Dan watched as the group left on the tender. He was worried about what this trip would bring, but he couldn't dwell on his feelings, there were quite a few things they needed to check. Wishing them good luck, he turned around, focusing on the last bits of preparation that needed to be completed.

  He didn't have to move much, a few minutes later he was standing next to the two tenders they chose to take to the shore.

  The two tenders were part of the ones that were left specifically for use as lifeboats. The Voyager had 18 boats designated as lifeboats, the tenders were of course counted into that, they were just modified a bit with some plates removed from the side to help with a better view. The ones that were still in their lifeboat states though, were fully enclosed in their fibreglass shells and always ready for emergencies.

  They weren't using them as is though, Dan had Luke, the Metal Sorcerer, and the group start removing the seats. At the same time, Rose was using the leftover materials from Jackie's charms to inscribe the rune combination she had tried before, the one for stronger defence.

  "Is everything ready?" he asked the first person he saw, Kathy.

  "Oh, hey captain," she said as she put down one cluster of seats she was pulling aside, "We are doing good. Just need to finish some of the things here and there."

  "That's good, thanks for the hard work," he said as he nodded to her. As he was about to leave her to do what she was doing, something came to mind, "If you're dealing with something physically demanding, you can ask the Voyager for help, why don't you try it?"

  "What?" She looked at him in confusion first before it finally registered in her mind, understanding what he meant. She continued in embarrassment, "I didn't think of it, I heard Rose talking about that, but I forgot it."

  Dan looked at her in expectation as he waited for the coming interaction. Kathy just looked at him at first, sighed then glanced around for a bit before saying,

  "Em, Voyager? Can you please help me move these a bit?"

  She then stood up in silence as she looked around, waiting for something to happen. The same was for Dan, he wondered whether the Voyager would answer her or not. Watching Kathy look at him in uncertainty, Dan just smiled as he felt the gentle, warm aura stir up in that specific way that happened when the Voyager used Aura Appendages.

  "Whoa!" Kathy exclaimed as she took a few steps back, the cluster of seats floating into the air, not just the one she had been struggling with before, but the whole mess of seats that was in front of her.

  "I think she's asking where she should take them," Dan helped with a light joking tone as he watched the deckhand just stand frozen as the seats floated in front of her.

  "Oh? Oh yeah." She returned to her senses. Then she turned to the air as she said, "Just-just follow me, we prepared a cabin for them."

  Watching the deckhand turning to look to her side every few steps, Dan couldn't stop a chuckle. He hoped that through this, the crew would get used to the Voyager and appreciate her.

  As he walked to Rose who was standing with Luke not that far away, he couldn't help but think some more about Kathy. She was the only deckhand who took a Class that was a bit close to what she used to do before, which in hindsight wasn't that unexpected considering how she was most of the time, and what her Class manifested as.

  Kathy was a Helping Hand, and her Class was one of the more straightforward ones. As the name said, she could help whoever needed help, with whatever they were doing, it was the core of her being really. Even on Earth she used to be one of the most enthusiastic deckhands, always ready and happy to help. Dan wondered what her Class would grow up to.

  "Rose, Luke," Dan first greeted the two before continuing, "I take it everything is ready on your side?"

  "It is," Rose said, there was clear tiredness in her face, the same could be seen in Luke next to her, "It was a bit annoying, but we managed it."

  "Good to hear, go get some rest." He patted them as he headed to the next part he needed to take care of in his mental list, the list.

  He didn't have to search for his target this time too, as he knew where they should be, and as expected, once he was in the Skyline, he saw them, Nik and Nancy. They were quite easy to spot really, especially considering the mountain of a man that Nik was, his muscular form overshadowing Nancy's.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The pair were the Provision Master and the Executive Chef respectively. The first dealt with the matters of the supply chain, keeping the stock of food and beverages in check and making sure that everything was good. Nancy, the Executive Chef was the coordinator between the many kitchens on the Voyager and made sure what they needed was forwarded to Nik, the Provision Master. She also made sure that the stock met the menu's needs and all that.

  "Is everything ready?" he asked after greeting the husband and wife.

  "It should be done," Nancy said as she handed him three full pages.

  "This is going to be expensive..." he murmured as he took them from here. Something caught his eye as he was about to start reading through the list. "It's in this world's language?"

  "Yes, I thought that would make it easier," Nancy said, "I had Nulara help us write it."

  "That's good, it's going to be of help." He nodded. He then turned to Nik, "You're joining? Think it over, there's still time for you to change your mind."

  "There's nothing to think over," Nik said in a voice that matched his looks, "How can I not be there for resupplying?"

  The Class that Nik got was an extension of what he had done most of his life, it was called Supply Keeper, which dealt with the inventory of supplies on the Voyager. Dan could see how valuable such a Class could be, especially after introducing magic. And the reason why he wanted to join the mission to the shore was exactly because of a magical skill he got, Inventory.

  It was a skill that let him store things in a 3x3x3 meter space that only he could access. They didn't know if they could fit all they were getting into that space, but even if they couldn't, just having him there would remove the need for loading and offloading. They would just need him to add things to his Inventory before dropping them off at the tenders.

  Having him be the one in charge of the jewellery, or whatever they were using as an exchange, would also remove a huge risk for them.

  Dan saw Nancy open her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she just closed it and remained silent. He didn't doubt that they had already gone over this before, but it wasn't his place to say anything.

  Dan didn't say anything more and just continued reading through the list. It was startling how much there really was, and he winced as he realised that part of it was most likely due to him. Well not directly, but the skill the Voyager got, Specialised Rooms.

  He had discussed that room with everyone before, and even activated it once, just to know how many materials they would need for such change. The results were staggering, the materials needed were quite a lot. It did depend on what type of room they were going for though.

  A Forge for example needed quite a bit of metal and some magical sounding materials, while a contained glasshouse for farming needed more soil and the like.

  They also needed quite a bit of metal for their projectiles and various other productions, which was pretty clear in the list. He even saw a few magical metals here and there.

  The list itself was pretty comprehensive, it had everything from non-perishable food, seeds, hides, special paper, mana crystals, to many different books that went to ocean and sea creatures, magic, runes, and other such things. It even included some weird tools, like Rune brushes and inks, bone carving tools and even more.

  Dan just shook his head with a weary smile. At least after this, they won't have to worry about resupplying for quite a while.

  Dan still thought they had time to prepare things thoroughly, but just a bit more than three hours after Marcus and the others left, he was contacted by Keith,

  "The tender is back. Over."

  His heart skipped a beat as the worst possibility came to mind. Hank lost contact with Marcus and the other two. His mind didn't even consider any other possibilities. Fortunately, that irrational split-second thought disappeared fast. He contacted Keith and told her to reach for Hank as soon as he was within range, while he made it to the disembarkment point to meet the man.

  Not long after, Dan got an update about the situation from Keith who succeeded in getting to Hank.

  Hearing what the group went through, and what was needed of them, Dan's heart calmed down. He then met Hank personally to make sure that nothing was missed or forgotten before sending him on his way.

  With the new information, they gathered all the guards still on the Voyager, Ricky, Luke and Leonard. He first had them prepare before calling for anyone who wanted to join the mission; he knew they had to at least gather enough people for the AKMs. They had the three guards and Hank had one too, which meant that they needed six more volunteers.

  It didn't take them long to fill all the other spots. Nik took one, saying that he was already going, might as well. Sam was another, what he said was the same as Nik. The tamer was already going to join because of his swarm and how useful it could be for them in the ocean, so taking a spot as one of the guards was a rational decision.

  Everyone wanted to be of help in any way they could, so it didn't take long to fill all the spots, they even had a few with the handguns.

  In the end, the full group heading to the shore was Robert, Freddie, Natalie, Rose, Sam, Francis, Luke, Jackie, Ricky, Arnold, Kathy, Leonard, Dex, Nik and Raymond. Fleta was also there, but she joined as a doctor, not one of the guards.

  Dan would have loved to join, but everyone had been against that idea, so he could only remain on the ship, awaiting good news. They did bring the Voyager closer to the location Marcus asked them to go to though, so at least they wouldn't be too far if things turned south.

  The group decided on, Dan worked with everyone in the preparations, doing their best to have everything ready by midnight. Time passed slowly, the wait hard on them.

  Finally, around midnight, a tender appeared on Keith's skill. Hank was back.