Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run [FINISHED] — Legacy Forums

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#41

Rebecca, concealed in the ruin, checked the gun in her hands - a fine piece, she had fantasized of shooting certain people with it since the moment she first saw it.
Bashful, half-concealed, barely not admitted fantasies, certainly, but so much more thrilling.
Now, it was trained in the direction of the unknown motion signals, and her senses reached out... back in the silence of space, she was able to perceive the other mind across the black gulf of emptiness, and the memory of its presence thrilled her in an almost sexual way. Now, there was the omnipresent hum of Gaia's children, but still, she should be able to pick up the first thoughts any time now - and certainly once the strangers came into view.
AG, please feed me any info that I might pick up. Thanks!

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#42

"I recommend that you stay down a while, Mr. Lucrum. There's a small chance you may have a mild concussion. Though under these circumstances that might not be an option, at any rate exercise caution."

The doctor then went back to her locker and picked up the metal tube after examining it.

Katherine had always been clever, outsmarting all her family members and co-workers at the Copernicus, yes, even the scientists. At least that was she felt all the hours she had to suffer their scrutiny, endless scheming and sadistic little experiments. And now she was rubbed in the wrong way, this whole situation was, in some way, wrong.

Curious what was in that mysterious metal cylinder, she now realized it was far too big to picked up.

Gasping, Katherine uncovered a 7 feet long steel cylinder, and behind that another, and another, and another... In all there were six of them she discovered. There were no markings, no nothing, but when she bent down to examine one from above it reacted to the medbay key she kept in her front pocket.

"Medbay access granted", a synthesized male voice said, then a small square window appeared in the surface of the steel cylinder.

"Patient, Wionna McCullough. Status: Hibernation. Subject is in a dreamless state.", the synthesized voice spoke louder than she liked and Katherine reeled back in shock. There was no mistaking the red-head mechanic in the steel cylinder. Wionna. Angus' girl. In stasis. Here?

Holding her breath, Katherine Bradshaw-Brennan had to lean against the wall.

6 cylinders. 6 co-workers and family members remaining on the space station.

Aunt Angelica and Uncle Frank?

***

Captain Phil walked briskly down the ramp, wondering how he looked, if the grey Captain's uniform appeared as it should. He had been in an accident after all.

***

Angus ran after the Captain, and found him standing beside the green dumpster he had seen from the gunner's nest. If Mortimer was up in the nest right now, he would just barely not be able to gun him down. Not unless he somehow managed Mary Sue to shift position.

The Captain stood there, ballistic shield in hand, while Angus hid partially behind the green dumpster.

The welcoming committee was ready!

***

Mortimer sat alone on his bunk bed, his head hurting and jaw aching. It was pitch black inside, with only the War Protocol red lighting to dimly illuminate certain areas like the walkway from the cargo bay to the cockpit, and the ladder to the gunner's nest. While thinking about the Gunner's nest, he heard Katherine gasp with surprise in the room next door.

***

An old, old vehicle slid into the alley sideways, whirling up large amounts of sand in the process. It was a sedan, chock full of rust and four tattooed men sprang out of it's doors, pistols in their hands. Three seconds later the hydraulics of a semi-trailer screeched and hissed as it came to a full stop, releasing even bigger clouds of sand and dust. Phil could see three men jump from the cabin, tattooed in swirling black tattoo patterns the lot of them. He heard men shouting from around the corner too, and someone shouted something, in a language he neither understood nor recognized.

Fifteen men approached the dumpster, pistols and shotguns at the ready. One of them, slightly larger than the rest, with a black leather jacket and jeans, spoke then. In English.

"Cease and desist, soldiers!", he ordered Captain Phil and Angus.

"I come bearing a message from your masters. We are your new masters. Lay down your weapons and come peacefully. Keep up your end of the bargain we struck with your leaders!"

His english was thick with accent, like he almost swallowed some of the words, and he looked sideways to one of the other men, then exchanged a couple of words in an alien tongue.

***

Rebecca hid in the ruins, yet all around her there was sounds, thoughts, motion. She had put the motion detector to stealth mode, and saw men circling them, making their way through the ruins. There were many. She counted twenty with Angus and Phil, another fifteen climbing up to the rooftops and making their way through the abandoned buildings and rubble of the ruins.

She could not understand what they said, what they whispered around her, but she understood the thoughts they so foolishly failed to hide.

Circle the slaves. Capture the slaves. Capture the cargo. Get the gifts of the scientists from outer space.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#43

Phil was suddenly angry. The word "master" did not sit well with him. And this was not in his mission parameters, vague as they were.

"What deal? We are the servants of the Holy Scientists, unless THEY tell me otherwise. I will not take orders from the likes of you. Now leave, before our ship carves you all into processed meat-like paste!"

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#44

"I don't think so...", the leader said, then he tossed a small ball the ground. It rolled a couple of feet, then stopped.

A hologram appeared above the ball, the unmistakable appearance of the head scientist, the master of the Observatory, springing into view.

"Mary Sue. Initiate Surrender Protocol. You are being transfered to our allies here. The man who just threw this holoball is your new master... Servants, lay down your weapons. Accept your fate and your punishment for the actions of your forefathers"

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#45

The betrayal was almost a physical reaction in Phils suddenly conflicted mind.
Memories danced at the edge of his vision but they were unclear. Hatred bubbled up.

He dropped his sword, and stepped forward as if in a daze, the word 'why' unsaid on his lips.

A moment later, he tensed his legs and sprung with all of the power of his cybernetics - a human battering ram with the shield at the front.

(15:46:28) Minion: valadaar rolls 1d100 and gets 63. Close combat is 70
Damage - valadaar rolls 3d6 and gets 3,5,3. so looks like 15 points.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#46

There was no way of knowing what the doctor felt at that moment, but nonetheless she aimed her revolver towards the newcomers and fired.

(20:59:47) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d100 and gets 57.

But the shot came up short. She gritted her teeth.

"Everyone, fall back! Angus, get in the turret already!" She yelled and then seemed to mumble something to herself.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#47

"s**t" was all Angus said as he watched Captain Phil do his thing.

He didn't even consider firing the shotgun, but took off as quickly and nimbly as was possible, back his beloved Gatling.

Should have just stayed in the damn turret, he cursed himself.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#48

Mortimer eventually stood, and strode towards the exit ramp. Angus barreled off to the Gatling gun past him, momentarily startling Mortimer, and he knelt to look out at the scene, his gun in hand.

It seemed that his fellows disagreed with the natives on some crucial point. How, Mortimer did not know. Of course, he should probably go help them. But before he charged down the ramp to deal death to his foes, fear gripped his heart. He had always avoided conflicts and fights and combat, with his fellow servants and the scientists. And staring down at Phil in the thick of combat, and at the doctor calmly firing off shots, Mortimer came to a sudden realization.

He was a coward.

But he needed to help his comrades, and so he moved his oddly leaden limbs to take the only option that he could bring himself to carry out to aid his comrades.

He tore off clothes, leaving his underthings on, and mentally began changing his very skin tones. Pigments and melatonin flexed and fired off, and with a certain amount of satisfaction he could barely tell where his hand was when he raised it.

He snuck down the ramp, his skin changing to match the background of steal grays, and circled around the combat to the back, keeping his eyes on the watch for something he could use to brain an enemy from behind.

(18:19:11) Minion: caesar193 rolls 1d100 and gets 81. Thats for sneaking around the combat. No idea how much of a benefit my camo skin is, or how many bonuses I get since nobody should be paying attention to me and instead the person attacking them/the gatling gun, so tell me if someone notices Mort and tries to attack.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#49

One second, the hologram of the scientist was telling him to stand down, give up, become a slave.

The next second he crouched like a cat on the hunt, and suddenly sprung the massive augmentations in his legs, hurling himself through the air like some human missile, with his ballistic shield at the front.

What happened in between the first and the second second had been madness, Captain Phil's sheltered world come tumbling down.

***

A few seconds earlier...

Dirk the Kildrasa smiled with satisfaction. The goddamn scientists had delivered it all. Slaves, weapons and even a blasted spaceship! And all for access to that building they controlled. The damn scientists could have all the access they wanted. Dirk the Slaver was about to be upgraded to Dirk the Sky Pirate. As he watched the giant fool squirm in front of the fancy hologram, Dirk congratulated himself silenty. It was all going according to plan. The Baron was going to be so pleased.

***

Angus couldn't risk a shot. Not now that Captain Phil had hurled himself madly into enemy ranks, so he ran towards the Mary Sue. At the ramp he noticed that the good doctor had taken up arms and were now defending them. She stood with both legs planted firmly on the ground and held her gun with both hands, firing at Phil's assailants.

Then he noticed a head bobbing into view from the hole in the warehouse wall, behind Katherine. The gleam of headlights was reflected in a sniper's scope, and he realized that the brigands were inside the warehouse as well, attacking from both ends of the alley.

OOC: Rolled for "senses". (01:06:18) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 69.

***

Phil the missile hit the Kildrasa they called Dirk with the force of a speeding car. The tattooed would-be sky pirate was crushed against his shield, his nose pushed into his brain, both of his eyes popping out of their sockets. The momentum flinged his crushed corpse forcefully backwards into three of his own men who came toppling down, spattered with crimson droplets from their fallen boss.

Phil hit the leader like he had planned, but his momentum didn't stop there and he crashed madly into yet another man, breaking his flight. All of a sudden he found that he was lying down beside the second slaver, now dead from a broken neck. He sprung back on his feet like a piece of unstoppable machinery, picking up the bloodied shield in the process.

OOC: A bunch of dice rolls. Also a morale roll for the twenty men with Dirk (they fail their morale test on 73 or above)
(01:13:16) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 11.

"Hij vermoordde Dirk, dood hem!", one of the brigands screamed and those still standing lifted their guns. Those he had knocked down moaned and complained, some dazedly fumbling for weapons.

OOC: Next round. This round Phil surprised them

***

Rebecca extended her senses, reaching for the minds of their assailants.

It did not have to reach far, and she felt the presence of two minds, feeble and frail, on the floor above her. She could feel them, sensed how they clung to the pistols in their arms. One was in front, approaching a window. He could see the roof of the Mary Sue through his eyes, could see the back of the slaver in front of him, long black hair, pistol ready and a sleeveless denim vest.

Then she felt someone very close by, a whisper of a shadow.
Mortimer.

Reaching yet further she sensed five men atop the opposite building, flanking the Mary Sue from the tallest brick building. One had a flame thrower, the others held shotguns and pistols.

They came from every direction.

OOC: Rebecca felt a chill go down her spine. Just a very minor sign of her using her power

***

Mortimer snuck straight past Katherine and Angus, they didn't even see him. He wasn't moving perfectly, no doubt because of his nerves, but amidst the thunder of gunfire, that hardly mattered.

The chameleon stood under the right wing, noticed that the flames had been put out. He heard voices, a lot of them, and saw a large group of men training their guns at Phil. Half way between the group of men and Mortimer; a cursing hologram. In the opposite direction he noticed a sniper aiming for Katherine or Angus. In the adjacent building he heard running feet and the shouting of commands.

***

Katherine noticed Angus as he sprinted towards her, but then he halted, his gaze fixed at something behind her back.

***

The hologram of the scientist screamed in fury, his face contorted with anger.

"HOW DARE YOU? YOU ARE SERVANTS! NOTHING BUT SERVANTS! LISTEN HERE, YOU FILTHY APE, YOU ARE MINE TO COMMAND! YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT ME! YOU HEAR WHAT I SAY, CUR? LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS, SERVE A PURPOSE GREATER THAN YOU!! I MADE YOU! I CREATED YOU! I DEMAND YOUR FEALTY!"

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#50

Phil did not know their plans, not did he terribly much about them in any case.

Why they had trained him so well in combat was odd, if this was their long term plan. No matter, he would do his best to spoil their plans.

"The Scientist Lies! He Betrays!" he shouted as he sprung over the nearby Semi, putting it between himself and the horde of assailants.

Or it seems, right into it :( 20:50:03) Minion: valadaar rolls 1d100 and gets 91. Hopefully I pose a distraction.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#51

Phil was out of balance as he turned around and with all his might jumped over the nearest semi-trailer.

***

Dirk's men cursed and screamed, trying to hit the incredibly fast moving madman! It sounded like thunder when the fifteen slavers fired blindly into the air, trying somehow to hit the brute in his wild flight. The semi was riddled with holes, Captain Marion less so.

OOC: (11:10:05) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 15d100 and gets 99,38,29,33,34,93,27,22,23,56,51,47,29,40,98.
Their inital hit chance is 45%, reduced by 25 by the simple fact that Phil is flying incredibly fast through the air.

***

He landed at the edge of the semi's roof, but had only about six inches to land on. Phil flailed wildly with his arms, tried desperately to stop, but there was simply not enough space. He toppled over the edge, his speed ensuring a rough landing on the other side.

***

Phil hit the ground with enough force to knock the air out of him, and he laid there, huffing and grunting.

OOC: Stunned for one round.

In the meantime your friends do their thang... I think

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#52

Rebecca was sweating - one thing was to clandestinely befuddle the thoughts of a jaded witless security guard, another was to be confronted with unwashed savages hell-bent on enslaving them or worse. Tattooed muscular leather-clad savages, but that did little to improve the situation.
Their aggression reverberated within her, and became her own; she soaked up the ruthlessness and killer instinct of me who fought for their lives every day, who took lives whenever convenient, fight-or-flight, might makes right...

'Flamethrowers are fun. It's so awesome I am the one who gets to torch things. I love it when they writhe and scream.
"I should give it a test run - to see if it works" the Rebecca-Raider added.
'Damn thing jams all the time; if I got the station I deserve, they'd fix it up nice and shiny. Gotta test it, in case I get to torch a slave later.'
"It's primed, and there's test targets. Hah, stuffed straw men, moved on wires. Of course I can hit them. Watch me go!" the Rebecca-Raider smiled.

The finger began to clench on the release, the hands to sweep the charred nozzle in a wide arc.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#53

OOC: Giving each player attention, if I can manage. To get the combat moving.

Rebecca entered the mind of the flamer brigand. He fought feebly against her for a brief second, before his will just crumbled and Rebecca merged with his personality.

OOC:
He has an intellect of 10, Rebecca of 15. Rebecca has a 75% chance to possess him.
(12:30:04) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 67.

***

The raiders ran in a crouch, closing in on the edge of the rooftop. They could see the loot before their eyes, a genuine spaceship, theirs for the taking. Suddenly the biggest of them all stopped moving. He just stood there, dazed and confused. The men paid him little heed, but the Sergeant stopped and patted him on the back.

"We need you, come on. Let us put a light to these bastards!", he said.

Inside the flamer brigand's mind, Rebecca looked through the brigand's eyes, saw what he saw. The one talking to him was handsome. There was no doubt in her mind. Perhaps the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had primed a grenade and turned around to throw it, when the flamethrower went off. Rebecca let the flames spew over the four other brigands on the roof, their screams of terror piercing the night sky.

OOC: There is an 85% chance that the grenade remains on the roof, and a 15% chance that it falls down into the alley. A dice roll of 01-85 works in the party's favor. (12:39:53) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 71.

The flamer brigand danced happily on the roof, and was about to shower himself in liquid flames, when suddenly the grenades of the slaver sergeant went off.

***

Angus and Katherine whirled around as screaming men on fire began falling off the rooftops to their left. Then a series of deafning explosions, and chunks of meat, an arm and a couple of eyes rained down around them.

***

Rebecca reeled back from the mind of the now dead brigand. She had hoped to retreat before he died, but his death was so sudden, she didn't have the chance. Her mind swirled for a couple of seconds, she almost had to throw up, but she fought back the rising panic and focused on the present.

OOC: Rebecca has an intellect of 15. There is a 75% chance that she does not enter a state of shock.
(12:43:26) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 44.

***

The sniper was about to pull the trigger when suddenly the roof of the right hand building caught fire. Then a series of explosions, intense glimpses of light. He fought to regain his senses. This encounter wasn't going according to plan.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#54

Reacting to Angus's gaze, Katherine swerved around and seeing the new threat, she fired. But the shot went wide once more, clearly combat was not where she excelled.

(13:36:45) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d100 and gets 86. I swear to god, this is my fourth failed roll in a row, I wanna take that fucking chatroller, drag it out in a field and smash it with a baseball bat, the office style. :x

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#55

OOC: Tough luck, Goss!

The sniper flinched as the beautiful woman fired at her, hitting the corrigated plastic wall beside her.

"Oh nee, babypop. U bent niet van plan om me neer te halen.", she said and fired a round, aiming for the Doctor's chest.

OOC:
The rifle is scoped, and she has a 75% chance of hitting Katherine. The rifle does 2d6+4 damage.
(14:25:41) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 46.
(14:25:49) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 2d6 and gets 2,3. +4 for a total of 9 damage. 6 damage is absorbed by Katherine's subskin armor.

***

There was a loud CRACK, and Angus saw Katherine being lifted off her feet. She sailed two meters back and crashed down in the sand and gravel.

***

Everything went black, then she felt an intense pain in her ribs. Katherine coughed blood and felt the outline that the bullet had made in her chest armor. The armor would repair itself, but she needed medical attention. She was gonna survive, she was sure, but she wanted that bullet gone from her system.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#56

Then he noticed a head bobbing into view from the hole in the warehouse wall, behind Katherine. The gleam of headlights was reflected in a sniper's scope, and he realized that the brigands were inside the warehouse as well, attacking from both ends of the alley.

The same second he spotted the sniper over Katherine's shoulder, Angus shot him with his .38 without hesitation (Minion: Murometz rolls 1d100 and gets 29.)

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#57

Mortimer picked up a piece of stone amongst the rest of the debris from his crash. It wasn't elegant, but it'd have to do. He didn't want to use his bullets just yet. They had only a limited supply, and who knew when they'd get more ammo?

His spindly little arms shaking from the strain, he lifted up the heavy rock and carefully snuck up to the group of men aiming at Phil. He knew he needed to give his captain a distraction, so he could either come up with or enact his daring plan, but this would require courage. Momentary courage, but still.

Instead of his mind, it was his strength that decided him. Holding the rock proved to much for his arms, and it came down. In the moments he had, he quickly corrected its course to hit the enemy on the head, and then threw himself to the side, pressing himself against the wall, his chameleon skin all ready morphing into the stone-grays.

My sneaking up on them roll: (13:21:42) Minion: caesar193 rolls 1d100 and gets 49.
My hitting them with a rock roll: (13:21:49) Minion: caesar193 rolls 1d100 and gets 1.
My hiding after hitting them roll: (13:21:58) Minion: caesar193 rolls 1d100 and gets 31.
No idea how much damage a rock does, but for distraction, let's hope these guards like investigating mysterious rock-droppers.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#58

on a mobile. keeping it short.. Sweet throw!!!!

The large group of slavers milled around in confusion. first the huge freak had crushed Dirk, now the attack squad on the roof was wiped out in a fiery conflagration.

They never saw Mort. They never saw Niels go down. When they turned around, he just laid there, a gaping hole in his head.

And panic gripped them.

Within seconds the remaining 14 men that had stormed the alley with Dirk ran away, disappearing into various buildings and alleys.

That still left the sniper and the men trickling through the buildings.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#59

The death of the men on the roof washed over her in a conflagration of agony, and Rebecca held on to the wall behind her and clenched her teeth to avoid screaming. This was not what she expected to find here.
What did you expect, child?
Sanctuary? Truth? Men to retake and free my home?
And here you go, letting the best of them to go up in flames?
"More than him, actually" she steeled herself.

The men above were heading towards excellent firing positions - but also into the sniper's field of vision.
One of the bandits above noticed his allied sniper, just as she laid fire down upon Katherine - and the sniper noticed back.
One small shove in the right spot, distract the mind, to avoid recognition.
'Who is that stranger on the roof? His face is unknown.'
'He is armed, can see me well, in this crow's nest of mine.'
'He threatens me most at this time - and would look most comical, tumbling down from his vantage point, spraying blood like little b*tch he is.'

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#60

Bleeding and shocked, Katherine scowled and adjusted her sight, now she was more used to the weapon. She squeezed the trigger and shot the sniper. Eye for an Eye. Trembling, she then dragged herself to a position of relative safety.

(21:00:04) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d100 and gets 39. Whooo! Damage (12:08:48) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d10 and gets 9. (11 total).

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#61

OOC: Rebecca's chance to implant suggestion: 60%
(13:14:31) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 51.

The sniper trained her sight on the new threat. She was furious that her own would betray her so, she intended to make them pay! She had to adjust her position, and stood up, the target in the crosshairs of her scope.

***

Seeing Katherine go down violently, Angus cursed beneath his breath. He squeezed the trigger without hesitation.

***

Katherine landed hard. As she traced the outline of the entry-wound, she heard Angus fire his gun and grasped for her own in the sand and gravel beside her. She held the gun with both arms and fired.

***

The first bullet went through her thighs, severing tendons and opening a major artery. She knew she was going to die and turned around to kill her murderer. She wasn't sentimental about it. People lived and died in this cruel and ruthless world. She had held the hands of loved ones as the light died in their eyes. She had listened in as cold blooded murderers cried for mommy as their life bled out. She wasn't going to go like that. Her head startet spinning, but she managed to put the the man by the ramp in her crosshairs. He looks like Pieter. Her final thought.

***

Katherine's shot was straight and true, directly to the heart, and the sniper tumbled from her position and fell down into the alley.

***

Rebecca searched the alley and surrounding buildings with her mind, but every single one of their foes were running away, their minds wild with terror. How five single persons could best almost forty of them was a question racing through many of their minds. In other minds she found paranoia, small groups of men running through a labyrinthine maze of warehouse buildings, looking around each corner, dreading to find that hulking superhuman mutant they had ridiculed a few minutes ago.

***

He had turned the tide with a single stone. Mortimer smiled to himself. Unseen, unheard, yet still the victor. Man of the hour, even though recognition as such was unlikely to come.

***

Phil got back on his feet. He had seen his attackers run away in panic and walked around the huge semi. On the ground on the other side of the semi was several men, moaning and complaining, raising their hands defensively as he approached. "Mercy", one managed in guttural english. He looked around. The Mary Sue had powered down and smoke came from one of her engines. Human entrails hung from her left wing, and the smoking remains of four men laid charred on the ground.

The holographic figure turned around and faced him, a menacing scowl on his face.

"You have undone us, mr. Marion, and in the process undone yourselves. Mary Sue...", there was a loud bang, and the holographic device burst into separate pieces.

Katherine Bradshaw-Brennan put her .45 back in it's holster.

OOC:
Damage roll for Angus: (13:12:56) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d10 and gets 9.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#62

Seeing her shot connecting and the sniper falling, Katherine fell back, relieved, but hearing the scientist's projected voice raised her again with a cold sweating rictus, she knew what was coming, and so she aimed for the holo-ball and fired one last time.

(15:53:13) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d100 and gets 21. Damage (15:54:54) Minion: Gossamer rolls 1d10 and gets 6. (8 Total)

The holo-globe shattered and Katherine fell back once more, breathing a sigh of relief. She remained prostrate for a few minutes, before she sat up with a grunt. Holding her wound closed, she stood up and hobbled over at the ramp.

"Right... as I was saying, we have much to discuss... I found Wionna in cryo stasis inside the ship. There are five more such containers. I believe everyone we know and love may possibly be inside said containers... It wasn't just us they sold out..."

She looked up and met the eyes of everyone.

"Could someone bloody help me to the med-bay already?!" She barked, barely holding back the tears, suddenly ravaged with emotion.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#63

Cautiously, Rebecca withdrew from the ruin, fresh trails of tears carved into the dust covering her face.
The air was clear, and she swiftly ran over to Catherine, helping her up, holding back a gasp at the would in her chest.

"Catherine, kunt u lopen?
Neem mijn arm, ik zal je helpen."

The doctor seemed almost featherlight as they made their way towards the med-bay, a few steps, yet worry was written into the girl's face as she carried the doctor, daring not to ask the question.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#64

Katherine looked up, nonplussed. "What? ...Ensign Manson, are you alright? You're talking gibberish." She did however allow the girl to help her.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#65

"Mercy?" roared Phil at the terrified men.

"You", he pointed to the one that spoke, "stay! The rest - Go - tell them GO NOW or die. Never come here or die!" To emphasize his point, Phil picked up their dead leader and threw him full force at the side of the trailer.

Not waiting for a response, he grabbed the one who spoke and dragged him to the others. "You've got some talking to do.."

If he resists, Phil will attempt to break one of his arms. If the others don't turn tail, it won't go well for them either.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#66

Gaia, The First Week.

Phil's Story

"Mercy?" roared Phil at the terrified men.

"You", he pointed to the one that spoke, "stay! The rest - Go - tell them GO NOW or die. Never come here or die!" To emphasize his point, Phil picked up their dead leader and threw him full force at the side of the trailer.

Not waiting for a response, he grabbed the one who spoke and dragged him to the others. "You've got some talking to do.."

If he resists, Phil will attempt to break one of his arms. If the others don't turn tail, it won't go well for them either.

Phil looked down at the former slaver in disgust. The man was in his late forties, with dark rings under his eyes, a pot belly and bowl cut grey, thin hair.

"Noooo... Noooo.. Noooooooo....", the man cried with a whimper. Sobs of terror and blind panic went through the old man's body, but Phil was relentless.

"SPEAK!", Phil roared, but the man whimpered and cried, rivulets of mucus ran from his nose, his eyes were soaked in tears.

His friends had not looked back. Some had shat their pants, some had pissed themselves, all were running like mad.

"Do you think you are a better fighter than me? Is that it? Are you holding me in contempt?", Phil screamed to the crying man, holding his face an inch from the terrorized slaver, raining spit all over his face.

"Fine... Fine... You'll get your wish. You'll get to fight me", Phil said, then he undressed till he was almost nude, just a tanga left on his body, and he started flexing his muscles, breathing heavily.

The slaver was on the ground, convulsing and begging forgiveness. "Nooo... Nooo...", he said, but Phil was busy looking at his own pecks, pleased with how they looked.

"Fine... I will fight with just one hand, coward"

***

The slaver's arms had been broken, one of his knees crushed. Phil had gotten every bit of information out of him after Rebecca suggested that Phil just let him regain his composure.

It seemed that they had been sent by the Baron of Rembrandtplein, a thug controlling the entire Kingdom of Amsterdam from his palace at Rembrandt Square. He had struck a deal with the scientists of Copernicus One, granting them unrestricted access to the Bohr Facility, an advanced research facility of the ancients that the Baron had discovered some years ago, and moved to the old main railway station in town.

Repeated attempts to get information out of the hapless slaver failed, but Phil didn't believe him before Rebecca assured him that he knew nothing else.

***

His bloodlust sated, Phil spent the remaining days of the week of rest helping organize the defense of the Mary Sue and it's surrounding buildings. Angus told him that the location was defensible, but not ideal, and Phil did his utmost to secure the area. He spent his evenings by the bonfire, sharing the remaining food from the Mary Sue and what precious little they found on the raiders. It seemed that he had a calming effect on the new arrivals, their kin and friends from the Copernicus. In particular Berthold Geronius York, the old Janitor of the space station. Berthold was a dimwit and a drunkard, but he had always held Phil in reverence, and listened with intent as Phil recounted his exploits thus far. Berthold sat as quiet as he could, only interrupting Phil's tale for a swig of vodka or two.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#67

Angus' Story

"BAM BAM BAM!", Angus leaned the weight of his bulk against the flaked white wall of the corridor, holding his Colt in front of him, pretending to shoot at the shadows.

"I killed you, motherfucker! I killed you first!", he said, then he shambled on, till he was in front of her door, then he knocked loudly, like in an urgency.

"What's up?", the buxom young blonde said, freckles on her nose and deep blue eyes.

"Oh, hey Angus. Are you drunk again?"

***

Theodora was pushed against the wall, Angus mounting her from behind. Her curves had always fascinated him, and now that he was the hero of the day, it seemed he fascinated her too. He had caught her playful glimpse when they ate by the bonfire. Wionna had caught it too, and had pulled him inside. She had been in a bad mood for a while, but he had ways of making that go away, and finally she fell asleep, leaving Angus to his own machinations.
Theodora was unsatiable and Angus kept on. He had dreamed about this for so long, finally it was happening.

A knock on the door.

"Angus? You in there? Angus?", the door burst open. Wionna stood there, one of the raiders' Colts in her hands.

"FUCK YOU, ANGUS!", she screamed and lifted her gun. Theodora the buxom blonde was shot in the throat and went gurgling down, blood pumping from between her fingers.

Angus reeled naked into a corner.

"FUCK YOU VERY MUCH, ANGUS!", Wionna screamed. She pulled the trigger, and everything went black.

***

"Oooooh, yes Angus. YES!", Theodora moaned with pleasure.

Angus bolted upright, panic in his eyes. He had had one of his premonitions, seen his own demise. Theodora was a beauty, no doubt about it, but in a few seconds Wionna was gonna come bursting in and kill them both, so he grabbed his clothes and jumped naked through the window, landing silenty on the ground.

"No time to explain, luv!", he said, then ran off.

***

"Angus? You in there? Angus?", the door burst open. Wionna stood there, one of the raiders' Colts in her hands.

"Oh... I am so sorry, Theodora. I just... I... I'll leave now. Sorry for the intrusion", and with that Wionna left.

***

Angus walked the perimeter while he inspected their defences.

"If they approach from the east, northeast or southeast, we got those areas covered by the gattling"
He pointed his finger while explaining, Captain Phil listening eagerly.

"The problem is here, the south, south-west corner of the warehouse. The view from the roof ain't all that, considering the many blind spots. Between the ancient cars and buses stacked over there, and the subterrenean tunnel between the warehouse and that building over there, we've got too many approaches to guard. We simply ain't got enough men, Captain"

"So, you saying the buildings are defensible, but we should move camp as soon as possible?", the giant captain asked.

"Yeah, Cap. Thats about it. If someone attacks us from this direction... Well, not even our motion sensors are able to pick up someone attacking from the tunnels."

***

He sat alone, illuminated by the light of Mary Sue's computer screens. He had managed to disable the communications device early on, in case the scientists would try to order her to do something stupid. But restoring their control of her seemed to be more difficult.

"Access restricted, operation illegal", her voice was husky, almost sensual as ever.

Angus cursed.

***

"Access restricted, systems unavailable by order of the council of Scientists and the Master of the Observatory"

The guardsman knocked his cup of coffee off the table in frustration and walked out. He had just wasted 18 hours and would have to either learn some new tricks, or come up with another idea.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#68

Rebecca Manson's Story

The dogs were standing in a circle, Rebecca and the Alpha in the middle. Rebecca and the alpha circled each other, snarling and growling, trying to look menacing.

http://soundbible.com/1476-Dog-Growl-Then-Bark.html

Her mind was soaking it all in, and she had felt the pack of dogs in her mind, merged with them, and now she was one of them, here to challenge the abusive alpha.

Poor Grey had become old, and just a few hours ago Rip, the alpha, had banished her. Rebecca had felt her despair and isolation as the limp old doberman halted alone and forlorn through the ruins, without her pack for the first time in her life.

Rip opened his mouth, revealed razor sharp teeth.

Rebecca opened her mouth in a similar snarl, standing on all four, murder in her eyes.

Then Rip lunged at her, going for the insane human's throat.

Rebecca dodged Rip, then wrapped both her hands around the alpha's neck. The alpha snarled and bit repeatedly into the air, his canine jaws would rip into anything, his bloodshot eyes wild with berserk rage.

From a distance she heard Grey whimpering, hiding under an old car from a horrible monstrosity as it passed by, she was mad with fear.

She felt Rip soften between her arms as she snapped his neck. The pack began howling, and bowed their heads to Rebecca, their new pack alpha.

The dogs knew what she wanted, felt her presence within them, and they ran off to rescue Grey.

OOC: (15:04:29) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 23.

***

Wionna lay crying into her bedroll, her body shaking with each sob. She cried for hours and hours, despairing, fearing Angus was slipping away. Was Angus having an affair with Theodora? She didn't know. She had barged into her room, certain he was there, madness and cocain in her blood, ready to kill. But Theodora was alone, naked, brushing her hair, and Wionna had made a complete fool out of herself. She couldn't even look Theodora in the eyes now.
But still this fucking jealousy!

***

Rebecca squatted by Wionna's side, her head tilted in the fashion of a curious cat. She had felt the waves of anguish from far away and had left Grey and the pack to their own, telling them to hunt and to protect Grey. Then she had ran on all four to Wionna's side.

***

Ashley, Wionna's childhood friend. The one that one day had been fetched by the guards and the scientists, was suddenly in the room with her.
"Ashley?", Wionna stuttered.

"Don't mind stupid boys, Wionna. We don't need them!", Ashley said, twirling playfully with her long, brown hair.

And Wionna fell asleep, playfully talking with Ashley about the old days, about stupid boys and scary scientists.

***

Rebecca had attuned to humans again, and sat on a window sill, dangling her feet.

There was so much to Gaia. So many voices.

She sent a thought to Grey, and got a thought back.

Gratitude.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#69

Katherine's Story

Rebecca and Angus had Katherine's arms around their shoulders as they hurried her to into the Mary Sue.

"Help me to the cargo bay", she whispered. Angus and Rebecca protested, urging her to lie down on her bunk bed, but she urged them on, and finally they stood before the six metallic coffins in the cargo room.

"That one!", she said, and they helped her over. She swiped her ID over the coffin, a later a synthesized voice replied.

"Doctor Katherine Bradshaw-Brennan, acknowledged. Access granted"

"Order: Suspend stasis, revive subject", Katherine barked with authority, in spite of her pain.

***

Angus looked on as the strange metallic coffin hissed and cracked, then his eyes went open as the lid slid to the side.

Inside was a buxom young blonde, totally nude, her chest heaving as she resumed breathing for the first time in two days. He recognized her: Theodora Sax, the second doctor on the Copernicus. She was a doctor in training, Katherine's protégé.

What is it about the Copernicus, and their ridiculously good looking doctors, he thought.

***

Theodora was perplexed at her situation. She had been in her office when gas hissed from the air conditioning system. Now she was here... On earth...
She quickly donned a doctor's coat she found in Katherine's locker.

"Get her on her bed!", she instructed, then she got to work.

***

"Thank you, Theodora!", Katherine managed to say before the morphine kicked in.

No. Thank YOU, Angus thought as he studied Theodora go to work. All notions of romance disappeared quickly, however, as Theodora began the removal procedure on Katherine.

Rebecca and Angus left the room shortly thereafter.

***

Katherine undressed, packing her doctor's robe and personal belongings between some rocks. This place was amazing, and she stood there, naked, for a few seconds before she dived into the water.

She had discovered the dike not more than four hundred meters from the crash site, while out looking for supplies. What scared her was that the water was at a higher level outside the dike, than inside. Still, she was fascinated by the ocean she saw. Fascinated even more by the buildings sticking out of the water. Church towers, corrigated plastic warehouses and malls, an office building of steel and glass, most of the glass now crushed.

She swam in the sea, gliding past seaweed and the cars and old bicycles of the ancients. Behind her ears she felt precious oxygen being created by her gills, a mutation that had surfaced at the age of six. All those years in the space station she had to moisturize them, now she was in her element.

***

She squeezed her body through an old, partially collapsed doorway, more than twenty meters under the surface. She had recognized the sign on the building. This had once been a hospital, and she knew what she was looking for.

***

Theodora gasped as Katherine came back. The Doctor had been gone for an entire day, and her bandages were soaking wet.
"Quit staring, woman. My subskin armor has sealed the wound. Repaired itself. I am fine", Katherine barked. Theodora looked another way. She was used the the doctor's biting comments, no point in annoying her further.

Katherine was content with her discovery. Three nanite syringes, a pill box with 19 pills of Amphetazine, a subscription amphetamine, which could come in nicely if they had to stay awake and alert for days at end without sleeping. She had also discovered an old implant, safely preserved within its anti-static plastic bag. It was a combat implant, military issue. Probably at the hospital when the great war raged, about to be implanted in one of the persons in there, now a skeleton, when the dikes burst and the hospital was buried under an ocean of water.

***

"We love you so much, Kathy doll!"

Uncle Frank and Aunty Angelica stood nearby, holding each other as Katherine inspected her gifts with obvious surprise and joy.

"Uncle... Aunty... This is too much!", she said, holding the piece of chest and abdomen armor up high.

"We don't ever want to see our Kathy doll hurt ever again!", they said in unison.

"Uncle Frank has been working on it ever since you got us out of that stasis. That's why I insisted on taking your measures, honey!"

The elderly couple positively beamed as Kathy tried out the chestplate. She was the daughter of Frank's little brother, Jimmy, or James as he was really called, and they were so proud of her.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#70

Mortimer's Story

He had all his belongings in a sailor's bag. Everything. The bag was in his left hand, but for a bystander, it would look as though it just laid there, discarded. Mortimer had merged with his surroundings, his body changing colors to imitate whatever he crawled over as he moved on all four towards the Scania semitrailer.

He slithered like a gecko through the window. Put his bag back in the cabin. He turned the key, pressed the pedal. The truck started moving.

***

The red Scania was parked in an alley, and the windows of the driver's cabin were steamed up, the air inside smelling like rotten eggs. His fingers let go of the fully interactive porn magazine, and he fell asleep.

***

They called her Fat Bertha. She hated the nickname, almost as much as she hated the tavern and the people within it. She didn't feel sorry about burning it down, nor did she feel sorry about shooting those running out of it in blind panic.

Yet that meant she needed to move on, and Fat Bertha had spotted that red semitrailer earlier.

She stopped her horse, Mr. James the Rocket, with a tug of the reins, and climbed down from her carriage. Climbing down was always hard, as a matter of fact moving was hard in general. It had been that way these last two years, and she thought she should get more exercise, but with your belly hanging down to your thighs, working out is hard.

She carefully climbed the cabin, looked inside. Nothing there, just some high tech magazine full of animated men and women. She opened the door and began climbing inside. This was her lucky day!

***

Mortimer awoke when a mountain of a woman placed a hand on his chest. She was climbing into the truck, but her rear had gotten stuck in the doorway so she was cursing, her filthy, greasy grey hair dangling over in his face.

Without thinking, Mortimer grabbed the Stanley knife he had seen on the floor, and he slit her throat, warm, thick blood gushing out, spraying onto his face with warm squirts of crimson.

***

This was building number forty. All the others had been looted, so he had no real hopes of finding anything in here either. He walked through the once fancy architect designed home, up the stairs and along a balcony of glass and steel. Outside a swimming pool. Once filled with clear blue water, now filled with rotten leaves and mud.

It was more luck than anything else. Mortimer noticed a crack in the wall, entered a hidden room. It was a panic room, really hard to notice, but the owner had forgotten to lock it properly.

Inside a comfortable chair. In that chair: a skeleton. In his hands: a shotgun. There was a hole through his skull, and Mortimer could imagine the desperation he had felt after the great war, with everything gone, blasted away.

Mortimer studied the shotgun, but it was too old, too rusted, so he walked over to the cabinets in the safe room.

The surveillance equipment was ruined too, the outside cameras smashed, the electronics inside long dead. But in the cabinets he found canned food and sterile water in large amounts, and Mortimer brought it down to the Scania and put it all in the back of the cabin. Then he returned to the panic room and brought the rest he found within; vacuum packed dark chocolate, a gold rolex wrist watch and a couple of still working walkie talkies.

He found a pile of ancient paper cash, and brought it along, more for the sake of amusement than anything else.

***

The dikes were extensive, built in a grid pattern, and Mortimer scouted them all, drive for miles and miles, noticing their layout, identified their weakness.
The bad news was that a couple of dynamite sticks, and their current location would be under 4 meters of water. The good news was that relocating just a couple of kilometers would settle them safely inside the next sector, safe behind two dikes instead of just one.

***

When he arrived at their base camp, or "the Earth Shelter" as their revived friends called it, he was greeted by the reclusive Moa Lejongren, the off-base engineer once responsible of maintaining the outermost facilities on the Copernicus. It had been an isolated job, and Moa was not used to people. She liked Mortimer though, his reclusive behavior something she could relate to, and together they carried the supplies from the panic room into camp

***

"There really isn't much between here and the city", Mortimer said.

"A couple of raider bands, some undescribable horrors that disappeared into the shadows as I drove past. I encountered some filthy locals, but they really weren't all that friendly"

And the conversation carried on into the night, everyone toasting Mortimer and his excellent discovery.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#71

A week had gone by, and Katherine's wound had gotten better. The wound was still a bit sore, but not debilitating in any way. Her aunt and uncle were lavishing her with affection, and even her assistant seemed unusually cheerful.

ooc: (14:43:22) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d3 and gets 2. 2 hit points recovered from natural healing.

Angus, in the exoskeleton, and Phil, using his bare fists, had torn down the building covering the tunnel entrace, and then moved the cars denying shelter to any would-be attackers.

Somehow Rebecca had befriended some dogs, creatures they had only read about in e-bulletins and seen in old movies. The pack of strays sometimes approached the bonfire, clustering around Rebecca. Especially an old, grey and limp dog showed her affection, often laying her head in Rebecca's lap. At other times the pack seemed to be guarding the perimeter, circling the buildings around the U shaped alley.

Then, on the last night of the week supplies ran dry. Mortimer returned with the truck. Before Phil could mangle him, he brought out the loot: Several weeks worth of supplies in vacuum packed bags and cans. Tossing Phil a box of canned italian pasta and meatballs, Mortimer turned the mood from tense to joyous.

***

"So, they are holed up near the old Honeywell cluster bomb facility, eh?", the elderly man said while raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, sir! They have dug in and have some pretty sophisticated equipment"

The elder wore black combat armor and paced slowly in a semi-circle around the messenger who had arrived but a minute ago.

"These freaks defied their masters. Defied me. Somehow a handful of these nutcases from outer space took out two squads of my men, without suffering any significant losses. This irks me, eh, soldier"

The soldier stood absolutely still. The Baron's temper was infamous, and he was not going to do anything to upset him.

"Well. What are you waiting for? Run along! And inform Captain van Drunen that I require his presence!"

The soldier left the room in a hurry.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#72

Mortimer Lucrum basked in the praise for a little while before coming to his senses. Such could not last, and with the use of his chameleon skin, slunk away from the group.

He had previously found a nice, quiet spot of his own. A place to think. A place to look. It was in a nearby building, on the roof. He sat on the lip of the building, and leaned back against a handy chunk of stone. He looked at the moon. They had not had one, back at Copernicus One, and Mortimer was still not used to the white orb. He pondered it, that great mystery in the sky, though not too hard. Sometimes, discovering a thing's secrets destroyed the thing itself.

That was one thing he shared with the moon.

He gave it a nod, one liar and loner to another, and sat there, deep in thought on a variety of sources, with the moon bathing him in its light.

I'll return to my allocated sleeping area when Mort gets tired, or if someone decides to intrude upon my soliloquy.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#73

Phil made a great show of opening the can without a tool and enjoyed the spagettie.

Truth was he was getting restless, and even he was beginning to think it foolhardy to let his enemies choose their own time.

"Did you manage to get Mary Sue to listen to us yet? I miss her."

In truth, even Phil had tried to talk some sense into the ship, trying everything his limited brain-power could imagine. He even broke down sobbing a bit, "I cry when I'm angry!" but if he got through to her she was keeping it to herself.

"We need to move out soon. I'm sure of it."

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#74

Katherine turned the dial on the microscope, in her sights were a slice of meat, taken from the corpses of the raiders. She was in the process of comparing known diseases to the bacterial, viral, parasytic and nano flora of this new yet so old world.

"Mary-Sue, begin analysis of sample four eight ceti, please."

A pair of soft arms wrapped around her stomach and hugged her tight. After a quick look, the doc said. "Theo, this is hardly the time or the place. Make yourself useful and double check these readings. There's still a risk however small that we did not in fact survive first contact depending on the severity of local disease strains. We need to examine the crew closely for any divergent behavior and possible symptoms. If neccesary inoculations must be researched and administered, so less playie more workie."

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#75

"Did you manage to get Mary Sue to listen to us yet? I miss her."

"No" Angus answered Captain Phil glumly. "18 hours wasted and still no Mary Sue." The guardsman was morose, frustrated at his inability to get her under control. "I'm going to try one more time, Cap" he said evenly, as he watched Phil devour his spaghetti and meatball can.

"We need to move out soon. I'm sure of it."

"Yes we do, Cap. We're just asking for trouble sitting here. Can't defend every angle and approach."

He got up then, and walked back to Mary Sue's computer screens, doing his best to avoid the "two women" in his life. Truth be told, he was sick of the drama.

He stared and sighed. It had been 3 whole days now minus the alcohol and cocaine. Angus was going to quit cold-turkey if it killed him.

He cracked his fingers and tried again to coax Mary Sue into being his newest girlfriend.

(ooc: Will boost up comp. skills (I can't find where you mention that i can raise skill % and try again) and give it one more try with Ol' Mary Sue.)

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#76

Mortimer sat there basking in the moonlight. His chameleon skin made him almost impossible to distinguish as he stared longingly at the white orb. Nearby a pack of dogs ran in circles around Rebecca, the weird young woman throwing a raider arm to the pack, that immediately began engorging itself on human meat.

***

Wionna chewed her lip, paced back and forth in an empty corridor. Angus hadn't paid her a visit in three days. No coke, no Angus.

It is that bitch, I am sure of it!

The distraught girl felt tears down her cheeks. She felt so bad, so miserable. "FUCK YOU!", she screamed as she kicked an empty tincan down the corridor.

***

Moa looked around. Mortimer was nowhere to be seen. He had walked down this street half an hour earlier, then he just vanished. The reclusive pilot intrigued her, and she had felt so bad when she heard what Angus had done to him. Angus. That was one slick son of a bitch, if she ever saw one. She had never liked the man, and lately his actions had proved to her that all her instincts had been right.

The chubby engineer wheeled around. There was a sound in the darkness behind her.

Suddenly Moa felt very alone.

***

"I am so sorry, Angus. Surrender protocol has been initiated, I cannot comply with your request!"
http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,6713.msg80526.html#msg80526

Angus was so sick of hearing the same fucking reply, over and over, he had actually opened his e-training programs and spent a few days researching AI systems and backdooring.

OOC: Angus spent a fate point increasing his computer skill. You said so in the flashchat. I don't know if you ever rolled the 1d10+4 skill points for the actual increase.

The guard sweet talked Mary Sue, like she was an actual lady he was trying to seduce, and the bemused AI replied to his questions in the matter-of-fact manner of a woman with Asperger. All the while his fingers drummed away on his mobile hacking platform, the device physically connected to a port in the engine room.

(23:02:50) Minion: Ancient_Gamer rolls 1d100 and gets 2.

The screen flickered for a second, and Mary Sue quit talking mid sentence.

Issue command...
1 for system restore
2 for system reconfiguration
3 to run system diagnostics
4 to run engine diagnostics
5 to run shield generator analysis

Angus felt his heart leap. Those hours spent on e-learning had actually paid off, and he hit 3, then 2 a few minutes later. He learned that the Scientists had put a number of safeguards in place, then he reset the configuration and installed Phil as captain, but also Angus himself as the hidden system root. If push came to shove, he would be in command of the spacegoing vessel.

***

It tilted its head 10 degrees, then studied the plump human. She was afraid. Her thoughts leaked fear and, to a lesser degree, desire. A cocktail of conflicting emotions, a head messed up by years of solitude.

With a soft hiss, it levitated skywards, hidden in shadow. There was someone on the rooftops of this building, though it had not been able to see who it was earlier. It merely felt its thoughts. Right now, its concern was not with the plump woman in the alley outside the building, nor on the mysterious figure on the rooftops. Its concern was with that woman with the dogs, whose mind probed and searched in the manner it had never before detected amongst humans. No, never among humans, but once before, when it encountered another Prophet, and their tribes waged war. It was a war it had lost, and now it was alone, outcast, living in the shadows, preying on the unsuspecting. And here they were, humans possessing such a vessel he had never before seen. And here she was, guarding it. The human with these powers no human had the right to possess.

***

Phil cried on Angelica's shoulders.

"I told her I was the captain. I told her to listen, but she did not even acknowledge me!", tears softened Angelica's shoulder as the Captain released his tears of anguish and frustration.

Then came the thunder of rocket engines as both engines ignited simultanously. The repairs they had done during the week seemed to work, and Mary Sue was suddenly suspended mid-air just above the rooftops. In its ascent it had torn down parts of the alley walls, bricks coming loose and the walls collapsing in a cloud of silica dust.

***

Angus was back up in the cockpit when the radio flickered to life.

"Copernicus one spacegoing shuttle, this is the Baron of Rembrandtplein speaking. Please dock at our Bohr facility, coordinates sent digitally with this voice message. I know we have had our difficulties, but I have a proposition that might intrigue you. I also offer the services of our engineering bay at the Bohr facility if you are willing to do a little something for us. I beg of you, please consider our offer."

Then the radio went silent.

***

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#77

Katherine gasped as she noticed the clean perfection of her own DNA sample compared to the raider. The raider had been exposed to all manner of radiation, and indeed, imperfections were beginning to show even in her own DNA. But compared to the raider it was nothing.

The doctor let out a small scream as the shuttle rose from the alley, the ship's wings tracing a path of destruction in the building walls in the process.

Katherine turned the dial on the microscope, in her sights were a slice of meat, taken from the corpses of the raiders. She was in the process of comparing known diseases to the bacterial, viral, parasytic and nano flora of this new yet so old world.

"Mary-Sue, begin analysis of sample four eight ceti, please."

A pair of soft arms wrapped around her stomach and hugged her tight. After a quick look, the doc said. "Theo, this is hardly the time or the place. Make yourself useful and double check these readings. There's still a risk however small that we did not in fact survive first contact depending on the severity of local disease strains. We need to examine the crew closely for any divergent behavior and possible symptoms. If neccesary inoculations must be researched and administered, so less playie more workie."

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#78

Katherine flailed her arms as Theo had to grab onto the table to stay upright. The doc reached for the intercom and yelled. "What the hell is going on?! A little forwarning please!" She let go of the button.

She sighed and gave Theodora a hand. "At least the ship is seemingly operational again. Now we just have to collect dna samples from the whole crew, I do not like the looks of these results."

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#79

The night was colder than it had the right to be - not even a full belly nor the tangle of dogs around her gave Rebecca the warmth she craved. There was something in the air. She looked up at the stars, made so distant and hazy by Gaia's breath. A shadow passed, briefly stealing their lustre - or did it?

Rebecca had brushed and braided Wionna's hair previously, and left her in a much more carefree mood... the can soaring around her head determined it did not last, though.
She approached, and stopped her instinct to lick her cheek just in time to transform the gesture into a slightly less awkward nose-poke.
"We are on Earth now, Wii, it's not just us few and two dozen treacherous scientists anymore. There is a whole world out here! And it's alive!"
What was one Angus compared to the world?
There were raiders, true - but then, they had to raid someone. The world had to be full of someones! Less full than before the war, but still.
She hugged Wionna, as much to comfort the distraught girl, as to shield herself from the sudden coldness of thought that the night brought.
"As soon as the Mary Sue is online, we can explore the Earth anew, and settle wherever we desire, with whomever we wish. Who knows? Perhaps we can reconquer the Copernicus one day as well?"

That was when the engines roared, and the shuttle soared, and her heart leaped with sudden hope.
"See?"
Rebecca had felt Wionna's infatuation with Angus - a thing she never understood; while he had some predatory appeal, the constant cloud of drugs over his mind meant it was discomforting for her to even brush it. With its artificial singularity of purpose, it appeared as a razor blade - not something you would press to your chest.
She prodded the girl lightly with her thoughts.
"It was pleasant while it lasted and enriched you; the capacity to enrich you is in other humans as well."
Carefree catharsis catalyzes grief and duress into nostalgic reminiscence and hopeful expectation.
This was no simple case, but Rebecca would keep it up.

"Come now, let's see the Sue, and discuss what to do next!" she grabbed Wionna's arm, and pulled her along.

Re: Copernicus One [Chapter 1] - Scavenger Run

#80

Thrilled with his ultimate success, Angus was about to go accept pats on the back and perhaps a congratulatory hug from Captain Phil, when the radio flickered on...

"Copernicus one spacegoing shuttle, this is the Baron of Rembrandtplein speaking. Please dock at our Bohr facility, coordinates sent digitally with this voice message. I know we have had our difficulties, but I have a proposition that might intrigue you. I also offer the services of our engineering bay at the Bohr facility if you are willing to do a little something for us. I beg of you, please consider our offer."

Angus couldn't help himself now...

"Hi Ho, Baron Rembrandtplein! This is security chief first rank, Angus Justice of the Mary Sue. If by "difficulties" you mean that you tried to slaughter us a week ago, then yes, it has been "difficult" between us. We will take your offer under consideration as we fight over our canned rations, during this evening's meal. Angus out!"

Satisfied with himself, Angus went to find the others. He needed to stay busy. 3.5 days and counting minus drugs and booze. He was having "difficulties" indeed. Most of all, he was hoping to avoid Wionna.