Spaceship Spaceship Spaceship

[freearcadia]

Who: Harlock, Donatello, Terra, Kaitlyn, Atom, Kanna,
What: Let's steal a pirate ship back!
Where: A military installation in Davkor
When: Shortly after Asphodel preparations are complete.



Harlock had his suspicions where his dear Arcadia was taken, but among all the military bunkers, factories and storehouses, finding the right installation was trickier - as while he was there briefly, he was knocked out before being taken to the Larnedt labor camp where he was rescued. as he did not want to waste time searching deep in enemy territory, but a combination of intel from the deep-cover Corsairs, and a happenstance of a soldier in Vindess having been transferred out from Davkor, drunkenly bragging about the "Weird shit" she was guarding.

Once he got what he needed, he had sent out a missive, either to those he knew personally and could trust, or those he had heard would be suitable for a mission of this type.

Comments

[freearcadia]

The workers seemed to be more distracted by getting their work done and not drawing the attention of the guards - though they stopped as as another alert blast over the soldier's comms.

"Update request: What is the status of Hangar 23?"

"All clear, no signs of the intruder."

"Stay alert. the Commander is keen on catching him."

"What? So he can get his-"

"I'd advise you not to finish that sentence. And search the non-coms to make sure he isn't in disguise. Over."

"Over."

The one with the radio sighed, as he gestures. "Hats and goggles off all of you, let's get a look, and for fuck's sake, wipe your faces." He calls out to the workers, who mumbled and looked at each other in puzzlement, while an irritated halfling with an empty barrel nearly as large as he was ignoring the command so he can put it down.

"Hey! I said hats off, drop the barrel!"

[upupatomway]

Sounds like it's a good thing they didn't try disguising themselves as workers. As for Donnie's ability to see... "Better try drilling while they're distracted yelling and checking the workers," Atom urges. "Otherwise, I could try to lead you by tapping the outside of the barrel."

Atom cringes at how many ways that backup idea could go wrong. Hopefully Donnie could get a small hole- even just a little horizontal sight would help. Atom could lead the way, but it would be best if Donnie knew by looking when he stopped or turned.

[purplexing]

That makes Donnie feel especially vindicated for his earlier paranoia. Suddenly being enclosed in a tight space, unseen, feels a lot more reassuring.

"Got it," he says. It really doesn't take him long to conjure up a drill, and it makes short work in carving out a hole roughly an inch and a half in diameter, silent and fast.

"All good. I'll be limited by direction though, but at least I won't be doing the moving." They just have to make sure they're next in line for getting picked up once the inspections are over with.

[upupatomway]

Atom sighs in relief when Donnie finishes drilling. He still has his worries, but he decides against speaking them aloud. Will they be carried to the correct area? What if they're separated? Will someone notice that they're in a sack or barrel that ought to be empty? What if someone turns Donnie upside down or shakes him?

Atom curls up in the sack and tries to reassure himself, remembering that he could easily give someone an electric shock right through the fabric if worse came to worse. In fact, getting shocked by a sack would probably buy them a little emergency time simply because it would be confusing to anyone unaware of what's inside.

[purplexing]

Atom's hardly the only one running through potential scenarios. Donnie can't help for his overthink to kick in, trying to anticipate what to do under any given circumstances. He braces himself as best he can within the confines of the barrel, pulling the sacks over him to make sure they won't fall loose. He's all the more thankful that he has two layers on over his shell, even if it's just cloth and leather because he imagines squishing it against the barrel would be uncomfortable.

Come onnnn, how long does it take to check faces? he groans internally, listening for progress with the guards and the workers.

[freearcadia]

"Oh come on, the man we're looking for human, it's not this guy." One of the guards rolled his eyes.

"Could be a shapeshifter, you never know with those Corsairs." The one yelling shouted back.

There was a sound of metal being hit, then laughter cut off with a punch. "Idiot, commander tested to make sure he didn't have magic when working him over. And you, you're lucky he's an idiot, or you'd get worse for mouthing off like that. The rest of you get back to work."

With a grumble, the halfling - now sporting a big red mark on his face started to approach the stack with the others, grabbing a few sacks, as a bullkin grunts and hefted up both sack and barrel the two are in.

"Should we... search the barrels?" The disciplined guard started, and Donnie could see through the peephole of him immediately cringing.

"Are you really that bored? or stupid?"

[upupatomway]

Atom stays perfectly still. Not hard to do as a robot. The guard wasn't suggesting a search of the sacks, though that was probably because it wasn't most people's idea of a hiding place. But the barrels...

Atom watches the heat signatures of the guards through the sack, as if it might help him guess what they're thinking. All he can really do is hope the disciplined guard doesn't think it's worth checking anyway. And if they discover Donnie, hopefully they can time a surprise attack just right and try to make a break for it. They were already in the base. Technically, he could move them both fast towards the target ship door if he grabbed Donnie and flew them the rest of the way.

[purplexing]

Freezing in place once he hears someone approaching, Donnie holds his breath as he braces himself. The barrel lurches uncomfortably, panic locking him in as he hears the suggestion made. He takes the most cautious peek before easing his head to the side of the hole in case anyone did think to at least look that way.

Leave it to someone to be lazy. There always seems to be someone in the ranks always willing to do the bare minimum, and that's helped them out so many times before. Donnie hopes they never learn, but he knows not to take chances either, his brain already running through scenarios and potential responses if he is detected.

[freearcadia]

If asked upon later, Harlock could go on for hours about the uselessness of guards.

"Hey!" The third guard shouted - not at the other two, or at the bullkin, but someone beyond their view. "No smoking here! this liquid fuel we're siphoning out is flammable!"

"The subject's pretty tall, if I remember - all legs. I don't think he can even fit..." The lazy guard continued, as the diligent one hems and haws skeptically at the logic. The hauler just went on ahead, not wanting to hold a rather heavy barrel while waiting for the two to decide, setting the barrel down rather roughly.

"He could be flexible - fine, we'll just search the barrels after they haul it in, no need to make them wait." The diligent soldier's voice sighed.

They're in, now be quick.

[upupatomway]

It would seem the Imperials are convinced Harlock hasn't gained many allies, if any. Sounds like his distraction was working great. Atom feels somewhat reassured when they get moved but far better when they're set down closer to the ship.

He watches for the heat signatures of the workers to walk away before speaking to Donnie. "Ready, Donnie?"

[purplexing]

Oh his poor back. Donnie grimaces, but he takes it as a good sign that he's been set down, so he listens for the retreating footsteps. He leans towards the hole to see if there's anything he can see from there.

"Ready. But I can't tell if anyone's within eyesight." But he can't stick around too long or they'll come back and have a look. "...I'm going to chance a look." Carefully he starts to tug down the sacks that are over him so he can peer over the edge of the barrel to see where they are, and more importantly, if anyone else is around.

He won't waste another second if he sees it clear enough, and will use the barrel as cover once he's slipped out so he can help Atom out before they make their next move.

...unless someone's around, in which he'll have to just tuck back in like a gopher.

[freearcadia]

The Bullkin was already walking out, there was a dwarf close by with his head down, writing. There's a strong, almost sugary scent in the air, with an undertone of pine tar and kerosene.

The Arcadia towers above all, the main turrets were lowered almost level, and the wings stretched above their heads. The filigree on the upper deck looked faded, with dents and burns that hinted heavily at having been in several battles.

There was a gap in the blue under one of the bones... suggesting it had been forced open. Getting is no hassle, now it's not drawing the attention of the dwarf doing some kind of inventory, or having the mechanics walk in is the trick.

[upupatomway]

Thankfully, Atom had thought to cushion the bottle he was carrying in his backpack to offer to the Heart of the Arcadia. He quietly rolls over and pulls his legs up under him, and opens the top of the sack to look out head-first. He takes Donnie's help, quickly kicking off the sack and crouching behind the barrel with him. Now for the entry.

The ship is well insulated, being built for space travel, so heat vision is not as helpful for checking forced open area, but he can still turn up his hearing. Atom turns his head and cups a hand by his ear to better aim his sensors.

"Sounds like there's just one on board, near the gap they created. They're counting something... Doing inventory maybe?" Atom explains. "I'm sure we can knock them out and push them through the gap, but what do you think- should we enter there or try one of the regular entrances and circle around to get rid of them?"

[purplexing]

"We need to get up there without being seen first," Donnie says, but he seems distracted as he sniffs the air. It's a really strong scent and while he's not quite sure about the sweetness, he knows the other notes well enough. Wait, was that what that other person was talking about?

A slow grin pulls across the turtlekin's face.

It does take some effort to look away from the ship, because it is magnificently alien from anything he's ever seen before. He reminds himself they'll have time enough to look it over, they just need to get it out of here. His eyes roam the rest of the area. There needs to be an ideal place to start a fire, and it has to be something that draws people away from where they need to go. Maybe by the entrance? If that guard was getting on someone's case for smoking then it wouldn't be as suspicious.

"Atom, be ready to move for the ship. We'll go through the gap since it's already open- no reason to giving these guys another way in." He holds out his hand, keeping it low to hide the glow of his magic as he conjures up a flare gun. "If this works it will probably get hot in here really fast," he cautions, taking a quick look to make sure those around in the hangar are still preoccupied before he shoots the thing off, a bright magenta streak but there's nothing to be helped for the flashiness of his magic. At least it doesn't have far to travel.

[freearcadia]

Fire.

Harlock would completely approve of the plan. As Donnie surmised, there was something that could start a fire - a few barrels that seem empty - but likely have residue, but also rags and discarded uniforms with suspicious dark stains. As Magenta spark hits the uniforms, the fabric smolders before it quickly burst into flames, smelling of burning pine, kerosene and wool, the uniform serving as an accerlant, allowing sparks to travel to a discarded fuel barrel.

"Hey - what's that light?"

"Lemme see... it's just some flames..." The guard started to turn around before pivoting, eyes widening as he finally registered what he just said. "Flames?! Fire! Fire! Fire in the Hangar!"

"Calm down! You, get something to cover it and you go alert the Commander. Put down the water you idiot! It's just going to make it worse!" The weary one shouted. While they seem to be on the ball, it would still cost precious time, time the pair can use to their advantage. "I said put that bucket down!"

[upupatomway]

Now that's quite the spectacle! And the workers seem to be too busy putting out the fire to reason how it started too. Hopefully the one taking inventory realizes there's a commotion to check out. If he takes too long to move though, the fire will do plenty to distract from anyone finding the guy collapsed off to the side.

"Clever," Atom whispers to Donnie with a nod. He makes note of the temperature in the area. He'll be fine if it heats up, but Donnie will need to move along, and running right into the inventory checker is preferable to waiting until one of them overheats.

[purplexing]

Donnie can't help for a small pump of his fist once things start to light up. He looks back at Atom with a nod before he turns his head towards the ship, trying to see where that dwarf is. With luck they've abandoned the task at hand to see what all to do about the fire, but otherwise, the Turtlekin's not above taking them out.

"Let's go," he says, making his move. They can't wait too long if the fire does get out of hand, even if it might be harder for anyone to get to them even if they do get spotted on the other side of things.

[freearcadia]

The Dwarf was nowhere in sight - but there is an open rear door that they might have sworn was closed a few minutes ago. It seems the dwarf decided discretion was the better part of valor - when it comes to fuel fire and the general competency on display.

So far, so good.

In the distance, there's a screech, as a native - Donnie may recognize it as a hippogriff, a flying mount some Imperial officers love to use due to their mix of trainability and ferocity - but it doesn't sound like it's coming towards the hangar.

[upupatomway]

Atom gives Donnie another nod and proceeds towards the conveniently open rear door. He doesn't recognize the hippogriff cry but it doesn't sound anywhere close so he pays it no mind for the time.

If the dwarf is still inside, he's in for a quick strike; Atom generates a small spark between fingers while he's right outside the rear entrance before turning to poke his head around and see who or what's inside, at the risk of showing himself. If he sees the dwarf standing there, he'll toss his electric spell at him as quickly as he can.

[purplexing]

The absence of the dwarf does make Donnie pause, the sound he catches stalling him once again, but only for a moment as he makes his way.

Standing right beside the ship is certainly eyeopening. He knows now's hardly the time to appreciate the fascinating structure, but he can't help but try to take in at least some of it. Anyway, they need to get up to that opening, at least one that Harlock had outlined in his list of possible entrances.

Donnie pulls his staff out, expanding it to full length with a flick of his wrist. He twists one end to loosen something before he props the staff the way one would a rifle, taking aim. With a tap of a button, he fires his grapple up to the opening, giving it a tug once it clatters inside.

"...sure hope no one's in there," he mutters as he hangs onto his staff to wind himself on up- wait, where's Atom?

[freearcadia]

The Dwarf was just outside the rear exit, sniffing his clothes for the tell-tale signs of fuel, before deciding maybe it was easier to just pull off the overalls. As he takes it off, he turned around, in time to see what looked like a kid and a sudden flash of electricity.

The sound of a deep, gruff yelp was enough to give the turtlekin a hint of where Atom might have gone off to. Nonetheless, the grapple clatters, and took hold once tugged. The fire started to race towards the other barrels as more and more soldiers started to gather outside the Hangar - no doubt the ones who were actually drilled in how to suppress a fire.

Though one wonders how well they'll deal with explosions.

[upupatomway]

Atom winces a little when the dwarf falls over and hurries to the unconscious worker's side. He considers taking the dwarf out of the ship, but with the fire spreading still, there's no saying someone lying around on the ground would be safe. He spots the discarded overalls and gets an idea, repositioning the dwarf so he can use the clothes to tie his arms behind his back with one end and tangle his legs a bit with the other, aiming to essentially hog tie the guy. "Sorry," he says softly, several times as he does it. They can drop him off somewhere later, unless this worker happens to want to ditch his job and the empire forever. And if he gets loose... Well, the goal is to get this ship's security and several Corsairs onboard soon. He'll be very much outnumbered.

[purplexing]

"Atom, what are you doing??" Donnie hisses from the doorway. It hadn't been too hard to figure out where he'd gone, but hauling around a hostage isn't exactly what he'd been expecting. But he's not exactly of the same mind as Renne when it comes to burning everyone up without a fighting chance, so he doesn't argue the point.

"Come on, we gotta get up there!" he says, expecting Atom to follow as he hurries back for the side of the ship. He flinches as he grabs the end of his staff that's been dangling, tapping at the titanium rod in testing before he grasps it again. Warm but not super-heated like when he'd fought Terra, but if they wait any longer- well, it'd be better not to wait in general. But he'll do so long enough until he's sure Atom's with him so they can head up into that opening on the ship's upper hull.

[freearcadia]

Thankfully it seems everyone in the front of the hangar is busy with fire suppression and evacuating, so it is a clear shot to the opening in the upper hull. The dwarf was for now, a dazed dead weight.

It isn't too much of an issue getting in once they reached the opening, the interior of the ship of was all metal, sleek, and wide. And right now it was dim, with the artificial lights shut off. Atom would recognize the floor has conveyor belts against the walls.

Now it's time to make their way to the heart of the Arcadia, and hope that no one is patrolling the place.

NOW WITH BRAIN SWITCHED ON

[upupatomway]

The inside of the ship isn't very foreign looking to Atom. Noting the conveyor belts, he figures they're likely there to move cargo in and out easier.

He turns the lights on in his eyes to serve like flashlights on the way in, though if the rest of the ship is like this hall, there isn't much to trip on in the low light as long as the conveyor belts stay still.

Atom turns in the direction of the Heart, based on the maps Harlock had shown them. "I'll keep an ear out, but either it's just us and Mr. Toshiro on board, or the Imperials are wandering in the shadows like us. The good news is, they must not have found out how to turn the lights on yet."