ic [IC] Milk Run

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot stood over the beast, breathing heavily and taking a moment. Without a word, the adrenaline cooling, he walked through the snow to pick up his gun and discarded tools of the trade. 

 

That had been a fight to remember. And another scar to remember it by. But it was worth it. It was a feeling of true life, when at the brink of death. He took a look at the scenery. 

 

It was a beautiful icy scenery to fight on. 

 

But now the real world crept in, and in a sense it was just as brutal as the fight, although brutal by a different nature. Taking no chances, he stabbed the Bortha with all the sedatives he had. 

 

Before anything else, he wanted to take a look at the creature. He bent down and started examining it...

[olopi]

GM

 

The Bortha was similar to the ones he’d seen before. There was nothing about it that immediately suggested anything else. But, it was muscular. Much more so than others he’d seen. It was a fierce specimen. Larger, more muscular, but somehow, without any scars. Generally, if a Bortha got this big, it probably had to fight a lot. They weren’t known for their peaceful ways after all.

 

But this one, none of that. It clearly knew how to fight, as it had shown. It was quite smart. But had it never been wounded? Or was it something else? Other than that, the only further thing Starshot found was a collar, which had probably been connected to the cage the creature was transported in. And, from what his experience told him, also contained some information about it. Where it was heading, the price, and so on.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Maybe it was a fighting beast, designed to kill. For sport of for profit. Maybe for both. He couldn't tell. It would be a shame to lock this beast away. It should be roaming free. Or at the very least, its head stuffed and put on the display of the Xeno's lounge. Not captivity. 

 

He put on his helmet. The hunting was done, for now. It was time to focus on the ship, or what was left of it. 

 

Hefting his plasma rifle over his shoulder, and flipping on the helmets HUD he started towards the main bulk of the ship, scanning it in the various fancy spectrums his hunting helmet provided. He was no expert in explosives, but he was fairly sure it would be an easy enough task to plant them. As long as he didn't find anything unexpected...

[olopi]

GM

 

The ship was not too far away from where he’d tracked the Bortha to. It appeared that it had walked in a half-circle, so the actual distance Starshot had walked the first time around was a lot larger than the way back. It was a small ship, a blockade runner. Probably retooled. Fast, lightly armored, and sometimes stealthy.

 

Really only used in case of war, or by smugglers. This very clearly was the latter, but that wasn’t new information. The ship had sustained major damage, the part that Starshot could see was only about half, the other half probably taken off when it collided with an asteroid. There was nothing too interesting about it at first. It was empty, not even a corpse inside. It appeared to mainly be the cargo bay with one or two additional rooms. Blowing it up would be easy.

 

And then he spotted something that didn’t belong. On the back of the hull, almost entirely covered up, it was only his HUD that pointed it out. Impact wounds. Bullet size, but clearly not recent enough for that, part of the metal around them melting.

 

And they’d hit some sort of tech inside the ship’s hull…

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot paused a moment, wondering why the collision with an asteroid? Space was dangerous, mistakes happen. But they normally happened for a reason, a sloppy pilot, maybe running overdrive causing sensor dilatation. Maybe those impact wound's. What from?

 

Perhaps he should find out exactly what happened. Perhaps not. There was a job he was supposed to do. Then there was what he should do. Then again, there was what he wanted to do. And none of those aligned. 

 

"Damn my teeth" he said, gritting the offending articles. 

 

"Can't hurt to look..."

 

He took out his rifle, fired up the plasma. He would look for a way in. Or cut himself a hole...

 

 

[olopi]

GM

 

The first thing the plasma cut through was the piece of armor that had been hit by the shots. Oskar could already tell it had hit some tech, but maybe figuring out what it was would further help. He wasn’t an expert on these things, but perhaps it would be clear enough what had happened. Cutting through the hull didn’t take long. The plasma was strong, the hull wasn’t.

 

Once he’d cut off a nice part, he removed it. He actually had a rough idea of what it was, he’d seen enough ships. A navigation device. It didn’t look destroyed, it looked like it still was intact. But the HUD did point out something, and a quick look revealed that it had probably short-circuited massively, probably as a result of getting hit by the shots.

 

Next up, the ship’s interior. The outside looked like it had been cleaved apart, but finding the right spot to get in still wasn’t easy, a lot of it had collapsed. After some light plasma-cutting, he’d created a hole big enough to get inside. And the inside looked … rather unspectacular. Save for one thing. The same message as before, and it all checked out. There had been some sort of EMP, or something related to it.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Navigation device shot? This would imply the ship was shot down before it crashed with the asteroid. Imply was one thing, proof was another. And there was still no way of knowing who had shot the ship down. 

 

Then again, an EMP? Was this sabotage? Did the EMP go off first? That was sabotage. 

 

He needed a skilled engineer to piece together this mystery. That ruled Gunmonkey out. And Gunmonkey knew more than he did. 

 

He could only call this in. See what they said. 

 

He flipped open the comm device and squeaked out a few dials to tune in. 

 

"Starshot here. I have made contact with the ship. It looks like sabotage. Somebody fired off an EMP inside it. I can't piece together what happened...but I think someone should. This looks strange..."

 

 

[olopi]

GM

 

It took a few seconds for the communicator to respond. Everything was distorted, the distance and the ship itself probably both reducing the quality. Judging by the voice, it was the shuttle’s pilot.

 

“Doesn’t matter. Nobody’s  gonna care, and neither should you. Scuttle the thing, and tell me when to pick you up. And don't waste time.”

 

And with that, he hung up. It had been a pretty clear message. Of course, there still was the rest of the ship to explore. Even if it wasn’t much. A large cargo bay, which seemed to be almost entirely empty safe for a few crates of, as a quick check showed, weapons. Further in, a hallway leading to the berth, which was just a narrow room with a triple-bunk.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Being told he shouldn't care was a red rag. Damn I will care!

 

He pocketed the Navigation computer. Perhaps that would provide some evidence of what happened. A black box would be better. 

 

Weapons...now here was a thing. Was the Bortha a weapon too? was this an arms running operation. Good money would be paid for high tech weapons to a lower tech society. Especially with more than one sentient species on the planet. 

 

Starshot figured that he could take his time; people might get suspicious, but that might rattle some rotten fruit out of the tree. And what were they going to do? Come and get him. He hadn't mentioned he had taken down the Bortha, and deliberately so. 

 

Lets keep some Valaxian Aces up my sleeve!

 

He searched the Berth thoroughly - it was not big - for clues...

 

[olopi]

GM

 

It was a small berth. Three beds and some storage, which meant that there almost certainly weren’t more than 6 people on this ship at any time. Which seemed like less than he’d expected, unless the part that had been taken off by the asteroid was a lot smaller than what the other half of the ship gave the impression of.

 

The berth was surprisingly clean. Only a few magazines were directly visible, and none of them were of further use for anything, this was not a case of having to read into it. The storage on the other side of the room revealed slightly more. Some clothing, not high-end but definitely a bit higher up the social ladder than what one would expect from a place like this. Which meant that some degree of organized crime probably was involved, no matter where, they loved their fancy outfits.

 

Unfortunately, that was about it when it came to somewhat useful information. All the technology seemed to be purely for entertainment, and the only notes were about the shift order, which accounted for 5 people.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Crew of five. Accounted for? Unaccounted for? Who knew? And organised crime, too. The detail of what had happened here was still elusive, but the pieces were starting to fall together. 

 

He looked through a few pages of Blasterbeam magazine, a low grade gun-fetish magazine for lunatics, and threw it away with a grunt of resigned contempt. 

 

He couldn't see anything else of much pertinence. Instead, he resigned himself to the task at hand; demolitions. Not part of his usual occupation. It reminded him of...

 

Seventy years ago..the French alps...the smell of petrol and gunpowder....

 

He frowned. He didn't want to think about the war. Best get this business over with as quickly as possible. 

 

He set the charges, perhaps with excess speed and paucity of care, and radio'd in...

 

"Charges all set. Ready to detonate at you go-ahead..."

 

 

[olopi]

GM

 

There was not much else that happened. Applying the explosives was simple enough, they were self-adhesive. And one pretty much had to try to not put them into a structural weakspot. It didn’t take long. The main ship, or what was left of it, took a few different charges. Large sets of debris, just hull from everything Oskar could tell upon closer inspection, got a charge too.

 

He got to a safe distance, about halfway between the ship and the Bortha, and called in the shuttle. “Go ahead.” A few seconds later, a fairly large explosion led to large-scale flight of animals, birds (or something similar in build), flying upwards into the sky in large amounts. The shuttle somehow had to navigate through all of that, which was why Oskar could actually see it moving around – cloaking would’ve been too dangerous.

 

“Did you take care of the Bortha already? Use a charge to remove any evidence, and then call again and we’ll get out. “

 

 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot felt his nerves a little shredded by explosions. He should have been used to them, with Gunmonkey around. But he never was. And even those were accidental explosions. Deliberate ones jangled his nerves with the rattle of memories. 

 

He felt his irritability climb up a notch. 

 

"Are you telling me to blow up the Bortha?" he said, an acid snap to his voice. "Just because I'm a hunter doesn't mean...never mind. Its sedated. Read to be transported to...well..."

 

Where too?

 

"Ill transport it back to its home-world if need be. The Xeno can handle it". 

[olopi]

GM

 

The pilot’s tone could best be described as “uninterested.” He mumbled for a few seconds, while the shuttle approached. Then, he actually said something proper.

 

“You’ve got space on the Xeno. Not on this shuttle. Can’t transport that thing up, and can’t leave it running around the planet either. Don’t really have a choice. Just get on with it, we’ll get back to the station, you’ll get paid, and you’ll be done. “

 

The shuttle came closer, now only a short time away from landing at Starshot’s current position. It was a fair distance removed from the Bortha, which he could about see off in the distance, not looking like it had moved so far. He took a look at the data he had on it, all gathered before applying the explosives to its former cage. Sasmira. He’d heard the name once while travelling here, it was a planet not too far away. But the system he was in right now was in no way a shortcut-

 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

It was, unfortunately, a good point. Not one he liked, but a hard truth. 

 

Sometimes, he knew, one had to bite the bullet. 

 

He trudged to the sleeping Bortha and took a look at the beast. 

 

"Sorry, my friend. You deserved better" he grunted, and fired the gun, point blank, through the beasts chest. The plasma seared a sorry sound, and there was an even more tragic smell of boiling blood and burnt flesh. And then it was over. 

 

He reached down and broke off one of the things many teeth. 

 

"I'll take this to remind me" he said, almost a whisper, almost a tear. 

 

Then, a blunt, gravelly call to the pilot. "It's done" he said, like falling tombstones. 

[olopi]

GM

 

One last collapse, probably caused by the plasma severing some muscles, came next. And with that, the Bortha was dead for good. The shuttle landed nearby, and once all the equipment had been stored back inside, the last explosive was applied. And with all major traces (some shards probably remained either way), removed, the shuttle took off again, cloaked as on arrival.

 

The shuttle was perhaps halfway between the planet and the station, when its radio flared up. “We need you at these coordinates, right now. Something on the radar, moving fast. Directly towards the planets. Not a registered receiver, so we can’t hail them from out here. “

 

The pilot turned around to look at Starshot for just a second. “Well, you heard it. No time to drop you off, sorry!” And next thing he knew, the shuttle was making a U-Turn, heading off in a completely different direction.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

He was in a foul mood already. He didn't get any fouler, but rather his sourness solidified somehow, turning to iron. 

 

"Smugglers. Smuggling beasts" he ventured. Might be wrong, but this solar system seemed to be a criminal highway. 

 

He wished he was in the Xeno. Master of his own destiny, for one. Extremely fast, for another. And a very comfortable leather seat for thirds. A bit of luxury could take the crusted skin from a vexatious demeanour. 

 

"Lets go then. I won't be stopping you. Probably end up saving your life" he grumbled, still angry about killing the Bortha, and angry with the pilot telling him to. 

[olopi]

GM

 

The shuttle sped up a fair bit, going easily twice as fast as it had during transit to and from the planet. Still the journey took some time. And the pilot clearly wasn’t too happy with his current situation. But he also looked like he wasn’t looking forward to what came next. A bit twitchy, some sweat. All symptoms that a passenger didn’t necessarily want to see.

 

The shuttle arrived at the transmitted location about 8 minutes after the call. Of course, whatever had tripped the signal had also moved, but stayed on the radar. And after about one more minute, it was visible in the distance.

 

It was a massive ship. Too big to be a smuggling vessel, neither subtle ‘nor fast enough simply by design. A design which Starshot had never seen before, not one of the major manufacturers. And before the pilot had any chance to really do anything, something else showed up on the ship’s radar, then became visible. Small vessels, smaller than the shuttle. They moved incredibly fast, and soon came into view.

 

It was about 30 of them. Each about the size of their pilot, only partially covering them. They were reminiscent of bikes, but as spacecraft. They’d clearly raised their weapons at the shuttle, as it also received an incoming hail.

 

There was a voice. It said something. But it was not Galstandard. Or any other language either person in the shuttle knew, for that matter.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"What the hells is that garbage" grumbled a still dour Starshot. He couldn't make head or tail of it. 

 

"And what the hells is that ship?" he said, a little of the stone ebbing from his voice. It was a magnificent, imposing, ship. It looked like a war ship, maybe. But really, it was beyond him. 

 

"I hope your stealth fields hold. If that thing has guns as big as its hull, then this is our last flight" he murmured. 

 

He took in the pure size of the ship for a moment, barely noticing the space bikers, before concluding...

 

"We need to get onboard that ship...!"

[olopi]

GM

 

The pilot turned his head around slightly, sweating more than just a bit now. He looked like he didn’t really know what he was supposed to do.

 

“Doubt we’ll get that far.” And then, he turned around again, pointing at the shuttle's window. By now, the bikers had approached closer, and judging by what Starshot could see, they’d encircled the shuttle on two, perhaps even three dimensions. The pilot hit a button. “sending this back to the station. Maybe they understand it.”

 

And then, he opened communications on the same channel that had been used by whoever these people were. He tried to say something, but wasn’t really sure what to say, and after stuttering on the first word for a few seconds, just handed the microphone to Starshot.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"This is Starshot. We have encountered a huge mother ship, origin unknown" he said, trying to grapple with the situation in his head. 

 

"Several small vessels, I don't know what you would call them, buzzing around us like Tsutsi Flies" he explained, recalling the vampiric blood suckers that swarmed on the Swamp Planet Vyurn-6. Nobody would be smuggling them. 

 

"I guess they are smugglers. But not like any I have seen before..." he muttered on the microphone. 

 

"In any case, we have been spotted. Send a search party or build a funeral pyre. Maybe do both..."

 

He switched of the microphone. 

 

"What's are chances if we make a run for it?" he asked the Pilot with ice in his voice. He guessed they were not good. Sighing, he flipped the com to short range. 

 

"Good morning" he said, slowly. "How are you today?" he asked, bluntly. 

Edited August 28, 2017 by Supercape

[olopi]

GM

 

The direct response from the outside was in the same language as before. Starshot couldn’t make out a single word at first, but then, after a short pause, there was something that sounded familiar. The accent was incredibly heavy, it took him a few seconds to make out and register what had been said. “Follow.”

 

The …bikes(?) directly in front of the shuttle backed off somewhat, while the ones behind it, as the radar showed, came ever closer. Their message was pretty clear. And the shuttle pilot didn’t want to risk anything, so he did was he’d been told, and slowly flew forwards, keeping up with the bike’s pace. Which slowly got faster, as they were leading the shuttle to the massive ship.

 

And then, an incoming call from the station. “That appears to be ‘ol, a language spoken by a young species that lives some distance away from here. One person currently on the station has some slight knowledge, we’ll get him on it. “

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Get him on it fast" replied Starshot. They were heading into the maw of the beast, and he was not in his element. 

 

They were probably going disarm him. Not for sure, but probably. He quickly went through his belt, discarding most of his equipment. He kept a few thermal pellets stuffed into one Jacket Pocket, and his blowpipe (complete with Tzetzi dart) in the other. Aside from that, he kept the medical kit and his whip. Perhaps the latter they would pass off as some cool cultural heirloom. They would not be far wrong. 

 

The plasma rifle, however. That was antagonistic. He left that behind. 

 

And slammed his metal fist into his other. If violence was called for, he would fight with his two fists. 

 

But if it came to that, the odds where not good. He could hardly fight everyone on that ship. 

 

"Prepare for the worst...." he said to the Pilot as they arrived at the Big Ship...

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

It took some time to get to the ship, which gave Starshot enough time to get ready. It was even bigger up close, probably large enough to house a small town if it wanted to. There was a very obvious docking bay, which was there the shuttle was led to. Inside, there were a lot of the same type of spaceship the strangers had been riding on, but also a few bigger ones. And some stationary objects that the use of was unclear from the angle the two got.

 

 

Once they were inside, the other ships also landed, with a few staying around, likely to discourage an escape. The pilot, wearing just his uniform, got out of his seat, and walked up to the shuttle’s main door, staying behind Starshot. “Here goes nothing…”

 

 

The door opened, revealing two of the people that had escorted the shuttle here. They were somewhat taller than him, and their entire body was thick and muscular, their limbs all reaching a fair amount longer than what was common. A third, of a different species, had joined them. A yellow carapace, Starshot had seen this species before, but he couldn’t recall anything about them.  The one in the carapace took a step forward, and looked at Starshot and the pilot. "Greetings. We do not mean any harm. "

 

 

But what stuck out was the background. Between the various spaceships, there were children, the same species as the ones outside. Some were playing, but many looked afraid. It was not direct fear, no, it was an expression that Oskar knew all to well. The fear of things one could never unsee.

 

 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Good. You mean us no harm. We mean you no harm too" replied Starshot. Intergalactic diplomacy was not his forte, and he preferred to be sucinct in most matters. 

 

We mean you no harm for now....

 

"We ah...uh..." he pondered how to manage the situation. He was not tongue tied, but neither was he glib. He wished he knew what he was doing, but... lamentations on what might be was for fools who waited whilst the universe happened to them....

 

 "We detected your ship in the area. Unknown..."

 

He paused. He may as well be direct. 

 

"Unknown origin. Unknown intent. Unknown...well, to be truthful, we don't know anything about you. Can you enlighten us?"