Allie

A group shot of the full Timberwolf crew together. They are the chief rivals to Red Raven in finding deep space shipwrecks and claiming salvage rights to the valuables within, but will occasionally collaborate on some other brands of mischief.

Dr. Syff is a Caelian scientist and the last member of the Timberwolf Reclamation & Demolition crew, serving as their medical officer. They specialize in studying and interpreting the unseen forces of the universe, like heat, gravity, radiation and electromagnetism. "To see the unseeable, to know the unknowable" is Dr. Syff's working motto and the driving force behind their practice, complimenting the doctor's clinically-curious personality quite well. They are somewhat emotionally-detached and very straightforward about their work, still caring for the well-being of those around them but perhaps secondary to the possibility of achieving greater understanding of the forces at work around them. This interest in the unseen also builds into their hobby, as Dr. Syff likes to build small kinetic magnet sculptures from scrap bits the team recover from a salvage job, nurturing an artistic curiosity to pair with their scientific pursuits.

Caelians come from the planet Caelus and greatly prefer this label to the original Terran name for Neptune's larger neighbor. They are a boneless aquatic species, their insides comprised of a collection of jelly and protein clusters inside a thick rubbery hide; they flex their six limbs by expanding these jelly clusters in groups, and their tensile strength has allowed them to walk around on land as well. While they can move about on their own, Caelians depend on special aquatic collars connected to their breathing tubes which use special fins to draw breathable elements out of the air and keep their fluid containers rich and clean. Dr. Syff and many of their fellow Caelians live in Titan Garden's aquatic district, sharing a neighborhood with Europans and aquatic Terrans like Carol. It can be nice to take the breathing collar off and just float about sometimes.

One of the notable features of Caelian physiology is their ability to use the jellies inside their head to sense electromagnetic fields. This is the root of Dr. Syff's curiosity about the unseen world and it is the core of Caelian medicine, treating patients by detecting disruptions in their electromagnetic field, or finding unusual hot spots or areas of the body giving off "bad vibes" so you know where to realign a patient's jellies to keep their fields in alignment. Non-Caelian patients have complicated networks of very dense or solid jellies but Caelian medical science has learned to adapt their methods since integrating with the rest of the Sol system. When treating a patient the doctor does not pay any mind to their apprehensions about their methods- sometimes you have to open them up to patch up specific jellies but when they're done complaining the patients usually feel a lot better. In contrast to Dr. Lin's xenomedical practice treating conditions as they present in the context of the species they present in, Dr. Syff tends to take a preventative approach, trying to anticipate problems before they flare up and apply Caelian medical wisdom towards finding a solution in whoever that happens to be.

Timberwolf hired Dr. Syff when they began to get larger demolition contracts from clients whose higher-ups needed to see environmental impact and sanitation reports after a job was finished. Many older space stations or satellite installations- particularly older Martian rigs- used radioactive power sources that were much dirtier than modern standards, and these elements need to be contained and removed from orbit without leaving behind any invisible hazards for the next satellite to encounter. Dr. Syff supervises the decommissioning process to ensure both containment of invisible forces and to ensure the safety and health of the crew working on the job- it's generally always a good idea to bring your own doctor out into the depths of space, but Bryce hadn't gotten around to hiring one until he was basically forced to. Having the doctor on the team is a great help when salvaging shipwrecks, where Pixel in particular wants to be triply-sure there isn't any sort of hazardous energy field leaks on board a broken starship. Having their jellies tenderized takes a bit of getting used to but the whole Timberwolf squad is happy for the safety and assurance Dr. Syff brings to the Ermine, and Dr. Syff is happy to have a whole galaxy of invisible forces to study.

Viola is Timberwolf's second Venusian crewmember, serving as the company's business front. A well-connected woman, Viola maintains a collection of professional facades, switching between them as she moves from one aspect of Timberwolf's business to the next. In one moment she could be pressing a prospective salvage buyer with the hard sell, and the next moment she's holding a glass of Venusian fruitwine while she spins a yarn for a circle of listeners at an industry party, and in the next moment after that she's meeting private contacts off-comms to work out the terms of a smuggling job. Whether she's aggressive or engaging or stone-faced about her work, Viola always carries herself as a professional, which can be an important presence on a rowdy crew like Timberwolf's, or Red Raven's for that matter. Viola knows what people want to see- customers want to see they're getting a deal before anyone else snaps it up, industry peers want to see someone isn't just a transactional ladder-climber and smugglers need to know their transport partner is discrete and mature enough not to attract unwanted attention- and she can adjust her presentation to be that person in that moment.

Like Red Raven, their rival salvage company, Timberwolf maintains their business through multiple revenue streams, most legitimate but some not so much. As a demolition and reclamation company you're not going to get Joe-Average clients dialing in with hundred-year-old space stations they need dismantled, oh no. The people who have the big things that need to be decommissioned and dismantled are corporations and world governments, and so you need someone who can navigate the niceties of their particular social climate, to give a memorable performance and be the first name that comes to mind when someone's boss tells them the higher-ups need to get rid of a giant money sink floating in valuable orbital space. Unlike a tow truck company Timberwolf needs a different approach to land these bigger, rarer clients, and Viola is the one to bait the hook.

Viola had actually met her chief rival and counterpart Scarlet when the two were much younger, dressing up nice to sneak into invite-only parties and work the crowds. Scarlet would have her funny little friend in tow but Viola was relatively unencumbered and so got to hone her craft on a high-fallutin' test audience, making up fake businesses she represented to help her fit into a crowd. With Scarlet it always seemed so effortless, like she somehow just knew what buttons to push with people, so when a young Viola was working the same cons she would watch the Mercurian and try to figure out what she was doing right. The sort of people who were invited to these circles seemed to value confidence, a good story seemed to imply a broad and active work life, and the specifics of which company you represented seemed to be secondary to how enjoyable you were to talk with. The Sol system is big enough that Viola could make up little fake upstart companies and no one would question why they hadn't heard of them, and when she met the same people at new parties she had "moved up" to another new company- a line she'd seen Scarlet use to positive reception- and over time the young Venusian had moved up from a sociable imposter to a welcome guest at these industry events. And then, one day, her stories caught up with her.

It was over fruitwine with the head of logistics for a Martian astroengineering firm; Viola had mentioned she'd recently taken on a role with a reclamations company when the Martian mentioned, hey, we've got an old research station orbiting Saturn and we'd like to put something more modern and efficient in that orbital real estate, the company would pay well to decommission the old rig. Viola exchanged information and assured her new friend she'd be in touch once she consulted with scheduling and logistics. After the party she was in a bit of a panic- she could see why Scarlet would just have her fun and leave, but now Viola had found real money on the table and needed a plan on how to collect it. Bringing up the holonet she'd search Saturnian space for a demolitions company she could two-time into completing this job. Timberwolf Reclamation & Demolition was a Venusian-owned outfit so she thought she'd be able to work that angle to cash out her scam, but when she landed on Titan Garden and arrived at the Timberwolf office she found a motley crew unloading a cargo hold full of valuables with a big robotic arm, its captain tipping back a big pull of beer. Bryce looked over his shoulder, cleared a belch and asked, are you the lady with the big job? Viola had initially hoped to use this outfit to wring that paycheck out of the Martian, but what she was finding here on Titan instead was a group of people who required no performance and no facade. She relaxed, smiled and answered yeah, she is, but she's gonna need a team to pull it off. And so here she is, many big jobs later, with a gold pin on her jacket, soliciting contracts and marketing salvage for her industry partners, the Timberwolf Reclamation & Demolition Company.

Clayton is a Terran linguist and Timberwolf's communications specialist. Language experts are crucial on interplanetary starship voyages, since translation technology doesn't handle the quirks and idioms of natural speech as well as a practiced interpreter. Clayton speaks the Sol system's major planetary languages but he specializes in Inner Belt variants, able to speak many Mercurian, Venusian, Terran and Martian languages beyond their common tongue. His Jovian mastery is a bit rusty, but he knows enough to make good use of the mentioned interpretation technology, which takes the form of a display screen attached to his comms unit controllable from a thumb device attached to his belt. Clayton's got a very mirthful personality, having a deep love for a good joke and a fun story- he often likes to riff off of Bryce's quips and spin them into jokes of his own.

In addition to being the ship's interpreter, Clayton pulls double-duty as the crew's cook, as having to do both jobs at the same time is quite rare. He has a prosthetic right forearm and likes to refer to it as the Stern Hand he rules his kitchen with- since it's so good at stirrin' a pot of dinner, ha ha! But seriously. Clayton's jovial nature sharply turns if the crew start meddling with his things while he's preparing dinner, snapping back to his joyful standard as soon as order is restored. He mostly knows a lot of Terran recipes but he's been trying his hand at some extra-spicy Mercurian dishes and the always-popular Ganymedean style meat roll-ups. His cooking is always a big hit with the crew.

Clayton picked up a lot of his Outer Belt linguistic knowledge working for Baxler Distribution Company, Titan Garden's primary company moving perishable goods from the import docks to the various businesses throughout the station who depend on keeping those items in stock. Wheeling shipments into a variety of kitchens, Clayton got a taste of many Outer Belt languages, studying up and practicing between shipments, checking with his translator lens and getting friendly corrections from his friends in the kitchen.

When Clayton was confident enough in his Outer Belt mastery he had designs on a career move, since he didn't want to work the lorry on refrigerated trucks forever. On the way back to the docks following a completed shipment route he overheard a Neptunian tunneler arguing with some sort of salvage company. The little lagomorphic starfarer was shouting about a section of hull visible in the company's hangar clearly having Neptunian markings on it identifying it as her ship, but the green-haired Venusian man could only raise his hands and shout "what?" and "I don't know what you're saying" in response. Clayton gestured to his buddy, hopped off the truck and stepped over to intervene, eager for an opportunity to practice his own Neptunian. He'd conveyed to the Venusian that the little lady was saying his salvage was her property, and he passed on to the Neptunian that the Venusian was saying he has lawful salvage rights to the abandoned shipwreck. He offered on his own that salvage rights could be disputed at Titan Garden's central office. When the Neptunian had stormed off, Clayton reached in his coverall's pocket and pulled out his Baxler Distribution business card; he handed it to the green-haired man and said there was more where that came from if he's interested, hopped back on his truck and closed out the rest of his shift. A day or so later he'd get a call from Timberwolf Reclamation & Demolition, and the day after that he'd put in his two weeks with Baxler.