003: On the Road to Aki

[terrymixon]

"Flying the dart to the other system will take half a day to be sure we don't get detected by the destroyer," Roscoe said. "That will give us time to gather debris to scatter all over one of the moons. We can take images of the ship and its interior there, which will have some deactivated drones and antimatter batteries in a rack by then, as well as some of the debris on the moon we choose. Then half a day to get back to Aki and we are once again on the trail of Mad Dog's killers."

If this plan meets with your approval, we can skip doing that and start a new thread on Aki. Just let me know.

[Thumper]

Walt-
"Well dang, that would make a terrific shuttle for our ship. I'd love to fly that thing around when we don't want to take the Lost & Found out. But I agree, this is the bribe. Too bad there's not two of these sitting around here. She will be salivating over this ship and droids; and some junk we can litter around the moon will keep them and treasure hunters distracted for a long time. I don't think we need to go with the drive idea."

[Thumper]

"Flying the dart to the other system will take half a day to be sure we don't get detected by the destroyer," Roscoe said. "That will give us time to gather debris to scatter all over one of the moons. We can take images of the ship and its interior there, which will have some deactivated drones and antimatter batteries in a rack by then, as well as some of the debris on the moon we choose. Then half a day to get back to Aki and we are once again on the trail of Mad Dog's killers."

If this plan meets with your approval, we can skip doing that and start a new thread on Aki. Just let me know.

Two thumbs up...Walt would specifically collect lots of pieces of debris from one of the ships in the boneyard and try to create a debris field on the selected moon to look like battle damage...Treegarden's failure to find quality parts in the debris field could be attributed to the 15,000 year old scavengers. Perhaps hide the "discovered ship" in a small valley/crevice.

[ateno]

Two thumbs up...Walt would specifically collect lots of pieces of debris from one of the ships in the boneyard and try to create a debris field on the selected moon to look like battle damage...Treegarden's failure to find quality parts in the debris field could be attributed to the 15,000 year old scavengers. Perhaps hide the "discovered ship" in a small valley/crevice.

Arkar, likes this plan and will start working on a idea for the battle crash using deception and ai help.

Arkar

[terrymixon]

"Flying the dart to the other system will take half a day to be sure we don't get detected by the destroyer," Roscoe said. "That will give us time to gather debris to scatter all over one of the moons. We can take images of the ship and its interior there, which will have some deactivated drones and antimatter batteries in a rack by then, as well as some of the debris on the moon we choose. Then half a day to get back to Aki and we are once again on the trail of Mad Dog's killers."

If this plan meets with your approval, we can skip doing that and start a new thread on Aki. Just let me know.

Two thumbs up...Walt would specifically collect lots of pieces of debris from one of the ships in the boneyard and try to create a debris field on the selected moon to look like battle damage...Treegarden's failure to find quality parts in the debris field could be attributed to the 15,000 year old scavengers. Perhaps hide the "discovered ship" in a small valley/crevice.

Gathering debris would not difficult. Some of the Ancients drones can be activated and directed to move it all to the circular cargo bay. Others can move some of the cargo from the ship into there to allow you to have room to scatter it. All of that can be done on the way to the other system.

[terrymixon]

Walt-
"Well dang, that would make a terrific shuttle for our ship. I'd love to fly that thing around when we don't want to take the Lost & Found out. But I agree, this is the bribe. Too bad there's not two of these sitting around here. She will be salivating over this ship and droids; and some junk we can litter around the moon will keep them and treasure hunters distracted for a long time. I don't think we need to go with the drive idea."

I wouldn't rule out finding more in the pocket universe. There's no telling what is laying around in there.

[terrymixon]

It sounds like we have four players on board with the plan, though the boss still has to sign off on it. Once he does, I'll post the arrival at Aki and you can get back to bounty hunting.

[Thumper]

Gathering debris would not difficult. Some of the Ancients drones can be activated and directed to move it all to the circular cargo bay. Others can move some of the cargo from the ship into there to allow you to have room to scatter it. All of that can be done on the way to the other system.

I think we should put the mass/volume above our original radioactives and robotics purchase in the circular station cargo bay on the other side of the wardrobe. That will free up room in the ship's cargo bay for "littering". When we get to Aki, we should probably offer for sale only what we bought on Glisten....optics with the customs records. I wouldn't be above selling more as a smuggling operation...except we really should keep our nose clean at the moment. People might start to wonder how we stuffed so much volume into a much smaller ship than it is.

[terrymixon]

Gathering debris would not difficult. Some of the Ancients drones can be activated and directed to move it all to the circular cargo bay. Others can move some of the cargo from the ship into there to allow you to have room to scatter it. All of that can be done on the way to the other system.

I think we should put the mass/volume above our original radioactives and robotics purchase in the circular station cargo bay on the other side of the wardrobe. That will free up room in the ship's cargo bay for "littering". When we get to Aki, we should probably offer for sale only what we bought on Glisten....optics with the customs records. I wouldn't be above selling more as a smuggling operation...except we really should keep our nose clean at the moment.

If you mention that to Roscoe, he'll shake his head. "Customs doesn't work that way in the Imperium. The Imperium only cares if there is anything illegal. They aren't counting tons. Why would they? It's not as if a ship can have a secret cargo bay hidden in a pocket universe to store extra goods in, right? So long as the trades are happening in the starport, local customs doesn't get involved.

"My plan is to rent a warehouse, move some of the goods out to sell and buy more for the trip back to Glisten. No one will be watching how much is moved and it will get lost in the shuffle. Actually, using several warehouses would be better. As long as the loading and unloading is done at the ship at different times and using different people, no one will figure it out.

"Garvin was suggesting we needed a business. How about a brokerage? We could hire someone local to oversee the operation--under rules we set and with external auditing--and Doctor Metz can create a modified brokerbot with a better robotic brain and improved skills to do the work. It would minimize its skills for normal work and still more than earn the 10% gross fee that traders would pay for its services, while also attracting more business from word of mouth. Walt could make sure the manager we select is honest and can keep their mouth shut about our business. They really wouldn't know anything other than we created a better brokerbot, and Doctor Metz is the obvious source of that.

"The brokerbot could also keep its ear to the ground about things we want to know about. Bounties that come through, new bounties we might be interested in, or anything else. When we come back through--either in person or if we start building a fleet of ships to expand the business--it could have buyers and cargo ready by the time we land. Also, having its pulse on the local economy would make it even more effective at the work. This could be quite lucrative and would be a way to explain our wealth to the curious, so it's a good cover. If we convince Madam Treegarden to give us an Imperial charter, the business could expand to many other high-traffic ports, giving us intelligence on many worlds.

"If she doesn't want to pay us piles of money for the ship, I've heard that the Navy has an impound lot in space of ships they've seized. We could take some of those, hire crews to go between worlds where we have a brokerage, and we have a shipping company, too. Maybe they could have a supply of brokerbots on board and set up offices for us. All legal and above board. The brokerages would handle all the cash, so the ships would just be running a route. Then we would just be another ship in the company running a route, hiding in plain sight."

[Tiglath]

Garvin laughs "Well done kid. I agree about Imperial Customs - pay yer import tax and they don't care. You got it all sewn up. An' there was Metz goin' on about yer naughty old Uncle Garvin bein' a bad influence! As soon as we start needin' people I can supply 'em. Arkar will know a few an' all. I don't really 'ave a reputation except among those in the know but that's because my organization existed made money, retired an' never got caught. I know good people - professional and loyal".

He adds "I'll ping some Company comms off from Aki Prime settin' up meets at Glisten. For the people I want we'll pay the travel".

He switches his gaze to Walt and Silencer then Jaelah as a smile twitches at his lips "If we're "clonin' " ourselves then we'll need a few good thinkin' soldiers but we can always sub contract mercs and then decent unbribable investigators - don't want ex-law enforcement types corruptin' my people".

(OOC: As soon as the word's given I'm Happyi for Aki! )

[terrymixon]

Garvin laughs "Well done kid. I agree about Imperial Customs - pay yer import tax and they don't care. You got it all sewn up. An' there was Metz goin' on about yer naughty old Uncle Garvin bein' a bad influence! As soon as we start needin' people I can supply 'em. Arkar will know a few an' all. I don't really 'ave a reputation except among those in the know but that's because my organization existed made money, retired an' never got caught. I know good people - professional and loyal".

He adds "I'll ping some Company comms off from Aki Prime settin' up meets at Glisten. For the people I want we'll pay the travel".

He switches his gaze to Walt and Silencer then Jaelah as a smile twitches at his lips "If we're "clonin' " ourselves then we'll need a few good thinkin' soldiers but we can always sub contract mercs and then decent unbribable investigators - don't want ex-law enforcement types corruptin' my people".

(OOC: As soon as the word's given I'm Happyi for Aki! )

"There is one other thing we need, Garvin," Roscoe said. "A get out of boarding inspections card. We can't have nosey people coming into this ship. That means the Navy or Imperial customs. Or anyone else that I don't know about. That needs to be a condition for the ship from Madam Treegarden. She already wants to keep its capabilities secret, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince her."

[helvorn]

William will wholeheartedly agree with the plan.

[terrymixon]

William will wholeheartedly agree with the plan.

Then I'll write up your arrival shortly. Look for a new topic and I'll link to it here.

[ateno]

"There is one other thing we need, Garvin," Roscoe said. "A get out of boarding inspections card. We can't have nosey people coming into this ship. That means the Navy or Imperial customs. Or anyone else that I don't know about. That needs to be a condition for the ship from Madam Treegarden. She already wants to keep its capabilities secret, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince her."

"Diplomatic papers, Imperial governmental, military, extra Imperial off the top of my head. Or a bug that shows we were boarded most recently on some neighboring planet when they pull us up on the list."

Looks around.

"That's from a quick remember from my time in the Scouts."

Arkar

[Tiglath]

"There is one other thing we need, Garvin," Roscoe said. "A get out of boarding inspections card. We can't have nosey people coming into this ship. That means the Navy or Imperial customs. Or anyone else that I don't know about. That needs to be a condition for the ship from Madam Treegarden. She already wants to keep its capabilities secret, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince her."

Garvin replies "Not too tricky. 'Old yer 'and up like me... er no... reverse the bilateral symmetry. Rat's cocks - I'm turning into Metz! There you go. Now practice yer response to "Repeataftermestateyourname" an' you're a Deputy!"

He laughs "I'm not tellin' you 'ow well that works to protect the mostly innocent - but it ruddy does. She just needs to designate us as something like Imperial "Treasury Agents". The Imperium is a marvelous bureaucracy that mostly serves its citizens well enough but if you can fit between the gaps in its agencies and claim a higher authority than their pay grade then you're forcing bold command calls from a career "promotionist" who's made a career of playin' safe and that's who bureaucracies like to put in charge. Believe me me I'd much rather bluff a Commander than a Chief Petty Officer".

[ateno]

Believe me me I'd much rather bluff a Commander than a Chief Petty Officer".

"Aahh, that reminds me of a guy that was deputized as a sheriff of a planet by a friend to help in a investigation, the friend died and he walked away with the sheriff badge wandering the stars, opened many paths, if he was 'on a trail', so there that option also."

Arkar

[Tiglath]

Believe me me I'd much rather bluff a Commander than a Chief Petty Officer".

"Aahh, that reminds me of a guy that was deputized as a sheriff of a planet by a friend to help in a investigation, the friend died and he walked away with the sheriff badge wandering the stars, opened many paths, if he was 'on a trail', so there that option also."

"Oh, Imperial Marshals - interestin' option. I believe in coreward in Daibei they're called Rangers. Apparently one o' them can sort a riot".*

(OOC: *
If you haven't: The Highwaymen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jevEf3U7Kws
In context I think this rather puts Arnie's "shopping" scene in Terminator in the shade. The film is also basically a bounty hunter primer...).

[terrymixon]

Believe me me I'd much rather bluff a Commander than a Chief Petty Officer".

"Aahh, that reminds me of a guy that was deputized as a sheriff of a planet by a friend to help in a investigation, the friend died and he walked away with the sheriff badge wandering the stars, opened many paths, if he was 'on a trail', so there that option also."

"Oh, Imperial Marshals - interestin' option. I believe in coreward in Daibei they're called Rangers. Apparently one o' them can sort a riot".*

"I'm sure you know better than me what the best angle to aim for is," Roscoe said. "Whatever we can get that keeps someone from seeing something they shouldn't is fine by me."

[terrymixon]

A new thread and a surprise visitor! Hope you have some tea ready.

viewtopic.php?t=13857

[Eris]

Walt-

"What do we do?”

First thing's first, we don't EVER let ANYONE on board the Lost and Found that has seen it up close before. And nobody gets to nose around anywhere sensitive without an escort.

Second, we leverage the location of this Ancient site for leeway for us to get annual maintenance or any repairs any place we choose. We don't need money. We have some and can make plenty more. We need freedom of movement...free from Shrubgarden's contstraints. We need to own the ship outright without interference.

Third, nobody can learn of our psi powers or the extent of our augments. Any apparent changes to our physical bodies must be explained by this station, conditioning enroute, or Metz' genius.

Fourth, we build contingency plans in case we need to run. Been doing that my whole life. Welcome to the trade...not fun!!"

“Running in and of itself should not prove difficult,” Bilis said. “The new drive can easily outrun word of us. Coming back when word has spread would be problematic.”

"Running isn't something we will want to do." Spicoli says, "Hum, I don't suppose we could construct a second ship that looks like the original Lost and Found could we? We could use it to interact with the Navy and Treegarden while we negotiate a clause in the contract for us to exit stage left with the ship with no future obligations to the Navy at all. As for maintenance, we...or I anyway...have no idea what requirements this ship has for maintenance or where we'd get it if it does.

"Well, anyway, If we could do that, we could then go about our business, which is still bounty hunting isn't it?" Spicoli frowns and waves his arm around at the ship and points at each of the partners, "Or is it? Has all this changed our mission in life to something else?"