Roleplay Prologue: The Hunt for Captian Greyhawk.

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

"Quite the stockpile" Daniel commented on the area he and his team were now in, everyone sharing a mind link with each other, courtesy of yours truly, to better communicate, his senses more or less numb from the two glasses of the extremely strong spirit drink, which's alcohol rate was of around 86% of pure alcohol. Meaning he'd be able to keep the link up and running for a while, also keeping contact with Solomond considering the comms were still down.

 

"Let's not endanger the civilians, i'd rather not be branded terrorists, we're already outlaws." Daniel commented on Adamina's plan. As he turned to Tibarn, and pulled something out of his suit, a small, circular device, of dark red color, with a button shape in the middle, if one pressed it it'd emit a small beeping sound, which was useful for drawing attention. "Here, its a lure. Safer than an explosive if you want to draw attention." Daniel told Tibarn as he handed the lure.

 

'Solomond, we're in a cargo bay of sorts, multiple ships here, some bigger and fancier than others, any idea which one we're looking for?' Daniel sent a mental message to Solomond, wherever he is, this message would echo to everyone in the group, meaning they would all hear, and could all talk with Solomond as well. Surely the power of alcohol was miraculous when it came to psychic abilities.

[HeartOfFerria 83]

Solomond responded quickly. “Look I dunno what Greyhawks tastes in ship are like. He is a pirate, maybe one of them is stolen, maybe one was pawned off and he just liked it. I dont know. Ships come and go. Ill try to find a way in to meet up with you guys. I havent got much use otherwise.” He then went silent on his end of the link.

 

 

The loaders began to draw closer to the boxes our heroes were using for cover. Completely unaware of the danger they may be in.

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

"Hmm, thanks." Tibarn took the lure device and shifted it in his hands. It would be considerably useful, though he wondered how one was to activate it without being present. He didn't have much time to consider this, though, upon hearing the approach of the workers.

 

"No time," Tibarn hissed, getting ready to jam the button on the lure. "You guys start getting a move on. I'll hit this button and cause a diversion. Hopefully I'll slip away before being sighted, but if not, well, it was nice knowing you folks." A sideways grin found its way onto his face as he added: "I'm always up for a good luck kiss from one of the ladies, though. Or a farewell one, if I am to die here so that you can walk free."

[Vaude 536]

Adamina gave Tibarn an askance look with ruffled feathers before caving in and saying, "I'll give you a good solid peck on the cheek, Romeo.  There's no telling how deep the end of my beak might go, note, but come back alive and maybe I'll consider a different kind of peck.  In the meantime, keep me in the loop, all.  I'll scout the new ship when the coast is clear and the device goes off."

 

With a look that could be the closest thing to a playful smile as Adamina can get, she slipped behind some additional cover, prepping her wings for flight when all was right.

[Saber Lily 1,543]

"..." Eclaire studied the ships. Biting her lip, she adjusted her glasses and quietly weighed all the information. They we're loading the smaller ship now, while the nicer one was left alone...

"Principality sounds more like an admiral's yacht then a hardened pirate ship. But at the same time, Greyhawk could have stolen a new ship for himself. As bad as it sounds, I think we really should split up." She glanced around, then rolled her eyes at Tibarn. "No kiss from me." She sighed.

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

The brunet perked up a bit at the thought of Adamina's kiss, though was saddened when she left without bestowing it upon him.  Hey, he hissed mentally, what about that peck you were just talking about?!  Is that meant to be rewarded after I play the hero and possibly die?!

 

He turned to Eclaire, who denied him a kiss as well, to which he couldn't help shaking his head and letting out a sigh.  "Why is it so tough to pick up cute chicks these days?"

 

Once everyone had fled the boxes–or at least had ample time to do so–Tibarn drew in a breath and jammed the button on the lure.  He didn't know what was going to happen now, but one thing was for certain: all attention would be directed on him.  He crouched down and readied himself, a throwing knife in one hand and his dagger gripped in the other.  If they came around the crates he was ready to perform an assault.

[HeartOfFerria 83]

Serveral of the loaders went alert at the sound of the Lure going off. “What in the hell is that!” Exclaims one

 

“I dont know! But we best check it out maybe someone is here for bosses bounty.” Says a second

 

“Unlikely, the boss is ruthless, he’d gut them in an instant if he found em” says a third

 

“Heh i guess your right” the first chimes back in as they drew close to the crate that now only Tibarn was behind. The rogue could hear the activation of a laser pistol, a charged knife, and the chiming of a chain.

Edited September 20, 2018 by HeartOfFerria

[Vaude 536]

Out of all the times for action, now was Adamina's greatest chance, and she took to flight.  Out of the bird's-eye view she received a good amount of intel, and she mentally relayed the information to Tibarn, being still on Daniel's very useful mind link.

 

Three of Greyhawk's goons are drawing close to you, Tibarn.  You can sneak to the right of you and behind those oil drums.  That way you can avoid all eyes focused in your direction.  Get out of there and stay alive.  Hop to it!

 

With that bit of advice, she hovered over to The Principality and, discerning it safe and her descent upon its landing deck unseen, slipped onboard and within it.  She hoped that the mind link would still work very well even with this distance, and if not she felt confident in her abilities with dealing with common grunts and thugs.  Her telescopic weapon popped open on one end, serving as a baton in these close quarters rather than a fully fledged quarterstaff.

 

So far, so good.  Nobody was immediately in the vicinity of the main corridor through the ship, though she heard movement coming further from within.  She ducked inside one of the cargo areas next to the main entrance, observing a small selection of contraband still on the ship.  She cursed her luck.  This room must have been either almost fully emptied or barely being filled, though which she could not tell fully.  It was too risky to immediately without identifying the sources of the movement, so she laid low in the room, eyes darting for hiding areas just in case somebody decided to enter the room.

 

((I left an opening for action on The Principality, Heart, if you would like to use NPCs on that ship.  If not, I can continue my little self-assigned stealth mission.))

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

Tibarn could hear the sound of several weapons on the other side of the crate, none of which were particularly enticing to him.  The brunet sighed.  Looks like this might be the end for me.  He darted from behind a crate, letting loose two of his throwing knives and embedding them into the flesh of two respective crewmen.  Bearing his dagger, he leapt up onto the boxes, by now attracting the attention of practically everyone working in the hangar.

 

A couple of the men shouted, reaching for the guns at their waists.  Tibarn tackled one, jabbing his dagger into his back, while simultaneously throwing another knife at another.  One of them let a bullet fly, which burrowed deeply into Tibarn's left shoulder.

 

Oh, that smarts, he thought, feeling the blood drain from his open wound.  He had no time to tend to it, however, nor try to stop the bleeding.  If he lingered there much longer he would have much more than a single open gunshot wound.  This bought the rest of the crew a precious five or so minutes, enough for them to successfully sneak aboard one–or both–of the ships if they were wise.  Tibarn kicked one of the men blocking his way in the gut before hurling him in the direction of the rest.  He then proceeded to dart toward the exit and the brothel, hoping that they would follow him and not his friends.

 

Daniel, I don't know if you can hear me, but . . . did you make it in safely?  I might not make it out of here alive, but tell Adamina that she . . . has really nice plumage.

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

Daniel had stayed mostly silent as the others hashed a plan and acted on it, Tibarn recklessly went to draw attention while Adamina went onto to infiltrate The Principality, Daniel didn't have much choice but to follow the bird woman and closing into the Ship as well, even if it wasn't through the aid of wings and flight. Daniel moved his way towards the most likable entrance of the ship. 

 

Soon enough gunshots were heard, Which no doubt attracted most of the crewmen in the hanger's attention, Daniel had already moved inside The Principality's main entrance, with his Shotgun in hands, just in case. 

 

'How about you live to tell her that yourself you jackass.' Daniel responded rather brashly towards Tibarn's sarcastic mental comment. Although Daniel was legitimately worried, 'Get out of there and blend into the crowd, we'l see what we can do here.' Daniel told Tibarn, as well as focusing and sending a heads up to Solomond.

'Solomond, Tibarn distracted the guards, and got shot in the process, I think. He's heading out now, try to set up communications with him as soon as he leaves the brothel if you can.' Daniel warned Solomond. As he held his shotgun in front of him, his suit's helmet was outfited with night vision so seeing anyone, even if it was dark wouldn't be a problem.

 

'Adamina, where are you on the ship? Im inside, just go through the door, seems clear so far.' He commented to Adamina.

 

 

(Same thing here Heart, if you want to use NPCs, go ahead. I'l have Daniel do a stealth mission in it as well).

[Vaude 536]

I can hear you just fine, Tibarn.  Stay safe out there, blend in like Daniel said, and I'll pull that bullet out myself if I have to when we're all reunited, Adamina replied mentally, eyes closed as she punched the ship's inner hull more in irritation of the scenario than annoyance with his comment.  Why did that fool have to get shot?  That was the enemy's job:  to get shot.

 

She will deal with the situation once it came to wrenching the bullet out of him and making sure he did not bleed to death with a local coagulant at the wound site.  For now, she had a job to do, one that will give all of them the funds they desperately needed.

 

Daniel, I'm in the first cargo bay to the left on the main entrance.  Make sure you hold your fire until visual contact.  I'll slug you in the gut if you attack me without warning, she intoned across the mental conversation, slipping out of the cargo hold and into the connector between it and the hallway.  Spying a duo of thugs just entering the hallway she looked into, she went back into the cargo bay, ready for action.  All she had to do here was play the waiting game for twenty seconds, and they would come by the cargo hold.  With their backs turned, she would have the element of surprise and knock them both over the head with her truncheon.

 

Once this happened pretty much exactly as planned, she drew back the unconscious bodies and hid them within the limited supplies gathered in the cargo hold.  As she did so, she looked at the supplies a little more carefully.  Sure enough, wet smuggling was happening.  Some of the crates contained bodies cryogenically frozen, and some less sensitive organs were in flash coolers.  Most of the smaller crates held some very hard drugs, opiates mainly, which only mildly grossed her out less.  However, these things can have medicinal value, so she pocketed a few needles worth of the stuff along with their caps.  These would be a good way to render Greyhawk useless, even with a small dose.

 

Moving on, she travelled a little further into the ship, eyeballing some of the screens as she went across.  They seemed recently installed, and some of them still had the plastic screen protectors on them for transit and pre-installation purposes.  It made her wonder:  was the ship on the other side being salvaged and gutted to improve The Principality?  If so, then this was Greyhawk's ship of choice, though that was not telling enough of his whereabouts.

[HeartOfFerria 83]

“Rodger that” Solomond responded as he arrived at the Brothel. Stepped in with a rather uncaring demeantor and blended in with the other customers while he waited for Tibarn to make it out. With a sigh he watched the door and started up his Flame Spitter. “Best hurry up Tinbarn. People will probably start to notice.i dont really wanna turn this place into a pyre but it might have to happen.

 

 

 

—————————-

Adamina Daniel could hear chatter coming from Within the ship “Yeah I heard the ruckus outside. Glad we got put on guard duty.” A deep voice bellows

 

“Agreed, but i have to ask, why does the boss want us to watch this stupid ship anyway? There aint nothing in it. Just a few smuggled goods and some computer screens” speaks a second

 

“I dont know and I dont really care. Its easy money and thatst what matters” says a third.

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

The rogue was losing blood rapidly, becoming lightheaded and a bit tipsy.  The crewmen, thankfully, decided to pursue him, out of the hangar and into the brothel.  They readied their guns, though held fire when Tibarn wove his way through the other patrons.  They wouldn't risk firing and shooting employee and client alike, lest they have the entire Rose's Grace on their tail.  Tibarn chuckled lightly upon realizing that Adamina heard his witty comment, though was unable to linger on it too long as a bullet whizzed past his head.

 

"Don't let him get away!" one of them cried, causing a couple of girls to shriek and run for cover.  By now all eyes were on Tibarn, though he didn't slow his pace.

 

I'm heading for him.  Take care, you guys.

 

At the entrance to The Rose's Grace Tibarn was relieved to stumble upon Solomond.  He let out a sigh, holding his wounded shoulder.  A short distance away, the crewmen were still following Tibarn, and now they were more willing to fire since they were out of the brothel.  A few let their bullets fly in his direction, though none were a very good shot and Tibarn was able to avoid them with ease.

 

"Hey, long time no see, Sol," Tibarn said nonchalantly, very much unlike a man who was just shot and still being pursued by his shooter.  "Do you have a plan?  I might need to sit down soon.  I'm getting a little woozy."

[HeartOfFerria 83]

Solomond laughed. “Dude you look like crap.” He smiles before grabbing a nearby bottle with a cloth stuffed into it. “But Yeah I got a plan though. A bit of a hot shot blockade as they say.” He then lights thr cloth on fire with his flame pistol and lets it burn for a bit before he tosses the bottle at the door that Tibarn just came through igniting the entire area around it in the process. Luckly no civilians were standing near the door when the bottle hit, but as the flames ignited people began to run. “You are good at slipping away into a crowd right?” Solomond asked as he supported Tibarn on his shoulder. “Why dont you show me how to do that too while we get back to the ship?” He then lead Tibarn into thr crowd

 

(Sorry but Solomond is very extreamist when it comes to his plans)

Edited September 28, 2018 by HeartOfFerria

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

Solomond's laughter felt good for the rogue to hear, especially with things looking so grim.  "Yeah, well, what else is new?  I know how to sniff out trouble."  The sudden throbbing of his shoulder brought him back to the present, causing him to wince.  He glanced back over his shoulder at his "friends," which were soon barricaded by the flames that Solomond shot up.  Tibarn would've laughed, but the pain distracted him.

 

"Talk about lighting things up," Tibarn commented, leaning against Solomond for support as his comrade balanced him on his shoulder.  "But no, they need you in there–don't worry about me.  I can take care of myself.  Honest."

 

Truth be told he was not honest, but Tibarn knew that the others needed his help.  If he tried to relax and stop the blood flow he could probably make it until Adamina returned . . . probably.   Tibarn was feeling a bit ill, and exerting himself whilst trying to outrun the crewmen didn't help his cause.

 

Once Solomond and Tibarn were further into the space station and fully immersed with all the other passersby, Tibarn stopped short to brace his hand against a while, proffering a light smile to Solomond.  His lips were growing increasingly pale.

 

"I'll just rest for a bit and then make it back to our ship.  You go to the others, except, say, you don't have a spare commlink anywhere, do you?"

[Vaude 536]

Adamina listened in to the conversation nearby, pausing and crowding a closed door to avoid being seen as three distinct voices managed to be heard.  She could take two head-on just fine, but three would be difficult for the Loft.  The best tactic was avoidance until she managed to meet up with Daniel.  Together they could accomplish a lot where individually would be difficult.  That was part of the beauty of the diverse team they had set up:  they could cover each other's weaknesses and bolster their individual strengths.  Unfortunately Tibarn was out of the picture, Eclaire did not follow up, and Jake was unseen and unheard.  Maybe this was due to no communication besides that of mental conversation, but she worried for the situation.

 

Hitting a switch to open the door she was nearby, she slipped inside and left the door ajar, just in case.  It was dark and quiet in this room, dimly lit with a few active screens.  In summary, this was the perfect place to relay information.

 

Hey, all.  The captain is elsewhere and not in The Principality, she voiced inside her head, hoping the others could still hear her.  Daniel, we need to get off the ship if we want to secure that bounty.  If not, we can probably secure a bigger profit by stealing this rig and stashing it away in one of the harder-to-find ports, though that might involve more risk.  Wanted men don't much like having their property stolen, plus we have Tibarn to worry about with his wound.  The longer he stays with that bullet, the worse off he will be.

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

'Is there any higher ups among the guards who might know of Greyhawk's location?' Daniel let out a psychic comment to Adamina as he continued to sneak his way around the ship. Shotgun in hand in case of sudden appearances, but he kept a low profile, keeping and creeping around any spots with low light and visibilty to not be seen, naturaly his red jumpsuit would stick out like a sore thumb, but you'd be surprised at how good crouchwalking skills helps moving around undetected.

 

'We can't take the ship, how are we going to sell a ship full of bullet holes and energy scorches? Even fences wouldn't buy it.' He commented. Still, Adamina's words rang true, Greyhawk didn't appear to be on the ship, sadly. and he didn't bring any of his gadgets, namely the long range gps trackers along to plant on the ship in case it flew off. So he was pretty much out of options. He began to sneak his way back the entrance he came, hopefuly there weren't any guards there waiting for him.

 

'If you're game, and if there aren't any more guards around, we can knock them out stealthily and i'l just mindjack them while they're unconciouss...that might provide us with some useful information...hopefuly.'

[HeartOfFerria 83]

The three guards began to walk around the ship, leaving thr entrance open for the time being. They seemed to have decided on a group rotation because they didnt want to get bored.

 

 

Solomond led Tibarn to the small and battered craft that they called a ship. “We need to fix that wound of yours... but im no Adamina...” he set Tibarn gently down on the couch in the main room. “Just um.... hold your blood in. If we have to ill cauderize it but id rather not it might not end up well.” He then tried to get through the mental link unsure if it would work at this distance. “Daniel can you and the others hear me? Tibarn go t hit pretty bad. Im not sure if he will make it without medical attention. Im at the ship if adamina wants to lead me through this but otherwise i may just have to cauderize the wound.”

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

The situation was going from bad to worse.  Thankfully Tibarn couldn't hear Solomond's attempt at mental communication, else he would've gone into a greater flight of panic.  Tibarn knew that his wound was grievous, though he didn't think that it warranted cauterization.  The thought made him shudder, yet he understood that he needed to cooperate if he desired to survive.

 

"Look, Solomond, just focus on them," Tibarn said finally, unrolling a package of gauze that he found and stuffing it into his wound.  "They need your help if they want to survive, and the ship needs them to survive if it ever wants to go on another voyage.  I'm sure that I'll figure out . . . something."

 

A thought occurred to the brunet, albeit probably not a favorable one, yet one all the same.  "Hey, Addie's got some shady friends in this space station.  They own some kind of apothecary but deal in wet smuggling.  Maybe I should hop over to this guy's place and see if he can't help us?"–Tibarn grimaced, his perplexing growing pale–"or rather, perhaps he ought to do the skipping.  It's Apothecary Sal, if I recall right, and his name's Eddie.  What d'you think?"

 

Or cauterize the wound, Tibarn thought, though he really was not looking forward to that possibility.  Dang, why did he have to take on those losers the way that he had?

[Vaude 536]

Adamina sneaked her way around as well, listening in to the conversations that buzzed in her mind instead of her ear.  This sensation was quite the odd one, but it was very useful.

If you can do that, and if there are any higher-ups here, I'll club 'em all over the head and we can take any information we can use while they are unconscious.  They are alone, excepting the very low possibility that their comrades are skulking about in the shadows like us.  They are separating one down each hallway.  With luck I can take two or all three, though I might need your assistance.  After that, I'll lead you through the process, Solomond, but don't go to Eddie's.  He'll fix you up very wrongly, I assure you.

Deeming the moment safe as one of the guards went past her as she stuck to the shadows, she readied her baton and thwacked the man on the back of the skull as he stepped two paces past her.  He sagged to the ground with the help of Adamina, who braced him enough to have him land softly onto the metallic floor, and was dragged off into the dark room she came from.

Next up was the guard that trailed right, and the Loft quietly followed until she was close behind him and smacked him in the same location, where the neck met the head.  Any further up and the force of the blow would have made a fatal jar to the head.  Luckily for him, Adamina was not the type to kill, and the situation called for his being alive, though he grunted loudly and fell a little louder than the first guard.  She cursed and slipped to the side of the corridor, hoping to get out of the line of sight just in case the third and final guard heard the commotion.

[HeartOfFerria 83]

“What was that?! Niles? Was that you? ....Niles?” Adamina heard the third call out, having heard the thud. He then the rev up of an energy blaster

 

Solomond grit his teeth a bit. “We are gonna get you patched up those guys will be fine.” He says.

Edited October 21, 2018 by HeartOfFerria

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

Was he really?  TIbarn appreciated the positivity, though he was not so certain that he could truly be helped.  Instead he tried to change the topic, hoping to lighten the mood of the present situation.  "Were you just talking to them?" he inquired, the link having been long severed from the rogue.  "Where are they at?  Maybe it's not too late to go to them."

With that Tibarn rose to standing, leaning against the wall for support.  Hang in there, you two, he thought, though did not intend for them to hear.  He began to meander down the hall, though found his heart pounding furiously in his chest, forcing him to sit and draw in a few deep breaths.

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

Before the third guard could really come to his friend's help or even finish charging the energy pistol he would begin to feel dizzy and disoriented as well as a piercing pain in his head, in detailed words, he would feel a combination of nausea combined with a heavy migraine, the cause was Daniel messing with his mind to distract him long enough for Daniel to make the distance from behind him.

After closing the distance the guard would not even have time to turn towrds him as he would have the back of his head slammed by the butt of Daniel's shotgun, promptly knocking the goon out cold.

'That's that'. Daniel commented, before grabbing the goon by his legs and dragging him off somewhere with more visual cover, 'come on, we need to drag them somewhere they won't be seen in case anyone comes back' Daniel told Adamina. Preferably anywhere where he could read their minds in peace, an unconciouss person had absolutely no protection over mind attacks after all.

[HeartOfFerria 83]

The small craft fell very quiet. It didnt seem that anyone else was aboard the Principality.

 

Solomond sighed “we cant go the way we came... way too dangerous.... it would take too long to find another way in on foot. Id need to look at the 3D map of the space station some more and cross reference it with the info we have....of course... maybe we could use the Serpents Envy backdoor... judging by its orientation it could be another entrance. Im not entirely sure.,.. however for now returning is out of the question. You WILL be patched up. This crew doesnt leave one another behind. At least I wont.” He puts his hands on his hips and turned, he then realized he was alone and just talking to himself. “Tibarn?”

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

The brunet heard his voice being called from the other room, though he didn't want to turn after he'd already made so much progress.

About ten feet to be exact.

"I'm here," Tibarn said with a sigh, leaning against the wall and wiping his brow.  "And I heard what you said.  You're not leaving me behind; you're leaving me here on the ship.  I'll just take it easy until you get back."

He knew that his words would fall upon deaf ears, however, as Solomond was bound and determined to remain at his side until the end, whether the "end" being his death or getting his wound sealed up.  There were a few bench about a yard from where Tibarn stood, so he made his way over and stretched out upon it, wincing as he straightened his arm with the wounded shoulder.  I wonder what it's like to die, he thought idly, closing his eyes as he listened to the sounds of the space craft around them: a very loud fan, the hum of the lights, and an obnoxious rattling whose source Tibarn could not detect.

"So, this . . . cauterizing."  Tibarn visibly shuddered as he said it.  "You think you can do it?  Will it be over quick?  Can we find some pain meds in Adamina's stash first?  I have an inkling that it's going to hurt like the dickens, way worse than this gunshot ever would be."