Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 4, 2016 23:25:31 GMT -6
James reread the section of the note given to him by the Black Talons with some handy info regarding this particular bounty. All told, it made this "Tiny" guy seem like a rough character. In a twist of irony the note went on to mention that the very same beggars that he had used last time to get him some data, were one of the potential groups he was trying to worm his way into. Not affiliated with gangs, "Beggar Kings" were a very Terminus phenomena. You could imagine them as alphas of their respective packs, the oldest, meanest, and wisest who lead the rest and generally tried to keep some loose form of order over the unwanted. None of them really had power the way a gang did, but they tended to see and hear a lot, and most had the skills that only the pauper life brings. They could be wicked in their own right. The implication here was that the guy might already be aware of him, if the paupers his men had talked to were in affiliated. The jury was out on this, there were too many of them to be sure. But it was worth thinking about. The wanted poster also put a little more light on the situation. When that nickname is usually given to someone it's in irony, not this time. Barker was a dwarf in stature, for one. He had black hair that was buzzed down to practically being bald, a bushy mustache, no beard, and a crooked nose that looks like it'd be broken and healed wrong. How useful that will be to go off of, no one could be sure. If he was in fact a spy, he was probably good at disguise. But it was better than nothing. Going to the Rat's Nest, originally known as Terminal Town for its centralized location, was going to be pain enough even without factoring in having to find someone in here. It was at the center of the base, one of the heaviest population centers. James would know it well, maybe he even grew up here. Nowhere on Terminus would be considered prime housing, but this joint was at the very bottom. No debate. Originally it was made to emulate a city, with the hollow interior of the asteroid filled with houses, shops, and paved roads so soldiers stationed here wouldn't feel homesick. It could house about 10,000 people comfortably back then. Now it held 10x that, and not comfortably. Extra floors were added to the buildings, the construction makeshift and oftentimes clumsy. The shanties towered up to 5 or more stories until they reached the roof of the chamber. Cables and sky bridges connected them to one another, and they formed a shabby roof over smaller hovels built in the alleys and vacant lots between the original structures; which towered like standing giants by comparison. The name was very apt, rats were so ubiquitous that people here regularly ate them for food. Burn barrels were the usual rule of the day for those without homes, either roasting vermin the size of small dogs over the flames or using them to boil soup. It smelled pretty good in all honestly, despite the filthiness of the creatures that it came from. And speaking of homeless, there were many of them as well. Even the people with homes were of a dangerous sort, narrowed eyes and quick motions. One had to be vigilant out here in case of muggers or worse. The only mercy was that the original sanitation system of the base was very robust, and accommodate all this. Terminus's original water system was not, but that had been expanded over the years by this-gang-and-that as control shifted. These days a couple different groups held power, charging the residents for utilities and protection money. Not a happy place. A learned man might compare it to Kowloon Walled City from back on the homeworld. Finding a person here would be hard, but not impossible. Not much happened on these streets that at least one person didn't see. Just needed to get them to cough that intelligence up. - Before leaving he had set his officers about resupplying the ship with their first paycheck. It was a little tight but it should more than keep them in working order until they could grab some more. If nothing else it eased a lot of minds. They took care of the grunt work while the Captain was out and about on the prowl.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 5, 2016 0:04:15 GMT -6
Reading over the well needed information from the Black Talons, it seems that it'll be very difficult to just search him out with his crew. Even if it's home ground he don't really want to waste his time searching for a single person, more so when he's quite sure that operative is not going to make it any easier for them. They don't even have anyone that is trained in espionage, it sure won't be easy. But the good news is that the beggars from earlier seems to have some connections with this man, maybe they could help bring the man out. If not then at least help in searching for the man, for a fee.
So he goes over to a few of the beggars from before, hand them a few coins and have them pass a message to Tiny. They might need the money but it could worth a lot more to find someone like him to join their team, and make it a lot easier to search for other bounty targets in the future. So all he wanted to do now, is to meet and talk with this Tiny. If the operation has his methods of avoiding his pursuers, maybe James and his crew could lend him a hand in exchange for his addition to the team. To make it more sincere he allowed Tiny to choose his own meeting place, time, and limits on how many guys can James bring with him. That is of course, if Tiny accepts.
After doing that, he slowly walk through the city, listening to any news about the battle that happened earlier with the Fire Angels. Not just to make him feel great, but also to see if the Fire Angels figured out who did it, and if they have plans to retaliate. Well, if they happen to meet any on the streets here they would just have to take them out too. Shouldn't be too difficult unless their leader or someone of that level appears. He also looks around to see anything of interest, and to wave at a few familiar faces as he passes them.
Growing up here means you'll know a few people here and there, but it doesn't necessary mean he likes the place. Too many people, too many fools. He'll have to make sure no one gets their hands on his wallet, and anyone that attempts too would receive a painful lesson in forms of physical damage. At this rate, perhaps he'll be able to rob them instead.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 5, 2016 0:36:59 GMT -6
Shikoto continued his own work with the engineer and did it in silence for once. After all the ship had to be maintain regardless of the situation and Shikoto's job always was help the engineer with anything. He would continue this hearing that the Captain was out probably out for a new job.
"Wonder how long we will be staying here.", Shikoto commented to himself, as he used hsi wrench to tighten a piece of equipment.
He would continue to do this until such time he was required for anything else. He was soon told he had to go with others to try to find leads as he got up he simply walked out of the ship not sure where to go. For now he simply walked around asking subtly.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 5, 2016 1:43:57 GMT -6
Dispersing money to the beggars would take some time to work, James was looking at a couple of hours at least if he got lucky. Days if not. Word traveled fast but people didn't necessarily match that pace, more so when espionage came into mind. One thing was for sure though, if this guy was from Dalkor, he must have a lot of interesting stuff to say. Supposing they could actually talk to him. For now, he moves through the Nest and tries to make the best of the time spent waiting.
A couple of people recognize him, and vice versa. Most don't. Faces can change quickly here, literally and otherwise. Some washed out gangers from when he was a kid, some old smugglers. A back-alley doctor or two. They chat and swap stories where available, but most don't have much to say that'd interest him in regards to the Great Game, and he was on something of a time budget. Even so, they'd probably make decent recruitment fodder if he wanted to fill those extra bunks on his boat.
Speaking of, news of the battle the other day is one of the hotter topics that he'd pick up on while on his trek. It turns out that the Talons had been aggressively skirmishing with the Angels for weeks while their armament buildup came to a peak. Apparently they managed to launch some kind of two pronged attack, spreading the Fire Angels thin with a daring raid into their refinery from an unknown tunnel. Then when they were dealing with that Seabach himself lead sapper crews into the foundry from a number of services tunnels he blasted back over with some milspec explosives. How he got his hands on that was anyone's guess, but apparently he had some that he was saving for a rainy day. The battle was still going on in fact, and it didn't look very good for the Angels. It sounded like they got complacent in their little fortress, and were paying the price for it. The final outcome though, it was too early to tell.
The Talons let it slip that a merc had helped them out, but since they didn't leave any calling cards or having any real identifying features, the reputation isn't really attached to anyone. Other than "some blood with a fug-off big knife" that was apparently spearheading the operation. Now who could that refer to...
There were no Angels out this way lucky for him, they mostly kept to their own turf. That foundry wasn't the only land they held, it was just the most important piece. They had their own worker warrens nearby and other areas, but if they lost their industry then they'd be ghosts of their former selves. As for who did it, word was their leader was doing a hell of a lot of digging. The captain wouldn't recall who the new leader was, the old one having been ousted while he was serving before the mutiny.
Word also was she planned to stick the guy with a bounty, so maybe keeping his head down would be a good idea.
---
Shikoto would feel a meaty hand clasp him on the upper arm before he could get the hatch of the ship open.
"Yo." A rumbling voice would greet him. Briggs turned him around so that they could face one another. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of tinted welding goggles, and that combined with his wild hair made it to where one could barely see any of his face. Baggy overalls didn't do much to help the look, you could mistake him for a robot in there. With how doggedly he worked, it wouldn't be far from the truth either.
He continued, telling the slave that he "needed your help on something". He drummed the fingers of his right hand against something cradled in the respective arm, like a football. Each impact of nails against its surface produced an irony *TINK* noise. "Boss can handle the spy. Probably. Better you lay low for a bit anyway after last night."
Looking closer the thing was about the size of the aforementioned sporting good, maybe a little smaller, though it was shaped like a pop can. Scuffled tiles of a sickly grey color laid across its surface in rows, vaguely akin to the kind you'd see on a kitchen floor. Odd designs capped the device's top and bottom. Somewhere within the duration of his examination, Erwin would push it into his arms. It wasn't very light.
"Old boss had some hidden caches in here, you know that? He was holding out on us well before he got turned into freeze-dried asshole. Found this in one of 'em. Don't recognize it. You're from one of them fancy worlds, aren't ya? Maybe you can figure it out."
Briggs folded his well muscled arms and waited to see if he was going to help.
---
James had to deal out a black eye or three from pickpockets before he actually got a reply from one of the beggars. A scraggly man, he may recall passing him the other day when making the landing. Then he was panhandling from incoming ships, apparently he lived down here full time.
The beggar told him firstly that he had delivered the message - in a way. He had passed it up to his 'liege' as it were, the beggar king known as Fayred. He'd pulled some strings to deliver it. Tiny told James that if he was serious about meeting, he was to go to the tallest building in Terminal three hours from now and wait there alone.
"But the problem," the vagabond told him, now going into his own message, "is that he killed the messenger and had cut his answer into his skin. This..."tiny" tried to worm his way into Fayred's court. When his ambitions were checked he tried to murder the king openly, and then fled. Now he runs a petty band of murderers he scrapped up."
The beggar wringed his hands a dozen times, looking left, then right, and then left again as if certain that they were being spied on and trying to make any snoops keep their head down. It was the best you could hope for in the Nest, at least make the spies give you the courtesy of not staring while eavesdropping. Even so he leaned in, to where Gransela could smell his bad breath. "But Fayred said if your meeting goes bad, he'd pay good coin if you can get his weapon!" A smile of yellowed teeth closed out that offer.
But then his face slumped back into that nervous grimace. "Also says he ain't responsible if you get shanked."
It sounded like the operative and the locals had something of a bad history, and maybe he decided to try and run with a different crowd? Either way it looked like there was some more potential for coin. On the otherhand, the agent no longer sounded quite as stable. Either way the meeting would be set to go at roughly 3am planetary time.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 5, 2016 2:17:12 GMT -6
Looks like Seabach's got enough confidence in the random mercenary that showed up and offered services, at least enough to launch an attack of his own, using something special for this occasion. It sounds fine for their business relation, something that can't hurt to have. He didn't think much about the bounty though, sure it might bring danger to him and his crew, but that also means loot will walk towards them rather than requiring the effort to search for them. The victories against anyone aiming for their head would also bring them fame and glory, which, though not something you can eat, it will surely be helpful in future operations for the team. He does make a note to himself to remember to choose a new name for the team so their fame could be more well known than just "James' band of pirates" or something along the lines of that.
He was starting to get bored of practicing his punches on these petty thieves when he finally got a reply, pass down by a somewhat familiar beggar that he might have seen before, just forgot about. At the mention of his 'deed', James just grins and feeling more interested to meet this 'Tiny'.
"An interest one I'll have to say. I'll keep the offer in mind, here, get yourself a drink. No need to worry, only I shank people, with this."
And a few more coins for the man, if money can buy the assistance of these helpful informants then he won't hesitate to share. Saves them lots of time and effort, so they can focus on the bigger picture. As he leaves, he points at the weapon on his back, leaking some of his identity to the beggar's 'lord' on purpose to gain some fame for their assault. James waves for one of his crew to relay his orders, to have twenty of them armed and wait outside of the meeting location. They are to team up in squads of five to avoid getting pick off, and to reduce the chance of unwanted attention. After all, they still got the Fire Angels glaring their way for their recent job.
It took a bit of time to travel through the crowds of people, and a bit more effort to deal with the usual thieves and overly gutsy fools, but he managed to arrive on time with a bit to spare. Taking no mind of the people he see on the way, he knows for sure there are some that are watching his every move, but he has nothing to hide. He's got two choices here, talk them down, or hack them down with his sword. As much as he'd like to enjoy doing the second choice, having that crew will surely be helpful, so he'll just have to hold back his wishes of fighting a fierce opponent. Arriving at the location that he was told, he waits by a wall and looks around carefully, making notices of possible escape routes, cover, and vantage points that could be advantageous in case combat is necessary.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 5, 2016 3:40:36 GMT -6
Shikoto soon nodded as he was pulled away from leaving the ship to help in the search, following Briggs towards to what seemed to be a cyclinder of some type.
"Huh, what is this?", Shikoto soon pondered as he looked at the thing that was handed to him.
He began to examine it and looked on first what the outside looked like. It began to endless possibilities what it would be, from a basic item that charged a DEW Rifle to even the most basic piece of furniture went into his mind. He began to play with it to see if there was any switches or any connections that is suppose to go into it. As well he would try to twist it to see if it did nothing. As well he began to look specifically any markings that even remotely tell what it could be to him.
"This is interesting, you say this is what he Old boss left? A Weapon? A battery? Something not even remotely in the ball park of that?", Shikoto began to mutter as he continued to examine it.
Looking to Briggs he would soon ask, "Where exactly did you find it?"
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 5, 2016 4:14:40 GMT -6
The blood with the fug-off big knife drew some pretty pointed stares as he moved on towards the meeting point, least of all because there was that rumor matching the description. But mostly because, that was a huge weapon for one man to be wielding. Crazier to be doing it in Terminus. Probably good for his credit, that's one thing you could say as the silver lining.
Regardless, getting to the roof was an arduous process. James was by no means out of shape, but the stairs were rickety, narrow, and blocked oftentimes by other people or their laundry and assorted junk. There were also a lot of them. Getting anyone up or down from here in a hurry would basically be impossible, he'd have to remember that when it came to relying on backup. Best case scenario he'd be on his own for a little while, which might be all it takes if this guy is the pro he's made out to be.
Getting to the rooftop, the captain would see that it was about 40 feet by 35. Fairly spacious as far as that word can be used in the Rat's Nest. At the upper right corner were a few ventilation pillars that spun slowly to circulate air through the building. To the lower left was the stairway access he came in through. Near the vents was the fire escape, useful for where his backup would arrive from. Being the largest structure here, there weren't many sniper points that one could use on him. The next tallest building was about 5 feet shorter. It was close enough to jump to, as were a few others...if you were bold. The streets below were so far down that they'd make one dizzy to look at, striking with the hammer of vertigo.
James would feel eyes on him as soon as he was finished getting his bearings and pressing close to a wall. As if of one mind, a man stepped out from the other side of the stairwell's housing, hidden there in the blind spot. This had to be the guy, James was sure of it. The man only stood at about 4'8". People joked that Briggs was a dwarf, but he was still about 5 and a half. A lot more compared to this guy. His body was wrapped in a tanned cloak so it was hard to tell his form, but he looked to be of an athletic build. His face was similarly obscured, but the eye color matched those of the posters: brown. No mustache, but a smart fugitive would shave that off anyway. Tiny moved with the grace of a warrior, each step forward taken only when the prior was in position with knees bent for a quick evasion or lunge. He put some distance between himself and the man whom wanted to meet him, and the captain could feel himself being sized up from the far side of the floor.
"So, here we are." Tiny Tim said. His voice was more masculine than one would expect from his stature. There was something a little off in his voice, but it was hard to figure it out. Eventually it struck James that it was the fact he was totally devoid of any fear, but in fact, seemed amused at this entire situation. "You know, I don't like guys bushwacking around town to find me. So imagine my face, when I have some two-bit bums playing the bloodhound game, sticking their noses into every anthill in the Nest trying to find me."
A short pause, and then he answered for him. "I wasn't very impressed. But you know what? I figured, what the hell? Let's see where this goes." Tiny shrugged as he spoke, as if it was no big deal. He kept his hands out of his pockets and away from his belt as a courtesy, but the fact that his fingers didn't protrude past his sleeves would be just as sure of a sign that he was packing his own gear.
"So you tell me, big guy. Where is this going to go? Fayred's boot licks tell me you got a deal for me. Lay it out." He said, making an exaggerated hand rolling motion. He certainly had an ego, for a spy.
---
As was stated, the outside was covered in greyed tiles, but looking closer the mechanic would notice some faded writing stenciled on the side. It was too worn to be legible, either from age or exposure to water or air. While poking around the outside he'd find that one row of panels would flip open, and when he did so, he'd see a large black line running down about 2/3 of the canister's length. It was about as wide as two of his fingers put together. The inside had more faded writing, both on the inside of the flap and on the body itself, but it too was beyond reading.
The top seemed to be some of connector, roughly conical in shape.
Working off earlier successes, he pushed down on the panels and found that all of them slid down to reveal a row of LED lights evenly spaced around the upper lip of the device. Each one was lifeless, and there was one per row of flaps.
The top part looked like it could screw off as well, but it was firmly clamped into place by four locks that were also only visible once the outer casing was pushed down. Examining the case more closely now, he could tell that it was some kind of thermal plating.
And all of this together triggered a memory in his mind. It reminded him of when he was back home, and he once was witness to a military parade on the moons of Araelia. It was faint, being he was so young at the time, but he distinctly recalled these being used in the nobility's powered armor suits. And other appliances as well, he'd now remember, having heard about them from his time working with machines. It was a nuclear battery.
They weren't seen very often, usually only in high end gear that the nobles and guilders kept to themselves. He only knew about them because he was trained in this field. These things could easily fetch a decent price even when dead - which he assumed this one was.
"Looks like you got a handle on it there. What do you think?" Briggs asked, watching him as he fiddled with the device.
This presented him with a number of interesting options...
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 5, 2016 13:22:32 GMT -6
The stairs was more annoying than tiring, those steps after steps of steps makes one feel like they're going to last forever, maybe it would have been easier to find another building with elevators then jump over to this building as dangerous as it might be.
He took a look at the man in front of him, Tiny matches his nickname alright, but only in terms of height and not his presence. The shorter man has brains, and some level of brawn to match it too, exactly who he might need in the future. Just as he is judging the man before him, he knows that Tiny is doing the same towards himself, and just his own ability alone is not enough to draw the man's attention. Slowly he stabs his sword beside him, avoiding sudden movements to show he's not here for a fight, then looks back at Tiny.
"I trust you already caught wind of who I am and what I have done, I plan to do more of it. I need someone with good ears and eyes to bring me towards these opportunities, someone with your skills and experience. But..."
He waves his hand and that small wallet of his, quite empty after storing most of his funds into the jointed coffer and paying for necessaries. For a leader of a pirate gang he sure seems poor, or at least he's not greedy enough to keep much of the loot shares.
"Cash is not something I have at the moment, so I have a proposal. I heard you want to blend into the crowd, probably to avoid being discovered by whoever is after you. I'll take on that risk for you, work for me, in exchange me and my men will fight to the end in defending a comrade. Not long from now they would want my head instead, and that price will continue to increase as I go, perfect for drawing attention away from you. I don't know what caused you to go rouge, and I'm don't have much to offer you but our trust and strength. Of course if that doesn't sound good to you I'm guessing you'd want to silence me to avoid detection, which of course, I'm not going to just stand here and let you do that either..."
He dropped his proposal, then get ready for Tiny's response. Either way he'll benefit in the end, just depending on how he's being paid and how much effort would it take to get it, or so that's what he had in mind.
"You can't out run your pursuers forever my friend, eventually they'll catch up to you. When that happens, don't you think it's better to fight with others that you can trust rather than yourself? My group used to be called the Mongoloids, a decent size Pirate band, but I took over now and there are a lot of... unreported empty space so to say. I'm quite sure with your ability you can work out a stack of identity to use for yourself and your team if necessary. After all, these guys aren't going to complain anymore now that they are a chunk of meat floating in space."
He stood up straight from his resting position of leaning towards the wall, and holds his large cleaver to either place it back on his back or to prepare to swing it.
"So what would it be? Friend?"
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Post by Pitman on Jan 5, 2016 17:08:13 GMT -6
Shikoto continue to look at the device as he examined as he continue to do so he began to recognize it vaguely. When was it that it reminded him of, something from his childhood, something very important. Then he remembered something he was with his parents and grandfather as they watched a parade from some city he didn't recognize, it couldn't be, or could it? Shikoto Further as the more he moved things around the more it looked just like one, except it was dead. With this inspiration meant only one thing! Did the old boss at one point got a power armor or was it from an enemy he killed a long time ago. Now he knew what it was, a Nuclear Battery, though they power up the power armor the reason why they still fetched such a high price due to with the right facilities one could recharge it to make it reusable, or convert it into a mini nuclear device that could level an entire building or inside of a ship. That meant in his hands was something very highly valued, but what should he do? Tell Briggs or not tell what it is. With this information it would be likely used by the boss to sell it for the crew. But then again Shikoto DID want to get out of slavery one day, was this a ticket to start saving to buy his freedom? Shikoto was in deep thought then began to make his decision, that of half lie and half truth.
"Well the way it looks, and with the small non readable writing, it looks to be like a battery of some type. What kind, I am not sure, it is likely that writing here actually would've help what it was. Alas with it unable to read I can at least tell its a battery, a dead battery.", Shikoto admitted.
Now he revealed its a battery he didn't say nuclear battery, after all if he did someone from the crew might get bright idea to tell the boss to sell the item away.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 5, 2016 21:00:20 GMT -6
Tiny listened to him, swaying back and forth gently as he did so, shifting weight from one leg to another as if in a slight daze the entire time.
"I know of you." Tiny said at the appropriate moment. He'd heard of James, though by association to his work the other night.
The lack of cash didn't seem to perturb him much either, or if it did he didn't say anything about it. Presumably from leading his own gang, he'd know the score with that situation. Wasn't easy, taking on all of that responsibility. Probably was even poorer than James if he had been working around here all the time. No matter how good you are, there isn't a ton of money flowing through most of Terminus.
Somewhere during James's talk he had taken a long step forward, and he eyed him intently when he was done speaking. Now that he was closer, Captain Gransela could see his eyes more clearly. They were brown to be sure, but the pupils were widely dilated into miniature black holes threatening to swallow up everything around them. Red veins clearly ran underneath the whites of them in almost every direction, they were the radiating spokes of a crooked wheel. He shivered from a cause he couldn't identify, and tilted his head to the side.
"I admit, sounds like you got a pretty thing going on. I could see it." Tiny admitted. "Get off this rock, start moving again. I kinda miss elbow room. I kinda miss fresh air. You know, the little things."
He tapped the toe of his left foot against the ceiling, it sounded like they were steel capped. Probably work boots acquired locally. "But see, here's the thing, and it's the same thing I told that rag picker Fayred."
The operative's arm snapped forward like a high tension wire, hurling a cluster of darts just about as long as a finger towards James's head. They were made of solid metal and lethally sharp, and also coated with poison as an added surprise for if his target only managed to partially evade them. Being hand-launched projectiles, his shield wouldn't be of particular use of he managed to toss it up in time. The better route would be to evade...if he was fast enough. Your average mook would go for the shield, and die in the process.
This didn't even break his line of conversation. Nor did it as he lunged forward to follow up on his attack, though short legs combined with the distance meant James would have time to recover before he could arrive within arm's reach.
He continued, "I'd rather lead than follow! I'll take that nice little crew off your hands and then the fun will really start!"
From downstairs James could begin to hear shouting as this all went down...
---
Shikoto was right about one thing, these could be reused. But the process of doing so wasn't as easy as hooking them up to a solar charger and coming back in a few days. You had to crack them open at the top here and expose the nuclear material inside, hence why it was locked tight, and then replace them with fresh fuel. But after that, you were good to go. Some could be used as weapons but usually they weren't particularly effective at the task. The efficiency there would depend on the type and what kind of material it used to generate power, and that would require opening it to find out.
Of course that was a gross simplification of a problem. Screwing around with atomics wasn't an easy feat even for someone skilled. Finding some fresh fuel wasn't much easier. Supposing he managed, he'd be able to sell it for a lot more live. Or use it in something of his own, if so inclined.
Erwin nodded twice at the slave's diagnosis. "Thought so. Not really my field of expertise, you know? Always been a ship's mechanic, most of the stuff here we just slave to the main power core and call it done. Got some backup batteries that run off solar, but they're cruder affairs, nothing like that."
If the engineer thought he was bullshitting him, the slave wasn't called on it. Whether that thought was more or less comforting, was up to him.
"So why do you think he squirreled it away? You think it's useful? Looks a little small." Going on with the prior line of thought, the ship's batteries for backup power were fairly bulky affairs. "But looks way too big for a DEW. Maybe its one of those ones you put in a car. Chef would know, I've never actually been in one myself. Spacer."
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 5, 2016 23:14:11 GMT -6
"Ah I see, I see... then, let the fun begin!"
Either way it'll be an enjoyable result, he makes a note to himself that he should thank Seabach the next time they met. If a fight is coming his way, there is not reason for him to turn it down, more so when it is with a worthy opponent. With a grin he simply pulled down his cleaver, turning it at an angle so it could act as a large shield against the coming darts and deflect them. Now, defending is not the only thing he plans to do, with the blade covering much of his torso to hide parts of his moves, he quickly draws his Shot Revolver and fires back towards his opponent.
"Here's something from me in return, hope you enjoy the gift!"
With a shield of course, this won't be very effective, as such the shots are just to distract or slow down Tiny a bit. That small bit of time is enough for James to fully hold his sword and swing it towards the smaller man, however rather than a simple powerful slash, he swings it in a way so the side of the blade would slam towards his opponent like a hammer. While he attacks, he attempts to keep a medium range distance so he can use both of his weapons at the same time. Being too close would reduce his ability to swing it well, while being too far means he won't be able to attack with the sword at all.
"You chose combat yourself, so don't leave now. Lets see who will be the one that gets to walk out of here! All of my past enemies have fallen, lets see if you'll be the exception!"
There was still one problem, the weapon that the beggar had mentioned, so he didn't fully go on the offensive and keep some attention to react accordingly. If he remember correctly the beggar had told him that Tiny had 'cut' his answer into the messenger, so it sounds like it'll be some sort of blade or cutting weapon of some sort. Now it all depends on when would the operative use it on him, and how effective would it be. There's also Tiny's teammates, but his gunshot should have been enough to call the rest of the team to begin their advance. Perhaps they would arrive a bit late but it'll be better than nothing.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 6, 2016 0:42:26 GMT -6
Shikoto soon nodded as the man before him began to sprout about the various uses as he revealed about the battery could be used for. From cars and other things, Shikoto understood, what thst meant.
"That is true maybe a vehicle? Not even sure, maybe we if we some equipment to pry inside.", Shikoto soon mentioned.
Of course thinking up of that could help try to fix this, but even if he did he didn't have radioactive material to begin with nor the proper tools to even begin to work. Shikoto began to ponder if it would be even be possible to fix. For now he possibly work on it but it might require, help.
"We could wait for the Captain to return to talk to him about it. I got an idea on this device, but it will require.. help", Shikoto soon suggested.
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Richter
Veteran Member
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Richter on Jan 6, 2016 0:55:57 GMT -6
While James was going for the defensive option, his opponent was as well. He blocked the darts but in turn Tiny had used that delay to fire up his shield, it shimmered a faint orange color. It stroked in 5 places where the incoming revolver shots hit it, Tiny ducked to the left and evaded the worst of it, with the rest smacking into some layer of armor and burying themselves into that. Or maybe his flesh, but if it was that one then he didn't seem very in pain.
"You're too kind." He replied. The color of a shield affected its strength, higher frequencies were stronger. Red being the color of James's right now. It meant that if he won this match he'd have some more gear to loot after the fact, if that gigantic block of metal he slung around didn't break it.
While the gunshot failed to drop him as predicted what it did do was break his stride, for all the benefit that turned out to be. The pause allowed him to see the incoming sword strike and tumble backwards away from it, the blade moving enough air to make an audible *whoosh*. That alone would probably jar a lesser man, but Tim seemed unphased.
"Oh don't worry about me friend, only place I'm going is right here!" He exclaimed, and threw himself forward before the large knife could be brought back around and readied for another go. Tiny moved fast and with nimble motions, befitting his size. It'd make pinning him down hard, though a good hit would probably affect him more as a result of the lower mass.
It may surprise the Captain to see that he didn't go for a weapon, but instead a punch - fist rocketing out towards his center of mass. As it hit, if it hit, a diamond-sharp mono-filament wire would launch forward like the tongue of a serpent from a tube shaped contraption underneath his right wrist. This would punch a hole clean through just about anything short of powered armor, or something of equivalent density and thickness, and if it managed to get into a bodily cavity it'd be all over. Suffice to say, he better dodge, but even a graze would cause a nasty, bleeding wound.
If he dodged the entire thing it'd still snick out and gouge a pin-prick hole into the wall behind him before recoiling back into its tube with a sound like nails on a chalkboard. It wasn't the quietest assassination weapon, but it'd sure murk just about anyone it hit with extreme reliability. He had never seen anything like it before.
Regardless of if it hit, he'd twist his left wrist just right to drop a dagger into his hand, deposited by a spring-loaded sheath underneath that hand. He swung that at James's face. Tiny had fairly long arms, gangly even, and he fought on the balls of his feet so to speak. Each attack lunging forward like a gangland knife fighter to keep his enemy at the maximum distance. Usually to keep their knives away from your guts, but here it was so he'd have optimal time to dodge if it came down to it. Even so he was close enough to where using the great weapon would be difficult. In fact he was trying to back the pirate against the wall so he couldn't get out of that.
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Down below it sounded like chaos was happening. James's crew would find their way blocked by hordes of people barreling down the stairs in a panic, while armed men barricaded the stairs. Horrific screeching sounds would come from the fire escape as more men there outright hacked off the supports holding it to the side of the building.
"No one's getting out of here so easy!" Tiny jeered. Somewhere along this entire thing his hood got pushed back and his face could be seen clearly now. It matched the poster to a T, except for two things. One was the scar that ran diagonally from his ear to the nose. That just so happened to be the other strange thing, it looked straight and perfectly fine...
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Briggs tapped at the locks circling the top of the device. They looked pretty solid, but someone could probably get them open. They were more for user security than the keyed type you'd use on a safe. Even so peeling them back would be a rough feat, even for someone like the captain. Usually they had tools for this kind of thing, Shikoto was spot-on with that theory. But he'd never actually used one before himself.
"Well it looks like you could get your hand in here and wrench back these clasps. But I don't suppose it'd be very easy. Could lose an inch or two of skin in the progress. Looks too delicate to go at it with any tools around here, probably."
He gave a grunt of affirmation about showing it to the captain. "Probably the best idea. Not sure how much he knows about this kind of stuff either, but we'll need his clearance to mess with it more. Or sell it. Could probably use it for something around here worst come to worst. Raffle'd probably want it."
At that, he snapped his fingers to signify that something had just been remembered that he'd been meaning to ask all day. "Ah right. You get the pills I left for you? When I saw the boss clock you, I thought for sure you'd be coming away from it with a broken jaw. He mustn't have hit you at a good angle. Probably on purpose."
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Rabite
Veteran Member
Emperor of H
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Posts: 1,887
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Post by Rabite on Jan 6, 2016 1:29:38 GMT -6
"Faster than any rat I've seen, that I'll have to admit. But I don't need any haircuts yet, thanks."
Good thing he kept a bit of distance, though not a lot it did help him buy enough time to react. Using the momentum of the swing of his heavy weapon, he jumps backwards to avoid the punch, and barely avoiding getting shanked by the coming knife. But as they continue, James got more and more used to his opponent's speed, and with the right timing delivers a fast punch at his opponent's front arm. Seeing that his opponent is relying quite a bit on the length of his arm for sudden attacks, it would also mean that the time needed to react the longer arms would be slightly longer than normal, hopefully enough his for punch to land on a decent spot.
James lack any sort of equipment that can protect his arms, so he'll have to rely on the movement of his body and the protection of his blade to stop attacks. Seeing that his sidearm doesn't seem too helpful, he stores it back on his side and pulls out something before restarting his assault. A heavy diagonal slash towards his opponent, normally it would only be used for a killing strike, but as the slash ends it would be revealed that James was holding a live flashbang and had just released it. Turning right after the slash to avoid being hit by the light, and ignoring that loud ring in his ears, he continues to turn and this time delivers a side way slash towards his opponent.
Of course, this won't work at all if his opponent decides to keep a distance away, but at least it'll force Tiny into a distance for both side to rethink their next move.
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Downstairs, the crew looks at each other, wondering what other choice they could have. Climbing sure aren't going to work, so the other choice is to fight through their opponents. Lacking any heavy equipment that seems just as difficult to deal with the fortified enemies. However eventually one of them got the idea from those burning barrels around this part of turn, they would gather flammable materials and attempt to smoke out the defenders. The building seems fairly stable so they won't have to worry about it burning down from this, and they won't have to risk their lives charging in either. Well, the only bad part of this is that their boss would have to wait if he wanted their help, but they're quite confident their boss can handle it... maybe he'll jump to a neighbor building or something.
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"Indeed, no one will get out of here so easily. You, and your crew included. Look at me, do you think men that I lead would be all that normal? Ha! I have time to waste, after all, you're the one that needs to keep hiding and not me. Come on, lets have a few more rounds, see who will get the last laugh!"
Compared to his jeering opponent, James himself looks like a child in a toy story, filled with excitement. A feel of mad joy burns in his eyes as they continue the fight, renewing his vigor and aggression. Of course, that's the only thing he has to fight for right now, himself. He knows that with every opponent he defeat, he would become stronger and closer to his goal. Perhaps eventually he'll gain other reasons for battle, but right now all he cares about is to turn his opponent into a fine red paste.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 6, 2016 1:52:41 GMT -6
Shikoto, turned to the man as he heard the confirmation of needing better tools then they currently had to fix this device. When he soon heard about the medicine Shikoto soon replies, "Ah ya I did, and thank you. The Captain is quite the... how to put it, he thinks he is smart but inside he is just a brute."
Shikoto did mean that, yes though for how long can this continue? After all he was a man who was not exactly a member of the crew, forced yes. In truth he did wanted out and possibly go home, if there was anything left of it. For now he had to deal with this life until the day his freedom greeted him to see the place he called home. As he soon, turned to look at the nearby gear Shikoto soon says, "Do you ever think of home?"
Of course that doesn't necessarily mean the man before him remember it. For someone who has been in this crew for a while, he might of already given up his old home if he had any. For Shikoto thought, it meant everything. To him being a child and practically stolen left him to survive in this world, if he was a different man he would of killed himself already. But for now he had to survive, to live, and possibly one day leave this ship for good.
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