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[thatkid]

Joe purchases a bunch of supplies, save for two batteries, which he can't afford, completely bankrupting himself- and potentially entering a 2 credit debt, if the shopkeeper had noticed he was short by that much before he was out and into the streets in search of a research center of some kind.

20

It would seem that Volk IV, being a mining colony, does not have a very high scientific population. Still, as luck would have it Volk IV North, which is just a half day's train ride away, contains a small research facility led by a local Samurai and Scientist who's primary focus is in Geological Anomalies. Perhaps there will be something of interest there?

Meanwhile, Trevor wanders off on his own.
While wandering the streets, mostly ignored by the locals as one of many off-duty soldiers or sailors taking rest at port (which, indeed, he is), he eventually finds himself nearing the chain-linked fences which indicate the parameter of Volk IV Central- And there, he witnesses a rather strange scene.
Several grey and blue clad guardsmen stand about a fallen section of fence, and a burnt-out, bullet-ridden shell of a building. Though it doesn't appear to be this they are guarding, but instead a robed man, katana and wakizashi at his waist, who kneels near a shattered door frame, inspecting something.

26
"Looking for work, I see," a haggard, mousy looking aide answers Erick as soon as he voices his wish to meet the magistrate in audience. "Alright, alright. He just..." Pausing, she studies Erick for a moment before shrugging, and motioning to the doors behind her- "He can see you now. Careful, he isn't in a good mood. Just had a meeting with the Lieutenant."


With the clarity which only hungry flames may provide, the kami answers Akito: "...YOU will find wooden GOODS, from a distant PLANET. THESE are of little use but to burn. Especially the OIL which SOME may yet carry. Know this, MORTAL! The true TREASURE lies not in the HOLD!"
The burning salts and powders crackle, and the smoke and flames waver. There is a pause, and the presence grows fainter. "The LIFE upon the SHIP is...twisted and broken! YOU would do well to be wary, but what is this, MORTAL, which...YOU...speak...of...original?"

And with one last, crackling hiss, the flames die. And with them, so leaves the presence of the kami, its hunger sated.


Twelve hours pass aboard the Black Sea. They are uneventful, though lying at Homura's feet, Aster cries and kicks out. Upon awaking, the horrors witnessed by her sleeping mind are all but forgotten, save for this: A tiger with glowing red eyes lunges, pursuing her through the empty void of space one moment, and leading her to some destination the next. Fragmented, the only true image which remains in her mind upon waking is the last, of the tiger showing her into, or perhaps cornering her at the open maw of, a dank, dark cave.

Whether she chooses to share this information with any other member of the crew is her choice alone.

Their preparations complete, the boarding party gathers in the docking bay of the Black Sea, each clad in an Envirosuit.
The only question now is this: Who will lead the way?

Spoiler: The Ship and Her Crew (click to show/hide)

The Intrepid Crew
The Captain: Akito Naples, as portrayed by Weirdsound 1 Fire Spell Cast Today
A Pilot: Greg Dark, as portrayed by Scapheap
A Pilot: Homura Munashii, as portrayed by Hailfire
The Engineer: Aster Red, as portrayed by Deep Waters
The Medic: Leera Choktia, as portrayed by Gotdamnmiracle 1 Earth Spell Cast Today
The Scientist: Joe "Spaceman" Bridger, as portrayed by Remuthra
A Guard: Kara Fastbursts, as portrayed by Kahn1234
A Guard: Jerrod Hu, as portrayed by Kadzar
The Cook: Trevor, as portrayed by Filiusenox
The  Communications Officer: Erick, as portrayed by Firelordsky

The Black Sea
Tonnage Above Average
Tactical Poor
Sensors Poor
Propulsion Poor

Components
Dragonfly Class 3 Series III Frame (DF-3013)
Standard Alloy Shigimetsu Hull (S-SA01334978)
Yamura Class 5 S-Series VTOL Gear (Yamura S-5001)
Firebreath VII Torpedo Turrets
Yamura Class 5 E-Series Realspace Drives (Yamura E-5101)
Quonam VacLas Sensors (Quonam 2000)
Dragonfly Class 3 Series III Warpspace Drives (DF-3110)

Supplies
30 Weeks of Protein Rations
10 Torpedos
10 Envirosuits

[Kadzar]

(OOC: If thatkid agrees to allow our planning to take place in brief flashbacks, this conversation occurs during our planning phase. Otherwise, it just occurs in normal time.)

"So, Kara, do you want to take point, or should I?"

[filiusenox]

Trevor eyes the robed figure, a frown appearing on his face as he stands by the fence. He taps his fingers on the hilt of his Katana, watching intently.

Look how expensive the man's clothes are.

[HailFire]

"Hey, Red; you guys got a plan yet? Nothin' on sensors yet; I-- oh." Homura greets Aster over the bridge speakers as she enters the bridge, but her tone flattens as the engineer starts shamelessly picking her pockets.

"Y'know, I can actually see you doing that. Like, literally. Since I'm hooked into the cameras.

...And you're going to do it anyway, 'cos it's my shift and I can't stop you. It'd be nice if you'd just, y'know, ask occasionally, 'cos I'd totally share.

...Probably." She sighs at length. "Yeah, you have fun with that. And pay me back this time, maybe?"

-------------------------------------------------------

Time passes, with Homura and Greg taking shifts of an hour or two at a time* keeping watch for hostiles, and she spends most of her down-time napping, eating, or trying to meditate/jamming in her quarters, until the countdown timer finally goes off, and she gets on the ship-wide PA:

"Righto, twelve hours. We should be in the clear now-- dockin' with the drifter in three; two; one...

Bam!! Alright, away team, let's loot this bad boy!"

Upon hearing and feeling Aster scream and thrash awake, she drops back into her body as quickly as possible, jerking upright and yanking cords out of her head. "Shit, Red, you okay? C'mon, pull it together. You're with the boarding crew, ain'tcha?"

_{((*Unless scapheap or weirdsound have a problem with that; let me know and I'll redact it))}

[scapheap]

"You don't have to sound so cheerful." Greg return from his Kenjutsu practice in the hold.

[kahn1234]

(OOC: If thatkid agrees to allow our planning to take place in brief flashbacks, this conversation occurs during our planning phase. Otherwise, it just occurs in normal time.)

"So, Kara, do you want to take point, or should I?"

You take point, i'll cover you from above until you give the all clear and then come down my self.

Then we spread out and clear the rooms immediately connected to the docking area, i'd say.

Any rooms we clear afterwards, we'll do together. More firepower can never go amiss.

[Remuthra]

I go to the research facility to gain Science

[Weirdsound]

Akito enters the docking bay with a grim expression. He jacks his communicator into the intercom so that those still on the bridge can hear before speaking. "I was in congress with a spirit, and asked about the wreck. The life on board is described as 'twisted' and 'broken' and we are advised to proceed with caution. I trust my magic and my guard's combat skill against most foes, but we should be ready to run in case this ship is a nest of taint. I'll leave the decision on how to proceed up to my honorable guards, but would suggest that non-combat personnel be kept aboard the Black Sea until the coast is clear. Guards I will place myself and my magic at your disposal for combat should you wish to use it."

The captain  pauses for a moment to let his message sink in. "The goods in the hold are wooden, and they are of no value from a fire spirit's perspective. I'd still like to check the hold out on the off chance they could be worth some mortal credits. If the creatures aboard are not tainted, I'd also like to take a few back for Spaceman and myself to autopsy. Other than that the specifics of what we take are up to Red."

[Kadzar]

(OOC: If thatkid agrees to allow our planning to take place in brief flashbacks, this conversation occurs during our planning phase. Otherwise, it just occurs in normal time.)

"So, Kara, do you want to take point, or should I?"

You take point, i'll cover you from above until you give the all clear and then come down my self.

Then we spread out and clear the rooms immediately connected to the docking area, i'd say.

Any rooms we clear afterwards, we'll do together. More firepower can never go amiss.

"Agreed, although I think we should take a staggered approach to clearing rooms, in case we're dealing with dishonorable pirates who like to set traps."

[kahn1234]

(OOC: If thatkid agrees to allow our planning to take place in brief flashbacks, this conversation occurs during our planning phase. Otherwise, it just occurs in normal time.)

"So, Kara, do you want to take point, or should I?"

You take point, i'll cover you from above until you give the all clear and then come down my self.

Then we spread out and clear the rooms immediately connected to the docking area, i'd say.

Any rooms we clear afterwards, we'll do together. More firepower can never go amiss.

"Agreed, although I think we should take a staggered approach to clearing rooms, in case we're dealing with dishonorable pirates who like to set traps."

Good Idea.

[thatkid]

After a brief depressurizing in the Black Sea's exit bay, the group exits into the open vacuum of the frigate's hangar, with Jerrod leading the way. As the ship is no longer powered, opening the decompression chamber's blast doors is as simple as hitting an emergency switch on the outside of the vessel- Which Jerrod does.

The doors open with a whirr and the clunk of mechanics. Slowly...slowly...And then with a final, guttering growl of machinery, the doors become stuck and the mechanisms die. Luckily, there is just enough room for the group to squeeze through, single file.
The decompression chamber is empty and dark, lit only by the distant stars which are visible through the cracked blast doors of the hangar.
15
Tugging the door open, Jerrod alone steps onto the Bridge.

Though better lit than the decompression chamber, the only light which reaches the bridge again comes from distant, glittering stars, which can be seen through the surrounding windows like tiny pin holes in the distance of space. Reflecting their light, a series of droplets and globules of some viscous liquid, the color indiscernible, slowly spin and rotate in place at waist height above and around the central consoles. Drifting slowly through the room, not far before a rather full-looking, if limp and torn, envirosuit, is an orb of flesh and muscle run through with dark veins:
A long-stilled heart.

At the opposite end of the room, between the thin outline of handrails, a chair, the screws which had previously kept it attached to the floor still plainly visible in its feet, taps a window before slowly floating to meet the floor. And then back. Tap. Tap. Tap.
5
Aside from these things, there is naught else in the room, as far as Jerrod can see.


9
26
Trevor attempts to discern the cost of the man's robes- But no dice. He can't even get a good grip on what they might be made of. Not from this distance.
He doesn't even recognize the fellow, in any case- Though he does recognize a symbol on the sleeve of the robes. Whoever this samurai is, he doesn't work for the Empire, but for Clan Volk.

As he stands looking, a guard approaches him. "Move along, citizen, those pirates won't be back any time soon, but this is an official investigation."

Meanwhile, Joe hops a train to Volk IV North. About twelve hours later, he steps off to find himself in an even sparser outpost than Volk IV Central had been. In fact, aside from the nearby quarry, there are only three buildings. One is quite obviously the barracks and housing area of the local miners. The next is an administrative office of some kind...And the last is a dingy, cement bunker of some kind. That would be his best bet, if he's looking for the research station.

Spoiler: The Ship and Her Crew (click to show/hide)

The Intrepid Crew
The Captain: Akito Naples, as portrayed by Weirdsound 1 Fire Spell Cast Today
A Pilot: Greg Dark, as portrayed by Scapheap
A Pilot: Homura Munashii, as portrayed by Hailfire
The Engineer: Aster Red, as portrayed by Deep Waters
The Medic: Leera Choktia, as portrayed by Gotdamnmiracle 1 Earth Spell Cast Today
The Scientist: Joe "Spaceman" Bridger, as portrayed by Remuthra
A Guard: Kara Fastbursts, as portrayed by Kahn1234
A Guard: Jerrod Hu, as portrayed by Kadzar
The Cook: Trevor, as portrayed by Filiusenox
The  Communications Officer: Erick, as portrayed by Firelordsky

The Black Sea
Tonnage Above Average
Tactical Poor
Sensors Poor
Propulsion Poor

Components
Dragonfly Class 3 Series III Frame (DF-3013)
Standard Alloy Shigimetsu Hull (S-SA01334978)
Yamura Class 5 S-Series VTOL Gear (Yamura S-5001)
Firebreath VII Torpedo Turrets
Yamura Class 5 E-Series Realspace Drives (Yamura E-5101)
Quonam VacLas Sensors (Quonam 2000)
Dragonfly Class 3 Series III Warpspace Drives (DF-3110)

Supplies
30 Weeks of Protein Rations
10 Torpedos
10 Envirosuits

[Kadzar]

Jerrod activates his suit's radio. "It's all clear, albeit rather creepy."

(OOC: I'm assuming our suits have radios of some sort, otherwise we'll have to figure out a way to communicate exclusively through hand signals.)

[kahn1234]

Kara bobs along after Jarrod, taking another look round just in case.

She then approaches the dead body to examine the fatal chest wound, in a effort to discern what killed him/her.

She is also constantly on the look out for any possible enemies.

[Weirdsound]

(Kid just went over this with the ground crew. I'm the only one with a comunicator. That said, it would be silly if coms were not built into the space suit.)

Captain Naples nods grimly and takes a casting stance. "Take my blessings with you Kara. This magic should keep your nerves steady for a spell. Move quick because it wont last long. Should you encounter hostiles, and feel that lureing back to the air lock is a viable plan, I can provide more support."

Akito casts Courage of the Seven Thunders on his guard as she moves into the unknown. Should the spell fail, the tricky captain does his best to hide that fact so that Kara may benefit from the placebo effect.

[kahn1234]

Nodding to the captain, Kara raises her weapon and proceeds to caustiously walk into the next room.