Tylen checks his instruments again  "It isn't solid .." he says in confirmation, ".. probably a weather system." He adds as he starts to pull up information about the planet's weather systems.  "But it must have some power if it is that tall ..." he continues, knowing that he would steer away from it, if he were flying.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Tue 05 Aug 2014.

Although Yas keeps an eye on her own instruments and notes the odd pattern she gives in no visible attention beyond the usual glances at her panels.

"Ah, there are several, but let's see..." she muses, "I believe Porozlo might be something for you then, got standard tech, tons of people in the urban areas, twenty bill something, with working law, although it's a bit larger than most planets so expect a slightly higher gravity.  That makes it perfect for a lazy vacation though, I tell you.  Plus it's, what you say?  Vulcanised?  Ha, no!  Balkanised, so plenty to see with many cultures.  Colourful outfits, curious customs, quite interesting."

"Or if you want less gravity, and people, there's Bendor.  Top quality starport with orbital station for fancy folks and some good zero grav fields to play in, only eight mill souls all in all.  Farm world, feudal whatchamacallit...  Tech-something.  Crazy?  I think it is, any way!  Ultimate camping world, ha!  Note, though, it can be a bit wild and with the law far away.  Odds are you'll never see anyone once you've left the port, though!"

"Both of these are here in the Spinward Marches too."

She falls silent and scrunches up her face in thought.  After a moment her face brightens.

"Oh, and if you want hi tech, stuff that will make you dizzy, literally as well, there's Lilad, over in the next sector, Deneb.  Decent enough starport, but very small world with, believe it or not, twenty seven billion people living in one hundred and sixty Bean Stalk Arcologies!  Towers that rise seventeen thousand kilometres high, into geostationary orbit!  They got space elevator to go up and down them.  That is where the people live.  Insane stuff, but what a view!  Beware balconies, I tell you, if you don't like depths."

She gives a low whistle and shakes her head, distant memories filling her mind.

"Also, they got this extreme law there; don't litter, heck, don't even laugh too loud!" she says and, of course, laughs loudly.  "I think that's it, a lot of the worlds I've been to doesn't make a good vacation, I tell you..."

"Oh, and I only joked.  About laughing, that is."

Ash works at his controls, fingers moving rapidly and precisely to refine the information from the sensors.  "It appears to be a tornado.  A very large one.  Diameter is approximately 450 kilometres.  Wind speeds are in excess of one thousand kilometres per hour.  Range is four thousand kilometres.  I believe we should probably avoid getting too much closer."

Jago is in complete agreement.  He turns the ship hard to starboard and puts a call through to Saskia, "Saskia.  I'll take whatever power you've got to spare, thanks."

Profit Margin is now heading away from the massive tornado, and into the prevailing wind.  Progress is slowed by wind resistance, but the ship starts to move away from the storm.

Resolutely, Shui continues to ignore whatever drama is unfolding at the front of the cabin.  If it becomes needful, they'll give her an order - probably to get the passengers off the bridge - or if it becomes critical, then she'll be too busy to be afraid.  Until then, it'll just upset her even more.

Better to stick with listening to Yasmine.

"I am not adverse to 'extreme law'," she murmurs, considering.  "And I would enjoy seeing the archologies.  But the laughter issue seems problematic, and Porozlo seems the better choice for the moment.  I wonder if there's any chance we shall be heading in that direction."

She glances up to the Security Chief.  "Thank you, Ms. Crowe, for taking the time to keep me distracted.  And for the wonderful information - I have 'logged' it, I assure you."  One finger taps her temple.

Ash hems and haws at the magnitude of the sensor readings for a few more seconds.  "I don't think that we are in Kansas any more..." the thin navigator mutters under his breath, recalling an old Solomani vid that he saw way back when.  That tornado cast a girl and her dog into comas (or perhaps just drug induced hazes, Ash is not really sure which), which seemed to be a cautionary tale if there ever was one.

And though his tone is even, he seems suitably impressed - as the recalculated route that he pushes to the tactical display shows the Profit Margin giving the supertornado a very wide berth.  There was little reason to endanger the crew and passengers on a pit stop.

"Hold together, frell you."

Saskia's instruction might be directed to any number of systems and items of machinery in Engineering.  Or it could be directed at herself.  She decides to send a report to the Bridge.  "We have a 57.2 percent increase in drag, due to that course change aiming us into the wind.  The port engine is running hotter, but still well within tolerance.  Transferring power from non-essentials to drives, cooling and inertial dampers.  Drive response time optimal."

The Engineer considers, then offers some advice, "We could reduce drag by closing the intakes, just until we're away from the storm."

There is a noticeable vibration through the deck as Profit Margin makes its way into the wind.  Not strong, but definitely there.

Saskia's infotmation, along with the instrument displays, is reassuring.  The ship is, it seems, not about to fall apart.  Beyond the hull, the locals don't seem too bothered about the storm - either it's too far away for them to have noticed, or they've survived this sort of thing before...

An alarm sounds on the bridge consoles, repeated on Saskia's panel.  The external temperature is dropping rapidly, down from 260 K to 210 K in less than a minute.  Rain starts to fall, liquid ammonia rattling against the viewports.

More of the delta shaped predators sweep past, not fighting the wind, but using whatever they have for muscles to push themselves faster than the atmospheric currents.  Clearly visible on radar, but hidden by the blackness outside (save when actinic flashes of lightning illuminate them briefly), they seem undisturbed by the rain, and happy to ignore the weather and the darkness...

And the instruments show that the ship is moving away from the tornado.  The effects that Profit Margin is experiencing are the very fringe of the storm's influence on atmospheric conditions.

"Meh, a bit of wind, and not even planetsized weather system.  Nothing to worry about," Yas finally comments on the until now mysterious phenomenon with a glance at her readouts.  She turns back to her friend with a smile.

"Yeah, the Law can get in your face.  Try doing a Marine mission there, ha!  Any way, yeah, those arcologies, I tell you, you have to see them in person to understand.  Even then you can't really grasp it, but you'll understand the sense of wonder."

"Sure, ask Jago, he mmight plan a route past there.  We all need a break sooner or later any way, ha!"

"Ah, think nothing of it, and call me Yas, please, or I'll call you late at night to ask about something trivial," she replies with an impish grin towards the end.  "I've been to many world, but most aren't worthy a recommendation.  Glad some of them could still prove useful, though."  The grin turns into a genuine smile before she peers towards the pilot's seat.

"Hey, Ash, ever seen a tornado larger than a main sequence planet?  Then we can talk big!  Still, best to never underestimate the small ones, ey?"  One can almost hear the wink in her voice.

"I...I can only imagine a marine mission on a planet with such laws," Shui faintly agrees.  "But if you believe Captain Lanza will...will not have an issue with us visiting that planet -" she has forgotten the name, Shui realizes, and will need to ask Yasmine again "- I will make inquiries if it would be feasible."

"I'm more than grateful for the reccomendations, of course.  And I don't...mind late night calls," she continues.  "Nothing is trivial, Ms. Crow." The steward realizes she's edging closer to rambling, and clamps her jaw shut.  There's a lot of talk now about the size of the windstorm and its effects on the Profit Margin.  She focuses on that, rather than the simple concept of the system and what it might conceal within it.

Imagination can, at times, be a curse.

Yas laughs and shakes her head.

"Yas.  Please.  Trust me, I can come up with trivial things," she threatens with a grin.

"Unless you like discussing things like whether it is worth having this discussion and going on for ages about how the weather in space is better than a place with really bad weather!"

"So, Yas.  Or I shall call you Doc Steward Tiesi from now on.  Yup, yup, yup."

With the winds picking up and the condensation striking the hull, Ash looks around for a moment and back to his displays.  "Captain," the lanky navigator notes, "I'm deploying the electrostatic discharge line."  Which he also knew would help to ensure any lightning was harmlessly directed away from the ship's interior (and the delicate people and electronics housed within).

"Oh," he notes off-hand, running a hand through his short cropped hair for a moment, "that was a flashy strike."  Ash then points to one of the displays and the graphical representation of the discharge as it lingers on the screen for a few seconds.

He seems oblivious to Shui's discomfort and Yasmine's conversation with her.

Profit Margin continues to move away from the storm, the vibration in the hull gradually diminishing.  The native flyers, on the other hand, seem attracted to the rotating funnel of wind, and the reason soon becomes apparent.  The sensor display shows one of the large floating creatures getting too close and being dragged along by the tornado.  Helpless to resist, it is also unable to defend itself against the predators, which are much stronger fliers...

Ash deploys a discharge line to draw lightning away from the ship.  In conjunction with the discharge probe extended by Saskia when they first entered the atmosphere, the ship should be more than adequately protected from electrical strikes.  Still, better safe than sorry, as a millennia-old saying goes...

At the back of the Bridge, Yas and Shui continue their conversatioin, intended mostly to keep Shui calm.

Keryn claps her hands enthusiastically with each flash beyond the viewport, and each slow, rolling, boom that sounds through the hull.  Born underground on an airless world, with no atmospheric conditions of any description, this planet's lightning, thunder, and ammonia rain are all very exciting.

Corlan and Eneris have seem weather before, but even they are impressed by the scale of the phenomena at play here.

A message appears on the displays in Engineering and on the Bridge.  "REFUELLING: 25% COMPLETE.  REFINED FUEL QUALITY: 99.25% PURE DEUTERIUM.  WITHIN ACCEPTABLE QUALITY PARAMETERS FOR JUMP OPERATIONS."

"Haven't we had this discussion before?" Shui inquires, putting her hand palm down on the console.  It's shaking - her hand, not the console.  Well, the console as well, what with the atmospheric thunder echoing through the hull, so it's hard to tell.  "You have a methodology for naming, I have the same.  I do not complain about being associated with both raw seafood and a word of Japanese origin.  It seems to make you comfortable to name me so, and that, in turn, makes me comfortable."

About to continue, Shui realizes she's entering into a debate.  The Steward lets out a sigh, breaking off for a moment to rub the bridge of her nose.  It looks as if it's going to be up to her to give in.   So much for compromise.  The thought comes and goes - she lets it free, along with any frustration.  "Very well, Yasmine.  I will accede to your wishes."

Saskia points out the purity reading, and addresses the Jump drive's tokamak reactor housing, "There.  I told you you'd get some good fuel out of this, didn't I?"

Her next comment is addressed to anybody listening on the Bridge, "This is looking very good.  Very frelling good.  There are top rated ports that don't sell fuel of this grade."

From the tone of her voice, anybody could be forgiven for thinking that scooping fuel here had been her idea.

"Oh, and can I just get confirmation that we're heading away from the storm?  The charge readings are off the chart and on to the next one down here."

A slight exaggeration, but the engineer is  getting a little concerned.

"Distance to epicenter of the storm..." Ash dutifully reads out right on cue, "four thousand, three hundred and seventy-three point eight-three kilometers."  There is a momentary pause as the distance appears on one of the tactical displays, which are replicated to the crew channel.  "Delta is" the ex-scout continues to report, "a positive one point eight seven five kilometers per second."  The green color-coded change in distance over time appears right below the total distance on the display.

As he watches the shadowy figures of the predatory deltas flutter out of visual range, Ash gives a brief wave, "Bu-bye, boys!"  Then he returns to his read-outs and continues to monitor the Profit Margin's course.  The lanky navigator makes sure to point out any lightning strikes to Keryn that he can predict due to any notable spikes in accumulated charge measured by the external sensors - since the young woman seems quite taken by the experience.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:20, Sun 24 Aug 2014.

Profit Margin continues to move away from the storm at her maximum safe atmospheric speed.  External conditions improve gradually, though it is still dark beneath the upper cloud layers.

Jago's cigar migrates almost continuously from one side of his mouth to the other and back again.

Another flock of the flyers hurtle past, like the others they head towards the storm with all the speed the wind and their own bodies can give them.  One of them flies a little too close and ricochets off the hull with a loud thump.  It spirals downward, before recovering and resuming its original course.

"Remind me to get that checked when we get to Phlume." Jago says to nobody in particular.

Keryn, apparently still appreciating the lightning, is grateful to Ash for his warnings.

"Indeed we have.  This is your last warning," Yas says sternly with a wink.

"Accussing me of having a method, though, is inaccurate, I'm just bad at names.  You sounded like Sushi to me when we first met, but I can always call you Shui if you want.  By the way, what is a sushi?  Food, you say?"

"Ha!  I win!  Soon I shall rule the universe!" she whoops and raises her arms in victory.  "Did I say that out loud?" she quickly says, acting all innocent, even though her trademark crooked grin ruins the effect.

"So, do I call you Shui, now that I can pronounce it?" she asks in earnest, the lopsided grin melting back into a regular smile.

The ship moves further away from the heart of the storm, and the wind-speed drops, making it easier for Profit Margin to make headway.  The lightning flickers still, but mostly astern.  Jago calls up a view from the stern cameras, feeding it to the engineering station for Keryn to watch.

It seems, however, that a storm viewed on the monitor is not as interesting as one seen first-hand through a viewport, and the young women soon loses interest and studies the panel for a few minutes, though most of the controls are deactivated, before swivelling the chair so that she can see the viewport over Jago's shoulder.

"REFUELLING: 50% COMPLETE.  REFINED FUEL QUALITY: 99.25% PURE DEUTERIUM.  WITHIN ACCEPTABLE QUALITY PARAMETERS FOR JUMP OPERATIONS." reports the computer, then, "SWITCHING INTAKE TO SECONDARY TANK."

"Raw fish, yes," Shui confirms.  "A dish of different ethnic origin, as well."  She closes her eyes briefly as the hull thuds to an impact of one of the flyers, then the ship is slowly moving out of the storm's grasp.  "As stated, you may call me what you wish," she continues, a little more steadily.  "I leave it in your hands."

It's easier that way, all around.

“Thanks computer,” Jago responds absently, he seems preoccupied by the list scrolling across one of his screens.

“Ah that’ll do,”

Music drifts across the bridge, a full orchestra playing the slow, stately tones of  Geffinburg’s 3rd symphony, not loud enough to inhibit conversation but just enough to accompany the scene beyond the windows.

Yas sighs.  Unconditional surrender was only good in warfare.  She briefly considers calling Sushi "What You Wish" but decides against it.

"Spoilsport.  I'll reciprocate then with saying, if it bothers you top break your naming habits, call me Ms Crow or whatever you want.  I'm just not used to hearing it from friends, is all."

"So, ever eaten it?  This sushi, I mean.  Where was it from, again?" she follows up quickly, suspecting distraction may still be the best option for the peace of mind of the woman in front of her.  She avoid trying to pronounce the name of the place, however, certain she would mess it up.

Ash continued to dutifully monitor the storm, the Profit Margin, the aliens and the fuel status.  He hummed along to the music piped over the bridge speakers, even if he preferred some of the ancient Solomani composers from the pre-stellar era.

He still called out the lightning strikes, primarily for Keryn's edification, but tried to do so discreetly, so as not to interrupt the conversation between Yasmine and Shui nor disrupt the experience of the passengers on the bridge.

He seemed glad that they were already halfway done with filling the tanks.  With the minimal amount of processing that would need to be done, they could be out-system pretty darned quick.  It would probably take longer to get to the one-hundred diameter limit of the gas giant than to complete the fuel purification.  Which suited Ash just fine.

Like the  one prepared for  Keryn, one of Tylen's screens shows the atmospheric disturbances behind them, but it there as a a moving wallpaper rather than anything he particularly wants to see. The other screens show the results of the various scan his systems are running - tracking aliens and searching for ships and other man made objects as well as various local atmospheric conditions.  All set up deliberately, now just running because he has nothing he wants to replace them with.  One small section of screen shows the view in front of Profit Margin.  Again there is no real purpose, it has just been force of habit, over too many years, to be able to see where the ship is going.

Tylen watch his systems casually, relying on alarms he has set or catching changes out of the corner of his eye.  After all, these are things he has been doing for years.  And he knows that Ash, Jago and probably even Saskia are probably all watching similar displays on their screens.

At the same time, he listens to the banter across the bridge, smiling occasionally.  Not that he has anything to add, he's not really that chatty.  Instead he fidgets slightly. At one point he picks at a (probably imagines) spot on the arm of his chair,  later he rolls a coin between his fingers for a while before he gets bored and sits back in his chair with his hands behind his head.  That elicits a small cough, so he sits up again and fiddles with one of the knobs on his control panel.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:31, Sat 30 Aug 2014.

"Yasmin will be fine," Shui assures her.  "I am ill-used to that kind of thing, but if it makes you comfortable, then..." She cocks her head.  "It is part of my position after all," the steward notes.

"As for the sushi," she continues, "I only know that it is a food connected with people of Japanese descent.  I'm not sure how much of their culture survives, but the few times I've encountered it, their language is different, their customs are different..."  A shrug.  "Not important, all things considered."

"Comfortable?  No, I guess I just like it less... formal, I suppose.  But if it bothers you, then by all means, call me whatever you want.  I just think friends shouldn't stand on ceremony," Yas shrugs.

"Japa Nees?  Where's that planet then?" she inquires, ransacking her brain and finding nothing.  Way too many balls of dirt and other matter spinning around to keep track of them all.