Severance Pay

[Makarov Yaroslav]

"Wake up-" Makarov burst forward in a rush of muscle spasm, instinct, and gasping breath. Both hands surged up to protect his face against an invisible enemy that never met the defense. That was what made him realize he was on the pirate vessel that initially infiltrated the prison station. A cold chill ran down his spine until the crewman's words, at last, registered in his mind. They still didn't know he was not one of them or that he had left the real Blue Star Pirate behind.

Sighing momentarily for the relief Makarov instantly began to plot his next few steps. "Understood..." He commented before shakily rising to his feet. A sudden quake shook the deck and he felt his balance shift. For the moment he was left leaning on the bulkhead to steady himself as both eyes looked around him. They were still near the prison or in orbit. Frantically he began to pat himself down and look for a name. Any kind of hint as to who the individual was that he was impersonating. No such luck, as if pirates wore name plates, so he did what anyone might do.

Makarov pretended to faint and regained his footing, "I... uhh... what's my name?"

[Master Buggie]

The crewman cocked an eye at the man, "How the kriff should I know? You want me to scan your chain code or something?"

Of course, being a prisoner on The Slag, if Makarov Avery Yaroslav didn't have a chain code before, he would have one now. Chain codes were not uncommon, especially within the Blue Star Pirates. The identification marker was attuned to the subject's biometric data and cataloged their features, age, and other biographical information, including criminal record. All of this would be encoded within a series of numbers, which any specialized scanner in the galaxy could read. The crewman's suggestion was obviously sarcastic, as they fortunately had no scanner with them to identify Makarov Yaroslav, also known by a number of other aliases, including Prisoner 7137, currently incarcerated within the orbital prison known as The Slag.

As a series of tremors rocked the ship, no doubt the result of impacts caused by rapid-fire laser turrets, the crewman grew testy. A shout sounded down the corridor as another landing skiff had come in. There were serious casualties within, and the crewman was needed.

"Look, the turbolift over there has every level labeled if you can't remember where you're going. Figure it out, I can't babysit you," the crewman said, as they turned and ran down the corridor to attend to the wounded.

[Makarov Yaroslav]

"Yeah, Yeah... I'll be fine. Do what you gotta do-" The tone descended in Makarov's throat as he began to process a new revelation he had not thought of. "Chain codes." Of course the prison would have removed his own falsified credentials and replaced it with their own. Some where in his body there was a time bomb. Metaphoric of course but still just as destructive to his well being. Seeing as any pirate could scan him and suddenly reveal the true identity that is Makarov Yaroslav.

Like a message from the Creator a pair of doors opened leading to a turbo lift. Makarov made way for the pair of crewman and side stepped into the closing doors now finally able to think to himself within the silence. Many courses of action poured into his head. First was to take the bridge. Then again, the Man was good but not that good. Security would swarm him and with the battle outside the ship would be at a disadvantage. After dismissing that idea he thought about stealing a skiff, stowing away until they made port, taking a hostage, turning himself in, all with pretty easily determined outcomes.

A sigh escaped his chest, by force, to calm his nerves. Makarov was in hot water but still had made it this far all the same. Only real course of action was to first locate and remove the chain codes housed somewhere inside his body. It was sensible to escape detection from this crew and from anywhere else he might find himself seeking sanctuary eventually. So it was decided, until the doors opened again... Makarov hardly realized the lift was active and relocated him within the ship, while lost in thought, until a voice shouted at him. "You there! -Give me a hand!"

Makarov was in engineering! A power relay had exploded near a console starting an electrical fire. Instantly Makarov jumped into motion to act the part of a helpful crewman. The Human screaming at him to act was dragging a wounded woman away from the fire as Makarov pulled an extinguisher and tamed the console fire. Was the Hyperdrive down? Makarov's gaze went in all directions deucing that this was a Class 2 hyperdrive at the max. Years of experience in star Ships gave him the experience and if there was help needed he would be of assistance. Because, after all, if the ship went down then so did he.

[Master Buggie]

The strength of the Vengeance-class frigate was that it sported powerful projectile launchers, as well as a cloaking device. The unique ability for this ship to cloak itself meant that it could act as the ultimate phantom assailant. The ship could cloak and maneuver into striking distance, uncloak and release its violent payload, and then cloak again and move to safety. The ultimate weakness of this ship was that in order for the cloaking system to work properly, the ship had to be unshielded. Since the Vengeance-class frigate was a such a highly specialized vessel, it was not manufactured with a shield generator. That meant in cases where the ship had not cloaked itself in time, such as now, any turbolaser fire could tear through the ship's reinforced hull plating and damage the internal systems.

This is what was causing the engineering deck to quite literally go up in flames. Were it not for the timely arrival of the pirate on the turbolift, the fire and damage may have spread to the cloaking device. Without that, this frigate would no doubt be disabled and boarded, or destroyed outright. What many crewmen didn't know about the Vengeance-class frigate, was that it possessed the ability to overload its reactor and violently self-destruct. The ability to make that call lay with the captain alone, and while the frigate was not yet at that point, severe enough damage to the systems within the engineering deck could allow for that possibility, particularly if it meant a destroyed hyperdrive.

"Ah frak, ah frak..." the engineer repeated as he looked from the injured woman to the hyperdrive, and then back to the injured woman, "We've got to make sure that hyperdrive isn't damaged, but it's not a one man job..."

Giving one last, long look at the woman, the engineer pointed to the pirate with the fire extinguisher and ordered, "You there! We need to make sure that hyperdrive is functional or we'll be sitting ducks. Help me pop the seals off of those fulstar plates so that I can check them."

[Makarov Yaroslav]

Makarov swiveled in place to catch the man who addressed him. Hearing what task was before him the rogue jumped to the open foot locker and took a prybar and drill, in hand, before racing to the hyperdrive. Dropping the prybar he primed the battery on the drill and removed the fastenings. With the help of the engineer they applied the bar lifting the fulstar plate from its seat.

Both pairs of eyes were scanning what was within but it was Makarov who gawked in wonder. He had been used to patch work jobs and second hand parts spliced together in the Crimson Dawn. Ramshackle ships welded together that looked void worthy but ultimately a cringe when looking at the "guts" of the ship. This time it was a marvel. Yes there were discount parts in here but it was so expertly managed. Indeed the Blue Star Pirates kept themselves to an entirely other standard. It would be a lie if one said Makarov was not impressed.

However he was not here to site see. Shaking off the awe Makarov pointed, "Power coupling is fragged. -Here too!" An easy fix if the engineer could reroute or had a few replacements. Thunder shook the inner hull again as a reminder that they held limited time. "I can reroute it here but that only buys us only one jump." Both eyes locked onto the engineer. "Under the circumstances I say stitch it."

The moment the engineer would give the go ahead Makarov would comply. Yeah he wanted off this ship but he wanted to survive to do so. Jumping up, he ran back to the supply locker and looked for anything that resembled an electrical kit then got busy.

[Master Buggie]

On the bridge of the damaged Vengeance-class frigate, the ship rumbled as the reinforced hull plating took another beating. Long-range turbolaser batteries were becoming increasingly less long-range, as the CorSec ships that housed them pumped power to engines in order to intercept the pirates. Blackened craters stitched the length of the damaged frigate, which trailed its sister ships on route to their hyperspace jump point. The Sacorrian system was within reach of the lead Blue Star frigates, but for the vessel that housed one Makarov Yaroslav, the situation was becoming dire. If the CorSec response forces scored a lucky shot on the frigate's vulnerable sublight engines, the crew and Marauders that had played a role in rescuing Erk Niial would face a fate worse than a lifetime on The Slag, that much was assured. The captain, having received a transmission from the two leading Vengeance-class frigates, wore a grave look upon his face. Engineering had reported that the hyperdrive was damaged some time ago, and the other Blue Star Pirate craft were prepared to jump into hyperspace. He and his starship would be left behind, and the CorSec forces would be assured to concentrate fire upon his frigate.

"Get me engineering! What is the status of our hyperdrive?" the captain barked, as he watched the other two frigates escape to Sacorria.

[Makarov Yaroslav]

Another volley rocked Makarov's world in thunder. Screaming bulkheads rattled and groaned in protest while sparks flew out from overclocked relay hubs. It took everything to concentrate when death was starring you in the face and the Rogue revealed the strain as sweat drizzled down his brow. Peeling apart an adhesive to splice two damaged circuits Makarov bounced forward from another thunder shock barely able to finish his work.
Both the Engineer beside him and the communications console near assaulted his ears and patience but the moment power flowed to the singed transformer he began to bring his attention towards the junction box.

Five fusses were totally fried and the kit only had three spares.

Thinking quickly he replaced the more critical of the lot and repurposed two from none critical systems. The Hyperdrive began to spin and his eyes widened with joy. Even the Engineer praised him with a cheer and celebratory pat on the back. "BOOM!" Another volley reminded them both that the ship wasn't out of it yet.

Slipping on the deck as he raised himself; Makarov recovered and braced against the console to read green across the board to make a safe jump. Only one caught his eye marked in yellow. A minor issue he had began to beat away with a fist to the illuminated warning light, "Bridge this is engineering! -It's now or never Boss-Man."