[Game Thread] Prologue - Employee Orientation

[Hiruma Kohaku]

Sam Crighton Sam smiled clapped her gently on the shoulder. ”I knew you had it in you kid. Just needed to piss you off enough to let it out. Analyze your environment, think outside the box, trust your crew, trust your ship, and trust yourself are all things that make great pilots. I may be jumping the gun, but I wouldn’t mind you being my wingwoman if we fly together based on that spunk and quick thinking of yours. Based on the ad, it would seem that a whole crew is needed, but we’ll see when our potential employer arrives.” He walks back over to his wall and takes a swig of the whiskey.

[Preacherwolf]

1910 Local Time3240.3.091

Planet TheorgannTho System

Business DistrictCity Of Magrathea

Introductions Count For Something Meet Your New Boss As the new group of employees got to know one another, Michael Rotunda hauled himself out of his bed, making a small clatter as empty whiskey bottles spill out around. Cogitant was paging him about new employees, he grunted and shut the damned droids blathering off. More hapless fools to join the big family, he really hoped none of them were A slur for those from the Dead NationZeds. That didn't really work out last time around and the incinerator was on the fritz. He sighed, he was getting too old for this gig. A few more years and he'd sell his chit to the next idiot and retire somewhere nice. Maybe hitch a ride off-world and head to Utopia and never see another corp again. He threw on his coat and prepared himself as he walked down the hall way. Stopping at the hidden doorway to the reception area, Mike slapped himself a few times with his real hand and worked himself up. Introductions and first impressions counted for something here. He took a deep breath, switched the lights over and stepped through opened the door... ...Sam was walking back to his was, just after testing his new comrades knowledge when the fluorescence lights suddenly went out. Smoke starts to rise from the floors and the Cogitant has powered down and gone silent. Just as the recruits eyes are starting to adjust to the lack of lighting, they slam back on. Rather than the pulsing white, this time its a deep blue lighting that floods the small reception. A voice echoes out of the darkness as a hitherto unseen door opens up from behind the Cogitant and a large man steps through. "WELCOME TO YOUR JOB OF TOMORROW!" The mans voice booms far to loudly for such small space. As he steps out and around the desk the recruits get a good look at him. He cuts an imposing figure at almost six and a half feet tall and clearly north of two hundred and fifty pounds, wearing what look like a mixture of combat fatigues and mechanics overalls underneath a stained white lab coat. Completing the bizarre look is a delicate looking monocle and a dirty yellow cybernetic limb that looks both too expensive to be a generic, off the shelf implant but too obvious and rough to be anything other than a custom job. Either something he's made himself or that he specially commissioned. As the large man continued in a slightly quieter, but equally dramatic, tone the lights changed from a dark blue to a lighter shade. Still blue, but now giving off better light with which to see by "My friends and fellow space travellers welcome to the Frontier Express. Lets see who do we have here. Comp Troll Er Del La Main Doors? I have no idea how you fit all those names on a business card but good to have you here. Discoeddy? Odd name but I guess you ain't dead just resting right now. Sam Crighton? Straight and to the point I like it. Captain Finneas Malvery? A little presumptuous but I can't fault your enthusiasm and finally Kelli Fontaine? Well your a slip of a thing aren't you. I'm glad you've all joined us here FOR ADVENTURE! My name is Michael Rotunda, I run this little outfit here and will be assigning you your ship and first job and helping you with employee orientation." With a flourish and a snap of his fingers the Cogitant comes back to life, spinning up and collecting dataslates from behind the desk. It floats over to each of the new recruits and hands them a slate, along with a pen and thumb scanner. Written on the slates appears to be an employment contract. Rotunda continues, his voice still louder than it should be for a small office. "Before I can get to any employee details and orientation though, I gotta make you all employees! This here is your bog standard five year contract. I know that sounds like a lot, but let me tell you that time will fly by. Its also guaranteed employment for the next five years, which is something rare around this system. I've also got your first job lined up for you once you signed and we've gone through the basics, so I can get you lot out the door the moment we're done! So just sign and place your thumb print on there and we'll get going." Rontunda waits patiently for each of his new employees to sign the contract before he continues...

OOC Just a note about the contract presented. As far as your characters are aware, it is perfectly normal in every way shape or form. Even those of you who know much better than this are hit with these thoughts. This contract is fine and in no way suspicious. This doesn't mean you can't ask questions or anything like that, you just simply don't find anything weird about the contract.

 

To Be Signed By The Contractor Position You are being employed in the position of Interstellar Transport and Logistics Manager. You are being employed on a casual permanent part-time basis. You are required to perform the following duties: 1) Ensure a proper profit margin between cost of transport and price of delivery 2) Maintain a space craft of tech grade level 4 3) Ensure the good conduct between Frontier Express and its customer base 4) Redacted 5) Ensure the safety of all products during transportation We may also assign you other duties, where reasonable for your position, training and experience. Probation period You will need to complete a 60-month probation period. During this time, we will assess your performance. Employment terms and conditions Your employment terms and conditions are those set out in this contract, the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award (MA000025) and applicable legislation. Hours of work You are expected to work 168 hours per week. You may also be requested or commanded to work additional hours if the additional hours are required by your employer. You may make a written request for flexible working arrangements under the Galactic Employment Standards, including for when you start and end work each day or your location of work. We will refuse your request in writing, but only if we have reasonable business grounds to inform you. Otherwise the refusal will be verbal. Your hours per week may not be averaged over more than one week in accordance with the award. Breaks You may also be entitled to rest breaks. Pay and allowances Pay You will be paid 1204 credits per week. This pay rate does not include superannuation, we’ll pay this separately. We will pay you monthly by cheque. Superannuation If you are eligible for the superannuation guarantee (including earning 450 credits or more per solar month), we will pay superannuation on your behalf in accordance with superannuation legislation and your award. We will pay contributions into a superannuation fund of your choice. If you do not tell us your choice of fund, we may need to contact the ATO to find out if you have a ‘stapled’ super fund to make your super guarantee contributions into. If you do not tell us your choice of fund and the ATO confirms you don’t have a stapled super fund, we will pay your super guarantee contributions to our default fund or another fund that meets the choice of fund rules. In addition to the superannuation guarantee, we will contribute 0.01 percent of your base salary in superannuation. Commission In addition to your base pay, we will pay you commission under the following arrangement: We will pay you a commission of 1200 credits if you reach a monthly sales target of 50,000 credits. If we agree to change this commission arrangement during your employment with us, we will update this employment contract. Any changes to your commission arrangement will be made according to the requirements of the modern award which applies to you. Annual bonus We may pay you an annual bonus at our discretion, taking into consideration your performance and other relevant business factors. There is no guarantee that you will get a bonus, and you will not be eligible for one after your employment with us ends. Leave You are not entitled to leave. Obligations Employee obligations As an employee of our business we expect you to: • carry out your duties to the best of your ability • act in the best interests of the business • comply with our business policies and procedures which we will make available to you in due course (but do form part of this contract) • comply with any other directions we provide. Confidentiality You agree not to use or disclose confidential information relating to the business. This includes while you are employed by us, after your employment ends and before signing this document, as by reading this contract you agree to this this confidentiality clause, if not the contract as a whole. Confidential information – including trade secrets, pricing structures, documents you create while employed with us, and information on our clients and suppliers – is our property. There are no exceptions. Conflict of interest While employed with us, you must get our written agreement before working for other employers or doing activities that may conflict with the interests of our business. Intellectual property Anything you invent, develop or create in the course of your work with us, remains our intellectual property. You must tell us about these works immediately failure to do so will result in penalties. Disputes If you have any concerns about your employment, talk to us first so we can try to solve the issues together. Your award has a dispute resolution term that sets out this process. If the dispute remains unresolved, your contract will be put into arbitration or your contract with us will be terminated. While the dispute is being resolved, you must continue to work as usual at half pay. Ending employment Dismissal You are entitled to the no minimum notice periods if we end your employment. This does not apply if we end your employment for serious misconduct. Resignation You must give us the following minimum notice periods if you resign: Continuous employment with us Minimum notice period 1 year or less 260 week More than 1 year to 3 years 208 weeks More than 3 years to 5 years 156 weeks More than 5 years 104 weeks Redundancy If your position is terminated due to redundancy, you are entitled to no compensation Misconduct We may terminate your employment without notice, or payment in lieu of notice, if you engage in serious misconduct. Serious misconduct is when an employee: • causes serious and imminent risk to the health and safety of another person or to the reputation, viability or profits of their employer's business, or • wilfully or deliberately behaves in a way that's inconsistent with continuing their employment. Examples of serious misconduct include: • theft • fraud • violence/assault • sexual harassment • serious breaches of health and safety requirements • being drunk or affected by drugs at work • refusing to carry out work duties. The undersigned here by agrees to all of the above terms, ____________________________________________

[Talissen70]

Captain Malvery Malvery moved away from Kelli and Sam as they metaphorically sniffed each other’s butts but listened carefully. A vague picture began to form but he shook it away. can’t have that relationship go up in flames. The one who makes the ship go and the one who makes it go where we want it, hell no! He walked back to his jacket, pooled on the floor, it was a nice jacket. He reckoned his new employer might have some laundering capacity Well, undoubtedly THAT kind But hopefully the other kind too. That’s when the lights went out and Malvery’s monoblade knife was in his hand in an instant. As they rose again and the smoky doorway appeared, he chuckled and looked round at the expression on his crew’s faces before resheathing his knife while the large man entered. Malvery listened as the recruitment pitch came. Business cards ….he liked the sound of that A little presumptuous ….Well only if you’ve got another Captain hidden away in that jacket of yours The Cognitant reappeared with a round of contract slates for them to sign. Malvery glanced quickly over it judging it as very slippery and general, bound to be a trap, but then, that was where he lived, in the grey areas of life. He looked over at Dellamain Executive Officer for Beaurocracy Doors, do you find the contract satisfactory? Assuming the response does not require further interaction, Malvery will sign with a very elaborate M and hand back the slate. Yeah, Executive Officer for Beaurocracy, that had a ring to it and he thought it might appeal to the tall man. Lots of big words, means nothing but gets the message across. Crighton, now he won’t want any fancy titles, Kelli either. Pilot and Engineering Officer or some such. The big fella though, Disco Eddy. Malvery wondered where his skills lay, labourer, sure but there was something else going on there. A childlike simplicity, the kind of person people would try to take advantage of. That old ethical dilemma, Malvery liked them, especially waving at them as they passed him by. Let’s just see what the future holds, eh? Malvery nodded Oh yeah, one other thing… Do we have on-board washing facilities that won’t shrink or discolour natural fibres and what’s your policy on cats?   Name: Finneas Bartholomew Malvery | Class: Adventurer Expert/Warrior | Background: Criminal | Level: 1 | XP: 0 | AC: 14 |HP: 5/5 Str: 6 (-1) |Dex: 14 (+1) |Con: 9 (-) |Int: 11 (-) |Wis: 10 (-) |Cha: 14 (+1) Saves: 15Physical | 14Evasion | 14 Mental Skills: Move without drawing notice.* Roll it for stealth, disguise, infiltration, manual legerdemain, pickpocketing, and the defeat of security measures.Sneak-0 | Convince other people of the facts you want them to believe. What they do with that conviction may not be completely predictable. Roll it to persuade, charm, or deceive others in conversation.Talk-0 | Spot anomalies or interesting facts about your environment. Roll it for searching places, detecting ambushes, spotting things, and reading the emotional state of other people.Notice-0 | Use it as a combat skill when using ranged weaponry, whether hurling rocks, bows, laser pistols, combat rifles, or ships gunnery.Shoot | Convince others to also do whatever it is you’re trying to do. Talk might persuade them that following you is smart, but Lead can make them do it even when they think it’s a bad idea. Roll it to lead troops in combat, convince others to follow you, or maintain morale and disciplineLead-0 Foci: Remarkably talented as a talker, your expertise is extremely reliable. Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest for all Talk skill ChecksSpecialist:Talk | A gift with a gun. Also applies to thrown weapons. Can draw or holster a stowed ranged weapon as an on turn action. May add shoot skill level onto ranged weapons damage rollGunslinger | You have a tremendous natural talent for ship combat, and can make any star ship you captain a significantly more fearsome opponent. You must take the Captain’s role during a fight in order to benefit from this focus. 2 extra command points at the start of each turn. Equipment: +3 to hit, 1d6+1 damage, stowed in L hip holsterStar-Captain | AC 13, worn Laser-Pistol | Inside right sleeve Armoured-Undersuit | 8 on belt Monoblade-Knife | stowed on left side of belt Type-A-Cells | [tt=Backpack]Currently empty Compad

[Mitsubachi]

Kelli Kelli gasped just a little when Sam placed his hand on her shoulder. Her emotions went through a short ride. First she was indignant that he had deliberately tried to piss her off to get her to answer. Kelli did not like being "played". But... what he said made sense, and she realised she had done all the things that he wanted. By the end of Sam's comment, her respect for the old pilot was (grudgingly) very high. He had a lot of experience, and she would be pleased to be wingwoman to him if they really did find themselves duelling starfighters in an asteroid field. So she smiled, relieved that she seemed to have passed his test, as he went and took a swig of whiskey. Then the lights went down. Kelli's heart leapt into her mouth. Everyone reacted the same way. She thought she might even have seen the glint of a blade in Malvery's hand. But an instant later the lights rose and Rotunda made his entrance. Kelli sighed. It was all a dramatic intro for this guy. He was like a showman with his enthusiasm, which was quite startling for a man of his size. He towered over Kelli and was easily twice her weight. The contracts were produced. Kelli looked out of the corner of her eye at everyone else. Looks like we are all going to be on the same ship. She thought about that. A short while ago, on first impressions, she would have been appalled. But first impressions are not always right. During their smalltalk while waiting for Rotunda, Kelli realised this crew might actually be... okay. Sam was clearly someone to trust in the pilot seat. Disco was kind and made her giggle. Malvery... Well, I'll think about that one later. And right now, Kelli realised as she gazed at the contract in her hands, she appreciated the skills of Comptroller Doors very much. She glanced at him, hoping for some clue from his expertise...

[Hiruma Kohaku]

Sam Crighton Sam’s hand slid towards his pistol when the lights went out but stopped once he realized it was just a theatrical entrance. He listened to the job pitch and looked at the contract. The pilot looked at the employer with a combination of pissed off and confused. ”Okay. I don’t mind working for this company until the day I die, but if you think I’m not going to get drunk at least once during that time you’re out of your damn mind. Also, we can’t kill anybody but what if pirates board us? I see that the amount of hours of work a week equals all 24 hours in a day. A lot of stuff that I’m against could be easily solved if we were allotted 2 hours a day of awake personal time. I’m sure some of the others have concerns as well.”

[MoldyNolds]

Dellamain Doors Well... at least everyone else seems to be getting along. Pilot and co-pilot are already talking shop, that's got to be good for on-the-job chemistry. Crighton and Malvery, already in the bottle? Good for chemistry. Maybe bad for the success of the crew, having the two ranking officers soused before we even get the keys to our ship... "You seem like you might be the only one who would appreciate them besides me.” Sam motioned to the pack he tossed in Door’s lap. Del took the Black and Milds that Sam had tossed him. He opened his mouth, about to go on a rant about how his brand of choice, Newton Blues, was one of the few in existence who still owned real, soil-and-chlorophyll tobacco farms. And how most cigarette brands nowadays were 100% synthetic. All chemical, right down to the imitation nicotine. And how... but he caught himself, remembering something his corporate shrink had told him. Sometimes a simple smile and nod is all that a conversation requires. Was this one of those conversations? Dellamain had no idea, why wouldn't someone want to know more information if it was presented? But he decided to give it a shot anyway and awkwardly turned up the sides of his mouth in an approximation of what he thought an easy-going smile might look like and pocketed the smokes. "Uhh... thanks. I'll do that." Hmm... Black and Milds... not familiar with this brand. Well, they couldn't kill me, right? Okay, yes they certainly could, but they couldn't be more dangerous then this insane job I'm signing onto... right? As soon as Dellamain was beginning to consider the possibility of feeling a mote more comfortable around these strangers... the lights blacked out. Like some of the others his nerves immediately went on edge and he leapt up off the not-sofa. Perhaps unlike the others the administrator lost any stockpile of cool he had accumulated as a high-pitched yelp cut through the darkness followed by a "Oh FRAK!!" And then... a lightshow! Even with his glasses still on Del squinted through the fake smoke to find the source of the booming voice. As Rotunda presented himself and the contracts the bureaucrat couldn't help but be impressed, and mumbled to anyone who might hear. "Well, I'll give 'em this, Frontier Express knows how to make a first impression. I'd give it an eight-out-of-ten... Points lost for making us witness it in this health-hazard of a waiting room." As he took the contract, and as Malvery appointed Doors with his title, which he rather liked, he addressed their employer. "Mr. Rotunda, a pleasure. Now..." Catching Kelli's expectant gaze, Del smirked a tiny smirk and gave her a quick wink as if to say "I got this!" Contract negotiation was right in Del's wheelhouse, and no time like the present to prove your invaluability to your future co-workers, right? As he spoke he kept his gaze down, scanning through the contract and not making eye contact with Michael. Negotiation tactic number twelve; avoid eye contact to give the impression of superiority... "You said you 'run this little outfit'... Does that mean you are the CEO of Frontier Express? Is this a franchise location you manage? How exactly do you fit in to the company at large? Are we entitled to a confidential HR hotline for employee complaints? May we be privy to these performance metrics you make reference to in several clauses? Under position here, item number four has been redacted...?" Del raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Rotunda, implying the question 'what's up with that?' before continuing. "Now, I have a few concerns about the lack of a health plan..." On and on Dellamain went. Question after question, he broke down the contract line by excruciating line. In truth, he wasn't too concerned with the contract itself. He wanted-- no... he needed a new outlet for his bureaucratic compulsions and if their interview process were any indication, he'd have more than he'd bargained on this job! No, the real reason for the gauntlet of litigation was to try and wear Rotunda down for his grand finale... "Well then, Mr. Rotunda. Barring the This claim is a complete bluff!multitude of inadequacies in your contract, I don't see any serious deal-breakers here--" He looked to the rest of his future crew mates with a re-assuring nod before adding, "as long as you concede to a small bump in weekly pay to compensate us for our self-motivation and willingness to comply with your terms. Say... 33%? After all, it doesn't look like you have a line out the door for alternate hires..." Del took the stylus and held it hovering over the dataslate, tantalizing Rotunda with his impending signature. "Well then, sir... Do we have a deal?"

OOC Del attempts to Administer his way into a weekly pay bump for the entire crew! He'll end up signing either way though! I certainly am not looking for answers to every single question posed here, however I am curious about Rotunda's actual position within Frontier Express and the redacted #4, if answers to those specific questions can be gleaned from this conversation.

Statblock   Name: Comptroller Dellamain Doors | Class: Special Ability: Once per scene you can reroll a failed skill check, taking the new roll if it is better. You gain a free level in a non-combat focus related to your background (Program) When you advance an experience level, you gain a bonus skill point that can be spent on any non-combat, non-psychic skill. You can save this point to spend later if you wish. Expert | Background: Official | Level: 1 | XP: 0 HP: 2/2 | Atk: 0 | Armored Clothing (AC13) | Range: 100/300Laser Pistol (1d6) 10/10 STR: 90 | DEX: 110 | CON: 100 | INT: 14+1 | WIS: 7-1 | CHA: 120 Saving Throws: Physical (15) | Evasion (14) | Mental (15) Skills: Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die.Administer (1) | Know (0) | Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die.Program (0) | Shoot (0) | Trade (0) | Foci: Gain Program as a bonus skill. When attempting to hack a database or computerized system, roll 3d6 on the skill check and drop the lowest die.Hacker | Gain a non-combat, non-psychic skill as a bonus (Administer). Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all skill checks in this skill.Specialist Credits: 0 | Narrative Items Multiple pairs of glasses Newton Blues Pack of Black & Milds, given by Sam Crighton. To be recalled when narratively appropriate! Equipment: Dataslab | Metatool | Postech Toolkit | Vacc Suit | Line Shunts (2) | Type A Cells (2) | Spare Parts (3)

[cottontailwind]

Disco Eddy Huh. The others here sure seemed tense. And they all said they'd had plenty of paying jobs before, so it couldn't have been that. Oh well. They were still managing to hit it off well enough. Except whenever Dellamain Doors introduced or referred to himself, which was often, Disco Eddy, so wide-eyed to the many complexities of oh-so-populated societies, simply assumed the bespectacled man was rattling off more titles. Not 'first name: Dellamain, last name: Doors'. But rather 'Dell, of Main Doors'. Controller of the Main Doors. Executive Officer of Beaurcratic Doors. Mr. Dell sure was some kind of expert on doors. How many types of doors could there be? Was this a culturally-specific thing? Like the phrase, 'keep the door open', and Mr. Dell opens figurative doors to allow work and communication to pass through? Is everyone an expert in their own type of figurative doors? Or is Mr. Dell an expert on, literally, doors? Obviously it was the latter. That must be why he's here. The doors of the spaceship they'd be on. Like, pressurization and access controls and all that. Of course. Spaceships wouldn't be much use if you couldn't control when their doors were opened or closed, after all. By the time lights cut and swallowed the room into darkness, Disco was intensely inspecting the hologram coatrack. But when eyesight returned in a flood of blue only moments later, Disco was not standing where he was before. It may have taken a bit to spot him in the poor lighting, but he was unabashedly crouched in a corner behind one of the couches. And then there was Mr. Rotunda and his booming welcome. "Woow...!" Disco cooed, emerging from his ineffective hiding spot. "If they're putting on this much of a show for applicants, just imagine what it'll be like once we're real employees!" After Cogitant handed out dataslates ("Thanks, Cogitant!"), their host had barely begun his second sentence about contractual years of service or whatever before Disco Eddy pressed his very human thumb into the signature line, committing his life to the oppressive fine print that was Frontier Express. Then he signed his name. And initialed. And initialed again. And another thumb print. A pilot-and-fixer combo, another pilot, a captain to sit in the captains chair which was probably just like a third pilot but with a cat, and an expert on papers and spaceship doors. "Oh, so... we could all be assigned to different ships? Could you imagine if we all get onto the same ship?!" Disco blurted out in his heavy, ribeye voice with a big dumb smile. By the time Mr. Dell went on about the ins and outs of the contract enough to ask for a 33% raise for each of them, Disco Eddy was turning in his fully executed agreement. "Oh... I already signed mine at the pay amount listed. Well, let's see... I guess, thirty three per cent of one thousand and twenty four credits weekly would come out to three hundred and thirty... seven - or three hundred and thirty eight - then divided by the remaining four... comes to an additional eighty... four - no, eighty five - which means... Since my contract is already signed, you could offer the same total amount of, uh, weekly bump, at forty three per cent across four people instead of thirty three per cent across five people!" Disco was particularly pleased at being able to help twofold: Frontier Express could stretch their credits further, and the other applicants could get even more weekly pay! But for all his Despite his naïveté, he has the highest INT at 17.surprising off-the-cuff mathematics, he was still helplessly wide-eyed to much of what was going on around him: "I mean, the flyer said I should come with a 'can-do attitude', so I don’t need extra pay for motivation or anything, so it kind of works out for everyone, right?" Originally Posted by Captain Malvery "Oh yeah, one other thing... Do we have on-board washing facilities that won't shrink or dicolour natural fibres and what's your policy on cats?" The backwater healer-hauler's ears perked up then, very invested in both topics. "Oh. Yeah. Will there be a bathtub? I mean, I hope there will be. But will it be a bathtub and zero gravity?"

OOC Hides when the lights go out. Signs the contract in full before Rotunda finishes talking. Attempts to help Dellamain negotiate for higher rates for the other crewmembers, but knows nothing about negotiating pay, so OOC I tried to narrate his attempt to be helpful as a wash. Demonstrates his high INT in calculating percentages despite being largely oblivious to much of the things going on around him.   Statblock Name: Disco Eddy | Class: Psychic | Background: Vagabond | Level: 1 | XP: 0 HP: 7/7 | Effort: 4/4 | System Strain: 0 | AC: 13 | Phys ST: 13 | Eva ST: 14 | Men ST: 14 | BAB: 0 STR: 14 (+1) | CON: 18 (+2) | DEX: 11 (-) | INT: 17 (+1) | WIS: 12 (-) | CHA: 14 (+1) Foci: Gain one skill in any psychic discipline. If this raises your skill to 1, also gain a technique. Effort increases by 1.Psychic Training: Biopsionics (1) | Skills: Exert 0, Survive 0, Work 0 | Psychic Skills: Biopsionics 1, Telekinesis 0 Laser Pistol (holstered) Secure Clothing Lazarus Patch, x4 List Dose, x2 Backpack (TL0) Medkit Compad (holstered) Bioscanner (holstered)Equipment | Credits: 25 | Abilities: The psychic’s touch can automatically stabilize a mortally-wounded target as a Main Action. This power must be used on a target within six rounds of their collapse, and does not function on targets that have been decapitated or killed by Heavy weapons. It’s the GM’s decision as to whether a target is intact enough for this power to work. Also recovers 1d6+1 damage to the target. If used in a mortally wounded target, they recover with the HP rolled and may act normally n their next turn. The adept’s touch stabilizes critically-wounded organisms. More sophisticated practitioners can heal tissue injuries, though curing diseases, detoxifying poisons, and fixing congenital deformities require additional techniques. Each use of Psychic Succor adds one point of System Strain to the target, or two points if they were mortally wounded at the time. Activating Psychic Succor requires the biopsion to Commit Effort for the day. Once used, they can continue to use it for the rest of that scene without Committing Effort again.Psychic Succor (1), Psychic Succor now cures any poisons or diseases the target may be suffering, albeit requires Committing Effort for the day as an additional surcharge. Biowarfare organisms, exceptionally virulent diseases, or TL5 toxins may resist this curing, requiring WIS/Biopsionics skill check at a difficulty of at least 10.Organic Purification Protocols (1) The psychic can exert force as if with one hand and their own strength. The adept may Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action to direct telekinetic force toward an object or person within unaided visual range or with tactile contact with the psychic. This force isn’t responsive enough to be effective as a weapon without further refinement of technique, and cannot cause damage to living or mobile targets. If used to crush or harm immobile unliving objects, it does 1d6 damage per skill level of the psychic per round of focus. Objects move at 20 meters per round when moved telekinetically. A telekinetic force can be maintained over multiple rounds without expending further actions, such as holding a metal platform in place under a group of allies, but the psychic cannot again activate this technique on a second object until they release the first.Telekinetic Manipulation (0)

[Preacherwolf]

1910 Local Time3240.3.091

Planet TheorgannTho System

Business DistrictCity Of Magrathea

The Stick... He'll Get The Job Done. It'll Cost An Arm Though Michael Rotunda chuckled as the new employees started quick firing, seemingly amused by the curiosity his new crew were showing in the company, ship and job. Inwardly however, he groaned. The psychic field was supposed to stop these sorts of things. He was told it would inhibit higher brain functions and make everyone without the implant docile and compliant with whatever was put in front of them. He suppressed a sigh, these corporate slag offs couldn't even get their own damned tech right. Now he'd have to walk these kids through the whole damn dog and pony show. He addressed the crew and kept his voice modulator on, all the better to throw them off alittle more and hopefully let the lights do their work. "Alright, alright. Lets try and sort this out in a logical manner. Starting with you presumed Captain and our man of numbers Disco here, there are washing facilities aboard the ships. Not baths, but state of the art steam showers. Trust me, you do not want a tub full of water aboard your ship if you suddenly loose pressure or go to zero G's instantly. The results are not fun nor pretty. All the ships are Old timer slag for Artificial Gravity. As in the "fake" gravity it produces as opposed to "real" gravity planets producefake-G equipped, naturally. Also, yes, you'll all be assigned onto the same ship. I don't run a big operation here, I don't got a lot of ships and this many recruits at once I don't see a reason to split you all up. I have a ship out in dock right now in fact, The Galiceno, all fueled up and ready for you. As for pets, there is no official policy as far as I can recall. So if you think its a good idea to bring a small feline with a propensity for crawling into small spaces on a pressurized tin can powered by nuclear fusion that punches its way between dimensions to travel the stars, then who am I to stop you!" Rotunda then addressed Sam with a giant smile and gleaming eyes "Ya looking at this the wrong way. You're focusing on the violence part and you should be looking at the "reputation, viability or profits of their employer's business" part. The company don't give a damn if you're stoned, drunk, or bleeding from all pores. Just don't hurt the company rep or the money coming in and you're good. Plus, you're being paid for 24 hours work, which means you can charge everything as a business expense and you're always getting paid for your time. The best kind of work my friend" Finally with a hearty chuckle and melodramatic sigh, Rotunda addressed Doors "It appears you've been made XO already. May whatever gods that follow you look out for you in that case, for that is a thankless task indeed. But as for your questions, I do indeed run Frontier Express. I wouldn't call myself the CEO, but I supposed that title fits. On paper, I'm the CEO, CCO, CFO, DON, HR and head of Security here at Frontier Express. But in reality we are a franchise of a shell corporation of a tax haven thats a subsidiary of joint-stock holding company who's parent company is part of a Limitied Liability Partnership with another corporation that forms part of the conglomorate that is known as the MJB Corporation. Just a little minnow in a corporate world of sharks and void kraken. Now that leads me on to that number four and the performance metrics, and the various other inadequacies you've raised. Being that we are part of the MJB Corporation, a zettaton of our crap is locked behind NDA's, National Security Contracts and Military Black Budgets. Which means that not even I know what the hell they redacted here, or how our performance is tracked. But here's what I've found, you go out there, you do the job, you get paid and you come back? Then nobody raises a fuss or needs to come down here to check. As for the wages, I'm not authorised to give you higher wages, buuuut, I do have the authority to use a little slush fund to give you a signing bonus. How about this, I give the crew as a whole a two thousand credit signing bonus plus an extra five hundred credit bonus for each job they accept?"

...And The Carrot I would have called her The Lollipop. She's A Good Ship After the negotiations wrap up Michael Rotunda collects the contracts and dims the lights once more. He turns off his voice modulator and his voice finally stops booming in the small office as he dims the lights and turns on the holoprojector. A rust brown, blocky shuttle appears floating in the middle of the room in front of the new crew. "This here is the Galiceno, she'll be your ship. Its a Wozniak-Class MJB Shuttle thats been retrofitted with a Level 2 Spike drive and Flak Cannon. She's not the prettiest thing in the sky but treat her right and she'll fly you around the sector for decades to come. Frontier Express will give you this ship, free of charge and with no strings attached but this one. This is the only ship we'll provide you. Lose her, get her blown up or stolen from you, then you're up that grand galactic river and I hope you brought a paddle. She's been outfitted for atmo as well, so there pretty much isn't a place in the sector she can't fly. She's currently sitting in orbit at the refueling station awaiting you and once I give you your first job your free to collect her and be on your way. Speaking of which." Rotunda taps a few buttons on his dataslate and the image changes. This time it displays a sector map, with the Tho system highlighted "You're first job is a milk run and it'll be the easiest money you'll ever make. All I need you to do is to take a package from here in the Tho system, to Galatic North at the edge of the sector and throw the damn thing into the void. Don't ask me why where being paid to do this, or why someone wants this to be thrown into the galactic dark, or ever who's paying us. The client is anonymous and those sort of questions are above our heads, we have a job and we'll do the job. The main threats you'll face on this run is boredom, its going to take just under The quickest route will take you 57 days, not including any extra time for refueling. A two hex will take six days to spike across, a one hex jump will take three. Your spike drive is not capable of jumping further than thattwo months just to get to galactic north and then two months back. So I won't see you lot for a while, but thats fine because you're wages will still roll right on in to you all. The package is currently on a transport shuttle in the spaceport here and will take you up to the Galiceno with it. Now be careful with it. Its a small thing, a metal box barely a metre wide on each side and weighs just under 30 kilos, but this is very important. Under no circumstances are you to look in or otherwise tamper with box. It is to arrive to its destination as it was delievered and various threats have been made against me and my livelihood should this not happen. So please, I'm begging you. Do. Not. Look. But apart from that, any questions?"

OOCDM I'm pushing us on a little bit from the negotiations so we can move into the game proper a bit quicker but feel free to still respond to Rotunda after this. Just to be clear on what he is offering here for a signing bonus. The crew as a whole will get 2000 credits in a joint account for signing, and for each job they take for Frontier Express another 500 credits will be added into this account. Also a note on the sector map presented here. I haven't quite finalised the names of the various systems/planets/stations etc, so just be warned they're subject to change at some point

 

THE GALICENO - Wozniak-Class MJB Shuttle
HP 15/15 AC 11 Armour 0 Speed 3	Power Used/Max 3/3 Mass Used/Max 2/5 Hardpoints Used/Max 1/1 Crew/Max Not including any stowaways, pets or other unknown passengers5/10	Weapons Flak Cannon 2d4 Against fighter-class hulls, roll hit rolls and damage rolls twice and take the better result.Flak Fittings/Mods Can travel up to 2 hexes on the sector map in one jump.Spike drive-2 Can land on planetary surfaces.Atmospheric configuration Cargo space (6 tons)	Crew Account 2000C Statuses Normal Inventory 1 Load Of Fuel

[Hiruma Kohaku]

Sam Crighton Sam was satisfied with the answer to his question. It wasn’t that the company was trying to micromanage them, but rather that it was the persona the crew was to project to everyone else. They didn’t care about what happened behind closed doors. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all? When the ship came up, he paced around the image scrutinizing what he saw. It wasn’t the worst looking ship he ever piloted, but it wasn’t the best. The post-production modifications were certainly appreciated. Having a flak cannon was good to know. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to use it. The job on the surface was simple enough. There would need to be a talk with the Captain about it once they got going. The biggest concern on his mind was that something live was inside of it and would call out for help. That would bring up the uncomfortable talk of whether they open it up or not. It was being tossed into the void which means if it was alive, it would be dead immediately. There was also the comfort that it wasn’t being handy off to some shady characters. ”I’m ready to get going. I’ll need some time to familiarize myself with the controls once we board. Everyone else ready?”

[Mitsubachi]

Kelli Kelli watched silently, appreciatively, as Doors blustered about the contract. And, to her great surprise, got an immediate five hundred extra credits for everyone - and a two thousand slush fund for equipment! It was not quite enough to start a whole new life for her family, but it was a start, and a good start for dealing with corps like this. Deciding she would definitely buy Doors whatever drink he wanted later, Kelli pressed her thumb onto the reader and signed up. she sighed. In it for the long haul now. Next up on the holoprojector was the ship. The Galiceno. Kelli crowded forward, aware that Sam Crighton was giving their vessel equally careful consideration. "She's not the prettiest thing in the sky..." said Rotunda. You got that right, thought Kelli, making a sour face. But the construction looked solid and the engines... yeah, they looked like they could really push hard. The engine rooms would be her domain, and she was almost excited by the prospect of handling such powerful things. She glanced across to Sam to try and glean a clue if he concurred with her initial appraisal; not pretty, but looks tough enough to do the job. Rotunda outlined their mission and Kelli frowned. This did not sound right. People did not pay good credits to just throw out objects into the void. She worried it was some kind of living being. But then why take it to the edge of the sector? Just void it anywhere and it will die just as quickly, and likely just end up as fission-fuel as it eventually got pulled in to the nearest star. No point in making them take it so far away. Even though she reasoned it could not be a living thing, she had no doubt there was something more to this. Kelli bit her lip. She did not want to get involved in anything immoral. But then, as engineer, it was just her job to make sure the ship engines worked long enough to get to her destination, and back. No stops. No dodgy deals. No violence. Maybe the object is dangerous - like explosive or radioactive on a stellar scale? In that case best to get it out of the sector for everyone's sake. So she kept quiet and listened to what the others had to say.

[MoldyNolds]

Dellamain Doors "Oh, so... we could all be assigned to different ships? Could you imagine if we all get onto the same ship?!" Disco blurted out in his heavy, ribeye voice with a big dumb smile. Inwardly Del scoffed and chuckled to himself. Yea, could you imagine? Being stuck with a failed lab experiment whose resumé peaked with 'carrying things'?" And then Disco Eddy rattled off a series of tedious math equations in a matter of seconds. The bureaucrat stared at him, mouth agape and in shock until the little curl of smoke from his cigarette floated up into his eye. Scooching his glasses up onto his head and pulling back his hair along the way, he rubbed away the burn in his eye and reluctantly gave credit where credit was due. Hmm... seems there's more than meets the eye with this one. Maybe he's just extremely poor at critiquing himself? Two months...? Two months?! Del could scarcely believe his ears. Not only was he responsible for recording the activities of an entire cargo ship and crew, but his duties consisted of sequestering himself in his own personal bunk and quietly poring over datalogs, ship manifests, and company protocols for two months? And he was going to get paid all the while? Dellamain was positively ecstatic. He did his best to hide a shaz-eating grin and managed a fair job of it, only letting slip a constrained, tight-lipped smile while he signed the dataslate. Handing it back he verbally confirmed what his signature and fingerprint had already acquiesced to. "Mr. Rotunda, we have an accord." And then, just as Michael was describing their package and the threats to his life, and just as Kelly and Sam were assessing the virtual image of their "new" ship, Del kind of faded out as a revelation hit him. Wait a tick... Michael is giving us all this information now; the package, the ship, the destination are-- are we the crew...? As in, all of us who are here right now?! As a result the particulars of their mission and any eyebrows it might have raised were subconsciously filed away for a later date, after his nerves had calmed back down and he needed a reason to get worked up again. "Ahh, excuse me a moment, Mr. Rotunda? Are you sure we are all hired? All five of us? Just on the spot like that?" Dellamain couldn't refrain from glancing over at Disco Eddy several times. "Are you sure there isn't some kind of mental aptitude test we should all pass before being cleared for duty? What if one of us had brain damage? Just as a 'for instance', of course. Could be unsafe to send us into atmo, you know..."

OOC Just some RP. Del is ready to get their package and board their new ship!

Statblock   Name: Comptroller Dellamain Doors | Class: Special Ability: Once per scene you can reroll a failed skill check, taking the new roll if it is better. You gain a free level in a non-combat focus related to your background (Program) When you advance an experience level, you gain a bonus skill point that can be spent on any non-combat, non-psychic skill. You can save this point to spend later if you wish. Expert | Background: Official | Level: 1 | XP: 0 HP: 2/2 | Atk: 0 | Armored Clothing (AC13) | Range: 100/300Laser Pistol (1d6) 10/10 STR: 90 | DEX: 110 | CON: 100 | INT: 14+1 | WIS: 7-1 | CHA: 120 Saving Throws: Physical (15) | Evasion (14) | Mental (15) Skills: Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die.Administer (1) | Know (0) | Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die.Program (0) | Shoot (0) | Trade (0) | Foci: Gain Program as a bonus skill. When attempting to hack a database or computerized system, roll 3d6 on the skill check and drop the lowest die.Hacker | Gain a non-combat, non-psychic skill as a bonus (Administer). Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all skill checks in this skill.Specialist Credits: 0 | Narrative Items Multiple pairs of glasses Newton Blues Pack of Black & Milds, given by Sam Crighton. To be recalled when narratively appropriate! Equipment: Dataslab | Metatool | Postech Toolkit | Vacc Suit | Line Shunts (2) | Type A Cells (2) | Spare Parts (3)

[Talissen70]

Captain Malvery Malvery smiled appreciatively as Michael Rotunda spoke and then again as Del launched into his passionate delivery about the contract. Quickly his attention wandered but to look at him, you would never know. Malvery was well practiced in being part of a complex conversation, feigning interest while his mind wandered. He glanced at the others as Del continued, Kelli and Sam were also listening closely, Eddy was already signing his contract, tongue between his teeth as he concentrated. Then Del finished and Eddy jumped in with some high level accounting speak where did that come from Malvery wondered our boy Eddy has some hidden depths there Rotunda started speaking again and with the mention of the word captain Malvery’s actual attention was back on him there are washing facilities on the ship, not baths, but state of the art steam showers Malvery considered the prospect of washing his new jacket in a steam shower well, it was a bit too big So if you think its a good idea to bring a small feline with a propensity for crawling into small spaces on a pressurised tin can powered by nuclear fusion that punches its way between dimensions to travel the stars, then who am I to stop you He glanced over at Brenda, who was gazing warily at Disco Eddy but hadn’t moved from her initial spot through all the lights and magic Guess you can come then, but, be warned, had a navigator who’s hamster Fritz chewed through an electric cable and trust me, we were finding bit of fur for days so don’t be messing with anything on the ship, hear me! Brenda gave no indication she had either heard, understood or given the slightest level of importance to Malvery’s command. Good, now we have that straight and my officers here are happy with the contract, do we start just now, or do we have a shopping trip with our sign-on fee?   Name: Finneas Bartholomew Malvery | Class: Adventurer Expert/Warrior | Background: Criminal | Level: 1 | XP: 0 | AC: 14 |HP: 5/5* Str: 6 (-1) |Dex: 14 (+1) |Con: 9 (-) |Int: 11 (-) |Wis: 10 (-) |Cha: 14 (+1)* Saves: 15Physical | 14Evasion | 14 Mental* Skills: Move without drawing notice.* Roll it for stealth, disguise, infiltration, manual legerdemain, pickpocketing, and the defeat of security measures.Sneak-0 | Convince other people of the facts you want them to believe.* What they do with that conviction may not be completely predictable.* Roll it to persuade, charm, or deceive others in conversation.Talk-0 | Spot anomalies or interesting facts about your environment.* Roll it for searching places, detecting ambushes, spotting things, and reading the emotional state of other people.Notice-0 | Use it as a combat skill when using ranged weaponry, whether hurling rocks, bows, laser pistols, combat rifles, or ships gunnery.Shoot | Convince others to also do whatever it is you’re trying to do.* Talk might persuade them that following you is smart, but Lead can make them do it even when they think it’s a bad idea.* Roll it to lead troops in combat, convince others to follow you, or maintain morale and disciplineLead-0* Foci: Remarkably talented as a talker, your expertise is extremely reliable.* Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest for all Talk skill ChecksSpecialist:Talk | A gift with a gun. Also applies to thrown weapons.* Can draw or holster a stowed ranged weapon as an on turn action.* May add shoot skill level onto ranged weapons damage rollGunslinger | You have a tremendous natural talent for ship combat, and can make any star ship you captain a significantly more fearsome opponent. You must take the Captain’s role during a fight in order to benefit from this focus.* 2 extra command points at the start of each turn.* Equipment: +3 to hit, 1d6+1 damage, stowed in L hip holsterStar-Captain | AC 13, worn Laser-Pistol | Inside right sleeve Armoured-Undersuit | 8 on belt Monoblade-Knife | stowed on left side of belt Type-A-Cells | [tt=Backpack]* Currently empty Compad*

[cottontailwind]

Disco Eddy "Void kraken?!" Disco exclaimed. Rotunda's turn of phrase was kind of an odd thing to remark on. But a glimmer came across Disco's face all the same. Otherwise, Disco's only contribution to the scene was a continuous series of "Woooow..."s and "Aww...!"s, from the showers to the extra pay to the ship. Speaking of which... when the hologram of their ship appeared: "Don't try to hang your coat on this one, aye Cap? Heh!" He elbowed Malvery to punctuate his joke. "Oh! Sorry! Uh, are you okay?" He didn't understand most of what Mr. Rotunda was saying - the others must be really familiar with all these terms - until he got to the part about the job itself. "Why would we launch a crate of milk into space? And why can't we look at the milk...?" How very strange. He was beginning to think he'd never understand how businesses worked at all. "Oh, wait. Another cultural idiom." "Hm... Milk run..." Disco murmured aloud, entirely out of context. "So... we don't know what's in the metal box? Will you tell us what's in the box? Please? Who would threaten you?! And why does it need to be kept a secret? What if... we're stopped by pirates and they want to take things and they want to take the box and we need to tell them that nothing valuable to pirates is in the box?" It's fine. Disco already knew he wouldn't look. He wouldn't have to. A dozen thoughts flashed through his mind... "Touching isn't looking... We could just sort of feel over whatever is in the box." "What if we take a picture and then look at the picture...? A picture is not a box. I mean, it could be. Just not usually." "Maybe we could shake it, or..." "Opening something isn't really tampering with it, right? Tampering means to, like, to do something bad to something that isn't normally supposed to happen. But boxes are meant to be opened. So opening something that's meant to be opened isn't really tampering... is it?" "OH! This is so EASY. We can just take it OUT of the box before we look at it!" "I mean... It's fine. We won't 'look in or otherwise tamper with' the box. Just like you said. Really. I'm ready to go." It was difficult to keep his excitement contained. In fact, it was so difficult that he didn't keep his excitement contained at all. As Disco Eddy made for the door from which Rotunda entered (because obviously, where else would he take them), he beamed wide from cheek to cheek while almost-skipping: "I'm gonna be a SPACEMAN..." Originally Posted by Dell "Are you sure there isn't some kind of mental aptitude test we should all pass before being cleared for duty? What if one of us had brain damage? Just as a 'for instance', of course. Could be unsafe to send us into atmo, you know..." Wait a minute... brain damage? Disco furrowed his brow. What'd he mean...? Then it clicked. He walked up to Dellamain and put a heartfelt hand on his shoulder, looked at him directly, then abruptly wrapped him in a big bear hug. "It's... it's okay, Dell," he whispered. Then after too long, he finally pulled away, only to continue: "You have two degrees. And you speak over twenty six languages! I don't think I'm good enough with my medikit to help with brain damage or anything, but... I bet you could pass any kind of aptitude test they got." Disco said it in complete sincerity.

OOC RPing. Disco is good to go.   Statblock Name: Disco Eddy | Class: Psychic | Background: Vagabond | Level: 1 | XP: 0 HP: 7/7 | Effort: 4/4 | System Strain: 0 | AC: 13 | Phys ST: 13 | Eva ST: 14 | Men ST: 14 | BAB: 0 STR: 14 (+1) | CON: 18 (+2) | DEX: 11 (-) | INT: 17 (+1) | WIS: 12 (-) | CHA: 14 (+1) Foci: Gain one skill in any psychic discipline. If this raises your skill to 1, also gain a technique. Effort increases by 1.Psychic Training: Biopsionics (1) | Skills: Exert 0, Survive 0, Work 0 | Psychic Skills: Biopsionics 1, Telekinesis 0 Laser Pistol (holstered) Secure Clothing Lazarus Patch, x4 List Dose, x2 Backpack (TL0) Medkit Compad (holstered) Bioscanner (holstered)Equipment | Credits: 25 | Abilities: The psychic’s touch can automatically stabilize a mortally-wounded target as a Main Action. This power must be used on a target within six rounds of their collapse, and does not function on targets that have been decapitated or killed by Heavy weapons. It’s the GM’s decision as to whether a target is intact enough for this power to work. Also recovers 1d6+1 damage to the target. If used in a mortally wounded target, they recover with the HP rolled and may act normally n their next turn. The adept’s touch stabilizes critically-wounded organisms. More sophisticated practitioners can heal tissue injuries, though curing diseases, detoxifying poisons, and fixing congenital deformities require additional techniques. Each use of Psychic Succor adds one point of System Strain to the target, or two points if they were mortally wounded at the time. Activating Psychic Succor requires the biopsion to Commit Effort for the day. Once used, they can continue to use it for the rest of that scene without Committing Effort again.Psychic Succor (1), Psychic Succor now cures any poisons or diseases the target may be suffering, albeit requires Committing Effort for the day as an additional surcharge. Biowarfare organisms, exceptionally virulent diseases, or TL5 toxins may resist this curing, requiring WIS/Biopsionics skill check at a difficulty of at least 10.Organic Purification Protocols (1) The psychic can exert force as if with one hand and their own strength. The adept may Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action to direct telekinetic force toward an object or person within unaided visual range or with tactile contact with the psychic. This force isn’t responsive enough to be effective as a weapon without further refinement of technique, and cannot cause damage to living or mobile targets. If used to crush or harm immobile unliving objects, it does 1d6 damage per skill level of the psychic per round of focus. Objects move at 20 meters per round when moved telekinetically. A telekinetic force can be maintained over multiple rounds without expending further actions, such as holding a metal platform in place under a group of allies, but the psychic cannot again activate this technique on a second object until they release the first.Telekinetic Manipulation (0)

[Preacherwolf]

1915 Local Time3240.3.091

Planet TheorgannTho System

Business DistrictCity Of Magrathea

The Big Goodbye Give Him A Hand! There was a moment pause from Rotunda as he appraised Disco Eddy, giving the man a long, hard look and trying to decide if he was messing with him or not. After a few seconds a large grin split his face and he broke into a hearty laugh "Ha ha! Yes my boy, void kraken are real. Mostly peaceful things, just don't shoot at them or hit them with your ship and they'll leave you alone. But draw the attention of one and they'll crack your ship like a cheap chiropracter. As for the box, I've told the clients that I would and have run various basic scans on it. There's nothing biological in there, and nothing that set off the Ailment. Hostile. Chorosive. Radioactive. Alien. Psychic Alarm. A handheld scanner sold by the MJB Corp that houses basic sensors that should detect any biologicial or psychic phenomenon that would harm the user. Whether the user can deal with the phenomenon is another question...A.H.C.R.A.P Alarm. So whatever is in there, I don't want to know. As for why someone would threaten me with not opening it, its because they don't want us looking in it. This is your first job and all, so I'll go easy on the rhetroic, but this ain't that uncommon. Some clients got a special need for this or that. Just be glad you ain't being asked to deliever a bunch of A not uncommon name for those that follow The Holy Paradigm Of The Onedimers to their god. Throwing things into a black hole is a hell of a lot harder than throwing things into the void. If pirates want what's in the box so badly, then its your job to stop them. That's part and parcel of the job. Which reminds me, yes Mr. Doors, technically speaking there is an apttitude test. You see that door there, you opened it? Congratulations, you've passed the test and you're all hired. Once again, Welcome to Fronteir Express. Now scoot! You don't have to go straight away but I wouldn't dally too long, last shuttle leaves at 20:15. Off you all go, do the company proud!" Rotunda gently, but firmly shows the new crew out and gives them directions to the shuttleport off world. Its only a fifteen minute walk away, plenty of time for shopping should they wish to risk the steets at night. As they leave he can't help but pity the crew. This wasn't the first group of saps he'd press ganged into employment, and it wouldn't be the last. One of these days this job was going to get him killed but thankfully this bunch was an easy enough sell. He just hoped they did this job and returned. The last five crews didn't. As the crew leave the small office, the cold night air hits them and they realise just how warm it had been in there. It was a rather comical sight though, all five of the crew standing outside of Frontier Express with its poor and flickering lights, broken neon sign and peeling archetiture. In just five minutes they had become not only brand new employees but owners of their own starship and with a fantastic paying job. The universe was their oyster!

OOCDM Last chance to shop, get supplies and otherwise wrap up business before you go offworld. Otherwise its time to go to leave this planet and see the universe beyond!

[Hiruma Kohaku]

Sam Crighton Sam was glad that his new employer had done their due diligence of at least scanning the box when he got it. That saved what could have been a cumbersome conversation with the crew later on. Now it was a simple get the box to the destination and eject it. Somebody would probably come after it, but after it left their ship into space it wasn’t their problem anymore. Now the crew had just been hired and had some time to kill before getting to the ship. He had all of his gear and no extra money, so he was ready but the others may need to shop. They couldn’t leave without the whole crew, so he wanted to make sure they all made it to the ship on time. “If anybody needs to shop for supplies, let me know. I’ll watch your back, so nobody tries to cause trouble. Traveling together as a group would probably help with that as well unless there are objections?” He looked around to see if it would be an issue.