Ghent knew he wouldn’t tolerate a dirty ship, but he’d have to ease the crew into it. There’d be time enough for that, but the locker itself had peaked his interest. He could technically open it with his arc-field weapon, but he liked the chest and didn’t want to break it. He’d also heard plenty of stories about locking mechanisms with various traps waiting for the unwary, that he redoubled his caution when investigating it.

Ghent finds no traps on the padded chest... the picture of Gorgo seems to have no connection... until he realizes that the key is tucked into the back of the picture frame.

The chest has a rather ordinary lock that can be snapped open easily enough, but with the key, it isn't necessary.

Upon opening the chest, you discover Redthane's REAL treasure: FOOD! Gourmet coffee, gourmet jelly beans, and gourmet peanut brittle.

'Krifing nobles,' Ghent thought as he found the stash of coffee and sweets. 'Of course he'd sit on a stash of candy and hide it from the crew. At least he kept the ship maintained.'

Ghent took out the coffee and inspected it to make sure it was actual coffee, not some stash of drugs hidden in coffee to throw some mongrels off the trail. Once he was sure the coffee was genuine, he set it aside determined to give it back to the crew. He himself detested coffee, preferring tea, but if he could treat the crew to something... they might thank him for it.

The jelly beans he put in a bowl on his new desk, but the peanut brittle he kept for himself.

With a loud sigh he slumped himself into the Ultracline Super-Deluxe and swivelled to take a glance of the room. The weapons could come in handy -- he had to like a man who had managed to collect a katana blade --  he then considered the painting, screaming monkey, and blinking electronic device.

Perhaps it was the relaxation generated by the chair--after all, that was its reputation--that finally triggered a stray/strange thought: why these particular items? There was certainly no connection between them.

Was there some sort of significance to them? Or were they just items that Redthane's 'twisted' mind found interesting?

A search through the computer identified the painting as "The Last Dezarro"--self-portrait with killer in painting. The original is valued at 2MCr.

The idol was almost as easy to identify: a Xuvendi cursed idol--one-eyed screaming monkey-like 17" statuette carved out of zharwood. Worth... 200MCr?

He probably should have recognized the last item--Vanadium Trace, a myth-legend in the region. It's kind of like a treasure map in that it's supposed to contain the astrogation coordinates to Xhal'la-Bha'al--the Treasure of Sindal. It was last sold for 3MCr.

Another thought occurred to him then: where's the ship's money?

That prompted the Braddock Incident to come to mind. Ship's Captain Apollonium Braddock had bought an Ultracline... and promptly customized it! Apparently, most owners did. An unauthorized assistant had sat in it and was promptly electrocuted.

After Ghent finished searching the Torsk and the three ships were all back in orbit again, Viridian commed Teddy.


"So, what's our plan now, Captain," Viridian asks.

"Do you want to risk refueling all three ships here in the ice? Or would you rather we just land up on Palindrome, refuel there, redistribute crews, give them some shore leave, spread a little wealth around to make contacts, maybe get in on the good side of Yemar."

"Astrogo Downport is a dive by most standards but it is a pirate hangout. Not as good a haven as Theev, but it's another option."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

"Geez! We need to put a bell around your neck, Viridian..!" Ghent said as looked up in surprise. He had been deep in thought, figuring out how much he could negotiate for the artwork. He pointed towards the art, though the gesture was lost to the rest of them as they listened in. "There are possibly millions to be had, right in this room if we hawked these, assuming they’re legit," he said with a frown.

He carefully got up from the chair, really not liking the thought that Redthane might have booby-trapped his own chair. "You know, for a man with so many trinkets on display, Redthane hides his candy and coffee. There should be more in here. Maps. Credits. Plans. Booze. A Black Book... anything..." Ghent was distracted now, closely inspecting the chair.

"Honestly though, I was thinking everyone should let their hair down a little while we figure out our next move, starting with giving the crew access to this premium coffee. I also love the idea of refuelling at a lower cost here, but do you think we have the team that could refuel the ships and not blow us up at the same time? And how's the inquest moving along? Do we know?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:44, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

Finally getting around to searching the desk, Ghent finds the rest of Redthane's personal treasure. The desk is locked but it doesn't take much to disengage the lock.




Only Ghent and Collyn are on the Torsk with its 5 crewmen.

"You left your comm open again, Ghent!" Viridian chides Ghent at his comment about putting a bell around Viridian's neck.

"Besides, what makes you think he didn't share the coffee? Maybe his crew doesn't even drink coffee. Maybe he only brought it out on special occasions. If you just left it out all the time, it'd be gone in a week!"

"200MCr for a stupid little idol? Yeah, I'd be suspicious of that, too! Of course it's stolen! Redthane's a pirate! I would have liked to have seen the expression on his face when he realized what he had! If it's authentic."

"You can always hawk it at a flea market on Palindrome for 50 credits and be done with it. Personally, I don't know of any art market in this region that could handle that value. You'd have to go to auction at a prestigious house. Imperium. Florian League? If we transship it, we might get 20%."

"Same for the painting. Better sale chance cause the price isn't so steep."

"Vanadium Trace sounds familiar but can't say I've ever heard of it. How about you, Varca? That's more up your alley."

By now, all the VIPs were on open comms--across three ships--to discuss next actions. He checked his comm to see who wasn't listening.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:31, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

Ghent ignored the Viridian’s coffee remarks, though he did consider keeping some for special guests, though he did believe that his days of catering to the rich and famous was something he kissed goodbye when he left the merchant marines. “Yeah, I’d want the artwork appraised, but I want to do some research before we get that done. I’ve never trusted appraisers in general, so I like to have an idea of the object’s history and worth and confirm my numbers, which means we ain’t hawking it here.”

He finally reached for the desk and found the credits and drugs. Not a bad stash of credits he thought.

"Well captain, what are your orders? I always have my blade and I'll keep my gun, they are pirates after all, and might try to space us."

Ghent gave Collyn and wicked smile, “Let them krifing try to space us… maybe we should interview the last three crew members now. I have their cred sticks here, and I can increase the amounts on those, and discretely isolate the bad apples if any. I assume we’ll take our cue from Ted when the task force is ready to move on out.” Truth be told, Ghent was eager to see how the crew worked, and they would need to know about crew problems early. “What’s your feeling on the Pilot and Engineer?“

[Coolblue, moon of Planet Pallindrome]
[After Redthane's Surrender, Later That Same Day.  Post-Battle Crew Assembly, aboard Mercifuge]

     After the Troika interviews Redthane the Pirate Popsicle, Varca arranges for all three ships to land on the icy moon's surface, near enough to each other that all crews can assemble in the upper cargo hold of Mercifuge.  A single Watch stander will remain aboard Vultan and Janal Torsk (each being from Vultan's crew) and can monitor the Crew Assembly from there.

     Varca climbs up onto a small, empty cargo pod to address the assembled Pirates.  As usual, for him, he's wearing his black Hazard Suit completely sealed up--and he has something shiny and metallic slung over a shoulder with a piece of tie-down cable.

     Once standing atop the pod, he puts his hands and looks out over the crowd--his sealed helmet scanning side-to-side.  His voice suddenly booms out of the suits vocoder,

     "Aw-right Shut It an Lissen Up!"

     He continues in a voice raised only loud enough to be heard in the large cargo hold,

     "My name is Varca Lexand.  You lot will call me Commander Varca or simply Commander.  Some of you can call me Varca.  Anyone who chooses to do so--if I don't punch you in the mouth, then I'm okay with it."

     "On behalf of myself and my fellow Crewmates from Vultan, I welcome all of you to our Organization.  The ships that you've been serving aboard now belong to us.  Your former Captains are gone..."

     Varca reaches behind himself and produces the object slung by a cord from his shoulder--a shiny silver cyber-arm.

     "Captain Silverhand is dead.  She got blowed up." Varca tosses the arm down to the floor, "Captain Redthane has chosen to retire and live out the remainder of his existence as a popsicle.  However, I hope it will warm your larcenous hearts to know that his final thoughts were for all of you, his Crew.  He asked us to offer all of you the opportunity to join with us or be allowed to sign-off down at Astrogo.  With no hard feelings."

     Varca pauses his speech to again scan the group,

     "We have chosen to honor Captain Redthane's request.  Any of you who wish to remain and work with us is welcome.  There will be some ship crew reorganization, but you can all, pretty much, expect to keep doing the same jobs you had.  And if you want to be considered for a different job, we'll listen."

     "We pay all crew at a pay rate equal to current Imperial Spacer's Guild scale for the job you do.  Shares of Loot will follow the accepted method in use by the Pirate Lords of Theev.  We also tend to reward excellent performance and outstanding efforts."

     "However, before we drop down to Pallindrome for a visit, it seems that Captain Redthane's choice of rendezvous locations is, unknown to him, right on top of the final resting place of a sister-ship to our Vultan.  We are going to spend a few days up here salvaging that ship.  After that job is done, we will drop down to Astrogo Downport, and any of you who wish to Sign-Off may do so and be given one months wages.  You will not be given any Shares owed you by your former Captains."

     "Understand that your former Captains surrendered both themselves and their ships to us, so all the swag to be found aboard those ships--not that there is much swag--are now our property.  The contract for any Shares against those treasures was with your previous commanders."

     "Any of you who want to sign-off who have a problem with that, I suggest you complain to your former leaders.  There's Captain Silverhand..." Varca points at the cyber-arm on the floor,

     "...and Captain Redthane the Popsicle is in the freezer, aboard Vultan.  His visiting hours are between Never in the morning and Not At All in the afternoon."

     "I will pause now for any questions.  Don't be afraid to ask questions!  I never shoot anyone for asking a stupid question--only for making stupid statements..."

Considering nobody has yet tried to interact with any of the crews, though that does include not abusing them, they don't really have any basis for making a decision.

"Keep doing the job we've been doing for the same pay, Commander Varca, with the possibility of shares... sounds like a sweet deal to me," one of the men speaks up.

"Can't speak for everyone," another one adds, "but sounds like you got yourself a crew or two."


Since it was going to take 4 days to salvage the other 'Harrier', it was decided that the Vultan's tech-15 fuel processors (as well as the Mercifuge's fuel processors) were more than capable of processing the ice moon's ice into safe and usable fuel, that was the way to go. 40 tons a day has the three ships refueled with time to spare. The Vultan's systems also make transferring fuel to the other two ships quick, safe and easy, too. The crews are offered an extra 1,000Cr for 'breaking ice rocks in the hot sun'. Turns out to be a good way to build crew morale as each 3-person team competes with the others, and the winner gets to split an extra 6,000Cr. (OOC: yes, courtesy of Viridian the Morale Officer.)

The prototype Harrier's transponder is found amid the salvage, identifying it as the Imperial Star Dragon Flaming Victory. It's construction date is only 2 years after the Vultan.


During those 4 days, Ingrid works on studying, analyzing and installing the Jump Booster on the Vultan. There's no way she'll ever be able to build a duplicate for the other ships, but there might be secrets to be unlocked in the Scholar's Tower or even on Tech World. Drinax tech knowledge + Tech World industry should do the job.

It seems to use some sort of hyperfusion injectors on the jump bubble to expand it to J-3 without requiring any additional hydrogen fuel. It's kind of fooling the Jump Drive into thinking it's bigger than it is.

She does realize it's like over-inflating a balloon until it explodes, but that's what all the safety wires are for.

Astrogation is just as tricky, but Vultan's sensors seem to be up to the task. 'You want to go HERE but 'here' is really there.'


Oddly, the Mercifuge has auxiliary fuel tanks, so it can store enough extra fuel (120 tons) to cover both other ships. That means you can make just one jump to reach Borite.

Because the only commodity Drinax has is Knowledge, the Vultan's library is pretty extensive, and it was updated on Theev (for what that's worth).

So Ghent has no problem finding out more about the art.

The painting was last known to be in the possession of Charad Vorona-Sakatha, Financial Over-Vice Presidio of GeDeCo Amalgamated, a subsidiary of Oghma Highport. There was some dispute over ownership.

The value is accurate, since that's what Charad paid for it. If it was stolen, though, there's lack of provenance... reducing the value by at least half.


The statue is another story. Several stories, actually. It's been claimed to having caused the death of several prominent people over the past hundred years. Someone pointed it or shook it at the target in anger and within a week, that person was dead... under mysterious circumstances usually.

The origin of the statue is uncertain, but radiocarbon dating puts it at about 2,000 years old. The carving style is that of the Vilani art movement known as Ravani--generally translated as 'psychotic sculptures'. It is also rumored to be a secret Zhodani weapon.


Vanadium Trace, though obscure, has a few references, mostly by the notorious treasure hunter
Hazargo Jellicar. She's convinced that the Treasure of Sindal is not only real, it's on Noricum.

Of course, no one agrees on what this treasure is... death stars, battle wagons, teleportation chambers, FTL comms, and piles of gold, gems and jewelry are the most common speculations.

The device itself is supposed to be a Zhodani electronic mathematical puzzle box--you need to figure out the right combination of formulas, symbols, fractals and subroutines to unlock the exact 42-number coordinates.


Somewhere along the line, Ghent manages to get Ingrid to check out the Ultracline. Almost as a passing thought, she does locate two 'unexpected' circuits. This is mostly because she's gotten so used to dealing with Vultan's high-tech sensors and systems that lower tech stuff is easier to spot.

The first circuit isn't anything that is dangerous/lethal, but she just doesn't have the time or focus to fully analyze it... maybe just super-Bluetooth.

The second one is more intriguing to Ghent because it's a transponder! There's no way to know if Redthane was aware of it, but why would you put it into the Captain's chair?

Its transponder ID has it registered as the Independent Far Trader Starfang out of Tyr.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:38, Sat 08 Apr 2023.

Although you've been receiving communications requests from Palindrome since you entered the system, it's only begun to get more insistent the last two days.

While what you are doing isn't clearly visible from the planet, their sensors can clearly detect activity. Since you could be in possible need of rescue--three ships all down on the ice moon, they are 'offering' rescue services, clearly anticipating salvage opportunities.

The authorities are clearly reluctant to 'interfere', but curiosity, business, and greed are starting to tip their hand.

"This is Commander Krimson Onaki of the the Palindrome Space Force," is the latest comm. "Do you need assistance? REPEAT: Do you need assistance?"

"We have state-of-the-art rescue ships and services to assist you if you require it. If you do not need rescue assistance, then I am afraid I must insist that you identify your intent, purpose and operations. This close to Astrogo, you represent a major potential threat to our security, trade and economy."

"REPEAT: Identify intent and operations... or we will be forced to take a defensive posture."

Ghent grumbled at the security force’s arrival. What would Varca say when he cut him to the comm? At that point in time, Ghent figured giving Varca no chance to respond might be better for eveyone. Besides, if things went sideways, he knew enough about Varca to know that he was already thinking about cutting them into shreds, so giving him some time to make a plan might be beneficial anyway; “Greetings Palindrome space force, this is Ghent Bel Andis, Captain of the Salvage Team Oasis Bravo. One of our ships was stuck in the ice after having to do an emergency landing. The crew and personnel are now fine, we’re currently making a few last minute repairs and will be on our way. We appreciate your concern, and apologize for not hearing your comms, there seems to be interference from the moon’s ice structures.”

In such situations it was best to explain everything that the others might be seeing. A rescue attempt after an emergency landing would explain the ice excavation, the three ships, and the activities in this area of the moon. He didn't want to bring attention to the other vessel still in the ice, but he hoped the three ships were going to block that particular detail from their scanners.

The last thing he wanted was for their security force to claim the wreckage, but the fact that the team beat them to the most interesting parts that could be salvaged, he was ready to cut their losses. They had better things to do, but alienating the local security force wasn’t going to help things. Unless of course they had to tip their hands and fight their way out…


10:25, Today: Ghent Bel-Andis rolled 10 using 2d6+5 ((2,3)) persuade to stand down (int and persuasion)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Sat 08 Apr 2023.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 111):
[Coolblue, moon of Planet Pallindrome]
[After Redthane's Surrender, Later That Same Day.  Post-Battle Crew Assembly, aboard Mercifuge]

     "Aw-right, aw-right...I'm glad to hear everyone approves of the change in Management!" Varca jokes "So, then, like I said, before moving on we're gonna stay here and salvage a crashed ship.  We're also gonna swap a bunch of you around between all three ships--so wrap your heads around moving to a new ship!  Plus there're a few minor repairs to make--oh!  And we're gonna be taking advantage of all this free water-ice around us and make a lot of fuel.  So, I hope none of you are allergic to shoveling snow!"

     "When we do drop down to Astrogo you'll all get at least forty-eight hours of Liberty--some of you have been cooped up aboard ships for quite a while, so you will get to stretch your legs a bit.  Maybe we'll buy some high-quality consumables for all ships, when we sell some of our salvage, down there.  Which reminds me--Captain Grudge!  I want at least two tons of that ship's hull material, once it's been processed, placed aboard Vultan.  We'll have a use for it, later."

     "Now, it's no secret that, when we leave Pallindrome, we'll be heading for Planet Torpol.  That's a few jumps away, and we're gonna be making a best-time transit with only a few short stops along the way.  Anybody wants to walk away whenever we do make a stop, just speak up.  But once we set down at Torpol I'm expecting a stay of several days--and all of you will be free to explore the pleasure pits of Torpol to your hearts content during that time."

     "But hear me now!  It would be better for any of you who participated in the raid on Torpol, under Captain Redthane's command, to keep your mouths shut about that!  'Cuz...while I feel for all'a you like you were my brothers ... just like my actual Brothers, I will toss you out the airlock if the Torpol Law Enforcers grab you.  When we get to Torpol, you ain't never been to Torpol!  Got it?"

    "We're going to give all of you the rest of today--and tomorrow--to wrap your heads around all this newness.  But first, let me fill you in on the new Command Structure..."

     Varca bows his helmet covered head, then reaches up and removes the helmet, tucking it under his left arm.  When he looks back up, his pale skin and bright red eyeballs are quite evident.

    "My name is Varca Lexand and I'm your Commander.  Any of you Bad-Asses think you've had a hard life--if you recognize what this means..." Varca points at his eyes, "...then you know that your hardships are equal to a Play Date, where I come from."

     "Next in the hierarchy are First Captain Theodore, commanding Vultan, and Scholar Zhouth.  All three of us speak with one voice; I make the plans, Captain Theodore runs all space operations, and Scholar Zhouth acquires our information and intelligence."

     "Captain Theodore was, for many years, an Imperial Navy Officer.  He served under, and was mentored by, Admiral Jaimei Darokyn--perhaps you've heard?  Captain Theodore came out of Retirement and left his homeworld by request, to take out Ferrick Redthane.  I should warn you that, like his mentor, he isn't a very...forgiving...person."

     "Scholar Zhouth...well...Zhouth used to work in those super-secret laboratories that The Imperium denies that they operate.  He's an outstanding researcher who's extremely committed to gathering any information he seeks.  As a joke, I often call him quiet and bookish.  But people--I've seen him at work and as a Vespexer, I tell you...he scares me."

     Varca raises his right hand to point at Krrsh, "Second Captain Grudge, there, is in command of Mercifuge.  Now, some of you may think Captain Grudge looks familiar--and you'd be correct to think so--it's a familial resemblance.  Captain Grudge once had a twin brother that you might have known.  For reasons which he wishes to keep private, Captain Grudge never wants to hear his brother's name mentioned in his presence.  I suggest you all heed that request, as I have given him permission to knife anyone who ever speaks of his brother.  Be warned."

     Varca next points at Ghent,

     "Third Captain Ghent will command Janal Torsk.  Captain Ghent smiles a lot.  It's been my experience that folks who are really good with knives smile a lot..." Varca pauses to give a big smile, "...and I'm told Captain Ghent is extremely good with knives."

     "Also, as Vultan is the flagship of this outfit, you should take it for granted that any member of the command staff of that ship has my ear--because they do.  So, treat them as a Senior Officer to yourself."

     "Okay, one last opportunity for questions, and we'll wrap this up..."

OOC1: "command staff" = Player Character
OOC2: I say this often "Varca Lies."  Well...maybe it's more accurate to say that "Varca Equivocates" ("...uses ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself...").  In his 1st Term (as a Thief) he tried to be a Con Man (he wasn't very good at it) as well as a B&E specialist (he's better at that).  So, as an "Equivocator" Varca often tells people what he thinks that they want to hear in order for them to do what he wants.  Thus, he tells a group of "Bas-Ass Pirates" that he & his buddies are bigger "Bad-Asses", because he thinks that's what they want to hear in order for them to follow us.  See?  It's all very complicatedly simple...

Teddy nods when he is mentioned, letting the pirates know who he is. He smiles inwardly at the lies Varca tells.

Zhouth had changed back into an ordinary (by his standards) outfit by the time the assembly was called, and he had settled himself somewhat off to the side of the proceedings, tapping away at his comm in the perfect (if still eye-rending) image of someone for whom research and knowledge came before all other concerns.

Except for the moment that Varca declared that Zhouth scared him. That prompted a several seconds long fumble with the comm as it threatened to fly from his grasp even as he threw a skew-eared look of mixed shock and disbelief the Vespexer's way. Somehow he managed to regain control of the device just before he looked back at it, though it was several moments of silent breath-catching before he started working on it again.

And we're taking this show on the road...

=============================================================================


The assembled multitude takes it all in with large grains of salt. For the most part, they are used to threats... it's what happens afterwards that concerns them. No shootings or stabbings does send a wave of relief over them.

A few smile at Captain McFarlane when he nods.

"Would you rather we call you Commander Bad Ass or Commander Varca?" one of them calls out, which causes a few chuckles.

At mention of Grunge and his brother, several of them give Grunge a speculative look which brings forth an assortment of shoulder shrugs, shakes of the head, and agreeing nods. It's hard to tell who's buying what, though.

Varca's comment on Ghent generally causes a wary look.

It's his comment on Zhouth, though, that seems to scare them the most!


=============================================================================


"Copy that, Vultan," Palindrome Space Force command responds to Ghent's reply. "You had us worried there for a bit. We were naturally concerned about potential pirate activity."

"Astrogo can handle all three ships. Let me officially welcome you to Palindrome."

By this time, salvage and refueling estimates had solidified and command had figured out what it was going to do, so landing requests had been specifically requested. And clearance given.


=============================================================================


Ghent is asked to distribute the salaries and bonuses to the crew... with Zhouth's assistance since he's the official quartermaster.





Since each ship had a full compliment, the monthly pay for each ship should be 21,000Cr. However, Mercifuge is missing its XO, so 6,000Cr less this month. On the other hand, Torsk is paying an extra 8,000Cr to the 4 marines, even if they are in coldsleep for the trip.

The 4 crew of the Mercifuge each get a sign-on bonus of 1,000Cr promised to them back on Theev.

The 9 crew of the 2 ships each get 1,000Cr for 'ice breaking', and the winning team gets 6,000Cr.


=============================================================================


Two tons of the salvaged Harrier are transferred to the Vultan for future 'investment'.

Once all salvage and refueling operations have been completed, the three ships lift off from the ice moon and follow the landing vectors to Astrogo--Palindrome's downport; there is no highport.

It is a poor, low population world and the small Class-B starport reflects that. In fact, it's a wonder that a starport even exists. Yet clearly enough trade passes through to support it, mostly on its way to and from Theev. The entire city is Startown--extraterritoriality. There is very little else outside the city or anywhere else on the thin atmosphere planet.

Since the Janal Torsk is now the only ship flying with an empty cargo hold, it can't hurt to see if anything is available on Palindrome. Turns out there's a lot of cargo passing through the system. It's generally not high-ticket items and the local tariffs can be a bit daunting.

After all the extra fuel, the Mercifuge can still haul 40 tons.
The Janal Torsk has room for 64 tons.


Everyone on the planet pretty much works for Princess (this month's preferred title) Yemar whether directly or indirectly. That includes the starport's Cargomaster Glick Lindstrom. His palms are the ones you want to grease if you want something done. Isn't that right up Zhouth's alley?

You are able to sell the 20 tons of Harrier salvage as uncommon raw materials at 20,000Cr per ton, for a total of 400,000Cr. The starport does build starships.


=============================================================================


Once the ships have landed, the crews can disembark for shore leave. Heading into Startown, there are two sectors--Dirt and Gloss. Dirt is where the bars are while Gloss is the 'upscale' section. Buying any gear in Gloss costs 200% market value with only a 50% chance of an item even being available.

Dirt is where you'd get drugs and 'illegal' substances though nothing is really illegal on Palindrome.

The noteworthy bars include:

Crusty's: 32 varieties of native seafood; it's an acquired taste, but the splan is a delicious delicacy.

Armageddon: amateur UFC nightly; go 3 rounds vs. local champs Ugor or Derox for free drinks.

Seventh Laser: you aren't having fun yet if you haven't shot something!

Tarlton's Hole: always described as 'smooth'; best whiskey.

Crimson Bull: mechanical bull named Crimson; win 100Cr if you can ride it for one minute.


=============================================================================


Varca is walking down the ship's corridor when he passes a person he doesn't recognize. The heavyset man tries his best to be inconspicuous and just walk on by but can't pull it off.

"Who the hell are you and how'd you get on my ship?" demands Varca as he stops the man.

"Kazgar, sir. For passage off Theev, you said you were hiring me to run the starport engineering on a place called Asim."

"I've just been keeping out of the way; didn't want to go cold, so I've been dimming on Nirvanitol most of the time."


=============================================================================

If anyone's looking to get paid as Crew of the Vultan (above and beyond normal expenses), now's the time to speak up!

Other things that need to be dealt with while on Palindrome include:

#1: Crew reassignments.

#2: Restock and resupply all three ships.

#3: Purchase any 'extra' luxury items for the crews.

Perhaps no one was more surprised than Viridian that Grunge had stepped up into the Captain's role with unexpected competence although still a little weak on authority. On his own initiative, he'd contacted starport authority and had the power-water-waste umbilical connected to the Mercifuge. He didn't even balk at the high cost; sometimes you just had to bite the bullet.

It had been an interesting four days down (up?) on the icy moon named Cool Blue. He wished he could claim he'd been inspired to do the Ice Breaker competition, but it had really been more of a practical necessity. That ice wasn't about to jump into the fuel processors on its own!

And that way, no one had to keep watch on these new not-quite-trusted-yet crew. Well, not exactly.

Other issues were now someone else's problem!

As he exited from the ship, he met up with some of the Vultan's crew.

"Kira! Rayjay! Rejji!" he called out to them. "Are we looking for fun or trouble? Not looking good for either, if you ask me."

"I like to think I can do Smooth with the best of them but the idea of shooting a laser inside a bar--at the owner's invitation--seems like too unusual an opportunity to pass up."

"How about it? Anything catch your interest?"

"I'd invite the Doc along... you know--just in case... but I think he's going to be busy medically re-certifying everyone."

Kira smiles, happy for a chance to stretch her legs. "You know what? I'm up for anything tonight, especially if it involves seafood! I've heard the splan at Crusty's is a must-try. Let's kick off our shore leave with some exotic cuisine and see where the night takes us!"

Teddy was hungry, his first thought was taking Ingrid to a fancy restaurant when she could get away from engineering for long enough to eat.

7 Int + Broker.

Rayjay had been looking over the local market's cargo manifests when he heard Viridian in his ear. He honestly wasn't sure if they could turn a profit on the assorted cargo, but it was quite convenient, almost suspiciously so that all the cargo on offer could be fit into the two ships without leaving any behind.

"Fun is fine in my book, last time I went lookin' for trouble I woke up in intensive care heh-eheheh." He chuckled deeply at his internal joke. Good times, even if he could barely remember it.

"But if you're lookin' for funds, you'll need to track down t'e Captain. But in t'e meantime I t'ink I'll look for t'e Ghent myself and 'ave 'em double check t'ese market manifests. After t'ough, I'm more t'an game for t'is Smoot' place ya' talked about." He said, barking down the hall at his fellow crew before hopping out of his station to go track down Ghent and see what he thought about the cargo on offer.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Sun 09 Apr 2023.

Not even Ingrid could stay wrapped up in engineering all the time, and now that the Vultan was docked at a starport, her responsibilities as the chief engineer were just about zero.

Teddy still has to drag her away from electronic reams of tech schematics but that goes easier on an empty stomach.

The closest thing to a 'fancy' restaurant in Astrogo is the Purple Traggle. It serves quality comfort food but wine starts at a 1,000Cr a bottle since nothing is made locally and it all has to be imported. It is advised you stay away from the znak--a 'would-be' wine equivalent made from the local zinzin 'fruit'--unless you have a cast iron stomach.

The Purple Traggle's claim to fame is the pair of live traggles they keep on display. The native purple creature is kind of half-aardvark, half-chicken, making it rather disturbing to look at for very long but kind of like a trainwreck that you can't look away from. The challenge is can you finish the meal before you have to leave.

A meal for the two of you costs 200Cr. You could pad that a bit if you wanted to with a fancy desert such as throam (pickled fish egg flambe with boom-boom sauce), but all the meals are a standard price.