PEARL GATES

You walk through the shopping district. No one seems to mind you except the
vendors who try to entice you to buy things.

"you look like you could use some decals on that armor! Don't just use a
firearm, use the weapon of fear in your next encounter!"

"sir, what data package do you have?! Did you know Datamor is the fastest
growing data system retailer!"

"add on a personal jump pack system to your armor and get the first charge for
free!"

You notice this is a mercenary marketplace. Everyone seems clad in armor and
their coat of arms transponders are all generic placeholders. You notice a
shipyard sign and you head towards it. It directs you to a passage way which is
barricaded by a filtered door. It is clear you need some kind of pass-card to
get through to the ship repository held behind it. Daunting automated guns guard
the entrance. This must be a parking lot for the mercenaries which frequent
here. You look up at the high walls of the structures and containers all around
you.

The operator breaks up your thoughts. "I absolutely condone stealing a bird. You
could use it to get out into open space. After that you could fly along the
spine to get to the cores entrance."

(aside: I know you're not big on this whole creative writing business so I'll be
lenient and only ask for details. Just know that every entry you make is like
rolling a D5. Your entry quality determines the D5 and my next entry will
reflect what happens based on that roll/quality.)

I say in a low hushed tone, "I have an idea". I go back to the jump pack vendor
and quickly get fitted for the free charge on the jump pack and head off after
telling him I need to try it before I buy it. I head back to the large wall in
one of the less secured places and use the jump pack to clear the wall getting
into the ship bay, I then quickly ditch the jump system. I notice a delivery
ship guarded buy two men at the closest port and quickly dodge my way through
the crates to position myself behind the ship where I can sneak up on the
guards. While sneaking up on the guards I crash into a rather big piece of sheet
metal, the guards turn around and pull out there rather unorthodox laser rifle
and start firing. "What the fuck kind of delivery people are these!" I quickly
duck behind the wing and pull out my plasma pistol and turn to shoot, seeing
that one is approach with a knife and pistol while the other is train on my
location, I duck again and pull my knife knowing I only have one chance. As I
hear the guard up I see his lead foot and quickly stab it with my knife then
pulling my pistol on him, noticing he's about to shoot me I quickly roll right
under his chin to avoid the shot using his body as cover and shoot a blast from
my plasma pistol right up into his chin. His flesh starts melting away and
bubbling it falls off to reveal his skull as his body is only now held in place
by my knife it falls limb. I pull my knife out of his foot and roll back to
behind the cargo hatch. The other guard now chasing me is duel wielding pistols
and firing at every semi clear shot he gets making sure not to hit the
transport. I notice what he's doing and decide to use it to my advantage I
quickly jump onto the lower wing of the vessel and charge him shooting at any
chance I get, the lasers deflect off his armor ricocheting onto the ground and
into the walls. The guard panics frantically not knowing what to do and starts
to run, as he does I line up a shot and shoot him through the head with my laser
pistol making a nice clean hole through his skull.

As I clear my head of the ordeal my curiousity sets in "Why in the world would
they shoot at me first instead of asking questions, I run back to the back hatch
of the ship real quick noticing a cardlock so I check the bodies quickly for a
keycard only to find it inside the headless torsos armor. I head back to the
hatch and open it. As the hatch open a surprised look spreads across my face.
"Well Ops I think I accidently accomplished my first mission", I say as I stare
at the tank. "What should I do now?"

(rehash: laser pistol making a nice clean hole through his skull)

As the tension in the air subsides, you bring both your handguns up to look at
them. A digital screen shows a percentage on both.
"Damn, you had those at 500% discharge?" the operator says.
"I didn't know you had modified guns. Looks like those can go up to 1000% in a
shot. Don't let any of the authority nations see those, those things are more
than illegal."

(aside: because of your entry, I needed a way to unify munitions behavior. The
reason the standard weapon type is energy is because it's less brutal than
ballistic bullets. Not to say energy can't kill just the same as bullets but in
the end, less lives are lost in wars. At least, that was my intention. To keep
this true, I've changed your weapons so that you may decide how powerful the
shot is. I hope you understand that all precedences for one player are universal
and need regulated as such. Example being the munitions. If everyone else's
weapons don't have the same effect as yours, there needs to be a reason or it
needs to not be different. Remember, you can run out of ammo/energy for your
guns so use this new feature wisely.)

(rehash: "what should I do now?")

"first mission? You must not understand... The tank you were going to be looking
out for is around one hundred times the size of this one. Actually... Hold on a
second..."
As the operator pauses, you step closer to this machine, inspecting it's nature.

"I just cross matched the decals on it with all the private databases I have
available. Turns out it's not even a tank; it's a mech. Manufactured by the
primo contractor 'Techoto'. This thing is the most advanced piece of machine in
the-"
Coms suddenly go silent. In that silence you hear the bustling of men outside
the ship.
"doesn't sound like we have time to learn." the operator speaks your mind.
"At least this baby can fly!"

In an instant you throw the door open and hop inside the cockpit. It's a very
tight fit inside. Immediately it becomes apparent that the mech can take several
forms. Staring at the interface display, memories come surging back to you.

The day was like any other, peaceful. You haven't received much work and you
were spending most of your time sifting through data dumps for foul play. A
couple leads were on the table but without patrons to back your investigations
with cash, there was little incentive to take your searching to the next level.
That all changed though. A customer contacted you about a governmental coverup.
It must be serious, you think as the work order didn't come in through any of
your normal channels. You found your name as you were digging through the piles
of irrelevant data. Accidentally, at least you hoped. A chilling feeling came
across you like someone was reading you like a book... A book they were writing.
Your name appeared in a news article. The article mentioned a specific place.
You looked it over and over looking for a time until it occurred to you; the
periodicle it was in was dated for a week from now. It was even a fictitious
periodicle. Someone made this to look like junk but it was obvious what you had
to do.

The time came and you were ready. The meeting spot was a waterfront hotel room.
You reserved the room yourself just as the instructions implied. You waited
there until the dead of the night. You remember sitting on your balcony which
reached down into the water. The room door closed behind you giving you a
rightfully good start. Your contact finally arrived. The lights in the room turn
off and the shadowy figure walks slowly to sit on the balcony as well. The
person took their hood off. It was a woman. You immediately recognize her as a
political figure in your government, the government of Proxis.

Intrigued by these new found memories you intently forget the world around you.
That is, until the ship you are in begins to move disrupting your brief
retrospection.

"I hacked into the cargo ship... You were taking too long." The operator
continues. "the cargo doors to let you out of there in that thing are heavily
encrypted. It'll take me a minute. Just remember, when these doors bust, you
need to head to the spine right away. A whole mess of fighters are being routed
your way and you don't want to be there. I'll get you as far as I can."

(aside: because of tobin, you kinda got screwed into even being here. I'm
basically trying to catch you up to speed. Your objective is the core entrance.
I just need you to get to it. Go back and look at the diagrams I drew up for you
guys so you know where it is and where you are. Also, i recommend reading
previous entries for a refresher. If you have any questions, ask me.)

(Diagram is a bit foggy and I don't see any point where is says I am so I'm playing it by ear)

I check the console as I'm getting the incoming information from ops. "Looks kind of different from anything I've seen before but I'm willing to give this a shot." I say with a slight devious grin. "Alright I've hacked the gate", Ops says after I've finished looking over the panel.

I quick start up the mech hearing "SYSTEMS INITIALIZED", with a disturbed grin I say to myself "Let's see what this thing can do!" Without any warning I burst out full speed towards the gate and head towards the spine of the station. While racing through the corridor I check the panels and look at the weapon systems. "Rockets, Gattling gun .... ooo what's this cloaking device Jackpot!"