TIMELINE: Day 3, just after noon


The two limousines leave from TAS building and head to an area near the edge of the starport where they pull up in front of a restaurant called The Golden Griffin... except that it's located in an old starship!

You've gotten there before Ceruleanne, and it requires a bit of effort on the staff to push tables together that can accommodate the large group.

The staff doesn't mind, since the fact that the Count is eating at their establishment will increase business.

  Kaengarr stared at the exterior of the restaurant for a good long moment once the company had exited the limos and before they went inside. In part, he was assessing the state of the ship. In part, he was concerned about the implications. "This is the ship. There was a job offer for a pilot here, but no name put to it. Maybe it was her."

  And if it wasn't, well...

  Since it probably matters more for some of us, how powerful is the spice smell in here? ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Fri 02 Oct 2015.

The spice smell isn't too bad. The Darrians may like a lot of spice, but there aren't too many Darrians on Grendal. In fact, as far as you know, there's only one. And he's had 40 years making the adjustment to local tastes and cuisine.

Probably the strongest is that of chili, of which Kaengarr smells a pot cooking. In fact, a sign on the front advertises "Home of Retro-Burn Chili".

  Kaengarr's concern about the aromatic nature of a chili restaurant faded once he got a sniff of the air inside. It was strong, yes - to a Vargr nose, at least - but fortunately not the overpowering stink that he'd encountered in other places that focused on spicy cuisine.

  Since they had time to spare, he took a good long look around at the restaurant interior. It was only a fraction of the ship as a whole, but it was as good a place as any to start getting a sense of the ship's condition.

Sam got out of the limousine and did a fairly obvious 360 degree sweep, looking for vantage points people could use to watch or attack them from, cover nearby creating dead ground and people in the area and what they were doing. Old habits die hard.

When she was satisfied there was no obvious threat she followed the others in.

Khea only glances at the ship. Like most Humaniti ones it looks very ungainly to her so she doesn't pays much attention to it, especially as she is not all the enthusiastic about being here and having to watch the others eat 'again'.

But once she notices the spice smell she warms up to the restaurant a bit and decides to keep it in mind to come back to it later if she has the chance.

Ceruleanne walks into the Golden Griffin as if from familiarity, and has no problem spotting the large group. Smiling, she walks up to the tables where they are gathered.

"I certainly didn't think we'd meet again so soon," she says in greeting, "but then Count Cromwell had chosen to formalize our association."

"I'll get right to the point, since time is of the essence. I hope that's not going to be a trend!"

"A client, Casey Blackwood, is the owner of Space Metals LTD, an asteroid mining company that has at least one ship out in the Belt. We received a distress call just about 5 hours ago... it said that 'claim jumpers' had taken over the ship. They were requesting emergency help."

"I know another group of troubleshooters that I'd normally have sent on this mission, but they are already engaged in another situation."

"The reason time is of the essence is that claim jumpers haven't yet broken through the bridge control encryptions. Once they do, they can jump the ship out of the system, never to be seen again."

"I have no idea what plans you have, though I got the impression that you wanted to get off planet as quickly as possible. Is this something you might be interested in?"

She turns then to Kaengarr and says:

"Hello. We haven't met yet. I'm Ceruleanne Blue, a facilitator for AcquireCorp."

  "Kaengarr Ruzokh, an old friend of Walter." the Vargr replied directly. His ears swiveled forward and head tilted slightly to one side as he took the measure of this new figure - one who apparently had the rest of the company doing hush-hush work on her behalf. "We haven't purchased a ship yet. Are you offering one?"

  It seemed unlikely that she'd offer up the Darrian trader, but stranger things had happened...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:37, Tue 06 Oct 2015.

In reply to Ceruleanne Blue (msg # 7):

Vonon's ears picked right up when he heard the words 'claim jumpers'.

"What's the job pay, Miz Blue?" Vonon asks, trying -- badly -- to conceal the enthusiasm in his voice, "I'm always up for a bit of slapping around claim jumpers! What kind of resources does Space Metals have here, on planet, that we can use to recover their stolen ship.?"

Vonon suddenly realized he was slipping back into Patrol Commander mode, and stopped speaking, looking around at the group.

"Ah...that is, assuming anyone else is interested in earning some extra money...?" he finishes sheepishly.

Walter stroked his chin as he listened to the offer. "Well, I like it a whole lot better than the last "contract" that we had with you Ms Blue." he said "The hard part would be getting there quickly since the information is five hours old and they might be gone by now. What resources are available to us?"

Pablo had been sitting in the Golden Griffin for some time, lingering over chili and tortillas washed down with a decent tequila. He'd come looking for work either on-world or on a vessel shipping away from the Assembly. The idea of a job had been more than welcome. He had some savings, but he'd found a lot of doors closed to an ex-con.

As the group was seated and discussions began, he sat at a nearby table, trying not to eavesdrop too obviously, and waiting to see what developed.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Mon 05 Oct 2015.

Sam sat down and ordered a drink as she listened to Ceruleanne.

Nodding at Vonon, she said " I'm always up for a bit more cash."

Turning to Ceruleanne she fired off some questions in quick succession. "I assume you've got a fast ride to get us out there? If so whats the travel time? If not how are we getting there?

I'm also assuming you have comms with the ship, or at least can give us the details to contact them en route?

Did they give any details of the claim jumpers - what ship they used to board, and how its armed?

Also, how many of them boarded, and how they're armed?

I assume we can we keep the kit we used on the last job, because, assuming we want to capture these people rather than just eliminate them, those tranq guns would be useful."

Whilst the questions were in quick succession, the tone was more business like and professional than rude. Sam even appeared to be relishing the challenge.

She sipped her drink and sat back waiting for answers.

Then added "In case its not clear, I'm in"

Piling out of the limousine, Sharik stood for a moment and looked over the edge of her mirrorshades at the Golden Griffin.  After giving an approving nod, she pushed the 'shades back up the bridge of her nose and moved in time with the rest of the group into the old starship that was now a restaurant.  She walked with what seemed to be a casual saunter, though she kept pace with her companions easily.  And though she seemed nonchalant, Shar was definitely keeping her eyes and ears open not wanting to miss anything.  Crowded places, like popular restaurants, were good and bad all at once.

Upon entering the diminutive brunette took in a deep breath, savoring the strong smells that were coming from the kitchen.  She sat at the table that had been prepared by the staff and ordered some of their house specialty: the Retro-burn along with Darrian equivalent of cornbread.  She also hedged her bets and made sure that the table had plenty to drink - non-alcoholic, since this was a business meeting.

Sipping from her water glass, she leaned back in her chair to listen to what Ceruleanne had to say.  A slight frown played upon her lips when 'claim-jumping' was mentioned.  "It sounds more like 'hijacking.', Ms. Blue." she noted off-hand, which as she recalled was an act of piracy, especially if there was a danger of the perpetrators jumping system.  She took in a deep breath, like Vonon, Sharik had a low opinion of such things - space was deadly enough without having to deal with such lowlifes.  "Not too presumptuous, my friend." she reassured Vonon, backing his play, "we are interested - assuming the details pan out.  What are the specific mission objectives?  Besides the safety of the crew, which I assume is top priority."  She arched an eyebrow and watched Ceruleanne carefully to ensure that was the case before continuing, "What priority are Space Metals and AcquireCorp giving to neutralizing the opposition versus ... say ... collateral damage to resources?"  That, she hoped, would make the question of lethal force a bit more explicit.

Sharik tapped some notes on her dataglove and started her agent spiraling outwards to look up 'Casey Blackwood', 'Space Metals LTD' and find the probable ship and locations that might be in question as well as the local stance on piracy as well as any intersystem accords and laws concerning such acts.  Once that was started, Sharik nodded in agreement with Samantha's logistical questions, "We are going to need something fast.  If we are going to be unable to pursue out of system," which made sense, there were too many systems close by, "then a surplus ship's boat would be ideal."  It was one of the fastest small craft that she knew to be readily available - though depending on how far away this ship in distress was, its operational range might not be enough.

"We'll also need details on the ship and crew in question.  How many are to be rescued?  Do we have dossiers?" Sharik prompted, tacking onto Sam's questions about the attackers, "What credible information to we have on the dispositions and statuses of both the attackers and the defenders at this time?"

As for the other logistical questions asked, Sharik was also interested to know.  She leaned forward in her chair once more, waiting for more details.  The only thing that she seems less interested in was the compensation rate, though she was willing to make a buck as much as the next person, she seemed confident that they would be duly compensated for their actions.  She seemed far more interested in ensuring the safety of the crew and space travel in general.

---

[OOC:  The transit times on page 145 of the Core Rules, list times in tens of hours (27.6h for a 6G craft, like a ship's boat) for 1 AU.  For reference, our asteroid belt around Sol is between 2.2 and 3.2 AU away from the sun.  So, a given rock in our asteroid belt could be between 1.2 AU (at closet approach) to 4.2 AU away (if all the way on the other side of the sun) from Earth.  Obviously, Grendal may be laid out completely differently, but my point is simply that the five hours that have passed may not be the bulk of the time...  intra-system travel times are huge (relatively speaking ;)).]

  Kaengarr's eyes and ears alike swiveled toward the others as they bombarded the contact with question after question in rapid succession. All of them were valid - if a bit hard to follow in such a jumble - though as Kaengarr saw things, the mix of "I" and "we" proclamations left it distressingly apparent obvious that no one was really clear on who led or spoke for the pack... company, or if it even really was one rather than a collection of loners who happened to have come together for the last job.

  His attention shifted back to Ceruleanne as the barrage subsided, and he held off on saying anything further until she'd had a chance to respond to it.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:49, Tue 06 Oct 2015.

Seeing that the males already have jumped at this chance to show of their combat prowess Khzea resigns to being stuck with this job when she wants to accompany the imperial nobles, even though Count has not spoken up yet.

So she leans back with a growl and only adds: "When that company is so weak to not be able to hold onto its ships this close and have to bring in outside help then they better offer a large payment as they do not seem to have anything else.

"Getting there quickly isn't the issue," Ceruleanne responded to the barrage of questions. "That's already been arranged. It's what you do after you get there that's the problem."

"I know some of you have that sort of experience, which is why I immediately thought of your group when the situation arose. It's always a smart play to have more than one string to your bow."

"Whatever kits you had from the last job you can keep. Consider them a bonus for a job well done."

"Captain Galway of the Long Shot only had enough time, apparently, to send off the quick distress signal with the words 'claim jumpers' and 'being boarded'. There were no details of what kind of ship the claim jumpers had, how many of them there were or how they were armed."

"Keep in mind that the Long Shot is a mining ship. Its crew of 5 is mostly ill-equipped for this sort of situation."

She pauses for a moment and takes a drink of water that Sharik had ordered for everyone.

"We will naturally give you the comm code for the Long Shot and the personal codes for each of its crew, though those won't very effective out there in the Belt. We'll also give you the names and pictures of the crew."

"Sharik is probably correct--once the claim jumpers boarded the ship, it became a hijacking... an act of piracy."

"At this point, crew has highest priority, ship is second, cargo, if any, is third. I don't think there is any consideration for the hijackers. If they get away, then that would be their lucky day. If they are killed in the recovery, then I guess Death came knocking and they were foolish enough to answer the door."

"Again, I didn't want to waste your time and mine if you weren't interested, which is why I didn't dump all the data on you at the beginning. The rest of the data is only important to the mission, not to whether you would take it or leave it."

"The Long Shot is a retired 600-ton System Defense Boat converted into a mining ship. The insurance company is offering a recovery fee of 1% of the remaining value of the ship at the time it is recovered."

"As we speak, a launch is being top-mounted onto a Scout ship. The ship will take you out there in a short time. Once out there, you'll use the launch to approach the Long Shot."

"Ms. Blackwood is confident that the security code for the ship can't be cracked for at least 12 hours, possibly even 18 hours or longer. It'll depend on just how good their hacker is."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 15):

"Hijackers...real scum...they know they're headed for a long walk out a short airlock, so they tend to get nasty, once they're in control." Vonon said, rubbing his hands together, "And the payoff is one-percent of the value of an old S-D-B? Really, a System Defense Boat?  Well, one-percent sounds a little low -- skip tracers get ten-percent for their recoveries -- but one-percent could still be a quick million creds, if the ship isn't too badly damaged. Sir Walter..." Vonon grinned at the dapper Imperial and pointed at Ceruleanne, "Talk to her, won't you..."

Vonon suddenly lost his canine smile and went rigid in his chair, slowly lowering his arm down to rest upon the table as his muzzle swung back-and-forth -- sniffing in dangerously large amounts of the spicy air.

Vonon stood up, mumbling "He can't be here..."

Once on his feet Vonon looked around at the assembled dining crowd -- then took a few long strides over to a seated, bearded human male in dark clothing. Looming over the man, Vonon dropped his right hand down on the man's left shoulder in a classic 'Cop making a Pinch' move, then leaned down and, in a casual tone of voice said,

"Excuse me, Citizen, but just how many Carillian Assembly Peacekeepers does it take to screw in an illumination fixture?"


OOC:
Tag, Pablo! ^_^

  "So we don't know whether the pirates have their own armed ship nearby," Kaengarr observed, but as Walter had been designated to handle the negotiations, that was all that he said, busying himself instead with looking up the names that had just been bandied about - The Long Shot, Captain Galway, and Ms. Blackwood - and slowly whittling away at the contents of a chili bowl as he did so. He was particularly interested in the ship's service record and specs, along with those of the past and current crew, and any potential dangers or motives that those might point to.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:15, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

In reply to Vonon Ronkunu (msg # 17):

When Vonon's hand came down on his shoulder, Pablo jumped a bit in surprise. Then he turned enough to look at the Vargr, and a close-mouthed smile crossed his features. "The answer to your question, sir, as any discerning traveller of this region of space will tell you, has three possible answers. These are the right answer, the wrong answer, and the Peacekeeper answer. I'll confine myself to the Peacekeeper answer, which is three.  One to screw in the light, one to firmly insert the power cable into the convenient orifice under the tail, and the third to duct tape the Vargr's jaws shut so the light stays put."

The close-mouthed grin returned. "Vonon, it is great to see you. How have you been?"

His eyes shifted past his friend to the group, lingering for a bare instant on Sharik. He'd seen her come in with the rest, but decided to wait, since there was a possibility that she was undercover in some fashion. That made how to greet her something of a quandary.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:11, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Sir Walter listened to what Ms Blue had to say concerning the new mission that the team has received with his elbows on the table, his chin tucked into his folded hands and his mind churning away. "Well now, one percent of an old system defense boat is a good start and a lot cheaper for them than having to settle the claim on it, no matter what kind of deductible the insurance company has, but they failed to mention any ore that might be aboard. Lets say a ten percent recovery fee for any ore that is on the Long Shot at the time we enter the vessel and a clear title to the hijackers vessel, if there is one." he replied as a counteroffer, looking to the others to see if that was acceptable to them.

  Kaengarr's ears swiveled about to track the various conversations that were going on as he worked his way through the public records, and they skewed toward Walter as the counteroffer was put forth, and he briefly looked up to address a relevant point. "They must have something, even if it's just a launch, but what if it's also stolen? The company wouldn't be able to give us title, so we'd need some other compensation."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:53, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Ceruleanne doesn't look annoyed, but at Kaengarr's comment, she replies:

"No, you wouldn't. You could just do it because it's the right thing to do, and you have the necessary skills to do it."

"Keep in mind, that I'm only the middleman here. I have no idea what the insurance company's policy is regarding any cargo. Assuming there's anything in the hold of the ship, I doubt if Blackwood would quibble over 10% recovery fee."

"As to the title of any ship that the claim-jumpers might possess, I have no control over that. If it's used in the commission of a crime, it would be impounded and once the perpetrators were found guilty, they'd forfeit possession, and then the ship would be put up for auction."

"That being said, I am authorized to offer 2% the price of the ship."

Khea keeps quite at the moment as the arrival of yet another unknown person put her off-balance, so far that she nearly not noticed how strange it is that Ceruleanne maintains that the first priority is the crew yet the pay is only determined by the condition of the ship.

  Kaengarr's eyes remained firmly focused on Ceruleanne, though not with the sort of intensity that would signal a threat or a challenge, and one ear continued to track what was happening at the table that Vonon had wandered off to.

  He wasn't concerned by the rightness of it by human standards, and even by those standards it would only be right if the facts as presented held out - something he wasn't about to take on trust. They probably had the skills to do it, but there were no guarantees when dealing with an unknown enemy in a hostile environment, and even if they took the ship there was a high likelihood that some of them would be killed in the process; it made no sense to sell their lives cheaply.

  He didn't say any of this, of course; the ball was back in Walter's court (as the human saying went), and he didn't want to undermine their negotiator, especially with the base offer having just doubled.

Vonon gave his old friend a welcoming pat on the shoulder, before dropping into a chair next to him.

"I've been good, Pablo!" Vonon responds, "I stayed in the Patrol for a full twenty, made Commander and got transferred to the Capital, hated the silly politics and retired. I'm out wandering the nearby star cluster as a tourist."

"So, what brings you out of the Assembly?" Vonon asks, then suddenly goes grim, leans closer, and lowers his voice.

"Oh, frack! You're not undercover, or something, are you?" Vonon asks quietly, "I know it's been quite a few years since I last saw you, but we are closer to the Assembly, here, than we are to Cassandra's Belt...and what with the recent expansionist policies of the Assembly...you aren't here as an advance scout, or something, are you?"

Sam listened to Cerulleanne.

She tapped distractedly on her comm, and then asked Ms Blue

"I assume communications have been attempted with the ship since the report, has there been no reply?"

ooc
Is in system communication generally considered to be instantaneous, or at least close enough in game turns? Or can it take hour for messages to be sent and received?

"Blackwood said she's tried to establish contact with the ship, but hasn't had any success," Ceruleanne replies to Sam. "Where the ship is in the Belt in relation to Grendal has a 15 minute communication time lag, so a lot can happen in that time."

She glanced around the table at everyone individually, because the group didn't seem to have a single spokesperson for it.

"How many of you are willing to go? So far, I've only heard acquiescence from Vonon, Samantha, and Sharik."

Sir Walter nodded his head. "Two percent of the current value of the vessel and ten percent of any ore that is aboard the vessel when we arrive sounds like we have reached an agreement, Ms Blue." he said. Turning towards the others, he looked at the group. "Does everyone agree? And if so, I would suggest that Vonon lead the operation since it is more in line with his talents. I can assist in a support role but I can help if there is going to be any EVA needed, maybe to prevent the hijackers vessel from leaving the scene. "

After an uncomfortable pause Khea looks at Count to see if he is going to join or not. But as she became painfully aware that she can't read humaniti faces at all she turns to Ceruleanne and tries to stall until Count makes his intention clear.

"What about the crew? You want us to rescue them, yet you only pay us for the ship and have hinted that we might be able to negotiate a reward for the cargo. While two parts from a hundred of a Khtukhao is a generous reward, assuming of course they didn't already scuttle the ship in frustration, a token bonus for each living crew we can rescue would help resolving a potential conflict of interest we might encounter during the rescue.

OOC: Khtukhao is a 600 ton Aslan trader Khea uses as reference.

"The recovery fee is being offered by the insurance company that has insured the ship. If any of the crew have insurance policies, they aren't with Grendal Consolidated," Ceruleanne replies.

"If you need a reward to rescue people, then perhaps you shouldn't go on this mission, as you'll have no motivation to try and keep them alive."

  "We don't have one to see them dead, either," Kaengarr pointed out calmly. "I'll do this, but get us the ship's access codes so we can turn its systems against the hijackers." His focus shifted to the group who would be setting out for the mining ship. He was used to a leadership role - including as part of the occasional boarding action - but knew better than to demand it among aliens. Still he outlined his ideas in a firm, confident voice that conveyed a willingness and the ability to take charge.

  "Vonon is our tactician and will lead the assault. Darrel is our negotiator and will try to talk them down if it's an option. Walter, you will be ready with a medkit for use on the hostages and the hijackers as well as ourselves, and if we get those access codes, whoever's best with computers will be using them. We will take the hijackers alive if we can since they're be valuable too, but that is not a priority over ourselves, the hostages, or the ship."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:25, Thu 08 Oct 2015.

In reply to Ceruleanne Blue (msg # 30):

"You are hiring us to rescue people from a other clan, one which is not able to defend them by itself. That a reward of several megacredits is offered for the ship shows that the people paying for it are quite aware of what the motivations of any rescuers are. Now if you really cared so much about the crew you would ensure that if we had to make a choice between cutting through the hull to rescue the crew or leave the ship intact we would benefit from doing the former and and not the latter.
Khea finishes her angry outburst with baring her fangs, the traditional Aslan challenge to a duel.

After the group arrives, and food/drinks are served, the Count remains unusually silent, until Ms. Blue shows up and goes through her offer.

Following the conversations amongst ourselves, Darrel stands and taps on his cup, "My friends and new compatriots, Ms. Blue had contacted me earlier, and since this mission is time sensitive, I didn´t have the chance to fully brief the group. This job is straight forward and the right thing to do."

Realizing that with additions to the group and our yet cementing/bonding of the "crew", there is bound to be a large degree of confusion..."I´m sorry, given time, I would have covered this and also more about this (gestures to the Golden Griffin), but...let´s get ourselves organized, rescue the mining ship, and discuss all the other issues facing us."

Looking over at Ms. Blue, then the group, "All that expensive gear you were using, the tranq stuff, I had bought earlier, I didn´t mention it. I don´t believe in killing people unless they deserve it and it´s necessary...anyways, just thought you should know."

Count Cromwell, after saying what he had to say, turns to MS Blue and Tolman, "When and where do we need to be, make sure everything is ready."

Ceruleanne listens to Khea and then to Darrel try to forestall the expected pending fight. She doesn't back down from a challenge, either, though her battles are usually mental and social rather than physical.

"Miss Kheaiftouaw, if you have some overwhelming urge to fight, I suggest you wage it between your conscience and your greed. Let me know who wins."

She turns her attention back to Darrel.

"The scout ship is ready to launch as soon as you get there to the scout base."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:12, Fri 09 Oct 2015.

Pablo listened as Vonon spoke, with genuine pleasure. It was good to hear that a friend had done well.

 "Commander, huh? Well done, sir. That would be useful information for my superiors back on Carill. But I left active service more than a decade ago. Spent some years on guns and so forth on a merc ship. Now I'm exploring my options here on scenic Grendal. I hear monster hunting is a growth industry, for instance."

Looking over at the table Vonon had come from when the Aslan snarled angrily he added, "Spirited tour group you've fallen in with, over there."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Sat 10 Oct 2015.

  Things had taken a dangerous turn, and Kaengarr did not want to see their meeting degenerate into a brawl or worse, especially if it involved a well-connected member of the planet's power structure.

  "You're right to be angry, but she's just the messenger." he declared to Khea as he rose from his seat and circled around the table to partially interpose himself between the angry Aslan and their erstwhile employer, dangerous though that might turn out to be. "It doesn't matter whether she cares if the mining company isn't offering anything. We can take it up with them after recovering the people, because it won't matter otherwise."

  Kaengarr was once again firm and assertive, but not angry or aggressive. Khea had a fair point, after all - it was just misdirected.

Khea glares at Ceruleanne with exposed fangs but then slowly settles back into her chair and only silently growls "tahiwihteakhtau"

OOC: Aslan, or rather Throk as their language is called for barbarian.

  Kaengarr circled the table to stand next to his seat once Khea backed down, and picked up his computer, briefly looking each member of the company in the eye as he spoke again. <grey>"The more time we spend discussing this, the less time we'll have to get it done. Let's go. We can always change plans along the way."</gray>

Sensing the tension, the Count says, "If anyone here is at fault, it´s me, Ms. Blue had been hired by me to keep us informed of potential jobs and to send me any information/data that we might find useful."

Trying to restore a sensible decorum...

"It was in this capacity or better put, in our behalf, that she came to us. There are others that might be able to accomplish this mission, but, she rightfully thought that since we have been successful and she was being paid to notify us...she did the right thing by contacting us."

Getting the feeling that things have somewhat eased(?)

"Other than the ethics of it, as Sir Walter mentioned...the reward of 2% ship value, 10% cargo value, and the possibility of seizing the hijacker´s vessel, for a complete claim...The financial aspect of it, we´ll have a significant nest-egg to apply towards the purchase of a ship and/or cargo... "



"I´m in agreement, we knock this out and evaluate where we´re at after it´s done."

As he gets ready to leave for the scout base...

Giving it some thought, there were a number of questions that might help the group...It´s in the details where all mysteries are resolved. Keep in mind, the only limit to figuring things out...think detective mindset....what, when, where, who, why, how, and the matching details that makes sense of all of that. Actually if everyone were to think logically/reasonably/practically....

Switching to comm mode and database info, connecting to certain organizations...

Imperial/Client state database(Classified for Imperial Court officers (SOC:E). IE...Scouts, Military, Diplomatic Corps, Industry, Merchant Marine, "Nobility", and finally the unofficial Others, etc...

Informal or extraordinary sources: Leaving that to the GM´s purview.

Note: I suppose now is the time to say, Count Darrel Cromwell spent a huge amount of money/effort developing these resources. As a personal note...he realized a long time ago, he wasn´t an Imperial marine, he wasn´t a fancy pilot, he wasn´t the tech-whiz or a super spy...He was smart, could persuade people and gathering info/knowledge compensated for all those failings.



Sends out the following request for information/data, then pushing forward and/or action; Going through the appropriate organizations/institutions.

1. Any recent pirate activity, especially any criminal organizations that have been seeking information on mining operations.

2. Arrival of any persons/ships/organizations that stand out as potential hijackers, if this is not a normal occurrence, then obviously there should be some indications of an outside source.

3. All fences for illicit sales of ores are investigated, any of them with a sudden surge of credits, meaning getting ready to purchase a large illegal cargo..should be shut down for "inspections".

4. Initiate a governmental "Quarantine for health services", incorporating any new vessels approaching the planet.

RL OOC: Storm approaching, need to go offline.

  Kaengarr's gear was in storage at the starport, and he certainly wasn't going to engage in a spacebound boarding action wearing ordinary clothing, so a detour was in order.

  His Olok - a lightweight, Vargr-made, tailored vacc suit - might not be a match for proper battle dress, but it was only slightly heavier than ordinary clothing and offered some protection against blows and gunshots. While the styling was clearly Gvegh, the markings were reasonably sparse; insignia on each shoulder, an abstract design running from the left ear to the jawline, and another on the right knee, all a mix of yellow and green. It was downright plain compared to the one that Vonon had worn in the dome, although the ribbing along the forearms and elsewhere suggested that it could provide a hidden surprise or two for an enemy in close quarters. Two blades - a curved, hooked sword and a serrated knife - joined the stunner as his armaments, along with an articulated shield offered some additional protection against incoming fire.

  It wasn't a grand arsenal, but it would get the job done.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:31, Sun 11 Oct 2015.

Still fuming because of the insolence displayed by Ceruleanne Khea joins the others on their way to the starport, avoiding to speak or even look at her companions so that they don't enrage her even more.

At the starport she gathers her meager belongings, most importantly her toolkit, dons her armored vest and goes to the meeting place for the liftoff.

The command codes for the Long Shot aren't available. It's a security system that Blackwood set up to prevent hijacking. The captain would have set them when he launched, and if he got the chance when the hijackers started to board, would have set them to random delay... which is the minimum 12 hours. The hijackers can't torture the information out of him as he doesn't have it.

Getting to the Scout base is easy enough. Everyone going will need their vaccsuit. Option is to crowd into the Scout ship and then do an EVA once you get there, or man the shuttle on top of the Scout ship now. There are 8 passenger seats plus the pilot seat.

Who is going to pilot the shuttle?

The plan is to approach the source of the Long Shot's signal by keeping asteroids in the way of sensors. Then the shuttle will continue the rest of the trip solo--easier to hide behind asteroids.

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 42):

As the group(?) readies itself for the mission, Darrel decides that given the way things worked out, he calls for a separate vehicle, in other words, enough that the group has transport, but, he wants to be alone with Khea while traveling to the scout base.

NOTE: Khea and the Count will be alone in transport.

"I guess then I need to get a new vacc suit and other gear for this trip, just in case. Vonon, You want me to pilot the shuttle or do you have someone else in mind?" he said as he fired up the hand computer and placed an order for him to pick up on the way to the vessel.

Sharik stood and greeted Pablo warmly when Vonon brought him back to the table.  "Pabs!" the diminutive brunette smiled, her tone light and casual - and since she'd used his real name, Shar was pretty sure that he'd pick up on it and know that there weren't any cover stories involved here.

Her raised eyebrow gave him a silent quizzical query that they would have to catch up later, as ex-corporate operative knew that very little in this great, big universe was entirely predicated on pure chance.

Her p-comm chirped in her ear, as she turned her attention back to the rescue discussion.  Sharik pursed her lips, though she hardly needed a translator for the Trohk words spoken, given tone and demeanor that Kheaiftouaw was adopting.  But Walter's friend seemed to be trying to smooth things over; so, Sharik simply tried to get out of the way.  Literally and figuratively.  Having already stood up, she simply stepped off to the side, moving closer to Pablo and Vonon and shading her position a bit.  If there was to be any violence, she'd be well situated to avoid it.  And she kept her mouth shut - mostly, and what little she might say would be in hushed tones.

She'd already called for a cab, as she'd need to get back to the TAS hostel to pick up her equipment.  The crew was already aware that Sharik had her own customized vacc suit; which, of course, she wasn't wearing to an outing at a restaurant.  So, that would need to be picked up at minimum.  Naturally, there were some other items that'd she'd likely want as well.

As the meeting dispersed, she gestured to Pablo and Vonon to accompany her, though any others that were heading back to the hostel were welcome to join her.  She was pretty sure that Vonon needed to retrieve his suit as well.  And the ride would give her a chance to catch up with both of her old friends.  Tossing a few extra credits onto the table for a tip, she settled her bill with the waitress and then moved with pace towards the waiting transportation.  The others were right, having accepted the job, they were on the clock.  And that crew wasn't getting any safer as time dragged on...

Pablo followed the team from the restaurant, making his way to a secured locker at the hostel he'd been staying at, and getting his gear bags. Catching up with Sharik and Vonon as they were driven about was a pleasant way of passing time.

As they prepped for the mission, the mercenary stepped into a cubicle and stripped out of his street clothes. He then pulled on a body pressure sleeve, followed by his vacc suit. It was nice, and comfortable, tailored for him, but he didn't like the idea of going into close combat wearing it. It would feel like wearing tissue paper compared to a boarding suit or combat armor, let alone battle dress.

Still, a job was a job, and his nerves settled as he geared up, tucking a variety of grenades, equipment, and explosives, as well as extra magazines for his weapons, into their places, checking each item to make sure it was both secured and reachable. A familiar and calming pre-mission ritual. A pair of knives, one a conventional utility blade, the other a monofilament bayonet, completed that part of things.

Turning to his weapon cases, he opened them up, pulling out his long-barreled gauss pistol, giving it a spot check,and sliding it into a thigh holster. The gauss assault weapon with the folding stock came next, and was clipped across his chest, paratrooper fashion, so as to be out of the way during EVA maneuvers. Lastly, he pulled out his wrist launcher, and wrapped it around his right wrist, checking carefully to make sure it wouldn't interfere with a smooth draw of the pistol.

He glanced at his image in the cubicle's mirror, and chuckled. "Well now, aren't you the dangerous looking rock rat?"

After taking a moment to lock away the remaining gear, and make sure all the HUD connections were up and good, he headed back out to rejoin the team, the visor of his helmet up. He looked at them, and didn't really speak to anyone specifically, when he said, "Good to go."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Thu 15 Oct 2015.

Sam asked Ceruleanne before leaving "If we have further questions en route are you contactable? Or once we leave are we on our own"

After she answers Sam will follow the others out, heading back to the TAS to pick up her gear before rendezvous ing with the others at the ship.

ooc
kinda busy in RL so might be more intermittent in posting

In reply to Samantha Kilgore (msg # 48):

OOC: sorry...last several days have been...odd

Vonon chats with his old buddy Pablo for a few moments, then decides to bring him into the current scheme.  After all, an ex-Space Marine who grew up in an Asteroid Belt could only be helpful, right?

Bringing Pablo over to the table, Vonon isn't really surprised to find that Sharik also knows Pablo -- who doesn't she know?

In answer to Sir Walters question, Vonon responds, "You do the piloting, Sir Walter. If these thugs actually had significant ship weapons, they would have threatened the Logshot with them. No, you pilot, I'll use my Patrol experience on sensors to keep us off their scanners."

While she felt really awkward doing so after the, completely justified, scene at the restaurant Khea asked Count to make a small detour to the shop they visited a few days ago to try to find an Aslan Vacc Suit. Luckily Khea found a mostly fitting one, even though it was a older, bulky model.

With that taken care off she made sure to still take her other armor and of course her tools with to the meeting place.

Everybody is able to run their errands and get to the Scout base within the hour. Seeing the launch perched precariously atop the Scout ship is a bit disconcerting, but the pilot greets you at the hatch and reassures you that it looks worse than it is. The grav thrusters don't generate the same kind of force that rocket thrusters do, so no high grav take-offs are necessary. It takes a few minutes longer to get to orbit with gravs because the thrust is uniform over a longer period of time rather than lighting a rocket under your ass.

"Captain Kenner here. Do any of you want to make the trip in the launch, or are you all comfortable with boarding it via EVA when we get there?" the pilot of the Scout introduces himself and asks.

  Kaengarr was accustomed to launches being carried within their ships or at least connected via a proper docking mechanism and airlock, and he took a good hard look at the arrangement before concluding that it was workable if inconvenient. Well, except for the one scenario that would derail their mission regardless.

  "We won't be doing any EVA if they have an armed ship of their own in the area, but we won't be able to board at all if there is," he responded with a shrug.

Looking at the launch, Pablo smiled, and clambered up towards it. He could at least fly it, and while that was not going to be his job on the mission, somebody needed to be aboard the launch.

If only to cast off and pick up anybody who managed to fall off the ship while doing an EVA transfer from the scout once they got to the target.

Once he got to the launch's hatch, he said, "Never rode piggy back into orbit before. It's gotta be fun, right? I at least want shotgun on the ride up."

Sam headed for the launch an tries to work out how to get in

"Times an issue, so wasting it on an EVA when we don't have to doesn't seem smart to me"

  Kaengarr turned his head toward Samantha. "Good point. We'll ride in the launch."

  As for who sat where, he didn't really care about that as long as they were all ready upon arrival.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:16, Sat 17 Oct 2015.

You can get up to the launch one of two ways: either by the ladder that's in place or by entering the Scout and climbing up through the dorsal hatch. Either way puts you at the back of the launch where the entry hatch is.

Entering, you can see two rows of four seats, one row to either side of the center aisle. There is only a single pilot's seat. Sensors on the shuttle will be minimal; it has a limited operational function--orbit to surface and back.

None of the 8 passenger seats have any access to controls. Only the pilot does.


OOC: I'll give players another day to post here before launching the Scout ship.

Upon entering the launch, and seeing the arrangement, Pablo shrugged, and took one of the seats nearest the airlock. It might not matter, but then again it might, if they had to come out of the launch under fire.

If the team was going to travel aboard the launch, there was no point in getting in the way of the mission pilot, and with the single seat forward, "shotgun," was no longer relevant.

After making a stop to get a new vac suit as his old one had not been used in over a decade, Sir Walter did a preflight check of the vessel while the others were getting settled in.


"If anyone can use it, I have a laser rifle, still in its original case that I got as a going away present from Delgado." he said, lugging a case with him up the scout ship. "You will have teach me how to use it when we get finished with this task." he said after taking the pilot's seat on the launch and continuing the check.

  Kaengarr eyed the rifle case that Walter had brought on board. He wasn't used accustomed to long rifles, but the thing would almost certainly outperform his stunner if taking the hijackers alive wasn't a concern. Still, there was no benefit to claiming it if someone else could put it to better use.

  "I won't pretend I'm a marksman, but I'll take it if no one else does."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:30, Sun 18 Oct 2015.

Sharik had changed at the hostel into her vacc suit.  Under it she wore her body pressure sleeve and strapped to her left thigh was her laser pistol, while on her right was her stunner.  Strapped to her back was a light thin, long blade seemingly forged of a single large crystal and the handle wrapped in a tight, light blue-dyed leather.  Tucked into a boot sheathe was a cunningly shaped scavenger tool, a custom fitted 'wrecker' that had been cold-worked from mono-crystalline titanium and appeared to shaped and fitted for Shar's relatively small-sized hands.

The thin cosmopolitan operative still had on her array of electronics; her dataglove and p-comm continued to be active and still pushed a constant stream of augmented reality to the HUD displays on her datashades.  The only hardware that didn't seem to be tied into her own personal network was the precision analog timepiece that she always wore on her right wrist.

She settled into the seat next to Pablo and winked at the ex-Marine, an easy smile settling upon her burgundy lips.  "Glad to have you here, Pabs." the auburn-haired dilettante noted with genuine affection.  Sharik was well aware of Ryzov's specialties and knew that he was a great person to watch their backs; and she trusted him implicitly having known him for a while.

Sharik shook her head to Walter's offer to use his laser rifle, gesturing to Kaengarr to use the weapon if it suited him.  Her facility with longarms was no better than the basic training course - so, she'd neither be able to make good use of the energy weapon nor would she be able to help train the gentleman merchant in its use.

Though, he seemed to be ready to help Walter as co-pilot, Shar caught Vonon's attention before he settled into the launch's bridge for the pre-flight checklist.  She conferred with him for a moment, knowing that while her astrogation skills would not be needed on this flight, her sensors operating acumen might come in useful.  In any case, she offered to help out, though was not pushy about it since Sharik knew that her vargr friend had had just as much experience (if not more) with electronic countermeasures.  Still, she never found that it hurt to offer (at least, when friends were involved).

---

[OOC:  Sharik has Sensors/1, as well.  And also has a +2 Int DM and an Expert/1 program in Sensors (which for basic tasks could add a +1 DM as well, potentially).  So, if Vonon would prefer her to operate the ECM suite she can.  This might be preferable, as her combat skills are not that great - so, Vonon and Pablo (and Sam) can lead the physical charge on to the Long Shot, which might be better.]

Sam gets into the shuttle, then begins to gear up - getting into her vacc suit first, and then checking her weapons and stowing them.

As the other board she talks out loud "Excuse me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but we all should be in vacc suits before we approach the vessel, in case we get engaged and holed. In terms of weaponry, I would say stunners are better. Lethal weaponry also makes holes in spaceships - and we're being paid to recover the ship. Each hole will affect our pay. Walter, if you need any help piloting, give me a shout, otherewise she's all yours."

ooc
Actually Sams piloting is Spacecraft and I think this would count as small craft? So Limited help from her.

Also not sure what you can wear over/under a vacc suit, or how much stowage there is on it.

Pablo looked up from another quick check of his gear, returning Sharik's smile, because who could resist returning one of her smiles? "Thanks, I've missed this," he answered. He wasn't by nature very gregarious, but her sense of fun was infectious. It was one of the reasons he liked working with her.

When Samantha spoke he listened, and when she finished speaking, said quietly, "Ma'am, I am not going into this mission looking for scalps." He frowned a little, pushing down that little voice saying otherwise in the back of his mind. The Peacekeeper Marines, name non-withstanding, weren't encouraged to take prisoners, generally speaking.

"But I'm no good with a stunner, or with any energy weapon smaller than a plasma gun, if the truth be told," he continued. "With this, though," and with that, he touched the receiver of the blocky assault weapon clipped to the front of his vacc suit, "I will do my best to avoid unnecessary carnage, especially to the legitimate crew of the Long Shot." After a beat he added, "I do have stun grenades and tranq gas, if it eases your mind any."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:09, Sun 18 Oct 2015.

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 62):

Vonon finally clunks aboard -- having climbed up the outside ladder -- wearing his garishly painted black Boarding Spacesuit. Like Sharik he has a weapon at each hip -- heavy autopistol at the right, Blade at the left, and a pair of stunstick handles sticking up in easy reach behind each shoulder, as well as several obvious grenades hanging from various places on his armor. He stalks forward, stopping behind the single pilots seat, looking over the controls.

"Frack! Orbital boat." he mumbles, turning around to look back at the passenger compartment. Finally his roving eye settles on Sharik.

"Okay. New plan." He says, stepping over and settling his bulk (normally Vonon is a trim 5-foot-6, but in this heavy armored spacesuit he's gained a few inches in every direction) into the aisle seat, opposite Sharik and Pablo.

"Shar'r, that fancy do-hickey you wear on your arm, there," Vonon points at her dataglove and p-comm, "Can you interface with this boats limited sensor systems and take control? You may have to take on the role of ECM Officer for this operation."

"While I trust any of these folks..." Vonon indicated the rest of the group, "...at my back in a scuffle, I'm not sure how much boarding action they may have seen. So, Pablo, it looks like you and I will be the shock troops, everyone else can follow us in."

  Kaengarr retrieved Walter's rifle-case and returned to his seat, unfastening the catches as Vonon made his appraisal of the situation. Even before Samantha had raised the point he'd considered the laser rifle a contingency option rather than a primary weapon - he was better with pistols and his stunner had several other features going for it as well - but he was also pragmatic enough to recognize that they might need heavier firepower at some point. If nothing else, the laser rifle was a reasonably controlled means of removing any obstacles that the hijackers might put in their path.

  He meant to inspect the weapon but something that had just been said drew his attention and he looked over at his fellow Vargr, this time being the one to peel back his lower lip in their species' version of a smile. "That's not how you described me earlier, Vonon! As it happens, I have seen occasional boarding action. It was always from the other side, though."

  The odds of going sixteen years as a trader covering the Extents and beyond without having to repel at least one attack? Humans had a metaphor about snowballs and hot places for that.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Sun 18 Oct 2015.

When Kaengarr looked over the shipping container for the laser rifle, he noted that while the exterior was dinged up and dusty, the insides were just like they have been when it was first packed.

Sir Walter continued his preflight check. "You might want to put the power packs on the charger there Kaengarr as I am not sure if I even pulled it out of its case since I got it. I did not have the time to learn how to use it but did not want to leave it for my ex-wife to use it on me." he said with a chuckle.

Sam nodded at Pablo's and Vonun replies "If that's how you want it, fine by me." She shrugs "Meat covers still cover" and grins, and she might be joking...

Settling in to her seat and beginning to strap herself in she continues "We need to come up with some options for what we're gonna do when we get there. And Sharik - can yo see if we can get comms with the long shot?"

ooc
I assume we'll talk tactics in ooc thread?

Khea takes a seat at the back row and dumps her equipment right in front of it. That includes her newly bought Vacc Suit, her armor vest and her toolkit. While it is mainly used for generator repairs it can hopefully help in patching up anything the others manage to destroy.

"Unless we can somehow remotely close hangar doors we have to spacewalk to get in, even if the ship happens to have a open and unoccupied hangar. I suggest the lower airlock near the mining area. From there it is only a short way to the engine room and once there I can disable the jump drive, just in case."
While staring at Vonon she adds with a slightly amused growl "Better use some real guns now. When you get hit worse things happen then you taking a nap. This was once a combat ship, so the hull is thick enough to withstand small weapons. But be careful around anything that blinks or makes noises. And in the engine room you best use stunners if able.

  In the midst of the conversations, Kaengarr inspected the rifle to ensure that it was still in working order after years spent gathering dust, setting the power packs to charge as needed.

The Count realizes that he's not really up for the heroic space marine action, he puts the "riot control" gear before the group, "Take what you need, this will form the basis for our 1st armory once we have our own ship."

Available Gear:
4 stun grenades
6 stunsticks
1 sonic stun carbines
4 teargas grenades
2 tranq rifles with ammo (20 rounds)

Darrel already has one of the sonic stun carbines.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:43, Tue 20 Oct 2015.

  Kaengarr found himself facing a difficult set of choices, and though the deliberations were silent, the signs were there in his body language if anyone happened to look.

  It was a fine selection of gear that Darrel had set before them, but Kaengarr was already confronting the problem of how to carry all of his gear without it slowing him down or getting in the way. He couldn't very well keep a shield strapped to his arm and brandish a laser rifle as well, so one of the two would have to go; given their numbers and the fact that he wouldn't be leading the charge, the shield was likely to wind up on the losing side of that argument even before Kaengarr considered the prospect of a stun-stuck or a batch of grenades, and he'd be hard pressed to carry any of those without leaving something else behind; there were only so many ways to carry a weapon and he had four as it was. Five if he counted what he was wearing.

  The stunner was staying with him no matter what - it was the one thing he knew how to use reasonably well, and it wouldn't be at a disadvantage in close quarters. No one else had shown an interest in the rifle, and it offered too much utility (even if his aim with it wasn't the best) to simply leave it in its case. The thuerrlakh could be set aside, but the prospect of leaving his rokkhou behind during a boarding action felt almost un-Gvegh, even with other blades at his disposal...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Wed 21 Oct 2015.

Sam nodded at the Count "Thanks, I'll take these" she said as she picked up a tranq rifle, half the ammo and a stunstick.

She carried on gearing up, intermittently tapping on her wrist comm as she appeared to check data.

"We all loaded?" Sir Walter asked the group as he finished his checks.

Once everybody is seated in the launch, the Scout ship took off. It was a 20 minute slow ride up to orbit because of the piggybacked launch.

Once in orbit, 30 minutes of high acceleration took the ship to jump point. And then the ship jumped! There was the flicker of lights that signaled the jump, then the transition.

An hour later, the ship dropped out of jumpspace, and the sensors indicated the ship was out in the Belt.

When the jump concluded, Ryzov smiled faintly. "Everybody okay? Limbs and vital organs all in their proper alignment?" With that he started a last check of his suit and gear. Reaching into his carry-all, he dug out a flashbang/stun grenade. Detaching a plasma grenade from its place on his harness, he held one grenade in each hand.

It was obvious he had no intention of using either, but he frowned as he considered the two, clearly trying to decide which to take with him.

When the ship jumped Khea panicked. A week in jump space in this tiny launch witout any supplies would be their certain death. She recited every Aslan curse she know multiple times only interrupted by mutterings about that dishonourable and traitorous Cerlueanne and idiot pilots.
When the ship remerged in realspace Khea instantly fell silent wondering how this is possible. Missjump?  Too convenient, but what else could it be?

Sam was as surprised as anyone else when the ship jumped, but happy when 30 minutes later they re-emerged. She had heard rumours of mini-jumps in service, but had figured it was all BS and scuttle butt. Perhaps not.

She called over to Shakira "can you get any info on your home made sensor thing?" she asked

She'd already been tapped into the Scout's sensors when Vonon asked, though she suspected that the Scout pilot was letting her do that--it had been kind of easy. Then again, Scouts weren't really ultra secret--just 'classified'. Which classification depended on the data.

She was actually linked to the shuttle's sensors, but at the moment, they were getting a sensor feed from the Scout via the umbilical.

She didn't quite panic when the jump drive went hot and almost as quickly shoved the ship into jumpspace. Since the two vessels were connected by the umbilical, she knew they wouldn't run out of air or water during the week in jump, and they wouldn't starve in that time either.

But... a week to somewhere and another week back even if it put them closer to the Long Shot would have long exceeded their window of opportunity to rescue the crew and the ship.

The Scout pilot knew she was monitoring their sensors and knew that she knew when the ships reached the jump limit. She received a brief text from him--[Don't panic.]--just before jump.

She didn't think passing on those two words would really have helped the others; it'd prompt discussion that would probably lead to mass panic. Instead, she decided to remain as nonchalant as she could, considering she was in her spacesuit.

Sure enough, the ship dropped out of jumpspace a mere hour later. Her training kicked in then. Rather than marvel at the wonder of a mini-jump (a heretofore 'impossibility'), she immediately wondered what the significance of the Long Shot was... or possibly a crewmember. There had to be more to the rescue than what they were told in order for the Scout to reveal such an incredible secret.

After all, how many of them could really be trusted with that kind of information? It was at least a few orders greater than anything their raid on the dome entailed.

Back in normal space, the sensors kicked in again, but the Scout wasn't doing any active scans. Only the GPS map showed where they were: in the Belt, slightly low on the ecliptic, maybe 1,000 klicks from the location of the Long Shot.

But there were a few hundred asteroids of various sizes between the two ships.

"That was... unexpected," she said to the others. "I wasn't worried... much."

"Got it covered, Sam. We're out in the Belt, about a thousand klicks from the Long Shot, with quite a bit of cover between us. The Scout isn't running active sensors, so no details. He's signaling if we're ready to disconnect."

  Kaengarr's ears pinned back and he managed a startled, "What..." in Gvegh when they unexpectedly entered jump; the implications of being trapped for a week in a tiny capsule - even one with a link to the scout - were not lost on him.  "Is this something else you didn't get time to tell us about, Darrel, or are they surprising us all?" He was making a valiant effort to keep his voice even (as much as it ever could be to non-Vargr), but it was a mix of trepidation, annoyance, and curiosity that were hinted at when that effort wavered, as opposed to Khea's outright panic. As usual, the cast of his ears, muzzle, and tail were far more indicative of his true state of mind.

  They were trapped in jumpspace with very little in the way of resources or room to live, but at the same time it made no sense for their employers to trap them in jumpspace for a week if the mission was actually as advertised, and there were more plausible ways of presenting an 'accident' if the mission had actually been a setup intended to ensure that they disappeared, so something else was going on - something that no one had seen fit to tell them in advance. That was usually a bad sign, but again - to what end?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:41, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

"Well now, that was a bit of a surprise as I was not expecting a micro jump. Once again I am sure there is more to this mission that Ms Blue had "conveniently" forgotten to mention." Walter said as he checked the systems to make sure nothing got dinged in  transit as he muttered a few choice curse words in seven different languages concerning Ms Blue and that she reminded him of his ex-wife.

With the word that the scout was ready to disconnect, Sir Walter nodded in agreement. "Lets see if we can get close to the ship before they know we are on the way to pay a social call." he said "Before we go Sharik, please have the scout's computer plot us a course and see if we can close to say 20 km, blending in with the asteroids before we surprise them."

Sharik opened the closed-circuit comm to the Scout and made the request. After a minute of argy-bargy, she turned off the comm.

"That's a negative," she replied to Walter.

"The Long Shot might have that kind of detail about the asteroids, but nobody has bothered mapping them in that much depth. If the hijackers have a ship and it's got its own sensors out, then the Scout's active sensors would alert them."

"In other words, they can't map the asteroid field without using active sensors. That's why we're approaching in the launch--visuals only."

"And Walter... keep in mind that Ceruleanne is just the facilitator. She may not have been told all the 'details' about the mission. In this business, we all operate on a need-to-know basis. If there's more to it than we've been told, clearly we didn't need to know."

Sam listened to the conversation and then joined in "Well, I am not sure if this is need to know, but it might be relevant. Might not " She shrugged " I did some background checking on the Long Shot, and found an anomaly. It was originally named  'Resolute' that served in the Imperial Fleet on Imili in the Edge subsector for 50 years before being decommissioned there. It was converted to a mining ship at Garrison 12 years ago, where Blackwood purchased it. However, there's no record of how it got from Imili to Garrison. Not sure how long a gap that was but it may mean there is more to the ship than meets the eye. I couldn't find anything though."

The grenade dilemma was finally solved by just taking both the flashbang and the plasma grenade, with a second plasma grenade added just to satisfy Pablo's long held belief that there really could be no such thing as overkill if things got tight. After listening to the discussion he shrugged and said, "Is anyone else thinking that if we were a proper set of rogues, we'd forget all about the Long Shot, and take the ship we're attached to? A jump drive that can micro-jump has to be worth a great deal more than we are being paid for this rescue mission."

  After the jump - when it became clear that they'd not be locked away for a week but were instead riding along with a ship that had jump technology well in advance of what most ships possessed or that the public was even aware of - Kaengarr settled back down, his nerves still somewhat raw from the unwanted surprise and his thoughts now on the possibilities that it represented.

  Unless he'd been uncharacteristically clueless about recent developments, the micro-jump was something new and something that had been kept quiet. Some of the others had known about the possibility of micro-jumps, at least as a theoretical possibility, but those who did either had high-end social contacts or military experience... yet despite the secrecy, here it was being used for a rescue mission involving an old, albeit converted, mining ship. That simply didn't make sense.

  "We're not turning on our employer," he growled emphatically at Pablo's suggestion. "There've been lies of omission, but that doesn't justify doing it, and if it has this sort of jump drive it will have security to match and it'll be chased with everything they have if someone makes off with it. Besides which, they wouldn't have sent it out if this was just about rescuing a few miners and an old ship."

  Samantha's discovery only furthered his impression. "Either the ship or the people on it are far more significant than we've been told." He considered his own words for a moment, then concluded, "I don't think they do what they're registered to do."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:43, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

Sir Walter listened to Sharik as she mentioned that the scout would not be able to scan the area "Sharik, then let them know that we are ready to go. Hang on every it might be a bumpy ride." he said

A few moments later, he dropped his head and shook it side to side in frustration at the mention of turning on the Scouts. "Mention it again and we can see about a one way trip out the air lock for you Pablo." he said. "You are forgetting that there are a few Imperial nobles on this vessel and that statement just violated a couple of laws. The only thing saving your neck right now is that we are not in Imperial space."

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 84):

Pablo listened to Kaengarr's gruff response, and nodded agreeably. He didn't mind the tone. Taking the Scout ship, morality aside, would be tactically straightforward, but a disaster in the larger scheme of things. Besides, he'd already spent enough time paying for misdeeds, both real and contrived.

Then Walter started in. Pablo listened to him, just sitting there expressionless. When the noble finished, Pablo answered, "Of course, your worship, please excuse my impertinent words. They were meant only in jest. Now, if it pleases your grace, please fly us to the Longshot, milord, so that I, your humble servant drawn from the unwashed masses, can do my poor best to perform the duties you mercifully deigned to bring me along to tend to."

Khea nervously tapped with her foot on the floor as she didn't like surprises, especially ones involving jump engines. Still, it was kinda comforting that the others were as surprised as she was, or nearly so, about the jump.
If she got the chance she has to look at that engine.

Otherwise she stayed out out the planning of the approach as this was clearly a male thing and she wouldn't have much to offer to this discussion.

Walter (or Sharik) signals the Scout ship that you are ready for separation. It goes quite smoothly as it is the grav engines that push off from the Scout rather than combustion types.

Walter has a crude map of the asteroid belt that shows the location of the major ones, with a 'generic' fill in between them. The Long Shot wasn't on one of the big ones but there's no detail about the one they are on.

The GPS for the ship shows its approximate location.


Walter needs to make 3 piloting checks... insertion into the asteroids, negotiating through the asteroids to reach the destination, and the approach to the final asteroid.

Sir Walter turned his head around to address the crew. "This is your Captain speaking, prepare for a run to the Long Shot. Make sure that your vacc suits are sealed as there is a good chance of micro meteors on the way there since there has been mining in the area. Also, when we get to within 10 km, I will turn off the floor grav plates and decompress the hull so you can go directly out rather than waiting for the air lock to cycle." said as he made a last minute check of his suit to make sure it was operating properly.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:43, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

  Kaengarr had opted to take a couple of the debilitating grenades just in case, but otherwise kept his kit the same, and at Walter's announcement he pulled the hood of his suit shut to signal his readiness.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 89):

Vonon wasn't so much surprised at the act of the scoutship going into jump -- he'd noticed the subtle markings on the scoutship's hull that marked it as part of the Core Fleet. This ship was from the Heart of the Imperium, and he'd expected it to be cutting edge; he remembered all those Imperial Liason Debriefings back when he was in the Space Patrol, and those cocky Imperial officers claims that Imperial Navy tech was generations superior to anything in Cassandra's Belt. He listened to the whispered rumors of defensive energy shields and meson blasters and even jump drives that could make in-system micro-jumps that took hours, not days. And he'd believed...

So he wasn't surprised.  Not much.

When the scout came out of micro-jump and Sharik said she was getting a passive sensor feed from the scout, Vonon asked,

"Are they picking up anyone using active sensors in this area? Any comm chatter? Any active ships in the area of operations?" Vonon asked, "I don't really expect any -- Miz Blue said the Longshot was working a remote area of the belt -- but with Rock Miners you can never be too sure. So, if you can, ask the scout to give a listen for anything active in the comm signal broadband -- personal comms, suitcomms, y'know, the small stuff."

"Remember that the perps are probably doing the same as us; they have someone watching with passive sensors -- if they are scanning with active sensors, then they are morons, giving themselves away -- so try not to use your suitcomms until we're out of the ship. And be careful using any personal computers -- they might occasionally try to remote connect to this launch's onboard computer, to access it's bigger library files -- and that Wi-Fi signal could be detected. Basically, until we make our move on the Longshot, if it's electronic and you do not have immediate need of it, shut it off. Every electronic device generates some kind of signature, and that signature could be picked up by a really good sensor-dog."

"Sharik, you get to be our sensor-dog, I'm afraid that that is what you'll probably spend most of your CPU power on -- with your wonderful toy, there, you'll need to use the basic comms and sensors of this launch to try and reduce or disguise the electronic signature we're presenting for any passive sensor, out there, to read."

"If you can actually make us sensor invisible, great! But I wouldn't trust this tubs electronics to be that good. More than likely, you'll have to try and manipulate the signals we can't stop ourselves from generating into looking like something else.  In the past, I've made Patrol Cruisers look like system navigation buoys, and once I made us look like a derelict -- right until we opened fire!"

"Sir Walter, all I can suggest is go forward nice and slow -- give us the speed of a drifting chunk of rock, or maybe make us look like a two-man rockhopper, the kind of patchwork vessel independent miners use."

Vonon looked at everyone else,

"The very first thing we need right now is to find out how the perps got aboard the Longshot. We need to see if there is another ship -- or ships -- along side the Longshot, or if the SDB is all alone out here. Once we determine if there are other ships out here, then we can determine the best way for us to get aboard the Longshot."

"Until we get within visual range -- and a telescope is a passive sensor, y'know -- and can see what's happening at the Longshot, we can only make general plans."

Vonon is used to less sophisticated ships, because there is no electronic or energy leakage from the Scout or the launch, and chances are there won't be any from the Long Shot. In any case, the launch's sensors don't pick up anything, and neither did the Scout's sensors.

Walter has no problem inserting the launch into the asteroid field, nor any trouble slipping the ship through the asteroids, making sure he keeps behind an asteroid at all times. It's only at the end that he runs into a problem. Coming up on the asteroid where the Long Shot is thought to be 'landed', Walter slips past a blocking asteroid and immediately spots the Scout ship!

It only takes a moment to realize that the markings are different, and there are even a few design differences. It's a mining ship, and it's landed on the asteroid. There's no sign of the Long Shot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:36, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

When the launch entered the asteroid cluster, Pablo got up, and moved to the airlock, opening the interior door and stepping in, hooking his suit tether to a ring inside. If they were going to be boarding the Longshot, that was where he needed to be. The rest was up to others.

Just for safety's sake, he checked the main seals on his suit, and checked the status of the thruster array on his LSP. It was almost showtime.

"Sharik, passive scan of the area, please." Sir Walter said as he ducked the launch back behind cover.

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 93):

"Hmmm...okay, that fits with the intel we have." Vonon says, looking over everyone's heads and out the forward viewscreen.

"Okay. Fact: the Longshot was converted to an asteroid mining vessel. Therefore, Fact: it was crewed by Asteroid Miners. If the Longshot had settled down onto that asteroid to do some mining, they wouldn't have thought twice about another mining vessel in the area -- they would have just warned them away from this asteroid, which they were working. The perps then fly away, but come back on an approach that uses the asteroid to hide behind, they land, then walk around the asteroid and board the Longshot with surprise."

"So, assuming they didn't manage to get the Longshot off the asteroid, the old SDB is probably on the opposite side of the asteroid."

"Of course, since we've spotted the converted scoutship, there, it's a good bet they've spotted us. What we need to hope, now, is that all the perps abandoned the scout for the Longshot, and there's nobody down there. Unless that turret spins around and targets us, I'm believing that ship is empty."

Vonon looked at everyone else, "I'm all for passing this up and continuing to look for the Longshot, but I allow for the possibility that we might find something important down there, too.  So, what's the majority? Keep going or stop and check this ship?"

Sam looked at the ship briefly as it hove into view, trying to note anything of interest.

Listening to the others she piped up

"If we take out their backup, might make them fight harder. Might make them lose hope" she shrugged "Anyones guess which, without intel on the people. But as we're here, we could try for it. If we capture it, we've got a Q Ship to use..."

ooc
can Sam actually see out of the ship to spot the Scout ship?

If so, she is trying to see if there are any signs of occupation or activity eg is it obviously powered down, did the turret look armed, if so with what, did it move? realize might be too far to spot, but she'll try

08:15, Today: Samantha Kilgore rolled 9 using 2d6+1 ((2,6)). +1 for INT assuming. Recon 0

  Kaengarr had remained silent when the discovery of the scout-miner was announced and remained so as Vonon provided a tactical assessment of the situation, his thoughts turning over a concern that hadn't been raised. With a slight wave of his hand toward the scout ship (or at least the rough direction in which it lay), he finally put the question to the group. "Who owns that one? Might matter later, or right away, if we've been given bad information."

  "Besides that, if it's their ship and isn't occupied then we can use it and its weapons to persuade the hijackers or just to pin the Long Shot down if nothing else works, and if they do have someone aboard, we'll be in the same danger ourselves. We can't risk leaving it at our backs."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:18, Wed 28 Oct 2015.

Pablo listened to the discussion, then said, "It might be worth going EVA and confirming the Longshot is on the other side of that rock as Vonon suspects. A vacc suit is a lot harder to spot than a launch, and if we haven't already lost it, it might give us an element of surprise if we do locate the Longshot. Anyone else have thrusters on their suit?"

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 97):

"Nope, old buddy, no thrusters, just magnetic boots." Vonon responds to Pablo, then turns to Sharik, "Shar'r, can you detect anything from that ship? Heat, power, minor air leakage? Anything that might indicate the ship is occupied? And by that I mean heat and power levels higher than those for a ship that's been put on standby; a ship that's got life support running at levels need to keep folks alive."

To Kaengarr, Vonon says, "Well, yeah, we can get all that info from that ships transponder, the problem is that we'd have to use an active sensor to get the data." Vonon shrugs, "Now, if the Longshot is on the other side of the asteroid, like I think, the bulk of the rock will probably prevent them from detecting our sensor beam, but if there should actually be someone aboard that scoutship, who for some fool reason has not yet detected us, then once we point an active sensor beam at them, they will definitely know we're here."

"Like I said, I don't think there is anyone aboard that scout. I believe that once the perps got control over the Longshot crew, they all moved aboard the bigger SDB, so I think we should continue on. But, if everyone feels the need, I can get behind boarding that scout, now.  The main airlock is aft -- there, between the thruster nacelles. There is also a dorsal hatch and a ventral hatch which are equipped as very basic airlocks."

"My recommendation for assault is to put a team on the ground, to approach the ventral hatch -- remember, that hatch will only be able to cycle one person at a time into the ship -- so, as a distraction, a second team should approach the aft airlock in the launch and attempt to couple with the lock and board there."

Vonon looks at Pablo and drops his lower jaw in a Vargr smile, "Unless the Marines happen to have a breaching charge with them...? Then all bets are off."

Sir Walter listened to the conversation behind him. "Well, we could pop over to check out the scout and if there was someone still there we would hear them trying to call home." he suggested. "For the time being, since time is running on the vacc suits, lets land near the vessel and the rest of you can head across the asteroid to check out the SDB if it is there. If the scout craft is unoccupied, I can take a few key parts off the engines while you are gone so it is not going anywhere nor a threat to us."

The mining scout has a single pulse laser in its only turret. This is typical for such mining ships at is often used to cut out ores and rocks.

Passive sensors can pick up the neutrino emissions of an active fusion reactor, but the ship isn't giving off any other energy.

The launch also registers the mining scout's transponder code: IMS Rockhopper out of Tharill, registered owner is Taralis Manathorn. And has the usual maintenance and medical record current as of 7 months ago.

"Breaching charges? Yeah, I have a couple here, but I don't know if they'd be enough to punch through the ship's hull." A faint smile crossed Pablo's face. "Y'know, we're gonna be pretty embarrassed if we force our way aboard that mining ship and find out that they have nothing at all to do with the Longshot."

That said, inspired by what Walter had said, he set his rather comprehensive comm system to scan ship and suit channels, looking for any signal traffic, drawing on everything he'd learned over the years of marine duty and privateering.

OOC 11:06, Today: Pablo Esteban Ryzov rolled 13 using 2d6+2.  Comms/edu roll to scan comm traffic. Comms 1, Edu A/+1

Getting nervous again with the males planning to possibly go into combat with a unarmed or armored launch Khea shouts from the passenger area "Just leave it be. Once we are inside the mining ship they can't touch us anyway.

  Kaengarr, also still seated in the passenger area, studied the increasingly twitchy Aslan; the suit was cutting off his sense of smell, but he was pretty sure that he picking up a fear-scent if it wasn't. "You mean that scout can't? Only if they don't have orders to 'capture or destroy'."

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 103):

"See? Even the Cat agrees with me!" Vonon snickers, lightly punching Pablo on the shoulder, "Once again proving that their females do have all the brains!"

"Sir Walter and Khea have hit the salient points, here. Unless that scout either starts shooting at us, or starts broadcasting a warning, or lifts off of the rock, it is no threat to us."

Vonon pauses a moment to look over at the back of Walter's head, "Although Sir Walter does bring up a good point. If we disable the grav engine on the scout, we'd be trapping any perps here, on the rock. However..."

Vonon subconsciously taps his holstered automatic pistol, "I am no longer a Patrolman, and we are not here as law enforcement. We are recovery agents. If we can chase the perps off the Longshot -- which would be easier if we leave them an escape route, via the scout -- that's no care of ours. We are here for the Longshot and her crew. Capturing and/or killing the hijackers is not in the contract."

Vonon turns to Darrel, subconsciously straightening in place as he does so,

"What shall it be, My Lord? Investigate the scout, or continue on to find the Longshot?"

  "Capturing them would be a bonus. If there's something going on that we don't know about, maybe insurance too. And if we're intent on chasing them off, they don't have to know that their escape route has been disabled," Kaengarr pointed out as an unsettlingly toothy smile spread across his muzzle.

  "Whatever else, I still don't like the idea of leaving an armed ship for them to return to and come after us with."

Sam shook her head

"I disagree Vonun. The ships an unknown. Could be a friendly, could be neutral, could be a threat. Ignoring it until it decides what to be leaves us potentially having to react to it at a time not of our choosing. I suggest strongly we work it out now. Unless we can approach the Long Shot without going past it" she looks at Walter " then it will know we're here once we approach the Long Shot, and we'll be allowing them to take the initiative. NEVER, a good idea..."

Taking in the differing opioions, and the pros and cons..."The Longshot is the contract. While leaving a "potential" threat behind us presents it's own problems, I think we'll be creating more by interfering with the mining ship. If it's possible, let's get to the Longshot, trying to avoid detection by the mining ship."

Walter can see no way to approach the far side of the asteroid where to be out of sight of the mining scout they wouldn't be detectable by the Long Shot's sensors. One way or the other, they need to take a chance.

"There is no way to avoid the mining ship and the Long Shot without tipping our hand. We either need to land and you hoof it over there across the asteroid, or I do a speed run and hope to dump you all in front of the Long Shot, your call." Sir Walter said.

  Kaengarr's toothy smile had shifted into a set-teeth stare at the viewport even before Walter's announcement. It wasn't a snarl - his lips were only just barely parted, for one thing - but he clearly did not like Darrel's decision, even if he wasn't going all cultural Vargr about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:31, Mon 02 Nov 2015.

By now Khea was standing and not able to keep quiet with the constant bickering which has the very real chance to get her killed.

"Walking around an asteroid in microgravity will take hours. By then they will certainly have full control over the ship."
Not waiting for a reply, Khea attaches her spare armor and toolkit to a cord and ties it to her suit and dons her helmet. This has the potential to go south very fast and she won't be caught in an unsealed suit when it does.

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 107):

Sam took a deep breath, she'd been expecting this for a while, but hoped it wouldn't happen.

"Sorry Baron, but what Combat experience do you have that wasn't scripted? Because In a tactical situation I don't think you get to call the shots. Pun intended." She smiled quickly.

"We should have sorted this out before starting, but who gets to call it? We need to decide now. And fast. And, bluntly, actors aren't top of my list for tactical calls. Seems the options are deal with the Mining ship, or go straight to Long Shot. I say deal with the mining ship, but I'll go with  the majority."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:32, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

Sharik kept her eyes fastidiously glued to the sensor displays in front of her, watching the stream of data cascade along the screen for her to keep track of.

She had absolutely no desire to try and insert herself into the chain of command argumentdiscussion that was brewing.  The diminutive socialite had little experience (despite having served in two separate Imperial services) with the more rigid authority structures.  And she kind of liked it that way; she'd seen all types of command structures work (and fail).

And while she might personally prefer a more open or free-form chain of command.  Sharik also knew that indecision (or worse miscommunication) in battle could get them all killed.  She preferred that not happen - but, she also knew that a number of her companions had much more formal tactical experience than she did.  As such, she was more than willing to take her cues from them.

So, ultimately, she wasn't going to do more than follow orders here.  It seemed reasonable to her.  And Shar had always prided herself on having a decently level head on her shoulders.  Which was telling her to keep her mouth shut at this point; so, that is precisely what she did.

At this point, the thin cosmopolitan operative was actually quite happy that she'd been designated along with Walter to be on standby and help drive the getaway vehicle...

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 113):

Vonon once again makes a complimentary gesture towards Khea,

"Once again, gentlebeings, the Voice of Reason!" Vonon pronounces, "Khea is absolutely correct, again. I worked for twenty years chasing miscreants around an asteroid belt, so please take my word when I tell you all that what Khea says is true; once we step out of this launch and its artificial gravity onto that rock, there will be next to no gravity."

"I'm used to it, I was born in a spacesuit and lived in a vacuum; I'm a rockhound born and raised. And I know that Sharik and Pablo, here, have at least a minimum of zero-g training, because I met them when they were getting that training. Like Khea says, it'll take a long time to crawl across that rock to go looking for the Longshot. Maybe too long."

Vonon turns a grinning muzzle towards Sam, "And you are correct, Sam, that the Count..." Vonon puts some emphasis on Darrel's Title, as he point towards said worthy, "...may have no tactical training, but we do!" Vonon gestures between himself and Sam.

"And we just advised him of the two tactical situations -- bypass that scoutship or take it out. And now, acting career aside, as a trained administrator -- as the man who indirectly got us this contract -- and as a Count of the Third Imperium, His Lordship will decide on the next course of action." Vonon finishes with his gauntleted fists on armored his hips, slightly rocking left-to-right.

In reply to Vonon Ronkunu (msg # 114):

Sam cocks an eyebrow at Vonun

"I must have missed something. I thought we were on a private contract, not one vetted by the Imperium. So Imperial rank has no meaning here. If you want to suggest we elect an actor" Sam stresses the word " as tactical decision maker, fine, we can vote on it. And if the majority wants that, ok."" She shrugs, before continuing "But. we. are. not. in. Imperial. Service"" she continues, biting down on each word "so no-one should assume they have the automatic right to command." She pauses, then says more quietly "Nor try to take it by force."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

  Kaengarr had his own feelings on the matter, some of which had been clearly on display, but he remained silent as Samantha and Vonon took it in turns to argue about who was in charge. Still, something in the way that the dispute was being conducted prompted him to slowly tear his gaze away from the viewport and focus on what was happening... and what he suspected might be about to happen.

  For all of his study and practical experience, Kaengarr often found himself in an awkward position as a Vargr whose background was most definitely not Imperial, with all of the cultural conflicts that entailed. The question of who was in charge of what and under which circumstances among this little company was just such a situation, pitting intellect and instinct against one another in a thoroughly uncomfortable manner. Thus, the escalation between Samantha and Vonon was having much the same effect on him, and the resulting twitches of his ears and muzzle were readily evident despite the obscuring effects of his sealed suit.

Realizing this was quickly get out of hand, " We need to stay focused here. True, I have no "real combat"experience. I was just going with what made more sense to me, our target is the Longshot, correct. Taking on an unknown mining ship, doesn't that take away from the main effort? Doesn't that have the potential, actually it likely will, to cause more problems than it's worth, especially given, we're just assuming it's hostile?"

Somewhat embarrassed that this is boiling down to his title and it's connection to the Imperium, "I made it clear from the start, I'm interested in working within the structure of the group, my title doesn't necessarily make me the defacto leader, especially in combat, however, if and or when, me being in that position helps us, as a group, then it makes sense to do so."

Donning his vaccsuit, "And Sam is right, unless officially hired by the Imperium, then that has no bearing here." Before sealing his helmet, "And it's Count, not Baron."

"Then someone needs to quickly come up with a plan or I will make it on the fly for everyone." Sir Walter said. "Too many Captains and not enough crew men." he added, muttering to himself.

Sam Glanced at Walter, and began donning the last bits of her vacc suit "Its simple. We have one choice. Do we ignore the mining ship? I say Nay. the Count "she nods at Darrell " Says aye. What do the rest of you say? Majority wins."

Listening to the ongoing discussion, Pablo kept his mouth shut, and his hands away from the varied weapons he carried. He didn't think anybody was on that short a fuse, but there was a lot more angry in the air then the situation warranted.

He kept most of his attention on monitoring the comms, though, and working up a rough EVA plan for boarding the Miner using a thrust pack. Maybe he could crawl around on the ship's hull, and mission-kill it by disabling its sensors and mining laser. Of course, they might see him coming and broil him in his suit with that big ugly mining laser, but he'd never know it.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Thu 05 Nov 2015.

  They accepted one of their own as leader on the strength of an arbitrary word, then disputed their allegiance between themselves and without established cause even as the leader himself renounced the word's value. It was all very strange.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:49, Thu 05 Nov 2015.

"I vote for the short and simple, straight for the Longshot, our contracted target."

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 122):

"Find the Longshot, Aye." Vonon adds, crossing his armored arms over his chestplate.

  Kaengarr let out a strained rumble akin to a sigh as he turned his attention back to the viewscreen, still very much on edge and showing it. It was several moments more before he answered, lips drawn back into what resembled a Vargr grimace and a definite note of resigned fatigue in his voice. "We'll go to the Long Shot. Once we're there, anyone who doesn't think they're good for storming it can take the launch back to the mining ship and deal with it, assuming that it isn't coming for us by that point."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:02, Tue 08 Dec 2015.

As people answered, Sam held up fingers on different hands, so far one on her left, three on her right. She turned towards Walter and Sharik, waiting. And hoped they didn't get a tie, but the way it was shaping up it was unlikely...

Finally done with securing her helmet Khea has not heard anything about the vote as she is only now activating her communicator.
"So is everyone ready now?"

Sir Walter looked over to the crew members and saw that Samantha was keeping track of the tally. "I am not voting as it is the rest of you that have to take the vessel, I am just delivery driver. The choice on "how" you want to do it is up for a vote." he said "And so far it looks like we need to drop in, if that is the final decision?" he asked, looking to the Count and Vonon.

Sharik glanced over her shoulder, "You probably should vote, Sir Walter.  Our lives are in as much danger as the rest, even if we don't board."  The shuttle pilot seemed to feel that his job was to theoretically remain out of sight, but reality and theory didn't always meet or cooperate.  The youthful appearing dilettante then conceded, "Or perhaps our votes only count half..."  The slightly crooked smile that she gave her assembled companions was a touch self-deprecating and a touch serious, making it more than a bit enigmatic.

But, of course, that also meant that the auburn-haired socialite turned co-pilot should also vote.  "I can't see any markings or other signs on the seeker that indicate it is part of this operation." Shar shrugged slightly, "Though their placement and timing are inconvenient, unless someone else has seen something with respect to it that links it directly to the Long Shot, we should avoid the ship and not attempt to interact with it."

Her eyes quickly returned to the scanners and the visual sensory input that was streaming to them.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 128):

Vonon nods gratefully, as Sharik votes to bypass the seeker.

"Alright, then, this is the plan I had to get aboard the Longshot -- Sam, as the other tactician in our group, if you have any suggestions, or see any flaws, I'm willing to listen."

"So, my suggestion for a Plan A - Walter flies the launch low-and-slow over the surface of the asteroid. We know/suspect that the Longshot is on the other side, so we fly low to the ground and go slow -- like, ten feet abouve the surface and only a couple miles an hour -- and we keep to using the passive sensors. We move like this until we spot the Longshot."

"Now, we know, that the hijackers know, that an SOS got out before they had total control of the Longshot. The hijackers probably think they have a dozen or more hours before help can arrive -- they wouldn't know we hitched a ride on a ship equipped for micro-jumps."

"Mz Blue informed us that the hijackers were locked out of the higher command functions of the Longshot's computer -- that's why they haven't jumped away, or even moved. I don't think they can activate any of the engines, yet. But Mz Blue did say she thought it only a matter of time before they hacked the computer."

"So. We should assume that any system that was active when the hijackers boarded the Longshot is still active. Since we haven't detected any active sensors -- like radar -- coming from the Longshot, we can assume such systems were not on when she was boarded. However, we should assume that passive sensors are active. Maybe they are, maybe they ain't, but we should assume they are."

"Therefore, we make a low, slow approach, so that the launch might get mixed up in sensor readings of the asteroid's surface. We try to mask any electronic emissions from the launch -- I know, it's a cheap, basic Launch with minimal electronics! But I have faith in Sharik's Sensor skills -- so, we mask emissions as best we can and sneak right up to the Longshot.

"Hell, if she's alone -- i.e., that mining scout was the hijackers ship, and they've now all transferred over to the Longshot -- then we might try snuggling up to an airlock. If there is another ship near the Longshot -- let's call that Plan B -- then we ground the shuttle a mile-or-so from the Longshot, and we walk in and try to board from a ventral hatch."

"I'm really hoping that we can actually dock the launch up to an airlock -- a few of you don't have the requisite skills to walk across an asteroid; as we've already discussed. If we can dock with the Longshot, then all of us will have the option of running around aboard the Longshot.  But we won't know if we can do this until we can actually see the Longshot."

Listening to Vonon's plan, Pablo stood still a few moments, working over the implications, then he said, "Sir, with your indulgence, I would like to play devil's advocate for just a moment. Put yourself in the shoes of our hijackers. First, presumably at least some of Longshot's ship's company is involved in the takeover, or it would be called piracy, not hijacking."

He paused for a another moment more, then plunged in. "You have physical control of a ship, but not control of its computer systems. You know that a distress signal got out, so a response is either on the way, or being organized. Now, assuming the Longshot is where we think, you have a mining ship landed a few klicks away over the horizon of a small asteroid. If they are your buddies, part of your gang, then fine, they can help watch your blind spots. If they are not involved in the hijacking, then they are either where they are, right now, by monumental coincidence, or they just might be at least considering a response to the distress call."

He sighed, not really wanting to say more, but decided it was best to get it all out, and let the command team make the decision. "Either way, sir, the hijackers would be very foolish to assume they have a lot of time on their hands. I believe we have a lot less time to intervene than the current plan envisions. If that is true, then the alteration to the plan I would suggest is not going in low and slow, but instead pushing the launch's propulsion as hard as possible. We're less than twenty kilometers from the asteroid, we could cover that distance and be on the ground, in less then two minutes, and aboard the Longshot a few minutes later, at least with the first assault team, those who are trained in boarding actions. No matter what, we cannot assume we are going to have the element of surprise. Not if the hijackers are any good at what they do, sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:02, Tue 10 Nov 2015.

With Shariks vote, Sam shrugged and said "fair enough"

As Vonun outlined his plan, Sam continued checking her gear, and secured her helmet last.

Triggering her comms she said "Sounds fine to me Vonun, lets get it done"

Turning to Pablo she said "The mining ship might have arrived after the Long Shot was taken, so no-one would have detected it. If it was here before, the hijackers, their approach vector, might mean they may not be aware of it all. In fact we don't know anything about it, except its there. Apparently, that's irrelevant." She shrugged and grimaced "Which means theres no way to know if Long Shot is alerted to us or not. So, we're assuming its not until we have signs otherwise. Anyway, orders have been given, time to get them done."

She nods at Vonun and grins "Shall we start the Boarding party?"

Walter listened to Vonon's plan for taking back the Longshot "Got it, low and slow, try to land next to it so the group can transfer over via airlock." he said "Hang on in case it gets gets bumpy." he added as he started moving the launch, using the cover of the terrain to help hide their signature from both vessels.

When finally underway Khea aks through the comms "Is the scout still here? It can keep an eye on the other ship and also provide a distraction for our approach in case they have some ship functions under control"

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 133):

"Actually, Pablo, that's another reason that I believe that seeker scout to be harmless." Vonon responds, "If it actually was the vehicle that the hijackers came here in, then they might be trying to use it to tow away the Longshot."

"Truth be told, while I am seriously hoping that the hijackers ship will not be hovering nearby, when we spot the Longshot, I wouldn't put any money on that bet. I am actually dreading that we will find another ship there, when we find the Longshot."

"But, as I said, we won't actually know that until we put eyes on the Longshot. I am expecting, once we see the scene, that we'll have to modify our plans. More than likely, if there is another ship, we'll go with your suggestion -- a quick rush to get close enough to the Longshot that neither ship can get a shot at us, and then we get aboard as fast as possible. As you say, with us walking walls leading the charge."

Pablo was ready to go. The plan was in place, at least until contact with the enemy or the mischievous Mr. Murphy scuppered it. He started whistling to himself quietly, as he made one last check of his gear. Going in initially he intended to stick to the Navy pistol, or flashbangs and tranq grenades. The assault weapon wasn't exactly designed to be a precision instrument, after all. Until it was clear who the targets were, single shots and non-lethals were the order of the day. Happily, the targets would be conveniently self-identifying by pointing weapons at him. Then all bets were off.

The last thing he checked was the strap that secured him in the airlock. Getting bounced around the launch's interior, or worse, blown out into space by a lock failure for whatever cause, would be embarrassing.

Once the discussion about the 'Plan' was resolved, Walter steered the launch out from behind the asteroid where it'd been hiding, and made a beeline for the other asteroid, aiming for as tight a circuit of it as was safe.

There was no activity from the mining scout parked on the near side of the asteroid, but everyone gave a mental sigh as the launch slipped over the horizon and out of sight of the scout.

At that point, Walter slowed the launch to nearly a crawl until it approached the far side of the asteroid. He was able to position the launch in such a way that he could pop up over the asteroid's edge to get a snapshot of the other side before popping back down into the shadow.

The Long Shot was landed on the surface of the asteroid. The cargo/ore bays on the underside were open. The launch, as had been planned for and hoped for, had come up on the aft end of the ship.

The best news was that there was no other ship in sight.

The second best news was that the Long Shot had no active sensors running. The transponder has also been disabled.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:27, Tue 17 Nov 2015.

After a quick visual check to make sure that everyone was sealed up, Pablo exited the launch, and headed over to the aft airlock of the Longshot*, using his various vision aids to scope out the surrounding terrain, just in case the hijackers had posted a sentry outside the Longshot for whatever reason.

---

  As the launch made its final approach, Kaengarr made a few observations, though he evidently did not feel the need for full sentences or proper grammar at this point. "No transponder fits the story. Cargo bays open - lockdown or sloppy? Might be booby traps."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Tue 08 Dec 2015.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 138):

Vonon looked over Walter's shoulder, out the front viewport, at the Longshot -- and their good fortune so far.

Vonon gave an irritated flick of his right ear when he heard the airlock cycling, but he reached forward to gently place his armored left hand on Walter's shoulder.

"The Gods of Space do love us, Sir Walter!" Vonon said cheerfully, pointing towards the Longshot, "There, do you see that hatch, portside lower deck? The small one next to the large launch bay doors? That is your destination. Get us docked to that hatch as quickly as you can!"

Vonon turned to the others, "Okay, folks, here we go! We're going to make our approach to the Longshot and try to get inside. There's a lower access hatch -- the back door -- that Sir Walter is going to try to dock with. Once he does that..." Vonon finally noticed that Pablo was one of those who'd jumped out of the launch to make their way across the face of the asteroid to the Longshot, "...uh, once we dock, we'll hope the hatch isn't locked, but it probably will be."

Vonon looked from Sam to Sharik, then to everyone else, "During my Patrol days, our typical S-O-P, here, was to slap a breaching charge on the hatch and blow it -- so I never learned the skills to finagle one open any other way. I don't think we want to do that now, though - hurr-hurr-hurr. I don't remember who said they might be able to over-ride the hatch controls, back when we were planning this, but I hope someone can, because the only explosives I have are a grenade -- and they make messy breaching charges."

"So. Before we go -- does anyone have any questions? Anyone need to piddle? Hurr-hurr-hurr."

The only way to dock the launch with the Long Shot, at the moment, is to back the launch up to the lower aft hatch of the Long Shot.

It is unknown if the Long Shot has a launch of its own, so even if you get the launch bay door open, there may already be a launch in there.


Pablo and Kaengarr have no problem making their way across the asteroid, over the edge and along the surface to lower aft hatch of the Long Shot.

As the shuttle had made its cautious approach towards the Longshot, Sharik had double-checked the seals in her vacc suit's gloves and helmet.  It was an old habit that despite the fact that she was to remain in the controlled environment of the shuttle, they were heading into an operation and that level of unknown meant that it was better to be prepared.

When the away team got ready to disembark, the diminutive dilettante unbuckled her five-point harness and made her way to the airlock to see the others off, making sure to man the manual override in case of problems and to ensure that the lock closed securely once everyone had made their way through.  She gave both Vonon and Pablo a friendly tap on the shoulder (the 'safe' one that many servicemen designated when on high alert) for good luck before they made way as the first wave into the airlock.

Her HUD continued to be tied to the launch's central core and so she still had her data stream pushing the sensor stream to the display in her helmet.

Once everyone was away, she'd resume her position back in the co-pilot's seat.  Unless, there was an emergency, of course.  Sharik had had enough time in hostile environment suits to be quite comfortable in them, they were almost like a second skin to her.  And in fact, her tailored suit had been fitted so that it was pretty much a second skin for her.

They had lowered the cabin lighting to ensure minimized the potential for inadvertently alerting the opposition.  So, all they could really do now was wait.  She resumed her position next to Walter, her eyes back on the larger console displays of the various passive sensor feeds.

So Pablo exited the launch and made his way across the asteroid to the Long Shot. Is he going to try and get in through the lower aft hatch or he going to check out the open cargo bays? Or do something else entirely?


At Vonon's urging, Walter turns the launch arse-end around and slowly eases the launch's rear hatch into 'near' contact with the Long Shot's lower after hatch. Neither of the two craft have airlocks that are designed to dock with each other, but the shuttle does have a docking sleeve.

The 'airlock' of the launch is a single air-tight hatch; there's no secondary hatch. Opening the rear door of the launch will open the interior directly to space... or to the docking sleeve if it's been connected tot he Long Shot.

The sleeve fastens magnetically, and then pressurized along the contact edge to seal it.

In the end, Pablo decided to stay with the airlock. The only really advantageous place to go from the cargo decks was the hatch right up into the bridge, and with the area below in vacuum, that seemed more dangerous to the people they were trying to save then it was worth.

He checked the airlock, trying to open the outer door, gauss pistol held ready. His plan was to cycle through to the interior and start securing the long open corridor that led right to the main bridge.

Sam gave Vonun a thumbs up from within her sealed vacc suit, then waited for the doors to open.

Darrell places himself near the airlock, providing covering fire if needed, and/or security protecting the launch.

So Pablo went for the rear hatch on the Main Deck. The gravity of the asteroid is so low that he has no problem jumping up to the hatch nor floating there while he attempts to open the hatch.

It does have grab bars welded to either side, probably a modification after it was converted to a mining ship. As expected, the airlock has an access panel that requires a security code, but it's only a 9-button pad with alphanumeric symbols on it. That means it isn't a 'smart' pad. There's no reset or anything, so it's a timed pad... if you don't type the correct code within 5 seconds, it automatically resets to let you try again. After trying a few 'obvious' codes, he finds that 3-2-1 cycles the airlock.

His main concern is if the lock cycling shows up on a control panel on the bridge... and someone's actually paying attention.

It's unlikely that anyone will be in the airlock waiting for him. It might be something he'd do, but he doubts if claim-jumpers are that savvy.

It cycles the air out, and he has to manually pull the door open... and there's no one beyond. He steps through and closes the hatch behind him, noticing that the doors to the two lockers are open, and it looks like they've been ransacked.

The airlock cycles through for equalization to the internal air pressure and content for the interior, and his suit confirms it's all green.

He now realizes that the internal airlock door has a viewport in it, but he doesn't see anyone peering through it at him. Looking through it himself, he sees an empty corridor.

===================================================================================

Walter backs the launch up to the lower aft hatch without difficulty. While the launch is meant to be boarded from a landed position, its design also took into account the current situation. So the docking collar extends over to the Long Shot. The inside of the launch is still vacuum, so no cycle time is necessary to equalize pressure. The launch hatch swings open, it's only 2 meters to the Long Shot, and there's a keypad entry just like the upper hatch.

It doesn't take long to determine that the access code is 6-5-4. It clearly wasn't meant for high security. While it is odd that the airlock is the entire length of the corridor on this deck, it does kind of make sense for accommodate a dozen miners or so at once.

It takes longer to cycle because of that, but not too long. It's soon showing equalization. There's barely enough room to swing the hatch open, though, as it swings outward. Once everyone has exited the launch into the Long Shot, the airlocks are closed and the internal pressure is raised back up to the ship's standard internal pressure and content.

As everyone moves down the corridor, viewports into the launch bay can be seen, and looking through them, you can see that the bay is empty.

With the first batch over at the Long Shot Khea fumbles with her suit to get herself and her equipment over to the miner. Preferably with or after Vonon or Kaengarr. The size difference makes them bad shields, but they will hopefully throw enough firepower down the corridor if anything happens to draw all the attention.

Sam tags along behind the others, probably about 3rd or 4th (or last), shes not bothered, and keeps her eyes and ears open, her tranq rifle at the ready

Pablo cycled through the airlock, gauss pistol in hand. Moving quietly, he headed down the corridor to the bridge, sticking a commdot on each door he passed to alert him if it opened behind him.

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 149):

Leading the way in through the lower hatch, Vonon heads for the far end of the corridor to secure the far hatch. He causally looks into the ports showing the interior of the launch bay, and notes the lack of a launch, but decides the lack is something to ponder later.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Vonon first looks to see if there is a window in the hatch, so he can look through into the compartment, beyond.

Next he looks for the hatch controls and -- if he hasn't seen anyone on the other side (or if there is no way to see beyond) -- he goes ahead and opens the hatch.

  Kaengarr has no trouble navigating the low-G environment, though he can't help but wonder at Khea's skittishness or the fact that two of the sophonts with military experience are hanging back and leaving him in the lead alongside Vonon. He certainly hadn't been left with the impression that they regarded him as their leader...

As Vonon traverses the corridor down to the internal airlock door, and peers through the viewport to see the rather wide area beyond, he realizes this is a staging area. Probably both for boarding and unloading the shuttle.

He doesn't spot anyone on the other side of the hatch, and opens it.


Sam, following the bricks, hangs back with Khea. As she glances through the viewports into the launch bay, she can see that there are signs of use--tools fastened to the walls, sensor machines in their storage nooks, grav pallet in the corner.



Kaengarr keeps up with Vonon. There's no gravity on this level, so the micro-gravity of the asteroid is all there is. The floor material, however, is a synthetic covering that lets spaceboots stick to it so that someone could walk down it who was uncomfortable with zero-g. So he can either walk down it or float down the corridor.


==================================================================================

As expected, Pablo discovers that the interior of the ship has gravity, at least on this level. He doesn't have near enough commdots to put on all the doors in the corridor, however. Walking stealthily isn't a problem because the flooring is some sort of synthetic material that functions like carpet. Plus, his suit can pick up the music. It's apparently quite loud.

He goes about 20 feet down the corridor before he can see that there is someone up ahead on the bridge. Someone is sitting in the captain's chair.

Muttering darkly to himself, Pablo resolved to get more commdots when opportunity allowed. He still placed the devices at intervals down the hall, though his coverage was by no means complete.

On seeing the person on the bridge, he considered calling Vonon, but decided not to. Instead he moved on down the corridor to just outside the bridge, to see if the rest of the bridge stations were occupied, or anyone else could be seen.

Khea tugs the cord she used to tie her toolkit to her suit to keep it close and walks, after discovering the properties of the floor to the next interior wall to stay in cover and looks expectingly at the Vargr to lead the way.

  Kaengarr readies his shield and stunner whilst Vonon opens the hatch, far preferring to take enemies (or potential enemies) out at range but not counting on that luxury in these close quarters.

  He looks at Vonon, motioning left and right to silently put the question of whether they should sweep the level or head straight for the next one.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Mon 30 Nov 2015.

Pablo reaches the end of the hallway and visually scans the bridge. He spots only two people. The person in the command chair is operating the command console on the arm of the chair, alternately tapping buttons, pounding on it and swearing.

Standing beside the chair is a woman still dressed in her vaccsuit but with the helmet off. She offers an occasional suggestion to the man in the chair.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 156):

Vonon walks into the staging area, drawing his heavy automatic pistol in his right hand, and walks over to the corner; the one that turns into the passageway going forward.  As he does so, he notes Kaengarrs signals, and raises his left hand in a 'just a moment' gesture.

Then Vonon pops his head around the corner and takes a quick glance down the forward passageway, before coming back around the corner.

Well, here it was. Two targets. Two people. Pablo pointed the gauss pistol at them generally, and spoke, not particularly loudly or even in a threatening tone. "Sir, ma'am, please raise your hands, and interlace them on top of your heads. If you don't, I'll have to shoot, and we'll both regret it. Once you've done that, please identify yourselves. Oh. ah...my name is Pablo. Good meeting you."

Vonon spots an empty corridor.


===============================================================================

The woman looks particularly startled, but the man in the chair ducks down behind the chair, and then pops around the side firing a laser pistol.

His first shot goes wild, mostly because he didn't really know where his target was.

The ex-Peacekeeper marine didn't hesitate. The muzzle of the long-barreled gauss pistol shifted fractionally, so the laser sight and HUD crosshairs lined up on the man's torso, and the trigger was pulled, a very short sharp crack as four hypervelocity needles flew...

Sam follows behind Kaengarr and Vonun, checking the rear every so often to make sure no one approaches from that side, keeping her tranq rifle at the ready
This message was last edited by the player at 08:33, Thu 03 Dec 2015.

The man only popped his head and arm out from behind the command chair long enough to shoot, and then ducked back behind the chair. Pablo wasn't able to react fast enough to re-aim his weapon to shoot the man, but the hypervelocity needles rip into the command chair.

Pablo, noting the miss, took a flashbang grenade from his webgear and armed it, tossing it into the bridge area.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:20, Sat 05 Dec 2015.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 162):

Having confirmed that the forward companionway is clear of opponents, Vonon turns back to Kaengarr and takes a step towards him.

Halting just in front of Kaengarr, Vonon reaches up to the left side of his helmet and opens a tiny compartment; pulling out a light cable with a plug-end on it. This plug he reaches over to Kaengarrs helmet and inserts into a port.

"Pablo is solo up on the Command Deck." Vonon says over the temporary hardline connection, "I'd really rather clear the ship deck-by-deck -- that's how I was trained -- but for right now, we need to get up there fast. If we spot some sign of the captive crew, then we'll deviate to rescue them."

"But for now, we follow the plan and climb up to the engine room and secure it, then we find Pablo. So, into the launch bay."

Vonon suddenly pauses, "However...if Pablo is causing a distraction up on the Command Deck...maybe it would be worth it to chance using the lift...what do you think?"

  Bristling with tension at their circumstance, it nevertheless took only a split second for Kaengarr to process that information and come back with, "Sam and Khea take the hatch to engineering. Darrel with us. We take the lift to Pablo," over the hard-line. He still didn't like the idea of getting caught in a confined space, but if Pablo was causing a distraction then he'd need backup, and five of them climbing two decks via a single set of unaligned hatches would waste precious time.

  There were too many unknowns for his liking, but Pablo making a ruckus would probably distract the hijackers from their use of the elevator, and together Sam and Khea could probably deal with any stragglers in engineering. If not, the elevator would still make for faster backup for both them and Pablo than clambering around via the ladders.

  One thing seemed certain: Pablo going in alone had been a bad idea.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:00, Tue 08 Dec 2015.

With the rest of the team assaulting the mining vessel, Walter took a moment to scan the area around the ship to make sure that none of the hijackers were on the surface trying to come in from behind.

Khea positions herself next to the ladder and waits for Samantha to go first. While she has some Zero-G training getting through the hatch in the bulky space suit with a toolkit in tow would occupy her enough so that she couldn't react to any enemies she might encounter up there.

Darrel follows Kaengarr's instructions.

With Walter doing the visual scanning, Sharik kept her eyes glued to the sensor displays on the console before her.  She remained strapped into the co-pilot's seat ready to move the shuttle should anything come up.

For while she may not have as much experience as Sir Walter with respect to driving the shuttle.  She could make due under duress.  And the auburn-haired socialite had no desire to be caught unawares and unprepared; there were enough things that were dynamic and not in their control.

Tied into Pablo's commdots - the frequency agreed on by the two friends, Shar kept the small electronic sounders audio feeds running as well in the background.  As a centralized location, she could dispatch and relay the information from them easily and not force the others to do the filtering.

Sam waited for Vonun to call his play before moving off.

She tried to grab his attention visually, and if he paid attention she would use a hardwire link to talk to him

.

Walter does not pick up any signs of anyone on the surface of the asteroid, though he's still only using visual sensors, which are passive. He also doesn't pick up any radio comm signals.


Sharik's sensor 'glove' is sensitive enough to pick up the commdot signals, even though they only have about a meter range. Unfortunately, she doesn't pick up any sounds from them.


Khea and Sam have no problem accessing the launch bay and floating up to the ceiling hatch, cycling it, and going through it to the corridor just outside of engineering.


Kaengarr, Vonon, and Darrel squeeze into the lift and activate it, counting on Pablo's distraction, whatever that may be, to distract anyone that might be monitoring the lift.

=================================================================================

Since the man Pablo was shooting at had been behind the command chair, Pablo's shot misses him. While Pablo pulls out a flashbang grenade and prepares to toss it, the world suddenly seems to erupt around him.

The door to his left opens and someone in the room shoots him.

The door on the right behind him opens and someone in there shoots him.

And the man behind the command chair pops out on the other side and shoot him!

23:33, Today: StarMaster rolled 10,9,11 using 2d6+4,2d6+4,2d6+4 ((1,5,2,3,3,4)). 3 hits!

23:43, Today: StarMaster rolled 3,3,4 using 1d6+2,1d6+1,1d6+3 ((1,2,1)). damage.

The first hit does 3 points of damage, the second one does 3 points of damage, and the third hit does 4 points of damage.

Since he was effectively surrounded, clearly it was time be elsewhere. With that in mind, he dropped the armed flashbang grenade, trusting to the non-skid deck covering to keep it more or less in place till it went off, and then moved across the bridge, taking cover himself behind the communications chair.  Holding his gauss pistol ready, his other hand moved to his web gear, coming to rest for an instant on a plasma grenade, before moving with some reluctance to a tranq gas bomb.

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 172):

Once the lift doors close on Vonon, Kaengarr, and Darrel, Vonon checks the internal display inside his helmet; checking the air quality -- with a nod, Vonon opens his faceplate.

Turning to Darrel, he says, "You exit the lift last, Excellency. Kaengarr and I will take point." Vonon then extends his left hand...

"How's your throwing arm, my Lord?" Vonon offers two tranq-gas grenades, "It would be great if you'd stay right behind us -- heck, use us as shields! -- and toss gas grenades over our shoulders at the perps as we advance up the companionway -- if you have more than these two, feel free to toss them, too.  The perps are probably wearing their suits, but we might just catch'em with their helmets off."

Vonon pauses a moment to see if anyone responds, then closes up his helmet and turns to face the doors, before they open.

Coming out the top of the stair well, Sam crouched ready and aimed her tranq as her eyes swept the area for any unfriendlies

  Though his ears and whiskers twitched at the absurdity of hearing formal Imperial address during a raid, Kaengarr kept his attention on the elevator doors whilst Vonon was instructing his lord on what to do. By the time Vonon was done talking the elevator was almost at-level and small blades had slid from hiding at strategic points along the limbs of Kaengarr's suit, making him look more like the sort of corsair Vargr that might appear in one of Darrel's films.

  He didn't much like the implication that the two of them were there to take bullets for the Imperial noble, but with Darrel's combat experience being limited to a stage-set he also recognized that there were practical reasons for the arrangement. Still, there was one unpleasant possibility that hadn't been accounted for, and he growled it out for Darrel's benefit as the elevator came to a stop. "Take cover in doorways when you can. They're better for it than we are, and if one of us goes down you'll need somewhere safe to use a medkit."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Tue 08 Dec 2015.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 175):

[Oh yes, most definitely...] Vonon says via his suits external speaker, turning to look over his shoulder to Darrel -- but catching sight of Kaengarrs suddenly modified suit.

[Ooo! Shiney and sharp! You must give me the name of your tailor!]

  "Gkakhaellan Armory. Mostly." That terse reply was all that Kaengarr had time for before the elevator doors began to move...
This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Tue 08 Dec 2015.

Darrel readies the tranq grenades, as soon as the lift opens and he sees any enemy (without sealed helmets), he'll toss them.

Not listening to the com chatter Khea detaches the cord holding her toolkit and grabs her gun awkwardly and after some trying with the bulky vacc suit sets it to single fire.
Assuming Sam is ready she then opens the hatch to the engine room.

Khea opens the hatch to the cargo deck, and pops her head up to see a deserted corridor. Both hatches at the corridor's ends are closed. This deck is still in zero gravity. Khea has no problem climbing up to the deck and opening the rear corridor hatch, giving access to engineering.

Sam can climb up right behind her.

=================================================================================

Pablo drops the flashbang and dashes over to the bridge corner where the comm station is. He moves past the man behind the command chair too fast for him to get a shot off, but the woman behind the navigator's chair has a better line of sight. As she moves around to the side, he fires off a shot at Pablo.

22:05, Today: StarMaster rolled 11,12 using 2d6+4,3d6-3 ((5,2,6,3,6)). Laser shot & damage.

Pablo gets hit for another 15 points of damage.

That's when the flashbang goes off.

22:28, Today: StarMaster rolled 6,13,12,8 using 2d6+2,2d6+2,2d6+2,2d6+3 ((3,1,6,5,4,6,1,4)). Saves vs. flashbang.

Pablo can see that it affected the woman that shot him (deafened, blinded, stunned, but not unconscious), but he can't tell how well it affected the others.


================================================================================

The lift stops at the upper deck, with the gravity in the elevator slowly increasing as it rises so that it's equal to the gravity on the upper deck. The door opens just as a flashbang down the hall goes off. It's too far away to seriously anyone in the lift, but the flash is still noticeable.

Whatever sound the left may have made, it's drowned out by the flashbang.

As Kaengarr steps out of the lift, he sees two men peek out of doors down at the end. Their attention is focused forward.

Pablo winced at the new burn, but was grinning tightly as the banger went off, and he saw some effects. In a Peacekeeper operation, doctrine would have called for blowing the woman's head off, since she was the easiest target, and she had now self-identified as a combatant.

But he wasn't here with the Peacekeepers, but with his friends, and their friends, and they didn't want people killed unless it couldn't be helped. So he tossed the tranq gas grenade over by the captain's chair on the bridge, in hopes of at least slowing down the pair on the bridge.

Once in Engineering, Sam does a quick sweep of the area before moving, including the engineers station, before heading to the door.

She said to Khea "I think we're wasting our time, I think they're all going to be around the bridge area, and we should make our way up there - quickly"

ooc
suggest we move to cargo bay 18, and go up onto the bridge through that hatch Khea

Khea gets her toolkit and enters the engineering section, already scanning the room for the reactor controls.

"The plan was to disable the ship in case the hijackers cracked the ships password. If you want to join the fight go ahead, but I am not finished here."

Not looking back to Sam Khea starts to disengage the main power without doing any damage to the ships systems.


19:47, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 8 using 2d6-1.  Working on power systems. +1 Eng; +1 Edu; -3 Vacc Suit.

ooc: I wouldn't hit anything anyway with the -3 from being untrained in vacc suits.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:03, Wed 09 Dec 2015.

Khea has no trouble disabling the power. It takes about 3 minutes, though, since she is trying to disable power to the engines without damaging it. Damaging it would be quicker and easier.

It'll take the same amount of time to 'fix' the disruption, if Khea does it. It could take 20 or more minutes for someone else to find the problem and fix it if they have a spare part.

  Spurred on by the fact that Pablo was clearly in trouble, Kaengarr dashed down the hall as only a motivated Vargr could, taking advantage of the pair's preoccupation with the pyrotechnics on the bridge to approach them unawares and snap off a shot with his stunner. The presumed hijackers had lethal weapons and certainly wouldn't return the favor of using non-lethal fire once (or if) they recovered from the surprise, but if nothing else the presence of new targets would give his besieged pa... compatriot a reprieve.


A Vargr speed burst (8 squares) puts Kaengarr roughly halfway between the elevator and control room, within short range of the two in the hallway.

05:57, Today: Kaengarr Ruzokh rolled 13 using 2d6+2.  Stunner.
05:59, Today: Kaengarr Ruzokh rolled 16 using 3d6+5.  Stun damage.

Any attack against Kaengarr will be at -1 DM for movement and he will dodge or parry as appropriate (for another -1 or -2) if someone takes a shot at him.

This message was last edited by the player at 06:29, Thu 10 Dec 2015.

Sam nodded at Khea "Fair enough, but I can't help with that, I'll stay by the door and keep watch"

Sam waited for Khea to finish, and then said "Shall we head for the bridge now?"

ooc
Khea - Thought that was the plan, but when I was looking through the old posts couldn't find anything.

But in 3 minutes all the combat will be over, I would think, so we should probably hold off posting till we're tagged back in

In reply to Samantha Kilgore (msg # 186):

OOC: So, we have "surprise" on these guys? Woo-Hoo! That means we don't have to roll Initiative; we just add 12 to out Dex DM. For Vonon, that would be 12 + 1 = 13. Joy.



Like Kaengarr, Vonon sprints out of the lift and around the corner, heading down the passageway, leading with his big automatic.

After a moments assessment of the situation, Vonon opens the comm-channel that everyone had previously agreed to use as an open channel to all members of the group.

"Now, your Lordship! Start tossing!" Vonon broadcasts for Darrel's benefit, then sends, "Pablo! If you're already dead I'm gonna kick your ass! Location!"

His thinking oddly in sync with Kaengarr, Vonon fires his weapon at almost the same time, but not at the same target -- a loud "BLAM!" comes from behind the two hijackers, as the pistol fires in the confined space of the passageway.

OOC:
Vonon Ronkunu rolled 7 using 2d6(6+1) +0(Range) -1(Recoil) +1(Slug Weapons) to hit a Hijacker with his 10mm Automatic Pistol.
Vonon Ronkunu rolled Damage (wherever it happens) of 11 using 3d6-2 ((2,5,6)).

Kaengarr and Vonon sprint down the hallway until they are within close range of the two men in the doorways, and then shoot--Vonon targets the one on the left, leaving Kaengarr to target the one on the right.

Pablo's flash-bang is still ringing in the ears of the two men, so they can't hear any footsteps. However, they do hear Vonon's gun go off as the bullet slams into the man's back and drives him forward to go sprawling on the deck.

Kaengarr's shot also hits the other man, who drops to the floor.

Pablo's tranq grenade then goes off on the bridge. He can't be sure if it was effective, as he can't see the two people, but the shooting stops.

Sharik's lips were pressed thin into a tight moue, her brow knit with concentration as she kept her eyes on the sensor readings and her ears open on the comm lines.  The diminutive brunette motioned to Sir Walter, pressing her earbud into her ear as she strained to hear something over the white noise.  "I think there's something..." she narrated, her eyes narrowing as Shar tried desperately to listen, "possible weapons discharge ... one... maybe two explosions."

The youthful-looking operative cursed the high-tech noise cancelling properties of the commdot microphone once more ... useful in drowning out ambient environmental noise when making a phone call, not nearly as useful in this situation.  Not for the first nor last time in her life, Sharik just couldn't be sure.  "Best be ready to move." she advised the shuttle's pilot.

The man on the left that Vonon shot moves a bit... until the gas reaches him, and then he's out. His vaccsuit took some of the damage, though, so he'll live.

Moving a bit more forward, Kaengarr and Vonon can see two people on the floor over to the right of the bridge... one by the command chair and one at the next chair forward on that side. Neither are moving.

  "Four down on the top deck. Sam, Khea, and Pablo, are you all okay?" Kaengarr called over the group's comm as he advanced toward the bridge at a more cautious pace to take a look inside from the relative cover of the hallway corner, weapon still at the ready. Just because everything was momentarily quiet didn't necessarily mean that it was safe...
This message was last edited by the player at 09:11, Fri 11 Dec 2015.

Sam triggered her comms "We're fine, need help? There may be more of them"

She continues to stay on watch, waiting for Khea to finish fiddling with the engines

  "That's why you're with Khea. Seems clear here, but stay sharp. Pablo?"

  Maybe there were more, maybe there weren't... but where were the hostages?

"I'm behind the chair at the bridge comms position.  Four hostiles encountered, no sign of any of the VIPs, Commander."

That said, and since comms silence was no longer in place, Pablo sent an invitation to Sharik, offering access to his computer and HUD systems, and thus the feeds from his Combination Viewer, Atmosphere Tester, Personal Med Scanner, and Radio (5k km) and Laser (500 km) transceivers, plus the HUD pickups from his pistol, assault weapon, and wrist launcher.

  Kaengarr sidestepped to get a look at the ex-marine's condition and immediately declared, "Darrel, Pablo needs attention," silently thankful that there was a breathable atmosphere as he beckoned the actor turned field medic forward with a wave of his arm. "Vonon and I will take care of these four."

  Glancing toward his fellow Vargr as he unfastened his shield, preferring to set it aside rather than give up his weapon, he added, "I've got the bridge. Get the two in the hallway. Take their weapons and drag them in here. We'll tie them up under guard." Barring something unexpected, that's exactly what he then set about doing, though he had one more question for their comms operator as he worked. "Sharik, any life signs or activity outside the bridge and engineering?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Fri 11 Dec 2015.

Realizing the trang grenades are not necessary, Darrel will move forward to apply 1st aid to Pablo.
12:08, Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 12 using 2d6+1.  1st aid.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:23, Fri 11 Dec 2015.

Still working on the system Khea asks over the com: "Do all of you have night or low light vision in your suits if you need them at all?"

  "I do." Vargr eyesight was notoriously bad in dark conditions and Kaengarr considered a good set of multi-function goggles to be a basic piece of equipment no matter where he went or what he was doing, and he was wearing them now under his faceplate.

It'd normally be hard to treat wounds while a person is still in a vaccsuit, but in Pablo's case, the wounds were all caused by laser, so they are mostly self-cauterizing burn damage. Darrel quickly determines that no internal injuries were caused, so treatment is standard ABF (anti-burn foam) spray that covers and protects the burn area, keeps infection from occurring, promotes skin regrowth and provides an analgesic.

"Thanks, Lord Cromwell. Did you play a doctor in one of your performances?" While Darrel checked his wounds, Pablo checked his gear. When Khea came on, he answered, "Yes, ma'am." Then, he looked back at Darrel. "Do you think the guys in the companionway were guarding the VIPs in those compartments they came out of?"

Two positive responses were enough for Khea. While she was not allowed to turn of live support because of the hostage (which they weren't paid for saving) she could cut the power to the lights which is exactly what she did.
That should give us an additional advantage in case the hijackers have do not have vision enhancements.

ooc: 21:29, Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 6 using 2d6+1 ((3,2)). (should actually be 4 as I forgot the minus)

The lights in the ship suddenly all wink out.

Sam curses and switches on her helmet lights

"something for the shopping list" she mutters

"Everything is clear on the scopes and the dots," Sharik glanced in Walter's direction to confirm that the coast was clear, "but my ability to read your locations is only estimated through the gyroscopic position data posted by your connections.  And I can't get a reading through the hull of any of the enemies' activities."  There was only a touch of chagrin in her voice, though one could almost see lips pressed thin.  She wished she could do more, but the situation was what it was; Shar'd know better for the future.

She didn't bother responding to the Khea's query since she wasn't on the ship and wouldn't be affected by the darkness, in any case; her datashades had the enhanced spectral analysis package and so Sharik had no problems seeing into the infrared and ultraviolet portions of the spectrum as well as in low-light conditions.  Of course, in some ways the real trick was in the filtering and not the data acquisition; but, her glove and shades had that covered.

Since Vo, Pablo and the others had broken radio silence, Sharik asked for a status check, "All Empire.  This is Empire Central; check-in with status please."  The diminutive ex-operative had a fair idea of what everyone was up to, but she also had the luxury of not being under fire.  With the seeming break in action, it might be best to get everyone caught up.

Smiling and patting Pablo on the shoulder "Darrel is fine for now, I'm glad you're ok. That was fine work you did here. We didn't have time to check the compartments, so unknown."


Darrel switches on his lights.


Flipping into assault marine character, "EC, this is E06, Currently, 1 friendly WIA, ambulatory and ready for action. Securing of 4 tangos being done now. No hostages found yet. More later. Out."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Fri 11 Dec 2015.

Pablo smiled faintly as his visuals darkened and cleared, after adjusting not to the change in the ship's lighting, but Darrel's helmet lights turning on.

Sharik, Sir Walter, to quickly report, the bridge is secured, four unidentified shooters are down. No fatalities, though there were a few injuries involved. Ms. Khea has control of the onboard lighting, possibly other shipboard systems. No VIPs found yet, and the ship is not yet fully secured. Commander Vonon, Captain Ruzokh, Count Cromwell, and I are on or near the bridge at this time."
This message was undeleted by the player at 01:50, Sat 12 Dec 2015.

  Taken aback at what he'd heard, Kaengarr couldn't help but send a dumbfounded look Darrel's way - was there a problem with the comms or had the actor really spoken that gibberish? Nevertheless, he recovered his wits in time to add to what Pablo had just reported. "We're getting the shooters tied up right now."

  Once that had been dealt with and Pablo was back on his feet, Kaengarr considered their next steps on the darkened ship. They weren't in any particular hurry now that the drive systems were offline and they had control of the bridge, but the ship itself wasn't secure and the hostages were still missing.

  "Khea and Sam, lock down engineering and come up to us. Darrel, see what you can get from internal sensors. Sharik and Walter, keep watch for anyone leaving the ship. Pablo, guard these..." He snarled the last word as he jabbed a finger toward the four bound assailants. "...and be ready as backup. Vonon with me. We check the rooms on this level."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:28, Sat 12 Dec 2015.

With the lights turned off Khea feels that she did everything she could do here. Though she would want to wait out the rest of this operation in the familiarity of an engine room locking herself in here would hardly leave a good impression on the others.
Besides her suit did not have any vision enhancements or lights. Aslans can see quite well in dim light, but not in the dark and who would have thought that humaniti ships do not have an emergency light on a separate circuit? So she had to follow Samantha anyway. It shouldn't be all that dangerous now. After all how many more hijackers could there be?

Pablo chuckled after a moment, and unconsciously mimicked Darrel by clapping him on the shoulder. "Not bad...Sarge,"

Holstering his gauss pistol, he unclipped the assault weapon from its place across his chest, and smiled with real satisfaction as the boxy thing's rails hummed to life. Deciding that at least looking ready for overkill was the new order of the day, he took just a moment to fix the monofilament bayonet into it's lug on the front, and then went over to watch the prisoners.

"Now that we are out here, anybody feel like trying to pull up a crew manifest for this ship? If any of our shooters here are crew members, than we likely have more hijackers running around loose."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:41, Sat 12 Dec 2015.

  "Good idea, Pablo. Darrel on it. Sensors, manifests, security logs... anything relevant!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Sat 12 Dec 2015.

You already have the crew manifest for the ship:

Captain Thom Galway (pilot)
Marco Kell (sensors)
Valeska Brandenburg (communications)
John-Quincy McBannister (grinder)
Trina Brodsky (digger)
Arkady Vlodnak (digger)


The computer isn't going to be accessible until the security measure has run its course.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 211):

Pablo pulled up the list of crew, and nodded.  Then he decided to do what he could, and started moving the restrained prisoners to the chairs on the bridge. He started with the man who'd beeen sitting in the command chair when he first entered the bridge.

The moonofilament bayonet, and his laser torch, came into play as needed, and he cut away the man's vacc suit, leaving Kaengarr's restraints in place, and checking all the while for any identifying msrks. Once the suit was in pieces, he made a pile of any comms or suit computers found, for those with the right skills to examine when they could.

He then went through the man's pockets, in the process of roughly searching him, for any hidden weapons or gear or most importantly ID, in whatever the prisoner wore under the suit. Anything found was added to the pile of items. Then the man's clothing was cut away. leaving him in his skivvies. Another rough, impersonal search of body cavities followed.

Only then, when Pablo was satisfied that he'd found all he was going to on the man's person, he sat him in the chair, and duct taped the captive to it, very securely.

He repeated the process with each of the prisoners, leaving the female for last, in hopes Samantha would get there in time to process her. Pablo would if he had to, but he definitely preferred to leave her to another woman.

Sam replied to Kaengarr "Roger that. We'll start here, but you folks be careful. My hunch is they'll all be nearer where you are".

She turned to Khea "Shall we? " She said motioning to the Engineering door. "If you open it I'll cover you"

She made a mental note. When this was over, they really need to sort out their chain of command...

OOC: Did the crew manifest include photos, and can we compare them with the 4 captives?
Is there anyway to interrupt the security measure?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:13, Sat 12 Dec 2015.

Khea leaves her toolkit and her armor vest in the engineering room and moves towards the door to the hallway.
While passing Sam she shows her the back of her fist, the traditional Aslan sign for agreement, before opening the door.

ooc: I assume we will follow the plan in the OOC Thread of sweeping the ships instead of the last in game command to come to the bridge?

Yes, there were pictures of the Long Shot's crew... standard starport security stuff. It's not usually secret who is manning a ship, since every starport wants to know who is arriving.

None of the prisoners match the pictures of the crew.


Pablo does not find anything out of the ordinary on the prisoners... standard stuff... comms, ID, laser pistol, pocket knife, multi-tool, etc.

Their IDs identify them as:

Tylo Gargan (captain of the Rock Dancer)
Vena Cordrell
Don'tay Marks
Griffin Royer

All are registered Belters.

Darrel will check the bridge controls/comms/computer and see what's functioning.

You have access to the computer; you just can't get past the encryption that will let you actually DO something.

The internal comms are tied in to the computer, mostly for selectivity, but they also have their own stand-alone computer to keep them operational if the main computer is down. Manual zone switches haven't been used since... well, the 1970s.

None of the controls are operational, which includes closing the cargo hatches from the bridge, though they can always be closed manually.

OOC: Can I break through the encryption?


Darrel will switch comms to their own stand-alone computer.

Sam moved into the hall and checked to see if any doors were open. Pointing to Khea, she pointed to the left side of the corridor, then herself to the right hand sight, and waited for acknowledgement.

occ
Sams going with the plan that Khea and her sweep their way towards the others which I think has been agreed ooc

  In the meantime, Kaengarr began the rearward sweep of the top deck alongside Vonon.

  Going with the same assumption!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Mon 14 Dec 2015.

I forgot...

Is this because of the security program or is there another reason?

Using the database(25KCr) Darrel bought from Ms. Blue, is there any relevant information pop up?
Tylo Gargan (captain of the Rock Dancer)
Vena Cordrell
Don'tay Marks
Griffin Royer

Going back to hacking the security program, would my Agent program assist in that?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Mon 14 Dec 2015.

OOC: Did I miss it somewhere, but, did my results get Pablo back up to X END?
12:08, Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 12 using 2d6+1.  1st aid.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:14, Tue 15 Dec 2015.

With the doors to the rest of the ship open Khea waits for Samantha to illuminate the area and then climbs the ladder up to the first deck to join the others.

Darrel's Agent program would help crack the encryption, and it can be done, but there's a -10 DM to do so. The computer won't allow access to the cargo bay doors, which is why they can't be closed from the bridge.

Darrel's data search turns up entries on all of the hijackers. They are all registered Belters--miners licensed to prospect in the Belt. They have 'criminal' records for arrests for brawling, but they wouldn't be very good rock miners if they didn't.

Captain Gargan is the owner of record for the Rock Dancer, a Seeker/Miner currently operating out of Grendal.


Kaengarr and Vonon begin their sweep of the top deck, they find the crew tied up in the Galley. The crew thanks you profusely for the rescue, and quickly informs you that there were only 4 hijackers that they ever saw. There could be more, but crew doesn't think so.


Sam and Khea also begin their sweep and find nobody in any of the rooms.


Pablo gets back 8 End from Darrel's first aid.

"There's no way I can break through the encryption on the security program, please send up whatever crewmember that initiated it and have them deactivate it."

After reviewing the files of the hijackers, "Keep your eyes open for the Seeker/Miner Rock Dancer. She's probably out there somewhere."

Private comms to our group, "The security program they have is way, way above normal, possibly military grade."

"Lor...er. Darrel, that was likely the Rock Dancer we bypassed on the way here. If you'd allow, these prisoners aren't going anywhere without a sharp knife, some determinatiion, and maybe lost hair. I'd like to go over and sweep that Seeker, just to make sure it poses no threat to the mission."

That would also give him more time to think how to handle meeting Victoria again. If that was her name, which seemed unlikely. The thought that the majority of the women that could be even marginally defined as "in his life," were either spies or of another species entirely brought a brief snort of amusement.

"The ship we passed was, according to mining scout's transponder code: IMS Rockhopper out of Tharill, registered owner is Taralis Manathorn. And has the usual maintenance and medical record current as of 7 months ago. Of course, it could be a fake."

Thinking about it for a moment, "Hold on a minute, let me check something...."
Darrel uses his Agent program to scour through the databases, looking for any clues that would confirm the existence of both ships/persons, trying to establish if either are fake.

  With the crew apparently safe and unharmed, Kaengarr turned his attention to normalizing the situation as much as possible. "Khea and Sam, if you've covered belowdecks, bring back power and lights, then come up to the bridge. Vonon and Pablo can pay a visit to that other ship with Walter and Sharik. Darrel and I have things in hand up here." Along with the actual crew, of course, but since keeping things in hand mainly meant keeping weapons trained on the hijackers until reinforcements arrived or the systems became usable again, there wasn't that much to it.

Once again, Darrel's datafile coughs up pertinent information. There is a ship called the Rockhopper, which is a Seeker/Miner that operated in the Belt a few years ago. Current status is unknown.

Ditto with Taralis Manathorn. Owner/captain of record. Nothing on him in 3 years. Supposedly took his ship out to the Belt to do some prospecting back then. He doesn't look anything like Gargan.

Valeska stretches from being bound and looks about at their rescuers.

In reply to Valeska Brandenberg (msg # 231):

Upon the discovery of the captive crew, Vonon activates his vox to identify himself and Kaengarr.

[Cassandra Space Pat...] Vonon starts growling out of habit, [uh, I mean, hello, folks! We're here to rescue you!] he says, stepping further into the galley, [Who's the Captain? They'd like to see him in the Bridge.]

Sam looked for Khea and rolled her eyes " on the bus and off the bus again" she smirked.

Over comms she asked "So how many people have we got all togethor now?"

To Khea she said "I might as well come with you to engineering, just in case"

  "Four hijackers and six crew," Kaengarr replied to Sam as Vonon began to make introductions with the crew in question. "The crew saw four. If there are any others they won't be a problem with ten of us here and aware, and we have their 'friends' if it comes to that."

In reply to Vonon Ronkunu (msg # 232):

"That'd be Thom over there. Who do we owe our rescue to?"

Anything on the crew of the Rockhopper?

OOC:Basically, I'm trying to figure out if the 2 ships Rockhopper and Rock Dancer are actually 2 different ships, using maintenance logs, crew manifests, medical inspections, refueling entries, docking fees, cargo sold, etc...Example, the Rockhopper was getting maintenance done the same day the Rock Dancer was getting ore offloaded elsewhere.

"Review the scan data on the ship (IMS Rockhopper)we passed, is there anyway to figure out how long it's been there?"

Darrel realizes he's sounds paranoid, but, he had a feeling something wasn't right about all this..then again, maybe he was being paranoid?

Just as soon as she ascended to the command deck Khea turns back to head to Engineering to turn the lights and other systems back on, just after unsealing her vacc suit to at least get her hands free to work more easily.

While working on the system she ask over the comms "Tell me you haven't shot a console on the bridge"

When finished Khea sweeps the ship and looks for damage either her team or the hijackers have caused starting at the bridge.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:40, Wed 16 Dec 2015.

There isn't really any way to tell how long the Rockhopper may have been sitting there.

Maintenance and customs reports indicate that there are two separate ships.


Sharik's link lets her know that the Long Shot has been secure. It's safe for Walter to dock the ship in the launch bay, but the doors will have to be opened manually at the moment.


Khea sweeps the ship and doesn't find any more hijackers or any damaged equipment. She does find one... unusual thing. On the lower deck, three of the cargo bay doors were open, yet there was still atmosphere on the deck.

Khea pauses for a moment when she realizes this, unsure if that is unusual or not. It would be if that would be a Aslan ship, but after the microjump she is not sure if that is just another thing the humaniti simply have.

Not trying to sound too surprised as it wouldn't leave a good impression when the engineer doesn't understand technology she calls the rest of the group: "The ship looks undamaged and all systems are working. The ship can even still hold the atmosphere with the unlocked bays. So I expect we will get the full reward.

Vonon pauses a moment to think about that, before he responds,

[Hurr-hurr, that would be The Cromwell Players, miss.] Vonon places his gauntleted left hand over his chest and gives a slight bow to the woman -- simultaneously holstering his pistol with his right hand.

[Cap'n Galway?  If you would, sir.] Vonon steps aside from the door and gestures with his now-empty right gauntlet -- knowing that the Bridge is just a few steps away from the Messhall, [Our Director awaits...*yip*]

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 237):

Pablo was finishing duct taping the last of the hijackers to chairs, when Khea's question came through. He grinned and answered, over the team's channel, "Ms. Khea, the only damage up here is a decent size chunk out of the captain's chair.

  Kaengarr also holstered his weapon and spoke to the remaining crew as Vonon and the captain moved out. "Everyone else, you're free to move around, but be careful. I don't think they left any more surprises, but we can't be sure." He paused for a moment, weighing the situation. "Since this ship isn't going anywhere for a while, write down everything you remember about their attack and especially anything your overheard. We'll be dealing with them in the meantime." He then stepped to one side; they could file out easily enough and he was still available should any of them want to speak.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:01, Thu 17 Dec 2015.

"You know that the gassed us, right? Has anyone checked the air ducts and purifiers?"

  "Poetic justice then. They had their helmets off when we walked in with stunners and tranq gas." Kaengarr grinned, but he relayed that tidbit to the rest of the team nevertheless. "Keep your suits sealed. Hijackers used gas against the crew. Need to find the source and if there's any more."

  To Vanessa he then added, "We can't access internal sensors with the system locked down, so it'll be a search by hand. Think they had control of your life support to do it?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 16:52, Thu 17 Dec 2015.

Sharik nodded curtly to no one in particular as she listened in on the comms, then she simply acknowledged, "Roger that."

"Sounds like the Long Shot is secured, Sir Walter." the auburn-haired navigator narrated to noble pilot, "They want us to bring the shuttle around to the cargo bay and pick up Pablo and Vonon to reconnoiter the scout that we passed.  To see if it is really the Rockhopper."  Shar added after a thoughtful moment, "Sounds like there are possibly two ships in the area - another one called the Rock Dancer, which the hijackers arrived on, potentially..."

Shar kept her visual scanning of the various sensor displays going, though she trusted her intelligent aide program to continue to filter the feeds as well.

She reopened the common channel and asked the others, "Have none of the hijackers revealed the location of their getaway vehicle?"  It couldn't have been that far away, since there didn't seem to be any small transports in the area that the four might have used to approach the Long Shot.

"Oh," Sharik added as an afterthought, "Has anyone tried to find out who hired these guys?  It's pretty coincidental that they picked this particular ship ..."  Sharik didn't want to say it, but from what she'd gathered from the chatter - the attackers weren't that smart (though they were equipped with gas).  Seemed like a setup of some sort with someone who had more brains pulling the strings - it could have been one of the four, but not likely.  To her it was starting to stretch credibility that this situation was simply a small-time, random hijacking.

After watching Khea with the engineering, Sam decide to head up to the Bridge.

AT the bridge, she takes in all the signs and says "have we checked in yet? Or questioned these guys" she says, gesturing at the Hijackers.

"No report has been made, other than communications within the team. The prisoners have been secured, their effects are available here for inspection. They have not been interrogated." Pablo indicated the pile of comms, laser pistols, etc, from the prisoners.

With that, he headed down to the cargo bay to meet the lander.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:55, Fri 18 Dec 2015.

  "We can do that now. At least three of us in the room while we do," Kaengarr stated over the group's comm, though face to face he was waiting for Valeska's thoughts.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 248):

"Can we get the crew in suits just in case? If you do that, I may have a way to access systems. Get us in suits and get me down to Engineering."

  Kaengarr considered that for a moment, then motioned to the door as he spoke over comms again."Per request, getting the crew suits and taking one to engineering."

  To Vanessa he added, "Locker back of the deck and access down." It wouldn't be much of a detour that way.

 
  That being room #14/north on the map!
 

Facing the prisoners, the Count switches into his lawyer (advocate-3) mode, Reading of their names, the charges they will face and possible sentencing, ending with...

"Several interpretations of your punishment, and by the powers invested in me, we are legally authorized to summarily execute you, in whichever manner I decide upon. However, being that I am in a good mood, I will take into consideration any cooperation that you provide, meaning answer all my questions truthfully."

Casually pulls out his Arc-Field Sword and places it conspicuously in front of him.

"I need you to understand this completely, any untruths will go very, very badly for you. I hope that you will be persuaded to being fully candid."

Tapping the hilt of his sword, "Which of you wants to make their statement 1st? Just wiggle your foot to signal yea."

Having finished the inspection of the ship Khea returns to the bridge. As she is still a bit unsettled by the atmosphere on the lower levels she keeps wearing her suit and only removes her helmet and gloves which she carries with her so that she can reseal her suit quickly.
While this seems to be another common advances of the humaniti, based on the lack of response from the rest, Khea didn't trust it fully, at least not before she found whatever device was responsible for it.

The crew all have personal vaccsuits in their quarters, but there are emergency vaccsuits in the ship's locker.


Once alerted to it, Khea finds the gas cannisters in the ventilation system on the lower deck. The second canister had a timer on it; unless reset, it would have gone off in an hour.


Pablo and Vonon are shuttled over to the Seeker/Miner. It is deserted. They find some evidence that the ship is, indeed, the Rock Dancer.


Darrel may have been watching too many of his own videos... The prisoners aren't particularly intimidated by the Count's threats; they are more resigned than anything. Only the captain is a bit reluctant to speak.

This is their story:

Griffin overheard John-Clancy talking about a change of luck at Callahan's space bar. John-Clancy told the captain, who decided maybe they could claim jump whatever it was that the Long Shot had found. The original intent was to gas the crew, move the Long Shot to a different asteroid and change the coordinates in the ship.

When they got to the ship and discovered what they'd found, that's when they decided to just take the whole ship. The gas hadn't affected the captain fast enough to keep him from activating the security measures. They didn't anyone could get out here fast enough to stop them.

Pablo looks over at the rest of the people on the lander, after they finish sweeping the Rock Dancer. "Given that this tour group of yours seems to officially consider itself the good guys, should I assume we are not going to keep the Rock Dancer? Not that I am a fan of Grand Theft Starship, but I am puzzled a little about who these 'authorities' are that you'll be wanting to turn the whole lot over to. The locals haven't got much of a presence out here, and while the Imperial Spy...er...Scout Service has clearly deployed at least one ship out here with dodgy tech, they don't have any legal standing."

  Once the Long Shot's crew had been seen to, Kaengarr took up a spot on the bridge from which he could observe the proceedings, allowing Darrel to work at getting the story (or at least a story) out of them without interruption. He wanted to hear everything for himself and just as much keep to watch on the hijackers, whom he considered just as dangerous now as before. They were cornered beasts, after all.

  Pablo's question was one that Kaengarr had also been considering, and he had an answer - pending the willingness of the Long Shot's crew to go along with it.

  "We have three ships and four hijackers to bring back, so here's how we'll do it: we'll pack the hijackers into the mess, under guard, so they're not in the way. Once the Long Shot is working again, its crew can fly it back, Walter and Sharik can pilot the launch, and Sam, Khea, and Darrel bring along the Rock Hopper, Dancer, or whatever it's called now, using the control codes that we shall request from its ex-crew. Vonon, Pablo, and I will stay on the Long Shot to keep them under control during the trip. Once we're back, we cash in, and if we get to keep their ship out of the deal, great. They won't be using it anymore."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Sun 20 Dec 2015.

Kaengarr's plan sounded good enough to Pablo, though he suspected that the port authorities would grab the Dancer and auction it off, barring some serious legal grease. He did have a little experience with prisoners and a lack of brig facilities.

"Captain Ruzokh, all that sounds good to me. But let's keep the prisoners in oine of the airlocks off the bridge. That way we don't have to deal with them every time someone wants a snack.  And if they get stupid, one button push and they can take up their argument with vacuum and the black.

The inner airlock door is a lot more secure than a stateroom door,  and we can give them their meals and occasional fresher visits if you want to be humane. Otherwise, just let them stew for a few days, and let vacuum clean the lock after they are remanded to whomever."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 20 Dec 2015.

  "Works for me as long as we can see what they're doing. Don't want them getting funny ideas about hacking into panels," Kaengarr replied. "Anyone else?

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 257):



"The level of law enforcement on Planet Grendal is a bit lower than you're used to, Pablo." Vonon says, "We are operating under the authority -- and thus the license -- of a private company that specializes in, shall we say, recoveries. Technically we're security subcontractors. And while we're expected to follow the laws of Planet Grendal, those laws are rather lax."

"As for the laws out here in space...I'm not sure.  It depends on whos umbrella this system ultimately falls under.  The planet was settled by folks from the Principality of Caledon, so it might be some kind of client state or protectorate colony of theirs.  On the other hand, this system is closer to Imperial space than it is to the Principality. If this system is an Imperial Client State, then Imperial Law will apply out here in space. If this is any kind of Caledonian territory, then I am unfamiliar with their policies on the capture of hijackers or their laws on salvage."

"If the Rock Dancer was the ship belonging to the hijackers, it will most likely be impounded by Grendal authorities and eventually auctioned off. But, depending on local law, it is entirely possible that the Longshot could be declared salvageable -- even though the crew never left the ship, they did lose control of it. We took control and handed it back. In really strict law systems that would only make us eligible for a recovery reward. But, in less strict systems, the moment a crew loses control of their ship, it is declared lost and thus eligible to be salvaged -- the insurance company would have to pay more to get it back. Now, given the age of this tub, the owner may decide that it's not worth what he'll have to pay his insurer to get it back."

"If there is any ship that we might be able to keep, the odds are higher that it might be the Longshot."

Vonon shrugs and drops his lower jaw in a grin, "Of course, I was law enforcement, not a jurist."

Sam looked at Pablo

"Ship are worth money, to someone, always, unless they've been paid off. And how many fully paid for ships have you ever been on? If we try and 'liberate' a ship, someone will come after us. Best we do the job we contracted to do, and negotiate for a ship. I mean we don't have to say we recovered another ship until it suits us to remember, do we...?"

She walks over to the Captain of the Rock Dancer. "Ship bypass codes. Now please" Looking up she said "I'll pilot that one - ok?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:41, Mon 21 Dec 2015.

With her inspection finished Khea finally reaches the bridge and joins the others.

Darrel and anyone who has Advocate skill would know this:


Grendal is an Imperial Client State. What that means is that Grendal has a loose alliance with the Imperium, particularly in the area of trade--trade and tax concessions, including 'favored trade status' in exchange for putting the Scout base there.

Otherwise, Grendal is an independent system. The operative word here is 'system'. As the sole government in the system, they 'own' and have claim to everything in the system, and that includes the law and legal system.

Grendal's government uses the standard law package. No one has felt an overpowering urge to reinvent it.

So, anything that happens in the Grendal star system falls under their laws.

Claim-jumping, if proven, is usually just a fine, but may include confiscation of property to cover the fine.

Space-jacking (hi-jacking a starship) is not normally punishable by death, but could involve a fine, forfeiture of property, imprisonment for not less than 20 years, and possibly hard labor. It depends on the circumstances.

In this case, they didn't actually succeed in space-jacking the ship, though that seems to have been their intent. Proving it, however, is another matter.

As far as taking their ship... against their will... that would definitely be space-jacking.

===============================================================================

As it turns out, the launch actually belongs to the Long Shot. When the captain sees it in the launch bay, he identifies it as 'Betsy', the Long Shot's shuttle.

It'd take quite a bit of work to set up a cradle on top of either ship in order to piggyback it.

It'll take about 20 hours to get back to Grendal.


Once the Long Shot crew is convinced that you aren't just more hijackers in a different uniform, they let you know that the reason the other hijackers were claim-jumping in the first place was because of the Long Shot's find: there's about a ton of iridium down in the cargo hold.

After all that has happened, the different ships are secured, and everything sorted out (as best as it can currently be)...

The Count goes back to the prisoners, taking a much more informal and natural tone, "I suppose my little speech was a bit overly dramatic, and you're right, I must have over acted it..."

Offers water/food and helps them drink/eat, sits down amongst them..."I can assure you, I will be involved in your trial and I am sure you all realize my position will carry great weight on your fates. At the least, all of you are looking at many years in prison and/or hard labor. You will end up old, broken and shunned for the remainder of your short lives. You do understand that."

A long sincere pause, "I can severely damage your cause or greatly help it, I'm asking you to help yourselves by helping me, if you were to truthfully answer some simple questions, then my legal briefing would go a tremendous way in affecting the outcome of your fate."

Darrel waits for a moment, "Do any of you have anything to add to the report before I start asking questions?"

Sharik listened to the Count's interrogation of the would-be hijackers.  A slightly smile crossed her face.  A touch over-wrought most likely (and admittedly the bound captives hardly seemed cowed), but she could see the actor in celebrity peak out.  And the auburn-haired operative could appreciate the performance - if not the result.

Still, they got a story out of the captive.  So, it wasn't all bad.

And things seemed well in hand.  So, Shar simply busied herself with the more mundane aspects of making sure the launch was stowed correctly and that she was ready to help navigate (and potentially co-pilot) whatever ship was necessary for her to crew.  Likely the crew of the Long Shot would pilot their own ship.  Which left the Rock Dancer.  If nothing else, it sounded like they were going to confiscate the ship for the authorities to sort out.

She hummed a light tune as she worked, it was an old Solomani composer from what was referred to as the late Baroque period.  Sharik had always found the counterpoint in the fugue to be amazingly compact and mathematically logical; something akin to the music of the spheres and analogous to a jump calculation.  Which is what likely appealed to her as an astrogator.

None of the hijackers have anything to add.


Walter, however, when he hears what the cargo is, thinks Kaengarr's estimate of its value is off by a few decimal places.

There's actually about 5 tons of ore, 20% nearly pure iridium. There's a reason the Imperial Emperor sits on the Iridium Throne.

"Alright, let's get the Longshot and the Rock Dancer back to Grendal, I'll write up the legal briefing enroute and will contact the appropriate authorities, it may take a few days once we arrive to get everything sorted out, but, don't worry things are well in hand."

Goes to the comm center (once they are available),

Using the specific secure comms channel given to him by Ms. Blue, "Ms. Blue, this is Mr. Cromwell, the Longshot has been successfully liberated of the pirates. We have 4 pirates in custody and also the pirate spaceship. No fatalities among the Longshot crew, ourselves or the pirates. Will be filling charges against the pirates. Data following this transmission."

The Count transmits full details of the event.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Sat 26 Dec 2015.

Once Kaengarr escorted Valeska back to engineering, she was able to access the computer and key in the code sequence that disengaged the security protocols that the captain had initiated.

It was only after that that the Count could send a communication back to Grendal.


Samantha, Walter and Sharik took the Rock Hopper and followed the Long Shot back to the planet. Along the way, they discover that the Seeker/Mining ship has 2 transponders... one for the Rock Dancer and one for the Rock Hopper.

The one for the Rock Dancer is the one that belongs to the ship--all the serial numbers and IDs match. The other transponder is for another Seeker/Miner.

After communicating with the Long Shot, one of the claim-jumpers says that the found the wreck of the Rock Hopper. It looked like it had been crushed between two asteroids. There were no survivors. The transponder still worked, which is how they found the ship. Since there was nothing they could do for the crew, and the ship wasn't particularly salvageable, the captain decided they might be able to use the transponder.


It takes 20 hours to get back to Grendal. There isn't a big celebration when you arrive at the starport because, while the information wasn't secret, it also wasn't common knowledge.

Local authorities meet you and take the claim-jumpers/hijackers into custody, including the Rock Dancer.


There's some stalling on the part of the insurance company until Darrel throws his weight around a bit. By bringing in the 'favored trade status' of Grendal, the insurance company tries to bluff and then renegotiate, but eventually caves.


The insurance company pays you 2% of the present value of the Long Shot, which comes out to be 5.2MCr.

10% of the current market value of the ore is another 5.1MCr.

Casey Blackwood gets 15.2MCr from sale of the ore.
Captain Galway gets 12.9MCr as his share.
The rest of the Long Shot crew get 3.8MCr as their share.


Blackwood and Galway both decide to retire.

Four of the other 5 crew members might retire, too, but they don't want to continue mining on the Long Shot without the captain and Blackwood.

Only Valeska seems interested in staying on the Long Shot, but she isn't sure what will happen with it.

The Count spends his time getting familiar with the "Long shot".
OOC:Ship stats?

He will also arrange for 25Kcr (from his payout) to be split between the families of the "Rock Hopper" crew.

After all the brouhaha, Darrel recommends that everyone meets back at the TAS, where we can discuss plans for the future; including buying gear, knocking out any personal meetings, and finalizing a decision about buying a ship(cargo?) to leave Grendal (if that is the group consensus)

When first they get together, Valeska waves Pablo over.
In hushed tones, she said to him "We need to talk. Sort some things out."

Pablo looks at Valeska for a moment, then says, "Yeah, that seems true enough. Maybe we can start with your name. Or maybe the better question is, are you working another one of your missions, and if so, will it involve me shooting people?" He grins a bit. "Not that I mind the shooting all that much, but its always good to know going in."

  With the hijackers handed over and the possibility that they'd pull some trick at the last moment eliminated, Kaengarr finally allowed himself to relax, the body-blades that had sprouted from his suit disappearing back into it with a barely-audible snick as he popped open his faceplate and tugged off the visor that he'd been wearing beneath it.

  His fellow Vargr received a hearty clap on the back with the other hand a moment later as Kaengarr stepped up beside him, a bottom-lip smile writ on his face. "Good work, Vonon. Sound advice, a great shot, and diligent throughout." The words sounded genuine and indeed they were, and if the praise came across as a tad excessive by Imperial customs... well, Kaengarr wasn't Imperial at heart and would have felt negligent not to offer it, nor did he think it likely that Vonon would take offense.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Tue 29 Dec 2015.

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 270):

"Aye. I just wish I'd got to rough up some of the perps more." Vonon sighs wistfully, "That was always the best part of the job, back in Cassandra's Belt."

Vonon pauses...looks around to be sure nobody is in earshot (and, for Vargr, that's a bit of space)...then leans in a little closer to Kaengarr.

"I want to ask you something," Vonon says in a lowered voice, "Most of my career has been in spaceship operations, not in actually running them and making a profit, but...all the way back here it kept bugging me. And when I saw the insurance company pay-off, the fur on the ruff of my neck started to bristle."

"The insurance company paid out five-point-three million credits for the Longshot. Five-point-three! That old tub is over one-hundred years old, y'know. Now, I know that even ships that old still retain value, but I've always understood that ships that last a century are only worth about ten percent, or less, of their construction value; yet the insurance company paid us an amount that equals what should be the actual value of the vessel!"

"Get it? That old tub should be worth around five million, but they paid us five million. That means the Longshot was valued at over fifty million credits. If that's so, I'm asking myself, what kind of century old mining ship is worth that kind of money?"

Vonon shrugs, "I don't know. That's why I'm asking you -- you have more experience with valuing ships and cargoes and such -- just what kind of upgrades would make a ship that old be worth that much?"

Ship stats for the converted 600-ton System Defense Boat Long Shot


Edited; more fuel, less cargo...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:05, Wed 13 Jan 2016.

Sam enjoyed the flight back, it had been a while just flying. She took the opportunity to chat to Walter and Sharik, try and get to know them a little better, and what their plans work.

Back on Grendal, as soon as the admin was sorted, she headed for the TAS to freshen up before going shopping.

After the obligatory victory feast and a nice 18 hour sleep Kha ponders what to do with all that wealth. This was far more money than what Khea ever posessed. She switches back and forth between travelling deeper into the Imperium and settling down in a life of luxury or setting up a business like a traditional aslan female.
On the other claw, staying with the current group has been very profitable and leaving that behind without a good reason would be foolish.
To distract herself from these thoughts she tries to find out with what technology the mining ship was able to hold the atmosphere with open bays and also how this microjump technology works or at least how common it is.

The idea of a micro-jump has been around almost as long as the jump-drive itself. Various corporations and mad scientists have researched it over the years, but it remains a myth, even though it's based on the results of a misjump. The premise was to force an intentional misjump that only went in system, because there have been misjumps where that has occurred. The problem is that you never know when a ship is going to misjump, so there have never been sufficient equipment or observers to analyze the misjump. The few times that it was tried intentionally resulted in destroyed or missing ships.

Microjump is TOP SECRET. If it gets out that the Scout ship has that capability, it would be the target of every pirate and spy in the sector... probably beyond. And it would wind up being a political hot potato.

As it is, that Scout ship is probably already heading out of the system on a long-range scouting mission to the Outer Rim.

On the other hand, nobody would probably believe you. After all, it is a myth... kind of like the ancient Philosopher's Stone.


Keeping an atmosphere in while the hatches are open is done via a 'gas retention field'. It isn't secret, but it is rare and largely unknown. It was developed for mining stations and orbital repair stations. It's more common in the Imperium but just hasn't made it out this far yet.

All it does is hold in (or out) gasses. It's not strong enough to keep out even water, let alone bullets, people or ships. It's probably the precursor to the meson screen.

  Kaengarr tilted his head to listen in as Vonon spoke quietly, and when he replied it was in the same lowered (but not so exceptionally lowered as to attract attention) voice. The discrepancy hadn't escaped his attention either, but he didn't have a good answer. "We didn't see everything it has. Some of the value is from mil-spec systems, the refit, newer mining gear, the fancy tech Khea spotted, maybe the history." He paused for a moment, then - ears swiveling to double-check that they were still speaking privately - continued a little more slowly. "Still shouldn't be that high. Maybe more tech than we found, or it doesn't just mine. How much attention do you want to risk finding out? Could be 'your mouths stay shut' is part of the ship's value."

  "Not the only thing out of place: we rode there in the Long Shot's launch. Why was it left back on planet with that extra fast scout ship conveniently placed to ferry it right when this happened? Makes my nose itch." And by his body language also made him very uneasy about the situation; there were just enough discrepancies to pique their curiosity and just enough to constitute a warning about trying to satisfy it.

The issue with the Long Shot's launch, Betsy, was easily explained. It wasn't on the Long Shot because it was on Grendal getting repaired. The ship wasn't planning on going anywhere but the Belt, so there was no reason to need it aboard the Long Shot. When the ship got back to the starport, they'd pick it up again.

That's why it was readily available to be used atop the Scout ship; it was already Casey's ship, so permission to use it was practically automatic.

After reading a bit about the mystery surrounding the microjump technology the group witnessed Khea shares the suspicions of the two Vargr. CeruleanneBlue seems to have acces to a lot of ressources which omly stengthens Kheas resolve to get away from here fast considering her bar relations with Ceruleanne.

"I would not look too much into it. This can potentially end very badly. Be glad that you got paid this much for not much work.

Unless of course you want to keep working for CeruleanneBlue

OOC: Assuming the group is alone or at the TAS together.

"It's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth or think too much into everything we have seen. As I had mentioned before, luckily we've had contracts that have had the backing of powerful people, institutions and/or organizations. We should count our blessing and not upset the apple cart."

Giving some thought to the group's current circumstances, "Concerning Ms. Blue and continuing our stay on Grendal, there's a couple of ways of looking at this...We're coming off of 2 back to back successful operations. That means we've developed a reputation, which is a good thing and a bad thing...it also means we've gained friends and enemies."

Pausing to collect his train of thought, "All things considered, the positive side of all this involves probably a few more lucrative missions with that continued significant/substantial backing of our friends. The negative side, us just remaining here might be dangerous and any future mission here has a greater risk of outside interference by our enemies."

  Kaengarr had used the intervening time to catch some sleep - the long-cycle of humaniti was manageable, but not particularly comfortable - and change into a casual outfit, which in typical Vargr fashion consisted of a mix of colors whose resounding clash was heard long before it was seen. Now, having downed most of a plate of something that resembled fermented meatloaf, he was ready to address their future prospects.

  "I don't know what the first one was or what sort of enemies you might have made from it. Or for that matter, what enemies you all might have had before that," he pointed out, easing back in his seat - fortunately possible due to the TAS being one place outfitted with Vargr-adapted furniture. "Still, I don't want to make any more than I have to, so I say we drop the questions we have left about this one unless something forces our hand."

  "This is the question we should start with: are we happy being a mercenary company? The pay can be good, it builds reputation quickly, and it makes friends, but as you say, it also makes enemies, and Imperial society makes it easy for enemies to hurt you without having to show their face, especially if you thought they were friends. I say we get a ship, whether we do it here or at the naval yard, and work the trade lanes. We can take other jobs if we like them and pass on them if we don't, whether or not they involve pointing weapons at people. Do it well and our reputation will move more quickly than any enemies we make."

Listening to what had been said, so far, Pablo said, "As far as considering continuing missions like this, for whomever, a few more runs like this last one, and we'll have cash, between us, to buy and outfit a ship on our own. Besides, I don't really have any ambition beyond being more or less a gun for hire. This group, whatever it is, contains several of my friends, which is also a good reason to stay. That and harassing Vogon." He grinned at the Vargr, and then continued, "All of which is a long-winded way of saying that Darrel, whatever you decide on, I'm with you."

"1st, I'm not the one to make that decision, that's something we'll have to decide among ourselves. One thing, we should think about now, get a ship here, or wait until we get to Outpost, if that is our next destination, that option should be explored regardless if we do decide to do another mission here."

Reviewing the options, "Concerning ships, we have quite a few to choose from, now including the "Long Shot", if my sources are correct."

OOC: Still waiting to hear what the extras are on the Modified Type A2 Far Trader Last Chance, that might make a big difference in options.

Walter listened to what the others had to say, using their opinions and attitudes to formulate his own ideas.

"Two days ago," he finally spoke up, "we were all set to embark on a trading endeavor. It isn't so much that things have changed but that our options seem to have... expanded."

"We aren't a mercenary company, nor are we equipped or skilled for such an option, so heading into any sort of armed conflict isn't going to go well for us."

"As someone else I think suggested, what we have done with these last two... for lack of a better term... missions is function as troubleshooters."

"Given our expanding number of shareholders and the accompanying skillsets, this does seem to be something that we not only can handle but would seem to be quite good at."

"However, I don't recommend we completely abandon the trade option. If nothing else, it'll serve as a good cover for anything else we may consider doing."

He paused for a moment to take a sip from his celebratory glass of champagne.

"If this is something that we all agree to, then the next issue is the ship. While the main issue is probably the cost of a ship, a secondary issue is: do we want or need a large ship?"

"At 600 tons, the Long Shot is probably the largest ship we want to consider. If we can acquire it for a reasonable amount, we would have to do some conversions. And we also have to make sure we can afford the payments and maintenance. It's an old ship; maintenance costs could be a bit higher than normal."

"Anyway, those are some issues to consider."

Sam listened to the discussion. And added her 2 credits worth

"Actually, getting our business sorted is the most important thing. It will determine what type of ship we need to get, though Walter's point about having a  cover is a good one. Personally, I can only put limited funds into a ship, but am happy to do so and continue with ... trouble shooting" she smiles at Walter.

" Trade interests me not at all, other than as a necessary dull task, or cover. And another agenda item is chain of command. But first and foremost - is what is the nature of our business? If we all agree on being trouble shooters, then I am happy to be guided by others on ship choice. As long as I can test fly it, first"

Sharik felt the ride back with Sam and Walter to be uneventful, if pleasant.  They were still on the job and she didn't know them very well.  But twenty hours is along time (even with a rest cycle in there) and the auburn-haired operative was the least skilled pilot of the three.  Sure, Shar had had the basic training on starship maneuvering, and she was supremely confident that she could handle the Rockhopper/Dancer well enough.  But she felt most comfortable as astrogator and co-pilot, letting both Sam and Walter take the helm - whenever they were so inclined.

The dual transponders piqued her interest, though she knew better than to try and tamper with evidence nor with the transmitters themselves.  Sharik simply noted what they had found taking plenty of holographic stills of the situation as it unfolded.

Once back at the TAS, she retired to her room for a short bit to 'freshen up'.  When she returned to the private eating area that had been arranged for the group (she'd been willing to request it, though she knew that plenty of the others were also TAS members and could have done the same), Sharik was not dressed that differently than before.  The look is definitely more casual, but not unkempt or dressed down in way.  She has more make-up and accessories, platinum hoop earrings and a bracelet, to go with her bolero-cut suede jacket that is now over her coveralls.  The make-up is quite natural-looking, merely using it to accent her features, making her cheekbones appear higher and her brown eyes more striking.

It was interesting that in contrast to during their 'missions', Sharik was more nondescript; even when she was in her 'power' business suit at the docks, the diminutive socialite would have been described more by her demeanor and what she wore than her actual facial features.  But here in the TAS lounge with the people there, Shar appeared to feel more comfortable.  And willing to let her hair down (at least metaphorically).

She ate a light meal, while partaking of a glass of one of the local red wines and simply engaging in any and all of the chit-chat before the real discussion began.  The cosmopolitan-looking dilettante seemed to have no problems joking and carousing with the others, affecting a light and easy manner.

Once the others started talking 'business', Sharik sobered up immediately.

"I like 'odd jobs'." she let the rest of the group know, taking a sip from her wine glass.  She'd been doing something like it for a while now by herself.  "We've a decent crew here." Sharik added, "With a diverse skill set."  And with more than one person that she knew and trusted in the set, the diminutive dilettante knew better than to look that gift horse in the mouth.  She through her lot in with the rest.

"I am still up for some trading." Shar agreed readily with Zeller, "It is a fine front, at the very least."  And it was a tacit acknowledgement of Sir Walter's reputation as a business and financial wizard.  She suspected that with him managing their cash on the commodities market that they would make a fine penny - even if it was only a side venture.  It seemed crazy to her not to leverage her fellow nobleman's obvious area of expertise.

"As for the Long Shot; it would be a gamble." she noted off-hand, ticking off a few choice phrases, "Unique and customizable, at best.  Ancient and idiosyncratic, at worst."  Her brown hair bobbed slightly as Shar shrugged, "Her security protocols were up to snuff though..."