Thursday 19 May 2094
0100 Hours
Wet, overcast

En Route to Junktown

Less than five minutes after touchdown, the engine nacelles tilted down and Sky Raider 1 lifted off into the starry sky with a hum of electrically-driven rotors. White snow-capped mountains, lit by starlight, passed by on either side. Hellstromme's aerial behemoth cruised almost silently through the valleys and passes of the Rockies, making its way south to Junktown. They flew low to avoid the Combine radar and the odd Raptor air patrol.

The posse was led by Captain Phelps down a hall into a lounge, then asked to make themselves comfortable. It looked like the lounge was used by the crew, getting a little worn as it was a decade after the War and Judgement Day, but still luxurious in a mid-late 21st century way.

Phelps said, "I'll be back in ten minutes, give anyone the tour who wants one. Gotta make sure we're on course. Make yourselves comfortable. There's booze in the wet bar, coffee and tea. Some sandwiches in the fridge, plus juice and filtered water. TVs have a dataslug library that's pretty extensive."

Peter's technical was safely tied down in the ground vehicle bay, just forward of the aircraft hangar. There was enough room to re-mount the MG but that would make exiting quickly a pain. In the back of the pickup was the tripod mount, though.

In reply to The Marshall (msg # 1):

True to his word, the captain returned just shy of ten minutes later.

"Ok, who wants a tour?"

Stopping, he studied Jane for a moment. "USAF? Good to see a fly-girl like you made it. If you were a pilot, there might be a job for you."

Trejo gave a nod but looked to the other Templars before committing.  He'd be interested to take the tour but he wasn't about to leave Simon alone, supposed safety of the Sky Pirates or not.  If two of the other Templars were willing, he'd like to go.  This ship was a level of comfort and convenience he hadn't seen since Before, not to mention a trip down memory lane.

"Who's got first shift as Simon's guard," he asked the other 3.  "We can switch after."

In reply to Trejo (msg # 3):

Being a librarian, Fred eyed the selection of dataslugs eagerly, but then dismissed them as being movies already in the Library's data banks. Maybe there were a few classics they could use, so he merely copied them into his own personal data pad's dataslug port.

Rowan looks up
" Yes please" she answers politely

In reply to Trejo (msg # 3):

The black woman nodded, her long dreadlocks flowing.

"I'll take first trick."

Smoker jumped to his feet.

"I'd like a tour, please!"

He sounded about 6 years old, almost too excited to stand still.

Peter's eyes lit up a little. "Coffee AND alcohol? Very nice." He wandered over to inspect what was available. He poured himself some coffee and held it for a moment, letting it warm his hands. Then he took a deep inhale of the smell wafting from it, the aroma. Finally, he took a sip with his eyes closed and showed a half-smile as the liquid swam its way down to his belly to warm him from the inside.

When the captain returned, Peter looked at Jane to see her reaction to being called a fly-girl, but answered, "I would like the tour."

Shay approached and poured a coffee, she didn't need the tour, she'd been on the ship for the voyage here.

He gave Winnie a quick nod. "Works," he said.  He moved to the side to grab of cup of coffee.  ACTUAL coffee was not to be missed.  Ever.  He gave the mostly covered Shay a nod as he waited his turn, taking the carafe and filling a mug, enjoying the aroma though he kept his face blank of emotions.  Wouldn't want anyone to think he was soft.  That just meant more blood and dismembering.  Got messy.

"I'll take that tour now as well," he said taking a sip of the scalding hot liquid.  Man, he missed this stuff.

Jane paused in her thoughts for a moment when she was called a Fly Girl.  That seemed like so long ago...another world...another mission...another life.

Finally she just shook her head and tried to put on a smile.  "That was a long time ago.  It's been awhile since I've flown fixed wing/VTOL.  Now I'm more content to stay on the ground.  I've gotten mighty attached to my current ride."  She didn't bother to say "and the driver".

"But a tour of the place might not be a bad thing to go on.  Let's see what this place has to offer."

While everybody was gathering for the tour, Jane went and snagged a couple of sandwiches for her and Peter.  She came back and handed him one so that they could eat it before they went on the tour or while on the tour.  She had learned a long time ago to eat when you can for you never knew where your next meal came from.

Walker looks around the Crew as they decide what to do. With the Majority opting to take the Tour Walker winces and looks towards their Vehicle and Gear.

He points a thumb over his shoulder with a grin.

"I'll stay here, if that's alright with Y'all?"

Shay nods to Walker (who's name she doesn't know). "I'll do the same."

In reply to Shay Mordred-Spades (msg # 13):

"Great! Let's get going, then."

He smiled and led the Posse out for a tour.

OOC: Tour and map coming ASAP!

Shay wandered around winding up the ropes and other gear.

In reply to Shay Mordred-Spades (msg # 15):

As a member of the crew, Shay located ropes and rappelling gear beside a window hatch in the lounge on the lower lever. This was one of the exits the ground crew had used to lower themselves to the ground in order to moor the ship.

Ironsides nodded his thanks at Shay for pitching in. For an officer, he cared about his crew and appreciated them. The airship's commander proved to be a friendly and affable sort, not one to stand on ceremony. He'd been from Georgia, originally, and joined the Confederate Air Force about six years before the Final War.

"I used to be a ground-attack pilot, caught some shrapnel in the War." He showed them his artificial foot, a metal prosthetic that (along with the fragments inside him that couldn't be removed) earned him his nickname.

He explained that the Sky Raider was originally designed as a sky crane and cargo hauler. It and its six sister ships had helped build Hellstromme's dome over Junkyard that had protected the city from getting nuked on Judgement Day. Some were converted to passenger liners, but all were decommissioned before the war. Hellstromme industries had retrofitted them with an advanced stealth coating in the hopes of selling them to the USAF as special operations transports but this plan had come to naught.

The immense sky ship didn't used gas cells to provide lift, it used vacuum cells. Powerful air pumps sucked out all the atmosphere in a cell and a charged polymer material used in Hellstromme-designed space suits maintained the negative pressure without deforming. This was not only much safer than some gasses and provided more lift than all other gasses, lift could be generated as long as the ship had power from its Ghost Rock reactor, which gave it effectively unlimited range. The cells and the envelope skin of the vacuum-dirigible were also self-sealing and bullet-resistant.

After it was liberated from the Combine-occupied Hellstromme facilities in Denver, remote gun turrets (20mm autocannon and 4-cell AIM-140 AADSMRAAM missile racks) were installed along the top and sides of the envelope. More weapons stations were added along the sides and bottom of the 2-story gondola. It had almost unlimited range and could lift a cargo of 80 tons.

They started in the lounge, then through the crew quarters (lined with bunk beds).

"Let's start here on the lower level. We gutted it to make a fly-through flight deck and hangar but kept as much as we could. At the rear is the skyhook, we use it to recover the aircraft, and the repair bay. We use an electromagnetic catapult to launch them from the front. At the front of the flight deck is the lounge, and across the flight deck is flight ops and auxiliary controls. Ground vehicle parking is here."

Near the tied down technical were barrels of Spook Juice for the ground vehicles, more vehicle tools. He led the group up a set of stairs, showing off the different areas on the upper level.

"Off there are some luxury cabins. Three of these VIP ones are for your use. Pilots' quarters, bridge crew quarters. Bridge at the front. Skyhook mechanism in the rear, with crane controls."

Remote weapons were controlled from the CIC behind the bridge, beside the CIC was the armoury. There were various small arms, MGs, ammunition, even a few precious ATRs (Anti-Tank Rockets). In the middle of the upper level was the 1000 gallon Spook Juice tank to refuel the aircraft.

"Well, I guess that's it.

"Simon, we can put you and Fred in the middle VIP cabin. You have the ones on either side (front and back) as well."

Smoker drinks it all in, clearly intrigued by what he's seeing.

Shay moved around the ship, making sure everything is stored, out of the way.  She watched the skies as well.

  Jason was a still in a bit of shock. The events of the last few days were a bit much no matter who you are. McConnel's death, Modeen's execution, Simon's sickness, the return of the Horror and a few fresh victims. All his years of occult training and his field time before the War didn't and couldn't prepare him for what was sure to be a major challenge of anyone's skills. No leads nothing and now this run up to Junktown for a summit. Well the ride was as nice as one could ask at least in this day and age. As the tour continued a thought occured to Jason. "I'm sure it has crossed everyone's mind, but how much of a threat are the Raptor patrols to this flying battlewagon and what are our ¿battlestations? Against a Raptor I'm not sure how much I could help. Now if we were boarded that would be a different story."

OOC: Made a few assumptions guys in this post. If I made a whoops let me know.

Trejo followed along, sipping the scalding hot coffee and giving an ugly half smile in appreciation (he was ugly so there were not pretty smiles on this guy).  Whether it was because he was drinking actual coffee or appreciating the comforts and luxuries he hasn't seen since the world went to hell.  Or hell came to the world.  Whichever.

He looked over at Jason and shrugged.  "Our job is to guard Simon.  First and foremost.  Unless you're skilled on one of these babies," he gestured around him, "better off staying out of the way if something does happen.  They're a crew, used to working together.  We're just a third wheel," he remarks gruffly.  If things did happen and they did get boarded...well, that why he had some really sharp pointing things.

Shay returned from her check, and approached the others around the coffee urn. "You are all here to protect Simon?" She reached for a cup and poured some of the dark liquid into it.

"In a word yes ma'am. And you damned good and well I could barely hit the broadside of a barn with that Trejo. Which is still better than you." Jason's southern drawl is a bit obvious on the ma'am. He smiles at Trejo as he speaks to him.