Post by Ticoga on Jul 2, 2020 10:10:49 GMT -6
"LOOK OUT!!"
A scream of terror is drowned out by the horrid screech of twisting metals and vicious roar of flames as a section of the hanger rends outwards. The explosion rocks the entirety of the derelict capital ship, now turned temporary base for a band of pirates. As the flames quickly dissipate into smoke, a small figure thrusts through the searing, choking cloud, running with an expression of mixed amusement and concern.
The figure is closely followed by several pirates, all of them wielding some sort of beam rifle. One of them takes aim with an arm cannon, but the figure rounds the corner too quickly. Cursing in their native tongues, the pirates make chase, taking haphazard shots at the fleeing figure at any opportunity they get.
Tucked under the crimson skinned alien is what looks like an opulently embroidered helm. Several shots fly wide and above the alien's head, eliciting a shout and followed quickly by nervous laughter from the alien. It jumps over a railing, letting itself fall over twenty feet to the floor below, slowing its descent with focused Ki. It takes refuge behind a large stack of massive metal crates, just as the pirates arrive at the railing and begin taking dozens of wild shots at it.
Taking a deep breath, and giggling to itself, the crimson-skinned Arcosian breathes an amused sigh.
"Well, that could have gone better." the Arcosian says to itself. Indeed, the entire reason he had come to this base was to find out if any of the pirates had potential. He was not disappointed. Over the last few days, he had formed a cooperative understanding with them, even participated in a few raids. But... they were just too short sighted.
On multiple occasions, a lack of planning ahead other than charging bullishly head first into intercepted starships and colonial planet villages had often caused them to leave empty handed more times than not. This thing... was it a crown? Taking a moment to observe the helm as the pirates pursuing him took the long way down to his level, the Arcosian takes note of several features.
Five jewels are set upon the rim around the eye area - four opals flanking a single, larger ruby set into the middle of the forehead area. The helm itself shined with mostly silver and gold trimmings. It was either a commander's helm, or ceremonial, the Arcosian surmises, as the helm does not protect the nape of the neck, nor the face of the wearer. A ricocheted energy shot returns the Arcosian's attention to more immediate matters.
Grinning, he again tucks the helm under his arm as the sounds of footfalls ring about the expansive hanger.
"Ticoga! You've got nowhere to run now!" a hissing voice calls out to the Arcosian. The large Beppan raises his arm cannon, letting it charge up.
"All right, all right, I'm coming out." Ticoga replies, still grinning. He steps into the open, holding the helm under his left arm while raising his right hand over his head. He walks casually over towards the pirates, who move in closer, and stops before the Beppan. The size difference between Ticoga and the Beppan is laughable.
"You've got nerve, trying to pull a fast one on us, Arcosian." the Beppan growls. "Hand that over, and we might consider letting you live."
Ticoga blinks and frowns at the Beppan.
"And here I thought you'd be more impressed." Ticoga replies, shrugging indifferently. "How many people do you know can blow up a room and not kill everyone in it? Besides, you didn't seem all that interested in my offer - I'm just taking a page out of your playbook."
"I've had about enough of your mouthing off!" the Beppan barks, making Ticoga shoot an exasperated look. "It's about time you learned the consequence of messing with the Void Pirates!"
"Well, if you insist." Ticoga answers, suddenly tossing the helm into the air. The pirates watch the helm fly up, and the Beppan reflexively tries to catch it. In a flash, Ticoga rushes forward, sinking his right fist into the Beppan's gut. The Beppan is thrown bodily back, surprising his comrades. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, the Arcosian flits left to right, attacking the pirates in no particular order. Kicks are aimed at the space between the neck and shoulders, elbows crush against jawlines, and his dexterous tail whips around to wrap around the hips of a Brenchian. Ticoga twists, hurling the Brenchian to the far wall.
Ticoga lets out a long breath, and reaches out with his left hand. The helm smacks into his open palm, and Ticoga scratches the back of his head, looking disappointed.
"Well, I don't think any of them are dead." Ticoga mutters to himself, observing the pirates strewn about the floor. He looks at the helm and grimmaces. "Such a waste of effort over this thing. Ah well... I don't need this, really."
Ticoga walks over to the unconscious Beppan and drops the glittering helm at the being's feet. He rolls his shoulders to work out a slight ache as he walks away, and touches his forefinger and thumb to his chin thoughtfully.
"A couple of them were using Fleet technology. But I guess we sold to whoever paid enough, so I shouldn't be surprised." Ticoga mutters, stopping to look at the weapons the pirates wielded. "Maybe I'm thinking too small... these small time pirates wouldn't be enough to start making significant marks. Probably the same for the rest of the factions in the area."
A sudden, loud clanging of metal on metal catches Ticoga's attention. Looking for the source, the Arcosian is met with an interesting sight. At likely nearly a dozen feet tall, a robot steps into view. Its left arm is a huge, modified energy cannon, while where the right hand would be has been replaced with a serrated blade. The head is elongated, and marked his a skull and cross bones symbol. It's jaws are lined with shark-like teeth, giving the machine a terrible visage of death. Its long tail is tipped like a spear, making virtually every part of the machine a deadly weapon.
"Oh my, that looks problematic." Ticoga muses, taking a step back and falling into a crouching ready posture.
The robot notices Ticoga, and lets out a terrible screech. It rushes at Ticoga, raising its blaster arm to fire a volley of violent blasts at the Arcosian. Ticoga takes to the air, narrowly avoiding the shots, and leads the robot's aim away from the unconscious pirates. He didn't particularly care about them, but it would be senseless to just let them be caught up in their own weapon's crossfire. Avoiding the blasts, Ticoga fires one of his own. The small crimson ball slips into the blaster arm barrel and detonates, blowing away the arm up to the elbow joint.
He lands at the machine's feet, and promptly slips between its legs as the machine attempts to crush Ticoga under a massive foot. He fires a pair of small Ki shots at the machine's back, but the damage is superficial. Responding quickly, the robot rotates at the hips, bringing its blade arm to bare down at the Arcosian. Ticoga leaps into the air to avoid the serrated blade, but soon finds himself trying to avoid a storm of stabbing thrusts by the spear-tipped tail.
Ticoga manages to catch the tail, and pulls it into the path of the blade arm, causing the machine to sever its own tail. As if flying into a rage, the machine tries to rush Ticoga again, but the Arcosian simply flies out of its reach and waits for an opportunity to strike. He swings the spear-tipped tail around, slamming it against the blade arm, momentarily leaving the machine open. He fires a blast into the machine's mouth, and watches as the head explodes in a flash if flame and debris. The robot teeters on its feet for a moment, before finally falling to the floor in a heap.
Ticoga wipes his forehead, letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"Hoo... Didn't know they had one of those Earthling death machines. That could have gone badly." Ticoga mutters. Just another reason to avoid the Earth, perhaps. He kept hearing that world was a death trap for members of the Fleet, and if the world had many of these machines, he has no doubt that they also have stronger versions of them as well. Small wonder that the World Trade Fleet labeled the planet as restricted for the most part. "Well then, I suppose I should move on. There may yet still be something worth investigating out here."
With that in mind, Ticoga flies through the hanger and through the still active atmospheric shielding at the wide bay doors, and straight into the frigid cold of outer space. His species is fully capable of surviving in the vacuum of space, and certainly makes exploration of the Starship Graveyard much simpler.
A scream of terror is drowned out by the horrid screech of twisting metals and vicious roar of flames as a section of the hanger rends outwards. The explosion rocks the entirety of the derelict capital ship, now turned temporary base for a band of pirates. As the flames quickly dissipate into smoke, a small figure thrusts through the searing, choking cloud, running with an expression of mixed amusement and concern.
The figure is closely followed by several pirates, all of them wielding some sort of beam rifle. One of them takes aim with an arm cannon, but the figure rounds the corner too quickly. Cursing in their native tongues, the pirates make chase, taking haphazard shots at the fleeing figure at any opportunity they get.
Tucked under the crimson skinned alien is what looks like an opulently embroidered helm. Several shots fly wide and above the alien's head, eliciting a shout and followed quickly by nervous laughter from the alien. It jumps over a railing, letting itself fall over twenty feet to the floor below, slowing its descent with focused Ki. It takes refuge behind a large stack of massive metal crates, just as the pirates arrive at the railing and begin taking dozens of wild shots at it.
Taking a deep breath, and giggling to itself, the crimson-skinned Arcosian breathes an amused sigh.
"Well, that could have gone better." the Arcosian says to itself. Indeed, the entire reason he had come to this base was to find out if any of the pirates had potential. He was not disappointed. Over the last few days, he had formed a cooperative understanding with them, even participated in a few raids. But... they were just too short sighted.
On multiple occasions, a lack of planning ahead other than charging bullishly head first into intercepted starships and colonial planet villages had often caused them to leave empty handed more times than not. This thing... was it a crown? Taking a moment to observe the helm as the pirates pursuing him took the long way down to his level, the Arcosian takes note of several features.
Five jewels are set upon the rim around the eye area - four opals flanking a single, larger ruby set into the middle of the forehead area. The helm itself shined with mostly silver and gold trimmings. It was either a commander's helm, or ceremonial, the Arcosian surmises, as the helm does not protect the nape of the neck, nor the face of the wearer. A ricocheted energy shot returns the Arcosian's attention to more immediate matters.
Grinning, he again tucks the helm under his arm as the sounds of footfalls ring about the expansive hanger.
"Ticoga! You've got nowhere to run now!" a hissing voice calls out to the Arcosian. The large Beppan raises his arm cannon, letting it charge up.
"All right, all right, I'm coming out." Ticoga replies, still grinning. He steps into the open, holding the helm under his left arm while raising his right hand over his head. He walks casually over towards the pirates, who move in closer, and stops before the Beppan. The size difference between Ticoga and the Beppan is laughable.
"You've got nerve, trying to pull a fast one on us, Arcosian." the Beppan growls. "Hand that over, and we might consider letting you live."
Ticoga blinks and frowns at the Beppan.
"And here I thought you'd be more impressed." Ticoga replies, shrugging indifferently. "How many people do you know can blow up a room and not kill everyone in it? Besides, you didn't seem all that interested in my offer - I'm just taking a page out of your playbook."
"I've had about enough of your mouthing off!" the Beppan barks, making Ticoga shoot an exasperated look. "It's about time you learned the consequence of messing with the Void Pirates!"
"Well, if you insist." Ticoga answers, suddenly tossing the helm into the air. The pirates watch the helm fly up, and the Beppan reflexively tries to catch it. In a flash, Ticoga rushes forward, sinking his right fist into the Beppan's gut. The Beppan is thrown bodily back, surprising his comrades. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, the Arcosian flits left to right, attacking the pirates in no particular order. Kicks are aimed at the space between the neck and shoulders, elbows crush against jawlines, and his dexterous tail whips around to wrap around the hips of a Brenchian. Ticoga twists, hurling the Brenchian to the far wall.
Ticoga lets out a long breath, and reaches out with his left hand. The helm smacks into his open palm, and Ticoga scratches the back of his head, looking disappointed.
"Well, I don't think any of them are dead." Ticoga mutters to himself, observing the pirates strewn about the floor. He looks at the helm and grimmaces. "Such a waste of effort over this thing. Ah well... I don't need this, really."
Ticoga walks over to the unconscious Beppan and drops the glittering helm at the being's feet. He rolls his shoulders to work out a slight ache as he walks away, and touches his forefinger and thumb to his chin thoughtfully.
"A couple of them were using Fleet technology. But I guess we sold to whoever paid enough, so I shouldn't be surprised." Ticoga mutters, stopping to look at the weapons the pirates wielded. "Maybe I'm thinking too small... these small time pirates wouldn't be enough to start making significant marks. Probably the same for the rest of the factions in the area."
A sudden, loud clanging of metal on metal catches Ticoga's attention. Looking for the source, the Arcosian is met with an interesting sight. At likely nearly a dozen feet tall, a robot steps into view. Its left arm is a huge, modified energy cannon, while where the right hand would be has been replaced with a serrated blade. The head is elongated, and marked his a skull and cross bones symbol. It's jaws are lined with shark-like teeth, giving the machine a terrible visage of death. Its long tail is tipped like a spear, making virtually every part of the machine a deadly weapon.
"Oh my, that looks problematic." Ticoga muses, taking a step back and falling into a crouching ready posture.
The robot notices Ticoga, and lets out a terrible screech. It rushes at Ticoga, raising its blaster arm to fire a volley of violent blasts at the Arcosian. Ticoga takes to the air, narrowly avoiding the shots, and leads the robot's aim away from the unconscious pirates. He didn't particularly care about them, but it would be senseless to just let them be caught up in their own weapon's crossfire. Avoiding the blasts, Ticoga fires one of his own. The small crimson ball slips into the blaster arm barrel and detonates, blowing away the arm up to the elbow joint.
He lands at the machine's feet, and promptly slips between its legs as the machine attempts to crush Ticoga under a massive foot. He fires a pair of small Ki shots at the machine's back, but the damage is superficial. Responding quickly, the robot rotates at the hips, bringing its blade arm to bare down at the Arcosian. Ticoga leaps into the air to avoid the serrated blade, but soon finds himself trying to avoid a storm of stabbing thrusts by the spear-tipped tail.
Ticoga manages to catch the tail, and pulls it into the path of the blade arm, causing the machine to sever its own tail. As if flying into a rage, the machine tries to rush Ticoga again, but the Arcosian simply flies out of its reach and waits for an opportunity to strike. He swings the spear-tipped tail around, slamming it against the blade arm, momentarily leaving the machine open. He fires a blast into the machine's mouth, and watches as the head explodes in a flash if flame and debris. The robot teeters on its feet for a moment, before finally falling to the floor in a heap.
Ticoga wipes his forehead, letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"Hoo... Didn't know they had one of those Earthling death machines. That could have gone badly." Ticoga mutters. Just another reason to avoid the Earth, perhaps. He kept hearing that world was a death trap for members of the Fleet, and if the world had many of these machines, he has no doubt that they also have stronger versions of them as well. Small wonder that the World Trade Fleet labeled the planet as restricted for the most part. "Well then, I suppose I should move on. There may yet still be something worth investigating out here."
With that in mind, Ticoga flies through the hanger and through the still active atmospheric shielding at the wide bay doors, and straight into the frigid cold of outer space. His species is fully capable of surviving in the vacuum of space, and certainly makes exploration of the Starship Graveyard much simpler.
