To: Nick Stenn, Forlorn Hope Command

[Etaphreven]

[Communications Link Established]

[CommID]: Malcolm Haynes
[Location]: The Equanimity, New Tokyo

Nicky!

I'm contacting you in regards to something that might be of interest to the Forlorn Hope.

We've been in Kusari for a while now, on a personal mission for our beloved Mina. Short story is, she has a sister. Slightly longer story is "what the hell, why didn't you tell me before?". Anyway, we're all so glad she decided to share this detail with us. Withholding essential information aside though, and us being the big happy and extremely tolerant family that we are, we decided to take her aboard. That, and her old mentor and Golden Chrysanthemum, Reiko Abe, is a good friend of mine, who vouched for both of them. I was very happy to hear she is involved in the keeping-secrets-from-me business as well! I'm sure it was very difficult to notice, but the whole situation generated an amount of sarcasm equal to the initial surprise on my face.

Moving on to the Forlorn, though. Mai here has excellent combat skills and experience to match - which isn't a surprise, as her mentor had a lot to teach. Problem is, her skills are wasted on the Equanimity as we do not have have any fighter craft besides Mina's shuttle, which is more of a space carriage. But, I recalled our first talk and thought, "what better place for her to put her skills to use than at the side of the sneaky bastards who boarded my ship and pointed a gun at my pilot?" - so here I am.

What say you, my third favorite sneaky bastard?


Malcolm Haynes, captain of the Equanimity

[Communications Link Terminated]

[The Sovereign]

|▫|▫|▫|▫| Incoming Transmission |▫|▫|▫|▫|

---

ENCRYPTION LEVEL: MEDIUM

[[[ACCESS GRANTED]]]
FINALIZING IDENTIFICATION PROCESS ... PLEASE WAIT ...

---

• »»» Location: Omicron Minor
  
• »»» Sender ID: Nick Stenn
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Malcolm Haynes
  
• »»» Issue: Mai
  

---

Malcolm,

Its good to hear from you so soon, and I'm glad your business is going well, although I am hurt that I am only your third favorite... None the less, I am sure that if Mai is as skilled in combat as you say, she would indeed be a valued addition to the ranks of the Forlorn, and a welcome one at that. I'm currently on the Haven, but I can make my way to a safer place to handle her induction. Regardless, please pass on our welcome to Mai, and let me know when to expect her. Fly safe out there Haynes, space is getting more dangerous recently.

Yours sincerely,
Nick Stenn
The Forlorn Hope

---

|▫|▫|▫|▫| Terminating Transmission |▫|▫|▫|▫|

[Etaphreven]

[Communications Link Established]

[CommID]: Malcolm Haynes
[Location]: The Equanimity, New Tokyo

No reason to be jealous, Nick - the fact of the matter is Elena and Sarah have the unfair advantage of being the opposite sex. Anyway, we're headed for Liberty soon, so I guess we'll meet there somewhere. I'll let you know when we arrive, and then Mai is all yours. I'm sure you can handle this without further involvement on my part.

I hope she finds her place with you folks. Who knows, maybe you'll even drop to fourth place if all goes well.

See you soon!

Malcolm Haynes, captain of the Equanimity

[Communications Link Terminated]