Session 111: Dinners and Dolphins

Play date: March 30, 2018

In-game date: April 21 EY219

Location: Aiscapo

Previous events: Taking out two large D'vor-controlled ships

While the Aerikin mothership, Resplendent Dragon, and Scorching Raptor are taking on the Nehru and the large carrier the rest of the battle rages on around them. Outnumbered, the D'vor fleet's only real option is to cause as much damage as they can. The D'vor-controlled heavy cruiser -- almost as powerful as a battleship -- Cheonan faces off against the cruiser Sejong; it looks good for the D'vor until the Cheonan is ambushed by the Gurg's stealth ship, the Carcharon, and the Gurg jumps in. Then it's all over, thought the Gurg does take a heavy hit from the Cheonan before the cruiser goes down.

Daebak's light carrier Damche is the command ship for the battle and Rear Admiral Ha-Eun Choi is aboard. She sends her fighters against the light cruiser Guanggaeto to aid the frigate Crocodile, but most of the fighters fall to the cruiser's surprisingly accurate antispacecraft guns. They do manage to damage the cruiser, though, and the Crocodile finishes it off, taking some damage in the process. While the carrier is undefended the unnoticed D'vor-controlled Juche stealth ship Yono launches an attack against her! The carrier manages to avoid the stealth ship's missiles and destroys the Yono all on her own despite her relatively light weapons. She's not so lucky when the alien carrier's fighters, their base destroyed, show up and attack her. Many of the fighters are shot out of space but before the Crocodile can come to her aid she's heavily damaged. Her own returning fighters and the Crocodile manage to finish off the alien fighters but not before the Damche is lost, Rear Admiral Choi managing to escape the ship before her destruction.

The Damche is the only major loss on Daebak's side; several ships are damaged and the destroyer Manchun and corvette Paleun are both destroyed, but in exchange the entire D'vor-controlled fleet is out of action. The battle of Aiscapo is over!

Leaving the Daebak military to mop up and save those who still live in various destroyed ships, the crew of the Hummingbird decide to save the Songed Grob who are in their own crippled ships. They fly up the 2AU to where the Iof and Steel Hummingbird are waiting, contacting the Grob and the humans up there to relay the happy news. They have almost four days to work out a plan while flying up and down and decide to save the Grob by flying there in the Hummingbird, which those Grob haven't seen, and pretending to be rescue ships. With the Iof's Grob on board along with Azar, Malcolm, and Volkova they'll have enough firepower to deal with any hostile aliens if they need to.

Jillian communicates with Rear Admiral Choi about the battle and plans for the near future. It turns out that the population of Daebak and the other minor population centres have been largely told about what happened -- the inaction of the jump gate along with Juche's larger moon blowing up and the fleet battle can't have gone unnoticed! -- and with the successful conclusion to the present hostilities an official dinner will be held in celebration and broadcast throughout the system. The crews of the Resplendent Dragon and Steel Hummingbird will, naturally, be the guests of honour after all they've done. After some consultation with her inhuman friends Jillian suggests that this would be a good time to introduce the Aerikin and Grob to humanity -- after all, they've played a large part in this victory as well.

The conversation and negotiations take a long time given that much of the talking is happening over several AUs of distance, but in the end it's decided that the aliens will also be fêted. It's eventually decided that this will be the equivalent of a state dinner, though perhaps not officially so. It will be called the Banquet of Hwan-Yeong [welcome] and will take place in nine days. Three being considered a lucky number in the system, this represents three threes, which is very auspicious. It also will give the Hummingbird time to get back to Daeback. The crews think of who they'd like as guests there and send a list of names to the government.

Flying up to the Hummingbird and Iof and back down to the inoperative Grob ships takes four days running flat out. The Hummingbird and Iof are placed in the Aerikin mothership's flight bay (thanks to Malcolm's bizarre ship packing ability) and the faster mothership, Dragon, and Raptor put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, rushing down to the Grob ships. On the way Bishop continues to treat damaged members of the Iof's crew. Volkova spends the time taking spare parts from wherever she can find them to strengthen the Hummingbird's armour and repair the numerous ship systems that were damaged. Jillian, for one, is happy to no longer have a tear in the hull in her bedroom! Volkova does overexert herself putting the ship back together and uses the opportunity to get a very relaxing massage from Sheema.

April 25, EY219

When they get close to sensor range the Hummingbird's crew transfers to their own ship and fly off ahead. The salvaged space drive is pokey compared to their usual one but it still feels like flying in their own home after the cramped Scorching Raptor and unfamiliar Aerikin mothership. With the space drives shot out of the Grob ships there's no worries about distant readings showing the more distant ship that crippled them.

The Iof's Grobs are on the Hummingbird and the two Grob ships will have a bare minimum of power from batteries, enough to keep the life support running and nominal comms and sensors. Bishop hails them in their native language and uses his social skills to pretend that the Hummingbird is just a simple courier ship that's come across some badly damaged ships and is willing to render assistance. The stranded Grob are convinced, and don't have much choice anyway if they want to live. Bishop arranges to have them come over through the airlock only two at a time due to technical reasons that Volkova made up for him, and insists on no weapons -- he claims that all the "mysterious" ship combat in the system has them on edge. Once inside, the Grob will be taken to the passenger deck and separated as much as possible so they can be later be de-Songed in small batches.

To everyone's surprise this goes off without a hitch. There are eight Grob crew on each ship and a total of six of them are injured to various extents. They might be controlled by the Song but they're not stupid and the best play here is to go along and see what happened to their fleet. When everyone is on board the Resplendent Dragon and Aerikin mothership show up as well, Malcolm keeping the Hummingbird angled so that they can't be seen from the forward-facing passenger quarters. The two Grob ships are attached to the human ships and the mothership goes to attach the crippled human stealth ship Sinpo without talking to the crew; they can't do anything with their ship and they can join the other Songed humans back at Daebak.

April 28, EY219

It takes about a day getting the Grob off their ships and tying everything up, followed by two more days of flying back to Daebak. On the trip Bishop, Chig, Volkova, and Whang manage to clear the Song from all of the Grob on board while crew members who are good with weapons keep watch just in case anything goes wrong. It's a tiring procedure and Bishop also has to take care of the injured Grob, so they're all happy when the base of Daebak's moon Eondeog fills the window and they can get some rest. Happily, they've also pretty much tripled the confirmed number of Grob in the universe!

The Iof and Aerikin mothership dock in a high-security bay on the military moon base and repairs begin on the former. Xao has called ahead and gotten a high-end space drive brought up from his parents' business, as the military doesn't have anything that's that good for a ship that large.

Some of the Grob join the bridge crew of the Aerikin to get formally introduced to the military and political people who have flown up to meet them. While Bishop, Jillian, and Sheema work through the first formal first contact for humanity -- Seo Yee is still too badly injured to take part -- Volkova works with Padb and Quiy on the Iof's systems. None of the human naval crew are allowed on board right now. Volkova makes various requisitions and by the end of the day the Iof is running as well as before, though with human technology patched into the D'vor and Grob pieces. The ship is even more of a chimera than previously.

Both the Aerikin and the Grob are able to deal with humans just fine at this point and the meetings go well. Nothing is formally decided, but both of the alien races are friendly and declare their interest in pushing the D'vor out of the cluster.

April 29, EY219

Everyone sleeps in the next day and then they decide to fly down to the surface and do some shopping. Not only have many of them lost much of their personal effects due to ship damage but it's a good opportunity to get some nice outfits for the big dinner the next day. The Grob and Aerikin elect to stay up on the moon base. The Grob have a lot of reconnecting to do with their kin and the Aerikin appreciate the good surprise reveal that the dinner will provide and have no end of people to talk to up on the base, anyway.

Special permission is given for the Dragon and Hummingbird to fly down to the surface, but the brass insists on giving them an escort just in case. No one wants them until they realize that the escort are paying for everything... and also can't help but to tell everyone that these are the heroes of the system. Some of the crew find it embarrassing and some find it cool, but everyone appreciates the free purchases. Jillian in particular replaces what she lost on the planet in the Slide Points, buying the incongruous combination of clothing, automatic rifle, artist smock, pistol, ammunition, and art supplies, including a large purchase of paint suitable for ship hulls that she has delivered directly to the military station. Thanks to Sheema's help she also gets a very nice dang-jeogori for tomorrow's banquet.

The groups split up and people do their own thing as the day goes on. The Dragon's crew drop in on Xao's family and Volkova heads back up to the moon base to work on the Grob ships -- she hasn't seen much of their own technology and this is a great chance! Sheema takes Jillian to the Wonju Herald, the biggest newspaper in Wonju, where she worked for a while when she first came to the system. She easily gets the exclusive story about the banquet to be published the day after the shindig -- the events surrounding the D'vor are better written by a reporter who's closer to the government and navy. It's a very relaxing day after so much destruction and it does everyone good.

To show its appreciation even more the government puts the crew up at the five-star Lotte Hotel, on the very top floor. The view of the city and lake is spectacular, and other than Homeworld Tower it's the highest spot in the city. Early in the evening they get a phone call from the Governor, thanking them for all they've done and also giving them some idea of how the banquet will work. They also find out that Mi Kyong Choi has been pardoned for her crimes, which is a nice touch.

April 30, EY219

After a morning and afternoon of enjoying the five-star amenities of the hotel and then primping and getting ready, it's time for the Banquet of Welcome. Jillian's wearing the dang-jeogori and Sheema is dressed in a complementary outfit. Whang is wearing something similar but all in white to match Bishop's white outfit. Mi Kyong Choi's chosen to represent her new start free of exile by wearing green. Azar's somehow managed to obtain or bring a traditional Zartoshti outfit and its detailed patterns maker her stand out from the rest of her crew.

The whole crew is driven in limousines from the hotel to the Blue House. They've been here once before under very different circumstances -- to ask Governor Jasmine Lee for permission to destroy Juche's larger moon.

Coming up the drive towards the main structure they see large colourful salamanders gamboling on the lawn and many more guards than last time. Evie Donaldson greets them as they pull up to the portico. She's dressed in a nice man's suit and sports a newly-shorn head; not surprisingly she makes eyes at Sheema as she leads them through the building to the massive ballroom. In a smallish but very nicely appointed waiting room are the Resplendent Dragon's crew, and six of the Aerikin (including The Captain) and four Grob (Chig, Difig, Ensig, and Hrav). Neet is in a plain but well-tailored suit, Olivia's wearing a uniform-like civilian outfit that suits her, Xao's in a particularly dashing pirate outfit, and Sabine's in a red dress that shows perhaps more skin than it strictly should. The Aerikin and Grob are dressed in their own outfits and it's hard to tell if they're dressed up or not. If not, they'll get a pass. Once everyone's together they enter the main dining chamber to a standing ovation and are led to the table of honour with much blushing. Governor Jasmine Lee is already there and claps along with everyone else, but does not get up. No one's ever seen her move as far as the crew knows.

There are assigned seats at the table of honour but everyone just sits where they want to; Malcolm next to Olivia, Bishop between Chig and Whang, Jillian between Sheema and Xao. Azar and Neet, surprisingly, seem to be getting along well and sit with each other. Evie manages to subtly arrange things so she's sitting with the Governor and Sheema on either side of her, and no one's entirely sure how she managed to pull that off.

At a nearby tables they see Lieutenant Nana Kim, uBuntan ambassador Ayanda Ndebele, Admiral Gun-woo Kim, Rear Admiral Choi, and nuke-happy Commander Seo-Yun Jo. Farther away are Xao's parents, Lieutenant-Commander Jinjin Wei, Commodore Marcus Blith, and the legendary Maurice Clegman, whom Malcolm icily ignores after a quick glare. There is also a mass of politicians and high society types that they don't know populating the rest of the tables. There are also unavoidable large television cameras: this is all being broadcast live!

Governor Lee gives a speech about what happened, who deserves the cluster's thanks, and how humanity is not alone in the universe. There are dangers, yes, but also new friends -- at this point she formally introduces the Aerikin and Grob to humanity. Jasmine Lee might look like a hideous bag of skin but her style in front of a crowd is first-rate. The aliens give short speeches thanks to the Aerikin's translation devices. The Aerikin are slick enough to have written a decent introduction on their own, while the Grob asked Bishop to help them, Sheema aiding as well. As far as boring speeches go they go very well.

Dinner is course after course of spectacular food and everything seems to be going very well until Jillian spots Alexei Rusanov at a distant table. He's apparently managed to worm his way into society to at least this level. He can't help but know Jillian's here as she's a guest of honour, but thankfully they don't make eye contact. Both Sheema and Volkova notice her blanching and when she points out the artist Volkova's on her feet; one hand on a newly-painted Khnuta she tells one of the nearby snappily-dressed honour guards that if that man isn't removed from the room in thirty seconds she's going to throw him out herself. The guards are unsure of what to do but Sheema knows how to smoothly explain things and Evie intervenes and quickly takes Jillian's side in the issue. Rusanov is ejected from the room with a minimum of fuss -- this is a high-class event, after all -- but it's definitely shown on television.

After everyone's had their final dessert the banquet ends and things move to the ballroom and a less formal environment. The musicians take requests and thanks to Bishop and Sheema there is some swing dancing in the mix. Bishop and Whang spend most of the evening on the dance floor. Evie Donaldson gets a couple of dances with Sheema but nothing more; Evie's music and dance leans towards reggae and she doesn't have much dancefloor chemistry with her intended prey. Sheema takes some time during the evening to go around to various societally important people and subtly lets rip on Alexei Rusanov.

The Governor is nowhere to be seen at the dance but this really isn't her scene. Neet soon says his farewells to his crew and Azar and leaves; it's all a bit too much for him. Sheema also leaves early so she can write up an account of the evening for the Wonju Herald. She passes off a sober(!) Jillian to Xao and the two of them spend a long while talking to each other in a booth. Azar and Sabine have a good time. Azar grew up at the periphery of high society -- criminal, sure, but isn't it always? -- and Sabine loves the attention she's getting. Malcolm eventually heads off with both Olivia and Marcus Blith.

All in all, it's a lovely evening.

May 1, EY219

The morning edition of the Wonju Herald has two stories above the fold. The main one is a serious article detailing the war and the aliens. It's obviously cleared by the government and mostly correct. The other is Sheema's piece on the banquet that is to some extent a list of notables present but also provides a more personal touch to the lead story, detailing just who these heroes who saved the system are. It's a really nice complement to the more factual article and again manages to take digs at Rusanov in marvellously subtle ways. This is Sheema's world after all, and she's as lethal in it as Olivia is in her world with a cannon.

Jillian's in a good mood after reading the paper (and without a hangover) and decides that it's high time the Hummingbird got painted again. She comes up with the idea of humans, Aerikin, and Grob holding hands in a ring running around the hull. It's a straight representative piece of artwork, which is a dangerous thing for her skills. Surprisingly, despite the usual outcome of her oeuvre this is a decent piece of work. Nothing to write home about, but for once the humans don't look like pinched sausage links and the Grob are actually the right height. She even gets the number of limbs on the Aerikin right!

Volkova finishes work on the damaged Grob ships. She enlists a few of the naval mechanics but only because she feels like she has to; they're slow and stupid to her.

While Jillian and Volkova are being productive up on the Eondeog Naval Base Malcolm is having fun. He's asked the Aerikin if he can try out one of their fighter jets and they've agreed, given the skill he's shown flying the Scorching Raptor. They do insist that a co-pilot accompany him in the tandem cockpit, though. It's not the fastest thing in atmo but it is very nimble, and has a laser pod, railguns, energy shields, and a targeting computer. All good stuff, and he's finally getting the hang of a head-up display.

They fly over Wonju and its restricted environs for a while -- oh, to be a hero and have special permission! -- and the Aerikin co-pilot eventually asks him why he keeps using the targeting computer. Malcolm knows Alexei Rusanov's address and has been idly using the targeting system on it just because. It's a gaudy McMansion with a lovely view from the slope it's on but oh God, the man has a dolphin-shaped pool with dolphin sculptures leaping around it.

The Aerikin pesters him about the house until he tells her about Rusanov and what he's done. The Aerikin have severe penalties for someone like that, she says, and after a pause the co-pilot calls her mothership. They speak in Aerikin for a while and Malcolm doesn't know what's up until the co-pilot turns the translation device backs on and tells him that the Captain has given permission for Malcolm to shoot the house up.

Malcolm makes sure that she just said what he thought she did and yes, he has the aliens' permission to blow up Rusanov's house. The aliens have no problem with it given what sort of a person he is and they feel protective towards the humans they've been travelling with. They figure that they can claim that the crew of the fighter were both Aerikin and combining what was in the paper with cultural miscommunication they can destroy his house and, having recently saved the system, they can get away with it.

There's no way that Malcolm is going to destroy the house and possibly kill Rusanov and anyone else who might be inside, even if the Aerikin say it's ok with them. Instead he lines up a leisurely approach and fires the railguns in a long, long burst on the pool; there's no one lounging around it so it seems safe. The no doubt very expensive imported tile explodes, cracks stretching down below the waterline, and the leaping dolphin sculptures are shredded. The grass all around the pool is chewed up and shrapnel from all the metal and ceramics blasted into the air shatter every window on that side of the house and pit the walls pretty badly too.

Pulling away from the scene Malcolm cackles and wishes out loud that he had some photos of that. His co-pilot tells him that the gun cameras took a 3D film of the whole thing, and she has it play on a loop at the corner of the cockpit HUD for his amusement. She uploads the film to her mothership to put it onto a portable player that they can give to Jillian.

When Malcolm's had enough flying he heads back to the moon base to drop off the fighter and talk to the Aerikin about how she flies. They make him hide in the ship when a furious Rear Admiral Choi shows up and let him listen to them playing dumb, which they do fairly well. It turns out the railguns were powerful enough to put holes all the way down into Rusanov's basement, which the water from the capacious pool flooded. After the Aerikin solemnly promise not to put holes into anything else on Daebak and it's all clear Malcolm takes the player and heads back to his own ship. When he sees Jillian's painting his first thought is "But the day was going so well..." but he does have to admit that it could be so, so much worse.

Jillian is overjoyed at the recording, as is everyone on the ship when they see it. The player gets a lot of use that day.

--------

Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 39)

Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 5.5)

Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 2 (running total: 19)

Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 7)