A plan is formed to assault the station’s command centre. A plea from Administrator Javier Augustine, aka Zero Shock, to rescue survivors from the military med lab costs him his life. Gus pulls off a significant hack, registering herself as joint-secondary commander and making friends with the station AI, Sally. This allows the team to slow down enemy movements and reach the med lab before reinforcements.

After freeing the remaining station personnel, Gus re-reprograms a security bot which is then used as cannon-fodder, allowing them to stomp onwards and secure the shuttle bay. During this foray, SK (employee NQ771 SKD9B) realises the jig may be up and hightails it for the VoidCorp assault ship. Belatedly, the crew give chase, but the remaining invaders escape. In a parting message, SK promises repercussions for today’s interference:

“Such a pity it had to end this way. As a reasonable man, I’d much rather have reached some kind of understanding. Now, VoidCorp will have to add you to its list of corrupted assets, and I, Sato Klaude Dexter, will take great personal pleasure in expunging each of you from reality’s balance sheet.”

Wayne locates the abandoned aquatic shuttle, which Conrad retrieves in more-or-less one piece. Madame Exo is contacted and the other shuttle returns from its hiding spot beneath the polar ice on Walin III. Injuries are healed. The dead are put on ice. The Momotaro makes ready to leave, at which point Kurch announces he will stay in case VoidCorp return before Insight reinforcements arrive.

Back on Bluefall, Dr Nuna is escorted safely to Haven 6. Alloy releases the agreed fee. Gus hands over captured VoidCorp armour and weapons, with a suggestion that they might be useful for a certain kind of operation. Cinque asks for Foxy Lady’s hand but she refuses to allow him to detach it and offers him a tour of the cybernetics lab instead.

On the taxi flight back to Hughes Island, Mayhem informs them the Sparrow’s refit is still in progress. Also, there may be a small shortfall in funds, which will be required to get it released when they are completed…

Mayhem dry-docks the Sparrow for some upgrades, leaving the crew at a loose end. Gus steps in with a fun-filled day out at Haven 6, although Cinque declines in favour of going shopping (again). They sign up to a clandestine recovery mission for an Inseer admin, Foxy Lady.

After a quick restock and wardrobe change, they board the Momotaro, which delivers them to the Walin system. Ignoring the suspicious vessel already docked at Starstation Aurora, they (mostly) leave their weapons behind and step aboard. However, once their friendly guide-bot explodes, rendering Cinque unconscious, they begin to suspect something may be amiss.

An ambush by a VoidCorp assault squad is cut short when Gus overrides a door, separating the two parties. Declining employee NQ771 SKD9B’s invitation to unconditionally surrender, they withdraw. Reaching the Momotaro, whose own crew have just defeated a VoidCorp demolition team, they grab weapons and consider their options.

Conrad is taken aside by an officer and given a ‘choice’. He agrees to complete the original delivery contract (once the military finishes fabricating replacement microfilm containing inaccurate data) and to inform various contacts on Aegis of the meeting’s location.

On the way out of the Oberon system, the Sparrow is accosted by Thomas Kind. However, a distress signal from the Blue Streak, which is being attacked by an unmarked ship, cuts their interaction short.

While Kind engages the unmarked assailant, the Sparrow races to prevent the Streak crashing into Hux. Cinque damages the induction engine trying to coax a little extra velocity. Conrad compensates for lost time by skilfully matching the Streak’s erratic tumbling.

The sole occupant is the pilot, Megan Falkes, an Inseer agent sent to gather data on VoidCorp’s operations in Oberon. In exchange for salvage rights to the heavily damaged Streak, Kind gives her enough info about VoidCorp’s assets to justify her returning to report.

Back in Aegis, the crew meet their contacts on Nectaris Orbital. On Bluefall, they deliver the stamp album to Ben, who hands them the agreed payment (after surreptitiously confirming that the stamps contain microfilm).

Mayhem arranges for repairs to the Sparrow’s drive. Gustina receives an anonymous link to a server which she successfully hacks into.

The crew find Natalie Curtis, the intermediary who had the stamps, dead in her apartment. ULS Marshal Kathleen Vavaroutsos arrives as they are looking for clues. After producing footage of the suspected murderers, she allows them to depart to investigate while she calls in forensics.

Tracing the pair of suspects to Salamir’s Antiquities, they discover that the dealer (and forger) the pair work for has already made a duplicate set of stamps. After some back and forth across the tier, and a shootout at the store, everyone is taken back to the station. Gemini McCarthy is called in to identify which stamps are fake.

The ‘original’ stamps turn out to be worth less than their courier fee. Digging deeper, it’s discovered that they contain microfilm imprinted with classified information. The military gets involved.

Mayhem puts the party up at a resort while he finds a buyer for the salvaged Scornge vessel. Yala and Wayne disappear (independently). Conrad and Gustina get some poolside R&R. Cinque visits outfitters and buys all the things…

A courier run is accepted to pick up a stamp collection from Oberon and return it to Bluefall. Mayhem presents a new toy for Conrad. They hitch a ride once more with Wei-Wei, entering Lison’s orbit within the week. In Tribon, Cinque forces a brief diversion from their mission to… buy more stuff.

The lure of alien tech proving too strong for Cinque, the four decide to attempt another foray. All goes mostly to plan as they explore module upon module.

Until they encounter a deadly automation left to guard the vessel. Caught unawares, they initially take heavy blows. Conrad holds it off in an exchange of gunfire until they mange to trap it in a corridor between two security hatches. At this point, discretion proves the better part of valour and they withdraw until the Wei-Wei arrives.

They negotiate the assistance of a security team to finish clearing the ship. Once Wei-Wei’s stardrive has recharged and the Scournge vessel is secured in a radiation-hardened ore hold, they starfall to Aegis. Mayhem puts the others up in a hotel on Hughes Island while he makes arrangements to sell the salvaged craft.

Having solved one mystery together, Cinque, Conrad, and Wayne find themselves dealing with baggage reclaim on Alaundril. Along with another wanderer, Gustina, they are quickly signed up by Mahum “Mayhem” Mynsip, the new captain of the Unlucky Sparrow, who needs a crew on short notice for a totally-not-sketchy-as-hell contract with Verge Explorations Inc in a far-flung region of the Verge.

Unrelated to this undertaking, an enigmatic fraal, E’ Yala Rist, will be their honoured passenger. When questioned, Mayhem was a bit hazy on why he had agreed to convey her, or indeed where she was travelling to.

The Sparrow is but one of a half dozen independents contracted to drop survey probes in a cluster of systems half way across the Verge. They are deposited in the Exile system by the mining vessel VEI-W13, nicknamed Wei-Wei by its crew.

Despite mounting tensions and mental breakdowns, the Sparrow’s crew complete their mission. While waiting to be picked up, they stumble across an abandoned alien vessel, which they decide to explore (and salvage) before Wei-Wei returns.

After taking fire from a defence mechanism, the four retreat. Yala reveals herself to have biokinetic abilities and partially heals their wounds. They regroup the following morning to consider their options.

Three unlikely bedfellows solve a minor mystery aboard the Imperial Pedigree.

Two stowaways given sanctuary – Henrietta “Henri” Laurenz and Sara 24 Theta, aka “Auntie Kitty”.

One dastardly steward brought to justice, or at least fired without pay.