I understood we get 90% for operating expenses and pay and he got 10%, where do you get the idea that that isn't our deal? Seriously, you can't buy fuel and maintenance with no money. I'm not doing it for free! It takes money to make money, the more we make, the more he makes!"

"Opinions from the rest of you? Seriously, that is what I understood. Was I wrong? If so I can fly back to Drinax, give Fat Oleb his ship, and a bill for what I put into it, then sue the crown because he won't be willing to pay. We can also steal his ship and join Admiral Darokyn on Theev and be real pirates ourselves. He is a personal friend of mine, I served with him back in the day."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Mon 22 Feb 2021.

Zhouth threw his arms up and wide as he suddenly found his voice - though judging by the tremulous tone, his nerves were still on the lam. "That's exactly what we're supposed to get! Ninety percent, and he gets ten. That's his commission for letting us roam around in this thing and use it to make any money in the first place!" He brought one hand down and chopped at the air three times, in tandem with the last three words, for emphasis. "And trying to cheat him out of it would be a really bad idea!"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:00, Mon 22 Feb 2021.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 425):

"Of course he gets 10%. Who said he wouldn't get his share? I may be a Privateer, but I am not a thief from the table that leaves me the scraps! BB? What do you say? The new crew can chime in too, if they want to. Ingrid? Viridian?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:32, Mon 22 Feb 2021.

Rayjay grimaced at the term Recycled. "I would not say as such, pretty sure 'e was incinerated, what t'ey did wit' 'is dust after I know not, probably dusted t'e gardens."

Before chuckling ever so slightly at just how odd Palace life was compared to the rest of space. "T'e captain speaks true, got to keep airs about t'e Palace, everyone 'oo lives t'ere is a knight from a prestigious noble family after all, heh-heh. But yes Varca, it was Water Management, spent my yout' patrolling t'e public water ways to make sure no fools were drowning or taking more t'an t'eir share." He said before clearing up his potential noble title. "Pretty sure my family 'ave been Baronets and Baronetesses since Drinax burned, for what it's wort'."

When it came to their cut Rayjay shrugged. "Wasn't present for t'e deal, but ten percent is t'e typical commission for free agents on account t'at t'e trader or talent is taking most of t'e risk t'emself." Rayjay said agreeing in a round about way.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

"You ready to be Baroness McFarlane Ingrid? Dear old dad is over 80 now, living on borrowed time and I know he can't afford analgesics to keep him young. Hell I might be Baron now."

[Crew Lounge, aboard Vultan.  Repair Yard, in orbit over Planet Torpol]

     Varca nods in acknowledgement as Theo tells of his familiar relationships,


    Varca gives Rayjaynul a puzzled glare,

     "That's what I said!" Varca snaps, "A cremation followed by a ceremonial spreading of ashes over the Royal Gardens--as fertilizer.
 Recycled!  What the frack did you think I meant?!"






     Varca raises his arms, then brings them down to slap against his sides, all while rolling his red eyes upwards,

     "What the frack?!  My accent can't be so thick that you people keep misunderstanding me, like this!" Varca growls at everyone--then turns his head to cast a concerned look at Ingrid,

     "Is my accent too thick?  I've worked long and hard to clear it up, but..."

     Varca suddenly switches back to snapping at everyone,

     "No!  No.  I did not say we don't pay Oleb, and I wasn't talking about paying him any less than he's supposed to get!  What I was talking about was that we ignore the part of the deal that says his ten-percent comes off the top!  I was saying that we go ahead and spend money on the ship and our various 'investments', out here, before we calculate Fat Oleb's ten-percent.  I'm saying we give him ten-percent of what's left after we spend money on the mission!"

     "Jesu Kristi, people!  I may once have been a thief, but I'm not stupid enough to outright embezzle from the man I intend to re-pl--store to being a Major Player in this Sector!"

     Showing his disquiet, Varca turns away from everyone--while he tries to get his racing heart back under control.  But, after only a moment, he spins back around, and looks to Theo with a stunned expression,

     "You're friends with Admiral Darokyn?!  The Pirate, Admiral Darokyn?!"

The expression on Theodore's face stayed neutral, "Yes, he is. I was a junior officer for him but we grew quite close back in the day. I thought you knew that, I guess you didn't. I know Kasiyl of the Ahroay’if too, but we aren't personal friends, that is a professional contact. That one was a contract for him with us."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

"Ignore that part of the deal?" Zhouth echoed, clearly still distressed by the thought that they were going to short-change Oleb, no matter the rationalization. He didn't get to go any further than that, however, as the talk suddenly turned to Theodore's pirate contacts...
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

     "Why would I know that?" Varca asks Theo, "We haven't had contact with each other since you left Drinax!  I only know about Darokyn because I got to travel around the subsector as a Scout--and all I know is the stuff about his career as a Pirate!"

     Varca looks to Zhouth and shrugs his shoulders,

     "Yeah, we ignore the condition that Oleb gets his ten-percent off the top." Varca repeats, "Instead, he gets a full ten-percent of whatever is left, after our expenses.  Truth be told, I think the Damned King is more interested in the wealth we can add to his coffers, than he is in any success we may have, increasing Drinax' influence in the region."

     "So, we fund the Mission first, and pay Fat Oleb second.  It's not like he's got an accountant, out here, watching us."

     "Not to worry, Zhouth." Varca adds, "If we make The Plan work, Oleb may not be as rich as he wants to be, but he will be the ruler of a new, expanded Kingdom of Drinax!  I'm sure he'll be happy with that outcome, too."

     "So, Theo," Varca returns to his old friend, "About Darokyn...you think he'd remember you, after all this time?  It might be nice, if we had a friend inside a pirate group, should we need one."

"He remembers me. That is all I can guarantee, he is a changed man after all. We would begin with good will, whether we end that way or not would remain to be seen."

Zhouth took a deep breath and, still looking as though he was contemplating the edge of an abyss and the leaping into thereof, replied, "I don't like this idea. I think it's a bad one. But okay, if you all want to do this then I guess..." he shrugged and twirled one hand in the air. "Acknowledge under protest? That's what those navy types say, isn't it? It's still a really, really bad idea to do it with the payment from this raider problem because everyone's going to hear about it and how much we get from both places, so he'll know whether we skipped out on him, accountants or not!"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 434):

"Gross versus Net? We'll give him 10% of the gross up front, later on it might go to net. Depending on how much we get, We can't cut our own throats, we have expenses too. We need to go back to Drinax to resupply our missiles after all too, so we have to stay on his good side."

"You seem overly afraid of t'e King and 'is taxmen's pull, but if t'e deal was gross, it would be somet'ing like cutting our own t'roats to give 'im net wit'out a solid reason. T'ough I suspect if we start sending vessels 'ome 'e might forget t'e gross over net t'ing all toget'er, w'et'er t'at be good or ill I know not." Rayjay added certain Zhouth was over thinking things a bit, but with the captain assuring him the king would get his gross until accounting judged otherwise, that line of thought was addressed in full.

     "Mmmmm...Okay, okay, you guys do make a couple of good points." Varca concedes, "This is our first operation---and we should expect Oleb to be watching us like a hawk--but, the point about the reward being rather public may be true, but the amount mentioned--"covered in gold and lanthanum"--is still pretty vague."

     "But, okay.  We give the Damned King his cut off the top, in order to gain his trust.  We fudge the books later."

Theodore nodded agreement with Varca's statement and hugged Ingrid close to himself.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 438):

"Everything is installed and in working order, I suppose it is about time to set course for Borite and the Oghma problem!" Teddy says to the others.

"Varca? Zhouth? Anything else to add before everyone heads to stations."

Zhouth's initial response garnered a minor self-correction. "Other than making sure that the deliveries are in place, no, not really. Oh! Maybe we should let the station commander that we talked to know what we're doing? We can do that as we're leaving though. No need to dash through the hallways!" The walking fingers - moving at a frenetic pace - put in a reappearance to illustrate.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:36, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 440):

     "That, is a good idea, Zhouth." Varca says with a nod to the Vargr, "But...maybe not officially.  We should go ahead and file an outgoing flight plan, listing Borite as our destination--but no more than that.  Just we're leaving and heading to Borite."

     "But we then send a personal message to our Good Friend, Commander Reldam, thanking him for all his help--and then we add that we're headed to Borite to look into a lead on the Raiders, and that we'll probably be coming back through Torpol in three, maybe four, weeks."

     "That way, if something bad happens to us, at least one person will know where and why we went.  In case, maybe, Princess Rao, or even King Oleb, should--eventually--send a ship looking for us."

In reply to Varca Lexand (msg # 441):

"Stations everyone, lets lay down a course for Borite and head for the jump point. Back to training for everyone too, time to cross train to keep everything covered. Comms, let Torpol know our destination."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:46, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

Short of firing the missiles at an actual target, the test program indicated that the launcher was working just the way it's supposed to.

The case of wine Zhouth had delivered via courier to the Sacromond and he got a comm confirming delivery and a second comm thanking him for it.

The cargo for Borite was inspected and found to be just what Singularity said it was.

Standard flight plan was filed for Borite, and the ship was given clearance to left off, given an exit vector, and then lifted off.

Heading out to the jump limit was uneventful, and then the Vultan was in jump space.

Ingrid curtsied to Theodore. "Yes, sir, captain. Or is it my Lord now? I don't know the proper way to address a Drinaxi Baron" she replied, teasing.

In reply to Ingrid Gustavdottir Sigar (msg # 444):

     "There's so many different Aristocrats and Nobles on the Floating Palace, Ingrid, that they are all generically referred to as 'Lord' or 'Lady'--or if you want to be formal, 'Lordship' or 'Ladyship'." Varca responds, overhearing Ingrid's question,

     "Only The Royals use different honorifics--'Highness' for a Prince or Princess, and 'Majesty' for the King or Queen.  Or 'Imperial Majesty' if you truly wish to kiss Oleb's fat ass!  Y'see, Drinaxi Royalty make the claim that they are the descendants of the Sindalian Empire, and so still lay claim to the now-non-existent Dragon Throne."

Teddy laughed, "It's my love to you!"

"Aye aye Captain!" Rayjay said reporting to his station, though he suspected they wouldn't be jumping hot, so it's not like he'd have much if anything to do unless some desperate pirate dared to show. "I suspect in public sit-u-ations it might be best to refer to 'im as Captain, don't want to make eit'er yourselves targets for abduction. And maybe we could play up t'e noble 'eritage at more formal events?" He suggested helpfully, or at least what he hoped was helpful.

In reply to Rayjaynul Brown (msg # 447):

     "That's pretty much the plan, Rayjay." Varca confirms--as he heads down to his station in the (portside) Countermeasures Suite,

     "Whenever and wherever us having a Noble in the group would be advantageous, then Captain Theo--who really is one of the Lord McFarlane's of Drinax--will present himself as being Baron McFarlane--and the rest of us are his loyal vassals.  But only when it will give us a real advantage." Varca adds quickly.