There is a flare of light and tachyons, and Profit Margin drops out of Jump, a little more than a million kilometres from a world which gleams blue, green and white in the light of two mismatched suns - a yellow Main Sequence star, and a brilliant white dwarf companion which dance around each other, connected by a streamer of plasma.

Seconds later, the signal from the beacon comes in, confirming that the ship is at Phlume.  Back in Imperial space.

There is comms chatter here.  Ships in orbit, both civilian and military.  The civilian ships are scattered, but the military comms all come from a close group about a quarter of the way around the planet, and considerably closer to it than Profit Margin...

Transponder codes indicate that the military ships are Imperial Navy, plus a couple of Scout vessels.

"Jump complete.  Drive deactivated.  Thrusters online and ready to use at your discretion.  All systems nominal."  Saskia leans back in her seat at the Engineering station on the Bridge and looks past Jago, at the world in the distance.  "Looks nice.  A lot less frelling icy than the last one.  Maybe the welcome will be warmer too."

+ Calling up relevant data, + Shui notes over the com.  Currently she's preparing the post-jump snack for the crew and passengers, while going over her list of Things To Do Upon Arrival™.  + Just for a reminder. +

Once she has the data on the starport, the world, its laws, and so forth, she'll post it for all of the crew and passengers to examine.

Jago is looking pleased with himself, his unlit cigar bobbing about energetically as he runs through the post jump sequence on his boards while keeping half an eye on the little tell tail that will inform him when the transponder begins it's automatic data dump in the presence of Naval vestals. Not that there's much of use there but you never know what might be of interest and it's nice to feel one is doing one's bit.

It's also nice to think that there is the opportunity for proper trade here, the last stop was a total disaster financially, he shudders at the though and quickly turns his attention, and his ship, towards the distant planet, flying by observation and experience until Ash comes up with proper and precise vectors, probably at least three alternatives to take account of various eventualities.

"Computer, can we tune into a news channel please," he asks with his usual formal politeness when conversing directly with the his it's self, no doubt a wasted effort but politeness costs nothing and certainly never hurts.
 

With Jago getting the news and Ash asked to plot vectors, Tylen scans the area picking out the locations of vessels, trying to spot if there is anything out of the ordinary.

Once he has dome that, he listens into the military chatter for a while -  just to see if they are talking about anything interesting.

The computer starts searching for news in the system, and soon picks up a TNS broadcast from the space port...

• Frenzie/Vilis (0306-A200436-A) Date: 275-1107
  The trial started today of the officers and senior crew of a Sword Worlds ship, arrested at Arkadia, and charged with war crimes.  Naval officials, overseeing the trial, expect it to last several weeks.

Apart from that, there isn't much beyond weeks-old reports of battles in various systems along the frontier.  According to the reports, neither side seems to have the upper hand in the war...

Local system news is more prolific and largely speculative.  It mostly deals with the arrival of an Imperial Navy squadron, led by a light cruiser, which has moved into orbit to resupply.

Ash lets his eyes adjust from the muted flare of the jump transition.  He instinctively closes his eyes, but no matter what there is always a moment after translation that is slightly disorienting.  To both man and machine as the lanky navigator waits for the external sensor arrays to come back online.

Then he starts his sweep of telemetry data as well as the comm channels.  "Hmmm ..." he muses aloud, "that is a lot of hardware." referring to the military build up, "it is almost like a war is on ..."  And Phlume is on the frontier or something.  He points out the cluster of naval and scout vehicles.  "Refueling stop." Ash narrates and a couple of smaller transports seem to be continuously shuttling between ocean surface and the military ships.

Ash dutifully announces their arrival to the Phlume port authority.  He is extra careful, given the presence of so much military-grade hardware.  As he speaks over the external comm link, his fingers dance on his dynamically configured console.  Almost immediately, four different routes - three to the main downport and one to an alternate refueling location - all appear on the main tactical map for Jago to choose from.  All of the potential courses give the refueling cruiser and escort squadrons a wide berth so as to not confuse anyone or anything.  As he continues to tap away the plot routes continue to subtly shift being continually refined as the third and fourth-order derivatives come into play in the higher-order equations of the calculations.

Tylen pushes his new information out on the crew comms channel.  "Apparently this lot were in a battle at  Utoland where they beat up a load of Sword Worlds and Vargr ships and now they are here for service and repairs." he says recounting his eves dropping.  After a quick check he adds quietly "That is only four parsecs from here"

Once he has passed the information  on, he goes back to monitoring the comms traffic, only this time he listens particularly to the civilian inter-ship chatter, to see if he can pick up anything out of the ordinary.

War crimes.  Battle.  Shui stares blankly through her holoscreen for a long moment.  Count the cost, consider the dead.  It almost makes one want to agree with her father.

Almost.

She blinks, flicks a toggle.  + The Starport is listed as Class C, so should we finally reach the front of the line there shouldn't be any problems.  The law level is moderate; it's probably best to keep personal weapons to a minimum unless I discover otherwise. +

'Minimum' for some aboard the ship being more flexible than for others.

+ The world is agrarian, tech levels below interstellar.  The atmosphere is breathable, though some may find it heavy. +  Keryn, in particular, but she doesn't mention that.  It's something for a more private discussion.

As Profit Margin moves towards the world, the computer correlates information from its own databanks with that being transmitted from the surface, ready to flag any discrepancies for Jago's attention.

As it turns out, there don't seem to be any that don't fall within an acceptable margin of error, and a full readout is displayed for crew perusal...

---

WORLD DETAILS

NAME:              Phlume
HEX LOCATION:      Spinward Marches 1611
UWP:               C887624-8
PBG:               710
TRADE CODES:       Agricultural, Non-industrial
ALLEGIANCE:        Third Imperium
STELLAR DETAILS:   Primary Star: G5 V  Mass: 0.94  Luminosity: 0.67
                   Binary Star:  M8 D  Mass: 1.11  Luminosity: 0.238

SATELLITE DETAILS: Number: 0

SIZE RELATED DETAILS
Basic World Type: Planet - molten core
Diameter: 13,280 km  Density: 1.02  World Mass: 1.02  World Gravity: 1.02 G
Orbit Period: 203.037 Std days      Distance: 0.7 AU  Eccentricity: 0.0
Rotation Period: 30.586 Std hours   Axial Tilt: 32°   Seismic Stress Factor: 1.586

ATMOSPHERIC RELATED DETAILS
Composition: Standard oxygen-nitrogen mix
Surface Pressure: 1.5 atm         Mean Temp: 38.3°C  Native Life: Yes
Terraforming - Atmospheric: No    Albedo: No        Greenhouse Effect: No
Weather Control: No

HYDROSPHERE RELATED DETAILS
Composition: Liquid water
Hydrographic Percentage: 67%    Tectonic Plates: 5
Continents and Oceans: 2 major continents, 10 minor continents, 10 major islands, 10 archipelagoes
Hydrographic Terraforming: No   Terrain Terraforming: No

POPULATION RELATED DETAILS
Total World Population: 7,000,000
Starports and Spaceports: C/G/C/C/F/C/E/F/G/C
Primary Cities: 10        Orbital Cities. No

Social Outlook:
    Progressiveness: Radical, Advancing
    Aggressiveness:  Competitive, Neutral
    Extensiveness:   Discordant, Xenophilic

Unusual Local Customs: Phlume's population is tolerant of individuals who show psionic capabilities.
               Medical staff use scented smokes and perfumes as part of various treatments.
               Military personnel cannot turn visitors away from their homes.

GOVERNMENT RELATED DETAILS

Representative Authority: Participating Democracy.
Representative Authority: Demos
Division of Authority:    No division.

LAW RELATED DETAILS                   TECHNOLOGY RELATED DETAILS
Uniformity of Law:     Personal       Technology Profile:

Legal Profile: 4-17310                High Common Tech Level: 8
    Overall Law Level: 4              Low Common TL:          4
    Weapons Law level: 1              Energy TL:              8
    Trade Law level:   7              Computer/Robotics TL:   8
    Criminal Law:      3              Communications TL:      8
    Civil Law:         1              Medical TL:             9
    Personal Freedom:  0              Environment TL:         9
                                      Land Transport TL:      9
                                      Water Transport TL:     9
                                      Air Transport TL:       9
                                      Space Transport TL:     9
                                      Personal Military TL:   7
                                      Heavy Military TL:      8
                                      Novelty Tech Level:     9

RESOURCES AND GOODS
Natural Resources:      Agriculture, Ores, Radioactives, Crystals, Compounds
Processed Resources:    Agroproducts, Metals, Non-Metals
Manufactured Resources: Parts, Durables, Consumables
Information Resources:  Documents

---

Phlume, a warm world of extensive oceans, with a dense atmosphere and native life forms in abundance.  The locals even welcome strangers from offworld.  The data from the planet includes views of open countryside, forested hills, soaring mountain ranges, and beaches with views of vast, rolling green oceans...  Definitely a more pleasant alternative to Rangent.

"This is Traffic Control to Profit Margin." the comm system announces, "Welcome to Phlume.  Please adjust course to Vector 315.23 by -17.4.  This will take you into Narindat Port Authority airspace, and you will receive further instructions shortly.  Weather conditions at Narindat are excellent, with clear skies, zero precipitation, and minimal winds.  Ideal for a smooth landing.  Thank you for visiting Phlume.  Enjoy your stay."

The course change would keep Profit Margin well away from both the military forces, and the civilian traffic in orbit.

Shui does a rapid once-over of the laws, shaking her head in mild annoyance.  She doesn't like being wrong.  The law level is moderate...except when it comes to personal weaponry.  A flick of her finger activates her access to shipwide messaging and intercom systems, and she rescinds her previous comment.

+ Upon verification, the weapon laws in particular are lax.  Law level 1.  Avoid any weapons that can defeat scanning systems, otherwise you should be fine with personal weapons. + And man portable cannons, she considers with distaste, but none of her personal opinions on the law turn up in her voice.

Immediately she begins her customary duties, taking a moment here and there to search for places of interest: cultural areas, areas for relaxation, natural areas supposedly of great beauty...these are things she or the others, including Keryn, might enjoy.

"Don't got anywhere along, it sounds like a place where you look after yourself with no help from the law," Yas cautions over the comms.  Would not do to have someone get hurt or worse due to the degree of personal freedom in this place of guns.  "So I'd suggest groups of two as a bare minimum, preferably three or more, if anyone is planning any kind of excursion."

As Shui starts to try to track down places of interest, she gets a call on the internal comm system, from Keryn. 

The ship swings onto the new vector and begins a steady descent towards the upper atmosphere.  Directly ahead a ground beacon appears on the HUD, transmitting meteorological, topographic, and traffic data, along with a steady stream of local news, market information, and requests for off-world transport or freight carriage.

All much more civilised than Rangent...

Shui flicks open a toggle to reply. + Of course, Ms. Taylor.  Officer Crow is busy at the moment, given her duties, but I will pass your thanks along immediately. +  Once she has fulfilled her end of the short discussion, Shui switches to Yasmine's line on the comm.

+ Yasmine?  Apologies for interrupting, but I am passing along Ms. Taylor's thanks for the tagged display of the orbiting ships you made available to her.  She is most appreciative. +