Miles To Go Chapter 1.2: Debt Boogaloo

[The Wanderer]

GM Post

After gathering supplies and getting several bits of information, which included a fair bit of knowledge on their destination. The crew would find their way back to the ship and get ready for departure, Hearts and the Navigator easily pulling the ship out of the dock and out into the familiar void of space. The datapack that was given to them that had the coordinates on it plugged into the main console, which brings the information that Luer had gathered to be shared from the friendly merchant.

"It's a little ways into the frontier, right on that fringe between the jurisdiction of the Coalition and the unknown. Meaning wherever you're going is gonna be off the books to whoever you're delivering it to. I suggest keeping weapons close on hand or have a good pilot to get your asses out of there. It's this desert world, Callisto. A couple settlements here and there, quiet but still that level of shady that I would also recommend locking the ship or keeping someone on board just in case."

In regard to who knew about it more in depth, Hearts and Yaat would know the most about it through their own experiences. They knew it had eight settlements, each ran by a 'sheriff' of sorts and each one running on Wild West law logic. And that Callisto had incredibly dangerous fauna on the world that was essentially underground scorpion lizards that preferred to strike during thunderstorm seasons. Mainly due to the creatures' extreme sensitivity to sunlight causing their skin to boil and pop before dying. And that the planet had a small problem of bandits but it wasn't nothing that'd give them any trouble should they encounter it.

The trip would take a couple of hours to a day or two before they'd arrive so plenty of time to get to know one another or work on some items.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before the others had gotten back, Daniel would be surprised at the close contact but as soon as he felt the heat of her body as he was essentially hugged to her body, he would basically go slightly limp as he basked in the warmth. His brain making pleasant tingles in the back of his skull as that preconditioned part of his brain wanted that heat. Not in a carnal way, as Vatborns of his specific area were conditioned to want to be in the hot interiors of the factories they worked in.

Granted, this was achieved by them having a lower body temperature. A fact that Hearts would immediately feel as Daniel's skin made contact with her shoulder. Like a cool rag had been put on it. Heck, just touching his body would yield that cool feeling even through the clothing he was wearing.

And since he had no idea if this was like those hugs from before when they were on Prospero in the hotter climates that Hearts detested or because she was stressed so he just kind of let her do as she pleased. Essentially being like a teddy bear in her arms. His train of thought being interrupted as he partially dozed off as they awaited the crew to return and when they did, he would be mildly concerned about the underground creatures.

He gripped Hearts' arm slightly as he shivered at the thought of them. "They sound creepy, like the talks of the skin-fish back on Prospero in the sea."

@rissa @Noble Scion @Grehstone @Wiggin @LazTheSpazz @NewWaveOldie @LenxKaitoYaoi

 

[Grehstone]

Yaatree felt a fool, when the pieces came together. That symbol had been the flag of the alliance! His original mission had been to report on THEIR actions! Their moves! Their willingness to seek out the Voyagers! And in this case, their weaknesses. Still, forgetting the flag of those he was supposed to be spying on was a deep and personal shame. But, on the plus side, it was personal. No-one had to know.

As for the puzzle, Yaat had a complete enough picture to suspect that, if Hearts knew all the details, she'd want to take extra precautions. The crate was almost certainly alliance weapons, and the easily scuttled ship was certainly not on any official records. The news that their destination was a highly dangerous border world was no comfort, and in fact made his suspicions coalesce into a familiar yet horrible picture of a political situation.

Someone high up in the Alliance's political or military hierarchy wanted this planet to break away. Someone high and public enough to need to appear totally unconnected to such illegal and treasonous activities. Thus, the Matriarch, the timing, the fact that they did their best to erase ALL records. Every weapon in that box, no matter its form, would have had all identifying marks removed. If they really wanted to sell the idea that it was simple criminal action and smuggling and theft, they might've even packed weapons a generation or two behind the latest models, or ensured they got extensive use at the range to get a little wear on them. As such, the recipients were probably political extremists, or at least opposition to the alliance, though without more detailed knowledge of the planet, he couldn't conclude anything about their stances or ideals. It was a bit harder to say if they'd be aware of their 'sponsor' or not, but what was clear was that this level of secrecy typically meant killing anyone who might know.

Hearts needed to know that, at least. She probably already suspected that the recipients might try to kill them. But a rebel force tended to be a fair bit deadlier, braver, and more numerous than your typical gangs. So, after composing an encoded report for his own people and sending it off, Yaatree sought her out…

"Captain? I know that you don't want all the details, but I think I've found out a bit more about this drop-off we're doing… And we should probably take additional precautions. Is… Now a bad time?"

@The Wanderer @Noble Scion

 

[rissa]

Per usual, moments came and went in a frenzied blur. They were off the renovated prison station within three hours and off into the black of space for the next delivery before she could unpack her groceries. That was fine though, it gave her time to ready the small mess hall. As others meandered about the ship on their own volition, between the cock pit and their bunks, Zadie spent a few hours cleaning, cooking, salting, and preparing all the goods she'd brought aboard. There were a couple mods she bought as well (for her armor and S.C.R.U.F.F.) but those projects could wait— the growing ache in her stomach could not.

The perishables would last about a week, so they'd be eating good for a couple days, and when that ran out, well, let's just say Zadie bought enough spices to make even hardtack rations taste good. She refurbished a couple containers to extend the table so everyone could eat in the mess hall, and even set the table. Bits and bobs bought for other people were set aside as well— chocolate for Arna (and plenty she stashed away for later) and a whole crate of dehydrated fish jerky for the captain, since she got such a steal for it.

On the table were containers of savory stew, puffy biscuits she paid an arm and a leg for but reminded her of her mom's, as well as a variety of side-dishes she'd bought at random. A few were cold dishes, but most were warm and hearty. Most importantly was the bottle of spirits she uncorked and placed in the center. Zadie took a moment to appreciate her work and retie her apron before summoning everyone for dinner.

 

[LenxKaitoYaoi]

His information proved at least sort of useful, which was good enough for the half elf. He did manage to get some work done amidst their pre-travel prep too, which was a relief. He imagined it would be a while before they landed again and he would be able to actually get any money. Once they started traveling, Luer retreated to his room for a time to split what he managed to make earlier. This didn't take him long, and he was too restless, so he sought out to explore the ship further.

Amidst his wandering a call for dinner came, and he found himself at a table with a proverbial buffet laid out. He smiled as he helped himself to the biscuits and stew, giving a pleased hum as he ate the stew in particular. "This is quite good. Thanks for cooking for us." He said to Zadie. It was nostalgic for the archer, and he admittedly was happy with the feeling right now. An indirect reminder of his current goal.

 

[Wiggin]

Arna sat happily in her makeshift section of the navigation room eating a new chocolate bar. She gently hovered in a corner and inspected the galactic map on their journey, although it was becoming increasingly obvious how unintentionally antisocial she was given the fact she had barely exited navigation for anything other than food in the mess hall. Her only other form of socialization was through the occasional ship messages to the captain in terms of directional actions. She had managed to slink her way into the mess hall the day after the ship's departure, hovering over to a seat and placing herself down without a word to eat a meal. She had only heard the latter half of Luer's thanks for the food, realizing she should also try her hand at that as well since she had forgotten to mention it earlier. "Uh yeah, thank you for the meal..." Arna murmured as she took one of the side dishes which happened to be a platter of sweets. It was probably a plate meant to be sampled from but Arna took the liberty of having that entire plate be her meal. There were at least other plates of sweets to be shared but it was still odd to see the large serpent neglect the hot stew for a platter of cupcakes and cookies to snack on. "-And thank you for the chocolate!" Arna spoke up once more, this time louder than intended after she had nearly again forgotten to thank Zadie for gathering the chocolates for her. Arna chose to sit at the edge of the table distancing herself from the others that were likely to funnel in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azir managed to find in his excursions a possible weapon vendor if they ever returned to the makeshift ship dock for when they acquired more money. Granted, the owner of the shop was the robotic individual who had given them the finger but mercenary groups tended to be rough around the edges in that fashion anyway from the former assassin's experience. For the most part, he had preliminarily introduced himself at the vendor by buying spare kinetic ammo and other items before returning to the ship that day.

His other days were spent scouting the area and gathering contacts within the station for the future possibly to gather information, but all of his attempts had come up dry. The contacts would be good for later, but at the current moment, they all came up dry for trying to find dirty info on the matriarch's army. He supposed the information would only be as needed, since at this time there wasn't any large push to unearth those skeletons.

The crew's vessel was then set to sail once equipment had been gathered by the rest of the people in the group. Azir had found himself a section of the ship not to distant from the observation deck where one could look out at the stars beyond. His setup was simple, with the only personalization in his room being the section on his desk where he would clean his guns. On occasion he had found himself wandering near Seilen's cabin but never truly entering it. The two of them had a slightly closer encounter on the first planet the crew had all met each other on, but Azir had been avoiding Seilen ever since. The situation had always felt too... awkward to broach for him so he decided to instead lurk around the mechanist's cabin and eventually enter the observation deck to stare at the stars quietly. When the message arose for the call for dinner, Azir was the next to come in not too far behind Arna, finding a seat at a corner of the long buffet at getting himself some stew and bread. The stew admittedly reminded him of his earlier days with the Drak shadow army, the vision of the steam rising among the falling snow. This stew tasted much better though as he offered a nod to Zadie as quiet thanks for the food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sariel had spent most of her time busking for money by using music as her main method while the crew gathered materials, having to come up with about 20 credits overall. It was a small amount of money and likely due to the area being primarily made up of tough mercenaries but it was at least something. Not much had happened beyond the busking other than the occasional jeer from a particularly grizzled individual before the group had to set sail for the stars.

The Tartarin had found herself particularly ecstatic with the idea of going to a desert planet, being reminded of home in that fashion although she had concerns for Hearts-On-Fire given her people's nature around heat. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject though and she guessed Hearts already knew all too well about that situation and had some way to account for it, and if not, Sariel would be there to assist. Sariel had been tuning her guitar in her room when the message came through that dinner had been cooking, which admittedly startled her due to her intense focus and a slight realization she had forgotten to eat.

Sariel walked into the mess hall with a little bit of a jaunt, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the stew and various foods as she rushed over to find a seat. "oooh this smells nice!" She marveled as she rushed to a central part of the table and picked up a bowl of stew. "Thanks, Zadie! Also, if you need any help with cooking this much in the future I can help out!" Sariel mentioned, sliding next to Luer and offering a little wave with a smile as she began to devour the meaty stew.