Into the Black OOC

Approximately six months have passed since the ships went to the moon of Banyon to discuss their futures. After leaving the datacube Arina had been carrying in the care of Mr. Universe (who promised to start working on its encryption secrets), the four ships have made an effort to stay out of trouble and avoid the Alliance's watchful eye.

Serenity took time to lay low for a while - having Alliance patrollers searching for you, especially with wanted fugitives aboard, tends to make one want to keep quiet and stay out of trouble. After the heat had died down and things seemed to be going smooth, they cautiously returned to Nevada, to begin their first major foray into quasi-legitimate business -- setting up an orbital communications satellite in collusion with the other captains and their reclusive technobuff. The enterprise has been surprisingly successful, but still, the call for an exciting life is far more appealing than the quiet life to be had tending a satellite.

Starflare was put in drydock for several weeks, with Eddie frantically working to repair his damaged ship. After re-attaching the pod and repairing the structural damage to the ship, Starflare has resumed its life as a fancy star liner, always ready to give a rich tourist a wonderful adventure. Their most recent trip involved ferrying the new governor of Ezra, a man by the name of Jonas Walker, to his final destination. While it is an open question as to whether Walker will be able to tame the savage planet, the pay for such a pompous trip was well worth it.

Walden, meanwhile, found itself in yet another unpleasant situation. With salvager's rights increasingly becoming restricted and licensed by the Alliance, large salvage craft such as Walden are finding themselves pressured to sell out to large companies or get out of the business, something that the captain of the eponymous vessel has wanted to avoid at all costs. As a result, much of Walden's current activities have involved searching the Rim for downed craft, and bringing them to Banyon for quick salvage. Their last haul turned out to be a settler ship that was entirely devoid of life... well-supplied and with no signs of where its crew might have gone. It was a welcome find, but still vaguely unsettling.

Jupiter has been hiring out to Transplanet Shipping, working as a low-budget, low-speed shipping and shuttle service among the moons of Banyon. Business has been reasonably smooth, and its owner, Jennifer Lee, has been considering a vacation from work.

However, a message from Mr. Universe has brought all four ships back to Banyon - he has finally completed decrypting the datacube left in his care, and refuses to discuss its contents over the Cortex. Whatever it is, though, is enough to make even the casually superior Mr. Universe look alarmed...