don't fear the reaper

[thespaceopera]

[The First Battle]

[They come shooting out of the great dark. Guns blazing, no warning. The enemy ships are ragtag, mismatched, and cobbled together from spare parts. But that doesn’t make them weak. No-- years and years of scavenging have turned them into raiders, and they carry their scars with pride.

The battle is more aggressive than previous attacks against the Fleet. Nothing deters the raiders because they’re tough, and if they see a wounded ship floundering, they have no problems swooping in and boarding. Those crews will soon learn the meaning of teamwork if they want to bring the attackers down. They infiltrate the Iskaulit as well, just in case people try to hide there. At this point they are very, very used to tracking down women and children for their slave trade.

If asked why they’re doing this, the answer is simple.

Spare parts have to come from somewhere.

Don’t worry. Nothing on your ship, and no one, will go to waste.]


[A Few Hours Later]

[The raiders are too strong and the Fleet is failing. After what seems like an eternity of warfare, static comes in, broadcasted to the fleet at large. Something or someone is hailing them…

The signal is untraceable and the video is complete static, but they tell the Fleet they are here to help. Ships come swooping out of the black and they open fire on the raiders. They number a dozen, maybe more, and the ships look eerily similar to the ones currently used by the Fleet, if not a bit older and battle-hardened. Their shielding and weaponry is much, much better, however-- and most of them have custom paint or other touches on their hulls.

They’re not invincible, however. A few may end up between a rock and a hard place when the raiders surround them.

Some older residents may remember this particular group of ships. They’re obviously helping out now, but there’s nothing stopping Fleeters from firing on their would-be saviors save a complete lack of weaponry. You do have a Security officer on board, don’t you? They’ll defend themselves by seriously injuring your ship, but they won’t destroy it for some reason. Small mercies.

The raiders soon realize they’re outgunned and jump ship, taking their dead with them. The intercepting fleet pulls back, too, and both parties vanish back into the dark as silently and swiftly as they came. There’s a lot of cleanup to do whether your ship is disabled or you’re preparing to tow someone else.

Hopefully, the people who saved you don’t change their minds.]

[Plot info is here! Feel free to make your own toplevels with fighting, barricading, being boarded, saving others, the aftermath, etc. There's lots to do!]

Comments

[wolfuncaged]

[Well, he can make a great educated guess as to whom is wandering around in the ventilation shafts who knows him. There's literally one person here he knows who will do that.

...Well, okay, two but Hawke isn't drunk right now. He's pretty sure.

Either way, he shows up with a long suffering sigh, looking up into the open vent, before calling into it. ]

Can you please stop crawling around in the vents? I'm not pulling you out if you get stuck.

[stabsbothways]

[ Oops, caught. No regrets.

She slides out and drops next to Fenris as if nothing is wrong. ]

There you are. You're a hard elf to find considering the size of these ships.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk is far less than pleased. He is glaring at them both, though mostly at Isabel. He questions your choice in acquaintances, Fenris. ]}

Escort her off the ship, please, Fenris.

_{[ He picked up the grate she had dislodged. ]}

Thank you for adding another 'to-do' to my list, miss.

[wolfuncaged]

[He questions his choices too, ok. Still, Isabela is his friend and that has to stand for something, so he casts Kirk a sceptical look. ]

What for exactly? Did she attack you? Or anyone on board the ship?

[stabsbothways]

Apparently yes. It was a savage blow to his ego.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He gives Fenris a hard look, not appreciating being questioned like that. Plus, it gives him a reason not to rise to Isabella's obvious bait. ]}

By every definition, she was sneaking around our ship, without permission. In case you forgot, she was working her way into the vent systems just five minutes ago. Where I'm from that's called breaking and entering, and if nothing else it is a massive invasion of privacy.

Or do you find it acceptable that she would have helped herself to looking around any one of your crewmate's rooms for a lark? If this was a Federation ship, she'd be in a holding cell.

Now please, escort her off the ship.

[wolfuncaged]

This isn't a Federation ship.

[He noticed that look, and does not baulk from it. Far from it, he folds his arms, standing his ground. He can't deny that Isabela would absolutely go playing about in other people's rooms- but this, this is a step too far for him. So he'll turn to Isabela and sarcastically waggle a finger at her.]

Don't go into the vents again.

[Then, with a sneer, he turns and heads off. ]

Escort her off yourself.

[stabsbothways]

[ Kirk, you are now front row seat to Isabela's biggest shit eating grin. ]

Well, I seem to have found who I was looking for, thank you for your assistance.

[ So baring Mr. Rules here physically grabbing her for escort, she's gonna head after Fenris. She's half-expecting him too, though, and she's got an elbow to the stomach waiting for him if he tries. ]

[universal_charm]

_{[ He's a touch shocked by that, embarrassed even, and hurt. Fenris could have refused but to essentially mock him that way - it stung. His gaze hardened at the elf, hiding that initial reaction and reaching out to take Isabela by the bicep. ]}

You can meet him on the Iskaulit or your own ship. You're not welcome here for the time beign.

[stabsbothways]

[ The fact that he even thought he could give Fenris orders meant he was ranking, or at least thought he was. But Kirk had done nothing to warrant her respect so far, and he definitely wasn't allowed to touch her, so the second he makes contact, she goes with the grab, throwing her body backwards to elbow Kirk in the face. ]

I'll leave when I feel like it.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He really should have been expecting her to try something. Maybe in the back of his mind he had, since he managed to lower his weight and lean back enough to earn him the time to put his free hand up and shove her elbow away. He immediately carried through and dropped into a round kick at her ankles. ]}

Captain's orders, miss.

[stabsbothways]

[ She backflipped away from him, leaving her a good ten feet away. She opened her arms in invitation. ]

You don't have the right hat for it.

[universal_charm]

_{[ That was quite the back flip to get that much distance, and he had to wonder at the gravity levels on this ship. Were the wonky? Damn it, another thing to fix. Or maybe she was just that strong. If their home world had higher gravity, Earth Standard would be easier to move in. Which meant he was at a disadvantage. Great. But not like he hadn't been in situations like this before. ]}

Real captains don't need hats.

_{[ He slid into a loose starting position, waiting for one breath, two - and then he was lunging in with sharp jabs aimed at her ribs. ]}