Aboard the Worldship Eternity IC

[Extreme Bingo]

The time is 19:45, and the corridor lights are on night cycle early again. The effect is eerie - motion sensors activating rolling bands of light around you as you walk down dark corridors. Each of you has recieved a request to meet with Sophia Komorov on an urgent matter. It's not unusual for your clans to have dealings with the Komorov federation, though their messages are rarely as heavily securitagged as these.

***

The quarters of the Komorov Clan's matriarch are well-furnished and well lit. You are seated around a polished steel table in a small meeting room. An oddly servile attendant has informed you that Madam Komarov's presence is expected momentarily.

[Lochar]

Miran

Miran sits at the table quietly, not looking at anyone else. His medical training already had kicked in and evaluated everyone's health. They were as well as could be expected, really. To one side, a pack sat, the symbol of the Medicals on it. A standard field medical kit. The other side had another pack with the Medicals symbol, but this one with a surgeon's knife on it, a field surgery kit. Emptied and safetied, and underneath clothing was his handgun, never touched.

As the others shifted and moved, Miran saw without seeing and watched for signs of irregularities as they all waited for Madam Komarov.

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

Jacob Valson is alert as can be. He wore his flight suit sans helmet. The symbol of the Angels - a fighter with feathered wings - was displayed prominently on his uniform.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

The rather comely blonde (and has she been on one of the bar-room vids before?) sits with her back to wall and where she can see all the doors, four-foot gun resting on her lap. Every so often she runs her hand across it to feel that it's still there, something like a cat. The effect, as she smiles nervously, is slightly disconcerting.

"So," she says, "Are, um... is this all of us?"

[Extreme Bingo]

19:55. After a short while waiting, the lady Komorov enters and takes a seat at the head of the table. She looks to be in her 50s, and wears a faithful reproduction of the origional command corps uniform - the formalwear of her people. Her attendant, a short grey-haired gentleman, follows her in and begins to pour 5 glasses from a bottle of clear liqour.


Madam Sophia Komorov takes her seat. [COLOR="Blue"]"I am glad that you have decided to attend this meeting. I am sure you all understand this is not a purely social affair; each of you was personally recommended to me by your respective clans. We have recieved a transmission from an intelligence in the deep decks wishing to defect. If any of you are unwilling to assist us in this matter please leave now."

She waits for your replies, smiling imperiously.

[Lochar]

Miran

"And you wish us to facilitate this defection, I take it?" Miran taps his chin thoughtfully. "An interesting endeavor, if that is the case. You have my curiosity peaked, Madam."

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

"And who would they be defecting to?"

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

"That's my quesion too, Madam," Jenni says, brow creased. "I'm not exactly an insignificant member of CdL. If people see us taking sides, it could be bad for business. As it is, you're going to have to pay me by giving one of them extra cash and having them technically hire me, and I'm losing deniability just sitting here."

[Lochar]

Miran

Looking over to Jenni, Miram coughs. "As a member of the Medicals then, would you consent to being hired as a body guard and confidant should Madam Komarov require my assistance?"

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

The blonde looks over at Miran. "MEdicals are neutral, so that's good enough. Okay. As of right now, I am officially your bodyguard for a price and term of service to be decided later. This verbal statement seals our agreement." She turns back to the Madam and smiles. "Sorry, please continue."

[Trulhammaren]

Sabbath

The distinct sounds of a hoverbike riding up and turning off can be heard outside the room. The sounds were quickly followed by a red haired girl in black and covered in what might be oil smears coming into the room.

Sabbath looks around quickly to see if she can find the right person to convey her apologies for being late.

"My sincerest apologies for the lack of timing on my part, the bike decided to rebel against me."

Hastily taking a seat Sabbath asks a simple question, "So what exactly have I missed?"

[Extreme Bingo]

Madame Komarov glares at Sabbath as she enters. Regaining her cold composure, she looks at Jenni as she continues; "I am sorry to have to involve your family in this matter, Miss di Lucia. The fact is, you will need to travel through dangerous territory to reach your target, and your expertise may prove vital - your clan has always proved discreet and efficient in the past."

Her gaze returns to the group.

"Two days ago a lifeform claiming to be the seer Johannes Makadam made psychic contact with one of my chief advisors. This claim is highly doubtful, of course, but I am assured that the clarity of the message indicates that the mind was a skilled psychic at the very least."

The Lady pauses for a moment, and takes a glass, motioning for the rest of you to do so.

"The brief link did not allow many questions to be asked. The man claims to be a subject of one of the deep decks clans, the Valenzetti. He expressed ethical discomfort with their use of his ablities and requested our aid. While he does not believe his life is in immediate danger, he is in very poor health. Beyond his general location, which you will be briefed on later, that was all the information we recieved.

"As we are technically at war with the Valenzetti, over their conquest of the Mallory craftsmen, we are unable to send any of our own agents. You will be able to enter their territory without drawing an immediate military response. You will then locate this man and escort him to friendly territory for debriefing and medical care.

"Any questions?"


You have all heard of Makadam. He is believed to have died 12 years ago after a group of raiders attacked his travelling group. His predictions were vague, and focused on Eternity's "promised land". Many people doubted their accuracy, but he was an objectively brilliant psychic.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

"Craftsmen?" Jenni says, frowning. "What kind of craftsmen are we talking here?"

I'm assuming she hasn't heard of them.

[Lochar]

Miran

"Neutrality only extends so far, either for myself as a Medical, or the CdL. If caught, it will break the neutrality quite harshly. For myself, I can't see too much of an issue, realistically. I might be relegated back to the backrooms of the med facilities. I am not sure of the ramifications for CdL though."

Miran pauses here, thinking for a moment.

"Who would you have lead us, then? I could at least use the excuse that a mind in pain contacted myself, and I hired a CdL as a bodyguard while I went looking."

Miran looks to the others at the table. "If you know the area, you could be guides as well."

Miran then frowns. "I am not sure how far that excuse would stretch, especially once we came close to the mind that contacted your adviser. Once it was discovered exactly who we were looking for, I doubt they would let him go easily."

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

Jenni winces. "It's a little worse for us... I'm kind of Darwin's daughter. Anything I'm seen doing might attach straings to it. Although..." She leans back, looks up, and taps a finger against her upper lip. "If we get blown, I can say that I had no idea what was going on. Or maybe that I was rescuing Madakam for the good of all, etcetera. We can spin it, yeah. Ooh! Or that we feel solidarity with our oppressed workmen brothers. I don't know." She smiles, and the chair and her gaze come back down. "We can spin this, yeah."

[Trulhammaren]

Sabbath

"I may not know the area very well, but I may have a solution to your excuse problem. As I am sure most, if not all, of you know the Warlocks tend to move about the ship quite a bit. I'm pretty sure that I could talk my old man into letting me borrow a few jacket's with the Warlock insignia, that should be able to get us a good deal of the way to where we need to be if we can keep cool heads and stay out of the main areas. I'm sure I could come up with some kind of scientific jargon that will keep most of the people we might meet up with out of our hair."

Sabbath looks around the table at the assembled and notices the insignia of Clan Angel. And if that isn't to your liking, I could be helping our divine pilot friend with some kind of thing-a-ma-gig, and we could have hired the two of you to help out should medical or muscle be required. One never really knows what kind of beasties and malfunctioning robotics lie in waiting in some of the less visited areas of the ship."

[Extreme Bingo]

"The Mallory Tribe were a group of deep-decks scavengers with a talent for engineering robots. Until a year ago we had a trading relationship with them; their creations increased efficiency in our hydroponics gardens immensely."

After addressing that question she turns to the doctor. "Resistance is a certainty; the Valenzetti lack the ability to extend their influence far from their own sectors, but in those areas security is believed to be high. In the event that the planned extraction seems impossible, there is a small hangar bay in the vicinity that may provide an alternative."

"Your payment will of course factor the risk involved."

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

"If there's a hangar nearby, I suggest we use that as our primary extraction plan. I could wait outside in a launch, then you guys simply have to open the hangar doors."
A thought comes over him, followed by a smile.
"Or, if any of you have flight skills, I could wait outside in my fighter, and provide escort - not to mention, I would solve the problem of the hangar doors pretty easily."

I'm assuming that since we were recommended by our clans, this operation has clan approval, even if it's below the table. Specifically, would I be able to use my fighter for this op?

[Lochar]

Miran

"Is there a way to disable their security then? As much as I wish to rush in and help those who need healing, I understand the requirement of making sure I'm alive when all is said and done. I'm a fair hand with computers, but if we have a dedicated expert I'd rather have them work that side of it."

[Trulhammaren]

Sabbath

Why not use the hangar as our insertion point as well, unless its a operational bay. That would cut travel time as well as give us an easier time with security matters. Speaking of the security, don't worry about it. I'm not much of a fighter, so I try to make sure I'm off radar as much as possible. If the insertion point idea is a no-go, I have some piloting experience and this nifty vehicle link, so I could probably get us out of there if we went via the Angel in waiting plan."

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

"I for one vote for the Warlock idea," she says, shaking her head. "No offense to the Angels, but I'd rather they and not I get dosed with rads. Besides, we might end up in the middle of one of those asteroid battles, and I don't think anyone wants to be there."

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

At Jenni's comment about radiation, Jacob opened up a compartment in his flight suit, and pulled out a handful of neutrad injectors.
"I have plenty for everyone."

[Meshakhad]

(OOC: Bump!)

IC:

Jacob Valson

"As for the concern about asteroid dogfights, I understand your concern. However, one of these would certainly be preferable to fighting our way through the decks. Traversing the length of the ship would take very little time - less than a minute."

[Meshakhad]

(OOC: Um, why is nobody posting? I know that everyone's been online, but I'm the only one who's posted in the last 24 hours?)

[Extreme Bingo]

Calling over her attendant, Madame Komorov motions to listen. The aging man removes a small computer from his pocket, a rare pre-contact model, and taps for a few seconds on the screen. He passes the device to the matriarch, who scans the data before beginning to talk.

"According to pre-war reports, Valenzetti security is based mostly on outdated fire and riot control systems. While they have doubtless improved their technology recently, we do not believe they have the resources for full-scale retrofitting. A sufficiently skilled technician should be able to bypass the majority of their security. That is, after all, why we contacted the Warlock clan."

The Lady pauses for a second while her attendant taps on the device again.

"As for the landing bay, it is located within Valenzetti territory. Records show it origionally housed a number of small recon shuttles. Currently, the bay is used for commercial purposes - it is the base of operations of 2 trading shuttles. Arriving via space may draw more attention than travelling through the ship herself, but with a sufficient cover story you would not be obstructed from entry."

"Do you have any further questions?"



[OOC: Yeah, this operation is being taken with your superiors permission - only you have been told the whole story though. They have also been promised insurance if you are crippled or killed.]

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

"If this is a commercial hangar, then I have a new strategy. We use a fast freighter. I would pose as an Angel merchant carrying metals, gaining easy access to the hangar bay. If we were to quickly seize control of the hangar - something that Miss di Lucia could probably handle - we could disable their security systems from their. We then locate and extract the psychic from the hangar bay. If their security systems are down, we won't need to worry about being pursued."

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Jenni

Jenni shakes her head. "The problem I see with anything involving us landing in the hanager bay is that the minute we open fire and someone outside hears us, they open the bay doors and decompress us into the black. Exiting through the hangar is a good option, but going both ways probably isn't."

She strokes her gun thoughtfully as she speaks. "I say we combine all the options. We go in disguised as Warlocks, bypass their security, grab our guy, high-tail it to a hanger, and fly back here. Anything goes wrong, we blast people from here to the upper decks."

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

"The problem with exiting via the hangar is that I don't know if we'll be able to override the security procedures on their ships." He looks at Madam Kamarov. "Madam, do we have any intel on the security procedures on their shuttles?"

[Lochar]

Miran

"While it is not my forte, I have some skill in computer use beyond the standard. I could be of some use there, if we need to co-ordinate efforts."

[Trulhammaren]

Sabbath

For a pilot he doesn't pay much attention to things... Sabbath idly taps her finger on the table. " If they are still using outdated security systems to protect the brunt of the area, I'm willing to bet that any security protocols on board a shuttle wouldn't be difficult to hack. Not to mention, most protocols are pretty easy to begin with." Sabbath thinks for a moment. "If that still isn't to your liking you could always fake a plasma leak or something and get in that way. But in either case I would need to get in the hangar one way or another unless we can find an access panel elsewhere; can't very well disable much of anything with out that."

[Meshakhad]

Jacob Valson

"In that case, I endorse Jenni's proposal. We infiltrate via the decks, disguised as Warlocks, then exit via the hangar."