Not the exact quote, but near the end of the gate quest right before player needs to visit Kanta's Den, the professor (you know her name) says something to the effect of do whatever it takes to get the job done, including murder or blackmail, I don't care.
One or two of the characters, either Gargoyle or his lackey remind me a bit of Rick Sanchez.
P.S. One of my least favorite descriptions is the defenses of Kanta's Den if player decides to raid for the NPC. After reading how much of a meatgrinder it would be, it was a disappointment that it took less marines than needed to steal blueprints, and I only lost 14 marines. The game should not assume a meat grinder if player has enough raid strength to shrug off extreme danger. This is like the text game Adventure, where the game asks you do you really want to kill a dragon with your bare hands, and the correct answer is "Yes", and you do just that and solve a puzzle.
Besides, aside from the quest, Kanta's Den is yet another pirate target to steal commodities from. As a bonus, Kanta is immune to nukes or decivilization since it is a quest planet (at least before solving the quest chain).