[hider=Mission Start][center][h1][b][u][i]Xuanzang - Docking bay[/i][/u][/b][/h1][/center] Joey gave a smirk as soon as Avelyn made her request for information, extending her arm to her. He knew by now what her powers were all about, it'd make things much easier on them both if he just allowed them to scan his head for the information she seeked. That smirk continued when Nero...'forgave' him, for lack of a better word. But he said nothing else on the matter, and once everyone was ready to go, he was quick to head to the docking bay. Within the Docking bay, The only ship outside of the single-pilot fighters here and there was the ship was riding on. As he said, despite being able to fit within the Xuanxang, the dimensions of the ship did prove rather spacious. It seemed designed as some sort of small carrier ship, likely a small black market smuggle ship. Interestingly, however, the Jeep he rode in with Avelyn didn't seem to be anywhere, despite this being the place it was last left. Joey began going from wall to wall, slightly knocking on every part he could, as if he was looking for something. "[b][color=green]So, a little backstory for you guys. Back when me and the Captain were still Ascendancy, we picked up this ship together with the rest of the gang. She was interested in the technical specs of this beauty as any ship Captain should be. But me, ...I was more interested in some of the ship's...finer details. ...For example, the fact that this ship was designed for smuggling some rather big cargo, and so has some equally large spaces to tuck them under. We were more looking for a ship that could stand toe-to-toe with any Ascendancy ship that comes our way, but the Cap'n had some 'privateer' experience already, so this was something of a bonus for us.[/color][/b]" He said as he continued searching the walls. He finally found what he was looking for when one of the knocks had a different, more hollowed noise. Removing the wall panel, he found a hidden lever and a touchpad. He seemed to select things on the pad, then immediately pulled the lever, opening up parts of the floor, revealing elevators reeling up other ships about the same size as his own. "[b][color=green]Counting my own, these three are pretty much the best catches we've had before Moonstrike...they're also the [i]only[/i] catches we have of that size, so try to get them back here in one piece.[/color][/b]" Joey said, at first with pride, but then saying the second part more hesitantly and scratching at his cheek, an awkward smile on his face. [hider=Team 1's ship (The Xuanxang itself)][img]https://i.imgur.com/m1olNR6.jpg?1[/img][/hider] [hider=Team 2's ship ("AMS-Slinger")][img]https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/77/68/de/7768de1ac44275e9d6816d3820f778a2.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Team 3's ship ("AMS-Blowfish")][img]https://artignition.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/J-C-Park-Sci-Fi-Vehicle-Concept.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Team 4's ship (Joey's ship: "The Magnum")][img]https://static.turbosquid.com/Preview/001320/073/QX/_D.jpg[/img][/hider] "[b][color=green]So, if everyone's ready, then all aboard, and best of luck.[/color][/b]" With that, once everyone was aboard, the ships blasted off and scattered. Each to their respective mission.[/hider] [hider=Team 1 (Maria, Laurey, Allaine, Natasha)][center][h1][b][u][i]Xuanzang - Bridge[/i][/u][/b][/h1][/center] After everyone went on their merry way, Maria was quick to get to business. To control a ship of this size would be difficult for just the three of them on their own. Hopefully backup would arrive soon to make the work load significantly less. Until then though, they'll have to manage. "[color=violet][i]Laurey, is there any chance you can re-route power to an auto-pilot function?[/i][/color]" Maria asked. Auto-pilot was a convenient little thing for situations like this and makes for one less thing to worry about on their part, useful for just this situation where there's very little crew members on board to pilot the damn thing. Though the downside is, they'd likely lose the luxury of precise maneuvering, and they'll have to pray they can get FTL working and coordinates [i]exactly[/i] spot-on so the ship doesn't crash itself onto a planet. Meanwhile, an message popped up on Natasha's Omni-tool. The sender's name being a mess of symbols, letters, and numbers. Most likely either encrypted or purposely pushed buttons at random for a one-time use of the name in question. The Subject Matter was simply labeled "New Moon's Secrecy". Before opening, another peculiarity was that it was locked. An attempt to open it resulted in a pop-up of a speaker phone symbol and a straight line. [center][i]Awaiting password...Password hint: "New Moon's secrecy..."[/i][/center] Once Natasha says the right password, the line changes to match her tone, authenticating her voice, and eventually the image changes to a green lock becoming unlocked, the words "Voice Recognition Found" shown on the screen before it then opens the small message the lock was hiding... [center][i]Planet Zanza. Reserve 47. 53.393816,-98.258990 - "Edo"[/i][/center] This was all it said. A message locked and capable of an ID check of an Omni-tool suggests either a really good hacker, or someone with the authority to breach privacy guidelines. This is likely the Tipper...but it raises the question of just [i]who[/i] this guy or girl was... [hr] On the Planet in question, a bountiful nature-filled planet of forests as far as the eye could see, laid a little cave off the cliffside of a plateau, within which was a man in the shadows of this cave, staring at the doorway at the beautiful world outside. A message popped onto his own Omni-tool which diverted his gaze from mother nature... [center][i]"Message Delivered."[/i][/center] "[b]...Won't be long now.[/b]" The man said, seemingly to himself. [@Letter Bee] [@Senhara] [@jdh97][/hider] [hider=Team 2 (Joey, Queen Anne, Shineyd, Nirrti)][center][h1][b][u][i]Moonstrike HQ[/i][/u][/b][/h1][/center] If you were a very successful rebellion against an interplanetary government, where would you hide? Another planet is always considered a viable option, and most cells to this day still use outer rim planets outside their enemy's jurisdiction as locations for their bases. But in an age where fleets of ships can sail across the galaxy as easily as a boat across a sea, if you mess with a corrupt intergalactic government enough to consider you worth hunting, they'll do whatever it takes to find and destroy you. On a planet outside their jurisdiction? No problem, they'll just hire some..."professionals" to take you out in their stead, or they'll just gather a fleet and attack you outright if you really managed to piss them off; they'd find a way to justify the attack. That in mind, The smarter rebellion cells take the nomadic approach to their base of operations, need it be simply not having one and moving from one spot to another, or having some kind of moving base such as a space station serve as headquarters. More maneuverable and elusive, but unless you change it up in some way, all they'd need is ID'ing that the station in question is in fact the rebel base, and they'd hunt you to the edge of the universe and beyond. But Moonstrike has considered all of these and took a more tactical approach for their headquarters: A giant asteroid the size of a country that they hollowed out, made a base within, and added thrusters for good measure. A drifting asteroid amidst other asteroids, and capable of slight maneuvering to keep the enemy guessing. Took a lot of time, manpower, and money both given by other rebels and stolen from the Ascendancy's coffers, but it was worth it to make a base hidden in camouflage. At least, it [i]was[/i]. But they never would have asked for the other rebel cells to help with this if they knew something like [i]this[/i] was going to happen... Outside the Asteroid Field the base was hiding out in, the Rebel Civil War was full swing. On one side Moonstrike units and ships defending their base from attack...With varied levels of success unfortunately, as a few lucky shots got passed and hit the field in question. Even if the shots didn't hit the asteroid base of Moonstrike directly, (and unfortunately, some of them did) they hit other asteroids with enough force to knock another actual asteroid into them. The whole area was like a billiards table with every missile and laser acting as the cue ball. On the other side were the ones doing the firing. To call it a group of ships were an understatement. It was more akin to a collective Armada formed from multiple rebel factions combining their forces against Moonstrike's own. On their own, none of them would stand a chance against Moonstrike's fleet; they're one of the largest and most successful rebel factions in the galaxy for a reason. But together, they were really giving them a challenge. Inside the base, Many members of Moonstrike were frantically moving about, trying to gather more men to send, trying to command their fleet from where they were. The elusive "Moonstrike One" was at the center of it all, taking command of the fleet outside and trying to take control of this chaotic situation. [hr] On board the Slinger, Joey watched the battle from a distance, giving out a whistle as he did. "[color=green][b]More people pissed at Moonstrike than I thought. That's a lot of ships, pretty big ones at that, not all of them I recognize which is...particularly interesting. Hmm... Welp, looks like there's no time for formality. Let's get these guys pacified before anything else. Time to go save the day.[/b][/color]" He said. Cocking his own guns, he went to the cockpit and drove the ship towards the crossfire. "[color=green][b]Hang on ladies, this is gonna get a little bumpy.[/b][/color]" He said, as they headed for the enemies head on, guns a blazing as the ship dashes headfirst towards the enemies. [@Smike] [@Senhara] [@Villamvihar][/hider] [hider=Team 3 (Alan, Flame, Nero, Ki'Tlex & Kottle)][center][h1][b][u][i]Vault of Mother[/i][/u][/b][/h1][/center] On the Korta's home planet of "Mother", the Pirates seemed to be at it again, being right in the middle of a major heist. Not necessarily of money, oh no, This was a different kind of vault, for the Korta were a race all about technology, it only makes sense they'd make a storage vault for some of the finest inventions, materials, and machine parts they have ever made with their gifted pachyderm minds. Just like the stock heist back at the Bazaar, they were being methodical in how they steal from a highly-secured place as this. For the most part, they were keeping a low-profile, but they were about ready to make their move, as a few of the pirates became distractions keeping the officials eyes away from the disguised, but very real threats coming in. "[b][color=blue]...Rgh, You sure this is the only way, Bones? This shirt's so itchy and these pants are uncomfortable as hell.[/color][/b]" The Captain said, pulling on his dress shirt and pants and struggling to keep the big round glasses affixed between his eyes. "[b][color=silver]It's the way of least resistance. Just hang in there for a little while.[/color][/b]" The old man said, now back in a white lab coat. It seems they were disguised as a Scientist and his Assistant, heading in to study the technology within the vault, even came with passes (Forged, of course.) to verify their identity and permission to enter the establishment. Arms, meanwhile, was camouflaged and keeping away from any thermal imaging technology the vault may have had. (Not that it'd matter much, being cold-blooded has its perks...) Sneaking his way through the area, he planted charges about the entrance and in particular spots of building stability. Should things go south, it always help to have some backups, especially in case the "other" plan the Captain is so interested in doesn't go as well as hoped. [hr] [center][h1][b][u][i]Aboard the Blowfish[/i][/u][/b][/h1][/center] As they traveled on the ship towards the planet Mother, Alan took a look around what little space this ship had. Honestly, it was fitting for a small unit like theirs, but it still felt too cramped for his liking. He stared out into the darkness of space, and spotted the planet they were heading too. The area around Mother was loaded with ships going in and out, or with space stations just floating about in its orbit. The Korta were after all the top engineers of the galaxy and this was their home, so naturally there'd be a showing of their skills and customers from far and wide wishing for their services. "[color=red][b]So...Anyone wanna guess which ship has our pirate pals in them?[/b][/color]" He asked. [@Letter Bee] [@FalloutJack] [@Smike] [@Senhara][/hider]