Smooth as Stone (IC)

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Smooth as Stone

Index:
Recruitment Thread
(Reference the Beginning)
In Character Thread
(Get your game on!)
Out of Character Thread
(For Setting Details and Discussion)

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3

Player	Character	Role
CavaliereDraghi	Obsidian	Captain
Thokk Smash	Liam	Preacher/Companion
Stormageddeon	Leif	Pilot
OMG Ponies	Hux	Mechanic

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3
Welcome to the 'Verse. Out here the Shou shan shou government is about as corrupt as most honest criminals...and a few of the not honest, to tell the truth. We got a moon or planet for every walk of life, and if none of them suit ya, then there's the lonely expanse of space to fulfill your strange suited needs. Out there, anything goes. Sometimes that may work in your favor, but often times it don't. And when it don't you best have the power to defend what's yours, or the feet to fly you out of there. An old Earth saying said - "In space, no one can hear you scream." Well, they might not hear you, but you one day might wish they did.

Still. You got a crew, a boat, and something shiny? You'll find a way. Even ships that fly like a rock planetside, in space are smooth as stone.

[cavalieredraghi]

The Dark Void of Space, it empty and littered glittering Diamonds. I this lonely expanse are jobs and salvage just waiting to be picked. those who are crazy enough or have nothing else left to them find these derelict ships floating out in the Verse. Near Bowmound a Bumblebee class Starship floats, it power gone crew and passengers left for survival. here is a lone Firefly class ship float by clearly still flyable. The Sojourn and it crew are an unusual crew and one of the crazier crews out in the verse.


From the Firefly Sojourn its Airlock opens and out floats a person in a spacesuit with a safety line following him. the lights in the spacesuit are off, so the person inside is not visible. as he floats to the Bumblebee. for clearly the Bumblebee's power being off means docking is out of the question, one can get the sense of how freeing Space is, but also how lonely it is. The Figure now comes into contact with the Bumblebee. where he soon attaches the safety line and enters through the ships airlock. the Bumblebee has no air or gravity, but the Figure actives the Lights in the helmet, this allows he to see.


what is seen from the face in the spacesuit is a well kept face of a rather handsome young man. his hair is Brown, with brown iris. his Eyes move from place to place in his current room, clearly he is not stupid or foolish. he seems to have a hint of something about him something that can't be explained. there does seem to be one odd thing about his spacesuit, it has a sword at the back of the man. At that he moves his hand and activates a switch on the spacesuit one could hear a radio crackle then back on Sojourn in the bridge, a person would hear. Ok Leif I am on Board now where am I heading, I want to finish this job quick and get paid. I hope the Intel Fanty and Meango's Intel was correct.

[Stormageddon]

On the bridge a young man rifles through sheets of papers until he finds what he is looking for.

ok cap. According to this map. What we we're looking for is straight down the corridor and left at the kitchen third door on the right.

[OMG PONIES]

Hux O'Toole

Huxley walks onto the bridge, clearly unaware of the sensitive mission currently at hand. He rubs a towel against his wet hair and seems like he's just come out of the shower...but somehow, his hands and clothes are already coated with grease. He peeks over Lief's shoulder and asks: "Cap didn't even bring as much as a spanner and an allen wrench--how you reckon he's going to fix that beauty if he can't even pop her top?" Never for a minute does it occur to Hux that the mission might actually be something other than fixing the stranded ship.

[Thokk_Smash]

Shepherd Liam

Liam sits in the medical bay, the good book in his hand. From what he had been able to tell, the Captain and pilot were working a mission. Hopefully this time he wouldn't have to patch them up too much from it.

[cavalieredraghi]

Alright now Lief send HUx over i want him to search and see if he can find any part on this ship that may prove useful for Sojourn, and have Liam ready just incase i don't plan there will be any problems but you never know. with that Obsidian floats down the corridor, till he hit a main hall, the only light source is the one provide by his helmet. he scans the room trying to find the kitchen.


Alertness check i think?

Spoiler

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(1d6)[3]

[Stormageddon]

Startled from the unexpected presents on the bridge Lief jumps in his seat

FIXING!!!? Uhmmm yeah... fixing speaking of which Cap needs a hand in.... Fixing.... The ship. If you could lend a hand that would be great. Make sure you bring something to open a safe. Cap needs a part locked up in a safe.

[OMG PONIES]

HUxley O'Toole

"Fixing, eh?" Hux says with an arched eyebrow. "Sounds like we're drawing a fine line between repair work and thieving. Still, you don't see me carrying any badge so I'd be happy to oblige. Do we care about opening it safely or quickly?" As Hux asks the last question, he gently pats the ever-present duffel bag at his side. Lief had heard enough heart-stopping explosions in the middle of the night to guess what Hux kept contained in the bag.

[cavalieredraghi]

Obsidian was listening in over the Com, with what Hux had to say, and the same memories at night comes to Obsidian's mind. Shock and horror cross Obsidian's face, he almost shouts through the com, NO EXPLOSIVES, we don't want the Alliance in on what we are doing right!?

[Stormageddon]

Lief jumps at the sound of Caps voice loudly coming through the intercom.

You heard the boss. Lets keep this one quite like... and maybe not blow ourselves into the dark.

[OMG PONIES]

Huxley O'Toole

Put that down, Hux, they always said. Don't light that fuse, Hux, they complained. You could've gotten us killed, Hux, they scolded. That was my favorite building, Hux! they screamed. What were you thinking? they asked. How could you? they fumed. Hmph, they. Who needed them?

"Yeah, yeah, ain't no reason to turn a job into a party, is there, Hank? he chortles. "I reckon that's why they call it 'work.' Alliance ain't paying us no mind, though, no sir-ee. We're the fat girl at this hoedown, leaned up against the wall gnawing on a turkey leg. We could let out a mighty fine belch and they'd hardly bat an eye in our direction. But still, Cap's the cap and that's that. Let me suit up and get over."

Wiith that, Hux makes his way to the airlock. While he dons his spacesuit and floats over to meet Obsidian, he lets his thoughts drift to the grand adventure that awaited him somewhere out in the dark. Lately, Hux had been growing restless. He had the feeling that there was something bigger out there than all of this. He'd never express his dissent to a crew that gave him free room and board, but he often laid in his bunk wondering if his life had a grander purpose than tapping locks and unlatching airlocks. Naturally, existential dilemmas made him uneasy, so he often quelled that still, small voice within by causing a loud, large explosion without. But not now...thanks to them.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Liam

The medical bay is clean as a whistle, the way you like it. If you look up, you can see that in addition to the captain, now Hux is exiting the ship via the airlock, suited up, and carrying several pieces of equipment.

Obsidian

As you enter the large room, the scene is...disturbing. Amongst the floating debri that is often found in ships that have lost gravity and air support, you see the majority of the ship's crew. Some are clutching each other, and others alone, but all have the look of desperation that could only come from suffocation. The corpses have not begun to show signs of age. These people could have died yesterday...

In the direction the kitchen should be, you easily spot some remenants of food and kitchen utensils free floating close by the entry.

Leif

Hux has left you alone in the solitude of the bridge, the percussions of wirrs and blips issuing normally from the radar and other contraptions of the ship controls. So far nothing of note has been picked up on the radar.

Spoiler

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Give me a pilot check for maintaining distance with the other ship, which is drifting through space.

Hux

You get into the ship the same way Obsidian had and without incident. You can follow the captain toward the transport section, or head the opposite direction toward the mechanical area and engine.

[cavalieredraghi]

Obsidian

這到底是什麼 ( translated: What the hell is this)! Obsidian moves his hand over to the comm button on his helmet. Hux we need to hurry, our intel was wrong this crew never escaped like we thought. Preacher would you say a pray for the crew of this vessel that did not make it. Obsidian starts moving through the bodies to find what it is they are looking for.

Spoiler

Show

Alertness check to remember what the ship looked like when i was floating to it. such as what types of damage, how did the ship look that type of thing. (1d6)[2]

[Stormageddon]

[SPOILER Piloting](1d12)[11] + (1d2)[1] + (1d10)[8][/SPOILER]

[OMG PONIES]

Hux

You get into the ship the same way Obsidian had and without incident. You can follow the captain toward the transport section, or head the opposite direction toward the mechanical area and engine.

Hux sings a song to himself as he heads in the opposite direction of Captain Obsidian, making his way toward the mechanical area and the engine...the "monkey's nest," as he had taken to calling it. The song was a good one, all about monkey's nest and how much grease monkeys like himself loved them so, but the rest of the crew would never hear it. Serves them right, after all their clatterin' about not whistling or singing loudly into the comms in the middle of missions. Instead, this song was just for Hux...and Hank, too. Hank didn't yell about the singing; sometimes it was the only thing that kept the rascal quiet. The song is interrupted as Obsidian rudely crackles on the comm. Hux crosses his arms and huffs silently; nobody ever clattered at the Captain about interrupting them with his comms.

Hux we need to hurry, our intel was wrong this crew never escaped like we thought. Preacher would you say a pray for the crew of this vessel that did not make it.

"Hurry's my middle name," Hux squawks back over the comms. "Naw, just pullin' your chain, Cap. Middle name's actually Kennedy. Some big deal family name from back on Earth that Was. Fat lot of good it does in the dark, eh? So when I get to the monkey's nest am I trying to salvage and get her cooking, or scrap it and take what we can?"

[Thokk_Smash]

Oh, dear, the preacher says with a frown. The dark is unforgiving at the best of times.

He takes out his bible and turns to an appropriate page. He solemnly reads from the page for a few moments, crossing himself when he finishes. If you find any fortunate survivors, let me know immediately and I'll prepare the medical bay.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Obsidian: As you wieghtlessly cross the room, gently navigating around the victims, you notice that most are in passenger attire, without much crew uniforms. Most of the crew must have been elsewhere during whatever caused this tomb to exist. Judging by the looks of things, much of the debri floating around (suitcases and other possessions) should have been bolted and strapped for the journey. You try and recall seeing any damage to the ship, but as far as you can recall, besides being adrift, the ship looked unmarred by an attack. The only clue you have is that there are trace amounts of oxygen still left in the ship. That means at least that the hull at least was not punctured. As far as noticing things within the ship - with the lights off, and the only thing brightening up the place being your helmet lights - its hard to see much. The shadows from the debris are casting wild shadows on the walls, which don't help to settle you.

Lief: You've kept orbit dozens of times with ships, and this time is no different. You do have to continue to adjust for things, as the transport ship is gently spinning as it orbits the distant moon. Your radar still is blipping happily.

Spoiler

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What would you like to do? You could check out the ships orbit to make sure its not degrading, you can talk to the preacher, you can inspect the ships outside, since you know about the contents of the ship now, so on.

Hux: As you travel down the empty corridors of the ship, making your way to the "monkey's nest" you get the giddy feeling in your chest that comes with exploring dark unfamilar places. One part adrenaline, two parts anticipation, and 3 parts excitement, as the job is already a ton more interesting than once thought. You have a few clues that whatever happened here - the ships systems are at least partially to blame for it's predicament. First off, emergency power is out. No lights, not even the emergencies. Second, the airlock you entered had to be opened manually. Last, no gravity. Gravity was last to go before life support. Means the ships completely out of juice. As you enter the engine room, you see 3 corpses, all dressed the same. One is grasping his throat with a look of panic on his face. An assortment of tools are drifting freely throughout the room.

Liam: The scripture is read, and you're twiddling your thumbs. You have a feeling from the way the captain spoke that there's likely no survivors.

[Thokk_Smash]

As time goes by without word from the captain, Liam closes his book with a sigh. It seems the people on that ship are all beyond his help, now.

Getting to his feet, he stretches lithely; his movements are fluid as he walks from the medbay. His feet take him to the hangar bay, the most open area of the ship. It is far better than his quarters for practicing his jujitsu.

Once there, he takes a few settling breaths, sinking into his general stance. Jujitsu was created to defend against armored opponents with only one's body, and focuses on using the enemy's momentum against them. With his skinny body, the fighting style was a perfect fit, and as he dives into the familiar routines his skill truly shines.

He practices for a good while, working up a sweat as the others complete their mission.

[cavalieredraghi]

Obsidian floats through the corpses and luggage, till he reaches the third door on the right. Obsidian opens the door. He want to get what they are after and finish this job quickly. while he is opening the door, he decides to radio Hux, and check on how things are going. Hux how is the search going, find any thing good, to bring back to Sojourn?

[Stormageddon]

Lief flips on the intercom.This is your pilot. We are cursing at... Well i don't know how high. Please take this time to note the emergency exits as we could possiblely blow up at any given time. Just sit back and relax. We realize you have a choice of airlines and we thank you for choosing leifair!

[OMG PONIES]

Hux how is the search going, find any thing good, to bring back to Sojourn?

"Not unless you've got a particular fondness for human corpses, Cap," Hux chimes in over the communication system. "No lights, no power, no grav, then no air. Hell of a way to go." Hux does his best to avoid the corpses, instead looking around for any parts or components that would be of use back onboard the Sojourn. He had a nasty habit of dissembling complex mechanical systems to stock up on screws of particular diameters, and he had long been looking for something with an old-fashioned flourescent lightbulb to strip away the tungsten content from the filament, but Cap had turned all red in the face saying something about a "malfunctioning robot squirrel storing up nuts for an imagined bionic winter" and only bringing back necessary items.

Psh, necessary. It wasn't like they were some sailing ship back on Earth that Was that could sink herself if she carried too much cargo. Before anyone could even give him what for, Hux had already calculated the cargo potential of the Sojourn. He'd need to collect at least 117,564 more 13/8" hexhead bolts before it would have a significant influence on the boat's fuel economy. Not that anyone had asked him.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Liam: Your muscles tense and loosen as you go through the flows of combat. The bay is quiet, and you try to still your mind as you continue through your martial patterns, with limited success. With all the chatter in your ear from the others, it is hard to concentrate on your forms. Then Lief's transmission fills the bay, annonuncing that there was a possibility you would blow up at any time.

Obsidian: The room is mostly clear, with two corpses embracing each other. One is gripping a small electronic device of some sort, and both wear head lamps. The safe is uncovered, and closed directly across from the door. As Hux reports more of the same - corpses - you get a sinking feeling. You wonder what your employer could have wanted that was of such value on this tomb. Whatever it was, it was on the other side of that armored door.

Lief: Your announcement goes unanswered, save for the helm talking in its usual bleeps and bloops. *ThunkLANG* A loud noise hits the hull of the ship, and it's followed by several more. It would seem something or multiple somethings are colliding with the hull.

Hux: From the looks of it, the crew members that float around you were trying to fix the issues that left the ship stranded, but ran out of time. In fact, as your eyes notice the parts in their hands, they were trying some creative solutions to the engine problems. The attempts would have only been made by desperate mechanics, or perhaps you on a clever day. Inspecting the engine, they're attempts wouldn't have worked. Nothing short of a rebuild would have been able to replace this damage. The failures of allowing an engine to get into this amount of disrepair...offends you. Still, there's no signs of fowl play, and there are certainly plenty of items for you to salvage - among them, some back up wires and tubes, coolant valves, and the nuts and bolts you generally salvage.

[cavalieredraghi]

Great a locked safe door, well i guess i better let Hux do the honors. and Sid floats there he decides that he will take a closer look at the device held by one of the couple floating in front of him. He removes it and inspects it. While his is examining the device, he Radio's Hux one more time. Hux Remember how i said not to bring explosives, well next time i say that, remind me of this mission, because i think we may need some now. you didn't happen to bring with you by chance. i don't want to risk going back to the ship , till we have the goods.

[Thokk_Smash]

Lief's announcement does not surprise Liam greatly; the possibility of blowing up comes part and parcel with living on a spaceship for months on end. Plus, it's always seemed to him like the world is out to get him, which tends to darken one's lifeview. Nevertheless, as he finishes his forms and grabs a drink of water, he speaks through his comm, Anything I an do to help? I'd rather avoid having to patch us up, if it's at all possible.

The thought of his own blood pouring from a deep laceration crosses his mind, but he pushes it back. With a grimace, he finds his doctor's bag, checking to make sure his blood-clotting medicine is present and secure. He then heads over to the cockpit to see what's up with Lief.

[Stormageddon]

Panic crosses Lief's face.

Uhmmm Come in all... I might not have been kidding about the blowing up bit. Several impacts to the hull!!

Lief checks the sensors, and tries to get a visual on whatever hit the ship.

[OMG PONIES]

Huxley

Duct tape. While there hadn't been many carryovers from Earth That Was, duct tape was one of them and Hux was the gladder for it. The miraculous adhesive could patch up anything short of an airlock in a jiff, and engineers were still finding new uses for it faster than you could say "Hey, can you hand me that duct tape over there?" Unfortunately, it looks like the recently-deceased engineers onboard this stranded boat had turned to it too late, as an unblemished roll was trapped in the clutches of one of the closest corpses.

While the dead folk in the room were bad enough, the poor engine was the true victim here. She looked run ragged; she had probably never seen a day where she was less than a quart low on oil, and the wear and tear had taken its toll on her pistons, valves, and cooling system. If some grand catastrophe hadn't shut her down for good, time would have eventually. It was a shame the preacher's book didn't have to say anything about engines. As far as Hux cared, they were better off than most folk: innocent, hardworking, and steadfast to their last revolution. He lays a hand on one of the more badly clogged gaskets and takes a moment of silence.

As Hux's somber reverie ends, his thumb traces over the edge of one of the bolts holding the dead gasket in its malfunctioning sarcophagus. His eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas day as he felt the unmistakable edge of a hexhead bolt. With a quick flick of his wrist and a turn of his hexwrench, he's holding the resurrected bolt mere inches from his eyes. A 13/8"! He kisses the grimy bolt and tucks it into one of his many pockets, then goes to work robbing the poor engine's grave. A few minutes later and a few pounds heavier, Hux's work is interrupted by Obsidian crackling in on the comm.

"By chance?" Hux snickers. "More like by careful planning and calculation of the probability that something--anything--might need more newtons behind it than a good kick could do. Always trust the calculations, cap. I'll be right there."

As Hux enters the room, he takes a look at the door and sucks in air from his supply through his teeth. The helmet of his suit causes the sound to reverberate, causing an obnoxious echo in everyone's comms. "Well I'll be. That's the Barrington Magma Signature Series. Got a burn time of about 75 years, so there's no torch that can cut through her in anything approaching a reasonable amount of time." He was oblivious to the fact that nobody else on the crew cared about the details--Hank always wanted to know more, so Hux did his part to oblige his curious friend. "Trick is the hinges. Damned things are more expensive than the door itself, mostly because it's a sight more difficult to cast screws and hinge plates out of the stuff than a big old slab. Some cut-rate installers make pocket scratch by putting the door up but using standard steel hinges. It's a sin, really." Hux sets to work evaluating the hinges and seeing if they can be loosened to give them access. Secretly, there was a part of him that hoped it wouldn't work, just so he would have a reason to light some fuses.

Open Locks - (d8)[1]+Agility - (d12)[5]

There's a certain sound that a safe door makes when she slides out of her groove, much like the quiet hiss of an amorous woman sliding out of her undergarments. Hux reminds himself that he's supposed to be disappointed when he doesn't hear the Barrington make that sensual hiss, but he takes it as an invitation to try harder. With women, that could mean anything from sonnets to bourbon to diamonds, given her particular predilections. But with machinery, explosions were a boy's best friend. Hux grins as he takes some plastic explosive from his satchel, implants a fuse, and lights it.

"No worries, Lief. We got some 'sploding of our own to do over yonder. Now stand back, Cap--but not so far back you don't get the buzz from the shockw--" Hux grins a fool's smile as the very wave he was describing washes over him, knocking him to the floor.

Demolitions - (d8)[5] + 11 INT (rolled OOC) = 16!

[cavalieredraghi]

Gǒu shǐ a is all Obsidian says as he bolts from the room before Hux can light the fuse. then a sudden vibration and he knew the job was done, as Obsidian turns he can clearly see the Hux is just floating in pure bliss of what he just did.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Hux and Sid: Sid's inspection of the device reveals that it is some sort of portable transmitter. It resembles an older style microphone, only with more buttons on the side. It's not wired to anything, so there's no telling where it was transmitting to without a thorough search of the ship. Sid also notes that one of the corpses is male, and the other (the one with the device) is female. Hux (with some turn-arounds) joins Sid in the room, and immediately gets to work trying to open the safe. His initial attempt at opening it round the hinges proves to be ineffective. Weightlessness seems to not help with safecracking. Plan B (which was always Hux’s Plan A, really) reveals to be a pack of ChemPlast which he selects from the range of explosives in the pack. Hux knows that ChemPlast packs a punch, but is in a specific location instead of a huge blast radius. It's good for damaging a localized point without causing outlying destruction, which was just what the job required. Sid’s attempts to seek refuge from the blast are clumsy in the weightless room, and he only just gets out of the room as the explosion occurs. Hux, instead of being blasted to the floor as might normally happen, gets launched out the room by the concussion, and hits the wall next to Sid. The sound of the explosion is muted and hollow, more like a “pop” of a balloon than the roar of fire.

An inspection of the safe room reveals that the two corpses have also been launched and are now spinning haphazardly around the room. The safe door has been damaged enough to be blasted free, and is now drifting freely around the cabin. The interior of the safe is empty, save a small boy stuffed into an adult’s space suit, and three oxygen tanks. He does not appear to be moving, but in the muted confines of the dead ship, you can hear the soft sound of breathing. It would seem you have found “the goods”.

Lief and Liam: Liam arrives at the cockpit as Liam is frantically searching to see what caused the “thunKLANGS” . He notices outside that there are several pieces of rock hitting the hull. They seem to be minor meteorites, and they seem to on impact evaporate in an icy poof. They seem to be coming from the other ship. The radar wouldn’t pick up something that small, or that fast occurring. They continue to batter the ship, pattering on the ship like a drum solo. For now, they are not causing damage, but it sure could mess with your concentration if you tried to read.

[cavalieredraghi]

Sid looks to Hux and just mouths " What the F***" SId does not have a look of anger more like confusion at this little child being here on ship. Sid does however report back to Sojourn. looks like we found the package, we should be back on board any minute now. with that obsidian put the strange communicating device in one of the pockets on his envro suit and activates the speaker on his suit so the boy can hear him. everything is ok, we are here to save you, i am Obsidian can you tell me your name?

Spoiler

Show

i am also getting in the child's head to get a sense of where the child is mentally so that is an Alertness check with my Reader ability.
(1d6+4)[5]

[Thokk_Smash]

Liam looks around at the surroundings in the Black. Excellent, Captain, he says. Now, with all due respect, let's get what you've found on board so we can get out of this deathtrap of an area of the Black.

He heads to the appropriate place on the ship to rendezvous with the captain and Hux when they return to the ship.