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RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 8] Dawning Concerns
- Thread starter Luca
- Start date
- Status
"I don't see why not, but they might be a bit too dark to see through," John said as he was reading through something, "Now, where were we? Oh, right. You all enter the cavern, and-"
He was cut off by Enzo barging in, rolling his dice and calling the shots, "Oi! Get your hands off of my stuff!!" He cursed as he tried to fight back, with a degree of futility unforeseen.
"Erm, anyway. The gods take pity on you and breathe life back into your souls, yadda yadda yadda. You enter the first level of the chasm, and you all notice an exit heading northwards, and another heading westwards," He pointed to his right, "The westward exit appears to be a rickety rope bridge across the endless chasm, which, from down here seems to be about thirty feet across, and getting wider as it goes deeper."
He then pointed across the table, "And the northward exit seems to be a hastily erected wooden door. You could probably walk through it without opening it."
"What about the rest of the room?" Luca asked, tilting his head, "Surely the doors are as interesting.
"Oh, yeah. The room is about twenty by twenty feet, and ten feet high. There appears to be a torch to light the room, some old bones from critters here and there, and a couple of unfortunate adventurers near the northern door. They appear to be dead."
"Interesting. I want to check how they died," Luca said as he made footfalls on his chair.
"Alright, you lean over to the body, and take a look. Roll a physician check."
"Alright, so I just get this and toss it?" He said as he picked up the twenty-sided die and flung it a couple of feet away from him, bouncing off John's privacy screen.
John leaned over and looked at the number, "What's your bonus for physician?"
"Six points," Luca said, "What'd I roll?"
"You rolled a twelve. Total, 18," He put his head back behind the screen, "You think these guys died from daggers or swords of some sort, and the wounds seem to come from the flanks and back."
"This game is odd," Echelon said as she was watching the team play their tabletop game from afar, "You use simple, physical dice to act as agents of probability. Why not use randomly generated seeds?"
John leaned over, "Too much effort."
"Surely, I can make you one, as a gift. I still have a hand capable of creating physical objects."
That's when an unrelated thought occurred to Luca.
"Wait a sec, that reminds me, what about that delivery?" He asked, blinking.
"The freespacer delivery? Well-" Echelon said.
His mind blanked as he turned around to see where he'd left it, but it wasn't there, where he'd left it on the table. Someone or something had done something to it, but whatever happened, it either wasn't here, destroyed, already delivered, or hadn't been delivered.
"OH, CRAP!!" Luca stood up and started running around, searching the entire cargo bay in a frenzied panic.
Echelon seemed to blink, her single eye flickering for a moment.
"Mr. Pavone it's-" She tried to talk, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of Luca's flailing about, "-alright??"
"waaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAA!!!"
Echelon buried her spare hand in what could be considered her face, emitting a soft cloud of white noise, so as to create a sigh.
"Your captain exhibits mental deficiencies," She told the others whilst Luca had somehow managed to climb along the ceiling in search of the package he'd misplaced, whilst still screaming.
He was cut off by Enzo barging in, rolling his dice and calling the shots, "Oi! Get your hands off of my stuff!!" He cursed as he tried to fight back, with a degree of futility unforeseen.
"Erm, anyway. The gods take pity on you and breathe life back into your souls, yadda yadda yadda. You enter the first level of the chasm, and you all notice an exit heading northwards, and another heading westwards," He pointed to his right, "The westward exit appears to be a rickety rope bridge across the endless chasm, which, from down here seems to be about thirty feet across, and getting wider as it goes deeper."
He then pointed across the table, "And the northward exit seems to be a hastily erected wooden door. You could probably walk through it without opening it."
"What about the rest of the room?" Luca asked, tilting his head, "Surely the doors are as interesting.
"Oh, yeah. The room is about twenty by twenty feet, and ten feet high. There appears to be a torch to light the room, some old bones from critters here and there, and a couple of unfortunate adventurers near the northern door. They appear to be dead."
"Interesting. I want to check how they died," Luca said as he made footfalls on his chair.
"Alright, you lean over to the body, and take a look. Roll a physician check."
"Alright, so I just get this and toss it?" He said as he picked up the twenty-sided die and flung it a couple of feet away from him, bouncing off John's privacy screen.
John leaned over and looked at the number, "What's your bonus for physician?"
"Six points," Luca said, "What'd I roll?"
"You rolled a twelve. Total, 18," He put his head back behind the screen, "You think these guys died from daggers or swords of some sort, and the wounds seem to come from the flanks and back."
"This game is odd," Echelon said as she was watching the team play their tabletop game from afar, "You use simple, physical dice to act as agents of probability. Why not use randomly generated seeds?"
John leaned over, "Too much effort."
"Surely, I can make you one, as a gift. I still have a hand capable of creating physical objects."
That's when an unrelated thought occurred to Luca.
"Wait a sec, that reminds me, what about that delivery?" He asked, blinking.
"The freespacer delivery? Well-" Echelon said.
His mind blanked as he turned around to see where he'd left it, but it wasn't there, where he'd left it on the table. Someone or something had done something to it, but whatever happened, it either wasn't here, destroyed, already delivered, or hadn't been delivered.
"OH, CRAP!!" Luca stood up and started running around, searching the entire cargo bay in a frenzied panic.
Echelon seemed to blink, her single eye flickering for a moment.
"Mr. Pavone it's-" She tried to talk, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of Luca's flailing about, "-alright??"
"waaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAA!!!"
Echelon buried her spare hand in what could be considered her face, emitting a soft cloud of white noise, so as to create a sigh.
"Your captain exhibits mental deficiencies," She told the others whilst Luca had somehow managed to climb along the ceiling in search of the package he'd misplaced, whilst still screaming.
ShotJon
Well-Known Member
Zeta looked Robert and smiled a little. "Nevermind that I know nothing about this game, but there is a ***-load of work to do. Like cleaning bits of dead neko from GPORV and repairing it. THen I should take look at those gauss rifles if everything is fine with them and things." She replied to him and then looked at John as he told her about shades and they being a bit too dark to see through.
"It will be okay, thank you." She said to him and took a pair of sunglasses and put them ok. Well every thing was a bit darker all of sudden. "It can do. Will take them off for work. I at least don't look like being assaulted by rabid bulldozer with them on." She joked and went on.
Luca was talking Echelon about something when Zeta was looking over Roberts shoulder at his character sheet trying to figure what is all about. And then it happened. Luca stood up and started running around looking for something chaotically. When Luca started to climb on ceiling Zeta figures something is really bad. She turned back to John. "You're his friend what shoud we do in this bloody situation?" she asked him.
"It will be okay, thank you." She said to him and took a pair of sunglasses and put them ok. Well every thing was a bit darker all of sudden. "It can do. Will take them off for work. I at least don't look like being assaulted by rabid bulldozer with them on." She joked and went on.
Luca was talking Echelon about something when Zeta was looking over Roberts shoulder at his character sheet trying to figure what is all about. And then it happened. Luca stood up and started running around looking for something chaotically. When Luca started to climb on ceiling Zeta figures something is really bad. She turned back to John. "You're his friend what shoud we do in this bloody situation?" she asked him.
Nevaraon
Inactive Member
"Its ok Zeta, I'm just learning to play to. Besides, it's not like we have another job yet. So the Rail guns can wait. And I'll help ya clean off the truck when we finish this session. C'mon, have a little fun." he said coaxingly. Then Luca remembered about the delievry he was supposed to make. He looked at Echelon who seemed to know something about it. "I don't suppose you remember where it is do ya Echelon?"
Echelon continued watching the somewhat deranged captain cry over his proverbially spilt beer. He sprinted past her, and Echelon grabbed him by the neck with an outstretched claw.
"The package was delivered by me before we left, fleshbag!" She scorned Luca, who was now calming down a little before receiving an iron thwap over the head.
"Oww!" Luca grimaced as he tried to wiggle out of the machine's grip, "Alright, alright, package delivered," He brushed himself off, "Did you get any rewards?"
Echelon seemed to gaze at Luca thoughtfully, "Alongside our reward, we have also gained respect from the Freespacers for our efforts in Drift, and the package delivery."
John leaned over, "What made the package so valuable?"
Echelon's head turned towards John with a mechanical whirr, "Data, code, and instructions, as well as a full copy of the Art of Never Again, alongside the physical paraphernalia."
"Art of Never Again?" Luca asked.
"It is a text of great importance," Echelon said, "I have it committed to memory."
The small Nekovalkyrja followed Luca, then the freespacer, with her eyes for a little bit before sighing and standing to her feet. She brushed a little of the cargo room's dust off of her small witch's dress briskly.
"I think I saw it once," Naoko recalled, "Isn't it just a bunch of interstellar network babbling? Why would anyone bother to compile it completely?"
Echelon's single eye turned to Naoko with a red vengeance, "Do not insult it," She warned.
To this, Naoko simply offered a couple of hands, turned up in surrender, "I was just wondering. What do you use it for and what is its value?"
She paused for a moment as the sound of a few hard drives whirred, looking for the relevant data.
"There are many revisions, and many fragments, though, what I have is the most complete version, after the Slaughter of the Great Lighthouse," A cloud of white noise constituted a sigh, "For that reason alone, its worth more than its weight in gold, to us."
The little witch folded her hands carefully at her waist, regarding the freespacer with mixed curiosity and mild perplexion. There was something here that she didn't completely understand, so she said, "Anou; how would a slaughter at a lighthouse erase the network postings?"
"The Lighthouse was a Hub. It was a meeting place. It was a repository, as well as a place to simply be," Echelon lectured, before her tone turned bitter, "Until the Yamataians came. However, I've no quarrel with you - your make and model were not utilised against my people."
"Oh," Naoko replied, awkwardly. "Do you mind if I asked what happened?"
"In YE30, the YSS Eucharis, Flagship of the First Yamataian Fleet, lead by Taisa Ketsurui Hanako attacked the pirate planet Halna, shortly after the Guild of Cyberemapthy usurped the local crime lords and bought relative peace. However, this was short lived as they came to dessicate us there."
"We were then formally declared an 'enemy', simply for existing. They then took their bloody fight all the way to our home, destroying it and fragmenting us." She leaned in, eye trained on the Neko, "Does THAT answer your question?"
It didn't, but Naoko nodded anyway, not particularly caring to meet Echelon's eye-beams. "That sounds terrible."
"It was also bad for business." Interrupted Enzo. He walked back into the conversation with a bit of a jump in his stride, holding onto the doorway and swinging into the room. "Had to dumps about three-hundreds 'gees worth of shit cuz' three Yamataian battle cruisers just decided to fly in all unannounced-like."
"We are scattered, though hubs of us, such as Drift exist where no true-blooded Yamataian will dare set foot," Echelon stopped.
"Yeah, I think I got a few odd looks on Drift," Luca said, "But I think my reputation as a freelancer tempered it."
"Maybe, or everybody likes you," John shrugged, having now abandoned the table top game in light of the discussion, "Ever notice that?"
Naoko had sat down again, and was involving herself in an inspection of another character sheet instead of paying close attention to the conversation, as she had done earlier.
A beep came from the pilot's cabin. It seemed like they weren't far from Dawn Station.
"Hmm, we'd better get this done before we go, uh, station-side," John stammered as he sat back down and inspected his notes, "So, does the Wizard wish to do anything?"
"Follow everyone else, of course," she said, simply.
He gave the players a brief reminder of what happened before the talk, telling everyone that there was a room with two exits, one north, one west, and two dead bodies. The west exit was a rickety bridge, and the north exit was a rickety door.
"I would like to play," Echelon said, putting her claws down on the table, and next to Luca, "Based on publicly available assets, I have already generated a character for maximum output whilst keeping the 'experience level' within tolerable levels."
"You guys are fried." Enzo quipped, ducking down to see John's notes and look at the character sheets. "Somebody shoulda tooks points in 'Use Magic Item' and 'Lore'. There's no ways you're gonna get past the-"
"HEY!" John backhanded Enzo, "I'm trying to run a game here!"
Luca chuckled a little, watching John lose his temper, "Nice!" Luca told Enzo with a thumbs up.
"I'm on your side, guys." Enzo said cheerily, nursing his cheek. "Consider me one of the many gods in the pantheon of this particular parable."
"So help us cheat." Naoko tapped her witch hat, conspiratorially.
"Vinciensus, the God of Mischiefs commands yous simple mortals: Prepare any weapons yous gots before proceedings to gets a plus three bonus to initiative. You're gonna needs it."
"Yay!" Luca said as he noted it down on his sheet.
Echelon bleeped, "That brings my total initiative to +12."
John tilted his head, his mouth agape, "How the...?"
"Dexterity score of 20, plus the Improved Initiative perk. Randomly Generated. I have the logs."
"Whaaat?" John adjusted his sunglasses, frowning.
"Er, anyway. I open the north door," Luca said, turning his wrist.
"Door opens, you are greeted by the sight of..." He leaned forward, "ANOTHER ROOM..." He waited for a few moments, and the mock-suspense elicited a 'cough' from Echelon.
John smiled weakly and continued, "In this room, there are-"
"Three mildly threatenin' Goblin Scouts! And one has goiter now." Enzo interrupted, pulling a sheet of John's paper closer. "I've also decided that there will be a slime mold and two big fats chests near the back of the room, even though Bamboo Bob here was gonna just give yous guys one."
John looked at the same sheet and shrugged, "That's the truth. Now roll initiative!"
Luca spun his dice, watching it topple and settle on 14, "20 here," He said.
"Randomly Generated Number commencing. 1 to 20 plus 17. Total of 32," Echelon recited out loud.
"Two," Naoko said, "Plus one, from dexterity." She crossed her legs, pouting somewhat glumly.
"Plus an extra three for you, remember?" Luca said.
"And the goblins got..." John rolled a dice, frowning a little at the result, "11."
"Ten." Enzo flicked the die idly with one finger.
The order so far was 32 for Echelon, 20 for Luca, 6 for Naoko. The other players still had to roll.
"The package was delivered by me before we left, fleshbag!" She scorned Luca, who was now calming down a little before receiving an iron thwap over the head.
"Oww!" Luca grimaced as he tried to wiggle out of the machine's grip, "Alright, alright, package delivered," He brushed himself off, "Did you get any rewards?"
Echelon seemed to gaze at Luca thoughtfully, "Alongside our reward, we have also gained respect from the Freespacers for our efforts in Drift, and the package delivery."
John leaned over, "What made the package so valuable?"
Echelon's head turned towards John with a mechanical whirr, "Data, code, and instructions, as well as a full copy of the Art of Never Again, alongside the physical paraphernalia."
"Art of Never Again?" Luca asked.
"It is a text of great importance," Echelon said, "I have it committed to memory."
The small Nekovalkyrja followed Luca, then the freespacer, with her eyes for a little bit before sighing and standing to her feet. She brushed a little of the cargo room's dust off of her small witch's dress briskly.
"I think I saw it once," Naoko recalled, "Isn't it just a bunch of interstellar network babbling? Why would anyone bother to compile it completely?"
Echelon's single eye turned to Naoko with a red vengeance, "Do not insult it," She warned.
To this, Naoko simply offered a couple of hands, turned up in surrender, "I was just wondering. What do you use it for and what is its value?"
She paused for a moment as the sound of a few hard drives whirred, looking for the relevant data.
"There are many revisions, and many fragments, though, what I have is the most complete version, after the Slaughter of the Great Lighthouse," A cloud of white noise constituted a sigh, "For that reason alone, its worth more than its weight in gold, to us."
The little witch folded her hands carefully at her waist, regarding the freespacer with mixed curiosity and mild perplexion. There was something here that she didn't completely understand, so she said, "Anou; how would a slaughter at a lighthouse erase the network postings?"
"The Lighthouse was a Hub. It was a meeting place. It was a repository, as well as a place to simply be," Echelon lectured, before her tone turned bitter, "Until the Yamataians came. However, I've no quarrel with you - your make and model were not utilised against my people."
"Oh," Naoko replied, awkwardly. "Do you mind if I asked what happened?"
"In YE30, the YSS Eucharis, Flagship of the First Yamataian Fleet, lead by Taisa Ketsurui Hanako attacked the pirate planet Halna, shortly after the Guild of Cyberemapthy usurped the local crime lords and bought relative peace. However, this was short lived as they came to dessicate us there."
"We were then formally declared an 'enemy', simply for existing. They then took their bloody fight all the way to our home, destroying it and fragmenting us." She leaned in, eye trained on the Neko, "Does THAT answer your question?"
It didn't, but Naoko nodded anyway, not particularly caring to meet Echelon's eye-beams. "That sounds terrible."
"It was also bad for business." Interrupted Enzo. He walked back into the conversation with a bit of a jump in his stride, holding onto the doorway and swinging into the room. "Had to dumps about three-hundreds 'gees worth of shit cuz' three Yamataian battle cruisers just decided to fly in all unannounced-like."
"We are scattered, though hubs of us, such as Drift exist where no true-blooded Yamataian will dare set foot," Echelon stopped.
"Yeah, I think I got a few odd looks on Drift," Luca said, "But I think my reputation as a freelancer tempered it."
"Maybe, or everybody likes you," John shrugged, having now abandoned the table top game in light of the discussion, "Ever notice that?"
Naoko had sat down again, and was involving herself in an inspection of another character sheet instead of paying close attention to the conversation, as she had done earlier.
A beep came from the pilot's cabin. It seemed like they weren't far from Dawn Station.
"Hmm, we'd better get this done before we go, uh, station-side," John stammered as he sat back down and inspected his notes, "So, does the Wizard wish to do anything?"
"Follow everyone else, of course," she said, simply.
He gave the players a brief reminder of what happened before the talk, telling everyone that there was a room with two exits, one north, one west, and two dead bodies. The west exit was a rickety bridge, and the north exit was a rickety door.
"I would like to play," Echelon said, putting her claws down on the table, and next to Luca, "Based on publicly available assets, I have already generated a character for maximum output whilst keeping the 'experience level' within tolerable levels."
"You guys are fried." Enzo quipped, ducking down to see John's notes and look at the character sheets. "Somebody shoulda tooks points in 'Use Magic Item' and 'Lore'. There's no ways you're gonna get past the-"
"HEY!" John backhanded Enzo, "I'm trying to run a game here!"
Luca chuckled a little, watching John lose his temper, "Nice!" Luca told Enzo with a thumbs up.
"I'm on your side, guys." Enzo said cheerily, nursing his cheek. "Consider me one of the many gods in the pantheon of this particular parable."
"So help us cheat." Naoko tapped her witch hat, conspiratorially.
"Vinciensus, the God of Mischiefs commands yous simple mortals: Prepare any weapons yous gots before proceedings to gets a plus three bonus to initiative. You're gonna needs it."
"Yay!" Luca said as he noted it down on his sheet.
Echelon bleeped, "That brings my total initiative to +12."
John tilted his head, his mouth agape, "How the...?"
"Dexterity score of 20, plus the Improved Initiative perk. Randomly Generated. I have the logs."
"Whaaat?" John adjusted his sunglasses, frowning.
"Er, anyway. I open the north door," Luca said, turning his wrist.
"Door opens, you are greeted by the sight of..." He leaned forward, "ANOTHER ROOM..." He waited for a few moments, and the mock-suspense elicited a 'cough' from Echelon.
John smiled weakly and continued, "In this room, there are-"
"Three mildly threatenin' Goblin Scouts! And one has goiter now." Enzo interrupted, pulling a sheet of John's paper closer. "I've also decided that there will be a slime mold and two big fats chests near the back of the room, even though Bamboo Bob here was gonna just give yous guys one."
John looked at the same sheet and shrugged, "That's the truth. Now roll initiative!"
Luca spun his dice, watching it topple and settle on 14, "20 here," He said.
"Randomly Generated Number commencing. 1 to 20 plus 17. Total of 32," Echelon recited out loud.
"Two," Naoko said, "Plus one, from dexterity." She crossed her legs, pouting somewhat glumly.
"Plus an extra three for you, remember?" Luca said.
"And the goblins got..." John rolled a dice, frowning a little at the result, "11."
"Ten." Enzo flicked the die idly with one finger.
The order so far was 32 for Echelon, 20 for Luca, 6 for Naoko. The other players still had to roll.
ShotJon
Well-Known Member
Zeta was readin from what appeared to be rule book of the game. Her eyebrows were joined together as she concentrated. It looked like the game was pretty complex. All the numbers and calculations. "This looks more like counting than playing to me. Strange game." Her mind was not really made to comprehend this.
"But from what I have gathered. If I wanted a character capable of defending others as well as assaulting enemies I would play cleric. Monk would suffise too, he is pretty well made offensive defense, but he is too stuck up with this alignment. Whataver that bloody thing is." Anyone who would hear this comment could gather that this probably was not game made for Zeta.
"But from what I have gathered. If I wanted a character capable of defending others as well as assaulting enemies I would play cleric. Monk would suffise too, he is pretty well made offensive defense, but he is too stuck up with this alignment. Whataver that bloody thing is." Anyone who would hear this comment could gather that this probably was not game made for Zeta.
TeslaTornado
Inactive Member
Vincent's reply was simple enough. His head tilted to one side as he attempted to analyze the character sheet he had to fill out to play the game. He tilted it to the other appraisingly. Then, scowling, he picked it up, balled it up and threw it under his chair. "It confused me," the mercenary said bluntly, relaxing slightly into the chair.
"I'm content to watch, you guys go ahead and play the game." Vincent said, then quietly began appraising the game.
"I'm content to watch, you guys go ahead and play the game." Vincent said, then quietly began appraising the game.
Scot
Inactive Member
Panther meanwhile stolen the monster manual and was flipping though to look at the illustrations and figure out what a "Goblin" is. Meanwhile Panther threw a die that looked like the die everyone else was throwing and went back to looking at monsters.
He did stop at "Feral Cat Girl" with a bit of a raised eyebrow, it looked like a Nepleslian with fur.
He did stop at "Feral Cat Girl" with a bit of a raised eyebrow, it looked like a Nepleslian with fur.
Panther rolled a 16 as the combat commenced, eventually leading to the Goblins being completely annihilated, with Luca's paladin taking hits, and Naoko expending some of her spells, and Panther's character making a very painful backstab, whilst Robert's character was quick to headshot.
Eventually, with Enzo's help, the combat was over quickly, and John felt more than slightly cheated.
"Alright, y'know what? Maybe we'll continue this later," He sighed dejectedly, having given up on having any pretence of surprise, or narrative.
"Cheer up, we had fun!" Luca said, as he noted down the experience points on his sheet, going from zero to two hundred. Everyone else got the same amount, too.
"Still, I just wanted to run it right," John lamented, as his face contorted into a frown, "Either way, I think we're within looking distance of Dawn Station, let's take a gander, and I'll get this landed..."
Dawn Station appeared to be an eight pointed star with an inner ring, abuzz with activity from corporate work, ranging from delivery to shipbuilding.
Not only did this immense station house Origin's headquarters, factories, living quarters and commercial operations all in one, but it also had a residential component, providing whoever lived within with almost everything a planet could offer.
"It's so huge," Luca commented, offering an obvious insight, "I wonder how many people live there?"
"It can support up to five million life forms," Echelon chimed in, "Therefore, it could be an autonomous state."
"They make Frames here, don't they?" John said as he took the controls and guided the Vampire-Class cruiser carefully, "Those huge robots you see in the cartoons?"
"Yeah, they have it in their catalogue," Luca said as he pointed to an empty space where a picture of a Ashigaru Frame used to be, "Someone cut the picture out, though."
"We're here to buy a ship, right?" John nodded.
"And get some rest, at any rate!" Luca smiled and nodded.
Docking went very smoothly, with the ship landing in Sector Six, a massive spaceport, and arguably one of the busiest places in the bustling station. Workers could be seen escorting cargo, whilst ships were coming and going, along with the steady beat of construction and repair to colour the soundscape.
"...that went smoothly," John observed as he took off his headset, and powered the Big Bird's flight engines down, "They said they were honoured to have us here,"
"Is that so?" Luca asked, tilting his head as he got his jacket on, donning it loosely and arming himself lightly, just the HHG by his side and three speedloads of basic WHITE bullets.
"We kind 'o made a last-minute purchase they left Tami, didn't we?" He said.
"Oh, that's right. Aren't two of the jeeps we bought completely buggered?" He asked wistfully as he turned to look at the two completely fudged GP-ORV trucks.
"Yeah... we might wanna get some replacements while we're at it," John said.
"Methinks it's prudent for us to make a shopping list," Luca produced a notepad from nearby and wrote down 'CRUISER - 360K KS' near the top, "I wonder if we should add anything else to that list?"
He then started passing the notepad around to the various crew members, starting with the ones he played the tabletop game with.
Eventually, with Enzo's help, the combat was over quickly, and John felt more than slightly cheated.
"Alright, y'know what? Maybe we'll continue this later," He sighed dejectedly, having given up on having any pretence of surprise, or narrative.
"Cheer up, we had fun!" Luca said, as he noted down the experience points on his sheet, going from zero to two hundred. Everyone else got the same amount, too.
"Still, I just wanted to run it right," John lamented, as his face contorted into a frown, "Either way, I think we're within looking distance of Dawn Station, let's take a gander, and I'll get this landed..."
Dawn Station appeared to be an eight pointed star with an inner ring, abuzz with activity from corporate work, ranging from delivery to shipbuilding.
Not only did this immense station house Origin's headquarters, factories, living quarters and commercial operations all in one, but it also had a residential component, providing whoever lived within with almost everything a planet could offer.
"It's so huge," Luca commented, offering an obvious insight, "I wonder how many people live there?"
"It can support up to five million life forms," Echelon chimed in, "Therefore, it could be an autonomous state."
"They make Frames here, don't they?" John said as he took the controls and guided the Vampire-Class cruiser carefully, "Those huge robots you see in the cartoons?"
"Yeah, they have it in their catalogue," Luca said as he pointed to an empty space where a picture of a Ashigaru Frame used to be, "Someone cut the picture out, though."
"We're here to buy a ship, right?" John nodded.
"And get some rest, at any rate!" Luca smiled and nodded.
Docking went very smoothly, with the ship landing in Sector Six, a massive spaceport, and arguably one of the busiest places in the bustling station. Workers could be seen escorting cargo, whilst ships were coming and going, along with the steady beat of construction and repair to colour the soundscape.
"...that went smoothly," John observed as he took off his headset, and powered the Big Bird's flight engines down, "They said they were honoured to have us here,"
"Is that so?" Luca asked, tilting his head as he got his jacket on, donning it loosely and arming himself lightly, just the HHG by his side and three speedloads of basic WHITE bullets.
"We kind 'o made a last-minute purchase they left Tami, didn't we?" He said.
"Oh, that's right. Aren't two of the jeeps we bought completely buggered?" He asked wistfully as he turned to look at the two completely fudged GP-ORV trucks.
"Yeah... we might wanna get some replacements while we're at it," John said.
"Methinks it's prudent for us to make a shopping list," Luca produced a notepad from nearby and wrote down 'CRUISER - 360K KS' near the top, "I wonder if we should add anything else to that list?"
He then started passing the notepad around to the various crew members, starting with the ones he played the tabletop game with.
Moogle
Retired Member
"Well, I don't know about you but *I* am buying one of those LEAF Frames." Seiren announced, almost deviously. "Apparently they're bigger than a Power Armor but smaller than a normal Frame, so it would probably work with those things I scrapped from that Ripper!"
He flipped through the catalogue as he said this, earmarking the pages for things he could potentially get while they were at Dawn Station.
He flipped through the catalogue as he said this, earmarking the pages for things he could potentially get while they were at Dawn Station.
Blackbird Lore
Inactive Member
Uriel spent that morning alone in his "room" in the cargo hold, reading and studying. He was quite surprised to have found any solitude aboard the Phoenix, but was by no means complaining.
When the ship docked, he rose with a gentle sigh and slipped on his belt. With weapons sheathed, he left for the dock and met up with the rest of the crew as Luca discussed his 'shopping list.'
The Patrician wrote down the following:
-Larger fridge/Second fridge
-Food & necessaries
-Maintenance equipment for the new ship
Once it was handed back, he adjusted his clothes a tad and glanced around, meeting any eyes darting Luca & Co.'s way.
When the ship docked, he rose with a gentle sigh and slipped on his belt. With weapons sheathed, he left for the dock and met up with the rest of the crew as Luca discussed his 'shopping list.'
The Patrician wrote down the following:
-Larger fridge/Second fridge
-Food & necessaries
-Maintenance equipment for the new ship
Once it was handed back, he adjusted his clothes a tad and glanced around, meeting any eyes darting Luca & Co.'s way.
ShotJon
Well-Known Member
Zeta was watching giant station in front off them. She has never seen anything like that. Station certainly looked formidable. She then walked with Luca. When talk was about damaged cars she came to them and kicked into one that she drove. There was still large bloody splatter from dead Neko she killed. She then looked on Luca. "Well I am no real mechanic, only know a thing or two, but I think these two babies are still in repairable shape. I think me and Arin should be able to make them like new with some parts." she said and patted car.
She then walked back to others and listened about that list. When she heard Seiren, saying that he is going to buy Leaf she looked at him and smile. She was curious abour seeing this small boy climbing into five meters high dead-bot and starting a storm. She then looked at Luca. "Well seing what we all came through since I joined, I am going to buy Impulse PA. It is tough bloody thing that can withstand a lot. Plus I think I should be okay operating it." she said. "About other things, well I think we could use a minibar on the new ship." She joked and smiled.
She then walked back to others and listened about that list. When she heard Seiren, saying that he is going to buy Leaf she looked at him and smile. She was curious abour seeing this small boy climbing into five meters high dead-bot and starting a storm. She then looked at Luca. "Well seing what we all came through since I joined, I am going to buy Impulse PA. It is tough bloody thing that can withstand a lot. Plus I think I should be okay operating it." she said. "About other things, well I think we could use a minibar on the new ship." She joked and smiled.
TeslaTornado
Inactive Member
Vincent picked up the pad of paper for suggestions next, and raised the ball-point to the notepad. In simple, military-precise handwriting, he filled out the words "Expand Armory", then returned the ballpoint and notepad to its former position.
"ESGs are great for suppression fire," Vincent explained calmly, "but they have low accuracy and stopping power. Compared with Origin's Fatboy, or even its Standard Energy Pistol, it's like throwing pebbles at powered armor."
"ESGs are great for suppression fire," Vincent explained calmly, "but they have low accuracy and stopping power. Compared with Origin's Fatboy, or even its Standard Energy Pistol, it's like throwing pebbles at powered armor."
Nevaraon
Inactive Member
Robert took the Notepad from Vincent and looked over the list so far and added anti-vehicle weapons and rail-mounted weapons to the list "We should equip the trucks for better insertions. The bar on the truck snapped with the railgun we put on it." he said vividly remembering it breaking on him as he was shooting the zombies.
Kai
Retired Staff
"Alright, looks like everyone's orders are taken," Luca said with a smile as he took the notepad and drew in some check boxes, "Let's get going," He smiled as he put it in his front jacket pocket.
"Alright, I'll open the doors," John said as he stayed at his usual place and pushed a few buttons to get the airlock open and the ramp extended, "Give me a yell when you want in again, I'll be waiting." He proceeded to lean back in his chair with his favourite magazine, reading it with a leer.
Luca stepped out onto the metal docks of the space station, waiting for his crew to follow.
He took in the sights and sounds, noting that a large cruiser was receiving extensive repairs in front of him - but its name was scratched out. Meanwhile, another ship was leaving with the sound of roaring engines, to deliver some cargo down to the Galactic North, probably to Nepleslia Prime.
"It's right busy 'ere, y'know?" Melissa observed, feeling a little naked with her lack of Revolver-Railgun, "I ain't never been on a station 'fore..."
Sebastian was next down the ramp, and he had a wistful smile on his face, "It's been at least thirty years since I've set foot on one, brings back some good memories."
"Really?" Luca leaned over to his father, listening, "You lived on one?"
"Yeah, as a part of my previous studies, in addition to being a mercenary," He sighed, "I learned that pulling triple-shifts was a bad idea, so I decided to stick to one job."
"Merc-work?" Luca grinned.
"You know it," He replied with a shrug. He noticed something heading towards the ship, "Hey, what's that over there?"
*******
'That over there' was a Lime green hovercar that came weaving its way through the hustle and bustle of Sector Six, the only thing visible above the reflective windscreen a flailing bunch of black hair whipping in the wind created by the speed of the vehicle. Almost as quickly as the vehicle came, it stopped, and a small woman hopped out, floating slowly to the ground, landing with a gentle 'clomp' of her boots on the hard metal flooring of the station. She smiled, and her green eyes glowed with a fierce kind of joy you seen in a predator who's about to making a long-awaited kill.
However, instead of pouncing like one may have thought, the woman walked forward, hand outstretched towards Luca's the grin still huge as before.
"Hello, and welcome, Luca Pavone and crew, to Dawn station. This is my humble abode, the home away from home created by and for my company after Tami was taken. You and your crew actually aided in our escape, and for that, we are grateful. May I ask, is there anything I can do to make your stay more welcoming?"
The smallish Yamatain bowed respectfully, before returning to an upright position. It seemed that she was quite genuine, and that meeting the International Superstar that was Luca Pavone had aroused something within the CEO.
"Alright, I'll open the doors," John said as he stayed at his usual place and pushed a few buttons to get the airlock open and the ramp extended, "Give me a yell when you want in again, I'll be waiting." He proceeded to lean back in his chair with his favourite magazine, reading it with a leer.
Luca stepped out onto the metal docks of the space station, waiting for his crew to follow.
He took in the sights and sounds, noting that a large cruiser was receiving extensive repairs in front of him - but its name was scratched out. Meanwhile, another ship was leaving with the sound of roaring engines, to deliver some cargo down to the Galactic North, probably to Nepleslia Prime.
"It's right busy 'ere, y'know?" Melissa observed, feeling a little naked with her lack of Revolver-Railgun, "I ain't never been on a station 'fore..."
Sebastian was next down the ramp, and he had a wistful smile on his face, "It's been at least thirty years since I've set foot on one, brings back some good memories."
"Really?" Luca leaned over to his father, listening, "You lived on one?"
"Yeah, as a part of my previous studies, in addition to being a mercenary," He sighed, "I learned that pulling triple-shifts was a bad idea, so I decided to stick to one job."
"Merc-work?" Luca grinned.
"You know it," He replied with a shrug. He noticed something heading towards the ship, "Hey, what's that over there?"
*******
'That over there' was a Lime green hovercar that came weaving its way through the hustle and bustle of Sector Six, the only thing visible above the reflective windscreen a flailing bunch of black hair whipping in the wind created by the speed of the vehicle. Almost as quickly as the vehicle came, it stopped, and a small woman hopped out, floating slowly to the ground, landing with a gentle 'clomp' of her boots on the hard metal flooring of the station. She smiled, and her green eyes glowed with a fierce kind of joy you seen in a predator who's about to making a long-awaited kill.
However, instead of pouncing like one may have thought, the woman walked forward, hand outstretched towards Luca's the grin still huge as before.
"Hello, and welcome, Luca Pavone and crew, to Dawn station. This is my humble abode, the home away from home created by and for my company after Tami was taken. You and your crew actually aided in our escape, and for that, we are grateful. May I ask, is there anything I can do to make your stay more welcoming?"
The smallish Yamatain bowed respectfully, before returning to an upright position. It seemed that she was quite genuine, and that meeting the International Superstar that was Luca Pavone had aroused something within the CEO.
Enzo slid out of the airlock after the woman had approached and took his place near Luca while she talked. A single unlit cigarette dangled precariously from one of his lips as he made his way onto the floor of the station. He held his switchblade in one hand and cleaned the dirt from under his fingernails with the other.
"Where does a guy gets some drugs arounds 'ere?" Enzo asked nonchalantly.
"Where does a guy gets some drugs arounds 'ere?" Enzo asked nonchalantly.
TeslaTornado
Inactive Member
Vincent hauled himself down through the airlock next, one hand - as always - resting calmly on the oak grip of one of his Hand Cannons. The mercenary struck the back of Enzo's head with one open palm as he stepped down to the station floor, both of his boots making solid contact with a loud thud similar to the sound Vincent's hand made when it made contact with Enzo's skull.
"Do you really think it's appropriate to be purchasing narcotics on a station with close government ties?" Vincent said. Although, after a moment's thought, he added: "Although any medical supplies you can spare for an infirmary would be greatly appreciated."
"Do you really think it's appropriate to be purchasing narcotics on a station with close government ties?" Vincent said. Although, after a moment's thought, he added: "Although any medical supplies you can spare for an infirmary would be greatly appreciated."
Nevaraon
Inactive Member
Robert looked around in interest at his surroundings. Then as the short woman walked up, he heaved a large sigh of relief. "Finally, we meet somebody that's about the same height as me instead of the shrinking height of our recent crewmembers." he gave the lady a bright smile to show he was only playing around. "This is a pretty nice place ya got here."
The loading ramp on the Big Bird had a series of raised ribbings to facilitate the loading and unloading of heavy equipment, providing traction for the machines and the jeeps that passed up and down the ramp. Naoko, smaller then the rest of the crew, half-skipped, half-hopped from one to the other on her ascent down, It panned out to a descent that was about as fast as a normal person's walk.
Instead of the witch's garb she had worn during the game, the small Nekovalkyrja had changed into something more traditional - the black costume of a kunoichi doll.
When she hit the ground for the final time, she walked the rest of the way to stand beside Enzo, folding her hands passively at her waist and watching the Yamataian blankly, her expression unreadable.
Instead of the witch's garb she had worn during the game, the small Nekovalkyrja had changed into something more traditional - the black costume of a kunoichi doll.
When she hit the ground for the final time, she walked the rest of the way to stand beside Enzo, folding her hands passively at her waist and watching the Yamataian blankly, her expression unreadable.
- Status
