Having gone through the nearly-painless transfer of ownership from Casey Blackwood to the group <name>, the Long Shot is now yours.


The first step, apparently, is for Khea to inspect the ship from an engineering standpoint.

Is anyone else going to assist her?


To do this right, Khea needs to name some particular aspect of the ship that she wants to inspect and then make a roll for it.

Thinking about who has engineering skills.
J-Drive: Walter, Kheaiftouaw
M-Drive: Darrel,
P-Drive: Kheaiftouaw
Note:Kaengarr has engineer but not specified type.

"I'll check out the M-Drive, Khea the P-Drive and Sir Walter can do the J-Drive. Then we recheck each others work. Everyone should examine their control stations where they might be working and also, let's get a really close look at those repair drones."

"Will do" Sir Walter said, as he headed towards the rear to check out the jump drives.

11:24, Today: Walter Zeller rolled 9 using 2d6+2.  Inspect j-drives.

Kheas main focus is checking for any jury rigs, workarounds and modifications.
And she is labeling everything in Throk.

20:00, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 5 using 1d6.  Inspecting power plant (Edu), forgot the 2nd dice.
20:00, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 3 using 1d6+2.  Inspecting power plant (Edu).
So 8 in total.

Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 13 using 2d6+1.  eng check.

woohhooo

  Kaengarr joined Khea for the power plant inspection, offering very few words unless directly asked but somehow always there to cheerfully present her with just the tool, schematic, or helping hand that she needed at any given moment. If this particular combination of roles was unusual by Aslan standards it nevertheless made for much lighter work.

 
  Kaengarr's assistance provides Khea with a +1 DM.
 

Darrel already knew how the Maneuver Drive supposedly worked, but he was interested in just how it did that. The fact that the ship could get twice as much thrust from a system was mind-blowing.

It uses some sort of gravitic capacitance... each engine loads the capacitor which is then released in micro-second bursts. By alternating these bursts, neither engine is actually being used at full capacity continually.

He can find no schematic in the computer that shows just how this is done, but he does learn that the two M-drives can be used normally at half-power so that they function as M-1.5 drives. Or just one engine can be used at a time.

He can't say with certainty that this is Imperial design, but it is certainly advanced technology (TL14). He's also pretty sure that the engines aren't more than 20 years old.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walter already knew one of the 'secrets' of the Jump Drive, namely that it was more efficient. It actually required less energy than a normal system. Unfortunately, the way it was able to do that was buried within the device. Short of dismantling it completely, he has no way to know how it works.

He does discover that there is no schematic for it in the computer, only for how it is installed. When he runs a standard diagnostic on the system, however, he does discover that the lanthanum grid on the hull has a denser placement and a redundancy factor. What that means is that the ship can still jump with 20% of the grid disabled as damaged systems can be bypassed.

The design appears to be Imperial, and the parts that he can see are clearly advanced technology (TL 14).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Khea and Kaengarr tackle the Power Plant. It appears to be in working order, had its last purge just under 60 days ago. The design is Imperial, but something that was manufactured within the last 10 years. It's 10% more compact, and actually has a 12% reserve!

This reserve doesn't show up on the ship's displays until the main level drops to 1%. It isn't normally displayed in engineering either, but she notices the 'secret' slide bar on the monitor because it is labeled in Throk.

Sir Walter headed back to meet the others after inspecting the jump drives. "Not being a military man, I am impressed by the redundant systems that they have to reroute power to the lanthanum grid. More so as the original SDB was not designed to jump in the first place. The systems allow for up to a fifth of the grid to be damaged and still be able to make the transit to jump." he said

"While the others finish inspecting the ship and take it for a test, I need to skip my time at the stick to follow up on leads for cargo. If my calculations are correct, we will have a full 135 tons of cargo to take to Outpost and I will be spending a little over 8 megacredits for the load." he said to the Count.

Count Cromwell finishes his inspection and briefs the crew

"Those engines are amazing. I've never seen or heard anything like them. Someone has gone through alot of time, effort and credits to upgrade this ship."

Wiping his dirty hands on a fancy monogrammed handkerchief, he chuckles "If my tailor saw this he would have a fit. How about we do a thorough walkthrough of the ship, checking all the nooks and crannies, making sure there's no unpleasant surprises before we're spacebound. After that, we head to the bridge, assign duty positions, everyone checks out their individual stations and let's get this baby up in the air."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:14, Sat 30 Jan 2016.

The more she learns about the ship the more agitated Khea gets.
I do not like this at all. This ship is full of separatly refitted machinery with unknown functions. And no one can say how they will work together. And unless we take this ship apart we will never know if we have discovered everything on it.

And the there is the question who would put such advanced technology on a 100 year old ship and then use it for intra system asteroid mining.
So before we continue let me take some precautions..

Khea leaves the others in the engineering room to get and done her flack vest, just in case there are any more suprises hidden in the ship.

When joining the others again she continies Someone should also check the computer thoroughly for any hidden or unknown functions.

  "It's still not well-armed enough for my liking, but it's solid otherwise. What concerns me, what with the disdain for passengers, is what I'm going to do with myself," Kaengarr grumbled to Darrel as he folded his arms and scowled. "It's bruising enough to be chopped liver on the bridge, but even after that, 'second-rate gunner' seems to be all I'm thought good for!"

  Kaengarr's delivery was ever so slightly theatrical, implying that he wasn't actually angry about the situation. Still, the suggestions surrounding assignments that had been bandied about earlier would effectively leave him with the unofficial title of 'Chief Thumb-Twiddler' on a day-to-day basis, and he knew that restlessness would set in very quickly under those conditions. There had to be some meaningful contribution that he could make...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Sat 30 Jan 2016.

Pablo, while the others were checking engineering, had gone to the weapon turrets, and checked them out in every way he could without taking the turrets live, since spaceports often took a dim view of turrets going active while docked. While the ship, by his standards, was grossly under-armed for its size, he wanted to make sure that what it had was ready. The final tests would have to wait till they were out in clean space.

13:31, Today: Pablo Esteban Ryzov rolled 8 using 2d6+4.  Preliminary turret checks.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 11):

Looking over the rough draft of the initial crew suggestions

Kaengarr's comments brings a smile to Darrel's face, "Well, I suppose you could arm-wrestle Pablo for the title, or we could just do away with a chief's title and say Turret-1 gunner and Turret-2 gunner?"

The Count begins an inventory of the medical bay.
"Kaengarr, talking about liver, I need to bone up on my Vargr internal anatomy, that should keep you busy."

  "That's a start! It doesn't help when we're not shooting at things, though." Upon Darrel's further suggestion he paused to peer at the medic-designate through narrowed eyes and muttered, "Liver, bone, anatomy... you want to dissect me now, is that it?" and continued in that vein by throwing up his hands in mock-exasperation. "Fine. You can poke and prod for the benefit of science, but no bits to be added, removed, or modified in any way!"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:38, Sat 30 Jan 2016.

Darrel updates the positions' titles, "Ok, let's hope all our problems are as easily solved."

Picking up something that looks like an enema delivery instrument, "No, not right now, later, but of course you'll have to have a clean system first. You know, like trying to find cracks in a full ballast tank inner walls." Squeezes the instrument like a bellows.

  An evil grin slowly worked its way across Kaengarr's face. "Just remember: I get to poke and prod in equal measure to find out how you're put together inside. And unlike you, I'm not skilled with these things yet." One hand swept toward a rack of unpleasant looking medical equipment that would not have seemed out of place in a mad doctor's laboratory... though it probably had legitimate uses as well.

Coming back and hearing the others chatting Khea hisses Focus! We are far from done. We still need to check the life support, the computer system and comb the ship for any hidden devices. I also want to check that device for retaining the atmosphere.

The Count looks at Khea, then Kaengarr and back again...pointing, "He started it...smiles, "Ok, you're right, just trying to lighten up the ship with some fengshui, you know my medical humour usually keeps them in stitches, hahaha. I'll go check out the computer."

Looks for Valeska, "Since you've been here, can you help me out with the computer?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Sat 30 Jan 2016.

  Kaengarr gamely deferred to Khea's jittery insistence, though in this case he had a suggestion to make after Darrel volunteered for computer duty. "We do have an admitted secret agent in our ranks, though I don't know whether that makes them the best or the worst to have search for hidden devices."

 
  Kaengarr will act as Khea's assistant again.
 
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Sat 30 Jan 2016.

Khea leads KaengarrRuzokh to the life support machinery. She quite likes having a male to order around. "With all that unexplained high tech equipment on board I am not all that surprised that there was an Agent on board as well. We definately have to ask her which clan she is from.

22:19, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 11 using 2d6+2.  Inspecting life support, Edu + Help.

  Kaengarr once again made a point of having something ready when Khea needed it. He'd spent the first years of his professional career doing just that sort of thing as an aide to his then-pack leader. That had been in a business environment, but he'd made good use of the knack in other contexts ever since, including technical ones such as this.

  "We might not get an answer out of her. We might get a false one, too. It's strange to even admit to it, but everything related to this ship has been." A chuckle rumbled out from his throat. "Though we could take that to mean it's perfectly suited to the lot of us!"

  "It's making you nervous, isn't it? The unknowns around the ship?" Kaengarr angled his ears and tilted his head to one side as he asked the question, signalling equal parts curiosity and concern, though even so he didn't miss a beat when it came to passing tools and presenting diagrams.

Not wanting to elaborate what happened on her previous ship just yet Khea simply answered Things you don't know about tend to cause even more trouble when things get hectic.. She puts down her tools and looks Kaengarrs eyes What also concerns me is how much money several clans are putting into this century old ship, first by upgrading it with some of the newest technology you can buy and then CeruleanneBlue sending us to save it with a ship containing technology which officially doesn't exist only to sell this ship very cheaply to us.
Haven spoken herself into rage Khea turns back to the life support system and continues working to calm her down.

  "I was surprised by the one-hour jump, just like you." Well, except for the fact that Khea had appeared far more panicky at the time, but Kaengarr wasn't about to highlight that detail. "And there's no good reason for the repair drones to cost that much. The ship otherwise? It isn't as strange as it first seemed. Military interest and a secret agent, considering the iridium and its likely buyer... The systems are high-end, but it's ex-military and they're nothing compared to the scout's jump drive... It's old, but it's still solid..." There was a longer pause there. "In the Extents, old and used isn't held against the way it is in most other places. Neither is mismatched; some bits in my armor are older than I am, but they're still perfectly good. Ugly and suspicious or pragmatic and efficient? Some will sneer and some have sneered, but I'm still alive and they can't all say that."

  "I don't mean that we shouldn't be careful, but I don't see the ship itself as a danger. It's who else might have or grow eyes for it that concerns me."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:06, Sun 31 Jan 2016.

He actually disliked being called Gregory, and just Greg was worse, but while Gory had its appeal, he knew it wouldn't play well with other folks. He'd contemplated changing his name on numerous occasions, but it has just never seemed to be the right time. Then there was selecting a new name. He wasn't OCD enough to make list after list after list of possibilities, but he ran some through his head now and then.

He also couldn't decide if he wanted to change his surname. This was further complicated by the fact that he preferred to just be called 'Jones'. The verdict was still out on whether he could stand to be called Jonesy; it just hadn't come up... yet.

He supposed a decent nickname would probably suffice, but again, can you give yourself a nickname? Wasn't that a bit pretentious?

He'd tossed his 'recently acquired' two ship shares into the pot... as sort of buy-in for the Long Shot. It was a big ship, and, according to the others, it held a lot of secrets.... well, maybe just mysteries. Everyone seemed to have a preconceived notion of what such a ship should be, and therefore concluded that THIS wasn't it.

On the other hand, he knew a few things that the others didn't, and viewed the ship in that context. He wasn't quite sure how much the Count actually knew; they needed to have a conversation at some point.

For now, Jones was content to sit at Sensors on the bridge while the others ran through their inspections. He could just as easily have covered Comms or Computer, and he made a passable effort at Steward.

On planet, Sensors were problematic. It was downright rude if not outright spying to use sensors on the surrounding ships and starport. Still, he flicked the sensors on in passive mode, and began fiddling with the settings.

05:59, Today: Gregory Jones rolled 12 using 2d6+3 ((4,5)).

He'd already heard the others comment about high tech gear on the ship, and the sensors seemed to confirm that. But what other capabilities did it have?

He was still fiddling with them when the Count arrived on the bridge, along with Valeska. Her bombshell statement earlier had made him rethink his own position. But then he realized how canny she'd been by revealing her 'secret'.

"Good day, Sir," he said. "Everything check out below?"

OOC:I'll post as if Valeska is present, if not, just disregard that part.

"Hello Gregory, honestly yes and no. I know what the M-drives can do, I just don't fully understand the machinery behind how they do it. The more I know, the less I know, you know what I mean?"

Heads over to the computer station and begins the mainframe, data files and anything else of interest.
Darrel Cromwell rolled 13 using 2d6+5.  computer check, taking extra time for + mod.

"Valeska, is there anything special we should know about the computer, other than the interesting security system?"

As he's working, he glances towards Gregory, "How's the sensors looking? I know the ship is a converted SDB, but, normally, I think alot of the systems would have been torn out, sold and replaced by "civilian" models...Like I said, more questions and few answers."

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 23):

Not taking the eyes off from her work Khea replies I do not know how it works with your people but I do not see the point in upgrading an old ship with rather new and exotic tech and then use it for intra system mining.

  "Is it new and exotic, or just to us? These things might all be old and familiar where they came from. Even a basic launch is new and exotic to a world that's never known space flight," Kaengarr shrugged. "If there are military scouts that can make hour-long microjumps, we might be looking at 'upgrades' they'd expect to see in a museum."

Realizing it was going to take longer that he anticipated to check out the computers, and as much as he wanted to check them out himself Darrel called over the comms, "If someone has a free set of hands not checking their stations, please head down to the repair drone bay and see if you can see anything special about them."

"I can't think of anything in particular that is unusual about the system. I wasn't intricately knowledgeable about the Engineering section. I just knew about the backdoor security measure. In case of pirates."

Once on board the Long Shot, Sharik went through the various bridge systems to familiarize herself.  With Samantha at the flight controls and Gregory putting the internal and external sensors to the test, the diminutive dilettante concentrated on the communications suite, the general avionics array, and the astrogation systems.  She took her time, knowing that systems she was checking were not on the critical path for maneuvering.  Shar started with reviewing the schematics while running the on-board diagnostics and then engaging various simple test and calculations that she was familiar with.

As she worked, the thin dame from Gaargir quietly hummed an ancient Solomani six-part fugue.  The interweaving threads of the harmonies seemed to mesh well with the calculations she was running.  At least, that was the theory.

  00:49, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 10 using 2d6+3.  Engineer (electronics)/Edu Check (General Avionics w/ Time).
  00:50, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 8 using 2d6+5.  Astrogation/Edu Check:   Diagnostics w/Time.
  00:51, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 11 using 2d6+3.  Comms/Edu Check: Diagnostics w/Time.

Count Cromwell finishes up his computer checks, thanking Gregory and Valeska for their help on the bridge.

Upon seeing Sharik enter the bridge, "Hey Sharik, what do you think of the ship so far, not too shabby for an 100 year old refurbished SDB?"

Darrel own question made him think about something Casey had said, Darrel calls up previous refit logs for the Long Shot.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:48, Mon 01 Feb 2016.

Sam was concerned. The ship had hidden secrets, which was ok. But what happened if one of them broke in the middle of nowhere - could it be fixed enough to keep moving? Or if they only discovered a secret that stopped them doing what they needed to when they needed to do it?

On the bridge she took her time working through a preflight at slow speed, and carefully checked each step, rather than the more cursory glance given to confirm what was suspected in a a usual preflight. She wanted to make sure the dials and readouts actually said what they should, and didn't have something else on them that might indicate another surprise. That the controls didn't have an extra button that she wasn't sure of. They had time, and whilst she wanted to fly this, she was more interested in trying to find out its secrets

ooc

14:42, Today: Samantha Kilgore rolled 14 using 2d6+5 ((6,3)).
Sam is going VERY slow -  2 increments slower - which I am guessing would take a Preflight from the 10 - 60 minutes time range up to about a 4 hour one?

Comms to Sir Zeller: "Walter I'm having a package dropped off with the cargo, here's the inventory list. Please make sure it gets to the Ship's Locker, Thank You."

Densitometer, Compact (TL 13): A handheld version of the standard densitometer, giving slightly better resolution. Wt 1.5 kg, Cr.28,000.

Forensic Sweeper (TL 13): This complicated handheld device is a multi-medium scanner which looks for radiation residue, ballistic particles, chemical traces and bio-organic remains all at once. Within an hour of sweeping a 20 square metre area with the handheld wand and succeeding in an Investigate skill check, the device will know all of the following pieces of information. Weighs 2 kg, Cr. 7,500.

• The types of weapons fired in past 36 hours.
• The known species of any beings passing through the area in the past 12 hours.
• The known species of anyone injured in the area during the past 48 hours.
• If any chemicals (drugs, poisons and so on) were in use during the past 12 hours.

Bug Detector, Advanced (TL 13): A handheld scanning device designed to detect electronic listening devices. The standard bug detector can only be used to scan for bugs but for Cr. 7,500 a detector/jammer is available. This unit has two more settings: it can overload and destroy bugs within range (a few metres) or simply jam their output for a time, leaving them functional after the jammer
is switched off . The advanced detector only detect, jam or destroy bugs up to TL 13. Cr. 1,000.

Bioscanner (TL 13): The bioscanner is a small handheld unit which ‘sniffs’ for organic molecules and tests chemical samples, rapidly analysing the make-up of whatever it is focussed on. It can be used to detect poisons or bacteria, analyse organic matter, search for life signs and classify unfamiliar organisms. Analysing a sample will normally take 1-6 minutes. Wt 3.5 kg, Cr. 350,000.

Electromagnetic Probe (TL 10): This handy device detects the electromagnetic emissions of technological devices and can be used as a diagnostic tool when examining equipment (+1 DM to work out what is wrong with it) or when searching for hidden bugs or devices. Cr. 1,000. The Sensors or Investigation skills can be used to sweep a room for bugs.

General Comms:"Picked up some gear, it'll be here when we come to pick-up the cargo, here's the list (see above). Thinking about things that might help us check out our ship, I contacted one of the better ship inspectors I had hired, he had some high-tech gear that couldn't be found on-planet that he had used in his inspections so I made a deal."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Tue 02 Feb 2016.

Pablo finds the weapons turrets to be in good condition, although he can't find any record of them having been serviced since the initial refit. They aren't a requirement for ship inspections.

He does find that there is a Fire Control-2 program in the computer, both the main computer and the auxiliary weapons computer. There is also a bio-interface program that lets fire control to work a human gunner. (Roll for both and take the better result)

The simulation program has a slight delay between going active and releasing fire control. It's only 2 seconds, but he can't quite figure out why there's a delay. It's probably just a glitch in the program... some safety feature... give you a moment to rethink blowing another ship out of the ether... and killing everyone on board.

As soon as Darrel steps into the Med-Bay, he feels like he's struck it rich. There are actually 2 autodocs in there.

On second thought, maybe it's not so great after all. It's clear even superficially that they are old. He guesses they are TL 14, but from a 100 years ago. The manufacturer is Sterilon Corporation; they are a reputable company, noted mostly in the Spinward Marches.

The docs have a few dents and dings, scratches and scuffs, and there are areas that have been mended or replaced.

Running the diagnostics on them shows that they are functioning at 95%... the less-than-perfect rating is due to several drugs needing restocked, or replaced due to expiration.

There are programs for every known species... and apparently a few 'unknown' ones--ones that Darrel has never heard of... though one of them, the Skara, were in one of Darrel's movies. And here he thought they'd just been made up by the writers and make-up people!


The rest of the Med-Bay could stand to get restocked, too.

Not surprisingly, Life Support equipment is functioning at 101%. Spending most of the time in the asteroid belt, keeping the life support working would have been a high priority. Some of it is old, but some of it has clearly been replaced over the years as the old equipment broke down.

This normally doesn't get done in modern ships because they run to tight specs, but in the older ships, there was often a 'margin of error' allowed. This is obviously an older ship, built over 100 years ago, so there's a 20% margin of error in the specifications. In other words, it can handle 20% more people than it is rated for, or last 20% longer.

Khea is able to determine that the life support can be adjusted to a number of different species and living conditions, from desert to arctic. The life support is also zoned throughout the ship so that most staterooms can be set for specific conditions.

Jones can't actually use the active sensors but the passive sensors are another matter. He finds that they are quite excellent. In fact, as he puts them through their paces, he realizes that they aren't exactly what they are supposed to be. They are listed on the ship specs as 'Advanced Sensors'; in reality, they are Very Advanced Sensors.

That's not really surprising considering the ship had once been a System Defense Boat. It would have needed those kinds of sensors to detect other ships.

Alas, there is no record of them at that rating. It's probable that they are original to the ship, but for some reason they are not listed on the ship's specs as that.

Sharik finds the same thing that Jones did--very advanced comms. What that means is that they are quite powerful and can punch through any lesser jamming. They are also capable of sophisticated jamming.

It is capable of handling up to 1,000 separate and discrete channels. It is also capable of sophisticated frequency scanning.

It is capable of communication across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.


Astrogation is normal, but she finds that it is very fast, and has a huge database. Just as a lark, she punches in distant coordinates and actually gets a jump solution... for jump-5,000!

Darrel, assisted by Valeska, takes a stab at inspecting it, analyzing it, and investigating it.

Valeska can tell him about the 'failsafe' program. As long as the program is not running, it can be disabled, recoded, or deleted. The command code can be reset, and the time increment can be changed.

He finds that there is an extensive selection of games and entertainment files. In fact, he finds that all of his movies are in the database. These are all in a 'library computer' that isn't listed on the ship's specs.

The one thing that he finds that bothers him is that there does not appear to be as much memory available as there should be. It seems to be functioning only as a Model 4.

ooc

Anything for Sam?

<<"Copy that.">> Sir Walter said over the comms. <<"It will be waiting to be loaded along with the cargo I have acquired. Might want to have someone land the launch along side as I have been able to fill every space that we are aware of full of cargo.">> he said

With most of the systems being inspected and taken care off only the general state of the electronics remain, apart of course the general state of the hull and structure. Sadly electronics are not Kheas strong point yet with the male following her she can't show any signs of weakness.
Thats why she takes her time with inspecting them, hoping that he will assume the extra time taken is because of exhaustion even though she, thanks to the longer wake-sleep cycle compared to her companions, wasn't feeling much of yet.

OOC: 22:51, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 7 using 2d6+2.  Inspecting Electronics (Wiring, etc.) +1 Edu +1 Time.  Another +1 (and therefor an 8) if Kaengarr helps again

  Khea's ruse was doomed to be unsuccessful because Kaengarr was perfectly aware of Aslan sleep patterns, both academically and from the fact that it had come up with Khea herself in the last few days. He didn't comment on the time taken though, interpreting it as a matter of diligence rather than fatigue, and if Khea inadvertently let slip that she wasn't as familiar with this part of the ship at some point... well, what of it? The systems were even less familiar to him!

  Secure in their mutual misunderstanding, thus did the pair continue to generate material for Darrel's next xeno-relations sitcom.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Wed 03 Feb 2016.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 43):

OOC:

Y'mean the vidshow "Reigning Cats and Dogs" starring Darrel Cromwell?  That's my favorite show!

As Sam went through the pre-flight check, she finds a couple of unusual things.

The first thing was that the flight controls can be set for simulation mode. That's almost never done on a ship. Sims are usually in controlled facilities.

The second thing that she finds is that the displays are of very high quality. She can have displays for every other system on the ship, all up on screens at the same time. These are only readouts; no visuals. For the size of the ship, it means she could operate all stations.

In addition, she can move the flight controls to any other station or screen on the bridge. This tends to be SOP for military ships, but is seldom available on civilian ships, and certainly not to this degree.

Thirdly, when it comes to the maneuver drives, she finds that she has to specify which configuration she wishes to use: 2 x M-1.5, 1 x M-3, or 2 x M-3. She was half-expecting this to show up, but didn't realize it'd be so blatant. But then she spots the 'minimize' button on the screen. When she clicks on that, the choice screen disappears and just shows the two engines. The program is designed to use whichever engine wasn't used the last time.

Khea then goes through the ship and examines all the circuitry that she can find. She discovers two significant features: redundancy and modularity.

The redundancy has both hardwire and ODN circuitry, usually run in parallel.

The majority of all circuitry is modular. Thus, if there is damage to a particular section, it can be repaired fairly easily simply by replacing the damaged module.

"I'll do it!" Vonon responds via the nearest intercom panel.

Vonon then heads for the lift and the lower deck.  As the doors close, Vonon suddenly barks a short laugh.

"What the frack do I know about drones?" he chortles, as the doors close on him.

Once down on the lower deck, Vonon turns down the companionway and heads forward, passing the security cargo bays and the mining lab -- actually pausing in front of the door to the lab and taking out his personal comm.

"Note to me. Next time we have a group meeting, ask if anyone is a trained geologist. The mining lab is no good to us if nobody can run it. Maybe we need to acquire a geologist. Or a 'bot.  Hurr-hurr.  Or a clue!"

Continuing forward, Vonon enters the secondary cargo bay and makes his way over to the starboard side wall, and the maintenance hatches for the repair droids.  After a few moments of study, he figures out how to open one of the hatches and presses the appropriate button.

Revealed is the repair drone.

"Yup. That's a drone, alright." Vonon says to himself, then reaches out with a foot and taps the side of the drone with a toe.

"Hey! Drone! Do you respond top verbal commands, or are you as dumb as you look?"

OOC:I'm assuming that everyone is reporting the information they have found about each system to each other.




Comms:"We've got a situation with the computer, everyone with computer skills please meet at the comp station."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Thu 04 Feb 2016.

Back at Darrel with Comms "by the sounds of things, we have a situation regarding every system on this ship. So we could also do with all the pilots up here as well. But the computers as good a place to start as any. On my way " Sam gets up from the Pilots seat, and looks at the station shaking her head slightly.

She heads down to meet Darrel

ooc
Sam has Computer 0 for what its worth

Fearing that they have already broken something Khea also rushes to the bridge despite not having any knowledge about the inner workings of computers.

  A 'situation'? That was unhelpfully ambiguous by Kaengarr's reckoning, but on seeing Khea rush ahead in a panic, and knowing that she and Darrel had been working together for some time, he adjusted his assessment accordingly and made tracks for the bridge.

Fully aware that his knowledge of computers ended at the use and abuse of targeting programs, Pablo slid out of the turret he'd been playing in, and made his way to the bridge, and silently moved towards the computer spaces, already mentally reviewing where he'd put a plasma grenade to slag the damn thing if it was going to be uncooperative.

Computer reboot, Marine style.

Darrel waits until the computer folks show up...



"The 'library computer' makes me wonder,  but, it's the missing memory that makes me nervous...perhaps it's running a program that I can't find, or some other explanation? Needless to say, flying around in a ship with a computer that isn't operating at 100% isn't going to happen. So, let's all pool our brains and figure it out."

  "Is it still there physically?" Kaengarr wondered aloud at Darrel's description of it being 'missing'. Still, Kaengarr knew that he wasn't the one best suited to diagnosing computer problems - if anyone held that title, it was Walter - so he stood ready as before to produce whatever the would-be technicians might need.

  Kaengarr's assistance adds +1 to the result of... well, whomever's doing the in-depth work on the system!
This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

"Library computers are often installed on civilian craft," Jones offers. "It's so the main computer doesn't get overly taxed by too many passengers running entertainment programs at the same time. On a military ship, the main computer takes precedence, so the crew expects to have their entertainment interrupted when necessary. You can't really do that on a civilian craft--it's 'bad for business'."

19:06, Today: Gregory Jones rolled 9 using 2d6+4 ((4,1)). Computer check + Int. Poor roll, but success any way... maybe.


"How about you, Valeska? You any good with computers?"

"Well," Sharik noted idly, after a moment in answering Darrel's query about her opinion, "this ol' girl definitely has her secrets."  Then she added with a slightly enigmatic smile, "It seems to me that she has a bit of a multiple personality disorder..."  But then the diminutive dilettante could likely have said that about herself as well.

"You'll likely want to take a look at this transponder data when you get a chance." she noted off-hand, "though it can likely wait until we sort out the core."

Sharik watched the group gather, but as she was already present, she hardly felt the need to get up.  Or to interject herself immediately.

She usually let her intelligent agent do most of the heavy lifting when it came to the software side of things.  However, when the question of physical memory came up, Shar looked thoughtful for a moment before chiming in, "I can probably try to trace the leads on the actually physical memory...."  She started to pull up schematics for reference - pushing them to the dataglove and then started to open a couple of the access panels to get a better view of the central core and its layout to see if they matched what was on the schematics.

Though she worked efficiently, Sharik took her time, as everything was new to her and she did not want to damage anything, if at all possible.

OOC:  Well, here goes nothing.  Let's see what we can see...

  00:57, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 16 using 2d6+4.  Engineer (electronics)/Int Check (Schematics and Memory Layout) + Time.

Sam held back, when it came to computing she had some basic skills but nothing to in depth. She did listen in tho, it might help her understand the ship better

ooc

Greg has best Computer skill, so perhaps he should take the lead?

Khea could only helplessly stand aside while the others were working on the computer. Luckily some of them seemed to be competent in what they are doing so there was no immediate danger of the ship exploding.

There wasn't much more that Jones could tell everyone other than the Count already had. The so-called 'missing' memory was hidden behind a partition. That much he can tell. However, he can't figure out exactly how the partition was created. Nor can he get around it.


Sharik starts trying to trace the physical circuits, and immediately discovers a problem: there are far more circuits than the schematics show. She finds a dozen extra circuits leading out of the main computer.

She can only trace them so far before they disappear into a bulkhead.

Given all the strange, and wonderful things they have discovered about the ship,Count Cromwell put aside any preconceived notions about how a ships' system is or isn't supposed to function.

"Let's check out the auxiliary bridge and the computer there, maybe there's a connection."
Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 13 using 2d6+5.  aux comp check +time, assistance.

As he's going about his task, just in case, he sends a comm to Casey, "We've run in to a mystery concerning the computer system (explains the findings)"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Mon 08 Feb 2016.

There doesn't seem to be anything special about the Auxiliary Bridge or the computer. The computer is smaller; it's not meant for full ship operations. It basically was the bridge controls for the jump shuttle, and no one bothered to pull it out when the two ships were fused together.


Casey's response is that she knew about the partition, but was told that it had been set up to block off a damaged section of the computer. She'd never bothered trying to get the computer fixed because she had other expenses with a higher priority. And, since she was only doing in-system rock-hopping, she didn't feel she needed the rest of the computer.

  "Don't like this," Kaengarr growled, bristling and staring hard at the offending electronics as if he had a mind to start taking them apart on the spot, though he didn't actually make a move to do so. "Power plants and engines aren't dangerous for being different, but hidden computer systems mean we don't control the ship."

  He worked to damp down his agitation before continuing. "Maybe it's just set-aside for the other hardware. Maybe it really was damaged. But we need to know."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:28, Mon 08 Feb 2016.

OOC: Keep in mind, my math might be off and my logic flawed, but, this is how Count Cromwell thinks...Note; I apologize to the gm if it seems I'm trying to get "behind the Oz curtain",

Based on what they have so far discovered, including Casey statements....

Darrel sits in front of the computer, tapping his fingers slowly on the counter, practicing something his father had mentioned, his anger rises but, "People are going to depend on you, if you start acting simple minded, you can be assured that people will assume you are simple." A deep breath, exhale.




(head in hands rubbing his forehead)"Damn it, The woman(optionally say captain) had the ship for 19+ years and allowed a major refit without taking this into account. I'm just not getting it. Frak.

Flips options in his head, "Flight test is cancelled until the computer problem is resolved.

Thinks about the different ways to fix the problem, resolving to try to do it internally, and only if necessary to call for outside help.

"1. We can wait another day for the densometer and other equipment (and all cargo), and use it ourselves which might give a better idea of what we are dealing with."

"2. We hire the best of the best, costly, time-consuming and we open our closets. But, probably effective."

"3. Or something I'm not thinking of? Any ideas, speak up!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

"Two things come to mind. First, get this thing on the deck, and then sell it to the first sucker you can find, or piece it out and sell off all this tech we can barely understand,  and then book passage to Outpost and buy a ship we at least can comprehend. Or, get on the deck, burn this computer out with fire, rip it all out, down to the hull struts, and put it back together again piece by piece, making darn sure we understand what we are installing."  Pablo said this from the computer spaces, where he still was, though he'd abandoned the plasma grenade plan once people had come through tracing hardware.

  "'Kill it with fire,' Pablo? Spoken like a true marine." The toothy grin came through clearly even though Kaengarr was out of Pablo's sight.

  His tone turned both firm and serious then, and each point was emphasized by a small cut of the air with one hand as he addressed the crowd gathered on the bridge. "We're looking into this ourselves, thoroughly, with all the tools we now have or soon will. With our recent contacts we can find someone discreet to get us answers if we're still not sure. Cost doesn't matter with our bank accounts right now, and we're not so desperate to get out of here that we can't wait a few more days, especially when it's between that and flying away in a ship we can't trust!"

  "Whoever isn't comfortable pulling the computer apart - most of us, I suspect - can use the time to get the rest of the ship into shape and deal with any business we still have planetside. If worst comes to worst, we'll pool our remaining credits and replace the computer entirely since we were planning some other refits anyway."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 65):

"Look, there is no rush, we were applying a quick timeframe to ourselves without basis, only what we might want to do. Let's do this right, we're not running from anything. In the morning, there will be some instruments that might help us solve the problem. "

Glancing towards Pablo (and Kaen), "How about we give some time to non-fire solutions, then, if they don't work, ok, we'll talk about it."

  Had something been lost in the translation? That wasn't common with his Anglic...

  "I was talking about the instruments, Darrel!" Kaengarr had to work at not sounding exasperated, and it wasn't easy. His next few words overcompensated for that, coming with a slow precision that went far beyond even his usual and inadvertently close to a caricature of a toddler's educational show. "We. Inspect. It. Ourselves. At. Length. With. The. Fancy. Tools. Then. Call. In. An. Expert. If. Need. Be!"

  The pace picked up, and if the prior tone might have been taken as patronizing, the new and self-consciously uncertain one cleared up any potential misunderstanding. "Nnh. Did I translate the meaning this time?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

"Right...no plasma grenades till ordered. Duly noted."

Pablo smiled at Darrel, walking over and clapping him on the shoulder. "Don''t worry, Sarge. This group has a hell of a lot of brain wattage. Hell, even Vonon ain't all that dumb, for an officer. It'll work out."

Checking in with the ship, Walter listened to the tale of the search. <<"Since there is a backup computer that can handle the short hop to Outpost, turn the main one off for the time being.">> he suggested. <<"We can have them look over the computer there since they have a better facility to handle starships and since it is a SDB, the techs should be able to isolate the problem easier since a lot of them are retired military. For all we know the modification could have been done at Outpost. If not, we can check the maintenance records to find out where it was done.">>

OOC:As long at the computer does not say "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that" I think we need to get rolling down the road.

  Walter's suggestion prompted more from Kaengarr. << "Good idea. Two things: are they linked, and can we shut off the hidden main parts?" >> It wouldn't do much good if those actually kept running on their own... << "Good answers to both and we shut it down and inspect along the way." >>


  Or "Look at you, hacker..."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

<<"Well, it has been a while since I played with a ships computer but if I remember correctly, backup computers tended to be isolated so that if one gets damaged or hit by a virus, they both do not get taken out in the process. Shut them both down and then start up the backup. Run that one and see if it is working right.">> he suggested

22:18, Today: Walter Zeller rolled 9 using 2d6+2.  computers? .
This message was last edited by the player at 03:19, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

  "One way to know. Let's try it!"

  Unless, of course, someone objected. Someone usually did.

Sam pitched in. "We need to do this ourselves. Because we need to be able to sort this out when we're holed by an asteroid, losing air and a long way from any expert. The thing is, though, until the computer is fixed, we're not going to be able to do much of anything else, as most systems will rely on it being working I would expect. But that's not a problem, we're in no hurry, so lets take our time."

She looked at Walter and smiled " so basically, what your saying is turn it off and turn it on again, and see if that works. Did you ever work in IT support?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:16, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

"Here's the problem, it's all about what the computer's ratings, the main computer (Model6 bisfib/R30+5) is operating at a rating of 20. The back up computer (Model 2bisfib/R10+5) has a max rating of 15. That means, Jump Control/3 (15) program basically uses all the ships computing power...which may or may not be important, but, if something happens while we are getting ready to jump, our ability to fight/evade is greatly reduced."

  "If we're caught in an attack we can abort the jump and switch to battle programs. We can also power up the main computer if it's an emergency; better to chance that if we're in danger of being dusted," Kaengarr shrugged. "But this is why I'd rather deal with it here."

"Alright, we finish up the ship inspections, and any other business. In the morning, after a good night's rest and with our new equipment, we try to tackle the computer problem. If we can't, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, how's that sound?"

  "Good to me," Kaengarr nodded.

Although frustrated with the computer problem, it's obvious, Count Cromwell was very keen on checking out the repair drones.

Drone bay, an individual drone, connects to system, taking time...is there anything special about these drones?

Darrel Cromwell rolled 12 using 2d6+5.  comp check, drones..time+.

Khea only mutters a relived "agreed" after having to listen how the grunts intend to fix sensitive equipment. Luckily they could be persuaded to do otherwise without her intervention.

With that issue more or less resolved for now Khea goes back and starts inspecting the general hull, but finishes her work early (for her) so she can try to get more sleep so that she is awake again when they start working on the computer tomorrow in case the Vargr get funny ideas again.

  Kaengarr, having already clarified once that he did not intend for them to destroy the thing by ripping it to pieces, only to pull it apart in the sense of examining its components - some hidden behind panels and bulkheads that they really WOULD have to pull apart - did not realize that he might need to clarify himself again to Khea. Since he did not intend what she feared, no harm was ultimately done, and once again material wrote itself for Darrel's next comedy.

  He did continue to assist Khea during the inspections though, and when she took her leave for the afternoon - Aslan sleep cycles, Kaengarr reasoned - he too decided to turn in. With his much shorter periods of somnolence it would give him a chance to examine some of the systems in the middle of the night when there weren't so many distractions, then be asleep and awake again before the new tools arrived.

 
  Khea would probably be terrified at the thought of what she thinks is a wrecking ball in waiting poking around those systems unsupervised, but... well, what she doesn't know won't give her a heart attack!
 
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

Sam agrees to Darrells plan, and goes back to the bridge.

She will try investigate the bridge controls a bit more, trying to get a better handle on the piloting stations

Vonon looked over the repair drones. They looked like repair drones. They were lightly armored; even he could tell that, but he couldn't see that justifying the ridiculous price tag.

They didn't respond to his voice commands, but then he remembered there was a drone control station... a rather big one. Maybe they had to be activated first.

He was still painting names on them when Darrel joined him.


Darrel's inspection turns up the same results. Lightly armored, but nothing that would explain the high price. They were a tad 'beat-up'--scratches and dents from a century of making repairs, but otherwise they were intact. A few of the tools look they might have been replaced over the years, but half of them were still original.

His final analysis is that there is no way they could sell them for the price they listed at. They'd be lucky to get half the book value for them considering how old they are. His concern then is that if they did sell them, that would reduce the value of the ship by the amount carried on the specs. There is no way they could justify that extra cost for just empty drone bays.


Khea set about examining the hull. As she'd expecting, there are numerous scratches, dents, patches and repairs... no more than what she'd expect from an asteroid miner that had been operational for 20 years.

What she does find peculiar, though, is the number of plates that the hull is made of. She's aware that in the early days of starship construction, the hulls were built using large metal plates that were then fused together. More modern designs tend to use the 'continuous pour' method so that the final hull (except where hatches and are meant to go) is one contiguous piece of metal.

The argument is still ongoing about the merits of each. Supposedly, the 'continuous pour' hull makes for a stronger overall hull, but the fused plates have tougher seems. The 'continuous pour' hull is harder to repair, and once it takes serious damage, it winds up turning into fused plate version anyway.

Still, this hull has far too many plates, of various sizes, to make it 'normal'. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them, but that's what gives her a clue to the reason and function. The plates might be designed to protect specific sections, such as life support, controls, etc. Also, this oddly-modular design would make replacing a damaged section easier, and it would serve to protect adjacent plates, since a plate would tend to absorb the damage and give rather than transfer it to other plates--much like the impact bumper on a vehicle.

Clearly this would be advantageous on a mining ship that most likely got struck by various space rocks. She wasn't quite so sure it was practical for an SDB, but it would help explain the repair drones--each one could work a separate section independently.

When Darrel finds Vonon, he is chuckling to himself and has used a large, indelible marker pen to carefully print names on the backs of the four drones -- "Akela", "Buck", "Diefenbaker", and "Raksha".

Sharik gave the thumbs up to Darrel's proposed plan of inspections running into the next day.  One more day on the ground wouldn't kill them (presumably) and would likely give them more piece of mind.

However, the diminutive operative continued to poke around the various access panels continuing her search.  Shar had always considered herself reasonably detail-oriented; and though she enjoyed herself, Sharik also considered herself to be dedicated and focused when necessary.

This seemed one of those times.  So, she kept on with her torch and her multimeter testing out the lines and connection and comparing them to the reported schematics.  The reticule of her DD/R allowed her the luxury of doing most of those comparisons in real time, her personal agent software overlaying her field of vision with the augmented data streams.  She compared lot numbers, looking to see what the approximate ages and vendors for various components might be.  All would be potential clues in unraveling just what might have been done to the Long Shot.

Seeing Vonon giving the drones 'names', Darrel chuckles, "Well, I hope you have 14 more ex-girlfriends."

He heads over to the drone control panel and activates it.

"Hurr-hurr! Maybe not so many, My Lord," Vonon responds, placing the final flourish on Raksha, "There were only a few dozen other Vargr families, back in Cassandra's Belt.  Not a large dating pool. But there are only these four repair drones -- the ones everyone was so excited about."

Vonon pauses and frowns, "At least, I think these are the repair drones. They are different in appearance than all those others, stored on the port side." Vonon points across the chamber, "And these aren't names of my old girlfriends, they are names from vidnovels I've watched."

Pablo, having done all he could with the gunnery side of things at the moment, spent his time moving around the ship, fetching, carrying, and doing whatever grunt work would let the people with mission critical skills use their time more efficiently.

It was actually sort of nice having something concrete to do that did not, at least on the face of it, involve shooting holes in his fellow sapients. And it gave him an excuse to poke his nose into the various compartments of the ship and see what was what.

After activating the repair drone console, Darrell comms to bridge, "Vonon and I are at the repair drones station, please activate their program."


Smiles, "Ohh, well, once you're rich and famous, I'm sure your chances of companionship will increase, for years I had to fight them off, of course this was before I became rich and famous."

Looking on the names, "Anything you see about these things that makes them special? I mean beyond the names."

The drones can be activated from the dedicated drone console (hands-on approach) or the bridge. Once they are activated, the programs are up and running.


As noted earlier, the repair drones are lightly armored, which is unusual, but not inconsistent with a warship, particularly an on-station one that couldn't jump out of the fire.

Other than that, they seem consistent with other repair drones, especially old ones. The program has been updated about 20 years ago to be consistent with modern repair techniques and a large mining ship.


Sharik has no problem finding identifying serial numbers on all the components she finds. And while those numbers tell her the manufacturer and manufacturing date, any trail leads back 100 years and into the Imperium. She hits stone walls about 40 years ago. Anything later than that is consistent with what they already know.

OOC: Just to summarize what we have discovered so far in our examination of the Long Shot.

1. The ship is capable of M-6. The drives themselves are TL-14 and are 20 years old.

2. J-drive is very fuel efficient, saving 18 tons of fuel. It can also jump, even if 20% damaged. (not sure how that figures game wise?) The drive itself is TL-14.

3. Powerplant is smaller than the normal requirement to match J-drive/M-drive. It's 10 years old.

quote:

Had its last purge just under 60 days ago. The design is Imperial, but something that was manufactured within the last 10 years. It's 10% more compact, and actually has a 12% reserve!  This reserve doesn't show up on the ship's displays until the main level drops to 1%. It isn't normally displayed in engineering either, but she notices the 'secret' slide bar on the monitor because it is labeled in Throk.

Not sure what that 12% means? And was any of previous crew Throk speakers?

4. Turrets has a bio-interface program that lets fire control to work with a human gunner. (Roll for both and take the better result)

5. Med-bay, 2 autodocs (Sterilon Corporation;Spinward Marches.)TL 14, age 100 years. 95% functionality due to replenishment. [There are programs for every known species and apparently a few 'unknown' ones--ones that Darrel has never heard of... though one of them, the Skara, were in one of Darrel's movies.]The Med-bay itself needs a general re-stock.

6. Life-support; can be adjusted to a number of different species and living conditions, from desert to arctic. The life support is also zoned throughout the ship so that most staterooms can be set for specific conditions.

7. Sensors: Passive, Very Advanced Sensors. Active, ???

8. Comms: Very advanced comms. What that means is that they are quite powerful and can punch through any lesser jamming. They are also capable of sophisticated jamming. It is capable of handling up to 1,000 separate and discrete channels. It is also capable of sophisticated frequency scanning. It is capable of communication across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

9. Astrogation; Very fast with a huge database. Up to jump-5,000! (This makes me wonder about studies of mis-jumps?)

10. Main Computer(Model 6bisfib/R30+5); Has a sophisticated 'failsafe' program. As long as the program is not running, it can be disabled, recoded, or deleted. The command code can be reset, and the time increment can be changed. Extensive selection of games and entertainment files. Plus!  Count Cromwell's movies are in the database. These are all in a 'library computer'.
NOTE:Currently operating at Model 4.

11. Pilot/bridge stations; Detailed, see link to a message in this game msg #45...not sure but I think it's like a smaller version of holographic command bridge?

12. Repair drones, normal lightly armored repair drones.


I know there are some future issues we face, but, did I miss anyone or something that is pertinent?

One small thing, there is an unusual, small delay in engaging targets with the turrets.

Active sensors are probably the same as the passive sensors.

Passive sensors are the 'silent running' type... they only record what impacts them.

Active sensors are sensitive electronic fields that extend the passive sensors out to a certain range. They also include energy emissions, such as radar and ladar--sends out an energy pulse and records the rebound/reflection.


The J-5000 is a theoretical program limit; clearly, though, it can't run an actual jump program for that as the parameters of the J-drive don't support it.


The bridge displays are capable of 'heads-up' configuration, but since there really aren't any windows, just a viewscreen, it's more efficient to have the display on a screen where you can tap at the controls.

I was wondering about that, but, it seemed more of a safety measure...however, since you mentioned it, this ship, and alot of it's current set-up is still oriented towards that "SDB-mentality"...It does make me ponder....Why would a warship have a pause in it's fire-control system?

BUT, then again, this is one of those mysteries that I am sure will take time to figure out....later.

  Given that it's a former SDB sold off to someone else the turret software may have 'safety protocols' to keep it from being used against its former owners and/or their allies.

  Is the failsafe program possibly what's using up the missing capacity? Even if it's not running, the memory could be reserved for that use (so someone can't work around it by running a bunch of other things first to prevent it from having room to load).
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Sun 21 Feb 2016.

Sharik arrives in the common area wiping some grease from her hands as she walks.  "That's not all." the diminutive socialite, who was once in two different Imperial services - if the rumors are true, stated flatly.  She tacked her comments onto the summary discussion that Darrel, Pablo, and Kaengarr had engaged in.

"I said it before and I'll say it again." she noted off-hand, "This ship has a multiple personality disorder."  Shar expanded upon that statement, "I just traced a whole bunch of lines in and around the bridge and beyond.  Scattered about, she has not one, not two transponders."  The auburn-haired, cosmopolitan socialite paused for effect, "Nope. She's got six, count 'em, six of them..."  She proceeded to rattle off the ident information that she'd been able to glean.

"What do you think she was supposed to be when she grew up?" the ex-corporate operative muttered semi-rhetorically.  And with that she made sure that her personal intellect agent was still spiraling out on the net on as exhaustive a search as time might allow to try and find any references to the other five identities - either the ship's or their captain's names...

---

OOC:  Couldn't come up with reasonable IC verbiage to the list the following:

• Star Gypsy, free trader, Captain Karak Zor
• Long Shot, heavy mining ship, Captain Casey Blackwood
• White Heart, system defense ship, Captain Mutt Talbek
• Widdershins, long range explorer, Captain Lucky Seven
• Scamp, far trader, Captain Rayne Phyre
• Starseeker, long distance voyageur, Captain Tequila Mockingbird

  21:23, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 9 using 2d6+4.  Computer/Int Check: Multiple Identities (Intellect/1, +2 Int, +extra time).

Sharik has no problem finding each of the other five 'identities' in the planetary database. All six identities are registered, each in a different system. However, she notices that no two ships have ever been to the same system.

The captains of record also apparently exist, though there is no visual identification for any of them... except, of course, Casey Blackwood. There is little data available on any of them, also except Blackwood.

  Kaengarr took a moment to process the list of names that Sharik had just given them and another to perplexedly wrestle with the words before he replied. "Those names don't sound right, especially the captains. Well, besides the one we just met." A pause, and then the words came slowly again. "I'm starting to wonder how much 'Casey Blackwood' didn't want to know about this ship. Do the others have full histories like the Long Shot to explain the ship's age? If they do, we can't trust any of them, Long Shot included."



  **



  By morning the galley and mess had been transformed and a buffet breakfast awaited those who were up and about at a reasonable hour. The victuals on offer, from the straightforward buttered toast to the Aslan-style slabs of spiced meat, represented the diversity of Imperial, near-Imperial, and non-Imperial cultures among the company (or at least those that had been publicly declared) along with a few from points beyond for the cosmopolitan and the brave. And all of it was real, not the freeze-dried or pre-packaged dross that spacers were so often forced to subsist on.

  The ship might yet bring them grief, but at least they could face their predicament with full bellies!


 
  I figure it's easier for everyone to fill in their favorites (or adventurous selections) accordingly rather than quizzing you all individually and compiling a list.
 
This message was last edited by the player at 10:35, Sun 21 Feb 2016.

Pleasantly surprised by the victuals, Count Cromwell sits down and enjoys the meal.

"Kaengarr, thank you for a fine meal, I must admit, I was leery about the upcoming food but you have put my fears to rest."

Darrel ponders the information concerning the Long Shot and it's past reincarnations and previous owners.

"I know of a Mutt Talbek, he's located at Outpost. I was given his name as a contact point to buy military/high tech grade equipment."

There's not a lot of detail on the other ships available, at least not here on Grendal. Not even Darrel's databases can do better. It's not so much about anything secret, just no one has entered it in yet.

It's like going out to the web now... you can find mention of 20 or 30 entries but they don't always have much detail. Or a Wiki entry that says it's a stub. Or a list that doesn't have a link to all the entries.

Because those ships have never been to Grendal, data on this has never really been compiled or entered.

  Kaengarr smiled at Darrel's professed relief. "If you spend years flying Packets you learn a thing or two about taking care of the passengers. Now you know why it's worth staying on my good side!"

  **

  The set of Kaengarr's ears revealed that he was less pleased by the mention of Darrel's contact on Outpost. "Hnnh. So we'll be bringing the White Heart back to him then, even though he probably doesn't know that it's missing yet."

ooc

Darrels link may have been pointing to this, but if so it missed it (at least when I tried to follow it) - Re bridge/flight controls (edited)

 the flight controls can be set for simulation mode.

 the displays are of very high quality. She can have displays for every other system on the ship, all up on screens at the same time. These are only readouts; no visuals. For the size of the ship, it means she could operate all stations.

 we can move the flight controls to any other station or screen on the bridge.

 when it comes to the maneuver drives, we have  to specify which configuration to use: 2 x M-1.5, 1 x M-3, or 2 x M-3. She was half-expecting this to show up, but didn't realize it'd be so blatant. But then she spots the 'minimize' button on the screen. When she clicks on that, the choice screen disappears and just shows the two engines. The program is designed to use whichever engine wasn't used the last time.

Sam comes in for breakfast, and raises her eyebrow at the spread

"All your work Kaengarr? You may be a keeper." She smiles and piles her plate with a fair chunk of food, nothing too exotic though.

Sitting down she starts to dig in.

In between mouthfuls shes says "I was thinking - this ship seems to have been given a different cover in every port. It was obviously relying on no-one cross checking. But it does mean that perhaps there was only one captin, just with different aliases?"

Turning to Darrell: "This contact of yours, Mutt, have you met him? Could it be Casey by a different name?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:28, Mon 22 Feb 2016.

"Never met Mutt, but, I'm fairly certain that they are different people."



"Pretty sure it was all done legally."

Finishes up his meal and keeps busy until the cargo/gear arrives.

  "Dar-rel," Kaengar rumbled very slowly, fixing the actor with a did-that-really-fly-over-your-head look. "Five more transponders. All registered together. Completely different purposes. Never visiting the same system. The gaps in our records."

  He followed that up with a similarly slow, exaggerated shrug; Kaengarr wasn't anywhere near Darrel's caliber, but it was increasingly apparent that he'd picked up a thing or two about comic acting somewhere along the way.

  The pace of his speech picked up to something near normal. "Someone wouldn't miss what they never knew they had. Will talk to Casey about this either way."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:54, Tue 23 Feb 2016.

FYI: The 'odd' names are actually reasonably normal on the Fringe, particularly in Reaver's Deep that used to be full of Space Vikings. It's a tad Star Wars, Andromeda and Firefly all tossed into a pot and stirred liberally. The further you get from the mainstream, the more wild the names get. Just remember, parents tend to give their kids strange names, especially if they are celebrities. Maybe someday I'll tell you about Galaxy Craze and her brother Jet.

Still sleepy from her short and early sleep to keep up with the rest Khea did not have much too add yet to the discussion, especially when it comes to the names of humaniti fringe worlders.
To not embarrass KaengarrRuzokh she took some of the food he prepared and offered the expected compliments, even though she wasn't hungry at all. He might be able to prepare Aslan food, but he still had to learn the usual dinner time for them.

Not in the mood for complicated problems this early in the morning Khea casually asks while trying to force down some food "How much would it cost to completely wipe the software and replace it?"

Sir Walter arrived at the ship in the morning with the cargo and gear, surprised that the vessel had not budged from the hanger. Joining the others in the ship, he sat down at the breakfast table "If I had known that Kaengarr was making a fine spread, I would not have eaten breakfast at TAS. Looks most tasty." he said with a nod to Kaengarr as he sipped some coffee.

"I take it then that you decided not to take it for a test run. It sounds like this vessel is an enigma, wrapped around a conundrum, packed in a paradox." he said, listening to the crew as the described what had been found.

"For the time being, I am going to need someone to pull the launch out so it can be loaded with cargo along with getting everything loaded in the cargo area."

"Just based on what's 'listed', it would be 17 Mcr. to replace. My movies themselves are priceless."



Smiling, "What I meant was that the transfer of the ship from one to the other was legal, well, maybe not legal-legal, just, by paperwork, legal...there's a difference."



"Morning Walter, sorry about the launch, our pilots must have slept in late. Concerning the mystery, it reminds me of a fine series of thrillers I was in, "The Company Ship I, II, III", there was a ship, much similar to this, that worked for a mysterious intelligence agency that went around investigating curious happenings, handling jobs that the official government couldn't and a general trouble-shooter in a complex and dangerous universe.

Picks up the cargo manifest, "Ok folks, let's get the cargo onboard and unpack the gear, maybe we can figure out this computer problem ourselves."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Tue 23 Feb 2016.

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 108):

"Actually, Sir Walter." Vonon adds, wiping his muzzle on a napkin, "I need a lift into the city, would you mind if I tagged along on your delivery? I'll even volunteer to load cargo."

"I can move the launch, if you like. Where do you want it?" Pablo spoke from the doorway of the mess, having just gotten up and organized for the day.

"On the port side of the Long Shot should be fine Pablo. The launch will only have 13 tons of cargo so it will not take long to load. The rest of the cargo might be a problem until we get the cargo areas reconfigured to help with loading and unloading since the Long Shot was more use to just dumping the ore out the hatch. There is some special cargo that will need to go into the secure area and a guard or two will be needed until we get into orbit. Whoever is guarding it will need to draw dosimeters from the medical bay just to be on the safe side." Sir Walter said

"Might want to leave the launch along side until all of the cargo is loaded so the launch hanger can be used as a staging area to move everything where it will go. The cargo haulers should be here in a hour."



"Where did you need to go Vonon?" Sir Walter asked "I was planing on grabbing the large stateroom near medical so I can make it an office and supervise the loading. Once that is done, we can rotate crew to get any last minute items before we go. Better yet, you might want to get with the other crew members and you can pick up what they need." he suggested
This message was last edited by the player at 05:01, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

  "I don't know what else he has in mind, Vonon and I mean to visit that emporium before we leave," Kaengarr explained, looking sideways at his fellow Vargr with a hint of a smile playing around his lips, then addressing Walter directly. "And I'll be sure to bring back some explosives just in case you can't work out what's going on with the computer."

  He let that sink in for a moment, then chortled quietly and glanced over the Aslan's way. "Just kidding. You can start breathing again, Khea."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:55, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

Pablo smiled, and saluted Walter. "Aye, sir. Move the launch, then mount guard on the cargo as it arrives. Understood." Even though he had no great respect for Imperial rank as such, he liked how things were settling out on the ship, and with the team, command-wise.

He stopped by the cabin he was bunking in, and grabbed his groundside armor and his sidearm. Then he headed off to the launch, planning his day as he went.

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 113):

Vonon opens his muzzle to respond to Sir Walter, but Kaengarr speaks up first.  Since Kaengarr gave the answer that Vonon would have, Vonon instead just gestured at his fellow Vargr and answered Sir Walter, instead, with , "What he said!"

"I had no idea that there was a vendor on this world that could supply any significant amount of Vargr-specific items, but friend Kaengarr, here has said there is a place that caters to Vargr needs.  So I'm going to do some shopping before we leave the planet.  I'm hoping to find a burgundy ascot to go with my electric-lemon shirt."

Says the Vargr wearing a bright, sky-blue silk shirt over charcoal trousers with a white leather belt -- his large, tanned leather pistol holster looking out of place on his right hip -- and fluorescent green sneakers (Vargr-style) on his paws.  And, of course, a bright red kerchief tied around his auburn-furred neck.

Sir Walter arched an eyebrow at the color combination mentioned by Vonon. "While the color combination is your own, you do bring up a good point Vonon. I have been so use to wearing tuxedos, business suits or mechanics overalls for most of my life I will need to get something more comfortable for here." he said.

Ignoring Kaengarr Khea waits at the table while everyone is making plans.
"Considering that we saw this ship in space we can probably skip the thorough structual check if you insist to fly today.

Khea takes a last look and poke at her nearly completely uneaten breakfast, then goes off to get her stuff from her apartment and putting it into the largest unreserved and unclaimed stateroom.

  Kaengarr had one other task to complete before leaving - besides the inevitable clean-up, that is - namely, inquiring as to whether anyone had requests for additions to the menu. He'd done his cultural homework, but individual quirks were often far more varied.

"As long at the coffee is fresh, you have flavored creamers to go with it and do not serve chili mac three times a week, I will be happy. More so if you do not serve it at all." Sir Walter said when asked about the menu.

OOC:30 years after getting out of the Army and I still can not stand the stuff. We were out in the field in West Germany (Grafenwöhr) and the cooks served it way too many times. The guys in the ammo squad grabbed a case of MRE's, a loaf of bread and had that for dinner. Sad part was it tasted better than the food they served.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:10, Fri 26 Feb 2016.

Darrel heads down to ensure the gear gets stowed away in the ship's locker.

Comms:"Probably going to need some help checking out our problem."

Using the Densitometer and the Electromagnetic Probe, Darrel will examine the computer, following the "unregistered" cables along the bulkhead until he finds the source.

Samantha looked up at Walter

"Something for our next crew meeting - the launch. I'm generally not in favour of using it to store extra cargo, in case we need to use it as an actual launch. Something we should discuss probably"

Stretching Sam finished her coffee and followed after Darrel.

"Need a hand?"

In reply to Samantha Kilgore (msg # 120):

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

OOC: Not sure if I'm rolling on comps or electronics?

It'll take several hours to track down all the errant circuits.

One leads back to the auxiliary bridge.

Six of them lead to the six transponders.


There are around two dozen others that you can trace deep into the hull of the ship, terminating in some sort of electromechanical device embedded in the hull. Some are small, some are fairly large. You have no idea, however, what any of them do.

Darrel briefs everybody on what he and Sam found out.

"Anybody seen anything like this before?"

OOC:Just so I understand, the main computer has a rating of 30+5(6bis), but it's only registering at a 20+5 (4bis), I'm thinking like it's RAM? So, basically somewhere there's a program(s) that is currently running that is sucking up 10 rating. Is that correct?

Sir Walter listened to what was happening and tried to figure out what was going on with the computer system.

---

10:51, Today: Walter Zeller rolled 7 using 2d6+2.  Computer?

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 124):

"Do not worry, Kaengarr, my friend." Vonon responded to his fellow Vargr, "I spent some time as a Ship's Logistics Officer, back in the Patrol. I am familiar with victualizing a ship with mixed races."

Vonon lowers his jaw and smiles broadly at all his companions, "MilSpec Rat-Paks for everyone! Hurr-hurr-hurr..."

"Oh, Sir Walter!" Vonon adds, "Zip me your body specs and we'll pick up several ship suits for you; the kind of coveralls that most ship crews wear when they're working.  Anyone else need a few ship suits? Zip me your specs."

"I relly hope you intend to bring something more than just rats for a jump"

Whe hearing about the strange devices Count found Khea becomes very concerned
""I advise not to mump with this ship before we don't know what the devices are.
We could cut through the interior to get to o e but unless it is labeled it won't tell us much. But it could allow me to test one of the repair droids.

Anyway, I suggest Count hires someone from the Starport or asks around the scout base to find someone who can identify those devices.""

After giving a closer look at the devices and consulting with some ship designers...

"The devices are connected to the transponders, they alter the external appearance of the ship to match each of the aliases. The computer, I have a fairly good idea about it, but, I think we need to talk to a previous owner, Mutt Talbek on Outpost."

Count Cromwell will assist whomever is making sure the cargo is loaded, categorized and stored properly...Note, not the manual labor portion, but the paperwork side of it.

Hearing the possible food selections, Darrel will contact the best catering company that deals in long-term, higher-end cuisine, places an order for a month/9 persons (including Aslan/Vargr). Cost, up to 100Kcr.

OOC:Just so it doesn't seem this is classic noble snobbery, being a Count, Darrel has certain "obligations", just like a marine feels naked without a couple of extra grenades/guns.

"Should we make flight plans for tomorrow or does anyone need another day or so to finish up anything?"

"Sounds fine with me." Sir Walter said as he double checked the cargo. "However, since we can place orders for any goods and have them delivered here, we might want to do any last minute ordering on the comps and then head out into space. We can start testing things out with the Long Shot... or whatever her name is today. If there is an agreement that it is safe to jump, we can do that. " he said, placing an order on his laptop for clothes and other gear.

Having heard of the ability of outlaw ships to change their appearance this discovery does not bode well.

"From the looks of it this ship was likely involved in some very dishonerable deeds in the past, judging by its equipment. I would feel better if we would put some engravings on it to distance ourselves from the past. It would also make this ship less ugly."

Pablo, who was standing there guarding the cargo, and watching the longshoremen when necessary, strolled over to where the conversation was taking place. "Hey, don't your guys in the Imperium take a dim view of people who can change their transponder registration? I know I've seen a whole crew spaced for it, though there was other evidence of piracy also. And it was Peacekeepers, not those stuck up pricks in the Imperial Marines. Maybe they aren't as quick to end a problem permanently."

  Since this is presumably some time later and everyone will be back...

  Kaengarr had mixed feelings about the discovery. While there was obvious utility in being able to change the ship's configuration and registration, the implications were equally potent. "It's classic corsair, no question, but it's also something an intelligence outfit would use," he declared, chopping one hand in the general direction of the bridge. "Either one could mean trouble for us as the owners, and if it's the second we might not be the owners in everyone's eyes. I am again left to think that we'd be better off rid of it and use the proceeds to buy one or two smaller ships in its place. Too late to do it here, since it's loaded with supplies and cargo, but at Outpost, yes - if we aren't accosted over it when we get there."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:16, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Priv comms to crew: "Let's not jump to kneejerk conclusions about the how and why of the multiple transponders until we have more facts, all of the aliases over the last 20 years are clean, if they had been infamous for piracy deeds, it would have been registered. In fact, I've spent good money and significant resources researching the ships, there is nothing suggesting a malicious nature."

Looking at the data, "Actually, anyone that has been involved in undercover/clandestine work, how best to remain unnoticed amongst the evil sharks, never appear like the same dolphin. How about we keep this between ourselves?"

  Kaengarr remained unconvinced due to Darrel's very reasoning - it had, after all, echoed his own! "We can try, but will an agency that's wondering where its ship went allow it? If your contact on Outpost can't give us certainty about this, I maintain that we should exchange it there."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Pablo shook his head. "I don't give a good hang why the transponders are aboard. Or who put them there. The simple fact they *are* there is enough to get us at least jailed almost anywhere in known space."

  Kaengarr sent a slow, sly grin Pablo's way. "Imperial known space, maybe. The Extents? Probably not. Don't think this crew will be willing to relocate, though."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

"Then lets play dumb and act like we are a bunch of merchants that have some idea what we are doing rather than a bunch of mercs playing at it..." Sir Walter said "A merchant with a full vessel still sitting on the pad after a few hours is going to attract undue attention."

  Kaengarr threw his hands in the air. "Hnnh. Why not? We've got to get there before it matters and we merchants will be just as much a target for the actual pirates along the way."

  And they still had a week to work all of this out along that way, assuming that the pirates didn't cut the trip short.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:58, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Sam listened to the conversation

"Jumping, well that's ok. We've got to try sometime, and the concerns I have are about the various Aliases, which don't affect flying, and the fact of fixing things if we're on our own - and we have repair droids for that"

She clicked her fingers

"The repair droids, surely they would have the information about how the systems interrelate, and what they are - in order to be able to fix them? can't we use their memory to try and get a better handle on whats under the hull?"

"That's a good idea, hadn't thought of that. In any case, once everyone and everything is aboard, we should hit space."

Sharik had been quiet during most of the conversation about the multiple transponders.  The only thing that she noted in a rather off-hand manner was rather enigmatic.  "Mulitple transponders are potentially a crime in Imperial space for civilian vessels." the diminutive dilettante offered with a slight shrug, "But since this was at some point an ex-military or para-military vehicle, it is rather questionable about the type of operations that she was originally slated and equipped for."  It was also weird that some of the codes were for newer owners; but, there could be reasons for that.  Rather convoluted ones, but reasons nonetheless.

Shar was willing to let it slide for the moment.  Perhaps it was just that 'new car' smell that made everything seem good.

She slid into the co-pilot's seat to start the astrogation calculations cranking.  The auburn-haired operatives fingers glided easily over the configurable console and brought up the links to the main core's crunching algorithms.  She set them going as her own agent started streaming diagnostic and augmented reality data to the reticule on the partially-reflective inner surface of her variable-opacity glasses.

As she worked, Sharik started to hum once more.  It was another multi-part fugue from that same ancient Baroque-era Solomani composer.

Although the phrase had originally been meant for someone else, 'being seen and not heard' also applied to bodyguards. You wanted the 'enemy' to see you but the person you were guarding didn't really want to know you were there... at least not until the frap hit the rotary oscillator. Of course, it was your job to see that it never got to that point but that often involved a level of intel that was beyond your resources.

So he dutifully followed the Count around. If the Count crawled into the inner workings of the ship, then Jones crawled in with him... or after him... if there was room.

Once a day, though, Jones made it a point to check out the ship's lockers to see what had been added. Once the ship was in jump, that wouldn't be necessary, but he liked knowing what resources (i.e. weapons) were available just in case things went pear-shaped.

He did his best not to get under foot, but sometimes that was unavoidable, like when the Count changed his mind in mid-stride and suddenly whirled around to go back the way he came. It was at those times that the Count was actually reminded that he had a bodyguard; the rest of the time, he seemed oblivious to Jones' presence. But, then again, that was the way it was supposed to be.

Valeska ran into Gregory Jones as he was doing one of his daily checks of the the ships lockers.

"Looking for something in particular?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say I'm looking for anything in particular," Jones replies to Valeska when she finds him going through the ship's lockers.

"Although... I suppose I am kind of looking for what isn't there. There are supposed to be certain things in the lockers... enough vacc suits for everyone, emergency rations, tools, weapons, first aid kits."

"I'm also seeing what else they keeping adding."

"If it gets too cluttered, we may have to do a bit of organizing. Anything we might need in an emergency shouldn't be hard to get at."

Valeska smiles, nodding, "I understand the need for efficiency in an emergency. An early voyage I was on ended pretty disastrously. I was lucky enough to survive but others were less so. Let me know what I can do to help."

OOC: At this point, we're waiting for the main cargo to be loaded, and any other things the group has ordered to arrive, plus any shopping to be done? Then we're ready for flight?

As everyone else do not seem to be bothered much by the different transponders Khea drops the issue. When the shopping list for last areiaao purchases, is passed around she adds toolkits for the remaining subsystems to it and one for general hull repairs so that if something goes wrong she does not have to rely on the repair droids.

Speaking of them, while everyone else is waiting or busy doing last minute tasks Khea goes into an unclaimed cabin and disables several unimportant systems and activates one of the droids to see how well it repairs them and if there is anything unusual about how it does it (and also wearing her armor and carrying a gun, just in case the robot blows up or decides to go on a rampage).

OOC: I need toolkits for mechanic and all engineering specialications except power.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Tue 08 Mar 2016.

Pablo returned to watching the cargo arrive, though he amused himself by ordering more stuff for the ship's locker. As the growing mound of items was delivered, he sent Khea a text saying her tools and some other things had arrived.

He loaded a dolly with the Aslan pattern tools, suits, and the case of mouse bots, and stood by it watching the teamsters delivering cargo cases. Sentry duty was rather amusing when combined with buying necessary items. Not shopping, of course. Never shopping.

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 146):

ooc
Think so. We just need to fly the thing and work out the kinks (or what the hell is going on with the ship) as we use it.

As the ship's computer continued to crunch on the astrogation calculations, Sharik joined Pablo in the cargo area.  She kept an eye on diagnostic sensor streams as well as the state of her route and jump calculations through the reticule in her shades, the overlay display streamed past her field of vision even as she watched the loaders dart back and forth.

She chatted with her old friend, but kept out of the way.  Not the most physically gifted of individuals, the diminutive navigator trusted in her keen mind to keep her out of harm's way and from getting underfoot.

The multitasker that she was, Sharik made sure that she consulted with Pablo on a number of purchases that she was making.  His instincts with respect to certain types of equipment and resources was invaluable.  Even though, the man professed to never be a shopper, he could be quite serious when it came to Retail Therapy™ before and after an operation.

With the cargo loaded and secured in their proper places, Sir Walter took to putting away his clothing that had been delivered to the ship. Taking his one dozen suits and 6 pairs of dress shoes, he checked to make sure they were in good condition before placing them in the wardrobe.  With that done, he added the new work clothes to the dresser but not before putting on an Armortec Crew Coat to wear for shipboard use. Now changed, he lugged his vacc suit to the locker and headed to engineering to find a place to stash his work overalls in case they were needed.

Once done with his taskes, Sir Walter headed to the Bridge. "How are things looking?" he asked

Chatting with Sharik always made Pablo feel good. She just had what his mother would have called "good energy," about her. Once Walter was satisfied with the cargo situation, and the dock workers had gone, Pablo looked over at Sharik, and said, "So, you and Darrel going into the spy business again, now that we have this sneaky ship?"

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 151):

"Seems like we're about set, whenever everyone is ready."

The Count admires Sir Walter's Armortec Crew Coat, "Nice, we should look into getting everyone a set, something stylish with a logo..not too pretentious, but, you know what I mean."

Jones wasn't used to working with a team; all his work had been solo up till now, which meant he'd always had to be self-reliant. So it was hard to turn over even a minor task like inventory to someone else. And this wasn't even a team that had trained together and knew how to function as a team.


Still, that old life was over and done with. It had always been fun, which is why he'd done it so long. After the last tour, though, it had stopped being shiny and new. The spark was gone. Someone had once told him that when that happened, it was time to get out, because that's when it could get you killed. It was probably one of the few pieces of advice he'd ever taken to heart. So when the spark went, he got out.


Now he had to learn to function as part of a team. Unlike many others who tried to make it solo, he rather liked the new challenged. The spark was back... mostly. It wasn't the same... quite, but things were... interesting again. This ship was a good example. It was most definitely 'interesting'. Not for the first time, he wondered just how many secret compartments there were on the ship... and if they'd ever discover all of them. Like the one in the ceiling of the locker, just inside the door. He'd only just found it and hadn't opened it yet, but given its size and location, it probably just held a weapon of some sort.

"Sure," he replied to Valeska. "This ship has a very unusual layout. Among other things, there are two separate ship's lockers, though they are right across the hall from each other."

"You can inventory the second one, if you want. I'm thinking that we should have at least 5 emergency vacc-suits in each one. That way, if we have an emergency, everyone isn't trying to get to the same locker. Personally, I'd like to see 10 in each, in case one side gets damaged. But that's probably just me being paranoid."

Because none of the repair drones are currently active, Khea has to go down to the remote ops bay and activate them because the ship is in 'stand-down' mode. Once the ship is active, the drones can be controlled from the bridge or engineering.


The repair drone named Diefenbaker by Vonon disengaged itself from its allotted docking station and trundled down the hall to the room that needed repairs, entered the room, and proceeded to fix the damage that Khea had done. When it was done, it paused for about 5 seconds, probably waiting for additional orders, and then trundled back to its docking station.


Sharik's astrogation calculations were threefold. First there was the vector to leave the planet and reach the jump point. Normally, this is routine, and was the case here, but there was always local traffic to deal with. Since the consequences of a misjump were usually fatal (or of a nature to make it the same thing in a more unpleasant fashion), sensible astrogators always updated their data just before take-off just to be on the safe side. 9,999 times there was no change in the planetary mass or the number of satellites (natural or man-made), but because the distances were vast (from a personal viewpoint), a hundredth of a decimal place could have dire consequences. The current situation turned out to be one of those times: no change.

The second calculation was the jump itself. The space lanes also didn't change much in the course of the time span since the last jump, but the presence of comets, asteroids, and rogue planets always made it necessary to re-calculate every time. There was also that 1 in 100,000 chance that the stellar or system data had changed. They gave you all the gruesome details in Astrogation Class about what happened when that 1 chance happened. Sharik didn't know that it was true, that a ship had been turned inside out and so had all its crew, but the lesson had been learned.

The third calculation wasn't so much the approach to the destination planet at the end of the jump as it was determining a 'safe' area in that system to drop out of jump. Ideally, of course, you wanted to get as close to the destination planet's jump point as possible so that inbound time was at a minimum... just in case. On the other hand, it was also prudent to give yourself some 'panic room'.

The Outpost system had three gas giants, any one of which they could refuel at if they needed to. Outpost itself was a moon of the innermost gas giant. There were also 10 other outer planets in the system, all useless balls of rock and frozen methane.

So she had to calculate all those things as the destination point. The jump distances were even vaster, and while the computer could make the calculations to a hundred decimals, the final destination was no better than the least calculation number. That was why the best that was currently available was 10 decimal places. That meant there was a vast volume of space at the destination where the ship could drop out of jump. Sharik's task was to put the ship as close to the center of that volume as possible as that area was considered the 'safe zone'.

After about ten minutes, Sharik had half a dozen jump calculations done, confirmed and triple-checked by the computer (and vice versa). She just needed Darrel to tell her where he wanted to arrive so she could enter that destination into the jump program.

"Let's head to the furthest point where we can refuel, and test out some of our equipment without having any prying eyes around, before we jump."

"I have a feeling that given the vessel, we might want to come up with a few different designs and see if we can have them be changeable on the fly. Maybe some kind of fiber that can change colors." Sir Walter said.

"Since I did not get to fly in this on the way back, mind if I run Comms for the flight out to the jump point Captain?" he inquired

"If you intend to test the weapons on some asteroids, don't forget to inform the local clan forces beforehand. But why do you want to get away from prying eyes? That will only make us look suspicious and delays any rescue should something happen."

Still, Khea was glad that Count suggested to first test this ship mote instead of jumping immediately. And even though she tries to stay calm, the farther they away they got from the planet the more anxious Khea got and she couldn't help as to make sure that her vacc suite was stored in engineering and to male sure, several times per day, that the way bezween the engine room and the launch was free. That was of course in addition to wearing her flak vest every time a new system was tested.

Chuckling inside, Darrel wonders if all Aslan, at least the females were always so...hmmm...paranoid/cynical.



"There are certain aspects to this ship that I think would be best tested where others didn't see it. I'm not saying we sneak off to a far distant corner of space, just outside the range of sensors. In fact, as we move out, we stick to 3T, the fact that this thing can do 6T, we don't need to advertise that."

Although the Count wasn't an expert in starships, anything that can do thrust-6, unless it's military, will naturally draw attention to itself.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Sun 13 Mar 2016.

In reply to Gregory Jones (msg # 154):

"That sounds logical. I'll be happy to help with it," Valeska replied, busying herself with the work.

Sharik just flashed that enigmatic smile that she had.  Her eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment, as she noted playfully, "And dragging your sorry butt all over creation to boot!"

Then the diminutive dilettante sobered a touch, growing just a shade more serious.  "Honestly," Shar stated rather deadpan, "this crew seems well suited for 'odd jobs'"  She flashed that smile again, "You included, Mr. Ryzov."  The auburn-haired woman shrugged slightly, "Ifni only knows the type of trouble that we'll get into."

Her dataglove pinged lightly and she glanced down at it, "Ah, duty calls."  And Sharik started back towards the main bridge; she gestured for Pablo to walk with her.  "This ol' girl's not so bad." she mused aloud, her hand gliding along one of paneling seams of the corridor, "At one hundred, she's bound to have plenty of stories and her share of secrets."  Hell, at less than half - or even a third - that age each, plenty of the crew could say the same.

Part of her was already running the calculation refinements as any jump algorithms had to account for delta-V between the source and destination systems even before she got to the bridge.  In astrogation, static coordinates were not enough.  Space-time continuum warping calculations were not enough.  If you didn't want to misjump, a lot of complex, interdependent vector math had to be resolved to an extremely accurate degree as everything was moving in different directions from everything else in the area of interest.

Ultimately, you checked the math many many times.  Otherwise, you were bound to not enjoy having your constituent particles scattered all over the route between jump transition points - with most of them going their separate ways - at potentially paradox-inducing, effectively supraluminal speeds.

Sam headed up to the bridge, and started pre-flight. There was no huge rush, so she took her time - there wasn't much else for her to do at the moment

Watching Sharik head off, Pablo grinned, just a bit. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Headinng up into the ship, he found Jones and Valeska working with the ship's locker gear, and said, "Hey guys. This should be the last of it, at least till we get to Outpost and finish fitting out."

"Once we get out far beyond sensor range, let's speed up to 6T, run it for a little bit to get the feel. Then how about the transponders."

"As long as we are not hiding behind another planet the starport can track our location and acceleration if they care. And I hope you do not suggest jumping into deep space just to test the drives unobserved"

Pablo thought a moment, then said, "We could take the ship back to the asteroids we found it in and test her out there. As long as we are moderately careful, we should be hard to track from planetside."

"We might want to get it to Outpost for an overhaul first before we try to break our new toy." Sir Walter suggested.

"I wonder if it would be out of line to suggest a launch dinner. I wouldn't mind getting to know the rest of the new crew," Valeska said to Gregory as they worked.

To clear up the confusion, "What I'm thinking, since we're planning on jumping anyways, we head out a day farther than we need to reach a jump point, and then go to T6. Even planetary sensors would be hard pressed to see us, remember space is really big, and their sensors are probably calibrated maximally for the standard jump points."

"I also think, once we are out there, we could activate the different transponders, to see if they work."

Ponders for a moment, "Given our sensors, just before we do our thrust/trans tests, let's check our sensors...just to be sure."

OOC:It should be a couple of days before we reach a jump-point, we could abstract that time?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Thu 17 Mar 2016.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," Jones answered Valeska. "Especially for us, since we are newcomers and outsiders."

"I mean, it doesn't sound like the others have been working together for very long anyway, but most of them seem to have some prior acquaintance."

"They may even have something planned already. We can contact Kaengarr."

"Okay, I think I've got this locker squared away. How you doing on your half?"

"Yeah, I've got it balanced out. Here's an extra vacsuit to go in yours," Valeska responded.
"So what's your background?"

Sitting in the Captain's chair, Darrel says, "Sounds good, and while cruising out to our test point, everyone should acquaint themselves with all the different stations they might have to operate."

"Copy Captain." Sir Walter said as he took the Comms chair and started acquainting himself of the system.

Khea replies on the comms again while she observes the performance of the machines in the engine room.

"No matter how far you fly the clans on Grendal and every ship in the system can still see the ship and calculate its acceleration if they care to look.

Pablo headed down to engineering, pushing the dolly with some tools and emergency hazard suits on it. Walking in, he looked over at Khea, and asked, "You want me to stow this stuff, or do you want to do it, Ms. Khea?" I have another question I'd like to ask you, also, but it can wait a minute."

Khea ponders for a bit but then decides that wearing a vacc suit for the entire time, or at least till the jump, would be highly impractical. Instead she decides to later plan where to stow vacc suits around the ship to quickly have access to them.

"Leave it here, I will deal with it later.
So, what do you need explained?"

Looking around a moment, Pablo put the dolly where it would be as out of the way as possible, and locked it to the deck, though very likely it would be back up in the ship's locker before they launched.

"I am very concerned about that computer hitch in the turrets. Do you think it would be practical to get another computer, one we have confidence in, and set it up to run gunnery, and maybe other critical systems till we have a better idea what is up with this ship?"

"The computer would need access to sensors, energy distribution and several other systems to work properly. And if you install that you can go all the way and replace the old computer completely.
Although a computer expert should be able to set aside a separate distribution on the existing computer which should be unaffected by everything except the deepest computer processes."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:52, Sat 19 Mar 2016.

"I'm good with computers, and as far as I can tell, there's an inactive program, which is causing the computer some problems in it's functionality. As I mentioned previously, I have an idea what it is, but, until I have someone of greater ability check it out...I want to hold off making any speculations."

Taps out information for the gunnery program, "When we get somewhere to blow up something, maybe some space rocks, Pablo, you fire it up and we'll track the program."

Reassures the crew, "Look, we've been hyper-paranoid and overly critical of the ship's systems, and perhaps rightfully so, but, the previous crew hasn't had a complaint, and the ship has performed fine. Let's knock out our practical tests, get ready for jump and once we arrive in Outpost, then, based on what we have discovered and our needs to upgrade the ship...make our plans. Agreed? Any questions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:37, Tue 22 Mar 2016.

"Sir Walter, contact Port Authority for clearance to depart. Once we're good, Sam, let's get sailing."

"Copy Captain." Sir Walter said, making sure that his seat belt was secured before picking up the communicator. "Control, this is Merchant vessel Long Shot, Tango Echo Gulf 85768 requesting clearance for departure to orbit. Flight plan filed at this time." he said, sending the flight plan by computer to the Port Authority control.

Pablo, having abandoned his mad plan for a new computer after hearing Khea's thoughts, headed up to the second turret, leaving Turret One for Kaengarr, and warmed up the systems, though he didn't actually target anything. No need to make anyone in starport security nervous or even curious about their very interesting new ride. "Turret Two, good to go."

"Good to go, as we get to our test point, check the targeting system and set up a firing solution...."

"Aye, Captain." Pablo grinned, as he settled back into the very familiar gunner's seat. He'd been quite paranoid about the ship, and a bit concerned about the divided command structure, but now that they were taking off, all that was behind. The decisions had been made, and if problems arose, the team had a lot of very smart, and very skilled people to deal with them. Life was good.

["Merchant ship Long Shot, this is Control. Flight plan received. You are cleared for lift-off on your command. You have a 3-minute lift-off window."]


There's no roar of rockets as the ship lifts off because it has gravitic engines. The thrust is a gradual increase so there also isn't any sense of acceleration, no G-forces pushing you back into your chair. Also, the ship lifts off horizontally, and only changes orientation once it has elevation and speed.

In the pilot's seat, Sam sees that the console displays the gravity 'well' that the ship's engines produce, which looks somewhat like the magnetic lines that a magnetic field represents. It's neat, but it's clearly for the novices. Sam is more concerned with the actual data readouts, which show everything green.

Once she saw the ship in action, she had a better idea of where the limits and red-lines were. She's taking the ship out on dual thrust dialed back to 1.5 Gees each. She can't help smiling as the image shows a single engine producing 3-Gees. Presumably, that's the image that external sensor will also see.

The readouts, on the other hand, display both engines running at 100% efficiency, but at half-power.


Despite the typical belief that ships can be detected anywhere in the system, nobody has active sensors with that kind of range. Detecting a ship relies on passive sensors--whatever energy a ship is emitting has to reach your sensors and register on them. The two types of energy normally detected in that manner are gravity (a ship under gravity drive) and neutrinos (jump entry and exit).

The other type of energy that can be detected is radio waves because they are broadcast in a 360-degree arc on all axes. However, they also attenuate the fastest, and require triangulation to get a good fix.

Thus, if the ship, on its way to its jump point (the flight plan), makes a few course changes and then overshoots the jump point before going to 6-Gees, its only going to be detectable by another ship in the area. If there is one there, unless it's running dark, you'd be able to detect it.


So the ship heads first to orbit, monitoring the other traffic in system, then makes for the calculated jump point. Instead of jumping then, it continues on in an erratic course, as Sam slowly begins increasing the acceleration. On the present course, there is no obvious destination--no planets in that direction, no satellites, not even any asteroids.

When it's finally safe by Sam's standards, she changes the course for the asteroid belt and accelerates to full 6-Gees. She does find out that there is a limit, though. At full 6, it'll start to redline after 12 hours. The readouts tell her that. Dropping back to about 5.9 seems to be unlimited duration.


Once in the asteroid belt, off the beaten path, Pablo and Vonon can try the guns. The slight delay turns out to be a result of the fire control program not being attuned to the gunner. The Fire program, coupled with the bio-interface system, essentially means that you can roll twice--once for the program, and once for the gunner... and take the best result.


Anything else you want to do while you're out in the middle of nowhere?

Drummed into her during her early career in both the Imperial Scout and the Imperial Navy, Sharik was dressed in her tailored vacc suit.  Given that it wasn't really more bulky than normal clothing, she wore it as such.  Though the helmet might be off for the moment, it and her gloves were never far away, tucked into a custom cubby on the navigator's console itself.

The fact that she wore a body pressure sleeve underneath her suit was just pure conceit.  Or paranoia.

Still, with her personal electronics network interfaced into the computer, the diminutive astrogator was wired (wirelessly) into her console reading internal and external datastreams even as she double-checked the route and jump parameters.  The ship's diagnostics were also continuing to run and be monitored.  She wanted to know if the ship under normal operating conditions display any different behavior.

Pushing the proposed route to the 100D limit and the jump point (with the requested detour - which didn't look like a detour - to a reasonably secluded portion of the secluded space), Shar also posted a timer to the same ancillary tactical display overlay on the main bridge displays for everyone else to see.  A copy of the original plan had been streamed to communications console; so that Walter could relay it to the Port Authority, if necessary.

All the while, she hummed softly along to the music in her head.  Well, actually, the music being piped into her earbud from her dataglove via her p-comm.  For her, nothing fit space travel quite like Bach and his complex multi-voiced harmonies.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 186):

Vonon had shown up on the bridge for the launch wearing one of the dark body sleeves that Pablo had purchased for the crew, over which he was wearing one of the fluorescent sage-green shipsuits -- with the gold-lettered "Longshot" shoulder patch -- he had bought for the ship's "slops chest".  The only other accessories he wore were his new, black, syntheleather spaceboots, and the black belt that his Blade hung from.

Sitting at the tactical board -- or, more accurately, what he was calling the tactical board -- during the trip off-planet, Vonon did little but watch the sensor feeds, being an extra set of eyes looking out for trouble.

Once at the asteroid belt, though, Vonon started accessing the sensors that would feed data to the ship's weapons -- scanning for a rock to use as their first target. An appropriately ship-sized chunk is soon located.

"Pilot, come around to vector two-seven-one mark three-nine, designated target sent to your nav-comp. Evasive maneuvers, if you please, aggressiveness at your discretion." Vonon orders, "Dorsal turret, and dorsal turret only, track designated target and put together a firing solution for each of your three laser cannons individually. No volley fire. I repeat, no volley fire. Target and discharge each laser individually. Fire when in range and a firing solution ready. Sending you sensor data stream, now."

 
  Since I don't know who is in which turret but I'm online at the moment I'll go ahead and say Kaengarr has taken the dorsal one. Barring any new surprises from the GM...

08:46, Today: Kaengarr Ruzokh rolled 11,11,13 using 2d6+4,2d6+4,2d6+4.
08:49, Today: Kaengarr Ruzokh rolled 10,7,11 using 2d6+3,2d6+3,2d6+5.
 

  Kaengarr took his time and made good use of the ship's fire control software when activating each of the lasers, and the end result was an impressive set of freshly-burned scars across the asteroid's surface.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:59, Fri 25 Mar 2016.

During the journey to the jump point, Sir Walter headed to the Rec room. Seeing exercise equipment, he frowned. "Anyone up for training me in physical fitness? Been behind a desk for to long and the only sunshine I have been getting is from the glare of the monitors." he said

OOC:Start Strength training

Seeing that everything/everyone seemed to be working fine, Count Cromwell takes the time to familiarize himself with the ship again, including checking all the different stations he might end up at in the event of trouble.

He also takes the time to get up to speed concerning Outpost; notable persons, places, corporations, anything of special interest or big news.  He always prided himself on fully researching all aspects of a task, there's nothing worse than a faux-pas when dealing with others. Well, maybe a plasma bolt to the face.

Seeing Walter in the Rec room, "So, what do you think so far?"

Khea monitors the performance of the ship in the engine room. When she notices from the power draw that the weapons are firing she just thinks "Typical males" and hopes that someone remembered to inform the authorities that this is just a test and not life fire.

"Well, there are bound to be some teething pains for us since this will be the first time we have been doing something of our own rather than at the behest of Ms Blue." Sir Walter said. "I have a feeling that it will work out once we get the kinks fixed that the ship has."

Pablo tested the weapons on Turret Two, the ventral turret, after Kaengarr was done, and then headed for his bunk. Once there, he looked through his music collection, till he found his playlist of Vargr operatic fusion jazz, and leaned back, closing his eyes contentedly as the music started playing.

While in n-space, Sharik kept to her duty station most of the time.  She did take a few breaks, however.  Either to grab coffee or to engage in meditative yoga in the common area for a couple of minutes.  When stretching, the diminutive socialite had a tendency to peel off her vacc suit and stretch only in her sheer body pressure sleeve - she found it easiest (and the most expedient).  Shar had a set routine that she appeared to be able to run through in 5 minute increments.

She claimed that yoga was one of the keys to healthy living (and maintaining her girlish figure).

Sharik never took off all of her electronics; the reticule projection onto the inside of the lenses of her glasses continued to stream data from the ship's onboard systems (though sometimes her shades her pushed up onto the crown of her head).

And whenever the astrogator took her coffee, it was always pitch black.

Acknowledging Vonuns request, Sam puts the ship through some aggressive maneouvres and speed changes, trying to see what the ship was capable of. Best to find any limits now before there was return fire.

She didn't fly in straight line for longer than 3 seconds, and hoped the gunners were enjoying the workout. In fact she took a keen interest in their results - she needed t know how good the people she was relying on were...

Once she realised the Gunners had stopped, she set course for the jump point.

As they drew near the jump point, she triggered ships comms "Nearing Jump point, ready when you are Khea"

ooc

18:09, Today: Samantha Kilgore rolled 9 using 2d6.  Flying test Dex/Int +1 Pilot 2. IS Long short int or Dex based for Pilot checks?

When Samantha called Khea was on one hand relieved that the men were finally done playing, on the other hand she got anxious as who knows when this ship jumped the last time and the machines were still unfamiliar to her. And this time a catastrophic failure might not leave her alive like last time.

Still she started to prepare the jump, shoving all doubts away into some other part of her brain. When this works her shift is finally done. Then there is only the obligatory story swapping and a good night rest.

OOC: 20:43, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 8 using 2d6+2.  Divert power +1Edu +1Eng(Jump). So +0 to the Jump Roll

"Engines are ready to jump"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:45, Mon 28 Mar 2016.

  ++ Good. I want to get back to the important work! ++ Kaengarr called over the comm, though he didn't specify what the more important work might be. Probably to do with the galley, but in contrast to Vonon's haul, only a small portion of the bundles of equipment that he'd returned with had gone to the ship's locker. The rest of it, still packed and mysterious, had been split between the galley, the rec room, and his quarters.

Astrogation check would be modified by EDU or INT (player's choice).

The actual Jump check is more-or-less static. As to who rolls it, depends on who is willing to take the blame... the Captain, the Pilot, or the Referee.

You would use DEX for M-Drive.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:13, Tue 29 Mar 2016.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 198):

OOC:

Actually, there was one, final weapon test I wanted to try - as this ship has technology that is both more advanced, and yet chronologically older than anything Vonon has ever used (or even been trained with), the last weapon test would be to simultaneously fire all 6 laser cannon on continuous fire (they are beam lasers, not pulse lasers) for as long as the system will let him.

He wants to determine how big that power draw would be, and if the old systems can handle it.  Vonon -- and presumably Khea, down in engineering -- would monitor closely to prevent any overloads or meltdowns.

Though the standard astrogation Calculations generally took a hefty amount of time.  Sharik took it to a new level; the diminutive navigator triple checked her numbers three times including rederiving the equations (for accounting for the relative movement of everything in the universe).  Satisfied with the results, the auburn-haired socialite pushed the final answer to the jump navigation core.  "Jump coordinates uploaded to the j-drive, Cap'n." Shar reported dutifully to the command console and the rest of the crew channels.

Sharik leaned back in her chair, the five point harness cracking slightly with the redistribution of weight on the straps.  Her eyes darted to the tactical screen and its overlay of both the n-space rout and the estimated jump parameters.

OOC:  Crunching the numbers...

  23:38, Today: Sharik Kaagira rolled 12 using 2d6+6.  Astrogation/Int:  Jump calcs (+4Routine, -2Parsecs, +2Skill, +2Int).

Unless the GM is playing with critical failures on a natural '2' or some such, Sharik can't actually fail the Astrogation roll.  Similarly, since we aren't using unrefined fuel, the jump roll should be rather perfunctory.  Sharik is willing to do it, if no one else wants to.

"Ok, well let's cross our fingers and not blow up."

OOC:11:13, Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 3 using 2d6.  Jump roll. Of course, it can't be that easy.

There's no dimming required with the Long Shot as it has sufficient power to handle the jump plus all other systems.

The ship goes into jump with no problem.

Just as Jones and Valeska got the two ship's lockers sorted out and organized, another load of gear gets delivered.

"Oh, frack! What the hell are we going to do with all this? We barely have room for what's in there now!" he grouses to Valeska, though he's sure she's just as aggravated as he is.


"I suppose we should check out what's been delivered. Maybe it'll go somewhere else."

He starts unpacking all the crates.

"Uniforms? We've only got a crew of 10. There's like 50 uniforms here! Is the Count planning on hiring more crew? To do what? Scrub floors?"

With the ship entering jumpspace without any problems Khea can finally relax. She checks the machines one last time to ensure they run smoothly and then leaves for her cabin to unwind only to nearly trip over the tools and Vacc Suit Pablo brought earlier which she stows inside one of the special handling bays next to engineering.

In her cabin the first thing she does is getting out of her flak vest she wore the whole time to have some protection in case of a malfunction in engineering, then looks at the ships clock only to realize that in the exictment of getting a ship they had forgotten to set up a working shedule.

She hopes there is still enough time to shower and, more importantly, to dry before everyone meets at the mess and that is exactly what she does.

  By the time evening rolled around on the ship's clocks there was another small banquet, as skillfully prepared and eclectic as the last, laid out for everyone to choose from. Kaengarr had clearly been busy - how he found the time was a good question because he'd also been spotted throughout the day dealing with the various other bric-a-brac he'd brought back from the emporium when he wasn't appearing unbidden and just in the nick of time with a needed tool or document.

The Count spends alot of his time with the 'fighters', practicing his combat skills, particularly slug rifle, realizing that it's likely it might come in useful, which is unfortunate.

He also uses his time working with Sir Walter improving his administration abilities, going back to the old adage that paperwork makes the universe go round.

It had taken her a while, but Sharik had attempted to learn from their experience dirtside on Grendal.  It had been more of an espionage-based operation, though it did take the relative tranquility (and isolation) of J-Space to fully internalize any lessons learned.  She tried to keep up on 'latest' events (at least insofar as the on-board library updates would allow) dealing with technology, electronics and general mechanics.

Sharik had a goal to also try and maintain her physical regimen, which consisted mostly of toning and stretching exercises; she seemed particularly fond of yoga - saying that is was good for the soul.  However, she also seemed willing to spar with Khea, though since the diminutive socialite had no natural weapons of her own, she simply practiced melee with blades (false as well as live ... as her partner and the situation dictated).  And though she might not be as adept as her Aslan sparring counterpart, Shar had had enough training and experience to hold her own ... for a short while, at least.  Apparently, the art of fencing was not dead amongst the Imperial nobility.

Shar appreciated Kaengarr's cooking skills and was always willing to let him know.  The new packmate was seemed genial (if flippant) and could cook a mean curry (with just enough sweetness to appeal to her delicate sensibilities).  The cosmopolitan socialite seemed in tune with any of the 'experiments' that the Gvegh Vargr attempted, having had enough broad experience to appreciate that wilder side of sophont cuisine.  The auburn-haired dilettante never seemed to shy away from helping their lead purser (and had had enough experience that she could be useful and not just be in anyone's way), but she never made is a point focusing on service as a profession.

Count Cromwell looks upon this jump time as a set time to discuss serious issues amongst us, both as a crew, friends and as individuals.

OOC:I want to incorporate in ABSTRACT IC many of the OOC stuff we had talked about, which, for me, really covered much ground between ourselves, and I think almost everyone would agree...understand? Honestly, I think we all agree, as pointed out by the GM/ourselves, in many cases, we've crossed that blurry line numerous times.I hope you understand my point?

Pablo spent a good bit of time sitting in the ventral turret, getting more accustomed to the somewhat unorthodox gunnery aids. He also took part in the sparring, he actually did quite well with rifle butt and bayonet. Then again, he had a medal buried in his gear somewhere from one very bloody day he'd used the weapons in earnest. Once the sparring turned to knife against dew-claw, he was far less formidable.

Oddly, perhaps, he spent the balance of his time either reading both omnivorously and voraciously from the ship's library database, or doing the little jobs here and there like cleaning the galley, the freshers, and generally keeping the corridors spotless.

After spending a week in jump between the weight bench and fixing things on the ship, Sir Walter has gotten some muscle tone from working out and putting parts into place.

"Count, you will need to have Kheaiftouaw sign off on the repairs now that she is ChEng. One copy goes in the ships log of repairs, one in the engineering files and one in the sub system files. Most engineers can keep all three up to date but inspectors tend to change up on which one they check first to see if it all properly documented. If the one they decide to check is messed up, they will go over the whole ship with a fine tooth comb." Said Sir Walter as he finished up one of the repairs instead of using a repair drone.

  Contrary to the expectations of some, Kaengarr wasn't much of a fighter. He was reasonably capable, and reasonably willing when the need arose, but he just didn't regard himself as a soldier or warrior; in his mind he was more a leader than a grunt, and that became particularly evident during those times when the crew took to working as a unit. There was no question that Vonon and Pablo were better planners, but Kaengarr's force-of-personality methods were much better at surviving contact with the enemy.

  Nor did this conflict with his self-designated role as morale officer (of which working the galley was just one aspect); while Walter had known him as a trader, Kaengarr had spent nearly half of his career running Packets, which were passenger liners more than cargo ships. Keeping the passengers happy (especially when most of them were Vargr) was arguably the most important task on board, and given Vargr sensibilities that meant that the role of steward was esteemed rather than something regarded as menial.

  This expertise extended to the assortment of holographic, sculptural, and similar supplies that he'd requisitioned during the trip that he and Vonon had taken to the emporium back on Grendal, which went toward livening up the ship with new decorations and displays as well as recording events during the trip, which only very occasionally (and never when it came to food) involved a good-natured prank by the self-designated morale officer.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:15, Tue 05 Apr 2016.

Darrel goes through the ship's logs, updating them to reflect the checks, including engines (once signed off by Khea) and all the other stacks of paperwork needed for the smooth running of the ship.

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 208):

On Day 2 of the Jump, Vonon -- in his kinda-sorta duties as head Security Officer onboard -- makes a serious report to the entire Crew.

"Last night, the Ship's Chocolate Chip Cookie Vault was broken into." Vonon reports, wiping crumbs from his muzzle, "I want to assure all of you that I will track-down the culprit who left his furry-fingered, chocolate fingerprints all over the Vault. I will leave no cookie uneat... uh, I mean, I will leave no stone unturned, until I expose who has done this foul deed."

"Um, could you pass me that bottle of molasses? Thanks." Vonon finishes, placing a dollop of the viscous sweetener into his fresh cup of Kaff, and walking away.

Khea is pleasently surprised when she notices the mousebots in the mess hall. Of course 20 bots are too much for a single Aslan, so the others are of course free to use them, too. Especially as with a crew this small there is no divide between the ranks.

Other than for the the meals Khea either locks herself inside engineering to keep an eye on the engines or is busily rearranging all furniture inside her cabin several times.

Sam spends a lot of the jump locked in her room, apparently trying to learn some sort of instrument, but its not quite clear what as she isn't playing it well.

When out and about she is very sociable, happy to chat, unless there is work to be done in which case she is all business.

About mid way through the jump, she tries to persuade everyone to attend a party. Something to break the monotony a little, and hopefully help people gel better. She offers to provide the booze.

ooc
Can't think of how you RP learning Carouse mid-jump, unless you have a party! We can RP it if people like, but as its kind of an office do in the office, its not gonna get that wild.

I'm assuming we're not a 'dry' ship?

Also, I'm assuming that in Jump they'll still be at least one of us as Duty officer in rotation, just to check up nothing bad is happening to the ship - ie monitoring readouts etc on the bridge?

Pablo was immediately up for the party, thinking it would be an excellent opportunity for Khea to show everyone how to use the mousebots. The idea of everyone chasing around little robots fleeing madly in all directions laden with warm spiced yet uncooked meat seemed hilarious. He just hoped that the Aslan would forgive him for microwaving the meat before he actually ate it, should he successfully nab one of the little beasts.

As the week passes, and over meals, training and other shindigs...Count Cromwell continues to feel a bit more comfortable with his comrades, although at times, he does have to catch himself at being too stiff or aloof.

Although the ship has more than its fair share of stewards...Count Cromwell spends alot of his time trying, in normal Imperial noble fashion, incorporating classes about Imperial life and it´s benefits....

Generally that means he´s sitting alone in the recroom most of the time, but when someone does happen to stop by...they always get a good and entertaining experience...and hopefully learn something about the Imperium and how he personally sees it.