Rynel/ExaltedInSpaceSession1

Space is very cold and very empty. Thats why the ship is probably being propelled along an Essence stream towards the Scavenger Systems. Its been quiet lately... too quiet, in fact.

DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMM (dramatic reverrrrrrb!)

Mal is piloting, as normal, and riding the Essence stream easily. "Okay...we need to get some loot. Gold for preference, maybe some of those rare metals...Ed, Staren, do either of you know the routes of local Guild ships?"

Ed gives Mal a blank stare. She doesn't know where the Guild ship routes are. "Uh... between Nexus and Great Forks?" See, those are really big cities, something Ed knows.

Staren just looks at Ed. -_- Then back to Mal, "Yeah, they're here..." She gets out a map and shows him the nearest ones. Hey, looks like theres a spot in a nearby asteroid belt that they commonly go through. And one in open space, too.

Mal says, "Okay...we'll go for one near Sijan, by that asteroid belt, that planet's old and no one will suspect us for hiding there. I've got a few contacts there, they can /maybe/ get us a list of what captains are coming. I want to get one of the Dragon-Blooded..."

Marcus says, "so cap't, are we shootig them out of the sky or doing this the old fashioned way?"

Mal says, "We're going to take out their weapons, then board them. We want to get their stuff."

Marcus says, "permision to lead the boarding party sir."

Staren says, "What do you want one of the dragon-blooded for?"

Mal says, "To make a /point/. -we're all going, I'm leaving the five normal guys back here. Staren's coming for doctoring purposes. Anyway. We're not killing the captain."

Mal says, "At least, not when we board."

Mal says, "I want him /alive/."

Ed oohs. "Do you want Ed to come along too?"

Mal says, "The crew...I'd prefer if we have as few casualties as we need, but they're not quite as important as getting a live Dragon-Blood. -yes, Ed. Bring the hammer.,"

Ed giggles.

Mal says, "Now, we have to make sure the cargo is undamaged. That's our cash ticket."

Ed hmmms.... and points out "Could sell the ship too..."

Mal says, "We could, but we'd need a way to tow it...unless we can get its crew to pilot it for us."

Ed scribbles a note in her notebook. 'Make giant paramagnetic tether beams for House of Dragons...'

Then Ed scampers off to tinker with her Yoroi armor.

Some time later, after a stopover on Sijan...

Mal says, "Okay, I've got us a target. There's a ship coming through the belt, I didn't get the name, from Nellens. We're lucky, by the way, Ed - it's carrying raw materials for armoring and weaponsmithing. There's supposed to be a Dragon-Blood on board, but I've no idea who."

Ed noddles and straps her hammer to her back.

Marcus says, "When do we intercept?"

Ed then jumps in the copilot's seat and brings up the gun controls. Dum dee dum....

Mal says, "We intercept as soon as we see the ship."

Mal has, naturally, flown the ship out to the asteroids, and is hiding behind an asteroid /even now/.

Marcus says, "sounds good to me. Ed, can i ask you something in private when your not too busy?"

Ed hmmmmmmms? And PEERS at Marcus. "What? Ed's not a guy, don't talk to Ed about guy things!" She makes a disgusted looking face.

Staren sweatdrop.

Marcus says, "i need your help with technology."

Marcus says, "thats all."

Ed ohs. "Okay... maybe after the House of Dragons smashes up the Realm ship."

Staren waits.

Marcus says, "If anyoen needs me i'll be sharpening my axe."

Marcus heads for his room.

Ed waits... fidgeting.

Mal does not sleep. He waits.

All that waiting pays off, since here it comes. The ship is only one hundred feet long and thirty wide, pretty small for a cargo vessel, but it seems swift. It is called the Wind Dragon's Scale, and hasn't noticed the House of Dragons at all, but seems to be in a hurry.

Ed waits for Mal's signal, cuz he's the boss, but she does power up the weapons.

Mal grins. "Ed! Fire on the bolt launchers. Do not take out the ship itself!" Mal's hands fly over the controls, launching the House of Dragons forward, into the Wind Dragon's Scale's path, to force it to swerve or stop.

Marcus runs up to teh bridge.

Marcus says, "I see we found them."

Ed grabs the joysticks that serve as the targeting mechanisms for the guns on the ship as the HUD pops up and shows the targeting reticles. Humming pleasantly, she aims for the Wind Dragon's guns and fires a burst of pulse cannon fire at them, normal mode. *BOOM* *BOOM* The twin Dragon Pulse Cannons fire, going for precision rather than brute force. (Flurry of two shots, Speed 4, 3m per cannon shot for 6L damage.)

The Fire Lances blast one of the bolt launchers off the ship, debris floating through space along with a charred corpse. Looks like it was more like a turret.

The other gun swings around to take a shot at the House of Dragons...

...and misses, the bolt lodging itself into a crack in an asteroid.

Little motes of Essence sparkle around Ed's forehead, lighting the area up a bit, and then a slight metallic sheen forms around her... and she seems to be reverse after imaging. (Um... dunno the speed of the Anima ability's activation. I assume 3?

Marcus takes aim at the gunner that just fired and returns fire.

This time, the Fire Lance toasts an asteroid instead of the ship. Looks like they've gotten their act together and are trying to dodge.

Another bolt goes wide. Real wide. Mal's keeping the thing out of harm's way all right.

Mal is flying the ship well, yes. However, trusting in its armoring and his skill, he flies it closer, sacrificing some maneuverability and dodging range to get the same advantage on his foes. As he does so, he looks to Ed and Marcus. "Keep it up, but don't destroy their ship!"

Marcus says, "yes sir."

Ed's still all funny blurry, and Staren can probably recognize what's up with Ed... she's in 'precog' mode, somewhat prescient at the moment. She fires a shot at the turret on the Wind Dragon, the whine of the weapon resonating through the House of Dragons. (Speed 6, 6m for 6L+1L, Acc +1+2+?)

One of the many sophisticated coils or something equally important burns out in the cannon and... it doesn't work. This could be bad.

Marcus takes aim and fires

The Small God of the Heating Coil of the Left Cannon of the House of Dragons fixes it quickly.

The other turret bursts into flame. And by bursts into flame we do mean explodes. Theres more debris and a bulkhead closing between where the turret was and the inside of the ship. Needless to say, the thing is now trying to haul ass.

Marcus says, "should we shoot the engines"

Mal says, "No. Let me handle this part."

Mal gives chase, sending a communication as he does so. "Stand down and prepare to be boarded, or we will fire on you and destroy your ship! If you surrender, you will not all die! We can follow you anywhere you go, so choose wisely!"

The ship responds by... running. Faster. Well, not much faster; more like dodging behind stuff rather unsuccessfully.

Mal continues to give chase, trying to fly /past/ and /in front of/ the enemy. "This is how much faster than you we are. Give up now, or we will fire on your engines! You have seen what we can do!"

The other ship tries to slip between an asteroid and the House of Dragons... and taps the asteroid, careening off and bouncing around a bit before floating in space. Looks like it crushed its engines something good.

Ed pointlaughs. "Soooo... boarding action?"

Marcus says, "Good it spopped. Mow lets get next to it and pry it open like a new keg of ale."

Staren says, "How unfortunate for them."

Marcus says, "HA. fortune favors the prepared."

Staren says, "Indeed."

Mal says, "All right. Let's go, yeah...remember: only kill those who actively resist, and don't kill the Dragon-Blood."

Ed is no longer after-imaging...

There is an airlock on one side of the ship, and conveniently, that side isn't facing the asteroid.

Marcus says, "Yeah, this is where the fun begins."

Marcus gets up out of the chair.

Marcus says, "i'll meet you at the airlock."

Staren nods and heads for the airlock, parting with Rabi there. "You stay and watch the ship, okay?" The little rabbit-thing nods.

Mal follows the others to the airlock, strapping on his khatars.

Ed lopes on down to the airlock, humming softly about work and efficiency and bad gremlins.

Marcus says, "if its ok with you Capt'm i'd like to go first to make sure no one gets hit with anything painfull."

Mal says, "Go ahead. But /don't kill the Dragon-Blood/."

Marcus says, "don't have to tell me twice."

Ed gets her hammer ready.

Marcus pulls out his Axe.

As Marcus steps into the airlock, he's greeted by a pair of soldiers. Well, not so much greeted by the soldiers as he is their bows and arrows. Twang...

Marcus swings his axe lightning fast and chops both arrows in half in one swing.

Marcus then glares at the archers

Marcus says, "shouldn't of done that."

The Dawn caste symbol can clearly be seen on Marcus's forehead.

Mal JOIN BATTLE

Marcus STAYS IN BATTLE

Ed sees... opportunity. And uses her small size to her advantage. She... JUMPS, attempting to careen off the walls of the airlock past the Circle, next to the Archers, and smack one hard with the hammer, shouting in Autochthonic about how the archers should give up now and spare themselves the pain and indignity of defeat, leaving a trail of pinpoint starbursts as she does so. The Pattern Distruption Hammer leaves an inky black trail with starbursts like Ed's Anima, head screaming through the air as it is brought to bear.

*BOOM* The hammer hits and the archer is lit up by bright white cracks that quickly spread through his body and bleed tiny motes of essence as he bleeds away into nothingness.

Ed lands and looks at the other Archer.

Mal, before he strikes, says five simple words: "I warned you to surrender." Then, he lunges. Dodging past Marcus, he then dodges back, feinting left, then right, until he is only two feet from the second archer - at which point his fist flies forward, the blade on its tip shimmering. He is aiming for the throat - and if he hits...he /twists/.

Mal's khatar is far tougher than the man's neck. It goes straight through - and in the moments he has left to life, the twist removes his head. There is a lot of blood, some of which gets on Mal. (Read: his shirt is now kind of red all over the top.) "I wanred them." As he says this, he begins to walk down the corridor.

Marcus says, "Wait up."

Marcus follows

Staren runs after. So far, so easy...

Ed falls behind, kinda in with Staren... "Oooh, pretty swords..."

"Its the anathema! The anathema have come to destroy us!" Four poor guys with spears run backwards, then turn tail and bolt for hiding spots, dropping their weapons on the way.

Staren smiles at Ed, "Thanks, they are..."

Theres a door at the end of a curving hall, marked 'Bridge' in High Realm.

Marcus says, "Thats right, run you proor exusses for soldiers."

Mal reads the sign. "Let them run, we'll round them up later and give them a chance to surrender. This is where we want to be."

Ed casually swings her hammer with one hand. "So whatcha gonna do with the Dynast, Captain?"

Mal says, "Give him a chance to serve us however we want him to...or die."

Marcus says, "shall i knock Capt'n?"

Mal says, "Yeah. Down."

The door is square, except for the half circular top. It opens outward.

Marcus walks up to the door and, with a mighty swing of his axe, tries to cleave the door down.

The door comes crashing in as the axe cleaves it in two, one piece smashing into a mortal on the other side, who's skull is now caved in.

Marcus calmly walks in.

Mal looks in. "Yes, I believe that's 'knocked down.'" He follows in. "Now! Would the Dragon-Blooded please raise his hand?"

Marcus says, "Now who wants to surrender or have there skull look like that door."

Ed grumbles and says that it's probably the one in the huge colorful armor.