Voxx listens and watches as his new comrades talk about money and ships...then Maxim's friend shows up and starts talking about books and vids and insurance and crowdfunding...and Voxx's head starts to hurt.
Scratching his head, "I dunno about all that you're all taking about, but I think my Clan has some big ships left over from some action they got into a few years back. Not entirely sure, I'm not a spacer. I'm sure if you offered them the right amount of credits and/or information they'd make a deal...even if it was just for parts. "
"Then send them our specs here and see what price tag they put on it?" Imagine tells, pointing out the detailed 'build plan' on the paper napkins. "That is real specs and no drunken Sci-Fi, isn't it?"
"Deal, Kate." Maxim signs whatever she puts in front of him and then watches her deposit the credits into his account. As soon as he verifies the 750000 credits he lets Gorn do whatever he wants with her.
"Yeah," he replies to Imagine. "More or less. If we could squeeze out one more upgrade or two - a couple coilguns for the port and starboard, or a flak thrower pointed aft, and one more shield upgrade - that would be ideal."
"Make it happen, Voxx. We have the cash. You got any close relatives or friends who would want to hire on with us? We could have two ships and need gunners and computer experts."
Eric listens, standing uncannily still, as Maxim describes the new ship being purchased for their use.
Human Maxim Petrovich: Would you like to become married? I would like to kiss you. and then a split second later
Human Maxim Petrovich: That is the human saying correct? Did I use the aphorism correctly? I would like to kiss you? Can we be married now?
"Once we get the ship I'll let you kiss me, and I'll even put on underpants. But no, we can't be married. That's sweet of you though."
"Wonderful. I'll send you your copy and the money once I got it filed." Kate tells and leaves.
An hour later the message arrives. The contract selling Maxim to Kate and the 691,000 credits. Obviously the insurance premium was deducted from the money.
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Voxx grabs his slate from his kitbag, and begins typing an official communique to his Clan Elders:
"Elders, a possible solution to the Clan's continued burden of maintaining berths on the Station for the unused capital ships from Operation Firey Salvo. As you know, I have been associated , with honor, with the Starfinders for some time. Now I've been attached to a group whose mission is vital to the security of the Core Worlds...details are on a need to know basis...face to face if needed. They propose purchasing one or more of the vessels, for a fair price.
Yours in Service, Voxx Dmodata, 32nd Generation, Melee Corps. "
He lays the slate back on the table, and looks up, "There...now we'll see what they say..." he grabs a handful of bangers, munches, then calls out to the waitress for more.
"Wheeling and dealing, I like it. More panache than I've seen in a while Maxim." Takeda says as a compliment and sips on his water. He still can't shake the idea that the bottom is going to fall out of this deal at some point.
Imagine peeks into Voxx writing and almost snorts her drink out. "Yeah, sure! Face to face or watch the new show 'The Incredible Petrovich' on the web! For all the details, including underwear hygiene!"
Voxx' Clan Elders reply withing an hour. Selling is no option for now, but we're willing to lease one to you and your group. Conditions for the contract attached. Insurance with fully comprehensive cover included. Lease is for three month. The ship is found at docking bay 96. A maintenance crew is there, they can come along if you want.
Bring honor to our clan, with great deeds and epic battles!'
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Gorn snorts loudly as the robot proposes to the wordsmith. What a pair they make.
As the talk returns to the funds and the ship, Gorn tries again with his Order.
'You know very well that Taru Seco would not have gotten out of hand if High Father Joakim had listened to me in the first place! I can remember a time when when the greater good was still a high priority in the Order!
But if you can not supply us with ships, then can you grace us with parts of a ship? Surely the wreckage from the Incident at Skylar IV has left you with spare parts in strength?
Our tactical parameters have not left us with resources enough to give the ship either sufficient armor or countermeasures. Even if you could arrange for the panoply of a medical frigate to grace us, that would be a badly needed upgrade in the coming confrontation.
If you can not do so much as this, one must question if Lord Borak remains so great a priority.
In Propoket's name,
-Gorn
Look if you can find something that fulfils the needs of your mission and we'll make sure the deal doesn't fail on finalcial issues. Just don't overdo it. We're not looking into buying a new flag ship for your convenience.[/i]
Gorn, you're one of our best soldiers. We often thought you should get a promotion, but you're too good a soldier to lose.
Once you got a party that can provide a suitable ship, send us the contact and we'll take care of the rest.
Voxx' Clan Elders reply withing an hour. Selling is no option for now, but we're willing to lease one to you and your group. Conditions for the contract attached. Insurance with fully comprehensive cover included. Lease is for three month. The ship is found at docking bay 96. A maintenance crew is there, they can come along if you want.
Bring honor to our clan, with great deeds and epic battles!'
Foxx slides his slate over to Maxim, "There you go, the Clan's got a ship for lease...."
"Good work. Let's go check it out."
After paying the bill and taking a cab to the dock you find something really interesting. It has the typical run down bucket look, you'd expect from a well used battle ship.
You're greeted by a Vesk in typical military garb. "Greetings Voxx." the officer tells offering Voxx a high five. Those knowing the vesk rank systems can tell he's one of the highest ranking of those still going into ground battle themselves.
"So you're saving the Lucky 13 from rotting here on that human space station? Daring endeavour. But I guess what you get when you don't have a whole society backing you on buying that new and shiny model from the cover of Military's Weekly. Come get on board!"
The officer doesn't care much about the others or about proper introductions. You get a tour of the ship and it's - special. Someone loved this once standard ship to pieces. Not much is standard anymore. Sometimes you think you hear scratches behind the walls. Inquired about that the officer tells "The ship's got rats." Later on you hear that those rats can curse like a pirate and use wrenches. At least that's what that one cursed about.
"If you like what you see, or you're desperate enough to take it anyway, it's all yours. Don't worry to bring her back in one piece. The best thing to happen, would be to have it explode and having proof of it for the insurance. Your lease is the premium plus some cut for us. Here is the contract, and there is the price."
Summing up what Maxim got for his new contract, plus what Gorn's organization is willing to chip in covers the cost and some.
"Giddyup," says Maxim as the group enters Docking Bay 96. He instantly falls in love with his ship (despite the name on the deed), and pays the Vesk officer little heed as they tour the Sledgehammer.
"You came through, Voxx," he says to his new best friend.
He spends the next couple hours fiddling at the science station where he expects to be seated in the event of a battle. Then arranges for his few belongings to be sent over from the Maiden. Before they disembark he kicks off his contractually obligated vidcam series with a walkabout the ship, highlighting the excessively oversized double-twin laser cannons on the turret.
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Gorn nods in silent assent at both the ship and the chosen name. "Could be worse...." he mumbles, though he could be addressing either.
He takes a capture of the deed and sends it on to the Order.
'By the wings of Imrael, Angel of Confrontation, harbinger of Propoket the Many himself, we have a battlecruiser worthy of the name!
Truly I stand tall in his eyes this day!'
"Impressive." Takeda shares as he finds a single bunk room and drops his stuff off. Then he does a walkabout considering the defense of the place. He takes quite a bit of time moving through the ship tracing and retracing his steps. How many decks are there to deal with, where are the ladders, which hatches can be dogged shut and which are open. What's the shortest route to the command deck and engineering. He also makes note of the location of the infirmary. If all goes well, no one else will get on board and it will be ship to ship combat but better to be prepared. He then starts looking for hideaways, places where someone could disappear if he needed to.
"... f+!$ing wrench. now I have to dismantle the whole cover of that sucking ass panel. Can't believe it. This design is bolloks, how could one come up with such a brainless composition, it's really..." you overhear some Ysoki that appears from one corridor, to pass you without looking up and disappearing into the next corridor.
When no one is looking, Maxim murders Glitch.
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"Do not murder the mechanic-rats," Gorn rumbles to Max as he passes him in the turbolift. "I ran a quick diagnostics and this ship has a 34% chance of blowing up on takeoff just from loose screws. As long as he's tightening more than he's loosening let him live. As soon as he becomes a net loss I'll toss all the rats out of an airlock myself."
"Hmm, there really are rats." Takeda says upon seeing the little mechanic having not taken the original comment literally.
As the vesk is gone and the boring business part is finished she starts to wonder "That tour was lacking. There were no quarters where I get my own bathroom. Actually I've seen no quarters so far."
She turns to Voxx "Those rats seem to live in the walls. What's with the vesk crew? Do they usually camp out in the cargo bay?"
"I thought this ship would be an improvement over the Maiden."
Humanoid Imagine: So did I Eric murmurs after finding himself a berth on the destroyer.
Voxx greets the other Vesk informally, joking with him about making officer. As the tour of the ship continues, he asks the officer "So, how many spacers on standby...might need some crew on this bad boy!"
Later he shrugs at Willow's question, "I'm no spacer, but whenever I've been a passenger on one of these, I bunked in the cargo bay...it not a hoity toity yacht that's for sure!"
"What do you want quarters for, that's a battel ship and no vacation cuiser." the vesk jokes.
"The last battle that ship was in, wasn't pretty. After the remains of battle were water blasted out of all decks, the quarters were dumped into the thrash."
"You should do something about that. Or you'll find, that this bucket over there is your only toilet that you have to empty into the void of space regularily."
With most of the last of his coin, Maxim arranges for a transport to stop at the Sunrise Maiden. He meets it there, and after a couple hours with a bit driver he removes every piece of furniture that can be slept or sat on, including the toilets. Then he absconds with all the towels and blankets, and finally he digs out the Insta-Heat 6000 that makes hot water on the ship. That will have to do.
"You'll get it all back, girl," he says to the trusty ship, trying to convince himself this isn't a one-way trip.
On the way back to the Sledgehammer he makes a stop at a general store and buys a deluxe coffee maker with all the bells and whistles, and enough supplies for a year.
Returning to the new digs, he enlists Gorn with the furniture reset, and allows Imagine to laz all over.
"Ah, there is my old quarter." Imagine calls out in fake excitement, as soon as Gorn is finished setting the old stuff up. Putting her stuff all over the room she marks it as hers, before anyone notices, that the number of quarters probably don't match the needs of the bigger crew.
Imagine might be willing to share her room with someone eventually. But both, Maxim and Gorn have such a big ego, they won't fit in with hers. And the other two she doesn't know that well yet.
When all are together at some point and quite possibly after seeing Maxim bring in some items. "Why not strip down your old ship to outfit this one. You grabbed a couple pieces but why not more. It seems that you have improved with firepower but lost creature comforts that the other ship has. If we can dock them side by side, I can help with the swapping of parts. Even if this ship has certain systems, we may be able to use redundant systems such as air scrubbers, AC, power relays, etc."
"Says the guy who couldn't wait to leave just a few hours ago. Sure, why not."
"I wanted to leave a dead end bar. Little did I know you were going to work a social miracle and come up with three quarters of a million credits. Good job that."
"Dead end bars are where the magic happens. Ready to depart?"
"Sure, you want to bring the other ship over here so we don't have to make multiple trips?"
The Maiden gets salvaged for all good parts. The basic mid-range sensors, the mk 1 duonode computer (tier 1) with that friendly artificial personality upgrade, the two cargo holds, the escape pods, and the recreation suite (HAC/gym).
Luckily there are standards for such parts. And as anyone in the pact world who opposed standardization was wiped out in the great USPC wars, the parts can be easily removed and fitted into the new ship.
Once everyone gets their basic requirements for a space ship satisfied, the empty hull of the maiden gets stored for later retrieval.
The station gives the clearance for the start of the sledgehammer. The clamps holding it in place are released. You're reminded to get at least 15 light seconds away before doing the jump into the rift.
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"Alright, I hooked up the plumbing, calibrated the weaponry, and stopped the treadmill in the gym from squeaking," Gorn groans out, covered in oil-soaked coveralls.
"I also turned off the self-destruct. That's probably a good thing.
Someone wanna turn the engines on so we can get this party started?"
Gorn goes to change into his power armor, now upgraded with custom tool-holsters.
Maxim settles into the Captain's chair on the bridge of the Sledgehammer. There's a subtle jostling as the moorings are retracted and the ship's stabilizers automatically account for the release into zero-g spacedock. The helpful Shirren from Tower Control announces they are clear.
"At your prerogative, Eric. Take us out."
Imagine opens her fine black leather duffle bag and gets out a bottle of champagne. "I had a hard time finding some option to throw it at the ship from the outside. How about we do the ship christening from the inside - of us, by drinking it?"
She gets out the glasses and pops the bottle. She drinks off the rising foam and pours everyone a glass. "To our new home for the big adventure! Might she be half bad at worst."
EH-RK skips the party part und maneuvers the Sledgehammer out of the dock and away from the station to safe distance. Then he does the jump to the rift, which starts a long and uneventful journey.
The trip through the Drift to the Gate of Twelve Suns is not without peril. Strange storms of quantum foam and clusters of planar debris litter the nearby space during the journey, though these are easily avoidable and pose no threat to the ship. However, when their starship approaches the end of the trip and passes through a nearly invisible cloud of dust, the vessel is boarded by a hostile intelligence!
"In-in-in-interlopers! You will cease your transgressions and r-r-r-return to your place of origin or be d-d-d-destroyed!"
"Intruder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ..." the ship tells with the nice voice and personality of the Sunrise Maiden.
"Where's the frickin' voice control for the ship?" Maxim goes over to look at the Science station as he tries to quiet the computer so they can talk to the foreign intelligence.
Montar reaches out telepathically to see if he can make contact (telepathic communication out to 30'). We mean no harm. We are merely passing through.
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"Just out of curiosity, what transgressions are we doing?" Gorn voices at the dis-embodied voice.
He had ripped out the central flooring and staircases of the multi-floor engineering section so he could fly up, down and around the area more efficiently, allowing him access to the different functions of the bay with greater ease. There still were staircases, they were just on the flanks, for those unfortunate enough not to be able to fly.
He runs a scan on the surrounding area, trying to get some understanding on the talking dust.
"I see one big fat transgression right there - boarding a ship uninvited!" Imagine tells. Hiding behind something or someone she draws her pistol.
"That's an anhamut inevitable. Some guardian for explorers of the galaxy. This one must have cought a bad case of the crazies!"
"You attacked me and tried to break into the gate! You will pay!" the creature tells and attacks Gorn.
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Many things happen as the creature fires a miniature lightning bolt against the armored engineer.
As the electricity passes through his Mk II Electrostatic field, a great many ions are sheared off as they find other things to do, move out, and find nice protons to settle down with.
The bolt carries on and crashes into his force-field, lighting up the engineering section with a veritable Marti Gras of photons casting parts of themselves off with wild abandon, ending up in places they know not where wondering why that ceiling fan has their underwear.
Lastly the precisely-tossed bolt glides against the powered armor's intrinsic deflective layering, causing many electrons to loose their direction and end up with anthropology degrees, wondering where it all went wrong and if mom still has that comfy couch in her basement.
Lastly a precious few volts manage to land in the sweet, sweet realm of Gorn, setting up respectable offices and assisting former classmates with their divorce proceedings.
"Nice hit," Gorn rumbles back. "My turn," he says, launching twin fists at the intruder's face.
The anhamut isn't fazed, or even hit properly by Gorn's attempt at an attack.
However, when their starship approaches the end of the trip and passes through a nearly invisible cloud of dust, the vessel is boarded by a hostile intelligence!
The computer system starts to act up and suddenly the conoles lag. There are strange objects seen within sensor reach that pop in and out of existance. While you still wonder what's wrong here, a dark grey dust cloud forms on the bridge from what looks like strange smoke coming out of every crack of the ship. This cloud clusters into an ever denser form until a seven foot humanoid robot with an oversized blade stands before you.
"In-in-in-interlopers! You will cease your transgressions and r-r-r-return to your place of origin or be d-d-d-destroyed!"
"Intruder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ... interuder alert, ..." the ship tells with the nice voice and personality of the Sunrise Maiden.