Where There Is Smoke...

[Nina]

Rhona smirked "What? i'm supposed to pay you without....!"

 

At that moment the screens which flickered a moment ago went to nothing but white noise interference, the security veil collapsed and there was the sound of a muffled explosion from outside the office.

 

"What in the seven Hells of Ambar?"

 

"The entire security network just crashed, we are wide open!"

 

Weapons which had been missing suddenly coalesced in the hands of the body guards, all of them pointed at our heroes, fingers tightening on firing studs.

 

"Wait!" Rhona raised her hands and gestured at her people to stop. She had seen the confused look on the faces of her guests. "You guys weren't expecting that, you didn't know and I just let you walk right in. I thought any trouble would come from you but you're just patsies."

 

Outside the sounds of weapons fire and screams could be heard now, mixed in with the throbbing beat of the club music which still played.

 

In one fluid motion as she spoke Rhona turned and opened a secret compartment in the wall behind her desk and took out a data chip. "You're mercenaries? I want to hire you for a very deadly job. What do you say?"

 

 

"We don't have a lot of time."

[Shameless]

Seiya let out a sigh as the weapons came out, his eyes narrowing slightly.  "Of course it's never just a simple job."

He looked at Rhona, with what passed for resignation in his eyes.  "What's the job you want us to do then?"

The larger than normal Valna wsn't overly happy with this turn of events, but they were in too deep, and not likely to escape with their lives without yet another deal.  He spared a moments' glance to the others he'd come here with, and nodded.  If they didn't want to do it, they'd best speak up.  He had his own mission, and wasn't planning to die here.

 

Rhona holds up the data tab she had just picked up, "I want you to help me steal a ship."

[Asarasa]

Ivy cocked her head, listening the shouts and the zip and zap of bullets and blasts, a frown gracing her lips. Her grey eyes narrowed and darkened in fury. Fodder and distractions, and I didn't see it coming. I have been here too long! 

Her hands rested lightly on the hilt of her saber and the butt of her pistol, but she didn't draw them, tension radiating in the lines of her shoulders.  "If it'll get me off Pel Tavaria, I'm in," Ivy said in a tight voice. She scowled as she looked around for a likely escape route. "Is Tarko even part of TavSec? Your DNA is supposed to unlock the paytab, but I'm guessing it not only doesn't have two thousand cubils on it, it's probably not even safe to open it or the data tab on any machine you care about."

Ivy traveled light, and she was ready to leave the Station right now, anything she left behind she could survive without. Feeling sweat begin to prickle at the roots of her ivory hair, she could do with a drink. She glanced over at her new companions. She barely knew them, but there was Muscle, a Medic, a Pilot, and someone too clever by half with computers. She herself was a versatile crewman, able to fulfill most roles on a ship, and she was hardly adverse to some larceny, especially if it saved her life. Thrown into an unexpected situation, they were more suited to stealing a ship than she could have wished.

"Hope everything you care about is on you guys, 'cause I doubt we'll have time to swing back to Riftides."

[Nina]

Rhona held Ivy's gaze for a few seconds then nodded. "Marko buy us time you know what's at stake," she turned to the rest of our heroes, "If your coming follow me I will explain as we go."

 

With that she gestured at Ivy and turned back to the wall of screens and walked right through them!

 

Marko and the other bodyguards drew deep breaths and unlimbered weapons and with the push of a button opened the door and rushed out into the frey beyond.

 

Spoiler

either follow Rhona or prepare for battle.

 

[Shameless]

Seiya let out an annoyed growl.  Dying here was not on his agenda.  It would end his hunt permanently, before he'd set things to right.   Thus he was forced into another choice.   Follow a stranger, help her take a ship and leave this world, or stand and fight, and likely die.  "I have what is mine, yes."  Seiya said quietly.   "I do not plan to die here."  He looked to Amari, and nodded.  "None of us should.  Let's follow her, and take our leave."

[Asarasa]

Ivy could hear the Black whispering, writhing inside. She pushed it back down with a silent snarl. The only way to finally lose was to die. And she wasn't ready to lose yet. She drew her auto-blaster, but held it tight to her thigh as she flowed in the Eldori's wake with swift, silent steps. There was a tingle as she passed through the holographic display. She blinked slate eyes that had darkened to hematite as she adjusted to the different level of ambient light, gaze shifting in precise arcs as she searched for threats.

"Explain," Ivy drawled towards the taller woman as she stepped towards Rhona's right to clear her of her line of fire.

[Nina]

The heroes follow Rhona through the false wall into a narrow hallway which leads to a deadend and a sealed hatch on the floor.

 

On 4/27/2024 at 7:51 PM, Asarasa said:

"Explain," Ivy drawled towards the taller woman as she stepped towards Rhona's right to clear her of her line of fire.

 

While Rhone opens the hatch she explains.   “There is an experimental cruiser docked here at the station called the Hyperlance. It has an experimental  7^th generation navigation system and an advanced FTL drive which allows it to stay in FTL longer than a normal drive, thus making it technically faster.” 

 

She pauses as the hatch opens revealing a tunnel going down and a ladder.  She steps onto the ladder and starts climbing down and continues.

 

“All that is nice but the reason we need to steal it is that the navigation system has a data packet buried in the software. The Hyperlance is on a galactic tour showing off its capabilities and at every port of call it makes, data from the packet is inserted into the systems network during the automatic nav update.  When the ship reaches its final port of call at Silrayn Prime, the full data package will be uploaded into the SIM Master Hub. That cannot be allowed to happen.”

 

She finishes just as she reaches the bottom of the ladder and a small room with a single armored door. Above them through the tunnel they hear a loud boom followed by more blaster fire.

[Shameless]

Seiya grunted as he heard the explanation, and nodded "Do you know what the data packet is, and who set this in motion?"  He had a feeling he already knew at least one potential answer, and it was something that would certainly be possible for them, given what he'd already seen.

"A ship like that is going to have far more security than normal, even if it isn't obvious.  Do you have a plan for getting past that?"  He figured the answer was yes, he was however hoping that it wasn't followed by "All of you."

 

[Asarasa]

On 5/1/2024 at 9:32 AM, Nina said:

That cannot be allowed to happen.”

 

On 5/1/2024 at 5:29 PM, Shameless said:

"Do you know what the data packet is, and who set this in motion?"

Ivy quickly slid down the ladder and stepped to the side to give others space. She glanced up with a frown at the sounds of concussive explosions, then turned to face the Eldori. She'd been to Silryn Prime before. Biggest hub in the galaxy, a crossroads for four major Hyperlanes, and home of the Grand Conclave. Her frown deepened.

"What happens when the packet uploads?" she asked, grey eyes narrowing.

She absently nodded agreement with the big Valna when mentioned security and plans, but withheld judgment for now. If Rhona really was working with Taarko, then she was guessing the data tab they had would give them info on infiltrating the Hyperlance. If the attack was made by Taarko, then Rhona already had that info. Absconding with the ship was only part of the problem.

If they managed to acquire a highly advanced, experimental ship, Ivy didn't intend they just scuttle it.

"And what's the plan after we acquire the ship?" Ivy added with flat confidence. "Hard to hide such a unique ship, 'less we decide to live out in the Outer Zones."

She had ideas on that. She knew about some less than savory stations where they might take the Hyperlance to give it a makeover. But it would take cubils. And sharp eyes on their part.

[Nina]

Rhona stops and and takes a large somewhat exasperated breath. "We don't have a lot of time. The project is called "Zephyr" and has been in the works for a long time, at least a decade. Its managed by the Zephyr Corp." She glances at Amari, "Which in turn is a front for a Galactic wide criminal conspiracy.  Once loaded at the central Matrix Hub and activated it will give Zephyr Corp the ability to instantly reprogram and take control of anything connected to the Matrix. In other words complete and utter control of the galaxy."

 

She looks at Ivy, "All we do is get the ship free and deliver it to My contacts. The Data packet will be extracted and destroyed as for the ship I don't know and don't care. They will either give it back to the owners or find some use for it. But don't worry you all will be handsomely rewarded. Unlike Tarko, who is a bad cop in league with the gangs on Pel Tavaria, I am a legitimate agent."

 

At that moment a loud and much closer explosion shook the area. "They broke through we have to go!"

 

She opens the hatch and reveals a alleyway beside the club, lined up along the opposite wall are ten grav bikes. She move toward the nearest and pulls a fob from her belt her thumb flashes and several  of the bikes activate with low powerful growls of their motors.

 

She doesn't wait or say anything else just guns her bike and jets down the alleyway!

 

Spoiler

its in your ball park now

 

 

[Asarasa]

They only had Rhona's word she was a more legitimate agent than Taarko was, but on the other hand, she was here where they were, being under attack. That gave her an edge in who they could trust. A bigger edge was the grav bikes. Ivy didn't waste any time running towards the next grav bike and hopping onto the seat.

"Go! Go!" she exhorted her companions as she sloughed around them then zipped after Rhona.

Some of Ivy's tattoos prickled as she gunned the propulsion systems, then had to jerk to side to avoid a bystander as she strove to catch up to Rhona on her left. She was more familiar with starships than planetary vehicles, but she had excellent reflexes and an even stronger drive to survive. The Black was inside her, but it wouldn't drag her down...

... though she wouldn't have minded a slug of something with a kick.