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, welcome to Traveller - Profit Margin II: The Fifth Frontier War

15:32, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00.

Posted by Traveller RefereeFor group 0
Traveller Referee
GM, 1097 posts
In space nobody can hear
you swearing at me.
Tue 2 Feb 2016
at 19:06
  • msg #1

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Jump is, as usual, uneventful.  On the rare occasions when something does go wrong, most of the excitement happens at entry or exit.  In between, a ship rides safely within the protective cocoon of its own Jump Field, its crew and passengers blissfully unaware of any issues...

Statistically, of course, it's still the safest way to travel.  Of course, it is also the only way to travel interstellar distances.

Jago sits in the Crew Lounge, studying some data on the terminal - trade data downloaded at Phlume, indicating latest know prices purchase and sale prices for worlds near that system.  A cup of coffee and a sandwich are close to hand.
Saskia Blake
player, 581 posts
I'm going to need a
much bigger hammer.
Fri 5 Feb 2016
at 21:57
  • msg #2

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Across the lounge from Jago, Saskia has her handcomp linked into Profit Margin's central core, and displaying a basic set of system efficiency charts for the last month, cross referenced with power output levels.  The charts are satisfactory -- not only do the figures fall well within Imperial specifications, but they comply with the much more stringent Blake standard.

Saskia raises her eyes from the handcomp and watches Jago for a moment, wondering what all the numbers on his screen mean, before flipping to the next page of Tachyon Field Analysis and Spectral Tensor Differentials.

Scowling she adjusts a number upwards by a fraction of one percent, then watches as a large swath of figures turn first amber, then red.  The number gets reset, and everything turns green again.  Same thing every month.  The calibrations can not be adjusted beyond their current settings.

The Engineer laughs quietly to herself.  The fusion plant is operating at the best possible efficiency -- even a miniscule adjustment would result in a meltdown within 24 hours.
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1105 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Sat 6 Feb 2016
at 08:26
  • msg #3

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Once in Jump space, Tylen feels free to stand down from his watch position, and heads through to the crew area for a coffee.

Over the next little while, he pulls down a self help manual for his quad and a couple of simple, self help style, books on mechanics.  Throughout the jump he will spend some time servicing his quad, occasionally taking pieces out and stripping them right down before rebuilding and replacing them again.
Traveller Referee
GM, 1098 posts
In space nobody can hear
you swearing at me.
Sun 7 Feb 2016
at 19:53
  • msg #4

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:10

Over in the Passenger Lounge, things are quiet.  Corlan, Eneris and Covan Draik are all involved in a game of cards, gambling for pieces of dried fruit.  The main problem with that being that Eneris has a tendency to, absent mindedly, eat the stakes from time to time.

Keryn is sitting at a terminal across the room reading a book, downloaded from the ship's library, entitled Basic Principles of Robot Brain Architecture, and occasionally muttering to herself as she makes notes on a datapad.  Every so often she switches to Robotics: Terms and Definitions to look up a word or phrase, before returning to her reading.

From the expression on her face, the books are... less than enthralling.

In the Crew Lounge, Jago smiles as his calculations, based on the trade data and his own instincts, keep landing firmly in the black.  He starts to whistle quietly as he works.  No mean feat with a cigar in his mouth.
Ash Tescali
player, 548 posts
Traveling through J-space
isn't like dusting crops
Mon 8 Feb 2016
at 08:30
  • msg #5

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Ash wanders in from the duty watch at the bridge to refresh his cup of coffee.

While there is little that he can actually do from his station were there a problem in j-space, the lanky navigator appears to find that reading at his co-pilot's station is just as good a place as any.

In his hand is a datapad, which appears to have the latest issues of the Astrogation Today, Jayne's Starcharts, and Popular Astrophysics, as well as short treatise on Bonsai Tree maintenance.  Ash waves idly in greeting to the other crew members in the lounge having placed the datapad on the counter while he pours out the caffeinated beverage into his travel mug.

Leaning against the counter for a moment as Ash sips from his mug and people-watches briefly, before he begins to meander back towards the bridge to resume his vigil over the countdown timer. the jump drive status diagnostics, and the (mostly) dead exterior sensor feeds.
Shui Tiesi
player, 1588 posts
Quiet doctor,
helpful steward.
Mon 8 Feb 2016
at 14:52
  • msg #6

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Aside from caring for the needs of passengers and crew - easily done - Shui finds herself at loose ends.  Eventually she drifts to the hold, where Tylen is working on his vehicle.  Padding up, she studies him for a long moment, hunched over the machine, a cup of cooling coffee beside him.

The cup makes her fingers itch to exchange it with a fresh one.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she quietly inquires, moving around to study the parts and pieces.  "And...is this a repair, or tinkering?"
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1106 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Mon 8 Feb 2016
at 15:12
  • msg #7

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Not hearing Shui enter, Tylen starts slightly as she speaks, but turns his head towards her with a wide grin.  "Err .. Tinkering."  He  admits sitting back on his haunches and reaching for the coffe by his side.  He takes one almighty swig and places it back on the ground again, but now a set of greasy fingerprints mark the cup as belonging to him.

"I had the manuals and the tools were in the locker.  So I grabbed a  'Dum Dums Guide to mechanics' and thought I would give it a go." he says standing up and wiping his dirty hands on the seat of his pants.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Mon 08 Feb 2016.
Saskia Blake
player, 582 posts
I'm going to need a
much bigger hammer.
Mon 8 Feb 2016
at 23:27
  • msg #8

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"If you don't stop that," growls Saskia, fixing Jago with an icy glare, "I'll get Yas to shoot you somewhere where it will really frelling hurt.

"Don't you know it's bad luck to whistle while a ship's in Jump?"

Shui Tiesi
player, 1589 posts
Quiet doctor,
helpful steward.
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 13:20
  • msg #9

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"Interesting."  She studies the coffee cup for a long moment, then valiantly manages to put the grease smears upon it out of her mind.  "For a 'Dum-Dum', you appear to be doing quite well."  Wandering over, she leans down for a closer look, then straightens.

One eyebrow rises.  Again.  "If you like, I can assist."  A wave of the hand indicates the tool box and the machine, both.  "I have some experience with this kind of thing..."  The steward shrugs, a small motion of her shoulders that doesn't shift her head one iota.  "I spent time in a port working with a ground-transport mechanic, and managed to pick up a thing or two."
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1107 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 14:15
  • msg #10

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Tylen pushes his hair back with a grin, and leaves another small smear across his forehead.  "Great.  You’ll get oily though..." He welcomes Shui's offer of assistance.  "I never got much in the way of mech training as a lad.  My first job on 'Ell' had me down, technically, as an engineering apprentice -  but that pretty much involved driving the truck or doing as I was told." He grins broadly, "But I learned how to do basic maintenance on the truck at the same time as I learned the basics of ship's engineering.”

He looks down towards the manual as he inspects the part he has in hands, "And this is just a way of learning a bit more about the quad really.  Seems a shame to waste jump time rather than find something to do."  he continues.  "You got around a lot ..." Tylen comments, when Shui tells of her experiences working with a mechanic, "So what else have you got up to in your wide ranging and murky past ...” He jokes, trying to keep the conversation going.
Shui Tiesi
player, 1590 posts
Quiet doctor,
helpful steward.
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 14:33
  • msg #11

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"Oily?"  Shui laughs quietly.  <DarkGreen>"I clean and do medical work - I'm used to becoming filthy." </DarkGreen> She is, herself - it's when other things and people are dirty that she gets an urge to insist on cleanliness.  She is the steward and doctor, after all.  "Before I gained experience, I took up janitorial work in order to make ends meet.  I have also assisted with Engineering, from time to time." She settles down. "I can manage with this." 

It's her near-OCD about her duties that make her chary of dirt...on dishes.

"It sounds as if you have far stronger and focused experience in this area than myself." That said without a trace of self-consciousness.  Tylen's question, however...  Shui pauses to ponder.  Everything since she left her family seems fairly safe.

And thus, she gives a small sniff of laughter - self-deprecating. "I have actual medical training, of course.  And I apprenticed under a steward for a time.  The rest of my experience is a hodge-podge of different skills and positions.  I have assisted pilots, helped engineers, worked alongside technicians of various different sorts.  It has allowed me to pick up a great deal of knowledge...at a rather shallow level." 

She indicates the quad. "Take this, for example.  I can help you.  If there were a simple problem with it, in time I could find that problem and possibly a way to fix it.  But do I possess detailed knowledge of a quad?  Certainly not."

Her voice grows more quiet, Shui becoming thoughtful as she divides her concentration between the engine and the conversation.  "I have never worked security or gunnery, of course...but to list the various ships and positions where I have worked?"  Her smile hints at wistfulness.  "Over the last dozen years I have served on more ships than I can recall.  My time aboard the Profit Margin is certainly not the longest yet, but I hope it will be."

Always moving, changing ships...especially in those first few years.  Now?  It's possible she can settle in one place, a fact which pleases Shui no end.

"Did you have any other placements after the Scouts?  One?  Two?  Many?" she inquires in turn.
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1108 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 15:12
  • msg #12

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"Nope.  All in the scouts." He comments as he works to refit a flywheel.  "I was going to try for the Darrian Army but, for some reason, I went  along to the IISS base first. Hardly anyone ever got recruited there, we were nearly all Darrian by birth,  rather than Imperial," he confides, "but I must have struck lucky." He adds with a shrug.

There is a short distraction as a nut proves recalcitrant, before he continues "But after that first term, I served on  X-boats – first as a Comms Officer and later as a pilot. That gave me lots of jump time for contemplating my navel." He grins "Then it was in a support role until the accident, and then a desk job.  This seemed like my best way to get back into space." He adds with a wry smile.

"What made you decide to go into space?" he asks idly, as he studies a bolt that seems to have been left over.
Shui Tiesi
player, 1591 posts
Quiet doctor,
helpful steward.
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 15:30
  • msg #13

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"So, your first position since you left Service."  Shui nods.  "Our gain.  I am most pleased that you remained with us after that...call to duty." She waves a hand in the air, dismissing it.  "Given Captain Lanza's deplorable luck, I have no doubt you will see many interesting things aboard this vessel...including 'action'."

Shui could easily do without that, herself.

Picking up the loose bolt, she indicates a small hole half-covered now.  "It will be necessary to remove this once more to replace the bolt," the doctor notes.  "Space?  Why Mr. Orgesh, I believe we have discussed this." Amusement touches her tone.  Despite the topic, it is safe ground; they have discussed this. "My family had plans for me to enter their business.  Despite its rather proud tradition, I felt it wasn't for me.  We...disagreed.  I imagine I disappointed them greatly when I chose to leave."

Again, the doctor shrugs, that wistful expression returning.  "I have not spoken to any of them in more than twelve years.  And no, I do not require that for a fulfilled life.  Things are better this way."
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1109 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 15:55
  • msg #14

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"It was probably a good job I didn’t go into the army," he comments apparently  going off on a tangent  "I was never a great lover of 'action'.  It is one of those things that has to happen now and then.  But I don’t think I would have liked it if that had been the focus of my life." carefully, Tylen removes the piece that Shui indicated, so that she can fit the bolt, before he replaces the section again.

"Mr Ogresh?"  He questions  with a grin, "I thought we had got to know each other a bit better than that." but he is on a roll, and she isn’t going to get away with it that easily "Perhaps I had better bring another couple of bottles of wine around to your cabin, to help you remember?" But it is clearly teasing, and perhaps even a defence against his own forgetfulness, rather than anything unpleasant or nasty.

"I haven’t seen my family for years either." he adds with a shrug.  "That is the way of our world now, I suspect." he grins as he briefly contemplates the workings of interstellar space.
Yasmine Crow
player, 1207 posts
Gunner and ex marine
''Fire at Will!''
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 19:12
  • msg #15

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"If I say it's all right, then it's all right, Keryn, just..." Yas stops in the middle of the sentence and look between Tylen and Sushi.  A moment later she grins lopsidedly.  "Seems I don't need to say anything about rooms, do I?"

"Come on, Ker, let's leave give the lovebirds some privacy,"
she tells the younger woman and grabs her arm, guiding her towards the exit leading into the crew quarters.  "Don't you go do anything in here now, you hear.  And put those tools back when you're done.  Please."  The grin she carries grows even wider as she gives that last order, and it gets rounded of with a suggestive wink.
Traveller Referee
GM, 1099 posts
In space nobody can hear
you swearing at me.
Tue 9 Feb 2016
at 19:50
  • msg #16

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

Keryn is still a bit bemused.  Excited, but bemused.  One second she had been working through some really dull books on robotics, and the next thing Yas had shown up and told her it was time to learn how to load a gun.  And then how to unload it, very quickly and noisily.

And then Keryn's best friend lead her into the cargo hold where Tylen and Shui appeared to be stripping, in a purely mechanical sense of course, a vehicle of some sort.

The young woman waves to them, and smiles nervously.  "Yas is going to teach me how to shoot people."

Giving Saskia a baleful look, Jago stops whistling.  He knows her by now.  She talks to her engines (and claims to have once won a reasonable amount of credits taking betting advice from a Jump capacitor).  If she says something is unlucky, then there is nothing he can do to convince her otherwise.  And if she starts to suspect he's winning an argument about it, then his shower will, oh so mysteriously, suddenly develop a tendency to produce a fine spray of cold sewage every morning.

Instead he turns his attention to Ash's retreating back, "Ash?  Have you got a minute?"
Tylen Orgesh
player, 1110 posts
Gunner and former scout
Who the hell is Will?
Wed 10 Feb 2016
at 09:14
  • msg #17

Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"Everyone should know how to shoot." Tylen reassures Keryn, "Although most of us hope we never need to shoot people." he  adds  with a grin.

For Yas his comment is a bit less encouraging  "I was going to offer to service your bike for you" he offers, "but if you think that is inappropriate ...."He says leaving the thought hanging for Yas.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 09:37, Thu 11 Feb 2016.
Shui Tiesi
player, 1592 posts
Quiet doctor,
helpful steward.
Wed 10 Feb 2016
at 13:31
  • msg #18

Re: Jump Space  Date: 298-1107 11:00

"I don't see you as a soldier, and am certainly pleased you never went into that line of work," Shui confesses.  "Scout, most certainly; it fits you, though it comes with scars.  Mr. Orgesh.  I did warn you I would backslide from time to time." Now both eyebrows raise.  "You have more wine sitting around, wasting valuable ship space?  How curious."

She twitches her lips into a doleful grimace.  "I fear my upbringing makes me comfortable using family names and polite titles.  It is the way of things.  To me, often times they are more familiar than personal names.  You shall need to put up with that, from time to time." This said with a small, sidelong glance as she finishes installing the bolt.

Sitting back on her haunches in a crouch, Shui lets out a long sigh.  "'The way of our world'," she quotes Tylen, but while the words could be sorrowful they are said with a smile. "I find my family here far more acceptable - and accepting - than the one I left behind.  Though I wish you could see your own."

Enter Yasmine and Keryn, stage left, carrying weaponry.

Yasmine's comments receive a cock of the head and a dubious glance.  But she nods along with Tylen's reply to Keryn.  "I would agree, surprising as it sounds.  There are any number of non-lethal weapons that are quite effective and easy to carry; even I know how to use them.  It is a more simple and quick solution than years of training in empty-hand combat...which fails utterly when confronted by firearms at any range greater than arm's length."

Without tremendous training, said skills also fail at close range, but there's no need to go into that.

"And Chief Crow would be the best choice of teachers," she states with a nod to Yasmine.
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