TEST DRIVE MEME!

[red_shift]

WHAT HAPPENS IN SPACE VEGAS STAYS IN SPACE VEGAS

The ship has made a stop at a city-planet to acquire some supplies-- and just everyone's luck, it's one of those wonderful mostly-lawless places where you can do or get pretty much anything. About the only thing the local government seems to frown on is outright murder, though it's quickly apparent that most of the planet's places of business include some rather heavily-armed security to deter thieves and other ne'er-do-wells. Still, it's a chance to get away from the zombies and breathe some non-recycled atmosphere for a while...

Scenarios:

#1: Screw that, I'm staying on board.

Just what it says on the tin. Your character has some plans now that the ship's mostly cleared of both unwilling passengers and zombies.. the Master might even be away! Time for a little reconnaissance behind locked doors?

#2: All work and no play makes Jack something something.

Unhappily for you, you were given a mission on-planet that you should probably try to complete before you go have fun... well, unless you want to get your air supply cut off or any of another thousand yucky things. Thankfully, you just have to pick up that really big palette of mysterious crates watched over by those really big unsmiling dudes.. or was it that other big stack of crates?

#3: Well it's not technically illegal.

There's something on-planet-- money, technology, shinies, whatever your character's heart desires. Only problem is, you can't seem to acquire it by normal economic activities. Ocean's Eleven in Space, anyone?

#4: The chips are down.

It's Space Vegas. Your character is gonna go have a look at the space casinos, or take in a space MMA battle, or whatever other ridiculous thing you can think of on a planet where you can do pretty much anything you can afford... and you've got just enough in credits or barter to cash in...

#5: Wild card! Choose your own adventure!

DO

~Post a top-level comment for a character who will be NEW to the game. So, like.. everybody. If you want to.

~Make sure to label your post with your character's name and originating canon.

~Tag as if you're already stuck on this wonderful ship! Make sure to read through the game info before tagging.

~If you are really shy, try tagging one of the threads already there!

DON'T

~Walk out of the airlocks without a space suit. Jeeze.

~Taunt happy fun ball.

Comments

Getting Stuck in a dark alley with a blue guy and a giant guy.

[robotarmsareholy]

Martellus had mostly been looking for pure technology he could use as opposed to the tainted things he had to operate with. AIs! What he wouldn't give for a Machine Spirit, even if it was uncooperative. At least they weren't demon possessed. Though when the blue Xeno approached him, he was natively wary. Thrawn's attitudes and actions had made Martellus lump him with Eldar. Useful allies against Chaos, but always must watch out for backstabbing.

So he had a cautious "Greetings," to give to Thrawn when approached. There were many reasons to approach Martellus. Skill with machines, knowledgeable of making and repairing many things, versed in both magical and technical, and in a giant powersuit as well as a hulk of man. (Specifically, 8 foot 6 inches and 800 pounds of muscles, genetic augments, and mechanical augments.)

[thrawn]

Thrawn nodded politely and laced his fingers together, red eyes glittering as he regarded the highly modified man. Superstition had its place, but it was difficult to sort superstition from mis-translated fact.

"I have a proposal." Martellus was mistrustful, but that wasn't a bad quality. "Your many areas of expertise in exchange for an opportunity."

Thrawn had to work quickly to achieve his goals in the time they had at this planet, which meant less time for details than he would like. That made Martellus an ideal option. Durable, knowledgeable, and motivated with the right kind of incentive.

[robotarmsareholy]

Martellus considered his actions for a few moments, shifting to look at him with his green 'eyes' more directly. "I will require details on your plan before I risk consorting with Xenos," his voice was matter of the fact.

[thrawn]

"Of course, if you'll follow me." Thrawn remained calm, and gestured down the alley. The xenophobia was nothing new to him, and he'd lived on both sides of it in soieties where it was the norm. "There's a moderately fortified position protecting some very rare technology." Rare for this place, at least. Thrawn began walking towards the large transport he had procured for this venture. It was positioned with as few lines of sight to it as possible.

[robotarmsareholy]

Martellus grit his teeth but followed after him in a few moments. he walked with a heavy foot now as he tilted his head at the statement of what they were after. The transport was no Rhino (METAL BOXES!) but it would be a good choice when assaulting a defended position. He looked over the machine for a few moments before deciding to find a place he could sit in it. He would fly it, but that would require them to fit his bulk.

"What kind of technology? I have strictures on what technology I would be interested in."

He had loosened up to some degree since coming here, since the line between Xeno, corrupt, and pure technology was blurry here. But the Techmarine considered loyalty to the Emperor more important than loyalty to the cult of machines.

[thrawn]

The Empire Martellus called home was even more strict than the one created by Palpatine. Perhaps more strict and fervently upheld than the Ascendancy. Thrawn joined Martellus in the transport section rather than the cockpit, and produced the portable holo projector he'd acquired some time ago.

He hooked it up to the datapad he'd encrypted and secured for just this occasion and tapped a few buttons to bring up the display of the security system layout and, more importantly, it's control center. He'd managed to plant a bug on a small mousedroid-like maintenance drone, and it took Thrawn only a moment to pull up the 2d video from the control center.

"I haven't been able to identify it specifically, but this is controlling the automated defenses for this part of the building." It was clearly once part of something else, visible wires spliced and jagged edges cut into the metal chassis with a variety of tools. The security in that section of the building had been added onto and then superseded the existing building-wide security, but had clearly been there longer than the addition to the supply closet-turned control room.

[robotarmsareholy]

Martellus just watched the few moment, taking in the map of the sight as he considered his tactics for the moment. The codex was just a guideline after all. He took a few moments to look through the different spots before nodding at the machine. "Such a machine might have been more thoroughly re-purposed to its current task through proper rituals, but I've seen worse shoddy work. I could easily disconnect it if given access to the machine. I would need more time study it to perform the proper rituals in an attempt to create the right targeting directions."

He studied the diagram a bit more of the security, realizing he noted the cogitator unit on it. Well, the equivalent of it. It was close enough to a number of Imperial ones to recognize it. "I could remove that part there..." he pointed to it, "And that would remove all IFF from the machine. That piece itself is probably the most valuable part of that machine, since it gives any weapons accuracy and the complicated IFF needed for a security control system."

[thrawn]

"I shall defer to your expertise for disabling that part of the security system." With time, and equipment, Thrawn was confident in his own ability to overcome this obstacle on his own. Given that he had neither, it was simpler to recruit Martellus and let the man apply his own expertise to the situation; Let him find his own means to Thrawn's goal.

Thrawn leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers together, eyes closing until only thin lines of red glow were visible. "Should you decide to cooperate, that is."

Parts of the security system, particularly those in the control room, would have made a worthy prize in other circumstances. Using them as incentive for Martellus to cooperate was an added bonus in its own way; There were enough common goals between them that Thrawn would benefit from Martellus having access to more resources.

[robotarmsareholy]

"I think I would be willing to cooperate for the time being. Recovery of useful mechanisms would assist us against the Master, and his possible alliance with the Dark Gods. What entrance will we be using? I doubt direct force would be wise in this situation, given their security. My Chapter prefers to handle things with cunning rather than force, so headlong attacks are rarely our specialty."

[thrawn]

Thrawn nodded, and pulled up the blueprints of that section of the building. "The maintenance entrance is over here." The maintenance entrances were all one large vertical stack, dropped into a shaft built into the building's structure, wired into one another. "This hatch allows for small maintenance drones to gain access... and the main power is over here. They have two dedicated lines running to them. Everywhere else has been reinforced, but there's not enough room to make such modifications in the maintenance stack without impeding the automated maintenance."

He pulled up the video to show the maintenance door from the inside. "The door has been reinforced, but the wall around it is unmodified." Which was how they would get in.

"The control room is on uninterrupted power, but the defense systems automatically switch over to a generator when external power is cut, and back over when it is available. It will cause interruptions in the active defense measures." Forcing multiple switches between the power systems would also send at least one person running to do a manual override.

"This is usually the shortest path to the control room from the entrance, but going through this wall bypasses the two heavily defended chokepoints and cuts the distance by three fourths."

[robotarmsareholy]

Martellus reviewed the strategy. While he was rarely on the frontlines, Techmarines were in rare supply and were most often put in the shops to make sure all the gear was up to snuff, his time with the Force Commander had seen many a complex strategy. Though he was more used to seeing these tactics used for assassination, but this would not be any different. "We could probably use a detonation of something loud near a far end, preferably timed or detonated, to draw the standing guards away to give us a larger window of opportunity. Otherwise, the plan sounds sound. Though I would prefer more time to explore our resources and possibilities."

[thrawn]

"I will make arrangements for a diversion," Thrawn agreed. In truth the arrangements had already been made, it was simply a matter of pulling the trigger.

As for the second point raised by Martellus, "We have approximately twelve hours to commit. At that point, I will have an opening to put a device in place to interrupt and re-engage the dedicated power lines as necessary." With power back-ups, there had been no need for their targets to secure the building's main power.