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RP: SFS Service to the Free State: Glorified Border Guards

Sitting at the end, and quietly just listening to the briefing and the marines, Max felt no need to go into their details the way Linda was. Marines were generally rather uncomplicated people, and Max liked that side of them. He felt no particular need to learn things about them he probably never needed (and definitely never wanted) to know. At the last point raised, he felt compelled to reply, since it seemed a bit obvious to him, but might not be to others.

"That one's easy. A shipping firm working directly with a colony or other startup. A lot of places like that don't need bulk orders of things, they need a lot of individual pieces to get everything up and running, and they can get bulk later." He paused a moment, a question of his own popping up. "That said, it should be asked, is each ship carrying a limited selection off of that list, or is it supposedly broken down evenly across all of the ships? If one ship is packed with explosives, and the others have everything else, we'll have to be very careful with that one."
 
"Shit. Guessin' dat makes sense den." Garvey dabbed at his tongue again. Still no blood. "Well, yah can't know ev'ryting, I spose. S'why dey pay you de big bucks."

Eyes widening at his sudden and total breach of protocol, he hastily added, "Eh um, sir, dat is."

To tell the truth, Elijah was relieved that no one seemed to think his questions were stupid, in fact, quite the opposite. He felt a sudden feeling of purpose, of belonging, and he smiled to himself. This was a hell of a lot better than dying in a gutter in Funky City, make no mistake.

"Well, in regards to de 'splosives, sir, may I take deh time to remind ev'ryone..." Garvey smiled, wrily, "...dat smokin' on a spacecraft is not only extremely impropah, but dang'rous as well, seh yea. Save a life, stab it out, mon. Mos' righteous."

Another pause.

"Um, sir, that is."
 
Phase listened to these proceedings in complete silence, for the first time since they had emerged from their Traveler. The monoeye surveyed the members of the away team that the Spacer was coming to know. The concealment habits of organics were a mystery to Phase, so this was a new field of thought to them.

Idly, they checked their internal diagnostics for range. 6 monoeye drones, 2 personal drones, six scalar grenades, and 40 bolt gun rounds. Not a full complement, but good enough.

Phase's outer thighs opened up to reveal one rack each of what seemed like metal spiders, with one space on both missing. At first, it looked like they were reaching to pull one of these out - but ended up removing their whole hands and leaving them in the empty space, swapping it out for a denser and more robust looking four-fingered claw. The thighs closed with a hiss.

The spacer flexed these new, dangerous looking manipulators at Linda.
 
"All ships are sitting still and peacefully. All guns are ready to fire!" Harmonious Solarsailor announced as it slowed its approach to the merchant convoy.

"I wish to add that I feel that I need more guns," the ship commented abruptly.

"Why is that?" Violetta asked curiously.

"Even though all are targeted, I can only guarantee the destruction of two in my first volley. I cannot even guarantee hits on critical systems on the third target. It is most difficult to implement a harmonious solution without the proper armaments," the ship complained.

"I like it's definition of 'a harmonious solution.' Very Nepleslian," Laura commented. "Captain, we are ready to launch at your convenience."

The shuttle detached from Harmonious Solarsailor's hull and zipped off towards the leading ship.

"Farming equipment is a wonderfully vague term, isn't it?" Laura said to the squad. "Does it refer to ploughs, spades, and other hand held things? Or is it tractor combines, cotton gins, and such? Or does it actually refer to tools which helps us to fertilize the ground with corpses?"

"Flight manifest says that these guys are going to Nepleslia Prime. When was the last time you saw a farm on Prime?" Violetta added.

"Doesn't mean they're guilty. Just means they're suspicious. Innocent until proven guilty and all that," Chief Greer told them. He didn't want any of the greenies going in with an itchy trigger finger.

"No, certainly not! But when all three have the exact same cargo manifests, one really does wonder what sort of farming you can do on Prime," Laura grinned at Bernhard, whose family lived in Prime City and had to deal with organ harvesters.

"Docking with ISS Brandybug in 30!" Violetta announced.

"Weapons check! Equipment check! Seal your suits!" Laura commanded, snapping on her own mask to create an air seal. "Dolly, remember, drone first! Then Team 2 goes in!"

Laura then walked over to Bernhard and the two of them began with a check on each other's suits, followed by checking Bernhard's medical gear and then weapons.
 
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Warmonger Keid, being configured to suppress close threats without the ability to inflict fatal damage on them, seemed to indicate by his drooping mono-eyes that he felt slightly inadequate should the situation arise that it would need to fatally incapacitate threats at range.

So, the bulky Freespacer previously elected to unceremoniously rip a CQBS-A2 shotgun from the armory, and shove several extra magazines between the spaces of his armor and actual frame.

Accessing raw data from the Polysentience Cyberspace on the CQBS-A2 manual of arms, and reaching consensus with several connected users, Keid inserted a box magazine filled with buckshot and, holding the shotgun oddly close to its "face," observed a shell being inserted into the weapon's chamber by the action.

Running a diagnostics check on the electrical systems that power his forearm-mounted tazer and the stun baton located in his leg, Keid took up a position next to Phase, holding the shotgun in his right hand to keep the tazer system free in his left forearm.

His "eyes" slowly tracked across his body and focused strangely on Phase's thighs, and excitedly watched as the other Freespacer swapped out its hands.

The hissing sound of Phase's thighs closing sent his "eyes" hurrying to refocus ahead.

"HOW INTERESTING, I WAS UNAWARE THAT YOU POSSESSED MANIPULATION LIMBS THAT COULD BE EVEN LESS ATTRACTIVE."

Keid stood there, "eyes" looking ahead.
 
Phase's voice changed again, to something no member had heard yet. Deep and rich, like molasses.

"I have exchanged my social hands for more pragmatic hands made for pinning and goring targets if necessary. Do not mistake my aesthetic for foolishness. Even if you would not know aesthetic even if a Yamataian attempted a cultural exchange via video programs with you, I make strives to focus on the balance between practicality and beauty. Furthermore, your use of the term limbs was incorrect as I have only exchanged my hands, and as such the term extremities would have been more accurate."

The tone switched back just as the cabin had finished depressurizing and docking procedure.

"Now then~" that familiar sultry voice from earlier echoed, "Time to get to work!"

The six drones activated and flew about Phase in a ring as they readied themselves to leave the shuttle. The moment the doors open, four of the Monoeyes would fly out and about to scan the immediate area.
 
The hatches clicked audibly to announce that an air-tight seal had been made. Then both slid open and Phase's drones zipped in. Immediately, data began streaming back to show that both Free Spacers would be able to move through the ship fine as it had been made with ID-SOLs in mind.

At the hatch were a trio of Nepleslian men who looked surprised to see tiny drones entering instead of people. Their surprise turned into outright horror when the armored forms of Elijah, Arc and then Phase dropped in. As they swept the area for weapons, the men recoiled and stepped back.

The all-clear was given and Laura, Kass, and Violetta boarded.

Only Violetta wasn't wearing her helmet and the men took it to mean she was the leader. "Madam, I must protest at an armed boarding party! This was supposed to be a customs inspection!"

"Your complaint has been noted, though there really is nothing I can do about it since I am not the one inspecting you. She is," Violetta pointed at Laura.

"That's a woman?" one of them asked incredulously.

"A very dangerous one," Laura growled, lowering her shotgun barrel to point it at the man who spoke. "I am Corporal Romero, 4th Marines. Your crew will remain where they are while we inspect this vessel. Any resistance will be met with lethal force. We are Marines, not policemen, so please don't think we can be bribed, convinced or swayed by any thing you have to offer. Now, please be so kind as to escort us to your bridge while the rest of my squad inspects your cargo."

Bewildered as they were, they complied wordlessly. All three women followed as the next team came down behind them.

"Sensors read twenty four life-signs. Eight in crew quarters, eight in engineering, three in port cargo hold, and two on the bridge. Plus the three who are with Corporal Romero. Team 1, Team 3 is following behind you," Bernhard reported, using his powerful Monoeye suite to scan the ship. He kept his shotgun slung over his back. These people weren't armored. The pulse laser array was enough.

"Team 4, check out the guys in the port cargo hold. Private Hammerhand will escort you there," Laura told them, sending Kass back to meet the Intel specialists.

A few moments later, she and Violetta walked onto the bridge. It all seemed in order. The crew there threw a nervous glance back when the door opened but that was normal. Right?

"Identity cards, crew roster, cargo manifests and freighter license, please," Laura said, going through the formalities. All of these she handed to Violetta. Laura knew how to read them and discern meaning from them. She did not want these people to know that. She wanted them to think that Violetta was really the brains here. That would make them underestimate her.

"Nepleslians and ID-SOLs," Violetta read aloud, "Captain Elias Herpie of Herpie's Freighter Company, ISS Brandybug. Contracted to bring cargo to Nepleslia Prime and deliver it to representatives there. Hmm. Doesn't say who contracted you. Care to share, Captain Herpie?" Laura asked.
 
Linda put away her datajockey and readied her M3 carbine. She was in no rush once it came time to board, her team which was just herself and Lt.Keno had been made the last to enter, obviously because Laura thought they were delicate or something. She could not complain though it made it easier for her to listen to the radio chatter and make sure Laura doesn't do anything that would tarnish Nepleslia's reputation.

As she boarded she heard Laura's orders and waited for the escort as she readied her rifle. She turned to look at Keno and spoke up. "I do not think I need to tell you, but if this ship is carrying weapons, we are likely about to walk into armed resistance." She had no intention of firing on people as soon as she saw them, but she wasn't foolish enough to go in unprepared.

She looked over her 'squad' thinking about there files, P3C Kassandra Hammerhand or Kassandra Thatchwood officially. She had a bit of service time on her, but not much involving combat if Linda was remembering the record right. Though Linda was a bit worried, hopefully the service time made Kass patient and she wouldn't have twitchy trigger finger like a lot of marines at her rank. Lt.Keno did not seem like he would be a problem either, he was an Intelligence Officer so he knew the value of taking things slow. It looked like Laura might have done a good job on choosing assignments and wasn't just doing things at random like she appeared to be, Linda would have to make note of this in her files later.
 
Phase's bodily entrance onto the ship was unceremonious. Perfect, measured steps between shuttle and ship. "Garvey~, Arc~, I will lead the way to engineering," they said, sending the four initial drones forward through the ship towards the section in question. At least, according to the schematics provided. Massive metal hips shifted as the information rolled in, each segment of hallway scoped before they gestured for the two privates to follow. For a civilian, they were strangely methodical about this military operation.

It was hard to gauge Phase's thoughts, that single eye built into the dark cross of their "helmet" not portraying even the slightest bit of emotion. But the long slender arms of the machine were very clear in communicating their commands.
 
Garvey was impressed by the utility of their Freespacer ally. He followed her onto the ship, looking in wonder at the drones that heeded her every beck and call. It was like their little team had a bunch of extra bodies - between her and Kied, Garvey could see how the freespacers had quite the potential to defend themselves; they just needed to recognize how good they could be at it.

"Y'know Phase, yeh a bit bigger den da girls I normally go for," Garvey joked, "But yeh sure do know how to handle yehself. Guy could like that."

He laughed, then flicked his rifle off safety, covering the procession of the large Freespacer and her drones. Engineering would be a tall order for just Arc and himself - two marines versus 8 awake, alert crew members, potentially armed, potentially hostile were not odds he wanted to take. With Phase and her 'pets' though, he allowed himself a shot of cautious optimism - who knows what mischief all of them could cause.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Garvey posted himself at the access door to engineering, hand poised over the open button. He looked to Phase and Arc, waiting for their signal to be ready. They'd have to move quickly in the hot chaos of the Engineering decks, and it was imperative that all of them were ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Yeh jus' tell ol' Garvey when yeh is ready, mons." Elijah said, "Den we shut dis motherfucka down."
 
Eir smiled as points where brought up about their mission, about what they where to expect and what seemed out of place. It helped build a bit of confidence in her teammates as well as their commanding officer. She wasnt all that comfortable with Garvey's seemingly first hand accounts of how to cheat inspectors , but it was an angle she had not considered, and a rather important one should it come to such simple but effective sleight of hand.

The corporal then called out for the weapons check and Eir was quick to do so. First she sealed her suit, placing the helmet finally on her head and giving all the seals a second check. She brought her weapon up on her shuttle and clicked off the safety, ready to drop it into ready as soon as they where on board. Admittedly she would have been more happy with a proper shotgun, but with Keid and the Chief both packing them she felt she could be better used to round out the group's weapons.

She stood and quickly fell in with Bernhard, making a point of giving his more bulky armor a bit of room for freedom of movement. Her breathing was slow and controlled and she remained still as a statue until her opportunity to move came. When it did she moved with a precision that would make a drill instructor proud, or at least yell a bit less. “ Time to inspect some farming equipment. " she muttered, quiet enough for only the nearby marines to hear .
 
Max cocked his head at Linda, having been locked in and ready to go since before he even stepped into hangar bay in the first place. Always easier to win a gamble if you were ready for it in the first place, after all. "Obviously. Don't worry about me, I've spent quite some time working security in much higher risk locations than this." He paused, looking around the ship as he entered, and taking in the general look of things. Little details could tell a story on a ship like this; signs of recent cleaning, things looking too new, parts that were better off or worse off than would be normally expected on a ship like this... "The two of you should go ahead and take point. I may just fade out again, see if I spot anything while they're not looking at me." Though he hadn't bothered to pull his pistol out of it's holster, his hand was resting comfortably on the grip while he spoke and looked around, obviously comfortable with the situation.
 
It all seemed a bit too coincidental that there just happened to be a convoy waiting for them to inspect and with such a flimsy excuse as ‘mining explosives’, he wondered why the merchants put up with it. If you needed goods to go somewhere you put it on the cheapest available – preferably that’s the first as well – you don’t worry about lumping everything for mining together. Likewise he had seen many amateur gardens and miniature farms set up by housing blocks. But it was not his place to questions the crazies that were running the show and he had no desire to speak his mind.

Arceins squared himself up to the door as they moved into make a seal. He felt that this was different to the last action he had taken part in – another one of those phantoms in which he knew he was doing something right, like a muscle memory. Arc held his weapon at port, unlike some of the others in the ship, and squared up to the port side of the door. With a hiss it popped open and the Freespacer’s drones buzzed in quickly followed by Garvey. Arc bent his legs and dropped into the hole, hitting the deck with a solid clunk, scanning his immediate surrounds.

The three crewmen that faced them seemed more scared than surprised – it was a reaction he had seen many times walking the hallways on his own ship. Arc quickly stepped to the side in time for Phase to drop through, and held up his left arm and gently pushed a crewman up against the wall to make room for the hulking freespacer.

Once the rest of the boarding party had dropped through, Arc turned himself onto autopilot, watching the three crewmen in the room with them. He only caught on that they were moving when Phase started moving – he didn’t recall hearing any order for Team 2 to head to Engineering. He moved through the hallway behind Garvey until they came to the hatch through to Engineering. Arc moved to the opposite side of the door to Garvey, and waited for the Nepleslian to open the door.

Seeing the Garvey’s finger move and hearing the click of the safety made Arc frown, and he reached over and flicked the safety back to on. “Inspection, not boarding,” he hissed, “Citizens, not Targets.” The whole dynamic of the squad seemed… off. Everyone was hungry to kill, even if it was the citizens they were assigned to protect. These was not an NMX ship, but a Nepleslian owned and operated merchant vessel. A battle-hungry attitude would only provoke a hostile response. Eventually word would get around and gradually the trust in the organisation created to protect would be seen as one to oppress.

Arc waved his left hand at Phase, who almost taking up the whole corridor. “Worried? Drones.”
 
Linda had just the slightest of smiles at Lt.Keno's reply to her words, he might be someone worth working with, he understood the situation and how to approach it. "Relay anything you notice." She then began to walk, heading towards the port cargo hold. scanning the halls for anything that seemed out of place, and more so than anything looking for any sensors that might be detecting them. Her rifle was switched out of safety and while it was at rest, she kept herself ready to raise it and move her finger to the trigger, after all, even if their armor was sturdy, it had gaps and vulnerabilities that could be exploited if her response was slow.
 
Team 2

To get to Engineering, Arc, Elijah and Phase had to pass by the crew's quarters which lined both sides of the corridor. As they passed, every door was closed and only a few idle crew members were around, who threw hostile snarls at the Marines and Spacer as they passed. Besides that, however, no weapon was to be seen.

They entered Engineering without a problem to find the Chief Engineer, an ID-SOL, shouting at his crews about this and that. All of them seemed busy around stations, bent over doing work.

----------------------------

Team 4, Port Cargo Hold

Max, Linda, and Kass stood at the hatch to the hold. It was open and the room beyond was lit. The bulkheads, however, prevented them from seeing who might be inside. Kass entered first, rifle ready and motioned for the other two to follow.

"Nepleslian Marines! Stay where you are while we inspect this compartment!"

-----------------------------

Team 3, Crew Quarters

Bernhard, Eir, and Keid moved behind Team 2 into the Crew Quarters area. This time, there were fewer overt signs of hostility given the firepower and physical size of this group. Between Bernhard's Raider and Keid's stature, the hard-bitten crew were less inclined to test them. They hardly noticed the comparatively diminutive figure of Eir besides them. Most of the crew ducked back into their cabins and shut the doors.

"Well, that's too bad. We're here to inspect this area of the ship," Bernhard commented. "Private, would you be so kind as to demonstrate for Keid how to begin an inspection?"

Bridge

"Not unless you got a warrant sayin' I have to tell you," Captain Herpie said. "I'm only putting up with this cos the fighter jock said it was legal to blow us up if I didn't heave to," he added sourly.

"Says you're from Kennewes, Mr. Herpie. Should be the dry season about now, right?" Violetta said casually, reading her datajockey.

"Yes, yes, it should. Always a nice time to be rid of the humidity," Herpie replied quickly, leaning back against his console.

Laura picked up on something in Captain de Luca's voice. There was no glance but something was off.

"I've always wanted to visit Kennewes and admire its scenery during the dry season," Violetta continued.

"You should come at the end. Fewer tourists to fight with," the other captain told her.

Laura saw, in the corner of her eye, something move behind the captain's back. Her hand went to her pistol and she was in the act of drawing it when Herpie began to draw his own weapon. A HHG barrel rose and Laura fired awkwardly from the hip with her own ESG on automatic. Volume of fire would have to make up for accuracy.

The small 6.35mm rounds tore into Herpie and sent him crashing back onto his console. As he did so, a single round went off, ricocheting off Violetta and knocking her over. The bullet then arced up and punctured the hull. "Weapons free! Marine down!"

Laura had no time to check on Violetta, she had to cover the other idiots in here before any of them drew a weapon.

--------------------------------

Team 4, Port Cargo Hold

Right after Kass spoke, they heard something like a gunshot. Right then, the three crew members, all Nepleslians in armored body vests, sprang out with shotguns in their hands and opened fire. The shots missed but tore out holes in the bulkhead.

---------------------------------

Team 2, Engineering

All of a sudden, the crew turned to face the Marines with pistols and SMGs in hand and opened fire on the Marines. Phase ducked back into the Crew Quarters corridor while Arc and Elijah dove for a computer console that would shield each of them.

--------------------------------

Team 3, Crew Quarters

Bernhard jumped when he heard a gunshot behind him and turned to look when the doors for the cabins swung open and eight Nepleslians rushed at them with welding torches.
 
Team 3

Eir wasn't terribly surprised when the crew went in their cabins and shut the doors. Between Bernhard and Keid the last thing she would have done in their place was to grandstand, or even grumble in some way that may set the freespacer off. After all, everyone knew freespacers where a bit strange.

That, of course, made her job a pain in the ass. Getting each crew member to open their doors and submit to a proper search was going to take time. With Bernhard's words, though, she reminded herself that she was here to teach the walking tank beside her how this was done. She straightened, about to walk to the first of the cabin doors. “Of course, Chief.” It was then that all hell broke loose.

Weapons fire, followed by her commanding officer's cry of weapons free, had adrenalin pumping in Eir's veins. As the cabin's doors swung open, she saw the first of the torches and there was a moments disbelief. Fortunately, proper training and her enhancements kicked in. “Never bring a knife to a gun fight” was not even words of wisdom but almost a creed to most Nepleslians. “Contact!” she called out. Her weapon was brought over and with proper trigger discipline she feathered the trigger on the shotgun attachment once , aimed at center mass of the closest torch wielder.

Then her weapon was whipped over, now facing towards the rest of their assailants. A quick controlled flip of a switch swapped the weapon to full auto and starting with the next closest , she opened fire. Careful to put her shots at angles so stray rounds would not make their way into engineering.

There were enough of them that they where a legitimate threat, but the hallway gave them quite the edge when your enemies only had torches. She was about to show them what that meant.
 
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Team 4

Linda followed after her 'escort' and arrived at the Port side cargo hold without any incident. When they got to the bulkhead that was blocking their line of sight she sighed, this was probably one of the most annoying chain of events in searches. She hoped these men were smarter but she doubted it. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed at the sound of a gunshot before she could make her way into the room. She had to quickly decide, go in to help Kass or play it safe. Judging by the sound it wasn't a pistol round that was being fired off so she made the decision to step in, rifle raised to identify and engage her targets.

Seeing that the crew were in armored suits and wielding shot guns she decided it was best not to stay in the room long, even with the Golem armors. She squeezed the trigger on her M3 letting loose a spray of rounds to hopefully scare the men back and get them to try to hide. "Back behind the bulkhead Hammerhand!" She motioned her to move back as she continued firing.
 
Phase sent the six Monoeye drones in while they shoved their hands into the back "skirts" of their durandium frame, activating them.

Two courses of action were to be had.

The drones would zig-zag and dart around, tagging targets for tracking purposes, as well as providing distractions for the team.

Phase, now equipped with what appeared to be massive metal hands over their usual ones, charged straight for the ID-Sol in the middle. With any luck, they would be able to grab and pin the man. And then proceed to use the built-in heat press capability of those large digits on their face.
 
"Holy shit!" Eli yelled over the racket in the engineering decks. "Dis was 'sposed to be a peaceful search an' seizure, mon!"

He flipped the safety catch with an extravagant gesture, the adrenaline in his system refusing to let him move in small, precise efforts. Rounds were still smacking into his and Arc's console, which had become the Safest Place in the Universe. Instead of attempting to pull off a balancing act, and lean from behind the console, Garvey threw himself to the deck, his head, neck, shoulders, and most importantly, rifle, protruding from their cover. He held his gun in his left hand, supporting the gun with his dominant right hand.

He saw legs, and he began to rip reasonably precise bursts of full auto shooting at the lower abdomens of any crewmember he could see. Phase's drones even lit up and tracked men behind cover, who Eli shot at as well. Brass flew straight upwards from his rifle and bounced off his armor. It was impossible to hear his suppressed weapon over the racket - his shots sounded like wet kisses amongst the bangs and smacks of the other guns.
 
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Before Keid could object to being taught the simple process of a search and possible seizure operation, the commotion from behind the group caused his LED monoeyes to whip around as the large Automata turned quickly to meet the threat, nearly sideswiping the nearby Eir. Monoeyes now turning to a very bright red color, Keid leveled his arm at one of the assailants.

"CONTACT NOTED" Keid blared in that exceedingly loud vocalization of his. Information on Nepleslian physiology was fed to the Warmonger's targetting systems, and fixated upon a male assailant, and the area where his genitals should be. "WEAKPOINT ACQUIRED - COMMENCING SUPPRESSION."

It was at that point when the seemingly soul-less Automata, without disregard for any sort of decency, fired its electrical tazer system.
 
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