Ray grins, rather liking the vargr despite herself. "Oh, he's lucky, alright. Came face to face with a chamax and lived to tell the tale." She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "And you?"
"I won a big score and got to go to medical school. So I guess I am lucky, yes."
"This is Ray." Steph introduces her to the candidates while chatting with them.
"Dr. Hargek. You interested in getting off Drinax? We've got another candidate, and need to talk it over with our captain and other crew about who we want to hire. If you are interested we'll get back to you right away either way it goes."
She thanks both let's them know she'll be calling back soon with an answer and hangs up.
"Ray? What do you think? I'm inclined to3ward the vargr. She at least knows what a battle wound looks like. The O'Rourke works on brains."
She calls the other officers, and fills them in. "We have two candidates. Both right out of medical school. One a human O'Rourke specializes in brains and cognition, and wants to see the world before settling down. Hargek is a vargr. She's been a pirate, and then went to medical school. She's out of money. She would know how to dress battle wounds, and deal with the things that happen on the ship. I don't have a problem with a varger being our doctor. What do you all think?"
Byron begins floating through the room feeling out the different men who look to have seen combat before for those who might be looking for work and be willing to try out being a privateer.
"Hire the vargr. She won't panic when we need her." Ray agrees with Steph.
Hargek nods. "Your mission isn't legal, but you're at the Royal Docks. I am interested. I'll wait to hear from you."
_____________________________________________________________
Byron, this is a good time to explain the "Going Faster or Slower" Rule (p. 61 of the Core Rulebook). Basically, increasing the time you take to accomplish a task can give you some hefty bonuses. So Byron doesn't fail with his roll of 7; it just takes a -lot- more carousing than he bargained for. Ten hours of it, in fact. He sort of dimly remembers the drunken joyride across the Khaz hills of Drinax and -maybe- mooning the Scholar's Tower?
But anyway, he met some decent prospect (and maybe of them has his wallet).
Ferdinand "Bull" Aldor - UPP 978555 - Male Human ex-Army Sergeant. 32 y.o., Animals 0, Carouse 0, Explosives 1, Gambling 0, Gun Combat (Lasers) 1, Heavy Weapons (man-portable) 2, Leadership 1, Melee (Unarmed) 1, Recon 0.
Misty "Thumper" Gaandir - UPP 696756 - Female Human ex-Marine Corporal. 28 y.o., Art 0, Athletics 0, Electronics 1, Gun Combat (Slugs) 2, Heavy Weapons 0, Melee (Blade) 1, Stealth 0, Tactics 0, Vacc Suit 0.
Afaar'iy - UPP B58755 - Male Aslan ihatei warrior. 28 y.o., Athletics 1, Drive (grav vehicles) 1, Gun Combat (lasers) 1, Heavy Weapons 0, Melee (natural) 2, Recon 0, Survival 0, Vacc Suit 0.
PING!
When Byron reaches a point where he can get to business again he offers all three a berth for the going rates for a marine and asks for any references in case they know of a few more people that might be interested in the work.
The three accept your job for standard pay.
So, let's look at our crew roster:
Captain: Jerry
Pilot: Byron
Second Pilot: Steph
Astrogation: Steph
Engineer: Daneel
Drive Chief: Kagni Vasiir (NPC)
Gunner: Ray, plus 1 NPC
Medic: Dr. Hargek (NPC)
Marines: Bull, Thumper and Afaar’iy (NPC’s)
Looks like all you need now is a gunner. And frankly, you don’t need that yet because your Ventral Hardpoint is still trash.
Yay! Somebody go light this candle!
Jerry finishes packing his clothing, weapons, computer and other gear with Rast's assistance.
"Thank you, Rast. Much appreciated," says Jerry. "I know that you would prefer to come with me and keep looking after me, but there really isn't crew space for a batman. You would have to sleep on a cot in my quarters and we know that won't work - you snore like a Trinavian winter bear. And, I like my privacy."
"But, I will be back here to the family quarters. IN the meantime, I am sure that my mother will find some useful work for you so don't despair."
Neglecting to say farewell to his parents - Mother is out somewhere with her gambling cronies and Father is, well, Jerry learned a long time ago that there was such a thing as too much curiosity - Jerry carries his things to the spaceport and the Nemesis. Nodding to the dock workers, Jerry enters the ship and his quarters. Before stowing his gear, Jerry composes two messages.
"Partners - meeting in my quarters in 2 hours to determine plans for our shakedown cruise," is sent to his companions recruited by King Oleb.
The second message is sent right after. "All Crew - Crew Meeting in Mess this evening."
"You are an expert on snoring, sir," acknowledges Rast.
"Good luck, Master Jeremiah."
Onboard Nemesis, Jerry finds a whip-thin vargr looking around the ship and poking into the various staterooms. "There isn't a sick bay," she says. "If I have to perform surgery it will be on the wardroom table."
Ray heads out to pick up some much needed gear, . Then she heads to the nearest bar to get a drink before leaving. She wastes away her last hour partying, then returns to her ship in good spirits. She couldn't wait to leave this place behind. The Floating Palace always gave her the creeps.
She saunters through the halls, tosses her gear in her overly fancy cabin, then lets herself in to Jerry's quarters. She finds the comfiest place to sit, leans back, and kicks her feet up on the nearest table/bedpost.
"Well, you've sure come a long way, hey Jer?" she chuckles. "Can't say I ever thought I'd call you Captain one day." After a moment she grins. "Not like I'm going to call you captain... You sure you're up for this?" she asks.
Step declines to have a last drink with Ray and finishes up her shopping. She heads to the ship, and takes a seat in her cabin. She writes a letter to her husband.
] I’m heading into space again dear. This is an opportunity for us to get to of farming. The King himself asked me to do this. I hope you don’t hear of the Nemisis, but if you do. Know that I’ve gotten myself into trouble again. Take care of the family. I’ll write soon.
Love Steph
She’ll wait for the appointed time for the meeting, and heads into the Captain’s quarters. ”Are we ready? Do we have who we need as a crew? We stil heading to the shippin lanes?”
Byron shows up and finds a place to plop down and then watches to see what the new captain has come up with.
"Welcome, everybody," begins Jerry. "I know that I am only Captain because no one else really wanted it. Something about the bookkeeping and fiddly paperwork."
"So be it. Among ourselves, we can work as partners. But do you think that the crew that we have hired would be work in that kind of arrangement? And, if we take the Nemesis into combat, we can't debate our course of action."
"What does everyone think of that? If you don't like my Captaincy, someone else can do the paperwork."
Jerry waits for a response from his comrades before continuing.
"For this first trip, do you want to head beyond Tech-World where neither the Aslan nor the Imperium patrol? Or, do you want to head towards the Sindal Reach and Theev, where we might shelter?"
"I say we head beyond Tech-world and find something to hit. We need to fix this ship up and the sooner we have credits to do that the sooner we can get this operation rolling." Byron tosses out as he is ready to see what they can actually accomplish.
Ray nods along with Byron. "Yeah, I'm cool with that."
So if you're ready, somebody start this thing.
"Ya, scrub the idea of going to Theev. Thanks for the reminder about the ship's jump engines," states Jerry without blushing. "Keep me on my toes since I am making up this Captain thing as I go."
"So, sounds like we make for the trade routes beyond Tech-World. Does everyone agree?," asks Jerry.
"Anything else to discuss before we tell the crew? We know the ventral gun is out, but how are the other systems?"
"Before we talk to the crew we should have a destination system in mind. If possible we should also consider the approach we are going to take. Do we hide in an asteroid belt, or around a sun waiting for someone who needs to refuel. It would be good to stay hidden as long as possible. Looking like we have a plan will be good for morale. We do not need to necessarily go through all of that in the first briefing, but the destination is important. And then we have to hope that we catch something relatively quickly. Sitting in space for weeks on end will not look great to the new crew." Byron tosses out thinking back to the briefings he took part in during his time in the marines.
"If we want to hit someone while they are refueling, we could hide in the upper atmosphere of a likely gas giant, and wait for someone to move in for the refuel."
"Most of the other systems are in pretty good shape. We don't want to stress out the m-drive too much, though, Captain."
Steph leans against a wall. "I don't want to do the paperwork. I can, but I don't really want to. You get to stay Captain, Jerry. Laying in wait and taking advantage of their distraction, that's sneaky." she grins, "I like it. Less chance of much of a resistance when the time comes."
"Unless anyone has any strong preference, let's choose Inurin as our first destination. I like your idea of lying in wait at a gas giant - especially if we have our tanks full," says Jerry.
"Anything else for the crew meeting?"
Ray, who'd never really cared how she got somewhere, usually left the navigating up to others. Being included in the discussion was both thrilling and boring. She had a horrible memory for planets. As least until she stepped foot on them anyway. And Inurin? Never been.
She shrugs. "Sounds good. We done here?" She waits to see if anyone else has something they want to bring up.
"Do we need any medical equipment or weaponry before we head out. A few extra cutlasses or painkillers beyond some whiskey might be needed. I am not sure what everyone brought with them, but we should expect at least one or two people might eventually get onto the ship while the marines are taking other vessels and everyone should have some means of protecting themselves if they do." Byron tosses out as well.
A quick search of your database shows at least one Free Trader who's recently been to Inurin - One Captain Laro Smith, currently registered at the Maracan Hotel on the Floating Palace.
"Byron, can you head to the market with the marines and pick up some gear for them? Armor, sidearms, melee weapons and rifles, or whatever," asks Jerry. "Maybe some spares, too, for the rest of the crew."
"Steph and Ray - can you take the doctor and pick up some supplies? Don't let her bankrupt us or fill the hold with bandages."
"Daneel - we need to provision the ship. Enough food and water for a couple weeks, maybe a month."
"While you do that, I will try to get a handle on the finances."
Jerry sits down with his computer and a finance program, trying to determine how much loot they need to sieze to cover expenses.
Jerry sits down with his computer and a finance program, trying to determine how much loot they need to sieze to cover expenses.
I'll list the expenses soon.
Sale value of the loot after the fence's cut but before expenses.
FYI, most fences will take most of the value. Only your best friends will go as low as 70%/30% (30% to you).
Would he accept art, valuable objects, and the like in lieu of cash?
He's the king of Drinax. He's got all the art he'll ever need. He needs cold hard cash to fund his mad schemes.
Morale (MOR) is a statistic unique to The Pirates of Drinax and can vary over time.
"Supplies?" Ray asks, slipping on her Vacc Suit over her other clothes and armour. "With what? You got a bunch of cash laying around I don't know about?"
"I've got some. I haven't actually ordered my gear yet. We'll figure it out. Let's go. We need to get our ship kitted out so we can get to making more money."
Ray shrugs and follows Steph to go fetch the doctor.
Daneel heads out to see how much it will cost to supplement the ship's food and water supply for a month.
The Drive Chief has all he needs.
The doctor requests, five trauma packs (Cr750 each), a portable mediscanner (Cr2000) and a small pharmacy including:
1) 10 doses of anti-rad (total cost Cr10,000)
2) 10 doses of panacea (total cost Cr2,000)
3) 3 doses of Slow drug (total cost Cr600)
4) 10 doses of Stims (total cost Cr500)
The Marines request:
Bull - one TL-11 laser pistol and one power pack, and one Combat Environment Suit. 5 Complex Chemical Charges (explosives). Cost Cr9500
Thumper - one cutlass, one autopistol and 10 magazines, one snub pistol and 10 magazines and one Combat Environment suit. Cost Cr1550.
Afaar'iy - one TL 11 Laser Rifle, one power pack and one Combat Environment suit. Cost Cr12,500. (Alternately, a TL 9 laser carbine, power pack and Combat Environment Suit would cost CR4500.)
It should be said that the only thing Dr. Hargek -really- wants is that portable medscanner.
There aren't really any bankers on the Floating Palace. Everyone there is fairly strapped for cash. There are of course always unscrupulous loan sharks. Perhaps given your new line of work you'd like to try to under-scruple them?
Another option might be Rachando, the trader who runs Rachando's Bazaar, but he is usually only interested in buying priceless relics of the kingdom at pennies on the dollar. Still, he's got lots of cash and might be persuaded. Maybe.
Check the character sheets if you think you'd know. Some of your ship-mates are loaded. Others are broke.
An average standard of living, appropriate to SOC 6, costs Cr1200/month each.
A Very High standard, appropriate to SOC 10, costs Cr2500/month.
A Rich standard, appropriate to SOC 12, costs Cr5000/month.