Feng chuckles as the door opens, taking the explosives with it. "Might want to suggest some spring cleaning when we're done. It'd be a shame if there was an accident in the future." She then heads into the hold along with Enrica, and looks around. She uses her engineering knowledge to try and identify any bulkheads which wouldn't immediately be spaced in case of an attack, any spots in the wall where there wouldn't likely be much between the framing, and of course anything inconsistent - patterns which could indicate a secret compartment, fraying or scuffs, misplaced or off-color rivets, or even misplaced or inactive vents or light fixtures. If she could have used it to stash grog and beefcake during her awkward teenage years, it's going to be tapped on, poked, and prodded.

"Should I have told him to?" asks Fred. Humans have strange rituals sometimes (there's one called 'sleep' which is a permanent mystery to Fred) and he's never quite sure when another will turn up.

Jonas seems a bit surprised, but covers it up with a strong cocky reaction to his successful performance.

"Course, boss! I signed up for a post where I can fly fast, fly straight, and not have to pay the speeding fines! Stormy weather lets you make the most exciting turns, after all!"

Feng searches the cargo hold, using her intimate knowledge of where one might hide important goods...

<Feng's Search Check>
Roll: 8 + 1 +1 = 10
MAJOR SUCCESS!!

Feng eventually happens upon a small iron briefcase hidden in a cranny. It isn't locked, so she is able to open it immediately. Inside, she finds a bright red piece of Pulsar, rounded and pristine.

<FENG OBTAINED Swara Pulsar - Shadja!>

Enrica walks up behind her. "Ah, it looks like you found it! Looks like that Zachary got us good intel after all." With that, she waves a hand in the air, pawing at a holographic computer screen to communicate with Rojo...

---------------------------------------------------------

Rojo chuckles as Jonas plays with the metaphor. "I see, I see... I'm glad..."

Then, he notices a call incoming. "Enrica? Is that you...? You found it? Great!"

Rojo turns to the Captain. "And as per our agreement, we are leaving." Sending a message to the teams, Rojo announces, "Alright, you bastards! Let's get back to the Supernova and let these nice traders go about their business!!"

----------------------------------------------------------

As Fred continues delving through the ships computers, he finds something concerning - a directional transmission in SDA coding sent automatically by the ship's computer upon being under fire. It seems this is a new feature on trader ships. He can't tell if the message was received or not, as there is no Acknowledgement of receipt.

Zach smiles and nods to the captain, giving a slight theatrical bow before turning to follow Rojo out the door. It was nice to have one more pretense done with; now they just had to get off the ship before anyone got cocky and started the shooting all over again. Letting the bridge doors shut behind him, he slides in step between the two rookies and gives them both a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Well, that went well enough." Flicking his cigar to let the excess ash at its end drop to the metal flooring beneath them, he asks, "So where'd you two learn moves like that? I mean, I know you've got some combat history behind you, but I've gotta say I didn't quite expect you to be so good. I went in expecting to carry around the rookies and frankly I think you two got a helluva lot more done than me when push came to pistol."

"Hey, this is new. The ship automatically calls for help as soon as it's under fire." Fred looks over the program that sent the automatic transmission, to see if there's an 'all-clear' signal that can be triggered; if he can find one, then he triggers it.

Whether he can trigger the 'all-clear' or not, he adds one little enhancement of his own to the program - from now on, about once a month, it'll send out a false alarm.

Rocs follows the non-space vacuum path to the other injured solders and patches them up in the same manor as before. He meets with the captain half way back to the Supernova. "Captain Rojo, I assume things are going smoothly? If that it the case, I recommend caution. I've noticed a sharp increase in injuries for crew members on missions that start smoothly as opposed to ones that do not. It is an odd inverse..."

Jomo's hand drawn eyebrow twitches as the door opens on its own.

As it opens on its own without a boom, or a bang, or even a dinky little ptoom.

The silence in the room is deafening as Jomo rises to his feet, and picks up what he can of the plastic explosive he so carefully attempted to set in place with Feng. When everything has been cleaned up and returned to his backpack, Jomo looks for the nearest security camera, and looks directly into it. He pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then raises one hand.

"FRED YOU STUPID SON OF A -" Jomo's more colorful vocabulary comes out in full force, though hidden beneath the continued sound of the man's heavy fists tearing through what electronics he can find, and pounding them into circuitry and scrap metal. As he finally finishes his destructive rampage around the hallway, his words nothing more than enraged gibberish, Jomo picks up his pack and slings it back over his shoulders. "I had ONE job on this mission, and Fred up and RUINS IT. I'm not overreacting, am I?" He says, turning to the guards laying on the floor. "I mean really! Is it TOO much to ask for a simple, single little chance to blow something to high heaven? No one was even in any danger! If the explosive went off wrong I've lived through worse, and Feng's a freakin' cyborg! She's quite literally tough as steel! You two should know that." he says pointing to the guards who had been foolish enough to rush at Jomo's teammate. "I don't even know if Pulsar is enough to console me at this point." He glances over to the stockpile, and a smile spreads across his face. "But I can certainly try." Jomo skips over into the cargo bay, before taking in the vast glory of the potentially explosive compound, holding all that energy, just waiting for Jomo to do something terrible with it.

"Please First Lady Enrica? Just a little bit for the road?"

Feng holds up the chunk of pulsar with a triumphant look on her face, and says "gotcha! Man, that was kinda easy - not even a false panel or a secret latch? You guys need to learn to hide your stuff better." She then puts it back in the briefcase and starts to head back triumphantly when she hears Fred's announcements. She then utters a string of expletives, and says "I knew it was going too well! Boss, not to stomp on your authority or anything, but we've gotta scram!"

"I am impressed." states Fred. "I've never been able to trace my own ancestry. I had rather come to the conclusion that I might not have had a mother at all. Where did you find out all those details about her? It's not that I don't trust you, but I'm sure you'll understand that I'd prefer some documentary evidence in order to prevent potential misunderstandings."

Enrica gives a cross look at Jomo when he makes his request. "Quit joking around, Jomo. This is neither the time nor place. Let's get going."

Rojo thinks for a second as Rocs makes a doctors recommendation and Fred talks about the automatic signal. "Huh. Well, they had mentioned they had sent a distress beacon but I thought it was just a standard call... This might actually be serious." He nods at Feng. "You're probably right. Let's get going!"

Taking the Swara Pulsar with them, the pirates board the White Dwarf. Just as they do, they get a message from one of the bridge crew. "Captain! Massive energy reading just appeared on the long range scanners! Judging by this size it must be... A Dreadnought!"

Rojo's eyes widen. "Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! Not good!"

Not waiting for any of the crew members to buckle up, Rojo retracts the boarding bridge and blasts back towards the Supernova. Enrica stares with her mouth agape. "A DREADNOUGHT?!?! But that's not possible! The only Dreadnought in the area should be several AUs away!" With a dark expression, Rojo says, "I've heard that the dreadnoughts are testing new fold technology... Not just that though. If it is the dreadnought stationed in the Atropos system, then it must be-"

Rojo is interrupted by a barrage of lasers arcing through space towards the Supernova. The large galleon is rocked and it's defensive batteries are heavily damaged. Rojo curses loudly and races the White Dwarf forward.

"They're using long range laser batteries - as I feared, that must be the Carina, the only ship with energy weapons that long of range. Fortunately they won't be in range to use their main guns just yet... But only the bridge has a radio with enough range to reach the distance it is firing from."

The White Dwarf lands in the Supernova dock and Rojo hammers on a button opening a ramp. "Enrica, come with me to the bridge! I'm going to try talking to that scoundrel! Everyone else, go to the banks that were damaged in the attack and help them out!" As he runs out, Enrica chases after. "Wait, you can't be serious! You know what that freak is like he'll never listen to anyone, not even you!" Before she vanishes, she shouts back at the transport ship, "Guys, get ready for a fight! And make sure the cargo is safe!"

"Home sweet home." Fred quickly re-loads himself onto the Supernova's computer systems, and looks over the logs to see what, if anything, interesting happened while he was gone. "No other computer system is ever really the same..."

Then he looks up all known information on dreadnaughts in general, and the Carina in specific, especially as regards weak points. One of the Supernova's defensive cannons doesn't seem to be doing anything (inside the control booth, the operator slumps, a piece of the roof had broken loose in the Carina's first attack, and knocked him on the head; he was unconscious and would have a terrible headache on awakening) so Fred takes over automatic control, firing when he has a high probability of hitting an identified weak spot.

A manic grin crosses Feng's face as the Captain orders them to get to the banks. She turns to them, the grin turning absolutely malicious, and brandishes her wrench menacingly. "You heard the captain! We're all on engineering duty, and since I'm the only one here who knows what I'm doing, you're all mine. Now get your arses to the banks before I wire you into the ships as spare capacitors!"

Feng slams the wrench into her hand with a loud *CLANG!* to make sure the point comes across, then force-marches anyone not foolish enough to stand in her way to the damaged banks. Anyone foolish enough is going to get dragged there, kicking and screaming or unconscious as necessary.

Rocs rushes into the damaged sectors, looking for the most injured personnel and dragging them to safety, patching them up in order of most dire need. As he works he presses his collar, "No fatalities Captain, thought some of these men will need an extended leave. Where do you need me? Shall I awaken Hawkeye or do you need me to find the rhythm on the deck?" He's ready to move at a second's notice.

Jonas ignores Feng's commands, and instead runs after Rojo as he exits.

"Wait, boss! I don't think I should go to the repair detail. I'm not that good at the heavy lifting. I think I could help more on the bridge, even if its just as an extra pair of hands on the sensors! I'm good with top end systems when I know how theyre calibrated."