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Game Events
Jackson stands up, saying, "Alright, let's roll, folks." Trent and Dmitri stand, too, and the group of six gathers around their quasi-leader. "We're outta here. We've got plenty of manpower, so no reason to loiter." He turns and starts walking towards the exit, the group of 8 following him. As they exit the spacious round lounge, they enter a relatively narrow hallway. The right side is a solid wall while the left is more floor-to-ceiling windows. The giant hulking frame of the Durandal is partially visible in one of the huge docking bays about half a mile away. They turn right, around a corner, and get into the elevator at the end of the hall. Thirty seconds later, Jackson steps off onto the ground floor, and the group pours out of the cramped space with relief into a lobby close to the entrance of the docking center. "Lucky I have this old girl still docked here, would've been a ♥♥♥♥♥ having to hire private transport." He walks up to a small automated terminal and flashes a Universal Identification Card at a scanner, then puts his finger against a second scanner, and finally presses his eye to a third scanner. "Even a small ship like mine's worth a fortune. They've got real tight security to prevent identity theft." he explains as his user account information finally comes up on the screen. After flicking through a few choices, he says, "Alright, we should be good to go. They're undocking it now. It'll probably take at least 10 minutes for it to be ready, though."

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Game Events
"Alright, boys, let's roll. She's waitin' for us." The group follows Jackson through a few ordinary hallways ending in another elevator, this one taking them underground. "Most of the private hangars are underground, saves space." Jackson explains as they step in. After a brief ride down, the group exits the cramped space to find themselves standing in a very spacious hangar, on a walkway suspended about 100 feet above a large floor where there are a few dozen docked and stored ships. "They've already winched our ride up- there she is!" Jackson says, pointing to a ship on something like a helipad directly ahead of them. There are 9 of these helipad-like platforms in a 3 by 3 formation, all suspended above the ship storage area, and all directly under large openings in the ceiling. "C'mon, boys." Everyone begins walking towards the ship, which is emblazoned with the name Proteus on the side in a blazing blue.

The Proteus is painted mainly in a dark silvery tone with light blues as a secondary. It's roughly 50 meters long, with a wingspan of about 40, a body width of 20, and a height of 15. Jackson leads them to the back, where the entrance ramp is already open. "All aboard!" he says, climbing through. "The ride there should be pretty uneventful and boring, if short. If you guys wanna just chill till we get there, the living quarters are through there, on the ground floor," he adds, pointing at a hatch immediately in front of them. "Bunks, kitchen, bathroom, hell, even a TV. Most of the space up here is taken up by internal mechanics, weapons, scanners, that sort of thing, but the cockpit is pretty spacious and I can control pretty much everything from there. Now then, let's get the hell out of here!" With everyone on-board, Jackson closes the entrance ramp and moves into the cockpit, firing up the engines of the Proteus. Fifteen minutes later, the Proteus is in orbit.

Thirty minutes later, the ship is warping out of deep space and speeding towards Mendrigan II. "Didn't even know you could get a warp drive on a small ship like this," Trent comments. "Heh, well, Proteus has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. I hope to keep surprising you in the future." The planet looks dusty and barren even from orbit; yellow skies, brown earth, and not a single visible spot of green or blue add to the impression of a giant planetary wasteland. "Yeah, not exactly a vacation spot, is it?" As the Proteus hurtles through the process of atmospheric entry, the view is obscured as the outer hull of the ship is engulfed in flame. After roughly thirty seconds, the ship is suddenly slicing through thick, yellowish clouds, and then it's in clear skies. As far as the group can see, the planet is barren: rocks, sand, dirt, and lakes of sulfur, it's like an endless desert. Mendrigan, the blue star occupying this system, is clearly visible on the other side of the sky. "The facility's pretty close by, maybe a few miles away. It's already visible, actually." So it is- a collection of grey specks grouped in a circle, surrounded by what seems to be a thick wall or barrier of some kind. As the Proteus approaches, more details become visible, until at last, the ship begins to slow down and finally land about a hundred meters from the center. "Scanners are all clear, so we should probably be good. Let's move, boys!" With everyone off the ship, Jackson takes out a remote and closes the boarding ramp, then hits a small button near the bottom. The ship seems to flash, and then a few seconds later, it disappears entirely. "Adaptive camouflage. It's no use when you're moving, but it's a great way to hide it while I'm away. C'mon." As the group begins walking towards the entrance of the facility, an alarm suddenly goes off. "What the hell?"

"WARNING: YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. LEAVE OR SECURITY WILL BE AUTHORIZED TO FORCIBLY REMOVE YOU FROM THE PREMISES. INJURY OR DEATH MAY RESULT FROM FAILURE TO COMPLY."