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The Core ship flies gracefully cocky circles around the Frigate as it effortlessly slips into another sweet spot between the pirate vessels's weapons systems. Yet this time the Core's laser barrage goes wide in the theatrics, striking the ship's port shields at an angle and reflecting harmlessly into the void.
Pirate Vessel
Space Combat
Fast as a bolt of lightning Jin leverages his handhold to swing his body around and snatch Emily from the ether before she can float too far from the ship, then from the resulting momentum swings back and lands them both against the side of the airlock.
After a few moments of being stunned he shakes his head and then gets to work on the airlock, jacking into the airlock's severely outdated systems with ease as he searches for the right circuit to pulse to activate the airlock's decompression cycle and open her up.
Empathy: Jin's emotions cycled through fear, terror, even more terror, then relief before and during those acrobatics, he probably thought he was going to die there at one point from what you could guess.
In the microgravity of the container Jin clearly has less experience than Cross as he several times has to right himself against the floor and a nearby wall, evidently quite disoriented by the affair. With an unsteady nod towards Cross, he follows, bumping into the wall just below the hatch after pushing off the opposing wall and then holding to the rim for stability as he waits for their inevitable exit into the void.
”I’ve got a jammer I built to knock out their comms, but it will need to be on their ship unless we park the Argintum really close. It might be for the best if I come as well, to help solve any less sentient obstacles you might encounter. I’ve practically got a whole toolbox worth of augments.” the Witchwyrd explains
”Not to be negative. But we are in a travel ship with only a single gun on it. If we are intending to deal with these pirates then the safe move would be to come back with better firepower. After all you say you have... what.. two months plus a couple of weeks in theory?” The Witchwyrd addresses his concerns aloud first to Cross, then Diesel, as he crosses his upper arms across his chest ”In practice shorter, but regardless as we stand now we don’t really stand much of a chance against them by my measure. The only hope I could see would be infiltrating their cargo ship and trying to dismantle them quietly from inside, but the odds of that succeeding are nearly as poor as the odds of a direct space battle I should think.”
Back in his room, with a bit of work, Jin finishes installing the gathered components needed for the Comm Jamming subsystem into the his second-skin underarmor. It'll have to do till I have time to set up a proper personal installation, don't want to risk a biofeedback incident with a rush job the witchwyrd thought to himself, then grinned as his thought continued But if we are having to deal with Pirates, let's see how they handle themselves without their backup.
"Before we leave the system, i think we should check out that biotech facility. The timing is suspicious." Jin replies to the talk about getting out "They have a crisis at their facility at the same time as assaults on all major planetary SolGov headquarters by a lashunta Biotech company? Too many common factors to be unrelated."
”Once we get out of SolGov’s jurisdiction we will be pretty much home free. We would need to attract a lot of attention to catch their eye from another government’s space” Jin replies to the younger boy’s question ”Which means we need to decide where we want to head. I advise Cyrune personally, since there is no way someone could hope to track us there, plus it’d put us in a good spot to get a flow of cash running.” ”Alternatively, there is the possibility of going to Castrovel to investigate who caused the raid and why. But, that comes with almost as many risks as staying in SolGov space.” he noted with worry as he lays out the alternative option that has presented itself ”Speaking of which, now that we are free of the خنزير ذكر and her الطيور, is there anything you can tell us about the people who had hired you Rollo?” Witchwyrd: خنزير ذكر = A highly aggressive mammal native to Cyrune bearing a resemblance to the wild boars of earth, they have a mutualistic relationship with a species of avian that help them to hunt small game or take down larger game that they couldn’t manage alone.
الطيور = The plural form of the name of the previously mentioned avian species, they usually assist their larger hunting partner in groups of 2-3 and feed on the leftovers after the larger mammal has it’s fill. Calling someone these names is akin to calling the boar a bully and the avians their lackeys.
”It’s a little outside of my normal frame of reference, but I cross-referenced some old lashunta and shirren legends with some old data I had during the flight” he began explaining between the occasional spoonful of stew ”and found a few varieties of crystal that should in theory act like a battery that the psychics could charge with spare energy!” ”If it works they could save up their tricks to use later without exhausting themselves, maybe even share abilities. Cool right?”
Jin ends up stopping by a DIY computer store, buying a few miscellaneous chips and a small bucketload of assorted UPBs meant for specialized crafting. After that he followed the two kids around, advising about brands and deals and such on their purchases while trying to not be too into their business. To Amaryst's greeting he replies "They had a pretty decent selection. I even bought some materials for something I wanted to test out!" he says as he follows her into the ship.
Looking away from the match of Mega Brawl Siblings that he had been playing with Zen for just a moment, his character promptly gets punted off the screen as he responds to Maldor ”Hmm.. a visit to the station? Not a bad idea, maybe we could even find something to help cheer Emily up” the witchwyrd says, putting down the controller and stretching his back and arms as he stands ”Just a few ground rules this time so we don’t have a repeat of the situation with the thugs. 1: Stay close and don’t wander off, and 2: Try to avoid using psychic powers unless absolutely needed. Sound fair?” “SolGov still has this place under their thumb, so while it is safer we still shouldn’t draw attention.” the Witchwyrd concludes as he rummages through a backpack and pulls out a few empty credit chits that have long since had their funds stored in his Rig and then shoves them into a pocket.
After a short while Jin excused himself from dinner as well and adjourned to the Den to relax with something more decidedly in his wheelhouse: playing games with Korvan. Shortly thereafter they invite Zen as well to join them. Later on after the ship docked and connected to the station's datanet Jin and Cassius spent a few hours surfing their way through directories of on-station vendors, paying special attention to any offering specialized computers, scientific equipment, and medical equipment as they noted down places to visit and browse.
Jin looks to Amaryst uneasily then nods towards the door "Are you planning to talk to her or should I?" he asks nervously "I mean, your people can read minds, it's a bit weaker but the principle remains, you should know how to approach it right? Regardless she seems to like you a bit better than me." he notes aloud before sighing slightly as he thinks to himself "I never should have even spoke up, i've made a real mess of things this time, yeesh.."
Jin’s brow furrows at the line of inquiry his original question has taken and sighs before speaking up ”Okay, before we continue and get more confused it’s explanation time, Emily is an Empath. She can passively read the emotions of people around her.” he explains to the assembled group of the party before turning to the Cored man ”Now, Cross, I am sorry for bringing up that line of inquiry. I didn’t realize it was a personal subject, so I apologize.”
Jin takes a sip of his glass and looks down at it for several moments "Hmm, I expected something sweeter given it's made from juice of berries. The bubbles are nice though." he then proceeds to continue taking small sips as he watches the other's reactions to see what they think of it. Later on as the group enjoy their champagne and relax he looks to Cross and asks curiously "You know, you seem to be doing pretty well piloting her out of atmosphere. I've been meaning to ask, is it just talent or do you have some zero-g experience?"
"Oh well excuse me Captain for not sounding natural in my... what, 4th language?" Jin quips with a playful tone, slightly interrupted as he takes a moment to remember the order he learned Castrovellian in "Serenity or Argintum both sound good, though I would keep Serenity in Human English. Suaimhneas doesn't quite roll off the tongue so well either." he adds with a chuckle.
After claiming a room for himself and Zen and spending half a day extricating the remains of his life on earth from the hovercraft into it Jin spent a long while relaxing in the Trivid Den. Eventually though he went about setting up shop on a private terminal in his quarters, securing it his unique two-key encryption system and the greatest security measure known to sentient life: Incompatibility. When he finished offloading the crucial data of the last few days (video files of key events, medical data from the home scanner, and so forth) onto the newly encrypted terminal he began formulating a list of supplies he would need to get ahold of once funds had been secured. This preparation was put on hold when they arrived in Tau Ceti and the news began filtering in through Cassius. Genetically engineered life? An accident? If we swung by after dropping off Ayda we might be able to snag some good equipment in addition to the pay. he thought, mulling the possibility over to himself before he approached the others about it.
”It sounds reasonable to me but I’m not the captain of the ship, it’s up to her” Jin replies, nodding his head towards Amaryst before turning towards Rollo ”What about you Rollo? Are you planning to go with them or us?” he asked with a much less certain tone, thinking to himself He doesn’t really seem like he’s in the same boat as those other two, but who knows?
After welcoming the rest of their motley crew aboard and retrieving his things from the hovershuttle, Jin has Cassius assemble the group in the Trivid Theatre just a short walk from the Bridge so that they can discuss their plan of action. After everyone arrives he begins by addressing Ayda and Savael, asking ”So, I am assuming you two are still looking to be dropped off at the earliest opportunity?”
”Zen, you should probably head down to the engineering deck and find the transponder, you’ll likely have to upload the credentials directly.” Jin calls back to the Shirren standing in the doorway ”Make sure you save a backup of the ship’s original credentials too just incase. Better move quick, we’ll need the transponder set up before we enter Atmo”
"Well, that's not good." Jin says matter of factly as he looks over to Cross "Looks like we should get under way, mind taking us off Cross?" he asks the Core as he engages the maglock bolts on the airlock and completely disables power to the exterior access terminal for good measure "That should keep them out for now but we really should head out before they cause a fuss."
”It’s just a little relay so that Cassius can transfer data back and forth from the ship more easily. Else he’d be practically stuck in my head. The other one is one of the projectors I was using at home.” Jin explains as he thinks over what she said ”That’s fair. But I don’t want you bringing this up until she is gone. I am going to have to vouch for all of your behavior on my name and I don’t really trust them enough to risk even letting them catch wind, you understand right?” he ask as the data on the console vanishes, withdrawn by Cassius. ”Zen’s good people. And an engineer to rival my own skills. I don’t think you could find someone safer to trust your baby here with. Besides, they’ll need to upload the transponder data we snagged on our way up.” he adds with a playful wink ”Rollo has proven himself trustworthy I think. Certainly more so than Ayda and her battlebot.” he finishes in response to the second question, just a hint of distaste creeping into his tone as he says Ayda’s name.
Jin sets up his passcode and login credentials then goes about about plugging in his own peripherals as he begins to settle in, familiarizing himself with the ship's sensor array and surfing the internal data network. As he finishes attaching the projectors and data relay to the console he jokingly mutters "Evy, meet Cassius." before turning and with a flick of the hand casting a planetary data model to the ship's navigational console. Planetary Info:
Solar System: Aljana (Error: Solar System Not Found)
Planet Name: Cyrune Gravity: 1.2x Earth Standard Atmosphere: Nitrogen-Oxygen (Habitable) The data shows a warm world with dry savanna and desert biomes covering about 1/4th of the landmasses centered around the equatorial regions that quickly fade to more temperate climates as you move towards poles. Littering the surface with increasing frequency the further one roams from the equator are large cities connected by spiderwebs of large roads between one another. One of the largest cities, , is marked as the planetary capital. "Before we pick up Ayda, I wanted to say this is where I think we should go." Jin explains as he steps up and to the side of the console so the others can see "My home planet, Cyrune. Even if the Sol government somehow found out we are heading there, they wouldn't be able to find it, the planet is well-hidden."
Upon finding the suites Jin's eyes light up as he lets himself just sink into the plush fabric of one of the beds "Sweet gods above, it's been so long since I've seen a proper bed" he says aloud, just letting himself bask in it for a few moments before inevitably yet reluctantly tearing himself away. Eventually after a good 10 to 15 minutes exploring the upper and bottom floors of the ship he arrives on the Bridge, where he begins to set up shop at the Science Officer's terminal "Amaryst, can you please come to the bridge and help me get some credentials in the system?" he texts to her commlink.
"Well, if you'd like to speak with the rightful owner, she's just a few yards behind me." Jin says, nodding towards Amaryst "But really, this isn't too big a deal. We are just trying to avoid those ruffians disturbing the peace after all." he says, tapping the chit and transferring another 50 credits into the already hefty bribe, bringing the display to a nice round 100.
”Indeed” Jin says, chuckling at Cross’s jab before walking up to the counter and speaking up to get the guard’s attention ”Uh, excuse me, pardon the interruption but we have a small problem. You see there is an unsavory group of goons blocking the entrance to our ship and they assaulted my friend last time she tried to board. Is there any chance we could perhaps make a quick spacewalk to the other airlock?” Jin explains to the Security guard, adding on ”We’d rather avoid that they cause trouble for you by starting a fight, you know?”
If he doesn’t look like he is buying it: ”We’d really appreciate your help with this matter. As I’m sure you don’t want to deal with thugs loitering around your wonderful station either, right?” Jin finishes, sliding his hand a few inches to the side on the counter to reveal a preloaded credit chit with 50 creds in it.
”So here’s a crazy thought. Do you think if we grabbed a security guard from around the corner and asked they would care?” Jin wonders aloud to the assembled group ”I mean, in their eyes it would certainly beat the alternative of dealing with a shootout on the concourse right? We could probably just explain about the goons and ask them to let us make a quick spacewalk to our ship.”
"Getting the bottle there unharmed is going to be the real trick. I'm thinking it's probably best if we go for the ship first. That way we have it secured before we deal with our second problem" Jin says intermittently between leisurely sips of a large frappe and occasional bites of a cinnamon bagel "Make sure you save enough to drink. That stuff is supposedly pretty good if the earth movies are to be believed."
”I agree, let’s avoid taking more lives if we can. If discreet communication is all that is needed I can relay information to Cross. Internal communications bioware really does wonders.” Jin replies, trying to ease what he views as rising tensions ”I apologize if that little trick at the racetrack bothered you though. I was in a bit of a panic.” he says to the Core. A belated apology but the quickest he could give with the circumstances.
"There is only four of them you said? They can't be watching the place all the time. With luck we can probably just sneak to the ship while they are sleeping somewhere. It's not like they can sleep inside the ship after all." Jin points out to the others "You said the biometric locks on the ship were keyed to you."
Jin coughs slightly and looks towards Emily nervously, then back to Amaryst "I think you'll need my help if you want to get that transponder properly installed. Korvan can handle taking care of the psychics on the ship I should think." he says as he takes a step away from the gangplank "And I don't think I could stomach just sending you up there into whatever dangers are lurking." Amaryst:
{Even with the War Bot they would be outnumbered 4 to 3, possibly even 5 to 3, against multiple powerful psychics, and they know that. Plus it is our hand that is feeding them currently, I doubt they will bite us again, at least not till we are clear into the Drift.} "What about you Zen? Are you coming with us or staying here?" Jin asks as he turns to the Shirren "I wouldn't fault you if you wanted to just pretend you never saw this and go home. But this is also a chance for you to get off this rock with us, and I would appreciate your company." he ends in a somewhat awkward display of sentimentality.
Jin winces visibly when faced with the mental image of Emily’s handiwork and he replies {Not the original intention, but yes. I was one of the ones who, for lack of a better word, created Emily. As for the older boy, he must have been a test subject of some kind, since his age predates the earliest MLE’s by quite a while. I haven't been able to run any checkups on the younger one yet.} his mind wanders slightly before reorienting towards the original question {But they weren’t supposed to be like this! Emily’s powers were meant to be for translation! Empathy! Diplomacy! Not this.. this.. fighting!} he continues as Zen can feel Jin’s anger beginning to seep into his words {They could have built bridges, but those bastards tried to turn these children into weapons. It’s despicable.}
”Yes it has to do with the raid, those thugs were our first run in but if we stay there will be more. As for getting off-planet, we have a ship.” Jin explains as he passes along a much more in-depth silent telepathic message across the still open link {About 19 Years ago I got mixed up in some government black-site stuff, those kids are the result. Human psychics. And more powerful than anyone could have believed. The raid set them free and I can’t let the SolGov treat them like animals again. So we are getting off planet.}
"Sorry about that Zen, i had to run in a hurry and didn't really have time to think about it. Impressive sleuthing though." Jin replies to the shirren "I'm... kind of trying to get off planet. Things aren't safe for me here anymore. If you want to come we could probably take you, but it's your choice ultimately. As for explanation, I'll answer anything you ask man, sorry for the firefight that.. could not have been a worst way to meet up to be frankly honest." the witchwyrd continues to ramble on as he drives towards the docks, three hands on the wheel and one on the gear shifter.
Jin slides into the driver’s seat and after the others pile in, drives away, making sure to keep a low profile as they slip past the cops and make their way to the docks in the stolen car, slipping through back routes and alleys provided by Cassius to shake any other potential followers.
”Zen, not to sound ungrateful because I truly am and I am sorry about this whole situation but what are you doing here?” he asks exasperatedly to the bug-man.
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