MARAUDER: The Hunt for Marauder One

[Star_Dragon]

(This RP was approved, so I shall start.)

Vokun Dok - sometimes called "Shadow" or "Shadow Hound" - sat in the captain's chair of a Danube-class Runabout, the USS Danube. The chair also had the helm controls, though they were, at the moment, inactive. While he waited for the others he was assigned to work with to get here, he had checked his MASRA Battleplate, cleaned his gun, re-assembled it, and was now loading bullets into each of his extended magazines one round after another. He'd have been much happier with an RX Kalashnikov AKS74U Model 3, but he had to admit, the hardened uranium-tungsten 5.56 caliber rounds for his Phantom P3A2 seemed worth the trade-off. Stopping power for penetration.

Sitting on the inactive helm console attached to his chair was a datapad he'd been looking over. The mission objectives. Vokun had no idea why Alliance Command sought to bring in several different people to investigate the string of massacres that had occurred in areas of space no one cared about, nor did he know why he had been named the lead investigator in this op. Something about Marauder One and how he seems tto know where the Alliance is at all times and when they're near him. Some suspect a mole, others believe that Marauder One is Psychic in some way.

Vokun? He didn''t care. If Marauder One was responsible for these massacres, Vokun would bring him in. If he wasn't, Vokun would find out who was responsible and why and how Marauder One seemed to be at the site of each massacre. A case of wrong place, wrong time? Perhaps. But Vokun learned long ago not to take things at face value. He continued loading rounds into the mags, one after another...

[ballisticwaffles]

For her part in the affairs of things, Chayrlin Magguson couldn't have been more out of place. Her fine gentleman's suit clashed with the pearl metals of the Danube, Black on white a contrast she wasnt used to. Her Bowler hat kept her Short black hair under wraps, slightly tilted for style of coarse, And with an unhealthily long puff, She removed the cigar from her teeth, blowing the cancerous smoke from her lungs.

"I am Encarmia" She greeted Vokun, balencing on her cane to reach a steady hand out. "I was told y'all need a medic?"

[Star_Dragon]

Vokun frowned. "We do?" he asked. He stopped loading rounds into the magazine to check the datapad. Sure enough, there was a request for a member with a medical background. Vokun shrugged and said, "So we do." He shifted his P3A2 to one arm, put the extended mag in his left hand, and shook Chayrlin's hand with his right. "Vokun Dok," he introduced himself. "Though my friends back home call me Shadow." He looked around the interior of the Danube and asked, "Think we could have gotten a better ship?"

[ballisticwaffles]

Charylin decided she was goign to be blunt. "yes" She shook her head. "Damned thing probably doesnt even have a proper medical bay... oh well, guess the ole liquer and musket ball is gonna have to suffice."

[Star_Dragon]

"Kah," Vokun scoffed, his voice verging on an amused chuckle. "Don't need to tell me that." He loaded the last round into the mag, loaded the mag into the receiver, and cocked the weapon with a metallic click-click. "Any idea where everyone else is?"

[Geo Stelar]

Geo, in his usual laid back stance, his body relaxed and had his had tilted sightly to one side, was walking towards where their assigned Investigation Leader is. It's only been a few days after graduating the CAF Academy,and now already he's been chosen for a mission that involved a murderer, with a suspect that can be either foe or ally. 'Well, they chose me for something. Least I can do is do the best I can', he thought.

He arrived at the captain's room, and found two people there; one who sort of reminded him vaguely of a dragon, holding a weapon, and another one who is of race he'd never seen before. He presumed that the one holding a weapon was their Investigation Leader, and approached him quite warily, then said, "Uh.. Geo McKarter, sir."

[Salem]

Vanessa walked in as Vokun asked his question,"Sorry if I'm late, but I'm here now", She said in a simple response as she walked through the door "Vanessa O'Donnell", she added in a greeting manner. She was dressed in a black sleek combat uniform with a knife on her left thigh Desert eagle on her right hip and a pistol grip pump shotgun across her back.

"They say you're investigating the recent massacres",Vanessa stated towards Vokun.

[Star_Dragon]

"Not me," Vokun corrected Vanessa. "We." He looked to Geo and added, "And don't call me 'sir.' Just call me Vokun; I'm not some up-high army general person, I was hired to lead this investigsation. Nothing more." With a chuckle, he said, "As soon as the last member of this team gets here, we can be on our way." He looked out the forward viewport, toward the open end of the hangar the Danube was in. "Unless I'm much mistaken, we have a long road ahead of us." He picked up the datapad, scrolling down to see the first destination. In bold letters, the first destination read Cairn Installation followed by a set of spatial coordinates.

[Geo Stelar]

'So it's not just some serial mass murderer', Geo thought. 'This one likes massacres. Hell, right now I moved from confused to terribly puzzled on how they picked me for this. Oh well, sometimes I don't understand how fate works. Still, this is interesting. My first mission and it is already a massacre, and an investigative one as well. I'm gonna give it my best.'

He looked at Vokun, then said, "Ok then, if you wish, Vokun. I'm guessing all of us here are just picked for this mission. Even I'm wondering why CAF doesn't had a mention in this, considering this is a serious crime, and threat."

[Star_Dragon]

Vokun shrugged, folding the stock of his P3A2 and ensuring the safety was on. "Believe me, I have no idea why they chose us, either, so I share your confusion." He leaned his weapon against his chair and then activated the ship's computer. The ship came to life, and Vokun plugged the datapad in, bringing up the image of their target destination. "This," he began, "Is the Cairn Installation, out in the Lennico Asteroid Belt. It's the most recent place hit, so there stands a likely chance that Marauder One will be in the area. Any questions so far?"

[Salem]

Vanessa slowly raised her hand and asked,"Um... yes... who is Marauder One?"

[Star_Dragon]

Vokun inhaled, then exhaled deeply. "We... don't know. That's one of our objectives, if secondary - is to find out who he is and the extent of his involvement in these massacres. It could be he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; however, Command believes it to be far more serious than that." He tapped in a few commands, and another image appeared: One of a side of the Cairn Installation - an asteroid-based facility - containing several hangars, one of which was highlighted. "This is our entry point. It's the one of three hangars large enough to fit this craft. Are you all aware of the nature of the Cairn Installation?"

(I would advise someone read up on the Cairn Installation from Jedi Outcast to get an accurate picture of what I describe.)

[ballisticwaffles]

"I've worked with the Imperials" Chayrlin admitted, Her cane helping her forward to get closer to Vokun. "They pay well. I had my...associates drop some parts off for their AT-ST productions. In Return, they lent me a shipment of cotorsis. That was ages ago, they probably dont remember me. But why would we go there? Marauder one hitting an imperial station woudlnt upset the cornerians, would it?"

[Star_Dragon]

"I'm not sure," Vokun replied. "We are going to Cairn because..." Vokun paused, then continued, "... The station was still under Imperial control when it went dark. Marauder One was last observed heading in that direction, so we can reasonably surmise that he was there. At this time, we are assuming there are no survivors. That's where you come in handy, Chayrlin; you may be able to tell us who killed them and how." Switching to a tactical map of the installation, Vokun continued, "From the hangar, we need to make our way to the security station here. If the area is inoperable, we'll need to head to the Command Center here. Any questions at this point?"

(BW, do you have any idea where Kage is? I really don't want to leave him behind.)

[Geo Stelar]

"I do", said Geo, raising his hand. "Just in case we will see Marauder One in that place, how will we be able to make sure that's him?"

"And, in any case we encounter some of the men who did the massacres, or other guards of some sort, shall we continue together or split up then meet at one point?"

Geo thought his last question was quite stupid; of course they would have to keep together, especially when there are just 5 of them being assigned for this.

[Star_Dragon]

"To answer the first question," Vokun replied, "No one on the outside has been able to see Marauder One. Even the Romulan Tal'Shiar and the Bothan Infiltrators are stumped, and they're the best spies the galaxy has to offer. I imagine, however, that we'll know Marauder One when we see him, as he'll likely distinguish himself from anyone else typically present with what he has or wears.

"To answer your second question, we stick together unless I say otherwise. If we are separated, we keep an open comm line and we find a place to meet back up. Speaking of which, here," Vokun tossed everyone a comm-watch. Noticing how he still had one watch other than his, he asked, "Has anyone seen the last member of the team?"

[Arashikage]

(WOW this got really far without me)

Stepping into the room, a six foot tall, blue and red scaled dragon called out to the group. She had a weapon strapped to her back and a sidearm at her hip. She was clad in black Teflon coated pants, a grey shirt, and a black tactical vest. She looked at who she was working with and gave a mental sigh. Stepping to who she assumed was the leader, she introduced herself, "I'm Nora. I assume we'll be working together" She said. Eyeing the man's weapon, she gave a light nod, "Nice weapon, what caliber's it chambered for?"

[Star_Dragon]

"Name's Vokun Dok. As for my weapon, it's chambered for 5.56 caliber hardened uranium-tungsten rounds," Vokun replied. "Glad you could make it. We were just discussing our first destination." Vokun brought the image of the Cairn installation up. He then began to outline what he had already told the others, then asked, "Any questions?"

[Arashikage]

She shook her head, checking her gear before she looked back up. Her left eye was glossy and colorless, a large scar tearing through it from the top of her head to the side of her snout. The flesh that was visible was pink, seemingly tarnishing the magnificence of her bright red and blue scales. She brought a hand to the strap of her rifle, loosening it a bit as she pulled a magazine from the pouch adjacent to the strap. She smiled as she said, "7.62x51 caliber rounds. Standard NATO cartridge, works perfectly for a marksman, drops a target guaranteed." "Provided you can hit them that is" she added, her wings ruffling a slight bit.

[Star_Dragon]

Vokun managed a look of being impressed. "Not bad," he commented. "Now, assuming that's all of us, we can get underway. Grab a seat, people; we're heading out." Vokun sat down in the captain's chair, his hands dancing across his console. The door to the Danube shut, and the hull vibrated slightly as the engines began to power up. "Bay control," Vokun said over a comm channel, "This is the USS Danube requesting clearance to launch." He waited for the others to get seated while Bay Control cleared him.

(Gonna get some rest, ppl. Good night.)

[Arashikage]

Nora sat in the seat directly next to Vokun, ready to start the adventure. Hopefully it would take her further away from her home world. Here, she had no reputation. These people don't know her, nor do they know what she was responsible for. Fortunately for her, this was a fresh start.

[ballisticwaffles]

"I can already tell this wont be fun" CHayrlin Laments, Dragging on her Cigar as the ship prepaired to launch. "Small with limited space, stuck with 4 strangers hunting after a mass murderer and expecting to keep all of you alive with nothing but cold liquer and perhaps morphine? Id rather take The kessel run than do this!" She slammed her Cane into the ground, accentuating her point. "When this is all done, imma buy a nice big steak and get laid... M'names Charylin Magguson, but y'all call me Encarmia or ill leave a dish towel in your bullet wounds..." A smirk spread across her human features. "Its up to you to decide if im bluffing or not..."

[Geo Stelar]

Geo took the seat at the very back. As he stared outside through one of the small windows, he wondered whether he was right in deciding not to bring his ship along. 'Oh well', Geo thought, 'At least that's one less ship to worry about.'

He took out his mobile device and looked at the pictures of his friends and family. Even they weren't notified of Geo being picked for this mission (he was taken to the ship right after being picked), so if anything happens to him his life is at the hands of his new companions. Geo thought of sending his friends and family a message, but he can't afford risking another one's life. He just hoped everything will be fine.

[Star_Dragon]

"USS Danube, this is bay control," the control center person said, "You are cleared for launch."

"Thank you, Bay control," Vokun said. "USS Danube out." He engaged the sublight engines, and the runabout craft left the hangar. He punched in the coordinates for the Cairn Installation, then engaged the warp drive. "Okay!" Vokun said in an off-hand manner, "Anybody hungry?"

* * *

(Across the Galaxy, at the Cairn Installation...)

"Bravo 2 - Where is he?"

"I don't know! He just f**king upped and disappeared!"

"Find him!"

"Oh, my god! What the hell is -- GAAAAAH!"

"What the hell--hurrgh... son of a..."

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

*gunshot*

*click-click, click-click*

*gunshot*

*THUMP!*

Marauder hit the ground at a roll, stopping just shy of the bodies. One of them in particular held an ornamented mask. Lukily, he was able to kill the bastard without damaging it; another trophy to add to his growing supply. He removed it, then took out a sidearm. He cocked the hammer, centered the sight between the bastard's eyes, and fired a single shot.

"Stay dead, mother--" Marauder stopped midsentence as a shudder crawled up his spine. He touched his forehead, and was rewarded with a vision.

"Bay control," Vokun said over a comm channel, "This is the USS Danube requesting clearance to launch."

"USS Danube, this is bay control," the control center person said, "You are cleared for launch."

"Thank you, Bay control," Vokun said. "USS Danube out." He engaged the sublight engines, and the runabout craft left the hangar. He punched in the coordinates for the Cairn Installation, then engaged the warp drive.

The vision ended, and Marauder One smiled. So... he thought, The game's afoot. So much the better. Marauder scaled a wall, disappearing over a high-up walkway as he engaged his PCD...

[Geo Stelar]

Growl.

Geo heard hi stomach speak its need when Vokun asked who's hungry. He hasn't eaten for almost half a day now and could do serious damage to a live cow.

He raise his hand, saying, "I'm hungry"

Growl.

'Shut up, tummy', Geo thought.