Sir Walter walked on to the vessel and headed towards the bridge. "Where is everyone?" he asked "We have a serious problem. For some reason my traders license has been suspended and found out when I tried to sell the cargo. What is going on? Where is the Count?"

The Aslan flag flying over the base is the unified Council flag. Presumably they sent a delegation to Outpost to protest the Imperial Base... in person. Without communication, though, Khea can't find out who is actually there.


Walter has actually had a bit more luck. Apparently, shortly after his visit to his sister, her license was also suspended, as was his parents. They are trying to find out why, and have channels they can pursue.

His sister, however, gave him a communicator of one of her friends' daughter--with both of their permission, of course. As long as he doesn't try using his name or comm ID, it should be good.


It's finally sunk it to Vonon that what's going on is really just nuisance effort. Nothing is serious enough to actually result in getting the whole crew arrested... or the ship impounded. The only think that might have done that is if the contraband would have been syanite (a deadly nerve gas). If that had, been the case, however, they would have hit the ship with an entire squadron of marines! It's akin to someone putting a bag of poop on your doorstep and the setting the bag on fire and ringing your doorbell.

It's more serious than a practical joke, but it has that element to it.


Darrel is having a hard time getting a read on the situation. On the one hand, it seems as if Kenzi just doesn't like the nobility... yet, at the same time, he's not getting any sense that it's personal... more like she's echoing someone else's.

She's not smug or satisfied with the Count's problem. It's just business as usual.

That's another point: for her to do what she did based on a tip, that tip would have had to come from someone she trusted or respected.

<Bridge>

Sam swivelled her chair round to face Walter and Kaengarr.

"I was Space Patrol, not Navy, Kaengarr, but I might be able to see if theres's anyone around here I now - if we can get comms up and running"

Swivelling to Walter "Some one here doesn't like us, we've just been inspected on some bull stuff tip off. I don't know if the other have encountered similar problems, as Comms are limited to about 100 metres, and we can't get access to the station comms, because someone has it in for us. I'll stay here, if you guys want to try and find the others and find out more. Mightn't hurt to have at least one other set of eyes here tho"

ooc
Kaengarr, Sam is on the Bridge so assuming you're all back there now? Might it help if we started inserting Headers with Ships locations on? as I did above?

Also, my understanding is Space Patrol is more like Space Police rather than part of the Navy?
Also on hols with crap WIFI - may be a bit intermittant

The Count realizes that further confrontation wasn't in the group's best interest, but, he always wasn't going to allow such an insult to go unanswered, "Perhaps my suspicions were somewhat exaggerated, however, that still doesn't excuse this lack of professionalism nor the blatant disregard for protocol, just because an Imperial noble is aboard...would this have happened to a regular ship? Your personal feelings aside, is this how people are treated as equals here?"

Darrel's tone is calm, but, it's obvious he's trying to suss out, if this is something concerning him personally or is it the ship.

"And this tip, is there anyway to find out who provided this baseless charge, it's common practice to be able to face your accuser."

  I figured it was the bridge unless we have another designated area for meetings?

  Kaengarr still hadn't received any answers about what had happened on Grendal and the repeated evasions were a growing concern in light of their current predicament, but for the moment he decided to set that aside with a shake of his head and a low growl. "Comms won't be secure to talk to them and without comms or station information we'd be reduced to wandering around blind if we went to look for the others."

  He lightly smacked a fist into his palm, then continued to speak with a hard stare toward the main hatch followed by a more businesslike look at everyone present. "Here's what I think: Samantha, Vonon, and Walter, you go to the naval offices in person. Even if you don't know anyone there, you talk the language, your ranks mean something, and you can be sure of who you're speaking to. If that gets results, great. If not, at least we get more eyes on our situation in case something else happens. I'd rather go too but we need to keep the ship locked down so that's what Khea and I will do until someone comes back."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Wed 08 June 2016.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 115):

Outside the ship, in the docking bay, Vonon supervises the two repair drones making the final service connections...

And waits several moments...

Waits several more...

Then growls the sub-vocal command that opens his comm-dot linked communicator.

"Ahoy Longshot! Vonon calling." he says, frowning at the last connecting cable, "I just finished hooking us up to starport services, and absolutely nothing is happening! I mean nothing. The power link didn't activate, the liquid waste removal didn't start pumping, and the commlines are completely dead."

"Between this and that bogus inspection, I'm beginning to suspect we're getting the old Administrative Shuffle right up the backside! Did we piss somebody off, around here? Didn't Sir Walter say he knew people on this dump? Did he get the Mayors daughter pregnant and run out on his litter of pups, or what?"

"Because I'm telling you, as if you didn't know it, that it takes somebody up in Port Control to press a whole lot of buttons to shut down most of these automatic service functions. And just in case you didn't know it, in a sealed port facility, like this one, once a ship is authorized for a landing bay, all services for that bay are activated -- because once we use them, they can lock us in until we pay up. Well, we were let in - but now we're getting no services."

"Something about this whole set-up don't seem right. Like one of my Dames littermates used to say, 'I think somebody is pissing on our tree'".

  [ Bridge ]

  "I know you just went to the trouble, but unhook them. Less danger of something funny happening on this end and in their records," Kaengarr sighed as one more problem was added to their already-lengthy list.

  "Who do you know here, Walter? Anyone capable of pulling or countering all this?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Thu 09 June 2016.

<Bridge>
"Sorry, my parents retired and left the business to my sister five years ago." Sir Walter said. "I have not been home in over 30 years and have not written to them in the years since my divorce, other than a courtesy invitation when I got Knighted, so I do not know what is going on. " he added

"Did the Count mention where he was going? Maybe we can start from there and find out what is going on. Maybe grab the materials that we got from the undersea lab and take it to the Imperial naval base in the hopes that it will gain us admittance in case of an emergency."

  [ Bridge ]

  Walter's last words, along with the implications, drew Kaengarr's full and immediate attention. "What materials from what undersea lab?" he inquired, pronouncing each syllable slowly and carefully.

  To be kept in the dark about something like this was bad enough; worse was the possibility that someone in or with influence over the spaceport authority wasn't in the dark about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Thu 09 June 2016.

"I suppose they won't let us leave either. Otherwise I would suggest to fly the ship into orbit and only come planetside by launch."
Frustrated Khea shuts off her computer and starts pacing the bridge.

"So both you and Count have clan here. Now we need a way to contact them.

Stopping and looking at Walther she asked "Do you have a clan communicator? They can't have blocked that, could they?"
Not waiting for an answer she continues "Or we must find someone here in the station who lets us use his communicator"

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 120):

Down on the floor of the landing bay, Vonon growls in irritation at Kaengarr's instructions...but that doesn't eliminate the logic of the action.

"Dammit, I just got them all connected!" Vonon responded, "But, you're right. The last thing anyone wants is for some jackass to reverse the waste-fluid flow, and blow crap all over the lower deck."

Vonon turns his attentions to the waiting drones.

"Alright, boys, take 'em all back down and pack 'em away, nice and neat. Just the way you found them."

Sam nodded to Kaengarr. "Seems like a reasonable plan. I'm happy to head out with Walter and Vonun. I suggest we head to the tech bay on this dock level and see if we can't persuade someone to press the right buttons for us. If it needs more than that, we'll check back in hear first."

She stood up and stretched, and said "ready when you guys are"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Fri 17 June 2016.

[Bridge]

"Sorry, you were not there so for the time being, forget I said that." Sir Walter said to Kaengarr. "It might be why we are having a problem but the less you know, the better. That way you might not need to repeat it in a court of law."



"Leaving is not an option until we get this cleared up and I would like to know who authorized it as they did not notify me in writing as to why it was suspended nor how to appeal it. Is it just for Outpost, the sub-sector, sector, etc?" Sir Walter said, adding the various laws that applied to trade.

"Sorry, no communicator." Sir Walter said "If we leave the vessel, we need to make sure that it is fully secured and only the crew can access it. Since the customs agents have left, program the bots to only allow passage by us and that non-lethal force is authorized on non-crewmembers until further notice." he said

"Vogon, can you see about programing them for guard duty before we go looking for the others once you are finished disconnecting"


Once things are set, "Lets head out." Sir Walter said

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 123):

[Out in Landing Bay]

"Vogon, can you see about programing them for guard duty before we go looking for the others once you are finished disconnecting" Walter sends.

Vonon growls a little bit in irritation - this isn't the first time...

Activating his comm, Vonon responds, "Vonon, here, Sir Walter - I'm afraid I'm not a drone operator; I couldn't program them to do squat. These guys are sophisticated enough to accept vocal commands, but only simple ones. Without computer control, they still need to be supervised - like I'm doing now."

"If everyone's going to leave the ship, the best we can do is seal the ship and activate the anti-hijack systems." Vonon continues, watching the Diefenbaker drone drag the waste removal conduit back across the floor, "Then only we can get back aboard - 'cuz we'll have the access codes."

"Out here, the laws apply to everyone, even the spoiled nobility," Kenzi replies to Darrel. "If we had a credible tip that any ship might be carrying contraband cargo, the same thing would have happened to it. This is a confined facility. We aren't spread out over half a continent. If the contraband was harmful, it could affect thousands of people. So, yeah, that's standard protocol."

"I have no 'personal feelings' in this matter. I have a responsibility to this facility and to the people that live here. If by 'equals', you mean someone who actually works for a living, then clearly that doesn't include you, does it?"

"You could have come in here and acted like a reasonable human being, but, noooo! You had to try and throw your weight around like you are somebody IM-PO-TENT. And how far did that get you?"

"No one accused you, Count. And I'm under no obligation to reveal my confidential informants to you or anyone else."

So Walter, Samantha and Vonon are heading out. Does that mean Kaengarr and Khea are staying behind? Or are  you going with them?


The group heads out of the docking bay. Things are a little more difficult without any sort of map of the base. However, you have no problem figuring out things as you go. The docking bays are set up in zones--outer, middle and inner. The outer bays are for larger ships, the inner bays for small ships. Each zone has an unmanned distribution control hub for the air, power, waste and communication systems for that zone. The main manned control is in the center of the starport.

Once you reach the habitat rings (the three inner rings), directories are posted all over the place. They are all electronic so that they can be easily changed as needed.

The starport tech center is on the lowest level, in the very center of the facility. It appears to be different from Starport Control, which is on the upper level, out in the third ring.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 126):

Vonon points at the electronic display that is showing the port facility map.

"That's the Operations Center," Vonon taps the screen, "That's where we'll find the tech-controllers who can activate services for our landing bay - but!" Vonon raises his finger in warning, "Those guys won't press any buttons without authorization from the Admins up here..." Vonon again taps the display with his finger, "...in Central Control."

"Normally the Techs won't do anything without authorization, however, this world having a Class-2 legal system, we might be able to convince them to help us - with the right incentive..." Vonon rubs his thumb across his finger tips.

"So, we can try to use this planet's lax legal system to influence the techs who control our landing bay, or we can go to Central Control and try to find out what is going on - and probably end up having to make a few...incentive payments...anyway.  So...who has control over the Ship Fund?"

Sam nodded as Vonun spoke. "I agree. My suggestion is the tech guys" she tapped the screen to show where "rather than Admin. Admin are paid more and generally more bureacratic so cost more and like to lord it over you. The Tech guys are usually a bit more pragmatic. And if you offer them enough " she glanced at Vonun, and raised an eyebrow " incentive then they can often press other buttons that mean Admin don't realise they've helped us."

"Or who ordered it and maybe why" Sir Walter said. "I am hating even more that we meet Ms Blue in the first place."

"We need to buy some communicators on our way to keep in contact with each other and to contact a representative of the Imperium clan for aid.

Khea makes sure to equip for combat with two guns, several reloads and her armor in addition to taking her computer and breather mask. The rest of her stuff she hides around the ship.

"And if we are all to leave we should leave a message if the others come back"

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 130):

"Maybe not." Vonon responded to Khea, "Whoever wants us isolated in that landing bay simply stopped us from accessing the computer network shopping service - so we couldn't purchase access to the local comm-networks from aboard ship. But maybe now that we're out and about, we can simply purchase access from a local vendor? You know, those transient network access cards? We'll only be able to buy a day at a time, but we'll have access."

"I mean, I can't imagine that whoever is messing with us could possibly have our personal comm-codes, yet - except, maybe for you, Sir Walter... But, no, you said you haven't been here in years. Frell! Now that I think on it, though, I might be in their system - I passed through Outpost on my way to Grendal from Cassandra's Belt. It was only a two day layover, but I'm pretty sure I remember using my comm while I was here, so I must have bought access."

"Not sure but if they have been able to suspend my license to trade, they might have also blocked us from being able to access the banking system. It could also be that someone passed the word ahead of us from Grendal." Sir Walter said "We can try to see if we can access it but you might be stuck with what you have physically on you. Hell, I have a laser rifle in the armory that we can sell so we can get our own communicators."

"I would have come in here very pleasant and charming, but, just because I am who I am, being spoiled and im-po-tent, we think that is why my crew and ship were treated unfairly. I am rightfully upset that my position is held against me, I suppose who's the one being vilified here? I guess that having achieved some measure of success through hard "work" that I don't deserve respect. Perhaps you know that feeling?"

Takes a seat, "So, let's try the reasonable approach...the sooner we can conclude our business on Outpost, the sooner we can leave."

Leans back, "Of course, that shortens my effort to figure out why certain events have been happening, outside the normal realm of possibility..but, not being welcome, I don't want to be a burden."

Turns towards Sharik, "You got all this, OK, log and register. Ms. Muran, Honestly, we came here for specific reasons, and although I shouldn't, I do apologize for my paranoid nature...if you had a month like mine, you would understand. I am not your enemy, as much as I come off as a spoiled, im-pot-ent, Imperial noble. I honestly don't care, my crew and my ship were unfairly treated, I unwisely decided to be an asshole. Fair enough?"" "
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Tue 21 June 2016.

Half to herself Khea mutters "Trading a rifle for comms. Are you sure you are not a very small Aslan?"

"Maybe in a past life but more likely "Practical" given the current situation." Sir Walter said.