Chapter 1 - The Crash

Taelor slides into a seat as Sonia starts talking about the situation on Astyoc. Concern grows on her face as the short-haired woman explains the problems plaguing the world. "A few thousands? The records on our ship said Mani Losa Plains had around a million people! Shit..."

She lets out a long sigh. "Our ship troubles seem small by comparison. Our plasma regulator is shot, we need a replacement. Maybe a few other parts too, I couldn't get too deep in there while we were flying. Could probably use some fuel too. We don't have a lot of credits, but maybe we can come to some sort of deal. Our other crewmate," she says indicating Senn with a jerk of her head, "is a doctor. Maybe he can help out with your research?"

Two men wrote:

"What? Ah, that was Mr. Bermúdez. He's the leader of Mani Losa Plains. You ain't from around here, eh? Don't worry about him, he is like that. And Sonia over there is not exactly his biggest fan, everybody knows that. They always have it in for each other.
She is a bit weird, if you ask me. Not from here. And always goes against Mr. Bermúdez.
So what brings you here? Where you from?"

Senn looks at the two men. "We were just on our way back from delivering some cargo, small machinery and tools for some mining company, but had trouble with our ship engine. We are looking for someone to have a look at the.."   Senn looks up and sees Taelor and Jasper chatting with the women. ".. aaand there are my crewmates. But tell me, about this Bermúdez guy, what do you think they were fighting about? and can you tell me more about this woman? She seems to be in a much better mood all of a sudden."

"Mr. Bermúdez? He is an ok leader. Keeps the zombie freaks outside if nothing else and protects us from offworld corps to ruin our community.
And Ms. Bente over there. She is alright. Friendly lady and all, but I have a feeling she is spying for some corp or something. Always talking about the zombies and all and she is not from here you know. I have nothing against offworlders, but you know, she ain't from here, she doesn't know how it is."

"The plasma regulator? Ui, that is not good. If you want, I can come by your ship tomorrow and we can take a look together. I'll bring my tools.
Spare parts are hard to come by here, but a few things I have, and one can get almost everything from scavengers that are daring enough to go to the old factories. Then I can also talk to your friend, I would love to share my notes with him and possibly hear his thoughts. I will have to get going now, how about I drop by your ship tomorrow, say around 11? As far as I know there is only one offworld ship docked right now and I know the local ones."

Taelor smiled warmly. "Sure, 11 works. Thank you! Just in case we're not the only off-world ship, ours is called the Tsunami. It was nice to meet you, Sonia. See you tomorrow!" She shook the woman's hand and then leaned back in her seat, taking her time sipping her drink.

"I see. Well thanks a lot and please excuse the interruption." Senn briefly holds up his drink as a goodbye gesture and slowly walks back to the bar. Zombies.. of all planets to crash it has to be the one with zombies.. . He looks over to the table with Taelor and Jasper talking to the lady while sipping his drink, waiting and imagining what may lay ahead of them if they don't find someone to repair the ship.. one scenario more unpleasant than the other.
Lost in thoughts he looks up to the waitress when she passes by. "By any chance do you know where I can find someone who is skilled when it comes to opening locks? Since we had problems with our ships engine some of the magnetic locks of our cargo are malfunctioning. Must have been an EMP or something else messing with them."

"Sure, pumpkin, let me think. Hmm, old Rhouben should be able to help you out. Must have been quite a mishap you guys had there, eh? Wait I'll be back send you Rhoubens contact." She pulls out a bulky, quite outdated compad and taps slowly and awkwardly on it, like she does not use it much and has to find each button newly every tap. After a couple of moments, during which she yells over to various impatient customers very bluntly, laced with colorful curses the like you have not heard before to wait for her to finish, Senns compad buzzes signalling sweet release. The tension in her shoulders releases and a satisfied smile shows on her face. "Damned those things", she says as she puts her compad away. "Gotta look after the 'kids'", she comments as she turns towards her waiting customers. "Take care and stop by again.".

'Rhouben Sanderson' the contact reads. No profession or other details are listed, just the number to contact.

As soon as Sonia is out of earshot, Taelor leans in closer to Jasper. "The 'Tainted', poison clouds, mass exodus. We need to fix our ship and get the fuck out of here."

"So you also just found out that something about this planet is fucked up.." Senn says, just joining Taelor and Jasper. ".. zombies.. hooray us. In case we are stuck here, I may have found someone to help us crack the mystery box. If we're gonna be eaten alive by monsters, at least I want my curiosity satisfied before. And maybe it is something useful. So, any luck finding someone to fix our ship?"

"Yeah, a scientist and mechanic named Sonia. She's going to come by tomorrow morning to check out our engine. I, uh... also might have volunteered you to have a look at her research? She's looking into the 'Tainted'. You know, the zombies." Taelor smiles apologetically. "I figured if any of us could help, it'd be you. And it'd give you something to do while we grease monkeys work." She shrugs. "So, who can open our case?"

"If looking into zombies gets me far away from zombies, why not. I just hope she is the 'white lab coat' type of scientist and not the 'mad scientist' type." For a second Senns eyes focus into thin air, imagining what might expect him. "Right, about the mystery box.." he snaps out of his thoughts and pulls out his compad ".. the barmaid gave me this contact and nothing more. Seems shady but let's check it out tomorrow. In any case, if we let someone put hands on this thing we should take care the person does not see what's in it."

The evening fades out slowly. Some more guests arrive, but mostly the crowd is thinning soon after Sonia left.
Conversation topics seem to be the same as in any other bar you have been to before, including the twenty minute rant of Karen and Chad about offworld immigrants taking away their jobs and food.
The topic of "zombies" is not very prominent. It pops up here and there, but seems to be more of a fact-of-life kind of issue rather than an omnipresent danger. Even though people do express concern and worry about the "zombies". Noone has actually been in contact with one, but everybody knows someone that has been or knows someone else that has been.

Eventually the barkeep calls last round and then clears the tables. With a comfortable and soothing buzz you head back to the ship where you soon find your cabins and lie down for the night.

In the morning, after a communal breakfast and the usual personal maintenance, Sonia shows up, perfectly on time, eleven sharp. "Good morning, a lovely day you picked as your first day on Astyoc", she says gesturing the barely broken cloud cover that lets the occasional ray of sunlight through. "How did you enjoy the rest of the evening in The Cantina?"

Taelor wrote:

As soon as Sonia is out of earshot, Taelor leans in closer to Jasper. "The 'Tainted', poison clouds, mass exodus. We need to fix our ship and get the fuck out of here."

"I'm inclined to agree. Hopefully her price isn't too steep, I'm a bit light on credits currently."
------------------------------------------
Jasper is working on his third cup of coffee by the time Sonia shows up.
"Its a charming little oasis." Jasper says, gathering up his pack. "I'd stay longer if I could, but we've work to do it seems."

Taelor is at the ship's entrance, leaning on the door frame and enjoying the fresh air as she sips her cup of coffee. She's wearing work boots and a loose-fitting mechanic's jumpsuit, and has tucked her hair into a cap. She smiles as Sonia approaches.

"Hey, Sonia! It really is nice to breathe non-recycled air for a change. Jasper's got it right, it was a nice little dive bar."

She pushes herself off the door frame and turns to walk inside. "Follow me, I'll show you to the reactor."

Quote :

"Its a charming little oasis." Jasper says, gathering up his pack.

"Isn't it? I mean, it's not a star restaurant, but it has charm and character. Ha, it's so nice to meet someone from offworld. Where are you fom, if one might ask?"

----------------------------

Sonia follows Taelor into the engine room. After Taelor shows her the damage, she sighs. "Uff, that does not look good. We'll have to change that, but getting a new part for that kind of engine will be impossible down here. Maybe we can get a scrap one from the hunters. It won't be top grade, but we might get engine working enough to get you to the next system. " She scratches her head, her face in a grimace that likely indicates she is thinking hard. "I could reach out to some of the hunters. I know some of them pretty well, because they helped me a few times, when I went on excursions to gather information about the Tainted and that cloud and all. However it will likely take a few days to find out whether something can be salvaged.
She ducks down again and half crawls into the engine once more. "Blimey, you really got lucky there. A few centimeters to the side and you would not be looking for a spare part anymore. Let's see if we can get the part out. Better to show what we need than to send the hunters blindly.
I mean technically you could go yourself. The Ruins are actually very fascinating. But despite this zombie talk being mostly political panic talk, the Tainted are dangerous if you get to close."

Taelor wipes her hands with a rag, frowning as she tries to remove the engine grease. She liked tinkering with machines, but the grime still bothered her. Both her parents and the militia had drilled the importance of proper hygiene into her brain. Disease could spread quickly through the militia's barracks and the tightly packed colony where she grew up. Engine grease rarely contained bacteria or viruses, but her brain still said dirt is dirt. She sighs. No way around it, it was the price to pay and it was well worth it.

"We're pretty short on credits and trading goods. Unless the hunters are cheap, I don't think we'll have a choice. We'll have to go ourselves." She pats the pistol in her holster. "Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves..." She frowns, thinking about how little she still knew about Senn and Jasper. "... I think."

"Ah, don't worry", Sonia answers in her optimistic, cheerful way, "I know some of the hunters, I can tell them to keep an eye open for the piece. That means it will likely take a bit longer, but the price will be much more reasonable, than a specialised ranging for only you. Let's go outside and check the hull for damages. "
With this Sonia heads out and leaves you no option but to follow her. As you all step outside you notice two people working at the neighboring platform. It seems weird, as it did not appear to be damaged and there is also noone else working on anything.
One of the persons, probably a woman throws a look over her shoulder, noticing you and then quickly talking to the other person. They hastily continue their work.

OOC:

Sonia does not seem to notice the other people and focuses entirely on the hull, inspecting it thoroughly as if it was her own.

Taelor only half heartedly follows Sonias stories about her days as pilot for a research organisation. The two people working on the other platform caught her attention. Trying not to be obvious and catch anyone else's attention her eyes turn back to the otherwise platform frequently. She almost starts to believe she is seeing ghosts as she catches a glimpse of what looks awfully similar to a block of explosives her folks used back in the mines. She wants to be wrong and push the image aside, but she is sure that is what she saw.
"Are you following at all? Do you think this could be the hole you patched up inside? I think it fits by location. Taelor?"

It was strange, the two people on the other platform weren't wearing any of the usual protective gear. Maybe things were different on this planet, weaker worker protections perhaps? Taelor frowns.

"Huh? Uh, no, sorry... Say, do you know if this spaceport is supposed to be under renovation? Or partial demolition due to the drop in traffic?"

"What demolition? Noo, they are probably just preparing the pad, the regular shuttle is due tonight. One of the few ships that currently still brings people and material."

Senn steps outside and catches a strange view. Taelor seems distracted, unlike her alert usual self.. He follows her look and watches the workers on the next platform..
He looks back to Sonia.

Thelonius wrote:

"What demolition? Noo, they are probably just preparing the pad, the regular shuttle is due tonight. One of the few ships that currently still brings people and material."

"How often do they stop by? And say, do you happen to have an idea what might have caused this damage on the ship?" Senn had a strange feeling in his stomach thinking about the way just a few days ago they all woke up in a damaged ship with no memory whatsoever. What if it was sabotage?

*The shuttle comes about once a month, it's a regular route to the neighboring systems.
The damage on your ship. Hmmm, hard to say for sure. Could be a stray asteroid, but frankly your ship should be able to detect those and handle it. The only way I can see hitting one is if you come out of metaspace unplanned. Then all bets are off. What happened to you guys out there? "

Thelonius wrote:

*The shuttle comes about once a month, it's a regular route to the neighboring systems.
The damage on your ship. Hmmm, hard to say for sure. Could be a stray asteroid, but frankly your ship should be able to detect those and handle it. The only way I can see hitting one is if you come out of metaspace unplanned. Then all bets are off. What happened to you guys out there? "

"We're still trying to piece that together ourselves. It really scrambled our systems, but at least our coffee maker survived. Jasper says, tapping the hull of the ship. "What's your estimate for how long it'll take the hunters to find the part? Sounds like it might be pricey too. If we're going to be planetside for a spell, I wouldn't mind looking for some work to offset the repair cost. What about you two?" he asks his companions

Taelor only half listens to the conversation between the others. She keeps looking at the two people working on the other pad, trying not be noticed. Her suspicions grow with every glance and she starts nervously tapping her fingers on the grip of her pistol.

"Uh... guys?" she whispers, the stress drawing out her colonial accent. "This is real interesting and all, but I think those two are trying to rig the pad to explode. I'm pretty sure I saw some explosives. Enough to vaporize that shuttle y'all were talking about."

Senn freezes, then slowly turns to Taelor. When growing up he was in enough delicate situations to know when to look and when not to. "What else can you tell us about those two? Did you see any other people around who might belong to them?" , he calmly asks while looking through Taelor. He sees mostly the ship and parts of hangars, nothing peculiar in that direction. In his normal voice he asks "Sonia, is it possible to tell when exactly the shuttle will be arriving?" . He turns to Sonia and again looks through her, searching the small street along the platforms with his eyes.

Jasper does a double take at the two workers. He turns his back on Sonia and whispers to Taelor "What the fuck? Are you sure?" He quickly surveys the environment. Any sort of port security?"Look, you better be sure, that's all I'm saying. Its not like we can walk up and ask them if they're terrorists, but I'm not about to be stranded in fucking Mani Losa Plains forever."

He turns back to Sonia, smiling as nonchalantly as possible.

Taelor bristles. "Of course I'm sure!" She says, raising her voice slightly. "I grew up in the pits and served in the militia. I know an explosive pack when I see one!"

The truth was she was only pretty sure. She'd only glimpsed the explosive pack and it was possible she was mistaken. If she wasn't, though, the consequences would be much, much worse. She exhales sharply, regaining her composure.

"Our ship's in a bad enough state as it is. We have to do something!"

Senn wrote:

"Sonia, is it possible to tell when exactly the shuttle will be arriving?"

Slowly it dawns on Sonias typically optimistic and borderline naive mind, that something is off. "Hmm, hard to say, but not exactly. I mean, latest, when the ship negotiates the landing parameters, ground control will know. Maybe you can ask them. It's typically some time in the afternoon, but with these long distances, if you know the day, it's already very precise. You know how it is.
What is going on, why are you so interested in the shuttle? You seem a bit nervous."

From the service entrance to the port you can see a small vehicle approaching. It is unmarked, but seems to be some kind of maintenance vehicle. It takes a turn and starts heading over to the other landing pad.
The two figures shuffle around a bit, apparently finishing up whatever they where doing, climbing out of the service shafts and closing it.
They seem restless, almost nervous. Again and again they turn their heads over to the Tsunami and its crew, seemingly always trying to hide the fact.
Now that they are out of the shaft, you can get a better look at them. The woman has dark, shoulder long hair, tied in a tight pony tail. She is obviously well trained and wearing cargo or worker pants and a tank top, despite the rather fresh temperature. Her partner is a short man, with dark and unkempt shorter hair. He wears glasses and a grey overall with tools hanging out of various pockets. They each shoulder a backpack and carry a duffel-like bag in their hands, as they quickly walk off towards the approaching vehicle. At one point point the woman turns her head back and by chance looks Taelor straight into the eyes. She looks stressed and quickly turns her head, saying something to her companion and they hasten their step.

When Taelor and the woman's eyes met, all doubt left the pilot's mind. "Shit. Cover me if this gets ugly," she says, glancing at Jasper before taking off. She sprints to other landing pad, heading for the hatch to the service shafts.

"Ah hell." Jasper whispers under his breath as Taelor takes off running.Oops, don't mind her, Sonia." he says, trying to redirect the other woman's attention."Irritable bowels. Hey you know maybe I should go check on her, make sure she finds a restroom alright. I still want to talk business with you, I'll be right back!"

Jasper takes off running after Taelor before waiting for Sonia's reply.

Sonia gives a surprised gasp as Jasper speeds away.
The spaceport erupts in a flurry of movement and action that is seldomly seen.
The Tsunami stands unmoving, stoic waiting for the next flight. Right next to it Sonia follows Taelor and Jasper with her eyes, too surprised to move.
Senn, standing next to Sonia also follows the action.
A few crates next to them wait to be loaded.
Taelor is in full sprints towards the maintenance shaft of the neighboring platform, some 70m away, closely followed by Jasper.
Running away from the neighboring platform in perpendicular direction, about 20m away from the platform, are the man and the woman that just worked on the platform.
Coming towards them, still a good 100m away is the maintenance vehicle, driven by a yet unknown party.

Next to the other platform are another couple of crates and barrels, likely waiting for the incoming shuttle to be loaded, otherwise the port is a relatively open area.

Except for the panting and stomping an eery silenced fell off over the the scenery, just as if everything around stopped, watching in tense anticipation of things to unfold.

A slight breeze is going through Sanders hair. Another grey day. 'Good weather' they call it here, but to Sander it is depressing at best. At least the rain had stopped.
Astyoc sounded like a good place to see and given the ruins, Sander had expected a bit of nostalgia. But then everything went sideways. When he had missed his shuttle off-world he had still been optimistic to find a ride  with someone. He had a knack of talking his way aboard ships, so far he always found a way to get to where he wanted. And right now he wants to be anywhere but here. But who could have known that there are simply no ships flying at all.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow the shuttle finally comes again and Sanders will be damned if he won't be on it when it leaves.
He walks towards the main building in the spaceport in order to make sure he gets a spot on the shuttle. No way he is going to take risks and try to avoid the fare by convincing some sailor to let him aboard. Almost in the building something catches his attention. There is a ship in the port. Must have come recently, because Alexander was in the port often in hope for ships to hitch a ride with.
Sander cannot believe his eyes, his heart thumping in his chest. He lets go of the door handle and starts walking around the building towards the fence separating him from the landing area. Security is a joke in this port. Than again, there is nothing to protect anyways.
Standing at the fence Sander can clearly see the ship. It is small, no freighter or trader, from what he can tell. But it seems to be big enough for a few people. Chances are they have room for one more...
In that moment Sander becomes aware of the people around the ship. Two persons are running away from the ship, as it seems towards the shuttle pad behind the ship. Then he sees two more people running away from the shuttle pad, towards an approaching service vehicle.
What is going on there?

The woman sees Taelor and Jasper running towards the other platform and shouts "Hey, mind your own business!", turns around and starts running towards the platform again.
The man hears the woman shout, stops and turns around, but hesitates.

Shit I hope Taelor has a plan for this, thinks Jasper to himself as he sprints towards the woman. Usually he'd prefer they be a bit more discreet about matters concerning counter-terrorism, but sometimes you need to roll with the punches. He considers drawing his combat knife but decides against it. If the woman draws first maybe he could plead self defense.

Taelor glances at the woman as she sprints towards the hatch to the service tunnels. No weapon yet, good, she thinks to herself. Get your head out of the dirt, Gopher. Focus on the job, don't get distracted. Her squadron leader always used to say that to her back in the militia. Well, yell mostly.

She turns her eyes back to the hatch, focusing on her goal, her legs pushing her forward with all the power they can muster.

The vehicle, still a good distance away, continues its way towards the action.

Nothing good comes out of those situations... he thinks, dashing forward and leaving a confused Sonia at the side of the ship. After his coming of age in a crumbling society he managed to circumvent open fights, but every streak comes to an end eventually.

The woman reaches the platform and heavily panting positions herself in front of the service shaft. Her knees are slightly bent, like a tiger ready to pounce.  "Who are you and what do you want? We were just readying the platform and this is a restricted area. You cannot be here, I am warning you!".

Taelor is about 25m away, Jasper another 10m behind her, Senn an additional 5m.
The man now realizes the approaching strangers, looks around left and right and finds himself alone in the open. The vehicle still being quite far away, he seems to opt for the closer friend and starts making his way toward the platform, albeit not at full sprint, as if he is hesitant, as to what will happen.

What the hell is going on? Sander thinks to himself. The port is never this busy except when the shuttle arrives

Jasper keeps sprinting after Taelor. The other lady sounded reasonable, but its probably to late to talk their way through this.

Taelor comes to a stop a few meters from the woman. She raises her hands slightly, keeping them open in a non-threatening way. She walks in a semi-circle slowly, keeping her back to the Tsunami so that it isn't turned to the man and approaching vehicle, trying to get on the other side of the woman.

"Listen, I don't know why you did it and I don't care," she says in a calm voice. "You can get in that truck and go, we won't stop you. But I can't let you put my ship, or the incoming shuttle, in danger."

Senn slows down a bit as he gets closer to the scene. He attempts to cut the man off, preventing him from reaching the woman.. though he did not seem too eager to reach her.. Curiously he keeps his ears open to the reaction of the woman while keeping his eyes closely on the man and the vehicle further behind him.

The vehicle is now also relatively close. There are no other passengers, except for the driver in it. As you come closer you can make out more details on the man and the woman. Her arms and face show multiple scars, she is definitely not the technician in the crew. The man however seems more hesitant because of the tense situation, it seems he would much rather be in the shaft again, or elsewhere dealing with machines, rather than with aggressively charging strangers.
"Seriously, who are you and what do you want? This is not a mall, you cannot just walk around however you feel like. We have our orders, you have yours. Neither your ship nor the shuttle are in danger, what are you talking about?" , as she spots Senn and Jasper circling around, she tenses,  "Hey you! Where do you think you are going. Trying to circle me, are we? Oh no you won't. Stay where you are!" Her hand grabs her holster and nestles it open, her hand resting on the gun inside, ready to pull.

In the meantime Sander finds a part of the fence that has crumbled at the top and can easily be climbed.

Tealor's eyes flick down to the woman's holster. She shifts her stance to present a smaller target, then looks back up at the woman's face.

"Look, cut the shit," says Taelor, her face hard. "I saw the explosives. You already made one mistake today. Don't make another one."

The woman flinches a tiny bit at the mention of made mistakes. She takes another look at the scenery. Two unknown men starting to flank her, one rather intimidating lady in front of her, ready to dance. She takes another look at her partner. He stopped coming towards her, his face revealing his fear. The vehicle is close, but there is only one more man. Two on three, she did that before. When she turns her head towards Taelor, ready to give a snarky remark and attack, she freezes, her eyes trained on something in the distance. "Fuck this! Ain't gonna die for the prick!" raising her hands she backs up a few meters and then spins around to start sprinting towards the vehicle.
The man, as if relieved by the initiative of his partner also turns hecticly, almost stumbling and makes for the vehicle.

The second the woman turns tail, Taelor lunges for the hatch. She pulls it open and scrambles down the ladder, looking for the bomb.

As Taelor's eyes adjust to the dim light a bizarre scenery reveals itself. Tubes and cables run left and right of the service channel, giving support to a possible landed ship, refilling reaction mass, oxygen, fresh water and the like. Hydraulics and large metal girders make the platform perfectly even and adjustable as needed.

In the middle of everything is a pile of simple explosive packs, wired to the hydraulic supports. A single green led light is burning eerily in the dark, as if to signal hope.
Upon further inspection the bomb does not seem too complicated. Obviously it was not meant to be found. It takes Taelor a while to understand the wiring. But after she sees there is no timer, she relaxes a little bit and concentrates on what's in front of her.
It seems the bomb is supposed to be pressure activated, blasting when the hydraulic support beams feel the weight of the ship above.
Despite a lot of cables running between the packs and the electronics, Taelor remembers enough from watching her people back home, to understand the schematics of the bomb. Once she is certain, she cuts a wire and... the green led fades to black. The bomb seems to be defused.

Meanwhile outside the three strangers find each other in the vehicle and turn it around to drive away towards a maintenance hanger in the distance.

Sander examines the vehicle, looking for any identifying features or signs of allegiance. "It may be useful to know who these people are once this strange situation resolves itself" He thinks

The van starts driving off and when seeing it from the back, Sander has a deja vu. The same kind of van he saw not far from his place. And it has a small logo on it, like two wings arcing around some kind of leaf like shape.

Jasper and Senn are now in shouting distance, by now aware of the approaching stranger.

Carefully, Taelor detaches the bomb from the support beam. She places it down in the middle of the service channel, away from anything that might press down on it and accidentally set it off. She pulls out her dataslab, keying it to transmit to her colleagues' comms.

"Senn? Jasper? I've managed to deactivate the bomb. We should get the local authorities down here to deal with it." She pauses, thinking. "Do you think this shithole has a bomb disposal squad?"

Watching the van drive away, Sander will sidle up to the nearest of the remaining characters and ask "what was that about? did you guys have an argument?"

"Senn? Jasper? I've managed to deactivate the bomb. We should get the local authorities down here to deal with it. .. Do you think tihis shithole has a bomb disposal squad?"

Senn feels relief hearing the voice of Taelor after a brief moment which felt like a small eternity. His shoulders relax while he looks after the van driving off.
Who the hell were those..

"what was that about? did you guys have an argument?"

Senn turns around and spots a masked guy in ragged clothing. For a moment Senn feels the tension returning in his shoulders but the way this man (he could tell from the voice and the sturdy silhouette) moves shows Senn he was not a threat.

You could say that. They tried to blow up the shuttle - for whatever reason. I wouldn't even care too much, but our ship happens to be within radius of their plans, so we had to step in. I couldn't imagine being stuck on this planet..  
The last sentence Senn says more to himself than to the guy.
Sorry, are you from here? You happen to have any idea what might be behind all this? Ah, and the bomb is already defused, no worries.

Breathlessly Sonia arrives at the scene. "What's happening? Everyone started running around all hecticly. And what is with Matt? Why is he running away from you?"

Taelor makes her way back through the service shaft and climbs up the ladder. Back outside, she spots Senn and Sonia talking to a newcomer wearing armor. Wow, the local authorities are quick! Maybe I misjudged this place.

She waves at them from the shuttle's landing pad. "HEY! THE BOMB'S DOWN HERE! IT'S DEACTIVATED BUT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY DISPOSE OF IT!"

As Taelor approaches the group, Sonia asks her with a worried face, "What bomb? I'm completely lost. Do you think Matt has something to do with it? He is an engineer and works for the communities fleet management. I helped him a couple of times.
Seemed weird that he was running away from you all. A bomb? Wow!"

Taelor makes her way back at a jog.

Thelonius wrote:

As Taelor approaches the group, Sonia asks her with a worried face, "What bomb? I'm completely lost. Do you think Matt has something to do with it? He is an engineer and works for the communities fleet management. I helped him a couple of times.
Seemed weird that he was running away from you all. A bomb? Wow!"

"Uh... yeah, I'm pretty sure he does. That lady put a bomb down there. Pretty neat, too!" Taelor starts talking excitedly as she discusses the bomb. "Pressure activated. Simple design. Cheap and effective. Smart way of going about if you don't have a ton of resources." She wipes her sweaty brow with her sleeve.

Canis Dirus wrote:

"Nah, I am not from here I am not with the authorities either. I recognise the Logo on the van but I don't have any real clue as to why they were doing that. I was here looking for a ride. If they were trying to blow up the shuttle I need to get off this rock faster than I thought. Any chance you guys have a spare berth? I can't pay my way yet but I am sure I can be of use."

"Oh. We have a passenger berth, yeah." Taelor thinks for a second, crossing her arms. With the added threat from the bombers, they'd have to keep an eye on the Tsunami. They could use an extra pair of hands and the stranger sounded sincere. "Tell you what. You help us get the things we need to fix our ship, maybe make sure those people don't threaten it again, and we'll take you off this rock. Deal?"

"Oh my god, why would anyone try to harm the shuttle? It's almost the only off world input we have. What do you think we should do? Should I report it?"

"What are you missing to repair the ship? I'll see what i can do about protection but I am not sure how I can deter further attempts on the ship Sander is trying hard to ignore the hysterical woman standing to his side while he negotiates his lift off planet.

Thelonius wrote:

"Oh my god, why would anyone try to harm the shuttle? It's almost the only off world input we have. What do you think we should do? Should I report it?"

"Yeah, good idea, Sonia. Go report it." Taelor took out her dataslab. "Just send me the location of the scavengers and who your contacts are. I'm going to go see if I can get the parts we need. Oh, and where I can find this 'community fleet management'."

Canis Dirus wrote:

"What are you missing to repair the ship? I'll see what i can do about protection but I am not sure how I can deter further attempts on the ship Sander is trying hard to ignore the hysterical woman standing to his side while he negotiates his lift off planet.

"You seem like the kind of person who can handle themselves. You can watch my back. Senn, Jasper, you guys okay looking after the ship? Maybe once Sonia has reported this... uh... 'incident', y'all can compare notes regarding this plague thing." Having gotten the information from Sonia, Taelor put her dataslab back in her pocket.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looks at the stranger. "Alright, let's get going, uh... What's your name? I'm Taelor." She extends her right hand towards him.

"Sure, I'll report everything. And I will pick up my data and meet you back here." , she adds towards Senn. Pulling out her compad, she says, "The most reliable of the scavengers is Crab. Weird guy, weird name, but so far never failed me, when I needed something. I'll send you his handle, but he usually hangs around at the 'Caracas', over by the gates.
The fleet management has their office not far from here, I'll send you the location. ", she continues tapping on her compad, "A bomb under the shuttle. Unbelievable... Who and why would do that..." , she mutters, shaking her head in disbelief. Shortly after, the compads chime with the promised data.