Yas makes her way to the cargo hold, where she finds Ash and Tylen newly arrived, with a not-inconsiderable quantity of alcohol.  The two men are removing their cold weather jackets as the relative warmth of Profit Margin's hold envelopes them and welcomes them home.  Tylen is trying to contact Shui over the internal comm channel, without much success. 

On the Bridge, Jago is engaged in two different conversations, one with Jockram, and one with a representative of RTF...

And in Engineering Saskia prepares the ship to move to a safe distance from the local trouble makers...

"Welcome back, boys, time to take off," Yas says, making sure the hatch is closed.

"Seems the local mob wanted to make us an offer, but we're not biting.  We're not kicking their butt either, alas," she sighs and adds, "It would have been such a good field test of the suit, don't you think?"  Now she grins like a hungry shark.

“Thanks Jockram,” Jago chuckles quietly at the response, “I’ll let you know on that, meanwhile we’ll just be upstairs in orbit.”

“Thanks Tylen,” the Captain says as the Navigator and gunner check in, “ could you gear up in case of trouble, Ash, could you get up hear and start ‘preflights’ for me, we’ll be  heading for orbit as soon as Shui gets back, I’ll brief you in a minuet.”

“Thanks Yasmin,” Jago responds and relaxes a little, knowing the security officer is on the case.

“Thanks Saskia,” he acknowledges the Engineer, and her comment about fuelling.

Just Shui to go and he thinks he sees her emerging from the dome. Jago, leans back in his chair contemplating how luck is to have such a crew, but a lump in the chair poking into the small of his back reminds him they are not out of the woods yet.

Jago thumbs the intercom to the passenger lounge, “ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid that trouble with the natives has obliged me to return to orbit for a while, just as a safety precaution. We’ll be lifting of as soon as our doctor is back on board which I hope will be within the next ten minutes and once we’re up there I’ll be over to explain the situation. Sorry for any inconvenience, Jago out.”

That done, Jago leaves the bridge to Ash’s tender mercies and bustles off to find a coat and mask for his ‘walk around’.

OOC
I imagine that before any flight Jago will do a formal inspection of the outside of the ship, in this case he’ll need to make sure the covers placed over instruments are removed and ice hasn’t formed on vents or pitot tubes, he’ll hurry but won’t take short cuts, I’d say five min's at the most.

Tylen is just about to comment on Yases attire, when Jago's message comes through.  .. Gear up .. and  ..  When Shui gets back .."  stand out from the rest of the message and promptly wipes the smiles from Tylen's eyes.  His lips still curl upwards slightly,  but there is no humour behind the look.

"I'll be back ..."  Tylen grunts towards Yas, as he leaves the booze in a corner out of the way and heads inboard for the crew quarters.

When he returns he is dressed in his combat environment suit and carrying his laser carbine.  However, he still has a pair of revolvers at his waist and  the new shotgun slung over his shoulder.

"I got this down in town." he says holding up the new shotgun  "It is gonna need test firing soon ..." he comments.

"What?  She left ship?  Without letting anyone know, well, not me any way," Yas groans and shrugs in respons to Ty.

"You shouldn't need it, the idea is to be gone before the mob gets here.  And if you run into them you'd need more, like the suit, which I ain't wearing unfortunately.  I offered Jago to clean the place, but nooo..."

She grins again.

"So, what you pay for it then?  Too much?"

"Got a few other bits as well, but I probably paid a bit over the odds." he grins  "But no where near as much over as I paid for the booze.  Good job we went for the important stuff first, although I suspect Shui is going to be annoyed that we got weapons and booze, but didn't manage to get any of the food on her list." he quips.

Then he goes back to Yas's first point  "It's cold and poisonous out there.  With this on I can concentrate on the enemy ..." and he holds up the Laser Carbine "... without worrying about the cold.  The shot gun is just for in case anyone follows Shui up the ramp ..."

"On my way." Ash chirps into his comm which is tied to the common crew channel, as he makes his way up the ramp.  He leaves the two cases of liquor that he was carrying at the top or the ramp near Tylen and Yasmine in the hold of the ship.

Then he makes his way as quickly as his right knee will allow towards the bridge.  Apologizing profusely to Jago as he drapes his coat over his chair and sits down, the Profit Margin's navigator immediately starts to calculate escape vectors from the system.  With the constraint to swing by one of the gas giants in the system.  "Captain," he calls to Jago as he works, "should I request a departure window with the port authority?  Or do you want that to only be last minute?"  He's not sure what the play is going to be; so, Ahs figures he might as well ask.

One of the ancillary tactical screens lights up as the multiple routes, integrating times and nearest approaches for fueling on the fly begin to light up on the display.  The many shifting lines dance and churn as Ash continues to refine the numbers with many iterations per second creating a hypnotic ebb and flow of information on the screen.

"Prelim calcs are up." he narrates as he works, "We can be ready for full route guidance in less than two minutes."  He let the computer core start to churn as he started through the pre-flight checklists.  Statuses and displays started to flip from yellow to green as the various task and diagnostics were signed off on by the navigator.  Since detailed feed was available to anyone on the crew channel that wanted it, Ash didn't bother narrating that part.  The updating of the list kept him busy enough.

Like a well lubricated machine, the crew move to their assigned tasks...

Jago takes a few minutes to find a warm coat and a mask, then heads for the cargo ramp, where he finds Yas and Tylen waiting, and dressed for trouble. 

On the Bridge, Ash starts plotting a quick course to orbit which, as most trainee navigators soon learn, is not simply a matter of, "start the engines and go straight up, as fast as you can"...  The ones who don't learn it tend not to stay in the job for long.  For a start, you need to ensure that you reach the desired altitude at exactly the right velocity relative to the planet's surface - too fast, and you'll drift out of orbit, too slow and... well, "plummet" is a funny word, but not when you're the one doing the plummeting.

In Engineering, the ship's systems are stirring, building up to the moment when they will be invited to unleash their pent up energy and hurl the ship into the sky.  The engines know, of course, that something important is happening.  With that in mind, they are deadly serious about the process.  None of the indicators even considers flickering from green to amber, even for a moment...

Saskia calls the Bridge, and is a little surprised to find that Ash is there now rather than Jago, "Oh, Ash, I was expecting Jago.  Not to worry.  You probably need to know this just as much as he does.  Everything will be ready to go in - well, right about two seconds ago, in fact.  Just don't give her full power right off the deck, or she might choke up on you.

"Usually we have a couple of minutes to stablize the constriction fields," the engineer explains, probably unnecessarily, "but today there might not be time for that, so just don't expect her to come off the starting line like a frelling racing viprin."

Then she hesitates, before adding, "So just don't push her too hard, right?  Or there'll be burning wreckage all over the field, and Shui will insist on cleaning it up."

Tylem fiddles with the mask hanging loose at his throat as he awaits further instructions.

"Yes, Ms. Blake." Ash responds dutifully to Saskia and her request to take the Profit Margin out nice and easy.  "No gunning it.  Burning wreckage." he repeats as well, before affirming, "Got it."

His fingers are still dancing on the dynamic display as he continues to multitask and check off items on the pre-flight list.

"Don't worry, Miss." the navigator adds after a moment, 'reassuring' the engineer during a pause in the action, "if my calculations are wrong, there'll still be burning wreckage - through no fault of the Margin herself.  And Ms. Tiesi will still be mightily upset at us for the mess."  Still, the smirk that Saskia can all, but see over the commlink, tells her that Ash is obviously joking.  Over a decade and a half doing such calculations means that the ex-serviceman knows when and which to cut corners.  And when not to.  And this is not the time to cut too many corners.

It is the time, however, to expedite the process.  Though the order has not been given, from what Ash can tell, Jago may be giving the order to hit high orbit any moment.  So, back to the checklist he goes...

"Still, if you have to end up using either, it means we've failed.  Maybe then you'll let me clean the planet of scum and villainy, eh, boss?" Yas says, first part directed at Ty and the latter at Jago who arrives dressed for an excursion.

"So, ramp down then," she adds, mumbling to herself, and starts to lower the ramp again.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:05, Wed 03 July 2013.

"Indeed." Tylen responds to Yasmin just before he clips his mask into place.  He fiddles with his data glove for a moment as he tunes in the commdots he has already applied.

"Still got comms?" he says,  voice muffled by the mask, as he keys a channel for Yas's communicator.  Then hitching the Las Carbine into position Tytlen nods to indicate he is ready to provide cover during the pre flight inspections.

Ash takes the call from Shui - she's on her way back - and relats the information to the others, down at the ramp...

Jago steps outside and starts his usual inspection of the ship's exterior, paying particular attention to anywhere where ice might gather and cause problems - pressure vents, landing gear wells, sensor mounts...  He also checks for anomalies - inspection ports that are open (and shouldn't be), signs of damage, anything attached to the hull that doesn't belong... 

Tylen follows him about, just far enough away to reduce the chances of both of them being taken out by the same grenade.

About half way through the inspection, Yas and Tylen, from their respective positions, both spot a figure hurrying across the ice towards the ship.  Closer, and they can see that it appears to be wearing Shui's jacket.  The height and build would be consistent with the steward's.

In Engineering and on the Bridge, Saskia and Ash are talking over the details of lift off.  This time, at least, there's no need to contact flight control to get clearance for an emergency departure...

The figure, apparently Shui, gets to within twenty metres of the ship and waves...

As soon as Tylen sees the Shui figure leave the dome, he uses his Commdots  to voice activate his dataglove and  contact Shui.  "Are you OK?" he asks laconically as he continues to scan the area  for possible risks.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:59, Wed 03 July 2013.

Peering towards the distant building Yas mumbles something to herself and checks her guns over quickly.

"Heads up, we got company heading this way from the dome.  Ten to twelve.  Doubt it is security.  Seven minutes or more until we can ask them." she warns over the comms.

Jago winds up his inspection and hustles back to the ramp.

“As soon as the ramps up ’pufff’ I’d like the turrets manned, ’pufff’ I don’t want to use them ’pufff’ but I hope it will put people off ’pufff’ if they see they are being tracked ’pufff’ by plasma cannon and lasers. ’pufff, chough, chough’” He finishes his instructions mumbling something about cold air not being good for the lungs and pauses for a moment at the top of the ramp, before hurrying off to the bridge.

Shui responds to Tylen with the aforementioned wave, raising her dataglove for communcation of a verbal nature.  ++ Absolutely, Mr. Orgesh.  I met a kind gentleman who was only too happy to escort me back to this area, safe and sound.  A good thing, as well; apparently I had wandered into an extremely poor neighbourhood.  ++

The figure continues to pace toward the ship, picking up her steps a little at Yasmine's warning.  ++ From the sound of it, things are not proceeding well...I shall be aboard momentarily, Chief Crow. ++ Now is the time for titles, it seems.

(Hopefully) Reaching the ramp, Shui hurries aboard, shucking her heavy jacket the moment it is safe to do so.  ++ I shall ensure our passengers are safely aboard. ++

Once he is satisfied that it is Shui heading towards them, Tylen turns his attention to the warning that Yas gave.  Laser Rifle tucked  under his arm ready to bring into a firing position, he  turns to face the potential enemy.

"Better get Ash to monitor all the external sensors"  he replies to Yas, after switching to the general crew channel.


As soon as Jago finishes his inspection and heads inside, Tylen starts to back up the ramp, still maintaining his watch on anyone approaching.  He backs carefully, making sure he is firmly set, because he half expects Yas to start raising the ramp while he is still on it.

"Will do," Yas replies to Jago and waits until the two remaining crew are aboard, or at least the last of the halfway up the ramp.  Passing words are aimed at Sushi.  "Welcome back, doc, didn't even know you were out there."

"Stove the little gun, we're going to track our visitors using our turrets.  Jago has good ideas sometimes," she shouts out to Ty even as the ramp begins to rise.

"Did you copy that, Ash?  Monitor our approaching group, will you?  We're heading into the turrets to play chicken with them." she reports over the comm, suspecting Ash may already be on it, but being certain never hurt.  Well, rarely, any way.

Once the ramp is closed, hopefully, she verifies it is properly sealed before she hurries towards her little turret control.

Having relayed Shui's message to the rest of the crew, Ash has already been fiddling with the external feeds to make sure that they could see the only crewmember not back on board, if possible.  He also is (somewhat) ready for the flurry of activity that would presumably follow (and does).

++Roger that Chief, I'm already on it.++ the thin navigator quickly types into the common channel commlink with respect to Yasmine's request for eyes up.  He pushes the feed links to a section of the common crew channel as well, in case others want to have them streamed to them real time.

++All pre-flight checks completed.  Ready for lift-off, just give the word.++  he adds as well to make sure that the Captain and other knew that the flight alternative was also in the pipe.  It's s always good to have options, in his opinion.

Ash pushes the external video and audio feeds to the main tactical display on the bridge.  Then he overlays the ship status, highlighting the turret statuses in the diagnostic lists for easy reference.  Lastly, he confirms the power consumption requirements with Saskia over the line directly to Engineering, "Ms. Blake, we have a request to ensure enough power to keep the turrets hot ..."  It seems like there should be enough power, but it never hurts to make sure.  Again, just in case.

"No problem.  The weapon capacitors are fully charged." Saskia responds, a little worried at the thought that her ship might be going into combat.  Still, she has a degree of pride in Profit Margin, and she can't help adding, "Yas and Tylen will be able to blow this dump into frelling ice cubes if they feel like it."

"Ms. Crow.  Errands to run, and such," Shui shoots back as she hurries past the security chief.  "Mr. Orgesh." Past that one as well, with a pause for a touch on his arm.  Things could get hairy, now, but with the ship buttoned up and the turrets online, she's honestly far more concerned with the fears of her passengers and the approaching people than she is for the crew.

Given the massive firepower even a standard ship to ship weapon carries, and the necessity of hulls that can withstand enemy fire and the vaccuum of space, it's doubtful that any small group of men would be capable of doing more than denting the Profit Margin, while a single return shot from their laser into the ground could cause a thermal bloom that would engulf the lot.

But the passengers have priority, so it's in that direction that Shui heads, keying into the intercom.  ++ All passengers without specific instructions from the Captain and Security Chief, please remain in your quarters. ++

For all she knows some of them may have volunteered to assist...and Jago might have accepted.

Jago joins Ash on the Bridge, and the ramp is raised, with its customary cry of protest and locked.  Seconds later Yas and Tylen are in the gunnery cubicles at the back of the Bridge and activating the weapons systems.  Green telltales flicker into life across the control panels, and the targeting screens light up as Profit Margin's armaments activate.

+ Turrets fully operational.  JTS-15 systems charged.  Sharpe system charged.  "Javelin" missile system armed.  EDS "Aegis" unit to make sure that everybody there is active.  Targeting systems online. +

Shui heads for the passenger side lounge to make sure everybody there is where they should be, and that nobody is panicking.  It is, perhaps, a sign of complete confisdence that when she arrives, Eneris seems to have taken charge and is directing Corlan and Keryn to put cups and plates into the dishwasher before proceeding to their cabins in an orderly fashion.

Nobody seems particularly distressed.

Ash pulls up some sensor feeds, and shares them with Jago's console.  There are, in fact, eleven men coming across the ice, all clad in heavy duty cold weather clothing. 

Saskia, meanwhile keeps monitoring the drives, and is ready to apprise the Bridge of any problems...

"Ash, put those sensors through to us, will you?" Yas says as she passes him on the bridge before getting into her little turret closet, although she leaves the door open for now.

"Let's see if we can get their attention then," she says to no one in particular and turns on the turret, doing a quick check-up.  She does not yet make the weapon hot, however, as it is probably unneeded against the approaching group and to avoid any mishaps, unlikely as it is.

"I see you...  Do you see me?" she asks the visual representation of their visitor on her screens.  They ought to notice it, unless they are all blind, she figures.

"If you get a chance, there are crates of drink loose in the hold, along with a bag full of security bits." Tylen uses the com dots again to re-channel to Shui's data glove, before he turns his attention to the weapon array in his turret.

Flicking switches, he drops the missiles and sand caster into a dormant state, ready to power up fully at an instant's notice, but then needing to be armed - another quick process before they can be fired.  After all there is no point firing missiles and sand while the ship is grounded.  The laser however, is maintained one stage nearer to use, still needing a final arming, but ready to fire a bit more quickly that the other two.

Once settled, he pulls up outside sensors on most of the screens and then locks one in as a targeting screen for the turret.    He sets a second targeting screen looking for heat signatures, and sets that to track alongside the main targeting screen.

Then he takes the turret around in a complete circle,  collecting and reviewing the information presented on  his screens as he goes.

"Yes, Ma'am." Ash acknowledges Yasmine's request without looking up from his console or breaking stride with the tasks that he is engaged in.  He does try to make sure that the external sensor displays are pushed to the turret consoles as quickly as possible.

As he scrutinizes the displays that are being pushed, the navigator quips into the common channel, ++ Heads up.  We have company.  Eleven by my count.  Armed and appear willing to use it. ++  He pauses for a moment and his fingers actually stop as he runs a finger over the video feed that is on his console.  He taps it twice and then he states rather deadpan into the common crew line, "Heads up.  I think they have pulled out all the stops here ... I suspect they are setting up a two-man, portable, direct artillery weapon.  They are laying down the LAW."

Shui, assisting people back to their cabins (escorting them, in truth, as they don't really need help and she doesn't want to break the mood Eneris seems to have engendered) pauses a moment.  She has been smiling, thanks to Tylen's comment, and composing a reply; the smile remains, but the humor is gone.  "Please continue to your cabins," she cheerfully informs the passengers.  "I need to pick something up in my quarters."  And so she heads there, not hurrying, but at a brisk walk.

The moment Shui is out of sight of the passengers, she breaks into a near-silent run.

Names and numbers flash through her head.  Ambrust 7.  Bonoir MPAT.  Gustaf Whistler.  She's not familiar with the use of these weapons, but is aware of their potential; if one of them actually manages to impact with the Profit Margin's hull, it might very well cause damage.  Worse, criminal elements may have access to heavier weapons.  This threat cannot be ignored.  The ship's security must take pre-emptive action, or risk a devastating blow to the vessel.

There will be casualties, either way; she needs to prepare.

++ Arriving in Medical ++ she gasps over the comm as the door opens.

"Just say the word, Jago, and we'll give them a warm welcome before they can scratch the paint of the Margin," calls over the crew comm once it is clear that the kids brought their parents' gun with them.  She turns on the power to the plasma gun and makes certain the unwelcome visitors know they are outmatched.

"I'll show you a great ball of fire if you scum dare shoot first," she mutters to herself, targeting between the cluster of people and the Profit Margin.  A rolling ball of plasma might just be enough to discourage them.

Tylen changes a few settings before responding "Laser locked on and ready to fire.  he grins for a moment  "Which might do less damage to the dome, if we catch it ...." he leaves that thought hanging for Yas and Jago to consider.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please hold on tightly,” Jago announces over the interco in his best, laid back, Chuck Yager drawl,“ we are about to ascend into low orbit at around 400 kilometres and some turbulence may be experienced.”

As he speaks Jago flicks the three switches above his head and gently applies power to the Mitchells-Hyundyne thrusters.

“ Stand by with that sand caster if they launch anything,” he adds for the crew only.

With a roar, the ship's drive starts up.  Steam billows around it as the nearby snow sublimates, then solidifies back into snow which blows out towards the approaching group of men.

They stop, and throw themselves flat, and Profit Margin's computer tags muzzle flashes from the artificial blizzard, but doesn't report any damage.

The two men with the heavier weapons had been moving away from the others, but stopped as soon as the thrusters came to life.  Now they are frantically preparing their own weapons.  They can clearly be seen as the ship lifts above the swirling wall of snow, standing about twenty metres apart, and each of them operating a keypad on the side of a metre-long box.  The end of one box opens, like a mechanical flower, and the bearer lifts it up onto his shoulder as the ship approaches an altitude of half a kilometre.

There is a flare of light and a cloud of white smoke obscures the thug, even as a collision warning sounds on the Bridge...

Jago banks the margin round in a tight left turn, deliberately sacrificing a little hight to the forces of gravity, then powering off at a tangent. The missile no doubt has a tracking system but a sudden change of direction combined with the disruptive effect of the sand might throw it off course.

OOC
12:38, Today: Jago Lanza rolled 15 using 2d6+6. Evasive manoeuvres.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:27, Tue 09 July 2013.

A soon as Tylen hears Jago's instructions he completes the arming sequence for both the sand caster and missile launchers, locking the sand caster onto the ground based portable weapon and setting it to deploy automatically - knowing that will be quicker than his own reactions.

Once the enemy missile has been launched, and his sand dispensed, he flicks the intercom and asks laconically  "Would you like me to light up their life?  I have a hot laser here and it would be a shame not to share."

“Only as a last resort Tylen, but keep your eye on that other launcher and use your own discretion, the main thing is not to endanger the Ore Hound. That goes for you too Yasmin.”

"That I can shoot them?" Yas quips over the comms and chuckles.  Something tells her that whatever the guys brought did not pose that much of a threat, for some reason.  Perhaps the fact that so far only one of them had fired and it did take its time to reach them, if it even would.

"What did those guys have?  Slingshots?" she wonders where she sits watches her screens.  "I should have taken my new toy out and cleaned the planet.  Maybe I'd been a hero and been lavished with precious goods and nubile young men..."  She laughs out loud where she sits at the thought.

Tylen, checks the targeting and tracking systems to make sure it has recognised all of the potential weapons in the area, then leaves the sand on automatic deployment so that anything launched will be countered immediately.

"Are they one shots?" he asks unaware of the precise model of the launchers used, "If nothing else we should go and ask them to refund the cost of the sand canisters ..."

The projectile streaks towards Profit Margin, but as the ship starts to move through a sequence of rapid vector changes the weapon does not adjust it's course to compensate... then the cannister launched by Tylen pops and dispenses its cargo of polished ceramite microbeads.  There is a flare as the "sand" reflects the sunlight, and then an explosion as the projectile flies into the spray of tiny, fast moving particles... followed by the ship's computer tracking a lot of smaller objects spreading out from the detonation and falling towards the ice on ballistic trajectories.

"I'd say they'd be lucky to hit us if we were still parked down below," Yas says over the crew comm with a drawl, then she chortles.

"Lucky for them, I suppose," she says to herself and shakes her head.  These guy must not deal with ships very often, if at all.  Dumb rockets against a ship, at best they would just annoy the crew for having to repaint the ship.  Well, almost, any way.

Unaware of the current situation beyond what she monitors, Shui continues preparing Medbay, on the off chance that the violent maneuvers through which the ship has passed will prove insufficient.  She doubts it, given Yasmine's running commentary, but better safe than sorry.

Besides which, it keeps her mind off what might come next.  At least they've removed the ship from the planet's surface; that means it's unlikely the Profit Margin will have to return fire.

Assuming the criminal cartel doesn't have a handy communcation link with spacefaring raiders.  She has seen such before - on-planet organized crime sharing the take from pirate activities, the planet-bound people providing proper information on targets for the pirates.

Ash remains silent on the bridge listening to the chatter, but no partaking.  He keeps busy, trying to keep an eye on the external feeds and the enemy as well as double-checking (and triple-checking) the ship status and trajectory as the co-pilot and navigator.  Enemy fire.  Traffic control.  Engine performance.  Trajectories and route plots.  Some many things to keep track of - so, little time.

Quiet vigilance is the name of the game for him at this point.  He taps at his console, silencing the audible proximity alert, though the red flash of visual warning remains - as does the danger.

He glances at Jago to make sure that the Captain is doing all right.  And then back to his console.  And then up at the various tactical displays.

Tylen hums along to some indeterminate tune as he checks the turret's auto defence settings.

"I think they are lucky that I know about the launchers when I was outside with the lascarb." Tylen responds to Yas's banter on the crew channel.  "Although, if we ask nicely, Jago might take us down again and then their luck would change ..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:54, Sat 13 July 2013.

The attacker who had fired the rocket lowers his weapon and makes no effort to shoot again.  Perhaps the weapon only holds a single projectile.

The thug with the second weapon holds fire, but the feeds from Ash show that he is trying to track the ship as it moves, obviously learning from his companion's inaccurate aim...

The external comm channel activates, and Jockram's voice fills the bridge, "Hey, Profit Margin, why didn't you tell us you were having a party tonight?  We'd have been happy to join in."

An alarm sounds, and a target reticle appears over Ore Hound, along with a datastream which indicates that the mining ship is starting to lift.  Jokram chuckles, "Watch this."  On the monitors, Ore Hound stands up on her tail with her nose pointing to the sky.  Probably just coincidence that this brings her turret, with its mining laser, to bear on the group of attackers, several of whom are still getting back to their feet, as she continues to climb slowly.  A 30cm spot of laser light dances across the ice, not intense enough to do any damage, but touching each man in turn...

Now the man with the second rocket launcher has two targets to choose from.  One is slower and closer, while the other is faster, moving erratically and further away.

+ Collision alert! +

Looks like the guy with the remaining rocket launcher has picked a target...

"So much for a nice easy frelling run straight up to orbit." Saskia grumbles as she monitors drive operations from her station in Engineering.  From the way Jago's throwing the ship about, judging by the wildy variable thruster output readings, she can only assume that somebody's shooting at them.

Which is not a good thing.

She starts transferring power from non-essential systems, like hot water and galley services, to more vital areas, like inertial dampers, weapons and ECM arrays.  Then she thinks twice about the galley.  It honestly wouldn't surprise her if Shui were, even now, busy ensuring that everybody has snacks and hot beverages.

Instead she drops the lighting by fifty percent in the areas of the ship least likely to be occupied.

"Jago.  I managed to squeeze a little more power out for you."

The warning draws Tylen's attention and he reacts as quickly as he can.

“Nice moves Jockram,” Jago grins as the other ship performs it’s spectacular lift, “I guess I’m not getting out of that dinner invitation quite so easily.”

Jago continues to jink and in an effort to throw off the second missile, though the first didn’t seem to have guidance.

“Thanks Saskia, you’re a diamond.”

OOC
Only 9 for the pilot roll this time, that’s just 1 off of snake eyes  :O(

This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Sun 14 July 2013.

Despite Saskia's optimistic thoughts, Shui has yet to reach the point of preparation of snacks.  Instead, she completes her work on Medbay, a machine-like series of tasks concluded step-by-step.  Inside, her mind races, desperately attempting to analyze every movement of the ship, every shift, every shudder.

It's impossible; she doesn't know ships the way Jago and Saskia do.  But that doesn't stop her from trying.

Finished, she snatches up her portable equipment (ie, 'black bag') and heads to the door.  The galley offers decently quick response to most areas of the ship, so it's best she stays there during this wild ride.  After all, it's not like the artificial gravity has cut out or anything of the sort, so she doesn't have a problem moving around while the ship is under Gees.

Ash grimaces when the alert sounds and braces himself in his chair, instinctively checking the snug fit of his five point harness.  As best he can, he tries to push the tracking feed and trajectory path of the rocket - especially relative to both the Ore Hound and the Profit Margin, concerned that either will be hit.  He does push the audible alert to the background lowering the volume now that the initial warning has been given.

The Margin's navigator works in grim silence as this is deadly serious business.  He barely notices any dimming lights, as Ash work feverishly on his end to give the rest of the crew as much information as possible:  Jago needs it for piloting, Saskia needs information for what to divert when, Yasmine and Tylen in the turrets needs the information for proper countermeasures, and Shui will need to know where to be if and when someone is hurt.  So, all he does is keep his head down and his course corrections calculated and plotted.  And his mouth shut - pressed into a thin, white line actually.

"Yeah, if they haven't got any brains they might even meet us when we land!  I mean, less that they have proven to have so far," Yas replies with a chuckle to Tylen.

With little else to do she keeps a close eye on all the screens, including that of the ship's status, just to be on the safe side.  Seems Saskia is tossing around power, but nothing crucial.  Hot cocoa is still available.

The second rocket leaves the launcher, and a split second later another cannister of sand, prepared by Tylen is jettisoned from its own launcher aboard Profit Margin.  The new rocket, like the first, seems to lack any real guidance system.  But launcher seems to be in the hands of a more capable operator.  It streaks towards Profit Margin, which is, after all, the target he was brought here to deal with... but only briefly, as Jago's rapid course shifts inevitably result in the rocket's fixed course proving wholly inadequate.

The cannister bursts open to release its cloud of fast moving particles, and just before they collide with the projectile its drive cuts out.  Seems as if this particular ordnance lacks range as well as guidance.  Even so, it still explodes as it makes contact with the hail of ceramite beads...

On the ground, the men targeted by Ore Hound's laser seem to be scattering, clearly not realising that unless they can put a horizon between themselves and the ship, they can not get out of range of the weapon while remaining on the planet.  Ore Hound itself continues to climb, as Jockram reports, "Banster says our friends are in radio contact with their bosses.  I've got a fix on them.  Might pay them a visit later and burn their house down.  Patching the coords through to you now, in case you want to go scare them a bit."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:15, Tue 16 July 2013.

"Roger that, Ore Hound" Ash chirps into the commlink to the other ship.  "Thanks for the gift." he adds after a moment spent verifying the data dump, "I'll talk to the captain and the others about continuing to share and spread the wealth."  He mutes the Profit Margin's end of the link to cut down on the cross chatter.

He pushes the coordinates to Jago's piloting console, the main tactical display with the local planetary display, and to the gunner's stations for potential targetting purposes.  ++Uploading coordinates now...++ Ash narrates into the common crew channel.  The Margin's navigator notes from his sensor and topology analysis, "It appears to be a smaller dome.  Either a commune or possibly an industrial or manufacturing facility."

"Should I plot a course for intercept, Captain?" he prompts Jago.  To be honest, Ash is already running some of the preliminary numbers in his head.  He knows, what sort of course correction calculations would be involved given the timeframe and their current trajectory...

"What do you say, boss?  Shall we drop them a little something-something?  At the very least, empty our waste storage tank on top of them?" Yas calls out towards the bridge from where she is sitting, appearing eager to leave at least something to remember them by.

"or maybe we could see if a laser would weld the door of that smaller dome shut?" Tylen comments.  He still keeps an eye out for enemy ordnance, although he knows that the ship's systems will warn him before he spots anything -  but his fingers work on the data screens as he tries to find information on the smaller dome.

"You and your lasers!" Yas laughs and leans out a bit towards the bridge to shout, "Mr. Laser-britches!"

"What they need is a good size plasma ball rolling over their lawn, if they have one.  Or in their pool or whatever bad boy have on this godforsaken ball!" she insists and laughs some more.

"Although, perhaps, a missile.  That would be poetic justice and no one could complain if we returned their intended present." he quips back.

Jago can’t help but grin at the suggestions for bloody, or at least messy, retaliation, they are all very appealing under the circumstances.

“Sorry people, we’re heading straight to orbit, for now at least,”, he says, easing the Profit Margin back towards the course originally provided by Ash, “I shouldn’t think those bad guys are sole occupants of that dome and I won’t risk attacking innocent people, even if it is only with the ships waste.”

Still, Yasmin has peeked his curiosity and he opens a private link to the ships Engineer.

“Saskia, Yasmin suggested that we dump the ships waste tanks on the thugs on the ground, I don’t intend to do so but wondered, is that even possible?”

Saskia laughs aloud at Jago's question, "Well usually when we land at a port we have the tank pumped out as part of the service."  She runs some diagnostics as she explains the system to Jago, "They hook up fuel, data links, water and sewage lines.  Only not everywhere has services.  Like here, for instance -- no services at all.  And we spent a week in Jump, then had a little holiday in orbit while we waited for the storm to wear itself out." 

The numbers are routed to Jago's panel as the Engineer keeps talking, "So, as you can see, the effluent tank is unusually full just now.  Not dangerously full, just about half way.  It needs to be emptied about once a month, but most ships, including this one, do it every time they put into a port.

"But, and this is the interesting part, not every ship lands somewhere on a regular schedule.  Like Ore Hound.  I bet she's out for frelling weeks on end when she hits a vein of something valuable.  So all ships, including the Margin have an ejection system for dumping sewage in space.  But it will work just as well on the ground.  Or hovering over somebody's house.  But to do it in an atmosphere I'd have to accidentally disable three different safety systems and two alarms, which would take me all of fifteen seconds."

She suddenly starts laughing again.  "I suppose if we dump all that dren on them, we'll see if they're the half-empty or half-full types."

The two ships continue to ascend, and are soon beyond the reach of any weapons apparently possessed by the local "respectable business interests".  A successful escape, with no casualties on either side.  Except for Hegerich who, according to Jockram, had laughed so hard at the attack that he'd made his stomach hurt...

Their courses converge slightly, so that by the time they reach low orbit, about 1200km above the surface of Rangent, Profit Margin and Ore Hound are only twenty metres apart.  The orbit is tight, and the two ships will complete a circuit of Rangent every seventeen minutes.  While not entirely stable, it should be more than sufficient for the time the two captains intend to spend here.

"Well. that was about the most fun I've had since getting here." Jockram says over the comms, with a chuckle.  "What were they launching?  Some sort of bird scarers?"

"I've a good mind to use the laser to carve rude names in the ice around their base every time we pass over it, just to show them that they shouldn't mess with visiting ships."

Tylen grins as he hears Jockram talk about burning graffiti around the building, then chips in with "Perhaps we should draw concentric circles around it - a bit like a target?" he suggests, and everyone can hear the grin in his voice, "Start a couple of hundred yards out and work in closer." he says leaving the impression of  working in towards the real target.

he pauses for a moment, then adds "We could take it in turns - halving the distance each time.  Looser is the first one to singe the building?  Looser pays for the beer?" He asks casually, half expecting Jago to step in  and veto the game.

However, his fingers flick across his console as he works on settings for the targeting systems.

Shui listens in on the jocular chatter with half an ear, a faint smile chasing itself around her lips.  Inside, though, her stomach has tightened into a knot.  Regardless of their ridiculous weaponry, the local criminals have proven themselves vicious and powerful enough to attempt blatent, broad-daylight murder on people who do not go along with their demands.  All this failure means is that next time they will know better.  The next crew of the next ship might find themselves facing not an unguided anti-tank rocket, but an ambush and hostage situation.  The problem has not be solved; it has merely ceased to be an issue for the Profit Margin and Ore Hound.

She knows what her father would advise, but she can't.

With a long sigh, she thumbs the holoswitch on her dataglove.  + I take it, Captain, that dinner will have to wait? + the Steward inquires with dry humor.  Nobody has been injured, after all.

Ash is mostly quiet as the Profit Margin makes its way into shallow orbit along with the Ore Hound.  With all of the talk about leaving 'gifts' for the local thugs or bugging out as is, it all seems to him to be the lesser of two evils.  If the thugs remain in power , the crew of both ships will be marked.  If they were to actually 'deal with' the underworld element, someone else is likely to fill the gap on such a lawless planet.  And the local authorities no matter what will not take that kindly to the violence.  And once again, as the instigators - the crews of both ships may not be well received, necessarily.

Of course, perhaps it will be a very long time (if ever) that they return.  But no matter what, he merely chimes in with a touch of resignation in his voice over the comm channel, "Hmmm... while it is not necessarily a bad thing, I suspect that we won't be welcome back on Rangent any time soon..."  Of course, that could be taken as an endorsement for either side of the argument.

“Hold that thought Shui, let me check with our guests,” Jago replies to the doctor with a chuckle in his voice.

“Jockram, if you guys can get over here, that dinner invitation still stands, we can dock* or something if it helps.”

He then makes a general announcement, “OK people, sorry for the disturbance but the excitement is over for the moment however, we are not done with this planet yet, I still have a cargo and a deep frozen passenger to deliver. I’ll be in the passenger lounge in ten minuets or so and fill you in on all the details.”

Finally returning to type, Jago sets up a link with his planet bound contacts.


OOC
*By ‘dock’ I only mean link the two ships together by tractor beam or lines.

"Orbit will last a month or two before it needs adjusting, so shouldn't need to dock to stay close during dinner." Jockram replies, "Ships are a touch under twenty metres apart.  Even I can walk that far, and I hardly ever leave my chair since I hired a couple of monkeys to do all my EVA.  We've got suits, so if you just want to switch on the marker beacon so we can find your lock, we'd be glad to come over."

At his fire control station, Tylen soon locates the small dome, and sets up the targeting computer to automatically locate it again, and maintain a lock on it, every time the ships have a clear line of sight to it.  He passes the solution over to Yas, just so she can see he hasn't been lounging about with his feet on the console.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:00, Sat 27 July 2013.

"I still think we should pay them a visit, in person.  Or me, at least.  I have a way with words, I could sweet talk them, if I dress up nicely," Yas calls out from her spot, figuring if they brought their heavy weapons to bare on the Margin her suit should be just fine against their remaining ones.

"Bloody bandits.  Should be taught a lesson," she mutters quietly to herself.  Praying on the weak, despicable.  Margin was no match for them, but they did not live down there, unlike the woman they dropped off at this "lovely resort planet".

"Either that or we blast them from orbit!" she calls out again.  "We can find out what they got in that dome, one way or another!"

"Give them five minutes warning, and then zap it...."  Tylen adds his  thoughts to the conversation.  "That is way better chances than they gave us." he add.

Then he adds, "Perhaps with Yas waiting outside their dome, all dressed up in her best gear ...." and this time you can hear a bit of a grin buried in the comment.

"Skies around us are clear, Captain." Ash notes dutifully, as he tracks the orbits of both the Ore Hound and Profit Margin together on the main tactical screen, "We have only a single ship other than us within a million clicks of the planet.  And it is refueling."

He has little to contribute to the bravado and banter on the crew channel, he knows that he feels far less certain than either Tylen or Yasmine appear to be.  So, the thin navigator keeps quiet, letting the lights of the display illuminate his face in the darkened bridge as he carries out the rather mundane duties of monitoring the various ships' systems.  Even though he knows that Saskia is on it (and much more knowledgeable and diligent about it), old habits die hard.

"Do you want me to switch on the beacon and then suit up to meet the Ore Hound's crew at the lock?" he prompts Jago.  Standard protocol with either Imperial service that Ash had previous dealings with would have placed at least one crew member in a ready state in case of an emergency.  In case any part of a space walk went bad for whatever readon.  And even though twenty metres wasn't very far, untethered EVA was never something that should be considered routine or simple, by any stretch of the imagination.  One misstep, one ill-timed movement, misjudged action, or plain bad luck and one could find oneself floating alone in the Deep Black forever...

Shui chooses to wait patiently in the lounge.  So far, so good, trouble averted...but they have to return to the planet, where the people who launched missiles their way still wait.  And worse; leave the ship.  That won't make things easy at all.

She should check the weapons rating of the world 'below' them.  She really should.  But right now, she's busy making coffee for the people coming to palaver.  And cocoa, of course.

At least it doesn't sound like they'll be having guests for that discussion; she doesn't have anything prepared.

As she works, the steward thumbs a holoswitch on her glove, patching into the intercoms for the passengers.  + Attention.  The current crisis has been managed without difficulty.  However, it might be best if passengers remain in their quarters for the moment, unless specifically requested by Captain Lanza. +  The steward frowns.  + Refreshments, of course, will be made available as soon as possible. +

Given the circumstances, she feels she might have some leeway.

Jago does his best to igmore the conversations around him, as he continues his own discussions with the local trade factors.  He does, however, take a moment to tell Ash that there's no need to gp and meet Ore Hound's crew just yet - there's still more than 24 hours until the dinner party, closer to 30, in fact, and Shui probably hasn't even started preparing the meal yet...

The passengers report into Shui, in response to her message.  All is well with them, and they have, according to Corlan, found something interesting to watch on the cabin walls.

Yas and Tylen continue their own conversation, which seems to revolve around the fact that revenge is a dish best served piping hot (while everybody can still remember exactly why you're annoyed).

In Engineering, Saskia secures the ship's systems in standby mode, except for armaments, which she keeps running hot and ready for immediate action.  Lights in unoccupied portions of the ship ramp up to full strength again...

Jago finally closes his comm channels and leans back in his chair but then seems a little surprised when he realises that Yasmin and Tylen are still at the weapons stations.

“OK, stand down everybody, the excitement is over,” he announces, “I’ll be in the passenger lounge, updating our guests, if anyone else wants an update, feel free to join us. Dinner is still on by the way, we can’t let a little bandit activity spoil the social event of the decade.”

“You can you set the scanners to automatic Ash, we should be OK up here.”

"Jago," Yas says and exits her little hidey-hole, quickly closing the distance to him before he can get away.  "I think we should do something about these bandits.  As it stands, they won't stop doing this in the future, but probably change their tactics.  Perhaps attack the crew of ships to hold hostage or something.  Yeah, yeah, not our business, we're never coming back, I know, I know.  And we can't save the whole planet, it's corrupted, but... something?"

Evidently something is bothering the chief of security.

"Roger, Boss." agreed Ash and he followed orders, setting up the various alerts both audible and visual and then locking his console station.  He pops the clasp to his five-point harness.  Standing to stretch for a moment, the thin navigator of the Profit Margin then grabbed his coffee cup and headed towards the crew lounge.  Ostensibly, to grab another cup of joe...

+ Certainly, Captain Lanza. + Shui opens up communication to the passengers.  + Lady and gentlemen, the situation is resolved.  You may now exit your quarters.  Captain Lanza will be in the lounge and is prepared to answer inquiries, and there will be refreshments.  The communal dinner will still be held at the agreed-upon time. +

And she's short proper refreshments, curse it.

Mulling this problem over, Shui commences to prepare snacks for Jago and whomever chooses to join him.  Healthy ones, of course.

"Jago, Ash?  Everything's secured for station keeping.  I've cut back the power to all systems except weapons and the computer, to reduce our signature, so we can still see and throw stuff at people.  I can give you thrust immediately if you need it.  I'll stay on watch here.  It's the most comfortable seat on the ship." Saskia reports.

Tylen has one last check across the turret control board, then makes his way across to the crew lounge.  Leaning casually against the wall, he waits for Jago's update.

Jago starts towards the Passenger Lounge to update Corlan and the others on thgeir current situation.  He doesn't get far before Yas intercepts him - his path, unfortunately, taking him right in front of the gunnery alcoves.  Jago keeps walking, with the Security Chief in tow, straight past Tylen who managed to beat them both to the Crew Lounge.

Shui's announcement to the passengers is met with thanks, and the almost inevitable questions from Keryn - "What happened?  Was there a fight?  I thought there would be more to see?"

Saskia's work in Engineering shows up on the Bridge, as instruments show parts of the ship powering down to leave sensors, comms and environmental subsystems as the only things at full power on Ash's board.  Everything else is running still, but in minimal energy-saving mode, which also happens to make the ship hard to spot with passive sensors.

Not that anything on Rangent would be likely to spot her if she flew low across the ice at full thrust, with all weapons firing, and Jago mooning from the airlock...

“I’ve got something in mind for those guys,” Jago assures Yasmin as he heads on into the passenger lounge and grabs himself a mug of coffee.

Once everyone has settled and availed themselves of Shui’s most excellent hospitality, the Captain apologies to the passengers for the sudden departure and explains the reason for it.

“I’d hoped to make a tidy profit on some medicines I’d bought over from Denotam, there were traders falling over each other to get their hands on it and I’d set up an auction to take advantage. Unfortunately there is a criminal element here who decided I would sell to them, the other traders were scared off and I was ‘informed’ with veiled threats, that they would buy the stuff. Though the money they suggested was not unreasonable, I didn’t like their methods and have doubts as to whether I actually get paid so I decided to continue negotiations from orbit. I’m pleased to say that the Ore Hound chose to assist us in the escape and has joined us in orbit, so, we can go ahead with our planed dinner. Did you manage to get the supplies you needed Shui?”

"Ash and I got the important stuff ... mead, beer and some spirits! Tylen chips in enthusiastically from his position lounging against a wall.

"Mind you, I think I will give the so-called spirits a miss.  Probably some sort of industrial alcohol with dodgy flavourings added to try and make it palatable." he adds conspiratorially,
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Sun 04 Aug 2013.

"Well... I think I'll be putting Rangent on my list of places that I shan't be recommending to my friends in future." Corlan says, after Jago finishes his explanation, "I would like to thank you, Captain Lanza, and your crew, for putting the safety of your passengers first.  And for carrying us safely out of what seems to have been a somewhat unpleasant situation."

"Yes, thank you." Keryn adds, before moving on to other matters, "Were we in danger?  Did they shoot at us or something?  Did we shoot back?"  Her tone holds more excitement than concern.

Eneris rolls his eyes and shakes his head at the young woman's enthusiastic questions, before giving his own thanks, though it isn't clear whether it's for the safe journey out of danger, or for the coffee and sandwiches Shui has provided.  Probably both. 

"We can see Ore Hound... look."  Keryn operates the console on the table next to her, and the walls of the lounge light up with a view of surrounding space, relayed from Profit Margin's passive sensors.  Ore Hound fills most of one wall, with Rangent's ice and cloud cover shining brilliantly in the background...


This message was last edited by the GM at 21:12, Sat 10 Aug 2013.

"Mr. Orgesh, you are a lifesaver, and Mr. Tescali as well." Shui touches his arm, pleased.  "We can do without wine.  I checked, and there was...nothing of value.  I must put in a stock, here, when next we find a favourable port."

A shadow crosses her face. "More favourable than here, in any case."

"Ms. Taylor, Captain Lanza can most certainly answer your questions regarding shooting of things."  Shui gives a little bow to the captain. "He is in better possession of the details than myself, to be sure.  As for your question, captain, I have sufficient supplies to do decently at this meal.  It isn't quite what I would prefer for guests, given the paucity of decent food and drink on this planet, but it will do."

Already she's drawing up plans for a very, very small wine 'celler' unit.  Something with minimal power requirements, so as not to irk Saskia.

“Thank you Shui. They did shoot at us Keryn, though I don’t think their weapons posed much of a thread, non the less we took evasive action and launched defensive sand screens. I didn’t return fire, ship board weapons seemed an inappropriately heavy response under the circumstances, but the Ore Hound scared the hell out of them with its mining laser on low power.” Jago chuckles, “no doubt they will tell you all about that at dinner tomorrow.”

“I’ve made arrangements to split the medicines between the three interested parties, which wipes out most of my profit but at least it will put the bad guys nose out of joint and give the legit traders a concerted front. Unfortunately the packaging is such that I have half a tone left over and I thought I might donate it to some worthy cause, though finding one might be a little problematic.”

“Any way, we are safe enough up here for a while. Once we are organised we’ll return to the surface to deliver the goods and release our extra passenger and maybe, leave a little surprise for the thugs down there. I really don’t want to hurt anyone but I believe we may be able to empty our effluent tanks over their dome before we leave.”

This message was last edited by the player at 20:27, Tue 06 Aug 2013.

"At best their weapon would have made minor dents and forced us to clean the paintwork later.  They would have made a bigger mess out of Margin with eggs, more cleaning to do," Yas adds to the assessment, focusing on Keryn as she speaks.  "It's like, uh, primitives going up against antigrav tanks, in case you've seen such videos.  I know some who did, back in the Corps," she adds, the last part with a grin.  "Or, hmm, swords and arrows against alien invaders with force fields, that kind of stuff."

"That's all?  Dump our crap on them?  Let me at least take a walk to their front door first and leave a 'with love from' note, eh?" she complains when she hears Jago's plan for steaming hot vengeance, even if it was her idea.  "Something to let them know attacking anyone in the future is a bad idea.  It's what they would do in those vids, right, Keryn?"

Keryn pays close attention to the description of the "battle", nodding at each of the salient points as they are expounded.  "That was very interesting.  Thank you.  I'll be sure to ask the crew of Ore Hound about their part in the affair when I see them.  And yes, I think it would be right to let these frelling drannits know that picking fights with visitors is unfriendly."  Clearly she has picked up some interesting new vocabulary from Saskia during her time aboard Profit Margin.

Well, they say that travel broadens the mind...

Grinning at Keryn's colourful turn of phrase, Eneris raises his hand, "Captain?  You say we'll be going back down there?  Would we be landing at the same place, or moving to a different... er... well, I suppose, technically, it is a port?  Or is the landing site still undecided?"

If Corlan has any questions, he seems content to hold them until his travelling companions have had theirs answered.

Tylen grins, and then preens slightly, as Shui describes him as a life saver – but he settles back and listens to Jago’s explanation of the fight, and the way that Yas plays it down, with a faint smile.  After all, those guys were out there loading up those rockets while Shui was out there.  Had The Margin been caught on the ground it might have been a different matter.  A missile into the hold, through the loading ramp, could well have left them planet bound.

In those circumstances Tylen has no concerns about leaving a much bigger calling card than the contents of the effluent tank.

When Eneris asks about the landing spot, Tylan can’t help grinning much more broadly.  ”How about just outside their dome?”  he suggests.  ”That way Yas and I can keep a couple of decent sized weapons trained on them while you do the deal?”

"Keryn.  You have spent too much time with Sassy.  Don't talk like that, you must set an example for your kid, remember?" Yas mock scolds Keryn, even if she do mean it.

"As for landing there, as much fun as it would be, I doubt we would get any customer then, Ty.  After all, small arms fire or arrows can kill you if you're not in a tank or behind a force field, and that's what our customers would be upon arrival," she says with a shake of her head, making her hair slowly wobble as it lags behind a split second.

"You don't want to make deliveries then?" Ty grins as he teases Yas about not wanting the get her 'best' suit out

"I most assuredly do, although not with our customer in the line of fire or outside the lair of the villains, where they'd be identified and no doubt 'dealt with' later, in a most horrific fashion, my dear Mr. Ogresh," Yas replies to him with a small curtsey, pretending to lift imaginary skirts.  Then she grins from ear to ear.

First, Ash has to hide his smile behind his coffee mug as Keryn starts to use more 'colorful' language than she has in the past.  Saskia will have Ms. Taylor swearing like a proper spacer in no time, he notes to himself, Keryn is a quick study...  But then he already knew that given her high-level questions about artificial intelligence logic algorithms.  He continued to sip his black coffee as his mind wandered for a bit.

Then Ash watches the antics of Yasmine and Tylen for a moment with a slightly bemused smile on his face.  Then he turns to face Eneris and then Jago in turn.  The thin navigator notes off-hand in response to Eneris' question, "While, it is the Captain's prerogative to decide and he is quite capable of getting the Profit Margin there himself.  All, I know is that I haven't been told where to plot a course to yet."  He shrugs slightly, "So, I suspect that the landing site has not yet been decided."  Jago, of course, could confirm or deny that at his leisure.  Or not.  Once again, all part of a Captain's prerogative.

He does acknowledge Yasmine's point though, "The Chief is right, though.  If the people that we give the cargo to aren't already marked...." and Ash purses his lips for a moment, "they likely will be after the transactions go through.  It's going to be hard to move that much product without the syndicate here knowing."

He posits tentatively, more musing out loud than anything, "Perhaps we should try to create enough of a 'distraction' or a diversion to give the others a fighting chance..."

Saskia remains at her post, but listens in on Jago's debriefing via the internal comms.

"Did you hear that?" she asks the Jump regulator, "They're blaming me because Little Miss Fresher Mouth used some grown up words that she probably heard in a frelling holovid."

Still, she's smiling as she says it, and only seems to be half paying attention anyway.  A diagram is taking shape on the console in front of her, along with some complex calculations.  Finally she thumbs the stud on the comms, "If you're all quite done with the character assassination, I think I might know how we can keep the local trouble makers busy while we offload the cargo."

"I would be more than pleased to hear your thoughts, Ms. Blake," Shui responds, both aloud to the room and over the comm.  With the drinks laid out and people partaking, she has had time to put together some sandwiches and small rolls; these now join the beverages on the table.

"I have some serious concerns regarding the organized crime here," she continues. "This place should be marked, somehow, in such a manner that people coming here will know that not only is it corrupt, but that said corruption is willing to employ extreme measures to maintain its hold.  I'm well-certain other ships have suffered kidnapping, assault on crewmembers, and the like."

A faint look of irritation crosses her face.  "But I suppose any beacon we set up could be easily discovered and destroyed." It's sort of the point for a beacon to broadcast.

"Well I thought we could fre- , er, we could buzz their place a bit, maybe give them a sonic boom or two to worry about, and leave them a little gift.  Just like we discussed,"  Saskia's voice, even over the comm channel, sounds like she's smiling.

"This next part is the good bit.  We tell them that this gift is just a matter of cleaning up.  But, we also tell them that we're going to leave a drone in orbit, and if they give us any more problems during our stay, or if we come back this way and hear of them making any trouble for passing ships, or interfering in trade in any way, then the next gift we leave will be a radioactive crater that's visible from their furthest moon, right where their base used to be.

"Then we go straight up and drop an empty barrel in orbit with a solar powered transmitter in it that sends a signal every ten seconds or so, just so they know it's there."

“Nice Saski,” Jago chuckles, “we’ll do something like that, we can discuss it over dinner as I’m sure Jockram and Co. will want to contribute. ”

Jago sobers before going on, “thing is, even though they’ve shot at us and severely messed up the best trading opportunity I’ve had for decades, I’ve no wish to inflict injury or death on these people, that would make us no better than they are.  The trade deal I’ve cut with the legit traders will unite them against the thugs to a certain extent, and word will soon get around in a place like this. Covering their dome with frozen cack won’t improve their standing in the community, now that I know that there is no one else sharing the same habitat, and a beacon of some sort is fine but I don’t want to waste a lot of time and resources on this.”

"Who said anything about causing casualties?  Blasting their little hidey-hole, sure, once they vacated it after a little demonstration and warning.  Beside, letting them live would also serve to show the precision of our weaponry, as opposed to theirs," Yas objects, not liking the notion that she advocated killing when she did not.  "I also still think we should have Jockram carve a message in front of their place too, though, like 'We're watching' or something, to go with the barrel."

She shrugs and turns her attention to mixing something up in a cup in the aft corner of the lounge.

"It doesn't have to be a decoy..." Ash notes off-hand over his coffee mug and over the common crew channel for Saskia to hear.  After a pause he continues, "I mean we could actually leave a transponder that gave incoming ships the location of the dome as well as the name of the syndicate.  A sort of public service announcement..."  Even if they aren't the Imperium or anything so grandiose.

But as he says it, Ash knows that there are problems with the idea...  He sighs, "Of course, it will get shot down by anyone that sympathizes with them..."  He shrugs and the shrug is readily apparent even over the comms, as he continues his line of reasoning, "It just seems that we should be able to do something to help the other merchants on and off of Rangent that are trying to proper business here to avoid them..."  Obviously, to him, it would be more constructive to do something like that than to merely try to dump on the bad guys; no matter how much fun (and appropriately fitting) said dumping would be.

As Tylen has been listening to the conversation, he becomes a more serious, and  uses his thumb to scratch the side of his jaw.   With an apologetic glance towards the passengers, he reminds the group "They didn't mind the risk of casualties."

He stands forward from the wall, a grim and intense look on his face. "Shui was still out there when they were setting up to fire on us, and you can bet your bottom credit that they would have fired straight into the ship's hold if they had had that chance.  Give them warning if you like, but I would blow that dome to smithereens.  What you are discussing make them lose a bit of face and little more.  The chances are they will just crack down harder on the locals until they are established again, and if they were prepared to use missiles against us,  they will use guns against the locals who oppose them.  If you really want to give the locals a chance, we need to hurt them in a way that is significant and obvious. Let Yas blow a hole in their dome with one of her plasma cannon, then salvage it for the cost of the cost of our sand and a contribution towards our costs.  they publicise it across the city."

Once he he has said his piece, he allows himself to lean back against the wall, and takes up his normal pose.  However, the thumb that comes up to scratch his jaw shows that he isn't quite as relaxed as he appears.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Sat 17 Aug 2013.

Corlan clears his throat, "If I might make a comment?    When we are travelling to a new system, I like to use the ship's library files to find as much information as possible about our destination.  It helps to pass the time, and sometimes I can find information on tourist attractions and points of interest."

"When I was reading up on Rangent, one of the things I discovered was that the vast majority of the planetary population is armed.  I suspect that these thugs are walking a fine line.  If they don't show enough force, they risk losing their position of power.  If they push too hard, they risk finding themselves outnumbered by a well armed population."

"They, in all likelihood, can't afford to crack down harder on the locals.  From what I have heard, they have been operating by singling out groups and putting pressure on them.  I believe the idea behind Captain Lanza's plan to split the cargo was that it would give the criminals too many targets to deal with at one time."

"By humiliating them, and doing so publicly, I think that we will encourage people to stand up to them, en masse."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Sat 17 Aug 2013.

"Killing in self-defence is one thing, if we kill them now we're no better," Yas says without looking away from her cup.

"And with everyone having access to guns I suspect trouble might arise for them if they get too noisy.  Even thugs like these have a leader or they would probably have been gunned down by a citizen posse.  And getting to that boss is no doubt too much work for us.  I still want to melt their hideout, though, that should take care of them just fine."

"But hey, maybe we'll come back here in a few years and they'll have erected statues of us in the market square, singing songs about us and all?" she says, all in her deadpan voice, so when and if she crosses into joking is hard to tell from that alone.

“Thank you Corlan, you are right of course, and I really don’t want to take it any further than I’ve outlined,” there’s a certain finality to the captains tone of voice, but he goes on, “however, we still have the delivery to make my main concern is doing that without putting the passengers, or the ship, in danger.”

“Saskia, we’ll certainly leave something in orbit as you suggest, and it might as well be a real message as a dummy bleep but remember that these are probably not the only group who are using strong arm tactics so it will have to be a general message, rather than specifically about our friends in the dome there.”

“Right then,” Jago straightens in his chair and looks around at the others, “unless there’s any other questions I have some arrangements to make and we have a dinner to prepare for.”

"Always felt you have to front up to a bully, and make it cost them something, or else they never learn anything." Tylen says with a shrug.  But it sounds like the decision has been made, he will go along with it, but he doesn't have to like it.  And those feeling are plainly written in both his face and demeanour.

Shui remains silent while doling out the sandwiches and various beverages.  Once finished, she immediately commences the cleanup, moving mechanically to take the dishes almost the moment the plates have finished their task.  She opens her mouth once to speak, but closes it again, obviously thinking better of that action.

Finally the captain comes to a decision - one not approved of by the gunner - and her shoulders slump slightly as she takes a moment to lean against the sink.  There had been the possibility of violence, of gunfire, of outright bombardment.  Now, things have settled back to a more comfortable choice.  The steward takes a long, slow breath, then slowly turns.

"If that is the case, Captain Lanza, I will need to know the exact time for your dinner with the Ore Hound."  Her smile is brittle, but there nonetheless.  "There are a great deal of preparations -" not entirely true, but close "- and I have my regular duties.  Thankfully, without needing to open up the Medbay."

It's possibly ridiculous, Shui silently concedes, to be concerned about such things at this moment.  But it's all she has, especially when faced by a situation with which her family routinely dealt.  She can almost hear his voice now, gently correcting Tylen, carefully explaining the alternatives...

Mr. Orgesh, might that be excessive?

And imprecise?

Be silent, father.

The brittle smile fractures.  "My apologies.  Perhaps now is not the time for such things.  Captain Lanza, is there anything else?"

Eneris shakes his head, scowling, "These people shot at your ship.  Given the state of the legal system down there, pretty much nothing you do in retaliation would be against the law."

"Illegal, no... morally reprehensible, most definitely." Corlan retorts.  "Opening fire on people whose weapons and technology are vastly inferior to those aboard this ship.  And not even in combat, but simply for vengeance."

"I, for one, applaud Captain Lanza's decision not to engage in potentially lethal retalliation."

"You would."

"Will you two shut up?" Keryn interjects, then adds for the benefit of others, "They have this sort of argument all the time.  'Discussions' they call them.  Sometimes they nearly come to blows.  A couple of days into the trip here from Denotam, I thought I was going to have to fetch Tylen and Yas to sit on them."

"Really now, Keryn?  Which one would I get?" Yas says with a chuckle and glances back at the pregnant woman, still tinkering with her cup.  She winks and returns her full attention to the cup, casually moving in the way of anyone trying to look.

Finally she picks it up and turns around to start sipping from it, possibly to see if either Corlan or Eneris reacts to her question.

"Asymmetric Warfare." Tylen nods acknowledging Corlan's description of the difference in technologies.  "It generally leads to dominance and control of the battle space." Tylen almost quotes.  "The goal of just about every military leader in history ..." he finishes up.

then he turns his attention to the steward,"Shall I fetch the drinks from the hold?  Where would you like them?" he asks, with a grin.

The Profit Margin's navigator nods to Jago, glad that a decision has been made.

Ash watches the multiple exchanges going on in the lounge with more than passing interest.  But he also keeps quiet.  He hasn't been called out on anything.  And the thin navigator quite likes it that way.

He knows that he'd be unlikely to be able to subdue either Eneris or Corlan.  And that he is not the philosopher or student of history that Tylen is.  Nor does he have the quick (and slightly acerbic) wit that the security chief has.  And he doesn't have the broad expertise that Saskia is known for, the quiet, intense patience that the Good Doctor has, or the authority of the Captain.  No, Ash is just trying to get by as best he can.  And most of that, he has learned in his thirty-four or so years of life, is keeping his head low.

Still he doesn't seem to be able to help himself.  "Generally sucks to be the dominated controllee." he notes off-hand and then pauses for a moment before adding, "And it is a vicious spiral, isn't it?  At least an escalating one."

Ash shrugs slightly.  "An eye for an eye, makes the whole universe blind..." he paraphrases an old Solomani adage.  He frowns slightly and then looks down at his coffee mug.  Suddenly, its contents seem intensely interesting to him.

Eneris sighs, "Sorry.  I know, I'm just a passenger, and I have no say in how the ship is run."

"But I do have a question.  Not sure if anybody's thought of this, but I think it bears consideration."

A brief pause while the retired spacer collects his thoughts, "What happens if our trigger-happy friends decide to exert a little pressure on the trade factors?  Is there a backup plan in case you land to drop off the cargo and the so-called cargo handlers are really a bunch of assassins, armed to the teeth and waiting for a chance to throw a few grenades into the hold?"

Shui pauses at Tylen's offer, rocking slightly on her heels.  "The hold.  Yes, I believe we should.  It might make for a good start." There's an answer to all of Eneris' questions, as well as others, but it's not one she can or will suggest.  Nor support.

She offers a quick nod to Mr. Tescali, filing away his 'eye for an eye' comment - an interesting viewpoint, any wordplay unintended - and strides from the room at a quick clip.  Captain Lanza has reached a conclusion on the retaliation situation, and that's enough for her at the momemnt; she'd rather not sit and listen to any comments that might unconciously colour her views of others in the future.

"I suspect that would be me and Yas ..." Tylen responds to Eneris's question as he heads out to collect the drinks that were unceremoniously left in the hold, while they made a rapid departure from the planet.  "Strange how quickly people forget that we were the target ..." he thinks as he picks up the cases of beer.

"The beer and the mead should be OK, but you might want to run some tests on those spirits before you serve them - and then cut them with fruit juice ..." he says with a grin across at Shui.

Ash watches quietly as Eneris floats the idea of an ambush to their rendezvous.  He glances at Jago and then at Tylen as the latter answers.  He nods slowly, though that gesture is partially hidden by his coffee mug.  It does seem appropriate that the two security specialists might be the one to take of such a situation.

Though, Ash admittedly might not have much skin in the game.  Especially, if he is manning the sensors and navigation consoles from the bridge.  "The Chief," he notes off-hand indicating Yasmine in her guise as Head of Security, "could show off her cargo-dress finery to help maintain order.  And all under the guise of helping to move cargo ..."  The thin navigator gave a slight shrug and took another sip from his cup of joe.  "We probably should be cautious as Eneris is advocating." he agrees amiably, "The Syndicate likely has informants in any or all of the other trading companies."

Yas lets the others speak while she sips her cup and then takes a long breath through her teeth before speaking.

"My thoughts regarding security is to make it so that our customers does not get anywhere near the open cargo bay.  I bring the stuff out, in pre-designated co-ordinates, before our customers arrives, then we close the ship up and do our dealings.  Should they have been infiltrated, unlikely as I see it, most of their weapons will have little effect on my suit while we could use Ty's turret if needed.  To my understanding what is needed is to pass the goods over and to receive the payment, nothing that requires negotiations or invitations."

"No one and nothing will get inside the ship then.  Especially with Ash here watching sensors, from both Margin and the Hound in orbit, there's no way anyone can be sneaking about without us knowing, so no more bazooka either."

"I suspect the worst trouble will be for the companies afterwards if the bad guys are grumpy, that's why I think we should do something to scare them, or preferably reduce their assets by blasting their facility, with due warning so that can evacuate, of course."

Seemingly done she starts to sip her cup again, returning full focus on whatever it is.

"Seems like a decent plan." Eneris admits, with a relieved smile.  "Get the stuff out onto the ice, with a triple turret pointing at anybody who pokes their head over the horizon, and close the door.  That should work."

The former Navy gunner nods, "Thanks for keeping us filled in."

Corlan nods his agreement, "Indeed, thank you including us in this briefing, Captain Lanza.  I, for one, appreciate it."