"Ha-ha-ha!"  Rachando replies to Varca. "Friends and trading partners that we are, why ever would you think I'd take advantage of the current situation?"

"Truth to tell, all this political machinations is bad for business. As one friend to another, though, I'd hope you'd do me this one little favor. As you've no doubt noticed, there are only three trade ships in system at the moment. Until the situation resolves itself, these traders seem to be holding their collective breaths. They won't touch any in-system cargo for fear of winding up in the bad graces of the winning faction. Not that I blame them--in their shoes, I'd do the same."

"However, that leaves me with 20 tons of vinyl recordings destined for Asim. Not quite antiques, but the nostalgia market for the damn things never seems to die. If you'd prefer to take it as freight, I can do that, but I was hoping you'd buy in for 10%. Is that something you might be interested in?"

He winces at the Captain's comment.

In reply to Rachando (msg # 61):

     Varca considers Rachando's offer for a moment, then looks around the Bridge,

     "Ghent!  Please be so kind as to escort Tuan Rachando back to the Lounge and offer him another beverage.  Then go ahead and make this deal with him for the sale of these...vy-nul recording things."

     "I recall seeing such things in use, the last time I was on Asim.  It's a fairly common technology, there.  Look over Rachando's offer and make sure everything is on the up-and-up--make us a good deal."

     Varca gives Rachando a big smile, "Make his wallet hemorrhage..."

OOC: Not trying to get rid of you, Ghent.  Just trying to get Rachando off the Bridge.  We need to make plans, and I wouldn't put it past that cut-throat merchant to sell everything he hears on Vultan to anybody and everybody.  He's more-or-less trustworthy as long as you remember that every action he takes is to the sole benefit of himself.

Ghent squared his large shoulder in front of the Rachando fellow, keeping his face neutral. “This way, sir,” he said politely, but his stance might have implied that he wouldn’t be asking for his cooperation if the other objected. Ghent often found that his bulk often trumped any arguments anyone might have in disobeying any of his requests. He added a belated ‘please’, and nodded towards Varca when the man moved to comply.

"Holy flip, what a dump," mutters Kira in disgust as she kicks an empty beer can across the room. "This is even worse that the lair of Mad Jack McMad. This piece of junk needs to be steered straight into the sun."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:59, Wed 26 Apr 2023.

"Welcome home, Loyal Subjects of King Oleb XVI, Star Dragon Emperor-in-Exile of the Sindalian Empire!" is the next comm you receive. It is directed to the Crew of the Vultan rather than an individual.

"The success of your trading venture precedes you! I look forward to receiving your report... in person."

"What? They wouldn't DARE!"

"My Loyal Hawk Warriors will escort you to your audience."

"Eh? What's that? Fixing Rachando's ship? Well, of course they can repair Our Friend of the Court's ship."

"Lord High Commander Leandra of Air Command informs me that you are 10 hours inbound... after those repairs are made. She's transmitting a landing vector for the Royal Palace."

"Welcome back!"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:57, Thu 01 June 2023.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 60):

"The ship's status? As an engineer, it offends me. And as a homemaker, it offends me even more. If this ship has been repaired in the last year I'm an Imperial. And it hasn't been cleaned in-well, if we have gas masks, please bring them when you come over. It'll be quicker to list the systems that don't need repair than the ones that do... this is going to be quite a job" she said to Theodore on the comm.

She looked over at Kira. "At least there's the mystery of what's buried under all this garbage. Best case, treasure. Worst case, bodies." she joked.

Rayjay listened to the horror story of reports coming through the comms, curious but also hesitant to offer his assistance. "Miss Sigar, is it truly as awful as ya make it sound? Would a boardin' suit help at all? Or best I come over and assist as much I can to help reduce our collective exposure to such calamity?" Rayjay responded over comms at last, almost hoping she would decline so that he wouldn't have to look upon such a travesty first person.

"Thank you Rayjay, get all of you hazard suits if it's that bad, when our meeting is over, I'll come as well, Varca, can you answer His Majesty? Thank you."

Ingrid and Kira... pick a system and make a roll (or you can role-play it out if you want--think Oscar Madison from the Odd Couple tv show).

"Hang on," says Kira to Ingrid as she tip-toes through the refuse pit that is the Starlight Voyager. "Are we expected to clean this pig sty? I'm happy enough to verify that it can fly but I'm not going to play house maid!"

Ingrid laughed. "No, Teddy would only assign me a maid's duty in order to get me into a maid outfit. We don't have to clean it. Just might make it slightly less of a toxic waste dump in here."

     Varca nods acknowledgement of Theo's order and looks down on the Bridge Stations (when Varca & Zhouth entered the Bridge, they never stepped down from the Captain's Walk)

     Noting that the Comm Station is empty--and then remembering that Ghent had been sitting there, before Varca himself had sent him off with Rachando--Varca addresses Rayjay, who is(?) sitting nearby.

     "Rayjay, please set up a general broadcast," Varca requests, "No encoding--send this signal out in the clear and crank up the signal strength as far as it will go!  I want everyone in this star system to hear this..."

     At a nod from Rayjaynul, Varca snaps to attention, bows his un-helmeted head and brings his gloved right fist up to thump it over his heart.  With a self-satisfied smile, Varca looks up with his Vespexer Red Eyes and proclaims...

     "Greetings to his Imperial Majesty King Oleb XIV, Star Dragon Emperor-in-Exile of the Sindalian Empire and Monarch of Drinax!" Varca says, then drops his right arm to his side,

     "Star-Yacht Vultan, commanded by Captain-Lord Theodore McFarlane, returns from a successful excursion across the Drinax Subsector with many wishes of Goodwill from neighboring Planetary Leaders."

     "As instructed, we bring back News, as well as gifts of friendship, from all across the Subsector.  Testament to the respect your fellow leaders hold for your Imperial Majesty and Planet Drinax."

     "The Crew of Vultan is deeply honored that your Imperial Majesty would greet us personally, upon our return to Drinax System.  We hear your Commands and hasten to Obey!  Just as soon as we have finished providing technical aid to a distressed vessel, we shall make all speed to present ourselves before you."

     Varca again brings up his fist to thump his chest over his heart, then thrusts that arm straight out before himself,

     "Drinax Eternal!  Long Live King Oleb!"

     Varca gives a subtle nod to Rayjaynul to cut the signal--holding his salute until Rayjay nods that it is done.

     His stance relaxing, Varca assumes his more normal scowl upon his face, and once again looks around the people on the bridge--finally pointing at Viridian...
     (I think Viridian is still on the Bridge...)


     "Viridian, please take the Helm and call up software nugget 'Varca Show-Off Seventeen' and load it into the holographic hull system.  Run it as soon as it's ready, please."

     When the small program starts running, bright colors begin to spread across the hull until finally the entire hull is a glowing, pristine white.  The two wings are a bright crimson red, each prominently displaying the Heraldry of Drinax in shining gold.  Running along both Port and Starboard sides of the forward extending 'neck' of the ship is displayed the ship's icon--a Vultan bird of prey with wings spread wide and head turned to face forward--done in crimson and gold, over the white hull.


OOC: I'm hoping Varca doesn't have to make a Persuade roll in order to offer up that load of pretentious crap--he only just finished improving that skill on the Jump here--but I'm ready if one is called for (the roll will suck and Varca's head will explode--but I'm ready...)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Thu 27 Apr 2023.

Though his attention was mostly focused on his comm and whatever messages he was sending or receiving there, and he was only passingly likely to end up in the presentation's background, Zhouth put on a smile as the broadcast began.

To look at it, it was surely a smile for the camera, just in case. Or perhaps it was a smile brought on by the sheer absurdity of what was happening. Maybe it had nothing to do with Varca's broadcast, brought on instead by whatever messages he was reading? Then again, it could be interpreted as an I'm-up-to-something smile.

But whatever kind of smile it was, it was definitely a smile. And not at all worth worrying about.

11 using 2d6+3.  Comms + Int. Just in case.

Presumably Rayjay was at his station on the main deck, or near enough to it anyway so there wasn't more than a moment's delay before he began setting up the requested general broadcast, cranking the power as much as possible without damaging the equipment or possibly being misinterpreted as an act of aggression before finally giving Varca the signal with a curt nod of his head.

However, as Varca began his display, the old gunner couldn't help but smirk, surely the Vespexer was born to be an actor with that performance, however as it ended and the Mission Commander gave his salute, Rayjay cut the feed and deactivated the broadcast before giving him a thumbs up. "Quite t'e performance t'ere Varca, per'aps ya' might take up a leadin' role at t'e Drinaxian opera one of t'ese days?" He suggested mirthfully grinning and chuckling as he did.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:07, Thu 27 Apr 2023.

"Varca you sly devil, flattering fat Oleb like that to make him feel good. Perhaps we'll all get titled by his Majesty for all of this. Now, just go with the flow? After this I need to join Ingrid and Kira to get the yacht serviceable."

Now that the initial shock of the ship's condition has passed, the not-so-radical-solution-as-Varca's procedures quickly come to mind.

With the potential 'imminent' threat of the reactor not suddenly going nova shut down, the ship should be running on battery reserves, but there aren't any! As it turns out, there are batteries, fully charged, but for some reason, they were disconnected.

Once reconnected, Life Support should have kicked in. Of course, it'd already been running when you boarded and clearly hadn't been doing its job. No wonder! It hadn't been purged or the various filters cleaned, purged or replaced in over a year!

Once that's done, the air is freshened up within 10 minutes. No more rancorous odors!

That leads to the next problem and solution. Being a yacht, it would have been extremely unlikely for it not to have a servobot for cleaning up after the owner's parties (why else would you have a yacht in the first place?). Sure enough, there's a servobot... partly dismantled, not in its charging station, and not charged. Another simple albeit not necessarily quick solution.

Now it's on to the serious engineering problems: power plant, M-drive, J-drive, sensors and communications. It is not an armed yacht, so no weapons or fire control need maintenance.

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

The gravity field of the M-drive has always been capable of being reconfigured for towing another ship or even carrying one piggyback. It was always a question of power.

The Starlight Voyager is docked with the Vultan at and in an awkward location. While the Vultan has the power, there could be some serious damage if something goes wrong. So, yes, the Vultan can move with the Starlight Voyager so attached, but it is not recommended.

After the meeting, Teddy dons his suit and goes to help Ingrid and Kira!

07:54, Today: Theodore McFarlane rolled 11 using 2d6+2.  assist J drive.

07:54, Today: Theodore McFarlane rolled 6 using 2d6+1.  assist M drive.

07:54, Today: Theodore McFarlane rolled 8 using 2d6+1.  assist PP.

That action prompted Zhouth to worriedly look up from his comm and query, "Umm, Theodore? Who's in ship-command here if you leave the bridge?" One hand made passing stabs toward the floor of the command platform, the nearby door, and somewhere ahead - this time it was genuinely unclear if he was pointing at anything in particular.

"Viridian. I'll be on the other side of the 'tube' if you need me. I can come back with a very short walk. Varca and you can help Viridian. Rachando's ship is ready to explode, The ladies and I are engineers, we'll be as quick as we can. He needs to take his ship to a starport for maintenance. Anything else before I trot over there to help? Ask away if there is, unless there is a real reason I shouldn't."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Thu 27 Apr 2023.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 79):



     "Performance, Rayjay?" Varca asks, staring forward out the viewscreen at the red primary star of Drinax, "I meant every word I said...but yes, I suppose it was a performance, of sorts...in the sense that both Oleb and I were speaking not to each other, but to everyone else that was listening..."

     "My words may have been flattering, Theo, but their intent was to show to anyone watching that I--and by extension, all of you--were solid supporters of the King.  And you need to consider the significance of Oleb calling us, before we called him--to any member of any of these Factions that Rachando is talking about, the fact that The King honored us that way means that we--our arrival and our mission--are important to him.  Important enough that he was watching for us."

     "And did you notice that comment he supposedly made to someone outside the range of the comm pick up?  When he said 'What? They wouldn't dare!'."

     "On the face of it, that comment had no context to what he was saying to us--but to anyone who was listening, anyone who might be considering taking some action contrary to the Kings wishes--maybe even some action against the King, himself--those words will ring as a warning.  It will make listeners uncertain as to whether the King already knows their plans, or not."

     "Our response told anyone listening that whatever task the King had set us, we have returned both successful and rewarded--which sends the message that whatever plans the king is working, his plans are successful.  Also, our message made it pretty clear that we are loyal to the King and that we will obey him in all things."

     Varca gives the two a sly grin,

     "Though I would not want to take on one of our four-hundred-ton defense vessels--I am very confident that Vultan would ultimately be the victor in any such conflict."

     "So, everyone in this star system who heard those very public messages now knows that the King is up to something; that whatever he's doing its successful, so far.  And that the most powerful starship on all Drinax is one hundred percent behind the King.  And I'm willing to bet good money that, knowing all that, only folks who are truly desperate--or truly insane--would dare take any action against the King...right now."





     Varca nods acknowledgement to Theo, then turns to Viridian,

     "Let's try to multitask, here, Viridan." Varca says, leaning onto the railing around the Captain's Walk, "Rachando's hunka junk isn't going to move on its own any time soon, and we can't move at anything like full speed with Starlight Voyager docked to us.  Similarly, we can't just sit here, waiting for some sneaky smartass to try and kill us by trying to pin it on Starlight Voyager blowing up.  So.  Viridian, please set course for the Highport at the safest speed Vultan can make--even if that's only a couple meters per minute!  Glacially slow is better than no movement at all."

     "Rayjay--call the Highport and ask them to send a rescue tug out our way to take Starlight Voyager off our hands.  Remind them that, in his very-open signal to us, the King himself authorized assistance for a 'Friend of The Court'.  Tell 'em to send the bill for picking up Rachando and Starlight Voyager to the King."

     Varca chuckles, then nods at Viridian,

     "You have the Bridge, Viridian.  Make it happen.  I'm off to shine up my Suit--we're meeting with The Damned King in a short while, you know!"

"Aye-aye, Captain," Viridian responds from his sensor station to Teddy's command. "I have the Bridge."

"Too bad we don't have the Mercifuge with us," Viridian adds. "I wouldn't bother with the thu. According to the engineering logs Ingrid's cleared up, they should have the Starlight Voyager operational in an hour."

"But I can put the ship's underway..."

"You do realize that there's not another ship within half an AU of us, and we'll see them coming when they are still hours away. Besides, Voyager is  dead in water now. It's completely inert--it can't blow up."

Rayjay couldn't help but chuckle all the more. "Roger t'at Varca heh heheh." He acknowledged before clearing his voice and addressing a communique to Highport directly, putting on his best Palacer accent as he did.

"This is Vultan hailing Highport please respond, we request a rescue tug on behalf of the Starlight Voyager whose captain one Richando is to be considered a 'Friend of the Court' by King Oleb the Fourteenth's direct command and thus fully accommodated, including all necessary repairs to see his vessel made space worthy once again. Additionally do make all haste as his Royal Highness is awaiting our arrival." Rayjay said before waiting for their reply.

Zhouth was once again drawn briefly away from his comm-work, this time by Viridian's protest; he glanced sidelong and uncertainly at their stand-in captain, one hand rising in a now-hear-this index point, then folding into a fist before his fingers snapped open with force as he spoke very calmly and measuredly. "Among the many things that I learned working for those intelligence types, it's that stuff that shouldn't be able to explode still can."

"Yeah, Murphy's Law. Know all about it, Zhouth," Viridian responds. "Or are you talking 'spontaneous human combustion'? Watched all those UnXplained Mystery shows when I was a kid. Just because something can't be explained doesn't mean it's magic."

"There's always a reason for it. Did you know that flour was explosive? Under the right conditions it is.We're not talking C4 level of explosive, but it still is."

And your point of pointing out that ANYTHING can explode is? Oh, my god--is your head going to explode?!"

Zhouth stopped and looked up again, this time quizzically. "What? No, and I'm not talking about magic, or psionics, or unfortunate aerosolized air-fuel ratios." He snapped his fingers. "Intelligence types, you know? When there's the right political motive? It's not subtle, but it's usually effective. Starships, briefcases, fancy tea sets..." he seemed to trail off as he returned his attention to his comm once again, although not without a final, distracted mutter of, "I don't think that they ever found all of that Countess's bits and pieces..."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:17, Sat 29 Apr 2023.