[OOC] The Marauders (2016)

[Hailfire]

Am I okay to add some lore? I have a 'race' from my characters backstory that I feel would fit well into "The Enemy" section of the initial article, but again I do not want to be presumptious in posting content up here.

[Hawlin]

@Hailfire

I'd say you should PM it to Jones for discussion. Hes pretty good about reasoning out such material.

[Jones Sparrow]

Just for the record, anyone in the shuttle can take over and say we landed on the ship, or the bird is attacking so they took control of the gun, and Makobi can get the hangar doors open since 8-Ball is flying the ship.

And it's unfortunate to say that Liberator isn't in this anymore, they contacted me and said they were occupied with some things, so Cassie is no longer with us, so Stun and Kaite are more than willing to fire some shots at the Ice Bird to try and scare it off, give everyone something to do haha

Once we get away from this planet we will have time to communicate and talk to one another, and then add the new recruits!!

[TheHumbleMagnificent]

Shame for Cas. Are we sending her on a kamikaze run/killing her off? Oh and the rear docking gate is still open for 8-ball to fly through.

The magnetic field barrier allows for ships to leave and enter the Monroe without having to constantly open and close the gate and allow people to walk around the hangar without having to worry about having a space suit on. Sorry, should've mentioned that in ooc after my last post.

Edit: Now confused after rereading posts lol. Did 8-Ball remotely activate the ground team's ship?

[Hawlin]

So, would it be like a repcon to assume an order along the lines of 'Artillery team clear to engage, try not to kill the bird'?

[Traitor]

"And try not to shoot the shuttle, if you don't mind"

Long silence. "Oops."

[Thecrash20]

Shame for Cas. Are we sending her on a kamikaze run/killing her off? Oh and the rear docking gate is still open for 8-ball to fly through.

The magnetic field barrier allows for ships to leave and enter the Monroe without having to constantly open and close the gate and allow people to walk around the hangar without having to worry about having a space suit on. Sorry, should've mentioned that in ooc after my last post.

Edit: Now confused after rereading posts lol. Did 8-Ball remotely activate the ground team's ship?

@TheHumbleMagnificent

He's with them, but he is using a remote link to control the ship. Why have the limitations of reaction in a human body when you can actually BE the ship.

[TheHumbleMagnificent]

<Snipped quote by TheHumbleMagnificent>

he is using a remote link to control the ship.

@Thecrash20

Thank you for clearing that up.

[Akayaofthemoon]

@Jones Sparrow

Would it be best to say Cassie gave her life, keeping the bird at bay so the others could escape?

[Hawlin]

@Akayaofthemoon

I don't suppose the crew has services for the deceased.

[Jones Sparrow]

@Akayaofthemoon

I was thinking about adding that To my next post, that would really mess with Ray since he's not a fan of Losing his crew haha

[Akayaofthemoon]

@Hawlin@Jones Sparrow

Maybe, I don't think we have ever discussed it.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Name: Achieng, Clan Chima

AKA: Doctor Chima, Achi

Age: 28

Race: Watamaji

Appearance: Achi is heavily curved, with dark brown skin, topaz eyes, and short white hair. Her skin is extremely smooth, cool to the touch and slightly wet at all times. She has fingers that are half webbed. Instead of legs, she has a long tailfin. It starts the shade of her skin, but shifts to a brilliant orange-gold. Like most of her race who traverse the galaxy, she wears a sheer bodysuit that covers her from the waist up to the neck and arms. It is made of a material designed to draw moisture from the environment and stay damp to protect the Watumaji's skin. Over that, Achi usually chooses to wear a tunic from her home planet, one that is brightly colored and patterned, as well as jewelry that seems to be made of coral and bone.

From the waist down, she is settled in a water tank that is about the size of a personal scooter. The tank rolls smoothly on two treads, and Achi maneuvers it with a small control panel.

Faction: Council?

Bio: Bio: Achieng traveled with her parents around the planet, her mother being a singer that would visit great cities and small towns alike. Her mother's voice was said to be heard even by those whose souls had joined the Sea, and so she was requested at many dignitaries funerals. Unfortunately, Achi's mother became ill and never recovered. She died when Achi was still a child. Her distraught father took her to the home of her aunt, promising to return for her soon. He never did.

Young Achi grew up isolated. She was shunned by the townspeople, and shamed by her aunt. Her aunt considered her a freeloader, and her own past jealousy of Achi's successful and well-loved mother came out on Achi herself. Her uncle did nothing to stop his wife's poor treatment of their niece. Achi's only solace was in her cousin, who ignored his mother's opinions and treated her as a sister. The two grew up close, and he was Achi's savior. 

Unfortunately, her aunt was not much kinder to her own son, and as soon as her cousin became of age, he pledged (married) to someone and moved far away from home. While he did offer to take Achi with him, she declined. Left on her own, Achi honed her singing in secret, growing more controlled and powerful by the turn of each tide. She also did everything she could to earn money, trading, bartering, and singing for pay.

The day came when she too, became of age, and she wasted no time in gathering her meager possessions and leaving. After bartering for passage on an off-planet ship, she made her way through schooling, excelling with honors. While she easily could have found work anywhere, she all but begged to be assigned with the Mauraders, wanting to figure out how they continued to succeed where so many others failed.
Personality: Achieng is gentle-hearted and caring, and at first glance would seem an odd choice for the military. However, she has an acceptance of all sorts of beings, and her position as a soldier's counselor makes sense to those who go to see her. She can hear terrible things, stories of war and blood, pain and grief, and take them in without judgement or reproach. She listens, and she comforts, and only offers advice when it is asked of her; sometimes people simply want to be heard, not corrected.

Outside of her role on the ship, she is friendly to others and usually quiet. The only time she would show any fierceness is if she was in personal danger, or someone was harming another person in front of her.

Weapon(s) : Could probably talk her way out of trouble if need be? Also carries a “fishing knife” that looks like a sword to most. Her planet has very, very big fish.


Star-fighter?: None

Family/Relationship?: Has her cousin back home who she communicates with every few months.

Other: Achieng won't let anyone know she can sing, as she considers the attention too much; however she might be caught humming if left alone.

[Jones Sparrow]

@Hawlin @Akayaofthemoon

Since they are a crew full of criminals charged with very big crimes, the Committee kinda does the "deep apologizes" to the Crew, but Ray has made it a custom to give some final words for them before they are forgotten by the Committee

@Mistress Dizzy

Looks great!! Welcome aboard!

[Ollumhammersong]

Someone else that lives in water! Hurray!

Water buddies!

[Mistress Dizzy]

Woo! Water buddies!!

Kassy will also need a tank to sleep in. ^_^ How should I integrate myself?

[Ollumhammersong]

Woo! Water buddies!!

Kassy will also need a tank to sleep in. ^_^ How should I integrate myself?

@Mistress Dizzy

Well if you just need it for sleeping and not for living like octodad. You probably don't need something huge.

[Mistress Dizzy]

@Ollumhammersong No, not super-big. She's got her tank for being out and about, along with the moisture suit.

[Hailfire]

Name: Ashley (Ash for short.) Hunter
AKA: Pride (In the context of the deadly sin.)
Sex: Female.
Age: 23
Race: Human.

Appearance.

Height: 5' 7"
Skin colour and tone: White, slightly tanned.
Hair colour: Naturally bleached blonde
Hair Style: Ashley sports a rough and short tomboyish haircut.
Eye colour: Ice blue.
Tattoos: A pair of angelic wings tattooed on her back.
Clothes: Ashley generally favours a jeans/tank top combo with a brown leather aviators jacket emblazoned with a gold lion's face on the right shoulder. She can however, should she see fit, opt for something more girly.
Makeup: Normally wears eyeliner and mascara.

Reference pic.

Faction: Marauder, Criminal.
Role in Team: Cat Burglar/combat engineer.

Bio:

Ashley Hunter chose to crew the Marauder as an alternative to facing trial for numerous successful, high-value and high-profile robberies she had performed under the alias of Pride, the deadly sin. Each and every crime Pride was credited with was performed with a similar modus operendi; A stealthy infiltration, a high-profile snatch and grab, followed by a swift escape before authorities could secure Pride or the stolen goods, zero fatalities. Whilst Pride made every effort to flaunt her wealth as she performed her crimes, this was in fact a parody of Ashley's own somewhat humble origins and done with the intent to highlight the obnoxious wealth of her victims.

Born in the year 2458 Ashley was eight when The Fall hit New Eden and the planet's population plummeted from the low billions to zero as The Harvesters reawakened and stormed the planet's surface. Ashley and her parents were amongst the few to escape the slaughter. Stranded in space the family and other survivors sought refuge on the nearest occupied planet in the Alpha Centauri only to find to their shock that the planet refused to allow them land. Aid would only be provided if the refugees agreed to join the planet's asteroid mining programme. It was here that Ashley learned many of the engineering skills that enabled her to perform her later crimes.

Living in squalid 3rd world conditions Asteroid Miners would, much like a travelling circus of sorts, set up camp on a portion of an asteroid belt, constructing their own structures before beginning to harvest the asteroids for precious metals until finished then moving on to repeat the process. Needless to say such work was incredibly dangerous and widespread hostility developed towards the authorities who kept them here and the outside parties who ignored their plight. Ashley fell in with one of the more extreme crowds and, at age sixteen, participated in a raid on the precious metals depository, funding the escape of the thieves and their families, excluding her own who had died two years prior.

For a time after Ashley's escape it seemed she would settle into a reasonably comfortable life using the substantial surplus of wealth that she had received from the depository robbery. Whilst she had cut her ties to most of the thieves she had escaped with Dillan Forester, a man of strong religious convictions, took on the role of foster father to her. The two used their wealth to found a prestigious orphanage for children of The Fall. Despite this newfound headstart in life within two years Ashley had received numerous minor charges for anti-social behaviour, reckless conduct whilst thrillseeking, and resisting arrest. Each time when Dillan questioned as to why she did what she did she replied that her pride would not permit her to bow to the authorities that had ignored her plight in the past, and thus Pride was born. Worried that if Ashley's behaviour continued as it was she would be eventually be convicted and relegated to a life going in and out of prison, Dillan reluctantly began to tutor, aid and abet her in how to perform crimes without being caught, on the condition that she perform only the crimes he gave the go ahead.

Having begun a life in career crime Ashley and Dillan laundered money from the numerous heists they performed back to themselves via a network of 'anonymous donors' to the orphanage they created and managed to live lavish lifestyles even for the first world, becoming well-known philanthropists in their area even as Pride's reputation for crime increased. Pride was known for her outfits, stylised around lion imagery and copious use of the colour gold, leaving calling cards, and the professionalism of her work. By the time of her capture in late 2480 Pride had become an underworld celebrity, by which point she had a total bounty that could have amounted to a small fortune. In this regard perhaps, Ashley is fortunate that she was captured by Galactic Committee security rather than any other, less earnest security force.

Ashley has been designated high-risk when it comes to escape from The Marauder crew and has been assured that should she attempt to flee her assets, including the orphanage, will be seized.

Pride Captured: A short story

Ashley's boots fastened to the surface of Cloud-9 with a thunk audible only through the sleek shell of her sleek, stylised space suit. She took a moment to appraise the space station she had landed upon alongside the endless starscape of space from which she was separated by little more than a bulletproof pane of glass. For a moment all was peaceful, then the pilot's drawling Texan accent sounded starkly across her com-link and Ashley was snapped violently from her reverie.

"Alllrighty then boss... You're on your own from here on out." came his voice to which she replied:

"Understood Falcon." Her own voice soft, carrying with it the tonalities and mild gruffness of the Irish working class. "Be ready to extract back here in 20 or via the observation deck if things go tits-up."

"Roger that." Came the reply, efficient and trustworthy in it's delivery.

Any idiot could simply blow a hole in the surface of a space station and charge in guns blazing. To enter without so much as changing the air pressure as Ashley was trying to do took specialist equipment, extensive experience and patience. Ashley had truly taken advantage of the lack of gravity in space when packing for this job and her modular rucksack, if it could be called that, was disproportionately large compared to her form; in earth gravity it would have weighed an easy 80 kilos. She slipped it off her back and fastened it to the surface of Cloud-9 on using magnetic clamps. Next came a little construction work.

Setting a circular device beside her rucksack Ashley set to work with a welding iron, securing the 3 foot wide and 6 inch thick disc in place on the surface of Cloud-9. Once unfurled the tube of plastic sheeting within would form the temporary air lock Ashley needed, allowing her to infiltrate the space station upon which she stood without compromising the air pressure and, thereby without giving away her presence. Ashley broke into a sweat as the clock kept ticking. Fifteen minutes remaining. She unfurled the tube of sheeting from the device and connected a hose from her rucksack to the base of the plastic airlock she had created. This would later flood the airlock with air and equalise the pressure of it with that within the space station.

Clambering into her makeshift airlock with only the equipment she would need for the next leg of her robbery, Ashley pulled the lid closed behind her and let it pressurise, biting her tongue as her ears popped from the quick change. Thirteen minutes remaining, no time to grumble about the discomfort caused by accelerated repressurisation. Even with the considerable reduction of equipment between landing and climbing into her air-lock, space was tight. Ashley was grateful she had insisted on pushing so much of the last robberies take towards equipment for this job as her miniature circular saw set to work, carving a hole into the surface of Cloud-9 just big enough for her to clamber through into the space station beyond. Eleven minutes remaining.

Cloud-9, originally known as Space Station 9 for it's position orbiting Pluto, the 9th planet (or planetoid) orbiting the Earth's sun, was now the solar system's premier tourist satellite. Home of the solar system's classiest casinos, hotels, art exhibitions and of course, the system's largest diamond, Cloud-9 was the perfect front for it's criminal run conglomerate to run it's operations from. Yakuza, Mafia, Triads; If they did crime and they did it organised, odds are they were based here. Of course, Ashley cared little about that beyond the fact that her victims could afford the loss they were about to take, she was here for the diamond.

"Staying focussed in there Ashley?" Came that all-too-familiar Texan accent down the com-link.

"Of course I am Dilla... What did I say about names over unsecured coms Falcon? Stop being a wanker. I'm doing my job. You focus on yours. Get your professional hat on." Ashley barked back down the line, glancing around to catch her bearings.

As planned Ashley had found herself in a junction within Cloud-9's extensive labyrinth of long forgotten air vents and maintenance shafts. The station's artificial gravity had taken effect now and so, somewhat disorientating, Ashley now stood upon the opposite side of the same sheet of metal she had moments ago been clinging to in the vacuum of outer space. The shaft led forwards, backwards and upwards. Ignoring the ladder Ashley took a grenade launcheresque device and fired it directly upwards, revelling in the quiet whirring of climbing ropes unfurling until the magnetic hook met it's destination with a muted thunk. Ashley hooked herself to the mechanical winch and began her assent at speed. Eight minutes remaining.

With a jolt Ashley stopped and climbed into a side vent, colours becoming more vivid by the moment and her pulse accelerating as adrenalin kicked in. Only moments to go now. She crept down the tight vent in miniscule motions to avoid making even the slightest sound if it could be avoided. Each second dragged, seeming to Ashley to become an eternity until at last she could see through a grille into the room below, her target in sight. She fastened a cable above the vent and took a moment to notify her getaway driver of the situation.

"Falcon... The egg is in the nest... Magpie is ready to go." She hissed into the microphone before drawing her handgun and firing three near silent flechette rounds into the screws keeping the vent in place on one side. No delicacy here, four minutes remaining, alarms would be triggered but by the time a response team had arrived she would be halfway back down the vents again and Falcon would be in place to retrieve her. The rest of the bullets in her gun were tranquilisers in case of emergency. At least that was the plan. Cold dread set it's icy tentacles into Ashley's heart as she rappelled through the now open grille only to see bewildered faces looking up at her masked figure. Fuck... The vault was not supposed to be open to the public today.

Suddenly everything was a frenzy of motion. Screams erupted from a crowd of pampered looking patrons wearing everything from pompadours to pretty polka dot dresses and they fled in every direction one could possibly think of to run, someone got tangled in her rappel line and with a crunch Ashley heard the sickening sound of her winch breaking, the vents were no longer an option. Ashley slapped a plastic explosive to the glass of the diamond's display tank and crouched as the glass fragmented into a million tiny shards, sparing no time in reaching within to grab the hefty diamond within. She stuffed it into her utility belt and screamed down her microphone. "PLAN B FALCON! WE'RE USING PLAN B!"

If Falcon replied Ashley certainly didn't hear it, she was already running out through the vault door and into the arts gallery beyond. To her great fortune the guards hadn't seemed to identify the threat as of yet but that quickly changed as she bolted past them and someone shouted. "THAT'S HER! GET THAT ***T!"

A torrential downpour of fully automatic gunfire sounded as Ashley bolted around a corner, sensing the proximity of the bullets by the force they exerted on the air around her and goading her to run even faster. Plan B was sloppy, the definition of an emergency exit. Whilst planning her raid Ashley had checked the visitor checklist for the VIP Observation deck on this floor. It was deserted, no bookings for the entire day, which was in fact a large part of why they had picked today. Ashley would get to the VIP Observation deck and then Falcon would come crashing in through the window, the bulkhead would seal protecting those inside Cloud-9 and Ashley would be protected from the vacuum of space by her spacesuit as she clambered aboard Falcon and hopefully, to safety. Of course, as Ashley rounded the corner Ashley's heart sank. The observation deck was full and, judging by the guards uniforms, of Galactic Committee members no less. Ashley screeched to a halt, hands held high as a dozen firearms drew on her in the observation deck.

"FREEZE BY COMMAND OF THE GALACTIC COMMITTEE!" Ordered a red-faced guard down the barrel of his gun.

Ashley nodded to the guard and, quietly, with calm moderation, Ashley spoke down her microphone.

"Abort extraction Falcon. Civilians on deck... this is Ashley Hunter, out."

-END-

Personality: Brash and perhaps slightly arrogant, Ashley has a negative attitude to most authority figures imposed by any official group. This being said, once engaged in a task Ashley can be very helpful and she enjoys a good party.

Equipment:

Seburo C-X (Compact-Xploder) pistol: Fires .45 calibre rounds at semi automatic only. Its unusual magazine design allows the pistol to hold 21 rounds (including one in the chamber) despite the large calibre. The Compact-Xploder is something of a status weapon and isn't cheap or easy to come by. Where possible Ashley will try to access specialist ammo like tranquilisers and flechette rounds. Add-ons: Holster, 2 spare magazines.

Stylised "Pride" Atmos-suit. Combat Edition: Custom ordered to meet Ashley's specifications this Atmos-suit is designed to enable Ashley to switch quickly from operating within the vacuum of space to mission-ready with minimal adjustment. As such it is lightweight and features polymer plates of ballistic armour across her torso, thighs shoulders, and helmet. Far from being low-profile however large swathes of the suit are coloured gold and the helmet faceplate is emblazoned with a simplified lions face.

Family/Relationship:
-Dillan Forester is a surrogate father to Ashley after her own died in the Asteroid Mining fields.
-Ashley has a wary attitude towards alien species, having come from a primarily human occupied area of space.
Other:

[Jones Sparrow]

@Hailfire

I like it! welcome aboard