Private These are the Voyages: Acclimation

[Ignasius Van-Derveld]

Aboard the entirely legitimate business vessel The Mage
Hyperspace
En route to the Kathol Sector
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They were on their third hyperspace jump and Iggy could feel the crew getting restless without any more information on the job being offered. If it were up to him, they would just shut their traps and do what they were paid to do. But Magena had of course given him the sideways glance that was worth a lifetime of nagging, or rather the threat of a lifetime of nagging. At the time Iggy had fained disinterest, but he knew that once Magena was on the side of the crew he was in deep bantha crap.

"Alright already."

The chatter in the crew lounge didn't stop for a second. Everyone was gathered there, and it was loud and crowded. Some of the crew had clearly already become familiar, by the looks of things some intimately so. Van-Derveld couldn't care less what happened between any of their sheets so long as it didn't affect the job.

He whistled with both finger and thumb in mouth forcing out the loudest whistle.

"I ain't got all day ya filthy namscrats. So listen up good."

A holo display came up in the middle of the room. It was of a large, long distance freighter. The type of frieghter that would haul anything from food and medical supplies to new colonies all the way to weapons parts for large military installations. There could be any combination of items on the vessel. Or it could be simply be some of the containers were hired out to individuals who were moving across galaxy. Any way it went, there was a lot of stuff on a vessel like that.

"Generously donated to us by the Pykes. Now. We certainly don't want the Pykes knowing that they donated it to us, but it was very kind of them. It had been en route to deliver when the world was attacked by the Bryn'adul. So, they rerouted. That world was subjugated by the Confederacy...so they rerouted again, but the got their fuel up wrong while heading to their port of call and were left stranded."

With a wave of his hand, Iggy pulled the zoom back on the image showing that the cargo vessel was inside a smallish nebula.

"I got winded and managed to tow the vessel into a nearby nebula. The radiation in the nebula makes sensor scans ineffective, but also makes space walkers a time sensitive endeavour. It's not great for the hull of the ship long term either, so we need to get the cargo out. I have acquired a small tug that externally access each container, for access an investigation. Space walks may also be needed for those containers that are not as easily accessible. The gangway down the middle of the vessel gives oversight of the containers, but unfortunately not access."

The zoom pulled back into the massive cargo hauler.

"The job is as follows. Examine, catalogue and sell each containers worth of items before we need to move the vessel out of the nebula. Crews will need to go to nearby worlds to make contacts that can pawn off the material and goods we find. One good container and we call all retire early. Or buy our own army if we get greedy for more."

The hologram disappeared.

"There is one container explored and catalogued already. A container of droid parts. All new. Should fetch a solid price, and keep us running on supplies for a good many weeks. Once we arrive at our destination, get settled in on your permenant quarters and then I will be looking for a small crew to go with Magena to Eliad to find a buyer for the parts."

With a grin that said 'there are you happy now', Iggy slumped back in his chair. There were possibly questions. Or maybe he had talked so long the sheets were calling again. Iggy was feeling a tad restless himself.

| Araceli Thoris | Atara Themis | Cassia Malkavian | Dashara Horizon | Greyanna Elvanshalee | Hajrah Marjanah | Kenara Dray | Liam Wickens | Magena Dray | Nikana |

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[Dashara Horizon]

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Location: The Mage ​

Equipment: Civilian Clothing, Hidden vibroknife, and kaf in a mug. ​

Companion: N/A​

Tag: Ignasius Van-Derveld , Liam Wickens , Magena Dray, Kenara Dray, and the rest of you lot. ​

Dashara gracefully slid into a seat at the gallery’s small table. Trapped in her fingers was a mug filled with a freshly brewed caf, the liquid barely disrupted by her movements. She took a sip and let the warmth travel down to her stomach before it bloomed outward. The half Zeltron welcomed it after a brief slumber. Not pleasance being in a cramped space for fourteen hours straight. A small tension in her muscles drew her attention to her arm. With a tender stretch of her arm, she rotated her shoulder. Pop! It only took half a movement until the joint shifted then fell back into place. She gritted her teeth but held back the flinch or a squeak at the suddenness of it.

As an exercise to stir her mind, Dashara recounted her finished to-do list.

When she discovered Liam’s hurt ankle, she immediately took him to the ship’s doctor. The odd woman checked, wrapped, then secured it. They both made it back to the room where Liam left his stuff. It would be their bunk for the remainder of their time on the mage. With practiced habit, she organized and arranged her belongings in convenient locations. Among them was another hidden vibroknife nearest the entrance. Some individuals would’ve called her paranoid, but she leaned to being safe rather than sorry later. Not many individuals lived through hell and came back stronger.

Her mind moved onto the next accomplishment: memorizing the ship’s outlay. She counted every step as she jarred every vent cover to learn the loose ones, explored every tight corner, and formed a mental map in her head. If she needed to run through the ship on short notice, she wanted to do it confidently. The only places she avoided were the claimed bunks. Dashara assumed they were identical to Liam’s and hers.

When mealtime drew close, she volunteered to cook and took Liam to assist her. Cooking always provided comfort to her when in a new environment. She silently thanked Liam for teaching her. Besides knowing the crew ate well, she had the excuse to interact with each individual when she delivered them a plate. The best time to gauge each personality was when offered something necessary to survive. Any that were willing to chatter, she came back to and made casual conversation. Not hard for someone with her skillset. Dashara admitted most of the crew held better manners than many prior clients.

Dashara took another long sip of her caf and drifted into her notes over each crew member. With each memory, her mind began to grow in strength by the minute.

First up was Captain Van-Derveld. He reminded her of a cantankerous, toothless Tooka. An independent-minded individual and low opinion of other sentient life. So whatever forced him to alter his habits must’ve been related to credits or more urgent.

Her thoughts moved onto Liam’s contact Magena Dray, another Zeltron. Dashara had expected a warmer and friendly demeanor than the sullen mood she had received. It caught her off guard as the impartial and business-like co-captain shooed her out. She wondered if it had anything to do with the next individual on her list.

Kendra Dray. Both the shared traits and surname were a dead give away they had a blood connection, but the actual relationship eluded her for now. Dash did wonder if it related to Magena’s sour mood earlier. Kendra appeared cordial at first. When Dash tried to lock the fellow Zeltron into a conversation, she sensed a prickliness and line drawn in the air. The same wall Dashara herself erected when she lived on the streets of Nar Shaddaa.

Her compassion went out to the woman if she was right. Learning to trust when individuals abandoned or failed left unseen scars. It made opening up to those who could that much harder. To chase away the shiver along her spine, Dash took another sip and let the heat purge it. Before she could move onto the next member, the Captain’s loud whistle interrupted her. Like a few others, her head turned to the source. She began to condense it because she doubted he would repeat it.

They needed to confiscate Pykes’ lost cargo, hauler stranded without fuel.
It stayed in a heavily radiated nebula making scanners and spacewalks time-sensitive.
Their objective: examine, catalog, and sell the containers.

It sounded simple enough, but she knew how easily simple things became complex. That thought lingering on her mind, she carried her caf and drifted over to the hologram projector. Immediately she brought up the cargo hauler layout. With one of her fingers, she began to trace a few promising paths across the image. Dashara spent the next hour to locate and memorize all the best pathways to the various areas of the ship. Namely, those suited for access by The Mage.