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RP: 188604 [AdVenture Capital] 15 : No More Planet

Z

Zack

Deep Space

The Dove, The Pilgrim, The White Rabbit, and hopefully Errowyn had all docked together in Deep Space. This far out there were no planets, no stars, nothing for light years in any direction. It had been nearly an hour since they found out what had happened on 188604... enough time for everyone to shower, eat, and for Alex to have the device in his head disabled.

Vier was showing a briefing on the current situation.

"The Elysians only have one ship around 188604. Van Banning's hexagon has been destroyed. Raphael and Ivory have been abducted. The Spacers have left the area, and the remaining parties... myself and Ragnarok... have been extended invitations to join this new Elysian Government."

Vier would look over at Uso,

"Luckily, my father's stipulations were that I help you so long as you assist my with my construction efforts. However in light of these recent developments it seems that we should re-negoitate our agreement."

The display screen would zoom out, and then zoom in on Nepleslia.

"One ship would not be much of an issue for me. However there is a ship production facility on Nepleslia that is producing a large number of ships. We should expect another dozen before the end of the week. Another two dozen before the end of the month. As you have a talent for destruction. I would assume you would be able to handle this part of the operation. They have numerous fighter squadrons, and ample ground defenses..."

Uso would look at Vier for a moment as she started going over the specifics of just what was in place. Then over at Alex... then back at the display table.

"Well... guess that is it then. Sorry for dragging you into this Sarena... feel free to keep the robot. Flynn and Errowyn, you'll get your pay plus a little extra. Alex, how do you feel about starting a life on one of the Nepleslian colonies? A real school, friends, not getting exploded all the time?" Uso said.​
 
Deep Space

Flynn, having taken a shower and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and chinos, looked perfectly calm.

On the outside, at least.

On the inside was a wild torrent of emotions ranging from self-pity to murderous rage. His... home...? Yes, 188604 definitely was home. His home had been stolen from him. Of course, he was still under Candon's employ. He still had a ship, still had a source of income, but he no longer had a home. He wanted to find the individual who'd done this to him. If it wasn't an individual, he wanted to find out who was in charge and make them pay.

He could call Adiel? That shady bird had ways of making people disappear- permanently.

No. Adiel had told him a year or so ago that he was out of the game until further notice. Something about going and working on some ship called... the Anbruch? Was that it? Never mind.

"We could call Candon." he suggested to Uso. "Last I heard he was going to start building up his business on '604. He probably wouldn't be very happy about this, and not to mention he probably has access to some resources."
 
Deep Space

"I don't want the robot, I'd rather stay here," Sarena said, before she could think, punctuating the statement with a sniffle. She took an extra moment to wonder what 'here' meant, in light of the briefing she hadn't properly understood, then turned to look at Alex uncomfortably. Her last experience with a real school had ended worse than the last mission... at least for her personally, if not in the total body count.
 
My mech is the mech that lights up the heavens.

Alex looked around at the people he had gotten to know for the last few months. People who had taught for him, and who he had taught for. All of them had so much staked on this, on the planet. He had to speak up.

"No. I'm staying here, to help fight. I want to stay here with everyone, and I don't have anything idea of what to do with a "normal" life anyways. We have to fight, to protect everyone down on the planet, and to avenge those who fought for us on the Necromancer. Giving up now would be disrespectful to them. We have to fight because people like Sarena and I need someplace to call home. I will fight on my own if I have to, but I'd rather have everyone by my side."
 
Deep Space

Spacecase who had been in the back pondering the situation and what he should do, spoke up. "As much as I would love to take my money and go I've already made a promise to someone that I have to help with before I go." Clearing his throat he continued. "Recently I have made contact with the body of someone known as the Osmanian Princess Julie who at the moment is being inhabited by an ST copy of a man known as Heram Wazu. He has some information that might be useful for this also they are aboard my ship right now."

Ace would get up from his spot and head over to Uso dropping his voice so that the others wouldn't be able to hear. "The company I'm affiliated with, Psychopomp, might be able to help but Alex hates them. They should be able to give us gear and man power for this fight, you will probably have to pay them though."
 
Sarena made a comically disgusted face at the Spacecase's news, even to the point of sticking out her tongue a bit. It was too much to process, so she stayed silent afterward, looking down and away from Alex to the side. Her impulse to stick with Uso seemed worth reconsidering. Some of these problems seemed above anyone's head...
 
Deep Space

Wazulie would slowly walk out from the airlock where she had been listening in. The young, once Julie Osman, was only maybe 7 or 8... her voidwalker space suit several sizes too big and held together by rolls of tape that kept the suit from expanding outward into a mess of fabric. Julie's eyes and nose only came up just above the neckline, peering out through the glass dome on top of the suit. No one could see it... but Wazulie was grinning like an idiot.

"So, this is what it feels like? Getting to save the day when poop hits the fan?"

Wazulie would walk over to the table, pushing a chair over to the edge, and then climbing up into place.

"I kind of like it. Do you get this thrill when I am forced to ask you for help?"

--

Uso just watched as Wazulie moved into place, slumping back in the chair slightly. Her eyes moving over the crowd, listening to Candon's words... Alex's speech, Spacecase, Ace, even the newcomer. For a moment she wanted to tell Alex that he'd always have a home with her... but she wasn't going to promise something she couldn't deliver. She couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to actually have a house, learn to cook, see Alex off to school, maybe rekindle a brief relationship with Raphael... but that was all sappy stupid stuff. She turned her attention back to Wazulie.

Fucking Wazu

Figures it'd be him. It was about time her previous escapades finally came back and bit her. She could remember it was a few years ago when she stole his ST data and handed it over to the Elysians. The math was pretty simple from there. No doubt the Elysians put that ST data to use and the result was that the data managed to escape and end up inside of Julie Osman... which certainly was weird... but this was no time to be looking a gift horse in the mouth. The crew wasn't even thinking about backing down from this fight.

"Guys. We really don't have to care about all of this stuff. We can get another home. We can make new friends. We can avoid being pushed into a position we don't want to be in."

She looked over at Alex again, her vision lingering on his overly enthusiastic face.

"FINE." She said, standing up from her chair and leaning forward. "The offer still stands, anytime you guys are ready to bail we can bail.

That being said... we are stupidly out gunned here. No doubt they are looking for us and if we don't make a move in the next week there are going to be so many hostile ships out there that we'll have no chance of taking 188604 back. If you've got anything in a rainy day fund now is the time to use it. I want to know everything you guys have hidden away."

Uso would then turn her attention to Wazulie,

".... and yeah, that's how it feels."


--

"I have a few thousand in some rainy day accounts. A pair of junker drones. A k-4 tank. Some missiles. I think I can also transfer some ST copies into the seraphs they have at the facility, but once we start that they'll revoke that access immediately." Wazulie said.

Uso would make a list of her stuff as well, "NMX Phase Organ. Maybe 40 Zesu bullets. Some Zesu Chainmail armor. One of those million-dollar space bullets. A Golem-Power-Armor platform... like... maybe two dozen prostitutes? A few places on Nepleslia.... shit let me just send you a list of the small stuff...."
 
Deep Space

Corgan looked around the room at everyone. "I will never let anyone take my home. My mentor is down there with the rest of Ragnarok. Alex is right, and if no one else goes, I'm going by myself even if I have to walk there. Whoever planned this is going to pay." He was looking more muscular lately and now wore a green goatee. His ID-SOL heritage was more obvious than ever. "Uso, I still might have contacts in my old gang. They will be able to help, but it might take some convincing. And by convincing I mean ass-kicking."

He considered all of his other options. "I'm sure my mother can arrange a safe house for us on Nepleslia. Maybe even keep any police from getting involved for a few days. We should go get my new ship too. It has guns but it wasn't really made for aToo bad the other tank and everything else are still on the surface." Corgan sighed and looked down. They were in pretty deep right now. "How the hell did this even happen?"
 
Deep Space

"We had a good run. Someone was bound to try and take what we took... I was hoping that we would have so many conflicting groups planet-side that no single one could take over.

... it didn't quite work out that way." Uso said.
 
Deep Space

"I have my mother's katana," was all Sarena could think of for notable assets of hers that hadn't come from USO. "...I think my mother and her ship and the crew would help more, but they're probably on another contract by now. So, that's it. Unless you want to get attention from Yamatai."
 
Deep Space

Ace would pitch in again. "If the company doesn't work out I could probably get my old teammates to help."

Spacecase would speak up afterwards. "I have some bussiness connections and friends all over the place from my travels. I could probably pull a few for this."
 
Deep Space

Flynn mulled over his inventory for a moment. He didn't have much, but he felt it was worth sharing.

"I've got a fast ship that the enemy doesn't recognize, a PA-killing revolver, a few hundred rounds for that revolver, a highly trained dog that may or may not be genetically enhanced to understand basic human speech, and the phone numbers of a couple reputable arms dealers and assassins. Not really an army, but if we need someone gone, and fast, they'll get it done... for a fee..."
 
Deep Space

An idea quickly coming to him Spacecase spoke up yet again. "They're looking to make deals with us right? Why don't we have one of us accept their offer and work from the inside?" Spacecase knew that this idea would be hard to pull off and even harder to stay alive when shit would eventually hit the fan again.
 
Deep Space

"Alright... lets break down this problem." Uso said, leaning in towards the table as Wazulie stood up in her chair. Vier also leaning in.

"We've got a few enemy ships at 188604, and dozens more on the way from their base on Nepleslia." Uso said.

"The base is producing ships, but the real threat is the Chimera on the bottom floor. That computer system has ST copies of some of the smartest people around all working on developing weapon systems. The financial tools that come out of the machine are strong enough to topple your planet on their own." Wazulie added. "We need to get into the Chimera Computer's main computing cluster so we can pull its data and burn it out completely."

"How well protected is it?" Uso asked.

"Sandwhiched layers of shields and armor. We're going to have to hit it pretty hard to get in. I'd need some more time just to start pulling it apart to make sure we get everything."

"...Lets work out from there." Uso said.

Wazulie would bring up a 3d model of the facility. "The Chimera room is at the bottom of the facility along with some prison rooms, storage areas... material handling. This is all connected to the surface by the verticle assembly shaft. It stretches maybe a kilometer or two down and is filled with anti-gravity so everything floats. They use this area to assemble ships and gear.

This stuff is all brought toward the surface where their docking areas are, the office towers... along with several completed ships that are being loaded with soldiers. They've got... I don't know... hundreds of mecha? New-Model Seraphs... and shields strong enough to block starship-level weapons.

To make matters worse this facility is ON nepleslia which means if we launch an attack the Nepleslian Military will eventually get involved."

"Uuuugh.... that also means if we just drive a huge bomb up to it the Nepleslians are going to try and kill us for blowing up stuff." Uso said, dissappointed.

The trio looked at eachother for a moment silently, each thinking out their plan of attack.

---

"Corgan. Call your mother and see if you can arrange for us to stay at her place tommorw. We will need her to delay the arrival of the police as much as possible.

Ace. Call your old team-mates. We can get them some EMP devices to take down the shields of the facility.

Serena, Alex... everyone really. We'll load up with as much firepower as possible and cause as much damage as we can... Maybe take the white rabbit and slam it into the facility... blow up just enough without blowing up too much.

Flynn... we are going to need to get out of there FAST. Call Candon, have him get ready to meet us at 188604. We're still going to need to retake the planet once we cut off their base. We are also going to need you to sneak us onto Nepleslia for this attack.

Wazu..." Uso would turn to look at Wazulie,

"I can cause some problems remotely but once I start that is it I will not get another shot at uploading ST data to the serphs they have at the base. Speaking of... anyone mind if I scan their ST data?"
 
Deep Space

"Um... I don't think that would help," Sarena said, in response to the offer to upload her ST data. "I have a recent backup already... If I die, my mother gets to decide what to do with the data. And my mech's already got the big rifle." She wavered a moment before saying, "I don't know what else to use."
 
Deep Space

"I had something else in mind. The Chimera is mostly just a bunch of ST copies being run on some hardware... with some tweaks here and there. They upload a new mind to the Seraphs each time they need to use one for something.

I still have some access to their system... and I think spacecase was right earlier... I think we can do the same to them. Put our own ST data into some of their bodies."
 
Deep Space

Corgan was on board with everything until Uso mentioned putting their minds in the Seraphs. "I'll call her and see what she can work out. Some of her clients are pretty influential, so the cops shouldn't bother us for a while. Unless we screw up. But I'm not giving you my data to put in some Elysian monstrosity," he answered. "I'll do whatever else you need, but I draw the line. Look what that technology did to Julie." The Nepleslian gestured towards Wazulie. He considered the options silently.

After a minute he sighed. "Fine, use my data. We'll be destroying them anyway so it's not a big deal. Just make sure it doesn't get lost."
 
Deep Space

Sarena winced at Corgan's reasoning. "If we're going to kill them, the data we put in them shouldn't be copies of people who want to live... or that know how to fight. What kind of checks do they do to make sure the data is valid? If we could disguise weak AIs and give them instructions from us..."
 
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Deep Space

Ace would nod giving his affirmation that he was on board with the plan before leaving the room to call his old mates. "Hey dude do you remember that last op we did..."

Spacecase would agree with the plan then turn to Wazulie when they turned to ST. "I'll do it not like I don't have experience with it." Afterwards he would pull out an ST copy of himself. "Was my idea anyways. This is my latest one I do it before I go on any op so that if I die I have a copy just in case."
 
Deep Space

"We have a limited amount of time to transfer the ST copy. That data doesn't transfer instantly... so uploading the basics of someone's personality is going to go a lot faster than having to download a full AI."

He would pause a moment,

"There are some options for reversing this kind of change... I promise I will leave this body when we are finished."


--

"Sarena... have a moment to talk privately?" Uso asked.
 
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