Futuristic Unlit IC

[Vudukudu]

Kepler turns his head slightly to listen to Burman. His lips seem to form an even straighter line than usual.

“Your plea of innocence is guilty of wasting our time.” He says bluntly. “By your inaction, cowardice, and selfishness, a woman is dead. You have failed to uphold your duties to your fellow man. The sentence, were it mine solely to proclaim, is death.” Kepler states. "Burman has failed to demonstrate courage by any definition, be it Socratic, Villanuevan, Aristotelian, Hobbesian, Zhusian, or Polusian. His lapse of virtue has led to unnecessary death at best, and, at worst, is potentially responsible for the chain of events which led to the facility's failure. The deceased Doctor Morren's audio recording specifically states that Burman locked her keycard out, and even the most rudimentary security system of the modern age would have sufficed to inform the accused that the rejected device belonged to Doctor Morren and was being held by her. I posit, beyond mere failure to uphold the basic tenets of human responsibility to one's peers, that Burman is also being deceptive in relaying his version of events." He says bluntly.

"Further, a telling of the chain of events which led to the facility's catastrophic failure would be welcome. For such a disaster to occur, a lengthy amount of protocol failures and administrative incompetence would be necessary, most of which are likely violations of Waning Stars interstellar law regarding the treatment of non-human entities in lab environments." He finishes, turning his head blindly towards Stratton.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira looked to Silas as Kepler spoke, her expression a mixture of mild amusement and weariness. With a sigh, she reminded Kepler, "Thankfully, we do not stand here as judge, jury, nor executioner. So, Burman," the captain looked down at the prisoner, "You probably won't die, so long as you mind your manners. I won't lie, you should probably be aware, this job was a Waning Stars contract, but this ship is not run by Waning's regulations. Take that as a threat or a reassurance, I won't tell you what it is besides a fact." Adira wouldn't lie - she wanted to put a phaser bolt through his skull. Partly because he was just so damn annoying and pathetic. But in the end, it wasn't actually her ship, it was Silas's, so he was the one who had the last say in any executions, and he was too nice to kill people for being nuisances.

Still, this medical bay was getting crowded, and there was no point in arguing over the judgment to be placed on Burman's head while Lydia was trying to work on both Alex and Burman still. They could interrogate the murderer later, when the place smelled less like blood, and when Kepler maybe had his vision back. She'd have to talk to him about not delivering judgement - he liked following rules, and this ship had its own rules, as loose as those might be. With so many people in the small medical bay, maybe it was time for a distraction.

Adira went over to an empty bed and sat on it, then grinned. "Doctor, you really have fixed up this medical bay very well! I'm quite impressed with your resourcefulness." She paused, looked at the bed she was sitting on, then up at Silas, and cocked her head to the side in apparent confusion. "Hey, Silas, shouldn't you be on this bed, actually?" The glance in her eye as she looked at him assured him that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Spazzycat101 Solar Daddy

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia Camden​

Lydia stood silently, stone-like in her spot in a not-quite-corner of the room. She listened to everyone’s incessant jabber patiently, but the literal glare in her eyes betrayed her irritation. It was hypocritical of course, to have a habit of chit chattering from heaven to hell to Valhalla and back. Or something. But to be fair, they could shut themselves up after they’d started talking. Lydia could not. It was neither a blessing nor a curse for her, just occasionally mildly irritating.

She was waiting for a second of silence into which she could step to shoo everyone the fuck out of the medbay. Finally that moment came. As soon as the last word left Adira’s mouth—

‘ALRIGHTY! Glad that’s done. Now, Ev-ry-one-get-out!’ She clapped her hands with each syllable. It was more of a metallic ‘clank.’ But still,

’Unless you currently cannot walk, get out of here, or else. This time I do control the ‘or else,’ and it will not be pretty. Except you—‘

Lydia pointed a finger sharply in Silas’s direction.

‘Adira’s right. Sit your ass down right the fuck now. I’m the doctor and you really should be listening to me, but if you don’t fucking rest I will tell Adira, and to my knowledge she has not taken the Hipocratic oath.’

 

[Solar Daddy]

Adira had returned to her pilot's seat to find their new, unconscious friend draped across it. With some polite words, followed by less-polite prodding, Adira managed to get the girl off of her chair.

Hours later, after some long deserved rest and respite, Silas managed to convince Lydia to allow him to leave the medbay under the idea that he wouldn't move much if he did. Silas came onto the bridge and sat in the copilot seat adjacent to Adira, slowly inching himself down into the chair with a sigh. "Yeah, not a lot of pain. Juuust enough to make me notice it." He looked up at Adira and flashed a quick smile. "Hiya."

Adira glanced at Silas, her lips twitching into a smirk. "Hey there, our dearest resident shipowner and favored cripple, how did you escape the medbay?" As Adira turned to look back at the window, she added, "When I called you out in front of Lydia, I wasn't expecting her to let you go until you were the healthiest person on this whole ship!" She chuckled a little, her long ponytail swaying while she shook her head at his escape.

Silas mock-laughed with Adira, leaning back in the copilot seat. "I promised her I'd sign up to be a donor the second we got back to port." He joked. "Actually all it took was a nice, long nap and a lot of annoying questions. Like, a lot." Silas checked his stopwatch, saying, "Should only be another few hours till we get to Corverant. I can't wait to dump Burman off in the nearest Waning Stars monitored ditch."

Adira laughed and admitted, "If it was up to me, I'd just toss him out of the airlock, mostly to save us the whining, but, it's not up to me. That's probably for the best, I suppose." The pilot looked out the window and asked, "What are you planning on doing when we get back on a planet? If I recall correctly, you owe this whole team a few drinks."

Silas nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose it's time I take care of that promise before I owe them all an entire bar." He chuckled at his own joke before continuing. "Well, good news is we're going to have enough funds to pay this ship off for the next month or two. No more dirty work for now, and no more damn alien factories. I can't wait to do some actual exploring, you know?"

Adira grinned at that. "Yes, free liquor! My favorite!" Before he could scold her, she said, "I'm joking, I'm joking, don't worry. But yeah, it'll be nice once we get to just enjoy space, you know? No bullshit contracts or anything. Just... Enjoying exploring. I miss that part."

Silas nodded in agreement. "Can't wait to see what the Stars plan on doing to disrupt those plans." He joked. "I'm going to find Kep and see if we can catch up on everything, it's been eventful." Silas slowly stood, before saying, "Try not to crash into anything."

"I'm sure you'll know if I do," Adira joked, then looked up at him. "Oh, by the way, you're handling getting the pay, right? I mean, if you need me to scare them - or convince them - into coughing up more, I'm free and willing, but otherwise, don't bring me near Waning folks. Might not go well for either party."

"I know your... uh, stipulation with Waning Stars. Don't worry, I think I can handle it. I'll call both Haanson Labs for the money and Waning Stars to tip them off about the asteroid, and have some officers come by to pick up the two scientists. We're smooth sailing from here on out." From there, Silas left the bridge in search of Kepler.

 

[Epiphany]

As the Ambivalence lifted off, Kestrel watched the asteroid recede with mixed feelings. After a century of waiting, she'd met more aliens but was no closer to understanding what had been done to her. Somehow her sister was miraculously back from the dead and apparently intending to go comatose in the med bay. Just as well, really.

She'd just dropped her sister off for treatment before stopping by her quarters. Chance were, Alysson would probably snooze for a good long while but Kestrel wanted to wait with her. Comfortably, though. Which meant ditching this environmental suit.

Kestrel shrugged out of her form-fitted expeditionary suit and racked it. The mini-drone manufacturing bay she plugged into her console so it could get a steady power draw while it ran a maintenance cycle on all of its units. At some point, she'd need to top off its reservoir in case it needed to manufacture more. A blinking light on her terminal told her she had a message pending. From Kepler?

Pulling her hair back into a pony-tail, Kestrel reached down to hit play on the message before-

.

The being, now able to be seen in the brief moments of light with each gunshot through the thick mist, looked decrepit and downright horrifying. This time, instead of a series of clicks and unknown noises, it lowered its head and opened its mouth wide in a scream that shook the entire station.

Flaring its arms out, it seemed unfazed by their weaponry. The bullets clanked off its chitin exoskeleton, and any energy rounds seemed to be absorbed into the armor. Pulling back into its previous stance, standing straight, it was easy to see the size of this monstrous being; around 4 meters tall, the being was clearly the thing needing the extra head space around the station.

With a few more loud screeches, it fired another bolt of light at James, and quickly chambered another round, firing this time at the fleeing Lydia and Jane. It screeched whenever a round hit it, but no visible damage seemed to be done. When the team wasn't firing, the thick fog surrounding it persisted and blocked any view of it, making it notoriously difficult to aim for the head, especially since ever time the light from the gunfire ceased, its head was in a different location as it constantly shifted in place, either as a method of intimidation or to attempt to make hitting it more difficult.

She frowned slightly and put her hand down. Kestrel realized her terminal had gone blank. Weird. Time out? Well, that message could probably wait. She needed to see her sister.

Kestrel rubbed a slightly sore shoulder as she walked to the medbay. Must have pulled something a little on the mission, probably pinning that alien to the wall with that crate. Arriving, however, Kestrel peeked in only to realize Alysson wasn't in any of the beds. And Burman was handcuffed to a bed and had a shot up knee? What? What? When had he been shot?

Shaking her head, the blonde soldier just walked out and started searching the ship for her sister. Alysson should really still be in the medbay. Kestrel thought about asking the cute doctor but then she remembered, knowing Alysson, it probably hadn't been Lydia's idea. Doubtlessly her sister planned to claim a room or space of her own somewhere. With a grumpy sigh, Kestrel toggled her Chipset's proximity transceiver and started hunting the ever elusive black sheep of the family.

 

[Epiphany]

Kharmin
"Where did she get to?"

Kestrel's trip around the Ambivalence had been damning, given how surprisingly unlocalized Alysson's Chipset signal was. She'd stopped by the mid storage bay first but had come up empty. Instead, she'd ended up killing a useless hour hunting through the much larger rear storage engine bay area. After a great deal of circling, Kestrel finally divined the truth; that Alysson was inside the wall separating the two cargo bays. Access tunnel?

She almost starting pulling up panels to find a point of entry until she paused, smiled to herself and shook her head. "After what you've been through, sis, if sleeping in a maintenance tunnel's your idea of a bed...then I'm not going to argue." The younger woman had plainly been exhausted. Might as well catch up when she was conscious and in a good mood.

With a chuckle, the tall blonde soldier instead headed up to the crew deck and went looking for Kepler. The cyborg had been acting odd for a while and, now that she thought about it, she still hadn't watched his message. Might as well go to the source.
Vudukudu

 

[Viper Actual]

Once the situation in the medbay had been defused thanks to Lydia's sharp tone and with orders from captain herself Stratton had resigned himself to his quarters. Seated at his encrypted terminal with his helmet hooked up beside it the report had so far been written with immense detail coupled with stills from his helmet-mounted camera and shorter clips and segments to showcase the relevant points.

After an hour of typing, editing and revisioning the report was finished and would be uploaded to the Waning Star's priority systems once the Ambivalence came into proximity with a WS vessel or deep-space installation. From there it'd continue to bounce on a series of signals until it reaches the WS HQ and more specifically, the Special Intelligence Division.

Satisfied with his work Stratton locked up his terminal and got up from its seat. He made his way out into the corridor in search for either Silas or Adira as his quarters locked up behind him.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas was currently in the canteen getting himself a bite to eat (mostly out of boredom than hunger). Despite them having a plethora of things to snack on, Silas had trouble deciding what to grab - he was honestly thinking of grabbing one of the drinks to calm his nerves, but decided he didn't need it. He had the gears in his pocket to work with when he got nervous or anxious. Ultimately he ended up grabbing a bottle of water and a couple of, as the package labeled, 'hard nutricious biscuit - lemon.' They really needed to requisition better spatial rations. Silas propped himself against the wall facing the hub, watching the ripples of space-time go by through their faster than light travel. He often found himself staring out into the abyss - it called to him, the vast empty darkness. A near infinite amount of worlds and stars and nebulae, it made Silas' head spin. Much like the conversation he had with Kepler earlier, he was one to think on philosophical questions and morally ambiguous thoughts of reasons, and looking out into space always got him thinking that way.

But Silas was snapped out of his trance when he heard a door hiss open in the hallway to his right. He looked down the corridor to see James stepping out of his room - no doubt touching up some WS notes on the crew. Silas almost smiled at the thought of Stratton giving everyone on the ship some kind of psych eval for Waning. What would he say about his crew? 'Hyper lethal mercenaries with hearts of gold' is what Silas would've put down. After all, they were just trying to help whoever they came across at this point, and - their primary reasoning for existing - exploring. Who cares if they took out a few bad guys along the way?

Silas tossed out the foil wrapper of his disgusting snack and took a sip of his water before nodding towards Stratton. "Hey there." He said casually. "Enjoying your time with Side Burns & Co.?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Stepping into the canteen Stratton both chuckled and nodded in response to both Silas's question and for finding him in the first place. He walked over and seated himself in front of Silas. "No complaints so far, even though I've been doing more field work with you guys than I've been doing this past year. Brings me back to the old times."

He clasped his hands together. "I'll Adira later as well but I just wanted to get hold of one of you for now. My report's done. No mention of Kepler's frontier justice. As far as I'm concerned Burman's leg got slagged by debris- make sure to spread the word about that. As for the rest of the report, well, it'll be classified once it reaches the brass. Don't expect it to ever see the light of day and, knowing my superiors, they'll most likely use some ship out on a training exercise to accidentally blow the place up to erase its existence."

Stratton paused and looked out at the stars before continuing. "That said, expect yourself and Captain Rik to be handsomely compensated for your silence. Even though it goes without saying you shouldn't mention this mission to anyone. Ever. The Special Intelligence Division would bury you either legally, physically or both. You are all better off without that."

"That said I do have a thing for you and Adira." Carefully, Stratton reached into one of his pockets and produced a datachip. He slid it across the metal table.

"A copy of my helmet recordings. Keep it to yourself and don't mention it to anyone else."

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas took an amused look at Stratton as he explained what would happen to the hellish asteroid base. Probably for the best. If anyone on the ship knew what would happen though, it'd be James. Despite being unsure of his background besides "Scary Waning Officer," Silas was fairly certain he could figure him out if given enough time. With the way Waning Stars sort of just tossed James onto Silas' ship, it seemed like he'd be around for a while. No problem for Silas - He proved himself reliable and trustworthy in extreme situations. He was beginning to warm up to their designated supervisor.

And then Stratton passed him the datachip. When it was explained, Silas picked up the thin metal and inspected it. He pocketed the item quickly to make sure anyone passing by didn't happen to see him with it - best to leave questions about confidential, classified things to a minimum. Silas was one to trust rather easily, and saw this as a sign of such trust. Not any officer would willing give up such information, and Silas was more than grateful for it. "I appreciate this. Even if you're forced to be here, you're a fine addition to this crew and you're welcome aboard it." Silas figured he hadn't thanked James for his support during the mission (after all - he didn't have to do anything but observe and he did much more than that). "You're welcome to join in on the 'Silas owes everyone a drink' tab, whenever we get around to visiting a bar as a team."

 

[Viper Actual]

Stratton nodded. "I appreciate the kind words. The pleasure is mine by the way- most colorful assignment I've had for a while."

He didn't comment on the 'forced to be here'-part of Silas' statement. Truth to be told James had enough missions and experience under his belt to pick his own assigments and being Waning Stars liason seemed like a nice change from all the other envoy missions he'd usually undertake.

So far he'd be proven right, even though engaging aliens on some highly-advanced station was most likely not a common routine for the Ambivalence and her crew.

Once Silas had pocketed the datachip and mentioned a drink Stratton nodded once more. "I'll take you up on that offer once we reach a port or station.

That said Stratton glanced to the left and right. "Speaking of which, you got any idea where the captain's at?"

 

[Solar Daddy]

"Most colorful assignment we've had as well." He smirked. "Though to be honest, most of what we've done has been pretty high-octane. Tell you about them over a beer." He shrugged. Silas leaned on the counter and yawned - Silas was still waking up from his full standard day of rest. He wasn't one to idle around all day if he could help it. His back felt as stiff as if he'd been in cryo sleep for a century. Though he hadn't had the misfortune of travelling far enough to need cryo, he read the accounts of those who traveled multiple galaxies; it wasn't something he wanted to experience. Luckily though, with the added rest his side felt mostly better. He no longer had a limp in any capacity, nor did he experience almost any pain.

When Stratton asked where the captain was, he merely chuckled and tipped his bottle in the direction of the bridge. "Where she normally is, piloting the ship. We're close enough to Corverant that it's best not to rely on autopilot with all the phantom debris around in FTLT."

 

[Vudukudu]

Epiphany

Kepler does not prove hard to find, as his temporary blindness has rendered him largely immobile and he rarely moves about the ship much anyway. As always when he is awake, the doors to his quarters are wide open and billowing an oppressive heat, the sort that can only be justified by an attempt to make up for a life spent at sub-zero temperatures. When she arrives, Kepler's ears prick up at the sound of someone entering. "Please, come in." He says simply, willing the camera to turn and identify who has come in. Ahh, yes. The other one he'd been hoping to speak to.

"As our ship's.." He ponders briefly, deciding that while their lack of formal roles was quite obvious, that he would utilize one here. "Security officer, it has come to my attention you should be aware of threats to the ship and its crew. I am beginning to experience cybernetic rampancy." He says, then produces a second detonator matching the one that he had given Silas. "This device will, after our next break at port, trigger an eighth pound of plastic explosive implanted at the base of my neck. I have provided Master Burns with a similar trigger and trust that between the two of you, any trouble I present can be dealt with promptly. I understand being asked to kill me may present an ethical quandary - rest assured that, at any time in the future in which you deem the device's use necessary, I will already be dead according to 84% of mainstream philosophical traditions throughout history and 93% of contemporary streams of thought in academic fields. The device's use will merely be dispatching another nameless hostile, though it may be wearing my skin." Kepler says, holding the trigger out to her expectantly. He expected she would understand, though perhaps with some confusion. Silas had, by his estimate, needed more convincing.

Though he could be wrong, and perhaps she'd need further convincing.

 

[Epiphany]

Vudukudu
Kestrel had no idea why she'd been expecting a little more small talk from the robotic-seeming cyborg. They'd crewed together from the very beginning. While he definitely had more personality than he initially presented, it didn't change the fact that Kepler didn't think like anyone or anything she'd ever met in her life.

She stood in his quarters, aware of that billowing heat in the way only a ship-born can; as a possible sign of malfunction somewhere. Kepler's following words did nothing to relieve that instinct. Kestrel listened intently, eyes focused on the cyborg, and didn't bother to try interrupting with a comment or question until he was done saying what he planned to say.

"First of all," she said when he was finished, "I like 'security officer'. Let's go with that." Kestrel's smile was brief and faded as soon as it was seen, owing to the serious nature of the conversation. "So you've hit that point. I didn't know. Or, rather, I wasn't sure since I have a hunch you were pretty different even before this became an issue. Now, my understanding is rampancy's not really all that well understood. At some point, when all that's left is the brain, the AI interface takes over and goes bad. You mind if I ask how old you are? I thought this wasn't an issue until you hit the 300s or so."

Kestrel did accept the trigger when Kepler handed it over, though. "Sounds like a good precaution. To be honest, I don't know why it's not standard practice." Again another brief smile as she said "No offense but some of the stories I've heard would never have happened with a little of this kind of foresight."

Then she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for the trust you've shown me. I want you to know that you can trust me to act on behalf of the safety of this crew. If and when you prove a danger to it, I won't hesitate to use every means at my disposal to protect them. Including this. But at the same time, I will do my best to ensure this is a last recourse."

"You've got a lot of courage, Kepler. No matter how things someday go down, that's who you are and that's how you'll be remembered."

 

[Vudukudu]

Kepler waits for her to finish, nodding along ever so slightly when appropriate and twitching briefly when his shoulder is touched. "I am 72 years old and have had extensive modifications since I was three standard years of age. My implants see far more regular use than average and are more directly tied into synaptic functions. Borealis' technological precautions against rampancy are highly advanced compared to galactic standards but they do not yet have 100% effectiveness. I appear to have slipped through the proverbial cracks." Kepler answers. "I suspect it is due to the interface port, though its removal at this stage would constitute a massive brain surgery and likely damage. I intend to continue with ritual treatments to delay further onset, but nothing is guaranteed and I will make efforts to provide regular situation reports for your oversight purposes as well as providing unrestricted access to my computer logs. Current symptoms include visual and auditory hallucinations as well as fine motor tics. As of yet, higher thought functions appear to not be in jeopardy."

Kepler finishes with the customary faint curling of the corner of his lips that has come to be understood as a smile. "I appreciate your assistance, Master Cavanaugh."

 

[Solar Daddy]

The ship lurched momentarily before coming to an abrupt stop a few hundred kilometres from Corverant's atmosphere. The hull reverberated as the stress of FTLT was lifted, leaving the scion gel coating on the ship smoking just slightly as it recovered. Silas braced against the counter and held his bottle to keep it from falling to the floor. He turned to look out the starboard window to view the awkward angle he had of the blue planet Corverant ahead of them. Just about nothing but oceans were visible on the surface. "Finally, some solid ground." The asteroid they had been on had given him a bit of nausea from how it spun faster than most planets. While it wasn't terrible on the ship, there was nothing like having your boots on a stable, immovable surface. He pulled up his comm channels on his wrist and activated the shipwide broadcast and made the announcement. "We're about forty minutes from getting to port. I'd like to call a meeting in the hub for anyone not currently wounded or sick enough to be in the medbay. That includes our new friends from the Asteroid from Hell and Lydia. Don't worry about hobbling

Silas finished off his drink before filling it at the water dispensary and putting it in the fridge. He then went over to the Hub, leaning against the strut beside the window as he waited for the crew to assemble. Once everyone had filtered in, he did a quick headcount to make sure everyone was present. He then began, "Friends, family, estranged lovers; we all did a great job with the last mission, despite... severe and unexpected circumstances. Luckily no one took any life threatening injuries or psychological damage. Burman will be in custody once we get on-world, and Alex can be taken to finish the recovery process of his legs." He took a pause before nodding towards Jane. "We'll take Jane back to her ship once this all gets sorted out with the alien asteroid and all that - assuming her ship isn't destroyed in the process of whatever Waning Stars plans on doing with that base. But for the time being till we have that ability, you're welcome to stay with us on the ship. Same goes for Alysson - If you don't have anywhere to go, you're welcome on the Ambivalence for the time being. Otto," He began, motioning to the man in the back, "Had an unexpected problem come up that he needs to deal with, and will be dealing with that once we get to port. Not sure how long it'll be before he joins us again, if he's even able to, so make sure you say your goodbyes on his way out. You're always welcome back whenever you're able to." He then went to the last form of business. "I don't have any plans for when we dock. If anyone has any leads on what we can do next, feel free to bring it up to me or Adira. If not, I'm sure I can find us something once we're on-world. Oh, and Kep," He said, nodding in his direction. "I can help you get to an optometrist if you need it."

 

[Viper Actual]

Stratton was watching Corverant through one of the viewports when the call to assemble came. Nodding to himself Stratton began to make his way towards the Hub.

While on his way a notification from his PDA informed him that his report had been received by a nearby WS satellite. By the time the Ambivalence arrives at port Stratton's superiors would no doubt have informed the local intelligence officers and deployed a retrieval team to claim Burman and Alex.

Upon arriving at the Hub Stratton nodded towards Silas, Adira and whomever else that was already there. He seated himself on one of the stools, leaned towards the table and clasped his hands together.

He listened to Silas quietly as he spoke and, as he finished, Stratton cleared his throat and rose from his seat. "Silas, Cap, if I may?" He asked while nodding towards the two of them.

Stratton looked at the crew. "I already brought this up with Silas so it's nothing more but fair to mention it to the rest of you alongside some other things."

"The Waning Stars will bury this event. My report on it will be kept hidden and any third-party witnesses will be paid to keep silent or threatened into submission. I'm not going to lie to you- this is the hard truth.

As long as we keep what we saw and did to ourselves it'll all be fine. If you don't, well, there's a limit to how much I can do to help."

Stratton then looked at Silas and Adira. "By the time we land Burman and Alex will be taken into custody. Alongside the two of them my report and helmet footage will be sufficient to keep the crew in the clear. I've also taken extra steps to prevent anyone else from being detained or questioned."

 

[Epiphany]

Solar Daddy Kharmin
Conversation with Kepler wrapped up and the first heart-to-heart had with her sister, Kestrel was all for having a crowd around instead of all of this heavy, one-on-one talk. Silas' invitation to the hub was welcome and she tilted her head before leading the way there for Alysson.

The blonde woman nodded along at Silas' debriefing, enjoying the familiar cadence that was near ritual for a soldier coming back from a mission. Silas' willingness to talk about his plans was a welcome change, though. The Mutter's Spiral tended to lean a little harder on Need To Know, which unsurprisingly took place mostly within family lines rather than between. She didn't need to know his plans for Jane or even the situation with Otto or Burman or Alex but it was still nice to be included.

Even nicer was the unsolicited yet extremely welcome offer of accommodations aboard ship for Alysson. Kestrel's smile at Silas' announcement there was perhaps the warmest, most emotive he'd ever seen on her usually serious face. If he made eye contact, she gave him an appreciative nod. And then made a point of gently nudging her sister, who doubtlessly didn't need the physical cue to pay attention but received it anyway. Sisterly obligations and all.

When Silas solicited leads, Kestrel simply shrugged. "I've never been to Corverant before. Hell, the last planet I was on before you found me on Granite was...must have been Pyli-1722. God knows what the rest of you call it but it was the last world I explored on behalf of the Mutter's Spiral. So, can't help you with a lead but I can come along and try to keep you and anyone else out of trouble."

Viper Actual
Hearing Stratton's contribution to the debriefing was equally familiar and she found herself unsurprised by the Waning Stars' decision. When it seemed clear he was a bit concerned that the crew needed to take this seriously to avoid idle gossp, she leaned over and said, "I have no issues with burying this event. If I never think of what we saw down there again, it'll be too soon."

"Just let me know how much drone data, if any, you want to supplement your report."

Solar Daddy Dragongal Vudukudu Viper Actual Spazzycat101 Kharmin T TayKay
"By the way," she added, speaking up to address the rest of the crew. "Just in case any introductions were missed, I think you've all met my sister, Alysson. The gentleman speaking's our engineer and ship owner, Silas Burns. Sideburns. That's the Cap over there, Adira Rik. Kepler's right there, he's been our tech guy and you'll have to ask him if he's got more to his name than 'K' or 'Kepler. That right there's our Doctor, Lydia Camden, and the boss of all of us when we take stupid risks. Not sure if you've seen Jane over there but we picked her up the same place we picked you up, of all things. And our newest boss is James Stratton, he's our...coordinating officer, I suppose you could say, with the Waning Stars. If one of them want to explain exactly what this ship's relationship with the Waning Stars are, I'm sure the Cap, the boss or our coordinator can explain it better than I can."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira was one of the first to arrive at the meeting, and had promptly taken her seat upon the table. She was light enough that she didn't even disturb the items on the table. As Silas and the others spoke, she'd nod whenever referenced. At the moment, she didn't have much to add to what Stratton and Silas had to say. After all, she agreed that what they found on that asteroid needed to be kept under wraps - if those aliens could be weaponized, it could be catastrophic. And while Adira didn't trust Waning to not weaponize it themselves, she did trust that they would keep it out of the hands of Icarus. And out of the two of them, Adira hated Icarus most.

The introduction of Alysson was the next topic of interest. Adira watched the girl, and decided that she was a little too charming for someone who moved their eyes so much during a meeting. Looked like Adira would have some competition for who could be the best manipulator around here. And while the captain would never use her tricks on her crew, she had no faith that Alysson would have that limitation. So Adira just mentally marked Alysson down as someone to avoid trusting. The captain smiled and nodded politely at the introduction.

Adira turned to the whole group once Alysson's introduction was done. "We'll work out things like chores and responsibilities later. In the meantime, I hope everyone will rest up on Corverant - after the mission we just had, I think it's safe to say we all need it. Silas should have your contact info in case him or I need to reach you in regards to a new job. As always, you'll be able to come back to stay on the ship, or you can take a hotel room - not a big deal either way. All of you will have access to the ship while it's docked, thanks to your keycards, but of course your keycards cannot access other peoples' rooms, same as always. And, of course, the thing we all care about - you'll be getting your payment for this job soon, to those of you who were not rescued."

She looked to Stratton last, and added, "And, yes, we keep this mission secret. What we saw and what we know could make us all a target not just for Waning bookkeepers but for other factions or groups that could have interest in the... opportunities such science as we saw could provide. I don't want any of you bringing unnecessary trouble back to our ship." Well, wasn't that a touch hypocritical.

Finally, she looked to Otto. "It was good having you on the crew. I wish you the best, and you're always welcome to come back if circumstances allow."

 

[Vudukudu]

Kepler keeps himself out of the way during the meeting, having spent much of the intervening period between Kestrel's visit and the crew meeting calculating roughly the number of strides it would take to see himself in and out of the common area. Leaning against a wall, he listens in while mostly paying attention to the pain shooting through his arm. He wasn't going to have the doctor look at it, considering she'd been the one to cause it, and he'd figured that it wasn't going to kill him before he lopped the whole thing off in the coming days. He'd have to see what the market rates on further modifications were on Corverant and look at his budget. Kepler was, by galactic standards, quite wealthy. A few years of piracy, a decade in security consulting, an array of other activities illicit and otherwise, and having extremely low overhead by virtue of living in tiny apartments and living on a threadbare budget had left him with a considerably well padded bank account. Investments had paid for his hermitage plans, he'd already set aside a substantial block of funding for charitable efforts, and he still had some spending cash laying about. A new pair of arms and his explosive device would barely dent it.

He wasn't sure about what the new additions to the crew practically added, but he was willing to accept Kestrel's seeming certainty that her sister was worth having around. Jane was similarly of little interest to him, and he wasn't sure she'd like to stick around anyway given what little he knew of her. Maybe they'd find a niche to occupy that made them worth the oxygen they'd take up.

Jane proved somewhat more interesting than he expected, especially once she opened the political can of worms. He wasn't much in the mood to get into a political debate, and he politely excuses himself with a nod and slips out to his own quarters.

 

[Viper Actual]

"Any footage you can spare showing the interior and our violent encounter would be appreciated," said Stratton in response to Kestrel. He remained silent afterwards to let the others speak.

When Adira further reinforced his statement regarding discretion and cemented just how crucial it was for the wellbeing of the crew Stratton nodded towards her in a appreciative manner.

Then, just prior to Alysson extending her gratitude towards the crew Stratton observed her briefly. As an envoy he was used to study people from all walks of life and while Alysson appeared to be genuine James couldn't help but sense something more. Hesitation? No? Time will tell.

Following Alysson was Jane- the scavenger- and a very honest statement. James initially raised his eyebrows. He glanced towards Adira and Silas before nodding towards Jane. "I appreciate your honesty. No offense taken, ma'am. I'd like to make something clear as well; I am not the organization I work for. I am a fellow man as much as I am a envoy for the Waning Stars."

Having said that Stratton smiled briefly. "But I'm sure we will no doubt get along just fine. After all I'm sure that none of us are here to discuss politics."

 

[Solar Daddy]

Once everyone had finished their piece, Silas concluded with a few words on how great their crew was. He was beginning to get to a point where he felt comfortable trusting them with his life; he mostly didn't even need to think about counting on any one of them for something risky. The meeting concluded with Silas taking Jane and Alysson to what would be their rooms. They were identical with Alysson's being right next to Lydia's room, with Jane being at the end of the hallway closest to the Hub. He handed each of them the keycard to their room and left them with the few rules they had on the ship to familiarize themselves with. Then, he finished with, "I know they're pretty bare right now, but feel free to decorate as you see fit. We'll get you guys blankets and pillows from storage when we land."

After answering any questions they had for him, Silas went to the bridge to give Adira company as she took them to one of the popular cities of Corverant - The Floating Highrise. It was in essence a bunch of skyscrapers held up off the surface of the ocean by large anchored buoys. On their approach, it was mesmerizing to see the city rise and fall with the waves under the city as it floated harmlessly. The city was a center for scientific research and development, and its shiny architecture reflected that - the city even boasted plenty of fake landmasses to simulate the illusion of a city built on a string of islands.



The ship was given clearance to land at a guest port, decently far from the city center. Almost instantly, a squad of three military police vehicles rolled up to the landing pad. Waning officials stepped out, no doubt prepared to take Burman and Alex into custody. The lead of the group, a stocky armor-clad officer with a strong jaw and an expression to match, waited patiently for Silas to exit the ship. His rifle hung lazily in its harness against his chest, with his hands resting atop it. Once Silas stepped out to greet the officials, he began, "We're here for the scientists. Is your Waning officer around? This'll go by faster if we spoke to him before taking the suspects."

"Stratton, you're up." Spoke Silas into his wristbound comms. "They're here for Burman and Alex. Any chance they can have a word with you?"

 

[Viper Actual]

During the remainder of the meeting Stratton stayed silent unless directly spoken too. Afterwards he quickly briefed Adira on the exact same thing he had briefed Silas on, as well as mentioning the chip itself. Once that business had been taken care of James had returned to his quarters which were being located to an actual room instead of remaining inside a previously unused storage space.

Luckily for him he traveled lightly and the only real challenge would be to rewire and move the entire encrypted communications terminal that had been installed onboard the ship. For now however, until Adira ordered it and until a team of WS technicians could make the move happen in the first place, the terminal would remain where it was behind a locked door.

When Silas called over the internal comms Stratton was just in the midst of staring down on Burman and Alex inside the medbay. He carried an easy-to-conceal holster and its related magazine pouches on his belt but was beyond that dressed in a fairly casual fashion. James nodded in response to Silas and glanced at the black metal cuffs on Burman's wrists. "I'm on my way Silas. Stratton out."

He pointed at Burman. "Stay."

Whatever reaction Burman replied with Stratton couldn't see it as he was already halfway out of the medbay, leaving the two suspects under the watchful gaze of Lydia.

Two minutes later Stratton was walking down the ramp and casually approached the Waning Stars trooper party awaiting his presence. As he neared the apparent squad leader one of the car doors opened and closed. The military policemen stepped aside as a pale man dressed in a slick black suit approached the trooper sergeant, Silas and Stratton. His eyes was hidden behind a pair of low-profile shades though the rest of his neutral expression was left open for all to observe.

Stratton made a quick salute before flashing his holographic watch, which was now displaying a headshot of him alongside his name and supposed service tag to confirm his identity. The man in the suit produced a small pen-like device from one of his pockets which he held up in front of the hologram. After a brief humming the device chirped twice and flashed a green light, prompting the man in the suit to return the device to its pocket while Stratton disabled the hologram.

"Just the two of them?" Asked the man.

Stratton nodded. "Just the two. No additional C1's. Crew has received a full briefing."

"Excellent," said the suited man, nodding. He glanced at Silas briefly before looking back at Stratton.

"Additional footage?"

Stratton nodded and extended his right hand, offering a military-style portable datadrive the size of a hand. "The only copy," lied James.

"Let's hope it stays that way." The man in the suit pocketed the datadrive and nodded towards two of the military policemen who took two steps forward. He then looked at Silas. "Shall my men board your vessel or would you prefer to escort the suspects out here by your own accord?"

 

[Vudukudu]

Regarding the rest of the flight, Kepler is quick to ask for a hand from someone technically incompetent, like Stratton or Adira, to give him a helping hand in his furnace-like bedroom and workshop. Wandering the ship blindly wasn't something he was keen on doing for the few days of travel they had ahead, and he had a solution, albeit a temporary one. He wanted someone mostly capable of holding things with a steady hand who would keep quiet about the technical bits while he very carefully spliced a wire from a handheld camera into the base of his neck, where it could be connected to his interfacing port and take over for his fried optic implants. Finishing it off, he requested his assistant crudely tape the device onto the side of his head, leaving him with a fist-sized black box mounted on the right side of his head. The image was satisfactory for now, and while it took some getting used to to see from several inches to the right of normal, Kepler managed to clumsily take care of himself for the remaining few days.

Once the ship is landed, Kepler assigns himself the responsibility of shepherding their prisoners out.

"You stay the hell away from me!" Burman barked, recoiling visibly at the sight of Kepler coming in to find them. "I'll have your ass in court and have you put up against a wall!"

Kepler rotates his head slightly to make something like eye contact by way of his mounted camera. "You'll find most Waning Stars courts quite unwilling to prosecute. The Treaty of High Spires insures subjects of Borealis' Planetary Council are protected from prosecution for lesser crimes and misdemeanors, and that matters of faith go uninterrupted. A lengthy trial would violate both stipulations and result in the unilateral severance of trade with Borealis' manufactorums." Kepler replies. He pauses for a moment, then tilts his head. "Unless you'd prefer we settle with blades." He adds with an exaggerated shrug, relishing in the confused and fearful look on Burman's face.

"But I believe Master Stratton is currently negotiating your release into Waning Stars custody. Please exit the premises in an orderly fashion." He concludes, giving the pistol at his hip an indicative tap.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas stepped off the ramp onto solid ground, thankful to have survived another close encounter with forces beyond his own abilities. The illegal mining depot on Kilo was definitely more than he had bargained for - and this hyper competent alien base was even further out of his league. He was lucky enough to have such a skilled crew. If any of them were any bit worse, he had no doubt there'd be quite a few casualties at best. But what-ifs didnt matter. They had rescued two survivors and apprehended a criminal of disgusting magnitude. It was a fairly common belief that leaving someone to die in the empty vacuum was simply in bad taste; Burman probably would've been let off a little easier had he shot her himself instead of leaving her out to die.

Then he snapped back to the conversation currently being held by James and the other Waning Stars members. He had to break his habit of daydreaming a bit too vividly. However, it was lucky that he could pick up the topic easily from the suited man's response. "I believe one of our crew members are bringing out the two scientists. Neither of them had belongings and they're both in handcuffs. Though Burman may need help walking once we hand him off to you, as an FYI. He sustained an injury to his leg." Silas nodded to Stratton, then wiped his brow. "I know Stratton has his own reports on the situation. I'll submit my own when WS sends the request for the ship owner's perspective." Finding it to be a satisfactory response, the WS officer awaited the scientists to be delivered. In the meantime, Silas rolled up the sleeves of his jumpsuit until they reached his elbows and unzipped it about halfway down his chest, revealing the dark undershirt beneath. Corverant was tropical in climate for most of the planet - but Silas always took a long time to get used to planet warmth after being in a cold vacuum for so long.