Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Games

Vakarus came to and observed the scanners. He looked towards Yuga. "Yuga'atvan, our sensors are picking up a lone... visitor."

((F T, the Muramasa is currently in the air... perhaps it would be easier to bring Frosty and the fighter to the ground where Moloch can reach? Of course, Frosty might be a bit busy first...)) As the truck rumbled through the outskirts of Vohmdash, they passed by the run-down houses of middle-class locals, the paint streaked with environmental damage. Huge booms installed in the dirty lawns held aloft massive fabric shields, much like the one protecting the truck, keeping the windows of the homes in constant shade. Children in gasmasks played tag on the sidewalk as their parents loaded cars for evacuation- not off planet, as Toothache envisioned, but to safer family homes outside the city, somewhere in the mountains where they could sit in the cellars and wait for the war to pass. Peacekeepers helped them and reassured them that the fight would remain mostly in space this time. As they cleared the developed area and entered the plain, the road became choppy and worn like a washboard, and the rain began to fall. All around, the dusty and battered road began to fizzle with an unnerving smoke, and the crew knew that exposure to the rainwater could be painful, but [I]removing their masks could be fatal[/I]. All at once, visibility disappeared as the rising fog blotted out the mountains ahead, and only a series of halogen lamps kept them on the road. [quote]This is Cheng. Be advised that our drones have just been shot down by a fighter wing. They are likely headed toward the Muramasa's last known position.[/quote] Checkered then interjected- [quote]We will reroute additional support, Muramasa.[/quote] And a moment later, another voice: Captain Aswa, a phirin from the Koda Independence Movement- [quote]I've got two fighters on standby. Permission to engage?[/quote] Checkered- [quote]Granted.[/quote] Aswa- [quote]On our way. How many, Cheng?[/quote] Cheng- [quote]Seven, by our count. Old stuff, definitely UGC. No kanads yet.[/quote] Checkered- [quote]Good to know. Captain Shuur, if you have countermeasures, deploy them now. ETA is three minutes.[/quote]

Yuga didn't like how it already began to creep up on them. She was reminded of Itara and how fast things went south with that op. She adressed the crew on the bridge, "Va'un, ready our armaments and scan for vessels. Mr Jackson, prepare to take evasive maneuvers and lower our altitude, we'll want to avoid their radars for as long as possible." She contact Frosty over the comm, "Disengage and follow the Muramasa. We have intell on possible incoming hostiles."

((Oooh shit, I thought we landed. How high in the air are we? ))

Owen muttered, "Well, crap! And just when I thought I could relax..." With that, he pitched the ship lower and dropped altitude. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys twice, but you may want to hang on tight" he stated over the comms.

[I]Johannes peers out around the landscape thru one of the truck's windows.[/I][b] "Christ this place is a hellhole. Maybe he was right maybe it should be blown up."[/b]

Abraxas turned to Johan, shrugging. "I don't think causing a planetary apocalypse is a great solution in a long term plan. You ever heard of Zeruel kid?"

[QUOTE]"Christ this place is a hellhole. Maybe he was right maybe it should be blown up."[/QUOTE] Valkyrie glanced outside the vehicle. "I've seen worse." she muttered, before glancing back towards the others. "People wouldn't stop living here unless the planet was actually shattered and obliterated. And even then, people would live on the asteroid chunks left behind. Asteroid colonies are all the rage these days." Taylor remained silent, thinking about the gohva's story. He reminded her of her mother, stuck in the mines on her homeworld.

Frosty finally got the order to detach from the top of the ship. He was already inside the cockpit so he flew off the moment the orders came in while trailing behind the Muramasa. He immediately began checking his radar to see where the hostiles would be coming from, as well as turning around to check with his own eyes. He also began to fire soundwaves from that device he wanted made in every direction. (( Roll for rude dude detection. )) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The fighter on the roof detached and the Muramasa began to move. Moloch didn't bring his handy grappling hook as he never had one in the first place, so he couldn't try to climb onto the ship. He scrambled back into his shuttle, fired it up, and began to fly parallel towards them while also trying to keeping his distance.

"Yeah, back in the Corp I got deployed to some real hellholes. 4-26 HH, salom. Nasty shit that was." Hariim says with some reverence. He's done all he can technologically to help the squad out, and just minds his sensors, the milimeter-bandwith radar in particular so he can peer through the rain. He puts up his sensor feed on the squad's tactical network in case anybody wants to have a looksy. -------------------------------------------------------- Bucky comes onto the bridge, a light smattering of grease and engine gunk on her jumpsuit and hands. "Captain Yuga? Ship's as prepared as she'll ever be. I managed to coax a few extra gigawatts out of the power systems, so we oughta be able to keep up with anything that comes at us."

[i]Johannes shrugs[/i][b] "Even before I was frozen, I was almost exclusively deployed in ship-to-ship warfare. Boardings, marine excursions, station raids, et cetera. Closest I ever got to a planetary op was a high level raid on Pasiphae. The Jove Materials Group hired out Vermaak to take out a pirate stronghold on the planet. They'd set up on Pasiphae to raid the JMG's tanker ships leaving their stations above Jupiter hauling Helium and Deuterium or some shit. Funny enough, the majority of the pirates ended up being former JMG employees who'd been laid off or fired during the cutpacks a few years back."[/b][i] Johannes laughs.[/i][b] "Saw some real shitty things in slaver ships though..."[/b]

Yuga nodded towards Bucky, "Excellent. Please remain at the ready. If we require repairs or diagnostics on the go I want you to be available." She turned back to look over the map, scanning for a place to put the ship down while they waited. She found a canyon up in the mountains behind an old abandoned dam, the water behind it long gone. "Mr. Jackson, remain at this altitude and steer us towards that dam. And avoid settlements, we'll want to stay out of trouble for as long as possible. Hiding before actually engaging anything would be our best option."

János continued his search into the rabbit hole, as he looked into the two diamonds from the red herring symbol. He had since [URL="http://i.cubeupload.com/HGrqAe.png"]vectored the diamonds[/URL], which he is using for further research. In this extended research, he discovered that the tycoon family that used these diamonds owned many smaller companies for some odd reason, hiding their family symbol in their logos, explaining the red herring. However, no specific names. It must be an old family if the name is unknown. Maybe someone on board knows. He changed the frequency to send a message to only those on board, with the diamonds attached. [QUOTE]Hey, does anyone happen to recognize this symbol? Apparently, it is the symbol of an old tycoon family.[/QUOTE]

Vakarus nodded. He activated a sensor sweep, trying to locate possible contacts. The weapons had been ready since long. ----- Soon Maddox could see the UGC vehicle depot where the team would acquire a APC. Heavily fortified, a checkpoint with a machinegun nest ontop of it watched the road. A UGC peacekeeper signaled for the truck to stop. "Stay frosty now." Said Maddox as he stopped the truck.

[b]"I don't exactly have a choice."[/b]

Taylor looked up. "Alright, remember. If they ask, we're with the Vohmdash Halo contract and we're assisting with the delivery of these flares. You guys act the part, unloading the flares, while Mad and I talk to someone about getting the APC."

Hariim nods and acts casual. He keeps himself busy with minding his suite of sensors in an effort to see what kind of hardware the checkpoint and its soldiers are outfitted with. He wants every piece of tactical knowledge he can scrape together so he can advise his squaddies of dangers should a fight break out. --------------------------------------------- Bucky gives a crisp salute and takes up a vacant station where she monitors ship status and systems. She's ready and able to do her job.

With the captain and pilot cooperating, the ship began to search for a position to avoid discovery by the UGC fighter wing. Flying low, the vehicle entered and departed various radar screens as it zigzagged over the grungy cityscape. Frosty detached and covered the ship's tail as it fled. Yuga + Owen CH Estimate: 1/5 + 2/5 = 3/5 [B]Actual: 5[/B] Roll Passed. With the aid of the inclement weather, the fighters were thrown off the ship's trail at roughly the same moment Frosty's scan of his surroundings began to return results. His sonar-like device produced its analysis... CH Estimate: 2/5 [B]Actual: 2[/B] Roll Failed. ...Which was unintelligible. It seems Frosty was too close to the ground, and was picking up white noise from various sources within the cone. While he fumbled with the electronics, attempting to recalibrate them for immediate use, seven hostiles closed in, as well as two friendlies and one unknown. [quote]We have contact![/quote] The voice came from one of Captain Aswa's pilots. Frosty looked up, through his canopy, and saw nothing through the dense fog beyond a block away. There was a distant boom and a crackle over the radio. [quote]...Scratch one![/quote] A lock-on warning sounded in Frosty's starfighter. While he prepared to take action, the Muramasa safely touched down in the dry reservoir bed behind the dam.

((snip))

The UGC checkpoint guards encircled the truck and pulled open the cargo doors, revealing the crates of flares and a number of armed Sympathizers. With the crew behaving relatively casually, and with the ammunitions on hand, the guards weren't exactly suspicious. One, a human, spoke up. "It's about time we got some real support," he said, gesturing toward the heavy weapons and armor possessed by the supposed Vohmdash Halo mercenaries. "Safties on while you're in the base." With that, he turned away and the truck pulled forward, entering the vehicle depot with the rear doors still open. The crew watched as the truck pulled passed several suitable armored vehicles. Of course, they couldn't simply jump in a parked vehicle and start it. They would to find a key somehow, or perhaps a vehicle that's already running. Once it had stopped, the crew began unloading. Vakarus: CH Estimate: 3/5 [B]Actual: 3[/B] Roll Passed. Just before the Muramasa disappeared behind the dam, Vakarus had run a radar scan of the city, in search of the other vessels. Just in time, Frosty received an uplink revealing the position of two enemy fighters locking onto his starfighter from high at six o'clock. A swarm of friendly and enemy fighters were further to the south.

"...I really should have asked Bucky how to use this first." thought Frosty as he started to ascend. Just then, the two blips appeared on his radar. They were above him by the looks of it. He stopped ascending and sped towards one of them. He tried his best to maneuver underneath directly it, tilting his fighter upward, and then unleashing a volley of lasers at it from beneath.

Maddox got out and retrieved his heavy backpack from the back of the truck. He looked at Taylor. "Looks like we're here then." He turned to Hariim. "Think you could falsify a requisition order for one of those APC's and upload it to the depot network?"

Owen sat in the pilot's seat prepared to make a grand escape if need be. The now empty body of water seemed like a gentle enough slope in case things required immediate action. He then asked Yuga for the next trajectory...if she had one planned. "Oh mighty chessmaster, do you have our next moves planned out?" Owen said with a slight chuckle.

[i]Now Johannes starts helping unload boxes. He wonders if his weapon even has a safety on it. Maybe he should as Maddox.[/i]

Hariim thinks it over, and extends his reach into the local networks to feel out the systems. As a matter of course he sets up the proper securities for himself, bouncing his connection through as many devices as he is able in order to obfuscate the origin of his gentle intrusions. "Gimme a second, feeling out their systems right now." He replies to Maddox, not even skipping a beat with the boxes while he works. [Roll to get us a swanky new armored personnel carrier through 1337 h4x0r skills.]

Taylor watches Hariim, as she pulls the holochit Yuga had given her from her belt. She holds it up so that they could see it. "I guess this is the backup plan, then?"

Markus carried the last crate inside and looked over the APCs. He turned towards Taylor who was showing the chit, "Might wanna turn that in fast an' get us a ride, luv. The less time we spend 'round 'ere is more time spent somewhere else." ... Yuga sat in her chair with her hand together. Owens regard didn't faze her the slightest like the emotional brick she is. "Now we wait, Mr Jackson. We measure twice and cut once. We'll monitor Frosty's movement and move as soon as we get the green light from the ground team." She contacted Frosty over the comms. "Deal with the diversion and do not lead them to our position."

[b]"Get us a tank, Hariim. Tanks are more fun."[/b][i] Johannes pauses for a moment, thinking, then blurts out.[/i][b] "Whatever we get I call the turret!"[/b]

((Oh shit I forgot about the chip.))

"Understood, Captain. I'll throw them off your trail." Frosty radioed over comms as he moved in to attack the two red blips.