silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 18, 2010 13:19:50 GMT -5
Staris strode after Nightbeat, a bit bemused by this turn of events. She'd only met him moments ago and already she was included in a possible lead that she would never have got near without considerable risk.
As she stepped into the turbolift, Staris looked at Nightbeat. "I don't trust him" she thought "but I'll act as if I do."
Clenching her jaw, Staris steeled herself to do something totally out of character, she held her hand out to Nightbeat.
"I'm Staris."
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Post by Bomblast on Nov 18, 2010 13:59:07 GMT -5
Nightbeat smiled and shook her hand. They continued on in silence until they reached their floor. Nightbeat stepped out of the lift and looked about before turning left down a hallway.
"This way, I believe."
As the pair rounded a corner, Nightbeat spotted a couple of security officers. One of the stepped forward and held up a hand.
"Hold it right there. Who are you?" The officer said.
The officer held up a device that had a small slot on the top. Nightbeat let out a small groan.
"I hate these things."
A slot opened up on Nightbeat's right index finger and a small tab extended. He placed the tab into the slot on the Security Officer's device.
"I'm Nightbeat and this is my assistant, Staris."
A small green light flashed on the device. The officer then put the device away and motioned for the pair to follow him. They reached Suite 2401 and saw the doors were kept open.
"Has anyone entered the crime scene? And has anything been moved?" Nightbeat asked.
"No, only the bot who found the victim. We're trying to keep this as quiet as possible, we don't want any of our competitors knowing that there was a murder onboard."
Nightbeat checked the name of the passenger that was staying in Suite 2401.
"Hmm, well it seems the victim was the Cybertronian ambassador to Rhen Varr. I'm afraid that this will no doubt make the news on a number of planets."
Nightbeat turned to Staris.
"We'd better examine the crimescene. Be careful not to move anything until I've fully documented it."
Nightbeat entered the room. On the floor was the headless body of the Ambassador to Rhen Varr. His usually vibrant;y coloured body work was now a dull grey. A small distance away lay his head. Nightbeat noticed some scorch marks around the neck of the victim. He placed a small cylindrical device on the floor in the centre of the room and motioned for Staris to leave the room. Once they were outside, there was a bright flash of green light.
"Right, that's the room documented, now time to have a closer look at everything."
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 20, 2010 20:12:27 GMT -5
Staris followed Nightbeat into the ambassadors room, wondering what help she could be. Bringing death she was good at. Solving death? Well, she'd just have to try.
She walked up to the body laying on the floor and bent down to look at the at the wound that had obviously killed him and noticed the burn marks.
"Thermo sword?" she suggested to Nightbeat, pointing at the scorched marks.
Without waiting for a reply, she rose and moved away to try and spot something that didn't belong.
Moving towards the door, Staris spotted a scuff on the wall with small paint scrapes. Bending down to examine it, Staris couldn't think what had caused the mark, but knew it was important.
"Nightbeat," she called, motioning for him to join her "I think I've found something."
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Post by Bomblast on Nov 21, 2010 17:37:17 GMT -5
Nightbeat knelt down next to the severed head and examined it closely. He picked it up to get a closer look.
"Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio." He muttered to himself.
He carefully set the head down and stood up. He looked around the walls, noticing some scorch marks on the walls nearest the body.
"You're right about a thermo weapon, Staris. However, I don't think it was a sword. There's two reasons for that. First, I don't believe Sabrefang has ever used a sword on one of her little missions. Second, the scorch marks on the walls. They look like they were made by the same weapon that killed the victim, I'd wager it was a Thermo-Energy whip, which fits Sabrefang's MO better than a sword."
He moved over to Staris and examined the scuff marks she had found. He knelt down and used his ESP to make sure he picked up every detail.
"I think you're right. The question is, does this paint belong to the Vic or the killer?"
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 22, 2010 17:52:56 GMT -5
Looking back at the body laying nearby, Staris tried to reconstruct the fight in her head. With a whip as a weapon, the intended victim would try to escape that level of pain, and using a whip to decapitate? That would take a great deal of strength and it wouldn't be instantaneous.
"I think its the victims paint." She mused "while he was struggling to free himself."
Staris cast her optics around the room again, when something stuck her.
"Why him?" she asked Nightbeat "What does Saberfang achieve by killing the ambassador?"
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Post by Bomblast on Nov 23, 2010 13:39:04 GMT -5
Nightbeat pondered for a moment. Scrutinizing the paint scuffs on the wall, a thought struck him. He stood up and went over to the decapitated body. He gently rolled it over. After a quick examination, he found a few scratch marks that matched up with the marks on the wall.
"Just as I thought...."
He was just about to say something else when the ship's Captain walked in. The Captain was a tall alien creature, standing about a head taller than Nightbeat. He was covered in dark purple scales and had tentacles covering his mouth. He wore a tradition while suit and greeted Nightbeat.
"Good to see you again Nightbeat, shame it's to do with this. I thought you could use this, the security recording from the hallway outside this room."
With that, he handed Nightbeat a small holo-projecter. Nightbeat activated it and a green hologram flickered to life. At first, it showed the Ambassador entering the room, then fast-forwarded roughly half a Breem to show a female Cybertronian entering the room, clearly Sabrefang.
"We attempted to find out who she is, but she wasn't on the passenger list."
"Thank you Captain."
With that, the Captain left the room. Nightbeat looked at the floor and began scanning the area for footprints. He filtered out all the footprints so he was left with the footprints of the Ambassador and Sabrefang and tried to figure out what had actually happened. He turned to Staris.
"Here is what I believe happened. After entering the room, seemingly invited, Sabrefang was stood close to the door with the Ambassador facing her. She then grabbed him and threw him against the wall that you found marks on. She then tossed him to that area next to where the body was found. Then, she activated her whip, swinging it a couple of times, which explains the scorch marks on the wall. From there, she was able to wrap it around the Ambassador's neck."
Nightbeat knelt next to the body and examined the hands, noticing some matching scorch marks on the fingers.
"He struggled. Tried to remove the whip, burning his hands in the process. Sabrefang must have kept the whip in place, burning through the Ambassador's armour, before pulling hard, causing the whip to slide around his neck, eventually slicing through and severing his head. After that, she left."
Nightbeat stood and walked over to Staris.
"As for what she would achieve, I believe she had a very good motive. She's a bounty hunter. She did this for a pay cheque. Killing others for money, dispicable. Can you imagine such a thing? Terrible. That's the reason I've been tracking her."
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 7, 2010 18:25:09 GMT -5
Staris stood abruptly at Nightbeat's comment, her optics blazing. Just as she was about to retort,she stopped herself. Without him, she wouldn't even be aware of this hit and even more importantly, he now had an image of Saberfang, the thing she really needed. She had to get her hands on that holo-projector.
"yes" She replied flatly "An awful way to live."
Staris looked at Nightbeat and wondered how sheltered his life had been for him not to realize the lengths that others had to go through to survive. But, the hunt came first.
"So, Saberfang isn't a registered passenger? Where could she be hiding?: Staris tilted her head, thinking aloud "There can't be that many places she could be inconspicuous. even in the bars she'd eventually be noticed."
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Post by Bomblast on Dec 8, 2010 16:29:33 GMT -5
Nightbeat was tapping furiously on his datapad, entering and extrapolating as much information about the crime as he possibly could. He answered Staris without looking up.
"She's Cybertronian. She's doing what we Cybertronians do best, hiding in plain sight."
He transferred some data from the holo-projector given to him by the Captain to his datapad. He kept his attention focussed on the datapad.
"And don't give me that look. I know you're in a similar field of work as Sabrefang. If you were law enforcement or a PI, I'd have heard of you."
The holo-projector flickered to life, showing a detailed model of Sabrefang.
"However, now is not the time for ethical discussions. Look at this, I'm trying to find out what her alternate mode is."
Nightbeat continued tapping at his datapad and a few panels on the model of Sabrefang were highlighted. A few of them winked on and off as lines of data scrolled across Nightbeat's datapad. After a few short moments, the model of Sabrefang transformed into a sleek hover-car.
"Bingo."
+++COMM to Captain+++ "Captain, I'm sending you details of a vehicle that may have been loaded into the hold. I believe that's how Sabrefang boarded without being on the passenger list." +++COMM+++
+++COMM to Nightbeat+++ "Thank you Nightbeat. We'll see what we can find." +++COMM+++
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 21, 2010 13:19:59 GMT -5
He knew? Nightbeat knew she wasn’t after a capture with Saberfang. But that wasn’t an issue for now. More importantly, they had to find her first.
Walking forward, Staris held her hand out to receive the datapad from Nightbeat, anxious to get her optic on the one piece of information she really needed. The image flickered and swiftly, pressing a few buttons before Nightbeat could stop her, she had sent the image to her own datapad.
“Well, we won’t find her standing here.” Staris said, handing the datapad back to Nightbeat “until the captain can find any info about her alternative mode being loaded, I think that’s the best course of action”
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Post by Bomblast on Dec 21, 2010 15:25:53 GMT -5
Nightbeat ignored the fact that Staris had just accessed his datapad. He remained in place, looking at the crime scene as Staris suggested leaving.
"No, I'm sure we're missing something. I can't think what it is...." He trailed off.
Nightbeat was starting to get lost in his thoughts when a voice on the COMM startled him.
+++COMM to Suite 2401+++ "Nightbeat! One of the escape pods has been launched! We did a scan, one lifeform. Cybertronian. Sending the projected landing co-ordinates to your datapad." +++COMM+++
+++COMM to Bridge+++ "Thank you Captain. We'll take one of the other escape pods and follow it to the surface." +++COMM+++
"Right, looks like we're leaving the ship."
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 15, 2011 21:11:04 GMT -5
Staris stared at Nightbeat, surprised by his off-hand manner.
"We'd best get to a shuttle then" she gestured for Nightbeat to proceed her out of the Ambassador's room.
As she followed Nightbeat from the room, she tried to suppress the gladness she felt for leaving this place, filled with noise and distraction. Now the hunt could commence.
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Post by Bomblast on Jan 16, 2011 16:17:57 GMT -5
Nightbeat lead Staris down the corridor. As they came to a junction, he started to go straight ahead, but then paused and looked right. As Staris started to walk past him, he reached out and gently grabbed her arm. He looked at her, then back down the right-hand corridor, and pointed out a sign pointing to some escape pods.
"I think we'll be quicker if we take this route."
+++COMM to Captain+++ "Captain, with your permission, we'd like to take one of the escape pods down to the planet's surface." +++COMM+++
+++COMM+++ "Very well, just see that you make an arrest. If you do, you and your collegue will have a luxury suite, free of charge." +++COMM+++
Nightbeat chuckled as he lead Staris to the escape pods. He opened the door and motioned for her to enter before climbing into the pod himself. Nightbeat sat down and strapped himself into the seat before tapping away at his datapad again. He laid in a course following the escape pod that Sabrefang stole.
"Here we go." Nightbeat said as he hit the launch button.
The escape pod blasted free of the Galactic Express and drifted into space before following it's plotted course.
Down on the planet below, a crashed escape pod from the Galactic Express lay in a smouldering crater on the border of a forest and a rich plain. A pack of wolf-like creatures surrounded the crater.
There was a loud banging from inside the escape pod. After 5 loud bangs, the door flew off and out of the crater, landing on one of the creatures. From inside the escape pod, a Cybertronian female stepped out and looked around.
"I need to get a better travel agent." She said coldly as the left the crater.
She heard a whimpering noise and saw the creature that had been hit by the door. All the other creatures in the pack had run off. Sabrefang smiled at the creature.
"Thanks. You've just helped me escape."
With that, she scanned the creature and reformatted her body. All traces of her vehicular alt mode were erased from her body and replaced by more organic looking animal parts. Once her reformatting was complete, she transformed to test out her new body.
Saberfang stood still for a moment, getting used to her new four-legged beast mode. She looked skyward and let out a howl before bounding off into the forest at top speed.
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 22, 2011 19:52:39 GMT -5
Staris was glad to be on the move again, even in this cramped escape pod with this autobot she'd just met.
Realizing that this was the first time that they were truly alone for the first time, was this a trap? A whole ruse to get her on her own? As her servos tensed involuntarily at this thought, Staris made herself relax, if he'd wanted to hurt her he'd had plenty of opportunity in the ambassadors quarters.
"Where is she running to? and why? surely it would have been easier just staying on board the Galactic express, and disembarking with the other passengers, why draw attention to herself? Or does she just not care?"
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Post by Bomblast on Jan 23, 2011 8:22:11 GMT -5
Nightbeat sat back and got as comfortable as he could.
"Quite simple really. Partly because she doesn't care, and partly because if she stays on the ship, she'll get caught. What would you rather do? Stay in a confined place, or hide on whole planet?"
A console at the front of the escape pod started beeping. Nightbeat looked over.
"Hmm, we're about to enter atmo. Might want to hold onto something. This could get bumpy."
The little escape pod tore toward the planet, leaving a red streak through the sky. Turbulance started building as they got closer to the surface, and once they were in the atmosphere, the turbulance felt like it was going to shake the escape pod to pieces.
"DON'T.....WORRY!......ALMOST......DOWN!" Nightbeat shouted above the roar from outside the craft.
The emergency brakes deployed in an attempt to slow the escape pod down. The occupants where throw forwards into their safety harnesses. Everything was looking good, until the E-Brakes on the top of the escape pod broke off.
The trajectory of the escape pod dropped sharply and the two remaining E-Brakes failed as well. The escape pod managed to build up an impressive amount of speed before it slammed into the plain below, leaving a deep gouge in the turf. Nightbeat's harness snapped and he was thrown forwards, slamming into the Nav console, smashing it. Nightbeat started to black out.
Sabrefang stopped running and turned around as she heard the sonic boom of a craft entering atmosphere.She could just make out the red line across the sky, luckily heading perpendicular to the way she was heading.
"Hmm, Autobot Police, Decepticon Thugs or that pesky Detective, Nightbeat? I know which one my Energon is on."
Sabrefang ran parrallel to the ship's course, hoping if they tracked her, she'd have a considerable lead over them.
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silverdragon
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Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.[ss:TTFV6: Latyrx]
Posts: 53
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 23, 2011 16:34:22 GMT -5
Staris groggily looked around the escape pod, feeling that the landing had jarred every circuit in her body. The impact had cracked the hull of the craft, sunlight streamed in through the crack and beyond she could hear the calls of birds and other creatures.
As she looked around Staris noticed that Nightbeat had been knocked out, she stood unsteadily, holding herself up with the bulkhead, she shuffled toward Nightbeat, she couldn't go after Saberfang on her own, not in this condition.
Staris gradually got to where Nightbeat lay sprawled on the floor of the escape pod, where his harness had snapped during the landing. grunting with fatigue, Staris managed to turn him over. Looking into his optics she realized he could be out cold for a while and unable to her injuries, Staris slid sideways into unconsciousness.
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