The ORION Files (Closed/Started)

Generic NPC 22

The Most Generic of NPCs
Jul 12, 2012
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The Orion Files | Tortuga | Sweet Child of Mine | Hanger
It was Space Deer...
Irina Rostikova | Edward Aubergine​
[hr]

Looking down at the ship's diagnostic display, Orion Company's mechanically minded merchant sighed loudly as she isolated the source of the fuel leak. There were four sets of gouges, each one was the width of a certain augmented A.I.'s feet, in the ship's relatively thin hull, one of which had intersected with a fuel line, severing it nearly. It would be a relatively easy fix, one that could have even been done via EVA were it not for the fact that even if the leak was repaired, there was still no fuel.

"
Code:
Hey Kitty, it's Red,
" Mary's tinny voice squawked over the shuttle's cheaply made communications array and causing the less than professional pilot to smile. There were few moments in Irina's life that she had been happy to hear a human's voice over comms but this was one of those times, "
Code:
You had any other failures or just the fuel lines?
"

"It's just the fuel lines... I think I hit some micro-debris... or... some sort of creature, attracted by the ship's lights, collided with the hull... or something," Irina said, practicing the lie that she would tell the rental company since that's what space hazard insurance was for.

"
Code:
[b]This is Walker, everyone meet up in the briefing room within probably thirty minutes. If you need me, just message me[/b]
" The comms crackled again as Captain Walker decided to make an announcement.

"I do not believe that we will be attending this briefing if we are forced to wait for the rental company to send a repair and refueling shuttle. The Killer Commando Cat that was clinging to the side of the rental, "Perhaps we could request transport from one of the local transport services and have the owners of this barely space worthy piece of y'ta leavings haul it back to their hanger."

From inside the shuttle, Irina considered the suggestion. While the shuttle company would surely attempt to collect some sort of fee for the damage to the shuttle, there was no doubt that they would attempt to collect more than the shuttle. However, in order to ensure that the charge looked legitimate, the company would be forced to pick up the ailing shuttle prior to making any claims so that would give Irina some time to move funds around, leaving only enough to cover repairs.

"Okay. I'll contact the shuttle rental office as soon as we're aboard the sweetie but until then..." Irina paused long enough to type in a message into the communications computer, "I'll set the ship to broadcast a warning signal so that no one gets into a collision with this hunk of junk."

"Hey Mary? You think you could go grab a shuttle from the Sweetie and pick us up? The Captain wants us there in 30 minutes... so you'll have to be fast. You think you could do that?" The Catican coercer called out to the previously involved in the pirate life pilot in a tone that sounded kind of like a challenge.
 

Athol

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She heard Walker?s announcement, but cut the channel before he could finish. Later Boss-man, kinda busy?

"Hey Mary? You think you could go grab a shuttle from the Sweetie and pick us up? The Captain wants us there in 30 minutes... so you'll have to be fast. You think you could do that?"

Mary grinned inside her helmet to no one in particular. ?No, really?? She replied. ?I was going to suggest you lot just jump off of that crap can and let momentum carry you back?but seriously, yeah, keep your fur on I?ll be back in a tic.?

Taking a lazy circuit of the stricken craft, she then did a short burn to bring her back to the large freighter that she?d just launched from. Landing without ceremony, she left her personal hanger and hoofed it across Sweety to her own shuttle bays. A quick rundown later, Mary was back in space and clipping towards the disabled rental ship. Depressurizing her ship, Mary opened the main cargo hatch and brought it alongside the two figures locked to the outside. ?Alright folks,? She smirked. ?Taxi?s here. It?s 50 creds a click, an extra 30 if we gotta stop for snack and a 100 if?n ya spew, oh and no pets.?

Listening to the local comm chatter, she couldn?t help but chuckle at Irina?s chipper response.
"Looks like you're stuck on the shuttle, Edward, " Or Ed-plant?s grumbled reply even as he unlocked himself from the stricken craft and vaulted the short distance into the open cargo bay of Mary?s shuttle. "Want me to tune your engines while I'm back here?" Irina continued, before remembering the fact that they were going to have to cross the distance between the shuttle and Mary's ship, "So... how are we going to do this?"

?Contain the calamity that is your mammaries.? Mary laughed as Shanoa made the jump as well. Once the AI was in place, she shifted her position to bring the open cargo door in line with the main door of the rental. ?Alright Kitty, I?m off your port side.? Using an external camera, Mary watched the door open and the slim figure of Irina look dubiously at the void between the two craft. It wasn?t until Edward stepped into the open hatchway and extended two arms that Irina hopped.

Once the telltale lights told her the shuttle was sealed, she pushed away on maneuvering thrusters before coming about and returning home. A soft ?clunk? announced their landing, and once the all clear was given and the hanger holding air once more, Mary dropped the shuttle?s rear ramp. ?That?ll be 80 credits plus gratuity.? She quipped as she climbed out of the pilot?s seat. ?Guess we should go see what the Boss wants?hopefully it?s about a paying job.?
 

Lunar Templar

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Once the shuttle landed back at the ship Shanoa disembarked, and headed back to her little corner of the ship with an odd wobble to her walk.

Thanks to a few trips to Sal's during the week for the initial upgrades she had spare parts, but getting fixed up wasn't an issue. The issue was handling the Anti-Armor mode, which caused her to wonder how she'd handled it before. Her first thought was just steal a heavier duty quadrupedal drone then she had right now, and use that for anything that would call for more shooting then sneaking. That plan had quite a few pros to it, with the only real 'con' being availability.

For now though she just shut her frame down and uploaded into the ship to go to this meeting, leaving a rather
in place of her usual avatar, to signify she was there and listening.
 

Evrant-Knight

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"Ugggh..." Said pit with a groan filled sigh after Velka had finished talking, clearly, he still wasn't happy with her presence onboard the Sweet Child of Mine; and she doubted that anything would actually make him change his mind, aside from saving him perhaps, even then that was suspect. Pitt appeared to want to start ranting, but Captain Walker quickly stepped in before the paranoid little human got underway.

"Trust me Velka, you wouldn't want to stay here after five minutes of hearing Pitt rant about something," Looking back between the Captain and Pitt, Velka could see a look of pure hatred emanating from the engineer, though he soon appeared to snap out of it and finally got around to starting his little rant about the supposedly 'shoddy' nature of the work that had been done over the week.


"Oh and Velka, Meet up at the briefing room within ten minutes. Going to go over what we go to do to pay this off." Walker said, taking another sip from his hip flask before heading into the ship.

"Understood Captain," Velka responded with, adding in a short salute before returning her attention towards Pitt. The thought of simply pressing a gun to the forehead of the engineer, a clawed finger of hers resting gently on the trigger as she made a threat of violence towards him if he didn't improve his behaviour towards those like herself and Shanoa had crossed her mind; but her conscience, or 'programming', if you wanted to talk technical, discouraged such an action, citing that it would do more to sour relations than it would help mend them and that something must have happened to Pitt to warrant such behaviour.

"Look, Pitt, I know you dislike those like me and Miss Shanoa, though I think dislike would be putting it mildly; but the fact of the matter is, we are here for the long haul, and we have to try working together, despite the animosity, if we're going to get back at people like the Chronus Corporation who have done wrong to us, who have quite possibly sullied the good name of this vessel with their cowardly deeds and dishonorable actions." Velka then paused for a moment, a hand to her face in thought as she pondered her next actions.

"I know that we will never become friends, that much I can see, but could we, at the very least, have a neutral working relationship?" She then asked rhetorically, leaving it more as something for the engineer to think on. Breathing a small sigh, she turned to look at Pitt directly, having mostly avoided his baleful gaze until now.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, it appears to I have a mission briefing to attend. Good day, Chief Engineer." Velka then turned around and headed towards the direction of the briefing room.
 

Texas Joker 52

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Sweet Child of Mine | Tortuga Shipyard | Peace Lily Container/Hangar
"Talk about a mood-killer."
[hr]

The crew's would-be Shree Ace Pilot had only just gotten changed into her pilots jumpsuit when she heard the chime of the Sweetie's intercom. She turned a little with a look of mild irritation and passing curiosity when she heard Elliot's voice.

-Hello, Mar. Elliot here. I understand you've been working on a new piece of work, but it hasn't been out for a test flight yet. Why not work out some of the kinks with the Archer? We can even fire some of our decoys as obstacles.-

A grin quickly worked it's way across her face as she chimed back.

"You bet! Hopping in the Peace Lily now. Launching in ten!" she told him excitedly.

She had just slid into the pilot's chair and had gotten her hands on the controls when she heard another intercom chime.

-This is Walker, everyone meet up in the briefing room within probably thirty minutes. If you need me, just message me.-

As the hardened canopy of her fighter hissed open, Mar irritably threw her helmet to one side of the shipping container. The matter of timing was just typical. And frustrating to no end.

"Are you kidding me?! Fucking cockpit block..." she grumbled before she slid out and made sure to ping Elliot again, saying, "Test flight's on hold, meeting first. Half-a-standard-hour isn't long enough to put a ship like this through her paces properly anyway..."

Giving the cockpit a pat as it shut itself behind her, she made her way out into the ships halls. But first making a pit-stop in her quarters, to change into something more appropriate for a meeting than a skintight jumpsuit. The moment she stepped into the meeting room, she was immediately acutely aware of the fact that Mary was there.

This hadn't been the first time she had to encounter someone after one-night-stand like this, so the Shree spared a single glance in her direction before scanning the room to see who else had arrived. There was a holographic avatar that was presumably a stand-in for Shanoa, while Irina and Ed were just settling in themselves. That just left Velka, Resha, Pitt, Grace, Elliot, Brian and Walker unaccounted for. And she didn't remember seeing Brian since they arrived at Tortuga, or Resha not long afterward.

Settling into one of the chairs, she sat back and sighed.

"Just about to go on a test flight too..." she muttered dejectedly.
 

Athol

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After leaving the kitty trio to get themselves sorted out in the shuttle bay, Mary headed for the briefing room and snagged herself a seat. Shortly, some of the others began to file in as well?including Mar. She watched as the slightly irritated shree made glancing eye contact before looking away. You done fucked up haven?t you? She chastised herself. One of the few beings on this tub that may be worth a damn, and you go and fuck things up.

Mar?s reaction to their night together had caught her off guard; in her past experiences if everyone had had fun, you might?ve continued hooking up if and when the mood seemed right, and if not, you brushed if off as a ?learning experience? and just went about things like normal?Mar?s coldly professional response had been a shock?it was as if Mary was back in the Navy.

Biting back a sigh, she took a long pull from her flask. Well done idiot. She was tempted to go over and try to talk to Mar, but she was afraid she?d just make things worse. A couple more drinks and a few more broody thoughts, and then seemingly out of nowhere, she slapped herself hard with her empty right hand. Since when did you start worrying about making an ass of yourself? A small smile crept across her face and she chuckled. Pocketing the nearly depleted flask she got up and moved over to the ex-racer, dropping into an empty seat beside her.

?Hey tall stuff,? She said quietly. ?What?s eating you? Or not as the case may be.?
 

FalloutJack

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While they had sent out the call to Mar for their little test challenge, a message had popped up on their machine. Grace handled it on another console so that Elliot could talk with the Shree uninterrupted. It was from Captain Williams, which meant that it was important. He reported that not only was the news about their previous mission hot, but it was also being swept under the rug. Still, he promised information, and Grace silently read it as Mar responded in the positive to them. They were just about to get underway, when...

-This is Walker, everyone meet up in the briefing room within probably thirty minutes. If you need me, just message me.-

Elliot groaned.

"Walker, not now."

Cockpit-blocked was the best way to put it. Mar replied again, stating that half an hour would never be enough time to test her ship.

"I agree. We'll report to the meeting room to chew the Captain out about it."

He signed off, and then noticed something on scanners.

"Uhh...Grace?"

"Yes, Elliot?"

"You're not gonna like this, either."

The white-haired merc paused in her reading, then sighed, guessing what it was about.

"What did she do, this time?"

"Looks like she fastened an oversized cannon to a shuttle, then wretched it something fierce after firing it. You can guess what that did to the hardware."

There was a decided THUMP from the other console, followed by a soft groan. Right now, the two of them felt... Well, you see, there's this ship enthusiast show [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMGs63MsSBI&list=PLy__jI0S-hVJauykt8ljZXY6jO04nTn2b] with a well-known presenter who was...admittedly kind of an ass, but was also entertaining and fun. And whenever one of his co-presenters were a problem, he'd make remarks like 'Every bone in his crotch. That's what I'm going to break.'. This was the sentiment that those two felt about Walker and Irina, right about now.

So! They were headed off to the meeting, and they were discussing the information they'd received from Captain Williams. This was definitely starting to have all the hallmarks of an evil mastermind trying to pull things in the background, all sneaky-like. What'd they call it? A Xanatos Gambit? Sounded about right. They arrived at the place with several people still unaccounted for, such as Walker and Pitt. Pitt would, of course, be busy. So, if he showed up at all, it was to tell Walker he was busy, which Elliot kind of wished he could tell him now. They were just walking in as Mary spoke to Mar.

"I'll tell you what. We were going to help her test out her ship with our own, something to unwind with and put her craft through some trials, and Walker interrupts out of the blue, like nothing can wait. We all know Pitt's going over the Sweet Child with a fine-toothed comb right now, so this would be the exact wrong time to get her moving."
 

Outcast107

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Pitt

Pitt watch as the stupid cyborg...mech..WHATEVER walk away as he huff in annoyance. Mumbling to himself in angry as he didn't know he was still mad about the hack job these fools did to his ship or from Velka little 'chat.' He felt like he needed a hard drink but since they were probably going to go out soon, that would be a bad idea. Looking at the time as he sighs and heads towards the briefing room. Not paying attention to anyone there as he went to a chair and sat down. Wondering where Walker was since he should have been here by now.

Walker

Walker was halfway towards the Prisoner holding area as he stops and looks at the clock. He had about fifteen more minutes to chat but felt like it would take to long and he didn't want to appear late to his crew. 'Another time..' He said to himself as he heads towards the meeting room. Which he would arrive after everyone else. Going to the main chair and sitting down. "Alright everyone, I hope I didn't keep you waiting long. Now I want to apologize for keeping us here for so long. That wasn't part of the plan but Mr.Watts so gracefully did a..improvement to the ship on his request. Finding our ship a bit lackluster in defense for his shipment we are delivering."

Walker then hit a button on the table in front of everyone and an image pop up. "For starters, we got a new 'Offical' ID for the ship so we won't be harassed when we have to go into TGR controlled worlds, Sensors were also upgraded, we also got Electronic Warfare capabilities, and some point defense lasers..though they aren't the best, they are better then what we normally had," Walker said as he then hit the next button. "If anyone has questions or want more details about our upgrades "I can send an official list of what we got. Now that we got that out of the way, we now have our next mission."

"Mr.Watts has asked us to deliver something for him. While he didn't go into much detail about what it is, at the request of the client. He did reassure me that it is not illegal to carry. We are to go to the drop off point. Ask the code once the client shows up and once he gives it. Drop off the cargo with a beacon and let them pick it up while we leave. Then we are free from Mr.Watts and be on our way. Now any questions or comments?"
 

Generic NPC 22

The Most Generic of NPCs
Jul 12, 2012
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The Orion Files | Tortuga | Sweet Child of Mine |
And suddenly they were in a briefing...
Irina Rostikova | Edward Aubergine​
[hr]

The face palm was not an expression widely used by members of the Catican Hegemony, nor were most members of the Catican Hegemony aware of the expression, since there was little call for its use. It was a widely known fact that all conversations between Caticans, barring those of the Casteless, involved deeply thought out ideas and facts, eliminating the chance of one of the parties looking unintelligent. Irina, by virtue of her repeated exposure to Terran culture, was well aware of this physical expression and promptly placed her forehead in the palm of her right hand, shaking her head as she did.

"Now any questions or comments?"

Just to be clear Mechani-Cat... well the one that had a fleshy body and didn't go by the name Shani... would have commented regardless if she'd had the Captain's permission or not because to put it in plain and simple terms...

"This is stupid..." The Imperfect Pilot pointed out, "no offense, Captain, but you really think that it's a smart idea to be doing a transport run without knowing exactly what we're carrying? I mean it could be a load of genetically pure Terran steer or it could be an ancient relic that reanimates dead flesh..."

"That exists?" A suddenly concerned Cat-Ship-Trooper asked quite suddenly.

"No... that doesn't exist...but that's besides the point," Irina commented before maneuvering the conversation back on topic, "I'm sure the crew would be fine with hauling anything if the pay was right but we still have to take precautions in case the principal client is setting us up or to avoid destroying whatever we're supposed to be carrying... and remember that just because it's not illegal to carry something doesn't mean that it's legal either."

It was pretty clear that Irina was not at all happy with the mission that they'd been assigned. She had considered that this was the Captain's idea of a Milk Run designed to revive the crew's ailing morale after the last failure of a mission but they still needed to be safe. With the crew of the Sweet Child of Mine being blamed for the destruction of Sayseria, the last place that the ship should have been was TGR space.

"Captain, I'm not opposed to this mission, but I think we should make sure all our ducks, whatever those are, are in a row before we tip toe into TGR space...
 

Anti-American Eagle

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Brian walked somewhat detached through the station as he returned to the ship. The trip to the Red Market was a fruitful one as their products swimmed carefully through his bloodstream.

The NKT derived Kolokol buzzed happily through his system, bypassing all of his immuno responses, and left him with a mild cottony feeling in his mouth. A feeling he was happy to enjoy, set apart from everything else, and he'd enjoy to enjoy at his whim having bought rights to manufacturing instructions- as well as instructions to a more refined synthetic NKT.

The nanites he ignored the work of as they went through his system, silently adjusting the various implants throughout his overworked body and installing new venari tracker modules into his nervous and optic systems. The injection sites having healed over within a moment and the blindness by the time he'd left the clinic.

These "four" services long ago payed for and only now finished and claimed, diagnostics and adjustments being a constant necessity of the work done on his body and the others being things ordered or designated by him as wants when he'd heard of the projects developing them. There were hundreds already designated by him. Funded over his life by his work, and what he'd kept from black budgets across various accounts hidden and laundered between them. Most never saw results. That was the nature of the market.

Hours or days passed as he walked through the station, he wasn't sure, and eventually he returned to the ship. And then to the bridge after he'd set himself up again.

After the brief briefing he asked something simple, "How large is the cargo?"
 

Texas Joker 52

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Sweet Child of Mine | Tortuga Shipyard | Meeting Room
"This reeks of bad business."
[hr]

Mar watched as Mary made her way over out of the corner of her eye, and part of her wondered what exactly the ex-pirate had planned. Especially since they left things on an awkward note after their one-night-stand. But when she asked what was bothering her, the Shree merely exhaled a half-laugh, half-sigh. Before she could answer, Elliot did her the honor.

"I'll tell you what. We were going to help her test out her ship with out own, something to unwind with and put her craft through some trials, and Walker interrupts out of the blue, like nothing can wait. We all know Pitt's going over the Sweet Child with a fine-toothed comb right now, so this would be the exact wrong time to get her moving."

"What he said," Mar told her with a jerk of her thumb toward Elliot, "I was really looking forward to her maiden flight, too!"

That was when Walker strode in, and she went quiet as he began to explain why exactly he had them all gathered there. Apparently, a Mr. Watts had decided to 'improve' the Sweet Child of Mine. And that improvement was meant to better defend a shipment for him. That alone caused Mar's brow ridges to wing up, and the corners of her mouth to curve downward in a suspicious frown.

He went on to say that those improvements included a new 'Official' ID for the Sweetie, point defense lasers, an Electronic Warfare suite, upgraded Sensors, and possibly more that he didn't mention. What the shipment itself was was apparently kept confidential, something that Mar figured was only a little suspicious, but the mention of it not being illegal made her wonder. The rest of what Walker described sounded like a largely standard hand-off. Go to these coordinates, confirm the buyer, then drop it off for them to pick up. Still, the whole deal raised red flags.

"Now any questions or comments?"

Irina was the first to speak up, and she voiced some of Mar's own concerns.

"I'm sure the crew would be fine with hauling anything if the pay was right but we still have to take precautions in case the principal client is setting us up or to avoid destroying whatever we're supposed to be carrying... and remember that just because it's not illegal to carry something doesn't mean that it's legal either. Captain, I'm not opposed to this mission, but I think we should make sure all our ducks, whatever those are, are in a row before we tip toe into TGR space..."

"I agree with Irina. We may need the money, but I think we shouldn't dig ourselves even deeper into trouble. As a former smuggler, I think I can safely say that a job like this would be right in my wheelhouse. And this feels wrong." she cautioned.

But she was a little startled when she heard Brian's voice as he asked about the size of the cargo. When had he come in? And where exactly had he been? Shaking her head a little bit as she shoved that question to the back of her mind, she shrugged.

"Well, in my experience, modular tramp freighter's like the Sweetie should be able to handle all but the biggest and heaviest of cargo. So unless this Mr. Watts wants us to haul something classified as, I don't know... Ultra-heavy? We should be able to haul it. The real question is if we really want to haul unknown cargo for an employer whose reputation I'm certainly not at all familiar with, while we're also on the run from the TGR, among others, for war crimes we didn't actually commit." Mar explained.
 

Athol

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When Elliot came over and spoke up, she could help but glare at him briefly; partially because she was still annoyed about Grace and him following the two of them, and partially because she?d been hoping to talk the Mar alone. You could have gotten off your ass and talked to her at any point you know?

Taking her own mental chastisement with a flicker of a grimace, she then offered Mar a sympathetic smile. ?Ouch, I can relate. I got some work done on my ship and was really looking forward to testing it when those three busted their rental and needed to be saved.? As she spoke she waved a hand towards Irina, Ed and Shanoa?s holo avatar. ?Fucking cockpit blockers??

Sitting back in her seat, she listened to Walker give a rundown of what?d been done to Sweety and a quick overview of the job in hand; as several of the others expressed concerns about said job, she found herself raising a hand to get everyone?s attention.

?If I may, Boss?? After Walker gave her a little ?go ahead? nod, she sat up and looked about. ?To those of you with doubts about accepting this job, all I have to say is?we don?t have a much of a choice. Mister Watts is also known as ?The Shipbreaker? or ?The guy who owns this dock and who?s people have been installing our new gear?. This job is our way of starting to pay off the debt we owe?and if anyone is worried about him trying to double cross us, don?t be. He needs reliable carriers that aren?t known pirates, so we are far more useful as we are right now, and if he gained a reputation for trying to indenture crews to him, he?d run out of friends really fast.?

Sitting back once more, Mary pulled out her flask and took a swig before smiling. ?Plus he likes me; I?ve been good for business over the years.?
 

Lunar Templar

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Shanoa snickered to her self a little at Mary's jab. "Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of my sweet new/old rifle." she snarked, her avatar switching to the image of her mechanical body, rifle mounted on the back and all, though the size of a remote controlled toy, and 'pew pew'ed at Mary a couple times, before switching back the the more adorable avatar she had.

"As for the job it self, meh, it's better then doing nothing, and besides getting in on the local Shipwrights good side would be to our benefit in the long term, for numerous reasons, that I'm sure you all can come up with on your own." Shanoa adding her two cents to the debate on the mission. "Besides, a quick nothing job like this will give me time to work on a few things, Speaking of." Shanoa's avatar turning back toward Mary.

"Mary, come see me later, I have something you might be able to save me some time on."
 

Evrant-Knight

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Velka waited for Shanoa to finish her contribution before speaking. "Whilst some of us may have issues working for an individual such as Mister Watts, given that, to many of us, he is an unknown; as Mary has so eloquently put it, we don't exactly have many other alternatives if we want to pay off the retrofit fees, well, pay them off in a, legal manner at the very least," She stated, playing something akin to a devil's advocate in the current situation.

"Mary, would I be right in assuming that, given his level of authority, Mister Watts has the means to extract payment from us, should we either refuse to do the job or bail entirely?" She asked the pirate, mercenary, whatever it was that she labelled herself as; who responded by giving a half-nod of confirmation, commenting that; "Whilst all I've heard are just rumours of what he can do to ya, it's those rumours that keep people from doing anything stupid."


"And right now, given our current situation, I doubt any of us wants to do something stupid right?" Velka asked rhetorically with her hands crossed and resting on the table.

"That aside, I do have a question Captain. Did Mister Watts make mention of anyone who might come after this cargo, whatever it is? Might we be expecting trouble?"
 

FalloutJack

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Why was he not surprised? Why did it just not surprise him to find out the that reason Walker wanted them all for discussion was about a job that they weren't ready for AND that it was dubious by half? Elliot leaned back in his chair and let the drama unfold. First, after the brief and thoroughly understandable pre-meeting Walker grumble, in comes Rick himself with the job in question. A little cargo run, with the client speaking on behalf of the real client, and little to no real details to go on. It was a pick-up and drop-off with 'the greatest assurance' that the cargo which they were not being informed on the contents of wasn't illegal to carry. In Elliot's mind, this last part was either a half-truth or a complete lie, and either case left them in hot water - hotter than they were already in - if they were caught. Now, it was good that they didn't know what the cargo was, in that they could deny knowledge truthfully, but it was bad in that it could be potentially dangerous, or even that an interested party might not care whether they knew or not.

Quite a conundrum.

Now, naturally, when Walker asked for questions and comments, the others were saying all the right things. They were concerned about the cargo, whether any inch of this could be trusted, if they were even in any shape to do this, and - of course - how much of a necessity this was to them, right now, rather than chilling for a while. The answers were - in order - they weren't being told what the cargo was and only where it goes and how to drop it, probably none of it at all, they could technically perform the task that was requested, and that they owed Mr. Watts a fair deal because of his services. Elliot didn't like it, and if HE didn't like it, Grace's even greater unwillingness to throw herself to the wolves made her not like it either. Objectively, it stank, and they all knew it. Even with the knowledge that it stank, it still stank. They didn't know who this was for or what it was about, the man they were dealing with was their benefactor and - let's just face it - a pirate, and it was starting to become clear why Pitt was so worried.

So, with the others having spoken up, Elliot pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and opened up on the subject.

"I don't shoot blind on missions, Walker. People get hurt. I mean, on the first part, our client's helped us, but our client is also a pirate. On the off chance that we're to be sacrificed for his lucrative benefit, I'd prefer to treat him as a hostile client."

That's like a hostile witness in a court case, but the client. Meaning, you back him into corners and give him no wiggle room, or you work around him even if it's on the sly, so you stay ahead of the knife. Elliot glanced Mary's way with a smirk.

"No offense, mind you. It's just that if the money were really good for some reason, he'd leap for it and expect you to understand because you've both been in the same sort of business, in a sort of 'You'd do the same in my boots' kind of way."

Now, back to facing Walker and the general assembly of crew.

"If we're being given little or no option, I say that we skew it heavily in our favor and get all the information that he's not telling us. We don't do something stupid like upset the cargo, since they'll check for that, but the nature of this thing says that someone will want to pry it from our cold, dead hands...regardless of whether or not we'd give it freely. So, we get him to confide or we determine what it is ourselves. The secret will be that we know, not that we don't know. It'll have to be done carefully, though, which reminds me..."

He looked over at Shanoa's avatar now, as well as Irina's.

"Because I don't trust Mr. Watts, would you two do me the great favor of giving everything his people installed a once-over? I imagine Pitt would be doing the same out of habit, and right now I think that's probably for best. It'd probably be done quicker if there were some scans performed."

"That's assuming Irina can pilot the drones without crashing them."

That was...well, she had that coming. Lastly, Elliot looked over at Rick.

"Walker, we need to talk to you after the meeting in private."
 

Outcast107

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Walker let Mary talk and explain most of what he was going to say. He really didn't like this mission all that much as well due to a lot of what ifs and things being kept from them. Though Mister Watts was gracious enough to do more then what was asked from Walker. After Mary finish explaining, some others wanted more questions which Walker was happy to provide.

"That aside, I do have a question Captain. Did Mister Watts make mention of anyone who might come after this cargo, whatever it is? Might we be expecting trouble?"

"From what Mister Watts said, no. There 'shouldn't' be any trouble at all. Though that doesn't mean unforeseen shit could hit the fan."After this, Elliot spoke up and Walker let him have the floor. A lot of what he said Walker knew made sense but could they do it without anyone knowing?

As Walker thought about it, he heard Elliot say, "Walker, we need to talk to you after the meeting in private." Walker snapped out of his thoughts and return focus to Elliot.

"Understood and to say a few things about your idea Elliot. Its good but can we make sure no one finds out about our little snooping? While I loved to find out more about what we are carrying and who the client is, I rather not upset the boat too much that it causes all of us to go overboard..." Walker wonders if the non-human crew got that metaphor but he pressed on. "Second, before we even leave I was going to have our tech experts work on seeing if they rigged anything on the Sweety. Even some of stuff they didn't refit just to be extra safe."
 

Generic NPC 22

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The Orion Files | Tortuga | Sweet Child of Mine | Briefing Room
Where's the beef pilot?
Irina Rostikova | Edward Aubergine​
[hr]

Is he would have in his previous life as a soldier, Edward Aubergine remained silent for the majority of the briefing. Regardless of how he felt, it was not his place to question the Captain's choice of missions nor was it his place to object to what could have been perceived as a critical lack of intelligence. As long as he and Irina were members of Orion Company, where ever Captain Walker pointed, the Former Shock Trooper would deploy. Besides, he had been assigned missions with even less to go on.

To summarize the mission, the Sweet Child of Mine was being contracted by a man known as Mister Watt, a merchant of some influence who had assisted in retrofitting the freighter with upgraded weapons and equipment. The mission was to deliver a cargo container whose contents was unknown but, as Mister Watt had assured Captain Walker, completely legal. Once the cargo had been delivered to the rendezvous, which was likely within the Terran Grand Republic due to the fact that Mister Watt had outfitted the Sweet Child of Mine with a false ship registry, they were to jettison the cargo with a beacon and leave the area while the client moved to recover the cargo.

The mission in itself was rather simple and would require very little participation from Edward since it was unlikely that they would be boarding an enemy vessel or dropping down on a planet. Between jumps, it was likely that Irina would be patrolling the surrounding area with her drones...

"That's assuming Irina can pilot the drones without crashing them." Grace muttered, her contents of her words teased a bit of curiosity from the Catastrophic Killer Kitty. It was almost as if she had read Edward's mind and made a comment about his strategy. While he would have liked to inquire about her telepathic potential, there was something more important to tend, a something named Irina, who was at that moment bristling in response to Grace's comment and was probably contemplating gouging the woman's eyes out with a sharpened set of claws.

A reassuring hand placed on his partner's should caused her to calm down long enough for the Giant Gun Toting Titan to intervene on her behalf.

"I assure you, Grace, that Irina's skills with her drones are unparalleled. She will be able to not only complete the ship and cargo scans, she can patrol the area around the Sweet Child of Mine between jumps so that we aren't forced to send our pilots out on CAP." Edward said evenly, his eyes glancing at Mary and Mar as he mentioned that Irina would spare them the boredom of flying in formation with the freighter between jumps. He paused for a moment as he realized that he had only looked at two of the three pilots. Glancing over to the Captain he made an inquiry, "Have you seen Resha?"
 

mcpop9

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With the questions her medical safety coming to an inconclusive decision, she decided that attempting to come into contact with her people again was her best bet and sitting aboard a freighter and getting tied down to political events by the group. coming to a silent decision, she get her shit together and blasting "highway to hell" in the cockpit, tore off outside the ship, attempting to make way out of the system via hitching a jump underneath another ship. And like that, the strange girl and her ship were gone.
 

Evrant-Knight

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"From what Mister Watts said, no. There 'shouldn't' be any trouble at all. Though that doesn't mean unforeseen shit could hit the fan." Replied the Captain as the element of logic within his statement made sense. Do not safely assume that nothing was going to happen, it is better to have a plan in place and not need to resort to it; then need one and not have it. Elliot then put forward his two credits on the matter and then asked to have a private conversation with the Captain later.

"Understood and to say a few things about your idea Elliot. Its good but can we make sure no one finds out about our little snooping? While I loved to find out more about what we are carrying and who the client is, I rather not upset the boat too much that it causes all of us to go overboard..." Velka did admit that remark was unfamiliar to her, whilst she had certainly worked with and conversed with Terrans on a number of occasions in the past; this was one of the few instances where their rather 'unique terminology' had stumped her. Reshani vocabulary was more concise and straightforward by comparison.

After a brief search on similar phrases, Velka concluded that it was appropriate usage in their situation, after all, ORION Company was something in a tight spot after the disastrous mission and being potentially branded as outlaws, even if the evidence was roughshod at best. To cause complications after being given a figurative second chance, Velka did not like their chances.


"One last question Captain, would it be perhaps prudent that some of us provide overwatch during the transfer and drop off of the cargo? Just in case, you know, shit hits the fan?"
 

Texas Joker 52

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Jun 25, 2011
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Sweet Child of Mine | Tortuga Shipyard | Meeting Room
"Beggars can't be choosers, but they really wish they could be."
[hr]

Mar appreciated Mary's voiced sympathies. She returned a slightly pained smile of her own as she mentioned how she had her own issues regarding a test flight thanks to Shanoa, Irina and Ed, and even snickered a little as she used the term 'cockpit blocker' in the process.

"To those of you with doubts about accepting this job, all I have to say is...we don't have a much of a choice. Mister Watts is also known as 'The Shipbreaker' or 'The guy who owns this dock and who's people have been installing our new gear'. This job is our way of starting to pay off the debt we owe...and if anyone is worried about him trying to double cross us, don't be. He needs reliable carriers that aren't known pirates, so we are far more useful as we are right now, and if he gained a reputation for trying to indenture crews to him, he'd run out of friends really fast. Plus he likes me; I've been good for business over the years."

Those were good points, but not enough to truly allay Mar's fears of what could go wrong. There were still too many red flags for her to be comfortable with this, but given the fact that it was part of the conditions behind the Sweetie's refit... They didn't exactly have much of a choice.

The Shree sat back, arms crossed as the others voiced their own thoughts on the matter. Shanoa, for her part, didn't seem to mind the arrangement. Velka was concerned about Watts, or Shipbreaker, extracting payment of some other kind if they didn't do the job, or that someone may try to come and claim the cargo from their wreckage. Elliot brought up that point himself, as well as mentioning his own worries regarding the abundance of unknowns around this job. Mar found herself nodding as he spoke.

"If we're being given little or no option, I say that we skew it heavily in our favor and get all the information that he's not telling us. We don't do something stupid like upset the cargo, since they'll check for that, but the nature of this thing says that someone will want to pry it from our cold, dead hands...regardless of whether or not we'd give it freely. So, we get him to confide or we determine what it is ourselves. The secret will be that we know, not that we don't know. It'll have to be done carefully, though..."

Walker approved of both the information gathering, as well as double-checking everything added or otherwise messed with--along with quite a few of the important systems that weren't--during the refit, but told them to be careful. Irina had drone support taken care of for between-jumps as Ed pointed out, so that, along with Velka's suggestion for security during the loading of their cargo, covered at least some of their bases.

"I still feel uneasy about all of this," she said before she rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles for both pairs of hands, "But I can get us where we need to go. If we're lucky, this should be a fairly standard dead-drop smuggling operation. I've got experience with that."