A Fast Exit

[valadaar]

"Okay, scramble birds Alpha and Bravo to strike known drone locations. Hopefully this will flush out the 6th.  Hold Charlie drone in reserve for the 6th and to reinforce Alpha and Bravo as needed.

"Autumn - good call on the communication with the Lilarcor - do we have any tight-beam communications on this ship?  I don't think the Lilarcor is likely to have functioning external weapons - captured as it is, but we'll need to establish communications with it before we enter.
Or, we go in expecting resistance.  As for Minerva, more the merrier on a boarding party.."

Meanwhile, Jerome collected the balance of his equipment from his locker.

"We go once the drones are toast.  I'm not fighting drones outside of ships' hull.  Air support after contact means body bags filled."

[EchoMirage]

The safety protocols overriden, their 'virtual intelligences' enslaved to the Prize's will (or at least, to Yulo at the controls), birds Alpha and Bravo scrambled, hurled into space by electromagnetic catapults.
Their sleek predatory shapes scattered light from their ornate hulls, the image so impossibly sharp in the airless void. In an elegant arc, they spun around, towards the debris between the dreadnought and the derelict cruiser.

"The Desdemona is calling them - let's see how she likes their reply!" Yulo gloated, as he punched the 'fire' button. The fighters executed pre-programmed firing patterns, launching their torpedoes and blasting away at the known drone locations with their lasers.

An iridescent explosion tore apart the remains of the Sour Cherry along with the hostile hiding within, scattering scrap metal across a swath of space and filling their monitors with a pulse of static.
"Farg, I'd never have thought I'd nuke the Sour Cherry out of existence. Bye, lass, ya'll be missed."

The fighters continued firing until the Desdemona decided to wipe them out of existence.

"Kids, I got confirmed hits on hostiles one to four, and a likely hit on hostile five. Off you go, I'll keep the last one in reserve. Call me if you need it."
Charlie bird was content to sit idly, and not be turned into fried space-chicken for another while.

Suited up, the crew of the Hollen's Prize gazed out of the docking bay, into the blackness beyond.



(OOC: some riduclously good rolls on the fighters' side, and the Desdemona failed to take them out soon enough, as they were 'friendlies' - until it realized what they were shooting at. Stupid.)

[Autumn]

With a thumbs up Autumn cycled the airlock, the panting of her breath loud and echoing in the the armored helmets interior. "Any luck getting our recsuees on the com? That firefight no doubt got their attention, and likely has them on edge and ready to engage anything that breaches their airlocks."

[EchoMirage]

"Nay, kiddo. The Lilarcor is silent. Who knows what the drones and that d**ned dead cruiser did to it" Yulo replied.
Then, he chuckled.
"Sounds like you'll do some breaking and entering. You're free to call me a horrible captain for turning you all into criminals!"

A few beeps were heard from his panels. "But don't worry, she's got pressure, she's got life support, and once you get the main power on, she'll have a lot more."
He hesitated briefly.
"Good luck, kids."

The captain sat back in his chair, and pondered over all the unasked and unanswered questions. Why was... why did not... how come... It did not make sense.

[valadaar]

Jerome was an odd sight - in addition to the hard-suit, several small robots were latched on to the armour - looking somewhat like 4-legged spiders.

"Well, here we go folks.  Keep debris between you and that ship and keep cool as you can!"

With that, he activated the suit's thrusters and shot into the blackness.

[Autumn]

"If this is your first EVA Minverva, just stick close and try not to over use your directional thrusters, short brief  burst works better then lengthy streams, especially at the speeds we'll be moving."

With a nod, Autumn followed Jerome into the black, the stars tiny cold pricks of light filling the voids between wreckage, the silence absolute save for her controlled breathing.

[EchoMirage]

Quan, Jerome, the doctor, Autumn, Minerva, they floated through the black, through the field of dead ships, a dead planet as backdrop. Whatever worth fighting over had been there, it was sure to be long gone now.

The sole thing of worth was the Lilarcor, still deathly silent as they approached.
Their comms were crackling with static and broken transmissions of screams and barked orders, still echoing between the defunct satellites, fuelled by the uncaring sun.
"I guess they aren't watching, otherwise they'd have contacted us by now" Yulo's voice came as welcome relief.
"I'm wiring the codes to her doors to your displays, kids."

Without warning, the last drone detached from a hulk, and its ice-blue fusion torches carried it closer to the away team, a death angel on fiery wings.

[valadaar]

"Scatter!" screamed Jerome as he engaged his thrusters.  At the same time he flicked his rocket rifle to full auto and fired a spread of 20mm rockets towards the drone.  The projectials might even draw some fire...
"Send in Charlie!!"

[Autumn]

Autumn opened her thrusters to full, shooting for a fourty five degree angle down and to the right of the incoming drone. She bared her fangs in silent fury, knowing her hand held weapons would do little to such a specter of destruction, yet instinct still urging her to take offensive action none the less.

A give a quick glance back at the medic and stowaway, hoping their reaction shad been as equally quick and erratic as her own and Jerome's.

Charlie should make short work of it, or at least keep it occupied long enough for us to get out of it's detection range.

[EchoMirage]

"The farg you doing, kids? Get into the Lila, I'm gonna chew the bugger up with Charlie, here!"

Charlie launched, streaking towards the embattled crew.
"The farg you doing, Charlie?" the confused voice of Yulo hollered through the comm. Desperately, the rotund captain mashed the buttons on his console - the fighter remained responsive to his programming but not to Yulo's orders. "Farg me if I know what the d**n bird's gonna do!"

Helia landed on the Lilarcor's hull, her magnetic boots latching on. Quickly, she hid behind a sensor tower, and waved her hand towards the others. "The airlock's not far!"

Confused, the stowaway fumbled with the suit's controls, but the second-grade gear would not respond to her erratic commands. She squealed into the comm, her pupils widening as the metal beast approached, more than ten feet across, designed battle within and on the surface of ships. Minerva spun across Jerome's line of fire, and narrowly he missed the bumbling girl, the shots still connecting with the metal beast, and detonating on a shimmering field of light surrounding it.

Its lenses adjusted, the radiant halo faded briefly, and the rings surrounding its gauss cannons lit up briefly. There was no muzzle flash, just suddenly, holes were torn into the stowaway, a thin freezing mist of finest red sweeping across space. She seemed to evaporate into butterflies of carmine, their comm channel filled with her surprised whimper, a cut-off sigh. The battered helmet, visor smeared crimson, floated past Jerome; the mist swept across Quan's suit, painting it in bloody freckles.
A hand spun off into the black, waving one last time.

Autumn fired a split second later than the metal beast, her bullets clattering against its armored carriage, and sending out sparks where they burrowed inside into machinery.

Rocket's won't work, but bullets do? Autumn had to wonder.

[valadaar]

Jerome, using another protuberance as cove - really a screen, the gauss projectiles would rip up pretty much anything.
He racked in a new clip of armour-piercing rounds and aimed directly at the gauss cannons themselves.  Powerful as hell, but relatively delicate - and since they had to be open to fire - relatively unarmoured.  Jerome held back nothing as he held down the trigger.

No time for reproach.

[Autumn]

Letting out a snarl of fury at seeing her new found companion torn apart, Autumn braced herself against the exterior of the ship and fired again, focusing her shots on the sensor array of the drone, confident a blinded foe would be much easier to destroy with any further attacks.

[EchoMirage]

The gauss cannons proved exceedingly difficult to hit, Jerome's rounds clattering against the strong front plating of the robotic executioner.
This thing ain't going down anytime soon Jerome realized.

Charlie bird streaked through the black towards them, unresponsive. Would it fire? Would it veer past? What was its stupid little electronic mind up to?

Luckily, Jerome's salvo shorted out the drone's shield for a brief second as it cycled, readying itself to flicker off to fire.
Autumn's bullets struck home against the complex sensor and lens array, and clattered inside the drone's hull.
It veered around briefly, trying to gain its bearings, then stormed off, away! Towards another perceived threat? Whatever its damaged sensors perceived, it had to be located around the corner of the closest wreck, for there it went.

"Lost it from the sensors, kids. Whatever tech this bastard uses, it's a hell to track. Hurry, hurry!"

[Autumn]

With a howl of satisfaction Autumn clambered to the airlock controls, quickly hitting the access button as she yelled for the rest of the team to join her, the feeling of being in a great invisible beasts sights  overwhelming.

 "Quarantine protocol in progress. Access denied."

The display glared up at her, red letters bright in the blackness of space. Quarantine? Bio hazard? No time to worry about potential contaminants on board, the known danger outside was far more pressing.

Ripping open her electronics tool Kit Autumn set to work on the controls, choosing to slice the top panel off with her laser cutter and  deal with the tangled mess of wires and circuitry underneath rather then go for a more subtle bypass.

This is going to set off every alarm on that boat, no time for other options, blast!

"There going to know we're coming people! But I'll have this open in a a minute or less, keep that drone off me!"

[Autumn]

"Here use this!" Sunny voice crackled over the com as she landed next o her, an outstretched hand offering an ID card.

Pausing for a half second, her cutter poised beside the panel Autumn  nodded in agreement and grabbed the card, briefly noticing the name displayed was "Thrace'" quite different then the Sunny she was expecting.

The access panel flickered, briefly scrolling several lines of code as it processed the identity card, a final message appearing on the screen: "Access granted to "Dr. Helia Thrace" GalWeb certified medic." Autumn shot her a questioning glance, before realizing her expression was lost behind the hard suits helmet; the faint vibrations as the airlocks entrance silently yawned open before them.

[valadaar]

"Nice shot!" yelled Jerome as he racked in another clip. 

<ooc am on Pacific hour this week due to travel...>

[EchoMirage]

The airlock slid open, the massive armored door first sliding in, then rolling to the side.
The band of misfits hurried in, uncertain when the metallic butcher would approach again.
The hatch closed tight, locking out the darkness of space, and replacing it with a red flicker of emergency lighting, fading to dark, then bathing them in crimson glow again.

The air hissed in, soon bringing to them the hum of the ship, and sounds of the alarm, a faint beating, as if the ship itself was hoarse.
With a clang, the inner airlock door began to open, revealing corridors heading to all sides.
The comm speaker repeated itself, a synthetic female voice recanting an ominous litany.

"Medical emergency in cargo bay one."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency in engine room."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency on bridge."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency in crew quarter seventeen."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Cargo coolant systems one through thirteen and fifteen through eighteen offline."
"Send repair crew."
"Chief engineer Walthers not located."
"Scheduled engine maintenance not performed."
"Send repair crew."
"Chief engineer Walthers not located."
...
"Quarantine protocol:red."
"Do not leave your quarters."
"Quarantine protocol engaged: Gal-Central 3401.7.15."

That was two weeks ago...

(OOC: some mood music)

[Autumn]

Autumn turned to look at her companions, the elation of their narrow escape tempted by the vivid imagery of Minverva's brutal death quelling her howl of victory before it made it past her lips.

The cold computerized voice refocused her attention on the present, driving home a poignant reminder danger was still close at hand, although of a very different and potentially unconquerable nature.

"Quarantine protocol red? What's that mean Sunny? Biological contaminant or some kind of chemical radiation leak? Also, anyone have any idea what this ship was carrying for cargo?" She let her questions hang in the air as she moved to the inner airlock controls and examined them, ready to swipe Sunny's card again if necessary.

"If I can splice into the intercomm from here we could send out a ship wide message and see if any survivors are in a condition to respond and let us know their whereabouts."

(OCC: Love the ambient music, it set the mood nicely.  )

[EchoMirage]

Sunny would have rubbed her chin, but instead patted her suit's face-plate absentmindedly.
"Quarantine red means the presence of a biological hazard, with lethal qualities - but what the Lilarcor carried, I can't tell."
'Nothing of mine" she thought and smirked.

"The atmosphere is at normal pressure, with nominal oxygen levels - though that may be, in fact, detrimental. We could purge the ship if we reach the bridge - but that would mean death to any occupants still alive."
She thought a bit, then added grimly: "Numerous pathogens can endure hard vacuum, too."

The intercom seemed unlocked, and silent, as if the computer gathered breath for another round of ramblings. Green lights flickered on its display.

[Autumn]

"Could it be a sensor malfunction, or attempt by the crew to deter borders?" She pondered possibilities, unwilling to simply withdraw or purge the vessel without considering other alternatives.

[EchoMirage]

"I think it may have been of a more... tangible nature" Sunny whispered. The corridor ahead was illuminated in pale red flickering light, bringing the blood smears on one of the walls into the foreground; it appeared black as tar. A body was nowhere to be seen; just one of the walls bore the pock-marks of bullets.

The ship's interior appeared to have been vandalized wantonly in places - through a half-open door, a torn up mattress could be seen, apparently hollowed out, a part of its fillings floating about.
A torn bean can floated by, opened from the side.
The ship's corridors extended to three sides, with ascending and descending ladders visible to the left, one of the ladders bent and torn from its upper anchoring.

[EchoMirage]

Yulo's voice, faint and distant, called through the comm.
"The Lilarcor's a modified Hollander-class freighter - and by modified I mean that the captain's a smuggler slightly more notorious than me. It's five floors, the bridge should be on floor two, to your left. The ship has its cargo holds towards the aft, and they're compartmentalized, not a single hold like we have. I know, a stupid design, but it;s so much easier to hide compartments and crawl-ways in it. The engineering section is to the aft, behind the hold... and the escape pods are t'wards level five, near the ladders. Yeah, been on her a few years back, but can't say I know her secrets.

[Autumn]

She felt her breath catch as she took in the scene of destruction, such fury, such made rampage spoke of more than simple illness, but of a sickness that tore at ones sanity as well as ravaged their body. "I would suggest that this was more theatrics to deter boarding parties, but it looks too real for stage dressing." She finally managed after a pause, glancing down at the intercom and recalling her plan to fix it.

"If I can get it working we might be able to at least hear if anything else is alive on the ship." She offered, kneeling down and focusing on her work, trying to see if a splice would be possible.

Rolled a 69 for her electronics/jury rigging roll. and as per the previous session of Holland's prize, I'll keep with low being good for my dice rolls.

[Dozus]

Quan looked hesitantly at the torn ladder into the corridor. "Call me a pessimist, but I think I'd prefer if everything else on here was dead, if this is what it's doing."

His hairless brow furrowed for a moment as a thought struck him. "Hey, if Lilacor's still giving emergency warnings and looking for officers, y'think her internal sensors are still working? Might could use those, see if we can't track anything." He looked about for a console, not willing to go far given the look of things. He had blood enough on his EVA suit, and certainly didn't want any more on it - particularly his own.

[valadaar]

"It certainly would be nice to get some real intel," said Jerome, " I feel blind here. Any sign of the Drone?"