Log:The Whisperer

The Whisperer

OOC Date: January 11, 2016
Location: Hyperspace
Participants: Rax Vaelus (As GM), Russ Ordo, Narsai Ordo, Galak Varga, Kirk Novastar, Firaxa Priest, Laika

Normally, a 100,000 credit bounty would set off a firestorm of bounty hunters all racing toward the same goal. Tractor beams, seismic charges, blackmail, everything would be unleashed to sabotage the efforts of the other hunters. But this bounty... No one will touch it. No one but Russ, Narsai, and a couple 'randoms' that couldn't get a crew together by themselves either.

Everyone else knows the legend of the Whisperer too well. Ships fly in...and they don't fly out again before the Lucrehulk jumps away in a random direction, away from civilization. For over 80 years, the Whisperer has been the stuff of legends. As the hyperspace tunnel nears its end, the Thunderheart races along, toward deep space and Nav Bouy 40-A-935-Echo.

One of the 'randoms' by name of Galak Varga sits aboard the Thunderheart, his trusty Blastech H-11 sitting across his knees. His fingers drum across the butt of the blaster, and his eyes move left to right around the ship. "So uh... this is a pretty nice ship. You guys all fly together?" he says, attempting conversation as the group race toward whatever challenge awaits.

Russ mans the top quad laser canon, sitting easily back in his seat as they have not arrived at the ill fated ship yet. He is dressed in his full suit of newly designed modified Mandalorian battle armour, his helmet firmly in place on his head. He speaks through his helmet comm to communicate with the rest of the crew for this mission <<Narsai what is our ETA? I'm getting itchy sitting up here, hasn't exactly gone well for me lately." A rough laugh is heard over the radio before his comm cuts off.

After battling armies, duels on the bridges of starships and nearly losing her brother to the depths of space from a risky attack run, legendary ships are almost sounding more mundane and relaxing to the Mandalorian mechanic and Pilot of the customised frieghter. With her gear readied Narsai's helmet sits on the hook she'd left near the pilot's seat and she prepares for the moment they'll come out of lightspeed at the coordinates. The weapons are charged, the shields are ready. Just in case. "Single digits of minutes Russ, be ready." Galak's comment from behind her makes the woman chuckle. "She's my pride and joy. Fastest ship this side of the Galaxy. We treat her right and she'll get us home safely."

Laika had officially passed from random to 'family' very recently. Perhaps that's why the Cathar is still out in the common area and very carefully going about the business of attaching her armor plates to the undersuit she wears. She doesn't quite have it downpat like the Ordo siblings. Looking back at Galak she nods her head. "We've been working together for a while now. The Ordos are good people." Donning the gauntlet of her still shiny new armor the cathar rolls her shoulders. It's certainly heavier then her old suit.

Narsai Ordo tests her Pilot skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (22).

Narsai Ordo tests her Danger Sense skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (6).

Alarms sound throughout the Thunderheart as the ship reaches its destination. With the hyperdrive disengaged, the Mandalorian vessel lurches back into realspace, and the gargantuan hull of a C-shaped Lucrehulk suddenly rushes into view, filling up the viewports and just a few dozen kilometers away from the ship!! This is very much not right!

Alarms wail to life as the ship emerges within spitting distance of the Trade Federation battleship, and the sheer wall of white armor plating races up to the Thunderheart at percentages of lightspeed as the ship continues to decelerate from hyperspace!

In the turret above the ship, Russ can see the vast, sloping hull stretching onwards above him, scored and stained from countless laser, turbolaser, and blaster shots.

Nodding his head, Galak says with a bit of a chuckle, "Well that's a relief. I was a bit worried when I got the message about meeting up that I had landed with a complete throw together group. At least you three are pretty tight and I'm the odd man out!" If anyone were to look at him, they'd see a grin that shows he is kidding. "We met the other night, right... Narsai, wasn't it?" he questions looking toward the pilot. To the other two is offered, "I'm Galak--"

As the ship comes out of Hyperspace and the sight of the huge ship fills the viewports, Galak reaches beside his seat and slams his head down on his helmet he had set aside for the trip. Snatching it up, he shoves it onto his head and says, "Alright! Let me know what I can do!"

"I've got a bad feeling about th-SHIT!" Narsai begins, only to give a sudden jerk of the controls as the ship comes out of lightspeed a hell of a lot closer to the vessel then she'd intended. The Thunderheart responds, nimble as ever, but the ships internal inertia dampners can't entirely stop the feeling of being jerked sideways a little while the ship skirts the hull of the larger battleship, avoiding damage. "That was...unexpected," the pilot breathes lightly

Laika nods her head in return. "La-" she begins her own introduction before she whinces and grasps the bench her own helmet had been left on tightly for a moment, looking back confused at the viewport for a few seconds. That's got to be the second roughest hyperdrive exit they've ever had, and the other one involved missiles.

"Osik, single digits is right!" Russ curses as he goes from his more relaxed position to his prepared combat position, his body feeling the strain of the inertia dampeners struggling to keep up. His quad laser canon starts rotating from side to side as he scans for any incoming threats or mounted weapons turning towards them. "You are cutting it awfully close sister!" His helmet tracks from side to side as he scans over the ship. "Lets try and get in and out as fast as we can."

If a ship could ever appear to be a mere ghost of its former self, the Whisperer has pulled it off in spades. The vessel is ragged and torn, its armor plating ripped apart by 80 years of debris, asteroids, and war. The docking collar--and part of the hull--of an Acclamator is still latched onto the massive bulk-freighter-turned-battleship, evidence of its final battle. One third of a Trandoshan slaving ship is still attached to the top of the sphere in the center of the massive C that makes up the Lucrehulk's main body, clinging like a cancerous growth. The distant blue star that the Nav Bouy orbits casts a faint, greenish light across the surface of the ravaged ship, and all scans indicate shields are down.

Galak Varga nodding his head he says, "I am all for going in and out quickly. What's the plan? They say this thing likes to jump away into hyperspace pretty quick... are we going to try and go disable it from being able to jump away from us first or what?" With the coast at least looking clear for now, Galak hops up from his seat and moves over toward one of the viewports and looks out at the massive ship. "That thing is huge... I can't believe it is still flying as well as they say it does."

"Wow...they'd boarded and everything." Narsai comments quietly for a moment to herself before she looks back at the crew and Galak's question. "Even with the guns on this thing, we'd have a hard time stopping that 'hulk without flying inside it or some crazy shit like that. If it hasn't jumped yet, we'll have have to dock and work from the inside." With that Narsai logs the coordinates in the Nav computer, just in case the damn hulk goes jumping away somehow with them still docked. They'll need a way home. "Shields down, half a ship hanging off it...starting to remind me of that old Republic station we found Russ."

"Creepy." That's Laika's contribution to the discussion as she slips the slightly modified helmet down over her face and adjusts to the AR HUD it reads out for a few moments. At least this time her suit is sealed. "This thing stinks like a trap. It's a damn ghost ship...makes my fur stand on end." Not the most helpful commentary, but honest to the last.

"We need to try and get as close to the bridge as we can and take over all control. I don't think we will have the firepower to stop something this big from jumping in time. And then we have to get it back, and we certainly can't tow it." Russ shakes his head, unseen by the others as he remains in his turret. "Sister try and find us the closest docking clamp, either that or the nearest torn open bit of hull we can land in. I want the shortest path possible to that bridge. These things used to hold insane amounts of forepower and landing forces, best to be cautious." He chuckles at his sister "Yeah well lets hope this goes as well as that station did." He looks over the station again with what remains of the ships hanging off it. "Should have asked them to double the bounty."

The two arms of the Lucrehulk's main cargo hold wrap around to a gap directly ahead of the command sphere, and it's here that vessels are meant to enter the ship. The starboard docking port still has atmospheric shielding, it would seem, while the port arm has vented its atmosphere into space long ago. Most of the ship still seems pressurized, and life support is working. The ship is surprisingly warm, according to thermal scans, where atmosphere and power are both available. From just looking, it seems both the Acclamator and the Trandoshan vessel locked onto the ship and cut their way through the hull.

Continuing to look out of the viewport, Galak blows out a sigh and then turns back to the crew. "Alright, so we are going in and trying to find a way to disable their ability to get away from us on the inside. Are we all sticking together or splitting up?"

"It's a big ship to split up in." Narsai says as they make their approach, frowning a little as she looks at the other two ships. "It's strange. The other two tried to cut in and it didn't end well, but going through their open hanger feels like walking into a trap? Any thoughts?" A look now back at Galak and she frowns. "If atmo is down in there, you'll have to swap that armor out for one of the EVA suits in the cargo hold. They're paper thin when it comes to blasters, but they'll stop you from getting killed by the vaccum if they're in one piece."

"If there in nowhere we can fly in close to the bridge we are going to have to but the slug and go through the main doors. Lets just hope that it is a ghost ship, i don't know the exact number of droids one of these things could carry. But by sheer mass i would say in the hundreds of thousands. We don't need to fight through even a small portion of that." Russ shrugs his shoulders and keeps his turret moving, ready to cover the Thunderheart if needs be.

"Well." Laika says as she looks up at the wrecks of the other ships. "If they were blown away, something either shot them off, or blew them up from the inside after getting in their ship. Fly in close and we'll see if we can tell." Russ' sentiments are echoed by the Cathar. Armor or not, droids are a pain to take down with her claws.

The Whisperer simply floats there, vast and ancient, in the darkness of space. The distant blue star is scarcely bright enough to light the thing, casting deep shadows where armor plating has been blasted and torn into spires and curling tendrils of debris.

Russ speaks lowly into his helmet comm, communicating to all within the Thunderheart. "Ok guys we may have a small problem here. All the struts on the acclamater and that Trandoshan ship are bent, backwards." He trails histurret over the wreckage as they pass. "This is on you Narsai, you are king on this ship. It is your call what you are doing with your baby."

When the alarms sound, Firaxa is brought running from whatever area of the ship she had been in, medkit in hand. She might be new to the crew but that only makes her more eager to prove herself. "What's wrong?"

Having exited hyperspace, Kirk wasn't expecting what was happening. He listens to the crunching chalk noise of scrapping hulls together, "Son of a sith!" He says as he corrrects his piloting to adjust his course, speed, and heading, "Who the hell put that there." He says mostly to himself. He begins to scan the area for hostiles, raising shields on his ship as well incase people wish to attack first and comm later. He begins to notice the debri and the other ships present. He notices the Thunderheart and the slaver ship with the Whisperer. He stands by on the Shadowblade, watching his scanners.

Glancing down at his armor, Galak curses under his breath and says, "I should have thought of that before we took off... How long will it take to figure out if I am good or not? I don't want to leave you guys short a blaster while I'm in the back changing suits..."

"Bent backwards? Even if this thing jumped with them still attached that shouldn't happen with the mag systems in check..." Narsai lists off. There's some serious thought to be involved in this. "I mean, that's how those old Eta's used hyperdrive rings, or those imp ships carry TIE's..." shaking her head she sighs. "We don't have enough information and I'm not sure I want to make the same mistake the others did. Lets do one more scanning pass. If we don't find anything we're going to have to risk the hanger."

When she sees no one is bleeding out on the floor, Firaxa moves to the next most useful location she can help - behind a computer. Hearing Narsai, she nods. "On it!" she calls as she begins to do just that. She isn't precisely sure what she's looking for, but she's looking.

The Whisperer, rent with time and wear, just floats, silently, in the void. Time passes...

Look back out of the viewport nearest him, Galak points over toward Kirk's ship as it scrapes along the hull of the Ghost Ship. "Well... I guess that's one way to try and get in," he says. "I don't suppose that is a familiar ship to any of you guys, is it? Anyone we can reach out to?"

A long frown after a moment and Narsai sighs, shifting the ship to make for the hanger. "There's a disruption, the balance of the ship is out of whack. Unless we mount the ship externally over the hyperdrive we'd get ripped open the second this thing jumped again." With that it's towards the hanger they go. "It's only a few hundred droids right?" she manages in grim humor. The new ship popping up on their scopes and nearly crashing? Narsai frowns and tags it on the radar, but they're not the only one who heard about the job. "Russ, track it. Never seen that ship before on my life. Guns are charged and shields are up. They get rude? Vape them."

"I'll get ready." Laika says as she moves to the ramp and looks at Galak. "If the atmosphere is up in the hanger you're fine. I guess you need to decide what you're more scared of. Bodily harm or getting sucked into a vacuum?" Shrugging her shoulders the Cathar takes her position, ready to move off the ship when it touches down.

Kirk notices the other ship. He opens his comm channel on a wide public frequency, "This is Kirk Novastar of the Shadowblade, engineer elite. Now I'm here to scavage droid parts and schematics and mean no harm to anyone." He says over it as he starts his ship towards the hangar, "Stating my intentions so there is no misfire." He pilots the ship.

The atmospheric shield doesn't even crackle as the Thunderheart and Not-Shakira pass through. Inside, the hangar bay is entirely dark. Only the landing lights of the Thunderheart provide any illumination what-so-ever, followed shortly by the Shadowblade's. Those lights pass over fighters. Shuttles. Freighters. Some are truly ancient, spanning back to the days of the Old Republic. Some predate the Clone Wars. All are dark and still.

Though it's difficult to make out between the shrouding darkness and the blinding glare of the searchlights, there are large swaths of what looks like an oil stain upon the cargohold's floor. Sometimes it looks as if something was dragged through the glossy substace--usually toward one of the ships in the hangar. As the ships land, the range of illumination lessens considerably.

It is very warm inside the hangar, according to the external sensors. 98F, 37C.

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng76GVZlB3s"

Blowing out a sigh which can be heard by the others, Galak says, "Well... SOMETHING is flying that thing, which means that something will probably not like for us barging in here and may be fighting back. I think I am going to try and make this work. It will hardly matter if I am out there in one of the EVA suits and it gets a hole in it or I get killed anyways." Squaring his shoulders he moves over toward the ramp alongside Laika. He places the butt of his blaster against his shoulder and stands ready, eyes directed toward the ramp waiting for it to open.

Russ turns the gun from the tailing ship as they enter, it sweeps over the hulks of ships. Waiting to see if there is any signs of life, actually alive or otherwise. Finally when they land he stays in there for another minute as everyone prepares to depart. Slowly he moves from his seat and moves down the ladder. "Ok lets see what has made this ship such a not so living legend."

"Well...that looks welcoming," Firaxa mutters as she looks out the windows to the interior of the hanger. Sighing, she bends down to collect her medkit, slingint the strap across her body. She has a sinking feeling she is going to need to use it this run...

You paged Russ Ordo with 'As you track your gun around to the side, you see what you thought was some of the black oil suddenly get dragged into shadow. You estimate what you saw of it was about ten feet long, gently tapered. 4 feet wide at the largest you saw. It looked like a tentacle, or a tail.'

Russ pauses one hand on the ladder, movement caught in his peripheral vision. He swivels and catches it, speaking urgently into his comm "We have a contact. That oil isn't oil, or at least not all of it! It is some kind of tail or tentacle. Looks like we have an experimental droid or some mighty beast in here. Everyone be on your guard!"

Setting the Thunderheart down Narsai keeps the weapons charged for a few moments before looking at Firaxa. "Better go with them Firaxa. They might need a medic. I'll set the dock gun and be right behind you." With that Narsai starts to work on the task of preparing the ships defences. She doesn't need someone ripping it up whil they're landed. Russ' yell however? The pilot violently yanks the switches and controls to disengage the landing sequence, the retro-rockets roaring back to full power. If it has Russ panicing? She's going to pay attention.

Kirk Novastar follows just behind the thunderheart before finding a nice place to land. He keeps the ship powered up and running incase leaving is priority. He looks over to the small cam droid that enters into the bridge, "Lock her up tight. If you don't hear from me in an hour, you know what to do.""Right, blow up the ship. The droid seems to sigh a little bit before replying, "Please come back.

Kirk Novastar heads for the ramp of his ship now.

As Kirk heads for the ramp, the Thunderheart suddenly surges back into the air, hovering on plumes of flame and repulsorlift. The flames briefly illuminate the surrounding area, and cast flickering shadows in the distance as the flames reflect off dusty, grime-covered vessels in the far distance. The nearest vessel is a wrecked scout shuttle, that looks like it landed on its left wing and nose simultaneously. Mold and rust scar its hull.

Russ growls lowly the sound audible through his helmet comms. "I have lost it, but be cautious. This thing is -BIG-. The tail, tentacle whatever it was, was an easy ten feet long and four wide." He shakes his head and stays by the turret. "Get us down on the ground and i will cover us while we disembark.'

"You're sure we still want to do this?" comes the newest crew member's question through her comms. Her face is hidden behind her helmet, but her tone makes it clear that the medic thinks this is a bad idea. But who ever listens to a medic, right? Hitching her bag on her shoulder, she makes to follow the others. Medic or not, the mando has her pistol out.

Russ' call, but that doesn't mean that Narsai is happy about it. Setting the ship down once more she looks back over her shoulder. "I swear, if this thing gets a scratch on the Thunderheart..." she mutters while starting the setup of the dock gun once more. Scratching her nose she waits till everything is charged and set up before opening the ramp and grabbing her helmet with intent to join the others.

Laika was already waiting by the boarding ramp, so when it decends she's the first one off the ship, moving fast and scanning the darkness with her now tech-enhanced senses. The Cathar has her blaster pistol held in her hand, but she doesn't rush ahead just yet. She'll wait for the others to join her before tangling with any space monsters.

Kirk was not aware of the danger outside. He had his trusty wrist computer, his blaster, and his mind. He was ready to take on the dangers of this ship and cash in on the droid schems and parts he can collect. He grabs a wrist flashlight for his other hand also. The ramp of the shadowblade lowers and Kirk walks down it, shining his wrist flash light around. He notices the Thunderheart as settled down at as.

You paged Galak Varga with 'You see movement high along the cargo hold's sloping wall. A brief glint of light. Focusing sharply, you see a camera finish swiveling into place.'

You paged Laika and Narsai Ordo with 'You can both see the ships in the darkness. There are bodies on the ground in the distance, spread out. Two are close together. Nothing moves.'

Immediately following Laika down the ramp as soon as it opens is Galak. As she orients herself to scan the darkness, Galak places himself near her and scanning the opposite way. His blaster moving left to right. Catching movement and a brief flash of light, his attention goes upward as does the nose of his blaster. Into the comm he says quietly, "I have movement. High on the wall, someone is watching us through a camera. Do we want to shoot it down?"

Kirk Novastar (alf) pages: On my next turn, I wanna scan for the droids carrier signal in order to slice it and shut all droids in the area down.

You paged Firaxa Priest with 'You see the ships in the distance.'

Hot. Humid. Rancid. Those are the first things that roll into the ships as the landing ramps of the Thunderheart and Shadowblade are opened. This hangar smells like...mold. Old, old death. Decay. Wetness. Rust. Something drips in the distance.

As Kirk Novastar flashes his wrist light around, the black oil shimmers. It is darkness on darkness, and the light plays across the pool of liquid as though it were constantly moving. But when the light is taken away, the substance is clearly not.

There is a hot, heavy sound in the distance, like wet meat being slapped upon the ground. Then, the tell-tale sound of that meat being dragged--swiftly, then slowly--across deck plating.

• Slap!* *Drag.* *Slap!* *Drag.*

Then there is silence. It came from deeper within the cavernous hold.

Kirk Novastar tests his Computer Use skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (10).

You paged Kirk Novastar with Hello.' It's displayed on your scanner.'

"Hello."

The word is whispered from the furthest distance, yet it carries on the stale, hot air. It sounded young. Human?

"I have nothing from up here. How goes it on the ground team? Really wish we had the Fox with us, her canon would sure come in handy right now." He shakes his head "Keep the ramp down, that thing looked to big to board. And we may have to run back here in a hurry, to man the guns or get the hell out." He slowly extracts himself from his chair again "Fancy on a damn ghost ship there is a giant damn monster. I just thought it would be some still active droids on a barely functioning ship."

"Bodies. Someone else had been here before us and not faired well." Narsai says as she scans. The sight of the other ship landing and Kirk stepping around makes her frown for a moment, but she -has- seen the pilot before with his odd droid companion. Probably not a threat, or at least not the biggest one out here tonight. The camera? Narsai turns her attention that way before frowning once more. "Okay. Monster, cameras, blood and...something. Trap is an understatement." A questioning look comes to Russ. "On you brother."

At least Laika can breathe easy with the suits internal environment, but that's mostly due to her paranoia about nearly getting spaced again. Kirk's approach and light shining makes the Cat pause, but she'll move to follow Russ. What's more guns and people here if not a bonus...or someone to get eaten before her.

Kirk Novastar kneels down at the foot of his ramp and begins to type things on his small wrist computer. For now, he lets the crew of the Thunderheart do their thing. He sets out a sugnal scanner to find the droids carrier signal that trade federation ships used. He then sees the word hello and then the voice. "Eerie but stay off my screen!" He says while he continues to do his engineer thing. He remains close to his ship as he continues to scan for the control signal for the droids.

Firaxa Priest quirks her head to the side as she peers into the gloom. Her hand tenses on the grip of her pistol, and beneath her helmet, she grits her teeth. "I -really- have a bad feeling about this." And then she shuts up. She's said that enough, and so she's better off quiet and just there for support.

Kirk Novastar tests his Computer Use skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (20).

You paged Kirk Novastar with 'You manage to lock on. A new message: 'Y/N?' The two letters can be pressed.'

Galak Varga keeps his blaster trained above toward the camera that he saw move their way. He spares a glance over toward Kirk and his ship. Narrowing his eyes for a moment he glances back toward the camera he has targeted and says into the comm, "I think that other guy is... Kirk. He said his name was Kirk when I met him the other night. From Nar Shaddaa. Still waiting for a word on this camera? Do we want it watching us or not?"

Kirk Novastar (alf) pages: that's all it says?! That could be yes to blow up the ship or no to standing down! lmao

You paged Kirk Novastar with 'That's all it says.'

Kirk Novastar (alf) pages: Then Y is what he presses.

The silence left by the absence of the slapping meat sound hangs heavily in the air. Those who were looking strenuously into the distance directly ahead (into the ship) can see a person sitting in a chair, up ahead, near what was a Trade Federation supervisor's station. Those who were looking off toward the walls, like Galak, see nothing new. Anyone who was looking behind, toward the vast hangar entrance would see the stars outside suddenly race to the right, form lines, and disappear behind a wall of shifting blue light.

You paged Kirk Novastar with Okay.

"Okay."

That same, whispered, childlike voice.

There it is, that familiar feeling of jumping to hyperspace. Russ curses lowly as he hears the voice, a shiver running down his spine. Much harder to get off a ship once it has jumped to hyperspace. "Ok everyone be on guard, fan out a little but stay within easy eye contact with each other. I want no one getting lost or taken out without me knowing about it." His jetpack flares for a second as he launches foward a little landing atop some more the the wreckage, both of his pistols held out before him. "Laika move up on that figure by the supervisor station, we will have you covered. Just enough to get an ID so you can choose whether to proceed."

Creepy voices aside Narsai moves forwards, looking for a source of the noise in the darkness. It could be anything. Her rifle raised the Pilot keeps her weapon charged and ready to cover Laika while she moves forward, she herself moving between the debris.

Firaxa Priest snorts to herself, faintly amused despite the situation. Apparently getting taken out so long as Russ knows about it is okay. She keeps towards the middle of the group as they spread out - she wants to be relatively equidistant to any of them, should they drop. She keeps several paces back from Russ, pistol ready but pointed slightly downwards.

"Ok, that was obviously the hyperdrive I accessed." Kirk says as he continues to mutter under his breath, "Let's try this again." He continues to scan and acquire the droid command signal. He remains over by where his ship is, at the foot of the ramp, "Listen you peice of sith poodoo, I'm going to take you over and you're going to obey me. You listening to me ship?" The engineer was focused on the task at hand while the other crew was doing what they wanted to do. "I am the puppetmaster, you are the puppet."

Kirk Novastar tests his Computer Use skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (17).

Laika hears Russ's instruction and slip, but she's not in the mood to make fun of their leader. That'll come later. Pushing forwards as she'd been ordered the Cathar stays ready at a crouch and looks back at Kirk arguing with his ship for a few seconds before shaking her head. Inwards she goes, headed towards the ID station.

Galak Varga tests his Spot skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (12).

You paged Laika with 'The figure in the chair is wearing Clone Trooper armor. It's looking in your general direction in the darkness.'

Moving along and flanking Laika behind a step and about ten feet to her right is Galak. His rifle has left the camera, and is pointed further into the ship, toward the figure in the chair. His eyes continually scan left to right and back again looking for any sign of the tentacle that was mentioned earlier.

You paged Galak Varga with 'As Narsai moves forward with her blaster rifle up, a part of what you thought was just dark shadow IS NOW MOVING TOWARD ONE OF THE SIDE HALLWAYS. It's HUGE, easily twenty feet long and eight feet high at the widest part. And it seems to be...a limp tentacle, or a tail?! WHAT?! ...And then it's gone, dragged out of sight, down the huge corridor and out of the cargo bay.'

Moving along and flanking Laika behind a step and about ten feet to her right is Galak. His rifle has left the camera, and is pointed further into the ship, toward the figure in the chair. His eyes continually scan left to right and back again looking for any sign of the tentacle that was mentioned earlier. Glancing over toward Narsai suddenly, Galak's voice is again in the comm, "Check! Toward Narsai, the tentacle thing is going that direction. Huge, about twenty paces long, Tall. It could be a tail though... Not sure. There is a corridor over there heading out of the cargo bay and that's where it went."

Galak seems to be indicating a large side access corridor. It's easily fifty feet high and seventy-five feet wide. Compared to the cargo hold of the Lucrehulk, that makes it tiny.

Meanwhile, the silhouette in the chair near the Supervisor Station simply sits there, apparently waiting as Laika creeps forward. The Mandalorians and their charges are fine. Galak and Kirk are probably sweating by now. It's got to be 100 percent humidity in here. 98 degrees.

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "It's one of many ways to the command sphere."

Kirk Novastar tests his Knowledge:computer slicing skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (3).

You paged Kirk Novastar with What are you doing?

"What are you doing?"

...echoes the childlike voice.

"The beast is not our concern, getting this ship to the drop is. Once it is delievered the beast is not our problem it is theirs. Keep on the most direct path to this damn bridge, we need to turn this ship around." Russ clambers to his feet from his fallen position and activates his mag boots before he starts moving again, no more slipping for him. He makes sure his crew is properly fanned out keeping good firing lines and all in contact with each other. "Sister cover Laika, Laika check that figure, Be cautious it could be trapped. Or it could be a tarp over a deactivated droid." Hr growls lowly at the voice "Is it a mimic? Or is whoever is running this thing playing with us."

You paged Narsai Ordo, Firaxa Priest, and Galak Varga with 'Very very softly, from behind: *ssshhhoooooop* like a thick viscous substance being pulled up off the ground so, so quietly.'

You paged Narsai Ordo, Firaxa Priest, and Galak Varga with 'From behind, that is. When you turn, you see pseudopods of the black tar rising up out of the pools for you, slowly reaching toward everyone but Galak.'

You paged Kirk Novastar with 'You notice at the last second a large, softly-rounded blob of black tar reaching for your right hand, connected to a long stalk that leads to the pools. It's like a pseudopod feeler, going for your datapad. The Thunderheart crew may suddenly seem very, very far away.'

A nod from Narsai and she whinces a little as she hears Galak's report. She's covering Laika when the noise makes her frown and turn her head, a sharp breath coming from the younger sibling. "Contact rear! From the ooze!" she calls out to the others, turning her gun around on the pseudopod's coming towards them.

As three bright, loud bolts of plasma shriek into the pseudopod, it explodes into showers of black tar. The tentacle collapses limply, falling into the pool from whence it came.

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Aw-UpBJR8"

When the goop explodes against her sealed Beskar'gem Laika makes a noise of revulsion, shoving the armored figure back with her blaster. If it's alive, she's about to find out. "I've got a clone armor here, or at least the armor of." There's monsters coming at them now, seems they've got at least a little idea what made this place so dangerous.

"You got it, Vod," Firaxa answers quietly. She'd taken a half step forward when Russ slipped, but it was easily seen that he was unhurt, and so she settled back to her spot in the ranks. She lifts her pistol, slightly, and keeps her helmetted gaze on Laika. Then she's twisting at the waist, head snapping around to their rear..."Contact rear!" she snaps, pistol pointed at the...thing reaching for her. The soft sound gave just enough warning for her to step back and out of reach.

The Clone Trooper clatters to the ground from the chair, black ooze slowly leaking from the seams in its armor. Dead.

"I told you, who ever you are, I'm taking over." He says and continues to slice into the command carrier wave of the Fed ship. "You don't get to tell me no." He notices he's managed to get somewhere now and has gotten through a firewall. "That's one. Now, I hope there is only one more to go." He felt the heat of this place and it was making him sweat but having grown up on Tattooine, he can handle it. Kirk notices at the last second a large, softly-rounded blob of black tar reaching for his right hand, connected to a long stalk that leads to the some pools. It's like a pseudopod feeler, going for his datapad. He barely manages to avoid it as he starts moving now, "Shakira, close the ship ramp, turn the shields on. I'm going more inside the ship." He begins to move but not run, heading towards the crew but monitoring his connection with the ship on his wrist computer.

Hearing the low sounds of the ooze rising out up off the ground, Galak whirls and shoots a bit too haphazardly and his blaster beam soars past the oily pseudopod.

All around, the oil starts to shimmer and move. Pseudopods--dozens of them--start to rise langoriously from the pools of slick film, waving around with all the hurry of a Hutt on vacation. But others are moving with more purpose, angling toward warm bodies. Off in the distance, there is a sudden *S-S-S-SLUUUUURRP* sound as something huge and horrible just did something you cannot readily process.

"Stop it."

More forceful now. Just as far away. Just as young.

Russ swears and drops to one knee as he starts firing, the pistols in his hands firing rapid streams of red hot lasers. "Fall back! Seek high ground! We will start an organised withdrawal to the bridge. Cover your brothers and sisters, move now! Keep the fire up." He watches as the target he has just lit up explodes, Narsai leaping back from the explosion.

The last bit of goop explodes and splashes on Narsai's chestplate, the very last little bit she couldn't avoid. Gross. "Russ! Flamethrowers!" she suggests, but the younger sibling moves backwards none the lest starting to withdraw with the others. "Blasters are just splashing these things everywhere."

This is not going well. "Krif," Firaxa mutters to herself, the mando curse sharp despite thes oftness. "Hey, look...we aren't here to hurt you," She lifts her voice so she can hopefully be hurt. Maybe...it's a long shot, but it /could/ work. Couldn't it? Leave it to the medic to try and talk their way out. "We just came to pick up some cargo...Let us get what we came for, and then we'll leave. AND if we get it," she adds, "No one else is likely ever to come again." Maybe. But then everyone starts shooting...and she doubts she's going to be listened to. Still, she holds her own fire, just in case whatever is running this show decides to listen to reason; she does keep an active eye on the crew to make sure none of them drop.

Well that's a different approach, but Laika lets Firaxa try her thing. Moving away from the splattered monster she heads towards where Russ and Narsai are moving, looking down at the gauntlets she'd been given but not activating anything just yet. Flamethrowers huh? They're something new to her. At least she should be less flamable at the moment wearing this armor.

Kirk Novastar tests his Knowledge:computer slicing skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (37).

You paged Kirk Novastar with 'The shield is down! Commence attack on the Whisperer's main reactor! (Next round.)'

Kirk Novastar begins to type things into his wrist computer as he moves, ducking and dodging the gooey damn tenticles. He pushes to get into the carrier wave, to take control of the droids on this ship and the ship itself. He will not fail. This was his mission here. Well, to get droid parts and schematics. He wants a droideka schem so bad. He continues to move so that he can't be a target, hopfully. His fingers typing away and sending his hacking programs into the signal, "I got you....I think." He notices the last fire wall is out of the way.

Beginning to back quickly along with the rest of his team for higher ground, Galak turns to look toward Kirk heading their way. He raises his blaster but then something catches his attention out of the corner of his eye. Looking quickly toward Narsai as they back away, he says loudly into the comm, "The splatters are still alive! Narsai get that stuff off of you with something! It is going for the seams in your armor! Make sure you have no splatters on you!" Glancing back toward Kirk, he shoots toward one of the blobs a decent lead out in front of Kirk, hoping to make his way easier to get to them, but wouldn't you know... he missed again.

"I SAID STOP IT!!"

The child's voice rises all at once and comes from *everywhere* around them. Thundering so loud and so forcefully at the end that the deckplates vibrate, the voice is accompanied by a frenzied lashing of the pseudopods towards everything that moves--even Galak. There is a lurch as the ship suddenly drops out of hyperspace and a thrumming sound rises from power generators deep within the behemoth.

As it fades away, however, there is a different sort of rattling. Along those deckplates up there, on the ceiling. Moving, funneling toward...a grate.

Yeah.

Dropping out of the ceiling in a cascade of black oil and tar, several thousand liters of the stuff vomits out across the deck, washing away a T-67 X-Wing, a pile of corpses, and pooling around the ramp of the Thunderheart. Then, the tide begins to surge...

"Stop it...Everyone, just...stop shooting!" Firaxa sounds more confident t his time as she speaks through the comms after watching the ichor splash down and on or around everyone but her. Her helmet tilts back to give her a better view of the massing black goo before she slowly holsters her pistol. "We don't want to hurt you," Whateve ryou are, "But they're just defending themselves. We won't hurt you if you stop threatening us...I get you're trying to defend yourself but...let's...just talk, okay?"

Russ watches the pouting liquid as it comes from the vent, to much of it to miss. It is just impossible. He calls out as Narsai's suggestion reaches his ears. "Revivers, flamethrowers. Keep them back, do not let it get on you. We are going to need to get creative, we don't have the weapons we need. Everyone without Vaccuum sealing get into the ships, get to the guns and get them working. Revivers let space this...stuff!" He pauses at Firaxa's words, his own comm cracking to life as he pauses his firing for just a moment the pilot light of his flamethrowers already lit. "Hold for the newbie, if she gets eaten by this stuff follow my plan." He yells out now as well to the mass. "We are here in peace, we are just reacting to the observed threat."

Fortunately Narsai's suit is completely sealed, because she gives a little grunt at Galak's warning. She doesn't exactly have herself a shower to wash the goop off her armor however. "Get this crap off us then," she almost snarls at the newbie before hitting a button on her gauntlet. Unlike Russ she seems to be sensing a different risk, because the Thunderheart's ramp begins to close. "Some of those other ships should be air tight. Otherwise hold on!"

If the thing is trying to get in Narsai's suit it's probably trying to get in hers too, but Laika's wearing the same sort of armor. Looking over at Galak and Kirk, the only ones not currently sealed protectively while she locks her mag-boot systems at Russ' instruction. "Are you sure talking nice is the right way to do this?"

Kirk Novastar (alf) pages: if that's the case, I'm sending targeting instructions to any droids that can power up that the black tar is a security threat and to ignore the bipadel humanoids onboard.

"Roger Roger."

The childlike voice has vanished, being replaced by the cool, mechanical tones of B-1 battle droids. Roger. Roger.

It was like a slap in the face. The tar... it burns and it pisses him off. He feels his balance shift a little and he growls low in his face. The pain... he doesn't like pain. It doesn't agree with him. Once his computer tells him that he's inside, he gets to work. He begins to relay commands through the carrier wave, "Yea, now you pissed me off." He says and lets the command flow through the signal. "I'm in control. I am the droid master." He says as he starts going back to his ship, "Shakira, lower the shields, lower the ramp. I'm in their systems." Kirk heads to his ship to avoid the tenticles's loving embrace.

As he is slapped across the face, Galak growls, allowing his head to move with the motion. True to Firaxa's request, he doesn't fire off again. Rather, he glances around looking for a ship that would fit the bill and looks at it doubtfully as he backs quickly away from the ooze.

As the glob of black tar rises into the air, it twists and turns like a single, colossal pseudopod, 25 meters tall. 30 meters tall. /35/. /40!!/ It twists one way, and a part of the pseudopod breaks free into a separate tentacle. It twists the other, and another branch breaks off. Two huge tentacles break forward and slam into the ground, driving gigantic talons into the deck plating.

That slimy tail, only glimpsed earlier, slowly rises up off the ground out of the last of the goo, and the whole creature resolves into a melting, dripping, horrifying representation of an extremely emaciated Krayt Dragon. Its maw yawns open, and it unleashes an eardrum-smashing shriek as it crouches down, bringing its empty-socketed eyes close to the Mandalorians and their companions.

Fanning out twelve claws, each a meter long, the beast shrieks again and charges at Kirk, jaws open! As it goes, the 15 meter tail whiplashes aside, sailing toward the Mandalorians!

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "Oh, right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeTWWro16fQ"

Russ is rendered speechless for a moment as the creature forms, he has heard of and even seen these beasts but never like this. His suprise lasts for a long drawn out moment, the comm lines empty static breaking in the Revivers ears. Then he shakes his head and starts to yell orders again "It was worth a shot now everyone revert back to my original plan! Narsai and myself will do our best to entertain this beast. Kitty and Shark i need you to get that containment shield down. The only thing we have big enough to hurt this thing is that vacuum!" His jetpack flares as he throws himself back doing his best to avoid the creatures slashing atack. His pistols and flamethrowers all flare to life as he pours everything he has into the beast.

There is a ground-shaking shriek as the creature tears the flesh from Kirk's flank and wheels around, bits of Kirk-meat flying through the air. Rounding about in a half-circle on long, agile legs, the huge skull, loosely wrapped in black tar, turns toward Russ, the tail flicking about through the air in the distance behind it.

Narsai goes to move, but that odd state of focus that had helped her defeat the Deathwatch leader is noticably absent now. She's just not fast enough as she's slammed by the tail of the false dragon. That hurt, lots. Whincing she moves to try and stand, rolling her shoulder. If it wasn't for the armor she'd probably be half-dead at this point. Her eyes look to see Kirk running, but her attention goes to Galak. "Get on the ship! The guns should be able to punch a hole to the outside!"

Laika is similarly slammed by the tail, going tumbling back but landing on her feet. Spraying fire from her wrist-mount with a noise of anger the Feline bounds forwards as fast as she can, yelling back at Russ. "HOW THE HELL DO I DO THAT?!" No hacker is she.

Plan B it is...Firaxa can't help a twinge of guilt as she watches the black tail swing and strike Narsai. But she doesn't have time to dwell on it, she has band aids to apply! Opening the medkit on her left forarm even as she dashes forward, Firaxa speaks through her comms, "I gotcha, Narsai," she advises as she pulls out a heavy pressure bandage and presses it onto the wound without so much as a by your leave. She then does the only thing she can think of given they are about to try blowing a hole in the wall of the ship...she does a quick temporary patch to maintain a seal on Narsai's suit, holding the bandage in place.

Kirk Novastar (alf) pages: Since I have not seen any droids attacking it, I'm going to close my ramp and set the hanger to drops shields so everything not bolted down gets sucked into space.

Looking from the Y Wing with it's atmosphere sealing capabilities to Narsai as she tells him to run for the guns on the ship, Galak actually seems torn. Growling he turns and runs for the guns, rather than the easy safety. He isn't winning any sprinting awards, or dodging ones as the dragon reaches out and snaps its teeth into his shoulder and lifts him bodily from the ground and hurls him... onto the ramp of the ship he was trying to get to. He groans loudly as he hits the ramp and he can feel his torn shoulder against the hard surface, but he begins trying to struggle back to his feet.

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "Gimme some willpower, Galak! vs 50"

Galak Varga tests his Willpower skill at a 50 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (21).

Kirk got hit at his side and hit hard. As his ramp lowers, he stumbles on board then hits the close ramp. As soon as he gets a pressure seal lock, he broadcast over the comm, "Grab hold of something. It's about to get cold." He says and looks to his computer, queing up the hangar shield controls. "Give my regaurds to the Emperor asshole." It's then that he presses the lower shield command so the hangar shield drops. He falls back on the deck of his shield breathing hard from his injury, "I better find that schematic."

Rising up from its Galak-shaped snack, the melting Krayt Dragon's head snaps around as the atmospheric shielding suddenly flickers away. The vast, open space -launches- ships, bodies, Mandalorians without activated magnetic boots, and almost-Mandalorian catgirls into space. A small squadron of droids is also suddenly dragged into view, with a couple Driodekas rolling right out into the void, followed by B-1s, B-2s, and a couple Magnaguards.

The Krayt Dragon itself, however.../isn't moving/.

Shrieking and flailing in the rapidly dwindling atmosphere, the 120 foot tall monstrosity twists and turns, its tail lashing about as it tries to hold onto the deck plating. Suddenly wrenching free, however, it starts to hurtle into the void...

Until the Shadowblade slams into it, and it latches on, writhing.

About this time, the hissing in Laika's suit causes alarms to sound, and red warnings flash into her helmet: Hull Breach.

"Think Mandalorian! Blow something up!" Russ growls as he keeps firing, doing his best to keep the giant creature focused on him. Finally the shield drops...and it wasn't any of his men that managed to do it. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth he makes sure his mag boots are clamped down tightly as he holsters his pistols and holds on for dear life. "Hold on for the love of Mandalore, don't let go!"

Narsai tumbles a little, but she's quick to activate her magboots as Kirk goes with their plan. At least he gave a little warning. Holding on for dear life the younger Ordo sibling ducks one of the droids going by and whinces as the huge Krayt dragon doesn't manage to get sucked away. She however, has another idea how to get rid of the thing. "Make a jump! Anywhere! Quick!" (re)

Kirk Novastar tests his Pilot skill at a 100 difficulty.

 -Failed- (-4).

.{OOC}. Galak Varga says, "Come on luck...."

Galak Varga tests his Ranged:fixed mounts skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (9).

.{OOC}. Rax Vaelus says, "Whoa!"

A huge pair of blasts race past the Shadowblade's cockpit and slam into the Krayt, sending it spiraling off into the abyss of space!!

Narsai Ordo tests her Haggle skill at a 100 difficulty.

 +SUCCESS+ (76).

A dive and Narsai reaches out, her hand snagging Firaxa's as she pulls her backwards with a pained grunt, drawing her down enough that the other woman's armor could engage its mag boots or she can hold onto Narsai herself. "Hold on!" she yells as she hears those very familier guns go off.

Narsai's very very aware of that leak warning on her suit, but right now she can't do much about it besides try and cover the leak with her hand and hold on. "I've sprung a leak! Getting cold in here!" the Cathar speaks into her comm. At least she gets to see the ship blast the monster out of the vessel before she waves a hand franticly. "Someone turn that shield back on!"

Russ wastes no time as soon as the monster is away he makes a break for it, his mag boots clamping down with every step. "Make it to the Thunderheart, get to the medical bay! We can seal it all off and use the supplies i there to treat the wounds until we can get to the doc!" He moves quickly towards the Thunderheart, knowing that is his best bet. There is nothing he can do to get those shields back up.