"Ready to off load the cargo Captain Vonon, we need to do this fast and get out of here!" He arms himself on top of his company blue/grey uniform to make it so.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:26, Sun 21 June 2020.

Just keep the launch hovering over us and if anyone comes into sight we use the ships laser turret. That would keep them at bay.

No matter, I am surprised how smooth this is going so far. From all the stories told about them I never expected them to let us go down here unsupervised. We could unload all kind of smuggling goods if we wanted to."

"Nah," Pablo chimed in after looking at the screens. "They aren't close enough to reach us before we unload the pallet. They can't even sprint that far that fast."

"They'd have to have at least a horse. Don't see any of them. I am kind of surprised that they don't have a least a primitive vehicle. Don't need petroleum. Ethanol will work just fine. Iron works best but the first carriages were made of wood."

"We may be interpreting their presence incorrectly. They may have a pressing need for these supplies and want to get them as quickly as possible. Maybe the medicines."

"As much as I'd like to stay and... 'investigate', I'm not really keen on interfering with the Invermory government."

"Ordinarily, Khea, you'd have a point. But that's Walter's reputation on the line. Besides, what would we smuggler in? Diapers? Toilet paper? Mignyl chorts? Wait! I know, we could smuggle in an... oboe!"

"Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!"

"Energy weapons, generators, drugs, a frozen body from a low berth to exchange for a prisoner so that there is no difference in life signs, things like that."

"Energy weapons... so they could shoot themselves?" Valeska mocks Khea a bit.

"The government might even thank us for that!"

"Generators to run... what? Their non-existent vehicles? Lights that they probably don't have?"

"What kind of drugs? We just brought them medicine. Give them something they can get addicted to so they can't get a new supply? Almost as good as energy weapons. Prolong? Let them live a miserable life for another hundred years?"

"If you think about it, this is the perfect prison. It doesn't need any guards, it doesn't need any walls, it doesn't need any maintenance. I think the people that created this prison were expecting the prisoners to resort to total anarchy and just kill each other. I couldn't find any information on the current status. Other than what can seen from orbit, they have no idea what goes on here. I suspect that's because if they don't know, they don't have to care."

In reply to Valeska Brandenberg (msg # 40):

[On Coventry.  Supply Drop Site.]

     "The idea of keeping an eye out for anyone getting too close is a good one, however I suspect that Pablo is probably correct, that folks on foot will take some time to get here--BUT!"

     Vonon raises a furry finger,

     "Remember the Contract!  NO interaction with the locals--not even accidental!  If they find us, we run!  So.  Nobody leaves the ship."

     "So.  No Perimeter Patrols...." Vonon points back-and-forth, between Serge and Jack.

     "And No Overflights..." Vonon shifts his pointing towards Khea, "While the Last Chance, with its lasers, could easily hold off a big crowd, it will just as easily draw that same crowd to us, hovering around, above us.  So, no."

     Vonon swings his arm around to point at Pablo,

     "Chief Gunner!  Report to the Dorsal Turret and ready for Ground Defensive Action, Alert Status Yellow.  Do not fire upon anything without orders from the Bridge, or from me, directly!  You will not be incinerating any Tweety Birds with a Tactical Weapon..." Vonon shows his fangs to his old friend, "...again!"

     Vonon lowers his arm as he turns around to look at Sam,

     "Chief Pilot, remain at your station and keep the engines at Standby--in case we have to make an Emergency Launch."

     Vonon turns to Sharik,

     "Chief Astrogator, I need you to 'swap caps' and run Sensors.  Set a Proximity Scan out to three kilometers, with sensitivity that will pick up movement of anything larger than a Human infant.  Be sure to exclude a zone within one-hundred meters of the ship--so we don't set off an alarm, as we unload the ship.  I know at that sensitivity you're going to be picking up on a lot of local fauna, just be sure it's humanoid, before you relay the sensor feed to the targeting system in Dorsal Turret."

     "Pablo!  A warning shot, first, please, if you get the authorization to fire.  If they run away, let them.  If not....Tweety Bird time."

     "Everyone else, report to the Cargo Bay to assist with Unloading Operations.  Sidearms are required, people!  So go get'em, if you ain't already got'em." Vonon slaps the holster of his 10mm Heavy Autopistol, in emphasis, "Then get down to the Cargo Bay."

     "Oh!  Wait!" Vonon suddenly calls out, turning to look back at Sharik and Sam,

     "We wanted to try and time our landing at the ruins for just about sunset, over there.  We've got local meteorological data, so--how long do we have to milk this unloading for?  Or do we need to get the frack out of here toot-quick?"

- I recommend starting scanning the radio on all frequencies, in case the locals got portable radio stations, - Serge said.

Then Serge walked into the Cargo bay with a stunner on his hip and a gauss rifle which he put in a nearby locker within the reach of a jump.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:44, Mon 22 June 2020.

Sylvester began unloading as quickly as he could.

Sir Walter helped coordinate the unloading to avoid bottlenecks.

The estimate for unloading was one hour, though it was expected to take only about 15 minutes.

The cargo was two plastech cargo pallets, not containers (which could be used as shelters). A grav-jack was needed to move the pallets.

The cargo doors are all ventral, but they are variable configurations. They can be split down the middle and swing down as a pair of cargo doors, or one end can be lowered to make the entire deck a ramp, or the entire deck or half a deck can be lowered on hydraulics.

The first option is primarily for loading and unloading in zero-gee, the second option is for rolling stock, and the third option is for planetary loading and unloading. The cargo deck drops down to the ground and a grav-jack is used to move the cargo pallets off the deck and out onto the ground.

The process can be done quickly in an emergency, but 15 minutes is normal for safety issues. Lowering the cargo deck to the ground, releasing the pallets from the deck and making sure they don't shift, then using the grav-jack to move them.

The only reason it might take an hour is if there was equipment malfunction. If there was, it wouldn't be detectable from orbit. If the problem couldn't be fixed within an hour, then the cargo would just be dumped.


Once the pallets are on the ground, there is a mechanism that will launch a flare into the sky in three hours. Additionally, a flashing light beacon will also activate.

The landing had been worked out to be one hour before dusk. So you can depart at any time within the next two hours and still be able to visually spot the Iltharan ruins.


Just as the last pallet is put onto the ground, the grav-jack returned to the ship and the cargo deck is raising, Sharik picks up a blip on the sensors. At first, it registered as a bird, albeit a fairly large bird, because it was flying. Once she turns the camera on it, however, she can see that it is a woman using a hang-glider. Further enhancement shows that it is a rather primitively built hang-glider that is never the less functional.

It approaches cautiously... or maybe it appears that way just because of the wind currents and updrafts that it has to fly on. It never gets closer than about half a mile, though, and continues to circle the area.

When they finish getting the cargo off, Sylvester stows the jack and resets the cargo hold to ready for lift off. He then heads to engineering to help with take-off, manning the console in with the maneuver drives.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Mon 22 June 2020.

Sam says "Aye Capn" to Vonun and sits in her seat whilst everyone around them gets moving. She flashes a smile at Sharik "One of the advantages of being a pilot, you miss out on some of the humping and dumping if it looks like a quick exit may be needed." She sighs theatrically "Its a trial but I'll struggle through..."

Sam keeps an eye on the engines and other flight systems, keeping powered up enough for a quick exit if needed, but with her practiced eye she can do that fairly easily as well as look at Shariks station "ANy bogeymen approaching?"

Sylvester buckles up for lift off making sure the maneuver drive and power plant were running at 100% efficiency and within parameters.

Indy went down to the cargo bay to assist as best as she could - which wasn't very much - then returned to the communications console in the bridge ready to man the radio.

She expected there might be quite a flurry of traffic once they headed for the main site... and especially if the authorities got wise.

So it was time to come up with some plausible excuses.

Sylvester made his way to the galley for coffee for the launch. He thought he looked good in Vonon's blue/grey uniform with his Imperial medals attached. When done, he went back to his console and strapped back in, sipping on his Kaffe.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Tue 23 June 2020.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n." the auburn-haired astrogator noted easily, she swapped out a set of displays bringing the sensor feeds to the fore and pushing the navigation feeds to the background.  Shar kept an eye on the streaming data from computer core and the constant calculations that she had running there - various vectored escape routes on order.  Just in case.

As she surveyed the various sensor feeds, the young astrogator hummed a light tune until the hand-gliding blip resolved itself.  At that point the diminutive asian's burgundy lips were pursed for a moment.  "Vo," she noted, as her head jerked towards the main display where she'd pushed the visual feed onto, "Looks like we have a bogey about ... about a click out."  As she studied the image, Sharik narrated, "Approaching - no, circling ... It's a winged.... a bird... no, scratch that.  Wind-powered aerial transport.  Local-made from the materials."

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, "A woman driving from size and build... "  She winked at Sam for a moment, as they both knew which gender made the best pilots, adding with a touch of playfulness, "Naturally."

"Single person." Shar judged from the size, "A scout, presumably."  And that elicited a glance in the direction of Indy at the comms console.  The astrogator based her observation on the size of the hand-glider and it's occupant.  There was no way that craft was going to haul off any significant portion of the supply drop on its own.

"Likely," the cosmopolitan ex-operative noted rather deadpan, "We've likely been spotted.  But I don't think that anyone can get here in time to affect the drop."  Though, she recognized that was the Captain's call more than hers.  But that was her educated guess.

With the cargo unloaded, Sir Walter documented that the cargo had been delivered at the assigned location before heading back to the bridge.

Sharik's comment caught his attention "Another thing to bring up with the authorities. Lets hope they have not come up with artillery or such. That "Scout" might be a spotter." he said, looking at the readout.

Sharik shrugged slightly at Walter's comment.  "Possible." she admitted tentatively, "But extremely unlikely to be aggressively hostile.  They want the supplies intact.  And the ship, in theory - if they could construct the means to piece the hull."  She sounded extremely skeptical that the local technology would make anything that could pierce a standard starship hull - let alone an additionally armoured one like the Longshot.

Still, prudence was likely in order - though she wasn't going to shoot down the hand-glider at this point.  "+++Those on lookout, stay frosty.  Let's get that drop done, ASAP.  The locals are likely to be aware of the dump location soon, if not already.+++"  Not that the crew wanted to linger and were dwaddling anyways.

And once the ramp doors were closed.  She figured the ship would be impervious to any local assault.  It would take burying the ship in a couple hundred tonnes of rock to slow it down.  Which would require the ship to be on the ground.  And the mountains weren't that close...

     Down in the cargo bay, Vonon is watching the cargo lift come up to seal the deck closed, when Sharik calls.

     Vonon presses the commdot stuck under his fur, on the left side of his throat,

^{COMM START>>>}  "On my way!" Vonon responds,

     "Wind-powered aerial scout vehicle?" he adds, as he rushes to the ship's lift, "I was raised on an asteroid station, Shar'r -- what the Hell are you talking about?  Is it armed?" ^{<<<COMM END}


OOC: the commdots -- 1 on his throat, 1 on his skull in front of his left ear -- are linked to his personal comm, on his belt

Khea is helping with the unloading, or rather she makes sure that subordinates unload it while still appearing to be part of the work
"Wind powered scout....
Guess as soon as we leave they will start warring over the supplies.

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 55):

"Undoubtedly, I'm sure it is not enough for all of them. The population will be growing."

Sharik seemed nonplussed by Vonon's urgency.  She loved her friendly captain's passion and urgency, but knew that it was likely to be unwarranted here.  Hopefully, it wasn't too much of a let down - and secretly she wondered about Vargr physiology and what type of adrenal response they were prone to.  So much so, that the diminutive ex-operative made a mental note to brush up on that later.

"It's a woman in a cobbled-together hand-glider..." Sharik explained simply when her terminology was questioned, and she pointed to the screen where the visual feed had been trained upon the circling aircraft - with the digital zoom used to focus and clean up the image, "There are no armaments that I can see.  And I would doubt that such a lightweight craft would be able to carry much in the way of weapons.  At least not at this tech level."  She kept her tone calm and even, appearing to be almost bored.

"That person would need a hell of an arm to reach the Longshot or the LZ with an muscle powered object." Sharik continued in an even, reassuring - almost dispassionate - tone, "They haven't approached within 800 meters of us."

"Grav-jack returned, Ramp up, Captain." Sharik noted dutifully, her eyes darting from the external to the internal sensor feeds and back, "We are ready to depart."  The auburn-haired astrogator turned slight from her station, to see when Vonon would give the order to depart to Sam.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 57):

     Vonon gets Sharik's report as he enters the ship's lift and heads up to Deck 1.

     "A Hang-Glider?  Oh--a Glidewing!  Yeah, we have those at the Zero-G Park, back home." Vonon responds, "Okay, so low threat potential.  Still, send the targeting data to Pablo."

     "Next--Pablo.  You'll be getting targeting data, I want you to track this target with all three lasers.  Do not fire--repeat-do not fire.  Just make a production of following them with the turret.  This just a warning, just intimidation.  Nothing more."

     "Okay--Sam.  The ship is secured from unloading operations.  Start your prelaunch checklist.  No hurry here, we kept the engines warm, so just run a standard sequence, then standby for my order."

     "Indy.  I'd bet good money that Guard Ship has been watching this whole time--so I want you to get ready to hail them, just as soon as we lift off.  I think we can use us reporting this...hang-glider...to them, as an excuse to make what appears to be a hurried take-off.  Which will explain why we're heading off over the mountains, between us and the ruins."

     The lift arrives at this point, and Vonon hurries forward to the Bridge, where he plops himself down in the command chair and straps in.

     "All stations report--are we ready for lift off?"

After the cargo door was sealed, Serge walked back to the bridge and took the place of the Second Pilot.

In reply to Serge Baklanov (msg # 59):

"Engineering ready for lift off." Sylvester says as he looks for Khea. He watches all of the controls on the console and all of the graphs and dials on the heads up display.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:50, Thu 25 June 2020.