143 replies to this topic

[Cero]

"It is a nice ship you've got." Lambda said while walking towards them from further along the dock. "What exactly are we going to do to make the money you said."

[Shu]

"Haha...we'll steal it, of course. We're pirates, after all."

[kirant]

Well, that was a quick turnaround. Walking in expecting to have to intervene, and end up getting put on the opposite end.

Re-arming the safety and holstering her gun, Selene make a quick check to make sure nothing was out of place...a bit of money or any of her tools. Displaying complete poise after such an incident, she proceeded to rattle off a series of notes in a calm and brisk fashion:

"I actually had intended to help you. The Drone's armour was too thick to pierce with a single shot from any of your weapons, but two direct hits in the same spot would have broken through. A piercing shot to the head, about 1 cm lower and 2 cm closer to the sagittal plane than where yours landed, would have been at the direct optical connection of the standard drone. After, they'd turn to where I was, giving you simple targets. While I have no doubt that they would have other scanning devices past visible light, that would have been enough to allowed an escape as they transferred. I never had a clear shot though.

Now granted, I probably could have gotten the a same location hit as your shot if I climbed over the Droid, but this cleaned up much easier this way as--

Oh. My apologies. I never introduced myself. I'm Selene."

Without hesitation, she figured that this may be her opportunity...exactly why she visited places like this. As long as it was a human she was working with, conflict seemed unlikely. This was probably the best chance she'd get for a while.

"I must ask, are you leaving the planet anytime soon? If so, I'd wish to join. If you are short hands, I am qualified for all-purpose first aid and am, as you say, a technical savant and could suitably repair any loose machinery as needed."

[Ristau]

"That's not up to me to decide. Tag along with me and I'll see what I can do." Z and Selene walked toward the dock, at which point Ross came over to them confused. "This girl wants work. She seems smart and like she knows what she's doing, so Ross, whaddaya say?" He smiled at both of them and walked on the ship.

[Shu]

Ross scratches his head. "Uh....I suppose. I'm fine with it, but ultimately, it's the cap'n that has the final say. If he gives the green light, you can be part of the crew."

[Echo-279]

Layle follows "Z" and Selene onto the ship, despite the injury he got from Storm, he didn't complain.

"So where is the medical bay?" Layle asked.

All the while, Layle started to explore the ship to find where the captain is.

[Cero]

"So who is this captain you keep mentioning?" Lambda asked to Ross.

[Lancer]

As the recruits got settled aboard the ship, they took notice of something uncanny. The Dread Starr was huge; it was well over 300 meters (1000 ft) long and yet the ship was empty of crew inside. The halls were pristine and well kept, a great change from the streets of Aristole, but the lack of life inside the ship made the shining white walls look almost haunting. Despite being such a large vessel, the ship was void of any life forms save the recruits, and yet all the necessities and even some luxuries, such as food, furniture, and supplies, were already on board the ship.

Ross gave the call for the recruits to gather outside the ship's walkway, as the Captain was due to arrive very soon.

In the distance, the silhouette of a large figure being followed by a number of figures whose silhouettes were nearly identical approached the ship. Thalisar and his 8 Bion subordinates had arrived. The Captain of the Dread Starr was distinguished from his subordinates by the ornaments and bright silvery hue that his mighty exoskeleton took, while the other Bions took a bronze hue to their more uniform exoskeletons. They all hoisted very impressive looking concussive arms on their backs. "Ah, so these are the people who you've gathered, Lieutenant? A colourful bunch they are. It's always nice to have some more humans, too." As the Bion turned to face the Drones, Odin and Lambda had already raised their weapons towards the Bion. It looked as though Storm had desired it too, but his weapon systems were still damaged from his fight with Z.

"You told me that your ship was a stolen Bion vessel, human. Have you lied to us to capture us? What I see in front of me are Bions!" Storm snapped. He and his companions were outnumbered, and he himself had nothing to defend himself with.

[Echo-279]

"Calm down, Storm. The captain is ex-navy, now a pirate. What would he have to gain from turning in potential recruits to the Citadel?" Layle had to say to try to lower the tension in the scene, knowing this could go south real fast.

"My apologies for their potential rudeness, sir. I am Layle, or as others call me, the 'Gray Ghost.'" Layle had said without much of a problem.

[kirant]

Selene stepped forward to speak.

"Selene. Pleasure to meet you, sir. I can be utilized best with medical, technological, and analytic skills."

Instead of returning to her original spot after the brief introduction, she turned to stand between the Drones, now on her right, and at least a couple human companions, left. The most reasonable thing in this situation was to continue as normal but to take precautions as the Drones may act at any moment.

[Lancer]

"Thank you Layle," Thalisar took his attention off the drones and focused on the humans. "It is a pleasure to have each and every one of you on board. Ross has a good eye for combat talent, but he seemed uncertain about you, Selene. How familiar are you with Bion technology? Our cybernetics, weapons, and ship technology, to be precise?"

The Bion was set on having every last member of his crew contribute, but he already knew that Selene would not be able to hold her own in the fights to come. Judging by the way that she was analyzing him, he took it that she at least was proficient with innovation and problem solving at the very least, if she didn't have prior knowledge to Bion technology. The issue was if Selene could uphold her responsibilities aboard his ship; his subordinate Bions, though none of them are technical specialists, were enough as it is to maintain the ship.

"I will let you on board, Selene. Then you will need to prove your abilities and earn your keep." The Drones were still on edge, but Thalisar knew why they behaved the way they did. He believed they had every reason to be fearful of him, but at the same time he saw utility in them. Thalisar turned to them and spoke. "So, are you interested in becoming a Space Pirate, or not?"

[Ristau]

Z stood behind the rest quietly and waited for the small verbal conflict between the Bions and the Drones to end.

[kirant]

"I have no first hand experience, but the User Interface should have minimal difference than a human interface. I can adapt based on what I view, so give me a short amount of time with the technology in question and I can analyze it. Within 24 hours, I should be just as capable, at the least, as any of your current subordinates."

[Shu]

"Interesting. Looks like our crew has grown a tad more diverse, hasn't it, captain?"

[Echo-279]

"I understand having a ship, but do you REALLY need one this size, captain?" Layle couldn't help but ask.

Looking at the Dredd Starr, Layle saw the fine looks and mostly the entrance, let alone the walls.

[Lancer]

Storm seemed resentful towards Thalisar's request. It's true that he didn't mind working as a pirate for money, but to work under a Bion was a completely different story. On the other hand, the Bions have yet to even draw their weapons on him or his companions, and at least didn't seem as though they owed any loyalty to the Citadel that the Drones hated so much.

"Alright. I will join your crew. On one condition," Storm finally responded after a minute of internal debate.

"And what would that be?" Inquired Thalisar.

"You will have no authority over me, or the actions of my Drone companions. We will finish our given objectives, but we refuse to follow your commands past that."

"If you are a capable enough leader to lead your companions into victory without my assistance, then it is fine. But for this compromise, you too will have to compromise. A dock in rations for you and your companions. Say, 60% as opposed to the rest of the crew." Thalisar's response made Storm upset, and everybody could visibly see it. Storm still tried to keep his composure in spite of the pressure, though to no avail.

"70%"

"That is acceptable. Welcome to the Dread Starr, Drone. You have yet to give me your name."

"Storm. My companions here are C-375 Lambda, and Odin."

As the drama had finally settled, Thalisar gave Z a wince. His stare remained on the mysterious human for a few more moments, until he finally spoke. "You wouldn't happen to want to tell us who you really are before I let you be part of my ship, would you?"

[Ristau]

"Call me Z... I'm what you might call a combat expert of sorts. I can also scout as my psych is very developed and because I am just tend to stick to the shadows. If you need anything done, just let me know." Z gave Thalisar his signature warming smile and then found a chair and sat down.

[Lancer]

"Fair enough," Thalisar replied to Z. It looked as though Ross had found quite a colourful cast. "You have not yet acquainted yourself with Bion vessels yet, have you Layle? It is normal for such a large vessel to house only a few individual Bions. It's related to how our core systems work; we integrate our intelligence onto the ships, so that our roles are divided extremely efficiently. We essentially become the ship's system, and the ship becomes a communal body for us Bions when the ship is online. Of course, this also means that only Bions can pilot a Bion ship, but it is an extremely efficient way of managing a crew, and the extra space can thus be used for other things, like weapons, technology, or transport storage." Thalisar seemed proud of expressing the intricacies of his species' technology.

[Shu]

Ross exhales smoke. "Hey, Captain...don't we need to get rolling soon? Schedule's been pretty tight nowadays." Ross heads to the bridge.

[Echo-279]

"Huh?" Layle was not paying attention at the time and all the information almost blew over his head. "Interesting, but what if the systems of the ship were to be infected by something, like a worm virus. Would the virus go into all of you too?"

As Layle watched the Bions with keen interest, while eventually shifting his gaze to the Drones, who appeared to still be on edge.