Lorrana Satarin threw a glare at Azure before focusing on Keter. "Are you done undermining my authority?" she demanded. Normally, she'd have had all the miscreants thrown in the brig - or even better, out of the airlock. Sadly, that wasn't an opiton. Maybe on the way back she could arrange some accidents...
Keter chuckled and nodded, rolling his shoulders as he turned to the expanse of psace outside. "Yes," he said, not even bothering to apologise. He had an image to maintain on this little trek after all. The captain of the Relentless glared at him before turning her attention to her crew. "Any ships in the area?"
"Hard to tell," the helmsman replied, tapping his screen. "Too much interference coming from the star. Either way, suggest we move on with all haste captain."
"Understood. Status of the hyperdrive?"
"Ready to roll. Coordinates locked in."
Lorrana took a deep breath, closing her eyes and counting to five. She breathed out and opened her eyes after she finished counting. "Alright. Make the jump. May the Force be with us."
There was a whine, and with a heavy thunk, the ship accelerated into the unknown.
---
The route to the Beachhead is a more or less a straight line, heading directly down from the galactic plane into the void between galaxies. The familiar blue of hyperspace becomes a constant companion for hours, days. It is a stressful voyage, time running on and on with seemingly no end in sight. Exploration takes a cetain mental fortitude. Spending upto a month in hyperspace is not a trial easily borne...
Post by Rawnie Tanaka on Feb 13, 2017 21:07:00 GMT -5
After the incident with the one called 'Mason', she was beginning to think her Mother was losing her mind, asking them to go along. Lor was uneasy. Rawnie could see that. She didn't blame him. He missed home, didn't trust a ship that wasn't his, didn't trust the strangers.
Rawnie was the same. But she was patient and quiet. As they passed, she gave the woman in charge a stiff salute, hoping in some small way to repair some of the damage. She may not like this crew, but this woman was in charge, not Rawnie.
"Lor'ika. We are moving in to hyperspace. We should try to get along with these... people. Who knows how long this will take."
Keter hadn't been sure of WHAT to expect when they finally got out of hyperspace, but he knew it would be welcome compared to the month they had spent cooped up. THe crew was professional, but even they had started to show the strain of operating under such conditions. A month in hyperspace was taxing - there was no other way of putting it. Cabin fever had been a real issue that the captain had had to deal with - mainly by instituting various regimes to keep the crew occupied when not on duty. At least no one had been bored, trying to run laps around the cargo hold after they had shifted all the supplies to the centre.
The blond renegade had known better than to show his face, so had remained mostly in his quarters, meditating. His soul sang as they ran the route, and he could sense others nearby, following in their wake. He couldn't help but grin. At least they wouldn't be alone once they reached the other side.
"All hands, be advised. Exiting hyperspace in ten minutes."
His red eyes sparked into life and he grinned, cracking his neck.
Post by Felicity Mason on Feb 28, 2017 22:32:57 GMT -5
Felicity lay curled on her bed with the covers pulled up to her chest. She wasn't asleep, not yet. She probably wouldn't be asleep for a while. That was alright. She glanced over at Owain, smiling.
Strangely enough, the month spent in hyperspace had actually done her soul some good. She felt happier, closer to everyone on the ship. She'd developed a routine now, waking up after 8 hours of sleep, attempting to make breakfast(or getting someone else to do it), Do a few morning stretches and a quick workout, have a shower (sometimes alone), Sit in the pilots seat for a bit, lunch, read, visit Amnell and talk, sit in the pilots seat again, hang out with Owain, dinner, sit in the pilots seat, flirt with Owain, go to bed (sometimes actually sleep).
It was simple, but it made her happy. This little family felt... right. She couldn't figure out what exactly had clicked. For such a long time, she'd been so unhappy, so desperate. Perhaps it was finally having a lead at last, a destination. All of her worries were just gone. For once in a long, long time, she didn't really care about where she was going, only who she was with.
An alarm rang out, jerking the blonde from her reverie. She jumped up, snatching a robe from the floor next to her discarded clothing. She knew that alarm. She was up and tying the robe closed in an instant, hurrying out through the door connected to the cockpit.
QT was chirping wildly as she took her seat, crossing her bare legs.
"Alright, ladies and gents," the blond announced over the intercomm, "Hope you all had a good rest, cuz we're leaving hyperspace in... about ten minutes."
Last Edit: Feb 28, 2017 22:34:03 GMT -5 by Felicity Mason
A ringworld, orbiting a long forgotten star beyond the known galaxy, resting on the fringes of another. Exactly how the Infinite Empire had managed to reach it in the first place was a mystery. But they had, and had sent a whole host of droids ahead to begin establishing an outpost for the arrival of their rakatan overlords. Overlords who had never materialised. So for centuries, the droids continued to do what they were programmed to, building and expanding. The ringworld grew to form a belt all around the sun, a gleaming band of dark iron visibly with the naked eye.
Powered by solar panels the size of continents, the ring world slowly spun counter-clockwise to the sun's rotation, massive shutters rising and falling to emulate a day/night cycle for those who would have come to live there. Unpowered weapon batteries dotted it's entire surface, along with open hangar bays awaiting visitors. The rest of the system had long ago been mined to nothingness by the machines, broken down into materials with which to expand the ringworld. Only once the last asteroid, and the last planet, had both been rendered into dust did all construction finally stop, and the droids set to waiting.
It is into this system the various starships of the explorers fall into after a month of travel via hyperspace.
Post by Owain Barnabus on Mar 14, 2017 18:29:01 GMT -5
Felicity's voice over the intercom awoke Owain with a start. He blinked, instinctively reaching out for where the girl would have been nestled under all of her covers. She was fiercely possessive of them, and not in a playful way either. A smile touched his lips as he sat up, blinking to clear his eyes. He yawned before looking about for his discarded clothing. His shirt had a new rip on it it seemed. The youth sighed as he got up and set about getting dressed. Well, at least he knew how to sew a little...
Post by Amnell de Portiers on Mar 17, 2017 0:00:30 GMT -5
Ten minutes. Amnell had heard Felicity over the intercom system. The journey to this point had been a relatively quiet one. She occasionally got to talk to Felicity and Owain. The time in hyperspace also let her catch up on some reading. Though, a lot of the time she had was spent doing careful research into her disease, seeking answers with a hope that someday, somewhere there might be a cure for her. A cure that didn't involve repeated organ transplants. Well, even that wasn't a cure. All that did was buy her a little more time.
So far, she'd managed to keep the Quannot's under control for the duration, and not let her shipmates know exactly what was wrong with her. The last thing she wanted was sympathy for it or worse pity. Amnell also feared that should anyone find out; she'd be treated like some fragile creature that would break at the slightest breeze. That wasn't her. Not at all. She hadn't gotten this far in life without being an incredibly strong and powerful force of nature in her own right.
Anyway, at the moment she heard the call, Amnell had been reading alone, through a lengthy medical paper on the subject. With a bit of a sigh, she set that datapad aside and wandered from her room into the cockpit. "So, we're almost there, eh?" She asked as she took a seat at a nearby console checking in on all vital systems once more to ensure that everything was working properly.
Despite his earlier (and current) annoyance with every person aboard the Relentless that wasn't his wife, Lor had actually managed to keep it to himself, mainly preferring to stay either in bed or the ship's woefully old engineering bay for the past month. Exercising with the crew was boring, seeing as they were hardly Mandalorians, so he had simply fallen to testing his tech over and over as well as he could without knocking any holes in the hull of the ship.
When the announcement came over the intercom, he had been sleeping half-naked, with his face nestled into what he guessed was Rawnie's hair. His headache suggested that somebody the night before had been bored or annoyed enough to drink with him, which was a bad idea as it usually led to his competitive streak causing him to drink until he passed out. That meant he'd probably drank quite a lot. The combination of all that, plus the fact that his glasses were not on his face, led him to believe that the weird ringworld and its sun were his own deranged imaginings. He groaned and settled his face into his wife's neck, because that was at the very least a good place to hide from deranged imaginings.
Post by Rawnie Tanaka on Mar 17, 2017 19:31:43 GMT -5
This month had been a rough one. Rawnie had done well with keeping herself silent and busy. Leak in the refresher? She was on it. Crew member getting a little too rowdy over a game of sabaac? She was there. something needed dusting? well... she did that too.
But there was only so much one could do before the boredom and the reality that this journey may never end really set it. At this point, Rawnie had found herself quite homesick. She prided herself in being a warrior, the very soul of her clan... but last night she had to step out of the common area because she was beginning to leak from her eyes, missing her little boy terribly.
And that wasn't the only thing she was missing either, but that was a conversation for another time with her husband.
She lay awake, staring at the darkness as an announcement came over the intercom. Her husband rolled over, drunkenly nuzzling against her neck.
"Lor'ika," she murmured, "if you aren't up for it, stay in bed. I have work to do now."
She gently started to detach herself from her inebriated spouse, feeling far more tired than she could recall being in recent years. Well, it had been a while, after all. Smiling, she reached out to turn on a light and plant a gentle kiss on his blue forehead before snatching his glasses off the bedside table to give to him.
Post by Felicity Mason on Mar 17, 2017 20:11:50 GMT -5
The view from hyperspace was a bit like watching snow. Pretty, but it got old after a while. After a month of impatiently waiting to finally speak to her Father again (not to mention the competition to beat him to it) she was absolutely over the view. The last ten minutes especially felt like forever.
So, when the ship jerked out of hyperspace at last, what she saw was... simply heaven. It was more than just an month long quest. It was new. It was exciting. Precious. This was what her Father had abandoned her for.
And for the first time in a long time, she understood.
Silently, she stood up, reaching out to rest a hand against the transparasteel as if she could somehow feel the strange new worlds ahead of her. She closed her eyes, smiling.
"Amnell," she sighed, "How's my baby looking? She still in good shape?"
He strode onto the bridge, grinning in anticipation. He had to appear confident, assured that their little jaunt hadn't been a waste of time.
The ship groaned all around them as they dropped from hyperspace. Keter held his breath.
"Multiple contacts," the helmsman reported, studying his screen intently. "At least one other coming out of hyperspace, the rest are orbiting the star."
The blond let his eyes stare out the viewscreen, taking int he sight. It was true. What he had strived for was actually here. He smirked.
"Ladies and gentlemen...welcome to Beachhead station," he proclaimed, even as the pitch of the engines changed, the vessel making it's way towards what could only be a ringworld. None of the races of the galaxy bothered with such superstructures. Their material cost was staggering, outstripping even that of the Death Star.
Yet here one was, ready for colonisation. A safe haven away from the politics and troubles of the galaxy.
Post by Amnell de Portiers on Mar 24, 2017 20:51:37 GMT -5
Amnell looked over the console screens one last time. "She's looking beautiful. Everything's in working order with zero alerts that something isn't right. So, yep, absolutely in good shape." She had her fingers crossed that nothing went wrong once they dropped from hyperspace. The last thing she wanted was for anything to leave them sitting ducks in a strange system with who knew what was out there.
The doctor carefully took his glasses from his wife's grasp and set them on his face as he sat up. His vision suddenly focused as if he'd fallen out of a fog. The headache didn't fade, but at least he wouldn't be bumping into anything. He took a deep breath and turned to look out the window again. The ringworld wasn't a hallucination. An excited laugh escaped his lips.
"Look, Rawnie! Look at it! Have you ever seen anything like that? It's a whole planet. I wonder what it's made of. It's gotta be expensive, but it's just so beautiful."
Lor nearly jumped at Rawnie to kiss her. He just couldn't contain himself. New planet, new things to poke at, new things to hunt, and probably new tech to steal. And she was there to see it! What more could he have asked for? Probably caffeine, but that was easy to get. He let go of her and started pulling on pieces of clothing and armor as quickly as he could without injuring himself. Screw the hangover.
Post by Rawnie Tanaka on Mar 25, 2017 23:08:28 GMT -5
That was a sudden change, but Rawnie didn't mind. She didn't mind most of what her other half did, as long as he was happy. She got out of bed with him, pulling on her under armor before strapping her beskar on piece by piece. He kissed her excitedly and she laughed, but it was a somewhat controlled laugh, careful.
"It's beautiful," she agreed, then paused, biting her lip, "We might be out here for a while. I almost wish we brought Galaar with us."
She winced at her own weakness, but kept strapping her armor on.
Lor's smile didn't fade at the mention of little Gal waiting for them back on Mandalore. He reached out and grabbed Rawnie's hand tightly. As much as he missed his son, the initial push to a new planet was an endeavor better done without children who might need to be kept away from wild animals and such. On their second visit, and the third, and whatever number of times after the first exploration, their itty bitty space-wizard could come and poke at things right along with them.
"Stealing hyperspace coordinates isn't difficult when your armor has its own computer, Cat. We'll come back in our Bluebird one day, and then he can see it all for himself."
He tapped a finger on his chestplate with a wink.
"For now, he'll get all the holos his little heart could possibly desire. Good explorers take pictures."
Post by Rawnie Tanaka on Mar 26, 2017 7:39:18 GMT -5
The blonde nodded, tightening the straps on her boots and double checking her chestplate. She liked to look her very best when she headed to the bridge, after all.
"Yes. We'll have stories for weeks to tell Gal," she agreed, but then she went silent. There was a lot on her mind now. A new colony. A new place to settle. She could bring her people here. Give them new life. Her clan was used to harsh arctic weather, but what if they didn't have to be? What if she could give them options?
"Lor'ika, let's go."
She needed to distract herself, because her stomach was doing flips.
Post by Owain Barnabus on Apr 2, 2017 9:50:09 GMT -5
Time to see if this little advenutre of theirs had paid off. Owain rolled his shoulders, dressed simply in a spare shirt and light pants (what he tended to wear for excercising - stars knew there hadn't been much to do during this trip, and he ahd refused to let himself fall out of shape). He entered the rbdige of the Inferno Duo with a yawn, nodding his greetings at the two women. Living with them had been...nice. Domestic. Even if they tended to gang up on him sometimes when it came to who's turn it was to clean.
Post by Felicity Mason on Apr 5, 2017 21:00:32 GMT -5
The blonde grinned at Amnells reply.
"Excellent. So now we..."
She trailed off, looking over the screen as they scanned for ships in the area. They weren't alone, and Felicity knew exactly who was on that other ship. Her blue eyes narrowed. They were headed in. No. Not without her. Her competitive side was taking over.
"QT? Is that ship within range to transmit a message?"
The droid chirped back, yes.
"Good."
She cleared her throat, waiting for the channel to open up. She glanced behind at Owain who had only just arrived, and motioned for him to take a seat as well. Qt chirped again and she looked back, through her viewport at the ship headed in to the ring world.
"Well, hello there!" she cheerfully greeted the other ship, "Nice day, isn't it?"
She winked at Owain, silently motioning for him to buckle up. She had no doubt she would pass on the message to Amnell. He'd probably understand what she was about to do. She had a competitive nature, and her Fathers original message had been a challenge. First one there, wins. Felicity did like to win.
"Well, enough small talk. You challenged me to a race, right? First one there? Well, we're not there yet! Hope you like the taste of defeat."
She sat up straight, cracked her knuckles and-
"Oh! And if my crazy old man is listening, tell him thanks for the ship!"
Last Edit: Apr 5, 2017 21:57:15 GMT -5 by Felicity Mason
Post by Amnell de Portiers on Apr 7, 2017 0:35:24 GMT -5
Ganging up on Owain was totally part of traditional female bonding! Well at least on this ship it was! She nodded to Owain and then her attention was drawn out the viewport to the other ship present. She glanced to Felicity, "So it's to be a race? Bring it on!" Amnell said excitedly as she took care to strap herself into her seat. Stars knew how interesting things were about to be with Felicity doing the flying.
The blond laughed, even as Lorrana Satarin glared at him. SHe hated having competition. Her mercenary nature had had plenty of time to fester and eat away at the Banking CLans bonds. Here, there would be no witnesses except those loyal to her. They could slip the leash, pretend to have been destroyed on this foolish errand and make their way back. But...the blond maniac was a Sith. And those only dealt in nice words whilst they felt like it, most often just skipping to the dismembering. She bit her tongue and watched as a smaller ship hurtled off ahead. Their pilot was quick though, flooding the engines with power even as Keter continued to laugh.
"This is more like it! Dash to the finish! First one to plant their flag wins!"
Once more, Captain Satarin wieghed the pros and cons of trying to throw Keter out the airlock, as their frigate moved to chase down the antique Fury. Salvage rights were nebulous at the best of times, but the bloody Sith probably WOULD honor a "first come first served" claim. The damn idiot.
It was then within the folds of the vastness of known space and beyond a lone ship appeared at the far reaches of wild space briefly. And if anyone scans the ship one would not be faulted to assume it be lost or abandon with it appear to be devoid of any discernable life sign on board. Other than a lone droid which seems all too tempting to a passing pirate ship. Who seem too blinded by the idea of a score an easy attempt to board the ship for plunder. They dare to make the attempt which they sorely no sooner regret as their blood-curdling screams soon fill the ship corridor.
As the crew, one by one taken down and captured by the ship's defense before being thrown into a lone cell in the belly of the ship. Where one by one they are painfully made to pay for their discretion before drain of life by the lone occupant of the ship. Who for the most part had to resort to employing a deep stasis type of meditative state for the greater length of the voyage. Given the uncertainty of how long the whole voyage was and great care, he took to secure that he'd not be followed nor be detected by the others. Whom he was sure there was stem from what little he sensed during his acquisition of the interstellar map of the journey he was on.
As soon enough one the deed was done and the ship had been disposed of that he pushed onward. Farther and deeper into the uncharted universe beyond the know boarders of which the know universe traverse.
"Fear is like a fire if you can control it can be your friend. If you can't, will burn everything around and destroy you.... and be your worst enemy."
Post by Felicity Mason on May 22, 2017 18:48:12 GMT -5
No response could be heard from the other ship. That was fine. She knew he'd heard her. She knew it in her heart and soul. He heard her challenge, and she was also quite sure that he was proud of her for it. Well, he'd be even prouder when she beat him.
"Amnell, Owain," she snapped, "I got jobs for you both, but you have to trust me completely. I need you to say it and mean it. Do you trust me? Absolutely and without question? Would you put your life in my hands, one hundred percent certain that you with both be alive when we land?"
She glanced around to lock eyes with both of her companions before turning her attention to the view in front of her as she waited for the answer. Every second lost was precious, but she would not attempt what she had in mind without knowing that all involved trusted her.
The droid chirped and Felicity laughed a little shakily.
Post by Amnell de Portiers on Jun 11, 2017 20:23:27 GMT -5
Amnell felt her heart start to race a bit at the question Felicity was asking. Trust she'd never been good at, reasons she kept certain secrets in her life from others. This was a leap for her to give anyone so much trust, to place her life in another's hands. The deepest of frowns formed on her lips while her brow knitted together.
But Felicity had given her a chance when she barely knew her. And Amnell at the least owed her the same. "Yes, Felicity, I trust you completely. Yeah, this scares me a bit, but you I trust. With that my life rests in your hands and I trust my heart will still be beating when its over."
"Another ship behind us!" the helmsman reported. Satarin swore, even as Keter laughed on.
Good. The more the merrier.
"Captain. You have your guns. Hit their engines and slow them down," the blond stated, leaning forwards until his hands rested heavily upon the backrest of the helmsman's chair.
"Those in front or behind?" Lorrana asked, her lip curling at the sheer arrogance coming off the Sith. To just order her around her own ship...oh there would be a reckoning...
"Both!"
"Isn't your daughter aboard the ship in front?" the mercenary captain asked, somewhat appalled. Did not even the bonds of family tie the Sith down? Ho monstrous were they?
Keter would have rolled his eyes if he could have. Felicity was a far superior pilot to him, and a hit tot he engines would only slow her down. Once he won their race, he would double back for her. Nothing wrong with encouraging some competition though. Conflict bred strength and all that after all. He just cast out his arm imperiously, ignoring Satarin's question. "Half strength, full sweep. Fire when ready."
The woman behind him sighed in exasperation and nodded. The crew moved to follow the mad Sith's commands.
Post by Owain Barnabus on Jun 20, 2017 17:26:59 GMT -5
Owain just stared flatly at his Songbird.
"Really?" he asked drily. Did he trust her. Like he woudl be here if he didn't. She could've killed him in his sleep or thrown him out an airlock or left him stranded somewhere. Yet despite her Space Wizard judgement, she still found him good company it seemed. Heh. Well, might as well take it as a compliment.
Still, she was taking this really seriously. "Yeah, I do," the youth sighed.
Post by Felicity Mason on Jun 20, 2017 18:40:58 GMT -5
The second she was given the answer she needed from both, she jerked forward, hands on the controls, eyes locked ahead.
"Good." she eyed the ship on her monitor, trying to remember what kind of ship it was. A CR90 corvette, it looked like, used for diplomatic purposes. Not originally designed for combat, but nobody ever seemed to care. It was capable of holding its own in a fight. And it wasn't exactly slow either. This was going to be harder than she thought.
Still, every ship had it's weakness. She just had to find this ones.
"Amnell, all power the engines. Yes. All of it. Navigation, shields, Life support, hell, cut the lights too! Everything we've got. I won't lose to a ship that ugly!."
She could hold her damn breath, put on a space suit, something! Breathing didn't matter to her half as much as winning. Besides, they still had about an hours supply of clean air, even without life support, and another 2 hours if they decided to suit up. They'd be fine, cold, probably, but fine. She doubted this little race would last even a half hour anyways.
Especially when she felt, rather than saw, immediate danger.
"-Except for the guns," she added, "We'll need those."
She kept the Fury steady, knowing full well that she'd only have a second to react if her awful senses were anything to go off of. And without shields, she was taking a huge risk. Would her Father shoot her down? His own daughter? In his own ship? She had no doubt. Well, even if she was wrong, she had a score to settle with him.
"Crow? I'm counting on you. Shoot that ugly thing out of the sky and I won't just promote you- I'll marry you."
Incentive. A good captain had to know how to incentivize hard work.
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2017 21:33:47 GMT -5 by Felicity Mason
The walk to the bridge was much more interesting than the first time the doctor had come up. After a month, there was finally some action. Even if that action wasn't quite the kind he was itching for. He wanted to get out and about and blow things up.
Instead there seemed to be some kind of a race going on. It didn't really matter to Lor, since he wasn't even flying. Oh well. He kept pace with Rawnie, whistling under his breath as they walked. Nothing much for him to do unless something happened to this stupid Banking Clan ship.
Post by Rawnie Tanaka on Jun 26, 2017 19:09:55 GMT -5
The Mandalorian put a hand on her husbands shoulder, only for a moment, then turned down a narrow hallway. The order had been heard over her earpiece. Guns. This. This had to be why Z had asked them to come along. Not to watch the crazy cyborg for his own sake, but for the sake of who was following.
"Lor'ika," she murmured, "My mother can be a real nuisance. Remind me not to take any more of her 'jobs', alright? I'm tired of her meddling."
Post by Owain Barnabus on Jun 28, 2017 16:26:55 GMT -5
Owain's eyes went wide. "Hang on, life-" he managed ot get out before the droid beeped and followed Felicity's command. He swore and dove for the emergency rebreathers. They wouldn't run out of breathable air anytime soon, at least in theory. But the temperature was going to skyrocket shortly with the heat sinks disabled, and their increased respiration from being in a stressful situation was going to drive them to use up more of their limited air.
He grabbed the facial gear, tossing a set over to Amnell and Felicity before applying his own. Alright, one problem sorted and - whoa! The sudden acceleration caught him off guard making him stumble. The youth swore. OF course his girlfriend had a starship with engines modded ot the point the internal gravity compensators couldn't keep up! Grumbling he nodded back at the blond and dashed for the gunner's seat. Keep calm, focus on weak points, and leave the flying and dodging to the pilot. Just like in training.
And marriage. Hah. As if they weren't good as married already.
There was a faint sound of cannons firing, the sound travelling through the structure of the ship itself. Keter's face remained jovial, even as his former home rocketed away from him at high speed. Felicity had always been destined for the Inferno Duo. The ship had never been the same since it's near destruciton on Vjun. It had moved on from him. And by the will of the Force, it had found a new partner in the form of his daughter.
It...moved him, to see his ship fly as it was always meant to, rather than simply ferriyng him from place to place. A Fury was a warship. This is wherwe it was meant to be, danicng around laser bolts as the corvette built up speed to chase it down. Satarin was barking orders, but the blond was far away, captivated by the performance his daughter was putting on.