Trapped

[Pwenet]

TRAPPED

Prelude
With a yawn the nameless man awoke from a peaceful night sleep ~strangely devoid of the normal dreams~. Looking around the simple room ~something is missing~ he stretched out in the small bed and debated about going back to sleep ~why were their no sheets?~. Yet something stirred within him, reminding him that there was something to do.

Standing up he looked over wearily ~was he not just refreshed~ as the single door opened. Several servants stepped through holding strange items whose definitions slipped through his mind ~kinky white and glittering metal~. Their words washed over him yet he knew he should node happily and follow them, for they were his servants and they knew what was best for him. They clad him in the strange clothing, parts of it bitterly cold against his flesh and at times pinching painfully, yet he felt like the most handsome man in the entire universe.

Leaving his bedchambers he walked through long corridors of his mansion ~mansion, what happened to his apartment~ time seems to drop meaning and reason and he finds himself floating in a large room. Next to him is his best friend in the entire world ~what was his name~ along with all of his friends, family, their friends and their families as well ~what about the shuttle crash~.

Up ahead sitting behind an elevated desk was a man he did not recognize ~yet the role seems familiar~. Questions were asked which he found himself responding to quickly and easily, without a care nor even truly knowing what he was saying ~that is not normal, is it?~. He even made a witty joke about a prostitute, alien, horse and a bar that only he laughed at despite being assured that it was the funniest joke ever invented!

The nameless man up ahead shook his head and raised an object and brought it down.

Thunder ripped through the nameless one head as if a lightning bolt ripped through his ears.

Staggering a bit he looked around. His family and friends were gone, replaced by strangers looked at him with hate and disgust. His best friend was replaced by a kid in a cheap suit slowly packing away some displays into a briefcase. And up ahead was a man clearly a judge whose hand was slowly being pulled away from the gavel he slammed down. All across the walls were evidence, of bodies torn and ripped apart, strange writings in blood along walls, himself being led away by police chuckling and screaming and smiling with a sly little smile.

(“That is not me! I didn’t do it!”)

The words he wanted to scream from the depths of his soul traveled from his brain. His lungs sucked in a breath and his mouth opened, but all that came out was laughter. Not the normal laughter from a good joke but the laughter of one who has no grip on sanity, who thinks that life is a grand joke and that the punch line is the flash of a nuclear detonation. Behind the eyes filled with laughter the nameless man slammed himself against the walls within his mind, trying to batter through them, yet failing. Through the laughter the judge spoke, the words amplified through the room and into his mind.

”Mr. James Gidon Smith! You have been found guilty of 18 counts of murder. On this day of December 22nd, 2411 per the findings of this court you are to be sentenced to imprisonment on Hades colony, there to spend the rest of your natural life.”

Another slam of the gavel ripped through his mind as hearing his named opened up new memories, new thoughts and new desires. Struggling through the maze his mind had become the name turned around, almost drawn and saw a man sitting in the audience. Wearing a business suit of mid-20th century design with a hat, their eyes connected. Something snapped shut within the nameless man ~didn’t he just hear his name?~, he knew that person did this to him, that person was responsible for those murders, that man will bring the end of humanity!

Struggling against the firmly pressed jacket he wore he scream and tried to yell at the man but only foam sputtered. People looked at him in disgust at the maze for his mind grew smaller and smaller. A large man entered his field of vision and raised a remote, pointed it at him and pressed a button.

Pain ripped through his body and the nameless man slipped away into the blissful world of a dreamless sleep.


End of Prelude


Since the dawn of the 22nd century mankind has reached out towards the stars. Thanks to the advances in terraforming due to the 3rd World War in which the Earth had to be rebuilt we have the tools to make new Earths. With FTL drive we can spread out and no longer be threatened as a species with extinction due to either our own stupidity or an act of God. Ladies and Gentlemen, with the proper funding we can build a dozen Ark Colony Cruisers in five years and have the first human colony established within 10 years from this day with your support. This will aid in ensuring that we as a species endure the test of time.
Professor Marcus Conway – Inventor of the FTL-Drive – Keynote Speech for the Ark Project – August 23rd 2256


This is Ark Cruiser Prime – We have arrived – Beginning terraforming of our new home.
Commander Sean Frin – Captain of the 1st Ark Cruiser to Colonize the Planetary Body at Alpha Centauri – January 5th 2264


We have been broadcasting our song of life into the starts since electricity was discovered. We have slipped the bounds of our mother planet. Yet despite all of the planets we visited, all the probes with thrust into the great void, not one sign of any other forms of life has been discovered. That is why I propose to the council the restructuring of the SETI program to incorporate it into the Redemption Corporation to aid in the search for Terraformable planets.
Glavis Markin III – President of the Redemption Corporation – Meeting with the United Terran Federation Senate – September 9th 2399


There is no sign that humanity will develop psychic powers. That is the stuff of science fiction. The human brain is not designed for such activities. Those who claim to be psychic are either madmen, con-artists or those who can read people, using skills that have been refined since we learned to speak!
Doctor Nathan Grey – Neurosurgeon – Speaking at a conference regarding humanity evolution – December 1st 2401


Current Events – Pre-Launch
August 13th, 2411 – 09:32 TSD [Terran Standard Time]
Planet Cumae - Tau Ceti System - Avernus Orbital SpaceDock

Captain DeMarco opened his eyes and looked out the window of the cab. It had been a late night with that woman he met at the club, one that sadly he would not repeat for a long time. He told her he was the Captain of a long-range cargo hauler, which was technically true. He told her he had to go on a six-standard month round-trip to drop off supplies to a colony, which was also technically true.

He didn’t tell her he was a Ferryman.

The Ferrymen were a special rank assigned to select Captains of Redemption Corporation ships. Imbedded in a neural chip in his brainstem were the hyper-accurate coordinates, navigation routes and encrypted security codes to the Hades colony. The chip was a part of him as he was a part of it. If he was ever captured it would kill him and itself. If he tried to speak, or write, or even imply where Hades was or what it was it would kill him. Yet the rewards were well worth it, for he did not have a salary but instead a direct line to the coffers of the Redemption Corporation. That and being a select member of the Ferryman where they were only 13 of them at any one time made him a member to a very exclusive club.

He was a Ferryman of the damned to their deaths.

Oh he didn’t mind his job, in fact he liked it. Fast ships, beautiful woman, wealth and power were all his. Yet now it was time for him to take on the ancient role and lead the damned to their new lives.

The cab came to a silent stop in a reserved parking space. Getting out he didn’t both paying the driver, knowing that he was an employee of the Redemption Corporation. Walking into the terminal he walked like a man with a purpose. Passing through a scanner he nodded at the guards who would have killed him had the implant not sent the codes and counter-codes properly. It made boarding the crafts a lot easier than normal people.

Sitting nearby was his first officer, Jano Gilo who rubbed the stubble of hair that covered his hair with an annoyed expression. His recent promotion also carried the requirement of a mandatory implant which carried backup codes, and he was still trying to grow his hair back out after the surgeries. Seeing the Captain he stood up and nodded and joined DeMarco walking through the docking tube towards their ship.

“We have a full boat this trip, lots of scum this time around.”

“Any celebrities we need to worry about?”

“Depends on which system they originally came from. Nothing we need to worry about. The cargo is being loaded as we speak.”

“Good, and the ship?”

“We had a minor fluctuation in one of the FTL coils but that should be fixed by the time we launch. Also we had about 100 cyro-stasis tubes replaced due to planned maintenance. Most of the replacement ones are salvaged for decommissioned ships but they will be good enough for our needs. Otherwise everything is ship-shape.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Rounding a corner the two of them paused to look out a large window. Outside rested RC12-42TX, or what the crew jokingly called The Hope Killer. A Redemption Corporation ship she was an aging vessel, formally a patrol picket that had been bought out and converted into a cargo ship and then into a barge for the damned. 385 meters long from bow to stern with a width of 50 and height of 85 meters her hull was marked with various scars of indicating her advanced age. Yet inside her engines were sound (not to mention much more advanced than they originally were) and her systems stable. Despite appearances she was also one of the fastest ships in both sublight and FTL. The two massive dual-kinetic impact cannons on her ventral and dorsal ends had seen action from a few failed outside escape attempts of prisoners. Combat in space was harsh, as the old saying went ‘he who gets seen first gets hit first, and he who gets hit is in deep trouble.’ Hence her jumps were always in areas that no other ship should have a reason to be in, which were determined once she was underway. A few maintenance pods hovered around her working on minor repairs and maintenance before she was underway again.

Taking a moment to look at their home for the next half year Jano breaks the silence.

“She is almost fully fueled. Not to mention the dockhands managed to improve her fuel efficiency again. They are talking about possibly replacing her reactor with an X8 next time we return.”

“You managed to talk them out of replacing her entirely.”

“Well, other than the reactor and FTL coils she is sound, not to mention one of the fastest ships. It would be a waste to waste everything else. Plus I like the looks of our guests faces when they find out her name.”

“That is always the best part.”

“Well then let’s get going. It is time to get this show on the road.”

[Pwenet]

Prologue: Moments of Transition

Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Location: Unknown
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWaking up from a nap you take a look around the cabin of the transport you are on. Large enough to hold twelve chairs, one of which you were currently held in you were the sole occupant. From what you were told there were direct flights to Hades from Earth, as such you were being shuttled to another system where you would be transferred to another ship which was going to Hades.

It also seems they wanted to get you away from any possible influences of your family for the transport was not full. In fact you were the only person in this cabin, and from what you saw of the transport outside it was all engine , this cabin attached to the top of it and the cockpit. As such the fact you were alone meant that they were scared of your family doing something even though you know they would most likely be in the process of severing all ties with you, which was to be expected with your capture.

Without warning everything tears itself apart and pulls back together. Your stomach settles down quickly as the aftereffects of the jump pass through you. One nice thing about this transport is that it actually has a viewport in the ceiling, letting you look up at the stars. Overhead you see several ships pass through and the ship rotates, letting you see a massive orbiting station of a brown and dark blue planet. You are unfamiliar with the system yet it seems to be heavily trafficked.

Yet the destination is not one of the orbiting stations for a massive ship comes into view. Black and grey hull it resembles a floating gun in space. Two massive twin-barreled cannons rotated around as if being tested as running lights blink. The ship grows larger and larger and you can make out the words “Hope Killer” painted on the hull in red paint. You recall hearing that would be the ship that would be being you to Hades.

Then the transport you are on apparently enters a hanger bay. The deck shivers slightly as it apparently lands. It seems that you were about to start your trip soon to Hades, once they get you off this shuttle.

Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig – Solitary Confinement
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationIt had been a long trip.

Oh you had been sentenced and convicted. The judge ordered you to Hades. But apparently one of the reasons Hades was such a good prison colony was that only a few people knew where it was. And they could not be everywhere at once. As such you were tossed into this UTF frigate and shuttled over to another system where a Redemption Corporation ship was waiting to take you to Hades. Of course the UTF really didn’t believe in treating their prisoners nicely or giving them things to do on their way. Most of your time had been spent sleeping or exercising in the small cell.

Yet today was different as the cell door opened. Instead of getting a meal the guard placed you in restraints and hauled your side. You were then tied into a line of other prisoners, three in total (it seems that you all got the bulk discount rate for this trip). The man in front of you had the look of a egghead about him while the woman behind you made you nervous for some odd reason that you couldn’t place a finger on.

It seems that despite only placing two guards on you three that there were other precautions. You noted that the doors you passed were sealed shut, that there were no other crewmembers and finally it was a fairly short walk to the airlock. The small party you were a member of barely had a chance to wait before it opened, revealing a connecting docking collar leading into the inside of what appeared to be a small shuttle. Twelve bare metal chairs waiting for you all, all of them with fun ankle and wrist restraints which the guards took pleasure in placing you into along with the other two prisoners. As they finish they finally start talking to each other.

“What you think Bill? We all set here?”

“Yeah, procedures say we can leave them here, they are still loading the rest of the cargo in the other level. Let’s get going Ted.”

“Sounds good to me. Have a nice flight to hell prisoners.”

It seems that this is the ship that will take you to Hades. Who knows, maybe something will happen to give you a chance to escape. At least now you have some company to speak with before the shuttle launches as the two guards leave and seal the airlock behind them.

Dreamshifter - Drenmar Amyril
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig – Solitary Confinement
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationSitting in the small cell you were bored out of your mind. Because of your background it seems that someone thought it would be a good idea to weld plate metal over the computer interface. Nor were they kind enough to leave you reading material, leaving you with only the lighting and jumps as ways to know that time was actually passing. Keeping yourself occupied you tried to come up with new ideas however this was difficult in such an environment.

There is a buzzing sound at the door and from practice you back away. The first time you didn’t back away when it buzzed you got a stun stick to the stomach and no food that meal. As such you backed away from now on at the door opened and a armored soldier enters carrying restraints. Normally he is the strong and silent type yet today you are surprised when he speaks.

“I got news. We just made the last jump on this trip and are docking with the station. You will be transferred to another ship for your trip to Hades. It is time to go to the airlock now.”

The guards applies the restraints to you and escorts you from the cell. Standing outside of it you see another prisoner escorted from the cell next to yours (they have good soundproofing for some odd reason). You only get a quick look at him but noticed two scars over his left eye. From yet another cell a women is taken out as well. All three of you are bound together via the central waist band and escorted through the ship. The narrow corridors are surprisingly clear and the trip is short. Apparently the brig is along the outer-hull of the ship, which is not a comforting thought considering that is where a hull breach could occur in a battle.

Standing there you feel a shuddering in the deck and the airlock opens. You see the inside of a shuttle. The painting and configure looks different, and you catch the glimpse of the Redemption Corporation logo. It seems that you are leaving the UTF hands.

The three of you are guided into the shuttle, separated and restrained into the chairs in the cabin of the shuttle. Clearly this is a prisoner transport due to the fact all the chairs have built in restraints and are separated from each other. Looking around you see there is enough seating for twelve prisoners and that other than the airlock that you entered from there is no other entrance or exit. Finishing their work the two guards look at each other.

“What you think Bill? We all set here?”

“Yeah, procedures say we can leave them here, they are still loading the rest of the cargo in the other level. Let’s get going Ted.”

“Sounds good to me. Have a nice flight to hell prisoners.”

Laughing the two guards leave, sealing the airlock shut behind them, leaving the three of you alone, waiting.

dyslexicfaser - Reggie Sharpe
Location: Planet Constance in the Tau Ceti System – New Haven Prison – Male General Population Cell Block
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory Prisoner Jumpsuit – This is a bright orange jumpsuit for prisoners with the prisoner name and number on the right check, back and buttocks. There are no pockets in the jumpsuit. Included are white undershirt and boxers.

NarrationThe jail was torture. Day after day subjected to assaults that drove your instincts made. A faint smell, movement out of the corner of your eye, a innocent contact, all of these nearly drove you berserkness. Yet you were able to keep yourself in check, spending most of your time in your cell or the prison library. It was boring yet so far there was no blood on your hands.

Yet today there was a difference. You sensed an oddity in the cell block. As it got closer you recognized the taste of a power-armored riot guard. The thumping footsteps then reached your ears and soon enough you saw the figure standing in front of your sealed cell door. Dark brown armor with obvious motors at the joints, the imposing figure towered nearly seven feet. One large gauntlet carried a box while the other was free, the fingers opening and closing with casualness despite possessing the strength to lift half a ton. The helmet had a filter with the eyes two black discs.

“Prisoner – Per the RC code of conduct I am here to inform you that your transfer to the prison colony of Hades will be taking place today in two hours. Prepare yourself.”

Reaching into the box the guard pulls out a jumpsuit and pushes it through the bars and into your cell.

“Dress in this – Failure to do so will result in force being applied.”

The guard turns and walks away, where dimly you can hear him make the same speech to another cell where you remember a man being escorted to earlier. It seems that soon it will be time to travel.

Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig – Solitary Confinement
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationIn many ways you were thankful. Since your capture and conviction you had been kept in solitary confinement. When you were transferred to this ship you hoped for a chance that a crewmember would be stupid enough to try to do something to you for his own pleasure, yet the closest you came to company was the guard armed with the stun stick who provided you with food every once in a while. Otherwise you were kept alone in the small cell which you suspected was soundproofed.

Oh you knew you were going to Hades. The judge made it clear that is your destination. However Hades is not on any known map, and the ships that go there are few and far inbetween. Apparently however the UTF and Redemption Corporation have an agreement to shuttle prisoners to ships heading to Hades, which is why you were stuck on this frigate.

Yet today was different as the cell door opened. Instead of getting a meal the guard placed you in restraints and hauled your side. You were then tied into a line of other prisoners, one man with some scars over his left eye and the other having the look of a scientist.

It seems that despite only placing two guards on you three that there were other precautions. You noted that the doors you passed were sealed shut, that there were no other crewmembers and finally it was a fairly short walk to the airlock. The small party you were a member of barely had a chance to wait before it opened, revealing a connecting docking collar leading into the inside of what appeared to be a small shuttle. Twelve bare metal chairs waiting for you all, all of them with fun ankle and wrist restraints which the guards took pleasure in placing you into along with the other two prisoners. As they finish they finally start talking to each other.

“What you think Bill? We all set here?”

“Yeah, procedures say we can leave them here, they are still loading the rest of the cargo in the other level. Let’s get going Ted.”

“Sounds good to me. Have a nice flight to hell prisoners.”

It seems that this is the ship that will take you to Hades. Who knows, maybe something will happen to give you a chance to escape. At least now you have some company to speak with before the shuttle launches as the two guards leave and seal the airlock behind them.

Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Cyro-Stasis Chamber
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs. The suit has been modified to hold your wings into two compartments on the back.
NarrationEvery time it happened the same. Damaged ships spitting flames and atmosphere. Debris floating through space. Bodies swollen with decompression, some still twitching. Yet the worst was the open cyro-stasis chamber in front of you. Your wifes screaming face looked at you, her eyes building out of her skull, tongue swollen like a sausage, blood boiling out of her body. You slammed against the transparent cover of the chamber, trying to join her in the hellish void, to kiss her one last time, to hug, to hold her.

Yet she does not die. Her grotesque features turn to look at you and screams through the void into your soul, tearing it apart. Flying through space she smashes into the chamber, ripping you out of the chamber. Your right hand is caught in a strap and severed, spinning off into the horror scene of debris and dying bodies. Biting her own tongue out she starts then starts biting into you, screaming between mouthfuls a single word over and over as she eats your eyes out.

Waking up you try to gasp but find that the trachea tube down your throat prevents that. You see just a handspan from your face the clear material of a cyro-stasis tube, frosted over. A deep yet familiar chill settles over you as your body starts to warm up. Pain from your right hand registers as you realize you shifted the IV’s plugged into it.

The top of the chamber opens up, letting you look into the face of a man who looks familiar whenever you look into a mirror. Possessing the same facial build his is more filled out. His body as well is more heavily built from a life in the military. Standing ramrod straight your grandson looks at you with contempt. Trying to sit up you find yourself restrained in the cyro-stasis chamber.

“Welcome back to the world of the living grandfather. Don’t get up, we only have a little bit of time and I wanted to say something to you. Don’t say anything for I don’t want you to.”

“I could have been a scientist. I am a genius when it comes to FTL theory. I even had a paper published several years ago. Yet you know what drove me into the military. What destroyed my father.”

“It was you.”

“Not that you survived the accident, for that is what it was. Yes my father was angry but you never gave him a chance to work through that anger. Did you know he passed away a few years ago? His last words were begging to see you again, to mend fences for you were his father.”

“He died young a broken man. It was then I transferred from my university into the military. I guess us Conways have some skill with leadership. I made it my life to track you down, to clear our family name.”

“Yet it will never be cleared. I pulled some strings to ferry you this far, but you are going to Hades. I know about your condition. I know you won’t last long. That is why I kept you frozen here, to make it as long as possible. Maybe you will have a revelation and forgive yourself. Maybe not. All that I know is that I found you, and no matter how twisted brought you to justice.”

Sighing your grandson looks into your eyes. You see them break a little as he speaks.

“I forgive you. But I can not forget. You are my grandfather, and it pains me to do this. Goodbye grandfather.”

Stepping back from the chamber your grandson hits the controls to the cyro-stasis chamber and it seals itself up again. Yet it does not activate, leaving you trapped in a small coffin full of screams of ghosts…

Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Tattered Clothing – The remains of your original clothing. During the course of your “stay” on this ship they are significantly the worse for wear.
NarrationThe first flies towards your face. For a second you just look at the knuckles, clad in red which slowly drips from them. As they approach you see the calluses from use on them, the tiny imperfections in them. All this is viewed through your one good eye, the other nearly swollen shut from previous impacts from the fist as it flies, and then time, like a rubber band, snaps.

Contact.

You manage to twist your head a little to deflect some of the energy behind the blow however it still snaps your head away. Coughing you spit out blood from your split lip onto the man’s shoes. This infuriates him even more and he painfully grabs your jaw and tilts your head up. With your hands shackled behind you to the metal chair and yours legs shackled to the legs of the chair you are a difficult time resisting.

“Listen scum. We want to navigation routes to your other “resistance” cells. We want your hidden bases, the routes you take, everything. We have all the time in the world here.”

His c companion behind you jabs you in the kidney with a stun stick as the other man punches you in the stomach. Since your capture you had been stuck in this brig with these two men “politely asking” you about information on the secret spacer lanes, especially the ones that you used in your anti-UTF operations. For a while they were polite but your refusal to answer led to more and more physical persuasion efforts. Today there was a note of urgency in their efforts, as if they were running out of time. You had a pretty good idea when the ship would be ready to jump again, and based on the feeling of it you were playing a nice game with yourself trying to guess where you were jumping to. Based on the number of jumps and the time inbetween them it seems more and more likely the next jump would place you towards the final destination.

Letting you go your head sags down to look at the deck as the one soldier looks at his watch and sighs.

“Bloody space, she won. We got to get her cleaned up here soon. Let’s get her to the doc before she is transferred to that other ship for Hades.”

Before you could retort he hauls off on you. Apparently his earlier blows were being held back for this one is out of the blue and makes you feel like you are in zero-G. Dimly you are aware of being released from your restraints and carried between the two of them out of the brig. Your brain starts piecing itself back together as you are carried through corridors and into what looks to be a medical lab.

A medical lab with a angel in it.

Strapped to one of the tables is a woman with two honest-to-vacuum WINGS! Of course judging by the various tubes plugged into her and half-healed wounds it seems her trip was like yours. The man working over her sighs and starts berating the two soldiers carrying you as you are stripped and dressed in a cyro-stasis jumpsuit (a poor quality one at that with all the external components). Secured to a operating table next to the angel the doctor starts working on your face. You feel your face stiffen as he does something to ease the bruising and reduce the swelling and you can start to see out of your eye again.

Then the default FTL warning alarm goes off, the same for every ship and you smile. You had the timing nearly perfect.

”All hands – Prepare for Jump 4731. Final jump to the Tau Ceti System, planet Constance. Secure all systems for jump.”

The doctor turns towards the angels and mutters something but it is lost as the voice continues to shout throughout the ship.

”Jump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…JUMP!”

For an instant everything twists. You feel inside-out and inside-in. Your body flies apart and back together in an instant. All in the space of a eyeblink and then it is over. Spacers are used to such feelings, and in some cases there are some they never feel more alive than when making a jump.

The doctor then vomits onto the deck. Clearly he is not happy with Jumping and you can help but laugh at his discomfort as he stumbles away.

”Jump complete – 20 minutes to dock. Prepare to off-load cargo, set condition-5 across the ship. Unseal airlocks and prepare moorings.”

It seems that soon you will be leaving this fine ship and heading on another towards Hades.

Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Location: UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Medical Bay
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs. The suit has been modified to hold your wings into two compartments on the back.
NarrationSquirming instinctively you are helpless as you look at the long needle approaches you. Fading into a blur as it gets closer you feel the pain as it works its way into the top of your right wing.

“Amazing! Simply Amazing! I read about people like you, adding animal features to themselves. But the work on these wings, how all the nerves work, how you can process the signals. Clearly you spent a pretty penny on yourself.”

Removing the needle the young doctor looks down at you. Secured to a metal operating bed at a 45 degree angle there are bonds at your wrists, ankles, legs, torso and throat. Your wings are also similarly restrained in a spread about position. Needless to say you were a curious sight to many of the Inner System crewmembers on the ship who seem to be taking turns visiting the “captive angel”. For the most part their curiosity ended at looking thankfully.

However this doctor seem to have a hobby with genetics on the side and he was running all sorts of tests on you. Nor was he concerned much with creature comforts, in fact he took great pleasure in breaking several of the smaller bones in your wings to see how you reacted. Thankfully he would put everything back together in due course. Of course the fact that your wings now had several holes in them from missing feathers and your back was covered with scars from his ‘personal’ examinations of your muscles that controlled them.

When you were captured it was in a out-of-the-way system with minimal traffic, the perfect place to play your game. Plus it had low-gravity which made your show all the more impressive. However because of the low traffic there were no ships heading to Hades. Unluckily for you a UTF frigate was heading towards Constance in the Tau Ceti System where a Redemption Corporation ship was taking on prisoners for a trip to Hades. Some strings were pulled and you were put onboard the frigate to be taken there.

The doors to the medical lab open and two soldiers enter carrying the limp form of a women. She has several burn marks and wounds all over her. The doctor looks over at them and sighs.

“Common! How do you expect me to make her presentable before we get to our destination? I told you two to go easy on her!”

“Doc, you know how it is. We needed her info. At least we are giving you plenty of time, we are not jumping for a few minutes.”

“A few minutes to hide her burns and other signs of torture. My dear friend you underestimate my skills. Bring her to my parlor!”
The two soldiers bring the woman to the operating table next to you and you get a look at her. Dark skinned with curly black hair (missing in several areas) she has the look of one from a low-grav world as well. Across her face are several ugly bruises and burns along her arms. Despite the signs of abuse she appears to be conscious still and has a half-smile.

“Terrible. Okay the jumpsuit will hide the worst of this. I hate to waste good medicine on boring scum like her however I have no choice. We are on a clock people!”

The woman clothing is changed to a similar jumpsuit like yours while the doctor uses various tools of the trade to hide the worst of the signs of abuse. Also they secure her to the table like you, making it seem more and more likely that she is heading towards the same destination. As he finishes a shrill alarm goes off and a voice echoes throughout the frigate.

”All hands – Prepare for Jump 4731. Final jump to the Tau Ceti System, planet Constance. Secure all systems for jump.”

Signing the doctor looks over at you with an expression of sorrow.

“I’m sorry my dear but our time is at an end. I had fun and I’ll always treasure our moments together. As for you two idiots, I will get you back for this!”

”Jump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…JUMP!”

For an instant everything twists. You feel inside-out and inside-in. Your body flies apart and back together in an instant. All in the space of a eyeblink and then it is over.

The doctor then vomits onto the deck. You had suspected he didn’t tolerate jumps well for he always went into a private chamber before a jump. The other woman smiles and starts laughing.

”Jump complete – 20 minutes to dock. Prepare to off-load cargo, set condition-5 across the ship. Unseal airlocks and prepare moorings.”

Still retching the doctor stumbles out while the two soldiers leave, muttering something about cleaning themselves up before inspection, leaving you alone trapped on the operating table with the other woman/prisoner.

OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Location: Unknown
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWaking up your mind feels sluggish and slow. Slowly things start to ramp up, as if waking up from a deep sleep and you look around. Surrounding you are various simple metal chairs in a metallic room. Distant memories that are still being processed quickly identify this place as a Troop Transport. However you are the only passenger in a compartment designed to hold about 50 men.

Trying to move you find yourself unable to. Your memories flash back to the prison. You had just been sentenced to Hades and escorted to your cell. Barely entering there was a flash, a bad smell and something tasted purple before you woke up here. It seems that they drugged you and now were shipping you somewhere unknown.

At the fore end of the cabin you see the door leading to the cockpit open and a man in a military jumpsuit enter. Looking at you he nods slightly upon seeing that you are awake.

“Good morning. Sorry for lack of notification about your flight plans but with everything going on it was decided to sneak you out quickly, without telling you.

Dimly you are now aware that you are shackled to the chair. Even without the remains of the drugs in your system you would have a difficult time escaping from the chains. The pilot continues speaking.

“You should feel better soon. I would prefer to keep you out however the cyro-stasis drugs and what we had available don’t mix well so we needed to get your system cleaned up. No we are not going to Hades, just to another system where you will get your ride to Hades. Anyways I was ordered to tell you that when you woke up. Have a pleasant hell.”

Turning the pilot exits the cabin, leaving you alone in the transport.

RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Location: Abercrum Orbital Security Center – Medical Lab
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWaking up you look around, finding yourself in semi-familiar surroundings. They look like a medical bay yet not one that you spent time in. The cold embrace of metal surrounds your arms, legs and torso and a brief looks reveals that you are restrained to the table. In addition your former jumpsuit is gone replaced by a new one which barely resembles one that you used to wear on long journeys where cyro-stasis was needed.

A figure walks into your eye-sight and you see a doctor you never seen before. His smock is stained with blood and oil and he appears to be whistling a merry tune. Turning to look at you he chuckles.

“Hello cutie. Sorry about the rude awakening.”

Memories flash of you in your solitary cell. A strange odor fills the room as it starts to warp into a illusion of your childhood bedroom before falling asleep

“You have a fun little trip soon. You are going to Hades. Needless to say we had to get you ready and we didn’t think you would be the most willing of guests.”

With some gestures the doctor indicates your change in clothing. A sense of pain awakes in your arm and you see an IV hooked into it.

“Plus we are getting you ready by keeping you nice and happy with drugs. I hope you have a pleasant flight. Too bad you don’t have anything mechanical, it would make this more fun.”

Resuming his whistling the doctor leaves the small chamber leaving you alone.

Sam Miller - William Holt
Location: Abercrum Orbital Security Center – Medical Lab
Status: Unharmed and (Debatably) Sane
Inventory
Nothing – The absence of anything.
NarrationThe masked face of the surgeon looks down at you as the buzz of his electrical saw fills yours ears. Despite being allowed to keep your various limbs that were not “original components” the security center chief surgeon was taking great pleasure in making sure that they had no surprises. Of course this happened to be the third or thirteenth time he has done this procedure. Of course you were being impolite in not thanking him for the pain and poor adjusting of your limbs but being strapped into the table and drugged prevented that. Sadly the drugs were only paralytic and kept you fully alert for all this fun.

Yet this time there was an interruption. Out of the corner of one of your eyes you catch a glimpse of something you seems important.

“How is he doing today? Any “problems” with his limbs?”

“Nope – This is actually good practice for me. We don’t get many severed limbs here, not to mention these limbs are quality.”

“Glad to hear you are having fun. Sadly though you are going to lose your playtoy.”

“Awe, is he going to Hades now? I always knew that this day would come. Still I think he will be happy in his new home.”

The surgeon looks down towards you with the expression one saves for a favored puppy.

“Are you going to be a good boy? Are you going to have fun in Hades? I certainly hope so, just know that you will always have a special place in my heart. Wait a second, you are a male one! The female in the other chamber was so much more fun.”

Chuckling the two walk away leaving you alone. To add insult to injury the temperature drops dramatically and your lack of clothing makes it even more apparent.

Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Location: Taurus 4 – Maximum Security Prison – Solitary Confinement
Status: Unharmed and (Debatably) Sane
Inventory
Prisoner Jumpsuit – This is a bright orange jumpsuit for prisoners with the prisoner name and number on the right check, back and buttocks. There are no pockets in the jumpsuit. Included are white undershirt and boxers.
NarrationIt was yet another day in the boring cell.

Since you were betrayed by your friend you had been shuttled from one place to another. It was fairly dull and the various prisons seem to be taken every precaution to keep you from escaping. No access to computers, no access to machines, you were kept in simple and barren cells. It made their job a lot easier.

On this fine morning however there is a difference. Through the small hole in the front of the cell you can hear the dim echo of voices and then the sounds of footsteps. A face looks in and you recognize the Shift Captain of the various guards.

“Hmm, looks like my model prisoner will have company. Get yourself ready for a freeze, you are finally on your way to Hades.”

A small door opens at the bottom of the cell and a jumpsuit is pushed through. Looking at it you recognize it as a cyro-stasis jumpsuit.

“Don’t think about modifying it or anything, those things are simple, anything you did to it would probably end up killing you when you freeze. Heck, that would be amusing. I heard of one prisoner who decided to bypass the cardiac regulator and tie it into the dialysis unit, trying to turn himself into a bomb. I feel bad for those that had to clean out that tube for apparently he blew up and exploded over the course of a painful five hours.”

Chuckling at the memory the shift captain turns and you can hear the click of various controls.

“Be ready in a couple of hours. That is when you will be picked up.”

The shift captain then walks away, leaving you alone in the small cell. Before you can react a recessed sprinkler in the ceiling activates, spraying a liquid all over you. Looking at your clothing you see it dissolving away while the new jumpsuit remains intact. Clearly if you want to retain your dignity you would have to dress yourself.

SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Location: Taurus 4 – Maximum Security Prison – Solitary Confinement
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Prisoner Jumpsuit – This is a bright orange jumpsuit for prisoners with the prisoner name and number on the right check, back and buttocks. There are no pockets in the jumpsuit. Included are white undershirt and boxers.
NarrationWalking through the dimly lit corridor your movements are hampered by the restraints. Shackled at the wrists and ankles which are then tied to a belt around your waist they keep you restrained and makes movement difficult. On top of that there are two armored guards escorting you. It was always two, no matter what. Two would escort you from the cell, two would watch you work a shift working on farm equipment (also to ensure that you did not work with engine blocks), with two finally escorting you back to the solitary cell.

However there was something strange this time. Standing in front of the small cell that was your home is the Shift Captain of the prison guards. He is holding a small box which you recognize as being the few possessions you were allowed to keep.

“Good afternoon prisoner. Today is a good day for the rest of us. No more extra shifts for my men guarding you. We get a cell block back and we can get engine blocks back on the shifts. You are heading off to Hades prisoner. You have a couple of hours to get ready. As for your possessions they will be shipped separately. It is time to pay.”

Nodding to the guards they gently guide you into your cell. Entering it you see lying on your cot like a uniform is a cyro-stasis jumpsuit. You had seem them a few times, and they were used only for people who were about get hit the cold storage. Other than the jumpsuit your cell was barren. The guards swiftly remove your restraints and leave you in the locked cell.

tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Location: Planet Argo – Spaceport Prison
Status: Unharmed and Sane
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe sun broke over the tips of the buildings of the capital city of the planet Argo. It was a beautiful day with only a few clouds in the sky and the weather promising to be nice.

Looking out what was to be the last sunrise you would see on the planet Argo you try to get comfortable in your new jumpsuit. You had known for the past week that you were going to be shipped to Hades after budget cuts on your homeplanet forced the closure of many of their prisons, including the one that you were sentenced to. Hearing about the issues of your planet the Redemption Corporation offered the government a lucrative contract to take care of their prisoners. As such you were being shipped off the planet you have lived on for most of your life.

Outside the cell you can hear your parents leaving. Once they heard of your fate to go to Hades they tried to plea for leniency, but there was no space available in the remaining prisons on this planet and they were too poor to pay for the necessary bribes. As such they left, unable to face you any longer. It seems that someone in the small prison decided to play some music which sounds like ancient classical (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQ2yXE1mpU).

“Enjoying the morning little lady?”

Turning you see the Warden of the prison standing outside your cell. Next to him is a nurse clad in white scrubs with two attendants standing next to a long cylinder object.

“You were a good guest here. No issues really, you were improving. I am sad it had come to this however it is time. Please, make it easy for yourself, don’t struggle.”

The cell door opens and the Warden takes a step back, allowing the nurse to approach you who is holding a syring.

“I will make this as easy as possible. You will sleep as you are transferred to the ship that will take you to Hades. I’m sorry.”

ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Location: Planet Constance in the Tau Ceti System – New Haven Prison – Male General Population Cell Block
Status: Bruised. Taser Burns. Sane
Inventory
Prisoner Jumpsuit – This is a bright orange jumpsuit for prisoners with the prisoner name and number on the right check, back and buttocks. There are no pockets in the jumpsuit. Included are white undershirt and boxers.
NarrationA pounding headache greets you as you awaken. The rest of your body joins in the complaining as various bruises and burns from the nightsticks and tasers decide to greet you as well. Looking around you see that you are back in your cell which is already stripped of the few possessions you were allowed to bring. Apparently now that you have been sentenced you were about to be shipped out soon and they were not even waiting for you to leave. So much for your trip to one of the Inner System planets.

Looking out the bars of your cell you see a guard clad to powered riot armor. Turning towards you he flips up his visor and smirks at you and you recognize him as one of those who brought you down in the courtroom earlier.

“Finally awake scum? I was hoping your lazy butt would awaken before the doc get’s here. You might have noticed the bareness of your cell. It is just your luck that we were able to book you first class accommodations on a ship to Hades that leaves this afternoon. I hope you enjoy your trip.”

Turning away the guard wanders away to leave you be at the noontime bell goes off. Your cell door unlocks so that you can head over to the lower level of the cell block where the cafeteria is. Considering your destination this would probably count as your last meal.



Interlude
Floating through space the nameless man ~I was called Gidon Smith~ looked down upon a planet. It looked harsh, all browns and tans with very little visible water. Faint clouds covered the globe that hung like a Christmas ornament in the vastness of space. There something there ~WHAT?!?~ that he should know ~Hush little baby, don’t say a word. Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird~

Waking up the nameless man jerked up only to be rudely pushed back down into a thin mattress. Struggling he heard someone curse and then a crack filled his brain. Slamming his head back into the pod he groaned as warmth trickled out of his nose.

“Now look what you did! More work.”

“What the hell got him awake? The anesthetic should have kicked in fully by now.”

“I don’t know. Awe spaceballs he is bleeding all over the place. Nice one.”

“Well what the hells was I suppose to do? Ask him to pretty please cease and desist. He had it coming and you know it.”

“Yeah – Just makes a bit more difficult. Why couldn’t he be taken care of with the rest of the herd.”

“Because he was tried and convicted here and they wanted to make sure everything is working properly before the big wave. You know how it is.”

“Yeah yeah. Luckily for this scum he will still be awake for the freeze. I love watching these macho men who stay awake.”

The nameless man groaned as one of the men deftly set his broken nose while the other inserted various IV’s into his veins through ports in the jumpsuit he was wearing. The two of them continued to talk, mostly technical details regarding what was going on with the cyro-stasis tube. The drugs started to take hold again and the nameless man found himself starting to drift again as he felt a tube shoved down his throat and something adhered to his face. Focusing he saw the two men back away, turning into blurs. Mechanical noises assaulted his ears as a lid lowers and then seals shut.

For several seconds nothing happens within the small, cramped chamber. Then a numbing cold, so cold it passes through numbness and into burning fills the nameless man’s veins. He tries to scream but his throat will not work. His arms feel like they are made of frozen ice and that one heartbeat will shatter them. Terror fills his brain yet he is helpless as his lungs start to freeze. A liquid sensation starts to accompany each breath and he feels icy cold liquid drip out of the corner of his mouth.

Then pain. ~REMEMBER~ Electrical pain in his heart. ~REMEMBER TO~ His heart struggles but it forgets how to work ~REMEMBER TO FOR~

Another shock.

Then another.

The world pulls away rapidly. Feeling his thoughts swirl around a great dark drain the man feels the adrenaline keeping him awake fading away as his heartbeat slows.

And slows.

And slows.

Stop.

More liquid pours into the chamber covering the nameless man within seconds. The icy liquid starts to freeze over and the man wonders how he is still alive as his mind circles the drain.

A heartbeat.

The coldness, the deathly slow pulse and the drugs finally win and the man let’s go and slides into the dark vortex of his mind.

~Remember to Forget~

Outside the tube the two nurses look at each other and shrug. Within the clear material of the cyro-stasis tube the super-chilled stasis liquid has fully filled the chamber and the prisoner finally passed out.

“I think we got a new record.”

“Agreed, vitals look good, 1 beat every five minutes now, body temp at proper levels, he is officially on ice.”

“Excellent. Onto the next one.”

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel smirked at the doctor's embarrassing display of severe jump sickness. His humiliation, though not caused by her, nontheless helped to salve her wounded dignity, at least as much as was possible while she was strapped down, literally eagle-spread. Fortunately, she was soon left alone with the other woman, who, being in a similar position herself, was far less offensive company. Turning her head as much as her restraints would allow, Rachel cleared her throat to get the woman's attention.

"I take it they didn't get whatever it was they wanted from you? It almost makes me thankful that the doctor's interest in me was purely personal curiousity."

[dyslexicfaser]

Reggie Sharp - Planet Constance, New Haven Prison

He bit down a hiss, but couldn't stop his tendril hair from fluffing out like a member of the 80s hair band of your choice, the instincts of a cat before a larger predator, trying to make itself look bigger and more intimidating.

He was aware it made him look very silly, thank you.

He scowled, his nerves scraped raw from being too long confined in a place his instincts did not yet recognize as 'his' making him edgy and almost ready to jump out of his skin, if that were a viable option. "****," he mumbled pettily at the nonchalant power armored individual's back.

Lacking anything better to do - and not really wanting the riot guard to prove his claim of being able to force him to do it, he really was a hell of a size - he shook out the jumpsuit and began putting it on.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The Brig (Prison Cell, Argo)

Lydia could not look at her parents as they left. She had regrets. Despite everything she had ever said, or that her parents had ever done, she knew that they had done it in her best interest. Snapping her right fingers a few times and making a tiny spark each time, Lydia sighed. This was where it had started, these tiny little metal sockets in her hands. If she had never been inspired...

As the Warden approaches Lydia looks up but says nothing at all. Her face is a blank mask, unable to show any emotion due to the complex mix. She was happy that her parents had at least tried to help her. She was happy that she had been able to conquer her troubles and, despite her charges, she was glad she was going to be allowed to live. Usually, with that many charges of that caliber, she ought to be killed. But the court ruled for her to be rehabilitated.

Her sadness came from what she had done and where she knew she was going. Hades was not a nice place. She recognized the name from ancient Greek texts. God of the Underworld. There were a few underworlders who used that name. In fact, Lydia herself had adopted Persephone's name for a while. The Wife of Hades. Seemed fitting at the time.

As the warden talked, Lydia remembered. She remembered thousands of hours of rehabilitation. At first she hated it. She wanted her drug and she loved the feeling it gave her. But after a while, as she began to lose her grips, she really knew what she had done to herself. When she finally submitted to the treatment she became a model inmate. In reality, Lydia knew she had never done anything wrong. It was that instinct that took over when she was so high she couldn't think that really brought her to her terrible actions.

As the nurse approached with the syringe filled with drugs, Lydia looked on in fear. It was reasonable, of course. "If that has anything addictive in it, you are not touching me with it. Otherwise, make it quick and painless." Turning to the warden, she quickly says "Thank you for everything," before she lets the nurse inject the contents of the syringe into her bloodstream.

[Greystone]

Jennifer Mayers

The young blond woman looks around her new surroundings with obvious curiousity. She had a slim frame, and her ice blue eyes examined the other passengers in the shuttle.

"Hello" she smiled, well grinned really "My name is Jenny Mayers... and you all are?"

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

"It's been an honor to do time with you, sir!" Ike calls back in a half-mocking, half-sincere tone of voice, snapping off a crisp salute towards the departing guards. Not hearing a reply, he shrugs slightly. "Guess it’s obvious what I’m supposed to do," Ike announces to no one in particular. "Think I’ll do it this time."

Ike slowly changes from his prison uniform into the cryo-stasis jumpsuit. Once he has it on and is comfortable with the fit, he paces and jumps around the cell, getting used to moving in the suit. Growing bored of that before long, Ike walks over to the cot and yanks it up from the floor. After leaning it against the wall, Ike secures his prison uniform to the cot, tying the sleeves to the top bar and placing the legs under the bottom where the cot touches the floor. He leaves the shirt and underwear lying on the other side of the cell.

Ike then begins attacking this (very) makeshift practice dummy, throwing punches and knee strikes with full force. Now that he won’t be sleeping there anymore, the possibility of breaking the cot and having to sleep on the floor is no concern to him.

[Dreamshifter]

Drenmar Amyril, UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig – Solitary Confinement

Drenmar says little to the guards, knowing it's completely pointless trying to get them to talk. But once they are gone, he looks around at the two others locked down with him. "By the endless void, I hope this trip will be over soon. At this point, I just want to get it over with. He sighs deeply. "So, I suppose since we are stuck here, introductions are in order. Drenmar Amyril at your... well, not really service, I guess."

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius sits silently in his cell, sitting back on his crossed ankles. He never moves from this position except to eat or sleep. Occasionally one of his guards would come to stare at him or simply look suspiciously. Apparently, he had been a big disappointment. They had expected a ranting, foaming lunatic who would be constantly screaming at them. The reality was less extreme, yet somehow still very disconcerting.

The guards come. He cannot fight them, not bound as he is. He memorizes their faces, adding them to his List. Darius knows the face of every person he has found guilty. When he escapes, he will hunt these men down, perhaps. But probably not. There were much worse evils than these misguided, spiteful fools.

They are forced on to the other ship, into the room with twelve chairs. The other two prisoners are relatively dignified. It is almost becoming. They look guilty. Darius will have to investigate further. Perhaps some good could come of his incarceration. They introduce themselves.

Jennifer Mayers and Drenmar Amyril. They seemed to be attempting to cope with their bleak situation with lightheartedness. Disgusting. Denial was one of the many paths to sin. How sad that they were blind to that fact. If only they could open their eyes.

Darius should converse with them. Perhaps they could prove useful. There was no possible way it could do him any harm, and a good chance it could help him.

"I am Darius Totshande."

((For the record, anyone who watches the news would recognize his name.))

[Greystone]

Mayers

Jenny nodded in recognition "Your that guy, I think I saw something about you on television a while back"

She smiles sheepishly "I don't remember what you did" she looks over at Drenmar "WHat did you guys do to get sent to Hades"

Her smile is warm and infectious.

[Kalirren]

Mackey Van de Vort



"I take it they didn't get whatever it was they wanted from you? It almost makes me thankful that the doctor's interest in me was purely personal curiousity."


"Oh, I owe them a lot, not that they want it," she complained bitterly, "not all of it I could even give them, even if I'd wanted to..." A fleeting smile and chuckle gave way to pain. She had won, and had the laugh for now. Cautiously she twitched a few face muscles, sending the stagnant blood flowing where it remained reluctant to go, swallowed some of it. "Why didn't the Fed bastards just dump me out the airlock? Could have saved themselves the paperwork."

Of course, there was still plenty of time for them to do just that. Twenty minutes of it, in fact. Twenty minutes of agonizing lull before docking, and there was very little chance of escape. Twenty minutes and counting. The battered woman tried to turn her head to look around and found the task more painful than she expected. Maybe the doctor would fix the nerve. Maybe he wouldn't bother.

She let her head slump back on the table, the more painful side up. Both her eyes opened and failed to focus. "So if you're an angel, are we in hell yet?"

[RavenGirl]

"Tia"

Tia awakened, blinking several times against the light. For a long moment she floated, as yet awash in dreams that seemed far more pressing and more real than the waking world. She groaned softly, and moved one hand towards her neck, intending to stretch and turn and settle back into the embrace of sleep.

Cold metal prevented her. She frowned, then bit her lip, hard, as memory flooded back. Settling back against the hard table, her lips curved in a smile at the irony of her situation.

Seeing that she was not alone, the smile broadened. She blinked slowly, her eyelashes fluttering. Speaking, she found her mouth unexpectedly dry. "Hi."

Her gaze became absent as she heard him speak; she focused on the words, having to repeat them to herself before she could make sense of them.

"Rude awakening? I've had far worse, you know. I do hope that isn't my blood, though. I don't have enough to go around..."

Her eyes flickered as the room shifted and changed. Her eyelids felt heavy. Memories whirled and bled into each other. Her teeth clicked together. She didn't like this trip. At once the white walls seemed dark, drawing closer in. She felt warm and secure and safe, almost seeing the curve of roof close above her head, the outlines of her sketches and poems and posters, hearing the whisper of breath of her young sister asleep below. This was long ago and far away, was it not? Fifty years, or a hundred... but this was yesterday... and she must savour this moment of rest and self, before she rose early to work tomorrow... or was it Saints day, and she would be taken to church, or to see endless relatives, with hardly a chance to slip away... she almost preferred the work, almost. At least then she could be in her own head, and dream of the stars, so bright...

"No," she whispered. "This isn't right." She felt a yawning sense of dislocation between herself and her past, all her previous selves. She twitched and moved her hands, her feet, cought by the restraints.

Focus. You are on a prisoner transport ship. You have been tried and sentenced and convicted of crimes that... well, that you did commit. You're an artist and this is still art, you're a spider cought in your own web though not before time, you're the dread pirate queen of nothing-at-all, and this is not over, yet.

Her wide eyes snapped open. Ready. No implants, of course. They removed those long before the trial. Far too dangerous.

"Ready? I don't know if I'll ever be ready." She sighed, pouting, then wriggled against the restraints. This doctor didn't seem like the subtle type, and flirtation was always worth a try, after all.

"Drugs are fun." She smiled with genuine warmth. Her pupils were dilating and everything was fading away, despite herself, the drugs kicking in. She had to do something before she faded out completely, though without the drugs she would become non-functional in other ways entirely. Maybe they had the dosage right, enough to keep her functional without blanking her out entirely. Maybe, but she couldn't count on that.

"Things would be a lot more fun if I wasn't restrained in here." She flicked her eyes away, looking sad.

When she looked back he was gone. There's a man who is intent on his work. Now her expression was genuinely sad. She gazed at the ceiling. The drugs were taking the edge off, keeping the withdrawal agonies away, but whether it was the dose or her own tolerance, she wasn't feeling like passing out just yet.

She hummed the same tune the doctor had been whistling, contemplating adding some words. At the same time she looked at her own restraints and around the room, looking for anything to aid an escape or that might be of interest to her. Her chances of escape were remote, this she knew, yet she was far more likely to be able to do something before the transfer to the Hades transport. Now might be the only chance she had...

[Dreamshifter]

Drenmar Amyril, UTF Frigate FR34-312 – Brig – Solitary Confinement

Betraying some of what he has been feeling since the situation started, Drenmar's words hold a great deal of resentment and anger. "Did? I did nothing. I had the misfortune of making something someone thought was more useful in their own hands, rather than mine. And I don't even know for sure who, though this," he gestures at the ship, as best he can while restrained, "very much tells who, in a general sense, has my work now. I hope it proves unstable, and catastrophically fails on them."

He leans back as much as he can, and sighs again. "Doesn't matter now, though. There will be no appeals, no escape. At least once we get to Hades, maybe I won't be so bored. They even locked me out of the computer system. What the hell am I gonna do with a computer system, find a way to make the nearest star blow up? Idiots."

Finally realizing how much he has gone on, he glances around. "Sorry. But, you did ask..."

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb

Jason blurred into consciousness. It was a feeling that he knew too well... far too well. So much of his life had been spent in that hazy, hateful half-sleep. Instinctively, he mentally fought tooth and nail to drag himself away from that murky place. As he had been psychologically conditioned to do.

As his eyes opened, the blur, the moaning ache in his head, the tingling in his fingertips, it spoke to him. Cryo-sleep. The memories came back, and reflexively he suppressed them. That was just habit. Carefully, he picked out only the important pieces from his recent memory... and then hesitantly noticed that the Headache was not closing in to restrict him from more. That was... Odd. Slowly and carefully, he began gathering a little more. The prison... the trial, full of complications though it was... The Incident. That was what had started all of this... No, it started long before then. That was what had finished it.

Jason awoke all at once. His eyes opened quickly (did not snap, just opened quickly) and he immediately began sizing up his surroundings. Metal bulkheads. Restraints. Smells like Air Reconditioning. Prisoner transport? Large prisoner bay. His eyes flickered across the technician in front of him. Military. Petty Officer. Medical technician. 5'10". 160lbs? Colored contact lenses. Jason watched the man brace himself against the bulkhead door as he stepped into the room. Left handed.

He listened carefully to what the Petty Officer informed him of before turning to leave the room. "Good Morning." Ship time or Local time? Drugs. "Get my system cleaned up?" Jumpsuit turned to leave.

Locks. Jason looked down at the restraints that held him solidly to the chair. Secure. Electronic...? Of course none of these thoughts presented themselves to him as actual thoughts. No, these were merely streams of information, he was barely aware of them himself. However, within the space of a few minutes, he had already gathered a great deal about his surroundings. The most pertinent detail was noted in is mind at a speed that could be rendered in actual English. There's no way out.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius simmers at "Jenny's" flippant attitude, which grinds against his already rather tried nerves. He grips his restraints tightly, feeling the Rage come upon him again.

No. I don't know if she is Guilty yet. I must not punish the innocent.

He begins muttering to himself in the calming parables he has developed to cool his anger when it begins to overflow. Once he has felt the Rage fade, he speaks.

"I judged those who society would not. Society was not pleased."

[Greystone]

Mayers

Jenny blinks at Darius's obvious anger, her smile turning into one of apology "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you"

she shrugged slightly "I am merely curious. This is all new to me, I mean, I've never been in prison before, let alone Hades"

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel gave a short, mirthless laugh. "I'm not an angel, though I pretended to be one a time or ten. My name is Rachel, Rachel Melbior. I don't think we're in hell yet, but from all I've heard, that's where we're heading - Hades..."

Rachel trailed off, but she looked more thoughtful than apprehensive.

[Kalirren]

"Hades?!" interjected the newcomer. She could barely contain her rage. "Really! Hades...oh, where are my manners?" She forced a smile. "My name's Mackey. F*** the Feds." Her eyes focused in a surge of defiance, then closed. A sigh of ironic relief escaped her lips. "We -are- going to Hell, and it's officially frozen over..." She tried to chuckle, and found difficulty; at once her breathing and her diaphragm went out of phase, and with a pained cough she expelled a coagulation of phlegm and blood.

[Sam Miller]

He woke up, at last he was free. After all this time he’d finally escaped the confinements of society. Now was a new age, now was his time to triumph. He couldn’t fail now, he was free! All he had to do now was go find Mel and complete the mechanical mind. Happiness surged through him like never before, sort of like the spur of a drug. Oh the glory, William could not escape it. He tried to move his feet, tried to head out into the great unknown. Nothing happened. Nothing moved… He couldn’t feel his right leg. He tried to stare down at it, but his head wouldn’t move. Why was everything so cold? Why did his head feel so… So small. “My arms…” He mumbled, slowly defying the massive doses of soporific medication by opening his eyes. “MY ARMS ARE DEAD!” He shouted, staring through the veil of hallucinogen at what looked like chopped off arms. Then he really woke up, shattering the illusions that had previously enveloped him.

He was still stuck though, tied to a chair in some odd room. “Where am I? What happened? AM I DEAD!?” And then he fell asleep again, shocked back into his somewhat-awake state by all the drugs coursing through his system. He’d awaken again soon, but at least he was still aware of all his surroundings… For better or worse.

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins
New Haven Prison - Male GenPop


All he could think was how much he wanted to put his fist into that smirk. The bruises and aches in his body held him back. Janks slowly crawled out of his bed, rubbing his head. He went out of his cell, leaned on the railing and watched the other prisoners flocking to the cafeteria with shuffling steps.

"Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God."

There was that guy again. Right on the stairs below him. Every prison seemed to have one. They called him "the Preacher". His mind completely haywire, barking mad, totally insane, but still not dangerous enough to earn a spot in the loony wing. He usually just lingered in a corner, rambling, quoting a version of the bible that only he knew, or made up on the spot.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the..."

"Oh shut it!"

The man heard him and slowly looked up. His expression was the same as ever. A childish grin, staring right through you, and a hint of him jumping at you and gauge your eyes out at any moment.

"They are sending me to Hades. Can you believe that? I didn't even kill that cop! I mean he perfectly survived and in the end it's even his own fault for not going out of my way..."

"Now i can chop rocks with all those freaks and serial killers and loonatics... nothing against you of course."

The man was still staring. Janks didn't know if he was listening at all. No one ever knew. Talking to him was essentially as good as talking to one self. But at least it didn't make you look crazy. Thus, this man had probably heard more secrets and confessions than any judge or warden on the whole planet.

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."

"Meh..."

Janks shrugged it off, he had learned very quickly that it was no use trying to put sense into his ramblings. After a sigh and another look around of what he would actually miss after departing, Janks made his own way down for lunch.

"At least the food was OK here..."

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

"Relax," advised Rachel. "The nano-meds the doc just gave you should take effect in a minute. That should take care of the worst of the damage. It won't make you any less colorful - or regrow my feathers - but it should help your eyes and your breathing." She made a noise of contempt as she returned her gaze to the ceiling. "I think yours are the first injuries the "good doctor" has treated that he didn't also inflict. So, Mackey, are you a revolutionary or just a smuggler?"

The change of subject came without warning, but Rachel's tone and expression held only thoughtful curiousity. If she realized the abrupt shift might be unsettling, she didn't show it.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder

After his old suit melted away into nothing, Ouranos merely stood there and looked at his hand for a while. Then he looked down on the rest of his body, after which he released a slow sigh. Hades...

As he picked up his new suit and began donning it, his thoughts kept flowing around in his head, like always. Will I finally have something interesting to do? The suit felt strange, and wasn't exactly what Ouranos would call fashionable.

Now he just had to wait, until the boring beings called "Guards" came to pick him up. Hades, huh? How incredibly ironic. He let out a soft laugh, trying hard not to let his face break out into a wide grin. "So, the God of the Sky is going to the Underworld..." he said to no one in particular. He laughed again, louder this time. This is the first bit of excitement he has had in quite a while.

Now, more waiting. Always more waiting. The guards would leave him alone with his own thoughts until they were ready to come and get him. And that was not nearly as boring as they most likely believed... And his grin managed to break through, after all.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph stretches and yawns as he awakes from his nap, quickly coming back to consciousness. Nothing had changed in the past several hours. He was still alone, still on the same ship, with still no idea where he was. His thoughts were briefly interrupted during the jump, but it wasn't long until they returned to normal space.

The assassin pointed his hawk-like face upwards, peering out the viewport as the planet came into view. Just another mudball. I wonder where they brought me this time. It wasn't long before the Hope Killer came into view. Oh, right. It must be time to get aboard the ferry. He lounges back in his chair, watching out the viewport as the ship enters the hangar bay while still keeping an eye on the door. They'd be moving him soon...he'd have to be ready for anything that happened.

[Kalirren]

"Smuggler or revolutionary? Is there a difference?" Mackey's head tilted quizzically. "I guess maybe there is in the older parts of space, just not where I'm from. What, do I really look like one?" The thought seemed to waft across her that she might. Her old tattered clothes were lying in a heap by her leg. The jacket, pants, and boots, all brown but textures all mismatched, were made of rough, serviceable synthleather. Several of the seams on her torn khaki vest had also failed; it was covered in grease and blood, just like her undershirt. "Can't imagine I do."

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel laughed, genuinely amused. "I wouldn't know what either looks like anyway. I guessed. Only two things make people as determined as the men who brought you in: money and blind loyalty to a cause. Since they wanted information from you, you must either have money or oppose their cause," she explained. "I've got lots of money stored away, under lots of names so they'll never find it all. If the doctor had asked I might have told him, but he was more interested in finding out how I'm put together." Rachel shifted her wing, still sore from the half-healed broken bones, as much as her restraints allowed, grimacing. "It's not like I couldn't get more money later, if that's all he wanted. What did they want from you?"

[Kalirren]

"A few secrets, that's all. It's really amazing how much they think they know about the Rebellion," Mackey teased. Why not tell her everything now, after all? There were plenty of cameras watching. "Hidden installations this, weapons of mass destruction that, ...oh, and encryption, they really wanted to know about encryption. I'm sure they've got their best algorithms doing a strip search on my ship computer by now. Too bad all they'll find is porn."

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel laughed so hard she was sure the restraints would leave bruises on her ribs. "I like you Mackey," she declared when she got herself under control a moment later. "It's been a long time since I laughed like that. I wonder what they charged me with to get me sent to Hades? Fraud, even on the scale I ran it, wouldn't be enough. For that matter, how'd they get away with holding a trial 'in absentia'? I think that's the term... I was never good with dead languages. I'm sorry, am I talking too much?"

[Kalirren]

"Do they really still need to charge you with anything to ship you off to a penal colony anymore? I thought they'd gotten rid of that a long time ago," retorted Mackey, an unmistakable wave of resentment rippling through her voice. "I'll bet you one hundred creds they're just going to freeze the both of us and ship us off. I don't think they're even going to bother waking us up." Mackey seemed to reconsider her words. She cocked an eyebrow. "Well maybe not 'us', but me definitely. You might have other uses of 'personal interest.'" Mackey turned her head to face the doorway. "You hear that, b****es?" she accused the ambient hidden camera that she knew just had to be there at no small cost to her faltering voice. "I know what you're up to! F*** you!"

Rachel was right, those nano-meds were working. But spite was definitely still the best anesthesia.

[Lonna]

"I'll bet you one hundred creds they're just going to freeze the both of us and ship us off. I don't think they're even going to bother waking us up." Mackey seemed to reconsider her words. She cocked an eyebrow. "Well maybe not 'us', but me definitely. You might have other uses of 'personal interest.'"

Rachel shivered when cyrostasis was mentioned. She had been working very hard to avoid thinking about that particular aspect of her situation. As Mackey shouted at the hidden cameras, Rachel couldn't help envisioning herself, wings pinioned closely, forced into a narrow tube and frozen, trapped and helpless. Suddenly her instincts were roaring that she had to get away, had to leave now, before she was trapped forever. She started thrashing as much as the restraints would allow, and a piercing, keening screech, more avian than human, forced its way from her throat.

No! I am not a caged animal, I am a human being! I will find a way out of this, and I will not behave like a frightened sparrow!

The screech and the thrashing ended abruptly, as if cut off with a knife. Panting a little, Rachel looked at Mackey and forced a smile. "Sorry about that. Birds aren't fond of enclosed spaces."

[Kalirren]

Struggling was futile. These bands were originally intended for crazy people, ad were even stronger than the ones they'd put her in before. The Feds had also kept her awake as a part of the interrogation procedure, and she was beginning to crack. Now that they were finally leaving her alone it was tempting, so tempting, to fall asleep. Only the animal fear of impending oblivion was enabling Mackey to resist. "Listen, Rachel, I want you to promise me something," she insisted over the flailing. "It's a simple favor, and I'll do the same for you."

"We may not see each other again after we leave this bay. We may never see anything again, ever." Her voice was starting to trail. "But just in case they do wake us up," and what a mistake that would be, Mackey vowed silently, "remember me, and I'll remember you. Remember anyone you meet. Let no one vanish from your memory. You got that?"

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Forcing herself to take deep, even breaths, Rachel focused on Mackey's words, using them to push back the insistent waves of claustrophobia.

"I promise, Mackey," she said seriously. "I won't forget you, or anyone. As long as I'm alive, I'll remember."

[Kalirren]

Mackey only nodded. She hadn't the strength for much else anymore. "F*** those Feds..." She was wrestling her urge to fall asleep, and she was losing.

Still, twenty minutes and counting, and damned if she wasn't going to be awake for all of them.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Noticing Mackey fighting to stay awake, and feeling the claustrophobia threatening to take hold if she allowed herself to dwell on their probable shared fate, Rachel realized they had to keep talking, for both their sakes.

"Mackey, let's talk about something. Anything, I don't care what, as long as it's not the future. You don't want to sleep, and I don't want to scream. What do you want to talk about?"

[Inspectre]

Matthias awoke from his dream with a shiver, both from the contents of that dream and as a conditioned reaction to awakening from cryo-sleep. He had long ago learned that encouraging the body’s natural reaction to cold – shivering – helped restart the body’s muscles after a long time inert in cold stasis. And he had always had the dreams while slumbering the years away – whoever said that cryo-sleep was dreamless was full of ****.

Sometimes the dreams were as horrific as the one he had just had, but he welcomed them all. All of his cryo dreams featured his wife in some capacity, with occasional cameos from their son at various ages, most of which Matthias had never seen with his own eyes. Both of their faces had faded from his conscious memory, and it was only in dreams he saw them clearly once again. Of course, he also still had his locket and attached family picture to help, but that was only one still frame, an unchanging image without context.

And so Matthias welcomed the memory of even this recent nightmare, because really, his conscious life was the real nightmare. One without end, save the ultimate conclusion of death and the occasional vacations provided by cryo-sleep. He had nothing while awake – no family, no friends, no future, and no real purpose – save for exacting justice. One might argue attacking mostly merchant ships and isolated vessels was hardly “justice”, but Matthias had been working his way up, slowly, and he had never attacked a vessel without some sort of association to the UTC.

As was his usual ritual upon awakening from cryo-sleep, Matthias attempted to rub his eyes and gaze down at the picture within the locket. For a moment, he was confused as to why he was restrained within the cryo-tube and why the locket was missing from its customary place around his neck. But then it all came rushing back – right, capture by the UTC. By his own grandson, no less, the ungrateful little ****.

And oh look, here he was now, to gloat safely on the other side of the cryo-tube. Unable to speak to offer rebuttal, Matthias simply blinked sleepily and did his best to look utterly bored as his grandson gave his big parting speech to his big bad villainous grandfather. Inside, he was raging. Who did this ignorant child think he was?

Matthias was the victim here. Did this arrogant pup think that he had wanted to stay away from his own son? He had missed his son’s growing up due to the UTC and Genetech’s bumbling, and then as a grown man his son had wanted nothing to do with him. Was he supposed to linger around like a homeless dog begging from scraps, until finally his son had perhaps let him in from the cold before he died from his condition? Should he have crawled back to Genetech and submitted to more of their incompetent procedures, and likely woken up just in time to meet his grandson’s grandson, if at all?

No! He had made his decision, and despite the arguable pettiness of seeking revenge, he had left to make his own fate. And he would not let his fate come to be that he ended on a miserable pisshole of a planet used by the UTC to file away the dregs of society. He was Matthias Conway, Co-Inventor of the Jump Drive and the Frozen Man!

Matthias could have chuckled, had his breathing apparatus allowed him to do so, at his grandson’s parting words. This was justice? No trial, no sentencing, just being left to die on a dead planet, essentially buried alive? The real irony there was Matthias was arguably already serving out a worse punishment in his isolated, personal war against the UTC. And his supposed death would merely cut that short.

As his grandson prepared to leave, Matthias did do the one thing he could do. He pulled against his restraints, drawing his face as close to the glass as he could. And then he winked at his grandson, before settling back, his smirk hidden behind his breathing mask.

After his grandson closed up the cyro-tube, Matthias had a brief moment of claustrophobia in the dark, but it passed quickly. He would never have survived all his trips into a cryo-tube with a lingering fear of tight spaces. Clearly, his grandson thought this would be unpleasant for him. The UTC-molded idiot couldn’t have been more wrong.

Matthias was used to being alone with the whispers of the past, and the anguished screams of the dead. This period out of cryo-sleep merely gave Matthias more time to plan. Even a place like Hades had to have a weak point that Matthias could exploit. He would find a way off Hades. He would return to cryo-sleep if necessary, and let the rumors spread of the Frozen Man’s escape from Hades. And then he would go find his Anastasia in whatever UTC scrapyard they had dumped her in, and then he would find whatever jackass in the galaxy had taken his locket, and he would give them a taste of Matthias’s own personal Hell in exchange. And then, maybe he would find out what his grandson’s son thought of the UTC. Assuming the spineless spawn on his son was even capable of reproducing.

[Pwenet]

Group #1
Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe small transport that you were in had barely docked when the airlock starts to cycle. Turning you head you see a man enter. Clad in what appears to be padded brown riot armor with a tinted visor the helmeted face turns to look at you for a second. You notice that the guard has what appears to be a stun stick on one side with a holstered shock pistol on the other hip. The far door opens and the pilot emerges, cracking his neck loudly and stretching his limbs. Looking at the riot guard the pilot smiles.

“Hey there, long time no see honey. You ready to have some fun for the next few months.”

A girlish laugh emerges from behind the gender-concealing armor and the posture relaxes.

“Oh course sir. I hope you are all ready to do some skillful piloting while we were here. So this is the scum that you had to go pick up.”

“Of course. Prisoner #243,921, a Mr. Blackwell. He was quiet through I expect he needs a bathroom break by now.”

“I think it is time we gave him one.”

Without a word the guard pulls out her shock pistol and fires at you. The projectile strikes your chest and delivers its electrical charge into your body. Convulsing in your restraints blackness starts to crawl across your vision.

“Now why did you do that honey? He just made a mess on my ship!”

“Well, I told my supervisor it would take me about fifteen minutes to get the prisoner ready for transport. Now we have fourteen minutes of alone time in your cockpit. Get back in there spacemonkey and get into your birthday suit!”

There is a fleshly slapping sound and giggles as your vision recedes. Dimly you are away of another impact from the shock pistol. Judging by the sounds coming from the cockpit it is probably a blessing that you pass out.

Some Time Later…

Awakening with a start as your chest burns with electric fire you throw yourself against the cover of a small coffin-like container. Thankfully the impact is dampened by the thick liquid within the chamber which makes you shiver from the coldness that seeps in through your jumpsuit. Your instinctive breaths burn as the tube shoved into your lungs grates against your throat.

Yet then the top of the chamber rises, spilling out the thick liquid. Your thoughts devoted only towards the burning in your lungs you grab the mask on your face and pull it off. The tube follows painfully and with a severe bout of coughing you expel the tube along with far too much of the liquid. Yet in between coughs you are able to inhale fresh sweet air into your lungs, cleaning your mind.

It is probably around this time that you happen to realize that you are unrestrained. A look around reveals that you are in a small chamber, with five cyro-stasis chambers in with, a central computer terminal, what looks to be some containers mounted on the walls and a sealed door. Judging by the looks of the door it appears that you are still on a ship. It also appears that whatever happened to revive you from stasis has also happened for the other occupants of the cyro-stasis tubes for they are all open as well, with four other people coughing and hacking as they work to clear out their lungs.

More details make themselves clear as you recover, including the fact that the deck seems to be vibrating and that the lights are flickering. There seems to be the dim sound of a large cannon firing but that could just be your imagination. Another look at the other four people who share this chamber with you reveals that they are all clad in the same jumpsuits that you are.
dyslexicfaser - Reggie Sharpe
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationGetting into the jumpsuit was the easy part. The hard part was the waiting. And more waiting. And even more waiting. It seems that there were several other prisoners being given their walking papers today as well for you saw through the bars of the cell the guard handing out the suit to several other prisoners. One prisoner decided to be smart and mouth off. Judging by the snap his face made when the guards power-armored fist struck him before the feet followed it was very wise to have dressed yourself.

Yet after some time after the lockdown for the night engaged you heard something new. A strange sensation crawled up your spine as a large object was moved through the cell blocks, stopping in front of your cell, along with two of the power-armored guards. Looking at the object it resembles a oversized coffin. Consisting of a clear top it is mounted on a hover-track, allowing it to hover several feet above the ground. The bottom of it consists of several devices and there appear to be tanks holding various liquids in it.

“It’s time – You’ve been good so far, but we can’t have you having a panic attack.”

A high-pitch screeching sound emerges from the guard, sending you crawling towards the farthest corner of the cell as the sound tears at your sanity. The guards open the cell, continuing to emit the horrid sound and walk towards you. One of them pulls out a stun stick and taps it against your neck. You barely notice the electrical shock as blissful unconscious races to greet you into its loving arms.

Some Time Later…

You awaken in the most peaceful environment you have ever known since your fateful procedure. Almost floating in a thick vicious liquid you hover in peace, unable to sense anything. Yet your body decides to start shattering the illusion by giving your chest a electrical burning sensation. Convulsing in the chamber you find your limbs are free and you are able to scratch at the top of the chamber.

The top of the chamber then rises, spilling out the liquid that you were immersed in. Yet air does not rush into your burning lungs thanks to a tube inserted down your throat. Reaching up you grab the tube and pull it out. As soon as it is clear your lungs spasm and you start coughing up liquid. Yet in-between each cough you are able to inhale a little more each time, clearing your head.

Looking around you see four other tubes like the one you were in. All of them are open as well, and all of them have their occupants in various stages of staggering out, pulling off the masks with the intubation tubes and coughing the gunk that was pumped into your lungs. With the five of you in this chamber you also notice what appears to be a central computer terminal in the middle of the room, along with a sealed door at the far end of the small chamber.

As the liquid drips off you and starts to dry your tendrils start to come alive again. Power races through the area you are, yet it is staggered and sporadic. You also feel the deck under your feet shudder and there are several sounds that almost resemble old cannons echoing through the metal beams. The lights, painfully bright keep flickering as well.

Taking another look at the others who have awaken you find that they all are clad in the same jumpsuit that you yourself were wearing. Unless the guards on this ship had a prisoner fetish or really were cheap it looks like they are all prisoners like you.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Narration…within a dreamlike haze of a long lost distress signal you drift…. Colds hands of death and iron carry you into a coffee of the sleeping beauty… the snake of life wiggles into your throat, providing life and nourishment as your lungs fill with the icy death of sleep…. Looking at the faceless men and woman of fate that lower the lid to your coffin… so quiet…. So very quiet… a rushing sound like a waterfall… icy coldness fills your coffin, slowing your movements… a cold beyond cold stabbing into each cell like a knife… the slowering of the familiar beat of life…. Slowing…. Slowing…. Slooowwweeerrrr……

Some Time Later…

…time crystallized in a moment of perfect clarity… frozen like a fly in amber…melting during the spring thaw… eyes opening to observe the brand new day…. A ominous hummmmmm….

Arching your back you would scream if you could as the electrical charge races across your chest. Your heart jumps back into gear like a racehorse at the beginning of a race. Your mouth opens in a soundless scream around the intubation tube that is snaked into your lungs. Thrashing in the chamber your movements are hampered by the thick liquid within it. A painful burning starts to tingle in your lungs.

Then the top of the chamber rises, spilling out the liquid onto the deck of the ship. Jerking into a sitting position instinct kicks in. Hands deftly grasp the intubation tube and with a series of light coughs you pull it free. Throwing yourself to the side of the cyro-stasis tube you vomit up the liquid that was pumped into your lungs to keep them healthy and to provide a source of oxygen to them. There was no easy way to expel said liquid but oddly it get’s easy each time you come out of stasis.

Yet the scariest part of the whole ordeal, one that ate at your thoughts, was that you were awake in the cyro-stasis. A few stories of people who remained awake in their frozen state would chill the bones of those hearing it. Yet actually having it happen, to feel yourself frozen in a block of ice, to be violently restored to life, if things were not so unusual you could very well be panicking instead of clearing your lungs.

With a last fit of coughing you find your head clearing and you take a look around your surrounds. You are in a small room, large enough for the five cyro-stasis tubes which have opened up and their occupants are violently coughing and hacking their way back to life. The vibrations in the deck tell you that you are on a ship and the computer terminal in front of the five tubes almost beckons to you with hidden knowledge.

Yet there was something odd about the cyro-stasis tubes. They were arranged over a series of hatches with well-worn rails leading into the hatches. Memories rise of older ships, using small ‘Emergency Escape Vehicles’ in which active cyro-stasis tubes would be loaded into in an emergency, and then jettisoned from the ship. Why would your tubes, as prisoners, be set up in such a way to allow easy exit from a ship?

Yet at this time that is possibly a question best saved for later for while the others are recovering it seems that you are the only one who is ready already and recovered. Looking down at your cyro-stasis tube you noticed another oddity. It was an older model, one that could be several decades old with built in restraints that were now open.

Beneath your feet you then feel the deck shudder, as if from an impact. Smaller vibrations carry the sweet song of heavy railguns firing while the flickering lights indicate that things may not be all right in the land of the freezing gods.
Sam Miller - William Holt
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane (Debatable) and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Narration…twisting through the void of space… limbs of flesh replaced with those of death… designs of the perfect mind race around… twisting and distorting into a start that swallows you whole… spit out to crash upon a body of sand and heat… burning from within… unable to flee… unable to glide… unable to walk… mites crawling within you… eating you… another genius idea… it will work this time… you know the mechanical mind will… just one more test… you need your assistant… oh she is so close… so happy… in love with her new body of metal… the two of you joined in a perfect moment as fires of a thousand burning stars melts you into one… yet then the chill of death that is not death… so cold… why is your mechanical body so cold… a ominous hum fills your thoughts… tearing you away from the perfect design… tearing you away from the smoldering mass of metal that was you and Mel…

Getting defibrillated was quite painful. Oh you had seen it done, even done it a few times with some scrambled eggs. However this was the first time that you experienced this particular joy. Electric current arcs through your chest, burning the chilliness temporarily away from you as your muscles randomly contract, causing your organic body to twist and contort while your mechanical limbs feed upon the extra energy. It was almost worth the shock to know for sure that your limbs were still attached and ready for more fun.

A pressure down your throat indicates that the people who placed you into this sleeping coffin also were not too well trained in the arts of intubation. Plus it seems that they shoved several liters of liquid into your lungs which were starting to burn. Your organic components start to shiver in an attempt to heat up and it would be nice if you could escape from the chamber.

As if the chamber heard you the lid unseals and opens up, spilling out the contents of the liquid that you were floating in. It was now time to practice self-revival. First things first, buttered toast! There is none, onto step 3, breathing. Grabbing the facemask that the intubation tube was attached to it some gentle pulling allowed you to pull it out.

Oh yes – lungs are not supposed to be filled with liquid.

Much better except you just acted like a poor frat boy who had too many shots in five minutes. Could it be worth it to give a mechanical body the ability to get drunk? Distraction distractions!

Oh look you are no alone. There are four others in this time chamber with you, all of them emerging dripping wet from their cyro-stasis tubes. All of them are clad like you in prisoner colors. All of you are in a small room, with a single computer terminal in front of the tubes. And it seems that there is no one else in this small chamber. Are you on a ship? On a planet? In a lab of your sick and twisted dreams? Unlikely since there are no chickens.

Why is the deck shuddering? Is it an Earthquake? Or Mel coming to rescue you? Or are you suppose to go rescue her instead? Details Details…
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe food was okay. In fact strangely rumors already were flying that you were going to Hades. The server gave you some extra helpings of the good stuff and a few others offered condolences and various bargains for your possessions that you no longer have. Plus according to the rumor mill it seems that you were not the only other one going. There was some crazy “cat-man” going, a couple of rapists, a few murders, syndicate members, the ‘Preacher’ and more. Almost seems like the world is going crazy.

Lunch passes without incident. Oh of course there are the normal fights and arguments, even a little blood from a few knives but none of it affected you. Yet the lunch hour passes far too quickly and you return to your cell. Yet it is sealed shut. Looking at the small display next to it, typically used by the guards to upload information about the contents of each of the cells or notices to the prisoners you see a note to report to the medical wing of the prison. There is also a prison guard, tall and imposing in his powered armor looking down the cell wing, and at times looks at you. Sadly it seems that there is no real choice in this decision.

Making your way there you see a line starting to form with several more guards standing at attention, stun sticks and shock pistols at the ready. The line also seems to be moving fairly quickly. In fact in front of you is the Preacher, mumbling to himself the same quote over and over again.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Within a few minutes he is led into a small room. After several more minutes of waiting your name is called and you enter the chamber. This medical room has two entrances, one of them a large double-door affair. Near the far door is a large cyro-stasis tube with the lid open and steam hissing from it. A nurse and doctor look at you as you enter while a prison guard follows your movement with burning eyes. The doctor nods and smiles at you weakly.”

“As good Mr….. Janks. This will be quick and painless. If you will enter this tube here.”

Looking at the tube it appears that it will be a tight fit for one of your…. Generous frame. And indeed it is a tight fit but after some wiggling you get in as the doctor restrains you. The nurse starts to insert several IV’s into your arms which seem to hook into the tube itself while the doctor works at the controls, muttering to himself. The world starts to waver and shrink away as the doctor leans over you with a mask that has a long tube attached to it.

Some Time Later…

You were not a man who really got cold. Living on a warm planet, with your lifestyle and frame you were never truly cold. Yet now you knew what cold was, in fact you could even write a paper on it. Of course it would probably consist of something like ‘f*****g COLD’ but hey, it’s the effort that really matters.

Oddly you feel like you just got tasered again along your chest, but the pain and the burning is already fading away, probably numbed away from the icy cold liquid that you are immersed in. Lung start to burn, and not just from the tube that the doctor apparently shoved down your throat like some of the prisoners did to others in the showers (which was not your thing). It would really suck to die like this, drowning in a small little coffin.

Then all the liquid pours out of the tube in a rush as the lid of the cyro-stasis tube opens. Your hands, unrestrained reach up and yank the mask off your face violently, including the intubation tube. You nearly pass out from the hacking and coughing that results however this is no worse than a night of drinking with the boys, including the vomiting. Sadly there is no buzz to go along with this fun ritual. Hey, at least you are able to recover much more quickly, except for the hot chick who seems to be already looking around the chamber you are in.

Thinking that is a good idea also you check out your surroundings. One hot chick, check. Five cyro-stasis tubes, check. One funky computer terminal, check. Only one closed door, check. Flicking lights, check. Three men who need to go drinking more often, check. One bad-ass, manly, tough as nails and rude as a bum Janks. Hell yes baby, Janks is BACK!
Group #2
Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe plotting wheels barely started turning within your mind before you hear the almost silent whisper of vents opening. A thick cold liquid starts to be pumped into the chamber. At the same time a similar liquid is pumped into your lungs. Thanks to the decades you spent frozen alone you devoted some time to knowing how cyro-stasis worked. The liquid is a gel that minimizes the damaging effects of freezing on the human body. The lungs needed to be coated as well with the liquid in order for them to remain undamaged. At the same time the IV’s were acting similar to a dialysis machine and intermixing your blood with additional fluids to keep your body working normally and to ensure that when the freezing process activated it would affected your body all at once.

Yet all the knowledge didn’t help you in this case. As the icy coldness filled your lungs and veins your thoughts start to drift once again. The thick liquid by this point have completely covered you and the ominous sounds of the freezing coils activating fills the tiny chamber. Soon there would be a flash and you spineless excuse for a grandson walks back into view… his hands soaked in blood… in one hand holding the locket… in the other the severed head of Anasasia… who looks at you with eyes glowing red with hatred… her tongue moves across her beautiful lips before she bites it off and swallows… the piece of tongue falls to the ground through the shredded remains of her throat…”What’s wrong Grandfather? You lost your mind? You so insane with grief if you found the giant red button to destroy the universe you would tap dance on it?”… the grandson reaches down and plucks one of Anastasia’s eyes out and swallows it…”tasty, it was your fault pushing her into the trip”…”who will you fail next?”…”no matter”…”let’s end this”…a ancient gun replaces the bloody knife…the dark barrel is pointed at your face…a flash and a bang….

…welcome to hell Grandfather…

Your body twitches from a electrical shock that rips across your chest. Twitching in the chamber you look around as the icy crystals dissolve back into the native liquid form. The lid to the chamber rises open *~Odd – That’s an emergency action ~* spilling the liquid out of the chamber. Deft hands move quickly and reach towards the mask on your face and slowly pull it off while preparing yourself. As soon at the intubation tube was clear your lungs spasm and you cough out all the liquid that was pumped into them.

Yet this was strange for you didn’t think that you would be allowed to move on your own being a prisoner, yet the restraints that held you within the chamber had released. Taking a look around you see that you are in a small chamber with four other cyro-stasis tubes all of which have opened up releasing their occupants who are in the process of recovering from the deep freeze. There also is a computer terminal with several large cables plugged into all five of the tubes in the room. Behind that is a sealed hatch. Looking behind you there are several hatches behind the cyro-stasis tubes, hatches that look eerily similar to ones that would be used for EEV’s, or Emergency Escape Vehicles. In an emergency the hatches would open and the tubes would move through them into a small craft. The craft typically is just large enough for the tubes, braking thrusters and fuel for the braking thrusters to allow the craft to survive reentry. Such crafts were cheap and easy to make and in many cases were a common sight on passenger ships, for the last thing one wanted in an emergency was a bunch of half-frozen people trying to get their thoughts together in the middle of an evacuation. Hence it was considered easier to evacuate them while they were still in stasis and in many cases safe for them.

Pushing those thoughts away you see that the others have recovered. And yet there were no guards or any signs that you were being observed. Plus there was the odd fact that the lights were flickering oddly almost as if there were power fluctuations on this ship.
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Narration With the nano-meds working on your face the pain from the blows has faded. Struggling against the sweet embrace of sleep you hear the door hatch opening to the medical bay. The doctor walks back in, apparently in a fresh uniform. Looking at the two of you with glances that could melt steel he runs his hands over a wide variety of instruments. Pulling a few of them out at random he toys with them before setting them down.

“Well ladies it is time for you two to sleep.”

Pulling out a syringe he walks over towards you and painfully jabs it into your arm. The drugs are injected and it is all you can do not to scream.

“Oh I’m sorry. Did I accidently give you too high a dose and mix a little something extra in? Silly me. Rot in hell b****!”

Within your arm fire ants crawl through it, consuming your veins and arteries. Unable to scratch at it is it all you can do not to scream as the ants reach your brain. Twitching around on the table your mind breaks and you pass out from the pain and drugs.

Some Time Later…

Your eyes flutter slowly, as if there is pressure on them. An icy coldness has replaced the fire ants dancing in your body which feels surprisingly good. Focusing you see through the telltale facemask used while within a cyro-stasis chamber. Almost floating in the chamber your thoughts start to come together as you start to recover. The more one goes through cyro-stasis the more used one gets to the recovery process.

The top of the chamber then rises, sending the liquid that you were immersed in spilling out. Part of you wonders why emergency procedures are being implemented at the moment but that is pushed aside as the need to breath kicks in. Grabbing the facemask you slowly pull it off, timing things so with a mighty cough (and mess) your lungs are clear. Coughing a few more times to clear everything else out you take a look around.

First thing first is that there are four other cyro-stasis pods in this small chamber. And in the one next to your, wings soaked and dripping and violently coughing is Rachel. She managed to get her mask off and is slowly recovering.

Taking a moment to continue looking you see that the other cyro-stasis pods have opened up as well and their occupants are also recovering. Besides them there is a computer terminal in the middle of the chamber that seems to be connected to all the pods. Behind that terminal is a hatch, indicating that you are on a spacecraft. In fact now that you thought that you feel the telltale vibration of sublight drives. There also seem to be something going on for there are various changes in the vibrations, as if something it hitting the ship and the lights are flickering randomly.

Another oddity is that the cyro-stasis pods seem to be connected to a EEV system. The Emergency Escape Vehicle system was used on ships to quickly evacuate personal who were in cyro-stasis. Rather than having an assortment of half-frozen people stumbling around trying to get their bearing in an emergency someone came up with the EEV. Instead now cyro-stasis pods and moved automatically into a small pod, usually just big enough to fit 5 cyro-stasis units or so. Once it was loaded the EEV would be jettisoned. They were designed to survive reentry onto a planet and at that point revive the occupants of the pods. Yet why would prisoner cyro-stasis pods be connected to a EEV system?

Yet what is most unusual is that besides the four prisoners there are no one else in the chamber. One would expect some guards at the very least to watch over you all as you recovered.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationAfter making your promises not much time seems to pass before the doctor returns. This time he looks mightily pissed in the fresh uniform that he is wearing. While glaring at the two of you he starts ominously playing with various instruments. Making his way towards Mackey he smiles at her and a sense of dread builds up in the pit of your stomach.

“Well ladies it is time for you two to sleep.”

He leans over Mackey and injects something into her. Judging by her moans of pain and expression it clearly is nothing nice. Yet thankfully for her she quickly slips into unconsciousness. Looking at her the doctor shakes his head, and then slaps her. Hard.

Turning away from her he smiles at you.

“Your turn angel. Don’t worry, I will take good care of you while you are unconscious.”

The syringe hovers of your arm for a second before it also enters. Screaming out as your blood is replaced with lava you could swear that your arm is burning up from the inside out! Gritting your teeth your vision wavers and your eyes start to burn. Looking up at the smiling face of the doctor you pass out as the liquid fire reaches your brain.

Some Time Later…

Swimming was not as much fun as it used to be. Your wings would soak up the water, weighing them down, making it hard to move properly. Yet it was something you could do still.

That thought races through your mind as you awaken with every cell in your body screaming that it is frozen solid. Immersed in a thick liquid within a small tube you are unable to move, unable to breath, unable to scream. Pain hits your back as whoever placed you into this chamber just stuffed you in here and didn’t adjust your wings. The pain continues to build now that you are awake, overriding the icy chill that has soaked through your body.

Yet then fate steps in and the lid to the chamber opens up, causing all the liquid to spill out onto the deck. Sitting upright you grab the facemask you wear and pull on it, almost scratching yourself with your nails. Getting a good hold you tear it off and instantly vomit all over the floor as the intubation tube is yanked out of your throat. Yet you don’t care for you are able to spread out your wings much to your relief.

Gasping and heaving you look around. There are four other cyro-stasis tubs in this small chamber that you are in. And next to you, apparently already recovered (while you heave once again and vomit more liquid from your lungs) is Mackey.

Looking around some more you see that you are in a small room, with just enough room for the cyro-stasis pods, a computer terminal in front of them and a closed hatch. The others in the room are wearing the same clothing that you and Mackey are wearing, indicating that most likely they are also prisoners. Yet why are there no guards? Why are there no alarms? What is going on?
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWith the information regarding the lack of escape options you made yourself as comfortable for the long trip. Over the course of several hours you watched the various parts of the ship, wondering slightly what your end destination was. For some segments of time you were able to take brief naps.

Snapping awake from one of the naps you notice that the vibration in the deck has changed. It seems that the ship has come to a stop and something docked with it. This is confirmed when a man clad in riot armor enters the ship. Details about the man flash through you – Padded reinforced armor – Right-handed – Armed with a stun-stick (discharges an electrical shock to the target to incapacitate them) – light on his feet. Yet none of them help you as he presses the end of the stun stick against your chest. Arcing from the current you dimly realize that being knocked unconscious via other means than drugs was still an option.

Some Time Later…

Like a light switch you awaken. You wonder why you are already clear-minded despite being in a tube filled with a thick bluish liquid that is icy cold. It is obvious that you have been unfrozen yet focusing through the facemask and transparent cover you are unable to see anyone else. The lid then rises *Emergency Procedures* spilling the thick liquid all over the deck of the ship you are on. Deft hands move up towards your face and pull off the mask, your throat twitching in time to make the intubation tube pull out easily. After a few second you then expel the remaining fluid in your lungs onto the deck.

Taking a moment you see that you are not alone. There are four other people in this small chamber, all of which are sitting up in other cyro-stasis tubes like the one you just emerged from. You take in more details of the chamber that the five of you are in. There is a computer terminal in the middle of the chamber in front of the cyro-stasis tubes, and beyond that a sealed hatch. Judging from the deck vibrations and the smell of the air it appears that you are onboard yet another ship. Yet this ship appears to be having some issues, for the lights are flickering oddly and there seems to be some impacts based on the changes in the vibration of the deck.

Clearly not everything is going to plan to bury you in a dark hole.

Or is it?
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationAttacking the makeshift practice dummy you work up a good sweat. Pieces of the bed break apart and the mattress itself splits wide open spilling the cheap stuffing onto the ground. It also causes quite a racket yet no guards come to silence you for some time. By the time the guards arrive the cot is barely recognizable as a cot.

And by arriving there are two guards who enter through your cell door. Holding standard issue stun sticks they look at the destruction of the cot and you. They both nod their helmets slightly and you can all but hear them screaming that you are now dangerous and about to attack them despite only just working out. As such it is not so much of a surprise that they charge you, striking you with the stun sticks, shocking you into unconsciousness.
Some Time Later…
A tingling sensation dances across your chest. Opening your eyes you look through a hazy world of a thick liquid that burns you with icy coldness. From your time in the military you quickly recognize the cramped confines of a cyro-stasis tube. Yet you oddly could not make out any other shapes beyond the tube, such as guards ready to send you to your next destination. Maybe there was a delay, but in which case why were you awake.

The top of the cyro-stasis chamber then opens up, spilling the liquid onto the deck. Your hands quickly move for you remember during basic training that at this point the liquid in your lungs would stop processing oxygen. As such you grab the facemask and pull, coughing as you were instructed in your training and slowly pull out the intubation tube. Yet sadly like so many times before while you are able to remove it you start coughing and vomiting the liquid from your system.

Gasping and heaving you quickly recover thankfully and manage to take you first good look around the chamber. There are four other cyro-stasis chambers in the tiny compartment you are in. There is also a computer terminal connected to the cyro-stasis chamber and a sealed hatch at the far end of the chamber. Also the other four chambers occupants are also recovering from the deep freeze like you were.

Yet there was something else amiss. The deck keeps shuddering, as if there was something big firing or striking wherever you were. The lights were flicking as well, however you are unable to see any signs of approaching people. Granted without X-ray vision that would be a forgone conclusion. In fact the only things you can easily see in this chamber are the other people, all clad in the same jumpsuit you are wearing, indicating that all of them area prisoners as well.

[Pwenet]

Group #3
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationCalming down from the lack of concern your fellow prisoners seem to exhibit the rest of the time is spent quietly. There is still some conversation but nothing of any meaning. Nor are you able to tell if they are guilty yet, for no matter what you had a mission to perform. How you were to continue to perform it is a matter that you will decide you see fit.

A shrill alarm then goes off through the small cabin that catches your attention.

”Your attention please. We are outbound towards your final destination. To aid in loading the cargo as quickly as possible we are engaging your electric shock restraints. Unconsciousness will follow quickly. Have a pleasant trip.”

Your wrists, ankles and waist suddenly flair in pain as electrical shocks race through them. Convulsing in the chair all too quickly you leave this world and enter the world of dreams.

Some Time Later…

Awakening with a start your chest burns and itches with the aftereffects of yet another shock. This time you find yourself almost floating in a small cyro-stasis tube filled with a thick liquid. Your lungs burn and itch from a foreign liquid in them yet you see no way to get out or free yourself from the chamber.

As if hearing your wishes the top of the chamber rises, letting the thick liquid spill out onto the floor. Grabbing the facemask that seems to have been put on while you were unconscious you pull it off, gagging and coughing up liquid as you pull out an intubation tube as well. As soon at the tube was clear of your throat in an uncharacteristic moment of weakness you cough and vomit up all the liquid from your lungs onto the deck.

Coughing violently soon enough however you start to recover and take a look around the chamber. There are four other cyro-stasis tubes in the small chamber that you find yourself in. All four of them are open and their occupants are also recovering like you are. You see Jenny and Darius as well unfortunately for now you most likely will have to put up with their inane patter. Still this gives you a chance to see if they are really guilty of anything and deserve to be punished.

Besides them you notice that there is a computer terminal in the middle of the chamber that also seems to be connected to the five cyro-stasis pods in the chamber. Behind that is a closed hatch. There are no guards which is odd for since you all were potentially violent prisoners that you would be watched? Still maybe now is the time for action.
Dreamshifter - Drenmar Amyril
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationExchanging conversation with the other prisoners none of you discuss anything of importance. No grand escape plans are conjured, no plans of how to prevent you all from being frozen. Trapped like you all are it is futile, yet all that seems to happen is that one of you get’s annoyed frequently however nothing comes of it for now.

A shrill alarm then goes off through the small cabin that catches your attention.

”Your attention please. We are outbound towards your final destination. To aid in loading the cargo as quickly as possible we are engaging your electric shock restraints. Unconsciousness will follow quickly. Have a pleasant trip.”

Sudden pain races across your body where the restraints hold you into the chair. Convulsing you find yourself spiraling the great drain where your consciousness escapes to.

Some Time Later…

Shivering as you awoke this was a novel sensation for you. Squat was normally a warmer planet with no winter. You had heard of winter and snow of course but never experienced either. This sensation is apparently what being dipped in a frozen lake made of liquid nitrogen much be like. It probably does not help that you have a intubation tube shoved down your throat.

Never having travel off-world waking up in this coffin needless to say causes much disorientation for you. Unable to breath you find you are not restrained. A arm moves slowly, far too slowly and only taps against the transparent material.

Of course fate then decides to mock you and the top of the chamber rises, spilling out the liquid that you were immersed in onto the floor of the chamber. Scratching at the faceplate you find what appears to be the releases for it. Ripping it off you nearly tear your throat as the intubation tube follows. Yet that allows you to vomit like a freshman student, except this time it is some kind of liquid that was pumped into your lungs. Hacking and coughing slowly you are able to recover.

As you recover you notice that things seem light, that it is very easy to move about. Obviously you were no longer on Squat however it seems that you were possibly on another ship. Taking a look around you see that there are four other cyro-stasis tubes in the small chamber. All of them are open and their occupants are in various stages of recovering. You recognize Darius and Jenny however the other two escape your memory for the time being.

Taking a look around you see that there is a computer terminal that looks to be tied into the ship and the cyro-stasis tubes. Behind that is a closed hatch, presumably leading towards the rest of the ship. Taking more deep breaths you feel your life coming back to you. Also you can’t help but wonder why are you being allowed to awaken without any guards watching over you…
Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane (Debatable) and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationSlowly the conversation starts to die off. The one man, Darius seems to get easily annoyed by how you and Drenmar were chatting casually. Well what else was there to do? It was not as if you could move about and pull weapons out of thin air, and this was a way to pass the time. Besides who know what could happen.

A shrill alarm then goes off through the small cabin that catches your attention.

”Your attention please. We are outbound towards your final destination. To aid in loading the cargo as quickly as possible we are engaging your electric shock restraints. Unconsciousness will follow quickly. Have a pleasant trip.”

Sudden pain dances across your body where the restraints hold you in place. Struggling against them the smell of burning flesh reaches your nose. Dimly you are aware that the other two people have passed out. All too soon even your grasp on consciousness fails and you pass out.

Some Time Later…

Loud noises assault your ears as you awaken. Slowly moving about within the small chamber that you find yourself in the noise is revealed to be the top of the chamber opening up, spilling out the thick fluid that you apparently were immersed in. Instinctively shivering your hands reach up towards a facemask that was placed on you. Training kicks in and you slowly pull it off, relaxing your throat as much as possible and coughing at key points. Yet there was no way to make the next part easy as you cough and vomit out the liquid that was injected into your lungs.

Yet soon enough you recover. Your wrists, ankles and waist tingle slightly from the shocks you received earlier however you feel fine. Looking around you see that you are in a chamber with four other cyro-stasis units. All four are open and their occupants are also recovering from the deep freeze. Looking at the others you see Drenmar and Darius in the same chamber. It seems that they decided to keep you all together for some reason, who knows.

Besides the others you noticed that there is a computer terminal in the middle of the chamber, apparently connected to the five cyro-stasis pods in the chamber. Behind that terminal is a closed hatch. Based on the look of the chamber and what you were told of how you were getting to Hades most likely you were still on a ship. However why were you allowed to be revived without any guards to watch you? Nor do you hear anything like the hatch opening, alarms going off or heavy footsteps. Just the sounds of other humans clad in outfits like you recovering.
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLaughing at the cell you take a sniff of the air. There is something odd, a smell that seems almost familiar. Then it strikes you, Unclin, a potent knockout drug. It seems that the guards don’t trust you to behave as the world starts to spin around. Stumbling around far too quickly you collapse on the ground, just clinging on to consciousness as the cell door opens. A pair of armored feet enter your vision.

“He seemed to be okay.”

“I don’t trust him. He could go Joker on us. You saw what happened to Dresden last week.”

“Good point. Let’s get him to his coffin.”

Hands roughly grab your arms and hoist you up. The sudden shift in position throws off your consciousness hold and you slip away into dreamland.

Some Time Later…

A flash of light. Not the normal way you awaken but it seems to have done the trick this time. That and the burning sensation that tickles across your chest. With all the changes you have made to your body, some of them taking the fullness of time, others brutally and painfully quick. Yet none of them involved the icy coldness that has driven deep into your body. However the intubation tube is a welcome friend that you had worked with several times before.

Then the lid to the top of the cyro-stasis chamber opens up, spilling out the thick liquid that you were immersed in. Never having done this one your own you consider the removal of the intubation tube a new and fun challenge. First comes the mask which is removed, and the intubation tube follows. Yet never before was there a liquid injected into your lungs so the sudden coughing and vomiting is a semi-new experience. However after some time you are breathing once again.

Taking a look around your environment you see that you are not alone. There are four other cyro-stasis tubes in this chamber, all four are now open with their occupants dressed just as unfashionably as you. Oh yes they are also coughing and vomiting as well.

Looking around some more you are dimly aware that there is a sealed hatch, and there are no guards, however your attention is focused on a computer terminal. A beautiful computer terminal, the first one you have seen in a long time since your imprisonment. It is clearly attached to all the cyro-stasis tubes in this chamber, and judging by how it is secured to the deck it might even have a direct connection to wherever you may be. Based on the looks of the chamber and what you were told most likely you are on the ship towards Hades.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe nurse smiles a sad smiles at you as make your demand.

“Don’t worry honey, we know what you went through. I don’t want to do this to you, but trust me, what is in here will just put you to sleep, nothing addictive in it.”

The syringe pricks your forearm with a string of pain and the contents are injected into you. The world starts to waver and you find yourself guided towards another room where a brown-armored man stands next to an open coffin-like device. The words that they are speaking wash over you as your consciousness starts to slip away more and more.About time, stop babying this trash~Damn Earth, why do they have to f*** with us like this~I should have told her to be brave, poor girl~Hungry.

Laid onto the coffin your consciousness fades away into a blissful sleep.

Searing pain rips through you as you take a step like you always have…trying to kill you…trying to kill your family…trying to break you…it would be so easy…to sleep away…to relax and let the world pass you by…yet the pain continues…the hunger…the addiction…the tiny nibbles that consume your soul…wanting you to give in……

If you could you would gasp for air except for the intubation tube shoved into your throat. In fact you are unable to move at all. Your brain slowly, far too slowly process that you are trapped in a great block of ice, that you are frozen, that you should not be awake.

Yet you are.

Unable to open your eyes the thin tissue does nothing to stop a sudden light from piecing them. The light quickly fades and you find yourself moving slowly, as if you are immersed in a thick liquid. Yet there is something missing, something that even in the darkest times would always be with you.

Your chest then burns with fire and your heart kicks at you.

Blood rushes through your ears, giving you back that missing sensation. Yet it does nothing to alleviate the burning in your lungs. You start to struggle, your brain screaming that you are drowning, that you are going to die!

Then the top of the chamber rises, spilling out the liquid.

Not wasting any time you reach up towards the facemask and pull it off, yanking out a long tube as well. As soon as the tube is clear you double-over and vomit. Coughing and vomiting over and over again each time you feel better, feel more grounded, feel more alive.

Recovering slightly you take a look around your new surroundings. You are within a small chamber with four other cyro-stasis tubes, all of them open with other people clad in similar jumpsuits like yours. They all also appear to be recovering from the deep freeze like you are. There is also a computer terminal in the middle of the chamber that appears to be connected to the various cyro-stasis tubes. Finally at the rear of the chamber is a hatch which is sealed shut. There are no guards, nothing else of note at this moment, and no happy pills.

[Inspectre]

For once, Matthias's cryo-dreams are unwelcome, which is quite a surprise. Then again, what Matthias's could remember of it after waking *did* feature his grandson, who was one character that Matthias could do without in his dreams.

Matthias gave it a few more seconds of thought as his body went through the automatic motions that came with freezing and awakening so many times. Remove the face mask. Gently extract the tube, while relaxing chest muscles. Tense chest muscles once tube is clear of the throat, hopefully expelling all fluid from the lungs in one single powerful retch. Then it was back to conscious input required from Matthias, and he forced all thoughts on the dream aside as he rose shakingly to his feet.

It was very odd that there were no guards here to greet him from his slumber, but Matthias's slowly warming brain was growing gleefully at this opportunity. He seemed to still be on a spaceship, or perhaps a space station - a quick glance at the EEV hatches seemed to confirm he was not on a planet. Which meant he was not yet on Hades, which made his escape much easier.

Another sweeping glance around the room told him more potentially useful information, although Matthias was still not sure what it all meant. Four other prisoners were here with him, all of them likewise coming out of cryo-stasis. No guards in sight. A sealed (for the moment) door, a computer console connected to the cryo-tubes and EEVs.

It was rare for Matthias to see other people since his change in career. Therefore, he allowed himself the momentary indulgence of examining them closely while he flexed each part of his body, a regimen designed to help thaw his frozen muscles and get them back to work.

Two men, two women. One of the men rather average looking, the sort that faded into the blur of a crowd. Nothing special. The other looked like a brawler of some sort, again nothing really special save for the fact that he could probably drive Matthias's head into the floor.

The first woman seemed in pretty good shape physically, at least on a good day. Right now, there were a few inklings that she'd been injured before being put in cryo-stasis. Someone had done a pretty good job patching her back up though, which made Matthias wonder what she had looked like beforehand. Interesting for the story behind her injuries, but still probably nothing special.

At first, Matthias wasn't sure was he was seeing with the second woman. Eventually, the shapes had become indisputable, and Matthias had to accept what he was seeing. Wings. Gigantic, man-sized feathered wings. What the hell?

The first thought Matthias had was angel, but that made no sense. Those were a work of fiction, just like aliens. Humans were the only thing that existed in this galaxy, for better or worse. Which meant . . . what?

Ah, Genetech. Had to be. Up to their old tricks then, making a complete hack job and turning the poor girl into a freak. She probably just wanted eagle-sharp vision and instead got turned into a birdwoman-angel-thing. She had Matthias's sympathies.

His examination of the other prisoners complete, Matthias started limping over towards the computer console. His legs weren't quite ready for use yet, but he had perfected this stumbling gait that gave him a fairly good chance at moving about without falling flat on his face. As he went, he decided to provide his fellow prisoners with some free advice.

"The most important thing to do upon coming out of cryo-stasis -" Matthias rasped, "is to move. You still feel like your freezing, and so your natural reaction is to curl up and wait. That tenses up the muscles and actually causes them to unthaw slower. Simple limb exercises generate heat from movement, and help reconnect your nerves to your muscles faster."

Reaching the computer, Matthias steadies himself and attempts to make sense of the controls. He glances up at the others.

"I don't suppose any of you are here for computer hacking?"

For OverWillaim:

The man's recovery from cryo-stasis is fairly rapid, his initial movements almost reflexive. He has clearly experienced cryo numerous times before to develop such an automatic response.
He seems to be left-handed.
He is cautious while looking around, but studies each person with open curiousity. This combined with his raspy voice suggest he has had little contact with people for some time, although it may just be side effects from the cryo-stasis or some sort of mental issue instead.
His voice seems to carry an old-fashioned accent, typical of those from Earth born a century or more ago. Although middle-aged, he definitely is not a century old.

[Kalirren]

One moment passing out, writhing in pain, the next...Where in God's name was she now? On a ship. She didn't remember having been loaded onto it. In space. With gravity. It didn't matter. Either they'd misjumped and landed in an asteroid field, or they were having engine trouble. Or they were being attacked. Get your head together, Mackey. You don't have time to be comfortable. You can risk internal organ damage. You are mere seconds away from becoming space debris...

Not knowing if her muscles were yet capable of the feat, Mackey did her best to throw herself abruptly out of the cryo-pod and slipped on the spilled cryosuspension fluid. She faceplanted on the metal deck. "Status!" she screamed painfully on all fours. Well, at least that what she thought she'd said. Her ears were still clogged. Here was to hoping the computer would recognize voices and respond. Dripping, she scrambled her way to the terminal anyway.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Too small, too tight, get out, GET OUT! Rachel's instincts continued to scream at her even after the cyro-tube opened, and Rachel obeyed. Forcing half-frozen limbs to move, she tumbled out of the confines of the machinery, landing on hands and knees as she hacked up the last of the liquid that had been pumped into her lungs. Automatically she spread her wings, giving them a hard shake or two, each one like half of a downward stroke in flight, in order to force out excess moisture and help them dry.

When the coughing and vomiting finally ceased, Rachel pulled herself shakily to her feet, neatly folding her damp wings against her back. "Good to see you again Mackey," she addressed her neighbor.

Hearing the advice given by her fellow prisoner, Rachel forced herself to begin walking, rubbing her arms and cautiously flexing her wings, careful not to let them stray within arms reach of anyone but Mackey.

For OverWilliam:
The genetically enhanced young woman is clearly unused to cyro-stasis and is the last to stop coughing.
She is righthanded.
As she moves she avoids looking at the stasis tubes as much as possible - she is either claustrophobic or fears cyrostasis itself.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Lydia barely knows what is happening. She can't even think long enough to speak. If she remembers it all when she wakes up it'll be a surprise. It all seems to be a dream to her.

As the cryotube bursts open, Lydia grasps her face mask and pulls both it and the connected tube away from her face, relieving her body of the foreign material. Then, without warning, Lydia vomits. The first time, the surprise and the forcefullness force Lydia's glasses onto the floor. Though they do not break, the second vomit nearly splashes on the glasses, and the third scores a direct hit. Each one brings her closer and closer to the ground until Lydia is on all fours, trying to get a breath in between her vomits. After two or three more, Lydia falls, lying directly on the ground and breathing heavily.

Gasping between each word, Lydia swears. "F***. I didn't think I'd eaten that much." After breathing deeply a few times on the ground, Lydia starts trying to move her frozen body. First, she gets herself into at least an upright position, then she tries to move the fingers on her hand. Though they are slow, they do seem to be functional. Unlike the rest of her body, which was rather hot from the repeated vomiting and was now covered in sweat, Lydia's hands felt cold. Then, remembering what had happened to her glasses, Lydia reaches into the pile of vomit and pulls out the artifacts. "F***ing hell. Can't even get a moderately good day." Trying to clean the vomit off her glasses with her jumpsuit, Lydia looks through the lenses to check if they work and notices the other four people in the room. Pulling down her still rather vomit-covered glasses, Lydia looks out at the group, unable to see anything but colored blobs she knows are human. "Well, I sure have made a good first impression, huh?"

[Dreamshifter]

Drenmar Amyril, Group 3

Panic. From the moment he regained consciousness, it overwhelmed Drenmar's mind, controlled his actions. The mask had to go, so he could breathe. He couldn't think, couldn't focus, with it on. But it hurt, coming out, and then... Vomit. But, not really. The fluid that came up was like nothing he would ever eat. More so given the taste.

Finally, his first deep breath came, and his mind became his own again. Deep breaths followed, one after the other, and he could at last focus on the room, on what was going on. His thoughts came slow, but they came. Where is this? What... Oh, stasis chamber. I was... yes, I was sent to Hades, wasn't I? But, this looks more like a ship than a prison...

Glancing around, he began to survey the room, and it's contents. Four people. Two familiar. All sent to Hades, no doubt. He eyed the computer, but while he was competent in their use, he wouldn't be able to do much with prison level security.

His thoughts returned to the other people, at least one of which was having trouble. Standing brought the realization of just how weak the gravity was, which made him smile, in spite of everything. Wincing as the woman reaches into the vomit to retrieve glasses, his smile broadens when he hears her words. "Well, not the most graceful of entrances perhaps, but it is definitely memorable. And not something I'll want to see again. But, memorable, at least."

He takes a first, wobbly step, shivering as the realization of cold returns, having been lost in the panic. It proves to be too much, and he sits down quickly, mostly to prevent himself from falling. Then, another thought makes it's way through his mind. "Shouldn't there be guards here? I'd expect more than a locked door. Unless... something has gone wrong."

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group 3

Darius flings the mask away with force as he springs out of the tank, almost making it into a fighting stance until the retching takes him. When he finally finishes, he reaches into his mouth and flicks an unidentifiable blob onto the pile of vomit. He spits onto the floor as he stands.

Wobbling, he leans back against the Cryo Chamber for support. He shoves off violently, and after a few seconds he manages to stand under his own power, willing his violent shivers to stop.

He begins stretching, a long, complex series of stretches, each one flowing into the next, which touches upon most of the muscles in his body. This goes on for a couple minutes, at which point he stands straight once more, in perfect control of his body.

He then walks to a corner and watches the other prisoners intently.

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins - Group 1

He bobs his head up and down slowly and cracks his neck. Trying to produce a tirade of curses that would describe the pain that went on in his head, he just grunts and moans repeatedly. There is still a numbness in his mouth but a taste slowly starts to fade in and brings back a memory of the not so distant past, although he can't pinpoint it at that moment.

There she is, like an angel, even in this ugly jumpsuit that barely does her body justice. Janks is immediately reminded how often he and most other prisoners had cursed the person that invented gender-segregation in prisons, and how long it actually had been that he had seen a women, and such a proper one even.

Janks spits out the rest of the liquid that had collected in his mouth and looks at the mess he had made, while wiping off his mouth with his sleeve.
Ah yes... lunch.

He slowly puts one step out of the tube, barely noticing the ripping wires and tubes that still connected his suit with the stasis-chamber. Looking at the woman again, he feels finally able to speak, his voice lower and raspier than ever.

"So... Hades doesn't seem to be such a bad place after all."

[Greystone]

Jenny Group 3

"God Damn it" coughed Jenny as she attempted to clear her mouth, then she looked up "that was always my least favorite part"

She stands as well "Hmph, I think your're Drenmer"
She cracks her neck, and takes a few shaky steps towards the computer terminal. She touched thekeys, trying to find a status report, of any type. As she types away she reintroduces herself to the new woman "Hello, I am Jenny Mayers"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Group 3

The odd cough-vomiting was a very different experience, although it was at the very least not boring.

The terminal was the best part of this whole experience. He had not expected to be able to touch one again so soon, and moved as quickly as he could during the circumstances to get to it. He let his hands glide over the keyboard, just to feel it. Then he began to work.

What he found when he plunged into the world of the computer was not what he had expected... There was some kind of an emergency. They should not have woken up. Excellent... He makes sure to access and memorize all profiles he can get his hands on.

[Greystone]

Jenny

Excuse me" huffed Jenny "I was already using this"

[Sayn]

Ouranos

Ouranos merely looked up at her, shrugged and answered "Yes, and now I'm using it properly."

Also, a description of my character for Group 3 (The others can't see me yet, after all):
Skin as white as paper (obviously not a natural skin color)
Left eye is neon green, and the right one is bright red.
Hair would've been spiked, if it wasn't for the cryo-fluid, and is electric blue.
1.7 meters tall, and slender.

[Greystone]

Jenny

The blond frowned "Excuse me" she said very politly "Please wait. your. turn"

A description of jenny:

about 5'4
blond, medium length hair
crystal blue eyes, that never seem as happy as her voice.
slim

[Sayn]

Ouranos

A wide grin finds its way onto his face. "Oh I suppose I could let you use it. But then I might not find out how to open this door, or what has happened here on this ship."

[Greystone]

Jenny

"That was what I was trying to do before you pushed me out of the way" Jenny nodded and stepped up. After a few more seconds she sighed "Fine, we can both look"

[Sayn]

Ouranos

Ouranos simply shrugged again, and let his fingers fly over the keys. The info on the screen flies past in a hurry, but Ouranos doesn't slow down. It seems like he has no problem reading and understanding the info even at this speed.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason choked on the breathing tube even before he was expelled from the cryostasis tank. He hated it, hated it, hated it... The cold. That was the worst part. It made him feel like his brain was frozen. And it made his headache worse... like it was making him forget he was alive. Out on the deck, the cruel metal grating beneath his knees and arms digging into his skin even through the wire mesh inlaid jumpsuit... anything to be out of that tube.

This did not stop him from reflexively memorizing his surroundings. Remember, kids; this is your brain on experimental, highly disruptive and quazi-legal personality reprogramming. Just say no.

Jason did as he was told, though he likely would have to some degree anyway. He couldn't help but fight the cold any way he could. The other thing was the goop that kept running down into his eyes. He hated the feeling of only being able to half-see-- like in a dream where you can't open your eyes no matter how hard you try. He usually wakes up from those with cold sweats. Finally, though, he started moving. First up was doing his best to help the Angel come out of her own Cryostasis biofeedback... She seemed to hate it even more than he did. His voice was so hoarse he literally croaked as he knelt next to her. "Are you all right?" He coughed more of the foul liquid out of his throat.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

When another of the prisoners approached her, Rachel instantly furled her wings, holding them tightly against her back. He didn't seem threatening, half-frozen and hacking as they all were, but he was roughly a foot taller than her, and looked athletic to boot. With the doctor's 'examinations' fresh in her memory, Rachel was not anxious to let anyone handle her wings, particularly someone as muscular as this stranger.

But though he came too close for her to see him as more than a large blur, he made no attempt to touch her, and his words, though hoarse, were kind. Shivering with the physical and psychological effects of being shut in the stasis tube, Rachel nodded in answer to his question. Her wings relaxed slightly, though they remained folded behind her.

"Rachel," she stated by way of introduction, backing up so that his face came into focus.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Mask off, chest cough, tube out, cough again, spit excess liquid if necessary, exit chamber. That was the theory, anyway. In practice, many soldiers never got the hang of defrosting, and Ike was one of them. After a series of hacking coughs, Ike vomits off to one side of the tube. After he catches his breath, he takes a big awkward step out of the chamber, wobbling a bit as he gets his balance back. Looking around, Ike coughs and wipes the remaining cryostasis liquid from around his mouth with the back of one hand. "Could have done better, but it's been a while since I've had to deal with that," he mutters, annoyed to be reacting with less than perfect stoicism.

Ike then orients himself, rolling his wrists out and cracking stiff joints even as the older man speaks. While he does a double take at the winged girl and twitches a moment when the other woman yells "Status!", he keeps his wits enough about him to realize that they are unguarded and that something is probably striking the ship. Memories of dim corridors, the walls shaking with impact from boarding craft coming in behind him, flash through his mind. Of course, back then he had his platoon. And reinforcements. And a gun. And some idea where he was.


"I don't suppose any of you are here for computer hacking?"

Walking over to the older man while cracking his neck, Ike replies "Nah, for murder. But I could probably pry that hatch open if I got a bar or something. We gotta get out somehow, anyway. It feels like we're taking hits." Turning away from the man for a moment, Ike exhales sharply to clear the dull formaldehyde reek of the cryo-stasis fluid from his nostrils. He then sniffs the air for the smell of smoke or melting insulation. He'd nearly asphyxiated when some idiot pulled out a flamethrower on an orbital platform, and if there was a fire anywhere with airflow to his compartment he wanted to know about it.

For OverWilliam
The hulking man seems very strong, unsurprisingly.
He carries himself with upright military bearing.
He is right-handed.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason nodded, and then waited for his Sleeper Cell to calculate a false identity and project the name into his mind, which it would then maintain and keep track of, coordinating who knew him by which name, keeping false identities from potentially overlapping, and unerringly guiding even a complex web of such lies together, keeping them perfectly consistent throughout.

Weirdly, though, it didn't.

Jason blinked. The only people for whom the Sleeper Cell did not generate a false persona, or refer to an existing one, were those who already knew his name. And those people were either his superiors or other Night Sky agents, of which this girl (and everyone else in the room, for that matter) was neither. "Um... Jason," He said, a little confused, but not dwelling on it. There would be time later for figuring things out, a thing that was a precious commodity right now, and not to be wasted.

First thing first, Jason moves over to check if the hatch is, in fact, Locked at all.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Still cleaning her glasses as the others respond, Lydia smiles jokingly in the direction of the man who responded to her introduction, or at least the direction of his voice. "Well, it's been nice to meet you, too. I'll try to throw up less from now on."

When Jenny introduces herself, Lydia turns in the direction of the voice and says, "Lydia. Morrison's my last name but you've never heard of them." She seems a little dark as she finishes her statement, but is otherwise perfectly normal about her response. "Nice to meet you. Sorry about the...mess." Her last word is aimed more at the pile of vomit than at anything else.

Throughout it all her hands are working at trying to clean off her glasses on the jumpsuit. It's a difficult job, but eventually Lydia holds them up, shrugs, and puts them on. They appear to be clean enough, though Lydia still has a rather skewed face as she places them on her face. "I told then I wanted straps or goggles or something. God, of course something like this happens to me now."

Now capable of seeing everyone and everything in the room clearly, Lydia tries to get into a standing position. The best she can do is a kneel as she realizes her legs are not cooperating with the whole moving process. "Can anyone tell me why I can't move my legs at all?" She flexes her hand to make a point, and finds that it appears to be moving at very close to normal capacity, though it is still freezing.

At Drenmar's comment about security, Lydia looks in his direction. She opens her mouth to speak, but shuts it immediately before saying something stupid. She then tries a different phrasing. "How important do you think we're supposed to be that there'd be guards here?"

[Greystone]

Group Three

Jenny turns and moves closer to Lydia "Oh, let me see" she smiled, almost inanely "I'm a doctor"

she kneeled and examined Lydia's legs, ignoring anything short of violence on her person "Hmmm.... looks like Cyro-semistasiana" she paused "Your muscles, may still be cramped and locked in a semi-stasis. Does this help?"

Using experienced movements, she massaged the woman's legs.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

When Jenny says she is a doctor, Lydia seems to slightly shy away from her, but not in an easily noticeable fashion, even by Lydia. She appears to do it completely on reflex for some reason. Lydia does, however, return to a sitting position with her legs completely outstretched from her kneel so that Jenny can examine them.

As the woman massages Lydia's legs, she feels heat come back to them. "Yeah, that does help. Thanks." To prove it, she lifts one leg up slightly, then bends it and puts her foot down on the ground. Though it is a small bend, it is better than before. To assist, Lydia returns her legs to the straight outward position.

[Greystone]

Group Three

"Your lucky it bends at all" Jenny said, still working "The cases I've seen. This one man I tested, well he was practically paralyzed for weeks. Your case seems mild however"

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Smiling at Jenny after her comment, Lydia remarks, "Well, that's good. I probably couldn't take the prolonged treatment for that."

As Ouranos appears to try to get the console to do something, Lydia shouts over, "Does that thing even work? I can't imagine that it's completely right what with those tubes just throwing us out like that. I've never been cryogenicly frozen but I imagine that they're not supposed to wake you up and try to drown you."

[Sayn]

Ouranos

Someone asked him if the computer works. Does it work? OF COURSE IT DOES! No matter. They were blissfully ignorant of his capabilities.

"You could always try and open the door, instead of just standing or sitting there. Who knows... We might be lucky." And then he continued his quest through the terminal, trying to find out the exact nature of the emergency and reading up on how the EEV system works at the same time...

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

At the comment, Lydia smiles, a bit irritated. "I'm sorry, hard to move at the moment. Love to help, though."

She seems to flex her hands every few moments, a few times trying to see if her hands feel enough blood flowing to snap her fingers. A couple times she resorts to twisting her hair, a habit she acquired a long time ago.

(You know, I just realized I never described Lydia before...)
Appears mid to early twenties.
About 5' 4", 5' 5".
Extremely thin, even for someone of her age.
Blonde hair with some brown highlights in it. Pretty even mix in terms of color. Hair is about shoulder length, a bit longer but not much.
Fair skin color, though at this point she is flushed from cold.
Rather plain in terms of looks most likely, not particularly beautiful but not particularly ugly.

[Kalirren]

But I could probably pry that hatch open if I got a bar or something.


"You sure you really want to do that?" questioned the woman on the ground. "We got unfrozen by an emergency routine. But this is a prison ship. The security system might raise an alarm if we break a hatch." With a wince she pulled herself up and sat back down on her cryobed. No use in rushing herself if she couldn't even walk straight; better just to get herself out of the cold liquid. "Are you sure there isn't a way to open the hatch mechanically from this side?"

While wiggling her legs and toes she glanced around the floor, looking for where the thawed, spilled cryosuspension liquid was going. If it was draining, where to? She scooped up a little bit of it into her mask before it all went away.

Edit: For Overwilliam:

The woman on the ground has weak lower-body musculature for her frame. Her upper-body is stronger than normal. Possibly a low-G or zero-G native.
She is left-handed.
Several stains under her facial skin indicate she was heavily bruised before she was frozen.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

"I'm not sure. But if we need to get out, we need to get out. If you know how computers work, you could go ahead and try that one first. But if that doesn't work, I'm getting us out."

Ike walks over to the hatch and takes a closer look at it. Then he walks back to his cryochamber, checking if there's anything on it he can snap off to use as a lever.

[RavenGirl]

Tiamara “Tia” Danye - Group One

Slowly she rouses from the long half-sleep, half-death of stasis... memories scattering like a shoal of silvery fish as she neared the surface... as she coughs for air, she grasps at thoughts which slip and slide away from her. Memories of a long time of silence and stillness and talking endlessly with herself were scattered as if from a broken mirror, never to be reassembled into a coherent whole.

All she had was a half-remembered sense of many realisations both prolonged and profound, and a sense that something in her had changed.

Even so, reality was more pressing now. She shoots a glance at the other recovering prisoners. Assets, or problems, or both; they could wait. She braced herself against the motion of the deck. The ship was clearly in trouble, and information called to her insistently, as urgent as the quick beat of her reanimated pulse.

She walks over gracefully to the terminal and crouches before it, peering into its flickering depths like an augor into sacred entrails. Then her hands dart and move towards it as she tries every trick she can remember to bring forth its secrets. What ship are we in, and where are we in it? What's going on outside, and why were we woken? These are her main questions.

Another priority occurs to her. And where nearby can we get some weapons and equipment?

At last she notices Janks, staring at her hunched over in her scrappy jumpsuit as though she's some kind of cross between a holo star and the archangel Gabriel.

Her first reply is brusque and distracted. "We're not in Hades." Her eyes go back to the screen.

Then she looks right at him and grins. "Well, hi." Her eyes flicked up and down quick as thought, weighing him up, judging him. Brawn, definitely. Brains? I'll hold judgement. I need to take this one in hand, quickly.

She stepped towards him and offered a hand."I'm Tia. Infamous pirate queen, scourge of the spaceways, and a damn fine pilot, if I say so myself. You might have heard of me." She shrugged, as if to forgive him if he hadn't; space was a big place, after all.

Just as quickly she turned back to the screen. "We're not on Hades, like I said. We're on some kind of ship, and it seems like it's in trouble, which is a good thing for us, probably." She stabbed at the screen. "Let's see if I can find us a way out of here, and some guns, for starters." She sucked the corner of her lip in concentration, speaking in a whisper to herself.

"I can't believe there's a battle going on and I'm not in it."

There's something else you need, too. Her thought was soft, like a sigh. Drugs. Lots of them. Maybe I went cold-turkey while under, maybe not, but I don't want the first sign of weakness to be the shaking and the headaches and the collapsing, because if that happens here, it's all over...

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins - Group 1

He grasps her hand firmly and shakes it. "It's Janks"

"Pirate, eh? Sorry, never heard of you... My boss might have though... did you do weapons too, by chance? He was a big player in the business of getting them into the core-worlds... without papers and stuff," And after a brief pause he adds: "I mostly just carried them around though."

Janks watches Tia work the terminal for a moment but quickly get's bored as he can't follow her. He begins to size up the room while tearing apart the top part of his jumpsuit. This does not only reveal copious amounts of chest hair, but also eases his movements a lot.

"Wait, what battle are you talking about? I mean if you want to make a run for it, while our hosts are distracted I'm totally in, but for all i can imagine there is a squad of fully geared out guards just behind that door waiting to serve us breakfast with boots and cattleprods"

"Ey, watch where you put that!"
Evading a spill of cryo-fluid and half digested lunch from another prisoner, the brute walks up to the door and frowns at it.

[Kalirren]

"I don't think the computer controls the hatch; I'll check that anyway, not that I really know how. I think it controls the cryocells," Mackey replied. "Look how it's connected. It might even control the automatic escape pod loader, too." Reluctantly she stepped back into the chilly liquid, shambled her way over to the console, and with a shivering hand started fiddling with controls that might or might not be familiar. Tentatively she looked over at Rachel and Jason recuperating on the other side of the room. "Rachel, ...Jason, was it?...Either of you know how this works?"

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior - Group 2

Now that she was out of the stasis pod and no longer felt like she was drowning in the cyro-fluid, Rachel found that she was recovering quite quickly. Perhaps it was because of her enlarged heart and improved circulation, but she felt almost normal now, though her companions still seemed to be having trouble coordinating their limbs. The major exception, of course, were her wings, which were still mostly numb. She hadn't had a chance to move them much, and as a result the blood flow was not nearly as vigorous there as it ought to be. She was just considering whether to warn her companions that she wanted to stretch her wings, when Mackey asked for her attention.

"I can take a look at it if you want," she answered doubtfully, "but I don't know much about ship systems. My experience is all in manipulating data - creating false identities and the like."

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III - Group 1

Randolph manages to pull himself up and out of his tube, tearing the wretched tube out of his throat as he doubles over, hacking fluid out of his lungs. It takes him several moments to recover, and by that time two of the other prisoners had already begun conversing about their situation.

Tia Danye, eh? I've heard your name once or twice before. Nice to meet you too, Janks. I am Randolph James Blackwell, III. Businessman. He says with an elegant bow. With Tia at the computer terminal, Randolph does an inspection of the rest of the room, searching for anything that might be used as a weapon or an alternative means of egress, finally coming full-circle around the room to inspect the hatch. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a knife and a lockbreaker kit.

Another impact rocks the ship and Randolph steadies himself against the bulkhead to avoid falling over. I think you're right about the battle. So, who has a grand escape plan?

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

Ike glances up from shaking the cryo-tube for a second. "Are we doing names? I'm Ike, Ike Corman."
He slams his meaty fist against the solid tube again, then helpfully adds "The Traitor of Taurus Four, that's what they called me."
Leaving the cryo-tube, Ike walks around the periphery of the room, looking for solid, lever-like objects.

[Lonna]

"Are we doing names? I'm Ike, Ike Corman."
He slams his meaty fist against the solid tube again, then helpfully adds "The Traitor of Taurus Four, that's what they called me."

"I'm Rachel Melbior," replied Rachel as she joined Mackey at the computer terminal. "What little press I got mostly covered me under my con-name, Ramiel."

[Inspectre]

"Working on it. I'm sure if I was skilled at hacking, I could get this little console to open the hatch, take control of the ship, and make us breakfast."

The man chuckles, a loud rumbling sound that quickly turns into a cough as he spits up a remainning glob of the cryo fluid. Straightening, he continues working at the console, smiling as everyone introduce themselves. Ike, a former UTC soldier judging by his build and the "traitor" comment; Rachel, a con-woman-angel-thing, the un-introduced woman who clearly knew her way around a ship, and Jason, who still appeared to be just a random poor bastard thrust in with this group of hardened criminals. And him. Matthias started chuckling again, risking another cough at the thought. And then, leaning back away from the console, he gives as low a bow as his thrawing back can give.

I suppose I should introduce myself. Matthias Conway, co-inventor of the jump drive, and the Frozen Man. You've probably heard of me - in ghost stories if not in the history books."

[Pwenet]

Group #1
Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWalking through the room you noticed that the cyro-stasis tubes seem to be placed above hatches large enough for them to drop down there. However other than those hatches which are currently blocked off the only other exit/entrance is the hatch. You are able to see what appears to be an air vent however it is so small that maybe a small child might be able to make his/her way through it.

Your search for weapons is equally lacking for it seems that whoever designed this room was in a simplistic mood. Next to the hatch there is a container with a red cross on it, designating it as a emergency medical kit which is a fairly standard piece of equipment on the ship.

An examination of the hatch reveals several interesting details. It is an older style that has a manual valve in the middle with a clear window in the top portion, barely large enough to look through. On the right side is a handgrip set vertically on the hatch, large enough for you two grab it with both hands to pull open. Above the handgrip are two mechanical gauges, one of them indicating pressure on the other side of the door and the other whether if the hatch is sealed or not. The pressure gauge reads positive normal pressure on the other side of the hatch and the locking indicator reveals that the hatch is unlocked.

The one of the other prisoners, who till now has been silent, screams out and rushes towards the hatch. Grabbing the handgrip it pulls out and the hatch opens inwards smoothly. Not even stopping the prisoner stumbles out of the chamber and looks around at either direction before sprinting out and down a corridor.

With the hatch now open you are able to take a look. The hatch leads into a long corridor. Looking down either side you see similar hatches along the same side every ten meters or so. On the other side which you are facing there is the occasional hatch however the bulkhead looks less worn. Other than the one prisoner sprinting for all it’s worth there is no other signs of life. The corridor itself is small and cramped, barely wide enough for two people walking side to side to pass after doing a little twisting.

A noise catches your ear and turning you see one of the inner hatches valves spinning before opening. Stumbling out juggling a toolkit and portable terminal is a man clad in a simple jumpsuit with a rebreather over his face and shoulder/chest lights. Typing furiously at the terminal he does not seem to have noticed your small party, yet surprise would be lost very soon.
dyslexicfaser - Reggie Sharpe
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Crazed, Fleeing and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationPanic was racing through you. Rational thought was a thing of the past that was quickly vanishing into a tiny pinprick of your mind as you instincts, rudely awaken start to overwrite logic and super-charge your flight response. The world distorts and you spy escape. A blur of motion and you reach a hatch which you easily open. Emerging into a corridor your senses scream bloody murder at you. It is far too much and you turn and sprint away, your muscles acting on their own as you struggle to assert control over yourself again.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationOperating the terminal you find that it is resting in a standby state. A quick flick of several keys snaps it out. Looking over the functions is appears to be a backup cyro-stasis control node for the five tubes in this chamber with limited connection to the rest of the ship. One set of displays seems to be information on the former occupants of the tubes who, like you are recovering from their freezing. Yet that information to you is a secondary priority as you focus on the key questions.

Who are you

Ship Designation: Redemption Corporation HPT 13 –Hope Killer
Where are we?

Forward Modular Hull – Port Side – Level three – Section 13.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner storage/launch bay.
What is happening?

Unable to provide information – Data Lines Not Connected
Why are we here?

Power interruption to forward modular hull triggered emergency revival protocols
ERROR: Emergency Protocols were not disabled per RC-Hades Transport Definitions 1.1A
ADDENDUM: Cyro-Stasis Pods Cirica 2278 Have Hard-Coded Revival Protocols – Unable to Disable
WARNING: Please return to Cyro-Stasis Pod and Await Security Personal. Failure to do will authorize Lethal Force
What do you want?

Unable to Provide Inventory Information – Data Lines Not Connected

Accessing the location menu a wire diagram of the ship appears on one of the monitors. Very simplistic it appears to be a simple deck plan of the ship with information on the middle and rear of the ship not available. However there are clear details of the forward hull. Pulling it up you find that the chamber you all are located in is on the port side of the hull, three levels down in the middle of it. Looking at the plans it looks like there is an “Emergency Evacuation Vehicle” located beneath you.

Looking at the cyro-stasis pods you see that they are mounted over hatches which look like would lower the cyro-stasis pods. From your knowledge you quickly realize that they would then slide into the EEV which would then be launched. Yet there is no information why this system was setup on the ship which was a prisoner transport.

Returning to the map you can see that leaving the chamber would place you on a long corridor that spans the length of the forward hull. Every ten meters or so there is yet another chamber that appears to be similar to the one that you are in. At the fore end much of the information is not available however it appears that it where the vast majority of the long-range scanners and communications arrays are located. There are four levels which appears to be similar to this level, two above and one below you. Further down it looks like there are cargo bays and a secondary fusion reactor. However there is nothing cool and fancy like life-signs/personal trackers nor telling what areas of the ship intact or damaged. Nor are there anything like shuttles/true escape pods in the forward hull. In fact it almost looks like that the forward hull was custom built for this ship to be a prisoner transport. Finally you are unable to locate anything that looks like living quarters or armory in the forward hull, indicating that the crew of this ship lived in the middle or rear sections of the ship.

However looking over the information you now have the knowledge to transverse the forward section of the ship. Taking a look over the chamber there is nothing else. One of the men, Randolph is checking out the hatch. Your eyes glance over a medical kit mounted on a wall. If it is like most medical kits it would have some of the drugs you crave, or at least some that might keep you going longer before the joys of going cold-turkey kicked in.

It is about this time that one of the prisoners, whom you now realize has been looking more and more stressed, seems to snap. Rushing the hatch he pulls it open easily and flees out of the chamber. Janks and Randolph step out to see what is happening as you poke and prod the terminal for the last few pieces of information that lurk within its databanks when you find something:


T-Minus: 2 Days:15 hours:12 Minutes Till Prisoner Deployment
Sam Miller - William Holt
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane (Debatable) and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationNeedless to say you decide to see what the others were doing for now. After all they were like moldy cereal in the morning, boring and not tasty but a curious phenemonon.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Ripped Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.

After some “manual modifications” this jumpsuit has been torn open from the neck to the waist. It now exposes the burly chest and chest hair of the wearer and allowing greater freedom of movement.
NarrationTearing at the jumpsuit takes a bit of effort for the material apparently was not meant to be abused. Yet you are Janks and your chest hair yearns to be free. After a minute or two the jumpsuit concedes and your chest hair exposes itself to the world, declaring itself victor over the evil of social norms!

Now that key business has been taken care of it is time to check out the hatch. Frowning at it does not change its state and looking through the small window does not grant a view of beautiful women on a sandy beach enjoying the sun on their uncovered bodies. Nor do you see any other signs of life, such as several angry guards with cattleprods and boots with spikes.

One of your fellow prisoners joins you in examining the door when one of your other prisoners snaps. He rushes and with a feat of tremendous strength for one so small he pushes you aside and pulls open the hatch and flees the chamber. Stepping out into the corridor you can see him rushing almost on all fours down to the left.

A noise catches your ear and turning you see one of the inner hatches valves spinning before opening. Stumbling out juggling a toolkit and portable terminal is a man clad in a simple jumpsuit with a rebreather over his face and shoulder/chest lights. Typing furiously at the terminal he does not seem to have noticed your small party, yet surprise would be lost very soon.
Group #2
Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationSteadying yourself at the terminal you take a look at the controls and notice something shocking. Another blink and you focus on the cyro-stasis pods and a horrific revelation runs down your spine. These cyro-stasis pods were from the same year that your nightmares began. You had seen the refinements made to the technology as you slept through the years. Yet almost like a trip into a museum you were looking at units that should not exist nearly a hundred and fifty years later.

Cyro-Stasis units are some of the most durable units on a ship. After all they are the coffins that hold the dreaming dead. They were also equipped with a variety of safety features. Depending on the make and model some would awaken their passengers at the first sign of trouble like what happened to you and Anastasia and others that would keep the occupants frozen for as long as possible. These units appeared to be of the same programming/batch that the ones that started your fateful torturous life over 150 years ago (how was your grandson still alive).

Returning to the present and the computer terminal you see that it is a simple affair. Essentially it is a control unit for the cyro-stasis tubes and the EEV system. Checking the logs it appears that there was some kind of power loss which caused the units hardcoded survival code to active and initiate a defrosting of everyone. However the terminal is not connected to the rest of the ship network and only because it was connected through the power lines was it able to give you information on the cause of the defrosting.

There also appears to be basic information on your fellow passengers in this room which is available for download. Otherwise there is no additional information from the terminal. No information on the status of the hatch, no information on the emergency, no other information whatsoever.

Fate then decides to give you a rude interruption by another impact, this time as if something struck the hull nearby. This is followed shortly by what almost sounds like a high-pitch drilling sound. You quickly recognize it for you used similar unit, hull borers to penetrate ship hulls to gain access. Typically used on a airlock or other area where the hull would the thinner and less chance of hitting a key system. While whatever boarding craft is using the borer is not here it is close enough for the noise to reach you.
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationRecovering from the aftereffects of your revival it is instinct that drives you to bark out an order to the computer terminal which goes unanswered. Crawling over towards the terminal you see another man already working on it. In fact it looks like he is recovering just as quickly as you are and is already in the process of acquiring data from the system.

Observing the spilled liquid you see that it is turning from a semi-gel that it was when it was contained in the tube into a pure liquid which is just pooling on the ground, not going anywhere. Clearly it seems that it was not meant that you were to be revived in this chamber for there is no drainage system. Plus the technology used in these units is old, much older than you expected to be used, however the units appear to be in good shape. Using your mask and the tube you are able to rig up a little container for the spilled liquid.

Taking a look at the hatch you see that it is a fairly standard unit. Consisting of a manual valve in the middle with a viewport on top there are two gauges. One is a mechanical pressure gauge which you instinctively look over and see that there is positive pressure on the other side. The other is a locking indicator which indicates that the hatch is unsecured. Finally there is a vertical pull-bar which is used to pull open the hatch. A standard ship hatch, designed to remain shut if there is no pressure on the other side.

There is then a sudden impact against the ship which nearly sends you stumbling but you are able to recover, followed by a strange sound. Almost like a high-pitch drilling noise that seems to vibrate through the hull plates. Which the source is not within the chamber is almost sounds like some kind of boarding craft is attempting to penetrate the hull and enter the ship near the section that you all are in.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationRecovering and talking with the other people within the small chamber it seems that your particular skills are not as of use at this point in time. Instead you focus on getting your body up and running again. Based on the advice of the one man, Matthias you already are feeling better. In fact you notice that the gravity on the ship appears to be less than normal, almost light enough for you to glide if you have enough space to get a running start and a cliff to jump off of. However such opportunities would be unlike to appear on this ship.

Yet it seems that are now starting to change for the deck suddenly shifts. Regaining your balance a screeching sound assaults your ears, as if something is drilling into your skull. The chamber seems to shrink upon you as the chilly liquid pooling at your feet starts to solidify, anchoring you into this shrinking prison that you have been pushed into. Escape crawled at you as your realized that even with the low gravity you would be unable to fly, unable to enjoy the freedom that your instincts craved. You must get out, get out, GET OUT!!!
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLooking around the chamber many of the details of it come into focus through your own natural memory. Older-generation of cyro-stasis tubes, check. Standard ship hatch designed to remain airtight in the event of pressure loss, check. Roaming prisoners without guards, big unknown factor.

Making your way over to the hatch you look at the right side where there is a simple mechanical pressure indicator. The needle is pointed solidly in the green area, indicating that there is positive pressure. Grabbing the hatch you are able to push it open slightly soundlessly. Taking a brief look you see that your chamber is at the end of a long corridor. There is no signs of life however you spy the closed hatches that seem to occur every ten meters or so. To your right is a large airlock and to the left stretches the corridor.

There is a sudden impact and you are driven back. Recovering you glance over the airlock and details flicker. Sparks flying from within the airlock, barely visible through the viewports built into the hatch. A screeching sound that rips through your ears. The noise is very familiar for it is the sound of a hull borer, a device attached to boarding craft designed to cut into hulls. Typically boarding craft anchor themselves over spots where the hull is thinner, preferably cargo bays and airlocks. Plus in those locations there is less risk of striking a key system or conduit and it would be easy to control depressurization of the ship once the boarding craft left.

This information flashes through your mind quickly as the sounds of tortured metal gets louder and louder. It will only be a very short time until whoever is on the other side finishes boring the hull and is ready to enter the ship.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationHunting around the cyro-stasis chamber whoever designed it decided to take great pleasure in making it difficult to make weapons. The cyro-stasis tubes are nearly solid metal on the outside, and the metal pipes that you are able to make out would either require lots of time or tools to remove, neither of which you have in supply. There is also a medical kit with a big red cross on it resting on a wall, but it would be unlikely that would contain anything that would make a useful weapon.

Sniffing the air there is the distinctive stench of the cyro-stasis liquid, which smells like detergent and rotten eggs. There is also the faint smell of ozone and smoke, but nothing like the levels during your military service when that idiot fired off the flamethrower. It almost smells like some systems are shorting out somewhere but not in this area.

As your thoughts drift towards that assault and the boarding craft the deck suddenly shifts as if something impacted against the hull. Recovering you see that one of your fellow prisoners has slightly opened the hatch, letting in an all-too familiar sound. Hull borers, probably attached to an airlock nearby. Clearly someone was trying to get into the ship, however how would they react is anyone’s guess at this moment.
Group #3
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationStretching out after the freeze something odd happens. Your cybernetic eye was left intact during the trial and your imprisonment without any changes. Not to mention when you got the eye you spent a considerable amount of money on known for its durability. Ever since having the base unit implanted into your skull it has never malfunctioned, until now. Your vision out of that eye flickers and turns into static for several seconds until it restores itself, yet it still looks wavy.

Looking around as you try to see what happened with your eye you observe the other happenings in the small chamber. For a moment it appears that two of your fellow prisoners were about to have a scuffle over the computer terminal before they move apart with one of them focusing on the work. Another man seems to be following your action and is also observing the other prisoners. The other two appear to start a massage clinic so it is common sense that you check out the hatch.

It is an older style that has a manual valve in the middle with a clear window in the top portion, barely large enough to look through. On the right side is a handgrip set vertically on the hatch, large enough for you two grab it with both hands to pull open. Above the handgrip are two mechanical gauges, one of them indicating pressure on the other side of the door and the other whether if the hatch is sealed or not. The pressure gauge reads positive normal pressure on the other side of the hatch and the locking indicator reveals that the hatch is unlocked.

Looking through the hatch there is another moment when your vision flickers before returning to normal. In that moment there is a blur of movement, as if someone just ran by the hatch. Blinking there is no other signs of movement, other than what appears to be flickering lights from further down the corridor. However you are unable to make any details of what is going on outside without opening up the hatch and stepping forth into the unknown.
Dreamshifter - Drenmar Amyril
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationSitting down on the chamber that recently held your frozen form you observe the others. For now it seems that they are content to sit around and get their bearings with only one of them going to look at the closed hatch. Yet despite your comment there is no signs of the guards or that anything is happening to indicate that the crew is aware of your awakening.

*Not according to plan.*

Watching the figure enter you find yourself oddly unable to move. It was not that you coulden’t move it was that you didn’t want to. The figure smile, the rest of his face hidden in shadows.

You will be a pillar…you will be a sacrifice…your new life awaits…

Shaking your head there is a sudden sensation of vertigo you are back to yourself. The memories start to fade again, buried under a sense of disinterest in them. Still there is that strange tickle in the back of your mind…..
Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane (Debatable) and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWorking on the legs of Lydia your medical skills prove their use as feeling restores. While working on her you noticed several strange implants in her hands. The craftsmanship is unusual and judging by the slight scares it was done by a novice. Their purpose eludes you at the moment however it seems that they do not impair her.

Taking yet another look around the chamber you notice strange. On the bottom of the cyro-stasis tube that you had previously been frozen was a small symbol etched into the metal. A small infinity symbol with the head of a horse over it, it was barely noticeable. Yet it was there, the symbol of your order. Why it would be inserted on your cyro-stasis tube is a mystery, for it was used as a indication of a meeting point, a start of a mission, a sign that you were still needed.
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWorking on the terminal you are unable to find additional information regarding the nature of the emergency. The terminal is a dumb unit, only connected to the system via the power lines and not in the ship network. The reason it was able to determine that the was an issue with power was due to it monitoring the power flow to the cyro-stasis tubes. It seems that the cyro-stasis units were older models, models which were designed with several hardcoded protocols regarding the safety of occupants.

Oddly enough it seems that someone tried to modify the coding of the tubes to ignore the hard-coded protocols. In fact according to what you can determine the tubes were only suppose to awaken you only a short time after being loaded into the EEV system. In fact there is something off about the EEV system. It should only be a single use system instead from what you can tell the EEV system has been activated dozens of times, if not more. In fact it also appears that the EEV system has been replaced over and over again which barely makes sense.

In essence the terminal is only used to control and monitor the cyro-stasis tubes. A quick review of the records on the prisoners as well provides just the most basic of information on them.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLooking through your glasses as Jenny massages your leg feeling starts to quickly return. Looking around as the others seem to start work your eyes glance upon the one man who has stayed mostly likely. Shorter than even you he has the look of being stronger than the rest of you while he does not act it.

….Chains….

Blinking at him you try to focus on the man however your vision seems to double.

….Screaming out the man struggled against the chains that bound him….

A brief shake of the head does not restore vision.

….Blindfolded by a plant digging into his flesh behind the man stood himself smiling….

….He looks at you….

Your vision splits and your head hurts however your vision returns. Looking at the man you see him as a normal man without anything special. Snapping your fingers however sparks fly, far too many sparks than should have been thrown.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Lydia, while sitting on the ground receiving treatment from Jenny, looks about the room, observing other people as they go about whatever work it is they are doing. Her eyes drift in particular to Drenmar, at which point she seems to get a glazed look in her eyes, as though she has, for a moment, lost consciousness. But she returns to normal only a second later, blinking her eyes as though her vision has been obstructed somehow. Lydia forcefully shakes her head, as though suffering some sort of headache, and she squints her eyes in Drenmar's direction. She looks to be in a great deal of pain. But the moment is passing, and soon Lydia is shaking her head and laughing slightly, though she says nothing.

Out of habit, Lydia snaps her fingers. Suddenly, and surprisingly for anyone other than Lydia, sparks shoot from her fingers at the click. However, Lydia takes on a look of surprise as the sparks nearly reach down her entire hand. The explosion of light in the room probably draws attention, especially from Jenny, who was close enough that the sudden increase in light from about a handful of sparks should cause alarm. This time, Lydia does have a response, with a look of shock on her face.

"Well, that was not the amount I was expecting."

To reaffirm this, she snaps again, producing only a small number of sparks, only enough to light a candle. "That's a bit more ordinary..."

[Kalirren]

"Conway? As in the Conway brothers?" challenged the dark-skinned woman. "I don't believe youuu-whooah!" The ship shuddered violently, and it only took a few heartbeats before a truly vile grinding sound started echoing throughout the chamber. She'd heard it only once before, subjectively not so long ago. Her eyes tightened into awareness as a look of consternation briefly swept across her countenance. "M'name's Mackey. We're being boarded."

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins - Group One

Janks slips back into the cryo-room and halfway expects Blackwell to do the same.

"Only one... I expected more for a welcoming comitee. Did he have a gun? Otherwise I can take him, no biggie!

He looks around the room again for anything like a pipe or a handrailing that might come of the wall easy enough but would survive one or two hits over someones head.

While trying to tear apart one of the stasis-tubes to salvage said object he speaks to Tia:

"Found out anything why there's no breakfast yet?

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group Three

Darius decides, losing interest in the mundane activities of the other inmates, pokes his prosthetic eye a few times. It swivels around a bit as he tests out its movement capabilities, and after a few seconds he seems satisfied. He pokes around the room for a bit, trying to see if he can break off a bit of piping or other wise improvise a shiv.
Regardless of his success, he then walks over to the hatch and and examines it for a minute. Full pressure on the other side, and unlocked. It was not an obstruction. He peers through the window and recoils a bit after a second, turning away from the door and tapping his eye again. He cracks his knuckles offhandedly as he swivels the eye once more. Satisfied with whatever he had accomplished, he turns back to the door.
He grabs the release valve in two hands and pulls strongly, spinning it loose and pushing the door open. He peeks his head out and looks in both directions.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

((I am assuming that the technician is moving toward the party's room.))

Randolph slinks back into the cryo room and carefully closes the hatch as quietly as possible. He motions for the others to get away from the window before creeping over to the medical kit.

There's gotta be something in here, he thinks to himself as he rummages through the kit. A scalpel, tranqs, suture thread, something. He spends several seconds sorting through adhesive bandages, gauze, and sanitary wipes before he uncovers five syringes of tranqs at the back of the kit. [color=gray][i]Aaaahh, jackpot. They must have been expecting the need to calm any...unruly prisoners in here should they wake up unexpectedly. I'll just take one of these...

Taking one of the syringes from the kit, he slinks back over to Janks. Be ready to shut the hatch when I get back in. This won't take long, he whispers.

Tiptoeing back to the hatch, he peers out the window just in time to see the technician pass their room. Randolph waits a few more seconds, letting the tech get a few more yards down the hallway before carefully opening the hatch and oozing out into the corridor. Syringe in hand, Randolph's heart begins beating quickly and his free hand twitches in anticipation of the kill as he tiptoes silently behind his unsuspecting victim. He bounds over the final yard, ruthlessly emptying the syringe full of tranquilizers into the poor man's neck! The technician's brief yelp of surprise is cut short as Randolph clamps one hand in a vice-grip around his throat and the other on his genitals. The man struggles against the assassin at first, but it isn't long before the tranqs kick in and Randolph is able to drag him into the cryo room. Throwing the man to the ground, Randolph wraps both hands around his throat, using his entire weight to choke the life out of him. It takes just about a minute before the unfortunate tech's last, feeble struggles finally stop for good.

Here Janks, see if you can find anything useful in here, he says, tossing the toolbag in his direction. Tia, you think you could use this guy's handheld?

[ubersquid]

Janks - group one

Janks stops yanking at the cryo-tube when Blackwell announces a success. He looks at him dumbfounded at first, wondering how he would hit the man over the head with such a small pipe, until he finally realizes what he is planning.

Janks watches the man do his work in amazement and closes the hatch as told.

He already had begun to browse through the engineers bags when Blackwell supposedly "finishes" his work. Janks looks at him with his eyes wide open. After he gets the bag tossed he finally snaps.

Janks spits at the toolbag and walks up to Blackwell. "WHAT THE F***!" Regretting to have stopped tearing off the makeshift club before, he simply shoves him. "He was out cold... and judging by the lack of riot-gear, he wasn't even a guard. He was probably just the janitor about to clean the toilets for us to have our morning-dumps in! Why the f*** did you kill him?"

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph shrugs nonchalantly. He was an unknown variable. Had he seen us or woken up unexpectedly, he could have raised an alarm or otherwise interfered in our escape attempt. You're right, he was probably innocent and if this was a normal job I likely would have let him live. However, this is certainly not a normal job and I will not let him or anyone else prevent me from regaining my freedom. Do you have a problem with that, Janks?

Randolph kneels down next to the body while he awaits Janks' answer, rummaging through the tech's pockets for anything useful.

Hmm...pockets. I would love to have a jumpsuit with pockets. I wonder if his would fit... he muses to himself.

[ubersquid]

Janks - group one

"Bah... Problem? He was the freakin' janitor for gods sake!"

"Murderers and loonatics... Oh I so knew it."

Janks furiously walks up and down the room and nervously looks out the small window again. Then suddenly he turns around and points at Tia.

"You've seen it, right? I had nothing to do with that!"

[Pwenet]

Group #1
Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece.
NarrationHeart pounding you leap up like a lion making the final strike against its prey. The technician, focused on his terminal never even has a chance to scream as you inject him and hold him quietly until he passes out. The rest of your gruesome task passes without incident after you pull him into the chamber.

Checking the pockets you find various small tools. Screwdrivers, small power wrenches, swiss army knife, flashlights, welder, and bits of wire and string. In addition you also find an ID card and a worn photograph of the technician with an average looking woman with the two of them holding onto a small child. The women also happens to look very pregnant.

Looking over the technician you see that he is about the same size as you. Since it was already on your mind you go ahead and strip the technician and dress yourself up in his clothing, including really nice boots.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Ripped Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.

After some “manual modifications” this jumpsuit has been torn open from the neck to the waist. It now exposes the burly chest and chest hair of the wearer and allowing greater freedom of movement.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
NarrationCatching the toolbag you take a look through it quickly. It looks like many you have used in your day with all the normal tools that one would expect. It is up to you what you will take and use from it. Plus it itself can be used as a nice blunt weapon if need be.
Group #2
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S07
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationOpening up the hatch without issue you take a look out. The corridor is not wide, barely wide enough for two people to pass by each other. To the left and right are several similar hatches about ten meters apart. In fact you would say that you are in the middle of the corridor. Directly opposite is barren hull metal with what appears to be larger doors.

Taking a look to the left you noticed another one of the hatches opening and a couple of orange-clad people emerge. Even from the distance your eye is able to catch the telltale sight of blood on their clothing.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group 3

Darius recoils from the corridor, silently cursing his inability to find anything suitable to use as a weapon in the small room. He snaps finger once, loudly, putting a finger to his lips to indicate a desire for silence, his single eye shining harshly.

"Quiet," he hisses, near silent but still loud enough to be heard around the room. "There's another group of prisoners coming. They're bloodied up; dunno if it's theirs, rather not find out the hard way."

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason was pleasantly surprised by the hatch's willingness to cooperate. He peeked the bulkhead open and peered through-- but was interrupted abruptly by the grinding. Siege engine. Boarding drill. That provided another important piece of information. This chamber was close to the ship's outer edge. Hull breach... Temporary decompression: Likely. That was the sting with these siege drills-- the way they were designed allowed the chamber being penetrated to decompress momentarily before establishing a secure seal for the boarding party to enter through. Depending on the size of the chamber, the seal was usually made before the pressure dropped enough to kill the inhabitants outright, but very often it was enough to knock any defenders that were present unconscious. This was intentional-- it was a design feature.

"We need to move." Jason turned back to the room. "Come on, everybody! We need to get out of here, quickly!"

[Kalirren]

"Jason, is it coming into our block?" exclaimed Mackey. She shambled to the hatch and stuck her head out the opening, trying to locate the source of the sound. "Left or right?" Dammit, she wasn't going to have woken up just to be sucked out the boarding hole. "See a way out?"

And if there wasn't one, then there had to at least be a way to activate the airtight seal on the hatch. That would at least enable them to survive the initial vacuum shock.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

"Really the best we can do at this point is guess-- it could break through on this wall there, it could be coming in on the level below us for all we can tell. But either way, I would prefer to not be here when it breaks through." Jason said, stepping out into the hall and glancing around. On the wall, he spotted an Emergency Fire Response Kit. Immediately, he moved to see what could be gathered.

[Kalirren]

Mackey was taken aback by the assertiveness of Jason's response, but knew when to shut up and move. The way he moved, the way he didn't act all confused when the ship was being boarded, his instinct to gather supplies even when under time pressure; this was somebody -competent-, and he was playing his hand quietly. Mark one to watch out for.

Just outside the hatch there was a sparking airlock to the right, and to the left extended a long corridor, which was probably 50 meters long? more? Meanwhle, the boarders couldn't be more than a minute from breaking through, at which point they'd start clearing rooms. That wasn't much time at all, if they had to get to the opposite end of the corridor.

All this, of course, meant that Jason was right all along. The five of them were either at the mercy of the boarding party, or dead, or both if the assault team -did- come through into their block. Her eyes instinctively finding Rachel, she nodded back at the rest. "He's right. Let's get out of here!"

[Greystone]

"Hmmmmm" Jenny's eye's seem to wander away from the woman's head, towards the cryo-tubes "Interesting"

She turns to Lydia "I've noticed several implants, surgically grafted by a bit of a amateur. What do they all do?" the question seems innocent enough.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

"I suppose I should introduce myself. Matthias Conway, co-inventor of the jump drive, and the Frozen Man. You've probably heard of me - in ghost stories if not in the history books."

Rachel nodded, impressed. Few people had the guts to take on the name of so well known a fable, though why he also claimed to be a long-dead scientist she couldn't puzzle out. Before she had a chance to ask him, however, the deck shifted beneath her feet, and she was quite suddenly forced to focus on other things, as her claustrophobia came shrieking to the forefront of her mind.

For the next several minutes she was virtually unaware of her surroundings, wrestling with the desire to scream, to run wildly out the door, anything to keep the walls from closing in. She stared at the floor, hugging herself tightly and shifting her wings so that they covered her sides as well as her back, as if she could hold herself together. After what felt like hours, Mackey's voice penetrated her frantic inner struggle.

"He's right. Let's get out of here!"
Rachel looked up, her inhuman eyes slightly glazed with barely contained panic. "Get out, yes, I have to get out, I have to have more room, it's too small here, I have to get out now!" With a shudder, Rachel swallowed convulsively, then deliberately relaxed her grip on her arms, forcing herself to speak slowly and calmly. "Sorry, the noise is making it worse than before," she explained to Mackey. "I need something to do, something to focus on."

[tgva8889]

She turns to Lydia "I've noticed several implants, surgically grafted by a bit of a amateur. What do they all do?" the question seems innocent enough.

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Rather than question how she noticed the implants themselves, Lydia snaps her fingers against in response. A small few sparks should fly up this time, about the same as the second time she did it. "That's what they do. I'm sure, theoretically, they're supposed to be able to shoot bolts of lightning, but I've never gotten them to do any more than that." She wrings her hands a few times, then rubs her calves. "I think I might be able to walk a bit now. Thanks." She tries to push herself up to a standing position and has quite a bit more success than last time, though her stance is a bit wobbly. When she stops shaking, she tries to walk and, after a few short steps, makes it to something tall, solid, and not human that she can used to prop herself up.

Smiling sheepishly, Lydia continues on. "I only have them in my hands." She flexes her hand a bit, then moves her arms around, as though she's trying to restore some amount of blood flow. "Any other questions, doctor?"

[Kalirren]

"I need something to do, something to focus on."


"It's all right," comforted Mackey. She knew to brush it aside. She'd have plenty of time to find out exactly what it was that bothered Rachel if it ever mattered again, but right now they didn't have time to lose. Standing astride the opening of the hatch, Mackey extended Rachel a hand. "Come out here," she beckoned, "we're looking for a way out."

Sparks flew.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel crossed the room quickly and grasped Mackey's hand, remembering just in time to be careful not to scratch her. Immediately the walls seemed to recede a little, and the fog of fear began to clear from her mind. "Sorry," she said again. "How can I help?"

[RavenGirl]

Tiamara “Tia” Danye - Group One

Tia breaks eye contact with the screen just long enough to meet Randolph's gaze, grin, and shake his hand.

"Interesting... hmm, fascinating," she whispers to herself, tracing flickering maps and scrolling data with one hand while moving through it with the other, dismissing each new image almost as fast as it appeared. As she concentrates her long red dreadlocks shift in colour, becoming a vivid pink.

"There's a lot of information here, though it doesn't have everything I asked for." She begins a rapid prescis, speaking in staccatto-short sentences. "Hope Killer". Cheery name for a ship. There's a escape vehicle on the deck below us. Lots of cryo-chambers, set up to be dumped into the EEV super-quick. Not sure why." She frowns, puzzled. "Maybe Hades is a one-way trip, maybe there's no Hades. Tangencial. If we want guns we go aft. Crew section. Nothing forward bar instruments. We should move." She grins. "Somewhere. Somewhere with breakfast."

Hope Killer. Hah. I wonder...

She looked at the pair, eyes widening as she notices the absence of Randolph. She makes her way over to the medi-kit, helping herself to the remaining four syringes of tranq, as well as a small phial of painkillers. Score. She conceals them in her jumpsuit and moves closer to the windows, looking for a glimpse of the corridor beyond.

She makes a face when Randolph drags in the victim, the face becoming progressively more stony as the life drains from the man. She does not look away.

"You didn't need to do that." Her tone is quiet, controlled, reasonable, and very, very clear. "He would have told us more alive, and what we need right now is information." Her hair gently changes colour, becoming pale, almost see-through.

She catches the tossed data terminal easily, though she shakes once as she turns it to examine it more closely. She represses the tremor quickly, not giving any sign that it is due to the first tendrils of drug withdrawal rather than witnessing cold-blooded death.

Randolph. Definitely not a people person. He'd make a good attack dog, if I could find the leash to fit. She purses her lip. When did I grow so cold?

Her eyes go to the corpse on the floor.

Longer ago than I remember. So why do I feel the stirrings of concience now, just as I don't have time to think or room to manouver? Why now...

Hope, Killer...

Standing easily, she opens her hands to Janks as he gestures at her. "I saw it." Her voice was concilliatory. "I wouldn't have done the same. What's done is done. Just remember, we might have to kill a lot more before we can get off this tub. Might. Right now, we don't have time to argue."

She turns her attention back to the data-pad, trying to get as much more information out of it as possible within the rough minute she allows herself. Her eyes flick up for a moment. "We can't stay here long" While she taps at the pad her muscles tense, ready to move. Her hair darkens in hue towards violet.

[Greystone]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Rather than question how she noticed the implants themselves, Lydia snaps her fingers against in response. A small few sparks should fly up this time, about the same as the second time she did it. "That's what they do. I'm sure, theoretically, they're supposed to be able to shoot bolts of lightning, but I've never gotten them to do any more than that." She wrings her hands a few times, then rubs her calves. "I think I might be able to walk a bit now. Thanks." She tries to push herself up to a standing position and has quite a bit more success than last time, though her stance is a bit wobbly. When she stops shaking, she tries to walk and, after a few short steps, makes it to something tall, solid, and not human that she can used to prop herself up.

Smiling sheepishly, Lydia continues on. "I only have them in my hands." She flexes her hand a bit, then moves her arms around, as though she's trying to restore some amount of blood flow. "Any other questions, doctor?"


"Yeah, who the hell put them in? Look here" she traces the scars "C'mon, I could do this surgery without noticeable marks"

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Smiling, Lydia says, "Perhaps I'll tell you when you save my life the second time." She snaps her fingers for another spark, but her face seems to become dour as she does. "It isn't a story I feel like telling at the moment."

[Greystone]

Jenny

The blonde woman shrugs lightly "Alright, just wondering" she stands and brushes her hands togethor "There, your legs should be fine."

She turns to walk away, keeping a sharp eye out for symbols she might recognize elsewhere in the cabin.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason nodded at the contents of the Fire kit. Two Oxygen rebreathers, for use in unfavorable air conditions (though loss of pressure would still bite hard...) and two canister-shaped Fire extinguishers. It seemed that the Medical parts of the kit, the spray-on burn salves and auto-injecting anesthetics, had been scavenged from this particular unit, but the remaining equipment was quite useful and worth the several seconds' delay in retrieving them. Jason looked back to see that Mackey was already trying to get the others to move, and nodded in approval. They would need somewhere to go, which was his next job.

As he went he adjusted the re-breather so that the mask would be easy to grab and put on in a moment's notice. He moved down the hall away from the sparking airlock. As he went he glanced briefly into each hatch (assuming there are viewing ports on each?), but continued on quickly, looking for some manner of Connecting passage that would lead to the rest of the ship. If he spies something interesting or otherwise noteworthy through one of the hatches, he'll pause to investigate further.

Once the others emerge from the room behind him, he will call to them to hurry and catch up with him.

[ubersquid]

Janks - group one


"Hrm..."

Janks also doesn't look like he would want to argue about the subject any longer. He starts browsing through the toolbox without too much interest in the actual contents, closes it again, lifts it up and looks at it from all sides. After a moment he goes back to the railing he unfruitfuly tried to rip off the stasis tube before and with a very loud clang the welds and bolts finally give in.

"TTT always get's the job done."

Quoting the well known commercial from the toolbox manufacturer, Janks tears off the now loosened railing.

"Alright! ... I'm in. We should definitely leave. Also because that guy slowly is giving me the creeps."
Janks nods towards the fifth prisoner in the room who hadn't said anything until now, but seemed to watch every single move of the others.

Janks sets himself up next to the door, toolbox in one hand, railing pipe swung over his sholder in the other, and waits for the others to finish their doings, ready to go.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Pockets!

Randolph allows himself a moment to revel in the various treasures found in his new pockets. Screwdrivers, string, wire, a small welder, a Swiss army knife! This tech's jumpsuit was a veritable treasure trove of improvised weaponry!

Getting back down to business, Randolph drags the tech's body over to one of the empty cryo tubes and dumps it in, followed by his prisoner's jumpsuit and the family photo. He makes one more stop at the med kit, stashing several bandages, antiseptic wipes, and other first aid supplies in his pockets before joining the others.

Right, let's go. He tosses one last look at the silent fifth prisoner before leading the others out into the hallway. Alright Tia, which way is aft?

[Kalirren]

"Sorry," she said again. "How can I help?"

"We just need to get out of here," Mackey replied. "You look left, I'll look right. Try every hatch door, see which ones are unlocked. Scavenge anything convenient." Her voice crescendoed to surmount the growing screech of metal on metal. Hesitantly she glanced back at the other two. "Come on, they'll be coming through any moment now! Matthias, which way is out?"

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Group One

"Hmm." Tia frowns, then gestures. "This way!"

She allows the others to take the lead while she pores over the datapad.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Group Three

Well, the since the terminal is too primitive to be of any actual use, it's time to get out of here. How else can one proceed in this interesting game, if not by continuing to the next level?

Ouranos looks over his companions. At least it seems like there's people better suited to go through the door before him. Wouldn't want to be the one to walk into a trap, after all.

"I suppose it's about time to get out of here, don't you think?" he says to the others in the room.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group 3

Darius recoils from the corridor, silently cursing his inability to find anything suitable to use as a weapon in the small room. He snaps finger once, loudly, putting a finger to his lips to indicate a desire for silence, his single eye shining harshly.

"Quiet," he hisses, near silent but still loud enough to be heard around the room. "There's another group of prisoners coming. They're bloodied up; dunno if it's theirs, rather not find out the hard way."

((I'm going to repost this, since it seems to have been totally ignored by everyone else in my group.))

[Sayn]

((Actually, my post had a little to do with that too. Taking a stand in a small room usually isn't the best of plans.))

[Inspectre]

For a minute, Matthias's attention is wholly taken up by the realization that these cryo-pods are the same as the ones that had damned him all those decades ago. Idly, he flips through the dosiers on the other prisoners, the remainning focused part of his mind absorbing what information he can while the rest of his brain replayed that awful end to that ancient trip over and over.

Finally, the loud sound of the hull-borers recaptures his attention, and Matthias looks up to find the situation has deteoriated rapidly.

"The console won't give me that information." Matthias hisses as he moves away to the others. "I also don't think running is the right way to play this. You want to try to outrun a boarding party inside a hostile ship? Where are you going to go, other than into the waiting hands of the guards?"

Matthias shakes his head.

"We should try to secure the hatch and hide, waiting for the boarding party to pass. They'll be concerned with securing the ship first. If we're lucky, they'll leave only a token guard behind. That hull borer is likely attached to a shuttle, which we can use to get off of this damn ship."

Matthias sighs.

"But whatever. Jason, was it? Why don't you give that medical kit to Rachel. She can sort through it while we focus on other things."

Sliding up to the hulking form of Ike, Matthis whispers, "Whatever we decide, Rachel panicking is going to be a problem. Regardless of whether you have a problem with hitting a woman, I hope you would have no objections to grabbing her and keeping her quiet? Guards or boarders hearing her screaming if she loses it is going to cause problems no matter where we are."

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

At the two notions of leaving the room and others being around, Lydia looks up and says "Well, now that I can walk that sounds like a grand idea." She stands straight, pauses for a moment, and then seems to be walking relatively normal.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

As the group scurries and panics around him, Ike stands still, blinking from time to time, trying to figure out a plan. He'd thought through how he'd fight if he were on the other side of one of his boarding operations, plenty of times. But a scenario where instead of a gun he had a medkit and instead of a platoon he had four weird criminals had never occurred to him. Rushing the boarders as they came through was okay. But with only two rebreathers they wouldn't have the numbers to overwhelm a standard boarding team. Running and setting an ambush later was okay. It'd work if they did it well or the boarders didn't have much experience.
But hiding and then entering the boarding vessel and taking out anyone there? That was downright good. There might even be some nice equipment on it, if the team was expecting to hold the ship for a while or was too lazy to carry all their gear.
Finally, Ike finalizes his plan.

"Okay, Frozen Man," he replies to Matthias. "But I'm not gonna grab her unless I have to."

First Ike snatches the medical kit emblazoned with the red cross off the wall and turns towards Mackey. "Don't you go flaking out now that the other one's okay. Here, focus on this." the hulking man says, tossing the medkit over to her.
Confident that the issue is resolved, Ike strides over to Jason, holding his hand out like a petulant child. "Gimme one of those extinguishers. If one of the boarders comes in here, I need something to hit him with."
Assuming that Jason does so, Ike walks back to the hatch and starts poking at it. "Anybody know if we can seal this from the inside? So it stays locked?"

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior - Group 2

Being with Mackey helped keep the claustrophobia at bay, but the narrow corridor was even worse than room had been. When the med kit came flying in her direction, she snatched it out of the air, let go of Mackey's hand, and returned to the room, grateful for something constructive to do.

Picking the most open spot she could find, Rachel crouched over the kit, unconsciously mantling her wings like a falcon claiming it's kill. Refusing to look up, she meticiously removed and counted everything in the med kit. And then re-counted. And counted again. And a forth time. By the third re-count she had memorized the contents, but repeating the task allowed her to keep down the panic that wanted to push its way out of her throat in a scream.

{{OOC: Until someone speaks to her, Rachel will continue to sit in the middle of the room with the half-packed med kit, needlessly recounting supplies. If asked she will list the contents of the kit, but she will not give them up unless specifically asked for them.}}

[Inspectre]

Looking around to take stock of their situation and whether the other two were going to continue going along with this plan, Matthias looked back at Rachel. Finally, at least something was going right. Although undoubtedly, that situation was only on momentary hold. Hoping to buy them some more time, Matthias calls out,

"Rachel, why don't you examine each item, see if there's a usage label on them. Side-effects, proper use, that kind of thing."

[Greystone]

Jenny-

Oh, I quite agree Jenny smiled This place is rather... boring

She paused How exactly are we getting out?

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius really wishes he can find one of these people Guilty, because their gung-ho attitudes about the whole thing are starting to grind on his nerves, which are very short from the start. He looks at Jenny, emotions drained from his face.

"We can go that way-" -he jerks a thumb in the direction of the hallway the prisoners came from- "-and walk into the others, or we can go that way-" -he jerks a thumb in the opposite direction- "-and try to escape. Either way, they see us. Or we can wait here and hope they pass over us."

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom, Group 3

Lydia steps forward, stopping behind Darius. "Well, I think that unless the others are obviously dangerous or you think we can outrun them in our condition, I don't see how it makes a difference. Unless you can ensure there are weapons in the escaping direction." Lydia is still having a little trouble walking, but she seems to at least be able to move, which is better than before. What color there was to begin with seems to have returned to her face, though to everyone else she probably still looks pale. Her hands are shaking slightly, but beyond that she seems to be fine.

[Kalirren]

Mackey processed the situation with mounting dismay. With Rachel having darted back inside with the medkit, and Matthias having convinced Ike to stay put, the three of them would be going nowhere. "They're not coming, Jason!" Mackey shouted down the echoing corridor over the ringing screech in her ears. "Have you found a way out? If not, get back in here!" Still standing next to the hatch, Mackey had to make a choice. One more hesitant look to gauge Jason's reaction, and she headed back inside.

Mackey half expected some sort of fight to break out between Ike and Jason over the supplies, and she wasn't interested in the outcome. She set herself to work instead on the hatch. She'd seen a locking indicator on it before; if the door knew it was unsecured, presumably it could be secured. It looked like a standard ship hatch anyhow, it wouldn't be difficult. And if either Jason or Ike came back with a fire extinguisher, then they even had a backup plan; close the hatch, foam up the seam to seal the pressure, and jam the bar with the canister.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason glanced back at the hatch, and blinked. He was accustomed to working alone, or with others of nearly identical mindsets. A thousand scenarios flashed through his mind in a few seconds, and nearly all of them were unfavorable. Keep going... get separated. Try to convince, waste time. Jason sighed, and then sprinted back to the hatch with impressive quickness. He leapt in through the hatch, and then helped Mackey to close it.

Once inside the room he tossed one of his fire extinguishers to Ike. He glanced back and forth between Mackey and Rachel, trying to decide which might need the rebreathing mask more. In the end, he knelt down next to Rachel and offered her the mask. "Here, this will help you breathe if the air gets bad." He explained simply, and with mono-syllabic terms. However, should the 'Angel' refuse the mask, as he suspected she would, he will instead give the oxygen rebreather to Mackey, not really considering that she might not know how it works. But then again, maybe she will.

[Kalirren]

It took a pant or two to get the door closed. Mackey cursed silently. She too, had thought that the group as a whole stood a better chance of surviving if they could get out of the way of the boarding party and lose them in the bowels of the ship. But the way the group dynamic was going, that wasn't going to happen. At least she had managed to overhear Matthias's plan, which raised an immediate concern.

"Jason," she began, "Were any of the other hatches in the corridor secured? One locked door will stand out."

[Pwenet]

Location: Hope Killer – Water Purification and Storage Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Location: Hope Killer – Water Purification and Storage
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece.
Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
NarrationWorking on the datapad Tia seems to have pulled up the deckplans to the ship. So far no one has come out asking about the missing tech, especially men with large guns and armor. Taking the lead with Janks following in the rear The other prisoner seems content to sit and wait around, probably get himself killed you follow Tia’s directions and walk through the small connecting corridor that the tech emerged from. Passing through the small corridor you emerge into what may be one of the largest rooms on the ship.

Looking at a nearby door you see that you have entered the water purification and storage area. Evidently water is a key resource for this chamber is large. There are several huge spheres, some of which have a radiation symbol on them. There are what appears to be hundreds of pipes flowing through the room and turbines. Several of the pipes and turbines are transparent and you can see water flowing through them.

Yet beyond the sound of turbines moving, pumps flushing and water flowing you hear the sound of conversation. Looking around you see on a walkway above your party a pair of technicians. They are working on the valves on one of the spheres with a radiation symbol on it. They are engrossed in their work at the moment so that have not yet noticed you. However judging by the path Tia was leading you on it seems she was guiding you three towards a open hatch that is sadly in clear view of the techs.

With all the pipes and structural beams around it might be possible for you to climb closer to the techs. Then again it would be easy to make your way there. Or maybe another tactic would be in order here.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Location: Hope Killer – Water Purification and Storage
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
NarrationGrabbing the tranqs and painkillers you find that they both are common items. Checking out the terminal you find that it is a common arm unit. Putting it on you find that there are several pockets in the strap, apparently added by the tech. Placing the items you took in them you focus on the datapad.

In many ways it was lucky the technician died so quickly. He didn’t have time to secure the datapad or change what he was looking at. You find yourself looking at a diagram of the Hope Killer. Currently it appears that the chamber your group is in is located in the farthest aft section of the Cyro-Stasis bays which are contained in the upper-forward hull. The cyro-stasis bays cover the top four levels and both sides of the ship and it seems that they are simply long corridors leading into small rooms like this one, with 25 to a level. Elementary math then leads that there are 125 occupants per corridor, 500 per side of the ship, meaning that there are over 1,000 guests on this ship.

The port and starboard sides of the cyro-stasis corridors are separated by what appears to be the water purification and storage system. The lower decks of the forward hull seem to be devoted to cargo storage and a secondary fusion reactor. The middle hull contains two large double-barreled rail cannons and living quarters for the crew of the ship. The middle-aft hull contains the brain of the ship with C&C, computer cores, armories and the like. There is also a dropship bay there as well along with the auxiliary weapons sail. The aft end contains the FTL drive core, fuel tanks and the sublight drives.

While the datapad has an active link to the ship wireless network it seems to be focused only on damage reports. Looking it over it seems that the technician was running towards the forward hull to work on damage to the forward sensor array. There is a red-light on the Starboard side, uppermost and forward most cyro-stasis deck where it appears that something is trying to bore into the hull, otherwise the hull seems intact.

As for escape your options appear to be limited at this time. There is no direct path aft, in fact it looks like you will have to transverse the forward middle hull in order to reach some of the main corridors to reach access ways that stretch across the length of the ship.

By this point with the map of the ship within your mind you are able to guide your fellow prisoners out of the chamber. To your right is barren bulkhead, nothing at all. Towards the forward left is a open inner hatch, which is where the unfortunate technician emerged from before meeting his end. Checking the datapad you see that leads towards the inner forward hull.

Walking through the hatch you pass through a narrow corridor, barely large enough for a single person before emerging into a much larger room. There are several large tanks in this chamber which you recognize as being water tanks. A couple of them have radiation symbols over them which you realize are the tanks that contain control water for the fusion reactors. The others are used for the crew. Water after is means life to anyone, and thus the water storage/purification systems on the ship were one of the key components. Plus with the fact that on all ships space is at a premium there is no such thing as extra space. A sign of luxury on a ship was quarters that would be considered a tiny bedroom on a planet.

There are hundreds of pipes moving through this chamber with various transparent sections allowing you to see the following water through the various turbines. There are several ladders and walkways as well. Due to all the plumbing and the size of the tanks, what is probably the largest area on the ship does not give any of you much room to move around and are confined to several set paths.

Among the noise of the flowing water and turbines spinning your ears catch the echoes of footsteps on the metal deckplates. Looking around you see that there are two men clad in similar jumpsuits to the technician running around one of the tanks with the radioactive warning. The deckplate they are on is above you all and they seems to be focused on several of the valves, their actions suggesting frantic need to fix something. Sadly the doors leading out into the other sections of the ship would be in clear view of the two techs.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Location: Hope Killer – Water Purification and Storage
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
NarrationWith the assistance of the study toolkit it performs it’s new job admirably as a blunt object and helps you tear off a nice piece of metal pipe. Oh sure the removal of the pipe released a cloud of steam which quickly fades away but hey, you now have a new useful weapon to use.

Taking the rear as the three of you leave Prisoner number 4 seems content to sit around and relax the pretty angel seems to know where to go using her magical new toy. Guiding you through a very narrow corridor you enter a large room which resembles a sewage facility you once helped construct. There are several large spherical containers which you recognize as being liquid containers, others that process pollutants out of water so that it can be recycled and used again. Thankfully unlike the one place you helped build this one is all sealed up so there are no fun smells. Yet there is hardly any space to move about here with all the support beams, pipes and narrow walkways and ladders.

Yet it seems that there is trouble in the stinky-free paradise. Specifically two other technicians working several levels above you on the valves of a tank with several labels on it that scream “DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER – RADIATION” (one of your fellow workers back in the day screamed that out during the mandatory safety training). They seem to be focused on their job and it might be possible to sneak up on them. That might be what is needed for based on the course your guide was taking it seems that the door you were being led to would be in clear view of the two techs. Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Sam Miller - William Holt
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L4-S25
Status: Alive, Sane (Debatably)
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationSilence if a virtue unless you are one of the dead or bad eggs.

Location: Hope Killer – Unknown
dyslexicfaser - Reggie Sharpe
Location: Unknown
Status: Alive, Fleeing
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationYou continue to flee as your mind tries to fight against the overwhelmingly strong flight or fight instincts. Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationAs the others follow through on your suggestions you take a quick look at the hatch. Again it looks like something from your original era however there were several ships built even recently that used the same style. After all as the old saying went “why reinvent the wheel if it works?”.

Confident that the hatch is secured it seems that your companions finish just in time for the deck shudders and there is a muffled sound of air rushing out. You along with everyone else besides Rachel makes for the corners of the chamber that would be the most difficult to see through the window in the hatch. The pressure gauge built into the hatch dips rapidly into the red before stabilizing and slowly rising back up into the green, evidently as whatever was drilling into the hull stabilized the seal and the life support systems compensated for the sudden temporary decompression. In addition all the lights in the section die out completely.

For several agonizing seconds there is nothing but silence and the dark, with no lighting coming through the hatch indicating that the lack of power extends into the corridor.

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

Brief flashes of light flicker from the hatch, as if people were carrying flashlights. The thuds sound far too heavy to anything but power-armored humans sprinting down the corridor. Dim red emergency lighting activates in the chamber casting you all in a pale redness of death.

Yet there are no signs of the hatch being opened. The central valve does not even move. Slowly the thuds fade away, going down the other end of the corridor, leaving you all in silence.

After several slow seconds there is still nothing, not even the dim echoes of light from flashlights. You finally slowly twist the valve open and open the hatch very slowly. Looking to the left you see the open airlock at the end of the corridor. Beyond it is what appears to be a docking collar leading to a shuttle. There are no signs of guards, in fact you can see the inside of the shuttle from here. It looks to be a tiny boarding craft, nothing more than a pilot chair and enough space for maybe four men in power-armor. The pilot is still sitting in his chair, not looking behind and seems furiously working on the controls of the boarding craft.
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
NarrationRunning out into the corridor you take a better look. To your left is the airlock where the noises seem to be coming from. You can see through the small closed airlock door a crescendo of sparks prevent a clear view of what is happening in the chamber. To the right are several closed hatches. Taking a second to look into one of them you see several closed cyro-stasis chambers, within them dim humanoid figures frozen in amber.

Then something catches your eye. While not a hatch it looks to be a simple cabinet built into the wall in front of your chamber. Opening one of the doors you see several emergency environmental suits. Rugged and durable suits that are used in emergencies, they are lightly armored to prevent damage to the suit integrity from debris and fires. Plus they are fully sealable and can allow the occupants to step outside the airlock for over an hour using the built-in air tanks.

Around this point the conversation between the rest of the prisoners indicates that it would be better to hide and hope that the intruders will not check the chambers. With not enough time to grab the suits you settle for closing the door to the chamber. Ducking back into the chamber you help Jason quickly close the door and spin the valve to seal the hatch. You see him try to offer a rebreather to Rachel however she declines it and so he offers it to you. Putting it on you run towards one of the corners and you squeeze yourself in as small of a position as possible.

The sound of screeching metal fades away about this time only to be replaced with the muffled sound of rushing air outside. The pressure gauge built into the hatch dips rapidly into the red before stabilizing and slowly rising back up into the green, evidently as whatever was drilling into the hull stabilized the seal and the life support systems compensated for the sudden temporary decompression. In addition all the lights in the section die out completely. Most likely the boarding craft must have tripped surge protectors within the hull, causing power shorts across this section of the ship. Still this was better than exploding conduits and terminals which seem to populate ancient… what was the word…. Television shows.

For several agonizing seconds there is nothing but silence and the dark, with no lighting coming through the hatch indicating that the lack of power extends into the corridor.

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

Brief flashes of light flicker from the hatch, as if people were carrying flashlights. The thuds sound far too heavy to anything but power-armored humans sprinting down the corridor. Dim red emergency lighting activates in the chamber casting you all in a pale redness of death.

Yet there are no signs of the hatch being opened. The central valve does not even move. Slowly the thuds fade away, going down the other end of the corridor, leaving you all in silence.

After several slow seconds there is still nothing, not even the dim echoes of light from flashlights. Mathias takes the initiative and opens the hatch slightly to take a look outside. Since he is still alive and breathing it seems safe to assume that there is not a guard outside taking potshots at people.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive, Barely Controlled Panic
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
NarrationTaking the medical kit you open it up. Focusing on taking inventory of the items you barely notice the conversations going on. Looking over each and every single item you had already repacked the kit in a more organized manner than they originally were in. By the time the hatch is sealed you could find whatever you wanted by touch alone. Someone tries to hand you something but you have retreated so far that you just simply ignore him.

Then like a switch the noise is gone, replaced by darkness. Starting to focus you can make out the fuzzy shapes of your fellow prisoners but they only exist on the fringes of your mind. It is almost peaceful, even with the steady thumps which fade away quickly.

Soon enough dim red emergency lighting activates and the others start moving around. Items start to make their way back into the kit, either to be removed again as a distraction or in need.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguishers - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
NarrationSprint back into the hatch between you and Mackey the hatch was closed and sealed up. Checking the gauges you see that there is a seal, meaning that decompression out in the corridor would not affect your small chamber.

Attempting to hand over the rebreather to Rachel you see that she is solely focused on the medical supplies. As such you switch over towards giving it to Mackey who easily takes it. Since it seems that all that can be done has been done you go find a corner and brace yourself.

The sound of screeching metal fades away about this time only to be replaced with the muffled sound of rushing air outside. The pressure gauge built into the hatch dips rapidly into the red before stabilizing and slowly rising back up into the green, evidently as whatever was drilling into the hull stabilized the seal and the life support systems compensated for the sudden temporary decompression. In addition all the lights in the section die out completely. This was normal for most boarding operations, and in many ways was advantageous for the attackers.

For several agonizing seconds there is nothing but silence and the dark, with no lighting coming through the hatch indicating that the lack of power extends into the corridor.

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

Brief flashes of light flicker from the hatch, as if people were carrying flashlights. The thuds sound far too heavy to anything but power-armored humans sprinting down the corridor. While there were suites of power-armor small enough to be used on a ship they were generally frowned upon. Small corridors would hinder even the smallest power-armor and not to mention that power limitations would be an issues. Armored solders was the standard norm for invasions. Usually only those that wear power-armor onto a ship were idiots who didn’t know any better, smugglers and pirates. Then again they were great for scaring people.

Dim red emergency lighting activates in the chamber casting you all in a pale redness of death.

Yet there are no signs of the hatch being opened. The central valve does not even move. Slowly the thuds fade away, going down the other end of the corridor, leaving you all in silence.

After several slow seconds there is still nothing, not even the dim echoes of light from flashlights. Mathias takes the initiative and opens the hatch slightly to take a look outside. Since he is still alive and breathing it seems safe to assume that there is not a guard outside taking potshots at people.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L1-S01
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Ship Fire Extinguishers - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
NarrationAs you poke at the hatch Mackey and Jason reenter the chamber and seal it. Jason tosses you the fire extinguisher which you deftly catch. Checking on Rachel you see that she is fully engrossed in the medical kit, apparently that is doing the trick in keeping her distracting and preventing her from panicking and makes a bad situation worse.

Now that the hatch is sealed you join the others in finding a spot that would not easily be seen from the hatch. Crouching down you ready the fire extinguisher just in case.

The sound of screeching metal fades away about this time only to be replaced with the muffled sound of rushing air outside. The pressure gauge built into the hatch dips rapidly into the red before stabilizing and slowly rising back up into the green, evidently as whatever was drilling into the hull stabilized the seal and the life support systems compensated for the sudden temporary decompression. In addition all the lights in the section die out completely.

For several agonizing seconds there is nothing but silence and the dark, with no lighting coming through the hatch indicating that the lack of power extends into the corridor.

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

Brief flashes of light flicker from the hatch, as if people were carrying flashlights. The thuds sound far too heavy to anything but power-armored humans sprinting down the corridor. That was odd for power-armor was not the best option to use in small corridors on ships. Most likely these people were not professional solders, spacers or smugglers who got their hands on some power-armor. Even do they would be a danger if they came back.

Dim red emergency lighting activates in the chamber casting you all in a pale redness of death.

Yet there are no signs of the hatch being opened. The central valve does not even move. Slowly the thuds fade away, going down the other end of the corridor, leaving you all in silence.

After several slow seconds there is still nothing, not even the dim echoes of light from flashlights. Mathias takes the initiative and opens the hatch slightly to take a look outside. Since he is still alive and breathing it seems safe to assume that there is not a guard outside taking potshots at people. Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLooking at the two prisoners covered in blood you quickly duck back into the chamber you came from and try to warn the others. However two of them seems to be playing pattycake with each other, another ignores you while working on his terminal. The only one who does anything is the squat short man you looks up at you with concern. Voices then start to echo through the corridor.

“Ted, do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Bill. I love this! They wake us up and give us food.”

“Why did you have to start on the hot chick first? I thought we agreed to share any hot chicks.”

“Hey, you know how long we were in prison. You can have the next hot chick. Then we can start sharing.”

“Excellent! Party on Ted!”

“Party on Bill!”

There is the fleshy sound of hands slapping which is then joined by running footsteps. The footsteps get closer and closer until they stop next to your partially open hatch.

“Hello fellow prisoners. Hand over your hot chicks, and we will kill you nice and quick.”

“By nice and quick we mean we will eat your toes.”

“Ewwww, Ted that’s gross. You can have the toes, I’ll start with the fingers.”

“Excellent! Party on!”

“Party time!”

It seems you are about to find out the hard way whose blood those prisoners are wearing even though the answer seems fairly obvious now.
Dreamshifter - Drenmar Amyril
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status:
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThings are happening. Why did all of this happen to you? After all your were just a simple scientist who was making a living making weapons for your family company. And now you are stuck on a ship where insane people are running about and acting like doomed extras on a horror film.

“Ted, do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Bill. I love this! They wake us up and give us food.”

“Why did you have to start on the hot chick first? I thought we agreed to share any hot chicks.”

“Hey, you know how long we were in prison. You can have the next hot chick. Then we can start sharing.”

“Excellent! Party on Ted!”

“Party on Bill!”

As the echoes of the voices are replaced by the approaching footsteps you act on the warning given to you by Darius and you move. Moving towards the corner on the same wall of the hatch you crouch down and wait, watching the others as the maniacal voices echo into the chamber. The footsteps stop and again the voices echo, apparently coming from just outside the chamber.

“Hello fellow prisoners. Hand over your hot chicks, and we will kill you nice and quick.”

“By nice and quick we mean we will eat your toes.”

“Ewwww, Ted that’s gross. You can have the toes, I’ll start with the fingers.”

“Excellent! Party on!”

“Party time!”
Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive and Sane (Debatable)
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationFinishing up the treatment of Lydia your desire to know more about her implants replaces caution as Darius whispers his warning. However your conversation, still at normal talking volume echoes through the open door and out into the corridor beyond. Those echoes are returned carrying new voices.

“Ted, do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Bill. I love this! They wake us up and give us food.”

“Why did you have to start on the hot chick first? I thought we agreed to share any hot chicks.”

“Hey, you know how long we were in prison. You can have the next hot chick. Then we can start sharing.”

“Excellent! Party on Ted!”

“Party on Bill!”

There is a sound that resembles a high five which is joined by approaching running feet. They come to a stop apparently right outside of the hatch yet still out of sight.

“Hello fellow prisoners. Hand over your hot chicks, and we will kill you nice and quick.”

“By nice and quick we mean we will eat your toes.”

“Ewwww, Ted that’s gross. You can have the toes, I’ll start with the fingers.”

“Excellent! Party on!”

“Party time!”
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Alive and Sane (Debatable)
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationHaving gathered all that you can out of the terminal you make mention of the desire to leave this chamber for it would be a poor place to make a stand. Yet that statement joined by the casual disregard of the warning given to you by one of the others prisoners seems to be leading to exactly that horrible plan and the following voices echo into the chamber.

“Ted, do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Bill. I love this! They wake us up and give us food.”

“Why did you have to start on the hot chick first? I thought we agreed to share any hot chicks.”

“Hey, you know how long we were in prison. You can have the next hot chick. Then we can start sharing.”

“Excellent! Party on Ted!”

“Party on Bill!”

With the meaty sound of a masculine high-five running footsteps rapidly approach before stopping outside of the hatch. Turning around you see shadows outside of the open hatch of two large figures.

“Hello fellow prisoners. Hand over your hot chicks, and we will kill you nice and quick.”

“By nice and quick we mean we will eat your toes.”

“Ewwww, Ted that’s gross. You can have the toes, I’ll start with the fingers.”

“Excellent! Party on!”

“Party time!”
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status:
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationAs Jenny grills you regarding the implants you continue to snap your fingers. These next few times they only give off the few normal sparks that you are used to, just enough to light up the chamber a little. Focused on that you miss the warning given by the other prisoner as the following voices echo into the chamber.

“Ted, do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Bill. I love this! They wake us up and give us food.”

“Why did you have to start on the hot chick first? I thought we agreed to share any hot chicks.”

“Hey, you know how long we were in prison. You can have the next hot chick. Then we can start sharing.”

“Excellent! Party on Ted!”

“Party on Bill!”

Chills run down your back as your hear those sounds. Ice follows starting from your tailbone and arching on up through towards the base of your skull. Your hands start to freeze except for the tips of your fingers as you feel maggots approaching rapidly…. their horrific appetites just wetted by the taste of flesh… tearing and ripping into the semi-frozen forms…. Pleasuring themselves as screams echo into the tiny chamber…. Brotherly love twisted into a bizarre macabre of violence and desire that is acted upon at once….. high-fiving…..enjoying their sudden freedom…. Ready for more…. Ready to spread themselves….. ready to FEAST!!!

Stomach churning you vomit once again onto the deck as the last of the crawling maggots tickled out of your brain. Footsteps stop and you hear more voices echo throughout the small chamber. You know that the twisted mockeries of brothers are outside. You know that they are hungry. You know that they will have to kill over and over and over again, to consume their victims to fully release themselves and be happy, that they are worthy of no quarter.

“Hello fellow prisoners. Hand over your hot chicks, and we will kill you nice and quick.”

“By nice and quick we mean we will eat your toes.”

“Ewwww, Ted that’s gross. You can have the toes, I’ll start with the fingers.”

“Excellent! Party on!”

“Party time!”

Your fingertips are on fire. Lightning arcs between your fingers like never before as their words echo into the chamber, as the terror feeds your waking nightmares that are standing outside the hatch.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The CryoRoom Entrance, Group 3

Lydia's face immediately changes to a look of fear at the sound of the voices. Her eyes seem to glaze over as she begins shaking rather violently. The color seems to drain from her face, then suddenly it returns and she is doubled over and vomiting on the deck again. Anyone checking on her would notice that her eyes are completely unfocused. They might also notice that sparks are literally flying from her hands, some connecting between fingers into arcs of electricity. She is breathing extremely heavily, almost panting as she begins to have a panic attack of some sort, glancing upwards at where the voices came from. It takes almost all of her effort to remain quiet, listening to the new appearances.

Once the two men reveal themselves via voice in the doorway, Lydia seems to stand upright, looking directly at them with glazed eyes. Without thinking, without hesitating, she holds up her hands. She wills lightning, real lightning, to burst from her hands towards these two foes, her face contorted into a mask of pure fear.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

As Darius listens to the two insane fools in the corridor outside, he bitterly sighs.

No no, don't pay any attention to me. I work day and night to keep the streets safe for the Guiltless so that they don't have anything to be afraid of. What do I get? A hanging jury, a one way ticket to Hades, and nobody f****** listens to me! "There're prisoners loose!" I say. "We should be careful, in case they're Guilty," I say. What happens? I get ignored or dismissed out of hand.

He doesn't gloat over the other idiots, however. Instead, he launches himself at the brothers, attempting to tackle one of them to the ground. A crackling sound is his only warning, but he recognizes the sound of rampant electricity from behind him and hurls himself out of the way of Lydia's lightning bolt.

[Inspectre]

Observing the successful evasion of the power-suited invaders, Matthias quietly pulls the hatch shut once again. Then he turns back to the others with a grin, which looks like an angry sneer in the red emergency lighting. With the hatch shut, there was now little chance of his voice carrying down the hallway.

"There's only one person in the little boarding craft, the pilot. He seems to be busy at the controls, so he shouldn't notice us if we hurry. We'll need to be discrete so he doesn't call his friends back. Still . . . probably should take him alive so we can ask questions?"

Matthias, although familiar with boarding actions, was out of his element a bit here. Still, a healthy diet of sci-fi action movies when he was a child provided him with some ideas. Presumably, some of the others could provide more exact details to the sweeping plans that were often the only thing depicted in such movies. Case in point - Rachel had been examining the medical kit.

"Rachel!" He called out. "Any tranquilizers or syringes in there that we could use to knock out the pilot without the risk of cracking his skull open?"

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

At Matthias' concerns regarding options for non-lethally subduing the lone pilot, Jason shook his head. "I'll take care of it." These words are spoken with such a tranquil calm, that it can't be helped but to wonder exactly what he means. There is also, however, the whispered voice that says maybe it would be better not to ask out loud.

[Pwenet]

Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLeaping out you catch you first clear view of the brothers. Apparently twins they look alike with blue eyes, short crew-cuts of blond hair with unshaven faces. Their cyro-stasis jumpsuits are torn, revealing an array of disturbing scars and tattoos, most of them involving women in various forms of torture, abuse and rape. The next thing you notice is that they are well-muscular and low to the ground, possibly from a heavy-G world which meant they were probably stronger than the average criminal. Forth their teeth have been filed into sharp points. Fifth is that one has a tattoo of a “T” across his whole face in blood red, with tiny drops tattooed as well while the other has a similarly colored and styled “B” on his face. Finally is that one of them apparently heard you coming from a country mile away.

One of them, with a big blood-red “T” tattooed over his face laughs and moves swiftly. Grabbing you in the middle of your tackle he knees you hard in the chest while holding you like a rag-doll in a vise-like grip.

“Hey Bill! Look what I got. Let’s see what he looks like gutted. He is a bit scrawny for my tastes for snacktime though, however get his pants! He can still be fun!”

Behind you an ominous hum builds up that sounds electrical and you violently twist, slamming your fists into the wrist holding you, causing Ted to drop you. Rolling away you look up just in time to see strands of lightning slam into Ted. He stands there convulsing, foaming at the mouth as he seizes up. Another violent spasm as the lightning tears into him and the blast explodes from his back, covering you in gore as Ted then leaves the deck and slams against the far bulkhead.

A hole the size of a basketball smolders and steams as various bits of Ted’s internal organs drip through it. Amazingly he looks down, bloody foam dripping from his mouth and he tries to mouth something before his eyes glaze over.

“Ted? YOU KILLED TED!?! PARTY TIME IS OVER!!!”

Turning towards Bill you see that part of the blast caught him as well. His upper left arm is smoldering and in some places bone is visible through the burnt skin and muscle. Yet he seems unaware of his injuries and he flexes his forearms. Foot long spikes of what appear to be bone tear out of the palms of his hands like stingers. Screaming he charges into the chamber towards apparently the source of the lightning.


tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Location: Hope Killer – Cyro-Stasis Chamber – PS-L3-S13
Status: Burnt Hands
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationStanding upright you see Darius throw himself at the brothers, only to be caught by one of them. Your vision blurs and you feel a vise-like pressure crushing your temples while the tips of your fingers smolder and crackle with power.

Looking at the two brothers you don’t see their physical forms, which to you are just dim shapes… You see twisting demons screaming out, screaming women and men begging for their lives, begging to be saved, begging for a quick death!

Pain rips into your abdomen as if you were just kneed hard. Your fingertips now feel like each one of them holds a miniature sun, begging for release, that the release would be the most wonderful thing ever, better than a good dinner, better than sex, better than drugs, BETTER THAN LIFE!

Standing up with the fear ripping through you raise your hands. With a gasp of pure pleasure you release the power that had been building up within you. This time there is no mere spark, no mere flicker of light, you throw an honest-to-Thor bolt of butt-whooping LIGHNING!!!

The bolt tears through the room crackling with a sonic boom that deafens your ears and slams into one of the brothers. He stands transfixed for an eternity, violent shaking as the energy tears into him before he flies through the air and against the far corridor wall. With that the lightning fades and you collapse, feeling as if you just ran a marathon on a single drop of water. Struggling to focus you see the gory sight of the one brother, leaning against a bulkhead, a hole the size of a basketball smoldering in the middle of his chest where you can clearly see that the bulkhead has partially melted from the blast.

Vision blurring you hear something yelling, and footsteps rapidly approaching, possibly someone was angry with you for your little display.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - At the Center of a Storm, Group 3

Lydia feels an immense pleasure in frying an unsuspecting demon. Immense pleasure. So much so that she almost screams in joy when the bolts of lightning arc from her hands and completely incinerate that terrible creature. She felt her hands burning before, but this, this was nothing. The thought, the sight, the deafening boom that echoes through the chamber. It was real for a moment. And it felt good.

And suddenly, Lydia was on the ground, gasping in some mixture of pain and exhaustion as she tries to figure out how her hands just went from extremely cold to charred and burnt. She notices the man against the bulkhead, now with a charring hole in his chest, and is suddenly crying as something seems to hit her like a sledgehammer. She barely even realizes that in her pain and stress somehow she has lost the ability to see anything clearly.

Lydia is unable to react as the other figure seems to approach her, simply screaming and crying all at the same time.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius lands heavily as he twists out of the way. He rolls and lands on his feet, shocked by the power that one of his current allies had. He doesn't let the minor injury slow him down at all, however. The second prisoner ignores him as he charges after Lydia. Darius makes him regret his mistake, and attacks him from behind, jumping on to his back and wrapping his arms around the psychopathic man's neck and twisting heavily, relying on his experience to snap it.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

The sudden cessation of light and sound was a balm to Rachel's ragged nerves, as the avian instincts that had clammored for more room almost instantly melted into the soothing dark. For a moment all Rachel felt was relief - relief that there was no more noise; relief that the fear was gone; and most of all relief that she had not screamed. Only when the emergency lights came on did she begin to remember why it had been important that she not scream. Still in a dream-like state, she began to pack the med kit, hopefully for the last time. As she was finishing, Matthias' voice penetrated and scattered the last of her mental fog.


"Rachel!" He called out. "Any tranquilizers or syringes in there that we could use to knock out the pilot without the risk of cracking his skull open?"
Jason shook his head. "I'll take care of it." These words are spoken with such a tranquil calm, that it can't be helped but to wonder exactly what he means. There is also, however, the whispered voice that says maybe it would be better not to ask out loud.

Rachel stood up, seeming more at ease than she had been since exiting the stasis pod. "There are four doses of sedative in here. Jason, we need to be able to talk to him later; can you make that happen without the sedative?" Considering that mere minutes ago she was almost totally non-responsive, Rachel seemed very calm and coherent now.

[Greystone]

Jenny

The blond woman had opened her mouth to greet the two rude men, but all that came from her moouth was a small "Oh" of surprise as her companions rushed into action. The Lightning was very impressive, and she grinned at the glorious sight.

She then sees what she assumes is Darius trying to snap a man's neck. She sighs "No no no, you can't snap it that way"

She moves over and uses her strength to adjust the other man's strangehold "This is far more efficent" she stops where she was happy "See, look- it takes much less time to snap that bone in the neck then the one you were trying to break"

[dyslexicfaser]

((OOC: So, there's a long and rambling story of magic and heroism for why I haven't posted in a week... okay, not really. Anyhow... hope you guys in group 1 don't mind meeting back up with me? I don't really have any better ideas, honestly.))

Reggie Sharpe - Group 1, kinda

The explosion of stimuli is somehow worse for the brief respite in the sensory deprivation of the tube. Too much, too fast, sights, sounds, smells, and electromagnetic pulses assail Reggie.

He twitches and his head jerks from side to side as he tries to take in everything at once, every hair-tendril on his body standing straight up, making his long hair look oddly bushy, like a squirrel's tail.

Rationality is stomped on, swamped under by instinct. He sees - not fellow prisoners, but unknown-predators.

He sees escape, and takes it - he body-checks the door and hits the corridor at a dead run, only to find the outside worse, worse, worse!

He keeps going, down hallway after hallway, not on all fours, but close, staying close to the ground, until he finds a spot that is - not safe, exactly, but that screams to him: defensible. little danger. He takes cover in the semi-dimness provided by the shadows under the stairs, fitting his body into a smaller space than one might think possible for a human body to manage, until only glowing yellow-green eyes stare back out.

He breathes deeper, and begins to calm, for rational thought to work past the mindless, shouting fear.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason moved over to the hatch, but did not open it, communicating his urging to do whatever they must do quickly. He waited, however, for someone else to open the door; perhaps it was just instinct to wait for confirmation of what he must do from someone else. "I'll take care of it."

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Group 3

This time there was no helping it. He simply could not hold it back. He threw back his head and laughed. How long since he had had such a good one? Couldn't remember. Here he was; named after the God of the Sky, on his way to the Underworld, and now he meets the daughter of Zeus himself! Or maybe it's the daughter of Thor? No real importance. Equally hilarious.

This will be fun...

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Smiling but focused, Ike pulls the hatch open. Jason wasn't a soldier, exactly, but he was up for fighting and probably skilled at it. That had to be a good sign. "Go for it. Fast, so he can't radio the others. As soon as he's secured, I'll move up the corridor and look for an ambush point in case the rest come back."

Ike slowly steps out into the corridor along Jason, moving as stealthily as his bulk allows. He shifts the fire extinguisher to his rear hand and peers down the corridor, preparing to hurl it in case the power armored men turn around. Can't be professionals, they should know better than to restrict their movement like that on boarding ops. Maybe they're cops? Or other criminals trying to get one of their buddies off?

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

As soon as the hatch was open, Jason moved quickly through it and down the hall toward the now-open airlock. Even with the one-piece 'boots' that were sewn into his bright orange jumpsuit, Jason moved with startling speed along the walkway, crouching low and weaving from side to side even as he went. The low lit, emergency power-outage lighted hall that resulted from the power surge and crash was nothing before his ever-sensitive eyes, and Jason observed the path ahead of him with clarity that most people did not have even in full light.

The inside of the 'shuttle', if that was what the tiny craft could be called, was lighted however. Ike and whoever else approached in time could watch as a dim shadow blurred up the walkway and into the light. Jason paused momentarily, looking once over the man's shoulder (though this couldn't be inferred from outside observation, he was Eidetically memorizing a snapshot of what the Pilot was working so diligently on) but then exploded into action. Jason brought both palms clapping violently against both of the Pilot's ears, instantly stunning him. He followed this with a backwards elbow to the neck, which knocked the unfortunate soul sideways out of the chair. However, before the Pilot could collapse heavily to the ground, Jason snatched their weight back up with a hooked Elbow around the neck, spinning the Pilot in mid-fall and re-directing their own weight to land against the neck and against his arm in a compete KO. Somehow through the spin-landing Jason's other hand had shot forward and pinched the major artery in the Pilot's neck, which he held for several seconds before re-establishing flow to the now quite soundly subdued Pilot's completely unconscious brain.

Jason waved twice for the others to follow, it was safe.

To the others, the astoundingly practiced maneuver had appeared as a shockingly brief flurry of movement before all was abruptly still.

[Kalirren]

Mackey followed the other two out. She'd briefly seen a cabinet containing several environmental suits with matching helmets. Fully sealable, even, probably originally intended for EVAs. Quietly she inched open the cabinet. A quick inspection assured her that the suits were in usable condition, and their oxygen tanks were full. Now the question was, who would get them.

Rachel was out. Her wings wouldn't fit, and would probably ruin the suit. Ike was certainly a military man, and had training, which made him a good choice. If Matthias really -was- the Frozen Man, he probably had zero-G experience, but if not, Jason was the better bet. Exactly how good was he in situations like this? If only Ike's broad shoulders weren't blocking the narrow corridor...

Not being able to see, she went right back to scrounging. Between two military men and a distracted pilot, she felt reasonably confident they would succeed. What else was inside these cabinets? Two flashlights. Towels. Cleaning chemicals. Safety cables. Plenty to work with.

Also inside the cabinet was a rather revealing sticker, poorly visible under the red emergency lights. With some squinting, it read

"Level 1 Airlock - Port
EV Equipment Cabinet
Last Inspected ______"

The inspection sticker had been eroded with time. There might have been an inventory list as well. She turned back to watch, and saw...nothing.

A chill ran down her spine. She thought that she would be able to catch the action, but by the time she looked back, there was nothing to look at. And Ike was too far away to have done it. Chalk another one up for Jason, she thought. At least I'm on his good side for now, whatever that's worth...

She gathered up a suit in each arm and made her way over to where Jason and Ike were waiting. She gave Matthias and Rachel a quick thumbs up as she passed the open hatch on her way out to the airlock.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

As Mackey moved aboard the shuttle, Jason intercepted her and took one of the environmental suits off of her load, and helped her to carry it inside the ship. Not that they were heavy, just a little bulky when one was trying to carry two. "Good job, good job..." He said almost to himself under his breath so that only she could hear it. He did not know very well what to expect from these companions, turned makeshift allies. Ike, he could see, was competent in a fight, but was also a deeper thinker than he appeared at first. Matthias was a decent strategist, if perhaps a risky one. He also had an undetermined amount of tech-savvy, which could be key. The other two, however, he was not sure what to think, and so he expected nothing, soas to be surprised by anything they could contribute above and beyond what he'd planned for. Mackey had done exactly that by taking the initiative as she had; he was pleasantly surprised, and he approved of her quick thinking.

Matthias also had played a part by suggesting the course of action that they now took... Though it had been a gamble. Jason was not fond of gambles, but this one had payed off. It was, then, the past, and it was their immediate future that demanded his attention now. "Who is going to be Pilot?" He asked, though he already suspected that it would be either Matthias or Ike. Maybe just the first one to climb into the seat.

...What about Rachel...

Jason blinked twice. That could be a snag. Jason glanced backwards toward the hallway... If just being in the open Cryostasis room had made her claustrophobic, what would this tiny little shuttle do to her nerves...?

[Inspectre]

From his position by the hatch, Matthias watched Jason's approach and takedown. It had been very fast, and true to his word, most effective. Perhaps he was not just an average man dragged along into this as Matthias had initially thought.

Now that the danger was momentarily past, Matthias stepped out into the hallway.

"I'll take one of those." Matthias said as he approached Mackey, who had apparently found some environmental suits. One of those would be quite useful in the event their confiscated shuttle suffered a hull breach, or didn't seal back up properly now that it had breached the hull.

Hearing Jason's call for a pilot, Matthias looked away from the lockers for a moment towards the small shuttle.

"I can do that, although I'm admitedly used to piloting something a bit larger."

Matthias shifted his glance to Mackey, and then back to Ike.

"If either of you are rated for small craft, I suppose you can pilot instead."

Leaning in close to Mackey and shooting a glance back at the cryo-bay where Rachel was still, Matthias whispers, "Your friend Rachel doesn't seem to like enclosed spaces. You have any ideas for keeping her calm during our shuttle ride short of knocking her out?"

[Kalirren]

"We've got these two," Mackey told Matthias as he emerged from the hatch. "There's at least one more suit back in that cabinet. Get that one. Get the flashlights, too. And anything else you want..."



"Your friend Rachel doesn't seem to like enclosed spaces. You have any ideas for keeping her calm during our shuttle ride short of knocking her out?"


Mackey shushed her voice. It had been rising all this time, she'd realized belatedly; that had probably been a mistake. "Is that Rachel's problem?" A sigh. "I see. I get it." Her eyes darted left and right. "Well, she could sit with me, then," said Mackey with a shrug. "Or better yet, give her a good window seat. Keep her focused out the window. I'm not sure how reliable these sensors are, anyway."

Together she and Jason hefted the suits aboard the shuttle. "I'll fly this thing, as long as it's not secured to the pilot's voice or some such..." She edged her way past the unconscious pilot's body. Throttle, control stick, sensors, life support systems, communications, debris deflectors, artificial gravity...some boarding module controls, never seen those before...all check. No FTL coil, unfortunately, but unsurprising for a boarding shuttle. "Any idea where we're taking this baby?" The ship computer was still logged in, and Mackey pried it instinctively for information. Had a tactical analysis been done on the prisoner ship? Where was the master craft? Were there any weapons systems at all on this thing? How many sister shuttles were there? Who -were- the boarders anyway? Maybe it'd be a decent idea to surrender...

If there was time while the others were planning, she'd go through the comm log too.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Ike watches Jason's flawless takedown with no small admiration, but doesn't linger once it's completed. Instead, he proceeds up the hallway to the nearest hatch while pressing himself against the wall to reduce his profile. It's about as effective as hiding a tractor behind a toothbrush, but he tries. When Ike reaches his destination, he stops and calls back to his companions in a relatively low voice.

"How long do you think it'll take to get the shuttle moving? With how fast those guys were moving, I think they'll probably come back in a hurry too. You oughta check it for weapons, see if the pilot has a sidearm. I'm gonna go in here and come out behind them if I hear them come back, but since there's four or so you'll need to do a bit of the lifting too."

After waiting for a reply, Ike grabs the hatch's operating mechanism and hauls it open, bursting through the instant it's wide enough for him to fit. Rapid entry, overwhelming force against primary threats, resolve secondary threats, sweep for tertiary threats - the words of the old training program run through his mind like a litany as his eyes sweep the room for targets and his legs surge forward to propel him against anything that could conceivably be hostile.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Shortly after Mackey gave the all clear, Rachel steeled herself and cautiously followed Matthias into the corridor. To her surprise, despite the narrower conditions, in the dim red light the claustrophobia seemed content to leave her alone. As she approached the brightly lit shuttle and saw how small it was, however, she felt the uneasiness that was the phobia's mildest form begin to stir in the back of her mind. Damn. This is why I hate space travel.

For a moment Rachel paused just outside the ring of light, only half-listening to the conversations as she looked at each of her fellow prisoners in turn. There was Mackey - her first companion on this hellish voyage and the closest thing Rachel had had to a real friend in several years. Jason - who could have easily hurt her at least twice (and might even have been justified the second time) but had not. Matthias - who had helped her to control her panic, trusting her with valuable and potentially dangerous supplies. And lastly Ike - something of an unknown, but thus far he had only shown signs of aggression when preparing to defend himself.

Rachel made a decision. And stepped into the light.

"Um, guys?" She waited until she had everyone's attention, then continued. "Here's the deal. When I got these," she shifted her wings, "I got some of the bird's instincts along with them. More specifically, I got the bird's fear of small spaces. Most of the time I can control it... the noise earlier just made it alot harder. Point is, I don't want to get in the way, but I have no intention of staying here." There was a slight pause as Rachel held up one of the doses of sedative in its syringe. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I trust you guys not to kill me or anything. I think I can handle being in the shuttle, but if I start to lose it, I want someone to use this on me."

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins group one - Water Purification and Storage

"Pretty clean... Man, you killed a damn fine janitor back there."

Janks squeezes through the corridors behind the others and shouts, addressing Tia: "Oi, luv! You got a plan, right? Where are we going anyway?"

When he notices the two technicians above, he taps Randolph on the shoulder with his pipe and points it towards them.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph notices the two technicians on the catwalk above just as Janks taps him to get his attention. He, in turn, taps Tia on the shoulder and points the techs out to her.

So, he whispers to the others. Those techs have a line of sight across the room to our exit. Since you both don't seem to approve of my methods, what do you propose we do about it?

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Group One

Tia replies to Janks immediately with a lively gaze. "I always have a plan! Sometimes I even know what it is before it happens."

She freezes when she spots the technicians. Taking cover she taps rapidly at the datapad, trying to figure out precisely what the pair are trying to fix. A broken fusion reactor doesn't bode well, after all.

At once an idea comes to her. She grins at her two companions, tapping the datapad strapped to her arm even more quickly. Absently she cricks her neck and pops a painkiller from her stash, swallowing it in one easy motion.

She tries to establish remote contact with the datapads bourne by the two technicians, intending to briefly suborn one of their subsystems and have a false warning issued to them. "Warning. Radiation detected. Warning. Radiation at lethal exposure within thirty... minutes. Warning. Radiation at lethal exposure within seventeen... seconds. Warning." She smiles, imagining their faces as they scuttle for cover and radiation suits.

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Group One

Her attempt complete, she hurriedly covers her tracks as best she can, trying to make any effects seem like a software glitch. An expression of utter concentration comes over her face as she sways unconciously back and forth, her hair moving gently behind her.

[Pwenet]

Hope Killer - MH - Security Control
The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Security Uniform – A lightly padded blue and grey uniform with the brown Redemption Corporation logo on it along with jet black combat boots. Contains a variety of pockets and a belt for your inventory.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Stun Baton – Resembling a nightstick used by old Earth police this club is energized and upon contact will incapacitate or knock unconscious the target. The two grips are shielded from the charge.
NarrationEverything was proceeding per routine today. Since it was the last day on the final leg of the journey to Hades the ship and crew were preparing for the last jump. The basic design of the ship led to the forward hull being dedicated to prisoner storage, the middle hull for the ship crew, control systems weapons and hanger bay for the dropships. And finally the rear hull for the engines and FTL systems. The Redemption Corporation, figuring that the fact that prisoners were kept on ice for the entire trip kept only a token force on the ship. Besides yourself there were five other security officers on the ship, and two of them were only part-time security detail.

You were currently located in the tiny security room. It was large enough for your desk, a few chairs, and the short row of lockers that contains riot gear and weapons. Devoid of personal effects for they really were not your style many would call the small cramped office “cold” and “unfriendly” yet it was efficient. You had everything you needed to complete your job. A direct terminal to all the security systems on the ship built into your desk and all your records at your fingertips. Sadly the designers and engineers of the ship never listened to you. At your insistence there were cameras in the main corridors and the cyro-stasis terminals were connected to yours to inform you of their status. However there was no software written to constantly observe all the chambers, no automatically sealing doors, no automated weapons and no knockout gas

As such you made it your routine to go over the logs and video feeds of all the cameras in the forward hull. None five other security officers took much seriousness in these daily scans and always performed a subpar performance no matter the low performance ratings you have been giving them. Yet this routine matter was soon interrupted. Alarms start going off across the ship and a voice comes over the PA system.

”All hands action stations! Unidentified ship has jumped into our sector! Incoming weapons fire!”

Sounds echo through the beams of the ship of interceptor batteries opening up against the incoming fire. All too soon however you have to brace yourself against the desk as the deck shudders violently. Looking at your terminals several red lights appear on the cyro-stasis tubes, indicating that contact has been lost. Attempting to open up video links to those chambers gives only static, clearly in the interests of saving time and money the engineers that rigged up the camera and the data feeds did so on the same lines without the triple redundancy you had advised.

”Proximity explosions Mid-Hull Port Side. DC teams report to C&C!”

That ties up two out of your five person team for they were detailed to DC. The other five were out on various duties and per procedures should hopefully be on their way. In the meantime you continue with your routine and trying to access any of the other cameras. Some of the times reveal partial images and you can see what almost appears to be steam coming off of the cyro-stasis tubes. However those partial, scratchy distorted images almost always fade away into nothingness.

”Inbound enemy boarding craft! Security teams report to forward hull! Batteries – Intercept inbound craft!”

Change in mission. Time to meet the boarders to prevent any possibility of them rescuing the prisoners. First requirement is the proper gear which you have stored in the lockers. Second would be to meet up with the rest of your security team.

Speaking of which two other security guards enter. Their uniforms are sloppy and casual and one wavers slightly and had reddened eyes. Yet they are here.

“Reporting for duty ma’am. Orders?”

Wedge was the name of the one who spoke, who some of the time seemed to have potential. He was nominally your second in command though there were times he seemed too friendly with the others who were trying to bring you down. Yet he was here at the moment which matters when there were real enemies inbound.
Hope Killer - FH - PS-L4-S25 - Stasis Chamber
Sam Miller - William Holt
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationTick Tock Tick Tock – Still no Toast!
Hope Killer - FH - SS-L1-S03 - Stasis Chamber
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
NarrationOpening up the hatch you jump in at the ready for combat.

Yet the gods of cinematic battles fail to grant an awe inspiring battle for you. The chamber you enter is remarkably similar to the one that you awoken in. The lights are off in the chamber, thus the only illumination that you have is through the opened hatch. However all of the cyro-stasis tubes are still sealed shut. Through the transparent covers you can see various figures frozen in bluish amber.

Yet then several of them flash and steam floats off of them. You recognize this as the defrosting process starting. Yet it seems there is something wrong. In one chamber a figure starts thrashing and breaks apart. In another the hatch only partially raises, trapping most of the liquid inside the chamber.

The third chamber opens up, spilling out the now liquid cyro-stasis fluid and reveals a familiar figure.

Ada Rivkin

You recognize that familiar body of which you have detailed intimate knowledge of that even the unflattering cyro-stasis jumpsuits can’t hide. Even her face covered by the breathing mask seems as clear as the day you two last saw each other. Her hands move up to her face and removes the mask, coughing and hacking. Looking up she sees you and smiles weakly.

“Morning Handsome. You here to rescue a princess?”
Hope Killer - FH - SS-L3-S13 - Stasis Chamber
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLeaping onto the back of Bill you work on getting your arms into position to snap his neck. Yet then one of your fellow prisoners does the most stupid thing one would think of doing with a psychopath charging into a chamber – walking in front of them and try to give you lessons on arm placement.

While Bill may not be the smartest person in the area, nor smartest animal, he does have certain instincts. Those instincts, using those bone claws and something on his throat, is to stab out. You see both of the bone spikes sink into the guts of Jenny. Arms placed you desperately twist and are rewarded with the wet cracking sound of the vertebra snapping, tearing into the spinal column and effectively ending the life of Bill.

Yet it seems that his final actions still take place. Maybe his brain already sent the commands, the muscles twitched, nerves fired one last time but whatever the case Bills arms flare out and rip Jenny in half. Her face has a look of shock as her top half falls off her lower half, with both ends striking the ground several feet away from each other. Needless to say that is a fatal wound.

Several more sounds echo through the corridors. Sounds of screams, sounds of running feet, sounds of yelling. They seem to be distant however if one had to guess they were at the far end of the corridor, where Bill and Ted came from. Like a bad horror movie the sounds are starting to get louder.
Dreamshifter - Drenmar Amyril
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationThe events in the chamber pass you by. When the moment is right you will act!
Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationMoving forward and providing instruction to Darius on how to snap the neck several key failures of tactics occur.
You walk in front of a psychopath with bone spikes sticking out of the palms of his hands
He is currently insane
He likes to kill
Again – He is in front of you
Gasping as sudden pressure strikes your chest you look down and see both of the bone spikes buried into you. At that moment Darius get’s the pressure right and snaps the neck of Bill. His nerves, no longer receiving signals from his brainstem fire off sporadically and his arm muscles, apparel already primed, flare out in a final death-induced strength, ripping your chest wide open. You fall to the ground, feeling oddly light and out of control and fall to the ground. You catch sight of your feet several feet away twitching idly as your brain screams for mercy and ancient evolutionary protocols kick in and consciousness flies as you realize that you are dying.
Status: Dead – Physical Body Ripped in Half
Inventory
Not having a body prevents one from storing items on their person sadly.
Narration[i]…some say there should be a white light at the end of a long tunnel… some say you find your loved ones… some say that everything will be revealed in a flash… others say that there is nothing…

…there is something…

…if you had a mouth you would scream out in agony as you are torn apart… each atom ripped away and dipped in acid… the parts put together poorly… laughing demons feasting on you….falling…. falling so far….so fast….

[b]CEASE!

…no pain…

THIS WAY!

…gliding through a void you do not see…a presence… hundreds of them…thousands…millions…feeling like those that are similar to what you used to be…what was the term…human!

YOU ARE LOST! TOO CLOSE TO US! YOU ARE DAMNED LIKE US! HELL WOULD BE A RELIEF!

…a sensation of mass…

WELCOME! TO HADES! WELCOME! TO DIS PATER! WELCOME TO HUMANITY’S DOOM!
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive, Insane and Performing a Good Joker Laugh
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLaughing at the gods you are suddenly covered in blood from the torn form of Jenny. Her killer is already dead, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. Looking down at Jenny you see clearly that there is no helping her for she is past the magic of man and now is in the hands of the gods.

Then the crazies scream out, warning the gods that one of their kindred is on his way over to their realms and that they will provide him company for his trip. Probably you. Maybe someone else in this chamber. The gods are strange like that.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationScreaming and crying at the pain and confusion it is not the warm hand of a fellow human that pulls you out. It is not kind words. It is not your willpower.

It is a sudden gasp of shock.

Looking up you see Jenny’s back in front of you, with two spikes apparently of bone dripping crimson sticking out of it. There is a dim crack in the air and then the spikes then move and in a blur of motion Jenny is ripped in half! Her lifeblood splashes onto your face and one of your lenses as you see Jenny’s top half fall onto the deck, her eyes already glazing over.

…a tugging sensation…something wanting to take you for a ride…slipping free from the mortal coil…sliding down a path…you can’t go yet…you can’t follow…this is not the RIGHT path!

The eye is now glazed over in death your mind starts to piece itself back together. Senses return and you can hear screams coming from the distance. Bill and Ted may have just been the beginning, there might be more, scarier, more twisted criminals following them.
Hope Killer - Forward Hull Air Vents
dyslexicfaser - Reggie Sharpe
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationCrouched in the small, confined space your rational mind slowly regains control over itself. Chemicals balance themselves out and the lack of sounds let you finally regain your mind and observe your surroundings.

The first thing you notice is that you are apparently in some kind of maintenance tunnel. It is tiny, barely enough room for one to wiggle and crawl in but it is enough for you. There are several conduits running around you with sealed panels. Dim flashes of memories reveal that you found a open hatch, and leapt into it, crawling rapidly through it until you found this nice dark place.

Now that you are in control you also realize that you are possibly hopelessly separated from the rest of the prisoners that you awoke with. Even if you could retrace your steps they most likely had moved out by now. You have no idea how large this ship is or where they would go. As such you continue to move forward.

Making your way along you suddenly hear muffled screams through a partially opened hatch ahead of you at side of the maintenance tunnel. Sneaking up on it you look down and see a man clad in some kind of uniform, apparently not a prisoner for the three others surrounding him were clad in similar clothing that you are in. He was on his knees, screaming in pain as he clutched the side of his head. The prisoners seem to be taking great delight in tossing an object around. It is small, and has a fleshy color and looks similar to an ear. Of course your eyes move over the crewman and see blood trickling from the side of his head leading to the grim conclusion.

“Why thank you friend! We love these tools you gave us!”

Laughing at their joke one of the prisoners chomps down on the ear and swallows it whole. The other two laugh at the crewmember looks at them in shock. His eyes then glance over your and they give the look of begging, begging for aid. They then flicker and you follow them and see laying on the ground a belt, apparently one that the technician had been wearing. While there is nothing within the belt there are various tools, including what looks to be a plasma welder. Not a weapon in the technical sense a two foot long plasma lance that can slice through steel and flesh serves just as well.

“Man, that ear was good. I can’t stand beef, human is the best! I wonder how your hand tastes?”

“Hey! We may need his hands. They may have… whatdo youcalliit…. Handprint scanners.”

“Fine! I won’t take his hand. How about his tongue? That’s always tasty!”

“Take it!”

What will you do?
Hope Killer – Water Purification and Storage
Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece. Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
NarrationAfter reply to your question Tia starts furiously working with her DataPad. After several seconds of work on her part you hear the distinctive sound of radiation alarms coming from the technicians DataPads. One of the things anyone on a spacecraft fears, besides depressurization and fire is radiation. Based on that fear the two technicians stop working and flee the chamber, leaving the three of you alone.

”You will die prisoner scum!”

The quiet voice momentarily surprises you for it is not Janks rough voice nor Tia’s. A quick look at the FCSU unit reveals that it is receiving a transmission, with the audio just loud enough for you to hear through the noise in the chamber.

”You killed Karl. I’m coming after you, regulations be damned! Just you and me!”

The transmission then ends.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
NarrationWorking at the DataPad it is a simple matter to access the ones that the two technicians have. The uplink pulls up the recent work that they were used for. Apparently one of the lines carrying control water from the rear-fusion reactor was not flowing properly, causing power-spikes during the combat situation ongoing and they were trying to correct it. There are no details on what the combat situation is but it seems that it is wrapping up judging by the lack of additional impacts on the ship.

Shifting past that data you access the Geiger counters built into the units and see that they were the electronic version. As such it is simple work to change a couple of lines of codes, remove a zero here, add a zero, modify a few readouts, and suddenly even from the distance that your small party is you can hear warnings emerging from their Geiger counters. One of them takes a look at his DataPad and slaps the other one on the shoulder. You are too far away plus there is too much machinery in the chamber to hear what is said but they struggle for a few more seconds with the valve panel before running out of the chamber through the catwalks. The hatch that they exit through, the same one you were guiding the others too then shuts.

However you know this will only be a momentary distraction. The technicians will probably check their equipment, and find the malfunctions. Hopefully in theory they will think it was a software glitch, however even so there would still be other coming to finish up the repairs and to finish the repairs.

Now that the chamber is clear however you can see through the catwalks that there are three separate levels leading towards the aft end of the ship. The level you currently are on is in the middle and that you should be able to use the various ladders and steps to reach the other two levels. Still time is pressing and decisions need to be made before people return.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
NarrationSeeing Tia tap furiously away at her DataPad you wonder what she is doing. Then alarms start going off by the two crewmembers, alarms which bring back memories of the various safety warnings you and your construction crew had to observe back in the day. This one was a radiation alarm which was typically dangerous from what you recall. Yet since Tia’s DataPad is not making similar noises and she is smiling most likely it is her doing.

The two crewmembers, upon hearing the alarms from their DataPads try to work for a few more seconds before fleeing towards the aft end of the ship through one of the hatches, closing it behind them. Now the three of you are alone in the sewer of the ship to do as you please.
Pirate Boarding Shuttle - Attached to Hope Killer
Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
NarrationPutting on the Emergency Environmental Suit you find that it auto-adjusts itself to fit your body size. Putting on the helmet you find that it activates and goes through the power-up sequence. All the status displays indicate that the suit is fully functional.

Turning your attention towards the boarding craft you start looking through it. Searching through the cabinets you find a treasure trove of equipment. Spare parts, weapons, tools, rations, some water, some spare clothing, and even more items, essentially the proverbial mother load! Whoever equipped this shuttle apparently didn’t want it to be lacking items.

Yet however it seems that the shuttle will only be good for supplies. A quick look at the interior of the shuttle reveals that it is too small to contain an FTL core, unless it was magical and powered by pixie dust. That strongly indicates that this shuttle was a short range one, mostly likely designed purely for space travel. Attempting to land this thing on a planet would result in a pretty fireworks show for whoever happened to be looking on the surface.

However looking over the various panels that are mounted on the ceiling you see that they are regarding the engines of the ship. The fuel levels look good for a space-only craft, and the engines (looks to be four external thrusters) are all still online and hot. However that would be a dangerous sign, for between the punctured hull over the airlock and the actively running ship it would only be a matter of time before the boarding craft was detected.

Also unfortunate is that looking over the engines you see that they are essentially basic maneuvering thrusters. While clearly not meant for speed the shuttle would have decent maneuverability at the very least. However even that would be useless again any ship of decent size with weapons on its own without some type of covering fire or distraction.

In the end however it seems that luckily for you that there is no facehugging alien that wants to breed with your unwillingly through your own throat.
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
NarrationGrabbing the Emergency Environmental Suit it is obvious that it would be far superior to the current garments you have on. Thus you take the necessary time to put it on.

Entering the shuttle it literally three steps to the pilots chair. There are two benches with several adjustable restraints fit for power-armored soldiers or regular people. Above the benches there are closed lockers along with more lockers underneath the benches. There are no windows besides the small one in front of the pilot station. Slipping into the pilot chair that is now abandoned like a favorite dress or jumpsuit your hands move on their own over the various controls. Checking all the systems you see that they are all still online. Fuel levels look good, no damage to the ship though the lack of a FTL coil was not a surprise. However there was something disconcerting. There were no systems for a atmospheric landing.

Shuttles typically come in two varieties. One variety was a shuttle designed for both atmospheric and space travel. Those shuttles were more of a headache in terms of construction and maintenance but the flexibility was worth it in many cases. The other variety was simple space-use only shuttle. Cheaper to construct due to the lack of atmospheric protection there were commonly used when no need for atmospheric flight was needed. As such if this craft tried to enter atmosphere it would simply burn up. Also since it was a simple boarding shuttle it carries no offensive weapons.

Turning towards the scanners you see that they are very simple, only truly useful for a short range. However there are no signs of any other ships in the area. Gravity and power signatures are null in the area. Yet there are dissipating heat signatures and small metallurgical hits leads you to rapidly conclude that there was a battle, and that the other ship lost badly. The communications array is coded to indicate multiple other boarding craft were around originally however there are far too many red lights.

As for the boarders themselves there is apparently minimal information on them in the computer. The mothership was apparently designed the “Killer” with a sister ship named the “Revenge” [there is a note that the “Revenge” was destroyed earlier]. Their mission was to acquire their leader, but how they gathered the information on where the Hope Killer was is not available.

Finally in terms of current location, without a FTL core a navicomputer was not part of the shuttle. In many ways it makes more sense not to include one for it would just take up space and power if there was no need. As such what navigational systems were included were strictly used for travel between spacecraft. However on the readouts of the Hope Killer indicate multiple boarding locations, however it seems that the pilot went for the first one possible, though it might be possible to detach and try some of the other docking locations.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
NarrationHolding up the syringe to the rest of the group and making your offer it is natural that a sense of fear flows through you. Yet there is a sense of relief that you are taking steps to conquer the fear.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
NarrationLetting go of the pilot you see from his slack expression that he is unconscious. Dragging him out of the chair you see that he is clad in a typical pilot jumpsuit. Your knowledge informs you that it helps protect again G-Forces and can even resist drastic changes in air pressure in some cases. He is a non-descript man, average looking except for a vicious scar mass of scar tissue over half of his face and a dully glowing cybernetic eye. The uniform itself is non-descript as well, could be one used by hundreds of different factions. You do notice a sidearm in an under-shoulder with a well-worn grip on it.

The fact that the face was so badly scared meant that the pilot didn’t have access to modern medical facilities. That meant most likely he was not a related to a line of official armed forces. The grip on the pistol and the non-descript jumpsuit also seems to indicate someone who lives on the fringes of space.

After assisting Mackey with the Environmental Suits you take a moment to put it on as well since that seems to be all the rage at the moment. Thankfully once it is on you find that all of the systems check out and are in the green.

Now that there is a little peace and quiet you notice that the vibrations in the deck had ceased, along with the dim echoes of heavy gunfire. Judging by the fact that you all are still around it seems that the Hope Killer won whatever fight it was in.

Seeing Matthias start to search through the lockers and cabinets onboard the shuttle you start working with him on seeing what the ship has to offer. Various weapons, tools, medical supplies, rations and even water is discovered during your search. It seems that good fortune smiles at you for now, however you do know that can change in an instant.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group 3

Darius rides Bill's body to the ground, and keeps twisting until he is very certain that he has fully snapped the spinal cord. An unusually elastic version was an enhancement that only needed to be sprung on you once before you made absolutely certain about it afterwards, especially with heavily augmented opponents like Bill and Ted.
Darius stands and spits on the ground next to the corpses of the buffoonish killers. He turns to the corpse of Jennifer, and mentally intones a brief prayer commending her to the gods of the Guiltless, hoping that he was right in his assessment of her. He coughs, ribs still hurting, and turns to the other inmates in the room.

"Well, that sucked. What now? It sounds like there's more where these freaks came from."

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

The instant he sees the woman's face, Ike's eyes widen as quickly as holes blasted through a wall. "Ada!" he gasps, almost shouting with astonishment and joy. Ike immediately plunges his hands into the cryo-chamber and picks her up, cradling the woman in his arms like a doll. For a few moments Ike can do little more than stare into her eyes, murmuring "Oh Earth, Ada..." as he holds her. Ike sleepwalks towards the hatch in a daze, the fire extinguisher dangling half-remembered from one of his oversized hands as he carries the love of his life.

But as he comes back to the entrance to the chamber, Ike remembers his surroundings. After a kiss, he gently sets Ada down on the floor, letting her stand on her own two feet. "Ada, I organized with the people who were in my chamber. We're going to try to find a way out. There was a boarding shuttle that hit right near where we are. The crew went deeper into the ship. My group's at the shuttle now, and two of them are pilots. Unless we hear the boarders coming back real soon, we can run to the shuttle and see where we can go with it."

After a moment, he adds. "Is that okay, Ada? Does it sound like a good plan?" Ike listens, not only to hear what she says but also in case one of the other inhabitants of Ada's cryo-chamber comes toward them. Or in case the power-armored boarders start thumping their way back through the corridors. Or in case something goes wrong and he hears one of his new comrades scream. But although Ike knows he should be alert, such threats seem vanishingly unimportant compared to the woman in front of him.

[Kalirren]

"I think I can handle being in the shuttle, but if I start to lose it, I want someone to use this on me."

"Are you sure?" came Mackey's response. Mackey didn't blame her a bit. If Rachel wanted the equivalent of general anesthetic, that was her call to make. And even if they did have to knock her out, she'd probably be safer in the shuttle than she would anywhere else. Mackey put her thumb and forefinger on the syringe, but did not take it. "I would, but if I'm flying, I can't promise to do it." Her gaze darted to Jason briefly, returned to Rachel. It was a slightly awkward situation.

On one hand, Mackey knew Rachel probably trusted her most, just because they had arrived together, had that connection. On some level she owed it to Rachel to be the one to do what she asked. On the other hand, the five of them were in this together, and the more trust there was to go around, the more likely they were to all make it out of this mess alive. They had to take every chance to build it.

In the end, Mackey realized, she felt it wasn't her decision to make. She continued holding the syringe and asked Rachel simply, "Should someone else fly?"

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior


She continued holding the syringe and asked Rachel simply, "Should someone else fly?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "Only if the whole group thinks so. If you're the best pilot, then someone else should have this. I said it before - I may regret this later, but for now I'm choosing to trust all you guys. And this thing is only a back-up plan. I'd rather not be any more helpless than I have to be, so I'll try to handle the claustrophobia on my own first."

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Group One

Tia grins victoriously at the pair. "Quick and easy. Not sure how often I'll be able to do that, though."

She pauses for a moment, considering her words. "May as well tell you this to save arguments or confusion. Right now my plan is to do the opposite to what we might be expected to do. Rather than rush into the arms of the attackers, who might kill us out of hand, we need to gain weapons if possible, information, supplies, and to evade and confuse pursuit. Time is critical and we need to move quickly before attention turns back to us prisoners."

We also need to move quickly before I need narcotics and rest, her thoughts added drily.

I wish I knew how far along in the voyage we are. Really, we need to take over the ship either way. If it's in deep space, we need the FTL. If we're in a system, we need to disable the ship before leaving, as otherwise it scoops us back up, or vapes us. We can only really escape into a populated system. Honestly, my chances don't look good. But when did they ever?

She smiles gently to herself. Not a sad or joyous smile, but one that gives her a curious look of peace.

Leaning over a balcony, she eyes both doors. "We want to go through the living quarters. Ship's on alert, they should be empty. I guess down. Let's go!" With this she slips over to a ladder and slides down it as fast as she can, alights on the gangway below with a slight stumble, and moves swiftly towards the next section.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Come and get me, Randolph growls into the comm unit before switching it off.

I like your plan, Tia, Randolph remarks, following her down the ladder. It's what I would have recommended. He drops down the last three feet of the ladder, landing cat-like without even a stumble. And speed is of the essence. The technician I killed has been missed.

[Inspectre]

Matthias did his best to supress a grin at the sight of all their ill-gotten gains. Fortunately the face plate of his suit masked most of his face. While it wouldn't be enough to escape, it was a very good start. Now they needed more information. First on the agenda, getting out of here before the power armor guys came back. Second on the agenda, tying up the pilot, waking him up, and getting some answers.

"Mackey, see if you can find us another nearby place to touch down on the hull. We don't want to be here when those guys get back. See if you can pick up any other shuttles attached to the hull - we should try to find a landing point far away from any potential fighting. For now, until we have a better idea what's going on we should lay low and try to figure out a way to take over the ship from whoever wins. Because this shuttle isn't going to get us out of here, which means unless we want to spend the rest of our lives drifting or find ourselves back in a cryo-tube or worse, we need to take this ship."

Matthias toes the unconscious body of the pilot.

"This guy will make a good start if we can get him to talk. Jason - maybe you could see about tying him up? Maybe there's something in the med kit we could use to wake him up early, make him more open to "suggestions" to talk?"

Matthias also turns back to Mackey and Rachel.

"I'll take the syringe if Mackey wants to fly. Or, I'll fly if the two of you would be more comfortable with each other."

Matthias's shrug is largely absorbed by the suit.

"Whichever."

Noticing the conspicuous absense of Ike's towering form, Matthias looks around.

"Where is Ike? Anybody see where he went?"

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason had just found a set of sturdy rappelling cables in one of the equipment cabinets, and in short order had the pilot quite firmly restrained with them. Even as he worked, however, his thoughts were running at full speed, and this made him seem a little detached for the moment. Immediate objectives secured... overall objective? ...Return to command? No. Abandoned. Attempted termination. Lost asset. What then? Jason glanced around at his companions.

I choose my own path now. He nodded.

Primary directive: Survive.

[ubersquid]

Janks - group one - Water Purification and Storage

"HA HA HA! Look how they run!" Janks laughs heartily while he watches the Engineers flee from the Alarm. Suddenly he freezes and gives Tia a suspicious look. "Wait... that was you, right? There is not really a radia... yeah... yeah! Good girl." His face changes into a grin again.

After Randolph is away from the ladder, he drops the Toolbox down with a loud noise, and slides down the ladder as well, making an even louder one as he lands on the floor. His breathing gets heavier as he scurries after his two accomplices, and small drops of sweat start to form on his forehead and chest.

[Kalirren]

"I don't think that's a good idea anymore, Conway," "Okay, maybe I should have mentioned this earlier. I think this ship, the Hope Killer, is armed, and if there's anyone including a computer manning the guns, we'll probably get vaporized if we try to fly this thing."

She tried her best to stare down the look that Jason was almost certainly giving her, if not everyone. "It's all in the readouts and the comm logs," she shrugged. "There was a firefight. Two pirate vessels, the Killer and the Revenge, attempted to ambush this ship, called the Hope Killer. They were looking to recover their leader, who's probably frozen onboard here somewhere." Mackey peered down the corridor to look where Ike had gone. "The logs get a little confusing in the middle, but what's for sure is that the Revenge was destroyed, and most of the other boarding shuttles are out of commission. I don't know what happened to the Killer, but communications are silent and the shuttle's sensors don't see it. I bet it warped out." She started tapping her feet.

"That leaves this brig as our only ticket out. It's the only ship with a functional warp core," she said, nodding at Conway. "Or maybe it's broken too and we'll need to fix it -after- we take over the ship," she commented sardonically, "but either way, we take the ship or we rot here." The foot-tapping crescendoed to a halt. "Where -is- Ike, anyway? Dammit, we'd better find him. He probably shoots well. Let's scrounge the shuttle for weapons and supplies and find him, shall we? We can decide if we want to take the shuttle for a ride when we've found him?"

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

The 'look' that Mackey received, from Jason at least, was at first a little easier to bear than she'd expected; it was mostly unreadable. But after a few moments, it started sinking in, and got a little more uncomfortable. It wasn't any sense of disapproval or ire toward her, but just... the neutral calculation.

After a second more of thought, Jason began to move. He grabbed a nearby equipment bag, a black and bright red shoulder-slung ensemble, and stuffed the useful-looking contents of the nearby cabinets into it before throwing it over one shoulder.

He gave a second look to the unconscious pilot, then dragged the limp form just outside of the shuttle. Just in case.

Jason then followed Ike down the hallway, clearing it for the others to follow whenever they're ready.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - At the Center of a Storm, Group 3

Lydia stares in shock as Jenny is ripped in half. Unable to move, unable to breathe, Lydia cannot do anything but watch as her corpse falls upon the deck. She cannot even move to wipe the blood splatter from her face.

The shock literally paralyzes Lydia. Unable to even go further, Lydia just stares out from her position on the ground, no longer making a single noise. She seems oblivious to the apparent coming of more threats and the tugging in her mind.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Not hearing anything coming after him, Ike decides that the contents of the other two cryotubes in the room probably aren't a threat. He shoves the hatch back open and edges back out into the hallway, keeping the steel door between him and where the power armored men went to make sure he doesn't get shot stepping out.

After checking that the coast is clear, Ike practically skips back toward the shuttle, glancing back to make sure Ada is following along. "Jason, I found someone!" he joyfully announces. The lumbering man runs up to the ex-agent like an excited child. "This is Ada. I've known for her a long time, and I didn't even know she was here. She's coming with us." Ike speaks with unthinking certainty, the way he might say his age or shoe size.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

At Matthias' mention of drugs, Rachel shook her head. "I didn't see anything like that," she explained. "You might want to take a look yourself though. I'm far-sighted, and these labels are printed pretty small, so I might have missed something."

As the group begins to act as if the boarding shuttle will not be used after all, an expression of visible relief flashes across Rachel's face, and she returns the sedative to the med kit. Spotting the laser multi-tool, she abruptly remembers that it has an adjustable scalpel function, which she uses to carefully cut off the feet of her jump-suit. When she is finished, her disturbingly enlongated, prehensile toes are visible, as are the slightly curved talons tipping each toe in place of a human nail.

When Jason disappears down the hallway after Ike, she hesitates briefly, then takes a sort of guard position over the pilot, though she is careful to keep her wings well away from him.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Group 3

Still in this rotten cage... Even when it's starting to smell of death. Why were the others so slow to move outside its walls? He sighed deeply. And moved over to the corpse, or at least the half with her head, of Jennifer and got down on his haunches. Such a waste... You would've been a lot of fun. He then got up again, and looked over his still alive companions. "I think no-one argues with me when I say it's time to leave? We've lost one member already, and thus lowered our chances of survival."

To make his point clear, he walks over to the door, carefully stepping over the corpses, and takes a very quick peak outside the door before retracting his head back in again.

[Pwenet]

Hades - Dis Pater
Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Status: Dead – Physical Body Ripped in Half
Inventory
Not having a body prevents one from storing items on their person sadly.
NarrationYOU ARE IN SHOCK

The voices hit you like sledgehammers on waterfalls. Each syllable creates its own drop which further splits farther and farther away from the source. Yet without a body, only existing somehow in this “state” you feel that there is a possibility of shock.

YOU TIME HERE IS LIMITED! IT HAS STARTED! THANATUS HOLD UPON US IS FADING! IT IS AWAKENING! ASK NOW BEFORE YOU LEAVE US QUESTIONS YOU HAVE!
Hope Killer - FH-SS-L1-S03 - Stasis Chamber
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
NarrationHearing the old prayer of “Oh Earth” Ada eyes flicker and she focuses on you. Already she is starting to recover as you lift her out of the chamber. Smiling warmly at you she gently strokes the side of your face lovingly.

”Hi Ike, I knew you would find me.”

Returning your kiss she nods as you lower her to the ground. Pushing herself up with some effort you notice that her face has several bruises and half-healed scares. As she removes the skullcap to the cyro-stasis jumpsuit you can see that her short hair was nearly shaven off. There are several vicious circular wounds about the size of quarters running around the sides of her head. Seeing you starting at them she smiles shyly and gently brushes one of them.

”It was bad. They wanted information, and they were none to kind. But don’t worry honey, I didn’t tell them anything. The plan is still in motion. As yes that sounds like a good plan. Let’s get out of here.”

Checking the coast and seeing that the coast is still clear you sprint back to where the others are waiting. Approaching the shuttle you see that it appears they are stripping it for everything that can be carried. Evidently you will not be flying out on this shuttle. The pilot is still unconscious and is now tied up however as your approach your ears catch a sound. Looking around you see that a misson-comm terminal is active. This terminal monitors all the parties involved in a mission, presenting data such as their location, vital signs, weapons status and most importantly, providing communication with them. There seems to be some kind of interference for only some words are coming across.

*Static*ou there?*Static*gative Con*Static*’t find her*Static*Intereference from damage*Static*Reply Dam*Static*It!*Static*Going Deeper into the ship*Static*n his way bac*Static*
Hope Killer - FH-SS-L3-S13 - Stasis Chamber
Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationTwisting violently at the neck of Bill as he collapses you nearly twist his head 180 degrees by the time you are done, but since he is no longer breathing and already his body has started the all too familiar death twitches it seems that he is now dead. Yet the cost for defeating the two was somewhat high for Jenny lies on the ground, torn in half and Lydia seems to be in shock over everything that just happened.

Yet Ouranos at that point snaps out of his laughter. Looking down at the mutilated body of Jenny he walks over to the door and checks outside. Looking back at the rest of you he seems unharmed it seems that the coast is clear, for now. Seeing that reaction of the short squat man who called himself Drenmar picks himself up and walks towards the door, stopping for a second to turn to the rest of you.

”Well, what are you all waiting for? Let’s get out of here!”

Not waiting he jogs through the hatch and exits the chamber.
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive and Semi-Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationDeciding that now is the time when you will finally act you take charge. After rubbernecking the corpse of Jenny you walk towards the open hatch and take several looks. Towards your right the corridor goes on and near the front you can see several orange-suited figures. Several of them seem to be fighting while the rest are yelling encouragement. Towards your left the coast is clear. So far it seems that the fun mob towards your right has not noticed your examinations.

Sticking your head back in it seems that was the reaction that Drenmar was looking for. Standing up he wanders through the hatch and takes off towards the left. Evidently he was tired of just sitting around waiting to die.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers; Mental Shock
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationParalyzed from the recent events the next few events flash you by. The death of Bill , Ouranos scouting and Drenmar leaving. Part of you starts to scream that it is time to pull yourself together and help the others if you want to survive.
Hope Killer – MH - Enlisted Living Quarters
[b]Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece. Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
NarrationWhatever reply your stalker had for you was lost as you switch it off. Revenge was a powerful motivator and without knowledge as to what your pursuer could do it would be best to err on the side of caution with speed being a helpful friend as well.

Following Tia you pass through a small hatch. Several large conduits surround you three, forcing you all to jog in single file with Janks being somewhat cramped. It seems that you might be in a kind of maintenance corridor, not one heavily trafficked which is good, unless there was damage and someone had to come by to perform repairs.

Yet it seems that the trip down this corridor was to be short and sweet for Tia opens up a side hatch and you step into another world. The previous sections of the ship were in a word efficient. Bare metal walls, grated deck-plating with the structural support beams uncovered. Simple, cheap and efficient for their purposes yet not really pleasant for long periods of time. This section however was designed for occupation. The bulkheads were covered with pale-white paneling with the deck lightly carpeted with anti-slip carpeting. There were several murals on the panels of various scenes and the lighting seems more natural than the harsh illumination of the other sections. Instead of hatches on the surrounding doors there were several automatic doors that could be found planetside. In short it seems that this area is meant to be comfortable for people, hence it seems that Tia has lead you into the living quarters.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
NarrationMoving swiftly into the next section you see that the upcoming hatch is still open. Since you had hacked their suits instead of the ship systems automatic lockdown systems did not engaged, thus permitting you and your companions access into the next section. This section however seems to be more for maintenance for several of the larger pipes flow through it. Checking your DataPad you see that you are in one of the maintenance corridors which stretches along the ship towards the engineering section. The logic behind this was while further up it would be staffed most likely there were several entry points into the living section of the ship.

This turns out to be very true for you come across the first hatch up along the side. Opening it slightly you take a look around and see that you are in where the DataPad says are the living quarters for the enlisted ship crew. The officer quarters were one level up. On this level however there were ten quarters each of them holding 2 people a piece with the crew hot-bunking. In addition there was apparently a small cafeteria, rec room and gym in the middle of this area for the enlisted peronsal.

The previous sections you had been in were in a nutshell utilitarian. Bare metal walls with steel structural supports with large metal doors. Mean to be functional and easy to repair/replace with no human comforts. This section of the ship, where the ship crew lived during the long months of travel was different. The walls were covered with pale white paneling with various murals mounted. The deck was lightly carpeted with anti-slip carpeting. The large hatches were replaced with simple doors. With these living quarters so deep within the hull if somehow something happened to cause pressure loss in here it would mean that the ship was lost, hence why there were creature comforts. It also meant that there was nothing here that would require a crew while they were at action station, which judging by the flashing lights the ship was still at.

Not seeing anyone you slip in along with the rest of your party. Janks shuts the hatch behind you (per the datapad access to the living quarters was via several standard hatches, with the quarters subdivided by simple automatic doors). There are several quarters, and with the ship at action stations it would be a simple matter to quickly scout through them. Memories flash and you realize that many crewmembers might have small arms, gizmos and gadgets, uniforms and who knows what else floating about in their small quarters shared by 2-4 people at a time.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status:
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
NarrationDropping the toolbox the clanging makes several nice echoes throughout the large chamber. Sadly it seems that no one else joins you in dropping items so you drop yourself. This echo was even better yet now it was time for a chase scene. As the other two nimbly run along your lungs start to burn. After all you were built for sprinting not for marathons!

Of course then they decide to enter through a small hatch into a narrow corridors. Huffing, heaving and twisting yourself around you manage to defy several laws of physics and follow the others. Thankfully before you get stuck Tia opens another hatch and steps into a level where someone had too much money and not enough booze. Pale-white walls, strange paintings and thin doors. Evidently this must be the area where the higher-ups live. Maybe there would be something good to find in one of the quarters.
Hope Killer - MH-Security Control
The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Security Uniform – A lightly padded blue and grey uniform with the brown Redemption Corporation logo on it along with jet black combat boots. Contains a variety of pockets and a belt for your inventory.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Stun Baton – Resembling a nightstick used by old Earth police this club is energized and upon contact will incapacitate or knock unconscious the target. The two grips are shielded from the charge.
NarrationYou small team stands in the office waiting for your orders. Some of them start giving each other odds looks at your sudden silence.
Pirate Boarding Shuttle - Attached to Hope Killer
Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
NarrationIt seems that no one else wants to go for a hull-skimming ride of the Hope Killer. Still having one plan approved out of two is a good start and there would be plenty of opportunities to come up with more that will be approved. Plus it seems that you little party now has a new member as Ike returns with a woman. Clad in a similar jumpsuit that the rest of you used to wear the most obvious feature is her shaven head with several quarter sized wounds along the sides. Probably torture by the good old government, what else?

Hearing indicators from the shuttle controls you look over Mackey shoulder to spy on them. The sensors are indicating that the Hope Killer power levels are changing. Your eyes quickly determine that she is preparing for a jump. Based on the power curves and readings you would estimate that there are only about 5-10 minutes before everything is all set for the man at the helm to turn the key and jump to the next location.

Yet there were plenty of dangers. FTL drives were typically designed to initiate the jump effect to as close as the hull as possible to converse power and prevent carrying any extra “passengers”. This field could be adjusted but the increase in power requirements and potential errors in the calculations made it more difficult. It was much simpler to stick with the defaults.

This shuttle was clearly a foreign object. And once the ship jumped there were several possibilities. First of all would be that nothing would happen and everyone could have a good laugh. The shuttle could be turned into free-floating debris which would not be fine. Since it was not jump-rated the odds of getting another lethal dose of Conclear radiation would be high enough that if you were a betting man you would not win a lot. While Mackey would probably be able to figure out what is happening you would be surprised if she completely understood everything that could possibly happen.

No matter what it would probably be a good time to take what you can from this shuttle, get out, seal the inner airlock and start looking for another way off this roller coaster. Too bad there was no power-armor, but there was always next time!
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
NarrationWith the decision made you start looking around the tiny shuttle. Already Jason has tied up the pilot and is currently raiding the cabinets for useful supplies and tossing them into a bag. Ike has found a woman he knows and is checking out some of the terminals. Rachel is repacking the medical supplies and Matthias is checking the cabinets as well. Looking over the terminals to see if you can find anything else useful you notice increased radiation coming from the Hope Killer. Power readings are also increasing dramatically and you can feel a slight shudder along the ship that only lifelong spacers typically felt. It was the FTL core spinning up and starting pre-jump sequence. Depending on the ship it could be a matter of minutes or hours, however there was one key flaw. This shuttle was a foreign object drilled into the hull. Depending on what happened staying in the shuttle would be fine and no issues. Or the jump sequence could be so tightly attuned to the ship that it was tear the shuttle apart and decompress the area. Since the shuttle was not jump rated it would not be pleasant no matter what happened however sooner rather than later the ship would be jumping.

Looking back you quickly go over the arrangement of the deck in your mind. With the shuttle over the airlock and with the outer and inner doors open the destruction of the shuttle would decompress the entire level. Yet if you all left the shuttle and sealed the inner hatch even if the shuttle was destroyed mid-jump it would prevent decompression.

With the new pressure on you spy the various lockers and now have to decide what to take before leaving the shuttle, unless you want to risk the ride.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
Narration Repacking the medical kit you take several seconds to cut off the feet to your jumpsuit. The feeling of “fresh” air on your feet is a relaxing sensation. After all with your talons it was typically more comfortable to be barefoot. Finishing repacking the supplies you look up to see Ike returning with another woman also in a similar jumpsuit. She looks nice and pretty, athletic as well and carries herself well. Yet her hair is gone, shaven off so recently that there is not even stubble. In addition there are several vicious looking wounds around the sides of her head. Clearly it seems that you were not the only one to receive “special” treatment pre-freeze.

As Ike introduces her and starts running around the inside of the small shuttle the lady approaches you cautiously.

”I’m Ada, have you all been awake for long? And who did that to you?”

A slight look of unease passes across her face as she gestures at your wings and recently exposed talons. It was the same look of unease that people would give you who were knowledgeable about genetic engineering and thought that you were perverted to warp your body in such a way. Many times you were able to shrug it off. Yet now, trapped on this ship, your nerves frayed and the constant threat of being confined to a planet at the back of your mind, it seems odd that this woman would ask you such a question.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
Narration Grabbing the rappelling cables you quickly tie up the pilot as you make you new bold directive of survival. Tying the last knot (which would keep the pilot in a painful position once he awakens but mostly harmless) you see that he shows no signs of regaining consciousness. Grabbing a equipment bad you start filling it with useful items it is comfortably full by the time you finish. After all you didn’t want it so full that you would have to empty it to find something. Yet what you have gathered should in theory prove useful.

Deciding that more space would be a good idea in the tiny confines of the shuttle you drag the limp form of the pilot away. As you drag him muffled groans and rapid twitches of her eye-lids indicate that he is starting to recover however he is still probably going to be out of it for a little while longer. Still not that he is out of the shuttle it would be unlikely that he could cause many other issues.

Before you can go after Ike he returns. His face is one of a man in bliss as she gently guides a woman with him. Looking over her you see that she moves well, military training for sure. There is a slight limp and one of his fingers twitches constantly. Her paleness indicates that she was recently thawed and rapid eye movements suggest she is worried and slightly scared. Her head is very recently shaven, so recently that there is no even stubble. Along the sides of her head are several quarter size-wounds which have started to heal. Such wounds look familiar as aftereffects of neural shock therapy, originally designed to help repair brain damage but could also be used as a method of coercion, brainwashing and torture. With such wounds it was clear that it was the latter than the former, yet was it successful?

After Ike makes his introductions and dips into the shuttle you do another scan. There is still a weapons compartment that has not yet been raided. There is also a flak jacket resting behind the pilot-seat in a pouch which based on the straps could be adjusted to fit Rachel. A Mission-control terminal is active and Ike is working on it, apparently receiving some kind of communication. Yet since there is the dim noise of voices coming from it time is probably winding down before you all have to leave this area.

[Greystone]

To Spirits
Where The hell am I?" Jenny's voice no longer held the fake joviality, and was instead cold and hard "What is my purpose here. I am dead why do I still care what happens"

She 'blinks' (as much as she can) " Is there a way to go back?"

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The Center of the Storm, Group 3

For a moment, Lydia hears only silence. It is strangely calming, a feeling that she has not yet felt before. Her arms seem to move suddenly, pushing herself up despite the horrible pain of pushing burnt flesh against the metal of the deck below. In the action some charred skin is pealed away to reveal what was suspected of existence; the implants spark, if only for a moment.

As the others move on, Lydia can only barely grant herself the ability to move forward, trying to leave behind all that has happened before. She seems sluggish in her movements, and her eyes are completely unfocused, darting in various directions as if searching for something they had lost.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Oh ho ho! Randolph's eyes light up as then enter the living quarters and he begins thinking of all the goodies that might await them here. He wastes no time in rummaging through footlockers, searching for a proper knife, a handgun, and any keycards that might be able to get them into locked areas of the ship.

Tia, he asks as he momentarily looks up from a footlocker. Does your readout show any kind of a galley nearby? I think we should try and get some food supplies before going too much further. You never know when we'll get to eat next.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Ike listens to the fragmented message, hunched over the terminal. As it ends he straightens up as much as the shuttle's low ceiling allows (not much) and makes his way to the weapons locker, squeezing through the seats and open storage hatches. He pulls out two assault rifles, several pistols, and a whole stack of magazines, the weapons precariously balanced on his outstretched palms before he transfers them to the seat behind him. "Fleet standard issue," Ike notes approvingly as he loads the guns. "These guys came prepared."

Going into another cabinet, Ike pulls out a few light web vests for carrying weapons and ammunition. He stretches the largest one to fit it over his shoulders, leaving the center unfastened. Ike slips magazines and handguns into the pouches and holsters of the other vests before loading up his own, and places each of the remaining vests on a chair. Now that he has a real weapon - his favorite weapon, no less - Ike leaves the fire extinguisher in the shuttle.

"We've got another rifle, four vests with pistols, and a fifth pistol if any of you want to carry two," Ike announces, slinging the first rifle over his shoulder. "If none of you want the pistol, I'll take it. Everybody grab a vest. I don't mean to be biased, but Ada gets the rifle if she wants it. If not, anybody who knows how to use one can grab it."

Ike tries to puzzle out the fragmented transmission as the others take their weapons. Were the boarders going deeper or coming back? Maybe they got split up and were doing both? And damage - he knew one of them said something about damage. All in all, it sounded like they were in bad shape. If there was something on this ship that could give four men in power armor a lot of trouble - something within a few minutes' running distance - they would need to be really ready for it.

[Kalirren]

Grateful that the group hadn't been split after all, Mackey strode up to Ike and offered a handshake to his apparently old acquaintance. "Ada. My name's Mackey. Welcome to Hades." She gave an odd smirk at that. There was always time for a proper introduction to start a relationship on the right foot.

A shudder went through the floor.

"Conway's balls," Mackey swore. Her eyes focused on nothing in particular, taking on a dreadful alertness. Okay, maybe there wasn't always time. "They're jumping." She caught Matthias's inevitable glance, and facepalmed. "Oh I'll explain later," Mackey chuckled to him as she rushed back inside the shuttle.

"People, the Hope Killer's jumping to lightspeed!" she shouted across the cabin. "We've got to be on board and behind that airlock before we get left here to drift. Come on. We might have 3 minutes." Seeing the vests and supplies left out she counted them and presumed that one was for her. She shambled herself into the web vest and pulled the straps shut. Her left hand found the pistol and switched it to her left side. Probably not much good against power armor, but against the Hope Killer's crew it might be enough. She'd only shot a gun twice in her life, and both times at no one in particular - though that might be more than Rachel had - hopefully Ike and Ada would be able to pull more weight.

What else was there? Jason had already been raiding the place, and he was stuffing a bag rather thoroughly, ...the pilot! She couldn't just leave him to explode. No one would vanish, she had made Rachel promise. That meant him too. Mackey grabbed his unconscious, limp body and began to drag him towards the airlock.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason nodded in approval. Though he did not wish to wear one of the new vests that had been discovered, he did ball it up and stuff it in his Bag of Holding, along with the second weapon that it held. He also looks around for spare magazines, and will gather as many of them as he can, wanting at least three for himself and the others going to whoever needs them. Loose bullets are also choice, and will go in the Bag of Holding as well.

Next, Jason spied a light Flak Jacket on the shuttle floor stuffed behind the Pilot's chair. Moving forward quickly, he examined the make and design of the vest, an idea popping into his head. He walked with it over to Rachel (and by extension, Ada). "Look... If I put these straps in the back as loosely as they will go..." He demonstrates, "...Then your... Wings should fit through the gaps here without much discomfort. I don't know exactly how much punishment this will take, but it will definitely stop a bullet. Maybe more than once." He says, offering the flak jacket to Rachel, but not forcing it on her in case she does not wish to take it. "Just don't get hit in the back."

At Mackey's announcement, Jason stiffened. FTL drive spinning up... Boarding shuttle: Non-FTL Jump rated. Explosive decompression; 65% probable. He grabbed the last mesh vest and pistol and threw it to Matthias. He gave Mackey a look that said 'good call', and also communicating that he understood what she was saying perfectly. "Now we need to move." He says, echoing his earlier sentiment. This detour had been extremely profitable-- they were armed and slightly armored, had a good idea of what was going on inside the ship, and had something of a plan. Well worth the distraction. But now, they needed to return to moving into the ship, hopefully finding a reliable way off, but at any rate making themselves as scarce as possible.

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins Group One - Enlisted Living Quarters

After a quick glance around to make sure they were alone, Janks starts to have a look around, ripping open drawers and closets and rummaging through their contents as quickly as possible. He empties a kit bag on the floor, spilling worn clothes around the floor. Janks crams everything he determines valuable into the bag. Mostly stuff that would sell easily on the black market, snacks which partly go into his mouth directly, credit chips, some of the magazines that randolph seemed to have overlooked and an ancient golden watch. Then something grabs his attention and Janks slows down for a moment. He neatly tucks the small wooden box on top of everything with a smile.

The last thing he finds is an old lighter that came with the box and Janks notices what he misses most on his overall - pockets. Digging through more of the closets, he curses. Apparently there was no one on this ship who shared his slender build.

[Inspectre]

Matthias digs through the shelves on his side, not particularly caring about weapons at this point, but rather tools. Anyone could find a gun and shoot it, and considering they were up against guards and an unknown-aligned boarding team equipped with power armor, they would probably lose in an open firefight. But with the proper tools, they could modify the odds significantly and stand a good chance of at least hiding in the confusion.

First, Matthias found a duffel bag, stuffed full of what appeared to be medical supplies. Keeping the few canisters of bio-foam, the modern-era's equivalent (and far more effective) of Band-Aids, Matthias dumped the rest of the supplies out. They had the First Aid Kit, and while more drugs was always nice there were more important things to go into this bag.

Further searching revealed a generic-model Datapad. Again the modern equivalent of a Palm Pilot, the Datapad would hopefully be quite useful as it could serve as a mobile access point to the Hope Killer's central computer. Of course, that required there to be an online communication point nearby for the Datapad to interface with, and not having a Hacking genius amongst them they wouldn't be able to do much with said access. Still, there might be various unsecured data files, like a real-time map of the ship, that they could get ahold of. Or perhaps just a guard's photo album from his wild vacation to a Pleasure Planet.

Even more of a pleasent surprise was the plasma cutter and two spare power cells tucked into the next shelf. Hand-held and about the size of a stun baton, the plasma cutter could cut through most material, given enough time. In addition to cutting escape tunnels through the hull, it could also double as a very nasty melee weapon, should anyone be stupid enough to get in the three-inch plasma flame's path.

Next was the single emergency oxygen mask he found. Designed to fit entirely over the face, the mask primarily protected the wearer from dangerous fumes. In a pinch, it could also help in a decompression situation. The rest of the unfortunate's body would still be exposed to hard vacuum, but at least they would still have air and their face wouldn't freeze, giving them another minute or two to save themselves. There were no extra air canisters, but the one currently slotted in place should last about fifteen minutes.

And finally, another interesting discovery, in the lowermost drawer - a pair of door breaching charges. Not strong enough to penetrate the hull or an airlock, the charges would nonetheless be quite effective against most interior doors. Or properly placed, against things like power armor. Tossing them in the duffel bag, Matthias had just enough time to zip it back up - and note there was still a bit more room in the bag besides.

Then, all Hell broke loose with the joint arrival of the transmission from the boarders, and the realization that the ship was about to jump. Quickly taking the offered vest and pistol, Matthias pulls the straps open all the way and slips the vest on over his suit, not caring how rediculous it might look. His suit was minorly armored, but the vest would be more effective against bullets. He keeps the pistol in his hands for now, slinging the duffel bag over one shoulder. He looks around once briefly at the assembled group and swears. This was going to turn ugly fast.

Sparring Mackey a brief glance at her own strange curse, Matthias starts making more suggestions.

"Alright, we need to get out of here fast. And not just because this ship is about to jump and tear this shuttle off it like a dog scratching a tick - one of those power armor guy is coming back, if I heard the last bit of that transmission right."

Matthias gestures at the pilot Jason was dragging out of the shuttle.

"Ike, grab our little friend there. Ada, was it? You and Mackey cover us. Rachel, keep in the back and try to keep up. Jason? You seemed to handle the pilot pretty good. Think you can scout ahead and figure us out a way out of here? Quickly?"

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

"You got it," the towering soldier replies, unslinging his rifle and throwing the pilot over his shoulder in its place. As he hustles out of the shuttle, Ike adds "I'm not sure that the boarders are coming back, the transmission wasn't clear at all. But whichever way they're going, it sounded like things weren't going right for them at all. One of them said something about damage, so there was probably a fight. If there's something around here that can mess up four guys in power armor pretty quickly, we wanna be careful about it." He glances over at Ada for approval.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason nodded curtly at Matthias' request, and without another second's thought, hurried back down the hallway. His movements were smooth and practiced, his hurried heel-toe heel-toe walk being not only silent, but perhaps more importantly providing an unwavering platform for the 14 round, .44 Caliber Automatic that was already in his hands. Stainless Steel slide, custom grips. He wished that he had the time to slow down and admire the piece a little more, but alas, there was none.

Jason moved quickly, covering as much ground as possible as quickly as possible, but still taking enough time to be thorough-- each hatch and portal got a cursory examination, glancing through the glass on each and then moving on if nothing seemed amiss.

He looked for the Connecting pathway that would give them access to the rest of the ship.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

As Randolph moves from locker to locker, bits of string, a small container of space vaseline, and an egg of silly putty (now even stickier) all disappear into his pockets. A combat knife is strapped to his right thigh and a small laser drill is hung off a loop on his left hip. Coming across a small medkit, he tosses it to Janks.

Here. Always pays to have a spare.

Standing up and dusting his hands, he turns to the others.

Are we ready to go? We need to keep going.

[The_Snark]

Andrea Kemplin, Director of Security aboard RC12-42TX

The previous eighty-six days of the voyage to Hades had been an exercise in frustration. At first, Director Kemplin had been content: not once in those eighty-six days had there been any problems, which meant she was performing her job adequately. But on the other hand, there had not been any problems in eighty-six days. It left her with very little to do, and so she had diligently monitored the ship's security (by herself, since her supposed underlings rarely did so), and generally looked over. She knew the security records with respect to Hades: no convict had ever escaped.

And that surely meant that nobody had ever tried, because if they had she was sure. She had seven personnel to cover an entire ship—a ship that had not been designed by someone who thought it might be necessary to fight off a boarding action. Nowhere was there a proper fortified position that they could use to pin down fleeing prisoners. Until she had arrived, the security cameras had been a complete formality. There were no automated weapons, they could not seal off portions of the ship to contain an escape, and the entire security detail consisted of six people. In short, the entire security system rested on the fact that the prisoners were kept in cryo-stasis.

Which was not, she would be the first to admit, a bad first line of defense. And she was used to working with a budget—when it came time to pay bills, most prison investors seemed to forget that security was the most important aspect. But here all of her suggestions fell on deaf ears. The simple addition of motion-triggered knockout gas dispensers in the prisoner storage areas would have cut the security hazard by nine-tenths, and yet this had been ignored.

Compounding this problem were her underlings, who were sadly lacking in diligence. Director Kemplin had the sinking feeling she would never find an employee as good as she would have been, but almost anyone would have been better than these. They spent most of their time fraternizing with the other crew, even when on-duty! It was pathetic. She had thought that her transfer to one of the Hades prison transports had been an honor, a sign that someone had finally noticed her: a promotion to the Redemption Corporation's most famous prison complex, where failure was never tolerated.

But if that were the case, none of her co-workers would have been aboard. Andrea darkly suspected that the Hades prison transport crews were made up of rejects, people who the corporation didn't value. It was an infuriating reward for a decade of hard work.

When something went wrong on the eighty-seventh day, it took her utterly by surprise.

She sat there blankly for a few seconds before hours of memorization came to her rescue. An external security alarm. The ship is under attack by an outside source; stay in the security center and monitor the ship's interior for potential hazards and stand by to repel boarding parties.

Whoever had written the manual knew their business, at least; a boarding alert was sounded seconds later, informing her that the security team would be in charge of fending off the enemy (which had priority over the alerts from the stasis chambers). Except her security team wasn't here. What was she supposed to do then?

The timely arrival of two-thirds of her team saved her from that dilemma. "Arm yourselves," she ordered, pointing to the arms lockers. The lock was coded, of course—a high prime-number lock, very difficult for any computer to crack and known only to her. She opened it. Inside was standard riot gear—spare batons, padded vests, tear gas (no masks)—plus a number of firearms.

It took longer than she would have liked to armor herself, but inside two minutes both she and the other two were armed and ready. Andrea recalled from her training the correct way to hold her pistol, adjusted her grip to match, and opened the door. "Warrant Officer Antilles, contact Petty Officer Hudson," she ordered, referring to the only unaccounted-for member of her team. He couldn't get into the arms lockers without her, and she was not about to leave her office open when there was a security breach. "Ask for his location and his ETA to the office."

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Group One

Tia initially intends to dash straight through the living quarters without pause, but as her two current followers become sidetracked she gives a brief look of resignation towards no-one in particular, and begins checking bedding, clothing, and lockers for one thing and one thing only.

Weapons.

It's true, what that philosopher said: "Power comes from the look in people's eyes". I've always found my look much more powerful when I'm holding something to make people dead with, so there we go!

She particularly looks for false bottoms in footlockers and the like, together with any indication that particular quarters belong to officers or security personnel. She is quite certain that there are all kinds of regulations against having personal weaponry, or having weapons in personal quarters, but as she well knows people often don't stick strictly to regs, especially on long, dull, remote details aboard ships transporting hundreds of psychotic prisoners.

There's always one guy or girl with a weapons fetish. Finding a cabin plastered with gun pictures, strewn with well-worn copies of "Guns ,More Guns, and Naked People (Holding Guns)", and with a plasma cannon under the bed might be a bit optimistic, but she keeps a keen and swift eye peeled all the same.

If she comes across anything that looks like any kind of drugs, she pockets this, too. A carelessly scattered candy bar gets wolfed down, a cold cup of coffee thrown back, and swift breakfast completed she darts and moves swiftly to the door of the next section.

Whether it's the caffeine, sugar, painkillers, or just general paranoia, she grabs a pocket mirror from a corner and pokes it around the next corner before blindly moving on.

"Hmm. Where are we, anyway? And where are the guns, and ship personnel?" she wonders absently to herself. Quickly she pulls back her mirror and, with a few taps at her wristpad, attempts to figure these things out.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Ada's question was inevitable. Sooner or later, someone would have asked. It was only a fluke of circumstance that none of the others had done so. Nevertheless, the attitude behind the question - the assumption that someone must have forced it on her, that it was too bizarre or even sinful a thing to do to oneself - grated on Rachel, as it had always grated on her. An angry retort rose to her lips, but just at that moment Jason approached with the flak jacket. Grateful for the respite, Rachel allowed Jason to help her fasten it, also accepting one of the pistols (though the vest could not be made to fit) before turning back to Ada.

"A team of genetic engineers worked on me for several years." She answered the newcomer's question calmly, her expression perfectly neutral. Then she suddenly grinned, an expression with little humor and a bit too predatory of a gleam in her inhuman eyes. "Cost me a fortune, but it was worth it wouldn't you say?"

Rachel made no objection to Matthias' request that she stay at the back of the group. She was painfully aware that she was little more than a walking, claustrophobic target.

For OverWilliam:
Rachel is significantly more wary of Ada than she is of any of the rest of the group. She has probably never fired a pistol before.

Regarding Rachel's trust of individuals in the group:
Ada < Ike < Matthais < Jason < Mackey

[Pwenet]

Hades - Dis Pater - Mindscape Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Status: Dead – Physical Body Ripped in Half
Inventory
Not having a body prevents one from storing items on their person sadly.
NarrationYOU ARE… AT DIS PATER! YOU ARE TRAPPED BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH… LIKE US! THE DAMNED, THE CONDEMMED, THE INNOCENT, THE VICTIMS OF HUBRIS!

Pain lances through you where your forehead should be, as if someone stabbed a large pipe into it.

..floating in a warm liquid…. Hands so small… this is all you had known…. Comfortable… safe…. Pain…. Pressure… you are moving…. Pressed through…. Strange things touch you…. skin flares….blinding light…. So blinding…. Muffled noises now are no longer muffled…. Screaming at you… screaming at you!

“It’s a girl!”

IT’S STARTED! YOU ARE JOINING US! FUEL FOR THE MACHINE! FUEL FOR UN-DEATH! PRAY AND HOLD TRUE THAT FATES SMILE AND YOU RETURN!

More memories start to rush by you. Memories that should not even be possible to recall.
Hope Killer - FH - SS-Le-S13 - Stasis Chamber Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWhile the coast still appears to be clear it probably won’t remain that way for much longer.
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive and Semi-Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWhile the coast still appears to be clear it most likely will not be that way for much longer.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; Mental Shock
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationStumbling forward you look down at the charred body of Ted. The gaping hole in his chest is still smoldering with deliberately unknown liquids dripping from it onto the deck. His face is locked in an expression of shock. After all who would have expected you to be able to blast out lightning to bore through a man. Still in that hole you see your lost innocence, for now you had taken a life, no matter how evil.

Your left hand starts to twitch. Looking down you see sparks starting to fly between the exposed ports again, and actual arcs forming between the fingers. Such arcs were something that you were unable to do before. With a mental shrug you stop them, and with another one you start then again before calming them down again. Yet it does nothing for the strange buzzing at the back of your mind.

For the moment it still appears that the path to the left is clear.
Hope Killer - MH - Enlisted Living Quarters Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive, Sane and Defrosting
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece. Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
Bits of string
Container of space Vaseline,
Egg of silly putty (now even stickier)
Combat knife – A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
Small laser drill – The laser drill is a common enough tool. The laser beam rapidly diffuses when activated, making it practically harmless over distances greater than a meter. Yet when used in close it can burn through weak metals and other objects. The laser can also be adjusted to weld items and clear off debris of items.
NarrationRummaging through the footlockers in the quarters you pick up various small items. Nothing as good as true weapons but potentially they could be useful. It seems that you did not find the quarters of the gun nut or secret spy but some items are better than nothing. The laser drill, while not designed for melee combat would still be very painful when used in close range.

Towards the end of your scavenging a shrill alarm echoes through the section of the ship and a voice emerges from various Intercom units mounted along the walls.

”All hands – Prepare for emergency jump. Damage Control – Prepare for hull breach, forward hull first level due to enemy boarding craft! Jump in 10 minutes – Secure all Mid and Rear sections!”

As the voice dies away you hear a door open. Ducking into one of the quarters you see Raul and Tia duck into other cabins as well. Leaning out slightly you are able to make out the shadow of a new person entering the enlisted living quarters. Not to many details can be observed from the shadow however he appears to be well-built, wearing some kind of light armor and might have some kind of club or stun stick. As the figure you can start hearing him talk probably into a communications unit.

“… look you tell the ice queen that I will be there soon. I’m doing a quick check of the quarters and then I’ll secure the hatches. Look man, she is a moron, so what if a couple of prisoners woke up. We are almost to Hades and they can provide support once we jump there. Besides does she know what will happen to them? I think not! Got to go, time to see what is happening here.”

Apparently that was the end of his conversation for his hand lowers and he starts humming as he looks around. Muttering to himself you are able to overhear him talking to himself.

“Let’s see where, what can the valiant Mr. Hudson help himself to…what the HELL!?!”

A figure enters your field of view as he walks into the quarters directly opposite of the ones you are hiding. These were the ones that Janks had been raiding in a not-to-subtle fashion. You are able to see that the man is apparently a bodybuilder of some type, maybe genetically enhanced for more developed muscle strength and tone. Wearing riot gear which was good in melee combat yet semi-weak against firearms he pulls out a stun stick from his belt and starts look around angrily.

“HEY *******!!! WHERE ARE MY STOOGIES!!! AND MY BLOODY LIGHTER!!!”

Evidently Janks tooks something of value from Mr. Hudson. Since he is clearly looking carefully being able to sneak by him while in this tiny quarters would be very difficult at best, let alone attacking him. Then again he may not be one of the most observant/intelligent people out there.
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
Vial of Dust – Dust is one of most dangerous yet addicting drugs current on the market. The tagline for it is that it will let you read the minds of others. Of course this is after one hell of a mental roller-coaster ride during which you can’t make sense of anything and when you come out the other side, assuming your sanity remains you have one of the biggest rushes of all time. Of course during the time one is on the drug they don’t remember anything that happens, only vague flashes. Highly addictive and dangerous it catches a good price on the black market.
Combat Knife - A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
2x Soft-Lead Pistol Clips – A clip of soft-lead bullets that can typically be used in most pistols.
NarrationRunning through the small quarters you start looking around for the tiny hidden places where people would hide weapons. Sadly it seems that you are unable to find the fanatic with the posters of naked people with guns (you do find data-chips with porn on them however hidden away) yet your efforts are not for naught. Under one bed you find a combat knife, in another room you find a vial of dust which you pocked and a couple of clips of ammunition for a soft-lead pistol. However the pistol itself is missing. It is almost as if there is a neurotic security officer doing spot checks all over the place.

During the course however your breakfast of champions consisting of ice cold coffee, a couple of half-eaten energy bars and some candies you find in jar energizes you. As wonder starts to kick in about where the crew and guns are you turn once again to the trust wristpad. Most likely the crew were at action stations considering that the ship had been in combat. As for weapons you narrow down the choices and it appears that the location most likely to have them are either the Captains quarters and the security office. The Captain’s quarters are a level above your along with the other officers, however there appear to be ship system stations on that level and thus they would be populated. The security office is about two levels up, and since that is where the medical bay and other establishments are there would most certainly be ship crew there.

Moving beyond that you continue to check the schematics that are available on your DataPad and you find that the ship has a shuttle bay with two dropships. Dropships were short-range craft capable of inter-system flight with atmospheric capabilities. It seems that the Hope Killer uses a drop bay system so the dropships are located on some of the lowest decks in the middle section of the ship, further aft than you currently are.

The command and control center of the ship is located in the middle of the middle section of the ship. However judging by the pathways it would most likely be guarded, though an assault through maintenance tunnels could work unless your companions wanted to try the direct approach. The engineering section of the ship is to the far aft, however except for engineering control and backup damage control most of the pathways back there were simple maintenance corridors, with the rest of the space devoted to the fusion reaction, sublight engines, FTL core and the fuel tanks. Yet you could easily imagine the chaos you could cause if you could get into any one of those maintenance tunnels. However it seems that to get into that network you would have to get further aft of the ship.

Your ruminations are interrupted when there is a shrill alarm from the intercom units mounted on the walls and a man’s voice emerges from them. The shrill alarm is the standard one for a all-hands message to the entire ship.

”All hands – Prepare for emergency jump. Damage Control – Prepare for hull breach, forward hull first level due to enemy boarding craft! Jump in 10 minutes – Secure all Mid and Rear sections!”

As the voice fades away you can hear the telltale sounds of a hatch opening. Ducking into the closest quarters you can see a well-built man stride past, evidently talking into a communications unit, however you are unable to hear what he says. The man himself is clad in what appears to be riot armor with a club-like weapon on his belt. Entering one of the quarters the sudden silence in the chamber is interrupted by his yell.

“HEY *******!!! WHERE ARE MY STOOGIES!!! AND MY BLOODY LIGHTER!!!”

Evidently something of great value was stolen from him. And he was mad.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status:
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
Bag of Loot – A bag containing a wide variety of expensive looking items, including pornography, good cigars, snacks that survive your onslaught, money and a good watch.
NarrationStuffing the bag full of the loot that would net you a tidy profit when you get off this ship it is nearly filled to bursting, but hey you are Janks and if your jumpsuit has held together this long the bag certainly better. As you close up the bag a sudden alarm emerges from the various intercom units on the ship. Hey there make the same noise when your former employee wanted to berate the entire crew from his cabin!

”All hands – Prepare for emergency jump. Damage Control – Prepare for hull breach, forward hull first level due to enemy boarding craft! Jump in 10 minutes – Secure all Mid and Rear sections!”

Barely after the voice fades away there is the telltale sound of a hatch opening. Moving out of the quarter you just cleaned out you duck into the next one down as heavy footsteps (as heavy as your sexy ones) approach and enter the quarters you just vacated.

“HEY *******!!! WHERE ARE MY STOOGIES!!! AND MY BLOODY LIGHTER!!!”

Evidently you just found the owner of the fine cigars. Obviously they must be good ones to elicit that kind of reaction.
Hope Killer - MH - Security Control The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Security Uniform – A lightly padded blue and grey uniform with the brown Redemption Corporation logo on it along with jet black combat boots. Contains a variety of pockets and a belt for your inventory.
Riot Armor – Riot Armor is designed primarily for situations where melee combat is to be expected. Consisting of padded plates around the upper torso, arms and legs it will deflect and dull physical impacts. Against blunt melee weapons it will do the same, though piercing melee weapons it will take damage and be torn. Against projectile and energy weapons it provide limited protection. It includes a helmet with a clear visor with a HUD that can be linked to a Universal DataPad and comes with a built-in communications unit.
3x Tear Gas Grenades – Tear gas grenades which upon activation will emit a gas which causes mucus membranes to become inflamed. This has the effect of making it difficult to breath, induces crying, sneezing and severe coughing. In concentrated doses it can prove fatal.
Dual-Mode LP-RC-034X Pistol – The dual-mode pistol is a relatively new weapon that is starting to see more applications. With the need to prevent hull penetration due to heavy ammunition penetrating the hull many ships started to equip/store only soft lead projectiles. However against heavy and power armor wearing opponents soft lead was next to useless. As such the Redemption Corporation has started the production of a limited number of dual-mode pistols. These pistols are a hybrid of a laser pistol and standard soft-lead projectile pistol. The weapon itself consists of a oversized hand piece where the soft-lead ammunition is stored. The under-barrel contains a targeting laser which with the flick of the thumb switch changes over into a full-powered laser capable of burning through power armor. Reloading is done view the handgrip for the projectile ammunition and the underbarrel of the laser. Due to the recoil in firing the soft-lead projectiles the pistol is designed to use only one mode at a time.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Stun Baton – Resembling a nightstick used by old Earth police this club is energized and upon contact will incapacitate or knock unconscious the target. The two grips are shielded from the charge.
NarrationWith the three of you equipped and armed you take a moment to check your weapon. At the very least the Redemption Corporation provided weapons which attempted to be useful against a wide variety of targets. However on this ship there was no practice range so it has been a few months since you last used the weapon. Yet you did receive high-marks in the training so you were confident that you would be able to use it properly.

Order Warrant Officer Antilles to get in contact with Hudson you see an odd expression cross his face before he turns around and starts talking. After a few seconds he makes an odd laughing sounds and turns back to face you. Before he can reply a shrill alarm emerges from the intercom, the standard alert that there was an all-hands message about to be given and that the crew should pay attention to it.

”All hands – Prepare for emergency jump. Damage Control – Prepare for hull breach, forward hull first level due to enemy boarding craft! Jump in 10 minutes – Secure all Mid and Rear sections!”
After the transmission fades away Warrant Office Antilles turns to look at his, apparently having face muscle contractions before he gets them under control.

“I got in contact with him. He is down in the enlisted quarters getting them secured for the FTL jump. He will not be coming by due to his location.”

With the other two members of your security team most likely getting ready for the damage control actions in the forward hull post-jump you make the decision to head on out. Looking at the monitors one last time you catch the glimpse of a unknown party in what appears to be a class of light power armor walking down a corridor on one of the upper levels of the forward hull. Gesturing to your men the three of you leave the security office, with you taking the time to secure the hatch. One benefit of the long trip with nothing to do was that you modified the original locking mechanism to make it very difficult to break. After all one can never be too careful in today’s world.

Going over the mental schematics of the ship which you had committed to memory you knew that there were three points between the fore and mid hulls which could be used by personal easily and would be the key locations for boarders. Since the forward hull was designed to be replaced on the fly when the ship was original constructed the limited number of access ways made sense, for it would make it easier to secure the rest of the ship for the separation. Based on ship chatter the boarding craft latched onto the upper forward hull.

The forward hull was where the prisoners were stored. There were twelve levels, with the top four being the cyro-stasis chambers on sides of the hull connected by long corridors that spanned the length of the forward hull. In the middle of the forward hull was the water storage and purification bays, and the lower hull was devoted to cargo storage for the long trip. The cargo bays were physical separate from the upper levels of the forward hull so they should be safe and eliminates one potential route. The other two routes converge at a common location near the intersection of the mid and fore hulls.

Leading the team along towards the intersection point the three of you only encounter other crewmembers, many of them running around working damage control and they spare only the briefest of glances. The more forward you go the fewer crewmembers you encounter which is good for the odds of friendly fire decreases. Reaching the intersection you nod to yourself. The three points are all long corridors. Access between the various levels of the forward hull was via stairs and ladders (with the prisoners being loaded via airlocks in the forward hull).

Nodding to your team you open the oversized hatch and step through. Currently on level one of the forward hull you see several large storage boxes lying around. From your inspections these boxes contained spare supplies that there was not enough room in the cargo bay for. Crouching behind one of them you see WO Antilles and Petty Officer Clarke find cover as well. Looking down the corridor you see two of the power-armored troopers. They have opened up one of the cyro-stasis bays and seems to be looking inside. One of them turns and raises his arm. Ducking down the air thunders as a bright red beam flies over where your head used to be.

Antilles crouches around his cover and starts firing the laser attached to his pistol, striking the figure. The red beam scores the armor and sparks flies as it burns into the ceramic and metal compounds near the joint of the left leg of the armor. Clarke also opens fire with his laser, burning the power armor as well as it starts to stagger back, dragging the wounded leg while the other suited intruder opens fire as well. Antilles and Clarke barely get behind cover in time before the blast strikes their box.

Thankfully your weapons were effective against the suits, and judging by their size they are restricted to the primary service corridors. Thus you now could predict their movements if you decided to retreat. Or if you decided to continue fighting you stand a chance as long as your cover holds.

[Pwenet]

Pirate Boarding Shuttle - Attached to Hope Killer Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Utility Bag – A standard bag in which you have a wide variety of first-aid supplies and other items. It rests comfortably on your back.
2x Breaching Charges – These small disc-shaped device unleashed a controlled explosion with the goal being to blast open a door. Best if used on the locking mechanisms, otherwise in the middle of the door works. Of course these are very dangerous on opponents, even those that are armored.
Plasma Cutter – A hand-held device the size of a stun baton this is a cutting tool that can cut through practically anything given enough time. Also effective in melee combat.
Emergency Oxygen Mask – A facemask that seals around a face it provides oxygen for 15-minutes before the default canister requires replacement.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
NarrationLoading up the bag with all the supplies you see fit to carry you noticed that everyone else seems to be done with stripping the shuttle. Considering that there was now a time limit on how long it would exist that made sense. After all if you were a betting man in about 10-minutes this shuttle would be lucky to exist as some free-floating debris. Also it seems that despite the disbelief by some of the parties that you are the original Matthias Conway it seems that they recognize you as the brains of this operation and follow your suggestions. With Mackey and Ada taking the lead you stand next to Ike who has picked up the pilot with Rachel taking up the rear you all leave the shuttle. Pausing for a moment after Rachel leads you go ahead and close the inner airlock doors. After all when the jump occurred that might just be enough to keep any atmosphere from escape. Then again those doors could be destroyed, which is why you wanted to get as far away and into another sealable section as soon as possible.

As the party makes its way further down you try to place yourself within the mind of the designers of this ship. Obviously you were on one of the outer decks in the forward hull, which meant all the really cool sections would be towards the rear. Most likely the quarters, command centers, security and other systems were mid-hull with the rear-hull being for the engines. Considering the subtle vibrations in the deck that you could feel this ship had one powerful FTL core. Of course hopefully they allowed enough time for all the accumulated radiation to vent. Also was the consideration that this jump would infuse more into your tissues, granted not a lot, well within the safe limits for a normal person. Of course normal had nothing to do with you these days. Luckily your recent naps should have bought you a fair amount of extra time and a few jumps.

Your thoughts are derailed when with little encore one of the power-suited troopers emerge from around the corner. From your original era power-armor was in its infancy. Having a power-source small enough to be portable was difficult thus many of the original exo-suits were used in heavy construction, cargo loading and space repair. You had read up on these suits during your periods of wakefulness and knew that modern suits would put the suits from your era to shame.

Looking like it came from a video game the massive form was humanoid in appearance. Tall enough to barely scrape the top of the ceiling the limbs appeared to be the size of small tree trunks with a wide and thick torso and a squat head with dark optic centers. All in all it looked imposing, all it needed was a giant sword and mini-cannon. Instead it looked like it had some sort of energy weapon attached to it’s arms, though additional weaponry could be hidden away.

“Good evening folks.”

Poking a head from around the massive frame of the power-armored soldier is a small man, shorter than even you. Even from a distance you can see that he looks distorted, as if born wrong. He has a wrist-data-pad on one wrist and it seems to be plugged into a port on the side of his head. Smiling he taps the large leg of the power-armored soldier, leaving behind trails of blood. Speaking his voice sounds like someone ran his throat through a cheese grates then replaced a lung with a canister of hydrogen.

“Don’t mind my pet here. Silly soldiers climb into these things and forget silly little things, like changing out the mainframe codes for their motor cortexes. Dear me I LOVE these idiots. He is now a little lost lamb, and his companions are having fun with local security. Great news for all of us here. Of course now I presume being so well armed and equipped you just found this fellows shuttle. I want the pilot, the gear you took, and…. Wait a second.”

Another man emerges from behind the armor and whispers something into the ear of the small figure. The new one is holding a rifle and is clad in a prisoner jumpsuit. Chuckling the short man nods and waves off the figure before continuing.

“Oh yes, I want your ladies. My associates behind me have needs for me, needs which have gone unsated for too long. Even I might enjoy a taste, especially of the freak angel you got cowering in the back. We want the females of your group, all of them. I suggest you obey my suggestion.”

Tapping a control the power-suit moves, raising its arms and hatches open on its shoulder revealing weapon ports. Glancing around you see that one of the nearby hatches that apparently leads deeper into the ship is cracked, as if it was opened but never secured. It would take minimal effort, say your body slamming into it to open and jump through. Best of all that large power-armored slave was too big to fit through.

“Otherwise my pet will get angry, and I LOVE it when he is angry. Don’t worry I’ll whip him later. After all one of his arms is already torn off inside that armor. Maybe I’ll make him do a split? Or snap his own neck. Oh I LOVE doing this!”
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationSmiling back Ada shakes you hand.

“Charmed. I love the décor here, we should get a drink once we upgrade to better accomindations.”

As Ada wanders away to speak with Rachel and Ike you turn to look around the shuttle before leaving. Grabbing one of the vests you strap it on and adjust it to fit your preferences. Grabbing the pilot you start to tug at him however Ike comes over and picks him up. The disadvantages of a low-grav lifestyle was your lack of strength compared to others. Of course Ike, being built like a body builder didn’t hurt in the strength department. Instead you find yourself next to Ada who has acquired one of the rifles and is starting to walk down the hallway.

Looking behind you see that the others are now following you, with Matthias sparing some time to shut the inner airlock door once everyone has left the shuttle. Good thinking, if things worked out right during the jump that might be enough to maintain pressure in this section. Still it would be the best course of action to get out of this section as soon as possible. Plus that would increase the possibility of finding a place or something to further aid escape.

However it seems that fate has a different course of action when one of the power-suited figures appears. The only suits you had any practical experience with were ones used in zero-G construction, and those barely were humanoid. This one, despite it nearly taking up the width of the corridor and scraping agains the ceiling at least shared the basic shape of a human.

“Good evening folks.”

Poking a head from around the massive frame of the power-armored soldier is a small man, shorter than even you. Even from a distance you can see that he looks distorted, as if born wrong. He has a wrist-data-pad on one wrist and it seems to be plugged into a port on the side of his head. Smiling he taps the large leg of the power-armored soldier, leaving behind trails of blood. Speaking his voice sounds like someone ran his throat through a cheese grates then replaced a lung with a canister of hydrogen.

“Don’t mind my pet here. Silly soldiers climb into these things and forget silly little things, like changing out the mainframe codes for their motor cortexes. Dear me I LOVE these idiots. He is now a little lost lamb, and his companions are having fun with local security. Great news for all of us here. Of course now I presume being so well armed and equipped you just found this fellows shuttle. I want the pilot, the gear you took, and…. Wait a second.”

Another man emerges from behind the armor and whispers something into the ear of the small figure. The new one is holding a rifle and is clad in a prisoner jumpsuit. Chuckling the short man nods and waves off the figure before continuing.

“Oh yes, I want your ladies. My associates behind me have needs for me, needs which have gone unsated for too long. Even I might enjoy a taste, especially of the freak angel you got cowering in the back. We want the females of your group, all of them. I suggest you obey my suggestion.”

Tapping a control the power-suit moves, raising its arms and hatches open on its shoulder revealing weapon ports. Yet you notice that they are not powered up, yet.

“Otherwise my pet will get angry, and I LOVE it when he is angry. Don’t worry I’ll whip him later. After all one of his arms is already torn off inside that armor. Maybe I’ll make him do a split? Or snap his own neck. Oh I LOVE doing this!”
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Flak Jacket – Standard issue flak jacket which can deflect minor debris and glancing hits from projectiles.
NarrationLetting Jason put the flak jacket on you struggle a bit with the placement of the wings. Thankfully adjustments of the straps allows Jason to strap the jacket to you, although your wings are pinched and it would be painful to extend them to their full span. Yet having some protection was better than nothing on. As for the pistol that is what you have hands for.

Answering Ada’s questions you see a look of disgust pass across her face. If she had been wearing civilian clothing you would bet you would see a pendent of a DNA helix, the symbol of the League of Genetic Purity who frowned and protested against “unnatural” modifications like what happened to you. Several times you had come across members of that fun organization and everytime they either treated you like a Typhoid Mary or a servant of the Devils, sometimes both. Letting a bit of your predatory nature slip into your expression as you answer Ada shoffs at you and mutters under her breath.

“Freak.”

Standing up she slides up to Ike and accepts one of the rifles and starts checking it over, pointedly ignoring you. As for the others they finish stripping for the shuttle for everything they can find and start to move out. Bringing up the read you focus instead on looking ahead, letting your vision work for you as you stare down the long slightly curving corridor. Thus it is at that moment when a large figure rounds the far corridor.

You had seem power-armor before, yet compared to your short stature they always seemed to tower above you. This is true for this behemoth for its head nearly scrapes against the short ceiling. The wide armored dark-grey torso and thick arms and legs pause and it rests there, watching your small band. One of its arms hangs oddly, and if it had been a person in front of you, you would swear that it was a dislocated and/or broken shoulder.

“Good evening folks.”

Poking a head from around the massive frame of the power-armored soldier is a small man, shorter than even you. Even from a distance you can see that he looks distorted, as if born wrong. He has a wrist-data-pad on one wrist and it seems to be plugged into a port on the side of his head. Smiling he taps the large leg of the soldier, leaving behind trails of blood. Speaking his voice sounds like someone ran his throat through a cheese grates then replaced a lung with a canister of hydrogen.

“Don’t mind my pet here. Silly soldiers climb into these things and forget silly little things, like changing out the mainframe codes for their motor cortexes. Dear me I LOVE these idiots. He is now a little lost lamb, and his companions are having fun with local security. Great news for all of us here. Of course now I presume being so well armed and equipped you just found this fellows shuttle. I want the pilot, the gear you took, and…. Wait a second.”

Another man emerges from behind the armor and whispers something into the ear of the small figure. Chuckling the short man nods and waves off the figure before continuing.

“Oh yes, I want your ladies. My associates behind me have needs for me, needs which have gone unsated for too long. Even I might enjoy a taste, especially of the freak angel you got cowering in the back. We want the females of your group, all of them. I suggest you obey my suggestion.”

Tapping a control the power-suit moves, raising its arms and hatches open on its shoulder revealing weapon ports.

“Otherwise my pet will get angry, and I LOVE it when he is angry. Don’t worry I’ll whip him later. After all one of his arms is already torn off inside that armor. Maybe I’ll make him do a split? Or snap his own neck. Oh I LOVE doing this!”
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
Storage Bag – A storage bag which contains a wide variety of items.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationTossing the items into your bag you quckly seal it up and start making your way down the hallway. Checking each of the cyro-stasis chambers you see that many of the chambers appear to still be functional and their occupants are still in there frozen slumber. A few of the chambers show darkened tubes with bodies feebly twitching in death spasms. This is especially true for a chamber with a open hatch, evidently where Ike found Ada.

Going further down you find several chambers down open hatches. Looking in the hatches you see scenes that vary. In one chamber there is a single open chamber with the rest containing frozen occupants which you do not recognize. IN another there are only trails of blood leaving from the various chambers. It is in the following one that you notice burn marks along the wall which you identify as the aftereffects of a laser beam slicing across it. This is confirmed when looking into the chamber you see a body cut in half, with the edges still smoldering. Inside that chamber are several more bodies with various burn wounds on them, along with the body of a man in a uniform that is standard for ships. Except that the body of the crewmember does not have burn sounds but several cuts, chunks of flesh missing and twisted limbs. One of the bodies has a stun stick clutched in its hand which is severely dented.

Hearing several heavy footsteps you crouch in the chamber of the dead and look through the open hatch. One of the power-suited intruders lumbers past, his walk unusually stiff and awkward. Looking carefully you are able to identify the armor as a light variant powe-suit. Power suits are divided into several categories, basic, light, medium, heavy and mech. Basic power-suits are thin easy-to-wear suits that simply provide excellent protection and enhanced strength. Light power-suits are bulkier, as is the case with this one which stands nearly seven feet tall, the helmet barely passing under the ceiling. The width of the torso and arms takes up most of the corridor, and you see that the human pilot would still be moving his limbs within the limbs of this suit. As it passes you noticed that one of its arms hags limply and appears to be dislocated, which would be very difficult since light power-suits on up come with feedback sensors to prevent damage to the human within, and there is no sign of external damage.

The stranger thing is that right behind it is a tiny man. Featuring a squat body half of his hair is missing. You can see that one of his eyes is cybernetic and he walks with a distinct limp. There are several cranial implants along the side of his head and one of them is connected to a wrist-mounted data-pad which the man is manipulating. Chuckling the small man continues to limp and talks to himself.

“Now who is the big bad soldier? Stop fighting, I was hacking these units when they started making them. That’s what you get for buying refurbished, didn’t anyone tell you to lock down your receives. You and me are going to have so much fun, I have great plans. Now to just get to your shuttle and get the hell off this ship before it jumps.

The two of them pass by your chamber without noticing you, giving you a clear look at their backs. The short man frowns slightly and then types in a command sequence into the wrist-pad. You noticed his fingernails are coated in blood and that the wrist-pad is covered with it as well. Behind him come a trio of prisoners smiling and laughing. Two of them hold rifles that appeared to have been modified for use with power-armor but would still work without said armor (though accuracy would suffer). The final one is playing with a virbo-blade, the distinct humming grates against your nerves. Like the short man the three of them are splattered with blood without obvious signs of it being their own.

As they pass you spy a hatch that apparently leads to the inner parts of the ship. It would be a simple matter to head down there; however that would mean leaving the rest of your companions at the mercy of those that are heading their way. Then again their backs are to you and apparently they have not noticed you yet.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
50 Round P90RSL – A recent remake of the old Earth weapon P90 this version combines the popular features of the weapon. A small profile, easily removable ammunition cartridge and rugged durability the new versions are gaining momentum for ship combat action.
NarrationAfter sorting the weapons and magazines you make sure everyone is armed. Seeing Ada walk away from Rachel you pass over one of the P90’s to Ada she takes it and smiles at you. She then quickly strips out the magazine and starts checking over the rifle before slinging on one of the vests that you set up. She has a disgusted look at her face and spares Rachel an ugly look before turning back to all smiles and happiness for you. As you speak out your suspicions as to what was happening she nods.

“I agree, we don’t know what kind of security they have here, or what the other prisoners are capable of. We should get moving before they return and/or this ship jumps. Any idea where a FTL shuttles are?”

Seeing that everyone else was as ready as possible, including putting on the combat vests you prepared for them you grab the pilot and heft him over your shoulder. With Ada taking the lead followed by Mackey you keep your eyes open. Passing by the chamber where you rescued Ada you see her shiver. Once long ago she confessed she hated being frozen and that she forced herself into those chambers every time she had to travel. You through and pulled away however up ahead there is the sound of approaching heavy footsteps and around the corridor comes a suited figure in power armor.

Looking it over you see that it is a light-variation power-armor. Heavily armored and bulky you know that inside is a man controlling the limbs via his own movement and cybernetic implants. The dark-grey plating is the thickest around the torso with the limbs looking almost like small tree trunks and the helmet a squat thing resting within a collar. However the built in laser cannons in the arms of the suit and lowered and there are no other weapon ports open (you notice that it has automatic projectile cannons retracted on the shoulders). Plus one of its arms looks odd, as if the user had been injured inside the suit. Quickly you realize that the small arms you have would have minimal effectiveness against the armor, too bad that shuttle had no laser rifles.

“Good evening folks.”

Poking a head from around the massive frame of the power-armored soldier is a small man, shorter than even you. Even from a distance you can see that he looks distorted, as if born wrong. He has a wrist-data-pad on one wrist and it seems to be plugged into a port on the side of his head. Smiling he taps the large leg of the power-armored soldier, leaving behind trails of blood. Speaking his voice sounds like someone ran his throat through a cheese grates then replaced a lung with a canister of hydrogen.

“Don’t mind my pet here. Silly soldiers climb into these things and forget silly little things, like changing out the mainframe codes for their motor cortexes. Dear me I LOVE these idiots. He is now a little lost lamb, and his companions are having fun with local security. Great news for all of us here. Of course now I presume being so well armed and equipped you just found this fellows shuttle. I want the pilot, the gear you took, and…. Wait a second.”

Stories flew around the armored forces of enemies hacking into power-armor, turning them against their wearers. There was one incident you recall when a hacker had forced the armor to hyper-accelerate and literally shredded the limbs of the wear. Another had sealed the armor and vented the atmosphere. Still yet another there was one of one having his neck snapped. Of course these were good reasons why you never piloted one and knowing Ada she was probably going over the same horror stories as well.

Another man emerges from behind the armor and whispers something into the ear of the small figure. The new one is holding a rifle and is clad in a prisoner jumpsuit. Chuckling the short man nods and waves off the figure before continuing.

“Oh yes, I want your ladies. My associates behind me have needs for me, needs which have gone unsated for too long. Even I might enjoy a taste, especially of the freak angel you got cowering in the back. We want the females of your group, all of them. I suggest you obey my suggestion.”

Tapping a control the power-suit moves, raising its arms and hatches open on its shoulder revealing weapon ports. Yet you notice that they are not powered up, yet. Plus targeting would probably be an issue since the controlling force of the armor was an outside influence.

“Otherwise my pet will get angry, and I LOVE it when he is angry. Don’t worry I’ll whip him later. After all one of his arms is already torn off inside that armor. Maybe I’ll make him do a split? Or snap his own neck. Oh I LOVE doing this!”

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - The Center of the Storm: The Stasis Chamber

Lydia stares too long at the dead and charred body of Ted which she so effortlessly had destroyed herself. She feels nothing as she looks, not in her mind or her body.

It takes her a moment to even notice that her left hand is sparking, arcs of lightning connecting some of the now slightly visible metal bulbs, some of the charred skin now simply peeling away due to lack of strength. Lydia looks at the arcs with a blank face, and they cease for a moment before starting right back up again. She closes her hand into a fist, ceasing the energy, but when she opens it again sparks continue to go, some forming arcs again for moments at a time. Lydia's reaction of a dull uncaring stare is strange considering her previous reactions to anything, but it is the reality. Strangely, her right hand has not done anything at all, despite being equally burned by lightning.

Looking to her left with an unchanging stare, Lydia walks slowly in that direction, not bothering to control the sparking in her left hand.

[Greystone]

Jenny tosses her head(?) in agony as all of the memories flood into her, suffocating(?) her as she gasps a curse.

"Help me!"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Stasis Chamber

Turning one last time to the Stasis Chamber, making a wave with his hand, he then says his goodbyes to the room. "Well, it was fun knowing you, Stasis Chamber, hopefully I'll find equally as interesting places as you."

He then quickly runs off after Drenmar.

[Inspectre]

Matthias mentally curses as the power armor came into view. Things take an arguable turn for the worse as its "owner" emerges and makes demands. Noticing the nearby half-open door, a plan starts to feverishly emerge in Matthias's mind - but he needs more time.

"Okay! Don't shoot!" Matthias shouts through the suit's intercomm. Holding the pistol he had been cradling above his head, Matthias makes a big show of removing the clip from the gun. Of course, he had been expecting trouble, which means one round was still chambered. As an additional show, Matthias slips the clip of ammo into a pouch of his vest, along with the pistol, holding up his empty hands again to show the clip was stowed away.

That action maybe bought him five seconds. Not enough time to finish the plan before someone else in the group or on their side started shooting. Another forestalling action was needed. It came to him in a flash - namely, a replayed memory of a scene from an old sci-fi TV show.

"Look, we need a minute here! As you can see, the women are armed! Nobody wants a firefight here, so give us a minute to convince them, alright!?"

Matthias was not a professional con-man. For once, he wished he was, as those lines sounded almost as cheesy as those from the TV show where the captain always bargained for time. Time enough to figure out a way to get out of the situation and utterly turn the tables on the villian, like all old cheesy sci-fi shows. At least the quiver in his voice was real, from the equally real possibility of the power armor opening fire and tearing him to shreds.

--Assuming Dr. Robonik agrees--

Turning to the group, Matthias waves everyone in close, so that they would not have to speak very loudly.

"Alright listen, giving up is not an option. They'll just kill us anyway. There's a half-open hatch over there - don't look! I think a good shoulder charge will knock the door open - Big Boy over there shouldn't be able to follow. But if we just make a run for it, they're going to cut us down."

A plan, a crazy desperate plan much like those in those hokey old TV shows, was coming together in his mind.

"Alright. Mackey, Rachel - give your guns over to Ike and put your hands on the back of your head. Ike, pick up the pilot and follow after them, like you're covering them with your rifle. Ada, you're going to get really pissed off, and point your gun at me. I'm going to lunge for the gun, you fire a round into the ceiling. We'll wrestle for control of the gun, and stagger over to the hatch. When we get close, we'll shoulder charge it together. I'll lead you over to the hatch, you just make it look good and try not to kill me. When the hatch is open, the rest of you make a break for it. Ike, as the only one with a gun, you'll provide covering fire - try to hit that little **** in the head or the datapad. And Jason we'll just have to worry about later."

Turning back to the waiting madman with his hand on the power armor trigger, Matthias shouts. "I've explained it to them, but there's still a little dissension! Thirty more seconds, please!"

Matthias turns back to the others.

"If you guys have any better ideas, lay them out quick."

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

Throughout the exchange, Ike keeps his eyes fixed on the power armor and his rifle pointed at its feet - close enough to bring the muzzle up to the man's head in an instant, far enough to keep him from feeling threatened. With the rifle well-supported in his right hand alone, Ike brings up his left to cover his mouth before replying in a low voice. Didn't want to look away from the target, didn't want the target reading his lips.

"Yeah, I got an idea. Next time the midget sticks his head back out, we shoot him. The armor won't go after us, and even if it doesn't turn around to shoot the midget's buddies they'll have to go around it to get at us. I'll put down covering fire to make sure they don't. The rest of you run. Then I'll follow and one of you does overwatch, puts out more cover while I run. And if the midget doesn't just come back out, I bet Rachel could persuade him. Say she wants to look at him before she decides or something. People are stupid around girls they like."

[Inspectre]

Inside the suit's helmet, Matthias's eyes shift towards the big man. He does not turn his head.

"You better make damn sure of that shot if you take it. I only have a pistol - I'll go get the hatch open so we have cover if it's a fight you all want."

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Little more than a shadow, Jason flittered through the darkness in the background, waiting for the others to send him some signal of what they were going to do. He tried to make eye contact with Matthias or Ike for a moment, if he could, telegraphing what he was ready to do if they needed it.

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
Group 3

Darius folds his arms coldly as he surveys the carnage, looking at Lydia with a mixture of heartless pity and annoyance. He quickly searches the twins bodies, and, finding nothing (I assume), he stands and cracks his knuckles, addressing the rest of the group.

"We won't be safe here much longer. We need to get moving. Now, preferably."

[Kalirren]

Time to spice things up, thought Mackey as Matthias was frantically trying to gain time. I'd have shot already. She grabbed the pilot by the arm and burst down into no-man's land with him in tow, making only a few feet before she lost her footing. "Get back," Mackey snarled, holding her pistol in her right hand and pointing it back at the rest of the group. Her grip was noticeably shaky. "I'm taking this ticket off the ship and jumping out of here with these fellows." But something about her facial expression was't quite right...

She started backing towards the hacker with the power armor. "Guys, help me drag the pilot! Before they shoot him and keep us all onboard..."

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel frowned slightly as Matthias laid out his plan. It was a decent idea, but the set up was all wrong - the puppet master would suspect something was up. Then two things happened at once: she caught a glimpse of Jason flitting behind the "enemy" prisoners, and Mackey decided that they couldn't afford to keep huddling together like one big target.

Oh, that's much better, Rachel thought appreciatively. Straightening up, she kept her eyes on Mackey and her expression one of shock. "Jason's behind them," she murmured, lips barely moving. Then she moved foward, and, for the first time since her arrest, stepped into her own element.

"Are you crazy?" she shouted at Mackey, raising her own pistol. Although Rachel's aim was fairly steady, she didn't have to fake her uncertainty as to how exactly the weapon worked, though she was vaguely certian there was some sort of safety which had to be disengaged before she was in danger of actually shooting Mackey. "Did you not hear that guy? They want to rape us, and then most probably discard us! Even if they do take us with them when they leave I doubt we'd be in any fit state to appreciate it! These bastards may not be the nicest of folks," she jerked her head back toward the group behind them, channelling her anger and frustration with Ada's intolerance into the statement, "but at least they haven't tried anything in that department!"

There, that's about all I can do. The puppetmaster will probably still think it's a trap, but this should work slightly better than Matthias' scenario.

[Kalirren]

Excellent, thought Mackey. Ada couldn't step up to the plate, nor would Mackey have known how to handle her, but she already -had- a dynamic with Rachel.

"Are you crazy?"

"We float in space, we send out a distress call, the Killer might pick us up after this relic jumps." Mackey lost her footing, unintentionally this time. Dragging the man, even in artigrav, was difficult for her, she'd tried it only a few minutes before. She had to keep her own profile low just to use her leg muscles - convenient, since it kept the other prisoners under Ike and Ada's cover. "It's a better plan than trying to take over this damned ship against prison security and boarders with power armor..."

"Did you not hear that guy? They want to rape us, and then most probably discard us! Even if they do take us with them when they leave I doubt we'd be in any fit state to appreciate it! These bastards may not be the nicest of folks, but at least they haven't tried anything in that department!"

Mackey made her way in a backwards half-crawl over to the other prisoners' position. "I'll take my chances. You can take yours." A glance backwards to see what openings had made themselves. "Good luck at the bridge, you'll need it," she spat out.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph mentally curses at the newest inconvenience posed by this Mr. Hudson. Straightening out his jumpsuit, he hurries out into the hall.

C'mon Hudson, we gotta get to our stations, Randolph says, keeping his head down and dropping his droll, upper-class accent for a rough, common one. The Cap'n will have your head if he finds out you were here looking for your stogies instead of preparing for jump.

He pushes past the brutish soldier as if he were hurrying off to his damage control station, keeping one hand on the laser drill in case Mr. Hudson decides to get belligerent.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike immediately twitches his gun over to Mackey's face as she yanks the pilot away from him. He sidesteps towards the wall and then advances a few paces after her, moving only when she or Rachel shout so that the argument covers the sound of his plodding footsteps. While Ike's not quite in position to shoot the men behind the armor, the angle's a lot better than before. If the midget comes out again, he'll get a nasty surprise when much more than just his head is exposed to Ike.

Nevertheless, Ike keeps his gun on Mackey. Maybe she'll straighten back out once she sees the man go down, but until then she's the most immediate threat. Adjusting back to hit the little man would take no more than an eighth of a second. And between seeing their leader go down, an attractive woman right in front of them, and Jason shooting them in the back, the man's companions probably wouldn't be able to use that eighth of a second productively anyway.

The possibility that Mackey might be bluffing the attackers doesn't cross Ike's mind for an instant.

[The_Snark]

Andrea Kemplin, Director of Security

The hissing noise the laser made as it burned away bits of the crate rattled Andrea. She found she wasn't holding her gun the right way, and corrected that, trying to think through her accelerated heartbeat. This was... this was all right. Numerical advantage. Cover. Weapons that could harm the enemy. They could do this

As she watched, Clarke leaned out to take a brief potshot. She couldn't see whether he hit anything, but he had to duck back almost immediately; a laser flashed into existence, searing the side of the crate and burning around. She took the opportunity to look out from behind cover while the boarder's weapon was occupied elsewhere, bringing her pistol to bear.

They weren't quite where she remembered them, and it took longer than she wanted to readjust her aim (why were her fingers trembling? That was inefficient and she should stop, but she couldn't). She had only just drawn a bead on the damaged boarder when one of them shifted her attention to her. She ducked back down just in time, and felt the hiss and wash of warm air as a laser flashed over her head for the second time in ten seconds.

This was going to be more difficult than she had thought.

She nodded at Antilles and Clarke, trying to indicate that they should follow her lead and pop out of cover right after she retreated, to take advantage of the distraction. Then she could follow them. In her mind, it worked perfectly; the boarders swung their aim back and forth, unable to hit either one, while they eventually got a good enough idea of the enemy's position that they could burn through the heavy armor with repeated shots.

But she didn't know how to indicate this to her security team. She stared at them intently, willing one to pop up and fire so that they could begin.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior


Mackey made her way in a backwards half-crawl over to the other prisoners' position. "I'll take my chances. You can take yours." A glance backwards to see what openings had made themselves. "Good luck at the bridge, you'll need it," she spat out.

If the circumstances had been less dire, Rachel would have been tempted to break character with a grin - Mackey was playing the part beautifully. She couldn't see Ike clearly enough to tell if his expression would give the game away, but the fact that he had moved while they were shouting was an excellent sign that he was at least trying to play along. Now all that was left was to glare at Mackey, mouth working silently until- there!

Without warning, Rachel launched herself across the hallway at her friend, arms spread, wings tightly pressed to her back. Her powerful leg muscles, strengthed by exactly this type of movement, gave her enough momentum to knock loose Mackey's grip on the unconscious pilot and propel them both against (and through) the half-open door Matthias had pointed out earlier. Leaving the pilot in the middle of no man's land was unfortunate, but at least he was lying flat - less exposed to any stray bullets from either side.

[ubersquid]

Janks - Group One - enlisted living qarters

"I've found them, but where do you keep your pants?" Janks talks to himself as he hears the big guy entering his room. He carefully peeks out of the cabin and notices Randolph walking past, saying strange things to the crewman. He throws him a confused look but then leans against the doorframe, readies his pipe and waits for the soldier to pass and hit him with it.

ooc: sorry, short post, but this week was hell (and still is)

[Pwenet]

Hades - Dis Pater Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Status: Dead – Physical Body Ripped in Half
Inventory
Not having a body prevents one from storing items on their person sadly.
NarrationWE CANNOT – YOU ARE BEING REMADE. WE ARE BUT SHADES OF OUR FORMER SELVES!

The pain continues to grow more and more. You see your brain being sucked out through a tiny-sippy straw that was drilled into your forehead. Claws reach out and rip open your chest, poking around inside your internal organs. Hundreds of tiny teeth-filled mouths appear and swarm into your exposed torso, chewing their way through it.

THIS IS DIS PATER! THIS IS THE ANCIENT NEVER-ENDING DEATH! THIS IS THE CURSE WE INHERITED! THIS IS THE DOOM WE AWOKEN ON HADES!

Another tentacle forms in the void that surrounds you and stabs you in an eye. More screams besides those that come from your throat. Looking over you see a ghostly form of a painfully thin man, scarred and twisted with a hole burnt through his torso. The bone structure of his face resembles that of Ted, the brother of Bill you had died. Parts of his body blow apart before reversing, over and over, explosion, reform, explosion, reform, each time his body becomes more and more twisted.

SOON! YOU WILL AWAKEN! REMEMBER TO KILL THE ANCIENT HORROR!

There a sudden crackle of static and silence. You find yourself standing on a planet. Below you is a deep chasm. Looking down it seems to go on for miles. All around you there are people of all sizes, shapes and races. One by one they walk towards the chasm, led by a thin cord around their necks. There is a similar cord of a silvery material around yours that leads into the chasm. Ahead of you the others are pulling willingly into the chasm. Then there is a sudden tugging on the cord and you find yourself walking towards the chasm.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Aft End The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Security Uniform – A lightly padded blue and grey uniform with the brown Redemption Corporation logo on it along with jet black combat boots. Contains a variety of pockets and a belt for your inventory.
Riot Armor – Riot Armor is designed primarily for situations where melee combat is to be expected. Consisting of padded plates around the upper torso, arms and legs it will deflect and dull physical impacts. Against blunt melee weapons it will do the same, though piercing melee weapons it will take damage and be torn. Against projectile and energy weapons it provides limited protection. It includes a helmet with a clear visor with a HUD that can be linked to a Universal DataPad and comes with a built-in communications unit.
3x Tear Gas Grenades – Tear gas grenades which upon activation will emit a gas which causes mucus membranes to become inflamed. This has the effect of making it difficult to breath, induces crying, sneezing and severe coughing. In concentrated doses it can prove fatal.
Dual-Mode LP-RC-034X Pistol – The dual-mode pistol is a relatively new weapon that is starting to see more applications. With the need to prevent hull penetration due to heavy ammunition penetrating the hull many ships started to equip/store only soft lead projectiles. However against heavy and power armor wearing opponents soft lead was next to useless. As such the Redemption Corporation has started the production of a limited number of dual-mode pistols. These pistols are a hybrid of a laser pistol and standard soft-lead projectile pistol. The weapon itself consists of a oversized hand piece where the soft-lead ammunition is stored. The under-barrel contains a targeting laser which with the flick of the thumb switch changes over into a full-powered laser capable of burning through power armor. Reloading is done view the handgrip for the projectile ammunition and the underbarrel of the laser. Due to the recoil in firing the soft-lead projectiles the pistol is designed to use only one mode at a time.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Stun Baton – Resembling a nightstick used by old Earth police this club is energized and upon contact will incapacitate or knock unconscious the target. The two grips are shielded from the charge.
NarrationDucking under the blast the warmth you feel through the helmet of the riot armor is a dangerous sign. The communications readouts that had been monitoring communications chatter on the ship flared and static hisses in yours heads, evidently damaged by the near miss.

Staring at your team they seem more focused on survival and are not looking your way. Clarke continues to blast out shots widely without looking from his cover, wasting ammunition from the looks of it while Wedge seems to be waiting for his moment. However neither of them seems to be willing to move yet. Your shaking hands compounded the problem for they refused to listen to you, instead shaking violently.

Clarke then looks over and sees you behind the cover. His eyes glance over your hands and his mouth twitches into something that resembles a smirk. Nudging Wedge he mouths something that is lost as a laser beam burns through the air. He then leaps up, firing away and retreating. Not your original plan of course but a modification. A simple adjustment of the order and you two leap up as the enemy fire tracks Clarke.

Of course it only tracks Clarke for a few seconds until a blast catches him square in the chest. Flying backwards with his chest on fire his body skids along the deck. This seems to distract the armored soldiers for Wedge pops out of cover and fires. One of his blasts, either through aim or luck strikes one of the enemy soldiers in the face. The armor twitches and seizes before collapsing to the ground. This was helpful for so far this exchange has resulted in a one-to-one kill ratio.

The remaining power-armored trooper steps fully out into the corridor. The laser cannon on his arm is glowing from the repeated shots, possibly close to overload. Yet he seems not to care as he opens fire, tearing through the cover that you recently abandoned, the blasts tearing right through it.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Fore End Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Utility Bag – A standard bag in which you have a wide variety of first-aid supplies and other items. It rests comfortably on your back.
2x Breaching Charges – These small disc-shaped device unleashed a controlled explosion with the goal being to blast open a door. Best if used on the locking mechanisms, otherwise in the middle of the door works. Of course these are very dangerous on opponents, even those that are armored.
Plasma Cutter – A hand-held device the size of a stun baton this is a cutting tool that can cut through practically anything given enough time. Also effective in melee combat.
Emergency Oxygen Mask – A facemask that seals around a face it provides oxygen for 15-minutes before the default canister requires replacement.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Narration’No battle plan survives contact with the enemy’

An ancient quote that you recall seems fitting this time around as things devolve into chaos. Mackey taking the pilot hostage and wanting to go with the rapists and killers. Yet unlike Ike, judging by his expression, you would place even money that she is scamming the scum, trying to create and opening. Similar to your plan yet something would need to change to create an opportunity to take them out.

Then it arrives in the form of Rachel. Leaping impossibly through the air she slams into Mackey, wrapping her in a bear hug and slams into the hatch you pointed out. The hatch itself opens upon their impact and they tumble into the next section while the pilot falls to the ground.

Then Ike shoots the little midget. Seeing his head explode makes you think about an ancient game you once played where a headshot on a enemy would have an unseen announcer scream out “HEADSHOT”.

Of course his companions don’t take kindly to that as they fire back. Both Ike and Ada provide covering fire while the scum hide behind the armor. The armor itself appears to be joining the pilot in napping the action away, which considering the worst-case alternative was a very good thing.

Finally there were still three dangerous prisoners ready to kill you all.
Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationThe act you were giving the scum was working! The short little man controlling the power armor had a large grin on his face while the other men were openly laughing. Some of them were calling for a catfight and one was telling you to take off your top. Typical men.

Of course they were not expecting Lonna to leap at you. Dropping the pilot at the last moment the two of you slam into the partially opened hatch, throwing it wide open.

Your mother told you once to look before you leap. In this case you should have listened to her.

Emerging into a large cavernous chamber you catch the glimpse of the large storage tanks, the pipes and conduits and realize you must be in the water reclaimation system. After all water was key to life and any ship needed to save all that it could. On some ships the system was tiny, but on a ship like this it seems to take up a good portion of the forward hull.

Of course being in such a large chamber meant there were catwalks and guardrails.

Except that the guardrail the two of you slammed into decided to break under the force and the two of you flew off into oblivion.

Falling through the air you see feathers beating in the air. Slowly the out-of-control freefall decreases in speed even though the lowest deck was fast approaching. Clinging tightly to Rachel you brace yourself.

Far too quickly the two of you slam into the deck, rolling around. Luckily you don’t hear, or more importantly feel anything break as you two roll around. Coming to a stop you realize that the next morning you will be feeling the aftereffects of the sudden freefall and crash landing.

Looking around you see that you are next to one of the large storage tanks. Looking around you don’t see any quick nor easy way back to where you fell from, which appears to be the very top of the chamber. Yet there were hatches for the lower decks, and you see a ladder leading even further down into the next section.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Flak Jacket – Standard issue flak jacket which can deflect minor debris and glancing hits from projectiles.
NarrationLeaping over your overdeveloped leg muscles do their job well. Wings flushed with your back you slam against Mackey she drops the pilot at you wrap her in a bear-hug and slam painfully against the hatch. Your body protests against the sudden impact but the hatch smoothly opens and you and Mackey fly into the next chamber.

Or rather into a short catwalk with only a single metal handrail stop sudden falls down several decks. And said guardrail appeared not to have been designed for two women to slam into it at speed for with a screech it rips apart throwing both of you out into oblivion.

Falling through the air you instinctively react. Wings spread wide open the sudden pressure on them as they are struck by the air hurts, especially when you start beating them, trying to slow down your fall. Yet this was normal gravity and you were clinging to Mackey who was also clinging to you for dear life.

Seeing the ground rushing up you heave with a mighty beat of the wings and slam into the ground. Rolling on the ground your wings bend painfully however there are no sounds of breaking bones yet there will be several nice bruises in the next few days. Looking up you see the broken guardrail easily several decks up, part of if partially connected to the rest of the assembly swinging slightly. There are also flashes of light from above and the distant echoes of gunfire.

Looking around you see that you are now in a large chamber, easily several decks large. There are massive storage tanks and a maze of pipes and conduits flowing through it. Some of them are transparent and you can see something that seems to be water flowing through them. Yet there is no obvious way of heading back up all those decks towards where the rest of your companions are.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
Storage Bag – A storage bag which contains a wide variety of items.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationUnsure if the others received the message that you were ready to act you watch, ready and waiting. Unable to see everything that is going on it is almost a surprise when there is the sound of something fleshy striking metal, followed by a gunshot. The back of the head of the midget explodes in grey matter and bone as the other three prisoners dive for cover. More gunshots are heard as apparently your companions cover the areas exposed by the power armor. Needless to say the three other prisoners, while they have temporary cover behind the power armor and another hatch they managed to open have not noticed you yet. Nor does the power armor seem inclined to join the fight. In fact from your vantage point you can see an opened panel on the power armor.


Power Armor – HK-24F Series – Primarily ground-based armor for advanced infantry. Obsolete due to motor controls which were identified as being vulnerable to external hack attempts. Hacking typically renders user control of armor invalid until repairs are completed.

The schematics provided to you reveal that the panel controls the motor functions of the armor. Somehow they were opened and hacked by the midget. As such the pilot might very well still be alive but unable to act.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
50 Round P90RSL – A recent remake of the old Earth weapon P90 this version combines the popular features of the weapon. A small profile, easily removable ammunition cartridge and rugged durability the new versions are gaining momentum for ship combat action.
NarrationAiming at Mackey your trigger finger rests easy on the trigger, your breathing slow and steady. Next to you Ada is also covering Mackey now that she has taken the pilot. From behind the power armor you can hear the prisoners laughing at what is going on.

The Rachel leaps through the air inhumanily and slams into the hatch that Matthias indicated earlier. The hatch opens and they fall into it. Yet this was seen out of the corner of the eye as the midget exposes himself to view what just happened.

“WHAT?!? Kill them!”

The sound of a single gunshot is almost surreal as you squeeze the trigger. The bullet strikes true and the back of the midget’s head explodes as bone and grey matter fly out. Ada responds as well and opens fire in the areas left exposed around the massive power armor. The power armor itself does not move, either the pilot staying out of it, dead or unable to move his suit.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L3 Corridor Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationChecking the bodies you find sadly nothing on them of use. Granted they are wearing the same style jumpsuit you are but besides their genetic modifications there does not seem to be anything else unusual on them. After checking them you stand up but find that the other two prisoners still alive in this chamber have left. The could be considered odd for the girl looked like she needed a slap in the face and a good psychotherapist after everything had happened in here.

Yet it seems that your beneficial time to be alone is not to last for long for several figures pass by the hatch. There appears to be five of them, all of them wield various makeshift weapons One of them sticks his head in and you see that he is a handsome man with average features. Looking at the carnage he whistles and turns to look at you.

“Hey man, we are getting organized. We are not going back to sleep nor are we letting the crazies run amok raping and killing us. You want to come with us?”
Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive and Semi-Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationRunning out of the cyro-stasis chamber you see Drenmar jumping through a hatch. Following him you enter a smaller set of corridors that look which have various exposed conduits and controls, evidently access to ship systems for maintenance and repair.

However you lose track of Drenmar for he had too much of a lead on you. Still that is alright for you see a trail of blood on the ground. Following and skipping along the path you come across a man wearing a cyro-stasis prisoner jumpsuit. He is lying against the wall weeping blood for his eyes are gone, replaced with two gaping holes that are still bleeding. In his hands are his eyes, staring out at you with the fingers holding them coated with blood as if he tore his own eyes out.

Turning his head towards you he smiles weakly.

“Can you see them? I still do! They are welcoming us. The nameless one is here to save us! You will die by his hand.”

The man starts to laugh, the laughter turning more and more manical. Crying blood all the more he sticks one of his fingers into his mouth and bites down without hesitation, HARD. Breaking bone echoes through the small chamber as he chews through the flesh, muscle and bone. Swallowing his fingertip he raises it up and starts sketching in blood strange symbols on the wall next to him. As he sketches he starts humming nursery rhyme under his breath, but twisting the words.

“The third eye is opened, Dis Pater is awakening, ancient doom approaches, we will die and live, die and live, till the end of all.”
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; Mental Shock
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationWalking towards the left with your sparking hand begging for the release of the energies your mind recoils from the horrors already inflicted upon it. The human mind can only take so much before it crashes like one of those ancient computers. In your numbed state you see something that strikes you as odd.

On the deck in front of you is a little girl. Wearing a pretty sundress with too-pale skin her pigtails nearly fall to her waist. Her head resting on her knees she is weeping loudly. Hearing you approach she sniffles and looks up at you with wide-opened terrified eyes.

“Hel.Hello. Are you a nice lady? I lost my family. Can you help me find them?”

Sniffling she wipes her nose and looks at you with those wide-open begging eyes.
Hope Killer – MH - Enlisted Living Quarters Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece. Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
Bits of string
Container of space Vaseline,
Egg of silly putty (now even stickier)
Combat knife – A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
Small laser drill – The laser drill is a common enough tool. The laser beam rapidly diffuses when activated, making it practically harmless over distances greater than a meter. Yet when used in close it can burn through weak metals and other objects. The laser can also be adjusted to weld items and clear off debris of items.
NarrationPassing by the soldier you can feel his gaze upon you. Most likely his mind was racing about trying to figure out if he knew you and from where. Yet on a small ship with all the different shifts it was a chance he would just shrug you off and leave it would work.

“Hold up!”

The sound of the soldier echoes towards you. Turning slightly you see him following as he raises his hand to the communicator.

“Wedge. I think the intruders made it into enlisted quarters, they are a wreck. What’s that? I can’t hear you? Damn!”

Throwing his hand down in frustration he looks at you and sighs. Seeing that you are clad in a technicians jumpsuit however his expression brightens.

“There is a firefight with the intruders. Come with me, I need your help breaking into security central to get some good weapons to fight them off. You know the chief, she is a headcase.”

Before you can react he opens up one of the external hatches to the main corridors and steps out, gesturing to you to follow him. At this point of the con it would be foolish to break it, especially since he now had broken out into the open. Not to mention there were other crewmembers jogging by so it would be difficult to “take care” of him with so many hostile witnesses. As such you follow him as he jogs through the corridors. Climbing up a connecting ladder it seems that you are heading closer into the middle of the ship. Those crewmembers that you pass seem too focused on their duties and only spare you courtesy glances, especially when they see you are following Mr. Hudson.

Soon enough he arrives at a secured hatch with an electronic lock with a door label with “Security Control” written on it. Checking the lock Hudson sighs and punches it when he sees that the red “secured” light is on.

“Damn chief. She is so bloody paranoid and rules orientated that she secured this thing. Look, break this open and get me in there. We got to take care of these intruders as soon as possible!”

For the time being there is no one in this section of the ship, however you did noticed that you are close to several main areas thus traffic would be unpredictable. Yet what goodies would be inside that room?
RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
Vial of Dust – Dust is one of most dangerous yet addicting drugs current on the market. The tagline for it is that it will let you read the minds of others. Of course this is after one hell of a mental roller-coaster ride during which you can’t make sense of anything and when you come out the other side, assuming your sanity remains you have one of the biggest rushes of all time. Of course during the time one is on the drug they don’t remember anything that happens, only vague flashes. Highly addictive and dangerous it catches a good price on the black market.
Combat Knife - A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
2x Soft-Lead Pistol Clips – A clip of soft-lead bullets that can typically be used in most pistols.
NarrationBecause you can come up with a course of action to take with the latest event it seems that Randolph beats you to the punch. You are unable to make out everything that is said however the gist you are able to catch indicates that he managed to convince Mr. Hudson that he is a member of the ship crew. Since he stole the jumpsuit of the dead technician it seems that is helping with the illusion. However this means that you are still here with Janks. Luckily it seems that no one else is coming for the time being.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status:
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
Bag of Loot – A bag containing a wide variety of expensive looking items, including pornography, good cigars, snacks that survive your onslaught, money and a good watch.
NarrationClearly Randolph is a slick operator. Not only from the bits you are able to overhear convince the guard he is a member of the crew, he got the guard to leave and let you keep the stoogies. Relaxing from your position near the doorframe you check the quarters that the guard had entered and see a drawer you missed. Inside are pants fit for your beautiful frame! Even shirts even though they are an optional accessory for you.

Clearly you are awesome!

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius isn't sure how he allowed the others to get away from him, but no matter. They seemed pretty useless, regardless of the occasional bolt of lightning. He appraises the gang silently, before deciding that there could be safety in numbers.

"Yes. Lead the way."

He'll go with the group, but avoids getting to close to the others, or surrounded by them.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Discussing life with a fellow madman

Looking at the madman with no pity in his eyes, he merely shrugs at his words.

"And how is that any different from usual? We live, we die, and the process repeats itself endlessly. It's called Life, or so I understand. Well, it was nice meeting you, but I have a... friend, that I need to catch up with. Did you see where he went?"

Not staying to listen to the obviously blind man, Ouranos follows the blood trail after his "friend".

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

The plan went perfectly... until the women flew through the door and found a catwalk waiting for them instead of another cyro-chamber. Finding herself in freefall, Rachel automatically spread her wings to slow down, forgetting that she had never used the manuever in earth normal gravity, much less while supporting another person. Looking up at the distance they had fallen, Rachel thanked her lucky stars that they had landed as softly as they did. She helped Mackey to her feet, glad to see that she appeared to be more or less unharmed.

"Sorry about the landing. I don't usually do passengers," she joked. More seriously she added, "Do you see a way up? From the looks of it the excitement has started up there, but there's no way of knowing who's winning. You were excellent, by the way - that was exactly the kind of diversion we needed to make Matthias' idea work. At least, I hope it worked."

[Greystone]

"this is confusing as hell" she mutters, smirking at her little irony, tugging back against the line pulling her away. She tries to walk away from the chasm, to get as far away as possible.

"I will live!"

[SurlySeraph]

Rapid entry, overwhelming force against primary threats.

Ike doesn't pause to rejoice in victory as the little roboticist dies. Nor does he put down covering fire like his plan suggested; the training to drive, go forward, attack is too strong. Lunging forward towards the armor, Ike calls "Hold!" to Ada to indicate that she should stop firing for a moment. Barely is the word out of his mouth before he reaches the powered armor and shoves his body through the space between it and the wall, his rifle already chattering as he points it at the first convict he sees.

[Kalirren]

"Thanks, Rachel," holding her side in pain. She figured there would be a big bruise there if she ever got around to looking at it. "Are you all right? That was marvelous." They'd totally managed to pull it off. What they -did- with the initiative they'd bought was suspect, as it hadn't been part of the plan to end up -here-, but she let the pain cover her doubts for her. At least they were alive and out of the way, and she couldn't complain about that.

"I don't hear the power armor moving, and its rifle wasn't powered up," she said, cocking her head sideways to listen, "so I'd say things are probably going pretty well up there." She wagered that the hacker was dead, leaving three on three plus Jason, and Jason's undoubtedly timely entry would decide things for the better. "I hope the four of them can manage. If they manage to free the guy in the power armor, they'll have a chance at fending off security for at least a little while. Damnit."

Mackey's face turned sour. She hated the thought that they'd just been split up, not the least because she'd just gotten a handle on their group's dynamic. Of course, the fragmentation of their group was probably the worse problem for the two of them than it was for the four up there. She wanted to be up there with them, not down here...

"We don't have any way of contacting them, do we?" She looked up and around. "Or any way of climbing this mass of pipes..." Damned UTF, running ships on full gravity. Worst way of doing things in space, ever...Focus, lady, chided her subconscious. You're in a hostile ship separated from your group, without means of communication. In an open space. "...come on, let's find a place to hide here," she decided, "wait till the firefight blows over, see who wins and if they look for us. I remember Jason packing away some climbing cables, so we're not lost here." She started looking around for a place where the two of them would be well hidden from anyone who wandered in on this level.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - Walking on Sunshine, L3 Corridor of the Hope Killer

Staring oddly at the little girl, a thought crosses Lydia's mind in a voice completely unfamiliar. Not to be trusted. Kill. You can now. You have the power. Do it. DO IT! Though her mind is not in a right way, Lydia is still mostly sane, and succeeds in ignoring that odd voice. She clenches her left fist and squelches the electricity as she slowly approaches the little girl, as if to subdue the urging that the voice forced out, that odd voice that was not her own.

Lydia's blank eyes stare intently at the girl for a moment, then suddenly their glaze disintegrates and Lydia's face seems to almost revert, as though she had just come out of the cryo-tube in the same cheery manner as before. "Hello, little girl. You said you were looking for your family? Why don't we find them?" Lydia does not do anything beyond look at the girl and smile, standing a good three feet away from her position.

Despite her clenching, a spark or two still flies from her left hand.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

As soon as the sounds of commotion begin up front, Jason sprung forward in Attack. Almost simultaneously with the first gunshots, Jason dropped in noiselessly behind Vibroblade, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. To keep him steady. For the double-tap that exploded into his skull from Jason's appropriated pistol.

Before the doomed man fell to the ground, Jason dove to one side and behind cover, expecting the Rifles to react to his sneak attack. About that time, Ike was bursting in from the other side...

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Ike fires a short burst into the stomach of the first rifleman. The man keeps raising his gun as the bullets rip into him, as if completely oblivious to the pain. Still charging forward, Ike follows with a burst to the head at point-blank range and crashes into him, slamming the dying convict's body against the corridor wall with all his weight before it has time to fall. Braced against his muscular shoulder, Ike's assault rifle barely jumps with recoil even as he fires a long stream of bullets into the second convict. When the man drops, Ike moves off the wall. The first convict's body slides to the ground behind him as he delivers a stomp to the second man's face.

Ike's eyes twitch around for another target, but he finds only Jason watching from behind an open hatch and the ruined corpse of the vibroblade-wielder. After verifying that his targets are dead with a few kicks, Ike turns to the powered armor and levels his weapon at its open back panel. "We're all clear, but stay where you are. We want to ask you a couple things before you head out. You have to wait for your pilot to wake up, anyway."
Ike breathes heavily as he speaks. A few beads of sweat drip down his face as the exertion catches up to him.

[Inspectre]

As everything starts to go to "Hell", Matthias freezes, watching the confrontation between Rachel & Mackey play out. Fortunately, they had followed Matthias's plan (sort of). Hopefully the two of them were alright - Matthias had been wanting to breach the door with Ada due to their increased weight over the two girls, and the fact that Matthias had a suit on. Of course, Mackey also had such a suit on, so hopefully it had padded the impact for her a bit.

Meanwhile, Matthias was suddenly in the middle of a fire fight as Ike cuts Dr. Robotnik down, then charges the power armor like a lunatic. Since he only had a single round loaded in his pistol, Matthias didn't bother with joining in the carnage, trusting Ike and Ada to handle the clean-up. Instead, he headed for cover, running towards the hatch bent double.

Reaching the hatch, he skids to a halt just inside - the catwalk didn't have a railing anymore, and it was a long way down.

"RACHEL! MACKEY!"

He shouts down into the darkness, hoping they had somehow survived the fall. Maybe Rachel's wings . . . maybe, helped slow the fall to a survivable level.

"TRY TO GET BEHIND AN AIRLOCK!!!" Matthias shouts down, before turning back to his own immediate problem: the others.

"We need to get out of here and behind an airlock, right now." He says to his remainning companions. Moving up to the (hopefully still frozen) power armor, Matthias scans the hallway beyond for a door that they could seal behind them against the oncoming jump.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III
[i]Secret agent man...[/b]

Randolph sighs and looks cautiously about the corridor.

Alright, but we get busted you're takin' the heat.

He fires up the laser drill, burning away the security locks. After a few minutes, the locks are nothing but slag and Randolph smiles at a job well done.

After you, he says to the soldier, wiping the sweat from his brow. He keeps the laser drill in hand as he follows Mr. Hudson into the Security Room...

[The_Snark]

Andrea Kemplin, Director of Security

Combat was far more confusing than Andrea had assumed it would be. Petty Officer Clarke's attempted retreat (why had he done that, anyway?) gave her the opportunity she had been waiting for, and she took it... but instead of firing as she had planned, she found herself turning her head to watch as the beams of bright red light followed and overtook him.

His death shook her out of it, and she looked back to find that Antilles had performed as he should, removing one of the intruders with a well-placed laser shot. Good. She would have to commend him (although there would unfortunately be no promotion, as he was already second-in-command and Clarke's death had not freed up a higher-paying spot). It was also comforting to know that her plan would have worked, if only she had been paying attention properly.

These were the thoughts that ran uselessly through her head as the armored intruder stepped fully out into the corridor. It resumed fire with the now-familiar hiss, which blended with the louder hiss the metal crate gave as its contents finally went up in flames. She had no idea why the intruder had shot at the crate when she was clearly standing out in the open, but she had no time to think about it. This time, her instincts helped her; she fired reflexively at the source of the red beam, adding her little pistol's heat to the laser cannon's already-hot casing.

[ubersquid]

Janks - enlisted living quarters

How could he have missed that drawer... After another quick peek outside he shuts the door and begins to rip off the jumpsuit. He wasn't exactly afraid of more crewmen coming in, but Tia was still around somewhere. And while getting naked never really was a problem for him, the effects of the freeze still hadn't worn off completely and everyone knows what cold does to certain parts of the body. Janks slips into a comfortable pair of pants with a dark camo pattern and a white undershirt. While finally finding a place for the lighter in one of the pants' pockets, he notices something shiny under the bed. He bends down and smiles as he pulls them out: A nice pair of heavy, finely polished military boots.

Back out in the corridor, Janks goes looking for Tia.

"Alright luv, are we done here? I know these bunks are far better than what we had in prison but we should really get going, and I'd hate to go without you, because... well because you're the one with the plan, 'aight? Blackwell went off with the grunt. I think he's getting us guns, but maybe he's just about to commit another first degree murder, so I wouldn't count on him."

[Pwenet]

Hades - Dis Pater Greystone - Jennifer Mayers
Status: Dead – Physical Body Ripped in Half
Inventory
Not having a body prevents one from storing items on their person sadly.
NarrationThere is no response to your statements that you will live. No cunning retort, no insult, no laugher.

Just a sudden yank of the cable and your head goes flying from your body.

Watching idly you see your ethereal body dissolving away. Dimly you realize it is you from a era long ago, another life before you decent into darkness. As it dissolves away your scalp is pulled off by tentacles which then burrow into your brain.

All too quickly your very essence is dissolved, becoming a tiny part of Dis Pater.

Status – Mental Aspect absorbed into Dis Pater – Dead and gone forever
RIP Jennifer Mayers
Hope Killer - FH - L4 - Water Storage and Purification Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationAs you recover from the impact you start looking around you see that you are in the bowels of the ships water storage and reclamation systems. Tied directly into various systems such as life support, reactor and waste reclamation to name a few there were plenty of hiding spaces among the maze of conduits, pipes and tanks. However the layout of everything prevented simply climbing on up for wherever one may get a few feet up there would be a blockage. Typical over-designed and complicated UTF design.

Yet there is the sound of increased activity. Your ears can hear a building up of energies and the deck vibrates all the more. Realizing that the jump is about to occur there is little that you can do before everything dissolves in a flash of light.

Blinking your eyes clear of the haze there is another oddity. Before there were dim lights, enough to illuminate the area however now there was nothing, just total and complete darkness. Hands deftly move towards one of your shoulders and actives the built in light, casting dim illumination around the chamber.

The next thing you notice is the silence. Granted there is some noise from the ship, creaks and groans on its spaceframe however there is no longer the rush of flowing liquids, the spins of turbines and the hum of power. It is as if the entire section of the ship cut power to these areas.

Yet there is something that you can hear through the suit. The scratching of something crawling. And it’s getting close.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Medical Kit – A standard medical kit with the following items within:
4x - Full doses mild sedative
6x - Full doses painkillers (2 varieties, 3 doses each)
1x - Tube burn salve
1x - Tube cleansing ointment (to clean and disinfect wounds)
3x - Full doses jump-sickness medicine
2x - Universal blood equivalent Unit (essentially artificial O negative blood)
3x - Doses general-spectrum antibiotics
2x - Rolls self-adhesive bandages (6 meters per roll, sticks to itself, nothing else)
1x - Multipurpose laser tool (functions include forceps, scalpel, suture)
1x – Automatic Defibrillator
1x – Emergency Oxygen Canister
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Flak Jacket – Standard issue flak jacket which can deflect minor debris and glancing hits from projectiles.
NarrationRecovering slowly you look around. Sadly your experiences did not give you any information on where you were nor what the functions of everything you see. Nor was there any easy path back up, even if the gravity was low enough for you to fly for the path you took on down was a straight drop down. Nor was there any easy way back up due to the layout of the pipes and conduits.

With a twisting sensation in your stomach everything seems to shift. Like the previous time when you were on the frigate you recognize the feeling of a jump. Thankfully the unnatural feelings pass quickly even though you are unable to see anything.

Looking around instead of the dim illumination there is simply no lighting anymore. There is also an odd silence, as if systems that had been on since your awakening have turned off. The eerie silence is punctuated by the sound of a closing hatch far above you. Following is a scratching sound in the darkness, as if something is approaching.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Aft End The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Security Uniform – A lightly padded blue and grey uniform with the brown Redemption Corporation logo on it along with jet black combat boots. Contains a variety of pockets and a belt for your inventory.
Riot Armor – Riot Armor is designed primarily for situations where melee combat is to be expected. Consisting of padded plates around the upper torso, arms and legs it will deflect and dull physical impacts. Against blunt melee weapons it will do the same, though piercing melee weapons it will take damage and be torn. Against projectile and energy weapons it provides limited protection. It includes a helmet with a clear visor with a HUD that can be linked to a Universal DataPad and comes with a built-in communications unit.
3x Tear Gas Grenades – Tear gas grenades which upon activation will emit a gas which causes mucus membranes to become inflamed. This has the effect of making it difficult to breath, induces crying, sneezing and severe coughing. In concentrated doses it can prove fatal.
Dual-Mode LP-RC-034X Pistol – The dual-mode pistol is a relatively new weapon that is starting to see more applications. With the need to prevent hull penetration due to heavy ammunition penetrating the hull many ships started to equip/store only soft lead projectiles. However against heavy and power armor wearing opponents soft lead was next to useless. As such the Redemption Corporation has started the production of a limited number of dual-mode pistols. These pistols are a hybrid of a laser pistol and standard soft-lead projectile pistol. The weapon itself consists of a oversized hand piece where the soft-lead ammunition is stored. The under-barrel contains a targeting laser which with the flick of the thumb switch changes over into a full-powered laser capable of burning through power armor. Reloading is done view the handgrip for the projectile ammunition and the underbarrel of the laser. Due to the recoil in firing the soft-lead projectiles the pistol is designed to use only one mode at a time.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
Stun Baton – Resembling a nightstick used by old Earth police this club is energized and upon contact will incapacitate or knock unconscious the target. The two grips are shielded from the charge.
NarrationFiring your weapon at the source of the incoming fire the laser beam scorches along the built-in laser cannon that your opponent was using. Sparking the cannon ceases its fire and the suit of power armor takes a hesitant step backwards. You can barely make out the sound of a growing ominous hum before the laser cannon explodes. Thankfully you and Antilles are far enough away to not be injured, but the same could not be said for the occupant. As your vision clears you can see that the suit of power armor is now on its, one arm blown completely off with dangling bits of metal, wires, bone and flesh with blood dripping onto the ground. The rest of the suit appears to be damaged, the outer armor cracked and sparking with several whines as various micro-motors attempt to operate under the damaged conditions.

Then it happens. Starting off as a twisting in your stomach, reality seems to bend inside-out as your internal organs try to take on new homes outside of your body and your skin replaces your brain. A momentary flash of light and the sensation of moving unnaturally fast everything returns to normal. Yet another jump completed, the final one. With the recent attack and boarding it seems that the Captain decided to accelerate the timing of the jump.

“You BASTARD!”

Screaming at the fallen foe Antilles rises from where he was apparently checking on the fallen Clarke before the jump took place. Walking steadily towards the fallen foe he fires again, burning away the weakened and exposed armor on the other arm, and far too quickly it falls off with a shower of bloody sparks. This time over the speakers of the armor there is a scream of terror and pain.

“Stop…. Please stop…… for gods sake I surrender!!!”

“I’m going to take you apart!”

Evidently is seems that Antilles does not want to take prisoners. Considering he was a retired soldier [training in orbital drops and insertion techniques – retired due to behavior issues – recruited by Redemption Corporation] some of this behavior matches psychological profiles though the sudden changes is unexpected. However his hands are steady and they are aimed at the armored head of the intruder.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Fore End Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
Utility Bag – A standard bag in which you have a wide variety of first-aid supplies and other items. It rests comfortably on your back.
2x Breaching Charges – These small disc-shaped device unleashed a controlled explosion with the goal being to blast open a door. Best if used on the locking mechanisms, otherwise in the middle of the door works. Of course these are very dangerous on opponents, even those that are armored.
Plasma Cutter – A hand-held device the size of a stun baton this is a cutting tool that can cut through practically anything given enough time. Also effective in melee combat.
Emergency Oxygen Mask – A facemask that seals around a face it provides oxygen for 15-minutes before the default canister requires replacement.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
NarrationMoving up and past the power armor you look for places to isolate yourself from the probably explosive decompression once the ship jumps. Eyes scanning rapidly all you see are the similar hatches that lead to other cyro-stasis chambers, recessed emergency bulkheads and the hatch that the girls went through. Moving forward you hear a ominous hum that echoes throughout the ship. The tell-tale hint of a jump, of the ship preparing to rip itself to another destination barely gives you time to brace yourself before there is a blinding flash of light.

…laying on your back in a body of water…watching the clouds float lazily up ahead…next to you is Anastasia…it is your honeymoon…on a cruise…somewhere…sometime…did this really happen…

”Honey”

…looking at her face…youthful and happy…she brushes a hand along your chest…removing the pain…

”Make us whole again.”

..a gentle kiss on the lips…

”Let us be together again…

The blinding light fades replaced by a windstorm. The jump was completed and like you predicted, the destruction of the shuttle seems to have ripped a hole in the hull. Forcing yourself forward one step at a time you see the emergency bulkhead slam shut, cutting off this section of the ship from the rest, preserving the atmosphere. Yet there is the panel, the emergency panel, the one that would open the hidden hatch, which would allow you to get into the next section. You just have to get there, for Anastasia.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Emergency Environmental Suit – A rugged and durable suit that are commonly used in emergencies these are designed to protect the occupants in the event of some type of disaster. The suits themselves are lightly armored, able to resist fire and light debris without puncturing. In addition they contain a short-term supply of air that can last for about an hour. Finally they are capable of protecting the wearer against the harshness of space.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
Ship Fire Extinguisher - These units are a bright-red tube with a black flexible hose and nozzle attached. Strongly resembling units used during the 21st century these units are different in several key ways. The canister unit contains a densely compacted foam that can be used on any fire to smother the fire and extinguish it. The foam rapidly decompresses and hardens into a gel-like substance which does not burn. Because of the decompression properties the foam should not be inhaled nor consumed, however it can be safely used on the skin in the event of a fire.
Storage Bag – A storage bag which contains a wide variety of items.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
NarrationSpringing into action you move behind the man with the vibroblade. A pair of gunshots end his life. Springing to the side you see that Ike has already burst onto the scene and dispatched the last two enemies with his rifle. As they fall it seems that the power armor remains still, unable to intervene in this case.

However before you all get too much of an opportunity to recover reality stretches. You realize that the ship is about to complete its jump when everything changes

… looking up at the light the masked face of the surgeon holding the bone-drill...the tip is dripping with red…deft hands reach towards your skull…a tugging sensation something out…holding it up…the top of your skull…bone white covered with muscle and blood…a knife appears with a capacitor on the tip…stabbing…stabbing…STABBING INTO YOUR BRAIN!

A tugging sensation wakes you up. Finding yourself slipping backwards the strong windgust clears the leftover cobwebs from your brain. A quick glance back reveals that the airlock is gone. Information flashes, structural analysis, current wind speeds, approximate time until there is no enough oxygen for survival and that the pilot is terminated as he flies through the hull.

Up ahead you see Matthias pushing forward towards an emergency bulkhead which deployed once the hull breach occurred. More information flashes, there would be a temporary override to allow people to escape through a small hatch built into the bulkhead. It was not advertised and would only open for shot periods, just enough for some people to make it through.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Combat Vest – A vest designed to carry weapons, ammunition and supplies it is designed to be worn over armor hence it lacks protection.
14 Round, .44 Caliber Automatic Pistol – A heavy weapon equipped with soft-lead projectiles. Standard issue for most armed forces.
50 Round P90RSL – A recent remake of the old Earth weapon P90 this version combines the popular features of the weapon. A small profile, easily removable ammunition cartridge and rugged durability the new versions are gaining momentum for ship combat action.
NarrationFiring into the stomach of your first opponent who happens to show incredible ability to ignore pain and keep moving. Yet the burst to the head ends that as it explodes and you shift your aim towards the second target. This one the rounds strike in the center of mass per training and he crumbles to the ground. The following stomp to the face turns it into unrecognizable pulp. The final opponent has by that time been taken care of by Jason while Ada seems to be covering Matthias from anything else.

Now that the rush of combat has abated you turn towards the pilot of the power-armor which has remained still all this time. It does nothing to reply to your order however it does not move at all. However since it is not attacking that seems to be a good thing.

By this time Matthias has pushed on ahead screaming that you all needed to get behind an airlock when reality twists.

…distant memories, flashing through a station, men dying, all of them dying… all of them crying blood…memories that were not memories yet were memories…and there was Ada…smiling happily as she wrapped her arms and body around something dark and slithering…

Snapping out whatever it was that you just experienced several facts become evident. First of all is the sudden windstorm that you find yourself in. The helpless unconscious pilot is sucked out the way you all came from. Turning your head you see that where the airlock is, or rather, was is a torn hole in the hull with the visage of space beyond. There is even a planet visible however you are unable to take in too many details.

Luckily the length of the corridor meant that there was a significant amount of air to be evacuated and the artificial gravity was operational. As such since you had a good grip on the ground and were able to reach out and grab the power-armor unlike the pilot you were able to keep yourself from going on a trip out into space.

Up ahead you see Matthias, Ada and Jason force themselves forward, possibly Matthias found a place to go. The hatch that the girls had fallen through is sealed shut now, automatic function of them when explosive decompression is detected.

While the air was leaving rapidly there was still enough to breath for a short period of time. Would probably be a good time to move.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L3 Corridor Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Narration”Excellent! I’m Marcus by the way. This here is Rhodes, there’s Frank, Pat and this fine lady is Samantha.”

Marcus appeared to be a semi-elderly man, his temples going grey yet he holds himself well. His hands have the look of one who was used to manual labor and he holds a piece of pipe in a relaxed yet ready grip. As for Rhodes he is a thin man with several strange-looking ports along his body, several of them apparently along major blood vessels. Already he looks tired and is sweating however he has a determined look to his face. As for Samantha she smiles meekly at you. There is a ragged scar along her throat and it is hard to miss the stump where her right hand should be. The other is clutching a sharpened piece of metal tied to a handgrip creating a crude knife.

As for Frank and Pat they appear to be twins. Both of them have bar codes tattooed along their heads with no body hair at all. They towards over everyone else and have the look that they simply gain muscle by thinking it. Yet the strangest part is their dark red eyes which do not seem to shine with much intelligence.

As Marcus points each one of them out he nods at you in a friendly manner and continues to talk.

“We all were stuck on Altheir III in the same jail. Freedom fighters we are against the cloning corporation there, which Frank and Pat escaped from. Bloody slavers growing humans and enslaving them. Needless to say we tried to do the right thing.”

During the time Rhodes has made his way to an access panel and wrestled it off. Rummaging around he smiles and yanks out a large pipe and tosses it lightly at you.

“Whatever the case is, we are trying to keep the crazies contained and find a way off here. We were thinking of heading towards the launch bay, Rhodes once served on one of these ships many years ago. Lead on Rhodes, new guy, watch our backs.”

Before you could move your vision crackles and your implant tries to pull itself out of your head. Bones feel as if they are turning into fire and everything seems to twist before a flash-bang goes off inside your organic eye. Recovering you feel the blissful aftereffects of a FTL jump as your body returns to normal. Looking around you see that your new companions look like how you feel.

Looking around there is a flicker of motion. Looking at the dead body of Ted you see it starting to twitch. For Ted that was shocking considering the smoking hole in his torso. Ted’s arms twitch and they start to move, slowly reaching around while glazed over eyes turn to look over at the six of you and a slow moan emerges from his lips. Through the burnt hole in his chest you can see his organs starting to pump and move sluggishly as he starts to pull himself over to you.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - Maintenance Passageways Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive and Semi-Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationLooking down at the blood trailing you belatedly realize that it leads up to the man holding his own eyeballs. Yet as he looks at you, you could swear up and down the ship that he can see you.

“It’s different because today it awakens! We will be freed from the shackles of death! Your friend will be the first to fall to him. Yet I sense you are an unbeliever, and thus your death will not be quick.”

Before a reply or action could be taken your skin burns away as it is sucked into the marrow of your bones. You remember this feeling as the beginning of a FTL jump yet it feels oddly more pronounced than before. As strange strange music starts to play in your head (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcisiYXDQw&feature=related) you see the blinded man stand up as time twists in of itself. Crackling with air moving away from his walk the man rushes towards you as your own body is trapped in an ocean of tar.

The techno beat of the music picks up in pace as he reaches you, lovingly caressing the side of your face as the music reaches its crescendo. His touch burns like the fires from hell as he strokes your cheek before gently his hand reaches into your left eyeball and pulls it out. The snapping of the optic nerve snaps reality back into focus as your stumble back as the madman smiles and chews down on your eye.

“Goodbye my friend, we have arrived.”

Through your half-blinded vision you see the man. In one life you see him as a crazy man. In another you see him as a puppet, tied to something leading through the hull of the ship.

“Dis Pater will never let you go. He will never fade away. It is time for revelations!”
Hope Killer - MG - Enlisted Living Quarters RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
Universal DataPad – This database is a small portable unit used is hundreds of different applications. The manufactures and purposes vary widely along with features however they all share several of the same basic features. First of all there is a user interface via a touchscreen interface. There are also several universal data-ports on the sides of the unit. There is an active wireless link to the ship network as well which can be adjusted to tap into almost wireless communication. Finally an arm-strap allows you to place it on your forearm comfortably, and parts of it bend as if it was designed to rest there. There are most likely even more features to the DataPad as well waiting to be discovered.
4x Tranqs – Fast-acting tranquilizers that come within their one single-use auto-syring. These can knock out a full-grown human within 30 seconds depending on their body mass and tolerance. Two or more doses of the Tranqs can result in a fatal overdose.
Mersical – A common painkiller found throughout the planets this is a fact-acting drug that acts upon the brain by temporarily blocking the input from pain receptors and instead stimulates the pleasure centers. If taken beyond recommended doses it can become highly addictive.
Vial of Dust – Dust is one of most dangerous yet addicting drugs current on the market. The tagline for it is that it will let you read the minds of others. Of course this is after one hell of a mental roller-coaster ride during which you can’t make sense of anything and when you come out the other side, assuming your sanity remains you have one of the biggest rushes of all time. Of course during the time one is on the drug they don’t remember anything that happens, only vague flashes. Highly addictive and dangerous it catches a good price on the black market.
Combat Knife - A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
2x Soft-Lead Pistol Clips – A clip of soft-lead bullets that can typically be used in most pistols.
NarrationTasting pancakes and coke, a combination your mother introduced you too many years ago the ship makes a FTL jump. Yet this time as the flash forms it does not go away. You hover in a void between pancakes as syrup falls over you, drowning you in the thick vicious liquid as you struggle to swim upwards. Out of the corner of your eye you see a large shape approaching, something that will save you, something that will damn you!

Yet another something grabs your ankle but you can’t look down, refuse to look down, only knowing that you have to get away!
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Para-Military Clothing – A white undershirt, dark camo-colored pants and a pair of heavy, finely polished military boots you are the walking form of awesome!
Technician Toolkit – A carrying case of average size it contains several items used by the technician. Small spare parts, large tools, whatever one normally finds is in there. Plus the case is durable and can even be used as an impromptu workbench.
Metal pipe – A pipe torn loose from one of the cyro-stasis tubes. Useful for many things including forcing open doors, a walk cane and knocking sense into people. Particularly the last.
Bag of Loot – A bag containing a wide variety of expensive looking items, including pornography, good cigars, snacks that survive your onslaught, money and a good watch.
NarrationEmerging back into the corridor after getting properly dressed for the occasion you stumble as with a brief flash and a warming sensation everything echoes with blue and then returns to normal. Looking for Tia you find her collapsed on the deck, her eyes wide open and her fingers twitches. One of her eyes moves on its own towards you, pleading for help.
Hope Killer - MH - Security Control Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive and Sane
Inventory
Technician Jumpsuit – A fairly common jumpsuit used by ship crew. Durable and provides freedom of movement. There are several pockets on the jumpsuit and clips for equipment. The belt also has pre-made slots for some of the more common items a technician would carry.
Re-Breather Unit – The rebreather is a clear plastic facemask attached to a backpack. Used in situations where oxygen levels are low it will recycle the oxygen exhaled by the user and filter out toxins from the surrounding atmosphere. In combination with a built-in oxygen supply this will allow a user to operate in a low oxygen environment.
FCSU - Field Communications/Scanning Unit – This unit is used by technicians across human space. It covers the left pectoral with a large circular component that is strapped to the user across the left shoulder with a thick attachment pad, around the back and chest with small straps. The chestpiece contains a visual recorder that can scan several different levels of light, radiation, gases and even some energy sources. Some models even some equipped with vital signs analysis of the wearer.. The shoulder piece contains a communications array which contains audio/visual communication that is typically connected to a central station. There is a small wired/wireless earpiece as well. Finally there are two lights, a long tube one on the shoulder and a smaller circular one in the middle of the chestpiece. Various Medical Supplies – A wide assortment of various supplies that you took from the medical kit. These are now resting comfortably in their new homes in your pockets!
Bits of string
Container of space Vaseline,
Egg of silly putty (now even stickier)
Combat knife – A sturdy combat knife that is well sharpened.
Small laser drill – The laser drill is a common enough tool. The laser beam rapidly diffuses when activated, making it practically harmless over distances greater than a meter. Yet when used in close it can burn through weak metals and other objects. The laser can also be adjusted to weld items and clear off debris of items.
NarrationAs the security locks burn away you can’t help but to think about the poor soul who set up the locks. In fact if that person was here watching you they would probably be saying something along the lines of:
But... but... I changed the code every week... always made them really high prime numbers to make them insoluble... programmed it to shut you out and sounded an alert after three failed entries... the most advanced computer systems in existence would have broken down in tears trying to break in... ... brute force is cheating..... Pushing the highly amusing thought away you finish drilling through the locks and open the door, letting the soldier in.

Following him in you close the door behind you even through it would be obvious from a glace that the locks has been burnt off. Mr. Hudson smiles and makes his way towards several lockers. Opening them you see that they had already been partially stripped however there are still several sets of riot armor, weapons and other equipment.

“Hey man, you are good people. Our chief, you know her right? Real-cold headed dog she is. Gear up man, we got some prisoners to take care of. I’m deputizing you here and who knows, she might have some more locks waiting for you.

Before a reply could be made there is the all-too familiar sensation of your final meal trying to become your face while your eyeballs take over the job function of your colon. With a brief flash of light and a ugly smell of pink the ship apparently completes a FTL jump. Recovering you see Mr. Hudson looking a bit pale and distracted.

“What the hell was THAT? Did you see that man?
Hope Killer - Somewhere in a Daze Looking for an SOS tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; Mental Shock
Inventory
Prescription Glasses – These glasses are considered by some to be an ancient relic, however they are far better and durable than their ancient counterparts. Extremely flexible they are near unbreakable (with a full money-back guarantee if they do break) they have been with you for many years. Based on your crimes you were allowed to keep them.
Cyro-Stasis Prisoner Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit consists of a single-piece article of clothing without anything underneath it. It covers you completely from your feet to your neck with a collar to attach some sort of helmet to it. It is a bright orange color with a gridwork of wires that dig into your skin and are visible on the outside of the suit. On your chest is a control panel with various readouts and ports for drugs.
NarrationClenching your fist the power that was slowing through your implants is subdued for now. Looking at the girl she looks like a stereotypical young girl. Full face with blond hair done up in curls wearing a cute little sundress complete with a bonnet hat. Her smile as you offer to help her find her family is deadly cute and her eyes brimming with tears of happiness could melt even the coldest heart.

“You will! Oh thank you thank you!”

Before you could stop her she runs up to your, arms outstretched as if about to hug you.


Blinding Light behind the Eyeballs and Car Alarms going off in your Ears!

Blinking your eyes to clear out the glare you stumble down another winding corridor. Things are distorted, everything in hues of red while and black. Of the little girl there is no sign of her in this twisted world that you now have found yourself.

Looking around you see broken bodies lying on the group. They were simple shapes done in the black and white, broken like fine china that was thrown to the ground. Yet there were these “things” reaching around, pulling them along the scenery like a puppeteer working his magic on objects of wood and string. Dancing in a line they seem to ignore you as you see your hands wrapped in blue as they move along.


A Gentle Hug From a Child

Looking down you see the little girl hugging you, singing slightly the old song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. Wiping off the imaginary blood that was covering your face she looks back up at you and smiles.

“That was so scary, I really hate it when these ships travel so far and fast unnaturally. Makes me feel sick. Thanks for being with me, I’m not as scared even though everything has changed. My family is close, I think we are above them. Where do you think we should go?”

[ubersquid]

Janks - enlisted living quarters

"Damn, I thought you where a space pirate, and you can't take a single jump?"

Janks bends down and starts to shake Tia. "Ey can you hear me? I think we just jumped... we need to get away, and you're the one who knows where to!"

He frowns as he tries to think about what to do and looks back and forth between Tia and the bag crammed with loot. He considered both very valuable but his shoulder would only have room for one of them.

[Inspectre]

Busy being avoided sucked out into space, Matthias doesn't have time at the moment to process the oddity of the dream? - hallucination? - bizarre mid-jump mental breakdown? On the plus side, he had the foresight to equip himself with one of the space suits. Thus, he would at least have an hour or so of air within the suit should it become necessary. The others, Jason, Ike, and Ada, were not so fortunate.

Leaning forward against the rush of outgoing air, Matthias digs into his bag for the emergency air masks. Taking them out, Matthias prepares to hand them off to people as they get close. First however, he crosses the remainning distance to the hatch, taking up position by the emergency switch and waiting for the others to arrive. Waving at them, Matthias urges them to hurry.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - So when you're near me darling can't you hear me?

Lydia watches the little girl warily, but still doesn't have enough time to dodge her movement as she reaches out and hugs Lydia.

It was unfortunate she couldn't move faster.

*****

Lydia did not usually see in red, white, and black. She knew that those colors only seemed to happen in an SOS situation. One time, some idiot had started a fire in the prison, and Lydia had been there when the lights went off. Red, white, and black. The only colors in the universe. With a few steps, Lydia moved forward before she noticed a much more major change.

Broken corpses did the dance of a marionette, lurching about as they motioned in strange and unnatural ways. Some mythic string seemed to make them dance about before her, and Lydia, who for some reason was in her right mind in this insane vision, was freaking the **** out inside. She felt her mouth moving, speaking words of denial as she witnessed the crazed scene. Then, she lifted her hands and saw them sparkling blue. Coated in the strange color, her hands seemed to disobey her as they lifted in front of her. The blue light enveloped her vision as the dead did their dance into the distance...

*****

Lydia looks down at the child who was hugging her. With a pat on the head, Lydia looks at the child and smiles. "No worries, little one. We'll find your parents. Let's just go this way, shall we?" Not picking a particular direction, Lydia steps forward, expecting the girl to follow.

Meanwhile, Lydia screamed inside her mind. You are not me. Get out. Get out. Get out. GET OUT. GET OUT!

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

The soldier’s eyes pop wide open as the decompression starts. Ike wraps an arm around the power armor's lower torso, catching himself before he can be sucked back towards the hull breach. Seeing his companions cluster up ahead, Ike realizes they probably see a way through the bulkhead at the end of the hull. The kind with an emergency hatch built in. That wasn’t very reassuring; the big man knew from painful experience that he couldn’t squeeze through one of those auto-closing trapdoors in the recommended timeframe, let alone with a few other people going through first. But with something to jam it open… it’d still be a risk, and it’d evacuate more air from the ship, but it was better than trying to find an unsealed hatch somewhere back down the hall.

A corpse wouldn’t work, bodies bend too much. The dead convicts’ guns were OK, probably not sturdy enough. Which left – oh hell. Ike squats low and clenches his teeth, bracing for the strain. In the back of his mind, he can hear his drill sergeant asking what the hell he was thinking trying to do something so stupid.

With an earsplitting bellow of effort, Ike heaves the entire suit of power armor into the air, its head scraping and spitting sparks against the ceiling as Ike stumbles forward as fast as he can. He’s not sure he’s carried anything this heavy, ever, and back in the factory he heaved tractors off the assembly line just to prove he could. And he didn’t have depressurization sucking him back then. His muscles burning like they were injected with napalm, Ike scrambles up to the rest of the group and drops the power armor on its feet with a dull, floor-shaking thud. "Open it! Open it and go! No time for questions!"

I've got enough strength left to knock it over when the hatch opens. Probably enough to pull it through after me so I don't drain the air in the rest of the ship. Oh Earth, this is gonna hurt in the morning.

[The_Snark]

Andrea Kemplin, Director of Security

She'd done it. She'd done it and she was still alive. Andrea stood there with her pistol still aimed in the enemy's direction, shaking from the effects of the adrenalin rushing through her body. She'd... yes, she had done her job. This was... this was good. This was a good thing. She was doing a good job. She clung to that fact.

The hiss of laser fire jerked her out of her daze—barely; between the explosion and the jump, she might not have noticed it if she weren't unpleasantly familiar with that noise. She had to restrain herself from aiming the pistol at Antilles; she did not like that sound. A prisoner. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't recall anything in the regulations about this, although in her current state of mind she was not surprised about that.

Andrea made a decision, and took a deep breath. "Warrant Officer Antilles!" she snapped, trying to sound as commanding as she could manage. He looked back for a moment. "Hold your fire! We have only one prisoner. We are not going to waste him!"

He didn't shoot, so she took his assent for granted and walked over to look down at the intruder. "Prisoner. I am going to ask you questions, and you are going to answer them. How many intruders have boarded the ship?"

[Kalirren]

Damn it. Loss of power was always a bad thing. That it was associated with the warp jump made it even worse. The warp hadn't failed, because the shuttle was gone. The question was, had it succeeded? And if it had, where the hell were they now? Somehow the hatch had managed to close by itself - probably a mechanical/magnetic seal. She didn't feel too comfortable about that, but it might hold for the time being. Jason, Ike, Ada, and Matthias, on the other hand, were probably in a very, very bad way. Especially with the power cut.

But then a third possibility occurred to her. Mackey had always been paranoid about ending up stuck in space between warps. Theoretically it was very difficult to do, even if one were trying, since only a very narrow range of parameters would enable that to happen; on one side of the critical region there was simple and total warp failure, and on the other side, an explosive entry into the destination system, neither of which seemed to be happening...yet. In practice, anything close to this domain of possibility would be detected and averted by the navicomputer and an alternate course plotted. But this ship had just been attacked, and power was going out all over the place. One security override and the typical automatic pre-warp safeguards might easily have failed, or simply been bypassed...

Scritch scritch. "Rachel?" Mackey jolted. Scrrritch scuffle scuffle. "...Can you hear me? ...Is that you? Give me your hand..." She hadn't remembered anything else being in this room when they fell into it...

Pistol in grip, Mackey began crossing over to the other side, which had presumably suffered less damage from the hull borers. (If she made it there) She looked for the mechanical pressure indicators to see if the other side had been depressurized.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Broken puppet

It hurts. It f*cking hurts! He screams, hands covering his face and wounds. Then he just stops, and lets his hands fall down to his sides.

A bright red eye filled with hate slowly finds the madman. To the puppet. Puppet to whatever is controlling him.

He then says something, his voice barely a whisper. "The puppet must die." And then leaps onto him, fist finding the man's face. The madman slips in the blood, and Ouranos puts a foot on his face. And stomps down. Again, and again. His vision turns slightly blurred and red, and when he comes to again the madman's head is little more than a red mess on the floor. Panic starts to grip Ouranos' throat as he sees his own leg, covered in blood and bits of brain. His leg and foot was kind of numb. How long had he been at it?

"I... I must-..." He looks around, the lone eye filled with fright. "I must get away from here."

And then, hand covering the lost eye, he ran.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III


Recovering you see Mr. Hudson looking a bit pale and distracted.

“What the hell was THAT? Did you see that man?
Hudson was slow on the recovery, and even slower on the uptake. Too slow. Before his meaty lips could spit out another ridiculous question, he had a laser drill growing out of his forehead.

Deputy, eh? I'll keep that in mind.

Hudson's corpse falls to the ground with a thud as Randolph extracts the laser drill from his frontal lobe. Randolph works quickly, grabbing a large duffel bag from one of the lockers he strips Hudson of his clothes and armor and stuffs them into the bag. These look big enough to fit Janks. He also tosses in Hudson's assault rifle, sidearm, extra ammo, and flashbangs. Going back to the lockers, Randolph selects a pistol, a few extra magazines, and a handful of zip ties for himself. Almost as an afterthought, he rummages through the lockers for another set of fatigues that might fit Tia and tosses them into the duffel with another pistol for her.

Randolph allows himself a small smirk as he hoists the (rather full) duffel bag over his shoulder and hustles back to the living quarters. Hopefully Janks and Tia hadn't gone too far...

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande

Darius grimly surveys his new companions, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief as he realized that they were not Guilty. They had just done what they believed to be right; a quaint stab at a minor effect of the overriding problem, but nevertheless it excused them. He catches the offered pipe with ease, holding it ready at his side.

"The name's Darius. Sounds like a good plan."

He takes up his position at the back of the party, but before anything can happen his eyes begins behaving strangely...again. When he got off, he'd have to have a chat with the merchant he'd bought it off of. He kneels until the episode passes, standing up quickly afterwards and looking around suspiciously. As Ted starts moving, his eyes widen in shock and he darts forward and tries to crush the zombie's head before it has a chance to fully reawaken.

[RavenGirl]

Tia - Enlisted Quarters

Tia conceals herself when the officer comes into the quarters, secreting herself in the gap between an upright locker and the wall. Impressed by Randolph's handling of the situation, she smiles to herself before frowning deeply.

What to do, what to do?

Suddenly the initiative had been taken away from her and she was unsure.

Five minutes. I'll give Randolph five minutes to return, and then we move.

She glances at Janks, half-visible while rifling another room. I'll move, in any case. Not sure if I can drag him away, now...

Caffinated, short on food, and staving off the inevitable catching up of her exhausted body with her rapidly whirring mind, Tia spends the next few minutes half-heartedly rifling quarters, finding a well-fitting but rumpled uniform and a pair of boots a size too large, which she pads out with an extra pair of socks. Every few moments she pauses, listens for sounds of alarm or Randolph's return, and chews her lip.

Clothes changed, she paces rapidly up and down one room, pausing every so often to listen. At last she thinks again of the DataPad attached to her arm, and is deep in the act of trying to find the locations of ship crewmembers and plot a safe route to an armoury when~

*dislocation*

~the ship jumps, and this one is a bad one. One out of every hundred or so jumps is a bad one, whether due to her unique anatomy or some quirk of her being she could never tell. Some spacers get over jump sickness, and some never do, and to her shame, she is forever one of the latter.

Reality twists and shimmers, becoming surreal and bizarre, and before she knows it she is on the floor struggling to focus. She reaches out for Janks, seeing movement and going by her instinct: I need help.

Coughing and moving with great difficulty, she smiles at Janks, then her eyes narrow and with great determination (and not a little help) she gets to her feet once more. Must not show weakness. Must not show weakness. "Must not," she murmors out loud.

"The plan. Yes. Get guns, take over ship, hearken to the woe and lamentation of our foes, and then a nice hot bath and some tea. I think that was about it." She blinks several times, her eyes focusing on Janks. "The bath and tea parts are optional." She grinned at him through gritted teeth, and moves a perceptively shaking hand to a pocket. Slowly she swallows two capsules, sits shakily on the edge of a bunk, then intently taps at her DataPad. Her hair shimmers from white-black back towards a more normal shade of semi-opaque violet.

"Where is he?" Time is absolutely crucial, and she knows well she doesn't have enough of it to wait much longer on returning colleages, or her own bodily weakness. As soon as she has a good idea, she directs Janks to help her move in the direction of the nearest armoury.

"I'm wounded in the fighting and you're carrying me towards the infirmary. Wherever that is." Her free hand moves towards the handle of the combat knife, ready to do her best to take out, or at least distract, any suspicious ship crew on the way.

[Lonna]

[[OOC: Because I was lazy earlier in the week and I'm tired/lazy now, I'm going to skip most of Rachel's reactions this time around and just post what she's actually doing.]]

Rachel Melbior

Rachel quickly took the few steps necessary to close the distance between herself and Mackey, the light on Mackey's suit making it easy even if Mackey had said nothing. "Quiet," she said nervously, looking over her shoulder into the darkness, "we're not the only ones in here."

[Pwenet]

Hope Killer - FH - L4 - Water Storage and Purification Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationTales of ships stuck in-between jumps had been a common fear. Ships since the dawn of space-travel ships have gone missing, never heard from again. Some were on purpose, people fleeing or wanting to reach out and find a quite place to make a life. Others just vanished completely, never to be heard from again. Theories as to what happened, ranging from pirates to aliens to bad jumps were wide and varied. And the fact that when a jump occurred it was practically instantaneous, however there was that one moment, a Conway moment, when for an instant, a ship was no longer in this universe. That instant was too fast for humans to comprehend.

Grabbing the pistol you start making your way over towards the other side of the chamber. Having fallen a significant distance you are at least several decks below where you started. Based on the design of the boarding shuttle it would be unlikely that it would have caused any damage on other parts of the ship.

However the fact that the power in this section was cut was a concern. Along with the noises things were certainly not normal. Reaching the other side you don’t see any hatches close enough to check readings on, yet up ahead there are several.

Scritch Scritch

The noise is getting closer. Turning around the beams of light illuminate a figure. The bright orange jumpsuit is the most obvious feature. The head appears to be tilted at a odd angle and oddly hued. IT is stumbling forward with an odd gait.

Then the light focuses more. The odd hue is from an open scalp wound which bled over half of the face. One of the shoulders is thrust forward as if it was partially torn off. In addition that side of the torso is indented badly and the leg has bits of bone sticking out of it. The one good eye looks at the two of you with a dull gaze, not even focusing. The one good arm rises up as well and it starts to move faster towards the two of you.
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationClosing the distance quickly you join up with Mackey. Thankfully with the lights on her suit make her very easy to find, even if looking into them temporarily ruins your night-vision.

Scritch Scritch

The noise is getting closer. Mackey turns around and her beams of light illuminate a figure. The bright orange jumpsuit is the most obvious feature. The head appears to be tilted at a odd angle and oddly hued. IT is stumbling forward with an odd gait.

Then the light focuses more. The odd hue is from an open scalp wound which bled over half of the face. One of the shoulders is thrust forward as if it was partially torn off. In addition that side of the torso is indented badly and the leg has bits of bone sticking out of it. The one good eye looks at the two of you with a dull gaze, not even focusing. The one good arm rises up as well and it starts to move faster towards the two of you.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Aft End The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationLooking over at you Antilles face is covered with sweat and he is panting heavily. He is trembling as well and keeps looking between you and the prisoner. Muttering a profane curse he lowers his weapon and storms off several feet, slamming his fist against the bulkhead several times.

Looking down now at the armless prisoner you notice that the wounds have been nicely cauterized, preventing him from bleeding out although unless the power-armor has built-in pain dispensers and were working.

“…f….four of us….. I’m the last…. The rest…. Dead…. Oh dark haze….. mercy….”

This was the last intruder apparently, the rest already taken out. Despite your position many records on several prisoners had been sealed. Many of the others had the skills to take on foes in power armor or the abilities yet it was still very surprising that they had been taking down so quickly. Or that enough prisoners had been awaken to take out the invaders.

Then a nearby explosion grabs your attention. Looking through a hatch into one of the cyro-stasis chambers you see that the stasis tubes have been lowered into their launch vehicle and the explosion you heard was it launching from the ship. After all this was the whole part of the Hades prison colony. Per your briefing on the process prisoners were being used as mining crews on the planet. Their launch vehicles contained mining, personal and environmental supplies along with detailed information on what they needed to do. Far better to put prisoners that could not be rehabilitated on a planet where they could at least do some good for the betterment of humanity rather than just kill or waste money housing them.

Similar explosions start to echo through the corridor as the rest of the launch vehicles start to depart from the ship towards Hades. Clearly with the recent attack the captain decided to proceed with a rapid deployment of prisoners so that everyone could focus on clean-up and repairs. Antilles also noticed the launchings and chuckles. Turning back towards the fallen foe he looks down.

“Well buddy, looks like whatever you were looking for just left. Just you and us. And you would need to be cut down to size before we can toss you out of an airlock.”
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Fore End Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationWaving at the others to come an impossible sight greets you. With a bellow that echoes through the corridor you see Ike heave up and LIFT up the frozen suit of power armor. Granted he is not lifting it up high for even a few inches has its head scraping against the ceiling but it is enough for him to start running forward. Eye bulging from the strain he seems to be bringing it towards the emergency hatch and is screaming for you to open the hatch, which you do by flipping the switch.

The tiny hatch, big enough for a person to sneak though rises up from within the bulkhead creating an opening. Screaming out Ike then shoves the power armor onto its side and partially through the hatch, jamming it open while creating just enough space for others to slip through it. Ada jumps through first like a snake wriggling into underbrush, following by Jason who also deftly slides through the tiny gap. You are next and there is barely enough room for you to squeeze by. By this point an alarm is starting to go off, one that indicates that a hatch can’t be shut. Looking forward you see further up ahead another bulkhead starting to lower, evidently because of the jammed opening the ship is still detecting a loss of pressure.

Ike then starts to worm his way through and seems to get stuck. The motors on the hatch start to audibly whine as it pushes against the power armor. Struggling Ike then manages to break free and comes out of the hatch.

The hatch however continues to press down. Looking at the other bulkhead it too is closing. For you this would not be an issue – however for the rest excluding one who got the emergency breathing unit there would probably not be enough air if the other bulkhead closes shut before it is sealed for good.
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationTaking a break from everything you fall into the habit of following orders, and thus dive through the hatch after observing the incredible event of Ike solo-lifting a man within a suit of power-armor. He will be feeling that in the morning.
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive, Many Strained Muscles and Clearly Crazy-Sane
NarrationYour muscles scream out as you haul up the power armor. It is not something recommended and you know that your sergeant would be screaming at you for the stupidity. Yet somehow you are able to keep the armor up in the air a few inches and move forward at the same time. Closing with the hatch you are barely able to make it before dropping the armor. Already the wind tearing at you is receding, indicating that the air is almost gone out of this section.

Matthias moves quickly and opens the tiny emergency hatch. You then heave over with the last of your strength and knock the armor over and shove it into the hatch, keeping it open. Far too quickly the others are able to wiggle their way through it until you are the last one in. Diving in you find that it is just as cramped as you fear and for several precious seconds you are stuck. As you struggle you notice up ahead that yet another bulkhead is starting to close shut.

Wiggling and pushing you finally are able to pull yourself free. Collapsing on the ground from pure exhaustion as your muscles feel like they are on fire you see that the emergency hatch is pressing against the power armor and a dim alarm is going off. There is no way that you have enough strength to pull the armor the rest of the way through, nor would it even fit! You probably, certainly with the help of others, be able to shove it back into the other chamber.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L3 Corridor Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
NarrationRushing forward towards the moving form of Ted you quickly stomp on its skull. There is a sickening crunch of bone breaking and a rather large portion of Ted’s skull caves in. Yet he continues to move, especially his limps. Stomping down again on the head there is another crack and your foot drives through the brain. Ted’s ruined body spasms and then limply collapses, akin to a puppet who’s strings were just cut. The twitching internal organs stop as death collects it’s toll from Ted.

“Mother of space, what just happened?”

Looking up you see the rest of the small group looking at you in shock. With you foot soaked in Ted’s blood and brain matter it must be quite a sight to look at however you did what needed to be done.

Your artificial eye flashes again, except this time letters form. Sadly stereotypically red with dripping blood no less they spell out four words.


I will kill you

As quickly as the words appeared they completely melt away in a mist of pixilated blood, restoring your vision to normal. Hearing odd noises you look further down the corridor and see various shapes starting to stumble around. From the distance it is hard to make out details yet you can see twisted limbs, broken bodies and an unnatural stiffness to their walks.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - Maintenance Passageways Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive, Torn out Eye, Burnt Eye-Socket, Burns along face, Sprained Ankle and Saying Goodbye, Farewell to Sanity
NarrationSnapping out the rage as if one poured a bucket of ice cold acid over your head you look down at your foot. Soaking completely in blood with bits of bone sticking out of the soles of the jumpsuit and brain chunks all over the place shock keeps the pain at bay. For a few seconds.

Then you ankle screams bloody murder at you. It HATES being used to crush skulls. That HURTS! Then pounding against the metal deck. That HURTS even more! And to keep doing it over and over and over. That’s it, it quits. Of course since it’s attached to you and needs you in order to continue to live a compromise is reached. Instead of outright quitting on you it simply curses and informs you that it is now badly sprained. So there!

And thus your run away from the corpse it more of a painful hobble but if there was an Olympic event for such a race you would take a bronze metal. Location is irrelevant as you cover the gaping hole in your head and the wounds flare with every beat of your heart.

Exhausted you stop to recover. Panting and heaving you can’t help but notice the trail of bloody footsteps you are leaving behind. By this point your foot is replacing stabbing pain with numbness, a better tradeoff but once the numbness fades it would probably strike back with a vengeance.

Then rounding the corner come a pair of puppets. They are dead and being moved by the puppet-master, you can see is tendrils in their brains. They seem to be going after a woman with blue lightning in her hands and something behind her that screams in your brain. The puppets are hungry and seem to think that lightning girl would be a good meal. Would a madman confer is madness in dead?
Hope Killer – MH - Enlisted Living Quarters RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationReaching out towards Janks the shape out of the corner of your eye seems to shriek soundlessly at you and retreats as Janks helps you up. The first wave of dizziness is almost a welcome relief from the aftereffects of the jump. Yet even though you and FTL Jumps were not the best of friends this one seemed even stranger than normal. Visions were very rare, especially ones as vivid as the ones you experienced. There were stories of those that claim to have walked out of their bodies in the middle of a jump, seeing everything at once. Others claimed to have had long talks with deceased friends and families. Others reported seeing strange things out of the corner of the eye during the brief period where a ship was no longer within the reality that you were born it.

Still there was something about this jump that was more disturbing than those stories.

Taking the capsules you quickly search for more information on your location. Checking your current location you find that you are very close to the infirmary. It seems to be a small chamber, probably just a few beds and a operating alcove, however there would most certainly be drugs there along with other fun items to play with.

Suggesting the Janks the course of action you check the combat knife and ready yourself to use it if need be. Far too quickly however Randolph returns, this time with a large duffle bag full of stuff, yet lacking the guard he left with. Before you could talk the PA system on the ship activates. A booming male voice echoes throughout the ship, with the distant sound of background chatter and sizzles.

”All hands – We have arrived at Hades. Due to battle damage we are initiating prisoner jettison now. A non-essential personal are to report to the hanger bay for evacuation. The FTL Core is spin-cycling down due to radiation overload and damage to the capacitors.”

“There are reports of escaped prisoners. We are initiating complete seal of the forward hull in 5 minutes. Do not enter the forward hull and report any anomalous events to your department head.”

“Repeat – All non-essential personal report to the hanger bay for evacuation. Ensure you have your ID cards and implants in working order. ”
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status: Alive, Sane and Awesome!
NarrationThoughts of what to do flash through your mind. On the one hand there was a beautiful girl who seemed not to be having a good day, and on the other there was a bag of loot containing lots of good stuff including other hot girls in significantly less clothing and doing very fun activities. Which one, which one which one. Shaking Tia didn’t seem to be helping and the loot would be a bit more receptive.

Then Tia awakens and reaches up to you.

Hell, live is always better! The Tao of Janks!

Helping her up you see her recover from whatever happened. Thankfully with her awake the loot would be good to go with you and enjoy its temporary new life on your shoulder. Then Tia makes the suggestion to make way towards the infirmary. The bag of loot seems to shiver in terror for you know that the drugs in such places fetch really good prices on the black market (granted you had no idea WHAT the good drugs were, only that some of them would make you rich and others would make you spend the rest of the night in the refresher).

Even better Tia suggested you hold her as if she is injured. Something to do that makes you even more awesome for you are the giant knight in shining armor!

Then Randolph shows up with another large duffle bag. Clearly he had duffel bag envy and had to get one a little bigger than yours. Of course it’s not the size that matters but what you have in it.

Before the contest can go much further the PA system on the ship activates. A booming male voice echoes throughout the ship, with the distant sound of background chatter and sizzles.

”All hands – We have arrived at Hades. Due to battle damage we are initiating prisoner jettison now. A non-essential personal are to report to the hanger bay for evacuation. The FTL Core is spin-cycling down due to radiation overload and damage to the capacitors.”

“There are reports of escaped prisoners. We are initiating complete seal of the forward hull in 5 minutes. Do not enter the forward hull and report any anomalous events to your department head.”

“Repeat – All non-essential personal report to the hanger bay for evacuation. Ensure you have your ID cards and implants in working order. ”
Hope Killer - MH - Security Control Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationRemoving the laser drill from the head of Mr. Hudson bits of smoke puff from the scorched wound while his legs twitch erratically. Since most people consider open head wounds into the grey matter fatal you don’t even spare him another look at you quickly run through the lockers, grabbing weapons, clothing, ammunition and anything else that you can think of. Already it looks as if a lot of the gear had been stripped out of the lockers previously, probably the original security team that Mr. Hudson would have linked up with if he didn’t have his sudden and educating encounter with a laser drill.

With the duffle bag now filled to capacity you zip it up and exit the chamber. Running through the mostly barren corridors it is a breeze to retrace your steps. In fact the quarters seem to be even more deserted which strikes you as a bit odd. After all on the trip to the security chamber there were a handful of personal, yet now there was just one crewmember hauling a large box on an anti-grav cart through the corridors towards the rear of the ship. The near-silence lets you hear associated groans and moans of the ship and distant booming sounds.

Emerging back down to the crew quarters you quickly find Janks and Tia leaving the chamber. At first glance it looks as if they are a pair of crewmembers, with one of them being wounded. Yet you can see the tell-tale sign that Tia has a weapon in hand and is ready to use it if need be. Evidently they had gotten bored waiting for you.

Before much else can be done the PA system on the ship activates. A booming male voice echoes throughout the ship, with the distant sound of background chatter and sizzles.

”All hands – We have arrived at Hades. Due to battle damage we are initiating prisoner jettison now. A non-essential personal are to report to the hanger bay for evacuation. The FTL Core is spin-cycling down due to radiation overload and damage to the capacitors.”

“There are reports of escaped prisoners. We are initiating complete seal of the forward hull in 5 minutes. Do not enter the forward hull and report any anomalous events to your department head.”

“Repeat – All non-essential personal report to the hanger bay for evacuation. Ensure you have your ID cards and implants in working order. ”
Hope Killer - Somewhere is a Daze looking for an SOS tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; In a Tap-Dancing Contest with Insanity
NarrationYet Lydia didn’t want to get out for she was quite comfortable in her home within your mind. Smiling happily at the thought of helping the little girl she almost wants to skip on the deck as you wander around. The little girl seems to see Lydia being happy and she starts to giggle and skip behind you, singing in a happy little-girl voice twinkle-twinkle little star.

Of course not knowing where her parents are is a minor problem, let along why they would let such a nice girl out on her own. However that was something that could be worked out at a later time. After all you knew you were going the right-way, that going towards the rear of the ship and then down would get you to the girl’s parents. It would take some time yet you would make her whole with her family again.

Then the little girl screams out in terror. There are many things that make a little girl scream out, ranging from being tickled to seeing a spider to a papercut.

Of course that usually does not involve the dead puppets shambling around a corner. They are clad like you in orange jumpsuits that scream prisoners! One of them as a metal pipe shoved through her chest where her heart should be and her suit is badly torn in many areas that would usually have her talking with a police officer about someone not saying no. Faded bruises around her face and neck compliment the rips in the suit. The other form is a elderly man whose nose is missing and several vicious scratches along his face, including one that ripped open an eyeball. Oh yes – The pants to his jumpsuit are missing.

Your minds-eye can see the strings holding these two puppets. The lines, tied to their heads travel down the corridor and out of the ship towards where the family was. The pulsing black lines shimmer as they sense you looking at them and try to hide but they can’t. The puppets however are hungry and you and the little girl would make a wonderful snack for their twisted appetites.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman
Group 2

Finally getting through the hatch, Ike flops onto the floor like an extremely large fish onto a dock. Looking down the hall without even trying to get up, Ike sees another bulkhead beginning to close. "Jason, jam it with your bag!" he shouts, his voice raspy from shortness of breath. "Everybody else, help me push this back through!"

Ike plants his feet firmly on the power armor's shoulders and pushes as hard as he can. Sweat streams down from all over his body. Of course it hurts, of course it's hard, but the effort is far from Ike's mind as Ada catches his eye. He'd seen her do plenty of terrible things - helped her do plenty of terrible things - and enjoyed them just as she enjoyed them. They had to be done, of course. To make everybody free. Ada said so herself.

But what he saw during the jump troubled him. Seeing her hugging something, covering something with her body - something that shouldn't be there, that shouldn't be seen. The thing was like a snake or a worm, he thought - maybe one of those things that live in the water, with the bendy arms. Squits or whatever they were called. And she loved it. What was that? Like, a metaphor or something? Was it him? It had to be, either him or the people. Ada loved him and the people and freedom, in that order. She said so herself. It couldn't be anything else. She wouldn't love anything more than him.

Ike shudders for a moment, the dark shape he saw growing in his mind. The last time he'd thought of himself as in any way bad was when Ada told him all about how he was supporting an oligarchist system that perpetuated para-somethings of systematic inequality to exploit the masses, back before he broke her out of prison. He wasn't doing anything wrong helping the group out, right? Right?

[Kalirren]

[[OOC: How did I -not- expect that this game was going to be zombie horror?]]

Mackey swallowed the incredulous look she gave Rachel very abruptly. "Mother of God, what -is- that ...?" A shambling, lurching, murdered wreck of a human body, that's what it was, and it had no right to be moving. Stories of the Reavers flashed through her memory - they left only rabid men, consumed by insanity, lost to the madness of space.

She couldn't bear the thoughts, nor did she have the luxury of the time. She -had- to put the ...oh, could it even be called a person anymore...? ...out of its misery.

Mackey's legs braced a solid frame, and the palm of her hand engaged the safety. It took two accelerating breaths for her to line up one good shot to the head, maybe the brainstem or the neck if she missed. One more just to steady her hand. And if it kept on coming...?

In all the scenarios she'd ever considered before being sent to Hades, she'd never imagined herself having to dispatch someone like this, much less with the third bullet she'd fired in her life.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Arguments between Body and I.

Ow. Why did it hurt this much? You'd think that the body would be happy to help your survival, it was its own survival too after all! Stupid blood... Get back inside! How was he supposed to think clearly when the blood that was supposed to power his brain just drips out of his leg?!

Then he saw the puppets, the familiar girl and... something else.

Hey, isn't that...? Yes, Ouranos was pretty sure now. It was the daughter of Zeus! Or Thor. Maybe he could use her? But, what about those puppets? And what was that thing behind her? The odds of him managing to crush a head once more were pretty awful at this time, and he has no weapons to speak of...

Except... Oh. Oh, of course!

"Hey, Daughter of Zeus! Hurl your bolts of lightning at those puppets, or they will kill us all! Be sure to take out their heads!"

[Inspectre]

"Handle it." Matthias rasped through the comms. Then, he strugges forward once again as air began to rush out of this new hallway, digging into his bag as he went. There ought to be another emergency panel near the hatch. If it didn't have an override switch, perhaps Matthias could at least cut through the circuitry guiding the hatch shutting. Hopefully. Of course, that wouldn't do them any good if all the air got sucked out thanks to the still-open hatch in the meantime. Pulling the plasma torch out of his pack, Matthias activates it as he closes in on the hatch.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - And the love you gave me, nothing else can save me

"GET OUT!"

Not that the body was listening. Lydia seemed to be on cloud nine, but some part of her mind was completely aware that something was wrong. It was like an out of body experience, watching her body move and follow a path she would never have followed herself. Lydia sensed something was wrong, but she was incapable of controlling herself to act in the right way. Some connection with her mind had severed.

Lydia had no clue where she was going, but her body seemed to know. It would blink into her mind what her body was thinking, every few moments, but it was like hearing someone else tell you what they were doing. It was completely different from what Lydia was used to.

The scream shocks her completely, even the other mind controlling her. As she looks at the strange beings before her, Lydia screams at her mind. Getoutgetoutgetout! This is not real! LET ME GO! Her strange controller, however, would have none of this and holds out a sparkling hand. "Aren't the puppets just a little wonderful? I think they would dance better not dancing at all though. So I would say, "Get out of my way or I will fry you." And that would be great, would it not?"

If the zombies even begin to approach them, Lydia fries them.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph grins as he rendezvous with Janks and Tia, dropping his duffel bag in front of them.

Mr. Hudson won't be needing his stogies back, nor his lighter. There's uniforms, weapons, and some other goodies in the bag. Get dressed, we need to head aft.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2.1

Re-evaluate. Re-evaluate. Re-evaluate.

Jason felt the oxygen flowing back into his brain and his cognitive functions being restored. Decompression was a bizarre and distasteful experience. This was not the first time he had survived it, and if it was the last it would be too many.

Pain. Expected. Manageable? Jason flexed a few Macro muscle groups. Limbs. Back. Ow. Then on to smaller movements, joints, elbows shoulders knees, neck. Owwwww. ...Yes. Jason coughed some phlegmy liquid out of his lungs. Get up. Isn't mental conditioning a beautiful thing? Get up. Implanted Instincts born from negative pain stimulus forced his body to move. Actual pain was not as powerful as remembered pain. Get up. He could not stay down, he had to move. It was merely training.

Jason staggered to his feet, somehow holding his balance perfectly even though his vision was swimming and his inner ears were still freaking out from the sudden vertigo of FTL jump followed immediately by partial decompression and reflexively diving through the hatch, to land however he came down. Somewhere along the line, he did not even remember, his pistol had been holstered and was still secure at his waist. Similarly, his shoulder bag, thanks only to that little nylon strap, was still attached and its contents accounted for. Meanwhile, the deactivated assassin's Sleeper Cell was running diagnostics of a more internal nature. Heart rate. Blood pressure. Pain levels. Adrenaline count. Fractured bones? Jason blinked. He seemed to be fine.

Then, the flash of the emergency lights and the scream of atmosphere being drained out of the smallish chamber like it was being sucked through a straw finally made contact with his brain.

Jason exploded into movement, even before he knew exactly what to do. With one glance at Ike and his precarious situation, though, his thoughts caught up immediately to the fast reaction of his body. HK-24F Series Powered Armor. Physical Specification: 3.3 Tonnes, fully armed. Owch. "IKE!! This thing needs to MOVE!!" Jason braced himself against the bulky thing, the treads on the boots of his Emergency Environmental suit remarkably gripping the floor beneath him like they were bolted to the floor. There was only so much he could do, though-- even with the rushing atmosphere helping to force the bulky powered suit through the hatch, Jason could only move it a few feet by himself...

[The_Snark]

Andrea Kemplin, Director of Security

Four intruders, all dead. That was good. It meant that the highest-priority threat had been successfully repelled. Andrea relaxed her grip on her pistol and looked over at Warrant Officer Antilles, just before two very unpleasant thoughts struck her.

The first was how did the others die? She and Antilles had eliminated two. That left two more. She didn't think the rest of her security team could have done it; they hadn't been properly assembled, and she knew Hudson had been aft. The rest of the crew would not have had the laser weapons they needed to fight an enemy in powered armor. Nor would they have had the training (they would have been on her part-time list if so). And Andrea knew for a fact that the ship had no security systems capable of eliminating an armored intruder. That left the prisoners, some of whom were filed under Highly Dangerous (keep sedated at all times, handle at a distance with shock cuffs if absolutely necessary); she was unsure whether troopers in powered armor exceeded that rating, but since she and Antilles (she discounted Hudson, since he hadn't shot any of them) had killed two she doubted it. But the prisoners were in stasis, and even if the intruders had managed to release some, they would be unarmed. She didn't think it was possible to kill soldiers in armor with your bare hands. It was a puzzle and she didn't see any answer.

The second and far more worrying thought was: what if he's lying?

She looked back at the prisoner, an unreadable mask of flesh behind an unreadable mask of metal and plastic alloys, and knew she had no way to be sure. He was acting like he was hurt, and certainly he was injured. But why would he tell the truth just because of that? They couldn't make it stop hurting or give him back his arm. Why had he come aboard the ship to find somebody in the first place? Who knew why he said or did anything? She had absolutely no way of knowing.

It was times like this that she remembered why she hated people.

Antilles was talking, she realized suddenly—something about an airlock. Oh yes, the Captain had released the prisoners. Except this one hadn't been sent down with the others in time, what with not being a standard prisoner at all, and according to Antilles would not fit out the airlocks if they for some reason wanted to send him out into deep space. What was she supposed to do with him? She couldn't recall anything about what she should do if one of the prisoners wasn't sent down. She supposed that in a way, he was escaping, and should be subdued or killed. Since the former hadn't eliminated the problem, she was clearly obligated to do the latter.

Andrea shot the man through the head, and put away her pistol with a sense of immense relief. Her hands were still shaking, which was odd because the problem was solved. Her hands were not making sense. She ignored them.

"We have a potential prisoner security breach," she said to Antilles. "We should investigate that." And they could look for any more boarders while they were at it. It bothered her that they had no way of knowing whether the threat was really gone.

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins - enlisted Crew Quarters

"Better not ask I guess, eh?"

Janks grins as he rummages around in the bag and picks out the biggest and heaviest gun he can find, stuffing lots of according ammo into his pockets.

"Jettison my ass... so we shoot our way to evacuation then? Fine by me."

He throws Tia an evaluating glance. "You ok again there?"

Checking the safety and sliding a clip into the gun he shoulders all his equipment again and walks straight past Randolph and grins impishly. "Our little space pirate bride couldn't handle the jump."

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

Whatever Rachel had expected, whatever she had feared, the abomination standing in front of her had never entered her thoughts. She was suddenlyand fearfully aware that she had never fired a real gun before, only holo-sims and one or two realistic mock-ups. Assuming guns would even work on this creature whose very existence defied logic.

But what else could she do? Despite her fears, Rachel mimicked Mackey's movements as well as possible without releasing the first aid kit. If Mackey missed, or if her shot didn't kill the.... zombie, for lack of a better term, Rachel would fire once just to be certain.

[Baerdog7]

Randolph James Blackwell, III


Raul "Janks" Jenkins - enlisted Crew Quarters

Checking the safety and sliding a clip into the gun he shoulders all his equipment again and walks straight past Randolph and grins impishly. "Our little space pirate bride couldn't handle the jump."

Aww, poor thing, Randolph snarks. You had better get yourself under control, Tia. I will not suck vacuum or let myself be perforated by angry bits of lead because you couldn't handle a coming out of a jump.

[RavenGirl]

<b>Tia</b>

Tia stands, cricking her neck absently. "I'm fine!" She grinned at Randolph. "Never better, in fact. Just overcome by sadness at the fact you couldn't have grabbed some really heavy weaponry, but this will have to do."

"You did good. And, yeah, sometimes I get jump-sick, it's ironic. This, though, this is something else. Nothing I've ever felt before. Been trying to figure it out, but..." She sighed, rummaging through the bag for weapons. She picked out a carabine-style gun, short enough to be portable, long enough to be accurate enough in the short ranges of shipboard combat, and with enough penetrating power to keep her happy. She grabbed a handful of clips, including those good against both armoured and unarmored foes. SHe also stuffed a pistol in her belt, checking first that the safety is on, finally putting her knife carefully in her boot.

"Space bride?" Her eyebrows arched. "Sounds like I'm not the one thrown off by the jump."

"Evac? Has to be worth a shot. Without my implants I can never pass for ship's crew, even if I could cobble together some ID. We'll have to shoot our way out. If possible."

Her attention turned back to her terminal as she tried to determine two things: firstly, where the hangar for evac was, and, secondly, whether the Hope Killer was being met by other vessels.

Spin cycling down? Not good. So much for our ticket out of here. Might be fixable, though, or good for another couple jumps. The Killer is probably still our best ticket out of here, but I doubt I can persuade these guys of that.

"Hey, Janks, maybe we can still find you your hot breakfast! And enough space brides for all."

With this she waves her carbine in the direction of the hangar bay, clearly indicating the others should go first while she pores over her terminal.

[Pwenet]

Hope Killer - FH - L4 - Water Storage and Purification Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationStarring at the twisted and ruined figure of a human, holding the pistol in a grip of inexperience from the books you look down the sights and squeeze the trigger. Guns of old would jerk and recoil and make loud noises as their explosive powders ignited to send a small speck of death flying through the air. Instead with the sound of someone sighing the gun twitches in your hands.

The creature twitches as its good eye implodes and the back of its skull explodes. Yet it does not fall nor scream in pain, instead half of its body goes slack. Yet it struggles to move forward, dragging itself along with the remaining half of its body that it still has under its control.

There is another sighing sound and the other half of the head of the creature explodes. A quick glance shows Rachel holding a smoking gun. This time the creature twitches and a odd moaning sound emerges from its mouth as it falls to its knees, and then facedown on the deck where it spasms ones and then goes completely still. Yet the stillness does not last for slowly it seems as if every muscle in the body starts to tighten, forcing the limbs and body of the creature to contort into a fetal position. After several seconds these motions to stop and it just lies there, immobile and seemingly truly dead, considering the ruined mass that remains of its skull and brain.

With the demise of the creature there are no more scratching sounds in the large chamber. Seeing a nearby hatch you manage to get closer to it. There is a dull and worn label indicating that it leads to the port side of the ship, and according to the pressure readouts there is still positive pressure on the other end..
Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationWondering if bullets would even work on the creature which was approaching you and Mackey, Mackey decides to test out it if suffers from the same rapid-induced lead allergies that humans suffer from. Her pistol makes a sighing sound and part of the creatures head disintegrates, taking out its good eye as well. Yet it continues to approach, struggling to pull itself forward despite the blindness.

Your finger instinctively squeezes on the trigger, and your pistol as well emits a sighing sound. Somehow despite most chances of reason and common sense your shot strikes the remaining intact portion of the creatures head. As it falls down to the deck it emits an odd moaning sound, yet that fades away as the creature spasms violently one last time. Slowly it seems to contort and curl up into a fetal position before it stills for the final time.

With the creature apparently dead, again Mackey starts exploring some more, checking a nearby hatch.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Aft End The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Shocked
NarrationThe laser blast to the head of the trooper quickly and easily burned through the weaker material of the helmet, melting the metallic/ceramic composite. For a briefest moment you can see the outline of the face of the man. As if time was a distorted rubber-band you can see his hair catch on fire, eyeballs stream out of his eye sockets and his flesh melt off his bones. Then with a rush of the wind the blast penetrates fully and leads just a corpse missing the head. As it falls to the ground it can’t be helped to notice how, inhuman the figure looks without what is essentially the part that makes one human.

Only your hands betray you at this point as they continue to shake, screaming at you that they knew something you didn’t but they never took the standard correspondence course that they needed to effectively communicate. Yet unsure of knowing if the threat was truly gone it only made sense to continue working forward. With the prisoner pods having been launched from the ship that meant that there would be hundreds of fewer prisoners to account for and that those chambers would be inhospitable for they would now be exposed to the harsh environment of space. Of course any prisoner that had already been awaken would have probably left the chambers and would be roaming about the ship.

Moving forward with Antilles who for once is not making any kind of statements which you suspect are jokes at your own expense you scan the corridors in the fashion that your training dictated. Even though the now empty cyro-stasis chambers are exposed to vacuum you take a moment to check each and every single one of them and ensure that the hatches are secure.

Up ahead, probably 50 meters or so you noticed that an emergency bulkhead has been partially lowered. Those bulkheads were designed to seal shut in the event of a hull breach to prevent the loss of air and to provide some protection to the rest of the ship. The fact that it has been lowered indicates that up ahead there was damage to the hull. Yet before investigating you check the next sealed cyro-stasis chamber and see something that gives even you pause.

Inside the airless chamber is a prisoner. Evidently he had awaken and left his chamber before the tubes were jettisoned from the chamber and suffocated to death. Despite ancient sci-fi tales the figure eyes were still in his head, though the body was terribly swollen and had turned a blue color and it’s tongue was sticking out of its mouth, resembling a swollen sausage.

It was not the condition of the corpse that was shocking. Instead it was the fact that the corpse was picking itself up from the deck. A glance at the pressure readouts indicates that there is no atmosphere within the chamber, and the condition of the corpse indicates that it should be dead. Yet it is able to stand up. Looking around with blinded eyes it starts to stumbles towards the hatch. Swollen hands scrape along the inner valve of the hatch, search something sometime. With a mounting sense of horror you see the outer valve starting to turn as the corpse is trying to open up the hatch, exposing this entire section of the ship to the harsh vacuum of space.
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Fore End Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationBarking out the order through the speakers in your suit you rush towards the next descending bulkhead. Ripping open a panel nearby you find the circuits which govern the emergency hatches and bulkheads, especially the one that is descending. Pulling out the plasma torch you slice the short blade through several of the key wires. The bulkhead stops move downward as several of the exposed wires throw off the occasional spark.

Turning around you see that the others have managed to push the power armor back into the section which is now a member of the atmosphere free club. With no longer being a blockage the hatch seals shut, isolating the hull breach from the rest of the ship. Taking a look through the partially open bulkhead you notice farther ahead two figures walking forward. While they are far enough away to prevent many details from being seen you can tell that they are wearing some type of armor, have weapons and seem to be ready to use them. Turning back towards the others you see that Ada has also been looking around and she starts to speak.

“This looks like a maintenance passageway, it seems to go on through the inner parts of the ship. Also, I think they jettisoned the rest of the cyro-stasis tubes. This way would probably let us sneak towards the rear of the ship now that we got rid of the dead weight. Let’s move Ike.”
OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationFor the briefest of moments after processing the data regarding the power-armor it is simply a miracle that Ike was able to move it in the first place. Of course with it blocking open the hatch from sealing it seems to be a hindrance now. Already Ike who happens to be on his back is already pushing against the armor with his feet however that is not nearly enough force.

Adding your weight against the armor between the two you it slowly makes its way back into the decompressed section of the ship. As soon as it clears the hatch you nearly stumble through the hatch but you quickly recover and pull away from the hatch. With the hatch now sealed you find yourself worn out a bit however you end up checking out the rest of the section.

Matthias has been working on the other hatch. You see a control panel open with several wires dangling, evidently cut by a high-temperature tool. The Sleeper Cell implant processes the information you see and determines that it controls the emergency bulkhead system for the area. That bulkhead would now be frozen in place in a half-closed position for the time being due to the damage done.

Ada is checking the other hatches. Distant memories flash through and the Sleeper Cell informs you that during the recent events there were several reports of rapid jettison noises from the cyro-stasis chambers. She then opens another hatch which seems to lead inside the ship. Turning towards the rest of you she smiles.

“This looks like a maintenance passageway, it seems to go on through the inner parts of the ship. Also, I think they jettisoned the rest of the cyro-stasis tubes. This way would probably let us sneak towards the rear of the ship now that we got rid of the dead weight. Let’s move Ike.”
SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive, Many Strained Muscles and Clearly Crazy-Sane
NarrationThinking about the images of Ada that you had seen they are but a momentary distraction as you focus upon pushing out the frozen form of the intruder. On your back pushing against it with your feet it starts to move by inches, yet far too slowly. Screeching and sparking against the metal Jason joins you in pushing the armor. However with both of you there is no additional room for anyone else.

With Jason’s strength added to yours the armor is pushed into the section that you all left. As soon as the armor clears Jason nearly stumbles in and your feet fly below the descending bulkhead. However Jason manages to push himself back up and you jerk your feet back in as the door finishes lowering. Air blows into the chamber replacing what had been lost. Looking around as your muscles scream with exhaustion you see that the other bulkhead is in a partially lowered position which Matthias had been working on.

Ada meanwhile is checking the other hatches in the section. Opening one hatch she turns around and looks at you all.

“This looks like a maintenance passageway, it seems to go on through the inner parts of the ship. Also, I think they jettisoned the rest of the cyro-stasis tubes. This way would probably let us sneak towards the rear of the ship now that we got rid of the dead weight. Let’s move Ike.”
Hope Killer - FH - SS - L3 Corridor Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
NarrationHeroic BSOD Time! Will our intrepid hero recover in time? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeroicBSOD)
Hope Killer – MH - Enlisted Living Quarters Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationDropping off your latest “findings” and letting the others take their pick Tia seems to fully recover and starts leading the way again. Looking at her, after all sudden attacks of unresponsiveness was never good, especially in a guide, you see that she is still working on her terminal. While joining the evacuation/hijacking one of the shuttles would be good a frontal assault towards that end would probably end in a dose of terminal lead poisoning. Hopefully she is trying to find alternative routes.

Of course this is academic as she has all of your stop. At a 4-way corridor intersection several crewmembers of the ship race past. Almost all of them have on gear for planetary survival and are carrying various containers in their arms. As they race past you see a sign indicating that they are heading towards the hanger bay. With a ship this small it probably only has one hanger bay, hence that would be the evacuation point. For the moment those crewmembers, about seven of them in total are vulnerable to a sneak attack from the back, which might be good enough to even the odds a bit with surprise. Of course maybe Tia found out another useful way to get to the hanger bay and off this ship.

RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationMoving towards your terminal you try to find out information on where the hanger for evacuation is and also if other vessels are meeting the Hope Killer. For the second question you scan everything you can find but are unable to tell if any other ships are going to meeting this one. As for the first question the ship only has one hanger bay with the two dropships. Since the crew was so small on the ship the two dropships, while cramped, would be able to take a vast majority of the crew off. And since this was only an evacuation of non-essential personal there would be plenty of space with the skeleton crew that would be remaining. Of course all this means that the hanger bay would be a good destination.

As for getting to the hanger bay without too many eyes finding your little party is the next trick. Scanning the system you see from your current location there is only one good path to it. However there are some interesting ideas you notice that could have people branching off once you all hit one of the main intersections.

There are several maintenance tunnels that run along the hanger bay, apparently alongside several minor fuel lines. Evidently they are there to serve as emergency cut-off points and/or rerouting centers. However they are small, cramped, and lead to several hatches within the hanger bay itself. There is also a path through a small maintenance bay which would probably not be heavily used which would lead right out to the hanger bay itself. Finally of course is the direct path.

Of course getting to that main intersection where the other branching locations could be reached is the main goal. And of course that is why with you leading you hear several footsteps. Stopping the rest of the party you barely manage to stop before several crewmembers start racing by. They all seem to be wearing survival backpacks (filled with supplies needed on a planet) and carrying other items and are heading towards the hanger bay. Not noticing your party as they rush past it would be easy to take them out and follow their course.
ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status: Alive, Sane and Awesome!
NarrationWith Tia recovering and new toys provided by Mr. Randolph you all let Tia, the lady with the plan, take lead. As she maneuvers through the corridors the bag of loot grows heavy with promises and hopes. Of course she then skids to a stop as several crewmembers rush down through a intersection, wearing big bags with probably even more loot and taking your ride off of this scrap heap.
Hope Killer - Somewhere is a Daze looking for an SOS Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive, Torn out Eye, Burnt Eye-Socket, Burns along face, Sprained Ankle and Saying Goodbye, Farewell to Sanity
NarrationThe daughter of Zeus does not acknowledge you but instead reacts by taking your advice and throwing off a blast of lightning at the head of the leading puppet. The blast strikes what used to be a rapist man, and all too quickly his head bursts into flames and the strike controlling that puppet snaps away and flees, twitching in pain.

Of course that leaves the poor victim of the man who has a metal pole sticking out of her chest. Again the daughter of Zeus throws another blast of lightning out with her other hand, striking the metal pole. The laws of physics throw their hands up in frustration and leave the scene as the unseen puppeteer struggles to keep control of its puppet. The poor girl caught in the middle between puppeteer and daughter of a god is the one that gives up and explodes comically, at which point the laws of physics return to the scene to ensure that everyone is covered with burning gore.

From your vantage point the puppeteers string that used to control the girl also flies away screaming in pain, yet it pauses for a moment. Flying towards you it tries to stab into your head, yet it stops just before your skull as a terrible headache fills you. Struggling to push its way in it finally gives up and slinks away with a defeated look about it. Of course the gift of a pounding headache remains for it was a kind creature of darkness and everlasting life. If only it would hug you like the haze form that is now hugging the daughter of Zeus.
tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; In a Tap-Dancing Contest with Insanity
Narration "Hey, Daughter of Zeus! Hurl your bolts of lightning at those puppets, or they will kill us all! Be sure to take out their heads!"

As the newest stranger who seems touched by sanity like you are, complete with a empty eye cracking with knowledge and the hidden truth gives the sound advice the ruined forms of the rapist and the rapee approach. Once mortal enemies that killed each other before they were twisted into puppets they now seemed to be united in hunger and uncaring of your sparking hand of DOOM!

The first one to approach is the male of course. Walking in a series of staggering steps, lacking proper control due to the horrible nature of the puppeteer who was unused to the little things of humans he was still dangerous to the little girl. The little girl screams and the scream releases a wave of pure joy as arcing electricity shoots from your hand and strikes the control center of the puppet where his nose should have been. His head sizzles and burns from the inside out until it simply bursts into flames and the oozing strings of evil are cut.

The girl does not seem to learn the lesson that her former abuser just suffered through as she also approaches. Your other hand flies out and another blue-blast of lightning shoots out striking the pipe protruding from her chest. Jerking around as the electricity rips through her body she stops as your force the puppeteer to focus more and more control over her. The two of your enter a tug-of-war that ends when the rope snaps.

Collapsing from the strain of hurling the bolts of lightning you find that you are covered in gore. The girl is simply no more, only her feet remain on the deck, the stumps smoldering as the white bone is charred black.

Looking around the girl is safe which is all that really matters. The name with the eye of knowledge and truth is also still around through one of his legs seems to be hurt and he is wiping bits of gore off his body.

The little girl who is oddly clean and pristine in her cute sundress smiles at you happily. Leaping up she gives you a massive hug.

“Oh thank you! You are so brave and strong! You will get me to my family, I know it!”

[Dorizzit]

Darius Totshande
((Sorry.))

Darius vigorously smashes the risen murder's skull to a pulp beneath his boot, grimacing angrily as he does so. That just wasn't fair. If you die, you have to stay dead. That was the rules. Otherwise...that would be cheating. Darius hates cheaters. He turns to face the rest of the group.

"He was dead. Then he wasn't. Then he was again. He was in more pieces the second...the second...argh!"

Darius clutches at his eye as it malfunctions again. Growling angrily, he shakes his head as the letters form once more. He looks back at the no-doubt concerned group.

"This place is getting worse by the second. We should get going."

He starts to move, when he sees the other monstrosities shambling all around. He considers for a second. He needed to stay alive. So did the group. Strength in numbers. Also, they were Innocent. Grim calculations run through Darius' head, and he points in the other direction.

"There's too many of them! We have to run for it!"

He will send the group ahead of him, serving as a rear guard in case any of the zombies catch up.

[SurlySeraph]

Ike Corman

Ike just nods to Ada, following her unquestioningly. He rubs at his sore muscles as he goes, the rifle on his shoulder bouncing around like a toy as he moves.

[Kalirren]

"Holy mother of God...!" exclaimed Mackey in her instant of pure and abject fright. That thing wasn't alive. It just plain wasn't alive. It was dead and moving, and then -half of it- was dead and moving after she blew the left side of its head off, and these biological impossibilities could just go screw themselves in the arse.

Next cognitive beat she knew, she was on top of one of the shorter tanks, having somehow scampered up a pipe. She didn't know she could climb as well as she did, but most people don't until their mental processes are reduced to squirrel behavior. "Rachel? Where are...oh, thank heaven, there you are. What was..." that -thing- now fully stationary, presumably dead for good?

Her voice trailed off as she realized she didn't want to finish asking that question. Something had -definitely- gone wrong with the jump, because they weren't in the same universe anymore. Mackey picked up a stray pipe wrench she found lying on top of the tank before she slid down, staying well clear of the fleshy wreckage. How many bullets did they have? 10 bullets per clip, maybe, two spare clips, that made maybe 60? and there were hundreds of prisoners? Hundreds of potential ...zombies...?

Mackey holstered her gun, her new (second) best friend. "Let's just get out of here," she lamented, "find a stairwell or something, rejoin the rest of the group." Or just cut the artigrav power, perhaps, she thought. Usually they could be found near the bottom of the ship. In zero-G it would be easy to get back "up" to level 1 where the others were. Mackey walked over to the nearest hatch that still had pressure, ready to open it once Rachel had also collected herself.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 'Us'

Once the hatch was closed and their atmosphere safe, Jason took a moment to collect his thoughts and recover from the ordeal he was just put through. This may appear from the outside suspiciously similar to collapsing in a heap against a random wall, but in truth this is a highly practiced and trained Military response designed with specific, set goals in mind.

Jason began piecing together spacial memories and eidetic visual information stored during the fight and ensuing chaos, trying to make sense of what happened. "...We need to find Mackey and Rachel." He said quietly, already trying to figure out where (generally speaking) they would be now in relation to them, and how his group might find a passage down to meet back up with the separated two.

[Lonna]

Rachel Melbior

"A zombie. That was a zombie." Rachel's voice had the flat expressionless tone of one who cannot believe her own words. "And Ada thought I was an abomination." Shaking her head to clear it, she caught up with Mackey, giving the corpse a wide berth.

"Just so you know, that shot was a fluke. I've never fired a real gun in my life. But I agree, let's get out of here and try to find the others."

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - When you're gone, how can I even try to go on?

The lighting burns Lydia, and inside her mind she screams as her body outside laughs and laughs, over and over. Outside Lydia cackles and cheers. "Fry, puppets! Fry!" Murderous intent clouds her eyes and it becomes undeniable that this Lydia is completely different from the one before.

I said GET OUT!

Lydia's body freezes in place. As the little girl cheers her on and hugs her, Lydia's body simply stands rigid in position, arms lowered after the great frying. The tips of her fingers smoke, but her body does not react to the pain in her fingers.

Then, her head shakes and she is looking down at the girl and then at the other man in the room. To Ouranos, she says, "Do you see her? Do you see all of this? What the heck is happening to me!?"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Conversations between divine beings.

He could barely feel the pain anymore. The display of the Daughter's power was too beautiful to dwell on such mundane things.

He snaps out of his daze when the Daughter asks him something. What was it? Oh, right. If he could see her.

...Her? What the hell was she talking about? He must find out.

"Pardon me, Daughter, but what do you refer to when you asked me if I could see 'her'? There's only you and me here. And two fried puppets, of course. Oh, and that haze that's hugging you." He puts on what he hopes is a reassuring smile. It probably isn't.

[ubersquid]

Raul "Janks" Jenkins Group One

"So this is our ticket off this hellhole..."

Janks squeezes past Tia and Randolph as they seem a bit undecided and follows the crewmen down the corridors. For now he tries to stay a few meters behind them, to remain unseen, until he can think of something better to do or the others come up with an idea if they catch up.

[Kalirren]

Mackey - Just the two of us again...


"And Ada thought I was an abomination."

"She did?" remarked Mackey with a quizzical look of the nervous sort. "Probably a Coreworlder, then...," A feeling of unsettling insecurity laid itself down upon the rest of the jitteriness. "What did Ike call himself again? The Traitor of Taurus IV?" If Ike was a Traitor, with a capital T, he must have been UTF gone rebel. Hell, it probably had something to do with Ada, given how much he trusted her. So that meant Ada had rebel ties too; not surprising, given how she could shoot. But they were on a prison ship, and all bets were off. Mackey's instinct said that Coreworlder rebels were very rare, thanks to Fed propaganda, and military people usually weren't the convincing sort. So who was the principal mover and shaker between those two anyway...? probably Ada, not Ike...but that wasn't the way Ike introduced Ada to the rest of them...

Something didn't quite smell right about that. Mackey decided to keep that to herself, for now, or at least try, although around Rachel she probably couldn't have helped but give a suspicious turn of eye.


"Just so you know, that shot was a fluke. I've never fired a real gun in my life. But I agree, let's get out of here and try to find the others."

"Ha! Mine too! Must be beginner's luck. Hope it holds out, I'm sure we'll see plenty more..." Mackey wished she were kidding. It was as if the Conway gap had dropped them in some cheap 21st-century horror flick instead of the universe to which they rightfully belonged. She shook it all off and returned to glance at the hatch. Port side, it read. Good. That was at least the same side as the sticker read back where they'd gotten the EV suits. Probably a better chance of meeting up with the others that way. Giving Rachel a nod, she threw the door open.

[Inspectre]

"We've got company coming through this bulkhead."

Matthias mutters, keeping his volume down.

"Two of them, heavily armed and armored . . . could be guards."

Matthias risks another quick peek through the half-open bulkhead to peer at the two distant figures' uniforms.

"Unless you guys want another firefight, this time in enclosed quarters, I say we go with Ada's plan of sneaking around. Maybe we can find Rachel and Mackey as well."

Considering their luck so far, Matthias hoped that the two women had not run into yet more violence-minded inmates. It seemed there were people with guns everywhere, themselves included. So far, Matthias's own basic skills had not been required thanks to Ike, Ada, and Jason, but how long would their luck continue to hold?

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - When you're gone, though I try how can I carry on?

Lydia blinks. "Haze? There's a haze hugging me right now?" She looks down at the little girl, a face of complete disbelief filling her. "You don't see a little girl here? I'm ******* hallucinating this right now? What the **** just happened to me?" Her voice pleads, but her body moves contrary to Ouranos's direction.

The pain in her hands picks up again and Lydia looks down to realize she's fried the two bodies. "What the hell is going on...?"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Where is my mind?

Ouranos's remaining eye looks questioningly at Lydia.

"Now, if you're hallucinating, why can I then see it too? Or at least a hazy version of it. Though, I could just be hallucinating as well. I don't know how much blood I've lost."

When she asks what is going on, he looks around a bit before answering.

"A lot I would say. Our previous companions are probably fighting more puppets somewhere. And the Puppet Master is probably laughing his ass off looking at our struggles. Not that he will laugh when I find him. I intend to crush his windpipe if I see him."

Another one of his "reassuring" smiles, and then he begins to remove the pieces of scorched gore sticking to his suit.

[Baerdog7]

Raldolph James Blackwell, III

Randolph lopes silently behind Janks, laser drill in hand, as they follow the group of guards down the hallway.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison - Making sense of something that makes no sense

"What do you mean? None of this makes sense, how did I get here, how did all of this happen...Puppet Master? What the hell are you talking about?" Lydia is hysterical, screaming and trying to figure out what in the world her friend is talking about while at the same time trying to pace with a little girl or haze or whatever hugging her leg. "This is all unnatural, ridiculous, unbelievable...what is going on? Why can't I put my thoughts together...?"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Where is my mind? part 2.

Ah, she's losing control. She won't be very useful if she loses control. Must fix this.

"If there are puppets, then there must be a Puppet Master, right? You just fried two of them, after all."

He walks closer to the hazy thing she called "Her".

"I'm not sure what this is, or why I can see it. Well, part of it." He looks at her, smiles without showing his teeth for once and adds "You probably shouldn't raise your voice too much. Might be other puppets our there, you know. Take a deep breath and calm down. I find that confused thoughts usually solve themselves after a while."

He pokes Her with the tip of his undamaged foot, just to see if it passes through Her.

[tgva8889]

Lydia Morrison

"Did you just tell me to calm down?" Lydia's voice gains a touch of venom as she continues. "I am shooting lightning from my hands and losing control of my body and you're telling me to calm down? I am not supposed to shoot lightning. Sparks. That's it. It's not supposed to do this, whatever it is, unless something strange happened. Either my hands are going to explode because the implants are malfunctioning or something very bad is happening, and I don't like either of those possibilities."

Lydia looks at the bodies again, trying to make sense of it all. "These are the puppets? If they're puppets how can they hear us?"

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder Where is my mind? part 3.

"Oh, they probably can't. But I'm sure that the Puppet Master can hear and see through them. Somehow."

He scratches his electric-blue hair before continuing.

"And why are you so afraid of your own powers? I'd rather have lightning than sparks, myself. And it's not too difficult to get a new pair of hands, should they blow up. A low price if you ask me."

[Pwenet]

Hope Killer - FH - L4 - Water Storage and Purification Kalirren - Mackey Filmore Van de Vort
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationSeeing that Rachel has collected herself you pull open the hatch. As it swings open there are no creatures of rotting doom waiting to pounce on you and eat your brains. Instead you find yourself in a dimly lit stairway leading further down into the bowels of the ship. The stairway wraps around a long elevator shaft as well which is not running at the moment. Still since the only direction one could move at the moment is down you continue. Thankfully both your pistol and your suit had lights and duct tape was a common piece of equipment so you didn’t have to worry about illumination.

Reaching the bottom of the stairway you find yourself in front of yet another hatch, this one also closed yet the pressure readouts indicating that there is still atmosphere on the other side. Pushing it open you find yourself in what appears to be the cargo bay. Gathered in neat rows are hundreds of boxes stacked on shelves. Each box has a barcode label on it which would require a scanner to determine what the contents are. However there is one good thing about this location, and you find it soon enough, the oversized hatch at the far end leading towards the aft end of the ship. Most likely if the designers of this little ship of horrors had any common sense that would, while not a direct path, lead to the hanger bay of the ship.

Of course that didn’t explain the strange noises coming nearby. Slowly making your way around several of the crates you come across the sight straight out of horror. Crouched over a prone form is someone clad in the uniform typically used on spacecraft. Except that this uniform is soaked with blood, and there is a vicious wound on the back of the creature, as if something exploded out of it. The prone form is another crewmember of the ship, clearly dead for most of its head is missing and is in the process of being consumed. As the creature continues to feast on the corpse you notice something even more bizarre. The vicious wound on the back of the creature is slowly starting to heal, with bones regrowing, muscles flowing out, veins stretching out and skin starting to crawl around the puckering wound. Granted this is not an instantaneous process but it seems that by feasting it is repairing the damage done to it!

Now it would be possible to sneak past this creature, but who knows if it would simply attach you and Rachel once your backs were to it after it was done feasting. Then again right now it is vulnerable, so it might be the best time to see about putting what used to be human out of its misery.

Of you could simply cry out “Game over man, Game Over!” and give up. Lonna - Rachel Melbior a.k.a. Ramiel
Status: Alive, Bruised and Sane
NarrationAmazed that you made the shot, especially with it being one of the first times you ever fired the weapon, it would be interesting to see if you would be able to continue making such impossible shots in the future. After all unless you just happened to have killed the only zombie on this little ship of horrors, odds were good you would need to fire again, and again, and several more times on top of that. Possibly there might be some screams and blood.

Following Mackey though for the time being she locates a hatch which leads to a spiraling staircase which wraps around an elevator shaft. Working her way down the desire for open skies on a low-gravity planet fills you more and more. After a couple of levels down you two emerge into a new chamber. Even with your limited spacecraft experience it appears to be a storage room, probably a cargo bay. Who knows, it might lead to a way off this ship since one would assume that crewmembers would have to come here to get supplies for the long trip that they were on.

Yet that didn’t explain the sounds of someone enjoying a good Thanksgiving meal. Following Mackey around the two of you sneak around and look upon a disgusting scene. A man in a uniform that indicates he is a crewmember on this ship is perched over the corpse of yet another crewmember. The other crewmember is dead, probably from the fact that most of his head is gone, and one arm is still clutching a pistol, the angle of which indicates that he killed himself. The perched man has a bloody wound in its back, as if something exploded from within, and he is in the process of tearing into the guts of the dead man and consuming his flesh and organs with gusto. What is even more bizarre and disturbing is as it eats the wound slowly starts to heal.

With is distracted by the warm meal it is working on that creature might just allow the two of your to sneak away. Then again once it was done who is to say it won’t want some dessert in the form of two wings? Yet it would probably be a bit distracted now and that might give the two of you the opportunity to try to take it out. Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Aft End The_Snark - Andrea Kemplin
Status: Alive and Shocked
NarrationNo reaction! Stunned shock? Brain stroke? Running without a player? Who knows how the universe works… Hope Killer - FH - SS - L1 Corridor - Fore End Inspectre - Matthias Conway – “The Frozen Man”
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationThe others seem to be keeping fairly quiet for the time being now that oxygen is being supplied an no true leader it stepping up to the plate. Ada slinks over to you and takes a look out through the bulkhead. She nods and turns back towards the others.

“He’s right. Two of them, armored, guns, and I see some corpses of the intruders in power armor. I’m guessing ship security. I say we avoid them and take the maintenance tunnels. A ship like this, I doubt they have too many people. Where do you think we should go Matthias to get off of this ship? Or can you pilot it? Or should I just kill you all now for the Master?”

Ada blinks at the last statement and looks surprised as her hand holding the gun rises and points towards the chest of Ike. Twitching oddly a little bit of foam forms on the corner of her mouth and the scars on her head start to look inflamed.

“What… is happening…. Dis Pater…. My lord…. It’s waking…. Up…. Too close…. Yet close enough to touch…. It needs…. Shells…. More puppets…. No more SOSs…..Don’t send out the SOS…..”

As she starts to rant her gun hand starts to shake, and then the rifle barks. The shot is not true, and instead strikes the bulkhead next to Ike’s head throwing off some sparks.

“Oh dear god…. Dis Pater….. He’s RAPING MY MIND! What did they do to me? Ike….. honey…. You will be the first….”

Her gun hand starts to stabilize and one of her eyes dilates out (the eye oddly on the opposite side of the scars on her head). OverWilliam - Jason Webb
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationAs you work on trying to figure out where Mackey and Rachel are you notice Ada moving to where Matthias is checking out the scene. That was good, another pair of eyes to confirm the situation was always a useful and wise tactic. As for the girls, based on the looks of the chamber, if they survived the fall they probably would be close to the bottom of this section of the hull. Normally odds would be very low, but the fact that Rachel possessed fully functional wings opened up interesting possibilities. They were unlikely to provide her with lift for flight in full-gravity however they might be enough for her to save herself and slow her fall to something below terminal velocity.

“He’s right. Two of them, armored, guns, and I see some corpses of the intruders in power armor. I’m guessing ship security. I say we avoid them and take the maintenance tunnels. A ship like this, I doubt they have too many people. Where do you think we should go Matthias to get off of this ship? Or can you pilot it? Or should I just kill you all now for the Master?”

Ada blinks at the last statement and looks surprised as her hand holding the gun rises and points towards the chest of Ike. Twitching oddly a little bit of foam forms on the corner of her mouth and the scars on her head start to look inflamed. Another look at the scars and more information flashes. They almost appear to be from brain surgery. Based on their pattern it would seem likely that they tried to directly download information from her brain. Not normally used because of the side effects, which ranged from death to insanity to permanent brain-tissue death plus there were other ways to get information out of someone. Of course there were some orders which still used those methods at times.

“What… is happening…. Dis Pater…. My lord…. It’s waking…. Up…. Too close…. Yet close enough to touch…. It needs…. Shells…. More puppets…. No more SOSs…..Don’t send out the SOS…..”

Processing the words you come up with a few hits. Dis Pater was the Roman god of the underworld, potentially useless. Then again the name of the planet that you all were heading to was Hades. Coincidence?

More seriously however was the way her rifle was moving. It almost looked like she was having a series of micro-seizures, oddly enough they seemed confined to the areas of her body which would have been controlled by the sections of the brain where the surgeries/tortures took place.

“Oh dear god…. Dis Pater….. He’s RAPING MY MIND! What did they do to me? Ike….. honey…. You will be the first….”

Her gun hand starts to stabilize and one of her eyes dilates out (the eye oddly on the opposite side of the scars on her head). Her trigger finger starts to twitch on the trigger and her eyes, the one dilated one with no emotion, the other screaming out in horror and crying out tears of blood. SurlySeraph - Ike Corman
Status: Alive, Many Strained Muscles and Clearly Crazy-Sane
NarrationFollowing Ada you stand guard while she checks out Matthias observations.

“He’s right. Two of them, armored, guns, and I see some corpses of the intruders in power armor. I’m guessing ship security. I say we avoid them and take the maintenance tunnels. A ship like this, I doubt they have too many people. Where do you think we should go Matthias to get off of this ship? Or can you pilot it? Or should I just kill you all now for the Master?”

Ada blinks at the last statement and looks surprised as her hand holding the gun rises and points towards your chest. Your heart starts to beat had within your chest looking down the barrel of the gun. Twitching oddly a little bit of foam forms on the corner of her mouth and the scars on her head start to look inflamed. In fact on her eyes is crying… blood?

“What… is happening…. Dis Pater…. My lord…. It’s waking…. Up…. Too close…. Yet close enough to touch…. It needs…. Shells…. More puppets…. No more SOSs…..Don’t send out the SOS…..”

As she starts to rant her gun hand starts to shake, and then the rifle barks. You swear you could hear the bullet pass by your ear and the back of your head stings as the bullet strikes the bulkhead behind you, spending tiny bits of shrapnel into you. Nothing serious and with barely a thought pushed out of your mind.

“Oh dear god…. Dis Pater….. He’s RAPING MY MIND! What did they do to me? Ike….. honey…. You will be the first….”

Her gun hand starts to stabilize and one of her eyes dilates out (the eye oddly on the opposite side of the scars on her head). In fact half of her looks like a cold soldier doing her duty and the other half was screaming out in pain and agony. Hope Killer - FH - SS - L3 Corridor Dorizzit - Darius Totshande
Status: Bruised Ribs – Temporary Deafening
NarrationThe others show an amazing sign of self-preservation and common sense for they heed your advice. As they flee you hang back slightly watching the so-called zombies. With the sudden commotion the zombies turn towards your way. Several of the more limber ones suddenly start sprint towards you while those that appear more damaged stagger and lumber as best they can.

One of the more agile ones, who seems mostly intact except for a throat which seems to have been ripped open and flaps around like another mouth leaps impossible far and slams into you with bruising force, sending the two of you down to the ground. Your cybernetic eye captures in gory detail the dead eyes moving around, the wound no longer bleeding, ashen skin and a single tear coming from one of the eyes of the creature. However it fights like an imbecile, all brute strength and no tactics to speak off.

Throwing it off you, you manage to take another look. Now that you see what you are looking for you find that all of the zombies so to speak are moving as if they are not used to their own bodies. Yet they are freakishly strong and some of the more intact ones are fast. Plus they seem resistant to damage for the one you threw off is already crawling along the deck towards you instead of pulling itself up to fight. Hope Killer – MH - Enlisted Living Quarters Baerdog7 - Randolph James Blackwell, III
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationStepping in line behind Janks you adopt a casual stride. Janks bulk provides excellent cover from those looking from up ahead and you are able to easily palm the laser drill. It seems that the people that Janks is following are simple crewmembers and not guards. Yet there probably would be some at the entrance to the hanger bay.

Speaking of which the two of you arrive at the large airlock leading into the hanger bay, complete with armed guards on either side of the door. Oddly enough the outer doors are just opening, yet you can only see green lights. The crewmembers up ahead are scanned by the guards and loaded into the airlock before the outer door closes again.

“Hey you two. Get over here. Stupid airlock will not stay opened as we load people into the hanger.”

Clearly the guards saw you two, and thought that you were simply crewmembers looking to get off this ship. And even more clearly they would be vulnerable, and with the airlock needing to cycle to load people into the hanger bay that would give the two of you time to prepare. Maybe Tia would get her head back and follow, but if she was flaking out would it not be better to drop the dead weight? RavenGirl - Tiamara “Tia” Danye
Status: Alive and Sane
NarrationThe others leave you behind again. Something starts scratching at your mind again. Maybe some concentration would help……..drugs are nice…. And make you happy…. And would let you escape from this all….. ubersquid - Raul “Janks” Jenkins
Status: Alive, Sane and Awesome!
NarrationFollowing the crewmembers they don’t seem to notice you and instead focus on following the path they are on. Soon enough they come to a large airlock which appears to be in the middle of a cycle, with two armed guards standing on either side holding weapons or other items. The outer doors open up and the crewmembers enter through the airlock filling it. As the outer doors close the guards notice you and Randolph following.

“Hey you two. Get over here. Stupid airlock will not stay opened as we load people into the hanger.” Hope Killer - Somewhere is a Daze looking for an SOS Sayn – Ouranos Eder
Status: Alive, Torn out Eye, Burnt Eye-Socket, Burns along face, Sprained Ankle and Saying Goodbye, Farewell to Sanity
NarrationAs you comment about what is hugging the daughter of Zeus something changes. That change is even more when you touch the haze with your foot and it touches something solid that makes your foot tingle and go all chilly. Her face twitches, as if trying to understand something and she shoves against the haze, sending it stumbling back. A crawling sensation runs along your spine as it turns to look at you and every instinct at once SCREAMS to run away, far far away, into an airlock and jump into the void to get away.

“You shouldn’t have done that. She is mine, MINE! I need her, and now I have to break her to use her.”

The next thing you know is that you are flying through the air. Stars explode as you crash into a bulkhead, denting it and most of your bones. Trying to push yourself up your cheek burns as if on fire from where something slapped you. Words wash over you but your consciousness is too busy reporting on the pain you are feeling to comprehend them. Yet it is not enough to keep you oblivious to you flying through the air again .

“Can you save me again and fry this bad man?”

Looking up through the haze of pain you get a look through the haze. A man, orange jumpsuit, non-descript features, eyes dilated, hair arching around as if he is touching a exposed power-line. The haze then falls over him again as he says something that is both words yet not words to Lydia as reality seems to twist around into a knot and snap.

“You can do it! Show me you can and I won’t have to break you.” tvga8889 - Lydia Morrison
Status: Alive – Burnt Fingers exposing implants; In a Tap-Dancing Contest with Insanity
Narration "Pardon me, Daughter, but what do you refer to when you asked me if I could see 'her'? There's only you and me here. And two fried puppets, of course. Oh, and that haze that's hugging you."

The haze of a little cute girl hugging you. Feeling her warm body pressing against yours you feel like hundreds, if not thousands of tiny critters running along your brain. Shoving her away she wavers, turning into a haze that stands in front of you. The haze is almost humanoid, and you can make out the faint image of a head as it turns towards Ouranos.

“You shouldn’t have done that. She is mine, MINE! I need her, and now I have to break her to use her.”

A faint hand rises up and moves as if slapping the air. Ouranos then goes flying against a bulkhead, slamming into it with bone-bruising force. The hazy figure stalks towards it, growing up in seconds, its body looking more and more distorted.

“I’m trying to save all of us. Even you, you pathetic fool who wasted his life. What great promise you had.”

Another slap and Ouranos goes flying through the air again.

“And now I’ll kill you, or maybe I’ll have your goddess do it. What do you say Lydia. Can you save me again and fry this bad man?”

For a second the little girl is back, looking up at you with bright sad eyes brimming with tears and a look of terror on her face. You know in your guts that she would be happy, oh so very happy if you threw off lightning towards Ouranos, turning him into a twitching corpse. Yet with each blink she changes. Little girl, man-shaped haze, little girl, man-shaped haze, then back to a little girl crying.

“You can do it! Show me you can and I won’t have to break you.”

[ubersquid]

Janks Enlisted Living Quarters

Janks frowns and looks down on himself. Obviously the guards meant him and Randolph. Then suddenly he dashes forward, still thinking of how to cheat his way past the guards without beeing asked for ID. He should simply shoot them, and take the crew in the airlock as hostages, but the door to the next section was already closing again, there wasn't even time for a proper firefight.

As he runs towards the airlock, he shouts between breaths:

"Prisoners... escaped... lots of them... they got guns 'n stuff!"

Without looking at the guards too much, he tries to simply run past them and squeeze through the closing door.

[Sayn]

Ouranos Eder - Would you kindly...

What happened? Things had started to hurt again. Lots of pain on this trip. He screamed a little.

"Daughter! If you let him control you, then insanity will be the least of your problems! Your power is not his to use!!"

He started to get up, working against the protests of his rather battered body. He would not let this little bastard kill him. No way in *bleep*ing hell.

[OverWilliam]

Jason Webb
Group 2

Jason reacted as soon as Ada pointed her weapon toward Ike's chest. Of course in this case, 'reacting' was rather forcing himself not to react reflexively, potentially making a tough situation worse. Subtly he began positioning himself closer to Ada, and slightly behind, aiming for a specific part of her field of vision, the area where the Human Eye shifts from Central vision to Peripheral vision, and the place, if she was staring straight forward at Ike, where movement was most likely to go unnoticed.

"Ike... Honey... You will be the first..."

Jason exploded into motion. Simultaneously, Jason stepped one foot inside Ada's stance, planting it between her ankles and just behind the foot farthest away from him, and at the same time reached forward to throw a spinning disarm onto Ada's rifle. The disarm was one designed to twist the trigger away from her finger immediately, minimizing the chance of getting a shot off before the rifle was knocked completely off target. Normally, the disarm was twisted in such a way that the trigger finger was broken, quite painfully... Jason spun in the opposite direction, for Ike's sake. Even though that meant that the liberated rifle would land in his own arms facing in the wrong direction, instead of being already trained on target like normal. Once the rifle was twisted away from Ada's grasp and in his own arms, Jason threw his Right elbow into Ada's chest, knocking her backwards over the foot that was now inbetween her own, tripping her backwards.

With Ada's rifle still held awkwardly in one arm, Jason whipped his pistol from its holster with his other hand and aimed it directly between Ada's eyes, a movement that was as frighteningly quick as it was barely three milimeters away from being Lethal. The others wouldn't be able to tell without looking very closely, but the pistol's trigger was already half-way depressed, only the slightest squeeze further needed to send the chambered round into Ada's skull at near supersonic speeds. "Ike, what is going on?" Jason asked calmly, not looking up at the other man or taking his gaze off of the downed and likely somewhat stunned female on the ground in front of him.

As had been the first takedown that the others had observed Jason execute on the shuttle pilot, the strange, nondescript-seeming man moved with speed that barely even seemed human...