Gret
In crew quarters of Indie Scout
Gret is sitting facing his open locker at a foldout table, metal brush in hand scrubbing some carbon scoring on his orange armour plate. A brief memory pops up, of how he attained the armour. The gang he had been running with had been involved in a turf war for months. One evening while travelling to their quarters they got jumped by a crew of six spacer mercs. The gang leader and his right-hand man were both killed. However, the mercs didn’t reckon on how determined and well-armed his gang was and four were brought down forcing the other two to flee. Examining the backpack of one he found a brand-new set of All-terrain life support armour. Used by Unity military personnel, it was highly prized.
“It’s no use to you now my friend,” he slipped the pack off and hung it over his shoulder.
“Let’s split,” said one of his companions Yurol. “Unity speeders are on the way. Meet you at the ship – we got to get outta here”. They both slipped off into the shadows.
When Gret got to the docking bay next morning he found that there was no ship there – only the charged post-battle smell that comes after Mag weapons and plasma guns have been fired. A small unit of Unity troopers were patrolling near the entrance.
“Damn…."
H’ua
Aboard Independent Scout , on route in space.
H’ua had mentioned Tom about an old contact of his who did modifications to ships of all sizes. They are both in the rear of the Independent Scout where H’ua is performing some maintenance.
“Well, it’d be worth paying him a visit then?” said Tom.
“I’m not sure where he is right now. Like me he’s keen to keep a low profile.”
“Any idea of his last location?”
“No, but he favours hot and dry climate after years of work in damp cold engine bays. We had a lockup on Currie 6 - in fact that’s where I fitted out the indie scout.”
Taking a sip from his tin mug Tom smiled at H’ua. “So you sort of know where you want to go already. I’m not your master you know...”
“Well…yeah. Hey, you guys have done me a big favour so I don’t mind deferring.”
“It’s not like that. We all benefit from this arrangement. But anyways…what sort of mods can your friend do?”
Shaking his head H’ua said ”Ha, just about anything. He’s a little crazy. His major expertise was in subterfuge and blending in so to speak. His own starship was based on the hermit crab. Just a big hunk of rock on the outside….but inside was an old freighter he’d carefully reassembled inside after he’d hollowed it out."
Tom raised his eyebrows “Well, that’s a nifty idea. Not seen a hermit crab since I was a boy back on Earth. Sound great.”
H’uanodded. “It is….and very expensive….I’d like an orbital docking shell though. With a crew quarter, larger hold and med facilities. We just need a donor vehicle to modify.”
“Alright,” Tom replied. “Looks like we’ll need to do a few jobs to pay for it, but why not? She’s a good ship, the Indie.”
H’ua tapped the bulkhead and nodded.
Aboard Independent Scout , on route in space.
H’ua had mentioned Tom about an old contact of his who did modifications to ships of all sizes. They are both in the rear of the Independent Scout where H’ua is performing some maintenance.
“Well, it’d be worth paying him a visit then?” said Tom.
“I’m not sure where he is right now. Like me he’s keen to keep a low profile.”
“Any idea of his last location?”
“No, but he favours hot and dry climate after years of work in damp cold engine bays. We had a lockup on Currie 6 - in fact that’s where I fitted out the indie scout.”
Taking a sip from his tin mug Tom smiled at H’ua. “So you sort of know where you want to go already. I’m not your master you know...”
“Well…yeah. Hey, you guys have done me a big favour so I don’t mind deferring.”
“It’s not like that. We all benefit from this arrangement. But anyways…what sort of mods can your friend do?”
Shaking his head H’ua said ”Ha, just about anything. He’s a little crazy. His major expertise was in subterfuge and blending in so to speak. His own starship was based on the hermit crab. Just a big hunk of rock on the outside….but inside was an old freighter he’d carefully reassembled inside after he’d hollowed it out."
Tom raised his eyebrows “Well, that’s a nifty idea. Not seen a hermit crab since I was a boy back on Earth. Sound great.”
H’uanodded. “It is….and very expensive….I’d like an orbital docking shell though. With a crew quarter, larger hold and med facilities. We just need a donor vehicle to modify.”
“Alright,” Tom replied. “Looks like we’ll need to do a few jobs to pay for it, but why not? She’s a good ship, the Indie.”
H’ua tapped the bulkhead and nodded.
Shahblah
Aboard Independent Scout
In the shadows of the forward hold, Shahblah completes maintainance of UR-25, plugging him into forward power unit to recharge. Shahblah had witnessed battle on many worlds during years of travel. The Independent Scout crew were on the whole a good bunch with no outward sign of malice. Their leader Tom had proved to be honourable and fair-minded; and this made the Precursor relax in the company of the crew – more than is usual for one of the people usually do.
Seated on an ornate rug with back straight on the floor, Shahblah places both hands palm down on the deck and begins to breathe slowly in and out, eyes closed in concentration. After a few minutes of this a pale glow begins to appear – with the head and other areas of visible skin emitting this faint light.
Opened mouthed, Murina slowly backs out of the doorway having witnessed the whole thing.
Shahblah, seemingly oblivious, appears to smile.
Aboard Independent Scout
In the shadows of the forward hold, Shahblah completes maintainance of UR-25, plugging him into forward power unit to recharge. Shahblah had witnessed battle on many worlds during years of travel. The Independent Scout crew were on the whole a good bunch with no outward sign of malice. Their leader Tom had proved to be honourable and fair-minded; and this made the Precursor relax in the company of the crew – more than is usual for one of the people usually do.
Seated on an ornate rug with back straight on the floor, Shahblah places both hands palm down on the deck and begins to breathe slowly in and out, eyes closed in concentration. After a few minutes of this a pale glow begins to appear – with the head and other areas of visible skin emitting this faint light.
Opened mouthed, Murina slowly backs out of the doorway having witnessed the whole thing.
Shahblah, seemingly oblivious, appears to smile.
Murina
Aboard Independent Scout
While in transit, Murina and the crew have slid control consoles back into the side walls and assembled their hammocks, slung from the ceilings for some much-needed sleep.
These hammocks take a bit of getting used to but are actually quite comfortable. Murina lay back and fixed on her headset in order to view data download received from the dock just before they departed.
Several communications are waiting in her inbox – news from her homeworld, Unity newsfeed information and others that she sends to junk. One message stands out as it has an attached video: it plays – a mouse clan figure, ducked under a window.
“Murina – it’s me – I’m err…in a tight spot – I could do with your help….use the co-ordinates – it wasn’t me this time!..plea…" *static then message ends*.
“Tovtiki!” Murina hisses angrily. The message was a day old. Slipping quietly from her hammock she heads to fore quarters. H’ua is standing there at monitoring station.
“Can I run the co-ords?” She asks H’ua.
“Yes sure. What is it?”
“Gah, my brother Tovtiki…he sent me a message yesterday. He’s in trouble.” She keys in co-ords and the location quickly pops up on screen.
H’ua turns to face the console – “Hmm, Byng 2… it’s not far. What exactly are we facing there?”
“I have no idea…” Murina looks angrily. “He’s meant to be at home.”
“well – we’re heading there now – will you tell Tom or shall i?”
“Hmph . . . I’ll do it. Thanks H’ua.”
“Tell me what?” Tom says as he enters the fore quarters.
