The New Vanguard! Frostbite Issue #7 - Cold and Afraid!

Admin wrote: From somewhere came the splashing flood sound of liquid flowing!

'Acid wash.' stated Frostbot, calmly.

Frostbite calmly but deliberately quelled any sense of anxiety regarding Frostbot loyalty. At the end of the day, Frostbite never really fully understood where the computer had come from, how he had gained it or what its real origin before was. He just had vague memories of waking from a coma, with it and with powers. But more pressing things were coming in at him now.

'Quick, Frostbot, if I form a thick ice wall, will the acid be stopped or if I lower the temperature sufficiently can I freeze it where it comes?

Frostbite was weighing options the risks of staying here and getting to engineering or going on to the tunnel and risking getting trapped. He realised that getting into the corridors ahead might mean Steph Reflex could power up and be more helpful as well as helped from her ordeal. And in truth, it pained Frostbite somewhat to even deny her that opportunity. But it was more than just finding the most expedient way forward, it was about their own survival and that of the larger mission.

OOC: Ok if I can freeze the acid or stop it behind an ice wall then I will do. See if I can't divert it. Although having said that I realise that 'Timmy' might just trap us in front as well. I am loath to let Frostbot into the system, as Timmy is clearly a match or even greater match than Frostbot can manage. I don't need Frostbot to be 'tempted' or crushed, as he has repeatedly been my single best asset. So that leaves the corridors and trying to get Steph empowered and then trying to make the most of it. I'll take whatever seems the best option, given all the available data.

Sj

'Freezing it seems your best option.' declared Frostbot.

With that Frostbite turned and lowered the air temperature dramatically in the chute behind him. He heard Steph cry out with the sudden cold, bearing in mind she was still wearing just a white smock, but he had to protect her first and foremost!

The acid came in the form of a semi liquid/steam that sizzled and popped where it touched. Clearly it was designed not to hurt plastics or metals and instead to purge any unwanted biological infestations, possibly a common hazard on vessels of this size that spent all their time in space or in high atmosphere.

When it hit Frostbites 'wall' of cold air it stopped, and despite waves behind it sizzling layers off, the acid stopped long enough for Frostbite to hear Steph call out. "Frostbite! In here!"

'I have disabled all cameras and sensors in the room Steph has entered. The translation reads 'stores' I believe, or similar.' Frostbot remarked.

Dropping into the room and replacing the hatch behind, Frostbite saw a warehouse sized space with rack upon rack to the twenty foot ceiling stacked with boxes and various supplies. Robotic devices slid along rails and raised up/down to retrieve supplies and deliver them to the far end of the room where several people could be seen moving about, wearing technicians uniforms. It was dark down this end however, and ideal for Steph, using Frostbites blue light, to search through boxes and tubs.

She pulled out some yellow sachets of paste and offered one to Frostbite while biting the corner off another squeezing it into her mouth. "Saw one of the technicians eat this stuff. They force fed me. Tastes awful but once you get past that it's quite nourishing. Beats the taste of your own blood anyway."

Frostbot added 'The shelf above you. Three levels up. Across. There. I believe there will be uniforms in there for low level technicians that Steph can wear. Once her powers reactivate her healing factor will quickly heal her body. I assume you will leave her to use her powers on those technicians in the room? Are there any other supplies you think may prove useful. I can access the computers and this is but one of dozens of store rooms across this huge ship. The location of the others is classified and there have been 'booby traps' placed on the access codes of those enquiries. We seem, for the time being, to be relatively safe, despite the alarms going off through the ship. I have, for your convenience, made several false reports spotting you in locations away from here.'

Frostbite didn't know where Frostbot came from, but knew the computer was the most useful friend he had.

OOC You have a bit of breathing room. Where to?

Admin wrote: Frostbite didn't know where Frostbot came from, but knew the computer was the most useful friend he had.

OOC You have a bit of breathing room. Where to?

OOC: Super busy at the moment lot going on so bit slower on the response times. So I am going to make this post brief as a result:

Let Steph do her vampire thing, trusting that the low level tecs here won't be missed whilst they take a nap. She best make sure she drains a little from each, not so much as to render them dead or suspicious if they get missed.

Once we've got her feeling better and with me totally recharged, we best look about for two things, what here can help us blend in or move about or stop from being caught. And further, anything that we can use to further our recon of the ship and finding out if the rest of the group are here, as well. Once we've got something to go on then finally its a question of what options to we have to move about or move from here.

Sj

Steph, attired in a technicians uniform, nodded at Frostbites suggestion that she drain those in the room.

"It's going to be tricky." she whispers. "It seems like ages since I drained anyone. The power is like a beast! There! Those three chatting in that darkened area" she said, pointing to three techs who were speaking quietly whilst digesting the contents of box of rations away from the main area where between half a dozen and dozen techs were visible at any one time.

She reached out with her hand...

OOC Multi attack on three.

Vampirism 9 plus Roll(2d10)+0: 4,5,+0 Total:9 (18) vs TN11 + Dex 3 + Multi Attack 4 (18) Success. EV9 vs RV3 + Multi Attack 4 (7) = 2 Damage each.

Each of the technicians suddenly reels and looks about, then at each other. Then at the rations. With shaky hands they place the box down and wobble on unsteady legs!

"Had to do it that way" she whispers. "Slower than draining one person but less chance of causing suspicion. I hope."

Frostbite glanced at her and noted her physique seemed more buff, tone. Her face had already started healing from the bruises and wounds she'd suffered and she grinned as she hovered a few inches off the floor, her skin shining slightly as her forcefield once more reactivated!

"That's better! Not up to full power yet but if I can keep draining them before my powers leak away."

Of course. She was a 'Vampire' almost in a traditional sense, but rather than blood the life energy she drained leaked away steadily every minute or so according to the measures so far on her abilities. That would present a problem normally, but this ship had thousands of crew on board and within range of her abilities, which were said to be line of sight up to half a mile away! No good against the Cyborgs possibly, unless there was biological material in them. Still, in here...?

Frostbite asked for help from Frostbot. The program obliged. 'I have sealed the room, muted all communications and monitoring, and routed requests to the stores in this section to other sections. There are, according to the scanners, twenty four staff in here. It's a big place.'

Frostbite glanced about. Then he mentioned various details to Steph and she gave an evil grin. "You sit back and rest up. Thanks for rescuing me!" she grinned and pecked him on the cheek before turning and rubbing her hands. "Dinnertime!" she declared! Then she soared towards the front of the storeroom to get stuck in!

Frostbite watched her get to work. The technicians had no chance of escape and nothing to fight back with! her reflexes, strength and resistance made her immune to any effort they made to throw tools or buckets at her. She simply ignored as they bounced off, gestured, and another technician dropped like a stone. "Not hurting them. Too badly." she shouted. "They'll wake up with a headache though, boss!"

Frostbite consulted Frostbot on his various options.

They were on a deck generally used for resupply situated in the middle/centre of the ship, and from there it was easy to distribute to the various sections. This ship really was enormous, like a town in space! The engineering required to create such a thing was staggering, almost as staggering when he realised that it was microscopic and beyond the ability of microscopes to see!

What if it were suddenly grown? A mile long starship appearing ... well, wherever would be a disaster! never mind if it actually took off. And this wouldn't be the only one. Dozens, maybe hundreds of these things were out there he figured. The scale of the problem suddenly presented itself. A microscopic empire looking for a way to make their armies enlarge and appear in the midst of unsuspecting people on Earth? With Timmy Jones as their guide, amongst other people... Traitors to humanity? Probably, but they stood to gain something from it.

Frostbot uncovered the locations of the rest of his team. Scattered. Catherine Stowe was there too, the retired superheroine who served as team leader with Frostbite away. The hero sighed. The size of the problem was clear. His depowered team mates were held in different locations across the ship and the vessel was on high alert. So far it seemed like Frostbite was able to withstand their weapons but at some point Timmy would make it clear. Surrender or your friends die. Their value as possible cloning material would be balanced against getting Frostbite to surrender. It was a mess. His best options were to go on the offensive or leave the ship and spark a manhunt across this vast, yet tiny universe while he looked for allies. This was an Empire that conquered peoples. That meant they had enemies, conquered species, those that had escaped. The fire of rebellion just needed a spark. Maybe Frostbite and his friends - those he could free - would be in, and in doing so, he could save the Earth!

Admin wrote:It was a mess. His best options were to go on the offensive or leave the ship and spark a manhunt across this vast, yet tiny universe while he looked for allies. This was an Empire that conquered peoples. That meant they had enemies, conquered species, those that had escaped. The fire of rebellion just needed a spark. Maybe Frostbite and his friends - those he could free - would be in, and in doing so, he could save the Earth!

Whilst Steph did her thing, Frostbite considered their options, which now he had caught up with the others were poor at best. Worst still it wouldn't take long to find out how to unshrink their allies and attack an unsuspecting world. But most worrying was how Frostbite could rescue his team, only a co-ordinated attack on the ship, which meant that no single one of them could be harmed might have a chance of succeeding. And that was going to take manpower of some form or another.

As it stood, picking them one at a time was only going to result in the others being held as leverage to get Frostbite to surrender all over again. Only superior numbers would give him the chance to launch an overwhelming attack that might free the heroes before they could be dispatched.

That left them the simple problem of how to get off this ship and then how to relocate it when or if they could gather support.

Frostbite took a moment to converse with Frostbot then called Steph over. It was time, they formulated a plan and for that Frostbite needed all the help he could get just to get away, and not be blown up escaping.

OOC: I think you were telegraphing intent, so I hope I got this right, in truth I can't see a way to scale this mountain otherwise.

Anyway so just need a way to find this ship again, perhaps its 'VIN' number of something and a way to get off without being blow up six ways to Sunday. Whilst we are here it would be good if we could get the schematics so that an assault next time would be more manageable given the size of the thing and know if there are any weak points that mean we don't end up simply throwing people at it.

OK so question is what are our options?

Sj

Frostbot considered the problem...

'Essentially the vessel is not just a flying battleship, but a space worthy community. There are so many levels and sections it would be wasteful and almost impossible to subdue the crew. In addition I am having difficulty accessing the secure sections. Not insurmountable but time consuming and we do not have time. As you surmise the best way to help your team mates would be to return when you have sufficient 'firepower' to overwhelm the defences. With that in mind there are several possible ways to escape:

1) Commandeer a shuttle or one of the fighter craft in the docking bays. You are, however, not an experienced pilot of these kinds of craft and will be at a disadvantage when pursuit craft catch you.

2) There are a number of areas where it seems that a form of matter transportation can be effected. Teleportation for want of a better word. The downside to this is that you essentially reduce yourself to atoms and reconfigure elsewhere. If they have anticipated this you may in effect be offering yourself up for a trap should they find a way to block the transportation process and leave you as a field of buzzing atoms in an energy state.

3) This seems the most risky, and yet the most plausible. This vessel is very heavily armed. Some of the conventional weapons are torpedoes. If you were to remove the explosive innards there would be room for a single occupant. Fire all of the torpedoes in a section at once and hide yourselves in two of them, hoping they don't figure out which ones are used. The problem then is where to fire them to. This system has an inhabitable planet but the air is rarefied and you would need breathing apparatus eventually. Alternately...

A vessel of this size is not self sufficient. Always, there are supplies required that cannot be generated on board. The ship is trailed by a fleet of supply vessels. Create a diversion and escape via an air lock into the vacuum of space and onto one of those vessels, then when the fleet 'jumps' away from this system, commandeer that vessel and make your next move. Reflex should be able to withstand the hard vacuum of space for a short time but needs to be 'fully charged' and very, very close to the target vessel as her flight speed is not as fast as yours. Lionheart possesses tremendous interstellar speed but he is not, unfortunately, here.'

Lionheart. An ally he needed if ever there was one!

Steph called him over. She had just drained another technician and whispered. "I'm full, right now. But the energy leaks away quickly. There are several more techs I can drain to stay full for when we leave this room but I need to constantly drain in order to maintain this level of power."

She DID look powerful, stronger, healthier than before. She was also more confident and clearly up for the task of fighting her way through the ship!

Frostbot reminded him 'Timmy Jones appears to have 'grown' far beyond his original remit of being able to control toy soldiers. He is essentially a disembodied spirit given physical form but any inanimate object he inhabits. With the technology levels available in this universe it is possible that he may seek to have created a body that can rival the most powerful superhumans on Earth. Before that happens it should be your goal to stop him, somehow.'

Frostbot clearly though that the prospect of an invading clone army with ray guns was less of a threat than Timmy Jones in a robotic form that could leap from device to device, essentially becoming immortal. He was probably past reason now, having suffered horribly and become unhinged!

Suddenly the door swished open to the storage bay!

'I did not do that' stated Frostbot. Shadows cast in the doorway from figures approaching from the outside...

Admin wrote:Suddenly the door swished open to the storage bay!

'I did not do that' stated Frostbot. Shadows cast in the doorway from figures approaching from the outside...

OOC: Ugh, life been busy for me recently with various responsibilities and stuff going on. Not an easy time either personally. So hence the lack of response.

I appreciate the options listed here and would love to respond in equal measure but I am doing this in a hurry to get on with work. So I'll go for the best option, hijack a supply ship - which in itself seems like a good way to survive our current predicament.

As for the intruders hopefully, they'll be here for a routine...however sine Frostbot has directed people elsewhere I suspect not. So we'd best take em quick - have Reflex drain em and get onto the other ship. Sorry to be so to the point.

Sj

Standard troops armed with ray guns would present a problem for civilians or regular army personnel on Earth.

However this wasn't Earth, and the ray guns in question were of the 'on board' ship type, designed to be accurate but not hard hitting. So it was that Frostbite and Reflex emerged unscathed from a battle with half a dozen of ships security, despite their wild blasts sometimes hitting home.

Fully charged for the moment, Reflex muttered "Too easy? None of those cyborgs, instead they sent these poor shlebs. For which I am thankful, and for the moment, replete."

Indeed with the return of her powers she looked more confident, dangerous even, and was eager to strike back.

Frostbot warned of overconfidence 'The enemy is testing us, I am sure of it. Each of those soldiers was fitted with a simple health and location tracking device. They know what has happened and will plan accordingly.'

Time to leave!

The pair went into the corridor and towards an intersection which swished open at their approach and locked behind them.

"I can feel the energy draining away..." muttered Reflex. She cured that after coming across a group of hapless technicians who gaped even as she drained them with gestures. Leaving them unconscious the pair moved on. Frostbot kept the computerised systems guessing and opened/closed doors where required, and led them to one of the thousands of airlocks on this vast vessel.

'Through the next two doors there will be the vacuum of space. Reflex may survive the experience but only for a short time. You are able to survive for longer, but MUST get to a supply vessel undetected if you can. Unfortunately they have locked me out of the sensor array, so I cannot tell you which is a supply vessel or how close it is.'

Well, that would be making things too easy wouldn't it?

Reflex returned after a couple of moments. "Needed the ladies room... and... ah... there were a number of crew in there. I am full up. It's now or never!"

Suddenly doors swished open at the end of the corridor and heavy clumping metal boots, heard distant, could be heard getting closer! "They know we're here!" shouted Reflex, excited and scared at the thought of battling something she couldn't drain...

OOC Any special plans or simply jump into the vacuum of space and use your painfully slow flight to try to aim/catch onto a passing ship? Even at fleet cruise speed they far, far outpace you so it'll be a one chance only type shot per ship, assuming there are more than one ship supplying this thing. Or try something else...?

Admin wrote:OOC Any special plans or simply jump into the vacuum of space...?

OOC: “Special plans”, what are they?  [Tongue in cheek mode ontm] I hope they aren’t anything like a well ordered, intelligence-led battle plan, because we’ve not got any time for that kind of silly talk here, buddy.  We’re strictly on a clock, acting off the top of our head with knee jerk propensity and seat of our threadbare pants, flying.  In other words, I’ve not go the first clue.  Since there isn’t much in the way of options – throwing myself out at a passing ship, despite the hard vacuum of space, seems like an entirely sensible suggestion ;-)

Frostbite took one look at Reflex, she’d already been through so much.  Yes fitter and stronger, but only by the theft of others life energy and vitality.  Something that was about to be much tested.  

"In case you were wondering…" he offered as he looked back to the airlock, "…this is why I’d never advise people to romanticise what we do, as heroic.  Its 9 tenths, madness verging on the borders of utter lunacy, and they call it heroic if you survive."

With that he took her hand, so that they might remain together and ran toward the hatch, taking one final deep breath.  The hope was, small and of such small size relative to the ship their passing wouldn’t be easy to spot.  One had to hope.  Frostbite drew on his reserves and headed to the first ship in the impossible inky blackness that Frostbot could locate and made steady himself to burn whatever energy he could muster to reach it.  

OOC:"So assume the liberal use of HP to make this happen, cause if I don’t make it we’re gonners."

Sj

Immediately thoughts sprung to mind to have created a sphere of super dense ice to encase each of them in.

That was what seemed like an hour ago, in effect only seconds. Being 'spewed' into the hard vacuum of space felt like being crushed in every direction. A normal human would die in moments. Frostbite wasn't normal but he was painfully aware of being very small and having a finite amount of time before his powers failed and he did die.

The airlock swished closed behind them and the true scale of the vessel they'd been on was revealed.

Put simply, it was vast, like a city in space, albeit long and a jumble of protusions, weapons, antennae and jutting angles.

Reflex gripped Frostbites hand hard enough for him to feel it, and he turned.

There!

He had no idea if it was a support vessel, but it was a small craft following on a parallel course to the main vessel, but... turning? It was turning away.

So far away though! He realised he was flying at his top speed and inching towards the thing as it spooled up engines. There may be other ships around but in the dark shadow of the vast vessel it was not possible to see them!

So this was it... now or never! Even the vast ship they'd left was shrinking as it sped through space faster than Frostbite could normally fly at.

OOC in order to reach the ship you'll need to 'push' your flight beyond its normal limits. Take a look at the chart and decide how many points you want to spend...



Easy to say 'chuck everything at it' but you normally roll two dice and need a decent roll, so a few extra dice would help, but you will need those points at another stage in this adventure... so...?

Admin wrote:OOC in order to reach the ship you'll need to 'push' your flight beyond its normal limits. Take a look at the chart and decide how many points you want to spend...



Easy to say 'chuck everything at it' but you normally roll two dice and need a decent roll, so a few extra dice would help, but you will need those points at another stage in this adventure... so...?

OOC: We both know that I play a Superhero with amazing powers and absolutely rotten statistical luck when it comes to dice. So there is no just chuck a few points in with me.

I know I’ll need dice later, but the pure randomness of dice rolling for this character always lets me down. So if I play it safe, its points wasted and I need to re roll or else you have to come up with some other plan to pull my fat out of the fire. Or just don’t bother with a half-hearted attempt and just throw 6 or 7 dice at the problem.

Yes that deprives me later on, but short of dying every problem tends to be a cause for dramatic role playing and unforeseen twists and besides what else can I do? If I try to micro manage my pool of HP saving some back for a rainy day, that day might not come if I fail here? So 6 or 7 die depending on what I have by way of points, cause I don’t know at present.

It was one of those moments, do or die. Give up now and let everyone down, left at the mercy of callous men with hearts colder than his own. Know Frostbite would go down trying knowing he gave his all, before playing it safe. Besides he’d committed them both to this, what else could they do? Going back was only going to delay their inevitable capture or endangering the others by using them as leverage to get them to surrender. If there was going to be anyway to pull this together this had to be it.

Frostbite pressed on, giving his all, once again.

Sj

OOC Frosty actually has 81 HP before this as I'd missed 21HP he spent earlier in this episode. I'll assume you spend another 40HP to buy an extra five dice...

FROSTBITE HP 41

Roll(7d10)+0: 3,10,9,8,8,1,1,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d10)+0: 4,7,+0 Total:27

Straining his every sinew, Frostbite grabbed Reflex' arm and sped forward as fast as he could... then faster, FASTER!

He sped through the void, and yet the ship was moving faster still! He ignored Frostbots warning that he would not catch the vessel! Failure meant death!

Just then the ship slowed, turning, and Frostbite gasped in relief!

They slammed against the hull, grasping onto antennae and making sure Steph was still with him... With a nod at her alarmed, near panicking face, the pair moved along the hull as best they could, making sure they held onto whatever they could!

A roar of engines and Frostbots confirmation that the ship was 'spooling up' to jump into high speed travel meant they were nearly out of time!

Just then Steph pointed, and the pair moved over to an airlock. It was sealed, obviously, but with the pair of them having huge superhuman strength, the magnetic seals were popped and they fell inside. As it swished shut behind, the pair pressed super strong hands into the inner door handle and yanked that aside to drop inside onto the corridor floor. Already alarms were going off... then silenced... Frostbot.

'I have taken the liberty of cancelling their fault that showed up when the door was opened, but they are sending maintenance crew down to check it. The air is fine to breathe.' said Frostbot.

Frostbite then Reflex took a breath, then sagged into each others arms with relief as the realisation came they'd dodged death! "Where to now?" asked Steph, separating herself from Frostbites hug and standing on unsteady legs. "Take over the ship or lie low?"

Admin wrote:Frostbite then Reflex took a breath, then sagged into each other’s arms with relief as the realisation came they'd dodged death! "Where to now?" asked Steph, separating herself from Frostbites hug and standing on unsteady legs? "Take over the ship or lie low?"

"We hide and lie low. Our friends on the other ship don’t necessarily know we’ve gone. And if we’ve gone where to, however, they may still yet be able to track us. We need to find out what sort of ship we are on, and hijack it when we know they can’t raise an alarm. If the mother ship arrives – she’ll likely blow us out of the water and our plans come to nothing."

Turning to one side, Frostbite once again using their shared symbiosis, spoke mentally to Frostbot.

Well, this is another fine episode. However, we need to avoid being detected whilst we take on what we’ve got here. I’d like to see if we can get some distance between us and the mother ship before we try anything. Can you cover our entry, so the guards have a reason to ignore it? We then need to lie low and find out what we’ve got on this supply tub?.

Frostbite then relayed his info to Steph. "I’m afraid you’ll have to snack later, when we’ve got a chance to work out what is going on. Hopefully, there will be sufficient crew when it’s time."

Sj

Frostbot complied, explaining that a number of routine systems had failed with regards the environmental systems, giving them a number of different areas to investigate and not just the airlock.

It proved to be effective as the technicians scurried around the ship trying to fix problems real and imagined. In the meantime the heroes quietly moved through the craft, itself of a decent size with a crew compliment of around 200. It appeared to be a munitions supply vessel, delivering torpedoes and mass driver slugs amongst other things. Empty now, save for malfunctioning weapons and empty casings.

Finding a series of empty bunks, and having Frostbot set up a system for alarming those within, Frostbite finally felt he and Reflex could relax, getting much needed rest.

=========

'Wake up' said Frostbot, so Frostbite did.

He was superhuman, but hadn't quite realised how bone tired he was. In the next bunk Reflex slept, depowered now and looking frail compared to his triumphant fully powered self.

'The vessel has jumped into what they call 'hyperspace'. It seems they travel to a system where munitions are manufactured and gathered. It will be the equivalent of a number of Earth hours before the ship gets there, but make no mistake - the system is a major supply hub, shipyard, maintenance area and trade centre. It is formidably defended. The main space station there is the size of a small moon...'

Admin wrote:'Wake up' said Frostbot, so Frostbite did.

'The vessel has jumped into what they call 'hyperspace'. It seems they travel to a system where munitions are manufactured and gathered. It will be the equivalent of a number of Earth hours before the ship gets there, but make no mistake - the system is a major supply hub, shipyard, maintenance area and trade centre. It is formidably defended. The main space station there is the size of a small moon...'

Frostbite hadn’t had time to formulate a detailed plan. It wasn’t as if there were working with much in the way of information. Still it seemed so far their presence had gone unnoticed and the mother ship hadn’t tracked them down, yet. But perhaps it was possible from here to begin to form some sort of, well for want of a better word, Vanguard.

A munitions site would be a tactical jackpot in terms of holding out. If only he could call in his allies, such as they were, on the pirate ship that had found them? Still that would have to wait, now was the time to get a hold of this ship, but quietly so they could slip into this moon munitions base and start the revolution. Frostbite was under no illusions the aliens masters held them in rank by fear alone. Break the power of that fear, and the terrible threat that hung over them, and many would be more than willing to strike back to illuminate that threat for good.

Frostbot, good work my friend as ever. But don’t be thinking this is a picnic, we’ve got work to do. Remember how you deactivated the explosive collars on the aliens of the last ship. We might need you to try doing that here. Just one thing, call me paranoid if you wish, but whilst we’ve been asleep you’ve seen no trace of that disembodied madman Timmy I take it?

Anyway, if not we need to get to the bridge, and start to talk to the aliens, the hierarchy works best if we get the top brass, or disable them if they won’t comply. But I’ll need you to unlock the collars again, it’s our only bargaining chip besides brute force.

OOC: Frostbite will let Steph sleep for as long as he can, before alerting her to the plan. Then allowing her to steal the energy from any passing aliens, they’ll stow them in these quarters before moving up to the bridge to take the crew in on the revolution and hopefully with them the whole ship. If we can show them they can be truly free form their overlords, my hope is they’ll all fall in line – save they cyborgs.

Sj

The journey took hours.

In that time the pair of displaced superheroes got some rest before setting out of the temporary sanctuary they' found. Steph 'fed' well, and soon the pair were ferrying unconscious crew members to secure rooms that Frostbot locked up, but not before deactivating those suppression collars...

Finally they stood outside the sealed Bridge room. Inside, Frostbite knew, were the Captain and the bridge crew along with two Cyborgs for security. Eventually it had been noted that crew were disappearing, and a run in with an unforeseen security patrol had set the ship on red alert. However, by then the crew had been mostly rounded up and the pair of heroes found no trouble in ignoring the laser blasts of the crew and putting the guards to sleep.

Frostbot had silenced outgoing communications and a visit to the engine room had dropped the ship out of Hyperspace into the hard vacuum of space where nothing but an occasional asteroid drifted past.

"Pirates! Enter here and you'll be ... be blasted!" squeaked the voice on the comms. Steph rolled her eyes and smiled. "Two Cyborgs? One each? Ready?"

=========

The bridge was finally silenced. The Cyborgs had put up a fight but with Frostbite and Reflex at full strength it had been one sided.

The rest of the bridge crew were down too, as Steph had drained them to the point of unconsciousness. The Captain had threatened to explode all of the collars of those on board to prevent them falling into enemy hands as slaves, but Frostbot took care of that.

=========

"...will give you a choice, which is more than you ever had before." finished Frostbite.

It was the seventh speech he'd given and he'd got four more to do in front of the captured crew who sat meekly in storage holds. For the most part the clone crewmembers had fallen into line. Some displayed individuality and refused to betray their masters but the majority were curious to see where this journey would take them.

So was Reflex. Hours later, she sagged back in the chair of the Exec Officer on the bridge next to the Captains chair. "So, where next Boss?"

Where indeed?

OOC You have a ship and a crew at least willing to taste freedom for as long as it lasts. The ship has minimal weaponry, designed to be part of a ship with escort and able to avoid attack in Hyperspace for the most part.

It's empty save for the stuff that the mother ship rejected or non functioning junk they dumped aboard to get recycled.

You have choices:

Go to the original destination - the ship yard system/supply centre. Teeming with millions of enemies and risk heavy.

Turn round and follow the mothership, try to get your team back. No need to tell you of the risks.

Find a neutral system and try to recruit allies. You are a stranger in a strange place. With superpowers. You are one of the most powerful people in this universe. Will that be enough?

Oh, and Frostbot tells you he's found no trace of Timmy as the ghost in the machine, but would only be able to find him if he were active...

Admin wrote:You have choices:

Go to the original destination - the shipyard system/supply centre. Teeming with millions of enemies and risk heavy.

Turn around and follow the mothership, try to get your team back. No need to tell you of the risks.

Find a neutral system and try to recruit allies. You are a stranger in a strange place. With superpowers. You are one of the most powerful people in this universe. Will that be enough?

Oh, and Frostbot tells you he's found no trace of Timmy as the ghost in the machine, but would only be able to find him if he were active...[/i][/color]

OOC:Ok do we know where our pirate friends/allies were going? Also, the original ship that we were on where we liberated the crew I guess have either been repurposed or executed? I wonder if we could track that down. The other thing is that these collars are a massive nuisance, if there was some way we could neutralise them, it would create an immediate problem for the invading forces, who are exploiting this universe. I wonder if there is some way to render them inert, permanently? The other thing is Timmy, at some point he is going to be a threat that could undermine everything we do - especially with Frostbot. I almost need to get Frostbot upgraded. In all the time we've been together, he's not significantly grown, but if there was a way to make him 'hack proof' or beef him up somewhat, that might also help.

Frostbite thought through the people and races he'd met whilst being part of this universe. Once again he'd made as many enemies and friends, but the friends were few and far between. The thought of starting out cold with a new group - many of whom want nothing to do with this empire, might be hard to win over. If only he could find where the pirate crew had gone.

Then again another thought occurred, "The enemy of my enemy..." If this empire was displacing many indigenous races, many whose Suns had been imploded, or who had been affected by systems that had, perhaps they could be persuaded to fight back. Where was the future technology, the races that had a science of their own, armies to stand against the threat of Timmy and his allies? Where there no races in this space, that could offer support, who looked on and wanted to fight back? This offered another line of thinking that had occurred to Frostbite before, perhaps it was time to find out if this ship had information that could help settle the matter.

Sj

As Frostbite and Reflex looked through star charts, zooming in on systems and wondering where they could find his Pirate allies, one of the bridge crew spoke up.

"Ahem. Uh. Sir? If I may... uh. Suggest?" he adjusted his neck collar nervously. "The pirates and.. uh... lowlifes in this sector congregate.... here" he said, pointing to a spot on the screen. Zoom in. Twin sun system with one large planet in the 'Goldilocks' zone (not too hot or cold) with a whole bunch of moons orbitting it.

"This place is a known pirate hangout. The sector is rife with illegal trade and activity. It has been raided several times but if there's one thing that unites the pirates, its hatred of the empire. The Empire lost a number of ships before it declared it a no fly zone. As such, the pirates there charge a fee for anyone doing business there because they know we... uh the Empire... won't go there. HERE..." another point on the map "A rival Pirate consortium set up and similarly repulsed Empire efforts to crush it. They suffered grievous losses though and are ripe for the Empire to crush once and for all. It was said they are desperately looking for allies. This is called the Hordar system. The other, with the firm foothold in the no fly zone is known as the Flaxar system. Both are lawless and dangerous. The stronger, the Flaxar system, may seek to claim dominion over the Hordar system. Pirates, thieves, merchants and refugees will probably not be able to pay the tithe that the Flaxar Pirates demand, but for cast iron assurance of safety from Empire aggression, that is the place to go, if you can pay the tithe."

Frostbites pirate crew were a hapless bunch with little in the way of money. That suggested the Hordar system as their logical choice.

Frostbot concurred. 'Our goal to recruit disgruntled refugees, merchants, pirates and anyone else with an axe to grind against the Empire will most likely congregate in either of these two places. There is a way we may be able to protect me from Timmy Jones' abilities. He is in effect a 'ghost' whereas I am an artificial spirit, not a program but similar. Find me a host form, specifically designed to house my spirit, and he will not be able to intrude. Furthermore I can 'splice' my mind into several backups, one of which you can use from your chestplate. You will still be my host, just not the only one.'

It wasn't the first time that Frostbite thought his sentient computer had asked for independence. This time though... he looked around. The bridge crew were all the same, with only hairstyle differentiating them, or uniform colour. Even the women looked to be from the same stock, though they at least dyed their hair a different colour where regulations permitted. A cloned form, specifically designed for Frostbot?

Frostbot continued 'Given time there may be a way to 'transmit' a tiny spliced program equivalent of me to any collar in range of the transmitter. They can of course change the collars so the transmission will not work, but that would simply be a matter of finding the new frequency. I will require time to do this though, and a pair of hands with which to delve into the mechanical and electronic workings of the collars.'

A cloned crewmember looked up. Her designation plate suggested her name was "Revo 11". "Do we have a course yet sir? We are - effectively - stopped in the middle of a hyperspace lane. According to the computer the chances of a high speed collision from a passing starship are almost 100%" she stated calmly.

Time to go!

OOC So:

Hordar system - Pirate held, currently the Empire doesn't go there, possible place to recruit refugees and pirates, the Empire will be going back to finish them off.

Flaxar system - safe from the Empire, but expensive to enter in and do business with. Chances are if you can't pay your ship will be taken as payment, and if you're lucky that will be the only thing you lose.

Frostbot wants a cloned body. Whether you give him that or not is up to you...

With regards the upgrade, I will look at the equivalent of 'mind shield' or similar to give Frostbot a better firewall against Timmy...

Admin wrote:Time to go!

OOC So:

Hordar system - Pirate held, currently the Empire doesn't go there, a possible place to recruit refugees and pirates, the Empire will be going back to finish them off.

Flaxar system - safe from the Empire, but expensive to enter in and do business with. Chances are if you can't pay your ship will be taken as payment, and if you're lucky that will be the only thing you lose.

Frostbot wants a cloned body. Whether you give him that or not is up to you...

With regards the upgrade, I will look at the equivalent of 'mind shield' or similar to give Frostbot a better firewall against Timmy...

"Crew lay in a course for Hordar system." Though the Flaxar system would be a find place to find allies and no doubt contains a fair number who are stronger when it taking on the Empire, nonetheless, it would be dangerous and foolhardy to take an Empire ship there with little but wits and some impressive heroics to impress them.

With the course laid in Frostbite somewhat reluctantly spoke the bridge crew with regard to Frostbot's instructions. The thought of his independence left Frostbite with a pang of regret. His companion had been with him so long it felt strange to have him depart - or even be cloned in some way. He knew it was also risky, another target. Frostbots ability to jump to machines and back meant he was much harder to hurt by conventional means. A true body localised him in some ways. But at the same time, Frostbite owed him so much it would be wrong to deny him the opportunity to go and grow. Perhaps it was time to let Frostbot grow up, though it felt at that point somewhat like letting children go. Something Frostbite had admittedly never experienced, but the sharp pang felt instinctively what it must be like at some level.

Turning to Reflex Frostbite laid out his thoughts to take his mind from brooding, "Horder may be the weaker, but its not going to be a walk in the park. Your powers are formidable, but going around sucking the life from prospective allies isn't going to win us any friends. But that doesn't mean we can't use that to our advantage. These guys respect strength. If we put you into a fight with them, your ability to drain them could give you the upper hand their overconfidence would otherwise miss. And have us come out the stronger. In any case, we need our wits about us. Flying an Empire ship into a Pirate system isn't one of my brightest ideas."

Sj

The crew wasted no time in laying in a course and getting underway.

As Frostbite spoke to Reflex he was gently interrupted by an apologetic crew woman who looked away as she spoke, clearly fearful of the pair that had single handedly taken the ship!

"Ah, sir? Sorry to interrupt. Just to let you know, there were a number of crew who, despite being offered relative freedom compared to what we had, were intent on sabotaging the ships engines and sending out a distress beacon. Despite being cloned, we are each given a small measure of individuality to stop the gene pool becoming corrupted. Some of those individuals clearly saw more value in being used as slaves by the Empire rather than serving as one of your crew. Others have requested a meeting to allay their fears and define what constitutes service, so they are sure they aren't swapping one dictator for another."

So it began. The weight of leadership hung heavy on Frostys shoulders as he exchanged a glance with Steph who grinned. "Comes with the job boss. I'll do the rounds on the ship, make sure trouble makers are rounded up and stowed in the hold where they can't cause trouble." She turned to several crew members on the bridge. "Come with me." before nodding to Frostbite and making her way off the bridge.

Another of the crew approached the Captains chair. Now what? "Sir, the Empire has a number of cloning facilities and 'factory planets' which turn out weapons and vehicles. Your... uh... friend seeks a body, we can find one in a number of places, designed to your specifications. There will of course be risk - the Empire guards its most prized assets very very well. However, the black market is said to be able to obtain anything... for a price."

More options. It appeared that along with the individuality some inquisitive behaviour crept in for these guys to know about the stuff they weren't supposed to.

As other officers came up with reports on the status of the ship, supplies (good), weapons (poor), crew (about 80% for Frostbite, some undecided, 5% steadfast Imperials) Frostbite knew the coming few hours would test him like no other!

=========

"Dropping out of warp in 3... 2... 1... real space" stated the helmsman.



Immediately alarms started blaring, the ship shuddered as space rippled and explosions rang all around!

"...dropped into the middle of a battle..."

"...readings unclear! Can you get a fix on..."

"...Scanning... too much interference... blanket jamming"

"Missiles headed this way... stray but ... confirmed. One has locked on!"

"We have eighteen... no. Correction. twenty three vessels within immediate striking distance. They are targeting each other for the most part."



"We have been locked on, repeat, locked on! Incoming fire!"

"brace! Brace! Brace!"

"Emergency manoeuvre Theta six Zero! Shields at full. Diverting auxiliary power! We are..."

There was a huge explosion as a ship passed between Frostbites' vessel and the incoming missiles and took a hit full on, flowering into flame and spinning away in broken sections!

"Tracking.. tracking!"

"Incoming transmission! We are... another incoming... flooding. Sir..." the communications officer turned to where Frostbite perched on his seat with Reflex stood alongside. "It appears the Empire has sent a number of Leviathan class strike vessels into the system and is being ASSISTED by a number of capital size and smaller Flaxar ships against the Hordar alliance! Messages have been transmitted automatically to all vessels incoming to this system. We need to choose a side... and a blockade is being formed by gravity well projecting Empire ships to stop anyone jumping into hyperspace!"

"No need to mention about out of the frying pan..." muttered Steph.

Frostbot spoke up 'We have an opportunity, albeit a slim one, of gaining an important ally. I should not need to remind you of the risks of failure!'

"Sir! Incoming EMPIRE vessel. They outgun us ten to one! They are demanding we stand down and prepare to be boarded by an inspection crew!"

The bridge crew looked at one another. "All Empire ships have transmitted the proper codes. Without knowing them, we have inadvertently possibly announced ourselves as hostile, but being an Empire ship, they are bound to inspect us first..."

Admin wrote:Frostbot spoke up 'We have an opportunity, albeit a slim one, of gaining an important ally. I should not need to remind you of the risks of failure!'

"Sir! Incoming EMPIRE vessel. They outgun us ten to one! They are demanding we stand down and prepare to be boarded by an inspection crew!"

The bridge crew looked at one another. "All Empire ships have transmitted the proper codes. Without knowing them, we have inadvertently possibly announced ourselves as hostile, but being an Empire ship, they are bound to inspect us first..."

Frostbite didn't need to look up at Steph as she made her comment, his rueful face spoke volumes as needed.
"And I don't suppose you have the right codes to hand? We could really do with getting into the biggest ship. Take that out and we can really turn this thing around. But otherwise we'd be sitting ducks taking pot shots from either side"

OOC:Ok talk about climatic, or dramatic at any case. So if we cannot send verifiable codes for the Empire ship to recognise us, then I guess we either run among the other ships - but standing out like a sore thumb to all as some kind of enemy. Or run forward toward the biggest ship, into which we need to get so we can start our revolution in earnest. Well if you going to do something best do it properly. Though I'd like to have got closer with the codes making it seem like we are legit, if not, best speed to the Leviathan and all hands brace. My plan would be to get aboard with Steph, have our ship, try and limp away so as to give the impression she's not worth it compared to the real prey at hand, and see if we can't turn things around by taking over the biggest ship. I'd still like to do that but its a question of how much finesses we'll be able to do it with or not.

Sj

Frostbot suggested 'The Codes are issued by the mother ship automatically. It seems that we 'didn't get the memo' so to speak.'

One of the bridge crew looked troubled, nervous even, before glancing around and looking up. "Um, sir? Sorry for speaking out of turn, but perhaps we could... um, blow up some of our systems. that is I mean to say..."

Steph raised an eyebrow. "I think I know what he means. Send a message out that we are here to support the Empire but have been damaged in battle and can't transmit the codes, seek help or something similar?"

The crew member breathed a sigh of relief, nodding.

The larger ship rumbled closer.

"It's a Kavatz class vessel, Mk Iv." said one of the crew. At the blank looks, he frowned, looking for the right word. Frostbot translated 'Essentially a gunship. It outguns us. However, if we could commandeer it... It's munitions would serve as a powerful bomb against those huge vessels...'

"Another transmission sir. Wait... this is from the Pirates... I mean.. merchants... whoever. They have scrambled the signal, so we have a short time to converse before it is jammed. Putting on the speaker." said a helmsman.

"...to new vessel. We are in desperate need of assistance! We will reward you greatly if you join our cause against the Empire! I... oh. You are an Empire vessel..." the transmission cut off.

The Kavatz closed in. "They are within firing range sir. Orders? I would suggest if we fight them, they would quickly overwhelm our shields..."

Steph stepped in close. "All this debris floating about. It will mean trusting that this lot don't betray us, but how about we take a short spacewalk onto that thing? It's another option."

Indeed it was.

Huge explosions rocked the ship nearby, and it shuddered as a debris field washed over it! The fighting was becoming fiercer!

Admin wrote:Steph stepped in close. "All this debris floating about. It will mean trusting that this lot don't betray us, but how about we take a short spacewalk onto that thing? It's another option."

Indeed it was.

Huge explosions rocked the ship nearby, and it shuddered as a debris field washed over it! The fighting was becoming fiercer!

"I like your thinking." Frostbite said, his face momentarily cracking a smile for what must have been the first time since this space journey had begun.

Turning to the crew Frostbite called on his inner reserves, such as they were to try and summon up some sense of the gravity of the situation, his thoughts and the reasons why the crew were on the cusp of something they'd never had before. "Reflex and I are going to try and gain that ship to our cause. You, the crew have something that few of your young race have...a taste of freedom. A chance to start out on your own rather than as the tools and instruments of those who grew you to serve their own selfish ends. I realise the temptation in battle is to turn back, to go where it seems safest. But I know you also know that having aided us thus far, you must know you are already dead to the empire, and they will dispatch you along with these pirates. Your best hope is sticking with us, for without us you are doomed. I know it's not looking good, but today is where you get to draw a line in the ground and determine what you will do, choose wisely."

With a nod to the crew, Frostbite got ready, telling Steph to take a space suit. It would do badly if she decided to leech energy from the crewmates, there'd be plenty she could leech from aboard the new ship. With a final order for the crew to lay low, and play dead, Frostbite and Steph went for the air lock nearest the oncoming ship and launched out into space, again.

Sj

Having donned a spacesuit, Steph gave the thumbs up and the pair went into an airlock.

Designed for the repair of the exterior systems on a vessel, the suit had limited jet capability to flit about but was by no means a way to get about at speed in space! the ship rocked again and Frostbot confirmed a moment before a voice came over the comms. 'The vessel has been struck by a stray blast. Several key systems are damaged but it remains operational for now.'

The airlock hissed and ejected the pair into space. It took a moment to orient himself but Frostbite tried his best to guess which was was 'up' and took hold of Stephs' tether, dragging her through the void towards the waiting Empire ship which loomed large in their vision!

The battle seemed distant out here, but debris floating about reminded that it was only moments away and could strike down Frostbites' vessel at any time! He wondered whether they'd betray him but realised it didn't matter right now. They would or they wouldn't - his priority was getting onto that ship!

Then he saw his chance! A shuttle, about the size of a double decker bus, glided from an open docking bay on the belly of the larger ship and slowly started to turn to point towards the smaller supply vessel. He saw his chance!

At his top speed he was still agonisingly slow, and saw the docking bay door start to close even as they made their way closer! The Shuttle made straight for Frostbites' ship and he guessed there would be marines or their equivalent on board. They would stamp their authority fast and hard on his crew, but that docking bay was his best chance of getting on the ship! Dare he risk everything to stop the shuttle somehow or would he have to trust his new crew to be able to make their own decisions and fend for themselves?

Steph looked across. She could guess what he was thinking, but offered no suggestion. The choice was Frostbites...

OOC Intercept the shuttle or make for the docking bay before it closes..?

Admin wrote:Steph looked across. She could guess what he was thinking, but offered no suggestion. The choice was Frostbites...

OOC Intercept the shuttle or make for the docking bay before it closes..?

Frostbite knew what the right thing to do in this situation was. Carry on with the mission and go for the bigger ship. But that wasn't going to make it easier to think of the crew who lost their lives and Frostbite moved from ship to ship disposing of them like throw-away tools. With a resigned look at Steph, Frostbite made for the other ship.

He knew that this might be a difficult fight, trained warriors might be much harder to turn. However, if they could be turned they may also prove to be valuable allies in taking over the bigger ship. But then it depended on what they found aboard. Slaying the mindless cyborgs might save the crew but little else.

OOC:Head for the ship that is angling to threaten my crew. And make best speed for a simple resolution

Sj