Play date: June 2, 2018
In-game date: April 5, EY219
Location: Aiscapo
Previous events: Hack DvorOS and prep to take back Vishnu
April 5, EY219
Now that they have a total of eleven ships to bring to Vishnu there's the issue of who's going to be in charge. There are three species and ships from two human system naives involved, so it's not an unimportant question. When Jillian contacts the Admiral Gun-woo Kim to offer her services she's surprised to find out that Bishop's already managed to weasel (from her point of view) his way into that position! He's definitely a good choice given his skills with people and he's gotten quite good at organizing and tactics, but it's still a surprise.
When Malcolm finds out about Bishop's promotion he's tempted to call the other ships on the sly and tell them not to take Bishop too seriously but in the end decides not to; no need to risk lives over this.
One issue is that although Jillian can compute a path from any slide point to any other slide point in the cluster the four military ships won't have anyone who's made the trip before with the exception of two pilots. Having a large number of crew insane or injured when engaging the D'vor isn't the best idea, and knocking out most of the crew means the ships won't have anyone in any shape to take advantage of any surprise. It might be possible to seize the jump gate in Vishu and open it at the same time as the gate in Aiscapo, allowing ships to go from gate to gate without having to rough it through the slide points. This would avoid the 2AU trip to the orbital plane and allow for a surprise fleet to show up right in the middle of Aiscapo. It's a great idea as long as the jump gate in Vishnu is still functional and they can get someone to it to fire it up. It also depends on exactly what's waiting by the jump gate!
It's decided that the two naval pilots who can handle the slide points, Cletus Jehoshephat Mosbey and Edward Watkins, will take some relatively small ships and high-ranking Aiscapan officers (Rear Admiral Ha-eun Choi and Vice Admiral Dong-sun-Song) to Walküren and PIccadilly, two systems with large navies and many ships typically close to the jump gates at any given time. If they mass their ships at the gate they can be ready to immediately bring a sizeable force through the gate if and when it opens. Providence also has a large navy but it's much more spread out; better to see what is happening in Vishnu right now and then decide what to do with Providence's fleet.
The stealthier the ship the better for a reconnaissance in Vishu. The Black Rose's Carcharon is the best choice here, and agrees to go. Bishop, Jillian, Malcolm, and Volkova come along and the ship travels through the jump gate in Aiscapo, using it as a slide point. The Carcharon is a frighteningly stealthy ship on the outside, but on the inside it feels cramped and the exposed wired and machinery lend it a bit of a jury-rigged feel despite its technological sophistication. The addition of an extra four people to the regular crew of a dozen doesn't help make it feel less claustrophobic. On the way Bishop becomes friends with the captain, Aidan Wood, originally from Piccadilly.
When they come through the slide point 2AU up from the orbital plane the Carcharon is powered down as much as possible and begins to passively scan the system, a process that will take about an hour for a decent scan — and that's with Jillian's skill and secret naval book. No one's sure if they've been detected by the aliens here, but if so the only danger is from a D'vor ship jumping to their location. If that happens the fight would likely be short indeed: like most stealth ships, the Carcharon isn't designed for a fair fight and isn't especially durable or maneuverable.
What they detect doesn't look good. The jump gate has a D'vor ship like the Iof there along with a large ship with a turtle-like aspect that's broadcasting madly and seems to be the communications hub. There are also two small ships with many things around them, like the mine/drone ship they faced in Aiscapo but on a much smaller scale. The most frightening thing by far is a D'vor ship that's far, far bigger than anything they've seen outside of a jump ship. Further examination shows lots of large ports on it, and Jillian's best guess is that this is in fact a D'vor jump ship and carrier. Her best guess is that it could carry a dozen battleships. It's a terrifying beast of a ship.
The rest of the system is no more comforting. Shiva's got black ooze covering about a seventh of its surface, particularly the regions where there was water and agriculture. In orbit it has two more of the small mine/drone ships and a larger ship that looks like a transport: a pair of shuttles the size of the Steel Hummingbird are detected leaving it.
The Leary has a D'vor ship attached to it like a large leech with smaller partial D'vor ships protruding from it at regular intervals. A factory ship, using the Leary's material to make new ships? There are also two more of the small mine/drone ships and several fighter-sized ships that register as D'vor. There is also a large ship that looks like a larger versions of the ships they saw at the Leary last time they were here.
A cruiser-sized D'vor ship and a much smaller one are powered down away from the planets; they're probably jump drive-equipped and reinforcements if something goes wrong. There are also a few human civilian ships (notably the Thirsty Bitch) casually moving through the system, likely Songed.
Kali is the most depressing of all, with about 70% of its surface covered with black slime. Two more of the small mine/drone ships and a liquid/gas transport that seems to be of D'vor design are in orbit, the latter sporting enormous tanks along its length.
There are lots of communications — mostly incomprehensible but the human ships are speaking regular shipping communications in the human language — and transponders are on for many of the ships. It's hard to tell if anyone's spotted the Carcharon, but if they have they're not moving in her direction. Not that this means anything with jump drives!
Bishop decides that they've gotten what they need to know and that staying any longer just increases the chances of someone popping up next to them and ruining their day. He gives the order and the Carcharon slowly sneaks back into the slide point.
As they travel through the slide point to Aiscapo Jillian hesitantly brings up the Vishnan Black Rose base to Captain Wood and asks what happened to it. Her ex Rashid was in charge there and she didn't notice any transmissions from it. Wood tells her that the base was evacuated and its crew brought to the Telushkin. He has no idea what Venla Inberg did with them after that. This doesn't reassure Jillian any but she shows a brave face.
April 6, EY219
Back in Aiscapo, the crew informs the navy of what they saw in Vishnu and debate what to do next. It will take a little while to get the navies of Piccadilly and Providence ready to go, so the Steel Hummingbirds decide to see what's happening in iLanga. They'd arranged to have many animals shipped to uBuntu to see if they could fix the machinery inside the planet and it's time to see if this nutty plan has borne any fruit. Normally this would take a long time with the dismal jump gate placement and schedules but with Jillian's mastery of the slide points it won't take any longer than any other trip.
While they're briefly in Aiscapo Jillian brings up Rashid's continued existence to Sheema. Sheema's of course furious that Rashid's still on the loose but is still fundamentally a truly decent person and wishes for nothing more than for him to be brought to justice. Jillian's heart melts that much more at how good a human being her girlfriend is. Definitely a better person than Jillian.
The Iof, Resplendent Dragon, and Steel Hummingbird all come along on the trip, with Choi joining the Hummingbird's crew. Jillian gives everyone the coordinates to follow and they travel through the slide point located in the middle of the system's jump gate. A relatively short 14 hours later they slide into the iLanga system. It's still another 1.9AU to uBuntu itself, but given how much hassle it used to be to get there the extra two days is nothing.
April 8, EY219
The pilots are wary of the strong and fluctuating EM field of the planet, but as they approach the isiBhakabhaka space station sensors show that the field is much more stable than it used to be and it looks like they can actually fly down to the surface without frying their systems! The Iof won't have an issue due to its energy shields but the Dragon and Hummingbird will need their engineers to keep an eye on surges and disconnect some nonessential systems just in case.
There are a few moments that feel touch-and-go but it's not a difficult flight down. Not needing to leave their ships at isiBhakabhaka means that they don't need to land at amaThemba at the planet's equator where the space elevator touches down; they can fly directly to the "evil island" of isiQhingibi and check things out. It's tempting to go straight there but they want to talk to Busiswe Dhlami, the matriarch of uLundi, uBuntu's biggest city, about Dreamers.
Three ships landing directly in the city makes quite the impression, and in no time they're talking to Dhlami. It's been less than a year since they were here last and they're welcomed with open arms, especially the Grob. Bishop is still displeased that the sixtysomething matriarch dresses skimpily but keeps his mouth closed. See, he's matured! Dhlami is told everything about the war against the D'vor — news travels very slowly to iLanga and they haven't heard anything about this — and asked if any Dreamers might be willing to come to the rest of the cluster to help root out the Song. Of course uBuntu will do its part, she insists, and as many Dreamers as the ships can carry will soon be ready. She'll put out the call and find volunteers.
She's shown The Device and asked if it means anything to her. It doesn't, though she does find it fascinating.
Jillian also asks about the animals that should have been shipped here and what happened to them. She's wondering if they are responsible for the improved EM field, but doesn't want to bring that up. It turns out that almost all of them survived the trip and they were indeed shipped to and released on the island. As to what happened, after that, no one's too sure. The island still has a bad reputation and no one goes there.
It will take some time to get the Dreamers together, so the ships fly to Bishop's home town of kwaMbonambi, the grapefruit capital of uBuntu. They'll still have enough time to explore the island and Bishop misses his family: they have a right to know what's going on as much as anyone else. The flight is quick and uneventful. Their landing in the town makes just as much of a splash here as it did in uLundi — this is the first time any ship have flown from city to city and there are three of them! The alien design of the Iof doesn't mean too much, as almost no one here has seen a spacecraft in a long, long time, if ever. Everyone runs to the ship to greet it and Bishop's family is amongst the throng.
Introductions for the new additions to the crew are made and Jillian feels awkward about how Bishop's family go out of their way to not mention her lost eye. Bishop's mother kheThiwe is very pleased to finally meet Warden Whang after Bishop's glowing and near-pornographic description. She can't help but see the chemistry between them and asks if they have any plans to get married. Whang's surprised at the question and has a negative reaction to it that she hides from everyone but Jillian; she manages to give a fluffy answer that doesn't really answer anything.
When Jillian and Sheema are asked the same question Sheema blurts out that no, she's not going to get married. Not while everything with the D'vor is still going on.
Olivia just laughs hysterically when Bishop's mother looks at her and Malcolm with a cocked eyebrow and drags Malcolm off to the grapefruit greenhouses "for a tour".
There is a party in Bishop's house that night, just with the Ngwenya family and their off-world guests, with the exception of the Grob, who don't speak the language and retreat to their ship. Seo Yee does stay with the humans but it's obvious that she's out of practice socializing with her own species. Azar offers to make food for everyone and makes a bounty of Zartoshti food in the Dragon's galley. Bishop's family provides some dishes and a very nice grapefruit wine. Bishop's younger sister Ntombizanele is just as much of a thrilllseeker as ever and is disappointed that Malcolm won't let her do some spaceship surfing. The older sister, Nqobile, is just as standoffish as ever. She's still bitter about her brother swanning in as a Dreamer last time.
As the "night" — with the arrangement of the two suns it's just less bright when the dimmer star is the only one in the sky — wears on people split up into smaller groups. Jillian notices that Azar and Neet have wandered off together.
Bishop's father lanGalibalele has some time to talk to his son, just the two of them. He tells Bishop how proud he is, how his son has matured and is doing such importing things in the world. Like saving it! And his son has also found a gorgeous partner in Whang. lanGalibalele definitely approves of how attractive Whang is — the grapefruit doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems.
Bishop's father also states his determination to go to Aiscapo as a sanGoma (Dreamer) and do some good. Bishop tells his father no; he feels that lanGalibalele is doing this to try to make things right with his son, who he ignored before Bishop became a Dreamer. Bishop convinces his father that it's best for him to stay here with his family.
April 9, EY219
Grapefruit wine is more powerful stuff than the non-uBuntans thought and they get a fairly slow start to the day, with the exception of Azar, Bishop, Volkova, and the Grob. Farewells are said and the three ships lift off to fly to the "evil" island of isiQhingibi.
When they reach it several hours later isiQhingibi looks much the same as before, with a strange fluted appearance. It's still got a thirty-degree slope that's tricky for Neet to land on. Malcolm and Hrav have no such issues. Remembering where the entrance was, they make sure to set down near it.
Their landing scares off some goats that were browsing in the area. Looks like the animals were indeed dropped off! Not everyone's going to head in: Azar, Bishop, Choi, Jillian, Malcolm, And Xao will make the trip inside while the others stay here.
Those who have entered uBuntu before quickly notice that it is in better shape than on their first trip. Choi's blown away by the scale of the machinery here and would love to spend months studying it. There are animals here and there ranging from small birds and mice to a cow, all busy doing… things, like the inhabitants they saw previously were doing. It's odd to see such industrious animals, but it's very nice to see that their plan has borne fruit! No one knows just how much still needs to be done and they don't really want to head too far inside now that they know that things are progressing well. After an hour or so they exit the interior of the island, almost literally dragging Choi with them.
Outside, Volkova has resisted eating any of the local flora. She's been ignoring The Device for much of their trip given all the socializing and fermented citrus beverege, but while waiting for her friends to come back she checks it out and finds that for lack of a better word it's been charging with energy. She and Chig work on finding out what this means and by the time the group emerges from the island they think they've got it worked out. It's a difficult process with no language in common but the Dreaming and xenotechnology are universal, which helps a bit.
It looks like The Device has been charging up on Dreaming energy and can emit it to cancel the Song! Bishop asks if it's like an anti-Song grenade, but it's nothing so crude. Instead, it can be attached to a ship's beam weapon and destroy the Song at a distance! This opens up a whole new range of possibilities in their upcoming attack on Vishnu.
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 41)
Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 5.5)
Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 20)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 7)