"You don't want to make deliveries then?" Ty grins as he teases Yas about not wanting the get her 'best' suit out

"I most assuredly do, although not with our customer in the line of fire or outside the lair of the villains, where they'd be identified and no doubt 'dealt with' later, in a most horrific fashion, my dear Mr. Ogresh," Yas replies to him with a small curtsey, pretending to lift imaginary skirts.  Then she grins from ear to ear.

First, Ash has to hide his smile behind his coffee mug as Keryn starts to use more 'colorful' language than she has in the past.  Saskia will have Ms. Taylor swearing like a proper spacer in no time, he notes to himself, Keryn is a quick study...  But then he already knew that given her high-level questions about artificial intelligence logic algorithms.  He continued to sip his black coffee as his mind wandered for a bit.

Then Ash watches the antics of Yasmine and Tylen for a moment with a slightly bemused smile on his face.  Then he turns to face Eneris and then Jago in turn.  The thin navigator notes off-hand in response to Eneris' question, "While, it is the Captain's prerogative to decide and he is quite capable of getting the Profit Margin there himself.  All, I know is that I haven't been told where to plot a course to yet."  He shrugs slightly, "So, I suspect that the landing site has not yet been decided."  Jago, of course, could confirm or deny that at his leisure.  Or not.  Once again, all part of a Captain's prerogative.

He does acknowledge Yasmine's point though, "The Chief is right, though.  If the people that we give the cargo to aren't already marked...." and Ash purses his lips for a moment, "they likely will be after the transactions go through.  It's going to be hard to move that much product without the syndicate here knowing."

He posits tentatively, more musing out loud than anything, "Perhaps we should try to create enough of a 'distraction' or a diversion to give the others a fighting chance..."

Saskia remains at her post, but listens in on Jago's debriefing via the internal comms.

"Did you hear that?" she asks the Jump regulator, "They're blaming me because Little Miss Fresher Mouth used some grown up words that she probably heard in a frelling holovid."

Still, she's smiling as she says it, and only seems to be half paying attention anyway.  A diagram is taking shape on the console in front of her, along with some complex calculations.  Finally she thumbs the stud on the comms, "If you're all quite done with the character assassination, I think I might know how we can keep the local trouble makers busy while we offload the cargo."

"I would be more than pleased to hear your thoughts, Ms. Blake," Shui responds, both aloud to the room and over the comm.  With the drinks laid out and people partaking, she has had time to put together some sandwiches and small rolls; these now join the beverages on the table.

"I have some serious concerns regarding the organized crime here," she continues. "This place should be marked, somehow, in such a manner that people coming here will know that not only is it corrupt, but that said corruption is willing to employ extreme measures to maintain its hold.  I'm well-certain other ships have suffered kidnapping, assault on crewmembers, and the like."

A faint look of irritation crosses her face.  "But I suppose any beacon we set up could be easily discovered and destroyed." It's sort of the point for a beacon to broadcast.

"Well I thought we could fre- , er, we could buzz their place a bit, maybe give them a sonic boom or two to worry about, and leave them a little gift.  Just like we discussed,"  Saskia's voice, even over the comm channel, sounds like she's smiling.

"This next part is the good bit.  We tell them that this gift is just a matter of cleaning up.  But, we also tell them that we're going to leave a drone in orbit, and if they give us any more problems during our stay, or if we come back this way and hear of them making any trouble for passing ships, or interfering in trade in any way, then the next gift we leave will be a radioactive crater that's visible from their furthest moon, right where their base used to be.

"Then we go straight up and drop an empty barrel in orbit with a solar powered transmitter in it that sends a signal every ten seconds or so, just so they know it's there."

“Nice Saski,” Jago chuckles, “we’ll do something like that, we can discuss it over dinner as I’m sure Jockram and Co. will want to contribute. ”

Jago sobers before going on, “thing is, even though they’ve shot at us and severely messed up the best trading opportunity I’ve had for decades, I’ve no wish to inflict injury or death on these people, that would make us no better than they are.  The trade deal I’ve cut with the legit traders will unite them against the thugs to a certain extent, and word will soon get around in a place like this. Covering their dome with frozen cack won’t improve their standing in the community, now that I know that there is no one else sharing the same habitat, and a beacon of some sort is fine but I don’t want to waste a lot of time and resources on this.”

"Who said anything about causing casualties?  Blasting their little hidey-hole, sure, once they vacated it after a little demonstration and warning.  Beside, letting them live would also serve to show the precision of our weaponry, as opposed to theirs," Yas objects, not liking the notion that she advocated killing when she did not.  "I also still think we should have Jockram carve a message in front of their place too, though, like 'We're watching' or something, to go with the barrel."

She shrugs and turns her attention to mixing something up in a cup in the aft corner of the lounge.

"It doesn't have to be a decoy..." Ash notes off-hand over his coffee mug and over the common crew channel for Saskia to hear.  After a pause he continues, "I mean we could actually leave a transponder that gave incoming ships the location of the dome as well as the name of the syndicate.  A sort of public service announcement..."  Even if they aren't the Imperium or anything so grandiose.

But as he says it, Ash knows that there are problems with the idea...  He sighs, "Of course, it will get shot down by anyone that sympathizes with them..."  He shrugs and the shrug is readily apparent even over the comms, as he continues his line of reasoning, "It just seems that we should be able to do something to help the other merchants on and off of Rangent that are trying to proper business here to avoid them..."  Obviously, to him, it would be more constructive to do something like that than to merely try to dump on the bad guys; no matter how much fun (and appropriately fitting) said dumping would be.

As Tylen has been listening to the conversation, he becomes a more serious, and  uses his thumb to scratch the side of his jaw.   With an apologetic glance towards the passengers, he reminds the group "They didn't mind the risk of casualties."

He stands forward from the wall, a grim and intense look on his face. "Shui was still out there when they were setting up to fire on us, and you can bet your bottom credit that they would have fired straight into the ship's hold if they had had that chance.  Give them warning if you like, but I would blow that dome to smithereens.  What you are discussing make them lose a bit of face and little more.  The chances are they will just crack down harder on the locals until they are established again, and if they were prepared to use missiles against us,  they will use guns against the locals who oppose them.  If you really want to give the locals a chance, we need to hurt them in a way that is significant and obvious. Let Yas blow a hole in their dome with one of her plasma cannon, then salvage it for the cost of the cost of our sand and a contribution towards our costs.  they publicise it across the city."

Once he he has said his piece, he allows himself to lean back against the wall, and takes up his normal pose.  However, the thumb that comes up to scratch his jaw shows that he isn't quite as relaxed as he appears.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Sat 17 Aug 2013.

Corlan clears his throat, "If I might make a comment?    When we are travelling to a new system, I like to use the ship's library files to find as much information as possible about our destination.  It helps to pass the time, and sometimes I can find information on tourist attractions and points of interest."

"When I was reading up on Rangent, one of the things I discovered was that the vast majority of the planetary population is armed.  I suspect that these thugs are walking a fine line.  If they don't show enough force, they risk losing their position of power.  If they push too hard, they risk finding themselves outnumbered by a well armed population."

"They, in all likelihood, can't afford to crack down harder on the locals.  From what I have heard, they have been operating by singling out groups and putting pressure on them.  I believe the idea behind Captain Lanza's plan to split the cargo was that it would give the criminals too many targets to deal with at one time."

"By humiliating them, and doing so publicly, I think that we will encourage people to stand up to them, en masse."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Sat 17 Aug 2013.

"Killing in self-defence is one thing, if we kill them now we're no better," Yas says without looking away from her cup.

"And with everyone having access to guns I suspect trouble might arise for them if they get too noisy.  Even thugs like these have a leader or they would probably have been gunned down by a citizen posse.  And getting to that boss is no doubt too much work for us.  I still want to melt their hideout, though, that should take care of them just fine."

"But hey, maybe we'll come back here in a few years and they'll have erected statues of us in the market square, singing songs about us and all?" she says, all in her deadpan voice, so when and if she crosses into joking is hard to tell from that alone.

“Thank you Corlan, you are right of course, and I really don’t want to take it any further than I’ve outlined,” there’s a certain finality to the captains tone of voice, but he goes on, “however, we still have the delivery to make my main concern is doing that without putting the passengers, or the ship, in danger.”

“Saskia, we’ll certainly leave something in orbit as you suggest, and it might as well be a real message as a dummy bleep but remember that these are probably not the only group who are using strong arm tactics so it will have to be a general message, rather than specifically about our friends in the dome there.”

“Right then,” Jago straightens in his chair and looks around at the others, “unless there’s any other questions I have some arrangements to make and we have a dinner to prepare for.”

"Always felt you have to front up to a bully, and make it cost them something, or else they never learn anything." Tylen says with a shrug.  But it sounds like the decision has been made, he will go along with it, but he doesn't have to like it.  And those feeling are plainly written in both his face and demeanour.

Shui remains silent while doling out the sandwiches and various beverages.  Once finished, she immediately commences the cleanup, moving mechanically to take the dishes almost the moment the plates have finished their task.  She opens her mouth once to speak, but closes it again, obviously thinking better of that action.

Finally the captain comes to a decision - one not approved of by the gunner - and her shoulders slump slightly as she takes a moment to lean against the sink.  There had been the possibility of violence, of gunfire, of outright bombardment.  Now, things have settled back to a more comfortable choice.  The steward takes a long, slow breath, then slowly turns.

"If that is the case, Captain Lanza, I will need to know the exact time for your dinner with the Ore Hound."  Her smile is brittle, but there nonetheless.  "There are a great deal of preparations -" not entirely true, but close "- and I have my regular duties.  Thankfully, without needing to open up the Medbay."

It's possibly ridiculous, Shui silently concedes, to be concerned about such things at this moment.  But it's all she has, especially when faced by a situation with which her family routinely dealt.  She can almost hear his voice now, gently correcting Tylen, carefully explaining the alternatives...

Mr. Orgesh, might that be excessive?

And imprecise?

Be silent, father.

The brittle smile fractures.  "My apologies.  Perhaps now is not the time for such things.  Captain Lanza, is there anything else?"

Eneris shakes his head, scowling, "These people shot at your ship.  Given the state of the legal system down there, pretty much nothing you do in retaliation would be against the law."

"Illegal, no... morally reprehensible, most definitely." Corlan retorts.  "Opening fire on people whose weapons and technology are vastly inferior to those aboard this ship.  And not even in combat, but simply for vengeance."

"I, for one, applaud Captain Lanza's decision not to engage in potentially lethal retalliation."

"You would."

"Will you two shut up?" Keryn interjects, then adds for the benefit of others, "They have this sort of argument all the time.  'Discussions' they call them.  Sometimes they nearly come to blows.  A couple of days into the trip here from Denotam, I thought I was going to have to fetch Tylen and Yas to sit on them."

"Really now, Keryn?  Which one would I get?" Yas says with a chuckle and glances back at the pregnant woman, still tinkering with her cup.  She winks and returns her full attention to the cup, casually moving in the way of anyone trying to look.

Finally she picks it up and turns around to start sipping from it, possibly to see if either Corlan or Eneris reacts to her question.

"Asymmetric Warfare." Tylen nods acknowledging Corlan's description of the difference in technologies.  "It generally leads to dominance and control of the battle space." Tylen almost quotes.  "The goal of just about every military leader in history ..." he finishes up.

then he turns his attention to the steward,"Shall I fetch the drinks from the hold?  Where would you like them?" he asks, with a grin.

The Profit Margin's navigator nods to Jago, glad that a decision has been made.

Ash watches the multiple exchanges going on in the lounge with more than passing interest.  But he also keeps quiet.  He hasn't been called out on anything.  And the thin navigator quite likes it that way.

He knows that he'd be unlikely to be able to subdue either Eneris or Corlan.  And that he is not the philosopher or student of history that Tylen is.  Nor does he have the quick (and slightly acerbic) wit that the security chief has.  And he doesn't have the broad expertise that Saskia is known for, the quiet, intense patience that the Good Doctor has, or the authority of the Captain.  No, Ash is just trying to get by as best he can.  And most of that, he has learned in his thirty-four or so years of life, is keeping his head low.

Still he doesn't seem to be able to help himself.  "Generally sucks to be the dominated controllee." he notes off-hand and then pauses for a moment before adding, "And it is a vicious spiral, isn't it?  At least an escalating one."

Ash shrugs slightly.  "An eye for an eye, makes the whole universe blind..." he paraphrases an old Solomani adage.  He frowns slightly and then looks down at his coffee mug.  Suddenly, its contents seem intensely interesting to him.

Eneris sighs, "Sorry.  I know, I'm just a passenger, and I have no say in how the ship is run."

"But I do have a question.  Not sure if anybody's thought of this, but I think it bears consideration."

A brief pause while the retired spacer collects his thoughts, "What happens if our trigger-happy friends decide to exert a little pressure on the trade factors?  Is there a backup plan in case you land to drop off the cargo and the so-called cargo handlers are really a bunch of assassins, armed to the teeth and waiting for a chance to throw a few grenades into the hold?"

Shui pauses at Tylen's offer, rocking slightly on her heels.  "The hold.  Yes, I believe we should.  It might make for a good start." There's an answer to all of Eneris' questions, as well as others, but it's not one she can or will suggest.  Nor support.

She offers a quick nod to Mr. Tescali, filing away his 'eye for an eye' comment - an interesting viewpoint, any wordplay unintended - and strides from the room at a quick clip.  Captain Lanza has reached a conclusion on the retaliation situation, and that's enough for her at the momemnt; she'd rather not sit and listen to any comments that might unconciously colour her views of others in the future.

"I suspect that would be me and Yas ..." Tylen responds to Eneris's question as he heads out to collect the drinks that were unceremoniously left in the hold, while they made a rapid departure from the planet.  "Strange how quickly people forget that we were the target ..." he thinks as he picks up the cases of beer.

"The beer and the mead should be OK, but you might want to run some tests on those spirits before you serve them - and then cut them with fruit juice ..." he says with a grin across at Shui.

Ash watches quietly as Eneris floats the idea of an ambush to their rendezvous.  He glances at Jago and then at Tylen as the latter answers.  He nods slowly, though that gesture is partially hidden by his coffee mug.  It does seem appropriate that the two security specialists might be the one to take of such a situation.

Though, Ash admittedly might not have much skin in the game.  Especially, if he is manning the sensors and navigation consoles from the bridge.  "The Chief," he notes off-hand indicating Yasmine in her guise as Head of Security, "could show off her cargo-dress finery to help maintain order.  And all under the guise of helping to move cargo ..."  The thin navigator gave a slight shrug and took another sip from his cup of joe.  "We probably should be cautious as Eneris is advocating." he agrees amiably, "The Syndicate likely has informants in any or all of the other trading companies."

Yas lets the others speak while she sips her cup and then takes a long breath through her teeth before speaking.

"My thoughts regarding security is to make it so that our customers does not get anywhere near the open cargo bay.  I bring the stuff out, in pre-designated co-ordinates, before our customers arrives, then we close the ship up and do our dealings.  Should they have been infiltrated, unlikely as I see it, most of their weapons will have little effect on my suit while we could use Ty's turret if needed.  To my understanding what is needed is to pass the goods over and to receive the payment, nothing that requires negotiations or invitations."

"No one and nothing will get inside the ship then.  Especially with Ash here watching sensors, from both Margin and the Hound in orbit, there's no way anyone can be sneaking about without us knowing, so no more bazooka either."

"I suspect the worst trouble will be for the companies afterwards if the bad guys are grumpy, that's why I think we should do something to scare them, or preferably reduce their assets by blasting their facility, with due warning so that can evacuate, of course."

Seemingly done she starts to sip her cup again, returning full focus on whatever it is.

"Seems like a decent plan." Eneris admits, with a relieved smile.  "Get the stuff out onto the ice, with a triple turret pointing at anybody who pokes their head over the horizon, and close the door.  That should work."

The former Navy gunner nods, "Thanks for keeping us filled in."

Corlan nods his agreement, "Indeed, thank you including us in this briefing, Captain Lanza.  I, for one, appreciate it."