Traveller: Life in the Marches - A ship of our own

Fourier

Down in engineering Mastalise notices Evan approaching and beckons him over. She turns to Verne.

"Want to see something neat? I replaced some of the shielding around the jump drive with transparent metal, so you're able to see...."

She flicks a switch and a panel retracts showing the interior of the jump drive. Inside is a glowing little sphere, about the size of a pea.

"...that's the entry to the baby universe. It's ready!"

She presses her communicator.

"Okay Tiopa, we're good to go."

Suddenly the little sphere is gone. The stars outside vanish and are replaced by a blue haze. The ship is in jump.

OOC: In Traveller jumping involves making a baby universe and hopping into it. Eventually it "pops" and you fall back to the regular one at your destination. The little sphere vanishing was basically because the ship went inside it. It's blue outside because the baby universe is kept from popping by pumping it with hydrogen.

Fourier

OOC: So Dhinor has his date. Everybody else just describe your actions over the next week.

Fourier

Dagonet intercoms Dhinor the night after the jump.

"I'm down in the canteen, if you're ready?"

Fourier

Planet 567-908

jasonb wrote: »

He stood up and stretched out his wings for a minute. He missed grass, and hills, and everything that 567-908 wasn’t, which was a lot. Hopefully the ship would arrive soon. He wondered what the rest of the crew would be like. He headed out for his shift at the observatory.

Only Kaagira and Riga are working this shift. All the equipment is set up to track the 'Wind on Stars' jump wake when it arrives.

Kaagira speaks "Oh I'm so glad that ship is coming, haven't had coffee in weeks now. Apparently it's an industrial grade supply of the stuff."

She turns.

"Oh hey Glen!"

Initially the humans attempted to use his real name, but gave up, considering it's a set of musical notes only a few humans can manage that came as no surprise.

Riga doesn't greet him. Most of the humans on base are uncomfortable with him. Given human mental privacy, the psychic abilities of the Droyne aren't welcome.

OOC: For others, Droyne look like this:

jasonb

"Hi Kaagira, Hi Riga"

Glenn deliberately included both of them, he didn't see why he should be rude just 'cos someone else was. He never got the human's logic anyhow, them ignoring him didn't stop his natural abilities.

"Kaagira, how are you today? When is 'Wind on Stars' due to arrive? I hope you won't all miss me too much when I'm gone?"

Just because Glenn didn't want to be rude, it didn't mean he couldn't tease them a little bit...

Baggly

Fourier wrote: »

OOC: So Dhinor has his date. Everybody else just describe your actions over the next week.

OOC: Im in engineering at the mo, passing time until you explicitly comm me for the date.

Banjo

Fourier wrote: »

Dagonet intercoms Dhinor the night after the jump.

"I'm down in the canteen, if you're ready?"

Pter wrote: »

OOC: Im in engineering at the mo, passing time until you explicitly comm me for the date.

So Pter, when you say "explicitly" do you mean in the saucy sense? (don't worry, I'll edit this out)

Baggly

Banjo wrote: »

So Pter, when you say "explicitly" do you mean in the saucy sense? (don't worry, I'll edit this out)

OOC: WHOOPS didn't see that post.

Baggly

Fourier wrote: »

Dagonet intercoms Dhinor the night after the jump.

"I'm down in the canteen, if you're ready?"

Dhinor headed for the canteen.

He had been waiting for this call for 2 days now. Having explored a lot of the ship, talked to its crew, and gotten to know his own future crew a little better, he felt he hadnt wasted his time.

Except for his interactions with Evan. That man was either a fool or crazy or both. Imagine Dhinor Pira being accused of being cocky. Years of naval service and training had simply made him assured of his own skills. Dhinor cast aside thoughts of Evan - this wasnt the time to be thinking of that Flammarian idiot worm. Just as well he paid one of the ships security detail to lock Evan in a janitorial closet for the evening.

As Dhinor approached the canteen, he looked into an inactive console monitor and checked his appearance. 'As good as you can be expected to look, you old brawler' Dhinor muttered to himself.

He entered the canteen and spotted the captain in one of the corners - the one with the lights slightly dimmed. Strange, i didnt know one could dim the lights. There werent many in the canteen as well. Perhaps Dhinor had overestimated the effect of his charm on the captain when he had asked her out on the bridge.

He approached the captain at her table

'Good evening captain - delighted to have received your communication. How are you?' Dhinor said aloud, happy to finally be alone with the intriguing captain, and eager to see what information he could get out of her, as well as what else might happen.

Banjo

In the janitorial closet, Evan notes the various cleaning agents, tools and utensils that are on offer, drawing up plans for a series of devices to aid him in his escape, should it become necessary. But for now, he remains where he is. He as an idea of who put the ships crew up to this, but the thing is if he's locked safely in the janitor's closet where he can do no harm, someone else must have ejaculated in the soup being served right now in the canteen. Right? Some people were far too easy to manipulate, it almost ruined the game. Almost.

He tried to remember which of the two vat-meats on offer he'd tainted, but with vat meat did it really matter? It was probably an improvement.

Fourier

Pter wrote: »

'Good evening captain - delighted to have received your communication. How are you?' Dhinor said aloud, happy to finally be alone with the intriguing captain, and eager to see what information he could get out of her, as well as what else might happen.

"Good evening" she says seated at the dimly lit table. Just as Dhinor arrives two other diners leave. Only the ships young medic, who has been following Nestor around remained, but she had the good sense to move across the room.

The captain has already placed Dhinor's food on the table. It seems to mostly consist of mushrooms and vegetables in a strange sauce. (OOC: Anybody in the Traveller world would know this is traditional Vilani food) She makes some strange gestures over the food, close enough to a prayer, before pouring a blue fluid over them.

"So Mr. Pira, what is it you would like to discuss?"

Fourier

The stench of the vat-meat in the kitchens is difficult for Bakleth to ignore. In the last few hours however a different scent was to be found in the putrid admixture.

He knew the humans loved meat, but surely they would not sink to such degeneracy.....

Mollyb60

Verne spends the week pottering about the ship, hanging out in engineering a lot getting to know Mastalise and the engineering crew. Being helpful where he can (or is allowed to). Taking notes on how the M-Drive and jump drives work (for use on the new ship just in case) and how to maintain them. He makes sure to pop over to Nestor to get his bio-readings taken and just generally gets to know the humans he's going to be working with.

Baggly

Fourier wrote: »

"Good evening" she says seated at the dimly lit table. Just as Dhinor arrives two other diners leave. Only the ships young medic, who has been following Nestor around remained, but she had the good sense to move across the room.

The captain has already placed Dhinor's food on the table. It seems to mostly consist of mushrooms and vegetables in a strange sauce. (OOC: Anybody in the Traveller world would know this is traditional Vilani food) She makes some strange gestures over the food, close enough to a prayer, before pouring a blue fluid over them.

"So Mr. Pira, what is it you would like to discuss?"

OOC: So.....the sauce is definitely different to the soup, right?


'Thank you Captain. Both for the food and the blessing. I was hoping to share a few stories from the service. To get to know you a little better, and maybe share some Vilani Wine perhaps?

It must be interesting to traverse the stars. And i admire any that hold command of any ship as well organised and maintained as yours. A crew reflects their captains character, and this crew seems resourceful, dedicated and imaginative.'

Dhinor leans in slightly, not too much, but enough that his body language should convey his 'earnest' desire to get to know as much about the captain as possible.

OOC: Im waiting to hear back from you about that sauce not being near the soup before i even consider Dhinor eating.

Banjo

OOC : Player knowledge =/= Character knowledge. You must eat! Also, Evan *thought* it was soup, but he's no culinary expert... Could have been anything... That's why he only eats prepacked stuff

Baggly

Banjo wrote: »

OOC : Player knowledge =/= Character knowledge. You must eat! Also, Evan *thought* it was soup, but he's no culinary expert... Could have been anything... That's why he only eats prepacked stuff

OOC: Have you never been on a date. Say your piece, then let her talk and start eating.

Fourier

Pter wrote: »

To get to know you a little better, and maybe share some Vilani Wine perhaps?

"I think we have some, not from Vland itself of course, I can't afford that yet. From one of the old Vilani colonies. It's been a while since I could make some traditional Vilani food, all this has been prepared from my private reserves, I trained as a Shugilii when I was young."

(OOC: Shugilii is a well known term. The native life on Vland cannot be eaten by humans, neither plant nor animal. After being transplanted from Earth, the humans who became the Vilani learned to apply chemicals to some plants and fungi to render them edible. This food preparation became a sacred role, a Shugilii)

She considered telling him about Evan. Cameras had detected him pleasuring himself with this week's soup and picked up mutters of "Dhinor" as he did so. He was obviously possessed of some strange attraction to Dhinor that he could only express this way. Best not to trouble Dhinor though, she judged him capable of handling the issue himself.

It must be interesting to traverse the stars. And i admire any that hold command of any ship as well organised and maintained as yours. A crew reflects their captains character, and this crew seems resourceful, dedicated and imaginative.' Dhinor leans in slightly, not too much, but enough that his body language should convey his 'earnest' desire to get to know as much about the captain as possible.

Dagonet smiles slightly.

"Well my crew are good at their jobs, trust me, their performance is more a reflection of their capabilities than my leadership, but let's cut to the chase here. What's your genetic heritage Mr. Pira?"

Baggly

Fourier wrote: »

Dagonet smiles slightly.

"Well my crew are good at their jobs, trust me, their performance is more a reflection of their capabilities than my leadership, but let's cut to the chase here. What's your genetic heritage Mr. Pira?"

Dhinor knows where this is going.

'I was raised to focus on the output of the man rather than a man as output.

I have not traced my family line beyond my parents, and, to cut the story short, i come from military stock.

I have fought for and alongside Vilani in the past, however; you will find we share many traits, no doubt bestowed to both of us due to compatible genetic dispositions.

I wonder, Captain, does it get lonely as the pinacle of command on this ship? There is no companionship to be found amongst your crew, and none of your other passengers will be pure vilani, im sure. Would you not care to keep talking with me, no matter my genetics?

Oh, and please call me Dhinor.''

Fourier

Pter wrote: »

I wonder, Captain, does it get lonely as the pinacle of command on this ship? There is no companionship to be found amongst your crew, and none of your other passengers will be pure vilani, im sure. Would you not care to keep talking with me, no matter my genetics?

Oh, and please call me Dhinor.''

"Of course...Dhinor, we can talk. So, the dish to your right....."

Dagonet and Dhinor chat and eat into the early hours of the morning, it's clear she enjoys the company of an intellectual military man. They leave via the cargo bay which is lit up red in order to simulate the K'Kree day for Bakleth. Dagonet pauses just after they leave the cargo bay, before they go their separate ways.

"I'll see you two nights after we land on 567-908 then Dhinor"

She walks off back to her quarters and closes the door.

Fourier

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Verne spends the week pottering about the ship, hanging out in engineering a lot getting to know Mastalise and the engineering crew. Being helpful where he can (or is allowed to). Taking notes on how the M-Drive and jump drives work (for use on the new ship just in case) and how to maintain them. He makes sure to pop over to Nestor to get his bio-readings taken and just generally gets to know the humans he's going to be working with.

Over the course of the week Verne becomes reasonably confident about these human vessels, principles are the same and thankfully Mastalise was ppatient enough to explain the specifics.

OOC: Disadvantages on dealing with human vessels removed.

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

He tried to remember which of the two vat-meats on offer he'd tainted, but with vat meat did it really matter? It was probably an improvement.

The ship's gunner opens up the locker containing Evan the next morning.

"Alright sleeping beauty, get up"

As Evan collects himself, the gunner glances left and right before putting a hand on Evan's shoulder.

"Look man, we have security footage.....we won't tell your current crew and we don't judge things too much in modern Vilani space, but maybe you should tell this Dhinor guy how you feel instead of suppressing it and letting it spill over into our soup....not cool by the way....okay? Alright then."

He heads off.

Fourier

jasonb wrote: »

"Kaagira, how are you today? When is 'Wind on Stars' due to arrive? I hope you won't all miss me too much when I'm gone?"

"In a few hours actually Glenn, can't wait. She just exited jump, that's why the equipment is going wild. Hey, can you drink coffee?"

jasonb wrote: »

Just because Glenn didn't want to be rude, it didn't mean he couldn't tease them a little bit...

OOC: Just let me know what you're going to do and we can run through it.

Fourier

The 'Wind on Stars' exits jump near one of the small ice dwarfs common to the edge of most Solar Systems. 567-908 itself is over five hours away by M-drive, nearer the System's star.

Dagonet speaks via the intercom.

"Alright, we're in the 567-908 system. The research base is five hours away, so anybody who wants to disembark has plenty of time. We'll be opening the bay doors for a few minutes to offload the supplies. You can leave the ship then, but not after. Planet is a lazy terraforming job, atmosphere is oxygen poor, hence you will need a respirator, which we can give you.

We'll be planet side for three hours, so be back at the ship by then. by all reports of how monotonous this place is, I doubt that'll be a problem. Dagonet out"

Five hours later the ship lands on the planet surface and a beacon sounds for disembarking.

OOC: Anybody who didn't get to describe what they did over the week can of course still do so via a "mini-flashback".

jasonb

Fourier wrote: »

"In a few hours actually Glen, can't wait. She just exited jump, that's why the equipment is going wild. Hey, can you drink coffee?"


OOC: Just let me know what you're going to do and we can run through it.

'I don't like coffee actually, the caffeine doesn't agree with me! Glad the ship has exited, let me have a look at the read outs from the jump with you, one last time. I'm already packed and ready to go when they dock'.

OOC: Oops, me asking a group of people. who I know aren't confortable around me, if they'll miss me was the teasing I was talking about! I'll be more clear in future... ��

Fourier

jasonb wrote: »

'I don't like coffee actually, the caffeine doesn't agree with me! Glad the ship has exited, let me have a look at the read outs from the jump with you'.

They pause and look at each other.

"Sure thing Glenn, so typical enough stuff...."

They go through the statistics over the next few hours, until 'Wind on Stars' lands. Nothing note worthy, although trace psychic impressions indicate the humans had some kind of quarrel the night before.

Eventually a message arrives on the terminal, the ship is here.

jasonb wrote: »

OOC: Oops, me asking a group of people. who I know aren't confortable around me, if they'll miss me was the teasing I was talking about! I'll be more clear in future... 😀

OOC: No worries at all jasonb, just me being dense, I thought you were going to pull a psychic prank or something.

jasonb

Pausing only to implant the thought in Riga’s mind that Kaagira has been faking it, Glenn says his goodbyes and heads towards the Landing Port, to report to the Captain of the ‘Wind on Stars’.

He won’t miss 567-908, that’s for sure. He wonders how his new crew mates will feel about having a Droyne onboard.

Fourier

Alex and Nestor find a note from Dagonet on their quarters' terminal. It reads:

"Droyne to be picked up. Please come meet me."

Mollyb60

Always interested to see new land, Verne disembarks the ship and has a quick scout around 567-908. He notes the settlement they have landed in and the species that inhabit it. While he's out in the "air" he has a look around for a food hall. He's always interested in tasting the flavours of a new planet.

[OOC: I'm sure you'll let us know if any of our species would have a significant problem with a Droyne?]

Baggly

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Always interested to see new land, Verne disembarks the ship and has a quick scout around 567-908. He notes the settlement they have landed in and the species that inhabit it. While he's out in the "air" he has a look around for a food hall. He's always interested in tasting the flavours of a new planet.

[OOC: I'm sure you'll let us know if any of our species would have a significant problem with a Droyne?]

Dhinor joins Verne.

'ill tag along if I might do, my Aslan friend'

Dhinor makes sure he has his comms device on him, and that it's fully charged, which it is.

OldGoat

Nestor has spent the last few days checking will as many of her party as she could, just getting to know them, surreptitiously pilfering small items from them, decorating them with her laser scalpel and then returning the items back to their owners.

She also spends time with the ships medic, swapping information and techniques, learning what she can about the planet they are heading for and about it's native life.

When she receives the Captains note she dresses for an planetside excursion and heads to meet the captain to hear of the Droyne. She checks her small medkit, respirator, shotgun concealed beneath a duster. She also checks her comms unit for background information on Droyne.

"Hello Captain. Forgive me for not introducing myself to you before now, I've been busy and I'm sure you have been too."