Bounty# 2071

[Gene Inari]

"You sure we can pull this off? Do... Do we even have the resources? The manpower? ... Money?"

"We have the tools. We just need the right people to use them. We will put out an open bounty contract. I'll put the word out, quietly. They will come..."

***

IGIDS Joint Information Access System

Operation Profile – Summary View

Search term: Open Contract, Bounty, CODED ENTRY, ACCESS KEYSTONE

Search results: 1

Operations 1-1 listed. Select a link to display mission details.

Op #: 2071

Op Brief: Report to coordinates X: 414.00, Y: 608.00 Zero-point relative to Terra

--WARNING--

Op. Space is deemed "Deep Periphery." Communications: Limited to 'carrier pigeon' data drones.

Op Commander: GEMINI

Requested Personnel – Other:

-Private contractor: --INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE--

-Registry: ISCCC42122CCCHC101

-FTL-capable: Yes / Atmosphere-capable: No / Engines: 3

-Armament: REDACTED

-Data network: REDACTED

-Crew capacity: REDACTED

--END QUERY--

[Arashikage]

Kage had found this info on his laptop while searching up the current situation in Bosnia. He looked around the USS Charlemagne, his ship from the Shadow Element. It was a big ship, a capitol ship for the Shadow Element, he was in charge of it. He was held in such high esteem in the Shadow Element that they gave it to him, it was the first spaceworthy ship that the Shadow Element Mercenary faction had created, and by far was it the best. Under his command, a crew of 150 people were on the ship, engineers, pilots, piloting engineers, computer technicians, combat information specialists, the works, the Shadow Element doesn't mess around. Eventually, he stood up, closed his laptop and headed out of his quarters to the bridge. Upon entering the bridge, Kage approached the head pilot, "Set your course to vector 414.00, 608.00"

"Aye, Sir" The pilot acknowledged, setting the course as he prepared for the jump, "Hyperdrive standing by, aaaand three, two, one, Hyperdrive!" The pilot exclaimed as he thrust the lever in an upright position, causing the ships engines to burn up the special element zero which caused the engines to go into hyperdrive. Within minutes, they were at the position, Kage nodded as he looked out to see what he would see.

[GW0LF]

The faint light of the sun beaming through the crack in the curtains barely lights up the metallic keyboard sitting on the table sending a glare off into a dark spot of the room. There is only the ambient sound of the ceiling fan in the room before the speakers of the computer blare out, "You have a contract!" The silence is easily broken with that and a soon thud from the corner of the room, "Geh! Stupid speakers... always leaving them turned up so loud..." A faint glow of gold eyes blink open as it slowly approaches the monitor, the back lighting of the screen slowly showing the figure of a grey wolf holding his head with his paw. He soon clicks the notification window on his screen showing a big smiley face holding a piece of paper.

"Well.. at least they was not lying about this contract... took long enough to find it though." He leans closer to the monitor squinting his eyes as he reads the little details of the document and writes them down on a little notepad. "Well.. better get my stuff together then, this is going to be a long ride." He soon flips the switch on the computer and walks over and begins to gather some clothing into a duffle bag and putting it on his back. He about almost makes it out the door before he stops and grunts, "Almost forgot my wallet..." He quickly steps back in and grabs the very old and rough looking leather wallet.

A little time passes forward to where the wolf finished haggling for a ship, defiantly not a very good buy either, as the ship he bought is a 1st generation Ar-Wing and is barely functioning, lights flickering in the console and the firearms lock on the ship constantly saying it is locked. "Wonderful, shows you what you can buy with 100 C-hex. Oh well.. I will deal with it later." A swift kick to the console inside the ship makes the flickering on the console stop, making it more clear to read the controls. "Alright.. lets find out what I have got myself into!" A quick smirk rolls across his muzzle as he throws the throttle forward and blasts off the vertical launch pad into the dark regions of space.

[Guest Mr. Nintendo]

A wolf, dressed mostly in a doctor's coat with a medal on his left chest saw the info in his ship that one of his friends built awhile back because one of his friends had experience to build ships while the wolf himself...couldn't. The wolf sat in the driver's seat and looked around his surroindings inside of his ship his friend called "Medi-gore reply" or "MGR". The wolf's name was Armen, he was a professional medic hired by General Pepper to aid his troops many years ago. Currently, Armen was off-duty and didn't need to help Pepper unless he got informed by the dog himself.

Armen found the myserious contract when he checked his inbox which is usually empty all the time...piece by piece, he carefully examined and read the lines and made sure not to skip over one. Although he usually isn't interested in contracts, he thought other people may sign up for this... 'Bounty', he could provide quite some aid whenever someone needed to be helped when hurt.

"Hmm, sounds interesting enough." He said to himself and closed his email to prepare to explore the empty regions of space. He strapped himself in, placed both of his hands on the control sticks with his thumbs on the turbo button and turned on the ship's engine. The ship started to hover above the ground in Corneria and was levitating to the point where he was 10ft above surface. With careful timing, he aimed the nose of his ship upwards and pressed the turbo buttons to speed up and fly out of Corneria and into Lylat.

(It's been awhile since I RPed so don't be expecting top notch work from me.)

[CrypticQuery]

It was close to 3AM, the skies were still dark, and streetlights illuminated most of the city. A large sedan lazily drifted along one of the more desolate stretches of Corneria City's highway system. The spotlight, dark tinted windows, and shiny dog-dish styled hubcaps tipped off any passerby that this sedan was most definitely not just there for a "Sunday Drive." Zeke sat behind the wheel, warily taking in his surroundings as he continued to his destination. He was just about ready to finish up his shift, and was glad to head home for some rest. After several more minutes he was back onto the surface streets, quickly cruising home. His set of headlights illuminated the parking-spot and its surroundings as he toed the brakes to stop the car. After shifting into park and removing the keys, he locked the vehicle and headed up the stairs of the complex toward his apartment. Upon entering and locking the door as quietly as possible, (he wouldn't want to wake anyone at roughly 4AM for no good reason, now would he? XD), he walked over to the couch, plopped himself down, and grabbed his faithful laptop computer. Several ads and other garbage filled the screen as he surfed the net, though one certainly caught his interest; it pertained to a contract of some sort. His ears perked up and he looked it over; his instinctive, yet mostly impulsive, attitude allowed his interest to be piqued by this contract; he could take some sick days off from work to match the time constraint. "Better wake Ryn and see if she'd be willing to come," he thought, somewhat reluctant to wake his, hopefully sleeping, mate at this time of the night/day.

Edited April 21, 2011 by crazyfooinc

[Fluxy]

[Darn you, Crazy. Lol, beatin me to the punch]

The happily paced vixen, who just happened to never be where most anyone thought, was sitting in the vulpine's bedroom, giggling softly to herself, seeing all the 'toys' laid out in front of her. Rubbing her hands together, almost menacingly if you looked close enough, she brought herself to start working on the 'toys'. "Oh!!!~ I'mma put some glitter in this one!" She exclaimed, placing a good table spoon of small refined metal glitter into her first grenade. All the vixen had for lighting was the moon light that was nicely angled through their window, Zeke was great at finding nice places to stay now and again, and the lamp that was conveniently on the desk. Processing through the hours of the night, Rynia went through at least ten highly detailed explosives; Approximately three fun, also known as 'party', grenades, two Cryogenics, one that had the word 'Dud' written on it, but was a simple shrapnel explosive, two electromagnetic grenades, and two detonation shrapnel grenades, that went off when she pressed a certain command key in her left arm bracelet. Though, anyone who knew Ryn, knew that this was only a mere blink of what the vixen had held in her seemingly magical jacket.

Tired now, the vixen took her jacket off, leaving the finished grenades in a small basket, as she yawned, cracked her back, and jumped into her bed. "Mmmmm... Time to sleep..."

And then of course, was when her mate entered.

Sighing, she sat up, rubbing her eyes, and stayed motionless; really not wanting to move. "Zeeeeeeekeeeeeeee?... That you?"

[CrypticQuery]

[@Nick: My apologies XD]

"I'd certainly hope so!," Zeke replied in his trademark joking manner as he entered the room with the laptop tucked under his arms. He hoped that his previous movements and or generated ambient noise hadn't woken her up, though the fact that she didn't have a knife to his neck or grenade with the pin pulled was a good sign. He explained after putting the computer next to her and beginning to change into casual wear. "Just found an open contract, looks interesting enough. The lack of information on it drew me to it though." The bed audibly groaned as he sat down beside her, and he waited to see if she was up to looking at the listing before sleep. "It could be fun you know; and we'd get some more time together," he added quickly, hoping she wouldn't pass up the chance. As much as he loved Ryn, their time together was limited; he usually was the offending party as working ridiculous shifts and hours was the norm for him. His tail eagerly swished back and forth as he waited for a verdict from his mate.

[ugh, my creative juices aren't flowing today; small post >.< lol]

[Fluxy]

The playful ears of excitement perked up, Rynia being very happy which was easily known by her facial expression, as she hugged the fox from behind, nuzzling his neck.

"So this means you get to be with me and not work?!?!" She asked, happier than ever, her tail being wagged even faster than Zeke's

The thought of Zeke spending more than a few days with with her together was astounding; Ever since they got engaged, Zeke had always been working long hours, and hard missions without her, and she had major issues with that even.

But that is anouther, already done with, story.

[Gene Inari]

The large cruiser cruiser drifted silently in space, orbiting idly in the outer fringes of a Neptunian gas giant's gravity well. In terms of size, it was on the large end of the scale, larger than frigates and most private vessels; only outclassed by larger capital and "super" variants of ships. To any observer, the ship was obviously a custom job. The ship lacked the tell-tale designs of any military's design and was emblazoned by a unique paintjob and emblem; what appeared to be two stars orbiting each other. What was also obvious was what role it was designed for; on one side of the ship was a launch bay/docking space large enough for two or three small frigates or a fully-armed compliment of fighter/bomber craft.

Regions of space were categorized by the population density of a set region of space and the proliferation of communication networks. Well settled and highly populated star systems such as Sol, Lylat, Tau Ceti, and Alpha Centuari were considered Core systems. Such systems are the Metropolises of the galaxy and are considered Zero-points when inputting XY coordinate-data concerning a location in space. Beyond the Core worlds is the Frontier. Consisting of colonies, space stations, asteroid mining complexes, Helium-3 mining complexes, this region comprises the bulk of "explored and controlled" space between the various intergalactic governments, which is still a mere 0.1% of the total number of stars in the galaxy. Beyond the Frontier is the rest of unexplored and unclaimed space, considered the "Deep Periphery" by official channels. A dangerous and lawless region of space, beyond the frontier colonies and beyond the range of standard communication techniques.Most close-but-not-quite planets and large planetoid asteroids house at least one secret colony complex. It is a haven for criminals and other illegal activities.

This outer region is where Gene and Keaton waited. Waited to see who would come for the mysterious contract that was sent out under coded search terms. Gene sat calmly in the ship's empty control bridge when the ship's AI perked up, "Gene." A calm, male voice started out, with the slight reverb of an artificial voice, "I am picking up signs of a large ship about to exit hyper space near our present location." (Kage posted first, so he's arriving first with an obvious lack of subtlety)

Gene didn't like the sound of that, a large ship most likely meant the trouble he wanted to avoid most, "How large? Can you tell who it is?"

The AI responded, but with a notably different, slightly higher pitched, voice and tempo of speech, "Larger than us! That's for sure!" Before the first, calmer, voice also came in, "Identity of incoming ship is indeterminate, we must wait until it exits to normal space and flags it's intentions."

Gene growled, his tail curling as he tensed. "Prep the defense systems, Gemini, but don't touch the weapons. Confirm our target before we ready weapons." And the ship acknowledged the order with a simple chain of beeps. Gene waited as the streak of high-energy radiation came closer and finally exploded outward from where the ship returned to normal space. "Give me something on that ship, one of you!"

The 'younger' sounding of the two AI voices responded, "It's a Terran designed Capital! But... I can't see any signs of affiliation that's on my record! It's... It's hailing us!"

Gene stood up, readying himself for a view screen that was about to appear, "Put them through." If this is a biter, I'll admit to being impressed... Gene said to himself as a human came up on screen.

(@Kage: I'm assuming human because of all the earth related stuff and the lack of a defined species in your characters bio.

@Everyone else: After Kage an I finish our dialogue, you can just show up and dock on the ship. Go to the discussion thread for any questions and the like.)

[Arashikage]

(Yeah, Kage's human, shoulda specified there XD)

A blue beret wearing mercenary was on the screen, looking at the screen that had the red fox on it, He nodded to the camera and said "Greetings. This is Lieutenant Colonel Arashikage of the flagship Charlemagne, I received an encrypted message with these coordinates, I am here to provide what you may have needed, but I warn you, if this is any type of trap, the Shadow Element has left this ship well armed. We have well trained soldiers and equipment aboard and will not hesitate to retaliate if attacked." He said. He knew full well what the ship was capable of, and leaving this other figure in the dark was a tactic that could prove helpful should the situation turn ugly. "So I ask, what is it that you require?"

[Gene Inari]

"We need only your best man, in the best fighter craft you have." Gene said, voice stern, level, and professional. "This mission requires a subtle touch, a subtlety your capitol ship cannot provide." Gene also had his own bag of tricks up his sleeve. Giving half-truths and muddy details to reel in the trust of this merc. "I will provide everything they need to work, all I ask of them is their hand in service." Short and to the point. Gene was hopeful this human would bite, but if not, there would be more to come.

[Arashikage]

"Now wait a moment here, you're asking me to send my best soldier to an unknown environment in our best fighter craft?" He asked, then started laughing. "That's a good one, but seriously, what do you need?"

[Gene Inari]

If that did work, it would of been too easy... Gene struggled with what information to give. "That is what I need, but it seems that I must give some context to my request. And if that does not satisfy you, you can leave despite the fact opportunity knocked." Gene said, not deterred, but sighed, having to fork over some information didn't sit well with him, "I am following a lead on some state-of-the-art research. I have vested interests in the results of said research. This research is valuable and you will be well compensated for your investment. That is all I am willing to divulge at this point." And I'll be set for life. Gene's thoughts echoed in his mind.

[Arashikage]

"Well compensated with what?" Kage asked, "How much are we talking here? I ain't setting foot on no rickety old ship with my best fighter unless I know exactly what I'm doing and exactly what I'll get" He concluded with a short nod

[Gene Inari]

Gene was becoming frustrated, for insulting his ship and total skepticism, this human knew that information was going to be sparse, yet he kept the line of inquiry. Gene wasn't gonna have it, "Sorry, but that is all I am willing to offer." Gene kept his cool, but in his mind, his teeth were barred. "If your are unwilling to take a risk, you will have nothing to gain. Here I am, offering an intentionally vague contract, waiting in a location where the word 'legal' holds no meaning. Do you want an itinerary for my little secret getaway?" Gene had himself ready to cut the connection, "If you are so skeptical and unwilling to take a gap of intelligence, unable to make a shot in the dark, why did come here then? Answer me that."

[GW0LF]

( Gene gave me the go to post )

The low whistle of the console continued to hum away as the wolf relaxed in the cockpit, just slowly tapping his foot away as he had his eyes closed while traveling through hyperspace. A brief flicker on the screen attempted to pop up, but something sparked underneath the panel and never did show, even if the wolf was paying attention. A faint crackle of a voice attempted to come through the over head speakers. "Inc-.. -ing Sh- ex- -ing hyper-" The wolf grunted as he sat up with a glare at the console, "What are you trying to tell me now... that I am being targeted by a asteroid?" The wolf shook his head as he planted his palm on the panel below, like tapping a old television, which shockingly worked. The voice boomed over again, "Incoming Ship... prepare evasive maneuvers."

The wolf perked his eyebrow for a brief moment, before the Ar-wing jarred quickly and came out of hyper drive, in a not so good position, as the only thing he saw was the hull of a large ship. "SWEET WOLF MOTHER!" He quickly slammed his feet into the floor and pulled back onto the flight stick rolling the ship back away from the large vessel. "Holy... guh..." He places a paw over his heart as he looks over his shoulder toward the ship and chuckles a little. "Well I guess this is the place... sheez.. a second later and I would of plowed into that thing." His pushes a couple buttons on the holographic panel, and attempts to send a signal to the ship.

[Arashikage]

Kage nodded, Gene was smarter than Kage had originally thought, so he decided he'd go for it, "Give me five minutes, no funny business" He said, then closed the connection. Kage then stepped off the platform, looking to the head pilot, "Don't wait up for me" He said, exiting the bridge and going down to his quarters. He stepped into his changing room, putting on his armor over his camouflage uniform, placing a helmet over his head and stepping out, heading toward the hangar. When he arrived at the hangar, he stepped to his ship, a small Shadow Element cruiser with reverse swept wings and a bubble cockpit, it almost resembled a MiG 47, just, slightly bigger and more spaceworthy. He got into the cockpit and started it up, launching it outside the hangar with his heading set to the other ship's landing bay.

[Guest Mr. Nintendo]

The medic looked and saw a large ship that appeared to be either idling or it was very slow to move. Giving the fact that the contract maker supposedly lives inside that huge ship, Armen decided to pilot his ship into the hanger and hopefully...be able to meet the dealer. Although for a much of a fact the contract seemed to sound dangerous, no matter what the conditions were, Armen was probably going to accept it anyway much like a internet user who just instantly clicks 'I Agree' when reading terms of use.

Now with his ship in the hanger, he piloted it down and made it hover above the ground. After a moment, Armen pushed the power button to turn off the ship and once the ship's engine was being turned off, he grabbed his backpack that contained his medical supplies and jumped out of the ship.

[Arashikage]

(The larger of the two is the Charlemagne, Kage's ship. You weren't talking about that, were you?)

[Guest Mr. Nintendo]

(The larger of the two is the Charlemagne, Kage's ship. You weren't talking about that, were you?)

(Nope.avi)

[Gene Inari]

(C'mon guys, keep OOC to a minimum here. It's why we have the discussion thread)

Gene sighed and let his composure and posture slip a bit once the call was cut, leaning forward on the console ahead of him. Gene's tail curled silently behind him as he quickly calmed himself down, he got what he wanted. Not giving in worked this time. Gene watched one of the ship's many sensor screens as the main capitol ship rotated back around, tell-tale signs of it getting ready to jump back to hyperspace. A lone fighter was leaving the ship, along with a few more coming in.

After a brief moment, one of the ship's two AIs, Pollux, perked up, "Gene? Several ships are requesting to board, shall I give them clearance?"

Gene nodded, "Yeah. Go tell Keaton she has a few coming in." The AI acknowledged with a beep

***

Elsewhere in the hangars of the ship, the Zodiac, Keaton was doing work on her personal ship with the help of a small army of the ship's maintenance drones. The other AI, Castor, was helping the coywolf when it had to interrupt her. "Hey!" One of the drones poked Keaton, "Gene and Pollux say that some ships are coming in to dock."

Keaton, however, didn't notice or didn't care. She wanted her fighter fixed now and she didn't need disturbing. Getting the mirror assembly for the fighter's lasers adjusted and tuned just right was delicate work. Any unexpected jostle in the wrong direction would undo several hours of testing and fine-tuning. Just one and a half more turns of this screw and- Keaton's concentration was cut off when she felt something pull on one of her legs and tail, and unbalanced her on the small curve of the ship she was working on. She yelped as she slipped off and fell hard on several drones that decided it would be a good idea to pull her. Keaton growled, "Dammit Castor! Do that again and I swear I'll punt your core into the next star!" Keaton was about to punt one of the drones when a fighter made its way into the ship, slipping through the ships pressure shield.

"I warned you~" One of the drones, in Castor's voice, sang before a screwdriver bounced off it.

Keaton huffed at the annoying AI before putting on her gameface. These were the mercs that Gene said he was getting. Serious mercs.

[GW0LF]

The wolf continued to wait for a return signal from the vessel, but no avail, "Stupid heep... probably can't even send a simple call." He plants his hand on his face and just sighs, "Oh well, all these other ships are piling into that hangar, might as well just follow their lead." He rolled the ship around and came toward the opening of the hangar slowly as he looked over the other ships that had already landed. "Wow... quite a variety in ships. I can see they came a little better prepared than I did."

The rusty Ar-wing came to a hover over a open spot on the hangar floor and sat down with a not so graceful thud, as the thrusters sputtered and lost altitude quickly. "Err... woops.." Pushing up on the cockpit window, opening the hatch he slid down off the side of the ship to his feet where he was awe struck by the insides of the ship. "Wow... this is just.. AMAZING!"

[CrypticQuery]

(Apologies for lack of posting, time to RAPID post! )

Within a rather small time span from when their conversation had taken place, the vulpine couple was now en-route to the coordinates that the contract had specified. Zeke was more than ecstatic, glad that Rynia had approved of the trip so quickly and easily. He had phoned in several small favors that had gathered over the years, and ended up with a utility ship on loan; it was a two-seater and had plenty of cargo room. They were in the process of exiting the warp, and two large ships loomed before them. One was set directly at the coordinates, another slightly farther off. With a quick nod toward Ryn, Zeke began to pull their small vessel closer toward The Zodiac. It took him some time to figure out, though he was finally able to maneuver the craft behind the others and safely land within the hangar. "That sure was one hell of a ride," he commented, taking a look around the interior of the hangar from the comfort of their ship; quite a few others had already landed.

[Guest Mr. Nintendo]

As the doctor was out of his ship, he putted his backpack down which made a slight clank sound (Sound you hear when dropping metal) and decided to go through inside the pack to find what he needed. He found his blue-ish tint surgical gloves and putted them on his hands, streching them as far as he could pull and then released it to make a snap sound. After Armen putted his gloves on, he zipped up the sack and putted it on his back to carry on whenever he needed to heal some people.

Curious to see if anyone was in the hanger, he walked out of his ship's shadows and looked around in the middle of the area and called out "Hello? Is someone here?"

He waited for a response from somebody...preferrably the contract maker.

[Fluxy]

(Apologies for lack of posting, time to RAPID post! )

Within a rather small time span from when their conversation had taken place, the vulpine couple was now en-route to the coordinates that the contract had specified. Zeke was more than ecstatic, glad that Rynia had approved of the trip so quickly and easily. He had phoned in several small favors that had gathered over the years, and ended up with a utility ship on loan; it was a two-seater and had plenty of cargo room. They were in the process of exiting the warp, and two large ships loomed before them. One was set directly at the coordinates, another slightly farther off. With a quick nod toward Ryn, Zeke began to pull their small vessel closer toward The Zodiac. It took him some time to figure out, though he was finally able to maneuver the craft behind the others and safely land within the hangar. "That sure was one hell of a ride," he commented, taking a look around the interior of the hangar from the comfort of their ship; quite a few others had already landed.

"That was fun!" Ryn exclaimed, looking to Zeke as she then too looked around from inside. "Just go ahead and tell me when we should head out, I have all my toys riiiiight here in my jacket." The playful vixen said with a giggle, thinking of a multitude of simple pranks she could easily pull here. "Say, do you need any grenades, babe, or you good with your guns?" She said with a wink and laugh.