Kat will also try a mug of it.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 897):

The taste is much like, well, cow manure, but with a little bit of sweetness.

I'll have to take your word on what cow manure tastes like ... sweet or otherwise.

Duke, having his mind focussed on the bolts and cables of the ship was fairly distant in terms of socialising, but he did risk taking a sip of the native's drink before spitting it out and wiping it from his mouth.

"Pass me some of that stuff, Kat" he said indicating her homebrew that he could use to wash out his mouth.

In reply to Raymond 'Duke' Vurhund (msg # 900):

The natives laugh.

They explain in writing that it is from fermented animals gut. You are not familiar with the animal, so they bring one to the ship. It is like a very woolly mammoth, but the size of a cow...clearly suited to this very cold climate, and it's fur makes it surprisingly hard to see. They apparently farm them.

Anyone get up to anything else while repairs are being done, of should we move forward up to two months, or the next even, whichever occurs first?

Lets move on...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 902):

As the time passes, you get to learn that the natives are actually a peaceful folk. Referring to themselves as Talz, you find that Talz are gentle, kind-hearted beings who are slow to anger, but dangerous when the time is taken to anger them. They learn fairly quickly, possibly due to their short life span which they try hard to make the most  of. You do develop the chance to learn their language, though it is hard to speak it due to their odd proboscis they use, which also make it completely impossible for them to speak any language other than their own. As such, they take to writing remarkably quickly, and are probably about TL 3 by the time you leave them. Their bodies are quite different to humans, and they excrete a strong acid from their proboscii before sucking it back up again, with any food dissolved into it. The therefor have no teeth or even jaws as such, and their proboscii are actually very acid resistant, but the rest of their bodies no more so than usual. You also learn much about the frigid planet environment and how to survive there.

As the word gets out about the establishment, the numbers of Talz here swell, reaching about 5,000 by the time you are ready to leave. They form a rudimentary governance system of elders, with each tribe coming represented by their chief. However, with nearly 200 tribes now, development of a better system of governance and sanitations due to greater growding than ever before become issues, and thay ask for information of how terrans dealt with such problems. They are just looking at plans of massive human cities and government structures when Duke announces that the Dastavka is ready to go. The date is 5th November 2171, and by this time, food supplies, despite being replenished from local food, is dwindling for humans, but happily, all injuries have been recovered from and everyone is back to full health, or as good as they are going to get. Even the Talz who had their throats cut and survived are alive and well.

Duke is very busy, too much to learn any of that nonsense though. He works hard to get all the power supplies running, preparing spare parts for anticipated breakdowns as well as finally getting Dastavka up and running again. The small Hero is quickly cannibalized for a myriad of spare parts, and the workshop practically emptied, but by the end of it, tunnels connect the small spread of turrets and the missile launch site, which is camouflaged in what looks to be a barn. He manages to get spare computers linking all the systems, and sensors spread widely that could detect and communicate with any incoming vessel, with several backups from the small craft that were in the maintenance shed, most of which suffered a similar fate to the Hero unless they could be made to work. Even his ladies have to wait, but as most of them are assisting him, that is not a problem as they are busy too. Natalie Svebodne gets child care duties, and thoroughly enjoys them!

No other sips were detected re-entering the system the entire time you were here.

OK, we need to get back to Aegir and report this place, get our ship properly repaired and to resupply, lets get our small craft aboard and head back vis Acquitane.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 904):

You say your goodbyes and board, the locals asking you to promise you will be back soon.

"So lay in a course for the uninhabited 1740, then Aquitaine, then Aegir, right sir?"

The engines start up, and everything seems to be operating normally as the craft waits for Kat to take control.

Duke was sitting back tugging the cork out of his special whisky getting ready to knock back a couiple of swigs. He'd set up some makeshift chair, that had been padded with cushions from his quarters, outside so that he could rest in between shifts with some semblance of social interaction. In reality, he'd just actively celebrated each daily victory with a tipple from his personal stock of golden ambrosia.

Truth told, Duke's mood had improved significantly with each day giving him opportunity to build things and make things work again and just lose himself in the vast array of metal and cables and engines and he'd taken time to ensure that everyone in the homestead was doing well too. His usually dry sense of humour, and levity had been gentled around the edges and the man had become much more capable of being thoroughly friendly to all those around him.

He'd even taken a liking to the natives that were constantly surrounding the crew and their people. They couldn't talk properly, except for their noisy beeping style chatter but with hand gestures and typing and the translator things went along pretty well. By the end of the time there, he'd also grown fond of them in a vaguely paternal kind of way.

"Now here you see.." he said into the translator indicating the weapon system he'd just finished building. "When you have problem... point this there" he continued tweaking some of the controls to make it move.

"Press this... and then no more problem" he avoided wasting the explosive missile  but   opened his hands and waved widely to indicate the resulting explosion that would follow.

"Best way to deal with annoying buggers, eh? he said adding a chuckle.




As they headed off, Duke watched the natives and felt a pang of loss before heading back to Alexei and the kid.

In reply to Tanya Weaver (msg # 905):

Correct

Kat will say goodbye to any locals she got to know and make sure the Dastavka to go and what for the Captain to give the order. she can't wait to get back into space. She can't remember being on a planet for so long.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 908):

"Course laid in Captain."

The large vessel lifts off as Duke rushes around, checking that everything is behaving normally.

It is, and as Dastavka lifts off into a low orbit, before departing for the jump point, Gun checks the sensors, and then rechecks them.

"Captain, I took the liberty of finishing the system scan while we were grounded, and even took the ships boat to do a planetary survey for a day or two. But now we are away from the planet, can I take 30 minutes to double check some details?"

Yes, lets hold here and let Gun finish his scan... everyone stay alert for intruders.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 910):

Gun finishes his scan without incident. This system is most unusual, with three stars in the center that rotate in about a point in the centre of them. There are three planets in the habitable zone, the outer one of them you are very familiar with. The other two do not appear inhabited, though the middle one also has an atmosphere, albeit a very thing one, but no visible water. He does not find any sign of other ships in the system either.

Tanya has the jump location laid in, well outside of the planets orbits. By the time Gun is finished, Kat has you almost there.

We execute the jump, carefully survey our location and scan for trouble, refuel and jump for Acquitane.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 912):

The jump to 1540goes without a hitch, and a week later you emerge in the alien system. Initial scans reveal no trouble, but as you are refueling, you detect an imminent arrival from hyperspace, coming from a section of space as yet unexplored, but seemingly Labrysian.

OK, How long before we can jump? We are short missiles and handicapped by limited power. Not a time to fight if it can be avoided. Let's head for a jump point for Acquitane as far from the incoming as possible.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 914):

You have enough fuel to jump immediately due to Dastavkas large tanka. As you head over there, a Labrysian patrol of A cruiser and frigate come through. Seeing you running, they ask if everything is OK.

"Luv, lets find out if they are with us or against us."

Tell them yes, had a battle with pirates and suffered some damage which we have repaired.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 917):

"Out here? If we catch them, we will be sure to deal harshly with them. Especially now our war is over, thanks in no small part to Terrans including yourselves. Can you describe how we can identity them?"

Gun, Can you send them a sensor report on the Lightening?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 919):

Gun types away for a minute or so, then pauses.

"Report sent, sir. All we have on them."

Good job, thanks
This message was last edited by the player at 23:48, Tue 17 Apr 2018.