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Creed took a few moments to recover from the shock - Only mildly hurt, but still shaken.
"I'm fine. Just sore." He says, slowly standing back up. He walks over to the others watching the void hawk's camera. "I wonder what that thing was... I guess we'll never know, right?" He says, hesitantly.

"Probably best we never find out," Tess responds, taking a moment to holster her gun and wipe some of the dust off her once it becomes clear that their last remaining threat had been eliminated. "With that thing gone, that's it. We're done here," she responds. "Finally. They can have their shitty mine back, time to get paid and get the hell off this cursed rock." Time to take a nice shower and sink into the sheets. Maybe they'll be able to patch me up on the shuttle back. If not, guess I'll have to wait til we're back to the Makkuro, she thinks, frowning at the thought of having to wait to tend to her injuries.

Cass lets out a pregnant sigh, piloting the void hawk back to their position at the lift. "Yeah, next time we do something like this, we gotta demand more credits. This shit almost doesn't seem worth it."

Battered by rocks and punctured by needles, the tech slaps the button to call the lift. Just a shuttle ride back, then we're home. Can't wait to take a long shower and get some grub.

With the Void Hawk recovered, you ride the left back up to the facility on the top floor. As the doors open, you're greeted by Subira and a few other nervous looking workers, all pointing weapons at you.

"Ah it's all of you," Subira says as she sees you. She lowers and holsters her pistol, with the others following suit.

"Sorry about that. We felt a rumble and didn't want one of those things to get the jump on us," she explains. "I'm glad to see to all made it out. How did it go down there?"

Warner

You make your way down the docks, asking a few more of the strikers about Mover and the mystery pirate looking for him, although the responses you get are all similar, either not knowing him or also having not seen him for a while.

You are making your way over to another group when you spot a man looking at you from afar. As you gaze finds him, he quickly turns away and begins to walk off in the direction of a set of stairs up to the next level of the station. As he walks away, you realise you recognise him as one of the other patrons that had been in the Engine Room.

"It's clear," Tess responds, eyeing the people cautiously before they holster their weapons. "There's some weird, ancient-looking ruins that the pirates clearly were trying to explore before they gave up. The creatures are dead, but who knows if there are more pockets of ruins dotted in this rock. You guys should probably be careful with your mining, just in case."

She pauses, winces in pain, and looks back to Subira with a mildly annoyed expression. "Now if it's alright with you, I'd like to head back to the station to get my wounds patched up." And take that shower. Those things were disgusting.

Cass bristles at the sight of weapons aimed at him. Last thing we need is some green tech misfiring at us. Get me the fuck off this rock.

"The rumble was us. Whatever xenobug problems you had down there shouldn't be problems anymore," he says, leaving the details vague. No offense to her, but I don't owe this scientist anything. Holland, however... See how many questions she'll ask before she sends the funds.

"Got enough pics to demand more from this," Hikaru says to Cass, scrolling through his photos as they take the elevator back up.

He cracks a smirk as his crew so readily fesses up to the explosion below. Better that than killer xenoforms on the loose. "Yeah," he says after Tess and Cass debrief. "Expect a crew of researchers within a week, I'd think. Immediate threat's over though."

"Well it's good to know it's safe down there again, and no one else had to die in the process," Subira says, clearly still saddened by the loss of Anderson.

"The Pioneer should be ready to take you back to Asteria soon," she adds in response to Tess. "We've finished unloading it, so it's just a case of waiting on the preflight checks and clearing the hanger to open the doors. I'll let the pilot know you're all ready to go though?" She continues, looking at the rest of you to see if you are also ready to leave.

Warner

The man's clothes are more casual than the work clothes of the others on the docks. His hair is scruffy and unkept. He is fairly skinny and you can make out a couple of tattoos creeping up his neck. You are confident he has yet to realise you have made him.

Mechanics

If you'd like to attempt follow him stealthily, make a Sneak/Dex check.

"Yeah, sounds good," Cass says, only paying partial attention as he tries to use his good arm to load up the void hawk into its carrying case. This bad boy saved our asses. I should look into slapping a few mods on it. Maybe swap a rifle for something with more punching power. He eyes their pilot. Hm. That spike thrower Creed was packing looked plenty fucking mean, yeah? Should have the cred to pick another up once we find an arms dealer.

Creed shuddered slightly at the thought of *any* of that thing surviving... but calmly made his way back up the lift with the others. "So, you think, when we get back to the station... maybe we should go bowling?" He asks the crew as the door opens. Blissfully unaware for a moment of the blasters. As he realizes though, he jumps and takes a deep breath. He wiped his brow as the staff opted not to shoot them, or at least realized they weren't a threat. "Yeah, please. This is a lovely mining operation but, I think I'm ready to be back out there," Creed nods towards space. "It's a little claustrophobic for me." He smiles awkwardly.

Kate nods along with the others' debrief, massaging her bruised muscles and checking that none of the scratches she picked up from the falling rocks are too severe.
"For sure, just let us know when Evac is ready." She replies to Subira. She glances at the others, notices Cass seeming to struggle to pack up the drone one-handed, and moves over to him. "Need a hand with that?"

"Ah, yeah," Cass manages, caught off-guard by the offer of help but grateful for it. "Thanks, Chief."

He glances up at the engi as they pack up the drone together. "Handled yourself pretty well back there. Not bad for the first job, yeah?"

Eventually, after ten minutes or so, Subira gives you the go ahead and you board the shuttle waiting to take you back to Asteria Station, loading up the Void Hawk too. The workers clear the hanger and the room depressurises before the hanger doors open to the void. The pilot manoeuvres the shuttle out of the hanger and the asteroid soon begins to shrink in the passenger cabin view screens as you burn for Asteria Station.

A few hours later, the station comes it view and the shuttle glides into the central docks. You hear a metalic clunk as the docking clamps take a hold of the shuttle, pulling it up to an airlock. The door opens with a hiss and you step out on to the gantry where you find a short man in a suit waiting for you.

"Welcome back," he says as you disembark from the shuttle. "We have already received a report from 3138 T-1 detailing your visit. Miss Holland awaits you in your office, when you are ready of course." 

Warner

The side street seems to be more akin to an alley than a street. It is narrow with a mess of cables and pipes running overhead. It is dotted with refuse containers which sit by several service entrances to the buildings that make up its sides. By the time you reach the alleyway, the man is now no where to be seen, however you catch sight of light spilling out of one of the doorways further along the path, before it disappears as the door is shut.

OOC

I just thought of this but FYI as your Combat Field Uniform is considered Combat Armor, it would be suspicious to station security to just walk around wearing it. It's up to you if you are currently wearing it, although if you are that may have an effect on things going forward (you do have enough encumbrance by my calculations to be carrying it unworn).

Warner OOC

Warner has been trying to not stand out, so he either wouldn't be wearing the armour/uniform, or just some loose pieces, for the classic hobo look.

Warner

Warner walks into the alley, and tries to get a good look at the building of the door that just closed.

The flight back is grueling for Cass, who sits uncomfortably in his shuttle seat — the adrenaline long worn off. The distraction of sitting next to Tess, however, takes the edge off.

Once they arrive, Cass stretches and lets out a heavy sigh. One step closer to home. I could use a sandwich and a couple hours of melt-your-brain shit-vids. Hell, I don't even care which network. That was a long day. He is unsurprised yet mildly irritated to find the suit in the gantry already on their case. "Thanks," he manages, turning to Hikaru. "Cap, we good to stop back at the Mak, get patched up, before we head over? I think we could all use it. Don't want to bleed all over Holland's nice chairs."

Hikaru takes a deep breath as he steps back onto the station, almost having a sense of homecoming after such a dire mission. Haven't even been here that long, but damn did I miss it compared to that place.

He crosses his arms and listens to the suited man, giving a quick nod. "We'll be there after we get cleaned up, thank you," he relays to the corporate messenger. He looks to Cass and the rest of his crew, covered in scuffs, scrapes, and bruises. "Yeah, let's hit the showers and medbay, put on some clean clothes, then head over."

"Yeah, you fit right in," Tess responds, offering Kate a smile before wincing again in pain. I'll be glad when that's over with. How am I supposed to unwind with an open wound?

Back on the shuttle, Tess has no shame in leaning her head on Cass' shoulder, feeling much weaker from her wounds after the rush of battle is behind her. She drifts in and out of sleep on the ride back, finding it difficult to become too comfortable in the cramped seats.

"Oh, are we properly calling him 'Cap' now?" Tess asks, as she stretches and attempts to return to a fully awake state once the shuttle lands. "Oh please, Mr. Captain, let us have a rest after our long day," she says to her friend, fake pleading with him before snickering to herself. She begins to make her way to the Makkuro, eager to hop into a shower, aiming to do so before anyone else.

Creed nods, "I'd appreciate that. I need to sit alone for a few minutes, I think..." He sighs softly, Long day indeed. He thinks, still beating himself up internally for his earlier foolishness. 

"Ah," Cass manages, hardly realizing he had referred to the former idol as their leader. I may have taken him for a crud-tune himbo, but he's a quick study. He's flying a ship and shooting a rifle, same as the rest of us.

"Sure are. Captain Glitter," he answers Tess finally with a wry smile. Can't puff up his ego too big.

You make your way back through the docks to the shipyard where the Makkuro is berthed. A full shift of work has been completed on her in your absence and you can see the progress that has been made on the repairs. While it is less than would have been completed with Cass or Kate's supervision, the repairs are still nearing completion.

You head to your quarters, the showers and the medbay, patching and cleaning yourselves up the best you can before you reconvene to head to the Asteria Offices.

Makkuro OOC

Repaired 1 HP, now up to 21/25 HP.

---

Warner

Trying the door you find it unlocked. Pulling it open slightly you are able to make out some parts of the room inside. It appears to be a break room, with a small seating area and kitchenette. The two men seem to have moved out of the room, as you can hear their voices coming from a corridor that starts at the far side of the room. In addition to the corridor, another two doors, currently shut, lead out of the room.

"The Mak's looking better every day," Cass says in a cheerful tone, happy to see progress, albeit slow. "Chief, you and I've got another day's work I'd wager. And I had an idea about our weapons systems... Let's chat at chowtime, yeah? All of us."

He takes Tess's hand, giving it a squeeze paired with a smile, before he heads off to the medbay. After a half hour, he's managed to clean up his wounds — albeit to a sloppy degree — and hits the showers. Throwing on a fresh jumpsuit, he buzzes his growing stubble and runs a comb through his hair. Much better. Starved, though, Cass considers as he grabs a quick MRE from the mess hall to stuff his face with.

After about an hour, he finally reconvenes, looking much more put-together. First time in a while, I guess. Feels good to clean up.

"What's the game-plan with Holland? Our pics of those ugly fuckers should prove a job-well-done. Could show her some of the drone footage if she wants to see that bloodbath. We, uh, hoping to squeak out a few extra credits from her? She doesn't seem the type to budge easy, especially after a deal's already been made."

"Yeah, sounds good," Tess responds to Cass, at his mention of chatting at dinner. Not like we need to plan a conversation, we'll all be in the same place anyway. She follows him to the med bay, aiding in his cleaning of his wounds as he does with hers. Once done, she returns to her room for the first time in awhile, disrobing and frowning as she looks at her blood-stained undersuit. Guess this needs a good wash now, she thinks, as she tosses the soiled attire into a pile on the floor.

Grabbing her new hoodie (or rather, the large one she stole from Cass) and a pair of plain shorts, she makes her way across the hallway to a vacant shower. She basks in the warmth, letting the blood, sweat, and other grime wash away as she leans weakly against the wall. What a long day, she thinks. Hopefully our next job is a simple one. Please, no more aliens. When the shower is finished, she dries and dons the shorts and hoodie, tying her damp hair up into its usual ponytail. She then makes her way to their loungeroom, to re-gather with the others.

Tess shrugs as Cass speaks, unsure exactly how to proceed with their employer. "Can't hurt to at least ask, right? If we frame it politely, and not as if we expect additional compensation, perhaps she'll be thankful we did more than we were tasked with. Either way, we got some free pretech out of this, and snagged Kate out from under her too," she says with a smirk. Plus she seemed interested the few times I flirted at her. Maybe she's still open to some one-on-one time, for a bit of extra work or coin in exchange.

"Careful, might just have to dock you both for insubordination. Dish duty for a week, yeah?" Hikaru says, cracking a smirk as the pair quips over his apparent new title.

A sense of comfort washes over the pop star as he steps back aboard their vessel, their home. It's good to be back. Not wanting to waste too much time before their meeting, Hikaru makes for his quarters and enjoys a long, hot shower. Afterwards, he tends to his scrapes and bruises, wincing at each slight tinge of pain. Glad it's nothing worse. Don't have stage makeup to cover up imperfections like before.

"Deals change," Hikaru says in a serious tone, crossing his arms and ready to do business despite Cass's uncertainty. "The risk was greater than expected, and we're owed fair compensation. On top of that, we helped clear pretech alien ruins. That alone's worth a fortune. Gave her more value for her company." He mentally files all the meetings he'd sat in with his label, recounting what these corpo types can be like. "Can still be polite, yeah, but need to stand firm in our own worth or she'll eat us alive."

 

"Yeah, yeah," Cass says, nodding along to Hikaru's reasoning. "No, that's a good point. Sell it to her like you just did to us. The value of the work we did on that shithole vastly outweighed the original contract. Hell, call it hazard pay once those fucking bugs showed up. We thought we were just dealing with some scared, hungry pirates that got left behind, or maybe some old, automated defenses. Not some screeching horrors from some bootleg monster vid."

He taps on the table anxiously. "Alright, worth a try. Worse case scenario she laughs in our faces and we still get paid. Win-win."

"Even if she laughs in our faces, we still got our ship fixed, painted, and a new transponder for it, on top of stealing one of her employees and the pretech stuff she didn't even know we had. Extra coin will be great, but we're doing pretty well either way. Especially compared to where we were when we got here," Tess says, feeling a bit optimistic now that she's patched up and cleaned again. And we've still got a few more days to do odd jobs and earn even more. Never thought I'd be making this much cash outside of the Harlequins. I guess having a stolen navy ship helps.

"Fair point," Cass admits. "Can't complain about the extreme come-up that Asteria's provided us. Getting too ahead of myself, expecting more. I'm just happy we're all back in one piece."