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 --:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●○○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Thanks Profit, I'll get on that drive once we get underway with Hilsa." As everyone else does their thing, I pull up a custom terminal: code:I kick back my feet and hit comms, "Lance-Actual, Corrido: Feel free to burn for Johnson Contact whenever you're ready, The Prize's gonna be right behind us." I love it when a plan comes together. Error 404 fucked around with this message at 19:43 on May 24, 2016 |
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May 24, 2016 19:16
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 --:-- Harm | 0-armor | 1/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear Well back on the Lance I take a seat in the lounge area and rest my boots up on the table. I fish up my phone from my coat's inner pocket, fold it out to tablet mode and hold it out in front of me. I give it a moment to wake up but it looks like the biometrics scanner has crashed again. That's it, I'm ejecting this piece of poo poo on a sunward trajectory as soon as I get a new one. I flick it with my middle finger and it finally loads up the home screen. There we go. I navigate to the long range direct caller and type in Stone's number, but I pause for a second with my finger hovering above the call button. Something felt... off. I shrug and give it a tap. Connecting... Connection established. And there's his ugly mug. "Stone, I've got a job for you, some intel that I need acquired from a certain individual. Interested?" Hit the Street: 2d6 2 Oh hi orokos.
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May 24, 2016 21:58
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 "Hey Speck," Jerro says, a slight delay and crackle with the distance, "Think I could make an opening in my schedule. Who's the mark? What's the info? But most important what's in it for Jerro?" Spectre, something about Jerro or his surroundings is different than you last remember. What is it?
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May 25, 2016 05:59
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--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 1/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear Last time I saw him he'd just gotten his nose smashed in by the butt of a rifle, but now it's in one whole piece. Guess he might've had it fixed, but he doesn't strike me as the type that would care. "One Jacque Faust has gotten in over his head. He's been involved in a hit on a hauler named the Hilsa and I need you to make him sing. I want to know about the crew running the job, where they're taking the cargo and anything else you can squeeze out of him. As for what's in it for you, well... Besides your usual rate, feel free to have some fun. I don't care how you make him talk. Do we have a deal?"
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May 26, 2016 01:04
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 --:--Harm|1-armor|1/10 XP|3 Cred While the others are busy with what they're doing, I start preparing the ship to move again. "Nice job on the link,Ying - looks like it'll hold fine. That fixes the problem of being on a mostly vaped ship with no defenses. I'll wait for word from you, Spectre - let me know if and where we're headed and I'll put us on a course. I'm almost out of synth-caf so let's hope it somewhere somewhat civilized."
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May 26, 2016 18:16
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 --:-- Harm | 2-armor | 1/10 XP | 3 Cred Edge +0 Style +1 Meat +2 Mind -1 Cool +0 Synth +1 We're back. The Warrior's charging in the vaguely-makeshift mechbay, and I'm out of the combat pressuresuit. It's chilly on the ship, but a light flight jacket and a cap that simply says "gently caress you" will do. Oh, and pants. I guess. I sit down near Mahrin; brought over two cans of Four El Clock JackRabbit. "Supplies definitely low," I quip as crack the cans for us. "So what the hell. Those two are still out there and still dangerous, though I'm gonna take a guess and say they aren't dangerous to us, at least not directly. Maybe hostile, but I bet they'll talk rather than fight once they hear what we know about the situation." This stuff tastes like a carbonated blue raspberry with a vague hint of swamp-rear end. Still, more or less gets the job done. "What do you think?"
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May 27, 2016 17:29
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"Rates gone up but I'll give ya the old one this one time." Jerro says, "I'll be in touch." The comm-screen blinks off. ~~ Down below, The Warrior is charging. The Hilsa is linked in to trail the Obsidian Lance. The Lance awaits coordinates. ~~ Profit studies the tape of the fight over and over. She can't find anything she didn't see on the first pass, save for subtle pick-ups. On first glance, the way that Steiger and Karensky were dismantling the attack squad made the attack squad look more amateurish than they are. They're doing all the things they should be: fire support, leapfrogging movement, eyes on every possible firing lane, and so on. Problem was, she can also see they suffered from operating on unfamiliar terrain and encountering unexpected resistance in the form of a guy in a battle-suit and a bunch of lethal drones. On their home turf, they're going to be more of a challenge. ~~ Mahren, Fedor, and anyone else who happens to be in the communal area look over the probe's telemetry and talk about how to approach the next phase of the mission, given it's likely to a see a lot more action than previous. ~~ What are you gonna do? I think at this point, you've got a reasonably good handle on the fate of The Hilsa. Mark XP. Good job so far, but the job ain't over. Where are you going now? Are you following back up the trajectory of the probe? If so, are you bringing the Hilsa with you to parts unknown? Or sending it back to Amardeep un-escorted? Or leaving it here to grab later, or... anyone know a fence? You could also try to come at the hijackers sideways through contacts or if you had justifiable knowledge of what a group of people would do after a score like that. xian fucked around with this message at 06:42 on May 28, 2016 |
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May 28, 2016 06:12
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 1200 Harm 1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» I turn off the recording. I've learned as much as I can from it, and what I've learned isn't good. I make my way back to the lounge, where the others are gathering. I catch the end of Fedor's question, and decide to step in. "In fact, I think they're our ace up the sleeve." I take a moment to light a cigarette, intentionally doing it more slowly than I could have. "Your man may be an rear end in a top hat, Fedor, but disloyalty doesn't appear to be one of his faults. He and Karensky weren't in on this, and cut a deal only when the odds turned decisively against them." "And they seem to have left us some bread crumbs." I take a long drag before continuing. "But none of that will make this easy. The raiders were professionals. Trained, blooded. They weren't prepared for power armor and milgrade drones, were on unfamiliar ground, which is why they got hammered until the mechs intervened. They'll be much tougher on their own turf." "So. We need to decide how we're going to run the opposition down."
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May 29, 2016 05:05
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|3 Cred "We need to follow that probe somehow, but I can't see that bringing the other ship with us would be a great idea - just another way to be vulnerable. I've never sold a ship before; anyone know anyone that could take this off our hands? Lemme see what I can find out before we run head first into this, I have a bit of experience with tailing people." I begin tracking the hijackers as well as possible with info we have and without just following them, using my experience as a Hunter to hopefully help us out. Eye for Detail Pretty eh, gain [intel] and 0 hold
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May 30, 2016 17:27
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred I've been working via HUD readouts for the last while, spinning lazily in my seat. I could've been mistaken for totally toasted and spaced out, but I was working, I swear. I kick my feet out and stop suddenly, leaning forward and resting my hands on the table. "I might have a couple of ideas here. Ok, so. A. Hilsa is an incredibly valuable but equally loving useless weight around our necks. The name of the game was return it to Profit's BFF, not drag it through a combat zone. Ok, so we split the team. I'll take Corrido, and maybe one of you mecha dudes in case we need a gun. We make delivery to Johnson and then burn hard for wherever-the-gently caress y'all go. WHICH BRINGS ME TO...Point B. How to track these fuckshits and the mystery of these 'breadcrumbs' Profit brought up. I have in my possession a data-drive taken from Hilsa by Profit, and given to me. This thing is a drone controller that was logging pings several hours after the attackers left the Hilsa floating. The little fuckers encrypted tight, buuuuuuut. IF I can crack it, AND IF I can boost it's signal...drumroll please...I might have a trail we can follow to these assclowns. So, thoughts?" Gonna go ahead and declare I'm using Customizer to crack the drive and boost the signal. I volunteer for escort/babysitting cuz that's my idea and not as interesting as kicking rear end.
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May 31, 2016 05:01
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With a little work, Ying realizes that the most secure thing about this datapad is the fact that it was wedged behind a bunch of other stuff in a drone workshop. After bypassing a bogus security prompt, she's in, and just has to connect it to the Lance's navigation array and boost the signal. Ying, what does that look like? Once she does, a dot pops up on the Navigation array. Ying (and others, probably, too) realize it's actually multiple dots on top of each other. One for each drone. After observing for a little while, it's clear they changed course after firing the probe back to the Hilsa site, and are now moving Sunward (away from you) in an intentionally obtuse course. It's likely they know something was poking around the Hilsa, but thanks to Fedor, it's unlikely they have any idea what. Ying also realizes it's unlikely that she delivers the Hilsa back to Amardeep and then gets back before everything is finished one way or another. That's a pretty long trek for a half-ruined hauler to make. ~~ Mahren could declare a fence as a contact (he's probably spoken with fences in the past trying to run down targets) and see if he could find more info about people willing or able to take in that much cargo at once. Or he could use his [Intel] to tell us what you know that puts you in a position to get the jump on them (he could use that [Intel] for other things, too!). Also, what does Mahren doing intelligence analysis look like? Is he in his quarters with a bunch of smart-paper on a desk, is he jacked into the net? Or AR like minority report? Is he pacing and thinking? This is his ship so there could be a dedicated room or area for tracking. ~~ As you're watching the navcom, a whole lot of chatter that starts as a trickle, but quickly turns into a solidly rushing stream, comes through your feeds about a shootout that's developing on Himalia Station. The chatter is coming from members of various factions, which gives it the sense that it's not, say, one or two guys in a hallway. It's a lot bigger than that. xian fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Jun 2, 2016 |
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Jun 2, 2016 05:24
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|3 Cred I open a large section of the wall in the "briefing" room (the only room big enough for this kind of thing), which unfolds into a small projector and data port that allows me to hook into AR. I begin going thru the info that we have so far, and start to make connections between what we know and what we could use to "sneak" up on them. I pace back and forth as much as the connection to the AR will let me, and realize I'm still not used to the amount of data running past my eyes right now. I look for anything on the hijackers - family, friends, even rumors of them so that we can track them. The hijackers seem well armed and I know even with all our transports we shouldn't be taking them head on. I'm using my [Intel] to see if there's any way to track them and get the jump on them without being noticed until it's too late for them. While I'm doing this, I remember an old fence I used to use when I first started out doing much smaller jobs than this. "I think I might know someone who could take our cargo off our plate, or at least knows someone who does. I'll give him a ring after I'm done analyzing our options." Declare Contact: Sal Bennett. A fence I used when my jobs involved getting smaller objects and persons rather than a ship. I don't think he'd be willing to take a full ship, but I think that he probably knows someone who would. I'm sure he'll want something in return, though.
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Jun 2, 2016 18:03
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Whereabouts is Sal located? And how do you get in touch with him? Roll Hit the Street when you make the call. When you use [Intel] you "reveal knowledge." When you reveal your knowledge of the opposition’s preparations, dispositions or environment, describe how you discovered that information and spend [intel]. You must spend [intel] to reveal knowledge. Take +1 forward to exploit the opportunity offered by that information. So, it's largely up to your discretion how/why you were able to put yourself in a position to get the jump on them, but the how/why is important. Alternately, you could see how your hit the street goes before spending the [Intel], as you might not need to if you roll well. Feel free to hit me up in discord if you're looking for different directions that could go. xian fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Jun 2, 2016 |
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Jun 2, 2016 18:13
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--:-- Harm | 2-armor | 1/10 XP | 3 Cred Edge +0 Style +1 Meat +2 Mind -1 Cool +0 Synth +1 I try to sort the eavesdropped comms coming from Himalia Station. Who's shooting, what kind of damage is being seen, what platforms are involved. Are we looking at similar damage profiles to the Amaradeep? Can I determine the likely objective of the fighting? Do I need to roll something?
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Jun 5, 2016 17:03
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|3 Cred I make contact using AR to Sal, using a separate window from the multitude I already have open - last time I saw him he was on a station orbiting Mars, called Jericho. "Hey Sal, long time no see. I hate to hit you with this outta the blue, but do you happen to have any interest in a derelict cargo conveyer? My crew and I happened upon it recently and we're looking for someone to take it off our hands so we don't have to drag it to who knows where. I know I've never brought something this big to you, but I know you're a smart guy and we can easily work out a deal." I don't have any idea what the extent of what Sal will buy is, but I know he's always looking to make bigger and easier money. While I wait for his return call, I continue looking for a way to track and find our prey. Sal's a small guy, but has some of the most piercing eyes I've ever seen. He doesn't look like much, but I know he's clever and our best bet for getting rid of our tow. Hit the Street: 2d6+1 8 I'll go with: Your request is going to cost you extra Your request is going to attract unwanted attention
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Jun 7, 2016 00:16
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Following the feeds, Fedor can see that this looks like something that started out small, people on the feeds began talking about it like a fight nearby, that got bigger and bigger as the people involved called their backup and now it's an entrenched gunfight that has scared many of the civilians or involved parties out of that sector of the station until it resolves. There are rumors that its the result of a botched hit on an air traffic dispatch officer, but that's only one of a half-dozen theories about how the gun battle started. That should illuminate the situation a bit. Anything more would be a research or assess (if you can tell me why assess would apply over research) roll. Sal returns the call via text a few minutes later. Text being less data is more secure. "How derelict... recently I would guess. Been a lot of chatter about a lot of cargo moving through the network, and now you want to show up with an empty ship... that you just... that's interesting. Instinct tells me the best thing I could do is point you towards the same brother moving the cargo I strongly assume your ship used to hold and then wash my hands of the whole thing. So that's what I'm going to do. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in. Price for that info is a cred, but you didn't get it from me, yeah?
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Jun 9, 2016 06:58
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--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 2/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear There's a loud smack as my forehead slams into the palm of my hand. "What the gently caress is Stone doing," I grumble. "Thought that gorilla could handle one simple job." Feels like I have a headache coming on. I look down at my phone as I'm idly flipping it over in my hand a few times, then let out an annoyed sigh and flick my wrist to fire off the hand taser embedded in my glove. The display gives off a bright flash and burns out as the electrical discharge overloads the circuitry. I snap the phone in half for good measure and toss it in the nearest bin. If that large fucker got caught this better not get traced back to me or I'll have his hide. I retrieve another phone from my coat and start prepping it. "We can kiss our Jacque Faust lead good bye." I throw a sour glance at the others as I'm punching in data. "We need to burn hard after our marks right now before they make any more course adjustments and we lose them for good."
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Jun 10, 2016 00:32
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|2 Cred "That sounds great, Sal - can't expect you to take such a ship outta the blue like this. I'll wire over the cred now." I switch off AR. "I think we can start burning towards our cargo in just a sec - got some info you all might find useful. We can meet in the, uh, "briefing" room I'm in right now once we're headed towards it." Mr E fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 10, 2016 01:02
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred I'm on the bridge, putting away tools and resealing the panel under the NAV console. The drone transmitter neatly installed and receiving. "Yeah, yeah, be there in a sec." I sling my toolbag over a shoulder and begin navigating through micro-G to the lounge...sorry, 'briefing room'.
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Jun 11, 2016 05:28
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1200 Harm 1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» I wait for everyone assemble, then move into the center of the room. "Fencing the Hilsa should be a last resort - our client would be displeased if we sold it out from under him, which would complicate the other parts of our deal. But it's a lead to our pirates, since they're fencing the cargo they took." "We'll still need to get the Hilsa out of the way. Flores, sounds like you're ready to take it in tow. We should be able to identify a rendezvous point off the shipping lanes.After the operation we should be able to pick it up." If someone could spend an intel we could pick an optimum spot. "As for the rest - here's the plan." I bring up an AR display. It shows a summary of the data we have so far, the feed from the assault, dossiers, my assessment of potential opposition. Everything we've learned or supposed. The team is still untested, but its components are. I know their abilities. "Between the tracker and the intel we've turned up, we should be able to locate the pirates quickly. They are heavily armed and professional, and have mechs. They're good. But we're better." Taking advantage of Here's the plan. Everyone gets +1 ongoing until they roll a miss or go off-plan. "Spectre, as soon as we have a location, you'll move in under stealth. Locate the cargo, and if possible, Steiger and Karensky. The first is the priority. Get as close as you can with alerting the pirates." "Once Spectre is in position, Fedor, Mahren, and I will launch an attack on the pirates. Our goal will to be engage them, so we'll come in fast and heavy. Fedor, your priority will be any mechs they field. Mahren, I don't think they have anything heavy, but if they do, that will be your department." "As soon as we have their full attention, Flores will move in to retrieve the cargo. Spectre will engage any remaining targets as well. Secure the cargo as quickly as possible. Mahren will move in to help with that while Fedor and I screen the pick up." "When Flores has the cargo, she'll immediately move out. Mahren will backstop her run. Spectre, Fedor, and I will clean up any remaining opposition. If opposition is heavier than expected, it'll be a fighting retreat instead. We'll need to deal enough damage to prevent them pursuing in that case." "As for Steiger and Karensky, I expect them to make a move first chance they get. On the one hand they'll be going after the pirates, which is good for us. On the other, we don't know what they're planning or when they'll make their move. On the gripping hand, they are professionals as well. So we don't worry about them until we have to worry about them." I pause, and light a new cigarette, letting everyone consider it. "Any objections?"
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Jun 12, 2016 03:43
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Sounds good, I'll extract Spectre and the cargo. I'm still not feeling great about just leaving the fuckin Hilsa, but you're right. We don't have time to let this lead go cold hauling that poo poo all the way back, and fuckdamn am I bringing a 90% dead cargo hauler into a firefight. But, here's my snag: If we all burn out the same direction there's literally nothing stopping them from sending ships, or HI-EX warheads, screaming after us. So here's my idea. We roll up slow, get a good look and plan to have everyone scramble in different directions and just meet up at Hilsa. Yeah?"
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Jun 12, 2016 05:22
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|2 Cred "Sounds like a plan, Profit and Ying. I don't think we should burn in the same direction either. We need to take them out as fast as possible, and Profit's plan sounds about as close to that as we can get. I'll stop the Lance before we get there and we can confirm the plan again."
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Jun 15, 2016 04:10
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--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 2/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear "I'd have preferred to keep it silent but I doubt we can steal back this much bulk without going loud. No objections here. I'll get you a good read on the situation before you strike, then when they have their backs turned I'll stick something sharp in them. If things turn sour I'll exfil with Flores as soon as the cargo is loaded, protracted firefights aren't really my area of expertise."
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Jun 16, 2016 01:58
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Sure, yeah, also how about a plan B-for BOOM. Like, if you get in, poo poo's too hot for our piddly little assault AKA Plan A, you can just find their cargo hold, and (If they're on a station that follows closely to standard layouts) the cargo module should be it's own separable unit. So if there's no way to load it up, you can plant shaped charges at key points, blow it on command, and faster than you can say ¿qué pasa cabrón? I drag the whole loving module out of there while everyone else lays down cover. How Tā mā de zhēn bàng would that be?" I look around the room for any sign that people are digging my idea.
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Jun 17, 2016 07:35
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Mahren intitiates a hard burn for the Lance and the Hilsa, and the team meets up in the briefing room while the Lance hurtles through space, heading toward the coordinates that Sal provided. The contact he passed along is named Kiko Mattix. Sal describes her with a sort of admiration. When he gives the info, its with some off hand comment like, "I don't know how she can coordinate that much product," the way someone might marvel at a half-built space station and wonder how they did that. He explains that she moves through Darkspace with a flotilla that's both capable of dispersing materials like those the hijackers have, and defending it as they do. The coordinates Sal gives you bring you further sunward, and lead you toward an area that was once full of asteroids, but has been thoroughly mined since. Little more than dust remains. With the plan laid out, the group burns towards the Flotilla, but completes its deceleration burn far outside of possible sensor range. It's time for Spectre to do what he does best, and for the rest of the crew to take long approaches so that original vectors are masked. The feeds from Himalia station continue to provide updates, but the shootout is over. At least 17 are dead and one habitat on the space station is partially depressurized. EDIT: You guys can deposit the Hilsa somewhere conveniently safe and en route if you spend an Intel, just tell me where. Not clear if anyone spent it. Sorry for the long gap in posts. Been on antibiotics and playing too much Overwatch and couldn't get myself in a posting mentality, and then when I did, I had a few days trying to figure out exactly what to write. Hope I haven't lost anybody! xian fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 17:15
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xian posted:EDIT: You guys can deposit the Hilsa somewhere conveniently safe and en route if you spend an Intel, just tell me where. Not clear if anyone spent it. it's cool! things happen, I'm just glad you're feeling better. As for dropping intel, I was under the impression that our moves for gathering gear and intel are once-per mission. and that so far everything we've done on hilsa + attacking the pirate station are all still one mission, yeah? If so, I've already spent my intel and gear. If not, I'll do a research or whatever roll and find a nice spot to drop hilsa.
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Jun 21, 2016 18:57
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Error 404 posted:moves for gathering gear and intel are once-per mission this is correct, but other people have em, i believe. otherwise, research away, we'll treat it more like an act under pressure +mind.
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Jun 21, 2016 19:43
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Looking back, I think Mahren is the only one with unspent Intel (there was an attempt to spend it earlier but wasn't for something that made sense).
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Jun 21, 2016 21:28
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|2 Cred I pull up the galaxy map on the terminal in the briefing room. "Looks like there's an asteroid - X-78 here - we could stash the Hilsa on or around just fine. No one's gonna look for it there, and it's way off the lanes." I point to a thoroughly mined, but still structurally intact, asteroid that's either fallen off the shipping lanes or wasn't worth towing to be dusted. "I think this rock's big enough that we can just place the Hilsa behind it facing the nearest shipping lane, and unless we end up interacting with our newfound friends too long it'll stay put, and we can track where it drifts on the off chance it does." Spending my intel to find this asteroid and put a beacon where the Hilsa is once we drop it off.
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Jun 23, 2016 00:53
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Sounds good to me. Nothing much we can do but hope no scavvers stumble across it while we're gone."
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Jun 23, 2016 19:17
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1200 Harm 1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» "Our plan relies on speed and force, so if we pull this off, they won't have time to find it. I think we're ready."
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Jun 24, 2016 04:09
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Let's go be the good guys"
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Jun 24, 2016 04:21
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--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 2/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear | 1 Intel "Let's go rob some thieves." After making sure the maglocks are switched off one extra time I shoot out of the Lance and set my course for the flotilla. "I'm gone. I'll keep in touch." My approach is impeccable, covered by a large cloud of dust and discarded asteroid chunks I doubt the flotilla would be able to spot me even if they had all their scanners trained directly on me. Which they might for all I know. They sure seem skittish with how loaded the Hilsa was with detectors, and they know someone is hunting them. Well, they're not the only ones with their eyes open. As I close in on the flotilla I let the recon suite of the Wraith do what it does best. Whatever secrets Kiko Mattix are keeping, they're mine now. Case the Joint: 2d6+2 10 Gaining 3 Intel. Since these are special Case the Joint intel I can also spend them to ask questions from the Assess or Research moves. I'll spend 2 intel to do just that. That huge load of cargo they're hauling shouldn't be too hard to find, but: Research: Where would I find Steiger and Karensky? Assess: What is my best way in?
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Jun 26, 2016 15:28
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Spectre moves through remnants of mineral rich asteroids like a wraith. His stealth suit cuts the distance silently. After some time, he stops following the Flotilla on his HUD and sees it in actuality as he glides in to approach it. None of the drones or fighters patrolling the area notice him. There's a handful of mismatched fighter craft and twice as many drones, but that seems to be the whole of security. Stealth would always be the best defense. The core of the Flotilla is a mobile repair dock, a stock construction you've all seen deployed elsewhere, with a few modifications, the most visible of which is an atrium or artificial greenhouse looking dome. Even from his this distance, Spectre can see through his suit's zoom that people are moving within it. It looks like they're having a conversation over food. Sake, Karensky, and Mattix are three of the six people at the table. The other three are all hard looking people--the Pirates, or Mattix's lieutenants, or some combination. He doesn't know. There's only one mech--the Pirates'. It's seen better days, patchwork repairs keeping it together and iterating upgrades upon it. It looks, once upon a time, like it was a construction mech that's been repurposed. And Spectre recognizes the drones from that all flew off camera in the surveillance video, all clamped around the neck area of the Mech. It's in the repair dock having maintenance done, but the technicians don't go anywhere near the drones around its neck. Most of the movement around the Flotilla comes from haulers of various sizes. Most of the haulers are swarming around the pirate ship, which is stationary, but has weapons active, a decent distance away from the repair station, basically creating the edge of the Flotilla. Each hauler removes a small portion of the score from one of a number of airlocks. It resembles nothing as much as a mother animal nursing its young before they take their leave. Spectre's best way in is always going to be to go alone. Slipping between the vectors of patrols and haulers, he's confident he could get anywhere he wanted within the Flotilla, but the rest of the crew is going to cause a response once they get within sensor range. --------- If anyone wants to add details about the Flotilla's location or appearance, feel free. Or about what the Pirate ship is named or looks like. If not, I'll have a description next post. Run anything else by me but it will probably be cool too. Sorry for the long time between posts again, I'm working on it!!
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Jul 4, 2016 23:29
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred I sit at Corrido's controls, having separated from the Lance when Spectre did. vapor drifts lazily around my head as I smoke, my ears are buzzing with comm chatter and caffeine. G0U is fully loaded and strapped securely into the Hold. I monitor all feeds on my AR userface, my music pounding throughout my whole ship as I keep loose before the run. We're all waiting for Spectre's signal.
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Jul 5, 2016 01:59
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--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 2/10 XP | 3 Cred | 1 Gear | 1 Intel | 2 HSP Hold "This is Spectre, got eyes on the flotilla, looks like we're interrupting dinner time. I spot Steiger and Karensky having a sit down with Kiko Mattix and some unknown hard-asses, they're on the repair facility that makes up the center of the flotilla. As for enemy force composition it's nothing too impressive, but it's not going to be easy. They have a few fighters and drones, but their one mech is sitting pretty in the repair dock, possibly out of commission. Flores, still got that deck Profit found? I think the missing cricket drones are still attached to the mech." "Amardeep's cargo is still mostly on the pirate ship, parked at the perimeter of the flotilla, but it's in the process of being moved. Tactic's your job, Profit, but I advise you strike it first and disable it. I'm moving in on the repair station now to cause some havoc. Give me... 13 minutes after you receive this before you go in." With the distance lag that should be enough, I hope. "Spectre out." I end the recording and align the narrow transmitter to where the rest of the crew are waiting. Keeping an open channel for the entirety of the time it took to vocally compile the intel would've been amateur stuff, it'll be much harder for any clever snoops trying to listen in to catch the nanosecond data transfer. I fire off my message and get ready to infiltrate the flotilla. Hot poo poo Pilot: 2d6+2+1 15 Heh. Gain 3 hold. Spending one HSP hold to 'Apply one of your vehicles tags for a +1 forward' Stealthy should do for getting in without being seen. Act Under Pressure: 2d6+2+1+1 14 This is going far too well. I wait patiently until the patrols all line up perfectly before I make my move. As long as no one gets a good visual of me or watches their scanner way too closely, I should be good to go with stealth mode on. I light up my thrusters and sneak up close to one of the haulers en route to the repair dock and hide myself in its blind spot, using it as cover to get closer to the station itself. A patrol craft passes by much too close for comfort, but the shadow cast by the hauler hides me perfectly. Two long minutes pass before an opportunity presents itself. With all the patrols on the other side of the station or turned away from me, I leave the cover of the hauler and dash to the underside of the station. There I find exactly what I'm looking for, a small unattended maintenance hatch. I gently attach my mech to the exterior of the station, check my gear one final time, then I pop the cockpit open and make my way inside. There are two tasks on my mind as I breach the hatch. One, find the CIC or bridge for some good old sabotage. Two, figure out what the hell is the deal with Steiger and Karensky. Covert Entry: 2d6+2+1+1 9 Gain 1 Hold. For the sake of expedience I'll spend it right away to get me where I want to go. I'll start by making my way towards the atrium through the maintenance accessways to eavesdrop on the conversation, looking for targets of opportunity along the way. Sockerbagarn fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Jul 7, 2016 |
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Jul 6, 2016 23:01
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By the time Spectre gets into position in the maintenance access, the dinner has moved on to dessert. He watches as a waiter brings in a covered plate. When he pulls the plate back, dark brown spheres float over each diner's plate, no doubt via some precise machinery, then splat onto the plate. Then, on the plate in front of them, small burn lines appear in the desserts, turning them from chocolate batter to perfect flour-less chocolate cakes with little zigzagging char marks across them. Spend enough time in space and its hard not to become a little eccentric. Kiko Mattix was eccentric about food. "So," She begins after finishing the first bite of her dessert, "Where do you see yourselves within this transaction?" Steiger defers to Karensky, who speaks up, "As equal partners." The hard looking men who are presumably pirates both scoff. Karensky ignores them. "A third to us, payable in the form of a long range shuttle, access to a spinner, and the balance in credits and printables... or we all die, right here." "gently caress off, Sake." One of the hard looking men says. Sake Karensky responds without missing a beat, "Or maybe I finally pop the head off that piece of junk you call a mech. See what's inside." "Make a move and I'll kill you where you sit." "You'll bleed out before she hits the ground." Steiger says quietly. "That won't bring her back!" Oryn challenges back. "Oh, get over yourself, you sloppy hack." Steiger says coolly, then his voice is much more polite. "Best cake I've had." "Thank you." Kiko says to Steiger, then falls silent for a moment until everyone at the table is looking at her. "Children," Kiko says, in what's meant to be a soothing, calm voice, trying to keep the situation as calm as possible "I think there's a deal to be made. I think.... a third of each of our takes for a thorough outline of your most recent employer's business would be..." "I'm not giving them a poo poo covered cent. They killed--." "Not our fault, Oryn," Steiger interjects. "You attacked us. Not our fault you folded when we fought back." "I don't care--" Oryn bangs on the table, but Kiko cuts him off. "Calm. Down. Now." She points upwards. A small turret has slid into place where a chandelier might be. "This is the deal:" Kiko says, "Oryn, your ship gets unloaded and on its way. You," she addresses the Oryn and the other pirates, "Collect your funds and and leave. The drones detach and you complete your mech's repair elsewhere." "And you," Kiko says to Steiger and Karensky, "Stay. As my guests. We have a few more conversations. Perhaps over food, but probably in a navigational environment. Maybe you have nothing to offer, but my intuition is telling me an opportunity like this is worth exploring. Since I don't know what you know, I can't pay for it, but I can pay for your time. A week of this, perhaps a month, before you start the rest of your lives. The contracts can be ready in minutes." Karensky leans into Steiger's side and they whisper back and forth. ~~~~~ Meanwhile, the clocks tick down on Fedor, Profit, Ying, and Mahren's HUDs. More than 12 minutes since they received Spectre's signal, seconds until they make their move. So I'm going to abstract time slightly, and say that Spectre can make one more action from here before the rest of the crew comes crashing into view. While that's happening, the rest of you tell me how you want to be positioned / how you want to make your entrance and then do so. You've still got the jump on em, and now would be the time to roll any relevant pre-Action moves and/or hot poo poo pilot. xian fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 14, 2016 |
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Jul 13, 2016 21:29
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1200 Harm 1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 1-hold (Plan Comes Together) | 3-hold (Hot poo poo Pilot) As the mission clock on my HUD counts down to the start time, I bring my fighter to full power. I reach over and toggle the short-range ship to ship beam. "I'll try to take out the pirate ship's engines on my first pass, and then push towards whatever defenses they scramble. Fedor, back me up if I miss. Looks like a target rich environment. Remember chaos will be to our benefit." The clock hits zero I push the throttle to the firewall, and acceleration presses me into the crash couch. I flick the red safety covers off the weapon toggles. My fighter is hot. The mission clock starts ticking up. Hot poo poo Pilot: 2d6+2+1 12. Gained three hold. Mix It Up: 2d6+1 4. God dammit. Already lost my +1. Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Jul 16, 2016 |
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Jul 14, 2016 06:57
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--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●○○○○○○○○» 2 Cred "Corrido punching out." I tightbeam back as I kick in my primary engines. I crank my Grav Compensators and perform a series of erratic but precise burns pulling me ahead of the others and keeping as much space trash (small asteroids, etc.) between me and the pirates as I can. It's not much, but if their sensors are poo poo and they're not paying attention, it might give me time to get close before they can really notice me or my flares. As I pull into the clear, just a few minutes out I do a quick passive scan...and there! As I hoped they've got a few hulls similar to mine, and nobody's broadcasting poo poo. If I'm lucky they'll just think I'm one of the other courier-class ships. Hot poo poo Pilot 8 Avoid one external danger (Does detection count as a danger for this?) My part of the plan is to come in first and make contact with Spectre before/as the others arrive, so I'm using the +1 forward from Profit. I reach the edge of the flotilla, zeroing in on the structure Spectre infiltrated, and attempting to find an out of-the-way airlock I can breach so Spectre has his exit. Error 404 fucked around with this message at 08:41 on Jul 14, 2016 |
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Jul 14, 2016 08:38
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| # ? May 15, 2024 18:23 |
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--:--Harm|1-armor|2/10 XP|2 Cred I turn off the safeties on my autocannon and flip down the targeting HUD. "Ready any time for engage; I'm planning on taking out anything any of you miss and causing as much mayhem as possible." Hot poo poo Pilot 14 There's my good rolls! Gained 3 hold Mr E fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Jul 15, 2016 |
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Jul 15, 2016 00:12
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