Alex Humva

Not in this life mate.

OOC

I think it's safe to assume that Quartz isn't his birth name.

IC [Quartz]

Nicole's pistol had little affect on the alien; the relatively small and non-piercing rounds pinged off his back, taking small chips of rock with them as they did. The acid, on the other hand, was slightly more of a problem. The Rockman tried to rub his face, but some drizzled into his eyes and he went blind, thrashing about wildly as he screamed a gruttal scream. Finally Quartz just sort of fell over, twitching on the ground. Apparently he didn't have as much experience with handling pain as his more primal brethren.

IC [Former friends of Engi hulk]

Alas, there just wasn't much that could be done in that situation. The pirates tried to stun the Rockman, but he held a repeating Gatling gun and they did not. And so, twitching slightly from muscle spasms, the Rockman stood victorious, a dead Engi, two wounded pirates, and three on the floor convulsing.

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

"Railgun charged ma'am."

"Take out their bridge." The Colonel watched with a grim look at the Kestrel and the pirate vessel traded blows. By now it was obviously crippled, the Major having loaded it with plasma and its critical systems down. Lifesigns were blinking out, and now a railgun shell blasted through the command deck, severing functionality and leaving the vessel dead in space.

"I am detecting seven remaining lifesigns, Colonel." The computer chimed. "What do you wish to do?"

"Leave them to asphyxiate. Walker, come back home. Computer, status of the boarders?"

"Sensors are still blind over Captain Harken's position, but the remaining hostiles have been neutralized."

"Get the ones still alive to the hanger and space them. Send our remaining security forces to Harken's position." The Colonel looked down at her console. "Devas, prepare to jump on my mark. This ship isn't worth salvaging parts off of."

So in a moment you won't see often, I'm actually putting up a profile contest of sorts.

The Kestrel can hold up to six fighters, and we currently have three. A fuller complement would be nice, and so for anyone who doesn't have a second profile already, you are welcome and possibly encouraged to make a fighter pilot to be picked up at the next station, on the frontier of Engi space. If we get more than three contenders me and Tyler will judge who gets in and who doesn't. I know some have been wanting a second character for a while now so here's your chance to get one.

IC [Quartz]

Mantis claws were very sharp, and very strong, but if there was any species in the cosmos equipped to go up against them, it was the Rockmen. The claw struck the rocky hide and cut into it, but only managing to make a shallow cut on the softer flesh underneath, making Quartz welp in pain and swing around, Can's legs lifting into the air from the sheer speed and smacking Kelezaag right in the mandibles. Roaring as adrenline filled his mind, Quartz threw the security man at the security insect and made a lumbering approach to pick up the Mantis and presumably squash it against the wall.

IC [Former Engi pirate friends]

Indeed they did; even as one of Kharon's rounds glazed a pirate's shoulder, three stun bolts found their way into his leg and chest, the privateer hitting the ground with a thud as his muscle seized up.

IC [Rockman pirates]

The human pirates fell, taken off guard by their formly stunned opponent. One managed to take cover, unloading a spray of stun energy into the suit, but a bullet went through his head before the suit could completely deactivate again. The remaining Rockman turned, dropping Ameli and moving to engage the captain.

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

"Clean up duty Walker, target their weapon emplacements." The ship rocked as it was buffeted by slower kinetic rounds, lasers attempting to bring down the shields. An alert came up on the screen, two torpedoes headed towards the Kestrel. The Colonel grimaced as evasive action was taken, but one of them managed to retarget the Kestrel, slamming into its aft, but failing penetrate the hull. "Preferably their missile bays first, Walker."

The pirate ship itself was being buffeted, its engines going offline as the railgun ripped through them. It was still a large vessel, though, and continued to return fire, buffeting the shields further and further down.

IC [The Narrator]

It was fitting, then, that as the Mantis stormed out of the adviser's office, she noticed the former security chief being held by a Rockman, not ten meters down the hall.

IC [Pirate captain]

Can's form began to fade from existence, then began to flicker in and out. The computer struggled to overcome the interference, the jammer apparently located elsewhere on the ship. Quartz, confused by it, pulled open the cell, attempting to grab onto the dematerializing Can. It was about that moment that the computer figured out the calculation to get around the interference, but with the two of them together it grabbed both of them in the beam, the two vanishing and leaving the pirate captain to contemplate her luck.

[Quartz]

The two rematerialized in the teleporter bay, Quartz temporarily confused by his new surroundings, but well aware of the fact that he had been teleported. Grabbing Can in one hand and his pistol in the other, he set out to figure out what exactly to do now.

[That dropship pilot]

The missiles proved an effective match for the not-so-nimble dropship, the two of them following the heat signature of the engine and ramming into it, sending the entire ship into a glorious and pretty spherical explosion.

IC [Computer]

"We were being attacked by Mantis, we fled the system as the Confederate fleet engaged them. We are currently under attack by pirates. The statistical likelihood of a jump point with hostiles is far greater in unchartered space."

To the Mantis,

"The Colonel is preoccupied. I would suggest waiting outside the portside airlock corridor, until I can override the bulkhead safety measures."

IC [Engi pirate and friends]

The Engi hulk collapsed in a pile of red-gray blood, neck twisted as it lay prone on the ground. The lights in its eyes flicked for a time and then went dark, the spinal column apparently having been severed. Now it left its decidedly more human foes, though they seemed to be more intelligent than your standard pirates, conserving their ammunition with bursts and making it nigh impossible to approach them without being shot at from both sides. All it'd take is one stun bolt to take them out, temporarily.

IC [Pirate captain]

"Quartz, break his arm."

The Rockman obliged, once again opening the cell door and, seizing the bound Can, snapped his lower arm with relative ease. Stepping out and closing the door once again, the pirate captain waited a moment for Can to recover his senses, and then started again. "Who you, why are you here, and who is your commanding officer?"

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

"Major, give them a full salvo, everything we've got. Railgun to their engines, target their sensor away with our lasers. Avoid depressurizing Lt. Skinter's location if you could, I'd prefer not to have to pick him up."

IC [The Computer]

"Doctor Sarany, there are no Mantis on board this vessel other than our own. I did, however, detect two Rockmen and a modified Engi, before the sensors began to blank. You will be informed of any imminent danger."

IC [Engi pirate]

In a last second maneuver, the Engi seized the shotgun, pushing it off as it fired. The slug tore through its arm, severing the major muscles and allowing it to go limp in the Rockman's hand. There was no roar of pain, no reaction from the Engi; the part of its brain processing pain wasn't on anymore. Gray goo cut the bleeding, the one-armed behemoth pulling itself back up as it grappled for the shotgun, keeping it pointed away while it headbutted the Rockman further down the hall, towards the bulkhead.

IC [Rockmen pirates]

The Vendarian's tactic was a good one, but her aim simply wasn't precise enough, especially not in these conditions, to hit the Rockman's eyes, though she did come close, plasma drizzling off of its rocky eyebrow and onto the more sensitive lid. With a howl it continued to charge forward, and Ameli's backpeddling found herself against the sealed bulkhead. Oddly enough, though, the Rockman didn't take the opportunity to smash her open against the wall, instead choosing to seize her arms, trying to get her to let go of her rifle.

With Harken, the situation was ever so slightly better. His rolling plan had worked, and now he was ready to impail the alien through the eye socket. Realizing its life was in proper danger, the Rockman took both hands, grabbing the blade as it fell down. It was a monumentally painful thing, cutting into its hands, but pain was something it had long since learned how to deal with. With one final heave, it swung the blade to the side and, with it, Harken, sending him rolling towards the airlock, while the Rockman's head went limp, apparently passed out from the sheer exertion, green blood oozing out from its palms.

Harken would have immediately gotten up, but it seemed the three other pirates had been ready; they unloaded their rifles into his suit, the armor unable to compensate for the sheer amount of energy being sent through it, rendering both it and Harken inert for the moment.

IC [Engi pirate and friends]

While the Engi hulk duked it out with the elder Rockman, the other five pirates were having a tough time of it, being shot at and all. They tried ducking behind small protrusions in the walls, one of them taking a shot to the hip and falling down. Another decided it was a good time for shock and awe, sealing his mask and tossing out a smoke grenade, causing a similar reaction to what was happening on the other-side of the ship; the nearest bulkhead sealed, the automatic fire response system trying to stop any spread. The pirates then started laying down covering fire for their hulk, stun energy flying and forcing the defenders into an awkward situation.

IC [Pirate cap'n]

At some point in their journey to the bridge, the Engi received a hail over the comm, and after some furious words in a language Can was unfamiliar with (perhaps an Engi dialect?), they reversed their course, descending a deck and going to the brig. The Rockman gave him a shove into a free cell and shut the door, glaring at him as the brig door hissed open to reveal the pirate captain. She gave him a look over, then scowled at the Engi. "You let him keep his visor on? Are you that bloody daft?"

"[it's a helmet, what's it going do?]"

"That's a Confederate helmet, they have live HUDs! Who knows what sort of data is being fed to him? Quartz, deal with it."

The Rockman reopened the door, its massive frame blocking the opening and, after some wrestling, took it for himself. Shutting the door, the Rock began to tinker with it, trying to look through the visor and figure it out. The pirate captain turned her attention back to Can proper, beginning her interrogation. "The ship sensors say you appeared out of nowhere; that means you teleported in. Your ship has a League transponder but is obviously a Federation vessel, and you're wearing a Confederate uniform. With all this in mind, what were you doing, what is your ship's purpose, and who is your commanding officer?"

IC [The Computer]

"Major Walker, the remaining dropship has disengaged from the airlock and is attempting to return to its vessel. You should be able to catch up to it in time to stop it."

And to Nicole's inquiry,

"I am compiling causality reports. My sensors have gone blind over Captain Harken and Adviser Halik, I am detecting residual stun radiation interfering with the biometric scanners. I suspect that there will be more wounded for you to treat soon, however."

And to Kelezaag's,

"I am sorry, but that information is restricted. I cannot access ship schematics that reveal the location of the various access points, the Colonel has sealed that information off to command staff only. I am working to override the bulkhead doors, however."

Try putting it in Games & Trivia and see how it goes down over there.

IC [Engi pirate]

While its comrades ducked to avoid getting hit by a table, the Engi hulk had to deal with a fist pounding into its fast. It stumbled back from the sheer force of the blow, a sickly reddish-gray blood seeping from its face, but it seemed to be more durable than your typical Engi, returning a one-two punch to the Rockman's face, trying to drive it back. The swordwielding young-one was of little matter to it; the stun darts weren't region specific, his entire body had seized up, and that didn't make for good sword-swinging. The hulk did take the opportunity to kick the downed Rockman in the jaw, though.

IC [shipside pirates]

The Engi's response, with its mechanically-assisted reflexes, was to level its weapon at Can and open fire, a spray of yellow energy coming out and striking Can in the chest. To the Belter's credit, he managed to get a shot out before he collapsed, but the Engi's helmet took the blunt of the blast. The inability to move didn't last long for Can, but by the time it wore off, his hands were cuffed behind his back and he was being escorted by the Rockman, though his original goal was successful; based on the schematics he had seen, they were taking him to the bridge. though his incendiaries and explosives had been stripped off.

IC [Engi pirate and friends]

With a successful missile lock, the dropship crew quickly became aware of their impending demise and rushed for the airlock, jumping through as the Engi hulk continued to press forward. Gaven's Rockman gymnastics just weren't up to the cut, primarily on the grounds that out of the Interspecies Olympics, Rockmen tended to do the worst there, and the young Rockman fell to the ground, muscles unresponsive. Kharon had faired better, and with the arrival of a new Rockman, the hulk dropped its cannon, seizing the table and giving the botanist a good shove backwards. The arrival of the rest of pirates was followed by an explosion and then a brief decompression, air rushing out through the new hole. Computer overrides took over, though, and the airlock closed, thus avoiding a horrible suffocating demise, but still leaving five armored pirates with guns to deal with.

IC [shipside pirates]

Skinter found no immediate resistance, though the sounds of the fire suppression system could be heard behind the bulkhead. There was a patrol incoming, his visor revealing a Rockman and an Engi. They were obviously on alert, and they seemed to know where Skinter was; perhaps the ship's sensors had finally picked his biometrics out.

OOC
Minor technicality note; when I said aft airlock I meant starboard airlock, so yeah, my bad. Just keep that in mind for future posts.

IC [The Computer]

"Currently there are five lifesigns on the portside dropship; I would suggest attempting to remove it first."

IC [Engi pirate]

The crystal shards pinged off the metal, thus going to show why non-living-crystal ammo in a crystal rifle was great for squishy organics and kevlar armor and less great for cutting into metal, and the Engi hulk promptly took some minor offense to having its nice gun shot at. It opened fire, spewing out stun rounds and consequently filling the room with random zaps of electricity as the stray rounds hit the wall and tried to ground themselves.

IC [some dead pirates]

In a somewhat anticlimatic fashion, the tether broke.

IC [Rock pirates]

A gruttal howl once again came from the Rockman, his knee buckling, bone likely fractured. His determination was not to be underestimated, though: even with a bad leg, the alien continued to have an iron hold on Harken's arms, though he was now destabilized, not able to fully plant himself on the ground with a broken knee. Perhaps a worse was the fact that the rest of the dropship team had crossed the airlock, smoke grenades rolling out and filling the hallway with the fumes. The ship's automatic fire suppression system came on, the nearby bulkhead shutting to prevent a spread. Now they were in a relatively confined space, in the dark, in the smoke, with two Rock and three unidentified armored individuals with assault rifles, a dull violent sheen visible through the smoke from their ultraviolet.

IC [Other pirates]

The privateer and Rockman's musings were interrupted by the bolts sliding open. They prepared for their charge, but soon found themselves a little stunned at the form coming out from the door. It was yet another behemoth, standing at seven foot in height and very nearly hitting its head on the ceiling. The stray wires dangling from it and the worn, dull metal sheen of its armor, occasionally revealing fleshy muscle fiber underneath, told the two that it was an Engi, though like no Engi they had ever seen before.

The Engi ability to repair almost everything in the known galaxy was legendary, as was their somewhat poor fighting styles. Engi were the ultimate outcome of merging nanite cybernetics into an organic form, but their aspirations were higher than merely boosting their physical forms. The Engi abhorred violence, and found that they would rather rely on their drones and their weaponry to do the fighting for them, rather than augment their own forms with such despicable weapons. This attitude was probably why they were favored targets of the Mantis raiders, and the reason for this being's creation. Not all agreed that violence was to be avoided, and some would augment themselves in more extreme ways.

Not that any of that really mattered to the two standing before it, what mattered moreso was what looked like a ionized Gatling gun it was holding, and the fact that it was pointed directly at them.

IC [Dem ship pirates]

The six entered the room, immediately filing out to begin searching, while two rushed to investigate the dead bodies. It might be possible to sneak past them... though Can would take note of the fact that they were carrying stun rifles, and not the more typical lethal variety.

IC [The Computer]

"Spaceman Landes' file says she is bloodtype AB, doctor."

IC [More pirates]

The plasma blades struck with a hiss on the Rockman's raised arms, the creature giving a howl, before pushing his arms apart and the blades away. Rockmen were renowned for their ability to walk through fires unharmed, and this was not only due to their inability to catch fire, but extremely high heat tolerances. Even Harken's plasma blades, superheated as they were, left only small indents on the Rockman's thick rock hide. It would take several seconds of hard pressure to cut through this behemoth, and it didn't seem to be willing to give Harken the chance, seizing his arms and beginning a struggle for dominance. Darkness was nothing new to this bull; he couldn't see, but he could feel. The plasma blades were also very handy to see with.

Yeah, that'd be reasonable to assume.

IC [Dropship]

The dropship currently tethered to the Falcon was now hanging limp, the bullets having cut into its engines and right through the cockpit, resulting in a rather nasty depressurization. The Falcon itself seemed intact, though a few stray rounds had cut through the wings. That'd need to be spotwelded back together.

IC [More pirates]

With a click, the safety bolts on the airlock in front of Harken and Ameli clicked open, the computer about to respond to Harken's inquiry but deciding that it was rather moot now. At first, nothing emerged, and then a grenade rolled out.

The flashbang had little effect on the armored individuals, though poor Taylor may have lost his sight for the day, but in the brief smoke they couldn't see the next salvo; a high-yield EMP grenade, erupting in front of Harken and temporarily disrupting his suit. The military defenses would quickly restore functionality, but even as they kicked back on and his visor cleared, the captain was confronted by something no military man ever wanted to see; the sight of a very angry Rockman staring down at him.

With a clossal punch Harken was sent skidding back a few meters, two Rockmen now advancing, apparently wielding nothing but their firsts and a sour attitude.

IC [The Computer]

"Doctor Sarany, you do have medical training, do you not? Lt. Colonel Chastain does not possess any medical training outside of the required courses of the Terran Space Academy. You have made some mistakes, likely in the heat of the moment, but this is not an excuse to abandon your duties. Please doctor, treat your patient."

IC [The ship pirates]

As Can scattered detpacks around the engine room, his visor alerted him to something odd; the technical term appeared for it but it could best be described as a quantum flux, disrupting the teleporter. The teleporter's own computer was trying to calculate a new beam path, but something was running interference. Can's academy days would tell him that this was likely the work of Engi technology, developed and sold to Earth to prevent teleportation aboard their vessels. It was expensive and relatively rare, but it was possible this pirate vessel had stolen one.

Even more troublesome was the fact that the visor showed the lifesigns of six pirates advancing on the main door.

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

"Colonel, I am prepared to assist in any manner you deem sufficent."

"Captain Harken could use some backup, no doubt. I'd suggest assisting him." The Colonel was intently observing a tactical display. "I remember this design... it's newer, must have came out with an updated model, but it has the same layout... Daniels, lock the railgun onto these coordinates and fire on my mark."

IC [Pirates]

Can soon found that it was not the glove that was made of supermetal, but the man's hand; he was an amputee, and had a cybernetic replacement.

IC [Pirates]

The gloved pirate fell, gasping at the plasma cooled and seared the wound shut. Two pirates down, just one remaining on the floor, trying in vain to move her shot arm, gun laying out of reach of the good hand. She scowled and, with her good hand, slammed the panel behind her, not quite reaching the proper alarm but causing a surge in one of the reactor cores, something sure to attract bridge crew attention and alert them that something was wrong.

IC [The Computer]

"Doctor Sarany, medbay sensors indicate erratic neural behavior and blood swelling in the upper abdominal area. I suspect the blood pressure has ruptured one of her intestinal grafts. Prompt application of nanites and further surgery may be required. In addition, passive EEG suggests continued brain abnormalities. Smelling salts are in cabinet B to help prevent unconsciousness."

IC [Dorian]

Uh-oh. Dorian's voice, like Ashley's mind, was somewhat garbled. I... I think I see a light. Possibly the one on the ceiling. I'm also starting to feel a sharp stab of pain in my imaginary head. I... think your higher functions are starting to be affected. We gotta pull through, gotta ignore the pain, pain's only in the mind, right?

IC [The Colonel]

"They'll probably shut off their speakers, Ambassador, but I appreciate the thought. Begin broadcasting whitenoise, we don't want them calling for help if they have any allies nearby." She turned to the pilot. "Do what you can, if nothing else we'll through their inertia off."

IC [Pirates!]

The swordsman fell, the elbow hitting the solar plexis and knocking the wind right out of the pirate, but the gloved pirate remained stubborn as ever, plasma round wizzing past his ear as he drew his own sword, revolver in one and sword in the other. In a flurry, he lashed out with the saber, attempting to disarm Skinter, while also leveling his own gun to the man's center of mass and firing.

IC [MORE PIRATES!]

The pilot of the dropship cursed, his ship being tossed to the side by the sudden maneuver. He responded in kind, though, ramming the fighter right back, confident that the sturdier hull of the dropship could win against Federation shields. A grappling cord flew out and attached itself to the Falcon's hull, tethering the two together and locking their engines in a competition with one another.

IC [EVEN MORE PIRATES]

The two dropships had grappled securely, the modular airlocks clinking together. Now it was a matter of time; the door's manual access began to be hacked, while the pirates set up a portable plasma torch, if they needed to cut through the bolts the hard way. They would be in within minutes.

IC [Pirates]

The gun-yielding pirate provided a surprise; when the sword hit his gloved hand, it made a nice little cling sound as supermetal bounced off of supermetal. There was better luck with the gun, though, a plasma round embedding itself into the woman's shoulder and allowing Can to turn his attention to the other sword-bearer, who happened to be midway through a strike to cut Can's sword arm in half.

IC [More pirates!]

Walker's day would only get worse, as two of the dropships were now trying to keep on either side of her, their side turrets forcing her to keep moving erratically. One of the dropships did seem to have been damaged enough to start drifting, though, its engines flickering as it spiraled out into space. By now, the other two had penetrated the Kestrel's outer shields, moving in to grapple onto the airlocks.

IC [Dropships]

The dropships immediately began taking evasive action, breaking off from the formation, while what appeared to be shields flickered on the damaged dropship. It'd definitely make things interesting, especially as the dropships' guns came to life, one dropship breaking off to try and chase the Falcon away.

IC [Engineering]

The good news was that Skinter didn't materialize into a wall. The bad news was that there were three pirates standing there, looking down at their consoles, and now slightly confused at the sudden arrival of an armored man. The confusion wouldn't last long, two reaching for their swords while the other pulled out a revolver. Can's visor flickered to life, lifesign outlines appearing and, possibly more important in this situation, the outline of energy conduits in the floor.

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

"Security personnel, report to the Deck 2 airlocks. Wulf and Errogaven, portside airlock, Harken and Taylor, starboard airlock. Walker's holding them off but it looks like they're shielded, we might not be able to stop them."