The ORION Files (Closed/Started)

[Athol]

"Got it. Sending you some backup as well."

?Copy that.? She replied, taking control and burning for altitude as Irina?s drones rushed to meet her. The sky was rapidly fading to black as she climbed, her little ad hoc flight forming into a finger four formation. Her new bird was fast, and before long the sky began to fade to black as she reached the outer edge of the atmosphere.

Watching the bandits closing on the AO; she cut her engines, and let momentum carry her upward as she began prepping for her attack run. As practiced fingers flew across the interface, the ship?s computer bleated at her.

[b]WARNING: OVERRIDING FUEL CONTROL INTERLINK MAY CAUSE EXTREME DAMAGE OR FAILURE.[/b]

?Yes, yes, yes?? She muttered, ignoring the warnings. As she worked through disabling the various safety features that where trying to stop what she was about to do, and rolling the craft onto its attack vector, she began to sing. It wasn?t her usual choice in music, but it?d been a favourite piece of one of the few people she would have considered a real friend. ?Faaalling towards the skyyy, waaaiting for myyy?ride!?

As the last word left her lips, she punched the ?Engine Start? button and jammed the throttle forward. The engines sparked to life and the highly volatile fuel, which Mary had deliberately let gather in the exhaust nozzles by disabling the shut-offs, ignited with a colossal explosion. From a distance it almost looked like a tac-nuke had been detonated in the upper atmosphere; and the reason that she?d done such a borderline insane thing was the massive kick to acceleration it gave.

Pinned back in her seat, she grunted against the g-forces as she dove in from low orbit, with the onboard inertial compensators fighting desperately to stop her from being crushed. Warning tones chimed all around her as pretty much every system protested to the harsh abuse, but all she could do was hang on. Her targets spotted her reckless attack and deployed their counter measures, and Mary and the drones replied in kind, filling the air with whipsaws of jamming and scrambling.

AS she?d prepped for the dive, she knew she?d be lucky to get any hits; these guys had gear that was as good as her new toy, unlike the poor sad sacks she?d potted earlier. This was more about just buying the ground team time. Once again the computer handled the actual firing, dumping her entire swarm of anti-fighter missiles, a few plasma bolts and massed fire from her loaner drones, into and at the cloud of jamming that was the enemy. As the atmosphere began to thicken, an ?overspeed? alarm began to nag her as well. She was well into hypersonic territory by now, and getting far too low for such speeds; but she?d planned on that, and her flight path was now taking her away from the scattered bandits in a large arcing track that took her over the LZ at only a couple hundred meters and just over Mach 5.

Losing speed and climbing once more, and without the massively crushing gees, she took stock. Kitty was down low over the LZ, having dealt with an unfriendly interloper, Grace was bugging out in the face of a light capital ship?smart move?and seemed to be playing merry hell with the small craft the larger ship was deploying and she was alone for now. Most of her systems showed at least some damage from her dive, and one of the drones appeared to be missing. Well, still alive? As she thought that, she coughed slightly and tasted something coppery in her mouth.

?Red to Sweety actual. Why the hell aren?t you airborne yet!? There?s a frigate closing on us, and I can?t do another ?boom-and-zoom? pass like that to keep the airspace clear.? She was getting sorely tempted to burn back to Sweety and just hijack the freighter. Dump all the pods but mine might just boost the accel enough to get the fuck out in time?

 

[Outcast107]

Unknown force

The commander of the unknown faction looked behind her and watch as the small defense team she order were wiped out. "Damn..LET'S MOVE" she shout as she and the rest of the squad move up the stairs. Most of her forces were gone and she lost all of the droids. Today couldn't be worst. After a few minutes of going up the stairs, they finally got to the door to the roof and the landing pad.
Opening the door the Commander, the last of the heavies, and the rest of the light troops exited out. Looking around as one of the soldiers asked: "Um..Where the fuck is our ride?!?!"

Cyberspace

The Ai didn't stand a chance against Shaona. He was a jack of all trades type of AI. Before he could double his efforts against her, she had already turned the tables and blasted him and the entire system to oblivion. Leaving nothing behind as she exited the system.

Walker

Walker didn't know where he was at the moment. He knew he saw the Heavy soldiers grab their grenades and threw them. He remembers shouting and warning his teammates and then he remembers something knocking him out of the way.

It was then what was on top of him moved and got into a straddling position. It was Mar and Walker couldn't help but make a small joke. "Shouldn't I have bought dinner first?" He asked. Though his small smirk disappear as he heard the others in orbit talking about the unknown fleet. 'Fuck," Walker thought as he wonders what he should do. They were close to getting their prize, but should he continue forward and risk it? Mar rolled off him as she asked him a question about what the plan. He then decided that it was time to get out and lived another day.

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving. The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here. Resha" He called out on the radio. Sighing as he didn't want to call her into action. He didn't want to get the young alien pilot killed. "Get in your mech and provide some extra covering support. Do NOT engage the enemy. Just protect us until we can get back to the Sweety.

"Velka, I'm not sure if they have any backup coming..but keep one of the forklift drones with us as we make our escape. Elliot cover our asses from up there. If you see anyone trying to sneak up on us, waste them. Mar just keep a eye out for anyone flanking and zap their ass if they try anything. Brian, I"m sure a big man like you can clear the way back if anyone tries anything." Walker didn't believe the enemy had reinforcements but it was never hurt to be ready.

Space

The two small fleets clash with each other. The TGR's ship was staying close to the Chornus capital ship. Being the support in the defense. Where the Chronus ship fired upon, the TGR ship would fire as well.

While both ships have taken damage, the Chronus ship was easily outclassing everything here at the moment. Though this was just a distraction from the real objective. As the Archer unload on the dropship and its escort, the two escort ships exploded in a fiery explosion from her auto-cannons. The Dropship dodge out of the way in time but the Missiles were closing in on it. With little time, the Dropship let off its anti-missile flares. The dropship flew away from the Archer direction. Planning on making a fly by once the Frigate got close enough to cover its ass.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

T.G.R. Backwater Planet, Sasleyria | Sasleyria Surface | Storage Facility
"I don't care where we go so long as it isn't here!"​

[hr]

Mar desperately tried to flatten herself a little more on the floor of the warehouse in the vain hope that whatever the assholes were using to fire at them couldn't penetrate the crate they were using for cover. As it was, she could see the occasional streak over the edge that told her in no plain terms that getting up right then was a bad idea. At the same time, they needed to get the hell out. Which made things difficult.

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving."

That was all she needed to hear. Forcing herself to twist so that she could lay on her belly, she keyed into the secure comm-line that connected them to the Sweet Child of Mine.

"Sweet Child of Mine, this is ORION Ground Team: Prep for a short-range FTL jump out-of-system, wait for my mark to initiate the jump. Repeat, prepare for FTL jump out-of-system, wait for mark, copy?" she called out, before she switched to the channel connecting their air forces, "All ORION Air Units, this is Ground Team, cover our extraction and haul ass to the Sweetie. We're getting the fuck out, confirm when docked."

Once she was off-comms, she lifted her head just enough to look out through the warehouse exit. It was a mostly clear shot out. Just a half-minute's sprint, and she was back to the shuttle. With a moments hesitation, she pushed herself up with her false hands and tightened her grip on her Impaler pistol. She had one chance to get out there, or get cut down in the process.

So she waited. One moment. Then two. When the gunfire overhead paused, she took her chance.

"Let's go!" she snarled as she launched herself forward.

Breaking into a sprint, she glanced backward and fired her Impaler wildly in the direction of the enemy, and managed to get a few strides out of the warehouse itself. Then she felt a trio of impacts in her lower back followed by an intense, searing pain. She staggered, clutching her side with her free true-hand, before she forced herself to keep running. She managed to get up the ramp and into the shuttle a few seconds after Shanoa had bounded inside.

She didn't stop until she was in the pilot's seat and started to initiate the engine's start-up. Mar didn't bother investigating her wounds, and she ignored the pain. She couldn't afford to be slow about this.

"EVERYONE IN!" she called out over the Ground Team's comm channel.

 

[mcpop9]

Resha had been calming herself down and prepping incase she needed to launch. The girl had one of the few cd's she actually owned playing in the cockpit. Listening to the somewhat soothing sounds of Jimi Hendrix as she got somewhere pleasant. However, it was somewhere midway through castles made of sand that the call to help came in. "I.... aye sir!" called out the girl. She got ready to launch, but her hands were shaking with energy and excitement. a live fire mission! who would have thought!

Something felt off though. "No... not right..." she said shaking her head and looked around. Fumbling with a very tiny cd holder, she put in a disk that had "GO HARD OR GO HOME" sloppily written on it by the previous owner. The ion thrusters kicked on as she launched, bringing up the shields and starting a full burn at the planet, downwards towards the mission site.

Tearing through the atmosphere at a faster pace than anyone could reasonably wish see happen, the frame's shields began to wail through the atmosphere. It started off softly, even through the gunfire and chaos, it began to rise to a piercing shriek that vibrate most everything on the ground, a ball of fire,visible as the craft was actually burning down into the atmosphere, blue flames trailing off it as it sounded like the fighter was shrieking and wailing with noises of the dead going through deceleration in the thick lower atmosphere. The fireball broke as the fighter form Nekrola streaked over the landing ship. The few fighters aiming for the shuttle turned off as the oddity let loose lances of plasma at them, not necessarily accurate, but when something is out there gunning for you, you don't exactly ignore it.

Anyone paying attention to their comms could hear resha hadn't turned her's off, or whatever compatibility there was, wasn't fully fleshed out, so very softly, they could hear the pilot of the otherworldly frame singing along with surprising clarity despite her proper speech issues. "I can't stand it, i know you planned it... i'ma set it straight... this Watergate." It wasn't exactly disturbing any communicator or obnoxiously loud as they could still easily talk over it. However, those with a keen eye and an ear were noticing that her movements were in time to beats within the song. Despite all odds, the frequency and movements were enough, in combination of the shields absorbing the sparse hits, to enable her to dodge the incoming fire. She didn't exactly get an easy upper hand, but the girl was certainly on snuff with her ability to make the frame dance like some ghastly bird. Blue glow emanating from the frame with the blue trails the ion engines left briefly behind them certainly were an alien sight to all around.

 

[FalloutJack]

Damn. She'd gotten the escort, but the dropship pilot had managed to shy away from the missles enough to deploy countermeasures and survive. It retreated back to the safety of its mothership's warm embracing cover fire, delayed not destroyed. Grace was disappointed, but...not every pass with her weapons was going to automatically be successful. She would have to be satisfied with having delayed them just a little longer. Unfortunately, like Mary's transmission said, they didn't have long. The frigate was making planetfall, and neither of them had the requisite firepower to stop it. Between her fighter and Grace in her gunship, they were as two nasty hornets to a human being. There could be significant damage in their stings, but ultimately any human can reach out and crush said hornets, even if the pain is significant. They could survive them, and the reverse was not true. Grace was about to communicate these facts to the ground team when she heard Walker speak up over comms.

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving..."

Grace let out a slight noise of irritation from her nose. She hated when missions failed. She and Elliot worked very hard for their payout. You couldn't find two people more serious about the work as they were. It was troublesome to deal with an untenable situation, something that they have to pull back from, cutting their losses. Between the whole of the company, they'd planned out details of the operation, including Chronus' completely-predictable betrayal scenarios. This unknown third party was possibly the only thing they had not specifically thought of, and only because it seemed as though they did not work for Chronus...unless the hazard pay and the death allowance was included in the job description. Grace had recorded everything, of course, and they could go over this later.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"...The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here."

It'll lay down a suppression fire on the whole complex and bury them under a ton of building is what it'll do.

That's what Elliot was thinking as he retained his on-forklift-post, acting as safeguard and overwatch for everyone else in the immediate vicinity. It was a real shame, too, because it looked like they'd handedly squashed the opposition's rear-guard. If they'd given chase, Elliot reasoned that it'd be a risk, but they still could've had 'em. The only problem was the frigate, in all of that. It was too big. Archer was one lethal craft, but he'd ordered Grace not to engage for good reason: It was pissing into the wind. She'd never down it, not without significant surprise on her side first to take out something vital, and she did not have that right now. So, Elliot maintained fire on anything that was firing at them, thinking that...well...at least they got some nice hardware that had its bugs, its safeties, and its serial codes removed. Once outside, the Archer came into view, and would blast anything on the ground that was not theirs to cinders. When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support. Too bad that frigate had bigger teeth. Elliot made double-time for their ship outta' here, knowing that Grace had his back now. They'd be out of here in a flash.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Planetoid: Sasleyria | Orion Company: Area of Operation | Storage Facility
Sorry... I didn't mean to break it!
Irina Rostikova​

[hr]

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Since the start of ground engagement between Orion Company and the unknown force at the Storage Facility, incoming and outgoing comms traffic from the freighter christened Sweet Child of Mine had increased quite a considerable amount. This was not likely to have gone unnoticed for very long and an assault on Orion Company's mother ship should have been expected sooner or later, especially after a fighter of alien design and origin blasted out of the freighter's hanger, dove into the Sasleyrian atmosphere and started messing with the unknown force's fighters and troops.

Irina Rostikova had been piloting the Redeemer back to the Landing Zone to provide cover for the team while they attempted to make a grab for the artifact and haul it back to the Devilfish. Unfortunately it seemed the both fate and the Captain had other ideas about how the rest of the mission was about to unfold, not that she blamed him considering the amount of enemies the crew had encountered since their arrival at the storage facility. It also did not help that the hulking corpse of the Pillar of Autumn was still bearing down on the storage facility, its crew still trying to slow down the capital ship's descent by firing off retro rockets.

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving. The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here." The Captain called out to the team over the comms, causing Irina's ears to flatten against her head in dismay. The mission was being scrubbed and the payout that she'd worked so hard to hammer out with Chronus would be lost as well. Still, it they survived this rapidly devolving situation, the Catican Merchant Mechanic was sure that another payout opportunity would present itself.

"Affirmative Captain... I'm just heading for the..." Irina reported before a streak of fire and light blazed past the Catican heavy cargo shuttle, causing the ship's acting pilot to explode in a string of Catican curses that not only questioned Resha's parentage but also the quality of her genetic makeup, " I'm heading for the LZ now to provide some cover for your retreat." She paused for a moment and switched over to her partner's personal channel when she realized that the location beacon was not moving, "Ed. What are you doing? Didn't you hear the captain?"

"I did. I am simply considering what to do with this soldier that I am carrying. Should I rip her in half or..." The Catican Shock Trooper responded before being interrupted by Irina.

"No! You bring her! Get her to the transport so we can figure out what's going on!" The Annoyed Casteless Catican Female practically screamed before she in turn was screamed at.

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

An alarm blared at her as her sensor drones detected additional contacts entering the AO. As was expected, the fighters and corvette, appeared to belong to the unknown force and they were headed directly for the Sweetie. With all combat craft already headed towards the Storage Facility, the freighter was left without any air support and was in danger of meeting the same fate as the Pillar of Autumn.

"Cancel that, Captain. I've got a group of fighters and a corvette headed towards the Sweetie. I'm heading back now to provide some cover for our taxi out of here." The Redeemer's temporary pilot reported as she changed course and headed back out towards space, taking fire from a few ships along the way.

It should have been noted that the Catican Heavy Cargo Shuttle, which served in both a civilian and military capacity, was in no way designed as a space or air superiority fighter. Instead, the flying tank relied on its heavy armor and drones to get to the landing zone and drop off its cargo before dusting off and using its four heavy engines to get out of combat. Unfortunately, no one was manning the drone control suite aboard the Redeemer and Irina was left relatively defenseless.

One of the fighters, a Paralax Corp. F-223, raked the hull of the Redeemer with cannon fire, punching a few holes into her hull. Were it not for the fact that Irina had already pumped all of the cabin's air into storage tanks, she would have lost quite a great deal of her breathable air. A diagram of the ship flashed on Irina's Virtual HUD, displaying the damage that the ship had sustained and reported that the organic compounds that were sandwiched between the external layers of armor and the internal cabin surfaces were working on sealing the holes and that the ship's armor would take three Terran solar cycles to fully regenerate.

"Sweetie, this is Irina. I'm heading back to provide cover. Prep docking collar #1!" The Redeemer's Pussy Cat Pilot ordered as she broke through the Sasleyrian exosphere.

"

[b]Roger Redeemer.  Docking Collar #1 prepped[/b]

" The Sweetie reported as she turned on a set of flood lights to direct Irina to the proper docking collar.

As the Captain would later be reminded in a post mission briefing, Irina was not an fully experienced pilot. She could perform a few basic maneuvers in the shuttle but a docking procedure in the middle of combat was not one of them. Why, one might ask, would Irina be forced to remind the captain of such a thing? Well... after the battle over Sasleyria, Docking Collar #1 was no longer functional barring a heavy amount of repair work.

*CRUNCH! SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! BOOOM!*

"

[b]Redeemer, what the fuck?![/b]

" The Sweetie's pilot asked loudly over the comms as Docking Collar #1 was sheered off by the Redeemer's rapid docking attempt, the shuttle's engines causing too much stress on the docking clamps and ripping them right out of the hull. Fortunately for all those inside the freighter, the airlock held, even if the docking equipment did not, "

[b]Redeemer, reroute to Docking Collar #2 and try again![/b]

"

"Roger... s... sorry about that!" Irina called out as she maneuvered the Redeemer to the port side of the Sweet Child of Mine before she made her second attempt, this time with a bit more finesse.

*CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK!*

The docking clamps engaged and locked the two ships to each other, causing The Catican Merchant Mechanic to breathe a sigh of relief, not that she could be relieved for two long. The Sweetie would be in range of the fighter's cannons in twenty second. Unstrapping herself from the pilot's harness, Irina Rostikova run back towards the drone control suite and deployed her drones.

"Captain! Defenses for the Sweetie are up and running. I can hold the fighters off for a bit but there's a Corvette bearing down on our position. I can keep it busy for a bit, but I'll lose all the drones if I do!" Irina called out as she positioned her drones in a line between the fighters and the freighter.

[hr]

The Orion Files | Planetoid: Sasleyria | Orion Company: Area of Operation | Storage Facility
Edward the Ripper!
Edward Aubergine​

[hr]

In all the confusion no one had remembered the Edward Aubergine, Catican Shock Trooper and all around nice guy, was holding a potential source of intelligence regarding the unknown military force that had stolen the artifact from under Orion Company's nose and ruined their chances at a successful mission. Under normal circumstances, the Four Eyed, Four Armed Purple People Mauler would have been perfectly content ripping the soldier in his arms in half before casting the remains at their approaching comrades but since the crew was likely going to want to find out as much as possible regarding the unknown opposition, Edward was forced to carry the soldier around until an order of execution was given.

"LET GO OF ME YOU PURPLE FURFA-AAAAAAAAAAH!" A clearly female voice came out from the combat armor's helmet before Edward gave her a good shaking to shut her up. While the voices belonging to the other soldiers were distorted and unintelligible, her's was not, indicating that whatever device these soldiers were using to scramble their vocal communications was broken on her armor.

"Unfortunately, I am unable to do so. You are currently my prisoner until such time as my captain orders me to release you or execute you. However, if you persist with such language, I will be forced to deal with you in a manner similar to how I dealt with your comrade." Edward stated, pointing at the remains of the soldier that had been squished under the weight of the thrown heavy assault drone.

The soldier in Edward's arms seemed to consider her situation for a moment before remaining silent. While it might have been an empty threat considering Orion Company's need for information on the soldier's organization, there was no use in gambling with a creature that had the ability to rip her arms out of their socket. She was already suffering from a compound fracture of the radius and ulna of her right arm, might want to avoid a larger amount of pain, even if it was only going to last for a few seconds.

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving. The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here." The Captain ordered over the comms, causing Edward to further question what his next move would be. If he brought the woman aboard the Devilfish, chances are that any location data that was being broadcast by the soldier's armor would give away the location of Orion Company's escape plan and make it a target for all fighters in the region.

"Ed. What are you doing? Didn't you hear the captain?" Irina's voice chimed in over his personal comms device.

"I did. I am simply considering what to do with this soldier that I am carrying. Should I rip her in half or..." The Catican Shock Trooper responded before being interrupted by Irina.

"No! You bring her! Get her to the transport so we can figure out what's going on!" The Annoyed Casteless Catican Female practically screamed, causing an unpleasant amount of ringing in Edward's ears.

"Affirmative." Edward reported as he started running towards the landing pad. Still, he needed a means to block any sort of transmission from the soldier's armor before the ship took off. Would it not be possible for the A.I. to disable the armor's location data? She had been able to defeat an enemy A.I. had she not? It was either that or rip the armor from the soldier's body.

"Shanoa." The Massive Mountain of a Catican radio'd for the A.I., "I am bringing a prisoner aboard the Devilfish. If you are able, I will need you to deactivate any booby traps and tracking devices implanted in the solder and her armor."

Continuing to the end of the last corridor, the Catican burst out into the Sasleyrian environment. Looking about, he noted the presence of multiple fighters locked in combat and a rather large capital ship bearing down on the facility. Tossing the soldier over his shoulder, the Catican Shock Trooper made a break for the Devilfish, laying down as much suppression fire as he could before he arrived at the loading ramp for Mar's prized transport. Strapping his captive in one of the seats, the Catican poked his head into the cockpit of the transport, and only his head considering the doorway to the cockpit was much too small to accommodate his size.

"You have been shot, Mar." The Mindful Catican Mammoth stated, one his arms pointing at the three bullet holes that had perforated Mar's suit, "I have some Catican Medical Gel that may help you, if you would like." Edward stated as he produced a vial of a viscous looking gel.

 

[Athol]

Mary charged orbital on a column of fire, with her vision hazy and blood in her mouth. ?Oh I think I over cooked it.? She muttered softly to herself. She could hear chatter over the team channel, and it sounded like finally the ground team was bugging out; the mission was scrubbed, but fuck it, shit happens.

?Resha, get in your mech and provide some extra covering support. Do NOT engage the enemy. Just protect us until we can get back to the Sweety.?

?Wait-what!?? That was, almost, the stupidest call she?d ever heard. The Redeemer and Archer were in much better positions to cover the extraction, and she would need help if and when Sweety started drawing attention. ?Don?t you dare?do the smart thing.? She muttered, staring at the sensor tag for the old freighter. ?Fuck!? The new meat had separated from the larger ship and was burning planet-wards.

At the same time she realised that the Redeemer had broken off and was climbing out towards their ride out. Mary?s wild dive had carried her out of position for a rapid intercept, so once she broke atmosphere, she had to reorient and play catch-up; another bout of hard burning finally got her into support range of Sweety and the fuzzie?s gunship. ?Red to Sweety. I?m on station, but low on ammo. You boys best be ready to jump the moment the boss lands.?

Sweeping past the big ship, her sensors got a few small returns near the hull, which she first thought was combat damage. Why the fuck didn?t they say they were getting shot at! But there was so very little debris, and no leaking air, and after a quick visual inspection, she realized it was just a mangled docking port. A quick over flight of the newly docked gunship revealed who the culprit was. Switching to a purely ship-to-ship channel, Mary comm?d Irina. ?Hey Kitty.? She said, trying to keep the note of smugness out of her voice, and not doing all too well. ?Thanks for the loaners, sending them home now.? She added, telling the drones that had been following her about to ?go home?. ?One didn?t make it, not sure why.? With those handed back over, she moved out provide what little long range protection she could.

Ten light laser heads, four AGMs and a couple hundred cannon rounds?like trying to put out a house fire by pissing on it?

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

The events between shots firing and hearing: "Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving. The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here." was a sharp blur as Brian let go of the screaming corpse and opened fire on one of the armoured soldiers, perforating him. He was where he enjoyed himself, covered in blood and being shot at. Standing over him, he held the bastard down with a foot while pulling on the other- *snap* "Brian, I"m sure a big man like you can clear the way back if anyone tries anything." Brian snapped to attention and moved to support the evacuation, annoyed that Walker wasn't staying the course in the face of capable hostiles.

"Acknowledged," he began moving towards the evacuation point to cover the others escape, firing bursts at movement as he went.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Everyone. This is Walker. We're leaving. The LZ is getting too hot and I don't like to think what that frigate will do once it gets here..." Walker announced over comms after picking himself up from underneath Mar. So, they were evacuating the mission area. Given everything that was happening, the oncoming frigate that could very well obliterate the Sweet Child, the appearance of a third party, amongst other setbacks; a retreat made the most sense, she didn't like it, but there wasn't much else that Velka could do at the present time.

"Velka, I'm not sure if they have any backup coming..but keep one of the forklift drones with us as we make our escape..."

"Understood Captain, reconfiguring drones," Velka replied, tapping in a few commands into the controls of the drone that called for a reposition as she unholstered her rifle to provide cover fire if needed. As the group raced back to the Devil Fish transport, Velka fired the Fulcrum in controlled bursts, more content with keeping any enemies in cover rather than getting a kill, as much as she'd want to given the circumstances. She was also glad to see that the mission hadn't been a total loss, as Edward had managed to bag a soldier as a captive.

"EVERYONE IN!" Shouted Mar the moment she got back to the transport, with everyone else getting themselves strapped in in quick succession; the prisoner being strapped into the seat opposite Velka that was midway between the cockpit and the landing ramp. To ensure the compliance of the prisoner, Velka unholstered the Buzzkill stun gun, loaded a fresh cartridge and had it aimed at the soldier; all with an icy glare that read 'Do not do anything stupid.'

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Planetoid: Sasleyria | Orion Company: Area of Operation | Storage Facility | The Devil-Fish
A prisoner on a ship of misfits
SARA-00735​

[hr]

Despite her capture, Stealth and Reconnaissance Android Number 00735 (SARA-00735)'s felt a small sense of satisfaction that the mission had was going to be a success, at least she felt as much satisfaction as her circuits would allow. There were moments where SARA-00735 thought that it would have been more efficient for her programming to be one generation earlier as the processing of emotions took a great deal of computing power that could have been used elsewhere. Her earlier outburst, a side effect of her aggression enhancement protocols, was just such an example where emotion could have proven to be detrimental. Had her exotic captor not displayed such restraint, the creature might have reverted to a more primitive state and destroyed her without too much energy expenditure.

SARA-00735 felt a click inside her skull as her emotional inhibitor was activated, dampening the growing sense of anxiety that had started to take root ever since she was thrown into the ship by her purple four armed captor, allowing her to observe her surroundings with the natural curiosity that her creators had programmed into her, a curiosity that made for a more efficient reconnaissance unit.

The transport was quickly filling up with the enemy opposition force, a mercenary group from the looks of them. SARA-00735's HUD displayed various bits of information, weapons data, species data, heights, weights, gender, all the data that a reconnaissance android needed to determine the strength and abilities of an enemy group. While this particular mercenary force appeared small, it had the type of diversity to make it potentially troublesome. Besides the brute that had tossed her into her gravity seat with little regard for her chassis' structural integrity, she noted that the pilot was not human and shared the brutes' quad limbed nature, though they appeared to belong to two completely distinct species. Of particular note was the presence of two sentient mechanical units, one of which was seated across from her with a menacing look on its face. Perhaps this exotic was of too primitive to detect that she was also a synthetic life form. Regardless of SARA-00735's internal debate as to the technology level that was used to build the unit across from her, what was not up for debate was the weapon that was being pointed at her. While her sensors informed her that it was non-lethal, it would make her existence uncomfortable for a few minutes as the electrical pulse would wreak havoc on her internal circuitry.

"Synthetic Unit SARA, serial number 00735." She stated rhythmically in response to the not so veiled threat. It would be the only words that she was speak until such a time as her commander noticed that she was captured or she was out of range of the radio pulse that kept her from self destructing. Speaking of the pulse, her display flashed, indicating that her home ship received her location beacon and sent the counter response in turn. Clearly the commander was too busy to note that she was aboard the enemy's transport but there would be no worries once this ship was either shot down or left the vicinity of SARA-00735's home ship.

Her purple captor, who was standing near the door that lead to the ship's cockpit, turned an snorted loudly before returning his attention to the wounded pilot. She found the response annoying but she was curious as to why the exotic acted as if there was something humorous about her response. Still she was not allowed to respond with anything other than the words she'd already stated. Pulling up her diagnostics, she noted that her arm was still functionally compromised but her internal repair protocols were working on stabilizing and shoring up the damage. Looking up at the exotic mechanical unit that was seated across from her, she glared back defiantly, though unless the unit had x-ray vision, the effort was lost as SARA-00735 covered her face.

 

[Outcast107]

Walker

After Walker gave the orders to leave, he heard he was follow up by Mar as she said, "Sweet Child of Mine, this is ORION Ground Team: Prep for a short-range FTL jump out-of-system, wait for my mark to initiate the jump. Repeat, prepare for FTL jump out-of-system, wait for mark, copy?" It was a good plan, hopefully, they can make it out in time. With that out of the way, everyone ran for their lives back to the Devil-fish.

As Walker ran back to the dropship, his mind was racing with all sort of thoughts. He let the crew talk among themselves as the tried to figure this out. Where the fuck did this go wrong? Was it Chronus who was behind this? No, too complicated and too many ways it could fall apart. That would mean a third party found out. But how the fuck did they know? Chronus tried to make this mission as small as possible without alerting anyone, so who is here?

He snaps back to focus as they were about to exit the warehouse and make their escape. Everyone was almost there as he said "Come on! Move your ass like it got a purpose!" Walker would look up as he made his way to the dropship and wish he didn't. The frigate will soon be upon them. He then turns his focus on Resha as she was protecting their Devil-fish from the fighters' attacks.

"Resha!" walker said cover comms. "We are good to go. Get the hell out of here, you're no match for a ship of that size plus fighters." Walker said as he jumps on board. "Punch it!" He said once everyone was in and the Devil-fish door was closing. As Mar did her thing, Walker look around to see the status of his people. Everyone seem to be in the clear but his focus was on Ed and his prisoner. Walking up as he got a good look at the heavy trooper. "Try not to kill her if she does anything Velka. I would hate to lose a source of info once this is done." Walker then radios the sweety. "Sweety this is Walker we are on our way back now. Follow Mar orders cause we are out of here once we get to the ship." Walker then turns to Elliot. "Might want to tell Grace to hook up with the Sweety before we get on board. He comments as he head up towards the pilot seat. Overhearing that Mar got shot. "Mar, you doing alright?"

Air fight

The Fighters kept up their attack against the unknown fighter unit. They didn't know how to respond to such an odd looking design. With unknown data of such a fighter, their onboard computer data couldn't help them fully in this situation. So it was the pilots' own skills were being used here.

It was a dogfight and neither side had the upper hand. The fighters played it safe when trying to attack the unknown fighter. Though more importantly, they were just stalling until the frigate came into play and then it would be over.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Synthetic Unit SARA, serial number 00735." The prisoner stated all of a sudden, which brought something of a shock to Velka, softening her gaze somewhat, but still managed to maintain a professional appearance. Curious to see if they were telling the truth, Velka began to cycle through her various alternate vision mode, bringing a subtle change of colour to her eyes; suffice to say, the results were fascinating.

"Impressive. Highly advanced synthetics. Operating to levels similar to my own. Obviously designed to blend in with humanity. No one would think otherwise unless they knew where to look. I guess something like this would be a bit overkill, but understand, merely a precautionary measure." Velka stated, referring to the stun gun, her voice a mix of intrigue and wonder. Her diagnostics had reconfigured to register the person in front of her as a synthetic being.

"Try not to kill her if she does anything Velka. I would hate to lose a source of info once this is done." Said, Walker, as he came over to give the prisoner a once over.

"Understood Captain. However, I do not think that Operative SARA is going to cause an issue for the time being; though we may wish to keep an eye out in case her compatriots come looking for her."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

T.G.R. Backwater Planet, Sasleyria | Sasleyria Surface | Devil-Fish Cockpit
"That's not good. I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be inside my body."​

[hr]

Being shot, hurt. It hurt a lot. For someone who was used to a high-risk lifestyle, and tended to choose dangerous career paths, Mar was generally used to being injured in one way or another: Broken bones, cuts, scrapes, and plenty of bruises from the occasional bar or club brawl. She had never been stabbed before, and at times she had only narrowly avoided it, and before now, she had never been shot either. She wouldn't recommend it, especially as felt blood begin to pool in the pilot's seat.

She spared a glance back as she heard Edward speak up, but she didn't quite hear what he said, due to both the din outside and the fact that her mind was simply on other things right then.

"Get back, brace yourself." she said as she started to pant.

As she finished the launch preparations, she contorted painfully in her seat to look back into the cargo area. The moment she saw the last of the ground team step inside, she slammed a fist on the ramp controls. The door to the cargo area slammed shut behind Brian, and her hands grasped the controls of the shuttle again.

"Brace yourselves! All units back to the Sweetie!" Mar called out over the comms, her voice strained.


With a grunt, she twisted the controls and the thrusters on the exterior of the shuttle came to life with a roar. The entire chassis shuddered, and the Devil-Fish launched towards the sky. It was fast, faster than any shuttle should reasonably be going in-atmosphere, even to get to escape velocity. Despite the inertial dampeners, everyone inside could feel the entire Devil-Fish shake violently around them.

"Come on baby, come on baby, hold together. Go, go, go, GO!" Mar snarled, speaking to no-one but herself as adjusted the control sticks to keep her shuttle steady.

As they started to reach the upper atmosphere, the turbulence only got worse. Alarms began to blare not only in the cockpit, but throughout the cargo area as well, warnings of unsafe acceleration and failing heat shielding. Mar ignored them. She focused only on the nav-point that marked the Sweet Child of Mine, even as the edge of her vision got a little more blurry.

Then the violent tremors throughout the shuttle abruptly stopped as they exited Sasleyria's atmosphere. The alarms cut off after a few moments, and the Devil-Fish began to gain speed now that it was safely in space. But not safely away from the warring ships just above the planet.

Mar didn't bother evading at this point. They were too close.

"Sweet Child of Mine, initiate FTL Jump on my mark! All ORION Units dock with the Sweetie, NOW!" she barked over the secure channel as she readied her final approach.

The moment they got near the open cargo container meant as the Devil-Fish's docking bay, she abruptly flipped the thrusters forward and to one side to change direction. The shuttle halted, then slammed inside the container itself just as the other ships connected to the Sweetie.

"Jump!" she called.

Ready and waiting, the Sweet Child of Mine punched into faster-than-light speeds, and Mar cut the engines of the Devil-Fish before slumping back into her seat. Panting heavily, she took the opportunity to take off her helmet and glance down at her abdomen. Her entire belly was beginning to be smeared with dark crimson, and some of that crimson was starting to drip down from the edge of her seat.

"I think I'm gonna need a doctor." she said weakly as she looked back with pain-glazed eyes.

 

[mcpop9]

The female had been twisting and turning with the fighters. Knowing she'd need to clear the way for an exit, the female burned in a straight line, the two fighters hot on her tail now. Before they could get a chance to shoot, she pulled up hard, used her aero breaks and began to deploy the arms from the side of the fighter as the two blew past her.

Reaching out, the mecha arms tore through tbe fighter's wings before pulling back into the sides of the fighter. She immediatly orientated herself and burned upwards. Staring at her speed, she realized she wouldnt make orbital like this. "Fuck..." Groaned the girl, turning up the music and removing the limiter. The thrust from the ion engines burned harder and she watched her speedometer climb. The shields hilding up for her burn, the girl made it back to the sweety, her bio suit compensating for the extrenuous g's she had undergone. The cockpit of the fighter open now, the girl sat there and rested. She kne she'd be sore from how hard she had to get squeezed the next day and dreaded the though. Flicking a switch, the limiter went back on.
Blaring from her cockpit and into the hangar now was ofcourse "Intergalactic" by the beastie boys. Deciding to wait this out, she'd just lay there, waiting to come down from the chemicals her body had her hopped up on.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Redeemer
Meet the Dones!
Irina Rostikova​

[hr]

*CR-CR-CR-CRACK!*

The Mechanically Inclined Catican cracked her knuckles as she entered the Drone Control Suite located midship in the Redeemer. While she could have allowed her kids to defend the ship as needed, she felt a more hands-on approach was needed, especially since the objective was to keep the area around the Sweetie free of enemy strike craft. This was complicated by the fact that the corvette was loaded down with a number of turrets that could have destroyed drones before they could do any significant damage.

"Alright kids, give me a load out." Irina cooed as she pulled up a status display of her drones.

[table border="1" cellpadding="5"]
[tr]
[td]

Drone #​

[/td]
[td]

Load Out​

[/td]
[td]

Personality​

[/td]
[td]

Status​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

1​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

2​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

3​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

4​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

5​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Low Fuel​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

6​

[/td]
[td]

Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Low Fuel​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

7​

[/td]
[td]

Plasma Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

8​

[/td]
[td]

Plasma Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

9​

[/td]
[td]

Stealth/Sensor Array​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

10​

[/td]
[td]

Stealth/Sensor Array​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Low Fuel​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

11​

[/td]
[td]

Energy Field​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

12​

[/td]
[td]

Energy Field​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

13​

[/td]
[td]

Holographic Array​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

14​

[/td]
[td]

Salvage​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

15​

[/td]
[td]

Salvage​

[/td]
[td]

Default​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

16​

[/td]
[td]

ERROR​

[/td]
[td]

ERROR​

[/td]
[td]

Rebuilding​

[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
​

Looking over the readout, Irina's lips pursed as she started to think up a plan as to how she could keep the fighers off of no just the Sweetie but the inbound Orion Craft as well. Whistling loudly in the emptiness of the room, the Drone handler recalled her drones to not only refuel but rearm and reload themselves as needed. With the fighters 4 minutes out, she would not have a lot of time to spare.

A chorus of chirps came through the room's audio outputs as the drones responded to her whistle, each one of them sounding rather happy to hear its master's voice.

"Okay children, listen up! The Catican Merchant Mechanic called out, bringing her charges to attention, "I'm going to need 4 Arizonas, 2 Jacks, 1 Victoria, 2 Raths, 1 Constance, 2 Sables, 1 Sylphee, 2 Lucys and a 209.

As she rattled off this seemingly non-nonsensical list of random names, the status board updated as each one of the drones chose a new load out while they refueled and reloaded themselves.

[table border="1" cellpadding="5"]
[tr]
[td]

Drone #​

[/td]
[td]

Load Out​

[/td]
[td]

Personality​

[/td]
[td]

Status​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

1​

[/td]
[td]

Rapid Fire Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Arizona​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

2​

[/td]
[td]

Rapid Fire Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Arizona​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

3​

[/td]
[td]

Rapid Fire Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Arizona​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

4​

[/td]
[td]

Rapid Fire Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Arizona​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

5​

[/td]
[td]

Long Range Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Lucy​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

6​

[/td]
[td]

Long Range Kinetic Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Lucy​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

7​

[/td]
[td]

Medium Range Plasma Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Jack​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

8​

[/td]
[td]

Medium Range Plasma Cannon​

[/td]
[td]

Jack​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

9​

[/td]
[td]

Stealth/ECM​

[/td]
[td]

Victoria​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

10​

[/td]
[td]

Stealth/Sensor Array​

[/td]
[td]

Constance​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

11​

[/td]
[td]

Energy Shield​

[/td]
[td]

Sable​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

12​

[/td]
[td]

Energy Shield​

[/td]
[td]

Sable​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

13​

[/td]
[td]

Holographic Array​

[/td]
[td]

Sylphee​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

14​

[/td]
[td]

Salvage​

[/td]
[td]

Rath​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

15​

[/td]
[td]

Salvage​

[/td]
[td]

Rath​

[/td]
[td]

Normal​

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]

16​

[/td]
[td]

ERROR​

[/td]
[td]

TR@CY​

[/td]
[td]

Rebuilding​

[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
​

"#16? What's a Tr@cy?" Irina asked loudly before she shook her head, clearing it so that she could focus on the task at hand, "Arizonas, I need you to keep the fighters 2 clicks away from me. Lucys, you target that corvette and Sables you keep the Lucys covered. Now Lucys, you probably won't get a lot of shot through but I just need you to keep the corvette busy. Jacks, you and Sylphee escort the Devil-Fish and the Archer back home. Raths and Victoia... you've got the most important job. Victoria, you escort the Raths, keep them hidden until they get close enough to rip that Corvette apart! Constance, keep me informed of anything else coming in."

If anyone needed a translation of what was going to happen, it would be this. The Arizonas, rapid fire kinetic cannon armed drones were going to keep the Sweet's airspace clear of strike craft and allow the Orion Craft to land without much issue. The Lucys, long range sniper drones were going to target the inbound corvette and keep it busy, using the Sable shield drones to keep them covered. The Jacks, plasma cannon armed drones were going to escort the Orion craft back to the ship while the Sylphee holographic drone confused anyone wanting to target those ships by making sensor and visual clones of the ships. The genius part of the plan was the Victoria and Rath combo. The Victora stealth field drone would keep the Raths hidden from view and off of sensor displays until they got right in the nose of the inbound corvette before deploying their cutting lasers, which had the ability to rapidly cut through metal hulls for salvage operations, and ripping apart that corvette in an area where its turrets could not hit.

Alright kiddies! Go have fun! Irina said with a smile, as she sent forth her little minions to go play.

-------------------------------------10 minutes later-------------------------------------​

THUD!

The Devil-Fish landed safely in the landing bay prompting Irina to whistle and recall her drones, who luckily had not suffered any significant damage. As if reading her mind, Mar's pain filled voice roared over the comms.

"Sweet Child of Mine, initiate FTL Jump on my mark! All ORION Units dock with the Sweetie, NOW!"

"alright kiddies, time to come home. Don't stop on the way back!" Irina called out, watching as each of her drones returned and docked with the Redeemer.

30 seconds later, the Sweetie jumped.

 

[Athol]

She could see what was coming towards them, and there was precious little she could do about it. Too outnumbered to last in a ?furball? and with only a couple of air-to-mud missiles and a dime of heavy birds that any awake strike craft could dodge? ?Fuck it!? She said quietly to herself, and poured on the power.

Vision fuzzy, chest hurting and with blood definitely in her mouth and probably trickling out of her nose, Mary followed Irina?s drones that had been sent to cover the ground team, which also put her between the incoming bandits and her ride out of this shithole system. Adding to the drone?s sensor trickery, she brought her own ECM gear on line at full power, though it was less ?smoke ?and-mirrors? and more ?scream-in-their-face-at point-blank-with-a-megaphone?. Bobbing and weaving across Devil-Fish?s tail, she hung back from the shuttle so to force any potential hostile to have to deal with her first, before they moved on either of the unarmed vessels.

She waited out there until the last possible moment, blinding anyone who looked their way, before she too made for home?almost. At less than a klick out, she cut throttle and flipped, still coasting towards Sweety but facing away. ?For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.? She flushed all ten of her medium anti-ship missiles at full burn back towards her enemies, before righting her fighter and landing. Before her hanger even had the time to start re-pressurising, they had already jumped.

----------

[b]10 Minutes after the independent freighter [i]Sweet Child of Mine[/i]  fled the system[/b]

----------​

The flock of missiles had burned hard upon their initial launch, and then shut down. While the laser warheads where most definitely older models, the missile bodies where quite new and rather stealthy once they cut power.

Normally a sure fire way to track an incoming missile was to look for the emissions from its seeker head, but these ones had no need to look for targets, Mary had sent them out with a specific task. After the ten had dropped off of everyone?s scopes, there was some very understandable concern from in approaching strike craft, and then confusion; a missile needed to go active if it stood any chance of hitting a moving target, and these ones remained stubbornly silent.

When nothing showed on some rushed scans, voices began to joke about ?dumb mercs with shitty gear?; unfortunately, the jokes were ill timed. Just as it seemed to be true, ten signal sources blossomed to life behind the space born forces, not heading towards them but the planet head of the combined Terran Grand Republic and Chronus Corporation forces.

To call the reaction panic would be a bit mild. Any capitol ship that may have been able to intercept the missiles had been drawn out of position by the arrival of the as still unknown hostile fleet, and ground-to-space defences the Sasleyrian Militia might have possessed had long since been destroyed by the assault on the planet, and the Grandies had neglected to bring any portable ones. As it was, ten 2 kiloton bomb-pumped laser warheads reached their target totally unopposed. Mary?s targeting had been very last second, and as a result the warheads dispersed over a rather wide area, reducing the effects of the nuclear blasts, but spreading them over a wider area.

The gamma ray lasers created by the warhead detonations lashed across, through and around the planet head, tearing up soldiers, militia and civilians alike; structures that were outside the effect radius of the initial explosions still had chunks torn away by columns of super concentrated gamma radiation. Some people died before they even knew what was happening, others weren?t so lucky; fires raged in ruler straight lines along the lasers paths, and the attacking ground forces foothold on Sasleyra was in shambles as the beams tore randomly across it; and all this in less than the blink of an eye.

 

[FalloutJack]

Walker had said that Grace should break atmo, return to the Sweet Child of Mine. Elliot agreed, nodding to the effect and signalling her to do so. They were all piling in, and Elliot watched their captive like everyone else in proximity, with his plasma rifle. Seemed about the best course of action for him right now, apart from bracing for sudden departure.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Archer received a signal, Elliot's bug-out signal. It was just a little comm-twitch he discussed with her to indicate 'Return to ship'. Grace was in the ship, so in this case it must have meant to return to the Sweet Child. Fair enough. The Archer blasted its turret cannons at a series of targets to give the Devil-Fish extra cover before it left the atmosphere...and then did so, maximum speed. There's no time for elegance in an escape route. The point is departure, not style. Even still, Archer was an arrow bolt in space, its flight swift and dangerous.

Upon breaching into space once more, Grace swerved to the cargo vessel that was their base in space and frowned. There was a corvette. It had been on comms before, reported by the Catican. Part of Grace had considered going after it upon report, but it would have meant leaving Elliot and the others to the total lack of mercy of the frigate. It could have meant their deaths. Still, defending the Sweet Child was also important, as well as making certain Mary Williams was still alive. Grace considered ending the corvette immediately with a railgun shot, but it seemed that Irina had a bunch of drones engaging it.

Better not.

The rail gun was maximum penetration. When she had killed the initial dropship earlier with such a shot, the slug continued on and made planetfall, flinging itself into the ground like a meteor. Attacking the corvette with it could send bits of the ship or the slug itself into the Redeemer and the drones, or the Sweet Child itself. That would be unacceptable. Instead, the Archer did a normal pass over the top of the corvette with a volley of passing gunfire, and made the attack of the drones more effective by a factor of ten...assuming the ship didn't just burst into flames and explode first.

This led to the Sweet Child receiving the Archer, as requested, right on time...with a small complication.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

To make a long story very short, because it was already told, the Devil-Fish made it back into space and got inside the Sweet Child before the Sweet Child hyper-jumped out of this sector of space, destination unknown. Elliot was about to say something when he heard the Shree pilot call for a doctor. He stepped over to the pilot's see and...oh, that's a fair amount of blood. Elliot remembered hearing the big Catican say something about a gel for her gunshot wounds. Why the hell didn't she take it? Nevermind... His head twisted and focused on the purple juggernaut.

"Edward! Get up here with that gel! Velka, you have any Shree blood?"

Bleeding like that and subjecting herself to the pressures of atmo-breach? What was she thinking? He waited for the Catican to get up here, then spoke again.

"I'll tilt her forward, you do whatever it is you need to do. Then, we get her to Medical, alright?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Hmmm."

Grace frowned at the airlock. The situation was untennable, so long as they were in hyperjump. Even then, it was a little complicated. When the Archer had arrived at the Sweet Child, Grace had found that an airlock had been torn off. What by, she could only guess to be someone a little too enthusistic with their docking procedure, possibly the Redeemer...which belonged to Irina. So, you ask, what exactly did Grace do when she had only seconds to go before departing? She activated magnetic hull-grip, synched engines with the Sweet Child's relative speed, and thus kept grappled while reaching hypervelocity.

This left the airlock attached to a wall, though, and there was nothing Grace could do about it, or do to help anyone, until the problem was addressed. And then, once it was, she was going to paint that Catican the same color as the hull of the ship.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

There was a lot of violent shaking as the Devil-Fish pulled itself out of the Sasleyrian atmosphere, fortunately, everyone was safe and secure inside the transport, prisoner included. There was some further shaking as the transport docked itself within the Sweet Child of Mine and said vessel performed a faster-than-light jump.

Once the dust had settled so to speak, it gave Velka the opportunity to assess the situation with their Shree pilot, whose blood loss, whilst not overly substantial, would certainly be a cause for concern if not properly dealt with; though the Reshani wasn't sure who onboard the Sweety had certified medical training, Velka really only counted herself when it came to synthetics, though that did not stop someone from assuming.

"Edward! Get up here with that gel! Velka, you have any Shree blood?" Elliot as he rushed over to get an overview of Mar's condition. Velka meanwhile took the opportunity to unbuckle herself from her seat and stowed her gear away.

"Operator Elliot, in case it hasn't escaped your notice, I am a synthetic being, and therefore lack the need to make use of blood, Shree or otherwise." Replied Velka in an attempt at sounding sarcastic. Before Elliot could retort, however, Velka put a hand up to stop him.

"Do not mistake my hesitance, for not caring about the condition of my squadmates. Mar is a valuable part of the team, giving her status as a qualified pilot." She then paused for a few moments before continuing.

"Hmm, I would have to look into it, and compare some notes, but I suppose it is possible I could use my repair kit, with modifications so that it works on organic matter to synthesise some Shree blood and to sterilise the area. That is, if the Sweet's medical facilities lacks the capability to do so." The last part she directed towards Captain Walker.

 

[Outcast107]

Walker looked over Mar shoulder to see the large pool of blood that used to be inside of her. "Damn it.." He was about to shout for Ed but Elliot got that cover already. Walker put Mar's arm around his shoulders and helped picked her up from the pilot seat with Elliot. Trying to carry her over to Ed so she can get patched up quicker.


"Hmm, I would have to look into it, and compare some notes, but I suppose it is possible I could use my repair kit, with modifications so that it works on organic matter to synthesise some Shree blood and to sterilise the area. That is, if the Sweet's medical facilities lacks the capability to do so.

"The Sweety's has a med bay Velka, but thanks for offering. If things turn south, I'll radio you to come help." Walker said as he helps carried Mar to Med Bay. Walker helped Ed get the gel on Mar as the bleeding was slowed at least. "Ed help me carry Mar to the Med-bay. Quickly." Both Ed and Walker pick up Mar on each side and carry her off the Devil-Fish. Walker leading them to the Med-Bay as he gets the door open. The Room was quite open, with a table in the middle. The "doctor" was platform hanging from the ceiling. It had a number of parts with different medical tools and such.

"Ah, Captain Walker. Good da- Woah..the big girl is hurt." A voice came over the speakers. "Lay her on the table and we'll get to work! Or I will. Since I'm the professional around here."

Walker was struck dumb for a bit. He doesn't remember putting a VI in the Medic Bot. Though he snapped out of it, he had a way bigger problem to deal with now. "Let's get Mar to the table." he leads Ed over and they put her on the table. Setting her on the operating table as the platform open up and the robotic arms came down. "Huh, looooks pretty...um..Hmmm, I don't know since I"m not familiar with Shree anatomy. Let's fix that.." The medic-platform starts searching up Shree anatomy. "Ah..There we go..lets get to operating!"

Walker walked back a bit, letting the med-bot do its thing. He was worried as all hell about Mar, but he didn't want to alarm Mar at all. Trying to act like it was all fine. Though if anyone sees the look on his face, it would be a look of worry. "Don't worry Mar. The Med-Doc know what it's doing." Trying to offer Mar some peace of mind, if she can have any at the moment.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

Sweet Child of Mine | En-Route out of Sasleyria Space | Ship's Halls - Med Bay
"Steak dinner, bloody."​

[hr]

The wounded Shree could only grit her teeth as she felt, and heard, Elliot come up behind her and squeeze into the confines of the cockpit to help lean her forward so that she could be pulled out. It took him, Walker, and Edward combined to move her with any kind of ease, which prompted her to blearily wonder if she was really that heavy.

"You... Owe me dinner, thanks to earlier. Remember, Captain? I'm partial to steak." she murmured as the three of them carried her out of her shuttle and down the halls of the Sweet Child of Mine.

As Edward applied his Catican gel treatment to her wounds, she couldn't help but hiss through her teeth and flinch, gasping with a, "Shit, that stings."

Just as they reached the med-bay, she could hear a familiar voice over the intercom.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL! ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL! REPAIRS OF AIRLOCK NUMBER 1 ARE UNDERWAY! PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING AIRLOCK 1 UNTIL REPAIRS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED! Stupid humans and their stupid fragile ships. How was I supposed to know that the airlock would shear off if I hit it too... OH CRAP!"

She was about to ask what exactly Irina was doing when she sheared off the #1 Airlock, only to be forced onto a sterile bed, one that was connected to an ominous-looking robotic auto-doctor. She stared up at it's various, spindly arms and grimaced, but it was the voice it used to speak that really started to make her nervous.

"Ah, Captain Walker. Good da- Woah..the big girl is hurt. Lay her on the table and we'll get to work! Or I will. Since I'm the professional around here."

"I can't... Help but doubt that." Mar said weakly between labored breaths.

"Huh looooks pretty...um..Hmmm I don't know since I"m not familiar with Shree anatomy. Let's fix that.. Ah..There we go..lets get to operating!"

"Walker...?" she whined softly as she shied away a little and turned all four eyes to the Captain's direction.

His reply was less than reassuring.

"Don't worry Mar. The Med-Doc know what it's doing."

With a resigned and unhappy grunt, she clenched her teeth and forced herself to lay back as the Med-Doc's arm's began to cut away at her pilot jumpsuit to better treat her wounds. All she could think was that while being shot and bleeding was bad enough, she really didn't want to be poked, prodded, or stabbed by any of those creepy little arms.