Colony: Superheroes in Spaaaaace!

[TamerBill]

"The Celestial Arrow is now leaving hyperspace. Current location: Narrobah System. Relinquishing autopilot controls."

The automated voice of the Celestial Arrow's Jump Drive can be heard anywhere in the ship, heralding its return to physical space as it exits one of the many Gates in the Narrobah System. The latest model of Republic transport, the Celestial Arrow is one of very few Stream-Class ships in existence; not very big, but very very fast. It is a given, then, that such a ship should be crewed by humanity's saviours, the Paragons.

The team of three Paragons commanding the ship are currently en-route to the space colony Solstice, in orbit around the resource planet Narrobah-3. Their mission is unclear, as the team was hastily put together in response to an emergency call, but they will recieve further instruction after docking on Solstice.

In the cockpit or their quarters the team prepares themselves for the unknown....

[LazyJoe]

Dehram doesn't have quarters as such, being slightly too big to fit comfortably in any but the largest of the ship's rooms. He's usually found relaxing around the cargo area, propped up against a wall or in arm's reach of one of the terminals. It is this room that Dehram engages in his two favourite hobbies: eating and weightlifting. When not chewing on the dry rations in the ship's stores, he enjoys constantly benching anything heavy he can find on the ship. Crates, engine parts and other paraphernalia have all at one point been lifted and set down, if for no other reason than to drive away the boredom of spacetravel.

Not that he needs to do either of these activities, as Dehram draws his powers from gravity. And when gravity is weak, as in space, he draws it from the gravity drives on the ship.

When the ship's autopilot turned off, Dehram looked up and instinctually sniffed the air. Instead of getting up, he lazily flicked a switch on the terminal and watched the monitor as Solstice came into view.

[The_Snark]

Ella has quarters. She even spends time in them, but judging solely by their experiences, her companions aboard ship might not know it; she can be found almost anywhere on the ship. Will be found anywhere on the ship, most likely, because she has a tendency to wander about until she finds someone to engage in conversation. Engage is the right word; even when the other two don't feel like talking, or can't talk because they have their mouth full or are trying to read, she persists, apparently not noticing silence, tactful hints, or anything short of directly telling her to be quiet and then leaving. Fortunately, she takes the rebukes pretty well; forty minutes later, she seems to have forgotten the whole affair. Unfortunately, that starts the cycle anew.

As the Computer Lady finishes speaking, Ella rushes into the cockpit, glancing out the viewing panels into the marvelous vistas of space. "Finally! You'd think that if we can figure out how to violate the laws of time and space to travel faster than light, we'd be able to do it however we want, and not have to bother with all this waiting around. Hey, Kris, you want to take the ship in, or should I do it?" she asks, speaking to Kris if she's already in the cabin and calling it backwards into the livingspace if she's not already here.

[Jannex]

"You know we're not actually traveling FTL, Ella," Kris replies, not even looking up from the controls in front of her. She's already sitting at the controls; it seems as though she was in the cockpit even while the ship was on autopilot. "If anything here is violating the laws of physics, it's the gates, not the Arrow." She seems about ready to launch into a more involved discussion of the science at work, but checks herself--there's no way she could match Ella for energy or sheer verbosity anyway. She shrugs. "Anyway, I can bring us in. I've been looking over the information in our database about the Solstice colony," she taps a smaller monitor to one side of the control console. "Help yourself, if you like."

[LazyJoe]

Dehram gradually stirred himself to get up, stretching his long arms almost to the ceiling of the cargo hold. The cockpit wasn't far away, but he himself was far too wide to fit through the door to it, so he contented himself by craning his neck to look at the controls and partially through the window.

'It sucks not knowing what we're doing here.'

Dehram's voice was ridiculously low and it seemed to carry throughout the ship, shaking some of the railings that weren't properly secured.

[The_Snark]

"Well, sure, but whichever's doing it, you would think they could get rid of the delay." Ella is uncharacteristically silent for a few moments as she sits and looks at the monitor, because Kris has managed to preempt her next question.

She doesn't stop reading at Dehram's partial entrance, but she does commiserate, the key-tapping blending into her words. "It does, kinda, but it makes sense. I mean, they've got an emergency, they don't want to have to stop to explain things to the higher-ups and then wait for them to explain what's going on to us, because they're already going to be kept waiting long enough with the whole faster-than-light non-instant trvel times. Of course, it's not a very smart kind of sense, because if we actually knew what was going on, we'd be a whole lot readier, and we'd solve whatever's going on a lot faster. But hey, nobody ever claimed governments were always smart."

[TamerBill]

The Solstice colony, home of the elite and the priveliged, is relatively small as orbital colonies go. As the Celestial Arrow moves in to dock the crew can just see the orbital elevator that connects Solstice to its lifeblood, Narrobah-3. After passing through the edge of the atmosphere emulator that allows easy passage in and out of the colony, Kris gently brings the ship to rest on one of the landing bays reserved for Republic use.

[LazyJoe]

Dehram had to concentrate to figure out what Ella was talking about in that characteristic speed of hers, but he managed to catch the last few words.

'Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you there.'

Apparently, this is as long a sentence as Dehram usually makes. In any case, as soon as the ship landed he slowly moved through the cargo bay, huge bare feet slapping on the metal floor, making their usual booming sound. He reached for the manual release for the cargo bay doors and pressed it.

[TamerBill]

Shortly after Dehram exits the ship he is met and greeted by a jet black service droid, in the monotone common to such beings.

"Welcome to Solstice, Sir. We are glad that the Republic was able to honour our request. If you would please gather your party and follow me I will take you to the briefing room where we can discuss your commission at leisure."

[LazyJoe]

Dehram briefly wondered who the droid was calling 'sir'. Instead of responding, he simply looked back at the ship and waited for the others.

[The_Snark]

Ella is not long in arriving, having skimmed the information Kris gathered on the monitor and then gotten up to get outside. Yes! Outside the tiny confines of the ship and into the considerably more expansive confines of a space station!

"Come on, Kris!" she calls back cheerfully, regardless of whether Kris is following or still in the cockpit. "They've got a droid waiting for us!" She rapidly turns her attention to the droid. "So, what's the problem?"

[TamerBill]

"If you will excuse me, ma'am, such matters are not to be spoken of in public. If you would please follow me to the briefing room we can discuss the matter at leisure."

The droid continues to stand in the same pose as it waits patiently for the whole party to assemble.

[Jannex]

After locking down the ship's computer, Kris follows Ella out of the cockpit and down to the cargo bay. As she walks, she readjusts her ever-present tool belt, which had shifted slightly while she was sitting at the control console.

She catches up to the others just in time to hear the droid's last statements. Content to wait until they reach the briefing room, she will follow the droid in silence, looking around as they walk in the hope of noticing any signs of anything unusual.

[TamerBill]

As the last of the crew disembarks the droid bows, and leads them away from the hangar and into the colony proper. The clean white corridors of Solstice stretch out before the party, and it takes a good fifteen minutes before the droid finally stops in-front of an office door. Leading the group inside, the droid directs them to a large room in which several comfortable-looking chairs face a wide videoscreen on the wall. Upon stepping into this room, the group is greeted by a middle-aged man sporting an impressive thick moustache.

"Welcome to Solstice" he says, shaking each of their hands "We're all very glad that you were able to come out at such short notice. We called HQ as soon as we got the warning, but we had a very short window of opportunity. Oh yes, please do take a seat. Would any of you care for tea?"

[LazyJoe]

Dehram mentally mapped the layout of Solstice as they walked through the complex, ignoring the way the stomping of his feet shook the floor. Once the droid presented the videoscreen room to them, the giant pretended to sit down on one of the chairs. Knowing full-well the chair would collapse if he actually sat on it, he settled for floating an inch above it. It was a surreal sight.

'I'll pass,' Dehram responded to the moustached-man. He sniffed the air and caught his scent. There was something about the man he didn't trust; he didn't seem very urgent.

'Look, what's all this about?'

[Jannex]

Kris claims one of the chairs, sitting forward with her elbows propped on her knees. Her nose wrinkles slightly at the offer of tea. "I don't suppose you've got coffee?" she asks, though she doesn't sound terribly hopeful. She turns her attention to the viewscreen, nodding as Dehram speaks. "Indeed. We weren't briefed; what's the problem?"

[The_Snark]

"Coffee if you've got it," Ella agrees cheerfully, flopping into one of the chairs. People outside Anidos never knew how to set the gravity quite right. She takes a look at the viewscreen. "You've got a visual presentation, or is this the local theater?"

[TamerBill]

As the droid leaves to procure some coffee your host activates the viewscreen, which displays a highly-detailed map of the colony.

"As you may or may not be aware, tomorrow marks the date of the annual Regalia Dance here on Solstice. This is the most important festival in the calendar here, and it is traditionally marked by a formal dance event held in the main hall marked here."

He gestures at the map behind him, which highlights the hall as he mentions it.

"Yesterday we recieved an anonymous tip-off, claiming that a rogue Paragon intended to disrupt the celebrations, for some nefarious reason. It is our hope that the presence of yourselves at the dance will be enough to dissuade our unknown saboteur from his plans, or at least neutralise him with a minimum of disruption."

[Jannex]

If the man's pause seems intended to invite comment, Kris nods and speaks up. "All right. We'll want a closer view of the layout of the hall where the event will be held, preferably including schematics of all service ducts, ventilation, sewage, and power, as well as those in the area immediately surrounding the building. What sort of surveillance does the hall have?"

[The_Snark]

"And if nothing happens, we end up going to a festival," Ella remarks. Anonymous tip-offs aren't always accurate; sometimes, it's just some joker. "Nice. Can anyone show up at the dance, or is it invitation-only? If you've got a guest list, it makes things a bit easier than if anyone can just walk right in and start causing trouble in the middle of everyone. 'Course, if it turns out to be one of your guests, that doesn't help anyway, and we probably don't have the time to check all of them out..."

She shrugs. "So, yeah. You have security already, I take it?"

[TamerBill]

The gang's host obligingly brings up a closer view of the hall on the screen, which zooms in and out and rotates while he describes the layout in detail.

The hall in question is apparently one big room, with a side order of understatement; in order to accomodate every noble on the station the dance hall is the biggest room on Solstice. One wall is dominated by a large stage, and the only entrance is a door on the opposite side; this leads to a cloakroom and an egress to the streets of Solstice. The hall itself is apparently monitored by security cameras hidden in the lights, which are then watched by a security team elsewhere on the colony.

In response to Ella's questions the man explains that the dance is open to all the nobles of Solstice, and so a guest list is not available.

[LazyJoe]

Dehram hovered above his chair for what seemed like 13 days, and viewed the plans of the dance hall. He especially kept an eye out for an places that would hide a person of his stature. Dehram didn't see any particular need to reveal his presence until the right moment, as he didn't exactly blend into a crowd, and jumping out in front of a potential enemy has proved effective many a time, if only because it scares them stupid.

'Kris, you can tap into the security cameras from any computer terminal, right?'

[Jannex]

Kris nods, not taking her eyes off the screen. "As long as they're all connected to the same system, it shouldn't be a problem." After another moment of studying the layout, her eyes flick briefly to their host. "Are schematics available?" she asks. "If necessary, you can get them to me later."

[LazyJoe]

'If anything does kick off, I want the hall cleared as soon as possible. Make sure all the guests know the evacuation procedure.'

Dehram usually tried to avoid civilian casualties when he worked, however his track record with collateral damage wasn't exactly exemplary. Which might explain why he was chosen for mostly offensive missions and rarely for guard duty.

[The_Snark]

"Too much to hope, I guess. So do we go public? Make our presence known to try to scare off whoever's doing this? Keep it quiet and hope to catch someone in the act? Or we could take the middle road, let rumors about Paragons get out to try to spook whoever's doing this but keep details secret so they aren't sure what to do. That one sounds best, actually—have you let anyone know already? Outside your government?" The last bit is directed at their host.

"And what's our plan? Inside the room, watching from nearby, spread out?"

[TamerBill]

The droid from earlier returns with coffee as the man attempts to answer the group's questions.

"Members of the public have not been informed of this threat; only I, you, my associates, and the security team know of this. Even if we'd wanted to spread awareness there has been precious little time since we recieved word."

The man accepts a cup of coffee from the droid, but he is presently interrupted by a communicator at his belt beeping incessantly. He leaves the group to discuss a plan while he answers the call.

[The_Snark]

Ella sips coffee, or more accurately slurps it. "Not hot enough. Anyway, what do you guys think? Do we keep this quiet, or let word get out and hope that they're spooked by us rather than forewarned?"

[Jannex]

"I'm inclined to keep things quiet, actually," Kris says, after taking a long sip of her coffee. From the expression on her face, it isn't quite strong enough for her tastes, but she hadn't expected better. "Anyone amateur enough to be spooked away by the arrival of a couple of Paragons would be more likely to be a danger by accident than on purpose. And if we're dealing with a more competent person--or group--we'll want to maintain the element of surprise. I can keep an eye on pretty much the entire place, between the pre-existing surveillance equipment and what I can rig up before the event. Ella, I imagine you'll want to mingle with the guests and keep tabs on things up close?" She turns to Dehram. "And I'm guessing you'll be ready to step in if things should get interesting? I should be able to manage us communications gear, if the colony can't provide."

[LazyJoe]

Dehram nodded.

'Don't think I'll bother hiding out on this one. Figured someone like me jumping out when there's trouble might spook a few patrons. Just gimme a security badge and I'll lurk at the buffet for a bit, 'til, as you said, things get interesting.'

[The_Snark]

"'F you want, I can take a shot at keeping you hidden," Ella offers. "Cause, it might spook some people to crash out of the walls, but you sitting out there is also like a ten-foot sign saying PARAGONs. I guess, if someone's gonna make trouble, you can probably handle whatever they do better than anyone else in the room, but it still tips our hand a bit."

[LazyJoe]

'Yeah, but as Kris says, anyone amateur enough'll be spooked away by me, whilst anyone halfway powerful will go on regardless. I may as well be visible to act as a distraction whilst you two remain relatively hidden. They'll go for me first, then, if I need it, you'll be there as backup.'

Although a mostly silent individual, once Dehram did start speaking, there was more than a hint of arrogance in his voice.

[TamerBill]

Presently the gang's host returns from his call, followed shortly by a burly man struggling under a large metal box about a metre cubed in size. He sets it down in a corner of the room as the man from before explains.

"We've got a little complication here you may want to factor into your plans. Some secret development project or something, I don't know; we have to protect the contents of this box from harm, no matter what. I tell you, the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing around here sometimes...."

[The_Snark]

"No kidding." Ella looks at the box critically. "What's this box have to do with the dance, anyway? Does 'protect' preclude opening the box in any way?" she asks hopefully, hopping out of her chair to examine it.

"And I guess you could do that," she says over her shoulder to Dehram, "but if we're going for surprise, probably better not to be seen, you know? I guess we could shoot for a middle ground and keep quiet until the party starts, then be really obvious..."

[TamerBill]

"Oh, it won't open. Locked, shielded and made of solid metatitanium, as far as I can see. I don't know why you've got it either, but I guess someone thinks it's our assailant's objective."

[The_Snark]

"Figures." She makes a face, and gives it a gentle kick, just to make sure. "But if this thing wasn't associated with the dance until now, why give it to us? We're going to have to be at the party in case someone barges in, and if we have to guard this thing as well, that means we're either taking it to the party and putting it nearer the danger, or we're splitting up and not covering either as well... bugger."

"Wonder if we could just hide it in an out-of-the-way storage closet or something?"

[Jannex]

"I dunno about that, Ella," Kris interjects. "As long as I've got a live feed, I can do my part of this job remotely. And if this thing here is their target," she gestures at the box with her coffee cup, "is there any particularly compelling reason it has to stay on-station? I mean, we came here in a perfectly good spaceship..."

[The_Snark]

"Hmmm, good point. So long as they don't up and go after you and the ship and leave Dehram and I high and dry. Well, we'd be at a party, but it wouldn't do you any good." Ella turns to their host. "I don't suppose you know who we might go ask what is in the box? Or is it going to be one of those they-don't-think-we-need-to-know situations?"

"And is there more coffee?"

[TamerBill]

"I'm afraid the contents of the box are classified information. All I know is that it's a top-secret military project and musn't fall into enemy hands."

Meanwhile, the droid responds to Ella's request for more coffee in its usual punctual manner.

[LazyJoe]

Dehram snorted when the words 'top-secret military project' came up. Being a top-secret-military-project-gone-wrong himself, he felt a certain empathy for the thing in the box and a simultaneous resentment for authority.

'What else is a gov'nment for 'cept to get in a man's way?'

[TamerBill]

"Public order, military defence and social and economic security? You are a goverment employee yourself, are you not?"

[The_Snark]

"Yeah, but we have to make fun of our bosses sometimes, right?" Ella quips, despite the fact that the man has displayed no trace of a sense of humor thus far. "My own curiousity aside, though, it would have been nice to know a little more about the thing so that we know what to do with it. Will it explode at high temperatures, should we be keeping it away from concentrated radiation and high G-forces, that sort of thing. Megatitanium is all very well, but I'm sure we could come up with something that would be unpleasant for whatever's inside, even by accident. Considering they want us to keep it safe, they haven't given us much in the way of safety precautions, you know?"

"I mean, they haven't even put a This Side Up label on it."

[Jannex]

Kris holds her coffee cup out for a refill as well. "As long as it doesn't make our jobs any more difficult, it can be full of genetically-engineered glow-in-the-dark pineapples, for all it matters. If the thing has any special needs that they didn't see fit to tell us about, then it's hardly our fault if we don't manage to meet those needs." She shrugs. "Of course, if it's gonna explode or something, that is a fact of which I would much rather be apprised in advance. The little details, y'know."

[TamerBill]

"If you could decide on a plan, then, we'll set up anything you need and you can rest up for tomorrow. I don't mean to rish you, but there's a lot of preperation has to go into getting ready for the ball, so if you need anything special now's the time to ask."

[LazyJoe]

'Well, I'm in favour of myself being the big distraction in the middle,' Dehram said in a 'I-ain't-never-come-up-against-somethin'-I-couldn't-handle' type of way.

[The_Snark]

"I'd sort of prefer keeping you unnoticed, but I guess either one would work. I'll mingle, and Kris can sit on the box and watch via camera. Kris? You want to be on-station, or do you want to head off somewhere on the Arrow once you're into the system?"

[Jannex]

Kris takes a sip of her coffee. "Assuming we can get the box aboard the ship without tipping our hand to whoever's after it, I think that's the safest and most sensible means to keep it out of harm's way. If we maintain realtime communication and I stay on the security feeds, it'll be as good as if I were down here with you."

[The_Snark]

"Mmmkay. We'll just have to hope they don't manage to find you, 'cause there's not a lot we'll be able to do then." She sits up straighter. "Nope, I think that's it, Mister... " She trails off, giving him a bit of a pause to introduce himself. Not a long pause, though. "We'll let you know if we need something ludicruously impractical or expensive, but for now, I think all we really need is to check out your security arrangements and look around the area beore tomorrow."

[TamerBill]

"Gorman. John Gorman. I suppose I'll let you get on with it, then. SD-5 will accompany you around the station."

After hearing this the droid ceases serving coffee and stands to attention. His job done for now, Gorman shuts down the view-screen and prepares to leave.

[LazyJoe]

With little effort, mainly because all he had to do was tell gravity to put him upright, Dehram rose to a standing position, ready to embark on the tour around the station.

[The_Snark]

"John Gorman, huh? Nice t' meet you." Ella stands and holds out a hand for him to shake, although she doesn't look perturbed if he doesn't. "I knew a John back home. John Engelsworth. Nice guy. Engine mechanic. Fixed my dad's ship up a few times. Had to have been the most patient guy on the colony, because eeeveryone was pretty paranoid about engine failure, especially the ones who didn't know how it worked."

"Come to think, there was a John living a few domiciles down, too—never really knew him, though. I think he was an ecologist, specializing in altering biospheres without screwing them up. Or maybe he worked as an educator teaching that stuff to kids, I can't remember. Has to be more or less the same thing, though, because you have to know something in order to teach it, you know? And—hey, there was a John who was a neighbor's little brother, too. Although I think he was a Jon, technically. Funny how popular the name is. You ever wonder what it means?" She doesn't seem to be directing the question at anyone in particular, but she does stop for more than a moment between sentences and looks back as she heads for the door, which is probably a sign that she's genuinely inviting conversation.

[Jannex]

Kris gives the man a curt but polite nod, before turning to Ella. "Y'know, I never really thought about it. C'mon, let's go see what passes for surveillance around here." She downs the last of her coffee, sets down her cup, and starts for the door.

[TamerBill]

SD-5 leads the gang through seemingly identical white corridors, walking at a pace that could be generously described as 'annoyingly slow'. The few citizens of Solstice they pass along the way gasp at Dehram's massive frame, though not openly. They are upper-class, after all.

Presently the droid stops outside a simple door marked 'Security', and swipes a small keycard through the electronic lock. Inside, the group is met with the sight of a massive wall of monitors and its attendant crew of security staff. You get the feeling that this will be adequate for the task.

[LazyJoe]

Simply because Dehram couldn't think of anything else to do with it, he lifted the box easily and propped it up underneath his right arm. He took no notice of the inhabitants of Solstice, not because he'd been subjected to those sorts of looks before, but rather from his general lack of empathy towards others.

Managing to squeeze through the door to the Security room, Dehram stared at the wall of monitors, mostly disinterested.

[Jannex]

In sharp contrast to Dehram's disinterest, Kris's eyes widen slightly in satisfied surprise at the reasonably well-outfitted security suite. She squeezes past Dehram and makes her way over to what looks to be one of the main control consoles. Almost belatedly, she remembers the person manning said console. "Hi. I can only assume you were told we'd be arriving to help with security for the event? Mind if I take a look at your setup?" she asks, gesturing at the terminal.

[The_Snark]

Ella maintains the conversation as they walk through the corridors, although for quite a lot of it, "conversation" would be a misleading term. She has to keep herself occupied somehow, after all. Fortunately, she has enough presence of mind to keep herself to topics that wouldn't matter if they were overheard.

"Finally! Hey, nice. Looks like they could cover pretty much the whole place."

[TamerBill]

The security staff are almost too eager to relinquish their places to the massive Titan and his inquisitive entourage. With the massive camera network at their disposal the group can monitor events happening all across the station, even without crazy Paragon witchery. That's just a bonus.

[LazyJoe]

(Special Paragon Power: Thread Rejuvination)


'So... that's a lot of screens.'

[The_Snark]

Ella is busy checking out the screens. Not in a technical sense; she leaves that up to Kris, who can probably do it a lot faster than she can, and would know what the specs meant to boot. Instead, she's looking at what's on the screens, at the various people and places around the station. Occasional comments, like "Hey, wow. Zero-g tennis court!" and "You know, these security guys spend all day in here. You'd think they'd get some couches in here, or at least armchairs," float back to the others.

After a little while, she wanders back to the others. "So what's the verdict, Kris?"

[LazyJoe]

After being mesmerised by the screen-wall for a couple more seconds, Dehram turned to Kris for an answer to Ella's question.

[Jannex]

Kris touches the console with one hand, her eyes closing briefly as her consciousness dips into the computer system. She explores its range, checks for blind spots and weak points, and generally familiarizes herself with its inner workings. After a moment, she steps away again, opening her eyes to glance approvingly at the screens and monitors. "It'll do."

[The_Snark]

"Great. So! What's next on the list?" Ella asks, taking it for granted that Kris has done what she needed to do here already. "Should we go over the place in person, so Dehram and I know our way around too? Something else we can do to prepare? Or do we take the rest of the day off?"

[LazyJoe]

'Couldn't hurt to check out the hall, seeing as we'll be spending most of tomorrow in it,' the giant said in his impossibly deep voice, adding 'think you can handle being in a tussle near me?' in a more playful tone.

Dehram and The Box squeezed through the door of the confining security room again and edged out into the hallway.

[The_Snark]

"Pffft. Like I couldn't keep out of the way hopping on one leg. You just make sure not to hit the civvies." Given that her favored weapon is a pulse gun, and that she's complained the trigger won't spring back fast enough to keep up with her firing rate, she's one to talk. She heads out into the hallway right on Dehram's heels, giving the giant a playful push that fails to have any impact on him. At all. "You coming, Kris, or did you see enough of it already over the cameras?"

[LazyJoe]

Whatever Kris's answer, Dehram instructed their robot guide to show the way to the great hall.

[Jannex]

((Ack, sorry... I've had stuff going on... back now.))

"Huh? Oh, yeah." With an effort, Kris pulls her attention away from the surveillance system, and follows the others out of the room. "I'd rather get a look at the site in person as well; even with all those cameras, they can't cover every angle, and I want to have a solid idea of what the hall looks like in realspace."