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..."

Enjoying the company of his comrades, but finally realizes they needed to start discussing the future.

Sir Walter:
"I agree, with that thought in mind, we should look to make our travels profitable, no matter whether we're carrying cargo and/or going somewhere to perform a task. Trading should be an integral part of our overall plan, both from the standpoint of a "cover" and secondly, just from the economic aspect."

Looking over some paperwork concerning ships' costs and monthly maintenance, "In principle, it makes sense to have our "trading" portion at the barest minimum cover our monthly expenses and whatnot...Keep in mind, this hefty Mcr+ payout was largely due to luck, and it should not be held as a standard. This might have been a once in a lifetime perfect storm where everything fell into place. Not to throw cold water on everyone, but, let's not lose our heads because of one hugely successful mission."

Smiling at Sir Walter, "And as Sharik noted, Sir Walter's talents should most definitely not go to waste. Which brings me back to our diverse group skill-set, individually, we are limited, but, together..."The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"...That is how we need to start approaching problems, including our future course of actions."

Puts aside the papers he was examining, "I realize there's a number of things to prioritize...but, how about the 1st thing being, should we get a ship here or try our luck at Outpost?"

Pablo looked once again at the specs and figures of the Longshot considering the ship, and its potential. He looked around, then said, "I'd say Outpost, for a lot of reasons.  As long as no one has any reason to avoid the Imperial military."

Sir Walter nodded in agreement. "I for one had been on the way to home at Outpost before running into everyone here on Grendal and have not seen my parents face to face in over 20 years, so I am all for that. Also, it might tie in with the suggestion of using the trade aspect to help with our cover. As my family has a warehouse on Outpost, it would provide a better cover for us to work with the authorities in the area and help deal with the issues that they may need to not be so "open" as they would in the Imperial sphere." he said