[center][h1]Contract acquired[/h1][/center]

[indent]Meal time for the rangers, Carolyn and her crew were enjoying a change of menu. With a chance to actually explore, Carolyn had decided it would be better to hunt and forage for food than to dig into their continually dwindling ration supply. Thanks to that, there was now fish and stew made with venison and some things that looked like vegetables(and seemed safe to eat). It tasted surprisingly good and no one seemed to be having any issues yet.[/indent]

[indent]Carolyn found her meal cut short by an intrusion. Pauline had something to say it seemed, given the fact she took a seat across from Carolyn and began to speak. "Hey, Boss. Sorry to interrupt, but it seems someone wants your attention. Kurt sent me to get you."[/indent]

[indent]Carolyn stood and let her aerospace commander lead her from her office and down the hall toward the bridge. As she followed Pauline, she asked, "What do we know about this attention seeker?"[/indent]

[indent]"Says his name is Commander James Raynor of some Terran Dominion, and he has a job for us, Boss. Has something to do with a distress call, probably that one we heard a little while ago."[/indent]

[indent]"Okay, well lets see what he has for us," Carolyn said as she tapped some buttons on the holo tank and the image of the dropship vanished again, replaced with information about the connection. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Commander Raynor. This is Carolyn Richter of Richter's Rangers. We would really like to hear the specifics of this job and pay before we agree."[/indent]

[indent]It was about a ten minute wait before he finally got a response, but the former rebel didn't mind. After all, making the contacts needed to get a revolution going wasn't a quick deal and hiring mercenaries back home was never easy either. "That's quite alright ma'am. My offer's simple, you help us out here and help us with scouting the surrounding area, and I'll offer food, lodging for as long as you need or want it, and salvage rights on the bodies and gear of any battles you have with us, along with the materials you'll need to repair your heavier units. How's that sound?"[/indent]

[indent]Carolyn looked back to her gathered council to see what they thought. No words, but they all seemed to think it was a good deal. She turned her attention back to the comm and said, "That's a rather generous offer, Commander. We accept, assuming you're willing to share what you know about this station we're stuck on."[/indent]

[indent]Jim chuckled. "Don't mind at all, miss. But we don't have much more than our base location, another Node across the nearby river and where our side of the river meets both the ocean and some badlands. I have the coordinates for the fort that SOS came from if that's of any help."[/indent]

[indent]"Thank you, Commander. I'm happy to be of help, and I'm glad we could come to an agreement so quickly." Carolyn looked back to her subordinates, "Gather everyone up and get ready to lift. We're going to need to be ready to drop someone before we land to get an idea of what's going on."Send those coordinates. We'll make short work of this and get back in touch with you once the job is done."[/indent]
[hr]
[indent]A few hours later, the equipment was all packed up, the crew and mercs secured. The dropship was ready to lift off and Carolyn was ready to get the mission underway. With the thrust of its powerful engines, the orb shaped dropship lifted into the air, bound for the badlands from the heavily wooded forests she had been hidden in.[/indent]