Futuristic Unlit IC

[Solar Daddy]

Silas listened in on what was going on with the various crew members; the mysterious juggernaut seemed to effortlessly cut through the pirates and turn their offensive into a defensive. Silas was more than grateful as he timed his breathing methodically to save as much oxygen as he could. Despite pitching the major problem areas, there were still small cracks in his visor leaking air. He prayed he'd get the chance to switch out his suit soon. He checked his magazine count to ensure he wasn't running low, before standing and propping himself against the hallway wall, in case by some miracle some pirate got past the Esskoat to get to them. Silas wasn't much of a fighter and this engagement showed his lack of skill in the field. He just hoped others fared better than he did.

When the tethers began to retract, Silas couldn't tell if it was because the pirates were finally comfortable bringing them in, or if by some miracle the Stars let Wei take control of the hangar and help them out. Silas prayed for the latter as he waited the short time it took to reel in the wreck of The Ambivalence. Once inside, the gravity fields took over keeping the Ambi suspended over the hangar floor by a few feet. The tethers disconnected and returned to their storage along the walls of the hangar, which was now eerily vacant of life. Nothing but a few bodies, The Ambi, and Wei stood in its large empty bay.

The automatic process of slowly lowering The Ambivalence to the floor begun as the gravity lowered, finally bringing it to a rest along the blood splattered staging area. Once the movement stopped, Silas peeked out the large hole left behind in the side of the ship where the tether used to be. Seeing no immediate threats, Silas stepped over to the edge, looking down at Wei. "Thank the Stars you showed up when you did. That was nothing short of perfect timing." Silas motioned over in the direction of the bridge, where the main egress point of the ship was, and where a ladder down would be located. "Be with you shortly."

Silas traveled the short distance to the main exit with Kestrel, both climbing down and checking the area for anyone who may pop up suddenly to gun them down. While waiting for the rest of the crew to exit the smoldering wreck, he said to Wei, "Thanks for the assist. We need to grab something from the Soviets before we clear out of here, though. Whole reason we're even here is to find out the location of a missing Soviet ship." Silas sighed. "And we pretty much wrecked the Ambi trying to do it."

 

[Viper Actual]

Downing another pirate, Stratton cursed as he struggled to reload his weapon while still coming under fire form the hostiles. At least Adira had managed to shake things up and as far as he could tell based on the comms someone else was doing a number on the pirates- most likely Kestrel or some unknown ally to the mysterious stranger that appeared on the bridge.
Slowly the flood of enemy boarders began to slow and eventually ceased entirely. Upon noticing the stop in gunfire Stratton took a minute to pat himself down in case the suit had missed any injuries before glancing at Adira and the stranger whom both seemed to fare okay considering the circumstances.

By the sound of things the Ambivalence was somehow moving and Stratton was just about to comment on that when the distinct sound of a hangar being pressurized was heard. That and a orchestra of metallic sounds as the Ambivalence was secured inside the hangar of the pirate ship.

Checking on Adira once again to make sure she was still okay Stratton then made his way towards the now-empty hole previously filled by the tether. We're in a hangar alright.

He spotted a man down by the hangar floor that, upon merely seeing, made Stratton double-check his ammunition. With his right foot shifting half a step backwards Stratton's grip around his rifle became tightened as he prepared to shoulder his rifle and engage what he thought to be a bloodthirsty Esskoat murderer when Silas' voice echoed across the area, clearly thanking the man.
Surprised, Stratton lowered his rifle and rolled his shoulders with relief.

Disembarking right behind Kestrel and Silas, Stratton watched the Esskoat from behind his tinted helmet visor with suspicion and caution.

"And we pretty much wrecked the Ambi trying to do it."

Glancing towards Silas and clearing his throat, Stratton nodded towards the Ambivalence. "I'll stay by the ship. Unless I get the time for the needed preparations I can't abandon the Ambivalence nor my terminal. Plus, the Captain is in bad shape and could use the nearby force-protection."

Pausing, Stratton looked around. "By the way, anyone seen or heard anything from Risa or Kepler?"

 

[Vudukudu]

While the Ambivalence is hauled in, Wei leans himself up against a wall, his rifle gripped loosely in one hand hanging next to his side, one leg bent at the knee with his boot flat against the wall. When the first of the unfortunate crew emerges and thanks him, he smiles wryly under his helmet and gives a curt nod. "Yeah, being honest, you were sorta just in the way." He replies, glancing past Silas towards the battered ship. "Shouldn't fly trash haulers into war zones, man. That's gonna cost you a cred." After letting that hang in the air for a few moments, he taps the side of his helmet and a data-chip slides out from the right cheek of his helm. "So's that data you were after, actually." He adds, then taps the helmet again to retract the data-chip.

When Stratton's rifle peeks out from the tether, Wei reaches for the pistol at his hip. His palm settles on the grip, but when the rifle lowers his hand drops away as well.

He holds one hand up, preemptively shushing Silas for a moment as he keys into his comms line to Laoise.

"Hai-la? Come deal with the strangers. I'm going to go paint the bridge red and bounce us outta here before the Soviets dust us." He says, pushing himself off the wall. He lowers his hand, then tilts his head towards Silas. "Negotiate with my friend. I'm going to go say hello to the bridge crew."

With that, he stalks off, returning his rifle to its resting place and drawing the all-too-large handgun from his hip. On comms again, he buzzes Laoise. "My guitar's in their airlock still. If any of the space rats touch it, shoot them so I don't have to. Thanks."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Alexei emerges from the room he'd taken cover in with a bad headache and makes his way toward the bridge, stopping beside the ruined airlock door, and flashes a smile at Adira and Laoise as Stratton heads out the collapsed tunnel. "Appreciate the save. Well, I assume its a save, because your friend didn't turn us all to paste and eat us." He says, eyes on Laiose. A twinkle catches his attention out the corner of his eye and he turns his head, fixing his gaze on Wei's chrome-plated Liandros V-3. Part of him wants to touch it very badly. The rest knows that's a good way to lose his fingers.

"I'm Alexei Cavanaugh, by the way. And uh, I'm starting to think your friend is Wei Lai-ku, so uh, how'd you end up as his... entourage?"

 

[queendilettante]

Laoise stood at the breach, mildly rattled by the fervor with which Wei escaped the ship, slaughtered the pirates, and reeled them all in. Who the hell is this guy?

Laoise watched Stratton descend into the airlock, understandably cautious of the hulking armor clad brute that had indiscriminately slaughtered the ship's attackers. Laoise leaned against the wall opposite the breach and breathed a sigh of relief while Wei got acquainted with the injured crew members. The past few... hours? Minutes? Laoise wasn't sure anymore. Regardless, the past however long has been a major pain in the ass.

Squinting to see the group interact from inside, she saw Wei take out the data-chip that he used to steal some data from the Soviets before they left. Figures; only idiots trying to get information from the Soviets would come so close so unprepared. That chip better be worth triple its weight in gold for the hellish save they just had to pull. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Selling a finite supply of arms to the Soviets was stupid enough, Laoise, the fuck were you thinking stealing from them and escaping like this? She shook her head, frustrated. I need to find a planet with an ocean.
A sudden buzz from Wei interrupted her daydreaming.

"Hai-la? Come deal with the strangers. I'm going to go paint the bridge red and bounce us outta here before the Soviets dust us."

"Uh huh," she called back on comms. Laoise was used to dealing with strangers and trying to upsell all of the fools she could get her hands on. The crew they rescued were definitely fools for getting themselves into what should have been an unwinnable situation, but how much were they buying for?

"My guitar's in their airlock still. If any of the space rats touch it, shoot them so I don't have to. Thanks."

Laoise stood straight up from the wall and stretched her back. "The way you're going, there won't be many rats left to shoot," she said, adjusting her helmet. Moving to exit the breach, Laoise was stopped by a voice from down the hall thanking her and Wei for helping the crew out. Before she could reply, he continued.

"I'm Alexei Cavanaugh, by the way. And uh, I'm starting to think your friend is Wei Lai-ku, so uh, how'd you end up as his... entourage?"

Entourage? I guess that'd explain how this guy knows Wei's name. "Honestly," she started, "I've been asking myself a similar question." She moved to the edge of the breach and turned a final time to face Alexei. "I'm Laoise and, for what it's worth," she smiled, "I hired him." She winked, unsure if he could even see, and exited the ship to negotiate with the rest of the crew on her and Wei's behalf. Let's see what price these poor fools are willing to pay.

 

[Solar Daddy]

The ship rattled with every deflected shot from the Soviet vessel. It was clear they had no intentions of halting their fire on the pirate vessel, and the occasional shot made it through the heavy shielding and caused the hull itself to shudder. It was during this cacophony that Silas found himself inspecting the various wounds he sustained. Nothing terrible, nothing great. He'd probably need a medic's attention after this, but hopefully for nothing more than to remove shrapnel from his body and to ensure he didn't get anything damaged too badly in his body. His forearm stung like hell, but he'd manage until they got somewhere safe. If that was even possible.

At Stratton's mention, Silas turned to face the wreck of the Ambi sitting in the hangar bay. He stepped over to the laceration in the side of the ship where the tether had been. There wasn't much inside the sub deck besides copious amounts of blood and scattered bodies. None of them appeared to be Risa or Kepler. Silas began to worry, wondering if they may have been captured. He was fairly certain though that Kepler would sooner submit to death before allowing himself to get ransomed. As for Risa, he didn't know her well enough. Maybe she was around this ship somewhere. Silas wasn't sure.

As Wei left, he found himself wondering what the hell they had gotten into. These travelers; Laoise and Wei, seemed like trouble. But they had saved them in their time of need, even if it was merely out of convenience. When Laoise stepped down, Silas gave a simple nod of his head. "Seems like you two managed to grab what we're here for. We can figure out what we're going to do once we're out of this battle. Not sure how exactly we can accomplish that, but right now I'd rather not bargain with a Soviet frigate firing down upon us."

Silas looked around at the various crew members, saying, "Where's Adira? Is she okay?" He didn't see her come down the airlock; they'd need her piloting skills if they were going to try and hijack anything to get out of there. It was really their only option. He wasn't sure the vessel could survive much longer in this firefight.

 

[Dragongal]

"Where's Adira? Is she okay?"

"Here." Adire steps out of the mangled hole in the side of the Ambivalence's bridge. She looks over the sheer damage to Silas's armor and internally grimaces. "Good thing we got you somewhere that oxygen's plentiful - we need to get your suit repaired the moment we can find at least a better helm for you."

Adira looks over Wei's armor as he walks away, mentally trying to take apart any weak points it has. For right now, he was definitely an ally, but tides could change quickly in this kind of situation. The name that Alexei mutters, Wei Lai-ku, it seems almost familiar. Probably something she heard in a passing rumor, but didn't commit to memory.

Plus, the Captain is in bad shape and could use the nearby force-protection."

She looks down at her right arm, checking that the sealant was still in place. "I'm not in such bad condition, it's manageable now that it's sealed. I'm just... hopefully not going to need to shoot much, though I am ambidextrous."

She looks to Laoise and tips her head to the side. This woman seemed charming, but how charming could someone be if they ended up on the Ambivalence in a lethal firefight. Out of the two of them, this one was the one with the money certainly. If nothing else, apparently this was the one calling the shots. Adira sighs, "You make call me Adira. Our ship is destroyed, but seems we may have a new one here. No matter what, we need to get what we came for, like Silas said."

To Stratton she adds, "I'm fairly certain that you can stay and protect what little we have. This area seems safe for the moment."

 

[queendilettante]

Laoise observed as the crew checked in with each other. Silas, the severely wounded man in front of her, seemed to have an air of authority about him despite not appearing to have an explicit title or rank within the crew. The Captain, Adira, seemed to carry herself in a similar light, though her rank was obvious from how she was consistently addressed. The two seemed abnormally calm considering the damage to their ships and, especially in Silas' case, bodies. Shock sure was a hell of a thing.

Laoise looked back at the ship expectantly, though she wasn't sure why. It seemed as if Silas couldn't draw his focus completely off of the battered ship, so Laoise could only guess there were crew members late to exit. Or worse.

"Seems like you two managed to grab what we're here for. We can figure out what we're going to do once we're out of this battle. Not sure how exactly we can accomplish that, but right now I'd rather not bargain with a Soviet frigate firing down upon us."

Laoise turned to Silas, smiling and with the demeanor of a practiced merchant. "Of course, there's no benefit to negotiating if we're all going to be incinerated shortly." She smiled again.

"You make call me Adira. Our ship is destroyed, but seems we may have a new one here. No matter what, we need to get what we came for, like Silas said."

Laoise faced the captain, not dropping her saleswoman smile. "I do believe we are going to have to discuss what exactly you both came to the Soviets for," she laughed. "By all accounts, a raggedy crew impeding upon Soviet air space before getting attacked by an indifferent third party is quite the spectacle. Knowing the Soviets, they already know what you all think my associate and I may have." She laughed again before shifting slightly and adjusting her armor. "But naturally, the last thing I want to do is make any more enemies today," she added, hoping to not give the crew cause to rob her and then leave her for dead.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas held his sigh of relief when Adira's poked out of the hull. She didn't look to be in the best state, but neither did he. Silas wasn't sure quite how battered he looked, but he knew the shards and strips of adhesive blocking his visor seemed bad from his perspective. Despite still being hopped up on adrenaline he began to feel the pain in his arm unlike before. His face was still rather numb comparatively. He hoped he didn't get any wicked nerve damage. "From what I count, we're only missing those stuck below decks. Risa and Kep." Silas ran his hand along his wrist to assess the damage absentmindedly as he contemplated the fate of his missing crewmates.

With Laoise's agreement, Silas was more assured they could wait until everything cooled down before bargaining. Laoise and Wei seemed to want to get out of here as badly as the crew of the Ambi did. Mutual goals produced effortless pacts. "We may be privateers, but we're not out to steal from anyone willing to work with us. We've just gotta figure out how to get out of here." Silas rotated his shoulder with a wince. He wasn't able to get his mind off the missing crew members. Kepler didn't seem the type to die cornered and afraid. He hoped if anything, him and Risa managed to hold out and lock themselves in the storage or the medbay, and maybe just didn't receive the rest of the crew's comms. He barely knew Risa, but it was still his ship that got decimated. He didn't like that on his conscience.

It was uncertain if Silas was in too much pain to care about courtesy or if he was still recovering a bit from the blast shaking his head up, but he stepped away from the current conversation without much grace and towards the tear in the hull on the sub deck. He peeked in, only to see various scattered, bloody bodies of variously outfitted pirates. None were recognizable as his missing crew. A further search would require more time than he had at the moment. The reverberations of the Soviet blasts ricocheting off the shields didn't sound enticing. "Whatever we can do to get out of here soon, we've gotta go for it now. Escape pod? Maybe there's a hangar around here with a spare transport?"

 

[Vudukudu]

Wei trudges off down unfamiliar corridors with a pleasant jaunt to his step, waving his pistol around in a loose grip as he strolls along. He whistles to himself, eyes scanning the corridors ahead for movement. Of course, most of the crew was dead, crammed into piles of corpses jamming up the collapsed boarding tethers, so there wasn't anyone around to stop him. Not long after departing the bay, he finds what he was looking for and threads the interface port from his suit into the ship's PA system.

Shaking himself out to ease up, he puts on a smile before tapping his mic. "Hello? Is this thing on?" He asks. His own voice, echoing off the system speakers, answers his question for him. His accent has a pleasant lilt, a purposeful elegance to it that doesn't match the rest of him. While he talks, he sets about applying a thick layer of Thermex gel to the door preventing him from accessing the bridge.

"This is your captain, Wei Lai-ku speaking." He says, voice full of adolescent arrogance. "And I'm laying claim to this ship in accordance with broadly accepted norms regarding the salvage of damaged vessels. As I have yet to encounter any living crew, I am declaring this vessel my property. Anyone wishing to dispute this claim, please see me just outside the bridge. I'd love to talk it out. Captain No-Man, over and out." He mocks, finishing with the Copanese translation of his surname. No-Man, fatherless, vat-born. No legacy but his own.

With a tug, he rips the cord to set off the Thermex. The flash of light would be blinding if his visor wasn't tinted, the gel burning at upwards of 3200 Celsius and eating a deep gouge in the blast door locking off the bridge. It wouldn't burn all the way through, but it'd do enough for the spider-droid on his back to start prying it open. He taps his right foot on the metal flooring while the gel does its work and once its burnt a significant crevice in the door he sics his companion droid on it. Obediently, it skitters off his back, across the floor, and then fires each of its six small mining lasers into the door to keep carving it open.

While it works, he stands at the door, banging his armored fist on it. The beat is slow, matching a resting heartbeat until it rises, getting faster as the drilling lasers do their work. Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump-a-thump. Ba-thump-a-thump. Ba-thump-a-thump. Ba-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump, until he's hammering both fists on the door at a frantic pace in a mocking mimicry of the terror he wants them to feel pounding in their chest.

 

[Dragongal]

"I do believe we are going to have to discuss what exactly you both came to the Soviets for."

As Laoise spoke, Adira tore her eyes away from examining the shards embedded in Silas's helmet.

"I agree with Silas, for now we should focus on not dying. I need to find the rest of the crew - "

Wei's voice crackled over the loudspeaker and Adira froze. Why hadn't she expected this? Because she was distracted, obviously. She was struggling to move her right arm, and really wanted to fuss over everyone else's injuries too, besides the fact that they were in hostile territory and needed a plan and who knew how Kestrel and Mouse would be recevied, they would need a ship out of here since theirs was -

Well. She had a lot on her mind.

Adira turned to Laoise and laid out her thoughts to the whole group. "I'm certain your friend cannot pilot this on his own. I can. We need to get out of here before we're all killed. I don't know why you're here, but you can't argue with the mere logic of this situation. If we can get to the bridge, I can fly, and Silas can maybe try to call for a ceasefire. Or... Alexei? He speaks Russian. He can translate."

Adira shook her head and stated, "Point being, we need to get to the bridge. Tell your companion we're on our way."

 

[queendilettante]

Laoise smiled to the captain in agreement. "Negotiating requires survival, afterall!"

Turning on her heels, Laoise called out to Wei through open comms as she evaluated the damage to the landing/cargo bay the group had thrown themselves into. "Wei, the crew wants to negotiate for what we have." Laoise could see moderate damage to the walls and internal wiring; the Soviets were nothing if not militaristically fucking terrifying. Sparks shot from one of the walls, as if on cue, causing Laoise to jump slightly at the noise. They weren't out of the woods yet. "We're coming to the bridge to get the fuck out of here so that we can live long enough to all get to know each other a little better."

Laoise turned again and walked back to the group that seemed to be focused somewhat on their ruined ship. A lot of people died in the last hour and there was still major uncertainty as to whether or not any of their own were among those numbers. "I contacted my friend; it is time for us to go." The same wiring sent out an arc of electricity again, though Laoise didn't jump the second time. "It appears we are still under fire. I know the fate of your friends is uncertain, but I can guarantee what all of ours is about to be." With a smile, Laoise started in the direction Wei had left. Hand on her pistol, she sighed and checked the first hallway for signs of hostile life. All left to greet her, though, were the slumped corpses of the pirates stupid enough to get in Wei's way.

Just who the fuck have I been working with?

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas let out a sigh as he looked out the hangar doors to the Soviet vessel raining energy on them. As the force of the impacts transferred from the shields to the ship, the rustling of everything in the hull was apparent. Tools fell off crates due to the reverberations and Silas had to mentally stabilize himself every few seconds to prepare for the impacts. From what Adira said, they didn't have to waste any time finding a transport and instead just fly the entire pirate ship out of danger. He wasn't sure how viable that was, but if Adira believed she could do it, he'd back her up on that claim. He merely nodded his head when she finished speaking. "Alright, let's get moving then. Our missing crew has to be somewhere onboard, so we can search for them once we're safe."

Silas moved with the crew through the narrow hallways of the vessel, checking every corner and crevice in fear of being shot in the back by a remaining pirate. However all they encountered were the occasional corpse with a healthy splatter of blood. They seemed to be following the trail of someone who went on a rampage inside the vessel. It didn't take long to reach the bridge; Silas had worked on this model of ship before and could guide the crew easily to the main hub. They arrived, prepared to handle navigating and hopefully leave the Soviet suppressive fire behind. From the stress sounds of the ship, he figured they didn't have long before the shields fell.

Stepping up to Wei, he remained silent and readied his weapon. If there was a last bastion of pirates holding out, it'd no doubt be on the bridge. They were ready to take on a defending force whenever Wei managed to get the doors to rend.

 

[Vudukudu]

With a wary wave, Alexei leans up against the Ambivalence's wrecked hull. "Yeah, you guys uh, you do that. I'm gonna.. get all the corpses off our ship." He says, his utter lack of enthusiasm perfectly clear. Besides, they've got Wei. If they can't take the bridge with him, its not like Alexei being there would matter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wei doesn't respond to Laoise's call, too bloodlusted to even care about the fact the ship is falling apart around him. As the others catch up, his spider-drone is nearly finished with opening the bulkhead door as he bangs his heavy armored fists on it. By now, he's synced up his helmet's microphone with the laser amps on his pauldrons, beaming his frenzied sing-song taunts into the bridge through the wall.

"If your heart beats like a drum, and your leg's a little wet, its because I've fucking come, to collect a little debt!" He roars, and then the spider-drone tucks itself into the cracked bulkhead and extends its legs, forcing it to grind open. The sound of metal screeching in protest as the molten door wrenches open is almost immediately answered by a hail of gunfire. Wei crams himself through the opening, the ruined door still smoldering and red with heat, shield raised in one arm and his pistol in the other. A few rounds ping off his breastplate, making him stagger backwards a bit, but buying enough time for the others to breach and take aim if they're going to be that aggressive about it.

Regardless, his first kill is the comms crewman who rushes him with a blade, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as whatever combat drugs he's dosed up on hit his system. Wei pivots towards him and lunges, launching his shield arm outward and slamming the man back into his own work-station, turning his chest into something more like liquid than it ought to be and cramming his head through his own monitor. As he straightens back out, his pistol barks at the next nearest target, riddling him with holes as he draws the attention of the rest of the bridge crew, giving his own reinforcements an opportunity to enter.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas and the others met up with Wei pretty much the moment he got the door pried open. Silas wasn't ready for another firefight, having barely survived the last one. In a rush to get out of the way, he crammed himself against the portside wall of the hallway to avoid the gunfire. His rifle was still in his hands, but there was no way he'd peek his head out to try and shoot; he still felt shaken up from recent events, and given their situation in the somewhat cramped hallways, he should save room for someone more proficient in weaponry to shoot without his head in the way. The mask problem he had still bothered Silas since, if the ship lost its oxygen supply, he'd be out of luck. Maybe in the meantime he could search for a spare EVA suit on the pirate ship? "Don't shoot any of the controls," Silas warned to the others. "We can't fly this thing if all the navigation equipment is broken." It may have been obvious to the others, but Silas wanted to be of some help in his rather useless state.

Bullets rang out against Wei's shield and the metallic walls of the hallway. Bullets flung past the crew as the last hold out of the pirates tried desperately to stop the Ambivalence invasion. The dozen people inside were mostly ready to defend the bridge to the death, with a few already having given up and raised their hands in surrender. One even wailed out of sight to be let free. It was impossible to tell where this voice was coming from in the chaos.

 

[queendilettante]

At the end of the hall, Laoise saw Wei tear through a sealed metal door with little more resistance than a knife through butter. The frenzied storm of gunfire followed immediately in suit; a hailstorm of lead thrown in their direction. As Silas called out, Laoise realized no one had yet followed Wei into the breach. The wounded crew were in no condition to charge once again into harm's way; they only barely got out of their last scrape. "Fuck," she said, mostly to herself, as she followed after the now staggered Wei and behind cover in the room.

Kneeling behind a sorry excuse for even small cover, Laoise took pot shots at the pirates. She realized fairly quickly that their focus was on the hulking metal monstrosity that just tore through their reinforced doors, so she was able to easily take a few of them down. Unfortunately, in the process, she made her presence a bit too known, leaving her completely suppressed behind cover from their fire. She called out on the comms: "Hey, people we just helped save, we'd appreciate some help in not dying; if you could!"

 

[Viper Actual]

Shaking his head at the prospect of another fight, Stratton reluctantly followed the rest of the crew as they made their way towards the bridge. Before leaving the hangar he glanced back at Alexei and yelled; "Make sure you can hear our comms!"
Then, as the crew waded through gore left in the wake of the psychotic Esskoat mercenary's rampage Stratton tightened up.

Upon reaching the bridge the gunfire made it very clear that things were not going to be easy. That said, Stratton shouldered his rifle and entered the room- strafing to the left immediately while also double-tapping a pair of pirate crewmen just before diving into cover behind a rather large auxiliary system's panel.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira followed close behind Silas and Laoise with a pistol in each hand. If all went well she wouldn't need to use her right hand until she got to the bridge, but she could still raise her arm to shoot. It just fucking hurt. Wei's ability to open the door was impressive, but now they had to survive it. That was how things tended to go for them, wasn't it? The goal always ended up being just surviving. Adira tapped Silas's shoulder to indicate that he go get the better cover on the left and she would take right. He was in no condition to be shooting at anyone, and she could still probably take a few hits. Probably.

For the moment, she took cover by hull strut just a little bit behind Laoise, and initially just took a few shots at the pirates while echoing Silas with a chuckled, "You shoot those panels I'll shoot you! That's our only way out of here!" Of course there was the issue of Laoise coming under fire, so Adira moved out of cover a bit more and took a few shots, just enough to get some of the pirates shooting at Laoise to duck. "We should take one or two of the ones surrendering alive - they might be useful to know what the fuck we walked into, or maybe we can just hand them over to Waning."

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas appreciated the others stepping up to dish lead to the bridge crew; they signed up for this kind of work, sure, but this was a particularly rough situation, and it had been for a while now. He just hoped there would be a payoff to this endeavor, eventually. Silas remained plastered against the cover he wouldn't peek from, though he did occasionally raise his weapon to blind fire. It was more to keep up suppressive fire on the bridge crew rather than actually try and hit anyone. Despite his blind fire, the rest of the crew expertly managed to drop pirate after pirate thanks to the wall of lead created by Stratton, Adira, Wei and Laoise.

The pirate's numbers dwindled drastically passed the already short staffed crew remaining on board. Among them, a lone Durian, hid behind one of the bulkier terminals off to the right. Seeing the increasingly worsening situation headed by what he was certain was the embodiment of the god of death, he took a chance and raised his pistol at the weapon technician, a friend of his.

The technician turned to check on her fellow crew member; reacting much too late to the gun aimed between her eyes. She dropped as the Durian squeezed the trigger. Like most humans, she didn't stand a chance at surviving the hole in her skull he placed there. Once again taking aim, he shot the brains out of the janitor, then the captain, then the comms worker. Being the last one left of the pirates, and knowing the invading crew would've seen his shots aiding them, he stepped out with his hands raised and his gun dropped. "Don't shoot." The Durian spoke through his chitinous faceplate. "I am surrendering." His unhinged wings fluttered at the end of his sentences as most Vrachers did.

 

[Vudukudu]

Wei sweeps the bridge as the Durian puts down his former comrades, a frown hidden under his visor. He motions at the dropped gun for the Durian to kick it away, and when he does, he opens his visor and begins to approach with loud clanking steps. "Laoise, tell our friends to get this heap out of here before I have to find another one." He grunts, then pulls a simple unadorned revolver off his hip. He empties five of the six chambers into one hand, pockets the spare rounds, and then spins the cylinder before closing it back up.

"Do you have a name, Durian?" He asks, eyeing the revolver in his hand.

The bug twitches before answering. "Krota."

"Where I come from, Krota, treason is considered the work of cowards and whelps. Surrender is one thing. Betrayal is another." Wei replies, leaning his considerable armored bulk onto one console. "There is The People, and there is the Clan, and there is family, there are those you love, and there are those to whom you have sworn oaths." He lists off, counting off on the fingers of his left hand. At the last one, he gestures vaguely in Laoise's direction.

"You have put me in a difficult situation. You have endangered my friend, who I have sworn to protect. You have also betrayed your crew, but in so doing, minimized the continued danger to my friend." He goes on, holding both hands up like a set of imagined scales. "Honor demands you die, but I'm in a good mood today and I wouldn't want to deny you the opportunity to kill the last of your crew, seeing as you seem to enjoy it so much."

He rolls his wrist, flipping the revolver around in his hand and extending the grip to the Durian. "One bullet, six chambers. Lets let chance decide your fate, hmm? You play the game or I peel your wings off and feed them to you. I'd say 1-out-of-6 is a better chance to take."

The Durian shakes, his chitinous form clicking nervously as he takes the gun. His arm raises unsteadily, pressing the barrel to his head, and his eyes shut as he pulls the trigger. The gun clicks and the Durian lets out a pitiful sigh of relief.

Of course it clicks. Its locked to only go off in Wei's hands.

"I accept your surrender, Krota." Wei says, then takes the gun back from him. "Now sit down in your chair and do everything you can to get us out of here."

 

[queendilettante]

As Wei approached the insect-man, Laoise rose from behind her cover. Considering the chaos she unwittingly got them caught up in, she couldn't believe she and Wei were uninjured. At least, she thought Wei was uninjured; if the man took any serious damage, he sure as hell made no outward indication of that fact.

"Laoise, tell our friends to get this heap out of here before I have to find another one."

She registered that she was, in fact, the one being addressed, but she couldn't help but fixate on Wei as he approached the traitorous pirate. The way he slowly approached the pirate made Laoise's skin crawl. She knew that Wei was obliged to her service and his comments to the Durian corroborated as much, but their contract wasn't going to last forever. I need to make sure this man doesn't view me as an enemy.

As Wei spared the Durian, Laoise came fully back to her senses. "Alright, damaged crew," she began on open comms, "you all heard Wei. Whichever one of you said you could fly this thing, please, if you could, get on that." She smiled back to the crew and motioned her hands to the controls behind her. "At your leisure."

 

[Solar Daddy]

Krota performed three high pitched clicks before finding himself in his seat. He was secretly glad he didn't need to explain himself any further; he knew what he did wouldn't resonate with the humans, but it was - as his current situation proved - a way to survive the onslaught. As long as he proved he was worth keeping around, the crew wouldn't need to waste the lead on him. He planned on keeping his head down and doing whatever they asked of him.

Silas wasn't even sure what happened on the bridge; he wasn't going to peek his head out until all the threats were dealt with. He knew he stood no place in a firefight at the moment and held off joining until a good few moments passed without the sound of a gun firing. When he finally stood out from the strut, Silas walked into the bridge with the others. Seeing the Durian at his station, Silas assumed his fellow crew members had worked out some kind of deal with the alien. However, he kept an eye on him just in case. "Let us know where you need us, Adira." Silas said. As someone who had never flown a large vessel such as this, he was completely lost on what would be needed of him. However, he would prefer to learn on the fly at the moment. He'd do just about anything to quiet down the sound of artillery fire hitting the weakening shields.

 

[Viper Actual]

One second there was a firefight and the other it was... over? Stratton popped up from his cover with his rifle shouldered and ready, expecting to face down the desperate last-ditch defense attempt of the bridge but instead one of the crew-members had seemingly offed his comrades and was now surrendering. One of the strangers- the one that Stratton was absolutely sure he'd seen on a CrimeHolo or in a redacted WS report- spared the insectoid who thankfully manned his station. Skeptical to say the least, Stratton positioned himself slightly behind the bug with his rifle ready.

As Silas and Adira joined them Stratton nodded silently towards them. His opaque visor then turned to face the Durian in front of him while his trigger-finger slowly moved to rest on the trigger-guard of his rifle. Never trust a traitor.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira barely cast the Durian more than a glance as she rushed forward to the control console. "Silas, get left engine, someone get right, whoever is least experienced can cover nav, Stratton get your ass on shields, be quick!" The controls were old. They're damaged. They're, frankly, probably only half-reliable at best.

"Someone who speaks Russian, contact the ship attacking us. Tell them we surrender and are disengaging!"

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas immediately took action at the control station he needed to be at. Left engine seat was towards the back of the bridge, a place where Silas was familiar with. He'd worked plenty of time at such a terminal, a universal module shared by many a company's chassis. He wiped off some of the blood that had gotten onto the monitor before tapping away at the screen. He flared a couple bursts from the left engine to ensure it wasn't damaged in a way the sensors wouldn't have picked up. It didn't take long for Silas to be confident that at least the portside engines were up in working order.

And then the oppressive, hull rumbling shudder of the shields getting decimated rang out, with the first of the artillery fire hitting the hull of the ship. Shit, Silas thought. At this point, they had seconds to boot up FTLT and get out of there. they'd all need to work perfectly to keep the ship in working order. Once their weapons disabled the ship, they'd be sitting targets at the mercy of the Soviets. Silas worked fast to get the engines spooled, as well as configuring the FTLT drive to be as efficient as he could make it. Unless they could get Kestrel or Alexei to find comms and hail the Soviets, they'd need to fly out of there fast. "Get those starboard side engines up, and someone start nav for FTLT pathing!" Silas repeated Adira's orders, hoping the added urgency would alert the crew to the danger they were in. He hoped the engines would survive the bombardment while his team prepared to bolt out of there.

 

[Vudukudu]

Wei's eyes dart around the room evaluating the situation, and given the ship's condition his first order of business is to reseal his suit. It seems practical given that the whole ship is liable to fall apart at any moment and eject him into the cold void. Alexei is no where to be seen, as he'd said he'd remain with the ship, and Wei is a little too large to operate a control console right now. Instead, he opens a channel to the Soviet vessel firing on them and barks at them in crude Russian.

"Admiral Oshroli Hoptinov, this ship no make fire. Please to be stopping gun." He urges. "Ambivalence make pirate into the big sleep." While not exactly a polyglot, Wei isn't too terrible with picking up a few words here and there, but communicating a proper surrender is beyond him.

When he gets no response, he assumes there is only the worst to come, and Wei isn't the type to go out without screaming into the void. "на хуй, свинья собака!" He barks, then shuts off the channel before turning his attention back towards Laoise and the rest of the crew with an over-emphasized shrug.

"Guess they're not taking calls. Think the assholes would have noticed by now we're not firing on them still."