RP [Independent-plot] ISS Sobek

HX-17 System
ISS Sobek
Ramp

Millena began doing the fox anthro version of a blush reaction as she heard Mercury's comment about her Geist interface being gorgeous. Her ears perked up slightly, and a warm flush spread across her cheeks. She felt a flutter of appreciation for the compliment, despite her usual modesty about her cybernetic enhancements.

Holding up the pad she was suddenly holding, Mileena turned the screen to face Mercury and Nikicon, revealing the previously mentioned Wayfarer ship. "I'm glad that you're unharmed, and I hope you follow the doctor's orders," she said with a playful but sincere tone. "If I have to, I will bind your arms to a chair or bed," she added, teasing Nikicon good-naturedly but with an undercurrent of genuine concern.

As she continued to examine the pad, Mileena pushed a button and gasped. "Oh! One of them is here too?!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. On the screen, outside of the Sobek, a member of the D3 species was visible. Her initial shock quickly gave way to a broad smile, indicating that she had encountered one of the D3 before and was pleased to see them again.

Mileena's mind raced with the implications of this unexpected arrival. The D3 species was known for their helpfulness; at least, the ones she'd encountered had been incredibly supportive and resourceful. "I'll vouch for them, certainly," she said confidently, glancing at Mercury and Nikicon. "They are super helpful; they helped me before."

Her voice carried a tone of certainty and trust as she began composing a message on her pad. She quickly detailed her positive experiences with the D3 species, emphasizing their reliability and the valuable assistance they had provided her in the past. After typing out her message, Mileena sent it to Lenna, vouching for the newcomer. She hoped this would smooth the way for their integration into the crew. The midway point of the ship's ramp was the designated location for meeting new arrivals, so she headed there to greet the D3 member personally.

As she walked through the corridors of the ISS Sobek, Mileena couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. The potential contributions from the D3 species, combined with Mercury's expertise, promised a new chapter of growth and capability for their mission. She arrived at the ramp and saw the D3 individual, their form immediately recognizable and comforting.

With a welcoming smile, Mileena extended her hand. "Welcome aboard," she said warmly. "I'm Mileena. It's great to see you again. Though we might not have met personally, I am familiar with your species. I've already told the captain that I vouch for you. Members of your species have helped me before, and I owe them a debt of gratitude."

As she stood on the ramp waiting for anyone from the crew to come see her, as was only polite of course, D3 Looked over the ship once more, it seemed it was well armed but was a cargo ship, handy given the frequency of pirates going for lesser armed or unarmed cargo ships, though the ship did look like it had gone through the wringer a few times then again the same could be said for her ship it was a junkyard rescue after all and she and Thad had managed to get it up and working again, but it clearly had the hallmarks or a ship that had seen a lot.

Then someone emerged from the ship and the look on their face seemed that she recognized her and this caused D3 to blink a bit before the woman walked up to her and held out her hand in greeting, and she mentioned seeing her again and D3 blinked a few times, only for the anthro woman to finish her greeting and D3 nodded a bit, this woman seemed to be rather observant if she spotted her kind before, few seemed able to identify them simply because they tended to adapt to places they worked, considering what the woman, Mileena, said it seemed her kind helped her before and D3 gave a thumbs up before shaking her hand.

Seems she was already vouched for, though to make sure there was no misunderstanding she hit the repeat button on her com pad to replay the written message to Mileena "Greetings Good Sir and or Madam.... That's YOU!... I am D3 Also known By my given name of Yoshimi, and Several Nicknames, Scrappy, and Yosh or Mi for the short version of my given name. I am currently Temporarily employed by the Detritus Station, As a Dockhand and Tug Pilot! Though my current contract is of a Temporary nature please know that I am trustworthy with your Cargo and if you wish to confirm this information please contact Dock Security and ask About D3!".

With the message repeated she quickly wrote a new message on the pad "By the way yes I am available to hire if your ship is looking for additional crew, I have my own ship if required, the Modified Wayfarer just over there in fact, It had been outfitted to be useful as a heavy fighter as well as an emergency tug if needed. Also thank you for vouching for me with the captain, I was not Expecting to meet someone that was familiar with my kind as many do not notice us, I am glad they helped you though whatever problem you have had, and if your captain does decide to hire me I hope I can be helpful to you all as well"

With that greeting Done She reached into her backpack and took out a D3 grown Tomato, the think was the size of a small Pumpkin and she entered a new message into Com device for Mileena to read "Please accept this Greeting and thankyou Tomato for vouching for me, and for the meeting again of someone that my kind has helped before!" the Heafty fruit was given to the Anthro woman and D3 gave another Thumbs up.

HX-17 System
ISS Sobek
Dom's Quarters

With a groan, a now-awake Dom reached out to swat at the evil device making the infernal racket that had so rudely dragged him from his much-needed sleep. Once the ship's power issues had been fixed, he'd had to organise the proper re-stowing of all the parasite vehicles the crew had rapidly unplugged from the Sobek. That of course had led to another half-dozen issues which had needed fixing and by the time all that had been dealt with, Dom had been several hours past the nominal end of his shift and he'd crashed out hard.

Stumbling across his cabin, Dom spent a few minutes on his ablutions before changing in to a new work outfit and gathering his personal effects. Hearing the announcement of shore leave on Detritus Station, the human nodded to himself and began making his way towards the cargo bay to check in with Sa'Dor. Then, his stomach rumbled and Dom smoothly did an about-face to head for the nearest galley instead. "Food first, then work." Surely someone would call him if he was needed and, as long as that summon came in only after Dom had consumed several cups of industrial-strength coffee, then he would deal.

"Hmmmm, coffee." Dom muttered to himself giddily, wondering if there was any badness in existence that wasn't lessened with sufficient volumes of the dark-roasted nectar. With the promise of coffee in his heart, Dom hummed a ditty to himself as he walked, his steps already lightened.

HX-17 System
ISS Sobek
Cargo ramp

Lenna stepped out onto the cargo ramp and looked around as she asked. "Sa'dor? Where are you?" Looking over to a small group of people she smiles spotting the Tula among them, moving over toward them, and awaiting a natural pause to insert herself into the conversation.

Seeing Lenna walking up Sa'dor smiles and steps back to introduce his captain " Hello there Captain, this is the station cargo master's aid, Greg, His real name however is hard for humanoids to pronounce so he has picked a simple one for us. He has said the ship in question with the Cargo for Sood Zadre has not docked nor contacted the station yet, it seems we are ahead of schedule or they have run late. Lenna sighed looking around and asking "Is the rest of the cargo here, and we can get it loaded in the meantime?" Sa'Dor nods and then says "That is already underway as we speak Captain.

Nikicon soon makes her way off the ship and looks about spotting Mileena over talking to a smaller person holding up a pad. Making her way over the snowshoe hare was dressed up in a pair of denim jeans and a loose black t-shirt that hugged her torso as little. Walking up beside Mileena she smiles looking at D3 " Hi there, and who do we have here?" Seeing the large tomato in Mileena's hand she blinks and then says "Dang where did you get that monster of a tomato? And do you think they can grow carrots?" the hare's fluff of a tail goes into hyperspace as it wags back and forth behind her.

Lenna's compad beeps some as she excuses herself a moment and pulls it out reading the message from Mileena and blinking "What the?" Then looks around for the one that Mileena has spoken about, seeing the gathering around D3, Lenna moves over toward Mileena, Nikicon, D3, and whoever else is there. Stepping up Lenna would smile asking " Mileena, is this the one you spoke of?"

HX-17 System
ISS Sobek
Galley

Breathing in the soothing steam from his scalding hot coffee, Dom felt his whole body relaxing. Brewed just the way he preferred it - black as night and strong as Impervium - the scent of the low-acidity, lightly bodied blend never failed to cheer him up. Taking an appreciate sip, the human could practically feel it blast away the last of the mental fuzziness that had followed him from his bed. "Ah, that's the stuff..." he muttered to himself, caught in the moment and enjoying the peace and quiet.

"OH, YEAH, THAT'S HOT! YOU DA BEST, D-MAN!"

Dom jerked at the sudden interruption, fortunately managing not to spill any of his coffee, before freezing. "Aw, nuts." He cursed to himself, the urge to smack his head repeatedly into the nearest bulkhead swiftly rising in the vain hope of inducing blessed unconsciousness.

"AWWW, MAN, MY CIRCUIT'S ARE ON FIRE, CHECK IT!"

Fearing what he would see, the cargomaster nonetheless looked over at the pair of robots who had somehow snuck up on him - not realising that they had been waiting in the galley when his caffeine-deprived self had stumbled in moments earlier. As expected, the two self-professed masters of the greatest artform known to the Kikyo Sector stood watching him. The pair of rap-obsessed robots named 'Lyrical Master of Emotive Flow' (Call me Elmo!) and 'MC Mixmaster 9001' (It's Mixmaster, yo!) were bouncing excitedly as they manipulated the various pieces of stereo equipment built onto their bodies.

The pair had arrived in a personal cargo crate with his name on it, brought aboard shortly before the Sobek had launched. With no idea where they had come from or why they had come to him, the human had pretty much been struck dumb when the two bots had activated, introduced themselves to their new 'master' and 'future star' before bounding off into the Sobek's interior. Dom vaguely recalled 'noping out' and putting the encounter out of his mind before heading for his rack. In retrospect, ignoring the problem may have been a major mistake.

And he still didn't know why they were wearing matching grey and read exercise outfits.

"YEAHHH, BACK ME ELMO!!!" Dom could only recoil in horror as Mixmaster began miming holding a microphone, followed swiftly by a series of bass beats and beatboxing from Elmo.


Although impressed at the robot managing to sensor its own swearing, Dom had reached his rap limit by the end of the second line. Wondering if he could somehow trick the robots into remaining on the station when the Sobek departed, the human made to leave the galley for the main cargo bay and, more importantly, the access ramp.

Sobek Passageways

Of course, the robot's had followed after him. Dom was pretty sure he'd heard one of them mutter something about getting some great 'transition shots for the music video' but the human figured that the less he engaged with them, the lower the chance that they'd want to stick around him. And no, there weren't ANY holes in his logic nope, nuh-uh, no way!


Without noticing he was doing it, Dom picked up his walking speed until he was practically jogging through the ship.

Main Cargo Bay

Preceded by the obnoxious noise, Dom ran out into the cargo bay and made his way towards the access ramp, completely ignoring the amused expressions forming on the faces of the crew that witnessed his plight.

Main Cargo Bay - Access Ramp

Seeing the congregation of personnel around the ramp, Dom screeched to a halt, suddenly realising that there was no quick exit to be had without having to explain the situation to someone. This of course, allowed the rapping robots to catch up and finish their routine.


Dom looked down at the cup of coffee still in his hand, then up to the various witnesses, then to the robots and back to his coffee. The human blinked once and then a second time. Giving up on retaining his dignity, he sighed and looked over to the others. "That didn't happen, you saw and heard nothing. Nothing!"

"AWWW YEAH, THAT WAS 'CAFFEINATED DOMIDAR' BY MX MIXMASTER 9001 AND THE LYRICAL MASTER OF EMOTIVE FLOW, WHOO-YEHAHH!! LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEXT HIT TRACK AND IN THE MEANTIME, REMEMBER TO LIKE, COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE, YO!"

Yeah, Dom thought to himself, nothing happened at all. As long as he believed that hard enough, it'd be true, right?

Behind him, the two robots high-fived each other and formed a victory pose with holographic fireworks launching off from their frames.

Landing Ramp

Mercury took a detour from the fox and rabbit entourage several minutes earlier. They had to re-equip their body for this particular job.

It was behind the dirge of audible automata, then, that the silver cloud of fluff reemerged, looking a bit taller, and with heavy, awkward, clanging footsteps. A flowing blue cloak. Auto-leveling, heavyweight, chipped yellow construction limbs. Thick, red-rimmed safety glasses, that made them look oddly like a high school science teacher...

Doll-like, mismatched eyes gandered up at Dom for a moment, quizzically, and then back towards the rhythmic robots... If these were his fabrications, then why did he look so perturbed? Was this a practical joke?

"Pardon me sir, but the tone of your mechanoids seems to be quite mischievous and ill-fitting..." A concerned, naive tilt of the head, sounding oddly concerned for him despite the vox-pop of their augmented lower jaw-mask. "Would it be your desire, for me to change the genre of their vocalizations?..."

A quick look up and down at the uncyberized, old stock human. Just a touch stocky, sunkissed skin, hair dashed with grey... Diagnosis; Planet-bound type, not strongly gene-edited, middle aged... "...Acoustic human."

"Hurm... Shoegaze?... Classic Metal?... Or maybe... erm, Bluegrass?..."

...See, if they could just plug their brains together, he could just send her a playlist! Understanding people manually was such a nuisance!

HX-17 System
ISS Sobek
Cargo ramp

Mileena widened her eyes in surprise as the D3 member pulled something out of their backpack. To her astonishment, it appeared to be a tomato—but not just any tomato. This one was the size of a small pumpkin. The sheer size of it made her smile with amusement. She glanced at the D3 member, who gave her a thumbs-up gesture, clearly proud of their accomplishment.

Mileena turned slightly to address those around her, still holding the oversized tomato. "This is a D3," she said, her voice filled with a mix of admiration and humor. "They are incredibly hard-working and very helpful." Her tone made it clear that she was vouching for the D3, her trust in them unwavering.

She continued, her expression softening as she shared a more personal story. "If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to meet anyone during the Hanami Festival on Planet Yamatai, in the Yamatai Star Empire." Her confession was laced with gratitude, revealing just how much the D3 had impacted her life.

Mileena then looked back at the enormous tomato, a playful grin spreading across her face. "And as you can see, they are... very skilled at growing large tomatoes," she added with a chuckle. "I haven’t seen a monster carrot yet, but with their skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s next."

Her words were a mix of lightheartedness and genuine respect for the D3's abilities, and it was clear that she held them in high regard. Holding the giant tomato up as a sort of trophy, Mileena felt a renewed sense of camaraderie and appreciation for the diverse talents aboard the ISS Sobek.

Mileena's ears twitched as she caught the sound of someone singing rap in the distance. Curious, she turned her head in the direction of the noise and was surprised to see the ship's cargomaster, Dom, making his entrance. But it wasn't just Dom who caught her attention—he was accompanied by two rapping robots, their mechanical voices syncing in rhythm.

As the robots got closer, the lyrics became clearer, and Mileena's eyebrows raised slightly as she listened. The robots were performing a song titled "Caffeinated Domidar," and the introduction blared out, "By MX MixMaster 9001 and The Lyrical Master of Emotive Flow." The name alone was enough to make Mileena blink in mild confusion.

She wasn't entirely sure she liked the song, especially given how unexpected the whole scene was. The combination of Dom, the rapping robots, and the over-the-top music was almost surreal. Mileena's tail swayed behind her as she tried to process the situation, her ears still twitching in response to the beat.

Blinking again, she shook her head slightly, a small smile forming on her lips despite her initial bewilderment. It seemed that life aboard the ISS Sobek was always full of surprises. The strange mix of characters and events kept things interesting, and Mileena couldn't help but feel a sense of camaraderie, even if the rapping robots were a bit much for her taste.

As people gathered D3 looked around at them all blinking and waving to each one, When Lenna walked over and asked if she was the one spoken about D3 nodded to her rapidly, before someone showed up with some singing robots with him and she blinked a bit as the man didn't seem all to happy with the situation, when he mentioned they didn't see it she nodded and gave a little thumbs up before looking at the others that had gathered.

The rabbit looking female was asking about specific produce and D3 thought about it, she probably could produce something like that if she focused on it, and it would seem to be a better greeting gift for this person then the normal tomato gift, so she would try to make one for her later, and the one named Mileena confirmed their ability to grow thing well and while they could do more then that she did nod and gave a thumbs up at the question before she typed on her pad "Yes I can give it a try later, though in that I do have a gift for everyone!"

As the conversation happened and interaction about the non-existent Singing Rap Robots, she started to dig around in her backpack for a bit before taking out more of those large Tomatoes "In the mean time please accept these greeting Tomatoes, whether or not I am hired it was nice meeting you all!" the word pad read as she held that up as she handed out the small pumpkin sized tomatoes Still she hadn't said a word, though Mileena would likely be aware that her kind didn't speak.

she then held up the pad once more after having handed out all the tomatoes "I am quite skilled in many area's and I am a quick learner, if you need help with anything please feel free to hire me! as my contract with the Station is temporary, I can be anything from a Scramble Fighter and Emergency tug, to simply cleaning and cooking if you want, my skills are varied and many!" she gave a little thumbs up as she held up the pad for all to read.

HX-17 System
Detritus Station
Cargo dock


Hearing music and rapping Lenna looks back over to her ship as first Dom comes out holding a mug, and then soon the music and rapping get louder before the robots walk out into the open as she shakes her head moving to pinch the bridge of her nose. "oh great he let them out again!" implying this is not the first time.

Lenna moved over to look at the odd one before her as she did not speak but held up a pad with writing on it. Reading it over she thinks this is the one that was talked about in the message. Then taking the tomato that was offered looking over toward Dom and the rapbots spotting Mercury now talking to Dom in her loader, er arms? not sure what to make of it as she looks back to Nikicon and then toward Mileena and asks

"Hello Mileena and Nikicon, and this is D3, I take it?" Looking at the large tomato again and then over toward the smaller one that was talking about what she was doing at the station and her own skills. "I see, would you happen to know anything about ships that look like the one before you?" Hearing a bunch of noise as a loader with cargo suddenly tipped over onto his side spilling what it was carrying. Before random people on the cargo dock rush over to help.

"I hope that is not going to our ship. Um the station cargo manager said the ship carrying our cargo has not checked in. But are loading the rest of the cargo we need while here. " Lenna smiles some more as she looks back to the others. Awaiting the response form the com pad from the newcomer.


Nikicon was looking around ears lifting at the sounds of music and rapping looking back toward Sobek as it was where it was coming from eyes going wide as she giggled some. Going quiet As Lenna starts to talk again. Jumping as the cargo loader turns over onto its side spilling its content. Then holding back as she wanted to rush over to help clean it up as she remembered she was hurt and well it was not her trouble.

There were a lot of random people moving cargo into the opening of the Sobek, the 3 Nekos carrying cargo complaining now and then, And a loader that they got from Sood Zadre that was being driven around by Stan, barking orders and waving his hand not on the controls pointing at random things.

HX-17 System
Detritus Station
Cargo dock

Before Dom could do anything about them, the two bots ran off into the Sobek. He thought he heard something about persuading the neko's to perform in a music video, but decided that this was one of those times that ignorance truly was bliss. Perhaps if he noped out of that whole situation hard enough, reality would do him a solid and make it come true. Or, you know, accidentally flush the two bots out an airlock and make them the headache of whoever eventually rescued them. Surely there must be a five year old somewhere in need of a pair of rapping robots.

He let out a sigh as he turned Mercury's question over in his head. "I.... don't know." Dom took a sip of his cooling coffee. "I mean, is it my choice to change them, or theirs? They seem to enjoy what they do and no matter how much it makes a part of me want to curl up and mutter 'the horror! the horror!', is it my right to force them along a different path?" The human let out another sigh and looked down at his cup. "And I am not nearly inebriated enough for this deep a conversation."

His attention was almost immediately drawn by the sound of the cargo spilling. "Well, that's just a tad unprofessional." Dom muttered to himself, before taking another sip of coffee. As far as he could tell from a distance, nothing that had spilled spelled trouble for the Sobek or its crew. Fortunately, society had collectively settled long ago on the wisdom of marking dangerous cargo with nice big warning signs. Unfortunately, idiocy and laziness were much harder to stamp out, so there was always the chance that someone had just not labelled or entirely mislabelled something. But, from the lack of screaming, Dom could be fairly certain that in this case the spilled cargo was of the more benign nature.

Realising that he had almost finished his coffee, Dom let out another sigh and tilted his head from side to side until his neck cracked. "Guess I should probably get to work."

Landing Ramp

Mercury observed the small android girl of alien origin with a detached expression- Internally cross-referencing data to see if they could identify their manufacturer, but mostly just coming across as half-asleep, or even drugged, in reality.

They weren't being directly addressed, and they didn't physically have a mouth to consume such oversized plant matter, which rather left them in the periphery of the interaction.

She did, however, appreciate Dom's apparent care and nuance towards the way he treated sentient mechanisms. It was an admirable trait to be kind, even to an inanimate object...

"...This one is equipped to deal with the situation. Perhaps you have a specification for new organizational duties?" The blue skirt of the machine-doll frilled in the air whilst she girlishly strode after him, splaying their lifter-arms outwards at waist level. Every time she daintily took a step, the gangway creaked loudly under the weight, then popped back upwards after her crackling servos moved onwards. "...That is to say... in common trade... I am an employee of lower rank, and I would be most cherishing to any lifting assignments you might give me... It is not in my specification to build up malice or violence intentions because of laborious tasks-"

Mercury paused in their words, but kept striding alongside him with a blank expression. Gazing upwards... Still not quite sure if he was really getting the gist of what she was trying to say... How might a human make this willingness to perform tasks crystal clean?

"I promise I will not pull your head off, or otherwise intentionally cause your soft organic components grevious mangling and disfigurement, Quartermaster unit designation Dom. The described type of action has not been performed by this faithful unit in well over ten Yamatain cycles!"

That sounded pretty honest and straightforward, didn't it?...

She picked up one of the oversized steel containers like it was a fake polystyrene movie prop. And then just stared at him with those mismatched eyes again. Blankly.

As her captain, Lenna, spoke to the D3 member, Mileena found her mind drifting into a wave of memories. She let herself slip into the past, recalling the pivotal moment when she'd been told there were no freighter ships available for her to join. Disappointment had weighed heavily on her then, the realization sinking in that she'd have to join the military. The Mining Guild, at that time, had a full complement of ships, and no new vessels were being built yet. It had felt like all her paths were narrowing, her dreams of traveling among the stars on a freighter temporarily out of reach.

But one memory in particular stood out—the first time she encountered the large group of D3. The encounter had been unexpected but fortuitous. She had been struggling with a small, single-person guppy explorer ship, a vessel that had seen better days. The D3 had seemed to know exactly what she needed before she'd even asked. With a quiet efficiency and a kindness that surprised her, they had set to work helping her fix the ship.

Mileena could still picture that moment vividly, the way their hands moved with precision, their expressions calm and focused. They didn’t ask for anything in return, just helped her because it was in their nature. That encounter had left a lasting impression on her—a reminder of the goodness that still existed in the universe, even in unexpected places.
As the memory faded, Mileena was glad that she had remembered to thank them back then, even if her words hadn’t felt like enough. More than that, she remembered the promise she had made to herself after the encounter. She had vowed to return the favor if she ever crossed paths with another D3 in need.

Now, here she was, standing in the presence of a D3 once again, this time aboard the ISS Sobek’s ramp. It felt like a full-circle moment, and she was ready to uphold her promise. The D3 species had helped her when she was in a bind, and now she had the chance to do the same for one of them, to vouch for their character and ensure they were welcomed as part of the crew.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she glanced at the D3 and Lenna. The past had a funny way of weaving itself into the present, and Mileena felt a sense of quiet satisfaction in knowing that she was fulfilling her promise, staying true to her word. The smile disappeared when she saw the cargo loader turn over on its side spilling its contents. “oh crap” she said the noise much louder for her ears. Mileena looked with concern towards Nikicon as she saw her jump and hoped she didn’t hurt herself.

D3 looked up at the ship as she was asked about it and blinked a few times then typed quickly on her pad before turning it around to show the words "I would have to give the ship a look over inside and out to get an Idea on if it's what I think it is, the over all silhouette seems familiar but without seeing the internals I can't be certain so if Hired I would need time to look it over, but other then that I can do any job you may need as long as it's in my ability, I also bring my ship with me which is over there" she then pointed to her ship.

she then noticed the Mechanical girl looking at her while waiting for orders and she waved to her, so she wouldn't felt left out, she would need to figure out a way to make sure those that couldn't eat could get a welcome or greeting gift, maybe she could make her a tomato figure? That would be a good gift maybe? she would have to consider it.

looking over the group she looked to the one that had identified her race again, Lenna was her name from what the others had said and they seemed to be studying her or simply looking at her, but D3 gave a thumbs up, she had mentioned knowing her kind and how they helped her and now she was here, D3 had to figure out exactly where the D3 were that helped her, that way she would know how the missions were going, though she had heard of several places where her kind have managed to settle into for the time being.

Then a loud bang happened and D3 looked over to the docks and seen the tipped over container she blinked a moment then typed on her pad again and showed it to the crew "I have to go and help as currently I am still under temporary contract with the station, if you want to discuss my hiring please talk to the dock master. Thank you for your consideration" she gave a thumbs up and waited for everyone to finish reading before waving to them then scooting off to the spilled contents of the container and helping the dock workers tidy things up.

Thankfully the things that fell over were nothing dangerous it was simply spare parts and other equipment, and as she picked them up D3 was also inspecting the spilled parts and taking scans and photos of them to document any and all damage for the dock master.

Station Cargo Hold

Something like a sandy-striped beige alligator emerged from the glare of the landing ramp's underslung lights, and for a moment D3 would have been forgiven for thinking this was some pack animal dinosaur the crew used to help move cargo... But no, it was holding a datapad, and wearing glasses with which to read it. Rather huge and portly with short limbs, but massively elongated neck and tail, all fangs and webbed claws. A pink knitted sweater over bulging teal-grey coveralls.

Chief medical officer Holgi was reviewing their budget for medical supplies, when the files for a new crew member came down the grapevine. Very confusing. Apparently this person had been injured so much that their whole body was full of metal... How exactly were they supposed to cure that without making it worse? Should Kyaptan Lenna be hiring this person?...

Naturally their lizard brain followed the smell of food before higher functions had put two and two together, and she was nuzzling the backpack of this "Dee Thwee" for a few moments before they even realized it was the same person.

"...You have tomatoes?" Nostrils flared, ears flexed, as if expectant. "...You don't look sick... but so full of metal..."

Not simply being rude, but rather attached to the task of doing their job, it seemed as if the cumbersome monster had hyper focused on a few small details. Mileena was a cyborg, of course, and several other members of the crew had gone much further, but this was the first time Holgi had seen a bonne fide, heads-to-toes, silicon life humanoid. It was very confusing without her full-sized hospital scanner back in the medbay. And injecting new people with nanomachines on the spot... That was kind of a mood killer.

"Nurse Holgi will save you." A huff, a nod. "But if you not dying right now, She will go get supply first."

Sood Zadra UX-3 III
Spaceport planetside

"Only 450 KS in my pockets and what I have on me. I never believed I was on top of the world but I sure as hell wasn't as low as I am now. With everything I have and everyone I know out of reach...I'll have to make something out of nothing"


Somewhere in a random diner...



Leonard checked the time and mentally noted how close it was to the time he said he would come to the ship, throwing what remained of his frappe in the nearby bin, he sat up and almost left a tip before having second thoughts. No, at least not now, he'd have to get his finances in order before he could spend more than what was strictly necessary. Having left the diner, he dusted off his characteristic orange lineless coat and made a bee-line straight for the ISS Sobek . Getting some cold hard cash was fine and well and exactly what he needed at the moment but what really drew him to that job was the mobility and the relative safety of a constantly moving merchant vessel.

His pace changed from casual to fast walking. There was still enough time to get there without rushing, that much he knew. However, he wasn't going to leave it up to fate if anything happened along the way. First impressions were a one-time thing afterall and he wasn't about to botch his. The ship soon came into view and he felt some relief wash upon him, perhaps he could truly feel safe again. The ramp was open and getting in was no difficult task, now finding whoever he was supposed to talk to in the middle of the chaos of the constantly moving crew members aboard the ship...now that was going to be difficult.

His eyes wandered downwards again, looking at the time, exactly when he was supposed to be there, he really had to hurry and go find the head honcho. "Come on, come on...where are you?" He mumbled to himself. His eyes soon fell upon another human, he didn't take nay chances and immediately made his way over to her. "Excuse me! I'm the newest hire, errr one of the newest hires, specifically for moving cargo. Who do I report to?".

HX-17 System
Detritus Station
Cargo dock

"SA'DOR!" Dom yelled into the Sobek, not immediately spotting the Tula but knowing he would be somewhere nearby. More importantly, Dom knew he would have the most up-to-date knowledge on the cargo transfer. There was never enough time in the day to get all the work done, let alone enough to waste on trying to repeat work that was already completed. Sa'dor was reliable enough that Dom knew he wouldn't have to physically double-check everything that had been done while he was asleep.

The human turned back to Mercury, not entirely sure he had ever been quite so threatened with a promised absence of violence in exchange for being assigned to hauling cargo around. On the upside - beheading, mangling and disfigurement were fairly high up on his personal list of situations to avoid, so Dom could get behind a promise to avoid such. Especially from a being with such heavy-duty mechanical limbs so prominently displayed as she picked up the cargo container with stupendous ease. Dom waved a hand in acknowledgement.

"Sure, sure, we'll put you to work. Hold fast for a moment though until we can find out what is needed and where." He met Mercury's doll-like stare and repressed the instinctive flinch he wanted to make. "Also, that stare is a little creepy. Have you tried occasionally blinking or making randomised small eye movements?" Dom had considered that maybe such an expression was by choice, but just in case it wasn't, the human had decided to offer then advice.

He then found himself distracted as Holgi appeared, datapad in hand. Personally, Dom wasn't sure how he rated the colour scheme the medic had chosen for her outfit - he knew he certainly couldn't have pulled off that shade of pink. Judging from the way the amphibian was cosying up to the Captain's conversation partner, Dom could only assume that this was one of Holgi's friends, which was a nice development. He worried that her appearance might dissuade a lot of potential friendships from forming and loneliness was never a fun thing to live through.

Finally spotting the approaching Sa'dor, Dom waved over the Tula, even as he noticed another new arrival out of the corner of his eye. Hmm, wonder just how many new folks the Captain hired on? The human suspected he would be really unsurprised to find out that someone on the crew had opened a betting pool on the subject. Had he thought about it, Dom might have laid down a little flutter himself.

"Hey, Sa'dor, where can Mercury stow that?" Dom pointed at the lifted container. "Then, where do we stand on the transfer?"

D3 continued to help with the sorting and cleaning of the spilled cargo on the Station docks, looking things over and scanning to make sure nothing was broken and anything that was broken was recorded and added to a report, clearly the small creature had done this all before and was well trained in it. one of the workers helping out spoke up to her

"Thanks D3, damn container was unbalanced on the lift, threw the damn thing of side and I think might have messed up the motivator, mind taking a look at that once we are done here?"

D3 nodded and gave a thumbs up as she continued the report and inspection, it didn't take to long to file everything, she then sent the report to the dockmaster and scooted over to the lift, taking out some tools she started to do a diagnostic on the machine and found that it had been overloaded and that caused a failure in the unit, she sent a report to the dock worker and a copy to the dockmaster before she set to work recalibrating the unit.

It was in the middle of this that she was suddenly nuzzled from behind and she blinked a moment before turning to look at the large lizard like creature and blinked a moment then when asked about Tomatoes D3 nodded and realized that they had come from the ship she was seeking Employment on and so that meant she got a greeting Tomato, so without much more prompting she took out one of the small pumpkin sized tomatoes and held it out for the hopefully new crewmember and held up her datapad that shey had just typed her message on "Yes I have tomatoes, I am looking to be hired on the ship you are a member of and I give them out as gifts, and so you get one to, it's very nice to meet you I am D3 also known by my given name of Yoshimi, and several nicknames, Scrappy, and Yosh or Mi for the short version of my given name, it's nice to meet you" she gave another thumbs up.

Blinking to the next mention of her being full of metal she tilted her head to the side in puzzlement a moment before seeming to realize what she was talking about and then started to type on the pad before turning it around for holgi to read "Oh I am perfectly healthy! but thank you for letting me know, if I am hired I will be glad to know that nurse Holgi will take good care of any injuries I do sustain! so yes I am fine for now please don't let me distract you from getting the supplies you need" she gave another thumbs up to the larger creature seemingly totally unbothered by her.

Station Concourse (Holgi)

The comely nurse-dragon obliterated the oversized tomato in one bite, deleting it from existence, and then looked over the contents of D3's electronic pad like she could actually read this deranged, totally not made up language. Poor thing was giving a thumbs up, so clearly they didn't realize how broken they were.

Nodding with a professional, diagnostic hum, Holgi adjusted her glasses and made her own notes, mermaid-like tail slowly coiling with rhythmic concentration. Her own electronic pad came out, and she started arcing around with an old fashioned stylus, drawling it all out in a kuvexian script that any good kuvexian would find impenetrable. So exactly like every doctor, then.

New Human Member (Not Knowing This Name)
Size = Small
Colour = Blackberry
M/F = Egg Lay
Skins Colour = Biscuit
Alive = Yes
Problem Now = Full of Metals
Diagnosis = Cyborg? Like Mee-Leena?

Another nod of concentration, then a rapturous webbed claw reached into her pocket, took out a glossy blue wrapped sphere, and placed it in D3's hand. Smelled like chocolate.

"...Will getting the supplies. Don't you worry, small one." She remarked treasuringly, through with the weight of tiredness in those looming eyes. "Holgi will take care."

She waddled deeper into the station after that. Time to spend her allotted medical budget. The Sobek had the basics, things like surplus nepleslian nano-healing packs, painkillers and surgical supplies, but they weren't exactly prepared for the quantity of metal-people onboard. She'd have to get spare parts and maybe some data disks to deal with that.

Landing Ramp (Mercury)

The small forklift-person took a moment to unload the data that Dom was offering, before gifting him with the most accurate and informative response.

"My eyeballs will not lose moisture, even in open vacuum conditions." She blinked exactly once, a little flattered that he was apparently interested in her peepers. A slight upturn suggested a smile. This wasn't just an overly logical thought process, this was advanced, cultural neurosis.

Followed the gruff cargomaster around closely, and then looked Leonard up and down like an agitated house cat.

HX-17 System
Detritus Station
Cargo deck near ISS Sobek


Lenna looks around and meeps as Stan drove past yelling something about them being in the way making rude jesters with his hands not on the controls. Lenna sighs and then says “Shall we get out of the way shall we?” Then moving partway after D3 as she had rushed off toward the spill. Lenna moves gently, grabbing Nikicon’s arm to pull her over as she asks, “What do you think of the little one for the crew?” Talking about D3 to Nikicon.

Then hearing a new voice as Leonard found the group now on the station cargo floor and not the Sobeks’ cargo ramp. Looking up at the man as she smiles, putting on her work mannerisms once more. Hearing that he was a possible new hire, she nodded and looked around for Dom, before saying. "I am the captain and have the final say in the manner as with the 2nd in command next to me. That’s me,” interrupts Nikicon in her silly childish manner, causing Lenna to stare at her as she shrinks under the stare making Nikicon nearly whisper “Sowwie” Lenna says “I’ll have you talk to our cargo master, and see if you can fit in.“ Then blinks asking “Did you give your name Sir?” After getting his name she’ll point out the Human in the entrance to the cargo bay as he was busy talking to Sa’Dor and directing Stan with the loader. Then spotting Mercury holding the massive steel container and one of her eyebrows raises in surprise.

Lenna spots Hogi coming back out and before she moves off, she tries to call out to her “Hogi!” Then starts to walk after her if she stops to meet up with her as she says, “We may have more crew that are coming aboard. Go ahead and get what you need to ship supplies. I don’t know what all we need, so I’ll leave that up to you as the ship’s doctor. Just do not go too wild on getting stuff, as we have a very limited budget still.”

Walking back over to Nikicon she sighed pinching the bridge of her nose as says “You never got to tell me yet Niki” The snowshoe hare blinked some “Um what??” there was a pause and then her eyes went wide “Oh wait, heheh I think she is cute and if they can grow food that will help keep costs down and fresh food can go a long way on a starship. I am sure there is an area that can be opened up for a hydroponics farm.“ Nods firmly as she thinks of all the fresh carrots that can be grown as her tail starts to go into hyperspace wiggling back and forth behind her. “ Lenna, knowing her friends thinking, says “And it’s not all going to be carrots Nikicon!” looking at her sternly. Visibly shrinks down some “awwww” then says “Well if nothing else her ship was used as a tug and might be useful to have in case the Sobeks’ primary drives go down again....”

Nods some and then says “Then it's settled then we are going to hire D3, What do you think of the new guy that was asking about the cargo position?” Nikicon looks over at Leonard as he stands near Mercury and Dom “I am not sure we could use more cargo handlers and let a few temp hires go.” Lenna nods and then says “That is what I am thinking also Nikicon, Now go get some exploring in and stuff on the station and relax I have it here.” Nikicon nods and moves to hug Lenna as she nods “Yes mum” giggles and then looks around for Mileena “ Lenna acks some in the hug, but hugs her back “I AM NOT your Mother Niki, just a concerned friend, and captain!” Swatting the hare’s butt as she walked away making her squeal and laugh. Lenna, looking around, moves back to the open cargo hold of the Sobek and moves over to Dom, and asks “How is the loading and did you enjoy you break?” Looking at the others as they move around like ants inside the well-designed makeshift cargo hold.

HX-17 System
Detritus Station
Cargo dock

"Jeez chief, quit with the yelling - I think they might have heard you back at Sood Zadra..." came the throaty reply as the Tula ambled on over. "Let's see...." Sa'dor scanned through the manifest. "All but one shipment, about five percent of the expected total, is ready for loading - not sure what the hold up is with the last consignment but the stationmaster said it'll be here before long. Of the remaining shipments, we've got forty percent loaded and stowed with another thirty in the process of being transferred from dock to being locked down onboard. That leaves a quarter of the cargo here on the dock..." The feline humanoid paused as the Graxlat-driven loader went careening past. "...which might get shifted quicker if someone dealt with Stan. Just saying, chief." The look Dom received was anything but subtle and, repressing a sigh of long-suffering, he turned his attention to the new problem.

"Damn it, Stan!" Dom stalked towards the cargo loader. "This isn't the time for a joyride! You can figure out how to make your own buggy for racing through the ship some other time. Now, we need to work." He turned to look at the Tula. "Sa'dor, I'll take the loading, you head on in and supervise the stowing. We'll do the tie-down walkthrough together once it's all moved in." Trusting the cargo handler to know his job, Dom turned towards Mercury.

"Hmm." He read the suspended container's number and checked the manifest. "Okay... Follow Sa'dor inside and he'll tell you where to put it down. Let him know it's coded as 'delicate' and we'll need regular access so don't bury it too deeply. If he doesn't have more work for you after that, come back here." Somehow, Dom suspected that Mercury would find no shortage of work to be done if they could swing a container around that easily.

He took a long look around the cargo ramp and dock, making sure there were no more industrial accidents waiting to happen. Seeing nothing that required him to introduce his metal-reinforced work boots to the posterior of any misbehaving miscreants, Dom turned back just as Lenna reached him and tossed her a casual salute. "Hey Captain. I'm good, thanks. It's all moving smooth-like and about halfway done. Just one shipment we're waiting on but the stationmaster says it's on the way so I'm not worried." He watched the activity with the Captain for a moment before she told him about the new guy. "Sure, I'll take him." He waved to the waiting man and called him over. "Alright son, I'm Dom and I run the Sobek's cargo team. We'll get you settled in and introduced later but for now, there's work as needs doing so let's get to it."