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[Xander Morhaime]

The sphere rotated a little on its forward axis as Elizabeth spoke... then, a few moments after she finished, the lights in the surrounding corridors cut out, leaving only the small room with any amount of lighting.

"I'm afraid I must insist," the bot said, though the voice was far less artificial this time. "I would not be a good host to my passengers if I let armed thugs roam around wherever they willed. If you would lay down your arms and follow this drone, I give you my guarantee you'll come to no harm. Otherwise... well, security was dispatched the moment you stepped through the airlock. If you're more than just common pirates, we may be able to resolve this on friendly terms yet," the voice went on, calm and steady.

"Your choice, miss. I would appreciate it if you made it quickly."

[Gargulec]

'Lay down my arms and be led somewhere?' Elizabeth chuckled. 'Sorry, ain't gonna happen. Either we are keeping our weapons, or we are not going anywhere.'

[Xander Morhaime]

The sphere hovered for a moment, then bobbed briefly in what might've been a shrug. "I'm a reasonable person, to some extent. You will unload and stow your weapons, then. A gesture of good will. I'm sure you can see the sense in not waving loaded weapons around on a ship with civilians present."

[Gargulec]

'Listen, whatever or whoever you are: I. Am. Not. Becoming. Defenceless. Period' uttered Elizabeth. Maybe she was not in ODT any more, but some habits persisted. 'I know how to handle my rifle safely, fear not. I won't hurt anyone, unless you give me a good reason to.'

[Xander Morhaime]

"No reasoning with some people, I suppose," the drone replied as it disappeared down one of the unlit corridors. A few moments later, the lights in the room cut out as well. "I've taken the liberty of engaging security lockdown. If you disarm before security arrives, you'll still not be harmed," the drone added as a parting comment from the darkness.

Of course, you still had suit flashlights, but that wasn't quite the same as nice, brightly lit corridors...

[S.K. Ren]

  "It didn't say to give up our weapons just unload and secure them. Seems simple enough." Evedro sighed, ejecting the slugs from his gun. So much for relying on the one with military training. Stowing his gun in it's holster he strode ahead of the group after the security orb.
  "If you want to get shot on sight be my guest. I'm going ahead so we can get things underway."

[Silhar]

With a sigh and a shrug of resignation, Yurij secures and unloads his weapon as well.
"Not goin' to mess vith'em, Liz. I tell ya do the zame.", he sneers, shoving the clip behind his belt.

[Gargulec]

Elizabeth remained silent for a few moments, calming herself. 'One thing I am sure' she muttered finally, unloading her rifle, and slung it over her shoulder 'I am not putting other's lives in danger just because I am too stubborn to understand that there is no other way. Yuri, secure your weapons' she ordered. 'And, Evedro, thank you for remind me of that.'

[Xander Morhaime]

You managed to catch up with Evedro just around the corner - he'd been waiting with a (the?) drone, which now bobbed a little in the air as it saw you approach.

"There you are," it stated, again in that cheerful artificial voice. "This way, please."

Though you couldn't quite shake the feeling of being watched even as the lights came back on, you had little choice but to follow the drone as it led you deeper into the bunker. Further from the bunker hull the corridor layout became far more regular, with nice, even intersections, doors lining both sides of the hallways. Still, for all the luxury, the place seemed empty... a ghost ship, for lack of a better term. Of course that raised the question of who the drone was leading you to...

That last matter at least was cleared up before long. The corridor you'd been following opened into a vast hall that apparently served as a tropical garden. The shift from rich browns of the walls to vibrant greens of leaves and just about every other colour imaginable on the flowers was a bit jarring, to say the least. There was some sort of mist in the air too, judging from the tiny droplets of water collecting on your visors. You even could spy colourful birds lurking among some of the branches. You weren't getting to walk through the garden ground floor, though - the drone had led you out onto a catwalk suspended a good way above the "forest" floor. The catwalk widened out to a large platform roughly in the middle of the chamber, and in near one of the edges of that stood a small table with chairs around it - as well as a person.

The drone departed you quickly once you reached the central platform, and the "host" walked up to greet you. He was a fairly tall man with a wiry built, gaunt even, with slightly graying black hair. He was dressed in what looked for all intents and purposes like a naval flag officer's uniform, but lacked any distinctions of rank.

"Well... it would seem my guests have arrived? Welcome," he said, in the same steady, refined voice you'd heard before from the security drone. "My name is Alexander Grey, and I am priveleged to hold the position of the Morning Star's ship master and captain. Now, as curious as I am to know who comes to visit me all the way out here, I must first ask something else..." the friendly tone faded to a colder one, "What the bloody hell are you doing on my ship, armed like you're going to a war?"

[Gargulec]

Elizabeth exhaled heavily, looking at Gray with mixture of irritation and surprise. When she spoke, she was speaking slowly, carefully pronouncing every word. There was something about mister Gray that made her think that he might as well be totally nuts.

'Listen, this ship, in case you have not noticed is a wreck. Salvage. And we are from salvage team. We claimed this hull as ours, suspecting that there is nothing alive in it, and you have proven as wrong. We were sent to investigate what's inside this super-capital of yours before proper military arrives to secure this whole mess here. So, dare to explain to us what in the God's name are you dong here? What happened here?'

She slowly moved closer to him, hoping to get close enough that she could- if it comes to that- immobilize him.

[Xander Morhaime]

Grey looked genuinely surprised at the claims. "Salvage? My dear girl, that term applies to ownerless ships. As you can see, the Morning Star's owner is very much alive still. I've been with her since she was built and launched," he replied with no small amount of pride in his voice and a sweeping gesture at the hall you were currently in. "As for my being here, well... You know the phrase, the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing? I'm afraid one of my... adversaries, for lack of a better term, provoked a conflict of jurisdiction with the Second Fleet. Secrecy can be a two-edged sword, sadly. I was left with no choice but to defend my operation and the people under my care aboard this ship," he explained, pride giving way to humility in his tone.

[Gargulec]

Elizabeth sighed.

'For out safety sake, we won't dwell on this whole infighting thing' she stated. 'Since this ship is owned, you will deal with Navy as soon as it arrives here... it's not like you're going to get away in this wreck. And, please, we won't pester you any more, we will just return to our ship and put a salvage claim on some other wreck. This place is not lacking in them, really. So, please, release us, and we will be on our way, okay?'

[Xander Morhaime]

Grey laughed, shaking his head lightly. "Forgive me... unless you contacted the Legion directly, it's going to be a while before any force comes out here to investigate. Red tape and all that. It grows thicker the further away you get from the heartlands. That is probably for the best though, as it might provoke another, ah... conflict of jurisdiction if they were to arrive here now," Grey smiled with a shrug. "But as you've so helpfully pointed out, my ship is currently not in a state to travel. While I'm working on the issue as quickly as I can, I cannot leave the work that brought me here unfinished. I'd appeal to your sense of ethics to assist, but I think if I offered more, ah... concrete rewards in turn, you would be more inclined to help?"

[Gargulec]

'Sir, I am just boarding party. Our captain is wait in our destroyer outside, and he could even be an old peer of yours. Contact him. I am not in position to strike deals.

[Xander Morhaime]

"Good point," Grey agreed. "Then if you would not mind, perhaps I should tag along with you. It would rather save time in the long run. Not to mention since the skirmish my communication systems have been behaving somewhat erratically..."