The Line in the Stars (IC) [PG/14]

[Lushin]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - SpecFor room
Romulus nodded his head at the Colonel as he gave his warning. He then turned to his squad.
"Alright men. It's show time. Let's show these fly boys how realy soldiers kick ass"
Romulus lead his squad to the hanger to find the dropship that would be taking him and his crew to the space station. Romulus spoke aloud as they walked up to the dropship.
"And the soldier spoke to God as he entered the gates of Heaven. 'One more soldier reporting for duty sir. I've served my time in Hell'

[Paladin Sheppard]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hanger Area: LAM bay


Kal sat in his chair a the Raptor was pushed into the launch tube. A red LED in the tube begain counting down, as the the last second ticked away 'Cool Hand's' LAM rocketed out of the tube.

Kicking the Raptor into a fishtail turn, Kal brought the LAM into position off Major Hadem's wing.

[Azlan]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hanger Area: Dropships

Chief Wilcox opened the boarding ramp and ushered the team in, she was outfitted in combat gear like the team.  Four marines in full powersuits occupied the seats ahead of the team, it was apparent that the assault craft planned on landing and staying where ever they landed.

Ben took his jumpseat and began running final checks on his gear.

Chief Wilcox surveyed the team, "Our LAM squad will be escorting us in, keep yourselves braced for high inertia.  The LAMs will soften up the LZ and my boys here will hold it."



LAM formation

Major Hadem's voice came over the comm, "alright everyone, our task is to escort the assault team to that station.  We will be heading in at full burn and will open up in a full spread on the station.  Clear any obstacles along the way, priority is to keep that shuttle safe."



INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hangar Deck: Tactical Control Room

Observing the formations of enemy fighters from the tactical stations, something is odd about them.  They are very close and maneuver near perfectly, almost as if they were one.  Other then that, the fighters are unremarkable delta wing designs probably equipped with old bolter cannons and missiles.  The design is very old.

[Paladin Sheppard]

LAM formation

'Cool Hand' acknoledged 'Viper's radio call with a simple "Two", while 'Pinky' and 'Renagade' chimed in with a "Three" and "Four"

[Azlan]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Bridge

The captain stood up from his command chair, "helm, all ahead full.  Comm inform all destroyers and frigates to form up on the Revelation.  Inform Colonel Nexx to keep the Phalanx back and engage the dreadnaught with the mass drivers and heavy missiles, they are also to screen the carriers.  All fighter wings and LAMs forward, fan out and engage enemy fighters.  Bomber flights are to engage enemy cruisers and 2 groups of heavy bombers will engage the dreadnaught."



System space- Battle

The fleet sprang into action, all capital ships began burning plasma engines and accelerating to attack speeds, forming a wedge.

The Phalanx maneuvered its large bulk quickly and came to bear on the distant dreadnaught.  Its large kilometer long mass drivers simultaneously shot two large, volatile chunks of matter at its target before firing two ICBM sized strategic missiles at the enemy.

The fighters sprang forward separating into flights and fanned out over the battlefield, the first flashes of plasma cannon fire and the small detonations that marked the first kills of the battle could be seen, but who scored the first kill was not yet known.  The fighter line for the pirates was a bit closer then that of their warships.

The assault shuttle with Romulus's team accelerated instantly, reaching inertia levels that were just this side of fatal to fleshy creatures as they rocketed towards the station.   

The warships, still a bit of distance from one another began to maneuver.  The pirates were surprisingly quick to respond and were the first to open fire, though their shots were ineffectual against the Revelation as the distance and the ship's shields reduced the effectiveness of their shots.  A missile scored a hit on the frigate Zuiho, inflicting minor damage. 



INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Bridge

Captain Summers spoke out over the fleet Comm, "hold fire until my signal, I want maximum effectiveness.  Keep all defensive fire to a maximum." 



LAM formation

Major Hadem ordered his group forward, matching the shuttle's acceleration and taking the lead.  Weapons fire from his LAM signalled the approach of bogeys.

Delta wing fighters, nearly twice the wingspan of the LAMs, swung out in front of their group opening up with their bolter cannons.  One of the pirate fighters was already a rapidly expanding cloud of debris.



Assault shuttle

Chief Wilcox yelled out to the team, "hang tight lads, this should be over quick."

[Paladin Sheppard]

LAM formation

Kal depressed the triger on his joystick and watched as another fighter was cut in half by railgun slugs. "Cool Hand has one on the board 'Viper' your tail is clear. Damn this is one hell of a furball." Kal did his utmost to stay on his lead's tail and warning him of any threats.

[Azlan]

Assault shuttle

A klaxxon blared inside the troop compartment, Chief Wilcox looked up briefly and then yelled to Romulus's team, "I'm sure you all don't need me to tell you this, but we are about to break acceleration.  It's sudden and jarring, adjust your seats and don't talk, you'll likely bite your tongues off."

Wilcox reached out and tapped the marine sergeant on the shoulder of his powersuit, the trooper nodded.  This movement by Wilcox would not be surprising under normal circumstances, however the fact that Romulus could barely move enough to adjust his seat and that the marine required his powersuit's enhancements just to nod made her effortless movement superhuman.   


Space Station: Shuttle Bay

The shuttle's maneuvering thrusters changed its angle of approach and spatial orientation for landing and just at the appropriate moment began a hard burn of its plasma engines to decelerate. 

The few weapon emplacements on the station that began trying to track the shuttle were unable to obtain a lock.

The shuttle opened its weapon pods and saturated the area with anti-personnel and anti-vehicle missiles.  It touched down seconds later amid the fires and destruction of its entrance.

Wilcox sprang up and checked the shuttle's external sensors, the bay's defense fields were still up.  A "defense field" was a low-level energy field that protected a station's or ship's hull from depressurization due to breaches or open bays like commercial shuttle centers.

The landing ramp deployed instantly and the marines filed out a brief few moments of weapons fire sounded before the sergeant gave an all clear.  The few remaining technicians and troops had mounted a token resistance until it became apparent that their small arms fire could not even scratch the military grade powersuits.

The pirate forces were armed with mainly low-caliber slug-thrower weapons, pistols, shotguns and a few assault rifles.  The station was a civilian model, well maintained, but unnecessary hull breaches could be a problem as the defense fields could not be used to cover the entire hull continuously in older models.

Chief Wilcox turned to Romulus and smiled, "keep your environmental suits on and sealed, I wouldn't put it past the pirates to depressurize areas to try and take you out.  We can hold this area for as long as necessary."  She hefted a large chaingun style weapon to emphasize the point and nodded to the marine sergeant, "right Aniez?"

The cougar nodded, "aye, that we will."


System space- Battle

The dreadnaught was forced to maneuver in an attempt to avoid the mass driver's rounds, it thrusted away from the fleet formation.  One of the large chunks of matter barely missed the midsection of the ship, instead impacting into an unlucky cruiser.  The other hit the engine section of another cruiser in a formation, sending it into another ship and destroying both.

At Captain Summers's order, the flat wedge of his ships split formation.  The cruiser and destroyers breaking right and heading above the pirate's two dimensional battle line and the frigates went underneath. the ISF practiced three dimensional ship combat, some thing the pirates were not prepared to match.

The momentary confusion in the pirate fleet as they reoriented their structure to accommodate gave Morgan a brief opening.

"Revelation, Lightning, Thunder and Victoria will fire on the lead ships in the front of the pirate formation!  Frigates Zuiho, Baker, Eckon Gala and Chandler will charge the central formation, fly right through their line from underneath them and open up with their fusion missiles at close range.  We need to break up their formation and strike hard, they have a numeric advantage in warships."

The fleet ships executed their attacks with precision and speed.  The attack by the frigates, a very risky maneuver, was highly successful.  The frigate baker took heavy damage during the assault, but she was still spaceworthy.

 

[Lushin]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay
Romulus smiled at Wilcox. "That's half the fun of it though". He looks at his squad. "Move out, I want that control room now" Romulus looked at Wilcox as he moved past. "We'll be back before you know it"

[Azlan]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay

There were a number of different exits from the shuttle bay, the obvious ones leading out to hard vacuum.  The internal passages of significance were two in number and both lead away from each other, one north and the other south.

At the north exit Ben, after clearing the hall as far as he could see, motioned Romulus over.  He pointed to a computer interface terminal and smiled.



System space- Battle

The heavy missiles fired by the Phalanx spread in MIRV fashion and impacted on the dreadnaught.

On board the dreadnaught, the feline captain swore and turned to her first officer, "Damage report?"  She asked in heavily Spanish accented galactic common (English).

"Moderate damage amidship, all weapons are at full capacity."  replied the raptorian (Bald Eagle) officer, "our heavy armor soaked up most of that damage."

She sighed, "their warships will tear this fleet up, what is Lord Zhilhon doing?"  Tapping her foot a few times on the ground in impatience, she nearly smashed the button on her chair as she opened up a Comm to her ship, "Engines at full thrust!  Helm, turn us 'round and bring us to bear on that blasted cruiser with the mass drivers!  Weapons, charge the main lasers to maximum and prepare for a full fire on my mark!"

Nodding to the captain, the eagle signaled communications as he smiled, "have the baron take his surprise to their carriers."

With surprising agility, the dreadnaught turned head on to the cruiser and began charging the spinal lasers.

On board the Phalanx, Colonel Nexx regarded his first officer, Commander McDaniels, with a slight amount of surprise, "she means to take us head on and duel... helm match her maneuvers exactly and put us head on.  We need to reduce the profile of this ship as much as possible, less surface area to hit with those lasers the better.  I bet their captain is expecting us to be strictly a support ship, but we have teeth as well.  Weapons, charge all forward particle accelerators and fire on my mark."

"mark!"

"mark."

The huge spinal lasers fired their wide, continuous beams at the Phalanx.  One beam barely missed, paralleling the side of the ship perfectly.  The other scored a hit on the front of the troop cruiser, burning a gash in the front armor.

The particle accelerators fired nearly simultaneously and all four of them lanced across the hull of the Defiance.


As both ships traded fire and the fleets engaged directly, from the farside of the planet came fourteen new shapes heading straight for the carriers.  The sharp, dark silhouettes revealed six fairly new Star Imperium attack frigates bearing the marks of the IFLN, Imperium Foreign Legion Navy.  The insignia of the infamous Mercenary Baron Conner Hasek was brazenly displayed for all to see.  The remaining eight ships were typical corsair frigates. 

The ships approached at high acceleration and began to deploy light space mecha equipped with thruster units (think Tallgeese).

[Lushin]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay
Romulus saw the terminal and smiled back at Ben. HE jumped on his radio.
"Hacker I need you over at my position now. We found a computer interface and I want you to get me the fastest route to the control room. If they have any security cameras, if they do I want them dissabled. Hell even see if you can hack into their main comupters and shut this thing down. Wall and Nitro, I want you two to cover that southern hallway. I don't want anything snecking up on us. If more than you two can handle radio for help. Nitro I don't want you to use any explosives at this point, they are to be used as an emergancy only" *Romulus waited for Wall and Nitro's responce. At the same time they answered they understoud* "RC stick with them, they may need the backup"
Romulus took postion near the opening to the hallway to cover it. He motioned to have Ben do the same.
"Also keep an eye on the other openings. No idea if there anyone will come out of them"

[Azlan]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay

With the arrival of Hacker, it wasn't too long before they were provided with a handy schematic of the base.  Hacker updated the team`s HUD, for those that used it, and plotted the fastest route he could.  The best route was down the corridor Romulus and Ben now guarded. 

Then tried to access the main computer from the terminal, even with his skills he hit a brick wall, "no can do sarge, they locked this terminal down by the wire.  It's a dumb terminal, probably originally used as a navigation aid for visitors.  The only odd thing I was able to find was the excessive number of ventilation ducts leading into this bay..."

His explanation was cut short by gunfire from the other team's position.

"Sarge, we got multiple hostiles..."

"Now!"

From areas around the shuttlebay, pirates popped out of cover and began to open fire.  Near the shuttle, one of the lifter exoskeletons stood up.

The marines immediately sprang into action and began returning fire.

Chief Wilcox was distracted by the sudden surprise attack and failed to notice as one of the "prisoners" produced a ceramic shiv and shoved it into her gut.  He grinned as he mockingly apologized, "sorry sweatheart, but either you or me."

His expression turned to confusion as her expression did not seem to change, in fact she looked rather annoyed.  He was even more surprised when she grabbed his wrist and snapped it with ease.  In one quick motion she tossed him into one of his companions who was also unsheathing a similar weapon.

Lowering her chaingun she pointed it at the rest of them, "not a good idea boys."

The marine sergeant gave a sideways glance as he wrestled with the pirate technician in the exoskeleton lifter frame, "uh chief you are forgetting something."  as he gave a slight nod downward with his head.

Wilcox gazed down at her midsection and swore an oath, "do you know how hard it is to get good synthetic blood and real tissue grafts?"  She plucked out the shiv and snapped it in two.

"It must be nice being a 'borg."

"It has its benefits, now stop dancing with that guy."



System space- Battle

As the new aggressors approached the carriers and troop cruiser, the pirate brigantines began deploying numerous mecha that were very similar to the others.  Equipped with vernier thrusters and similar weapons, they suddenly threw the balance of fighter craft in favor of the pirates.



INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Bridge

Captain Summers was surprised by this action, but was quick to adapt.  He hit the Comm button for the 1MC and sounded emergency stations.  "All mecha units outfit for space combat and lauch immediately.  Commander MacDuff oversee all combat units, you'll need to redo your calculations for mecha suits now."



Cruiser Phalanx - Bridge

Colonel Nexx swore as the enemy attempted to flank the carriers, worse was the fact that the dreadnaught was now dueling with his cruiser.  A battle he could probably win, if not for the sudden frigate charge.

"Open Comm to the Revelation."  Colonel Nexx ordered, "Captain Summers, the enemy has played a sneaky little game with us..."

The Captain nodded knowingly, "we can adapt, order the carriers to feign a withdraw.  Have them circle back and attack from the rear."

Colonel Nexx nodded, "oh Captain, could I trouble you to take the heat of this dreadnaught off of us?"  He asked as he signalled Commander McDaniels to issue the orders to the carriers and his combat units.

Captain Summers nodded, "We'll handle this end, good luck."

"And to you."

Commander McDaniels issued the orders, "all carriers withdraw head to point 6 and circle back to engage targets from rear.  Over boost authorized.  All mecha units outfit for space action immediately.  All assault dropships and attack craft, deploy and engage enemy at close range... any of you space aces know how to skindance?"

[Supercheese]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hangar Deck: Tactical Control Room

A red feather drifted lazily down and came to rest on the black void of space.

Commander MacDuff brushed it off his monitor, else the visible sign of his stress would block his view. The screen showed enemy mecha units - this presented a major twist that his simulations and error margins would have to struggle to deal with.

For the time being, he decided to abandon his calculations and first obey orders, hoping the fleet's mech pilots would be up to the task.

Hastily issuing orders to obtain telemetry on the new enemy units, the Commander turned his attention to reassessing formations & deployment. He keyed up a 3D projection of the battle and quickly scrutinized it, making mental notes on groups fighters and ships. After a pause to receive confirmation of allied mecha deployment, MacDuff turned off the projection and signaled the mecha pilots directly.

"Squadron leaders, do not directly engage the enemy for now. Several allied ships are sustaining considerable damage - focus your priority on forming up and defending those ships. Once we receive more data on the capabilities and numbers of the enemy mecha formations, you may receive authorization to attack directly.

You do, however, have full attack priority on any enemy forces within range of allied ships in distress. Just be sure to stay with your squadrons at all times, and stay in communication. Do not forget to talk to the other pilots out there, either. Just because we're throwing mechs into the mix doesn't mean the fighters aren't there any more."

MacDuff terminated communications and walked over to a large viewscreen with several other officers around it. "All right, it appears simulation won't cover things this time. How are our forces doing?"

"Sir," a lupine lieutenant replied, "Losses are greatest in this sector. I recommend ordering bomber squadrons to fall back and reform at this position."

Following the lieutenant's gestures at the screen, MacDuff saw the logic in this and replied with a nod and a quick, "Make it so."

As the lieutenant left, another officer resumed the discourse. "Now, sir, about the fighter wings..."

[Lushin]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay
"Roger that" Romulus looked at his HUD to check the updates. He spun around at the sound of the gun fire. He ordered Ben and Hacker to watch the corridor they where at. "Keep this one clear, once we got this other crap dealt with, we're moving to take that command center" Romulus quickly moved over to the other corridor Wall, Nitro, and RC where at. He got into a postion to open fire along with the others.
"When you can check the updates on your HUD, make sure it's right. Hacker found a way to get to the command center of this place" Romulus said between bursts of fire. He then openned a channel to Wilcox "Hey do you have any idea why they would have a crap load of ventilation shafts heading into this bay? You may want to keep an eye on the shafts when you're done playing with those guys"

[Eibborn]

Absalom leaped eagerly into his machine, ready for some action. He nodded to himself when he received Macduff's orders and quickly headed toward the threatened ships. He stayed with his squadron, ready for anything and keeping a wary eye on the approaching enemies.

A slight twitch of his left leg is all that there is to suggest that he is anxious. He turns the mecha first left, then right, looking for trouble. He finds it in a trio of pirate mechas approaching as sneakily as possible in a giant metal suit. He aims at the nearest, the one protected on two sides and presumably the leader, and fires. The plasma strikes the pirate's vehicle in the shoulder of the arm carrying the Gauss rifle. A disappointing lack of explosion occurs, but then again Absalom had missed his intended target- the chest. Hope that was enough to put him out of commission, at least, Absalom thought before commenting for the sake of anyone who hadn't noticed him turning and firing, "Looks like three Phoenixes coming in from the front. And," he pauses, wishing he had verified his suspicion before speaking, "There seem to be more following. Can't say how many just yet." He almost makes the mistake of remaining still and trying for a more accurate count, but remembers the three approaching and springs upward, darting out of the way as the two undamaged mechas return fire with their auto cannons.
Amature mistake, that, he chides himself as his squad-mates fire their own weapons at the attackers.

[Azlan]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hangar Deck: Tactical Control Room

A tactical officer turned and addressed Commander MacDuff directly, "sir, the enemy mecha units are attacking our capital ships.  Defensive fire is being effective for now, but we are looking at a deployment of around 300 units."

A young ensign working strategy snapped his fingers and turned to the commander, "sir, the elements of each of their mecha squads are organized into teams of five.  Most of the units I believe are slave-rigged to the leader unit, robotic drones.  If we concentrate on taking out command units, their unit cohesion and effectiveness will drop to null!"


Space Battle - near the Revelation

The two mecha continued to pursue Absalom as the rest of his squad attempted to maneuver to keep up.  The enemy fire was becoming closer as they engaged him. 

Just as fire was closing in on Absalom, as he maneuvered to try and shake their attacks, a large hunk of metallic refuse slammed into one of the enemy mecha, knocking it into its companion and taking both of them out of commission.

From the side of the Revelation's hull, a large utility mecha was waving its arms at Absalom. 

The familiar voice of the fox Orlo came over the comm unit, "stop playing around out here or you'll get killed." 


Space Station: Shuttle Bay

The attackers from the passage were cut down by the expert fire of the special forces.  The pirates, not much more then novices to combat were now scattered in the passage in various stages of wounded or dead.  They had not utilized cover effectively and their weapons were not very effective either of the body armors imployed by Romulus's team or the marines.

Wilcox responded to Romulus's question, "the shafts are not normal, but seeing as the guys that just attacked us in the bay here came out of them, I think the pirates them in to facilitate fast movement throughout the station.  Probably in case they were boarded, as the hallways do not provide much cover, they were trying to ambush us, but they aren't very good at it nor capable of pushing the advantage."

"Hey sarge, I think we can use these shafts to ascend all the way to pretty close to where we need to be... maybe a level underneath the command level or so, they seem to have some type of lift mechanism as well as hand rungs to go up."  Hacker replied as he studied diagrams and continued to guard the other passage.

Sergeant Aniez spoke over the comm channel, "might be a better idea then the main passages, that way we can seal the blast doors and control entry a little better."

 

[Supercheese]

INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hangar Deck: Tactical Control Room

Commander MacDuff heard the report from the sharp ensign and immediately motioned for him to come over with the other officers. "Drone units, you say? If that's the case, then you're absolutely right - we need to take out the command ships." He began to input a series of commands on the closest terminal. "Sensor data," the ensign offered, "seems to confirm this analysis. There are a few targets that are likely command cruisers, although it's not 100% certain." The Commander hastily nodded at the ensign. Turning to the lieutenant directing bombers, he gave all bomber squadrons (previously ordered to fall back) new orders to attack the cruisers thought to be command units.

"They'll need fighter cover. Get on it," MacDuff said to the ensign, whose analysis had sparked the recent flurry of activity. He handed him his personal authorization codes on a datapad, and instructed him to seek out the officer in charge of fighter deployment. As he hurried off, MacDuff keyed the comm and sent a request for frigate support to main fleet dispatch. "It has come to my attention that the enemy mecha units can be disabled if we take out their command cruisers," he said as he transmitted the list of suspected targets. "Sensor data indicates that we should first attack these ships. I already have fighter and bomber wings inbound. I hesitate to order our mecha units to assist in the attack, as they are busy protecting several of our ships sustaining damage. I believe a coordinated bomber/frigate assault should be sufficiently swift and damaging to disable their command structure."

"Stand by..." The Commander waited for the response, expecting a swift reply.

[Lushin]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay
"Roger that" Romulus moved back over to Hacker's postion. "Find us the best path to take through those shafts. I don't want to end up in the laundry room by mistake" Romulus radioed his squad. "Ok guys get ready to move once we have a set path to take. So make sure if you have to use the little soldier's room, you do so now. Cause once we get in the vent shafts we aren't stopping til we take the command center"

[Paladin Sheppard]

Space Battle: LAMs

Kal looked over his HUD: 65% Railgun ammo 4 missiles left in the pods and 2 ER missiles on hardpoints.

"Viper, I'm getting pretty low over here you see any shortage of these bas.....Ahh Shit" He broke off as something skipped off the Raptor's fuselage just behind the cockpit. Sparks blinded Kal as his LAM jerked around, the controls flickering from manual to auto and back. Finally Kal hit the killswitch shutting off the computer and causing the Raptor to go dark.

'Cool Hand' Sat in the LAM and looked over what was damaged. After pulling a few wires out he managed to run a bypass of the damaged circuits.

As Kal started the computer up a shadow passed over the LAM, looking up Kal swore as the pirates flagship swelled in his HUD.

Knowing if he moved too early the ships gunners would atomise his LAM with AA fire, and if too late he'd be a smear on its armor...Kal hit the stance change controls switching the Raptor into its mecha mode and waited a little longer.

Hitting the thrusters Kal made his attempt to get close to the dreadnought aiming at the base of the larger turrets and prayed that his thruster flare blind its gunners long enough to get down...

[Azlan]

Space Battle: LAMs

If the turret gunners notice Kal's LAM, they made no indication of it. 

Explosions erupted all around Kal, moments later his comm crackled to life, "are all of you LAM pilots crazy?  This is Six with 1st Strike Wing, designated Gold Alpha, and we are making attack runs against this beast.  You best get off there."

Kal got a wonderful view of the Revelation as the pirate dreadnaught he was riding raked her side with a spinal laser discharge.  The Revelation paid her back two fold.



INARI Class Cruiser, Revelation - Hangar Deck: Tactical Control Room

The comm crackled to life just as the ship was rocked by a direct hit, warning alarms went off everywhere, but the damage internally appeared to be minor.

Captain Summers appeared on the screen, "That was close, acknowledged Commander, we are sending in the firgates.  Our ships are keeping everyone on the run, but if our Special Forces team doesn't take out their target, we are going to be seeing some heavy losses."


Out in the space battle, the frigates, which had been darting in and out of the fleet formations and trusting to their more advanced ECM to keep them safe, registered ther target data and fired spreads of fusion missiles.



Space Station: Shuttle Bay

Hacker made his best estimation of the route and the team assembled near the shaft entrance, a wounded pirate in the passage itself made a feeble attempt to fire his gun, but Ben managed to knock it away.  The shaft was indeed ventilation and the air movement could definitely be felt.  A small room with aa lift on the far wall and a set of ladder rungs leading up were all that could be found in here.  The lift appeared operational.

In the main landing area, the marines closed the blast doors to the passages and sealed them.  Tehy left a pair of autoguns in each passage as a little surprise to any intruder that did not register with its IFF systems.


In the lift, Ben gestured everyone on and immediately tracked with his weapon the area above him. 

[Paladin Sheppard]

Space Battle: On the outer hull of the Dreadnaught

Activating the mag-clamps on the Raptor's feet Kal took cover behind the turret he had landed next to.

"No can do 'Six', my flight mode is busted I'm here for the duration..." Kal broke off for a few seconds to use his computer to locate a airlock big enough for him to cut his way into. Luckly there was one only 50m away "Give me 20 and I'll be out of the life of fire."

Slaping a beacon on the turret to help the bombers, Kal unholstered the vibro blade mounted on the back of the LAM. Breacking into a sprint he fired of a burst of railgun slugs at a nearby AA turret that had a line of sight to him. As he reached the airlock, he activated the blade the edge glowing slightly with the heat it produced. After makeing a few quick cuts he kicked at the outer doors and jumped in.

Placing a breaching charge agains the inner doors, Kal stood the mecha as far to the back of the airlock as he could. Detonating the charge he watched as the next compartment rapidly decompresed. Rushing through, Kal brought the railgun up to face any surviving threats as he felt the hull of the dreadnaught shudder slightly as 'Gold Alpha' made their run.

[Lushin]

Space Station: Shuttle Bay
Romulus lead the others to the lift and waited til everyone else was on the lift. The others followed Ben and aimed up before the lift moved. Romulus maned the lift controls.
"Second floor, Sporting Goods, Mens' clothing, and Command Center"

[Azlan]

Inside the Dreadnaught Defiance

The area Kal seems to have penetrated leads into one of the lower hanger areas, since this was a Trade Consortium ship once, what was seen as an airlock was probably a cargo loading area.  In fact, this hanger area is probably a converted cargo bay.  It appears deserted, however a flashing indicator light on Kal's display registers a power indicator to his left.

In the darkness of the bay, a line of blue light can be seen approaching.  Stepping into the light was a black painted assault mecha, an old "Black Phoenix" model.  The blue line is revealed as some type of particle energy sword, from what Kal knows of these mecha units, Beam Sabers are not standard equipment.


Space Station: Lift

The lift rapidly ascended several levels, only eight levels from their destination, the lift's controls registered a call from a few levels above.  Apparently they would soon have guests.

 

[Paladin Sheppard]

Inside the Dreadnaught Defiance

Snaping the Guass Rifle up Kal triggered a burst, going for a disable of the Black Phoenix arm.  Shattering most of the armor on the mecha arm Kal's fire failed to knock it out. Moving out of Kal's line of fire, the pirate mecha swung its blade at the Raptor, barely missing as Kal steped back.

Steping forward again, Kal droped the Guass Rifle and used his free hand to grapple with the Black Pheonix's sword arm. mimicing his act, the pirate grabed at Kal's own sword arm. Using the newier LAM's strength Kal held the other's sword at bay as he pushed down and severed the pirate's arm. Reversing his swing Kal swept his blade through the Black Pheonix's leg toppling it to the deck.

Backing off and picking up his rifle, Kal brought it around to bump agains the others faceplace. Opening a comms channel he spoke to the pilot. "Stand down now."

[Lushin]

Space Station: Lift
Romulus nods as the message comes through. He stops the lift and looks at his squad.
"Alright boys take cover and active you camoflage. Don't fire until they are almost on top of us. No Nitro you can't setup any explosives now, they are too close"

[Azlan]

Inside the Dreadnaught Defiance

A female voice, a rather young sounding one at that answered back over the comm, "Stand down now, yeah sure thing, you got the gun."

The mecha raised its remaining arm in a surrender type of pose.

"I don't know what you expect to accomplish coming in here, you can't get into any other part of the ship in that thing.  Also, see the walls?  You could detonated a nuclear device in here and it would be contained."


Space Station: Lift

[OOC: the lift is an exposed open-air platform and not a contained elevator.]


Four decks from the Command level, the lift stopped.  The team, utilizing their optical camouflage, stood ready and as still as possible.  The landing they arrived on was empty, but a second after they stopped, the door leading into the actual floor proper opened.

Four pirate troopers entered the landing with weapons out and tracking.  It took Romulus's team all the restraint they possessed not to open fire.  The pirate troops did not appear to see his team

The pirate team leader entered the landing area and one of the squad troopers saluted him, "sir, there is no one here."

The pirate officer nodded in acknowledgment, "they must be using the rungs to ascend to the command level.  We already have a trap set up there for them.  We assumed they would be heading there, good thing we've never actually used it as a command center."

The squad leader smiled, "yes sir, no one would expect that the master is actually here in the living quarters section."

"take your squad down the shaft in the elevator and see if you can catch them while climbing."  The officer said as he turned to head back through the door.

The squad leader saluted again and his team entered the lift.  One of the soldiers looked square at Ben and began to stare intensely before his eyes widened with shock and surprise.

Acting precisely Ben, along with Wall, RC and Nitro, took out all four guards with precise vibro knife strikes.  The moves were so fast and quite that the officer did not even notice as he headed for the door.

[Lushin]

Space Station: Lift
Moving fast and silent as the rest of his team Romulus moved to take out the officer before he went through the doors. Like the others in the squad he used his vibro knife to striker a vital area and kill the officer. Once the bodies where loaded into the lift and the lift sent back down to the floor they originally boarded. As the lift went down Romulus opened a com channel to the marines. He quietly whispers "You've got some bodies coming down in the lift we went up. Sorry their not wrapped up with a bow or anything. We had to do some clean up here" He then addressed his squad in the same quiet whisper "Alright boys what do you think? That seemed almost like a setup there. Also what do they mean by 'master'? Hacker did you see any info of this when you where checking through their systems?" Romulus continued to keep his camoflage active and to keep an eye out for any more more pirates.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Inside the Dreadnaught Defiance

Using his comms in secure text mode, Kal sent a request to the Revelation's Electronic Warfare group asking if they had the manufacture's override codes to a Azul Class Dreadnaught. Unclipping a flexipad from the unit he attached it to his suit.

"Ok honey step out of the mecha...Oh before you do open up your circuit box and pull out the card labeled XFG-007a"

Waiting till she did so Kal pulled a G4 carbine from the locker by his chair and made sure it was loaded.

[Azlan]

Tactical section: Revelation

An encrypted message appeared on the message screen for one of the technicians in the EW department.  A Siamese feline female read the message and immediately sent a request out to all departments.

All Departments:

One of our field personnel is requesting manufacturer's system override codes for the Azul class Dreadnaughts of the Trade Consortium.  If anyone knows of any such codes, please forward them to my attention immediately.

Ship Class: Azul
Sphere of Control: Trade Consortium
Manufacturer: General Manufacturer's Guild (GMG) under naval construction contract 1400
Original Production Date: 4409 to 4449

This request is considered an A1 class priority.

EW1 Kwan



Inside the Dreadnaught Defiance

Having little choice, the pilot pulled the requested card, but before she did, she secreted a hold-out pistol in one of her utility pouches on her Vacsuit, one of the ones on her back.  It was the best she could do as her Steyr heavy pistol was far too bulky to conceal.

She stepped out and onto the chest of the mecha she piloted and waved the XFG-007a card in the air, she kept the other hand out and in sight away from any pocket or weapon.

"Okay sweetie, here's the card you asked so nicely for."


Space Station: Living quarters deck

Ben scratched his chin and shrugged, "seems a tad convenient, but if they knew we were here, I doubt they would have been so easy to kill.  I surprised the heck out of the one I killed."

Hacker accessed his computer and shook his head, "sarge, there is nothing like that in the systems I accessed, but it was very limited access.  The only thing I can tell from any of these logs is that there is a tremendous amount of power being diverted to the living quarters area and it looks like it might be being forwarded on to the Command Center and I think from there the Communications Array... wait, no.  It is routed to look like it is going to the Command Center, but in actuality it looks like it might be routed from here to the Comm array directly."

Nitro tossed a grenade up into the air and caught it again in his hand, "okay... now do I get to blow shit up?"

[Lushin]

Space Station: Living quarters deck
Romulus let out a slight growl at the information. "Ok Nitro keep some explosives ready. Things may get rather interesting soon. Just make sure to keep the explosions small. We don't need to rip a hole through this thing and suck us into space" Romulus addressed the group "Well guys looks like things have changed quite a bit. Hacker can you get a location on where that power is being driven too or are we gonna have to rip this level apart screw by screw?'

[Paladin Sheppard]

Inside the Dreadnought Defiance

"Aright drop the holster and put the card on top...Sugar." Kal grinned to himself as she complied.

Checking the bay once more for any other pirates, Kal stepped out of the Raptor, brought the carbine up, and fired the under slung projectile launcher. The tazer round smacked into the very much surprised pirate, dropping her to the deck already passed out.

"Sorry girl but I'm not doing Colmar V again..." Kal stepped off the mecha and sprinted to the doors, using a lite hack program to lock them down.

Sprinting back to the pirate's mecha, Kal flipped over the prone body and used a pair of plasicuffs to secure her hands and feet. Picking up the circuit card and securing it in a pouch he then picked up the pirate. Trotting back to the Raptor he pulled her up and into the cockpit.

Dogging the hatch he put the girl down in the jump seat. Checking she was secure he patted her down finding a blade and a nasty little holdout pistol. Satisfied that he wasn't going to be interrupted, he took the circuit card out of the pouch. Pulling a rather toasted card with the same designation out of his circuit box, he replaced it with the...Well if not new at least functioning card.

Strapping himself in he noted that his stance readout was no longer reading a red for flight mode. "Well at least I can get out of here now...If those EW guys can find that code that is."