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Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


Profit waits for the moment when she's not in direct LOS of their opponents, then launches the Saab. She sticks close to the hull of the Lance, maneuvering carefully to get into the right location to launch her attack.

When the moment comes, she uses her maneuvering thrusters to pop up from behind the Lance and fire her cannon, hoping to snipe her target before it has a chance to react.

Gauss Cannon (4-harm near/far area messy breach)
HSP [+Edge], Mix it Up [+Meat]: 2d6+2+1 13 2d6+1 7

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Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

The bay door gapes wide open in front of me, leading into the vast nothingness of space. I can feel the gentle hum and vibration of surging power coming from the Wraith, telling me as clearly as any diagnostics tool that all systems are green and I'm ready to launch. Time moves slowly as I'm sitting here waiting for Flores's signal. Not sure what she's planning this time, but it's getting on my nerves. At least she's not in a position to physically mess with my vehicle anymore.

A couple minutes pass before I open my mouth to say something, to ask what the hell she's up to this time, but at that very moment the Darude hits and I can't even hear my own words over the sheer volume blasting through my ears. I can't help but crack a smile, guess Ying has a good idea every now and then after all. The Wraith's main thrusters start howling through the frame as I push the throttle to the bottom and shoot out of the bay like a bat out of hell.

My designated target is the Mecha at our six o'clock, so once I'm clear of the Lance I kill my main propulsion, use the maneuvering thrusters to flip myself around, then start burning hard towards my prey. The G-forces pushes me back into my seat as I close in, and not long after making the initial burn I can hear the solid beep from my targeting computer telling me that it's happy with its firing solution. I move my finger to the trigger, but I give pause. It's not every day I get the chance to dance with other expensive-as-hell JSS mechas after all. It seemed like a shame to let my computer have all the fun. I remove my finger from the trigger and set the safety on my missiles. I'm dying to see just how cutting edge my specs are compared to the current JSS lineup.

I flick a switch and redline my engines and as I do so the usual steady hum from the Wraith disappears, turning into eerie silence that makes me wonder if I broke it, but I can't see any indication of that being the case on my HUD. All I can see is the acceleration meter climbing like mad, and inversely the distance to my target dropping like a rock in high-G. Well, if the engines aren't going to complain then I'm not going to either.

When I'm just seconds away from reaching my target I fire up the Wraith's secondary armaments. Twin jets of superheated plasma erupts from muzzles mounted on the arms of the mech, blazing so brightly you'd have their afterimage stuck on your retina for a week if you so much as glanced at them. I'm not sure who the hare-brained egghead was that thought these things were a good idea for space combat, but at this moment in time I almost regret that I had to blow up that beautiful mind along with the rest of the JSS facility I jacked the Wraith from.

As for the poor corporate schmuck right in front of me, they won't know what hit 'em.

Hot poo poo Pilot (+Cool+Plan): 2d6+2+1 10 Gain 3 hold.
Spending one to move in to close range with my target. If it shoots at me as I approach I'll spend another one to avoid the attack.
Mix it Up (+Synth+Plan): 2d6+1+1 11 JSS 'Durendal' Energy Blades (4-harm close breach)

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007


--:--Harm|1-armor|4/10 XP|2 Cred

I manuever the Lance's turret towards my target. I'm not used to hitting something as small as a Mecha, but I think I'll make the shot. I line up the shot... and surprisingly am dead on.

"'Bout time I hit something!"

I just hope that I took out my target before any of the others can react.

Hot poo poo Pilot (+Synth +Plan): 2d6+2+1 11 Gain 3 Hold

Mix it Up (+Synth +Plan): 2d6+2+1 9 Meh

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2
[Gear] -
[Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


All it takes is a couple garbled syllables from the others to realize my gently caress up. I'm not just drowning out the enemy comms, I'm drowning out our own. gently caress it, we have a plan we can deal. If I ease this poo poo up, then there's a chance they can benefit too. I just gotta trust the others. I loving hate being (relatively) helpless.

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Profit drops out of the Lance, sticking close to its hull, using it to shroud her maneuver into a firing position.

Sandstorm blasts through her system's speakers as her gauss cannon spools up, it makes a number of noises that Profit is unfamiliar with. Hissing, like steam -- but in reality something else -- is escaping containment. There's rattling where there shouldn't be. The cannon fires and connects with the JSS Mecha that's 3 o'clock of the Lance. The Mecha, still far away, rocks back from the impact, sparks and fluids and compressed gasses escaping from its new ventilation. One of its arms, as well as the weapon system on that shoulder, hangs limply.

Just after the shot, a series of error messages pops up on the Saab's HUD.

GAUSS CANNON - CHECK CONTAINMENT
GAUSS CANNON - CIRCUIT OVERLOAD
GAUSS CANNON - UNKNOWN ERROR. REFERENCE CODE #00E31A
WARNING: BREACH DETECTED IN PRIMARY PLASMA VENTRICLE.
WARNING: CEASE USE OF THIS DEVICE
WARNING: CONTACT A QUALIFIED SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY.

Your defense systems are still operational, and add one more warning to the list:

WARNING: TARGET LOCK

What do you do?

Both HSP and Act Under Pressure would be appropriate here

~~~~~

The Wraith falls into the nothingness of space and lingers near the Lance, waiting for the go order. Then Darude hits. Quickly and smoothly, the wraith transitions into an attacking trajectory and rushes the JSS mecha at six O'clock. Too busy dealing with the Sandstorm, the Mecha is unable to bring its own melee weapon up in time. Spectre shoves both of their Durendal blades into the torso of the JSS Mecha, narrowly missing the pilot inside, sundering circuitry and servos as they push out the back of the interloping mecha.

As the other mecha hangs off your twin Durendal blades, the pilot snarls at you. Twin smaller holdout guns emerge from compartments in its wrists, and it trains those guns on you.

Both HSP and Act Under Pressure would be appropriate here. You spent one hold on the approach.

~~~~~

Mahren lands a direct hit on his designated Mecha... riddling it with bullets from the auto cannon. Many of the bullets careen off the plating of the JSS Mecha, but just as many embed themselves into the Mecha's body, sending it juddering back a few dozen meters, but not down.

As it does the Mecha in zero-g equivalent of standing back up from one knee, it trains the long-arm mounted on its shoulder on the lance.

Same

~~~~~

Jace approaches similarly to Wraith. Slightly less fast, but with more missiles. As he approaches, he fires a seemingly endless stream of small missiles from a variety of embankments in his armor. Some of them connect, each one like a wasp sting on the JSS Mecha's carapace. More of them don't, each find the target, but the final JSS Mecha is entirely occupied fending off the onslaught swarm of missiles it currently faces.

What do you guys do?

xian fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Nov 4, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


The alarms fill my ears as I push the throttle all the way to the firewall. The acceleration shoves me back in the crash couch and the edges of my vision begin to darken. But I need to close the range. The Valkyria is fast and maneuverable enough that even if he gets a missile off, I can get inside the safe limit before intercept. That will give me a chance to make a pass with 20mm guns and hopefully finish him off.

Spending a HSP to close, and Mix It Up:
Mix It Up: 2d6+1 12

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

Holdout guns? On a mecha? Almost makes me a bit jealous. Then again...

I engage the main thruster on the Wraith's right leg but leave the hip actuator unlocked, causing it to slam its knee into my opponent's mecha with force. As its reeling from the blow I pounce on the opportunity, I dash away from its guns and maneuver myself behind it, then I strike at its exposed back with my blades.

Spend one hold to avoid one external danger.
Mix it Up (+Synth+Plan): 2d6+1+1 8

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007


--:--Harm|1-armor|4/10 XP|2 Cred

I burn hard, pulling to my left to throw off his aim and get a bit closer. I hope my next volley finishes him off - it seemed to have put me at less of a disadvantage, at least.

Spent a hold to avoid the danger
Mix it Up (+Synth +Plan): 2d6+2+1 Woo!

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Profit's Gauss Cannon being broken doesn't inhibit her at all. She switches gunnery controls and pushes the Valkyrie hard and closes the distance with the JSS Mech she's targeting. It shoots at her, but the tracer shots fly past, cutting through the space she was milliseconds earlier. She riddles the JSS Mech with bullets, the shots landing up and down its center mass. One arm was already inoperable, but she can tell by the way that the Mecha is just sort of hovering in space that the pilot is now consumed with the task of keeping the mech functioning at all.

That Mecha's clock is currently at 2300, barely hanging on.

~~

Mahren moves the Lance in ways that a ship that big probably shouldn't. The entire thing groans as Mahren wills it out of the way of the JSS Mech's rifle and even Mahren gets the feeling that this probably shouldn't be possible. For the people on the Lance, the sudden movement impedes the Lance's artificial gravity, and everyone not strapped to a crash couch leaves the ground for a few seconds as Mahren completes his evasive maneuvers, then crashes back down once the artificial gravity kicks back in. Once it does, Mahren re-syncs the targeting system and fires another volley at the Mech that fired at the lance.

And the Lance's autocannon just shreds this one. The Mech's upper body is ground into dust by the volley of bullets, the mech begins spiraling lifelessly through space, its systems going haywire, its pilot either bleeding out or already dead, the mech itself barely still in one piece.

One mecha down
~~

Spectre's Wraith connects with its knee, and in its attempt to block the knee, the other Mech loses its opportunity to shoot the Wraith with its holdout pistols. Before the Mecha can react, the Wraith has moved behind it, and for a second time, skewers the JSS Mech on its swords. This time, Spectre also skewers the pilot, and the Mecha attempts to twist around on the swords to get another shot at Spectre, but begins involuntarily powering down as it does so, until it is lifelessly hanging on Wraith's blades.

Two mecha down
~~

Seeing its compatriots blown up, shredded, and generally demolished, the Communications Hub Mecha currently fighting with Jace begins trying to create distance. "Looks like we got a runner," Jace says, "Not sure I'm going to be able to catch it myself if it gets a chance to turn on the jets."

apologies for the slow posting! and for screwing up the act under pressure rules last round. I won't do so again!

xian fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Nov 18, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


I cut main thrust and flip the Valkyria end for end before re-engaging, enduring the g-forces to make a fast turn around and second run on my target. I key my comms as I close to gun range on it. "Cleaning up here, Steiger. Karensky, see if you can engage it with the PDA. Spectre are you in position to backstop them? "

I open up with the guns as I streak past the mecha and then turns towards the last, though the chances of my getting in range soon enough to matter are low.

Mix It Up: 2d6+1 11

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

"On it, Profit." I kick the hostile mecha off my blades and then switch them off, I'm a bit out of position with regards to the comm hub mecha and they won't do me any good at this range. I engage the thrusters to climb the z-axis to get a clear line of sight on Steiger's target. Once I've got it in my sights it takes but a moment for the solid tone of an acquired lock to ring in my ears.

"Tally bandit. Fox three." I squeeze the trigger and the missile blasts off into the distance. "Steiger, bruiser incoming. Advise you sit back and enjoy the fireworks."

Spend one hold to speak through the standstorm.
Mix it Up (+Synth+Plan): 2d6+1+1 11 Terra Dynamics ML3000 'Baneslayer' Missile Launcher (5-harm far area messy breach)

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Profit rips another barrage of fire through the mecha, and chunks of its armor and machinery fly into the black as the bullets connect. As she circles back, she sees the pilot struggling in the cockpit to regain control of their mech, frantically patching systems together, toggling switches, and trying to target, but nothing's working. The mech is fried and, struggle as they might, the pilot is trapped.

~~

"Copy," Steiger says, and dives away from the fleeing mech.

The bruiser missile fwomps out of a compartment on the wraith and propels itself toward the fleeing Mecha through the darkness of space. After a nearly half a minute, the missile illuminates the sector of space they're in, a conflagration of plasma that vanishes into the vacuum of space as quickly as it erupted.

~~

With the JSS squadron dealt with, everyone has time to dig into the various settings of their craft and manually mess with the equalizer levels in their audio settings until Sandstorm is mixed down into the background, though it still persists. Two of the JSS mecha are blown to hell, however the one that Spectre impaled, as well as the one that Profit disabled, are still intact. And the pilot of that last one still has their life. For now.

What do you do?

xian fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Dec 2, 2016

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


My patch into Mahren's sensors show me the thermal bloom of the last mecha. My cue to wind down...the Sandstorm.
"Ok, so...uh...good shooting out there. Anybody need a patch job, come see me in the Bay. Looks like we got a floater out there so I'mma just come correct on this just so we know where we stand. We are gonna rescue that pilot, we are NOT gonna torture them, we are NOT gonna sell them the gently caress into slavery. I don't know or care what y'all are into, I don't roll like that. I've captured cons before, I can lock'em up on Corrido if it matters. I don't like throwin down a line like this, but we ain't fuckin Martians, y'know?"

I hit my vape and lean back, thought-clicking my playlist and letting the tension of the last few hours recede.

I pipe back up onto comms after a few minutes thought.
"Ok, so now we got several Jovian mil-spec mecha suits just waiting for us, might be worth some poo poo-hot cred. Maybe Amardeep is willing to cut another deal, or maybe we give Kiko a call and talk price?"

Error 404 fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Dec 4, 2016

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007


--:--Harm|1-armor|4/10 XP|2 Cred

"Good work, everyone. Those suits have gotta be worth something good. I agree that we shouldn't torture or deal with loving slavers, but, what should we do with the pilot? I'm slowing the Lance 'til we come to a decision on that. Any ideas?"

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


I ponder for a minute before answering, "Maydays and distress signals have been tradition since the ancient wet-navy ships of earth. So we're not leaving him out there. That said, I can lock him up on board Corrido if nobody has a better idea. I say we haul him in, ask him questions, and then drop him at a station or spinner-port on our way the gently caress out of here."

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


"Flores, I'm coming in for repairs. Gauss cannon's down and I have other damage." I bring the Valkyria in carefully, now that the combat is over.

"Prisoners are a complication. Better to drop them some Luks and let their friends find them. But if it's a requirement, we need to drop them off as soon as feasible, and somewhere they can't call down the dogs on us before we leave Jovian space."

Luks meaning inflatable emergency vacuum shelters.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Dec 7, 2016

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

"Smart thing to do would be to kill them and leave without looking back, but if we're not doing that then I agree with Profit, put them on a life raft and let JSS worry about search and rescue. Dropping the pilot off at a station is too risky."

I start hauling the first Mecha I took out back to the Obsidian Lance and light up a smoke.

"Anyone got vitals on the pilot? Are they hurt? I'm not sure how we're doing on medical supplies."

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


"Yeah ok, look. I get it, its a pain in the rear end. But its also karma. So like I said, I'll lock him up here on Corrido, and yeah maybe throw him out with a LUK once we get closer to where he'll get picked up.
This rear end in a top hat will die out here if we leave him though, and I'm not gonna have that on my conscience, lo siento, but I'm not."

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007


--:--Harm|1-armor|4/10 XP|2 Cred

"If you're storing him I don't care what we do with him. Pick them up and I'll get ready to continue to Amardeep - we've got a first aid kit... somewhere that should stop anything that's not immediately life threatening.

What's everyone's thoughts on selling these suits to Kiko?"

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

"If you mean right here and now I think that'd be wasting a lot of time that we're already out of. They're too hot to sell here in JSS space, at least for a good price. Let's get to Amardeep and get through that spinner before we think of selling them. If we meet up with Kiko somewhere solward I wouldn't mind striking another deal."

I drop off the pilotless Mecha in the hangar and turn around to bring back the remaining one, and its pilot, to the Lance.

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


It doesn't take long to pull the Jovian pilot and the various bits of JSS Mech tech that aren't in infinite pieces aboard the Lance. After that's done, the Lance continues its course towards Amardeep, with the Jovian pilot trapped within El Corrido.

Do you attempt to conceal the JSS Tech? If so, how?

Ying, how is the pilot subdued in El Corrido? Is there a brig? Is he sedated? Tied up in a shipping container or cargo compartment?


Despite Sake and likely at least some members of the crew poring over the star charts and sensors until they make it to the location Amardeep provided, the rest of the journey is quiet.

Profit, you've worked with Amardeep before, what's his protocol in this situation? Would he invite you to his station or ship? Or run this through intermediaries and telecommunication/virtual environments?

At some point, Amardeep hails you via two transmissions. You're close. The first simply says "Invitiation incoming. -A" with his public hash. The second is a piece of spam similar to the one Profit sent Amardeep days prior to begin the mission. It looks like any other piece of spam but for the subject line formatting that Profit (and Sake and Jace) recognize as an invitation to a virtual environment of Amardeep's choosing, or to cast a 2d rendering of the same onto one of the Lance's view-screens as a video call.

xian fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Jan 9, 2017

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


I see to the captured pilot, he wasn't hurt aside from a few scratches, and so once we got him out of his can, I marched him across the bay at G0U-point on to Corrido. There's a storage room, more of a big locker really, that I keep cleared out for Bounty jobs, it's not comfortable, but it's secure and will keep a person alive for the long haul. Y'know, the basics: a head, a bunk, and a slot in the door I can slide rations through. Of course, me being me, it's got some...extras, I've got the place wired for surveillance-audio and video, and I can electrify all the metal surfaces in there with a thought-click (not enough juice to kill, but I can go from 'ow that sucked' to 'incapacitate' instantly) good thing every surface but the bunk is metal...

Once he's stowed away, I work on jamming every piece of the JSS mechs into Corrido's hold, stacking and balancing however I can to make it fit and get the hold's doors closed.

I keep an open channel to G0U-standing watch on my 'brig'- and my watchdog feeds as I make my way through the Lance to join the others.

per discord, Amardeep's people will still need access to the Lance to transfer the Hilsa cargo we got back as well.

Error 404 fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Jan 3, 2017

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


Then

I climb out of my fighter when land back in the bay, a half dozen diagnostics complaining of failures. "Flores, I would appreciate it if you could give me a hand putting my ship back together."

"Spectre, I'm going to have a chat with our guest, if you're interested."

I take advantage of Flores' arrangement, turning off the lights in the room and bringing up the audio/visual in my own displays. I also turn up the lights in the corridor outside of the room and stand where the pilot can see my silhouette, but not any features. I don't speak for myself - instead I use the comm in the room to ask my questions, using an obviously artificial voice mask.

It's a method I've used before. It's disorienting for the subject - it robs them of tells on my end, but the fact that there's a figure to focus on tends to draw their attention.

"In a few days we will be putting you out the airlock. Before then, I have questions. If you have answers, you will go out the airlock with a Luk."

In deference to Flores, it doesn't actually matter what the answers are; he'll have the emergency shelter regardless. But the pilot doesn't need to know that.

Let me know what to roll for interrogation, and if I should post the questions first.

--------

Now

The choice of virtual contacts isn't surprising; working through secondaries and virtual environments is Amardeep's distinct modus operandi. There are people in the freelancer world who don't believe there really is an Amardeep. Just a very clever expert system acting as a front for a collective that prefers to look like a single operator. I might even believe it myself if I hadn't run into him in a club on Ganymede. In certain social circles, a party isn't a party if Amardeep hasn't shuttled down from his yacht to get drunk and hit on pretty men. People in that world just assume he's a blacksheep inner system scion burning through his trust fund on the party circuit. I'm not sure which personality is the front for the other.

I bring the call to the attention of the others. "My preference is to meet with Amardeep via VR, if anyone wants to listen in via the video feed."

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


The way I phrase this question is unlikely to fool the pilot, but doing the small things the right way never hurts.

"The ship your squadron was closing on. How did you find it?"

Research (+Mind, +Kinesics): 2d6+1+1 9

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

"Sure, Profit. Count me in." I hop down from my mecha, having just finished checking it for any damage I might've missed. All I could find was a few scratch marks from the scuffle with the first target, the Wraith was pretty much fit to launch again at a moments notice. With some luck it should be smooth sailing from here on though.

---

Profit's interrogation technique was a fair bit more advanced than anything I'm used to, but if she's going for disorientation then having another person question him at the same time could only help. I move up next to Profit and casually lean against the doorway. "As an added bonus to the Luk, if you manage to answer to my satisfaction you might even get to keep your kneecaps on the way out." I pull a cigarette from my coat and light it with a lighter. "You might find me slightly harder to please than my companions though." With a bit of sleight of hand I swap the lighter for my pistol in but an instant and train it on the pilot. "Let's just say the vote to keep you alive wasn't unanimous, Jessie."

"What were your orders? Kill? Capture? Do you even know who or what your target was?"

Help (+Links Profit): 2d6+1 7

Sockerbagarn fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Jan 7, 2017

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Then

There is hate burning in the pilot's eyes, but he apparently doesn't have a death wish, so he answers the question, almost spitting out the word, "Himalia, heard of it? It's not my home turf, but it's in my home turf, and that means there are appearances to be kept. I know if I started a gang war on a space station I'd expect a backtrace." He snorts, "Guess we're different in that respect." He studies Profit's face, then Spectre's, but doesn't say anything beyond that.

"Orders were capture whoever was responsible for Himalia -- bring 'em back to Himalia, string 'em up with everybody looking. Remind that station whose air it breathes. Whose space it's in." 'Jessie' says, "Until we got confirmation on this can of bolts. You know better than I do the reasons JSS wants you gunned down. I'm just the gun."

Profit, take [Intel]. Both of you can ask a follow up question if you've got one.

Now

Connecting to Amardeep's VR environment drops Profit into the study of an English country manor. She has "been here" before. Amardeep's eyes, still purple. His hound, still laying at his feet. His hookah, still lit. Books and artifacts -- complete fabrications and unreality, line the shelves of three walls. The fireplace is not being used. It's not dark, as there is a large bay window on one wall from nearly the floor to the ceiling, with heavy purple blinds tied off at the edges. A manicured rose garden, and beyond that, hedges, visible through the windows. The sun shines through the windows, and Profit can pick out individual motes of dust hanging in the air, visible in the sunlight. A not-so-subtle signal that Amardeep has that good, expensive VR to do discrete rendering on something as mundane and unnecessary as dust.

"Where do we stand?" He asks.

xian fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jan 9, 2017

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●○○○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


Aside from the interrogation, I let the others know I'm happy to start repairs for all, but that any heavy repairs are gonna wait til after we hit the spinner. I plan to be in the bay when Amardeep's people make the transfer, and if I'm doing that, then G0U's gonna be in his war-body instead of his helper-body, so the repairs I need him for will have to wait til after.

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 2-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●○○○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


Then

So we've been connected with - and blamed for - what happened on Himalia. That's useful to know, if not pleasant to hear. He's not likely to tell me - or even necessarily know - the next step or the full extent of our opposition. But maybe I can figure that out for myself with another detail.

"Who is overseeing this operation?"

--------

Now

"We've recovered the Hilsa, which we have in tow, and a large portion of her cargo. It was attacked by pirates, apparently freelancers. I'm including a report on the ship's condition plus the recovered footage." I hold up a virtual data card and pass it over to Amardeep. "Should be everything you need for an insurance claim for damages."

"We dealt with the pirates, so they won't be bothering you further. I doubt other operators will be looking to prey on your ships for a while either."

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007


--:--Harm|1-armor|4/10 XP|2 Cred

Then

Since I'm not needed during the interrogation, I decide to check in with Jace and Sake.

"Jace or Sake - any ideas with what to do with the JSS tech that wouldn't put a bigger target on us? I'm open to any ideas."


Now

With that done, I go back to my favorite mindless pastime - looking at the SOL bounty board while hoping to get a chance to gently caress over the Rank 1 Hunter or a glimpse of my old mentor Kal - though the longer it goes without seeing him, the more I think he's gone for good.

It's been a few months since I talked with my family, so I pulse out a message checking in on them and telling them I'm doing alright.

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Ying does what she can with limited supplies and a triage mentality, which mostly means working on the Valkyrie. The ship is going to need a lot of work. The casing of the Gauss cannon is melted and numerous electrical systems are fried. By Ying's estimation it'll be more efficient to replace the Cannon than try and fix it.

~~

"Find a proper fence sunward," Jace says, "The more distance you put, harder it is for them to track that gear back to you if they encounter it on the open market. Trade it to someone who wants it specifically to go at the JSS, not someone who can outbid you."

"Or, don't do that." Sake says, gleam in her eye, "I bet Flores and I could turn that tech into something that's both unrecognizable, and fun."

After shooting off that message, he gets one back from his family in short order. Their Megacorp is doing well, and there's the requisite guilt, deftly applied, for him to come back and take up a position within the family business.

On the bounty board, Mahren sees that the gap between the Rank One Hunter and the pack of Rank Twos has closed, and Rank One could be in for a dogfight to keep their position at the top. That's interesting in itself, but the most interesting thing he sees is a Hunter he's unfamiliar with -- only been registered a handful of months -- rocketing up the boards. Unknown six months ago, and Rank Three now. And that's not all...

Mahren, what's something that you would recognize as an identifier of Kal's work? Because the Rank Three hunter with the fast rise is doing something very similar.

~~

Then

"Berragio Apell." The captured pilot says. Profit recognizes the name, though she's never crossed paths with the Deputy Commander of the Ganymede Division of JSS Security. Apell is young for her post, and owes it to her ability to take care of problems quickly, quietly, and decisively, which fits with the thought behind the ambush they walked into, if not the execution. It makes sense, as Himalia station falls under her jurisdiction.

Now

Amardeep takes the data card and absorbs it into his person. It takes a blink of latency for the data to process, before he says, "Three quarters of the cargo, what's left of the Hilsa... and what of my crew?" His face darkens, "They are all lost?"

Does the data card include anything about Kiko Mattix and that part of the mission? Also, time for someone to Roll to Get Paid. You're rolling at +3.

Error 404
Jul 17, 2009


MAGE CURES PLOT

--:-- Harm | 1-armor | XP ●●●●●●●○○○»
[Cred] 2 [Gear] - [Intel] -
El C: [ALERT] [1800] [2000] [2200] [2300] [0000]


I mute my subvocal mic as I fling a bearing rotator that had fused to a half rack of gauss capacitors against the nearest surface in the bay and scream a tri-lingual stream of obscenity at it as it drifts further.

I add a note for 'New G-cannon' to my growing list of parts. This mission was Gǒupì and it's looking like it'll be expensive, and expensive cuts into profit margins. I take a couple deep breaths, and then thought-click my mic again.
"Sake, that would be fun but the problem with cutting edge milspec is it's always custom. You can't just weld it to something else. It's always build adaptors for the tools that build the adaptors that build the tools you need to actually work on the fuckin thing. Besides, the money we can get on Black Edge tech like that, will give us enough Cred to get the really good older poo poo that'll be even more fun! Because it'll also work the first time with a minimum of rear end-pain."

Error 404 fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Jan 18, 2017

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

loving Jerro Stone. He's a dead man. Hopefully JSS will spare me the trouble of seeing to that myself.

"Alright Jessie, last question." I take a drag on my boron stick as I consider what to ask. We've been connected to whatever went down in Himalia, but how much does JSS know about what we were actually doing out here?

"Command manages to trace whoever they think are guilty for Himalia and sends you out to intercept. You get here, get a confirmation on the Obsidian Lance and realize we're KOS, then a moment later we wipe the floor with you. Tell me what happened in between. Did you communicate with command after you spotted us? If you did, what exactly did you tell them?"

"You're on the home stretch Jessie. Don't gently caress up by leaving out anything important."

---

Sake's plan gives me some ideas as I'm listening in on the others talk about what to do with our salvage. "Not that I'm thinking of getting hit, but before we sell off the JSS tech maybe one of you gear heads could check if there are any parts that are compatible with the Wraith. For spare parts... Or upgrades."

"Just don't rip out my power core without asking again, Ying."

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 11-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●●●○○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


Then

Berragio Apell. It fits with the broader picture - probably working through local subordinates. Now she'll be focusing in on us. Apell is quick enough that she might catch up before we get out, but her preference for speed and quiet means it probably won't be anything we can't handle. I send a note to the others with the information and assessment.

I frown at Spectre after his next question. I make sure my next comment only reaches him. "He probably knows our names and the rest, but no need to confirm it. Unless you want to explain to Flores why you shot him, he's going to get back with his employers, and they'll scour everything they get from his debriefing for clues."

--------

Now

"Two fatalities sustained during the initial capture. We retrieved Steiger and Karensky. I can confirm that they were not involved in the piracy. They're planning to head sunward with us. No hard feelings, just time for them to move on."

Get Paid: 2d6+3 10
Ђ it’s not a set-up or an ambush
Ђ you are paid in full
Ђ you learned something from the mission; everyone marks experience

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 3 Cred

I return Profit's frown with a shrug. "If you think he has to die I can make it happen without Flores catching wind of it, but the only information I fed him was the name of the ship. The same ship he said they positively identified as a priority target. Unless JSS has marked all banged up vintage haulers in Sol for destruction I'd say it's likely that they already know the name of the Lance, and much more."

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 11-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●●●●○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


"You're right that it likely doesn't matter this time. But there's no reason to tell a prisoner the truth unless you have to. Disorientation, confusion, and misinformation are useful allies. Let them expend the effort to convince themselves they made a correct ship identification. Even if it's not much effort, it's effort they're not spending on something else."

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Jan 18, 2017

Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 4/10 XP | 9 Cred

"Alright, fine, I concede the point in general. This lies within your area of expertise and I'll bow to your wisdom and I'll be more careful in the future. I still maintain we don't have anything to worry about in this particular case, though."

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 11-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●●●●○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


"That's fair." I pause, then raise an eyebrow. "Can't call it paranoia though. They are actually out to get us."

xian
Jan 21, 2001

Lipstick Apathy


Then:

"We were cloaked. Protocol is radio silence.

Now:

"Ah, very well." Amardeep says, "Nothing lasts forever. When we finish, ask your guests to drop in. I would have a word with them in private." A pause, as he realizes what he might appear to be suggesting, "Nothing untoward, some goodbyes need to be said in person."

Amardeep sits down in his chair, takes some paper, and scribbles a short note, then walks over and hands it to Profit. It's illegible, a roughly drawn map, but that doesn't matter. The navigational data embedded in the note is what she needs, anyway. "At this first waypoint on the route you will find employees of mine waiting to offload my cargo and take command of the Hilsa. At the second, the Spinner. I've written you priority, so you'll be hurtling towards the sun moments after you arrive."

He walks past profit and opens a cigar box, it's full of old antique coins. He hands it to her. "Your payment."

"One more thing: Did you find out how the Hilsa was located in the first place?"

xian fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Jan 21, 2017

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Harm Profit [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000] | Valkyria [ALERT] [ALERT] [2100] [2200] [2300] [0000]
1-armor | 11-cred | Ed+2 St+1 Me+0 Mi+1 Co+0 Sy-1 | XP ●●●●●●●○○○»
2-hold (Assess)


I accept the payment and nav data politely. "Your man on Himalia, Jacque Faust, sold you out. That problem may have resolved itself, it seems."

"A pleasure as always, Amardeep." I cut the connection and double check that everything is on the up and up before I send everyone their cut, and Mahren the course. I also extend Amardeep's invitation to Steiger and Karensky. "I think our business here is concluded."

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Sockerbagarn
Sep 8, 2007

All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

--:-- Harm | 0-armor | 7/10 XP | 9 Cred

Then:

"No, not paranoia..." I agree and look Profit straight in the eyes. "I'd call it survival instincts." I move closer and lower my voice further, my face all business. "He never got a chance to report back to Apell. He might be the only link JSS will ever find between us and Himalia, and he knows first hand what we're capable of. Do you still think we should let him go?"

Fast Talk (+Style): 2d6 6

Sockerbagarn fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Feb 9, 2017

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