Here.

Since he was serving as quartermaster, at least when Beto wasn't second-guessing him, he spent the week studying up on Iryao. He was a bit perturbed to discover that they imported food, but then realized that the reason he hadn't found any cargo was because that trade item was already locked up by the conglomerates! A few tons of food was nothing! The Big Guys were transporting hundreds of tons, even thousands of tons of food every month to feed a voracious population.

At the same time, that meant there was something that Iryao had that the rest of the galaxy wanted or needed. Vultine furs were popular and expensive but still had a limited market. Nargal feathers were... he couldn't quite figure out why anyone wanted them. Drex was a possibility; it was a type of whiskey, smooth from age, but was there sufficient quantity to fill the hold? he'd have to get a case or two anyway.

It was a wet world... that explained it. Not enough land and too much water. The cats didn't like to get wet, so they hadn't yet developed aquaculture. Then again... most of the population was still Florian. Not quite slaves but under Alsan control, dominance and influence. Apparently the fish weren't particularly appealing to the Aslan. Probably due to the low oxygen levels in the water, which was due, in turn, to the thin atmosphere. Masks and oxygen would be needed if you went outside.

Wow! High tech! Floating cities! Not floating in the water (though there were several of them) but floating in the air! Ah. No official downport. Made sense, too--nowhere to land. Only small craft would carry cargo from the orbital highport tot he floating cities.

But what was the planet's resource? No mining. No industry. Oh, wait. Anti-grav tech. Floaters and gravsleds and gravcarts and gravbots. Grav circuits! Imported electronics that were then modified with gravitics and exported.

Wait a minute... a footnote. Something called Trip is a significant drug export, as is Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills. Really? So that's where it comes from! Neither seem to be illegal on Iryao. No wonder we found drugs in the ship!

During the week in hyperspace, Beto organizes the classes of Aslan language with Bannacor as the teacher, or some AI if Bannacor balks (but Bannacor would be more motivated. If you don't know the language, you risk your life. The AI doesn't care)
Passengers as well as crews are welcome.

[OOC see the W. ATTRIBUTE AND SKILL ADVANCEMENT thread ; if you don't know Aslan, your week of learning gives you Aslan language-0. If you had the skill at 0, it brings you to 1. If you had more, write +.1 behind. Since Cicero said : "if you want to learn, teach!", Bannacor as a teacher would consolidate his knowledge of the language, and could also do part of the way to raise his skill :)]

Beto studies Aslan herself, and raises her skill to 0
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Sat 19 June 2021.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 3):

Bannacor spends time teaching the others whe he isn't with the Aslan.

"And the third declination is... ah, bak'thar-i?" Daphne said, frowning, looking at Beto for confimation. Then she flipped the memory card.

"Bak'thir-a! Figures." She rolled her eyes, slapped the card back on the desk. "I spent twenty years in the DiploCorps dodging embassies to Aslan space. And now that I am supposed to be pleasantly retired..." She gestured to mean everything in general, and didn't finish the sentence.

"Right. Let's try again. Do we have any memory drugs? I could use some..."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Sun 20 June 2021.

In reply to Countess Daphne Arslan (msg # 5):

"It's going to get easier once we're immersed there", said Beto with a comforting voice, while pausing a subtitled conversation video. "However, I don't envy you, Lady Arslan, as you are supposed to do the talking for your diplomatic mission of rebuilding relationships between the entities... But you are young and with the elasticity of your brain, you'll manage it..."

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 6):

"I can help up front."

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 7):

(in Aslan) : "rebta halalala szi... - how do say 'invaluable'? ...Bannakurr-rajd", complimented Beto, referring to the help/contribution of the teacher/warrior.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Tue 22 June 2021.

"Six tours and never a need for more than Anglic", mused Baris, even as he bent his formidable intellect to mastering the language

Nicodemus doesn't have time to study Aslan, besides his translation program seemed to work well enough. Instead, he uses the canned instruction to pursue an investigation of the passengers. He doesn't have any suspicions, but he figures if any of them have an ulterior motive for their passage it wouldn't hurt to know it. At the same time, his study is as much an excuse for his investigation as his investigation is an excuse for his study.

Iryao is a unique place alright. The Aslan on board got more excited everyday to be home in Aslan space, Nora'a had been their old home but sadly it was now gone to the League. Time to sell your weed!

Beto reflected :
"The Aslan have no direct connection to Iryao, they are from Nora'a. But actions speak louder than words; we got them off of Nora'a where they were being hunted. True, we did it for money, but we did it. It's time we make it known to the authorities."

She sat on her communication desk on the bridge - where the regular passengers can't go - and suggested the captain to have Bannacor send the following audio message :

"Iryao space control, this is the Florian League merchant ship Old Lady's Hope, which you may formerly know as Aslan smuggler of previous denomination Roarl-Ooargl, but is now under new management. Apart from our regular cargo and passengers, we succeeded in saving five Aslan fugitives from certain death on Nora'a, where they were hunted -  names to follow. We wish to deliver them to the appropriate refugee service. Please give us a destination."

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 12):

"The beacon is on Old Ladies Hope, berth 124 of the Down Port, authorities will be waiting."

"I hope they got the part regular passengers right", Beto commented to Bannacor. "Because we're going to unload them first"

OOC : Does anybody want to do something while we make our way to the downport?

"I'm looking into trade items already," Carmichael answered.

"Not a lot of opportunities behind Iryao. Vadada can use food stuffs, especially anything exotic or luxury. We're better off picking up tech from Vadada to go to Tanar or Lafkin. Tanar can give us foods to take back to Vadada."

"Beyond Tanar, there's Sif. Nowhere to go after that. We'd have to retrace our route."

"Eahaw has been recently classified as a Red Zone. Still fighting on the planet between the Hierate and the Glorious Empire."

"However, there is an Ancient site on Tanar."

"Retracing our route doesn't bother me : don't forget we'd better be inside the Florian League every 13 weeks after having left Thrush [The player already lost the count of time], to wire one of our four MCr5 payments. Ideally, we would physically be on Thrush to be sure the payment reaches "Credo 'the Hyena' Laffinger" on time and he admits it."

With the permission of the GM, we won't keep the count of the time, and agree that when our PCs are back on Thrush, it happens to be exactly on the moment when we credit Credo! :)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Sun 27 June 2021.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 16):

Maybe? ;-) LOLOLOLOL

In reply to Nerull (msg # 17):

Actions? Did I miss a post?

As the Countess lands the ship at the Downport that shouldn't have been there, Yuri and Bannacor will explain to the Aslan aboard that they will be disembarking the regular passengers first because they don't know enough about them to know that they won't wind up returning to Nora'a at some point and telling others that the Old Lady's Hope was transporting/smuggling Aslan off-world. That, in turn, could jeopardize any Aslan still on Nora'a. So, better safe than sorry.

Other than that, he wonders what an Aslan starport looks like. The fact that there were Human passengers going to the planet must mean that there was at least a Human enclave there, however small it might be.

He wondered if there was an extraterritoriality status to the starport... and was there a startown? He was having a hard time imagining going barhopping to a dozen Aslan bars. Did Aslan even have bars? As Humans knew them?

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 19):

You find it a violent setting. There are t'talnik 'bars' where the Aslan go to get high in this clan. There are humans here, but they are definitely a second class set of citizens. Startown is separate from the rest of the planet, it seems to be run by a business as a business.

In reply to Nerull (msg # 20):

Iryao - A5588B8-C
Iryao is a pre-agricultural, moderate population world with over a hundred million, but not yet at a billion sophonts in population size.

Its economy and population are growing and living conditions are expected to slowly improve barring outside forces.

This world is part of the Aslan Hierate, as a single multiple-world clan dominate, in the Nora'a Subsector of Trojan Reach Sector.

This world contains an Aslan Clan Base, which may combine the features of an army base for ground forces, a scout base, or even a naval base for starships.

The world formerly belonged to the Florian League before being recently lost to the Hierate.

There are 400 Million sophonts on Iryao, approximately 145 Million used to belong to the Florian League and are Florian by descent. The Aslan definitely run things and the Florians are a lower caste of workers and bureaucrats. Star City has a population of 950,000. You can find shops that cater to the Aslan weed usage as well as bars and such. The atmosphere is thin, law level 8


Remarks: Pa Pre-Agricultural Ph Pre-High Population
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:40, Tue 29 June 2021.

In reply to Nerull (msg # 21):

The Countess lands softly at the downport after following the beacon, Aslan and humans greet you upon arrival

"Customs and security, anything to declare?"

In reply to Nerull (msg # 22):

World map uploaded to game maps, thanks to Yuri!

One week of intense study of Aslan language and immersion into its documentaries suddenly clicked in and paid off. Beto had planned to make a decent effort expressing herself in this language, fail, and finally have Bannacor translate, but her brain decided to think in Aslan and out of her mind came fluid and perfect sentences of traditional salutations, that she however let sink one by one.

Beto Arark rolled 12 using 2d6+2.  speaking Arslan (0) : Int + 2.

"Yes, we declare that we have saved five Aslan refugees from human hunters of Nora'a. We give their care to your family.

We the crew, earned money doing this, but also felt it was the right thing to do. A whole chain of solidarity of humans worth that name helped rescue them.

Not only that, but we are representing a high ranking pack leader of Nora'a.

Our lore-speaker" - she pointed at Lady Arslan - "wishes to open a discussion to your clan leader. Please clear the path through your pride for her."

[OOC : if the player of Countess Daphne Arslan is on holiday I suggest Nerull just rolls for her and we'll gloss over the details] :)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:43, Tue 06 July 2021.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 24):

07:22, Today: Nerull, on behalf of Countess Daphne Arslan, rolled 13 using 2d6+5.  diplomacy.

"I hope you don't mind," Yuri tells the Aslan passengers, "but we need to disembark the others first... for security purposes."

"Once they are clear, we'll get you into the starport."

"Do you have any family or friends or associates on the planet?"

Soon enough, the other passengers were gone, and the Aslan were disembarked, too.

Yuri was surprised by the vast number of Humans he saw. He hadn't delved into the population breakdown, only looked at the number. For the most part, it seemed as if it was just 'business as usual', but every once in a while he caught sight of one of the Humans looking over his shoulder to see if there was an Aslan overseer around.

Beto was keen in practicing her Aslan, so she even talked in Aslan to the crew, as if to better merge with the surroundings.

(Aslan) "Carmichael, the captain and me would feel sleepy (relieved) if you could take care of selling the catnip and the other stuff. You are the lead seller of our pride. We respect you. Do your duty, and the accounting."

The old lady even groaned and roared.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 27):

"It'd be better if Baris gave the orders Beto, male and all."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:13, Wed 07 July 2021.

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 28):

The Aslan waited impatiently, tails flicking about. They were ready to disembark! They would give it a few minutes though.

"No problem, Beto," Carmichael replied. "I was already working on it."

In fact, he'd been doing some exploring on the planetary web, finding out just what the catnip was to Aslan, whether it was legal or illegal, and just where it was sold, if, in fact, it was.

He could have probably gone through a broker, but the profit would have been a lot less.

Daphne tried her most trans-racial conciliatory smile, trying to pronounce as accurately as possible the complex Aslan sounds.

"There is no room for doubt of this statement: this one is honoured to speak to your leader. This one comes with all respect to your pride and leader. We wish to have a peaceful conversation, with benefit for all involved."

In reply to Countess Daphne Arslan (msg # 31):

The Noble Aslan looks down his nose,

"Agreed, Aslan nobility does not talk to mere common women, as noble humans do not talk to mere commoners," she replies, smile unwavering. "But you are far from common, noble leader, and this one is far from a commoner. This one is Daphne, Countess Arslan, and a great noblelady amongst the humanfolk. The wise pack leader is perceptive. The wise pack leader surely is able to recognise fellow noblefolk? There is no room for doubt of this."

A small pause to nod and congratulate the Aslan aristo for his acute perception.

"This established, let us, like highborn, discuss the business of highborn."

In reply to Countess Daphne Arslan (msg # 33):

[Language unknown: "Oneredder wasencour."]

Carmichael continued his research on what was good and what was bad on Iryao, across many categories.

As it turned out, the Aslan-equivalent of catnip was kind of like caffeine to Humans, with a little buzz added. At least, that's how one Aslan had described it. It did make an Aslan feel happy and mellow, but didn't seem to impair activity, judgment, or performance, which is why it wasn't illegal. If anything, it boosted performance, though only a little bit as it allowed an Aslan to work longer, particularly at something that was normally a bit unpleasant.

So, that was 20,000Cr a ton.

Next up was Passengers going to... Vadada. He found 4 middle, 6,000Cr each.

Then came freight. 30 tons of major, 20 tons of minor, and 5 tons of incidental.

That was identical to the speculative cargo: 30 tons of basic consumables at 2,000Cr per ton, 20 tons of advanced electronics at 100,000Cr per ton, and 10 tons of luxury consumables at 20,000Cr per ton.

And, finally, mail: 1 container for 25,000Cr.

Not sure what everyone else was currently doing, he just forwarded his data to everyone via comm/text in case anyone else had any thoughts or suggestions on it.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:40, Fri 16 July 2021.

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 35):

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 36):

"The wise pack leader will learn this: the Florian pack leader Balducci, at Nora'a, wishes nothing but peace with the noble Aslan, and gainful trade. The wise leader lets bygones be bygones, and seizes the chance to enrich himself and his people with trade. Iryao for Nora'a, and let peace flourish, and wealth flow abundatly. This is my message."

In reply to Countess Daphne Arslan (msg # 38):

[Language unknown: "Ss essearwer Oneredthance ble k iosti, thhe werousven preruture k om ati, tiooernte i ain p thothisoncom ou oveforati p ndisst, k mipr butiveersintion."]

Daphne nods, hoping the gesture means agreement in Aslan culture too.

"Savvy words, noble leader. I myself was a warrior in the human Navy, but I amuse myself with trade these days. It is a new time, my peer; the sun of war has set, the moon of trade rises to light our common way, humans and Aslan. I will drink to your health and prosperity, and that of your honourable race."

In reply to Countess Daphne Arslan (msg # 40):

[Language unknown: "Fofi. thtr! O oer ulwime i p ted he!"] he says showing his teeth in a smile.

Daphne smiles and congratulates the Aslan leader - and, as soon as it is polite to leave the presumably ensuing party, she gets back to her chambers to get comms and give Balducci the good news.

Yuri had no idea what was going on with the ship. Carmichael had worked his magic and found some possible cargo, but it was up to... Baris or Beto? ...which cargo they'd take and where they'd go next. That hadn't been announced yet, nor had a departure time been established.

As an experienced space traveler, Yuri knew it was always a good idea to get off the ship whenever you could and 'stretch your legs' because you never knew when you'd get the next chance.

So, he left word that he was going ashore and exited the ship.

He decided to stop at the nearest bar and order an ale. He wasn't sure what kind of liquor was made on the planet, or even imported for that matter, so he figured he'd start with something safe. With the first sip, he made a strange face before getting used to what the locals called 'ale'. It had a distinctive coffee flavor to it, but still seemed to be a variation of beer.

"Is this a regular starport?" he asked the bartender when he returned with a second ale. "Does it adhere to the standard extraterritoriality rules? Or have the Aslan changed that?"

"How big is the starport?"

He needed to learn what the boundaries were just so he didn't get into trouble accidentally. He certainly didn't want to get executed for spitting on the sidewalk like you could on Tyraxis. He didn't really know if that was true, as he'd never been to Tyraxis, but he'd met a spacer once who'd been there who'd been imprisoned for 6 years for protesting that his crewmate had been executed for just that reason. Or so he claimed. Yuri guessed you couldn't actually ask anyone who HAD been executed... unless that word had a different meaning on Tyraxis.

As it was, Yuri found it strange and a bit disconcerting that, here in the bar, there wasn't an Aslan in sight. Maybe the Aslan owner was monitoring things via camera. As he glanced around to see who was here, he tried to spot any signs of a camera, particularly locations where it would be smart to put one. Then again, pinhole cameras could be nearly impossible to spot.

It didn't take Nicodemus long to discover the score on Iryao. As per SOP he announced his presence on the net, and was, against SOP, rebuffed. That's when the messages arrived. Of course, the Aslan were civilized and of course AS SUCH they maintained medical facilities... for Aslan. The humans could accept Aslan medicine or take what they could get amongst themselves. At least, that's how D. Trask interpreted what he was told.

He interpreted what he was asked in much simpler terms. His college studies had included certain esoterica which he retained, and, in fact, lived by. When his screens went to rest mode, reminding him he had exceeded the suggested study time, they scrolled the same ancient phrases. Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.

Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.

Adherence to these disciplines had stood him well so far, Nico saw no reason to change. Thus, when the commotion of landing was over, and all had debarked, Dr. Trask took his small bag and hopped aboard a flivver parked a discreet distance from Downport. It wasn't a swift ride to a villa, or a slow jaunt to delapidated multi-bed facility. On the outskirts, Dr. Trask found human work crews, apparently unsupervised, clearing land and preparing soil. Whoever was in charge on Iryao wanted to grow their own food.

Such work isn't without hazard, and Nico spent hours in the makeshift tent clearing old wounds, closing new ones, and setting bones that would barely get to knit before being pushed, a second time, beyond their limit. That was all he could do. Nothing he said to the people would change that. This was obvious by the number of old wounds thick with preventable scar tissue, and the knobby areas around the broken bones. Before he was done, his entire body ached with the effort, and his mind was beat down by the incessant parade of pain.

He sat on stool for a moment, and murmured "no more" once before passing out. When he woke, he was back in the flivver, parked a discreet distance from Downport, as if nothing had happened. Except for the ache in his bones, the empty spaces in his bag, and the case notes on his laptop, the day had never happened. Subdued and disheartened, Dr. Trask came aboard. Saying nothing to anyone, he spent an extra ten minutes in the scrubber, took a broad spectrum antibiotic, and went to bed.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 43):

"Yea, they adhere to the extraterrestrial err territorial rules here in the Downport. It's a fair size but not huge. The Aslan let us run our own businesses, but tax us heavily.

Yuri found Beto on her back, lifting weights, huffing and puffing in a pink sweater and generally doing exercise in the emptying cargo bay.

"All this week learning Aslan, and then not being allowed to speak to them because they despise females! You can guess I am dis.ap.poin.ted, Yuri. Now I have to get back to the cardio-muscular training program that I paused", adds the red-faced woman.

"Regarding our travels? Don't worry, Charmichael planned everything. We'll buy - or transport luxury items - such as Vultine furs, Nargal feathers, Drex whiskey, you name it. Plus humans bored of being second-class citizens. We will cross the border back to the League, to Vadada. Sell and Buy. Then to Tanar and Sif, maybe smuggle weapons to Eahaw. Then retrace our steps to Thrush and pay our quarterly debt."

"However, we need to earn more money than just what the interstellar trade yields. We need dangerous and high profitable extra jobs on the side, such as what we just did -  smuggling Aslan refugees... To find those missions, we should find patrons [I mean the GM is supposed to introduce patrons to us, with missions proposals], even if those patrons are in the form of classified ads."

The old lady seized the opportunity to pause in her gym, gulped from a Nora'an energy drink bottle, and started a mental gymnastic instead.

"How long are we going to stay? Well, I imagine Lady Arslan won't stop at this first meeting. This is a whole planet we're talking about, and a full government. She has to go to meetings and parties, meet the military (who fear an plot by the Nora'ans to take back Iryao), meet the secret services, ally with the merchant's guild, undermine the oppositions of those who object to the reestablishment of diplomatic relationships, and among them the Aslan Rights Party, which records every Aslan persecuted on Nora'a and spreads anti-Florian propaganda."

"Not the kind of party the countess prefers!", Beto jokes.

"Anyhow, I'd say she needs at least two weeks of intense lobbying to leave her mark, and she would call to every resource on this ship, - as leader of a diplomatic corp -, sending for example Dr Trask to a medical school to discuss humaniti physiology. He may be assaulted while doing this, so he'd needed to be escorted, and so on. Some invitations and show-business ideas could come from the Aslan leader [i.e. rolling with our actions, the GM would throw adventures seeds at us. "You declare you're doing that? Then this happens."] and be adapted to our respective skill range [i.e. Beto as an ex-journalist would have to visit slums and write a laudatory report about the way humans are treated here. This is called character-centric plots :)]"

Beto shrugged. "Of course you may consider these as just other ramblings of mine. But did I begin to address your concerns?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:49, Sat 31 July 2021.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 46):

Sounds like a plan Beto!

"I wouldn't call them 'concerns'... just trying to determine an itinerary," Yuri responds. "It gives me an idea of what I might do to entertain myself."

"The male Aslan might not talk to a human female, but you could always talk to the female Aslan. They are the ones that actually get things done. The males hunt and posture and think they are in charge, but if it wasn't for the females, they'd still be stuck on their homeworld."

"The problem with that scenario is that if the males think they aren't controlling things, they get violent and kill anyone that doesn't agree with them."

"That's the myth, anyway. And from what I've heard, it still happens... just not as often as it did in the old days."

"Anyways... apparently the humans aren't exactly protected by Aslan law and authority. It only comes into play if an Aslan interest figures into the equation."

"I heard that a Mr. Kelo Trevor's kids have been taken by slavers and the Aslan don't care. They claim it's just human business and none of their concern."

"I'm thinking we might be able to parlay a rescue into a tidy profit. There's bound to be more than Trevor's two kids. Payment from one family won't be much, but ten or twenty might be. I'm not saying we do this with the expectation of getting paid for it, but there's no reason we couldn't accept a reward."

"There might also be an insurance angle. And I'd love to figure out some way to make the Aslan pay for their stupid indifference."

"The slaver's ship hasn't left yet. Probably looking for more slaves."

He waited to see what Beto's response and attitude would be. He didn't know how he'd do it by himself, but he'd been considering doing just that.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 48):

Krrshaeshgah. From the Glorious Empire, yes, Aslan were taken as slaves too!

"Yes, it's a nasty business," Carmichael agrees.

"As I understand it, Human law applies to Humans. Aslan law applies to Aslan and anyone else who is a Person. All the Humans on this planet are, by definition, property. They belong to one Aslan or another."

"I had someone explain it to me like this once: if your dog bites a neighbor, the dog can be arrested, tried and executed just as if he was a person. So, essentially, Humans here are like dogs. However, as long as they do what they are supposed to do, the Aslan leave them alone. With some exceptions."

"On the other hand, Aslan enslave each other. If one clan attacks another clan and wins, they are just as likely to sell the defeated clan into slavery since it gets them out of the picture completely, rather than let them hang around and plot and conspire to regain their land. If the defeated clan 'owns' Humans, they'll get sold into slavery, too. Most of the time. Even the Aslan aren't stupid enough to waste a valuable resource."

(OOC: Anyone else want to chime in here? Anzha, Bannacor, Baris, Daphne, Nicodemus, Oscar? Anyone?)

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 50):

"True, the Aslan of the Glorious Empire are pariahs and all the rest of the Aslan want them gone. They enslave all prisoners, though some they ransom if important enough. The nobles and such that they capture. Unless they wish to humiliate them."

Yuri is right, talk to the females if you want something done, the males just posture, until they kill you."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:56, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

The old lady was still lying on her back on a mat, and looking from below to the three men discussing above, a little puzzled. Then she let go her 1.5 kg hand dumbbells and stood up clumsily.

"As the mother of Gemmie and the grandmother of Del Tu, I couldn't stand having them kidnapped and sold as slave, or ransomed!"

"Let's round up the crew in the main room in 15 minutes, so I have a little time to shower and think", the sweating woman added.

20 minutes after she had called an emergency crew meeting on all frequencies, the Lady that should be retired and enjoying the company of her granddaughter, stood wearing the ship's white uniform, pad in hand. The meeting was recorded for those who weren't present.

"All right. Yuri Argonov, always well-informed, even on a planet of the Hierate, has informed us that humans' kids are being taken by Aslan Slavers, named Krr-sha-esh-gah, originating from the Glorious Empire. The local authorities don't seem to do anything, apparently claiming it's human business - we can assume they're in cahoots. Taking a commission on the trade, maybe?

Yuri knows about two kids of a Mr. Kelo Trevor, but guesses there maybe 10-20 kids. The slaver ship hasn't left yet.

You all agree that this is a scandal and we have to do something. So that's settled.

If we can, we could turn the situation into profit.

Here's the sketch of a plan, additions and corrections welcome.

I suggest a two-pronged strategy. Spike 1 : we lobby the local Aslan authorities, trying to obtain their help in arresting the slavers. This is a job for our diplomat Lady Arslan, maybe helped with Bannacor, because he's the best in knowing the language and the customs of the planet.

Meanwhile, spike 2 : we gather the ransom by calling out to the humans of the planet. this is an old method that was practiced decades ago, you may not know about it, called crowdfunding. Everybody pays one centicredit, and by the power of the mass, it becomes hundreds of thousands.

I'm imagining a media campaign, with crying parents begging for help. This may lack dignity, but the child's sake needs it.

Benefits here :
1) The human population begins to feel concerned; we could get information on how many kids were taken and who their parents are.
2) The local Aslan may be less able turn a blind eye on this kidnapping on their territory (I still did not get why they allow this, but I'm old-fashioned and Aslan-ignorant).
3) The Slavers believe they really are going to get paid.

Media was my job, so I can organize it, and put my face everywhere. So the slavers know me from "seen on TV". So they'll accept that I would be the one delivering the ransom gathered from the kid-a-thon. We'll probably settle for an exchange at an unofficial downport.

While I distract them with my rambling, haggling, and bad handling of their language, a commando with our best Marines (Oscar, Kohr-Rhun, Carmichael, Yuri, - at least) slips inside their ship, extracts the children to our ship and plant explosives - on the slaver's ship, need I to specify.

Then we don't stay to bear the full wrath of K, and we depart immediately, we jump to Vadada in the League - with or without the kids, it would depend of the result of the lobbying to the local authorities. Let's prepare for the worse, and consider that newly-freed kids are kids running the risk of being taken again.

This jump would put us safe from Iryao's authorities.
Being ready to jump anytime implies that Carmichael, as our broker, has already filled our cargo bay.

Once on Vadada we put the kids in the hands of the local social services.

Has everybody a role?
Nicodemus you'll be in charge of the kids, and.. why don't you come with me aboard their ship, to check that the merchandise is in good shape?

Anzha, you may help convince the humans to pay the ransom, by campaigning on social medias... or help to convince the authorities... and/or be part of the commando to hack their systems and open doors. Wherever you feel at ease, dear. 'Seems you're needed everywhere.

Baris, your coordination skills will be needed at all the stages, and above all when the time comes for the delicate departure of the planet. Also, the weight of moral choices, who to sacrifice and leave behind when the s*t hits the fan, lies on you.

Now, that's a first draft, and whoever has an idea, or an offer of services, may speak up. In order, raise your hand and speak when it's your turn. I also remember Yuri has to explain his idea about insurance??"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Sat 05 Mar 2022.

"What if they aren't interested in ransom? They will still get paid, they're slavers!"

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 52):

"I'll do my part Mrs. Arark!"

"Carmichael, do you want to reply to Mr Bannacor's question? ...
OK let me try to turn my mind into a slaver's head.
In order to get paid for slaves, they have to transport the slaves, feed them, take minimal care of them, then face the randomness of an auction
And instead of that, we propose to buy the slaves before they even transport it!
And they empty their cell, which means they could fill it again - with Aslan

Of course, it all depends on the ransom price, which has to be higher or equal than the selling price. And that's where you step in, Bannacor, because we have to estimate the standard price for a slave child.

And then we haggle around this standard price. And it matters only for credibility, since we have no intention to pay in fact, and if we don't have the total amount, we'll only pretend we have it. The old "I don't have the money on me" trick."

"I'm not sure they'll accept a ransom," Carmichael responds. "First of all, if they aren't female, they won't even talk to you."

"Second, this is more than just a 'business'. There's Aslan pride to take into account."

"Third, they may have a contract. If they don't fulfill it, it will damage their reputation and impact there business. I'm just saying, there are other reasons that they may not consider a ransom."

"Now, are you saying that you are planning on keeping the money from this crowdfunding?"

Nicodemus speaks up, "I don't think the 'mobfunding' idea will work. When they took over, the Aslan froze what human assets they could get hold of. I went into the community to help, and they paid me in kind words and what gossip they could spare."

"Other than that, I'm game to try the plan."

"Thanks both for your input. Let's see if we can address them.

-Males won't talk to me, but females have the power... Well, that leads to sending a pair of both genders to talk to the Slavers. Could be Baris and myself. I'm an old hag, so "expendable", but the loss of both heads would impact our functioning negatively. And I'd like to have the countess as an ace up the sleeve, kept lobbying the authorities. We'll decide later.

-They might not want to ransom. The only way to know is to ask them "how much would you want to sell your humans?". If they don't sell, we get rid of the crowdfunding part. But before contacting them, we need info on them. I suggest giving 8 hours to all of us to scour the local medias, and the street gossip, and the human community, for information about Krrshaeshgah - we don't even know if that's the clan's name or their leader's - and their "trade" works. [I suggest we just announce how/where we look and roll our stronger appropriate skill for that]

-Humans are poor. Nevermind, we'll just pretend we managed to gather enough funds. I produced news. I could make up fake news non-stop, just by mimicking my former colleague at Wolf News.

-if we get money from the locals and if we free the kids, do we keep it? Mmh, good point, Carmichael. Our debt towards "the Shark" made me forget that the reputation of our company is at stake. I suggest you - as our accountant - just eventually estimate how much our service was worth, deduce it from whatever funds we put our hands on, and give back the rest. Thus, if we screw up the whole thing and no kid is saved, our service was worthless and we give everything back. Sounds fair?

"I had it in mind to make the Aslan pay for their hubris," Yuri added. "I just hadn't quite figured out how to do that."

"Getting the Humans to pay just to get their children back seems wrong, even as a ploy. Not to the Aslan, of course, but that's the problem."

"I was under the impression that the Krrshaeshgah was the name of the ship. Does that translate as anything, Bannacor?"

When the meeting adjourns, Yuri will leave the ship and make the rounds of the landing bays and space docks, listening in (and recording) any Aslan conversations he can, and talking to the Human workers to see if the know anything about the slavers' ship and even the slavers themselves... things like... how many are there? Have they seen any Humans taken aboard ship? Do they know when the ship is scheduled to depart? Do the Aslan on board the ship have any connections to local Aslan?

18:29, Today: Yuri Argonov rolled 9 using 2d6+4 ((2,3)). That's with +3 Investigate and +1 Intelligence.

Pfui. Didn't get a good roll. It might elicit some information, though.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Fri 13 Aug 2021.

"It means Second Dawn, how ironic!"

"What slaver's ship? You mean the one they say is over at Gitmo rounding up everyone they can get their hands on? They're never there more than a day, the Aslan would vaporize them, GE Pussies and slaves and everything!"

As soon as Yuri reported this information, Beto tried to re-conciliate it with the previous data : if the Slavers raid lasted only a day (how did people know that?), how was it also known that "the Aslan didn't care and claimed it was just human business and none of their concern?" If they didn't care, why would they care this time and vaporize the ship?

It probably wasn't the Slaver's first raid on Iryao. The "vaporization" threat could be empty gesticulation hiding collusion between the authorities and the raiders. Be it money or tolerance of some raiding tradition.

Still, the team had to act on the worst case scenario : that the Slavers would get out of the planet at any time; so the OLS crew had to act quickly. She recalled on board those who had left the ship.

Beto glanced at the star map. 6 parsecs to the Glorious Empire pirate base of Alirar, the old astrogator computed. At Jump-3, this meant one stop in the empty No Man's Land between the Hierate and the League. A four-weeks raid. Or maybe Iryao was the end of a 3-steps raid that had started with Elihfoirl and continued with Ewoiftoil. At least they don't have to care about the changes in the price of commodities, she reflected.

While the crew was coming back, she hammered a plan, had it aproved by the captain [to move on the plot quicker and save time on preparation], and assigned tasks.

1) Set a flight plan to Gitmo, and move our ship to wherever that was. [Let's say Pilot skill. Daphne you roll for that. Your roll will tell us how much time it takes to get us there]

2) establish a communication link with the Krrshaeshgah. She tried her chance at that. [Beto Arark rolled 8 using 2d6+1.  electronics-comms.] OOh, was the Iryao Telecoms Services corporation a nightmare for foreigners. Yuri and Nicodemus were called to the rescue.

3) Once the comms is established, tell the Slavers we were coming to them to buy the humans back. "Yuri, you're the most formidable liar I know. I meant it as a compliment... And you're a male. Deceive the slavers over the coms. And Bannacor, help him avoid misunderstandings in Aslan language."

4) Once an appointment is settled, pass the coms to Daphne, with the instructions to sort out the attitude of the authorities, and negotiate the non-vaporization of the Krrash... the Krrnnsheg... the Slavers' ship. This would add more credibility to the bargaining propsal.

5) During the trip, Beto suggests the following teams repartition :
- Teams Coordinator : Barris (OLS bridge)
- Negotiators (on the Krrashae): Yuri (head), Beto, Nicodemus (to check the "value" of the Human prisoners)
- Intruders : Carmichael (head), Anzha?, Bannacor? Khor Ruhn, Oscar?
- Desperate Maneuvers Pilot, ready to ram or gun down the Krrashae, or back the Intruders with cannons, or whatever: Daphne? (OLS bridge)

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 62):

"You think fast on your feet Beto, good plan, my opinion anyway!"

Yuri was beginning to wonder if the old lady was a bit senile. That had never been his suggestion. It didn't necessarily seem like a 'bad' plan, just that it seemed over complicated, which meant more things could go wrong.

When she established comms with the Aslan ship, he began his spiel.

"Greetings, Your Lordship. This is YuriArgonov, chief negotiator for the Old Lady's Hope," he began, running his name together the way the Aslan seemed to. "We understand you have some cargo that we might be interested in acquiring. That sort of cargo is in high demand where we're going."

"We realize that you've done all the work so far, so we're willing to make you an excellent offer for your efforts. This would be a win-win for both of us. We get something we need without having to do any work, and you get a profit for your work without having to transport the cargo anywhere and do yet more work to dispose of it."

He waits for the reply before continuing.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 64):

"Yuriargonov, what cargo is that? What are you willing to pay for it if we have it?" the Aslan voice replies to you.

In reply to Nerull (msg # 65):

"Hello Yuriargonov, are you there? What cargo did you want? We are merely a passenger ship taking vacationers on a sightseeing tour, hehehe! How much to rent ship?"

"Ah, well, you know how these rumors get started," Yuri replies. "I'm sure you've started a few yourself. I know I have!"

"If you don't have a million-credit cargo, then I'm sorry I wasted your time. A shame, too. I know how pesky those tourist cruises can be."

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 67):

"A million credits?" he almost chokes! "I think we may have a cargo for you, anything in particular you seek? Mostly children with an disgraceful Aslan who did not fight to the death. We also have several breeding pairs."

"Really? That's much better than I expected," Yuri responded. "Let's just say I'm interested in all of them."

"How do you propose we go about making the exchange?"

Beto wrote a message on her pad and showed it to Yuri, out of the sight of his correspondent
"Our doctor wants to check the merchandise", it said.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 69):

Silence follows for a few minutes, then directions and instructions on how to meet. No more than two armed guards to cover the exchange.

"I have the greatest doubts regarding them holding up their part of the trade" Beto mused. "They didn't even send pictures of the children.
Still, we've got to organize the fight. Who's taking charge on that? Carmichael, Anzha, Bannacor, Khor Ruhn, Oscar?" [I suggest the character whose player is still active, replies and is in charge]

"My 0.02 Cr : they probably are setting up an ambush right as we speak. So it'll be a mistake to try to get there and be the first, because we won't. OTOH, if the Action Team intervenes while we are in a heated discussion and all the attention is directed to the negociators..."

"I'll be happy to give whatever care I can to the slaves, but I would like it noted that, in my opinion, it was much too easy to set up this meeting. It wouldn't be a surprise to find ourselves joining the cargo rather than liberating them."

"Doctor, we don't have to be physically present at an interview, we could send a drone with a camera and a screen, it's called a duplex, and..."

Beto snapped her fingers, illuminated by an realization, and turned to the former Agent:

"Wait, Yuri... That was the plan all along, right? A diversion. While all their military is preparing an ambush at some place, we're attacking their ship, right?"

"They didn't send picture of the children or any of the others because we weren't actually admitting that we were dealing with slaves," Yuri explained.

"I suppose it depends on their greed. Attacking us or kidnapping us won't get them the million credits. Besides, we're a potential... 'investor', I guess you could call us. If all goes well this time, we might be repeat business for them."

"I suspect that we won't get all of them at this first exchange. Just as we want to inspect the merchandise, they're going to want to make sure we're legit."

"I hate to put you on the spot, Doc, but can you use a gun? It's okay if you can't... just as long as you carry one. We're limited to two armed guards, so you'll have to pretend to be one of them."

"I'm thinking that the rest of you will want to approach their ship while the exchange is going on. No doubt they'll got commed about any assault... if anyone gets a chance... and that'll be our responsibility to take them out so they can't get back to the ship."

"So, who wants to be the second guard? I'm thinking Khor'ruhn might be the more intimidating-looking."

"In that case, I guess it'll be me leading the charge against the enemy ship," Carmichael says. "Unless you want to do it, Grouch?"

"Also, don't mean to put you under any pressure, Anzha, but is it possible you could help get us into the ship? Or give us an idea how many crew we'll have to deal with?"

"I've been known to pretend a knife is just a large scalpel, but if I'm to carry a gun it should probably be unloaded. I'm a doctor, dammit, not Wyatt Earp."

"How about Doc Holliday? He was good with a gun"

Dr. Trask throws a glower Bannacor's way, and responds with a single word, "dentist."

Beto's pad pinged and gave the crew gunslingers' ranking, which the commander summarized aloud.

"We're all similarly skilled, according to the last exercise. Daphne should however remain at the helm.
I can still remember how to hold a gun, but my hand shakes.
Baris and Carmichael are marksmen;
Khor Ruhn is an elite sniper, worth 5 average shooters!
The rest of the crew are average, even the good doctor, who can still fire straight to defend a life, and then cure those he wounded."

"I have a plan!", Beto shrieked with a glint in her eyes. "All the issue is to bring the attention to the GE pirates, despite their accomplice turning a blind eye. Now, if the Negotiators are caught in a firefight, and instantly, our ambassadress Lady Arslan calls the cops and pulls some strings? Now that would neutralize our correspondents...

We've got to have them do the first aggressive step - "Asl'Han shoot first", as they say - though it's not really important. Here's the idea : let me come with the Negotiators - there's no limit on the number of unarmed folks. Then I interrogate them like the Investigative Journalist I was, until they are so pissed off they basically charge at us. With the police coming at them, they'll have trouble getting back to the ship. Deal?"

"You're going to anger them into attacking you? Won't they tear you to pieces literally?"

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 82):

"Right, so I'll be represented by a drone. The drone shall record the interview, to show that they Aslan drew their gun first, 'ill the police called by Daphne arrives on the scene. Shall we move now?

- Team Negotiators (into the ambush): Yuri (head), Beto (drone), Nicodemus (to check the "value" of the Human prisoners), Khor Ruhn

When the interview starts, team Intruders (Carmichael (head), Anzha, Bannacor, Oscar) try to board the ship"

"Let's not be too hasty. That only sounds like a good plan if you assume the first shots will miss. Besides, why would an Aslan security force respond to a report of Aslan attacking outsiders? I'm not sure they would respond to a report of Aslan attacking each other, for that matter. Don't they usually decide disagreements by fighting things out?"

"On the other hand, attempting to sell some product, especially something like t'talnik, outside of the clan controlling those sales, would probably get quick, decisive action. The downside would be that we would need to leave immediately after making a false claim of this sort."

They probably won't miss.

"That all depends on which police we call," Yuri suggests. "As I understand the situation, there's Human law for Humans and Aslan law for the Aslan. Aslan always take precedence, of course, and comes into play if Aslan and Humans are involved. Otherwise, the Aslan leave law and presumably law enforcement of Humans to Humans."

"If these slavers are breaking Aslan law, it still probably won't get the Aslan involved. So, we call the Human police. It's better to ask for forgiveness that permission, isn't that the expression?"

"And they won't miss if we just stand there and let them shoot at us. I wasn't planning on doing that. I don't suppose we have any smoke grenades?"

"I don't have any smoke grenades, but I agree with you. Human police might respond and even though the Aslan in general outlaw slavery, they also honor industrious strength and virtue. We do have guns of our own so we can shoot back, but we might have casualties and figure they will have to die because they won't surrender."

The Yuleihehar will be lifting off with cargo (slaves) in a few hours, you can meet them at the coordinates they gave you for 4 hours.

Carmichael will head toward the ship. He was never big on planning anyway and usually let the situation work itself out. Not that he didn't appreciate others' ability to plan, especially if it sounded good.

As he approaches the docking bay (or whatever), he does his best to survey the ship and surroundings as surreptitiously as possible. In particular, he'll look for any guards posted, condition of the airlock (open or shut), any security cameras including the one over the airlock, cargo bay (open? still loading supplies?), and any secondary access ports to the ship.

"So, Anzha," he asks the psion, "I don't suppose you could get someone inside the ship to open the hatch? Or keep anyone on the bridge from looking at the monitors?"

Yuri and the team head for the meeting place.

As they approach, he's going to get a feel for the land, so to speak... hiding places, exit paths, escape routes, possible cover points from weapons fire, security cameras if there are any.

He really wasn't expecting anything to happen... at least,  not until the others made their move on the ship.

Beto was represented in the "negociators' team by a drone. She felt she should be there with the crew, but the old lady also knew that in her state of health, she'd be dead as soon as the first rounds fly. During the last preparations, she had gathered the three nearest Human police stations emergency phone numbers. The message was pre-recorded, and the shots would be the background noise. She only had to push a button on Yuri's signal. She already had a squad patrolling in the neighborhood thanks to an anonymous call about "gangster-looking Aslans roaming".

It was all a question of measure and readiness. She hoped Yuri could stay alive until the popo stepped in. Oh, and she also had the ambulance ERT number on hold...

"I can't teleport, only telepathy, I can read their minds a little."

Khor checks his boarding gear and his weapons knowing it could get ugly if they assaulted!

"Okay, just telepathy," Carmichael repeats. "Still don't know what that means. Doesn't that mean you can detect life forms? So, can you tell how many are on board? Can you read their minds? Tell what they are thinking? I don't mean in a lot of detail... just kind of what their immediate intentions are?"

He's watched enough holovids to get the gist of what the dangers were in what they were attempting to do, so any edge they could get would be helpful.

"I can detect life forms and use empathy to understand what they're feeling. I can read surface thoughts too."

"So, can you tell how many Aslan are on the ship? And where they are?" he asks her.

"Can you differentiate between prisoners and... controllers? If you can, please do so now."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Fri 08 Oct 2021.

Having reached the rendezvous site, Yuri patiently waited for the Aslan negotiators to show up.

He couldn't image that they'd bring any of the prisoners with them, but, then again, he didn't pretend to understand how Aslan thought or how their cultural mores worked in this mixed world/starport of humans and Aslan.

He sometimes thought that Aslan laws were like Dragon Poker: a particular law didn't apply on Tuesdays or if the opposition was wearing red socks or someone had already been arrested for the same crime earlier in the week and so filled up that week's quota. Or maybe it was more esoteric than that, like when the sun was in the seventh house and Jupiter (or that system's equivalent) aligned with Mars. Or maybe was about who could buy the most witnesses.

So he waited. And kept an eye out.

"Just curious, Doc," he said to Nicodemus while they waited, "do you know what to look for in the prisoners? Other than whether they are healthy. Isn't it that old adage about not looking a gift horse in the mouth?"

Anzha was still reluctant to intrude into other people's minds as she felt it was an invasion of privacy and she never wanted to have her own privacy invaded that way. But when she'd realized a person was intent on killing another, she'd been forced to act.

It was still hard, though. She concentrated, focused her mental energies, and directed them at the ship. In but a few seconds, she was able to tell Carmichael what he wanted... needed to know.

"There are 22 life signs on board the ship," she said. "20 of them are grouped together aft... presumably in what is probably the cargo hold."

"There are two others... Aslan... on the bridge."

After a pause, she was able to sort out the 20 minds aft.

"Eight of those in the hold are human children, eight are adult humans, and four are Aslan. I think the Aslan are also prisoners, rather than guards."

"I may be able to distract the two Aslan on the bridge... when you are ready, but I can't guarantee that."

In reply to Anzha (msg # 98):

"Well we finally got legitimate intelligence on what is going on! Awesome!"

Not surprisingly, the slavers were a bit late. There were only two of them, both Aslan. They stop a good 100 feet away at first while they look you over and survey the surroundings.

Then they approach to within about 30 feet and repeat the process.

"I said come alone," the one Aslan said. "Who's this?"

"This is my medical expert," Yuri replies. "He's here to make sure the merchandise is what it's supposed to be and is worth what we're paying."

"And, no, you didn't say 'come alone', and I can see that you didn't come alone, either."

"The drone overhead is our security overwatch."

He makes a pointed effort to look past the two Aslan before he continues.

"Doesn't look like you brought any of the merchandise? Are you expecting us to go to your ship to inspect the merchandise?"

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 101):

Bannacor waited patiently with Oscar, Anzha and Carmichael to raid the ship and liberate the slaves! His pulse was up and the sweat poured from his pores! He was scared shitless but hid it well. Anzha looked at him once and he worried she read the fear there in his mind.

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 102):
"Team Intruder", informed Beto from the her communication console on her ship, fidgeting with the recording settings, making sure what she said now was not recorded. "Stand by. The negotiation is starting. The lions brought no slaves, so the shooting may start any minute"

Nicodemus starts to shake his head in negation, then stops himself. He very carefully says, "As I explained, I can't possibly do my job without access to the merchandise AND an appropriate working space. These criteria are not even close to being met. In my professional opinion the merchandise must be overpriced and poorly maintained for the situation to have reached this point. I would suggest re-evaluating our offer in light of this information."

"We wanted to see the color of your money first," retorted the Aslan without responding to the comment about coming alone.

It was obviously some odd translation.

"We negotiate. We decide if price too low. We decide how many merchandise you pay for. We have 20. You pay for all?"

In reply to Space Control (msg # 105):

Bannacor tenses, ready to strike!

"Copy that, Beto," Carmichael whispers back over the comms. "The missus says 20 items with two contingencies."

He then turns to the others.

"Going to pretend to be a Customs Inspector to get them to open the door. It might not be locked anyway. No real reason for them to do so here. Arrogance will be their undoing."

He strode up to the main hatch as if he owned the ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Sun 14 Nov 2021.

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 107):

Feeling that Carmichael is getting into action, Beto feels the need to gear up the diversion. She speaks in Aslan :
"Perhaps you took us for naive young preys", buzzes the drone, using the Aslan image. "Who would want to buy slaves without seeing them? The same preys who would come with valuables with them, only to be robbed?
Now, be business-minded and show us the merchandise. Do you have a catalog? Pictures? Data? Age, Gender, measurements, state of health? Fertility? Employability? ROI?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Wed 27 Oct 2021.

Before he could respond to the Aslan, the drone spoke up and challenged the Aslan.

It was a good thing because he hadn't been able to figure out how to reply to them.

Good ploy, he thought: put them on the defensive!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Fri 05 Nov 2021.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 109):

Bannacor listened to the back and forth, ready to move on the ship in a moment. He was strung!

It was almost comical to watch the play of confusion across the Aslan's face as he tried to work out what was happening. It was clear that it wasn't going the way he'd pictured it in his head.

The other Aslan looked ready to shoot the drone.

"Got data," he finally responds.

He swings up a datapad that was hanging from his belt, types something on it, then turns it around for Yuri, Nicodemus and the drone to see.

There is a list of 20 items, each starts with the species, has physical data (height, weight, description, and so forth), has 1-3 'skills' (both strength and potential are apparently considered skills in this business), an evaluation rating from 1-20, a value, and a few names tacked on at the end.

It's readily apparent that there is no mention of gender, age, or health. Seven of the 'potentials' don't have names, the other one is listed as Darg. Four of them have Aslan names written in all caps. Somewhat oddly, they have the highest price.

Bannacor stretches out and the curls up like he's ready to spring into action just as soon as he's told to.
This message was last updated by the GM at 14:52, Fri 05 Nov 2021.

Looking at the datapad, Nicodemus says "good. Now I can get started. I'll need to see, at least, five of these slaves. That should be a large enough sample to indicate the integrity of the group. It's still less than I'm used to. When can I see every fourth name on the list?"

Beto brought the Drone over the shoulder of Nicodemus, zoomed on the datapad, fidgeted buttons to have an excellent level of details, and checked for the umpteenth time that everything was recorded. Twice. OOh if she still had her information show... If slavery was illegal. OOh she could buzz for 3 weeks, min.

She opened a channel to Bannacor : "Whatever your plan is, put it in motion. We're pinning them here. Time is of the essence. Don't wait until the shooting starts."

She switched to the drone voice and took her best Aslan colloquial/slang vocabulary: "ThErrrrE iz No Mensshion of Gender, Age, or Health... Theze data is imporrtant to Us, especially Age <sigh> Did you call an Experrt to evaluate each Prrrizoneerrr? Orr a softwarre?"

She switched to the 'Team Negociator' channel and adopted the Navy laconicism "Yuri. If goto their ship, gun down when appropriate"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:53, Sat 06 Nov 2021.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 114):

Bannacor taps Oscar and Khor'ruhn to go and leads the way to the ship to rescue the prisoners! They ran as low and fast as they could from the flank so they would be unseen by the Aslan!

Oscar ran with Bannacor, low and fast, for a big lumbering man, he was quick!

Kor took off with a snarl, he used his hands as feet, running FAST on all four!

Having reached the main hatch of the Aslan ship, Carmichael pressed the comm button while banging on the hatch with his fist.

"Customs inspector!" he called out, knowing that those inside would be listening.

"Yeah, I know this is a bogus inspection, but my boss insists that it has to be done. I think he's worried that YOUR boss might kick his ass if he doesn't do his job properly."

"I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be inspecting. Probably just checking to see if your engineering and medical certifications are current. It'll only take a minute... wave the sensor over the computers and it's all done."

He continued to babble as a way to mentally disarm the Aslan inside.

"Unless, of course, they AREN'T current, but I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement if they aren't. Oh, right... they are on the schedule, isn't that what you were thinking?"

"I'm sure you're not smuggling Human weapons to the enemy, right? Or maybe you picked up a container of contaminated casaba melons. You know those can explode if they over-ripen, don't you? It's not a pretty sight, but I doubt if the debris will get into the life support system. It's not hazardous to breathe, but it can cause a major malfunction of the system. Last time I saw that happen, it took three weeks at a starbase to clean it all out. It promotes mold and bacterial infections. Half the time, it's cheaper and easier to just replace the whole life support system!"

"Nice Carmichael! Anything to get them to open the door!"

Someone in the ship must have fallen for Carmichael's line for a moment later the hatch opened and an Aslan stood there.

"Alright, alright, alright... do your damned inspection!" he snarled at Carmichael. "Make it quick! We're blasting out of here in fifteen minutes!".

The Aslan was carrying an oversized energy pistol in one hand, presumably of Aslan manufacture, wore a ratty coverall with a few tools hanging from it, and his fur otherwise looked rather dirty and unkempt. The overall appearance made you think he was the engineer.

He used the laser pistol to wave Carmichael through the door.

Bannacor, Oscar and Khor arrive at that time!

As Carmichael started to enter the hatch past the Aslan, he 'tripped' on the sill and stumbled into the Aslan, flailing his arms around wildly to catch his balance and 'accidentally' grabbed the Aslan's arm with the gun, forcing it down and away.

He'd also let his momentum add to the knee he raised hard into the Aslan's groin. He sure hoped the Aslan had nards!

Carmichael caught the Aslan totally by surprise. Not only wasn't he expecting an attack from a customs inspector, he never really thought of a Human as a threat.

He drops to his knees and makes a few hacking sounds before rolling over and curling up in a ball. His eyes roll back in his head and he continues to make hacking sounds. You aren't really sure what that's all about.

"I'm starting to think you don't have any cargo at all," Yuri says to the Aslan. "I think you're running some sort of scam. I'll bet you don't even have a ship!"

"I mean, who comes to a swap without any merchandise? All those numbers you flashed, hell, I could make them all up in about ten minutes."

"Maybe we should have asked for some references... someone who could vouch for your integrity... 'cause, frankly, I'm not seeing any."

"Still, I'm not quite ready to give up on this deal, so, tell you what... I'll give you one more chance to convince me that you are legitimate dealers of premium product. Otherwise, I'm walking out of here and reporting you to the authorities."

"Oh, sure, you think that because I'm just a Human that I don't have any pull with the Boss Man. Well, you'd be wrong if you thought that! How else do you think we get away with making deals like this? You know what I mean--legitimate deals."

"I was ready to go to 2 million if necessary... if the product was the quality it was presented to be. Now, I'm thinking I may have to reduce the offer."

"Okay, let's go at from a different way. If the product is as represented, tell us how you came by it?"

He was talking to keep the Aslan distracted and maybe a bit confused. But he was starting to run out of babble ideas. It was harder than one might think. It wasn't like he could launch into a soliloquy about jackanapes or Imperial Death Stars.

Bannacor, Oscar, and Khor arrive at the door too, time to help Carmichael. "Slit his throat?" he asks.

Grouch had a hard time keeping from laughing at Carmichael's effective maneuver, particularly since the results seemed disproportionate to the effort.

He darted out from the shadow of the ship and slammed one of his big fists into the side of the Aslan's head.

"Quick! Into the ship! There's one more crew to deal with!"

"Throw them out and take their ship from them? Slavers are like pirates, right?"

Following after Grouch, Carmichael says to Bannacor: "If you do what the enemy does, then you become the enemy!"

"We don't slit throats and we don't steal other people's ships. That's for the authorities to do. Keep in mind that we're technically the ones committing a crime, since slavery isn't illegal to the Aslan. Stealing another's property is, though, again technically, taking something from an Aslan is more a matter of personal honor."

"I suspect that when their boss gets back, these two will either be killed for incompetence or become slaves themselves. Or, if they are lucky and have a brain, they'll challenge their boss for leadership."

"Either way, it's not our problem. Freeing the slaves is."

"Slavery IS illegal to the Aslan, it is only legal in the Glorious Empire!"

Just because he looked ferocious (at times), it didn't mean he really was or that he was a gun-toting cowboy. Still, he followed after the others. If nothing else, he figured his sense of smell might be able to ferret out any trouble.

"Hate dealing with Aslan," he grumbled as he ran. "What can't they just be civilized like the rest of the galaxy?"

BACK AT THE MEETING...


Yuri's babble seems to confuse the Aslan, along the lines of TMI. As soon as he starts processing one of Yuri's statements, Yuri's off on some other tangent. Seemingly. The Aslan is clearly having difficulty keeping up with the rapid shift in topics. He fixes on the 'most important' fact that Yuri mentions... 2 million credits! Everything else is having trouble registering until Yuri gets to the end. The offer seems to be a way for the Aslan to get that 2 million, so he doesn't even think twice about answering.

"We got them the usual way," the Aslan replies, "debts owed, appropriation, acquisitions... you know, the usual way. We take what we want when we want it. We got 20... product. I ain't standing here much longer or else the price WILL go up to 2 mil."



AT THE SHIP...

The one-two strike of Carmichael's knee to the Aslan's groin and Grouch's fist to the side of the Aslan's head knocked him out cold.

The four of them rushed through the ship to the cargo hold which is where Anzha had identified all the life forms. Although the ship was Aslan designed, it still conformed to a practical layout. The hold was at the rear, and access to it was straight back from the bridge. Ordinarily, there'd be several closed 'blast doors' along the hallway, but down here on the planet, there wasn't any need to keep them closed. In fact, it was a nuisance... and unnecessary.

Carmichael was first, followed by Grouch, Bannacor and then Khor'ruhn. Anzha remained outside.

Oddly, the other Aslan guard was playing Forge of Empires on his comm pad, barely casting a glance down the hallway to see what his buddy was doing. He caught sight of the Carmichael, but, since he was expecting it to be his buddy, he didn't quite focus on him... until it finally registered that it was someone else! He grabbed for the weapon at his side but Carmichael was already on him before he could clear the holster.

Then Grouch and Bannacor were on him, too.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 18:10, Mon 10 Jan 2022.

The elderly officer switched the channel to the team Intruder, and double-checked that channel was not recorded : "Bannacor, what's your status? We're still chatting them to death here.", she smiled through the tension.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 132):

Aslan eliminated, moving to take the prisoners. Should we steal the ship?"

"You're absolutely correct. I don't really mind..." directly to the Aslan, with a wink, "they're paying me by the click."

Nicodemus steps back and addresses the drone, "if I can't see the merchandise, you're wasting your credits. About the only thing I can do, here, is give our friend an oxochlorhexatic. His left dewclaw is developing a fungal infection."

Beto had been comfortable being the subordinate of Captain Dahl, because he was younger and an experienced career officer, not an astrogation teacher like her. But Dahl's player last post was on Sept, 20th, so she had to take command, think fast as she did 40 years ago, and make a difficult choice. Bann was looking to her for coordination.

She knew she could delegate, and plus, she had to. She replied hurriedly :

"look Bann, I'm not in your shoes and I'm not seeing the big picture. You get to decide. Just ponder this:

- people steal ships only in the movies. They are protected against theft, there are codes, keys, security - and indeed putting password everywhere was our first action on our own ship. Don't waste time to control the ship, then discover you can't pilot it, and crash it, and kill the crew and yourself!

- on the other hand, I don't want the slavers to hunt us in space, so at least sabotage it. It shouldn't be able to take off for two weeks.

- oh and we don't want the ship's crew to ring the alarm to the others here. Destroy the comms!!

- my suggestion..." she caught her breath and focused on a tactic. "...under my thumb, a button to auto call to the three nearest Human police stations emergency phone number. Best situation, the slaves happens to escape the Yuleihehar just as the police arrive. Bam - evidence - slavers caught red-handed.
Waiting for your signal. Or your instructions.".

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 135):

"Will comply, destroying comms and computer and freeing the slaves. Call the cops. Khor-un, you're with me to destroy ships systems. Sabotage the jump drive if you know how."

"Roger, we'll smash what we can, Oscar, get the prisoners loose!"

"Grouch good at smashing things," Oscar responded, belying his actual intelligence and education. He looked like a grouch so people tended to think he really was one.

The first thing he did was remove any comm units the two now-unconscious Aslan had and then smash them. Then he dragged the bodies to separate quarters and locked them in. His next stop was the bridge to smash the ship's main comm. He was a bit more careful with this as he didn't want some sort of signal to get sent out accidentally.

At the cargo hold, Carmichael studied the locking mechanism to see if he could figure out how to unlock it. As it turned out, the male Aslan weren't really into complex locks and security. A simple code was easy to guess due to the three worn buttons on the pad. It wasn't as simple as 1-2-3, but it was the diagonal 1-5-9. No doubt the other doors into the cargo bay were locked from the bridge.

In a second (or two), he had the lock disengaged, and then he flung the door open.

"Don't be alarmed, folks! We're here to rescue you!" he called out into the hold.

"Just head down the hallway and out the ship's main hatch. We've got you covered."

One by one, he encouraged and guided all the prisoners out of the cargo hold and out of the ship.

When it came to the Aslan prisoners, he had an inspiration.

"I don't know how or why you became potential slaves," he tells them, "but here's a chance to turn the tables on your enslavers. How would you like to take command of this ship? When the captain gets back, you can make him the slave and see how he likes it!"

Three phone calls rang at three different stations, at one and three minutes intervals. Artificial voices, two female and one male, speaking the local Anglic-mixed-Aslan spoken by the Humans on this occupied planet. Beto had used a translator system with databases about the specifics of the local language.

The vocal messages of the "witnesses" were slightly accelerated to convey more stress. Beto had used her creativity in writing dialog to word them differently. Even if there was confusion and conflict in the details - as it should be - they carried the same basic information :
"Oh Policemen, you have got to come to Gitmo hangar [coordinates]! Some Aslan gangsters are hunting and shooting at kids escaping their ship, I think I recognized Mr. Kelo Trevor's kids I've seen on the news! The ship's name is Yuleihehar! Emergency! Please rescue them!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Mon 10 Jan 2022.

Beto switched her channel to the Negociator's team and whispered in their earphones :
"slaves freed. Let's fall back!"

The drone blared in aslan : "We muszst ekzamine the datahh and elaborrrate ahh propozah. Please trranzmit the specificatioons to me. What is our shared exchange channel? #3? (good thing that the Galactic Union of Telecommunication agreed to a shared transmission protocol!). We call you in two hourrs with a list of who we wahnt and ahn offerr, agrreed? You prefer in cash pay, we assume?"

OOC: let's give Yuri until Sunday to add something, and then Team Negotiator shall pull back cautiously

"The usual way?" Yuri asked skeptically. "While normally I'd understand what that meant and it wouldn't bother me in the least, the way this negotiation has gone makes me doubt that you have any integrity. To me, that means someone else probably has a claim on the merchandise, and once we take delivery, you'll turn around and notify them, in which case we'll have the merchandise confiscated and we'll have nothing for the million credits we gave you."

"No doubt you'll be happier as well as richer, having put one over on us inferior Humans, but, news for you, pointy-ears--we're not all as gullible as your species is!"

"If you had been on the up-and-up, you'd have brought at least one or two samples just as we brought the money for our end of the bargain."

"And I know damn well that if I was another Aslan, I'd have already challenged you to a duel as a point of honor. Fortunately for you, I'm not an Aslan. I'm merely Human, but that makes me oh, so much smarter than you!"

He had no idea where to go after that, but just then, word came that the would-be slaves had been freed. And the overhead drone began spouting gibberish (Aslan).

"We're going to have to rethink this agreement," he adds. "While our offer may go up, I suspect it'll go down. Unless... your merchandise turns out to be superior quality."

He turns then and he and Nicodemus walk away.

Once they were sufficiently far away such that even Aslan ears couldn't hear, he said, "Nicely done, Nick. I'll bet he's still trying to figure out whether he's got an infection or not."

Nicodemus shrugs, "oh, he's infected. But it's like the human herpesvirus six you and I had as children. The only people that care would be the recipients of his donated organs."

The drone somersaulted behind the Negociator's team; a sign that the old lady behind the controls was exhilarated.

"Oh Yuri, if I had my hands, I'd pad your back!", she guffawed. "They must be so confused they turn to stone! Can anybody follow your drift?! And when you considered a duel... ooh they must be scratching their heads! You really are the smoother talker of the sector!"

She recovered her senses. "Watch your back; see that they don't tail us back to the ship"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:40, Fri 14 Jan 2022.

Beto set the drone to follow the former agent, and hailed Bannacor.

"Ban, not wanting to micro-managing your team but... We've got to leave this planet for Vadada ASAP, with our hulls full. Please detach Carmichael to do that.

On our side, the slavers claimed they bought the slaves by paying the parents' debt. Probably a lie, but I wouldn't want to return his kids to Kelo Trevor's, just for him to deliver them to the slavers again! Maybe Anzha could scan the kids?

I don't know... will you choose to hang around the ship and see what happens, or rather retreat and make detours to be sure you're not followed?"

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 145):

"Roger that." Ban answers.

In reply to Bannacor (msg # 146):

"I'll be retreating and making sure we're not followed."

"One of my mentors had espoused the philosophy that if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them will bullshit," Yuri replied over comms to Beto.

"Sometimes I surprise even myself when I get inspired!"

"We're going to escort you to a safe location," Carmichael told the released prisoners as he and the others escorted them to a neutral site. Taking them to the ship might have panicked them if they thought they were trading one slaver for another.

"If there's someone we can contact for you, we'll do that. We just want to make sure those Aslan don't come after you again."

He was inwardly satisfied that the two Aslan prisoners had chosen to remain behind. He really had no idea if they could get the drop on the slavers, but he hoped they did. Not that there would probably be much difference between the two slavers, though the prisoners might not be inclined to become slavers.

He considered Beto comments, but decided that there was no way they could make sure the slavers wouldn't follow them... he was sure they'd pick up the scent.

He couldn't think of a large building that would be open that would hold all of them, so he opted for a public park. Besides, inside a building, they'd be nearly blind against any serious assault.

Just to be on the safe side, he pulled Anzha aside.

"Would you please do a quick and non-evasive mental scan of the kids? There might be something going on that we don't know about."

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 149):

"Kill the slavers? They'll just be back if we don't."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:09, Thu 27 Jan 2022.

"Not if they know what's good for them!" Oscar responds. "We practically turned the ship over to those two Aslan prisoners. And I left a few surprises for the slavers if they manage to survive."

"The only intelligent option for them is to report the incident to the Aslan authorities, but I'm putting my money on Aslan pride--no pun intended--being too great for them to do that. Again, the smart thing would be to leave us alone and start over, but they'll want to get revenge, which means they have to try and find us."

"We're going to be gone before that happens."

Scanning the kids was more to her liking and leaned towards her abilities. She made the mental intrusion as subtle and smooth as she could.

"They're still scared, but relieved to be away from the Aslan," she informed the others. "They don't really understand that they were going to be slaves."

"There's nothing else going on that I can detect."

"They seem to think that they were taken away from their parents because their parents couldn't pay the... tax man? Money collector? Their idea of that was is rather vague."

"Were we planning on ever returning to Iryao?" Yuri asks the others when they are all back on the ship.

"I'm not sure it'll matter if we do. One way or another, those four slavers will have been dealt with. Either they've become slaves themselves on some other world, or else, if they managed to keep their ship, they'll have left for better hunting grounds."

"Or, if Grouch was successful, maybe their ship blew up somewhere in space. Or maybe misjumped to another Sector! That would be entertaining."

Everyone hustles to get the ship ready to depart since everyone's expecting some sort of retaliation from the Aslan slavers.

The cargo is quickly loaded while the passengers going to Vadada are boarded, and the 'unexpected' reward of 14,000Cr for the rescue of all the would-be slaves is forwarded to the ship's account.

As it turns out, Beto's crowd-funding social media ploy was used by the local Humans, started by those that had children taken. It was so far below the local Aslan authority's concern that it went unnoticed... particularly since only one or two credits were transferred at a time.

Also, 4,000Cr of it came from the two Aslan slaves that were able to take over the ship and put the four Alsan slavers... former-slavers... into the slave tank. An electronic memo was sent over by them.

"Rroal and I thank you for your assistance. By claiming the 'abandoned' ship, we were able to regain our estates. Once we dispose of our current cargo, we plan on pursuing more noble trade options. Consider this transfer of funds from the Second Dawn payment in full for the debt we owe you." --Starla

The ship is ready to depart an hour earlier than the previously scheduled time.

If anyone has any last minute business to take care of, better do it quick!

"I think the crew will agree that the families need the 14,000 Credits more than us," reflected Beto to all who were present in the mess. "Maybe they have psychologists to pay, have to leave the city and dodge reprisals for a while, pay lawyers to deflect any legal repercussions... whatever. And since nobody embezzled the crowdfunding, we can trust the local humans to handle the funds correctly."

"Besides, Carmichael can earn that in a few minutes!", joked Beto.

Does the majority agree with abandoning the funds? :)

"So, we were going to rescue the prisoners, anyway, is that it?" Yuri asks with a laugh.

"Works for me. I don't mind working for a bit of pay now and then. Keeps me honest."

"Well, remember, you're the one with a loan shark nipping at your heels. It's been my experience that it's the people who have it good that do the embezzling because they don't want to lose what they got. Those who haven't got know what it's like, so they aren't going to take it away from others who haven't got."

Nicodemus nods, "leave it. It won't help much, but those poor souls need all the help they can get."
"Where to next?"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" exclaims the Countess. "I can drop a few hints on social media about what happened and send them directly to a few of my contacts. I won't mention any names, but anyone with half a brain will know it was us. That'll be a feather in my cap for sure! It should give us a slight edge if we ever come back this way, but we'll have to be careful. For every positive, there's a negative. There will be some that dislike us, despise us or outright distrust us because they won't understand our motivations. They'll think there's a hidden agenda because, with them, there always is."

"If they take the side benefits seriously, then they'll think that WAS the agenda... rather than the other way around."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:00, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

"Any time I can stick it to the Pussies, that's reward enough for me!" Oscar replies.

"Yeah, yeah, I know... they ain't ALL bad. Most of them are, though. And, yeah, they can't help it. Any more than I can help disliking their entire culture."

to Yuri Argonov :

"Yes, the shark loan... well the reward is too small to be a significant installment for us, but it's big for people who contributed to it by 1 or 2 credits amounts...". And you have an interesting approach on corruption - I remember you telling me this observation years ago when we were after our preys. Ah, memories..."

to Nicodemus :

"Charmichael planned everything. We are transporting luxury items - such as Vultine furs, Nargal feathers, Drex whiskey, you name it. We'll cross the border to Vadada, back in the League. Sell and Buy. Then to Tanar and Sif, maybe smuggle weapons to Eahaw. Then retrace our steps to Thrush and pay our quarterly debt.

The first repayment of the loan is MCr5 on week 13. I [The character] made it so that we would physically be on Thrush to make sure the payment reaches "Credo 'the Hyena' Laffinger" on time and that he signs the receipt." If it seems we have less that MCr5, then we call on investors ship's shares to cash out ; Bannacor, Cpt Dahl, Lady Arslan, Khor'ruhn, Dr Trask."

to the Countess, Beto remarked :

"They were already no diplomatic relations between Nora'a and Iryao. I hope this little operation under the Aslan's nose won't hamper your efforts so far. Indeed, as you say, the Iryao authorities may suspect us to be in fact, operatives, with a covert mission to empower the local human resistance... So I would in fact not communicate at all about this. But you have the reigns on this, of course, Lady Arslan"

to all :
"Now.. let's get the hell out of berth 124! I'll start the astrogation calculations on our way to 100D".

Beto Arark rolled 7 using 2d6+2.  astrogation. More than enough in a no-stress situation like here.

In reply to Beto Arark (msg # 160):

"Taking stations." Bannacor said as he manned his post.

can you see the image below? It's our planned route, where we spend half a week in each system.

The week numbers represent the date of arrival in the destination system



link : http://bastion.free.fr/files/olh1.jpg

(if the GM would please upload this image in the game Maps...)
This message was last edited by the player at 12:18, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

"Everyone take your stations. Beto has laid in the course and we're on our way. Sorry I've been under the weather lately, but I am feeling better. Report." Baris said as he entered the bridge and took his seat, looking frail but more firm than he had been.

"We've been cleared by ATC," Daphne reported to Baris, "and been assigned a departure vector."

"Lifting off... entering upper atmosphere... outside the atmosphere and increasing speed to the jump limit."

"I'll let you know when we get there, though you'll see the light turn green on the console," she reminded him. She might be the designated and better qualified pilot, but it was still the Captain's prerogative to initiate the jump sequence and push the Big Red Button.

"I thought you were supposed to be getting younger in your old age, Captain. Something go wrong with the treatment? Or does it just take longer to... settle in?"

During the few hours to the 100 diameters limit, Beto's pad reappeared in her hand, and she insisted the whole crew went through the "checking drill", which hadn't been done since the departure of Trush.

CHECKS :
- Computers : Anzha Lyu
- Comms & sensors: Argonov
- pilot controls : Lieutenant Arslan
- J-Drive : commander Arark
- M-Drive : Arslan
- Life support : captain Dahm
- Power : Trask
- turrets : Khor Ruhn
- mechanics (airlocks, atmosphere pressure, ...) : Henson
- med bay, drugs stockpiles : Dr Trask
- mess : Bannacor

Insistence was exerted on the stocks of parts, so that if the quantity of something was getting low, it would be replenished on Vadada

OOC : rest assured, we won't throw dice this time. this action is just to avoid being screwed by the GM over our lack of maintenance ;) ;)

So, unless "Space Control" states something special happens while we travel to the 100D, we engage the jump. Could the GM please post the relevant info about Vadada in the X. Library Data thread? :)

then, if no specific training is required in regard of our destination (like "learning Aslan language" was for Iryao), we could state what training our PC undertake, according to the rules in W. ATTRIBUTE AND SKILL ADVANCEMENT
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:37, Tue 15 Mar 2022.

"Airlocks are all sealed, we're tight." Oscar announced.

During the trip to the 100D limit, all was quiet on the bridge.

The computer was recalculating the jump coordinates in real time, and Beto was checking the results with her own calculations.

The pilot, Lieutenant Arslan, was staring at the trajectories of the Near Space Objects; she and Argonov were listening to the Space Control chatter, to prevent any collisions, and detect any suspicious change of trajectory. They made heavy use of the Arslan-Anglic translator app.

The captain Dahl was going over some report from Bannacor. He felt someone staring at him, raised his head, and meet her gaze.

"Vadada..." sighed Beto to Baris

It wasn't that they were really in a hurry to get away from Iryao, but the 1G limitation on their vector was kind of annoying. Understandable due to the air-space traffic, but still... annoying. He wasn't quite as paranoid about the slavers or Aslan legal issues. If the Aslan were going to do something to them, they didn't need an excuse. After all, 'they' were only Humans. Property. Chattel. Objects.

Every time his mind wandering along those lines he couldn't help smiling at the thought of the first time an Aslan had to accept that Humans were as good if not better than them. He could just imagine the mental frustration and the mental acrobatics that the Aslan must have done to keep from getting blown out of space by the superior Imperial HUMANS. Then again, maybe it took several destroyed Aslan ships before the last one finally decided that it wasn't going to win.

"Never been there," he responded to Beto as he watched the clock tick down the 4.4 hours it'd take to reach the Jump Limit.

"Is there something interesting or entertaining there? Based on your sigh, I'm now picturing an entire planet of clowns. Oh, gods, please tell me that's not the case!"

The computers pretty much ran themselves, so there was little Anzha had to do. She understood that some human agency had to monitor the computers for when they did go wrong, but in her experience, that never happened. Well, it did at lesser Tech Levels, and she'd be worried if they landed on a planet that had that condition. Computers had self-diagnostics, self-repair, and similar systems built into them.

She'd only ever heard of one instance when a computer had completely failed and the person on watch had to react instantly to keep from crashing into an asteroid. Of so the bar talk went. On the one hand, she thought it strange that a computer would fail just at that critical instant, but, on the other hand, if a computer was going to fail, it could fail on one instance as well as any other.

At least she was able to monitor the astrogation calculations. Not that she'd know if they were right or not, but the computer would note any aberrations, discrepancies, variations and outright errors. If such were great enough, the alarms would go off. That was one of her functions--to make sure that they didn't.

She was glad to be off of Iryao and away from the Aslan. To someone of her sensitivities, it was like being stuck with a thousand pins and needles constantly. At least, that was the way the Aslan minds felt like to her. The only thing that got her through their stay on Iryao was the Human minds. They were like a soothing counterpoint to the harsh Aslan minds.

She'd been told before that she was too sensitive to the Aslan thoughts, and that she needed to learn to tune them out better. Ha. Easier said than done.

Bannacor, as Steward, made sandwiches and caffe for everyone to partake for the trip out.

The relatively short trip to the jump limit goes uneventfully. Air-space Traffic Control keeps the space traffic well organized which turns out to be a bit scarce at the moment.

At the appropriate time, the lights dim to signal the impending transition into J-space, and two minutes later, the shift is made.

The ship is now in Jump-space on its way to Vadada.

Bannacor digs out materials to study in Jump space, trying to improve himself.

Oscar builds a gym and works out to be even stronger!

In reply to Oscar 'Grouch' Henson (msg # 173):

Khor works on gunnery for the time being.

Being a seasoned space traveler, Yuri knows the downtime drill of traveling through jump-space. People have been doing it for so long now that no one gives it a second thought, but he occasionally wonders how those first travelers kept from going stir crazy.

Yuri will join Oscar in his makeshift gym but focus on Athletics (Dexterity) to get some training in zero-gee combat and maneuvering.

Then he'll exercise his brain trying to pick up some semblance of Engineering, with an emphasis on Sensors.

After several incidents among the Aslan, when the humans would tell him one had to be very good with a blade to have the slightest chance, Nicodemus is often seen with his epee practicing parry and riposte in an imaginary piste.
He also reviews what medical records he has access to and suggests routine assessments to those that need them.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Wed 06 Apr 2022.

"I should have known this from my Flight assignment in the Navy," Daphne explains to anyone who's listening, "but if you're flying around in space, there's two things you need to be able to do... astrogate and operate the Jump-drive. Otherwise, you're probably going to die... just not in any place you're familiar with."

"Piloting is usually good, too, but ship's have autopilot. Yeah, everything else is automated, too, but if your ship takes damage, those are the things you need to be able to do yourself."

"So, as much as I hate it, I'll be beating my brains out on Engineering for Fun and Profit. Anyone else want to be a study buddy?"

"You'd think I'd have learned that by now, too," Captain Baris responds to the Countesses comments.

"On the other hand, I'm a bit too old to crack the books for any practical use. I'm more interested in science these days, but I suppose I could join you, Countess, and see if these rusty old gray cells can comprehend the Jump-drive."

"I always wanted to play an instrument, too, but it never seemed to be the right time to do so. Maybe I'll try that now."

One of the basic definitions of old people, is they have lived a lot. So they carry with them a baggage of memories of all kinds. Where other people have knowledge, old people have experience and plenty of stories to tell.

Beto arark was no exception, and as the week-long travel in hyperspace was nearing its end, The grandmother stopped working out and keeping to herself. She reached out to Baris while everybody was having dinner and could hear. The old lady's eyes glistened, and her cheeks reddened as she released her rehearsed remembrance of things passed.

"Baris, you wondered if there was anything interesting on Vadada. The answer is I am linked to this planet in some ways. It's a long story.

As anyone can guess from my appearance, I am not of Florian descent; I am an offspring of Solomani colonists. Anyway, I grew up in the League, and at the age of 22, freshly graduated from the 28th Uni of Flora with a degree in Astrogation, I signed in the Florian Navy.

My first post was the Naval Academy - on Vadada's moon of Jarno; two months later, I was an Astrogator/Navigator trainee aboard the Achantea, a mobile Space Traffic Control Station.

We were monitoring the movements of celestial bodies, the trajectories of gravity wells, and of course ships. Once, our unit participated in naval exercises, involving a simulated invasion by the Hierate fleet. The "hostiles" were flying our own i401 "Starshooter" interceptors - more on that later.
I was under the supervision of Petty Officer Runk. I spotted an "enemy" fighter dangerously close, coming for what seemed a strafing run on the exposed parts of our ship. A little alarmed, I pointed the fighter's trajectory to Runk."

Transported into her vision of the past, Beto gestured the respective movements of the ships.

"Runk praised the dare of the pilot of the interceptor and added "don't worry, the i401 have their automatic anti-collision system activated".
It would be her very last words : the fighter crashed into us.

There was a violent decompression, and I lost consciousness. I was rescued, while 18 crewmembers on that level lost their lives.
Until the end of my term, I crawled in and out of the Navy hospital, all my remaining strength dedicated to focus on breathing. The first weeks are the scariest, when you wonder if the breath you're taking will be your last; then you fear the machine which makes you breathe breaking down ; then the worry goes a little away...

While I emerged and immerged in and out of coma like a flying fish, the Navy investigated and somehow pointed at me as being partly responsible of the accident, for not having warned the coming interceptor...
Unsurprisingly, between that suspicion, me not being a Barnai (1), and my condition, the Navy dumped me as a worthless piece of crap at the end of the term - fortunately without billing me with the medical expenses.

Still today, those four lost years of my youth, spent in a bland hospital on a bland moon do not count as a term for the Navy quartermaster, so I can't claim a 5-term pension", reflected the bitter old Beto, unconsciously clenching her fists - but not much, since she suffered of arthrosis.

"Still in love with space and stars, I joined the Merchant Marine, but that is another story.
However, my interest in investigation must have been born here; I took every opportunity in the next forty years to investigate those interceptors's use in the Navy. Business stopovers as a merchant; reportages as a journalist; signing again in the Navy at the ripe age of fifty when the League was losing the war - again -, and spending 4 terms within it.

This is what I gathered.
The i401 "Starshooter" interceptor was a very advanced, groundbreaking space fighter for the time.
The Florians have this fascination for technology as the solution to every problem; it's not surprising that they favored top-notch hi-tech like the i401. However, the interceptor lacked testing and proofing; MMB basically built and sold a prototype to the Navy.

It was also very expensive. This allowed its maker - MMB (Messerwerk-Möhb-Bauschmitt) - to develop a comfortable profit margin, a part of which the company transferred to the Navy buyers and admirals. Nowhere did this bribing system work better than here in Vadada...  Since this world is hostile, and the moving cities are overcrowded, life is not pleasant. This is a crowded hole on the frontline. Every admiral posted here - and it's a kind of punition - waiting for the next traitorous Hierate attack, wants to embezzle as much as possible and retire on the nearby garden world of Tanar.

The Starshooter was unreliable and prone to breakdowns. The accident of the Achantea was not the first, and wouldn't be the last. While every committee of inquiry concluded the pilots' mistakes were responsible of the many crashes and disasters, the interceptor was nicknamed "staffshooter" and "widowmaker" in the Navy circles. The i401 model was supposed to last 20 years, should have been retired after 3 years, but lasted 18 years, with many variations and upgrades, each correction being cancelled by a "new high-tech" (and untested) upgrade.

Now... you remember we did exercises where the Aslan were also flying i401 too? That is because MMB had a subsidiary in the Hierate, and built and sold the model there too!

Officially it was another company, and officially the Aslan spies had stolen the plans... Of course their fighter had another name - it's translated "Sabertooth". But I know - and cannot prove - that the money came back to the same arms dealer shareholders.
The irony is, the Aslan still cherish that ship. Because of their pride (pun intended), they could not admit the model was simply flawed, ill-conceived and unadapted to their morphology and culture - their copy was even worse than ours ! It was a conundrum for the Aslan pilots, and eventually it fared so badly for them during the last conflict that it brought victory to the Florians!

As to my investigation... when I finished accumulating all that information, no publisher  showed any interest.. The story was forty years old. The Staffshooter had been replaced twenty-five years ago. All admirals were dead, retired, or worse had become politicians... MMB itself had been bought and rebought, merged and split.

Vadada is still the capital of the military-industrial complex. And that, captain, is something interesting about it."

(1) The Floriani minor human race comes in two groups : the Barnai - the ruling group - and the Feskals.

OOC : sorry for the time it took me to write this! I didn't realize I have conflicting needs at the end of every quarter

"I am so sorry for your early troubles, Beto," Baris responds.

"I don't pretend to understand what motivated you to spend so many years tilting at windmills. Having found your answers, are you at peace now? Or is there still something you hope to accomplish?"

"Are you returning to Vadada to exorcise old ghosts?"

"Do I want to exorcise what?!" - Beto choked on her jello enriched with proteins and raised an eyebrow. "Does Rejuvenium damage the brain? I'd like to know before submitting to the treatment myself!", she snapped. "We - and I mean WE - are going to Vadada because Bannacor determined it would be an excellent stopover to sell and buy, before traveling to Tanar, Sif, Eahaw, stepping again at Vadada, staying an average of 3 days in each system, in order to be back at Trush, meet The Hyena 13 weeks after leaving, and pay our first quarterly payment of 5 million Credits... Buying back my ship... our ship... is the reason we're jumping around the place, must I remind you!"

Beto realized she had stood up, and slowly sit back.
"Besides, it takes more than 3 days to divulge a scandal and fight a megacorp's legion of PRs and lawyers. And believe me" - she weighted with her fork, pointing it at Yuri Argonov - "with this man's shady business, enough time, the money and support of a news corp, we have more than tilted at windmills. We have razed them to the foundations, ah-ah !"

Beto lowered her voice and nearly hushed "If there's a ghost in this story, it would be me. I'm the one appearing to the castle guards at midnight, and They are afraid that I reveal that there is something rotten in the state of Floria. I am not paranoid but..., ten years ago I was actively investigating and nearing more revelations, gathering damning evidence, and witnesses' accounts ; but suddenly Alejandro Valentino appeared in my life and ended up in my arms, leading to personal turmoil - you know of it - and a brutal halt in my investigation. Maybe They still fear me. They fear that someone, on their deathbed, filled with remorse, would spill more beans to me..."

Seeming still annoyed by Baris' "misplaced empathy", the commander looked around and her stare stopped on Lady Arslan. "Dear", she said with a mellow voice, "this makes me think about the accident that brought your fighter pilot career to a halt. Was it in the Vadada system too?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:33, Sat 09 Apr 2022.

"Afraid not. Never even heard of Vadada until Bannacor stuck it on our flight path," Daphne replies.

"That was on Jokotre. The government, if you can call it that, is a religious dictatorship. Ling-Standard finally decided to exploit a rare vein of tantalum. Unfortunately, it was on Holy Lands. The Archon organized military opposition to it, a skirmish broke out, and when it looked like the Archon's forces were going to lose, he decided that total destruction was preferable to 'desecration by infidels'. No one suspected he'd acquired some nukes."

"His only mistake was in misunderstanding his delivery system. He thought his 'overwhelming' Tech-7 fighters could stop the Imperial ships. We took some casualties, one of which was me, but, in the end, the Archon's forces were no match for the Mora Squadron. We lost 3 ships while they lost over 100, including the nuke bombers, so they never got to deploy the nukes."

"It was one of the reasons I became a Diplomat. The whole damn thing could have been avoided if a Diplomat had stepped forward. When all the shooting was done, Ling decided it was no longer worth the cost to develop the site."

"I still can't decide if that's just the way of the universe these days, or you and I just happened to be the unlucky ones."

Beto nodded. "Incredible things happen when a government serves a megacorp, and does not its job of restraining it. It's as the tax money went straight from the taxpayers to the corp's coffers. Here in the League, the councilors - you may call them representatives - are designated randomly, among the Barnai population, for a single mandate of four years. After that, they may never be entered in a Lottery again.

Though every person has thus an equal opportunity to lead, the result is - more often then not - incompetent people found themselves councilors. If they are interested in their job, they only gain a handle of it after a few years, and at that time, well their term is over. So the real power lies in the hands of those who stay at their posts more than one term: the bureaucrats, the military, the corporate management..."

"A new round of the Lottery is coming up", she sighed. "We'll see what new bunch of weirdos Fate calls to the service. Maybe another barrel organ player ?"

Beto looks at the Universal Time displayed at her watch.

"Are we there yet? it's been 168 hours already", she grumbles. ;)

"Now, Beto, you know it's never as simple as that," Baris chided the old lady. "If the astrogator nails the course at exactly 100% and the engineer activates the J-drive at exactly the right moment, then you get the precise time of 168 hours. In theory. Jump-space isn't static, though we tend to think of it as such. For all intents and purposes, that doesn't really make a difference. But it does affect the time."

"As I understand it, our astrogator gave us an ETE of 170.3 hours. So, we've got about another 2 hours before we exit Jump-space."

"Has Vadada changed since you were last here? If not, what can we expect?"

"Actually, as your astrogator, I gave you an ETE UP TO 170.3 hrs, with a minimum of 165.7 hrs." Beto wondered if Baris was suffering from an allergy to Rejuvium. After all, it wasn't precisely an over-the-counter drug.

"That's an +/- 1.4% incertitude, which is due to the irregular energy feed of the Jump drive. I am in charge of the J-drive, and even though I carried out the fine-tuning of it, it's still a civilian, commercial ship which was badly maintained by Aslan smugglers."

Beto had turned to the tone of the Astrogation professor that she was at the end of her career. She sighed, not wanting to fall back into that habit.



"I don't know honestly. I ran out of that place as soon as I was cured and discharged, and I tried to avoid the Naval Academy on Vadada's moon of Jarno if I could. I never went back to the Navy hospital there - too many bad memories. I have stopped on Vadada shortly, and investigated a little, but most of my research on the i401 contract was held in the capital, Flora. And it's been ten years since I last was here, since the place reminds me of my encounter and first months with Alejandro...

It must have changed certainly ; may be not on the global level, because a world of 8 billions inhabitants does not change its course quickly; but locally, certainly it has. I'm afraid I don't have any recent news, as I was not really interested and focused on recovering my ship.

But... let me ask a question, Baris. How come have you never been in Vadada?"

OOC : see private message :)

"It's not a very nice place to visit, as I understand it," Baris answers. "It's a desert vacuum world. Habitats are roving mining cities. There's no downport, only the highport that shuttles supplies down to the cities. Even with the military base, the naval base, the naval academy, and the shipyard, there's just too many people packed into too small a space. 90% of daily living is just supporting the mining."

"70% of the population are the working Feskals. Not very entertaining or talkative."

"Not even the Aslan had any interest in it since claiming what they considered worthless territory was an act of stupidity. Not enough ingenuity to see the potential. Normal Humans would have, but the Floriani took it one step further."

"Anyway... no air, no wind, no dust. The cities chew up the crust for the iron beneath but don't see any reason to put it back into a pristine condition--it wasn't pretty to begin with. Zangar Chasm is the worst. 200 miles long, a mile deep, no end in sight."

"So, why would anyone want to go there?"

"I suspect that only you, Beto, of all the crew, have ever been to Vadada," Yuri chimes in as he listened to the discussion between Captain and XO.

"Once it became a viable production facility, that attracted the Aslan, if for no other reason than to cripple the Florian military. Didn't work out so well for the Aslan. And they can't escalate their efforts for fear of drawing the Imperium into the fray."

"It's a good thing we're not of significant interest to attract the Aslan. There are bound to be Aslan scouts at the edge of the system. It's just too large of a volume of space for the Florians to monitor that tightly."

"As long as we're well inside the Oort Cloud region, we shouldn't be bothered by any Aslan raiders."

Beto nodded to Yuri, but left a finger to correct Baris : "The military baseS, the naval baseS and the multiple Vadadan shipyardS. Iron and the other minerals are mostly not exported, but worked locally; the factories are numerous, the workforce is abundant and the shipyards produce virtually all Florian naval vessels and are the only ones capable of building the League's heaviest designs. Attached to the shipyards come the engineering and research departments.

This world is the heart of the military-industrial complex - Floria being the brain. Vadada is a strategic world for the League - and is further from the Imperium, Yuri, than you think.

She shook her head. "And your employment figures are wrong, Baris - or rather falsified to make Vadada look less strategic. It's rather : 20% in the mining and the refining, 40% in the factories, 30% in the military, and 10% in the civilian and public services. Only those who are born here stay more than one or two terms."

Beto glanced at her pad, noted the time, sighed, and looked at Yuri, in charge of the sensors. "Maybe we better take our positions at the helm. Since we're coming from the Hierate, we may expect the customs and the navy to examine us closely, and our schedule in this system is tight (84 hours max!). So sublieutenant Argonov, be ready to scan Friend-or-Foe as soon as we exit J-space, and Captain Dahl, will you work a message introducing ourselves, which I could send even before inquiries?"

The old lady mouthed a silent call to the ceiling : "are we there yet?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:19, Sat 09 July 2022.

"The ship's transponder does all that, XO," Yuri said, moving back to his bridge position.

"We'd had a week to add anything new to it, but if the transponder doesn't check out, nothing we say will make a difference. The Florian Navy will shoot first and ask questions of the survivors... or the corpses."

"There aren't going to be any pirates or Aslan raiders as close to Vadada-Jarno as the Jump Limit. Besides, we're coming in from a known vector."

"Is there someone in particular that you wish to communicate with? Not necessarily by name, but position, title, function? Otherwise, no one's apt to listen. Or answer."

"Okay, lights dimming... we're exiting J-space in 3... 2... 1... And here we are!"

He double checked the sensors to make sure the ship's transponder was broadcasting as normal, and verified that there were no immediate nearby threats that the proximity alarm might not have warned them about.

"We're clear. Inbound trajectory puts us at Highport in 17 hours at standard acceleration. Receiving clearance and inbound vector."

The old Lady thought about adding the new registry information to the transponder. "Formerly ill-reputed (smuggler-thief) "Roarl-Ooargl", flying Aslan flag. Under new management & flying League's flag" - but they already did that.

The new registration in Thrush had been done 5 weeks ago. They had left Thrush 4 weeks ago. With the Jump-4 mail boats, the news should have reached Vadada Space control 3 weeks ago. So their transponder should check out, hopefully.

. She began to breathe again.

"17 hours in, 17 hours out when we leave, that will give us 50 hours in port... 4 days," Baris says out loud.

"Should be enough time to do what we want, but I'd rather get ahead of the itinerary if we can. Yuri, tell ATC that we're on a timetable and request a 2-G inbound vector."

"It'll shave a few hours off travel time in, and we can do the same outbound."

"Carmichael, you might as well start looking for cargo and passengers going to Tanar and Sif. Don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves."

"Our estimated time of departure will be in 2-4 days, exact departure time to be determined."

Bannacor stayed at his station for now, not sure what was going on. The Old Lady didn't exactly reveal her plans.

"That'll be a relief," Anzha said. "It's bad enough watching the clock for 12 hours!"

"I always have a hard time doing anything constructive in that short of a time frame when I know the clock's ticking. I've been considering taking up painting as a way to get around that, but then I keep thinking that it'd just be a waste of time. After all, what would I do with it when I was done? Give it to someone who thinks it's horrible... which it would be?"

"Maybe a study plan? Or maybe I'll just get drunk to pass the time away."

"Drunken gratuitous sex?" Bannacor asked Anza with a grin.

"The days of Baris's home planet last 12 hours", explained Beto, tongue-in-cheek.

"Actually, our schedule is based on the idea that we spend a week and a half between the moment we leave a world, and the moment we leave the next. A week in space, half a week in a system. And half a week is 3.5 standard days. I insist on the .5 - it's not a full day. You'll see the difference after 9 trips."


Who, Beto? Ye old virago already said she had no plans - no exorcism, no windmill attack, no time to deviate from our course and arrive at Thrush in 9 weeks ;)

Beto looked disapprovingly at Bannacor after his quip. "I consider Anzha here as my daughter, and I'll defend her against all malignity if and when she's under influence.", she stated.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:53, Sat 23 Apr 2022.

"Pttthhhhttttt, I was joking, as in kidding."

Nicodemus looks toward Bannacor, "it was likely the 'gratuitous' bit that was most objectionable, although when the other two are together that would almost be a given."

"Have we gotten any medical updates from Vadada, Doc?" Baris asks Nicodemus.

"There aren't usually any, but it never hurts to double check. It's generally part of the communications handshake that the transponder does, but we still aren't firmly convinced that we've ferreted out all of the previous owners' tampering with our systems."

"Nothing came back on the alert, so it would seem all of our medical files are current."

Nicodemus shrugs, "just the usual aberrations. Even with people packed that close together the rate of viral mutation doesn't necessarily overwhelm a properly bolstered immune system."
"Of course, insuring the presence of a properly bolstered immune system is why I've scheduled the physical evaluations during transit time. Please try not to miss your appointment."

"Good point, Doc!" Yuri agrees. "The problem with all the bioscanners is that they don't update themselves, and the bio-techs don't always get to them as fast as viruses mutate."

"And while we think we've got Science under control, the universe is so vast that there are still things we don't know about it. Doomsdayers keep saying that we're going to run across something out there that will wipe us out before we know what hit us."

"Personally, I think if that was the case, it'd have already happened. And yet, we're still here."

"Of course, there's those that claim WE'RE the plague! Sometimes, I even agree with them."

There's about a minute of minor discomfort when the halfway point is reached and deceleration begins. If some sort of impulse drive (liked rockets) was being used, the routine would be to do a end-for-end skew flip so that the engines were pointed at the destination and were used to slow down the ship's speed. With a gravitic drive, that isn't necessary. It was only the transition that took a moment to reverse.

Soon enough, the ship is approaching Highport. It's huge! But there isn't much aesthetic to it. It's just metal blocks and spires seemingly stacked on top of each other... and sticking out on all sides as well. It's only the presence of dozens of ships of all sizes and shapes that gives it the 'busy' look.

Following the designated vector has the ship docking at an external docking bay that has a cargo airlock as well as a standard personnel airlock. It's Docking Bay Geva on the Arezal Arm.


As soon as the ship is docked, you receive a comm: "Greetings, Captain Dahl and Countess Daphne. Welcome to Vadada Highport. I am Highport Commander Clarson Rego. I see that you are a free trader outbound to Tanar, Sif and Lafkin. If there's anything you need while you're here, feel free to comm me."

"Why, thank you, Commander Rego!" Daphne quickly exclaims in reply. "This is my first time visiting Vadada, and, I must say, it's rather fascinating so far. I'd be oh so grateful if you could arrange for someone to give me a tour of your Highport. It really is BIG! I'm afraid I'd get lost on my own."

As soon as the ship dropped out of J-space, Carmichael was on the comms wheeling and dealing with his counterparts on the planet. Well, probably the Highport. He'd spent a few conscious moments checking the computer data on the planet. He found the mobile mining cities down on the surface to be quite fascinating, but he felt the vids did them justice so he had no great desire to experience one first hand.

He was surprised to realize that Vadada was such a busy hub! Raw metals could be mined from the planet, but a lot of other manufactured parts had to be shipped in... particularly to support the Navy Base, the Military Base and the Military Academy, not to mention the Florian shipyards. And as soon as you built a ship, you needed people to crew it. So they had to come from somewhere.

He double-checked their next three destinations, just in case he forgot something. Then he started going over the feeds from the planet to see what was outbound.

"That's a new one for me, Countess," the Commander responds, "but I don't see why my second in command, Lieutenant Candelor, can't show you around. He'll meet you at your ship in 10 minutes... if that's acceptable."

"Thank you, Commander," Daphne answers. "That is acceptable."

After the communication was ended, the Countess turns to Baris and Beto.

"So, is this just an in-and-out pit stop, Captain, or are we looking for something to do?" she asked.

"I'd better go with the Countess," Oscar suggests. "Not that I don't think she'd be safe, but there are bound to be crazies even here."

"Besides, it'll give her an extra air of importance is she's got a bodyguard-factotum."

"Anything we should be on the look-out for?"

"That's a good idea, Oscar," Yuri agrees.

"So, Carmichael... how long is all this cargo unloading and loading going to take? The Countess should have an idea of when she needs to be back here."

"It sounds like there's enough time to stretch our legs... get a bite to eat... see some sights... visit a museum or two..." He said the last a bit facetiously as if there wasn't likely to be any museums on the Highport.

"The mail is already off as it's got a priority," Carmichael responds. "As for the freight... well, that depends on how fast the workers here get their asses in gear. Probably within the hour, but if it takes longer than that, I'll raise a little hell with them."

"It could go faster, too, since the Countess has made her presence known."

"That leaves the passengers. Those disembarking here will be off within 30 minutes. I told the transients that they had two hours to stretch their legs."

"Since any freight we're taking on isn't here in this bay, it'll probably be a couple of hours before it gets transferred over here. That'll all depend on scheduling."

"Damn you're quick Carmichael! No time for any museums I guess."

"I was kidding about visiting a museum, Bannacor," Yuri replies. "We've actually got time; it's not like I was going to spend a day in the museum."

"Besides, it didn't seem like Highport would really have any museums."

"Hey, Nic... didn't I see in the datafile for Vadada that they have anagathics here? Think that's something you might want to look into?"

Beto wore utility clothes, and cleaned and refreshed the rooms, starting with those of the passengers in transit who stretched their legs, and ending with the crew's.

She also ordered "local" (if it can be said from the highport) "delicacy" food, again both for passengers and crew. All coordinated by Bannacor, who was the Steward.

Being a cleaning lady allowed her to relax and enjoy things being tidy.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:16, Wed 27 July 2022.

The appointed time came for her tour, and she greeted her guide enthusiastically.

"So pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Candelor," she told the young officer. "You're probably already wondering why I requested a tour. Well, I'm sure this is all old, boring stuff to you because it's part of everyday life. Being a countess, I don't tend to see 'everyday' life that often. I've always felt it important to stay grounded, though, so I like to see how the Other Half lives."

"I don't mean that as a put-down. It's just my lifestyle is so different than yours. My responsibilities and obligations are quite different from yours, I'm sure."

"It also helps to have a broad base of knowledge about things as well as details when it could be important. I just wanted to get a better sense of how such a huge place as this manages to function so efficiently."

It may have sounded like she was flattering the man, and she sincerely hoped it didn't, but she was genuinely interested in how this place ran.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 211):

"Do you think so? I don't really FEEL that old. Besides, between their cost and their desirability it's profit potential is barely worth the risk."
"Most of our medical stores will be replenished as a matter of course, I've barely had to use any exotics, I think we're good, here."
"Of course, if anyone needed anything of a personal nature it would be unethical of me to discuss it."

"It's no secret that Baris underwent anagathic treatment," Yuri said. "Even if it wasn't obvious, there aren't a lot of secrets on a small ship."

"I was thinking more in terms of having something in stock, so to speak, if it should be needed, but I suppose there's not a lot of durability to it... unless you freeze it. Assuming that's even a viable option."

"I was just pointing out that anagathics can't be had on every planet."

"Can't be had hardly anywhere, . . . and expensive! By the gods they're expensive. Others might need them too in the near future."

"That's true," Yuri agrees, "and there's the price. But it's well-known that Vadada has them. No doubt it's a significant source of income for the system."

"So, shall we go see what kind of trouble we can get into?"

"I should probably accompany out passengers onto the station," Baris suggests. "They can keep me from getting into trouble since someone will have to bail out Yuri and Bannacor."

"Care to join me, Beto? Nicodemus?"

"Khor'ruhn, you should get off the ship too for a bit. You won't find any wide-open spaces out there on the station, but there might be a park. Stretch your legs a bit. Too much time in jump space can get to even the most experienced of spacers."

"That sounds good. After my last visit planetside I could use a little break."
Nicodemus deliberately leaves his kit on the ship. "We're really not working, right?"

"Other than doctors are always working, no, you're not on the clock, so to speak," Baris replies.

"Not that we work all that hard while we're in J-space, but it doesn't take much to get cabin fever. So every opportunity to leave the ship while in port is encouraged."

"Does that apply to you, too, Captain?" Yuri said in response to Baris's comment.

"Okay, whoever else is going out, just follow me! If you want... you can go off on your own if you want."

He headed out the ship's airlock. Then out of the space dock on the search for some entertainment. While he walked, he tried to ascertain where the boundaries of the starport began or ended... assuming this Highport even had such a thing as extraterritoriality.

He doesn't recall there being any mention of it... such as a warning... in any of the library entries or the communication protocols.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 221):

Bannacor looked for a quiet pub that served good food, tired of the ship fare.

OOC : let's say Beto has perfectly timed the 3-days-stay in the system, and made everybody aware of the takeoff time.

Beto hesitates. On one side the Countess went on her way, so she would only be a bother. on the other, Yuri and Bannacor went their ways too. She decided to go with the person she new the least, and that was the doctor who would soon inject her with Rejuvenium; so she joined Baris and Nicodemus, wherever they went.

There was not much variety in an industrial/garrison world. When the workers and soldiers had finished their shift, they swarmed the circuses, taverns, brothels, casinos, Luna-parks and everything that would sell entertainment for their salary.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:24, Mon 11 July 2022.

Yuri and Bannacor are joined by Khor'ruhn as they head out of the spacedock. It isn't long before they see the signs about the 'Starport ends here'. It doesn't take much to realize that this is because it's a pinch point. If something goes wrong with the dock or the ship, the whole section could be jettisoned without taking out half the station.

Once past the signs, you passed significant bulkheads and blast doors before reaching the promenade. The term was applied loosely to any large or long open area where businesses catered to the crews of starships.

Apparently because they'd had a countess on board, the ship had been assigned a dock close to the center of this promenade. According to the directory, there are seven promenades on various levels around the space station/factory.

Two bars that are immediately visible in this area are the Skrootlydoo and the Crimson Quasar.

As an alternative, there's the Captain's Table, the Stellar Breeze, the Terra Nova, and the 57 restaurants.


Baris, Beto and Nicodemus also head out of the ship and run across the same area. In Beto's case, she notices that the Terra Nova restaurant actually has a small garden.

The 57 claims to have 57 different menu items.



Anzha and Grouch also head off the ship, kind of looking like 'Beauty and the Beast', which Oscar amusingly encourages.

In reply to Space Control (msg # 224):

"Where to Yuri? Khor? The Captain's Table,? 57? A nice meal and good beer is what entertains me."

"Ok, now I'm curious. Do you think the restaurants have their own grow tanks or would they all use the communal ones and rely on ambience and preparation to distinguish themselves? Unless, of course, this is tourist area in which case they expect everyone to visit once, anyway."

In reply to Nicodemus Trask (msg # 226):

"I suggest going to the Terra Nova and check if they grow their own vegetables..."

"Although they have the look of bars," Yuri replied to Bannacor, "I suspect they are closer to being pubs or cantinas. Traditionally, bars didn't sell food... except salty beer nuts to make you thirsty so you'd buy more beer. Pubs... short for 'public house'... was drink and food without having rooms to rent. Cantinas were pubs with entertainment... usually."

"Of course, over the years, the distinction between them all has kind of blurred, which got further complicated by local laws and ordinances, some of which were meant to stifle competition."

"It kind of depends on what kind of 'good meal' you are looking for. Pubs traditionally have good food but it's simpler, homey cooking. If you're looking for something fancier, then the Captain's Table is probably the better choice."

"I'm more inclined to try Skrootlydoo. You'll notice how clean this area looks? It's not only a tourist spot, but I'd guess one aimed at VIPs as well."

"No fancy schrapp for me, thank you," Khor'ruhn also responds.

"Went to a formal Marine dinner once. Hated the damn monkey suit I had to wear, got served microscopic portions of some kind of food that wasn't even edible, and all they served was wine! Blehhh."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Wine's okay with certain foods, though wine connoisseurs will tell you it goes with EVERYTHING. I don't think so. It don't go with ice cream. It don't go with PB&J. And ain't nothing better'n beer with pizza!"

"I'm with Yuri. Skrootlydoo sounds like fun!"

"Very well. The Captain's Table it is. Sounds appropriate enough," Baris answers.

"Even reconstituted food is palatable if it's prepared properly. And there isn't anything that Royal Epicurean Mystery Sauce can't fix. I even put it on mignyl chorts once. Still don't know what they heck they are, but those were the best mignyl chorts I ever had."

"I suspect the garden is more for show than actual produce, though fresh flowers and herbs certainly wouldn't be amiss. The vegetables are still probably grown in a hydroponics tank. You can't get enough yield or frequency with only that much of a garden."

He leads the way to the indicated restaurant. Upon entering, he saw that the decor was rather simple though not exactly ordinary as there were models, pictures, and pieces-parts of starships decorating the walls. Still, there was an openness to the place that didn't make it seem like you were on the cramped rooms of a real starship... well, except for the great liners.

"We were just wondering if you grow your own vegetable?" he asked the maitre d' as he walked up to her.

"Skrootlydoo it is then!"

Yuri, Bannacor and Khor'ruhn head for the Skrootlydoo. Not unexpectedly, it turns out to be a rather casual environment, with music and entertainment, and good old comfort food. The decor seems to be somewhat reminiscent of old ragtime and French Quarter.


Baris, Beto and Nicodemus head for the Captain's Table, a somewhat ubiquitous name for a starport restaurant. The atmosphere here is a rather relaxed semi-formal one.

"Of course we grow our own vegetables," the maitre d' replies, "with a few exceptions. We tried growing aspergrass but there's something about the planet below that makes it taste better... a lot better... than anything we could grow."

"Would you still like a table for three?"

"A table for three would be fine," Baris answers. Having never heard of aspergrass, he didn't think that was enough reason to go to another restaurant.

"My apologies about ignoring your suggestion we go to Terra Nova," he says to Beto as they are escorted to a table and sit down.

"Something about The Captain's Table just seemed to call to me. I heard you say 'Terra Nova', but I can only say that this tired old body had a brain fart."

"Maybe it was just the Spacer in me."

In reply to Space Control (msg # 232):

"I'd like a steak and potatoes, peas and gravy over the potatoes. A nice salad too"

Beto laughed genuinely while examining the menu.
"I understand the call. It's surely a marketing trick. The captain of a ship is attracted to a restaurant, and he - or she - brings the crew along. Wham! Many seats filled. Or may be it's literally the table of an ex-captain?", she mused. "Anyway, we happen to pass by this system again on week 10; I'll have choose the restaurant. The restaurant does not matter at all: after more than one week eating at home, convenience food and frozen-heated courses... A dinner out feels so good."

The old lady hailed a waitress and asked for the origin of the restaurant's name.

"Of course, Miss," the waitress with the pink hair replies. Her name tag said she was Tafoya.

"Captain Avery Quindel was the captain of the Independent Star Liner The Light Fantastic some 50 years ago now. He didn't own the ship, of course, it belonged to Tukera Lines."

He'd served on several liners before he got his own command, and he was less than impressed with the food that was often served. And he heard a few passengers complain now and then that they thought the food should be better for what they paid. He took that to heart."

"So, when he got his own command, he decided that there wasn't any reason the passengers shouldn't have an enjoyable week in Jump Space. He started out by setting a magnificent table. It didn't have to be fancy but it had to be quality. He made sure the menu had a few fancy dishes, a few comfort food dishes, and a few standard dishes."

"It worked. Passengers raved about the food, recommended others to the ship, and soon business was booming. The ship was always booked solid, especially after he added entertainment and recreation. Tukera Lines profits increased."

"For 40 years, The Light Fantastic was THE ship to travel on."

"When he retired ten years ago, he found the same situation here on Vadada Highport. It was something he was familiar with and he could do something about. So he opened this restaurant. And since it was the Captain's Table on the ship that had made its reputation, he named the restaurant The Captain's Table to recapture that."

"Would you like to order now? Or start with a drink or appetizer?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:58, Thu 13 Oct 2022.

"Not a good idea to drink on an empty stomach," Baris said to the waitress. "I'd like to try the Sampler appetizer tray along with a bottle of the Stella Corona Pinot Grigio."

"Anything you'd like, Beto? Nicodemus?"


After the server left, he added, "Didn't mean to speak for you, and I have no intention of drinking the entire bottle, but I was in the mood for some variety and a refreshing white wine. I suppose if I like it, I may buy a case for the ship."

Nicodemus strokes his chin, thinking, "tea would be nice. Maybe something like a jasmine?"
"Oh, and the appetizer needs to be fairly light. If the main course lives up to that history we'll overeat if we're not careful."

"I'll take both!", said Beto, eyeing the chronometer and the report of goods loaded in the ship. "I want to try anything different than the everyday fare aboard". She looked at the menu and wanted to taste every dish on it.

===== Baris, Beto and Nicodemus at the Captain's Table restaurant =====

It only takes a few minutes for the server to return with the orders. She sets the platter of appetizers down in the middle of the table and places a smaller plate in front of each of you.

She then serves Nicodemus his tea out of his own pot.

Then she opens the bottle of wine and pours a glass for Baris and Beto, and waits for Baris to sample it and express his opinion on it before she takes everyone's order for a meal.


===== Bannacor, Khor'ruhn and Yuri at the Skrootlydoo restaurant =====


The server takes Bannacor's order and patiently waits for Khor'ruhn and Yuri to decide what they want. After finally placing their orders, the server leaves. It takes about 10 minutes before their orders are brought to the table.

"A steak sounds good, too," the Vargr adds after Bannacor. "Make that TWO steaks, rare, with no freakin' marinades. Oh, and I'll have the spicy skinny fries. And a pot of coffee. Need my caffeine fix."

"I tried using patches, but they were less than spectacular results."

After the server leaves, he tries starting a conversation with Bannacor and Yuri.

"So what's the plan? Haven't really been paying attention to the details, you know. I was a marine, so I'm used to just getting told where to go and what to do."

"Then I was an Agent, and made up my own details as I went along. This seems to be somewhere in between."

"So, the Old Lady... Beto, that is, not the ship... needs to pay off this loan shark? Maybe we should just lean on him a bit, you know what I mean?"

Yuri had been daydreaming as he looked over the menu, making it hard to focus on food. There was something about this pub that brought back old memories. Sylvia Sparkles was her name; they'd met in a pub a lot like this one. It had been a brief but torrid affair, and then they'd both gone their separate ways. It'd been like two starships passing in the Void...

Khor'ruhn's order had roused him from his reverie.

"I'd like the ribs and the corn cob. Oh, what the heck, I'll try a small order of the spicy fries, too."

"And I'll have the Rootin' Tootin' R-Beer to drink."

He then replied to Khor'ruhn's question.

"I'm a bit in the same boat, really. Don't know where we're heading in the long run. Hauling cargo to make a profit to pay off the price of the ship. After that... who knows?"

"Hehehehehe, Count me ignorant too! She runs the ship and us."

Usually Beto would have protested if a server was so old-fashioned that she would wait for the male customer (Baris) to sample the wine. However, she knew nothing about wines. [which, I assume, depends of the Carouse skill]. So she trusted Baris' wine-tasting skill, and the restaurant's reputation regarding the choice of wines. "Never mind the bottle, let's just drink it!" she thought, trying not to let it aloud.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:04, Sat 05 Nov 2022.

OOC: Bannacor, Khor'ruhn and Yuri are in a completely different restaurant than Beto, Baris and Nicodemus.

In reply to Space Control (msg # 245):

Yes we are, and Ban is enjoying his REAL steak!

Not sure if he was reading Beto's expression correctly, he sampled the wine before he responded.

"Since I'm the one that ordered the wine, it falls to me to taste it to make sure it suits my palate as well as fits the meal," he said.

"Excellent! Thank you, Robere," he said to the server based on the name tag he wore.

"I'm not being pretentious," he explained to Beto. "I'm just following custom. I went wine tasting once and realized I couldn't much tell the difference between most of them. Some I liked, some I didn't particularly care for. I tended to like the two extremes--the very dry wines and the very sweet wines."

"This is one of the ones I liked... regardless of what it's called or who bottles it."

In reply to Baris Dahl (msg # 247):

Beto reflected aloud. "Maybe we could order a few dozen bottles at the winemaker , then - although we're staying a few hours only. Maybe we should buy wine on every planet, and keep a wine cellar aboard... That would attract more first-class passengers. We already have a beverage cabinet in our luxury cabins, but the alcohol it contains are interstellar standards...

I truly believe that we must display a specialty, a distinction, a competitive advantage over the other transports. Be it card games, cocktail mixing, movie-loving and lectures... whatever.

We could hear proposals at our next crew meeting", she wrote down on her notebook.

"Unfortunately, I'm not partial to the base flavor. I've always preferred climacteric pomes. Besides, I've always found fermentation too inconsistent for a proper art form. There are those that would be attracted to such minor luxuries, and perhaps would pay a premium for it."

"Ah, yes. Art," Baris responds to Nicodemus. "Isn't art, by definition, inconsistent? If everyone painted the same thing the same way, how would that be art?"

"Well, let's see what we can order online for immediate delivery. I have to admit that an on-board wine cellar does have a certain appeal for me."

He pulls out his comm, types in the name of the wine and then selects the vineyard. After seeing what's available, he orders ten cases.

Once everyone finishes their meal and reports back to the ship, the wine that Baris ordered has arrived, final departure preparations are finished, and the ship is ready for departure.

Any last minute details are dealt with, and the ship lifts off. Transit to the jump point goes without incident, and the ship enters jump space.

Now's the time for the crew meeting.

Welcome back! New thread "Vadada to Tanar" ? :)

Do we have a crew meeting to hold, with Big Decisions to take? Or do we just start "sampling" our crates of wine for one week?
Please complement an old lady's faltering memories!

Why can't we do both?

"At dinner, you'd expressed a... concern... that we needed to have a specialty or distinction... some sort of competitive advantage over the other transports," Baris explained. "Options you'd mentioned were card games, cocktail mixing, movie-loving, lectures... whatever."

"As I see it, we have two approaches: something that merely entertains or something that requires participation. And, of course, a mix of the two."

"We should give some thought to what other ship's are doing."