Sea of Stars - IC

[Destro_Yersul]

"I got the message from your astropath, but haven't heard much beyond that. Long distance communications being what they are, that's not necessarily surprising. They've got their supplies, and the archeotech is safely where Quinn can't get his grubby hands on it." Jonell raised a glass to Macharius and crew. "And thanks to you for that! I'm eager to see the map, myself. After dinner, eh?"

The food was of course excellent, much of it grown in the Arboretum. Fresh vegetables were a true luxury in space, and the Sting's chef welcomed the opportunity to show off the bounty of his ship to the best of his ability. Ambrose didn't eat very much, spending most of his time picking at the plates and looking taciturn. He was probably disappointed that their great find hadn't been a weapon of some sort.

""The Terminus, you say?" Jonell went on. "Fine story, that! Damn fine story. I'm afraid I don't have much contact with the Holy Ordos, as it were, though I dare say I know a few Navy men who'd be happy to see a ship like that back in action. You could always try sending an astropathic communique? Even if you don't know how to contact them directly, send it around enough choirs and you're bound to hit on someone who knows the right avenues of communication. Just the act of sending it may be enough. You know what they say."

The captain left the topic of the Inquisition on that somewhat enigmatic remark, and turned back to the subject of the ship itself. "A travesty indeed, to keep her away from a good fight. I like the look of her lines. What're you planning on doing with her, once you've got her repaired?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Felidae was uncertain whether she was invited or not - and secretly hoped she wasn't. Social interactions and etiquette were two things she found dreadfully hard to comprehend, and her approach was primarily to do what she could see others did, and avoid conversation whenever possible. She was, however, impressed beyond words at the quality of the fare, having never tasted it's equal.

When the talk turns to the Terminus, she finally gathers the courage to speak - after a fashion. She mumbles, mostly to herself, somewhat unaware if anyone is listening:

I didn't serve on her for long. But I fought in three engagements, including .. well, the last one. The first time was in Haderstrom's Nebula. Boarding action against traitor forces. I wasn't assigned to the Admiral yet, I was just a grunt. Scared out of my wits I was, but then it was like a weird calm came over me - as they washed forth, their counter attack like a wave of filth.

Maybe 'calm' is the wrong word. I remember my bolter alive in my hands, spraying death and final redemption - I remember a worry, in the back of my mind, whether I could switch clips fast enough or whether we'd be overwhelmed.

They got close, but in the end, the corridor was empty. So many, traitor guardsmen and cultists, their blood and entrails painting the long corridor of that ship.

It was ... she hesitates, searching for words, beautiful. Such are the wages of Treachery, the price of Redemption, and the Mercy of the Emperor.

[rax]

Hannabel arrives to the dinner in a daringly cut evening gown of the finest shifting fabric, her only defensive concession being the ever present amulet of warding. Sef, one of her gunners, has been pressed into the role of impromptu batman. Looking distinctly uncomfortable in his uniform, he carries her pistols and sword.

In contrast to the dinner aboard the Mailed Fist, Hannabel leaves Ambrose to his own devices, and instead spends most of the evening trying to get inside Ms. Devereaux's head. Only when Felidae finishes her tale does she break off the small talk.

"My, what a charming story! Don't you agree Ambrose?" she twitters gaily. "Felidae my dear, you simply must let Ambrose tell you all about the Tranch War! I'm sure you'll find his tactical and strategic analysis absolutely fascinating!" she purrs.

Turning to Captain Jonell, Hannabel offers her opinion on what should be done with the Terminus. "If you ask me, Captain, House Absalom has no need of a lumbering hulk like the Terminus, not while we've got the Manticore's Sting. I think the best thing to do would be to turn her over to the Navy. I'm sure they'd be delighted to have the old warhorse back - wouldn't you agree?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Felidae seizes onto the idea of tactics with a deathgrip! Something I know something about - yes!

So her sentence becomes:

Master Ambrose, I'd like that very .. lumbering hulk?? I'll have you know the Terminus navigates the void like a sperum does the shallows of Hydro!

Felidae doesn't actually know anything about void ships, and has spent no siginficant amount of time of any other ship - but the Terminus has still been her home for more than ten thousand years (!!), and she'll not have it casually belittled!

She doesn't actually know much about fish, or the shallows of the waterworld Hydro, either.

[Leon]

++Even if we keep the Terminus it will not be active again for a very long time, the sheer damage it has sustained will require a refit of at best many years in a sizable yard, that is even after the effort of getting it back from where she is now ~ drives need to be relit and much more before it enters the Warp again++

[rax]

"There, there, no need to get all riled up, sweetie. I'm sure the Terminus performs magnificently - when she's not a powerless wreck. I mean, I completely understand how a girl could get all excited by the thought of those huge plasma drives throbbing and pulsing beneath her...feet, but she's no Manticore's Sting - as you'll find out if you stay with us long enough," Hannabel retorts with a teasing smile.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Well, I can help with getting her back from where she is now," Jonell said. "The Fist should have enough raw power to tow her, as long as the gellar fields hold up. We can drop her wherever you like."

Taking a bite, he continued. "The Navy would be ecstatic to have her back, it's true, but were it me I would keep her for myself. A ship like that, in my back pocket? Quinn would never know what hit him. She needs a lot of work, it would take a great deal of time to source everything for the refit, to have the work conducted without anyone getting wind of it. I'd probably take her to one of my colonies, one that's well established, but out of the way. Preferably one with a lot of mineral wealth for raw materials. Then I'd take out Mechanicus contracts and start hunting for parts, maybe turn it into a full shipyard operation once all the work was complete. There's a defenite shortage of those in the Expanse, most places are underequipped for the job." He shrugged. "That's me, though. If you want to make a lot of friends, giving her to the Navy would be one way to do it."

Ambrose, sitting near Felidae, had brightened a little at the prospect of talking about tactics. He broke in after Hannabel's rejoinder, having either missed or ignored the innuendo. "Tactical thought is a specialty of mine," he explained. "I'm good enough in a stand-up fight, one of the best, but I quite like large-scale operations. Planning wars, that sort of thing. On Tranch, they've taken entirely the wrong approach..." it sounded like he'd be able to go on for quite some time, giving not only a complete rundown of the Tranch war, but what he could have done better, as well.

Ms. Devereaux, on the other hand, did not miss the innuendo, and for the first time Hannabel spotted a crack in the woman's severe exterior. The conversation up to this point had been interesting, but not especially lively, concerned largely with movements of money, investment strategy, and the logistics of running a starship. Jonell's seneschal was very mathematically minded, and had a tendency to treat everything as a numbers game. Now, though, a tiny smile turned up the corner of her mouth, and she looked like she was trying very hard indeed not to burst out laughing.

[Kaptin Keen]

I suppose the Sting is quite an adequate ship, yes - for it's intended purpose, Felidae replies off-hand to Hannabel, entirely missing the innuendo, but for size and power, the Terminus is a far more potent vessel, with the fortitude and endurance for deep penetration strikes, long term engagements or straight brawls. She could plow into a ship of the Sting's size without blinking. She remains blissfully unaware that she's playing right into Hannabel's hand here.

Turning to Ambrose, replying: I know little beyond unit size tactics - frankly, I'm more of a grunt than a commander. I'd gladly indulge you in a chat about larger operations, and this Tranch place. And if you're truly a capable combatabt, perhaps we could spar sometime? It's been a while - millenia, in fact - since I had the opportunity to get down and dirty, one on one, with a worthy opponent. Still completely innocent of the fact that any possible misunderstanding could happen.

[Leon]

++Tranch: how to waste flesh best used elsewhere in vast quantities++

[Kaptin Keen]

Sounds like we didn't do well there?

[Haval]

Sounds like we didn't do well there?

'That is an understatement.' With all the subtext flying around, Anika has been sipping her drink and glancing between Hannabel and Felidae. Was she serious? Perhaps she had led a sheltered life.

'I think word of the bodies we found would be enough to attract someone in the Ordos, but if neccessary I can always call Scintilla directly. I'm sure someone will get back to us.' She could even call her parents, but it had been a while and she wasn't altogether sure that they wanted to talk to her.

'Afterwards, I have no objection to holding on to the Terminus if we want to go to the trouble of rebuilding it ourselves. On the other hand, if we only want it for the extra firepower, I'm sure Battlefleet Koronus would be willing to help us out if we ask them nicely. A free battleship ought to buy us a lot of favours.'

[Kaptin Keen]

Wouldn't it be possible to swap .. say, a future restored battle cruiser for a somewhat lesser ship now? Not that I'm sure the Imperial Navy is into that sort of mercantile exchange. And it might not be proper to put the might of an Imperial battle cruiser into the hands of anyone else.

[PotatoGolem]

Et-hrm! Macharius clears his throat and raises his eyebrows while staring down Hanabelle and Felidae, leaving no doubt of his opinion as to their silliness. He wasn't a prude, of course; he'd always had the socially correct number of mistresses and all that. But dinner was for important things in life, like trade agreements and one's obligations to the God-Emperor.

A capital idea, Captain. I do like the idea of a true flagship. I'm sure Mistress Shanx would do a fine job as captain of the Sting once we have a proper flagship, so that's not much of a concern. Now, I don't have any long-established colonies of my own, but the idea is quite sound. It could, in fact, be an excellent cooperative opportunity between dynasties. One provides the colony and location, the other does the legwork in hunting up contracts and getting facilities built. At the end of the day, they have a fully functional naval shipyard. Useful in a trade war if it's kept secret, or a very valuable economic asset if open to outside customers. Even splitting the profit two ways, an excellent opportunity for two dynasties to make a quite handsome profit. And it's doing the God-Emperor's work, of course- refitting warships to be suitable for combat against xenos, heretics, and traitors.

[rax]

Hannabel's smile widens even further as she takes in Felidae's reply. Throne save us, this is just too good! They're like voidships passing each other in the big black. So close, and yet so far!

"Well then, Ambrose is certainly your man, sweetie. Why, when we last met, his insight into the proper use of deep penetration strikes near took my breath away! He..." she winds up to drive the point home, only to be interrupted by Macharius harrumphing. She immediately falls silent, but can't resist pouting theatrically.

Oh captain, my captain! I wonder, was it very painful when they inserted that ramrod up your...exhaust port?

[Destro_Yersul]

Jonell nods. "I'm certainly open to the idea. Thus far dynastic cooperation has proven quite beneficial. And possibly the best option, since the only shipyards I can think of are Footfall and the Breaking Yards. Speaking of dynastic cooperation, I'm very much looking forwards to seeing what it is you've unearthed, as I think I mentioned. What is it? No, don't tell me. Show me."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Pausing here in case anyone has anything further to add to the dinner. If you do, by all means do so. If not, then perhaps time you showed Jonell what it is he came here to see.

[Haval]

"What is it? No, don't tell me. Show me."

'Gladly Captain.'

[Destro_Yersul]

The map had been set up in a nearby chamber. It had taken some doing to rig a projector that would work with what they had available, and the task had consumed a fair amount of Ravia's spare time. Further effort had been made to maximise the effectiveness of the presentation, choosing a room that was just the right size, making sure the walls were smooth in case parts of the projection played across them... The end result was that, when they finally left the dinner table after the last of the pastries, pies and fresh fruit had been consumed, Jonell was suitably impressed by what he saw.

The map was activated, the stars and warplanes and stellar phenomena it depicted springing to life. Once again, it filled the room with light and wonder. For Macharius and his crew, who had seen all this before, the effect was somewhat diminished. For Jonell and his comrades, and for Felidae, the effect was stunning.

Captain Jonell stood insilence for a moment, watching the planets wheel around his head. Then, he clapped and laughed. "Look there! That's the cauldron, which means that over there is Furibundus. I'd stake my reputation on it. This... how far does this map extend? It looks like it covers nearly the entire expanse. The opportunity! Absalom, you old rogue!" Quite suddenly, the smile vanished, to be replaced by a more worried expression. "Quinn doesn't know about this, does he? He never found out what the colonists had dug up?"

[rax]

"Unclear, sir. According to survivors from the Talon, they knew that there was something important down on the planet, and Quinn's blockade commander had sent down search parties, but the officers we interrogated had no specific knowledge of what they were looking for. However, your colonists holed up in the mines and there were signs of fighting on the way there, so Quinn may suspect that what he's looking for is in the mines themselves."

"Whether he himself knows what the colonists had found is an unknown, as is the matter of how he knew that there was something of special value there in the first place. Could be he has sources amongst the colonists, or maybe he's just done his research and knew that there was something significant about the place even before you decided to set up a colony there. We really don't know."

OOC: I'm assuming that Macharius has passed on most of what Pytho learned from interrogating the Talon's survivors.

[Haval]

"Whether he himself knows what the colonists had found is an unknown, as is the matter of how he knew that there was something of special value there in the first place. Could be he has sources amongst the colonists, or maybe he's just done his research and knew that there was something significant about the place even before you decided to set up a colony there. We really don't know."

Anika will think for a moment about whether she wants to accidently implicate some innocent colonist. 'Archaeotech is valuable so it's possible someone said something to the wrong people. Maybe they didn't to do it on purpose, but they said enough to attract an opportunist like Quinn.' Wouldn't have been the first time. 'If someone else tries anything we might know for sure.'

'If there's accounts out there of old tech on the colony, there's not much we can do about it now. At least the map is safe.'

[Destro_Yersul]

Jonell nodded slowly. "Alright," he said, "as long as he doesn't know what it is specifically. There are planets marked here that I haven't seen on other charts. They're already explored, which lowers the risk somewhat, but nobody else knows about them, which makes them the perfect place to hide something. I might try and put down a few more settlements, somewhere Quinn shouldn't be able to find them easily. We'll see soon enough if he plans to try anything else."

Straightening, and turning back towards them, the captain bowed. "In the meantime, I really must thank you for your excellent work on retrieving this. As promised, I'll have shares transferred to you, and I'll gladly contact you if anything else comes up. I'll also, as mentioned, assist with towing your find to wherever you would like." a pause. "Where would you like it, speaking of?"

[Haval]

"Where would you like it, speaking of?"

'How worried are we about holding onto it? Docking the Terminus at Footfall seems like it would attract too much attention. Is it better to park it near some out of the way colony where less people are likely to see it?'

[PotatoGolem]

Agreed. If it's a location that would make sense for a shipyard, all the better. Don't suppose you have any such colonies in mind, eh? the less we move the ship around, the less likely we are to attract attention from unwanted visitors. I'm sure Quinn would love to repay our... hospitality at the last colony, what?.

[Leon]

++Mineral/Material rich or having similar moons would be preferential++

[Destro_Yersul]

"He would, indeed." Jonell said. There was a long silence as the captain studied the map, walking around the room, examining the little symbols and markers next to the holographic representations of planets.

"What about here?" he said at last, pointing to a rather unassuming looking world. There were none of the symbols associated with more dangerous planets, and the system appeared to have a large belt of mineral-rich asteroids. "It's not on any other charts I know of, and looks a likely spot for a shipyard. See how these warp lanes here all intersect nearby? Short jump from a major crossroads, but not on it, and previously undiscovered apart from our friends the mapmakers. I'd be happy to plant a joint colony there, if you're interested."

[rax]

"Works for me, Lord Captain," Hannabel replies with a nod towards Macharius. "Lots of places to move onto from there..." she continues, an excited smile on her face.

"...but we should probably do something about the Talon as well. She's in no state to be sailing the void - if we get in any fights, her crew are dead men. I vote we head back to Footfall and see if we can get her repaired there, as well as recruit a additional crew."

[Destro_Yersul]

With the plan made, and goodbyes said, Jonell took possession of his new map and returned to the Mailed Fist. The laborious process of hooking the ruined hulk of the Terminus to Jonell's ship with tow cables took the better part of a day, crewmen in voidsuits swarming over the exterior of both vessels. An excursion team was posted within the Gellar Field control room on the wreck, and minor work done to bring the consoles and controls as online as possible given the minimal power available. At last everything was ready, and it was worth delaying no longer. All four ships made the jump to warp together - three under their own power, and one at the end of a forest of tow-cables. The journey was nerve-wracking, even if mostly uneventful. For the Terminus, any flickering of the void shields could result in an incursion that the lone team aboard would be hard pressed to fight off. Fortunately, the old warhorse held strong, the runes of warding laid into her hull long ago flickering with power.

At last, they arrived. The wreck of the Terminus was towed to high orbit and cut loose. Given long enough without power, it would eventually go into a death spiral and impact the planet below, but by Ravia's estimates that wouldn't occur for thousands of years. A brief auspex survey of the world confirmed it was livable, with appropraite atmospheric conditions and abundant vegetation. The planet itself seemed to be low on metals, but the asteroid belt would more than make up what it lacked. It was a good site, in an otherwise unremarkable and deserted system. Surveying for possible colony locations, at Jonell's insistence, took another couple of days. Then, the two houses parted amicably - Jonell to secure a load of colonists and make contracts with the Mechanicus for labour, Macharius to engage in "fundraising endeavours." First, though, a repair and refit trip was in order. The navigator set course for Footfall.

The next several weeks were spent on travel and repairs. Upon their first arrival into port, Macharius and Anika set out looking for a dealer in starship components. They found one who was mostly reputable and suitably impressed by Macharius' warrant with minimal searching, and spent an entertaining half-hour haggling over the price of the work. The Talon was laid in for the refit, and the crew was free to go bargain hunting while the shipyard set to work tearing out old contacts, cutting away damaged hull plates, and welding new leads. Macharius managed to talk the shipyard into some repair work as part of the installation process for the new shield generators, and the newly re-shielded Iconoclast left port in considerably better shape than it had been previously, with an all new stock of spare parts and supplies to go with it. That done, the pointed their prows to the stars and set out looking for opportunity.

+++ Episode 2 +++

Picking a star and setting sail was not the most efficient method of exploration, but for better or worse it was the one that had built the expanse. Charts were sporadic and unreliable precisely due to this buccaneering approach to exploring amongst the stars, practiced since time immemorial by Rogue Traders everywhere. In a place like the Expanse, more often than not this led to something new and interesting, that nobody had ever seen before. Such was the case with the planet the Manticore's Sting found itself in orbit around now.

Like many planets in the expanse, it didn't have a name yet. From orbit, it was a nameless ball of featureless ice, a delicate blue tinged by the light of the star it orbited. It had a moon, an irregular rock with a surface blasted and pocked by the scars of ancient cataclysm. Further out, a number of other planets followed their lazy paths around that same star, but this desolate chunk of ice was the source of the strange radio interference that they'd noticed when they dropped from warp. It wasn't on any known Imperial frequencies, and didn't actually seem to be a message of any sort. Too random, too jumbled and incoherent to form language. Just signal noise. But something down there was making it.

[rax]

"What a charming spot," Hannabel laughs. "And someone put something down there at some point. Who's up for hopping in one of the scouts and doing a flyover?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Personally I'd rather suit up and do a walk-over .. but I suppose that isn't practical until we have a precise location.

Craters from what might be meteorite impacts .. or weapons discharge, strange radio interference, all on a world not particularly attractive to human habitation. What could go wrong? Sign me up!

[Haval]

Anika is at her accustomed place by the auspex. To Felidae, 'That's the spirit. Don't forgot the dangerous wildlife.'

'I suppose there's no way there isn't something artificial causing that. Could be more archaeotech, but I wonder if there's anything alive down there with it?' Anika will try this from another direction and look for signs that the planet was ever inhabited.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Scrutiny
vs. Per 43 (+20 Sting's Detection)
(1d100)[84]

[Destro_Yersul]

It was hard to get good readings, but there was clearly something down there. Not much in terms of life, or metal, or regular shapes, but there was a fair amount of what could be structures, buried under the icy surface. It did seem strange for them to be buried like that, but then anything that lived down there would probably want to avoid the surface as much as possible. Sensor readings indicated high winds across most of the planet. They'd need to break out the cold weather gear if they intended to go trekking across the surface, though fortunately it didn't seem quite cold enough to adversely affect the sturdy engines of Imperial shuttles.