18+ Among The Stars

[Simus]

"Yes sir, I understand." Jessica said in response to Griffith ordering her to hunt for parts and not for trouble. She had to remind herself that she was an engineer today, not a soldier. Her job was to fix the engines, not blast alien horrors. Even so, that's what she was trained to do and that mindset was hard to break.

Oh well. At the very least I'm more than capable of protecting Griffith and Garret while we work. With Jon and Alain watching our backs it'll be easy.

"If I may make a suggestion sir, we should gather as much scrap metal as we can along with any useful electronics or intact parts. With a large heat resistant bin and a plasma-based power source, say a garbage bin and a starship reactor, we could set up a makeshift smelter. We could then melt down any scrap we find and reforge it into necessary parts. My body can synthesize enough nanomachines to work and cool metal and I'll be able to coordinate their efforts."

As she was talking she thought out a text to Jon. She wanted to talk about what happened with Mila with someone besides Griffith and the captain and Jon seemed like a pretty nice guy. Plus he was clearly an experienced crew member and a friend of the captain so he knew everyone.

Could I talk to you about something personal after we get on board?

Jessica then sent the text to Jon's helmet HUD.

 

[Baneloth]

" Marek, Varastian, you'll perform a limited probe of the corridors near the hangar bay. And don't give me that : Bounty hunters' work alone' bullpl*ps." Derek snapped his mouth shut. He'd been about to give her some of that 'bounty hunters work alone' line, but now...looking out at the light less, drifting star destroyer, he wasn't sure he wanted to be exploring the destroyer on his own. Who knew what had happened, but something told him it wasn't a simple power failure. He turned to the other bounty hunter, and approached. "So. You ever done this partners' thing before?"

 

[Madrar]

Arcanus checked to make sure the safety on his rifle was off. Contrary to what the others thought, he was not remotely concerned with what they might find on the destroyer. He was a little worried that his orders had been changed so abruptly, but besides that, his orders were clear: Find surviving crew members, and eliminate them. It would be difficult while in a group, however. Especially since they were less that trusting of a Dominion operative in their midst. He approached the Khajiit woman, and said "I'll take point. I know the layout of a Gladiator-class destroyer better than everyone else here"

 

[Andre Marek]

Aden watched in his 360 degree view feed on his HUD as the other bounty hunter walked up to him and didn't bother turning to face the man as he spoke, "So. You ever done this partners' thing before?" He said. Aden didn't respond right away. Instead he took a second to asses this man named Darek. At first glance he looked capable enough but Marek knew better than to judge a person based solely on their armor and weapons. Anyone with money was capable of looking the part of just about anything they wished. Walking the walk was another matter entirely. Although, judging by the scrapes, and dents here and there, not to mention the ship docked further down the hanger, Aden suspected that Darek had indeed been in the business for a while and had managed to keep a fairly low profile, not an easy task in the bounty hunters trade. He couldn't recall hearing the name Darek before but then again, reputation didn't matter to him with a contract like this one, however, he did wonder for a moment how the man would react if he witnessed Marek carry out his assignment. Would he react violently or would he be indifferent? Or would he offer help? I'll just have to deal with that when it arrises. Until then he decided that he may as well make it clear where he stood.

Still without looking at Darek, he said, "No, I haven't done this 'partners' thing before. Nor will I. Thats not to say I haven't worked with others. But don't believe for a second that we're in this together either." He turned to look at Darek directly, "I'm here for a reason. I go along with this because it makes no difference to the outcome of my task. But if you prevent me from completing that task, then well... your definition of the word partners won't really enter the equation. Does that answer you question?" Aden didn't actually bear the other hunter any ill will, but he'd often found it wise to have his intentions clear to those around him. It helped to prevent confusion in a crisis. There was nothing worse than when two parties had interpreted the same orders in entirely different ways. Wheather or not Darek would turn out to be an ally in the future remained to be seen, but considering what he suspected had become of the crew aboard the destroyer, Aden welcomed the idea of having an additional body on his side as it were.

 

[TheShadedOne]

"Red Sabre armor radio check. Knits-Bone transmitting. Can you hear me Garza? This is one hell of an armor set. Not the heaviest I've seen but damn versatile." Garza turned towards the medic, and nodded. "Loud and clear, Knits-Bone. Yeah, our armours' made for everything from firefights to limited extra vehicular activities. So if something happens, and we end up outside, you've got about three hours of air. Our helmet comm system transmits up to three hundred metres, unless they have a comlink jammer. Our helmet visuals can sync up with rifle scopes, and zoom in independently. We've also got an infrared and night vision mode. Pretty good kit, all together"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ria watched the group make preparations. They'd formed into their groups and pairs neatly, and seemed to be going over their separate objectives. 'What if I'm making a mistake right now? Should I tell them about the audio log?' She decided not to. At best, it would give them itchy trigger fingers, and at worst, they'd be too preoccupied wondering what had happened on the destroyer, and not focusing on their jobs. Approaching the cockpit, she asked "pilot: how much longer?"

"Five minutes, boss. We've got enough fuel for six hours of flight time" the man replied instantly. Ria nodded. then she said Okay. Once we're on the ground, take off again, and do a few fly-bys of the destroyer. Don't land in the hangar bay until you hear from me again" the pilot acknowledged, and Ria saw Garza turn towards her, head tilted to the side. Her orders had obviously confused the Argonian. She'd explain everything to him if it became necessary. "I'll take point. I know the layout of a Gladiator-class destroyer better than everyone else here" announced the assassin. "Fine. You first, then Garza, Knits-Bone, and myself. Garret, how much time to find what you need?"

The engineer glanced at Jessica and Griffith, before answering "If we make good time to the engine room? My rough estimate is about four hours, to get there, do what we need to do, and get back to the hangar bay." Ria nodded. "Hear that, people? Four hours to look around. Check in every half hour with me or Garza. Keep an eye out for crewmen. Our mission is to get them off of there, and back home. Anyone not in the hangar bay four hours from now, gets to stay on the destroyer. Clear?"

 

[Baneloth]

Derek wasn't phased by the other hunters attitude. He'd dealt with worse types before, and he'd killed most of them, in the end. If the other hunter wanted to take the cold and distant attitude, that was fine with him. "Understood. But if you try something stupid, don't think I'll go along with it." He said mildly. The Redgaurd bounty hunter wasn't one to start fights needlessly, but he'd finish a fight if he thought it was getting out of hand. And he wasn't above shooting someone in the back if they thought they could get away with something immoral. On the other hand, an abandoned star destroyer brought up all kinds of red flags. Like 'how the hell does a destroyer lose its' entire crew?'

 

[Drahkma]

Jon glanced up as a line of text appeared on his visor. Could I talk to you about something personal after we get on board? He frowned, but inclined his head towards the girl. If she wanted to talk, that was fine by him. It would take his mind off wondering why they hadn't heard from the destroyer yet. Then he heard Ria giving her orders, and he turned to stare at her. It...didn't seem like her to give the orders she'd just given. Deciding it was best not to question the captain in front of the others, he simply turned to the exit hatch, and prepared to land on the destroyer.

 

[TheShadedOne]

The assault ship settled down on the hangar bay of the destroyer, and Ria took a deep, calming breath. The doors opened, revealing a dark hangar bay. Starfighters rested on their landing gear, and crates, probably holding ammunition or maintenance equipment, probably. The one thing the hangar was missing was people. Pilots, mechanics, officers, none of them were in sight...which made the captain less than confident. She glanced at the group. "You know your jobs. Get to it. Remember, four hours. If you're not back by then, you can stay here" the group split up, aiming to complete their objectives on time. Ria gestured to the Altmer assassin "what are you waiting for? Lead the way"

 

[Drahkma]

"Well, here goes nothing" Jon muttered, and hopped down to the hangar floor. The silence was a little unnerving, and the ships that he could only just see, looked more like silent predators ready to attack, than they did lifeless machines. A possibility was that the destroyer had been hit with a ship wide EMP burst. That would explain the destroyer drifting, lack of response to comms, and the darkness of the hangar bay. But it wasn't very likely. The Altmer were known for being extremely disciplined.

He doubted they'd sit on their asses with the power off, waiting to be rescued. On a hunch, Jon switched his visor mode to infrared, and looked around the hangar once again. It was unlikely that the crew would be hiding behind crates of equipment, but he liked to cover all his bases. Some places in the bay were warmer than others, but most were a solid, cold, blue. Sighing, switched back to normal vision, and turned back to his charges. The three engineers, and the thief. "Come on. The sooner we've got what we need, and back to the Talon, the happier I'll be" turning to one of the dark corridors that lead into the rest of the destroyer, he gripped his rifle a little bit tighter, and lead the way.

 

[Simus]

Jessica was quiet during the flight over to the destroyer. She wanted to talk to Jon about the fight between her and Mila but she'd been too nervous. The Glory of the Altmer looked like a hunted ghost ship and it was their job to empty its guts. That meant landing in a docking bay which may or may not be open and with no one at the bridge to guide them in. Then they'd have to navigate the docking bay, which was probably dark like the outside of the ship, find a map, traverse dark winding hallways with gods know what inside and hope that everything they need is actually there. This was the kind of thing she had nightmares about after too many science horror vids before bed. Zombies, radioactive mutants, hive mind aliens, they had all scared her into bed with her mama one night or another and they could find any one of those or worse. No sane person would spend four minutes on a ship like this, let alone four hours.

Jon and Ria were the first to move out and Jessica followed behind shaking like a leaf. She activated the flashlight mod under her bolter but the narrow cone of light just made things look more eerie. Rusty crates, abandoned cranes, silent loading droids, fighters still hooked up to fuel lines and ammo dollies. Yep, this is how the vids always started.

"Jon?" Jessica said softly, her voice thick with fear. "I know this isn't the time but I've been wanting to talk to you about this since we were aweigh and if I don't start talking I'm gonna wet my suit with how nervous I am. I really hope you decide to listen. Before we left, Mila and I had a fight. In a nutshell we both like Griffith and he's gotten caught between us. I think I'm a better match for him and Mila sharply disagreed. I said some things I now regret to her, culminating in me calling her a flea bitten animal. I could tell I really hurt her and I feel like a terrible, terrible person now. You know Mila better than I do, if I apologized would she accept it? She and I engaged in nothing less than high school drama and I feel like she'll poison me if she gets the chance."

 

[Drahkma]

"Jon?" The girls voice came over Jons' helmet speakers. "I know this isn't the time but I've been wanting to talk to you about this since we were aweigh and if I don't start talking I'm gonna wet my suit with how nervous I am. I really hope you decide to listen. Before we left, Mila and I had a fight. In a nutshell we both like Griffith and he's gotten caught between us. I think I'm a better match for him and Mila sharply disagreed. I said some things I now regret to her, culminating in me calling her a flea bitten animal. I could tell I really hurt her and I feel like a terrible, terrible person now. You know Mila better than I do, if I apologized would she accept it? She and I engaged in nothing less than high school drama and I feel like she'll poison me if she gets the chance."

Glancing around, holding his rifle in a semi-ready position, the mercenary sighed. "Kid...I don't know what to tell you. I'm no specialist on relationships, and I'm certainly not that great with advice." Jon then made his best attempt to put the girl at ease. "I doubt Mila will poison you. She might hate you on a professional level, but she's a professional, like me. Unless we're paid, we don't go around killing people. I don't know her well enough to tell you if she'll accept. You'd have to ask the captain about that and...if I were you, and valued my skin, I wouldn't." He looked over his shoulder again, at the others, and snapped "Let's move it, people. We don't have all day!"

 

[Simus]

Jessica appreciated Jon trying to help but she was still lost on how to fix things. She actively scanned the area but continued to talk.

"Yeah, I doubt the captain would respond well to that. What should I do though? I've had fights with girl friends at the Academy but never with a professional. I guess I should apologize but I don't feel like that's enough. What if she doesn't forgive me?"

She thought for a minute. "Maybe it would be better if I did nothing. Let things settle for awhile."

 

[Drahkma]

Jon sighed as the girl kept going about the issue. "Look, kid, I'm no expert on friendships, or relationships. Just do what you want, and live with the consequences" he realized he probably shouldn't have been so harsh with her, but in his defence, he was on point duty, exploring a derelict star destroyer. The light panels flickered in some places, or were off completely. However, that wasn't half as unnerving as when the group walked through sections of corridor that had consoles and lights on, bathing that section in light. It was as if the crew had suddenly disappeared, to where, Jon didn't know. There was no signs of a firefight, and he hadn't seen any boarding craft in the hangar bay. He wasn't sure if the crew had escaped via escape pods, but the pods had comms.

When Mila had called out to them, they should have answered. Either way, they wouldn't know for sure until somebody reached the pod bays, and checked how many were still in their housings. That wasn't his job though, and the pod bays, were nowhere near the engines. It would have to be a pretty poorly designed ship to have escape pods right by the engines, at least in Jons' mind.

 

[Madrar]

"what are you waiting for? Lead the way" the captain said, sounding impatient. Arcanus glanced her way, and inclined his head slightly. "As you wish" the assassin said, hopping down from the gunship, and removing his rifle from his back. He began leading the two Argonians and the Khajiit to the crew quarters. After all, the mercenaries mission was to search for survivors. That was also Arcanus' mission, although for two very different reasons. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to stop the captain and her Argonian friend from shooting him in the back after he dealt with the survivors. Running deeper into the destroyer wasn't an option. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened on board the destroyer, but both his superior and the captain were nervous. Which meant his only option was to surrender before they could shoot him. Not exactly his first choice, but it was better than be stranded on a star destroyer.

 

[Andre Marek]

Aden placed a hand on the grip of his pistol as the assault ships ramp lowered. The vast hangar of the destroyer echoed as the ramp struck its deck. Following the others out into the hangar, Aden looked behind himself to see that Darek was following closely. Captain Ria and her men followed the assassin towards an opening in the far wall while one of the other mercs led the engineer team towards a different hallway. Aden switched to thermal and scanned the hangar in search of anything out of the ordinary, besides the complete lack of personnel that was. Seeing nothing, he repeated the process with the electro magnetic filter and then a penetrating scan. Neither turned up any results. The place was empty. The far walls were obscured by shadows but he could make out the faint shapes of a few shuttles and fighters spread around the cavernous space. None of them showed any sign that they'd been prepped for takeoff. Aden glanced at Darek, "Come on then. Let's start with the cargo hold. It's as good a place as any to start."

Stepping out of the gunship, Aden began walking across the empty hangar. He activated his helmets recorder as he went. He wanted to be able to review everything that went on when he got back aboard the Talon. If his hunch was correct about what went on on this destroyer, then he wanted as much information as possible on the matter. If only so that he had some leverage on his paymaster if and when he got out of this mess. Speaking of getting payed... he thought. He would have to be discrete about carrying out his contract. He didn't think that Darek was the kind of guy that would take kindly to the execution of "innocents". Perhaps he might change his mind with a little incentive. Might be worth a try. He decided that would be a last resort though. Glancing at Darek again, Aden pulled one of the darts for his gauntlet launcher out of a pouch on his leg and discretely loaded the silent weapon. The kinetic dart launcher packed enough power to send the .3 gram projectile a distance of over 350 meters and still have enough force to punch through most ballistic fibers or, if the target was un-armored like most of the destroyers crew was likely to be, it could easily bury the dart deep inside the target. Perfect if you didn't want an easily noticeable hole in the target.

 

[Baneloth]

Derek followed closely behind his fellow bounty hunter as they descended to the hangar bay deck. Which was eerily silent, the lighting panels were out. 'Is it this dark all over the ship? If so, infrared might serve us better' the job was to look for survivors, which would be warm. "Come on then. Let's start with the cargo hold. It's as good a place as any to start." Derek nodded, moving up to walk beside the man. He didn't trust him, but it was better than having his only companion face a hail of blaster bolts, or maybe a trap on his own. 'Just because I don't trust him, doesn't mean I'm just going to stand by and let his head get blown off' Derek paused when something reached his ears.

Not a voice calling for help, or footsteps, but a strange, scratching noise, like someone was trying to dig his or her way through the durasteel bulkheads to get to the two hunters. Derek didn't believe in the monsters and aliens that they showed on the horror vids. He'd seen ordinary people do some pretty horrible stuff. He didn't need horror vid film makers to tell him there were monsters out there. But...it never hurt to be safe. The scratching had become more insistent as the two men drew closer, and Derek was fairly sure he wasn't insane. "Hey, you hear that?"

***​

​

"Hey there! Can I help you with something?" The Khajiit doctor smiled at him, and Kyle started to feel a little less nervous. Maybe being snatched off of Theren was a better deal than being left on the planet for the guards or other gangs to catch up with him. "Nah, I'm good thanks" he said, deciding to play it cool. He looked around the place, the white walls and ceiling, and the injured mercenaries. "So..this is the medbay, huh?" He stuck his hands in his pockets, guessing that Derek wouldn't be very happy if things managed to get 'lost' in his pants. "Pretty nice place. I mean, for on a ship." Realizing he was sounding like an idiot, he rubbed a hand through his hair. "I mean,uh, I've never been on a ship before now" he explained. ​

 

[TheShadedOne]

The hangar bay grew even darker as the assault ship lifted on its' repulsors turned, and left the bay. Ria, Garza, Knits Bone and the assassin made their way into a corridor leading deeper into the ship. For the most part, the hallway was dark, but there were a few light panels that offered some illumination, but not enough to see the rest of the corridor. In fact, it made the Khajiit mercenary nervous. The lighted areas of the hallway gave them no hints as to what had happened. No blood or scorch marks, just plain, steel bulkheads. Almost as if the entire crew had simply gotten up and left. "Hey Garza" she said quietly. " How many crew on a Gladiator?" The Argonian replied promptly. "A few thousand. And I know what you're thinking: How do a few thousand crew disappear?"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mila smiled at the boys awkward attempt at a conversation. "First time on a ship, huh?" she stripped off her gloves, and approached him. "How about I give you a tour, then?" she gently guided the boy out of the bay, motioning for Doc to take over. She led him throughout the ship, avoiding the med bay, and learned that his name was Kyle. "So, Kyle, how is it staying with this bounty hunter guy you came aboard with? You didn't seem to happy with him earlier" she said.

 

[Drahkma]

Jon, the thief, and the three engineers continued on there way, through the deserted corridors, and Jon tried to keep an eye on both them, and the corridor ahead. The engineers looked pale, worried, but ready to work. The thief was at the rear of the column, which Jon wasn't very happy about. He didn't like people that stole for a living. He preferred his fellow mercs, or in the worst case, one of the bounty hunters. At least they could be trusted not to run for it if things got dangerous.

'Dangerous? Don't be stupid. This is a rescue and salvage op, not combat' he thought, switching his attention back to the corridor. And almost shot a droid that popped out of a side room in front of him. The droid crashed into him, stumbled back, and only then seemed to notice that there were actual people in its way. " Turn back. There's nothing here for you." The droid stated. Then it seemed to perk up a little "I am CP-336. Personal aide to captain-" the droid stopped speaking once more, shuddered, and Jon noticed that the back of the things head had been dented as if someone had slammed it with a club. Wires in the droids neck were also exposed and there was something that looked unsettling like dried blood on the droids legs.

"Whoa. Settle down, clanker. Where's the captain?" He asked. "What do you mean there's nothing here for us?" The droid ignored them, turned to the wall, and proceeded to slam its' head into the durasteel, further damaging its' metal skull, all while repeating "I tried to reason with them. I tried to reason with them. I tried-" Jons' shot interrupted the droid, and it finally collapsed. He turned back to the group, "I didn't want it giving our position away" he lied. In truth, the eerily calm way the droid had spoke to him had him unnerved. There was one question that stayed with him as they moved on: Who had the droid tried to reason with, and were they the ones that had attacked it?

 

[Andre Marek]

"Hey, you hear that?" Dareks words intruded on the silence of the cargo bay. Aden blinked and tilted his head towards the other hunter and came to a stop beside the man. As the echo of their footsteps faded into oblivion, Aden thought he heard something coming from the direction of the bulkhead, behind a stack of crates. "Yeah. Sounds like something scrapping on steel." Adjusting his helmets audio receivers, he strained his ears. The sound stopped suddenly. Curious, Aden nodded to Darek and drew his pistol, holding it by his shoulder with the barrel pointed at the ceiling. Slowly, he began walking towards the stack of crates that the noise had come from, taking care not to make any noise.

Behind him, Darek said urgently, "Whats with the gun? We're looking fo..." Darek cut himself off and Aden stopped dead as the scratching noise sounded again, louder this time and coming from both the stack of crates and now the ceiling too. Both of them looked up and Aden immediately had his pistol aimed. The scratching continued for several seconds before stopping again. Reaching out towards the stack of crates, he used the barrel of his pistol to tap the steel boxes, producing a metallic thudding. Immediately, the scratching started again. Aden nodded and turning to Darek. Holstering his pistol, he tapped the side of his helmet, indicating that he was going to switch to internal comms. Darek nodded and once the other bounty hunter had locked his signal, Aden said, "I'm not sure what that is but I'd rather not wait around and find out. That could potentially be the thing, or things that attacked this ship. Report it to the Captain and lets just keep moving. Quieter this time I think." Aden unholstered his pistol and activated the twin flashlights built into his helmet, one on either side of the visor. The duel beams of light illuminated crates and boxes, stacked on either side of the corridor, along with the odd door.

(OOC: Sorry for the little scripting Bane. I can change it if you want.)

 

[Simus]

After Jon's unkind, curt advice Jessica dropped the matter of her and Mila. She would figure out the optimal solution in time and there were bigger things to worry about now. The hallways were lit by intermittent, flickering consoles that created an eerie pattern of dark and light. Occasionally there was a stretch of lit, functioning corridor and that was even more unsettling. Everything was right where it should be, as if it were just another day on board. Jessica searched these areas but didn't find anything useful. She did take the initiative to back up the files of any computer she came across however. There was no time to download them but they would be saved in case of power outage. She assumed they were running on emergency batteries and wanted to have all the possible information for later.

After a few minutes Jessica's group came across a malfunctioning droid. The poor machine had frayed wiring all over the place and a large dent in its head. It told them in its monotone voice to leave and explained that there was nothing for them here. Jon tried to get some sense out of it but then it started banging its head against the wall, reaping over and over that it tried to reason with "them". Jon put the poor machine out of its misery with a rifle shot and it was only then that Jessica noticed the blood on its legs. This added to her already palpable fear but she was able to stay cool. The Academy had taught her to control her fear. To push it into the back of her mind and stay focused on her job. Fear wasn't all bad. It kept you alert and that stopped you from getting lazy or complacent.

"Focus Jess." She whispered to herself. Her voice echoed quietly in the deserted corridor. "Just focus on your job and tune everything else out. You'll be done before you know it." She turned to Jon and the others and adjusted her breathing mask, ready to speak up now that they had found something she could help with. "Jon, I'd like to dive into this droid's memory core. I can copy the information to my datavault and watch its final hours. Maybe it'll help us learn what happened here. It'll only take about thirty seconds."

(OOC: Sorry about going so long without posting. I haven't gotten alerts for here in a couple of weeks and my new job's been a drain on time and energy.)