ic IN SPAAAAACE! IC

[Gizmo]

"Manview the sensor stations!" Myshel called to Gossamer and Physicus, pointing out the readouts spooling off reams of information about the combat zone they'd suddenly been dumped into. The Tempesitan continued to explain the situation as she sent the Flarerider into a barrel roll and out the path of the first wave of fighters. "The asteroid is Krak-En's basehome; that is where Iana Th'emme will be heldkept."

Jack was about to comment that Atlas' proposal was insane when a thought occurred to him. "Myshel, do you have pressure suits?"

The blue skinned pilot furrowed her brow, antennae curling in confusion. "Yes, Jackblade, by the hatchlock, but -"

"Perfect!" the swashbuckler interrupted her as he turned to the shapeshifting Russian. "Lassie, you and me, two man boarding party. Ooh, one thing first, though." Snapping his fingers, Jack jogged forward a few paces to the pilot's chair and unceremoniously stooped to kiss her squarely on the mouth. The startled alien managed to keep her wide eyes on the panoramic veiwscreen in front of her, but a jolt of electricity surged between her antennae, traveling down her cheekbones, through their locked lips and down to the fencer's right hand, where an scintillating energy blade took shape.

Stepping back with a boyish grin, Jack bowed with a flourish, his hair sticking up slightly from the electric shock. "Just keep these jokers busy, beautiful, and we'll rescue your princess." With a final wink, he was sprinting off toward the airlocks, in the direction Arrowhawk had just left from.

Myshel renewed her focus on the task at hand, flush with a deep purple. "Earthhumans have excellent pre-battle ritecustoms," she opined to Gossamer.

[Heritage]

"Manview the sensor stations!"

Gossamer nodded sharply and moved to one of the stations, bracing herself with several coils of hair. She was impressed to find the controls readable to her (oh, to have this technology back at ASTRO!) but she still had a great deal of trouble interpreting the information.

"Um...alright, I'll stay over here in case anything changes." :oops:

"Earthhumans have excellent pre-battle ritecustoms," she opined to Gossamer.

The blonde scientist grinned. "Well, we may be primatives, but we do a few things right. Actually, on that note..." She looked over her shoulder at mini-Atlas, arched an eyebrow, and fetched him to her side with a thick golden limb for a warm, friendly kiss. "" Then she released him with a wink and turned back to the incomprehensible monitor station, her brow furrowed with concentration.

[Geez3r]

Atlas stooped down and returned Gossamer's kiss, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her into a gentle hug. Pulling away he said "" Releasing his hold on Gossamer, he lifted her hand and kissed it. "" Glad it was nearly impossible to tell when he was blushing, Atlas took off at a jog down towards the airlock. "Come on Jack, ve got an asteroid base to assault and a princess to save." he called out over his shoulder with a wild smile.

[Gizmo]

As Gossamer familiarized herself with the tactical readout, the first squadron of robotic longboat drones swept forward in tight formation to begin an attack run on the Flarerider. As Myshel banked the larger vessel to stay out of range a moment longer, her voice crackled over the intercomm in the gunnery station Arrowhawk had just arrived in. "Hawkfriend, coverfire would be most timely!"

Just below the upper railgun emplacement, Atlas found Jack of all Blades dropping his greatcoat to the ground and pulling a dark blue pressure suit from a locker next to a hatch. "Like a nine volt battery but surprisingly spicy," he remarked to the big Russian in answer to the unspoken question as he began to pull on the sleek garment. "You?"

[Geez3r]

Atlas paused for a moment "Raspberry lib balm." mutters a bemused Atlas as he shakes his head. "Oh, and ze smell of vhatever shampoo she uses." he adds in an after thought. "Say, do you zink zat after --" Atlas is cut off as the ship veers sharply. "Right, space battle going on outside." Atlas dons a pressure suit hurriedly, unsure if he needed one, but he didn't particularly want to find out the hard way either.

"Ready vhen you are." he announces when he's fully geared up. "And by ze vay, zis has to be ze craziest zing I've ever done."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Now? I was thinking lunch first," sighed Arrowhawk, opening fire on the foremost attack ships. Aim for the rears. Spaceship engines go in the rear, right? Cripple, not destroy.

[Gizmo]

As Arrowhawk pressed down on the illuminated illuminated firing stud, rings about the the four, tightly grouped barrels extending from his spherical emplacement lit up in rapid sequence with searing blue light as the railguns' electromagnets activated. A stream of super-accelerated projectiles flew forth, crossing the expanse of space in an instant to rip apart the rear of the longship fighter leading the nearest squadron. The archer sweapt his cannons across the star field, disabling a half dozen of the enemy ships before the remaining fighters broke formation, giving the Flarerider some breathing room.

As the remaining squadrons of longships continued to close to within firing range of the sleek privateer vessel, insistent lights and sounds raised warnings on the console Gossamer was observing intently. Myshel leaned forward on her controls, rocketing the ship forward before spinning them far to one side, sending the Flarerider into a scything arc. As she did, Arrowhawk caught a better view of the asteroid base, as a massive red ring gradually smouldered to life on its rocky surface, taking on an increasingly blinding light. A moment later, a second ring began to light up, then a third. On the bridge, Gossamer's display began wailing as notices pinged into existence around the asteroid's representation.

[Gizmo]

Bracing himself against the bulkhead as the ship spun, Jack scoffed at his massive, red companion. "Crazy? This is nothing; I once told my sister her cooking was terrible. Now that was crazy." With a toothy grin, the swashbuckler attached his helmet with a snap and a pressurizes hiss. Moving to the airlock, he heaved the heavy door open and stepped inside. "Let's do this thing," his voice crackled from a radio in Atlas' helmet.

[Heritage]

Estelle called over to the Flarerider's exotically beautiful pilot.

"Uh, Myshel? I think the asteroid is responding to our attack; it's lighting up like a Christmas tree. I think this is usually the time when someone calls for evasive action?"

Her eyes frantically darted from display to display, looking for some clue as to how she could best help the crew from her current position.

"What should I do, captain?"

If the situation wasn't so dire, she would have been amused to hear herself say that, but there was little time for jocularity at the moment.

[Gizmo]

"Captain?" Myshel blinked. "Ah, is selfrank, now. Hrm. Wait." The blue skinned alien woman glanced at the sensor data Gossamer was indicating, and her antennae abruptly stood straight up. "Is not festplant, is railcannon!" Keying the shipwide comm with one hand, she wrenched on the controls with the other. "Jackblade, Atlasfriend, now would be the timepoint!"

Bathed in the increasingly bright red light coming from the asteroid base's massive weapon, the remaining longship fighters completed their evasive arcs and streaked toward the Flarerider, spewing red darts of energy at the larger vessel.

[Geez3r]

Atlas walked over to Jack and wrapped his arm around Jack's waist, while securing him with a tether in case they got separated some how. "Hold on. This is gong to be a vild ride." cautioned Atlas as he hit the button for the airlock, while holding on for dear life. The doors opened, Atlas crouched into a 3 point stance, his toes digging into the floor of the ship as he waited for his chance. Finally, Atlas charged out of the airlock, flinging him and Jack far out into empty space. I hope this was a good idea. thought Atlas as soon as he had passed the moment of no return.