Skypirates: The Limit is the Stars game

[Guyshane]

Aug imitated a sigh for Butch's benefit. "Pilot currently the only issue we have is that this Frame is not in the air yet. Certainly Soren and I have no issue. We are simply to old colleague's discussing a previous case this reminds us of."

Then he turned back to Rosencrutz, speaking Latin once again. "Would it have killed you to simply say yes? You continue to wax poetic at the most inopportune times. I'm curious, what effect would Evoker blood have on you if you drank it? I only ask because this one is beginning to annoy me."

[JRPictures]

"Fair enough then and don't worry we'll be in the air soon enough, I just need to wait for the signal once Crow and Pendragon take on those two Flight Frames." Butch replied as he turned his fact to the front and inspected the Orion's controls. There were a series of buttons and with two clicking levers on each side for his hands to grab to move around for control.

"Hmm Aug and Soren are quite the mysterious pair. Sure they're effective at their jobs as I've heard plenty of times though they seem odd, almost not human really. But that's an absurd thought to have. I gotta to stop thinking of this anyway, I've got a mission to attend to. We just need Meriwether and Lucy to move out and confront the two Flight Frames, that way I can finally get out there." Butch thought to himself as held his head up high and patiently waited.

[agoraoptera]

"The taste of Evokers varies from person to person." Soren smiled, then reverted to regular speech. "Pilot, lift off. The signal will be given momentarily."

[JRPictures]

"Alright." Butch turns on the comm and states "Captain, I'm moving out into the air now, I'll stay out of sight from the ship until I get the order to attack it."

Butch turned the comm off and pushed in both levers with all his strength before pressing a series of buttons to get the Orion flying. The Frame slowly but surely entered the air as Butch piloted it to exit the hangar and enter the outside. Butch looked on through the main window as he the enemy ship from far off.

Quickly, he maneuvered the Orion around the Understanding, hiding the Frame from behind the ship.

"Alright. Now Crowe and Pendragon have to make their move." Butch remarked quietly as he looked towards the rocket booster timer. Less than 18 minutes to go. We got to be fast now.

[AMimsyBorogove]

(Co-op with Endless.)

“So, then, I assume we’re thinking the same thing?” Meriwether said calmly over the communications channel, adjusting his spectacles. “Avoid collateral damage by luring them away from both ships. Take them by surprise, eliminate their weapons, and mop them up before they have a chance to get support from the enemy mothership. I can handle the first part, but I’d rather not draw too much attention to what this unit can do. So, since you have experience facing this type of enemy, I’ll stick to providing overwatch and leave finishing them to you. How does that sound?”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Sunshine,” she said. “Just try not to hit anything we’re not supposed to, okay?”

“Precise Mega Beam Cannons… aren’t. However, if one were to exist, it would probably be the one that my machine is holding right now, and I assure you, I can easily make up for the difference,” Replied the red-haired man calmly, smirking as he did a final check of his unit’s armaments. The beam whip was mounted safely within its charger inside the shield, while the Mega Beam Cannon was already powering up to full capacity, the backpack-mounted beam gattling turrets doing the same as he ran through the final launch checks.

Lucy shrugged, eyes running over the systems display on the monitor in front of her. “I’ll take your word for it, I guess. I just don’t want a poorly-timed shot hitting my frame in the face while I’m punching out a Zeke, okay?”

“Trust me when I say that won’t be a problem,” Meriwether said, a faint pulse of his consciousness resounding through the hangar around him as he analyzed the Chariot’s workings, gaining the knowledge he would need to predict its movements in the battle to come. If he could tell what controls Lucy was inputting, after all, he would already know where she would be long before he’d actually have to shoot. “I’ll take the lead,” He continued, stepping onto the launch catapult. “I can use the smoke to keep from being spotted, and ECM to keep off their radar. Once I’m in position, I’ll take a few potshots to draw their attention away from the ship. Once their backs are turned… well, you know what to do.”

Opening a channel to the bridge, he locked in his unit, the hangar doors opening before the formidable silhouette of the Yukianesa and revealing the cloudy skies beyond. Bracing himself for the strain of launching, he prepared to deploy.

“Arondight-Class Flight Frame, Yukianesa - Meriwether Crowe, deploying!” He reported. Then, with a snap of motion, he left the steel floor of the hangar far behind, and took flight. Immediately flaring his left-side verniers, he rolled to the right, diving into the billowing cloud of smoke streaming from the side of the Understanding and disappearing from sight. Engaging his ECM systems, he began interfering with the sensors of the two incoming enemy escorts, displaying a constant sonar image that concealed his presence while at the same time rising sharply, circling around a cloud before breaking cover, ceasing his rapid ascent almost half a mile above both cruisers below. Good. It would take a great deal of time for the enemy mothership to target him with his cannons at this angle. Now, then, it was about time to make some noise.

He lined up his shot, targeting the lead unit. Getting a good look at the opposing forces, he had to admit, he wasn’t exactly impressed. These Flight Frames were old models - to such a degree that even he, during his military career, had never seen them before. More like crude battle platforms than actual mobile machines, they essentially consisted of a heavily armored cockpit with flimsy weapon mountings strapped all over it and oversized afterburners affixed to its back. Those armaments and thrusters would make easy targets.

Allowing his thoughts to permeate the Inferndium flowing through his machine, he concentrated its power into the very core of his rifle, coalescing it into a beam of raw destructive energy which aligned itself flawlessly with his target. The plotted trajectory of the lead enemy unit slowly ran across his HUD, until at last it coincided perfectly with his targeting reticle.

“LOCK-ON,” declared the automated voice of the Yukianesa’s computers.

“This is the Yukianesa,” He reported calmly. “Targeted and firing.”

Then, he pulled the trigger.

With a high-pitched keening howl, the Mega Beam Cannon fired, a concentrated stream of gleaming orange light crossing the distance between him and his target almost immediately. Detecting the shot at the last minute, the enemy pilot frantically tried to evade, flinging his unit into a wild sideways spiral. But Meriwether had the element of surprise. With so little time to react, he couldn’t hope to escape. Light flashed across the sky as the enemy unit fell into two distinct pieces, its left arm and leg entirely shattered by the blast. A secondary detonation followed an instant later as the ammunition stored within its left-side gatling guns and missile cannons was consumed by the beam, exploding violently and sending the Zenium spiraling wildly to the side, momentarily out of control. Its fellow unit turned to engage the Yukianesa, but in doing so, it completely failed to notice the real attack that was about to begin right behind it.

“Chariot II Custom online. Lucy Pendragon, deploying.”

Out of the rolling clouds of smoke surrounding the Understanding emerged a scarlet blur, engines screaming as it propelled itself towards the disabled Zenium. The pirate frame’s pilot barely had time to gasp out a warning before the Chariot II’s armored foot slammed into its midsection, quickly followed by an energy blade to the canopy. Critically wounded, the Zenium trailed smoke through the air as it fell towards the planet below.

The other enemy pilot gaped as his monitors displayed the speedy demise of his wingman. “What the hell? Who was-” He stopped midsentence as his Zenium began analyzing the new arrival. “Enemy speed clocked at… three times the Zenium’s maximum!?” He paled. “It can’t be-! The Knight of Avalon!”

Frantically throwing all of his thrusters into full reverse, the enemy pilot hastily tried to distance himself from the new unit that had just struck down his comrade so easily, only to be cut off by a bolt of orange-gold light that nearly disintegrated him then and there. Rolling aside at the last second, he turned about to see the Yukianesa cutting its thrusters and diving straight for him from above, its gatling guns already opening fire and releasing a curtain of laser blasts that tore several holes in the Zenium’s lower torso.

A loud roar tore across the sky as, giving a wild yell, the remaining pilot took aim with every weapon he had and let loose a torrent of missiles and machinegun fire. Meriwether smirked, seeing through this assault before it even began. Retraining his sights, he opened fire with the beam gatlings as well as his other close-in weapons systems, shooting down the cloud of missiles before it even reached him. In the same instant, he darted sideways, raising his shield to block whatever bullets happened to come close enough to strike near the torso of the Yukianesa, where its cockpit and critical systems were located.

Darting around the edge of the smoke cloud generated by the missiles’ destruction, he deployed his beam whip from inside his upraised shield, flicking his unit’s wrist to send the snaking cable of energy around the Zenium’s minigun arm as it tried to reacquire its lock on him. Retracting the whip, he sheared off this weapon, tearing the enemy machine’s arm cleanly from its socket. As a last ditch effort, the enemy raised his last remaining gun, trying to target the nimble enemy frame before it was too late… only for this, too, to be severed as in a blur of crimson, the Chariot caught up to him, casually carving through his remaining limb before spinning to the side as the Yukianesa raised its Mega Beam Cannon at point blank range.

“Au revoir,” Said Meriwether with a smirk, pulling the trigger.

Another surge of light blazed across the sky, and the enemy’s escort was no more.

[eli_gone_crazy]

Sam sighed as he watched the pair take out the flight frames.

"Cookie, i want as much smoke as possible. Engie? I need those cannons ready."

The man twisted away from the main deck, heading up to the bridge. The smoke obscured most of his line of sight, along with the others, hopefully. Grabbing the comm, he began to bark orders. "Meriwhether, Pendragon. Stay out of sight for now. Move in when the Understanding is docked to the slaver."

"Butch? Head in now, slowly. Try not to draw attention to yourself."

[JRPictures]

Butch slowly moved the Orion around the Understanding as he got a clear view of Pendragon and Crowe fighting and eventually destroying the two enemy Flight Frames.

"Those two did great." Butch remarked as he received Sam's order.

"Yes sir." Butch replies into the comm as he pilots the Frame slowly towards the slaver ship.

Butch looked towards the rocket booster timer as he chanted to himself "Alright less than 15 minutes left. Destroy the weapons and power generators and get inside. No time wasting. Avoid casualties. Let's do this!"

Butch then looks behind to Aug and Soren, noting "Hold on tight."

Butch flew Orion straight upon the Slaver ship and activated the missiles, firing on the power generators as he riddled the gatling guns with multiple bullets. As one power generator and a gatling gun was destroyed, Butch flew to the mega cannon and using the Orion's large knife, began to repeatedly slash at it eventually leaving the cannon nearly destroyed.

Suddenly a gatling gun began to fire on the Orion as Butch flew away from the ship and slashed straight into the gatling gun firing at them. The gun was destroyed as Butch went back into the air and fired upon another power generator.

The Orion's detectors started bleeping as Butch looked on to see a hull missile coming straight for them. Clenching the controls, Butch pushed the Orion down barely dodging the missile.

"God that was close. Missiles those huge and powerful would take some time to reload. So we time to spare." Butch noted as got the Orion back in its original place and began to fire on as many weapons as he could, managing to destroy another power generator too.

[Guyshane]

Aug turned to Soren and began spitting Latin furiously. "Is this pilot some sort of idiot? He was told to be stealthy and ops for a head-on assault instead! This is why I hate working with amateurs."

The android pushed past the pilot and vampire, exiting the cockpit and climbing out onto the mech's arm. Maintaining balance on a moving robot arm while in mid-air would have been extremely difficult for a human. For Aug it was merely slightly complicated. Once he had reached the hand the assassin calculated the trajectory into one of the holes that had been created in the hull. His mechanized form made the leap an easy one. The mechanoid emerged into a rather mundane hallway, with the sounds of running humans nearby.

Time to hunt.

Aug followed the hallway along silently until he came upon a group of about ten slaves heading towards the deck armed with various implements. The robot charged, grabbed the head of the first man and slammed it with non-lethal force into a nearby wall. The man's head still made a cracking sound on contact. The next was spinning to face the android, so Aug promptly shot him once in each knee. Now the rest had their weapons trained on the killer in their midst forcing Aug to dive into cover so the barrage would not damage his outfit or worse, accidentally his a vital system. The android pulled out his knife and threw it into the hand of the nearest man, disarming him. Aug stormed the man, retrieved the knife and used him as cover to get the next slave. He bowled her over, and quickly knocked them both unconscious. Aug then rolled and delivered a vicious uppercut into the ribs of the next opponent, breaking said ribs. The next woman stabbed at him with a knife. The robot caught her arm and quickly popped her shoulder out of its socket before driving her face into the floor. Now another threw a bomb at the assassin. Aug shot it out of the air, not hurting anyone but dazing the closest two.

Aug sprinted again, leaped, planted a foot on the grenade thrower, spring-boarded off him sending that man crashing into the wall painfully. The droid repeated the maneuver with the other slave, sending Aug sailing towards the last man. This slave got his weapon up and began firing it off at the assailant. Aug blocked the ballistics with the metal casing of his left arm. He'd need the sleeve repaired later. Aug finished that man with a single, falling blow that broke the man's collar bone.

Aug looked over his handiwork and assessed that all of them would live. The android then picked up the last man and pinned him to the wall. "Where is the Captain?"

"B-b-bridge. Front of the ship."

"Thank you." Aug showed his gratitude by knocking him out quickly. He then keyed one of his snake bots to act as a communicator. "Captain, I have boarded and ascertained the target's position. I will head there and attempt to end this battle quickly. Any who oppose will be disabled. Zero percent casualties so far."

The assassin droid moved on.

[agoraoptera]

"Sancta simplicitas," he hisses.

Soren pulls himself out of the cockpit, following the android easily. At this altitude, the chill winds almost make him shiver. Brittle skin on his lips crack as he makes the jump through the yawning gap in the hull. Shoddy design, well and true, to be penetrated so simply. Or mayhaps the Flight Frame is better equipped than he gives it credit for.

He does not follow Aug Infum, takes the opposite direction. His breath is as scarlet damask silk, light and scarcely perceptible. Fortuitously, the lights in this particular block are disabled, likely from the inept pilot's firing. The stutter of gunfire coughs from another hallway, then is choked off. Already, Infum?

As he approaches a crossroads, the rattle-tap of panicked footsteps bear down towards him. There is little space to hide, but Soren makes do, pulling himself up like a pallid spider ascending. Plastered against the dark ceiling, his wight-like eye-shine is thankfully obscured by his visors. Perhaps there is some use in them after all.

Three men, four. The final corpse-to-be is the leader, shouting orders through the burial gloom. No, not corpse-to-be. Not yet. No killing.

"Step your arses to it then, if we don't get those slaves to deeper in the ship, all our pay's gonna go overboard. Move!"

The man holds a glowing blue blade that hums with promise of release from the flesh. An energy weapon. Deadly. In a hip-sheath is a more mundane cousin, a simple dagger.

They pass below Soren. He could simple trigger his cross-blade, drop down and slice them to shreds before anyone was the wiser. He could, and then he'd get to feast, but then the Captain would take issue with that. Still, food or no, he could afford to play with them.

Emitting just the slightest of rhythmic off-kilter clicks from his lips to their ears, he sets up the subtle symphony. Mmm, yes, their senses are sharpening. Adrenaline begins coursing through them. All the better to- No, no, they are to be captives, not food. Soren crawls along the ceiling after them, a jagged spread of bony limbs.

"I don't feel good, boss," the point man glances back nervously. From the uneven gait and the beads of sweat, Soren judges his tactics to be successful. Prey doesn't change.

"Suck it up," growls the leader, waving his humming blade of harnessed energy menacingly.

Soren eases himself down behind the leader. He looms over the prey, final remnant of ancient myths and dispelled legends. The prey is caught, has been caught since Soren first spotted him, but the prey does not know it. Soren slips the dagger out from the leader's sheath subtly, allowing the man's own pace to pull it out for him. Simple metal, sharpened and polished to a mirror sheen. Unnatural metal.

He can see the bristles standing on the man's neck, minute beads of sweat clinging on as though to a mother's bosom. The flesh knows, but the mind doesn't. Each heartbeat enlarges, then strangles the network of veins and arteries across the nape of his neck. The hunted have always been able to sense their doom.

"Hurry up," snaps the leader, increasing his pace. The flesh knows.

But what's the point of winning a battle when you don't even know there's a war going on?

Hot pain pins the leader's right hand to the wall and he bellows, pulling back reflexively. The reflexes of a million genetic years betray him; he pulls away from the knife impaling his hand, raggedly bisecting his hand from the palm to between the index and middle fingers. The energy blade drops to the floor forgotten; he screams in renewed agony, holding his mutilated hand but Soren is already moving forward. Bending low, Soren rotates the left leg of one man a hundred and eighty degrees. The accompanying snap is only confirmation of his estimations.

The second last man is already raising a pistol, an antique design, a slugthrower. Soren helps him raise it all the way up, pushing his hands beyond the natural range of motion. With just a bit more force, the man won't have hands left attached to his body, but no. Such brutality would likely be off-putting to the Captain.

Final prey, last of the bunch. A weak herd, if ever Soren had encountered one. But this last one manages to get a shot off. At point-blank range, one would scarce expect a man to miss, but perhaps the cadaverous spectre confronting him was not of a proportion he was used to firing, or perhaps it was the fear that made his hands shake, or perhaps...

It was likely all of these.

Soren pushes him to the ground easily, flips him so as to put a foot on his back.

"Tell me..." grates the cold geist, then he clears his throat. "Tell me where the main generators are."

"I w-won't-"

Before the man can finish his whimpering protestation, Soren increases the pressure of his foot. His pathetic sniveling devolves into wretched shrieks.

"In the lower deck! Oh God, in the lower deck! Stop, please, stop in the name of God!"

Soren eases his foot off, then stomps the man's tailbone. Glancing back, he returns to the leader of the herd. Fainted from blood loss or pain. Soren sighs, picks up the energy blade, and runs it through the two limp halves of his hand, searing the flesh into a charred lump. There. None of them would die, and none of them would trouble him. Sancta simplicitas.

[JRPictures]

Butch watched on as Aug and Soren left the Frame and entered the slave ship with ease.

"Damn they are good." Butch remarked as he continued shooting upon the gatling guns and other weapons.

Suddenly a loud beeping sound went off repeatedly as Butch looked to the timer and saw that there was only 5 minutes left before the rocket boosters would turn off.

"Crap, I still haven't destroyed all the weapons. Looks like I have no choice." Butch remarked as he clenched his body and began to gather up as much electricity into his body as possible, while still shooting on power generators and weapons on the ship.

Eventually the 5 minutes were over as the rocket boosters turned off. The Orion started fall rapidly in the sky as Butch chanted to himself "One more moment...one more moment. THAT'S IT!"

Butch howled a large grunt as he used his body to transfer a large amount of electricity into the mecha, essentially powering the entire Flight Frame by himself.

"GAAAH. COME ON!" Butch yelled as the rocket boosters turned back on. The Orion stabilised itself as it flew back up to the sight of the slaver ship.

Now powering the Frame and with at least another 10 minutes of power left, Butch flew straight into the ship with the large knife in the Orion's hand. He began shooting and slashing at every weapon and power generator he could hit, destroying nearly all of them.

With his job done, Butch had the Orion open up the ship's emergency doors and entered into it from there. Parking the Frame and turning it off, Butch grasped the key in his hand while holding onto his gun in the other, awaiting the results of Soren and Aug's attack.