Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2 - Games

"Um..." Amelia is taken back, but quickly fixes her composure. She clears her throat, straightens her back, then proceeds with what she found: "The sample I was given by Yanim contained a toxin that I was tasked to analyze. The toxic agent known as "Method-921" was found in the blood sample. Originally identified by Collective scientists in 2357, M-921 is designed to kill on exposure due to rapid injection of a viral component into the nuclei of nerve cells which prevent transmission of signals, rapidly inducing seizure, then death." "Not only have I found trace elements of M-921 within the sample, but after further analysis, 'viral cells', which have been modified by exposure in order to create more toxin, have also been found."

"And the rest of it," Yanim replied, grimly, "what you told me about nerve damage if the victim survives initial exposure." The others shifted uneasily.

Amelia sighs, "If death by exposure is prevented, these residual cells build up additional toxin within the cytoplasm before expelling it in a large wave, causing progressively-worsened exposure symptoms and irreversible damage." She turns to Yanim, "Cultivating and using the toxin from the sample would be immensely cruel, as it would result in either a quick and painful death for an enemy, or a long and still just as painful death." "The [i]only[/i] known method to cure the victim is through the use of calibrated nano-machines within the first few days of exposure to expel and eradicate the toxin."

Yanim nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor in front of her. "Amelia..." Amelia felt extremely uncomfortable with Yanim's demeanor. "...That was my blood. The poison has been in me for almost a year." She sounded calm, albeit dejected, but Arkadam could tell from the way she gripped his hand that she was facing something terrifying. "When were you going to tell me about this?" Arkadam asked quietly. Yanim simply shook her head. She had no answer because she didn't know. "This is why you shouldn't sacrifice yourself for me," she answered instead. "I had been hopeful, maybe in denial, for a very long time... and while I want to live while I'm alive, I can't allow my... [I]'condition'[/I] to interfere with-" "No..." Arkadam croaked. "No, there has to be a way. We live in the 24th century, we have all the means in imagination-" "It's not a widely-used biotoxin, it's not like there's an anti-viral cure just sitting around," Yanim snapped. "And we may have all the tools, but we don't have time. Amelia, I'm sorry for having not told you the truth, but I knew that I was doomed before I ever delivered that sample. I'll be dead within a year. All I wanted was to know the name of my killer. And you, sekadera-" she said as she wheeled around, unsure of what to say. She hadn't prepared to say anything to Iska about her illness. "I'm sorry. I was too late. I should have listened to you a long time ago and avoided all this."

"..." Amelia stared at the ill-fated Yanim. She forces her eyes away with her head lowering into her body as she listens to Yanim and Arkadam plead with each other. As Yanim speaks Amelia's name again, the biologist gives a quick look, but then looks away yet again. Not wanting to come to terms with this new information.

Iron remained quiet and studied Yanim. "So what now boss? We can't just pretend that you're not... [i]dying[/i]."

"The obvious and immediate answer to that question is to find our safe harbor, Iron. But I suppose you're speaking more generally than that," Yanim replied, distantly. "As I see it, there are a lot of questions that we should be asking about our futures, but the issue of my illness shouldn't be one of them, as hard as it might be to ignore. It already has an answer and I've accepted it, as much as I wish it could be another way. "The most pressing issue we have to address is this: Rask had his hands on a large share of this company's finances, and I'm very worried about what he might have done before the attack today. If he stole a large share of it and put it out of my reach, then this whole expedition to Rigel might be the last light of the dig." "Yanim," Arkadam said, trying holding back tears, "that idiom doesn't translate." "Then give me a better one," she replied quickly. "[I]The straw that breaks the camel's back.[/I]" "Thank you, but what does camel-" Yanim began to say, but Arkadam had released her hand and walked away, appearing overwhelmed with the situation. She stared for a moment, and the crew could finally see the heartbreak she was trying to hide. Her empty hand fidgeted uncontrollably and she promptly snatched it up in her other hand, forcing the twitching to subside. Fiercely, she turned back to the others to finish her explanation. "I had plans for this company; your missions were to be just the beginning of it all. But the Aurikha is essential to everything and if I can't get it repaired than everything I've worked for will be lost. [I]But,[/I] if I still have the money or if I can find an arrangement to put you all in a new vessel within the coming days, at the very least I can send you away before it's too late. At this point, your lives are [I]immensely[/I] more valuable than mine, and I'm no fool; this ship will take at least three weeks, maybe more, to become spaceflight ready again- and that's provided that we find everything we need where we're going, and I doubt we will- and that's far too long. Our enemies will find us again and in even greater number than what we faced today. I cannot, and will not, ask you to defend the Aurikha further. "That means one thing. Your mission is to find this ship and get off this planet. Had this happened a month ago, I might have advised you to steal one, but we've chosen to walk a different path, have we not? If we can't get you a replacement for the Muramasa through legitimate means, then I expect you to walk. Distance yourselves from this company as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Build new and incredible ventures under some other banner, and do better than I did. Now..." she said with a sniffle, "if you'll excuse me." She walked away in Arkadam's footsteps. Ravis, who had arrived at some point during the conversation, nervously approached Iska. "E- excuse me, miss. Where did, uh, where are we landing, exactly?"

Iron simply glanced at the others before walking up to Taylor. "This ain't good. Got any ideas?"

Taylor stood by quietly, listening to them talk about Yanim's condition and their future. [I]So, the boss is dying...and is more worried about us than herself.[/I] She listened to Yanim finish, then wander off after her lover. Taylor glanced down to the floor, thinking over everything that was said and what had transpired earlier. [QUOTE]"This ain't good. Got any ideas?"[/QUOTE] Taylor's head snapped up out of her trance to see Iron. "...I have one, but it might not help much." she said, almost muttering. She paused for a few moments. "I'm going to talk to my mother, first." she finally said. She walked over to where Amelia was still standing, and said "That man over there needs to speak to you and Porter. He's Orso, a Boome Marine. Has sort of an issue that you could help him out with." And with that, Taylor walked towards the Cataract. - - - - - - - - - - Valkyrie stood nearby, her own mind processing everything that happened. So they were stuck here unless they could get another ship the legit way. [I]Soooo pull off a fucking miracle?[/I] She rolled her eyes. She considered just leaving now, but she'd have to get in contact with a certain someone first. She also headed for the Cataract, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets.

Iska lit a cigarette, the clear smell of the strong taubor red label escaping from it and turned to Ravis, "We going to Stalnazyp, Iska is commander. Militia have Khrosus hangar for small ship there, but must land big ship on outskirt." She then turned to Taylor, but she simply finished talking to Iron and then walked away. She inspected those who were still in the hangar. Sting had left for her own small ship, so the gathering of people had begun to disperse. Iska took a drag from her cigarette. Yanim had obviously fought a personal battle with what she thought was right and had dragged a group of people into it along the way. Now that Yanim had had a change of heart it seemed like a lot of the crew were unsure about how to continue. She frowned and blew out the smoke and turned to Iron. He looked capable, and he reminded her of Lion Eastlindh from her time in on the Archius some years ago. "You have bar on ship? Iska want to talk."

"A bar?" Ravis perked up, even though Iska hadn't been talking to him. "There's one in the, ehm, that ship over there, miss," he said, pointing at the Cataract. "I dunno if the boss has one on the big ship, but... uh..." he trailed off as he stepped away, realizing he had interrupted. Across the hangar, the elevator doors opened. Constantine and Jag came walking out. Both were utterly filthy, having apparently just come from the reactor room floor. There had been a lot of heavy lifting needed and Jag was just the sort of strong, flexible tool needed for the job. Plus, the radiation leaks weren't as much of a problem for a creature accustomed to direct exposure to cosmic rays. Constantine was in the midst of complaining, quite loudly, about a charge of 50 megawatts he had been tasked to gather apparently without reason, when Jag froze in mid-step. "Something wrong?" Constantine asked as he looked in the same direction, spotting Iska as well as Orso and the other Boomes. "And who the hell are you people?" he asked with a bemused smile.

[QUOTE]And who the hell are you people?[/QUOTE] "We were meant to be the cavalry, but our ship got shot down." Osro shrugged "So I dont know what that makes us now."

"It is nothing, superior Constantine," the sanghvi said, cryptically, before skulking over toward the remaining group in the hangar. Iska immediately felt as if she were being closely watched as Jag approached, but the latter stopped well short of her personal space. Constantine shrugged and followed, addressing Orso. "The cavalry don't always save the day, you know. But I'm sure we're happy to have you nonetheless. Things could have been a lot worse back there. We owe our lives to a lot of lucky breaks and quick thinking. Wish I could have seen how you all did it, but I had my hands full."

Iska shifted the cigarette in her mouth, eyeing Jag with a bit of curiosity. The shaky fellow had told her about that the bar located in the Muramasa, who was sitting defunct in the in it's own corner. If they had a bar there she could inspect the damages at the same time. She eyed Constantine for a brief moment, then shoot a small smile towards Ravis, "Thanks you. Your remind Iska of someone from long time ago. Only you not annoying." she said with a friendly tone and then looked back to Iron. "We go, call engineer to come to bar." she said while gesturing for him to follow as she began walking towards the Muramasa.

Iron nodded and followed Iska. "How can I help you ma'am?"

Iska continued to walk, "Yanim always use big words, Iska have sometimes hard to understand. Need new ship or old one repaired, yes?" she asked.

Iron glanced over his shoulder back at the crew. "Truth to be told I'm not sure." He shrugged. "I'm still new to this crew and from what I can tell thing's haven't been easy." The bounty hunter sighed. "Yanim have been fighting a war on herself basically and from what I can gather alot of the major players have traded punches one or twice with her and the Terika company." He nodded towards Iska. "Now I'm not too sure how you're connected to her but she seems genuienly relieved to see you."

Iska puffed on her cigarette, "Iska and Yanim was on same crew. But Yanim go after she was angry. She was good person, Iska warn her of doing stuff when angry." They entered the Muramasa and walked to the bar. "Iska think Yanim only need help and Iska will help." Iska walked behind the counter, finding most of the bottles broken, but a bottle of Orlok had miraculously survived. She poured herself a glass and put on some music from her transmitter. [quote][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09RbGsUkRIc[/media][/quote] She looked up at Iron, "Now tell Iska about you." she said with a grin as she took a swig from the glass.

While the others were contemplating the future of their careers after learning of Yanim's inevitable demise, Chemosh lifted off in his starfighter and was practicing maneuvers within the hangar. On the other hand, Moloch retreated into his quarters onboard the Cataract to jam out on his setar.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate any help she can get." Iron sat down and begun to clean his revolver. He chuckled underneath his mask in response to Iskas question. "Me? Well, I'm just a bounty hunter picking up jobs here and there." "Don't worry, I'm not gonna' try anything with you." Said Iron while gesturing with a piece from his gun. "Infact most of my bounties come from the people that follow the big fish." "Crimelords, warlords, mobsters, pirates, hitmen and other fun people wanted by the big players." Iron used a small piece of cloth to polish the metal on his gun. "Brings in alot of credits and it keeps most of the big players at ease, something which helps in my line of work." Iron looked up at Iska and nodded. "So what about this crew you and the boss were on? Mining? Smuggling? Security?" He paused. [i]"Black ops?"[/i]

Iska eyed Iron over the rim of her glass, "10 million is big credit" she said with a neutral tone, "and Big Player not always good people" she finished, looking at a small tattoo of three chain links on her right wrist. She took another swig from her glass and picked up her cig that was resting on a ashtray. She leaned on the counter to be on the same height of Iron, "Yanima and Iska was treasure hunters" she said with a lighthearted tone when her face and voice turned serious, "And warparty. Iron man know of Zeruel?"

Iron smiled under his mask. "10 million is indeed alot, but I'm not that stupid nor am I greedy ma'am." "Zeruel? The planet that blew up? Can't say I know alot about it."

János hadn't been paying attention much to what was going on, as he was hiding behind the boxes after his freak out. He was regretting everything he had done up to this point, constantly replaying the day he met Moloch in his head at high speeds. He just stopped it at one point, not being able to take it anymore. He tried to calm down. Breathe in, breathe out. He felt slightly calmer, despite that not doing anything really. He looked out again to see what was going on, to notice that Moloch and Chemosh had moved! He looked for them, as he shiftily moved from one cover to another. He looked up and saw it - Chemosh charging at Sting before being forced to the ground by Moloch! He looked on for a few more seconds, before going into his cover. Frosty would never charge at someone! Unless it was him, probably. János was freaking out even more, as he wondered what he should do with this knowledge. However, at the midst of freaking out, he heard something. He shook his body a bit - the noise was coming from within him. His complete freakout stopped in an instant, replaced with intense worrying. He came out of the cover when no one was looking, rushed over to his MAWS, grabbed it, and speedwalked back to his room to regroup with himself.

Iska took a look at Iron for a brief moment. "Good" she replied, taking a final swig from her glass. She poured herself another glass, "Mechanics can fix ship, but will take long time. Other clan, Mahak, has ship Yanim can buy. But there is problem." she explained.

Iron looked at Iska with renewed curiosity. "I'm listening."

Taylor arrived at her room, stripping out of the Boome Marine armor she had borrowed and changing into actual clothes instead of spats and a tank top. She took her time, as the plasma burns from earlier still stung a bit. Just part of the job. When she finished, she sat down on her bed with her holotablet in hand. She took a moment to prepare herself, as her mother was probably going to chew her out for getting herself involved in all of this and stuck on bounty lists in various parts of the galaxy. She finally sighed and tapped the screen, then attempted to contact her mother. She was more than likely still on the Cornell, her personal gunship, as it had only been a little while since they spoke before. A few minutes later, Miranda answered, her face appearing on screen. Music played faintly in the background, and she had apparently changed clothes. A cigarette jutted from the corner of her mouth, smoke drifting lazily away from it. "Hey, mom. Sorry I had to run earlier. We sort of had some problems to deal with here, but its over now." said Taylor, trying her best to make it seem like the firefight earlier hadn't happened. Miranda's expression didn't change, remaining rather serious. "Yeah, problems in the form of Ayr and Kanad ships." she said. Taylor went quiet. "Taylor, I'm a former bounty hunter. I'm best friends with a bounty broker who has contacts across the galaxy. She's also a former Federation intelligence agent. I can find out where you are and what you're doing pretty damn quickly." Miranda paused for a moment, then continued. "You have a bounty on you, Taylor. Along with most of the others in the crew you're with. Iron is practically the only one there [B]WITHOUT[/B] a bounty. [I]And that's because he's a fucking [B]hunter[/B].[/I]" Miranda then sighed and sat back in her seat. She exhaled a puff of smoke. "...but I know you, Maddie. You wouldn't do something stupid...so there's a good reason why you're still sticking around with these people." Taylor nodded after a moment. "Well...guess I'd better tell you why." The next few minutes were spent explaining everything that had happened to her mother. Their previous missions, objectives...everything. Finally, she finished. "...and now we're stuck here until we find a ship the legit way. I planned on offering up my money, as well as...well...the money from an account I had made for you." Miranda raised an eyebrow. "...You made an account for me? Why?" Taylor sighed, then explained. "It was in case you ever decided to retire from Pyri II and the BCB, and wanted to move somewhere more comfortable. You'd have money to buy a place and live nicely." Miranda chuckled a bit. "Sweetheart, have you ever known me to want to take things easy? Besides...I already have an account." Taylor gave her a look of confusion. Miranda noticed and smirked. "Did you really think that I gave my old one up after retiring from bounty hunter work? Anyway, give me a moment." Miranda turned a bit, typing on a holoscreen near her. A moment later, Taylor's holotablet got a ping. A small message popped up on screen, stating that money had been deposited into her account. She checked her account, with the call still going, and her eyes went rather wide. Miranda noticed her expression. "...remember the story I told you and Iron of how I lost my eye? That's the credits I got from that. Keres Company was worth [I][B]quite a lot[/B][/I] to a lot of people..." she said, her voice trailing off. "T-This is [I]a lot[/I] of money. Are you sure?" said Taylor, looking back to her mother. Miranda nodded. "Use it. I trust your judgement. I certainly don't need it." she said, with a smile. Taylor was quiet for a few moments, then finally said "Thanks, mom." "Take care, baby girl. Things will get worse before the end. Be strong, and stay alive...you've got a bit of me in you, so I know you can do it." replied Miranda, with a chuckle at the end. Taylor smiled, and shortly afterwards the call ended. She tapped on the screen a few more times, transfering everything she had put into the secondary account into her primary, then slipped the holotablet into her pocket before heading back outside. She'd need to find Yanim and tell her the news. - - - - - - - - - - - - [QUOTE][video=youtube;_EOWfvX2czw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EOWfvX2czw[/video][/QUOTE] "How's things, Jester?" "Proceeding beautifully...I love it when a plan comes together. Its almost arousing." "So you got a crew to build it? Where?" "An abandoned stardock near Bravada in the RQ. Called in a few favors from some old contacts from back when I was...[I]more organic.[/I]" "Good...we'll have to assemble a crew. I know quite a few that would probably be up for it." "Indeed. As do I. Heard that Blackstar have an exceptional engineer that we could use. 'Zadra Masir', I believe her name is...interesting little thing." "Oh? We could use her. The Blackstar probably aren't putting her to good use anyway. Anyway, I might be here a bit longer, but I'll call you when I'm ready for pickup." "[I]Tah-tah for now, Val.[/I]" Valkyrie opened her eyes, blinking a bit. Well, everything was set up. Soon enough, her own pirate crew would be on the prowl. She even had a name already as well as a logo. She pulled it up on her holotablet next to her, along with the the group name. [URL="http://puu.sh/vcZHy/ce18afc05a.png"]'The Blackwell Reavers.'[/URL] She grinned a bit, before returning to the workbench she was next to when she heard the AI module beep. Her Eve AI was complete. Now she just had to construct a body for it...

Iska eyed Iron, "Problem. Iska only trust Yanim and Yanim not herself. Iska will not say good for you to Mahak." she said with a neutral tone. She swept the rest of her drink when Neasha announced on the intercom that they would be landing outside of Stalnazyp. She walked around the bar counter and looked at Iron, "And about capture, hunter, Iska been lied to before." she said with a frown before exiting for the hangar.

"I'll keep that in mind." Said Iron, still trying to piece together just what kind of person Iska was. As the bounty hunter finished up inside the bar and headed back outside he stumbled into Taylor who looked much more positive now than she had done several minutes earlier. "Hey, any news?"

[QUOTE]"Hey, any news?"[/QUOTE] Taylor glanced over to see Iron. "Well, I might have the credits to give Yanim should we not be able to get the funds Rask stole back. First, I'll have to see if she'll even take the credits. Should be enough to cover what he took, and get us close to being able to afford a new ship." said Taylor, patting her pocket.

[i]Meanwhile in Stalnazyp...[/i] Karl and Uzhaki dismounted the skiffs and looked around. They were currently in the outskirts of the community known as Stalnazyp, it was the headquarters of the Volgrims. Several militia fighters could be seen wandering the streets and the vehicles parked throughout the streets were either civilian transports, mining vehicles or modified military transports and APCs. Karl took a deep breath and looked around, spotting a worn neon sign depicting a smiling Khergian in armor holding a bottle which moved up and down. Uzhaki looked at Karl. "That is bar." Karl smiled and nodded. "Then let's not waste any time out here." Uzhaki shrugged and joined Karl as he approached the bar. Before they entered a large party of varying individuals left the establishment and walked past Karl and his guide. The only thing which made the party stand out from any other rag-tag crew was their smallest member who appeared to be a bunny? Stomper glared at Karl and Uzhaki. "'See something interesting, asshole?" Before Karl and Uzhaki could respond Torvald stepped in. "Sorry for that, my friend here doesn't like it when people look at him." Karl nodded understandingly. "No offense taken, safe travels friend." Torvald smiled and nodded. "To you as well." The larger party continued their walk towards the landing zone at the city limits, possibly to continue on their own grand adventure. Meanwhile Karl and Uzhaki headed into the bar. [video=youtube;muQhlZdrAVw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muQhlZdrAVw[/video] As soon as Karl and Uzhaki stepped into the bar they were struck by the smell of strong alcohol, sweat and machine oil. While the combination was rather uncomfortable it wasn't all that surprising considering just what kind of people who lived in Stalnazyp. Old blues from some long-gone musician could be heard from a rusty jukebox in the far corner. Miners, traders and guerillas were huddled down at the dozen of tables. Two members of the local militia, wearing the emblem of clan Volgrim, eyed Karl as he walked towards the bar. They nodded back in return. The bartender, a gigantic Khergian man, looked up at Karl. "Hello traveler, I welcome you to the [i]Smiling Warrior[/i]. My name is Trikaz Volgrim." The bartender gestured towards the rows of bottles behind him. "What drink you want?" Karl removed his helmet as he sat down on one of the barstools and placed it on the counter. "Hit me with your strongest drink." Uzhaki turned to Karl. "Is Karl sure this would be good idea?" The bartender eyed Karl as well. The Valhallan smiled. "Don't worry, I'm from Valhalla. I can take it." He looked at the bartender. "I'll pay for a second glass as well, for my friend here." Knowing fully-well that his clients were responsible for their own actions Trikaz grabbed a bottle and poured out some of its content into two glasses. "Enjoy." Uzhaki and Karl nodded at eachother before taking a quick sweep. Uzhaki smiled. "Feels just like mothers homebrew, very warm." He looked at Karl who nodded with a smile. The Valhallan had a fain red tint on his cheeks. "Now this is what I call a drink!" Trikaz stared at Karl in confusion. He picked up the bottle and read the label once more. "Human should be in pain after this, not first time drinking Khergian booze?" Karl smiled and shook his head. "Correct." He leaned in. "When I was a teenager my friends and I used to sneak into an old factory to drink, smoke and playe games. Many of the friends I grew up with were Khergians." Trikaz nodded with newfound respect. "Trikaz think you are braver than other of your kind." He chuckled. "Maybe even more stupid too!" Karl laughed. "I'll drink to that!"