A Sci-Fi Roleplay

[MrDrake]

The year is 2520, Earth has made contact with many different alien races and as such, has forged an alliance with most alien races around, however, that does not leave the galaxy safe, as many dangers still lurk about.

Earth now had a rather futuristic look about it, having hover cars, floating sign, pretty much anything you could think of in the future has indeed happened.

On Earth, there was one alien in particular whom had seeked refuge there after what had happened to her home planet and had now taken up a bounty hunter job, which so far, she had proven to be rather exceptional at, that is, until now, having to hunt down, what was thought to be a myth in the galaxy, a cyborg who had taken guise of a pirate to be exact, and had now called himself, Blackbeard after the same pirate, now terrorizing the galaxy.

"Look, I do have respect for you, but hunting down Blackbeard, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack, it's pretty much impossible" the alien whom called herself Firefly most of the time, told her boss.
"You're the best at what we've got, and this Blackbeard has been known to exist, terrorizing planets, doing all that pirate-like stuff, and the council wants him stopped" replied Firefly's boss "You're the best we've got"
"Yeah, I know, but finding a myth....it's going to be tough, but I suppose if the council wants it done, then I can't really say no, can I?"
"Yeah, just don't take too long, if it can be helped anyway"
Firefly nodded back as she walked out of the building and onto the streets of Earth, having no real clue on where to start at the moment.

[JitteryDragon]

Not to far down the street was the Red Velvet, a bar that catered for the more... well endowed... people in the city. Inside, the whole room glowed a darkish blue as dancers flourished upon glowing catwalks, many a patron nearly hypnotized as they drank cocktails or just plain drinks. Waitresses strutted around circular, floating tables, serving all sorts of beings... many quite well dressed, consider all the odd species that hung about.

One human however, seated by himself, was not at all interested in the entertainment...

Raiven adjusted his dark glasses, pushing them up against his nose as he watched a particularly odd denizen in the far corner. Inside what seemed a normal pair of dark sunglasses was a suite of identification software, hooked up by a tiny wire to a device attached to his belt.

'Are you getting this, Isodor?' He whispered to himself.

'That's the guy alright,' a crackled voice returned from the speaker hidden in his ear. 'He's a lot fatter then I last saw him. Bloats are like that, however.'

'I don't need a lesson in races, Iso. I just need to know if it's Kelthusa or not.'

There was a short pause 'It sure is. The fat bastard himself.'

'Great, now I get to wait.' He leaned back and brushed his long brown hair back.

Raiven did not have to wait long, however. As he read from a news tablet, his eyes caught sight of a human woman approaching the large, greenish creature. The bloat's single cycloptic eye twitched and followed the woman as she seated herself next to him. The bloat then opened his large, toothless mouth, and a tendril oozed forth... seemingly sniffing out the woman.

'Diiiiissgusting,' Isodor said.

'I need to get closer, I can't hear what she's saying,' Raiven said in return.

'Don't do anything stupid, Raiven. Bloats can sniff out trouble with that tongue nose of theirs. Please for the love of god don't go and-'

Isodor was interrupted as Raiven switched off the earpiece. He raised himself from his chair, smiling a little a waitress passed him by. He put his hands into his black trenchcoats pockets, and slowly made his way over to the bloats table... hoping to catch just a glimmer of the conversation.

The woman smiled sheepishly as the bloat laughed heartily... a disturbingly bloated sound. Then Raiven saw her place a small card onto the table, and slide it over to Kelthusa.

His glasses zoomed in... a credit card. An exchange was being made.

Kelthusa was a well known trader of black market goods... one in particular that uneased Raiven the most... slaves.

The woman stood up and bowed. 'I expect him tomorrow.'

The bloat just replied with a loud grumble. The woman turned and left for the front door.

'Iso, did you get that?' Raiven said, switching his earpiece back on.

'Slave trade, possibly. But not enough concrete evidence, Rai. Don't go arresting him just yet... we need more information. Is your hand on your gun, Rai?'

Raiven had reached into his coat, for his laspistol, but moved his hand away sheepishly. 'Uh, no.'

'Good. And please don't cut me off while I'm talking to you... I hate it when you-'

Earpiece off again, Raiven rested at a new table and sighed. Being a cop was such a slow and painful business.

[MrDrake]

Firefly approached the bar and entered it, glancing around at the surroundings, looking to the dancers, then to the waitresses, then to the bar patrons before walking over to the bar itself, resting one arm on the bar before speaking to the barman "I need some information, if you can provide me with such information, I'm trying to hunt down someone"

"Yeah, everyone's trying to hunt down someone now a days, try talking to that guy over there" the barman told Firefly, motioning to Raiven.

Firefly nodded back and approached the cop, glancing over him before sitting down at the opposite end of the table "The barman said you might be able to help me" she told him, of course, her voice to others, would sound more like a male's voice from underneath her mask "I'm searching for someone....or something I suppose you could say"

[JitteryDragon]

'Aren't we all?' Raiven replied. He motioned with his head over to the bloat in the corner.

'See that fat thing over there? He trades slaves. I want that bastards green hide rotting in a cell... but I need evidence. If I were a bounty hunter, I would just blow his head up with my laspistol, but for me... there would be laws broken, and paperwork... and all that boring crap.

Then he eyed the odd creature that sat before him, taking of his dark sunglasses. 'Did the barman send you to me? Typical, he just cant keep his mouth shut.'

He looked around the bar, and then leaned in a little closer. 'Don't let anyone else know who I am. The last thing I need is for that bloaty bastard to know I'm a cop.'

Then he leaned back in his chair, and smiled casually to a waitress as she passed by.

'Waitress, another drink on my tab, if you please. And for this... fellow here if he so desires.' Raiven couldn't work out if the alien before him was male or female... but he tried not to think about it too much.

Then he clasped his hands together. 'I have a friend with the whole police database at his fingertips. Who are you after, exactly?'

[MrDrake]

Firefly nodded back "Sure, I'll take a drink as well" she replied back, placing her arms on the table, leaning forward "I'm after a cyborg that tracing it, has proven to be rather difficult.....calls itself Blackbeard, perhaps you've heard of that cyborg"

She leaned back in the chair again as she glanced over at the fat creature that Raiven was talking about, yet, didn't say anything in regards to it.

[JitteryDragon]

'Cyborgs are notoriously difficult to track. They can easily undergo surgery to change their appearance, they can alter their voices, and in some cases they can hack themselves to change their serial numbers.'

Raiven placed the tip of his finger on his right earlobe, and there was a tiny little clicking sound. 'Blackbeard though, I've heard of that name before.'

'He was a pirate that terrorized the Caribbean and western Atlantic during the-'

'Don't be a smart ass, Iso.'

'Hey, not my fault you didn't take a history lesson.'

'Just tell me what you know.'

'Okay, okay. From what I've heard... I believe he's a cybernetic space pirate that's been causing trouble quite recently.'

Yet another space pirate. There seemed to be a lot of them these days.

'Trouble is,' Isodor continued, 'he's supposed to be a myth.'

Raiven just rolled his eyes. 'Run a scan on the database, Iso... see if you can pick anything up on him.'

'I'll give it a shot, but I doubt I'll come up with any juicy bits.'

This conversation would have looked a bit strange to firefly, given that only Raiven could hear Isodor. Still, he clicked the ear peice off once again and glanced over to Firefly, raising a brow.

'So, do you have a reason for looking for this guy?' Raiven had the slight suspicion that this alien was a bounty hunter, but he knew their kind to be a reclusive bunch.

[MrDrake]

"Those reasons are my own, however, I will say this at least, the council is after Blackbeard and I plan on finding him" replied Firefly as their drinks were bought to them.

Firefly touched one part of her helmet which retracted back to reveal that she was indeed, a female alien, she had green skin along with green hair, to which she sipped her drink and spoke again "I have only heard that Blackbeard has been more of a myth now a days"

[JitteryDragon]

Raiven didn't even flinch as the alien revealed her face. He had seen plenty of aliens in his time as an officer to pay no heed, though he was relieved to discover her gender... so as not to make too much of a fool of himself. He had to admit to himself, just a little, that she had quite mysterious air about her... though he certainly paid it no heed.

Raiven took a sip of his drink, a bitter alcoholic beverage, and placed the now half full glass down upon the table. 'Myth or not, I fear you may have a difficult task ahead of you. Space pirates are a varied bunch. Some do it for wealth, others for fame. Some succeed, many fail, but in the end all of them are just another grain of sand on a shoreline.'

'I have had too many problems to deal with to know much about this cyborg, but I know enough about the criminal element to know that this Blackbeard has greater ambitions than most, if he has named himself as such. Fame seems to be what he seeks, but there is still many-'

Just then, there was a beeping on his ear piece. 'One second,' Raiven said, placing a finger on his lobe. The ear piece clicked into life once more.

'Got anything?' Raiven said.

'Oh boy, have I ever. This Blackbeard is pretty much non existent on our records-'

'That's not a lot of help, Iso.'

'Ah, but here's the thing. Remember officer Maynard?'

'The one that went insane, and was booted off the force?'

'That's the one. Well guess what... He was investigating a case on a series of raids up in the northern sectors.'

'And?'

'Well, it's what he found out.. and happened after that. The case file says that the raids were all performed by a cybernetic organism.' As Isodor spoke, words and images appeared on Raiven's glasses... information about the case being sent to him via Isodor.

'Could have easily been another cyborg, Iso.'

'Ah, but here's the best part. Witnesses aboard a cargo vessel claim the ship that attacked them was nicknamed Queen Anne's Revenge, which was quickly connected to many of the raids.'

'So?'

'History lesson, partner. That was the old Blackbeards most famous vessel.'

'Quite a connection there... a little fragile, though.'

'Perhaps. Thing is, Maynard wanted more time to investigate, but the higher ups had declared the case cold... given how little evidence had been gathered. Maynard claimed he knew more, and could locate the ships hiding place, it was just that he needed some more time.'

'But they closed the case anyway?'

'Yup. Then Maynard went crazy, and they booted him off.'

'Any idea where he lives now?'

'Searching for it now, partner. Uh... just one question.... why am I doing all this?'

'Just keep searching, Iso.'

'Fine, fine. Whatever. Just as long as you stop cutting me off before I-'

Raiven clicked his ear piece off again, and folded his arms. 'I have some good news for you. There was an officer on a case a few years ago involving a cyborg pirate. It's a bit loose, but supposedly the ship could have been the one this Blackbeard operates from.'

He leaned forward. 'I can give you the name of this guy, but I would like something in return.' Raiven gave a wry smile, his eyes hidden behind the glasses.

[MrDrake]

Firefly was a bit relcutant at first, before she spoke back "Alright, what is it that you want? As I would like to know whatever it is that you know" she told Raiven as she too leaned forward, taking another sip from her drink "Although, I do have a feeling it has something to do with that guy over there" she added on, motioning to the fat alien he was on about before "Am I right on the matter?"

[JitteryDragon]

'Good guess,' he replied. 'Here's the deal. I need someone to... make an exchange with him. Normally, we have special cybernetic "dummies" to act as operatives in such situations... but a breather like yourself is much, much more convincing as a potential buyer.'

'What I want you to do is sit down and talk him into selling you a slave, acting as a potential buyer. I'll wire you up, and hopefully we'll get enough evidence to get a warrant for his arrest. Pretty simple actually.'

He finished his drink. 'Now before you ask "Why don't I just do it", you need to know one thing about a bloat. They have this... tongue probe... thing. It smells pheromones and some other biological stuff... but to you and me, it basically means they know when someone is lying... or if they're not who they say they are. They can sniff a cop out pretty well, a little too well. Which is why I'm sitting here, not right next to the ugly bugger.'

'In other words, you need to sound convincing. He'll sniff you out, but if you smell right to him, he won't ask questions... bloats don't ask questions, they're too dumb. Other than that, should be a piece of cake. In exchange, I'll tell you what you need to know... and as an added bonus, I'll have you recognized as a participant in this case, which will give you some leeway with the police... if you ever needed our help.'

He leaned back and smiled. 'So what do you say?'

[MrDrake]

There was a bit of a pause at first before she finished off her drink and bought her mask back down, leaning in again "Count me in, I need what information you have" she told him "Besides, the whole buying a slave ordeal, should be a piece of cake, you could say I have a knack for lying in certain situations, just hook me up to your little wire thing"

[JitteryDragon]

Raiven nodded, and reached into one of the many pockets of his trenchcoat. He pulled out a small box, and opened it. Within was assorted small gadgets, his finger and thumb grabbing what seemed to be a tiny fleck of metal. 'This is a receiver. Just stick it under your... uh... mask, and we'll be able to hear you loud and clear.

Raiven then turned on his ear piece. 'Good news, Iso. We have ourselves a operative.'

'You mean they finally sent one? I didn't hear anything about-'

'No. We have ourselves a willing guest.'

'Raiven, if the commissioner hears you just picked up some random-'

'She isn't just a random, Iso. She's got what it takes, I believe.'

'She? Typical, Rai. Just when I thought you could stoop any lower.'

Raiven shook his head. 'You have a lot to learn, Iso. I've hooked her up, and I've put her on channel one.'

There was a long pause, and what sounded like a sigh. 'Channel one, ready and receiving.'

'Good,' Raiven finished. He then eyed Firefly and smiled, taking off his glasses and revealing his dark brown eyes. 'Kalthusa is all yours, when you're ready. Remember that I'm right here if anything goes awry... though I have my deepest trust in you.'

[MrDrake]

Firefly nodded back as she put the piece of metal underneath her mask before getting up "I wont be long" she told Raiven as she approached Kalthusa.

At first, there was a pause before she spoke up, leaning in, in the process "I hear you're the one to speak to about some deals....slaves in particular, am I correct on the matter?" she asked him as she sat down as well.

[JitteryDragon]

Kelthusa's eye gazed at the alien as she sat down at the table. He seemed to study her for a few seconds, but then he opened his mouth. Instead of words, however, a long slimy pronged tongue rolled out. It came within an inch of Firefly's mask, and seemed to make sniffing sounds. The tongue waved all over her, before finally rolling back into the bloats mouth.

Then Kelthusa began to laugh a disgusting, bloated laugh. For just a moment, it seemed the game was up already... but Kalthusa settled down, wiping a bit of drool away with his stubby arm. 'I sell goods... many goods.,' he said with a low murmur, and a stammering English. 'I have many for work, many for fight, many for... pleasuuure,' he continued with a hint of a wry smile upon his fat lips.

Raiven and Isodor both listened as the bloat continued to describe, in rather vicious detail, what he had on offer. 'He's avoiding calling them slaves... but I think this might just be enough to tag him,' Raiven said.

'I don't think so, Rai. Words are solid, but he'd be out of the cell in a week unless we can better prove that he harbors slaves.

Raiven leaned back in his chair, watching as Firefly listened to Kelthusa, very patiently. 'Let's see how this unfolds, then.'

Kelthusa finally stopped, and looked the alien over with a cursive eye. 'So, you buy goods, yes? Many questions... What for, may I ask? And... I must have advance in payment before I have you shown goods.'

Raiven jumped at this. 'Damn, he wants payment now. I hope to heaven and back she's got credits on hand. If she gets shown an actual slave, we'll have Kelthusa's butt rotting in a cell for the rest of his miserable life.'

'Should have given her your credit card,' Isodor said jokingly.

'No, he might wand to check her identification as well.'

'Ah yeah... too bad. But to be truthful, she probably could have only bought half a slave with what you own.'

'To be honest, Iso... I wouldn't have given her mine, you know.'

'Huh?'

'Check your pockets, Iso.'

There was a slight pause, and what sounded like shuffling about. 'Hey where's my... oh... you son of a-'

[MrDrake]

"Many goods huh? And you say for work, fighting as well as pleasure?" Firefly asked him as she leaned in slightly.

Firefly begun to think in regards to slaves, to her, the best kind of slave she could think of would be the ones for pleasure, as to be honest, she hadn't heard of slaves doing anything else really "I would have to say, the ones for pleasure actually"

She pulled out a credit card from a compartment of her suit and placed it on the table "Are you able to show me just what you have? I am able to pay for whatever it is you have to offer me"

[JitteryDragon]

Kelthusa smiled that disgusting smile of his, sliding the credit card towards him and looking it over. A credit card had many details about the person it belonged to written right on the front... however, the more personal details were located within a security encoded chip within the card itself. 'You can be shown, I assure you of quality of goods... but I have many things to attend to.

Appearing beside Firefly was a humanoid like creature with globular eyes and a greyish skin. He wore a lavish robe, coloured yellow and orange, that reached right down to his feet.

'He will show you to goods, I have things to attend to.' He passed Firefly back her card, seemingly satisfied.

'If you would please,' the grey alien said, gesturing to the back door of the bar with one hand.

'Excellent, looks like they're going to take her out to see the goods,' Raiven said from his table.

'Follow her out, Rai. I don't know about you, but I smell trouble.'

Raiven nodded to himself. 'Better safe than sorry.' He raised himself from his seat, sliding Isodor's credit card over a panel upon the table, which gave a small pinging sound.

'Thanks for the drinks, Iso,' he said sheepishly to himself.

[MrDrake]

Firefly grabbed her card and put it back into her suit for the time being as she followed the alien to the back of the bar.  The credit card itself didn't have her own details on it, but instead, made up details as she didn't really want people tracking her down via a transaction, which is why she usually carried several different credit cards on her at once.

"Oh, if they try and funny business, do I have permission to shoot them?" she decided to ask into her chip rather quietly so that the grey alien couldn't hear her.

[JitteryDragon]

'In self defence, yes,' came a crackled reply from the wire. Raiven continued to speak as he walked in the kitchen of the bar. 'I'm following you out from a different direction, so if anything goes bad I'll be there to back you up.'

One of the staff quickly noticed his presence. 'Hey, you're not supposed-'

'Officer Raiven of the space police force,' Raiven said, brandishing his badge upon a worn wallet. The badge had the symbol of earth in bronze, with several stars surrounding it. The letters S.P.F were engraved deeply undernear the planet. 'Coming through, thank you,' he said, bumping a chef out of his way, who proceeded to swear at the cop as he passed... in french.

'Isodor, be ready. She's being taken out into an open courtyard, I believe. Be ready to intercept.'

'Got it, I'm on my way now.' There was the muffled sound of an ion engine buzzing to life in the background.

Meanwhile, Firefly was being lead outside. Beyond an old locked door was an open concrete field. It looked somewhat like an old abandoned building site, with large towers surrounding it on all sides. Almost all the towers were just blank walls, with no windows facing into the courtyard. A light smog hung over the whole area, perhaps only a few hundred metres high. The only way into the area seemed to be from the door they had exited from, everywhere else was sealed by rubble or by concrete walls. The perfect place to conduct some illicit business.

Firefly was taken to a small vessel parked in the center of a raised platform. An old rusted landing pad, probably once used to deliver building supplied... now for delivering something else entirely.

The ship was a fat, cylinder shaped hulk of steel, with several thrusters sticking out the sides. A large ramp opened up from underleath, and Firefly bore witness to several barely clothed figures being hauled out. A skinny human woman tripped as she exited the craft, only to be jolted back onto her feet by another grey alien who whipped her with a strange electric whip.

Lined up in front of Firefly was a total of seven slaves. Three humans, two of which were male and another female. Three humanoid like aliens, one of which was a similar grey to those that surrounded Firefly. The other two wore masks, hiding their faces, though they still looked weak and poorly. Finally, there was a large rhino like creature, bound heavily in chains, who sneered in Firefly's direction.

'Search her,' the grey that had led Firefly out said. Another grey walked up to her and pulled out a large wand like gadget. It hummed slightly as the grey waved it over her. Another grey to her left began to pad her down, rather vigorously.

Eventually they backed off, both nodding the the well dress grey.

'Well, take your pick,' he finally said, gesturing to the slaves that stood before her.

[MrDrake]

Firefly's weapons were indeed, hidden in her armoured suit, however, as they had let her go, she approached the slaves and examined each and everyone of them as to not drop her act before she stopped in front of one slave, examining her, she indeed, seemed to be rather poor.

Firefly looked back to the greys "This one will do rather nicely" she exlaimed as she walked back over to them, handing her one of her credit cards as if to make the exchange, but was also wondering where Raiven was at the moment.

[JitteryDragon]

Raiven slid down the garbage chute, and fell straight into the massive bin... filled with all sorts of leftovers you would expect to find from a kitchens garbage dump.

'Argh, so much for an alternative route,' he grumbled, pulling off a fruit peel from his face.

As soon as he was out, he slid against a wall and peered around the corner. He could see the ship, as well as Firefly making the exchange with the slavers. He could still hear everything, though now there was a slight crackle in the communications.

'Isodor, there's a light smog over the whole area, be careful bringing yourself in.'

'Yeah, I can see it from here, there's no way I'll be able to make a quick landing. I hope you're ready, partner.'

'As ready as I'll ever be,' he replied, reaching into a pocket of his coat. He wrapped his hand around his laspistol, ready to make his move...

...until he felt a barrel against the back of his head.

'Nice try, cop. You'll want to see how this pans out for your little friend,' replied a cold, brooding voice. 'Drop your weapon, if you please.'

Raiven put his hands up, letting his pistol slip out of his fingers and onto the ground.

'Kelthusa thought something was fishy about that alien, and he was right. Now we're just waiting for backup to arrive. Your friend wil make a nice addition to our collection.'

Raiven smiled. 'Damn, looks like we're screwed. We've walked into a trap... and now Firefly is about to be fried by reinforcements.'

'Again... nice try. We've just put up a jammer to stop you two from talking to one another. She has no idea what is about to happen to her.'

Raiven muttered. 'Son of a-'

Firefly, meanwhile, watched as the slave woman she chose was cut free from her bonds and pushed to her knees. The well dressed grey took Firefly's card and examined it. 'I'll be right back with the transaction, it's been a... pleasure.'

He walked up the ramp and disapeared into the ship. There was something odd about the silence that followed... especially after the rest of the slaves were lead back into the ship. The woman slave was still on her knees, sobbing softly with her face buried in her hands.

Not soon after, the door that Firefly had been led through burst open, and several greys came through in a line... followed by Kelthusa himself.

These greys were armed, carrying lasguns in their hands.

The greys either side of Firefly brandished laspistols. Kelthusa began to laugh, as he and the armed greys approached. 'Not who you say you are. You work for police, so now you pay.'

Before Firefly could make any moves, however, Raiven was brought foreward. A large rhino creature similar to the slave was behind him, with a long rifle pointed at his head.

'Too bad,' Kelthusa laughed. 'So close, but I never get caught. You just be more slaves to business.'

The situation was thus. Raiven had a gun pointed at his head.. however, the greys beside Kelthusa had not yet pointed their weapons at Firefly... the greys either side of Firefly had brandished their laspistols, and were about to point them at her. The slave vessels engines buzzed into life, though the ramp remained opened. One of the greys beside Firefly was preparing to take the woman slave back aboard the ship.

There was a slight crackle on Firefly's wire. 'Isodor here, can anyone recieve me. I just countered some major interference... I'm in possition, what's the situation down there?'