Collace Homecoming

[Tiglath]

(OOC: I'll take it you're going ahead from your last and continue on the morrow ).

[shaidar]

We are ready, willing, and able to host the ship. I was waiting for an even more flustered secretary to come back on the line.

[Tiglath]

Frank

The Minister's secretary takes in Frank's affirmative response with a smile “Well, I'm sure that's a great relief to all concerned, Colonel, in fact...” For a moment he stares blankly into the comm “Erk! What, you're letting them land??? Well... ah... well, I'll... um... forward your acceptance...”.

He “pings” a covering letter, a letter of Introduction for the bearer, Ministerial authorisation, a “chit” for delivery of 400 tons of refined fuel to the Bartizan and access to a 10 KCr Collace Government disbursement account for “reasonable expenses for entertainment of the Ambassador, his guests/staff and the improvement of diplomatic relations”.

“Ah... um... now, the Ministry can't have you letting Collace down... oh no... so I'll send a staffer down-spire as liaison. We're relying on you to secure our guests and prevent any... any of the type of incidents which we may all regret. Um... for record they've never been any bother... but then... one wonders... er... unfairly of course! Do humour their wishes entirely and...” He leans closer to the screen to confide “...take all necessary precautions... you know... with the womenfolk” He suddenly starts "Wait, that came out wrong!!!" then “Lummie, they'll be after the wife!” He then quits the comm screen shouting “Tell that fekkin' two bob Imperial spy that the ruddy Mercs said “Yes”.

As someone in the background hysterically shouts “I'm taking the afternoon off!” a younger version of the secretary with artfully piled hair takes over on the comm. Carefully referencing some notes he reads “Congratulations on your successful bid... ah... fek... er... in being awarded this duty”. He hurries on reading “You have the gratitude of the Collace government. We anticipate scheduled arrival within...” He inserts “Um... 24hrs” then continues from his notes “Please note that although they enjoy diplomatic immunity and free rein in civil areas I believe it would be unwise to let our guests stray very far downspire. Oh, borrocks... er... less relevant in this case, eh? Er... I am informed that their Banya Class Light Fleet Corvette displaces about eight 'undred tons if that assists your dockers? She's named... The Magician's Gambit, apparently... Oh, yes, 'old up...” He reads again “Please forward my Minister's warmest greetings to Ambassador...” the junior diplomat double takes, rolls his eyes and then pronounces carefully “Vlez...prid...lia...shav” before adding from his notes “when you see him”.

Apparently relieved to have got through his procedure the presumed (at least a minimum of one level of “Under”) Under Secretary cheerfully confides “That woz your firm on Avastan tunin' up them pirates, right? 'Ere you go - I'm pinging you the inbound flight path from Collace Orbital. They actually haven't a fekkin' pot of glue* as to where these geezers really are. Orbital Defence are losing their ruddy loaf abaht this but hey, diplomats, it's not like they're gonna ding it while parkin' an' do one, is it? So s'all kushti right?”

Frank notes that he receives a real time secure feed from Collace Planetary Navy forwarded via the Foreign Ministry showing an inbound 4G “blip” labelled as Preblsheinchiaslav Dazhia. He notes that the usual red “Lock” traffic/target cursor is still showing as “Unconfirmed/Unlock” yellow. A flight of fighters vectored from Kirton are on an interception course.

(OOC: Collace trans: pot of glue = clue.

And did I mention... and ).

[shaidar]

Frank smiles at the man

"Kushti indeed, you've been very helpful, and it's good to see someone is keeping their head. I don't suppose I could have your name, in case I need to report anything the ministry might need to know."


He sends a text message to call a meeting of all the officers (including all PCs and Liv) to bring them up to speed on our visitors (he won't mention who the visitors are in the message, just "VIPs"). The gate will need to be expecting the liason from the ministry.

He also asks Dubs to ping the ship to politely request numbers of personnel who will require a room at the Bartizan, along with any dietary (or other) specialised requirements.

[BackworldTraveller]

He sends a text message to call a meeting of all the officers (including all PCs and Liv) to bring them up to speed on our visitors (he won't mention who the visitors are in the message, just "VIPs"). The gate will need to be expecting the liason from the ministry.

Do we want an Honour Guard?
Do we want a QRF just in case?
* A raid would reduce the problems they have been experiencing at our hands!

[The Bindoner]

Jess arrives from the garage deck, where she has been overseeing work on the damaged IFV (and tuning the engine on her new ground car).

What’s the flap, Boss? New customers? We dressin’ military or civvie for ‘em?

[shaidar]

Frank waits for everyone to arrive.

"We need to pull out all the stops for a VIP visit, sometime in the next few hours. They specifically asked to land at the Bartizan."

He throws up the orange marked ship onto the screen.

"It's Zhodani, ambassador Vlezpridliashav to be precise. It's caused quite a stir at the ministry, as you can imagine. There is a 10 KCr pot to cover costs."

[BackworldTraveller]

Frank waits for everyone to arrive.

"We need to pull out all the stops for a VIP visit, sometime in the next few hours. They specifically asked to land at the Bartizan."

He throws up the orange marked ship onto the screen.

"It's Zhodani, ambassador Vlezpridliashav to be precise. It's caused quite a stir at the ministry, as you can imagine. There is a 10 KCr pot to cover costs."

100 people at Cr100 per head! Those ministry types have fleeced you!

[gurusql]

Kit

Kit arrives a little tired. Although he has lived for years planet-side he still longs for the zero-G sleeping experience. He is ready to meet the "elves".

[The Bindoner]

Frank waits for everyone to arrive.

"We need to pull out all the stops for a VIP visit, sometime in the next few hours. They specifically asked to land at the Bartizan."

He throws up the orange marked ship onto the screen.

"It's Zhodani, ambassador Vlezpridliashav to be precise. It's caused quite a stir at the ministry, as you can imagine. There is a 10 KCr pot to cover costs."

Well, that'll buy the horse duvets. Who's payin' for drinks?

Jess pulls out her comm and starts looking through her suppliers.

Anyone know what Joes eat? 'Part from brains, that is.

[BackworldTraveller]

Freya tries to recall her Scout training, and appears to succeed.



I can recall Plipjdeprardret, Janplezfep and Rokrlech all went down well at receptions.

[shaidar]

Frank

"I'm having Dubs contact them to request numbers for accommodation and any particular dietary, or other, requirements. I suspect this isn't a normal ambassadorial visit."

[BackworldTraveller]

Frank

"I'm having Dubs contact them to request numbers for accommodation and any particular dietary, or other, requirements. I suspect this isn't a normal ambassadorial visit."

I can't believe you mumbled "Normal" and "Ambassadorial Visit" in a single sentence! Nothing about this is normal. Zho's don't just "drop in".

She gets out her comm unit

Are we placing an armed guard on our equipment store and armoury?

[shaidar]

Frank raises an eyebrow

"I doubt the Zhodani are coming here to rob us. They have shown that they are more than capable of getting what they want without being seen. The Zhodani has been around and quietly helped the SEMC on three occasions, here in the Bartizan, on Inchin and also on Avastan. Now they have approached us out in the open and I'm intregued as to why. "

[Tiglath]

Jess pulls out her comm and starts looking through her suppliers.

Anyone know what Joes eat? 'Part from brains, that is.

Only when they unhinge their jaws and the tentacles come out!

Oh, wait that was a propaganda holo... probably...

Jess discovers that they eat "human food".

No doubt so they can blend in...

[Tiglath]

Freya tries to recall her Scout training, and appears to succeed.



I can recall Plipjdeprardret, Janplezfep and Rokrlech all went down well at receptions.

Plipjdeprardret - what with a chance of kids being present??? Don't tell the padre!!!

Freya enjoys much success with her research.

She is able to (at least partially) convince the (more learned) of her comrades that:
a) Zhodani don't always leeringly twirl their moustaches
b) aren't always after our wimmin' - probably.

By reasoned counter argument she points out that (even allowing that if her point at b) above were flawed) having lured Imperial gals away (per favour of hypnotic leering) then tying them to grav rail tracks (where the trains would pass harmlessly over them) is more of a public nuisance/misdemeanour than a felony (at least in practical effect).

Having debunked myths she also learns stuff about "How to host your Zhodani". It seems they can digest a wider range of proteins than Imperial folk so while there is a risk of "an indigestible event" it would occur only if you eat their food and not the other way around. It is "Scout knowledge" that Zho always prominently label certain foodstuffs in areas of possible Imperial contact. To not do so would be unsafe, impolite and worse not honest.

In her "All Ranks Briefing Primer" Freya points out that there are actually two types of Zhodani. The first are the nobility - who apparently do all the things rumoured above and can hypnotize folk with their psionic powers. [Filthy swine! ] These abilities are considered both wrong and bad in the Imperium but not so much in District 268 - where they are rated as "weird" instead. The second type (and the vast majority) are Zhodani henchmen citizens who by comparison no one knows very much about at all apart from the fact they don't possess psionic talents. [Filthy swine! Oh, wait, no then... ]

The Consulate enjoys Imperial Standard Tech levels and so any "magic" occurring is much more likely to be that in the first instance rather than anything else!

Freya believes she has sufficient knowledge to hand to be confident of avoiding (even a well-intentioned) diplomatic faux pas and reasons that in theory the Zhodani might actually be much easier to host than well... you know... anything furry...

(OOC: That is "turbo success" so you can consider yourself to have expert knowledge - which might prove interesting... ).

[The Bindoner]

Only when they unhinge their jaws and the tentacles come out!

Oh, wait that was a propaganda holo... probably...

Jess discovers that they eat "human food".

No doubt so they can blend in...

Jess is from Gazulin, pretty much everything she knows about Zhodani is from the Holo. Oh, and the briefing before that ticket on Ruie, but that was focused on the importance of keeping your psi-blocker on to avoid "fallin' under the influence" and "doin' somethin' you'd regret".

[gurusql]

Kit

Kit will try to come up with a standard Administrative protocol that may be applicable to suggest on how to proceed.

Admin Skill (Admin-1 +2) [_2d6+2]=(4+5)=9+2=11

[Tiglath]

All

Dubs makes Frank aware of an apparent occurrence on the Magician's Gambit's inbound flight. It seems that the intercepting formation of six Dragonflies from Collace orbital is suddenly rent asunder as each takes evasive action. The local fighters tumble in disarray apparently harried by a something unseen that apparently lives higher up the “need for speed” food chain. Dubs chuckles as two other yellow icons are now added to the plot. He adds “I've got no audio but reading the transmission tags the local fly boys just got locked up by something they couldn't even detect. They've then recorded a “6G Air Miss” as a safety violation. I'm not an expert but I'd say that's “fighter jock” for “bounced” followed by “sulking”.

A while later Dubs advises “Well, our guests are just about here. You'd like to think they'll slow down a bit...” Frank any any others watching note that an about 800t vessel with an organically shaped fuselage approaches at wave top height. The vessel has atmospheric wings in a forward swept arc and a matching dorsal stabiliser which, due to approach speed and downdraught, is currently the most visible ship's feature as it drives through the ocean spray bearing the distinctive symbol of the Zhodani consulate - three touching white circles (bezants argent) on a black (sable) triangular field.

Two black specs to port and starboard define themselves into a pair of single seat craft with the appearance and cross-section of leaf shaped spear points. They are pulling 4G alongside their parent craft then pull ahead to simultaneously break right and left to scour the ocean surface at wavetop height describing a 1km circle each. They crossover mere metres apart and then complete another semi circle each to complete the Zhodani symbol for the view of the entire arcology rising above the Bartizan. With exquisite timing they then formate with the mothership docking into twin ventral bays just prior to the Magician's Gambit actually climbing somewhat to enter “finals” for touchdown on the Bartizan's apron. Your hired air traffic folk are ably directing and assisting their approach but it seems like they need very little help.

At visual range the quad decked Zhodani craft appears to be a about 75m in length with a wingspan of about two thirds of that. It will occupy a reasonable portion of the Bartizan's apron but by no means all of it. Indeed it could be accommodated within your lower deck hangers.

While Kit administrates and Freya reveals herself as a fount of knowledge on Zhodani culture.

[So you have these achievements as assets to bank on and leverage going forward. Question is exactly how do you want to meet the Zhodani?]

(OOC: You have at least 8 hours of prep time. Also just because it might be an issue exactly how many psi shields do you possess?)

[Tiglath]

All

The Magician's Gambit decelerates and follows the approach designated by your ATC. The vessel, which could be perhaps be defined as a “heavy” corvette in naval terms, comes to a precise hover and then descends through the opened deck of the Bartizan's apron. As the starship's landing gear settles on the hangar floor Bartizan ground crew begin to accommodate the vessel within as atmospheric processing kicks in. The corvette is heavily armed for a diplomatic vessel mounting a trio of triple laser turrets, the same allocation of missile turrets, a defensive sand caster battery and (after consulting with naval types and some informed research) what looks a lot like a particle accelerator battery.

The external hull doors of the port side fighter bay open and a lift platform descends. The platform holds not a fighter (presumably still held in its docking clamps) but a party of humanoids.

I have interpreted that the SEMC officers will be present in field uniform. Thus saving your (new) No 1's for any "diplomatic do's" that might come up? I assume you will parade some troops? Officers plus duty squad???

Could do with a steer here for a savage GM "gotcha" ambush narrative purposes only. NB Having a “march past and review” might fill a whole day of entertaining diplomatic guests?

As the "welcoming committee" troops come smartly to attention and the elevator descends the inevitable muttering of the scuttlebutt seeps forth. "Legs! Oh, will you look!!!" "Lawks - they don't stop!!! I'm in ruddy love!" "Never mind the pins 'ave a butchers' at that Aris!" "Fffnuurrpp - it's "Top Buns" "Fekkit I'd crawl out under fire to throw stones at their shi..." "Shut it and stand still!" "Phwoar!" "Kingy, if I even suspect you of adjustin' yerself you're on jankers!" "Ack! Er... I'm not Corporal!"

The platform holds the troops that some may have been taught to identify as "enemy". Or possibly “allies”. Their white combat armour is surely similar in form and function to that of the Imperium but the distinctive black heart shaped faceplates of their helmets mark the ten paraded soldiers as Zhodani.

To the military eye the deployed squad seems to have a quirky organisation. There are surely two NCO lead four man fire teams of gauss riflemen: one with a supporting grenadier (the launcher mounted under his gauss rifle being a clue); the other supported by the FGMP of the more bulky battledress armoured trooper. However, perhaps it is no surprise that there is yet a touch of the "strange" or alien... The squad leader front and centre is distinctive with his odd somehow distinctively non army(?) SNCO bars and his sabre (suspended by short slings). Also the NCO parading behind the rest of the unit is odd because he doesn't parade with the other troops. In a further idiosyncrasy all of the mundane riflemen in the squad seem to have long service and/or rank bars (guesstimated as minimum Corporal) likely making this rather an over promoted (or maybe a "parade"?) unit.

However... most attention is focused on the party flanked by the paraded soldiery. Why, yes... there is some guy with headgear but the lissome legs of the pair of flight officers(?) with the long plaits of dark hair and their very tailored high tech black vacc suits seems to have drawn the attention of the (blokeish) SEMC soldiery. Each of these stunningly attractive woman holds a broad and oddly uberdark "parasol" wielded with dexterous precision as ceremonial objects to (redundantly) “shade” their "principals".

To be continued...

More to come on the Ambassadorial group on the lift but I thought I'd get this up first for pondering / to keep us ticking over.

The synopsis of our last reaches the halfway mark: viewtopic.php?p=637486#p637486