Chapter 2: The Journey

After their successful evaluation at the SFSS Station and a day of rest and indulging in a bit of leisurely shopping, the crew found themselves back in the bustling starport of Satton V.

Navigating through the crowded terminal, Maya led the group with purpose, her black-and-green hair standing out amidst the sea of travelers. Nesta followed closely behind, scanning the departure boards for any available flights to their destination.

Rogue and Ariel were in the middle, while Phantom and Adeon trailed behind, engaged in hushed conversation about their recent simulated combat. They all had a simple task—finding a ticket to Watson.

As they approached the ticketing counter, they were greeted by a harried-looking attendant, her fingers flying over the holographic interface as she processed the constant stream of passengers.

"Welcome to Satton V Starport. How can I assist you today?" the attendant asked, her tone professional but strained.

"Hello, we are interested in the cheapest tickets you have going to Watson. When are the next departures?"

Nesta walks forwards and holds up her arm with a spreadsheets-like application ready to take notes of the crew's spending.

"Well... Watson is a drive-2 destination. " - the attendant said - "So, regular business class tickets are 750 credits per person, including your food and all the boarding taxes. If you wanna an economy class ticket for Watson, they're 450 credits, including rations and taxes. If you do have the qualifications and can convince a ship's captain, though, you can trying working passage. This way you will be part of the liner's crew and will have to work, but won't have to pay with credits."

"Hum... Just a second, let us discuss this a little bit."

Maya then turns to her friends and says:

"What do you guys think? I can see if I know any captain or if I can convince them to let us work because honestly, we do have some money now, but I don't feel like spending so much at the beginning of our mission is wise"

"I think is a great way to save money, I may still have some old contacts from the old cargo hauling days, and most of the captains here would jump at the opportunity of a free systems check. Let’s just make sure we try and find jobs for all in the crew"

Nesta scrolls through her datapad for a while before coming to the conclusion that any contacts she would have are tied to her old company, and she does not want anything to do with them.

"No luck.... Maya, do you have any contacts here?"

"All the money I have is from that gun and this mission. But don't you guys worry leave the hard work of the ship for me." Adeon says with a smug smile

While @ligera (Maya) looks for her contacts, Nesta will approach one of the captains and start some negotiations.

"Sorry for my manners, what’s your name? …. Nice to meet you Babylon, my name is Nesta, could you point me in the direction of any captions you know are looking for a crew?"

Nesta walks together with anyone that wants to join, she will leave Maya behind if she has any connections, and goes in the direction the attendant pointed.

"Good morning captain, me and my crew are looking for some jobs in this next passage to Watson, together between us we have at least 10 years experience in all spaceship fields, and even those that don’t are more than willing to help in any way shape or form. What do you say? Willing to grab some extra help for the passage?"

Nesta will also send a quick message on her data pad, either directly to @Spectro or to our group chat.

Phantom, I’m sure we will have many opportunities to use your wonderful abilities a lot in our journey, I would recommend, that since the place we are going isn’t that fond of Psionics that we keep your condition as sort of a secret for the time being. Your decision in the end, just thinking about the least headache inducing path. 😊

"Bla-bla-bla"

"No. Our crew is complete and we are full. If you wanna go aboard, you go to that attendant over there and pay for your ticket. " - answered Captain Torres.

"I think I know a captain, I just don't know if they work here. Let me see if they still work as a captain and if so, where they're working now, just a sec, guys..."

Maya then looks at her pad and starts looking through her contacts.

Maya is able to contact Captain Michelle Corelli of the far trader Autumn Gold.

The ship is bound for Elixa (02.12), a few metahexes above. Its route is via Watson, with
a drop-off and trading of some supplies there.

She is willing to let you work for passage until your destination, as a favor for Maya, if she so wished.

She also has another option for you: Economy class cabins are available in her ship and she can sell them with a discount.

Phantom answers Nesta:
Relax, buddy. I'll watch out. Got some other tricks hidden up my sleeve. I'm gonna keep my distance from any trouble. 😉

Sweeping his gaze over the crowd, Phantom searches for an old acquaintance, someone indebted to him, who could facilitate their discreet entrance into the ship's crew.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you captain, my name is Nesta, I have some experience working as a tech in some space hawlers, if you already have techs on board I’m more than willing to help them out, and if not allow me to be your first.

Nesta will try to prove her knowledge in the area, maybe recalculating a faster route, or scanning for system stress in the computer.

Nesta notices she’s a bit rusty when it comes to ship systems after some years away, but after a few mistakes and it taking a bit longer than she hopped she shows the results of the scans and hopes that together with the favor to Maya will land her a crew role.