Hired

Having successfully extracted Ms Sycca Kawavi and the three conspirators in our custody - we had little left to do on Blue. I informed the forces of Sir Hefty to stand down, and removed the logic bomb from the shield dome's systems. I tasked Oswald and Uz-Kun with final preparations on the [ship name - formerly the Rising Shadow but Dennis Retconned it to something else] and Ferris Blackclaw with firewatch. The captain and I would interrogate the passengers and Mr. Outinhiener to assist me.
 
My tactic was very simple. I sat all three in the bridge and explained that they'd failed Lunk Thunderchin - and that he will be coming to kill them in short order. However, as I was a former Colonel in the Star Marines special forces and an Imperial Baron that possessed considerable resources, I could provide protection in exchange for cooperation. The two men protested, claiming that they were going to be rescued by their pirate patron and that if anyone would be killed - it would be me. I simply laughed and told them they didn't know Lunk nearly as well as they thought they did. My time in the service saw me cross paths with the corsair on more than one occasion, every lackey thought their rescue was imminent - but shortly after I'd delivered my charge to jail - invariably I'd receive a report of those same belligerents dying. Usually via Columbian Necktie.
 
So I made them a deal. I would attempt to interrogate each one exactly once. Should they refuse, I would have Mr. Outinhiener bring them to the lower deck and put them in a cryoberth. They would be brought to jail, and Thunderchin would torture and assassinate them. Or they could could take a gamble on me, and maybe they live maybe they don't. Again the two men protested, "How could anyone protect them Lunk Thunderchin". I reminded them that he already wanted me dead from all the times I'd tangled with him and disrupted his plans - yet here I stood. As for proof of my skills, I reminded them that within 2 hours of me learning of their existence - I'd uncovered and thwarted their conspiracy. Using my sword, I tapped on their manacles for dramatic effect.
 
After a deliberately long pause, I asked Captain Jankowitz first. He responded with shouts, swears, and spit. He screamed himself hoarse with promises of my demise. When his bluster petered out, I turned to Ronin and said, "Mr. Outinhiener, the prisoner has decided he'd like to be executed by Thunderchin in some backwater prison - please escort him to the cryoberths in the lower deck." I purposefully waited in silence for Ronin to return before asking the second man. He refused, but with significantly less bravado. He nervously asserted, half to me and half to himself, that he would be saved. I told him that I wished for his sake that he was right, but that my experience told me he was doomed to a very painful death. Again, he was escorted down below. The last prisoner, the one I'd identified as the weak link from the outset, had been properly traumatized by my matter-of-fact display by the time Ronin returned from the bowls of the ship.
 
Nikola, begged me to protect her from Lunk, but wanted to know how I'd do it before she'd agree. I explained that I had admin access to the computer systems in the Arcadis mining camp. I could remove her from the records and have her transferred to Bluehai still working for OCP but under the protection of the Shadow of the Rose Corporation. In exchange, she would act as a passive informant to provide me with useful intel and preferential treatment. She didn't know much, and I didn't expect her to. What I wanted from the beginning was a corporate spy inside OCP I had leverage on - and that was worth calling in a few favors.
 
The rest of the affair was rather mundane. I submitted my report to GeDeCo on the two prisoners, and we returned Ms Kawavi and the [Ship name] to them. We were officially hired by the Shadow of the Rose, having passed our orientation, and ordered to report to the Royal family of the former Sindal Empire on Drinex. Coincidentally, I was approached by Victoria - the young woman Ronin nearly shot at the beginning of the op. She'd independently wanted the same deal I'd given to Nikola, and wanted to get off Blue and to someplace more significant. That would be an easy arraignment, but in the meantime I asked her to stay on as head of security in Arcadis and approve Nikola's transfer to Bluehai.
 
The only other thing of note, though I'm hesitant to record this here. The computer of the [ship] is a sentient AI, and from the records in the ship's logs - Thunderchin had another ship named the USS Shenanigans also controlled by a sentient AI stolen from him. That he is collecting such rare and restricted technologies is disturbing. The fact that my employers seem to be aware of and actively countering this effort, speaks volumes of their capabilities. My interest is peaked, but this is likely the most dangerous task I've ever embarcked upon.
 
I couldn't be happier.