"Captain Grunge, this is Captain McFarlane, pleas fly your ship as if it is damaged and partly crippled, fluctuate your power betweem 100% and 120% as if you are having trouble with the drive, anything else would be welcome that you can think of to simulate damage. Ignore Starport Palindrone. We'll get through that--let the guys have a chance to react--before we see if Redthane calls out to Mercifuge (I honestly don't think he will) before we all deal with trying to "contact" Redthane and draw him out."

"Roger that, Captain." Grunge replies over the laser comm. "Not sure how convincing I can make it. Fly drunk... that I can do, though it's all in context."

"A week in Jump gives you a lot of time to think. Not used to doing that."

"We may have overlooked a few possibilities. That coordinate may not be where Redthane is hiding but a rendezvous point. Whoever gets there first transmits a signal. Time limit, too, of course."

"Redthane has had plenty of time to recruit from Palindrome. He could be waiting in ambush behind any of these moons. Like we wanted to pretend to be a target... he could be luring a ship or two in. He's never struck me as the waiting type."

"Given that we don't really know what Silverhand's mission was, or whether she succeeded or not, we could be walking into a hornet's nest."

"Clearly you want me to take the lead and act as bait or prey or whatever. No problem; I can do that."

"I'll use a bit of stealth, though, in case things aren't exactly the way they seem."

"Anything else?"


He then leads the way from one ice moon to the next, ducking behind one moon after the next as he cautiously works his way to the indicated moon.

There are no ships or even space debris out here among the moons... just half a dozen course beacons.

I often find it useful to have ChatGpt summarize things for me when there are lots of posts and I'm trying to catch up between work, so this is what it came up with for the Palindrome jaunt so far;

The crew of the Vultan and Mercifuge have arrived at Palindrome in search of Redthane. They plan to use a combination of stealth and subterfuge to locate his ship. Varca is tasked with ensuring their ships are running silent and that their holographic hulls are presenting a flat-black exterior. They plan to use the Mercifuge to draw Redthane out using pre-recorded snippets of Silverhand's voice.

The crew discusses various scenarios that could play out, including the possibility that Redthane may be waiting in ambush behind one of the moons. They decide to approach the indicated moon with caution, using stealth to avoid any potential traps.

Zhouth asks about the plan, wondering if they will use the Vultan's sensors to locate Redthane's ship from further away than he can see. The crew explains that they will need to rely on their sensors to locate Redthane eventually, but that they are operating on minimal intel.

Ghent suggests faking a comms breakdown to explain the radio silence and using recordings of Silverhand's voice to bluff Redthane. Donio admits that they have discussed a lot of ideas but are still scouting the terrain.

The crew continues their search, setting their sensors to maximum sensitivity to locate Redthane. Grunge confirms that they have a secure laser-com link to Mercifuge and that they are emitting no signals that can be detected. They plan to position themselves under the Mercifuge's image so that Redthane only sees one ship and make sure they are running silent.

Teddy jokes about his relationship with Ingrid, and Varca confirms that their stealth systems are operating at full capacity. The crew discusses the possibility that the coordinates they were given may be a rendezvous point rather than Redthane's hiding spot. They also consider the possibility that Redthane has had time to recruit from Palindrome and may be waiting in ambush.

Grunge takes the lead, using stealth to avoid any potential traps as they move from one ice moon to the next. They find half a dozen course beacons but no ships or debris. The crew remains cautious and alert as they continue their search for Redthane.

OOC:  An outstanding and concise overview, Kira.  Keep it up--but next time put that in the OOC Thread.

     Just 1 adjustment.  Only Vultan is "running silent".  As Cap'n Grunge pointed out, Mercifuge is acting as "bait".

Our hope is to convince Redthane--wherever he is hiding--that "Silverhand" has returned, but her ship is experiencing trouble.  We want him to decide to come out to her, rather than she head in to him.

If it works, then when Redthane shows himself, we try to entice him as close as possible, before Vultan--hopefully unseen--and Mercifuge start blasting him.

Aboard Vultan: Port Electronic Warfare Suite

     Varca links to the laser-comm with Mercifuge,

     "Mercifuge, this is Vultan EWCOM." Varca sends, "Prepare to receive and record an audio file I've patched together.  It's mostly static, but I've added a few snippets of Silverhand's voice that we got one place and another."

     "At your discretion, begin intermittently transmitting at various power levels.  Let's see if we can tease Redthane out of his hidey-hole."

No ships are detected in orbit around any of the moons, nor are any ships detected on the surface of the moons. Despite Grunge's efforts, he doesn't see any indication that Redthane is on the Coolblue moon.

The Mercifuge doesn't detect anything but as the Vultan passes over a chasm on the moon, it detects TWO ships! Oddly, they are in adjacent crevasses only about 100 feet apart!

Passive Sensors vaguely identify the one ship as a possible 200-ton Far Trader. The other one seems to be a sister ship to the Vultan!

"Can the Mercifuge scan those ships actively and send us the data?" wonders Kira. "They're supposed to be looking for Redthane anyway. Maybe we can get some better readings on what we're dealing with."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Mon 13 Mar 2023.

Zhouth's face twists into a look of puzzled concern. "Where did he get another one?" Concern is then overtaken by puzzled as he adds, "And why didn't he use it at Torpol?"

There is a beat before his eyes widen a bit as he hits on a possible solution, waving his hand frantically in the vague direction of the crevice. "Are you sure that isn't a false reading on the Misery's Company? They could look kind of similar down in there, right?"

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 27):

Orbiting Coolblue. Aboard Vultan: Port Electronic Warfare Suite

     Varca's eyes go wide, and his hand snaps out to open a channel to Vultan's Bridge,

     "Captain!  Passive sensors detect two--repeat--two ships hiding in ice crevasses, right below us! One ship looks pretty much like a two-hundred-ton Free Trader with high probability of being the same type as the Janal Torsk!  But Theo..."

     Varca scans the data for a third time, "According to this data...the second ship down there...it's a Harrier..."

     Varca types a command into the sensor equipment, "Sending you imagery and data, now."

     Varca scans the data, as the passive sensors update.

     "No sign they are Weapons Hot, or that they have detected us, Captain.  We could open fire on both ships immediately..."



     "I suppose that that is a possibility, Zhouth." Varca responds, "Both ships are maintaining a low profile, down there--and this data is just from passive sensors..."

     "But Misery's Company--that's a one-hundred-ton Scoutship, isn't it?  This bogey below us is coming up at around two-hundred-tons.  Just like a Harrier, just like Vultan."

     "I can light them both up with a full sensor scan--but that'll show them exactly where we are.  Of course, the longer we maintain this position abouve them, the longer our passive sensors will collect data, and the clearer that data will become.  Flip side--the longer we just sit here, even running silent, the greater their chance to detect us."

     "It's your call, Captain.  I recommend firing a spread of missiles at the ice cliffs around the possible Harrier--bury it now, deal with it later.  Meanwhile Vultan's particle cannon pounds the free trader, while Mercifuge comes closer and uses its lasers for point defense against anything that comes up at us."

     "Perhaps check with Cap'n Grudge?  See if he knows anything about the mystery ship--or has any alternative ideas.  Just make it fast!  If we don't choose to act in the next few minutes, our current course will move us out of sight of those two ships..."

"Correct me if I've got this wrong," Aaron says, "but we're the only ones that can detect the Harrier, right? The Mercifuge has no idea it's down there, right?"

"So doesn't it follow that the Janal Torsk doesn't, either? If anything, it probably has worse sensors."

"Keep in mind, too, that Redthane is hiding from Darokyn. There's no reason he knows we're hunting him for the bounty. I say just light him up with our full sensors and scare the bejeezus out of him!"

"Captain Grunge, This is McFarlane, does Redthane or anyone you know, have a Drinaxi Harrier in their company. There are two ships down there! A Harrier, and Redthane!"


"Varca, keep scanning for a moment, pilot, maintain our position over the chasms and the ships, you too Grunge, stop here, let's gather info for a moment or two before we light them up. then fire at both while Mercifuge gives us point defense with his lasers. Missile spread at the cliffs over the Harrier and Particle gun at Redthane. As you say Varca, you're getting the hang of it."

Further sensor scans will only serve to annoy Redthane, as he'll just be further convinced that you want something he doesn't actually have.

"PARLAY!" He nearly screams as the comm flickers to life catching his hand slamming down on the console.

"Who the frell are you people?! What do want?!"

"How the frell did they find us?" he's still fuming 'off-camera' as the comm officer forgets to cut the circuit. "Must have been that scurrilous dog Krrsh! Never thought he had it in him. Hell, still don't."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:30, Tue 14 Mar 2023.

Kira maintains the ship's position over the chasms and the two hidden ships, waiting for further instructions from the captain. She glances over at Zhouth and quips, "Looks like Redthane has some new toys. Maybe he's hoping to take over the universe one tiny ice moon at a time." She then focuses back on the controls, eager for any action that may come their way.

     "Continue passive scans of target vessels.  Aye, Captain." Varca responds, "Gunner Brown, I am now sending you analysis of passive scan data for your targeting systems.  At Captain's order I will activate targeting scanners and give you live feed."

     "Just be aware, Captain--they are probably running silent, themselves.  I'm willing to bet they haven't detected Vultan, but Mercifuge is running normal.  If that ship comes to a stop directly abouve them, they will see that."

     As Varca goes through the motions of following the Captain's orders, Varca also assigns more computer processing power to the analysis of the reading on the second, unknown ship, down below.

     "I have been sending our passive scan data to Mercifuge, yes, Aaron." Varca responds, "They can see what we see, and they can use it to adjust their own sensor scans.  But whoever is running the sensors, over on Mercifuge, is hopefully spraying around their active scans as if they don't see anything.  Mercifuge's sensor sweeps passing over them with no reaction from us would go a long way towards giving Redthane a false sense of security, down there."

     "As for us lighting him up...well, that certainly would be something startling, Aaron!  It is something for Cap'n Theo to think on, yeah."

"Uhh, Varca? I don't think that he's feeling very secure right now," came the response over the comm - and unlike Redthane, he was careful to ensure that it wouldn't carry over the ship-to-ship connection. "Unless you think that this is all an act?"

A few taps sent the incoming from Redthane down to Varca's comm, including a replay of the panic-laced introduction.

"I'd say blast 'em" interjects Kira. "But that's just me."

"Not that I was ever aware," Grunge replies to Teddy over the laser comm. "Hell, I didn't even know it existed till you rescued me."

"Can't see it clearly but that looks like it's been down there for a few hundred years.  I find it hysterically funny that he's' been sitting right next to everything he wanted and didn't even know it was there! Har-har-har!"

"Everyone in the system heard his squawk for Parlay," Aaron said softly to the captain. "Do you really want to go down the path of a cold-blooded murderous pirate, Ted? There may not be any coming back from that one."

     "I got a good question for you, Zhouth..." Varca responds, "Redthane has to know that Mercifuge is up here--its transponder is actively calling its name.  And, knowing it's Mercifuge, his immediate demand to know who we are means that he and Silverhand had some kind of recognition signal prepared between themselves that we obviously didn't give."

     "So, if Redthane is assuming that Silverhand isn't in command of Mercifuge, why didn't he demand to speak to her, or see her, or know where she is?"


     "How can he...?" Varca barks out at this revelation, "Right--he's combining the results of his active scans with our passive scan data..."

     "Krr--Cap'n Grudge?" Varca sends via the laser comm, "This is Varca.  While Cap'n Theo deals with that Dead Pirate Walking, down there, please have your Mercifuge run a set of full spectrum scans on that unknown ship and send me the data.  We'll keep an eye on Janal Torsk, in case it lights up targeting sensors."

"He won't go down as a cold-blooded, murderous pirate!" Zhouth whispered fiercely toward Aaron - though also quite audible to the rest of the bridge crew - as he swung his arm around to point at Theodore, then brought the other one up to point toward the Janal Torsk. "He'll go down as a no-nonsense bounty hunter since, you know, there's a massive one out on that fellow for being a cold-blooded, murderous pirate!"

That done, Zhouth calms down a bit and replies to Varca's by-comm inquiry. "How should I know why he didn't ask? Maybe he just figures that if she's not hailing him by now, she must be dead and someone else is in charge? Or he's actually powered down enough that he didn't recognize the ship to start with?" His voice gained a note of distress as he waved wildly in the direction of the Janal Torsk with his hand in a finger-gun form - a detail rather lost on Varca. "Either way, I'd really rather get the shooting part over with before he gets a chance to start shooting back, which becomes more and more likely the longer we sit here talking about it!"

"Or we could, perhaps... parlay?" suggest Kira. "If the other Harrier is unmanned, we could earn ourselves two more ships."

"This is Captain Theodore McFarlane of the Harrier Vultan, stand down and surrender please, or die right here. Missiles and particle cannon aimed right at you Captain Redthane. You have five seconds to answer or die."

"Cdr Varca, begin countdown, then send him to hell." he says over the open comm, for Redthane to hear.

"If you see signs he's firing weapons, shoot."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:16, Wed 15 Mar 2023.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 45):

     "Aye, Captain--lighting them up!  Activating all combat systems...now!" Varca responds, his hands flying over his control boards,

     "All targeting sensors on-line.  Full spectrum sensor scan initiated.  Full Power now available to weapons.  Sensor lock on primary target--the Janal Torsk--with Particle Barbette.  Request confirmation for setting missile lock on secondary target, Captain.  We gonna go with Grudge's belief the second ship is an old derelict, or do we assume the possibility it's a live ship that might fire at us?"

     "I'm painting them with everything we've got, right now, Captain--even some stuff they have no clue about!  If we assume that Harrier-or-whatever down there is dead, then putting a second weapon lock on Redthane aught'a turn his hair white with fear.  Just gimme the word, Captain, and Gunner Brown can drop every bit of Hell we have down upon Redthane with extreme precision and prejudice!"

     Finished activating all combat systems except the actual firing of the weapons, Varca sits back to await Redthane's answer.  However, after only a moment, Varca gets ... an Idea...
     Varca opens the circuit to the bridge,

     "Captain!  Permission to engage in Psychological attack against the crew of Janal Torsk?  Sow a little discord, down there..."