Traveller: Sinharaja Sector (in-character thread)

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I go back to Nils and Bai. 'We're set, your coordinates seemed good to me,' I say. 'Have we fed her yet?' I ask Nils. 'I can accompany her if she wants to wash up.'

From here on out I keep an eye on Bai and try to get her to talk over the trip.
 
Unless there are particular things you want to address and play out, I'll fast forward about 160 hours of your trip and summarize what Eloise learns from Bai Ziyi during that time.

If there are any general things you want to establish or confirm, we can do that as well and then arrive at your destination.
 
"Yeah. We elected a new leader: you", Volodimir informs Nils.
 
"Yup. You're deemed to be the least unstable. What's the plan oh fearless leader?" Trip asks.
 
Volodimir winked at the least unstable man.
 
"Yeah. We elected a new leader: you", Volodimir informs Nils.
"Me? But you're the commanding officer Sir. Seems a bit odd to be in charge of you" Nils says with a slight smile.

"Yup. You're deemed to be the least unstable. What's the plan oh fearless leader?" Trip asks.
"Nothing extraordinary as of yet. Let's see what kind of place Saffron is. Low enough population it seems..."

He turns to Bai.

"...the description said it was Balkanized with an Exotic atmosphere. Would I be right in thinking habitation domes each owned by a corporation and no overall government?"
 
"Me? But you're the commanding officer Sir. Seems a bit odd to be in charge of you" Nils says with a slight smile.
"We're now, at best, pirates. You got voted to command...but if you want, here are your orders: don't fail!"
 
"Me? But you're the commanding officer Sir. Seems a bit odd to be in charge of you" Nils says with a slight smile.


"Nothing extraordinary as of yet. Let's see what kind of place Saffron is. Low enough population it seems..."

He turns to Bai.

"...the description said it was Balkanized with an Exotic atmosphere. Would I be right in thinking habitation domes each owned by a corporation and no overall government?"
"There's a lousy starport at Bandar and everyone has a hangar on the surface, but everything else is underground. Most offworlders are there for work in the mines, or to visit the orbiting casino. If you're thinking about taking jobs at one of the mining concerns, word is it's little better than slavery unless you're in management."
 
"There's a lousy starport at Bandar and everyone has a hangar on the surface, but everything else is underground. Most offworlders are there for work in the mines, or to visit the orbiting casino. If you're thinking about taking jobs at one of the mining concerns, word is it's little better than slavery unless you're in management."
"Hmmm...." Nils thinks a bit

"A few questions. Do the offworlders coming to the casino tend to be rich? And is there a clear class divide, i.e. those who work for the mines and those involved in the casino?

What do the natives do? Sit pretty on income from the mining complexes? Are there mining dynasties?"
 
"The minerals must either be refined locally or transported out of system somehow. How is that normally done here?" Trip asks.
 
"Hmmm...." Nils thinks a bit

"A few questions. Do the offworlders coming to the casino tend to be rich? And is there a clear class divide, i.e. those who work for the mines and those involved in the casino?

What do the natives do? Sit pretty on income from the mining complexes? Are there mining dynasties?"
"They might be rich when they arrive," Bai Ziyi laughs. "Or hoping to become rich. Debtors make up a good portion of the labor on the planet. If by natives you mean the corporate owners, they and their families just collect their profits and pursue their idle pleasures. I'd be surprised if most of them don't live in orbit aboard the casino. Nobody lives on Saffron unless they have no other choice. You can't even go outside without an oxygen tank, not to mention the huge insects swarming wherever they sense food--and we are considered food."
"The minerals must either be refined locally or transported out of system somehow. How is that normally done here?" Trip asks.
"Thousand-ton corporate freighters pick up unrefined ore every three months, plus there are 200-ton independents like us picking up the scraps when we can. You dock at Bandar, load your cargo, and get the hell out as fast as you can. You guys fucked up. You should have waited till we had loaded up on medicinals and exotic pets before hijacking the ship. Now we have nothing to trade."
 
"Well we are fuck ups. Homicidal, but fuck ups for sure. Want a job as a tactician for a group of homicidal fuck ups? Pay comp based on performance. Fun and friendly co-workers. " Trip says sarcastically.
 
"Well we are fuck ups. Homicidal, but fuck ups for sure. Want a job as a tactician for a group of homicidal fuck ups? Pay comp based on performance. Fun and friendly co-workers. " Trip says sarcastically.
"I'll take my chances at the casino, thanks. Maybe someone needs a navigator. Anyway, I'll probably do better as an indentured servant working the mines of Saffron than throwing my lot in with whatever terrorist organization you guys are part of."
 
"I'll take my chances at the casino, thanks. Maybe someone needs a navigator. Anyway, I'll probably do better as an indentured servant working the mines of Saffron than throwing my lot in with whatever terrorist organization you guys are part of."
"We're Independent Noncompetents." Trip says
 
"Indeed. The last organisation we were part of was the Marine Corps...I mean, killing people and blowing stuff up was part of the job, but it was all legal", Volodimir adds.
"Now we're indeed independent contractors looking for work... Tell you what, it would suck to leave you here where you have high odds of becoming an indentured servant with low life expectancy - so if you decide to join us on a probationary basis, you could still leave after the first job, taking your own share of whatever we gained. That would also be likely to put you in another planet system with better prospects".
He turns aside.
 
"Yeah think on it Bai, could be worth your while staying with us. No problems if not, you'll be let free as promised"

He turns to the others.

"We have two crew issues at the moment. The first is that Eloise here is a skilled pilot and gunner, however you can't fly a ship and man a turret at the same time. We need to pick up somebody experienced in manning a turret as personally I'd prefer one of us to be piloting this thing.

Secondly none of us have expertise with the drive systems, which means one bad shot could leave us stranded and fucked. Or at best we'll be constantly hiring mechanics after minor accidents. Let's see if we can find an engineer skilled with drive systems"

Nils heads away to have a proper look at the ship.

OOC: This is just to justify Nils knowing what is present in the schematics you gave us earlier. Happy to skip forward now whenever others wish to. Over the week he'll just familiarise himself with electrical and mechanical systems onboard the ship, stopping in to chat to Bai the odd time in a friendly way.
 
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"If you guys are really Marines, it's too bad you didn't look for legitimate work instead of trying be drug runners or whatever the idea was," she says. "There was a big dark-skinned guy hanging around the starport looking for ex-military types for some job opportunity." She then adds, "You'll have a hard time getting anyone to sign on to a merchant with a useless cargo hold and only enough fuel to make one jump, unless you've got a shitload of credits tucked away somewhere, in which case maybe I will sign up. I've never been an outlaw before."

I'll skip ahead to arrival at Saffron if no one has anything else to add.
 
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"We did meet with that jackass. That's how we ended up here." Trip says.
 
"Technically, it was due to us picking a less than optimal way to perform the job he hired us for", Volodimir clarified. "And specifically, due to a crook using us to get a lead on a competitor...whatever! Debts shall be paid in full, with time. And speaking of debts...how many credits make a shitload, Bai? Enough for a middle passage?"
 
"Technically, it was due to us picking a less than optimal way to perform the job he hired us for", Volodimir clarified. "And specifically, due to a crook using us to get a lead on a competitor...whatever! Debts shall be paid in full, with time. And speaking of debts...how many credits make a shitload, Bai? Enough for a middle passage?"
"Pocket change," she sneers. "I'm starting to believe your story that you didn't set out to be criminals. You're not very good at it."
 
Six days later...

With a shudder, your jump drive suddenly whines and groans as the Vera Caspary lurches out of jump space and back into real space. An ephemeral wave of nausea comes and goes as your bodies readjust to three-dimensional space about 100 diameters out from the planet Saffron.
Saffron.jpg

Six hundred kilometers directly ahead you see the orbiting casino and assorted yachts. merchantmen, and pinnaces coming and going from its docking bays.
Wheel_JPG.jpg
 
Trip asks "Should we hail a nearby ship and ask for help due to impulse drive troubles? We could swap ships and ram this one into the casino."
 
"And what are your possible reasons for the sudden blood-thirstiness?", Volodimir asked, amazed.
"I mean, there are women and children on this casino. Bei told us the families of the directors live there, remember? You got any reason to want to kill as many people as possible?"
 
"No need to kill anyone just aim for a storage area or somewhere less populated. Just keep them busy with the ensuing chaos vs tracking us as we leave." Trip answers.
 
"No need to kill anyone just aim for a storage area or somewhere less populated. Just keep them busy with the ensuing chaos vs tracking us as we leave." Trip answers.
Volodimir looks Trip in the eyes. And his look is hard.
"I think that our newly-elected leader might object. Let's go and ask him, and then we two, or maybe we three, could sit and discuss what's going on with you. You weren't the only one who got screwed up, we all were!"
 
OOC: I'm going to assume you guys are in the Lounge

Nils enters the Lounge.

"Beautiful looking planet in a stark way. Casino is not too bad either. Any of you see Eloise? We should probably get the docking underway and get looking for new crew members and jobs"

He notices a bit of tension, but waits to see what he hears.
 
"Hey it's just a suggestion. No need to get testy about it. We have a hot ship that's low on fuel. We need either a new ship with fuel, more fuel for this ship or a safe hideout with someone powerful here to keep from getting caught. I'm offering an option. It gets us a ship potentially and keeps people from following us. If you have ideas I'm all ears." Trip says calmly.
 
"Sure enough, everyone can suggest anything. And we elected a leader to decide on them", Volodimir nodds.
"Captain Nils, Trip here has a suggestion. What do you think about hailing a nearby ship and asking for help due to impulse drive troubles? Then we could swap ships and ram this one into the casino...by the way, Trip, correct me if I'm misrepresenting your idea, OK?"
 
Nils glances at Trip.

"I'm going to assume this plan involves slamming the ship into an unoccupied part of the casino or a communication antenna?"

OOC: I know it does, but just Nils would ask
 
"Yup. I was just explaining that. I know I'm little short tempered but I'm not looking to wantonly murder people. I'm just interested in keeping the authorities distracted while we leave the system." Trip explains again.
 
"Well let's look at it this way. We need two new crew members, we have to repair that busted ramp and the ship is wanted. However quickly that news reaches this system. Taking another ship would solve the ramp problem and maybe if we were lucky a better ship overall and no new stolen ship report. However to take another ship we need to know how many are onboard and how well armed they are. Odds of surviving a hijacking are low I'd say.

Perhaps we can talk to Bai, see if as a crew member she can have the whole thing dropped. Grant us the ownership legally. Unlikely but maybe it's within her legal capacity if we persuade her"
 
I scan the area for any sign of pursuit. I prep a hail signal for the casino. Once I’m sure we’re secure I call everyone except Bai to the bridge via the intercom.

‘Alright all, I think our best chance to find semi-legal work is the casino. Once we find that I promised Bai her ship, unless she wants to join us.’
 
Nils heads out of the lounge to the bridge, laughing as he enters.

"Ha! I thought you promised her the ship to calm her down. Well probably for the best, the crew we need to hire, the money to fix the ramp, we'd probably need to legally be Bai's employees so that whoever owns the loan on this ship doesn't come to kill us. Not worth it ultimately"

He takes a seat in the bridge and enjoys watching the casino spinning in the void.
 
‘We don’t need an old tug like this, it was good as an escape ship because it is unlikely to attract attention but longterm we need something else.’
 
"OK. Let's go to the bridge and I'll explain my outlook...which is quite different from the suggestions, yes."
Once they're there, Volodimir clears his throat.
"Well, Trip thinks we need either a new ship with fuel, more fuel for this ship or a safe hideout with someone powerful here to keep from getting caught", he says.
"I favor the last one. We can do some semi-legal work - which, given the law rating of this world, might still require killing, but it would actually be a step up for us - and then we'd have someone influential enough to cover us up. We can do some work for new identities and covers. If it's big enough, we could get new papers for the ship, too.... if we want it, which I think we don't. And I think Trip has missed an option: we can just as easily get out tracks lost if we hire as security on some ship that's leaving the casino. We can basically do it for lower pay for one jump, in exchange for our names not being on the manifesto. And then we'd be ahead of any pursuit, and could buy ourselves new documents with different names, and start anew - or kidnap a better ship."
 
I scan the area for any sign of pursuit. I prep a hail signal for the casino.
There's no sign of pursuit, but then you don't really expect any right away as there was no indication that Xenochrophis has the resources to pursue interstellar criminals, even if they cared enough to try--plus they would have to guess where you jumped to and from Xenochrophis there are 12 inhabited systems within range of your freighter's known jump capabilities.
 
‘Sound solid. I suggest we play it by ear on the casino and see what comes our way. It’s a big universe and all we’ve done really is steal an old beat up tug and killed mostly criminals on an edge planet. If we keep moving we should be able to avoid any possible pursuit.’
 
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"Works for me. Funny I figured you Marines for the go big or go home types but I guess going small has its attractive qualities too" Trip says
 
‘Sound solid. I suggest we play it by ear on the casino and see what comes our way. It’s a big universe and all we’ve done really is steal an old beat up tug and killed mostly criminals on an edge planet. If we keep moving we should be able to avoid any possible pursuit.’
"I'll speak to Bai, see what she wants to do now"

Nils heads out and down to the MedBay. He acts cheery as he enters.

"So our favourite captive, we're here and your course corrections worked beautifully. What do you want to do now? Wanna leave straight away or help us with checking out the casino and see if we bring you good fortune?"
 
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