Sifting Through the Scraps [Hyperlane Mission #3-Ask]

[Judah Dashiell]

Location : Hyperspace Between Ceto and Serpena , aboard the Siren's Song.
Objective : Salvage



The sounds of shuffling echoed through the near-empty hangar on the Siren's Song. The unique ship was gliding its way through hyperspace, en route to a planet called Serpena. Well, not so much the planet. Judah was interested in what lay above the planet. Orbital shipyards lay silent, abandoned long ago. He had gotten the tip from the salvager grapevine and immediately set his goals to visiting the planet to scavenge.


It was shame he couldn't tow out the shipyards themselves like he did that space station turned mini-world harvester. Still couldn't believe the credits he hauled in on that thing.


Judah stood near some crates, going through his zero-g environmental suits. He suspected it would be difficult going, no power, no gravity, heat, oxygen or any of the comforts of home. Careful inspection was key. He didn't feel like being sucked out into the vacuum of space for a bit of laziness. The shuffling grew closer and Judah looked down.


Makai was crawling all through the hangar and decided to stop by -- probably because he was done poking through the nooks and crannies in the room. Ice-blue eyes gazed up at him before looking about. Hand reached out and grasped a buckle end attached to a bit of nylon webbing. Immediately it went into young Makai's mouth, the fabric quickly encased in drool.


"Inspecting the suits too? Thanks. I don't think the buckle has any holes in it, but we can't be too careful."

Spoiler

Mission 3: Dumpster Diving
Location: Serpena (Fringe space)
Objective: Clear rogue plant Sithspawn out of the Archivus Yards, an unused orbital refit yard/trophy case made of several old space stations. The refit yard is going to be reactivated by AEI/Iron Crown, but until then, waltzing off with random leftover bits of technology is totally fair game. (The Fringe took most of the good stuff, but the place is a maze.)

[member="Thessa Kai"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Location : Exiting Hyperspace : Serpena
Objective : Salvage , Destroy Plants
[member="Thessa Kai"] | [member="Isley Verd"]



Thermals were important in salvaging. Space was cold. A person could easily succumb to the conditions if they weren't prepared. Over that went the envirosuit. A little bulky but it would do. A crate of materials sat near the hatch lock. Flashlights, screwdrivers, hydrospanners, grinding bits and the like. Things to rip apart the valuable from the useless.


Bending over, Judah picked up Makai and exited the hangar. Only he would turn a job into a miniature family vacation. It wasn't like Ferox, their personal nanny droid on steroids, couldn't watch over the boy while he was digging through the scraps. The Siren's Song shuddered, exiting from hyperspace smoothly.


It was time to get to work.


Judah left the young boy in his cabin aboard the ship, where Ferox was waiting. Immediately the droid's photoreceptors brightened as he told a tale -- a fairy tale about turning 101 Ropos into a fur coat with the evil stepmother at the heart of it. Judah was fairly certain the story was a mis-match of several different tales. No matter. Ferox did voices and it kept the boys attention for a period of time.


Wandering down to the cockpit in the envirosuit, Judah peered out the viewport. Serpena filled their view, along with the collection of interconnected orbital space stations. It was massive. He started to strap a blaster to his hip. Not one for weapons, Judah had learned quickly never to salvage without one.


"Good thing I brought extra oxygen. See if we can't dock somewhere in the middle of this massive installation. I don't think I want to be hauling parts back and forth the entire length. Do you have anything on the sensors? There's got to be another salvager out here.....there's been too much chatter."

 

[Light Rises]

Cole was off on a bit of a trip. There was hyperspace mapping to be done, and Silk was a leading company in doing that work. That meant he was going to be doing some work for the person he was doing some work with. [member="Rave Merrill"] was helping to teach him a bit of the Force, at least the Alchemy side of things, and that meant any time he could do work for AEI, he was going to make a move for it.

Taking his ship, a Niathal-Class shuttle, he made his way out for the world known as Serpana. He'd heard of it, reading it in the Dawn Treader's planetary database. Cole had a few tricks up his sleeves. That meant his exploration knowledge, and stalking the special teams quartermasters. He wasn't a thief himself, but he could fence pretty well.

Find the gear, make sure the people who would buy it could find it.

As he pulled his ship from hyperspace, he made his way to the cargo hold and loaded himself up into one of the Dragonskin Suits and Razorhawk Maneuvering System hybrid. Needed some practice still, but he was going to use it, just in case.

“Alright, Are-Seven, keep the ship nearby. And bring us into the shipyard, forward all comms to my personal link.” And with that he changed his channel. “Anyone around the shipyards?” Can't hurt to check to see who was around.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Cole Topol"] [member="Judah Dashiell"]

Iced-azure gaze checked the readouts a second time. "I'll get us as close in as we can. How's our drool bucket?" It made her more than a little nervous to leave Makai alone - even with Ferox. She hoped they could lock down this ship tight.

And there was NO way she was letting Judah take this little jaunt alone, even if there weren't supposed to be a ton of unfriendlies around.

A call came across the public channel as she docked about to answer Judah's question. "Looks like you were right." Scale-speckled hand flipped the switch to the public comm.

"Reading you loud and clear. This is Thessa and Judah Dashiell of the Siren's song. Please identify yourself and your position."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Thessa Kai"] | [member="Cole Topol"]


"He's just fine. Stay inside the ship with him, I'll be fine out there. I do this all the time without you checking my six." Standing behind the pilots chair, Judah was watching her dock. If it was any other pilot in the galaxy, he would be strapped down and praying for his life. Thessa was a top-notch pilot ; there was only the slightest bump as they connected with the docking arm.


Static crackled over the comm before the message from the other ship in the area arrived. Most hanging around a wreck such as this weren't exactly suspicious folk. However, Judah had run-ins with those who were more than a little hostile. Especially if a person thought that a piece of wreck was their own personal find. A bit like a treasured fishing spot he supposed.


"Lets see what this guy is up to before I head out. Probably nothing. " Judah squeezed her shoulder a little. "Great family vacation, huh?" Amusement colored his tone, joking with her.

 

[Light Rises]

Right, reporting in. He was checking to see who was around. Were there others here who were making the call? Knowing that there was so much of the galaxy out there, Cole was doing his best to show to others that he was just as strong a pilot as Jared, or anyone else who left the Dawn Treader for the galaxy at large. He had Marek to thank for connecting him to Silk, and then through that he found himself here. But again, reporting.

“This is Cole Topol off the Ion Wave.” Unlike others of his family, or modification project, he had no need to lie about his identity. He wasn't based in any illegitimate dealings. He did have a blaster pistol and an ion pulse rifle, just in case. “Heading to the shipyard, investigation and the like.”

Simple.

[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Thessa Kai"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Cole Topol"] | [member="Thessa Kai"]


Judah had no idea who the Topol family was or any idea of their dealings. To him, the man was another explorer or salvager out poking amongst the wrecks. So far, so good. Most of the unfriendly types would have tried to scare them off already. Threats of death and dismemberment. Immediate claims to the scrap heap. Warning shots. Judah was already feeling good about his soon-to-be jaunt.


"Captain Topol, pleasure to hear from you. Judah Dashiell here. Heading out for a bit of exploration myself, maybe we'll run into one another. Siren's Song out for now."


Leaving the cockpit, Judah went back down to the airlock to finish getting ready. It was just a matter of snapping a few things in place, putting on his helmet, and making sure the oxygen was working. Suit seemed to be pressurizing fine, no warnings going off. Always a plus. Grabbing the handle to the wheeled crate, Judah stepped into the airlock and shut it behind him. Dim lighting kept him from being in total darkness before the second door opened, allowing him to walk through the docking arm.

Reaching up, Judah had to turn on the headlamp. It was dark -- no power anywhere in the old wreck. Magnetic boots kept him firmly attached to the ground, although his wheeled crate was now being float-pulled rather than wheeled along. It didn't take long to walk out of the docking arm and into the maze of a shipyard/orbital station. Just from his first impressions it was massive.


"Wonder where the control room is....probably down. I might be able to hook a battery up to a terminal, find a map."


Yes, Judah did talk to himself. No, he wasn't completely crazy.

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

"Fine," she called after his mop of less-than-normally-shaggy-hair. "Just remember, I'm staying here because I think it's a good idea for Makai. Not because you told me to."

Aqua-lips twitched into a brief smile behind his retreating form before going serious again.

"But if one thing goes wrong, I'll be right out there in a suit with you, babe."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Thessa Kai"]


Mermaid voice came crackling through the comm. Judah was already in the orbital structure, powerful flashlight bouncing off the walls. He as looking for something to hook up his battery supply. Idly, he was fairly certain he needed to design a salvager's ship. One with some type of generator he could haul power in to places like this. Built in and everything. Perhaps he'd get the chance someday soon.


"Yes dear. Nothing floating out here but dust."


In marriage terms, Judah did win, just Thessa was a bit too proud to admit it. He might as well have blown up the Death Star. That's how big his win was in this case. Not that he was going to mention anything. Judah knew enough to keep his mouth firmly shut unless he wanted to be sleeping on the couch in the garage again.Besides, it was time to focus.


Light continued to filter through with each step. He was getting closer. Judah made out an elevator. Bingo. Making his way over, the salvager pulled out a portable battery from his rolling tool kit. Attaching it to the metal sheeting on the side, gloved hands struggle to open the outside access panel. Screwdriver was retrieved and he pried it open. Wires split out like spaghetti as he worked to separate them into little bunches. There was silence as he worked, connecting some wires to his portable power supply/generator.


Sparks and flickering occurred. The elevator was back online.


"After this we should hit the beach. Laying out in the sun, no responsibilities. Surfing."