Current Holder: The crew — docked on a public pad at Aethel Starport, Eris III, as of Session 7

Origin: Seized from the Kinetic Logistics Compound on Thides III

Overview

An older, heavily modified transport the crew stole from the Kinetic Logistics Compound on Thides III — and, for the first time since Processing II, hard, portable proof of everything they’ve seen. Its passenger interior was gutted for cargo, with unfamiliar modifications bolted on near the engines. In the cockpit, Six found alien technology wired directly into the navigation computer, with coordinates logging a recent jump straight into the planet’s atmosphere — bypassing the orbital satellite net entirely. The drives that did it are illegal vortex engines, the kind normally found only on large military vessels, that punch holes into hyperspace without a gate.

The hull itself is a Horizon Aerospace ST-160 — an upper-medium-tier starship built for atmospheric landings, the kind of ship companies buy when they want something a step above bare-bones without paying for a luxury yacht. This one has been stripped of that comfort and run hard: passenger fittings torn out for cargo, unfamiliar modifications bolted on near the drives.

The rear compartment held blocks of alien technology — “bricks” a technician was still wiring when Six ambushed him — rigged to external detonator lines that ran down the gangplank. Six spotted the wires on the way in; the crew reeled them inside before they could be triggered. Ronin Sanchez flew the hull out of the compound under fire, dodging biological blobs on the climb, and set course for MacMillian Station IV with the prisoner aboard.

Properties

• Hull class: Horizon Aerospace ST-160 (upper-medium-tier, atmosphere-capable), older and beat-up; cargo-converted; bolt-on engine modifications.
• Propulsion: illegal vortex engines — gateless hyperspace jumps.
• Navigation: alien-integrated nav computer; last jump logged directly into atmosphere.
• Cargo: alien “bricks,” formerly rigged to external detonators (now defused).
• Aboard: the crew, plus Marlo Petrak — prisoner turned probationer turned volunteer.
• Current status: docked on a public pad at Aethel Starport, Eris III, fuel and water lines hooked up, fifty-credit docking fee paid, union cargo handlers watching it for kickbacks, and a promised federal transponder inspection going deliberately un-attended.

Appearances

• Session 3 (Session 03 - Buckle Up Motherfuckers) — Scouted, boarded, and stolen from the Kinetic Logistics Compound; flown off-world as the crew’s new vessel and their first solid evidence.
• Session 4 (Session 04 - The Case of the Missing Courtesan) — Lost. Flown home on the last of its thrust fuel, hailed en route by Julija Borja and ordered in under transponder. Shackleton Magellan used the three-hour flight to fit a covert Stealth Tracking Gizmo to its transponder relay and to work out what the Alien Navigation Device in its nav computer actually does. On arrival it was impounded and quarantined at Docking Bay 36 on the Marshal’s order and locked down by Holger Graeme. When Shackleton later pinged the tracker, nothing answered — the hull had already left the Thides System, taking the alien navigation device, the illegal vortex engines, and the hold of alien technology with it.
• Session 6 (Session 06 - The Albatross Takes Flight) — Recovered and christened. Named the Albatross during the four-day transit; hull patched; Corwin II raid and escape.
• Session 7 (Session 07 - The Goodwin Contract) — Refit and grounded at Aethel Starport. The Corwin autopilot seizure exposed as a hijack via a comms-array attachment; answered with the Autopilot Kill Switch. Biometric entry re-keyed by Marlo Petrak. Talked past The Montgomery with a fast transponder activation; inspection promised and skipped. Provisioned with twelve days of rations; fuse capacitor bought for the third airlock button; Rock Lavey’s medbay upgrade blocked on finding a starship engineer. A coded transponder — the ship’s biggest liability — is the payment on The Goodwin Contract.