Space E-war Reloaded

[dinoman666]

"I d*mn well hope so," Arrak said. "Running into dead ends while dealing with a Spectre isn't a good idea..."

[The Kingpin]

It was roughly three hours later that the Ezdelera entered the star system within which Rishi resided. It was somewhat distant from Ostrom, and Rishi was not in the same system as the relay itself. Thus, the ship was forced to use the FTL drives. Though, all things considered, the ship had covered the distance respectably considering it wasn't originally designed for such speeds...


It wasn't long after that that the ship closed in on Rishi itself, the ship activating its stealth equipment, the ship shifting into 'silent running' mode. passive scanners activated, looking for notable hot-zones on the planet that would hint towards potential threats, such as planetary defence cannons that could have been hijacked by the Bloodpack...or ships drifting planet-side or just above, waiting for a reason to leap into action...

[dinoman666]

Rishi was, for all intents and purposes, a barren rock. It housed a single droid factory, largely automated, perched on a small plateau in the planet's northern hemisphere. There was little atmosphere outside, but the factory itself had sufficient oxygen and supplies for the monthly inspectors that would periodically check on the facility's operation for Grievous. It still had a noticeable heat signature, which made it stick out from the rest of the cold, dry rock. No other heat signatures were evident...

The Mass Relay in the Ninmah Cluster's primary system, Maskim Xul, seemed to belch forth a quartet of a cruiser-class ships, all bearing the distinct insignia of the Blue Suns. Anto had commissioned their ships to track down Aria, as they were probably the best merc group on Omega. Disciplined, ruthless, and willing to do the dirty work that might be necessary for this operation. They began their search, scanning for anything unusual that would pinpoint Aria's location...

[TyrannoTitan]

The mercenaries would find very little in their search. To all but the Seeker race, this patch of space was nothing but stars and planets, with no signs of civilized life for billions of miles.

[The Kingpin]

The Ezdelera descended once the scan was complete and the area's safety confirmed, the ship entering the atmosphere and approaching the base with a very faint hum, as it descended towards the ground a hundred yards from the facility, Khuurava descending to the hanger and preparing to head for the facility, the Scorpio roaring to life as he approached it. He would take no risks...

[dinoman666]

"Glad I have a helmet," Arrak said as he followed Khuurava down to the Scorpio. "Let's hope there's actual atmosphere inside..."

[The Kingpin]

"Agreed" hissed Khuurava, as he jumped into the Scorpio,the panels of his helmet sliding up from his back, unfolding as they moved to their various positions, encapsulating the Khurakra's head...

[dinoman666]

Fortunately for the two mercs, the facility had a garage, and one more than large enough for the Scorpio, as it was designed to fit multiple large transports for carrying freshly created droids or new parts to and fro. Unsurprisingly, there was no life outside the manufacturing plant itself...

[The Kingpin]

As the Ezdelera's cargo bay door opened, the Scorpio tore out, hitting the dusty ground with nearly no noticeable hindrance as it roared across the gap between the ship and the facility, turret whirring left and right as the scanners searched for signs of activity around the facility. Within a couple of minutes, the vehicle was slowing as it approached the entrance to the garage...



"This is Patriarch. Status Report" came Kharss's voice gruffly over the comm system of one of the Blue Suns Cruisers...

[dinoman666]

Anto was quick to respond. "Nothing yet, but we're about to use the scanning pulse. A few of those will cover this whole system, and it's tuned to Aria's Omni-tool frequency. If she's here, we'll find her..."

The garage entrance opened automatically, allowing the Scorpio passage inside. There were a couple of large MTT transports parked inside, but it was otherwise empty, and had a simple staircase leading to a doorway to punctuate the otherwise barren garage...

[The Kingpin]

"Right. Inform me if there are any developments. Patriarch out" responded Kharss calmly, before the connection was cut, Kharss meanwhile considering various scenarios silently in the VIP Lounge of the Afterlife. As much as he liked to think they would get a ransom for someone as influencial as Aria, he knew she was, in the end, just another thug, a thorn in the sides of all the other major players. No one would pay a ransom to get her back. And more likely than not, this was someone who held a personal grudge against her; meaning there there was a very considerable chance she would not be coming back. Damn it. Just when he thought he could retire in peace for the rest of his days, his main means of getting an easy way out of this overly stressful lifestyle gets carted off to who knows where. And word would soon spread that she was gone. And in the aftermath, there would be chaos. The Merc groups would be warring for control over Omega, and the civilians and Aria's organisation would be caught right in the middle of it all. Still, he was nothing if not a skilled strategist. His own contingencies had been put in place. The Mercs under 'Aria's' control were now better equipped, and choke points all over the station were closely guarded. Security was tighter than ever, even if considerable effort was made to conceal it. Infiltrators in the various organisations watched for hints of a coup, and a steady stream of information kept flowing in not only from across Omega, but from various locations in the Terminus systems as well, a careful eye being placed on the Blood Pack, Eclipse, Blue Suns and various Batarian Organisations. He had not spent half his life working for a comfortable living on Omega to see it go up in smoke now. If they wanted to take it, they'd have to fight for it. And when they did, they'd be met only with the broken, bloodied corpses of their brethren, and the blazing barrel of his shotgun...


As the Scorpio hissed to a halt, the hatch on the side opened, the Khurakra leaping out swiftly as he drew his assault rifle, glancing around as he headed towards the staircase, the Scorpio's engines shutting down, though the turrets and scanners remained active, in case anyone tried to approach it in Khuurava's absence...

[dinoman666]

The Blue Suns started their scanning, emitting the first pulse of several. If it picked up Aria's Omni-tool, it would immediately send the information back, but there was a catch: as an active scan, the synthetics could pick up the pulse as well...

Arrak moved cautiously towards the door, rifle raised. He saw no signs of combat there, and signalled to Khuurava that it was safe to move up...

[TyrannoTitan]

The pulse would turn up no results. The Omni-tool did respond, but it was unseen and unheard by all, as its signal was suppressed along with the rest of Home's emissions. Even something as simplistic as radar would act as if the station did not exist, even if the mercenaries were right in front of it...

[The Kingpin]

Khuurava moved forward, weapon at the ready as he ascended the steps, making his way up the stairs and to the hallway that lay beyond, wary of the risk of mines or other traps, his centuries of combat experience having honed his mind to a razor edge...

[dinoman666]

As Arrak moved through the door, then abruptly stopped and raised a hand, silently telling his fellow merc to halt. The room they were in was massive, likely one of the hubs of droid construction judging by the number of crisscrossing conveyor belts that filled the expanse, all of them unmoving, but still holding the constituent parts of Grievous's automated soldiers. Arrak wagged one finger, subtly pointing in front of him, at the metal floor. There was a single stain, dark red-brown in color, dried. Arrak looked over his shoulder, and arched a scaly brow. "Any ideas?" Arrak whispered...

[The Kingpin]

"Not sure. Grievous didn't mention how long this place has been under Bloodpack control. Leftovers of their initial assault, maybe? Droid shot down one of them?" hissed Khuurava quietly, his mandibles clicking against the bony plates on his cheeks. Had he been wearing the GHOST cloak, he'd've stealthed and moved in. As it was however, he had armed himself for an assault mission rather than an infiltration and assassination job...

[dinoman666]

"Maybe..." Arrak mused, staring down at the patch of blood. Could be Vorcha or Krogan, which didn't really narrow it down. The part that bothered him, however, was the fact that it seemed to be the only mess in the whole room. He saw no damaged droid parts, no more bloodstains, not even a spent thermal clip or blaster pack. It's like whoever had attacked the place had cleaned up their mess as well. Definitely not Blood Pack's style. "Let's get the power back on. Then we can find our mystery saboteurs..." he whispered...

The Blue Suns were patient and methodical. They took their time in the system, scanning as much of the area as they could. It would take some time, but half-a**ing a rescue mission wasn't exactly a good idea...

[The Kingpin]

Khuurava nodded as he moved onwards, his visor scanning for heat signatures that would imply any kind of activity, organic or otherwise. The cleanliness of the station certainly wasn't Blood Pack MO, and that put the Khurakra on edge. He disliked unknowns in his missions...

[dinoman666]

Grievous had downloaded schematics of the base to both mercenaries's Omni-tools, making it easy enough to make their way through the facility, taking the shortest route to the control room. Still, Arrak was nervous. Maybe it was the hundreds of dead droid heads, sitting on the still conveyor belts, but the Turian couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. And yet, there was still nothing on their scanners...

[The Kingpin]

Khuurava pressed on, moving through the hallways as he made his way for the control room, his senses focused on his surroundings, wary of even the slightest change. Khurakra military training was harsh. It trained soldiers to revert to their predatory abilities, teaching them to make maximum use of abilities that had fallen out of use over the millennia. Soldiers tended to come from long lines of warriors dating back thousands of years, and they were often the preferred choice in marital decisions, due to the fact that they were quite often the most physically perfect of the species. Khuurava himself came from one of the older lines, with a father and grandfather both serving among the highest ranking men in the Khurakriidi Primacy's Armed Forces, the former serving as an Admiral of the fleets, and the other serving as a General of the ground forces, respectively. The Mercenary's background made him a very effective soldier, hunter and killer. Very little got by his keen senses...