[@Xandrya][@Gardevoiran][@Silver Carrot][@Rultaos][@iTem][@BKburke][@superservo27][@t2wave][@ArkmageddonCat][@Strange Rodent][@TheEvanCat][@Vampire Stepdad][@sntabe][@Damo021] SAL took the information about the potential drone dealers and thanked Qoorb by transferring over an extra 1000 credits before bidding the scavenger farewell. The robot carried on about it's business and within an hour, he was returning to the ship with a push-cart containing his new acquisitions, fists only slightly tinged with a green blood smear from a Tragladarian who got in his way. The cart rolled silently up into the cargo bay and SAL pushed it over to the far corner. He noticed Koren hard at work through the engine room window. Harrison was nowhere to be seen, probably off cooking sustenance for the other fleshbags. The Tobi situation would have to wait just a little bit longer- Stryker's orders had been clear, the ship needed to be ready by the morning. ------ "We can discuss the more technical aspects of it all later, but yeah, great to have you aboard. I suppose now's a good time to mention there's a line in your contract, the one the Alliance will want you to sign, about also being part of the ground team during combat ops. There's hazard pay included and all that, but like I just said, no need to get into all of that now. Get your stuff and meet us at the ship. C-Dock, berth 15." As Sadaet headed off, Stryker sat back in his seat to finish his drink. Benny had a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face, like he truly couldn't believe what he was seeing as he stared across the bar. Stryker turned to look and nearly spat his drink out as he saw Tib carrying a giggling Matija in a full-on bridal carry, moving swiftly towards the exit. The look on Stryker's face was probably pretty similar to Benny's as he spun back around in his seat and reached for his beer. "Well" he said, tipping up his glass to finish the drink "That was... unexpected." Stryker and Benny sat there in silence, each processing what they had just seen. The complete lull in conversation gave a waitress the opportunity to sidle over and speak. "Excuse me sir, but before they left, those women in the corner booth claimed to be your employees? Said that you'd be paying their tab?" Stryker sighed and cracked a smile, still in disbelief even as he reached for his datapad to transfer the credits "Of course they did." "Is that a.. problem?" "No no, it's fine. That is to say, I do know them. Here you are." He finished up the transfer, including a bit extra as a tip for the poor girl's trouble, then went back to sitting in silence. Both men still surpringly speechless, I mean, what do you say after seeing that happen before your eyes? A situation seemed to be unfolding down at the counter, at last something to distract their attention. To Stryker it looked like the robotic bartender was calmly dealing with a pair of loud and disorderly patrons when it suddenly snapped into action. Stryker watched on in awe as the robot handily fought off the aggressors, despite being outnumbered. He had signaled to Benny to not interfere, but when the gun came out and people began running, Stryker dove to the floor, reaching for the pistol tucked into his boot, but still, the robot took care of business, although sadly, there were a pair of casualties when the dust finally settled. As he watched the robot stand still in the middle of the carnage, an idea came to his head. Stryker approached the robot carefully, his hands up to clearly show he was unarmed. "Excuse me a second" he said cautiously "You handled yourself well there. I was pretty impressed. And sorry if this seems insensitive, but it seems like you might be in need of a new job now. One where you could put those skills to use. My ship can always use an extra pair of hands if you're interested." [color=004b80]"I... I did?"[/color] Pax responded, slowly lowering his gun arm before looking back at the bodies around him. [color=004b80]"Well... I suppose joining you might be the best thing for me. Though... I have a few things to take care of while I'm at it."[/color] He continued, heading for the door and stopping in the doorway. [color=004b80]"Oh! And where can I find your ship when I've... taken care of my things?"[/color] Stryker told him where the ship was docked and they shared a quick introduction before parting ways, agreeing to chat later about payment and the like. Once he made sure all their drinks were paid for, Stryker (and Benny) left the bar to return to the ship, all in all satisied with the events of the night. [b]The Next Morning....[/b] Stryker woke early, it was just after 7am local time. He'd have slept a little longer, but his datapad starting chirping that oh-so familiar chirp, a message from the Alliance. He rolled over in bed and stretched out to grab the small tablet, squinting with the glare of the words on the screen. Still half-asleep, he skimmed through the correspondence, mumbling aloud. "Two more recruits, transported separately, communications transponder codes, mhmm, dossiers attached, blah blah blah, official bullshit, this message will self-destruct, ok." A few minutes later, Stryker pulled himself out of bed and trudged into his bathroom to splash some water into his face. He got dressed and wandered down to the Crew Deck, to see if anyone else was up yet and to make a pot of coffee. The captain was pleasantly surprised to find that Harrison was already there, whipping up enough breakfast for the entire crew. "Morning" Stryker said, crossing the kitchen floor to fetch himself a cup of coffee "Might wanna throw on a little extra, just got word that we'll have two more joining us before we take off in a few hours." ---- Grayson groaned lowly as the [i]thump-thump[/i] of a monster headache roused him from his slumber. The toll of having a good night like the one he and Amy had just shared. There was a faint smell of food cooking wafting into the slightly ajar door of their room. His right arm was curled up around her midsection, and he could feel in her breathing that she was either waking up or already awake. "Mornin' love" he managed to rasp out, his voice gone from all the cheering he'd done during the holo game "You gettin' up yet or did ya wanna stay in bed a while?" ------- SAL walked out of the engine room, his feet clanging loudly on the metal grating of the landing. He had just completed the final repairs of the engine, though he'd resolved for the Juz' to wake up before running any advanced diagnostics. The robot walked down the stairs to the cargo bay floor and walked over to the push cart holding the spool of mainframe cabling and the crate containing the new drone frame. He had just grasped the handle to wheel it over to the elevator when his audio sensors picked up a faint noise from the opposite end of the cargo bay floor. The ramp had been closed all night and SAL was the only living being (figuratively speaking) in the cargo area.... or was he? A quick optic-thermo scan picked up a heat signature from an industrial-size ammo crate. Fearing vermin, or worse, another stowaway, SAL retrieved his shotgun from the hidden compartment in his leg and approached the crate, gun at the ready. He swiftly hauled open the top of the crate and shoved the barrel of the shotgun into the face of a cowering human who wasn't supposed to be there. With one hand, SAL grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him out, dropping him roughly on the floor beside the crate. "Stay there, and don't move." SAL uttered before pinging Stryker's comms unit.