The Intrepid: Episode 1 (Pilot) The Walls Have Eyes!

[Marius Merganser]

Marius jumped out of the vent in a glorious display, crashing down into the swarm of bots who were chittering, seemingly chanting excitedly as several of the mechanoids viciously beat Mambi with rocks and dirt in some twisted macabre mechanical ritual!

Whatever torture they were trying to preform, they attempted to shove rocks into his ears, holding him down while they did so with ruthless and sadistic fervor!

Even though he landed on top of them, they paid Marius no heed as their number covered the floor, walls, and ceiling in their entirety like some cult temple.

"Hey! HEY! HEY!" Marius shouted at the bots as he tip-toed over them to get closer to Mambi.

"Stop that!" He grabbed at the bots whacking the cat with rocks and dirt to get them to stop, but they only seemed to make a disapproving noise at him and continued. Failing that, he tried to put himself between @Mambi and the bots to block their assault, but they proceeded to smash dirt against his uniform, getting it rather...dirty.

"OH, COME ON!"

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

The uniforms were definitely quality. And, unless Heep missed the mark, the design wasn't too dissimilar to some fabrics the Ascendancy wore on a coalition vessel. The ascendancy tended to prefer quality a bit more than quantity. What they built, tended to last.

It was thick, durable, it felt like soft cloth on the inside and a rubber fake leather mix on the outside. They could even feel some denser material layered in between, not unlike a military flack vest. Extra pads were visible on the outside on the knees, elbows, and rear, being more rough for better grip but cushioned on the inside. They were airtight, with some connectors in the back and front in case they needed to be reconfigured for other purposes.

"Wow! Where'd you guys come from?" Came a familiar annoying voice, the feline from before popped his head out of the hallway heading towards the bunks. "I thought you two were already over in security... but I bet the sarge forgot about you two, he seems like that kinda person right?"

Now this was a good uniform. Dorian just needed the right space to get into it. The bunks looked like the right spot.

"We were on a call before we could get our stuff. I can confidently say we handled it with swanlike grace."

Heep could probably figure out that was at least somewhat sarcastic just from being at the situation. But beyond that, the thing about Rukbatians is that their swans... were actually quite boorish, not graceful. So the idea of "swanlike grace" was a joke in and of itself in that culture.

 

[The_Happiest_Husky]

Now this was a good uniform. Dorian just needed the right space to get into it. The bunks looked like the right spot.

"We were on a call before we could get our stuff. I can confidently say we handled it with swanlike grace."

Heep could probably figure out that was at least somewhat sarcastic just from being at the situation. But beyond that, the thing about Rukbatians is that their swans... were actually quite boorish, not graceful. So the idea of "swanlike grace" was a joke in and of itself in that culture.

Heep ignores the cat, picking up his things. As he does so, one boot falls off the stack and onto the floor, and he sighs.

 

[Silverthunder]

"Hey! HEY! HEY!" Marius shouted at the bots as he tip-toed over them to get closer to Mambi.

"Stop that!" He grabbed at the bots whacking the cat with rocks and dirt to get them to stop, but they only seemed to make a disapproving noise at him and continued. Failing that, he tried to put himself between @Mambi and the bots to block their assault, but they proceeded to smash dirt against his uniform, getting it rather...dirty.

"OH, COME ON!"

@Mambi

The bots continued their mindless vicious onslaught, breaking dirt clods and smearing the particles of mud against Marius's uniform, tearing it even further with the various rocks and debris. Being blocked by the avian, the bots pulled back and ceased their smashing and bashing, angrily chittering and skittering in frenzy, having been cheated by Marius.

They snipped and snapped with their metal mandibles, trying to bite and threaten Marius while others climbed over each other to get to Mambi behind him. Images of the barren rocky planet and the little bit of survey data accompanying it began to flash more frantically on the screen.

One of the drones carrying the thermos sized biohazard container decided to get in on the action as well, and used the potentially deadly device to smack the duck!

 

[Silverthunder]

Now this was a good uniform. Dorian just needed the right space to get into it. The bunks looked like the right spot.

"We were on a call before we could get our stuff. I can confidently say we handled it with swanlike grace."

Heep could probably figure out that was at least somewhat sarcastic just from being at the situation. But beyond that, the thing about Rukbatians is that their swans... were actually quite boorish, not graceful. So the idea of "swanlike grace" was a joke in and of itself in that culture.

Heep ignores the cat, picking up his things. As he does so, one boot falls off the stack and onto the floor, and he sighs.

"Oh, that's good!" the feline concluded at Dorian's reply, following the two of them back to their bunk rooms where they presumably expected at least a little bit of privacy to change into their uniforms...

The feline absent mindedly picked up Heep's boot, still following Dorian and holding on to it. "Oh yea, they're really comfortable, trust me. Dude, I bet you could do some awesome stuff with this on. Like, I wore something like this when I was in basic and I saw a dummy take a grenade with it! Not a single scratch!"

He didn't seem to consider the explosive pressure of such an encounter... the suits likely wouldn't protect against jelofying of one's insides from the overpressure of an explosive device. Not much outside of hard shell armor did. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to deal with too many explosive components on the trip though...

 

[Silverthunder]

“I’LL BE FINE”

“Sorry I’ve had a stressful day”

Senemen raised a brow at Universe's outburst and subsequent reply.

"Sir, forgive me for being blunt, but I think I must insist..." the Major turned to face Universe completely, squaring up to him like a police officer confronting a suspect. "You don't seem to be in the right frame of mind right now. Better to play it safe than sorry, right?"

 

[Silverthunder]

Trix: "Ok" *walks past the door and keeps on the path leaving the warden behind*

The warden didn't pay her any mind, taking another look at the damage, before mentally logging it in his head and following along. "You sure we shouldn't turn back to get back up with us?"

Stepping out of the room and into the ripped open hatch, they found themselves in an access tunnel. More official than the one the drones had made with their radical restructuring.

"Ma'am? What are you doing here?" came an only slightly familiar voice.

Sergeant First Class Fizzle stood behind them in the hallway, looking at her suspiciously before taking note of the ripped hatch and frame.

"I'm going to hazard a guess and concluded you are not genetically modified to the point of becoming a hulking monstrosity capable of damaging starship hulls?" he commented with an abbreviated salute.

 

[Universe]

Senemen raised a brow at Universe's outburst and subsequent reply.

"Sir, forgive me for being blunt, but I think I must insist..." the Major turned to face Universe completely, squaring up to him like a police officer confronting a suspect. "You don't seem to be in the right frame of mind right now. Better to play it safe than sorry, right?"

“I said I’m fine”

 

[Universe]

*I took a deep breath and regained my composure* “I still haven’t gotten my uniform yet.”

 

[TrixieFox]

The warden didn't pay her any mind, taking another look at the damage, before mentally logging it in his head and following along. "You sure we shouldn't turn back to get back up with us?"

Stepping out of the room and into the ripped open hatch, they found themselves in an access tunnel. More official than the one the drones had made with their radical restructuring.

"Ma'am? What are you doing here?" came an only slightly familiar voice.

Sergeant First Class Fizzle stood behind them in the hallway, looking at her suspiciously before taking note of the ripped hatch and frame.

"I'm going to hazard a guess and concluded you are not genetically modified to the point of becoming a hulking monstrosity capable of damaging starship hulls?" he commented with an abbreviated salute.

Trix: No... but whatever the drones are did this...

 

[Universe]

“Alpha scan the whole ship please and create a 3D blueprint for reference!”

 

[Mambi]

The drones gave pause, ceasing their pulling and tugging as Mambi explained the very simple nature of his inability to preform on command. The bots seemed to take his explanation to heart, understanding completely his explanation, and apparently at least a little sympathetic as they let go of him. Fortunately, they seemed invested in this endeavor, and the drones perked up with solutions to solve any of the feline's potential roadblocks.

The screen began flashing with other windows beside the planet, just quick blips of what looked like encyclopedic information about the location, despite it lacking much in the way of detail. There were even coordinates, and dates, possibly indicating a survey mission. The last one seemed to be about a century and a half ago, and the planet didn't really even have a name.

Reasonably understanding that wouldn't be enough, one of the drone's climbed out a nearby vent with something in its mechanical mandibles. It hurried over to Mambi, carrying a large rock, possibly from one of the biospheres.

They were all cooperating, coordinating like an intelligent swarm to accomplish whatever odd objectives they had in mind! It was exciting to say the least!

The drone with the rock climbed up the wall beside Mambi, then jumped onto Mambi's shoulders, digging its spider legs into his back and chest! It began viciously smacking the rock against the side of Mambi's head- repeatedly against his skull before trying to shove the piece of sediment into his ear! The others chittered more excitedly, as this may have been the final step in accomplishing their ultimate goal... others began to arrive with other pieces of sand, dirt, and rocks, ready to force them into his head so that he could, in fact, feel it inside of his mind...

<the cat batted the bots away from his head as he winced in pain> OW!!! Hey, quit it, stop! Desist!! NOT what I...OW!!! Crap, I smell waffles now...OW!!! Not literally in my head, mentally...imagination...<the realization dawns on him like a light as he gasps in surprise> Crap, you're an AI...you don't have that. Look, I...OW!!!

@Mambi

The bots continued their mindless vicious onslaught, breaking dirt clods and smearing the particles of mud against Marius's uniform, tearing it even further with the various rocks and debris. Being blocked by the avian, the bots pulled back and ceased their smashing and bashing, angrily chittering and skittering in frenzy, having been cheated by Marius.

They snipped and snapped with their metal mandibles, trying to bite and threaten Marius while others climbed over each other to get to Mambi behind him. Images of the barren rocky planet and the little bit of survey data accompanying it began to flash more frantically on the screen.

One of the drones carrying the thermos sized biohazard container decided to get in on the action as well, and used the potentially deadly device to smack the duck!

<the cat sees the duck (@Marius Merganser ) drop and lights up in joy at a familiar friendly face for a change>

MARIUS! You found me! We gotta...look out! <the cat swats at the bots and fights through his headache and dirt in his fur barely. Diving agilely near the duck, he flips onto his front paws like a gymnast and continuing the roll, pushes hard against the ground to kicks the canister away with his rear paws, dropkicking it into the swarm and knocking over a few bots in the process. He quickly recovers and getting to his feet, look around at the swarms of bots and grabs the wing of his companion>

I think they want me to portal those canisters I kicked to some planet or something like that! We were...communication failure and all. <he knocks a small pebble out of his ear as he shakes his head> Still, good timing though, thank you! We gotta find some way out of here, and I can't calm down enough to focus on an exit hole!

<the spiderbots start to clatter menacingly as the cat starts to sweat and shake> Y-you don't happen to have any sort of a plan here by any chance, do you?

 

[The_Happiest_Husky]

"Oh, that's good!" the feline concluded at Dorian's reply, following the two of them back to their bunk rooms where they presumably expected at least a little bit of privacy to change into their uniforms...

The feline absent mindedly picked up Heep's boot, still following Dorian and holding on to it. "Oh yea, they're really comfortable, trust me. Dude, I bet you could do some awesome stuff with this on. Like, I wore something like this when I was in basic and I saw a dummy take a grenade with it! Not a single scratch!"

He didn't seem to consider the explosive pressure of such an encounter... the suits likely wouldn't protect against jelofying of one's insides from the overpressure of an explosive device. Not much outside of hard shell armor did. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to deal with too many explosive components on the trip though...

Reaching his bunkroom, Heep sets his things down and takes the other boot from the cat. He nods in thanks, and goes inside to try the new gear on.

 

[Marius Merganser]

<the cat batted the bots away from his head as he winced in pain> OW!!! Hey, quit it, stop! Desist!! NOT what I...OW!!! Crap, I smell waffles now...OW!!! Not literally in my head, mentally...imagination...<the realization dawns on him like a light as he gasps in surprise> Crap, you're an AI...you don't have that. Look, I...OW!!!



<the cat sees the duck (@Marius Merganser ) drop and lights up in joy at a familiar friendly face for a change>

MARIUS! You found me! We gotta...look out! <the cat swats at the bots and fights through his headache and dirt in his fur barely. Diving agilely near the duck, he flips onto his front paws like a gymnast and continuing the roll, pushes hard against the ground to kicks the canister away with his rear paws, dropkicking it into the swarm and knocking over a few bots in the process. He quickly recovers and getting to his feet, look around at the swarms of bots and grabs the wing of his companion>

I think they want me to portal those canisters I kicked to some planet or something like that! We were...communication failure and all. <he knocks a small pebble out of his ear as he shakes his head> Still, good timing though, thank you! We gotta find some way out of here, and I can't calm down enough to focus on an exit hole!

<the spiderbots start to clatter menacingly as the cat starts to sweat and shake> Y-you don't happen to have any sort of a plan here by any chance, do you?

"I plan on finding the guy controlling these bots and making him pay for a new uniform!" Marius tried pushing away some of bots that were crowding his space, but they were undeterred.

"I'm guessing those aren't canisters of nice, warm soup?" He twisted and pivoted his body in an odd dance to avoid the bots pinching at him but was forced back to the vent where he entered. He ducked low to avoid the reach of a bot's strike, and then picked up the heavy metal grate he had dislodged earlier. He gave it a mighty swing and swatted the closest bot away, sending it into the wall with a loud clank. It sparked and fizzled for a bit before it's eye went dark.

Impressed with his attack, he swung again, smashing another bot flat on the floor. But he had to revert to using the grate as a shield before he could attack again.
"Get behind me? Unless there's another way out, we have to go back in the vents!"

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

"Oh, that's good!" the feline concluded at Dorian's reply, following the two of them back to their bunk rooms where they presumably expected at least a little bit of privacy to change into their uniforms...

The feline absent mindedly picked up Heep's boot, still following Dorian and holding on to it. "Oh yea, they're really comfortable, trust me. Dude, I bet you could do some awesome stuff with this on. Like, I wore something like this when I was in basic and I saw a dummy take a grenade with it! Not a single scratch!"

He didn't seem to consider the explosive pressure of such an encounter... the suits likely wouldn't protect against jelofying of one's insides from the overpressure of an explosive device. Not much outside of hard shell armor did. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to deal with too many explosive components on the trip though...

Dorian nervously thought back to his encounter with the drone expert and what he was told about the contents of those spider bots.

<<Am I seriously going to be the only true civvie on board this ship?>>

As he reached his bunk with his stuff, he decided he had to provide an answer to the feline.

"Hahaha... thing is, if I remember my explosives right, those also have a high-pressure component, not just a cutting one. There's only so many types of protection that can do much about the pressure... I'd better hope I have swift feet if something's gonna blow, right?"

 

[Silverthunder]

<the cat batted the bots away from his head as he winced in pain> OW!!! Hey, quit it, stop! Desist!! NOT what I...OW!!! Crap, I smell waffles now...OW!!! Not literally in my head, mentally...imagination...<the realization dawns on him like a light as he gasps in surprise> Crap, you're an AI...you don't have that. Look, I...OW!!!



<the cat sees the duck (@Marius Merganser ) drop and lights up in joy at a familiar friendly face for a change>

MARIUS! You found me! We gotta...look out! <the cat swats at the bots and fights through his headache and dirt in his fur barely. Diving agilely near the duck, he flips onto his front paws like a gymnast and continuing the roll, pushes hard against the ground to kicks the canister away with his rear paws, dropkicking it into the swarm and knocking over a few bots in the process. He quickly recovers and getting to his feet, look around at the swarms of bots and grabs the wing of his companion>

I think they want me to portal those canisters I kicked to some planet or something like that! We were...communication failure and all. <he knocks a small pebble out of his ear as he shakes his head> Still, good timing though, thank you! We gotta find some way out of here, and I can't calm down enough to focus on an exit hole!

<the spiderbots start to clatter menacingly as the cat starts to sweat and shake> Y-you don't happen to have any sort of a plan here by any chance, do you?

"I plan on finding the guy controlling these bots and making him pay for a new uniform!" Marius tried pushing away some of bots that were crowding his space, but they were undeterred.

"I'm guessing those aren't canisters of nice, warm soup?" He twisted and pivoted his body in an odd dance to avoid the bots pinching at him but was forced back to the vent where he entered. He ducked low to avoid the reach of a bot's strike, and then picked up the heavy metal grate he had dislodged earlier. He gave it a mighty swing and swatted the closest bot away, sending it into the wall with a loud clank. It sparked and fizzled for a bit before it's eye went dark.

Impressed with his attack, he swung again, smashing another bot flat on the floor. But he had to revert to using the grate as a shield before he could attack again.
"Get behind me? Unless there's another way out, we have to go back in the vents!"

Marius's impressive display of martial defense impressed and surprised even the drones! Though, hitting them with the grate revealed them to be quite a bit denser and sturdier than they first looked. And yet, even though he was unable to so much as dent or scratch them with his blows, the impact was able to disable some of them, at least temporarily.

Mambi's impressive acrobatic display was enough to send the container hurdling across the small room, smacking through at least a dozen of the drones.

Suddenly, the assault paused, and the drones spread away from where the container landed, backing up from Mambi and Marius and ceasing the attack. They went eerily silent... turning to stare at the container as it rolled across the floor...

The uncomfortable silence was broken by a light, constant hissing. The biohazard container began spraying a small stream of whatever chemical sloshed within onto the floor! Perhaps reverse drop kicking a safety container with potentially deadly materials inside wasn't a productive plan of action.

A green fleshy tentacle erupted from the metal floor where the container was spraying, snaking towards Mambi and Marius! The tendrils split and divided like an infestation with rapid and unnatural speed, snaking across the floor and up the walls.

The drones panicked and jumped to avoid the rapidly spreading growth. Then... it stopped just as quickly... stopping just as it was about to touch Mambi and Marius. The tendrils began to bubble and bulge like they were about to explode!

And it did... vibrant grasses, mushroom stalks, and small young sprigs burst forth from the vines and roots, spreading much slower across the floor. It seemed to grow and spread around the two of them, completely avoiding their biological forms. The drones were still panicking, running from the growth as it engulfed at least a dozen of the drones that weren't fast enough to escape... they, were not spared.

 

[Silverthunder]

Reaching his bunkroom, Heep sets his things down and takes the other boot from the cat. He nods in thanks, and goes inside to try the new gear on.

Dorian nervously thought back to his encounter with the drone expert and what he was told about the contents of those spider bots.

<<Am I seriously going to be the only true civvie on board this ship?>>

As he reached his bunk with his stuff, he decided he had to provide an answer to the feline.

"Hahaha... thing is, if I remember my explosives right, those also have a high-pressure component, not just a cutting one. There's only so many types of protection that can do much about the pressure... I'd better hope I have swift feet if something's gonna blow, right?"

The uniforms were quite loose, but that might have been intentional by design. Or maybe they just hadn't gotten the correct measurements for Heep... the ascendancy had a bad habit of standardization, always ordering equipment slightly bigger than its coalition partners might have needed.

"Oh yea... that makes sense," the feline nodded as he followed Dorian to his bunk down the hall from Heep. "Well, least we won't have to worry about explosions and stuff!"

As he chuckled at the thought of such horrible danger, the feline's EVA began to ding, causing him to jump, tail poofing as a result.

"Yes sir! Err- I mean- sergeant!" the cat pulled the device to his ear, fumbling with it even though it were attached to his arm... "Y- yes sergeant! No sergeant- wh- emergency!?"

There was a short pause and the feline cleared his throat, forcing himself to regain his composure. "I mean- understood. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound panick- no! I mean, I'm sorry, not you're sorry- I mean- yes, they're back I'm not alone. I'll tell them!"

 

[Universe]

“I’ll be fine I’ll be fine *I said while Alpha was scanning the ship for security reasons*

 

[Silverthunder]

Trix: No... but whatever the drones are did this...

"Hmm... Indeed..." he replied quietly, perhaps not agreeing or disagreeing with her comment. "Very well! Shall we then? I look forward to anylizing your strengths and weaknesses ma'am."

"Corporal!" the slug rabbit shouted at the squirrel, who nearly fell over at the suddenness and sheer commanding sharpness of the sergeant, "take point!"

"Ah, well, I don't really have a weapon, and you're not-"

"I didn't ask!" he replied, raising a fist to the taller security officer, who rushed forward to lead the way so as not to raise the little commando's ire even further.

 

[Silverthunder]

“I’ll be fine I’ll be fine *I said while Alpha was scanning the ship for security reasons*

The scan was incomplete. The design of the ship made it nearly impossible for outside or third party devices to scan its interior. This was of course, by design, for the sake of safety and security. It as a feature pioneered by the Ascendancy, who had a habit of building the absolute best ship super-structures and frames in the galaxy. Them, combined with Galactic Defense Initiative information warfare tech, and the Consortium's counter sensor equipment, the ship was virtually impossible to read from the outside, or even from the inside, as the case may be.

Fortunately, Universe didn't need an outside scan, the internal ship scan from the lockdown displayed on the readout display in the middle of the room for him to examine in totality. Well... when he wasn't being scrutinized that is...

Senemen pat Universe's arm, and gestured for the exit. "Don't fret sir, your uniforms have been delivered to your quarters. Let's head there, you can change out, and we can get to the infirmary from there."

He made a gesture to one of the security officers manning the coms desk, who nodded and turned back to dispatch...

 

[The_Happiest_Husky]

The uniforms were quite loose, but that might have been intentional by design. Or maybe they just hadn't gotten the correct measurements for Heep... the ascendancy had a bad habit of standardization, always ordering equipment slightly bigger than its coalition partners might have needed.

Very comfortable, and protective. While it might not be a perfect fit, it is much higher quality. Heep's instructor was definitely correct when he said that the tech level he's experience on this assignment was higher than that of the Confederacy. And, anyways, it's not like his previous jumpsuit was a better fit, as that was just a standard mass-produced size.
He preps the rest of his gear, then sits down on his bed, looking around at his bunkroom. Nice, simple. A little lonely, though, as he's used to communal bunkrooms, but on a ship mostly populated with unfamiliar species, it's better this way. Hmm, maybe he could requisition some plants to put in here, if he doesn't end up being too busy to take care of them.

 

[TrixieFox]

"Hmm... Indeed..." he replied quietly, perhaps not agreeing or disagreeing with her comment. "Very well! Shall we then? I look forward to anylizing your strengths and weaknesses ma'am."

"Corporal!" the slug rabbit shouted at the squirrel, who nearly fell over at the suddenness and sheer commanding sharpness of the sergeant, "take point!"

"Ah, well, I don't really have a weapon, and you're not-"

"I didn't ask!" he replied, raising a fist to the taller security officer, who rushed forward to lead the way so as not to raise the little commando's ire even further.

Trix: where do you need me? and would you per chance happen to have a gun?

 

[Universe]

The scan was incomplete. The design of the ship made it nearly impossible for outside or third party devices to scan its interior. This was of course, by design, for the sake of safety and security. It as a feature pioneered by the Ascendancy, who had a habit of building the absolute best ship super-structures and frames in the galaxy. Them, combined with Galactic Defense Initiative information warfare tech, and the Consortium's counter sensor equipment, the ship was virtually impossible to read from the outside, or even from the inside, as the case may be.

Fortunately, Universe didn't need an outside scan, the internal ship scan from the lockdown displayed on the readout display in the middle of the room for him to examine in totality. Well... when he wasn't being scrutinized that is...

Senemen pat Universe's arm, and gestured for the exit. "Don't fret sir, your uniforms have been delivered to your quarters. Let's head there, you can change out, and we can get to the infirmary from there."

He made a gesture to one of the security officers manning the coms desk, who nodded and turned back to dispatch...

“Fine you better not back stab me” *I said just walking out of the room*

 

[Universe]

“What is this guy’s problem has he never heard of a little thing called empathy?”

 

[Universe]

*I made it to my room and flopped down on the bed*