FIREFLY RPG - Episode 0 - Prologue

Nadra doesn't feel like going to hide out in her room 😛

"Oh, your snide comments never fail to amuse..." she replies to Kenneth. "Or is it annoy? Yes, I think that's right. Annoy."

"I always get those two mixed up," Kenneth says good-naturedly. "I'll try to 'amuse' you more often in the future, m'lady."

"Please, don't bother, if it's all the same to you. I'm sure everyone will be fine without your 'amusements'."

"I'm simply doing my best to make you feel at home," he responds with an annoyingly charming smile.

"I think I feel plenty at home without your comments," Nadra says, not impressed with his attempt at charm.

Harmony scurries off to the cockpit, closing it behind her, and reconnecting the Ship to the Cortex. First, she updates the passenger registry like she's supposed to, but then runs a quick search for flight schools on Hastur. If she can't find any, she swears, and then expands her search to include all of Beaumonde: she's certain to find one in the Kalidassa system capital. Then, she deletes her search information, closes the search program, and sets the ship's Cortex connection to idle. Noticing the cargo ramp is down on the ship's HUD, Harmony spins the pilot's chair around, away from the windshield, and heads heads down to see the new cargo. Once she gets to the cargo bay, she looks around to make sure none of the new passengers are in earshot, and, if they aren't plainly visible, asks loud enough for everyone to hear, "So, where are we headed?"

"The Halo. Just transfer some cargo, get some good profit for it. No sweat." replied Vash getting off the Samson.

"Yup, hope your asteroid missing skills are well practiced..."

"...Where in the Halo? Did you get the catalog name of the rock? Or did he just point in a direction?" She asks, leaning over the balcony from the upper deck of the cargo hold. "Do I need to find us a specific rock in need of these supplies in there somewhere, or are we heading to a starbase or ship?" She glances over at Shaftoe, and sighs. "And no. Generally, pilots are trained to fly around large collections of space-borne debris, not through them. I've done sims, but..." She shakes her head, "This should be exciting."

Kelly produces another little piece of paper.

"Oh yeah," Kelly says. "Um, here you go. Harlan sent this over after he got you fellas all situated. It's going to be a straight shot to the edge from here to the Halo, sounds like. Shouldn't be a problem for us, Harm... ony. We're gonna meet the other crew halfway. A ship called the Long Haul. Freighter-type."

"What I don't understand is why that freighter couldn't have taken the cargo straight from here? What's the point of this transfer?"

"It makes us money, and keeps Harlan uninvolved. Just don't ask questions and be on the lookout for any funny business. The Halo isn't the worst place for an ambush."

"I'd imagine it'd be good for a meeting, though," Marina says. "I mean, it's not like the Alliance is going to want to spend time patrolling the rock fields."

Christopher managed to catch "asteroid" and "through" from all the bantering going on between the crew memners as they came back on board.

"Wait.... we're going through an asteroid field?? Why would we be doing that??"

"Oh, they pick up odd jobs from time to time, it's nothing to worry about," Nadra says to Christopher with a bit of a wink.

"Alrighty then!" Harmony says, pushing off of the railing and heading over to the Captain, "We've got enough to make it there and back- just give the word, sir, and we'll be on the way."

"Try not to damage the ship too much," Alan mutters, securing the Samson and cargo into place.

Christopher catches the wink and gets some sense of releif.

"Well asteroids certainly are an oddity to work a job in... I should probably find a seat and buckle in real tight..."

Kelly smiles and looks around for a moment.

"Fire 'er up, Harmony," Kelly says. "Get this bucket off this rock and into the black!"

Phillip quietly watches the crew, apparently nervous about his first venture into the black himself. For everyone else it is a new thing; for him, not so much.

With the Samson secured, the new passengers settled, and the destination locked in, everything is set to leave Rubicon far behind. Gan Ying powers up its lifting thrusters in vertical take-off and pushes its way up and away from Rubicon's surface.

"How long to the asteroid field, Harmony?" Kelly asks, wandering into the cockpit and grabbing the co-pilot seat.

In the mean time, Phillip is asking people questions about space.

"Are we going to float?" he asks to no one in particular. "Or... fake gravity, or something?"

Harmony nods to the Captain, and heads to the cockpit. "Rubicon Flight tower, this is the mid-bulk transport Gan Ying, docking permit 476-J3R, beginning take-off." Harmony says, siezing the controls and starting the take-off procedures. "Attention all crew, we're leaving the world." She removes the headset, and glances at the Captain, while flying the ship up and into the Black. "About twenty five hours, plus lots more if we have to kill the Pulse drive and actually go into the Halo..."