! Where ya been? I bet you was chasing one of the cat's rabbits huh? Silly Sunny, rabbits are for the cats! You're ok though I hope? Them big bad bunnies didn't bite you did they?"

"I'm fineeeeeee.... Star's words turned into a purr as she was petted and scritched.  "She is safe, surrounded by adults with guns, and of course I am here.... where are you?

   "It just all this sticky stuff. Bright Star protested as a fine coat of bluish liquid coated the scruff of her neck evaporated quickly into a fine lightly glowing blue mist.
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 20:27, Fri 10 Dec 2010.

pm

  with the ship secured and Trey enjoying his first real meal in quite a while under the watchful eyes of Grym and M'kira. The crow lifts off and heads toward the opening in the starport defenses. The cesti Gunship lifts of and follows in an escort position directed by Takti over his com unit.
    T'risa has a chance to review several files from the ships roster including its last port of call, cargo manifest and several com logs to and from an unregistered hyperlink node. The manifest lists several tons of ordinance, the six capital grade missiles. and about a week after launch six unregistered industrial clones. Four of the clones were of loaded in orbit of Nomad station, another shortly after listing one clone retained. a note on the manifest a note not to revive him before delivery to a mining colony in a nearby system.

     Conrad is able to arrange a meeting with the Security chief who is monitoring the progress of the ground convoy and managing the daily affairs of the colony, as ell as organizing several parties to make runs to abandoned camps to gather supplies and salvage from those outposts storehouses.

M'kira stares at the scruff of Brightstars neck watching whatever the stuff was evaporate. "Um that is seriously not normal. T'risa if Aziza has a video feed of this area you might want to review it. Bright star had some sort of bluish sticky liquid on the scruff of her neck that quickly evaporated into a glowing blue mist. I can only guess at the source though the only person she should have come into contact with was Trey."

Needless to say she keeps a very close and eye on Trey a lot more wary then she would have been had she not seen the strange phenomenon. It wasn't like she wouldn't have been on guard for trouble. "Is there anything you would like to tell us about yourself Trey? We might as well get to know each other since we are going to be sharing each others company for a little while."

Needless to say she also retrieves her meal giving Balkir a rain check on spending a bit of time together considering the circumstances. Eating while she keeps an eye on trey she was content to let anyone see him that wanted. So long as they keep a safe distance in case he tries something.

The meal was devestated. Not eaten. Not devoured. Even a step beyond destroyed. There isn't a spot of grease left on the container by the time Trey is done, and he even takes a moment to lick off his fingers. Which leaves them marginally cleaner by default. Certainly not exuding any sort of blue, evaporating liquid! No sir!

And the air he puts on is almost too good to be true. Relaxed. At ease. Smiling brightly, like all was well in the universe. And from his perspective, it is! Food, and he's still alive. That's the end of a good day, right there.

When M'kira asks her question, Trey's got another mouthful of something shoved in between his teeth, with cheeks bulging comically from the simple quantity. He blinks a few times, chews hesitantly, then swallows a lump big enough to distend his adam's apple.

"Uh... No-thang 'bout I dat be all dat impo-tant, sistah." He begins, his grin faltering slightly. "I an' I don' evan know what be gone down. Last I know, I an' dem priva'tees gone head ta head, den all sorta mess come down out in dat hyperspace. Next tang I an' I know, I be on dis planet bein' shot at." He laughs; It's a natural sound, not at all forced.

"Been a -straaange- mont', Sistah. Ya, uh, seen any-body look like me runnin' 'bout?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:06, Sun 12 Dec 2010.

Having seen to the repairs of the wires Trey moved, Aziza recalls a number of robots back to their charging stations, then begins a specific broadcast to M'Kira.
"Ms. M'kira, repairs are being finish now and I am being prepare for liftoff to return to hangar.  Is there being any business that we are being need to finish here first?"

OOC~ Hopefully that will get you in a position to play again, Conrad.

She listens to what Trey has to say with a grain of salt being a bit suspicious of the man. After all the first thing he did was escape from the med bay and start tampering with the ship. However his condition leads credence that he wasn't a proper pirate. They usually were in better health course nothing was Guaranteed. She nods lightly speaking softly.

"Sounds like you have had it rough lately.  Between the pirates and getting here. We have had it pretty crazy as well. It's been one battle and mystery after another. I have to admit it's definitely not boring." M'kira grins then looks at him with a bit of curiosity. "No we haven't seen anyone other then you that I am aware of. My sensor data indicated you were the only survivor from the freighter. If you know about someone else that managed to make it out of the crash we need to know about it."

When Aziza contacts her M'kira answers right away. "Other then our survivor from the crashed freighter I believe we have everything buttoned up. I look forward to getting everyone together again. Ready to go when you are Aziza."

OOC: As far as I know we got everything taken care of. ^_^

 She wiped the stickiness off her hand and wondered briefly what mischief the cat had been into, then promptly forgot about it as they marched Trey to the galley. She brought him a tray, then refills once he's enhaled the food almost magically, so he wouldn't be hungry. She got a snack too because she was still not tired of real food again after all the concentrates and the MRIs she'd had from before coming aboard.
 "Privateers? That's like pirates huh? Like in the old trivee shows? Mean people huh? I hope you didn't get hurt too bad. You got no worries here, unless you try to hurt somebody or the ship, we can be nice."

Trey glances at Maran, and that grin splits his lips again as he shakes his head. "Nah. Mah ship, she all tore up in hypah space while we.. I an' de bredren .. be sleepin'. I an' I de one she woke up ta keep dem alive." He wraps his hands around the warm cup of gruel, his voice lowering softly. "I an' I pull she apart fo' mo' dan a month. Jes' walkin' de way back to a singal safe spot. Usin' up de wires when dey burn out, usin' up de metal when de seal blow. Keepin' jes' powah to keep mah bredren alive.." He snaps out of the funk, and shrugs. "Den dem privatees come. No choice, mon; Ain't gonna live much longah. So I give de signal, and every-thang go down from dere. No worries." He laughs again, a bit softer, but no less real. Then glances at M'kira, and - for once - actually hesitates with his answer.

Technically, Earnie was all in his head. Rationally he knew this. It was his bloody palm print on the wall, and it was his finger that drew the face out of it. Still, he'd gotten attached to thinking he was talking to somebody.

And then that somebody started talking back. So maybe it was all in his head. Which means he wasn't lying at all when he protected Earnie by stating the following.

".. Nah, sistah. I an' I de only won I know. When I woke up a'gin, in dat cargo bay, de Bredren alreaday gone fo' mo' dan a few weeks. Sold, likely." He shrugs again, noncommitently.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:07, Tue 14 Dec 2010.

   Sun Runner sends Bright Star a very terse response, via T.B.T: ~You should have informed me Star.  Sometimes I believe you forget who is the most experienced and first created among our trio of Steeds.  Besides which, Maran is my bonded human now.~ He gave her a few seconds to absorb that information and its implications.  ~From now on, I am to be informed immediately if anything occurs during my regeneration cycle.  I give you full authority to abort the process if Maran has need of me, is that understood, Bright Star?  Good!  Have you had any transmission from Blue Steel?~

   Sun Runner padded up to Maran, his tail wagging and his tongue lolling out as he looked up to her, grateful she was alright.  When the stranger, Trey replies to her, he puts his ears back and growls low, his sensor suite completely focused on the intruder's body language, facial features, even his scent.  If he intended any harm to Maran, Sun wanted to know.  Besides which it was an automatic response initiated by the animal mimicry program embedded in his chassis.  He might have been able to deactivate it, with some effort, but he found it somehow appropriate to the situation.

The ship begins a gentle purr, far from the rumbling of a lesser tuned machine as Aziza gentle boosts the engines and lifts thousands of tons of spaceship off the ground as lightly as a leaf floating on the wind.

T'risa arched an eyebrow at M'Kira's news. "Our resident mischief creator Bright star did something with Telekinesis. the blue goo is ectoplasm. It'll fade from this universe in a few minutes."

Her mental voice sounded much more in control as she gave the order to liftoff. "Let's head back to hope. Keep the missiles under wraps. I want them to be a surprise."

T'risa sat apart from Maran and Trey as they discussed things. T'risa knew Maran would let her know the right point at which to enter the conversation. His dialect was hard to follow. She had little experience with someone from his subculture.

She listens to trey telling his story which was a nightmare in all spacers hearts. The thought of being stranded in hyperspace or normal far from the hopes of being found by anyone else. Not a pleasant thought. He was actually pretty lucky to still be alive. "Your safe now for what it's worth. There is a chance your shipmates might still be found. Epecially if the pirates have anything to do with what's going on here. T'risa's hip deep wading her way towards a answer no matter what they throw at her."

She glances at T'risa looking slightly surprised at the revelation. M'kira wasn't sure if she was amused or irritated putting it behind her. Looking down at sun Runner when he growls she decides to let Maran handle it. She after all was closest to the wolf steed and he was likely just being protective of her. She keeps a close eye on trey in case he doesn't handle the arrival of Sun Runner very well.

After Conrad makes his rounds and makes his way to Tiny, which was stationed out of town after her last little adventure.  Hoping inside of the cockpit, Conrad comms the crow.

"Hey Crow, This is Conrad.  Whats the plan?  I haven't heard from anyone so I am checking in."

Trey pauses his 'chewing' - to use a loose definition of the word - to glance down at some growling dog. And tilts his head, before swallowing that lump again. "Some-body..." He begins, eyes flicking up to M'kira ".. be not as welcomin' as yah be, sistah." He allows a brief, nervous grin, before he goes back to quite happily destroying food reserves.

Occasionally giving Sun another quiet, nervous glance. Sure, he knows what dogs are; You see them all the time in the trids. And in survival training, in the event the Company decides to dump you on a remote planet with a hatchet, some gene-seed, and say 'build us a mining colony'. But seeing one up close and angry is another matter entirely.


"So, who be de lady dat pointin' de big ma-chene at I?" He asks, glancing towards T'sira. She seemed the type, if she was wading 'hip first' into trouble.

He gave a dry chuckle. "That would be M'kira and I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of whatever pain she is bringing." He answered as he leaned against a wall. It was strange seeing how everyone just seemed to get entangled with what was suppose to be a simple mission. He wondered idly if by having technically died if he was forfeit his share or not. That would have to wait for another time.

Hearing Conrad Contact them M'kira answers the com to at least give him something till T'risa has time to answer. "The Crow's in transit Conrad. T'risa's talking with the person we got from the crashed freighter right now. Im not sure what our ETA is though IM sure she will have something for you soon."

Glancing at Victor M'kira smiles then looks back to Trey. "Hmm Introductions. Well Maran you have already met and that's her guardian Sun Runner growling at your. The Cat you ran into earlier is called Bright star. The man with the sniper rifles called Grym. We have a cesti Captian called Aziza and I highly recommend you stay very polite with her. T'risa is over there and as Grym said My Name is M'kira. Anyway welcome to our world it's a bit dangerous but it's better then a lot of the alternatives this planet has to offer as it seems to chew up visitors and leave nothing left."

Conrad frowns a little, tired of waiting around.

"Alright.  Thanks.  I'll be here waiting."

Conrad brings up the cockpit computer and uses the sensors to pick up the Crow and figure out their flight path and meet them where ever they were going.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 31 using 1d20+19. Computer Use to pick up the Crow's directions.

Tiny just stands there, waiting as well.  Though bored, Tiny starts to move around on her own, while Conrad does his computer business.

"What are we going to do Conrad?  I'm bored.  Lets go blow something up!"

OOC:  Conrad can plot a course to intercept the crow as it approaches the Starport teams pick up area.while the starship is a large sow moving and unstable target using Tiny or his own mecha to fly to the pick up point is not overly risky, at high speed ad low altitude any air intercept is unlikely and most patrols lack high speed air mobile mecha to chase him down.

T'risa answered slowly. "I am Colonial Marshal T'risa K'mahda. Who are you?" she moved into the kitchen clearly distracted by something going on. "Aziza, lets go pick up the others. Best speed possible. They're in trouble....or they will be."

She focussed her attention on the bedraggled man. "Do you need more food or water?" She was going to ask if he needed a bath or a comb, but etiquette training at the hands of her mother reinforced the rule that if you have nothing good to say, then remain silent.

Trey shakes his head once, finally pushing back from the table after having gorged himself on far more than was strictly necessary. Lesson number one he had learned; Eat while it was available. You never know when you're going to be, for instance, stranded in hyperspace for a month at a time, or stuck in the penal docks for some infraction or other on zero rations. Worry about poison? Why would he be? These 'marshals' had all the power, all the guns, and all the equipment. If they wanted to poison him, strapping him into a chair and poking needles will do the same thing, and without the good aftertaste.


He blinks at Grym, and grins in a very nonchalant manner. "Well, den. Tank yah fo' passin' by I skull, mon. I be needin' it some-thang fierce." And then takes only one last nervous glance at the growling dog before his attention settles on M'kira for a moment. "Ah. Dat a fine piece o' ma-chene yah wuz pointin' at I. Dat some-thang yah mahshalls be gettin' fo' keeps?"

And finally, T'risa speaks up. Trey's good mood evaporates for just a moment, as the lump rolls down his throat, before speaking. "I be Trey Uv'Secks, sistah. Pre-vee-as crew an' carga on de Prospectah Twenty Trey wit' me bredren, Won, Too, Foh, Fife an' Secks." He flicks a thumb up towards the ceiling. "Git I an' I all broke about up in de hypah space fo' a mont o' so. Den de privatees come knockin', but dey git deyselves all torn apaht by de same ting what takin' us. Some simmies, look like a hoomon, but dey be all metahl inside. Me bredren was still in dey hypah sleep, an' I be helpin' de last survivah of de privatee's ship so I an' I be hittin' back ta real space."

Trey shrugs once, a sad little smile on his face. "Did not last long. De privatee, he be gassin' I as soon as I finish da preps on slingin' de ships ta-gettah and rehookin' de cores. Dat ship yah found me on, I tink it's de Witch. De Privatee's ship, mahbe, but she a lot bettah lookin' dan when I was a workin' ta git she back to de real space wit' de remains o' Prospectah Twenty Trey. And me bredren..."

M'kira listens to Trey's story glancing at T'risa to see what she made of it. Seems like the pirates got wasted by something else. Though despite that here he was freighter and all. "Sounds nasty whatever it is. Yet another thing on our plate of death, danger and mystery. Wonder if it's got anything to do with the queen thing on this planet."

T'risa looked around at the other puzzled. Did any of them understand his dialect.

"Do you mind if I read your mind? It's really hard to understand what you're saying. And the machines are sentient, I do not own them, they are their own persons."

After a moment T'risa thought she had it all together. "All metal human form, sounds a bit like Marduk to me. M'Kira show him some video from the battle and ask Trey to look it over. Trey, do you know where your brethren are?"

"All right. Let's see what we have for video feed on the battle." "M'kira pulls up the sensor logs from her battle armor. She also pulls up any data they have from the Crow and if possible from any other source that might be available.

She then plays the video feed for Trey showing any and all video they have of the various marduke troops that had participated in the battle. "The strange thing is their battle mechs were a little outdated tech wise. I am no authority on Marduke battle style. Just seems to me they would go for the latest and greatest tech whenever they decide to fight. Still they packed a really nasty punch."

T'risa occupied herself with the other team as they flew towards Rhic and the others. As the others arrived, She moved forward to greet them, hugging everyone. she was about to hug Leo when she thought the better of it, and stood awkwardly back from him.

She brought the others into the kitchen.

"We have a new arrival. His name is...Three, but it sounds like Trey." She introduced Trey to every member of the team, before sitting back at the counter. "Ok we need to work out what happened. Both operations were successes, but the starport defences one was marginal and cost us dear. I should have spared more resources for Rhic and his team."

T'risa looked with concern over the wounded. "I think we can safely say that we've done enough that they'll notice we're here now. The Q'sa will be a little short on supplies for a while. That might make them a little more aggressive, but we have enough decent weaponry to arm the town. And with two dedicated anti air platforms and the shipkillers....the town should be safe from more or less everything. Our next goal has to be to take a look at what they are guarding inside that perimeter...once we've healed our injured and repaired everything. We were lucky this time, no fatalities, yet we were very close to not being able to achieve that. Anyone have any comments on the operations?"

At T'sira's original question, Trey shrugs his shoulders. "Yah guess as good as I, sistah. De Bredren, dey... " He pauses, and drops his eyes for a moment. The friendly, cheerful grin flickering away. "... prob-a-bly bein' alreadah sold ta some body." A brief, helpless shrug, before the smile picks right back up again.

No worries. He's not shot, he's landed on Marshals, and the ship that did the selling is in his grasp. All he has to do is crack the nav-comp and figure out where the last few stops where. And then he remains silent as the rest of this strange little warrior troupe pours in, remaining in his corner in the galley. Partly to keep out of the way, partly because the dog's still growling. That's scary, mon.

"Jah on yah souls, mon." He greets each that he's introduced too, with a sloppy two fingered salute.

HE watched the others as they were picked up. It seemed their mission did not go near as smooth as the other. Then again they had lacked the resources the ambush had had. He nodded to Poppy and gave her a slight grin as well as a curt nod to Elsbeth, he had to admit the marine had some grit.

He was a soldier and analyzing things was not his strong point, better to let the higher ups deal with it. For now he would go back clean his weapon and keep his skills sharp for the next time they met the enemy.

She also greets the others warmly welcoming them back. M'kira was glad that poppy and the others had survived. "Looks like we need to do some repairs on you again poppy. Maybe Aziza's husband brought some good tech with him that might make that happen. Welcome back Elsbeth, everyone." M'kira watches T'risa hug them with a smile blossoming.

"We know the Marduke are definitely here now. I think that's a concern because they are a lot more likely to come after the settlement simply because of hate. Balkir's recovering in the medical bay. I think we might have to fight more of the Marduke in the future. Hopefully we can get at whatever it is that's got them all scrambling like this. With out investigation bearing fruit hopefully we can call in proper reinforcements to clean the place up. Aziza's husband is here if I'm not mistaken they have some fairly advanced tech. We could send in a remote probe before we send our people in."

Elsbeth was glad to back on the Crow.  She made her way with her mission mates (at the least the injured ones) to meet with the Marshal, nodding to Victor and M'kira along the way.  Elsbeth removed her helmet, tucking it under her arm as she reported in and accepted the brief embrace from T'risa; she was a bit surprised at the physical display, but tried not to show it.  And though she would liked to have gotten cleaned up and headed to sick bay, Elsbeth recongnized that time was of the essence and dutifully followed the others into the galley and waited to be debriefed.

She waited respectfully to be addressed, standing at ease.  Honestly, she did not have much more to report to the Marshal.  Since the Marshal had been in mental contact with the team the entire time, Elsbeth was pretty sure that T'risa had pretty much all of the tactical and strategic information and history that she needed.  Still, Elsbeth shared her perceptions of the Q'sa troop strength and tactics, as well as discussing any perceived strengths and weaknesses of the Warrior caste now that she had actually fought one.  She also discussed what she knew of the bunkers and their construction - at least in the brief moments she had had to look at them.  Of course, there was all of the data in her armor's recorder; and Elsbeth offered up all of the telemetry data that was contained within for download and review.  She closed her report with an apology, "I regret, Ma'am, thatI was unable to capture my opponent alive.  I... I know that you wanted him for questioning.  I felt that neutralizing his threat was of greater importance once he disengaged."  She gave the Marshal a slightly crooked smile, "And ... I... I wasn't about to let him get away, if I could help it.  I may have gotten a bit carried away."  She shrugged slightly, which in her armor was a bit of an exaggerated motion that churned up a little dust, before she continued, "I also could not salvage any weapons along the way.  I had been collecting them ...  But when we retreated, they were lost in the haste."

With that, Elsbeth ended her report and waited for any questions.  Over her mental link, T'risa (and likely both M'kira and Leo as well) could sense that the Tae woman was torn - her surface thoughts were quite easy to read.  While, she was ready and willing to entertain any further questions or speculation, Elsbeth really wanted to get to sick bay.  Her link to Balkiir had made her keenly aware of his condition.  And upon reentering the Crow, the proximity had only strengthened that awareness - threatening to overwhelm her at times.  Only once during the debriefing did she let her masque crack, when a momentary flash of pain from the big male Tau was relayed to her when one of Aziza's attending auto docs had taken another biopsy sample from him.  So, the tall Tae woman stood there, ready to answer more questions, but hoping that there would be no more.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:40, Mon 10 Jan 2011.

   ~it only hurts when I try to dance~. Balkiir assured Elspeth. a moment later she felt the presence of the big man not only mentally but physically. as he hobbled into the room on a crutch wearing an exo-brace on his leg, layers of spray seal on the other, And a pair of Purple "Kiss The Cook" boxers.
   He reach out took the Assault rifle off her shoulder, slung it over his and reached out and unbuckled her web gear with a bright smile." You wont be needing these, for a while.The big man's chest and shoulder were covered in old scars, and a hammer and thunderbolts tattoo of the Valkiir Home Guard was tattooed over his heart.
   " welcome home.He Leaned forward and kissed her firmly a flood of emotions and memories pouring through the contact. His hand touching the side of her face with gentle caress that seemed impossibly soft for such a heavily calloused hand,he let the contact linger for a moment then hobbled toward the kitchen. frowning and shooting a disapproving brother glance,glance at M'kira as he moved several things back into their 'proper' location. " someone may want to go let the medic out of the closet, he seemed to think I would miss welcoming my .... Elspeth home."
   "I think you all deserve something special." He put on pot of milk to warm and with a sly smile produced a tin of cocoa from a hiding spot under the counter.

He watched and listened in silence. The Marine and Balkiir were an interesting match that was for sure. He felt a small tinged of pity for their opposition. They had not expected such a dedicated team to hold the line and hold it they would. T'risa was as good as any commander he had served under, maybe even better. Though at times he wondered how much of a toll this was taking on her. He grinned as Balkiir produced the cocoa and started warming some milk. It had been forever since he had drank hot chocolate, since before his wife had died.

M'kira gives Balkiir a amused look her nostrils flaring ever so slightly at the faint scent of chocolate in the air. "I think someone's in the mood for love. Just be careful not to aggravate your wounds balkiir if you drink that."

It was a light gentle tease and likely nothing to a marine like Elsbeth who had probably been exposed to antics that would make a civilian go through several shades of red. On the other hand who knows? She Glances at T'risa with a smile knowing she probably would pick up on the distinctive scent as well.

Elsbeth could not contain her relief when heard (both in her head and with her ears), Balkiir and then saw the large blue man.  Her posture visibly relaxed: her shoulders slumped slightly, her weight shifted on her feet and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.  Elsbeth had not had much call for public displays of affection in the past; and so she cocked her head to side as Balkiir removed some of her gear and swooped in for a kiss.  Elsbeth was glad enough to ignore the looks of the others.  The flood of comforting and genuine emotion almost overwhelmed her- but in a good way.  She would have been fine to remain in Balkiir's strong embrace for the rest of eternity.  But, of course, that was not possible.  There was too much else to be done.

As she and Balkiir separated, Elsbeth regained her wits and glanced about her a slightly sheepish look on her face.  She tilted her head as M'kira spoke, not entire sure that she had caught all of the nuances of her statement.  However, Elsbeth suspected that she was likely to find out what was up in short order.  Her gaze also passed by Victor and she noticed the play of emotions on his generally stoic demeanor, her brow furrowing as she tried to divine what might be going through his head.

But then she realized that her debriefing was not necessarily over and she wiped the corner of mouth with the back of her right hand before reassumed her 'at ease' position facing the Marshal.  Elsbeth was glad that she still had the armored coif over her head, otherwise she would likely have had to redone her hair.  "Sorry, Ma'am." she apologized dutifully - though there was obviously not exactly regret in her voice.  When the smell of hot chocolate started to emanate from the galley proper, Elsbeth glanced over at Balkiir briefly as her mind drifted.  Then her eyes snapped back to the Marshal, "Um, ... You were asking a question, Marshal?"

  "It seems our friends were ready for some serious action." Rhic commented as he came in the left side of his face a purple bruise and a plaster across the bridge of his nose. "Q'sa warriors haven't been seen outside the quarantine for ...well since the mutinies. I forgot how hard they could hit.  I uploaded helmet cams and tactical data to the data base while doc was putting my nose back in place." His normally deep baritone sounding whiny and nasal with several wads of cotton stuck in both nostrils. "Remind me not to be stingy with the grenades....doc says it looks like one of the witches you took down will live, at least long enough to see a noose back on Avandiir.
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 21:12, Tue 11 Jan 2011.

 She's found an out of the way spot to sit once they all got to talking about pirates and such and sat nibbling at her food, listening but not saying anything because it was all over her head.

   Lays down beside Maran and puts his muzzle in her lap, looking up at her with his expressive wolf eyes.  There was a lot going on, it was true, but at least Maran was safe now, and he felt a bit better.  Trey uv Secks wasn't a threat, as near as Sun Runner could discern.  He was something of an anomaly, however.  It had taken Sun Runner a few moments to be sure, but the data analysis he'd received from their brief encounter was absolutely conclusive.

   "Maran...that being..Trey uv Secks?  Are you aware he is a replicant, a bio-engineered clone?"

 "He's what? How can anybody be a clone? I thought that was outlawed a lot of places! Are you sure?"
 She turned around to look over at Trey, trying to see if there was anything strange or unusual about him, but she couldn't see anything different, besides his speech patterns. She looked back at Sunny with a bit of scepicism.
 "How can you tell? Does that make him any different than me or the rest of the people here?"

  Balkiir poured everyone a Mug of cocoa, T'risa and M'kira receiving a smaller cup that the rest with a slight glance from Balkiir as he handed it to them. He paused as he handed a mug to Maran gave her a broad good humored smile as he served it and shook his head slightly" Never get used to how this stuff loses it's kick on  Tae...a down right shame.....

   And You two behave yourselves, no scaring the Tae.... Balkiir handed Elspeth a Mug, with a slightly odd smile, as he ignored the looks from M'kira and T'risa. when he placed it in her hands he led her to sit down. relax, you've earned some down time...we have plenty of time to deal with what in that place after you had a chance to decompress

 "Oh, hot cocoa! I really missed this! Nothing relaxes you like a nice cup of cocoa before bedtime or a nap. Thank you Mr. Kovul."
 She sipped happily at the steaming hot beverage, going slowly, blowing on it because it was nearly too hot to drink, but that was when it was best of all. She loved cocoa almost as much as she loved hot tea, maybe even better than tea.
 "Mmm! Good!"

Trey, having - for once - very little to say on the matter, just kind of leans against the mess counter and lets these.. marshals get their goodies on. It's obvious they've been together for a while, or at least through a lot. Practically like a family.

That little thought sends a pang of hurt down through his gut, making the clone wince. What's desperation and hopelessness bring? Bad death and bad thoughts. Best to Jah on the soul and silver linings on the cloud.

"Doan worray, 'bout a ting.." He soft-sings, and whistles the rest of the tune to himself. The smile right back on his face again as he watches the others.

T'risa sipped at the cup, trying to not let it get the better of her. The flush it brought to her face causing her to laugh in mild embarrassment. She smiled affectionately towards M'Kira before looking for everyone's attention.

"I'm happy we are all together. For better or worse we're all in this until the end. The stakes are high. I've seen into her mind. She will be satisfied with nothing other than genocide, and unfortunately, so must we. But in the midst of all of this despair, there are times for other more positive emotion. Love and friendship keeps us together. Salvation brought us so many. Together we can bring about the changes needed to save the universe from Her scourge." T'risa raised her mug to the others "To an everlasting friendship....To new loves.....To salvation from the night....and finally, but by no means least...to life itself. May we all live long and happy ones."

T'risa sipped at the cup, hoping she'd have some time with Bright Star later. She'd need her advice on Trey.

In reply to T'risa K'mahda (msg #253):

He raised his own glass, to life to second chances."To the fallen, and to those who can't be here with us." He sipped at his cup. The fight was far from over, the battles to soon come might claim more of them. He felt a slight pang of his constant companion guilt.

"Mmm did T'risa have a chance to question her yet? Well I guess Trey is going to be part of the group now? To be honest I don't know what the laws are on clones. Your probably going to want to talk to a medical specialist for details on clones."

She laughs and smiles with a amused twinkle in her eyes. "I think I can manage to behave if T'risa can." M'kira smiles warmly at T'risa when she notices her friend smiling at her. Then listens to what she has to say. Looking down at the smaller cup her expression is amused at the smaller portion. Dropping a ice cube or two into hers she preferred her coco warm rather then hot. "Heh to a long and happy life." She raises her cup then takes a sip.

 She got tears in her eyes as they saluted their lost comrades. It made her think of her parents and all the other scientists lost who had been studying the ruins when the buggy-lizard things started attacking her camp. Only the fact she'd been locked in the dining hall had saved her life.
 "To mom and dad and Uncle Ray and all the others who died at the ruins." She raised her own mug up briefly then took another big sip of cocoa. Then she sat warming her suddenly chilled hands around the mug as she looked down into the cocoa.

Elsbeth allowed herself to be led to one of the tables by Balkiir, her expression was a mix of confusion and amusement.  The smell of the chocolate to her was strangely different, almost intoxicating.  Since the Marshal had appeared to have moved on, Elsbeth concentrated on the task at hand - drinking hot chocolate.  Sitting next to Balkiir, she placed her hand on his.  Then Elsbeth quietly held up her mug with her other hand while T'risa toasted and with a rueful expression on her face murmured, "To all of the fallen comrades."  There were too many to count, but she could recall all of their faces.  But gripping Balkiir's hand tightly, her expression then brightened and she added, "And to Life."

And Love.  Especially, Love., she thought privately, reserving that part just for herself and Balkiir.  She continued to hold his hand as she savored the flavor; the taste held something extra, Elsbeth was sure that her link with Balkiir was influencing her perception of the drink.  Not that she minded, but it was a set of sensations that defied mere description.  They had to be experienced to be truly understood.  Not that Elsbeth was really understanding them, but she was definitely experiencing them.  Her face flushed slightly, and she had to let out a measured exhalation in an attempt to maintain her composure.  Elsbeth continued to hold Balkiir's hand, her grip tightening.  As she took another sip, Elsbeth was glad for his presence; since without him there, her knees probably would have given out - even though she was already sitting.

  " I think my turbines are tired." tiny sighed as she locked herself into the repair frame in the cargo hold. she had never flown that fast that far before. " but we're home. where is everybody?

  ~easy there~ Balkiir whispered to Elspeth's mind.he was surprised she mirrored his own sensations of the drink.
   The effects of chocolate and cocoa on a Valkiir were the stuff of barracks gossip and cheap vids sold out of back rooms everywhere. the effect was a bit more refined, smooth, a slight rush of warmth, a mild wave of euphoria, and a very relaxed, peaceful glow to the world. stronger than champagne or other wines, milder than a full blown buzz He was certainly glad that what he felt was more of a warm happy sensation rather without the after effect women felt.
    "to friends, comrades, and the fallen, and to love." he gave Elspeth's hand a squeeze in response to hers and let his should lean against hers.~ welcome home ~

 Takti prowled the command deck of the crow examining the controls and modifications to the ship as Aziza piloted it into the narrow safe corridor blasted b the ground team. He kept silent, more than one sharp nip or slap from a paw had taught him not to interrupt when Aziza was executing a trick maneuver.

   to be impressed would anyone who could see the modifications you have made. One Cesti can not pilot a ship this size would they say.Takti rumbled proudly as Aziza set the crow down to pick up the crew." assumed we had that an off world crew yo had hired once Cesti space you had left."
    his claws slicked across the comms board rapidly sending instructions to the Ghost Tiger to stay on station just aft of the Crow and watch for the return of the vessels the sensors had detected leaving the atmosphere.

  star brushed against Maran's legs and purred softly a she pressed against her hoping to cheer her up as she spoke. there want anyway to erase those memories but Star did her best to comfort her hoping up into her lap and nuzzling her head against her as she sipped cocoa.

T'risa nodded solemnly "And to absent friends. There have already been too many deaths. I only hope that our endeavours will prevent more." She raised her mug in salute, smiling at all present. It was an asylum. People running back and forth, everyone talking. T'risa smiled deeply to herself, a glance to M'Kira to know that at this moment T'risa was happy, her collective and adopted family around her.

Organised chaos and sheer bliss. How very paradoxical.

   He nuzzled Maran, then laid his furry head back in her lap, knowing that just being there for her would be a comfort.  Of course he'd detected the change in her heart beat, the activation of her lacrimal ducts, the subtle change in her breathing, even the slight shift in the skin pigmentation around her facial features that indicated her sorrow over what she had lost.  He whimpered a little, in response, simply to let her know he understood and his ears drooped.
   His brown tinged optical sensors glanced over at Bright Star and he silently messaged her to let her know he was grateful she was there as well.  Maran needed their attention, their empathy, and to feel the security of friends around her.  This new 'family' that they had been adopted into, it was a strange one to Sun Runner still, but every circuit in his current chassis was certain it was one that would be beneficial for his bonded human. And that was enough for Sun Runner.

After getting Tiny back on to the Crow, Conrad took a few minutes to assess any damage on Tiny's mecha.  Making mental notes, Conrad then takes Tiny's AI out and places it into a drone so Tiny could move around the ship without causing any problems.  Trying to find everyone, Conrad looks around and tries to listen for everyone.  His first stab is to head to the mess hall to see if everyone is there.  Upon arriving, Conrad pop his head in.  "Hello everyone!"

M'kira offers a comforting touch her hand lightly resting on Maran's arm with a gentle expression, a warm smile and a supportive look. Though with Bright star and sun runner cuddling with her she felt the young women was both blessed and in good hands.

"I think they will T'risa. Someone's got to stop the insanity of that queen. Not to mention the other problems stirring up this hornets nest of trouble."

When Conrad arrives M'kira smiles and waves in greeting. "Grab a seat and some hot coco Conrad. Well unless you don't like hot coco in which case drink whatever you like."

 She scratched Stars ears softly and wrapped one arm around her, hugging her briefly then easing up in case the cat person was uneasy being held close. Some cats didn't like it, while others did. Her purr eased her mood a bit, as a cats purr always did ever since her mother had let her kitten sleep on her pillow until she had fallen asleep before she put the kitten out onto the enclosed porch for the night.

 She smiled slightly as Sunny also came to her and pulled him close, digging her fingers into his thick hair; it felt as real as anything she'd ever felt with a dog. Luckily he didn't smell like a dog so much. And he was much smarter than a dog was, almost as smart as a cat...but no, she'd forgotten briefly that neither of these nor Blue were what they seemed. She hugged him and thanked him silently.

 She started as M'kira placed her hand upon her shoulder, then smiled up at her shyly. It'd been so long since she'd had real people around it almost felt strange to her. It was all rather dreamlike to her how much her life had changed in such a few short days. She frowned again though as the queen was mentioned.
 "I think she is crazy. I don't know how I know, but I think something drove the queen insane. If it wasn't for her being responsable for the death of my friends, I'd almost feel sorry for her. If she was like bees or ants, she would have had a whole hive or nest of her family, but I never saw a lot of her kind around like you'd see in an ant hill or a bee hive. Do you think being so alone would make it crazy? Is there a humane way to put her out of her misery?"
 She took another drink, hiding her embarrassment as she realized she'd interupted the adult conversation. She glanced up at M'kira with a bit of an apology on her face, then looked back down at Sunny and Star.

"Yeah, one clean shot. Put her down and this whole mess might get straightened up a bit." He answered Maran his mood somewhat sour at so many memories being brought up. He had a task to do and for now he needed the icy exterior, he needed the persona that his squads knew as Reaper. It was a defense mechanism one that he was fully aware of and still he could not let it go. He took a drink of his coco wishing there was something a bit stronger mixxed in.

"I am sorry for her. She is quite mad. However Maran, make no mistake, she cannot be rehabilitated. She's been alone for longer than most races have existed. To her, we're contemptible. Nothing. She didn't even notice us....I forced her to reevaluate that. As soon as she saw what I was...she considers us a threat. I suspect this won't be over till either we are dead.... or she is.....and she's planned this for millenia. I give us a slim chance of being able to do it, but it's there and I will fight with all of my heart and soul to see that Maran has a place to grow up, that Balkiir and Elsbeth have a chance to be together...that every person we know can live and breath in peace and love." she looked to Trey "that families will be reunited."

T'risa continued after meeting the yes of all on board. "We still have a lot of work to do. Our planning will recommence first thing tomorrow. Conrad, can you talk to Trey and find out how he can help us? Aziza, talk to your husband and get the crow repaired. Rhic, Elsbeth take the stores we've recovered and define a robust defense for the town. Balkiir, you'll stay in bed....but let's just take the day to celebrate life."

Conrad walks in and grabs a cup of coco and takes a seat.  " So who wants to get my caught up in whats going on?  I'm sure there has been stuff that I've missed.  And whose Trey?"

Elsbeth just sat leaning against Balkiir off on one of the side tables against a wall, savoring the hot chocolate and toasting everyone.  She was careful to avoid any of Balkiir's injuries, but that didn't stop her from getting close; it just made her more circumspect.  Elsbeth was slightly bemused at the prospect of the Crow being home.  But if the old adage was that home was where the heart was, then the Crow truly was her home.  Something that Elsbeth had never really had before.  She sat basking in the warmth of Balkiir's arms and chest and comfort of the company and the moment.

Elsbeth nodded to Conrad as he entered the galley.  But, she knew that she was not the one to answer any of his questions.  She did know much about the planning short term or long term, nor did she know much about the current operations outside of her own, and she didn't know anything about  Trey at all, really.  But being the product of targeted genetic experimentation and focused evolutionary and teaching techniques, Elsbeth had an inkling of what Trey might be experiencing - or at least what Trey's mentality might be.  Then again, he seemed so different from her (and spoke so strangely) that perhaps she didn't have an inkling.  In any case, she couldn't really answer him.

She also nodded to the Marshal's instructions - both the orders to help with inventories and defenses as well as the order to relax for a little bit.  She'd shower and clean up, and then make sure that Balkiir was also resting.  Of course, she would spent the night watching over him...  She murmured to the big, blue man, "I think that the Marshal is worried about you, Friend Balkiir."  A smile played on her lips as she thought idly, ~Worried that I will never leave you alone during your convalescence.~  Elsbeth turned her head slightly to make eye contact, ~And she is right - I won't leave you ever, if I can help it.~

At Conrad's question, Trey raises his hand over his head and grins - like the two were old friends. Which isn't true, of course, and quite the opposite; For all Trey knew, Conrad was a mad villain cackling away in some dark laboratory while engines of doom spin up to speed around him. Or he could just be the guy that fixed stuff. Didn't matter, of course, not at the moment.


"Dat be I, bruddah." He states, before glancing at the others. "Dis all gude of yah ta be not shootin' I, but I an' I only be undah dis sky fo' an hour or two. I be tinkin' may best fo' I ta git ta de black an' staht eyeballin' dem stahs."

T'risa looked dubiously at Trey before she figured out what he was saying. She pointed to wards him. "That's Trey.. and Trey, this planet is more or less blockaded. You won't be going anywhere until what is done here is done. The small fleet the Empress sent here to assist may...... well it will not last for long. If you really wish to chance an escape, then it might be best served if you do it soon while they are still recovering. But we don't really have any craft with which we can send you."

T'risa didn't want to start thinking about what their next plan had to be, not until this day of rest was over.... but her mind started moving. It was too risky to go for the starport immediately....their security would have been significantly proved at the expense of guards elsewhere. That left.....the wreckage of the dreadnought that was destroyed while they arrived. T'risa looked around recognising she'd need the talents of everyone onboard to pull this off.

Listening to Trey talk, Conrad found himself slightly lost.  Though making out enough to actually get the gist of what he was saying.

"Hey Trey.  So um... whatcha good at?"

"Hmm I imagine Grym's way is probably about as humane as it gets. Though if somehow you could strip her of her power and make her harmless that's a good way to take her down.  You know I find it hard to believe the Marduke would be on her side. So  maybe we can get them to chew on each other instead of us. Though it's a long shot since we would have to figure out where both of them are before either of them find us again."

M'kira glances at T'risa figuring she would be the best to bring Conrad up to speed. On the other hand she also was rather busy dealing with just about everything. If needed she pulls up recent events then provides Conrad with a data pad he could read up on. "Here you go Conrad. Read away this should help."

In the mean time she was content to relax until it was time to do whatever mission got priority over the others.

   Balkiir looked a bit surprised by being told to stay in bed. he opened his mouth to say something then glanced over as Elspeth spoke."Ya know some down time sounds good to me..."

    "worried about lil'ol me... never... Balkiir laughed as he picked up Elspeth's rifle and web gear.~She;s probably worried about the furniture... Shower, no that sounds like a great idea.....~ Balkirr smiled broadly set his mug in the sink after rinsing it out. and hobbled to the door." give me a hand stowing the weapons. Balkiir glanced to Elspeth as he headed out the mes hall musing up Maran's hair in a centuries old 'big brother' style.

He finished his own mug and stood. "I will be somewhere practicing for when you want me to take that shot ma'am." HE said as he too set his mug in the sink. HE exited the mess hall and went to his room. HE sat on his bunk for a moment his rifle in his lap, his weapon of choice cold and precise. He knew the burdens that laid within his heart, the pain.

  Poppy caught Sight of Grym leaving the galley even in a crowded ship he seemed alone. She followed him for a short while not sure if he would welcome any company. waiting outside his door for a moment before she sighed and walked to her quarters, not sure if he would be receptive to company and not wanting to cross the line from friendly ear to stalker.

Tiny wondered around the Crow looking for anyone.  Feeling a little lonely after doing some minor repairs on her mecha, she hoped to run into someone.  After looking around Tiny knocked on Poppy's door to see if she was around.

Trey shrugged his shoulders, bewildered but still with a smile on his face. It only falters once or twice, a testament to the will underwriting the attempt to maintain that optimistic outlook. "Jack of all de trades, bruddah. I an' I an'... an no-body kept de Prospectah on life so-pport fo' mo' dan a mont' out in de hypah space, when she be blowed up. Give me dem scraps, a belt, and a good weldah, and she be singing yah pretty toon. Gots me lil' bit o' wildin', mon, foh de Company might decide I an' I an' de Bredren bettah off making dey some col-o-nay out on de wild planets, when we spottin' somethang mine-able. Pilot, riggah, tech, sometime salvagah, sometime hackah, gen-e-ral space monkah, mon."

Trey shrugs again, noncommitently, and flashes those teeth once more.

Conrad listened very carefully to what Trey was saying, still trying to make out what he was saying.  "Its going to be nice to have another techie on board.  Specially someone who can help me out.  I'll be using your variety of skill sets often.  Oh, another thing.  If you see an drone walking around and it introduces itself to you, thats Tiny.  She is another addition to the crew.  She can be a little timid and if she is in her mecha body... just stay away cause you'll get caught up in cross fire."

With that Conrad finishes his coco and excuses himself.  "If you all excuse me, I am going to go read this report and get some down time.  Tiny is back in her drone body, so she should be mostly harmless.  Just keep an eye on her.  Com me if ya need anything."

Conrad puts his cup in the sink and heads for his quarters.  When getting into his quarters, he opens his locker and pulls out his ancient rifle and looks over it some more.  Wish he had time to build a prototype of this weapon and the armor, but as of right now, it has to wait.  Putting the weapon back, Conrad lays down on his bed and begins reading the report.  Making mental notes about certain things that are important to him, he flies through the rest and then turns out the lights and takes a quick nap before Tiny does something.

Elsbeth quickly rinsed her mug and placed both hers and Balkiir's in the dishwasher before running after the large Valkiir man.  She grabbed her gear from Balkiir; Elsbeth was damned if she was going to let the injured man carry her stuff - especially in his state.  "I'll take care of the weapons." she noted dutifully, but then added playfully, "After I make sure you get to bed safe and sound..."  She took her rifle and webbing on one arm, while offering a shoulder and the other arm to help stabilize Balkiir as they left the mess hall and made their way to his quarters.

Along the way, they passed both Poppy and Tiny wandering the grassy halls, but didn't stop for anything more than brief pleasantries and directions to others.  Elsbeth and Balkiir were passed by Victor heading to his room - but he seemed distracted and closed off, even before reaching his quarters.  So, Elsbeth merely yielded right of way, letting him pass unobstructed and offering a simple appreciative acknowledgment, "Thank you for helping keeping Friend Balkiir alive today, Victor Grym."

Once they made it to Balkiir's quarters, Elsbeth secured the door and was true to her word.  She put Balkiir to bed.  And took a shower.  Twice.  And then once more in the morning.

M'kira wasn't totally comfortable with the idea that Conrad was switching tiny out from one body to the other. Was he taking into consideration what Tiny might want? Being newly self aware she might follow orders passively without voicing any resentment or hurt feelings she might have.

She also remembers that Poppy was shot up yet again from the last fight. All you had to do was take one look at the damage her clothing had sustained let alone anything else. Since she is female out of consideration for her she decides to com Aziza first instead of Conrad. Although Aziza made her worry because of her unusual way of doing things.  "Aziza looks like Poppy took some damage from the last mission. Though she didn't stop long enough for me to say hi let alone recommend she take a moment to get patched up. Could your robots do some cosmetic as well as any non cosmetic repairs she might need? She is female so I am not entirely sure I should bug Conrad for the needed repairs. She took a fair amount of hits to her chest. I know your not the same species but if you or your robots listen to poppy it should work out well. If your to busy I can contact Conrad about it."

OOC: Needless to say Poppy did take damage in the last battle. We should get her treated just like anyone else with a injury.

T'risa couldn't stop from laughing. The vibrancy of life was evident in the galley. They'd made it all again. "Everyone just take the day off, after we unpack. We can decide what to do with the salvage later. Just relax, have fun in whichever way you can to relax. Tomorrow we start again from the beginning with a much harder goal." She smiled at Trey "Trey someone will see you to a free set of quarters we have here. Do you need anything from us?"

T'risa reached out to hold M'Kiras hand.

 She curled up with Star and Sunny and drifted off to sleep, comforted by the people about, and the presence of her AI friends. She felt safe for the first time in a long time, and it was such a nice feeling to be able to let her guard down.

Trey blinked around as people spoke about things he hadn't seen and stuff he wasn't certain of. They were a family. And the big valkyrie woman was hugging on the tap-dancer down in the med-bay, the guy he'd first taken shine too.

Well, that was nice.

Trey grinned for the two of them, before his attention is dragged aside by T'risa's question. He thinks about it for a moment, and then laughs once; It's a natural sound, not at all forced. "Sho' thang, sistah. Yah got mo' dese chow?" He points down towards his bowl, before the smile fades a bit and he gets a bit more serious.


"Yah got some-boday hurt, sistah? Some-body all metahl in dey guts?" He taps his own abdomen, which rumbles with the remains of his engorged meal. Never knew when you were going to eat again. "If yah brain boy be busy, I an' I eyeball she hole?"

'Useful' meant worth keeping around. And, at the moment, these folks were his best chance out of here and back on the trail of the Bredren.

M'kira glances at T'risa smiling as she hears her friend laughing. She certainly was  happy to know  that T'risa was in a good enough mood to laugh. She certainly agreed if they had time a little R and R would help quite a bit to restore people. "I second that. A little R&R will go a long way to putting us back in top form.  She takes T'risa's hand giving it a gentle affectionate squeeze gazing into her friends eyes.

M'kira's mind was on other things when Trey spoke so she turns her head to look at him after a moment. <blue> "What? Oh yes we have plenty of chow. Eat till your full but try not to over due it. I am not sure how Aziza would react to someone being sick on her ship. It's just not a good idea. She's got issues with possible parasite infestations, disease that sort of thing."

She pauses when he offers to treat poppy with a slightly troubled look. She wanted to make Trey feel welcome however he had already been caught once doing some unauthorized tinkering with the ship. While he hadn't made any foolish choices with Maran which earned him a lot of points she had literally just met him. She looks to T'risa to see what she thought. "What do you think T'risa? Trey just got here and even if you Approve we will have to get poppy's permission. I can Com poppy to see if she's willing to let Trey work on her as it's a moot point if she says no."

Using the Com she contacts Poppy to see if she If she had already been repaired and if she hadn't if she was willing to get patched up now. "Poppy this is M'kira. I noticed you got some injuries or damage from the last mission. Do you have time to get patched up right now?"

  "Yeah I got kind of shot up again, I need a skin job and some parts, man I am gong to have to buy that warranty next time, I mean if I have to keep replacing these things every time I got into it... maybe I ought to have Conrad fix me up with one of those combat bodies like tiny.......
   Ummm yeah if someone want to come down and patch me up I'd really appreciate it. If they have an extra set of boobs in spares I might need that too. Mine are kind of all scorched and in the disposal bin right now." Poppy sounded as distracted and rambled on as she always did the sound of a wet squelch then a meaty plop came through the intercom." And I was just getting used to this set, man how you guys manage to keep your bodies in one piece without having to go shopping after every fight blows my mind, I mean I now they aren't detachable and it probably hurts if you suck up a plasma shot to the but ya keep the same set for yearrrsss. I mean I am looking for a new but every time I drop on some damn mud ball...maybe I ought to try wearing more armor... But yeah if ya want to have Doctor FrankenBot have a look at me It' cool. Well anybody with a wrench just no cold hands... those really creep me out.

As she answered the intercom poppy peeked out her door seeing Tiny she smiled grabbed tiny b the manipulator and pulled her in. man I am glad to see you, was worried you got all shot up or something."
    "come on tell me all about it, was it bad, did you get some of those marduk bastards... does this set make me look like a slut? she asked holding up a pair of replacements for her battered chest.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Wed 02 Feb 2011.

  Balkiir hobbled along after Elspeth, helped her stow her gear and tend to the other things she needed a hand with. though in the close confines of a small stateroom there was some issue with close contact. the bathroom and shower was even 'cozier'.
    To his credit the exo-cast and injuries didn't seem to hinder him as much as it seemed. he was bale to maneuver quite well in the confines, and didn't seem to be exhausted form combat at all after catching his breath.
   When Elspeth returned form the shower in the morning he sat on the edge of the bunk watching her with a slightly silly smile and offered her a piece of fruit from his stash of goodies he kept in his kit bag. " I think we need a bigger room."
    "this one is definitely not designed for Valkiir."as she set own on the bunk he massaged her neck softly." A nice big bedroom, lots of windows, and something with more padding to sleep on.
  and closer to the kitchen he added with a laugh, Breakfast? I need to get something on or gods know what the women will do to my kitchen. "
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:07, Wed 02 Feb 2011.

"No I think that's a bad idea. Conrad seems to have a touch of the mad scientist in him and you do like guns." M'kira shudders at the thought of Poppy running amuck with some kind of death ray or megaton missiles that Conrad would eagerly equip her with. In her imagination she thinks about poppy apologizing. Honest I didn't mean to blow up a third of the planet! They fired on me first! So what if the planet isn't round any more! Eventually the exposed molten core of the planet will cool and crust over. Just stay on the other side of the planet I think it's barely habitable inside the secure shelters. There's always cryo stasis till a rescue ship arrives!"

Shaking her head to get those thoughts out of her mind. "Umm well I will see what I can do. I am sure with all the downed units we can find you replacements. Our newest member Trey has volunteered to fix you up. Though I haven't any idea how good his skills are for repairing a cyberoid. I will have to watch just in case we have to call someone else in to help. Who knows maybe he's got mad skills in that department. Yes that's why we were combat armor as our butts are hard to replace. I am sure we have a good set we can fit you for combat armor right after you get fixed up. Ok  Poppy meet us in the maintenance bay lets get you fixed up good as new."

Unless T'risa objects M'kira looks to trey. "Come on trey let's meet Poppy in the Maintenance bay and get her fixed up. If you feel you need help we can call in Conrad or Aziza. We should have all the parts you need to do a quality job. It's not like it used to be so you won't have to jury rig anything."

OOC: Poppy to make things easy you can just come to us and we will assume we are where we need to be to get the repairs done.

Elsbeth had returned from the fresher with one towel barely covering her rather long torso and another wrapped around her hair.  She had gratefully accepted the fruit from Balkiir, her kit contained no extra food at all.  She had always trusted in the mess being fully stocked (perhaps there was some Tau in her after all) - or having to do without (or perhaps not).  Her drill instructors had always told her to eat when food was available, since you never knew on a mission when the next meal might be.  And her experience with CMC Force Recon missions had proven that adage right.  Many, many times over.

Elsbeth privately added her own addendum as Balkiir's fingers worked on the knots in her shoulders, One should never refuse a massage either...  She let out and appreciative sigh as she sat on the edge of the bed relishing the experience.  Elsbeth then responded in kind, though getting Balkiir to lie down again, just for a back massage was a bit of a task.  Still, she persevered and prevailed.  As Elsbeth worked on his shoulder and back, she noted idly, "I do not mind the cramped quarters, Friend Balkiir.  I enjoy having you close..."  A smile crossed her lips and then she bent down to kiss his neck and toussle his short, cropped hair.

All too soon, though the time passed and Elsbeth agreed that breakfast was in order.  "I can only help to prepare and partake of food with you for a short time."  She noted with a touch of sadness, "I am expected after morning muster to do munitions inventory and help direct the building of defenses."  Then Elsbeth smiled slightly as she pulled on her combat fatigues, and added with only small hint of playfulness in it, "But ... I will check up on you to ensure that you are resting appropriately at lunchtime."  Buckles were fastened and ties were tied, as she continued, "You are under orders, Friend Balkiir."

Still, Elsbeth kewn better than to try to dissuade Balkiir from cooking (not that she really wanted to stop him - in her, albeit, biased opinion, his cooking was quite good).  She helped him get dressed and then ambled with him to the mess hall - offering him a shoulder to lean on the entire way.

Trey shrugs once at the two blue skinned Tae, then nods to M'Kira and straightens out of his seat to saunter along casually beside her. The (ex)slave shoving his hands into the pockets of his borrowed clothes as he speaks.


"Yah got a funny ship heah, sistah. I an' I been tryin' ta git a good look at she schematics off she screen, but she nevah made fo' man eyes. Dats when I meet dat lil' sistah in dem corridors." He begins, glancing aside to gauge the mech pilot's reactions. "Dats some strange com-pa-nee ta be keepin'. Yah mashals wit'out dem off-she-on-al ships, nao."

M'kira looks at Try trying to follow his pattern of speech. It was a little challenging though she thought she could get used to it. Accent's were amazing and some were thrilling to hear. "Oh you mean Maran? She's a rescue kind of like you Trey. She's a sweet girl and believe it or not she's got two or three bodyguards looking after her. Your right she's not a combatant but this planets insanely dangerous. The compounds suffered a lot of casualties till we arrived to help them out. The sad thing is even though we have a dangerous mission this ship is probably the safest place she can be."

She pauses for a moment trying to decide how to open up the next topic. It was a little delicate considering Aziza was one of their team. Her expression and tone was one of concern as she speaks. "Trey... this ship is Cesti technology. Even though this ships probably a hundred years old it's at least as advanced as current Tae Technology. The Cesti can be savage if angered and as you can tell just from looking at them they are predatory carnivores."

"More important to note is Aziza's a little paranoid so the last thing you want is for her to catch you tinkering with her ship without authorization. For your own safety clear it with Aziza or us before you open something up. I really don't want to find parts of you scattered all over the ship. If I ever find you at all. Maybe my caution to you is a little overboard but I prefer safe then sorry. Once you have been with us a little longer I think Aziza will accept you and give you more leeway. I will see what I can pull up on ship schematics for you within reason. What is it you wanted to know?"

OOC: As a player I am sure your safe Trey. ^_^

Trey laughs again, utterly unphased by thoughts of death and mutilation. Well, it certainly looks that way, though of course he's taken the advisement. After all, if the Cesti took the tinkering he's already attempted out of sorts, then there wasn't anything he could do about it. And if she hadn't, he knew better now. Either way, there was no reason for a frown!

Then shrugs. "Anythang, sistah. When I an' I be dragged ovah, I figgur she be de enemy ship, jah? So I an' I ain't be lookin' foh no-thang in pa-tic-u-la, jes' be eyein' what I an' I can be gettin' inta. When I an' I wuz up in dem hypah space.." He jerks a thumb towards the ceiling. ".. I an' I rig she co-mand console outta de vissie. Figgure if I an' I git enough time, dat same trick I be tryin' again."

He pauses, and has the good sense to look a bit sheepish. "'Course, I an' I be knowin' dis no enemy ship noa."

T'risa mouthed the words as Trey was saying them till she got used to his accent and dialect. "If you could help Poppy Trey, that would help us out in the long run. Conrad needs a..well, a helper. Before our last battle Conrad was run off his feet. It would be considerably helpful if you could assist where needed. Aziza is unlikely to wish for help....but once you've helped Conrad, we do have a fighter that might need some repairs."

T'risa thought back to the fighter that was being used for spare parts. Having a second one up there might help. The crow was too valuable to put at risk unless necessary. A second fighter would give them tactical advantage.

"Ok, for everyone information.....I've decided what our next target will be. We're going to run a recon and intel gathering on the dreadnought that crashed when we arrived. We might be able to scavenge some technology, but it's primarily for intel. I want to have a better idea of what she is doing and why."

T'risa sat at her seat focussing some thoughts at Bright Star "Keep an eye on Trey as he repairs Poppy."

 She heard her name mentioned in her drowsiness and raised her head up to look at Trey and T'risha to see what they were saying. She grinned at Trey and nodded then hugged Sunny and Star closer. She didn't feel so alone now she was with people, but she could understand how Trey must have felt when they'd nabbed him. With all he'd been through, he'd be smart to be suspicious of motives and stuff.
 "I think you're safe here Trey, if you don't go hurting the ship or anybody. They's nice people here."

"Hmm well I can't blame you for trying to survive. I hope you find whatever your looking for Trey. This could be a new home for you if your interested. I don't know if you want to work for T'risa or with the rest of us for years to come. From what I have seen I think you have the right skill sets to do what we do. It's something for you to think about at least."

She looks over at T'risa nodding as she announces what they would do next. "Sounds good to me. After poppy's fixed up we have a little time to relax. Anything in particular you want to do T'risa?" Then she smiles at Maran with a twinkle in her eye. "Thank you Maran I think that's very nice of you to say."

Aziza queitly creeps into the hall, looking in each direction befoe careful questing toes ensured that the floor was actualy safe to walk delicately, aziza probed first with whiskers to determie the crew hadn't been replaced with hostiles preparatory to a round of petting, purely for it's therapeutic value, of course.

"Ships repairs are being complete.  Strange wonderful black bird with the cunning to use tools and a love of shiny objects will be ready to move at your command." She grumbles when nobody falls overthemself in eagerness to pet the emaciant sabre toothed Tiger, plus extra legs.

M'kira's cat lovers sixth sense kicks in as she takes a moment to gently caress along Aziza's back. Running her fingers through her fur. She listens for her purr and depending on Aziza's encouragement her fingers would continue to caress affectionately. "HI there it's good to see you Aziza. That's great to hear that the sStrange wonderful black bird with the Cunning to use tools and love of shny objects is ready for action! Trey here is going to help us get poppy fixed up. She took some battle damage or wounds during her last mission. Our last meal kind of got interrupted so why don't we get something to eat."

She was hopping that Aziza would be amiable to getting something in her stomach. Her emaciated form had her rather worried. It was bad enough that meals were often forgotten or set aside for more important tasks. They had finally coaxed her into eating and recent events had stopped her from actually partaking of the meal. At least that's what she remembers. Aziza might have snuck some food somewhere along the way! Trey seeing it for the first time might be a little shocked. It would be hard to tell depending on what he was used to seeing. He wasn't your average space traveler having seen some hard times himself.

Conrad lays on his bed, reading the data T'risa gave him.  Though skimming, he got the gist of what happened to the others.  He was just glad to have a moment down time where he was building some weapons or a mecha.  After moment, he gets up and goes to his locker and pulls out his acient rifle.  He holds its up and acts like he is ready to fire but doesnt take off the safety.  His finger lightly rests upon the trigger... hoping he had a target.  But it was best that he put it back before he puts a hole in the ship and Aziza probes him.  Next, he looks at the suit, though it was only a matter of time before he could start working on the a prototype.  It was starting to become a mission for him, to see this suit built.  Though it wasnt going to happen for a long time due to the fact that he was still stuck on this rock.  Conrad fully enjoyed his down time but he felt like it was time to go back to the others to see what was going on and where he was needed.

Making his way back to the mess hall, Conrad popped his head in to see who was still around.  "Oi!  So whats going on?  Anything that needs my attention?"

Leaving M'kira to watch over the .. six.. legged cat being, Trey follows the original directions given him towards where-ever this metal lady was stored. Whether he is followed or not, his behavior remains the same; Hands loosely in pockets, and a slow, steady whistling with an easy beat.

. o O (Takes all types to be Marshalls, Jah on them.) O o .

Arriving shortly afterwards, the clone brother knocks on the wall long before he moves into the room.

"Yah be all propah noa, sistah?" Sure, she might be an android and have no need for privacy. Or she might be thinking as human as he. Didn't make it right to go for a peep show, though!

She shakes her head realizing she's getting left behind as Trey moves on. Though she couldn't blame him things needed to get done around here somehow. When Conrad shows up she looks over at him from where she's tending to Aziza.

"Hmm? Sorry Conrad Aziza says the Crow's shipshape so unless she has something for you I would have to say no. Poppy got shot up again however it appears Trey's got some advanced skills when it comes to repairs. He's taking care of that as far as I know. Wait maybe I do have a item or two for you. How is my fighter is it back in mint condition? I also know we recently acquired another fighter. What news do you have on that? Or was it just a bunch of spare parts. My battle armor took some damage when we fought those Marduke soldiers. Did you have a chance to fix that?"

After cleaning his weapon he quitely slipped from the ship and headed out away from those that had their tasks. He sorta wished that Poppy would show up again and regretted having been lost in his own thoughts not to answer her before. HE grabbed a case of rounds and then went searching for a place where the high powered rifle would affect the least amount of people.

As he laid out his mat and set up the rifle he let his thoughts wonder back to when his life had been filled with joy, to the sounds of his daughter's laughter and the love he had felt the first time he held her. He chambered a round and let all that rush out of his as he exhaled, the killer creeping into his thoughts, coldly calculating windage and bullet drop. He squeezed the trigger, the weapons retort washing over him like a catharsis. He would live to see this through, he must. And for that he needed to be perfect, a member of the team that the others could rely upon.

  Poppy sighed as he set aside her spares... " Oh good lord... I would get shot up a few trillion miles from a boutique she laughed and looked over at Tiny" we ought to go shopping when we get back, find ou something not as....lethal looking, Nice legs, maybe a little bootie, nothing too sexy though I think Conrad would be on the porch with a bazooka...and we defiantly have to get ou something to make them wet themselves when your not happy with them...maybe a nice heavy auto cannon..one of those big ones like those bit sucking toasters had..only a lot cooler. "

  Oh hey there, Poppy looked up as Trey cae to the door...You must be the new guy...think you can do anything with this...she pointed the the mass of charred syntflesh and seared armor underneath it....I hate plasma weapons they sting a lot and the EM feedback on the discharge really messes with my secondary data buss....and that makes me a little twitchy...ya know just way too talkative ear bleed talkie... not real good for people without audio filters I noticed they tend to look for somewhere else to be....Oh by the way I'm poppy... I love the dreads ...got that whole aboriginal chic thing going... I bet your fro Theros Beta ...The corp there is old earth a lot of them wear the dreads... Hey wait..Your Series Seven fifty!!! Poppy swee'd with delight..

OOC: Theros Beta is the headquarters of Your old Corp Trey....

   Rhic got up from his seat giving Sun's shaggy head a scratch as he moved. not having said much he left the talking to others while keen eyes studied everything. He grabbed his gunbelt and picked up a couple of apples from the bowl on the table.
   " Maran would you like to go down and visit you big friend. Last time I checked in on him he was looking like a horse in need of a good brushing and an apple.
    as he passed Maran he gave her a warm, fatherly smile as he tossed her an apple as well."what ya say we go down and take care of both? while were at it I am sure we can see about getting your room a little more to your liking..I'm sure we have something softer than those navy blankets, and brick-pillows in stores..or we can whip up something using the fabricators...Since it's your home now we have to get it Maran-ated
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Sun 13 Feb 2011.

  Star reluctantly left Maran's lap to follow the suggestions, for some reason the idea of being TOLD to do something made her fur stand on end anymore.A freindly suggestion or polite request was nice. But her new body seemed to come with it's own set of impulses, and being ordered about just felt unnatural to her anymore. She was a little curious to meet the cyberoids anyway. they might be great great great granddaughters or something.
   She nearly bumped into a furry fore paw, looking up in slight amazement at Aziza as she paused the Cesti was ten times her size, had meat hooks for claws and looked like she could swallow Star in one gulp tail and all. Despite her new found sense of dignity, she couldn't resist brushing up against the silky fur of the bigger cat, the rich scent of furn and pheromones and an odd rumbling well below human hearing as the Cesti spoke making her want to curl up and purr happily.
   " I am the Star the Glimmers In the cold void guiding the way to the hunt. Star Purred softly in Cesti her voice a whisper compared to the thundering roar of a cesti formal introduction." I dont feel any urge to eat you, or challenge you for dominance. we should hunt together and share the kill
   Star hoped her translation of 'Hi lets be friends' was accurate, hoping he hadn't actually said 'I am yummy and taste good with ketchup" the language was impossibly complex three tonal components, body language, submissive, dominant, and equal modes, as well as female, male, and adolescent genders. on top of that volume, pitch, and a dozen other variations affected the final outcome....anyone of which could totally revers the meaning of an entire sentence.

Trey taps twin fingers to his forehead in an off-world, slapper dashed and possibly ironic salute, his face splitting into its normal bright grin as Poppy lets him enter and declares him the newbie. "Yeah, sistah, dat be I, de new boi." He then glances down the tangled and slagged mess, and whistles out from between his teeth. "Gahl, some-boday doan be likin' yoh style much, ta be doin' dat to yah. Doan worry 'bout a ting, noa, I an' I be fixin' yah right up. No worse dan I an' I be seein out in de black."

Letting the android chatter on for a moment, Trey slips the tech scanner he'd stolen out of the cargo hold from the stolen belt, and begins running through the standard diagnostics. While it was true he'd never worked on something so small and delicate, he had done plenty of jobs on the larger cousins; Cargo haulers and the like. He didn't expect the insides of an android to be much worse than the fragile innards of a comm-station. The word 'Theros Beta' snaps him out of his reverie, however, and he blinks blankly at the android as she pushes on. And blanches, the bemused smile wavering.

"Yah know de Com-pony, sistah?" Further confirmed when she mentions his particular clone section. Anyone else might have been paranoid to try and shut the robot up; Especially with it so vulnerable. But Jah on his soul, Trey could do no murder save to preserve his own life. With a glum nod, Trey confirms. "Yah. Dat be de numbah on de bed fo' I an' I an' de Bredren. How yah be knowin' dat?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Sun 13 Feb 2011.

In reply to John 'Rhic' Rhictor (msg #304):

 "Huh? Oh, ok. Sure, I haven't seen him for awhile. I hope he's found something to keep his mind occipied! It's got to be very different here than what he was used do, don't ya think? Come on Sunny...Star, you want to come with? If there's something else you'd rather do of course, I understand. Just thought maybe you want to see Blue again."
 She gently placed Star down on the floor before catching the apple Rhic threw her way. It smelled good, and she was tempted to take a bite, but she didn't even know if Blue ate real food or not. She'd better just wait and see if he was hungry.
 "Thanks Rhic."

  " I'm a Theros girl, well as soon as i look like a girl and not some etra fro  Cyberoid zombie vid......Prospect Integrated Systems Model 75-forty eight CPS, "the perfect companion in an imperfect world" The advertising slogan was delivered in the same pleasantly vacant female voice that sounded form the ships computer aboard the now wrecked survey ship." So we're like cousins or something, I always like the s'ven Fitty's they were pretty handy with a circuit probe... 7-80's were  crime against technology, all ham fisted rip it and patch it...no attention to detail...and no style...i mean you might as well have painted them yellow and given them a barcode instead of a name....seriously lacking in any personality...poor guys there gene-gineer must have rode the short shuttle to work."
    "okay so I took a couple of really annoying plasma hits, nothing serious is fried but some of my secondary data feeds from the control noes are a little sloppy a lot of noise and some serious signal denigration between he primary autonomic functions and the sensory web... feels like I got ants crawling around in my data web.... I mean it doesn't hurt much but boy is it making me a little crazy.... on top of that my new boobs are slagged, i just got those, a nice receptionist over at the security section gave those to me ...damn gotta tell her that i got them wrecked...hope she isn't pissed they weren't like boutique or anything but still I guess I should have taken better care of them.... one little mission ten or fifteen q'sa grunts and I get them charbroiled....so if you could be a doll and patch up the internal stuff and refit and help me get my skin back on I'd be reallllllly happy"
   Oh and don't worry about these guys they arent gonna say much about us being engineered or synthetics, ...I mena they took me in, Miss runaway, slightly crazy gunslinging synthetic of the year.....
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:35, Tue 22 Feb 2011.

Conrad ponders about the other fighter for a moment, but doesn't recall anything about it at the moment.  "Well, I did manage to get the freighter back to the base if you were refering towards that.  I should probably ask Trey about it, or if either you or T'risa get a chance to ask him about it.  Well, I guess I'll go repair your fighter for you M'kira.  I'll let you know how progress goes."  With a nod, Conrad makes his way down towards the storage area and checks out M'kira's fighter and begins making proper repairs on it.

OOC:
Conrad rolled 21 using 1d20+19. Craft: Mechanical.
Conrad rolled 24 using 1d20+19. Repair.

   Giving her a wolfish grin, Sun Runner sprung up to follow Maran.  His tongue lolled out as usual and he suprised himself with a very canine vocalization.
   "WOOF! WOOF! GRRRrr!  I mean, certainly Maran.  I refuse to let Star keep you all to herself."  He sighed as his tail began to wag of its on accord again.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:29, Thu 17 Feb 2011.

"Thanks Conrad I appreciate it!" M'kira smiles and waves to Conrad as he heads off to do his work.

Seeing that Aziza seems to have other things on her mind M'kira walks off to join Trey and Poppy. After all she was supposed to be watching over Trey while he works. She also wouldn't mind visiting with Poppy for a bit. One day Balkir, Poppy and herself if not the whole crew would check out a bar somewhere in space. Perhaps one that allowed for dancing and a bit of gambling. It would be interesting to see how the night went. Hopefully without anyone taking shots at anyone else. Though she had a feeling it might be a fun party.

When she walks in her nose wrinkles at the scent from the charbroiled synth flesh. Or whatever it was called! "Ouch. They really did make a mess didn't they poppy. How are the repairs going Trey? I can lend a hand if it will help. Sometimes a extra pair of hands makes things easier even if I am not a cyberoid engineer."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:31, Sat 19 Feb 2011.

Trey actually busted up laughing at the comment, nodding his head and letting his worries slide aside. This wasn't no reclaimer droid about to short out his spine and use his organs to patch up some other clone; Just another run-amuck. "Yah, sistah, yah got dat right. I an' I nevah git I self much time wit' dem eitty bois, but dey's as blank as spoon on de table. Jah on mah soul if I not bein' true." A bit more relaxed now, he flips the tech scanner back into his belt and gets to work, a tongue poking out the side of his lip as he lets the metal woman talk.

"Yah fried up like dem eggs, baby, somethang bad noa. But no worrays! I an' I an' Eddie been in worse sit-u-a-tions." He then claps both hands together, rubbing them to warm them a bit, before grinning. "I be thinkin' I s'ppose ta bringin' yah dinnah first, sistah, but dis is being an em-urgency. Dis gonna tickle.." Even as M'kira joins him, already up to his wrists, he doesn't look away from his work to speak to her.

"Sho' nuff. Yah jes' bein' de nurse fo' now, bloo. An' be seein' if yah can get a con-du-it in here, fo' backup powah..."

In the end, it's not so much different from fixing up the AI consoles. With a bit more personality and a heck of a lot more slagged clevage.

She didn't like seeing poppy hurt and had to remind herself that the woman obviously wasn't feeling pain. A flesh and blood person probably would have died from the pain alone if they hadn't received serious pain killers. Though at the moment she was missing a good part of herself so they could work on her.

"Sure thing Trey. I hope we can get you looking good again poppy. Don't forget we got some combat armor for you. Next time you take a hit hopefully that armor will soak up all or at least most of the abuse." It doesn't take her long to get back up power set up for poppy. It's helps that her hands were small and delicate for what you would expect of a warrior. She was very graceful and confident in her movements. After all it was that grace and sureness of her lightning fast reflexes being part of what made her one of the best fighter/battle mech pilots around.

  "Back up power is good Trey. Ready to proceed..." Her arm and hand slips back outside of poppy. They had delicate automated robotic tools to go where their hands couldn't. Hopefully they wouldn't need any of those. "How are you feeling poppy? I look forward to seeing you when your at one hundred percent again. Balkir's doing fine I checked up on him in sick bay.It's going to be a while before his leg is back up to snuff. Though he's definitly got the energy to move around."

There was a twinkle in her lovely honey hued eyes and M'kira giggles for a moment when she says that.