A week in jump space had allowed everyone time to revel and settle. There was still work to be done - more than usual in the wake of the raid on the planetoid. The missiles hadn't done any meaningful damage, but protocol and prudence still demanded inspecting and dealing with each and every scratch. There had also been a few injuries during the fighting; even battle dress couldn't completely stop a lucky shot or an unlucky incident, although anything less protective would have surely resulted in a much higher casualty count.

And then there was knowing that another conflict might be about to happen. Would most likely happen. Their targets wouldn't be any more dangerous, but their targets' targets were far more vulnerable; if any of the race participants arrived ahead of schedule...

And so the Sharshana arrived at the gas giant's limit to find a squadron of Rosax ships lurking closer in: four mercenary cruisers, a patrol corvette, and a far trader, according to the initial sensor readings. There was no way that they would have missed the Sharshana's arrival, but neither did they necessarily know that the navy was on to them.

That was surely soon to change.

Iita chats with her now good friend Jacqueline : "I'm sure the captain will adopt the elderly tactic of the Horatii versus the Curiatii ; attacking the enemy ships separately one after the other"

Jacqueline shifted nervously. "It's a good plan but it seems like there are a lot of them."

Captain-Baron Thenroy stood tall on the bridge, his gaze fixed on the holographic display showing the Rosax ships lurking near the gas giant. His features hardened with resolve, his voice booming with authority as he addressed his officers and crew.

"Men and women of the Imperium, today we face an enemy that has dared to strike at our citizens and tarnish our honor. They have attacked the Sunburst Scatter, an emblem of our pride and unity. We shall not rest until justice is served and retribution is exacted upon these pirates!"

His words echoed through the bridge and were broadcasted throughout the ship. Captain Thenroy continued, his voice filled with righteous fury.

"We shall not falter, we shall not hesitate. Our purpose is clear, our target is known. The Rosax ships before us have chosen their fate, and we shall deliver it to them with unwavering determination. They will know the full force of the Imperium's might!"

To punctuate his point he slammed a fist into his palm although such a gesture was lost upon the majority of the crew just listening to his voice.

"These pirates think themselves clever, hiding behind lies and misdirection but two can play at that game. Helm, plot an approach course but make it look casual. Broadcast a message on open channels warning the citizens of increased pirate activity and that if they are aware of any activity to report it. Send over a tightbeam transmission to the lead Rosax ship asking them to do their civic duty and report on any known pirates in this sector.

If we can pull this off we will look like just another patrol ship and we can close the distance before we strike.

Gunners, prepare to engage all weapon systems but keep them at low power for now. Same for flight crews and engineers. Everyone will be at battle ready however we will not make it apparent for the enemy that their true nature is known until it is too late.

Today, we fight not only for ourselves but for every citizen of the Imperium. We fight to restore our honor, to protect the innocent, and to send a message to all who dare to challenge us. They shall know the fury of and the might of the Sharshana!"

The Chief Engineer, galvanized by the discourse, roared along with - presumably the entire crew.
Then she went back to planning. This obtuse captain had forgotten that there would be no element of surprise, since there had been so many ships escaping Taomina with the news that the Navy was on Rosax's heels...

"Warning, team. The Captain wants the enemy to shoot first!", she privately transmitted to her non-coms.
She made sure the ECM would activate as soon as the enemy fired on them, or target-aquired them, or even gave them a dirty look (so to say).

Then she eased herself and try to figure what she would do if she was the Rosax's Admiral; how she would ambush the Sharshana...

Jacqueline joined in the roar, then closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself before contacting the Rosax ship and passing off the request for information as ordered. Acting wasn't her specialty, but acting different than you really meant was standard for any noblewoman.

Iita thought : "The Captain-Baron's speech? Too long!
Where has gone the time when commanders just proclaimed
'The Imperium expects that every man will do his duty'?
and then 'engage the enemy more closely!' ".

She shook her head in disbelief.

Say what you will about Thenroy's tactics or the length of his speech, he spoke with fiery passion that was easy to get swept away with. Maybe it wasn't a speech for the ages but it seemed functional enough to prep the ship's crew for battle.


01:44, Today: Baron Thenroy Reziilka rolled 9 using 2d6+4.  leadership/soc.

Jacqueline felt very inspired by the baron's speech, although she had to hide it as she worked the comms.

The Sharshana's slow forward drift meets with no response from the Rosax ships for the first few minutes, but then the comms station reports an inbound message greeting the Sharshana and claiming that Rosax was hired to provide security for this step of the race due to the reports of raiders in the area, but they are willing to step aside if the navy intends to do so?

The ships' movements are similarly slow and unhurried, looking quite like what one would expect of a patrolling squadron trying to cover a lot of space around a gas giant. Jacqueline does note that their courses will put them away from the Sharshana's path as it moves toward the gas giant, though.

Maybe they were warned. Maybe they've just figured you out. Maybe they're just playing it cautiously. Any which way, they haven't yet overtly tipped their hand.

"Yune, I suggest you chit-chat with them, asking who hired them to provide the security. Was it the Race organizing committee?"

She turned to the captain. "This is a standard question, that we are supposed to ask if we believed them. Maybe they will ease up a little. Maybe they'll reveal some complicity in the ROC."

While not on the comm, Jacqueline told the Captain "They're moving away from us... I'm not sure if it's intentional but I suspect so." Jacqueline nodded to Iita and tried to ask them who hired them and make convincing casual chit-chat.

"Helm, maintain course. We are playing a game of chicken here. Given our present trajectories figure out when we will be the closest to them and if we go to maximum speed how quickly we can close.

If it is going to be too far let's re-assign them to cover a different quadrant that will cause one of the ships to have to close the distance with us."

The "casual" dispersal of the Rosax ships appears set to ensure that the Sharshana won't be able to intercept more than one or two of them by the time it reaches weapon range, although the Sharshana would certainly be able to catch at least one of them even in the worst case.

Comm chatter with them isn't very revealing: they only know (or only claim to know) that their orders and their provisioning for the job came from higher up. They have no idea who the contractor is. Is that a bit strange? Well, sure, but sometimes contracts demand discretion. A local noble or even a corporate interest probably wouldn't want it to be publicly known that they'd hired mercenaries rather than using their own guard.

It all sounds plausible on the surface, but of course you have good reason to suspect that something is lurking beneath it.


The instruction to redeploy on the grounds that the Sharshana will be taking up station is met with a short period of silence - presumably there are discussions happening on their end with the mic off - that ends with an acknowledgement and what appears to be compliance as the ships begin to maneuver toward their assigned area... still dispersed, and with three of the ships moving further afield still. It's a formation and set of maneuvers that astrogation assesses will, once they're in position, let them cover all of the approach angles save for the Sharshana's declared area with at least one of their ship's sensors at any time.

A legitimate setup for legitimate security, certainly... but for this group? The implications are a little more worrisome.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:35, Sat 24 June 2023.

a little blimp is blinking on Jacqueline's display. A direct message from Hrolf !

"Lieutenant Yune, I have a problem", the message says.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Fri 30 June 2023.

Jacqueline was busy analyzing the motion of the enemy ships, but she glanced over at Hrolf immediately when the message came in. She found her mind wandering to the time she had ended up in his quarters, and their kiss, although she tried to banish that from her mind, knowing they were in life and death circumstances right now. "Would you like me to come over to you or discuss it from here?" she messaged back.

"Froof", showed the message app. Hrolf was sub-speaking in his mike, so not to be heard by his teammates, and had activated the dictation mode. An indirect way to communicate than just hail Yune and chat, but it was discreet.

"Come over? As all of us, you're forbidden to move, even for a pee - which I'd like to, by the way, but I guess I have to pee in my spacesuit, hre, hre!", confided the candid Karinian native.

"So, let's discuss... I'm supposed to focus on our trajectory, and I see that you feed our computers with the enemy's vectors, but the captain did not designate a target... So I'm nervous, bored, and I can't focus because you're on my mind..."

There was a pause. Hrolf seemed to take his breath.

"Oh Jacqueline, there's a slight probability that I might die in this upcoming fight. Or you might die, but I don't want to imagine it... And our pair hasn't even started yet to take off and fly with majesty. I want this battle slash war to be over, right now, so much, so I could hug you in my arms again."

"Pardon me if this sounds awkward and unworthy of a navy officer." The pace of the words display was slowing. Hrolf would search his words, and the train of his thoughts.

"Anyway, it was a joke. I said I had a problem, and the joke was that you were my problem... distracting me from my duty. But this does not look funny anymore. I'm sorry. You... with your noble education... on the contrary... are adapting to the circumstances... Er... Please excuse this rant... stupid... Hrolf over."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:35, Thu 13 July 2023.

"We'll be all right. Astrogators aren't allowed to do exciting things like get hit in battle" Jacqueline joked. After a long moment of hesitation, she added. "I feel the same way. I've just been nervous to say it because the last time I was close to someone, it ended badly. But I've never met someone quite like you, Hrolf. I find that I don't even care what my father will think; I just care about you."
After her admission, she added. "Now, let's keep our attention on the battle so we're both alive to celebrate later."

In reply to Jacqueline Yune (msg # 18):

Hrolf pondered over Yune's message. He had a lot of reports and displays to ponder over - mainly tactical, and trajectories, and the real-time adaptations of trajectories due to the moves of the ennemy's ships. But he allowed himself to get distracted, although he should be ready to answer any question from the Captain-Baron, - which was very unlikely, but still...

So the noble Jacqueline had never met someone like him? Hrolf new too well that he was plain and ordinary, so this meant Yune did not meet a lot of people outside her class. So she just found him "exotic", because he was middle-class. Good thing then, he shall continue to act middle-classy and candid. Even in front of her father. He just had to avoid putting an unauthorized bun in her oven - so to say - which shouldn't be difficult.

He felt moved by her declaration of huge love, so he ignored her last instruction and asked "Tell me how your last relationship ended badly - in broad brushes, I don't want to make you cry. I just want to know what not to do."

Jaqueline sent back. "I joined the Navy with a friend. I thought that we were... anyways, it turned out he felt it was convenient for him to be associated with me, nothing more. I don't get close to people easily, so it was quite a blow"

Hrolf chuckled.
"I am, er, sorry to hear that. I assure you I'm not interested in your nobility. Your status would even discourage my kind of suitors... Thankfully, you're a very... normal person. Not haughty I mean.", he managed to say.

"Unlike the Captain-Baron", he added in his thoughts.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:48, Sat 22 July 2023.

Jaqueline smiled gently, although she wondered if it was a good or bad sign that she did not act like other nobles. "I'm glad. I'm not exactly the kind to be intimidating people with my status, although I do look quite a bit different dressed up for official events."

"Excellent!", thought Hrolf. "I'll be under the impression that I married two wives!" - he still didn't dare to joke out loud, and pass as a fool.

It was a strange moment to chitchat, but then he had nothing else to do and their exchanges might be his last words, so he'd better put them into romantic use.

"Tell me about your father. I imagined your father as a very strict warlord. I was worrying how he'd welcome me."
This message was last updated by the player at 18:37, Mon 14 Aug 2023.

Jacqueline stifled a giggle that would be inappropriate under the circumstances. "Two of me is more than anyone should have to endure."
"He... he's a skilled politician. Excellent administrator, great businessman. Our relationship is very... formal. He wants to make sure I'm a good heir and don't embarrass the family. He'd be tough on you, I'm sure, but he's tough on me too."

"What's your father like?" she responded, genuinely curious what it was like not to have been raised largely by various servants.