Valerys appeared at the mess hall entrance.

A young woman in her early 20s, Val was always in her black flight suit that doubled as a space suit with her foldable helmet halfway up to cover her head like a hoodie. She was also wearing her typical bone necklace, crystals, and other weird mystical stuff.

She stopped, twirled her fingers, and whispered something to herself before entering. She was a weird one alright.

She quickly walked in not so much as flashing a smile or a nod to the others but found an empty seat in the corner and planted herself there. She wasn't exactly what you'd call "friendly".

Immediately following Val was Lance. Wearing a duster, a worn out uniform, and boots, he strode in with a self-confident swagger. He couldn't be any older than Val, but he didn't seem to realize that.

Lance: "Good morning, everyone! How are you all doing this fine morning?"

He reeked of "try-hard". He reached out to fist bump people as he walked by. A tradition that had come in and gone out of style many times but he seemed to be trying to bring it back.

Osram had been up for a while before the designated start of the "day" cycle aboard the Nirvana chimed.

He'd gone down to the cargo hold and spent time shifting and shuffling the storage containers around.  It wasn't a strictly necessary task as NOD had designated a loading plan when they'd last resupplied that maximized the usage of the space based on an anticipated rate and pattern of usage of the supplies and the ease at which they'd need to be accessed.  Still, shifting the arrangement from 98% accurate based on the current usage projections to 100% gave him an excuse to put some physical work in, which suited him just fine during longer trips.

As the day began Osram strolled out of his cabin with a bit of a cheerful whistle, clad in a pair of thongs, loose shorts, and a tank top with a damp towel around his neck which he planned on dumping into the recycler.

"I don't smell no coffee."  He declared genially as he wandered passed the mess to deposit his towel.

"I'll make some."  He offered, or perhaps threatened from down the hall.  The last pot of blackstrap Osram had made had only resembled coffee in that it was boiling hot and black in color.  Otherwise the casual observer would had assumed it was intended for degreasing engines.

A few moments later he circled back and ducked into the mess.  "Mornin' Cap."  He greeted the man, proferring a large alloy fist to bump.

"Doin' right as rain myself." Osram answered Lance despite only having seen vids of that particular weather phenomenon.

Skip always found his room rather soothing.  Unlike the typical room, the captain had generously modified it for him.  The walls have additional soundproofing (which means not hearing Gill's antics as anything more than a muffled tapping), and there is a the low hum of an low-powered electromagnetic field generator mean to screen the constant bombardment of emotion from the others.  Only the strongest fear and anger would get through as a warning to him.  This allows him to actually sleep restfully.
He is currently awake, and running through scenarios on the training simulator that had been added, so he could keep his marksmanship up without the potential fir injury to his crewmates or damage to the ship.  He runs through a number of shoot-or-no-shoot situations, drawing the simulator pistol from the gunbelt and holster strapped about his bare hips and thigh.  Then NOD reminds him about the meeting in the meas hall.  He shrugs.  I guess I'm gonna be a little late.
He hops into the sonic shower before getting dressed in casual clothing:  undergarments, shirt, boots, jeans, gloves, leather jacket, and cap.  The clothing is a bit stiffer than normal, but not uncomfortably so, giving away its lightly armored nature.  The gunbelt returns, with his plasma pistol in the holster, and a slug pistol in a holster tucked at the back of his pants.  NOD, could you let the captain know I'm on the way? he asks the AI as he finishes with his boots.
When he enters the mess, he greets his crewmates, but first, What's happenin', Cap'n?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:23, Wed 16 Aug 2023.

"Turd Ferguson" strolled in, wearing his red one piece underclothes, giant cowboy hat, boots,  and butt-flap hanging by a single button. He nodded to Skip, "Peanut Butter, glad you joined, always nice to see your smiling face." Osram, the giant piece of metal and flesh, was given a fist bump in passing, as he said "We talked about this before big guy, Ray makes the coffee when other people are going to drink it."

Jakova who was all dark and shadowy got a brief nod. Turd was headed in a specific direction. He moved to Ray, "Ray, please, make the coffee. I need...coffee." Turd offered his hand for the "cool guy" hand shake and when either accepted or rejected he kept going. Edwin was there, his rival...not really but Turd always joked they were each the other's nemesis and as he passed he narrowed his eyes, "Eddie make sure you keep that seat from floating away." Turd kept moving, obviously now headed for Val's table, but on the way he grinned at R-Chi1, "R, make sure Eddie chair doesn't float away."

Finally he reached Val's table. He turned a chair out and sat at her table, putting his boots up. "Val, I'm sorry, it isn't going to work. Last night was amazing but...yea there is just too much man here for one woman." He made sure to say this loud enough that everyone heard it. He wasn't telling anywhere near the truth and wasn't trying to convince anyone, he was just saying it to try to get a rise out of her. The one person in the room he hadn't acknowledged was the Captain. The Captain would have to say Turd Ferguson before he would.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:12, Wed 16 Aug 2023.

Edwin watched as the the others slowly filtered in. He nodded to Andre it was easy to tell the man was a tech above all else. He seemed to always carry enough tools to fix any problem. He still hadn't figured out why Gill called him Ray, someday he would have to look into it, maybe ask NOD eventually.

He also nodded to Archie as he came in though from the bit of conversation he overheard Archie was discussing something with NOD. So he didn't attempt to interrupt.

Val's entrance was rather cold she ignored everyone and found her seat. She was a beautiful woman but seemed to prefer her solitude which was her prerogative. If she decided she needed to talk to him he would be around. Not like there was many place to hide aboard ship.

At the captains entrance he returned the fist bump, "Morning captain."

A quick nod in greeting to both Jakova, Osram and Skip as they entered. Of course then there was Gill. Edwin returned the mans eye narrowed stare as he passed. "No problem there Mr. Ferguson. Figured I would take care of the job since I was recently informed your qualifications were rather lacking." He smirked as Gill found a chair next to Val, this could get interesting. "I'm sure that by some stretch of divine intervention if your comment to Miss Corvo was true, she could easily confirm your lack of ability in other fields too." He would never admit it to anyone but he actually enjoyed these little exchanges with Gill some of the time.

Val crossed her arms and gave Gill a death glare but said nothing. She did smile when Edwin gave a passing insult to "Turd" but only for a brief moment.

She then looked away at Lance and shouted, "Good morning, 'Captain'!" in an overly polite but jovial way.

Ed and Lance seemed to be the only two she was sweet on. She openly disliked Gill and was rather aloof to the rest of the crew.

Lance fist bumped everyone who would do so and greeted them by name, except for Gill, whom he rolled his eyes and mumbled "Turd Ferguson" before chuckling and moving on.

He made his way to what served as a presentation wall. It was normally a menu console for ship supplies and recipes that could be ordered from the mess hall, but it doubled as a meeting presentation.

"Have a seat, everyone. I think you're going to like this one. We've got a job and it pays really good. I'm talking six digits good."

As he tapped on the screen, a display of a Belter mining colony appeared. It didn't look like any that you recognized. The screen didn't have the normal data spread with a name, location, etc. Instead it just said "unknown" in these spots. Below it was what appeared to be some notes Lance had jotted down during a conversation you had not been privy to. Mostly just times, locations, weights, safety measures, and recommended navigation routes.

"I have contacts who want us to make an undocumented delivery. It's a rush job, they didn't have anyone else and they need it done fast and quiet."

Archie greeting the captain and the others, but it was Gill that always confused him. For one, his emotional subroutine would give him contradictory messages about the man. It went from 'You like this man for no good reason at all'-such as when he asked about the stability of the chair. Then when he sat down and spoke to Corvo, the emotional subroutine would state 'You want to punch this man in the head'.

He considered both actions breaches of ship's crew manual of behavior, sections 3.45 A, and sections 1.5 B. So clearly he would have to ignore Dr Kessler's subroutine once again. He found it very...distressing, perhaps? As her work showed a genius only very rare humans where capable of. It should not be so error prone. He needed some way to fix it, and Corvo may be his only chance at that.

"Crewmate Park's chair is at full gravitic stability, Crewmate Rurry." Archie said, without a single trace sarcasm. However, he went silent after the captain made his announcement.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:51, Wed 16 Aug 2023.

Andre moved to the beverage station and started a pot... He did indeed take SOMETHING from at least one pocket and drop it in with the grounds, perhaps as many as three while any trash went back into pockets it was impossible to know what it was. It was also unclear why he was pulling a bent metal rod, wire thin, from a pocket and simply resting it atop the machine as he laid out mugs.

Hints of mint and caramel as well as other spices delicately threaded the air. He was definitely at the task of making coffee now, "Of course we need to pick up the package, are being paid extra for not knowing what it is and a little more to not ask questions. I should probably not be as okay with this as I am... but I'm excited about this job! Twenty seconds to coffee, cocao, or... a reasonable lube and nanite fix blend - you all know which mugs are yours." he dropped tiny wrenches and screwdrivers next to the mugs. He has said before they were beverage only tools...

As soon as the words left Edwin's mouth, Gill turned to him with a wicked grin, "Your mom will vouch for my talents, she came around begging for it often enough." He wiggled his eyebrows, "You walked into that one, Eddie."

The Captain acknowledged him correctly which prompted Turd to tip the massive hat and return, "Cap'n." Then the captain told them about the job, to which Turd replied, "Well I can act as your attorney in this matter, if you like."

R-Chi1 had said something about gravity and Turd said, "Good job R, always count on you." Then finally...coffee. Turd bolted to his cup and took a long first taste. "Ray, you're an artist."

The former Marine does not have a problem with a fist bump; his unit had had many such traditions, fist bumping being the mildest.  He can be seen to be watching R-Chi1 intently for a few moments before he looks back up at the captain.  Aren't most of our delivery runs undocumented?  The issue I see here is the lack of information on that mining colony.  Is that the pick-up, or the drop-off?

As the others were getting settled, Jak slipped quietly in the room. With little fuss, he simply took up space in one of the back corners, crouched on top of the table instead of perched upon a chair. He liked to sit in the back and watch the others...it was often informational and always entertaining.

Still, he did glance over at Valerys. Her expression was somehow intimidating, something about it spoke volumes...just not volumes one reads on a daily basis.

The smells coming from the coffee station was starting to get enticing as Captain was laying out the next job. A run...quiet and fast. Something he was good at...just not at this level. Slowly, Jakova uncurled himself from the tabletop and slinked his way over to the deliciously brewing coffee.

Osram folded his arms and studied the image the captain had put up on the display.

It looked like any other mining colony out in the belt, and he'd seen plenty of them up close and personal.

"Who's normally documenting that we need to make sure isn't doing it for this trip?"  He asked.  "And how 'undocumented' does this need to be?  Dead drop and nobody knows we were even there, or just getting it where it needs to go without it going in the official records?"

There was always plenty of folks willing to take a bribe to look the other way.  Something truly stealth might take a bit more doing depending on how paranoid whomever laid claim to that rock was.

"Gentlemen, I appreciate the concern. I really do. Most of our shipments are above board, we just also happen to have a few packages below board moving with them. That's why I'm so picky about timing, placement, and letting me do the talking with our clients. But I reckon ya'll already knew that."

He points at the image.

"This here is a pick-up. We've been given a visual image of the facility and rough estimate of its location but not exact coordinates, serial identifiers, or schematics. Apparently, it's very hush hush. Which is why we're making the big bucks."

He wrote on the screen a rather large number. Split between the crew, it was easily half a year's pay for a job that wouldn't take more than a week or so. That is, assuming that number was accurate and split evenly. One could never be 100% certain Jhenko wasn't skimming more off the top than he claimed.

"Hopefully none of us will need an attorney, Rur--uhm, Ferguson."

He laughed before turning to Osram.

"Yes. Dead pickups and dead drops are how we're doing it. But everything will be marked for visual confirmation. And instructions to the drop point will be on the package upon pick up."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Thu 17 Aug 2023.

NOD interjected.

"I'll be overseeing those instructions so you'll need to keep an open line to me at all times."

He had expected some friendly jibs being tossed back and forth about each others abilities or lack thereof. He had not expected Gill to drop to the level he did with a comeback of such juvenile quality. Perhaps the mans mental issues stemmed from something else, such as an immature frontal cortex. Whatever the case his opinion of the man had dropped even farther.

But the time for further insults had passed. He turned his attention to the captain as he started the briefing. The job seemed pretty straight forward, but things never go that easy.

"Did the client give any indication if there might be interference? Other than the possible legal types." Such pick ups and drop offs could easily pique the attention of others.

Archie listened and waited for the others to start asking questions first. Then he spoke. "Captain, should we check into the backgrounds of both our client and the location we are to get this package from? Many criminals hire independent contractors and leave out relevant data..."

Turd spoke up as well, "Captain, as your attorney in this matter," he had glossed over the Captain's denial of his need, "I nominate Eddie and R for research duty. I can of course, oversee their actions." He took off the hat, indicating the shift out of Turd Ferguson and back to Gill, which was only slightly less audacious. "Actually I can help, I am good at talking to people and as an attorney...well sort of...I can legalese," read bamboozle but in a sweet talk kind of way, "around most people's inhibitions." He shrugged, "Hey I'm about us, not them."

"Yes. I know my client well enough and they said it was possible others might be sniffing around for these supplies in addition to usual patrols. If it's not official government bureaucrats trying to rob us, pirates might too if we're not careful. So that's the catch. We'll have to be riding dark the whole way to the drop off. No usual travel paths or rest stops and we'll have to keep power usage to a minimum to avoid detection. So dress for a few cold nights, ladies."

He smirks.

"If ya'll want to do more research on the way, be my guest, but there's no time to lose. I've already had NOD put us on a course to the pick up. If we delay, we'll lose the job and we really need the money. Plus, a successful haul like this could put us on the map with my other contacts."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:18, Thu 17 Aug 2023.

Andre rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the low power operations time, "How long are we planning to fly dark? I have been meaning to look into the shields and weapons but they are tied into the power systems. I need a baseline to plan upgrades around. I can't make this my dream boat but just maybe I can make it better than it is without too much expense."

Gill scratched his butt, the flap was making him itch. "You know I've got some bottles of 30 year old scotch laying around. That'll keep us warm. All except you Eddie, You're too young, you gotta be at least 21 to drink alcohol."

Jak picks up his mug and inhales the dark rich aroma slowly. Every time he gets a mug of Andre's elixirs...their sweet ambrosia hints at different flavors. This time he can definitely get a strong sense of chocolate, but also some tones of orange and maybe cinnamon? Closing his eyes, he takes an equally slow draw of the hot liquid energy. He instantly feels all of his sleepy cells waking up...and start to vibrate with the need to do.

As so, he catches up with the chatter happening and couldn't resist, "Gill, that would depend upon what star system we were currently in and what seasonal model we would use. On, or at least near, some planets, Eddie might be hundreds of years old...while you would be centuries." His smile is mischievous. Sometimes it was fun when dealing with Gill. You never knew what was going to be said...or how it would even be relevant to the situation. One thing for sure, it was always funny to someone...even if that was only Gill.

"Cold, Dark, and Fast...easy enough," He replies to Jehnko. "We getting paid upon delivery...or half up front and half upon delivery? Or are we going in trusting that they will pay us when we complete the job?" The last part was laced with distaste and distrust. Jakova had been on the receiving end of the last part more times than he would like to admit to.

Val stood up and moseyed her way over to the brewing station to grab tea.

"Well, if it's going to be a cold trip, I suppose we should warm our bones while we can."

"Flight times have no exact just yet but should be less than a week. If you want to tinker with anything while they're out, that'd be a good time."

He laughs at Gill's remark then looks to Jak.

"Fortunately I was able to convince them to give us a little up front and I took the liberty of applying it to everyone's last supply request. Speaking of which, your packages are still in the cargo hold waiting for ya'll to unwrap. So happy birthday to everyone! I suggest ya'll spitshine your good gear and rustle up what you need before we get to the rodeo."

---

OOC: Everyone will get 3 tiers worth of items which you now have the opportunity to grab. You can have three tier 1 items or a single tier 3 item or one tier 1 and a tier 2. What you ordered on the last supply run is for you to decide.

Whether you get a slugthrower pistol, blaster rifle, nightvision goggles, grappling hook, bulletproof vest, etc. is up to you. You build items the same way you do special abilities they just have the "item" instead of "innate" type. If you're not sure how, ask in the OOC.

The ship has mag-booted spacesuits for everyone to use but they are not armored and are essentially rent-a-suits since they came standard with the ship and aren't individually customized. You can purchase your own if you want to make modifications by using your requisition slots if you want.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:22, Fri 18 Aug 2023.