Nerrone's Rangers IC [Thread 1]

"Kwa, if you want those shield and weapon enhancements before our next fight, I suggest Ariid. I can get most of the necessary supplies for the ship re-fit but it might be hard to steal the stuff. Buying would be possible. They'd get a kick out of some of my gamma-radiation filtering reactors." I said, already printing a map of the planet, security records, history, and supplying stations.

Celdrcy had nearly completed his 'project' when Quark sent him anther message. "Tell me when you get to Ion,Ill ome too" He knew he needed to go, for he was the only one not blinded by whatever that robot used to be. There was no proof that the C.L.U.E plate was the only thing that made him go insane, or that the plate was fully disabled. He would remember to take precations.

Soon after Quark's message came Kwa's. "It would seem most beneficial to go to Ariid. This ship desperatly needs upgrades, and thats the best place to get them." There would most likely be a skilled medic on the planet for Tavox and Dagon. If worst came to worst they could make money by fixing things for people, but there was bound to be some more favorable jobs. He wished he hadn't torn his computer to shreds, because it would be useful to get some scans of the planet. He'd have to make a new one. Preparing for whatever planet they landed on he put his rifle and all his credits (about 17) into a bag that was in his room.

The combined sound of people talking, the crackle of whatever it was Crycell was frying up in the pan and the hum of the holo-screen as it whizzed through Kwa's presentation did much to cover the noise Louisa made as she entered the vents running below the Lacuna's deck. Dagon, however, having momentarily lost interest in what Kwa was saying and nipped off to his cabin to find some extra clips for the pistol he had handed Chalen, was almost right on top of the source of the noise, and would have jumped clear out of his skin had it not been weighed down by his armour. Poking his head out of his cabin and squinting around at the corridor beyond, he saw nothing that could have fallen to make such a noise.

Stepping out into the corridor, somewhat confused but suspecting he would end up blaming this on Quark or whoever else had been tinkering with the engine, Dagon looked up and down the corridor once more, and stomped his foot a couple of times on the floor outside his door, just to make sure.

After about ten minutes of tampering I fixed most of the broken circuits, and the frame with Celdryc. "How about we don't include the C.L.U.E. plate just yet" I said, finding a substitution junction to replace the plate. I slammed the thumb-drive into his central matrix and sealed the info into Ion. My thumb-drive was empty now and all that was left was flipping the switch
flip
In a series of whirls, Ion's body shuttered and the central matrix junction was on code "Blue-Green" (For: Starting up/All systems normal). "How does it feel to be back in your own body, Ion?" I asked.

Celdryc had met up with Quark to rebild Ion, saying very little during the process. He knew that Quark would never agree to restraining Ion, or even removng his weapons, so while rebuilding him Celdryc attatched a small chip into Ions central matrix. It wouldn't bother Ion at all, till he activated it.
When Quark said "lets not include the C.L.U.E. plate yet" Celdryc responded "Why would we ever include it?"
When the robot was activated Celdryc stood back, close to Ion's activation switch (strange that he had one) and watched the robots every move.

Bor spoke up: "I say we go to Ariid. I think we can all agree that engineering supplies are a must. They're sure to have doctors there that can help Tavox and Dagon. And a place like that is bound to have problems that need resolved. I imagine they'd pay well, which of course is a priority.

"Short of that, Drall sounds good too. We should lie low for a while after what you people did on Ezekial-IV. As long as it's hidden from the C.L.E.U., of course.

"I don't like the idea of going to Tareen. High-end means lots of security. That's the last thing we want right now."

As Kaaran came to the gathering, hearing Kwa's presentation, He raised his voice.

"Ariid is quite clearly the better choice, wherever there is settlement there will be adequate medical supplies, and we need somewher with good engineering know-how and resources, for some good equipment, and to get this ship in good shape, and we also need some good job prospects."

Having said this he didn't hang around to listen to the others suggestions, as he really didn't care too much, and he moped off back to his cabin.

"It's settled then," Kwa said, "Xol, set a course for Ariid — look for the Santa Frerarro beacon and give them the landing code in the navi-computer, they'll pass along the co-ordinates of the city's current location. It's not that far, so everyone get your gear together and be ready to go planet-side in fifteen minutes." The blue light of the holographic display faded behind her.
"One more thing: It may be worth having a look around the markets while we're out there; no doubt there will be opportunities to upgrade, fix or replace equipment and suchlike. I have arranged for some spending money to be transferred to these credit chips," she hoisted a bag containing a number of small rectangular lengths of silver metal, each roughly the size and shape of a cigarette lighter, with a tiny blue reader-lens set in the center.

"For security, we cannot allow you to access any funds apart from these and the change in your pockets — the chips are untraceable, and that's how I like it. If we get a Coalition drop-team coming down on our heads because one of you decided to dip into an old account and the system flagged you, then I'll make sure jail-time will be the least of your worries."

She emptied the bag onto the table and started handing out the chips: each one held exactly 30 credits, which was supplemented by any coins or bank-notes the crew had on their persons. In the end, the distribution of funds was as follows:

Kwa-35
Dagon-39
Hitcam-40
Naboo-41
Zalgon-43
Xol-45
Grecsh-41
Quark-43
Jo'ma-45
Chalen-35
Kaaran-37
Celdryc-47
Crank-30
Crycell-40

((The extra was determined by throwing 3 dice and adding the totals.))

"Any questions?"

Xol did as Kwa had told him to, and within a few minutes, they were blasting off at FTL speeds. He and Grecsh both took their allotted credit chips and pocketed them, Xol into his backpack, Grecsh into this chest satchel. Both of them headed to their cabins to prepare their belongings.

Chalen took his chips and put them away safely in his backpack. "Chalen is happy to have these amount of chips for spending money." Chalen's mobile phone went off at a very bad time. Chalen took it out to see who would be calling him during the middle of a meeting. He frowned at the caller's name. "Chalen begs everyone pardon but I need to take this. I be quick!" He went out of the meeting room and answerd his phone. "Why are you calling Chalen? This very bad time Cogs." "Aw lil couz you don't sound too happy to hear my awesome voice!" Chalen moaned. "Cogs why are you calling me? I was in middle of meeting with my teamates and leaders. This very be important." Thankfully Cogs had calmed down by this point. "Say would you be oh I dunno stopping by at Ariid?" Chalen again frowned. "We all had vote on where we go and Ariid was overall winner. Why do you ask?" Cogs mutterd a so called awesome! under his breath. "That's tight couz! It just so happends that I'm doing all my trading and stuff there this weekend only! You and your crew better hurry before I go back to my crib (Home) Monday-Thursday cause I got tons of stuff and lucky for you I have special deal thing going on. I'll see you later lil couz!" Chalen hanged up the phone and went back in to join the others. "Sorry bout that. So when do we arrive at Ariid?"

Louisa's day was quickly going from bad to worse. She was almost halfway up the chute when a sudden echoing noise caused her to lose her grip and come tumbling back down. Pair this with the hyperspeed jump in her unpressurized vent and you have where she is now.

If she hadn't had her vocal cords removed she would be spewing every form of profanity available, plus some she had just made up on the spot. Gritting her teeth, she continued up the vent.

After what seemed like forever of the most uncomfortable climbing possible, She found a vent cover to push off. Crawling out into the interior of the Lacuna, she heard nothing. She quickly flattened herself against a wall to tune her receiver to "All channels - Close Range", and heard nothing. Still listening intently to the chip, she made her way down the hall.

The Lacuna was too small a ship to hide in for very long. Several meters along the corridor, Kwa stepped out of the living area, turned to look towards her cabin — and froze as she caught sight of the shadow pressed against the wall.

Moonblade strapped to back. Quick-draw straps - 2.5 seconds. Too slow. Side-arm: thirty centimeters from left hand. Not an option. Hull breach in hyperspace catastrophic. Tazer — tazer? Probabilities and scenarios whipped through her mind. Her eyes were locked onto the silhouette, alert for even the slightest movement even as she stilled any of her own.

Celdryc took the credits he was offered and returned to his room till they had landed. As he was headed back, he noticed a shadow in a nearby hallway. He immediatly turned his stealth on and looked for the source of the shadow.

"Yes!" I breathed. "43 Credits will be enough for one of my remodels. Plus the spare money in my "Ship re-fit" fund could possibly add another ship remodel. Just at Ariid alone, 1 or 2/7 additions could be made to the ship. Hoping I wasn't disturbing Kwa (I know I am ), I opened a com. link and said: "Kwa! What thing do you want to add/refit to the ship first? Shields, Weapons, 1 Cargo Bay, or 1 mini fighter?"

(I hope I scared away the shadow )

Crycell took his chips, and went to move back to his cabin, which, on the way, saw no one. Which is odd, because normally someone would've encountered him. "Weird..." Muttered Crycell as headed back to his cabin. When he entered, Talvox was finally awake. "Crycell... That... you?" He asked. "Yes, it's alright," said Crycell in a comforting voice. "Where... are we?" He asked. "We're on some sort of starship." "Ah... Okay," Said Talvox.

((NOX, my character passed yours without noticing you.))

Footsteps came down the hall, and then stopped approximately three feet from where Louisa was. It was nit a coincidence; they knew she was here. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as this was the right ship she probably wouldn't even have to kill anybody.

The figure got a message on its comms and was distracted. This wouldve been a prime moment to escape except for the fact that ANOTHER figure came down the hallway. Although this figure was oblivious to Louisa's presence, by the time this figure had passed the other was alert again.

Why is everyone in this hallway?! thought Louisa frantically.

Not thinking of anything else to do, she stepped out of the shadows with her shotgun out in front of her and sent a mental teleLink to the closest receiver (which she figured was this person's comm.):

"Is this the Nerrone's Rangers?"

Celdryc had found the source of the shadow, a creature who definitly didn't belong on the ship. He snuck up behind it and reached to put his arm around it's neck. He unstealthed the moment he had the creature in his grasp. Unfortunatly, his comm was turned off.

"Shadow, stand down!" Kwa regained her composure quickly in the wake of Quark's distraction, and Louisa's message came through to her just as Celdryc made his move.

A moment passed in silence, and some of the tension drained as it became clear that hostility was not the first priority here.
"...Yes. Yes we are. And you must be...?"

Celdryc released the creature on Kwa's command. The look on his face showed obvious dissapointment that there was no stabbing involved or a long interogation.

"Louisa Stevens, Human of Lemondedechire, recruit." she replied through her teleLink.

Louisa was somewhat reproved she had found the Rangers, but wasn't feeling comfortable, mostly due to the fact that there was something standing behind her which, until recently, had its arm around her neck. She kept her shotgun where it was.

((280th post! Green spice, WOO!))

"I recognise you from your file, Miss Stevens," Kwa replied levelly, "And I'm certain there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for you appearing in the shadows on board my ship as opposed to, say, in the docking bay of the now-defunct Ponderra a few hours ago, but I believe we—" She was interrupted by a sharp jolt that ran through the length of the ship. They had just left hyperspace, this time above what passed for the atmosphere of planet Ariid: A barren, red planet covered in the wreckage of ransacked cities and the dust of battles long forgotten.

"Welcome aboard the Lacuna, Miss Stevens," Kwa said abruptly, steadying herself against a doorway, "In a moment we shall be arriving at Santa Frerrero on planet Ariid, where our first order of business is to get our wounded patched up. Cabin number 5A is free at the moment, room and board is complimentary and breakfast is served at 9am local time or whenever we feel like it in the vacuum of space. Any questions?"

"Yes," replied Louisa, lowering her shotgun. "I do have a question. As you can see I can only communicate via my teleLink chip to your comms. What safe channel should I be tuned to to communicate with the rest of the Rangers?

"Also, in response to your earlier question, I was not in your presense on the Ponderra due to my arriving in a port halfway all the way on the other end of the ship."

"Well?" I asked into the comm. "What do you chose?" I said, not knowing Kwa was in the middle of a conversation.

"Channel forty-five seventy-one is used for all comms in the field," Kwa told Louisa, "I've been working on encrypting the channel: once you've tuned your comm-link into the right frequency transmit the code word, 'Turringan', and you'll have full access."
"Oh, one more thing," Kwa fished another credit chip out of one of her pouches and passed it to Louisa, "Use this, and only this, if you want to buy anything on-planet."

((Louisa now has a total of 41 credits.))

The question answered, she turned to one side and spoke into her headset: "You're the engineer, Quark, use your own initiative. I wouldn't bet on being able to afford a mini-fighter, however, and the cargo bay we've got at the moment should do fine unless we suddenly start trading in antiques."


As the desert world loomed to fill the cockpit and they dropped out of low-orbit, a glint on the horizon came into view — metal spires shimmering in the heat-haze, resolving itself into an improbable, gargantuan shape. The city of Santa Frerraro was a rustic marvel of the known galaxy, one of the many great floating cities that roamed the landscape of this dead world, foraging and fighting for the last scraps of its natural resources.
The city itself was a pointed diamond in shape, clearly divided into five areas: at its heart stood the steel towers of the city's ruling caste, to the north the sprawling maze of huge pipes, machines and slums that made up the city's engineering district, keeping the whole place afloat. The eastern and western quadrants held the bulk of Santa Frerraro's housing and industry. The southern quarter, where the Lacuna was coming in to land, was consumed by bustling markets nestled amidst coolant pipes the size of houses, that fed the ever-hungry machine below. Mechanical parts seemed to be the most popular fare — from assorted bits and pieces picked off the scrap-heap and given a spit-shine to serious-looking stores, hosting rows of brand-new parts in their windows — "SUMATEK" read the storefront on the largest of these, "YOUR ONE-STOP WEAPON AND ARMOUR UPGRADES AND ATTACHMENTS EMPORIUM." Further along were more scrap metal merchants, a great many of their signs advertising spacecraft parts, and a great many more of them horrendously misspelled. Beyond the mess of miscellaneous shops, open-air stands and assorted junk-yards there also stood an old fashioned tavern.

As the group disembarked from the Lacuna they were hit by a wall of sound, smell and heat — they would soon get used to the ever-present taint of engine oil that permeated the air across the whole city, even as far as the base of the Steel Towers.

"Right, I'm off for a drink!" Dagon said, starting off down the landing ramp, "If you need me, call the number of the Varrian's Head: Kwa's had it on speed-dial since—"
"You are coming with me to the hospital to get that hole in you patched up properly before it starts to stink," Kwa cut in, collaring him as he tried to saunter off, "If anyone wants to help me carry our unconscious associate off the ship and over there too, I would be much obliged. Everyone else, rendezvous in the market square at 2000 hours. I'll be doing some job-hunting in the mean-time."

Talvox was still in Crycell's cabin, and he hadn't told anyone that he was awake now. But, another thing was, he didn't know anyone's name. He decided to ask the female Mallium first, and then he would go get Talvox. "What's your name?" He asked the female Mallium.