• 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.

[Darkness Down Below] Chapter 1.1 - Easy Does It

CadetNewb

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Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
Conference Room


The room was the average fare, with the walls being rather drab and plain with no decorations or even windows. In the middle, there was a set of fold-out plastic tables put up in a U-shape around a main screen, with cheap folding polymer seats behind those that happened to mostly match. A few didn't of course, but that didn't matter. There was at least some drinks in the back, primarily a coffee machine with regular and decaf accompanied doughnuts, pasteries and some juice of unknown origin. It was red juice though, not that it mattered any. They were the new hires, and this job was going to pay well. It was a hazardous work environment after all.

"Ok, everyone, settle down," a woman sighed. As the door slid open, they were greeted by the lazy, one-eyed gaze of a rather bored looking blonde wearing a black eyepatch and a comfy looking tracksuit. "My name's Ylfa Diadottr, and I'm your employer. I know a bunch of you were looking forward to an 'exciting' job with big pay, but we're gonna start off small and work our way up from there," she un-enthusiastically went on. "Naturally, before I cram you all into a ship and send you off to work, we're gonna get to know each other." Glancing through the room, it didn't seem like she could settle on any one person to pick to start with and just shrugged. Another day in the office, it seemed. "Anyone want to introduce themselves? Otherwise, I'm gonna have to start picking you guys off one by one like kinder-gardeners."
 

TheFirstOne

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A Chongwu in the back stood up, looking irritated at having to do this at all. "I'm Cleo, and I'm a doctor," She said, looking around the room at everyone who was there. "I realize I'm a Chongwu. Let's not get the wrong idea. No one on this ship owns me. No one in this galaxy owns me. I am much better at taking people apart than I am putting them back together again, and I know how to do it without anesthetic, while keeping my patient alive and out of shock," She said simply. "Also, I'm the one who has to fix you if you get broken. So just, let's not play that game, okay?" She asked, before looking at Ylfa. "I think that about covers it," She finished, finally sitting back down in her chair.
 

Acewing13

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Up in the front of the room, a brown-haired American finished off his donut and stood up. “Hi, my name is Joshua Bates,” he said after turning around. “Ex-military, spent most of my tours boarding ships and habitats that didn’t want to be boarded, which I’m sure will come in handy in this line of work.” He stood there for a few seconds, trying to think of something meaningful to say, but had to default to the usual ‘three things about you’ response. “Uhh, I’m from Colorado, can play guitar, and like social drinking,” he said, shaking his head at the silliness as he sat down.
 

CadetNewb

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Another blond woman with longer hair, feline ears and a twitching tail stood up.

“My name is Midnight, and I’ll be leading our little forays,” she began. Clad in a tank top and short-shorts, the drab colored flak vest lay on her shoulders with its front open, making it very clear that the Daqinese woman was an 11/10 when it came to her looks. “I know the SSM can be ruthless to pirates, and will likely torture us if we’re caught, tearing out our – “ a cough from Ylfa accompanied by her hand motioning for the woman to hurry it up had ‘Midnight’ stiffen her spine. “Well, I’m pretty good with planning and shooting stuff, and I can hack stuff too, though a dedicated hacker would be better,” the woman explained. “Danke!” She then sat down.

"Shut the fuck up Hilda," Cleo remarked, so totally done with her shit.

“Yeah, Hilda Olander there is your squad leader,” Ylfa explained, the German-turned-Daqinese woman quickly blushing. “Just refer to her by her whole name if you need to reset her, since she thinks its embarrassing and makes her sound like a fat opera singer,” the space pirate pointed out, her underling going beet red as her feline tail thrashed about a few times. “Anyways, you guys are like, I guess tertiary? Sorta like tryouts even though Hilda’s one of my lieutenants. So you don’t gotta wear uniforms,” Ylfa pointed out to them. “Speaking of, I gotta get into mine and do my own shit.” Unzipping her tracksuit, Ylfa emerged to reveal a black bikini and a red captain’s frock coat. Putting on an eyepatch and folding out a matching tricorn, she waved at them all as she strode out. “Later.”

Hilda gulped. “S-so, any questions?” she tentatively asked, hesitantly smiling.
 
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TheFirstOne

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Cleo raised a hand. "Yeah I've got a question," She said, standing up, not really waiting for Hilda to call on her. "So, you're setting up this team of pirates, why the fuck did you make the one fucking member who fantasizes about being gang raped by farm animals our leader?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I mean, don't you think that kind of stupidity may lead her to make some really dumb decisions?"
 

Acewing13

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Joshua was glad he wasn’t in an anime, since he would have bled out from the nose when Ylfa got into her ‘uniform’. He did feel much more validated in picking up the contract, which was nice after Hilda brought up several reasons to not be a pirate of Russian ships.

“I’m assuming she’s in charge because Ylfa trusts her to not royally screw up,” he said with a shrug. “Could be wrong, I guess. Just have to wait and see when the mission starts. Speaking of which, what exactly are we doing?”
 

CadetNewb

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Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
Conference Room


Hearing herself be called at, Ylfa stopped at the doorway and looked back in at Cleo. "Because she somehow mostly doesn't get her way, hasn't died yet despite I don't know how many time I've sent her out, and because this is sorta a test anyways," the self appointed Space Pirate Queen replied.

"I-I do not think about farm animals that way!" the person 'known' as 'Midnight' piped up, indigant at the offense. "The farmhands though..." she then quietly muttered to herself.

"Look, I don't wanna beat around the bush, but even though your mom and I got a good working relationship, I still gotta figure what you're made out of and so forth," Ylfa explained. "Hilda - I mean Midnight - is a really powerful asset and a good boss. IF. You can keep her habits in check. That's part of the test," she maliciously grinned at them. "Fail to do that, and she'll be going on and on about how you were all bad-ended and how it should have been her instead. So, good luck!" the space pirate waved goodby. At that, Hilda cleared her throat.

"A-anyways!" the woman who called herself 'Midnight' began. "We're going to storm and raid a small Soyuz ship! A tiny, personal vessel that should have something really good in it! Any questions?" Nevermind that she just told them moments ago how brutally they would be tortured by the Soyuz if caught.
 

TheFirstOne

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Cleo stared at Ylfa, her face scrunching up in confusion as she left. She sat down with a huff, crossing her arms. "Great. Our leader is a humility masochist I'm going to have to babysit," She grumbled, turning her gaze to Joshua. "Watch yourself around this one. She will beg you to have your way with her, and if you do, she will blast to the entire galaxy you're a brute who violated her innocent body," She said, looking at Hilda. "Sometimes I think she just gets off on ruining the lives of her sexual partners," She added, before smiling.

"So, Ms Olander, what is it we are to do to get mishandled by the farmhands today?" Cleo asked in a sickly sweet voice. Too sweet to be sincere.
 

Acewing13

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"Ahh, so you two know each other," Joshua said, getting up from his seat and going in the back to get another donut. "Hmm, a personal vessel, huh? Those are pretty expensive, so do we know what kind of defenses it has? Are we talking literally one person in the ship or are there more people?" Sugary confection in hand, he picked a new seat between the two ladies and asked, "By the way, is farmhands a pirate term for Russians? It kinda works, but then I'm wondering what Americans are called."
 

CadetNewb

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"Ah, whaah, buh!" the cat eared blonde sputtered, her face growing beet red at the sheer flood of various accusations and questions being thrown at her. "I-I do not! And it's not my fault I look like this! It's the uniform!" she tried to counter, gesturing at herself. Looking at 'Midnight' from head to toe though, she would have made a good point given the skimpy nature of her clothing and ample curves, but what Cleo had said shot that argument dead before it had even arrived. "That - that aside!" the 2nd Class Daqin tried to begin, changing the subject. "We're supposed to just intercept a small cargo ship with maybe one or two crew members. You see, we got word that the Empire is taking an interest in whatever is being shipped out on it. Enough they're trying to be sneaky, so that means we should be interested too!" Gesturing towards the wall, the projector turned on and showed just another rustbucket of a hauler with the word "Осел" on its side.

"All we gotta do is spoof some comms and sensor pings so we look like we're inspectors, and bam! We're in!" Midnight regained some of her steam. "After that, we just get the big grey box. Sound good?"
 

TheFirstOne

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Cleo watched Hilda squirm with a mix of sadistic amusement, but disgust at the idea she was just enjoying the torment. That just made it no fun. She got what she could when she could get it though, losing interest in what Hilda was talking about and turning to Joshua with a dismissive wave. "American Union?" She asked, crossing her arms then shrugging. "I mean, a lot of things. Idiots, morons, canon fodder, uneducated, cattle, people who believe the earth is less than 7000 years old, excessive, waste of space, over compensating for their nationally tiny penis with a disgustingly large and cumbersome military... I could go on," She smiled, cocking her hips to the side.
 

Acewing13

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"Oh, so the Daqin government is involved?" Joshua asked with a facepalm. "Of course it is. Why did I sign up for this?"

He chuckled at Cleo's ribbing and said, as he lowered his hand to his side, "Let's go with idiots, especially since I'm pretty sure this is a really bad idea, but I'm sticking to it anyway." After taking a bite of his new donut, he asked, "Alright, so who's going to be selling the fact that we're inspectors? I'm essentially an overly talented grunt, so I can always just stand and look intimidating if needed, but that won't work if we can't get to the ship in the first place."
 

CadetNewb

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"Um, because the payout is actually pretty good?" Hilda Midnight suggested to Joshua. "If it weren't for the fact that the other women had some sort of crippling gambling or drug addiction or something else that sucks up all their money, I'm pretty sure most of Ylfa's crew wouldn't be still doing this," she pointed out to them all. "Though, I think some of them like taking booty," the blonde began to muse. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Hilda Midnight tried to stay focused and on topic. "If push comes to shove, I'm sure we can easily subdue to the crew anyways," she shrugged, not too enthused with the idea. "I just need to hide my tail and ears, and Cleo can pose as the sniffer dog since the nearby station governor is a weeb," she suggested. "Joshua can totally pose as the muscle, and maybe only say 'Da' or 'Nyet' whenever someone says something, even though the auto-translator earbud will do the work," Hilda suggested. "Even if they try and run away, their options are pretty shitty, so we'll be able to intercept before help arrives because our craft is still faster!" All in all, it wasn't too bad a plan.

"What could go wrong?" she asked.

Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
10 Minutes from скучный Station


"I can't believe it..." Midnight frowned, her feline ears drooping. "This mission has gone right out of the window," the woman lamented, her face buried in her hands. "That cargo mule....he didn't pay his bribes, and now they're detaining him on the station!" Looking over to the others, she cried out, "What are we going to do?!" the Daqinese woman began. "It's not like we can get on board, make a few bribes of our own, and pretend to be inspectors still!"
 

Acewing13

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"This is what you get for asking what could go wrong," Joshua said, adjusting the collar of 'his' uniform. "I mean, can't we still try and muscle our way onto the ship? Say we're part of the team 'investigating' the ship and see how much the mule's patrons would put up to free him?"
 

TheFirstOne

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Cleo had spent the last minute hitting her forehead with the heel of her hand, over and over again while Hilda whined about the failure of her plan. "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..." She muttered to herself as she took a breath. Then Joshua spoke, and while his idea initially sounded really dumb and simple minded at first, she realized it's utility quickly. "The Amercian might actually have a point," She said, leaning over the consol. "That's a Daqin shipment, but the Daqin rarely put their best soldiers on guard duty. They're too confident in their cyber security, and putting special forces as guards would be asking for trouble," She said simply, crossing her arms. "I was built as a soldier, so I know a fair bit of terminology, I could intimidate the guards into letting me through..."
 

CadetNewb

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Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
10 Minutes from скучный Station


For the briefest moment, Midnight considered their suggestions, but shook her head.

"No, no, the cargo is for the Daqin, but the station, the personnel, the guards are all Soyuz," she pointed out. "We can't just pretend to be Daqin. Though, I guess we can repurpose our credential spoofs to get onto the station, pose as Soyuz personnel, say we're inspectors...or maybe say we wanna get in on hazing the guy that isn't paying the bribe!" the blonde haired Tigress began, putting the pieces together. "Originally, it was only supposed to let us get onto the cargo vessel. But if we slip in some bribes if they give us lip, we'll be fine!" she realized. But then, her eyes settled on Cleo, and then slid down. Down, just enough, right to where Cleo had seen so many men's gazees go. "B-but then ,if they lay eyes on us, they might ask for more," the corner of Midnight's lips quivered at the thought. "Though, after that bit of abuse, they'll surely let us harass this person that didn't pay up. We can snatch the thing then!" she eagerly realized. "Say we're confiscating it for some stupid reason or another!" Perking up, Midnight ran off, bouncing all the way to her room and back. "And you can wear this! Pretend you're a bomb dog, and Joshua would be your handler!" Midnight realized, leash, collar and muzzle in hand. "I - I can't do this in your place though," she realized. "But I'll be sure to take the brunt of the bribes!" the blonde catgirl resolved to protect the other woman.

"We can do this! Are you both with me?"
 
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TheFirstOne

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Cleo stared at Hilda, slack jawed but eyes burning with rage. Her hand rested on her side arm, and Joshua could see her grip the handle tightly as if she were fighting an internal conflict of "To blow her brains out, or not to blow her brains out." She closed her mouth, taking a deep breath through her nose, and letting it out, trying very hard to manage her anger. "Are you telling me..." She said, glaring at Hilda. "You want me to put on fetish gear, so that I can pretend to be this idiots pet and we can..." She stopped her throat tightening up as her rage started to build up. "I am not a pet..." She finally sneered.
 

Acewing13

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Joshua almost groaned when he saw the muzzle and heard Hilda's plan. Being smart enough to know when to shut up, he let Cleo explain why that was a bad idea before clearing his throat. "Yeah, let's not do that," he said, taking the offending equipment out of Hilda's hands and putting it on the deck. "Let's try more intimidation and have 'bribes' as a backup. You can play good cop, Midnight, me and Cleo can be bad cops."

Looking over to the Chongwu, he smirked and said, "Unless you've got a better plan than the idiot, of course."
 

CadetNewb

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Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
10 Minutes from скучный Station


"B-but we know you're not a pet!" Midnight stammered nervously. "It's just a trick, that's all it is!" Hearing Joshua's suggestion though, the feline eared blonde sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Ok, but it might not sell the lie as much. We can dock using the credentials and say we wanna mess with the idiot that didn't pay their bribe too," she suggested, picking up the collar, leash and muzzle. The woman began to put them away as she continued to talk. "Still, Chongwu are really rare out here," Midnight began, rummaging around out of sight again. When she re-emerged, she came out with several sets of uniforms. "They usually shun the idea of buying any, and aren't the most welcoming for free ones. Only the rich get them for show here since they're a rather conservative, insular people," Midnight explained, donning an Ushanka. "Are you going to pretend to be the bomb sniffer? You're still so out of place that if I just say we have a bomb-dog on approach, they won't bat an eyelash until they actually see you. Then do a spit take," she went on, tucking her ears under the ear flaps of her hat and stuffing away her tail. "But if I say you're a Chongwu ahead of time, they'll probably crowd around to get a look at you." She thought about that for another moment.

"All those eyes, mentally undressing you as they go up and down the entirety of your body...."

"Also, you sure you don't want to take the lead Joshua?" Hilda asked without missing a beat. "They respond well to brotherly machismo. I think."
 

TheFirstOne

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"How about this," Cleo said, looking at the uniforms. "You just say I'm security, and if any of those meatheads think I'm not capable of performing security, then I can kick the snot outta them," She said, taking one of the uniforms. "I mean, sure, the Ruskies don't like Chongwu, but We've got a Daqin, an American, and me. We are going to draw attention anyway, especially given someone in our party is a total whore for guys oggling them," She said, looking at Hilda pointedly.
 
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