Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson continued down the hallway, disgruntled and angry at himself for both the outburst and giving them an inner show. Must have been the drugs wearing off, but he knew he couldn't pull a stunt like that again. He wondered if they bought anything he said...time will tell.

He somehow managed to stumble his way to the kitchen by memory alone and opened up the big fridge looking for anything that looked appetizing. His eyes scanned around and they landed on something that made his stomach churn with hunger: frozen burritos. "This will do," he muttered to himself as he took them out and inspected them. Green chilli, bean, and beef burritos wrapped up in some plastic. No expiration date. He gave them a quick sniff, and was satisfied they didn't smell rotten. He turned around and found the microwave. He unwrapped the burritos, put them in and set them to get nuked for a couple minutes. In that time he took out another cig, this one was longer and black, a Catherina Menthol. Not made anywhere in the universe anymore, they were just privately sold around by collectors. He had his own little stash, and these guys just hit different. Better taste, better buzz...better everything.

He took his time enjoying that cig long after the microwave was beating. Only when he finished it did he come back to reality, and grabbed his burritos out of the microwave, handling them like hot potatoes before resting them quickly on the counter. He gave them another quick sniff, and figured he's had worse. He just really needs some food inside him before the alcohol does any more damage.

Alcohol...

"Shut the fuck up brain or Petar is gonna give you a nice shiny copper lined gift," Jackson muttered to himself again as he started eating. Not bad for space frozen burritos. Finishing his meal, he found the closest booth and laid down for a quick nap. If anyone needed him again, or they were entering combat, he'd hear it.

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi rests back on her bed and sighs, rubbing her face gently, "Right, just a couple minutes..." She pulls her hands down and rests them atop her stomach as she lies there, eventually glancing over at Karina, "Hey, not exactly ideal time to ask but, do you have room for another in your bunk room. My roommate seems to have vanished into the aether and I don't like bunking alone because I tend to brood." She thinks a moment then adds, "I also figure that it'd kind of help us build some sort of camaraderie since we're both going to be battle armor operators once your suit is all finished up. Just a thought an' all." Yolandi shrugs and rests her head back on the pillow and stares at the ceiling.

 

[Viper Actual]

Looking at Vance, Daniel remained silent for a brief moment. Truth to be told he hadn't gotten a clear visual of Vance due to him returning fire at the enemies that had engaged them.
"Without a proper check I can only guess. It might be better to check with Typhon when he's back- I reckon he could provide you with more information and help."

 

[joshuadim]

"Well, I already asked him and the good doctor hadn't the slightest idea." Vance replied as he took a seat in the medbay. "It's the second time it's happened and it just leaves me confused."

 

[Viper Actual]

"Is that so?" Daniel shrugged and pulled out his MEDT. "I could try to scan you but I'm not sure if it'll show anything."
That said Daniel raised the device and held it near Vance.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Lucy followed after the team and lingered near Grommy and Nara. She had been thinking about the internal warmth of living creatures again and it was making her anxious to eat. Nara was a living warm-blooded creature, it seemed, and Lucy examined the girl with her bare skull face blankly. Would her internal temperature be different from a humans? That would be interesting. She reached out but stopped herself when she remembered she was not supposed to kill friends. There was at least a two second deviation of forgetting that, and she rerouted a reminder into her cognitive subsystems to not forget that again so easily.

"Nara. What is your internal body temperature relative to a standard male and female human?" She asked quietly from behind her.

 

[Doomevil]

"Huh?" Nara turned to Lucy. Apparently she wanted to know the internal body temperature of a Lythian. I guess it wouldn't hurt to answer that question. She scratched her ear bringing up her reply.

"I guess an average of 100.2 - 103.4 F if that's what you're looking for. Why?" She whispered.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"A m-m-matter of inquiry," Lucy replied, contemplating the data. That was somewhat higher than a human, but perhaps there were others with an even higher temperature. Her own internal systems had to be kept cool, regrettably, though at least the information she could find remained tantalizing.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

“She wants your delectable, warm, juicy guts, Nara.” snidely remarks Typhon, trailing behind as usual.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"C-c-correction: Nara is registered as a friendly associate. She is not a s-s-suitable target," Lucy stated matter-of-factly, turning to glance at the arrival of Typhon. "I suggest you u-u-update your personal registry if this was not a-a-apparent to you."

 

[Doomevil]

Nara raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused with Typhon joking around. Though she did wonder what kind of inquiry. Meanwhile Grommy looked worried for a bit, side glancing at his friend when Lucy asked the information. He knew enough to know Lucy could mean trouble in the future. And if he had to protect Nara from danger, he'll do it.

 

[Infab]

As a few of Scalpel team talked amongst themselves, Lauren watched the pair of guards continue along the terminal towards where cargo was being loaded and unloaded. Soon enough, they all were turned away from where the group was sitting, leaving them open to move. There was an open doorway nearby, leading into a temporary storage warehouse. It was likely there was another door on the other side, so they could slip through the warehouse to move further into the outpost. "Lets go. Quietly." she said, waving for them to follow as she darted across open space towards the warehouse. She slipped inside, with the rest of the group hot on her tail. Soon, they were all inside the warehouse.

Inside were several containers, both large and small, from various other locations throughout local space. They moved along through the aisles of the warehouse, examining some of the crates as they went. Most of it was mechanical equipment, but occasionally they'd run across dry food and other perishable goods.

---
​

Karina glanced over, as she listened to Yolandi request to bunk in the same room with her. Karina liked being alone, but Yolandi did have a point. As both of them were battlesuit operators, they would need to build a sort of camaraderie to function at optimal levels. Karina sighed. "Sure. Once the mission is over, you can move your things into my room. I'll let you have the bottom bunk." she replied, glancing back over to Daniel and Vance as they talked.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

The others may be weaving around the aisles checking for hostiles as they proceeded, but Typhon has other plans. Surrounded by crates carrying all sorts of equipment, and with hardly anyone around to disturb him, he takes the initiative to not let this great opportunity go to waste. Any crate that's been marked as carrying medical equipment, he carefully opens, and then ravenously he rams fistfuls of whatever he's grabbing into his backpack.

 

[joshuadim]

Vance stayed still as Daniel took out his device and pointed it straight at him. To him, it was a strange gadget but he trusted the man and allowed him to proceed.

 

[Infab]

Daniel waved the device over Vance, taking in various bits of data about Vance's body. From the early data, it seemed that Vance's metabolism was rather high compared to that of a normal human. His body was also producing an exceptionally low amount of lactic acid. Next, it read that his brain activity was heightened, and that his neurons were firing off at a rapid pace. Far more rapid than your average human. His muscles and bones were far more dense than usual, almost mirroring that of a Khergian. He read off the data to Vance, as Vance continued to sit there.

Karina overheard nearby. "So you really are a super soldier. Interesting." she said. She was sure that most races throughout the cosmos has experimented with super soldiers throughout their years. The Federation and the Seperatists had bred a few during the Division War, and the Federation continued to do so years after it. Numerous rumors surrounded the Federation Marine Corps regarding the subject, and there were several that thought that Anora herself was a super soldier. Only Naval Intelligence and Anora knew if that were true or not. Clearly Vance was an early example of Sol's attempts to breed better fighters.

 

[Doomevil]

Grommy looked over Typhon for a bit as he was checking all sorts of supplies, mainly medicine. That is a pretty good idea Grommy believed. He decided to stray a bit from the trail, heading to several crates to take small items in his coat pockets. He was also hoping to find some sort of important tool or item they can use for later.

 

[joshuadim]

Well, that cat is out of the bag I s'pose. Vance thought to himself as Karina commented on what Daniel had read out. "Yes ma'am I am. Though, it still don't explain why I tend to... you know... glow all of sudden." Vance said with a chuckle. He wouldn't dive into specifics of this though, seeing how that was still classified information.

 

[Viper Actual]

"I wish I could explain why that is," Daniel replied as he returned his scanner to its holster. "My best guess would be to look at records from Sol. Perhaps you could find more information there?"
The medic shrugged. "It could be risky though."

 

[Infab]

After spending a short time in the warehouse, with some of Scalpel team gathering up much needed supplies to carry with them, they depart and begin to traverse the large outpost. Security was quite active, moving about the various buildings and platforms of the outpost in large numbers. Especially towards the far side of the outpost, where a large ship seemed to be sitting on a platform. Most likely the corvette they were looking for. The issue wasn't getting to it, as the group managed to either sneak by or kill anyone that got in their way. The issue was the large turrets that surrounded the outpost, making an evac quite difficult. This matter would be dealt with soon enough, as Lucy used her hacking skills at one of the many control rooms to temporarily disable the perimeter turrets.

Meanwhile, Nathalie and Jericho would eventually locate Mr. H, and take him into protective custody. Their sneaking would allow them to pass through the outpost as well, leading eventually to the far side to meet up with the rest of the team. Now, the only thing they had left to do was to get aboard the corvette. They found the perfect solution by sneaking aboard using a cargo lift that traveled between the outpost itself and the corvette. The large, silvery-white ship was unlike anything that most of the group had seen before from the YsCom sector of the galaxy. Perhaps it was an experimental model? Whatever the case, their objective would be to secure the data core deep inside the vessel and evac as fast as possible.

As quietly as they could, they stealthily made their way through the vessel towards the electronic mainframe of the ship, locating the data core of the vessel and removing it with a bit of difficulty. There was a bit of a trick to removing the object, as the long rod shaped core was secured inside the mainframe using a series of clamps that the group had to unlatch individually and hold in place. The data core would be placed inside a container and secured, just as an alarm would be set off throughout the corvette. They now just had a short time to evacuate, so the Mordred was quickly contacted.

The Mordred made their entrance, blowing through several of the minor interior turrets as they moved through the outpost and to the platform where the corvette was sitting. Hammer team (its members that were still able to fight on) was deployed, moving to board the vessel to retrieve Scalpel team. Suddenly, the corvette began to rise. It was taking off, with the two teams still aboard. The Mordred followed, attempting to keep pace with the vessel as it moved. Meanwhile, the two teams fought their way through the vessel back to where Hammer had breached their way in, only to encounter a massive individual by the name of Mr. Atlas. A battle ensued between the Mordred team and Mr. Atlas (whom was accompanied by a pair of well armed drones.) The drones were eliminated, and Mr. Atlas was blown out of the side of the vessel. A tired and injured Mordred team would quickly evacuate, boarding the Mordred through the breach that Hammer team had made.

The Mordred departed, leaving the crippled corvette and ascending into space. In orbit, it was ambushed by another vessel. An Orion-class Destroyer, which had been alerted when the corvette came under attack. After a violent battle with the vessel, the destroyer was crippled enough to allow the Mordred to warp away. After one prompt delivery later to a representative to the pair of Cerulean and Saffron, the group was compensated for their work and soon returned to Sielia to recuperate.

MISSION: COMPLETE​

 

[Infab]

Back on Sielia...

"How's the crew?" asked Lauren, glancing up to Zadra as she sat on the edge of her bed. The past few hours had been hell, really. Everything hurt, especially after fighting that big son-of-a-bitch back on the corvette. The man hit like a fucking freight train, if he was even a man. "Well, Hammer and Scalpel both suffered various injuries. Laser burns, bruises, potential broken bones. Lucy suffered minor circuitry damage after the feedback she sustained getting the data core out. Typhon is tending to everyone while we speak...you should let him take a look at you." she replied, before motioning to Lauren from where she was standing. "...I'm fine. Just sore." she said, as she attempted to stand. As she straightened up, she suddenly let out a yelp, as her right leg gave out. Zadra managed to catch her, holding her up. "No, you're not fine." she stated, rather bluntly.

Lauren grumbled. "Its just a sprained ankle. Big fucking deal." she spat, before pushing Zadra off and limping towards the door. "I can take care of myself." Zadra watched her move, as she soon exited the room. She followed after a moment, shaking her head. Doesn't look like it.

---
​

Karina grunted as Daniel finished mending her broken hand. More scars for the collection, it seemed. If it wasn't for Jackson, however, she'd have more than that. The man managed to blow Atlas out of the corvette with a pack of explosives he still had. If he hadn't, they'd have probably been beat to death. What was that giant made of? "Thank you, Daniel." she finally said, as she looked down at her hand once Daniel stepped back. She flexed it a few times. Everything had been put back where it needed to be, and the small doses of nanomachines had mended the bones inside. It still hurt, but not like it did before.

She glanced over to the tables in the Medical Bay, to where Typhon was working. Petar had some broken ribs and a cracked sternum, from where Atlas had planted his boot. Vance seemed mostly fine, probably due to his superhuman nature. Kalashi had some minor damage to her cybernetics, along with Shun and Renate, while Jackson had suffered a broken leg. Most of the others that had been in the field suffered minor bruising and laser burns. Not as bad as the ones that had directly engaged Atlas. Nara, surprisingly, wasn't really hurt. Maybe it was her catlike reflexes, or just luck. Grommy, however, had earned a few chips off that rocky exterior of his from getting punched by Atlas.

 

[Doomevil]

After a treacherous mission, and the amount of enemies the Mordred team had to go through allowed them to prevail. Despite the large foe they encountered, the team managed to retrieve Mr. H and take him back. Nara switched to her traditional outfit after a hot shower, checking in with everyone with a couple of "how are you doings, we did it team!" Stuff like that. The Lythian stood near the Medbay, observing everyone who needed a patch job from the medical staff. Meanwhile, Grommy walked towards Nara, rubbing his head feeling lightheaded. She immediately smiled knowing the big rock was alright despite the massive bruises and dents from that one big guy.

"Glad to see you're alright Grommy. Gotta admit I got extremely worried in there. You got lucky man." Nara scoffed as she shook her head.

Grommy lowered his eyes, "Do I look lucky?" He genuinely asked while he applied a cold wet rag towards his face. She easily chuckled to cope after the battle.

"Well, under the circumstances. You don't look the worse. But on the other hand, you don't look shiny," Nara stated "Don't think about it too much." Grommy slowly nodded, at the very least they were safe and the most important part was that they completed the mission getting that Mr. H guy. It was a team effort and thankfully they all made it. Grommy and Nara wondered if they were going to get paid. Probably.

"So how you doin'? Boosting the morale for the crew? You don't look like you've taken a huge beating." Grommy nudged her right shoulder a bit. Nara shrugged, inspecting the scratches and light bruises. I guess she surprised herself going through that mission.

"Yeah. I don't know how that happened but things just became sudden once the alarm sounded off." Nara explained. She had to admit, she could have done a lot more during the end. "Are you going to be alright?" Nara asked shooting a frown. Grommy sighed for a few moments, "Oh I'll be alright. Worry about the others, I think they need the support than we do." Both of them agreed on each other, letting the crew know they've done a good job about the mission they all went through.

 

[joshuadim]

"I told you I'm FINE doc, I promise. The others need more attention than me." Vance said to the beleaguered Typhon, who was swamped with work from the injuries on board. Back then, it was a different story as the fight with the monster of a man named Atlas had shown. He and the brute exchanged blows, but Vance could only tickle the giant while receiving a few shattered ribs as well as numerous fractures on all his limbs. Vance could only wonder what the big man was even made of to do that kind of damage. Nonetheless, Vance healed rather quickly due to his abilities and as such was not a priority for the medical crew on board. He walked over to Karina to check up on her quickly.

"You alright Lieutenant? The big man packs a mean punch I'll give him that." he said with a chuckle.

---

Albert meanwhile was preoccupied with gathering facts over the events that occured on the mission, as well as getting recounts of what caused so many injuries. Quite a scary foe that Atlas. he thought to himself as he scribbled down in his journal within his quarters. He took a quick puff from his cigar as he leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs. He had been hard at work writing after all this. He had fired a turret for the first time, which was exciting enough, but now the crazy events that had unfolded added more spice for this chapter of his work.

He closed his journal shortly after and took a walk to the lounge, where he sat at a table to continue enjoying his cigar, as well as pour himself a small shot of whisky.

 

[Dmaster]

Shun felt extremely conflicted as he stood about the medbay, eyeing Typhon's medical practices with scrutiny. With the man's propensity to take narcotics and his erratic personality he was the last person the Ayr wanted to be operating on him. Then again most every doctor that had added on to his suite of cybernetics were a bit unhinged as well. It came with the territory of dealing with illegal modifications, as well as stolen military hardware. So far he seemed skilled enough to fix his minor damages, yet Shun still quietly observed, hands behind his back as always.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

For some reason, Lucy was also in the medical bay, tending to the circuitry in her arm at an empty rest station near the far side of the room away from the busier section. A subport in her forearm had blown when she made the data connection to help extract the core. In a way, this was fortunate. It revealed a weak point in her system that was previously undiscovered. The cables and minor wires leading from her hand to it were fine, aside from some minor charring on a few miscellaneous wires. With a soldering tool and deft tentacle-like rubber strands that emerged from one of her fingers, she managed to easily repair the damage within her left forearm. All that needed to be done now was add the finishing touches.

Lucy produced a severed hand from seemingly nowhere, though it had been resting beside her since she returned to the ship. It was unknown who it came from. The fingers were crooked and bruised, and the severed stump was partially burned. She took it in one claw and squeezed it hard, allowing whatever partially congealed blood inside to pour out over her arm and into her circuitry. The liquid caused a minor thermal rise in the internal systems near her elbow, which was a pleasant experience compared to the sparks and pinches of the earlier repair.

Once the hand was well squeezed like it was a lemon, she sat it aside, wondering what to do with it. Perhaps it could be used as a gift.

---

There were few times that Shelby had felt so scared, and being in that space battle was near the top of that list. It was terrifying! Everything was making strange noises, people were running around, the ship would rock back and forth. She had put on a vac suit in case things went really bad, but thankfully they managed to make it through the business alright. There was a lot of running around and helping fix things that fell over or caught on fire during the fight, though that was the worst of it. Everyone made it out of the infiltration and attack alive and well.

After cleaning herself with a shower after being trapped in that cramped, uncomfortable vac suit, she put on some more comfortable athletic attire and headed towards the kitchen. She was technically signed on as a cook, after all, though she wouldn't tell anyone she didn't know the first thing about cooking. What she did know was how to bake cupcakes. And that was about it. Bakery class was fun back at the academy and she came in second (later, first place for the next competition) for her special rainbow cupcakes. Everyone deserved a treat for doing such a good job.

And also she kind of felt like stress eating a little bit after the battle. That part wasn't fun and she needed some happy nourishment before she collapsed.

Once in the kitchen, she found an old apron that was a little too big for her, and she wore it as she ransacked the place for the basic ingredients for cupcakes. The place was pretty well stocked for a spaceship, and she ended up finding some cheap prepackaged material for making cake mix and frosting. The other few ingredients were common enough that they had within sight. Of all the especially needed ingredients that was the most important were the rainbow colored sprinkles, which she was having a hard time finding. With the batter in the oven being made, she climbed into the pantry to find sprinkles.

 

[K0mori]

Sitting in the medical bay, Renate sighed with exasperation as Vixaya silently gawped at the singular wound the cyborg had received. Renate's EM shield had worked perfectly, but she had been turned the wrong way when a plasma blast caught her in the upper back, close to the shoulder blade. Beneath the dull, silver surface of her bodysuit, it was revealed, was not skin or flesh, but instead a layer of highly-advanced, ballistic-resistant armor over top of artificial muscle fibers. Far beneath were the few remaining natural organs which were vital to her survival, encased comfortably within their own bio-friendly survival capsule. Of course, nothing but the armor was currently visible, although it did have a deep, scorched gash which nearly penetrated to the layer below.

"For the last time, Vixy, I told you I'm fine," Renate insisted with a smile. "I just need to get stitched closed, that's all."

"<I know,>" Vixaya replied with the use of her translator.

"Then stop staring at it," the upyri said. Vixaya made a long, worried noise. She hadn't left Renate's side since the latter returned to the Mordred after the mission.