Tristan's Big Adventure - Seek And You Shall Find

Posted on Sun Aug 9th, 2020 @ 5:23pm by Tristan

Mission: The Milk Run
Location: The Seeker's Cargo HOld
Timeline: Day 11 - about 2 hours after the bar

The Shrike class transport ‘Seeker’ was about half the tonnage of the Fortune's Echo, built for speed and damage, with the looks of a modified transport. It fitted easily inside the skeletal remains of the old Walkabout atop the cliffs on the edge of Serenity Valley, especially given no one was likely to be looking for her, the ship's camouflage was near perfect.

From within, Tristan could only tell that the ship had landed somewhere, and for some time now, had been quiet.

The cargo bay was littered with empty containers and rubbish. It was small, much smaller than on Echo, and it didn’t look like it had been used in ages. It was a perfect place to hide out and wait for visitors.

Two voices he recognised could be heard up on the gantry above the cargo bay - Jade Eyes and Cowboy - they were accompanied by footsteps on metal and then the clattering of a hatch. Probably, by the sounds that followed, utilising the single shuttle to move elsewhere.

The next voices Tristan heard were louder and unconcerned with being heard.

"So Earl and Xia take 'em out, and we grab the stuff," said a gruff male voice as two sets of boots crossed from back to front on the lower decking. "What about their ship?"

"Unarmed," answered a female voice. "Saul will handle it." There was the sound of a Mule engine starting, and the Seeker's ramp slowly descended.

Panic rose up within the young stowaway as he crept behind a large container. The positioning of his hiding spot would allow him to peer out on either side. Perfect to try and catch a glimpse of what was going on.

As the Mule pulled out of the cargo hold, the sound dimming into silence, Tristan realized that he had to decide what he was going to do. Alden wanted to be warned, but from the sound of it, there wouldn’t be enough time for him to slip away and back before the Seeker took off.

Taking a step back towards the rear wall of the room, Tristan took a deep breath as his decision formed as a pit in his stomach. He had to stay aboard the ship and try to sabotage it. Hoping that the ground team would be able to take care of themselves, the Echo wouldn’t last long in a firefight with this ship. This is what felt right.