Nice images.

BTW Concrete Masonry Units, i.e. Concrete Block are not bulletproof (unless you fill the cells with concrete).

Umm, Kraig ? Care to forward the story ?
I am, btw, assuming that the others (Gahler, Steve, Roland plus Mr. Smith) were back at the berth before I arrive as they have a car :D
Meaning: anyone of those might chime in, too.
And finally: since I suggested above somewhere that Luise and Luthar may know each other, she might also chime in...
Just saying...
This message was last edited by the player at 07:36, Tue 07 Mar 2017.

In reply to Luthar Argot (msg # 594):

I'll do so.  I've been out of the action for so long I need to get back into the game.

In your last term you commanded a patrol ship.  I ended my last term in Free Traders.  That would make a good source of connection.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Sun 12 Mar 2017.

Looks like the vessel we have is from a completely different setting, Gypsy Knights Games’ Clement Sector, with a rather stunning FTL Technology very unlike the Third Imperium's Jump Drive.

That's where the ship is from, but since I didn't have any of Gypsy Knights' material, I didn't know it was different. Don't know if the previous GM was going to use it or not, but I stuck with the standard Jump Drive system.

At the moment I don't want to 'enforce' a chance encounter with either Luise or the others I have seen in the Nexus.
Oh, and pardons for forgetting about Ignatius Maor in my post above, obviously he was also at the Nexus.

To me, there's no reason to be introduced to the Captain as unlike Mr. Smith Luthar is not going to provide the ship's running costs for a couple of months.
I mean... 1MCr ! For a 6 parsec passage. That's incredible :D

As such, there is no reason for Luthar at all to leave the lower deck.

I also don't really see a reason why the others should be anywhere but the upper deck. Except maybe those responsible for the guests, i.e. those with any skill at Steward (Kraig, Gahler, Roland). And since everybody arrived before Luthar came to the berth anyway...

Sorry everybody for the confusion.
Not yet used to location-based threads :D

In reply to Luthar Argot (msg # 599):

You and your evil twins are everywhere :)

^^

I may actually be on the false track there.
I can certainly imagine passenger ticket and passenger traffic being organized by some administration. And Ghandi certainly has the TL to allow 'online ticket purchase'.
Nevertheless, surely something like that would only work if the Dust Runner had sort of enlisted that kind of assistence. And even so, surely you would know about any such purchases ?
So, for Marcus Blanchard to have a ticket for your ship and your journey he must have been in contact with one of you before...

IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

Finally recovering from my surgery, I get a cold last week. Wound up coughing half the nights so didn't get much sleep, making me tired the next day.

Then on Thursday and again on Friday, my computer picked up its own virus!

Somewhere along the way, I misplaced my brain. Been looking for it ever since.

The next adventure may have to be The Search for StarMaster's Brain!

Anyway, to answer Argot's question before, I tend to think of most things as being automated. While we may think that it takes a computer to really foul things up, by the time period we're talking about, most of those bugs have been eliminated. An interstellar empire just couldn't function if it had to actually churn out all that paperwork.

Anyway, rather than wonder about how it could have happened, you could always investigate!

My assumption is that whenever a ship enters a starport, it's automated-asked about cargo, among all the other things. This would be particularly true for a cargo ship. Anyway, one of those little boxes you'd check was whether you were accepting passengers. If so, then it's entered into the system.

All the regularly scheduled flights get displayed on the boards at the terminal, but the one-shots would only show up on an on-line site.

Given the Vilani influence on the society I'd imagine that paperwork is very, very tightly organized on the larger and higher tech worlds.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 603):

Ok, I see, good to know.
It probably does not explain the huge and sprawling bureaucracy of the 3rd Imperium in place (why are there so many of those if it's automated), but I'm perfectly fine with this approach... if the current planet's TL does support this approach only, of course. As a reminder: Current Earth is assumed to be somewhere between TL 7 and 8.

As for the automated cargo-registration.
Again, an approach that is good to know.
Just finding freight, mail, sellers and buyers per RAW takes an awful lot of time, days in general except when the world is TL8⁺ (and thus has an extensive Computer Network), where it only takes 1-6h. That does not include any negotiations, of course.
It seems that only finding passengers does only take a couple of conversations.
Well, as per Mongoose's Merchant Prince (2010) anyway.

I can see the 'accepting passengers' flag, though I wonder a bit whether we (i.e. a 'free trader') would already know our next destination as we approach the starport.

Well, okay, so this is how it works here, so that's cool.

Still puzzled by Blanchard being able to rent a passage without anyone of the crew knowing, though :D
Indeed, maybe it would be worthwile to investigate.
However, there's this nice gentlemen on board who is going to pay handsomely for an immediate departure, so the point is moot I'd say ^^
PERSONAL MEMO: always read IC first
This message was last edited by the player at 06:29, Thu 23 Mar 2017.

The ship has cargo, right ?
Kraig checked the loading, but is it actually clear just what that cargo is ???

Good point! Nobody responded to my prompt, so I've posted updates for that. Blame it on Hans and Arc!

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 607):

I figured the brokers were arranging something with which to fill the hold!  it's all just dice and tables, right?  :)

To Luthar...
As for the 3I bureaucracy, I figure that the Vilani influence results in a far more human intensive approach.  It wouldn't necessarily be less automated but they might have humans inserted into more of the decision making around the data processing.

It's just my own mumbling YMMV of course :)

Now we're lucky that we've not run into a Bwap or two!!!!

Bwap!!!! oh god no....

So do we find anything interesting in the news highlights in the past 2 weeks?

I'll be on holiday next week. I may be able to post a bit, but I'm not sure.

I'd assume we can do some of the 'standard' life support and maintenance costs out of what is available in the carts.

Yes, that's normal for the way the starport operates.

sorry, realized that for some reason one of my posts was never published (most likely, I hit the preview button)

No problem.

I sometimes have problems with that, too, though it's usually because I lose my internet connection in the middle of a post.

Was having problems with the internet the last four days, for instance.

Hello all.  GM has kindly allowed me to take over Dr Hans Bomar.  I hope to become your resident mad scientist/doctor.

Welcome to our new mad scientist!!!

No experimenting on the crew unless you're going to turn me into spiderman or something cool.