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Starliner (IC/Accepting/PG-16)

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OOC

Over its years of service, the Janissary had filled many a purpose. Military vessel, mining ship, a brief stint as a diplomat's private ship, and these days, a cargo ship of all things. Armed with a crew of misfits, plenty of room for cargo and crew alike, and a lack of allegiance to any organization or government, the ship did rather well as far as independent cargo ships went. Usually, the hard part was finding clients, enough so that the Janissary's crew was known to pick up other odd jobs on the side if the pay was good, but at present, the ship was on the last legs of a very standard cargo run. Well, standard if not for the slew of obstacles it had presented.

This was supposed to be a perfectly normal shipment of foodstuffs. Pick up the cargo from Earth, leave, bring it to Bekkik, get paid. As if an omen of things to come, the job had so graciously started with a quarter of the cargo getting completely lost in an earthquake just moments before the Janissary landed. Then there was the Union's navy briefly mistaking the ship for a pirate vessel and very nearly opening fire, an emergency landing on a desolate, unmapped chunk of space rock when one of the engines nearly exploded due to a fuel leak, and the eventual discovery that one of the cargo crates had a vermin problem. Disposing of the filthy creatures was an incident all of its own, but it was preferable over throwing away an entire extra crate of cargo when so much of it had been lost before the ship even took off. Quite a few of its contents had to be dumped anyway, given the vermin had gotten their teeth into the food.

And yet, Oru would have preferred any of that over what she was now going to have to deal with.

Up ahead, a bright red star sat in the empty void of space, with three planets orbiting around it. Same distance, same speed, as if put there by design instead of sheer cosmic chance. The Eova system, home of the Sarvatti race. As soon as the Janissary entered the space designated as belonging to the Sarvatti, the ship's communications buzzed alive with the raspy sound of one of those snakes' voices.

"Welcome, unidentified vessel. Please state your business in this system."

"Food delivery for Bekkik, port 14," Oru answered.

"Port 14, port 14... hm. There must be some sort of error. Port 14 was shut down months ago."

"Oh, for crying out..."

"Please enter Bekkik at port 13 for the time being. We will inspect the cargo there and check our orders of food for recent matches." With no further room for discussion, the communications were cut off. Presumably to prepare the port for an unexpected arrival.

As much as Oru wanted to complain that of course a job involving the Sarvatti would be nothing but bad news, the job was at least almost over now. Just land, hand over the goods, and that's that. Flipping on the ship's intercom, Oru cleared her throat and made the announcement to the crew.

"Alright, someone back on Earth must have made a mistake, because the port we're supposed to be landing in has been out of commission for a while. We'll be landing somewhere else on the planet instead so the Sarvatti can inspect our cargo and figure out where we're supposed to take it. If they ask about that one crate, just be honest with them."

Shortly after announcing the change of plans, the Janissary finally made its landing on Bekkik. The entry hatch - situated near the back of the ship - opened up, inviting in the hot, dry air of the planet. For the time being, until the crew was told where to bring the cargo, everyone on board was free to step outside, get some fresh air, and bask in the morning sunlight. The surface of Bekkik was best compared to a grassy desert. Hot, dry dirt rested beneath the feet of anyone stepping outside, as the yellowish grass crunched underfoot. While there was a brief period of the year where this planet was incredibly fertile, that time had passed and would not come again for quite a while, making food shipments like the one on the Janissary incredibly important.

Around the port in which the Janissary had landed, the crews of other ships - as well as locals to the town in which the port was situated - mingled about. Looking for work, spreading rumors, the like. Despite being in the system that was home to the Sarvatti race, it wasn't hard to tell that while there were people of all different races around here, very few of them were one of the four-armed serpentine people that owned this planet. Oru, for her part, stayed near the ship, keeping her eye open for the inspectors that were supposed to check the ship's cargo.

"Welcome to Bekkik, everyone," she said. "The best worst place in the Galactic Union."

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Scout

"Welcome to Bekkik, everyone. The best worst place in the Galactic Union" 

Scout exited the entry hatch of the Janissary, the dry grass crunching under their bare feet. The morning sunlight and warm desert air was quite refreshing to the lycanform, who sat down and began to look around the barren fields that surrounded them. "Well, it's way better than Pluto at least. An actual atmosphere, wildlife, heat, not being examined every minute of the day... this place is great!" 

Scout watched some small, bug-like creatures scuttling around the edges of the platform with a look of wonder in their eyes. The critters fascinated them, as did the various people walking around the port. Then a pang of thirst hit Scout's throat, and they turned to Oru.

"Hey, Oru... do you mind if I head inside the port for a bit?"

Edited by FourEyesIsAFish

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Observation

A.C.E. remembered the details of the mission briefing to a "T". They were to pick up a cargo shipment of food on Earth and bring it Bekkik, in the Eova system. A.C.E. quite liked Earth. It's lush greenery and bountiful water supply made it appealing. After studying the planet through the Janissary's archives and its codex, A.C.E. also learned that the planet was plentiful in rich minerals. Or, at least it used to be. Apparently there had been some over zealous parties had severely drained the planet of most of its minerals, resulting in a shortage and damaging its ecosystem in the process. Thankfully for the local inhabitants, a restoration project saved Earth for another few centuries.

As they arrived on Earth at their pick-up point, A.C.E. was alerted by friend Oru that part of the cargo had already been lost due to an anomaly known as an earthquake. A rumbling on the planet's surface caused by shifting tectonic plates below it, had cost them part of their mission. Hopefully, the receiving party who was expecting this cargo, would not blame the Janissary for this.

"Statement: Oh dear," A.C.E. replied.

After securing the cargo and reaching orbit, things were going relatively smoothly for a brief time. A very brief time. The Union's Navy nearly turned the Janissary into space scrap after mistaking it for a pirate vessel.

"Statement: Oh my," A.C.E. added.

Not long after departing Earth, alarms began ringing aboard the Janissary, prompting A.C.E. to enter construction protocols. They had to make an emergency landing wherever they could. A fuel leak in the engine room nearly cost the entire mission.

"Statement: It could be worse," A.C.E. thought aloud.

Naturally, things did get worse. A vermin problem was discovered in the cargo hold, leading the crew to believe that one of the crates were infested.

"Statement: Gotta catch 'em all," said A.C.E. as they began to chase the pests around the hold.

At last, the Janissary had managed to reach the Eova system after all of the hijinks that had happened to them. This was perhaps the most worrying part of the mission. A.C.E. figured as much when it saw the look on Oru's face.

"Welcome, unidentified vessel. Please state your business in this system."

"Food delivery for Bekkik, port 14," Oru answered.

"Port 14, port 14... hm. There must be some sort of error. Port 14 was shut down months ago."

"Oh, for crying out..."

"Please enter Bekkik at port 13 for the time being. We will inspect the cargo there and check our orders of food for recent matches."

A.C.E. was right by Oru's side when that transmission had come through, so it heard everything, but said nothing. As Oru turned over the ship's intercom, she made a brief announcement.

"Alright, someone back on Earth must have made a mistake, because the port we're supposed to be landing in has been out of commission for a while. We'll be landing somewhere else on the planet instead so the Sarvatti can inspect our cargo and figure out where we're supposed to take it. If they ask about that one crate, just be honest with them."

A.C.E. waited for Oru to close the coms before asking a question. "Query: Does deception ever benefit us in our journey?" It's emoticon expression was nonchalant.


After a smooth landing, A.C.E. watched as the bay to the Janissary opened to reveal the surface of Bekkik. Temperature readings rose by several degrees in its systems. Sunlight caused its sockets to adjust to the bright light as it observed the docking port. There were many other ships about; Bekkik was busy today.

"Welcome to Bekkik, everyone," Oru said. "The best worst place in the Galactic Union."

A.C.E. gave their immediate surroundings another once over. "Query: How can this planet be both best and worst?" A.C.E. remained close by, just inside the cargo bay.

Edited by Comrade Duck

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Spike had started her journey with one simple goal in mind. Go somewhere more exciting than the boring world that she came from. She had been so certain that she would find something to really care about out in this big wide galaxy.

She had NOT expected to have had to deal with space-rats, which were somehow even less cuddly than those on Earth, on as frequent a basis as she had to. Yet apparently it had been HER job to deal with them. Spike was starting to suspect the captain gave her these tasks on purpose.

"Jus' cause I tried to do a little bit of piracy doesn't mean I gotta take care of all these dirty jobs..."

But she thought it could be worth it once they landed. Bekkik. She didn't know much about it but she knew that the race who ran it were some of the bigwigiest bigwigs in the galaxy. Which of course meant their planets must be something else, right?

...Right?

"The hell is this?" Spike said as she stepped out of the ship onto the hot sandy waste.

"Hey, Oru... do you mind if I head inside the port for a bit?"

She glanced over towards Scout and winced. How could they walk around barefoot in this? Even wearing her boots Spike felt gross walking around on the sand. "Ugh, I think the puppy is going to wet themself out of excitement." she said with a shake of her head.

Spike looked around. Trying to find something that looked like it might be worth her time. Which is when she saw a couple of men, probably crew members of another vessel, looking her way and talking to each other. She froze up a moment. Wondering what they were saying. If they were making fun of the loud girl coming off of the beat up ship.

At first she felt a pang of embarrassment. Which was quickly swallowed up in anger. "Oi!" she called out to them, taking a step towards them and leaning forward with her hands on her hips. "You got a problem do ya? Come on over here and say it to my face so and I'll crack yer damn skull how bout that?"

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The Kkekri Mandevilla on board the the Janissary had likely been the least concerned about the more turbulent stretch of their most recent flight. In fact it had been quite beneficial to what the plant had been engaged in. This particular chemical cocktail needed some agitation and nothing was quite as agitating as the ship nearly exploding after being fired upon. In fact, Mandevilla was almost upset the rest of their journey into Bekkik had been so calm. His limbs were well up to the task of manually shaking the flasks he was working with but it seemed less authentic to be doing it himself. Still there was a lovely salt falling out of solution in the end and what more could one ask for under the circumstances?

The answer, at least to a plant based life form, came as Mandevilla was one of the last off board. One might not have been far off the mark if they had imagined a sigh of relief escaping the flower that was the closest thing the kkekri had to a face. There was no beating starlight after all. The artificial lights on the Janissary did the job but no matter how many different configurations he played with, Mandevilla could never approximate the full range of wavelengths of light a star emitted. Red stars weren't his favorite admittedly but his chloroplasts certainly weren't complaining as they began absorbing light. The plant's body took on a subtle red hue for no other reason than the star put out more red light than anything else and his body could only absorb so much of each wavelength of light, meaning whatever was left to be reflected was red.

There was still one thing to check but the quality of the grass underfoot didn't inspire much confidence in Mandevilla. He dug one of his limbs a bit into the dirt and extended it a foot or so down. Roots would begin extending from the submerged limb to feel for nutrients and water in the ground. Both were lacking. That explained Bekkik's need for food deliveries then but it was still disappointing. LIght would have to do for now. Mandevilla retracted his limb from the ground and took in his surroundings. Captain Oru seemed on edge with A.C.E. confused at her turn of phrase. Scout seemed eager to move about and Spike seemed eager to fight with some people entirely unrelated to their job. This last point seemed worthy of immediate concern and the plant gently tapped the device on its torso to bring up a hologram to begin scribbling on. The ever-tactful Mandevilla's message would hover into Spike's view not long after as the plant approached her.

"Is something the matter? What did those people do? Do you require assistance?" It read. Nothing but questions but then that was typical.

Edited by Doggo

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oru.png

"Hey, Oru... do you mind if I head inside the port for a bit?"

"Mm?" Oru directed a curious eye at Scout. "What do you think this is, the navy? We're not that organized, and even if we were, I'm not your commanding officer, and I'm sure as hell not your mother. Go on, get out there and enjoy the area. Just try not to give us a bad name." That wasn't to be the only question Oru received upon landing, either. She maybe should have expected the next one. A.C.E. was just about the only person who had been on the Janissary longer than Oru, but for all those years he had on him, he sometimes missed the finer nuances in certain aspects of speech. Must have been something to do with being an old model or something. Dating back to before the rise of sentient Robots, as she understood, so small hiccups like that were definitely to be expected.

"Query: How can this planet be both best and worst?"

"No, no, it's not the best and the worst. It's the best of the worst." Sarvatti-ruled? Check. As dry as those snakes and their sense of humor? Absolutely. It was certainly a nicer place to live than the other two planets around here, assuming you yourself weren't a Sarvatti, but there were very few valid reasons to actively choose to live on Bekkik as opposed to virtually anywhere else. The major one always seemed to be money. Looking around for any sign of her cargo inspectors, Oru clarified "As a general rule, you don't want to live in this system. You've got the Sarvatti breathing down your neck, and they're pretty good at keeping anything beyond the lower rungs of society pretty exclusive to themselves. Immigration laws, cultural conflicts, and that ridiculous 'progenitor tax' or whatever they call it make it hard to get to live here and bothersome to keep doing it. But here? The rules are a bit looser. We don't even need a visitor's pass to leave the spaceport."

As if to make her point heard all the clearer, there was a scuffle breaking out not far from the Janissary. Far enough that the exact words being exchanged couldn't quite be heard by Oru, but near enough that she could tell who the first voice belonged to. That was undoubtedly Spike.

"You got a problem do ya? Come on over here and say it to my face so and I'll crack yer damn skull how bout that?"

The three men - all Robots - glanced at this loud Human girl, and apparently her Kkekri compansion. Then at each other. They discussed something quietly among themselves for only a brief moment. If Spike or Mandevilla were listening closely enough, they could just barely make out one of them trying to convince another that some random girl and plant at the spaceport weren't worth their trouble, while the third remained silent on the matter. After a slight bit of escalation in the discussion between them, the tallest of the three - a black-painted robot with a skull for a face, the one who had kept quiet on the matter of if Spike was worth the trouble or not - shooed the other two away, back to their ship, and approached the two crewmates directly.

"Excuse me? The only problem we've got is with your aggressive attitude," he said, staring down at this organic girl. "Unless it's you that has a problem with us. Care to clarify?"

 

Edited by yui

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Spike gave a start as Mandevilla's message appeared before her. She still wasn't used to this plant person doing things like that. Back home there was barely good enough land for regular plants let alone walking and talking, in a sense, ones. Still he, another thing she wasn't used to was that the plant claimed to be male, was a good bit more helpful than some of the others she had encountered on board.

"What d'ya mean something the matter. This whole place sucks that's what's the matter. And that bunch over there were giving me the stink eye I know it. Well, you know, whatever the robot equivalent is..."

He had asked if she wanted assistance but she wasn't so sure what he could do about it anyway.

Being perfectly honest she had expected them to back down and stop giving her that look, cause she knew they were giving her some look, but one of them came up to her. Towering over her by more than two feet with a frightful skull-like visage.

"Excuse me? The only problem we've got is with your aggressive attitude. Unless it's you that has a problem with us. Care to clarify?"

Maybe she should have stopped it there. Maybe it would have been best to brush it off as a misunderstanding. But after talking a big game in front of everything it would be just mortifying to give in like that. So she sneered at the robot and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, don't think I didn't notice you lot gossiping over there like old ladies. C'mon nuts and bolts don't try and hide it now. You wanna fight dontcha? Think cause I'm smaller'n you that I'm gonna be scared huh?"

"I guess you heard us, but not well enough. We were talking about what's taking those damned cargo inspectors so long to show up. Talking smack about and fighting the crews of other cargo ships would look bad on our report, and the Consortium works me hard enough as it is. No such rule about some banter on tardy inspectors though, is there?"

Spike hesitated a moment. "Okay. Fine. You weren't talkin shit. But you were looking like it, okay? Don't go lookin at folks all nasty-like if you're not talking about them." She fought against the embarrassed blush that tried to creep on her face.

"That's a bit difficult when my face looks like this," the robot shrugged, gesturing up to the skull-like visage that was his head. An awkward silence hung between the two. A silence the robot tried his best to break. "So... cargo runs, am I right?"

The blush started to win and so Spike threw her hands up and let out a frustrated "Okay fine I get it this is awkward don't gotta rub it in, jeez." she turned away from the robot in a huff and, if anyone, her own crewmates or otherwise, were looking in her direction they'd be met with a glare and a defensive "What's YOUR problem?"

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Spikes confrontation with the robots had Mandevilla curious to say the least. It seemed she had assumed insult where none was intended. In that the plant could relate as the struggle of learning the mannerisms of the different races and cultures he encountered was always a tricky process. From what time he had spent with Spike thus far it shouldn't have alarmed the Kkekri when upon meeting her gaze so to speak, or at least as best he could with his flower, he was met with an aggressive question asking what his problem was. It was a curious question considering the plant didn't think he had a problem at the moment but then the way she had said it did seem to imply she wasn't necessarily looking for an answer. That didn't stop the plant from scribbling another message on one of his holo-screens for her.

"I am well though lacking in certain organic compounds for my experiment. If there is to be no altercation perhaps we should take stock of the ship's supplies with A.C.E. and see what might be sold to us here." the message read. No questions this time, something of a rare occurrence but not unheard of. Still, Mandevilla had a long way to go when it came to reading Spike correctly. Whether or not she wished to accompany him he would make his way toward the captain and resident robot of the Janissary, all the while scribbling another message for A.C.E.

"Query: May I have access to your last inventory of the ship and our current budget?" it read in a style similar to how Mandevilla had observed A.C.E. speak. Replicating the robot's speech with it had been at first some mixture of a joke and honest curiosity though eventually the Kkekri simply found the exchanges the two had in this style to be among the most concise in the ship. The directness of it all was somewhat satisfying. This message would come into A.C.E. and Oru's view when Mandevilla felt he wasn't interrupting them.

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Quandary of Flesh

"No, no, it's not the best and the worst. It's the best of the worst."

A.C.E. rubbed its chin as it pondered Oru's answer. "Statement: So, it does get worse." Before A.C.E. could step further out of the cargo bay, there was a sudden escalation. The source was a distressed voice of one of their crew-mates, Spike. Upon further analysis, it appeared they were threatened and possibly angered. Having not known Spike long, A.C.E.'s subconscious study of the changes in their vocal patterns were not complete. More study was required.

"Oi! You got a problem do ya? Come on over here and say it to my face so and I'll crack yer damn skull how bout that?"

Secondary analysis revealed aggression and confidence. Many overlapping emotions only gave A.C.E. more questions than answers. Judging by the direction of Spike's face and the trajectory of their vision, A.C.E. concluded that Spike was directing her words to nearby male robots. They were not a model that A.C.E. had seen before, which in turn excited A.C.E. Needless to say, A.C.E. was not reading the situation with proper understanding of the social cues involved.

"Excuse me? The only problem we've got is with your aggressive attitude," one of them replied. "Unless it's you that has a problem with us. Care to clarify?"

A.C.E. could not determine the intention behind this robot's words. Though it had learned to analyze the speech of organic creatures, it had not done so with other robots. So, it instead turned its attention back to Spike to examine her response and increase its own understanding of speech as a whole.

"Yeah, sure, don't think I didn't notice you lot gossiping over there like old ladies. C'mon nuts and bolts don't try and hide it now. You wanna fight dontcha? Think cause I'm smaller'n you that I'm gonna be scared huh?"

A.C.E. rubbed their head silently as it posed an internal query to itself. "Query: Nuts and bolts?"

"I guess you heard us, but not well enough. We were talking about what's taking those damned cargo inspectors so long to show up. Talking smack about and fighting the crews of other cargo ships would look bad on our report, and the Consortium works me hard enough as it is. No such rule about some banter on tardy inspectors though, is there?"

A.C.E.'s emoticons formed a smile (^_^).

"Okay. Fine. You weren't talkin shit. But you were looking like it, okay? Don't go lookin at folks all nasty-like if you're not talking about them."

"That's a bit difficult when my face looks like this..."

It would seem there had been an unintentional misunderstanding between Spike and these unknown units that Spike had dubbed 'Nasty Like'. Was this their assigned model name? A.C.E.'s attention was drawn away from the conversation however as another crew-mate approached and held a sign to A.C.E.'s face. It was Mandevilla, the sentient plant! It's species, the Kkekri, were one that A.C.E. studied for some time in their leisure time because of their different biological make-up from other sentient crew-mates aboard the Janissary. A.C.E. quite enjoyed Mandevilla's presence. He was a very considerate crew-mate. The sign posed a question which, to A.C.E.'s surprise and pleasure, was posed in its own respective mannerisms.

"Query: May I have access to your last inventory of the ship and our current budget?"

A.C.E.'s emoticons formed a smile (^_^) again. "Statement: I will supply you with the most recent inventory and budget statements."

As the Robot and Kkekri moved to enter the ship, however, another, unfamiliar voice joined the conversation.

"If your crew is re-evaluating its personal inventory, this seems as good a time as any to ensure the cargo you have on-board is what our messages from Earth promised," they said. Slithering on up to the Janissary was a pair of Sarvatti, relatively towering over botanical, mechanical, and mammalian crewmates alike. Hanging from their necks was a necklace with a badge hanging from it, signifying them as the cargo inspectors assigned by the local government to make sure everything was as listed, and there was no secret contraband aboard the ship.

"We apologize for our delay," the other inspector said. "Despite the tardiness, rest assured the inspection of your cargo shall be brief, albeit thorough. I certainly hope you haven't been hiding away illegal firearms or anything of the sort." By his tone of voice, it was difficult to tell if that was a joke or not.

"Where is the cargo stored on this ship, precisely? Solarian constructions are seldom uniform, and we would prefer to not report that we got lost inside a spaceship."

A.C.E.'s emoticons were nonchalant once more. "Statement: Please follow me." It lead the inspectors inside the cargo bay.

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"I am well though lacking in certain organic compounds for my experiment. If there is to be no altercation perhaps we should take stock of the ship's supplies with A.C.E. and see what might be sold to us here."

"What do you mean experi-, you know what, I probably don't wanna know. Go do whatcha want. Unless I gotta work I'd rather not." she crossed her arms and frowned until the plant-person had wandered off to talk to the robot.

What a weird life she had going on. Robots and plants chatting up her on the daily.

Spike stood there for a few moments. Sulking and staring around at the boring landscape around them. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes she stomped her way over to where Mandevilla was heading towards the ship. Then as she just was about to call out the inspectors came up and asked to be led into the ship.

She paused. Undecided between joining them and staying out of it. She didn't know much about this race of people and she figured if she just barged in it'd make a mess of things. She didn't want to give Oru a reason to kick her off the ship after all.

So she just sort of leaned up against the ship and scowled at everyone. Despite that she was glaring at people what she really was doing was trying to see what she was going to do with her free time in this place.

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Scout

Scout stood their awkwardly as Spike had argued with the robot crew across from them, the hair on their whole body standing on end. Once the fight had broken up and the inspectors arrived, Scout glanced over to Oru.  “I’m going inside to get a drink. Do you want anything?” 

"Just a glass of water," the An-Vi replied, watching the scant few people moving throughout the spaceport before turning and entering the ship, no doubt to catch up to those inspectors and whoever happened to be showing them around.

Scout entered the ship and entered the small, cramped kitchen. Grabbing two thermoses, they fill one with water and the other with milk, all the while their head creeps slowly upwards. Those snake-like inspectors didn't feel quite... right to them. Shaking of their misgivings, Scout wandered through the ship, finding Oru at the entrance to the cargo bay. “Here’s your glass ma’am.”  They stand there for a second in thought. “…is it just me, or are the inspectors a bit… nerve-wracking? I don’t quite know how to describe it”

"That's how it tends to be with the Sarvatti," Oru sighed, taking the glass and downing a small sip of its contents, as she and Scout observed the pair checking the contents of the crates loaded into the Janissary, having caught up with A.C.E. and Mandevilla to do so. "They don't trust outsiders. I'm willing to bet they think we've got contraband on-board, and want to take us to the courts over it." The cargo inspection itself was going rather smoothly by the looks of it. Occasionally, one of the inspectors would say something in their race's language, and the other would write something down on a holographic display.

As soon as Oru mentions possibly being tried in court, Scout jolts up an inch or two, but tries to hide it. Taking a sip of their milk, they say, “At least it seems they’re not suing us yet…” They tap their bare feet on the floor slightly and stretch their arms, slowly starting to revert to their normal size.

"It wouldn't be a lawsuit anyway; just a straight arrest. As long as our cargo is legit - which it is - there should be no issues. If there is, just let me handle it. Wouldn't be my first time in the Sarvatti court system."

The word ‘arrest’ causes Scout to panic for a microsecond before calming down. “So… what should I do in that instance, if anything? I don’t want to get sent back to Pluto after all…”

"They'd only start deporting crew members if we're found guilty. You'd either get sent back to Pluto if you were registered as a citizen of the planet, or in the case where you don't have the proper paperwork to prove you belong to anywhere, they'd drop you off at a Union space station to get you sorted out."

“I’m not sure what I would be sorted under…” Scout thinks for a second “Am I even a proper citizen technically? I don’t think I have any proper documentation… only stuff I have is from Moonscar Labs” Even thinking of that name sent a slight shiver down Scout’s spine.

Oru shrugged. "Not my jurisdiction."

“That’s fair, but we should probably figure that out. It’s been… what, two years at this point?” Scout begins to turn their attention back to the inspectors.

"Remind me when we're not in Sarvatti territory."

Scout gets out a small notebook and writes down “FIGURE OUT CITIZENSHIP STATUS” in all caps. The inspectors are about to get to ‘that one crate’, which happens to be decently near where Oru and Scout are standing

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Mandevilla was pleased A.C.E. was ready and able to assist him in taking inventory of the ship. Though things became slightly less pleasant when the cargo inspectors arrived. The plant's dealings with the Sarvatti had been limited almost entirely to his time aboard the Janissary. As yet he held nothing against them but Oru seemed less than thrilled every time they had dealing with them. With A.C.E.'s inventory data the kkekri was quickly able to ascertain what materials were and weren't on hand. Already the plant could think of several things he wanted to buy in port to progress his experiments. Restocking the usual of course but Mandevilla's mind was barely processing the idea of standard food and medicines and the like. The efficiency of the check aside, even routine tasks were slightly awkward with the Sarvatti present.

True to the nature of the cargo, as the inspectors went through each crate bound for this planet, they found each was full of various food objects. Until they got to a specific yellow crate from among the haul. Upon opening the large shipping crate, the inspectors made a curious sound as they observed its relative lack of contents. While the one writing everything down checked the contents that were still there, the other one turned to face the crew of the Janissary.

"There appears to be a mistake with the cargo. A significant amount of this container's contents are missing. Why is this, precisely?" the Sarvatti asked of the crew. In line with Captain Oru's instruction from before, Mandevilla summoned a holo-screen and began writing as they were talking to explain honestly what had happened. Before long the plant had compiled several documents which he prefaced with his own statement.

"An infestation, unknown at the time of pick up, was observed mid flight. Upon extermination of the problem the contents of the crate were assessed and all the spoiled product was discarded. Below are the relevant files in the ships log to corroborate and records of the exact products discarded." The message read. Below were several file names the plant had linked into the ship to draw on relevant video and audio files as they existed. At least they were the correct timestamps while they were dealing with the vermin. What exactly was recorded he couldn't say for sure. Additionally, he included the listing of the products the pests had damaged and had been discarded. A tedious task at the time but one the plant was glad to have undertaken at this point.

A hissing sound likened to some kind of exasperated groan came from the nostrils of the inspector, who eyed over the note slowly, before turning his attention to the files. Checking over his colleague's report and cross-referencing it with the notes Mandevilla had provided, he said something to the other inspector that the Janissary's crew couldn't quite pick up on. Then a response. A brief rebuttal, another one in return, and then that hissing sound again. Facing the crew once more, the inspector that could actually speak in a language everyone understood said "That is... most unfortunate. Your dilligent notes have saved us both a significant amount of trouble. We will examine the contents of this crate ourselves after the cargo is unloaded - with more precise equipment - to prevent the potential spread of disease."

To this Mandevilla and the crew could readily agree. The Sarvatti left with the cargo without further incident which let the plant feel some sense of relief. The plant scribbled some more and made the screen large enough to display his message to the crew at once.

"Another successful delivery! I'll be off to purchase supplies. Any requests?" he left the open query

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Spike's glowering didn't really get her anywhere as the others seemed to be busy with their own things. She stood there feeling like an idiot for a while until the inspectors began to leave the ship.

She looked over at them, glowering still, right as one looked her way. She quickly glanced up at the sky in the hopes that they didn't catch her looking at them like that and get the wrong idea. She was relieved as they left though she still felt tense about the close call. She really, really, didn't need to tick off those people of all folks.

Mandevilla left the ship soon after and returned to the rest of them. It seemed that he had something to say, as well, and Spike was sorta curious what the inspectors had said.

"they better not have complained about what the pests did, you know how long it took me to get rid of those things?"

"Another successful delivery! I'll be off to purchase supplies. Any requests?"

She sighed in relief but quickly masked that so people didn't realize she had been worried. She thought over what Mandevilla had said and considered if she actually wanted anything. She kind of wanted food. Not necessarily cause she was hungry but it was something to occupy herself with and when would anyone ever turn down food if given the chance right?

"Yeah I got one." Spike said. "How bout you bring me back something good to eat?" They had to have some sort of fast food here right? Especially if this was somewhere a lot of off-worlders stop by.

She paused after saying this and a thought crossed her mind. Wouldn't he have some problems getting food? She didn't know how familiar with the concept of fast food ordering he was and she could imagine the workers having some trouble with his strange way of saying things. It might be tough on him if he went on his own and tried to place her order. "Actually, on second thought, why don't I come with you to grab somethin?" she fast-walked over to where he was and then gave him a side glance. "Just cause I don't want you messin' anything up, got it?"

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