RPG: FTL

[Takuma Nuva]

IC -- Francis

Francis grinned mischeviously. This was precisely what he'd been signed on for. He pinged the ship and, lo and behold, identified the rooms where the Mantis had ported into. He relayed locations to the colonel that she may spread the word. He then turned back to Kelezaag and brandished his armblades. "My brains. Your brawn. Shall we have some fun? Anyone else care to join us?"

Takuma Nuva

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: Ditching his heavy machine gun, Kenshin pulled out his SMG. The bigger weapon was great when collateral damage was not a concern, but this was on their ship. Any damage done would need to be fixed and might cause trouble for one of the ship's systems.

 

Once ready he started moving quickly but carefully towards the medbay. The doors would hold until he got there and he would be of no help if he ended up spit n the end of a Mantis' arm.

[Burnmad]

IC - Kelezaag:

 

Kelezaag averted her gaze from the frightened pilot as the group hurried on-board, to stare at the Slug. She'd been waiting to find someone with some wit on this boat. This, she decided, was a kindred spirit. As the ship took off, he spoke again.

 

"My brains. Your brawn. Shall we have some fun?"

 

With her best approximation of a human smirk (which, much as she practiced it, was still only barely recognizable as such), she spoke into her translator, which translated her clicks and buzzes into speech understandable to the others present. "I thought you'd never ask." The pair, accompanied by some of the others, sped ahead for the hall leading to the medbay, hoping to cut the Mantises off.

 

"I feel I should warn you all," she said, serious for once, as they sped towards their destination, "If the Brood Commander's on board, he's not to be trifled with. You think any old bug is a merciless, soulless brute? A Brood Commander could cut every vital organ in your body to ribbons before you could open your mouth to cry for reinforcements, then rearrange the strips inside-out before they showed up." There was a pause. "I'm sure we'll be fine, though. I'm here, after all."

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - UFS Kestrel / Deck 2

It is the nature of a warzone scenario to evolve and shift with uncanny, often alarming, speed, and it is the nature of a combat starship to respond and react with equal, if not superior, speed. Such is life on the universe edge; the weak and the slow never get a second chance.

They might get a memorial service, though. If they're lucky.

Wulf Kharon, having just transferred his genetically-modified feminine cargo into the capable hands of the medical bay personnel, was moving straight back down the starkly utilitarian central corridor of Deck 2, rather vaguely intending to rejoin the Mantis and the Slug he'd encountered a few minutes before.

And then the alarms went off with an abrupt wailing shriek, detonating the silence like exploding glass, and the Colonel's voice, terse and commanding, crackled through the loudspeakers. Mantis boarders, a decent-sized squad of elite melee, heading towards... the medical bay, of all things.

The good news? Wulf Kharon and Co. were essentially on site already, armed and dangerous. To even get close to their target, the hostiles would have to come straight through the weapons, blades, and cold dead bodies of him and his teammates.

The bad news? See above.

Breaking into a run, drawing his heavy 9mm revolver as he moved, the massive privateer reached Kelezaag and Francis just in time to catch the latter's words. Adjusting his long-legged pace to theirs, he jumped right into the conversation with nary a 'please' or 'beg your pardon'.

Pirate-under-fire manners at their best. At least he made a curt nod of greeting.

"...you can add my brains, brawn, and firearm to that list, slime-boy. Nice to meet you, O all-powerful arrogant queen of non-hostile insectiod warriors."

A ghost of a smile; the heavy scars on his jaw rippled slightly with the facial movement.

"Suffice to say, from what I've heard in my time, a Brood Commander will comprehensively kick your unless you've got some good moves. And a really big gun with lots of bullets. Or a quick hand with a knife, if you're feeling right lucky... yeah, I think I'll let you handle him, Miss Mantis."

They ran on. Or slimed on. Or scuttled. Whatever.

"So, then... you two know this ship better than me. What's the plan?"

[Burnmad]

IC - Kelezaag:

 

"Likewise, mister-extremely-large-and-muscular-human-with-even-bigger-mouth," Kelezaag responded. This would possibly be another tolerable crewman. "Plan? I suppose I was thinking we'd just duck into one of the rooms adjacent to this hallway, set up whatever cover we can manage, and hope they're not expecting a volley of projectiles and a flurry of knife-arms out of the counselor's office." She was now forcing her way into said room, where she carefully examined her surroundings. Unfortunately, it seemed the bookshelves she had been counting on where each fixed to the wall, so they would have to use the desk. It was large-- much more so than a counselor needed, anyway, and looked sturdy enough, for something made by humans. "I mean, it would be nice to set some kind of trap and blow them to smithereens before we even see them, but we are on our own ship. We'd be sucking vacuum seconds later, not to mention, it would leave an unsightly hole in our shiny hull. The same problem exists with venting this portion of the ship, not to mention the severe lack of flare." She paused, staring at a pendulum on the counselor's desk. "What is with these things? Do all human doctors have one?"

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - UFS Kestrel / Deck 2 / Counselor's office

"I wouldn't know." grunted Wulf. "Never been inside a counselor's office before. Mebbe they're actually little idols or something."

Muscles rippling in his arms and shoulders, the privateer grappled the gargantuan walnut desk and heaved it clear of the ground, watching without emotion as papers, books, and pendulum cascaded off its surface in a noisy tumbling crash. Not too loud, fortunately. Shouldn't be enough to give away their presence.

"Pretend you never saw it. I'll set this against the hole in the wall, then?"

Swinging the heavy chunk of furniture around, he dumped it squarely in place in front of the open doorway.

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

For a few moments, the only responses from the Major were the sound of clicking keys as his fingers flew across the keyboard as if fueled by FTL crystals. Notifications flashed across his console with blazing speed, almost too fast to be understood. In fact, if he hadn’t already known what they indicated, they would have been too fast to comprehend. As he had been ordered, he had diverted all power from the weapons to the shields, powering them to the highest possible level. Maybe it would buy some time.

 

“Understood, Colonel.” He replied, standing and shrugging out of his coat. It would only slow him down, and blending in was no longer necessary. He ignored the needles of pain from his chest as he unholstered his weapon; Odds were that he’d be nursing a few more wounds before the day was out. Grim as that thought was, it was the most likely possibility. William had taken part in the ground combat in the first invasion of Earth after his pod had touched down, and while the standard Mantis soldier was a threat… The elite troops were another matter altogether. Typically outfitted with armor to deflect standard arms fire, enhanced weapons to enable them to cut through personnel armor, and more worryingly, a high degree of skill. Mantis society was very much survival of the fittest, and while that meant that any Mantis who survived was a threat, though that gained enough renown to be considered an elite fighter were terrifying indeed.

 

Truthfully, the odds weren’t nearly as optimistic as they sounded. On a personal level, William was carrying a single sidearm, and no armor against what amounted to a living, armored scythe. Even factoring in the rest of the crew, only some of them were already equipped for personal combat. The rest were facing the same difficulties as him. Beyond even that, the Kestrel was confronted with a Brood fleet. One that they would be unable to escape for a minimum of twelve minutes.

 

Beat the odds once, you’re a lucky man. Beat the odds twice, you’ve been granted another chance. Beat the odds thrice and you’ve been allowed a miracle. Will had faced the odds twice, and he didn’t believe in miracles. Worst came to worst, he’d take some of them down with him.

 

“Ready, Colonel.”

[Xomeron]

IC:

 

Can, when the teleport signals were detected, had done fairly logical thing; he dashed from the hangar deck to the ladder down. He'd done this earlier, of course, when he had stopped by the armory to retrieve a bandolier of grenades on his way up from the Teleport Room. Can quickly decided that this had been fairly good foresight; no time to stop by now, as he rushed down the hall and towards the Medbay.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

It was when the Colonel stepped out of the bridge that she realized the horrible mistake she had just made. Some twenty meters down the hallway, two Mantis approached, dull black metal clinking as they did. Then they spotted her, and she realized a little bit more the horrible mistake she had made. Screaming something in their alien tongue they charged, and the Colonel knew the survival of the bridge crew and those in medbay relied on them not getting there. Dashing forward, she punched open a case, glass embedding in her fingers as she pulled the emergency override, a bulkhead door screaming as it was pneumatically released, sealing off the hallway past medbay.

 

"Can't even remember the layout of my own ship." She hissed at her hand, as blood started to drip. "Security, the hallway's sealed, the Mantis are still on their way. Hold the bulkhead, Daniels is going take a detour." She glanced at the weapon's officer. "Remote engine room. There's a maintance shaft, runs straight under the adviser's office. Cramped, but you should be able to get through. Once you're in her office, take this-" she handed him the flashbang she had been carrying "-and blind them."

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: To get to the medbay the Mantis would need to pass by the armory. With its high grade doors that were armor plate in all but name and the mass of weapons and ammunition in the room, made it a nightmare to attack. Kenshin was taking this to heart as he made his way in to the room from the door closest to the ladder he had used to make his way up from the hanger. Grabbing a small device from one of the racks he raced to the door that opened in to the corridor that the Mantis were making their way down.

 

Stopping in front of it, he turned up the audio sensors on his suit as high as they could go. The thick doors made prevented most noise from entering, but with the receptors in his helmet, Kenshin was able to gain a fair picture of what was going outside.

 

At hearing the scuttle of Mantis legs alarmingly close the special forces soldier sent a command from his to suit to the door telling it to open. As it did so he pressed a button on the small device in his hands and then tossed it at the approaching aliens. For about three seconds nothing happened, to the confusion of anyone watching who did not already know what it was. Those who did would have used that time to cover their ears as the speakers that made up most of the surface emoted a high pitched shrieking noise. It was unpleasant to Humans, to Mantis it was like somebody was driving a rusty spike in to their ears.

 

Leaning, out, Kenshin let lose with several bursts from his SMG in an attempt to put the intruders on the ground while they were distracted.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Silvan Haven

[Xomeron]

IC:

 

Can, when he heard the highly filtered screech that his standard-issue ear filters muffled to a distinctive whine, abruptly reversed direction, revolver and sword in hand. When Kenshin popped out of the door and fired a burst, Can, who was at the corner behind the armory, took a moment to aim, and put a one-handed shot downrange with his revolver; the relatively minor recoil of the FTL-ignited laser beam meant that Can's next shot, a crystal-charged plasma burst, was just as accurate as the first.

[Eevee]

IC: Estelle Walker

 

The Major watched over Ashley as the others went to defend the ship. She had her pistol pulled and pointed toward the entrance, making sure that both she and Ashely were hidden behind things in the bay.

 

"Landes... You alright?" She asked softly as she watched the door.

[Advent Child]

IC: Geist had chosen to follow alongside the rather rough looking group looking for a fight. The decision to do so seemed a solid bit less appropriate now that he realized he had followed alongside the people who were more searching for a fight than preparing for one. Still, they seemed to be a strong lot at the very least.

 

Or if not, at the very least the privateer was.

 

There was a thrum of surprise as Geist barely slipped into the room with a cry of "Don't crush me!" before the rather massive man slammed the desk into the doorway, creating a rather standard movie style barricade. Geist had little faith that it would hold up against assault from the walking deathtraps that the Mantis race seemed to be, but the sentiment was nice.

 

After a moment, Geist piped up. "I hope one more gun will not overcrowd?" he asked gesturing with the weapon held with no small amount of affection in his hands.

Edited April 23, 2014 by .:The Abysswalker:.

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

Ashley lay on a cot in the medical bay with a confused expression. Despite her encumbered state, Ashley knew something was wrong...were mantis onboard? The thought make her visibly pale.

 

She head jerked in surprise as she heard Estelle's voice, she'd forgotten she was there. She felt better knowing Estelle was by her side. "What's happening..."

[Burnmad]

IC - Kelezaag:

 

"The more the merrier," Kelezaag said to the newcomer, then snapped her head forward as Harken's device activated up the hallway. "Unless the Brood Commander and his elite guard forgot their earplugs, I'm probably the only Mantis here that toy will be annoying," she muttered, clearly irked by the obnoxious whine.

 

"Alright, new plan," she said, turning to the others in the office. "Since someone seems to have stolen our plan to ambush the intruders as they come down the hall, I humbly suggest we wait a couple moments, until the Brood Commander and his goons are completely focused on the armory, and then we waylay them."

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - UFS Kestrel / Deck 2 / Counselor's office

"I say, we sit quiet and wait until they shoot down or scare off whoever was stupid enough to try jumping them in an open hallway in the first place, then ambush them as per previous strategy." countered the privateer calmly. "Because, in case you hadn't noticed, we're all fresh off the space station and haven't had time to pick up the proper combat equipment. Most notably, body armor and heavy firearms. I don't know about you people, but I sure as don't plan on sticking my head out there without a good solid riot helmet on it."

He paused, thoughtfully passing a huge hand over the day's growth of salt-and-pepper stubble on his jaw.

"Seems to me, from a cold tactical standpoint, the best option our group has is to hit them off guard, at absolute point blank range, and overwhelm them using our superior weight of numbers before they get a chance to respond. If they do get that chance... well, I think we all know could happen, eh?"

He thought about it an instant more, then shrugged. "Of course, I'm just the heavy close-quarters berserker. Specialty; kicking literal butt of bugs. I'm suggesting what I'd do... which may or may not be the best course of action. Back to you, Miss Mantis. I reckon you're the boss."

[Constructelf]

OOC Gotta catch up...

 

IC Vincent

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how things went down), Vincent had made his way to the engine room prior to the APC returning to base. As a result, he now found himself locked in with Rehn, or whoever he was. He had stopped by the armory and picked up a plasma shotgun ('cause pistol rounds weren't gonna get through Mantis skin) but it wouldn't be of any use if his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

 

IC Geburah

Geburah had lost the group once and nearly lost his life for it (no, wait: make that twice; there was that incident in Rockmen space...) and he wasn't going to make that mistake again. So, he needed to make a decision on who to follow. "A human, a Mantis, and a Slug headed that way wherever their going, two humans headed down the ladder to the medbay... wait. I don't have a weapon. . Well, maybe I could use what's left of my pistol as a projectile... Oh well, Medbay it is." Dropping down the ladder, he headed in the direction of the Medbay, and by extension the Armory. "I have spare cartridges, but the pistol's pretty much shot..."

[Takuma Nuva]

IC -- Francis

Francis wordlessly raised a constant psionic locator field, giving all four present continuous, real-time knowledge of exactly where the nearby mantes were. No bugs would be able to catch them unawares. "Still got these," Francis commented as his remaining jars of makeshift tear gas and slick rose to hover in the air once again.

Takuma Nuva

[Eevee]

IC: Estelle

 

"The mantis are on the ship. You, this gentlemen here, and I are in the medbay. For now... We are okay." She said to Ashley before looking at Geburrah.

 

"That's alright... I'm hoping we won't have to use anything because our friends will have taken care of the issue. I could use those cartridges." She said as she fiddled with her pistol. Her own cartridge had been significantly depleted from their escape.

 

The major then realized that she had yet to meet this man and extended her hand. "Flight Commander and Auxilary Officer Major Estelle Walker at your service. It's a long title I know..."

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: If left to his own devices, Zokander's first instinct would have been to help defend the medbay. They had one wounded who needed attention, and if they couldn't get her to the medbay, or hold it from the attack then they'd be one pilot down.Besides, the mantis seemed to be heading there already, so intercepting them would be the best way to destroy them

But he'd been given his orders.

The Colonel wanted a route out of the station plotted. Which meant he needed to get to the bridge.

 

"Ma'am, requesting intel on a path to the bridge," he asked Ojeda over the comms

[Atton Rand]

OOC: This does sound like it could be interesting. I might be willing to consider making a profile but I should bring this up first. You said it was based on a video game which I have never played. Am I required to know anything about the video game itself or should I be able to manage based on the RPG alone.

[avmatoran]

There is a separate topic for discussion here. Other than generic info about the video game that is also provided at the beginning of the topic, you should be good. Welcome, old friend.

[Atton Rand]

There is a separate topic for discussion here. Other than generic info about the video game that is also provided at the beginning of the topic, you should be good. Welcome, old friend.

 

OOC: Terribly sorry. I forgot that we do that now. Okay, I'll see about putting together a profile and maybe at least giving this a shot.

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Understood, ma'am."

 

The Major holstered his weapon to free up a hand and took the flashbang, pausing only long enough to spare the Colonel a nod, before doubling back to the remote engine room. The room itself was dotted with control panels, readouts, and a few storage locations that seemed to indicate tools, but William ignored them. His eyes were fixed on the room's floor, scanning for any indication of the access point he was looking for. It took a few moments to find, and that was only because he knew it was there; He suspected that it wasn't clearly labeled to prevent boarders from easily using the tunnels. Any engineering officer that needed them would already know where to look, so it wouldn't pose an issue for them.

 

But he digressed.

 

He crouched down and set the flashbang down next to him so he could grip the access panel with both hands. A quiet scrape of metal on metal accompanied its removal, just before Daniels dropped down into the service tunnel, landing silently on his feet. The tunnel was quite dark, dimly illuminated from the light in the room above and small lights that dotted the passage, but he could see fairly clearly where he was going. He didn't spare a moment to pull the panel into place again; Time enough for that if they all llived. He moved down the passage as quickly as he could, keeping careful track of how far he went, pausing when he knew the Advisor's office should be just overhead. A careful push on the ceiling moved the floor up and over, and William pulled himself up and into the room. He drew his sidearm again as he moved quickly but quietly to the door; He could hear the high-pitched noise of the sonic device, and he knew that it would keep the Mantis down for at least a few moment's longer. Activating the door, he tossed the device into the hall, where it rolled to a stop near the Mantis.

 

"Avert your eyes!" He yelled to his crewmates, just before ducking back into the Advisor's office himself.

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: The visor on his suit simply polarized to prevent the flash from disorienting the special forces soldier. Instead, he used the extra time to pour another volley in to the Mantis currently trying to make their way up the hall.

 

He aimed for the ones in front. Short ranged combat was a Mantis' specialty and Harken had no intention of allowing them to use those skill.

[Alex Humva]

IC

 

With a terrible stretch the Mantis were blinded; even though they were not looking directly at it, the light was so intense it could reflect off the walls and still affect them. That, combined with a bang so loud it hurt the Colonel's ears on the other side of the bulkhead, sent them into a frenzy, but one in which they could not see.

 

/-/

 

Meanwhile, engineering was greated to the sound of two Mantis beginning work to cut through the door's security system, the metal beginning to glow as a plasma torch went to work

 

/-/

 

The Brood Commander wandered the ship. He suspected, from the screeches on his comms, that the two that had gone for the sick were soon to be dead. The other two... perhaps they would kill a human before they fell. They were fine warriors, but they had begun to plot for higher things. Better they serve as distractions while he properly inspected the vessel. His suit glimmered oddly, still made of supermetal, but a glossy black color. Unbeknownst to the humans, it was a special sort of metal, the specific alloys found only in the farthest reaches of Mantis space. It could block life signature scanners, and even the telepathic influence of slugs. Only a brief period during the teleportation could it be detected. He pondered why he thought about that, and then decided that he was becoming bored of himself.

 

Walking to where he knew the sensors were, a quick placement of a computer device opened the room up, no humans inside of it. Tapping the controls with the small mandibles on his forearms, the Brood Commander called up a map of Federation space. To his annoyance, the ship actually had security features, and refused to show him the route they intended to take. Still... judging from the map and the direction they were headed, it seemed the ship was headed to the furthest reaches of known space, where the Zoltan resided. Strange. The Zoltan did not interact with the galaxy at large, alien ships were turned away from their borders. Why would a Federation ship, such as this, be heading there? A simple scout ship would suffice if it was a messenger vessel.

 

Unimpressed, he pulled out an explosive charge from his armor, a greenish-orange crystal lightly pulsating, covered in various machinery. FTL crystals were strange things, requiring so many specific circumstances to actually release their full yield... but when they did, they slung ships lightyears in seconds. Defective crystals were often used as weapons, but proper, fully charged crystals, could be as well. Giving the Mantis equivalent of a smile, he placed it gently on the console, turned a switch, and tapped his armor, shimmering away.

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Ameli)

 

Ameli had bunkered down in her office, having realized her lighter weapon would be of little use in the conflict. Laid out on her desk was her trusted V-45, with a few of the ammunition crystals laid out before it. It was a heavier weapon, but she’d had something else in mind. Vendarian wine was powerful stuff, to the point where some disputed calling it “wine” at all. Lightweights. Lightweights all of em. In her opinion, if a drink cannot be used as an incendiary device in a pinch, it wasn’t a drink at all.

 

So, her wine collection was arrayed beside her weapon, rags and the like stuffed into them. All it would take her a swipe of the lighter, and the Mantis outside, she estimated, would be little more than fried food for some of the stranger planets in the galaxy.

 

It was at this point, of course, Major Daniels emerged from her floor.

[Alex Humva]

IC

 

Humanity was no stranger to the idea of devious tricks; indeed, it was generally accepted at this point in time that a slug may cheat you out of your money, a mantis may cheat you out of your life, but humans, humans wrote the book when it came to devious tricks, selling narcotics to the galaxy that both cheated you out of your money and your life. When it came to military strategy, from the moment FTL crystals were first synthesized on Terra, experts knew that they had the potential to be devastating weapons. Anything capable of fueling a ship for weeks off of its waste energy alone would be destructive in the wrong hands. The problem with FTL crystals, though, came in the fact that they had an odd detonation cycle. They would initially implode, drawing in the surrounding area, and then explode in a great burst of heat and light, like a regular explosive. It also gave off huge bursts of FTL radiation, which could kill everything living within several hundred meters.

 

So humanity devised methods to protect themselves against such destructive things. Walls had layers of FTL particle-resistant materials, and ships were designed with the implosion-explosion factor of the crystal, all to minimize the effect. More importantly, onboard sensors could detect an FTL spike, and shut down the ship to counteract it. It was as the alarms blared and the bulkheads around the ship began to close, that the Colonel realized this day was just going get worse.

 

In a second's time, the sensor room no longer existed. The botany room, filled with lush green plants, was blown open, the loss of pressure pulling the free-hanging follage out into space. The explosive force made it's way past the botany bulkhead, pushing the metal back even as the loss of pressure pulled the unlucky security chief through the now-open door, only managing to grab the edge of the door with his reflexes, but even that was in vain, as the explosion had super-heated the wall, scorching his fingertips and sending him flying out into the inky blackness, even as the Rockman botanist looked on in horror, desperately pulling himself to safety.

 

The right engine was surprisingly fine, though shrapnel tore into it's protective armor, ripping much of it off, but retaining structural integrity. The ship now possessed a gaping hole on its tail, the bulkheads keeping most of the oxygen contained, but the damage to the power conduits meant the shields would fail in only a few minutes.

 

As the ship stopped rumbling, a jumble of wires having fallen out of the ceiling and onto her, the Colonel lifted her comm, clicking it on slowly. "Devas. If you have any power, punch the crystals and override the computer." It was at that point she realized that a rather large shard of supermetal had embedded itself into her left leg. "Override the computer, and get us out of here."

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: The explosion rocked the hallway Kenshin was in, causing several of his shots to miss. Even so, the two Mantis were already bleeding out on the floor. The sonic grenade and flashbang had not done them any favors.

 

Not willing to let them get back up, Harken quickly put a pair of plasma bolts in each of their heads.

 

Still keeping his weapon up and ready for anything that might try and kill them all he was about to ask for a sit rep over the radio when the panicked shouts of the Security Chief came over the radio. At the speed of thought Kenshin brought up the hacking suite on his armor and entered the ship's systems. His emergency codes granting him limited access, the special forces soldier tried to run a quick scan with the senors, only to find them missing. Instead, he switched to the backup ones that were a part of the teleporter system and searched for right transponder.

 

What is he doing in space?

 

With a thought and a second entering of his codes the teleporter activated, causing the spaceborn officer to vanish in a flash of light and reappear in the more safer and atmosphere filled teleporter room.

[AuRon the champion]

IC:

 

"Sorry ma'am, but Devas can't answer the phone right now!" A high-pitched voice replied.

 

While this happened, a very panicky Rehn was working to make sure that the ship could jump. It didn't help that someone was trying to cut through the Engineering doors, and it didn't help that Rehn had at best, a beginners education in the art of making ships move faster than what "normal science" could ever dream of.

 

Then again, Rehn had been living in a slightly stripped down ship about the size of the Kestrel for most of his existence.

 

Rehn seemed to be the only one in Engineering - he had no idea where Devas was - and was forcing himself to work faster than normal. He dashed from console to console, keying in coordinates, and powering the engines with everything he had. There was only one thing left to do. He just needed to push the large red button that someone had scribbled "Jump" onto. Maybe it was even Rehn who did that. He couldn't remember. Not right now at least.

 

He quickly sprinted across the room one final time, quickly looking over the accompanying screen. Normal ships don't do these sort of things. Normal ships get a full charge cycle.

 

Normal ships weren't under attack by Mantis invaders who were trying to cut their way into the same room as you and violently kill you to death.

 

Rehn quickly crossed his fingers (or his version of it) as he pressed the button, hoping the engines wouldn't detonate, implode, or anything that was remotely related to an explosion.

 

After all, considering how he was in Engineering, he'd be the first to know.

[Alex Humva]

IC

 

Jumping was a somewhat dangerous art, as the early explorers of humanity had found out. If not for the fact that Terra was overpopulated and its resources were running dry, they might have stopped after the first few accidents. The problem with flinging oneself lightyears at the time was that scientists still didn't understand if the ship properly moved through space, like a regular object, or created a wormhole of sorts. Due to the lack of the crew splattering from accelerating to thousands of times the speed of light in an instant, they suspected the latter, but even those models didn't fully account for the range of factors that happened after a jump. What they had learned over the years was that FTL jumps required a sturdy frame: strapping a jump drive to an astronaut was a good way to have a pile of atoms at the end of it all. With the advent of shield technology, this had become slightly less important, but still very vital in the grand scheme of things.

 

With the Kestrel, it's problems were twofold. The crystals had not properly warmed yet, a term not only referring to their heat but the regulation of their charge and the microscopic refinements that the engine's loading bay did to them to ensure 100% power efficiency. Then there was the problem that a large chunk of the ship was exposed to open space, though the supermetal structure was ultimately unharmed. With the shields flickering on and off, protection against the immense radiation and jump stresses was iffy.

 

But the cosmic dice rolled in favor of the crew, and so their ship hummed for a moment and blinked out of existence, leaving their Mantis pursuers to begin calculating the possible jump points and following sometime later.

 

/-/

 

"Sir, we've detected a jump signature. Running enhanced sensors... League designation sir, but they're spewing radiation, and it looks like their hull has been compromised. Twenty eight lifesigns detected, a few of them faint."

 

The ship was small, far smaller than the Kestrel. It's bridge was less that and more a cockpit, the pilot and navigations sitting side by side while a tall Engi stood behind them, looking out the glass and into the void.

 

"Hmm." Its voice was smooth and synthetic, an oddity for the Engi, who often tried to make their voices sound more... lifelike. "Perhaps the survivors of a pirate raid. What is the status of their weapons?"

 

"Unpowered."

 

"Move us in for a closer look. Prepare the grapplers, and send Reg to check on our prisoners: we can't let the ambassador feel uncomfortable, after all."

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: Kenshin took a moment to breath before activating his radio and speaking.

 

"This is specialist Harken. Is anyone still in need of assistance?"

[Xomeron]

IC:

 

Deep breaths came over the radio at first, as Can crouched in the teleporter room; a lifetime of living in the Belt and a few depressurization incidents had taught Can what to do; when he bulkhead breached, he exhaled, facing the vacuum with his eyes closed and his mouth open. His hopes prevailed when he was teleported back into the familiar teleporter room. He spent a few moments regaining his breath before speaking into his radio. "Security team, sound off. Status of boarders?"

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

"Engine room!" Rehn shouted into his radio, trying to search for some sort of hiding place, "they're trying to get in!"

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

The Colonel was taking some rather uncertain breaths, looking at her leg. It was below the knee, she needed to get it elevated... but it looked like the shard had embedded itself into the floor. She'd sooner rip her own leg off than that out of the hull. Worse, it seemed the shard had severed her bone, or at least partially cut into it. She could really use a vial of nanites right now... "Someone in medbay, please grab some nanites for me, I think I'm losing a bit of blood." She coughed, looking down at the puddle that was rapidly forming under her leg. Wasn't looking too great, though she expected she could manage. The sense of nausea wasn't a good sign, though.

 

"Chastain," she coughed over the comms, "you're in command now." And with that, she blacked out.

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - UFS Kestrel / Deck 2 / Counselor's office

 

...

 

"It would seem," drawled Wulf Kharon placidly, "that our opponents have just secured a slight victory, in terms of overall damage dealt."

 

Risking a cautious glance into the corridor, from whence the rattle of gunfire had abruptly ceased, the gargantuan privateer quickly espied two very much comprehensively extinct elite Mantis warriors, sprawled out limp and deceased across the polished floor.

 

"Two bugs down, three to go. Medbay is no longer the subject of immediate threat; I guess we'd better--"

 

The intercoms crackled.

 

"--make tracks for the engine room."

[Xomeron]

IC:

 

"Harken, get up to deck one." Can barked into his radio, some composure obviously having returned. "Rehn, port or starboard engine room? We're on our way."

[Zhangku]

IC: Souper Saladd

 

This day had already been extremely stressful for the slug. First they'd been shot at after nearly gathering all of the cooking ingredients that the slug would need for a few months (They'd been successfully salvaged more or less, due to the sealing system in the bag), then Souper had been thrown into a APC vehicle in a way that crushed some of the harder things beneath the slug's soft-looking body, and on top of that, several of the others were thinking so loudly about the amount of pain they were in that the Cook now had a slight headache. However, there were more important matters to deal with. As everyone still seemed extremely shell-shocked by the experience of being boarded (The slug had remained calm the entire time and had stroked their crystal-pistol to make sure that any mantis that got in would be shot full of face-melting death), the Chef heard a cry for help from a nearby hallway. The Colonel, Ojeda, needed help. Grabbing a vial of nanites that weren't currently in use by one of the many injured, the slug slipped by the majority of the idle crew, ignoring the fact that they were going into imminent danger if any of the mantis were still on board. Yawning, xhe arrived at the Colonel's side, holding up the vial, "The chef is here to serve you some medicine. The doctor is busy tending to the patients, here you are" Souper said as xhe handed it over to the wounded officer.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

Perhaps the Slug's mental abilities were impaired, as xhe soon realized that the Colonel was hardly responsive, head slumped down and clearly unconscious.

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: "Two Mantis neutralized In the deck two storage corridor. Heading to engine room now."

 

With that, Harken stormed off to the upper deck.