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PIRATES!; Best of Both Worlds Quest
Topic Started: Jun 26 2011, 05:05 PM (118 Views)
Athena
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The distinguishing line between day and night was often a blur in space where there really was no semblance of time as it slowly ticked by. It was only the heavy weariness that reminded Athena that at some point she would need to retire from her post at the controls of the Pantera. The control room was dark save the soft blue light that scattered across the walls and Athena’s dark features as her half lidded eyes remained transfixed on the maps that outlined their trajectory towards Vegeta. The woman lifted the mug of still steaming dark liquid to her mouth as she finished what was her third cup of coffee in the last few hours and leaned forward to rest the empty mug on the panel in front of her. Its effects had begun to wane considerably, doing nothing to curb the sleepiness that weighed her down. Athena pulled her feet off the floor, drawing her knees up against her chest as she foolishly made herself more comfortable, her eyes blinking open and closed as her mind quieted and she drifted closer and closer to sleep.

I swear. I’m goin’ to start thinkin’ you’re the Bio-Android around here,” Melo’s voice chimed into the control room. Tracking down Athena was never hard for him; a mental sweep of the ship allowed him to pinpoint her location every time. The Genie was nodding off at the controls again, prompting a mental joke from Melo about her not being the pilot of the ship. The director worked extremely hard -- sometimes too hard in his opinion -- and she always pushed herself to the limits. When the war was over she was due some serious vacation time.

It’s just a simple trip to Vegeta. What’re you mannin’ the helm for?” he asked, taking a seat next to her to keep her company. If she was looking for something in specific, Melo could aide her having learned the sensory panels on his own ship. Space was vast and endless with no limit to the amount of things that could pop up out of the empty blackness. Melo just doubted the chances they would be bothered on the way to a heavily populated planet on a North Alliance cleared route.

Emerald eyes scanned the ship’s scanning array for anything unusual. Nothing jumped out at him out of the ordinary, especially since they were using the hyperdrive system. A passing field of asteroids on one side of the ship, maybe a small moon on the other as they bolted by several planets. It was all very, very... standard.

Don’t think we’ll be gettin’ any action tonight, Miss Director,” he concluded.

Athena had nearly come out of that chair when he’d broken the silence. The surge of adrenaline was enough to send the woman’s heart pounding so hard in her chest it was all she could hear in her ears.

Kami, Melo!” she swore as she sat up, and set her bare feet on the floor in front of the Captain’s chair. She couldn’t be too terribly upset with him, considering he had just kept her from falling asleep at the wheel. She’d set the coordinates and save some subtle adjustments that would need to be made manually as the ship had no Auto-Pilot, the Pantera would really just fly itself to Vegeta. What had really kept Athena there? A bad feeling.

We’re about to fly into some very heated territory that is no doubt being monitored by the Tuffle Legion. While they may not find one vessel important enough, since we aren’t part of some fleet to back up Vegeta, on the off chance they are shooting anything and everything in the sky, I feel it would be better if one of us was here. Why the hell haven’t you volunteered yet, Mister I-never-have-to-sleep-so-I-stay-up-and-watch-fish-porn?” She’d tried to sound angry, but it had ended with a laugh as she leaned forward and retrieved her empty cup and mourned its lack of caffeine. She drew her fingertip around the rim of the cup before leaning back in her chair and crossing one long leg over the other, bouncing her bare foot slightly.

I was actually about to volunteer but I had to sort through some photos I took of you back in Miami. So... got kinda busy,” he shrugged casually. It was a private joke between the two of them and no one else. So it was somewhat of a low blow, but Melo knew she would not take it too bad: at least he thought he knew.

The Bio-Android opened his mouth to clarify when a blinking light next to the holographic mapping display started to flash. Most of the lights on the control panel were green or blue: this one was red. Red was always bad. Melo moved his hands over the controls quickly, showing he spent some time manning them in his ship. An onscreen display of an unmarked ship showed up, as well as the details of the gravity well trap they were about to be pulled into.

Brace yourself,” he warned, grabbing onto the metal control panel as the timer scrolled down to them being yanked out of hyperspace. The lurch was strong enough to send Melo forward and almost into the far wall of the control room. Immediately, targeting alarms on the warbird started. Crew members were already rushing to battle stations to prepare for the unexpected assault.

Much like Melo, Athena had very narrowly avoided getting thrown from her chair. She’d braced herself on the panel in front of her when the impact had happened. Athena righted herself in her chair as she reached out and waved a hand over the panel where a holographic image overlapped the controls and lifted off of them until they hovered inches in front of her fingertips. She set to work bringing up detailed maps as her scanners began to identify the ship that had set a trap for them. She moved the lit up screens, putting the important ones onto the screen in front of them both and keeping the secondary to her immediate left where the figures displayed on the wall, suspended above the floor.

No action tonight, eh? Next time, keep your fucking mouth shut.” Athena growled low in her throat as several more alarms started to go off. They might have avoided the gravity well that would have drawn them in closer, but a series of missiles were already right on the Pantera’s tail. The holographic screens shifted until they surrounded her chair as she handed the pilot’s controls over to Melo completely. The Pantera wasn’t equipped with heavy artillery just yet, but defensive measures had been equipped to keep them from being needlessly blown out of the sky. Athena made a mental note to fix that if they made it through this in one piece.

Those are going to ride our ass. If you can keep them from nailing us, I’ll try to take them out.” The screens that surrounded Athena showed in more detail those missiles and their intended route, something she translated to the large screen in front of them both so Melo could keep track as well. It was going to take some serious evasive maneuvers, but she knew he could handle it. Athena touched the holographic image until she zoomed in enough and set the target on the missiles as they narrowed in. She wrapped her hand around the single control for the defensive weapons her ship possessed and the screen in front of her lit up with light blue shots. They weren’t much, they would pack enough punch to set off the missiles. Another red light had joined the first, giving Athena two targets instead of one.

Damnit!” She didn’t waste time powering up her shields to full. That was one thing she had done in advance. If they couldn’t blow something else out of the sky, then at least her ship could survive long enough to make a great escape. Whatever was after them was smaller and most likely faster. Escape didn’t appear like much of an option.

Never thought anal would be so dangerous for me.” he replied, taking the controls to the ship and immediately pitching the Pantera into a zero-g nose dive. Melo could hear the ship groan in response to the sudden move. Something like that could really damage a normal ship, but Athena’s vehicle was much more than normal. Above them several rockets exploded where they were just flying, rocking the ship a little but not damaging shields, armor, or hull any.

Melo attempted to roll the ship so Athena always had the best position to gun down any incoming missiles from the speedy ship behind them. It was strange for a frigate-class ship to be so fast, and have some sort of gravity well projectors. Those things were huge and required a ton of energy to use and remain active. Whatever was after them was definitely a custom job and likely not Tuffle Legion.

A warning siren cried out in the control room, indicating a missile had breached the zone of interception from the turret fire and was about to impact the shields. Melo held the controls firm as the ship lurched forward from having the kinetic forcefield around it struck. The alarm kept screaming after the first hit, and several more impacts rocked the Pantera hard. A system analysis projected the shields to be near the seventy-five percent mark, meaning they could take a few more volleys but after that it was all armor and hull.

We keep takin’ these types of hits and it’ll be over real soon. Take the controls back while I try somethin’!” Melo flipped the flying controls back to Athena, hoping she would give the turret defensive systems over to one of the crew members. Afterwards, the Bio-Android went silent with his head tilted at a slightly downward angle -- like he was in deep thought.

When flight controls returned to the woman the holographic images around her flickered out and she reached out to grab the helm with both hands, picking up where Melo left off. Somewhere else, one of her crew started firing defensively as she wrenched her ship around to avoid taking anymore hits.

What the hell are you-” She stopped. She knew exactly what he was doing. He was out of his fucking mind...

You can’t be serious...There’s no way in hell we can jump to that ship while we’re flying around trying to keep in tact.” Athena drew up the controls as she whirled the vessel around again, enough that several small blue shots hit one of the incoming missiles. It exploded only yards away which lurched them forward again. Shields were down to 40%. He was right. They had no other choices. It was that or get blown up in space which at this point was not an option. Athena killed the main power and deferred it to the shields which tacked on another 15%, however, most of the lighting and secondary controls had dimmed, leaving them in near darkness. She cut the alarm systems next. They already knew they were in deep shit and didn’t need the constant blaring reminder.

Athena was around to witness quite a few of Melo’s insane stunts and death-defying antics, but this was would take the cake. Regeneration kept his confidence high when it came to certain insane attempts. A trans-positional Instant Transmission could kill both of them in an instant with or without regenerative abilities. Right when the alarms cut, Melo grabbed Athena’s hand and they suddenly disappeared from their seats. The crew would have to take over the piloting and defensive gunnery of the ship.

The tricky thing about Instant Transmission was where you would appear relative to the ki signature you moved towards. Sometimes it could be in a precarious situation such as a jail cell or the side of a mountain. To even try to judge where they would end up while trying to Instant Transmission from one moving object to the next? Impossible. That is exactly why everyone was shocked when Melo and Athena appeared on the bridge of the raiding ship.

Oh fuck!” Melo shouted, pulling his gun from his holster and firing at anything that was not a busty Genie from Africa.

Several of the people on the bridge were killed before they knew what hit them. Any missed shots would be absorbed into the kinetic barriers of the walls as not to puncture the hull of the ship from the inside: a classic feature installed since the near beginning of space travel. Knowing this allowed Melo to fire away and take cover near the top of the bridge. He fired down into the main area and turned to Athena to make sure she was still in one piece: she would definitely give him an ear full later.

Pure adrenaline is all that kept Athena from becoming consumed by the nausea that hit her from ITing so immediately. Appearing on the bridge of the enemy vessel hadn’t likely been the ideal place to show up, but it did cut to the chase of why they were there in the first place. When the doors behind Melo and Athena opened and spilled security personnel onto their level of the bridge, Athena turned and planted her back against the Bio Android as she grabbed at a pistol armed hand that lifted to fire on him and slammed the flat of her palm so hard into the extended appendage bone tore through the other side and she spun him, knocking him over the rail and into the people immediately below.

If we manage to get out of this, remind me to beat your ass.” Athena sidestepped as someone else moved into her attack range, sending a flying punch for the woman’s head. She batted the limb aside and forced both hands into his open midsection as she sent a jolt of force into him to knock him off of her. Behind him, guns were raised as several multicolored but equally deadly shots fired off at the pair of them. Athena lifted a hand as an unseen barrier flew up into place, catching those rounds of shots. The use of so much energy lit her Ki signature up like a firework as her aura picked up and she ascended.

We’ve got quite a bit of company back here, Melo.” She didn’t need to tell him, she was sure he already knew exactly what they were up against. Behind that barrier, Athena collected energy and sent it out in a shocking burst that blew the group of them off their feet. They didn’t get up again.

I am aware of that,” came back a voice that exuded an air of superiority. The reply came from above the Genie’s position. The Bio-Android had taken to the ceiling of the bridge much like some monster from a space horror. After Athena’s burst of unseen force ripped through the next group of guards, the cabin began to fill with a deep green smoke. It was thick enough to fog the entire bridge heavier than a London night. From inside of the colored cloud, shrill screams could be heard along with the sounds of cracking metal and bone. Multiple ki signatures were snuffed out within seconds until the only ones left the two who did not belong on the ship.

Immediately, the fog retracted back into the body from which it originated, clearing the scene for a visual inspection of the damage. Blood stains splattered against the white walls of the bridge and along the floors multiple colors of life fluid trickled down into the crevices of tiled ground. Accompanying those marks of death were bodies twisted and mangled: some beyond normal recognition. Even the captain of the pirate vessel felt the effects of the bloodlust; he or she -- it was too hard to tell now -- was balled up like a discarded note from school. The arms and legs were clearly dislocated and looked like they were about to fall off.

Most people’s response to a scene would be a queasy, sickening sensation in their gut and the urge to regurgitate whatever substance remained in their stomach. The response from the green terror? A satisfied smile with a look in his eyes that said he could certainly go for more carnage. The monster turned towards the only person left alive and tilted his head to the side to observe her reaction.

You honestly did not think we would die here?” he queried.

What kind of a response was she supposed to give him? The woman’s face was carefully void of expression as she looked from him to what was left of that bridge. She tried to ignore the taste of copper that filled her throat and quieted the urge to vomit. When Melo’s other was around, it was hard not to envision things ending this way. Athena set her hand on the railing and didn’t turn from the gore, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing it disturbed her. Why? Because it was all a dominance game with that thing inside of him. That’s how she had managed to keep the peace between them so far. Her completely white gaze shifted to him, the vibrant blue of her eyes returning.

No, I didn’t. At least you didn’t eat anyone this time...” At least, as far as she knew. There were some bodies reduced to stains that very likely could have been consumed. She tried not to think about it as she walked towards and around him without flinching. Instantly she regretted not wearing shoes as she waded through the carnage towards one of the consoles, her hands resting on the panel as she brought up the main displays, ceasing all attacks against her own ship that sat up on display. Punching in a few commands immediately replaced the image of the Pantera with a timer that ticked down slowly from two minutes.

Time to go,” Athena said as she made her way back up to him and held a hand out.


[Earth to Vegeta - Landing 5:06PM CST 06/27/2011]
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Athena
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[+500 EXP // +100 Zenni]
Quest Rewards:
[ECm - System, 200z]
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Melo
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Almost Perfect.
[ + 960 EXP // + 100 Zenni ]
[ Reward(s): 200 Zenni ]
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