[Taocow PBEM] Fwd: Book 3 - Chapter XIV - Belmont Abbey - REPOST

[Bergman Oswell]

OOC: whoops, hit send too soon.  Please add this to my other post.
 
IC: Anne answers Alex's comment about disappearances "They might have, but if they had time to check in with their base about my claims, they'd know their chances of doing so without my being able to send a final report to my superiors would be slim and none.  Just as I don't want to get in trouble with my superiors for jeopardizing my home world's business relationships, Kydians don't want that kind of trouble either.  If I were attacking them it would be another matter, but I didn't do that."
 
When Vesper and Alex have their low voiced conversation about her, she raises her voice a bit and says to no one in particular "I have augmented hearing.  And I don't mind questions."

On Jun 4, 2014, at 8:54 AM, Aaron Clausen <mightymartianca at gmail.com> wrote:

>>>> [Vesper]
>>>> "Just Keldon's son was injured. We should evac others if possible."
>>>> He looked down, "Unless they will leave the city alone once were gone but I
>>>> am not so sure they will."
>>>> He glanced back to Alex then to the others.
>>>> [/Vesper]
> 
>>> [GM]
>>> As Vesper speaks, Jacek the Borg, leaning on the rail, points out his
>>> damaged leg and obliterated arm. "My injuries are not life
>>> threatening, though until I can facilitate repair, I may be of limited
>>> use."
>>> [/GM]
> 
>> [Vesper]
>> Vesper looks to Jacek, "Sorry Jacek."
>> [/Vesper]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> Looking at Jacek, Alex responds, "I can fix the armor but nothing like
>> that. Sorry I am not of much help there. I think even a cyber-doc would
>> just want to replace the damage parts not repair."
>> 
>> She will look if there is anything she can do safely to give an partial
>> function back to anything using armorer / basic mechanics. Otherwise,
>> the red headed ranger does not mess with anything.
>> [/Alex]
> 
> [GM]
> Jacek has some pretty significant damage; one arm missing, one leg
> probably unsalvageable. He's going to need a chop shop at the minimum/
> [/GM]
> 
>> [Oz]
>> Oz nods at Jacek. "The dwarves may know a little something about
>> bionics. We'll get you patched up."
>> [/Oz]
> 
> [Jacek]
> Jacek nods. "I hope so. It is... distracting."
> [/Jacek]
> 
>>>> [Oz]
>>>> "We have to." Oz nods at the sergeant. "On to Wales, if we can." He
>>>> turns to the sailors they'd brought aboard. "Can you operate the ship
>>>> on your own?" If not, they were going to have to abandon ship just as
>>>> quickly as they'd boarded.
>>>> [/Oz]
> 
>>> [Louissa]
>>> "We have one man who can pilot it," Louissa says, "but he's, um, well,
>>> a little confused right now due to a nasty bump on the head."
>>> [/Louissa]
> 
>>>> [Alex]
>>>> Alex suggests, "I we can at least get to a place with more cover, even
>>>> if we have to go on foot from there, might be best idea."
>>>> Nothing ever goes right so she is almost use to it these days. At least
>>>> nobody has managed to kill her yet so she figures keep trying.
>>>> [/Alex]
> 
>>>> [Ted]
>>>> "In my time, the Thames was a major river. Why not take the ship as far
>>>> as it will go?" the lizard man suggested. "Once we get upstream and have
>>>> to abandon the boat, we can just turn it around and put it on auto-pilot.
>>>> That might throw off the Splugorth enough to buy us a day or two."
>>>> [/Ted]
> 
>>> [Ithdalkal]
>>> The Blind Warrior Woman shakes her head. "Back to that river leads to
>>> the Splugorth. The lower reaches of the Thames are under the sway of
>>> London."
>>> [/Ithdalkal]
> 
>>> [GM]
>>> One of the ship's crew that the company had just rescued speaks up. "I
>>> can pilot the ship. First things first, we need to get this back on
>>> the ley line. Second of all, we have cargo destined for the dwarf
>>> colony in Wales. Even better, it's heading away from the Splugorth.
>>> There are a lot of ley lines around here, and if there's some better
>>> destination, we can get there a lot more safely than taking rivers
>>> that might lead to more enemy territory."
>>> 
>>> "If you do want boats," she continues, "this town appears to have
>>> several. I hate to lose a lot of well-armed and battle experienced
>>> people, especially now that the Captain is..." at that point tears
>>> begin to well up, and she has to pause a moment. "Look, we've lost
>>> most of our crew, and with the Captain gone, this ship doesn't have an
>>> owner. But neither does it have much money. I can recommend to what's
>>> left of the crew that we go into some sort of partnership with you.
>>> You provide security, we'll do our delivery, and then we cash out your
>>> share, or stay on, or whatever. What do you all think?"
>>> [/GM]
> 
>>>> [Anne]
>>>> Anne, the newcomer, who had disappeared a few hours before back at the
>>>> Abbey, suddenly leaps from the ground to the ship's deck.
>>>> [/Anne]
> 
>>> [Louissa]
>>> Louissa looks stunned. "Where did you come from? And where were you?"
>>> [/Louissa]
> 
>>> [Ithdalkal]
>>> The Blind Warrior Woman nods. "I had thought you had been taken
>>> prisoner by the Kydians."
>>> [/Ithdalkal]
> 
>> [Anne]
>> "I was briefly detained by the Kydians.  But since my home world
>> does several hundred billion credits worth of business with various
>> Splugorth each year and I'm a government employee, once they
>> verified my identity, verified I had not attacked any of the Minions
>> and checked with their headquarters, they let me go.  If you have
>> to be captured by Minions, Kydians are about the best option, since
>> they take their duty and professionalism VERY seriously."
>> [/Anne]
> 
> [Jacek]
> "Yes, they quite professionally tried to dismantle me." Jacek replies,
> the irony somehow dripping from his cybernetic mouth.
> [/Jacek]
> 
>> [Vesper]
>> "I don't know about the rest of you but, we should discuss business later.
>> I am ok with staying on board as
>> protection."  He looks down at the city feeling bad how many would be
>> left behind, how many would the splugorth
>> kill or worse enslave.  "I wish we could do more for them." He said quietly.
>> [/Vesper]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> Turning back towards  Vesper, "Not much we can do. Some people may be
>> able to escape in the confusion, we gave them that at least. If the
>> bishop had warned them instead of playing games, most of the people
>> might have escaped. Never deal with the Splugorth, they will always back
>> stab you."
>> 
>> Deciding to not say anything, she still gives Oz a look for shooting
>> down the bishop.  As tempting as it might have been, she cannot really
>> approve.
>> 
>> Does look even more suspiciously at Anne,  "Surprised they just dis not
>> make you disappear.  Dead women tell no tales."
>> [/Alex]
> 
>> [Oz]
>> "As a counter proposal, I just lost a good proportion of my unit and
>> find myself in need of both transportation and soldiers." Oz puts out
>> a hand to offer to shake with the ship spokeswoman. "Osmar Wolz,
>> Knight Commander of His Majesty's armed forces of New Camelot. Would
>> you be interested in entering the king's service?"
>> 
>> Oz trusts Ithdalkal to deal with the stranger, letting her do the
>> talking while he deals with the ship's crew.
>> [/Oz]
> 
> [GM]
> The woman pauses for a moment, and then pulls out a short vibro sword
> and offers it to Oz.
> 
> "My name is Second Mate and acting captain Debra Neeson." she says in
> a formal voice. "I pledge this ship and her crew to your king, and
> swear to protect your companions and anyone you name a friend, if you
> will have us, milord."
> 
> Oz's sergeant looks approving upon this. "Sir," he says with a smile,
> "you may be the best recruiter the King ever had! By the time we go
> back to New Camelot, we'll have a bloody army, navy and airforce."
> [/GM]
> 
>> [Vesper]
>> Vesper catches Alex attention and moves aside with her.
>> "I don't like the implication of someone whose people do huge transactions
>> with the Splugorth."
>> "Somehow the Splugorth have been tracking us wherever we go."
>> [/Vesper]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> "I don't know, had to say. Everybody could have assumed that I was a CS
>> espionage agent. Could ask a few cautious question though?"
>> [/Alex]
> 
> [GM]
> As they are talking, they actually see, off in the distance, a
> Splugorth hover troop transport, and it appears the Kydians are
> actually in retreat. Perhaps this town has a brief reprieve.
> 
> The remaining crew set to work, and quickly the ship begins to glide
> back towards the ley line, its mystic batteries nearly exhausted by
> the time hovering over the town.
> [/GM]
> 
> -- 
> Aaron Clausen
> mightymartianca at gmail.com>
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