Hey, Donny back again. Im not sure how well received this was last time, but it generally seemed to be positive- and I'd like to toss my hat back in again. If Anyone is up for it, I'd like to toss up another Story time.
If Anyone missed the last one
>
Go right ahead. Story times are best times.
Go for it dude.
So, Donny-Boy got a silent tip off that he needed to get out to Far port for some 'exercise'. And by Exercise, they meant 'under the table work'. Donny-Boy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew when he was being nudged and when he was needed. The question was how to get out there.
You see, Getting out to Farport meant getting to the outer rim, and getting to the outer rim isn't cheap, especially when your coming from the core worlds. The problem was, Donny-boy didn't feel like dumping over half his fortune he just got for his commendation of bravery into a one way ticket out there (It was about 18,000 Credits. His Pension per year was 10,000, for a reference.), and he certainly didn't have a ship of his own accord that he owned or could fly. This, of course, was a problem. If he couldn't get OUT into the outer rim, he wasn't going to be present to do his job.
A good week or so searching around the ships however, got him a lucky break. Coming across A Luxury Cruiser known as the White Chimera- They had needed a few extra hands for a security detail- Something about a luxury cruiser that was flying into dangerous space and wanting to ensure the safety of its patrons. Food and board included and it was an easy way to get out into the outer rim, Even if it broke out into a fight.
Donny-boy was always ready for a scrap, after all.
The Plan was to serve on the ship until it reached its destination, Get off once it had reached it destination (Some kind of space port or whatever), then take a private shuttle the rest of the way- Which was much cheaper and far more effective way of getting to where he was going. Besides, Donny-Boy earned himself a little R&R, And he was going to be damned if he wasn't going to have a NICE flight for once in his life.
For the most part- Things went to plan. Donny-boy wasn't the best keeper of time, but he was pretty sure it took a month or two to get out there. He had a handy little watch that beeped all the time, and it kept track for him. The Luxury cruise was actually a pleasant ride, and most of the people kept their shit in check. There was an instance or two of some drunk patrons getting rowdy- but it was nothing a slap across the face or breaking up the fight couldn't solve.
Donny-boy was real good at breaking up a fight.
Now, Unbeknownst to Donny-boy, Some old time friends were on the ship. Well, 'Friends'. The Old Captain that had gotten him his one in a lifetime opportunity, and that stupid admin who screwed him out of getting the marines were on board. The ship was too big for them to meet, Of course. The Captain was enjoying being around the crew- The Admin had his VIP suite and Donny-Boy was too busy in the barracks. It turned out that they had an interest into going to Farport for their own reasons as well.
Those two actually got somewhere. Donny Got into Trouble.
Now. When your plan includes making a mid ship transfer, You'd be wise to make damn sure the ship your getting on is actually going where it SAYS it going. The Captain and the Admin were smart lads, you see. They had planned out their course ahead of time, and knew what ship they had to get on to make it to farport. A small shuttle that housed about a thousand on a one way trip to Farport. Simple.
Donny-Boy on the other hand, was a man on instinct. Concepts like 'Planning' Where never fully mapped out, and if he did- He'd struggle to try and remember the finer details of what he was doing. This, like in many things, was a bad thing. Now, to Donny-Boy's credit, he DID check out what ships were a bit of the Fru-Fru side, and which ones SEEMED okay, and hoping to save a credit or two- he picked what he deemed to be the best combination of Luxury and Price. Hell, he thought he found a good deal too! REAL leather seats, fit about two hundred, good fuel Mileage... If you were in Donnys Shoes, you would of sworn it was a steal.
And it was. This ship flew fast, and felt like a dream. Good food, good company- Had to lock up the weapons in the cargo hold (Are you going to let the meat head with a Gauss rifle and rocket launcher keep it in the Passenger bay?), but that was standard fare for the course. In a matter of a week, They even got to their destination.
The problem was- It wasn't Farport. It was a barren rock, with a welcoming party of about Thirty Guys with Assault Rifles.
So Yes. The deal was quite a steal. As in, they got 200 people to pay THEM to be kidnapped. A rather sick joke, if one was looking outward on the situation. And the problem was, they wanted Donny to surrender as well. Everyone else already had by this point- But Donny still had a side arm on his hip- And he took an objection to that. Donny-boy knew what it was like to be a prisoner once. He wasnt clammoring to have his leg broken a second time.
Now, to be perfectly honest, Donny didn't sweat thirty guys with assault rifles. He had a ship for cover, and from what it looked like, they were antiqued rifles that were of a Terran design. Something like a 'Gee cee three' or something. Regardless- He had the protection he needed that, even if they sprayed bullets? He should of been able to survive the mass of fire if he acted fast enough.
What he did sweat was the fact that He didnt have his kit. Now, Armor is fine- but if anyone knew warfare? You learned very quick that Quanity was a quailty all of its own. Keep hitting something hard enough with enough of a thing- and it didnt matter if you had power armor- You were going down. He could only buy himself so much time to take them all out before he was litterally gunned down. If he had his bandolier of grenades- His rocket launcher, or even just his Gauss Rifle, He could of taken them down. But he didnt. He had a Sword on his hip and a Revolver. At BEST, if he pegged them all in the head? He could take down six before he was killed.
Left with (Basically) no other option, he cursed under his breath before throwing over his revolver, and let the raiders have their way.
"I knew you looked like an bright lad."
It was the last thing he heard before the world went dark. Though, it took a second rifle butt to the back of his skull to knock him out.
Now. When the first thing when you wake up is a giant line and a mass sorting like you were all cattle. You know you were having a bad day. Rows upon rows of people- as far as the eye could see, And Donny-boy was just another number. Donny-boy didn't like this feeling. He'd gone through this kind of torture once before- and he wasn't going to be reduced down to a number again.
In truth- It wasn't a bunch of raiders that took them by surprise. It was an organized pirate outfit- to the point it could of been considered its own independent colony. Surviving on an asteroid in massive bio-domes, their population consisted of slave labor that they stole from civilian ships and P.O.W's, they had made quite a presence in their sector of space. Working with Ruthless efficiency- They sized up every person that came in, placed them where they were best fit, and then thrown into bed sets of four to be assigned as a unit.
Oh yeah. And they took all of Donny's gear too. Cheap bastards.
Many were to be sold off, back to their families. Some were commodities to the other pirate lords in the area. Others were assigned labors to keep their small civilization running. Donny was assigned to the latter.
Thankfully- They didn't need to Tattoo him or some other degrading nonsense to know where his place was. Security detail was his job- which was a fitting place for a man of his talents. But before he would be assigned his bunk and the other three members of his squad- The illustrious leader of the pirate nation held an inauguration for the new members of their organization.
A small, gray being- No taller then a human toddler. It had a perfectly smoothed face with no lips and black eyes like the void of space itself. Even if it was small in stature- The presence it held far exceeded it minuscule demeanor. People called these things 'F'ralls' or something like that. Donny wasn't great with his Xenobiology (That is to say, He didn't know ANYTHING about Xenobiology), and simply called the thing a 'Gray'. Was appropriate anyway.
Now, the thing couldnt talk- thats for certain. It had no lips. What it did have- was telepathy, and extremely good telepathy. Enough to fool anyone that it could of had one and spoke like a person did. Coating the room with Magic Mind Powers, it had welcomed everyone to their new homes- and began to lay down the rules for the whole to follow.
The Prince, as it had called itself- made it very clear that he trusted none of these jackasses. It was a smart thing to make perfectly clear- He had just stolen them from their ships and their livelihoods- He didn't even expect quarter these people to be even remotely loyal to him, and thus took a firm hand to ensure that they didnt try anything under his watch.
>His Rules were as follows
1. They weren't returning our gear. They were forfeit, and if we wanted our gear back, We'd have to buy it back with his own currency, or requisition it from the quartermaster.. Which led into>
2. They had stolen every last credit from our pockets, for the good of the whole. The new currency would be on special E-Cards known as 'Commissary Cards', and would be assigned by the Quartermaster. You did your job? You got paid. You did special missions for the Organization? You got paid. You would then take that money, and go live your life.
3.If you wanted to get ahead in your career, you'd go on special jobs. These special jobs (To be explained at a later time), came up once a month, And were voluntary- As the casualty rates were rather high... But he did reward loyalty. And this was a good way to prove you were loyal.
There was more rules (No kicking, biting, killing each other, etc.), but those weren't important to Donny. He knew those rules. No, what was important was getting HIS Gauss Rifle back.
And so, when it asked if there was questions- He spoke up.
"Yeh, Can i hav' m'gauss rifle back?"
The Prince looked upon Donny with a clear sign of amusement, practically having a laugh at what he thought was a stupid question. "...No? I would rather you not carry around a weapon that could punch a hole into the side of a wall, and quite frankly, I do not trust you."
"Yeh, well, ya see, that's Donny-boys rifle- an' i've been usin' it fer twenty years. Donny-boy's been killin' every thin' from 'ere ta high heaven. Donny-boy wouldnt care if its jus' sum shoddy piece o' crap, thats MY rifle, an' Donny'd be a lot happier if he had it back- Its a solider pride, ya know?"
"Well. It is not your rifle anymore- Its now in the hands of an officer, whom is very appreciate of your contribution. If you earn my trust- Perhaps one day, you can get one. But as of now- you try my patience. I would suggest you dont try it further."
Donny-Boy was going to have to shank someone by the time he was done here.
Now, The only reason Donny didn't keep going- was fact that the prince had adjourned the court. Donny had a fire in his belly- you see. Donny could of kept arguing for HOURS. Donny wasnt going to let some stuck up, hoity toity sonofabitch get away from belittling his gun. That was HIS gun, and he was going to get it back. It was just a matter of time.
But for now, he'd have to stew, and stew. It was time to meet his bunk mates, and whom he'd be spending the next... While, with. Whom he'd have to share his core with, and come to trust with his life. For what he got- He could of done far worse.
The First Man was... A man, to say the least. The man was very ordinary. Ordinary in all aspects. Healthy- but paled in comparison to Donny-Boy in his physical stature. Dressed in a fine Black and Red- with the Imperial Stripes running down his shoulder- This man was clearly a Navy man. Jonathan Condor was his name- and if he wasnt dressed so sharply- You could of mistaken this man for another face the crowd.
The other one looked like a fully grown man, with a face as if it was hand sculpted. Literally. His stature was perfect- his curvature was perfect, Not a single scar across anywhere in his body. This man SCREAMED perfection, and it was unnatural. It scared the ever loving shit out of Donny how unnaturally young this man looked, in comparison to his body. Otherwise? he looked pretty slim.
Guess you couldn't put much muscle on when you were eighteen or something... Hey, Wait a minute...
Donny-Boy Didn't recognize these men- The Navy Man, he had never known personally, and the Perfect man? Well, Twelve Years- with a less then bright solider made for a poor memory. But had he been brighter- He would of recongized these men- The Captain and The Admin, And they certainly recognized him.
The Captain Recognized the solider whom he spoke to, that day over Ryhdi. Well, More appropriately, he remembered his commanding officer whom he zapped in the face with a laser pistol to stop the drug ring in his ship. Perhaps he was relieved to know he had a solider that he saw take his troops to victory at his side. But for all Donny knew, He was the C.O of their little group- and he was only... curt, with Donny. At least for now.
The Admin, on the other hand- Saw Donny as a tool. An advantage. A meathead proxy to instigate his war against the Prince, and to get the hell out of here- given his family wasn't paying ransom to bail him out. He had most certainly overheard Donny's Argument with the Prince as well, and his plans began to brew...
Now. How did these men find themselves here? Well, Just because they weren't stupid enough to walk onto a slaver ship and pay for the privilege- didn't mean that they weren't in hostile space. And like many stories that end in tragedy, Someone had fucked up somewhere during the trip: In this case, It was the
Astrogator.
Now, The Astrogator perhaps was working with out of date maps. Maybe he was working with sub par equipment. Maybe he was an inside mole- Who knew? Regardless of what happened, He courted the ship to head into a Nebula. Now, for the uninformed (Like Donny), A Nebula is a BAD thing to drive a ship through. At the best, your ship was just a bit wonky- and you had to eyeball where you were going. At the worst? Well, Better hope your life support didnt fail, or else you were shit out of luck. For the shuttle they were on- It was 'Everything BUT the life support and the Power Supply', which was at least a step above the worst case scenario- Though still a terrible scenario, regardless.
Especially when you get boarded by pirates- whom had tech to work in these Nebula's.
Johnathan Condor- Who was invited onboard to oversee the crew, was left with very few options. He was on a civilian vessel- And lacked many useful tools to fight off invaders coming in boarding tubes (Such as Space Marines.). Sure, most of them had a sidearm or such- but it paled in comparison to the firepower he knew the invaders would bring to bear against these people- and they most certainly didnt have armor. A fight here would get these people killed to the last. But it wasnt like he wasnt going to go down without a fight. He had to just be clever. And as he was a former starship engineer as well, he could most certainly be clever in a pinch.
Asking for all the civilians to lay down their arms and to not oppose the attackers, He made his way to the back- to the begin his trap. And for the most part, the civilians agreed- but one refused. This was the Admin- whom had packed a shotgun onboard (And as he was a duke, whom was going to refuse him his request? They could barely hold a service to his standard. What the duke wanted, the duke got.) and braced for impact.
Then they came, they came in force. Ten men, Twenty men, fourty men. All pouring out of the tubes- spraying fire and getting any civilian with the gall that the admin had to hit the floor. They needed to make an example out of a few regardless- having not known Johnathan told them to hit the deck. Regardless- With no resistance to oppose them- they swept though the ship like a storm, clearing deck by deck.
Seeing the resistance that stood before- The admin, in all of his space marine training and bravery... Left his shotgun in his seat, Went for the nearest bathroom, and tried to lock himself in. Or at least, he tried. He only got half way- before he was forced to throw his hands up- and got clocked across the face with a rifle butt. That stung like a bitch- and broke his nose.
Condor, on the other hand- had taken the time the invaders had spent boarding to rig the power core with improvised explosives... Or make it look like it. He needed something to work with to try and bluff the Enemy Boarding party into ether leaving or... whatever kind of situation he could arrange. And to his credit- Johnathan was a damn good engineer. He knew what he was doing- Perhaps he was a little too good at what he was doing.
Regardless- When the boarding party had breached the engine room, He hid behind some debris, held out his detonator and demanded them to halt. Given the fact he /really/ 'had' set up a explosive on the power core and he sounded desperate, they immediately stopped what they were doing. Condor had the time to press his advantage, and size up the raiders.
He knew these men. He knew they would deal with them honorably. Well, as honorably as pirates would. As they demanded surrender- he 'disarmed' his detonator, and let them take the crew. It wasn't worth a fight, or taking them all to hell. it was a no win situation- and he had to make a call.
At least there was no casualties.
And now here they were. Three saps, trapped by a gray bastard with a monarch complex- who had stolen all their gear, their money, their futures and all they had to look forward to was moonshine, dried foods and nutrition packets- doing unethical work and maybe even turning against the Imperium itself, all so they could see tomorrow. Only Donny was spared having his money taken- and thats because he left his money in a bank. His Ma' told him to put that money in a bank- and now his companions had quite the egg on their faces.
However, this wasn't important. What was important Now, was that this was quite frankly bullshit, and plans of breaking out started immediately. Donny and Jonathan were loyalists- and had each spent twenty years defending the Imperium against threats like these. They wouldnt turn now. And the Admin? The Admin was simply bent over a barrel and wanted to end a bad deal IMMEDIATELY. Supposedly, He was taking some strange drug called Antiagathics for his health- and if it stopped? it was going to end very VERY badly for him, and his stockpile had been stolen by the prince. Regardless of their reasons- This Fellowship had banded together under a common goal.
Get out. Get Even. Kill The Prince. It was only a matter of time.
And as it turned out- they got there just in time for a 'Volunteer Monthly Mission' to go up, just a week later. A Perfect chance to hit the ground running...
>And That is the not so overly but still embellished party establishment moment and the DM screwing everyone out of their stuff.
I do need to start pre-writing these. I didn't get nearly as far i wanted to in a single thread before it got too late. But these are fun! Sorry its not too terribly long of a story, and that there was no combat. If i keep going with this, There'll be combat for sure.
If anyone would like to ask questions, elaborations of otherwise shit on the writing, please. Go ahead. I know i could stand to improve.
Looks good so far, although you forgot about Robert.
Ill check back in when I wake up. Maybe outline the story I am planning out.
Robert came in later, if i recall. Not much later- but still later. Also, I did mention 'four bunk rooms'.
Ah, got it. That's right, he came in right after you left off here.