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

THE OTHER FLEET

[thespaceopera]

[There will be NPCs to tag into here.]

YIPPEE KI-YAY

[thespaceopera]

[Through the static, the voice that comes through is a male voice with a drawl. His ship is a slower but sturdy model, upgraded to have a lot of guns with high precision aiming. It's covered in red and orange paint, with a gold metal plate that reads "BAMF" near the front.

He'll fly in to shoot at any ships firing on yours]

Looks like you could use a hand!

[cloakand_danger]

[Yuan's first reaction is relief. He's heard that people come back from dying in the Fleet, but he wasn't particularly eager to test that out, and until a few moments ago it looked like he wasn't going to have much choice in the matter.

His second reaction, of course, is suspicion. This is too convenient. But outright rudeness probably won't get him any answers...]

Nice timing, stranger. Where did you come from?

[thespaceopera]

Oh, just somewhere out in the West.

[The firing on the other ship continues.]

What's your ship's status?

[alwayscomeback]

[Bamf, huh. ]

Thanks for the assist. Please don't knock us into a nebula this time though, k?

[thespaceopera]

Not today, I think.

[More shots are fired at a raider ship. It pulls its attention off the blue fish onto the bamf ship]

What's your status?

[geonomy]

[Clay had been getting panicked and frustrated. He's been dodging and trying to open up opportunities to protect the rest of the fleet for Felix, but there's just way too many of them. His own ship's been taking some damage, and he'd been half tempted to hail the Marsiva itself for aid, even if he'd get no response.

But here, here is... help? From the guys who attacked them last time?

No time to think on that now. Clay maneuvers his ship to fly near this new one, although he still keeps his distance some. He doesn't particularly want to be pushed into a nebula again.]

You're here to help?!

[thespaceopera]

[And this one keeps flying near, firing at nearby nebula ships]

Sure am. What's your status, Vanquish?

ROUGH N TUMBLE

[thespaceopera]

[Despite the static, the voice that comes through the feed is definitely female. Her ship is a smaller but quicker model that weaves between enemies. It's also covered in white and red war paint.

She swoops in to take the heat off your ship.]

OI! What the bloody hell do you think you're doin'?! Dodge!

[Later, she will find herself surrounded by raider ships. Maybe you're the one to help her out.]

[goldenglasses]

What are we doing!? Let's see; our engines are a bit ah... well, on fire. We're working on that dodging thing! [Joking aside, maybe it's not on fire yet, but Vash knows his ship is in trouble and without this ship's help they would be a lot worse off.]

If you can buy us just one more minute we should be able to divert enough power to get moving. As long as you think you can keep them from hitting you for that long. [Vash really isn't sure what to make of this help. He knows he's seen these ships before, but he's not about to look this gift horse in the mouth.]

[thespaceopera]

Heh heh! Leave it to me!

[Her ship swoops around the rear of the raider's vessel and continues firing. Apparently she has some medium artillery equipped-- enough that when the raider's shielding cracks, there's a small explosion.]

That all you got, scumbags? I'll kick yer sorry arses so hard you'll kiss the moons!

[dancingmd]

[Beverly happens to be on the bridge when the call comes in, though it takes her a moment to answer, as she has to phaser a raider trying to shove their way through the the door. Oh hell, this is not bringing back good memories at all. She slams her palm on the comms to respond to their mysterious benefactor.]

We can't. All we've got is auto pilot - and no radar.

[There's the sound of another phaser shot as she knocks out someone else. At least the ship isn't being bombarded any more. That's some relief.]

[thespaceopera]

[There's a sigh on the other side of the line, followed by the sound of their mysterious benefactor firing on another raider ship that's wandered too close.]

Listen, you gotta push 'em back from the inside. I can't hit the boardin' ship without shakin' yours. But once they're on, I'll give 'em what for.

[edwinjarvis]

Oi yourself! How completely uncalled for!

[BUT HE WILL ATTEMPT THIS DODGE, THANKS.]

I've only been pilotting these bloody contraptions for two weeks now, if you could spare a little sympathy!

[Yes he's going to reprimand your rudeness while he manuvers around enemies.

It's 1/2 indignation and 1/2 internal screaming.]

[thespaceopera]

Didn't they plant the information in your head? Try usin' it for once!

[At least he's dodging. They can still pilot, so that's good. She fires more on the nearest raider ship, but has to call on evasive moves to escape a counterattack.]

Bugger all...! I was in the middle of somethin', you big jerk! [She resumes firing until something explodes and falls off the enemy ship, which causes it to reconsider its position and back off a bit.]

There. That better?

[stefanged]

[Praise be to Allah(swt). Stefan lets out a huge sigh of relief as he rushes to a terminal to answer.]

I wish we could. Radar can only go so far when you lack a pilot.

[At least their boarding party's long gone. He forces himself to breathe because well, between the stench of human blood and the heat of the raiders' weaponry, this really, really isn't his day - ] If you can keep the heat away from us for just a minute, [since it's impossible to aim at one specific ship when he's a sitting duck,] I'll help you finish them off.

[thespaceopera]

Bugger. So that's what it is. Leave it to me!

[She swoops around again and opens fire on the exposed side of the enemy ship, a broadside that certainly does not go unnoticed. The red and white ship gets some attention-- and flies circles around the salvos flying her way.

Casually:]

Wish I had super speed!

ZOOM!

[thespaceopera]

[Of all the ships in the newly-arriving fleet, one recklessly leaves the others in the dust. With racing stripes emblazoned down the center of the hull and flames painted gloriously along its flanks, it is clear that this ship has been geared for one specialty, and one specialty only: sheer mind-numbing speed. It streaks right through the center of battle to lose its pursuers, runs loops around the opposition to draw their attention away from suffering Drift Fleet ships... but really, the main concern here seems to be flying fast just for the sheer love of flying fast.

And whether this speedy ship is here to help you out of a sticky situation, or is receiving help shaking its own pack of enemies, only one word is broadcast as it whooshes by:]


Are...

[collegedropout]

[..................

Well, you've lost Bloodsport's comms guy.

He makes a face and opens communication back.

click]

... Um. Say that again?

[click.]

[thespaceopera]

[the signal hangs open with mostly dead air...



give it a minute...


...]



...You...

ALL IN THE WEAPONRY

[thespaceopera]

[ Yet another ship joins the fray to lend a helping hand - this one black and brilliant gold, clearly crafted by someone who knows their way around engineering and making things look ridiculously badass. (And also intimidating/evil. That was definitely on purpose.)

The pilot's voice comes over the line, through the static: incredibly deep, and with a heavy accent. ]

You there! Are you seriously gonna sit there and take that?!

[ The ship assaults the raiders with high-velocity weaponry, barely giving them the space to even think about what's hitting them. ]

There! Now move it!

[reflectedblight]

[The boarding party has been taken care of, at least, so now Lark's back at the comms and she slams her hand on the button to send a message in frustration.]

We can't! We can shoot and we can sit here, so help us or shut up.

[thespaceopera]

Oh my, how grateful. Figures.

[ All of those high-velocity shots? Yeah, they stop. Hopefully the raider ships have already been scared off, because if you need more assistance, you're likely not going to get it like that from this one~ ]

[theroadwarrior]

Talk too much.

[That's the little shuttle zooming by. Yes, a shuttle, navigating rather smoothly and effeciently around all the big ships. He's not out to fight right now — actually, he's interested in forcefully boarding one of the smaller raiding ships because he's pretty sure his friend's been taken.

And when he's got his mind on something, good luck prying him away from it.]

[bi_otic]

[Kaidan can absolutely appreciate some impressive weaponry, especially when it's busy saving his proverbial bacon.

He maneuvers the ship around a newly made pile of debris and starts to back towards the newcomer]

You don't have to tell me twice. You have a plan to get rid of this other fleet, because outlasting them isn't an option.