“Correction, we need another 9MCr, I can kick a million into the pot. Might as well, it will be the first time I owned anything more then what I wore or could carry in a duffle bag.” Said the man that had just appeared.

  Reginald Gaines, known as Reggie to almost everyone, was of medium height and weight, had ark hair worn short, with a short cut beard. Brown eyes with the look of friendliness to them had disarmed more than one lady in his time. A broad smile was  rare  but did happen from time to time.

 Today he sported  jeans, a simple pull over shirt and light jacket. His hat worn upon his head, even when indoors.

 “ Sorry I am late for the kicking of the tires and looking under the hood.” It had been a saying in his family, for as long as he could remember, had no idea what it really meant, but was used when looking at anything to purchase.

Much math and contract reading follows...

New starships are often built with 40 year loans.  But that's with a brand new ship as collateral.  Used... they get a 25 year loan.

But that's not a bad thing.  Not bad at all.  Loans are complex things, and early in the repayment schedule, most of what you are paying back is interest.  The principal is paid back slowly at first but increases later.  The net result is that decreasing the term of the loan can actually make it much more favorable to the buyer.  (This is true, and this is a public service notice from the GM to younger players not yet into financing homes or cars!  never assume longer is better, always ask to see the loan calculated for shorter terms and compare!)

The 25 year loan will be paid off much faster, and is not that much of an additional cost compared to what the 40 year loan will be!  Especially since you are only borrowing a small fraction of the ship value, the bank has collateral and then some, you are a very low risk borrower.  So you qualify for a favorable rate.

You are the proud owners of a Pelican-IIB class Amphibious Transport Starship.  In addition to filling the fuel tanks and stocking the galley with one month of supplies, New Avalon Starship Sales has provided the customary bottles of champagne, because closing a deal so big, even if it's only a small ship, is an occasion.  Many buyers even make the "handover", when the Sales Office turns over the ship to you and you fly away with it, into a party.

The loan was actually for slightly more than the starship's cost. The remainder, 1.5 Million Credits, is in the starship accounts, for expenses, modifications, additional equipment, etc.

 The final calculated monthly payment on the ship is a remarkably affordable 30,179 credits.


Of course, in negotiating an added discount to the price, Horace agreed to the favor the Head of Sales presented.  As everything must stay unofficial and unrecorded for *reasons*, a contact is arranged- someone you will meet at the official handover of the ship.  Since Horace voiced his counteroffer, and it was accepted by the Head of Sales, it would be very bad form to renege on it!

Meanwhile, in inspecting the ship, you have found one reason why Florence is extremely useful.  The nose of ship is packed full of electronics- the ships sensors and communications systems are here, and various control systems for the engines and power plant. It gets cramped.  Designers rarely think of the comfort and convenience of the people doing the inspections and maintenance...it's been that way for centuries, long before starships.  But young women can be quite flexible, and she has a much easier time getting into the tighter spaces than anyone else here.  Of course, she doesn't have any of the requisite skills, but as long as someone can guide her, there are conversations like this:

"Look for a blue one."
"They're all blue."
"Dark blue."
"What's it say?"
"Forward collision avoidance radar-lidar array."
"Good.  We'll need that one."

After Einar had greeted Regi, and helped to fill him in on the details, it seemed that they were near to completion with the process, and on the verge of being "handed the keys" so to speak.

The champagne was a nice touch, and Einar asked that the salesman take a picture of the present crew mimicking the existing photo in the hallway, for posterity.

It was surreal to say the least. Left to their own devices to now explore their new ship, Einar started with a slow circuit of the top deck, smiling in a weary way, before he wandered towards the staterooms. The Pelican-IIB seemed to lack an dedicated officers cabin, which Einar did not mind in the least, so he settled on the port side room nearest to the bridge, where he removed his work harness and tossed it on the bed.

From there it was sort of the giddy thrill of fruition. They had come together, all of them, to make something happen. Something beautiful, and now they had a ship, a job, most of a crew and the prospect of a bright and secure future before them. It was hard to keep from smiling.

When it seemed to excitement was winding down, and plans would need to be made to get the ship supplied and underway, he drifted up towards the brige where he looked deep in thought over a tablet standing next to the rear window.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

 " Does the have an internal surveillance system, and what about security software? You know, anti- highjacking, and such? Asked Reggie.

The navy took out its important "stuff" but interior cameras were not worth the bother of removing.  Too much work, and they aren't that valuable.  So they are still there.  They deleted the advanced military security software (because that's top secret!) and left the basic security-0.

As much of the security threat to a ship like this is when it is on a planet surface, many owners of ships like this buy security drones that can patrol around the ship, relaying data to the ship and sending an alarm when they detect something suspicious.

There are cheap little ones available but they don't have much staying power.  Good basic security drones that can patrol for hours in any weather cost 4000 credits each here.  Most fly, but since the ship is amphibious, you might consider a diving drone.  For 6000 credits you can get an armed drone- it's not an autonomous robot, the weapons are fired remotely by the operator.

There are more advanced robotic drones that can identify and attack a target on their own, but they run into legal problems in many starports.  Generally they are considered weapons of war.

There's one more detail here.

You need not keep the ship's original name.  As the new owners, you can rechristen the Montauk if you want to.

After Horace settles into his room, he comes out and sits around the bridge with the others. "Keep Montauk, or rename her? I say rename, Montauk is a military name. "
This message was last edited by the player at 13:53, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

Florence grumbled a bit when she was asked to inspect parts of the ship, arguing that she didn't know the first thing about whatever she'd find there, not even to know if it was normal or not. Still, when confronted with the argument that she was the only one able to easily fit in those passages, she relented and did as asked. When she came back out, she wasn't grumbling anymore but seemed distracted, turning her head from side to side as if she were trying to listen to something only her could hear.

Once all that was done, and she had picked her room - or quarters she supposed... - the girl went to find Horace with an electronic document for him to sign. As he looked it over, she commented. "The Montauk was a military ship, she's not that anymore, so it makes sense to change her name. Plus, you might prefer to take your distance in case some people are still butt-hurt over what the ship did to them." She paused for a second. "Something related both to the sky and the seas or amphibious could be appropriate, like Albatross or Mermaid. The advantage is that it's easy to design a logo and all that goes with it."

"Hmmm, worth a lot are you? You'll get 8,000Cr a month, more than you deserve since you haven't shown much worth yet." he says with a grin.

"I'll tell you what though, if you stick and pull your weight, I'll give you half of one of my shares for yourself."

"Get air freshener to use on him if he refuses to shower, or, we, the crew, can scrub him to show our displeasure if he stinks too much. We don't like stink either, that's what the fresher is for. I like Albatross."



"Welcome aboard Reggie, I was about to give up on you as late as you were. What happened and have you seen Heather? She hasn't shown up yet either. There are cameras, but I'm not sure of anti-hijacking software."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:35, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

"Yeah, we probably should." Einar nodded as he leaned against the bulkhead near the front window looking out. "I kind of liked Montauk actually, but it'll be best if we start fresh". He listened to Florence's argument

"Those are classic, but it's kinda boring don'cha think? I'd guess every other Pelican is named the Sea Horse or the Albatross. I'd personally like somethin with some character"

He thought briefly about the name Näkki, the old "water horse" myth. Ugly from the back and pretty from the front, but it did not have a great sound and naming it after a horse that dragged people to their deaths might put people off.



"You better bring Reggie then, and Noah too, if you know what's good for ya" Einar shot back quickly. He knew the man was joking and it showed in his tone.

"I'm gonna throw out the Shawnee, did a little reading, and they were both tribes back on Earth, the Montauk and the Shawnee. Different name, but kind of honors the old one some. I also like the Wrangler, for personal reasons." He added, as Horace and Florence went back and forth.

After finishing his own personal inspection of the ship, looking at the various electrical systems, the computer interfaces, the medical facilities (if any) and the ship's drives in the engineering section, Alwin also finished up on the bridge.  While looking over both the pilot's seat and the comms interface, he listens to the various suggestions for a new name, then throws out one of his own.

"If you're not wedded to using an amphibian-based name, I would personally recommend the Arcus."  He pauses long enough to see if anyone present recognizes the name, then continues.  "Arcus was the Roman counterpart to Iris, who was the goddess associated with new endeavors."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:09, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

"Arcus huh?" Einar scratched at his beard. "I like that, maybe a little grand for a little transport, heh, you'd imagine like a destroyer or somethin, but it's got a good ring to it."

Horace turns to the salesman (if he's still there? I don't think we paid yet, just inspecting the product, kicking the tires.) "Where do we go to talk to someone about arming the Arcus? We need lasers at least for defense."

While the others busied themselves with ship inspection, Sarah busied herself with finding her room and transcribing dictation and other notes she'd taken into the research database she'd been compiling for her book. On the one hand, it was easy to think of her project as something of a suped-up travel diary, on the other, she knew that it was meant to be far more authoritative than that. Never mind the fact that modern research novels like the one she was writing had entire articles written for practically every citation; so what might at first look like a very old-fashioned two or three hundred page textbook on a datapad, was actually a sort of interactive gateway of information that could be interfaced with not just as a book, but also as an info-base for artificial personal assistants, network information hubs, or even as a guided audio/visual experience!

Most books hadn't just been words on paper for at least a century, and Sarah had her work cut out for her.

Eventually though, she did get enough work done to worm her way out of her room and make her way to join the others. Some of the pep had been zapped from her step, but she was still in a good enough mood that she talked shop with Alwin about his opinion on the ship's computer and electronics systems before finding a glass of champagne and joining the conversation about the ship name.
"I like Shawnee or Arcus." She said simply, while taking sips and listening quietly from the corner of the bridge.

Horace decides to look into the arming of the ship.

That kind of work isn't done by the ship sales office itself (for liability reasons, of course!) but they have "associated" enterprises that perform the work.

It's becoming less common these days, but it generally won't raise eyebrows.  During the height of the war with the Carinans, when battles were routinely fought in this region and not hundreds of light years away, it was expected.  Merchant ships couldn't be expected to hold their own in fights with warships, but they typically weren't alone, and being able to contribute helped.  Also, the Carinans frequently sent scouts, and on occasion still do, and an armed merchant ship can defeat a lone scout.  Piracy isn't considered "a thing", it's so rare as to be a Shocking Event when it occurs.  And, Humanity hasn't really had the opportunity to make war on itself.

That last possibility seems to have occurred to a few people.  If the Commonwealth's Governors lose their grip, many things might happen.  Some might be good, some not.  Among the "not":  individual planets, or regions, declare themselves independent, and eventually, some get into... arguments.

While investigating the purchase of weapons, Horace learns that several other merchant ship owners on Lyonesse have had the same idea recently.  It's not a rush, not yet.  But the level on interest is higher than usual.  Fortunately not enough to drive up prices.  Prices for starship weapons are actually fairly inexpensive here, because just like the Montauk, there are many systems being sold off as military surplus.

Because many starships cannot land, the companies licensed to install weapons on starships work out of the Lyonesse Orbital Station, up there in geostationary orbit, pretty much over New Avalon.  Far over.  Horace sees several pieces of equipment available that could be installed on the... Arcus, is it?  the ex-Montauk.

Sandcasters are cheap, fairly reliable devices that spread reflective particles in the path of beam weapons of for defense.  It's not really sand, more like a crystalline glitter.  They aren't considered weapons, but a sandcaster can be used offensively.  It can damage sensors and other exposed delicate equipment.  It can also be used like a smokescreen, to help a ship evade sensors, although it's not ideal for that.

The Repulsor Beam Projector is another defensive system, it uses artificial gravity technology to deflect things.  Very effective against physical things, and particles, it would instantly clear a cloud of sand from a sand cloud.  Less effective against lasers. They are new and fairly expensive and a little out of reach right now unless the characters wanted to add to their loan.

Railguns use magnetic acceleration to launch a stream of metal balls at a target at extremely high speeds.  They are very lethal at close range, at longer ranges ships often have time to evade the attack since the balls travel much slower than laser energy.

Pulse Lasers are more or less the "standard" weapon available.

Point Defense Lasers are designed to move and target faster, but have less punch.  They are designed mostly to defend against incoming missiles, but they are also dangerous to small, lightly armed targets.

Since the source is "Military Surplus" the pickings are limited:

General Technologies Standard Defense Turret. Equipped with both a sandcaster and a point defense laser, for dual protection!   600,000 credits.

General Technologies Point Defense Turret.  Equipped with one point defense laser. 300,000 credits.

Ackermann Arms Pulse Laser Turret.  Simple turret with one pulse laser.  250,000 credits.

Red Lion Double Laser Turret.  Two pulse lasers.  400,000 credits.

Hanover Steel Repeater.  One Railgun in a turret.  280,000 credits.

There is one more hitch, naturally.  Horace has already committed the ship to a favor, which must be done immediately- that's the whole point of it being a favor, if they could wait, it wouldn't be necessary to offer it as a special favor.  These are the weapons immediately available at this planet, that could be quickly attached to the ship.  Anything else will take time, and renege on the deal.

In reply to Horace Wymp (msg # 65):

 The newcomer to the party,  made a slight grin, in response to Horace’s question.” I am late, because of the need to collect on a few old debts. That is why I can afford to kick in on the ship.”

 Reggie looked over the exterior of the ship, while he spoke.” Heather? No, sorry, I have not seen her recently. As for a ship name, I vote for Hermes. He was the patron god of travelers."

"How many hard points do we have? Two?

Red Lion Double Laser Turret.  Two pulse lasers.  400,000 credits.


General Technologies Standard Defense Turret. Equipped with both a sandcaster and a point defense laser, for dual protection!   600,000 credits.

Any other suggestions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Wed 27 Nov 2019.

I'm not used to jumping in and out of character like this.

But yes, if we can afford it, that sounds good to me.

 Reggie would rather have the twin lasers, but a sandcaster and point laser is a decent start. We can always upgrade latter.

"One million credits usually to buy a beam laser and turret, here we get it all for 1MCr. Then we have to get it installed quickly so we can meet our deadline for our favor of 1% discount. Any other business for the corporation before Florence and I get it all on paper and ready for signatures? IAF Arcus, Independent Armed Freighter Arcus"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Wed 27 Nov 2019.

I still prefer Hermes.

Florence smiled, apparently amused. "I just wanted to see if you'd spot the little modifications I made. And note that while you found about the million credits thing, you missed the part about you donating all your shares to me." She pointed at a spot in the contract, where it was indeed stated - in a very roundabout way - that such a thing would happen if the contract became effective.

"Here." Florence sent another version of the contract, a version that looked a lot more standard and much less wordy. "That's the normal version of it." She didn't comment on the salary she'd get - it wasn't really a priority after all - nor the fact that she hadn't shown much. It wasn't like she had much to show after all. Though, much like the salary... it wasn't why she was here now, was it?

She cocked an eyebrow at Horace's mention that he'd give her half of a share if he was satisfied. It probably didn't matter all that much, but it was a nice gesture. "Alright."

The girl glanced at Einar with a grimace, but didn't comment: first, because she was pretty sure she had made her opinion crystal clear already and second because she didn't want him to have any reason to put his paws on her, she really didn't like her odds...

She didn't seem put out by his distaste about the name choice, for she didn't really feel all that invested in it and ultimately, it wouldn't be her choice anyway. Arcus, Shawnee or Hermes, it was all the same to her.

In some sense, it was the same for the weapons choice - with the added drawback that she didn't know much about those things - but there was one major difference: the ship's name wouldn't make any difference as far as she was concerned - baring some stupid choice - but her health, freedom or even life could very well depend on the weapons they fitted the ship with. "I would pick the railguns instead of the pulse laser. The lasers have more range sure, but less punch. With the sandcaster we should be able to defend against enemy lasers long enough to get away or close enough to fire the railguns and punch a hole through whatever is messing with us. If a fight is unavoidable, we should aim at finishing them as quickly as possible, which a laser doesn't allow us to do."

After a small pause, she added. "Plus, odds are that the longer range of the lasers would be wasted: we won't be the aggressors, and by the time things go really wrong, we're likely to be in close range. An enemy would probably try to get as close as possible before revealing himself in order to prevent us from fleeing away. A railgun would counter that strategy much better than a pulse laser."

"It's Reggie's call in the end" Einar chimed in simply. "If we're paying the man to keep us in one piece, might as well listen to him." He looked to Reginald with s resolute nod. "That's if we can afford it, of course. Doesn't sound like anything here is gonna break the bank?" He glanced to Horace next for confirmation.

"Though I vote for the lasers as I stated before, Florence is right, a railgun has more punch. The projectile is much slower though."

" The more I think upon the matter, a sandcaster would be good to have. Is there any way we could combine that with a more heavy duty laser? It might give us the element of surprise against a foe. If they see a sand caster deployed, they might assume all we have is a point defense weapon. Just an idea."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Fri 29 Nov 2019.

I said a Red Lion Double Laser Turret.  Two pulse lasers.  400,000 credits.

General Technologies Standard Defense Turret. Equipped with both a sandcaster and a point defense laser, for dual protection!   600,000 credits. That satisfies your requirements. Or the rail gun as suggested by Florence.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:24, Sat 30 Nov 2019.