IC - Alien RPG - Priority One

[Hemnon]

Galactic Date: 2133
Galactic Coordinates - 9.33 Parsecs Coreward, 3 Parsecs Spinward.
East-southeastern part of the Crestus Prime Cluster - United Americas Space, American Arm/Frontier

Planet - Ulysses (A4/2)
-----------------------------------

The Planet Ulysses, a Forest-covered mudball located in what is at the moment still the frontier area of the American Arm. The Colony on the planet, Ulysses Point as it is named, is about to be hit by the earliest of morning light from the System's star.
The more windy area of that forest-free hilltop that the Colony was on, made everything feel more like an earth-spring, rather than the more near-tropical warmth that is more prevalent at the forest-ground level.
------------------------------

*Beep, Beep, Beep* goes the inter-connected Messaging Terminals in each of you lot's home/residence/bunk-area (all depending on what type of person you are. Not every doctor got more than a backroom bunk with some cramped living space in the back of the clinic they run, after all).
Once each of you wakes up from the constant 'message recieved beeping' and goes to check your respective terminal, you'll see the following Message:

Sender: Local G-Class Corvus Space Vessel - MU/TH/UR (Classification 6000) (PS: this is your ship for companyjobs)
Priority One Message - Clause 48-D of your employment agreement has come into effect - You are hereby required to meet up at the G-class Corvus Vessel for In-system Salvage Operation. 3 Days of travel is expected to reach FTL-engagement distance. This is where the Salvage Operation's Objective will be found. Delay for departure will be fined on a collective basis. Departure in 3 hours... 2 hours and 59 Minutes and 43 Seconds.... (an updating counter keeps counting down in the message).

You each have a little under 3 hours to get your stuff together, make sure your little 6-people ship is ready for lift-off, etc. etc. Oh and no, MU/TH/UR will not respond to any message replies made for further information on this job Since you'll most likely get further details once aboard. It's also quite clear that this is a Company-level Job, not a local colony-job. Your Ship is come pre-equipped with food storage, water supply, regulated Oxygen Scrubbers, etc. etc. Hypersleep is not to be expected since the Salvage Job itself won't require FTL travel, only Sub-Light Thruster speed towards the farther edge of the Star System, which'd take around 3 days of travel at regular sub-light thruster speed.

You may each try to do around 2-3 things that might each take around an hour or less if you got something you wish to do prior to leaving. Anything from haggling local food supplies in whatever fashion you want, giving instrumental checkups on the ship just in case technical issues could be detected prior to them becoming an actual issue, etc. etc. It's all up to each of you what you wanna do all in all.

[Haval]

At the sound of the beeping Robert merely rolls over. If he could get away with it he would hit snooze and get a few extra minutes of sleep but this was a function that had long since been removed by Weyland-Yutani to promote 'efficiency'. He will listlessly stare at the ceiling for a few more minutes and let the alarm continue until he can summon the energy to get up. This is when he finally notices that this wasn't the time that he normally had to get up and starts to pay attention to the details of the message.

As Robert is considered a 'specialist' he merits a private room in one of the prefabricated bunkhouses that the company used to house it's employees. However, it's was still not that much larger then his bed. Robert's room at university had been larger. Eventually he'll get up to make coffee. Whatever this was about it was better not to be late. Even aside from the fact that the fines were imposed collectively, they started off high and got worse the longer you kept them waiting.

The lack of detail in the message wasn't surprising, but it would be nice to have some information on what was expected of them. MU/TH/UR generally didn't talk until it absolutely had to, but maybe someone would know something. When he's woken up properly, Robert is going to call someone in the colony administration building to see if any ships were due to call in at Ulysses. It was always possible there had been some sort of accident.

After he finally gets dressed, he go and ask someone what state the ship was in. Generally, if he had to travel in space at all he felt it was safer to travel in something larger and more durable.

[Hemnon]

Thematic Music to fit the current 'Mood'

In terms of a reply, all Robert would get from the Admininistration was a curt and sour 'No'. It was most likely Ursula Fedderman that was on duty today, at this early morning hour. She was the usual suspect whenever you got a 'I hate my job' flavored reply, even if you didn't recognise the voice of the intercom.

As for the ship, if Robert went to the actual ship and stated his questions to MU/TH/UR, then he'd get a reply that no outstanding issues had been detected, but a cursory sweep of main systems by a technician is scheduled next week.
(These two things will collectively take away 1 of your 3-ish things you can do prior to the departure-deadline)

[Lycan 01]

Phoenix Brigs was unhappy. That was her general state of being, but today especially. Rolling out of bed, she trudges over to her terminal and acknowledges the alert. Her eyes, sunken and shadowed from sleepless nights and red-eye flight missions, scan the message before a scowl curls at the corners of her mouth. "Great..." she grumbles to herself, before running a hand through her short messy pixie cut to resist the temptation to hit something, or somebody.

When her father - "Whiskey One" - had passed away, she had inherited his contract with Weyland-Yutani and all the delightful catches and clauses that came with it. The only differences were a few pronouns, decimal points, and the callsign becoming "Whiskey Two." Thankfully, her dad had given her lessons on piloting and mechanical matters through most of her teen years, so she already had some (unofficial) flight hours under her belt when she inherited the contract. Whether the company knew or cared about that when they saddled a teenager with such responsibilities, though, was uncertain. Personally, she doubted the company cared about her age or experience, just her contractual obligations...

With a sigh, she begins to run herself through mental checklists. Both a checklist of her gear and materials needed for the job, and the pre-flight checklist she'll need to go through once she gets aboard. Corvus-class... She grimaces. She personally preferred groundside piloting, helming the various transport vehicles and aircraft the colony put to constant use. She had piloted the G-class starship a few times before, mostly for small transport jobs or to chauffeur administrators to rendezvous with corporate ghouls. Still, she still felt a cold chill of dread every time she was called up to pilot it, the weight of her responsibility quite heavy on her petite shoulders.

With a small sigh, Nix forces herself to steel her resolve. Straightening her back, setting her jaw, and clicking her heels together, she tries to muster her courage and confidence and brace herself for the responsibilities at hand. C'mon, you can't run away from something like this and expect to ever be a marine, she mentally chided herself. Remember what Dad said. Fake it 'til you make it!

With another sigh, she finishes gathering her things, and zips up her flight suit. Olive drab and not at all flattering to her figure, the baggy jumpsuit is a mess of pockets, straps, pouches, and holsters. Plus a small rucksack she carried on every job, stuffed full of her "crash kit" of tools and medical aid. Flashlight, radio, P-Dat, diagnostic device... Her eyes hover over the small handgun her dad had left her, technically considered a "service sidearm" in one of the clauses of his contract, as pilots were expected to protect corporate property - vehicles especially - with their lives if needed. She chews her lip a bit. She wasn't sure if it would serve much purpose on a scavenging gig, beyond being extra weight and making her comrades uncomfortable. But, the contract did "recommend" pilots carry the service sidearm any time they operated company vehicles, and for all she knew they might be rendezvousing with another company vessel for a joint operation or some nonsense. Some corporate bigwig might berate her for not being properly "equipped," or it might serve to properly dissuade any crew of scrappers who found her "interesting." Grimacing again, she slips the handgun into her flight suit's hip holster, and stuffs two spare magazines into a side pocket. Better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it...

Geared up and mentally prepared, the young pilot starts to head towards the colony's landing pad to wait for the rest of the crew. She knew the ship would be stocked with basic supplies, and any "normal" food she brought aboard would run the risk of making them sick in the low-G environment or stress of the salvage job. As she walks towards her goal, she continues to mentally run herself through the Corvus vessel's pre-flight list, layout, and technical difficulty. She may not have had many flight hours with it, but her dad had made her spend hours studying the blueprints and layouts of most corporate and military vessels. Once she gets to the landing pad, she looks around for whatever transport they'll be using to get skyside and meet up with the ship. If there's a dropship currently available, she'll begin to go through the necessary paperwork and pre-flight checks to get it ready for flight up to their starship.

Spoiler

Show

Nix is taking all her gear and accessories, though she's only taking 2 instead of 4 reloads for her gun, leaving the other two at home.

I assume the G-class ship is still in orbit, so idk how she can really do much of a pre-flight check or diagnostics on it until we get up there. Still, I figure she could at least mentally brace herself and prepare to do the flight check, hopefully speeding it along once she gets up there.

Not sure if I need to do any checks or anything for the transport taking us up there, since I assume it's not too relevant beyond a stage piece.

[Haval]

'Thank you Ursula.' Robert replies gruffly. A 'No' was more a reply then he usually got. He'll pack his gear into an old rucksack before leaving his quarters. Most of it might serve some obvious use even in space, and it wasn't like the Company seemed to care enough to help him prepare for the assignment anyway. The gun gave him pause, but he'll take it with him unless they somehow decided to enforce weight limitations to keep down costs. If he actually had reason to use it in space of all places there was every chance that he'd end up puncturing the hull of the ship by accident.

He fully intends to do what he can to check out the state of the ship himself. Even if MU/TH/UR did most of the work, space made him paranoid, and there was little reason not to check everything just in case.

Given he had three days of travel before the point when he was actually expected to do any work he's going to try and use the time to relax. Before going to the landing pad Robert will ask around to see if he can find or buy any food that's actually edible that they can take with them. Just as importantly he'll see if anyone will lend him one of the tablets of reading material that get passed around the colony.

Finally he'll go and see who else has been roped into this trip.

[Lycan 01]

Upon discovering that the Corvus-class vessel has already been moored at the spaceport, Nix gives a small sigh of relief. She'd assumed some other sky-jockey or corporate suit had been joyriding or left it skyside. Never underestimate the laziness or annoying arrogance of wannabe flyboys and business gremlins, she'd learned years ago.

Clambering aboard, Nix sets about the usual pre-flight checks, as well as the formalities with the MU/TH/UR system. "Aeronaut Phoenix Brigs, Employee ID N-3266, reporting for mission duty," she says aloud as she walks up the boarding ramp and strides purposefully down the first of many corridors. "Performing pre-flight checks and other piloting responsibilities as per company protocols, and I will make a note of any issues or discrepancies in readiness standards as per company policy," she says clearly and firmly. She knew that if MU/TH/UR could randomly pin new duties and contractual obligations on her, then MU/TH/UR could no doubt snitch on her to the higher-ups over any tiny misstep. She wanted to make sure any recorders of her actions left no room for scrutiny or blame, especially if the job went well. Nothing would be more frustrating than getting a fine from the company for forgetting to lock down a maintenance hatch instead of any reward or thanks for a job well done. Though, honestly, that's what she expected at the end of all this...

With plenty of time to kill, she settles into the cockpit and begins to ruin the initial diagnostics and system reports, her keen eyes scanning the data and scans for anything amiss or noteworthy...

Whenever Robert gets aboard, he'll likely hear her making comments and verbal observations to MU/TH/UR in the cockpit, no doubt for record keeping and ass-covering.

Spoiler: Pre-Flight Checks

Show

Nix is going to use Comtech to run through the system logs and scans to make sure we're good to go and everything meets company standards. A proper, thorough examination, without cutting corners. She's also going to keep an eye out for anything out of place - new security restrictions, power fluctuations, parts of the ship locked off, or anything else suspicious.

Dice pool is 7. (Wits 3+Comtech 2+ bonus 2 dice from Seegson System Diagnostic Device)

(7d6)[4][1][4][5][2][4][6](26)

Looks like One Success.

[Haval]

Robert by comparison does not talk to MU/TH/UR unless he's got a specific question for it. He's aware that it's possible that someone somewhere is judging him for this attitude but is largely past caring. The work ought to speak for itself. If it didn't it was on the company for not having actual human oversight. Still, it was good to hear that he was traveling with someone that actually seemed to be competent.

'Morning. Is thing actually space worthy?' Maybe if it wasn't he could go back to bed. Robert will follow Nix's lead and check whatever he's told to check. Because he's bored he'll ask Nix questions when she doesn't seem obviously busy. 'I take it they didn't tell you what this was about either? I mean, is there a derelict ship out there somewhere?'

[Lycan 01]

Nix - Corvus Vessel

Nix glances back over her shoulder as Robert enters the cockpit, and flashes a roguish grin at him. It gives her an almost impish aura. "It'll be more than space-worthy when I'm done checking her over," she confidently replies, before turning back to tap away at a few more keys. "She's up to speed on almost everything, give or take a few minor tweaks I need to make to the sub-system power consumption ratios, maybe change a few lightbulbs, bla bla bla bla bla~" she says, holding up a hand and miming a talking mouth. She looks back with another cavalier grin. "I won't bore you with the details, Doc. And of couuuurse I know what the job is. It's not like I had no idea about this sub-clause in my inherited contract and I had no idea I'd get roped into some sort of mystery mission against my knowledge or interests."

Her grin falls to a flat deadpan. "Yeah I've got no ideas. Probably some mineral surveyors mucked up and left behind some sensory equipment or other corporate property and somebody wants it recovered before heads roll. I-"

Her voice trails off as a dull beeping noise begins to drone from one of the consoles, a small amber light flickering on and off. She turns slowly in her chair, her deadpan slowly souring into a rather displeased scowl. "Well now, that's not something I wanted to see." A few more taps at some keys, and then a low sigh. "Thank whatever God you believe in that I ran all these diagnostics. Looks like we've got a technical difficulty to deal with..."

Standing up from the pilot's seat, she cracks her knuckles before nodding to the doctor. "Wanna help me fix a proximity sensor array? If you're not handy with a wrench, you can just hold my tools while I make sure we don't die in a space collision later." Another cheery grin. Her gallows sarcasm is either endearing or frustrating for most other the colonists around her...

[Haval]

'Most jobs they give me are against my interests. What use is a biologist in space?' Robert had long assumed his file had been mislabeled somehow and he had no idea who he could talk to to get it checked

He'll groan at having his suspicions confirmed. 'One day they'll send us enough engineers that they can fix everything before we get here.' Which of course would never happen, but he still found the Company's apparent indifference irritating.

Robert wasn't much of a mechanic, but understands the need to go through the process of checking everything on the basis that it might save their lives. 'Just tell me what you need.'

[Tycho42]

The android left his room carrying a medium case full of the gear he would need to perform as many types of surgery as he could possibly think. He wore a white coat that he took great pains to keep clean. It was a sign of his occupation, and a very visible signal that he was the one who saved lives. The rest of him was very still, preternaturally so, in many ways.

He walked up the gantry onto the ship, calling out ahead of him. “Hello. Hello. Who is currently aboard?” He continued to walk up, finding the two individuals talking.

“Hello. I am Dr. Galen. The company has sent me here to join this operation. I am pleased to meet you.”

He extended his hand, rather abruptly, first to the pilot.

[Monsterpoodle]

Russian Jack rolled out of bed causing it to cteak alarmingly. A quick scrub and a check of his gea. Most of it was 3rd hand or worse but it had kept him alive so far.
'hmmmm, a ship. This could be the big score he was looking for' he thought to himself. He headed over to the ship to see who else was on tbe mission. He clumped up the gangway and took a look around. A doctor, a lab geek and some kid was playing in the cockpit. He nodded to the others and sat himself in a chair and closed his eyes to sleep. You never knew when you were going to pull a double and something about his 'team mates' didn't make this seem like a salvage operation. He shrugged. So long as he got paid.

[Haval]

'Any chance either of you know what this is about? Or that you've spent more time in space then I have at least.'

To Galen, 'You a medical Doctor? That's something.'

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Going to say I don't know what Galen is unless Tycho says otherwise

[Lycan 01]

Nix is about to greet the new arrival in her typical lazy aloofness, but as she realizes there's something uncanny and unnatural about him, her posture stiffens and tenses a bit. When he extends the hand in greeting, she stares at it warily a moment, before slowly extending her own hand and cautiously taking it. Having grown up on this colony, she hasn't really had much opportunity to meet outsiders... especially not synths. She'd heard of the "Good Doctor" arriving recently, and the rumors of his not-realness. Actually meeting him in person, she found his mannerisms a bit unsettling, yet at the same time, she didn't want to be rude. Or... can you be rude to a synth? Do they have emotions? Or is human wariness standard protocol with them?

"Um, hey. Name's Nix..." she mutters, looking a little confused. Clearly she's uncertain how to react to him, rather than scared or frightened, likely due to her youthful inexperience.

She then cranes her neck to look at the other guy who just walked in. She was pretty sure she'd seen him around a few times, but never been properly introduced. Was he a new arrival too? "Sleeping on the job already?" she calls out to him with an impish little smirk. "You're just in time to help us with a little maintenance. Plenty of time to nap once I get us skyward, assuming the turbulence isn't too terrible. Actually, I should probably check the weather..." she mutters the last part mostly to herself, before turning around towards the various cockpit sensors and scanners and typing away at various keys and dials.

Spoiler: Flight Planning Scans

Show

Nix is going to try to use the ship's sensors or scanners to see what the weather is going to be like or how turbulent the atmosphere is right now. Also to make sure there's no storms moving in or anything that might disrupt our flight plans.

Dice pool 7 (wits 3, Commtech 2, gear bonus 2)
(7d6)[6][5][5][6][5][6][3](36)

looks like 3 successes on something that probably won't be important, yay

[Hemnon]

Spoiler: Comtech Result

Show

You lucky bastard....
- Gain a +1 modification to a later skill roll relating to this one.
- You don’t need to roll to overcome the exact same challenge in the future.
- You do it quickly, in half the time it would normally take.
- You get new or unexpected information (GM’s choice).
- You hide your tracks.
- You show off.

From the list above, you may pick two of the stunts to put into effect for having a success with 2 additional 6s. You can only take the same stunt 1 time (for that specific roll) unless specifically stated otherwise in the stunt description.

Beyond that, while checking the nav-data and weather-predictions from the flight-guidance system, you notice a small issue with the docking protocols that can easily be fixed with some correctional edits to the automated sequence - Without this, you'd have had issues getting a functional seal when docking in space, which meant it'd require EVA and pushoff over to the other vessel.

Ps. If you pick that you do it quickly, from the stunts above, you will get a rebate of 1 short additional action that can be taken before the deadline - So something like getting something you'd forgotten at home, run a diagnostic on another system, etc. could be possible. Although that's just running the diagnostic, you do not have time to fix it until after you've all left for the couple-of-days spacetrip to the outer edge of the solar system where your salvage ops target is.

AS FOR THE WEATHER and such - it seems like it'd be hot, humid and relatively low in the windpressure, so there won't be much expected turbulence during atmos-flight.

[Haval]

Robert has had no direct experience of working with synths, but he could maybe expect someone who has been programmed to have a particular skill set to know what they're doing. To Nix, 'If he's here doesn't that mean the company is taking whatever this is particularly seriously? I don't know whether to be worried or relived.'

[Monsterpoodle]

Russian Jack looks up at the new arrivals with a little interest. Synths were useful. Never slept on the job. Reliable too and some newcomer who hadn't been in space much. The chances of a successful mission just went up.

"hello, everyone calls me Jack. What do you need to be done?" he asks the girl who, implausibly. appeared to be the pilot.

[Tycho42]

“I am indeed a medical doctor, and pleased to make your acquaintance. Is there a particular place I should set up my workspace? I am...unfamiliar with this vessel.”

[Haval]

“I am indeed a medical doctor, and pleased to make your acquaintance. Is there a particular place I should set up my workspace? I am...unfamiliar with this vessel.”

'I think there's a galley towards the back somewhere. Couldn't say how clean it is. I think we're all just expected to make do.'

[Monsterpoodle]

'This is strange' thought Jack to himself. He knew why him and the pilot were there. You always needed someone for the heavy lifting, but a labcoat and a doctor!

[Lycan 01]

"Yeah, if the guys in suits are sending synths and grunts and bookworms, something is weird about all this..." Nix mutters with a frown as she types at the keyboards and diagnostic screens arrayed in front of her. "No offense," she adds to one on in particular since she probably just insulted all of them. "Need to focus on this a moment. Aaaand... done," she says with a grunt, before hitting one last button and then hopping up from her seat. "Weather's clear, turbulence should be light, and I'm getting an uneasy feeling about all this."

Pacing around the cockpit a moment, she turns and points at George and Jack. "Alright, I need you two to go adjust the proximity sensors around the airlocks outside. Nothing too complicated, but time consuming and you need a keen eye. Make sure all the wires are plugged, no rat nests or anything, and all the seals are tight. System showed they needed a little adjusting, so best to put a little elbow grease into it otherwise we're gonna have a hard time doing any zero-G docking. And I don't feel like going for a space-walk," she grunts with a dour little frown.

She then glances at the Synth. "Ship's got a pretty standard layout, though I agree that the galley would be a good place for you to set up shop. It's already super sanitary for food service, per corporate orders, so if we need to patch anybody up, that's probably the best place to do it. And speaking of corporate..."

Nix's scowl deepens, and she begins to walk towards the exit of the cockpit. "I'm thinking I'm going to go play damsel-in-distress and see if I can get one of the Corporate Overlord wannabes or pencil pushers to tag along with us. That way if things get weirder we can ask them about Weyland-Yutani's protocols or guidance, or so the company can blame them if we don't do everything one thousand percent by the book," she grumbles. "I hate being the only certified sub-light pilot on this damn dirt clod..." she hisses, mostly to herself.

Heading back into the settlement for a bit, she begins to ask around for one of the Weyland-Yutani Corporate Personnel Representatives, preferably a smart but easily manipulated one. She's not one for flirting, but she can definitely play dumb and naive and express concern about performing this job without proper guidance. And plus, a job well done would sure look good to the bosses, right? Might help speed up that corporate ladder climb for everyone involved...

Spoiler

Show

Of the stunts, Nix picked +1 to future related skill roll and do it quickly. With the scans and edit fixed (I believe you said she already performed the edit in the OOC) that just leaves the proximity sensor repair, which you said in the old OOC would be a Heavy Machinery check? The two strong manly men should be able to handle that.

So, with the remaining time Nix is going to go try to manipulate a Corporate Agent into joining us. Both for extra help, and so they can be blamed if it all goes sideways!

...I forgot she has no points in Manipulation, so hopefully I get a bonus for the damsel-in-distress act.

Manipulation: (2d6)[1][6](7)

[Monsterpoodle]

Jack quitly wonders if the kid is making jobs up to sound like she knows what she is talking about. No matter. He is on the clock and technically she probably outranks him on a spaceship. He heads off to fo the job she requested.

Heavy machinery: 7#1d6 5 6 3 6 1 6 4

The kid was right! Someone had been skipping maintenance. He got to work.

[Lycan 01]

Nix ends up having some luck looking for people! After asking around a bit, she finds herself torn between a lawman and a pencil pusher.

...actually she's not torn at all. She opts to drag the corporate suit along for the adventure, because an officer of the law might suck all the fun out of everything and make their job harder, while the soulless company drone might actually be useful or at the very least be a good scapegoat.

"Alright Miss Quark, we're clear to take off in ballpark of an hour," Nix explains to the suit, putting on as pleasant of a smile as she can force. Maybe its petty, but she has a hard time feeling any sort of positive attitude towards anyone who has actual Weyland-Yutani credentials. Watching her parents work themselves to death and then get saddled with their contracts has left her a little... bitter. But she's clever and mature enough to keep it professional and pretend she doesn't hate the bitch. For now. "I'm going back to the ship to get the rest of the pre-flight checks done. We'll see you shortly," she says with a lazy salute and lopsided smile, before turning to head back to the ship.

[Hemnon]

Illyana Quark nodded to Nix, actually eager to get to DO something rather than just dawdle around in this swampy hole of a Frontier Colony. To be clear, this is her point of view, the Colony is specifically located more efficiently than in the middle of a swamp, Illyana is just clearly the kind of young Ladderclimber that's used to climate-controlled living, high class meals on a regular basis and very much being in a coporate society, not a boonies-collection of human cast-off. So the chance to have a few days on board a spacecraft will feel like a vacation to her, even if it's a somewhat more cramped up Corvus Vessel, rather than a Cruise Vessel - Still at least she'd avoid any more offers of Bug Protein Shakes.
---------------------------
Any potential repairs to be done by Jack was done fairly easily, since it was more or less just basic maintenance of lubricating some hydraulics, removal of a few secondary-conduit wiring, etc.

With the last few hours ticking by, the time proscribed by the Ship's MU/TH/UR chimmed in on the bridge of the ship, everyone present and ready to be more fully informed what this job is all about. Oh and with an additional crewmember, namely Illyana Quark. She hadn't really introduced herself, not feeling the need to let the worker grunts be informed further.... rather instead she was busy typing away with her Datapad.

On the main comms-screen between MU/TH/UR and you, the crew, the following text appears, blinking prompter inserting it all as if fast-typed, line for line:
'Mission Start: On time - no delayed noted.'
'Objective: Edge of System Salvage Ops - Derelict Vessel detected, Salvage rights claimed by WY.'
'Clause 43A of the Employment Agreement grants part-salvage rights to contracted crew - 20% shares in salvage value, to be split between crew upon completion.'
*Beep* - Awaiting lift off...... *Beep* - Awaiting lift off...... *Beep* - Awaiting lift off...... *Beep* - Awaiting lift off...... *Beep* - Awaiting lift off...... ---> and so on and so forth did the Prompt keep adding in that lift off was needed from the planet. Time to go get a good pay! these kinds of jobs are rare after all, especially since this is Maritime Law in active use, since it's a derelict vessel, anyone that stakes first active claim, will gain ownerhship rights - you've all be contracted to make this claim on behalf of WY, and will get a 20% salvage profits after completion of the mission and depending on what can be salvaged and the condition, this can be quite lucrative, with Clause 43A protecting your rights as contractors to this share of the profits.... although it's a share that needs to be split up between you all in the end, not 20% each.

[Haval]

Robert is sitting at a terminal with a cup of coffee when Nix returns with Illyana. When the Company Woman was out of earshot he ask Nix about it. 'More bodies is good but does that mean she's in charge of all this now?' He assumed anyone like Quark would naturally want to throw their weight around if they thought it was for the good of the mission.

-----

'Derelict vessel? It's nice when they can be specific. If someone pinged it wouldn't it have any information on where it came from?'

[Lycan 01]

[Pre-Launch]

Catching a moment to slink over to Robert, Nix offers a coy little smile. "She volunteered for this operation to earn points with her bosses, rather than being selected, so she's technically outside the chain of command for this operation. She has an advisory role, no more, no less. If she gets uppity and tries to take the reigns, then you and the boys simply remind her of that. And if that fails, just tell her that only one person here is technically certified and authorized to pilot the ship, and thus is technically the 'acting Captain' for this mission," she whispers with a sly wink.

Nix doesn't actually consider herself in charge, but if push comes to shove, she'll happily play the role of "Acting Captain" to shut the corporate suit up.

---

[Launch]

Nix can only offer a shrug to Robert. "Alright space cowboys, guess it's time to go chop-shop a ghost ship we know nothing about. Get ready too, because this old mule kicks hard on the way up..." Nix says with a wry smirk, as she begins to type in the codes to finalize the launch procedures and flight trajectory. The final countdown begins, and she quickly runs the crew through her quick pre-flight advisory: "Alright, boys and other girl, this is your 'Captain' speaking. Scans showed we're clear as far as the weather and wind currents go, but there's always a chance for pockets of turbulence. So seriously, buckle up. Its company policy that we all stay strapped in until we hit the void, and I don't want my cut of the reward getting penalized because one of you decided to kiss a bulkhead before we even break atmosphere. All the other pre-flight checks came back clear, and no other red flags to speak of. So, with that said... Hold on to your butts, don't touch anything, and I'll kill you if you throw up on me," she deadpans she grips the throttle and prepares to take them to the stars.

[Haval]

Robert chuckles 'I think I can live with that.' Being able to overrule Illyana on something might be enough to justify this job all by itself.

---------

Robert will strap himself in. Equally deadpan, 'Turbulence I can live with. Just remember, if there's anything seriously wrong with the ship feel free not to tell me. I prefer the surprise.'

[Monsterpoodle]

'a derelict salvage vessel', that was great news. Although something still seemed off. They weren't in a hauler class vessel, and their crew roster still seemed way-off for that sort of mission, and now a pencil-pusher. He would try to look good around her. It might push him up tbe line if more jobs like this came along.

Jack idly mused over this stuff as the ship clawed it's way out of the atmosphere.

[Haval]

Once the ship reached the atmosphere and it was safe to move about, Robert is going to go and have a chat with MU/TH/UR. He's not expecting to get anywhere but he had to try.

'MU/TH/UR, how was the derelict detected in the first place? Has the company been able to identify it or establish any opinions about where it might of come from?' If the ship was a derelict company vessel then it might be easy to identify. Presumably they had a list of all the ships they lost over the years. If it was from outside company space they could try and work which region of the galaxy it had originated from. 'Honestly, the fact that a derelict drifted into an inhabited system at all is fairly remarkable.'

[Hemnon]

In response, MU/TH/UR's communications Terminal fuzzed over for a short moment.

*Prompt blinks for 4 seconds......*

Derelict Vessel, Estimated in G-Class Size -
Derelict Vessel was detected through This Ship's Sensor, combined with Colony Comms locating the passive locator beacon from Derelict Vessel.
*Beep*
Derelict Vessel remains unresponsive to all Comms attempt.
Derelict Vessel Designation & Classification - Unknown. Vessel is NOT suspected as Wayland-Yutani Company property.
Original Destination and Origin Point Remains Unknown.

MU/TH/UR remains unresponsive towards the final remark, mostly since typing such statements to an AI is fairly useless, no matter how remarkable it is that the Derelict Vessel had ended up randomly so in an inhabited system.

As a final note, just before Robert would either leave or return to typing, MU/TH/UR gave another response -
Gravity Drive Arrival Suspected - Unable to further specify due to distance.
*Prompt then keeps passively blinking, awaiting any further input.*

[Haval]

That the ship seemed to have come here on purpose just raised more questions, 'Assuming MU/TH/UR is correct, then whoever it is came here on purpose, which given we're in the arse end of nowhere seems a little weird. Were we the closest inhabited planet?' Robert is mostly thinking out loud. 'Maybe their comms are broken?'