Lieutenant Vayrn Wyard of the Neo-Terran Front rolled slowly out of his bunk, and stumbled across the short distance between the habitation and cockpit sections of his ship. The Talon was a small ship, and room was limited, so both the living quarters and the controls were in the same compartment, with only a small bulkhead between them.
There wasn't much urgency in his actions, as he recognized the tone that had woken him up as the comm system's alert. If it'd been the proximity alarm, it would have been more along the lines of blaring klaxons.
Glancing out the windows at the slowly drifting asteroids in the Oxygen field of Tau-29, on one of which his Talon was anchored, Vayrn flicked on the comms, glancing over the newest message.
"Huh.. That's... interesting. Command will want to hear about this."
Dropping down into his seat, he opened up a new comm message and began to type.
***INCOMING TRANSMISSION***
[color=#FFFFFF]Priority:High Encryption:High Destination: Executive Commander Enrico Rossini, Boadicea (Junction) Station, Kansas
Source: Lieutenant Vayrn Wyard, Long Range Recon Patrol, unspecified location, Tau-29
Subject: Picked up this transmission
Sir.
I just picked up the following transmission. It appears to have originated somewhere in the Orkney system; no idea where exactly, though.
This is Lieutenant Commander Austin Goodmen, Alpha 2-2345-45, Bretonian Armed Forces. If anyone is receiving this please send aid. I repeat, please send aid. This is message repeats.
Sir, if you don't mind me saying, this might just be the opportunity we need to convince the Bretonians we're not pirates or criminals. With your permission, I'd like to remain in the area; see if I can't triangulate the signal.
Lieutenant Wyard out.
Characters Alan Markson: The Hellfire Legion's Lord Commander The Perihelion: Freeport Four's guardian, and yet much more. Missing and assumed Lost with all hands. Eric Dresmund: Junker, smuggler, thief. Last seen drunk on Beaumont Vayrn Wyard: IMG Recon pilot turned Neo-Terran Captain. Last location unknown