Elsewhere...
Working in the Administration sector at the far end of VOC-1 tended to often be a rather boring job, especially if you tasked with observing the station's automated systems. Sure, you had your janitors which had been largely been replaced by drones, administration security whom were largely replaced with Frontier Militia troops, and a few other duties like general engineers and mechanics who made sure the automated systems kept running. But if you were just a technician or standard operations personnel? Cushy job with little to do beyond screwing around on your holotablets or flipping some switches when it was time to turn something on or off. Biggest thing they usually did was shut the shutters over the thick glass sides of the colony when meteorites decided to fly by or shooting started outside between the Frontier Militia ships and anyone they deemed a threat.
In a small section of the central administration structure, a pair of technicians sat quietly at the controls which operated the colony's large boosters. They were used to maintain the colony's position in orbit, and were only used really to correct their course or just to test their functions. The last test had been three years ago, and all were functioning perfectly. So what they did for most of the hours of the day were talk shit, play on their holotablets, or make food or bathroom visits. But today was going to be far different than the usual.
"Hey...Hey, Jeroen. Did you just lose your starnet connection?" muttered one of the VOC-1 technicians, as he sat with his legs kicked up on the table next to his holocomputer. In his hands, his holotablet which wasn't registering a connection anymore. Regardless as to what he tried, nothing was loading. Nearby, another technician tried to use his own holotablet to connect to the starnet. And with the same results. Nothing. "...Did the server go down?" asked Jeroen, the human looking to his fellow Malmarian technician. The Malmarian shrugged, before setting his holotablet aside and reaching for the phone attached to the desk nearby. He punched a code into the table next to it, hitting the keys in rhythmic fashion, before lifting the phone to his ear.
A few moments later, he spoke into it. "This is Oudin down in Booster Control. Are the starnet servers down or something? We're not getting any connection whatsoever down here." The voice on the other end, one of the technicians further up the central administration structure in the massive server rooms, gave a strange reply.
"The servers are fine, apparently, but we're not getting any signal from the towers. Some engineers are heading out to check on them, but we just got word from higher up that the Militia ships outside have lost long range communications and starnet themselves."
Oudin gave Jeroen a look of concern. "They lost comms? We probably lost them too, in that case. Think it might be a relay problem?" he asked.
"Maybe. Bosses are on the short range comms with the Rook. Going to see if we can get anyone to head out to the relay to check it out."
A few systems away...
"Do not touch anything. We have no idea what is still active. I don't want to have to treat one of you idiots if you get fried by an electrical surge." stated the tall woman, almost gliding through the dimly lit room. The two arms jutting off the sides of
her helmet moved about, moving objects out of the way so that she wouldn't have to touch them with her gloved hands, while her cloak shielded hid her graceful movements. The few Reavers following her through the medical bay of the derelict colony ship took extra care with their movements after her statements, keeping their weapons gripped tightly but paying close attention to where they stepped or what they touched.
The medical wing of the ship seemed rather expansive, able to treat a few hundred at a time. It likely had a stockpile of medical equipment and supplies, but just how outdated were they? And were they in any condition to be used? Likely not. The ship looked ancient, and from what Easel had seen so far, barely salvageable. Adrift, getting barraged with objects and radiation over the years... None of this would be of real use to them beyond easy money. It was a complete surprise that there was any life signs. The ship's shielding failed a long time ago, and it was likely the same had happened for the cryogenic tube shielding.
Eventually, they arrived at the cryogenics section at the rear of the medical bay. And the door was locked. Easel didn't wait for the Reavers behind her to move to unlock the door. Instead, her two mechanical helmet-mounted arms reared back, before driving deep inside the door. And a moment later, they forced the two large doors apart. Metal creaked, buckled, and eventually snapped as the doors were pried open with immense force. And then, Easel simply strolled inwards. Right into a horrible mess.
The shielding had indeed failed for the most part on nearly all of the tubes. Several had even thawed out, exposing the bodies of the crew to the elements and radiation over the course of several decades. The stench of rotting flesh, tissues, and organs was intense in the room. Behind her, the Reavers were very visibly reacting to the stench. One even darted over and puked into a trash bin. Easel looked over her shoulder at the pirates.
"Control yourselves. Help me find the survivor, so we may transport them back to the Guillotine to be properly thawed."
"Wanted to take a break and see what this place had to offer when I heard your recruiter." Amy pointed to Aesha with her thumb "Figured I'd be nice to see how you're doing and you know the rest."
Valk nodded. "Right. It's really good to see you." she said, before shoving her hands into her pockets. "...Been to Duroma lately? How's
Alex? Heard he's running some brewery and pit fighting thing now." She shrugged slightly, as her gaze shifted to the floor again. "...I haven't exactly kept up with everyone as much as I'd like. Last time I spoke to
Taylor, it was just before
Mad Dog died a few years ago. Only thing I know is she's on Duroma too, running some
merc group with her daughter. I think
Yanim set up shop there too, but I haven't really heard much about Yanim in a long time."