OOC: to Varca and Rejji, protein is protein.  Varca, as an ex-Scout, has had "fish" before, but Rejji has probably not.  Rejji's travels with Varca may actually be his first time off-Drinax.  It's possible Rejji might have had "fish" when we were on Asim....Maybe. Actually, it's quite possible that Rejji is currently in the middle of his First Career Term...there are no Careers listed for him in his UPP....
Addendum: While Varca & Rejji will often extol their delight over "good" food & beverage, you will never hear them complain about "bad" food--no such thing, to them.  The only "bad" food either of them acknowledges, is food that will kill them.  So, because most of their "food" is either bland, to begin with, or has become bland due to processing, Vespexer "cuisine" tends to be heavily "spiced"....i.e., Vespexers live by the motto "I put that s**t on everything!" ^_^


OOC: Varca had stayed aboard...interviewing...Rayjaynul, while everyone else went off ship.  When the Foreman comes to give this report, Varca will run a diagnostic.  All of Varca's Electronics skills were trained on Drinaxi systems--maybe not exactly at TL14, but still, systems built by Drinaxi tech.  And, all Varca is doing is initiating a standard diagnostic.

Varca Lexand rolled 7 using 2d6+2 for an Electronics(computers) roll, to run diagnostic on Turret install.

     Varca's response to this would be...

     "Rayjaynul--you were a Gunner's Mate in the Imperial Navy," Varca says to Vultan's new Senior Gunner, "Go check out the turret and see if you can determine if it's a rapid-fire system, or if all it can do is the 'fire-everything-in-the-magazine' thing that the Foreman is talking about."


OOC: That is just typical of Palace-thinking!  Make the Enlisted Rates do it by hand!  Never mind that a device would be quicker and more efficient...
But I/Varca have an idea about how to fix this little boondoggle, but....later....something for later...

Ingrid arranges the purchase of the extra seafood as Zhouth had requested.

"I hope everyone is okay with fish... we'll be eating a lot of it for a while" Ingrid said, a little apologetically. "And I'll do what I can to conduct a diagnostic on that missile turret."

"Why don't we ask all of them using comms, and then meet with them if they're okay with that? I mean, there's not much point in meeting with any of them if they weren't around for the raid, or didn't at least see the immediate aftermath, but no sense in not at least asking them all, right? It's not like we're making a big secret out of all of this!"

Ingrid's interjection provoked a similarly train-of-thought response from Zhouth. "I don't mind fish? Kind of common at Vanejen, what with the base being so much underwater, and even if we have fish every day, that's still better than rehydrated algae remnants with some flavor paste mixed in, which is what they're stuck with on Drinax, and is why I think they'll like that little present that we're sending them so much!"

OOC: From what I can tell according to High Guard, unless the GM rules otherwise, the only way to fire multiple missiles in a single round of space combat out of a Single Turret is to have Multi-Warhead Missiles.

To that end, assuming I'm able to use Turret and Edu to remember my training on turrets...
Rayjaynul Brown rolled 16 using 2d6+4. Turret+Edu.
Otherwise... 11 using 2d6+2. Electronics+Int.

"Well... Varca." Rayjay began before pausing as he was not quite certain how to address someone else when there wasn't a formal rank structure. "I can tell you off te top of my head, tat firing missiles out a single weapon turret is a lot like firing a semi-auto pistol, or in ot'er words it'll fire once every time you tell it to, but is also limited by te inbuilt mechanisms, tat wit ship scale weapons is one volley or salvo every six minutes or so, ot'erwise you risk damaging te weapon or vessel. Now if you're concerned tey might've installed it wrong I can do a quick diagnostic as well." Rayjay said using a nearby terminal to double check Varca's own findings.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Sun 14 Feb 2021.

In reply to Rayjaynul Brown (msg # 377):

     Varca just looks at Rayjaynul for a second-or-two...before laughing in genuine amusement.

     "Welcome to the wacky world of Recovered Drinaxi Old Tech, Rayjay! Heh-heh!" Varca chuckles,

     "Double check me, here, but I'm pretty sure we are looking at what would have been the cutting edge of Drinaxi missile launchers, back when the Pussies attacked.  It's a rapid-cycle launcher--probably trying to mimic the effect of a Bay Weapon, by letting a smaller launcher fire a salvo.  What the Yard Foreman probably was looking at was an emergency protocol to fire off the entire magazine, when superior enemy forces show up."

     "I'm not really trained on ship weapons, but...I'd think that cycling missiles out of a single tube that fast...sure, you're getting an increase in firepower, but I'd guess it's at a cost in accuracy.  Then again, they were also firing advanced missiles out of that tube.  Maybe it compensated...?  You're the Gunner, Rayjay, what do you think?  We need to find out if the number of missiles rapid-fired is all or nothing, or if we can select the number of missiles that are rapid-fired."

[A Little Later...]


     "Borite?" Varca repeats, frowning in puzzlement,

     "I mean...I know the planet--the Star Guard Scouts have observed it many times.  But...why do I think I've heard something recently about..."

     Varca's eyes suddenly go wide, and--jumping up from where he was sitting, while listening to Zhouth report what he'd found out--he looks around the room.

     "Where is--?...Dammit!...the Twitchy one!" Varca demands, holding out his gloved hands as if to grab something, "The new kid!  The one who always looks gob-smacked!  Name's Donut, or something like that!  He's from Borite!"



OOC: Yes, Rayjaynul, that launcher likely is something...special...that StarMaster is blessing--or cursing!--us with... ^_^

Zhouth looked momentarily encouraged by that reminder, only to suddenly appear rather the opposite. "He might not want to back there."

He recovered just as quickly from that somewhat naysaying thought. "But you're right, he's from there and might know something about what the raiders were doing in that place, but only if the pirates were bold enough to be parading about the planet in their pirate outfits." Concern returned to his face. "Or they've done a bit more raiding. Or..." He let that thought slip as he looked something up on his comm. "Mining world, raided by Oghmans. Don't think those raiders were Oghman, so maybe the place needs the chemicals? Or they're going to be sold on to someone there. All the worlds in that cluster seem to be bad for tech, and being able to read and write gets you targeted."

"Well, great," he sighed. "Just the sort of place for an academic to visit. But I guess they can't produce any of those things themselves, so it's reasonable to suppose that someone there would buy the stuff?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:46, Sun 14 Feb 2021.

"Donio Scarte was his name, must be in his quarters, haven't seen him."

Whether it was cutting edge Drinaxi tech, or just a change in design, it's hard to say now. Since you didn't have any missile specialists on hand at the time, everyone just mistook the more-complicated-than-normal missile racks as being loading mechanisms or safety precautions.

Now that Rayjaynul looks over the racks you still have, he realizes that each missile slot functions as its own launcher. We're not talking rockets here; these are all gravity impellers. A missile's accuracy is dependent on its guidance system, not aiming it.

It explains why the 'launcher' window was so wide. Technically, you can have a single missile in the launcher, PLUS the rack of 12. The missiles in the rack can be fired singly, all at once, or in any combination from 1-12. This is particularly useful if you have more than one type of missile in the rack.

The crew at the spacedock hooked it all up correctly. It was almost 'idiot-proof'. They just didn't have the program to test the sequencing. For example, if you want to fire missiles 3, 7 and 13 (the one on the rack), all their system could handle was what was standard for a triple turret.

The reason missiles are put in a turret is because of vector... if the missile is launched forward but the target is aft, then the missile has to change vector. With a turret, the turret can be turned toward the target and the missile is then launched. It doesn't have to change course or double back on itself, thus the intercept time is reduced. In space combat, a few seconds can make all the difference.

Even Rayjaynul has never seen this set-up before. None of the current Drinaxi ships have that sort of system.


So, Aaron or Zhouth or Viridian can comm the ships that were on Clarke recently. Only Captain Syngularity implies she might have information you'd be interested in... for a price. The others only know what was in the newsfeeds.

"What do you think of Captain Syngularity? We have scotch to pay her, not sure she wants that though. Find out what pay she wants Zhouth, then we can figure it out."

"How much of a price are we willing to pay? A couple more crates of seafood shouldn't be a problem, right? If she wants a bunch of our missiles, though, I'm not sure that we want to give those away to people that we've only just met."

Nevertheless, Zhouth sends out a comm message to Captain Syngularity, indicating that he'll meet at whatever the Highport had that passed for a restaurant or bar; failing that, there had to be somewhere set aside for the purpose of making deals...

"You want me to come along Zhouth? Or do you want the elbow room?"

"I don't mind if someone comes along, but I don't think it would be a good idea for us to all show up if she's hoping to wring something out of us. Maybe one person who makes an impression?" Zhouth put on an exaggerated shrug and lopsided grin as he looked around at the eclectic gathering, who between them could or did fit that description in various ways. "Whatever kind of impression it is."

"Alright, arrange a meeting between us, you take the lead, I like your style. I just want to make sure we can meet her price."

"There are several investigative avenues we can pursue," Viridian offers at the confab.

"First of all, we can check the local social medias. May not have much because it doesn't sound like she's local, but it can't hurt to start there."

<darblue>"We can check her CV as if we are considering hiring her and her ship. You know, Dreg's List, Mandy's List, Pushpin, Starship Advisor, etc. It might give us some idea of who we're dealing with."

"And finally, there's the good old-fashioned webcrawl. See what anyone has to say about her."

"Of course, we can always tap into government databases, too. We seem to have an edge on that here on Torpol."

In reply to Viridian Starfire (msg # 387):

"Damn good thoughts Viridian! Try that first, then we'll meet her."

Zhouth looked up from reading and tapping out a few more things on his comm, seemingly having intended to bustle right out the door that very moment but restraining himself from doing so. "That's a good idea, but get what you quickly can and send it to me on the way? That gives her less time for her to also poke through things and learn about us, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:12, Sun 14 Feb 2021.

"Good idea Zhouth. You go, I'll stay here and help."

Viridian starts going through the routines he mentioned.

As expected, he doesn't find any social media presence. So, she probably isn't local, which is consistent with her ship being registered out of Exocet.

She is listed in the Spacer's directory (and all the others), but has no rating because, apparently, she's never worked for anyone. As it is, her CV has been seriously redacted. While this could be a government action, it's also probable that she could have spent the money to do it.

Webcrawling through the Internet, not much else is found. She's apparently wealthy, but how wealthy isn't exactly known. Her ship is dual classified as a Fast Trader and a yacht.

There are a few personal comments that say she's nice, easy to talk to but not always a conversationalist, has a tendency to buy the drinks at a bar. Speculation seems to indicate that she's some sort of adventurer or troubleshooter or investigator.

If she has a price for information, it's not likely to be money.

Zhouth had already chosen one of the mid-range bars and was on the way there when Viridian's summary came through. A simple, Got it. text was all that he sent in return.

Having decided on the Moongate bar, Zhouth texted the location for meeting to Captain Syngularity and she texted back a time--in one  hour.

So, he had plenty of time to find the place and get there. He took a seat in one of the booths where he could still see the door and anyone coming through could still see him. It probably didn't hurt that he was the only Vargr in the bar.

Captain Syngularity walked in exactly on time. She was wearing a light gray satin jumpsuit with no insignia on it, and... she was wearing a laser sidearm.

She spotted Zhouth immediately and walked directly over to him, sitting in the booth across from him, and waving off the server.

"You want to know about the raid on Clarke," she said pointedly. "My sources indicate you are going to hunt these pirates. I was considering doing the same, but I don't need the money, so if you are going to do that, you have my approval... for whatever you consider that worth."

[Back A Half-Hour Ago...]



     "Yeah, that's the kid.  Thanks, Theo." Varca acknowledges with a nod,

     "Actually, Zhouth, I wasn't thinking that Donio could tell us anything about the Raiders--why would the Raiders be at Borite?  No, I just thought that he could give us an overview of the local Starport.  Like I said, I've never been to Borite, myself, but I've read a Star Guard Scouts report about the place--though it didn't say much--just that it's a really nice world, and a backward Ag-planet.  Some kind of Trade Deal was considered, but the Star Guard determined that Drinax didn't, really, have anything to offer them."

     "Of course, once Lord Wrax gets a couple more of these Harriers operational, maybe Drinax could offer Borite military protection, in exchange for agro-products...."

     Varca pauses, as a surprised look comes over his face,

     "Oh...uh...I told all of you about that--right?  Yeah, I'm sure I did.  So, anyway, let's get this Donio kid, and have him give us a report about the Borite Starport, yeah?"

"Well, having someone's approval is always nice!" Zhouth smiled, apparently pleased by the fact. "And yes, our fearless leader wants to try out his shiny new ship against a deserving target." Both hands described small, aimless swirls as he added, "The promise of money probably doesn't hurt, but it's all duty and propriety and such with him too, you know?"

Later as well...

After investigating the launcher himself Rayjay probably had more questions than answers, but he at least had some questions as well. "Truly blessed were te weapon makers of old." He mumbled to himself before finding Varca for a more thorough report on their missile turret.

"Well Varca, I've noting but good news, first, despite not aving te tech to match it te station crews were able to properly install tat old arcane turret, and more im-port-antly, we can fire any combination of missiles, t'ough mini-grav vehicles is more accurate given te missiles we currently ave loaded. Tat is to say, you can fire anywhere between one and tirteen missiles, from any tubes including te turret barrel, t'ough one would ave to preload te tirteent' missile. For instance if we had lower tech missiles in te odd racks, it could fire all tose while skipping te oters." Rayjay said with a broad child like smile.

"It's like noting I've seen before, and may never see again." He added with a throaty chuckle.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Thu 18 Feb 2021.

"We all have our crosses to bear," Symone seems to agree with Zhouth.

"So, the raiders attacked a relic-quarry – an archaeological dig at the edge of the ruins of Hiewad City, where explorers look for high-tech items and materials that survived the bombardment. These 'explorers are a lot like the Vespexers of Drinax."

"The traces of the attack were obvious – blast marks on the ground from weapons fire, imprints in the mud where ships landed, and the remains of the warehouse that once contained relics from the ruined city. The warehouse was blasted with a ship-mounted pulse laser."

"There's more, but let's say I have two favors to ask. The first is that you deliver a small cargo, only a ton, to a Mr. Tanisharis on Borite. It's just handheld computer-comm units. I know what the Oghmans are trying to do--they want to conquer Borite and Marduk... start their own little empire. At the moment, they don't have enough ships to withstand the backlash from the Imperium and others in the region."

"I would not like to see that happen."

"The second favor is... if you happen to run across any Oghman raiders, you blow them out of the ether! I'm serious! There are a blight on the subsector."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Tue 16 Feb 2021.