Sorry it's a tad late. Its definitely not because I couldn't read my own bloody handwiritng...
Episode 4 - Intermission
After Helping Peter submit the previous crew to the void the newly deceased ship owners take stock of their situation.
⦁ They're dead
⦁ They have a new ship
⦁ They kinda need a crew
⦁ They need to repair said ship
⦁ Said ship doesn't have a transponder
⦁ Being dead is bad for civilised society
⦁ They don't have much weaponry
⦁ They're Dead
Joe see's these as opportunities rather than challenges. Looking up some old friends we divert the ship to Rhea, a small moon of Saturn. On the way, after liaising with Hickory on Cere's, Thatch hacks the transponder and changes the name, getting Hickory to slip the backdated registry in. The name is definitely extremely memorable and I definitely didn't forget what it is. To avoid the whole being dead thing the ship is registered to the newly minted Belter Free trader Incorportated busines (BFTI for short).
At Rhea Joe pulls some strings and manages to get all the crew new papers, avoiding further the whole dead thing. He also manages to purchase some PDF rounds and get some shapes bolted onto the hull to make it less obvious there is an evil frigate there. At one point he decides to take it upon himself to play with the sole torpedo in the hold so much it starts to explode. Stopping it just in time, and not bothering to pass this information on, he eventually gets the torpedo bodged up with the remaining stealth sheeting. One evening while the rest of the mechanics are off shift they quickly sneak it out of the ship and load it into a vacant tube.
Refit done the group decide to go and investigate LV432-b. The location marked as home for the Vostok what was. The rock is listed as mined out of Palladium and purchased by a consortium on Ceres. A clear OPA front. On the way Peter, who is now cooperating much more after a heart to heart with his new found father, explains that Pablo has two other converted freighters in his fleet plus one more ship and that this station is their home base. It has no Torpedo launchers but does have a network of PDC emplacements
The crew, via Peter, try and reach out to Pablo both on the way from a distance and also from just outside PDC range but receive no answer. the base has no obvious signs of life, but then you'd expect that of a hidden base. Figuring things don't move, Thatch first considers taking out the PDC on the far side of the base then maybe dropping Reuben to approach and check if the base is manned. there is only one major flaw to the plan. Reuben tells him to Fuck off.
Plan B is to take out the turrets surrounding the entrance to the main internal dock. As they can't exactly dodge he proposes firing from outside of their normal range to limit their chance to shoot back. The first several turrets are taken quickly but one awkward bugger lasts through 3 or 4 volleys before finally joining it's betters.
The crew note that one of the Q ships is on the way back so quickly decide to dock and see what they can find. they disembark Reuben and Thatch taking the lead, The doctor and Angelus accompanying them with Peter. Ziang and Joe stay back to watch the ship. They find the airlocks leading into the base powered down but a power source being obvious further in. using a small powercell and his old tricks thatc powers up the door enough to get it open. After following a long dark corridor they find the airlock proper. Opening the outer door they head in but notice a body in the corner.
Out of it are
growing blue crystals.
Thatch runs the fuck away.
Key Facts
⦁ THERES FUCKING BLUE SHIT!
