Prelude: Rocking the Cradle [COMPLETE]

[Pulpatoon]

Kildozer: "Huh. Knew a girl with k'ldoscope eyes. Well, more intersex, and it was jus' one eye, and she shot microwaves out of it. Fry yer guts from half-way 'cross the arena. Hell on metal armor. But, y'know, sweet kid."

[Mister-Kent]

Madoshi
The salvage-ship The Pixie is docked a few bays down from the Cradle. A very small woman is hauling cart-fulls of some blanket-covered goods up the ramp. As you casually stroll past the salvager, your investigation into the systems of nearby ships has yielded some interesting results.

Data Acquired:

From the personal drives of Dr. Idomeneus Shefelbine, traveling aboard The Revelation:

• Personal journal, sparsely updated--last logged in March
• Partial rough drafts of his latest unpublished essays
• Persistent messages from many bill collectors
• Angry missive from his ex-wife, regarding shared property

Guy the Savage (in the casino)
Lucie's bruised cheek twitches when Guy congratulates her, and a wide smile grows on her face. She gratefully accepts the tail. Pulling out her datapad, she sends Guy her contact info, for whenever he decides to visit the Fallen Angel again.

(back on the Cradle)
You check the Bounty Board to see the latest updates. Luckily, your crewmates' names remain off the public bounty board. This of course could be good or bad--good if it means you're low on the Solar Republic's priority list. Bad if it just means the contracts on your lives are only being optioned to private contractors. There's little way to know until it's too late.

The Bounty Board (Details Available Upon Request):

June 1, 3200

• 50k credits for Count Gaspard Trieste, for genocide on Agamemnon
• 30k credits for Lady Angeline Black, for murder and theft on Popotas
• 20k credits for Dr. Atticus Mandrake, for crimes against the Solar Republic
• 13k credits for the Xiao Brothers, for burglary on Amir
• 10k credits for Trina Almodovar, for desecration on Shruti
• 5k credits for the Red Shift Gang, for forgery on Prado

[kmbll]

Shockingly - could I get the details for the Xiao Brothers and Count Gaspard Trieste? Also are there any weapon restrictions on Amir?

[Mister-Kent]

Count Gaspard Trieste, 42. Aristocrat from Agamemnon. Charged with the genocide of the local "Great Nest" population, a tribe of the Dearomi species. Last seen seeking passage to Solar Republic territories.

Xiao Brothers - Deng, 18, and Omen, 21. Born on Bergthora in the Solar Republic, moved to Amir as teens. Charged with burglary of a Terra Prime Union warehouse and theft of TPU cargo ship, the Green Dream.

No weapons ownership restrictions on Amir, though public exhibition/use of arms is highly regulated.

[kmbll]

Awesome! Thanks a bunch. That Count bounty is sooo intriguing and decently close.

[Mister-Kent]

Also, about the Bounty List: All bounties are dead or alive unless specifically stated--obviously if dead, you must provide sufficient proof of death. Future bounties may have a different reward depending on the bounty's survival, but to keep it simple to start, these first ones don't.

[Marullus]

"Count Trieste? No shit." Malachi turns the monitor towards himself and reads the scrolling bulletin. "I grew up there... Tricky place, the City-States."

Malachi rolls Culture (Agamemnon)...

Count on Agamemnon [2d6+1] = 7+1 = 8

[Mister-Kent]

Malachi
So you're obviously familiar with your homeworld's city-state system. The Trieste Family are reasonably powerful, but a lot of common folks deride them as "xeno", wealthy offworlders who arrived on Agamemnon decades ago and insinuated themselves into local politics. Trieste-governed territories have more of an early Byzantine theme, rather than Ancient Greek.

The Dearomi bird-folk exist mostly outside the city-state system. When you were last home, social tension between Dearomi and city-folk was rising, but you wouldn't have thought it would escalate to GENOCIDE levels of conflict.

[DexterWard]

Bryan Alexander Milford (Survivor/Engine Crew/Explorer)

Xiao Brothers, hmm, could be interesting. Nothing like family to spice things up a bit, Bryan says casually. He looks up at Raquel, “Always thinking ahead aren't you my dear?”

Bryan cleans the grit from under his nails, "As long as there’s adventure I’m in. Can’t stand setting in port, unless there’s something to fix.” A dirty frown crosses Bryan’s face at Killdozer’s arena talk. Thinking to himself: Showboating isn’t my thing. Get in get out, live to fight another day. “People trying to kill one another, in an arena of all places, is just senseless idiocy. But now that I say it out loud, it just means more credits for me, so what the hell, let’em kill each other. See if I care.” He says with a smile. He begins chuckling to himself. "Still, we could use a few good jobs right now. Let's do this thing, shall we?"

[Marullus]

Malachi Lykos

Malachi sits in a chair at the kitchen table, leaning it back on two legs as he thinks. "You aren't talking about a smash and grab... It is a lot of money, but not easy money. This is a major politician, with a large bounty on his head and he knows it. He will be guaranteed professional guards, some good security, maybe even higher tech with their off-world connections. We can find allies on the planet but half of them might sell us out. Our operational security is paramount. What angle are you all thinking here? Snipers are likely expected - if he is worth the bounty I won't find a shot unless we make one. Raquel, you know how to move in that circle, and get in his head... Be a honeypot? Also, dead or alive? Long con, or quick hit? Nikademos, could you dose him with sedative? If we get that far, we plan the extraction."

[kmbll]

I don't think we ever switched to the Count did we?

[Marullus]

Awesome! Thanks a bunch. That Count bounty is sooo intriguing and decently close.

sorry, I was reacting to this, which was not IC... Did we IC move a different direction? I OOC missed it. We can redact, if needed.

[kmbll]

In character, Guy had left thinking we were going to Amir with the overt intention of getting the crop seeder at Raquel's suggestion and the secondary of getting the Xiao Brothers. Guy wouldn't really have a problem with going after the Count as it's a big bounty so you could just comm him and say "Fly to Agammemnon" and he wouldn't really ask any questions. I would think hitting Amir first then going after the Count would be a logical path to take if we wanted to go that way though (unless act of GM would take the Count of commission during that time.

Out of character, I think the the Count mission sounds really interesting - hence my comment from before. I also think that anybody who had been on a bounty mission with Guy before would know that if it's dead or alive then Guy will always take them in dead - however, he will also offer the bounty the opportunity to pay him more than their bounty. Not sure where we landed on the timeline from how we know each other before.

[Marullus]

In character, Guy had left thinking we were going to Amir with the overt intention of getting the crop seeder at Raquel's suggestion and the secondary of getting the Xiao Brothers.

Oh, wow. Totally missed that. Carry on!

[kmbll]

Since nobody seems to object...And assuming Modashi and Nikodemos got on the ship

Guy comms the Fallen Angel to get the clear for departure to Amir. He leans back in his chair and accesses the navigation system and ship controls with his ware. Leaning back and putting his feet on the console, Guys looks out the windows and finishes his song and strums along on his electric violin.

[Pulpatoon]

Bryan Alexander Milford (Survivor/Engine Crew/Explorer)
“People trying to kill one another, in an arena of all places, is just senseless idiocy. But now that I say it out loud, it just means more credits for me, so what the hell, let’em kill each other. See if I care.” He says with a smile. He begins chuckling to himself.

A dark storm crosses over Killdozer's eyes, and he rumbles deeply in reply, "We wusn't there by choice, and we wusn't doin' it fer fun. An' you kin choke on them credits, Milf'rd."

[DexterWard]

A dark storm crosses over Killdozer's eyes, and he rumbles deeply in reply, "We wusn't there by choice, and we wusn't doin' it fer fun. An' you kin choke on them credits, Milf'rd."

Bryan Alexander Milford (Survivor/Engine Crew/Explorer)

Bryan taps a finger on the table and draws unintelligible figures on its surface, "Hmmm. My apologies Killdozer. I took my anger on the victims, did I not?" Bryan shakes his head and looks through the bulkhead with a stern countenance, "It's those others, those heathenistic lookyloos that burn my taste. I have offended even myself I think. Sick bastards deserve to be put down!" Bryan shakes it off, "We have a job to do, and we need to know we have each other's backs. You have mine, you always will, everyone here will. You've taken me in where others would not, and for that I'm grateful. My apologies, to everyone, if my external thoughts often leave your ears sour and your tongues bitter."

[Pulpatoon]

Killdozer's brow slowly uncrumples as he listens to Milford. When the scavenger is done, Killdozer offers the best peace offering he knows: a batter-covered spatula. "Y'wanna lick?"

[Mister-Kent]

WOW--perfect image to end the Prelude on! The Amir adventure begins here.

[explosiveghast]

Here are some make-up posts from the Prelude...

Madoshi
As you perform your cyber-scrying, you pass the Lounge area. Looking in, you see your crewmate Killdozer approaching, visibly upset, and followed by a wildly-dressed woman.

Madoshi sagely watches the cookie-monster storm past with the pop tart in tow. Incoming images of the station network search responses flood his vision but the scrounger dims them all to watch on as Killdozer turns on the woman, to dissuade her from following, he surmises. He captures some facial recognition images of the lady and runs an anonymous search for her Identification. Perhaps when he cools, the former gladiator may reconsider the female's attention. Seeing the situation resolve without serious injury, he returns to his data scrounging, confident that his crewmate is heading directly to the kitchen.

Madoshi
The salvage-ship The Pixie is docked a few bays down from the Cradle. A very small woman is hauling cart-fulls of some blanket-covered goods up the ramp. As you casually stroll past the salvager, your investigation into the systems of nearby ships has yielded some interesting results.

The scavenger monk filters through the interesting search responses and sends soft probes for further details. His vision alight with icons and program response frames, he pauses his step near the Pixies' ramp. He attempts to appear disinterested in the salvage ship and instead gazes across the other bays. He places himself as a stone on a riverbank, not obstructing the flow of the small woman's traffic but obviously in existence.

Later:
Madoshi quietly boards the Cat's Cradle, greeted by the appetizing aroma of something baked and caramelized sweet. He quietly pads past the crew to his workspace and begins parsing ship systems data, confirming the life support recharged.