In reply to Varca Lexand (msg # 434):

"C'est merde Varca! You are being asked to be zhe privateer. Zhe princesse will 'andle zhe political ordures."

"The king has visions of glory, though most people would call them delusions," Princess Rao replies.

"Yes, he wants the return of the old Empire of Sindal though he thinks of it as the Empire of Drinaxi. His idea of an empire is distorted. All he sees... all he wants... is the Good Old Days... the glory, the pomp-and-circumstance, the prestige, the trade and the wealth. He believes that an alliance with the Imperium will prevent what happened from happening again."

"Who knows... he may be right."

"Of course, we all resent what the Aslan did. It was uncalled for. Had they just destroyed the Palace and all those that lived in it, the problem would have been solved and people could have lived in harmony and trade continued."

"My personal opinion is that it was a gross act of stupidity. Drinax was a perfectly good world, with value, with resources. Why throw all that away for someone's greed?"

"While I like to think my own motives are bit more altruistic, I am well aware of the royal stance... that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I wish to see my people have a better life, to bring back the living conditions they once had. And, yes, once I get a taste of the Good Life, I am quite sure I won't want to give it up. How far I'll go to keep it... only time will tell."

"The Zhodani are fair game. So is the Florian League and other worlds... until they become Drinax's allies."

"While Prince Harrick was being rebuilt, it wasn't known whether he could really be saved, or, if he was, what his mind would be like. At the demand of the people... the court... the King named me his heir rather than Harrick."

"It's been so long since I talked to Harrick before his rebirth, I can't really say if he's still my brother... or if something inside him had been forever broken. What I do know is that he wants to be king. He hasn't confronted me directly about the issue, but he has been gathering support at court, particularly the Scholar's Tower, for him to be declared the Royal Heir. But I can say that he is not the same... that he's different in some intangible way. It certainly isn't unreasonable considering all he's been through."

"I think he's also afraid that the Aslan will come back and finish what they started. I'm sure he believes that this gambit isn't worth it."

"This ship's crew was killed by a drive malfunction that blasted them all with a lethal dose of radiation. The ghost ship drifted, lost, in the Oort cloud for 200 years before it was discovered only 6 months ago."

"It's taken some damage in that time, but, as you can see, it's still space-worthy. It'll be your responsibility to make whatever repairs you feel are necessary."

"As for the mission down on the planet, that was both a test... on several levels... as well as a lesson."

"Are you in?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:14, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

Teddy says nothing for a bit, chewing his lower lip. He looks around the group, "It costs money for repair and upkeep. Radiation killing the last crew doesn't sound good either. I say it depends on what the ship needs now. If it is space worthy for the foreseeable future, okay."

     Varca raises a hand, gesturing for his friend to wait a moment, while Princess Rao speaks.  Once she finishes, instead of answering her question, Varca addresses his francophone friend.

     "Cyrus, just because I'll grab-up any un-attended object that catches my fancy," Varca says to Cyrus, "And that I'm quite willing to knock-down anyone who gets between me and the object that I want to grab-up, does not mean that I crave the Privateer Lifestyle.  I happen to like being able to go Home--piece of shit that my home is--without everybody and their cousins shooting at me.  I also enjoy spending time with my Family--even though we're an Endangered Species-- whenever I can.  So this isn't a quick or easy choice, even for an amoral Raider like me."

     Varca turns his attentions back to the Princess,

     "Now, having said that, I also have no problem, whatsoever, with projects that offer to help people while making a profit from providing that help--as long as the help provided is real and significant, and not some kind of scam.  Amoral I may be, but I still have Principles."

     "Princess, you have been surprisingly honest in admitting to being prone to the foibles of success, just as all people are." Varca says to Princess Rao, "So I am inclined to believe you when you say your desire for this operation is to establish within the region a zone where regular people can live in comfort and prosperity, with safety and security, where they will not be prone to attack and exploitation."

     Varca gives the Princess an appraising glare, "Is that a fair assessment, would you say, Princess?  You hope that we can do all that, and maybe spread a little glory on The King, just to make the old man happy.  Am I correct?"

Ingird frowns at the idea of Drinax allying with the Imperium, but she doesn't say anything. It's not her business. She nods gratefully when Varca apologizes for his language.

Ingrid gasps in shock when Cheshire mentions she is a princess and her more grim manner vanishes instantly, lost in embarrassment and shyness. She hastily curtsies to Rao as formally as she can. "Oh, your highness! I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Me a Duchess, goodness" she says quietly. She'd never imagined anything like that.

"I wouldn't like to cross the Zhodani if we can avoid it. They have powers of the mind" she says, waving her hand to illustrate. "They'd know where we came from for sure."

Ingrid fiddles with her skirt nervously. "This is hardly what I saw myself doing. But I don't know if I will get a second chance to do my duty. And I hope it would help the people of your region resist control by the Aslan or the Imperium.
I'm no soldier, obviously. But I'm sure there's something I can do to help."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:52, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

"I think it's safe to say, Ingrid, that none of us saw ourselves as doing this," Viridian says. "And that was the point--we weren't supposed to know who she was. If we had, we would have acted differently."

"Anyway, it's one thing to jump into something blindly, and another to jump in when you know what's waiting for you. Now, while there's something to be said for jumping blindly, in this case, if we get caught playing pirate, we know what's going to happen to us."

"I'm not completely sold on the long term goal of this gambit, but it does sound like a good thing."

"So, I'm in."

Cyrus nodded when Viridian spoke and then smiled at Ingrid.

"As I recall you are an Engineer of considerable education and skill. Zhese are far more valuable zhan any soldier on board a ship. More of use than gold or guns are zhe air, power, and drives."

  Zhouth took his time considering the offer, giving everyone else plenty to signal their acceptance. It was clear from his body language that he was balanced on the knife's edge of indecision, only coming down on one side of it at the last possible moment, and even then with some reservations.

  "I'm still not sure why I was asked to do all of this, unless there's something about life sciences that I haven't been told yet," he began, waving both hands side to side in an alternative form of shrug. "But I suppose I can stay with this and see what happens. It sounds like we'll be visiting Drinax anyway, so I can drop in on the people I was supposed to drop in on while we're there. Then they don't start wondering where I am, which makes this easier."

  His hands went down and clasped together as his ears twisted askew and he offered up an uncertain grin. "We agree though that doing this sort of thing means no personal vendettas deciding strategy? I don't know much about all of this, but I do know that those things will get us killed if they're put in charge, and I'd really rather not have that happen!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

"I'm in, knowing a noose awaits us if caught."

Through all the talking and everything else going on, Rejji stood off to the side taking it in. He let the others speak and listened to the dialogue to determine for himself what action to take.

It seemed most of these people were in, and a few were hesitant, but Rejji weighed that against the reality that he knew very few of these people, and it seemed odd to him that a bunch of mostly strangers would be so willing to throw their hat in. Granted, most of them seemed to be highly skilled in a variety of areas. He thought about his own skills, and his time in the Army had not prepared him for shipboard life. Besides driving and fighting, he had nothing of value to add to the group. Still, he had nothing going on planetside, so it didn't really matter which path he took.

Deciding that something, anything, was better than the nothing awaiting him, he throws his hat in. "I'm in. Don't have ship skills, but can fight and move cargo."

     "Don't be disparaging those skills, Rejji." Varca says, turning his head to address the younger man, "Besides, you are a Vespexer, like me.  That means you were born to survive in places where others just shrivel up and die!  You learned how to make do with nothing from the day you were born!  You learned how to raid others for what they had as a formal education!"

     "You're off Drinax, now, Rejji, and you're a Vespexer!  That means that, a few worlds beyond Drinax, not many people know much about us--they all think Drinax is a Dead World.  That makes us Ghosts from a Dead World.  Learn to use that--'cuz you're much more than just some thug who 'fights' and 'lifts heavy objects'."

"Oh, thank you" Ingrid says to Cyrus, returning his smile. But then she looks embarrassed. "I, I wouldn't call myself an engineer exactly. But I am good with starship systems" she admits.

She nods guiltily to Zouth. "I promise I won't cause any trouble because of it. It's on account of my father."

"I really ought to learn about Drinax." she muses.

"Here's another 2 credit thought," Viridian adds.

"As near as I can tell, we're all looking for adventure. If we weren't, we'd all have normal jobs. Also, each of us is looking for adventure that suits our particular skill set and our individual temperament."

"While we all want to find that BIG Adventure that sets us up for life, the fact is, none of us would really be happy retiring and doing nothing. I'm sure we'd all find ways to stir things up."

"In any other adventure, we hope we don't get caught or injured, and we expect a reasonable profit from it if we are successful. There are only two things that make this adventure different: the risk and the reward. In both cases, we know what both are and they are both extreme."

"The major advantage we have, however, is that we have a pool of skills to draw from. We're not dependent on our own limited skill set."

"That's, essentially, why I've decided to partake of this Grand Adventure."

  Any 'adventure' in space carried the same risk in Zhouth's mind: hostile naval vessels were arguably among the things least likely to kill you when you added up everything that could go wrong on a technical level. And in the case of any sort of remotely-illegal or merely unofficial activity, the likelihood that your compatriots could turn out to be your greatest danger.

  This was both illegal (largely) and unofficial (officially). The people that had been involved thus far... well, they'd been reasonably stable (mostly), but that was no guarantee if a lot of money or other personal goal suddenly interposed itself, now was it? And to top if off, they were all probably thinking the same about him. And one another.

  There was also an actual, no-kidding Alien Space Princess involved in the affair. Zhouth wasn't sure which way that tipped the balance...

There was no obvious dissent, though she couldn't be sure that one or more of them didn't see a profit to be gained by betraying her and the King.

"Set a course for these coordinates," she says to Cyrus as she hands him an astro-chip.

"It's for the Drinax system, just not near the planet. It wouldn't do for anyone on Drinax to see this ship; it'd undermine your ability to deny any connection to King Oleb and Drinax."

"From those coordinates, you'll be shuttled to Drinax if any of you want to go down to the planet or if you feel you need to meet King Oleb in person to verify this arrangement."

"Otherwise, I'll be making the trip alone and you'll be on your own from that point on."

"Oui, Altesse! It will be as you say."

While he could run a ship this size alone it was both inefficient and foolish to do so when it wasn't necessary.

"Monsieur McFarlane, your assistance would be of use on the zhe bridge? I seem to recall you know your way around a starship."

"Mam'selle Sigar if you would mind zhe Engineering section, perhaps with zhe assistance of Monsieur Varca, our odds of dying in transit will be greatly reduced."

Cyrus's tone was not one of command this time. He wasn't necessarily ordering people around but anyone who knew what was what on a starship knew these things needed to be done.

"Zhe rest of you should make yourselves comfortable."

He then walked back to the bridge and carried out his instruction arranging to transit them all to the Drinaxi system.

In reply to Cyrus Alexandre (msg # 451):

     Varca rolls his red eyes and heaves a melodramatic sigh.

     "It's only been a few years since we last saw each other, Cyrus--and I'm still not a starship engineer!" Varca says in a mock tone of long-suffering, "I've told you, I do my deeds on planets, not in starships!"

     Varca turns his head to look over at Ingrid,

     "But I actually would like to go to Engineering with you," Varca grins towards Ingrid, "To try and get a list together of all the things that still need repairing, on this ship.  If you don't mind the company?"

     ~~Which reminds me...~~ Varca thinks to himself, turning away from Ingrid.

     "Princess..." Varca says, to get the young Royal's attention, and waits until she looks to him.  When she does...

     Varca drops to his right knee, places his gloved right hand over his left breast, palm inward, and bows his head.

     "Princess Roa, Daughter of King Oleb, Sixteenth of his name, Ruler of the Kingdom of Drinax.  I swear loyalty to you and to your cause."

     "Further, as a former Star Guards Scout, I now reaffirm my Oath of Fealty to the Kingdom and the Throne of Drinax, and pledge my service and my life to Drinax."

     Varca raises his head, and raises his gloved right fist up in the air.

     "Drinax Eternal!"

  What was he going to do on the ship? Pirates weren't known for keeping high-quality laboratories aboard their vessels, nevermind ones of the specialized sort that he was used to. Maybe he could put his report-filing skills to use and handle the paperwork? Did pirates even do paperwork? How about the royally-mandated ones?

  Zhouth's thoughts were interrupted by Varca putting on a display of oath-taking that was dramatic in the extreme. Worthy of a vid, even. If the story of all of this ever became famous, they'd have to make sure that scene went in.

Teddy follows Cyrus to the bridge ready for space, the adrenaline flowing.

Ingrid lets herself daydream a moment on returning home and doing nothing. But she can't do that, honor demands otherwise.
"Thank you, your highness" she says respectfully to Rao.

"Oh, um... yes, I think I should be able do that" she admits when Cyrus asks her to mind the engineering section.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind" Ingrid replies to Varca, a touch shyly. "I'm sure I could use the help." She observes his oathtaking respectfully; it reminds her a lot of home and how seriously the Sword Worlds take honor.

  While it didn't resolve the issue of his role on the ship, one minor detail did come to mind. It wasn't significant in the grand scheme of things, but in terms of loose ends...

  He made his way to the bridge, and to whomever seemed most likely to have the free moment and technical expertise to do so, asked, "I left some things in a locker at the Asim starport." Zhouth shrugged apologetically as he spoke. "I wasn't expecting to be flown away like this, you know? Could you contact them and have them send it all on to Drinax? Or just sell it if that's too much trouble."

  "It's only some spare clothes and little things like that, so I don't want to run up the charge for keeping it there. I've heard how rates work when that happens, and we don't need to go bankrupt before we get started." A downward flicking motion with the fingers of one hand, in imitation of coins being let to fall, emphasized his point of concern!
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Wed 28 Aug 2019.

Cyrus noted the vargr enter the bridge and nodded at his question.

"Zertainly Messieur...Ah, I do not believe we have been introduced?"

  "Zhouth." The vargr put on the canid equivalent of an innocuous smile of greeting. "We weren't introduced because I don't think I've met anyone here before today!"

  "Mostly stuck to Deneb after leaving Gvurrdon, at least until this little trip started." He held both hands up and outward to encompass their surroundings, both within the Harrier's hull, and without. "A lot more excitement than I counted on out here, but from what was said, you're used to zipping around in space doing these action hero things?"

"I was trained to kill zhe enemies of Strend, and I am very good at it, but zhen I find zhat Strend she does not value me so highly as I do her..."

Cyrus shrugs with his hands out to his sides.

"...an zo here I am."

Cyrus transfers the communications controls to his station and begins to send the message that Zouth asked to be sent.

"Zo Messieur Zouth zhe Vargr, are you zhe pirate like your brothers I have met in space?"

  "What? No!" Zhouth appeared genuinely shocked by the assertion, even going so far to take a step back as he waved his hands side to side. "I'm an academic! I'd have trouble pillaging a bucket of ice cream, let alone a cargo hold!"

  He recovered and relaxed from his momentary state of alarm. "That's why I'm surprised to be asked along on a little thing like this. If we were being asked to pirate Zhodani nobles, well, maybe I could understand that, but I'd still be bad at the pirating part!"