• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Chapter 2: Gathering

The bartender glared at Sovanna, patting a bulge at the side of her thigh. "No. Shooting." She admonished in a heavier tone as she placed the bloody Mary in front of Cindy and the cocktail in front of Marius.

"Alex will do." Clyborne sighed, leaning into his chair, throwing his feet up onto the table and held his glass up sideways from his face, the liquid falling into his mouth vertically and horizontally with bullseye accuracy. "Lass," He repeated to Sovanna, "Really, there's being a hot head who's hot, then there's being completely not datable."

"To answer your question, Skolos, it depends. The drones are what we're after, but being able to keep its security carrier in one piece is a bonus. There's a couple of problems. First, our ship, the Audentes. It's not armed. Well, kinda. The higher ups gave us an old coilgun to work with, but it still needs to be welded on." Alex smirked while looking up, seemingly unbothered by the fact.

"Second, their ship. It's got a laser that zaps away at micro meteors but also doubles as self defense that can kill sensors and pierce hull if they really try. They've also got a security force on board; adding all the crew up it's a dozen people."
 
Sovanna tentatively holsters her pistol, after the direct order from her captain. “What’s the gravity like on the meteor? If it’s low enough, we could simply suit up, and then use the Audentes as a drop ship, land on the opposite side of the meteor, and catch them completely unaware.” Sovanna uses her hands to display her plan to the crew, and when finished, introspects a little. “What does my Datability have to do with the mission at hand?”
 
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The Second Class Daqin looked around at the crew that was gathered. A robot, some officer, a slave, a hacker, and a normal human who thinks highly of himself. Skolos did the math and decided that he and the robot were the only ones who would be any good in the fight.
"I agree, the robot and I could easily take out a dozen blokes if we take em by surprise."
 
She chugged the entire bloody mary in one drink and coughed.
"That is a good idea. But the thing is, does the whole meteor have security because that will pose some issues." They said while wiping their mouth with napkins.
 
The machine still stood stock still, only it's head moving about as it took in the sight of this odd crew. It had to be said that any crew of outlaws was bound to be somewhat varied, as one would be hard pressed to find such variations anywhere official. They were about order, making everything the same and dividing everything into neat sections. Crews like this seldom had much in common but their vices, be it pride, greed, or hatred. KB-231 was willing to bet that for some here, it was a mix of many things beyond even what he anticipated.

"Avoiding the laser won't be too hard if they don't expect us. Boarding will be harder, but if we can enter their systems they'll lose that advantage. What do you have, Clyborne? Your ship, what model? Or instead, how far can we bastardize this ship to make it ready for boarding actions?"
 
Marius looks very grateful indeed as Alex and the bartender come to his rescue. He lowers his hands from a position of surrender slowly and takes a sip of his cocktail, listening.

“So wait, the proposal is to get off of the Audentes and run around to take the other ship by surprise in the hopes that it’ll be both landed on the meteor, the crew will be off of it so you can shoot them or you’ll be able to open the door, and that they won’t have the wherewithal to blast you into red chunks with the mining laser as soon as you show up--I mean I won’t say it’s a bad idea because the best one I can come up with is to pretend to be in distress nearby so they’ll come and help and we can board them--but it’s certainly daring.”

"Also I want to preface with the statement that maybe, and I know this may be a novel idea to some," He looks pointedly to Sovanna "We don't kill them. If at all possible. I mean, if they're alive we could ransom them off. Could get us a better ship that has an actual gun on it."
 
She thought about it, the plan they had was Very brave. And can get them killed from a single slip up but she had another plan that could work, maybe.
"We could, you know, pretend we're working there so we can just enter into the meteor, take their ship and do our thing." She suggested.
 
“I agree with the little man,” Sovanna says, meaning Marius,”If we were able to take some alive, we could interrogate them. Our employer will likely thank us for the additional information, and our ship will be feared throughout space, a very effective tactic. However, I don’t believe you understand what we are capable of. I have enough training boarding a ship in every possible condition to carry the rest of you on my pinky finger - if we can get to that ship, I can get us in there, and we will take the ship, that is not a maybe, that is a fact. The Audentes is not armed with weapons capable of sustained combat, so its best use is as either an ambush vehicle, which still leaves us vulnerable to a sufficient enough reaction time, or as a drop ship, where its one weapon could be used as a defense mechanism should we be seen, and if we play our cards right, we shouldnt. Next, because I am under the impression that some here lack faith in my abilities as a soldier, I put forth this question; when was your first time holding a gun? Mine was at 5 years old, because that’s the day my kindergarten class was brought to basic training, like most kindergartens were in Shen Zhou. I spent 13 years of my life training to do exactly what pirates do - board ships, shoot people, and don’t ask questions, and I spent another 3 getting field training for it. I can stand disagreements on issues of tactics, ideals, or even what to serve for dinner, but I will not take questions of my capabilities lightly.”
 
"Uh oh, scary. Please don't make me do 20 push-ups, Officer."
Skolos smiled at his own joke.
"I think boarding would be the best tactic, though. That laser won't do them any good if we're inside their ship, but it will do us good if we can steal it."
 
James swapped his seat at the table for a bar stool. "Well I'm not one for shooting people but I can be one hell of a deamon when it comes to making sure others aren't seen while doing it." James offered as he returned the sensors to normal opperation as to not draw more attention than the small blip in recording data would. Pulling his virtual fingers out of the security system he waved to the bartender. "Vodka for me please."
 
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"You guys are milking this way too hard." Alex chuckled at James' request for Vodka, as the bartender brought it over. He brought his feet off the table and leaned forward, his face darkening. "There will be no survivors. No one is to know of our operations." He commanded in a solemn tone.

Alex then relaxed slightly. "Seems like we're converging on a plan. Skolos, Sovanna, and KB will be our boarding party. Cindy, Marius and James will help me work the ship. Before then, not only will we have to get the coilgun up and running, but we'll also have to modify the comm system so it's strong enough to jam the security carrier, and to push through a data package." He nodded to James. "I've been provided the ship's software structure. Do you think you'll be able to come up with a way to scramble their controls within a week?"
 
"Survivors have their uses. If you say there will be no survivors, I will make sure of it." In many respects survivors were good at spreading fear of your operations, something KB-231 was an expert in. However there were other cases when witnesses would only be a burden. This would be one of those times it would seem. "I can work on the coilgun with any assistance deemed necessary. It's a hobby I've turned into something more."

This would be an odd bunch of crewmates, that's for sure. He turned to the soldier woman, intent on banter, though he wasn't good at it. "I had been conscious for 2 months when I picked up a gun. You could say I've been doing this longer than you. I do agree, of course, some of the crewmates aren't seemingly very useful. I'm sure they'll prove themselves in time, or die. Such is the universe."
 
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Skolos's ears twitched when he heard Alex say 'no survivors'. He only killed if it was needed but wouldn't hesitate to get the job done. Hearing the Captain say that he would be on the boarding team made him happy. Not only was he itching to get back in the field, he was also comforted by the robot and Sovanna going with him. From what he had gathered he figured they would be good sidekicks.

"Oi, you too." He motioned to KB and Sovanna. "Since we're the boarding team we need a plan of attack. Literally."
 
"Little man?--I have a name." He finishes his drink and signals for another, cringing at Alex's no-survivors decree and mumbling quietly, "Can't we just like, take them ransom then wipe their memories? Is that a thing?...That's probably not a thing." He picks up his datapad on instinct as if looking for something to occupy his attention aside from the prospect of being an accessory to the murder of a dozen innocent miners, realizes it doesn't have twitter, and listens to KB instead, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
 
They shift uncomfortably in their seat when the robot begins to speak. When it said there would be no survivors, they were shocked. The idea of causing death to others was what they were not used to but if it earned them money to live, then it was worth it? Besides, people die daily from different stuff so it was fine...
But when the captain said they were going to scramble their screen, she forgot everything about death beaming laser that would be their doom
"Yeah! We can figure something out. I know a way to scramble their screen. theres always a way, you picked a right person for this job." she smirked.
 
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"Oh come now sour puss milking the situation for all it's worth makes life worth living." James said while he poured himself a shot of the clear liquid. "Though what your asking for is some cyber wizardry." He slowly swirled the glass as he thought and listened a bit to the others which brought a small smile to his face. "Though getting into the code shouldn't be an issue. Assuming the techs are as lazy as they usualy are." He put some exageration on the assumption being made before he downed the shot and smiled. "Mmm Good stuff."
 
"I didn't come here to bloody my hand, my guy." They hit their fist on the table with their smile, glaring at relaxed james. But immediately turned to the captain.
"Anyways, got this chip that can make any screen have a code similar to pixel block game, its gonna screw their screen for sure." She took out a chip from her pocket, it was painted with images of pixel block. "Brought it just in case." They slid the chip in front of her companions.
 
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Alex picked up the chip and took a look at it, then slid it over to James. "Thanks Cindy. James, see if you can put this into a package." He then stood up and stretched, content. "Looks like we have everything settled." He remarked, grinning to his new crew. It looked to be a second chance for him to go back to his old life, and a new chance to take vengeance upon those who wronged him. "Welcome to the Audentes, people. May the fortunes favor us all."
 
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