|
Post by Aegis on Jul 5, 2004 23:44:23 GMT -5
Before any of the other crew regained consciousness, Aegis had already reverted himself back to his human form, so as none of the others know about his true identity. Kara, still unconscious, ended up being carried to the airlock, and then given the ceremonial 'get out'.
At this point in time, Aegis didn't care about what Dulkor thought, or what would happen now that they are out of a ship. All that mattered to him is that Kara has been unharmed, and would finally wake up.
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 6, 2004 1:15:41 GMT -5
OOC: Sorry I seemed to disappear. My internet's been sporadic lately, and add to that my computer's frightening tendency to simply die, and you get the picture. I'm going to reinstall windows tomorrow or the next day and see if that helps the crashing any, though. IC post when I can.
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 6, 2004 2:15:04 GMT -5
Before Talera and Talos had entered warp.
Jenn dressed her wound before falling into a deep sleep on her bed. Her slumber was almost completely dreamless, a blessing when she remembered her last dream, which had served only to raise some uncomfortable questions.
---------------------------------- Several hours later.
Talos exited warp on Talera's back. The ship disengaged from Dulkor's vessel and made its way to a docking bay. Meanwhile, in her cabin, Jenn was entering a dream. She saw a man who was completely familiar to her. The man smiled at her and disappeared, leaving only his beautiful eyes floating in the air. They glanced at Jenn before the left one winked and both faded away.
Jenn opened her own eyes and found herself staring at the ceiling of her cabin. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes with her palms. Argus's voice interrupted her yawn. "Captain. Dulkor requested while you were asleep that you call him when you awoke. Also, I have three messages. One is from Roo. He says that he and Ceras are unharmed. The second is from Boris. He is unharmed as well. The third is encrypted and the sender unknown. I have already begun work on decoding it. Would you like me to open a line to Dulkor?"
Jenn rubbed her side, feeling hot knives of pain shoot through her body. Careless, Jenn. That's what you get. "Yes, Argus," she said.
Argus waited for a moment. "Line open. No video broadcast." A small monitor lowered itself from the ceiling and turned on, revealing Dulkor's scarred face.
Jenn got up and began to get dressed. "Good morning, Dulkor. Any plans for today?"
|
|
|
Post by Mega Raptor on Jul 6, 2004 3:27:32 GMT -5
Dulkor was right in the middle of playing when the console beeped, making him lose the tune.
Oh well, I can always pick it up again later.
Sighing, he set the pipes aside and activated the comm system, and was greeted by Jenn's voice.
"Good morning, Dulkor. Any plans for today?"
"Nope, only stopping in because it was easier than trying to guess where we were and come up with a course somewhere else," he visibly stretched a bit, working some of the kinks out of his back. This wasn't the first time he'd been up all night, just lounging around in that chair, but he always regreted it whenever he moved around a lot immediately after, "What about you, got any plans? I'll probably be in port for a day or two while I try to figure out where I'm off to next."
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 6, 2004 22:49:39 GMT -5
Jenn finished getting dressed and was now attired in a pair of formfitting black pants with a half-dozen bondage straps criss-crossing the backs of her legs. She wore a sleeveless dark black top with the picture of a woman in a shirt tied below her bosom and tight dark pants and knee-high leather boots reclining on the bones of the Jolly Roger on the back of it. She grabbed her jacket and tucked her SOCOM in its holster inside. She slipped the jacket on as she buckled her belt and then flipped her hair out over the back of the jacket.
She looked at her monitor and pressed a button on it, activating her own visual broadcast. "Alright then," She said to Dulkor's image. "I'll just be wandering around, then. You can call Argus if you want to get in touch." She winked and blew a kiss at the screen before it shut off.
Jenn disembarked from Talos and headed for the nearest bar.
|
|
|
Post by Pkmatrix on Jul 8, 2004 18:17:21 GMT -5
"Hey..."
Riyad stirs. She smiles.
"Good morning, sleepy head," she whispers in a sing-song voice, gently rubbing a finger over his chest. He reaches out and caresses her cheek, before closing the gap between their lips.
"Good morning," he replies.The cyborg mecha suddenly comes out of Sleep Mode, completely confused. What...was that? Another memory? Noticing that, in his Zero-G slumber, he'd floated awfully close to the cabin's ceiling, Riyad activates several of his verniers and rights himself. "Oh, good, you're awake." One of his shipmates turns to him from the co-pilot's seat. "We got a call from Takarada. They've docked at Antilla." "Interesting," Riyad replies, "Any word from the observer?" "None. We assume that she hasn't had a good chance to call." "Understandable." Riyad floats towards the front, looking over the pilot's shoulder at the starfield before them. They are at least a day away from Antilla Colony. I wonder...I wonder if I will feel that same presence I felt at Starlight here at Antilla? I suspect it may be due to the large human populations, not to anything more dramatic than that. Still, there is always the possibility that I am sensing something that my body recognizes. Could it be something more? Could these recurring memories have some connection with it?Riyad crosses his arms and begins putting his systems back into Sleep Mode. I will think more of this issue after we reach our destination. Until then...Sleep. Antilla Colony Space Port"So..." Wind finally says, crossing his arms, "What do we do now?" The group of former stowaways now rests in the Space Port lounge, pretty much resting after the arduous ordeal of getting their asses kicked, tied up, and ultimately getting kicked out. Aegis sighs. "There isn't much we CAN do. Without a ship, we're pretty much stranded here," he says, looking down at Kara, now sleeping on the bench next to him with her head in his lap, "And, unless somebody has some money stashed away, I don't see us getting a ticket out." Now it is Paul's turn to sigh. "Oh well..." he whispers. Suddenly, a look of confusion crosses his face. "Wait...weren't there seven of us?" "Where's Davis?" "I haven't seen him since we docked at Starlight," says Aegis, "God, I hope he's all right." "Yeah..." "Wait...but that's still..." Aaron's eyes bug out. "LIZ!!!" Liz McAffee crosses her arms and smirks as she stares out the window at the Space Port. "Aaron!" Paul quickly grabs his brother's collar before he runs off. "We have to save her!" the kid practically screams, "She's trapped on that ship...with that...FREAK!" Aegis narrows his eyes. "He's not a freak..." he mutters. Wind gives him an odd look. "Listen," Paul says, "You can't just run over and start beating down the door. If he catches us snooping around his ship for any reason, he'll probably KILL us." "But..." "We'll wait until after he leaves the ship," Wind interrupts, "He's bound to at some point. Then, we'll sneak aboard and look for her." "How would we get inside?" Wind cracks his knuckles. "Trust me. There's ALWAYS a way inside." OOC: I hope you guys don't mind me hijacking your characters for a little bit, especially you, Wind. It just suddenly came to me that, considering your character's ability to just...appear...it would make sense that he would volunteer to help find Liz. Sorry if you were planning to do something else!
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 9, 2004 2:23:41 GMT -5
Jenn made her way to the bar slowly. She had been to Antilla a few times before, and she knew her way around. Antilla was a mainly residential colony that orbited the moon, similar in size and shape to the colonies at the Sides. The colony, in addition to housing over two million permanent residents, was also a popular stopping point on the way from Earth to the cities on Luna. Therefore, traffic around the colony was usually relatively thick, which also helped to conceal a small underground pirate hideout.
However, it wasn't the pirate hideout that Jenn was heading to at the moment. It was instead one of the bars in the main city that was more known to the locals than the tourists, and therefore less crowded. She hailed a cab and had it drop her off on the block the bar was on, then walked into the small, run-down building.
From the outside, the bar was not much to look at at all. It was dirty and had bars over the windows as well as graffiti on the walls. But inside, it was a different story. The Bombshell was a clean, well-kept establishment that gave off a feeling of welcome. Jenn looked around the bar. Not many people at this time of day, but in one of the corner booths a man in a suit and sunglasses with unkempt black hair laughed with a pair of large, musclebound men who were themselves clad in suits and sunglasses. Just businessmen spending their lunch hour in the 'Shell. She slid into a seat at the bar and motioned for the bartender. "Lunar Triple, please," she said. The bartender nodded and left her alone while he mixed the drink.
Jenn looked over her shoulder at the thinner man. He was grinning, probably at a joke. She looked next to him. There was a nondescript black briefcase on the seat next to him, and a small silver cell phone on the table between him and the two larger men. The larger men had a huge object wrapped in black cloth between them.
Jenn got the feeling that she was being watched and glanced at the smaller man. He was now speaking, and the two larger men were stifling laughter. These guys sure liked to joke, didn't they? She shook off the feeling and turned back towards the bar. The bartender set down a crystal cup with white, red, and green liquid suspended over each other. She smiled and pulled a few bills out of her pocket and set them on the bar. She sipped on the drink as she watched the bartender bring the the three men some beers. One of the larger guys chugged the entire beer and crushed the can on his forehead, much to the amusement of his companions. The smaller man, still smiling from this display, turned his head towards the bar. Jenn found herself staring straight at him. She felt her cheeks begin to flush and tore her gaze away. Why am I blushing? she thought. Dammit...that creep had better not come over here or I'll have to-
"This stool taken?"
Jenn looked up. The thin man was standing next to her, regarding her through his sunglasses. She frowned at him. "No, but are you sure you want to sit there?" She began to sip on the red layer of her Lunar Triple, a light berry liquor which tasted mainly of cherries.
The man grinned at her. "I can't pass up the opportunity to sit next to someone like you. I apologize for staring." He extended a hand. "It was rather rude of me, but I couldn't help myself. I'm Drake Canon."
Jenn took the hand and shook it firmly. The man was tall and rather thin, but the strength of his handshake said something different. "And I'm Jennifer Kestrel, Mr. Canon."
"Charmed," said Drake as he sat down in the stool next to Jenn. "I believe I've heard your name before. Perhaps on the news?" He smiled his enigmatic smile, the kind where Jenn couldn't tell if he was serious or not.
"Perhaps," replied Jenn as she finished up the red layer of her drink, moving onto the green one. "I believe that I am familiar with your name as well, Mr. Canon. Would you happen to be the Drake Canon who owns several of the larger buildings on this colony?"
"The same." Drake finished his beer and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. "Are you doing anything tonight, Miss Kestrel? I have to leave right now, but I would love for you to join me for dinner later."
Jenn smiled at the man as she sipped more of the green layer of the Lunar Triple, a very tangy melon and apple liquor. "No, I believe I'll be free."
"Excellent. I regret to say that I will be forced to bring my associates along. Is that a problem?"
Jenn sipped on her Lunar Triple as she looked over at the men at the booth, who were busily looking in the briefcase that Drake had left behind. "No, not at all. Pick me up at La Fleur downtown?"
"I shall." Drake smiled and took Jenn's hand again. He gave the back of her hand a light brush with his lips, a gesture that made Jenn's entire arm tingle pleasantly.
She laughed lightly despite herself. "Then I'll see you then." Drake finished up his beer and set it on the bar. He motioned to his friends and they gathered up their things and followed him out of the door.
Jenn looked down at her drink as she realized that she that the man had never taken his sunglasses off, and that she usually didn't like businessmen. She smiled to herself and downed the entire white-colored remnant of her Lunar Triple, a strange cinnamon-sugary liquid, as she decided that she didn't care.
|
|
|
Post by Mega Raptor on Jul 9, 2004 3:38:49 GMT -5
Something about that ship is a little too familiar... the security chief thought, going over the list of currently docked ships.
"Someone get a feed on one of those new ships, the 'Talera' I think it is. I want a closer look at it," he called over his shoulder.
Within moments, he had a very close look at the vessel.
That's it... the one that's been following the operations. Well, we were instructed to act to stop it if we saw it...
He turned back to his subordinates, "I know that ship! It's a pirate vessel! Get Hammer and Anvil teams down there to secure and impound, arrest anyone aboard!"
"Are you sure, sir? What if it's a civilian ship?" one of his aides asked.
"Have you ever seen a ship like that before?" the chief responded. His subbordinate shook his head, "It's a custom ship, and I've seen reports that claim the people on board are very dangerous. We need to secure them now, before they do whatever they're planning for the colony."
"Alright, I'll trust your judgement, sir."
-----------------------
Dulkor was suddenly alerted to a beeping on his ship's open communicator. Curious, he pressed the button, activating voice only transmission, "This is the Talera. What's going on?"
"This is the Port Authority, you are to allow a search team on board immediately, and surrender. We have reason to believe wanted criminals are on board!"
You gotta be kidding me... Dulkor thought as he saw four MS landing outside his cockpit.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'm afraid we will take your vessel by force," was the reply.
Shit. Dulkor stood up, grabbing his cloak, and walking out of the cockpit, the ship computer automatically adjusting the speakers on the ship to follow him.
"Fine, just give me a moment," he said, running for the hangar.
"Immediately, sir, or we're forcing the hatch. We've already remotely locked some of your systems, so do not attempt to move your vessel."
"I wasn't going to," Dulkor said honestly enough, "and frankly... fuck off. If you want in, get in yourself!"
There was no further transmission, Dulkor sprinted into the hangar as the guards forced the front airlock, coming on board for a search and seizure operation.
In the meantime, Dulkor quickly climbed the platform for his black MS, and raised himself up to the cockpit, opening it and jumping in.
"Reactor, online. Weapon systems, online. Operating system, online. All systems, nominal. Xiphos ready for combat," the system stated as he flipped the necessary controls and strapped in.
"Right then... A direct fight is suicide... I gotta take out any pursuers and hide before more are ready..." Dulkor started to move his MS, just as one of the security teams entered the hangar.
-----------------------------
(OOC: for the record, the Talera is still mostly intact, Dulkor just had to shoot his way out of the hangar, and one of the shots hit some explosive materials outside of the ship)
An explosion suddenly rocked through the port, emenating from the hangar of the Talera. The security chief watched as a strange black mobile suit jetted out of the wreckage and towards the colony proper.
"He's making a break for it! Seal the elevators! Hammer team, attack! Kill that son of a bitch!"
The heavy doors around the elevators began to close.
------------------------
Dulkor slammed his accelerators to full throttle and raced for the doors, the militia MS team quickly responded, all four 'Daughtress' class suits moving to intercept, but they were completely outclassed. Without losing any speed, Dulkor rolled the suit to have it's back to the ground and opened up with a hand mounted beam cannon, slamming into one MS's torso and destroying it instantly. He fired another shot, this time missing slightly and severing the target's right leg instead.
He continued towards the nearest elevator, the door rapidly sealing itself, and pulled up just a bit, the black mobile suit slipped cleanly through the rapidly shrinking space, and the remaining suits in the dock were trapped.
More doors were closing ahead of him, but Xiphos had just enough momentum to get past them, and onto the elevator itself, which had stopped midway when the doors began closing.
Dulkor looked around, and as luck would have it spotted exactly what he needed.
Onboard the elevator was a truck carrying munitions for the base. Dulkor walked Xiphos over to it, picking the truck up and throwing it to the front of the elevator, where the material was the thinest, and grinned at the resulting explosion, ripping through most of the metal on the elevator.
He boosted towards the resulting hole, activating twin beam katars to cut the rest of the way through and boosted down, uninterrupted as the doors below the elevator hadn't sealed. At the bottom he was greeted by another team of Daughtresses, but they obviously hadn't been expecting him, as he was able to blast through two of them before they responded to his presence.
He charged in close, shoving a katar into one suit while slamming Xiphos' tail into its companion, sending it flying to the ground. Dulkor fired a parting shot into the suit on the ground and took off into a nearby canyon system, part of the colony's climate control and the storage place of most of the water.
Flying low along the river, he spotted just what he needed. A small cave system at the waterline. He flew inside, careful not to disturb the rock, and set down at a shallow part of the water. This cave was most likely connected to the surface, as it was almost certainly artificial, but since it didn't look like anyone had actually seen where he went, he was fairly certain he'd be safe for now.
Powering the suit down in a crouching position, Dulkor took a few deep breaths, then activated his comm, "Argus... put me in touch with Jenn. I've got a serious problem."
|
|
|
Post by Draco Starcloud on Jul 9, 2004 4:18:19 GMT -5
Dulkor was about to disocver how big his problem was.
Aboard a nearby Bartolk-class cruiser, a trio of MS are being prepared for deployment.
"Hey lieutenant! We've just got a call from Antilla Colony!" shouted an excited Ensign Archer Steiner.
"What's the call?" Lt. Bo Godos said, looking up from a report he was writing for his superiors.
"A ship we were ordered to track immediately after the colony drop has appeared there and has launched an MS that took out four Daughtresses. The captain's ordered us to launch!" Ensign Steiner exclaimed.
Lt. Godos stood up from his desk and began walking to the briefing room.
"Get Ensign Starfire and meet me in the hanger. We'll be launching shortly." he ordered.
As the ensign left, Godos turned to look at this report and sighed. Finally, he'd be able to include something other than attacking a pirate or coming upon a derelict luxury liner.
OOC: Uh oh. GUNDAMS.
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 10, 2004 1:28:44 GMT -5
Argus responded quickly. The computer spoke in a slight monotone, but the tone of urgency in its voice was still noticable. "Captain Jenn is not onboard, Dulkor. Also, she seems to either not have her communicator with her, or it is not turned on. I am sorry. However, what is your status, so that I may tell her the instant she is in contact? I have already seen that the Talera was boarded and that you have escaped."
--------- Meanwhile
Jenn took one of her many fake credit cards back from the man at the desk of Antilla's most luxurious hotel, La Fleur. The lobby was massive, and Jenn stood close to the east wall where the front desk was. The clerk was young and pleasant looking, with thick brown hair and very white teeth. He looked at Jenn. "I trust that you have proper attire, madam?" His eyes sweeped over her figure, taking in the pants with bondage straps and shirt with a woman reclining lazily on it.
"Of course," she said.
The man nodded and handed her a small ornate key. "Suite two thousand, madam. Have a nice stay."
"Oh, I will," purred Jenn as she pocketed the key. And in La Fleur's presidential suite, I think it would take a lot to keep me from enjoying myself immensely...
------------------------ Meanwhile
Drake Canon looked over the clipboard. "Good. Very good." He turned to a small man in a lab coat standing just to the left of him. "Excellent work, Doctor Kess. Oh, do you mind taking a look at this?"
A pair of large men in suits walked forward, one carrying a huge bundle wrapped in black cloth. He unwrapped the package, revealing a massive machinegun. Its well-oiled surface gleamed in the light from the huge fixtures mounted in the ceiling of the hangar.
Dr. Kess looked over the weapon. "Very interesting, Mr. Canon. This appears to be...a handheld twenty-millimeter cannon. Where did you find such an item?"
Drake smiled. "I built it."
"Very interesting, Mr. Canon. Such a small weapon compared to similar items, as well. This could very well be an excellent marketable product, Mr. Canon. Squad-portable automatic cannon for anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense."
Drake looked past Dr. Kess, into the section of the hangar that had no lights on. Dark green lines pulsed on a massive shadowy shape. "Maybe, Dr. Kess."
|
|
|
Post by Mega Raptor on Jul 10, 2004 1:41:22 GMT -5
"I'm not in a good situation right now. Had to kill some militia just to get to a hiding place, and I'm sure they'll have more people on the lookout now. I can't get anywhere with just Xiphos here and my ship's probably been impounded by now," he sighed, "Look, keep trying to get a signal through, but I'm gonna have to ditch the suit here for now. I've got no way out of the colony without assistance. I had enough time to grab my disguise before getting off, so with any luck I can move around a bit."
He opened the hatch and took another look around, before climbing out of the suit. The part of the cave it was in was sufficiantly dark and out of the way, it wasn't likely to be noticed.
"I've got my personal communicator with me, so whenever you get in touch with Jenn, just patch her through," he threw the cloak on, as well as a pair of boots and gloves. Finally, he pulled the hood up to hide his face and made his way out of the cave, following the river into a nearby wooded section of the colony.
|
|
Wind
Gamma
Boom.
Posts: 294
|
Post by Wind on Jul 10, 2004 1:49:27 GMT -5
OOC: It's fine PK, I appreciate people giving my characters stuff to do, cuts down on the amount of time I have to use pondering. : P
IC:
"What was that?" Wind asked as a series of loud explosions were heard, "You know, don't answer that, because I believe that is our que."
|
|
|
Post by Aegis on Jul 10, 2004 1:52:38 GMT -5
Restless, Aegis scooped Kara into his arms, and walked away from the bench.
"As much as I'd like to help, I have other concerns," he said. "Right now, I need to get Kara to a hospital or something, and I'll feel better if I'm there to see her wake up. Excuse me..."
|
|
|
Post by dragonclaw15 on Jul 10, 2004 2:13:51 GMT -5
"Roger, Dulkor," said Argus as it continued to monitor Jenn's comm.
Argus never reached Jenn's comm, but the woman herself stepped into the ship about twenty minutes later to get her luggage. Argus quickly explained the situation to her.
"Damn..." Jenn activated her own comm. "Dulkor, you okay?"
-------------------
Drake looked around the hangar. It was a converted warehouse, specifically to hold this underpowered test model. The machine in the corner was mainly to test the drives and engine, and it had been refitted to test the hand-to-hand combat routines. To accomplish that goal, a handheld energy sword had been mounted on its back. The sword was nothing special, just a sword that was sheathed in an energy aura when activated. The field ran out of power after about fifteen minutes, but then all that was required was returning the sword to a recharge plug, one of which could be found on the machine's back and left and right hip.
Drake was proud of the creation, but it was merely a test model and ultimately not that valuable now that all of the test results had been taken from it. It now only contained its original battle computer and its actual hardware. Even its experimental reactor wasn't as valuable as it could be, since it at the moment only generated an amount of power comparable to a mobile suit's Minovsky reactor.
Drake looked at his watch and grinned. Soon, he'd be eating dinner with a beautiful woman. He nodded at Dr. Kess and walked away, a squad of bodyguards accompanying him.
|
|
|
Post by Mega Raptor on Jul 10, 2004 3:25:41 GMT -5
Dulkor had stayed inside the forest he'd wandered into, near a roadway and a tram station.
He responded quickly to Jenn's signal, however, "I'm here. I'm pretty sure I'm safe for the moment. I don't think any of the militia actually know what I look like, but there's no way in hell I can get out of this place on my own, and to be frank, you're the only person I trust here."
"Aw, that just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside," said Jenn, her voice neutral. "So what do you need me to do?"
"Honestly... I have no idea what I'm going to do, much less what you'd need to do. But for now, I'm gonna need some place to stay. The more I'm out in public, the more risk there is of someone realizing I'm not human."
Jenn sighed lightly as she thought for a moment. "Alright...Antilla's got a pretty nice pirate hideout in the warehouse district, near the red light district. Go to the bar 'Wolf Howl' in the warehouse district. Talk to the bartender, tell him you know me. I'm staying at the La Fleur tonight, but it's in the heart of downtown...not a good place to be for you."
"Alright then... Any more specific directions once I'm in that area? In all honesty I've never stopped at this colony before."
"It's too far to walk from where you are. How much cash do you have?"
"Not much I can use locally. Maybe about 10 Federal credits."
"That's fine. Get a cab and ask the driver to take you to the bar. He should know the way. There's a password with the bartender...if you say you know me, that should be enough, though. If he doesn't believe you, just call me up."
"Right, I should be fine. If anything happens that I can't handle myself, I'll call."
"Just be careful, Dulkor." Jenn finished grabbing her things and packing them carefully into a suitcase. She took the case and headed out of airlock back towards the hotel.
"Yeah, yeah. Good luck with whatever it is you're up to," Dulkor said as he made his way into the outskirts of the nearby city to catch a cab.
|
|