Star Brigade: A 53rd Century Adventure RP

[Soviet Heavy]

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"Well, the first thing to do is gather information." said Demexin. "Where would someone go if they wanted to find a piece of highly sensitive technology and sell it on the black market?"

Tom answered immediately. "Broadsword. That's where we should go."

"What's the Broadsword?" asked Demexin.

"It's a ship, a carrier," explained Tom. "High profile gambling and entertainment vessel. It's a re-purposed carrier from the Excisions that runs all sorts of operations throughout Scalrey. That's the most likely place to find the sort of information someone would want to hide."

"Or the place where we'd be most likely found looking." countered Demexin. "The sight of a large group of uniformed diplomats and commandos will draw attention."

James cut into the conversation. "Unless we were undercover. We could split into teams posing as gamblers and shoppers, with some working distractions while others collect what we need."

Demexin flushed orange with suspicion. "So we offer one hand to do a stage show while the others run behind the curtains?"

"To use that metaphor, yes."

"This all depends on whether or not we can find the ship however," said Tom.

James turned back to the shuttle. He banged on the cockpit canopy. The seal split and the dome raised. "Rivers, run a check on the ships in the port. Use the Corps override codes to see where they've last been."

"Roger that sir. Running the diagnostic now. Anything in particular I'm looking for?"

Tom spoke. "Check for stops in deep space. There aren't many waypoint stations in the northern quadrant. If they've stopped in deep space this far out, then it has to be the Broadsword. They're not hiding, but deep space doesn't have tariffs."

"Got it..... there's a couple signatures in the port that have origin points somewhere between Forosten and North Hand. There's three ships that share the same origin point. I think we've found our carrier."

"Nice work, Rivers." said James. James turned to the rest of them. "Well, that was easy. Who's up for a little cloak and dagger work?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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"Well, that was easy. Who's up for a little cloak and dagger work?" James had asked the group, which Gabriel responded with a low chuckle; which sounded like he was going to enjoy what he was going to do.

"Ah, subterfuge. The art of concealment, to move undectected; this sounds like it will be fun. Whilst I can do social skills, the fields of information gathering and hacking will be more my expertise on this mission." Gabriel remarked, making his contributions known.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James glanced at Gabriel quizzically. He still got a strange vibe from the man, but he hadn't stabbed anyone in the back yet and he had helped them willingly enough on their last mission. I guess we can trust him James thought. "I'll make the distraction, since I can't get around all that well." he said. He was still recovering from getting his leg blown off, and he could foresee plenty of frustration revolving around it in the future.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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"Alright," said Dex. "Muo, you're probably going to draw attention, no offense. However, I did see you fight that bull. It was very impressive. If we could get you into one of the ship's fighting rings, you would sure draw a crowd."

"And that would leave Lime and I to gather some more information, while you guys are working distractions." said Tom. "James, you're an engineer, the Broadsword has lower decks for the work crews. If you could rile them up, or get their attention for some "emergency", that would give Gabriel and opening to hack into their terminals and trace any ships that have had contact with the Broadsword. One of them would have to have some connection to our thieves. Lime and I could shake down some informants as well."

Rivers continued to scan the ships docked a the star port, until he finally had enough information and tracing logs to zero in on the Broadsword's position. Lifting off, Corona 1 shot for the orbiting Jump Gate. Three hours later, they pulled out of the field and into a dead stop in deep space.

There was a ship out there, the Broadsword. The old Hellhammer carrier had been repainted with a gaudy yellow paint scheme, covered with pinup art and flashing lights. For an illegal gambling establishment, they sure didn't care about hiding. Rivers switched on their signature mask, making the shuttle transponder mark the Corona 1 as a civilian vessel.

The small craft slipped into the cavernous hangar, filled with hundreds of vessels packed into the docking ports. "The bird is down, and you're cleared to enter." called Rivers. "Bring me back a souvenir will you?"

Clad in dress clothes, the team departed from the shuttle towards the elevator banks.

 

[Bravo 21]

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The interior of the Broadsword was an anthill of activity, making up for the lack on the planet. Pushing into the crowd, Muo broke away from the others "I'm off to make some noise. Come find me if you need anything."
Moving deeper into the vessel, he got the sense that he was being put somewhere where he wouldn't be able to interfere while the others were working. Then again, given the way his contributions to the negotiations on Earth had gone, it was probably for the best. All such doubts were washed away when he came upon the fight rings. This was definitely where he belonged.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James stepped out of the Corona 1 wearing a pair of torn jeans, T-shirt, and tan jacket to look at the cavernous docking bay of the ship. It was impressive, but living with such ships all his life made James immune to the sense of awe he would have once felt. But the plethora of smaller craft packed into said docking bay raised his eyebrows. The carrying capacity of one of these hangers was great, about 200-300 small craft, and every one of those spaces was filled. Clearly this place was popular. "Alright, I'm off to make some noise." James said to the others. "Stay in touch." he added, tapping his radio. With that he turned and, making sure his pistol and radio were concealed, entered the casino.

He guessed from the size of the room it had once been a storage compartment, but it hardly looked it. Red carpets and games of chance where scattered around the floor. Expensive paintings, many probably stolen, hung from the walls. Above, several chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling. With all the people milling about, human and otherwise, it was all rather impressive. James walked leisurely through the crowd, taking care to look as boring as possibly. As he walked he took note of important fixtures; air vents, fire suppression systems, doors that would seal in case of a hull breach, etc., etc. The ship had everything, now all James needed was a way to control it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Star Brigade, Location Unknown
Despite being allowed to wander the ship freely, there was little that Najeed could do to stop the League Troops. They had come to a stop somewhere two days before, but he didn't recognize it through the viewports. It was rocky, and it had plantlife, but it the sky was spinning too fast for it to be a planet. Thor had told them it was probably a terraformed asteroid, noting the faint sky and the slightly shifted gravity.

Ruth and Kalade were still trying to reactivate LISA, but whoever had shut her out of the system had been good. The colonials had even come down to watch them try and fail to fix the ship. They were confident it wouldn't be cracked by the time they were done.

Unlike Najeed, Thor felt no need to wander. He just sat in the mess hall, eating what was given to him, and generally being quiet. Najeed couldn't understand how someone could be so calm in their situation. When he asked him, Thor's response was blunt.

"Because I've done what they're doing, kid. I'm an ex merc, and I know what will happen if I step out of line. Electroshock therapy is still one of the most popular methods of torture. You'd be surprised how many volts you can put through a person without killing them, and you don't run the risk of overdosing them with a neurotoxin. Electricity and I have a touchy relationship."

"Your arm, you mean?" said Najeed, motioning to Thor's mechanical limb.

"Yep, this old thing," he said, flexing the cybernetics. "It's great for crushing cans, but it might as well be a weather vane in a thunderstorm if they decide to plug me into a circuit board."

"So, you're just going to sit here, because you're afraid that they'll zap you?"

"Isn't that what I just said? Look, Najeed, they don't seem to care what we do right now, so why bother? The minute you, or Kalade, or Ruth make a breakthrough, you're dead. It's as simple as that. If they're being this lenient with us, it means that we're pretty much dead already. No point in speeding up the process."

"So, we wait until they find us? The Captain I mean."

On of the League troopers laughed. "Oh they'll find you. If we decide to send you back, of course. We haven't decided on how many pieces you'll be in though. Maybe your engineers could put you back together. Kid, you're going nowhere, and your friend has the right idea. Just sit tight, and maybe the worst you'll get is being posted to a minesweeper vessel. We're always running out of those."

"Stop fraternizing with them, idiot." said his superior. "Let's go, they aren't going anywhere, and we aren't due for a shift change until next week. We should be done with this ship by then.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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Gabriel stepped out of the Corona 1 transport wearing cargo pants, a short sleeved shirt, and a dark leather duster coat. He had left his sniper rifle on-board the transport, but kept his other weaponry concealed; in the event that a fire fight breaks out.

Looking around the transport bay, there were hundreds of vessels similar in size to the Corona that had landed inside the Broadsword's cavernous maw. Each of the team then began to split off so they could perform their various roles for this mission. Gabriel's was to locate a terminal on-board, and scan its data-banks for information regarding the whereabouts of the terrorists, more importantly the Star Brigade's location.

"I'm off to make some noise. Come find me if you need anything." Muo said as he made his way over to the fighting rings.

"Alright, I'm off to make some noise." James said to the others as he began to walk. "Stay in touch." He added, tapping the radio.

"Good luck to the both of you." Gabriel said with a smile. "Guess this means I'll be off as well then." He added, making his way to where hopefully he could find a terminal that would be of some use to him; then again with hacking, anything could become useful in its own little way.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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The ship had everything, now all James needed was a way to control it.
An idea came to mind as James walked though the ship. A ship like this must need plenty of repairs. he mused to himself. That means their must be a central maintenance office somewhere. Looking it up on a terminal confirmed his suspicion. Their was indeed a maintenance office on the 3rd deck. James found an elevator and keyed for deck 3.

Upon arrival, James observed that their was much less activity on this floor. He guessed this deck was reserved for support crew rather than customers. He made his way to the maintenance office and got the attention of a human who looked like he was in charge. "Excuse me, sir." James said, tapping the man on the shoulder.

The man turned to face James. "What is it?" he asked with very little effort put into be polite.

"I have a damage report. There's some exposed wiring in one of the bathrooms. I think it might be a safety hazard." James could feel the sweat on his brow; he was never very good at lying.

But even illegal companies respond to customer complaints. "Jack, go check it out." he said to another man. Jack responded with a grunt and followed James out of the office and back down to deck 1.

They walked through the crowd for some time before James spotted a bathroom. Perfect. James lead Jack into the restroom. "So where is it?" Jack asked, looking around.

"Oh, it's in this stall here." James said, pointing to the closest stall. "Take a look, I don't want to get near it."

Jack opened the door and scanned the walls. "Dude, I don't see anything." James then drew his gun from his jacket and pistol-wiped Jack in the back of the head. His unconscious body crumpled to the floor. James dragged him into the stall and closed the door behind him.

A few minutes later, James emerged from the bathroom wearing Jacks uniform, a pass key and a map of maintenance access points in his pockets. James' gun was once again concealed, and the unconscious Jack still lay in the stall. James used the map to find the closest access point and unlocked it using the pass key. The door hissed shut behind him as he proceeded into the dimly lit hall. James continued until he found a place to plug his interface into. The screen of the small device lit up. He wouldn't be able to get to any confidential files from here, but he knew who could from just about any terminal on the ship. Scrolling through his interface, James found a terminal in one of the dance rooms that should, with a little encouragement, reveal everything that they needed to know. He took out his radio and switched it to a secure channel. "Gabriel. I have a plan, but you've got to listen to me."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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Gabriel was walking through the various halls and staging areas of the Broadsword's lavish casino's, keeping an eye out for any signs of security that might become an obstacle to the groups efforts; fortunately it seemed like the majority of people here were gamblers who were too drunk out of their minds to notice someone like Gabriel snooping around.

Passing by a bank of slot machines, he grabbed a handful of poker chips, figuring that they might be useful later as a distraction; fortunately for him, no one appeared to have noticed. He received a fair few suggestive and seductive looks from the female patrons, obviously finding him attractive; but Gabriel paid no attention, focusing instead on the mission. It was then he was contacted on his headset via a secure channel, so he found an out of the way place of the large area, and accepted the call.

"Gabriel. I have a plan, but you've got to listen to me."

"Alright then James, what did you have in mind?" Gabriel asked in response in a hush voice, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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"There's a terminal in one of the dance rooms that you should be able to hack into. It's probably crowded in there, but I think I have an idea of how to clear it out. I need you to wait out side it." James glanced at the ships layout. "It's down the hall to your left, past the bar." James had his interface display the room in question. It was indeed crowded, but he was confident that he could get Gabriel his opening.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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"Hope what you got planned works James, and lets hope the others are doing well also; otherwise this could be a real short trip. I'll let you know when I'm at the location, then we'll see if your right." Gabriel remarked as he looked over the schematics for the floor he was on via his wrist computer.

"Right, should be there in a few moments James." He added, before switching off his headset, leaving the alcove he was hiding in, and then began following the path he discovered.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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Tom and Lime wandered through the cavernous expanse of the cargo bay casino. Unlike the others crew members, they were going for a different approach. Dress outfits and class were their disguises, unlike the commoner clothing the others had worn. They were on retrieval, and Demexin was coordinating between them and the other teams.

Lime activated his discreet transmitter, carefully hidden beneath his pressure vest. He motioned for Tom to do the same. Suddenly dozens of micro frequencies streamed over Tom's glasses, before settling on one code. They could shuffle their codes if anyone was spying on them to keep their discussions safe. "Chief, what's our status?" said Lime.

"Muo's made it to the ring. It looks like he'll be quite the performance. That should give you the chance to shake down some people. I've IDed a number of potential suspects. The Scalrey System Patrol should really keep their files better guarded. I'll upload their profiles to Tom. He can find them, and you can hurt them."

"Understood. What about James and Gabriel?"

"James is playing around with the ship like a good little engineer. He's looking to create an "accident" of sorts to cover for Gabriel. I'll keep you updated."

"See to it. Lime out." He killed the switch on his transmitter. Demexin would be able to track them, but he wouldn't hear anything until Lime reactivated the link. Tom meanwhile was watching the suspect profiles run by his spectacles. Some of them were petty thieves or gun runners, but a few of them had top billing for numerous murders and bombings across the Hands.

"I say we move into the tables, Tom. Someone will be th-" Lime was cut off as a large paw grabbed his shoulder. A heavyset Ferrax wearing a security uniform yanked Lime around. With him was a human officer holding an infopad.

"That's him." he said. "Take him up top. We've got some questions for you, Mr. Lime."

Tom tried to step forward, but the Ferrax shunted him back with a swat of his forearm. "Not you, just him."

"Leave it, Tom." said Lime. "Just go enjoy the tables. I'm sure this won't take long."

"But-"

"No buts. Go have fun, and save some of the winnings for me." Lime was marched off with the two security guards, leaving Tom alone in the casino. He quickly keyed in the transmitter to Demexin and the others.

"We've got a problem. Somebody recognized Lime, and the security took him away for questioning. I'm on my own right now. I'll see if I can ID some of the suspects, but we should do something."

"No," said Demexin bluntly. "Focus on your mission. Lime can take care of himself. If you go after him, then it could compromise the rest of us. Lime's transmitter is off, but I can still track him by his vitals. If anything happens to him, we'll know."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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Gabriel continued along the path towards the dance room that James told him about; keeping a close eye on his surroundings, but also to see if other team members were doing well. He briefly caught a glimpse of Tom and Lime, with Lime being 'escorted' away by some of the security guards.

"Aww crap. That can't be good. Can't divert attention to that now, otherwise there could be other complications. Lets just hope Lime can handle the situation on his/herself." He thought to himself, obviously annoyed at what had happened, but decided it was risky to intervene. Instead he simply carried on to the objective marker.

On a ship that was filled as the Broadsword, presence outside of the dance room seemed minimal. Gabriel stood with his back next to a wall, and contacted James again on a secure frequency.

"Psst, James are you there? I am in position, and ready for whatever little surprise you have planned."

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James brought the radio back up to his face. "OK. I'm going to activate the fire suppression systems in the room to drive everyone out. Once they're gone, I'll kill the cameras in there and you can move in. I'll lock the doors behind you." James readied his finger to push the button that would trigger the havoc. "Get ready." he said, and pushed the button.

In the dance room, the ceiling suddenly erupted into a shower of water and carbon foam. The music cut out to a pre-recorded voice. "Please evacuate the room in an orderly fashion." it said in a deep, commanding voice over and over. The patrons, soaked and finding it hard to breath, rushed out of the room and into the halls where Gabriel waited. Once everyone was out, James hit another button to shut off the cameras. "Get in their Gabe." After a few seconds, enough time for Gabriel to slip in, James shut and magnetically sealed the doors.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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After James had explained the plan to Gabriel, he watched as the doors opened, and out came all who were inside, each one soaked and covered in foam. "Get in their Gabe." James said over the radio, and Gabriel walked through the small crowd, managing to get inside before the doors sealed with a brief magnetic hum. He took a moment to look around.

"Nice job James." Gabriel then spotted the terminal and headed over. After searching for the right connection point, he began to work.

"Right, beginning database sweep now. This may take a while, feel free to either runs checks on the other, or talk to me." Gabriel remarked with a relaxed tone, and a smile on his face.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James figured he mine as well take this chance to ask Gabriel a few questions. "This has been bugging me. What where you doing on Apleeloss in the first place?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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"This has been bugging me. What where you doing on Apleeloss in the first place?"

Gabriel chuckled to himself as James asked a perfectly logical question.

"Of course, you weren't there at the debriefing meeting; what with having a broken leg and all. Anyway, to the question at hand, the reason for me being on Apleeloss was that I am, or rather was up until this point a mercenary. My skills and services were hired out on a private contract; to at as a reconnaissance specialist for the colony, but also to train their already existing security forces." Gabriel responded with as he continued to work through the security layers.

"On to slightly different news, how is the new leg holding up?"

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James was momentarily surprised my the some what personal question, but didn't see any harm in answering it. "It's doing just fine. I can't run or even walk to well, but it holds up if I don't put to much weight on it." James replied. "I think some of the nerves are messed up though. I'll try to move a muscle sometimes and it just won't respond. It's called URMD, and it's suppose to go away after awhile. Other than that it's doing ok. By the way, I heard through the grape vine that you were once in Special Operations or something. Care to elaborate?"

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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Lime
"Interesting technique, I must say. Tell me, Mr. Lime, how much money do you think it will take to clean out that dance hall? Water aboard a ship comes at a premium. It must be recycled constantly, and it doesn't come cheap."

"I wouldn't know." said Lime bluntly. I also don't know how you and your men know my name. And I prefer just Lime. Titles like Mr. aren't really applicable."

The man sitting behind the desk clapped his hands together. "Of course, Lime. I always found the Crelm convention of naming themselves after colors odd. As for how I know you, I know everybody who steps onto my ship. I'm The Owner, it's my business to know my clients."

"Clients?"

"Of course," said the Owner. "The common person might think people come to my ship for the gambling and entertainment, but the true reason anyone ever comes here is information. And I have plenty of it." he glanced over at the monitor again, watching Gabriel's handiwork. "Which is why I just find this so excessive. Really, did you have to destroy an entire room like that, when you could have just asked me nicely? My systems are impregnable, anyways. He'll never make it through."

Lime folded his tentacles. The Owner had had them tagged the minute they stepped onto the ship. Which meant he had access to the Corps' classified dossiers. The security breach would have to be looked into the next time they were on New Terra.

As for the man himself, The Owner looked like any other businessman, well dressed, professional looking, and shrewd eyes that managed to smile on their own. His room was filled with collected antiques and paintings, no doubt used to impress his many clients. While that might have worked to convince fools that this was a benevolent man, Lime knew better. There was always an angle.

"And I suppose if I did 'ask you nicely', you would expect something in return?" said Lime.

"Well done, Commander. Yes, I would ask you to offer me something in return. I know what it is you want, but what can you do for me?"

"I could start by not tearing you apart for compromising us."

"Oh come now, just because I know who you are does not mean that I cannot keep a secret. They just cost extra."

"Fine then," said Lime. "What do you want in exchange for information regarding the Star Brigade's location, and your assurance that you will not expose our presence here?"

The Owner grinned slyly. "Follow me, Lime."