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Post by Joe Fischer on Jun 1, 2014 11:13:58 GMT -6
Joe rolled his eyes at the senior N7's last remark. "Jeez, old man," he said as he stood up. "If that line were any cheesier, I'd ask for some wine to go with it."
With that, he looked at his team. "All right, you heard the senior citizen, let's gear up, we meet in ten," he said, and then left to prepare for his first mission as a merc.
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Post by The Hunter on Jun 1, 2014 22:09:11 GMT -6
Andrei nodded his head to the Salarian and the Drell, "I look forward to seeing your capabilities. I've never worked with Drell so I will be most interested in seeing what your species can you. Salarians have always impressed with their ability to assimilate knowledge and understand my work." He turned from the room, heading towards the stairs down, "I will see you in the shuttle bay. Be sure to remember your suppressors! Wouldn't want these pirates catching on too soon, yes?"
In the shuttle bay, the Quarian opened his code locked storage unit, rummaging around through replacement pieces for his suit, parts of machines long since stripped down, and bits of weaponry until he found what he was looking for. Compared to everything else, the gun case was relatively spotless, its silver sheen broken only by engraved Quarian writing, "For Home". His eyes trailed on the words but his hands didn't hesitate for a second. Andrei opened the case and lovingly took out his trophy weapon; a modified Cerberus Harrier rifle. His hands played over the surface, powering up the element zero core and checking the heat clip adaptor for any problems. As flawless as when the Cerberus operative had dropped it on his ship. He'd already taken the liberty of stripping the paint and giving it a much friendlier black and grey paintjob, not to mention his own modifications to the heat clip slot and the armor piercing mod in the barrel. Slapping a heat clip in, he cycled the weapon before setting the safety., "Let's go have some fun, Vera."
He stepped into the familiar compartment of the Vengeance, nodding to the others who had boarded before him, before strapping himself in and reviewing the pirate ship's specs on his omni-tool while mumbling to himself.
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Post by Joe Fischer on Jun 2, 2014 4:38:54 GMT -6
When first issued the T5-V Battlesuit, it had taken Joe ten minutes to get it on, but with experience he had shortened it to three, and that included modifying the grenade launcher for maximum capacity rather than maximum damage and reloading it with flash-bangs.
Next were his weapons. He checked that each had a full heat sink and swapped out the ammo blocks from lethal to non-lethal ammunition. Glad I picked these up, he thought. Extra heat sinks, zip ties and the lethal ammo blocks went into armored pouches on his belt. He then brought up his omnitool and checked that it had a full load of medigel.
His preparations complete, he went to meet the rest of his team.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jun 2, 2014 11:24:34 GMT -6
"Jeez, old man," said Joe as he stood up. "If that line were any cheesier, I'd ask for some wine to go with it." He looked at his team. "All right, you heard the senior citizen, let's gear up, we meet in ten," he said, and then left the room.
Eric snorted and made his way down to where his crates and armor were stored. As he strapped on his armor he recalled the speech he made before the Barce mission and the gun-twirling flourish he ended it with. Had Joe been there he most likely would have faked a dry heave or some other witty observation. It was a tad too corny but Eric was too caught up in the moment then to care. He had used that gesture only one time before, back in Basic Training. Eric had just been made squad leader and was outlining a plan to take the opposition’s flag during an exercise. Upon completion he spun his gun about. A snarky voice called out:
“Nice one, Lysander! Now you can put that turkey of a plan you just hatched out of its misery!”
It was Eric’s drill sergeant.
The seals in Eric’s suit were secure and a quick diagnostic check via his omni-tool found all mechanisms were functioning within accepted parameters. Eric clipped on his Phalanx pistol, his Avenger rifle and his Viper sniper rifle loaded with cryo and concussion rounds. Only the sniper rifle held lethal ammo in addition. He also took a couple of flash-bang grenades, deciding at the last moment to put away the smoke grenade. If the pirates chose to slug it out with Eric and the others there would be plenty of smoke to go around.
Ready for battle, Eric headed for the Vengeance to meet up with Esteban, Maelstrom and the espionage team. Time and again he was able to extricate himself and others out of some perilous situations and pirates were old hat. What did it matter if some of his jokes and bravado were seen as cornball by others? Eric had the skill and muscle to back it up and he enjoyed it. Especially making those who doubted him eat their words.
Success was the best revenge of all.
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Post by Maelstrom on Jun 2, 2014 11:44:24 GMT -6
Maelstrom busied himself with readying his weapons, his armor already in place. The scans run by Emily as each member of the team entered showed that most were equipped with non-lethal weaponry. It would have made him laugh if it did not border on suicidal. He checked once more to be sure his weaponry was lethal. His survival since escaping Cerberus custody was owed to one thing more than any other. There were never any survivors left to hold a grudge or learn from their mistakes.
As his new standard armament, he holstered both his geth-modified assault rifle and submachine gun, taking along the Collector SMG as backup.
For his grenades, though, he chose concussive weapons. There was no need to risk shrapnel puncturing a volus' suit, but, even more than that, he did not want to risk a hull breach and the accompanying decompression. He doubted he would use the grenades, though. In close quarters, his hand-to-hand skills would prove more valuable, all the more so when he enhanced them with biotics. Together, they was more than capable of lethal force.
The thought of letting the pirates go if they surrendered was nagging at the back of his mind, though. Too much could go wrong. Plenty of people would have said that after having survived Cerberus hunting for him, he was a fool to worry about pirates. Maelstrom, though, was realistic about the fact that all it took to kill anyone was for them to have a bad day. Better to make sure anyone who might want to kill him was dead.
He made his way back to the cockpit, off in his own world, as he mentally prepared himself for battle. His final preparation was to select a playlist of Beethoven to play quietly in his earpiece during the mission. The pre-flight was already complete. Now he just had to wait.
Then another thought occurred to him. He brought up the readout on his shuttle's Cain weapon. As expected, it was still loaded. Bringing up a schematic of the pirates' ship, he searched with Emily's help until they found a weak spot. If there were still pirates alive when he left the freighter, he did not intend to leave them that way for long.
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Post by Weyrloc Karn on Jun 2, 2014 11:51:03 GMT -6
Karn chose to be the more silent one of the group, surprisingly, himself acting more.. Solemn, to everyone's conversation. It was a simply case of pirates, nutjobs.. Easy pickings for easier gained cash, much to his enjoyment. He was a patient man, but given himself being cramped up without much reason to hurt something was tugging at his heartstrings. Most of the conversation, things that happened, they weren't too much to his interest, even if he listened intently. With that said, it was time to gear up with the rest of them.
Though, Karn was.. Already geared up. He never usually got out of his armor, his hammer never left him either. The claymore in his hand was all required, but knowing everyone else, they wouldn't be causing too much of an issue. If blood wasn't to be spilt, he had his way around it.. Usually a broken bone to be included, but that was a given thing! He's a krogan, what could you expect? Either way, it shouldn't of been too hard, at least that's what he thought.
Once sorted and kitted, for the most half, he moved over to whatever team he was going with without much of a word, his arms folded over his large chest, his smirk soon returning to his lips. Knowing he was going with the more assault orientated team, he was happier then could be. That, and he was in the mood to break a few skulls.. ..If he had to, that is.
"Note to self..", he ponders, "Don't strangle the turian..", he soon chuckles. It was going to be one hell of a day..
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Post by Murchadh on Jun 2, 2014 13:57:33 GMT -6
The small group was joined by the scot who was now wearing his grey black mech pilots armour. His Scimitar X Shotgun was clipped to his leg looking rather out of place against the newer armour. " Weel big bloke lit gang an' kick some pirate ass." He said to the big krogen he was teamed up with for this mission.
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Post by Game Master on Jun 2, 2014 15:16:09 GMT -6
[GM Note: Beginning the battle]
The first part of the plan will go without a hitch. Unbeknown to the heroes, the pirate and volus sensors were damaged in their brief exchange, making the pirate's vessel completely blind. The volus's sensors flickered, sometimes functioning but most of the time not. As the heroes approached, both vessels were blind, allowing for infiltration.
Battle Notes - Please have fun with this. The battle should be quick, as the pirates do not know that they are being boarded and attacked. I picture the layout of the vessel to be a lot like the side-missions from the first Mass Effect game when Shepard boarded the derilict ships. Keep that basic layout in mind for the Volus ship. As a side note, the Volus ship would be high pressure and poisonous, as that is what the Volus prefer to survive. So when you breach the suit of the pirate,it will mean instant death.
Be sure not to step on anyone's toes. You have free reign throughout this mission. Please leave a note when you are looking through either ship's files or the cargo the Volus ship was carrying.
Number of Pirates: 20 Number of Pirates that can be taken out per action: up to three (be sure that everyone will have a chance to have fun)
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Post by Maelstrom on Jun 2, 2014 15:47:51 GMT -6
"One minute to docking," Emily replied, her simulated voice showing no hint of emotion. "Confirm plan of action, please."
"Plan of action confirmed," Maelstrom replied.
Calling back to the others over comms, he said, "We don't know if we're walking into standard atmo or volus-compatible, so secure your environmentals. We've got a ten minute lead on the Valiant. Plan on fifteen seconds for my VI to do her first docking. Another minute and a half to reposition and dock the second time. Move fast and quiet."
He rose from the pilot's seat, sparing only a quick glance at the hodgepodge pirate craft. With its cobbled together arrays of technology, it looked like a winged hedgehog. Unimpressive.
A few quick commands started the quiet classical music which would play through his helmet for the duration of the engagement. As he took his place in front of the hatch, he checked his weapons one more, counted his concussion grenades, and finally drew his geth SMG.
Maelstrom turned to the drell and salarian teammates he had grown so fond of. "You two stay safe, and keep an eye on the newbie. I intend to see you all in a few minutes."
There was a slight lurch as Emily terminated the last of their momentum, sliding up under the volus freighter. Then a long pause as she hacked their docking protocols and equalized the atmospheric pressure between the two craft. Maelstrom fixed his aim on the manhole-style hatch above them, and a ladder which was stored in the overhead bulkhead of the Vengeance slid silently down. When the light above the hatch turned green, Maelstrom knew they were docked.
"Engage," Emily called, a split second before the hatch opened to the slight hiss of two nearly-equal pressure atmospheres coming into contact with one another.
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Post by dargene on Jun 2, 2014 16:30:07 GMT -6
"You two stay safe, and keep an eye on the newbie. I intend to see you all in a few minutes."
Meldom had finished locking the last helmet seal inplace "Hope pirates don't, otherwise im doing it wrong" he retorted jokingly as he began to start his configuration on his omnitool."You also be safe though" he nodded.
As the Two ships docked and the pressure changed Meldom activated his Stealthfield and spoke softly to the VI in his suit "Stealth" The VI made a Small Ping sound before confirming "Suit mode: Stealth Activated.. Exposure limit reached in 59:59.. 58" The display showed the time about remaining, The seconds started to slowly count down as Meldom exited the hatch into pirate ship, His own teammates not even knowing where he was.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 20:02:17 GMT -6
"You two stay safe, and keep an eye on the newbie. I intend to see you all in a few minutes."
"Hope pirates don't, otherwise I'm doing it wrong. You also be safe though"
Iskra's face was covered by the dark glass of her helmet, worried about Meldom's disappearance without telling of his plan. She turned her head back to the Quarian, "Lead the way. I'll be in the shadows with you the whole time. Meldom should keep the halls clear. Should we run into anything I will be able to take care of them."
She waited until the Quarian started to move forward before speaking to Maelstrom, "See you on the other side." And her cloak engaged and she disappeared into the shadows of the ship.
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Post by The Hunter on Jun 2, 2014 22:23:18 GMT -6
Andrei smirked as his teammates vanished before his eyes. 'Excellent,' he thought as he activated his tech-armor, emerald green hard-light encasing his torso, shoulders and head, 'ghostly guardians.' He stepped through the airlock and onto the pirate vessel. The Quarian didn't even unlimber his rifle or draw his pistol, he merely activated his omni-tool and continued down the hall, scanning power conduits and the cabling hanging from the ceiling.
Up ahead the sound of someone digging through metal tools echoed, followed by batarian curses and insults. Andrei smiled within his helmet, looking forward to seeing what his escorts could do. He rounded the corner and stood over the pirate, the Batarian's back was turned and he was quite distracted as he rummaged through a toolbox filled with older equipment and strange archaic designs. "Would you like some assistance?" he asked flatly. The Batarian grumbled something before pausing, the dawning realization that there was someone who did not belong standing behind him. He whirled around, brandishing some sort of heavy tool as a club, "I guess not," the Quarian decided out loud.
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Post by Maelstrom on Jun 2, 2014 22:33:11 GMT -6
It took less than a minute for the Vengeance to disengage from the merchant ship and maneuver to the side-hatch of the pirate ship. Another thirty seconds for Emily to override their systems and dock. At the same time, she tapped into their propulsion controls. From that point on, the Vengeance's engines would counter any move the raider craft attempted to make. Rather than return to the cockpit, Maelstrom trusted his VI, standing at the ready with his weapon drawn.
There was a slight hiss as the atmospheres equalized with the opening of the hatch. One of the pirates had been at a nearby locker, and hiss from the otherwise-silent docking procedure drew his attention. The man's armor was a dingy brown, and his cobbled together weapons looked unkempt. Before anyone could say or do anything, Maelstrom unloaded half a dozen rounds from his SMG into the man's head.
Maelstrom was glad he chose to equip a silencer mod on the SMG prior to starting the mission. Aside from the sound of the man crumpling to the floor, all was silent.
"Come on," he said, starting into the craft ahead of Lysander and Bridges.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jun 2, 2014 23:12:05 GMT -6
Esteban took a breath, bracing his elbows on his knees.. his ruggedly handsome face hanging low. He heaved a deep sigh, letting go of whatever tension he held in his muscles. The armor wore heavily on his torso, a psychological flaw of his. He knew, thanks to mass effect technology, he controlled how much the damned thing weighed. His eyes explored how the armor conformed to his arms and cracked a smile. The armor was a complete custom job, he built it himself.
He turns his head and sat up, looking over at Eric and the rest of the group. He could hear the sounds of combat raging. He could only assume Maelstrom was enjoying himself with the kills.
"I'll follow your lead," he said to Eric. "Just get me to a spot where I can access the internal sensors of the volus ship and I can at least get a rough layout."
"How much longer until we get going?"
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jun 3, 2014 9:25:21 GMT -6
Before the Vengeance docked Maelstrom noted that the volus craft may be pressurized to their home planet’s atmosphere. Eric made some quick recalibrations on his suit and weapons to compensate for the thicker atmosphere the team could encounter. He then walked up to the side hatch checking over his own armaments and brought his SMG to bear. He wished Meldom and Isrka luck and advised them to keep watch over their group lead.
Emily announced the successful connection with the merchant ship and Andrei’s espionage group was able to board without drawing attention. The Vengeance then disconnected and maneuvered over to dock with the pirate vessel. Maelstrom moved ahead of Eric and Esteban as the hatch hissed open, alerting a pirate stationed nearby. He was quickly and quietly dispatched by Maelstrom’s SMG.
Eric shrugged to his employer. “So much for prisoners… and stayin’ together…”
"I'll follow your lead," said Esteban. "Just get me to a spot where I can access the internal sensors of the volus ship and I can at least get a rough layout. How much longer until we get going?"
Eric drew his pistol. “Let’s go. Stay close.”
As Eric and Esteban made their way inside they had yet to encounter resistance. Perhaps the other pirates were checking on their missing companions. From cover behind a bulkhead, Eric spotted an open hatch leading into the ship’s server room. They crept up to the hatch and looked in. The middle of the floor was open with a couple of panels strewn about. Someone was in the pit hunched over with his back to them working and complaining alternately. No was else was in the room with him. Eric had Esteban stay by the hatch in case someone happened by while he walked up to the occupied pirate.
“I told ya it’ll take time!” he said without turning around.
Eric squatted down and waited a few seconds. The pirate seemed to be wrestling with a stubborn circuit. The problem sorted, he moved along to the next panel.
“Ya missed a spot!” growled Eric, imitating the gargling voice of Smitty [From the "Shanghai Jinx" story].
The pirate in front of him slammed down his data pad and whirled around. “Hey, who’s the exper-"
Eric quickly gripped his opponent’s head, winking and clicking his teeth before slamming it down on the deck. The N7 veteran then reached under the unconscious pirate’s armpits and dragged him off to a corner.
“He ain’t dead. He’s just gonna wish he was when he wakes up.” said Eric to Esteban, his head cocked at the open floor. “Can you do anything from in there?”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 18:21:23 GMT -6
Iskra kept in easy stride with Andrei. They had only walked in a few feet when they heard the first noises of the ship, someone rummaging through metal.
"Would you like some assistance?" Andrei spoke clearly. Iskra bristled. It was one thing to have to fight someone who was attacking but they could've easily snuck by without engaging.
The Batarian began to approach the Quarian with the club, Iskra ran to behind the pirate and in a quick slash, her knife had cut through the alien's breathing tube that feed into his helmet. The black armor decloaked, allowing Andrei to see her as the alien fell to his knees, gasping for air and killing himself faster with the posion air.
"Was that really necessary?"
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Post by The Hunter on Jun 3, 2014 20:34:34 GMT -6
"Call it an experiment. I wanted to see what you were capable of. Also," the Quarian kneeled down, disassembling the pirate's left gauntlet. Pulling out the omni-tool device, he activated his own tool, scanning the pirate's, "Now I know everything he knew, though it doesn't look like he knew much."
Andrei stood, pointing further down the hallway, "Ahead 30 feet. Strong signal emanating from there. I can tap in from there."
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jun 3, 2014 21:59:43 GMT -6
Esteban slowly followed Eric's lead, as instructed. He had his M-5 drawn, held down and away at the ready. Not that he currently needed it. Eric managed to expertly take down one of the pirates with a flourish that only he could pull off. Eric pulled it off even before Esteban could react. He wanted to help in some way, but he knew he'd only get in the way. The pirate fell unconscious damn quickly.
“He ain’t dead. He’s just gonna wish he was when he wakes up.” said Eric to Esteban, his head cocked at the open floor. “Can you do anything from in there?”
Esteban nodded silently, holding his arm to work on his omnitool. The neon orange hard light covered his arm as an intricately designed delineated gauntlet. He smiled to himself as he stared at the immediate readouts. Esteban prepped Data for this mission, getting the VI to passively monitor everything that it could. Now Esteban stared at the readouts.
"I can access the ship's internal sensors from here," Esteban gestured with the barrel of his M-5 toward a plain spot on the floor. "The Volus put a node under here. I'll just need a few seconds...." Esteban said almost to himself while he knelt down by the unconscious pirate, re-holstering his Phalanx. He was bent over on one knee, waving his omnitool over the area. "Ship's security's been disabled. I.."
Esteban punched the holographic buttons for five of six seconds, searching for something in particular......
"I found some of the Volus," his voice lowered, trying to stop himself from laughing. "The pirates....." He clears his throat. "....forced them all into waste disposal. I'm sealing the external disposal hatch. Ships dumped their.... their dumps before engaging their FTL or when by most gas giants. This should keep them alive."
Esteban shut off his omnitool, standing back up.
"I routed the map of this ship to your HUD. As soon as the Quarian gets in contact with me, I will patch him into the system as well. What should we do next?"
Esteban pulled out his pistol again, holding it at his side. "Should we try clear the cargo hold? Or maybe make our way to the crew quarters?"
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Post by Maelstrom on Jun 4, 2014 2:33:43 GMT -6
Maelstrom was not an infiltrator like Meldom or Iskra, but he received the same basic training for stealth ops that every Alliance soldier had. His time as a Cerberus prisoner taught him more. Rather than staying in a group with Bridges and Lysander, as they inspected the bridge of the ship, he searched the corridors directly adjacent. Close enough to regroup quickly if needed. Far enough to pick off threats before they endangered the man writing his paycheck.
"Should we try clear the cargo hold? Or maybe make our way to the crew quarters?" he heard Bridges say. His helmet compensated for the distortions in his employer's voice due to the denser atmosphere.
Maelstrom was just rounding the corner when he noticed another pirate. The man's back faced him, giving Maelstrom a chance for an easy kill, but his weapon was trained on Lysander. From experience, he knew that, especially given the split-second protection shields could provide, a gunfire would not necessarily down a threat in time to keep him from firing.
The pirate was advancing steadily, though, closing the distance on his prey.
Instead of shooting, Maelstrom called out, at the same time rushing towards the man. The pirate spun on his heels. He was surprisingly quick with his aim, training his weapon on the new target in a heartbeat. He was good.
Maelstrom was better. Just before the pirate pulled the trigger, Maelstrom let his right leg slip out from under himself. His body collapsed to the floor, though it did so with control; he caught himself inches above the ground with both hands, as the trail of shots from the man's assault rifle grew closer and closer to him. In the fall, his right foot had slipped behind the pirate's right ankle, and Maelstrom gave a sharp pull, simultaneously raising into a strange yet practiced crouch, with one hand on the ground, one leg out in front of him, and the weight of his body resting on the other leg. His other arm was guarding his face.
As the pirate fell, two of the shots connected with Maelstrom's shields, significantly depleting them, but, as the man's arms went wide trying to break his fall, the rest went into the bulkhead. Maelstrom lashed out with the arm guarding his face, sending a ranged biotic strike at the underside of the man's chin. The impact drove the pirate back and sent his head slamming into the deck plating with enough force to dent both the floor and the helmet and send sparks flying.
Checking his SMG to be sure it was undamaged, as he rose to his feet, Maelstrom said to the other two men, "Don't know how good that one's armor is. Might not be dead. If not, he will be soon without medical help."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2014 14:00:01 GMT -6
Iskra's eyes narrowed as her arms crossed. She didn't know what was it was with the Quarians that Mr. Bridges had found but they were all fairly good at getting under her skin. Especially since neither of them had any reason to do it to her the first time they met her.
Her cloaking device reactivated and she decided to keep better company with the shadows.
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