János didn't really do much during the trip. He explored the ship and got familiar with its layout. He did, however, keep Bucky company at times when he got bored of wandering aimlessly.
"They what!?" Cried out an officer as the soldier had finished his report. Despite having delivered bad news, the soldier was unfazed by the suddenly wild reaction from one of the SSOID officers gathered at the table.
"Sir, with all due respect, but you should not shoot the messenger. I've done everything I could, the rest is up to you. As far as I'm concerned the situation is green, sir." Said lieutenant James Warren firmly as several of the officers exchanged nervous glances.
The loud, and now angered, man was about to continue his bashing when the figure at the center of the table held up his hand.
Suddenly everyone went silent as the director of the SSOID, Talwin Williams, leaned forward.
"You are absolutely certain they did not access any confidential intel?"
Warren nodded. "Yes sir, the only terminal breach was on a console recovered from the Archius and regardless of its contents there's no indication that it contained or contained anything related to SDF operations. At best they might have recovered a partial dossier regarding Lion, Terra watch over him, which is publicly available either way.
Now, while I'm not overly fond of a bunch of mercenaries running around with some buried secret I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either, sir."
Director Williams nodded. "Very well lieutenant, I trust your word. This meeting is finished."
Soon the top brass of the SSOID had scattered, leaving only Warren and the director alongside a pair of SIG bodyguards in the room.
"How are the men?"
"Aside from the coma they received only minor injuries, doctors estimate they'll be up and about in roughly two weeks."
"What about the site?"
"All mercenary assets have been relocated to a new facility, safeguarding the research of a improved anti-grav engine for our tanks. Incase there's another leak we won't have to worry about something as critical as a piece of the Sunfire Protocol. As for the research in the dangerzone, the datamining operation has been moved to the Alpha Site. I oversaw the loading operation myself."
"Good, I can't stress enough how important this work is and how critical its role is to Sol. With the Sunfire Protocol in place Sol will be more than a blip on some old galacic chart, people will know that we intend to stay and that we are force to be reckoned with."
"Hoorah, sir."
-----
Civilians cried out in pain and fear as several rectangular ships raced in the skies above, raining down laser fire on the sleepy town below.
Several of the ships touched down on the outskirts, opening up their frontal doors like a menacing maw from which several armored figures exited.
"Spread out! Purge this world from this heretical filth!" Yelled one of the figures who wore a helmet with a T-shaped visor.
The figure was a knight of the Divinity Creed, his heavy armor and cape was his badge of office as was his flamethrower.
His armor was colored white with golden decorations outlining his impressive set of armor.
Around him several less-armored figures, also heavily decorated, calmly walked and formed up into a wall of white and gold. They too wore helmets but with large rebreather incorporated into the design; a nod towards the gasmasks worn by the founding militia members decades ago.
They were crusaders of the Divinity Creed, the Creed's holy soldiers tasked with cleansing worlds beyond salvation from God.
As they approached the village a handful of men and women valiantly formed up alongside boxes, benches, debris and vehicles to try and hold them off with unfocused kinetic and laser fire.
At least three crusaders fell to the ground however to no avail as the armored fanatics continued to march on with their laser rifles at their hips.
"Kill those whom have squandered the gift of God to evolve beyond these mindless and filthy xenos!" Yelled the knight at the center of the whole march.
As he commanded, the crusaders opened fire while still marching forward calmly with their rifles at their hips.
Soon the local militia was forced to fall back as the aerial strikes intensified to cover the advance of God's armored fist.
Having reached the village, the crusaders began searching through every building; executing villagers left and right in what could only be described as a wasteful act of violence.
All the while the knight had climbed up on a growing pile of corpses. "Had it not been for the gathering of weak minds, God would have made us the ultimate species! Instead, we were branded as disloyal towards the idea of a new world where humans consort with lowly alien scum!"
Several soldiers cheered on as the knight continued his preaching.
"Sons and daughters of God, today you help redeem one of our biggest mistakes! You show that the faithfull will forever be loyal to our Lord!"
Before he could continue several of the Creed assault ships were shot down by a sudden strike from several black and white-colored ships.
As the knight was about to order his men, shots echoed across the town square as several Sol Marines stormed the area alongside the local militia who had gathered new strength.
[i]"Tangos dead ahead! Move!"[/i]
Soon both sides on the ground were locked into a deadly battle as two fleets clashed above.
A few hours later, Ahaz stumbles out of the bathroom to the bar. "Bar's open!" He weakly announces.
Amelia walks into the bar, yawning, again, from another nap. She walks to the bar and sits down, looking towards Ahaz.
"How was your poop?" she grins.
"I had some time to sit and think." Ahaz serves Amelia a cup of hot chocolate. He smiles gently.
She looks at the hot chocolate, the back to Ahaz, then back to the hot chocolate, then back to Ahaz.
"Think about... what, exactly?" she asks.
Owen stretched once they reached their destination. Now that the ship was out of immediate danger, he went to the bar. "Hey barman! Can a guy get a rootbeer?"
"Trust." Ahaz pushes the hot chocolate towards Amelia
She slowly reaches for the hot chocolate, unsure if she should try it or not, after he spiked her drink three times.
She picks it up, and puts the rim of the drink on her mouth, and takes a teeny tiny sip of the drink, then puts it back down.
Ahaz beams at her. "What do you think?"
"I have no idea because I couldn't tell the difference that last time. Maybe you mixed it with acid, or maybe an alien slug, or maybe even space aids." she glares at Ahaz.
"This doesn't have alcohol or anything but milk and choco mix." Ahaz says.
Amelia glares harder at Ahaz, then picks up the drink and takes a couple sips then lays it back down again. She's still unsure whether this is legit or he's seriously this much of an asshole and spiked her drink again.
Owen quitly mutters to himself, "Is it this hard to get a drink around here?"
Vakarus turned to Yanim. "What's our current plan, Yanim'atvan?"
Ahaz tosses a bottle of beer at Owen. "Be quiet for a little bit, we are having a moment here."
He turns back his attention to Amelia. "Come on, smile a little bit."
Amelua drinks a bit more, but she doesn't smile. "How do I know that you're not screwing with me?"
Taylor eventually found herself on the bridge, looking around. She hadn't really been here yet, beyond just a quick peek when she first boarded. She stood at ease near the entrance, arms folded behind her back in a more comfortable position than her usual 'parade rest' stance.
She wondered where they were going next after what had gone down during their first op. Hopefully it wasn't going to be another hostage rescue. She listened silently, as Vakarus spoke to the boss nearby.
"Trust. Like I said earlier."
Yuga exits the bridge and heads to the bar as well, surely Terika will call the crew when she has more errands.
Noticing that the humans are once again bickering she turns in the door and heads to the engineering rooms in the cargo compartment.
Entering she notices Bucky fiddling with something and Janos observing her.
Yuga activates the transmitter, "I hope the damages aren't too costly or complicated to repair. I'd dislike it if we had lowered our odda before even venturing on profitable endevours." the compass clicked with her electric voice.
Amelia then hogs the drink down to the very last drop, she sighs, then throws the cup into the trash can. She looks at Ahaz, makes a quick grin, then walks out of the bar into her room again. This time she's playing vidya games.
Jag peaked it's head to find that Taylor had entered the room, the Sanghvi took an moment to put the map display at rest and turned to face it's comrade.
"Greetings, freelancer Taylor. Our Employer should speak to soon." Jag said before slightly gesturing towards Yanim.
[B]Player Character Stat Update:[/B]
Note: Players who have yet to send me their stat allocation can do so at any point, and I will issue future updates. DEF Tech has been scrapped and reformed to a CH-based system. Characters with 1.0 DEF Tech now have 5, those with 1.5 now have 8, etc, to accommodate the new mechanics.
Abraxas
Insightfulness (All noncombat CH rolls twice as likely.)
Apothecary (May heal target for 50% HP without CH roll, base ATK 0.5 instead of 1.0)
HP: 63
ATK: 0.5
DEF: 5
Alexander
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Contender (1.5x melee DMG, 15 DMG added to attack once per battle on humanoid target)
HP: 125
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 5
Amelia
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Precision (Base DMG rolls 7 or above qualify for CH crit rolls)
HP: 125
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 5
János
Durability (DEF Tech base value 1.5 instead of 1.0)
Intimidation (2x CH for intimidation, 4x for targets below half health)
HP: 63
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 8
Owen
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Discharge (1/2 CH for stun after melee attack)
HP: 100
ATK: 1.25
DEF: 5
Taylor
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Versatility (1/4 CH roll results in x2 DMG, half damage taken from environmental hazards)
HP: 100
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 7
Vakarus
Psionics (1.5x DMG when using energy-based weapons)
Supercharge (25 DMG added to attack once per battle)
HP: 50
ATK: 1.25
DEF: 5
Yuga
Telepathy (CH roll each turn for enemy mind read, 1/3 chance for dodge)
Suggestion (May persuade without CH roll once per chapter, 3x CH for all further persuasion)
HP: 50
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 7
[B]New Player Character Stats:[/B]
Maddox
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Machinist (Weapons and armor created by this character grant +1LV in ATK or DEF, respectively)
HP: 125
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 5
Markus
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Ambusher (3x DMG on surprise attacks)
HP: 125
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 5
Porter
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Tank (+3 DEF)
HP: 100
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 10
Valkyrie
Willpower (100HP instead of 50, immune to enemy CH crit rolls)
Roboticist (Robotic pets possess ATK Tech of 2.0)
HP: 125
ATK: 1.0
DEF: 5
---
[B]Summary of the Prologue:[/B]
On January 8th, 2385, the Muramasa, a ship belonging to the Terika-Belladonna Company, docked at the lunar trade port of Virtue in the Sol system. Under the directive of the company's first lieutenant, Rask Vor'Pangn, the ship took on a rookie crew and departed for the eastern border planet of Itara, an isolationist agricultural state which has recently been occupied and placed under control of the Kanad Collective's Black Fleet. Their unmet employer, Yanim Terika, supposedly awaited them there, having stayed behind from a previous mission in order to assassinate a public figure named Kupro Kupra. However, en route to the planet, the new crew was informed that Yanim had not reported on the success of her mission, and had likely been captured.
The rendezvous soon became a rescue mission, and Rask was forced to lead an away team to assault a city police department in an effort to locate Yanim. By the time her location had been determined, the local authorities were already in the process of turning Yanim over to the kanads, who wish to prosecute her as a terrorist. Rask then lead the team to intercept and recover her. Meanwhile, Neasha Kyral, the company's second lieutenant, lead a ship-based crew into combat against the Black Fleet itself, helping to delay Yanim's extradition and clearing a path of escape for the crew. In the end, the new crew recovered Yanim and escaped the planet with only a single casualty, inflicting severe losses on the kanads and the native tetrian collaborators who assisted them.
[B]Chapter 1[/B]
[quote]January 10th, 2385:
The mission on Itara was a failure. Kupro Kupra remains a dead man walking, but another company will claim the bounty when he is inevitably assassinated. As for my involvement, I was presented with new information and temporarily stayed my hand. Further investigation of these new leads led to my capture, and I was forced to wait idle and allow my new comrades to come to my rescue. Each will receive a bonus of 5 million credits for doing so. I must bring the crew to Prospera to strike a far more important blow against the elites than the slaughter of one unsightly swine.
-Yanim Terika[/quote]
As the ship accelerated to warp once more, headed for the mining planet Gorgon to finish shaking the trail of an angry Black Fleet, Yanim stood and paced the bridge. "What's our current plan, Yanim'atvan?" Vakarus asked.
"I'm sure an explanation is more than overdue," she replied. She turned on the comm, allowing the crew to hear the content of her speech. "Kadaren," [I]comrades,[/I] she began, "I thank you for coming to my aid on Itara. To accomplish such a dangerous task for someone you've not met is both selfless and utterly bold, and I applaud that.
"For your efforts, I intend not just to pay you handsomely, but to also grant you something more abstract. To understand what I wish to do, I must explain my background. I was trained as a technician by the State Naval College of the Kanad Collective, and served as Chief Engineer for a brief time on a HarkArk vessel known as the Archius XI. I'm sure at least some of you have heard that name before, thanks to the many accounts that have been published about the Oracle War... Lies, manipulation, unforgivable waste: these were my experiences from working for HarkArk.
"You see, HarkArk was no different from its enemy, the Crimus, nor the hundreds of other factions which took part in the so-called Oracle War. Within each individual exists a mind with great potential waiting to be unlocked, and these empires of exploitation seek endlessly to stomp it out. In my travels I have found that the vast majority of us wish no ill will upon each other. And yet, look around, and you will find war, slavery, abuse, and subjugation in every corner of the galaxy. I could not live under such a regime any longer, and neither should any of you.
"You work for me, and yet I also work for you. What you did on Itara was courageous; you saved me because I could be saved. But in the future, should I slip to the point that you must choose between saving my life or saving yourselves, then I am nothing, I am dead. Because I know that if I succeed in awaking within you the natural gifts that you each possess, then any single one of you could succeed me. More than anything else, I seek to liberate. Your money will be your own. You may leave the crew at any time, and I will not seek to penalize you, nor will I reject you if you return.
"What I am saying is that I seek to grant you a sort of freedom which is not afforded to many in this wretched galaxy. And I believe that it is our highest responsibility to spread that notion of anarchy wherever possible. That is why the Collective is among our chief enemies. On Itara, I abandoned my mission to kill Kupro Kupra because through studying his movements, I discovered a connection between the collaborator regime, the Collective, and a human crime syndicate known as the Mafia. The Mafia is assisting the Collective in dumping Itaran food products on unwitting buyers in the human market, where most states are boycotting them. The profits are assisting the Mafia and funding the kanad administration of Itara.
"Worst of all, this appears to be a deliberate move by the Collective regime to create a food shortage on the eastern border planets. As of now, they are small news, but in the eventual future, there will be famine and social unrest, and the kanads will come bearing food and security. They have their eyes set on Duroma and Rigel, no doubt... Even now, they are pressuring those states to accept concessions of sovereignty, and trying to expand their empire. We cannot allow this to happen.
"We aren't going to stop at Gorgon. We're going to keep on flying south to a human gambling resort planet, called Prospera. This is where I believe the Mafia has headquartered itself. We are going to gamble, and drink, and have fun. But while we are there, we are going to cause trouble... lots of trouble. The annual F-Max Grand Prix is taking place in three days, on January 13th. The Mafia has long been accused of picking winners in each year's race and reaping the reward of a massive bet. This year, we're going to make them lose.
"Before Prospera, however, we should stop briefly at the Albitsky Asteroid Belt. It contains a large amount of scrap from early human space travel, including large amounts of uranium. We can make some easy money from a few hours worth of scrapping there.
"Any questions?"
Jag looked on towards Terika, giving the soft-carbon it's utmost attention. Something felt off during the speech but not with Terika's words, rather itself as stood silent in watch.
Once again, Jag decided to keep it's mind on the moment instead of it's head. As such, Jag turned back to Taylor. Waiting for the freelancer's response towards their new Employer.
Amelia took off her headphones, listened to the announcement, said to herself, "Huh... cool beans," and then went back to her video games.
"I have one question, ma'am." said Taylor, straightening up. "Will we be able to buy better gear any time soon?" She remembered that the armory in the ship was full of low end weaponry and very little armor. Maybe she could get her hands on an EHE suit or some good body armor. Preferably military grade.
Owen left the bar and returned to the bridge with beer in hand. Despite his order of root beer, the bartender insisted on giving him alcohol, and had him pay for it. Unfortunately, alcohol wasn't what he needed, considering his job. As he returned to the bridge, the announcement was over the intercom. Owen responded. "I have a couple questions, one about the next mission, the other about this blasted bartender we got."
Bucky perks up at the mention of salvage. "Will we be authorized to salvage spare parts and raw materials in the belt? Having spare parts on hand will help keep repair costs down, and could save all our skins if we get into a dicey situation."
She pauses for a second and adds: "What we can't use we can sell off along with the nuclear materials. Starship components can run a pretty penny at almost any starport."
Bucky waits for a reply before going further.
"To be far, the section of weaponry at hand is quite manageable for our current tasks.", Jag interjected. "Even if outdated, it does still provide the crew with the basics for now." Jag stated towards Taylor.
"But I'm absolute that Prospera will have what you need, want and more. I've been there myself more once and you won't believe what you can get on the tables." Jag said.
Owen chimed in to what Jag said. "You think it'll have a bar where the bartender actually takes your order?"
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