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[Exalted] Into the Sargasso


Heaven's Reach ST

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While the anima circuits protected the center of the ship and crew quarters, preventing any of the shrieking hordes from entering the heart of the ship, and allowing everyone who wished to remain safe, completely safe. Of course, if they chose to to ride this storm out, it would likely mean the difference of a week of repairs verses a single day. The hordes that were manifesting on the ship were minor ones, easy for any particular exalt to defeat, it was beyond the hull of the ship that the really dangerous ones were to be found, they could do little damage to the ship from there, but sometimes the exalted would face them in their own domain. The creatures aboard the ship could be dangerous, but not as dangerous as the exalted who were on board.

Ok, here's how this is going to work,

Option One: as long as you stay on the ship, we'll go by a more cinematic battle, the Raksha and the Unshaped exist beyond the hull, and can't actually enter the ship with the anima circuits active, only the weaker folks, which are generally hobgoblin and other lesser creatures of the wyld, can manifest on the ship... if no one exits the ship to face the leaders of this horde, we'll be moving though this sequence to arrival at your exit from the canels.

Option Two: However, if any of you want to take the battle to the enemy, outside the ship, attacking the Raksha and Unshaped out there, that's a different matter, then I'll need a join battle roll from those who chose to do so, if no one does, then we'll go with option one..

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Janos nodded to the Captain, turned, and walked off the bridge. His associate, the Neomah, currently wearing the guise of a rather attractive human male, made her way down towards the gathered crew, where she would be tending to the more terrified and panicky sorts in her own way.

Glancing out the available viewports towards the lords of the Wyld whenever he got a chance, Janos made his way toward one of the hangar bays, the few pathetic hobgoblins that dared to cross his path reduced to so much flayed waste by a flicker of his mind's muscle.

Over officer's channel: "Security Officer Gaunt, this is Medical Officer Tem. Do you intend to face the Raksha or do you intend to ride the storm out? I have been instructed to protect the ship, the crew, and myself. If you intend to go into the Wyld, I need to know what sort of protections you have against the Chaos and the Hordes themselves."

Hey Krul!
Can Janos actually see the Raksha and / or the Unshaped from the hangar bay viewing area? (Essence Dissecting Stare if it needs to be on :P)
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  • 2 weeks later...

There was ten seconds or so of assorted squelching and blasting noises over the com, the screeching of hobgoblins being undone, before Karren answered Janos. Regret was thick in her tone, even over the growl of the monster in her voice, "We're... riding it out. We have the Shriekers mostly controled, and we have a fight waiting for us on the other side. No point in potentially wearing ourselves out."

"...unfortunately," the towering Lunar added with a grumble before wrapping up the call, "Keep the decks clean and the crew safe. Gaunt, out."

And back on her end of the conversation, the silver-blazing demi-human monster that was Karren in her war form got back to work, taking lead over her patrol of security personel towards the next hot spot, six insectoid legs driving her forward. It would have been *fun* to go out there with whatever tricks the Infernal could have managed, but there was always the trip back if they were lucky... Next time, next time...

envoy] 11:06 pm: rolling against Karren's primary virtue cuz fighting unshaped with lintha on the otherside is too silyl even for her.

envoy *rolls* 4d10: 6+1+2+6: 15

[envoy] 11:07 pm: I think that means no limit gained?

[Krul] 11:08 pm: congrates, that means you do as you chose

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The members of the crew made their choice, and in the end chose only to face the enemies within, non of those without, which was, perhaps it was the best choice for them at this time, the threads of destiny had yet to say. In the end, however, the ship exited at it's destination, the wyld tear of space-time in the canel's coming to an end as reality reaffirmed itself, and the Voidswimmer reentered normal space-time.

The ship had taken minor damage from the assault though the canal, but it would still need a few hours of repair, which was better then the days it would have been without their action. Dyna called up to the bridge to give the Captain a damage report, for the most part it was superficial.

Sunder Seven, however, was a much more... horrifying sight, for someone like Dan who remembered the Malfean War, whose memory of his past lives was clearer then his memory of his pre-exaltation life, it was even more telling, for he could remembered this system as have a dozen worlds, 3 of which were habitable, now having dozens of asteriod belts where every world was, even gas giants had been shattered into component forms. The exception, the singular exception, was the living moon of the only whole planet in the system, but Dan recalled it was the focus of their defense so long ago.

For the rest of the crew, it was a startling object lesson of just how terrifying and destructive the forces unleashed by the Malfean war had been, some of the asteroid belts, were made entirely out of wrecked starships, that many ships damaged and destroyed in a massive battle left a bit of... an sense of awe and horror. Entire planets being destroyed only made the sense of awed horror even greater. Of course, you had known going in that this was the point of a major battle, but it was one thing knowing it, and another seeing it.

"Maiden's have mercy." The young sidereal, Aletha responded from the console as the ship's sensors gave this information to her location and she had a moment of vague remembrance, for her previous exaltation had been here as well.

Actually, most of the celestial exalted were here, it was a major point of battle during the war, roll essence, on a single success you remember it.. Kai and Zed, I'm afraid you would only know this as part of history, but you may make lore rolls to see what you recall if you like.

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Kestrel hopped down from behind the captain's chair and went over to the main viewport, through which the devastated ruin of Sunder Seven lay like some priceless jewel, now smashed. She put a hand over her stomach as she felt something wrench inside her...not just a reaction to the violence of it all, but a stirring in the crafted Essence that lived within her soul.

Not now she thought at it, trying to box it in within her will. I don't want to see whatever you've got to show me.

A moment later it passed, though she was still fluttery.

Reassured, Kestrel returned her attention to the shattered star system before her.

"We'll spend forever if we just start sifting wreckage," she says. "Scan for ships. And signals. The Linthia use IFF transponders that they hacked the operating frequencies of. I might be able to decrypt it if we can find the signal. We'll be able to pose as one of theirs, at least until we get close enough for active scanning. Should keep us from being swarmed."

She went over the ECM and communications suite and leaned to look over the shoulder of the officer there.

"No, don't look on standard frequencies. That's why they hack 'em. So the signal's hard to find. Check...uh...wait a second..."

Kestrel looked up and spotted the silvery engineer not far off. "Hey Dyna, we could use your help over here. We need a sweep of all the local frequencies, even the ones that are restricted or not available to commercial comms...we're looking for an IFF burst. Quick encrypted packets of identifier data. If you can get that pattern, I'll set our transponder to emulate it."

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Long6 *rolls* 8d10: 2+4+1+9+9+8+1+7: 41

4 successes

For Nova, he remembered. The heroic battles, the sacrifices, the brutality of total war. Watching with despair as planets broke up, not all their citizens able to be evacuated. There was so much memory flooding in, movies flashing behind his eyes, he could hear the sounds, smell the blood and ozone, the fear, and see the terror of naked power unbound.

Only his unshakeable will preserved his mind, and he knew, in part, this was because of choices he made, orders he gave, a life he lived.

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Rolls To Know Stuff
Deterministic Orb
Lore: Int 5, Lore 6 -- 6 successes to recall information about the battle
Tech: Int 5, Craft 6(Spec Magitech) / Lore 6, Savant 5 -- 9/8 successes to recall the technology and weapons involved in the battle (more importantly, how to fix some of the wreckage)
Essence: 3 - 2 successes to recall the battle itself


Janos looked out over the orbiting graveyard. Here, as no doubt most of the crew was aware, was Sunder Seven. Called such because of most basic of descriptors being applied to the events of the past. He remembered the war quite clearly. He was not terribly involved with the battle itself, but his earlier incarnation had built the majority of the artifact warships involved in it.

Similarly, his darker half revealed to him a perspective on the battle that he could guarantee that no other had. He witnessed Malfean strategy, ruthless and precise in its efficiency and execution, as directed by the Primordial King and facilitated by She Who Lives In Her name. Removing such trivial concerns as privacy and free will, the Principle of Hierarchy linked in directly to the minds of many of her servants as well as the Intelligences of many of their ships. As a result, their strategy was flawless. It was only the dedication and unpredictability of the rest of the Chosen that allowed them to triumph that day.

Although as the wreckage clearly stated, it was a Pyrrhic Victory at best.
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[envoy] 9:09 am: rolling to recall the battle in exalted.

envoy *rolls* 5d10: 6+6+3+2+4: 21

[envoy] 9:10 am: Nope. Oh this will be fun. Back in human form but still sporting the Talons mutations.

Still in the euphoric afterglow of heavy essense burn, Karren regarded the shattered system with a faint smile, talons clicking on her elbows. No memories leaped out at the towering Lunar, golden eyes content with a fight well-fought behind them. Some of the lowest causalities for a Shrieker raid that she could remember, and an impressive bodycount on their Hobgoblin spawn. *Next time* she was definitely going to have to take Janos up on his offer to go Unshaped hunting.

For now though...

"Dan," she offered softly, knowing he had a better memory for the past than she did and might be hurting for it, "Give us a heading, and I'll get out to provide escort while you look."

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Still a bit shaken from the near encounter with one of the weaker creatures in the hallway, Zed studies the charts and readouts. It is all a sacred mystery to him. Apogees and zeniths and orbital periods and flare intensity.

What is abundant is the sheer scale of destruction that the Malfean war was capable of. Looking at the debris, he sees the ghosts of long ago wars. The skeleton of a single-pilot fighter craft, ravaged by what must have been fire that burned in the vaccum. A plate of metal nearly as big as the voidswimmer that, from the look of it, had once been the prow of a battlecruiser, its name spelled out in the long calligraphy of a dead language. The mummified remains of a half-mechanical horror, locked in an eternal death spasm, its claws and talons even now seeming to seek out an enemy that had been dust for centuries.

The Solar Dynasties were capable of this

Shaking his head, he tries to clear away thoughts of having essentially slap-fought the minor hobgoblin into submission until one of Karren's infinitely more capable security personnel had destroyed it.

"So. Captain, sir. What's the deployment plan?"

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For those who remembered it, the center of the massive battle was easy to pinpoint, though it had become a vast ring of dead ships around the gas giant, but also intermixed with regular asteroids, and from the ship scanners, some of the ancient weapons were still active, this is part of what kept the belt from being picked clean over time, and sometimes some significant treasures could be found, between that, pirates, and the vast amount of salvage available in this system, a fleet of thousands of ships couldn't pick this place clean in a century.

Of course, Sunder Seven itself, the living moon over the gas giant was a unusual find in and of itself, vast geomantic arrays to protect the planet meant there were a huge number of manses down there tied together in a major array, which was kept it from being controlled by the pirates that sometimes were in system, though sometimes the pirates did manage to keep trade and the like from the system reduced.

Of course, the most common pirates in this system were the Lintha, which the Voidswimmer was partly here to deal with, but the biggest goal was to find one of the orbs that they were hunting for first, before the Lintha could find them.

  • Dan knows where the various ship from this battle was and where to direct the search to have the best chance of finding what your looking for, he can even pick out the best belt to focus on and the best part of the belt to aim for.
  • Jan knows everything there is know about the technologies involved, how to integrate it with present technology, and his memories indicate the best belt to focus on, but nothing more then that.
  • There is plenty of stuff to find here, and the planet likely has manses and demesnes that can possibly be claimed, though diplomacy or action.
  • Zed, Dan, Kestrel, Jan and Karren gain the bonus XP for posting.

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Nova scanned the maps, and quickly located what he sought. "Helm lay in a course to grid 2117, Sector Four to begin. It isn't our best bet to start, but it is near where I wish to go."

He nodded. "There is no point in leading them right where i want to go off the bat."

He could still see the ship, Her Midnight Hull, a surface smoother than glass, looking like a long black stilletto, one he'd wielded to great effect in times past, yet her last battle, it was not so.

"Begin active scans of the area around us. You're looking for large amounts of magical materials, particularly Starmetal and Soulsteel. The amount will vary, but The ship or remains of one we look for was over three hundred thousand tons, A corvette of a most unique nature. I don't expect to find her here in her entirety, but of all the ships that could be in this graveyard, She I know has one of what we seek."

Looking at the Moon, he could remember those dark days, and the light and hope that seemed to fade so. Exalted beyond measure answered his commands then, Ships of the grand fleet filled the system, for here one of the greatest Intelligences made it's last stand, It's forces dwarfing the Solar fleet, inhuman, and without end.

The ship they now searched for would have made an end to it, much faster than it had actually gone. Where they now began to head was the outer fringe of one of the destroyed planetary asteroid fields. This one had served as a forward base for the Solars, and was among the first to be destroyed. Still it wasn't where he thought they'd find the treasure they sought, but From memory, he knew that there were large stores in ancient vaults wrought to stand the sundering of a planet there, that might remain, and thus serve as a lure to any pirate band.

The belt he'd lead them too eventually, It had been one of the Enemies Rally points, a Fallback and depot position, one he had reluctantly allowed a most beloved companion to try to destroy.

He thought of her now, Noble Pursuits Upon the Endless Journey Through the Infinite. Dyna reminded him of her, in thought, in appearance, and deed. Noble had been a lover and confidant when his own Lunar Mate was not with him, ably serving as his Second. Now, he came, searching against hope for her ship, and the most lethal cargo it carried.

though not yet revealed, the ship being looked for isthe S.S. Dawn of Penultimate Endings Beyond the All-Spanning Void, a stealth corvette (think space submarine/stealth bomber) It was lost with all hands on a special mission to deploy a cluster of soulbreaker orbs to the world serving as the Enemy's supply depot and rally point.

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The ship began to move even as Dyna moved over beside Kestrel in order to meet the request regarding the ship transponders that Kestrel had made and several fiber optics like cables extended from her arms in order to directly interface with the computer that Kestrel was using. "I am reading a number of separate transponder ID's in system, Kestrel, at least 5 are pirate, one of which seems to be connected to the Lintha, the remaining ID's are legitimate miners, salvager's, and the system authorities, which would you like to use?"

The location that Dan had chosen to aim the scanners was thick with destroyed ships and floating asteroids, over the centuries, gravity had pulled many of them together, so that the largest and most dangerous point of this belt was a large cluster of asteroids and destroyed ships. The scanners indicated a some measure of magicial materials within the ship graveyard, but exact location was hard to pinpoint due to magnetic interference from the many wrecks. The location that he had chosen to jump too also had a good degree of wrecks, but more spread out with a greater degree of difference in them.

There were a couple of what seemed to be miners and salvagers in this belt, but it was a huge area of space and non seemed close to this spot, which was where the ship Dan remembered having gone missing, there was however, there could be a cloaked ship out here.

For Kestrel: Krul *rolls* 11d10: 2+8+3+8+3+10+4+1+5+4+10: Dyna rolled 6 Successes to identify every Transponder ID in the system, she only needed 5 for everything including some of the cloaked ships in system, so if there is an ID in system, you can set the ships ID to it.

For Dan: This is about the area where that ship went missing, it could be within that huge crashed collection of ships, but if so it's going to be a difficult prospect to dismantle and find it. There are quite a few spots like that in the system.

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Janos looked out the main viewport, as well as over the reports coming back about what was out there. The situation was as clear as it ever is where Lintha are involved. They were waiting. This was their environment. Were they allowed to keep to their schedule, which would be the case in most circumstances, they would most likely decloak, attempt an ambush, and potentially even cause numerous casualties in the process.

Such losses were unacceptable. No plan worth making began with being ambushed. Fortunately, there were certain regulations and requirements that came with association with Malfeas that would allow a new, better plan be crafted.

Janos exchanged a few words with the Captain and then made his way to the airlock. A brief mental command to the fist-sized medallion he wore caused it to unfurl. A protean shape of liquid silver emerged in a manner that defied the size of the thing it was emerging from.

Wrapping around his body, it continued to grow and change until it had taken the form of a humanoid, leonine shape of runed silver, the inscrutable laws of the Demon City etched on the chassis in the Holy Azure. In the gargantuan monstrosity's hand was an autoklave of vitriol-stained Orichalcum and crystalline wings extended from the hellstrider's back and locked into place.

Opening the airlock, he launched himself into the darkness of space, the wings of the Radiant Avatar of Succor propelling him through the void. Moving at a rate comparable to a mundane fighter, he flew in a direct path toward the Lintha-identified vessel.

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"One Lintha ship...that's interesting. They must not be focusing here...or...it could be a big one. A drone tender maybe, or a carrier. Don't want to risk being noticed before we know what we're dealing with. The other ships still being around mean the Lintha must not be wiping the system clean, especially since there's other pirates. They just want their little goodie..."

She watched the data for a moment, then said, "We want to look non-threatening. Give us a miner ID. We might get some flak from one of the other pirates, but the Lintha aren't here looking to mug anyone, so they should ignore us. If we look like a pirate, they'll be more careful if we get close. Pirates might be crazy enough to attack. Plus, our ship's big enough to pass as a salvage barge to active scans. We'll need to tone down our power output though, or it'll look suspicious."

Kestrel dusted off her hands and looked back at the others.

"Now, as long as we don't do anything stupid like launch a fighter or...what in the name of the Tomb Stars is he doing?!"

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"Putting on a good show, Thief. I'll go make sure he doesn't get himself killed," Karren offered with a shark-like grin and a sarcastic salute to the Captain, "Maybe the rest of you can find our prize by the time we get back. Unless Dan would rather have me scout the junk field ahead of you?"

She kept one eye on Janos' progress, clearly ready to go in either direction as the ship needed. Combat against the Lintha or dumpster diving through potentially booby-trapped First Age tech. Both risky. Both exactly what she needed to stretch her muscles after that warm up against the Shriekers.

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Janos estimated that he had a few minutes to spare before he got to the Lintha. Giving the hellstrider a simple direction -- "forward" -- he zeroed in on the ship itself. More importantly, he located the communications array. Sure, if he wanted to hack into the Lintha communications he would have been more than able to, those barbarians rarely used anything more complicated than the records database at a Primary School. However, it would be much simpler and more efficient to simply access their communications system directly and just copy what was there.

Cloning the system inside the communications array through a combination of systems knowledge and the charms of She Who Lives In Her Name, he would send the communications data back to his own ship on their own separate frequency -- (which was, of course, much more secure thanks to Dyna) -- and open a channel.

"((Lintha Ship)), prepare to be boarded on the authority of the Principle of Hierarchy"

Notes

"Hacking" the Communications Array - Int 5 + Lore 6 + Stunt? = 11+, translates into 6+ successes via Deterministic Orb, 8+ if Savant 5 applies --- Done at range via Tool Transcending Constructs

((Lintha Ship)) = name of the ship being approached.

Other notes:

Backing - She Who Lives In Her Name: 5

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With Janos taking off on his own, Dan nodded. "Well he's got his plan, that's fair, even if it could potentially cause problems later. Perhaps it will work better that way."

He sighed. "See if you can mask it.."

He looked to Karren. "This isn't where I want to actually look. Go out anyway and see what you can find, that way you can be on hand if Janos needs some assistance. Also if we need you to come back, we will signal you. Otherwise Report in if you find something, or every two hours."

He settled back into his command chair and nodded. "I want security teams ready to repel boarders, and the masquerade as a salvage ship is a good idea. Sadly this ship won't actually pass such scrutiny if they come close enough to look.

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"He's got HIS plan?" Kestrel sputtered. "We may as well have a giant sign on ourselves saying, 'HEY, COME CHECK US OUT MORE CLOSELY' now! You do realize that if they smell trouble, they won't stay and fight and let us crush them, right? They'll jump out, get a giant pod together, and come storm this system by force. We'll have to retreat. They'll probably just wipe everyone else here out. Not only that, but it'll tip our hand to them...they'll know we're onto them and that'll make our job harder -everywhere we go!- He's wrecking EVERYTHING just so he can grandstand and show off his...whatever that is!"

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With abject perplexity, the short dragon-blood watches the hellstrider dive into the void.

"So. Uh. Yeah. That, uh... that craft? That's ours?"

Shaking his head, Zed looks over at the communications array. Desperate to feel useful, he ponders how well he could schmooze the miners out there for information.

"Sir, you want I should start trying to communicate with the scavengers?"

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Dan looked to Zed. "No, no communications.monitor all of them you can and continue the sensor sweeps, active scans."

To Kestrel he sighed. "That's not necessarily true. He is an Infernal. The Lintha are generally favorable to them, and obey their commands. It all really depends on what he tells them."

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"No, it doesn't," Kestrel insisted. "They can track him back to us! How many mining and salvage ships shoot out Infernal power armor units?!"

She scrubbed her hands in her hair, obviously trying to keep SOME measure of control.

"Look, it's not even JUST what he's doing, it's how he did it. My plan was to buy us time to talk and work out a good plan of approach. All I was doing was making sure we wouldn't immediately be tagged by the Lintha as a threat. What HE is doing is just...running off with his own idea. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but WE don't get to have any say in it. Not me. Not you. Not anyone. And if it goes bad for him, then it goes bad for ALL of us."

She turns back to the sensor panels. "This is why I always work alone, you know? It ALWAYS goes wrong. There's always some...idiot who can't work in a team; thinks he knows better, and messes everything up for everyone."

"Alright, Dyna...we're going to need a contingency plan now in case he gets blown out of space. We can't DO anything, since he hasn't bothered to TELL us what his plan is, but we can prep. The first thing they'll do is try to get a signal out, warning the other Lintha. We'll need to be ready to try to shut that down. Can we do that?"

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At this point, the airlock nearest the bridge vented a seconded living body into the void, Karren kicking off against the door to help give herself a push. The Lunar gave herself a moment to enjoy the view of the Voidswimer's curved hull framed by the stars before shifting into it's namesake.

Clothing vanished into Elsewhere as her human form flowed into that of a space-borne manta ray, trailing multiple sensory tendrils behind her as she spiraled gleefully in place. Chitonous mandibles clicked soundlessly against one another, catching the gentle bio-illuminense from her skin, tatoos shifted to match Karren's sleek new form.

She *loved* doing this. Someday she'd learn to fly in humanoid form, but that was another day and another battle. Karren spiraled off into the debris field, keeping one of her many new eyes on the ship at all times and the rest on the prospect of their primary objective. A First Age artifact souvener or two wouldn't be unwelcome, eiether...

Shifted into Voidswimer form to look for our prize or anything shiny. No idea what to roll, so tag me, Krul.

Edit:[envoy] 9:28 pm: alright. channeling valor on a perception+awareness roll to search the space wreckage. can I burn a temp willpower to add to that?

envoy *rolls* 10d10: 10+3+6+10+5+1+7+5+8+2: 57

[envoy] 9:29 pm: whoo!

[envoy] 9:30 pm: six successes, seven if I'm able to add a success from willpower there.

Six successes, down a willpower, down one valor channel for the story.

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Janos

The answer that came back was not entirely encouraging, but it might be useful information to feed back to the Voidswimmer, as it did give a bit of information about their present opponent. "I am the Infernal Ravager Thaya, right hand of the Yozi Kimbery, Captain of Star's Vengence, by what right does an agent of the Principle of Hierarchy chose interference with my actions?"

Dyna/Kestel

"Maybe, would need to work the signal jammers, that's more up your line of electronics then mine, I can sharpen, indentify and strengthen signals, but electronic warfare is something that I suspect you will be better at. We might need to work together to get it down, then we should look to the captain, we might have to destroy their ship also."

Jamming a signal needs a lore + perception to pinpoint the signal and a larceny + intelligence to produce the right interference to jam the signal

Karren

It took her several moments, but the voidswimmer moved though the wreckage quite quickly, using naturally produced electromagnetics in order to shift itself though space, and then she saw it.. a large ship in the heart of the many wrecks, it was broken into many pieces, but the some part of the electronics was still in effect, as it was producing a somewhat disjointed cloaking field, surprising that any part of the ship was still operational.. but besides that, what caught her attention was a glimmer of moonsilver and orichalcum inside the wreck

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"Captain," Kestrel said as she brought up a console next to Dyna, "I'm going to jam that thing if it tries to call for help, but it won't work for long. If they get suspicious, we'll have to engage and destroy them before they can shift frequencies faster than I can squash them. A blanket jam would blow our cover just as much as a distress call would."

"So heat up the death rays, is what I'm saying. We won't have much time if it goes bad."

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Nova nodded. "Powering up the weapons may blow the whole low essence output we're trying to maintain." He shrugged still. "Most ships have point defense weapons for asteroid busting."

He punched in the commands to bring the guns online, and smiled. This was a warship after all. "Keep me apprised of the situation."

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"The low essence thing was BEFORE Sultan Stupid jumped out the airlock," Kestrel replies tersely. "Stealth's not really in the cards anymore."

Lore + Perception to detect signal: 3 successes. I'll hold off on jamming until I see them trying to signal the others though.

[salmonMax] 11:19 pm: Hm. Lore + Perception.

[salmonMax] 11:19 pm: 6 dice

[salmonMax] 11:19 pm: rollin...

SalmonMax *rolls* 6d10: 6+1+7+8+8+4: 34

[salmonMax] 11:19 pm: So...2, it seems...

[Mistress] 11:20 pm: what's Heracles relation to Ares?

[Krul] 11:20 pm: is that for exalted? cause 7-9 are successes there

[Krul] 11:20 pm: Half-brother

[salmonMax] 11:20 pm: Oh! Three then

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Karren gave a little mental high five to herself, wriggling her fins and pulling a quick little spiral manuever. Success!

The shape-shifted Lunar strongly considered going in to check out the wreck right now, but she couldn't very well cart the whole thing back herself yet. All right. She'd just claim first pick of any new toys they found after driving off the big bad Lintha. It'd be safe enough for another hour or two. Still...

Karren made her best speed for the Voidswimmer, ready, willing, and able to help defend their new-found prize soon as she got back to report her findings.

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"By what right.... by what right... BY WHAT RIGHT?!"

Janos cut the transmission temporarily for a period, allowing system static to flood into his communication unintelligibly before it died off.

When he returned to the signal, he was much more composed and collected.

"Infernal Prince Thaya, Right Hand of the Sea that Marched Against the Flame. Your pride is commendable. Understand that although you are as a God among mere mortals when dealing with your Demon Blood crew, it is the role of the Malefactors of the Principle of Hierarchy to go wherever we damn well please to ensure that the Laws of Cecelyne are being obeyed, the Descending Hierarchy being adhered to, and that her Laws and Orders are being obeyed at all times by all who serve the Yozis, regardless of the purity of their blood.

Now, are you going to cease your stalling and begin boarding procedures or shall I return to the demon city and inform the Quarter Prince and the Guardian of Sleep that one of Kimbery's servants has forgotten the way things work?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Janos

The comms were momentarily silent at Janos statement, then a response came back. "As a Peer, I have the right to do as I please within certain perimeters, I do not answer to Lucian or any second circle demon, furthermore, I have the right to do anything with Kimbery's support, which I have.. but, far be it from me to refuse entry to one of Celcelyne's agents, you may come aboard... your armor there, however can not.. you will have to leave it at the airlock.. if that is not agreeable to you, then we shall continue this discussion with weapons involved."

Aboard the Voidswimmer

"Look's like you pinned down the transmission vector to me, Kestrel, we're going to be ready to jam as soon as we need to, although it appears that he at least has their attention for the moment. Have to wonder what they are talking about, and what his aim was in this matter. Captain, you might want to have a talk with our science officer about keeping the rest of us in the loop." Dyna remained at her terminal to aid and support Kestrel if she needed it for the jamming efforts.

"Weapons online Captain." Althea reported to her father even as she checked the ship's comm system doing her best to get what was going on between the Lintha ship and Janos. "I'll attempt to pin down their transmission.. ah, got the last bit...something about discussions involving weapons.. this could be about to get violent."

At the same moment, Karren was moving to reenter the airlock and return to the ship.

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Not twenty seconds after diving into the airlock and retaking her human form as atmosphere flooded the chamber, Karren had turned her com bead to the bridge's command frequency, enroute to the shuttle bay even as she spoke.

"I don't know what I missed, Dan, but I have good news and good news," she confidently declared without so much as a preamble, "I found the ship. It looks untouched and full of First Age treasure, so even odds our bombs are still there for the salvaging. Give me a shuttle, a salvage team, and an expert tech, and we'll have them back aboard within the hour. After I claim a usual trinket or two for myself first, though. Can't blame me for that."

The big Lunar laughed over the com to convey her high spirits before pausing, "What did I miss by the way? Our Doctor still breathing?"

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Nova was perplexed for a moment, since they weren't where he thought it would be. "Must have drifted hear through the years." He recovered quickly and smiled. "Kestrel, Althea, would the two of you meet Karren in the Shuttlebay to head over to her find to check it out? I'll deploy one of the Security teams with you for some extra manpower."

He looked at his daughter. "This will be the first time Dyna or I aren't there, I'm trusting in your abilities." he made a quick search through the records and downloaded schematics of this particular class of Starship into her datapad. "Your Priority is to find the Orbs, if any remain, and secure them. Of Secondary concern, If the Ship itself can be salvaged, do so. If it will take a larger crew, we can return. If it is unsalvageable, the final destruct protocol are also there in the pad, Engage it if there's real danger of our foes finding it and salvaging it."

He looked at them. "I expect you all to return intact."

He keyed the Com to Karren. "I'm dispatching Kestrel and Althea to join you, as well as Security One. relic hunt while you can, but the Orbs are priority one. Janos may have done something really stupid, and We may need to leave quickly if things get too Hot."

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Into the hard vacuum with nothing but a suit between her and oblivion...with a big ol' Lintha ship hanging not far off. The reasonable edge of Kestrel's brain suggested they wait for the situation with Janos to resolve before diving for the salvage.

But...if it did go sour, and reinforcements did show up, they might have to get out. Which would leave the Lintha free to search all they wanted for as long as they wanted. And if Karren could find it...

She gave Dyna's shoulder a pat. "Okay, duty calls. If they try to cry, you know how to squelch it."

As the thief went to suit up, she paused near Dan and said, "To reduce visibility, we should do a burn in the hangar, towards the wreck. That way the flare will be shielded by the ship. Then we coast in, slowing down gradually as we go, only using tiny thrusts for course correction. Otherwise, we could lead them straight to it."

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As the great distraction continued, Janos could hear the discussion going on over the evershifting Marshall's frequencies. It seemed that Captain Hawkins was less than plussed with his plan, with it having hit a bit of resistance. This was abnormal for the Solar Exalted. Normally when faced with a level of adversity, particularly one this miniscule, they relished the chance to overcome it. In Janos's own case, he did not have that same relish but this was not a circumstance he had been surprised by. Of course the Ravager wanted to make with threats and attempt to disarm him. The damned things were bi polar, just like their lunatic patron.

"Forgiving an unfortunate lack of information on the nature of this 'armor' as you call it, I will have to decline for the good of both of us. You see, the shell you call armor is very much alive as you are no doubt aware. What you may not be aware of is that it becomes very upset if separated from me and I'm sure we would agree that it simply would not do to have such a fine engine of destruction rampaging around your ship. Not only would you be very cross at the demise of much of your crew, I would be rather upset myself in the off chance that one of your pirates managed to incapacitate it."

Janos did a crisp, clean orbit around the ship, landing to the side of one of the vessel's weapons turrets.

"What I can do instead is this. I can return my associate here to a dormant state and we can discuss this like civilized people. This way you don't have the pointless waste of life that comes from trying to bring down a true wonder of the demon city, and I don't have to explain to Kimbery's component souls why one of her ships was heavily damaged unnecessarily in the midst of what I am told is a very important mission. I'm sure this is agreeable."

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Karren hummed happily to herself, leaning against a bulkhead in the shuttlebay as a crew fueled up the ship for their excursion. This was gonna be good. Get to know their thief. Get her Mate's out into the world of combat training. Score some prizes... Good times. If the others got here quickly enough.

She thumbed her combead to the command frequency, "You girls getting down here or not? We got a treasure hunt on a clock to run before the Lintha get curious."

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Quickly, before his higher reasoning could catch up with his mouth, Zed blurted out. "Captain, may I accompany Althea and Kestrel? I might be able to get an idea of what's aboard, assess its value and fill in any gaps that Kestrel might overlook. And another set of hands to load and carry probably can't hurt. And if it comes to a fight, well, I'll be another warm body between the enemy and the crew."

Seriously, Zed, what are you thinking? Twenty-four years of not getting yourself killed seem boring all of a sudden?

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Kestrel gave Zed a skeptical, even suspicious look, then shrugged and headed off the bridge to the lift. On the way she touched the comdot on her ear and replied to Karren.

"We're on our way down. One extra 'warm body' as well, Zed's joining us. Are you flying the ship, or outside?"

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For a doughy guy, Zed moved surprisingly well, Keeping up with the much more athletic Kestrel with minimal effort.

,,

"Honestly, though, I'm sure I have no clue why I'm here. Karen brought me on, I think to work off some favor or another."

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It vexed him that he couldn't quite recall what the turning point of that night in the cantina was. There was someone giving orders or somesuch. The end result of which was that he, a two-bit con-artist with zero aspirations beyond getting drunk and getting laid, was now accompanying Chosen into the void of space and greeting Lintha pirates with what felt like nothing but a smile.

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"I'm sure you don't need me along, but who knows? I might be useful."

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That's it, keep digging, Zed.

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Charm use!
Will be activating Observer Awareness Method upon arrival at the derelict ship
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