FTL: Harmony Edition IC

Drakes aren't always the most reliable of allies, not with their fierce sense of independence - but hell if they aren't effective at whatever they put their minds to. Borealis gives Degree a quick salute, stating, "Borealis of the Adjutant Corps, PMC. So far, shaping up to be the brawn and the military specialist of this little evacuation group. As long as you stay on the good side of the law, I'm happy to have you as our pilot."

"Well. In that case, I'll have to apologize for trying to break into that there ship." Degree shrugs. "Desperate times, yadda yadda."

He beckons towards the ship. "But lets not dwell on these things - shall we? We'll hit whatever pit stops you want, and then we're off this forsaken world, yeah?"

Seva Borealis Emblem Degree
Clean Cut stops, looking at Degree incredulously. "Wait - you tried to steal a hospital ship?!"

---

Belgond Copperette
"Uh... sir yes sir?" Snow salutes jokingly before pointing at a blue pegasus. "Crash, go take a look- and, uh, don't run into the big boss if you can help it."

The pegasus takes off, does a lazy circle above the party, and seems to stop for a moment before diving back down, looking fairly excited. "There's... uh, some kind of hospital ship docked at the port? Might be good for us - maybe they need a few extra hooves on deck." He looks at Belgond, and blinks as though realizing something. "And uh, probably need mechanics and technicians and engineers or something..."

Copperette's ears perked at the word "hospital", and she glanced back at the burns on her hide. "... Can we, please?" she moaned, her voice strained from the pain.

The discovery of a Medical ship of all things actually brought a smile to Belgond's face. That was better news then he could have hoped for! Not only were they pretty banged up and could use the attention of medical personal but they tended to have a lot of equipment that needed to be in working condition or ponies would start to die. They could always use a mechanic or two...

Turning to look at Golden Gear, Belgond smiled warmly as he bowed his head to her out of respect. "Maybe you could take the lead on this one? They most likely know who you are, what with your work in prosthetic limbs..." There was no harm in letting the beautiful, amazingly talented mare take the lead on this after all...

Borealis, still carrying his multiple bundles of children, cannot make too much of a fuss of things. Nor does he wish to, really - the drake may have just admitted to criminal activity, but can anyone blame him for that in this time of duress? Borealis may well have done the same to save himself or civilians, and at least he's forthcoming about it - if a little blasé. "That's understandable - I'm sure any of us might have done what you attempted, to save our own skins."

Sensing the rising tension due to emotional influence - which he was not excluded from being partial to - Emblem decided to be the calm voice of reason to introduce clarity of situation to both sides. Clean Cut didn't seem to realize how real was the danger that was stalking them. Time was of essence. He spoke in a loud, clear voice, for Degree to hear him as well.

"No evacuation crew here will prioritize a drake over ponies. I suppose this one's attempted theft, knowing about it. We have time for neither moral struggle nor non-lethal combat. It's either take him or leave him to die. Whatever you decide for, do it quick."

Attempting to steal a hospital ship – it did not sit well with Seva either. While diversity was good, generally speaking, they followed the rule of law, after all it was part of what separated them from selfish changeling nature in their eyes. However...

""Doctor Clean Cut, while this would normally be a prosecutable offense, we believe that the current attack as well the hospital..."" Seva halted, not only from needing to find the right wording, but also because of a curious error. For some reason Seva's damage detection systems were active in their chest region despite a lack of visible damage. They ran another low-level diagnostic on themselves as they continued to speak, ""... being non-active at this time, would make for a compelling defense in taking the ship.""

""At this current time, we require a most qualified pilot to take us off planet. This Degree appears certain of his capabilities. If we see he is embellishing, we can eject him from the pilot position,"" Seva stated, staring back over at the dragon.

"Sometimes you need eyes on the other side of the law." Degree shrugs, but turns to walk towards the ship. "The pirates, slavers, gangs and syndicates sure aren't gonna play nice."

"And, I don't embellish," Degree smiles toothily, inclining his head so the party can see his fanged grin, "I'm just that good."

Seva Borealis Emblem Degree
Clean Cut stares at the drake, speechless for a moment, before actually cracking a smile, albeit one seeming to stem from stress and incredulousness. "Damn it, damn it, damn it... burning city kicked up all kinds of folk. Look, Mr. Degree, if it's between gambling that Seva can fly this thing, and actually having a professional - if slightly shady, no offense - pilot on board... I would appreciate your help. Alright, now let's move... time's a wasting."

He walks up in front of Degree, up to the ship, and flips open a panel, inserting a quick password. The door bleeps a few moments later, and with another password, the port door swings open, and he takes a deep breath. "Okay... I don't really know how this works, so, uh... Mr. Professional Pilot, what are the pre-flight checks?"

---

Belgond Copperette
Golden Gears nods. "I know the head doctor at the hospital. If I can get in contact with him - and if he's the one in charge of the ship - he'll probably let us in. But we'll need to get to the ship, pronto - or, if we have a long distance communicator of some kind, we might be able to patch it to his implants and contact him for help. Either way - it'll help to get closer to the port. Let's go."

She leads the group out of the side street into the main road, where the crowd spilling out of the main port building. Milling about away from the main crowd looks to be a group of injured and sickly looking ponies. "Well. There goes getting into the port."

"I don't suppose you have a commlink or something?" Golden Gears looks expectantly at Belgond.

Following after Golden only to find themselves cut off because of the sheer mass of ponies that were trying to get into the docks, Belgond frowned a little at their options before Golden's suggestion brought something to mind. "I can send a message to him if need be; I just need to know who he is and what you want me to tell him. Can only send a message that's one hundred words or less through."

Looking towards Crash, Belgond requested "In the meantime, would you mind flying to that ship and telling them about us? Mention the name Golden Gears... Just try and stall them from taking off without us. We are counting on you Crash." Thinking at a mile a second, Belgond turned towards Night Snow "Is anyone else flight ready? We could use having someone looking for a path there for the rest of us if they can't pick us up."

Degree takes an appraising look around the ship, doing a brief scan before running the whole plan through his head. Once that's figured out, Degree quickly takes charge, pointing at each of the vital areas of the ship.

"Right - check the core systems, someone run the piloting software through, make sure it works. I'll drop into the engine and check the hyperdrive is up, and if anyone starts suffocating, try mess with the life support system until it works. Anyone here good at spotting things? Go down to the exhaust and fuel tank and see if there's anything out of the ordinary - empty tank, leaky pipes, the sort. You, ACHE, you're on standby in case we have a break - I don't have the right tools to do a real fix job right now. Uh... Clean Cut, right? You kickstart the medbay, don't want the little tykes getting hurt now. And you, minotaur, mind taking inventory on the living arrangements and supplies? We'll meet here in five - scratch that, three minutes, ready for takeoff."

"Any questions?" Degree looks at the now-crew of the Onset Dawn.

Mechanics check for start up routine: 15+12+5=32.

Borealis raises an eyebrow at the drake. He certainly didn't expect such a flurry of... Enthusiasm? Responsibility? from Degree - the persona he gave off didn't really indicate a leadership position but perhaps he'd misjudged. Nodding at the drake, Borealis goes off to investigate what would no doubt be essential in hosting a large number of scared refugees for the foreseeable future - the living quarters and the emergency supplies the ship had.

Belgond Copperette
The pegasi salute, and all of them except for Night Snow takes off into the sky, a pair of them going towards the port and the rest of them scouting out the area.

"I think they like you, boss." Night Snow chuckles, "Guess you made an impression."

Waiting for this to finish, Golden Gear looks at Belgond. "His name is Clean Cut, he's a unicorn about this tall - he's been the local doctor since before I was here. That's saying a lot, for colonial medics. Tell him Golden Gears needs to cash in that favor. Uh, that we've got... five, six, seven... ten ponies who need safe passage - we need the key to the hospital ship. Or, if he's already got the ship, tell him to save our spot. If you need a specific signal I can help you link to his implants."

"Implants?" Copperette asked, curiosity rising in spite of the panic rising around them.

Belgond offered Night Snow a small smile before glancing towards Copperette. Giving Golden a look, he silently asked her to field this question while he got to work sending the message along.

Closing his eye for a moment, Belgond brought up a hud screen on his cybernetic eye and began the process of typing down what he wanted to say. The message quickly too shape, reading as:

=: Golden Gears is calling in that favor. We have ten ponies who need safe passage. We need the key to the hospital ship or if you are already there please save us a spot. Currently sending two of our party to speak with those already at the ship in case you are not there. Can you pick us up or should we continue plans to proceed on hoof? Please send a reply to Golden Gears or Belgond (Sender of this message and traveling with Golden).:=

With his message typed out, Belgond looked towards Golden as he asked "If you don't mind, linking with his implants help make sure he gets it." The moment a proper link was established, the message would be off. Only the grace of the machine spirit would see if it makes it in time.

Actions:

Belgond Copperette
Golden Gears nods a few moments after the message was sent. "Should be sent to him, but only luck will tell if we get the right pony..."

"Oh, and Copperette - in this era having mechanical or bio-mechanical implants isn't uncommon. Most races (excepting maybe dragons due to their biology) can integrate technology into their person that allow them to perform a wide range of things, from increasing mental acuity to enhancing physical attributes. I have implants on my back that allow me to manipulate my limbs, and I'm sure Belgond could write a book on how he's upgraded his body. Clean Cut, like most doctors, have simple communication implants that let them respond quickly to emergencies and coordinate efforts."

---

Seva Borealis Emblem Degree
The system check shows that on the whole, the ship is functional - save one part, the hyperdrive engine, which enables FTL travel. The hyperdrive is damaged in several places, and without it, making it offworld with the giant ship in the way is virtually impossible. Furthermore, the ship is practically running on fumes - even if the hyperdrive were to be fixed, it would only allow a single jump before going dry. Supplies in the ship should sustain up to 20 individuals for a week until it runs out, and living arrangements allow maximum 30 individuals, though not comfortably.

As the group meets back at the 'bridge', Clean Cut clears his throat for an announcement. "An old friend of mine called in a favor - asked me to get her and nine other individuals on board. At the very least I know she's a master engineer and will be of great use on here, especially with the broken hyperdrive. She might be able to fix it and get us offworld."

Copperette bit her lip in thought a moment, and nodded her head in understanding. A stream of questions went through her mind - but was quickly squashed as something went bang off down the street. "Okay! Please let's go!" she pleaded, trotting in place and wanting to leave quite badly.

Degree shrugs, and says, "I'm just the driver - tell me what to do once you're done. But - that sounds good to me."

He stalks towards the controls, messing with the piloting mechanisms to familiarize himself with them, though keeping a keen ear on the ongoing conversation.

"Tech specialists are always appreciated - doubly so in our situation. If you trust her, then I have no qualms with this." Borealis nods.

""We will commence preliminary maintenance until a more qualified technician is located,"" Seva stated before proceeding to the engine room to make themselves useful and try to help keep the ship running a little better until someone more qualified was on board.

---

Mechanics Roll [Seva attempts to make sure not as much has to be done for whomever they are bringing aboard]: 1D20+10 => 17

Keeping an eye out for flock of pegasi that he seemed to have become the new leader of to make sure that they stay out of trouble (Don't want any of his new friends to get harmed after all), Belgond chuckled a little at Golden's suggestion about him being able to write a book about the various implants and upgrades that he had throughout his body. "I already have an early draft typed up. I created a lot of the stuff I've installed in myself after all, so I kind of needed to write it all down." Glancing towards Copperette, he grinned a little as he said "In fact Copperette, you already have an implant of your own. I planted it in you back at Golden's workshop; It's nothing major, it just acts as a homing beacon for my teleporter and keeps tabs on your vitals. It's designed to look out for signs that you are in combat, at which point it'll alert me about it."

Seemingly considering something, Belgond glanced at Night Snow this time as he asked "Remind me later to give you and the boys an implant as well. Better safe then sorry after all."

Dice Rolls:

Copperette looked back where he had pinched her. "Oh..." She felt a little violated, having space-future bits stuck into her without being told... But then, it seemed justified given the current situation. "Uhm... Could you ask me next time?"

Belgond looked at Copperette for a thoughtful look on his face. "I promise that I will try." That was going to be the best she was going to get from him right now.

Belgond Copperette
Belgond looks up to the skies - just in time to see most of the pegasi be knocked out of the air by a corvette-class ship. How he didn't notice a building sized ship fly by, he has no idea, but the biomechanical looking decoration and slick black plating is unmistakeable Black Dragonflight engineering. The pegasi swoop away from the ship, save one - Skyblitz, who disappears into the underside of the ship, and the ship promptly charges up the FTL drive and hops off into parts unknown. Take aback by the sudden turn of events, Belgond doesn't even have time to react until after the drive is charged and the ship leaves - but Golden and Gristle act quickly enough, with Golden creating wings and catching one of the falling pegasi and Gristle using some sort of magic to catch another.

Visual Reference:

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Seva Borealis Emblem Degree
As the discussion continues, there's a knocking at the port door - and two pegasi peek in. "Hey, uh... we're with Belgond and Golden Gears. The situation on the street's gotten a little... hostile, what with the fire and the explosions and panicking people... Belgond and Golden are both real badass engineers - one of 'em are half machine and the other made her own shape-shifting arms. If you wanna pick 'em up, you should probably do it soon."

Clean Cut nods. "That sounds like Gears alright. So, what do you say?" He turns to the minotaur, unicorn and drake in turn. "Degree, you're fine with it, and Borealis, you too. What about you... uh... crap, don't think I ever caught your name, sir unicorn?"