• 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

Gerasim's small eyes traced the crew as they went into the hatch one after the other. He put both his hands behind his back and rubbed them both together, the rubber-like skin of one hand always off-putting but also fascinating for him. The last one walked right past him, and he kept a good look at the canine-like Chongwu. "Having a hard time not looking when it's already poorly cowered. Excuse me." He says with a wink upon which follows a wry grin.

Her struggle with the ladder he watches until her tail tip disappears behind the cold metal. He stands there and goes to hark for them, hearing their muffled voices from up. 'And now that the kids are out, let's see what this is all about.' He thinks to himself, and his wry grin turns into a reserved smile.

Gerasim turns around and marches with a quick step and a silence unbecoming of his size to the cabinet. 'Right, there's no way Ivan has this bar to drink alone. He's a pure community drinker. Unlike me.'

Reaching into it, he pushes most bottles to the side, all of them lining up neatly to the side. His eyes lose focus for a bit as he glances at the bottle of Italian wine. The bottle he finds suddenly in his hand, but he stops himself from opening it just about. He sighs, puts it to his mouth, and gives it a light kiss before putting it on top of the cabinet. A caressing hand sensually runs along upon it until finally, the bottle is in peace.

Gerasim lowers his head back and gets back to searching the cabinet, pushing every irregularity, trying to find a hidden switch or anything, throwing a glance backward every two seconds, and always listening for any incoming noise. 'Hey, that's a real small compartment for its si-' He thinks, and his face falters for a second upon the realization. Annoyed at himself for not noticing that trick earlier, he roughly pushes back the 'back' of the compartment, revealing the now un-hidden compartment. He reaches inside with both his fuzzy hands, a tingling sensation coming over his hands the closer he gets, almost leading him towards it like a detector, then outright his fingers start to buzz as he touches it. 'What the hell.' Gently, he pulls it out, his eyebrows furrow.
 
Last edited:
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
SS голубь

Joshua stepped to the side and let the ladies go up first, though he diverted his eyes when Hilda exposed herself. “Yeah, how about the ladies check out the cockpit and we’ll go over everything again, make sure we didn’t miss anything,” he said, waving off the Daqin’s invitation. His gaze did follow Cleo up the ladder but was followed by rolling his eyes at Gerasim’s comment.

Looking around the cabin again, he started rooting through the various lockers, seeing if they’d overlooked something. While throwing a handful of shrimp cocktail, he paused when he heard a low buzz and turned to look at the Russian’s back. “What’s that noise?” he asked.
 
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
SS голубь

"Good thinking!" Midnight replied to Cleo. Clambering into the seat next to her and 'sitting' down in it, she nestled herself in, the sensation of laying on her back briefly disorientating against the appearance of the cockpit. Rather than 'down', the pull of gravity was 'back', given the orientation of the seat relative to the rest of the ship. Tapping the console as the Chongwu began her copy/paste, the Human-turned-Daqinese woman looked over things herself too. "You seeing this Cleo? There's the logs, but it looks like this guy tried deleting and editing them. It wasn't scrubbed though, so it's technically still there, just not in the user display and waiting to be deleted later," she realized.

As Midnight said this though, light filtered into the hidden compartment as it opened, and Gerasim's eyes could have sworn they had seen the faintest luminous glow before the interior lights turned on. Before he knew it, his hand was already inside, fingers wrapped around the grip of something he could only describe as clean, refined and pure. The simple touch of it made his hand tingle faintly, but as his eyes settled onto it proper though, he couldn't help but get the impression of loss. That things were once much better in times long gone. This simple yet elegant sword - it could make things right again, couldn't it?

Joshua's words pulled Gerasim's attention away.

"I thought he's rummaging around the alcohol down there?" the blond replied to Joshua, looking over the shoulder of her seat and down the hatch. "I understand if that funky milk drink isn't strong enough, but please be sober while we're on the job!" she reminded the barrel-chested man. From where Midnight was, she couldn't see much, but both of her feline ears stood up tall with her tail in surprise. "Oh, that sounded nice! Can you touch those glasses against eachother again?" the blonde asked, having felt the same pleasant shiver that Cleo had to have.

Having accidentally tappped the flat of its blade against the inside of the compartment, the small, faint peal it made sang of purity while the egg sized ruby in its pommel almost seemed to glow.
 
Henri whistles a simple melody to himself as he walks casually through the station's halls to the small docked ship that had caught his interest. Checking the pocket watch in his suit vest, he notes that he's running a little later than anticipated. Getting past those bumbling guards took too long... You're slipping Lenue. He grimaces to himself. He picks up the pace, making his way towards the docked ship at a light jog, intent on getting there before Soyuz investigators arrive to pilfer any valuables onboard for themselves. He's careful to avert his face from any recording devices he passes and turn away from station personnel if he can't avoid them so that they wouldn't be able to recognize him later.

Seeing the docked ship up ahead, he slows to a walk. He takes a moment to compose himself and catch his breath as he approaches the entrance to the ship. Henri switches to whistling a cheery tune as he opens the door to the ship and steps inside, taking care to close it behind him. As he turns from the door, he is confronted with several people already on board the ship, presumably here for the same reason he is. Henri freezes and ceases whistling, then he stammers in his French accent "Oh eh... pardonne-moi... I must have made a wrong turn somewhere, I did not intend to disturb you gentlemen." Henri eyes the bigger man as he edges his way back towards the door.
 
Gerasim stared in bafflement at the sword in his left hand. 'Didn't expect that.' He thought, rubbing his fingers together anxiously as his mind processed this new information, 'A stone, a statue, maybe a tablet. That's what I'm thinking when I'm thinking of relics'. He stared at the sword and retreated into his head as this sense of melancholy swept over him like the dense, moist air when you enter the room of your younger brother after he had shut himself in for two hours.

He snapped out of a trance he didn't realize he was in, turning his head towards Joshua, his eyes wide open. He opened his mouth in a quick reply but collected himself during an awkward silence.

'Whoa.' He thought, looking straight forward and not at the sword. 'That must be magic, yeah.'

He rubbed his thumb on the handle of the sword, imagining a feeling of tiny daggers piercing his skin. 'Alright.' He thought, 'Even with this weird mind effect, this thing doesn't seem too dangerous, despite its main usage. So, further, investigating this group with it in their hands won't be too much trouble for the time being. The smuggler, though, will be interned as soon as we leave.' He made a note to contact the local Deep Space site as soon as possible with his encrypted ISTM in his cabin. 'This guy won't leave the station on this ship.', he thought with a burning sense of justice spreading from his chest.

'Alright, I've been standing here for like two minutes, time to turn around as not to make this too weird and suspicious.'

"Oh, this?" Gerasim said, turned around, and presented the sword in one hand. He turned it about in his palm, looking at it as if he is appraising with a quizzical expression, his lips tightly shut, and his eyebrows raised in contemplation. That he did only for about three seconds before turning away, not wanting to sink back into the induced melancholy, then as he Hears Midnight from above, his lips curl up into a smile, and he quickly taps a glass of Heavenly Gin. "I think we found our relic, comrades." He says, grinning a played winning smile toward Joshua.

Which quickly falters as he hears the door from down bellow open and close, with a whistling tune flying inside with it. He intently and with a strange calmness listens to the footsteps as they (probably) walk to the ladder and climb right up to it—Tlank, tlank, tlank.

He stares at the head that pops up from the hatch, followed by its body. He stares him down as he finally notices them and listens to him intently as he promptly starts to ramble, looking him up and down. This guy isn't from this station, Gerasim realizes. This guy doesn't even speak Russian.

'Who the fuck is this guy?' He thought.

"Who are you?" He says more carefully, and calmly. He glanced at Joshua, "Is he one of your guys?"
 
Last edited:
Cleo sighed as she listened to Hilda speak. "I'm aware Hilda," She said, continuing her work. "Our little ship captain has been a naughty boy. I think we are going to have to teach him that gentlemen don't indulge in these kinds of acts, like a good christian household," She smirked, noticing the light. She narrowed her eyes a little. "Is everything alright down there? What was that light?!" She barked authoritatively in russian, sitting in the chair for a moment waiting for a response. It never came. "What the fuch are hose two idiots doing?!" She asked, getting out of the chair and poking her head down through the hatch so she could see what they were up too.

She looked down just in time to hear Gerasim as Joshua if this third random was theirs. She looked him over and came up with the short answer. No. "Don't let him escape!" She snapped, dropping down with a necessary but gratuitous somersault, and the man bolted as soon as he realized these people wee not likely to let him escape easily. He got a somewhat decent head start, but you don't run away from dogs. You merely prolong the inevitable. Joshua and Gerasim could see her eyes go weird just as she in turn sprinted away. The difference being if they were cars, he was a civic and she was an Aventador.

She used walls and other cargo crates to keep herself on track and to avoid him slipping her, but one thing was for sure, she was faster than your average Chongwu by a significant margin. Henri could even recognize the growl she was making, only hers was much bigger and deeper, given she was much bigger than a regular dog. She closed the distance, jumping and tackling him to the ground. She could have stopped there, but she still had that weird look in her eye and without much fanfair, she sunk her teeth in his forearm jerking it back and forth her her head, growling all the while. Henri could tell she could break his arm, but she merely broke the skin as she growled with the crazed look in her eye.
 
"Merde!" Henri shouted as the canine woman brought him to the ground and sunk her teeth into his forearm, the pain excruciating. He grunted from the exertion as he struggled trying to shove her off of him with his foot. He almost paused for a moment, a sick realization making itself known in the back of his mind. Someone actually caught me. He continued shouting before he could compose himself. "Garce!" He took a deep breath as he struggled for breathing room underneath the woman, extremely aware of the blood running down his arm.

"Excusez-moi, mademoiselle." Henri grunted from under her, hoping that plan B would work and that plan C would not be necessary. "Mon cher, do you always bite men you have only just met? You must have terrible trouble making friends. Perhaps we can be friends, non?" He slowly and quietly slipped his free arm into his suit jacket and stopped struggling, hoping it would get the canine woman to calm down and release his arm.

"If you wanted to make my acquaintance, you needed only introduce yourself and ask my name." He followed this with a chuckle. "And if you wanted to be so close to me, I would never have refused such a beautiful woman, I assure you. Although I am on the fence about the biting." Henri spoke in a calm and friendly tone, hoping to relax the canine woman, and keep her focused on his words.
 
Discipline and training kick in as Gerasim hears the order and immediately processes it, charging toward the Frenchie only to be quickly bypassed by the quick Chongwu, leaving him with a slight frown in the dust. He tries to keep up, barging out into the bay and following the pair, dodging tumbling crates that fall over in the frenzied chase. He all the while has a hard time keeping up, his mass making him many times slower for such sprints.

Abruptly, Gerasim slowly comes to a halt as he watches Cleo jump the Frenchie and pin him down to the ground. 'Like a human, Red Star Kennel dog.' is the first thing that comes to mind as he watches her rip at this guy's arm while he cries out. 'What a sight.' His mind is in top-alert as he goes through the motions.

"Stay down, arms where I can see them!' He shouts in heavily accented English and stomps over and gets down on him, landing his knee on his belly. He throws the sword to the side and with trained precision, he moves his hand to push down the arm that is still getting mauled, ripping it straight from Cleo's teeth, pushing it down to his chest. With a quick movement, he forcibly pushes the elbow to his right side and then rolls him straight onto his belly, mashing him all the while with the knee like a potato, indirectly showing Cleo off of him. He throws a glance over his shoulder at her. "Good job, 'Inspector.' Get the station security here." He says in Russian. "Station Phone has to be nearby."
 
Last edited:
Cleo had half a mind to snap the man's legs at the knee of her kept trying to kick her. Still, she was keeping attention to him and was about to do something about the wandering hand when Gerasim rushed over and pulled her off. She wiped her muzzle, spitting out some blood. "No need to be so rough," she growled. "You could have ripped some of my teeth out!" She added before kicking Henri out of frustration. "Implying I even want to be your friend," she added.

Then Gerasim told her to call station security. "Are you serious? We're not letting him go," Cleo said, drawing her pistol. "We can't leave witnesses. Who knows what he saw you two doing," she growled. "Let's take him back to the ship, maybe use him as a message to remind the pilot to pay his bribes and not make our jobs harder," she said, barring her teeth. "And take his weapon. I can smell the gunpowder. It's cheap." She finished, keeping her pistol trained.
 
OOF! Henri grunted as Cleo's foot connected with his stomach, forcing all the air from his lungs. "No need to be so rough." He gasped breathlessly.

He laid there with the large russian man on top of him, gasping and choking for a few moments. "It is always good to make new friends, mon cher." He choked out as he was catching is breath.

"I am sure we can work this out, this is certainly all just a big misunderstanding. I assure you, I have no interest in acting as a witness against you, nor telling anyone what I have seen here. I would only be incriminating myself anyway. If you would be so kind as to release me, I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement."
 
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
SS голубь

Joshua blinked at the sword and looked at it quizzically. What the fuck? he thought. The Empire is after a particularly shiny sword? Weird, but okay I guess. Looking up at the Russian he shrugged and returned the smile. Guess this is where we learn if Gerasim is to be trusted. Need to keep an eye on him, regardless.

His thoughts were interrupted when a random Frenchman entered the ship and tried to back out. “Not one of mine, comrade,” he said, putting a hand on his pistol. Cleo preempted his reaction by running after the newcomer like he was a juicy steak.

Joshua moved to follow his furry collegeage, but hesitated when Gerasim ran after the escapee. Two people should be able to take care of the Frenchie, right? Someone’s gotta make sure Hilda doesn’t do something stupid, right? he thought, relaxing as he looked at Midnight and shrugged. Besides, could spend the next few minutes and look at the…where’s the sword? He looked around the room and groaned. “Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he said, pulling out his own pistol as he ran after the rest of the group.

Thankfully, they hadn’t gotten too far, and the American caught the last few quips before he got up to the group. “No need to call security, Inspector,” he said, holstering his gun and putting a hand on Gerasim’s shoulder. “Let’s get this man back to the shuttle, so we can have this discussion in private, da? Especially,” he continued, looking down at the sword that was on the floor, “since you brought something with you that you shouldn’t have.”
 
Last edited:
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
SS голубь -> Docks -> SS голубь

"Oh no," Hilda Olander began. "Oh, no-nonono!" she went as realization as to what was happening dawned on her. As Cleo did her best tooth and furred heat seeking missile impression, the woman who fancied herself as "Midnight" hurried about with the computer system and grabbed what she could. By the time she had clambered down the ladder, it was already over. Running out the airlock after them, she entered the station. "Yes, let's all get back in the ship," Midnight began in Russian, catching up to them all. Looking up from where he was at, Henri would see a buxom blonde with long, golden hair looking down on him from above. Clad in a military jumpsuit like the rest, she held up Cleo's thumbdrive. "I got most of the important stuff," she explained, unzipping the top long enough to vanish it away in her cleavage. "But even so, we're making a scene!" the blonde gestured past them all. True to her word, many of the passengers disembarking or embarking ships were glancing over suspiciously as dock workers went to and fro, looking them over as they passed by. "They're all staring with a deep, piercing intent behind those eyes!" she warned them all.

Though the passing men gave wolfish grins, a mother quickly shielded the eyes of her child before dragging them away.

"Come on, back in! Now!" Midnight beckoned after them, feline ears and tail held high as she kept the airlock to the ship open. "And get that sword!" she pointed.
 
Gerasim stares with a blank expression at Cleo. 'A message for what exactly? Ivan probably has no idea what he got himself into and this guy neither.' He thought and pulled both arms behind the french man's back, keeping an iron grip on both wrists with only one hand.

The other vanishes under the right side of the French guy's jacket, grasping for the pistol that Cleo mentioned. As Gerasim touches its cold frame, he pulls it out and unloads the magazine, makes sure the safety is on, and puts it under his leather belt. The magazine is quickly scooped up and vanishes into a pant pocket.

He looks back as the whole entourage of their little crew arrives, feeling Joshua's hand on his shoulder, not a second after spotting them.

"No need to call security, Inspector," Joshua said, holstering his gun. "Let's get this man back to the shuttle so that we can have this discussion in private, da?" He continued, looking down at the sword that was on the floor, "Especially since you brought something with you that you shouldn't have."

Gerasim squinted at the American, then down at the sword, then at Midnight, which for a moment he thought would start undressing. He looked at the people of the station coming and going and looked back at Joshua with a neutral face. "They have no idea." 'Though, this is five years of undercover work down the drains. How sloppy of me.' Gerasim gives Joshua a nod and gets up, pulling Henri to his feet with him, still only with one hand. He drags him over to the sword, picks it up with one hand, and marches toward the ship.

"Эй! Fayruz, good morning, everyone! Don't mind us, just helping our Gospodin Inspectors here take down this foreigner." He calls out calmly, waving to most of the people he knows.

As he passes Cleo, he whispers over to her: "Are you sure we should kidnap this guy? I am a hundred percent sure this will lead to an investigation and unwanted attention." He could only imagine that any actual inspectors would have a field day here.
 
Cleo looks at Gerasim with a side eyed look, scoffing at the mans comment. She was dressed as a fucking police officer. A really brutal one if the other police officers reaction to her meant anything. "Yeah, put your panties back in your pants," She said, stepping towards the crowd. She narrowed her eyes. "Official business! Keep moving!" She barked in Russian, snapping her jaws threateningly. She then looked at the rest of the group. "Grow a fucking spine for christ sake!" She said, holstering her pistol, bending down, and very roughly picking up Henri. "As for you. If you want to live longer than the next minute or two, keep your mouth shut and start walking," She growled, pushing him to start walking.
 
Joshua sighed, feeling a mixture of relief and annoyance as everyone else started back to the shuttle. One problem solved, twenty more to go, he thought, looking around at the civilians. “This is Investigative Committee business,” he said, taking a moment to survey the crowd, “Move along.” Turning on his heel, he started walking back to the shuttle. Here’s hoping bringing up that bogeyman gets them to shut up.

Once back at the голубь, the American pulled out a chair. “Set him down, Cleo, if you don't mind,” he said. “Let’s see what this guy has to say for himself.”
 
Last edited:
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
Docks -> SS голубь

For the briefest moment, the look that Midnight saw Gerasim give her felt like it was questioning. Pondering. Pondering whether or not her clothes would come off. The woman quickly bit her lip, but as soon as it had come, it had gone. The crowd itself seemed to linger around Gerasim's charming, and perhaps too familiar and friendly, words. However, just as quickly as the crowd was starting to wonder, a jolt seemed to go up and down their spines as Cleo and Joshua snapped their jaws and flexed their 'authority'. In an instant, people turned back to their everyday lives as though the whole entire scene was invisible to them. This was all just another day in the motherland. Hastily placing an arm over her chest as though she was covering herself from perverse rays of light, Midnight awkwardly made sure to close the airlock behind them as they dragged this stranger back into the ship, giving Gerasim a slightly wider berth than usual, but not too much.

"Just as importantly, we also have to finish with our business here after dealing with this fellow," Midnight briefly eyed Gerasim and his sword, her own eyes making fleeting contact with his before glancing away. "Sooner or later, the local authorities are going to bother us again. If we take too long, we'll have to do the paperwork, instead of them," she added with emphasis.

The clock was ticking.
 
Cleo practically threw Henri into a chair with significantly more force than she looked to be capable of, narrowing her eyes at him. "I dare you to try something," She said, keeping a hand on her sidearm before she looked over at the rest of the crew, specifically Hilda. "Alright, time for all this to end. Fuck Ylfa and what she thinks, we're getting this shit done and your bullshit commands are done. Here's the mutiny. You get your over inflated masochistic ass on the fucking bridge and you finish the data transfer. I don't want to hear a word out of you until it's done, you've got three minutes. Figure it out," She growled, pushing Hilda towards the ladder.

Then she turned to the other two members of the team. "As for you two. Enough with this dainty, girly fucking searching. What the fuck is wrong with the two of you, afraid to break a nail or something?" She asked, looking at the relatively untouched ship. "What kind of russian operatives search a fucking ship and try to keep it neat! We're here for a search, not trying to pick up the set of keys we forgot by accident, get this place turned over!" She added, swiftly turning around and looking at Henri.

"As for you frog legs," Cleo said, squatting down with a grin. "I think I am going to bring you up to the boss... Maybe she'll let me tie you down to my table and see what makes you tick, hmm?" She sneered, reaching forward and flicking him in the nose, daring him to try and challenge her.
 
Henri grunted and gave a sheepish grin as he was thrown into the chair, holding up his open hands in what he hoped to be a disarming gesture. He doesn't move the arm that Cleo bit as much, conscious of the fact that he is still bleeding. He continued in French accented English. "I am at your mercy, mon cher. You will find me to be the model guest."

He watches with interest as Cleo reprimands the rest of her team, particularly fascinated by the power dynamic, strange though it appears to be.

At the mention of bosses and tables, Henri clicks his tongue. He scrunches his face after Cleo flicks him, suppressing the temptation to retaliate. "Ooh la la, an interesting proposition. However, we have only just met, and I think that will not be necessary. I am a rather forthcoming man, under such circumstances as these at least. May I ask who your boss is? Someone I have heard of perhaps?"
 
Soyuz Sotsialisticheskikh Mirov
скучный Station,
Docks -> SS голубь

"Nnngh!" The pained wince on Midnight's face said it all. A friend had mutinied, stripping power away from the woman in what was perhaps the worst way possible. "I-I see how it is," she began, the broken smile on her face quivering as it tried to hold itself together. "You're resentful I was given command instead of you, so you're gonna lecherously offer me to these men here as a reward for backing you!" The deranged went into her tirade, quickly pointing a finger at Henri. "And you'll indoctrinate this passer-by into the group by offering extra favors yourself on top of more time to do what he will with me, won't you?!" Midnight began to breathe faster and faster with unholy excitement as a viewscreen came on to show the outside of the airlock. "And don't deny it, I see the chemestry brewing with his French accent and everything!" she accused both Cleo and Henri, cheeks growing red. "Well, you're not going to! They're gonna....stop...you..." the woman then quailed in horrified realization.

They could all see Pasha - the head of Station Security - on the tiny view screen by the airlock, and accompanied by a lot more security members this time, all armored up and ready for a fight.

"Open up in there!" the portly man began. "We would like to have a few words with you all, nothing much!"

"Up! Up! into the kitchen area, then the bridge!" Hilda frantically began climbing the ladder.
 
Before Hilda could get up the ladder, Cleo grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back down roughly, holding her inches away from her muzzle. "You don't give orders anymore," She growled, baring her teeth, before dropping Hilda to the ground. "And if anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me after we're done this mission," She added, picking hilda up by her arm. "You get into the cockpit and start the launch sequence. Hack whatever you need, we're taking the whole ship," She growled, almost throwing her up the ladder, before looking at the rest of the crew.

"Gerasim, you stay here with Hilda and make sure she does what she's fucking told," She growled, looking at Joshua. "Me and you are going to have to buy them some time, and then once this ship starts moving, I'm going to go and get *our* ship from its docking position, as I'm pretty sure Ylfa would be angry if we downgraded her ship on her," Cleo said taking a deep breath, drawing her pistol. She took a deep breath, and let it out quickly. "You boys ever see a Daqin Soldier actually try?" She asked, looking around. "Cause there are a lot of boys out there. I hope your egos don't bruise too easily." She said, walking over to the door. "Gerasim, ya know what... I think we're just gonna part our ways here. Tie up the frog, I'm about to do what I've wanted to do since I *met* Pasha, and if you would be so kind as to cover me Joshua?" She asked with a bright, toothy smile.
 
Top