Play date: May 18, 2013
Game date: May 3, EY218
Location: Providence system, about 2AU above the orbital plane
Previous events: Finding a tracking device and finding that sliding is better the second time
A quick check of the stars around them confirms that the Steel Hummingbird has made it through the slide point safe and sound to Providence after fourteen harrowing hours. The sensors show one ship in the area and by the readings it's far too large to be the Resplendent Dragon and registers as well-armed to boot. Whatever it is it hasn't spotted the Hummingbird so Malcolm edges closer to it until Jillian, still working the sensors, recognizes it as the HMS Crocodile, the naval frigate that first encountered Maurice Clegman and Tigd when they came through the slide points several years ago!
The Crocodile is following a standard patrolling pattern between the slide point and the elliptical and Jillian decides it's best to move to the far side of the slide point and wait for the Resplendent Dragon there. If all works well they'll be able to call the Dragon when it appears using a tight beam transmission and warn them about the Crocodile. Not having any idea how long it may take the Dragon to show up they decide to wait for a maximum of two weeks and decide what else to do if their friends haven't appeared by then.
No one can stay on sensors or at the stick the whole time, so they take shifts. While they wait Bishop pings Chig with their current location and gets a pleased ping back. Jillian reads the captain's personal logs from the Leary and learns more about D'vor ships. The Leary wasn't involved with what happened planetside in the Grobs' system, staying in space for the duration of the fight, and so doesn't have much of an idea of what happened in any ground assault.
Most of the ships that came were the sleek sort of design that D'vor ships seem to share, but the first ships seen were of various designs and in worse condition than the D'vor were; these stayed out of the space battle as much as possible and dove for the planets as soon as they could. When the more typical D'vor ships showed up there were lots of small fighter-sized ships, several ships like the Iof, and a larger ship, about 150 metres long, that gave the Leary by far the most trouble: in the end they had to deal with it by ramming it when they'd managed to damage its drive. There were bulkier ships that were obviously transports and a huge vehicle the size of a battleship that had a strange jellyfish-like appearance that was too heavily guarded for them to get close to. The D'vor ships exclusively used energy weapons and seemed to have a strange defence that Jillian recognizes as the sort of energy shield the Iof has.
May 5, EY218
It's a day and a half later, around noon, when Volkova, on sensors, sees the Resplendent Dragon comes through the point... right on top of the Crocodile! Malcolm's in the pilot's seat and immediately contacts the Resplendent Dragon to keep radio silence but the two other ships can't help but immediately detect each other. No one is surprised when the Crocodile calls on the Resplendent Dragon to cut its engines and the Dragon responds by immediately rabbiting. After another terse warning the Crocodile opens fire!
Neet's a better pilot than whomever's flying the Crocodile and although they're roughly equal in terms of top speed his skill and the Dragon's superior maneuverability let him gain some distance. Olivia's is -- unsurprisingly -- womaning the gun in the turret and fires back at the Crocodile. She knows that there's no chance of winning against the frigate in a stand-up fight and forgets about hitting the naval ship to instead concentrate on laying down a hail of shells to hopefully take out some of the Crocodile's incoming ordnance. Xao begins on sensors but when the ship takes a glancing hit he moves to damage control: the damage is relatively minor but it's started up a fire that could become a real danger to them all.
There's no way that the Steel Hummingbird is going to be able to do much in this situation but Jillian gives the order and they move behind the Crocodile, definitely within sensor range, and Volkova sets the space drive up to "flash", emitting a pulse of energy that the Crocodile has to see. This does nothing to slow down the naval ship, unfortunately, and the Hummingbird can only helplessly watch the remainder of the chase.
The next hit on the Resplendent Dragon happens while Xao is failing to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher and when the Dragon lurches with this more direct hit he stumbles into the fire, his pirate outfit catching fire! Once Neet has pulled away from the Crocodile enough that the chances of getting hit have dropped noticeably Olivia clambers down from the turret and runs to put out the fire while Xao, having removed or slapped out his burning clothing, limps to the space drive to get a temporary extra kick to their speed. This does the trick and they manage to pull away from the frigate and out of sensor range without further incident.
Having lost its quarry the Crocodile turns back and hunts down the Steel Hummingbird, starting from where they flashed it, but Jillian's long since plotted a safe route away and the Crocodile comes up empty once again.
Knowing that the Dragon wouldn't have much fuel after their long trip in the slide point and that for all his skill Neet's fairly conservative Jillian reasons out where she might find him and sure enough the two ships are soon connected by an umbilical far from where the Crocodile would ever look for them. The Dragon's salvage machinery has born the brunt of the damage but the delicate sensors haven't dealt well with the force of the Crocodile's shells either.
Although they could in theory fly to somewhere in the Providence system to refuel, repair, and rest all the planets of any real interest here, mostly Beck and Limbaugh, are about 10AU away, which makes for a long trip with little extra fuel in case something goes wrong and an unknown reception wherever they go to. The Crocodile didn't seem to have identified either of the ships but they're not taking any chances. The plan is to sit in the middle of nowhere and go to the jump gate just when it opens. Plans are made in case there is a hostile party waiting for them at the gate on either side.
Jump gate Ferret will only open on the first of June and so there are three weeks of waiting ahead of the crews. Fuel is equally divided between the two ships and the Dragon's damage is repaired as best they can. The sensors are soon back online but the salvage machinery is still banged up and will need parts that they don't have before its fully functional. During the long, boring wait for the gate to open Jillian's arm finally heals and she starts on a weight lifting regime to get some muscle mass back onto her atrophied limb. Xao's burns also heal but more slowly than they might; he's too finicky to have anything to do with Bishop's healing slugs, crapbark, or smelly poultices.
Jillian works on her art during the down time and through the meditative process comes to a conclusion. When she talked to Xao while badly injured in Labrys City she should have realized that although he likes her he doesn't *like her* like her. She's not entirely sure how she feels about that.
June 1, EY218
By the time the gate that leads to the gate to iLanga is about to open everyone's had enough of sitting around in radio silence. It's been almost a month; the vodka and fresh food has run out and card games only go so far to relieve boredom! The two ships have alternate plans if things go badly at the gate but when they get there the military is nowhere to be found. The only ship that's waiting to go through is Shaka, a massive fuel tanker. Providence has an inaccessible gas giant, requiring fuel to come from Piccadilly and Walküren, but iLanga is two jumps past Providence and doesn't have a gas giant at all, making fuel even more expensive. Volkova is impressed by the size of the Shaka and takes a photo.
The trip through the gate is expensive and the fuel more so, four times the normal rate. There's nothing on the other side of the gate and the gate to iLanga proper won't open for another two weeks, so there is more card playing and low-quality food ahead for the crew. The Shaka wants to communicate to relieve the boredom but the Dragon and Hummingbird decide to keep things as secret as possible and head off on their own to lurk outside of sensor range.
Everyone passes the time in their own way. Jillian works on a kinetic sculpture and at some point realizes that the occasional barbs Xao throws into their conversations are to keep her from falling for him. Now she's completely confused. While lounging in bed with Olivia Malcolm takes the bull by the horns and flat-out asks her what Xao thinks of Jillian, romantically. She's dismissive; Xao goes for Vishnan girls, curvy ones, with a lot of book smarts. Malcolm thinks about this but decides to keep the information to himself for now.
June 15, EY218
The gate to iLanga opens at long last and the ships duly pass through after paying the exorbitant cost, four times the normal rate. They've finally made it to iLanga to help the Iof, a month and a half after they've received the request.
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 17)
Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (not surprisingly)
Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 4)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 3)