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Post by Griggs on Sept 15, 2008 19:09:34 GMT
Returning to his seat after the officer (Alanik, was it?) had left, Angus reset the ship to go back to it's original path down to the planet. He wasn't landing on the larger of it's two cities, which in Angus's view was an over-populated hellhole with virtually no space to even sleep. Rather, it was the smaller one on the opposite side of the continent, which was much more pleasant atmosphere-wise. If you didn't mind the significantly larger crime rate, that was, largely due to the fact there was much more open space to store contraband.
Angus went to his locker and grabbed his Deftech. It was a pistol, loaded with .40 caliber caseless hollow point rounds, bulky but very durable. It was an old fashioned weapon, but popular with traders because the rounds would just bounce off of or crumple on most reinforced ship hulls instead of shooting straight through like military issue plasma and laser weapons. In this business, explosive decompression was about as bad as it got, as many traders considered their ships more important than their own safety.
He put the weapon in a concealed holster under a jacket (the air conditioning present most everywhere often got a little chilly) and brought the Lady in for a landing.
"In the pipe, 5 by 5."
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Post by Ty on Sept 16, 2008 0:33:43 GMT
"Aw, damn."
Nex's avatar appeared on the screen in Alanik's quarters. He looked like a little kid who'd just been called inside by his parents, and he knew he was in trouble.
"I guess I can't play hide and seek with you around, huh Mr. Saron? So, you need something, or you just gonna scold me?"
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Khallos
RP Moderator
The Duke of Ditchington
Posts: 1,507
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Post by Khallos on Sept 16, 2008 19:04:57 GMT
Meanwhile, Jabs would just be cruising into Panlos' orbit, taking a moment to flip a few switches and use the Retro's to adjust his trajectory. And try and bring up some information on the place from the Datalinks while he was at it.
The Grulian Datalinks were a good idea, in theory - an infinite repository on, well, everything, a combination of Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Thesaurus and Travel Guides. The central core was back on Grule, but if you knew where you were going - or had the time to wait for a data jack over the gates - you could fetch relevant data and store it on your ship.
In reality, however, such a project was NEVER going to work. In reality data transfers over the warp gates could take weeks, and, whats worse, the Datalinks were user moderated. And in a big, regulated and overpopulated planet like Grule, any large project on the exonet gets vandalized almost on a second-by-second basis, meaning that if you refresh fast enough you could enjoy as many as 34 variations of "NISBIT MOLESTS HORNWOCKIES" in a minute.
So, after a quick check in the futile hope that the 'links might, for once, contain something useful on the culture and docking protocols for Panlos, Jabbers reminded him to buy a copy of the Guide the next time he could and hailed Ground Control.
"This is the Daytona requesting permission to enter Atmosphere, ground control. Starbug class ship requires Berthing and refuel."
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Post by Rakk on Sept 17, 2008 2:56:08 GMT
"Its not so much playing hide and seek with me thats the problem. Its playing hide and seek with a bureau that tends to a. deny your existence while also b. trying to capture/delete you. I personally see a time when we might need you around. But thats because the bureau and I have 'philosophical' differences." Alanik took another drag on his coffee bulb.
"You probably would have gotten away with it if I was any other colonial officer who does not recognize your foot prints. But that snot why I called you here, I injected our mutual friend with a special surveillance serum you might be familiar with. I'm sending you the connection codes as we speak as well as my scans of his cargo so you can see our friends prize. I think you know how I am going to handle this, so if you could just act as a little bird in his ear when the firing starts to keep him alive long enough to be of use to us. Be my guest. The serum only lasts thirty or more hours, so have fun."
A fairly quiet pinging noise popped out from a speaker somewhere in Alanik's quarters, it was his pilot, "Sir, five minutes until we reach LS-4667."
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Post by Griggs on Sept 17, 2008 3:26:51 GMT
The Lady burned towards the surface of the planet, shooting through several layers of the atmosphere in about a minute. Angus engaged the landing sequece, and tapped in the coordinates he'd been given into the nav computer. He noticed several signals scanning his vessel planetside, checking the ship ID. Thankfully, Angus didn't have to worry about all the rigmarole of going through checkpoints since he had a Trader's Guild pass. Possibly the most useful thing you can get for attending a seminar once every two months.
He could see the city now, slowly increasing in size though his cockpit window. The design was unusual, as nobody could go outside without a pressurized environment suit. As such, little of the actual city was above ground, though some buildings rose up to 300 feet in the air. Various mining structures could be seen on the outskirts, mostly obsolete, but a few were still producing. The ship guided itself towards a large freighter airlock, which appeared to be a large metal square in the ground, until it split into two halves and revealed a chamber underneath as he approached. The Lady drifted into it and set down, hydraulics sinking and rising to accommodate. The doors closed, and a telescoping pathway began to extend from the wall to the primary airlock. It looked as if it had been patched recently.
Immediately after Angus felt it connect, he heard a loud, metallic clanging coming from the door. His camera showed a fairly well-dressed figure standing outside. Angus figured it was the buyer, and opened the door to greet whoever it was. He was surprised to see a cheerful looking face with a 40 credit haircut standing outside. Not your typical crime lord.
"Ahhh, you must be Angus, correct?" the man said. He had a voice akin to one a radio advertisement announcer's might have. He briskly put out his hand and gave Angus what many might call a 'shit-eating grin.' "Bob Kenson. I believe you have our soap?" Bob led him inside the building, and Angus reluctantly followed.
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Post by Ty on Sept 17, 2008 3:44:32 GMT
Nex smiled. "Aw, you're too nice to me, Mr. S. If I could, I'd come over there and give you a big hug. ^_^" He flicked out of existence as the pilot came on the speaker, then reappeared. "So, you've got a little errand for me, huh? That's cool, but I don't know about that Mr. MacComer. He kinda has a stick up his memory dump. I'm not so wild about the idea of playing escort mission with him." Nex zoomed in so his image dominated most of the screen. "So, if you want him alive, I'm gonna need some more compensation, you know? I'm thinking... access codes. After all, there's still quite a few well-protected machines in the galaxy that I can't really get into without the key. But somebody in your position might have access... "But, I guess we can discuss that later. For now, I gotta flash. I'll update you when I hit the rendezvous point. Live long and prosper." Nex disappeared from Alanik's screen. His consciousness traveled to the nearest planetary satellite, then jumped to a wired network on the planet's surface, near LS-4667. For the next two minutes, he jumped around various nearby systems, installing his more invasive software. Once he was satisfied that everything was cued up how he wanted it, he made a final jump to the implant in Angus' arm. He took a second to make himself at home, then fired off a text message to Alanik. Hey, Mr. S. It's me. Guess where I am. I've got a couple of surprises booting up in case things get hairy. The hardware should be ready in a couple more minutes. In the meantime, I guess I'll just be playing fly on the wall. Or, bug under your skin.
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Khallos
RP Moderator
The Duke of Ditchington
Posts: 1,507
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Post by Khallos on Sept 18, 2008 22:11:03 GMT
"Roger that, entry path confirmed. Thank you, ground control." Jabs gave a quickly little salute to the vidscreen before it flicked off, reaching down to flick several switches.. and then grinned, gripping the handlebars. Now for some fun.
The ship just floated there serenely in space for a few more seconds, before Jabs jamming the controls forwards made a massive plume shoot out of the thrusters. The Ship shot forwards, down towards the planet, doing a few twists and swoops as it did. It had been a while since Jabs had had some proper gravity to play with and he intended to enjoy the time he got to play as much as he could.
Before too long the Daytona was swooping low over the planet, kicking up a little plume of dust in its wake as it skimmed the barren planets surface. The lack of above ground development may give him more moving space, but it still made the Hunter shiver as he looked out over the desolate landscape, even inside his climate controlled ship. He grew up on a crowded space station, and the even more crowded Grule after that, both of which were places where you couldn't leave your door without being hemmed in by people on all sides in a baking hot atmosphere. Jabs liked it that way, and to him this plant just seemed... Dead.
Still, before long he'd be hovering over one of the docking bays as the ground underneath him opened up to reveal the hangar, slowly lowering himself down. Jabs took a moment to peer around the dingy hangar, before leaning over his shoulder to yell back into the apparently empty and cramped cabin behind him. "Wakey wakey, boys! We've made planetfall, you don't wanna miss walkies!"
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Post by Rakk on Sept 22, 2008 2:45:15 GMT
From the outside LS-4667 looking like any other floating chunk of rock but coming closer if one had the right codes thy could see the hidden docking bay. Arriving at LS-4667 they knew they only had a short amount of time to restock and refuel before setting off again, this time for the planet of Panlos. With a flick of sadness Alanik switched on the artificial gravity so that it matched the gravity of Panlos. He didn't want to have to wait through any compression or atmosphere delays. They had to be able to do everything instantly. Especially as they would be coming down illegally and under full stealth.
It did not take long for them to get the Dark Shadow fully stocked. Soon they were flying through space as fast as the ship could possibly drive them forwards, then they cut all engines and positioned the ship so it resembled a falling meteor on any planetary sensors. It would look like nothing to be concerned about, as fa as they would see the meteor would burn up in the atmosphere. Keeping in freefall they only kept enough control to rotate the ship.
Once the ship passed under the range of the radar they hit the engines and went into full stealth. Now able to fly as they please they kept on their mission. They had to find the hanger where the meeting was taking place.
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Post by Griggs on Sept 22, 2008 3:03:38 GMT
Angus was led into a room that resembled a dentist's waiting room, albeit with much more expensive decoration. Expensive paintings, artful knick-knacks, all sorts of things a man who wanted to look professional and had the money to would have. He didn't have long to look at it, though, as he was whisked through a connecting door into an old-style office, wooden desk and all. A faux-window was on the wall opposite the door, portraying a serene cityscape. They both sat down, Bob behind the desk, Angus in front of it.
"So, Mr. McComer, I trust you got here without any trouble?" The guy, 'Bob', was still wearing that grin.
"None at all. It was a pretty routine route."
"Oh really?" Still grinning. "According to our logs, you were stopped by a colonial agent."
"Yeah, routine check. I flashed him my card and he let me go."
"You were stopped for close to 15 minutes."
"I had a chat with him. So what?"
"He didn't, by any chance, check your cargo? I mean, we could have him reprimanded for an unwarranted search."
"Nope."
'Bob' was no longer grinning. "Now, you don't need to lie to me, Mr McComer, I assure you, if you were searched, there won't be any repercussions. But I find it quite odd for you to have been stopped by a military level frigate for 15 minutes to 'have a chat.'" Bob's arm moved a little.
"I dunno what you're talking abou-"
The door behind him slid open. Looking around, Angus saw two large, intimidating men walk through the door, dressed in expensive suits that did not at all match their scars and tattoos. Angus turned back to 'Bob', who now sported a fairly irritated look.
"Mr. McComer, I've given you more than enough leeway, but I simply cannot have my business put to halt because you felt like giving in to the Colonials. Now, I'll ask you again, did they search you and what did they find?"
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Post by Ty on Sept 23, 2008 0:35:36 GMT
Nex watched the scene in the office silently. If things got hairy, there wasn't much he could do at present, but at the very least he could lock and unlock a few doors to make Angus' escape easier.
You'd better hurry, he messaged Alanik. The deal's going down now.
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Oct-taku
Elite Member
Designated Forum Tech-Priest
Posts: 1,695
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Post by Oct-taku on Sept 23, 2008 2:16:02 GMT
Meanwhile, in his estate, Archon was shooting up.
A large hypo was in his neck, pushing a clear fluid into his veins.
"'Bout time." he said, throwing the syringe away. "Almost too close. Can't let this frigging thing get any more advanced if I can help it."
It was then that an aide entered.
"Mr. Archon, sir. Our associates report some possible trouble with a soap shipment."
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Post by Griggs on Sept 23, 2008 3:15:29 GMT
Angus had to think fast. He figured he had one of three choices: fess up, pull his gun, or lie his ass off.
So of course he's gonna lie his ass off. If anything, it would stall for enough time to get support from the colonials, though if they would do anything to save his sorry ass was a mystery.
"All right, fine. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but he did board my ship. 5 seconds on the smell hit him and he got back in his shuttle and acted like he was searching me so he wouldn't have to justify retreating from my ship because it reeked of soap. Whatever channels you go through, they probably saw the same thing as his superiors: he boarded me, spent time on my ship, and left me with a clean bill of health. The guy never even went into the cargo hold."
He looked at 'Bob'. His expression had changed from irritated to slightly confused. After a minute his face resolved itself and he nodded.
"OK, I guess that makes some sense. I'll check with my superiors, for paperwork reasons of course, and you'll stay here on Panlos for a while. Call it a payed vacation."
"You don't employ me. I'm a contractor."
'Bob' narrowed his eyes."Regardless, you have our... hospitality. It's a great offer, how could you refuse?"
Angus almost gulped. It was well known that in mob culture that if the words 'offer' and 'refuse' were even in the same sentence, they weren't f***ing around. Nobody really remembered why, though.
"You got it, boss."
"Excellent. My colleagues here will escort you to a room while I contact my boss. Have a nice stay."
One of the behemoths behind him put a hand on his shoulder and almost lifted Angus clear out of his seat. It wasn't long before he found himself in what was clearly a guest room, and just as clearly not meant for the guest's convenience. The locks were on the outside, and engaged as soon as the door closed. Angus checked to see if he still had his gun, then looked at his arm.
"Hey, anybody hear me? Could use some help down here, ya bastards."
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Khallos
RP Moderator
The Duke of Ditchington
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Post by Khallos on Sept 23, 2008 11:44:33 GMT
Jabber's computer kicked in as soon as they touched down, the scanners already requesting access to the police database before the engines had even shut off, his computer also giving a more subtle "Mercenary for hire" flag to himself on the list of docked vehicles. Meanwhile, Jabs himself would be busy waking up the "boys", heading to the rear of the cabin and flicking several switches. "Wakey wakey! Bright new day, lads, brand new world crawling with criminals!" Several panels folded back to reveal... well, what would for all the world look like three snoopy style old fashioned doghouses, made entirely out of metal and with black-and-yellow safety stripes around the entrances. And, tucked up inside and smoothly unfolding out of their cocoon like offline state were three, Bull-mastiff sized Dogbots, the bounty hunter's friend. "Whozza gewd doggie?" Jabs cooed, reaching down to rub one's metal muzzle. "Whozzawauzza gonna catch me lots of bounties, mmm?" Nutcase.
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Post by Rakk on Oct 7, 2008 6:13:49 GMT
Getting past the security of the domed city was not hard, though it cost Alanik time that he would rather have on his side. Docking the Dark Shadow in the hanger they kept the ship out of stealth for the time being. Though secretly they connected to the cities networks on an ultra stealth channel, to the human eye it would be near invisible, but to an AI or any real elevated human with a consciousness partially placed in the invisible world of information it would stand out from the rest of the traffic.
Soon the ship was wired into every facet of the cities security network, police communications, surveillance points and automatic defenses. Once the connection was complete Alanik departed in a small two person skiff. While it looked like a sleek and official G-Based anti-gravity craft, it really was a military model that had been custom built to blend in with traffic. Under the stealth plating he had two large proton slicers, one sub-space railgun and a set of twenty four small warhead tracking missiles. With this craft he could probably destroy at least six city blocks, if not just depressurize the dome. On the hud he could see the tracker in Angus pinging away. The ping was increasing its rate, but not because he was getting closer, it was because his heart rate was rising.
Why must the civilians always have such poor control of their bodies. Alanik wondered as he moved into a position within thirty seconds of Angus.
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Post by Ty on Oct 14, 2008 23:53:35 GMT
Nex was hoping for a chance to taunt Angus a little before releasing him, but his room was pretty well cut off from any decent communications network.
Aw, where's the fun in playing God if I don't get to rub it in people's faces? he thought. Oh well. Don't say I never did anything for you, Mr. McC...
With a soft click, the door to Angus' room unlocked. Out in the hall, the lights suddenly went dead, confusing the nearby guards. The few lights that still worked were flickering on and off. They were arranged in a straight line, tracing a path right to Alanik.
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Post by Griggs on Oct 15, 2008 2:01:33 GMT
Angus jumped as the door open. When no one came in (he was expecting heavily tattooed men with automatic weapons), he peeked outside.
It looked like the twilight zone. Everything was dark, save a few eerily blinking lights. He heard scuffling footsteps, but far enough away so as not to pose a threat. Angus could only think of one thing: something was controlling their systems with an eerie degree of control. That really only left one culprit.
"Thank you, my green-haired friend."
Angus pulled out his pistol, though he left the safety on. Any weapons using chemical projectiles were notoriously loud, and he figured the mere threat of an aimed weapon would be at least as effective as shooting, without the extremely loud report. He wasn't sure where to go at first, until he realized the flashing lights formed a path in the twisting hallways of the complex.
"How courteous of you."
He double-timed it down the hallway, wary of checking his corners and cursing his flabby spacer body. You don't get much exercise in low-g environments strapped to a chair.
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Post by Ty on Oct 21, 2008 18:24:18 GMT
"Hey, hold it!"
A guard spotted Angus running past. He raised his weapon and charged after him. As soon as he made it around the corner, a thick steel security door dropped down from the ceiling and slammed shut in front of him.
Other guards nearby where having similar experiences, getting shut into their corresponding hallways before they could stop the escapee. Although this meant a lot less guards on Angus' tail, it also meant he had only one way out now, and if anyone but Alanik was waiting for him at the end, that could spell trouble.
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Khallos
RP Moderator
The Duke of Ditchington
Posts: 1,507
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Post by Khallos on Oct 26, 2008 0:20:18 GMT
Khallos grinned to himself, strapping the extra pieces of equipment he needed for his daily grind onto his jumpsuit. Wristband communicator to stay linked to the ship, universal Vox device, stun grenades.. The usual stuff. Hefting his massive pack onto his back and letting his Aviator goggles hang loose around his neck, he made one last check with his computer before heading out. Nothing really interesting that needed attention, though there was a shoplifter in pursuit not too far from here. Could be good to help him get his Landlegs back.
Depressing a button, the access hatch in the side of his ship rolled open and the gangway unfolded down onto the docks below... and the three dogbots came prowling out, each of them connected by a mesh-wire leash to the gloved paw of Jabbers. "Mornin'" He remarked, nodding to one of the dockhands as he made his way down and out into the city, the hatch rumbling back into place behind him.
OOC: Ack. lame post to get myself back into this
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Oct-taku
Elite Member
Designated Forum Tech-Priest
Posts: 1,695
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Post by Oct-taku on Oct 26, 2008 13:43:24 GMT
Back on his wonderful colony base, Archon was reading when another aide entered.
"What is it this time?" the crime lord asked, not even looking up from his book.
"Umm....Our business partners? The one with the base and the soap shipments that really contain-"
"Yes, yes. What about them?"
"They're having more problems. The lights mostly died, and some odd stuff is going on with their security measures."
"Send a squad of enforcers. Nothing big, just 4, maybe five men." Archon replied after thinking a few seconds. "Give them cheap, readily-available weapons, and one of the faster transports. No identifing marks at all. Nothing that could be traced back to me. They're to observe only, fire only if fired upon."
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Post by Griggs on Oct 28, 2008 0:45:09 GMT
Armed with the knowledge that he had backup, Angus charged through the halls at a running pace. He might actually make it out of this alive... unfortunately, getting his ship back would take a little more effort.
And likely, a lot more gunfire.
Still, Angus was patient enough to see it all through. The compound was extensive, but the main thoroughfare between businesses shouldn't have been far off, judging by where he'd landed. Hopefully, he'd get there before "Bob"'s goons did.
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Post by Rakk on Oct 28, 2008 7:53:51 GMT
Alanik was getting bored with circling the building as lights twinkled on and off, security shutters shut and opened and the entire building looked as though it had just suffered a severe if not crippling blow.
Hitting the coms Alanik decided to speak to Angus, "My trigger finger is getting itchy and you are taking quite a while to get out of there, should I just start taking parts of the building apart, piece by piece? Or are you capable of finding the exit?"
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Post by Griggs on Oct 28, 2008 18:51:11 GMT
"Hold your damn horses, I should be out in a minute!"
Angus wasn't lying, as he was soon in the lobby. A startled receptionist gaped at Angus's form bursting out through the door behind her, and pressed the panic button under her desk. Luckily, any men attempting to pursue him were detained by their own security measures. Smiling at her thoroughly perplexed face, Angus backed out of the main doors into the main part of the commercial district.
"I'm outside, where are ye?"
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