Also, because Jamar Kurik can't have all the fun.
==<>==
VWS Cartographer, Explorer Corps
Log Date <REDACTED>, GS 495
Captain: Veddan Banar
Captain Banar stepped onto the 'bridge' of his little vessel to little fanfare, receiving simply a nod from his technical officer and a raised hand from the pilot. Wasting no time with formalities, he cut straight to the chase.
"Lieutenant Raow, the communication?"
"Aye, sir. From way above the top brass. Ministry of Intelligence, actually."
That would explain why the salarian had been averse to talking to him about it over the ship's PA.
"Alright, put it through to my dataslate."
The message that appeared on his screen was brief, terse, and to the point - exactly the kind of mission briefing he liked. For all he hated spooks, they knew how to keep things concise.
"Alright, crew, looks like we're following up on the
VWS Explorer's little trip to Sikel. Swoop in, snatch the probe, bail. Then deliver back to Virmire, operational security, yadda yadda, whatever." He shrugged and put the dataslate down on the edge of his console. "Helm, plot course for Sikel."
The asari at the helm twisted in her chair to look at him. "Sir, isn't Sikel in the Lystheni border zone? That's a bit of a grey area, right?"
Banar nodded. "Technically, the probe's not
in the Sikel system - not anymore, anyway. According to these data logs, the probe should have performed a slingshot around the sun and now be well beyond the effective border of the system. All we need to do is retrieve it and return it to Virmire space, and that won't technically necessitate us entering Lystheni systems."
"Technically," Raow interjected, "Sikel isn't our end destination. According to the calculations made by the
Explorer when it launched the probe, our end destination should be…"
The salarian paused for a moment before bursting into action, his fingers just a red blur as he keyed in the relevant data. "Here. I'm sending the waypoints to your terminal now."
"Remember," Banar reiterated, more for his helmsman's benefit. "We go in, get the probe, and leave. No detours, no stunts, no sightseeing trips through the upper atmosphere of Tessavar. Understood?"
"Aye, captain," Abayle said dejectedly, turning back to the viewport. "Plotting a boring course to Lystheni territory so we can do boring spook work, on the double."
Raow snickered. Banar shot him a withering four-eyed glare to shut him up and turned his attention forward. "Alright, helm. You may jump to FTL when ready."
==<>==
Banar considered it a point of pride that, despite running a ship that was loose on regulations and light on discipline, his crew were just as capable of being professional when push came to shove, and that despite the easy going atmosphere not one of them had let their skills slip even slightly since he'd taken command.
Arriving at the estimated intercept point for the probe, it was only a matter of time before Raow picked up the badly damaged device on sensors and mere minutes later the
Cartographer was drifting lazily alongside it, Abayle holding the ship perfectly steady whilst two other members of the ship's crew EVA'd out to recover the probe.
"
Cartographer, EVA-2. Mag clamps are secure, jetting it over to you now."
"Copy that, EVA-2," Raow replied, eyes darting between screens as the two crewmen dragged the device to the Corvette's waiting cargo hatch. "We're holding steady. Maintain your course."
Banar could hardly blame his subordinate, since he was currently doing the same thing, quickly flicking between the exterior docking camera and his first officer's EVA suit camera. Keeping his eyes on his spacewalking crew, he tapped his communicator. "Engineering, status."
"Cargo bay sealed, fingers on the toggles," Chief Engineer Kadeb replied. "Ready when you are, sir."
"Alright, then. All hands, brace for zero-G. Fire away, Engineering."
When one spends long periods of time on a spaceship, there are sounds you become accustomed to. The buzzing of wires, the hissing of pipes. And the ever present thrum of artificial gravity. It's a little thing, the sort of thing you find hard to notice until it's suddenly not there anymore.
Even though he was expecting it, Banar felt slightly unsettled as the sound cut out, and the tug of gravity faded to nothing, weightlessness overtaking him.
"Raow, open the hatch."
The salarian complied wordlessly. On his screens, Banar watched as the cargo door opened and his First Officer dragged the probe inside, gingerly pressing it to the deck in a way that seemed mostly stable. Once done, the salarian turned to the cargo bay's interior camera and flashed Banar a thumbs up. "Alright, captain, probe's aboard and so are we."
"Good to hear, Paet. Raow, seal the cargo bay. Engineering, restore artificial gravity."
Once again the crew of the
Cartographer complied quickly and quietly, the thrum of artificial gravity soon reasserting itself.
"Given the probe was nowhere near where intel said it would be and the last minute switch from Bikks to Tem'valla due to hardsuit failure, I'd say that was a pretty fast op." Abayle observed as the ship's FTL drive engaged with a characteristic shuddering whine.
Banar couldn't help but agree. "Nicely done, all round." Once again he glanced at the probe sitting in the hold. The salarian and asari who'd gone EVA were still in the hold, tying down the probe as neatly as they were able given its badly scorched and disfigured surface.
Once again Banar leaned over the comms. "Paet, I want you and Bikks to look the probe over when you've got a minute, get an assessment of how damaged this thing is. I'd hate to get home and find out it was all wasted effort."
On screen Banar saw the salarian raise a finger to the communicator tucked over his brow. "Sir, I can take a look if you want, but a preliminary evaluation suggests most of the damage is to the maneuvering thrusters and external communications arrays. Unless they seriously changed how the innards of these probes work, the computer should be…"
Paet stepped around to the less-damaged side of the probe and tapped a finger on the surface. "Somewhere under here. And by the looks of things, totally undamaged."
"Excellent. Check anyway, I want to be able to give the MoI a preliminary damage report on their probe as soon as we re-establish contact."
"Aye, captain."
Shutting off his microphone, Banar leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on his console. "Destination, Virmire. Helm, you may jump to FTL when ready."
Have yourself a Sidestory threadmark.
