Escape Trajectory: Makkuro — IC

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas hesitantly checks his balance as well, and gulps."I can afford a drink, I think, though only barely." He bit his lip slightly.

[ratwizard]

"I hear that," Cass agrees, stepping up from his seat at the booth. "Let's go see what's on tap."

OOC

Is there a drink menu?

[Namelessjake]

Heading up to the bar the bartender briefly acknowledges you with a small nod. "Let me know what you want," she says, gesturing to a couple of screens with menus, which form the top of the bar. Glancing at the screen you can see the menu is fairly small, a couple of different beers for 2 credits, some basic spirits for 3 and then a few low effort cocktails like the old fashioneds Max had been drinking for 5 credits.

[ratwizard]

Cass nods back at the bartender, studying the menu for a moment. He throws a glance over his shoulder at the captain. "Glitter, you want anything? A beer? Cocktail?"

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru lets out a quiet sigh as Tess immediately turns her attention towards the booze. Getting drunk before a dangerous mission. Great idea. He shakes his head at Cass's offer, feeling he needs to at least have somewhat of a clear head for what's ahead. "Not much of a drinker. Just a soda's fine." A little sugar will take some of the edge off, same as alcohol.

[ratwizard]

Cass rolls his eyes and turns back to the bartender. "Three Idaretian Golds and something fizzy for my friend," he asks for. Even here, we can't get away from that iceball. Why's it 'gold'? There's not a single fungus that brews golden. They must add some shitty lab yeast in.

Mechanics

How much do I owe ya?

[Fialova]

"Free beer, eh Mr. Moneybags? You sure do know the way to a girl's heart," Tess says to Cass as he orders, chuckling. "I'll get you next time, don't let me forget. I can't go owing you any favors." I'd have gotten a cocktail, but free beer is free beer. Nice to see him being more assertive. She steps to the bar after him, leaning up against the bar and watching as the bartender grabs their beers, eager to have something cool and refreshing to drink.

[ratwizard]

"Don't worry about it," Cass says, shrugging off her promise of payback. "If this job goes well, a few credits won't matter anyways."

He glances at Tess while waiting for their drinks. "You think this noble's worth our time?" the engineer asks quietly, giving a furtive look over his shoulder at the booth. "He seems more blundering fool than creep for a wavebrain. I can work with that."

[Namelessjake]

The bartender, still with a bored look on her face, gives Cass another nod as an acknowledgement of his order. She reaches beneath the bar into a small fridge and one by one places the beer bottles on the bar, opening them as she does. She then places a glass on the bar next to the beers and fills it with a dark coloured carbonated liquid from a drinks gun.
 
"That'll be seven credits," she says, tapping on a screen on her side of the bar before the bill appears in front of you on the bar screens following by a prompt for a tip.

[Fialova]

"I think he's not enough of a threat that we should be too worried about it," Tess responds, matching Cass' volume. She grabs her beer and gives the bartender a warm smile, before taking a large swig. Turning to Cass, she continues.

"I agree, he seems more unhinged than nefarious. And even if he's got something against us, there are 7 of us and one of him. And we will be on a ship we know, and he doesn't. We should be fine."

[ratwizard]

Cass taps on his compad and motions forward, paying for the tab and tip. He grabs his drink and takes a swig, nodding at Tess' reasoning.

"We'll see how the job goes. We can always dump him back off if we get tired of hearing about his Anthean nobility."

Carefully grabbing the other beer and the soda, the engineer makes his way back toward the booth, dropping the drinks off for Creed and Hikaru.

"Anyone got a blessing?" he asks, raising his beer lazily. "Not a superstitious person myself, but it'd be unlucky to not at least give cheers before we do this."

OOC

7 plus 2 credit tip, now at 18 credits.

 

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru takes a short sip of the drink, wincing for a moment as the sweetness sets in, not used to much sugar with his strict diet. He smiles after the initial shock wears off, taking another modest gulp. He raises an eyebrow for a moment at Cass. Guess we could use the luck. He shrugs and raises his glass. "To new friends and old, to new beginnings and successes together. With high spirits and plenty of spirits, I guess there's nothing we can't overcome. To the Makkuro, and the crew we've made. Let's do this!"
 

[ratwizard]

"To the Makkuro," Cass repeats, suddenly grinning like an idiot. Feels... kinda good, for once. Like I belong. He clinks glasses with the others, finding himself meeting eyes especially with Tess.

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas, thankful that he doesn't have to talk to the bartender, smiles up at Cass. "I-I owe ya one." He says as he picks up his beer and raises it tentatively. "To the Makkuro." He says quietly and takes a sip of his beer. And to my mother, as well, and her continued good health. He thinks.

[Fialova]

"To the Makkuro, to good company, and to the money to come," Tess says, raising her drink with the others as they toast. Noticing Cass' glance, she gives the man a more genuine smile than most of the ones she'd given today, many of which were more devious or flirtatious. Who'd have thought my annoying trip off Strocho would turn into something so odd, yet so promising.

[ratwizard]

Feeling a rare moment of joy in the toast, and catching eyes with Tess, Cass takes a long pull from his ale. Yeah, not a chance in hell that's actually a gold. The fuck did they put in this swill?

He coughs, wiping his lips with the back of his wrist. Still gotta take my pills for today. Not sure they'd wash down with alcohol well, though.

Eventually he sets his empty bottle on the table and cocks his head toward the door. "Ready to go trade high-powered flak rounds with another metal tube out in cold vacuum?"

 

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru gulps down more of his soda, wincing as the carbonated bubbles almost overpower him. Just something to get used to again. No more label telling me what I can and can't have. Fuck 'em. He gradually finishes off his drink, setting down the glass with a contented sigh. "Guess there's no time like the present, yeah? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get paid."



 

[Fialova]

"And the sooner we can get a new paint job and outfits," Tess responds, finishing off her drink as well. "No need to keep wearing those itchy clothes we found." And so ugly. Military types really have no eye for fashion.

[benderfan]

They seem like a reliable bunch, and pretty close too. I wonder if I can ever have that again, some day...

Well, it's not important. Keep focused Max, first thing to do is clear off your debts so you can leave this trash heap of a station.

Max smiles and pumps his fist in the air. "Yes! Let's show those dastards what for!"

[Namelessjake]

With your drinks finished and another round not on the table, you head back upstairs and out of the bar - its other patrons paying you little attention as you leave. You retrace your steps back through the narrow streets and ride the elevators back to the docks. Unsurprisingly the dock workers' strike is yet to abate and there are still many of them milling about, although now without the an escort of station security you attract a lot less attention.

Boarding the Makkuro and heading to the bridge you find the data on the mining outpost from Lagunov. Designated 3138 T-1, the outpost is a small facility carved into a rock only a little bit smaller than Asteria Station. The Makkuro's navigation systems give you a quick estimate of around six hours travel time to rendezvous with the outpost.

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas walks back to the ship, seemingly in much better spirits now on the return. As they got back on the ship, Eridas smiled and gave the wall a loving pat. "We're back dear, it's okay. We're going on a trip again." He smiles and takes a seat as he examines the data, and looks over the navisystem's estimate. "Should be a quick trip all things considered." He looks up at the others. "A true test of how we work together on a job. I'm looking forward to it for once!"

[ratwizard]

Cass stays quiet most of the walk back to the ship, considering the mission. We really ready to go up against these pirate crews? One mistake and we could be out of commission. He chalks it up to pre-flight nerves and steels himself.

Once inside the bridge, Cass smiles as Eridas lovingly speaks to their ship. He already loves this thing. Gotta make sure we keep it running smoothly then. He spins in his chair, looking to the others. "So, sounds like the Blackstar we might be able to talk down. And we should try that first. If that fails, though, we've got a firepower advantage when it comes to tossing rounds at these two up-gunned free merchants. But," the engineer says, raising a finger. "We're in for trouble if we have to take the fight to the outpost on foot. No disrespect, but we're not marines."

"So, Captain," Cass continues, bringing up a few displays and looking at Hikaru in particular. "I recommend we hit them hard, and fast, and with as many guns as we can. Swing a big dick. Talk mad, scary shit on comms. Make them think we're going to absolutely fucking slaughter these guys if they don't get the fuck off that rock. You get me?"

[Fialova]

Tess chuckle lightly to herself as Creed speaks to the ship, finding his actions somewhat endearing. He needs a lover, then he can talk to them that way instead of this tub or bolts. She follows the others to the bridge, taking the same seat she had before. She keeps an eye on the newcomer to make sure he follows along and doesn't wander off on his own, not fully trusting the man yet.

Once Cass begins to speak, she listens to his plan, nodding along at several points. "I will swing the biggest dick I can," she replies to the man with a smirk, as he brings up the subject of their firepower advantage. "But let Hikey-poo sweet-talk them first. If we can get away with not firing on at least one of the ships, that would save us a lot of hassle. If they don't go for it, then I can light them up."

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru stifles a laugh as he hears Creed affectionately talk to their ship. Fuck, he must be lonely. Should take him clubbing some night. That'd be a sight. He takes a seat in his chair, resting his head against its back as the full weight of their mission comes to bear. Damn, we're really doing this. Never thought I'd be living a movie. He's about to speak up, but Cass beats him to it. He finds himself nodding along to some, and smirking to some of the man's word choice. "Fast, hard, and big dicks? Sounds more like a wild night out than a mission," the popstar says almost matter-of-factly, unable to help himself. "Talking to the Blackstar first is what I had in mind though, yeah," he adds, nodding to Tess and Cass. "Weakest link, and all that. Hell, I was thinking we might be able to turn them against Kyo Maru. Remind her that Damien'd drop her like an agent as soon as it's convenient for him."

He crosses his arms, thinking for a moment. "Damien, though. Firepower might be the only thing a fuck like that'll respond to. If he's as much trouble as Lagunov says, even swinging a python won't be enough to get him to back down."

[Fialova]

"Right. Anyone hiding any anacondas?" Tess replies, a large grin on her face after Hikaru's continuance of the joke. "If not, then I'll do the best with what I've got." She lets out a chuckle, finding it hard to resist with how the conversation is going.

[ratwizard]

Cass snorts, tickled by the innuendo. "Good point on pitting the Blackstar against the Kyo Maru. I hadn't considered that," he admits.

"See, not bad, Glitter. You feeling like the captain yet?"

[Scratcherclaw]

"That would've been Jae, if the tabloids are to believed," he says with a smirk, recounting all the vaguely creepy articles making such speculations of his group, almost always next to an op-ed about the secret new world order of hyperintelligent dinosaurs known as Saurians. It was Benji anyways. I know what I saw. He shakes his head, dismissing the thoughts, and turns to Cass. He shrugs. "Don't know if I'll ever fully feel like it. Maybe once we get some swanky new clothes or something." He grins and stares upwards for a moment, before looking over each of his companions. "Let's get this show on the road then, yeah? Take us out of here, Creed. We can strategize more on the way."

[Fialova]

"Nah, definitely not Jae," Tess responds. "You can tell from the way he stands. I bet you he stuffs socks down there to drum up rumors on purpose, but there's no way he's the real deal," she says, chuckling to herself. "Now Benji, he's certainly hiding something, I know it. When are you going to introduce us, huh?"

As Cass begins talking more of their strategy, the reality of the situation sinks back in. Ah, right, fighting pirates. It was almost starting to feel like old times for a moment there. Maybe once things cool down, we can return to Strocho and have some fun again. "You can strategize all she wants," she says to the men, as they discuss Hikaru's idea. "Tell me who to shoot and I'll do it. Already used to that line of work, so no point changing things now," she adds with a wink.

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru's eyes go wide as Tess manages to make the correct assumption about his bandmate, nervously clearing his throat and trying to conceal a smirk. "I don't know. You don't exactly seem his type." Then again, he'd go for anyone after a night of too much soju. I would know. He crosses his arms and smirks to Tess. "Aye aye. As soon as we need a hole ripped straight through the Kyo Maru, you'll be the first one I call on."
 

[ratwizard]

"Easy there, killer," Cass says to Hikaru, raising a hand for effect. "We're not packing any gauss cannons." He shrugs thoughtfully. "Yet."

He puts on his headset and sinks into his flight chair, reconfiguring some of the panels to take on the upcoming confrontation. "Beratna," he calls through comms to Eridas. "All good up there?"

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas does his pre-flight checks, making sure everything was in order. He hears Cass' voice over the comms, and after a moment responds; "Everything seems to be in working order. Y'all come up with a plan? Or do I have to save the day again?" He says, jokingly. "Should be detaching momentarily and we'll be on our way out in a flash."

OOC

Unless there's a check you need from me, Eridas will then start the process to head towards their destination.

[benderfan]

Max walks onto the ship, ducking his head to avoid hitting it.

Not exactly a luxury cruiser, but I suppose that's to be expected of mercenaries.

Max smiles and says "I agree with Mr. Cass. Go in hard and scare them into submission, hopefully keep the bloodshed to a minimum so they may be properly tried for their crimes. 'Appear strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong' as the old saying goes."

[Namelessjake]

A few minutes later, with the pre-flight checks complete, the Makkuro is granted clearance to leave the station and docking clamps retract. Creed pilots the patrol boat out of the spinning asteroid on thrusters, letting the ship drift the final few kilometres away from the station before turning towards the coordinates of the mining outpost and lighting up the main engines.

You gain speed rapidly and soon leave Asteria Station behind. It is now about 6pm, Idarete City/Asteria Station time, with the navigation systems advising you'll arrive at around midnight, giving you six hours to eat, catch a nap, and prepare for the mission ahead. 

With about half an hour to go, you assemble in the bridge once more and take your stations, watching the screens for any sign of the two pirate ships. Around ten minutes later you pick them up on your scopes. The pair of ships are in a low orbit around the outpost, and are docked together by a umbilical. A few minutes later you see the umbilical retract and the two ships separate before beginning to burn towards you.

The Makkuro's scanners quickly analyse the ships, giving you information on their combat effectiveness. Both ships are slightly larger than the Makurro but their hulls are civilian hulls not designed for combat. The Kyo Maru, similarly to the Makkuro, is armed with a Plasma Beam weapon, although unlike the Makkuro it appears to be its only weapon. The Blackstar appears slower and more heavily armoured than the Kyo Maru, and is armed with a Multifocal Laser and a Flak Emitter Battery.

Your weapons systems report all ships will be in combat range in ten minutes.

Kyo Maru

Blackstar

[benderfan]

As they take off, Max sits down somewhere on the bridge and pulls out his dataslab.

Did I download any games on this thing? Hmmm...guess I could squeeze in a round of Slaughter the Tower.

[Scratcherclaw]

With the ship underway and steady, Hikaru gets up from his chair and stretches. "Plenty of time to kill, so rest up, yeah?" We can't afford to fuck this up. Stepping from the bridge, he walks through the corridors in search of Marko, not keen to spend the next several hours alone and knowing the man's in need of a break as well. "Care to join for a movie?" the pop star asks, almost nervously, blushing slightly. He smiles bashfully, taking Marko's hand and leading him to the captain's quarters.

Hikaru adjusts the monitor to face the bed, while stepping over to the console to browse through the entertainment library. "Let's see... We could watch something called Ninja Samurai 2: Cyber Shuriken. I mean, how bad can it be?" He plops down on the bed, resting his head on Marko's shoulder, and starts the movie. The company is good, either way.

Comically bad, the pair finds out, and fits of astonished laughter erupt from his quarters for approximately ninety minutes. "Damn, the Strocho Academy of Film really snubbed them," he says, struggling to keep a straight face. "Oh fuck, Ninja Samurai 3: Kimono a Mano. Yes." The singer makes it only twenty in, however, before his eyelids grow heavy. With a long yawn, he dozes off. He wakes up a couple hours later, finding Marko's done the same, and the console's autoplay now has them watching the tail end of Space Shark Attack! He nudges Marko awake, gesturing towards the kitchen with his head. Better to eat now. Doubt a couple of pirates will respect a snack break.

- - -

Returning to his seat in the bridge, he studies the incoming scans of the enemy ships. His eyes widen as the ships immediately catch on and start towards them. "Guess they've spotted us too. Cass, can you try and establish comms with the Blackstar whenever we're within range?"

[Fialova]

With a plan in place, Tess stands and thinks - as she often does - about how long it has been since she's taken anyone to bed. So many people on the ship now, and not one of them has tried to come on to me. Certainly nothing like Strocho. But if I have to be the one to ask, oh well.

Walking out of the control room, she spots Marko and considers him for a moment, but decides she cannot do that to her best friend. Next, in the hallway, she spots Pia. Not her first choice, but she is not picky. She approaches her fellow gunner and does her best to not sound as desperate as she actually is in the moment, but to no avail. The interest is clearly not interested.

Sighing, she makes her way back to the kitchen area, where she finds Martine making a snack. She smirks and walks closer, drawing right up next to the woman and trying to sound more casual than she had with Pia. They talk for a bit, making a few jokes and when things seem more natural, she asks the question she'd been waiting to ask the whole time. "Hey, wanna go have some fun in my room for a bit?" But as before, no dice. She can't tell if the mechanics is too busy or just not interested, but once more she is shot down. 

Feeling a bit defeated, she grabs a quick snack and then heads back to her room. There she lays in her crumpled mess of sheets, and thinks back to some of her most enjoyable clients. There she resigns herself to handling things on her own, eventually falling asleep in the process.

* * *

A few hours pass, and Tess reawakens, having had a very enjoyable dream. She re-dresses herself, and makes her way back to the bridge, just before the scanners pick up the targets. "With that thing on our side - if we can get it on our side - we should be in good shape. The Blackstar seems surprisingly robust for civilian craft."

Mechanics

Roll to ask Pia to have some fun
[2d6]=4https://www.unseenservant.com/index.php ... 14&macid=0][2d6]=4[/url[/url]] = fail :')
Roll to ask Martine to have some fun
[2d6]=4https://www.unseenservant.com/index.php ... 15&macid=0][2d6]=4[/url[/url]] = :'(

[ratwizard]

With six hours to spare, Cass retreats to the privacy of his officer's quarters. He scans through the Makkuro's staff database files, hoping to find something, anything remotely entertaining — an unsent draft of a spicy personal message, a hidden stash of lewd imagery from a lonely spouse stuck planetside, even a few amateur crudtunes made using a crude audio workspace on some navy-issue compad — but everything appears to have been wiped clean. Fucking Diktat. They stay ruining my fun, even this far from Idarete.

He pulls out his compad, laying on his bed in the dark, the blue light beaming his bored eyes with cached news feed. He spends the next several hours as such: scrolling through low-brow comedy skits back from Alldis, watching the same, few, dirty videos kept on an encrypted drive of a girl who he once thought he was in love with, inspecting the encrusted scab on his shoulder from the laser burns, wondering what snacks might be in the galley cupboards, spinning his compad above him and catching it, dropping it twice, re-watching the same porn again, and finally taking a short, unsatisfying nap.

Eventually, he emerges from his dark, dank cave to shower, change, and raid the food storage. Feeling somewhat refreshed with his alone time, Cass makes his way up to the bridge with time to spare.

He sits down, taking stock of the situation. When Hikaru asks to connect to the Blackstar, Cass nods. "I'm on it. Want me to patch them to your video cam?" the engineer asks his captain.

Mechanics

When can I tight-beam them? Now? When we're closer?

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas realizes shortly after he starts the ship's trip that he's a little too excited to be flying again, especially since he remembers that it's on autopilot. He sighs and feels himself deflate a bit, pulling himself away from the pilot's chair and making his way down to the kitchen, nodding to Martine before looking at their lacking food supplies and whining a bit to himself. He then quietly slinks off to his private bunk and shuts his eyes, attempting to sleep before briefly becoming reminded of his ongoing loneliness. He, rather shamefully, browses around using his compad to look for something to satisfy his urges. Eventually he comes across something that is 'good enough'... and then cries himself to sleep, not really letting himself feel the satisfaction.
------------------------------------------------------
He eventually wakes up, shaking off the negative feelings he had and pulled his clothes back on. He sighs, heading back up to the bridge. "I'm up, I'm up. Sorry about that." He says, wiping his face and running a hand through his hair.

[Namelessjake]

Cass sends a tightbeam request to the Blackstar and a few moments later the face of a woman appears on your screens. She has dark skin and long dark hair worn with an undercut. From what you can see of her upper torso she appears to be wearing an armoured vacc suit with a black star painted on the chest - she is presumably Yasmin Malik, the captain of the vessel.

"Makkuro, we have you outnumbered. Power down your reactor and prepare to be boarded. Your ship is now forfeit in exchange for your lives," she says, a menacing look on her face.

[benderfan]

Max addresses Cass and the others. "I assume we aren't going to let that happen. So, should we lure them onto our home turf, or go straight into a dogfight?"

[ratwizard]

"Neither," Cass replies to the noble over their comms channel, having popped out of the bridge on a quick errand. "We're going to see if the Blackstar will budge first. Asteria Station's given them a wide berth so far. If they disengaged and took off, they're safe from Holland — and us."

He comes back into the bridge, passing out vacc suits for those who brought one. "You should put these on," he advises. "Navy doctrine may be a lot of things, but they're right in this case. Last thing we need is a mag round taking out our O2 during combat."

[benderfan]

Max sees Cass passing out vacc suits. Oh right. Space bad.

"You raise an excellent point, Mr. Cass."

Max concentrates for a moment, and then a shimmering outline of royal purple telekinetic force surrounds him, and a greatsword made of the same telekinetic force appears on his back, while his eyes glow the same hue.

Mechanics

Instant action to use Pressure Field

On turn action to commit effort to Telekinetic Armory

[ratwizard]

"It's just Cass, not Mister Ca—"

The engineer pauses, his eyes wide as the telekinetic forces shimmer around their strange newcomer. Holy hell. What?

He nods towards the sword on the man's back. "Is, uh, that thing just for show? You said you're more of a fist-fighter."

[benderfan]

Max laughs. "While I am primarily focused on fisticuffs, I am trained in many different honorable forms of combat."

Well, kinda. Never really learned to swing a real one, but they don't need to know that.

"Besides, this blade isn't truly real, but rather an extension of my psychic will made manifest. It is, however, still very sharp."

[Fialova]

"That's an impressive technique," Tess says, half-genuinely, as the man places his psychic barrier around himself. Just like a psychic to show off their skills at the first chance they get. "But let's hope we don't need it," she says, as she makes her way to Cass to take one of the vacc suits. She gives the man a smile as she squeezes into it, turning so he can help zip it up, offering to do the same for him as well.

[ratwizard]

Cass is distracted from the psychic's display only by an unexpected front-row seat to Tess' back, and he stands to help zip her suit up — putting a carefully-placed hand on her shoulder for support as he does.

"Front-zip," he explains, gesturing at his torso, though he gives her a thankful smile. He turns back to Max. "Let's hope we don't need it. You don't, uh, have a rifle, though, do you? With Glitter being too glam for a gun, we're kind of fucked if it comes to a firefight."

 

[Fialova]

Am I wearing this backwards? Tess thinks, as she sees Cass' suit zipping in the front instead of the back. She shrugs, before responding to his quip. "I've got enough for all of us, we'll be fine," she says, half-jokingly. "But if all goes well, we won't need those here. We can let the Makkuro's guns do all the work."

[FinalTemplar]

Eridas hears talk of a rifle and remembers that he has guns stashed away on board. He feels for the pistol holstered at his side and smiles, feeling a little more confident. "Yeah, a firefight."

[Scratcherclaw]

Donning the budget vacc suit Cass retrieves, Hikaru lets out a deep sigh and puts on a confident face, watching the screen as the woman's transmission goes through. Here goes, I guess. He takes a breath and toggles to respond. "I ask that you stand down, Blackstar. We only wish to talk to you. Though I'd remind you your numbers don't mean much when it's civilian craft against military." Can't imagine their hull is gonna hold up nearly as well. He crosses his arms, trying to posture himself to show that he's the one in control.

"I'd ask that you think about what you're doing, end this game you have going with Hartjen, and return the outpost." He pauses for a moment, trying to consider how best to turn her against the man. "Listen," he says, his tone growing more concerned. "I don't know what he told you to get you to go along with this, but it's not worth it. Some gains now, but then what? Asteria will find a way to fuck you in the long run. And if they don't, Hartjen sure as hell will. A guy like that would stab you in the back as soon as it's convenient. He'd probably enjoy it too."

He frowns slightly, almost empathetic of the Blackstar's plights. Almost. "Things have been rough, I get it. But they won't get better down this path. One day or another, it's gonna be a fleet that comes knocking. So I just ask that you give this game and return the outpost." He pauses for a few more moments, a smirk beginning to form across his face. "And hell, maybe your haul would be better with a bit less competition, if you catch my drift."

Mechanics

Talk: [3d6c1+2]=9+2=11
If it's a failure, I'd like to use my reroll

[Namelessjake]

You all finish suiting up for combat and take your stations. A couple of moment pass after Hikaru's message before the Blackstar's reply comes. 

"Makkuro, you're probably right," Captain Malik says, her menacing look changed to one of acceptance. "We've got a decent haul already but Hartjen and his second in command have been down on that rock for hours now doing gods know what," she says, pausing to think for a moment before a small smile creeps across her face. "Try not to damage my improved haul too much" she says, her smile turning into a smirk as she puts on her suit helmet and cancels the feed.

A few moments later, just as the Makkuro is about to enter weapons' range of the two free merchants, the Blackstar opens fire on the Kyo Maru. In a bold opening move it unleashes all of its weapons on the ship before peeling off from their shared course into evasive maneuvers, in anticipation of return fire. The shots from its multifocal laser go wide but the flak battery catches the Kyo Maru in its engines.

Eridas: Roll Initiative

Current Command Points: 0

Mechanics

Blackstar: -3CP Fire all guns on Kyo Maru
Multifocal Laser: 9 vs AC = miss
Flak Emitter Battery: 18 vs AC = hit for 11 damage, Armour negates 2 for 9 total.

Kyo Maru opts to take a ship crisis instead of the damage:
Engine Lock: The ship’s engine has been jammed or control circuits have gone non-responsive. Until resolved, no bridge actions can be taken, though the pilot can still perform general actions.

-2CP Evasive Maneuvers, 9 = Success +2 to AC until next turn.

Rolls Initiative = 2

Kyo Maru: Rolls Initiative = 5

Makkuro

Makkuro
Javelin Class Patrol Boat
Initiative: -
HP: 17/25
AC: 14
Armour: 5
Speed: 4
Fuel: 1/1
Weapons:
Plasma Beam, 3d6, AP 10
Sand Thrower, 2d4, Flak

Ongoing Crisis: None.

Departments
Bridge - Eridas Creed
Captain - Hikaru Tsukiakari
Comms - Maximillian Redgar III
Engineering - Cass Bevideia
Gunnery - Tess Cernei

Other Ships

Blackstar
Modified Sparrowhawk Class Free Merchant
Initiative: 2
HP: ??/??
AC: ?
Armour: 2
Speed: 2
Weapons:
Multifocal Laser, 1d4, AP 20
Flak Emitter Battery 2d6, AP 10, Flak

Ongoing Crisis: None

Kyo Maru
Modified Mule Class Free Merchant
Initiative: 5
HP: ??/??
AC: ?
Armour: 2
Speed: 3
Weapons:
Plasma Beam, 3d6, AP 10

Ongoing Crisis: Engine Lock

Kyo Maru Appearance

Blackstar Appearance