Log:The Shadowport: The Hapan-ing: No Vault Strong Enough
Warehouse. It means warehouse.
OOC Date: December 6, 2020
Location: Retainment Demesne 14-BESH, Hapes
Participants: The Shadowport: Sapphira, Rale, Liz'diot, Kaavenn, with special guest Ryo Odessa, and Zhu Yan as GM.
The short story: Skunkworks Team robs a Retainment Demesne and are judged by the stained-glass window of Queen Mother Meara Lal'Certe Commissioned In The Year Of Our Lady 982 Upon Celebration Of Her Ascension To The Throne Of Hapes.
The long story:
[19:59:29|Zhu Yan]
We continue the trend of Ta'a Chume'dan being what happens when an impressionable design student with a creative streak and an obsession with beauty sneezes on an architectural diagram. What serves as an industrial district on Hapes could easily be mistaken as luxury storage on any other planet, warehouses ornately designed and trimmed with shiny bits lined up in a nice neat row, with staggeringly handsome menfolk doing the rounds.
Zhu Yan, who over the past few days had been doing the aural equivalent of mainlining the comm relay hacks, had identified Retainment Demesne 14-BESH (because 'warehouse' was clearly too harsh a word for poor pretentious Hapan ears) as being owned by a certain Madam Vas, Real Name Unknown much like our very own intrepid leader. There's some horrible duality going on here.
"Forget subtle," Yan was saying. He was in a different set of armour now, a fresh-from-the-shop set of CNG Void, with a smaller FormStar model jetpack on his back. Still had the Bryar though, and The Jacket had still yet to be seen. "We want them to know that someone unknown's just hit them. A panicked enemy is a good enemy. So go in, take whatever you can that's valuable, make sure the Sword is one of them, plant some bombs, and then get ready for a hot escape. Speaking of hot escape, we need some repulsors. Batman, there was a parking zone when we came in. Wanna score us a way outta here?" That left them with four objectives:
- Steal the Sword
- Steal everything else, preferably if it's Jynell
- Wire Retainment Demesne 14-BESH to blow
- Purloin an escape vehicle
Like all Retainment Demesnes, there were small crisscrossing of beautifully maintained alleyways, so nice they even had their own buttresses. Buttresses! It made Yan sick. Skunkworks Team was gathered in one of these alleyways, away from a nearby patrol of guards, in front of a locked door, a flimsy looking wall, a stained-transparisteel window rendering the artful visage of Queen Mother Meara Lal'Certe Commissioned In The Year Of Our Lady 982 Upon Celebration Of Her Ascension To The Throne Of Hapes, with the carpark a short walk/sneak away. Get in, rob the place, get out.
[20:05:30|Sapphira]
Sapphira is here. Today she's not PEACHES, the scarred up blonde. Today she's a Zeltron, by the look of her though still in her shadowsuit. It's like she only brought one outfit or something. She checks her gun, reloading it and tucking it safely away.
"You do know I'm not exactly a boots-on-the-ground type, yeah?" Sapphira asks Yan in a conversational, yet rhetorical, tone. She doesn't even wait for an answer. "If you guys can hold back until I get to the door, I might be able to get it open before we go in blazin'," she recommends, looking around to see how the idea lands.
[20:06:44|Ryo Odessa]
"I think you've gotten fatter," Ryo finally remarks to Zhu Yan, the former just wearing a caustically bright orange nexu-print tunic and a pair of overtight slacks that lifted and separated all of the wrong things. He picks at his teeth and continues to assess the man. "Like, you look terrible, ni muchi. Like an over Meiloorun on a hot Thyferran day," he adds. The gambler's other hand rests lazily through the blue silk scarf tied loosely in front of his chest.
Alright. Time to go to wo-"No, I really mean it. I think you might be sick. Have you been to a doctor about all of that? Could be a thyroid thing."
[20:08:57|Liz'diot]
Liz followed along in the back of the group, likely cowering behind a crate while trying to look so hard like he wasn't cowering behind said crate. "INDEED, Zhu Yan is a fat disgusting HUMON, no wonder the Painted Lady cheats on him as if he was one of my flabbing puss sacks. Hahahaha."
He was here for support, demolitions or some computer knowledge might be needed, yet others were capable of that too.
[20:09:48|Rale]
"Sure thing, boss." Rale is completely obscured by his light-sucking Suppressor armor, but underneath his fur is a golden yellow and his ears are pinned to be shorter and less noticeable. He checks his carbine and, without another word, slips out of their transport and onto the street, fading from shadow to shadow on his way to nab the car, grinning like he's heading for a treat.
[20:13:40|Kaavenn]
Ye Olde Janitor Disguise is back in action again. Why not, they're going into a place that likely is high maintenance to clean and... maintain. Kaavenn has been relatively quiet the whole way over. Then again he's quiet most nights. At Sapphira's suggestion he nods. "Makes sense to me. Otherwise, how sturdy could a stained glass window be?" If a statement is to be made, that thing looks expensive. Real expensive and historic. He's going to keep beady red glowing eyes on it for a bit longer.
[20:20:33|Zhu Yan]
"You know, you guys are hurtful. Effective, but hurtful. Direct your hurtful energies at the way in, please," huffed the frustrated voice of Zhu Yan, somewhere in that void armour. Sure he'd put on weight, but not much! Definitely not that much.
The door, window, and wall all loomed menacingly, waiting for someone to just try something. The buttresses were casting dark shadows and the visage of Queen Mother Meara Lal'Certe Commissioned In The Year Of Our Lady 982 Upon Celebration Of Her Ascension To The Throne Of Hapes loomed menacingly.
RALE:
The only member of the team actually doing, well, anything was navigating his way towards the carpark, avoiding the footfalls and characteristic blindness of the Hapan guards. Handsome, but turn the lights off and they were as blind as a... well. The parking lot had a wide selection of vehicles, from flatbeds to sedans to a couple of sleek, brightly coloured numbers. There was also some service vehicles parked in there, one ambulance, and another firefighting unit. Now it was up to Rale and his little bat ears to pick one and break it open for the escape!
[20:25:58|Sapphira]
"Keep an ear out for me will ya?" Sapphira asks of Liz as she adjusts her ear bit in her ear bit. "I might need you once I'm at the door." And awayyyyyy goes the Zeltron lady. Let's call her TULIP this time 'round. TULIP is able to move to the door without being seen, crouching low once she arrives. It's almost as though she's looking for her keys and trying to get them into the lock in the dark; it takes a little longer than just a standard entrance, but not so long that it seems like there's anything untoward occuring. But untoward is occuring, oh yes. <Move in,> she tells the group on her comms. <I'll start looking for the toothpick, knife, whatever.>
[20:27:36|Zhu Yan]
Click!
With a near-inaudible whine the door into the Retainment Demesne swings open on its hinges, revealing the goodies within. And by 'within', I mean racks upon racks containing crates, boxes, containers, all sorts of crap. Also 'within' are some guards, up the back, sitting at a table playing pazaak or some other card game with a local sportsball event taking place on the holoview behind them. Must be a quiet day.
Combing through each and every possible repository of goodness will take far longer than anyone here has. Better off looking for a manifest, or checking shelves, or figuring out an inventory system.
[20:30:32|Ryo Odessa]
"I'm just looking out for you, Yan. And Cinnigar. I don't think they designed that armor to burst at the seams like that, eh?" he says, flicking his toothpick off to the side and resting both of his hands on his hips. Dark eyes trail to the warehouse. "Did you and EJ have a kid? Is that why you gave up?" he asks, attention returning to Zhu Yan. "Because that's all that I know to call...all of this," he says, his hand waving lazily over the poor, bloated excuse for a smuggler.
Deciding he's been helpful enough, Ryo pushes his way through the now-unlocked door and wanders back to where the guards are seated, looking around at them. "A sorry excuse for security if I've ever seen it. On your feet! I'm here to inspect the premises, you lazy bastards. The trolls I have to put up with day-to-day. Inexscusable."
[20:37:42|Liz'diot]
"Ahahahahaha... YAS, FATTY MC FATT FATT." Liz (As Count Drolex of course) Encourages Ryo's shaeful behaviour. He gives Sap a nod, "Naturally..." He comments and once she clicks open the door he moves inside himself. Once inside, he whispers LOUDLY, "I will look for a terminal to see if I can find this sword."
See, Liz had made legs forhimself... because of Gaz. Then Gaz left, so all the work he put into making them better got thrown out the door. They were not subtle or silent, in fact they had glowing innards much like his old chair had runners.
It didn't help that in carefully slinking towards the terminal he had spotted, lunch came back to haunt him and he let out a rather high pitched and extended toot from his read.
"PHEWIE..."
[20:44:52|Rale]
Rale perches on a stone wall in the darkness, perusing the lot much like one might a lunch menu. Hmmm...Oh. Oh hello there, beautiful. A large, powerfull Tyrrell Corporation Hovercar, sitting pretty as can be. A dark dark metallic, the large vehicle is just the sort of over-priced, oversized decadence that looks like its meant for offroading, but really is only good for bullying city traffic with its powerful engines and storage space.
Perfect.
Rale slides along between the cars, footsteps silent in his armor, and attaches a small decryption device to the door. lookin left and righ, he manages to sort the simple alarm code for the outside of the car and slip inside. <<"Thorn has found his target and is inside.">> Now to suss out the ignition without being spotted and....wait. Fun being the driver, but at least not getting shot at yet.
[20:55:45|Kaavenn]
Outstanding the door opened.... to some guards. Granted not paying attention, but guards. He bites off a compliment, he can pass it along later. First things first, get in quietly, preferably unseen as much as possible, and then figuring out the valuable things that hopefully are not some sort of weird phallic item. At the rate his luck has been lately, he's probably going to find worse. With Liz peeling off the the left... Kaavenn had already planned on going to the right. Once his ears picked up on the toot? Definitely to the right. So very very going to the right.
[21:02:19|Zhu Yan]
RETAINMENT DEMESNE:
There was no way in hell that the two guards were going to miss Ryo Odessa. Both of them would have been more than a match for his rakish handsomness if it weren't for the scowls on their faces. Sure, what he was saying was plausible, but that attire was a war crime in three different counties and Madam Vas wouldn't /dare/ let one of her agents out of the house looking like that.
The noises made by the obvious-once-you're-looking Bith didn't help matters.
"Hands up, both of you," said the older looking one, bearing the ultimate mark of shame on Hapes that was a receding hairline. Both of them levelled blaster rifles towards Ryo and Liz, fingers just above the trigger, glares of murderous intent present and accounted for. As for Sapphira, Kaavenn, and Yan? Well, Yan was outside the door playing watchman and the others had pulled a disappearing act. Time to act fast.
CARPARK:
Whether you're in the beautiful hellscape of Hapes or the homey smelly streets of Nar Shaddaa, boosting a ride is the one thing that stays the same. The surprisingly high-performance family van that Rale picked has given way to his gentle fingers and whispers of sweet nothingness. Now, it presents to him a different conundrum: Starting the hovercar without the keys.
[21:08:45|Sapphira]
Do the creep, awwww. Do the creep. That's Sapphira the Zeltron TULIP creeping her way along the inside of the warehouse and among the shelves. She pauses where she is, peering at the predicament that Ryo and Liz find themselves in. She hesitates only the merest of moments before her voice comes whisper-soft across the comms. <Liz, Fancypants, get down. Everyone else take out the guards.> As the order/suggestion/request/recommendation is given, the sleek Defender is easily palmed in one smooth motion before shots suddenly fly out.
[21:14:33|Ryo Odessa]
"Whatever you say," Ryo says, lifting his handsover his head, and letting that over-tight silk shirt of his ride up until it eventually untucks itself, showing off the older man's strangely toned figure. How /does/ he keep in such immaculate shape? Drugs, y'all. They got one for everything.
"Of course...oh, no...what's this?" the Festian says, inching closer and eyeing the man's hairline. "You poor thing. I bet all the mean Hapans around here jibe you for that, eh?" he proposes, ready to reach out and touch the fellow's head soothingly. But then that dumb skank in the catsuit is ruining everything by opening fire. Ryo makes a grab at one of the guard's ammo packs, but can't get ahold of it, so he stands there, waiting to die, as he's out of options.
[21:21:43|Liz'diot]
Liz looks over towards the guards adressing him and Ryo, pausing and turning slowly towrads them. He puts on an aire of importance then, "SILENCE FOOL. Madam sexy Lady sent me here to... uh... uh... make sure her scarlet pimpanel was all set for her festival next week and..."
Then there was shooting and the Bith screemed. He screamed so loud, and so high pitch, glass might have broke. He then sloppily ran towards the computer terminal with her hands up waving around.
[21:27:44|Rale]
Rale is peering at his next obstacle: that push-start ignition button. Normally activated with the presence of a key FAB nearby, he is forced to pop open the panel and start pulling forth wires to bypass the need for such trivia and just start on a push. Thankfully, he is tiny, and can fit under the wheel with little difficulty and thus be even harder to spot. It takes some doing, a bit of cursing, but eventually he ties off the wires....Just in time to hear the comms come on with Saps commands and then bits of blaster fire. "Welp, that sounds like itll be a problem sooner rather than later..." He hops up, low in the seat ans poised like a tiny bat-helmed gargoyle as he taps on the steering wheel. <<"Thorn here, asset ready for commands.">> Then he pauses for a moment. "Wonder if I should have told them I work on occasion for Vas, probably could have gotten in without much hassle?" He thinks. Shrugs. Too late now anyway.
Rale also removes a pair of small stilts from a tiny backpack he carries. To reach the peddles.
[21:32:23|Kaavenn]
He's already inside and a man on a mission... Shistavanen. Whatever. Kaavenn is on the move, walking with a purpose since he's just a janitor doing janitor... and that's some shooting. Time to improvise, he picks up his pace and spots his primary singular concern. Might just get him out of the doghouse with EJ, might not. She's still upset about shot YEARS ago after all. Kaavenn has spotted the sword of Jyn'til, or at least a box the right size and labled as such. He tears off after it, sliding to a stop sideways Risky Business style. He's ready to run back but... he opens the box. What's in the boooooooxx?
[21:38:11|Zhu Yan]
RETAINMENT DEMESNE:
There was a FIREFIGHT!
The younger guard took a shot right in the gut but remained standing, thanks to the S3 armour he was contractually obligated to wear. It wasn't in vogue but it was life-saving! Just don't tell your friends. Return fire was thick and hard, directed at the most stunning man in the room. Possibly literally.
Kaavenn, in his mad dash, had obtained a box! And within the box... the sword! The Jyn'til Sword! Being a weapon of murder its use upon anyone definitely wouldn't be Jyn'til but who are we to question sobriquets? That just left two things to do. Loot the place, and blow it up. And not die. Three things.
From outside was a quiet 'fwooosh!' sound, and then two godawfully bright yellow flashes illuminated the warehouse through the stained transparisteel visage of Queen Mother Meara Lal'Certe Commissioned In The Year Of Our Lady 982 Upon Celebration Of Her Ascension To The Throne Of Hapes. They were accompanied by the distinctive low WHUMPH of a Bryar firing fully-charged shots. Then over the comm was the voice of Yan. "<<Copy Thorn, bring it in and I'll cover you.>>"
CARPARK:
Rale needn't have been subtle. The guards patrolling the hovercar lot heard a buzzing in their comms, and were legging it for parts very much known. That left the way free and clear for the bat man to take his high powered family vehicle in whichever direction he wanted.
[21:42:48|Sapphira]
"THE BOURGEOIS WILL NOT STARVE OUR CHILDREN ANYMORE!" Tulip the Zeltron howls as she fires off shots, turning to head deeper into the facility as she does. It's almost like she's trying to encourage them to chase her or something. "DEATH TO WAGE SLAVERY! DEATH TO OUR SLAVERS! DEATH TO-aw krif." The last part is cut short as Sapphira stumbles, falling forward for a brief second and catching herself on her hands before she's scurrying up again and continuing to try to make her way into the shelves.
[21:43:41|Ryo Odessa]
Festian cursing!
Diving out of the way, Ryo's cape whips about behind him as he sails towards the ground, rolling back up to his knees and levelling his newly-brandished hold-out blaster at the men. The trigger is squeezed thricely and a trio of ultra-thin, focused bolts go sailing out of the barrel, catching one in the leg.
"Sapphira, you oaf! I had it handled!"
[21:51:33|Liz'diot]
Liz is running like a mad man towards the terminal. He slams against it, having to catch himself from sliding down off of it, clearly still getting used to higher forms of exertion in his new founded legs. When you grow up a cripple, it's harder to learn these things later in life.
He rights himself and starts typing, finding the UI rather easy to navigate. <<"Patching through the catalog with Jynel items to you all now, YASSS.">> In which they would of course show up in their various comlinks and what ever else they use, items ripe for the picking... "Now for the explosions.... HAHAHAHAHA."
[21:51:58|Rale]
<<"Roger that, incoming.">> Rale takes out his carbine, priming it and setting it down within easy reach on his lap, humming to himself as he pushes the large button, setting the glorified SUV up and moving. Spinning it around with grace and speed, he quickly accelerates out of the lot and down the road, humming a simple tune all the while and as calm as can be, totally in his element behind the wheel.
Oh hey. There are those guards running from the carpark to his friends. That won't do.
He jams on the pedal, and lowers the vehicle to just a few inches off the pavement as he steers toward the group. One guard, totally absorbed, gets only a warning of a half-second of whining repulsors before he is solidly driven under the car with a loud crunch. Still humming casually as he drives along. <<"security inbound. Got one of them.">> Fingers tapping as he weaves around traffic toward his parking spot.
[22:02:47|Kaavenn]
He has a sword! How weird is that? Kaavenn blinks at the Jynell heirloom. It looks like it is worth a lot of credits. Glitterstim credits... lots of. He stops that line of thinking immediately and tucks the box under his left arm tight. He starts that whole walking with a purpose thing, goal one complete. He's not going to announce what he has just yet. It's insurance... and very less likely to attract guard attention. However, along the way. He snaps the persuader out of his waistband holster, and extends his arm out to the side cowboy style to snap shot twice. That is one very potentially dead stained glass queen mother as the first bolt smashes through her right breast. The second bolt goes just a bit outside.
[22:11:08|Zhu Yan]
OUTSIDE:
Yan's on a buttress!
His shot had taken out one of the patrolling guards, and the second one was returning fire to his elevated position. Yan's response was to introduce the guard's veneers to a wonderful display of melting plasma. The remaining carpark guard was thrown to the side by the overpriced overpowered underutilized vehicle nicked by Rale, taking a snap shot that went into a buttress as he went, while his friend was... who wants pancakes?
"<<Pull in here,>>" Yan gestured to the approaching vehicle, indicating an area right next to the door. "<<Guys, our ride's here. Loot the place, wire it up, and let's go.>>"
INSIDE:
All hell had well and truly broken loose. Both of the guards had taken hits that were crippling, but hadn't put them out of the fight just yet. The very appearance of Ryo Odessa was definitely worth him being shot, but the Shistavanen? Well, Hapes hell had a special place for those who destroy beauty and putting a bolt right through the Holy Bosom of Queen Mother Meara Lal'Certe Commissioned In The Year Of Our Lady 982 Upon Celebration Of Her Ascension To The Throne Of Hapes absolutely qualified. Revenge was swift.
[22:15:41|Sapphira]
"THROUGH HERE!" Sapphira calls to no-one in the back. She's made it behind some of the storage racks, and is using them for cover. "THEY'RE THROUGH HERE, OPEN FIRE!" She hollars as she, herself, opens fire. The goal is to try to scramble the guards, to make them run for cover deeper into the stacks and away from the 'Porters. Will that work? Who knows at this point.
[22:21:42|Liz'diot]
If there was some calming music to be played as blaster bolts flew around and sparked against areas all around the Bith, it would be now as he ran from pillar to pillat placing plastic explosives with a remote detonator so that the entire building would go up in a violent thermal implosion. "TALLY HOE NERRRRRRDSSSS!" Exclaims to psychopathic shorty with the big bulbous veiny head.
[22:24:53|Rale]
performing a neat drifting slide to the spot indicated, Rale takes a moment to calmly lower his window as he slides to a stop. Safety first! And then calmly lifts up his carbine and drills a pair of bolts downrange at the guard outside, steadied by the door ledge. <<"Thorn ready when you are. Pile in and buckle up people, welcome to Thorn's Delivery and Mercenary Service.">> Never hurts, if people are listening.
[22:34:28|Sapphira]
They're dead? "Oh." They're dead. Sapphira seems a bit startled by that, but the shout from Liz tears her from that particular reverie. Hearing that particular Bith hollaring out is usually not a good thing. Her eyes widen and she begins a desperate scramble for a crate here or a box there, only to find herself standing in front of Ryo's cape-d form crumpled where he fell, likely smelling slightly of burnt flesh. Sapphira purses her lips, looks to the boxes in her arms and then the man again. The boxes. The man. The boxes. "Just grab something for Mujiji!" Sapphira shouts to Kaavenn as she dumps the loot to the side. Crouching down, she hooks her arms under Ryo's armpits and starts to drag him toward the door. "This makes us pretty much even, I figure," she tells the unconcious man. I mean sure, she's the reason he got shot ... but the reason he got saved too!
[22:36:40|Kaavenn]
Suddenly it's hard to breathe, and he's regretting going for a disguise and not armor. His right chest burns, it burns bad. He needs to keep moving, he finds himself having to trust someone else to do the shooting, as he has to holster the Persuader as his arm is going numb. The sword? He's not letting go of that. Not for anyone. Not even Yan. He's nearly out when he hears yelling towards him. "With what arm?!" He's got an uninjured side arm full of Jynell Sword. He glances at a shelf... that box looks valuable. PUNT. He hobble kicks his way all the way out to the waiting speeder so he can cradle his prize and focus on not losing consciousness.....
Wait. Does this mean he will end up as B'haav's roomate?
Poodoo.
[22:40:42|Zhu Yan]
With the fall of all six guards the way out was clear. "Pile in, let's go!" Yan was instructing the battered and bruised members of Skunkworks Team, with all the loot they could carry. Which wasn't much, all things considered. They had some documents, an old raiment with the House Jynell logo, and a few knickknacks. Everything related to Jynell was picked up with no real room for anything other than trinkets since most effort was put into hauling out the forms of Kaavenn and Ryo Odessa. And the SWORD! They had the sword! That must clearly be a complete win!
The family van took off without Zhu Yan aboard, for he was the bearer of a legendary enchanted jetpack and thus was flying overwatch. When they were safely away, Yan pushed a button.
If House Bren was devastation, then what happened to Retainment Demesne 14-BESH and everything around it within a fifty-metre radius was annihilation. It went up like Life Day fireworks, sending out a sonic boom that shattered windows and flipped hovercars. The sky went red with smoke and fire, and soon after the ringing of alarms deafened whatever eardrums anyone had left. But Skunkworks Team got out and to Yan, that's all that mattered.
Now they just had to escape safely.
