A group of smugglers/traders. The lead woman is ravishing and confident, her father traded and she now has his old ship, needs repairs but it gets them around. times are hard and they smuggle more and more now, and she’d like to get back to trading but she sort of reconciles with it in her head by smuggling for freedom fighter groups and such. another is a younger, brash, rogue who secretly has a crush on the female captain, he’s the 2nd in command. A short, overweight, bald man handles weapons and navigation. A strange, eccentric human cyborg that was badly patched together handles medical and engineering.
Fleeing from police ships, they use jump points that are rarely trafficked and flee into a barren system. then, they pick up a distress call from a huge, unknown ship. turns out it was a secret research project for an evil emperor of a nearby cluster of systems (many planetary governments here). the scientists discovered what they were doing and fled. the ship houses an experimental FTL engine and high powered energy weapon that could destroy ships and even attack planets. when they are on the ship the emperor’s ships come into the system, so before they can decide, they help the scientists on their ship with some stuff and leave. they are now wanted by the emperor so they have to flee through the many systems in the known galaxy. along the way they have many adventures.