Pushing Boundaries - In character Thread (MTG2E)

[LarsWester]

Out of Character thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?639811-Pushing-Boundaries-OOC)

https://hard-sf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Depositphotos_118839586_l-2015-1024x710.jpg
The five of you gather around steaming mugs of fruit cider. The ice sheets of Aster stretch for miles visible out the wide windows of The Hearth Away the dining establishment in Aster's somewhat meager starport. The Minor Tom, a customized free trader owned by an experienced broker named Arrak Hume rested in one of the four berths available. The five of you are a rare lot for this place as the vast majority of the system's traffic are employees of Mega Core Affiliates (MCA) and conducting business on its behalf. Apart from the companies mining efforts and meager Third Imperium Knight holding a political fief South of Equator there is not much to the planet. But it is just the kind of backwater planet that can hide those not looking to draw attention or be the subject of much gossip. And that was it's draw for Admiral Dasilev Chard, Exiled Count of Deneb and honorary Duke of Marastan. It was the Admiral or Dasi to those intimate with the man who is the reason you all gathered here on this planet. He tapped his connections from previous service in the Imperial Navy hearing of their recent retirement from service to one branch or another he reached out to Sara Wolf and Conrad van Vliet among others but those were the two who responded to his message. They each brought another who was open to the mission Sara bringing along the broker and his ship while Conrad convinced Leishiu to throw her lot in and bring her piloting skills to the table. The mission to explore the numerous and varied worlds of District 268 and bring as many worlds into the welcoming arms of Third Imperium. Admiral Dasilev was given the task by the Archduke of Deneb Norris Aellla Aledon, himself with promises that after admirable service in this endeavor the Archduke would personally see to the restoration of Dasilev Chard's rightful claim to the landed nobility title of Count of Deneb. The first step of the mission is to report to an agent of the Archduke in the Mille Falcs a two parsec jump from Aster. The rest of the five have there own personal reasons for aiding in this mission but they share the same table with the Duke, looking out on the same expanse of ice, sipping the same steaming mugs of cider. Before jumping the Minor Tom will need to refuel and refine the hydrogen to insure a safer jump out of Aster. Upon landing Arrak was informed of the availability of unrefined hydrogen at the starport at fair rate. Of course hydrogen could be skimmed from the unfrozen water within the twilight zone of the tidally locked planet. Also Aster's system did have a Gas Giant that the Minor Tom could scoop fuel from when off world. The five of them sat around the table and discussed their future plans and what if anything they hoped to accomplish while on the planet of Aster. As they were discussing the wait staff paused at their table.
How are you enjoying the cider? Is there anything else I can get you for the moment? You lot don't have the bearing of MCA management. Are you corporate troubleshooters? Are you here for the trouble at the far mine? the rather chatty young red headed woman pesters.

[Lacco]

Conrad sits slumped forward, focusing with a frown on the mug and its contents. His overalls look a bit out of place, especially with the breather mask hanged on his arm, but he seems not to notice.

"What the hell is this stuff made from...?" he states his question loudly, aiming at to no one specific at the table. In his mind, he tries to remember what cider is made from elsewhere - but he can only think of the few old books he read a long time ago.

Noticing the waitress, he sits straighter, a bit startled "What...? Oh." Looks around the table. "We goin' to have some grub? I think I owe Leishiu a dinner - rules of hitchhiking - but I'm not sure if this is a good place to eat." He thinks about what the waitress stated for a moment. "Trouble at the far mine? What trouble - it's not far enough?" he says more to himself and chuckles, amused by his own joke. "Oh. Apples! ... where would they get 'em apples?" he mumbles.


Wearing the flak jacket, a stunner at his belt and the snub pistol hidden in underarm holster.
From his inventory, he only has the breather mask (and maybe some tools, but not a complete set, around the various pockets).

[PartyOfRogues]

“We were just planning on stopping to refuel and pick up some cargo. But it seems we’ll be here for a day or so while the fuel gets refined, so what’s the issue with the far mine?”

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu was wearing a dark crimson, nearly black, dress with her dark hair tied up in a ponytail. Not exactly a fancy dress, but more that of a businesswoman. It was a strange and relaxing feeling to be able to choose what to wear. Many former naval officers kept their uniform and wore it as a badge, but not so with Leishiu. The only evidence that she was ever in the imperial navy were the tattoos on her upper arms, but the dress covered them up.
Being caught up in the schemings of nobles had not been her plan for retirement, she had enough of that already. But, had she convinced herself, this may be a golden opportunity to jumpstart whatever career she had, and having the recommendations of a Duke would not hurt.

She quietly observes the others, but her stomach rumbles lowly as there is a sudden talk about food, and she nods her head in agreement to Conrad.

[samduke]

Sara

Turning to the waitress after she is finished talking, The cider is acceptable, as for the trouble at the far mine, what can you tell us.



Wearing the flak jacket, a blade in her boot, and the rifle either carried or within easy reach.
From her inventory, the breather mask

Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 [roll0] + Int +1 or Edu +2 - to gather information about the mine trouble

[Lacco]

Conrad

Conrad motions towards the menu and starts scrolling. "Order up. My treat - 'round the table." His stomach rumbles too. There's never any good grub when they are flying from a system to system, so he wants to enjoy himself as much as possible.

"What's this...?" he points to the menu, to the most pricy thing with a strange name. "I feel like experimenting today."

[davyjones]

Retired squadron admiral. Exiled landed count, marquis, and viscount. Ceremonial duke. Special operative of the House Imperial. Dasilev Chard carries a number of titles in his pocket, and yet he feels pretty safe in saying that none have any real meaning on a backwater ball of ice and snow such as Aster. His simple two-tone blue casual business attire reflects this, revealing only a subtle hint of his high status (in the form of a small brushed titanium lapel pin depicting his personal crest); of course, the credentials in the inner jacket pocket would leave no doubt as to his identity and importance...which is why it will stay in his pocket unless absolutely necessary.

So, for now, he's just Lord Chard, commander of a private expedition to the border systems.

The ceremonial duke watches and listens to the others interact with each other and the wait staff with interest. He knows Conrad and Sara well enough, and has a passing familiarity with Leishiu, but Arrak is an unknown quantity and worth observing.

However, the former petty officer's offer to pay for the table catches Das off guard and he gives the man a long look. Then, with a nod of genuine gratitude, he looks at the menu and points to an offering. "Thank you, Conrad. I'll take a smoked pinniped steak with frost maize and the winter vegetable assortment," he orders. Closing the menu, he adds, "And, I'll add my interest to the others; when you've put our order in with the kitchen, we'd like to hear more about the mine's troubles."

[LarsWester]

Mara the young server jots down notes as to everyone's orders for food. Responding to Conrad inquiry she notes that the dish he pointed to is a 3-course meal of meats and cheeses imported from off-world. The wait staff chuckles a little as Dasi orders the "winter assortment" as it is always winter here near the starport. She suggests a dish of roasted klimnari which she adds is a native aquatic lifeform to Aster that is quite tasty when cooked correctly. After making her notes she promises to return once getting the kitchen to work on your dishes.
After a short pause Mara returns and pulls up a seat.
So if you're asking about the mines than you are not the corporate troubleshooters but then again I reckon it is far too soon for anyone to respond. Apparently mining operations have ceased at the Far Mine. Rumors have it that the workers have refused to continue working and are sheltering in place. It's well known here that MCA has put out a bounty for some trouble shooters to get the miners back to work one way or another. Rumors have it that the work has stopped due to pride of Frost Panthers preying upon the miners but others say that's impossible because Frost Panthers don't exist and the workers are demanding higher wages. It's all rather new developments. Foreman Talizandstra would have the latest news on the subject. He put up the bounty. I should go check in on my other tables. Been back soon with your food. Enjoy the algae ciders. she gets up and hurries over to another occupied table in the restaurant.

[davyjones]

The admiral turns to the others. "Is anyone interested in meeting with this foreman? We can skim one of the lakes, then talk with him while its refining."

[samduke]

Seems talking to the foreman should be a good idea, at least for now. As for skimming the water for the ship, do you think it wise to do so at least without asking if we can or need to purchase?

[PartyOfRogues]

”I’d be good with checking out the foreman’s job offer since we’ll be here for a day anyways. I’ll also check with someone at the port to see if it’s ok to siphon some water”

[davyjones]

Das casts a sideways glance in the scout's direction; he's only a few years out of practice dealing with port logistics as a ship captain, and pretty sure he remembers it all. He isn't just going to forgo talking to the authorities about local regulations regarding hydroskimming. Not that he says any of this out loud - Sara only knew him as a squadron commander and diplomat during the mission to Aslan space, and doesn't deserve a dressing down for her comment.

Instead, he nods when Mr. Hume offers to check with the port authorities regarding skimming permissions.

Turning to the other two members of the group, he asks, "Conrad, Leishiu, your thoughts on investigating the mine troubles?"

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu frowns ever so slightly. Whatever this corporation was doing here, they were exploiting either resources or labor. If they couldn’t handle something like this, they were in deep over the heads. “All I know, your lordship” she paused a while “is that every week costs us about twenty five thousand credits, give or take. I am unsure they are willing to match those sums, and even then I’d be wary about being payed.” Leishiu froze slightly inside, she heard her voice sound so mercenary, but from anything she had heard, they weren’t being funded for this expedition. The Duke probably still had his titles, stipends and villas to return too, but she doubted the rest did. “My opinion is that we should focus on making sure we’re making more than what we’re spending.” She didn’t know much about business, but she trusted Arrak to know what he was doing.

[Lacco]

Conrad

He almost did a spit take. It took him few moments to compose himself, and he tried to make it look like he was pondering the question, while listening to Leishiu.

Are they really asking me...?

This was a new experience, sitting at the table with the brass... well, officers... were there officers in civilian life? Still, they were a starship crew, they had to have officers.

So, sitting at the table with the officers and they ask him for his thoughts. He tried to give them the best.

"Err. Leishiu said it well." Yeah, sherlock. Great job on this one. Try to sound like less brain damaged version of space donkey next time. "Well, you know me. If you tell me to fix something, I'll get it fixed. If you tell me to shoot something... I will try to shoot it. But this sounds like a job for you talking folks." He shrugs. "If they pay, why not? But who's going to pay and for what - that's a good question. If we're going to be stuck here until we get the ship ready to fly, we may as well ask around. 'specially when our job around here is make good PR." He thinks for a moment. "Wait. We should make the good PR here? Or elsewhere, beyond the frontier? Ah, might as well scratch that."

He leans back, after delivering one of his longest not-in-his-head soliloquy in his life.

[davyjones]

Chard listens thoughtfully to both viewpoints, smiling as Conrad sort-of found his voice somewhere in the middle of his answer.

"Both good points," he says. "Before I expound on that, I should clear some things up. Yes, I have a bunch of pre- and post-nominal honorifics. I'm both a ceremonial and landed noble, the latter from birth. Yes, I'm in overall command of this mission, but I will promise you these things:

"One, among us, I'm just Dasilev. We'll save "Lord Admiral" for formal meetings with executives and sovereigns, and when it suits the purposes of our mission objectives.

"Two, we are a crew, and as a crew, we should treat each other as equals. If there is a decision that affects the crew and we're split on it, we'll put it to a vote to the four of you as equals; I'll reserve the final decision as mission commander, but I will not let voices go unheard. Exceptions to this would be to defer to a subject-matter expert when dealing with their specialty and role; for example, to Mr. Hume in matters of trade, especially as it pertains to financing ourselves, and Sara for her expertise as a scout, especially in regards to reconnaissance.

"Now, as far as good PR goes, our job is to open up commercial, trade, and membership opportunities beyond the imperial borders, but I've also learned in my years of service that it's never wise to just ignore issues brought to us by our fellow citizens. I can't speak for the Scout Service, Sara, but the oath we Navy types took included the phrase to defend the empire against both foreign and domestic enemies. And the empire is as much its citizens as it is the imperial family, so, what protects the empire's citizens also protects the empire itself; if Aster is the closest example of how the empire allows its citizens to be treated, it makes our job beyond the borders that much harder."

He pauses to invite further discussion.

[LarsWester]

Mara returns with your dishes and actually points out Foreman Talizandstra who is sharing a table with another gentleman in the same restaurant. She leaves you all to enjoy your meal. Afterwards Arrak proceeds towards the table with two gentlemen.
Foreman Talizandstra is larger man about 140kg and over 2 meters tall. His hair shows a slight grey that signifies refinement and he has a slender mustache twirled to a point. He is wearing a white 3 piece suit with a pink tie. Noticing Arrak approach he silencing the other man at his table quickly
Hold a second we seem to have drawn some interest from an outsider. Rising from his seat to greet Arrak the Talizandstra offers a greeting Well good sir what brings you to the ass-end of nowhere? the foreman's disdain for his current station is palpable. The other man at the table who is wearing a casual blue and red jumpsuit remains seated.

[PartyOfRogues]

“Hello sir, my name is Arrak Hume. Myself, as well as my companions heard there was a bounty for solving an issue you were having with one of your mines and that you would be the one to speak to for further details.”

[Lacco]

Back in the Restaurant

Conrad listened to Dasilev's speech. Yes, this was more like it - this kind of equality he understood. He felt satisfied. And enjoyed the strange thing he ordered: it was surprisingly tasty, even if it did decrease his bank balance. But he had his reasons to do it.

As Dasilev pauses, Conrad finishes his cider with a gulp and stands up.

"Permission to leave, commander. Er." His instincts took over too easily. "Dasilev, I need to check on the ship - you know, pre-flight maintenance and all that. Sir." He smiles, but then decides to not smile and his face just takes on this strange grimace.

Now this will take some time to get used to.

"Don't forget about the spare parts for our sensor array... and the toolkits. We'll need them."

He leaves in a hurry, to get back to his safe region: the maintenance hatches and what lies beyond.

Ship

Diagnostic systems made corrective maintenance a lot easier - especially finding which system was the one that caused trouble. The milspec ones even provided the name of component that needed to be repaired - and repaired usually meant "exchanged for a working one".

Advantages of Navy. Conrad smirked. You spent few years learning how to take care and repair components and then spent the rest just exchanging them. The curse of abundance.

Sensor system had its own maintenance hatch, near the avionics. As he stepped up, he noticed immediately the one obviously faulty component - a processing unit for the thermal sensor blinked red. After a quick diagnostic check, Conrad found out that the wiring has been damaged and the thermal sensor was getting feedback from the lidar due to a crossfeed. He decided to be extra diligent this time - because it's always better to find a failure while you are on the ground, somewhere where you can get spare parts - than up there. And so he scoured all the crevices and checked all components, ran start-up tests, and even checked every meter of wiring he was able to.

No other issues.

It was time to fix the thing, but that required spare parts, wiring and another person.

He sat down and picked a sandwich out of his toolset; he always kept one there. It was time to wait for the others. For Leishiu and for Arrak, with the spare parts... hopefully.

[LarsWester]

Arrak and Foreman Talizandstra's Table

How'd you get here so fast I just posted the bounty 10 days ago? I wasn't expecting any response until later this week. Here's the deal its an open contract Cr50,000 payable to the persons responsible for the reopening of the mine. The trouble is at a location commonly referred to as The Far Mine. It's true name is Meca Core Affiliates Permafrost Excavation Site Seventeen we in the company shorten that to M-CAPES-17. Regardless the issue is that the workers at this location have ceased operations. They claim that it is too dangerous to leave their habitat modules due to the predations of a mythological beast called frost panthers. I don't believe that frost panthers truly exist. There isn't enough lifeforms on this ice rock to support such a form of apex predator. throughout this explanation the disdain for the miners and there so called frost panthers is easily read on Talizandstra face.
It is my firm belief that the miners at M-CAPES-17 have recently been informed about the value of the core samples that they are retrieving and have decided to strike for increased wages. Either way the reward for getting the site moving again is Cr50,000. We can provide directions to M-CAPES-17 but not transportation. You can fly there in a streamlined ship there's a landing field which is a sheet of ice a cold but not too long walk away from the habitation modules. Or if you don't have a streamlined ship you could purchase a tracked snow vehicle from my colleague here, Valen Amano. the foreman waves a hand in the direction of the jumpsuit wearing individual at the table who was just waiting silently leaning back in his chair.

Valen stands up and offers a hand in greeting across the table and says Have a seat if you're interested in the vehicle or any other supplies I sort of run the marketplace here.

Foreman Talizandstra stands up to excuse himself from the table. Mister Arrak here are my contact details to reach me by transceiver if you successful complete the job. Any questions before I leave you to discussions with Valen here?

[davyjones]

As Arrak leaves to talk to the mine administrator and Conrad heading back to the ship, Das looks to the two ladies still seated at the table.

"Could you two track down the parts Conrad needs? I'll go see if there's any mail that needs transport," he asks.

[samduke]

Seems like something we should be able to do

[Harmony]

Leishiu

“Understood Admiral.” Leishiu responded by reflex. “Track down the parts Conrad needs.” She rose, excused herself and along with Sara left to secure the spare parts and toolkits.

The ship

Leishiu had done her part of mechanical wiring before. This was quite the unusual change in environment though, from the naval dockyards that were kept so clean any manual work was done inside suits not to contaminate any equipment. That was with cutting edge tech though, something that could not be said about the Minor Tom. At least the dress she had bought repulsed dirt and had a layer of protection on it that made it suitable to work. She did put on a helmet, and some breathing gear, because in places such as these you never knew.
“We all set? Let’s get to it.” She takes initiative and divides out tasks, almost by second nature to get the job done as quickly as possibly, herself unafraid of doing the more risky moments of the task.

[davyjones]

Das texts Arrak about the 5-ton mail contract as he heads back to the ship, and hints he's interested in the outcome of the broker's meeting with the foreman. When he arrives, he finds the others deep in sensor repairs.

"How's it coming along?" he asks as he spies Conrad.

[Lacco]

Conrad

Finishing his sandwich, Conrad waits, lost in thoughts. When Leishiu arrives, she changes the overall mood of the place - from a calm spot of reflection it goes into the whirlwind of action.

Conrad does not mind either - he gladly puts his hands to work on the ship. Minor Tom. Why do they call it this way? Wouldn't Major Bob be better? Or even Major Tom. A primeval thought jumps into his head. He hums few tones of unfamiliar haunting melody, melancholy washing over his senses for a moment. And it's gone.

Strange name. Strange ship. But so are we.

He gets to work, obeying all commands without hesitation. It's easier that way. When Das returns, they are done exchanging the failed parts - but not done rewiring.

Startled a bit, his hand raises to his brow by reflex, but his consciousness reminds him that they are not in naval service anymore, so it changes trajectory half-way and he manages to hit his nose with a spanner.

"Hi Dasilev." It's strange to get an inspection that is not actual inspection. He decides to reflect on that later. "The faulty parts of sensor array are mostly replaced, but we still need to do the wiring. Leishiu can tell you how fast it will be done - you know me, I'd do it for two days to be sure it's perfectly done." A chuckle. But the joke is not funny. He's that kind of engineer. "Two things... this piece of junk..." he picks up the transceiver from atop his toolbox. "Should we buy these for everyone? I just realized I asked Arrak to buy me a toolbox and I had no way to contact him. I remember you had something to do with comms long time ago - so, can we like... use ship comms to reach him? And we should have something to call each other even on planets where you know. There's no sattelite coverage and spul."

While Conrad's vocabulary was relatively wide, he had the tendency to revert to the few dutch words his parents used back home when he could not find the correct word.

"And the other thing is... are you bringing my new toolboxes?" his eyes lit like he was a six years old and someone mentioned ice cream.

[PartyOfRogues]

At the table with the Foreman
Just a few small matters, where would we be able to get a permit to siphon water for fuel, and who is in charge at Site 17, so we can speak to when we arrive.

With Valen
Arrak spends several hours talking with Valen, eventually purchasing 4 insulated containers of microbes with anagathic properties, as well as paying up front for any parts Conrad and Leishiu require for the sensor repairs, as well as the electronics and mechanical toolkits Conrad requested

[davyjones]

"I think a few of us have personal transceivers, but it would help to ensure everyone on the crew has one...with a couple spares available, too," Das agrees. "I'd prefer to get them from a world with access to more modern technology than what Aster provides."


"And the other thing is... are you bringing my new toolboxes?" his eyes lit like he was a six years old and someone mentioned ice cream.

"Well...," he says, his brain going to general quarters as he suddenly remembers Conrad's request from lunch, "I was hoping you'd come with me to select them, once you're done with the sensor repairs. We've no hope in finding a proper engineering kit here, but we can probably find decent electronics and mechanics kits."

[LarsWester]

Arrak, Valen, and Talizandstra
Before the foreman leaves he answers Arrak Unrefined fuel is available for purchase at the starport. It was wise of you to ask the proper procedures for skimming hydrogen from the planet's surface. You wouldn't believe how many off-worlders think its free for the taking just because it's out there. Technically this planet belongs to Mega Core Affiliates the water included. We wouldn't sell much unrefined fuel here if you could just scoop for free a few thousand kilometers away. If you agree to at least speak to the miners and report back to me on the channel I just provided then I would press any charges for a off the books refueling. Valen could probably even point you to a weak spot in the ice to dip through. As for who is in charge out there the lead engineer is in charge. I couldn't tell you his name but contact me later and I'll get you that information. with that the gentlemen turned and walked off.
Valen waited until the foreman had turned the corner before getting down to business with Arrak. Several hours later the two were in Valen's office looking over manifests and a deal had been struck for some immediate purchases of toolkits and sensor parts. When it came up that Arrak didn't have a personal transceiver Valen pulled a Cr500 model out and threw it on the skid of toolkits and parts. That's only Cr500 credits and it has my and the foreman's contact information preloaded. Now since you've agreed on taking some of the pharmaceuticals would you be interested in transport just some general freight or carting some passengers off planet? I manage both fronts so contact me prior to leaving the system and we'll both make a load of credits. the man shakes Arrak's hand and shows him to the cart loaded with his immediate purchases.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/db/ac/c3/dbacc3d8187f714e82a35c0a33954436.jpg
Conrad took his time wrapping up the diagnostics on the sensors and gives the results to Leishiu and Sara who both start working on the disassembling the sensors to prep for the replacement parts. About 1 hour into the effort Arrak arrives pushing a cart containing several toolkits and the necessary parts for the sensor. Leishiu and Sara continue working into the early morning hours of the following day. But after 10 hours of labor the ship's sensors are fully operable. The two mechanics bunk down to grab a little shut eye before the morning hours.

The next day starts with Arrak filling the rest of the Minor Tom's crew in on the Foreman's offer of Cr50,000 to solve the mining stoppage as well as the deals available from Valen. M-CAPES-17 is about 10,000 km South of your current location. In the Minor Tom travelling at 1G would take about 30 minutes. You are given directions to the landing facility which is a 15 minute walk from the habitation modules.

What is the crews thoughts on this mission? Does anyone want to purchase anything personal prior to leaving? Armor, Weapons, Equipment are available up to TL9. That would include Environment Suits, Lowest TL Laser Rifles and Vacc Suits

[samduke]

Once arriving at the landing pad near the mine, knowing it is probably cold outside, Sara suits up in her full environmental suit.
Captn I am going out to have a look around you can reach me on channel 3.


Radio Transceiver 500 km currently set to channel 3

Stealth 1 + Dex DM +1 (2d6)[2][5](7)

Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 + as appropriate (Str DM 0, Dex DM +1, DM +1, Int DM +1, Edu DM +2) (2d6)[6][5](11)



edited

[PartyOfRogues]

While Sara scouts ahead, Arrak sends a message to the foreman “Landed at the mine, you said you’d have some more information on Site 17

[Harmony]

Leishiu

The old machine snapped to life. In a way, she missed the simpler vehicles of her home world, how they would vibrate to indicate they were running. She didn't miss the fumes. After running a few diagnostics and they came back positive she reported that the ship was flight ready.
Once she gets the go-ahead from the commander and the starport, she gently lifts the ship up and gently exits the base. Flying in atmosphere was different than in the vacuum of space, but she'd prepared to her computer with atmosphere and weather data. These engines were, all things considered, very powerful, but compared to terrifying acceleration of some of the ships she'd flown, it was a fairly tame beast. The air-resistance shaking the ship as they took to the sky and started accelerating. It wasn't fully designed for this obviously, so the ride wouldn't be perfectly smooth. The autopilot at least compensated for a lot of the turbulent winds, which was a good sign.

"We're approaching the landing site. Touching down in 90 seconds. I repeat, 90 seconds until landing." she calls over the shipwide radio.

Landing in atmosphere was a lot less complicated than in a negligible-g-environment, the ground conspired to get you down. Some of the winds tore the ship as they were just a few meters above ground, but the autopilot again quickly corrected, and soon the machine had once again connected with the icy planet.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"No worries, Dasilev. I'm sure we can find something useful on this frost-covered rock. I'm going to wash the worst grime off my face and will join you. You know how I like shopping and talking to locals" Conrad grinned and went to make himself presentable. At least a bit.

Getting back after few hours he found Sara and Leishiu finished with the sensors. It was time for some zzzs before going back.



We're taking off! We're taking off!

Conrad was just in the middle of his regular weapons check-up when he heard the announcement. He quickly stashed everything and ran towards the bridge.

He loved flying. For some crazy reason. Although he himself was never the one to do the flying, he enjoyed the feeling. He strapped himself to one of the seats and just watched Leishiu handle everything. It was one of the life pleasures that he enjoyed without any regret.

The landing was spot on and he went stood up and went back to his stateroom, to get ready. Before that, he tested the transceiver "Hey, everyone. Should I just get the mech toolbox and a stunner, gun or the launcher? What kind of fun are we expecting?"

[LarsWester]

Outside the Minor Tom
Sara was the first one to disembark from the Minor Tom. The wide white and cool blue ice of Aster stretched before her. Sara could barely feel the strong Southern wind blowing due to the protection of her environmental suit. As she took stock of her position she noticed off in the distance the tops of a collection of spherical habitation units peeking above a windblown bank of tundra to the Southwest. Establishing radio contact with the Minor Tom Sara begins to slowly and stealthy move in that direction. After a few hundred meters she notices a flash of white at the crest of a windblown bank to the North. What Sara thought she saw was a six-legged white furred creature measuring about 3 meters in length with shoulders nearly 2 meters of the ground. But it was there and then gone behind the bank a kilometer away in a flash.

Onboard the Minor Tom
Arrak sends a message to the foreman Landed at the mine, you said you'd have some more information on Site 17

Foreman Talizandstra's voice comes through the transceiver. Oh great so you've arrived already. Excellent. The shuffling of papers can be heard over the communication channel. Ah here it is. Apparently M-CAPES 17 head laborer is Supervisor Garand Mosfet. There may be a problem with the facilities main communication array as they've been unresponsive to company calls. The foreman keeps the channel open and you can hear him let out a sigh Please let me know what you find.

[samduke]

Not taking any chances, with what she thought she saw real or imagined. Sara pulled her rifle out setting a grenade into it's barrel and setting the weapon to full auto mode. Captn, I am on the move towards the habitat modules and the stories of the frost wolves may have merit, suggest you use caution. Once she was done transmitting she continued to move scanning the area ahead as she moved along.

[davyjones]

"Understood, Sara; it makes you wonder what something that size would hunt out here. We'll follow shortly," Das responds. He finishes donning his protective gear and hits the internal comms. "Okay, folks, let's button up and meet on the gangplank. Take a sidearm if you have one. Stories of the native fauna might have some truth to them."

The admiral grabs his stunner and other gear and heads for the quarterdeck.

Wearing: Environmental Suit over Cloth Armor
Carrying: Stunner, Dagger, Radio Tx/Rx, Binoculars, IR Goggles, Light Intens. Goggles, Extra Stunner Mag
Total Enc: 6.75/8

[Lacco]

Conrad

Wolves?... Wolves.

He grabbed his enviro-suit and the rest of the stuff. He met with Das and the others at the airlock, a stunner on his belt and a grenade launcher in his hands.

"Ready for action, sir. Das."


Enviro suit, flak jacket.
RAM Grenade Launcher; 6 stun grenades, 6 frag grenades
Stunner
Transceiver

[PartyOfRogues]

Before leaving the ship, Arrak quickly tries to reach the site with the ship’s comms
“M-CAPES 17 this is the Minor Tom, can you hear me? If you are unable to respond can you signal with a flare.”

If there is no response, Arrak puts his environment suit on over his armor and grabs his stunner and transceiver before joining the crew at the airlock.

[LarsWester]

On the Minor Tom
No response from Arrak's hail to M-CAPES 17. Leishiu offers to stay on the bridge in the event the mining station does issue a response and just in case a rapid evacuation is required. The other crew remaining on ship gather at the airlock suited up in environmental suits and armed to deal with anything that might cross their paths.

Surface of Aster: Proximity of M-CAPES 17
Sara continues a slow march through the snow capped glaciers of Aster towards the habitation domes a few thousand meters to the Southwest. She is a good half a klick away from the Minor Tom when she hears the hiss and whirl of the airlock opening. Turning back she sees three of her fellow crew depart from the ship. As she crest a windblown bank of snow she sees a satellite dish near the habitation modules that has been crusted over with snow. The added weight of ice snapped it free of its support and it is in obvious need of repair. It shouldn't take more than a day to defrost the ice and repair the communication satellite but why haven't the miners done so. From her vantage point atop the massive drift Sara sees a cluster of five habitation units a large one at the center with four smaller units in a circle around it.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"All right. Suited up. Let's go outside and find our forward observer. Before something else finds her."

He steps out, reminded of his colonist training. Stepping out was always interesting, although you never knew if you had a chance to get back. But the ship was always there.

"Radio check. Leishiu? You there?" He clears his throat. "If you can hear me, let Sara know we're following." He looks back. "We ARE following her, right, Dasilev?"

[samduke]

Captn it looks like the satellite dish near the habitation modules is broken. We will probably need to get on repairing it sooner rather than later. then using caution she continues marching on towards the modules stealthily.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

As soon as she's alone on the ship, Leishiu turns on music and makes herself comfortable on the bridge, while keeping tabs on sensors and comms, having just enough time to catch a glimpse of microsleep before Conrad's broadcast comes in. She lowered the volume of the music before replying.
"This is Minor Tom actual." She paused for herself, it was an old habit. But, technically, with everyone else out, she was in command of the ship. "I read you fine. Wilco, contact Sara and inform her that you are following. Out."

After a quick lookup, she contacts Sara. "Sara, this is Minor Tom actual." She almost bit her tongue again. "The rest of the team have set out to follow you. Acknowledge."

[davyjones]

OOC: It appears I constructed a post yesterday and failed to send it...

"Aye, Sara, we'll check it out when we're on site," Das replies to the report. He looks over to see if the ship's mechanic heard her assessment, too, but he appears busy with a call of his own.

Das waits for Lei's reply and nods his affirmation. "Yes, we're following Sara," the admiral answers. "Speaking of, she's reporting that the habitat's sat-dish is 'broken' - a technical term, I'm sure."

Letting the joke hang there for a bit, he adds, "Come on. We shouldn't let our recon expert get too far ahead. Everybody, remember where we parked."

He starts to follow the trail Sara blazed for them, eyes watchful for danger.

[LarsWester]

Surface of Aster
Sara continues trudging through the knee deep snow towards the Habitat modules. As she approaches she notices that a thick layer of snow covers the top of all the domes except for one which is clear but along its perimeter there appears to be a layer of ice extending out a meter or so. As Sara gets within a few hundred meters the sound of muffled voices can be heard but the words can't be deciphered.

Das, Conrad and Arrak have set out after Sara and reach the top of snowbank in time to see her pause a few hundred meters away from a cluster of habitation domes. From this vantage point Das can see the snow capped wilderness looking like the surface of white ocean frozen in a photograph. Banks of snow roll out in all directions however there is no sign of the native lifeforms that Sara warned about.

On the Minor Tom
Boredom sets in as Leishiu waits for the ship sensors to complete their scan and report.

[samduke]

looking at the situation, exploring around the edges of the dome with a clear top attempting to locate the entrance and thinking about climbing on the dome if needed to see about the voices from inside.

[LarsWester]

Surface of Aster
As Sara approaches the dome and walks around it. On the back appears an airlock entrance way that extends out from the dome for a good 2 meters. At the entrance way has walls about 2 high before rounding to the top. As Sara approaches the outer door of the airlock she sees that it is closed and the window is frozen over with a layer of ice. The bottom meter of the door is covered in a drift of snow.

[Lacco]

Conrad

I wonder what color of shirt does Sara wear. Conrad's folks back at his homeworld were seriously superstitious, and even the instructor for his first job told him to be careful not to wear red when going scouting due to it traditionally bringing bad luck. Not that he would believe it.

Even though the snow made it a bit harder, he decided to speed up, to be able to catch Sara. Especially before anything else would.

[davyjones]

The admiral notices Conrad start to hurry. "Steady pace, shipmate," he counsels. "We'll exhaust ourselves trying to hurry in these conditions."

He doesn't like the idea of Sara being so far ahead, either; but, she's the professional, and he has to trust that she'll mitigate her own risk until they catch up. And they still have eyes on her position.

Still...

"Sara, Das. How's it looking? Any signs of life?"

[LarsWester]

And they still have eyes on her position.

Still...

"Sara, Das. How's it looking? Any signs of life?"
We'll say this conversation occurs as she is circling around the dome and disappearing from view. The airlock passageway is not visible to the others. IF Sara wouldn't approach ignore the previous description of the doorway but I posted as she further investigated as it seemed like that was Sam_Duke's intent.

[samduke]

We'll say this conversation occurs as she is circling around the dome and disappearing from view. The airlock passageway is not visible to the others. IF Sara wouldn't approach ignore the previous description of the doorway but I posted as she further investigated as it seemed like that was Sam_Duke's intent.


OOC: samduke's (Sara) intent was to find a dang door - and she found one - lol

Once spotting the door and its condition, Keying in her mic Captn. I am at the Hab door. it is iced over and snow has gathered , No one has been out side in days, I am going to see if I can free the door of the snow and ice with what I have handy.

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak radios back to the foreman “The site’s main satellite dish is down, but there are signs of life, although it doesn’t seem they’ve been outside in several days.”

[LarsWester]

Once spotting the door and its condition, Keying in her mic Captn. I am at the Hab door. it is iced over and snow has gathered , No one has been out side in days, I am going to see if I can free the door of the snow and ice with what I have handy.
Arrak and the others outside your transceiver units hiss with static interference having only bits of a transmission discernable.
"... at the Hab door.... snow ... outside in days ........ free the door .... "
It seems likely the damaged comms satellite dish is causing interference with Sara's transceiver unit and she is outside of visual range.


Arrak is descending a snow bank towards the habitat modules but may want to revise his message back to the foreman based on the garbled message received or he can try to piece it together with a routine (6+) INT test.

[davyjones]

Dammit.

He brings his comm up. "Message garbled. Repeat. Message garbled. Stand by. Stand by."

Looking to Arrak and Conrad, he says, "Now we hustle. I'll try to keep up, but don't wait for me if I start to fall behind. Just keep in sight."

Before starting off, Das hits his comm again. "Minor Tom actual, Dasilev. Sara is at the habitat area ahead; we're to follow shortly. We'll be outside effective comm range for conditions. We'll check back in two hours."

The admiral waits for Arrak to be finish with his transmission, then says, "Okay, let's go."

[LarsWester]

Arrak radios back to the foreman “The site’s main satellite dish is down, but there are signs of life, although it doesn’t seem they’ve been outside in several days.”

Foreman Talizandstra responds quickly to Arrak's transmission. Excellent Aaron. Mystery solved then. Technical difficulties with communications satellite not any fanciful wildlife. If you feel competent enough to repair the satellite I'll increase the offer another 10kCr. The original 25kCr payable once those miners get back to work. Find out why production has stopped please.

Outside Hab Unit 4
As the others rush to get eyes on Sara again they round the habitation module to see the scout using her blade to scrape away a thick layer of snow that has piled up outside an airlock passage into the only hab unit without snow on the top. When they approach they see that the scout has managed to get some of the snow out of the way but that she doesn't have a truly effective tool for the job.

[samduke]

After some time carving and scraping at the ice and snow, sara looks up just in time to see the others round the corner approaching her position at the door. - Seems I did not pack an ice pick nor shovel, care to lend a hand ?

[davyjones]

"You want to give it a go, big guy?" Das says to Conrad as he offers the engineer his dagger. "Unless someone has a hidden army background and thought to bring entrenching tools."

The admiral looks around to see if there's anything in the habitat area they could use to speed up excavations.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"Ah. Should have brought incendiary grenades... well, I'll write it down on the shopping list when I get back to the ship."

Conrad cheerfully takes the dagger and starts to work on the opening Sara already provided.

"Now the question is: why did I not take up ice-sculpting as a hobby when I was young...? Oh, yes. Not enough ice." he mumbles, more for himself than for anyone else. "As for the rest of you, I'd appreciate if you would make sure I don't get attacked by any strange creatures. Would hate to have 'died while carving out entrance' on my headstone, thank you."

He grins on the joke as if it's the best he'd ever heard.

Roll End?
[roll0]

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
With Conrad joining Sara's efforts the two of them start to make some progress on the clearing the snow pack. After about 5 minutes of working together they have removed the about 60 cm of snow and hit the ice formations underneath. The two continue to chip away at the ice with their blades. The wind begins to pick up and blow through the hab units creating a low hum. As the two dig at the door what does Arrak and Das do?

Can I get Recon (Int) checks for Arrak and Das? Sara and Conrad are busy digging.

[davyjones]

Das patrols the area around the habitat entrance, keeping a (very amateur) eye out for potential danger.

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
Sara growing frustrated with the slow progress stops slashing at the ice with her blade. The mining facility must have the means to deal with this sort of thing. She does a quick search around her area pushing away the top layer of snow. As she does she notices a dark pink section of the ice and snow. Digging further she finds buried here a two-wheeled blower unit with a handle for pushing. There's a small fuel tank on the side of the blower which has a hand pullcord that will heat up the fuel through friction and start the blower's motor. On the handle of the blower is an electric switch that states blower/heater. After several pulls of the cord the fuel is heated enough and the motor in the blower comes to life.

[samduke]

Powering the snowblower back over to the door area, gesturing to the others to get out of the way , as it was now her intent to clear the whole area around the door then use the hot exhaust to melt the door seal area of any further ice so that the door could be opened easily.

[LarsWester]

The snow blower kicks on with a sputtering a first turning into a whooshing buzz. Sara with the proper tools make quick work freeing up the outer door to the airlock. As she turns off the blower a figure in a hostile environmental suit can be seen behind a small window in the door. The figure is on the other side of the doorway and puts a thick gloved hand up towards the window. It looks like the figure is motioning to back up.

[samduke]

Maneuvering the snowblower slightly off to the side and away from the swing of the door, then shutting it off.. Well it looks like we have attracted the attention of someone inside.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"Well, my grandfather always said 'Listen to what the guy in hazard suit tells you', so I suggest we back up. Slowly. Weapons ready. Also, this would be like the perfect time to be attacked from the behind, so I'll take my grenade launcher and will be looking THAT way."

Conrad turns around. He was never good at first impressions, and has been told his back was a better alternative to his face, so he decided to present the better looking side.

And watch the surroundings.


If necessary, Recon: [roll0] +1 INT +1 recon

Damn. Messed that up, didn't I?

Should have been 2d6 vs. 8+1+1 ... right?

[davyjones]

Das smiles at Conrad's grandfather's wisdom. He turns to face the habitat and moves in front of the mechanics better side, stunner ready, just in case.

To Sara, he says, "Give them the thumbs up and move back. I've got you covered."

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
With everyone backed away from the outer door of the airlock the figure in the suit lifts an arm forward opening the door. The door opens outwards towards the group and the figure takes a few steps outside removing their helmet. Long blonde hair cascades out and the woman turns towards Sara.
You don't look like you're from corporate so guessing you're freelancer troubleshooters. Either way thanks for unthawing us. I think it's only the few of us in this Hab Unit left. She nods towards the pink splatch in the snow and ice.
I saw them get Charles as he attempted to unthaw us in here. We were running low on supplies glad you arrived when you did. Would you like to come inside and talk out of the cold? She stopped talking as her eyes went wide with fear and she took several stumbling steps backwards towards the door.

On the Minor Tom
Leishiu's light sleep state is interrupted by the beeping alerting the end of the sensors' diagnostic scan. The data being displayed on the screen in front of her. She switches to a thermal plotting and sees two slightly warmer than background blobs approaching a cluster of warm bodies.


I need those outside Hab Unit 4 to roll initiative 2d6+INT or +DEX. As two white-furred, cow-sized, six-legged creatures slink around opposites sides of a habitation dome less than 20 meters away to the South. Their stealth beat Conrad's recon. Won't impose the -6DM penalty as you guys seemed to be at least wary but not aware.
The Creatures have initiative [roll0] they have surprise.
Modifiers to attacks:
The large creatures (+1DM to range) are within 20 meters (short range? +1DM)
but are slinking along the walls of a habitat dome and only their front profiles are visible so they are currently considered to have cover.(-2DM Cover) They may lose this cover bonus if they end up going first.
[roll1] surprised.

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
The spacefarers were frozen in their tracks as the large creatures bounded forward with unfathomable grace and speed. It wasn't until the creatures were right on Sara and Arrak, that the crew of the Minor Tom caught their collective breaths. Then the chaos and bloodshed of battle began in earnest.


Frost Panthers 12
Dasilev 11
Sara 8
Miner with a Shotgun 8
Arrak 7
Conrad 6



FP1 takes 3 minor actions closing 20 meters to enter close combat with Sara.
FP2 takes 3 minor actions closing 20 meters to enter close combat with Arrak.
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/e/2PACX-1vQxcZjk26P-Y0VRnLPI71ms-hr_jCM_J_FADZZQdpLp39h-QX36ABpgC8eRciQ5_elssWlZpOIQ3P6b/pub?w=930&h=630 (https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Bd5H-YAbw5S1mtg2q9jZUDxolSmIWTZA-zMOdLokft4/edit?usp=sharing)
click on the map to open the google drawing.

Sara and Arrak are in close combat with a frost panther each. Conrad and Dasi made mention of previously having a weapon out. Arrak it wasn't mentioned but if you wanted to have a weapon out I'd rule it likely that it was so. Sara just got done putting the blower off to the side. Several people made a post about their anticipated actions in the OOC. I won't hold anyone to their plans but any rolled results will stay. Sara has a natural 12 on an attack. Won't be her ACR on auto unless she risks an attack and backs away from the Frost Panther. Arrak may want to reconsider his posted actions.




When a Traveller is within 2 metres of an enemy, they are said to be locked in close combat. At this very short range, certain rules apply.
• Melee attacks may be made (see page 71).
• Neither the Traveller nor his enemy may attack any other target other than those they are in close combat with.
• Only single-handed ranged weapons, such as pistols, may make ranged attacks against a target in close combat. Note that a pistol can be parried in close combat, representing the weapon getting knocked aside.
• Larger weapons, such as rifles, may only be used as clubs (see page 116).
Club use Melee (Bludgeon) and do 2D+STR DM+EFFECT damage on a 8+.
• If one combatant moves while locked in close combat, his enemy may make an immediate (and ‘freeÂ’) attack with DM+2 to the attack roll.
The bolded part above applies only to those within close combat.



Short Range +1 DM
Aim +1DM or +2DM with Laser Sight
Fast Moving Target -2DM
Large Target +1DM



Full Auto requires attack rolls equal to the Auto rating of the weapon and uses 3 x the Auto rating ammo.
Leadership is a significant action.

Reactions
Dodge and Parry are reactions to being attacked.
Dodge the target's DEX DM or Athletics (Dexterity) are negative DM
Parry is possible in close combat with Melee skill as a negative DM
A character gets -1DM to their next round actions for each reaction taken.

I want to open a discussion about their usage in a play by post format. Some possibilities below.
1. Don't use them.
2. Always use them.
3. Automatic use when they would matter.
4. Only use when dictated by the player.
There's some grey areas about when a player would announce their intent to dodge or parry i.e. before or after attack roll. With as lethal a system as Traveller is I am leaning towards number 3. Meaning that if the negative DM would be enough to make an attack miss than we would rule the traveller took the reaction and gets the -1DM to actions on their turn. In a play by post format this seems the best as the game would have less hold ups due to waiting for the attacked to login and state their intent to use reaction or not. We can discuss this in the OOC thread.

[samduke]

Spotting the wolves just a tad to late, Sara Dodges and tumbles backwards in an attempt to avoid the wolves, while drawing her rifle aiming at the closest of them attempting to get a clean shot off.

[LarsWester]

As Sara moves away from the frost panther the creature snaps its massive jaws at the retreating figure catching nothing but air as the scout moves too quickly.
2d6+3[ *rolling in OOC dangers of typing on your phone. 6 = miss on a natural 3 can't believe it.
[roll0] miss = no damage

[davyjones]

Dasilev's natural inclination is to issue commands and organize their defense; the sudden proximity of the great beasts won't allow for that, so the admiral does the next best thing: Shoot it.

He takes aim and lets loose with a blast from his stunner as he prays silently, May everything that is holy and righteous help this pea shooter do something against that behemoth!


Aim Minor Action, Ranged Attack Significant Action vs. FP1

Dasilev Gun Combat (Energy) 1, -1DM Dexterity, +1DM Short Range, +1DM 1 Aim Minor Action, -2DM Fast Moving Target; total 0DM.
[roll0] - add additional +1DM for target Size, for a total attack of 13.

3D Damage (Just in case.)
[roll1] - +5 for Effect, for a total damage of 12.

[LarsWester]

Bolts of electricity shoot from Dasi stunner. Yet the creature remains afoot. The miner who didn't even give their name yet recovers slightly standing to her feet and firing away at the closest charging beast with her shotgun. In her fear her aim is off and she fires over her target.


Minor Action: change stance/stand up
Significant Action: Attack with Shotgun.
[roll0]+ Gun Combat 0 + Dex 1, + 1 (close range), + 1 Large, -2 (moving target) -1DM (FP dodge once hit)
[roll1]
Arrak up next then Conrad. Since you're both PC's feel free to go out of order.

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak raises his stunner, lines up his shot and fires at the beast attacking him.
To Hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Lacco]

Conrad

Conrad tries to calculate quickly where to shoot not to hit the crew, but quickly abandons the idea of using the grenade launcher. He draws his other weapon - a stunner - and goes wild, targeting the large furry beast that attacks Arrak.

He fumbles a bit with the weapon he just bought and has no formal training in... cursing his own stupid mind for not bringing the gun he actually knows how to operate.


Minor action:
[roll0] = a big miss.
Short Range +1 DM
Fast Moving Target -2DM
Large Target +1DM
No skill = -3

Damage (if) = [roll1] = missed

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
The frost panthers shake off the energy prods of Arrak and Dasilev's stunner shots. If anything it drew the creatures attention to those that attacked them. Both frost panthers leaped at the two travellers jaws snatching away. The first frost panthers jaws close around Dasilev's arm but his armor prevents the creature's jaws from drawing blood. Arrak just narrowly avoids a savage strike from the other one.


Frost Panthers 12
Dasilev 11
Sara 8 actions posted in OOC thread.
Miner with a Shotgun 8
Arrak 7
Conrad 6



FP1 takes a minor action closing to enter close combat with Dasilev.
FP1 takes a significant action to attack Dasilev.
[roll0] +2 melee(bite) -1 (used dodge last turn) Dasilev gains nothing from a reaction so doesn't use one.
[roll1]+Effect above 7 total damage soaked by Dasilev's Protection 8 from Cloth armor.
FP2 takes a significant action to attack Arrak.
[roll2] +2 melee(bite) Arrak gains nothing from a reaction so doesn't use one. MISS
[roll3]+Effect above
FP2 foregoes a minor action
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/e/2PACX-1vQxcZjk26P-Y0VRnLPI71ms-hr_jCM_J_FADZZQdpLp39h-QX36ABpgC8eRciQ5_elssWlZpOIQ3P6b/pub?w=930&h=630 (https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Bd5H-YAbw5S1mtg2q9jZUDxolSmIWTZA-zMOdLokft4/edit?usp=sharing)
click on the map to open the google drawing.

Dasilev and Arrak are in close combat with a frost panther each.
Sara's posted attacks will kill FP1.




When a Traveller is within 2 metres of an enemy, they are said to be locked in close combat. At this very short range, certain rules apply.
• Melee attacks may be made (see page 71).
• Neither the Traveller nor his enemy may attack any other target other than those they are in close combat with.
• Only single-handed ranged weapons, such as pistols, may make ranged attacks against a target in close combat. Note that a pistol can be parried in close combat, representing the weapon getting knocked aside.
• Larger weapons, such as rifles, may only be used as clubs (see page 116).
Club use Melee (Bludgeon) and do 2D+STR DM+EFFECT damage on a 8+.
• If one combatant moves while locked in close combat, his enemy may make an immediate (and ‘freeÂ’) attack with DM+2 to the attack roll.
The bolded part above applies only to those within close combat.



Short Range +1 DM
Aim +1DM or +2DM with Laser Sight
Large Target +1DM



Full Auto requires attack rolls equal to the Auto rating of the weapon and uses 3 x the Auto rating ammo.
Leadership is a significant action.

Reactions
Dodge and Parry are reactions to being attacked.
Dodge the target's DEX DM or Athletics (Dexterity) are negative DM
Parry is possible in close combat with Melee skill as a negative DM
A character gets -1DM to their next round actions for each reaction taken.
The current proposed solution is that players take the most useful reaction unless they state otherwise.

[davyjones]

Dasilev's eyes go wide as the critter closes its jaws over his arm. For a brief moment, his eyes meet the frost panther's, their surprise matching his at the lack of tangible effect. The pause, though, lasts only a moment before Sara's ACR tears through its flank and its grip slackens and falls away.

The admiral's gaze turns to the scout, and he nods appreciatively. Still one more creature left to go. He moves forward into optimal range and fires a snapshot at his new target.

Move to within 10m of FP2's left flank. Ranged Attack with Stunner at FP2.

Dasilev Gun Combat (Energy) 1, -1DM Dexterity, +1 DM Short Range, +1 DM Large Target; total +1DM
[roll0]

3D Damage, just in case
[roll1] - Attack results in +2 Effect, for total of 15 stun damage.

[samduke]

Watching her laser sight in on the vitals of the frost panther, as she squeezed the trigger the machine let loose a roar of noise that might resemble that of rapid pounding on a metallic surface. the beast was dead the many holes on its vital location proved that. Looking over at the admiral, seeing that he was mon the move towards the second frost panther. Turning her laser sight towards the same beast as she was not much for words "Incoming Fire!" she yelled as she moved slightly to gain the best possible vantage in the field of fire.

[LarsWester]

Dasilev's stunner takes the second frost panther in the flank. The creature slumps over breathing heavy but unconscious.

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak quickly checks himself over for any injuries before speaking “Well that was close, thanks for the help. Now let’s get inside before more of those things come for us.”

[davyjones]

Dasilev regards the unconscious creature for several moments.

"I'd love to get some data on the live one before we go, though," he says. Turning to the miner, he adds, "Hello, I'm Dasilev Chard, and this is Sara, Conrad, and Arrak. You folks don't happen to have a scientific kit handy...and someone who can use it effectively?"

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
The miner with a shotgun responds to Dasilev's greetings. Don't really care who you are just that you're here right now.
We were trapped in that Hab Unit when we violated procedure. Nodding to Arrak he states you're right getting inside would be a smart move to make. She gestures to the nearby larger Hab Unit 5. Let me report to the others inside and I'll meet you there shortly. Oh and Dasilev I'll ask Mackey about a scientific kit and your wanting some data on those things. Are you sure its safe and the thing won't wake up soon? Saying that she heads through the airlock and inside to Habitat 4.

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak starts walking towards the Hab Unit while radioing Foreman Talizandstra. “We have confirmation that some of the miners are still alive, we should be able to get a count shortly. And I think they might be telling the truth about the frost panthers.”

[LarsWester]

As Arrak tries to hail the Foreman the proximity to the broken communication satellite affects his transmission and the response is undiscernible.

[samduke]

Walking over to the dead frost panther, looking over the enormous beast, Then Looking over at the stunned frost panther, " You may wish to put that one down permanently, I suggest a knife to the throat ", Then joining Arrak in walking over towards Hab Unit 5, but she was not going to be caught again by frost panthers as she toted the ACR scanning the area for more beasts. To Arrak, " We really need that comm dish repaired sooner rather than later it is causing all sorts of interference even with my long range radio "

edited

[Lacco]

Conrad looks at Sara's rifle. Then at the stunners the rest of the crew uses. "Hey, Sara. How'bout you finish the kitty off with that thing - my only options are blasting it with a stunner repeatedly and hoping for a heart attack, feeding it frag grenades or, if everything fails, making it choke on me when it eats me. I'll take a look at the antenna while you do so."

He sighs. "Also, can anyone call Leishiu and check if she can move the ship closer? I'd prefer we walk shorter next time... and also I'd prefer seeing those furbals from a turret next time I do."

Switching from the stunner to the grenade launcher, he walks to the satellite dish.

Going for a quick check of the comm, mainly diagnostics to see what's wrong... Engineering/INT? Or Mechanics?

[davyjones]

"It's hard to say, but about half a minute on the outside; if the kit and specialist aren't handy, we should just put the critter down," Das responds, not hiding his disappointment. "Sara, could you do the deed? We'll have to be satisfied with inspecting the carcasses."

[davyjones]

Walking over to the dead frost panther, looking over the enormous beast, Then Looking over at the stunned frost panther, " You may wish to put that one down permanently, I suggest a knife to the throat "...

The statement catches the admiral off guard. He can't say he's the most empathetic sophont in the Imperium, but even he isn't exactly keen on prolonging the death of an animal. He's seen someone die from a slit throat; they're aware. Dasilev's gaze shifts between the frost panther and the scout, a frown deepening on his features.

Drawing his stunner, he takes aim at the dazed predator and fires a shot at it. The admiral then asks Conrad for his blade, and proceeds - as humanely as possible - to end the frost panther's life. He cleans the blade in the snow, then heads for Habitat 5. As he passes Sara, Das casts a lengthy gaze in her direction, he wants to say something; he desperately wants to say something, but it would be unprofessional and unhelpful to say it now, in the presence of the miners.

Instead, he'll focus on the next task at hand - working with Conrad to repair the dish.

[Lacco]

Conrad looks around, a bit lost. Everyone was going somewhere, but he stuck with Das. Once the animal is dead, he followed the man to the next point of work - the antenna, grenade launcher loaded with stuns in hands.

He would have preferred they stuck together, but understood the need for multitasking. He just hoped they would have some heavy firepower at hand. And so decided to open his mouth... to both Das and Leishiu at the ship. "Hey, Leishiu. Would it be a problem to fly the ship somewhere around here and do an overwatch? Or, in worst case, a CSAR? Das, your thoughts?"

Once they reach the array, he looks at Das. "Huh. Comms. Your specialty. I'll help, but you're the man for the main job. Also, I think someone needs to watch for other kitties.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

The sudden appearance of figures on the sensors had Leishiu on alert, running some diagnostics. It was not unusual for ships like this to behave poorly, and civilian sensors could go hi-wire on simply the sun being reflected. Still, she readied the ship.
As Conrad's call came in, she replied. "Conrad, this is Minor Tom actual. Tracking your location, and will head to provide watch and rescue. If you want overwatch, we need something heavier than his lordships wardrobe. Do you want a supersonic flyby? Over."

She put power to the engines and once again missed the shaking feeling of old machines. All that indicated that she was flight-ready were green symbols on her displays.

[LarsWester]

Leishiu guides the Minor Tom into a gentle liftoff and keeps a sharp eye out for any other creatures. She notices a pair of frost panthers about 2 Klicks to the Southeast. They are running away from the mining camp as the Minor Tom takeoff probably spooked them.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Taking a snapshot and with an experienced eye she draws a circle where the creatures were spotted and transmits the image to Arrak's computer, attaching a small message:
Be adviced: Two bioforms of larger size, likely predators, heading away from your location at roughly 135°.

She goes and grabs a cup of caffeine-drink, trusting the autopilot to handle unexpected winds. It was a bit lonely being the only one on board the vessel, the Navy always had an abundance of personell and yet here she was all by herself. She returned and kept a more careful eye on the sensors, and turning the cameras to face the ground, while sipping on the drink.

[LarsWester]

Outside Hab Unit 4
The blonde with a shotgun comes out of the HU4 with a second person in cold weather gear. This other survivor is carrying a briefcase which he sets down next to one of the Frost Panther corpse. Mackey see what diagnostic information you can gather from these things. It would help to know what has been hunting us. the blonde commands as that survivor opens the briefcase pulling out some diagnostic equipment and starts running scans on the thing. The blonde turns and nods at Sara as the two walk towards Habitation Unit 5.
Inside Hab Unit 5
Arrak waits inside one of the larger Habitation Unit airlocks for a few moments before the outer door opens with Sara and the lady with the shotgun from Hab Unit 4 entering.
I owe the two of you a debriefing of sorts. Even if you are not corporate you're at least working for them as private contractors I would guess. she removes her helmet and motions the two of your through the internal door of the airlock. We can grab some seats inside and I'll catch you up on our status here. As you pass through the internal door Dasilev just gets to the outer doors a little out of breath. Once you enter pass through the internal door of the airlock Habitation Unit 5 opens up the domed roof stretches a good 40 feet above you in the center. Some of the mines heavy drilling equipment is staged in this unit. There are also enclosed offices and meeting rooms it is to one of these rooms that everyone is guided.
Take a seat I'll try to be quick and then answer any questions you may have. This all started about 20 days ago. When two miners were attacked by some of those creatures that attacked us outside. The bodies were pulled away but the site was covered in blood. We all started to carry firearms and were successful in repel a few attacks. The things seem to scatter if you fired at them. We reported the attacks but Foreman Talizandstra seemed reluctant to believe us. We haven't been able to actually kill one for proof. Our problems got worse about two weeks ago. We had gathered outside for a facility meeting to discuss our options when we were attacked by about a score of those beasts it was a blood bath. Most of us that could ran into H.U. 4. Charlie had enough wits to remember Procedure 35 and run towards Habitat 5. We sheltered in place that night. Our luck that the blizzard came during the night. We in Habitat 4 were snowed in without an exit. Compounding our situation the Sat. Dish broke under the weight of an ice buildup. Charlie tried to unthaw the front door of Hab Unit 4 but was taken by the things. We were running out of food in there when you guys showed up. And that's about where we are. Any questions?

[PartyOfRogues]

“What’s procedure 35? Some kind of emergency plan I presume.”

[samduke]

Sara
Do you have the parts handy to repair or if needed replace the Sat Dish? Our objective here is to get you guys back to work, it seems that to do that the Sat Dish needs repaired, as for the frost panthers that problem is temporarily solved but once the Dish is fixed we can radio back to the Foreman and tell him that this area needs the frost wolf pack dealt with or permanent guards to deal with them as I suspect they will come again, and we are not being paid enough to deal with the frost panther pack or play guard either.

[LarsWester]

“What’s procedure 35? Some kind of emergency plan I presume.”
Procedure 35 is a standard operational procedure that prohibits everyone from entering a single one of the smaller Hab Units at the same time. Full community gatherings are to occur only in this unit or outdoors. Basically it's to prevent what happened everyone getting snowed in the same Hab Unit. she blushes slightly as she explains.

Sara
Do you have the parts handy to repair or if needed replace the Sat Dish? Turning to address Sara.
We should have all the parts needed here in Hab Unit 5. If you'll at least guard long enough for the Comms Dish to be repaired that would be something. We need more workers to return to full production here and you're right we'll need some guards or some walls built or something. Probably both. Again thanks for coming out here although I'm sure the Foreman's credits mean more to you guys than our gratitude but it would have gotten pretty bad there. We were down to our last few rations in H.U. 4. Oh I don't think I every gave my name, newly appointed crewboss Tridium Overbly at your service. She offers a handshake to Sara who is sitting closest.

[samduke]

Taking the hand and shaking it, Senior Scout Sara Wolf, Well if you have the ammo and grenades for my gun, I will sit near your dish as it gets repaired and baby here will knock those panthers down if they come back.

[Lacco]

Conrad

Shutting the comm array down, Conrad catches Leishiu's message and answers. "Supersonic flyby sounds swell. And thanks, now I'll have the image of me in a turret hunting these furballs with you flying the ship all day. Just add a soundtrack. Let me know if you see any of those nearby - so I have time to arm myself." and just mumbles for himself "And now for my next trick..."

He switches to the channel Sara mentioned. "Comm array is offline, please inform our local hosts that we'll have it up and running so they can order their food delivery as soon as possible.
If they need to call their HQ, we could patch them through the Minor Tom, but I'd be vary of them hogging the channels. If they have some tools, send someone over with them."

He turns to Das. "All right. Let's get to it. I'll assist as much as I can."

Assisting Das with the work. If a roll is necessary, let me know - I'm away from my books.
When he's helping, the grenade launcher lies on the ground, next to him. When he's not helping, he scans the horizon with it in his hands.

[PartyOfRogues]

Once the signal interference stops, Arrak sends a message to Foreman Talizandstra “We’re at the site now, the miners were telling the truth about the frost panthers. Several miners were killed and the rest got snowed in one of the hab units. The comms dish was heavily damaged and causing interference. We’ve secured but there are at least two more panthers nearby and the miners encountered groups of up to 20. We’re also currently trying to get the comms dish operational, but the site will need some new workers as well as some security before it gets up and running again.”
Once the message is sent Arrak offers a handshake to Tridium and begins speaking to her “I should also introduce myself, I’m Arrak Hume, I’ll be here and stay in contact with the Foreman until we get the comms fixed.”

[davyjones]

Das pauses long enough at Hab 5 to hear the conversation and gather the parts, the snow blower, and a length of line, and then heads (slowly) to the dish, using the blower as a makeshift cart to ease his load.

"Right; here's where the fun begins," the admiral muses as he starts to pay out the line. "We need to assess how much ice has accumulated; we'll use the line to haul the snow blower up when we reach the dish, 'cause it'll be your job to clear it while I figure out if there's any damage to the elevation and azimuth drives."

Once the pair has secured one end of the line to the snow blower handle and Conrad has the other end in hand, Das starts to climb up to the sat dish, inspecting the support structure as he goes.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they keep a blower near the dish; save us some work."

Electronics (Comms) 2 (INT or EDU +3) to assess extent of damage, if any: 2D+5
[roll0]

or, if Mechanics 0 (INT or EDU +3) is more appropriate: 2D+3
[roll1]

Well, there's something you don't see every day...

[Harmony]

Leishiu

“This is Minor Tom actual. Wilco. Stand by for supersonic flyby. Over and out.” Leishiu then switched radio to transmit to the entire crew. “Ground crew, this is Minor Tom. Be advised, supersonic flyby imminent. Over and out.”

Flying off in a northeastern direction as to not scare the creatures back, Leishiu accelerates the ship. At least with the wind resistance and the higher speed, it felt like the machine was alive, shaking in the turbulence. Slowly (relatively speaking) turning the ship around in a 180 degree, she comes back over the site in supersonic speed, hopefully generating enough sound to at least make the creatures reconsider their dining options for a while.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"Will do." Conrad liked getting orders. They made decisions much easier. Unconsciously, he began humming a tune as he helped Das. As Leishiu performed the flyover, he took a moment to look at the craft and then sent a voice message. "Nice. One day I gotta learn to fly that thing. Did it scare the kittens off? Because if it did, they could build some audio barriers out..."


Engineer 0/INT +1: [roll0]
Mechanic 1/INT +1: [roll1]

[davyjones]

"Depends on their intelligence, really," Das replies. "And it may not be the thunderclap alone that drives them out, but the shockwave, too.

"I think the miners would be better served with a few perimeter microwave area denial weapons. They're relatively low tech and easy to build. Attach it to a scanner that avoids shooting at sophonts and tweak the frequency to irritate the tougher hide of the frost panthers, and you have a solid virtual fence line around the facility."

[LarsWester]

“I should also introduce myself, I’m Arrak Hume, I’ll be here and stay in contact with the Foreman until we get the comms fixed.”
Tridium smiles at Arrak. Would you allow me to use your communicator for a minute? I wish to debrief Talizandstra fully on our situation.

At the satellite dish the repair effort seems to be going very well. With the blower attached to the line Conrad and Dasilev quickly start melting the ice build up. Dasilev also discovers some damage to the elevation drive that required Conrad's deft mechanical work in order to allow movement again. After that repair it is a simple matter of welding the dish back on some supports. Dasilev estimates a few hours to complete.

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak passes the transceiver to Tridium. “Here you go, if there’s anything else that needs done around here just let me know.”

[LarsWester]

Tridium thanks Arrak and walks into a separate office to have a long talk with Foreman Talizandstra. After about thirty minutes she returns obviously agitated and hands the transceiver back to Arrak.
Thank you Mr. Hume. And after that conversation I wonder if I should ask your companions to stop repairing the dish. He is totally incompetent. I need to speak with the other survivors here in Hab Unit 5 in a few minutes.
She leaves H.U. 5 and heads back over to H.U. 4 stopping to chat briefly with Mackey who is finishing his diagnostics on the Frost Panthers.

[PartyOfRogues]

Once Tridium leaves, Arrak contacts the foreman again on the transceiver. “There seems to be some disagreement between you and the new crew boss, what’s the situation going to be like once we’re gone?”

[Lacco]

Conrad

"You remind me of this guy. We were at the colonist training, and we got an assignment - there is a planet with aggressive native wildlife and sophonts that tend to steal stuff; how do you deal with it? We were divided into groups, and we started to brainstorm. Few people suggested cameras, guards, fences... and in walks this guy in military garb, big bushy beard, this thick accent... I think his name was Eyegore or something like that. He got in late, so he did not join any group, just sat there. Presentations start and we go in, with our perimeter setup. Golf clap. The other guys go, with their microwave fences and warning systems. Golf clap. This guy steps up and starts presenting automatic AI guided grenade launchers and laser guns, basically obliterating anything in the 'danger zone' around the perimeter..."

He chuckles to himself, but then becomes deadly serious.

"My point was, that those fluffy cats seem have seriously good hearing and we could deter them. It could also be the shockwave. Still... there is one thing that occured to me and I do not like it. What if their natural predator sounds like our spacecraft...? Damn, I do not like that idea. But we'll maybe know when the science guy does their stuff."

He looks around, taking in the scenery once again.

"Well, let's finish this. Don't want to be here after dark... or do we have some spotlights on Tom? How much time do we have before it gets dark and even colder?"

[LarsWester]

Once Tridium leaves, Arrak contacts the foreman again on the transceiver. “There seems to be some disagreement between you and the new crew boss, what’s the situation going to be like once we’re gone?”

Foreman Talizandstra replies Yes minor disagreement about priorities. Should be no worry of yours. Feel free to fuel up at the equator before returning to the spaceport. I hear that you will be taking some cargo off world. I'll be able to arrange payment on your arrival. there's a short pause If the M-CAPES 17 operations begin again. That was the deal wasn't it. I await your arrival.


Conrad
"Well, let's finish this. Don't want to be here after dark... or do we have some spotlights on Tom? How much time do we have before it gets dark and even colder?"
Dasilev and Conrad can either work through the night with spotlights from the Minor Tom or grab some sleep and finish the final two hours after sunrise. If you choose to work through the night I'll need an Endurance check from you both (8+) cold weather gear provides a +2 DM.

[davyjones]

Conrad

...He chuckles to himself, but then becomes deadly serious.

"My point was, that those fluffy cats seem have seriously good hearing and we could deter them. It could also be the shockwave. Still... there is one thing that occurred to me and I do not like it. What if their natural predator sounds like our spacecraft...? Damn, I do not like that idea. But we'll maybe know when the science guy does their stuff."

Das chuckles at the anecdote; he knew a few fellas like that, a few ladies, too...could've married one of them, but he knew father wouldn't have approved of the match, so he didn't pursue it.

"A critter like that is more likely an apex predator - we're probably its closest competitor," he says. Chewing on a thought for a moment, he adds, "I still would like to know what it hunts. It seems to be a pouncer of a form with short-burst speed, which means its prey may also be quick. And its size would indicate that it can take down larger animals."


He looks around, taking in the scenery once again.

"Well, let's finish this. Don't want to be here after dark... or do we have some spotlights on Tom? How much time do we have before it gets dark and even colder?"

"I'd rather we finish in the morning. The wear and tear of the Navy has left me a bit 'thinned skinned,' or so my surgeon says," the admiral quips. "And we don't need to be adding complications to this project. Let's go 'til the sun is just over the horizon and pack it in for the night."

Thumbing his communicator, he contacts the ship, "Minor Tom-actual, Minor Tom. Pick us up at the dish at sundown. And thanks for keeping trouble at bay."

[PartyOfRogues]

Foreman Talizandstra replies Yes minor disagreement about priorities. Should be no worry of yours. Feel free to fuel up at the equator before returning to the spaceport. I hear that you will be taking some cargo off world. I'll be able to arrange payment on your arrival. there's a short pause If the M-CAPES 17 operations begin again. That was the deal wasn't it. I await your arrival.
The repairs are still in progress, we’ll be staying the night here and should have the comms dish operational tomorrow

[LarsWester]

Foreman Talizandstra closes the connection by saying. That's all and good, and well worth the bonus we discussed, but a bonus implies that the original contract has been met. In this case the mining has started again. Please make sure that acting Supervisor Overbly understands why you are there.

[samduke]

before returning to the ship for the night Sara takes the time and effort to track down Supervisor Overbly.

talking to Supervisor Overbly
Sir we can appreciate the difficulties that you may face over the next couple of days, In order for us to get paid your team needs to get back to work despite the risks. The dish will be repaired in the morning by our team.

turning to the others
Hey guys help me drag one of these frost wolves back onto the ship.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

”Minor Tom, this is actual. Copy. Will scan for suitable landing near the dish for pickup at sundown. Worst case scenario you may have to leg it to the landing pad. Over.”

With the music still running in the background Leishiu starts the task of scanning for a suitable landing spot as close to the dish as possible. The habitats seemed to be placed solidly enough, but she wasn’t going to risk the craft needlessly. She put the scanner up on her personal display, heated som noodles and added a pinch of cheese as the surface scan and analysis proceeded. These civilian scanners were so lacking compared to the navy’s, but the food was simply amazing as she ate it on the bridge, away from any sensitive equipment.

[LarsWester]

Tridium looks sternly at Sara before answering So I'm to put MY people at risk so that YOU can strike it rich. You saw what those monsters can do. I tried telling Talizandstra we don't have the personnel to start mining operations and maintain a perimeter. You know what he said "Figure it out or you don't get food" He'll send a supply ship when we have a full load of mining cores to send back.
The landing pad offers the only flat area for landing the ship. It's not like they put the landing strip out there because they like the walk. Leishiu can make a closer landing with a successful piloting check (10+) risking damage to the ship on a failure.

[samduke]

The words of Tridium echoed in her ears, then she thought of something that should get things rolling on the getting paid department.

Walking back over to Overbly, without waiting for permission from the captain, knowing there might be hell to pay for this.

Okay Overbly, collect all your crew help us drag this frost wolf corpse back to the ship, we will have your crew, this frost wolf corpse back to Foreman Talizandstra's office within the hour. I think if he sees the wolf in person he might change his tune on the guards and if no one is mining here he will be forced to find more miners, though as a side effect of that you and your crew might be out of a job

[Lacco]

"A critter like that is more likely an apex predator - we're probably its closest competitor," he says. Chewing on a thought for a moment, he adds, "I still would like to know what it hunts. It seems to be a pouncer of a form with short-burst speed, which means its prey may also be quick. And its size would indicate that it can take down larger animals."

"Well, that could be a nice tourist attraction... hunting one of those. Knew few fellas that would pay to be able to hunt an apex predator." Conrad shrugs. "I think they were crazy."


"I'd rather we finish in the morning. The wear and tear of the Navy has left me a bit 'thinned skinned,' or so my surgeon says," the admiral quips. "And we don't need to be adding complications to this project. Let's go 'til the sun is just over the horizon and pack it in for the night."

Thumbing his communicator, he contacts the ship, "Minor Tom-actual, Minor Tom. Pick us up at the dish at sundown. And thanks for keeping trouble at bay."

"If we're not doing this, let's at least check if they have a chance to communicate. Will we stay on the ship? If so, we could still route comms through Minor Tom, so they are not completely cut off." He looks towards Minor Tom, hovering above the area. "Not looking forward the trip down there. I got a bad feeling - if I were one of those tiger-thingies, I'd be waiting for us. We'll have to be careful. Or scare them away again..." Quickly glancing at the habitat. "At least they don't have outhouses on those things. THAT would be uncomfortable. All right. Let's fix everything so it won't fly away during the night, it's a bit windy for my tastes, and let's wrap it up as soon as possible. Don't want to walk to the landing zone in dark."

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu does the calculations. She had landed ships more banged up, in worse conditions. But then there was no alternatives. The fleet manual had strong wordings about landings like this. She set the autopilot to balancing only and took direct control of the decent. The exterior cameras all focused on the ground, and she ever so slowly lowered the ships to the points she found most promising. She had come in to fast, and was forced to withdraw slightly as a the autopilot struggled with an uneven wind. She changed the angle of the ship to better handle the winds, and went down for another attempt.

"Land Crew, this is Minor Tom actual. I am putting her down now. Stay clear."

And then she lands the ship.


[roll0] +4 (Pilot (spacecraft)) +0 (Dexterity) +4 taking = 15 [roll1] x 10 minutes instead of x 10 seconds.

[Harmony]

Doubleposted, not removing the extra additional roll so it doesn't scream!


[roll0] +4 (Pilot (spacecraft)) +0 (Dexterity) +4 = 15, taking [roll1] x 10 (10) minutes instead of x 10 seconds.

[LarsWester]

M-CAPES 17 near Aster equator
As Conrad and Dasilev wrap up the days work on the site's communication dish Leishiu manages a difficult landing on the sloping snow drifts much closer to the habitation units of the site. A collective sigh of relief escapes the engineers who were not looking forward to a long walk with waning light and hostile creatures around. As the engineers were walking towards the Minor Tom Sara exits Hab Unit 4 followed by Supervisor Overbly and the remaining [roll0] workers. They all seem headed towards the Minor Tom. A few minutes later a tracked vehicles emerges from Hab Unit 5. It looks to be a tracked loader of sorts it rumbles over to one of the dead frost panthers and carries it to within a few meters of the Minor Tom before dumping its cargo and returning to Hab Unit 5. The driver leaves Hab Unit 5 through a pedestrian airlock and sprints towards the Minor Tom not liking the thought of being out in the open by himself. The workers all are pushing personal luggage and toolsets on sleds. It looks like each is bringing about .1 ton of personal gear.


Sara invited everyone aboard which is 14 total people including the driver and Tridium. Each site is meant to be operated independently so some of these colonist/miners are scientists, some are miners, some are support mechanics, cooks, or security. Sara's plan involves transporting the Frost Panthers and the workers back to Foreman Talizandstra in the comfort of his office at the starport.

[davyjones]

The admiral watches the influx of passengers via the cargo deck access ramp, letting the experts do their jobs (he never served in the logistics department on any of his commands, so he never got the ins and outs of solving the jigsaw puzzle that is cargo loading. As the last man boards, he clears his throat to get their attention.

"I'm sorry for keeping you folks on the cargo deck for the ride, but I'm glad we can get you all aboard; thankfully, it should be a relatively short hop back to your headquarters, and we'll see what we can do to convince them of the dangers these creatures possess," he announces in a friendly tone. "For now, get as comfortable as you can; we'll be dusting off in a few minutes."

Before heading to the bridge, he finds Sara, "Good idea, bringing them with us. Hopefully, a face-to-face meeting can get these people the support they need to get back to work."

[Lacco]

Conrad

"Land crew to Minor Tom: nice landing. Expect us for dinner. We're bringing guests and presents. Furry presents. Over."

He accompanies Das, basically standing two feet behind him, trying to look professional.

But only until food shows up. He then takes a bowl and retreats to a relative privacy between few crates to listen to conversations without the need to participate.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"Land crew, this is Minor Tom actual. Welcome home. Over and out." Leishiu replied.

Guests? They were close enough so she transmitted directly to Conrad.
"We're taking the miners aboard? This smells like us not getting paid." Part of her knew they had made the right call, and how the Navy would have been more... heavy-handed in their approach. It scared her that her first reaction matched the modus operandi of the Navy, the very thing she had resented. She still had a lot of soulsearching to do.

[Lacco]

Conrad

Conrad chuckles.

"Yup. Smells like there's something fishy. Or feline. Not sure about it, but it's not my job to sweat about it: I'm going to leave that to the brass. I'm just a petty officer, I'm here for the dirty work. Speaking of..."

He switches from personal to crew frequency. "Need a volunteer. I'd like to do an examination of the ... damn, I can't remember if they are frost tigers or frost panthers. You know, the beastie. No full-on autopsy, but there may be some blood and cutting. And taking notes. Any volunteers? May take some time, but ultimately, I think we need information and since he's a suit, I'm sure our guy is already out of office."

He proceeds to finish the food and then proceeds with the examination, mainly focusing on the potential weaknesses and the senses of the tiger, comparing these with the known animals from similar habitats.

"Those of you in the front rows might want to step back, this may get dirty..."


Regardless of the availability of volunteers, he proceeds:

INT/Vet: [roll0] + time (+8?) +/- any other modifiers from the GM

RE: +8 for 1Dx10 minutes or +6 for 1D hours for the Animal (vet) => I'm not sure about this one, but I'll take the +8 regardless of time. Want to get a running start.

[roll1] hours?

[samduke]

Sara chiming in on the crew channel, Conrad, I'll be your huckleberry!, I want a better look at the beast after eating she proceeds over to help Conrad with his dissection of the frost panther

[LarsWester]

Regardless of the availability of volunteers, he proceeds:

INT/Vet: [roll0] + time (+8?) +/- any other modifiers from the GM

RE: +8 for 1Dx10 minutes or +6 for 1D hours for the Animal (vet) => I'm not sure about this one, but I'll take the +8 regardless of time. Want to get a running start.

[roll1] hours?
Ok so a little confusion here on my part as I messed up in my second post. I didn't mean +6 or +8 but rather 6+ or 8+. When it looks like that it means the target number to beat. So using the longer time duration you needed only a 6 or more with the shorter time duration you would need an 8 or higher. I think you intended to go for the easier check and went with 6 hours of study. If so you would have succeeded with Effect +3 so that will give a +1DM to your persuade check in the skill chain with Talizandstra. I'm going to assume that you share your biological findings with the crew so posting in spoilers what the biological data may mean to specific crew members.
Hour after hour passes as Conrad and Sara cut open the Frost Panthers carcass. The first thing they notice is the creatures fur up close appears like each hair splits into two every few millimeters creating a fibrous weave that is difficult to cut through. The creature has Armour 2 rating. This fur coat probably evolved as a means of heat retention in the cold environment of Aster. Your skill in comms and science leads you to the conclusion the same fur coat could be a liability against a microwave radiation field that is tuned to the wavelength of the bifurcation distance as each of the millions of fibers could be caused to oscillate due natural harmonics leading to an overheating of the creature.
Your skill in survival leads you to the conclusion that armored cold weather gear could be made from the creatures fur. About 2 fur coats per creature. These would provide 2 protection and protection versus cold weather and could be worn over and stacked with other armor.
As Conrad and Sara did an outward inspection they noticed the sharp claws and large 20cm canines of the creature. As the pair studied the mouth of the creature its powerful jaw muscles were apparent. Creature has +2 to bite attacks and 3D damage it has a secondary attack with it's claws that does 2D damage.
Your medical skill lets you realize that one or two bites of the creature on an unarmored person could prove deadly. However the newest versions of cloth armour would go a long way toward to mitigating the bite. And if there were an outer layer of furs over cloth armour the teeth would need to shred the outer layer before getting at the cloth armour underneath. All told this would cost about Cr1000 per worker.
As Conrad and Sara digged deeper into the creature they noticed that the creature had several fast twitch muscle structure in its legs indicative of a pounce type hunter. These sorts of creatures hunt successfully but not being seen and stealthily approaching their prey. Frost Panthers have a +2 to initiative, +5 to stealth skill checks, and speed 8m. They are a pouncer type of carnivore meaning that they will only attack the unaware and scatter if they realize they've been spotted. Knowing that early detection is key to living around these creatures you figure a dedicated sensor array with thermal sensing technology could go a long way to providing that detection. This would be the improved sensors vehicle kit providing 5km range at a cost of Cr15000.
Conrad and Sara note that the frost panthers eyes are positioned such to give a wider field of vision than humans. They have +2 to the recon skill
After several hours of study the carcass is a complete mess unrecognizable as the creature it once was. Sara decides to skin the carcass keeping the fur coat but that it also might be best to bring the other carcass back to Talizandstra rather than the mess currently in the cargo bay. A thorough autopsy reveals that the creatures have on average 32 hits. This means that 11 points of stun damage would incapacitate the creature.

[LarsWester]

M-CAPES 17
The first of the miners woke up in the cargo bay to the smell of fresh meat and wet fur. There were bits of Frost Panther spread out over four square meters. The thing was not recognizable so Tridium order her workers about. The cook got to work making a fire outside and soon had a good roast of several choice pieces of the Frost Panther meat. She had the second Frost Panther carcass load and the cargo deck cleaned by the time the roasted meat smell was filling the area. Dasilev filled her in on the plan for the day. They would fly the entire crew back to Talizandstra's office and demand actions to ensure the safety of her people prior to work beginning again on the site. But first the Minor Tom would fly down to the equator and do a refueling operation.

The Minor Tom
Leishiu lands the craft a safe distance away from the open water on a flat surface. With the help of some of the miners the crew deploy the scoops hoses to the liquid water. The scoops pump the water to the Minor Tom then through electrolysis the Hyrdogen and Oxygen are split off. The Oxygen being sent to the life support systems storage tanks and the hydrogen to the ship's fuel tanks. It take [roll0] hours before the tanks are filled. About halfway through the refueling process Talizandstra hailed the Minor Tom Status update please Arrak. Where do we stand on renewing operations? The Minor Tom's refineries were already at work processing the unrefined hydrogen into jump safe quality fuel. It would take about a day to complete the process. After refueling the Minor Tom took off for the about an hour flight back to Aster's spaceport and Talizandstra. They'll arrive just after lunch.

[PartyOfRogues]

“The miners have requested a meeting in person we’re en route but are currently stopped for refueling, should be at port in about 3 hours.”

[samduke]

Sara turning to the Captain, Well now we have a plan, I am going to catch a few hours sleep, you know where to find me if needed, then leaving walking to her area, then crawling into the hammock to catch a few hours of sleep before the meeting with the foreman,

[Lacco]

Conrad

Damn, what a mess. He looked at the carcass. You made that mess, you clean it up. Remains of the poor victim of violence against local felines were dispatched with some respect, but Conrad's thoughts were focused more on the planned presentation. He was never good at presenting in front of a class. Still, he fell asleep quickly.

As soon as he wakes up, Conrad walks to the common room to grab a cup of coffee. Of course, he was never really sure if that was a real coffee, but he doubted it.

Still, it woke him up. After he dressed up into a clean overall, he went to check on the rest of the crew - and went straight for the cockpit, with the cup half-finished.

"Good... morning? How are things going?" He looks outside, at the wonderfully white surroundings, sipping his coffee. "I had an idea during my short sleep. If the foreman man does not like our plans. Das is a... noble, isn't he? Maybe he could pull few strings and change the locale to a hunting area or this... you know, natural reserve. So, everyone ready?

[LarsWester]

Aster
After completely the refueling operation and rewinding the scoop hoses, the Minor Tom's fuel refineries started to hum softly as they processed the raw Hydrogen into its more jump safe refined form. The Minor Tom with the miners aboard took up to the skies and flew back off to the spaceport and Talizandstra's office near the North pole.
The Minor Tom was touching down after just over an hour long flight. Dasilev exited first motioning for Supervisor Tridium to follow with her entourage of fellow workers. Filing in behind them was the rest of the crew of the Minor Tom.
I think it best if when we get to Talizandstra's office we wait outside while you all discuss. But if you want me in the room I'll come in with you. Tridium mentions to Dasilev as the group makes its way to the administrative building that housed Talizandstra's office. There were four guards armed with advanced combat rifles standing at the entrance.
Head on up Admiral Dasilev the Foreman is expecting you. one of the guards said from his uniform you assume he is in charge of the detail. Two of the guards follow the lot of you inside. You all take an elevator up to the third floor. The elevator doors open to another four guards.
We'll take it from here. the chief says to the two escorts.
When the two leave by the elevator the chief turns to you all and says We'll also take any of your weapons now please. Two guards keep their hands on their weapons while the other two take any of your offered weapons and place them in separate storage bins. After this process you are searched for weapons.

If you wish to keep any weapons secretly on you. You'll have to roll an opposed skill check against the guards recon. Possible skills to roll are Deception, Stealth or Streetwise. With either the INT or DEX characteristic.

[Lacco]

Conrad

Wasting no time, Conrad picks his stunner from his belt, but manages to drop it to the ground. He looks at the guards, apologetically shrugging and stating "Sorry for that, a bit tired from pulling around that big lug", while pointing at the frost panther.

He also decides to pester the guards with a bit of banter, just to distract them a bit. "Guys, what model are these combat rifles? Are they made locally? Is it legal to buy something like that? You know, we'll be leaving for the frontier and we may need some firepower..."

Regardless of their answers, he thanks them and - if there are no other issues - enters the office of the Foreman.

"Sir, look at this fine animal. While it looks quite friendly while dead, we have experienced their attack, and I have dissected one of the two that attacked us. Look closely at the fur. Wonderful, and very thick - good as insulation against cold, excellent at keeping them almost invisible while outside, but also works as armor due to the way it is structured. Now examine these canines: 20 cm, with jaws strong enough to go through your arm in one chew, and through your chest in two - if you have no armor on you. Sharp claws and muscle structure that offers great advantage when attacking from ambush complement their already good stealth capabilities. Able to see well in the local conditions, this is basically a born hunter."

He points towards each of the body parts he speaks about, talking in a matter-of-fact style as if he was just dictating notes to his assistant.

"These are the bad news: this thing can and will attack anyone that ventures out, is well camouflaged and stealthy, and dangerous. It will hunt and kill anyone unprepared. And while we don't know how many of these are there, I am sure these are native apex predators and as such have sufficient population to proliferate, especially with a good food source. Brief pause. "The good news is, there are few ways to deal with those. Protective equipment will help resist the attacks, as even commercially available armor may be able to stop the first attack and give the person a chance to survive or fight back. The animals can be detected using off-the-shelf equipment with relative ease, so that there are no more ambushes. Their sensitive sensory organs or even their fur structure may be exploited to keep them away - either using sound-, microwave-based barriers-, or a combination - but I will let my colleagues add to this. I can only state one thing: without any of these steps, these creatures will continue to eliminate your workers without any problems, anytime they have to venture out... and I do not want to see the carnage when they get inside one of the habitats.

He steps back, leaving the others to speak.

[davyjones]

With the ship's needs processing in the refining tank, Das turns his mind to the next task: Convincing the foreman to protect their miners.

He hears Conrad ask about his titles and leans in from the corridor. "I am, and I'll play that card if it's needed," he says.

He stows his stunner in the ship's locker, taking only his commlink and dagger ashore. The admiral surrenders it to the guards, sheath and all. When they approach the crew to search them anyway, he stiffens up and glares at the guards with practiced indignance.

"Before you touch me, know that I am a peer and a direct representative of the imperial court," Das states, looking at the guard immediately in front of him, but addressing his superior. "In His Imperial Majesty's eyes, treating his direct representatives like a common criminal is akin to treating the emperor himself like a common criminal. Do you really want to bring the ire of the court down upon your employer, and you directly?"

https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25373808&postcount=259

Diplomat (SOC) +4 - 13
Persuade (SOC) (untrained) +0 - 9
Leadership (SOC) +5 - 14

[LarsWester]

The guard stammers and passes Dasilev by without touching him but continue to check the others of the crew albeit much more lightly and performatively.

The guards skip over Dasilev completely but I don't think he had a weapon on him anyways. I don't know if anyone was going to attempt keeping a dagger or other small weapon. But Dasilev's check here just gave a BOON die to any that do want to do so as the guards don't want to offend the Highborn among them.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu came dressed up for the occasion. As much as she dislikes the Navy, there was no denying in that it did something to others, and put her apart. It was part of her former life, and maybe she kept on to it as a crutch. She wore the dark uniform, kept in immaculate shape. Her chest was laden with decorations, forever stained by all the lives taken and lost when she 'earned' them. She had felt her mannerism fall back as put on the uniform, perfect with just enough makeup to hide any weariness and make her look sharp.

As the guard crudely asked for their weapons as if they were common thugs, she hid a smirk as the Lordship puts them off.
"Of course." she replies, ceremoniously removing the holster with her former service sidearm in it and handing it over, completely ignoring the fact that her blade hangs on her left hip. It was a symbol of her station more than a weapon in her mind, and she projected that confidence.

[samduke]

Sara
After a short nap, wandering towards the fresher with her official scout uniform, where she promptly changed. Placing her blade , deep within the confines of her boot, and slinging her ACR across her shoulder she departed the ship with the others on the way to the meeting.
Arriving at the Guard check station looking over their weapons, Well then you intend to relieve us of any potential weapon that we could defend ourselves with, I do not think the Scout Corps will look highly on my giving up my rifle in such a situation unless of course you boys want to give up those rifles as well?

<OOC)she will if needed give up her ACR>
walking into the meeting

Foreman Talizandstra, in the short while that I have been at your mining facility I encountered these frost wolves, and we killed them, we know there are more as was reported by our pilot as they flew over. the area is ripe for these Apex Ambush Preditors to come in when ever they want and kill your miners. with some investment in some perimeter defense towers that are automated with good sensors that are then placed strategically around the mining facility, they will go along way towards keeping your miners safe and very productive. However this in and of itself may yet not be enough, I strongly recommend that you have a permanent force of guards at the facility say six to nine in total that way there are always at least two men on guard that are armed and can act if needed.

I will leave other details to these guys that are more knowledgeable in their respective fields.


Stealth 1 + Edu 2 + [roll0] + Hidden weapon modifier -> to keep them from finding the blade(dagger)
Recon 1 + Edu 2 + [roll1] -> to give information of how best to set up perimeter defensive towers and such.
Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 + Edu 2 + [roll2] Diplomacy to keep the rifle and move along
Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 + Edu 2 + [roll3] Diplomacy to to force them to give up theirs where we have to give up ours.

[davyjones]

I figured as much. Das only brought his dagger and has no problem turning it over for the duration of their conversation with the foreman. He was genuinely offended by the idea of being patted down anyway; that it helps out his crew in this case is purely coincidental. ;D

The admiral watches the guards closely as they hesitantly continue their duties. Inwardly, he's somewhat amazed that he wasn't over such petulancy at his age, especially with 20 years of naval service behind him, but he guesses there's only so much of the spoiled noble brat you can take out of someone.

He let's the corner of his mouth turn up at Lei & Sara's own resistance to the guards; he's glad he isn't the only one.

Finally before the foreman, Das introduces himself as Lord Admiral Chard, and each one of the crew in kind by their preferred titles.

"We're here solely as your consultants, hired to get your miners back to work, as per our contract," he says. "We are in no way labor representatives in this matter, and this should not be construed as a labor-management negotiation, even if arguments and proposals we make here share similarities with previous or future labor requests made by their duly authorized representatives.

"We will present to you the facts of the current situation on the ground at M-CAPES 17, and the remedies we recommend be put in place to ensure staff safety."

Das gestures for Conrad to start the party. He nods appreciatively at the conclusion of the engineer's comprehensive remarks, and listens with interest to the scout's.

[LarsWester]

The youngest guard laughs at Sara's protest over handing over her Scout rifle. Pardon mamam just doing my job. Can't let you go in to see the Foreman armed with that. I'm sure you'd see it similarly if you were in our boots.

Sara has a BOON die on her hidden weapon check. Result is 9 + whatever is higher [roll0] or 3 vs [roll1]

As the young guard says boots there is something in that flashes in Sara's eyes that causes the man to ask her to take off her boots. He must have caught the hint of a shape of some kind on the Sara's uniform leg.
He beat your roll by 1. I don't think you could shove a blade into a boot. A dagger yes but not a blade. Daggers are defined as 20-30 centimeters so less than 1' long but blades are more than that. Probably about twice the size so 40-60cm or 16" - 2' in length. So taking it to mean that you stashed it in your boot but going up your leg.
Must have forgot about that one Mamam. the young guard says with a smile and outstretched hand.

One of the other guards politely coughs and pointedly looks at Leishiu's blade at her side extending an expecting hand.

After taking the appropriate weapons from the five they are led into Talizandsta's office.


Going to post a bunch of quotes here to clean up the chronology of past few posts a bit.


Finally before the foreman, Das introduces himself as Lord Admiral Chard, and each one of the crew in kind by their preferred titles.

"We're here solely as your consultants, hired to get your miners back to work, as per our contract," he says. "We are in no way labor representatives in this matter, and this should not be construed as a labor-management negotiation, even if arguments and proposals we make here share similarities with previous or future labor requests made by their duly authorized representatives.

"We will present to you the facts of the current situation on the ground at M-CAPES 17, and the remedies we recommend be put in place to ensure staff safety."

Das gestures for Conrad to start the party.


Talizandstra nods from his seat behind a large oak desk Very well let's hear what you, non-labor-negotiators, have to say.

Conrad is first to speak projecting images from his datapad unto the wall.
The Frost Panther is too heavy to pull into the office by himself and is probably waiting in the lobby near the elevator with the workers.



"Sir, look at this fine animal. While it looks quite friendly while dead, we have experienced their attack, and I have dissected one of the two that attacked us. Look closely at the fur. Wonderful, and very thick - good as insulation against cold, excellent at keeping them almost invisible while outside, but also works as armor due to the way it is structured. Now examine these canines: 20 cm, with jaws strong enough to go through your arm in one chew, and through your chest in two - if you have no armor on you. Sharp claws and muscle structure that offers great advantage when attacking from ambush complement their already good stealth capabilities. Able to see well in the local conditions, this is basically a born hunter."

He points towards each of the body parts he speaks about, talking in a matter-of-fact style as if he was just dictating notes to his assistant.

"These are the bad news: this thing can and will attack anyone that ventures out, is well camouflaged and stealthy, and dangerous. It will hunt and kill anyone unprepared. And while we don't know how many of these are there, I am sure these are native apex predators and as such have sufficient population to proliferate, especially with a good food source. Brief pause. "The good news is, there are few ways to deal with those. Protective equipment will help resist the attacks, as even commercially available armor may be able to stop the first attack and give the person a chance to survive or fight back. The animals can be detected using off-the-shelf equipment with relative ease, so that there are no more ambushes. Their sensitive sensory organs or even their fur structure may be exploited to keep them away - either using sound-, microwave-based barriers-, or a combination - but I will let my colleagues add to this. I can only state one thing: without any of these steps, these creatures will continue to eliminate your workers without any problems, anytime they have to venture out... and I do not want to see the carnage when they get inside one of the habitats.

He steps back, leaving the others to speak.

Before Talizandstra can interject Sara starts her portion of the address.



Foreman Talizandstra, in the short while that I have been at your mining facility I encountered these frost wolves, and we killed them, we know there are more as was reported by our pilot as they flew over. the area is ripe for these Apex Ambush Preditors to come in when ever they want and kill your miners. with some investment in some perimeter defense towers that are automated with good sensors that are then placed strategically around the mining facility, they will go along way towards keeping your miners safe and very productive. However this in and of itself may yet not be enough, I strongly recommend that you have a permanent force of guards at the facility say six to nine in total that way there are always at least two men on guard that are armed and can act if needed.

I will leave other details to these guys that are more knowledgeable in their respective fields.


Stealth 1 + Edu 2 + [roll0] + Hidden weapon modifier -> to keep them from finding the blade(dagger)
Recon 1 + Edu 2 + [roll1] -> to give information of how best to set up perimeter defensive towers and such.
Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 + Edu 2 + [roll2] Diplomacy to keep the rifle and move along
Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 + Edu 2 + [roll3] Diplomacy to to force them to give up theirs where we have to give up ours.


It took me a bit to realize that you didn't add your mods so the Recon check passed barely but no luck with the last two. I posted to that effect above. 2 Successes/0 Failures
Leishiu is next up to present.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu stares at the guard the same way she'd seen the nobility do when pressed into an uncomfortable situation. She removes the belt with a swift action, and hands over the blade. She doesn't look angry, only disappointing in the guards behavior, the sort of unspoken threat that there may be consequences down the line.

--

There was a huge difference between corporate leadership and the nobility. They both had wealth, but the former thought power came from wealth, and the latter that wealth came from power. A noble might care for their subordinates, but only because that was their power, but corporate only saw numbers and would sacrifice their people if it meant the numbers in a heartbeat if that meant numbers went higher.

"I'll just make this brief, because I expect by the time I have finished, you will have lost more than this solution costs you." Leishiu started. "These predators are causing a disruption. I would advise... " she paused briefly, pushing up some images of drones and robots she'd prepared and transferred them to a display. "A simple and effective solution, with various possible levels of automation. As my college Conrad here has presented, they are sensitive to sound." She motions towards the screen, which shows footage of the beasts scattering after flybys. "And various solutions could easily be placed to produce sounds that scare of predators. Gone will be expensive guards and upkeep, and the solution will pretty much pay for itself, as I am sure you can see."


[roll0] +2 INT, +2 Electronics (remote operations) = 12 so next roller should have a +1?

[LarsWester]

After Leishiu's speech you can see a marked change in Talizandstra's expression from defiance to interest.

Arrak is up with a +1 DM from Leishiu's check. Also with the third success you have guaranteed at least partial success. Success 3 / Failure 0

[PartyOfRogues]

Arrak leaves his sword on the ship, only bringing his stunner along, and surrendering it to the guards when asked. He was familiar with the security at ports like this, and had more than enough firsthand experience with how little of a deterrent they really were.
———
Once Leishiu is finished speaking, Arrak begins his presentation
“Mr. Talizandstra, I’m sure you understand the numbers here, but I’d like to lay it out for you. At the current rate these losses are simply unsustainable, between replacing crew, lost time, and other harder to calculate costs. I can’t speak as to which of the solutions my colleagues proposed will work best for you, but I’ve taken the liberty of running the numbers as well as writing up some more in-depth proposals for you to look over.”

[roll0] +1 SOC, +3 Admin, +1 Chain = 10

[LarsWester]

I see where what you propose might make sense. What kind of R.O.I. time span are we looking at here? Talizandstra starts warming to the solutions that are being brought forward.

A fourth success although it needed that +1 DM from the previous check. It's a straight up 10+ check for Dasilev to see if he can bring it all home for a legendary success or if it merely a partial success.
Successes 4 / Failures 0. And you all have been rolling way better than anticipated I thought 10+ would be a challenge and catch at least some of you. Oh well now to really think on what a legendary success means for the five of you. A partial success means that either you get paid and Talizandstra sacks the workers and hires new ones without taking any additional measures or Talizandstra takes all your advice and rolls out new protections but you only get paid the Cr15000 for fixing the communication array and lose out on the Cr25000 for getting the mine to reopen. A Complete success was going to be both pay and protections, but that is not an option as it is either Partial if Dasilev fails or Legendary if he succeeds.

[davyjones]

"Given the potentially high reward of your exploration, the ROI will be almost immediate - you could conceivably pay for any of our solutions in 2-3 days of extraction," Dasilev responds. "As far as construction goes, if you have to build the whole thing from scratch, you’re probably talking no more than 60 man-hours for sensors, the same for emitters, no more than 5-6 for programming sensors to isolate non sophonts and to provide for manual aiming and emission, and no more than 60 to mount, integrate, and weatherize the whole lot.

“If you use existing components for either sensors or emitters, then you’re looking at no more than 5-6 hours for that component, instead of 60.”

He pauses a moment to let the numbers sink in, but not long enough for Talizandstra to think he’s allowed to respond. The admiral isn’t done.

Das produces his identification card and holds it up for the foreman to see. “This card holds my full credentials. I don’t like to use it often, because the alphabet soup that precedes and follows my name sometimes gets in the way of work being done. But let me tell you what’s on this, and why it’s important to you,” he continues. “I’m a landed peer of the empire. From birth. I’m a recently-retired Squadron Admiral in the Imperial Navy. With colleagues in leadership positions. And, most importantly, I’m a ceremonial duke. On active assignment.

“My current objectives rely on being able to invoke the good name of the Empire and His Imperial Majesty to government officials and other influential sophonts beyond our borders,” the admiral explains as he returns the credentials to his jacket pocket. “My job becomes that much harder when one of our border worlds - their neighbors - appears to put in a bad light the Emperor and the people in whom he places his trust by not taking proper care of his subjects.

“So, I’m sure you can appreciate the dim view His Imperial Majesty’s representatives will take if concerns like worker safety aren’t met with swift and material action to protect them, and they are forced to bring the matter up with their peers to resolve the issue. Peers who care little for the livelihood of managers and overseers.”

I hope you don't mind that went with 1Dx10 hours for construction and mounting/integration tasks, and 1D hours for programming and adapting existing technology tasks. Those seemed appropriate for this kind of installation.

Result of 13. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25377455&postcount=280)

[LarsWester]

Talizandstra visibly swallowed his words as Dasilev of the many titles revealed his true identity. A thousand pardons Count uh Admiral uh Duke Chard. he stammered weakly before pushing his chair back from his desk and standing up. You all bring up excellent and sound points. The findings at M-CAPES17 is exactly what this whole Aster project is wagered upon. I think the safety plans you have all laid out are a prudently investment to protect the lives and continued productivity of the site. The foreman paused scratching his chin for a second. Who is in charge there currently? If they are down to 8 miners that is no good. We should transfer teams from the other sites to bring the Far Site back up to full potential. Possibly even bring an extra rig from one of the other sites. You've served me well in this matter Arrak. I had figured you the leader but see I'm mistaken in that. bowing slightly to Dasilev.
If you'd consider sending in the current supervisor of M-CAPES17 and returning to my office after an hour I believe I could have some further work for you if you'd consider it.

[davyjones]

You've served me well in this matter Arrak. I had figured you the leader but see I'm mistaken in that. bowing slightly to Dasilev.

When it's serves the mission, my good man. When it serves the mission, the admiral muses inwardly to the foreman's revelation, and nods his head respectfully to acknowledge the subsequent bow. He spares a glance at his compatriots, then responds aloud, "Gladly. We'll let her know you need to speak with her."

Das gestures for the crew's escort to lead them out of the office.

[samduke]

Sara

Turning to follow, pausing outside where the lockers were located to collect her things, then once outside, Well Captain, what do you think this extra work might be?, and are we taking the extra work?

[davyjones]

"I expect it'll involve ferrying his people from various sites to return 17 to full strength," Das responds thoughtfully. "I think we should take the additional work, as long as we can get underway for Mille Falcs at a reasonable time tomorrow. Does that sound reasonable?"

[samduke]

Chuckling as she responds, Mine is not to reason why to much, but to do as the captain asks, as long as it is sane.

[PartyOfRogues]

I’ll start getting cargo loaded and get everything ready for shipping out early tomorrow

[LarsWester]

After an hour or so spent ordering and organizing the cargo for pickup the next morning the crew of the Minor Tom return to the administrative building. After following the standard security protocols they are ushered into the Foreman's office where Tridium and Talizandstra are looking over several datapads.
Excellent. We finished our work just in time Tridium. turning to face the crew. Tridium informs me that work has begun on the Comms dish but that there's a few more hours remaining. She also mentioned that your intention was to return the miners and finish the repair work. Until we can enact the full scope of your recommendations I plan on posting a few guards at the site. Please take these two gentlemen with you on your return to M-CAPES-17. He points out two of his personal guards. One of them being the sharp eyed youth who spotted Sara's blade.
Also Tridium can fill you in on some further errands that you could run for me. I'll increase your total pay by another Cr5000. I don't expect that it will take more than a half a day to complete. Tridium please provide me an update upon completion of the comms dish work. with that Talizandstra offers a hand to Dasilev and says You'll remember your good friend Talizandstra and the operation here on Aster when speaking to any other corporate leaders you might find right? and the crew is ushered out of the office and down the elevator gathering the rest of the workers on the way out.


Ok here's where we stand and how I see it playing out. The ship is going to fly back and drop off any of the engineers or people working on the comms dish. This was at least Conrad and Dasilev. Others may stay if they wish to supplement the two guard detachment. Leishiu as pilot will be shuttling Tridium to the other mining sites and loading on additional workers and a mining rig. The total amount of time for flying would be about 1Dx4 hours. Leishiu can reduce this to 1D hours with a successful Pilot (INT) 8+ check. If anyone else stays at M-CAPES-17 and isn't working on the repairs they should roll a Recon INT check.

[samduke]

After being told about the work involved, Captain with your permission once we drop of these guards and the repairs to the comm dish are started I will stay with Leishiu and aid in the "Ferry Work" just to make sure things get over to M-CAPES-17.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu spent the evening plotting courses and collecting flight data about the system, but also the planet. She reviewed the ships performance logs in atmosphere and did some corrections to the autopilot for this system. She'd slipped out of the uniform as soon as possible and had since worn the crimson dress, which with it's resilient and self-cleaning fabric served the double purpose of protection and looking representative.
"Sounds good to me, Sara - I could use a pair of extra hands."


[roll0] +4 (pilot (spacecraft)) +2 (int) = 12

[davyjones]

After an hour or so spent ordering and organizing the cargo for pickup the next morning the crew of the Minor Tom return to the administrative building. After following the standard security protocols they are ushered into the Foreman's office where Tridium and Talizandstra are looking over several datapads.
Excellent. We finished our work just in time Tridium. turning to face the crew. Tridium informs me that work has begun on the Comms dish but that there's a few more hours remaining. She also mentioned that your intention was to return the miners and finish the repair work. Until we can enact the full scope of your recommendations I plan on posting a few guards at the site. Please take these two gentlemen with you on your return to M-CAPES-17. He points out two of his personal guards. One of them being the sharp eyed youth who spotted Sara's blade.

The admiral nods to the young guard, and makes a mental note to brief the pair of them when they arrive on site.


Also Tridium can fill you in on some further errands that you could run for me. I'll increase your total pay by another Cr5000. I don't expect that it will take more than a half a day to complete. Tridium please provide me an update upon completion of the comms dish work. with that Talizandstra offers a hand to Dasilev and says You'll remember your good friend Talizandstra and the operation here on Aster when speaking to any other corporate leaders you might find right? and the crew is ushered out of the office and down the elevator gathering the rest of the workers on the way out.

"I always remember those who show exemplary care for their people," Das responds as he takes the proffered hand. "We'll keep you updated on our progress throughout the day."


After being told about the work involved, Captain with your permission once we drop of these guards and the repairs to the comm dish are started I will stay with Leishiu and aid in the "Ferry Work" just to make sure things get over to M-CAPES-17.

"No permission needed, Sara. And good idea," Das says as he looks over his notes on the work that remains on the antenna. "Once you ladies have a good estimate on how long it'll take, please let me know."

The admiral then goes to find the two guards to brief them on the creatures.

[Lacco]

Conrad

"An admiral, a duke and a grease monkey walk to a comm array." Conrad chuckled. "Sounds like a joke to me." He took the case with his tools with him this time.

"Hey, Dasilev. Does having two bodyguards make us two celebrities?" He quickly switched to his work mindset - no jokes, just humming a melody. He couldn't carry a tune, but he enjoyed it regardless.

As soon as they were finished, he looked around, hopefully for the last time and addressed the guards. "It's a nice planet you have here, boys. But a little... monochromatic for my tastes. He switched on his comms and patched his signal through the comm array to test it. "Minor Tom, this is Team Grease Monkey. Repairs finished, please confirm signal strength, provide ETA for pickup and if possible, prepare a hot beverage."

He was ready to hit the space once again.

[samduke]

As she happened to be near the comm system as the call came in she pushed the button replying Minor Tom to ... Team Grease Monkey ?" that was a new one she thought to herself, it looks like we have a few more things to finish up here and should rendezvous at your location relatively speaking soon, Sara Out!

[LarsWester]

As Sara signs off Conrad hears one of the two guards shout I'll be a snark's lunch there's one of those beasts over there. Conrad hears the rapid firing of a combat rifle.
Danver there's more than just that one there's three more circling around. more gunfire is heard from below the slope that houses the comms relay.
If Conrad looks in the direct of the fire he can see several of the frost panthers slinking away from the mining site.

One of the guards just passed on seeing a Frost panther. There were actually four of them but the gunfire drove them off.


A short time after the beast were driven back the Minor Tom lands with the new hands for the site and a new drilling rig. It takes about 20 minutes to offload the rig, everyone and their gear. Before the Minor Tom takes off one of the mechanics originally from M-CAPES 17 pulls Conrad aside to show him a hastily design sculpture of welded metal in the shape of a miner. Conrad wanted you to see this. I call him Miner Tom you know after your ship. Thanks for all you guys have done for us working folk here. This is just my little tribute to you all. the mechanic stands back with a slim smile of satisfaction.

[davyjones]

Upon seeing the sculpture, Dasilev smiles broadly. "Well done. Well done, indeed," he says. Looking to Conrad, he adds, "Wouldn't it be a hoot to add a small figurehead like this to our prow?"

[LarsWester]

With the communications dish repaired and the new personnel and equipment delivered the crew of the Minor Tom board and head back to Aster's downport. Arrak had arranged for the ship to take on cargo and some passengers to Mille Falcs. Arrak notices that there was a credit transfer to his account by Talizandstra for Cr40,000, the low berth passengers paid their fares totaling Cr7,800 and half the freight shipment payment and middle passengers was paid upfront totaling Cr74,700. With another Cr74,700 promised on safe delivery to Mille Falcs.
Leishiu guides the vessel to a quick and showy docking displaying her skills as a pilot. The Minor Tom's refineries still needed a few hours to refine the harvested fuel but time was also needed to load the cargo. The passengers were scheduled to board early in the morning with departure being scheduled for around noon. It would take the Minor Tom about 2 hours to fly past the 100D zone to make the two parsec hop to Mille Falcs. The crew had a few hours remaining on Aster before jumping to Mille Falcs and rendezvousing with Dasilev's Imperial noble contact.


Last chance for any average-tech low law item purchases.

I only posted the good stuff above. The immediate expenses are below.
Berthing at the Spaceport (x3) - Cr900
Sensor Part - Cr25000
Life Support - Cr26600
Total Immediate Expenses - Cr 52,500
Balance prior to this post Cr40,000
Balance carrying forward Cr110,000

Expenses due at Day 30: Currently it is Day 4 Jumping on Day 5.
Mortgage Cr63000
Maintenance Cr4350
Total Month End Expenses Cr67350

[Lacco]

Conrad

As soon as the shooting at the satellite array began, Conrad turned his head to see: as he saw the creatures retreating, he breathed a sigh of relief. He really wanted to move on, away from this piece of ice.

When the mechanic showed him Miner Tom, he had no idea how to react. Luckily, Dasilev saved him. "Yes, that would be... a hoot. Surely. Indeed. Ahem. Is this... tribute for us? Or just to remember us here? Still, thank you. It looks... well welded.

He was glad to be back on Minor Tom - away from all those strange people who wanted to talk to him. He dropped the enviro suit back to his locker and went to the bridge, to enjoy the takeoff. And a cup of coffee. He watched the passengers enter, and then, when Minor Tom reached the orbit, retired into the engineering.

He made sure everything checked out before they reached the jump point. He had everything in place, ready and prepared to reroute the energy into jump drive as soon as the bridge signalled.

"Engineering to bridge. Everything ready. Do you want to jump with the M-Drive off? Or shall we do a 'jump dimming'? We'll need 12,5% of power from the basic systems for the jump."

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Flying through atmosphere and then pushing through the gravity well and exciting into the calm void still thrilled Leishiu. How down on a planet the snow looked so dull but at these distances when one could see a planet and it’s atmosphere so clearly through the sparkle of the heat shields it was simply breathtaking, and one of the reasons she loved flying. While one strictly did not need to take a few laps around a planet to depart, she did so anyway. “This is the pilot, we’ve cleared the atmosphere and are now in transit for our jump point.” She called out on the intracom, and with that she accelerated. After having quickly calculated the turning point, she compared it to what the autopilot suggested, and turned it on. There were tons of systems and redundancies that needed a checkup how they had handled exiting orbit.

[samduke]

Walking to her seat on the bridge sitting and buckling in , she always was fascinated by the star field blur just as the jump initiated.
Once the jump was underway she excused herself to begin training in the art of deception and all its nuances.
bluffing about this , lying about that, taking a small thing to see if it was missed, while returning it at a later point.

[davyjones]

Manning the electronics station for the transit to 100-dee, Das transmits departure announcements and flight plans to starport control. When they enter jump space, he secures the station and heads aft.

First up is a walkthrough of all internal comms stations for inflight checks, then to the engine compartment to see if Conrad needs any assistance. There's always some work to be done, whether one is an admiral or a raw recruit, and old habits die hard.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"Engineering, this is the Bridge. We will do a regular dimming. Over and out." Leishiu replied on the comms.
It was not needed, but you did not fly starships without becoming slightly superstitious.
"Your gra... Admi... Captain, this is the Bridge. We are ready to jump on your mark."

[Lacco]

Conrad

"Bridge, this is Engineering. Starting regular dimming. Required power level for jump in..." he checked the console. "...four seconds." He had the console commands for "dimming" already prepared and just started it as soon as he got the info. The system started switching off lights, save for the emergency ones, turned off the heating... food production. And waterworks. Hope nobody was taking a shower or a dump right now.

The lights switched off almost immediately. He heard the water pumps stop a second later and the purring of air refreshers stopped almost immediately. He waited for the jump, ready to reboot of the systems, as soon as the power level stabilised.

Watching the nice, colorful bars slowly align was relaxing and as soon as the ship jumped, he started running a quick diagnostic on all the systems. You never knew what you could find.

[davyjones]

Leishiu

"Engineering, this is the Bridge. We will do a regular dimming. Over and out." Leishiu replied on the comms.
It was not needed, but you did not fly starships without becoming slightly superstitious.
"Your gra... Admi... Captain, this is the Bridge. We are ready to jump on your mark."

The risk of hiring on Navy veterans for their skill and expertise is that they tend to bring their military bearing and chain of command hyper-awareness with them. It's going to take a while for Lei and Conrad to get used to their partnership. Of course, Das would be lying if there wasn't a small bit of satisfaction in the back of his ego at being given the respect of his rank and title, even now. He just doesn't like to let that show.

"Take us into the Black, Lei," he responds over comms. As he closes the comms, he adds, "May the Divine Truth guide us all." He ritually kisses the small faded four-point star tattoo on the back of his left hand - the symbol of his faith.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"Captain, this is the bridge. Wilco. Jump imminent. Over and out."

"All crew onboard. All ports closed. Jump calculations verified. Jump calculations set. Zero acceleration. Relative speed matches jump calculations. Jump-engine ready. Autopilot disabled. Thrusters off. Arming jumpdrive." Leishiu repeated the mantra to herself, checking everything as she went through it. She had done so many jumps, but there was always a certain feeling the first time with a ship. She unlocked the safety for the jumpdrive. At naval ships, this had been the work of at least two officers, on a small private ship like this, she could do it with a flick of her wrist through her computer.

"Jump." She told her computer, which relayed the command to the ship. She knew it was a simple button press, but it somehow felt as she and the ship did the jump together when she spoke the command loudly.

Once the ship had executed the jump she transmitted to the entire ship. "This is the pilot, we have successfully jumped."

[LarsWester]

The jump bubble formed around the Minor Tom. It continued to balloon as the ship's J-engine's pumped the refined hydrogen into the bubble. Soon enough the craft is completely incased in the hyperspace bubble pulling the Minor Tom into the temporary parallel universe.

Once the craft enters jump space a calm comes over the ship and it's passengers as everyone knows that the have about 7 days of downtime to pursue their own interests. For the most part the passengers stay to their assigned staterooms with the exception of a man in his early 20s named Adric Blackford. Adric was constantly out and about the ship. Pestering the ship's crew for stories of their previous adventures. Adric was quick to mention that this was his first awake jump arriving on Aster by low passage. He had saved enough from his work at the exploration mines to book his passage off planet and have a few thousand credits remaining. Mille Falcs was going to be the start of a new career he would proudly share with anyone who would at least pretend to listen. Adric wanted to enlist with the Exploratory Scouts and there was a scout base in the Mille Falcs system. The lad wanted to see it all with his own eyes.

During the nearly week in jump space Arrak Hume served the passengers as best he could. The most strife came from the neighbors of the married couple of passengers. Apparently the two were quite the cacophonous amorous pair. Arrak ending up moving the complaining passenger with himself. He had noise cancelling ear plugs so the coupling didn't bother him as much.

After just under seven days the Minor Tom exited jump space as it entered the 100D boundary of Mille Falcs. The trip to Mille Falcs will take another 29 hours. About five hours into the M-drive trip to Mille Falcs, the ship's sensors pick up a ping from another vessel's IFF beacon. It is identified as the The Wasp a Far Trader operating out of Iderati in the Five Sisters subsector.

[davyjones]

Das smiles at the young man's enthusiasm as he listened to his stories and dreams; it's hard to believe he was ever that young and excited about the future. He privately asks Sara if she would give him some tips on getting into the service, and even ask him a few questions to gauge his potential, if she's willing.

Meanwhile, he continues working on his mechanics studies, helping Conrad out in the engine room and asking questions of the more experienced repair specialist.

*~*~*~*~*

Das goes forward when the IFF contact is noted and takes his place in the comms-sensor station. Over the internals, he announces, "All hands, stand by for action stations."

Looking to Leishiu, he adds, "Hopefully, they're in a talkative mood; I wouldn't mind a little recent news on our way in."

Setting ship-to-ship comms to the commercial channel, he hails the other trader. "Wasp, Minor Tom, inbound from Aster. Any interesting news from planetside?"

[Harmony]

Leishiu

It had been a good and clean jump. They were making time. As the ping came in, Leishiu was a bit surprised at the Dukes stance to go all hands, but she had been in the navy long enough to not hesitate or question.

“Aye, skipper. We are accelerating at full power, currently our velocity is approaching 177000 meters per second, with 9,5 hours until reverse burn. Fuel and engines ready for high g manouvering.” Leishiu reported. She was quite confident that no one would try anything those close to a naval base, but orders are orders, and the Duke probably knew something she did not.

[samduke]

Sara

with not much to do in the way of ship functions overall she sat staring at the computer information readouts and position reports of the other ship

[Lacco]

Conrad

The jump was uneventful: between his maintenance duties in the engineering he had a lot of time - the ship was not new, but they made sure there were no surprises, at least not in the first few weeks. He distributed this time between practice sessions with his stunner, to be ready for any future frost tigers, spending time on the bridge asking questions about piloting a ship, and evading Adric - he did not mind answering questions about the ship, the power plant or the mechanical aspects, but as soon as he started talking about his future and dreams, Conrad's brain just switched off.

At one specific occasion, he even put a "Do not disturb" sign on the entrance to engineering section and locked himself in.



He was off duty - sitting in one of free chairs on the bridge, just checking the remote diagnostics with one eye, while reading a technical manual. Which was not a technical manual, but a trashy novel, one of his guilty pleasures. But when Das stated it was all hands to action stations... his legs activated autopilot and he stood up, saluting even without a second thought and was out of his seat and out of the bridge before he even noticed.

Luckily, he did not forget his "technical manual" there.

He quickly switched comms to crew only and asked "So, do you think they are trouble...?" and quickly started calculating how much power he can actually cram into the engines. Especially considering their... less than stellar combat capabilities. Which at the moment consisted of him building an improptu catapult using RCS system and throwing canisters with fuel at the enemy.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"It is possible. But..." Leishiu replied on the coms before fading away briefly as she ran some calculations. "Adjusting for communication ranges and readiness, a proper defense craft would be able to arrive within in five hours, give or take a depending on factors such as readiness, current velocity, direction and location. A layered defense system could have missiles arriving way before that." that assumed this station was fitted with defense craft capable of 6G acceleration, which in a border world like this could be questionable. The rich and influential preferred expensive assets to protect their personal economic interests, and this place might not fit that profile.
"The odds of a hostile encounter is, according to naval doctrine, virtually non-existent in systems with a naval base." She added. Not for the first time, she felt like the Minor Tom was a slug. Still, even if there was an ambush aimed for probably the lordship, all math spoke against due to the sheer largeness of space and trouble of communications. While still just a prediction, when in space, your very life hang on a loose thread of constant math. Any calculation wrong, and there might not be second chances. While most of it was done by machines, she knew the magic behind it. In Naval Academy she had done all of it - but the calculation for jumping, no one sane did that - on a chalkboard, and already then it had felt like a welcome, if strange, relief that those numbers ruled everything in the black void.

[Lacco]

Conrad

He thought for a moment. He was no weapons expert, even though he fired a turret few times and had the basic trainings. He was no pilot, although he adored the profession. He was a mechanic and engineer.

"Leishiu, Das... we'll need to talk when planetside. Even if we don't have the weapons... especially since we don't have them, we should at least look like combat-ready in these waters if we need to." He goes through a quick internal brainstorming. "Or some stealth options. I'm thinking heat exhausts to give a good target for long-range sensors and then going cold and silent to change trajectory. A burst like that would need energy and some matter, but we could pull it off... but I'll need to run calculations and I'll need to check if our life support can sustain it." He entered the engineering section and wiped his brow. The engineering was never cold. "Now the other options I can think of is to fake the weapons: we can reroute some power and sync the frequencies to give the guys on the other side the readings that would look like we are heating up several laser turrets... or I can fix a temporary rocket launcher with use of some canisters and spare parts, which will look like we are launching a missile or torpedo."

He gets to his console in engineering. "But we should talk about that some other time. Maybe. If we need this stuff. Oh, and... Conrad, reporting for duty at engineering station."

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"Captain, piloting and engineering ready." Leishiu reported. It was not that His Lordship had not heard Conrad reporting, but there were several reasons the Imperial Navy liked repeating information - most of them actually sound.

'Good thinking, but let's not get overly excited - for now.' She transmitted to engineering controls. She was not entirely sure how bloodthirsty the local brand of nobility was. She had her misgivings from her time in the Navy and this situation already seemed to need deescalation.

[davyjones]

Only when the chatter over the crew-only line continues does Das realize what he started. He flips his mic to crew-only. "Sorry, folks. Habits of an old warhorse used to looking for trouble along the border. Thanks for responding quickly."

Closing his mic, he says to Leishiu, "Do you feel as small and vulnerable on this ship as I do? The smallest ship I served on was nearly 9,000 tons, and that was more than a decade ago."

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu relaxes visibly as the Duke seems to calm down.

“I do not think so, your excellency. It is different feeling to be the pilot than the captain, to my experience. If they had told me that from the get go, I would have went to flight school instead of The Line. It is less worrying, more of an understanding. Might sound silly, but at times, it feels like we are one, the way she already responds to my commands, and the way I control her to accommodate for her… well, you know…” Leishiu replied, before coming to a pause, not feeling like insulting the ship audibly. If she cursed and wished in her own head, that was one thing, saying it loud though - no. “But, I would not mind occasionally flying something with a bit more kick.” She smiled briefly, a memory surfacing of shutting off the artificial gravity on shuttles and fighting the extreme power of their acceleration.

[LarsWester]

"Wasp, Minor Tom, inbound from Aster. Any interesting news from planetside?"
The response from the other ship came after a few seconds of delay. Greetings Minor Tom Aster you say? We were just about to jump there we heard about a problem with the mining operations. Any news? What's there to say about Mille Falcs the Rear Admiral runs a tight ship and in this case that ship is a whole star system. We'd recommend keeping all trading to the straight and narrow. Customs officers can be a bit more principled here than other systems.
The ship continues on its course out to the 100D boundary. If both ships remain on their current trajectories the ships will pass within 10,000km within 20 minutes.

[davyjones]

"One of the stations encountered some trouble with unfriendly local fauna, but they were able - with a little help - to clear the danger and set up deterrents to keep the critters away from operations," Das reports. "Thanks for the info, and safe flying. Minor Tom out."

The admiral keeps an eye on the Wasp on sensors as they pass.

[LarsWester]

Copy Minor Tom are you saying the situation there resolved itself? Could save us some time and fuel if that's the case. Thank YOU for the news.
The Minor Tom's sensors pick up a slowing down and altering of The Wasp's trajectory. It seemed to be turning away from the Minor Tom.

After 15 minutes the Wasp drops off the Minor Tom's sensors exceeding the range. It's a lonely boring ride for the next several hours before a Naval Patrol ship hails the Minor Tom as it nears Mille Falcs.

Minor Tom please state your planetary destination, duration and intent of stay on Mille Falcs.

[Lacco]

Conrad

After running diagnostics for the upmteenth time, as soon as Wasp passed them, Conrad decided to do something different.

He remotely connected his console to the sensor console on the bridge and began scanning their surroundings for any activity, mainly thermal and EM. He collected the data for next few hours, storing it to be able to go over it with a finer comb later.

Making a detailed sensor scan (Routine 6+; 1Dx10minutes; taking DM+2 for 1D hours) [roll0] +1 for Sensors, +1 for INT, +2 for additional time;

Time taken: [roll1] hours

[davyjones]

Copy Minor Tom are you saying the situation there resolved itself? Could save us some time and fuel if that's the case. Thank YOU for the news.

"Situation was resolved, yes."


After 15 minutes the Wasp drops off the Minor Tom's sensors exceeding the range. It's a lonely boring ride for the next several hours before a Naval Patrol ship hails the Minor Tom as it nears Mille Falcs.

Minor Tom please state your planetary destination, duration and intent of stay on Mille Falcs.

Das opens the mic for ship-to-ship. "Destination of mainworld, expected duration of seven days, intent is cargo & mail delivery & pickup and mercantile trade. Over."

[LarsWester]

Roger Minor Tom. You are cleared for landing at the starport berth #23F12. Please be advised that there is a weekly berthing rate at Starport Delta Five. The current weekly rate is Cr500 * [roll0]. Once your vessel has landed please remain on board until planetary security forces has checked your cargo and granted permission for disembarking. Over.
The security officer on the comms turns off the channel as the Minor Tom approaches Delta Five Starport. There are clearly marked identifiers so it is not difficult to find your assigned landing spot. Compared to the downport on Aster this port is a massive honeycomb of towers rising several stories above the surface. As you approach through the Minor Tom's viewscreens you can see a redish atmosphere outside due the system's Red Dwarf star and the high concentration of Carbon Monoxide in the air. As your vessel approaches you see a glass shield raise up allowing entrance to your berthing spot.

Can someone make a landing pilot check? Landing at a starport requires a Routine (6+) Pilot check (1D x 10 seconds), but most pilots will take 1D minutes to perform a landing, and gain DM+2 on the task.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"This is the pilot, prepare for landing." Leishiu send on the internal radio. She had learned how the machine worked out, and ran some calculations on their velocity and deceleration. It was not by muscle memory, she had never liked flying 'by stick', but it was some sort mathematical memory. The autopilot warned her that they were missing the dock, but she knew things it did not. Suddenly bursting to full acceleration for a split second, the ship ground to near perfect stop and it was a simple thing to put it down. If it was not for the artificial gravity, that would have been janky. She had done it much higher acceleration and velocity.


[roll0] Pilot (+4) + Int (+2) -2 (speeding up) vs 6 = 14 (exceptional) Taking [roll1]x6 = 24 seconds.

[davyjones]

Dasilev smiles as the ship touches down perfectly. Again. He looks to Leishiu and quips mirthfully, "Hot dog."

As he sets the comms station to its in-port configuration, he adds, "You keep that up, the Navy is going to haul you back in as a test pilot."

[samduke]

wandering into the comms room as Dasilev is just finishing up. Before you switch that to port control , I need a few minutes with it as that scout base that is nearby needs to know I am in the area., Sitting down and changing the channel to the official scout band. Scout Base Control come in, waiting for their reply then, this is Senior Scout Sara Wolf reporting in as is customary, my ship will be docking at starport berth #23F12 if you need to reach me. Over and Out then turning the comms back over to Dasilev to return it to in-port configuration.
I will be at the boarding hatch awaiting the inspection crew.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu froze slightly at the compliment. “I will make sure our next landing discourages that thought, your grace. And test pilot is unlikely, I never qualified for flight school.” She had failed by a single point on the final exam. She was not even a pilot when she thought about it - as much as she was a natural at it - it was still just something she did in her spare time. Still, this short trip felt better than being in command in the navy ever had.
“Command released, drives are shut down, doors are disarmed. We are ready to receive our guests. Requesting permission to take shore leave for a few hours.”

She would have dressed up in her naval uniform to greet the customs, but the off comment about being test pilot had changed her mind. She had no intention of going back there. Now, if given permission, she would probably just use her TAS-membership, grab something nice to eat and drink and just relax.

[davyjones]

Leishiu froze slightly at the compliment. “I will make sure our next landing discourages that thought, your grace. And test pilot is unlikely, I never qualified for flight school.”

"First, please don't stop. I'd rather you hot dog a little when you have the chance, because you never know when we're really going to need that talent to get our backsides out of a tight situation," he counters. "Second, the Navy might've missed the mark on that decision. Still, if they come calling, I won't let them take you away from me." The admiral follows the comment with a broad smile.


“Command released, drives are shut down, doors are disarmed. We are ready to receive our guests. Requesting permission to take shore leave for a few hours.”

Das resists the urge to sigh at her continued military deference. Patience, he tells himself. It just takes time.

"You're off the clock, Lei. Have fun."

With that, Das heads down to the airlock, where he joins Sara in meeting the inspectors. As they take the crew's papers, he says, "Listen, I'm not here on any official business; would you mind keeping my rank and title off of the official channels? Just keep the record to the minimum necessary, please?"

Regarding knowing the military governor, since Das only commanded a squadron, I expect "rear admiral" is where he ended up, too. So, it's possible they were contemporaries at one point (depending on how long the governor's been in place at that rank). So, I'll go with knowing him in social circles.

Persuading the Inspectors - Persuade (SOC, untrained) +0 - 10+ [roll0]
Knowing Mille Falcs Military Governor - Carouse (SOC) +4 - 8+ [roll1]

[samduke]

Watching Das walk in as the airlock cycle had begun, Hey boss they are here , pointing to the airlock cycle. As the inspectors enter she looked them over noticing a lack of any scout representative. looking back at Das, Sir I will take half of these good people and truge the lower decks and you can take the others through the upper decks that way we can pass this inspection and be safe to leave the ship just that much faster.

[davyjones]

"Good plan. Does that work for you folks?" he asks, expecting that it would be. The admiral could remember no regulations that presented any obstacles to inspection teams dividing and conquering. "Shall we start with the bridge?"

[LarsWester]

Slightly against protocol but you're not exactly a security risk are you Admiral Chard? the security officer in command suggests.
Admiral Yokhamoto is a stickler for protocol. I formally object but will comply with your orders LT. a more junior officer stated. Dasilev recognizes Admiral Yokhamoto as a fellow naval contemporary. They served several terms under the same commanding officer before both getting promoted to commander rank.
The security forces complete their sweep with out finding issues. They crew are permitted to leave their vessel. Arrak Hume has already found a buyer for the pharmaceuticals in the cargo bay and is arranging transfer of goods. The passengers disembark. Then it is time to revive the low berth passengers.

Can I get medic checks to revive the low berth passengers?

[samduke]

Sara noticing as passengers were leaving that the low berth passengers had not yet been revived wandered back to the pods and began the thaw and revival process.

[LarsWester]

Haha I knew that one of you fellow popsicles wouldn't make it. exclaimed one of your recently revived low berth passengers as he counted out the 60 credits from the lottery he just won. Now it's time to try my luck with the Navy recruiting officers.

The inspection team discovers one of the smuggling compartments but the cargo inside is legit so they have no problems and the Minor Tom passes inspection.

As the commanding officer leaves he salutes Admiral Dasilev Chard. Truly an honor to meet you Admiral.

Arrak states he has found a buyer through the computer network and sets off to sell the cargo of pharmaceuticals. The rest of you have the whole of Mille Falcs spaceport available. There are many shops to peruse or taverns and restaurants to carouse in. After an hour Dasilev's gets a personal message on his transceiver. The text reads.

Lord Admiral Dasilev Chard, Duke of Marastan, Count of Deneb, Marquis of Cova, Viscount of Troskot, Margaret Yetrina Tukera Princess of the Imperium, Duchess of Delphi and Anaxias sends her warmest regards and hopes you will be able to meet with me at your earliest convenience. At your service Ezra Gammon, personal attaché to Count Blaine Truilla Tukera. I will be waiting at the establishment known as Twin Sunset and dressed in a grey flight jacket with an orange armband. I'd like to discuss further your opportunity to serve the Empire in a new endeavor.

[davyjones]

As the commanding officer leaves he salutes Admiral Dasilev Chard. Truly an honor to meet you Admiral.

"And you, Commander. We appreciate your accommodation in this matter," the admiral responds, returning the salute as only a flag officer can as he spares a brief glance at the protesting lieutenant. "If you see Admiral Yokhamoto, please tell him "Ol' Lord Charbroil" sends his compliments."

Once passengers high and low are ashore, Das heads to the spaceport to enjoy a walk through the shops there. As usual, he's in fashionable "business casual" attire, with only a single small pin on his lapel to give any indication to his station; hopefully, it will afford him a level of anonymity, even on this busy imperial hub.


Lord Admiral Dasilev Chard, Duke of Marastan, Count of Deneb, Marquis of Cova, Viscount of Troskot, Margaret Yetrina Tukera Princess of the Imperium, Duchess of Delphi and Anaxias sends her warmest regards and hopes you will be able to meet with me at your earliest convenience. At your service Ezra Gammon, personal attaché to Count Blaine Truilla Tukera. I will be waiting at the establishment known as Twin Sunset and dressed in a grey flight jacket with an orange armband. I'd like to discuss further your opportunity to serve the Empire in a new endeavor.

"Well, it looks like I have a meeting," Das says, more to himself than anyone else. Calling those from the crew not with him from his transceiver, he says, "I'm heading to the Twin Sunset for a bit. I shouldn't be more than an hour or two. Lei, please join me as soon as you can get there."

The admiral wants someone else from the crew with him, and he trusts the commander in a situation like this more than the others.

[samduke]

While waiting for someone from the morgue to come for the popsicle. Sara plugs into the network to see what is going on in the area, then searches around for any potential money making things to increase her pocket book. then when the Morgue team arrives She escorts' the corpse from the ship. being the last to depart the ship she presses her thumb to the key code effectively locking the ships door. then proceeds into the market area to see if any of her research was valid.

[LarsWester]

Sara's searching through forums and job requests was fruitful she found a lead for a job that intrigued her. There was a high up in some medical megacorp that is offering a Cr500000 bounty to recover a stolen painting. She leaves the Minor Tom to inquire about the job in person. The ad mentioned a building located a few kilometers away from the starport. She could arrange for transportation for a few credits if she only knew where in the spaceport the local transport hub was located. As she was looking over an interactive map of the spaceport. A three foot tall white wheeled robot with a cylindrical body with a spherical head approached her from behind. Greetings Traveller I am PF-4663. A Pathfinder robot tasked with assisting new arrivals with navigating the spaceport. My visual sensors indicate that you are attempting to use the spaceport map. Could I be of assistance in guiding to your desired location?

[samduke]

Sara's searching through forums and job requests was fruitful she found a lead for a job that intrigued her. There was a high up in some medical megacorp that is offering a Cr50000 bounty to recover a stolen painting. She leaves the Minor Tom to inquire about the job in person. The ad mentioned a building located a few kilometers away from the starport. She could arrange for transportation for a few credits if she only knew where in the spaceport the local transport hub was located. As she was looking over an interactive map of the spaceport. A three foot tall white wheeled robot with a cylindrical body with a spherical head approached her from behind. Greetings Traveller I am PF-4663. A Pathfinder robot tasked with assisting new arrivals with navigating the spaceport. My visual sensors indicate that you are attempting to use the spaceport map. Could I be of assistance in guiding to your desired location?

oh great it is an auto-tour guide she thought.,.. Ok PF-4663 what is the rate to tell me how to get somewhere? then how much more to take me there? and if there is no fee for the information and only for the transportation she will hire PF-4663 to take her to the medical megacorp that listed the job. Then Go inside and find out whom to talk to about the job and get all the details of the job without committing to the job just yet as she needs to clear it with the team.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Sitting at a bar in the Travellers Aid Society section of the station, Leishiu had already had a couple of glasses when the call came. She wanted to be carefree like an enlisted as simply miss the call. Even if she had been clear to have a few hours to herself, it had been cut short. Such was the peril of duty.

"Wilco. Meeting at the Twin Sunset. I am already on the move." She looked at the last remaining drink in her glass. She should not, she was back in service. But with a sudden streak of rebellion she swept the glass, payed the bill and left. Everything was a bit softer and warmer than before, but she quickly navigated to where this 'Twin Sunset' would be located and steered herself there.

[Lacco]

Conrad

Humming some old melody from the way back, Conrad left the engineering section. He mostly ignored the inspection, as he had his own to do: in the Navy, maintenance teams went over the ship after every longer mission - but always after the first one. To catch all the bugs, as his old mentor taught him.

Now that he had a maintenance team of one, he had to do it himself. Checking for microcracks in the hull was tiring matter, best done in the vacuum of space, but they were always moving and he had no idea when he'd get another chance. The same with ship diagnostics: double-checking everything in his area of expertise took him quite long, but he was sure there were no surprises for him.

After that, he was ready to hit the town. Well, the starport and maybe even the city. He listened to Dasilev's message and nodded - another job was coming. But for now, he could enjoy some local cuisine, as long as nobody needed him. Suddenly he realized everybody was out, and so he made a quick call.

"Sir... oh, sorry Das. I'm the last one on the ship: should I stay onboard or can I go for a bite? Or do you plan a common dinner somewhere? I'd love to try the local cuisine and I need to do some shopping later.

New jumpsuit. And something more formal. He awaited a response and browsed local restaurant directory and tried to determine if the local food is worth the walk.

[LarsWester]

oh great it is an auto-tour guide she thought.,.. Ok PF-4663 what is the rate to tell me how to get somewhere? then how much more to take me there? and if there is no fee for the information and only for the transportation she will hire PF-4663 to take her to the medical megacorp that listed the job. Then Go inside and find out whom to talk to about the job and get all the details of the job without committing to the job just yet as she needs to clear it with the team.
Destination exceeds design parameters. PF-4663 responds when Sara asks for directions to Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters. I can guide you to Starport Delta Fives' planetary transportation services. Please note that the outside environment of Mille Falcs is toxic to human life. Some form of portable air supply is highly recommended for continuation of biological existence. Luckily Starport Delta Five is here to provide any such needs you may have in the most current unique and fashionable designs. Let me know if I should guide you to Breathe Beyond for purchasing such items.


Everyone
If you have a transceiver you receive a text notification from Arrak that the sale of the Pharmaceuticals has been completed. Good news I secured a very eager buyer for the Anagthics ingredients from Aster. If you recall we purchased six tons of the stuff at Cr50000 a ton. I think everyone will be pleased that I secured a sale price of Cr135000 per ton for all six tons. Bringing in a total profit of Cr510000. I have already secured a transfer back to your personal accounts what you contributed to purchasing the pharmaceuticals. The remaining profits from this trip I suggest remain within a ship's account until such a time as one of us chooses to depart at which point they would be paid an equal share of the ship's account.


Arrak 19450
Conrad 30360
Dasilev 136090
Leishiu 46090
Sara 16250

[samduke]

Ok PF-4663 I would like a guide to Starport Delta Fives' planetary transportation services where I can get a taxi or something.

[LarsWester]

It's your lungs biological. I've always found that term an oxymoron. PF-4663 chirps before wheeling away guiding you through the wide expanse of Starport Delta Five's shops and restaurants. On the way toward the planetary transportation hub you see the sign for the store PF-4663 mentioned Breathe Beyond it shows smiling faces behind clear breathing masks that are decorated with different patterns. PF-4663 continues past the storefront in the direction indicated by a sign for PTS.


Do you continue to follow the robot or go shopping for some form of air supply?

[samduke]

Sara
Spotting the store and realizing that she really did need a couple things just let the robot continue on with out her as she ducked into Breathe Beyond, and did some shopping
after she finished getting the few things she knows she will need she proceeds on to the taxi stands hiring one for the going rate to take her to the megacorp building

[Harmony]

Leishiu

“Excellent job.” Leishiu replies to Arrak as she navigates towards her destination. She still did not quite grasp the value of money, but this seemed like they had done well. Would keep them in the void longer, which was good.

[LarsWester]

Sara exits Breathe Beyond with multiple parcels of goods. She doesn't see any sign of PF-4663 but continues to follow the signs for PTS surmising that the initials stand for Planetary Transportation Services or something along those lines. Arriving at hub for PTS Sara queues up in a taxi line. As she waits for her turn to grab transportation she takes in her surroundings.
Travellers queue up in several lines along multilevel platforms. Taxis and luxury service vehicles form their own queues at the different levels. Grav vehicles taking the upper platforms. A line of ground cars wait on the lowest platform. When she boards a ground car she sees enclosed Grav vehicles and rafts pulling in and out of the PTS overhead. Her taxi driver starts driving down a 2 kilometer long enclosed tunnel with a diameter of 500meters. The vehicles joins around a mix of ground and grav vehicles numbering close to one hundred others at the end of tube. A transparent giant sized interior iris gate opens allowing Sara's vehicle and the others to enter an interstitial chamber. The interior iris gate closes before the matching exterior gate opens allowing Sara's car to drive out into the toxic atmosphere of Mille Falcs.

Sara's driver fixes a rebreather mask over his face before stating Weird knowing that death is just a thin plate of glass away isn't it? Now you said you wanted to go to Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters right? For a little extra Cr50 I'll give you the tourist route interested?
Sara stares out the car window at a yellowish skyline populated by tall buildings and dome-encased habitats. There is vehicle traffic zipping around her and it's confusing to her as the rules of travel on the planet as there doesn't seem to be any traffic signs.

[davyjones]

"Sir... oh, sorry Das. I'm the last one on the ship: should I stay onboard or can I go for a bite? Or do you plan a common dinner somewhere? I'd love to try the local cuisine and I need to do some shopping later.

"I hadn't planned on anything, so feel free to grab something on your own. Unless you want to plan something for later," Das counters. "Up to you."

He reaches the Twin Suns and waits just outside the door for Leishiu to arrive. As she approaches, he immediately apologizes.

"I'm really sorry to take up your free time, Lei. I just wanted someone I could trust with me in this meeting - a good set of eyes and ears who has experience dealing with higher ups and their representatives. You know, like uppity admirals," he says, flashing a smile. Lowering his voice a little, the aforementioned admiral adds. "His name is Ezra Gammon, personal attaché to Count Blaine Truilla Tukera, and he's here on behalf of our benefactor to discuss what lies ahead."

He leads his pilot into the restaurant. "He'll be in a light gray jacket with an orange arm band."

[LarsWester]

The Twin Sunset
The yellowish sky and green clouds of Mille Falcs toxic atmosphere are visible through a floor to ceiling window running the span of The Twin Sunset's outer wall. In the center of the restaurant's twenty or so tables is a rectangular bar. Seated at the far side of the bar is a gentleman wearing a light gray suit jacket about elbow height there is an orange armband bearing some indistinguishable black symbol. About a quarter of the tables in the restaurant are occupied by patrons dressed ranging from formal to business styles. There is plenty of space between the tables that the wait staff are flittering through to bring wine to this table, a platter of various delicious smelling meats to another. All along the outer wall are booths that are about eighty percent occupied.

[samduke]

Sara's driver fixes a rebreather mask over his face before stating Weird knowing that death is just a thin plate of glass away isn't it? Now you said you wanted to go to Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters right? For a little extra Cr50 I'll give you the tourist route interested?
Sara stares out the car window at a yellowish skyline populated by tall buildings and dome-encased habitats. There is vehicle traffic zipping around her and it's confusing to her as the rules of travel on the planet as there doesn't seem to be any traffic signs.

fixing her rebreather mask and donning her vacc suit over her clothes, then replying, No thank you just the direct route to Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"It is not a problem, your Grace. We both know off-duty is for those without responsibility." She thinks for a bit, wondering now if she should have put on full uniform. But this seemed to be discreet. Subterfuge was not really her forte. And even more noble power plays, she had left the Navy to be rid of them, and now they were once again drawn into the middle of it. She brushes off some dust from her dress and adjusts the fabric to be slightly tighter to fit the venue better, and waits for Das to enter as per naval customs.

[LarsWester]

Mille Falcs surface
The taxi driver looks at Sara putting on her breather mask. Mamam that won't work here. Air's not poisonous so much as just unbreathable. nodding at the woman's Vacc Suit folded on the seat next to her. Best put that on before getting out. That or hold your breath.
Looking out the taxi's window Sara sees the yellow tinted air of Mille Falcs and the tall buildings or domed habitation units along the streets. The majority of Mille Falcs population lived close to the spaceport. Each building seemed to have its only antechamber that would let people in, vent the chamber back to atmosphere, then allow occupants of the antechamber to enter the building proper. It seemed the standard protocol for dealing with the atmosphere. The driver was pretty much silent the rest of the 15-minute drive to Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters. Sara estimated that the headquarters was around a twenty story building.

[samduke]

Once safely inside the interior of Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters, she will remove the protective equipment then seek out her contact for more details about the job.

[davyjones]

Dasilev winds around the room to the bar and his contact. "Mr. Gammon?" he asks as he takes a look at the black symbol on his armband.

[LarsWester]

Twin Sunset
Mr. Gammon nods in response to the Admiral waving a hand at the neighboring seat. The symbol on Mr. Gammon's armband looks like a series of stylized rectangles that when viewed as whole look like a flag.
Please have a seat and excuse the informality Master Chard. I fear properly addressing you with all appropriate titles may draw more attention than desired. My employer is very close to a personal friend of yours in a very prestige position. I have been tasked to relay a favor on behalf of my boss and your benefactor. As you may well know we sit on the border of the Third Imperium. However in the next Spinward Subsector there is a territorial region known as the Five Sisters. This region of Imperial space has remained unconnected to the rest of the Empire for far too long. My employer and his partner your benefactor have been working hard behind the scenes in District 268 to prepare for a rapid mission of annexation of systems to the Empire. The end goal being provided a trade route of secure Imperial space through District 268 connecting the Five Sisters region to the rest of the Empire. This is a lofty goal but you can help see to its success. The first specific task that Princess Margaret would like to see you perform is in aiding Pro-Imperial forces on Pagaton by delivering a shipment of advanced weapons. Obviously the Empire doesn't wish to be seen as interfering in the war or directly supporting one side on the planet as the other factions that exist there would view this negatively and unite against the faction pushing for joining the Empire. Specifically we request the delivery of 10 tons of advanced weapons to General Quill Slayton on Pagaton. We are willing to sponsor the delivery of those 10 tons any more would be appreciated but would come from your own pocket and allow for some profiteering on your end. If you succeed in this small endeavor there may be future tasks you can take that would further the overall goal of stretching the borders of the Empire until the 5 Sisters are united in a continuous civilized band of Imperial space. What do you say Admiral can we count on your support?


Miyata-Tamura Medical Corporation Headquarters
Sara enters the antechamber of the building the inner doors are security protected and she sees a sign above a button. Press for Access
Pressing the button Sara is asked who her point of contact is and if their expecting her.

[davyjones]

"If I recall my District 268 astrography correctly, that would mean the Collace arm of the Spinward Main," Dasilev muses, shifting his eyes between Lei and Mr. Gammon as he speaks. "Talos itself may not be achievable, given the unique circumstances of that system, but Judice and Collas beyond may not take much to convince them. I'm sure the Scouts would be happy to have their facility officially connected to the Imperium.

"I don't know a lot about the other worlds along the arm," the admiral adds. "Do our patrons consider Talos to be essential to the link, or would they be satisfied with a J-2 link to Judice as a jumping point?"

[LarsWester]

Dasilev. he starts shaking his head. Our patrons want the whole subsector. But they'll take whatever is attainable. The goal does include the acceptance of Talos under the wing. Don't tell me you put stock into the legends of that some mysterious ship threatening to return at any moment. The amber zone designation was removed years ago. Each system has its means to winning them over. I believe promise of a true starport may sway some of the nobles and oligarchs of the planet into seeing the gains from formally joining the Empire. The main concern I wish to impress is that the Sword Worlders not be made aware of our plans. They would object strongly to Imperial expansion so close to their borders but we believe that it is time to be bold in strategy but secretive in execution.

[samduke]

Speaking in a firm tone, Yes Carter Irani, is my contact and yes I believe that I am expected. , once inside, she will wait for Carter Irani or someone to take her to Carter Irani, then once face to face. Greetings I am Sara Wolf I and a few associates of mine might have the ability to potentially retrieve your missing art in once piece. I would require as many details about the theft when, where it was taken if you have any photos of the art that will aid us in finding it, next did you alert the local authorities about the theft, if so what have they done so far to find it, any suspects that you or they can think of that may want to have it. and last what reward do you offer for the return of the art after gaining as much information as possible, Carter Irani I will need to contact my associates and see if this is a job they wish to take for what you have offered, please excuse me while I do this Sara will then use her radio to contact the others on the channel that they agreed to before leaving the ship, she will tell then of the job, the details as she knows them and then the reward and wait for replies

[LarsWester]

Sara is admitted into the building after identifying herself and that she was to meet with Carter Irani about the theft. The interior doors closing behind her, she is greeted by a security personnel who briefly checks over Sara to insure she is unarmed and then escorts the scout up to the 19th floor and Carter Irani's personal audience waiting room. The room is opulent decorated with artifacts from all over chartered space. Along one wall is a large blank rectangular section that clearly indicates something missing. Sara is forced to wait about 15 minutes as Irani finishes a previous meeting. The security personnel remains with Sara as she is finally ushered into Irani's private office.
Carter Irani sits behind a large dark red wooden desk. He motions for Sara to take a nearby seat in a very plush and comfortable leather recliner chair.
Greetings Sara Wolf. Yes the theft. It was a quite interesting piece painted by a monk of the Brotherhood of Chalmatchi in year 1005. I loved how the piece captured the emotions of great loss but an even greater promise of future fulfillment. A truly moving piece and with the artist now dead it is near priceless. But if I had to place a value I would say anywhere between 50 to 200MCr to interested parties. The reward I'm offering for it's return is 0.5MCr. I have gone to the local law enforcement offices but my hope is that be pursuing independent means in parallel the painting will be recovered more swiftly. Mind you at this point my sole interest is in recovery of the painting and identification of those involved in its theft. No apprehension and return for prosecution is required for the reward. Here are the facts involving the crime. Irani pauses picking up a datapad from his desk, presses a few keystrokes on the pad before continuing. There was a breach of the protective glass windows of the 19th floor. The breach was sealed 1 minute immediately after allowing little of the outside environment to enter. Carter plays some security footage of the breach.
A round circular opening is cut into a floor to ceiling window in the chamber just outside Carter's door. As the glass cutout falls to the floor a shimmering figure crawls through the hole. Carter pauses the playback. Yes as you can see whoever the thief is they are well equipped that's a Vislight Chameleon equipped Vacc Suit there. he restarts the video. The shimmering figure quickly takes something off a belt and knees by the entry hole that was just created. A few seconds later the figure rises and the wall looks repaired. It's hard to track the thief as it's just the rare glint or shimmer of light playing with the edges of the suit that allow you to get an idea of its movements. The thief cases the whole ante chamber before entering Irani's office. The playback changes views to show the interior of Carter's office and the figure is searching through his desk finding a keycard. The thief takes the card and returns to the waiting room, taking a 1x1.5M painting off the wall. The painting appears to be floating above the floor as it moves to the elevator. Carter Irani stops the video here. The criminal used my keycard to access the roof where we believe they had a grav vehicle waiting to whisk them and the painting away. Sadly we don't have video of the roof as the thieves scrambled it. This all took place four days ago. As far as suspects go we have very little to go on. However the following is known. The thief was a professional, this was a targeted heist, and they didn't act alone. There was also a driver of the grav vehicle. Best our security team could reason. The approach was made by grav vehicle under cover of darkness. Someone used a laser cutting tool to make the entry and then used a specialized patch kit to thwart our environmental sensors. The person involved was familiar enough with my habit of leaving a spare keycard in a drawer. And that's about all the facts available. All of this has been reported to Mille Falcs Law offices. Any further questions? Irani places his hands on his desk and locks eyes with Sara.

[davyjones]

"...Our patrons want the whole subsector. But they'll take whatever is attainable. The goal does include the acceptance of Talos under the wing. Don't tell me you put stock into the legends of that some mysterious ship threatening to return at any moment. The amber zone designation was removed years ago."

Das shrugs. "Well, no, but most legends have a kernel of truth in them somewhere..."


"Each system has its means to winning them over. I believe promise of a true starport may sway some of the nobles and oligarchs of the planet into seeing the gains from formally joining the Empire. The main concern I wish to impress is that the Sword Worlders not be made aware of our plans. They would object strongly to Imperial expansion so close to their borders but we believe that it is time to be bold in strategy but secretive in execution."

"We'll be discreet," the admiral answers. Turning to his companion, he asks, "Lei, any thoughts? Questions for Mr. Gammon?"

[Harmony]

Leishiu

"I do not have anything at the moment, your Grace. It seems clear to me." Leishiu stated. It was an undercover mission, and if the Duke was killed, there was a pretext for invasion and possibly war with the Sword Worlds. The real question was just if they were being setup to fail or not.

[davyjones]

Das nods at Lei's response. Turning to Gammon, he asks, "You mentioned promises of starport construction for Talos. To what extent am I allowed to financially obligate the Empire?"

Even in his youth, Dasilev gravitated toward the cautious spending found in Navy culture, a marked contrast to the extravagance of noble life and the personal responsibilities of his station. Throughout his career, he often spent only what was required to maintain himself properly, only exceeding that when the needs of the situation required something more.

That said, even as personal extravagance wasn't in his nature, he had, on many occasions authorized large expenditures on behalf of the Navy, more than one billion credit ship contract included. Still, he knew his limits within the admiralty. Here, along the border, on a clandestine mission to expand the Empire's reach, is entirely nebulous. He'd like to know where the line is before he's standing on the other side of it.

[LarsWester]

Ezra Gammon sighs and takes a moment to think at the Admiral's question. Duke Chard I think it is in the interest of my employer that no hard obligations be made on behalf of the empire at this time. Finding out what it might take in specific cases would be a valuable service you could provide for our benefactors. Just note that there are commercial and political allies that you have that could possibly be persuaded to intervene with massive funding. That should suffice for this early stage of development. I should also note that Princess Margaret and Count Blaine Tukera in addition to transporting the aforementioned cargo have some additional passengers that they wish to have accompany you during these mission.
Ezra motions to a table behind Dasilev and Leishiu and four individuals stand up and come over to join the three of you introducing themselves.


The secondary characters enter the scene. Going to be hard on a few of you as both your characters are in the same scene so to make things easier if posting for both characters separate by bold tags whose perspective we should read through. Such as Dasilev followed by text then Ana-Nyssa and more text.

[samduke]

Okay thank you Carter Irani for waiting, after talking with my associates we have decided that we will see if we can locate your missing art. we request 25% of the reward as an upfront payment. whether we succeed or not, this is to help offset our costs involved in this job.
any additional information that you have would be greatly appreciated

After the meeting , Sara will go and summon a cab to take her to the local authorities (police station) (paying the cab fare for the direct route, so that she can get as much information and intel on this matter. as well as inform them that she and her companions will be looking for the art and do not wish to be confused as the thieves.

[LarsWester]

Okay thank you Carter Irani for waiting, after talking with my associates we have decided that we will see if we can locate your missing art. we request 25% of the reward as an upfront payment. whether we succeed or not, this is to help offset our costs involved in this job.
any additional information that you have would be greatly appreciated

After the meeting , Sara will go and summon a cab to take her to the local authorities (police station) (paying the cab fare for the direct route, so that she can get as much information and intel on this matter. as well as inform them that she and her companions will be looking for the art and do not wish to be confused as the thieves.
Carter Irani laughs at the request of 25% of the reward upfront. I'm afraid I've already been taken by one thief. If you are successful you'll get your reward if not than the reward will go to those who are successful. I fear I've relayed everything that I can think of at this time. If something else comes up leave a way to contact you and I'll reach out.

[davyjones]

Das eyes the four newcomers, giving them a friendly nod.

"Understood on the boundaries; now, who might these good sophonts be?"

OOC: I was going to have Ana-Nyssa say something, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to have Gammon introduce them first.

[Lacco]

Conrad


"I hadn't planned on anything, so feel free to grab something on your own. Unless you want to plan something for later," Das counters. "Up to you."


Conrad was left stumped by Das' answer to his message. He did not plan anything for later, but would definitely organize a dinner for his peers - after all, the first step on their mission has been taken and they were profiting, so he decided to share his profits.

He quickly scanned the list of restaurants, looking for one that would suit them - a quiet place with a separate room with a good view, good local food and reviews by outsiders like he was. He'd set up a late night dinner - with at least three hours of time to spare from now on - for the whole group, with enough space for whoever they would bring and reserve the spot, shooting a quick message to Das to organize the group's time so they could make it.

Limit would be around 2KCr.

He grabbed a bite from one of the food carts, and would go shopping - mainly for protective equipment, but also for souvenirs - and then back to the ship, unless anyone contacts him.

[LarsWester]

Gammon waits until the four folks make there way over. Introduce you two to the four of them first he begins. Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce you to your commanding officer on these mission for the Princess and Count. I present to you Dasilev Chard whose titles and ranks would take too long to go through. His associate is miss Lieshiu and from what I hear the ship's current pilot. Turning to the four new folk he continues This here is Lucy Heart a more capable Science Officer would be difficult to find. Ana-Nyssa will bring her own personal flare to dealings with the power brokers of District 268. Alejandro and Lauria are added to the team as there are fears there martial abilities may be required in some of your future undertakings. The lot of you have some discussions to make I'm sure. Let me know when you'll be ready to onboard that shipment to Pagaton. I'm staying in system until you leave.

[samduke]

Once done collecting all of the information she can she departs the station, & if possible she will walk back to the common meeting place or ship, otherwise takes a cab back.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu looked over the recruits they were handed. They would be quite heavy on crew, which would cut into losses, but at the same time it would be nice to have a few more hands available. At least one or two of them probably reported back to Gammon directly through back channels, but this was the imperial politics for you. At least none of them appeared to be nobility, which was a clear, and only one seemed to have the bearing of someone having underwent naval indoctrination, which meant that the other three were of a more civilian background. Maybe she should interview them one by one at some point to figure out where they could be best used, as the hiring had already been done.

She stood up. "Allow me to present His Grace Lord Admiral Dasilev Chard, the Duke of Marastan, the commander of this expedition and the Captain of Minor Tom. I am Leishiu, the pilot of aforementioned craft. Welcome to the crew."

Lauria

This had all been a bit uncomfortable experience so far, but the promise of pay had been to great to let slip by, ever since she had left the marines. The two people Gammon was talking to were clearly naval officers, or formerly naval at least, however much they tried to downplay it, certain parts of body language was impossible to hide. She had not spoken much to the other recruits for this, but they all seemed like decent people, she supposed. Some did not seem to have much starship experience, but if these two were any indication of what the crew looked like, their need was elsewhere.

As the woman who introduced them, her innards turned to ice. This was an admiral and duke. What had she agreed upon? But she relied on instinct, and took a step forward. "Lauria Hezal, former lance sergeant of the Imperial Marines, 8546th Regiment." Oh, nice work Lauria, she thought to herself, that sounded exactly like a normal person would present themselves.

[davyjones]

Dasilev Chard

"Lauria Hezal, former lance sergeant of the Imperial Marines, 8546th Regiment."

"Glad to have you aboard, Lauria," Dasilev responds, offering his hand in greeting. "Where did you last serve?"

Ana-Nyssa Doubranthii
Ana-Nyssa brushes aside a stray lock of dark bronze-brown hair and tucks it behind her ear as she watches the interchange between her new colleague and their benefactor. She certainly didn't expect to be so close to him in height, and at one point in her life would've giggled at the irony that this small, properly skinny man in understated finery most certainly tailored to his frame was some accomplished naval officer and high noble who is close to the imperial throne.

But this Leishiu, the striking statuesque woman of persistent military bearing and excellent intelligence (if the buzz of her surface thoughts are any indication) presented him with a certain reverence, even if that reverence is acquired and practiced, and Mr. Gammon, for all of his command of the room, is downright careful around him, as if he's tip-toeing the line between constructive criticism and insubordination. No, this Dasilev Chard is a legitimate man of power, despite how cordially he appears to carry himself.

And that makes this mission a great deal more important than Mr. Gammon let on when she was hired.

Das & Ana-Nyssa
When it comes to her turn, she straightens up and offers her hand. "Ana-Nyssa Doubranthii, Your Grace."

"Oh? Any relation to the old Barons Doubranthii?" the admiral wonders as he takes the proffered hand.

"Not so fancy, I'm afraid. The way my grandfather told it when we were young, our ancestor was one of the retainers of the old barons who were authorized to use the post-nominal 'of the Doubranthiis,'" she explains. "The barons went extinct a few generations later, a dozen or so families shed their surnames for the post-nominal and, fast forward some 600 years, you have a couple hundred thousands descendants sporting the Doubranthii name on more than 30 worlds."

"Well, that's...pretty enterprising," he responds. "Now, what is your role here?"

"I'm your executive assistant, Your Grace. My job is to anticipate your needs, ensure you keep to your schedule, and perform the administrative duties you shouldn't be bogged down with. I also provide some linguistics expertise, should we find a need."

"Anticipate my needs, eh? Are you going to read my mind?"

Ana-Nyssa giggles. "I'd be a poor EA if I didn't learn how to read the boss' mind."

Dasilev Chard
"All right, then," Dasilev laughs. "Welcome aboard, Ana-Nyssa."

He turns to the next newcomer. "Now, who might you be?"

[samduke]

Dasilev Chard
"All right, then," Dasilev laughs. "Welcome aboard, Ana-Nyssa."

He turns to the next newcomer. "Now, who might you be?"

walking up to Dasilev Chard, I am Lucy Heart, field researcher by profession. I got stuck here and now opportunity has presented me with a way to depart this place. is there any thing in particular you would like to know beyond my portfolio?

[LarsWester]

Gammon leans back in his chair silently sipping on his drink as the crew of the Minor Tom go through with their introductions. Putting his drink back on the counter he turns to Leishiu. My sources inform Commander Leishiu that you have ownership of a ship's boat rusting out in float around Mille Falcs as part of your benefits from your years in the Navy. I've arranged for a line of credit upto 5MCr with the shipyards of Mille Falcs in exchange for your boat if you're open to the trade. I'd highly recommend looking at installing some of the fine weaponry that Mille Falcs's naval base has at it's disposal. Admiral you have the means to contact me by coms if you need to. After saying this the agent stood up place actual hard currency on the bar's counter and moved to leave the Twin Sunset.


Providing in character prompt for the out of character decision to purchase the Triple Pulse Laser Turret and other gear noted.

Need to tie up one more loose end with getting rid of Arrak from the crew. Here's my thoughts but open to hearing objections from players. Arrak is going to be against the weapons run and installing weapons on the Minor Tom. He is going to voice his opposition but basically Gammon will buy out his stake in the Minor Tom and more. So Arrak will leave somewhat rich but lose his stake in the Minor Tom. The Minor Tom will need to be registered under a new name and that's upto the crew to decide. There are pros and cons to registering it under Dasilev who has the greatest share in the ship after Arrak being bought out. 3 of Arrak's 26 shares will be distributed among the entire crew- new members included and Gammon is going to keep 2 shares in the ship in a shell company that he controls. If this works with people I'll update the first OOC post to reflect the new share distribution. I think Lacco needs to introduce his new character but feel free to end scene when people are ready. I think the next scene could be around the dinner that Conrad organized. Someone may have to tell him to set 4 more plates. Arrak may file his objections during this scene.

[Lacco]

Alejandro

Studying Dasilev's interaction with Ana-Nyssa, Alejandro just smiled to himself. He observed the no-nonsense approach of Lucy, and decided to go into the new job without reservations: after all, it was his ticket out - laying low was getting a bit boring for him.

He stepped forward, bowing slightly - as expected with members of nobility - towards Dasilev and his charming pilot. "Glad to make your acquiatance. My name is Alejandro, Alejandro Kruger-Gutierrez. I may perform the duties of ship security, intelligence and reconnaissance, or just a steward - your decision. I am honored and pleased to serve in your crew."

He hoped it was not too much: after all, he had just few moments to read the room. Still, he wanted out. His former colleagues could have been already on their way and he had no reason to think the meeting would be pleasant. Moving further was his best chance and he'd be eternally loyal to anyone who would help him leave this piece of rock.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

“That is a very generous offer.” Leishiu replied. It was more than she thought she would get out of it, even if she hired a trader with a glib tongue. “I accept, and will have an order sent for upgrades.”

As his lordship spoke with the new candidates she transmitted a text to Conrad. ‘Change of plans for dinner. Add four. Politics. Need four more bunks as well.’

Lauria

“I am afraid that is classified, Sir.” Lauria replied. Missions like that got buried.

[LarsWester]

Conrad makes the arrangements for additional seats and that evening in a restaurant with a view of Mille Falcs multi-hued night skyline the nine travelers gather over a table to share a family dinner. The food and drinks are excellent. The conversation turns troubling as Arrak Hume finds out why the crew nearly doubled in size. So Lord Admiral Duke Chard you've agreed to this mission of arms dealing. And Leishiu you've already started the channels to getting weapons put on the Tom. I won't stand for it. She's my ship more than any of yours. She's a trader not a warrior. As principal stake holder in the ownership of the Minor Tom I will refuse this mission and the modifications.
There's an awkward silence and then Dasilev's comms device chimes. It is a simple text message from Gammon with an offer letter. I was prepared for the circumstances that some of the crew with partial ownership would object to your new purpose. To that end offer Mr. Hume a sum of 35MCr for his stake in the Minor Tom. I'll take over ownership of the shares through a shell company.

[davyjones]

Dasilev


“I am afraid that is classified, Sir.” Lauria replied. Missions like that got buried.

The admiral nods his understanding. He also understood the implications of an entire AOR being classified; Das could go through some back channels to find out later, but he decides to leave it be for now.


walking up to Dasilev Chard, I am Lucy Heart, field researcher by profession. I got stuck here and now opportunity has presented me with a way to depart this place. is there any thing in particular you would like to know beyond my portfolio?

"Happy to have you with us, Ms. Heart; or is it Dr. Heart? My parents were field researchers at the Imperial Preserve on Marastan," he responds pleasantly, offering his hand to the scholar. "What's your primary field of expertise, and, besides a way off-world, what do you look to gain from joining the expedition?"


He stepped forward, bowing slightly - as expected with members of nobility - towards Dasilev and his charming pilot. "Glad to make your acquaintance. My name is Alejandro, Alejandro Kruger-Gutierrez. I may perform the duties of ship security, intelligence and reconnaissance, or just a steward - your decision. I am honored and pleased to serve in your crew."

"Alejandro, welcome aboard," Das says, offering his hand in greeting despite the bow. "Where did you do your security training, if I may ask?"

After introductions and small talk are over, Dasilev invites the new crewmembers to dinner, and contacts Conrad to reserve for nine, instead of five. He wants to talk to Arrak before the dinner, to fill him in on the changes to mission parameters and ship's personnel; unfortunately, Mr. Hume is unreachable, meaning he's in for a rude awakening when he arrives at the restaurant.

Later, at Dinner
Das stands, adjusting his tunic. "Arrak, a moment?" he asks, pulling the merchant aside. The rest of the crew doesn't need to hear the unpleasant end. "You knew what you were signing up for. You knew whom I represented, and the implications of their involvement. You knew we were going to have to venture out into the frontier, and were aware of the potential for having to defend ourselves and the ship.

"Your blanket refusal puts a lot of important goals in jeopardy, so," he continues, "you're going to receive an offer - a generous offer - of thirty-five million for your stake in the Minor Tom, and you're going to take it. Invest it and retire somewhere nice. But this mission will go forward as is, and the Minor Tom will be part of it. Understood?"

[samduke]

Dasilev

"Happy to have you with us, Ms. Heart; or is it Dr. Heart? My parents were field researchers at the Imperial Preserve on Marastan," he responds pleasantly, offering his hand to the scholar. "What's your primary field of expertise, and, besides a way off-world, what do you look to gain from joining the expedition?"

After introductions and small talk are over, Dasilev invites the new crewmembers to dinner, and contacts Conrad to reserve for nine, instead of five. He wants to talk to Arrak before the dinner, to fill him in on the changes to mission parameters and ship's personnel; unfortunately, Mr. Hume is unreachable, meaning he's in for a rude awakening when he arrives at the restaurant.

Later, at Dinner

Lucy
Well Sir If you wish to be formal then yes Dr Heart. It is just Lucy to my friends. My fields of research extend from Chemistry & Economics and with that a lot of Diplomacy, I know a bit about ships and how they operate. What brought me here a research position bonding chemicals together, but it turned out the head of the group, He just wanted to bond with me and I wanted none of that. So here I got stuck for the last couple of months.
Thank you for the offer of dinner with what wil be my crewmates I look forward to meeting them.


Sara
Arriving at dinner spotting Dasilev talking to another waiting in the distance, Once Dasilev has finished She approaches Hey boss I found this job that is a bit sketchy on details by it pays reasonably (giving Dasilev the full rundown of the job and what she knows) do you think the others will want to take on a job like this with such little information? Then noticing the table is set for many more than just the four of them, Are we expecting company Boss ?


Lucy
Arriving at dinner spotting Sara immediately.
Sara ... Sara Wolf !!! it is you. Beaming at the sight of Sara. My it has been a few years since we last saw each other. So it looks like you finally got away from the scout service. It is really nice to see you and looks like we will get to work together.
Sitting down next to Sara so that they can catch up on all that has gone on over the last few years.

[Lacco]

Conrad

One call later, the dinner was arranged. Conrad managed to not insult the maitre'd - he was a bit uncouth, but him mentioning that *maybe* a member of nobility shall participate and that he was willing to pay for a full dinner menu including dessert up front managed to persuade the man that he was just unskilled as assistant.

He then disappeared and started making beds for the newcomers. If military taught him something, it was how to make beds. He then dressed in his formal wear and left for the dinner.

=====

It was a rather pleasant evening, even if he had to introduce himself to new people - he liked meeting new people, but preferred to stay behind someone who had to talk. Luckily, Dasilev, Arrak and Leishiu managed the pleasantries most of the time and he was just enjoying his food.

However, Arrak decided to sour his enjoyment by his statements - and quickly managed to irritate even Conrad.

"I'm all for sailing peacefully, Arrak, but with all due respect: you are a fool if you want us blown into smithereens by any kids tricycle that has a laser welded on it just because *you* did not get any say in the matter. It's *our* mission and *our* ship, not *more yours*. So either you are a member of the crew, or not."

He felt hurt by Arrak's decision: he liked the guy and enjoyed his company, but knew that combat was something they could not easily avoid in these wild sectors. This was not core, with its intrigues and politeness... which was more acceptable to him.



Alejandro

He knew the question would come. He had several answers ready, including half-truths, direct lies... but decided to go for a simple, but a bit concealed truth. He accepted his hand and shook it. "I worked as an security asset for the national agricultural company, the SWIA." He knew Das will understand the answer; the SWIA was an in-house joke for diplomats and other people in-the-know and 'security asset' was the code word for counterintelligence. "I was assigned to the Maiden Voyage, a pleasure yacht, where I worked as a trainee steward and later as security. Unfortunately, due to a conflict of interests, I had to leave the company - and it made one of my bosses a bit irritated. So I had to leave in a hurry and was a bit stranded here. Luckily, you came and I will be happy to join your crew. "

===

The dinner was enjoyable. He liked small talk and discussing trivial issues, but when the owner - at least Arrak acted like the owner - of the vessel threatened the mission, Alejandro was decided. He shook Dasilev's hand, so he would follow him - but did not act upon so far.

He looked at the others, judging how they reacted. He was supposed to be the ship's security officer, so he looked for any marks of dissent. It was obvious Conrad was on Dasilev's side, even though he felt conflicted. He marked that down, and watched the rest of the crew react.

[LarsWester]

"Your blanket refusal puts a lot of important goals in jeopardy, so," he continues, "you're going to receive an offer - a generous offer - of thirty-five million for your stake in the Minor Tom, and you're going to take it. Invest it and retire somewhere nice. But this mission will go forward as is, and the Minor Tom will be part of it. Understood?"

Arrak fumes but considers the offered sum. It would take years to make that amount of money. He could be out of the game for good. No longer dependent on the market sways to buy his fuel and oxygen, paying a crew so that mutiny and space him. He could be done retire to the beaches of Torpol to live out his days sipping fruity drinks with umbrellas. Or he could with that amount of money outright buy an older vessel and have no mortgage payment hanging over his head. Either way 35 MCr could change his life but it would mean up giving up HIS Minor Tom. He considers the offer and through his gritted teeth he says. I'll get my things off the Tom and relinquish system control to you once I get the payment. Damn I'm going to miss those smuggling compartments.

[LarsWester]

Sara relays her earlier conversation with the local law enforcement about the art theft.

how many people that knew of the habit (storing of keycard?) would also have had access to this area at the time of the theft? Persaude check = Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 (2d6)[5][4](9)
Well the thief obviously knew about the habit and created access. How they knew is a great question that I have investigators working on. So far we've cleared Mr. Irani and his personal secretary. Not sure who else would have that knowledge at this time. Any ideas?
Why did the roof access alarm not sound? Persaude check = Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 (2d6)[5][5](10)
Interior roof access alarm was disabled by Irani's all-access keycard.
why did the roof top sensors not alarm at the approach/landing of the get away vehicle? Persaude check = Jack-Of-All-Trades 1 (2d6)[6][5](11)
The roof top proximity sensors were an older technology wired system. The wires were found cut at an electrical panel located off the stairway. We believe the thief somehow knew the alarm systems of the building. Considering this and many other factors we believe this heist was planned for a long time. The thief was well familiar with the building's security. I have my best detectives working on this case but I'm sure glad we got some top notch feelancers on it as well.

[davyjones]

The unpleasantness concluded, Dasilev returns to the table and listens to Sara's explanation of the heist investigation job.

"It's a bit...thin on the details, I must say," the admiral muses. "At first blush, it makes you wonder who left their employment recently. Or, perhaps, employees and former employees of the company that maintained their security systems.

"Where does everyone stand on this, based on what Sara told us?"

[LarsWester]

Also how much of the original conversation between Sara and Irani Carter is relayed?

[samduke]

Also how much of the original conversation between Sara and Irani Carter is relayed?

(OOC please see OCC)
after a complete rundown of all of the details Sara
I am giving the art theft job a hard pass for lack of information and to much risk for the reward.

[Harmony]

Leishiu

Leishiu observes as Arrak unexpectedly announces his protest and is bought out. She would miss him, there was always a voice of reason to someone not as damaged as she and the Duke. She would see him after and talk to him, but now was not the time. As the art theft is brought up Leishiu perks up. Normally, this sort of endeavor would be distracting, but they did have some spare time now that Minor Tom was being refitted, and the reward was quite staggering.
“Let’s take a peek at it. It would seem that with our new crew we would be able to attack this from a multitude of angles. If we do not find anything… it is not like we are wasting time.”
She smirks at Alejandro as he mentions security asset. The question was not that they had a spy among them, it was how many. But these things were expected, and at least hopefully, they were not double agents.


Lauria

Lauria eats mostly in quiet, enjoying the food that is served. That the crew already had a quarrel and one of the members being bought out worried her. Alejandro seemed to talk like a spook, and she did not have any good experience with those. Conrad on the other hand seemed more relatable than the two naval officers.

[LarsWester]

A few days had past since Sara and Arrak had parted ways with Conrad, Leishiu and Dasilev upon on arrival at Mille Falcs. Sara had met an old friend named Lucy and the two of them convinced Arrak to come along on a trade mission for the Imperial Scouts.
Lieshiu and Dasilev filled Conrad in on the mission given by Ezra Gammon on behlad of Princess Margaret and Count Blaine Tukera. It had been revealed that Gammon was the primary stakeholder in the Minor Tom after all. He has promised to deliver shares to the crew of the Minor Tom in exchange for work. The ultimate goal of the work being the spread of Imperial influence throughout the District 268 Subsector with the end goal being expansion of Imperial boundaries beyond the two current systems in the subsector. To that end several crew members were added on the insistence of Mr. Gammon. Ana-Nyssa was to run the bureaucratic side of matters. Lauria and Alejandro were added to increase the combat readiness of the Minor Tom's crew. Also to aid in that matter the Minor Tom was berthed in Naval shipyard of Mille Falcs recieving some armament upgrades in the from of a Triple Turret Pulse Laser curtesy of Lieshiu selling off a Ship's boat she had in system. With the remainder of the credits she purchased a high tech computer for each of the ship's crew. Lacking Arrak's skills at barter and banter Dasilev sought to hire some hands for the Minor Tom. Jessica Stuart joined up pairing her capabilities at stewardship with a quick trigger finger on currently being mounted turret. Dev Vaidya brought his skills at knowing the markets and medicine. The man had an intellect for figuring out complex systems which helped him in both fields. Once hired Dev shared with the crew the current market situation on Mille Falcs and offered his services in arranging any purchases. Jessica stated that she could find passengers when the time came. Speaking of time there were a few more days of work to be done on the Minor Tom before the ship would be flight ready. During that time the crew was at their leisure there was new crew to meet. There was the possibility of jobs in system while they waited or contracts to win for out of system work.

We are retconning a bit. There's no art theft job. There's no angry Arrak he just didn't own the ship to begin with. Sara also left. We have your 3 characters and your secondary characters plus the 2 NPCs. Everyone is renting rooms that cost each person 500 Cr for the week. Dasilev you may want to stay someplace more your style. You arrived on Mille Falcs on 1105.44 it is currently 1105.47. Work on Minor Tom will be completed on 1105.51. Anyone can roll a carouse (or other skill if you can make it apply) check for gathering info on jobs available in the system. If noone has anything else that they want to do on Mille Falc we will jump forward in time to 1105.51 but figured I would give you all a chance to act before doing so.

[LarsWester]

Day 51 of Year 1105, Mille Falcs
With fully loaded cargo bays and staterooms but nearly empty ledgers the Minor Tom lifts off from Mille Falcs Starport with new crew members and a new mission. The vessel leaves the planet's toxic atmosphere in it's rear sensors as it begins its 29-hour long journey to the hundred-diameter perimeter in the system. The trip out of the system was less eventful than the trip in with the Minor Tom not encountering any other vessels. The crew had a chance to meet with their five high class passengers. The most interesting passenger is Dr. Suko Taki a renowned chemist specializing in a newer process of rare mineral ore extraction named after the scientist called the Taki-Reduction involving electrolysis powered by radioactive decay. He is being brought to Binges on behalf of the Nirkauzh't the Droyne firm in charge of the starport in Binges system. Once arriving at the hundred-diameter zone Dasilev has crunched the astrogation calculations and he redirecting power from the ship's new weapon systems to the ship's J-drive engines. They begin the process of creating the jump bubble around the Minor Tom. In matter of minutes the bubble is complete and the Minor Tom is within Jump Space heading towards Binges.

You've got nearly a week of downtime here to train up your skills. You can also talk with Dr. Taki if you wish. Please make an in-character post describing your week in general and provided at least one detailed scene from the week in jump space. Feel free to create identities for the other four passengers if you wanted to interact with them.

[Harmony]

Leishiu spends most of the travel time busy, still not entirely trusting the machine. Does a few system updates and tweaks. While she does eat with the passengers, she keeps herself aloof.
Lauria on the other hand enjoys the relative free time off the way that is proper for a marine. A few workouts during the day, and plenty of socializing and drinking at the end of it.

Leishiu - continues with electronics (computer) 2/8
Lauria - carouse! 1/8

[davyjones]

Dasilev continues his mechanics training, mixing in getting to know the new members of the crew better. He, of course, is also sociable with the passengers; however, he tries to maintain a distance from them to allow Alejandro to work his own magic.

Ana-Nyssa spends time organizing the ship's administrative files, while also taking some time to continue her advocacy studies. She also tries to keep her mind closed to the noise of the surface thoughts around her; she doesn't need any distractions while she gets used to shipboard life.

Dasilev - Mechanic 1 - 2/8
Ana-Nyssa - Advocate 1 - 1/8

*~*~*~*~*

Dasilev steps out of the engineering compartment as he removes his technician's gloves. As he stuffs the gloves into a pouch in his coveralls, he spies a figure to his right in the cargo bay, leaning over to inspect one of the five-ton mail servers. Given that Conrad is supposed elbow deep in console wiring on the bridge comms panel, this part of the ship should be empty apart from himself.

It takes only a moment to recognize the intruder as passenger Gavrila Petran. Traveling alone on an "extended journey," he recalls from their dinner conversation on the first night in jump space.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Petran. Is there something I can help you with?" he asks politely, easily masking any suspicions welling up in the back of his mind. Just as she's about to touch a panel button, the woman shoots up with a start and looks about for who spotted her.

Gavrila brushes a lock of her raven-black hair over her ear, briefly revealing a small tattoo just behind the lobe. It was a circle surmounted by a plus sign; the admiral wasn't familiar with it, but surmises by its placement that the significance of the symbol isn't meant for public consumption. That begs the question: Is her movement intentional or subconscious? Did she want the duke to see the tattoo?

"Oh, hello, Admiral Chard! I'm sorry, I was just exploring the ship. I guess I got a little carried away," she replies with a nervous chuckle.

"No worries, Ms. Petran -"

"Call me Gavi, please."

"- Gavi, then. This is one of the operational sections of the ship; for your safety, I have to ask you stay with the other passengers on Deck Two." For emphasis, he gestures toward the lift compartment.

"Could - could you show me around a bit, instead?" she counters, stepping just a little bit closer and leaning in. "I just love starships. How designers can make even small ships seem bigger on the inside. The way you can feel the hum of the engines through the deck. The way they seem to pulse like a beating heart. Can you feel it, Admiral?"

Is she coming on to me? Das wonders. What is she after? He clears his throat somewhat uncomfortably and is about to say something when Ana-Nyssa appears out of nowhere. Oh, thank the Divine...

"Admiral, I'm glad I found you; I have a couple reports to the lienholders you need to sign," she says as she approaches. Gavi, for her part, steps back a respectful distance, acting like nothing before the admin's arrival happened.

Ana-Nyssa notices the woman and asks, "Giving a tour, sir?"

"No. She was exploring on her own," Das answers. "Let's get her back up the lift and I'll sign those reports."

Gavi makes no further conversation as the pair walks with her. They watch her disappear onto the second deck, and, once the lift stops, Das is sure to lock it in place.

"Perfect timing, Ana-Nyssa. Thanks," he says. "There's something about that woman..."

"Like she's more than she lets on? I agree. Sometimes out here, people are only who they say they are."

Das nods his head in agreement. "Now, those reports."

Ana-Nyssa smiles coyly. "A ruse. Something in the back of my mind said I should check on you." Das raises a skeptical eyebrow, and she crosses her heart. "On my honor! Just had a feeling."

"You're pretty intuitive, young lady."

"I told you I'd be a terrible executive assistant if I couldn't read your mind," she teases.

"Right," he chuckles. They return to the mail server, which Dasilev stops to inspect, just to make sure Ms. Petran didn't tamper with it in any way. As Ana-Nyssa continues on, he calls out, "Oh, one more thing. She has a tattoo behind her right ear. Circle with a plus-sign on top of it."

"Can I find out what it means? I'll see if the computer library has anything on it."

"Thanks," he says, watching her retreating form as his brows knit together slightly. He then shakes his head, as if to erase a thought that had entered his mind, and returns to inspecting the mail server.

The symbol is a globus cruciger, which is a Greek symbol representing the Earth (in this case, the entirety of Christendom). I was thinking that Ms. Petran is Solomani.

[davyjones]

Dasilev and Ana-Nyssa sit in the crew common area, trying to brainstorm what that symbol was on Ms. Petran's neck. They had originally planned to perform a computer search for it, but quickly realized the ship's library database wasn't exactly expansive.

"What about...?" the admiral begins, but trails off. "No, no. It can't be that."

Ana-Nyssa furrows her brow. "I got nothing, Das. I know very little about old Terran philosophy."

"And my history knowledge is lacking there, too," he admits. "We'll have to wait 'til we can get to a TAS facility or advanced starport..."

"But she'll be long gone by then," she finishes.

Das nods. "Probably." With a sigh, he places his hands on his knees as he stands. "Let's get something to eat, and let the image percolate for a while. Who knows; maybe something will come to us."

[LarsWester]

Unable to dig up any mention of the strange tattoo of Gavrila Petran the rest of the time in jump space is rather calm. There were no further breaches of security by Ms. Petran and her supposed advancements towards Dasilev Chaard ceased. Just 4 hours past the normal 7 days the Minor Tom jump bubble dissolved with the vessel reaching the 100D radius, a mere 27 hour flight at 1G to Binges proper which is the first planet from the systems star. Leishiu plots the course and the Minor Tom accelerates towards Binges. About 12 hours into the flight Conrad looks up from his station at the sensors electronics. Admiral Chard ship sensors are picking up a vessel heading towards us at 6G in the direction of Binges. At current rates of acceleration they would pass us within 100km of us within 2 hours.



Don't forget to add your week of skill training.
Can someone make an Electronic (Sensors or Comms) either EDU or INT check? had Conrad make the check.

[davyjones]

Dasilev rises from the copilot's seat to get a look at the incoming sensor data. "That makes them what," he says, pausing to run quick calculations in his head, "somewhere more than 600 thousand klicks or so out? Too far for even an outline."

He straightens up, adjusting his tunic out of habit. "That gives us about a hundred minutes. Let's monitor their vector for now, see if they remain on course. We'll light 'em up with active sensors at 50k klicks. Six-Gee, huh? That'd point to something more military oriented; seems a bit odd for an unaligned Droyne corp backwater. What do you think, Liu?"

[Harmony]

Leishiu

No fuel for an emergency jump. There was no way they could outrun something like that. If this had all been an elaborate trap to get His Lordship the Admiral Duke killed? For what? Prelude to an invasion?
"I agree with your assessment, your Grace. Captain. I do not think it is locally built if travelling at that speed, so a defense ship seems unlikely unless they imported one. Sensors, keep us posted when you have an approximation of the size of the approaching vessel. "

[LarsWester]

The next hour tension mounts on board the Minor Tom as the sensors show that the object continues accelerating on a path to bring it alongside the Minor Tom. At the hour Conrad relays that it appears that the approaching vessel has started to decelerate and that there is an accompanying message that has arrived. Vessel entering Binges space please begin deceleration and prepare to rendez-vous at attached coordinates. Prepare for our boarding and custom inspection. You have 10 minutes to begin compliance. - Binges System Security Force.

Conrad relays the message and sensor data. Should we comply or try to alter course to exit the system Admiral?

[davyjones]

Damn, still more than 40 minutes beyond LIDAR range, Dasilev thinks as he records a reply. "Unknown vessel, Minor Tom. We are unable to comply until we receive and confirm your security credentials."

The admiral transmits the message back to sender; thankfully, the comm lag is not much more than a second at these distances. They'll have plenty of time to answer.

I hope you folks don't mind if I switch over to navy for my dialog.

[LarsWester]

There is a prolonged delay of a few minutes before the Minor Tom's comms channel chirps and broadcast the following Minor Tom, a Far Trader registered as independent imperial transport, this is Binges System Security Force. If you do not comply with our orders you will be fired upon. Again please alter course to the coordinates sent following this message. The ship's computer registers the coordinates accompanying the message and the data is sent with a digital signature stating it was generated by BSSF vessel #F01A.

[davyjones]

The admiral performs a little electronic jiggery-pokery on the raw data of the message, confirming, in his mind, at least, that their signature is likely legitimate.

"Liu, adjust vector to 0-2-1 degrees starboard; 0-0-6 on the dorsal angle. New destination is the 51-D intersect. We get to meet the 'welcoming committee,'" Das orders.

He then records and sends a reply. Confirmed, F01A. Vectoring to new coordinates.

I didn't have time to look up if Traveller has a Navy-speak database, so I borrowed from submarine movies and made up a little of my own. "51-D intersect" is meant to be where the ship's new course intercepts 51 planetary (or stellar) diameters from the mainworld/star (depending on what body is used as the reference for jump entry and exit).