Play date: April 27, 2013
Game date: April 29, EY218
Location: Vishnu system, the city of Bhopuhr on the planet Shiva
Previous events: Dinner
Jillian, Rupa, Volkova, and Xao finish their night out at the Dabangg dance club. Rupa and Volkova dance while Jillian and an increasingly inebriated Xao talk about personal matters. Back on the ship, Volkova very carefully hangs up her sari for future use. Jillian spends the night painting and when morning comes she's exhausted, with bags under her eyes and spots of pink paint on her dress, its polka dots not doing enough to hide the colourful new additions. She's not hung over, which is a pleasant surprise. Bishop and Volkova are likewise in fine physical shape though Bishop stays in his quarters for much of the morning.
Excited by her completed painting, Jillian shows it off to Volkova. Her technique is fine, but the subject matter is lacking and the melting pink kittens draped over tree branches doesn't have the festive feel that she was hoping for, ending up looking more creepy than anything else. She's named it "The Persistence of Hairballs". Volkova's very politic with her comments.
Malcolm saunters in just after noon with a little smile on his face. Seeing the rest of his crew hanging out in the common area he shocks them by asking if there's any coffee. After showering and then changing into more standard clothing he heads off into the dry, hot city on his motorcycle, taking his patched EVA suit along. He spends some time relaxing in The Teae Shoppe before looking to replace his patched suit. He finds Aditi's Sky, a store that sells various space-travel related products. Resisting the lure of the shrivelled squeezy bags of dried tea ("just add hot water!") he trades his suit in for a far better one that has thrusters on it to allow more precise maneuvering along with a snazzy new flight jacket. New suit dropped off at the ship, he races his motorcycle down the long roads that run along the irrigation canals.
Back on the ship, Volkova examines the jump drive parts that were pulled off of the Leary and the large piece of D'vor tech that they also found there. It's beyond her training but it's all fascinating nonetheless and it's a good thing that she's changed back to her regular outfit: by the time she's satisfied that she's gleaned all she can from the salvage she's once again smudged and greasy.
Jillian decides that with almost a thousand posters to hand she should go around town and post some up. This is easier said than done given the state of her arm and she makes a mess of things. Posters are folded over on themselves, placed in awkward locations that were the only ones she could reach, and pasted upside down. The activity is a disappointment. When she gets back to the ship Volkova's pretty much done with her xenotech examination and the two are soon wandering around the town properly putting up their D'vor warnings. Jillian steers the engineer clear of the locations that she's already put up posters.
Jillian calls the Resplendent Dragon in the late afternoon and Xao answers. The conversation is a little awkward but they set up a meeting of both crews in two hours to discuss further plans. When everyone gets together Xao more or less hides any awkwardness he might feel and Jillian's feelings are impossible to read. This is the first time that Bishop's seem Malcolm and Olivia together since last and from their friendly behaviour he quickly pieces together what's happened between the two. Olivia stands close to Bishop but he doesn't physically reach out to her: he's been thinking and decides that he wants to keep himself pure for Warden Whang and so this sort of random hooking up with people has to stop. He's sure that Olivia will understand.
While out on his motorcycle Malcolm stopped off and picked up fresh fruit from the farms that extend out from Bhopuhr. Everyone's appreciative of the food and there is the sound of crunching fruit all through the meeting. When Neet points out to Jillian that he saw some of her posters up and that they seem to have been vandalized or something she blames Hoax without skipping a beat.
The meeting itself is brief. Knowing that they are unable to deal with the D'vor threat on their own everyone agrees that it's best to go back to their allies in the military and try to get some more solid action on their part. Jillian can go to Jinjing Wei and Malcolm can visit Commodore Blith in Aiscapo. Bishop doesn't have anyone in Aiscapo that will be useful for their larger mission but it's where Warden Whang is so he plumps for visiting the system anyway. No one on the Resplendent Dragon has any useful military allies anyway so they have no other suggestions. The gate won't open until May 4th, so everyone has some time to continue to enjoy what Bhopuhr has to offer before leaving.
Meeting over, Jillian beckons Xao down to her quarters ostensibly to show him her new painting: she can't bring it up to the galley because her pink pussies are still wet. When they're alone in her room she surprises him with the jewellery that she bought for him in Labrys City by way of apology for barging in on him in a hysterical state and breaking his door. The brooch and ring go over very well and he's quite appreciative, his smooth exterior cracking a bit.
That night Bishop is finally contacted by the Grob and they're panicked and unhappy. He's been distracted and hasn't had the "egg" on him lately, so he's not sure exactly when they first had a problem. They are apparently in iLanga, Bishop's home system, according to a groggy Jillian's calculations of the direction he works out. Malcolm and Volkova are duly woken up and coffee (by Bishop) and tea (by Malcolm) are both brewed.
iLanga is on the other side of the cluster and there's no quick way to get there. One of the bad things about iLanga -- just one of many, according to Bishop -- is that it's terribly inconvenient to get to. Since they'll have to pass through Aiscapo on the way to iLanga anyway the plan they struck with the Dragon still stands, but they'll have to hurry to iLanga as soon as possible. There's no need to wake Xao and his crew at this point, and everyone goes back to bed and does their best to sleep with caffeine coursing through them. Since he can't sleep anyway Bishop drops into the Dreaming to get a better feel for what is going on through Dreaming about it. He finds that it will all end up fine, and though they should still get to iLanga there's no terrible hurry.
April 30, EY218
There's no sleep for the wicked as Neet calls the ship very early in the morning. His girlfriend, Ashley, works as a space traffic controller on The Ashram, the space station that orbits Shiva, and she has overheard a Hoax ship called the Dangerous Idea calling in to ask about the Steel Hummingbird. It seemed like the Hoax ship knew that the Hummingbird was on the planet but made no mention of the Resplendent Dragon at all. It's quickly decided that the Hummingbird will take off immediately and the Dragon will lift off the next day and the two ships will meet at a quickly determined rendezvous point the next day.
The Hummingbird's ready to go. Maintenance on the ship is done. She's fuelled up. Jillian spends a bit of time to file a false flight plan to Labrys City. Although a flight plan isn't legally necessary it's a good idea to let people know where you're going in case something breaks down on the way. Filing such a plan gives the Hummingbird's activities a slight sheen of respectability and also lays a false trail for Hoax to follow. She doesn't do a great job at putting in fake information and has to bribe the bureaucrat on duty to get the papers accepted but accepted they are and she's soon back on the ship as Malcolm finishes his pre-flight check.
No one attempts to stop them as they lift off from the planet and their trajectory is such that they've hopefully remained undetected by The Ashram. In any case no one shows up on the scanners following them.
Volkova's her usual fastidious self in terms of checking out the new parts that have been installed and while triple-checking them comes across a very faint, strange reading. Curious, she opens up a bulkhead and finds a bizarre device within. She's absolutely certain that it's not something that should be in any ship and it looks bizarre enough to be xenotech. She calls Bishop down and he agrees that it's xenotech. Worse, it strikes him as a tracking device. Still worse, from its location it was inserted when the ship was being modified on Beck! That means that whomever is tracking them -- likely Hoax -- knows that they traveled through a slide point!
A plan is quickly hatched to send the tracking device off on the path that Jillian filed at the Bhopuhr Spaceport. Volkova uses the last of their spare parts from the People's Freedom to rig up a rocket to fire the tracking device towards Labrys City. The aim won't be perfect but last-minute course corrections are typical and they don't need to fool Hoax forever, just until they make it out of the system. The rocket's speed will be suspiciously slow relative to the Hummingbird but that can't be helped. The rocket is fired and heads off in the right direction. All they can do now is hope that Hoax takes the bait.
To check for additional devices Jillian scans the tracking device as it heads off to the outer system. She then has Volkova don her EVA suit and manually rig up the ship's sensors so they are pointing at the Hummingbird itself -- it's a good thing that their best sensors are externally mounted! -- and does another scan of the ship. She doesn't find any readings that are consistent with another tracking device and hopefully doesn't irradiate the ship too much. Bishop Dreams to find any more devices but it comes to nothing.
Volkova removes every panel and unbolts every piece of machinery she can in her search for any more surprises. She doesn't find any new bits of xenotech but does find a set of lockers sealed up in a bulkhead with a set of six slightly musty costumes in them: flashy leather outfits from the Hummingbird's prior life as part of the Devereaux Daredevils! They've got a big Union Jack across the chest and a lions rampant theme. Their large belt buckles sport a stylized, interlocking "DD". Malcolm explains that they are an old costume design that dates back to when he was a kid in the aerial circus. He's happy to see them. He shows off their special feature: they are designed to come off very quickly for costume changes. Of the six outfits four fit the crew well and Malcolm sneakily rips his nametag off of one of the smaller ones without anyone noticing.
As the ship continues on its way Volkova removes the lockers, yellowed articles taped to their interiors, and puts them up in her quarters. It's a tight fit but she manages to make it work.
May 1, EY218
The Resplendent Dragon and Steel Hummingbird meet up. Jillian scans the Dragon with the Hummingbird's sensors but finds no device. An umbilical is set up between the ships and both crews go over the Dragon and search it once the Hummingbird's crew has finished showing off their new outfits. The Dragon seems clean and everyone discusses what to do. The jump gate won't open for another three days and Hoax will quite possibly be waiting there for them. It looks like they'll have to use the slide points and hope for the best. The Iof seems to be doing well (or was doing well until it reached iLanga) exploring them. The two ships disengage and fly toward the slide point above the orbital plane. Everyone studies the information they have on the slide points over the next couple of days.
May 3, EY218
At the slide point both ships wish each other luck and slip through. Volkova is wearing her new Daredevils outfit. For the Hummingbird, it's the same horrible experience as the first time, though having been through it once before and knowing what to prep for makes the trip much less of an ordeal. They come through the other side after what turns out to be fourteen hours and after a quick check of the stars Jillian declares them to be in Providence. The Resplendent Dragon is nowhere in sight.
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 17)
Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (but so close!)
Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 3)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 3)