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

Seth stood in the hangar next to Taylor. The Muramasa was kind enough to offer them a ride. Perfectly fine by him. Their previous ship that was borrowed wasn't exactly well fitted for a mission like this if his recent luck with ships was any indication. Once they got aboard and took off, he still managed to organize a few things on his end. One thing on the agenda, was Orso and his men. The five of them nearly fell over in shock when Seth dropped the bomb on them. Because of the skills, courage and initiative they displayed on RIger, they were now a part of the Wolfpack. An honor reserved for only the best of the Boome, second only to Father's honor guard. The mercs were 25 in total on board, not counting the crew. Small number, but most were veterans who have fought the Creed on many occasions. The last clash left many of them wanting payback. Seth was more than happy to take them to cash it in. Amy and Alex were sitting near the tank. For now they were more than happy to just observe rather than participate in whatever the plan was, but they knew they would have an active role in it. They just hoped that the commander would stay true to his word and not pull something.

The shuttle touched down with a loud [i]thud[/i] before slowly starting to de-pressurize the interior. White steam and smoke shot out from several smaller ventilation shafts as the ramp slowly deployed. Ten SDF [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starpath/images/e/e9/SDF_OMS.png/revision/latest?cb=20161123203535]OMS troopers[/url] walked down the ramp and formed up around the shuttle, establishing a protective perimeter. Right behind them was Captain Marshall himself and SSMC Captain Trudy Smith who approached Seth and Taylor while escorted by two of the OMS troopers. Marshall saluted Rollonso. "Commander, it's an honor." He turned towards Taylor and extended his hand. "Captain Caine, pleased to meet you. The SSOID has briefed my crew and I on you and the other mercenaries." He gestured towards himself. "I'm Captain Marshall and my colleague here is Marine Captain Trudy Smith." Trudy nodded. "Pleased to meet you all."

"A pleasure. Since you're briefed, then you know why we're here. So let's get on with it."

Taylor simply tilted her head a bit, glancing to Valkyrie nearby. She was worried that Valk might do something, especially with ACTUAL SDF troops standing right in front of her...and her sitting on a still-running tank. Valk watched in silence, the cigarette hanging from her mouth and her eyes locked onto the SDF leaders in a sort of death glare. "What he said." said Taylor, looking back to the two before her. She wasn't exactly thrilled about them either, considering the SSOID had Maddox join the crew to spy on them. Otherwise, she probably would have saluted them.

Sting crawled out of her hut, looked up and pointed at Marshall, "Hol up, hoss. Yous gotta explain how ya can be both a captain an' Marshall [I]at the same time.[/I] Ya can't do that."

After taking off from the planet, Ravis decided to get some practice with his new 85BKM rifle, and traveled to the armory to use the shooting range. He was oblivious to the meeting taking place in the hangar. Still dressed in jeans and a carefully-modified hoodie, he felt socially at-ease with his comrades, but he still felt a nagging sense of unpreparedness. He had performed well on the last mission, but only in a role which required running and hiding; there was a knot in the pit of his stomach every time he pictured what would happen if he were forced to fight the enemy head-on. He shouldered the rifle and activated the range. Squeezing the trigger brought on a short delay with a whine as the kanad plasma coils reached their highest energy levels. The blowoff valve activated, knocking his aim slightly off center as the gun went off in full-automatic. Quickly, Ravis was off target completely and almost firing into the roof before he forced himself to release the trigger. He shook off his nerves and pushed the stock into his shoulder again. "Practice makes perfect..." he said to himself quietly before trying again.

Marshall nodded. "Very well, I'll signal my ship to begin the jump. During the jump Marine Captain Smith and I, as well as the soldiers with us, will remain onboard the Muramasa." Trudy spoke up. "We have been instructed to remain here partially to brief you on the tactical intel available and to offer any possible assistance but also to act as leverage." "The brass up top believes you'll feel safer having two high-ranking "hostages" onboard." Muttered Marshall. Both Marshall and Trudy displayed how greatly this annoyed them. "The jump will commence as soon as you signal my ship."

Valkyrie perked up nearby as soon as she heard the word 'hostages'. "[I]Hostages[/I], eh?" she said, a sick grin stretching slowly across her face. "Valk, no." said Taylor, cutting her a look. Valkyrie stood up, balancing herself on the barrel of the tank's main gun. "I know, I know. I'm not going to do anything to them. We'd all be killed in the process! But..." she said, shrugging, "...you never know what might happen in the heat of battle. [I]Friendly fire is a real bitch.[/I]" Taylor sighed, then looked to the pair before her yet again. "I'll signal them immediately. Don't worry about her."

Marshall nodded. "I'm not too concerned about Miss Blackwell." He glanced at Valk with an uninterested look. "Where we are going there will be plenty of targets."

[QUOTE]"I'm not too concerned about Miss Blackwell. Where we are going there will be plenty of targets."[/QUOTE] "You really underestimate her hatred of the SDF, then." said Taylor. She glanced to Valk once more, then motioned for them to follow. "You can join me on the bridge as we warp." She then turned and walked back towards the elevator, heading back to the bridge.

"Oh, captain." Seth tried the get the SDF's attention "The SDF one, you still haven't answered her question." He pointed towards Sting.

"If you insist." Marshall nodded at Trudy who nodded back in return. She stepped back and positioned herself infront of the shuttle while the two OMS bodyguards followed Marshall and Taylor. As they left the hangar Marshall glanced at Taylor. "I doubt Miss Blackwell's hatred outweighs that of the USR and its sympathizers." He shrugged. "Then again I'm impressed she is as calm as she is, considering her dossier." The captain grunted to himself. "Same goes for you, captain. Your records are not without its story." As the two of them reached the bridge the OMS troopers remained at the door. Marshall turned over a holotablet to Taylor. "When you're ready." --- Inside the hangar Trudy eyed the Koronovs with interest while troopers observed Valk with a growing sense of unease from behind their visors. Hopefully the trip would be relatively uneventful. [editline]7th December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=kilerabv;52952970]"Oh, captain." Seth tried the get the SDF's attention "The SDF one, you still haven't answered her question." He pointed towards Sting.[/QUOTE] Trudy answered in Marshall's place. "He didn't answer because it wasn't an important question, sir." She stared at Sting. "Captain Marshall is a bit more special than your average deputy."

[QUOTE]"Same goes for you, captain. Your records are not without its story....When you're ready."[/QUOTE] "Of course." she said, cutting Marshall a look as she took the holotablet. "I was a pretty decent soldier, who became an officer. I ended up becoming Spec-Ops material. Instead, I became a mercenary. I roamed around, then I joined the TBC. And since then, I've done quite a few things that most frown on. But at least I own up to it. And I can rest assured that it was actually for a good cause. Just like I can rest assured that what we're doing now is for a good cause." She glanced down at the tablet, but continued. "By the way, I really would say Valkyrie's hatred of the SDF outweighs the USR. The USR hates you because Sol stripped away religion." Taylor looked back to Marshall. "Valk hates you because Sol killed her parents and tried to force her into a life she didn't want. She's only calm out of respect for me and this crew. Otherwise, she'd have used that tank to turn you and that shuttle into a fireball." After finishing her statement, she tasked Eve with signalling the other ships that they were ready.

Amy leaned closer to Alex "20 credits Sting jumps her." "20 more that she uses the moonshine." Seth took a cautionary step away from Trudy. He didn't know if the aracaan would respond to that or not, but he wouldn't risk it. "I see they don't teach you a thing in those schools, so I'll take my leave and go to the bridge." He looked towards Alex "You better come with me. Only fair you listen to the plan if you're gonna be involved." They both started to walk towards the bridge. "You nervous?" "Barely slept all night if that's what you mean." "Yeah, normal." Seth tried to think of something to tell him to calm his nerves, but nothing came to mind. What could he say exactly? They were both going into the lion's den and the whole operation hinged on that part going smooth. No pressure. The two of them reached the bridge to join in on the planning.

Vorokar crossed the concrete plaza alone and felt the crisp, adventurous chill in the air. Aside from the High Council and a few key figures in the GKVR, few were aware that Rigel was soon to be Vorokar's kingdom. So much had changed since that mission to the Hanza fuel station two years prior, and much of his success, ironically, could be attributed to his enemies. Only through their incessant lawbreaking had he been provided opportunities to elevate himself in the eyes of the Council. But now it was time to close that chapter for good. This clone of Ryvik Sidikan was the final loose thread. "[We're both very lucky, my boy,]" Vorokar declared as he finally came within earshot. "[Seems the Vizier was keen on my return to this planet in short order, making your unusual request quite possible.]" Ryvik finally looked down from the cloudy sky. His visor was retracted, and as he turned and made eye contact with the general, Vorokar could immediately read the intense sorrow weighing on Ryvik's mind. "[Are you alright..?]" "[Sir,]" Ryvik replied while calmly removing his helmet, "[I don't want to do this anymore.]" Vorokar, despite himself, felt a pang of empathetic remorse. The clone had always been a disposable fake, worthless in comparison to the real lieutenant. But the heartbreak in the clone's voice was as real as anything, and Vorokar could barely deny it. He genuinely cared for his protege, and hated to see even this facsimile suffer so terribly. It was supposed to be over quickly, not to be prolonged over an entire week of regrets and trauma. Just like at Yadakhmarot, he placed his hands on Ryvik's shoulders, but this time didn't restrain himself. He embraced the young man he was destined to kill. "[I'm sorry,]" Vorokar said, more genuinely. "[Things didn't go as planned.]" "[I know,]" Ryvik responded coldly. "[You didn't think you'd be returning for me.]" Vorokar released him quickly, indignant that he had been tricked into showing affection for the clone, when he was actually being lured into a confrontation. "[What..? That's a damned lie! How dare you-]" Vorokar shouted, fully knowing that the clone wouldn't believe him. "[The comm operator told me you departed for Kanadys as soon as Karma Unit left the fucking Perikal! You've been lying to me since kanadys, tell the truth, dammit!]" "[I left only because I was fully confident in your abilities!]" Vorokar argued, fruitlessly. "[By the time I arrived at the High Council, I was poised to tell them that you had brought in two of the most wanted rogues in the eastern quadrants, before anyone from the batakya could take credit for what you did. I would have made you the youngest captain in our department!]" "[A bit hard to do that when my blood and guts are scattered across a crater that used to be Stalnazyp, general,]" Ryvik spat. "[Or am I supposed to believe that the khergians would surrender out of fear of annihilation? When has that ever worked?]" Vorokar went red in the face. "[It works when you're man enough to pull the trigger!]" he screamed. "[I'm sorry, my boy, but I didn't want to say this... I know what happened at Stalnazyp, when Karma Unit was ambushed. As sideways as this operation went once Killer Gemini became involved, you failed to display the kind of leadership I've come to expect from you. If you don't think the khergians could sense-]" "[Sense what!? That I'm not a monster? That I'm not the reaper!? General, if you wanted to put fear into their stupid little brains with a nuclear weapon, you'd put the bomb on a drone, not on a soldier! Except that wouldn't work, either, because we've done it before and it's never worked. There was nothing about that bomb that was meant to frighten- that bomb was meant to kill!]" "[How dare you! You- you're grief-stricken, I get that-]" Vorokar grumbled, lowering his volume and trying to diffuse the situation as bystanders were beginning to take notice of the argument. "[That doesn't entitle you to throw around baseless accusations, especially to someone who's done so much for you. Maybe I expected too much of you, after all. You're just a kid,]" he growled, poking Ryvik in the chest. "[[I]That's what the khergians could sense.[/I] If you want to quit the bureau, I won't stop you. But you're not special when you're standing alone, my boy. You'll follow the same rules as everyone else. So, first and foremost, I want you out of that armor right now. All those men who just saw us arguing will see an example of what throwing-it-all-away looks like.]" Ryvik's eyes seemed to glaze over, and for a moment, Vorokar believed he had brought him back down to size. But as it soon became clear, Ryvik was beyond mortal concerns. Unbeknownst to Vorokar, the Motchkir was departing for its next stop on Rigel, and had already cleared the landing towers. "[Yes sir, they will,]" he replied before suddenly seizing onto Vorokar's arm with nearly enough force to crush the bone. Vorokar cried out in pain. "[Get him off me!]" Vorokar yelled to the blackjackets who began to sprint to their position, but Ryvik looked to them with pure hatred in his eyes and shook his head. "[Dead hand,]" he warned. The others slowed to a halt, realizing the implication. "[W-What!?]" Vorokar stammered. "[You- you can't! How could you even... no! If you weren't willing to detonate that bomb in Stalnazyp, you sure as hell won't detonate it here and kill your own countrymen!]" "[The khergians weren't the ones who cloned me,]" Ryvik countered. Vorokar's expression melted down into pure panic. How did he know!? "[L-listen to me, listen... I don't know who put these ideas in your head, but you need to calm down-]" Ryvik simply began to drag the general down the road, the soldiers of the batakya and the Peacekeepers clearing a path in front of them, paralyzed by the fear that any attack on Ryvik would trigger the device within his armor. He had hidden his rage so exceptionally that no one had planned for this possibility. The visor slid closed on Ryvik's armor. His metallic voice sounded as calm and collected as ever- "[Dr. Marinaya cloned me on the Perikal. She told Captain Vixe of the Viokhmar, who happens to be a close friend of mine. I'm not worried for her safety now. You're the only one who knows she's helping me, and you're about to die.]" He ignored Vorokar's repeated denials and pleas for mercy. "[You are right about something though... Detonating the bomb here would be as wrong as detonating it in Stalnazyp. That's why you and I are taking a walk, sir. We're going to get nice and far away from the base before I set this thing off. That way it'll just be you and me, up in smoke.]" Vorokar began to scream in incoherent hysteria, thrashing about in Ryvik's grip and kicking unsuccessfully at his captor's legs as he was pulled further and further from the base. A siren began to sound inside Vostokrebh, the sort to warn the soldiers there of a weapon of mass destruction. In the distance, the Motchkir roared off toward the horizon. Minutes dragged on, and Vorokar's continued begging fell on deaf ears. Ryvik continued to speak in a nearly zen-like state. "[The ironic thing about all this is that you were the one who kicked off all this injustice to begin with. I didn't used to believe what the foreigners said about you, about what really happened at Hanza. You sent a clone in with a bomb, supposedly to strike to fear. But what did you do when the operation failed, general? Your clone killed himself rather than defusing the bomb, and killed all those innocents... and you certainly would have done the same. If this galaxy has no room for my sister, it certainly has no room for you, general.]" "[It was a mistake!]" Vorokar insisted. "[I wouldn't have wanted those civilians to get hurt, but I could see the threat posed by the Aurikha-]" "[Just like the threat posed by Iska Volgrim and her militia... save you breath, general. As you told me, there's no greater service to the Collective to sacrifice yourself while wiping out an enemy undeserving of life... And I know the Collective will fare better without you around.]" "[NO!]" Vorokar screamed, checking over his shoulder at the growing distance between the base and himself. His boots were beginning to wear through at the edges from being dragged along the road, as were his pant legs. "[No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Ryvik, I- I- fine! I admit it, I would have killed those people, too! And you're a clone, that's true too - please - I had you created so that you could die and neutralize Yanim and Iska Volgrim at the same time, but leave the real Ryvik without the trauma. I wouldn't have gone through the trouble if I didn't care for you-]" "[You care about exploiting others, nothing more. Preserving the original Ryvik only shows that you had further plans to advance yourself at my expense.]" "[Fucking hell! Is there anything I can say to get through to you!?]" "[No.]" --- Looking out the porthole window from the Motchkir's passenger section, Vixe watched as the pinkish tinge of the sky was overtaken by a blinding white flash. The explosion was somewhere far behind, but the sound reached them quickly- a heavy boom which seemed to resonate for many long seconds, shaking the craft as the shock wave traveled through the air. She buried her head in her hands and cried as the ship came to a halt, turning slowly in the air and rerouting itself back toward Vostokrebh. The Motchkir's crew would be among the first responders, but in truth the damage was surprisingly minimal. Ryvik had been true to his word; by removing Vorokar once and for all, he had done the Collective a great service.

(([media]https://soundcloud.com/oneymusic/man-puts-his-ass-on-a-freshly-blasted-hole-on-a-space-ship-and-his-asshole-gets-turned-inside-out-in-space[/media] This would be a perfect [I]Next time, on Starpth...[/I] moment.))

(( He died the way every Artisynth child dreams of dying. May he Ryvik in Peace. ))

Sting crossed her lower arms and used the on of the upper to take out her flask, "Oh yeah. Chalky always too important to answer the questions." After taking a swig she Headed for the armory. She had taken the large revolver from the loot haul from the fight on Rigel, and was intent on trying it out. Upon entering the armory she spotted Ravis. "Batman. Aint ya 'sposed to be on the bridge with all them fine army dudes?"

Ravis hadn't noticed Sting enter the room. He jumped so badly when she spoke that he fired several blasts into a light fixture, dropped his rifle, and then jumped and clung onto the ceiling. He froze in this position, bulbous eyes locked on Sting for several seconds before replying. "Uh... what army dudes?"

"Some SOL guys. You know one o thems got two titles?" She walked towards the locker where she had hidden her gun, "damn humans, always comin up ways to make everythin more complicatized. It's bullmess."

"Oh, th-they're from Sol?" Ravis replied, relieved that Sting wasn't judging him for his panic response. He gently dropped down from the ceiling and picked his gun back up. "Well, I've only known uh, a handful of humans, personally... and they were a lot easier to work with than a lot of other folks, a lot more open minded, but, um... for whatever reason, they've always got some kind of bone to pick with other humans. And they always want p-people to pick sides. That kind of sucks." He swapped the cartridge in his rifle and cued up another round of targets to shoot at.

Marshall grunted. "You know her better than I do." After Taylor gave the signal Bobby, currently sitting at the helm of the Horizon, took up position infront of the Muramasa. A series of coordinates were prepared and the jumödrive began to charge. Meanwhile the Muramasa began to do the same due to a jump override which had been accepted, giving Bobby temporary control of navigation which allowed for a synchronized jump. Suddenly the two ships jumped out of the system, heading into possibly the biggest the TBC was yet to see. Placing his holopad on the bridge tactical computer Marshall activated a hologram which displayed Zyus II and the menacing Fort Morningstar just as Seth and Alex entered the room. From the gunnery console Karl observed the ordeal with a hint of curiosity. Following Alex was Ira, now suited upmin her signature Iron armor. She nodded towards the assembled people and positioned herself next to Taylor.

"This is what we know about the fort, at least what I've been given. The fort is located here and is dug in deep." Seth began to list off what they could expect. "Walls, trenches and turrets. A direct assault wouldn't be impossible, but it would slow everything down enough to allow Stanislav to escape. The compound has three main parts. The barracks in the lower right area, the temple in the upper right and the rest of the map as you can see is occupied by his palace or keep. Whichever you prefer. We know that the POWs are held in the underground part and the nerve center is located on the top floor and left and right wing are engineering and where he works on his own projects. Roof has a landing pad for smaller ships, such as those used by bounty hunters" Seth looked towards Iron and then continued "We know that there is a garrison of regular Creed troops there and a host of knights loyal to him. I would advice not keeping as much distance between them and you as possible. They are trained to turn anything that get's close into powder. There is also the big guys you need to worry about." "Big guys?" "Yep, your old man has been busy. He calls them golems after an old Terran myth. These guys have gone under some intense therapy that has enhanced their physical strength and size. Add to that, they come with heavy armor so that makes them even a bigger pain in the ass. I've seen them come in two variants myself One is equipped with a grenade launcher and the other carries around a flamethrower. Bright side is that there are few of these at any given time and that they can be taken down. Just needs some effort." Seth looked at Marshal "Anything to add so far?"

Marshall pitched in. "The Morningstar team will be supported by SDF special forces while any secondary teams will have their backs covered by SDF marines. We have multiple vessels on stand-by, each one eager to strike at the Creed." "Once the POWs have evacuated and once we know for sure that Stanislav is dead one of the ships will deliver a strike payload on Morningstar, effectively destroying it."

"Now the plan. If we were to just hit them with what we got, we would win, but Stanislav would escape through an underground tunnel leading outside of his base, so we need something to keep him in place and to keep the Creed distracted. The first part is where Alex comes in. A small group can pose as bounty hunters who decided to nab him and deliver him back to dear old dad in exchange for a reward. "Once again, he looked at Iron "Helps that we have an actual bounty hunter here. While we're inside the base, we'll give a signal for the assault to start, distracting them and letting us make a move to kill him. After, he's dead, the team should get to the control center as soon as possible and shut down the base defenses from there, making sure that the rest can come in and finish the job and get the POWs out and hit any high value targets with little resistance as possible. If you have suggestions, now would be a good time to say something."

Iron nodded towards Alex before looking at Seth and Marshall. "Sounds easy enough. I got the bounty primed and ready for delivery. Do we know anything about external support for the enemy?" Marshall grimaced. "The SSOID believes that if Morningstar gets the word out there's a large chance that other Creed forces will rush in to help, however it's worth noting that any incoming vessels will be taken care of by our own support ships in orbit. We have unconfirmed reports of smaller Fists of Sol fleets moving in the nearby systems, possibly relying on Fort Morningstar as a refueling point."

"I don't like the sound of that." Seth looked to Taylor. "Captain, anything you think you can add to this plan? You know your crew better than anyone here and what they are capable of."

Taylor shrugged. It seemed everyone had everything all planned out. It really just came down to who was gonna be on the inside. "So Alex, Amy, Iron, myself, and whomever else get inside, kill Stanislav, take out the base defenses in the control center, and mop up while getting the POWs out. I'd suggest we take out comms too, or find a way to lure their support away. Better to just avoid an orbital shootout altogether if you can." She shifted in her seat.

"You can count me in that team too, captain. That makes us five. If Iron's ship is on hand, we can use that for our cover. The rest of the crew that want to deal some damage are welcome to join Orso and the rest of my men during the assault. Blackwell will be in better company there than any SDF." He glanced at Marshall "As for any reinforcements, that's up to you guys to stop."

Iron nodded. "My ship has a shielded compartment for sensitive cargo. We could probably fit one or two people in there as backup." Marshall looked at Seth. "Don't worry sir, Lord General Cross and Lord Admiral Zhaneys will personally oversee the operation. If one thing's certain it's that we're gonna make it rain on Zyus II."