Rbz19: Fortune's Favor
General Summary
With the gemini sprout successfully planted, the crew returned to the Rubezahl and launched into orbit. It took some time to get used to this bizarre form of tracking. Quinn had set the plant up on one of the diner booths in the mess, and set himself to meditate in front of it as Benesh took the helm and set a heading toward the jump point. After Quinn had attuned himself to the plant's energies, he was able to discern a direction for travel. Saskia relayed this up to Benesh in the cockpit, who maneuver the spaceship accordingly. "Real" directions did not always align with hyperspace jump headings, but once they had several readings while on the move, they could eventually triangulate their destination.
At first, Benesh was skeptical of the healer's "plant connections". But after a few course corrections, Quinn did seem to be pointing in a consistent direction. Besides, this was all the lead they had now.
All the while, Reinhard sat in the other booth feeling somewhat unnecessary, and not very much interested in any of the mumble-jumble. Instead, he focused on methodically cleaning and reassembling his myraid of weapons as they finally jumped into hyperspace.
The first hyperspace anchorage they arrived at was uneventful. They dropped into the midst of a dense, stormy nebula of fluorescent orange and green. The dassling display played out across the viewports as Quinn got his psychic bearings again, and Benesh and Saskia reoriented the ship. Before long, they were back in hyperspace again.
The second anchorage arrived with a barrage of squeals and alarms. Even before the crew could figure what was happening, the ship lurched sudden as debris smashed against the shields. The Rubezahl had emerged inside a cloud of debris, plasma fires and electric arcs still flickering. Reinhard was instantly on alert, climbing into the gun turret and yelling up to the cockpit that he saw the wreckage of a ship nearby. In the cockpit, however, Benesh wasn't listening. Instead, his hands cleched around the flight controls as the hulk of a tumbling starliner slammed upward toward them. Just as it semed like the Rubezahl was about to crash into the ship, Benesh steers her through a gigantic hole bore through the larger ships side... no doubt made by an even larger weapon. The viewports around the ship blurred with darkness for a moment before the ship emerged from the other side. Benesh could finally let out a sigh relief as he brough the ship around, and they could all see the tumbling, burning remains of the starliner -- the ironically named Fortune's Favor. Unsurprisingly, they were picking up a SOS from the starliner, but no one was answering their hails. Saskia got on to the sensor controls and spotted sporatic heat and power signatures in the ship's hull. Survivors. Whatever happened here, they'd have to dock and mount a rescue, or at least render some kind of aid.
Benesh took some time (and severall hull scraping close calls) to get a hard seal against one of the eject escape pod hatches, and the crew donned their vaccuum suits to be ready for anything. Reinhard and Benesh both had their own armored vac suits -- Reinhard's was utilitarian and battered from use, heavily armored with multiple harnesses for his weapons. Benesh's was a newer design, bearing the insignia of his family and the royal armory. Quinn and Saskia used the standard flight suits that came with the ship, "Rubezahl" and a number stylized along the arms for identification. The airlock door cycled with only a modicum of effort, the "door" opening as the floor panel of an unlit hallway. Lights flickered weakly as some kind of alarm beeped in the distance. There was air, though the crew silently agreed to rely on their own supplies. The hull creaked and groaned with metallic fatigue. Occasionally, the groan ended with a disconcerting snap or pop as parts of the ship came free. They made their way through the ship using the heat signatures on their sensors as a guide, cross referenced with a map they downloaded from a wall terminal. They passed through the ship's cafeteria, the wall to the kitchen shredded by an explosion. It was clear that the defenders fought a pitched battle here, trying to hold off the attackers. The crew spent a few minutes figuring out what happened. The intruders had stormed the defenders barricades, cutting many of them down in the process. But Reinhard found a few bodies of the attackers too -- pirates with scavenged armor painted grey with a distinctive red streak. "The Oath Breakers," Saskia murmured. She had heard of them before. "They take cybernetic parts for resale. Often from live victims." The group looked a bit uneasy at that, and thought perhaps it was best that Echo was still tending company business elsewhere. But why were they here? Attacking a ship full of... it looked like refugees? They seemed quite intent on breaching through the barricade, and seemed to be looking for something. But what? While the crew debated, Quinn picked out some useful supplies. A pistol from one of the pirates and a jar of peanut butter that he seemed fascinated with. Then the group moved on to the final stretch to the heat signature, which they have identified as coming from one of the emergency shelter areas. As they rounded the corner to the shelter, a lone figure hunched down at the end of the hallway sudden lurched up and yelled at the group. "Don't come any closer!" As he stood up, they could see that he was heavily cybernetically augmented, including a cybor arm with a shotgun that was now levelled at them -- one of the Oath Breaker pirates.
Without warning, Reinhard lunged forwar, blade flashing, and a moment later, the end of the pirate's gun arm fell clattering onto the floor. Reinhard easily overpowered the stunned pirate, forcing him down onto his knees.
The pirate's will to fight collapses quickly and he spills the beans. The Oath Breakers had left him here to die after all ("What a surprise --" Benesh quipped before he could stop himself.) They were after some kind of relic held by the refugees. It protected them from some kind of cybernetic virus that they were fleeing from. The Oath Breakers knew it was onboard the ship and they wanted it for themselves. He seemed to want nothing to do with the Oath Breakers now, and offered the coordinates of the pirate hideout in exchange for safety.
The first hyperspace anchorage they arrived at was uneventful. They dropped into the midst of a dense, stormy nebula of fluorescent orange and green. The dassling display played out across the viewports as Quinn got his psychic bearings again, and Benesh and Saskia reoriented the ship. Before long, they were back in hyperspace again.
The second anchorage arrived with a barrage of squeals and alarms. Even before the crew could figure what was happening, the ship lurched sudden as debris smashed against the shields. The Rubezahl had emerged inside a cloud of debris, plasma fires and electric arcs still flickering. Reinhard was instantly on alert, climbing into the gun turret and yelling up to the cockpit that he saw the wreckage of a ship nearby. In the cockpit, however, Benesh wasn't listening. Instead, his hands cleched around the flight controls as the hulk of a tumbling starliner slammed upward toward them. Just as it semed like the Rubezahl was about to crash into the ship, Benesh steers her through a gigantic hole bore through the larger ships side... no doubt made by an even larger weapon. The viewports around the ship blurred with darkness for a moment before the ship emerged from the other side. Benesh could finally let out a sigh relief as he brough the ship around, and they could all see the tumbling, burning remains of the starliner -- the ironically named Fortune's Favor. Unsurprisingly, they were picking up a SOS from the starliner, but no one was answering their hails. Saskia got on to the sensor controls and spotted sporatic heat and power signatures in the ship's hull. Survivors. Whatever happened here, they'd have to dock and mount a rescue, or at least render some kind of aid.
Benesh took some time (and severall hull scraping close calls) to get a hard seal against one of the eject escape pod hatches, and the crew donned their vaccuum suits to be ready for anything. Reinhard and Benesh both had their own armored vac suits -- Reinhard's was utilitarian and battered from use, heavily armored with multiple harnesses for his weapons. Benesh's was a newer design, bearing the insignia of his family and the royal armory. Quinn and Saskia used the standard flight suits that came with the ship, "Rubezahl" and a number stylized along the arms for identification. The airlock door cycled with only a modicum of effort, the "door" opening as the floor panel of an unlit hallway. Lights flickered weakly as some kind of alarm beeped in the distance. There was air, though the crew silently agreed to rely on their own supplies. The hull creaked and groaned with metallic fatigue. Occasionally, the groan ended with a disconcerting snap or pop as parts of the ship came free. They made their way through the ship using the heat signatures on their sensors as a guide, cross referenced with a map they downloaded from a wall terminal. They passed through the ship's cafeteria, the wall to the kitchen shredded by an explosion. It was clear that the defenders fought a pitched battle here, trying to hold off the attackers. The crew spent a few minutes figuring out what happened. The intruders had stormed the defenders barricades, cutting many of them down in the process. But Reinhard found a few bodies of the attackers too -- pirates with scavenged armor painted grey with a distinctive red streak. "The Oath Breakers," Saskia murmured. She had heard of them before. "They take cybernetic parts for resale. Often from live victims." The group looked a bit uneasy at that, and thought perhaps it was best that Echo was still tending company business elsewhere. But why were they here? Attacking a ship full of... it looked like refugees? They seemed quite intent on breaching through the barricade, and seemed to be looking for something. But what? While the crew debated, Quinn picked out some useful supplies. A pistol from one of the pirates and a jar of peanut butter that he seemed fascinated with. Then the group moved on to the final stretch to the heat signature, which they have identified as coming from one of the emergency shelter areas. As they rounded the corner to the shelter, a lone figure hunched down at the end of the hallway sudden lurched up and yelled at the group. "Don't come any closer!" As he stood up, they could see that he was heavily cybernetically augmented, including a cybor arm with a shotgun that was now levelled at them -- one of the Oath Breaker pirates.
Report Date
05 Mar 2022
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