A Tale From Horizon (Horizon Based PbP RPG)[CANCELLED]

Heathen? Heathen? Acuxe might not be religious, but atheism wasn't heathenism. Still, getting in the way of something with heavy armour and riot shield wasn't a good idea... He stepped out of the way.

 

When the hatch opened and the heavily armored figure stepped out Max was too far away to hear the exchange between the newcomer and Acuxe; but his pace slowed and Max took stock of this new arrival.

He... or she, was wearing a slightly modified version of the 'Hercules' armor. Max had tried it out a couple of times in the past, but had disliked how it restricted and hindered his movement. Still, he had to admit it was damn good armor. The figure strode past Acuxe with a purposeful stride, and Max made a quick sidestep to get out of his... her? way; it was hard to tell with the armor. He noted that the helmet of the armor turned in his direction as they past each other and Max could only guess that the person inside was sizing himself up every bit as much as he was.

'Heavily armed, heavily armored' Max thought as he continued onto the ship where he met up with Acuxe.

"So" Max said as he came up beside the Camarian, "who's our new friend?"

 

"No idea. Religious nut, it would seem." Acuxe kept his voice low, harpoon guns might be inefficent in the open air but that didn't mean that they wouldn't hurt... or that the person inside the armour wouldn't have another method of attack.

 

As Max and Acuxe talked to each other, another sound was heard. It was teh uncomfortable sound of heay, artifical breathing. A sharp intake of air, followed by a sickly exhale of the air. Then, a gruff voice came from behind them following that intake of air. There were pauses in his speech where breathing would be. The voice itself wasn't jolly either.

"Now you see...what I had...to deal with...on the way."

Turning around, they would see their contact. It was a Grey alright, his short height and large, bulbous head saw to that. But his entire body was covered head to toe in a wornout yellow suit with plenty of pockets and compartments to store stuff. The only thing not covered by this was his right arm which was obviously synthetic as they could see the metal it was made out of.

The male, they could tell it was male thanks to no emphasis on his chest or hips, had his eyes covered with large sunglasses that seemed like it was better suited to help block out things like wielding wands or plasma cutters so he didn't go blind. The only other thing noteworthy of mentioning was the respirator he had over his nose and mouth. The thing that he was using to breath. One can only imagine why he would need such a thing.

More synthetic breathing came from the Grey as he pointed to the two of them, "You all...I got? Heard there were...four for pick...up."

 

"Yeah, there's four. Other two are late. Don't ask me why, I don't know."

 

The Grey sighed, the respirator making the sound more sharp and emphasized. Shaking his head, he motioned them in, "Fine, fine...got time anyways. Need to go and...refuel and...restock. Might as well...make yourself...at home. Find your own...way around. It's a simple...layout."

And like that, the Grey was off doing whatever he needed to do for the ship. The ship itself was much like a regular freighter. It was big and bulky, plus it had some wear and tear to it to give the impression that it has been active for a long time now. It was a scrap freighter, old outdated model freighters that get picked up to be like moving garages.

Upon walking in, there would be two ways to go in a hallway. To the back of the ship was a small corridor that led to what was the cargo bay. It was retrofitted to be both storage and scrapping. There was also some small vehicles in storage. The opposite side was a longer corridor with multiple branch offs. All the way to the front would be the cockpit, while there were doorways leading to an upstairs, a bathroom, and a dinning room with some capability of cooking. Upstairs were four small guest rooms and a much larger bedroom where the owner of the ship slept.

 

Acuxe picked up his box of medical supplies and stepped up into the ship. Looking both ways, he decided to store his "found" supplies first. He placed them in a supply bin, and removed the pistol, leaving it on the bench with a note in common saying "Warning: Loaded, cocked. I don't know how to turn it off." Then he headed up to the guest rooms and placed his equipment and what few personal items he had in storage, keeping just the armour (no reason to change, it's just as comfortable as streetwear and much more durable) and a sword on him.

The nanite syringe lay on his bedside table (the only piece of furniture in the room other than the bed and an cupboard that had been built into the wall). He sat on his bed and stared at it. On one hand, he should be using it, it was perfectly legal, above board and as far as he could tell, functional. On the other, he was no techie, and he had no idea what it would do to the suit.

Oh well, he'd add it to the list of things to ask the doctor when the doctor turned up. He lay down in the bed and started to flick through a variety of news sites. The connection was patchy, not because the signal was (though if he was anywhere else in the Underworld he'd have been lucky to have even a patchy signal) but because his computer was running a less-than-legal hacking program. It wasn't the best, it couldn't do anything against any form of proper encryption, but it was enough to knock holes in a hotel's wifi security system, even if its defence AI kept filling them back in again.

 

"No idea. Religious nut, it would seem." Acuxe said.

'Just my luck.' Max thought disparagingly before a sound from inside the ship caught his attention. He turned to it and found a Grey, who had clearly seen better days judging by the cybernetic arm and respirator, greet them at the hatch.

"Now you see... what I had... to deal with... on the way." His voice was gruff and interrupted frequently by the respirator. "You all... I got? Heard there were... four for pick... up."

Acuxe answered him before Max had a chance, and then the Grey invited the two companions aboard. "... Might as well... make yourself... at hom. Find your own... way around. It's a simple... layout." Max nodded, he grew up on a run down freighter, and while there were literally millions in space, there were only a few dozen hull designs. He followed the stairs up and found an empty cabin while Acuxe moved to the storage bay; dropping his duffel bag on the bed Max had a look around the cramped quarters. They were spartan by military standards, which Max didn't mind, but they left little room to move around in. Despite himself he couldn't help a flash of memory of the old freighter from his childhood, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.

Outside, he could hear Acuxe enter one of the empty cabins. Max briefly thought about asking the Camarian to go exploring with him, but dismissed it immediately as reminiscent of the boy he used to be. Still, his military training demanded he familiarize himself with his surroundings, and so he set about exploring the ship.

Less than seven minutes later he had done so and was back in his claimed room. With a sigh, he settled down onto the not quite comfortable bed and rested his eyes.

 

As for our mystery armored woman, she walked with purpose. Namely, one of survival. Inara Rei made it no secret that she disliked heathens. Church doctrine had instilled it into her mind from a young age, and by now, it was etched into every corner. Land dwellers were to be disliked and pitied. They were weak after all. But dislike and pity didn't change out her suit's water supply, and the filtration could only prolong breathable water so long before it had to be cycled. Which meant she had to find a water pump, or buy some. Why these cities couldn't just flood over was beyond her. It'd certainly cleanse the heathens out.

Slowly moving, she began to look for some sort of water station to reflood her tanks with. Knowing her look, these heathens wouldn't even have one of those!

 

Win was sick of waiting for that dimwitted doctor to message her back. She headed to the docks and took her engineering boxes out of storage. These contained all of her engineering tools as well as her disassembled sniper rifle and spare ammunition. She stashed the EMP rounds she had purchased for the rifle with the longarm and carefully closed the boxes back up. They were wheeled on the bottom for moving around an engineering bay and she pushed them out of storage and out to the docks. With her engineering kit piled with a duffel full of clothes, not to mention a few garment bags slung over her shoulder, Win rolled up the gangway of the rusty freighter and into the cargo hold. She pushed her equipment into a likely spot and secured it for travel. She nodded to the Camarian as she passed "her" by.

"Seen the doctor?" Win asked idly. "He stood me up."

Win give an exasperated roll of the eyes and walked off in search of the best cabin she could find. She cast a wary glance at the newcomer in her heavy armor and almost walked right into Max as she entered the cabin he was searching.

"Oh, hey there," she said, her hands full of her luggage and personal gear. "Any empty cabins or are we going to have to wrestle for this one?"

 

"Oh, hey there."

Max's eyes snapped open and beheld the lovely vision of Winnifred Karisma standing in the doorway to his claimed cabin. She had her hands full and she didn't look to be in the best of moods, but even in such a state she was easily one of the most alluring women he had ever met. He felt his cock stir slightly, and was thankful that he was in his armor and that it didn't give away the affect she had on him.

"Any empty cabins or are we going to have to wrestle for this one?"

He couldn't completely hold back the corners of his lips from tipping up. He was tempted right then and there to say 'Take off your clothes and I'd love to wrestle with you.' But managed to hold his tongue; no matter how much fun it might be, that was no way to treat a lady.

"Acuxe has got the one across the hall," He said instead. Getting up he continued, "I'm not sure if you've met our new companion, but he... or... she, I'm not sure which, might have one already... I don't know." He stepped close to her so that there was only about two feet separating them, "if the doc's picked one already, you might be S.O.L."

Max's willpower failed him, and his eyes traveled down and back up her body. He let out a slow, controlled, exhale "Unless..."

 

Win balanced two duffels and a four garment bags from her arms. After getting worked over by that big cockroach she was feeling a little sore. It seemed Max wasn't in the mood for helping a lady out.

"Acuxe has got the one across the hall," said the scarred slab of beefcake, heavy on the gristle. "I'm not sure if you've met our new companion, but he... or... she, I'm not sure which, might have one already... I don't know." He stepped close to her so that there was only about two feet separating them, "if the doc's picked one already, you might be S.O.L."

She sighed and started for the door, hoping Drew hadn't showed up already and picked out a cabin.

"Unless..." Said Max.

Win stopped at the door, casting a glance over her shoulder. "Unless? Nah, I'm tired. I think I'll just camp out in engineering."

She set off for the ship's engine room. She could relocate her tools from storage once she had bivouacked down by the reactor. She knew how to rig a hammock between the main drive casing and the maneuver thruster injectors that would probably be more comfortable than this rust hole. She grunted as she struggled with the bags.

 

"Unless? Nah, I'm tired. I think I'll just camp out in engineering." With that, Win turned around and headed back downstairs.

Max stood there shocked for a moment. That had not gone the way he hoped, but really what did he expect.

'Stupid move Max.' He thought to himself, and then shouted after the departing redhead, "Win! Hold up!" And started after her.

 

Win heard Max call out for her to hold up. He caught her on the stairs down to engineering. She turned too quickly and nearly thumped him in the head with one of her duffels. "What is it?"

 

Max narrowly avoided the collision as he came to a stop.

"Hey, uh sorry," He apologized, shaking his head with a little embarrassment, then he pointed behind himself and continued "about how I acted back there, it was... rude, and inconsiderate." He paused for a moment and met her eyes. "I haven't seen the doc and I actually don't think he's picked a room yet." He stopped again and after a moment remembered his manners, "If you'd let me, could I help you take your bags up? I promise, no more bad behavior on my part."

 

Win let a smile slowly spread across her face. She dropped both heavy duffels into Max's open arms, leaving her with just the garment bags. "Sure. No harm done, big guy. Then please... please show me to the shower. This ship has a shower, right? Oh, my god, I feel like I've been... well, you don't know what I feel like I've been doing. I just need a long, hot shower." She ran her hands over her breasts to pantomime the water falling over her body. "Then I guess I had better introduce myself to the new guy."

 

Max struggled to keep his eyes from following her hands as they played across her breasts, but had limited success. She was very... distracting.

He cleared his throat and heft her luggage back up the stairs into the living quarters. "I should probably introduce myself to the new guy... or girl, I don't know I can't really tell in that armor. too. But I get the feeling from Acuxe that they're not really into making friends." He trailed off with the last word and knocked hard on the door adjacent to his own. When no one shouted back he opened the hatch and stepped in.

It was unoccupied, and without any bags inside he figured it wasn't claimed either. "Then again, she hasn't been too forthcoming either." He said as he stepped inside.

He then set the two heavy bags down on the cot. "Neither have I, I guess." He mused before turning to her. "As for your question about showers, if this place is anything like freighters I've been on in the past, there should be two. One in the communal bathroom downstairs; it's in the hallway leading to the cockpit. And another, private one, in the Captain's Cabin. Though I'm not sure how well our Grey captain will take you using his private shower."

Finished, he stepped back to the doorway and let her get acquainted with her tiny room. "Well, I'll let you get settled in. If you need anything, I'm right next door." He shifted on his feet slightly before adding with a slight smile, "It's uh... it's nice to meet you Win. I don't think I got a chance to say that before. I look forward to seeing more of you. Ah- I mean I look forward to working with you."

'Smooth Max. Real smooth.' He chided himself.

 

"Thanks, Max," said Win, giving him a wink and smile as he departed.

Win stowed her clothes and kept her other gear out of sight in the lockers and trunk near the bunk. She headed to the showers and took a long shower that put the ship's water recyclers through their paces. Once she was shampooed and exfoliated and feeling almost human, she took some meds boosted from her former life to ward off any infections and something to keep her skin supple and her pussy tight. She dressed in a pair of panties and a fresh, blue coverall marked with hazard stripes on the back and reinforced joints at the elbows and knees. She bloused the legs into her chunky workboots, put her welding goggles back around her neck, and headed out of the shower.

It was time to introduce herself to the man, or grey, who would be flying this scow. Win made her way to the cockpit. It was time to get this operation underway...

 

When the merchant said that he didn't have water to fill the tanks, the reaction was slow. "You're a water salesman... without water?" She stated, the suit remaining remarkably still. "Most of you cursed heathens are mostly made up of water. Perhaps I should simply kill you and let the filtration system take care of the other 30%?"

Her voice was sacharine sweet, as she pressed her hands down, griping the surface of his desk. "So I suggest you find a replacement. Very fast. Or else I might very well try."

 

Win:

After some time of searching the ship, it seemed like the pilot that would be ferrying them to their distination was not around. Mayhaps he was still out and about on the station ensuring that they would have a steady flight? After all, there was fuel, energy recharging, supplies to restock, and other such things to juggle about in between flights. It wasn't exactly cheap to fly a ship in the vastness of space. Unless one had a Warp Drive, it took weeks, months, even years to get to places. Other drives could only do so much.

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Inara:

The merchant at the counter just sighed and shook his head. He was a simple human, thought a bit bloated due to inactivity, age, and laziness. He was a merchant in the downtrodden world of the Underworld...he had the security of credits to protect himself from most dangers, thanks to gang warfare keeping the riff-raff dealt away and the most dangerous criminal syndicates being sensible enough to demand payment and keep out of each other's territory. Who knows what syndicate's territory this was though, obviosuly not Inara if she was threatening a shopkeep for not having what she needed.

The man just leaned against the counter and said, "Look, buddy...I sell a bunch of things here. And in case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have bubbly springs and roaring falls 'round here. I can only get my hands on so much, both water and pressurized tanks to store 'em without it going bad. And currently? Got none of 'em. That shit is in high demand 'round here and I'm only one of a few on this level that trades in 'em, though they're not my focus. I'm more on foodstuff and ration supplies."

He then waved her way, "Go on, get! Might have better luck on the upper levels to get what you want. The higher ya go, the better the stores you'll find anyways...just hope you can afford it, though."