Futuristic Across Galaxies and Adventures IC

[Hiuly of Starmoon]

Ren rounded the corner on her way to the common room on the ship. Even though it and the crew was still relatively newly formed, she already liked it a lot. Though that also didn‘t mean she didn‘t miss the Insidiae and the crew that had been on there. She was still kind of sad about the failed mission that caused them to split up and go their separate ways. She grinned as she thought back to what had happened in the cockpit before everything went horribly.

Flashback
"Is that a dog??" Ace didn't slow his pace as he came up on the group, shoving Val aside to crouch down in front of the robotic animal, one hand held out towards its snout in greeting, "Hey there guy, what did these meanies do to you?"

Still believing those around them were a threat, the instant one of the strangers had extended a hand to touch Luva's snout, it was quick to bite down upon the stranger's hand firmly before releasing and backing away further towards the dashboard of the cockpit.

"Shit!"

Ace snapped his hand back to his body, cradling the damaged appendage and making a hasty retreat back behind the safety wall that was Oralious. Dogs were supposed to be friends, right? He felt betrayed. Dogs were great. Easily excitable animals that seemed eager to please and always ready to roll with whatever the galaxy threw at them. A robot dog should be even better, instead it had tried to chow down on his hand. Ace flexed his fingers, grumbling unintelligibly at the grinding noises of protest the digits gave in response to the movement. This Luva had definitely earned a place firmly on Ace's list of sworn enemies.

"Oof!" Val coughed out as she was roughly displaced. "Hey, Acehole! Watch where you're-" Her ire came to a halt as she watched the canine companion chomp down upon Ace's outstretched hand, and a deserved grin spread upon her face. "Pssh, how's that Karma tasting, bucko?"

„Looks like the almighty Ace has a soft spot“, she remarked and walked over to the patient to stitch him up. Right in that moment the dog bit down on Ace‘s arm. Now she really couldn’t hold her laughter in. „Be careful! Maybe it’ll bite your big ego the next time“, she barely got out.

End flashback

Not a day went by of which she didn‘t think about the crew of the Insidiae and she also sometimes wondered if the others also thought about them. Her time there was one of the greatest she ever had and studying under Evatt had been really helpful. Thanks to him, she could collect a lot of experience, even though they actually didn‘t work together for a long time.

By now she arrived at the common room of the ship. Compared to the room they had on the Insidiae it was tiny. Nevertheless, it was enough for them though. At least for the moment it was. Besides, it had a table, a few chairs, a small kitchen and a small seating area. She entered the room and greeted the people inside. Even though, according to the time on the ship, it was pretty late in the evening, there was always something going on in the common room, no matter what time it was.

She walked over to the seating area and sat down on the floor, opening her first aid kit from outside the common room and started counting. This was another thing she had picked up from Evatt. Ren had quickly realised how practical it was to have a first aid kit in every important room, which is why she kept up the habit herself. Though this could only work if all kits were fully stocked at all times, so she started counting everything every evening. She also had a total of 7 first aid kits placed all around the ship, causing each kit to correspond with every evening of a day of a standard earthen week. There was always one in her room, which also currently doubled as medical room or also basically her office, one outside of the common room, two near the rooms of the other members, one in the cockpit, one ready to grab for missions and one in the captains room.

The captain was an interesting person, at least she thought it was a person, but if the only thing you see is a shadow, it‘s pretty hard to know for sure if something‘s alive or a robot. Speaking of the captain, she heard the comm with which they always spoke come to life. She paused in the middle of counting and noticed the other chatter of her crewmates had died as well. Then came the all-to-familiar rattling breath, that usually sent chills down her spine. She wasn‘t scared of the captain, but had to admit they were a bit creepy sometimes.

„This is your captain speaking“, she heard through the ship‘s comms. The voice, as always, was accompanied by a lot of static noise, making it really hard to decide wether the voice was human or not. „I have a mission for you“, they continued. „A medical corporation wants you to hunt down a spy and data thief. We‘re heading to Gliese 667CC right now,“ and with that there was the lightly static breathing, before the comms were turned off.

The information to the bounty had made Ren‘s blood boil. Who had the audacity to steal from a hospital. She, just like the others, she assumed, had no idea what the thief had actually stolen, but the fact that he stole from a medical institution was enough for her to forever hate the thief. The violation of privacy of those poor people! She dumped the rest of the bandaids, which she had been counting, back in the box angrily, closed it up and put it on the seating area. She then closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Getting mad, wouldn‘t lead anywhere anyways and would most likely just end up messing up the mission. She opened her eyes again and walked over to the others, actively listening to their conversations now.

 

[Nellancholy]

The high pitched squeals of directed energy weapons.

The sound of her own voice barking over comms to break formation, lead the corpsec forces into ambushes.

The rustling of plants under boots as the militia forces under her command followed her orders dutifully.

The screams of her Sisters leading other divisions, falling silent one by one as augmented assassins picked them off, leaving the militia in disarray.

And finally...the bone-shattering rumble of orbital artillery strikes, precise kinetic bombardment that were calculated to do minimal damage to the precious reserves of cobalt and other prizes underground, but quite enough to reduce the rebels to so many piles of goo and appendages.

All except...Sister Ganryu.

The nightmares were infrequent and unclear, but that was worse in a way. Barely being able to remember each face, each name...before they were erased amidst valiant but futile resistance.

---

Her eyes shot open, and she let out a low growl as she rubbed her knuckle across her eyes. She'd fallen asleep at some point, with only the crew jumpsuit on. Not that most of them seemed used to wearing it. She stretched, letting cold blood loosen and flow, restoring strength to those muscles that had been honed through training and labor alike to bring the gifts of the Creator and the shield of the Sisters to those in need. The strangeness of spaceflight never became familiar to her, even though she hadn't stayed on one planet for more than 30 axial rotations in a long time.

There was little time to lose. She rolled twice, side to side and eased out of bed. Her berth was relatively compact, though quite enough to have her mace and aegis hung on the wall, alongside a wall of common maintenance tools. Not to mention her dull but sturdy armor, sitting on a rack. She took another glance at her table, on which sat some repair projects she'd been working on. A mechanical pocket watch that was set to Solace's standard time. A handheld cold fusion generator (well, some of her new crewmates might disagree on the "handheld" part). The receiver of a Havoc Energy Rifle. With a few modifications, that might make a good backup weapon for her.

Before she could decide what else to do, the captain's announcement crackled in. Medical corporation. Data thief. All the pertinent details in less than a minute. This was going to be an assignment with less brawling, more legwork. Hopefully, anyway. Her mind wandered over the angles. If it was a local (which is to say system-scale) non-profit entity, then the theft of supplies or important information about stock or movements would likely be the actions of smaller-scale criminals looking to price gouge or curtail the entity's activities.

But knowing their contractor was "a corporation", another possibility was equally evident: that whatever secret the thief had taken was something that could be vital to people who needed it. The thief could be some corporate rival...or just as easily someone who wanted to give away for free what the corporation wanted to milk for every last credit.

Well...it'd be their job to get to the bottom of this. Hopefully, it'd actually work out.

Turning and flexing her arms, Ganryu left her room, making her way to the common room. An eyebrow raised as she noticed Ren. "How fare you, young one? Had enough rest? It appears your expertise may be key to our assignment, but that is not the only reason you should be keeping in shape."

Hiuly of Starmoon

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

Ann reclined I'm the common room, content. Wearing her usual clothes, a fedora and trench coat over a yellow sundress (all of which she seemed to have an infinite supply of), she certainly stood out. Granted, everybody on the team stood out to some extent but even among them she was quite odd looking. A 10 year old bounty hunter, sorry, detective? Who had heard of such a thing?

Of course, she wasn't really 10 years old. Quite the contrary. Her true age was unknown but according to her she was significantly older than most people. This was all she was willing to divulge, however, as when questioned further on the matter she tended to be as vague as she possibly could.

When Ren entered the room, Ann greeted her with a cheerful wave. "Hi, Ren. How are you doing today?"

Unfortunately, this conversation was never going to get farther than that as the voice of the Captain, whoever they were, crackles over the loud speaker. Apparently, they had a new case (Ann called missions cases, much to the chagrin of others). This time, they were tasked with tracking down a data thief. At first she grinned at this. Seeing as how data and information collecting was kind of her specialty, she was sure to be real useful here and was ecstatic to be able to showcase her skills. Then, her grin faded as she realized what the Captain had said. They had been hired by a medical company meaning that this thief had stolen data that could possibly save lives.

She pounded the arms of her seat in a childish manner. If the situation wasn't the way it was, it would almost be comical.

"That jerk!" She shouted, unable to contain her anger like Ren. "Stealing from a medical institution is unforgivable! That information could save lives and he just... he just... argh!" She pounded her seat again.

 

[PixelSymphony]

Another day in space. How many had it been at this point since she'd been fatefully separated from the crew of the Invictus, only to be swept back up with a few of the remnants on this... modest vessel? To tell the truth, Val had lost track; each day seemed to merge into the next as they seemed to wander the fringes of space aimlessly searching for a job. At first she didn't mind the downtime as it gave her the much needed rest she'd been lacking over the last several years, but eventually her recuperation was no longer an utter priority, and she would turn to other activities to keep her busy. Her equipment had been maintained to a degree approaching obsession, each part, piece, and panel meticulously disassembled, cleaned, reconditioned and returned to original working order several times over. The drinks in the ship's lounge had been catalogued, sorted, and stocked several times over. Even her clothing was fully laundered and, for once, folded away neatly. There was simply nothing else to do, and it was with this that she found herself laid out on one of the lounge's couches, bored out of her distinctly horned skull.

It was thus with some excitement that she reacted when the overhead speaker crackled to life and the captain's ever mysterious voice laid out the details of the job they had secured. Finally, she thought in exuberation, swinging her legs off the plastifab covered cushions to touch down on the ship's deck. Looking around, she saw Ren reacting much as she always did: vehemently railing against what she considered an injustice. She smiled slightly, hoping against experience that the young medic's purity would survive through the less than savory trials she was likely to be put through in the future as a freelancer. Creator knew hers sure hadn't.

The clanking of armored boots on steel plate drew the demoness's attention to the first newcomer to the room. A fellow Sister of the Septerran Church, Ganryu's order was certainly much different than her own, but there was no doubting the strength of the Lizan's resolve (and, for that matter, her mace arm). The few details she'd mentioned about her prior history hinted at a great deal of pain and sorrow in her past, and she hoped some day to be able to get the big girl to open up about just what all had happened on that colony world she was on. Maybe a drink or two would loosen her up? Then again, those vows of the Order of the Rose are nothing to sneeze at... and with my luck, she'd either end up weeping all over the counter, or drunkenly attempting to bash everything on the ship. She took a second look at Ganryu. Or both. Still, she couldn't help but feel honor-bound as a fellow member of the Church to try and help the Sister Knight out somehow; she was just going to have to figure out how.

And then there was Ann, who came trotting in a few moments later. Like always, she was wearing her trademark "gumshoe" get up, though truth be told Val couldn't exactly bring to mind any hard-boiled detectives who sauntered about in sundresses... or, for that matter, were 10. She certainly was a peculiar one this Annabelle; Val still remembered that upon first laying eyes upon her she'd voiced her concerns about having a kid on a freelancer ship, and for her troubles got an earful from the precocious investigator in return. While Val was certainly no stranger to the concept of looking young for your age, whatever affliction Ann suffered from was a complete enigma, and the mischievous girl seemed in no rush to elaborate upon it. Still, there was no denying the benefit of having competent mission control when the situation went completely FUBAR, so as long as this womanchild was willing to stay planted in the commo chair Val wasn't going to raise much of a fuss. Better to have the girl in charge of the main guns on your ship on your good side when you needed to call in an airstrike and didn't feel getting like a plasma haircut that day.

"Sadly, the kind of information worth enough money to warrant stealing it tends to be exactly that which could save lives... well, hopefully we can track this 'spy or data thief'," she accentuated with air quotes, "though most of the time it ends up being a disgruntled employee."

 

[noil]

A-C3^{- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -}

Things were beginning to settle in to a new sort of normal since breaking off from his old crew. Well, breaking off from most of them anyway. Val was still around, and it seemed he was stuck with Ren a little longer as well. Couldn't blame them, he'd want to stay on a crew with himself too. The new crewmates were a strange bunch, but so far with what little experience they had together it seemed to work somehow. The living conditions on the little scrap pile they called a ship were definitely more cramped with everyone onboard than what he'd been used to on the Insidiae, though in Ace's opinion it was no great loss on cutting loose from that authority figure. Stuffy. Way too many morals. The new captain wasn't much better in the overly-serious department but they let the crew handle things on their own terms for the most part, and that Ace could get behind.

He'd dropped into one of the seats in the common area sometime in the middle of the last night cycle, taking advantage of the downtime to power down to minimal systems and allow his power reserves to build back up. Someone more considerate would probably pick somewhere a little less in the way to do so but, well, he was who he was.

Their enigmatic captain's latest missive cut through his passive monitoring peripherals and the robot roused back into full wakefulness with an extended put-upon groan.

"Stars, that's boring as hell," he whined, indicator lights blinking to life at various points along his body. He stood loosely, quiet whirring sounds barely audible from assorted joints as they ran through automated start-up checks. "Corporate espionage. Ugh. Why can't we get something exciting like, I dunno, giant-reptillian-in-a-volcano. That I could get motivated for."

 

[Nellancholy]

Ganryu sighed, but made no move to sit. The team, for better or worse, was assembled. She allowed herself a lean against the navigation console, her frill gently rising and falling with her breath as the ozone-scented artificial atmosphere circulated. Small mercy that the environmental needs of everyone aboard this ship seemed to be mostly compatible. The chronicles of the Red Rose were filled with a fair few chapters of species that had particularly difficult environmental needs, sending the Rose's scribes working overtime to figure out appropriate habitation and sustainable diets for them.

She gave a curt nod to Ann, who was still in the throes of her presumably very affected tantrum. "Please, reserve your outrage, Sister Ann. I get the feeling this mission will come with a fair amount of obfuscation and...conspiracy. Your head is most helpful to our cause when it is clear, and I'm certain you wouldn't like to point your finger at the wrong person either. It would be much easier if all we had to do was smite some unruly reptilian-" Here she glared at Ace. "-but my oaths, at least, would be deeply dishonored if we meted out unjust punishment. If I may be honest, my sympathies lie for now with whoever this 'thief' was. Disgruntled employee or no."

"Now." She looked over her shoulder, glancing over the console. "Who among us would like to do the honors of providing some semblance of a briefing? I am...not as familiar with the Gliese system as I would like to be."

BackSet noil

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

Believe it or not, Ace's comment actually snapped Ann out of her anger. Despite the cynicism of it, something about it caught her attention. Particularly, the reptilian part.

"That does sound fun." She said, clasping her hands together in delight. Then she placed her hand on her cheek. "Well, fun to watch, anyways. Unless you need to solve a mystery about the dragon." Ann was sure that there was probably some difference between a "reptilian" and a "dragon" but they seemed pretty interchangeable to her.

When Gany (what she called Ganyru because she was like that) brought up the fact that she'd be really helpful, Ann nodded. "You're right. As a great detective, I cannot allow myself to make any mistakes." She adjusted her hat in a way she probably thought was dramatic but likely looked silly to the outside observer.

noil Nellancholy

 

[BuggaBoo]

---

---

"Calli" - The Pilot / Cat Burglar Recon​

Calli was brushing off her fur and checking herself over in the restroom just outside of Captain's quarters. Big eyes stretched wide then narrowed as she inspected her 'goods.'

RGB Gem in her forehead, wrists and tummy polished. Twin ponytails tightened. Clasps and studs on her collar sparkling. Leather jacket straightened, collars popped. White halter top no stains and showing off her black and gold tatttoos. Black Fibre-weave leggings flattering the swells and grooves of her leg muscles. White open-toed shoes shined and clean. Fingerless glove on her right hand she licked and groomed down her eyebrows and cheek. After a moments consideration, she took off the black lace bow on her broad-striped tail. Too much. She needed a bit more street than sweet.

When done, she gracefully padded off down the corridor towards the common room, but paused momentarily just outside of Captain's double doors. Big eyes narrowed, brows scowled slightly and small lips pursed to one side, exposing a single canine tooth. Yes, these doors looked just as caked on with grime and dirt like much else on the freighter, but she had never noticed this one detail about this door.

Calli always wondered if Captain ever left (Their? Its?) quarters since she had actually never met them in person... only that voice... A shiver shot like electricity down her spine. But in all that time, she had never inspected this door so closely except for today. There was what looked to be a button of some kind beside the double doors. Caked in grime and dirt, it probably needed to be cleaned before it would depress.

A glint lit up her green eye and yellow eye. Pupils dilated. Yes, she had an idea.

Slowly one of her fuzzy orange hands reached out to press that button. But it was probably stuck so she would have to press it hard. She paused. Then her hand retreated up to shoulder level, cocked and ready. She was going to have to slam hard down upon that button. A sharp, readying breath Calli took. A curt nod of affirmation. 3... 2...

„This is your captain speaking“

Calli yelped almost as loud as that garbled voice over the PA and bolted immediately down the corridor as Captain proceeded to announce the new mission. Several wide-eyed, sharp glances she tossed over her shoulder as she rushed post haste to the common room. For whatever reason, she felt like someone's gaze burned into her back. She paused and held motionless a moment to consider why she felt so unsettled. Suddenly she realized why. The feeling of being watched by unseen eyes was bad. But was exponentially worse when you were certain such a gaze watched you... with more than only 2 eyes. The female shuddered all the way to the tip of her tail then immediately sprinted towards the common room.

---​

Hiuly of Starmoon
Into the common room she sauntered, and immediately she rushed up to Ren. As usual, she pressed a fuzzy cheek into hers and rubbed her face and forehead in a semi-circular motion; a normal warm and affectionate Felidae greeting no doubt. Ren was the type that cared about what she did; and she did it well. And no, Calli was not sweet towards the girl just because if she ever got blown up, she was sure Ren could put her back together again. Buuuut... then again it could not hurt to be sweet towards someone who could put you back together if you ever got blown up.

"Mrowr rowr rooooor, wah-roooor mew mew, Fo-Ryess?" said Calli over top of her purring.
>>Hello, sweetness, and how are you doing, friend Medic?<< said her translator attatched to her collar.

Nellancholy
As she moved on, of course her tail wiped directly into Ren's face, most likely under her nose. A fist she held out to bump as she gazed upwards at the towering Ganryu. The immense reptillian woman was a bit too stoic, maybe even too proud, for Calli, but still she never bullied nor stomped on Calli so that put her in the good books. That and it was nice to know who to hide behind when the bullying and stomping did begin.

"Mrowr grooowr mew-mew rowl mew-wowr grooo meowm, Go-jee-rah? MoMr...!" said Calli with a small giggle.
>>Hello, big friend, how is the air up there, Engi-Enforcer? LoL.<< said her translator with a monotone electronic giggle.

BackSet
Calli could not help but rub at Ganryu's leg as she passed her by. A nimble leap. A flawless landing. In the squeaky, rickety chair, she crossed her legs then stared over at Annabelle, tail twitching softly. Of them all, she felt she could relate the most with the diminutive girl, and at the same time feel so alienated from her. On one hand, both females were misunderstood due to age and maturity level, and on the other hand, it did kind of weird Calli out to work with a female who looked like 10 and was pretending(?) to live in a human noir fantasy world. But they were on the same crew so she had to accept her as a good bean. Aaaaaand ability to fake IDs could help with Calli's love life too.

"Wror, rawr meeworw mewl rowl grah grawr mew-mew, Ch'eeb'usa..." said Calli with a smile and shrug.
>>Ey, not so grumpy cuz don't worry we'll get them, friend Info-GatherChair.<< said her translator. Then it added: >>Smile. Shrug.<<

PixelSymphony
Looking across the way, she gauged Val'sharra's for a moment; Calli worked closely with the Felstari for recon and helm yet the Faeralis female could not help but still feel... intimidated by her. Those eyes. That voice. That form fitting outfit on that tight bod-- The Felidae sat bolt upright. Her eyes immediately stopped blurring with her thoughts and feeling... intimidated. Once her mind settled, she tossed an upward chin nod, smile and wink at Val'sharra.

"Wror, rowry rowrs rowl grah wowra meror mewl meror, Deh'v-Eldegz!" said Calli with much confidence.
>>Ey, we are cracking this case like a cracking a rogue asteroid, Nav-Scout.<< said her translator without emotion.

noil
One more look over she gave, then nodded before turning her attention to the snark and bot parts that was A-C3. This android has strangely similar qualities to Annabelle but none of the Edgelord ones one might assume judging by outward appearances alone. And yes, she had to admit that she was like him in that she could get under people's skins too, albeit hers was a different methodolgy no doubt. His heavy guns complimented her penchant for hiding too.

"Wror, wror, merora roor mewl marowrs, rowr-rowr waror, Tee-Inkanz?" said Calli as she pointed double guns at him and chuckled.
>>Ey, ey, volcano or data thief, we still get paid, am I right, Demo-Gunner?<< said her translator. Then it added: >>Hah. Hah. Hah.<<

In any other circumstance, Calli would have blurted out her thoughts regarding the system and possible contacts she might know on the way, but this was not that circumstance. She needed to still hold her cards close to her vest, some would say. Eyes moved back and forth between speakers as if watching a Space PONG! match. No, she needed to keep her full array of skill and knowledge on the down low for now. Calli was just to be a pilot and good girl crew mate for this boat, nothing more nothing less. She just had to hope her impulsiveness would not blow her cover.

A smile slowly unfurled from her small pink lips as a glint shone brightly in that green eye and yellow one.

Just get paid this final time and she was out. For good.

---

---

 

[Hiuly of Starmoon]

„No, a doctor never gets enough rest“, she said, answering to Ganryu‘s question. She supposed it was a bit dramatic, but still held some truth to it. The people along her line of work usually slept whenever they could, so they could get up and go as needed. She was also a bit annoyed and in a bad mood because of the recent announcement made by their captain. Then she took a breath and answered Ann. „I‘m fine. How are you?“

Then a few others walked in and Ace powered up. Honestly, she was actually a bit annoyed she was still stuck with Ace, but at least Val was there too.

„Honestly, I don‘t know much about Gliese 667CC“, she started connecting to the database from earth, called Wikipedia. It probably had something written down about Gliese 667CC. „Gliese 667CC, also known as GJ 667CC, or HR 6426CC, or HD 156384CC, is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 667C, which is a member of the Gliese 667 triple star system, approximately 23.62 light years, or 7.24 parsecs, or 223.5 trillion kilometres away from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius. It‘s heavier than Earth with a minimum mass of about 3.7 Earth masses. The equilibrium temperature of Gliese 667CC is estimated to be 277.4 K, or 4.3 degrees Celsius or 39.6 degrees Fahrenheit. I‘ve found that that‘s rather hot. One year on Gliese 667CC is about 28.155 Earth days long,“ she read out loud.

If people looked at her now without knowing her, they‘d say she was super smart. The reality was a bit different though. When she was born, her parents inserted several cybernetic enhancements inside her, making her somewhat of a Cyborg. Mind you, probably one of the only ones, since humans and robots don‘t generally get along too well. But thanks to those enhancements, she has access to the entire internet, where she obviously watches some ancient earthen movies during her down-time, but she can also search for everything the people of Earth had documented ever since the year 2000. She also could have projected the article on a wall, so the others could have read it, but that often got annoying for everyone, because the picture would vanish every time she blinks.

After she had read the information out loud, she looked at the rest of the crew members. It was a weird group they ended up with. As she practically got attacked by a cheek full of fur. „I‘m fine.“ she answered their pilot, since only one of them had actually fur, as her expression darkened. She didn‘t like being called sweetness or by her title. Yes, it was her profession basically, but she still had a name and the title of her profession was intended for strangers or people she didn‘t want to reveal her identity to, for whatever reason.

Nellancholy BackSet

 

[Colty]

With the briefing finished now was the perfect moment for Jericho to make his entrance! Professionally late as usual for the last couple weeks Jericho would stroll on wearing the clothing like he was going to a very formal wedding while sipping coffee from a small white mug with a purple handle. He hasn't revealed his changeling form yet to the crew in fear of them attacking him for being....an imposter. The mental image was enough to cause a large frown to appear on his face. Approaching the common room table and standing close by. He'd stare at the others for a few seconds.

"Bonjour everyone! Sorry I'm late" He'd say with a charming smile before sitting down in the chair and taking a small sip from his drink. "I heard data and thief so I got the basic idea of our mission. Do we have any other info on our data thief?" He'd ask putting his feet up on the table looking to Ganryu thinking her as the leader.

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

Ann was delighted to see Calli enter the room. Calli was her favorite crew mate. Her cheerful demeanor was just the greatest. In fact, the detective liked to think of her as her best friend. Wether the Felidae felt the same way about her was unknown, as she was pretty friendly with everyone, but Ann just considered that another mystery for her to solve. Within reason, of course.

"Aw, thanks Calli." She said in response to her reassurance.

She then turned to face Ren, who was debriefing them on the planet. She explained the planet's statistics - mass, location, etc - but very little that would actually be important. Well, that wasn't true, to a detective every detail was important, but there were major details and minor details and these were minor ones.

"What about the planet's infrastructure?" She asked, putting on her detective voice. She'd actually sound serious if she didn't sound and look like a prepubescent child. "Does it even have an infrastructure? Is it inhabited? What reason would our thief even have to go there?"

BuggaBoo , Hiuly of Starmoon

 

[thorsayingyeet]

Sitting in the on a chair near the corner of the common room was Harrison, quietly studying away at the latest medical textbook he had 'gathered' during one of his last missions. He always kept himself on his toes when it came to this particular subject; he never allowed himself to go on a day without reading any of his books once, even going back to re-read what was already read to refresh his memory.

It felt ironic when he overheard the latest mission details from their Captain; a spy/data thief stealing from a medical corporation? It was one thing to take books to further his understanding of medical science, but this? This felt insulting to him and those who dedicate their lives to this art. Sighing, Harrison closed up his book, stood up from his chair, and began over to Ren, his medical apprentice (which felt wrong, considering he never attended school in his life). As he did so, it seemed his other crewmates were congregating in the common room.

"This 'thief' sounds like he has nothing better to do." Harrison would claim to Ann after listening to her ask multiple questions about Gliese 667CC and the thief in question.
"If we wanna find out about our planet, the only way to experience it all is getting there first."

He looked over Ren to see what information she was getting about Gliese 667CC, moving a hand to his chin as he is intrigued by what he's seeing.
"I hope it's accurate, Ren." Harrison spoke; he remembered a time during his street days where his gang was handed the wrong information, which nearly got them killed.
"If it's all wrong, I won't give you the textbook I promised to give you." He teased the young Ren, placing a hand on her hair before slightly messing it up.

BackSet Hiuly of Starmoon

 

[noil]

A-C3^{- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -}

"Ah right, I forgot, you're zero fun at all." Ace's head gave a slight tilting roll suggesting the dramatic roll of nonexistent eyes at the Lizan Ganryu's assessment. At least the kid was more on his side. "If by 'solve a mystery' you mean 'blast to meaty bits,' then hell yeah, that's more like it."

He moved from his place at the far side of the room to more join the assembled group, crossing the space to where the organic's kitchen installment resided to lean against the counter there with arms crossed as Ren rattled off planetary facts. Zero of them useful at all, big surprise there. What the point was giving a human capabilities like that when she was just gonna use them for dumb shit he'd never understand. Could he run his own search for pertinent data? Sure. Would he? Hell no, that wasn't his job.

"That's great Ren," his voice took on a distinctly condescending tone as he dismissed the information she had spewed out, "and maybe next time one of us has to take Beginner's Galactic Stats and Nav that'll actually be useful. You-"

He was cut off by Calli making her typically dramatic entrance into the common area, and Ace beat a hasty couple steps of retreat out of her enthusiastic path through the gathered group. He didn't have anything against the Faeralis per se, they hadn't know each other quite long enough for that, she was just... a lot. He did chuckle slightly and return her finger guns with a single one of his own, though. As long as they got paid was right, though he could stand to have an actual fun mission once in a while.

It looked like everyone was here now at least, as Jericho strolled in. Hopefully the jump to Gliese wasn't a long one. They could stand to invest in a faster warp core, though to be fair, the ship's frame might not stand up to much more hyperspace stress than it already faced.

 

[Nellancholy]

"Right." Ganryu did her best to adopt a tone that while firm, wouldn't come across as dismissive or condescending. "As Ann said. I appreciate the primer on the Gliese system's astronomy, Ren. That may become important when we make our exit in this...tenacious vessel. Just as important is any information about the local population and infrastructure, and any...local politics. Perhaps our subject is seeking asylum there, for example. Or they intend to deliver their bounty to someone there."

She shrugged at Ace's dismissal and held her breath as Calli went on her usual routine. The smell of the feline's fur did tend to be mildly irritating, even to the physiology of a creature adapted to arid environments like herself. "Still, I have no objection to starting with what little information our contractor is willing to share and proceeding with our investigation. So, Sir Jericho." She raised a claw slightly to acknowledge the changeling. "Looking forward to seeing what you can dig up for us."

"No time to waste. Or at least, we'll have enough time to spend preparing during the jump." Sliding her fingers carefully across the navigation console, it took her a few seconds to locate the intercom. "Captain? We're ready for jump." She looked expectantly at Calli and the Felstari, who always seemed to look away when she approached. "Shall we?"

Colty Hiuly of Starmoon PixelSymphony BuggaBoo

 

[Colty]

"I'm excited to show off what I can do other than be a pretty face" Jericho would smile cheekily before readjusting himself in the chair. "Granted I'm not fully sure we're being given a lot of time to investigate since our target has very important data that can't disappear" He'd take out a credstick and start twirling it around in his free hand as he continued to speak. " Off topic question, but anyone know of any casinos on the planet? Something is telling me our perpetrator would be there" That was a complete lie Jericho knows for a fact that no data thief would waste time in a casino, but he couldn't help himself. He hasn't gone gambling since he stepped foot on this ship and he's just itching to play a hand of blackjack.

Taking his feet off the table he'd adjust his posture placing the credstick back in his pocket and taking out a tablet from his inner suit pocket. It was just a pretty average tablet that had a few stickers of cards on it and the name "Jericho's idea box" plastered on the back in bright white letters. He'd turn it on and start looking up Gliese to see what he can learn about it's politics and cultures. "So the plan is we split up when we reach planet side or are we gonna be working together as a big happy family?" Jericho would inquire not taking his eyes of the tablet while scrolling through article after article about the Gliese system.

 

[thorsayingyeet]

Harrison's attention redirected towards Jericho, someone he considers the more 'flamboyant' of the group; he hasn't interacted with Jericho too much, so Harrison may consider himself wrong if he took the time to know him better.
Asking if there were any casinos on their designated planet is an odd question to ask, Harrison thought to himself, especially considering the circumstances of why they're heading towards Gliese. He readjusted the book that sat in between his arm and his side, turning his full body towards Jericho.

"That kind of question isn't very appropriate of you to ask, Jericho." Harrison judged him, before beginning his walk toward his private quarters to place the medical textbook away, though not before continuing his self-inserted conversation with Jericho, this time talking about the current mission.
"Splitting up may be the right call, plus it'd be easier for us to catch our little prey as opposed to sticking together; the bigger the group, the harder it may be for us to pin him." Harrison voiced his opinion on the matter, although he is open to any other suggestions as so how to properly navigate the planet.
"Then again, we have no clue what could be waiting for us on the surface."

Colty

 

[Colty]

Jericho would look up from his tablet to Harrison as he spoke about his question. He'd smirk lightly setting the tablet on the table and turning his body to face Harrison before fiddling with his hair a bit. "Not appropriate?? Your making it sound like I asked a much different question. If your jealous of my idea, your welcome to come along" Jericho would finish that sentence with teasing wink before going back to his tablet. "I'm good with splitting up on my own honestly, but if anyone wants to tag along your most certainly welcome...just make sure not to piss off who I'm talking too." He'd add with a chuckle while his right hand scrolled through the tablet while his left hand played with his necklace lightly twirling it between fingers.

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

Harrison and Jericho's conversation sparked something in Ann. A feeling she knew all too well. The feeling that she had a mystery in her hands. Why had Jericho asked such an oddly specific question?

"Jericho." She said, tapping the side of her face with her index finger. "I find something interesting about what you said. Perhaps even something... mysterious." As she spoke she got more over dramatic, standing up with her finger pointed towards the ceiling. "Tell me, why was your question so specific? Why did you ask about casinos in particular when there are so many other, much less public places for a data thief to hide? Do you, perhaps, know something that we do not? Or is there a different reason for your interest in casinos?" She smiled cheerily, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Colty

 

[Colty]

Jericho would look over to the person who said his name. He'd look at the little detective with astonishment. "Uhhh...Cause casinos are a great place to gather up info?" Why was he sweating? This what he perceived to be just a child just called him out in front of everyone. He'd quickly recollect himself and smirk back at Ann. "I don't suppose you've ever been gambling before? A lot of loss lips there when you get someone drinking and making a bunch of bad choices. Let's say I may also have a particular art of beating someone in a game of blackjack." He'd grin back to her a small twinkle in his eyes as he kept up a bright grin trying to deceive this little detective.

BackSet

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

As Jericho "explained" himself, Ann studied him carefully. At first he seemed nervous and quite possibly surprised, sweating profusely and staring at her like she'd just grown an extra head (granted, some species actually could do that so perhaps that wasn't the greatest analogy). He stumbled over his words as he tried to come up with a convincing defense.

However, just as quickly his demeanor changed. He practically exuded charisma, adopting a grin and an eye twinkle not unlike her own. She had a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she was being patronized but she ignored it.

Befitting the confidence he now exuded, he gave a very well crafted story. Using drinking to get information out of people, not an uncommon tactic among detectives though Ann had never used it for herself, given her appearance.

However, there was one slip up. One unnecessary detail that would have been better left unsaid. One string for her to pull.

"Good at Blackjack, you say?" Ann said, smirking. "Now why would you mention that? Very few people have ever solved a case by playing Blackjack." There she went again, calling missions cases. "So why would you mention Blackjack. Perhaps, I repeat, perhaps you have made a slip of the tongue. One that reveals the true reason for your interest in casinos," She held up her pointer finger triumphantly. "You wish to gamble, plain and simple."

Investigating: Jericho ( Colty )

 

[thorsayingyeet]

Quietly observing the spontaneous interrogation Ann is giving to Jericho, Harrison stayed close towards the duo, a smirk creeping up on his face. He wanted to see where this would eventually lead, and especially found it amusing considering Ann's child-like stature compared to everyone else on the crew. He leaned forward a little bit, wanting to see Jericho break.

"You know, Jericho, all your talk about casinos and Blackjack makes us think that you don't really care about anything except having fun." He judged him, the smirk still shining on his face, even when Jericho's demeanour changed to a confident one.
"Not that we don't not like having fun, but this is a situation you should take seriously, otherwise you'll be out before you even had a chance to shine." Harrison warned Jericho; although he has become somewhat close to this crew despite their short time together, he is extremely wary of each person that's currently on the ship. Soon after, Harrison would leave the common room, going to place his book back in his quarters before he would return.

Colty BackSet

 

[Colty]

Jericho would keep his smile up even as Ann discovered his true intentions and Harrison warning him on taking this mission seriously. He'd smile at the two before leaning back in his chair. "Maybe you are right, maybe I do like a good game of blackjack however, it doesn't mean if I were to go there I was only going for the money. Who knows our data thief might have a crippling gambling addiction and is hiding out there. With the little info we got I could be speaking the true here" His smirk still plastered his face as he got up from the chair and put his finger up to his chin softly tapping. " Good work tho Ann, I'm surprised you could find out my favorite game" He'd give her a playful smile "Maybe you could be the first detective in a long time to win a case over some blackjack"

BackSet

 

[Hiuly of Starmoon]

"Well, looks like Ace volunteered to continue the research about Gliese 667CC, so have fun talking to him about that," she said, while sending a death glare towards Ace. At times like these, she wished she could just turn him off or shut him down for the moment, but his system's too hard to crack - for now. She wasn't going to let the crew down though, so she walked over to the seating area again to find out more about Gliese 667CC, as she overheard the conversation Jericho, Ann and Harrison were having. She didn't talk during it, or even let the others know she was listening until Jericho had started to try to talk his way out of Ann's questions.

She visibly face palmed when Jericho started speculating that the thief had a crippling gambling addiction. He was really bad at hiding his addiction. Ren obviously knew about it, since they were working very closely together, and also by the way he had reacted right now. She decided though to try to help him out right now, but will talk to him later about not playing all their money away, should he get his hands on a casino somewhere. "Besides, Blackjack is a fun game. Doesn't hurt to play it once in a while, now does it? Besides, the people there might've actually seen or heard something. I don't think Jericho's idea's that far fetched," she said and turned to Jericho. "If there's a casino on Gliese 667CC, I'll join you, if you don't mind," she offered, so she could keep an eye on him as well as their bank account. Especially since the ship they were on started to need some repairs, which they obviously also need money for.

Then suddenly she got a call. The others didn't see it, since it was directly projected on her eyes, where countless of sites were littered around to find more information about the infrastructure of Gliese 667CC. "Uh, hold on for a second. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, got up and practically ran out of the room and into the hallway, where she accepted the call.

"What?", she asked, knowing who was on the other side. "We agreed on every end of every earthen month!" "Yeah, change of plans," said the girl on the other side. "I decided that every end of every earthen month doesn't cut it anymore. We make it every two standard weeks now. Oh and the price doubled." "WHAT? Why?" "Pay up, Ren." Ren sighed. "Fine," she muttered, annoyed, but made the transmission. "There, payed." And without even a thanks the call ended. "Nice to see you, Ren. I've missed you. How are you? Are you safe?" she mocked out loud. Some friends she had. She herself had been like that too until she walked away from that dreadful place, and it had been the best decision ever.

She turned and walked back into the common room. "Sorry for that. It was something important I couldn't delay. I've found some more information about Gliese 667CC. As I said, it's temperatue's quite hot. Other than that, the air's breathable for us, and there are two major underground cities, Linvale and Bylea, which resemble any human society, with cultural institutions, hospitals, government buildings et cetera. The main hospital in Bylea made the call here", she already gave the information about the planet, because she knew it would keep the others from asking questions, if someone should have noticed the conversation from right before in the hallway. Honestly, she was most afraid of Ann, because the woman definitely had the capabilities to find out everything about everyone, which she found a rather scary thought.

Colty noil Nellancholy BackSet

 

[Colty]

Jericho would smile and gave Ren finger guns and a wink before looking back to Ann "See at least Lady Ren appreciates my serious thought process! Thanks!" He'd chuckle softly putting his tablet in his suit. He knew Ren knew about his little gambling problem, but he didn't really mind since she wasn't gonna go telling everyone about it..hopefully anyway. Jericho respected Ren since she's came to his aid in a few arguments over who makes the better mint tea or when Ann almost...almost discovers his true identity. She was probably the only person he was decently close with on ship. He'd flash a bright smile when Ren volunteered to come along with him since he enjoyed her company more than the rest so far...and so Ann doesn't try to come along and unravel more about him or worst of all ruin blackjack for him. "I'd love that Ren! Maybe I can teach you how to play while we investigate. Trust me you'll lov- Oh? okay" Jericho said as Ren ran out of the room. "Sorry Ann maybe I'll be willing to tell ya about it some other time" He'd give her a mischievous grin before getting up and getting another cup of coffee, He'd be back by the time Ren returns.

"So we got two cities to check out huh? Since Bylea was the one who called us why don't we focus our efforts on that city first then. We can all split up there and if we get in a bind we hopefully won't be too far away."


BackSet Hiuly of Starmoon thorsayingyeet

 

[BackSet]

Detective Annabelle "Ann" Angevin
Role: Information Specialist/Gal in the Chair/Forger
​

Ann flopped down onto her seat and stared up at the ceiling. Miraculously, the seat did not fall to pieces. Regardless of whether Jericho admitted it or not, she was fairly certain she was right. The man was almost entirely interested in gambling at the casinos he was asking about.

"You know, I can't help but feel I was being patronized." She said to nobody in particular. "But whatever, I'd say that this is another case successfully solved."

Her ears perked up again when Ren suddenly ran off for seemingly no reason. Because she was in the hallway her speech was muffled and Ann couldn't hear what she was saying very well. The most she could gather was she seemed to be having a one-sided conversation. Granted, she could just be talking to herself. Ann often found herself doing the same thing. Though why she'd need to leave the room to do that Ann wasn't sure. Embarrassment, maybe?

When Ren returned, Ann got even more curious. Her crewmate listed off a bunch of information on Gliese 667CC, and fairly important information at that. Certainly more important than the statistics she listed earlier. But why would she need to leave the room to find that out? Again, embarrassment at talking to herself was on the table but she hadn't had to talk to herself before. It was certainly mysterious.

Still, Ann filed that away for later, alongside the information on Gliese 667CC. While this was certainly a mystery, it wasn't one she could solve as quickly and easily as she had Jericho's love of gambling (the solving of which was really just for show, anyways) and they had bigger fish to fry.

"So, how long until we get to Gliese 667CC?" She asked. "Jericho was a nice warm up but I'm ready for a bigger mystery."