Star Brigade: A 53rd Century Adventure RP

[Soviet Heavy]

"So we're settled then?" asked Demexin. "All right, we're ready to move out when you are captain. We'll see you at the rendevous point. Bring some friends, it could get hairy. Demexin out."

The screen went blank. On Demexin's end, everybody began moving to their points. Rivers hauled himself into the cockpit, with Demexin sliding into the copilot's chair. He flipped the intercom. "Okay folks, strap yourselves in. The nearest jump gate is about twenty minutes standard flight time from here. Once we're in, get your stuff ready. If we're linking up with Vance and Murray, we'll have to do this fast."

[hr]
"This is the captain speaking on open channels." came Murray's voice. "Captain vance's team is prepared for combat. It is our job to deal with any difficulties they may encounter. We jump in five minutes. All hands to your stations."

[hr]
Najeed, Ruth and Thor watched as Kalade continued to tinker with the frozen AI core. The guards had left them, convinced that it was useless. Kalade's persistence was admirable, but Thor had a sinking feeling that the League troops were justified. Frustrated, Kalade banged on the console. "Dammit! I don't see any way around this. The entire system is on lockdown. Unless you have a slicer who can breach a firewall on an uncharged system, I don't know what to do."

"Well, you tried." said Thor. "This just narrows our options a little. I've looked around the ship. There's at least fifty guards all over her right now. I haven't seen Doctor Harris, but I know he didn't get off at New Terra. He's on here somewhere, same as Ayesha."

"How do you know they're still alive?" demanded Najeed, perking up at the sound of Ayesha's name.

"Because they would have told us if they did kill them, kid. They love to rub it in their victims faces. My guess is they're hiding in the vacuum shell. Which means we're probably inside a hangar, rather than docked in space. That gives us a plus and a loss. The plus side, if we make a run for it, we'll be able to breath. The loss is that if this ship takes off, Nate and Ayesha lose air and die."

"You could try to sound more positive," scolded Ruth. "I'd rather not think about the death of a family member."

Thor leaned back. "Well it won't matter anyways. My best guess is that they'll space us the minute they're done picking the ship apart."

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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The transport jumped into Jundas's orbit above the north pole. Below them, Tom could see the rings, where on one of the several thousand rocks lay the League base housing the Star Brigade. He wore a pressurized combat vest over his clothes, ready in case a spacewalk would be needed. Around him, the other team members had likewise donned protective gear, and they were going over a final equipment check.

He tested his laser pistol. It had a full charge and was properly calibrated. The sensor cluster built into his glasses was also operating properly. His nerves were still frayed from the crippling fear that washed over him as he thought about their task. He'd probably get killed, or worse, blamed for any missteps they might make.

Lime and Demexin entered the main hold. Lime was in full combat kit, the hydration system sealed onto his limbs, and his pressure ram hefted in both hands. "Alright Corps, listen up. We've got two ships, so we split into two teams. Vance is on his way, and they will be here soon. Until then, we're on our own. Demexin will pilot this ship as close as we can get to the asteroid base. From there, Rivers will drop out of the hangar with Corona 1.

"James, myself and Gabriel will be on the shuttle. Muo, Tom, and Demexin will be team two. Our mission is to get Gabriel to LISA's core, so he can reactivate her. Tom, Demexin and Muo will secure the bridge and search for the prisoners. Once both of these are complete, we high tail it out of here before things become nasty. Any questions?"

Tom raised his hand. "What if the Star Brigade launches before we can board her? Or worse yet, what if she launches into combat with the King while we're on board?"

"Then we either follow her until we can get close enough," said Demexin, "or we work faster to keep the shooting to a minimum. Who knows what those League fools have been doing with my ship."

"Oh, I prefer the one that doesn't involve us being shot at by our own men."

"Then keep your head down, work fast, and stop complaining." said Lime. "Everybody, to your positions. Rivers is in Corona 1 as we speak. James, Gabriel, you're with me. Let's join him. Demexin, fly straight."

"Will do Lime."
[hr]

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The Pious King decelerated as it came out of the jump gate, followed closely by the five other ships that comprised their flotilla. Captain Murray was poised in his command chair, ready for action. Jundas filled space ahead of them, her brilliant rings shining in the void. The League was hiding there, somewhere. Today would not be their end, but Murray wanted to put a dent in their operations. The colonies had suffered too much at the hands of these terrorists. Vance and his new crew members stood on the bridge, ready to help in whatever way possible.

"Chaplain Grendar, does your religion have any sayings on those about to go into battle?" asked Murray. "Circe, we could use you on the targeting computer, Alia, hail the fleet. What is the status of the other ships?"

Murray patiently awaited their response, muttering to himself. "I hope your team is as good as you say, Vance."

 

[alandavidson]

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Grendar turned to face the group, his hand dipping into his satchel, emerging with a fine orange powder filling it.

"The ground is a graveyard to both peasant and king. Death comes to all in time. There is no sense fearing it." His face crinkled into a smile. "We are all recycled from someone else anyways." The smile fell, and Grendar became solemn once again. "You have far greater things to worry about in this moment than something as trite as expiring."

Grendar held out his hand, showing the powder.

"I will give the blessing of the storm to anyone who wishes it."

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James nodded and followed Lime to the hanger. The suit he wore, similar to Tom's, made it somewhat harder to walk normally, but he knew that the armor plating could save his life in the hours to come. The suits weren't the only things they had discovered on this ship. Before the briefing, James and a few others had looked around the ship for any broken components or traps. What they found instead were lockers full of weapons. They had found a variety of grenades, rocket launchers, and guns, not all of which were legal. James had decided that, since the owner wasn't using them, he and his comrades would uphold the burden of keeping his weapons warm for him. In addition to James' personal pistol, he also carried an assault rifle and shotgun, both laser-based. He didn't normally carry three weapons into combat, but he wanted to be ready to arm any crew members once they were free. Arriving in the hanger, James located the shuttle and climbed in. Now all was left to do was wait.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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Gabriel listened to the plan of action that was being put forward be Demexin. His job was to get to the A.I core and reactivate L.I.S.A; and thanks to him being an artificial intelligence himself, knowing the procedure was almost second nature to him. He also thought of possibilities to improve L.I.S.A's programming, but realised that it may corrupt certain key programs if he tampered with it too much. So for the meantime, he put it into data storage.

He soon followed James and Lime into the Hangar Bay of the cargo ship that Tom won during their time aboard the Broadsword, it bore the name Reaver's Revenge. With him being created more so for speed and stealth rather than direct combat, he wore a sleeker armoured suit which would allow for a more freer degree of movement than standard models. Gabriel climb aboard the Corona 1, and began to wait for the moment to come, where they would take back what was theirs; and also rescue all those who were trapped on board. All his weaponry and other equipment were in working order, having gone under some examinations earlier.

"Good luck James." Gabriel said as he held out a hand. "Lets show them what the Diplomatic Corps, and the Solanic Union can do."

 

[Fishtie]

"Yes sir." Circe responded tersely. She moved over and found a vacant chair to occupy near the gunnery station. It was taking most of her energy to keep her nervousness out of her voice and movements; after all this was going to be Circe's first taste of combat. Originally, Circe had even been told that the position she would fill would be more of a deterrent then anything, and she at least expected to have a while before she would have to face real combat.

'Just remember the simulations. It's just like those... Except not.' She thought to herself as she looked over what was at hand and tried to keep calm.

 

[Bravo 21]

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Muo had finished what he hoped would be his final raid of the Pious King's armory, and as such, was ready to throw himself again at the contemptible collection of individuals who had dared to wrong him and his.

Trundling through the ship, he sighted a Durras preacher of some sort, offering his blessing to any who would have it. He glared at the preacher as he passed by, feeling none too charitable towards the Durras and their religion. Still if this meant no more attacks on colonies, he'd live with it.

Reaching the landing bay, he found Demexin and Tom already there. "So, we ready for this?" he questioned, already tense in anticipation for the battle.

 

[hiei82]

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Alia was already contacting the ships before the order was complete. Taking her position at the communications array, she began linking their com-sys into a high security web that she could control throughout any combat. Then, she started to receive reports.



"The Azure Knight reports all rests well; ready for engagement. The Western Pilgrim reports minor engine fluctuation; ready for engagement. The Legionnaire reports all systems operating at 98%; ready for engagement. The Akato'erria reports minor weapon-sys and Nav-sys malfunctions; ready for engagement. Pious King reports all systems operating at optimum; ready for engagement. All ships report ready, sir"

Spoiler: OOC

Didn't know if the other ships had names yet. I can change them if needed.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

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James took Gabriel's hand and shook it firmly. He was beginning to think that the assassin wasn't so bad; after all, he'd helped them plenty, hadn't he? "Good luck to you too." James responded, and he meant it. A few days ago he wouldn't have, but he did now. James let his eyes and mind wander for a moment before laughing to himself. "Look at us." he said. "We're armed to the teeth, about to raid an enemy base, and we're still referring to our selves as the Diplomatic Corps."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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"Good luck to you too." James responded with, and from the determination in his voice, he meant it. His eyes appeared to wonder around the ship for a moment, before laughing to himself. "Look at us." He said. "We're armed to the teeth, about to raid an enemy base, and we're still referring to our selves as the Diplomatic Corps." Gabriel gave a little smile in response

"I guess your right; but then again, the art of Diplomacy can take many forms, negotiations and treaties are but one of them, sometimes you have to fight for what is right, even if you yourself are not fighter yourself. You know, warfare could be considered an art form in of itself; after all, its a form of expression, albeit an unpleasant one. I myself am an artist on the battlefield, painting portraits of conflict and resolution."

 

[JoJo]

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Silence descended upon the gathered corps after Gabriel's speech ended, there was nothing more to be said now. Over the speakers came Captain Vance's call as the Pious King began to curve round in a descending spiral pattern.

"We're beginning the operation, hold on tight everyone!"

Almost as if on cue, seconds later the ship suddenly shook, if any of the corps had been outside at that point they would have seen a deep crater in the Pious King's shielding, fortunately the tech underneath apparently unscathed.

"Good luck!" the cry came from Captain Murray and with a burst of flame the sneak assault team consisting of James, Lime, Gabriel, Muo, Tom, and Demexin flew past the Pious King in the Corona 1 and Reaver's Revenge, their own and the mission's fate entirely in their hands. The remaining corps held their position at the front exit, aware that the launch of the shuttle would happen any minute now. The ship juddered again but differently this time.

"We are ready, I'll see you down at the exit!" Captain Vance gave his final call over the intercom before switching off the device. Captain Murray had already agreed to stay up in the bridge in-case the Pious King had to make a swift departure, Til would accompany him since there was little use for her alien psychology and language expertise in this particular mission, as would Alia and Circe. As Vance readied himself to descend, Til came up to him and put her crystalline hand on his.

"Stay safe, won't you?" she said through the translator and for a moment their eyes locked, and then the two comrades parted, each with their soul in turmoil. If anyone had been with Captain Vance in the elevator down towards the exit they would have noticed he was holding the cross around his neck with both hands.

Meanwhile at the docking point, a few of Captain Murray's men were ready to launch a frontal assault, they possessed the cool calmness of the professional soldiers they probably were. Grendar was somewhere nearby, ready to gave first aid if need be. Vance arrived from the elevator and without a word he and the other corps entered the shuttle, ready for whatever lay ahead.

~​

Moving aside a few crates, Nate cracked a wide smile of relief when he found the ship's emergency supplies of food rations, luckily the C.O.L. insurgent's search hadn't been quite as through as they had believed. He split open two packets of long-life bread, passing one to Ayesha who was sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Is that okay?" the doctor asked gently, the young girl nodded silently in reply. "Huh, you don't talk much, I wonder..." he commented but before he could finish his sentence the Star Brigade suddenly jolted sideways, throwing him and his patient into the nearby crates.

It begins, he thought, those must be our rescuers. Jui help us if they fail to find us in time though...

Nate pulled himself up and let Ayesha cling onto him, praying that the assault would be over swiftly.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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So far so good, thought Tom. The Reaver had dropped Corona 1 from her hangar. Before the League had an opportunity to react, Pious King had arrived over top of the base, with more dropships pouring out of the vessel to join the fray.

"Alright, Muo, Tom, strap yourselves in!" shouted Demexin. Demexin pulled the Reaver into a dive so sharp that they were thrown off balance before the gravitational systems could reorient. The Star Brigade rocketed out of its hangar, attempting to flee. However, upon leaving, it was caught right in the middle of their trap.

Corona 1 managed to clamp onto the emergency ports near the bottom of the ship, while the Reaver grappled the bridge section. "Boarding clamps in place, give them hell!" said Demexin.

Tom, Muo and Demexin stood at the airlock, weapons ready. Demexin set the breach charge and motioned for the to take cover. The charge set off, blasting a hole into the Star Brigade. Emergency seals kept out the vacuum, leaving Tom with a view of the ship's deck, visible through the hole.

Demexin commed Lime's team. "Lime, we're in, but it looks like they depressurized the corridors. Be ready for Zero Gravity engagements."

"Understood, Demexin. We're in the submerged quarters, Crelm cabins. we're making our way to the AI Core as we speak. Heavy resistance is probably waiting for you, stay sharp!"

[hr]

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A voice flared over the comm system in front of Alia. "Attention fleet, this is the Azure Knight. Multiple ships are entering the system via jump gate. Their departure signatures are not on any records. We're got incoming hostiles, it's the League! I count three destroyers and numerous support craft."

Murray kept calm. "All hands, battle stations. Form a defensive line around the Star Brigade and keep her boxed in while boarding operations continue. Alia, coordinate our defenses. Helm, bring us about. Circe, give them a warning shot with the particle beam. If they respond, give them all six and don't be picky about your targets."

Murray switched over to Vance's comm signal. "Captain, I hope your shuttle gets there in time. We've got a fight on our hands and you're a sitting duck out there. Get aboard the Star Brigade and get the ship back online!"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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The Corona 1 had dipped below to the bottom of the Star Brigade, clamping onto the emergency escape ports that were situated there. It appears that they arrived in the lower crew cabins, which were especially submerged to allow Crelm crew members to move more easily. Lime was the first to get out, followed closely by Gabriel, who helped James out.

Gabriel checked the scans coming from his computer. It looked like that the AI core was next to both engineering bay and the armoury; the corridors had been de-pressurized as well, which might make a fire fight a little more difficult, but also more interesting as well. He headed out the main door, his SMG drawn, scanning the passing corridor.

"For the moment Lime, it looks like the hallways is clear. But I still think we should keep our eyes and ears open on our way to the AI core for any signs of an ambush or a defensive set up." Gabriel said, reporting on the current situation.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

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Lime finally had a chance to breath easily again in the damp corridors. After two weeks in a pressure suit, feeling moisture on his membranes again was a welcome change. He didn't let it distract him however. He ordered Gabriel and James to flank the walls, using the riveted bulkheads to cover their approach. The ship had gone on high alert, rerouting power from the non vital areas of the ship. This left the hallways darkened, the only light being the emergency lines that directed crewmembers to their stations.

"The armory should be our first target," said Lime. I know getting LISA online is a priority, but it will be easier if we don't have them shooting us in the back. We'll take what we need and then seal the armory shut. Move out."

The lack of gravity was a feeling not dissimilar to swimming for Lime. The moved lithely from wall to wall, extending his tentacles to latch onto hand rails and pull himself forward. The ship shuddered, as if it had taken an impact. That shouldn't have happened. Murray was on orders not to fire on the ship. Something else must have been happening.

Then, the first shot flew past Lime, smacking into the wall behind him. "Contact!"

 

[hiei82]

"...Alia, coordinate our defenses..."

Alia was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the League. She had hoped they would get the drop on them given what she had heard about the Star Brigade and what it was capable of. As it was, there was little time to, as the humans put it, "cry over spilled milk."

Hearing Murray's command, Alia began to do just that. "Western Pilgrim - you're the closest; back off and make some space. While doing that, I want numbers, positions, makes, and models. If you can find out something about the ships, I want everyone in the fleet to know it." she said, giving her first "command" - it was strange to be ordering others around; she was too used to being an underling she supposed.

"[i/]Akato'erria[/i], Legionnaire, I want you to back up the Western Pilgrim - use your sensors to track their positions to give the fleet a targeting solution." she continued, giving more orders to people she had never met - still seemed wrong. "Lay down fire to push them toward the nearest planet - see if we can get gravity on our side." she said, letting the fleet know what to do. "Azure Knight, you're in charge of the best defense: offense. Use the positioning info from the others to target their vessels; aim for weapons, shields, engines, and hulls in that order. Stay at long range and let the others do the heavy lifting; you're going to be our sharp shooter." she said, letting the orders sink in. "Pious King will focus on the cyber-warfare suite; disrupting communications and tactical support." she said, finishing her statements.

She took a moment to turn to the other linguist - an Astrid named Til - intent on asking her to look up what information she could on the system to see how to better use their surroundings, but only managed to squeak out the request, before turning her mind to other things; she unconsciously reached to her arm and pulled her glove up a little more.

Returning to the comm-sys, she started pluging away; trying to break into their enemies computer systems to sabotage... well everything. She was already three firewalls into the enemy com-array - it had taken some time to give that many orders after all - , but she still had another hundred and forty-seven to go. That meant no time for - oh what was the word... "dillydallying"

 

[JoJo]

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All aboard the shuttle's eyes were fixed on the sliding doors in front of them, muffled shouts and the odd bump indicated something was going on the other side in the Star Brigade. Captain Vance unstrapped himself from the control seat and remembering Til's words, took the lead of Murray's men. With the soldier's closely at his heels, he pressed the "open door" button before diving back into cover. His caution proved wise as as soon the doors had slid open, gunshot and lasers peppered the area's visible from inside the hijacked ship, threatening to push the crew into retreat. Above the din came Vance's deep cry, like a warhorn amongst clattering cymbals.

"Hold the line!"

 

[Fishtie]

Circe was surprisingly restrained and in control as the Pious King jumped into the area and the shuttle's broke to begin. Then the first shot impacted and all that broke away. With the very first shot Circe realized that this wasn't anything like the simulated battles she had taken part in back at the academy. Orders and reports flew back and forth, but Circe hands were frozen at the console. 'What am I even doing here? I could get myself killed. There's no way I can do this.' The thoughts ran through Circe's mind. She felt like she might very well jump up out of her chair and run out of the bridge right then and there if she could only move at all.

"Hey. You have an order." Another crew member next to Circe said cuting through her thoughts suddenly snapping her back to the real world.

"Y-yes." Circe gave a quick smile as she reponded and turned back to her console. 'A warning shot. Right, start with a warning shot. That's all. Simplest thing out there. An order to miss, let's start with that.' Her hands trembled just the tiniest bit as she worked the controls, but the months of training seemed to be taking over somewhat. Numbers, variables, and sensor reports flowed over her screen as she prepared.

"Firing." She declared as she finished. And with that she could see the results as one of the Pious King's cannons came to life and launched it's deadly payload through the deep vacuum of space. The shot flew out nearly brushing along the side of the lead target. 'Shoot!' Circe exclaimed internally, she hadn't intended the shot to be quite that close.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

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Gabriel along with James was ordered by Lime to flank the walls of the corridor, using the riveted bulkheads as a form of immediate cover. Upon conducting a brief scan, the ship was on high alert; and power was being rerouted from non-essential systems, quite possibly to combat whatever it was that Vance was doing. The hallways were darkened, but he managed to deal with it; with the only light coming from the emergency system.

"The armory should be our first target," said Lime. "I know getting LISA online is a priority, but it will be easier if we don't have them shooting us in the back. We'll take what we need and then seal the armory shut. Move out." Lime added, and Gabriel had to agree with him/her, didn't want them being flanked whilst they took control of the AI room. He could feel a lack of gravity, which allowed him to move more fluidly. The ship had rocked whilst they moved.

'Something else must be going on here.' Gabriel thought to himself as they arrived at the armoury, thats when the first shots fired out.

"Contact!" They flew past Lime, impacting with a nearby wall. He quickly dodged rolled into the room, avoiding gunfire, and took cover behind a support collumn. Then, set his SMG to precision fire, and began taking shots, hoping to provide some covering fire for Lime and James.

 

[JoJo]

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Nate and Ayesha sheltered behind the storeroom's crates as all manner of shrapnel flew over their heads. Somewhere down the corridor the doctor could hear voices he recognised.

"James and Gabriel," he breathed, straining his ears to identify the other rescuers but between the gunshots and the shouting of the C.O.L hijackers it wasn't easy. "Demexin I think..." he muttered, then looked up in horror as the door slowly swung open. Ayesha let out a minute squeak and tried to bury herself in Nate's lab coat. The two terrorists who entered glanced down at the pair first with surprise, then with a sly grin when an idea seemed to occur to both simultaneously.

Nate lunged for the nearest of the two with his fists raised but he'd never been much of fighter, the hijacker blocked his first punch with one arm and with the other knocked the doctor onto the floor. He was then dragged by his coat cuff into the corridor and up to what seemed to be a barricade, at-least to his own dazed mind. He knew Ayesha was still somewhere in the area too as he could hear some sort of high pitched commotion in the background. The doctor looked up and tried to focus his ringing head on what was going on in the barricade in front of him. There was a short man standing near the top, shouting something to the rescuers on the other side.

"...we have two hostages right here now, a little kid and a doctor and we've got about four more further back in the ship. Surrender your weapons and leave our ship peacefully... or we will kill them without hesitation."

 

[Bravo 21]

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"...we have two hostages right here now, a little kid and a doctor and we've got about four more further back in the ship. Surrender your weapons and leave our ship peacefully... or we will kill them without hesitation."

For Muo, this was too much, he looked out at the man offering them an ultimatum. There seemed to be an informal ceasefire while the man spoke, so he took the opportunity to "How about this, you let them go, and I might let you live long enough to stand trial?"

That probably wasn't the best thing to say, as the man gestured, and another man dragged a struggling child up to where she could be clearly seen, and began gesturing wildly with his gun, "You think I won't do it? Try me!" the man shouted.