Starlight Casino

[Knight Errant]

The ship is on auto pilot for the moment, the Sol Protectorate vessel Hidden Blade silently cuts through the empty expanse of space. Its sleek black mirage plating and stealth emissions rendering it nigh invisible to sensors and eye visuals.

Their Overseer snaps a baton against a piece of cloth... upon which is projected an image of the Starlight Casino. A slender silver doughnut makes up its outer ring. The top has a massive transparent dome, no doubt for the view. The bottom extends downwards like a jellyfish. Massive pipes, engines, and doubtless utility areas to support the accommodations up top.

They were in range to just look out of the damned view port, but Mack always had a flair for the dramatic.

"This is our destination. The Starlight Casino. Three weeks ago, all communications with them were cut off. A repair team sent to investigate has also failed to report in. So... we are next. Its a simple infiltration and reconnaissance mission. This has orders coming down from the top. One of the senators must have a lot of stock in this venture, so I dont want any screw ups." He stares hard at Travis as he says this.

He looks over to Kyle. "We should be within visual. Get on the wheel and bring us in. And god damned quiet this time. If the seps are here, we dont want them knowing we're coming." The separatists were a band of miners and outer colony worlds, who thought they knew better than the Sol Protectorate. The war was short and decisive, the capitol ships of the Sol slagging the ragtag seps to bits. But there was still plenty of bad blood on both sides.

The Overseer looks back to the rest of them, seated in the conference room. "Any other questions before we get boots on the ground?"

[Tiffany Grimm]

"Aye, sir." Kyle tried to calm his nerves, but something was prickling at the back of his neck. This was only his third flight on official Sol Protectorate business, and he was still treated like he was just out of the academy! To top it off, he was barely familiar with any of the crew he was flying. This whole mission felt wrong, and off. He felt anxiety growing in his chest. But despite the overwhelming stress of it all, he managed to dock the ship with nary a sound. He exhaled a sigh of relief and turned to hear the next set of orders.

[Knight Errant]

The slide changes with a click... showing a new image up on the screen.



The Overseer nods. "This is a basic floorplan of the area. We couldn't get blueprints... or even a layout of the utility section. For a civvy project, there is an awful lot of secrecy about this installation. And I don't like that. Not one bit."

He looks over. "Alex, you try and get on the horn. See if anyone from inside the station is talking."

To Vasily. "This is going to be a lot of close quarters work, if things go to shit in here. It is a space station after all. But try to at least leave a few able to talk. We need intel."

To Travis. "I want you to get a god damned set of blueprints for this place when we get boots on. And start making plans for the worst case scenario. The suits won't want us blowing up their pretty jellyfish, but I want all options on the table."

He looks over his shoulder as the ship pulls into the hangar... docking silently. "Good work, Kyle. See if you cant get a handshake with the port authority. And on the god damned sly. We don't want to announce our presence just yet. Go in the backdoor, through automated systems. Look for incoming and outgoing traffic."

[Tiffany Grimm]

Kyle pushed down all his reservations and got to work. He sent out a docking signal to the receiver and held his breath.


*BEEP* The request was accepted. Kyle smiled, satisfied. Maybe this was going to be easy after all. He raised the comm link of the Port Authority. All he heard was a static hiss, evaporating his newfound confidence.

He scanned his radar for traffic, finding only automated drones on their routes. He avoided them, and made it to the dock, silent as a churchmouse. He kicked back, thrilled he had made it through so stealthily.

Then he parked the ship.

*CRASH* The ship parked alright, knocking over a wall of crates and sending them tumbling down.

[Ookalf]

"Well, this stealth mission is off to a wonderful start..." Alex rolls his eyes as he pulls out his computer and starts the casino scanning for any incoming or outgoing communication signals.

[Knight Errant]

Mack facepalms. "What the hell was that, Kyle?"

Meanwhile... Alex finds a message on repeat. A rather weak signal... but he is able to boost it enough to get it to play. Its routed through the speakers, and everyone hears the following.

"-Repeat! If you get this message, do not... Do Not dock! Somethings gone terri- *static* wrong with the on board- *static* everyone! Just nuke the damn thing, send it into the-" The automated ships computer chimes softly, speaking in a neutral feminine voice. "Signal lost."

Just as the thick blast bulkheads at the entrance of the hangar slide down with a clang. Sealing them inside.

[Tiffany Grimm]

Kyle was about to explain himself when the message began to play. His heart's beating quickened. They were trapped! At least everyone might forget the crash....

"Okay, sir, now what?"

[Ookalf]

Alex tries for a moment to get the message playing again, but ultimately decides it's not gonna happen. "Well, that sounded... ominous. Should we call for back-up?"

[muffinstud]

Vasily comes back into the room, sporting one of the slim space suits reserved for emergency situations. He studies the diagram and then glances out the viewport. "If we need survivors, why is he still pilot?" He chuckles. "I will go to utility wing first. I am thinking engineers and workers would know situation, da?"

[Knight Errant]

Mack nods to Alex. "Go for it. I don't like the smell of this one."

He looks around to the rest of the group. "Alright, you have your orders. Look for survivors, find out whats going on here. Neutralize hostiles if you must, but our job is recon. I also want people working on that door that just closed behind us. Either find a manual override, or a way to blast the damn thing open. I wont be bottled up here."

He crosses his arms. "I'm not here to hold your hand. You are all professionals. I'll stay here and coordinate with you all through your headsets. Move out!"

[Ookalf]

"I'm on it, sir." While Mack gives the others their orders, Alex pulls on his headset and starts sending out a message to headquarters. "This is Alex Price of the Hidden Blade, calling Sol Protectorate HQ. We've encountered... unexpected complications on our assignment, and are requesting backup, over." He awaits a response...

[Tiffany Grimm]

Kyle shoots Vasily a quick glare. It wasn't his fault... Well, never mind, it totally was, but what did any of these guys know about flying anyway?

He sighed as he left the wheel. No way was he just staying on board the ship. He was sure something bad would happen if he did. Kyle pulled out his flashlight from the arsenal, and a standard issue Z140 Light gun, and got off the ship, placing his commlink in his ear. He decided to go west, hoping secretly he wasn't going alone.

[Kether]

Julian considers his options, he had expected to slip into a more active social scene but based on the warning that seems to not be the case, still he was broadly trained and considered his options, "Gentlemen before we head out, suit up. If there's a biological attack that should protect against that and if there's an structural damage or we have to cause any structural damage to get around well it gives options"

[Knight Errant]

Alex, unfortunately... would find the same jammer that had blocked the previous signal still in effect. If he wanted to get a message out, he'd like as not have to find the jamming tower and take it out...

The away team would find the armory beside the airlock. It has their custom hardsuits, environmentally sealed and with HUD programmed into the visors. Generally something used for exo or combat situations... but with whats happening out there... who knows what they would need.

((PM me or discuss in the signup thread for details. But basically these would be armored space suits. Nothing Master Chief level, micro motors to facilitate smooth movement at most, with custom attachments depending on the mission or operator. One might have thicker plate and heavy weapon hard points... or thin flexible armor with reflective camo. Or lots of pouches and tools, on board computer to facilitate hacking... multiple applications. Try to keep things within the realm of reason.))

[Ookalf]

"Should have seen that coming..." Alex sighs as he puts his headset away, then goes to grab his suit. With its built-in computer and communication devices, it should be ideal for his job here. He also grabs a pistol, just in case, then sets out to find the jammer.