Everyone in the cryo-REKT group wanders around, doing their own things. Not much noteworthy happens. They learn some new skills, they start to make slightly better friends with some of the crew (and each other) and get plenty of beauty sleep. Eventually the news gets passed around that the Captain cut a deal with the pirates, and that they're going to help them. Most people seem okay with this. After all, a lot of them were much worse than pirates at some point in their lives. What the Nemesis was getting in return was
not being mentioned - probably because it was information only privy to the higher-ups.
The next day, the Nemesis docks at Fuhodo Station without much fanfare. The hull echoes as the clamps lock onto the ship, but after that - silence reigns for several hours. Everyone seems to be in the dark about what - if anything - is going on. That's when the REKT crew gets a message on their PDA from SCAMPS: "Get your ass to the briefing room." That's all. Nothing else. But of course, they drop what they're doing and make a beeline. Less than ten minutes have passed before everyone is sitting in their chairs, waiting.
Glad you could all make it. That means you haven't found creative ways to get yourselves killed in the meantime. We've done a good job babyproofing the ship, I like to think.
As you've probably heard by now, Captain Retard negotiated a "deal" with the pirates of the Hy'sak Viscari. In short: they don't kill us, and we help them out. It's one-sided, but it's better than the Nemesis ending up as the same kind of mush my brains turn to after dealing with you asswipes. Seems they like the idea of a partner more than they like the idea of entering the scrap metal business, so that's a plus. At the same time, I still don't trust them for a variety of reasons. First off, they're pirates. That would normally be enough to deter me, but second - and this is important! - they're pirates. I don't have a third reason, but two ought to be enough, I think.
We're presently docked at Fuhodo Station for supplies, supposedly being retrieved by our new partners-in-crime while Havor Maluk is out wining and dining their leaders in a business conference. Fuhodo despises us even more than I do you, if you can imagine that, so before he left, Maluk gave very clear orders that nobody leave the ship. Having been given direct orders by the Nemesis's acting captain, I of course have complied as closely as possible: I have only sent out piece-of-shit nobodies like the advanced REKT crew - who, I might add, have already returned with the goods despite heavy opposition station-side. Our engineers are presently hard at work repairing the warp drives to minimum functionality.
And that brings me to the point. Ready to get to work? Buckle up, dipshits, and welcome to Fuhodo Station. As up to three of you have guessed by now (and I'm being generous with that count), I'm sending you in.
Nemesis needs cash. We can't get materials otherwise, and the pirates aren't offering anything we need. We don't have the resources to attack the station head-on, and we don't want to make an enemy of the entire sector. All of this means I need to send people ashore to find a variety of high-pay work offers - a group of piece-of-shit nobodies, as previously mentioned. That means you.
We're undocking as soon as Maluk finishes his manicure or whatever the fukc he's doing. That should be several hours from now, but you can't afford to wait until the last minute like you did in your previous mission. I need you to return before you're discovered missing. As Fuhodo Station contains over 230,000 individuals, you'll need some help narrowing down your search, so I recruited our prisoner, Aloka, to provide a detailed outline. I've sent it to your PDAs.
((A link to the interactive map SCAMPS gives to your characters on their PDAs, except it would be 3D, prettier, and have better coding (this is absolutely NOT intended to be used on a phone)))
A couple of centuries ago, the human megacorp P.T. Enterprises discovered a vast deposit of platinum on one of Fuhodo's orbital asteroids. Using aliens as cheap labor, they built the station and set up a privatized government. When the plat dried up, the idiots weren't prepared, and the station descended into chaos. After P.T. pulled out, it created a power vacuum that culminated in the Fuhodo Massacre, in which over 25,000 died, most to being spaced. Sound like fun so far? Your kind of place? Hell, you're going to love this - it gets even better!
The station is presently controlled by a splinter group of OWL: the Fuhodo Mercenary Union. The other main faction is the Hsilkorian Rebirth Movement - the same squids that built Huhoba Qitsit - and they have a very fragile relationship. Plenty of contention there, except in one area: we fucked with their economy. Things are even worse here than usual, and Kendall reports they're probably on the verge of a civil war. They need an outlet, and stress balls just aren't cutting it. Need me to spell it out for you? Every fukcing alien on that station would love nothing better than to blast you to a paste.
According to Aloka, your best bet to find work would be either at the merc towers, the markets, or the downtown area. You'll want to make yourself visible to potential employers, but not the common citizen. Good luck on figuring that one out. In case you find something interesting to purchase or just want a good meal, I'm giving you some unearned plat - 200 chips each. You can pay me back later. Terrin Zetch will be waiting at the elevator to let you convert REKT credits to plat if you so desire. And yes, I said elevator, not hangar. As expected, Kendall and his crew landing their fighters (and yours) atop the station's main hangar turned too many heads. We can't afford another incident like that - especially with your gross incompetence - so he hired two local shuttles to bring you over there, and they'll be parking up near the ruined bridge. As to getting home, I've installed autopiloting chips in your CASKETs. If you can carve a path to them, they're your emergency getaway vehicles. Otherwise they'll come back by themselves. If you get stranded, Tartarus will probably send a contingent of assassins after you later, but congrats on your temporary freedom I guess?
In the interest of introducing the slimmest chance of you somehow not getting yourselves killed, I'm dressing you up as regular old mercs-for-hire, armed to the teeth as is typical. Make sure you play the part. You'll want to stick in groups small enough to not attract too much attention, but avoid going solo - that paints you as a target. Don't idle in the corridors, and always have somewhere you're heading. If you need to meet up, either do it out of sight or make it look like coincidence. Merc groups are competitors, not friends. Also, watch for shady individuals - OWL probably has spies on the station. As long as you're on the Nemesis, you're under the protection of the Hy'sak Viscari, but as soon as you leave, you're fair game. Keep your guard up, and if anything anomalous materializes, take it this time.
Finally - and most importantly - do not communicate with the Nemesis under any circumstances. There's a high certainty that they're monitoring our comms. The second they hear back-and-forth chatter, they'll triangulate your position and be all over you. Talk to each other over comms as little as possible. Your suit comms will have basic encryption, but no more than that. If someone really wants to, they'll be able to decrypt it.
Now, before I kick you out to the airlock, figure out your battle plan. We only have one shot at this, so make it fukcing count.