Asteroids and Athletes Ch. 01

Maddy: So I just wait?

Cesar: If you want to board the train.

Maddy: Can I look around?

Cesar: Sure, are you looking for anything in particular or just casually looking around?

Maddy: Umm, just being casual.

Cesar: Ok. You see a Leshani female sitting on the ground against the wall next to the column. She has her shirt partly open and appears to be nursing her infant. Nearby are two Leshani children holding hands and spinning in a circle and saying something in their native language. Next to her is another Leshani child, hood pulled down low and apparently napping.

They are all wearing simple clothes, gray, brown, or dirty white smocks, pants, and jackets. No real adornments or anything else to speak of, except the mother has a rather full leather satchel around her shoulder.

Maddy: Cute kids, but I won't stare.

Cesar: Ok. You also see a Jozan woman with shiny yellow round circles in her ears nodding her head up and down, with her eyes closed. She appears to be listening to music of some sort. Most of the other people waiting are staring at their datapads.

Maddy: Just like real life. *laughs*

Cesar: Sadly yeah. *laughs*

Maddy: Ok I'll just wait quietly, people watching. Or alien watching.

Cesar: Ok. *laughs*

Maddy: Are there any humans waiting?

Cesar: *rolls a couple dice* You look around, but don't see any.

Maddy: Ok, I'll just wait.

Cesar: The grav-train arrives on time and a load of Jozan and Leshani pile out. Then people start heading in.

Maddy: Do I need a ticket? Should I have gotten that earlier?

Cesar: You don't need a ticket. You've ridden the grav-train before so you would know that.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: In the train there's a lot of standing room. As you look around you don't see any free seats, so unless you wanted to kick someone out of their seat you'd have to stand.

Maddy: That's fine I'll stand.

Cesar: One hour standing seems like a long time, but before you know it you're there. Using your datapad you're able to pull up the directions from your stop. You walk another couple blocks and arrive at the huge skyscraper indicated on the map. Deemo told you his office is on the 200th sublevel of the business complex. You enter, and take an elevator to his floor and walk down a long hall to his office. When you go in you see a robot at the desk. Behind it, on the wall, is a silver triangle with a symbol of a drill going into it.

(Bot) Welcome to the office of Deemo Gateo, Vice President of Material Acquisitions of the Zyn-mining Corporation. How may I help you?

Maddy: Oh you do voices?

Cesar: Sometimes. The bot stares at you.

Maddy (Yaae): I'm here about my parents. They took a contract with Deemo.

Cesar (Bot): I need to check your identity. Please show me your ID card.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: You give the bot your ID card?

Maddy: Yeah.

Cesar: The bot looks at the card.

(Bot) Yaae Sule, thank you. You may sit as you wait.

If you look around the room it's very sparse. On the wall behind are seats that fold into the plasteel if you'd like to sit. On the desk is a small plaque that has the name Deemo Gateo, Senior Adjunct Management Leader.

Do you sit?

Maddy: Yeah

Cesar: Ok you pull down the seat and sit down. It's about half an hour before the bot speaks again.

(Bot) Deemo has acknowledged your request, please place all weapons in the storage container and enter.

A box in the wall opens up with enough space for your laser pistol and vibro-blade. You left your heavy gun back on your ship. What do you do?

Maddy: Do I have to give him my weapons?

Cesar: To give you context, this isn't too unusual. You are in a business man's office. He knows you're a merc, he's probably just careful about not getting killed. But I'm not trying to persuade you either way. It's your choice.

Maddy: Uh... sure. I'll toss my weapons inside.

Cesar: The box closes. You hear a click and then the door opens.

(Bot) Thank you for your cooperation. Please enter.

Maddy: I'll walk in.

Cesar: The light is a bit dim inside. Inside is a Jozan with dark red scaly skin and striking light blue eyes. He's at a standing desk with a holographic display in front of him. He holds his hand over the right side of the desk and the display dims to barely visible.

(Deemi) Hello I am Deemo. You called earlier about your parents that took the salvage job on Aldez VII?

Maddy (Yaae): Um yeah.. Do you know what happened to them?

Cesar: (Deemo) I haven't heard from them in a month.

Maddy: Yeah me neither.

Cesar: I've looked up your record. You don't have much of a history by yourself. Do you usually work with your parentsss?

Maddy (Yaae): Yes.

Cesar (Deemo): They have a very good reputation. Hmm... how much do you know about their contract?

Maddy (Yaae): Just um... Do I know anything?

Cesar: No, just that they took a contract with him.

Maddy: Ok. (Yaae) Uh, Deemo?

Cesar (Deemo): Yes?

Maddy (Yaae): Sorry I don't know anything about the contract.

(Deemo) It's alright, let me explain. There is a Mining Colony on Aldez VII drilling for zynium ore, but it hasn't been heard from in monthsss. A technical crew went out beforehand and when we didn't hear from them we sent another which included your parents and a few otherssss. But it's been a month and still nothing. I gave your parents a contract to check, because I can't afford to lose any more of our staff. I'm not sure what to do at this point...

Maddy: Uh, I could go?

Cesar (Deemo): I need someone with a ship that can find out what's going on and report back.

Maddy: I have a ship. Right?

Cesar: *nods* (Deemo) If it's something you can handle yourself, go find your family, bring the ore back. When you get there, report to my office using a long range communication device, LRCD, and return. I offered them the pay of 1000 credits upon return with an information report only, plus five times that if they could manage to bring back at least a 50 kilos of zynium ore.

So, what do you say? This is the mission so you kinda have to say yes...

Maddy: *laughs* (Yaae) Yes.

Cesar (Deemo): Is your ship equipped with a LRCD?

Maddy: Uh.. how would I know that? Is that on my character sheet?

Cesar: I didn't put the ship on your sheet, but you would know that you don't have a LRCD.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: What do you tell him?

Maddy: Sorry Deemo I don't have the LRC.

Cesar (Deemo): That's alright, you can borrow one from the company for the mission, but you must bring it back.

Maddy (Yaae): Thank you.

Cesar (Deemo): Let me give you a map of the Mining Colony and its location on Aldez VII. This is confidential, so it will automatically be deleted from your data pad in ten days.

Here take the map.

Maddy: Lit *looks at the paper*

Cesar (Deemo): And the map also has a built in passkey. When you get to any airlocks or doors just use your datapad to unlock them.

It should take four days to travel to Aldez VII with a decent ship.

I think that's all the relevant information, but do you have any lingering questions about the mission?

Maddy (Yaae): You don't have anyone else that can go with me?

Cesar (Deemo): No sorry, I can't risk any more of my staff. You're welcome to bring your own team though. You can split the payment with them.

Maddy: I don't know anyone do I?

Cesar: No, not really.

Maddy (Yaae): Ok, I guess I don't have any other questions then.

Cesar (Deemo): Good, I'm eager to hear back from you as soon as you arrive on Aldez VII. Good luck to you.

Maddy: Ok is that it?

Cesar (Deemo): If you give me the location of your ship I'll have someone install the LRCD immediately.

Maddy: Ok, um where is my ship?

Cesar: There is a ship storage area. Your ship is in the ship storage area of Vaaga... R1027

Maddy: Ok, I'll tell him that. *laughs*

Cesar (Deemo): I'll take care of that. You just prepare for your journey.

Maddy (Yaae): Thank you. And I'll leave.

Cesar: Ok so you go back to your apartment and pack?

Maddy: Yes. I'll take all my armor and weapons to the ship.

Cesar: Ok you have the whole ride back in the grav-train that I won't bore you with. You exit the elevator, the Jozan panhandler nodding to you as you leave it and go back to your micro-suite.

Maddy: *laughs* Micro-suite?

Cesar: That's what it is called. *shrugs* The builders had good marketing I guess. You grab all your equipment and take the grav-train to your ship at storage area R1027.

Maddy: Is it very far?

Cesar: You need to take the train another 30 minutes. When you reach the stop you get out onto the platform and head up to the surface. You see the giant storage warehouse building that looks like a plasteel orange cylinder nearly a mile high. On the front of the building is a sign that says Storage Block R. When you walk up to the front there is black glass square on the wall in front of a door with a glowing green hand showing it is handprint access. What do you do?

Maddy: Ok I'll put my hand on the glass then.

Cesar: You hear an electronic voice from a speaker above. (computer) Thank you Yaae Sule.

The door opens up to a small lift. And I assume you step in, and the door closes behind. You feel rocketed forward as you are moved very quickly. When you finally come to a stop about a minute later the door opens and immediately takes you to your ship. Through a small side panel window you see how high you are up. Judging from the name of the storage area room, the bullet lift took you up about 100 floors.

Maddy: Ok. Do I see other buildings?

Cesar: There are several buildings just as high throughout the skyline of Vaaga. Because of how many, you don't see any horizon, just buildings all around. When you turn back to the room you see your ship before you. It's a ship for a flight crew of up to four, but it can be run with only one as long as you have Diaz with you.

Maddy: Diaz?

Cesar: Technically D1A2, a service droid that has basic medicine and piloting skills. Your parents bought you the droid as a sort of going away present for going out on your own. It's colloquially known as Diaz. It's small, just three feet high and shaped like a cylinder with a roundish glass panel and dispay at the top. As you look up at your ship you take in it's features.

It's about 120' long in a silvery blue-gray. It has a traditional airplane shape so that it can land and take-off from planets with the main body being a bit like a bullet and two main engines on the wings.

On your datapad you're able to unlock and lower the main ramp. It also gives you a look at the entire ship, inside and out, with a display for diagnostics, including fuel, power, weapons, and other systems.

When you pull out your data pad you see that the fuel compartment is full and good for about fifteen thousand light years of travel using the FTL engine, a faster-than light drive.

Maddy: Is that a lot?

Cesar: It's about average for a Traveller class ship like this. The galaxy is about one hundred thousand light years across, so it's not a long-range ship by any means. Specifically it's a modified version of the TC1696 model. Take a look at an example picture. *puts down a book showing a floorplan*

Maddy: Lit. *looks over picture* It has 4 beds?

Cesar: Yeah, that and a lot more. If you put down the ramp with your datapad you can go inside and take a look around.

Maddy: Ok I'll do that.

Cesar: You press the ramp in on the datapad and then click the open button. There is an alert sound by the ship as the ramp slowly drops down until it hits the floor.

Maddy: I'll walk inside.

Cesar: Your boots thump along the metal ramp until you enter the main hatch. It's very wide probably... 30 feet across, so you can load large boxes and equipment for shipment if needed. The hatch room or ramp room is about 50 by 50, just to accommodate the ramp. There's also some supplies here strapped to the walls. A few parachutes, spacesuits, spare refuel lines, welders, and metal patches for the hull.

Maddy: Ok. Is there a door inside or is it just open?

Cesar: To get inside the next space, there is a hand plate on the side of a large rollup door.

Maddy: I'll press my hand to the plate.

Cesar: The door moves up into the ceiling revealing the next compartment, the cargo hold.

Maddy: Anything inside?

Cesar: From outside of the room it looks pretty empty.

Maddy: I'll go inside.

Cesar: It is a large empty space. Along the walls are straps, nets, magnetic devices, and grav-aids used to contain and move shipments. There is also a fireman style axe and a fire extinguisher. Along the walls are loops and hooks for hanging other items. In the two forward corners, towards the... bow of the ship-

Maddy: Bow?

Cesar: Like a sailing ship, the bow is the front and the stern is the rear.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: So in those two forward corners are cages. Presumably where living cargo or prisoners could be kept.

Maddy: Dark...

Cesar: And another, much smaller door with another hand plate is at the forward end of the room.

Maddy: I'll press it.

Cesar: The next section of the ship is about half the size, but filled with a small kitchen on the left or port side, bigger than your own kitchen at your apartment and on the other side, starboard, is a series of bunkbeds stacked in three from the floor to the ceiling. But to the immediate left is the bathroom. In front of that, part of the kitchen, is a small storage compartment with dried food that can easily be rehydrated. You've been on many trips on this same ship with your parents. You remember your father always telling you to check the food, fuel, and general systems before you leave.

Maddy: Ok I'll give the ship a thorough check.

Cesar: When you look at the food stores you have about ten days of food. If you remember, Deemo said it would take about four days for a typical ship to get to Aldez VII. So that's eight days there and back without any time spent on the planet.

Maddy: Hmmm, maybe I should get more food. Where can I go for that?

Cesar: We'll get to that in a minute. Also your fuel is full, which is enough to get there and back twice, so no problem there. For systems, your datapad reports no issues, but your father usually physically checked everything. Do you want to spend the time doing that? It would take about half the day.

Maddy: Uhh... sure.

Cesar: Roll for um... StarShip Engineering.

Maddy: What's that?

Cesar: A skill check. Look at your skills section for it. *points to character sheet* Look for a skill called Starship Engineering.

Maddy: I don't see it.

Cesar: Just engineering?

Maddy: No...

Cesar: Could I see?

Maddy: Sure

Cesar: You're right, I must have forgotten to give you that skill. Well... you aren't a trained expert so I'll say you can get 40% for this model ship and 30% in general. *writes on the sheet and hands it back* Ok now roll. You want to get under 40%

Maddy: Which dice do I roll?

Cesar: Roll these two. *points to two dice with ten sides, one has numbers starting at 10, and the other at 1*

Maddy: I got a 30 and a 2.

Cesar: Thirty two. Ok.

Maddy: That's bad?

Cesar: No, that's fine. So you're able to determine that the ship is working fine.

Maddy: Ok good.

Cesar: Now for the food you asked about. You should know of several places to get more. Your datapad can find local places to purchase food. It gives you a rough idea on price and selection, but you've been to many of these before. Why don't you roll for area knowledge for Zanjo I.

Maddy: Area knowledge?

Cesar: *points to a place on Maddy's sheet* You need to get below 60

Maddy: *rolls the dice* 9 and 80?

Cesar: That's 89. That's pretty far away from the cut off. So with skill rolls, the lower the value, the better you'll do. In this case, because you're so far over your skill, you're having trouble remembering the best place. Maybe your parents did most of the shopping. You could just go with the suggestions in the datapad. Are you looking for cheap or good food?

Maddy: Umm... I guess something in the middle? How much will five more days of food cost?

Cesar: Let me check. *Cesar flips through a thick book* You find a place that fits the bill, Xaapa's Grocer that will cost you 45 credits for 5 days. They offer delivery for an extra 3 credits or you can pick it up yourself.

Maddy: Is it close?

Cesar: It's nearby. You can take a grav-train and get there in 10 minutes.

Maddy: Ok, I'll go pick it up.

Cesar: Ok I won't bore you with the details of the grav-train ride unless you want me to?

Maddy: That's ok we can skip it.

Cesar: Cool. So the ride on the train is uneventful, and you arrive at your stop. You go up the stairs and see the darkening sky as it approaches evening. It's a short walk to the store. Inside is a long corridor with a small selection of fresh fruit, but mostly dried foods, a huge selection over 200 items. Full meals and snacks. So you wanted to buy 5 full days of average quality food right?

Maddy: Yeah, how much was it again?

Cesar: Uh *looks in book* 45 creds.

Maddy: Do I subtract that from my 500?

Cesar: Yes, so you have 445 left.

Maddy: Is this just a game of math?

Cesar: *laughs* No.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: So you have more food now. Change your total to 15 on your sheet. Is there anything else you wanted to do before you leave to find your folks?

Maddy: Uh, I don't think so.

Cesar: Ok so go back to your ship?

Maddy: Yeah.

Cesar: When you get to the cockpit you remember you left Diaz in the copilot seat behind you. The power is turned off, it's main display off.

Maddy: Can Diaz fly?

Cesar: The ship?

Maddy: Yeah.

Cesar: Yeah he- they can. Not really a he or she.

Maddy: What else can Diaz do?

Cesar: Look here *points at character sheet* Piloting Starship 65%, Navigation Space, 80%, First aid 70%

Maddy: Ok. So how do I take off? Do I need to roll or the robot?

Cesar: No I won't make you roll for that. You do need to transport your ship to the starport and schedule a flight out though.

Maddy: I can't just take off?

Cesar: Your ship is inside of a large enclosed storage unit, so you can't take off.

Maddy: How long will it take?

Cesar: Usually I'd roll for it. To see how busy they are, because this is a big city. But we've already delayed enough, so I say you get lucky and you're able to get transported to the starport and fly off tonight.

Maddy: Ok.

Cesar: So they set your ship up on the runway, and you've made sure Diaz is buckled in, just gone through your pre-flight checklist, and then started the flight sequence. When you press the ignition you feel the rockets pulse as your TC starship goes up into the sky. After breaking the atmosphere you launch fully into space and are off!

Maddy: Finally.

Cesar: *wakes his tablet and presses a button. A different score starts, this one more musical than the atmosphere of the city* You can enter the planet information into your navigation computer and it can do most of the flying for you on autopilot. You're feeling a bit tired.

Maddy: Do I need to sleep?

Cesar: If you don't you'll start taking skill penalties.

Maddy: What's that?

Cesar: Your skill rolls will get more challenging. You have to roll an extra percentile dice and take the higher number.

Maddy: Isn't that good?

Cesar: No, remember you want to roll low in this game.

Maddy: I see. Ok, is there a bed?

Cesar: In the next room.

Maddy: Ok, can I ask Diaz to wake me up if anything strange happens?

Cesar: Sure, no problem.

Maddy: Ok I'll do that.

Cesar: Alright. You sleep, pretty well under the circumstances, and wake up about eight hours later.

Maddy: I'll check with Diaz.

Cesar: What do you say to them?

Maddy (Yaae): Uh, Diaz... Uh goodmorning, hows it hanging?