On arrival at Lone Pine, you find the vessel awaiting in orbit. It is a little different from what you expected, but it is set up to look like a Regular Gashidda, complete with a Giriian IFF for a long range patrol craft. The scan signature even matches. The cash you get to knoeep in case it is needed.

Choices for crew? You could perhaps pick some of Cyril's old crew...or new members is Chris is interested.

AK Explorer Gashidda, 400 dTon Close Structure

(1.6G/Move:370, dDR:90, dHP: 65, Cargo Space: 4 dTons, Jump Range: 2 Parsecs, SM:+9)
Crew:39, Life Support:40, Food Production: 30, 2 Workshops, Robofac, 2 Bed Hospital, 3 Laboritories, Survey Module

2x AK APC, 1x AK Miniminer, 1x AK Modular Fuel Drone Skimmer, 1x AKHB Recovery, 1x AKHB Surveyor

Weapons: 9xBeam, 1xMissile, 2xSandcaster

18 Oct 2184, Sukun, $87,545,300

OOC: Me?

In reply to Bonny Taching (msg # 2):

If you want an extra character...

Sure. Want to PM the set up to me, please?

In reply to Bonny Taching (msg # 4):

Can do. Potential blank slate, or I can do up the basics. What interests you?

Opposite of Bonny, so let's see how I manage with aguy, an Exec or gun bunny, depending on vacancies/ slots. For the latter I was thinking of Amos from the Expanse. And yes, please, if you're happy to do the basics for me, then I'll tweak and tune.

An exec would be great, and if it's a guy, hopefully he is at least somewhat attractive, nice and  ummm similarly inclined.
Captain* Gloria Flake has been living a deprived life of late. She would likely flaunt the rules against fraternization with the right guy.

*As in Naval type Captain, one level below Admiral.

AK Explorer Gashidda, 400 dTon Close Structure

(1.6G/Move:370, dDR:90, dHP: 65, Cargo Space: 4 dTons, Jump Range: 2 Parsecs, SM:+9)
Crew:39, Life Support:40, Food Production: 30, 2 Workshops, Robofac, 2 Bed Hospital, 3 Laboritories, Survey Module

2x AK APC, 1x AK Miniminer, 1x AK Modular Fuel Drone Skimmer, 1x AKHB Recovery, 1x AKHB Surveyor

Weapons: 9xBeam, 1xMissile, 2xSandcaster

18 Oct 2184, Sukun, $87,545,300

Captain Flake sees some immediate issues:
39 crew (assuming that includes her and Lois) and yet the abiliy to only produce food for 30? A mandatory rotating diet program?
Likewise Life support is very minimal.
She isn't so thrilled with the rest of the Stats either, thinking back to some earlier ships she had commanded.
But they would not have been seen as a simple exploration vessel either.

I'll ask for some additional clarification of mission from local officials.

In reply to Gloria Flake (msg # 8):

The vacancies are fairly wide-ranging, with 5 troops being included in the compliment, as well as scientists, medics and usual crew members. You can define the types of labs, but recommended options are Biological and Chemical are recommended. The skimmer drone can be a remote controlled one of you choose, as could the mini-miner.

The food vats are very large, but would take up too much space to fit a full supply. A custom ship would suit better, but any Vilani meetings would make your origins immediately obvious. Some extra food will need to be found with away teams.

The plan is to explore along the Vilani border, ranging as far from the border as you choose, in order to seek out other barbarians that might be suitable allies to open other fronts against the Vilani.

Other option would be a modified Shamshir, but this would be recognized pretty much on sight as a stolen Vilani warship, and usually attacked as barbarian. Hence, this would not be able to visit Vilani space, and with it's low speed, it could not outrun more powerful ships should it encounter them.

AK Explorer Shamshir, 1000 dTon Flattened Sphere
(2.6G/Move:3272, dDR:100, dHP: 92, Cargo Space: 11.5 dTons, Jump Range: 2 Parsecs, SM:+10)
Crew:74, Life Support:80, Food Production: 80, 4 Workshops, 2 Robofacs, 5 Bed Hospital, 4 Laboratories, Survey Module
1x AK Modular Speeder, 2x AK APC, 2x AK Miniminer, 1x AK Modular Fuel Drone Skimmer, 1x AKHB Fighter, 1x AKHB Recovery, 1x AKHB Surveyor
Weapons: 21xBeam, 1xMissile, 2xSandcaster,
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:00, Wed 13 Apr 2022.

As much as I want y old Shamshirs, they aren't appropriate to the mission.
We will keep the Gashidda; could we create a slightly larger cargo area, so we can store more food as well as biological and geophysical supplies. 4 tons just isn't enough for everything. Would an AK 2 to 4 foot extension be all that noticable?

Drone says it is remotely controlled or preprogrammed with an over ride option.
Th Miniminer would probably be better as a human controlled device, as we aren't really mining as much as collecting samples.

Labs would most likely be  Geophysical, Biological [botany and biology] and Chemical.

In reply to Gloria Flake (msg # 10):

Agree about the choice of vessels. Extensions just increase the chance of being noticed. Don't forget many of the small craft have some cargo capacity as well. The vatfac food may keep you alive, but most folk tire of it pretty fast , so most would want some supplies as well. Unused bunks can also hold some items to, and the Robofacs (there is also one on the recovery ball) can manufacture a lot as well. Chemistry Labs can also make small amounts of chemical supplies as needed.

I get all that. How much space does this vat fac take up?

How are the sleeping arrangements set up?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:11, Wed 13 Apr 2022.

In reply to Gloria Flake (msg # 12):

Vatfac takes up 20 dTons per 20 persons fed, from memory. You have 30 state rooms and a bunk room of 10, so most get a state room to themselves.

Of course, multi-tasking individuals will enable you to reduce the number on board...to a point. Breakdown as follows:
Command: 5 (Captain, Navigator, Pilot, Engineer, Comms)
Security/Troops: 6, include 4 for turrets, Weapons repair, command
Engineering: 5 (Specialists Fusion, Jump, Life Support, Robofac, Hull)
Flight crews/small craft pilots: 9 (include 6 pilots, 2 mechanics, 1 flight controller)
Scientists: 11 (includes 2x 4 man survey module crews, and one specialist per lab)
Cook: 1
Medics: 2

Total: 39
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:02, Thu 14 Apr 2022.

Who is my sensor  operator?  a Criticl position in my thinking.
Lois doesn't yet have a job, but will. right now she is Midshipman Alley. She has a lot to learn.
I will presume she doesn't mind working for the Terran navy, given the way the Vilani treated her.

In reply to Gloria Flake (msg # 14):

No, she does not mind getting away from the Vilani at all. Given her time with Terran medical researchers, she would qualify as a nurse, with some desert survival skills. But she was also a capable Aerospace pilot, so she would fit as one of them. In fact, in trying her out, she is a naturally talented pilot. But she still uses her old slug thrower, while most human explorers use energy weapons that do not require ammo.

Operators would be selected with skill of 15 in their primary skills.

Edit: Updated the Players Vessels to reflect. That look right?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:40, Thu 14 Apr 2022.

Looks about right as best I can tell, although vry tired right now.

Lois can fit in as one of the medics for now, but will also get more training as the ships back up pilot.
No Dr aboard? Was hoping to also train her as a nurse-midwife and nurse practitioner ... it is likely to b a long flight ;-)

If you need specific crew, those you retired could be put aboard. The Hoolihans and Jamshid khalani.
Time wise it may be iffy, but who s going to track it?
Need to know who the exec is... or if Chris is doing something I'll be patient.
The ship design is very , very tight right now and we are likely going to have issues with space for any additional folks.

Captain's cabin is a single as are the other two officers; the Exec, who will also have an additional duty, Like Navigation or Engineering.
Officers are Cdr, Exec/Nav and Engineering.
Warrent Officers are Comms.Sensors,  Pilot and Flight Controller.
Petty officers are Security Section Leader; Senior Medic; One for the Fusion/jump section and One for Life Support/Hull,  and the two 20 ton ship pilots and One Mechanic.

the remaining are crew, excepting the Scientific Specialists who get paid on a different basis and have no command authority.
Officers are one per cabin
Warrents are two per cabin
Petty Officers are two per cabin excepting the Chief Medic who gets a single cabin off of sick bay.
The 14 other ranks are 4 to a cabin excepting the cook and the medic who share a cabin (due to odd hours of work).
The senior Scientific lead gets a single cabin, all others share a two person cabin.

Thus optimally, that requires 19 Cabins, but gender and other issues  (families, compatibility issues or women with children) will likely require a few more. The ship has 25 Cabins and a storage area that can be rigged with 10 bunks if needed. 5 Cabins are now locked storage for medical, scientific  or ships supplies (freeze dried food etc).
This should significantly increase or cargo space/tonnage although it may be more awkward to load and access.

Acceptable?

In reply to Gloria Flake (msg # 16):

2 Medics, both assumed Doctors of differing specialties. As a pilot, she can also double as a nurse...

I will have to go through the crew from Cyril and see. Perhaps Tanya as Navigator, though not Duke I think. He would be stuck in a lab somewhere.

We can say the ship actually has 10 double and 10 single cabins and a bunkroom for 10, as staterooms can be double or single, but single will be half the size, but I think all will be needed. The small craft have better expansion for supplies...

OK, so Medic means different things to us. medic to me is someone with 10 to 28 wks of traingin and who is NOT a Dr.  US Army Medics are advanced First Aid providers, US Navy and Marine medics get far more trainging and have performed successful appendectomies and the like.

Lois can go either way, what is her piloting skill?
Tanya could be Navigator, but if I recall, she was a Comms and Sensor's specialist. Given our mission, that could easily be an officer position.

I am going to guess a double stateroom/Cabin will be a 12x12 foot or 3.6 meter square with beds, desk(s),closet/cabinets for storage and a small bathroom. we could have 2 differing sizes of Doubles too. A 3 by 3 meter for officers and a 4x4 meter for the captaain BUT he does need an office separate. The Captains office is for official duties/discipline hearings or speaking wth other officials in private.

Other officers get a double sized cabin with only one bed. We would seem to benefit from two different sized double cabins here.

A single Cabin is about 2 meters wide by 3 long and probably shares a (separate) bathroom with another single cabin.

I had a quadruple cabin, which was a double with double bunks on each side, 4 closests/chests and a bathroom for the crew. The Bunks could fold up for space reasons. It's a sleeping and bathing only with a common area for reading, talking, games and the like.

With only 10 doubles, they have to move into the bunk room, which at 10 bunks is too small. Needs to hold 12+. (potential gender issues here) or two or three smaller bunk rooms.

Not sure how to handle the sceintific crew, but for the moement will consider they all get a single cabin.

So I come up with:
Captain                   1 single as office and one double as cabin
Officers                   3 Doubles
Warrent officers     2 Singles
Petty Officers         4 Doubles Shared.
Crew                         1 Bunk room for 12+   Or 3 Double Cabins with double occupancy [2 per single or 4 per double].
Scientific Crew      11 Singles?
Medic station           1 double [sickbay] and 2 singles for the medics
Kitchen                      2 singles?  I for cooking and one for sleeping.
Thus we end up with 9 doubles, 18 singles and a need for 12+ bunk spaces in multiple rooms.

10 and 10 doesn't work well

OOC: Is Brutus due to be inhabiting this thread?

Brutus? a Security person? Uh Oh! sounds like a GESTAPO type. Vee vish to ask you a few questions

"Officer and professionally trained Beam Gunner, in case you didn't know, and talk to my mother about the name," replies Brutus with a strained smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:31, Fri 15 Apr 2022.

Sh shakes her head... No, I am sure she had very good reasons. I apologize for making fun of your name, I understand what a pain it can be, believe me growing up as a Glorious Flake was no fun. So you head the security Team?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:04, Sat 16 Apr 2022.

Looking uncomfortable for a moment he replies, " fine name, if I may say so. Yes, ma'am."

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OOC: This is a military vessel?