[RP] New World: Team Dämmerung

[Erverain]

Stepping out onto the planet, Nils noticed the almost oppressive level of moisture in the air. This was troublesome, since most of his equipment was sensitive to this, despite the water-proofing that had been applied.
This will be most troublesome if we get into a prolonged combat situation. The weapons I do have will have a dramatically reduced range, thanks to the ambient moisture in the air. Plasma and accelerated photon-based weaponry will like become diffused quickly...
Nils brought up the rear of the group, since Asher had the lead and Rubar was bringing up the second spot. Not that Nils expected to be attacked from the rear, but it never hurt to have a half-ton Android keeping an eye on everyone.

After a while of minor incidents, they finally reached the ship. Overhead, the dim rumble of another ship distracted Nils from the wreckage in front of them.
"Captain, I would suggest we hurry. Most Hunter missions are, after all, first come, first serve. Our ship cannot afford to put off another payment for repairs and supplies."  

[Phaeton]

Shard followed Ethen quietly off the bridge before splitting off to go collect her equipment. It was probably a risk due to the extreme humidity but she packed her nanoconverter anyway, instead attaching it to her belt beneath her coat rather than keeping it on her back. The device was useful for carrying the tools her pockets could not.

Exiting the ship, Shard put on a small gas mask to cover her nose and mouth and turned on her scanner. Small blips and circles would appear on the small crest of her lenses but most were just small creatures. She followed in just ahead of Nils, keeping her beam vulcan on hand out of caution. It was limited on range to begin with only to be further crippled by the weather but range wouldn't be a problem if local predators were approaching anyway.

She couldn't help but leer in irritation at some of Ethan's shouting. All the noise would likely attract more hostile indigenous species, even if they weren't hostile the trip through this hot sticky jungle wasn't getting any more grueling. Though a very difficult trek, Shard tried her best to avoid showing fatigue or weakness. At the very least she remained silent for the duration of the trip.

Finally reaching the ship, Shard glanced up, hearing the roar of engine thrusters above, then Nils' words. It is possible that instead of other hunters, these could be real pirates. Though if that's the case things might get even better for us. The salvage could also turn into picking up a bounty.  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

The ship was, definitely, a civilian class cargo ship, built for expediant deliveries. Upon closer observation, it could be seen that the ship was struck down by some weapon that pierced, dents littered the metal frame. Parts of the ship were molten in odd places where a ship shouldn't have experienced heat, letting one speculate, perhaps, that beam weapons were also used, or the ship improperly entered the atmosphere of the planet. Yet, the ship remained intact, at least, for the most part, the cabin where the cargo was stored seemed alright. The emergency door into the ship laid on the grassy floor of the planet, the metal parts of the hinges welded onto the metal on the door.

Asher reholstered his shuriken and lept for the open emergency entrance. Scurrying could be heard for a small while, then a small zap, and a large "********!" , then, finally, a rope ladder was lowered from the entrance, while the head of a very-displeased Beast, fur charred, coughing up a cloud of black smoke, emerged from the entrance. "Everything clear here! You guys have to see this..."

Inside the cabin, the crew could find the bodies of the crew that controlled this shift. Blood, once pooled under each body, was dry, the bodies decomposing rapidly from the humidity. There were four deceased humans: one a pilot, one a navigator, and two guards. The guards were pinned to the wall with three daggers: two on each shoulder and one through the heart. The pilot and navigator were slashed with a bladed weapon of sorts. A hand, belonging to the pilot, rested on a button labeled "Emergency" .

The cargo of the ship itself wasn't particularly impressive, but it did look to be something to be sold for a modest penny or two. Medical supplies and food rations lined one wall of the ship, while a rack of rifles lined another. Wooden boxes were stacked atop each other, the box labeled with things like "Bacteria Sample" or "Catalyst" or "Nutrient-Rich Gelatin" . It all looked like ordinary stuff a research lab would be working with.

If any crew member took the time to search around, however, two queer boxes, like elongated suitcases, were found tucked inbetween palettes of laboratory supplies. They were incredibly heavy and were labeled with the words "Lios" and "Helba" .  

[Erverain]

Investigating and categorizing the cargo, Nils ran across two almost coffin-like boxes.
Lios and... Helba. Nils spins through his memory. Supposedly from Old Earth's Germanic mythologies. But what is their purpose? So very curious.
Motioning to the captain, Nils called him over.
"Captain, what do you make of these? They seem to be terribly out place to me, especially since this is a simple research vessel. But why would they still be here, after the ship was obviously attacked? Unless..." Nils paused for a moment. "There may be a chance that what attacked these people were not pirates. That's one conclusion I can draw from the fact that the cargo is still here."  

[Phaeton]

After climbing into the opened entrance, Shard took a brief glance along the walls, up to the ceiling, across the floor, just to get an idea of the interior before shutting off her scanner. Smelling the old dry blood from the cabin wasn't such a shocker, this ship appeared to have been shot down first. If one wanted to eliminate the crew up close and personal, the best time would be after disabling the ship. She didn't need to enter the cabin to figure what had happened.

After passing to the cargo shard made a pass, checking the writing on the crates. Bacteria sample . . . Catalyst . . . Nutrient Gelatin . . . They must have been delivering supplies to a biotechnology or genetics firm. Both have been looked down upon in the past but there really isn't a way to regulate research facilities effectively. She put away her beam vulcan and helped herself to a rifle on the wall rack. She checked to see if it was loaded, then decided to pilfer an extra two magazines for it. At this rate, the ship's deceased crew wouldn't be likely to complain.

Noticing Nils standing by some long transport crates, Shard quietly approached to inspect them. Lios . . . She thought, reading the first crate silently, then the second, Helba? She took a step back, getting a bad feeling. Researchers love to be cryptic in labeling, it's what we do, but usually utilizing mythological naming is reserved for advanced or completed specimens.  

[Saverio C.]

Ethen didn't like how the ship looked. There is no way that the damage to the hull and the fact that it crashed were unrelated. Asher's misadventures always made him laugh a little, and he muttered as he passed him he muttered the sarcastic congratulations anyone would as he followed him into the cabin, but was taken back by the smell of it. He saw the blood was dry and that was all he needed to know. They had been there too long for normal pirates, and that was unsettleing. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the walk, but Ethen wanted to get out of there fast.
Walking down the halls of the ship Ethen saw the rifles and Shard taking one. "I would wipe it down and clean it before use, humidity damages guns like nothing else." He didn't bother with grabbing the guns, they weren't the type of guns you sell anyway, and his was much nicer.
Finally he reached the special cargo where Nils was working. He called the Cap, but curiosity was getting the better of him. He looked at the boxes, and they did look different. "I think we should grab them and go, Cap. They don't look like anything I've seen and they are marked unlike the other crap." He re adjusted the weapon on his shoulder and wiped his face with a cloth on the table.  

[Sentama Lin]

DM Post

Asher left the bridge and met in the cargo hold where the rest of the crew was gathering. He knelt down and observed the suitcases, noting their odd names. None of the names clicked anything in his head, and it wasn't because of ignorance. Old Earth mythologies were beyond his years, considering that Beasts were only-recently considered equals to humans, androids, and newmans. One thing he did agree with, however, as his fingers examined the locks on the case, was that this was a rather spectacular piece of cargo, and he wondered why, out of everything that could've been taken, they didn't take this.

Cracking his neck, he tried to lift one of the suitcases to no avail. It felt like trying to lift an entire ton of bricks, literally. "Bah... if pirates looted this ship, they probably didn't take this because it's way too damn heavy!" He grunted, then released the handles.

Looking around, he noticed that there was a crew member missing here. Taking out a mobile phone, he dialed back to the ship.

"Yo Karloseth! We're already here, dammit. I sent you the detail information a damn while ago, and you said you'd catch up! Get your a** back here or I'll drag you out of that dormitory of yours." He yelled into the phone, shutting it. Turning to the crew, he sighed. "So... what do we do now? We can just take all the crap, especially these suitcases..."

If one checked outside, a small cool breeze could be felt, making the humidity of this jungle feel a little better than it felt before. Small rustles, possibly from an animal, could be heard as well, and continued for a prolonged amount of time.  

[Roland Karloseth]

Karloseth was awoken by the sound of his phone going off. Grabbing his computer eyepiece and putting on the headphones, he quickly patched the call to his headset and spoke with Asher. Or rather, was yelled at by Asher. "Alright, alright, I'm on it. Let me--" he said as the call ended. "--get my gear and I'll be out there soon..." he finished anyway.

Karloseth stood and grabbed his belt from the nightstand, which had his pistol in it. He grabbed four pouches to attach to the belt, each one filled with ammo. After attaching the belt, he grabbed another one from a drawer and put it on as well. This belt was lined all the way around with throwing daggers, something he had recently learned to use. Finally satisfied with what he had, he stepped out of his room and walked out of the ship.

Once outside, Karloseth brought up the coordinates of the wreckage and a map on his eyepiece. Once he knew where he was going, he took off at a run towards his destination, acknowledging the heat and taking it into consideration as he paced himself.

Eventually, he found his way to the wreckage and started to look around for the rest of the crew. Following the voices he heard magnified through his earphones, he finally came to an emergency hatch where he went down and found everyone else. "Sorry Captain, fell asleep while we were in route."  

[Erverain]

Nils wandered around the ship after Karloseth arrived. Why they hadn't woken him up before they left was beyond Nils, but what was troublesome was that it had never occurred to him to do so.
Perhaps there is some sort of loading equipment around? It would be almost impossible for any normal human to store those coffin-like crates without mechanical assistance.
Passing by the hole left in the ship's hull, a noise flitted across his sensors.
Hmm? What was that?
Stopping almost in mid-stride, Nils fanned out his auditory sensors from the wings on his head.
BEGINNING AURAL FILTERING...
...
...
EXCLUDING WILDLIFE ALREADY IN DATABANKS...
...
...
COMPENSATING FOR MOISTURE LEVELS...
...
...
FILTERING COMPLETE. ESTIMATED AVERAGE 77% ACCURACY OF RESULTS:
ANDROID (76% PROBABILITY)
HUMAN (MULTIPLE, 50-80% PROBABILITY)
UNKNOWN ORGANISM (MULTIPLE, 80% LIKELIHOOD OF BEING INDIGENOUS)...
...
...
END PROCESS.
This could be troublesome. Nils folded his auditory sensors back into their wings. Firing up his comm unit, Nils reported his suspicion.
"Captain, we may have company that isn't indigenous. The humidity is interfering with the accuracy of the scan, however, so I'm not sure exactly how many we should expect."  

[Phaeton]

Shard thought for a moment on Asher's words as she inspected her new found weapon and gave it a quick pass for cleaning. It seems as though if they were pirates they weren't even interested in even the basic necessities. Some of these experimental supplies and weaponry would still get a decent credit value. However, this may just be a trap. Why stop at one ship when a little bit of patience can get you two or three?

Thinking of the captain's question on supplies, shard had but a simple suggestion. "Perhaps we should prioritize rations and medical supplies. We may be able siphon some fuel as well." It had occurred to her that since Karloseth was still aboard the ship, they should have asked him to bring the crate skiff around so they wouldn't be ferrying supplies back and forth on foot, but it was likely too late for that now. This cargo ship had to have one since it was unlikely they were able to move all their supplies and especially these two strangely heavy and long containers without one.

Rather than immediately set out, Shard's focus returned to the strange coffin-esque containers as she leaned against the wall nearby. There really could be anything in them. She could only hope that "Lios" and "Helba" weren't B.O.W.s. They were planning to have these things aboard the ship after all, best case scenario would be litigation and paper trails for years.

Shard quietly watched Nils as he spoke his warning. His listening ability was rather superior to most sentient biological organisms so it wouldn't be surprising for him to pick up on something like this so soon. Unfortunately, her initial suspicion was more likely to be a reality now.  

[Saverio C.]

Rather then argue with Asher about the pirates not taking something because of weight (they have skiff too) he decided to continue scavenging. He filled his canteen with water and started to box up some of the medical equipment. As he filled up the box he heard Nils talking about a new arrival, and not Karloseth. Deciding that his initial feelings of being uneasy were probably him feeling the ambush coming on he made his suggestion. "Lets pack up and get their skiff and make a be line for the ship. We can leave the guns because they aren't worth anything unless we shine them up, and sell them off the record." the part about the guns was made more offhandedly then anything.
After he sealed the box he started moving to the cargo hold to get the skiff. He looked at Karloseth and said quietly "Why don't we move the special cargo while the others check out our guests. They look rather heavy no?" Ethen cared move about the mystery boxes because the other stuff wasn't worth that much, but these two boxes could be worth a lot in information, or cash. Also he was worried about the outsiders interfering and getting out of here now.  

[Sentama Lin]

(Unfortunately, you guys will be stuck with the waiting game while I catch the other team up. Relax, chill, and take a coffee break, and thanks for playing so far. )