Celestia's Finest: The Sun Always Rises

[DigoDragon]

Rose takes aim at about where she thinks the Corvid is hunkered down behind.

[Miltonian]

The corvid calls out in a mocking voice. "Just stay there a few more seconds, ponies! See what happens! Go on, I dare ya!"

Meanwhile, Love notices that the other account is accessing the artificial gravity controls.

[Elbeyon]

Oh, It's hard not to blush. The ship's private bits are showing.

MistressMoon and the command center is listening in on the mission!? she realizes.

A big mess of wires feed through an electrical box into an adapter to her computer. Her computer hardly managing to pull together some makeshift user interface so she doesn't have to try to interrupt the hard signals alone.

She tries to finagle an output near the captain's terminal. On a private channel she says, "Hello, Captain? Gravity is better left on. The Royal Guard aren't as use to space as yourselves."

[Miltonian]

There is no reply from the captain. It looks like the only gravity being turned off is the hallway where the EDF is.

[Elbeyon]

Freak. She was envisioning that. "Prepare for hostile gravity loss."

Headbutting with a higher/valid security clearance over controls isn't exactly to her advantage. She thinks to herself: Let's change the battlefield, HM?

To the "Captain" again, "Fine. I'll just remove life support while you do that. I hope you learned to breathe space!" She'll keep an eye on life support queries, but now her focus is on tripping that terminal's cyber security. She's going to trigger that box so hard it thinks it's repealing a corvid invasion. If they seem interested in a fight over life support she might switch over to that fight to buy time.

[Miltonian]

It appears the person on the other end has no skill in hacking. However, the security on this terminal is much tougher. And the user on the other end has admin clearance. She manages to trip the alarms, but not until something interesting happens. And when the bridge control's alarm is tripped, all the alarms on the ship go off at once.

Brazen barrels towards the barricade. But as he nears it, a horrible sound goes off in his ear. And then, he begins to feel himself slip backwards as the gravity is not turned off, but changed direction. The corvid laughs as all the ponies in the hall suddenly find themselves slipping backwards toward the closed blast door to the engineering section. It's a long fall. One of the guards is a pegasi, but everypony else can only grab for the alcoves along the side of the hall. To top it off, the corvids' barricade disintegrates and turns into a cloud of falling shrapnel, knives and all. The royal guard's holds firm, but if Brazen strikes it while in free-fall, it will definitely break.

The wounded corvid laughs wildly and holds on to his perch.

[D.KnightSpider]

The world suddenly turned on end, throwing Sniper Scope both off balance and off aim. So focused was he on the hiding Corvid that it took him far too long to properly react. His instinctive grab at the air vent edge missed by a far margin and he found himself plummeting towards the depths of the ship.

He wrapped his wings tighter about himself. It was all too easy to imagine catching a wing in a service tunnel and snapping it like a twig.

Then, he widened his legs, thankful for the cybernetic implants, and attempted to brace himself against the tight confines of the vent. If he could catch a joint or seam, perhaps he could stop his descent.

[DigoDragon]

Rose slips backwards, holding on to... um... well much of nothing! "Love, fix it!" she shouts.

Spoiler: Captain Default

Show

Don't have Acrobatics, so this'll be messy: (3d6)[14]

[userpay]

"Aw crab apples..." Brazen mutters as he feels the world 'turn', thoroughly disappointed that he wasn't going to get to try and turn the corvid into a pancake. Still with his momentum he has a few more precious seconds before the downward plunge begins. Trying to push off towards an alcove.

Spoiler

Show

Pity I don't have something with more recoil, I don't think a shotgun would be enough to push me towards the sides.
Acrobatics (skill 12): (3d6)[6][6][6](18)

[Miltonian]

Sniper Scope's legs brace against the side and send up metal sparks as he plummets downward. If his strength can hold out long enough to slow himself down, he'll be able to halt his descent without any further issue. He missed the vent's edge, yes, but he's in a relatively favorable position.

Rose is in a bit more trouble. Nothing is conveniently near her for her to reach out and grasp. She could try and push off against the smooth floor to the ceiling where the vents are or the wall where the alcoves are, but currently she's in free fall. This might remind her of something. To make matters worse, right above her head is a cloud of falling shrapnel and the bulky form of Brazen Hoof.

Speaking of Brazen, he had the presence of mind to reach out for a hoof-hold. However, the weight of his suit yanked it out of his hand. And, to make matters worse, it threw him off-balance and now he tumbles head over hooves through the air, world spinning around him and bits of metal pinging off his armor. This does no damage thanks to his heavy armor, but turns the already dangerous cloud into a maelstrom of swirling, dangerous debris. Furthermore, if this goes on for any length of time, he could pass out.

In two more seconds, Rose and Brazen will hit the barricade.

[DigoDragon]

This might remind her of something.

"No no No NO!!" Rose tries to push against the 'floor' to hit a vent or alcove or dear Celestia just grab something! She's trying not to panic as she pushes as hard as she can with her cyberlegs.

(Skill?) (3d6)[12]

[D.KnightSpider]

His face warped beneath the strain of trying to stop his descent and Sniper Scope scowled in anger. This was not going to happen-- nor was it permissible. He was not going to fall to a cheap trick and a taunting Corvid. He was not!

He ignored the strain and the pain and continued to push against the vent. This had better work. He didn't have many options otherwise.

[Miltonian]

More by luck than skill, Brazen's forehoof lashes out and connects with part of the wall. It contorts and bends the metal around it, giving him a chance to hold on. And hold on he does. The automatic servos in his suit strain, as does his shoulder. That will be sore in the morning!

Sniper Scope barely manages to keep his legs straight, but he does manage it. His fall comes to a stop right next to a vent a few feet in front of the royal guard's barricade. He is, for the moment, safe.

Rose, however, continues to tumble. Her push away from the floor doesn't carry her far enough. Her hooves can barely reach the vents along the ceiling. The barricade is rapidly approaching.

The corvid, still squeezed into an alcove too small for him, fumbles for something on his belt. With a wicked grin, he pulls it out and holds it up tauntingly. A stun grenade. "To the Dark Forest with you, ponies!" he calls.

[Elbeyon]

Rose slips backwards, holding on to... um... well much of nothing! "Love, fix it!" she shouts.

Love braces for falling then when nothing happens she remembers it's only the hallway . Phew. She starts typing on her computer with a fury.

"I'm on it! Don't barf!"

Let's see do this with some style. Love will right the gravity, but only after messing with it a bit. She'll reverse the gravity a scooch to try to bleed off her team's momentum then as they near zero velocity she'll put the gravity down again.

[DigoDragon]

"No no no..." Rose tries to hold herself together. She recalls her parachuting lessons on maneuvering around in freefall. "Just... lean a bit more."

Spoiler

Show

(trying this to get close enough to grab the ceiling vent).

(3d6)[11] (parachuting skill is 12)

[Miltonian]

Thanks to Love's hacking and slowing her down, Rose catches herself on the same vent that Sniper Scope did, leading to a slightly awkward moment where they find themselves staring right into each other's faces. A whirlwind of falling blades and metal fragments passes. They pelt off her helmet, but only leave minor scratches behind. With two, loud, thumps, the bodies of the dead corvids strike the barricade and knock it backwards, though its momentum is already slowing thanks to the reversed gravity.

Sniper Scope is already braced, but Brazen's hold was a bit tenuous. He will need to use all his strength to hang on as the gravity reverse yet again.

As for the corvid, he is very surprised to see his grenade head upwards instead of downwards. He's even more surprised when he is yanked from his perch and finds himself falling upside down. He spreads his wings, but his injuries are too great to do more than glide. And since there is no room to glide in a crowded hallway, he strikes the wall.

The grenade falls a little bit and detonates right past the door to the galley.

[DigoDragon]

Thanks to Love's hacking and slowing her down, Rose catches herself on the same vent that Sniper Scope did, leading to a slightly awkward moment where they find themselves staring right into each other's faces.

Rose blushes slightly being this close to Sniper. She starts to look a--

A whirlwind of falling blades and metal fragments passes. They pelt off her helmet, but only leave minor scratches behind.

--"Ow!" Rose cringes as the falling debris scratches her up.

[Elbeyon]

"Sorry, Sorry! What's wrong?" She asks worriedly.

She really needs to get herself a visual on the team. Her hands are full with the gravity. She can't spare even a second to command her bot to look.

"Did I not slow you down enough?"

[DigoDragon]

"No, no, keep doing what you're doing! I'm still hanging on," Rose says. Half a second later she cringes at the awful pun she made. At a time like this?

[D.KnightSpider]

All Sniper Scope can do is raise a bewildered eyebrow at finding himself face-to-face with Rose. Her appearance made an already bizarre situation even stranger.

"And please warn us before further altering the gravitational fields." Sniper Scope added to Rose' statement.

He began guiding his ascent "up" the ventilation shaft. He ignored the protest of his cybernetic limbs, they didn't appreciate what he had just put them through, but there was no time to consider them. He had to clear the access vent quickly.

"Rose, what goes down must come up. For the moment, I suggest you also enter this ventilation duct to clear the debris field. Brazen, are you alright? How is the rest of the Royal Guard?"

He had to get a handle on the situation and determine the extent of their injuries. If anything happened to them...

[DigoDragon]

"Rose, what goes down must come up. For the moment, I suggest you also enter this ventilation duct to clear the debris field. Brazen, are you alright? How is the rest of the Royal Guard?"

"Right, I'm on it."

Rose will open the vent and scoot inside, bracing against opposite sides to keep herself steady. She uses her magical horn to try and pull the daggers and knives out of the nearest debris and put them in an alcove or vent; somewhere so that when gravity reverses, these sharp implements don't fly back in the other direction.

[Elbeyon]

"Alright..."

"I'm just going to align the gravity like the rest of the ship then I'll leave it alone."

"Don't let the gravity of the situation bother you."

Her ears are still tweaked over Rose's screaming.

[Miltonian]

The team's fears are for not, as the gravity returns to normal and they find they can stand upright again. It is a welcome sensation, to be sure.

Star Chaser's voice comes over the comms. "You're all alive! Whew. Had me scared for a moment there. Let me patch you back into the main channel. I muted everyone else for you so they wouldn't distract you while you were, you know, trying not to die."

"-Repeat, no casualties. We all managed to make it to an alcove safely," Harrier Squad hears Big Boom say, "Uh, the captain is a little shaken up, but not dead. No pony is dead. It's...well, it's amazing we survived actually."

"Tis one for the tactical books," Luna agrees, "Ah! Harrier Squad! Report. How fare thee?"

"How did they do that?" Celestia asks, "How did they change what direction was up and down?"

"Gravity generators, your highness," Akilah replies, "Though never before have they made quite a mess."

[DigoDragon]

As gravity returned, Rose pushed herself down to the 'floor' and caught it with a light thud of her metal hooves. She shakes a few bits of debris off her back. "Rose, reporting. I'm down the corridor behind Sniper Scope. Love's got me right-side up again. One injured Corvid still active. Sniper, Brazen, either of you got a contact with 'em?"

[Miltonian]

The corvid in question is lying unconscious almost at the end of the hall, having hit his head hard on the side when he tried to stop his free-fall.

[userpay]

Brazen sighs with relief as his hooves touch down on 'solid' ground again. "I'm fine, wrenched my shoulder a bit but I'll walk it off." He reports while rotating the offending limb to loosen it back up. Brazen peers down the hallway at the lump of feathers at the end. "Looks like the last boogy here is down for the moment, no clue about what's beyond the doors though. Sneaky buggers... Love know what happened there with the gravity? The crow seemed to know something about it and if I have anything to say about it I'd like to return the favor to his companions."

[Elbeyon]

Love breathes away the stress. "I'll take a peek ahead and see what's going on with our corvid friends."

She moves the computer in front of her and lays down and starts to get comfortable. It looks like she's found her hidey hole. "Someone was using the captain's credentials to turn gravity against us. I caught it too late to stop them, but I shut everyone out of the system. I'm skulking through the internals to manipulate things from the inside. It's like walking through mud. I can do things. Just not quickly."

"I'm going through the ships AR and checking out what's going on. You have a different idea?"

Love wants to look at things in this order: Down the hallway where the corvid should be stationed, the hanger with the electrical problems, the command center, & engineering.

[DigoDragon]

Rose moves up the corridor to catch up with Scope and Brazen.

[D.KnightSpider]

After opting to remain inside the ventilation shaft, Sniper Scope began worming his way forward back to his previous vantage point. Along the way, his smouldering anger gave way to despondency.

"Sniper here. I'm fine." He muted the communications link, sighed heavily, and then resumed broadcasting. "Apologies, comrades, I should have foreseen that the Corvids were preparing some ambush and been more prepared."

The clues had been there: the table barricade, the Corvid comment about the plan, the taunts of the enemy... he simply had not seen what should have been obvious. He was an imbecile to the highest order to have been caught so unaware.

He reached his old haunt, and took aim at the unconscious Corvid. It would be so easy to slay the bird in its sleep, but he refrained. The art of this mission had already been botched. He would not soil it further by bringing dishonor upon the unit.

"The remaining hostile is in my sights."

[Miltonian]

"This is Squad Two," a gruff mare's voice says, "We are taking advantage of the confusion and pushing forward. Alright, ponies! Charge!"

The corvid is down for the count. And not so much as a feather pokes out from the galley. However, a new voice crackles to life. Not across the comms, but from the ship itself. "Will someone please turn those blasted alarms off! And don't cower! Attack! Overwhelm them with your numbers!" There is a pause. "Bah! Useless, the lot of you! Get out there or I'll tear you limb from limb, stuff your remains inside a feather pillow, and then tear it apart too! I'll kill you so badly, you'll be reincarnated as a corpse!"