THE DRIFT FLEET

Who: Everyone
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Lato'li's orbit and also planetside.
When: Forward dated to 11/15.

[The Interceptor Fleet moves into position, waiting for the last few shield generators to fall. And in the early hours of the 15th, they do. The shield dissolves with a blip as if it was never there, leaving the man-eaters as prone as their prey. The Interceptors send out a transmission-- an unholy mix of Cockney and Australian that graces every available communicator-- if they answer it.]

We’re firin’! Do yer worst, Vieziri! We’re gonna kick yer sorry arses so hard you’ll kiss the moons!

[Five Interceptor ships swoop out of the dark and unload their various weaponry onto the Vieziri warships. At the same time, people stranded on the planet below ready the anti-aircraft guns onto their makers. And of course there is the Fleet itself, battered and yet beautiful across the velvet sky, as they fire everything they have.

Now the Vieziri start moving. Though the big red ship can’t do much maneuvering, the rest of the Vieziri warships certainly can. They fire back at the Interceptors and whoever else fires at them, willing to defend their leader and lose their lives in the process.

Luckily, the Interceptors have their own daring ships, which may look familiar to those who were here for the raider attack. One is emblazoned with racing stripes and flames all along the hull, and it moves so fast it nearly enters hyperspace. It’s there and gone in a flash, weaving past the enemy in crazy thrillseeking loops. Still another Interceptor ship is painted red and orange with a gold plate near the front, which reads BAMF with no explanation. This one has guns aplenty and easily weathers any duel it gets into. The third Interceptor ship is beautiful gold and black, sleek as hell and engineered with sense; this one packs the most gadgets and formidable guns of all calibers, and appears to do the most damage. Trailing behind is a much smaller ship, so nondescript it almost doesn’t stand out at all-- that is, until it forms a barrier to absorb some oncoming fire and reflect it back at the Vieziri.

There’s one ship that’s missing, though-- the one that was blown up several months ago after the heist. In its place is a small black ship that runs invisible to radar, sweeping past with silent speed as it lets loose a barrage of photon missiles onto the Vieziri flagship.

Down below, the Vieziri come out in full force-- one last stand before the warlord falls, trying to finish their fell rituals. Some of them rush the encampments, some go for the cities. Near the restored comms tower, a cloaked figure with a plain white mask fights their way through the onslaught using a plasma blade and a laser rifle.

After an hours-long siege, the big warship finally takes too much fire and breaks apart, lighting up the sky with falling shards like stars. The biggest debris burns up in orbit, but little pieces still rain down. It signals the end as the Vieziri begin to retreat both on ground and in the air. The loss of their leadership leaves them scattered and panicked.

The Fleet has won the day, but as the sun rises again over the wreckage, there is still plenty of work to be done.]

[ooc: Feel free to assume the Interceptors are helping your ships! The gold and black ship can be hailed and will give responses, as she’s been the main point of contact during this plot. You can also run into Zhade, though tags will be slow for both accounting for RL things. Please mark Zhade or Interceptors in the header of your toplevel if you’d like NPC interaction.

Any questions should be asked on the plot post for phase two.]

[PLANETSIDE]

[The communications systems have been down for days now. The silence of the fallen ships contrasts sharply with the noise of the forest, for better or worse. But today, in the middle of the night, all personal communicators and ship consoles spit and crackle a mostly-intelligible message. It’s video, even! The figure is difficult to see over the broadcast, but the one thing that stands out is a stark white mask painted with gold.]

Hey! Listen up! I don’t have all day. That means you, travelers. Sorry about the time, it’s the only way I can be sure I won’t be interrupted.

[Though the gender of the speaker is difficult to place, their voice is pleasant to listen to… or it would be, if the broadcast could stop being staticky!]

I know how you can get off this miserable rock before you get eaten. Help me and I’ll help you. We can discuss payment when the situation is a little less dire. [A wry laugh.] I think my demands aren’t too outrageous, considering I can give you everything you need to reverse your fortune.

First things first: you’ll need to be able to talk to the others who got shot down. At the coordinates I’m about to give you, you’ll find the old comms tower. It’s not working at the moment, but you should be able to find something you can use in the ruins around it. Wires, or a battery, or whatever you can salvage, figure it out! Get that thing going and communications should be restored on your end. Right now you can’t get past the jammer, but get a boost and that should be it. Your communicators will handle the rest, even if they’re third class junk.

Here are the coordinates: 5° 10' 3.0089'' north, 24° 3' 98.3199'' east. Repeat: 5° 10' 3.0089'' north, 24° 3' 98.3199'' east. Surely one of you knows how to navigate by the stars, right?

After you get the tower running, I suggest you start scavenging. There’s all sorts of parts laying around and the villagers will help you if they can. The sooner you get your ships fixed, the better. You won’t be able to fly off-- well, I don’t recommend it-- because of the guns. That’s a problem that we’ll tackle later. For now, focus on making a base and defending it.

I’m sure you have questions. I might have answers, depending. Important questions only, now. Don’t waste my time.

And if you absolutely need a name, call me Zhade.



[SHIPSIDE]

[The broadcast is heavily jumbled at first, but that is definitely someone hailing your ship! The video is dark and grainy at best, the exact gender and build difficult to discern underneath all that black cape and armor, but they have a white mask with gold paint. It stands out, considering most of the Vieziri have stainless steel masks and war paint only.]

You! Yes, you. All of you. Your friends on the planet are safe. Probably. Mostly. What’s important is that they’re working to navigate the communication block. That means you’ll be back in touch soon.

I know you want to reunite with them as soon as possible. Here’s the thing-- you can’t do it without me. And I can’t get off this miserable garbage pile of a planet without your help, so let’s cut a deal. Show me some kindness in the form of credits and I’ll be sure to repay it with intel. Clear?

The name’s Zhade, if you feel like writing this down in your diary.

I don’t expect you to trust me without showing my word is good. So out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll let you in on something.

If you want to rescue your friends, you’ll need more than gumption or good pilots. You’ll have to disable the anti aircraft weaponry or risk everything being blown to smithereens. The Vieziri don’t mind if their dinner is minced meat.

That doesn’t mean you can’t send down supplies, though. Actually-- if you drop something that’s smaller than one of your shuttles, they can’t detect it on the scanners.

Once the jammer’s taken care of, you’ll all have to contend with the anti aircraft fire if you want to leave. I have some ideas for that, but you’ll want to make sure you’re in top shape first. So focus on repairing your ships and defending yourselves. You’ll want guns, the bigger the better. You’re gonna need it.

[The figure folds their arms.]

I have a few minutes to answer questions, but I can’t risk it much longer. Make it quick.

[ooc: The NPC will be available to answer questions mostly in the evenings PST and over the weekend. For characters who are exceptionally grateful to Zhade and would like to encourage further cooperation, an invoice can be found on their communicators, which they can pay with credits conveniently docked from their accounts.

Additionally, ships in orbit should now be able to send video broadcasts, though the reception is not perfect and may still cut out, glitch, or go static from time to time. Planetside communications to ships in orbit will be restored when the comms tower is fixed.

Please make sure to indicate if you are grounded or in orbit in your replies, as they are two separate broadcasts and these two groups can't interact yet!

Further questions should be asked here on the plot post. Thank you!]