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Post by SarzieBeara~ on Dec 4, 2010 10:45:04 GMT -5
"Got my answer then...Oooh, don't step on JJ's shoes." She snickered as she brushed past him.
Mackenzie headed out of the room, giving a nod to Chloe as she passed by her. Chewing at her lip, she took slow, prolonged steps to her dorm. With her head down, she rubbed the back of her neck, smiling to herself as she felt the slightly elevated, tattooed flesh. Naga, Aijou, Seiryoku, Gouin, and Kaigo. She shook her head, pushing through the door as she grabbed her suit, rolling her shoulders back at the extra weight suddenly pressing down on her body. Undoing her hair, she nabbed her night-vision goggles from the closet, resting them on her head as she fitted her earpieces in properly. Scanning the room, she let her head fall back against the closet door, her eyes fluttering shut.
"By no means do you let anyone into your head. Ever." Again with the words, Maa? I know...
Opening her eyes, she stood there for a moment, gazing at the rayons running down her thighs and arms. She loved how they looked, and sometimes got caught staring at them for long periods of time.
I should bring father with me... Her gaze was averted to the bulky chest beside the leg of her bed. Kneeling down in front of it, her fingers fluttered around the front, opening it to smile sadly at the Colt that lay in red velvet. Brushing her fingertips across the smooth gold plated muzzle she traced the whole gun, biting at her lip as the memories flooded her thoughts. Her temper flared, and she looked away, letting out a shaky little breathes. Snatching it from it's place, she wiped away what seemed like tall-tale signs of tears.
Groaning, she shoved it in the holster at the inner of her thigh, forcing herself to dismiss those emotions she refused to share, present, or even remotely acknowledge. Sitting up straight, she turned to her closet, yanking the flimsy wood open to swipe her second favorite weapon. Lady Stinger. Inhaling slowly, she regained control of her mind as well as her body. Reaching for her PlazWhip, she shoved that in the second holster at her lower back.
Sniffing and straightening up, she walked out of her room without another glance towards that chest, hoping she just might be able to seek revenge on this new mission for her and everyone else's sake.
Mackenzie was seeing everything in slow motion, so as soon as she heard the noise of the clamp, everything returned to normal, and her hand thrust out to the side of her as her body crunched up against the wall. Grumbling she brushed herself off and hurried herself up. As she entered the door, she took everything in a whole.
She frantically searched for any sort of communication, no matter what it was. Her mind expanded like a rubber band which allowed her to sync her brain with everyone's. Sighing with relief, she briefly took a moment to gather her -own- thoughts, but then got interrupted as Trace's urgent wishing penetrated them. Looking around her, she noticed him and furrowed her brow. "What's with Vader, Trace?" Shrugging it off, she turned to Chloe and Jamal, awaiting orders from either of them.
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Post by ~L~ on Dec 5, 2010 9:25:34 GMT -5
~*Twisting her mouth in frustration at being waved off --And likely have it suddenly remembered when she's in a hairball coughing mood...-- by the Captain, her ears pinned down to reflect the sullen mood, Meilala turned back to the navscreen as Helen announced the FLT-exit. The hairs on her neck stood during the transition as usual and she suppressed a shiver, bringing up a view of the freighter ship on her monitor, tilting her head curiously as she studied it's make and apparent models, tapping out a few approach vectors and setting scan-pods to be sent out on the routes which weren't selected, also presetting a tag-along shuttle to be prepped for gear and possible quick escape purposes, she did like to cleverly plan ahead when she was timely with her medication.
After having launchbay automatons begin prep and prime procedures, she turned back to the conversation with a small feline grin, sending the vectors to Helen's port for review and assigning, she also added the main service vessel to the prep cue, also dropping passcodes for the armory and tech labs for 15 minutes, aiming to make things go as smoothly as possible. Opting to put off going to suit up, herself, she brought up a mirror screen as Jamal worked the channels for comm and external input, nodding at his comment in quiet agreement.. he was sharp for a human. She spoke up as he stood to go dressout, intending to inform more than only Helen of the scan-pods.*~
"Locked down ish right.. there's more than just a frequency lock going on here, that's for sure! Nyah~ JJ, I put out a handful of scan-pods to circle the biggie and patrol for variationsh in activity, they'll stream to the ship logs and to suit comm-cp's or HUD's aaaannnnd! ~*She turned to Helen*~ directly into your secure-monitor frrrrr-equencies, unlesh you shut them out manually, Nyah~"
~*After Jamal disappeared out the door and Mackenzie made her joke, Lala snickered and hopped out of her swivel chair, headed toward the nose of the command deck instead of the door the others used. She popped a floor panel and slipping into the ventilation shaft using a maintainance roller to speed back to the engineering bay, where her room was settled into just two door seals from the e-bay entrance. The Captain frowned on her using the vent shafts as shortcuts, but never told her she couldn't and so she had always assumed it was okay.
She changed quickly, not having to worry about sudden depressurizing or many of the other physical hazzards that humans fretted over, tugging on a thin black accented white tubetop which could have passed as a sports bra, unnecessarily showing off her slim midriff and the tattoo down her side and hip. A matching pair of bikini bottoms, overwhich she wore a cute pair of jean shortshorts. After clipping on an integrated red minipack with almost armor-like shoulderpads, she slipped red and white-accented black detatched sleeves up just passed her elbows, stringing a stylish little red leather belt through the belt loops and a red-dyed tool pouch clipped to her beltloops and thigh. She dropped the need for stlye to strap on the black magneboots, though they did have her own graffiti on them and she did pull leggings of a similar design to her atm slips up just above her knee. Twisting a few colored rubber bands onto her tail to hold solder, slipscrews, and punch pins finished her change. She was aware of human appreciation for fashion but had far less of a feel for human "decency standards" and liked to dress light, the less holding her back the better.. and what was the use of having the ability to enjoy comfort and style in so-called "hazardous environments" if one didn't go for it? --Yep, thaaaaaaat's everything!-- The thought passed as she grabbed her grey cloak and shouldered her tool bag, giving it a shake to make sure her field meds were there.*~
~*As she approached the bridge to meet up with the rest, the ship jarred violently to one side, she flung her left leg out to catch against the wall, freezing there with a puzzled expression as she reattained her walking posture, though picked up her pace as she heard Jamal exclaiming about possible causes, sliding to a hault just inside the bridge, indulging in a habit of hers to announce the obvious in detail.*~
"Nyaaaaaa, methinkles something just hit ush!! Something either verrrry big or jusht verrrrry densh, port side! nya~"
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Post by Hanhan on Dec 6, 2010 1:11:14 GMT -5
"Their comms array could be down. If so then they wouldn't be able to transmit anything." Helen responded to Jamal's concern that the ship wasn't returning their call, so to speak, with that calm, cool voice that she always spoke with. She would be the last to suit up, being the one who needed to navigate the ship into the freighter's hangar. Of course, even when that was done the android assumed she would be left behind to watch over things from this end, as she often was. Helen gave a small nod as Jamal rose from his chair to go suit up. It wasn't long before the bridge emptied out aside from Helen, with no sound other than what was coming from the consoles in front of her. Things were going very smoothly. The android had no trouble at all, simply following the nav marker with a precision that the average human couldn't even dream of obtaining. The ship was settling in the hangar, the airlock doors could be heard closing shut even outside their own ship's walls. Everything was going just fine.
And then came the loud noise against the hull, just as most of the crew was filing back in. Metal on metal, gears turning, loud hydraulic machinery doing its job. Helen's fingers were at her console, bringing up status and diagnostic reports immediately. Whatever had latched on wasn't causing damage. Most likely a repair crane, or repair claw of some sort. But...why would such a thing attach to their ship? Helen turned her gaze toward the rest of them, seeing a mix of confusion, anger, and other emotions. She wasn't sure what to feel.
Chloe was just about to enter the bridge when she was nearly thrown off her feet and up against the bulkhead. She cursed their luck. Her mood had gone from terrible, to great, and right back to terrible again. Getting her bearings, she made her way into the bridge, an annoyed look plastered to her face underneath the clear visor of her helmet. "What the hell was that?" She asked in a demanding tone, turning her gaze first to Helen and then to anyone else. "By my guess, some sort of repair crane." Helen responded. Chloe looked none too pleased by that news. "Well? Can you bypass it? Get into the system and take care of that? I don't like my only fucking escape route blocked off." Helen merely shook her head. "Locked out. Overriding the main system will probably do it." Chloe solemnly nodded. Things certainly were getting interesting. "It looks like you're not staying in the nice cushy ship this time then. Get suited up." Helen again nodded, and left the bridge to go prepare. Chloe had since begun pacing a bit, but quickly turned to the rest of the crew. "The situation sucks right now, I know. But we still can't turn away from what we have here, not yet.. for all we know it could just be a faulty system of some kind." She heaved a sigh before continuing. "So I think we'll be breaking off into three teams. Look for the systems we might be able to use to override our issue here, but don't forget about why we came here in the first place."
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Post by Clipse on Dec 6, 2010 14:05:33 GMT -5
"Understood." Jamal replied, placing a headset over his head. He had no helmet to speak of. Perhaps he should get one after the mission. Of course thats what he said last time. "Use encryption scheme Alpha Forty. They will probably be able to hack into our communications after some time but we still will get the initial shock of surprise. Keep your sights open, and try not shoot each other in the ass." They were positioned within the gallery of the ship now. The ramp was beginning to open. This was one of the hard parts of boarding a ship. The ramp was the only point of access from their ship to the freighter, so any smart leader would group his men around in order to force Jamal and his crew into a small channel. They were easy pickings when they disembarked. Even though their ships scanner didn't detect any sign of life in the hanger, it was still good to be safe and check just in case.
Everyone was ready and suited up. Meilala of course, with her disregard for clothing, was the only one out of place. But Jamal knew that she was better than that. In a fight she fought like a beast, sometimes almost literally, and it wouldn't be the first time Jamal witnessed her tearing apart squads of resistance. "Once we disembark, me and Mackenzie will provide back up and support. Chloe, you need to escort Meilala to the engine room. Try to disable them first so our query won't be able to escape and trap us," Turning to Helen and Trace, who still looked like the Devil, "You two proceed to the bridge. If there crew is still alive and in force, offer our support. If not, get what data you can on the ship and its cargo. Everyone agree ?" He didn't bother to wait for the replies and acknowledgements. "Trace your on point. If theres arm resistance, eliminate all of them. If not, secure the area." The ramp had finally lowered, the sound of air hissing as the pressure became steady with that of the freighter. Jamal had his rifle aimed at hip range, ready to lay suppression fire as Trace did his thing.
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Post by David on Dec 6, 2010 16:01:01 GMT -5
"Get to the bridge, get it back online, help friendlies, take out all opposition. Got it."
Trace wasn't nervous at all. He just wished he had some clue as to why this ship was still familiar, or rather, made him think it was familiar. What the hell was wrong with him today. That memory before hand, and then the familiarity of this ship, it was driving him crazy. What the hell was going on? He wanted some clarity, and some answers as to what was going on, and he wasn't going to get them standing around, but he wasn't going to rush straight in there either. He slowly got his sidearm out, and took the safety off, and but it back in. At once, he drew out his knives and quickly began to move out first; switching on his stealth technology so that he blended completely around the room. He began to move straight toward the door that lead inside the ship, double-checking to make sure that no one was around. When it became clear it was safe, Trace disabled his stealth, and signaled the group that the area was clear; in the hanger bay anyway. They still had to go inside, and find out just what was waiting for them....
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Post by SarzieBeara~ on Dec 7, 2010 13:53:01 GMT -5
It took her a moment to shift herself next to Jamal, a soft chuckle rolling off her lips as she nudged him, flashing him a grin. "Mackenzie and -I-."
Her head snapped in Trace's direction, emerald eyes twinkling as he chimed those magic words. "Finally." She advanced before her partner, cocking her gun slightly as she slipped off to the side."So...are you following, or not?" Mackenzie murmured as she turned around to face him, her mind fanning out to read his, turning to attempt to see if she could read any other human thoughts that differentiated from the regular.
Returning to her own thoughts she silently shuffled down the corridor, officially separated from the others. Narrowing her eyes randomly at the ship walls, she suddenly became increasingly aware that they could be annihilated at any moment.
The fear from the dorm came crashing down on her again, as well as her memories, causing her to become sidetracked for the moment. Swearing under her breathe, she pressed her hand to her forehead, exhaling shakily. "...help me focus? Please?" It'd be an odd request from the "All-mighty" Mackenzie Veillion but she couldn't care less at the moment. She had to focus and not ruin this mission.
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Post by ~L~ on Dec 8, 2010 0:42:51 GMT -5
Meilala blinked from Chloe to Jamal anxiously after having been on the verge of speaking from the moment splitting up was mentioned, though she ended up merely excersizing her jaw, never getting the words out past a mewling noise as she settled into resignation about arguing or speaking against orders. Orders were simple things, but she couldn't shake the feeling that splitting up was a bad idea, but she kept her mouth shut with effort and remind herself who was in charge... and what the price for speaking up when not asked to was.
She'd learned the result of ill-timed Ka'tarl backtalk and "suggestion" before: Since ~THEY~ all apparently knew what she could handle, or thought they did.. and had sent her to take care of a driller-ship "infestation" alone after said backtalking incident... knowing full well the infestation was Grullstone spiders, harmless burrowing arachnid-looking creatures that produce acid when in contact with open air which would collapse tunnels, knowing full well from her file that she was frightened of spiders... the ensuing panic resulted in 11 collapses, 3 lost mining carts, a upended tunnel crawler and a steel bin being bent into a human-sized hamsterball, 5 hours of having to talk the terror-stricken catgirl into exiting said ball of steel and coming back to the launch site, as well as several days of snickering as she assisted with the clean up. Never again, she decided.. it was always a terrible idea to go against the humans in charge, least they prank you at the least opportune moments.
Needless to say she kept her peace and just nodded tightlipped with a glance to the Captain. "Hrrrrmmm.. If the ship ish not unable to move already. By the lookies of the hull damages outside and them airlock-scars, I'd say itsh a slim chance, Nyah~. Won't be a pwoblem just making sure.. and a quick Neglitch Charge or pulling a core pin or three will have it freefloating for sure! Raooowwr~" She chimes simply, tapping at a few presets on her Giztech Pad, her pair of supply and equipment drones, nicknamed "Suppy" and "Ziek" by the Ka'tarl engineer, lurching toward the stern of the vessel with their controller in toe, giving an earflickering grin to Chloe before fidgeting with the drones' loads idly along the way before getting too far from the ship.
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Post by Clipse on Dec 8, 2010 14:53:24 GMT -5
Jamal rolled his eyes instinctively. Damn, he paired himself up with this crazy woman ? He glanced back at his crew in the hanger. Everyone was moving in a different direction; Trace and Helen towards the corridor to the bridge while Meilala and Chloe moved towards theirs. Mackenzie was already entering a corridor, her gun at the ready. "Mackenzie and I my ass..." He mutters under his breath. This is going to be a long, long mission. Not that he had a problem with Mackenzie's skill set. She was deadly with her laser whip and an expert marksman. Its just she always bickered with him. And while Jamal had no quarrels about bickering and cracking jokes with people, Mackenzie always seemed to get the upper hand on him. He needed to change that.
He increased his pace to catch up with her. She was already in the corridor and he didn't even leave the Hanger Bay properly yet. But when he reached the doorway, he became overwhelmed with grey. The floor was grey, the walls were grey, the roof was grey. Why did they always make the color those particular shades of grey ? But what surprised him more was Mackenzie, hand on her forehead. She was shaking. Jamal's first reaction was to raise his gun and shoot whatever target was attempting to harm her but he saw none. He moved up along side her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She was tensed and felt like she was about to explode. "Close your eyes," he says calmly, trying to make his voice as soft as possible, "it will pass in a moment. Concentrate on your breathing. You can work through it."
Jamal sympathized for her. He too knew the pain of losing his parents. Trace seemed to suffer similar relapses in memory too, but his was more of a loss of his past. He waited a few moments while Mackenzie attempted to get her thoughts in line. He didn't want her to know he was actually concerned. It would ruin his image of being a straight-faced, uncaring, cynical asshole. He developed some techniques to keep his mind blocked from others, and mostly it worked. Which was the only thing he had on Mackenzie. "Come on, lets go. Theres an intersection up ahead and some doors. We should check to see what possible manifest is in them." And where was the crew ? There had been no greeting party yet, friendly or hostile.
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Post by Hanhan on Dec 9, 2010 19:05:08 GMT -5
[ Musical Ambience: Hostility - Akira Yamaoka ]
Helen gave a nod to Jamal as he spoke, glancing down at her wrist mini console and tapping at it to switch comms channels. She had since suited up, and like Chloe, wore a forest green, full suit of protective ablative ceramic for less flexible areas of the body, such as her chest, shoulders, the front of her legs, etc. and black padding for more flexible areas. It was hardwired into her body, allowing quick access to the ultra fast processing power she had in her. Helen followed Trace close behind, toting her Thrasher shotgun and aiming it low as the two of them scanned the hangar bay. Empty. Completely empty. Whoever or whatever had triggered their ship being locked down by a repair crane, it sure as hell wasn't here.
The android gave an astute nod to Meilala as she spoke once the rest of the crew filed out. The ship's engines didn't look to be in working order from the brief glimpse she had got of them, and from the state of the hull, it didn't look like this ship was in working order. Hell, most of it was powered down. Only life support was functioning everywhere, save for the areas that were sealed off due to exposure to open space. Perhaps they would find others on board, but..it didn't seem likely. She was more inclined to belief it was a malfunctioning automated system, but she kept that to herself for now, moving instead toward one of the automated doors further into the hangar. It was easy enough to get it open. Helen gave a nod, proceeding down the hallway that opened up before them with Trace. Out of the three, they likely had the longest trek ahead of them. The freighter was just..massive.
"Hopefully we'll be able to find an elevator, or..tram system of some kind. From the look I got of the ship on the outside, the most likely location for the bridge would be the bow of the ship, mid deck. It looked like the command level to me." It was common for command decks on freighters, especially large ones, to not be the highest levels. She wasn't about to guess as to the reason for that, but it simply seemed commonplace. She proceeded down the hall with Trace, noting that the lighting was dim. Power levels aboard the ship could have been low, it was hard to say. As long as life support didn't give out, they would be fine.
We should have made that a priority as well..I suppose it isn't as big an issue for me, but.. Her thoughts began to trail off in her head. Some of her companions wore full suits and helmets, which would give them enough air to get back to the ship alright, but not all of them were. A failure in life support would be very, very bad. That is assuming..we even manage to deal with the repair crane issue.. She shook it away. Now wasn't the time for second guessing. "You go ahead and lead."
Chloe was not exactly sure pulling the plug on the freighter's engines was really the best idea in her mind. After all, they had boarded and if anyone really was on board, it wasn't like they could use the freighter to flee. And if they destroyed the engines, then what was to stop any potential freighter crew to try and steal their ship, essentially leaving them stranded. She wouldn't make mention of it now, deciding to eventually bring it up with the engineer once they had separated. "I agree, Lala, but lets get there first, and get a look for ourselves." She hadn't expected a welcoming party but the emptyness of the ship had really hit home for Chloe now. It was really unsettling, but thankfully thanks to the dose she had taken earlier, she found it very easy to push it aside and focus on what she needed to focus on.
"Engineering would be toward the stern, then. Lets get going. We aren't going to figure out what to do from here." Chloe took the lead, her sense of direction allowing her to pick a door that would MOST LIKELY lead them to their destination. It was hard to tell for sure, but with ships like these everything came together eventually. They would probably find some kind of marker that would point them in the right direction. The automated door opened with ease, not locked down like some of the others. "Alright expert, lead the way," She said with a small grin. Lala was trouble sometimes but she couldn't deny her expertise. That, and she could whallop any potential threats into paste if she cared to. Always useful. She couldn't shake the dread that was creeping around in her head though. It must have been the emptyness. It made her more uncomfortable then usual.
Glad I brought a few extra doses...wouldn't want to run out in a place like this thats for sure...
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Post by David on Dec 9, 2010 23:45:32 GMT -5
Trace sighed... He couldn't believe what he had just gotten into now. However, before he thought any ill thoughts his eyes turned to an open weapon attache case. Inside it, was a brand new C-14 Gauss rifle with a built in retractable bayonet blade, a dot-sight, laser aiming sight, and as well as some spare clips. He smiled a bit and decided to take it. It came with a nice strap for him to wrap around his back, and quickly began to follow Helen.
"Elevator huh... I'm pretty sure there should be one near-"
Once again, before Trace could finish his sentence, another memory came into his head. He could see people actually ON this ship. Lots of them taking different paths to rooms and such... one path quickly taking them to a nearby elevator, that would take one to the bridge, if necessary, as well as what appeared to be, levels that for some reason, he couldn't remember. They were blocked off to him right now. With that, Trace came back to the real world. And looked around... some of the paths were indeed familiar. With that, he looked at Helen and nudged her.
"This way. All the other paths will lead to quarters or some laboratories and such. This way will lead us to the elevator. This one will take us to the bridge... Just gotta get past a few doors."
Trace sighed as he saw the doors. But before Helen got to work with her "magic" skill at hacking, numbers poured into his head, and he quickly began to dial them in the door's keypad. With that, the door slowly began to open, showing another vacant hallway with many other paths to choose from. Though, the eeriness of this place was still giving him such shivers, and a churning in his stomach.
"Let's get our ship out of that crane and get this thing up and running... This place is seriously giving me horrible headache... and bad vibes. Like this place is some sort of huge haunting house... toying with my mind. God I hope this is just a temporary cause of deja-vu."
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Post by SarzieBeara~ on Dec 10, 2010 0:15:39 GMT -5
Taken aback by his compassion, she smiled to herself, rubbing at her temples while she did as he said. Taking slow, prolonged breaths, she nodded after a while, running her hand through her hair to further calm herself. Straightening up, she turned to smile at him, however she furrowed her brows at him, indicating she was slightly frustrated. "Not being able to read you irritates me, you know that?" But it makes me that more interested...
Clearing her throat she quickly turned from him, her hand now taking to her gun. "Anyways. What was this intersection you were talking about?" She inched forward, seeing, listening, straining for any means of communication.
All her senses went on alert as she heard an actual thought. Just one thought that chimed through her head innocently. "...Jamal." She whispered in warning, taking even more delayed steps towards said fork in the road. Dragging her fingertips across the grey walls, she decided to calm herself down...by annoying Jamal. Grinning to herself, she didn't even bother to ask him which passage he had wanted to take, immediately taking the passage to the right. "Yellah, ya tuz." {Hurry you, ass/idiot/dumb person, etc.} She smirked as he'd probably be shocked, and felt the need to retaliate. She always seemed to catch him off guard, and that pleased Mackenzie.
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Post by Clipse on Dec 10, 2010 1:38:21 GMT -5
If Helen had just seen that she'd probably blow a circuit or something from laughing too much. Chloe too would probably be having a field day. He instantly took extreme interest in a small piece of thread that had landed on his armor. Damn little string. Damn yourself too. Don't show emotions in a possible war zone. And especially not to Mackenzie either. This is what he gets for random acts of kindness. Following Mackenzie further up the corridor, he nearly bumps into her as she slows her pace. Why oh why did I pair myself up with her ? He begins to raise his gun to check the passage to the left, only to have Mackenzie break across his sights and move towards the right. And as if to add insult to injury- "Yellah, ya tuz."
Jamal almost deadpanned. So she knew Arabic. And she knew the insults on top of that. A dozen replies ran through his head, but none of which he would say to a girl. Especially one with a whip that could shred his armor into pieces. But to hell with that. He puts on his most sly smile. "Oh Mackenzie, I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you. A shame." Shaking his head in mock disappointment, he pats her twice on the back before moving past her. And then stopping, bending over to pretend to peel something off his boot and then turning to face her. "Oh, and I believe this is your dignity." With a smirk, he turns around and walks further up the corridor to a door. With his rifle at the ready, he opens the door, which didn't seem to have a security code, revealing a carpeted hallway which continued on, but with several doors on each side. This must be the luxury section of the ship, where the high rollers and top businessmen stayed during the flight. Or so he hoped. Maybe their would be "untold riches" in this area. Turning to face Mackenzie, who was following, he mouths the word Jackpot.
But where was the crew ? This area seemed to be one of the more populous sections of the ship, and there didn't seem to be a single person around. Nothing had come up on the comms either so no other group had run into a greeting party. And if there was no crew how did Mackenzie know this was the way to come ? Unless her ability to access people's minds was a lot stronger and further reaching then he thought. Gesturing Mackenzie to come along side him, he then points to the doors on the right. "You check them for any occupants. I'll take the ones on the left. If theres many don't try to take them all. We regroup and fall back." And then moving forward to the nearest door on the left, he taps at the keyboard. Nothing. None of the keys or buttons seemed to be in working order. Jammed ? Broken ? Now things were starting to get creepy. He leaves this moves towards the next door, rifle at shoulder level, readying to blast anything that might materialize out of the doors or walls.
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Post by ~L~ on Dec 10, 2010 19:13:54 GMT -5
After hoisting herself to sit on the toolbench hefted by Ziek-2.0, Meilala busied herself preconstructing a schematic/diagnostic model for the freighter's engines, reactors, drives, Internal systems, and overclock-boosters with info gathered by both initial detection information and pre-scans from the deployed scanpods, kicking her feet energeticly as she concentrated. After a few dozen yards her drones stopped and she looked back to Chloe with a nervous grin, finally thinking to bring it up, since the crew wasn't around and she had given some thought to is since resigning to the orders.
"Umm... C-captain? Nyah~? I was.. thinkin' that, well, maybe we should encrypt the hanger doors' locks and set a warning trigger if someone tampers with the mechanics.. Surely H-Helly could do it if you just tol- ermmrow~.. uh, I mean if you thought it was a good plan. We could safeguard our shippy and give ush a sign of life if the encryption gets toyed wiff!! Plus bofe Helly and myself can monitor the doors as we keep goin!! Ya know.. so we, nyah~, um.. won't lose any eyes or earsh.."
She makes the suggestion as professionally as her anxiety about the chain of command would allow, trying smiles and backing off if she thought she was being too ... what was the term? demanding?.. no-no.. nit-picky, that was it. She pretended to dole over the information layout from the GizTech Pad while nervously awaiting the decision from Chloe, Suppy and Ziek throttling back to life and trekking forward to a routing sign that seemed to have been vandalized by several different persons. Her eyes lit up as she read the words "Maintainance Lift to trolley levels -Authorized Personel Only-" mouthing the words her herself and pointing excitedly to the sign, her ears perked attentively and tail swishing eagerly, even having the drone elevated the workbench/chest so she could tap it from her seat, giving Chloe a broad grin.
"Purrrr~fect!! Lookies, Cappy Chloe, lookies!! We may get to take a short-cut! Mrrrow~! But.." She murmured thoughtully, clawed finger tapping her bottom lip as she twisted it in squinty consideration. "Might be powered down for rerouted life support back-up.. common in these city-sized boats, afterall. Nyah-nyah?"
Nearly every professionally sound opinion the Ka'tarl girl ever made, even brilliant and clearcut ones were given with a deference, which had initially caught every crew member off guard when the feline woman joined up all those months ago... racially Ka'tarls were domineering and harshly opinionated creatures, but she seemed an odd exception from the beginning, though her file made no mention of trauma or incident that might cause such a fluxuation from the norm.. well-read members may hear tell of litter runts often being harshly taken to heel or even cast out, though again, her file made no note of such a situation, only that she had "resigned" positioning after a lusterless Royal Ctarl-Ctarl Empire Fleet Academy career and graduation. She seemed to take the transition into another life.. in a forced sort of even tempered stride.
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Post by SarzieBeara~ on Dec 13, 2010 11:06:21 GMT -5
Mackenzie's jaw dropped. Blinking, she came to a conclusion. One: He had just succeeded in taking her amusement, proceeded to throw it on the ground and repeatedly stomp on it. Two: Nobody had been able to do that before. Three: She -still- couldn't read his mind! What in the name of God was he thinking? "Well fuck." She openly swore, narrowing her eyes at him while flipping him off.
As he moved on, she nodded and murmured something in Russian. Before she dare enter, her hand found the wall instinctively, and she shut her eyelids. Freezing, she picked up whispers, but they weren't exactly the heated chit-chattering of a conversation. It was the more eery, I-sound-like-white-noise whisper. Then they were gone. Just gone. She jerked her head towards her partner as if the cause of the whispers fading away was his fault. Sneering anxiously, "Come on, Jamal. Can't you use those manly legs of yours to help a young lady get inside?" Challenging him was probably not the best idea...but what the hell.
Hesitantly dropping her hand from the wall, she brought her gun up to her torso, inching closer to the door he ignored. Jamal would notice this was her way of saying "Do not dismiss" without disobeying his orders.
Stepping back, she glared at the ceiling and in a flash, her body whirled around as her foot crashed down on the door. Landing on her feet, said door flew off it's hinges, dropping to the floor with a loud 'thump'. Dust rose from the sides of it, temporarily ruining her view of the room. Exhaling, she flashed Jamal one of her famous grins, quickly crouching behind the door-frame with her gun cocked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
As the dust settled, she creeped into the room before bumping her foot against something lifeless. What she saw next caused her to grimace. She spoke with a twinge of disappointment in her voice, but mostly confusion. "Uck...JJ..." She nudged at one out of 10 dead bodies with her toe. "Jackpot indeed..." Mackenzie however still held her gun up firmly, not even turning her head until she felt Jamal's presence around her.
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Post by Hanhan on Dec 13, 2010 23:55:54 GMT -5
Another one of Trace's relapses. Helen simply watched him as he fell silent. She didn't understand what exactly was going on in his head, but the rest of the crew had explained to her that he was going through some kind of memory lapse. It didn't make much sense, but then again she had grown used to not being able to make much sense out of humans much of the time. She was surprised when he came to, and seemed to know exactly where he was going. "You're sure..about that?" She wasn't entirely convinced. But when he started punching codes into doors, well that changed things.
He's been here before..?
Interesting, but they had more important things to do. Hopefully they'd find the necessary controls to release their ship, enabling a quick getaway if it came to that. The android didn't show signs of nervousness but she was beginning to feel them. Still, not a soul in sight. Not one person aboard. Whatever had happened here, it must have happened a while ago. But with the absolute zero atmosphere of space, there was very little decay of any kind making it difficult to tell just how long the ship had been out here. Still, maybe there would be answers or dates to find that out. Getting sidetracked..
Right, focus. It wasn't usual for her thoughts to drift like that, unless she was uneasy about something. Helen nodded as Trace continued to speak. Nothing to argue about there. Of course, they did still have a reason for being here and that was a priority too. "Bad vibe or not, I'm sure the gain on salvaging this ship will be very good.." She noted astutely.
Chloe kept a slow pace going, giving Lala plenty of time to prepare for how to deal with the engines once they reached them. She felt relieved when the engineer spoke up, which was unusual. Normally the quiet was something she enjoyed somewhat, but this..this was different. It was to eerie, maybe. She gave some thought to what the engineer said, thinking it might have been a good idea in another circumstance but it didn't really seem necessary here. "I don't know, I'm not entirely convinced that there is anyone here.. My money is on a malfunctioning automated system. I mean, you saw the shape of this place. Besides, Trace isn't going to make much progress without the android." Or at least not as quickly as I'd like. I'll keep it in mind, though.
Satisfied with her own reasoning, she continued down the wide hallway. None of the doors on either side looked promising, really. "Besides," She said after a few moments of silence. "Our ship isn't going anywhere, anytime soon."
Chloe turned to face Lala as the Ctarl spoke up again, noting the excitement in her voice. Her eyes followed the engineer's finger to the sign, and a hopeful look came across her gaze as well, only to have her hopes dashed against the wall by the engineer's deference. She had grown used to it for the most part, but sometimes it got annoying - even if it was probably smart to consider the pros and cons.
"Well, see if you can find out. It looks like our best option." She said after a moment, holding up by the door to the maintenance lift. "There could be a way to workaround it, too..maybe divert power, somewhere nearby. If we can't get it to work now we should consider taking a look."
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Post by David on Dec 14, 2010 0:41:46 GMT -5
As they continued along the path, Trace's head was starting to pound more and more now. It would time and again, fill him with memories; some that were disturbing. and some confusing. Some of them involved military operations; not surprising to him, as this showed him how he had obtained his skills. Other showed him taking on horrible orders; such as wiping out an entire sector of civilians to cover up biological weapon mishaps that had gotten out of control, or leaks of information that had to be "shut down" at the source. Everything he did, he had hardened his heart. as well as his emotions. He had become a cold calculating machine, with no remorse for his actions. He had no idea who he was now... He had always thought he had been a kind and caring person, who was just a mercenary, but now... he felt sick to his stomach.
Get it together Umber. You don't even know if those memories are for real. And even if they are, you are a different now. You have to focus on getting this salvage mission done. Nothing else matters right now.
However, just as Trace reached another door, he sorta had a mental block now. He couldn't remember if the same password would work again now. He turned to Helen and signaled her to work her magic fingers and hack this door. As he waited for her though... His eyes went blank one more time.
The memory wasn't pleasant. Trace was leading his men to an undisclosed location. They were all armed and had taken defensive positions, however... before they could react. large flood lights had turned on. They were surrounded... Tanks, machine guns, powered suits; it wasn't exactly pretty for them... in fact, it was the worst possible situation Trace and his team could be.
It wasn't long, before they had opened fire. Though, they only targeted Trace's unit first. Then, they pointed their guns at him. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but only one thing he could remember.
"Mr. Umber... I'm sorry for this, but we need you dead. Don't worry, you'll see us again very soon... After all, you're "assets" are exactly what the program we are working on, needs. Since after all, you excel among everyone else."
After that... Trace was gunned down by a few rifle rounds. Thankfully, for some reason, they had decided not to aim for the any vital organs, but one shot did hit his head. With that, Trace was gone; or, as he thought. Next game memories that were so bad... it made him want to cry out in agony. Filled in a tank of liquid, some people operating on him, and finally, something being injected inside him. But he couldn't even remember what they had done to him. It gave him horrible chills now, but he shook his head back into reality. Was that just another one of those nightmares he kept having over and over?
No that wasn't it, in fact, that made him think even more about this ship and its "secrets". This salvaging mission was still priority, but now, he wanted to desperately find out what this ship had about him. Information? Cloning tanks? He just had to know the truth. He couldn't just let this go at all. Even if it meet defying Chloe, he had no choice. If there was ever a reason he had to defy her, this one of them. But this would be the only time he would do it. He owed Chloe, Jamal, and Helen his life. He wouldn't abandon them at all, but nor would he let this once and a lifetime chance pass up...
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Post by Clipse on Dec 16, 2010 0:28:31 GMT -5
"Real smooth, lotto stud." Jamal stated, stepping through the door into the carnage. Though it did shock him, he kept his face and emotions under iron control. He had seen massacres like this before, usually bigger and more bloody. And of course they'd shown him pictures and videos of alien species being slaughtered by the masses at the Academy. So called "propaganda" vids, shown to prove the so called "human superiority". But now wasn't the time to reflect on his opinions. He had ten dead bodies on his hand, some dressed as crew, others in a more formal wear. There were no guns, but they all had bullet holes.
But what leaped at him the most was all the dust, as if they had been sitting here undisturbed for a while. The bodies didn't look very decayed, but then again there were very little bacterial species in space to break them down, and luxury ships were notoriously known for their cleanness. He exchanged a look with Mackenzie, noting the expression of grimness on her face. She was used to experiences like this, he supposed. He raised a finger to his ear piece, clicking it twice as the universal message for all units in his crew. "Everyone, this is Skarecrow." He used his alias cause he didn't want to reveal any details of his person across a communication that could so easily be intercepted, "Me and...Big Mac have found some of the crew. Their all dead. Requesting orders on how to proceed. Advise everyone not take any chances with any encounters." Turning his ear piece off as his crew took in what he had just told him, he scanned the rest of the room. Mackenzie still had her weapon at the ready, as if enemies might materialize from the walls, but it seemed harmless to him.
Flicking on a light switch near the right of the doorway, he took in the rest of the room. The bodies were splayed out, as if they had been grouped in and then mercilessly been slaughtered. The rest of the room was simply someone's quarters. A high roller from the looks of it. The bed was draped in rich silks, the table with decked with expensive china plates and utensils, and a liquor cabinet. And to top it off, a very antique clock, the ones that had a pendulum that went clock-clock-clock-clock-clock. "Grab that clock. It will probably sell good or we can gift it to someone." Flashing Mackenzie a smile, he crosses towards the liquor cabinet, throwing it open and examining its contents. Bourbon, 2150 vintage. His smile getting even wider, he pours himself three fingers of the liquid into a glass cup. He turns and raises the glass to Mackenzie, "Bis-Mi-Allah A-Rahman A-Rahim." To the Gods.. to the Gods.. to the Earths... Pouring a bit onto the ground for the Earth, he then empties the glass in a single gulp. Whatever burning sensation remained behind his eyes vanished almost instantly, as if he had been jolted. Taking the small bottle in his hand, he inserts it into one of his utility pouches in his belt, feeling a sense of satisfaction as it fitted perfectly.
Looking over at Mackenzie, who was staring at him, he shrugs his shoulders, "If you wanted some you should have asked. Now lets finish the mission. You wanna check the bodies for ID or patrol the hallway on watch ?"
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Post by SarzieBeara~ on Dec 16, 2010 10:31:46 GMT -5
She sauntered over to the clock, swiping it and placing it in a free holster at her hip. Chuckling, her uneasiness faded away, and she managed to travel all the way to Jamal without tripping over anyone's limbs. Before she said anything, however, she smacked his arm and growled lowly. "Big Mac, eh? You're lucky I could care less." Mackenzie struggled to keep a straight face as he downed the hard liquor. All of it. "...You didn't even let me...Hmph." Pouting for a moment she shrugged it off, motioning to the door with her gun. "Maybe it's a better idea to patrol at the moment...unless you...would rather look for ID?" She didn't mind either, partially because now that Jamal had loosened up, she could attempt to get into his mind more efficiently. Unless he was still a lucky son of a bitch who had every god damn angle covered... And he was. ...Mother...fucker...
Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she pivoted sharply on her heels, stalking out of the room rather quickly. He. Was. Driving. Her. Insane. A steady string of profanities rolled off her tongue as she paced the hallway, infuriated that -she-; Mackenzie Rachel Veillion, couldn't get into someone's head. Perhaps she was losing it. Maybe he just...didn't have anything going on up there! But then she thought of the many missions they'd be on together, and she knew he was one of the smartest and skilled people out of the whole crew. Rubbing at her temples, she ground her teeth together, sometimes so close to walking on the door, but then turning back to continue pacing.
Jamal probably thinks I'm crazy. But then again I don't know WHAT the hell he thinks of me. He's probably laughing at me! Taking deep breaths, slowly but surely, she calmed down. Until those whispers flooded her head again~! That was it. She had to tell him about them. Chewing at her lip, she stepped over the door she kicked over, and smiled at him. "...Alright so, maybe I'm a bit out of it...but...this may sound absolutely crazy..." Ohhh and it will. "But...whenever I'm out of this...room. I'm hearing whispers..." She held her breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she put up a finger. "Before you crack a joke though, I am completely, wholly, totally serious about this." Mackenzie exhaled, opening her eyes to continue gnawing at her lip, giving Jamal a helpless, defeated look. One she would never ever show around others.
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Post by ~L~ on Dec 19, 2010 8:42:18 GMT -5
Twisting her mouth in thoguhtful acceptance of the Captain's decision, the Ka'tarl went about her preparations menially before noting the sign. After nodding eagerly to Chloe's command she hopped off the chest and skipped over to the sealed doorway, mouthing a set of wires and a pair of pliers from her belt. She found the computer jack near the wall mounted comm port, plugging her GizPad in and tapping away upon it, beaconing the other drone over uselessly out of habit... having the controls at her fingertips already, sending it to the other side of the double door after discovering a duel-lock system. The-Easy aaaaaaaz catnip!- drone plugged itself into the key systems and she twisted her lips and furrowed her brow in concentrating thought as she attempted a few simple overrides, the 3rd of which gave lit up a green light over the doorway.
Nothing happened.
"B..but.. Nyaaaaaaaah!?~ I could sworn tha- Oh-oh! Yepyepyep! Needs power, it does.. meter reads power being transfer.. nyah?!~ Cap-captain Chloe!! Active uplink recently. Maintainence tunnels accessed from here within the last three weeks, though they did try to wipe the logs... hmmmmm-mrow~, I thinkles it was rushed.. since wiping operation logs ish.. well.. easy. And the grid and passage logs... "
She was interrupted by JJ's grim call-in, her blue-purple eye going wide at the discovery, ears drooping back sadly and tail curling between her legs, pausing in her outiser-networking, though her droid was still set to it with a sort of custom "point and click" programming she had put to use since she had attention-span issues, finding the results and blinking to get attention. She glanced at it with an ear-twitching blink, puzzlement and then wide-eyed shock again as JJ completed his report, turning to Chloe to make one of her own.
"... C-captain.. the lift last delivered to the L-luxury Decks... less than f-f-four days ago... Ziek, run d-deeper traces." She stuttered from realizing the information was very good or very bad.. and she had a bad feeling, adding the drone on as an after-thought. "I doesn't think we ish alone on this boat.."
Just then, the hazard flashers and warning alarm from the drone dubbed "Ziek" began flickering bright red and screaming, voice prompt streaming a few phrases ~Danger danger, system invasion. Danger, override override.. overload innva-overl-poweriiiiiiiiiii...~ before a jolt of power sends the drone back a few feet in a useless steaming heap, going still and slowly silent as the siren died off. Meilala blinked down between the downed robot and Chloe with stricken eyes, claws dug into the metal and polyfiber panels on the ceiling almost like a bat, with one boot braced against a wall.
Dropping with a half twist after a vexed and embarrassed sigh, she went over to the drone worriedly, lifting a piece of shell-plating that got jarred free as the drones systems were all activated at once. She poked around the wreckage and after popping open the core of the robotic machine, sighed sadly with a small growly sound, glancing over her shoulder at Chloe and shaking her head with a dewey-eyed and downcast expression..
"Deep-system booby trap virus.. I think.. I didn't notice it an-.. It broke Ziek, Ch-chloe.. he's broken.." She sniffed helplessly as her drone sparked a bit, taking a personal moment while Chloe responded to Jamal's incident report.
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Post by Clipse on Dec 26, 2010 16:12:55 GMT -5
Jamal thought for a moment. It didn't even seem strange to him that she was hearing whispers. Trace had all kinds of things going on and Jamal had learned to simply accept people for what they are and not judge because of a few "head issues". "You must be hearing echo's or something then. Maybe theres more people up ahead." The edges of his vision seemed to appear less orientated and fuzzy. "Check the rest of the corridors, maybe you can find someone. Don't make yourself known though. Just be note their location and we'll go together. Now let me check these poor chaps for ID." Was he drunk already ? It was morning to him still, having just woke up a short time ago, and he hadn't eaten anything to counteract the alcohol. This was going to be fun, he thought sarcastically. As Mackenzie stepped out of the room, going to follow out the orders he told her, he took a moment to exert some control over himself. Had she said something ? He was so caught up in his own thoughts that she could have said a number of things and he would now never know.
His eyes, hazy and diluted, float over to where the ten bodies lay in a heap. The majority were crew members, based on the flight suits, and were mostly male. Jamal knelt to roll over one dead body that was faced-down, and nearly recoiled in disgust at the enormity of the man's wounds. Stop acting like a little girl and get over it, his mind seemed to yell at him, You've seen plenty of dead, disgusting bodies before. The man's blood had pooled beneath him into the carpet, staining it a bright red. The flight suit was stained as well, but it had dried as well, further adding to the question of how long they had been here. He searched the man's pocket and discovered an access card. Just what he needed, a key. But the excitement of that soon vanished after he searched the remaining crew bodies and found several other access cards, all the same level, which was the basic, seventh tier card. And that meant to Jamal that he had eight cards that could only open the doors that they had no trouble getting through. All of it was useless, so he tossed the cards aside.
Turning his attention to the remaining two bodies in formal wear, he quickly pats down the several pockets on the man's suit. There was nothing. No hint of a wallet or other items. But what Jamal did notice was the small circle of pale skin on the man's middle finger. The paleness was the result of spending too much time in a warm, tropical area, which high rolling businessmen like this would be found in, while wearing a ring. The rest of the body would tan due to the sunlight, but the area under the ring wouldn't be exposed and would remain a paler color. Good job coming to a conclusion everyone knows, he told himself, but now the answer is that someone killed and robbed these people of their accessories. A smash-n-grab job on a luxury liner like this ? If they were smart looters or pirates, they would have stripped the entire liner down rather then taking a few trinkets. A quick search of the other dead businessman revealed a similar conclusion. So they were either facing very stupid and incompetent looters, or just they were simply removing all opposition aboard the ship first before they returned for a full-scale break down.
Either way, they had walked into a crossfire, which Jamal just couldn't help but laugh. So a group of pirates attack and eliminate the majority of the crew while probably sustaining losses themselves, only to run into his crew and be eliminated themselves. An easy day of work. This calls for another drink, he wondered, grabbing his rifle and stepping out into the hallway. Now all he had to do is find Mackenzie, make sure neither of them get shot, and wait for orders.
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