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.