01 - Crispy Wolf

On the asteroid Olympus Reef in the belt between Mars' and Jupiter's orbits, a crew in need of a ship are checking out the wares at Boris' Star-lot. Terry, Barry the butler bot, Ripley Hoban, Mazen and Faux Hawk have plenty of money for a new vessel since the insurance company paid out for their last ride, the Ship-Faced.

The crew were transporting a valuable painting on behalf of a patron. However, a competitor paid them to make sure the art piece never made it to its destination. The team decided to run the Ship-Faced into a hard object, thus writing it off. The company now has an excuse to give to their art-loving client, the painting, and a juicy pay-out.

Boris, the owner of the star-lot singles out a ship to suit the crew's needs in the form of the Cookie Cutter. This tidy little number comes with an expanded cargo bay and the very latest and most advanced scanners and sensors. Whilst the rest of the crew haggles and barters with Boris, Ripley finds a terminal via which she hacks into the ship salesman's business account. Ripley fiddles the books, making them claim the team has already paid a 50 credit deposit on the Cookie Cutter, against its total price of ₡500.

The crew takes the prospective new vessel for a spin around Olympus Reef. If the team's members have thoughts of doing a runner from the star-lot without paying, they see the ship doesn't have enough fuel to make it even as far as Genesis Toroid, which is pretty close. Turns out Boris ain't entirely stupid after all. After piloting the Cookie Cutter back to the asteroid, the team settle up for the ship, paying credits.

In the bar Mag-A-Loft, so named because everyone on the asteroid uses mag boots to keep them from floating off the floor, the crew meet a contact of theirs, the South African Colin Decker. Decker has sniffed out an opportunity for the party to top up its credits reserves. A space freighter carrying valuable cybernetic parts, the Crispy Wolf, has strayed from its course and is floundering somewhere else on the asteroid belt. It would be a shame if pirates took advantage of the vulnerable frieghter, so why shouldn't the crew of the Cookie Cutter be first on the scene to make sure a more reputable party arrives first?

The team decide to pass themselves off as a rescue and repare party. Ripley puts together a website for the mission, so that the freighter crew can check the Cookie Cutter's credentials. However, Ripley's efforts are so unsuccessful that she not only puts together a terrible website, but she even fails to notice how bad it is.

The party fly their new ship to the last known location of the Crispy Wolf. The Cookie Cutter's nav computer detects a freighter-sized object in the region of space the crew expects to find it. It's then that the nav computer goes haywire, spitting sparks and flames. The party get the electrical fire under control and close the distance with the freighter by eye.

As the Cookie Cutter approaches the blocky mass of the Crispy Wolf, part of the freighter appears to detach. The separated section begins moving with purpose, and the team realises it is another vessel. When the new ship opens fire on the Cookie Cutter, the team jumps at the chance to try out their new ship's weapon systems. Mazen scores some devastating hits on the enemy craft and the captain of that ship radios a surrender to the Cookie Cutter. The crew gives instructions to await a boarding party.

As the Cookie Cutter gets closer to the enemy vessel, the crew sees a torn docking umbilical hanging from an airlock on the Crispy Wolf. The attacking ship broke away from the freighter to engage the Cookie Cutter in such a hurry, its crew didn't leave time to disconnect from the Crispy Wolf without wrecking its docking gear. The team's craft gets close enough to read the name painted in careless letters on the side of the enemy ship: Yo' Momma's Ass.

Terry, Faux Hawk and Barry the butler bot manage to seal a connection with the stricken pirate ship and make their way on board. In a corridor leading towards the front of the ship, they encounter a tripod-mounted sentry gun. The trio disable the weapons system by knocking it over. The three seize the gun, tripod and all, keeping it faced away from themselves so as not to receive a salvo of fire. The boarding party climbs the few stairs leading up to the hatch to the bridge.

The team from the Cookie Cutter finds no-one aboard the bridge when it opens the hatch. However, Terry's motion sensor detects two life-forms off to each side, out of view from the doorway. Are these two pirates lying in wait to spring an ambush? The trio sets up the sentry gun in such a way that, when the two enemies lunge, the gun opens fire on its former masters. In the fight that follows, stray bullets shatter the main window of the cockpit. The boarding party, who are wearing space suits equipped with mag-boots, are well-dressed for this disaster. One of the pirate crew is blown out by escaping air into the vacuum of space. The other, who manages to hold on, begs the party to be allowed to go to a still-pressurised part of the ship in order to find a space suit of his own. Despite the sentry gun and the failed ambush attempt, the boarding team lets the man go to save himself.