Janya had only just finished making a pot of tea when the starship's doorbell rang. Answering the call revealed that the Datacourier they were expecting was just outside the airlock, with a glowcat on his shoulder. He was a wiry young man with Iron Herald guild tattoos on his face indicating his status as a guild-bonded datacourier. They were also an indication of the man's combat prowess. To be a guild Datacourier meant having the ability to protect the data that they carried. That the full power of the guild would be called down on anyone who harmed a Datacourier, meant nothing when someone was trying to stab you...
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| Part of the Edward Fegen |
"Welcome aboard Harrow," Janya greeted him, standing to the side and inviting him onboard.
"Cerberon?" Harrow asked.
"That's me," Janya replied, shaking the offered hand as he stepped through the 'lock.
Janya showed him through to the lounge and introduced him to Hayla, poured him a cuppa and then showed him the crew quarters where he would bunk for the trip.
As Harrow was situating himself, the cargo arrived and Hayla wheeled off to supervise its loading. Janya went through to the bridge to prepare the Edward Fegen for launch - they wanted to depart as soon as possible as neither had formed a good impression of Gloam Station. Earlier they had both agreed that its best look would be in the aft camera display.
While Janya was going through the pre-flight, Hayla wheeled in followed by Harrow.
"I told him to join us, so put up the third seat willya?" she said. Janya did and Harrow sat down.
"So when do we leave?" asked Harrow.
"As soon as the pre-flights are done," replied Hayla.
"So when are you going to introduce us?" Janya asked Harrow. He looked genuinely puzzled for a moment, then realisation dawned.
"Oh sorry!" he said, "You mean Ilsit!" He reached up to his shoulder and took hold of the glowcat that was currently glowing a placid, gentle green. "I forget she's there sometimes. This is my friend Ilsit."
The sisters both said "Hello Ilsit," gaining a loud purr in response.
The back-and-forth of the pre-flight checks followed until they were finished and the Edward Fegen backed out of the dock. Hayla engaged the main engines and they started the slog to the minimum safe distance necessary to engine the E-drive.
"Let's go to the lounge and leave Feggie to make the distance, shall we?" said Janya.
"Let's," replied Hayla, and Harrow got up indicating his agreement.
Back in the lounge the trio got to know each other. Harrow - he preferred it to his given name, Severinus - was also a newcomer to the Iron Heralds. He'd just finished his apprenticeship and was on his first solo run. He was very grateful for the friendly welcome the sisters had given him as he'd been very nervous, and they had put him at ease.
The alarm they'd set for when the distance was reached sounded and they returned to the bridge. Once there, they all buckled in for the first jump on the journey to Sheraton. "After all," as Hayla said to Harrow, "Better safe than sorry."
Undertake an Expedition: 'Travel to Sheraton' troublesome; +Wits +1 Sidekick Pilot; 4 +3 +1 vs 6 | 7 => strong hit => waypoint, progress now 3/10
Space Sighting-Terminus: Precursor Vault, form: Vessel
The jump was as good as could be and they entered the Drift sliding along its mysterious Eidolon paths. Confirming everything was a-ok, they adjourned to the lounge again. This time Hayla got out her cards and proceeded to try and fleece Janya and Harrow. Janya was easy - Hayla knew all her tells, but Harrow was better than both of them and won most of the hands.
Janya had given up - she knew when she was beaten - and expecting the jump back to normal space had gone into the bridge so Hayla could carry on playing. They both knew that Hayla was the better pilot, but that didn't mean that Janya wasn't a good pilot and capable of supervising the jump back into normal space. But as they completed the jump into normal space, she saw what was on their sensors...
