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

A

[deviances]

[ How about some help in the form of magic~?

Eithan hears her call out, sprints over, and it doesn't take him long to assess the situation and figure out just how big of an explosion he's gonna make... ]

On it! Stay covered!

[ He calls forth his flames, lets them swirl and twist into a crackling, volatile ball, and then he hurls it into the midst of the raiders ganging up on Riona. Once that fireball makes contact? Boom.

(He promises he'll scrub the scorch marks out later. Really. Right now, battle's more important.) ]

[dancingmd]

[Beverly had been rushing down the corridor from the opposite direction of Eithan when she heard Riona's call, but he's the one who reaches their crewmate first. She comes to a surprised halt when she sees the flames form in his hands and shoot out towards Riona's attackers.

Well, that's certainly handy.

Unfortunately, a lingering raider had followed him down the hall.]

Eithan! Duck!

[A sharp beam of laser light shoots out from one of the raider's guns, barely missing both Eithan's head and hers. Beverly returns fire immediately, hitting the shooter straight in the chest, sending him crumpling to the floor. He may still awake at some point - gun's not set to kill... Not yet anyway. She comes up next to Eithan and takes a sharp breath at the sight of raiders still on fire. It's hard to see around the flames, so she calls out Riona's name.]

[bryces_pup]

[Fortunately Riona's fought with mages before, so she knows what's coming. She nods and crouches down, letting the shield cover her as much as possible before Eithan's fireball explodes. The heat washes over her, but her shield and armor keep the worst of the flames at bay.

She pops her head up, glancing over to thank him when suddenly guns are fired and she's ducking again. And she swears she just heard Beverly??]

You all right? [The smoke makes it a little hard to tell what happened.]

[deviances]

[ The flames and smoke disappear quickly, thankfully. Eithan's explosions are always focused - contained. Only as volatile as he wants them to be. So! That will make things a lot easier~

He ducks when he's told, and once that Raider drops to the floor, things seem to be quiet - for a second, anyway. Plenty of time to nod to both women, quirk a bit of a smirk. ]

Thanks, Doctor. [ He turns his attention to Riona. ] Yeah. I'm good. What about you, though?

[dancingmd]

[Beverly nods back, more curt and tense than he is. She's listening to the conversation but keeps her attention on the corridor so they aren't caught unawares.]

[bryces_pup]

So I did see Beverly.

[Riona finally straightens up, not hearing any more coming for them, for right now. That won't last long though, she suspects.]

Cuts and scratches, little more. Anyone have any idea how many we're dealing with?

[deviances]

[ Yeah, Eithan's pretty sure there's more where that came from... ]

Not yet, but it's a lot already, and that was probably just wave one, or somethin'. Think we should split up or stick together?

[dancingmd]

[Firmly.] Stick together. We need to keep them from getting to sickbay.

[bryces_pup]

Agreed. Splitting up gives them the chance to overwhelm one of us.

[Riona rolls her shoulders, grimacing a moment as she remembers a hit she took to her shoulder earlier. It'll have to wait, as she hears footsteps pounding towards them.]

Wave two is here, I think. Beverly, I think they're coming from behind you.

[And sure enough, about five appear down that corridor, weapons drawn and beginning to fire at the trio.]

[deviances]

[ Oh good! He's not really a fan of splitting up anyway.

Riona announces wave two, and Eithan turns to face them, immediately beginning to cast another spell--

But he gets cut off by a gun blast, the bullet grazing over his left shoulder just deep enough to make him cringe. He manages a heartfelt, "Fuck!" and a growl... but he's been through worse. Just give him a second, you'll have backup fire magic in no time~ ]

[dancingmd]

We need to take cover!

[Beverly lunges for a nearby doorway, dragging Eithan with her as she shoots, taking out the man who shot at him. Another shot barely misses her as she ducks into the room and her answering shots go wild, the lasers bouncing off the walls near their attackers' heads.]

[bryces_pup]

[Cover for Riona is, of course, her shield. The raiders are answering Beverly's shots as best they can, and now there are lasers everywhere oh god Maker.]

I'll draw their fire.

[Shield firmly in front of her, Riona carefully proceeds towards the raiders, her looming presence turning their attention to her. One shot comes dangerously close to her legs, barely missing. But it manages to force her to halt and hunker down, still drawing their fire.]

[deviances]

[ Getting dragged like that throws him off a bit, but he recovers quickly enough. And with Riona drawing their fire, it gives him plenty of time to actually cast his spell --

He darts back into the hallway, around Beverly, just long enough to aim a shower of crackling fire down on the raiders. That should get them to leave them alone, and should free up Riona to maneuver however she wants.

He ducks back into the doorway, somewhat, leaning back against it with a fangish grin. He's keeping an eye out for any reinforcements that might be coming their way, but for right this second, it doesn't look like they have any more company. ]

[dancingmd]

[Ignoring the surprised and pained shouts of their attackers, Beverly takes advantage of the brief respite to check his shoulder. The wound is not too deep, she notes with relief - he was only grazed. Satisfied that he's in no mortal danger, she nods sharply at him before peeking once more into the corridor, phaser drawn. When one of the less-burned of the raiders tries to pull their gun, she's ready, stunning them before they have a chance to shoot.]

[bryces_pup]

[With Eithan's fire and Beverly's stuns, the raiders don't present enough of a solid, united front anymore. Riona gets up quickly and charges them, knocking into one and pinning him to the ground. There's a scuffle before Riona manages to get her sword through him.]

[deviances]

[ He gives Beverly a smile and a nod for thanks - he's glad she's around, always. And yeah, he'll be fine. just whiny later sry

When things settle down, he rounds the corner again, heads straight for Riona. ]

That was awesome - you still okay?

[dancingmd]

[She's not sure "awesome" is the right word for it, but she is certainly glad to have Riona on her side. While Eithan checks with Riona, Beverly cautiously approaches their attacks, lying stunned, burned, or impaled on the floor. Gently, she nudges one of those she's stunned with the toe of her boot. When he doens't move, she reaches down to divest him of his weapon, doing the same for the others. They'll be out cold for a while yet, but no use in taking any chances.]

[bryces_pup]

[Riona nods, gingerly getting to her feet.]

Yes, thank you. I'm glad you're both here. This'll make handling them easier.

[She exacerbated an earlier injury when she tackled the raider, but she ignores it as she walks over to the ones still breathing.]

Has anyone seen the others since the raid started?

[dancingmd]

[Beverly unloads the bullets as she answers.]

I caught Jeyne in the corridors when we were first hit. She's back in the infirmary with Sansa and Allen. He won't let anything happen to them.

[deviances]

[ Eithan lets the ladies do their thing, while he keeps a sharp lookout either way down the corridors. He's got a spell ready to go if anything else so much as breathes in their general direction. ]

And Sokka's safe - makin' sure life support stays online. Haven't seen anyone else though.

[dancingmd]

So that leaves Robb, Leliana, and Kanda.

[She offers a grim smile.]

Can't say I envy any raiders running into them. Still, we ought to try to find them if we can.

[bryces_pup]

I saw Leliana earlier. We split up, but she'll be fine. She's more than capable of handling herself.

[She frowns, rubbing her forehead.]

Robb should be okay, I would think. I can't speak for Kanda, though.