StarEdge-The COSMOS Project (Official RP)

[Shiagu]

She laughed, "Sounds like a plan!" Aelan watched the green ship and kept it in her sights. As the shady-looking man gave her a large bag of money, she dropped all of the cargo on the dock and, with a salute and a smile, yelled out "enjoy your package!" As quickly as possible, she got the somewhat clumsy delivery ship going again and sped out of the dock, following the green one.
"I haven't been this excited in... I don't know how long!" She addressed ARP, the adrenaline surging in her chest, and giggled a bit nervously.

 

[TimidGent]

Gerumbio sighed. "Fine, but only because I owe you one for that time back in the Carcharan prison ship."



OOC: Might want to fix this type-o

Orbus felt a bit uneasy in a space ****.

 

[Neosquid]

The Squig Cruiser was decending to the ground below. Squig could see a merchant standing by a few rusty metal crates with some other men around him. Five of them contained the beetles that he was here for. Then, out of nowhere, he heard a voice.

"Squig! Don't even bother getting out of that ship, I've gotten word from our man at the docking bay in Inops that he has spotted a man who resembles Darius Lorne. While I would prefer to take care of a mission like this myself...I...Well, it is farther then any hired man would take me for a reasonable price, and I was told you were close to Rutul."

Squig looked around for the source and eventually noticed a crystalline cat-woman watching him from the ground below.

"Gah....its that annoying cat-lady again.....I think it was Seeng or something. She must be here to spoil my fun.....huh? Wait, did she mention Darius!!? Oh man, getting him would earn me some big points with Cykris." thought Squig

"Well, let me just complete some business here, and Ill be there in a jiffy! Master wants some bugs for these experiments hes doing!" yelled Squig back to Seeng

Buying the jellys off the merchant could use up a good amount of time, and stealing them would only get him in trouble with the Jungellians. So instead, he decided to pull of a trick that he had done countless times before.

Squig turned to his men. "Hey losers! Time to pull of a "special exchange" again! You know what to do!"

Just moments later, a bright red tractor beam lifted up the crates the beetles were in and pulled them into the ship. Before the men on the ground could respond, a case containing the money was thrown offboard to them.

"Hey, what the big idea!?" one of the men shouted

"Open the case and find out!" yelled Squig back to him.

The man opened the case with an annoyed look on his face, but this soon turned into astonishment.

"....but...but, this is more than I would have asked for!" yelled the man

"Whatever, its not my money...." mumbled Squig. "You guys! Theres stuff goin on at Inops again! Prepare to take off!" yelled Squig to his crew

"But what about the peppers you wanted?...." asked one of the crew members

"Screw the peppers, you moron. We can come back for those later. Now, what we got here is a huge opportunity to impress Cykris." answered Squig



OOC: Aww, you pointed out that typo before I could.

Also, whats Rutul?

 

[Lennox]

Lillis smiled
"Well, thank you kindly. Can we meet you at the Central City docks?"

• • •
​

Max Allandale was a squat man with a bulbous nose and dark bags under his eyes. He had wispy black hair and a small mole on his chin, as well as a burn scar running from the side of his neck up to his right cheek. He wore a black suit which looked as though it had been expensive at one time, but was very much worn down, and was slightly tight on him. He was sitting in a run down building in Central City reading a newspaper. He took from his pocket a handkerchief which looked as though it had been heavily used, and blew his nose on it. A mechanical voice behind him said

“You have a call from… Cozor Li”

A look of shock and dread came over Allandale’s face. He knew he did not want to answer the call, but even more he did not want to keep the person on the other end waiting. He summed up his courage and stood up to face the cylinder on the side of the room from which the voice was coming. He straightened out his jacket and swallowed heavily, then blew his nose again.

“Accept call” he said quietly

An image of a figure was projected upward from the cylinder. It had dark red reptilian skin and a long, slender body. It had ridges along its back, and six short, thin arms emerging from its torso. It had a large mouth, filled with pointed teeth, and on its face were two huge snakelike eyes. It had no nose, but instead had two slits which flared when it breathed. It was wearing an expensive looking silk cape, and each of its eighteen fingers had a ring of gold or platinum, with a fine jewel embedded in it.

“Allandale” it said in a whispery voice which was somehow simultaneously soothing and terrifying “I trust that everything today went… according to plan?”

“Mr. Li, I— well, I— of course, yes.”

The serpentine figure moved its head closer to Allandale. The terrified man wished that the projection was not so lifelike.

“Do not lie to me, Allandale.”

“Well, you see, Mr. Li— well…" Allandale was beginning to sweat "a couple of thugs knocked off the convoy that was bringing the cash. They took it all.”

Li’s piercing gaze widened slightly, and his slit pupils narrowed against his yellow eyes, making them all the more horrifying.

“Allandale, do you understand the severity of this failure?”

“I— I do, Mr. Li, but—“

“For whom were these men working?”

“Well sir, they— when we captured them they had already given most of the money away. Claimed that they needed it to give to some stranded Imperial Officials who said they would offer them a pardon if they’d help to repair their ship. We— we looked into the officials though. They’re not who they say they are. Their names are, uh… Lillin and… Townes, I think. They’re grifters. Confidence men.”

“Tell me, Allandale. Why are these men of whom you speak not dead?”

“I sent out my best hit squad after them, but they... they escaped.

"With the money?"

"I— yes. With the money. Look, Mr. Li, I’ll just eat the loss. I’m sure I can pull together the money we need. It’ll take some—”

Li’s body seemed to uncoil as he extended toward Allandale. His voice grew louder.

“This is not about the money, Allandale. These two men have made me look like a fool! And has it not occurred to you that perhaps they know to whom the money was to be delivered?”

“Well, sir, I—“

“This is what is going to happen now. You are going to put together the money to pay Lord Hannox as soon as possible and by any means necessary, even it means dissolving the pathetic racketeering scheme you call a criminal empire. I am going to put a price on the heads of the two men who robbed you which is so large that every bounty hunter in the system will be after them. If they are not found, or if Hannox is not payed…”

Li had been receding back away from Allandale as he was speaking, and it almost looked as though his anger was subsiding. Suddenly, he sprang forward to within inches of Allandale’s face, opening his mouth impossibly wide to reveal what looked like hundreds of teeth. His voice became a hideous shriek, and his terrible eyes widened to an unbelievable size.

“…I will kill you!”

Allandale let out a terrified shout and stumbled backward, tripping over a chair and falling to the ground. After a few moments of shaking on the floor, he looked back upwards warily, and saw that Cozor Li was gone.

 

[TimidGent]

Gerumbio noticed the familiar shape of the Silverwing speeding towards the Emerald Moon's docking bay.
"Umm... I'll send out a pod to pick you two up."
I will get on that right away Master Noss.
"I can't come myself, it looks like I have... an old friend dropping by."

 

[Febe]

OOC: Rutul is a planet name made up on the fly. Also I have been given bunnying rights to Aelan on Shabbat. >>''

Seeng trotted aboard the cruiser, and muttered, "I do not believe Cykris would entirely approve of you tossing his money about so carelessly. While I cannot say I agree with your methods of 'speeding things up,' I realize time is not on our side..."

She decided not to wait for Squig to respond with what would no doubt be some sort of petty insult and added, "We will have trouble landing on Inops without being spotted. I believe you will agree with me when I say that your ship does not appear to have been built for stealth. I suggest we leave the 'Squig Cruiser' with your crew at Inops' moon, and take a pod out to the planet."

 

[GigaRidley]

Darius didn't look at Orbus as he spoke, as he was concentrating on getting to the Emerald Moon as quickly as possible.
"Gerumbio Noss is a friend of mine, as well as one of the Resistance's best suppliers of provisions and weapons... In secret, of course. It's quite a stroke of luck he's around Inops at the moment."
Darius made it into the docking bay of the Emerald Moon looking behind him back at the planet, he could have sworn he saw the faint speck of another ship heading his way.
That Queryman's still looking for us...

 

[Neosquid]

Squig was so busy planning about how to take care of Darius that he didnt notice Seeng walk up behind him.

"I do not believe Cykris would entirely approve of you tossing his money about so carelessly. While I cannot say I agree with your methods of 'speeding things up,' I realize time is not on our side..." she said

Squig was startled. He was annoyed with her entering his ship without any permission at all. More so, he was mad at Fallo for not doing his job and letting this threatening-looking woman waltz on up to him (Fallo had never met Seeng). He was about to respond to her little comment when she opened her mouth to speak again.

"We will have trouble landing on Inops without being spotted. I believe you will agree with me when I say that your ship does not appear to have been built for stealth. I suggest we leave the 'Squig Cruiser' with your crew at Inops' moon, and take a pod out to the planet." said Seeng

".....what, you think I didnt already think of that? Im already a light-year ahead of you, lady. " said Squig. Actually, he had forgotten to consider this at all. "Ive got four small ships with cloaking devices that you, me, and two of these guys can use. Theyre slow, but they get the job done. In fact, Im more worried about you not being able to fit in one. He he."

 

[Febe]

The silvery blue ship appeared to be docking and its riders seemed to be boarding yet another craft. ARP jumped up to the the passenger seat, and said, "Let's speed up, Aelan! Can you connect with them? Tell them we've got to deliver some...fruit."

Aelan looked at ARP skeptically, then turned on the intercom on. After switching to an open channel she mustered up a bit of courage and said, "Hello, this is Aelan Pharian! I'm a delivery girl! I'm requesting permission to come aboard your ship!"

ARP switched off the ship's microphone and turned to Aelan, "I'm impressed, lady."

"Well, I just hope they heard us," Aelan responded.

----------------------------------------------------

Seeng narrowed her eyes at Squig and gave him a sarcastic laugh, "Good one." She changed back to the form of a woman as she felt the ship rumbling around her. She found a seat and strapped herself in.

After the ship left the atmosphere of Jungella, Seeng braced herself for the usual increase in speed but didn't find it.

"Squig, although you know I hate to pester you...I need to ask, can this thing go any faster? At this rate, Darius will have left Inops long before we arrive and the trail will be cold. I know you do not have any sort of professional reputation to uphold, but I actually take my job a bit seriously."

Seeng rested her head on her hand and looked around the ship where her gaze was met with games lying around. 'I already regret deciding this was a better idea then a cab...' She thought.

 

[Neosquid]

Squig smirked.

"Well, of course this baby can go faster. Its not the fastest ship in the galaxy, but its still pretty decent." he said "In fact, I find it strange that it hasnt started zooming already."

This embarrassment was obviously the result of his no-good crew. Was he the only one who could do anything right?

"Hey idiots! Stop lounging and get my ship to go faster already!" yelled Squig

"....Um, Squig? Apparently, we cant get the Cruiser to go any faster......" said one of the crew members

"....what the hell are you talking about?" said Squig, about ready to burst into flame with anger

"Well, you see, something is wrong with the thrusters in the back of the ship. We tried to get in to find the problem, but the door is locked shut and we cant find the key." said the crew-member

"My god you guys are stupid. Ill go take care of this problem myself!" snapped Squig


OOC: Id imagine that a smirk with Squigs tube-like mouth would look pretty weird.

 

[Lennox]

It had been Townes’s idea to leave a small cache of supplies in an abandoned building in case they felt it was unsafe to return to the flat they had rented as a base of operations. They now decided to stop by.

The cache was a burlap sack strung up in the building's rafters, and in it were two bundles. Townes's bundle contained a shirt, trousers, suspenders, and underwear, along with a bottle of water and a briefcase containing two hundred and fifty diom in cash. It also had Townes's projectile rifle. The rifle was an outdated weapon, but Townes only ever trusted a gun that shot bullets.

Lillis's bundle had a grey waistcoat and suitpants, along with a new shirt, necktie, and pair of underwear. It also had some water, a basic disguise kit and a bottle of gin.

The men changed out of their sludge-covered clothes, and put the money from their pockets into the briefcase. With the exception of their hats and cufflinks, they left their old clothes behind. Once they were clean, the men got to disguising themselves, still wary of Allandale's men. Townes put on a large false nose with walrus mustache, and a pair of spectacles. Lillis had a reddish brown wig and a matching false beard. When they emerged from the derelict building, they were sufficiently difficult to recognize.

The Central City docks were, for reasons which nobody could adequately explain, built on a swamp. At first the landing pads had simply been large concrete blocks, but these had begun to sink slowly, prompting layer upon layer of bricks to be piled on top of them. The result was a sprawling mess of lopsided and irregular platforms, with a network of wooden boardwalks connecting them. The two men saw nobody who looked to be searching for them until they were within sight of a green pod, large enough to carry six people comfortably. Lillis approached the pod and knocked on the door.

Welcome, Mr. Lillis. Welcome, Mr. Townes.

"Thanks, Emmy" said Townes "Glad you could make it."

Master Gerumbio tells me that you two have gotten yourself into some trouble.

Emmy opened the door, and the two men walked in. Just before the door closed, Lillis saw the man who had shot at them earlier. The man did not seem to recognize Lillis at first, but then Lillis saw his eyes widen. Lillis suddenly realized what had happened, and his hand darted up to cover the bullet hole in his hat.

"It's them!" shouted the man, drawing his rifle. He fired just as Emmy closed the door of the pod. Townes and Lillis saw a dent appear on the inside of the door, but it was not breached.

"Trouble?" said Lillis "What gave you that idea?"

 

[Febe]

OOC: Maybe it just kind of wiggles around or something.

As Squig stormed off after yelling at his crew, Seeng unfastened her seat belt and walked toward one of the irritated men.

"Excuse me, but could one of you gentlemen tell me where I might find those smaller fighter planes Squig mentioned earlier? If one of you would be willing to take me to Inops, I would reward you handsomely."

One of the men stepped forward, and said, "I've got some, uh...pilotin' experi'nce...But th' ships are in th' back where th' Cap'n 's goin'...An' I don' think he'd 'ppreciate us lettin' ya take off with one a his veh'cles, Ma'am."

Seeng increased her height until she loomed over Squig's crew, when she felt they were intimidated she turned back to the man, "Well, if the 'Cap'n' spots us, which he will not, you can explain to him that you had no choice in the matter."

Seeng quickly morphed back into a cat, threw the man onto her back and padded after Squig. She turned to the man and said, "Don't make a sound."

 

[Neosquid]

Squig realized that he needed something to open the locked door. One of his Krobane swords could probably open the lock if he liquidized it and inserted it into the keyhole, so he sent Fallo to get him one from his room.

While waiting for Fallo to return, Squig played a pit of paddleball. He was practically a master at the game; he could easily get the ball to bounce 200 or more times in a row on the paddle.

"Heres your sword, Squig." said Fallo

The sudden appearance of Fallo had startled Squig enough to mess up and miss hitting the ball. Obviously irritated, he threw the entire thing off the ship and into space.

"Thanks a lot, Fallo. Say, since we are on my ship right now, Im completely safe....." said Squig

Fallo didnt move a muscle.

"What Im trying to say is that you should quit stalking me and get the hell outta here. Im not going to get murdered on my own damn ship." snapped Squig

"As you wish, Squig." said Fallo. He was slightly angry about this, but he tried to hide it.

About 2 minutes later, Squig arrived at the engine room. He pressed a button on his sword to turn it into liquid, and he inserted it into the keyhole. Once he was sure that it was completely in, he solidified it again. Sure enough, the door opened as he turned it.

The engine room was pitch black. Squig felt around on the wall for the light-switch, and turned it on.

"Oh ****." he said immediately after turning on the lights.

The next instant he was tackled by a 6-foot tall beast. Squig managed to get away and ran about 12 feet from it, where he could get a good look at what it was. The monster was red and lizard-like with tough rock-like armor covering most of its body. It had two glowing red eyes. It had 6 arms/legs with sharp claws at the end of each. I appeared to be a tetrapod at first, but just then it managed to stand up on its hind legs and turned to face Squig.

Squig quickly thought out a plan just as the lizard lunged at him again. He dodged, and liquidized his sword. When the monster turned around to attack again, Squig whipped the sword at its face. The sticky sword stuck to where its eyes were, blinding it. It shrieked and slashed at the air a few times, and then Squig turned his sword solid again. While the lizard stood in confusion, Squig whacked at its face about 4 times. The monster grabbed him and prepared to bite, but Squig blocked its mouth with his sword. He whacked it again a few times and it dropped Squig and fell over, giving Squig the time he needed to quickly make his sword sharp again. The monster got up and rushed toward Squig, only to get stabbed right through the head with Squigs sword.

"Alright....I think that its finally dead." said Squig, who was still a bit shaken up.

Squig searched the engine room to make sure that it was completely monster-free. The beast that Squig encountered must have snuck in while the ship was grounded on Jungella. How a monster that large had escaped notice from his crew, he had no idea.

Squig found that the beast had damaged the engine, so he left the engine room to alert his crew to the problem so that they could repair it. Fallo came rushing towards him.

"Squig, are you alright!? I heard some commotion going on in the engine room." said Fallo

"Yeah, you really did a great job protecting me back there. I realize that I told you to leave, but you still could have kept an eye on me!" snapped Squig "But really, Im fine. Just a pest-problem. Hey, do me a favor and get the repair team in there right-away."


OOC: Im not really too sure about this one. Was it alright? BTW, the reason that Squig didnt stab the monster right away was because his sword was still in the shape of a key.

 

[Lennox]

“I reckon we can take these off now” said Townes, removing his false nose “You really ought to get that hat mended.”

“I know, I know. We’re going to have to make a stop to buy some new clothes soon, anyway.”

“Fine, but nothing too expensive this time”

“Bullshit. I came near to getting shot for this money; I intend to spend it nicely. Besides, I’m only spending my share.”

“No, we don’t do shares. Remember how we don’t do shares? Every time we split the money into shares, you blow all of yours before I do and I’m stuck bailing you out. This money belongs to the both of us, and I say no Valeine suits.”

“Okay. Okay, fine. Then I say no Gaussanian wine. Oh, and we can just buy Cymbeline-grown cigars from now on, because we both know they’re just as good.”

Townes narrowed his eyes at Lillis, and Lillis raised one eyebrow in response

“Okay, fine you can buy one Valeine suit. But don’t wear it out on jobs.”

“Aheh, I knew you’d come around.”

I do not mean to interrupt, gentlemen, but we are approaching the ship.

A minute later, the pod pulled into the dock, and the door slid open, revealing the loading bay of the Emerald Moon.

Welcome aboard.

 

[The Storm]

Orbus still felt a bit queezy from the space ship ride. He couldn't help it. He missed the familiar stench of his home planet. Here everything was metallic, and structured, and organized and so.... So clean. He nearly spit up at the thought of it.

He looked at Darius, "So where is this Gerumbio friend of yours? And where are we going from here?"