Futuristic .Ever Further. [MAIN THREAD]

[WantYourSoul]

Aurora appeared somewhat startled by Zeep approaching her, eyes lighting up blue for a moment as AURA presumably answers his question first. The little blue AI morphs into an imitation of Zeep and spirals through the air playing a bad quality audio file of a generic Terran bird call.
"I suppose I could do that, AURA will take your measurements while we're in the armoury. We can share information with each other in real-time, I just need the spare brain power to work some trash into treasure." She winks at him playfully with a laugh, following the flow of bodies into the armoury.

She took stock of her new teammates, taking up the rear as they enter the armoury. Most of them seemed like they were heavy hitters, it made her a touch self conscious about her own physical shortcomings. It gave her a great deal of pride knowing that AURA was probably the most elegant piece of code many of these people will ever meet, despite many of them not knowing that. The aforementioned AI was still in a miniature form of the V'zikt it was measuring, a soft blue light scanning him. The first thing its human counterpart had grabbed upon entry was one of Kase's recommended ballistic vests and a bag to put supplies in.

Wanting to get her own sidearm out of the way while she worked on schematics, the young woman chose an SMG and something that appeared to be a combination of a spear and cattle prod. Knowing that she didn't have all that much time to muck about, Aurora rushed over to what appeared to be some sort of shelving unit almost overflowing with various bits of circuitry and scraps. Stopping still as she received the necessary measurements that allowed her to fine-tune a prototype. Since they were strapped for time, she allows AURA to retrieve the parts that closest fit what she needed. She had the code for an algorithm that could quickly learn how Zeep moved and better allow him to adapt during combat in her contraption of wires and straps. While AURA was dealing with finding materials, Aurora was gathering the parts necessary to make a drone adequate to test out a prototype she had been wanting to take into the field for ages.
She always kept enough supplies on hand to be able to jury-rig almost anything in the field with only a few common materials laying about. Hell, jangling around her neck appeared to be several hibernating eyebots masquerading as a necklace.
Her collection of supplies was odd, to say the least, and she intended on putting all of it to good use.

Sitting right on the floor amongst her treasures, Aurora begins to assemble a drone the size of a wine bottle with a mounted turret that could theoretically stun and kill enemies-- of course, she'd be focusing on the killing aspect today. While AURA welded and arranged pieces of Zeep's prototype harness according to the schematics, she was busily uploading her code into a CPU. She figured she would hang back during the fight and let the heavies attract the most damage while she issued commands to her little minions. She had processed that information all shockingly fast for a human, she enjoyed showing off that she has more than just her own brain to help.

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase stands against the Dropship, his back turned towards the entrance to the Launch Bay. The sound of a faint spraying sound hisses from his direction, an industrial styled airbrush -like attachment extending from within his arm going to work on the ship. The vehicle itself is a huge stand out from the rest of the crumbling scenery the group had been subjected too. A bulky and geometric structure, yet also a sleekness to it. Two large, high output, dual function engines attached to thick, stubby, almost wing shaped pylons sat one on each side. Those beasts of thrust weren't called dual function for nothing, not only could they provide the craft with a fair amount of speed, but they allowed for "short" range hyper jumps. The front had no visible cockpit window, instead an array of high tech sensors providing the pilot and computer with images and readings of great quality. The entire thing is finished with a digital camoflauge in various shades of matte grey. Kase stops brushing away, having finished applying NHER. CO's signature emblem. His antenna perk up suddenly as he rotates his head all the way around to see Solomon pushing the cargo trolley through the entrace to the Launch Bay, packed with bags of... something

:"Hey Fleshpatch, watcha' got in those bags? Kill the rest of the team and take their heads? Hah!"

He snickers at his own joke, then suddenly bursts out into an almost cackle-like laughter. He goes to wipe a tear that doesn't even exist away from his optic sensor, but pulls his hand away upon once again realizing these things don't happen to him.
​

 

[RoarkSouth]

Aura's transformation into a Veenet got an amused chuckle from Zeep. He decided that he liked this little contraption. It had spunk, as well as giving quite the flattering imitation. He'd have to ask Aurora about it later.

Zeep continued on his way to the armory, following several of the other recruits. It was rather standard for an armory, if a little on the light side by Veenet standards. The again, Veenet did require more specialized and larger weapons than other races, so maybe it was just a trick of perspective. Zeep went to a wall of high caliber weapons, settling on two semi-automatic, long-barreled rifles. He grabbed a large, box like magazine, as well as several ammo belts and brought them over to Aurora.
"I'll be needin these integrated on the harness. The rifles will be needin placement here," he pointed to one shoulder, "And here." He pointed to the other shoulder. "They be needin some motors for aimin, as well as some form of controls so I can aim em. I also won't be reloadin these things on me own when I'm wearin it. Got to have the belts load it fer me. I'd recommend puttin the magazine right here." He pointed once more, this time near the center of the back of the harness. Zeep walked away from the young lass and started to head out towards the dropship. As he reached the door, he turned towards her. "Thanks fer doin this fer me. Think ye can cart it to the ship when yer done? I need to be goin and seein what sort of craft I be pilotin." He then walked out the door.

The dropship was a travesty. It lacked the elegant and sleek design of the Veenet Intruder dropships, and it definitely did not stand up to the Terminator class fighters he was used to flying. It was honestly a sad state of affairs that he was to pilot this thing. He saw the robot from earlier, Kase he believed it was called, leaning against the poor excuse of a vessel.
"Aye, Rustbucket!" Veep yelled as he approached the robot. "What do you call this flyin hunk of garbage? What be its specifications? Acceleration? Turn radius? Any on board weapons or defense systems? Sensor systems? How much stress can it take? What cooling system does it be havin?" The Veenet continued his questioning for a little bit, asking a rather overwhelming amount of questions that even the maker of the vessel would have a hard time answering.

 

[Yamarashi]

:"Buzzard, what are you on about? This baby'll get the job done no problem! She's got NC-74 Dual Function Drive Engines, plenty of armor, she can turn on a dime. And the sensors? Don't even worry, you won't even realize there's no window. There's some light point defense weponry, but
odds are we're never gonna need it. Cooling systems keep those monsters chill, it would be a real crappy day if those things blew up. Trust me, Feathers, she's worth it."

Kase "breathes" a silent sigh of relief at his mostly BS response. Despite his adoration for the ship, he knew little about the exact specifics, his data base didn't include that information. At one point it probably did, but it had been replaced by various memories of combat and weapons. He gives the ship a hardy pat, his other arm in the process of retracting the airbrush. He gives Zeep a one-eyed wink and walks over to the dropdoor on the back, a loud clap giving it the okay to open up.​

 

[fuil]

After Grov had finally finished fan girling over the gatling gun he started to load a large duffle bag with ammo for his gun, although he didn't find any incindiary rounds. After he had stuffed the bag completely full to the point that it almost wouldn't close he got up and started to leave when he saw the small human girl who seemed to be stuck with a decent sized load that Zeep seemed to dump on her. "Um, do you want some help carrying any of that? It just kind of seems a lot for someone of your squishyness." He asked as he walked over with his equipment in tow.

 

[The Pattern]

"Explosives... Saved about eight bags. We're sorted for grenades and I'm sorted for my rough plan for the job." Solomon was hurrying with his arsenal, he didn't know when the derelict would be scuttled, and the old man didn't want to know what NHER classed as scuttling. Solomon stopped as soon as he looked up and saw the dropship. The old man rarely spent time on luxurious, beautiful masterpieces of cruisers but even by his low standards the ship ahead of him looked hideous. Before he could speak Zeep had arrived and he was already interrogating Kase over the ship. The bipedal tank couldn't be serious about it's specifications, even if Solomon didn't care much about transport beyond how structurally stable it is and how luxurious the cabins were, that thing couldn't be of much use.

After Kase had given his answer, Solomon piped up."Can we get the derelict movin' instead? It'd be a prettier ride. Also we wouldn't be wastin' the armoury's goods in this scuttlin'." Solomon was being serious about this question, as he wasn't sure about boarding a ship that looked like a rejected design from the Borg.

 

[WantYourSoul]

Aurora regards Zeep's weapons of choice for a few moments as she seemingly worked something out in her head. "I can do that, I have an aim-assist program that I can install with the rest of the adaptive technology. I'm sure that I can install something for the-- I mean I suppose I could try-- Ah, and he's gone... AURA, Please stay on standby while I work on the more technical aspects of our pilot friend's harness." She cards a hand roughly through her hair as she pulls up a see-through tablet crammed so full of diagrams it was a wonder she was able to keep all the information straight in her head and begins to adjust her blueprint. It didn't take too long for her to figure out how everything would work out in person. This was a fun little project for her, working under pressure like this, however, if she turned out to be wrong in her calculations she may have cost a very eccentric Veenet his life.
She trusted the odds.

While she and AURA were finishing up the assembly on the impressive-- albeit bulky contraption, several thunderous steps approaching her caused two glowing blue pupils to flit up towards Grov. Realizing he was talking to her and not simply asking her to get out of his way, she blinks away the retinal overlay and smiles gratefully up at him. "You'd be a real life-saver. I'm a heavyweight in mental faculties, not the actual heavy lifting," she laughs awkwardly at her own words but it was obvious that her thank you was sincere,"I just need to make sure that there's no faulty circuitry and boot up the ol' CEP." She stops talking for a moment as AURA, now finished with its previous task, scans over the wiring and relays its data to Aurora. She shoots Grov a thumbs up and stands, brushing dirt from her already filthy combat pants.
"Everything looks A-Okay to me! Take it away!"

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase peeks around from behind the ship to look at Solomon, putting his hand on his face in a frustrated manner.

"Okay look, she's not one of NHER. CO's prettiest dropships, in fact she's the most basic of the Tier 1's. But believe me this ya' organbags, she's gonna get the task done no problemo. And uh, I hate to break it to you but, that armory's going up in flames, and we will too if we don't move out in aboooouuu-"​

Kase draws out his words as he checks the timer, his "eye" suddenly widening in panicked surprise.

"-oout, 3, uh, yeah 3 minutes. Get'cher meatselves on board!"

He makes a number of exaggerated summoning gestures, before straightening up and placing a hand onto his Comm Attachment.His voice suddenly appears overhead, crackling with static as it begins.
:"Aaaatention team, this is your Kase speaking. I would like to remind you that if we're not in the dropship in about 3 minutes, we all will die. Except maybe me, or possibly Mr. Rock n' Roll. Okay that doesn't matter, bottom line is, get ovah' here!"

​

 

[The Pattern]

"How long’ll it take to get this abomination a safe distance away?” Solomon paickedly questions as he pushes his arsenal up the ramp and into the ship. Solomon was always cautious when it came to managing his explosives and pyrotechnics, never injured himself once by setting landmines or even throwing dodgy grenades as the old man was always worried about dying in a fireball. He didn’t want a poetically just death, dying of old age with a good view and loved ones around him was more Solomon’s preferred farewell. The old man was definitely more then a little on-edge.

 

[fuil]

Grov lifted the harness easily with his free hand and was about to say more before a loud voice informed them that they needed to hurry if they wanted to live. Grov looked towards the human and said. "I think we should hurry up and get out of here. I don't know what happening but I rather enjoy living." He slipped his arm through one of the harneses holes so it was easier to carry. He quickly ran towards the shuttle with thundering footfalls and boarded the ship quickly.

 

[Yamarashi]

:"Oh just a couple of seconds once she's turned on, those engines have jump drives. We're barely out of range of Nakor-B, we should end up with just a short flight until we're inside it's atmosphere on the the ground! By the way, Greyfield sent us some reference material. One of the colonists there knocked out a scribble of the mother as they sat shivering in the corner. They're a bit traumatized by having seen their comrades smashed up by an overgrown dinner, but when Boss told em' we'd be fryin' the thing, they were happy to provide some info. Check the monitor on the either wall, the image should be there."

​

Kase lumbers into the ship, throwing himself into a seat with a resounding *CLANG*. He unhooks the heavy shotgun from his high, gripping it tightly in his hand as he loads up the drum with shells.

​

 

[Sandy Von Wich]

This armory was the first sign Slick had seen that suggested this operation was legitimate. It was well stocked, had a variety of equipment, and most of it looked like it wouldn't explode if you fired it. That was always good.

There was this momentary, foolish hope that they'd have something V'ziktish. He hadn't used his own kind's weapons since he'd escaped his home regime. He didn't see any. Not a surprise. V'zikt weapons are unusually difficult to find. Not impossible, but usually not worth the effort if you already had a good long arm.

He found a Merkrian scout rifle. It was a good weapon, he'd used one before.
In addition to that, he found a rather heavy revolver. It looked military. Nice.
He slung a bandoleer of grenades around his shoulder, and slipped some extra magazines into it. He didn't take much more. His tracking skills were more useful than any weapons. You can't shoot at what you can't find, and those skills aren't something you're going to find hanging from a rack.

He paused and turned away from the crew, pretending to busy himself with a small ammunition locker. He tugged a long, sharp object out of his trousers, keeping it in front of him. The instructions had said no weapons, but he wasn't stupid. And besides. This had been easy to hide.
A long, black, dagger-like blade. About the length of his forearm. It was a V'ziktish bayonet. Straight and narrow, designed to pierce in and right back out. It had a short grip and a small mechanism at the base of that grip used to mount it to a rifle. Of course, the scout rifle he'd picked up didn't have the other side of that mechanism, he'd need a V'ziktish rifle if he wanted to mount it.
But it still made a good knife.

He was the last one to walk onto the loading ramp. The ship looked... well, it would get the job the done.

But when the robot exclaimed that the entire place was going to blow in three minutes... well, he didn't have eyebrows to raise, but if he did, they'd threaten to jump right off his face. This, combined with the fact that he had been wearing a helmet for most of this trip because there had been no oxygen started making this company look more and more inept by the minute. There was already the little nagging notion that it might just be smarter to ditch the team once they got planet side, because at this rate, the robot might end up announcing that it was company policy to take a bit of the lucky, magic cyanide before starting a job.
Once he was on his way inside the ship, he had to stop and ask,
"Question. Why are we blowing up the armory? It just seems a little... idiotic, to detonate our own weapon's cache."

 

[Yamarashi]

:"Ah yes, I figured one of you squishlots would ask that. I guess you deserve to know, you are officially part of the company now. So about a week and a half ago The USF was storming this very ship, which at the time belonged to the Separatist Sector Alliance. Turns out they were transporting number of illegally obtained and highly dangerous lifeforms to do who knows what with. We got called in to deal with the creatures while they had a little kiddie fight with guns in the upper decks. After everything was said and done, the ship was immobile, the SSA fled the scene to some other crap den in the Storm Sector, The USF packed up their things and hauled ass back to dealing with their issues on the Western Border and we were left with this hunkajunk. We decided to set up a temporary Recruitment Center to pull in some extra hands and, hell to us all, it worked. Now we're gonna decimate this place before the SSA comeback to take their shitship. Also there's still Perisomian Nesting Parasites in the engine control room and by the time we got to them they were beyond what we brought with us to handle the job so, yeah. That's that."

Kase puts the gun on a rack next to him, giving it a pat. A little slot opens on his chest and ejects a photograph, the thing fluttering onto the ground. He quickly hurries to pick it up, looking around cautiously before turning his stare to it. The color drains from his eye display, turning a shade of sepia as the metal mountain gazes at the picture in his hands.​

 

[RoarkSouth]

"Buzzard! My species aren't a bunch of pathetic scavengers!" Zeep yelled, barely containing his rage. This robot better mind his manners, or it would need Aurora to put it back together again. Zeep was about to offer a retort about how unless a dime was something with a kilometer long radius, then he doubted it would turn on it when Kase mentioned that the facility only had three minutes before it exploded.
"You psychotic, half-wired machine! Why would you start the count down while we are ON THE STATION!!!" Zeep immediately leapt up the cargo ramp and barreled straight to the control room. He grabbed the back of the pilot's chair and yanked backwards, breaking the chair's back, leaving hanging limply from the seat. With the obstruction out of the way, Zeep began activating the craft. He did not have enough time to go over all the pre-flight systems checks, so he rapidly flicked the key ones on and prayed to the gods that this ship would function fine.

The craft's engines began to warm up and Zeep began directing most of the power into the hyper drives. At the rate they were charging, they would barely have twenty seconds before the station erupted into a fireball and thousands of tons worth of shrapnel began flying through space at hypersonic speeds. Zeep activated the craft's comm unit, luckily it was working. "Everyone who be wantin to keep their souls should get to the ship now! You be havin one minute before you be left to a grisly and stupid death!"

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase looks up from the photograph, the color quickly returning to his display. He sits dumbfound, again staring blankly at the Veneet. He hadn't anticipated this much zest out of a species which to him, appeared to be fairly docile. He blinks a few times, his eye darting around frantically, scrambling for words. He stutters momentarily, fumbling around for how to compile his response.

:"Whoa there hotwing, I didn't start the blasted countdown! The gunners up in the Heavy Beam Destroyer Class that's hangin' out above initiated protocol when they identified approaching activity on a ruined outpost a few miles from here. Believe you me, the SSA is gonna tear us a new asshole if we're still around moppin' deck when they come back to claim their dink shacklebox of a ship. We gotta blow it to stardust, you SPEECH RETRIEVAL ERROR? Wait, 'Scuse me? Besides we gotta purge those parasites somehow! I, we gotta, it's-s-sk RATIONAL 77-6. RWQFSFASXC. Eugh! Just fly this thing already!"

His straight sitting posture shrinks to an awkward, hunched over position as he sighs. The machine places the photo back into the CD-drive like slot on his torso. It's sucked back in with a small "vrrt" sound, followed by a click. He takes in a deep "breath."​

:"People skills, Kase. People skills." he says quietly to himself.

​

 

[The Pattern]

Solomon had managed to calm himself down after the group’s first target flickered onto the screen. The old man was busy thinking of possible ways to use explosives against it, from hiding remote explosives in it’s next meal to using some of the gas grenades he had in one or two of the bags. Solomon’s little train of thought was soon derailed by Zeep’s outburst and attempt to take control of the situation. Yet, despite all the commotion the old man was still calm as there wasn’t any threat of him dying, Zeep’s overreaction saw to that.

“You two are already fighin’ and we haven’t even left for the first job yet.” Solomon sounded bitterly disappointed in Zeep and Kase, although a fair bit of it was exaggerated, he didn’t have much faith in the group in the first place. During the few times the old man ever worked in a team, everyone usually got along well enough to do the job and get paid. Although, the old man was in for the long haul with a faulty robot and a firey Veneet. The team needed some kind of leader, he couldn’t force himself into command as that’d just have a weak foundation. It’d have to be a group-wide vote. Slick snd the weird rock thing would probably opt out as they don’t seem the type that liked command, so in Solomon’s perception of reality it was between himself, Aurora, Zeep and Kase.

“We’re gonna vote on a leader when everyone’s a safe distance from the derelict.” Solomon stated confidently, and it was obvious in his voice that he intended for everyone to be involved in the voting at the very least.

 

[WantYourSoul]

AURA makes a series of alarmed, high-pitched beeps upon learning that its creator was in imminent harm. "I- Uh- thanks Grov? What!? Wasn't Solomon supposed to be the bomb guy?" Any possibility of self-confidence in her voice had made way for one cracking with anxiety. Her attempt at a joke to lighten the tense atmosphere fell comically short, and the little AI shifts into the black dragon and presses its form against the small of her back to speed along her progress to the dropship. Aurora didn't need to be told twice and pushed passed anyone lollygagging around the entrance.

She entered midway through Zeep's tirade and made a mental note to ask him about it later, although she was obviously preoccupied with fastening her seatbelt and ensuring that all of her equipment was secure for the moment. AURA was freely exploring the cabin without the worry of dashing itself to bits, hovering over Kase's shoulder to examine the shaky drawing and saving the image to its databanks for later comparison with the real deal. Aurora's attention very quickly shifted to the robot as his voice modulator appeared to be malfunctioning, coloured eyebrows rising on her tanned forehead. "You due for an update?" She asks, only half joking.

Aurora wasn't one who respected the chain of command per se, hence her laughably short stint in the military. She understood the merits of having a good leader but hasn't had much experience with a good one. She much-preferred code to flesh and blood, more predictable that way. Before Aurora had the chance to say anything, AURA had zipped over to Solomon with jaws spread wide in a simile of a smile.
"I love votes! Let's vote on more things after that one!" The little AI only seemed to understand the concept of voting and not that the plan was to elect a leader that way. Aurora only chuckled softly and shook her head at the antics of her little creation.

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase looks at Aurora, his eye trained on her face. It begins fluctuating in size rapidly, before focusing on the curious projection that accompanied her.

:"An update?" He breaks out into another cackling fit, his equipment vibrating. "Oh, missy, I'm due for A LOT more than just an update! You'd think Greyfield would shell out some funds to get me back in proper working order after the Tir'ki fiasco, 'specially considering my history with the company. Instead he said they'll 'figure something out'. Guess ol' Kase is gonna have to run unstable. No matter, this boltjob can still kill! And other things but, nevermind. Anyhow yes! A leader, great idea Fleshpatc- Solomon, great idea, Solomon."

Kase flinches for a moment, catching himself mid slang. If he was going to be assigned to these people until his or their deaths, might as well get on their good sides.​

 

[The Pattern]

“Shapeshiftin’... Nice little trick Aura was it? Mind keepin’ score of the votes for me?” Solomon’s voice had changed from stern disappointment to a happier and hopeful tone. Solomon definitely liked the little AI, it just seemed to have an undeniable charm about it that Solomon couldn’t help but smile at.

The old man began to address everyone on board with what he thougt were reasonable rules. “Y’ can’t vote for yourself, everyone gets equal say and if y’ don’t want to be in the runnin’ just let us know. Doesn’t make sense to have a leader who doesn’t want the job, so does anyone want to opt out now before we begin?” Solomon made sure to get straight to the point with the vote as almost everyone was already aboard.

 

[RoarkSouth]

The chattering in the back of the shuttle was not helping Zeep's concentration as he ran through as many flight checks as was possible in the brief time allotted to him. They were apparently holding an election while the station they were on was about to explode. He went from screen to screen, checking the gauges and flipping switches where need be. Zeep took a quick glance backwards, counting heads. It seemed that everyone was on board. Zeep looked back at the ship's timer. 45 seconds left. Zeep sighed relief. He would have plenty of time to get out. No last minute escapes. Zeep flipped on the Hyperspace Shielding. Then flipped it again. And again. It wasn't working.

Zeep let out a string of curses so vile and ferocious that, if they had any translation to the English language, would have given a hardened sailor a heart attack. Without the hyperspace shield, they would be exposed to the physical weirdness that was another dimension. It wasn't necessarily dangerous, but it definitely was not a pleasant experience. Zeep looked back at the clock. 20 seconds.

Zeep released a frustrated chirp. "Everyone better be preparin fer this," he muttered as he activated the ship's hyperjump drive.

For a brief moment, everything suddenly felt longer, his bones itched, and he distinctly tasted the color purple before the ship popped back into reality, their destination in view and slowly growing larger. It would be about an hour before they arrived.

Zeep aimed the ship at the nearby planet and flicked on the autopilot before turning to the rest of the crew, whose vote had been interrupted by the jump. "Alright, what this I be hearin about voting fer a leader?" He turned his massive all the way around, stretching his wings and legs after the stress of an unshielded jump. "Let's be getting one thing clear first," he said as he got the kinks out of his neck. "I be in charge when we be flyin these here starships. No ifs, ands, or buts bout it. I doubt any of you have been seein the types of combat that I've had in the void, so I be the leader in space." Zeep looked at each of the others in turn, almost asking someone to speak out.

"As fer leadership on the ground, I'd prefer someone has seen combat and been in a military. Only two I know who have that is meself and the grubber over there." He pointed to Slick as he said that. "Of course, I could never put me vote of confidence in one of ye grubbers, so that leaves me with the cyborg, the walking pile of junk, the walking pile of rock, and the lass with the bright plumage." He paused and appeared to think for a moment. "I'm voting for the lady. She didn't try to call fer votes while we be on statue primed to explode."

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase suddenly straightens up, an "Aha!" practically visible on his face that couldn't possibly ever display such a reaction. He places his hands on his head with a firm grasp, beginning to twist. His metal cranium begins to spin, suddenly detaching with an electric hum and tumbling onto the floor. It clatters around on the ground, becoming still after some rolling. His hands make a gasping motion, cupping over a mouth that, even if the head were still on, didn't exist to begin with. His freshly disembodied skull stirs to life, sprouting 5 tiny, scrambling legs that would normally clamp onto his neck in case the magnetic connection failed. It finally rights itself, skittering over to stand by its larger owner's legs.

:"Well I for one think Kase should be elected!" His head declares happily, pointing one of it's stubby legs at the rest of it sitting in the seat.

His decapitated body begins clapping excitedly, loose ammunition jingling like bells. His arms cross in satisfaction, the neck guard nodding in place of what it should be just below. His left and right shoulder attatchments, a GTY-3 Multiple Launch Propelled Munitions Launcher and a Ravener V-2U High Caliber AP Long Range Kinetic Rifle respectively, begin "looking" around, and then to nod as well. The entire display is, something, to say the least.

 

[The Pattern]

The odd sense of time slowing, every thing around him stretching further away and the itch in the bones was a mild surprise to the old man, as he didn’t catch Zeep’s muttering. Although, Solomon was familiar with that sensation once he realised what it was as in the past he may have disabled hyperspace shielding or been on a ship without any fairly often. It helped with slowing down boarding parties, but the old man is probably suffering some form of very specific condition because of it. Zeep’s say beyond his candidate on the vote matter didn’t settle well with Solomon.

“If y’ count fightin’ boardin’ parties with traps made from broken parts of the ship, pilotin’ civilian ships in the middle of a battle with it survivin’ and or usin’ barely functionin’ wrecks as fire ships to blow up other ships as void combat then I’m not exactly new to it. Also, y’ really gonna manage the boardin’ parties, fightin’ hostile boardin’ parties and flyin’ ships with small cockpits without a glorified pack to do it for y’? The bug’d make a better space leader(!) Although, I’ll leave the all-round leader to settle that matter when we’ve decided on who that is. Think I’ll vote for Aurora.” Solomon was quite calm when he delivered that, although he definitely didn’t like Zeep’s attempt to take over space affairs without everyone sorting out a leader first. In Solomon’s mind, Aurora seemed like the best candidate as she didn’t seem to intentionally try to provoke people with every word uttered and she seems remarkably intelligent, with Aura’s existence as solid evidence.

As Kase tried to pull his loophole against the election, Solomon spoke up. “Doesn't count head-Kase. You’re body’s just an extension of you, or you’re just an extension of y’ body... and the guns... whichever way it works. Also that’s terrifyin’.” The spectacle was some pure nightmare fuel for Solomon, so much so that it interrupted the old man’ attempt to speak. After he was done, Solomon moved around to make sure there was something between him and the spider thing that Kase’s head became. The old man was obviously scared of it, and the nickname didn’t help settle him down either. Solomon was somewhat certain that he wouldn’t win the vote, what with his obvious fear of Kase’s odd tricks and the challenge against Zeep. Then, when Solomon begsn considering the disasters that occurred when he was put in charge, it seemed to be for the best in the old man’s mind.

 

[WantYourSoul]

Aurora regards Kase with the skilled eye of an artificer for a long moment before breaking out into a grin."Maybe I'm your new field technician," she says lightheartedly, only half-joking. While Aurora had been speaking to Kase, AURA emits several high pitched beeps to express how pleased it was,"Yes! And yes! I will be most unbiased!" It flies several loops around the old cyborg, chittering like an insect in its excitement. After Solomon says the rules, it waits a moment before repeating a recording of his message. Aurora simply smiles and shakes her head at the AI's antics.

Aurora was no stranger to hyperspace, it reminded her of a Greendian drug she had tried in her rebellious teenage years. As the hyperdrive kicks in, she instinctively holds her breath and shuts her eyes, riding the discomfort and focusing on the sensation of butterflies in her stomach. As they enter regular space once more, AURA's form seems to shudder along with its creator, whose tattoos had momentarily turned into amorphous shapes undulating on her arms.

The sound of Kase's head detaching and clattering to the floor caused an immediate look of horror to appear on her face as she whirls around to look at the robot. The relief on her face when it sprouted legs was evident, even AURA had appeared alarmed for a moment before realizing there was nothing wrong. Kase's head voting for his body was rather funny, and the blue-haired woman bursts into peals of laughter.
AURA takes a moment to assess the loophole before proudly announcing,"Kase's Body: One-half point." when the other two members cast their vote, the little AI kept them tallied aloud.
Aurora's face had quickly gone red, having not expected people to have voted for her."I think I'll vote for Kase, he seems to know the protocol. I can give him some upgrades too." She cards a hand through her hair, giving her head a little shake,"I don't have much experience leading actual living things, AI and codes are different." It almost sounds like she's trying to dissuade them from wanting her to lead them.
AURA makes a sound akin to someone clearing their throat, obviously waiting for the others to vote,"Kase's Body: One-half point. Aurora: Two points. Isn't this fun?"

 

[Yamarashi]

Kase's body, who had been in the middle of what could only be described as a headless snicker, suddenly begins to shake violently and then fall still, limply slumping in it's fastened seat. His eye furiously glitches around what little room there is on his display to move, which is mostly just up and down. His antennae search wildly, and his receiver whirls like a spinning top. Flashlight flickering on and off, surges of electricity striking out from his head. Beeps and electronic whirs pop and blip, getting more and more erratic. It seems to get increasingly intense by the second until finally, it ceases all together, Kase, or rather the Kases, resuming their regular behavior.

:"Euuuuuuoooooooogh, what a rush! Late reaction to the warp, it does that sometimes."

His voice comes out distorted at first, a garbled mess of speech mixed with the sound of horrifyingly warped trumpets and bass, but gradually becomes more comprehensible. His body then "looks" down at his head, ejecting the photograph once more and showing it to his missing top. His head recoils with a gasp, groaning and skittering up the wall, latching onto it's rightful perch. The tiny legs retract away, magnetic lock reestablishing. He glares at himself for remembering that, rolling his eye but ultimately deciding it's the right decision.

:"I change my vote to Ms. Aurora." He says softly, more of a sighing hiss than a proper string of words. Despite his tone, he shoots the girl a reassuring thumbs up.

 

[fuil]

Grov held his stomach before vomiting a half digested scout drone, three rubys, a lot of slag, a mostly dissolved chair arm, and most of a grenade. "I hate that.....makes me vomit every time." He said as he wiped his mouth and looked at the others. "Sorry bout that and if your still counting I vote for the little human girl. She very smart and seems very kind. Robot seem to trigger happy, bug to grumpy, bird mean, and I'm not interested." He had tried to lead a group once and lets just say it didn't end well, who knew organics weren't fire proof. "Also I'm gonna barf again, so if you would excuse me." He then proceeded to puke up a verity of different things from precious gems and robotics to ammo and parts of explosives.