(M)The Black Star Privateers: Blood and Blasters IC

[IronQuill]

"Gunners! To your stations!" Carcano shouted to his men the moment the Captain gave the order to board the ship. Ever the professional, the Death Trooper moved as briskly as his heavy armor could allow into the Black Star. A slight flutter tickled the inside of his chest. The first real job he had in what felt like years. If things went well, he will have the money to reconnect with the rest of his scattered family and get his sister off this shitstain of a colony.

"No lagging, you pirates! I won't suffer mediocrity while I'm in charge!"

Focused on the mission, eyes on the prize, guns in their holsters, and trained killers under his command. Carcano would not screw this up for himself. Personal honor demanded that much.

***

Garuda had the biggest smile underneath her helmet. Her first real job ever, it got her heart racing. So many challenges to confront, so many enemies she can kill on this strange new world. Her Pilgrimage had just begun, and she got to do it on the Black Star.

"Araaaa...~ So many gadgets and warmachines. It's amazing!" She chirped happily, walking past the mighty vehicles the Dar family's wealth afforded. Garuda was so happy there was almost a skip to her step. So many weapons that could be used to slaughter anyone foolish enough to get in their way. Captain Dar-Jeela was right, with ordinance like this, Garuda and the rest of the Privateers will burn their names across the stars.

[Koti~]

Sugarbaby chirped widely as it spun on the spot. She was quick to enter the ship and looked over the vehicles with minor interest, scanning them occasionally to gather what information it could. With no gear to buckle down, nor any other requests issued, the small bot continued its rotation around the ship, not daring to enter the bed rooms of others. Even the kitchen and showers were left unsearched in her exploration of the ships. Several vents and even the pipe says were investigated, some cobwebs getting tangled around her metallic frame before a simple spin dislodged them. Not much else caught her interested her before she finally made her way to the ships bridge, having arrived there last. Seeing the captain seated in her chair the bot chirped loudly before speeding over to her, stopped just short.

"Captain Dar-Jeela, I must again apologize for calling you a concubine earlier this day. As I am now under your command, do you have any missions for me to partake in while we head towards our objective?" The little robot requested dutifully. It didn't bother sensoring itself around others.

[AngelDellaNotte]

The coffee was starting to wear off and Taylor wasn't anywhere near used to getting up this early. When everyone fell into formation she took a position on the edge of her group leaning against a stack of crates. She hadn't joined the military and there was no way she was standing at attention and acting like it. If they had a problem with that she didn't care. She just hoped the captain wasn't planing on droning on. During her first stay in prison they had a warden who would constantly gather all the prisoners and give them motivational speeches. His record was three hours all of which they were supposed to stand up straight and listen. Taylor had to admit she feel asleep on her feet.

She looked over to her assistant who was standing up straight and at attention. Taylor just shook her head half listening to the captain speak. It was over much sooner than she thought and she was glad the captain wasn't someone who liked the sound of her own voice. Picking up her bags she walked to her room. There wasn't much in the bags one had a few sets of clothes in it while the other was full of her weapons and armor which was still brand new. She had tried the armor on once when she had gotten it from supply but that was the only time she had worn it. Several people already had their armor on but Taylor wasn't going to walk around the ship in it. When she left the ship sure she would wear it. The layout of the ship was something she had studied a lot more than the station and Taylor felt she knew her way around it with no problem.

After securing her stuff in her room which was just a bland as her room on the station, she headed to the bridge to make sure all the systems were functioning properly as they took off. At her console she set to work on running a couple last minutes checks.

[Soulio]

June and Sam had stood next to each other during Jeela's lackluster speech. While Sam had paid little attention, instead choosing to fiddle with his pistol, June paid a moderate amount of attention, enough to get the gist that Jeela was both more relaxed than her father, but as determined than ever to get out of her father's shadow. When Jeela abruptly ended the speech, June looked over to Sam, who had somehow managed to get his finger stuck in his clip.

"Really Sam? Again? I thought this wasn't a common thing..." June said as she gripped his wrist, and roughly pulled to pop his finger out. He made a small yelp of pain before smiling up at June,

"Gotta entertain ourselves somehow, love. And I get the idea that us having sex instead of listening to Jeela's rousing speech wouldn't have been your ideal, uh... idea." June laughed at the comment, knowing that while it was a joke, he wasn't wrong.

"I've got to head to the bridge, dearest. Love be unto thee, enjoy firing your cannons and I'll see you later tonight. Ta ta Gunny Boy," June said before heading into the ship, catching up to Jeela and Xanatos. It was there that June was given her duty, and with that, off she went to her station.

She took a seat in her comfy chair, powering on her work station and inputting her access codes and such before calling on Warsong to enter her station.

"Why hello there! Captain Jeela has asked me to assist you in getting us to our destination,"

"Oh, great, cool... More people to deal with, yay..." Warsong mumbled, turning away from June, but still pulling up the information about where they were headed. June shrugged off the attitude, and simply thanked the A.I before keeping quiet and moving on to work on gathering information on where they were headed, and to see what they could suspect to encounter.


Sam, meanwhile, had decided to wander for a moment before hearing over his comms that the Commander wanted all Gunners to man a cannon. Groaning, he sulked to the cafeteria to grab a drink, and then made his way to to a Cannon Station, where he checked all the systems to ensure that it worked properly.

"Gunner Sam reporting, all systems are a go for a show, bro. Carcano, you do realize your suit comm makes your voice sound very husky. Like you're breathing too much, sounds like your a villain in an oddly popular movie series that has half a good story and half a really shitty backstory. Or maybe you need an inhaler. Either or," Sam hoped his commander would get angry. He so wanted his commander to get angry.

[Dnafein]

At the muster Xanatos appeared to stand patiently, his eyes hidden by mirrored sunglasses; Only his right hand tapping his left wrist gave any indication that the rodentian might be waiting. Shifting the file from one side of his mouth to the other the Quartermaster narrowed his focus on what was before his eyes.

The inside of the sunglasses displayed a variety of information. Various news reports, the odds from a number of bookies, even projected earnings from the Black Star’s legitimate businesses. What drew his ire were a set of odds he didn't agree with, and would cost money.

With a quick tap to his wrist Xan opened a half written email to the best hacker he knew. He promised her an extra case of pocky to effect the odds in his favor. It was nothing truly illegal, and certainly nothing that would attract the attention of the Logadas55an underworld; Thus keeping the rodentian’s word, not that she had to worry.

Xanatos and the Freebird have worked subtly to ensure that Togga, and their extended “family” won't have to worry about money. While manipulating the stock markets and the “spread” are very illegal; Spreading rumors are not. If said rumor is believed enough to affect the market\odds then lucky for the rumor starter. Of course Xan's friend can start the rumor in a thousand places at the same time, making it more believable and equally hard to pin down a source. Unfortunately, the rumors don't always have the desired effect; Life is chaotic after all.

He just finished his contemplations and email when Jeela gave her speech. Xanatos studied her carefully. If any of her nerves remained shaken, she hid it well. He shifted his focus from her to those gathered who would remain. The Quartermaster had already visited with those he needed to speak with, the others he could contact if needed.

When the crew was dismissed and the squad leaders began to issue orders Xanatos started for his office. As he walked the captain informed him of the need for him to man the comms. He sighed quietly and followed them to the bridge. Upon arrival he slid into the communications chair and brought up the panel. With a few taps he created slightly vague flight plans to the appropriate ”authorities.” Leaning back he waited for the captain's orders to send, while listening to the planetary chatter.

It was a lull in the chatter that the little bot entered and addressed the captain. On reflex the rodentian put his face in his hand and groaned. He’d have to have a long conversation with Shinkei about her work on social programming.

[IronQuill]

Patience. Always patience.

Carcano really hoped shit did not start until they arrived at the new planet, but no, one of the crew was already giving him trouble. The Death Trooper thought himself much more mature than Holvinian, and did not dignify his coworker with a witty repartee. He would be the bigger man in this instance, figuratively and literally.

"X-1, report your status," He said, manning his own station and checking its systems for kinks or malfunctions. There were none, as he expected from a ship as meticulously tuned as the Black Star. Carcano harnessed himself to his seat, waiting for the ship to launch. Holvinian was not going to ruin his first day on the job.

[SikstaSlathalin]

*Dar-Jeela*

The Sharterran woman was busy clicking through various dossiers Xanatos had sent her way when Sugarbaby hovered up to her chair and began apologizing for calling her a concubine again. Jeela groaned instinctively reaching for her pistol. She could shoot the little robot and tell Shinkei it was an accident. No, the girl would know and then Jeela would get an earful from the former Head Mechanic and her father.

Relaxing her hand she looked at the odd little bot and nodded.
"You are being forgiven Sugarbaby, but how about you going to find the Chief Scout? He is being a man called Rooster and he should be in the bunk area. He is being your first line boss on this ship." She waved the little bot off and turned back to her final tasks, looking up at Mrs. Holvinian.
"June are you having any new intel to be sharing with us about things between here and Dark Harbor. I am remembering something about ongoing conflicts with the natives of the planet, but I am not being sure if they are getting worse or not." The last thing her crew needed was dropping into the middle of some bloody war out the gate. She then looked over at her Rodentian uncle. "And Xanatos, I am guessing our "friends" in blue will be looking other way when we are firing up the warp drive?" Non Alliance made Warp technology is still an illegal means of travel, but when the Skorne get bested word gets around and dots are connected when someone reports a non pirate vessel blasting off into the void without using star gates, some of the more intelligent people in the Galactic Alliance can be made blind with enough credits.

*Geppetto*

It's been a long time since Geppetto has been on a spaceship. He much preferred keeping his feet on solid ground and not blasting off into the nameless void. But one must go where one's job goes, his belongings were few, a simple green duffle bag and a gun case where his RCW was stowed. His daggers were tucked up into his coat in their special sheaths under his arms. He had just spent the better part of the morning checking and rechecking the Black Star's mechanics so he was among the few crew members who had a choice of what to do while awaiting launch.

He was not hungry or thirsty besides his way of ingesting nutrients were best done in private. It required him strapping himself into a complicated machine that used tubes connected to his helmet to to pump a liquefied nutritional paste into his mouth and down to his stomach. And he's been told it's unsettling for others to watch. It was then he noticed his Engineering counterpart Ms. Taylor head for the Bridge. No doubt to keep an eye on the ship's systems from there, it struck him that he could probably do something similar. Thought he wouldn't have a console to sit at many of the ship's auxiliary monitoring systems were in the Bridge should the Mechanic's Bay become compromised in some way. It was as good a place for him as any so he pulled his toolbelt from the duffle bag and made his way to the Bridge.

Upon arriving he overheard the little robot talking to the Captain about calling her a concubine. The cyborg stifled a laugh then quickly turned to the access panel next to Taylor's console. He popped it open and began tinkering with somethings that looked off.

*Medbot*

Moving through the portal of the ship Medbot looked idly at the interior of the ship and the vehicles stuffed into the cargo bay. He accessed just how quickly they would all die in these death traps but kept the statistics to himself. Organics gets so touchy when you tell them the big tin can they could use to assault a bandit fortress would more likely be a rolling tomb when the life support failed and the old onboard systems go haywire and lock all the doors permanently.

Of course the likelihood of him being sent on those types of missions were higher than Dr. Jaleni so he would be sure to share these numbers with any poor bastard he gets sent out with. M.B. wouldn't be personally needed anywhere during launch or even really during the flight to the Zeta Quadrant. The surley robot figured this to be a perfect time to go set up his charging station in the Medbay and maybe get back to his Warworld game to pass the time. He'd been aboard the ship before so he made a beeline for the bay and found a nice open spot near the wall to plug in. The medbay aboard the ship was much smaller than the one at Base, two offices, one for the Chief Medical Officer and the Assistant, but the Assistant's Office was impractically built in MB's opinion so he would just stay by this wall where he can see the whole clinic. Pulling a chair up the medic sat down and tapped into the exonet logging into Warworld.


*Tsarmina*

The young Tsok woman was eager to explore the ship she's only been on a few times. She quickly found her bunk next to Ms. Kisa's then with a happy hiss she slithered out into the narrow hall looking at everything with wide-eyes of wonder. She was familiar with most of the ship's systems, but no so much with all the hard access points outside the Engineer's Bay.

So that was her first little mission aboard the Black Star. Getting all these locations locked into her keen Tsok mind. Even making a new repairs notes on her pad for Taylor or Geppetto to look over later. The young alien's smile never ceased a she moved silently along, it has been so long since she'd been a part of anything that it was almost surreal to be here among these pirates turned mercenaries. She would look forward to learning more about each of them even if it was just surface details she could get from the dossiers on everyone. Maybe she'd find a real friend here and learn more, but she was so bad at social interactions. He smiled faltered a little, but it came back as she reentered the cargo bay with the extra vehicles and saw one of the Scouts admiring the machines. Mina had gone over them with Taylor last week to make sure their onboard computers were good and while she didn't know much about complex things like the T.A.V or the Razor Wings she could admire the engineering and time went into making them. Also it seemed like as good a time as any to meet another crewmate.

She quickly pulled up the cybernetic woman's dossier and glanced at it quickly. A little scary, but then again most everyone on this ship was scary to a young Tsok. Slithering up she waved to Garuda keeping a little distance between them.
"Quite impressive aren't they? Hi I'm Tsarmina, Assistant Engineers."

[IronQuill]

Garuda turned to meet the Tsok, smile wide under her black domed helmet. She bowed to the alien, saying merrily, "Pleasure to meet you, Tsarmina, I am Garuda Mara. And yes, these are very wonderful machines. I never seen anything like them back home, my planet is very primitive and does not get much in the way of trade."

And for good reason, Garuda knew. Sri Veela is a chaotic and hostile planet, all previous attempts at wide scale terraforming ending in failure.

The cultist unsealed her helmet from her suit and pulled it off, revealing to Tsarmina her every widening smile. She pointed to the Thunderer, saying, "Like that one over there! I don't know what it does, but I like how it has that very large cannon on top and all that armor, ara~"

[Koti~]

SGRB48 chirped it's admittance and spun gently around to head off, only to stall at the rather large robot. The singular sensor, coupled with the autocannon and a rather large mechanical hand provided that this machine was designed as a gunner. With a possible steel outer shell and who knew what kind of servos under the exoshell, SGRB48 was very intrigued. A minor chirp echoed through her chassis as she hovered over towards the new machine, studying the robot in interest as she floated near the machine's head.

“I must say, you are rather well designed. I don't think I have seen many of your kind in any online schematics.” The hovering bot spoke eagerly as she floated just off the side, not wanting to get in the way of the bots work.

The X-1 unit turned and regarded SGRB48. “Ahh yes, an SGRB unit! This chassis is an excellent design, though not my technical design. Truly my awareness is within the chassis shell, in which resides my APsU or Artificial Psychoschematics Unit. My Designation is X-1RZA-19T4, though you may simply call me X-1 what may I call you?”

“The quartermaster and Captain have taken to calling me sugarbaby, so I guess that I can use that.” Sugarbaby responded as she smiled towards chassis. The machine was rather interesting, along with the APsU.

“I am surprised that you know of my design though. Most of my brand, or those with my engine core, are housed on planet Shinshi. Though I'm not sure how secure all of them are.” Sugarbaby questioned the other bot.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Sugarbaby. If you would like, I can make what I know of my internal mechanics, minus reconstructability and detailed schematics, available to you via the ships uplink so you can gain insight as to just what it is to be an APsU,”

“The Black Star Privateers have apparently uploaded the model history onto their servers, though maybe the ship’s AI itself had done so. Due to my programmed habits I am near constantly connected to the ship's own servers and have not been restricted access to too many places. It is beneficial for me to be connected in such a manner, as I can learn anything near instantaneously as was the case just then. In most cases of contact, I will know of the contact only milliseconds after the ship itself scans them.”

“That would be most enlightening. Please allow me to see how your internals work, as I only know mostly of my own siblings.” Sugarbaby responded, listing side to side slowly. She gave a few chirps as she began the task of linking up fully to Warsong. Once linked up she began to piece through the info, gathering what she wanted to use for the moment.

“I do believe that these files will be of most interest of becoming more suitable of a companion in this place.” Sugarbaby replied rather happily as the new files began to flood her mind and she filtered between interesting pieces of data versus the less than useful junk.

“So who is your builder? I am interested to know who was able to design your form and core.” The small bot asked, floating around and examining the machine.

“One Doctor Hanz Hessler created my brain. The Riot Control Chassis I am using was designed some 300 years previously. I am not the first of my kind, with 19 models in production before the final product - myself - was assumed. I am however, the only remaining model and the only way to recreate the APsU is to get Doctor Hanz or myself to give up the knowledge,”

“While I know of your model designation thanks to Warsong, Warsong does not have much knowledge on your inner workings. What exactly is an SRGB and what does one such as yourself utilize to perform what role?”

“Self gravitational replica beta, model 48. I am currently tasked as a scout for one Dar-Jeela. I currently use a full 360 degree range view along with my holographic Reconstitution Field for active camouflage and intuitive neural translation for learning new languages.” Sugarbaby responded happily, eager to show her robotic skills with a fellow robot.

“So, you were built by Hanz Hessler as a fighting robot? May I learn what robotic augments you were given to complete your tasks as a gunner?” Sugarbaby requested of X-1 for her own personal interests.

“The original development of the APsU was indeed funded with the specifications geared towards a superior war AI package. However it quickly evolved, and neutered models, models ripped of about 90% of their functionality, were meant to be rolled out for civilian use.

The Robotics of the last age have been a boon to warfare, providing a tough, smart, and heavily armed option for defensive and offensive warfare. Most Robots are uninhibited by the same feelings of fear, pain, sorrow, that men are. A singular mech with proper armament and position is more than enough to take on an extremely superior number of biological soldiers.

Ironically enough the counter to advanced robotics is typically a few elite units of biological operators. While robots will calculate chances, statistics, and odds and take the path that offers the most likely way to success, biologicals have a tendency towards the suicidal, an endearing quirk of theirs that has worked vastly to their advantage.

And so the development of a more advanced AI, eventually leading to the APsU was undertaken. Trillions of dollars thrown at RnD has led to myself, the first ‘AI’ to possess the biological trait of creativity, chance, will, whatever you call it. I weigh the odds, faster, better, and more accurately than any program before me. But I still possess the ability to adapt that probability with a mathematically impossible calculation: Chance.

In summary, I can take stupid risks, I can adapt. Literally and figuratively. My brain is compatible with a vast majority of Chassis. So long as it can support my brain casing, I can uplink with it. So long as I have access to the Net, I can download trainings for it, process them, and use them in the time it takes for a skilled soldier to reload an assault rifle,”

“That is very interesting. It shall be fun to learn of what advantages you can bring to this crew.” Sugarbaby spoke with an awed tone. She hovered over the work that X-1 was currently working with and still combing through what the information that had been given to her. To think that a robot could compete with the ingenuity or suicidal thoughts for the great skills human have.

“Can you really out human humans? It's a bit hard to compete with their lack of forethought or illogical creativity that they seem able to proceed due to the strange human emotions and bodily functions.” Sugarbaby replied to its own thoughts as the idea running through her mind thought about the possibilities.

“Probably not. Humans are ingenious when it comes to overcoming insurmountable odds. The biologicals possess something we Artificials will never possess. Something I can’t quite place my finger on…

Still, imagine rolling out 20,000 models of an APsU in riot gear, or 10 models in 20 story mech walkers, or an APsU inside of a capital ship, each of them capable of adapting, operating and acting in similar manners to a Biological, taking advantage of some measure of the ingenuity, while also having the vastly superior power of being a hard-shelled robotic. For example, if a target is within 500 meters of me with my Riot Mech in optimal condition, it is statistically more likely that the universe will suddenly and violently cease to exist instantaneously than it is for me to miss the shot,”

“This has been a pleasure Sugarbaby. However, I have been informed by Warsong that my Commander is calling for his crew to meet. If you so wish, we can continue a conversation via the ships uplink. I think a few processors can be dedicated to the delightful task,”

“Oh yes, we will have to continue these conversations later on, as I am sure the system has more than enough servers around there. We can even invite Warsong to join us and heighten our conversations to new levels with an A.I.” Sugarbaby cheered happily before giving a spin and looking down towards the exit.

“I should be going and meeting with my commander before he gets frustrated at my tardiness. I wonder if he will have tail feathers and wings like the roosters of old.” The robot questioned out loud before floating off down the hallway.

The X-1 just nodded and turned away, marching off to gather with the rest of his crew members whilst hailing the Warsong.


Warsong, permission to access the Communications patch of Commander Carcano and remote actions of Gun 2.
The tall orange colored woman appeared in X-1’s mental display. She looked down at the new Gunner her pupiless eyes sparking.

“Granted X-1, this gun belonged to our last robotic Gunner, Togga Tech, Model 001, MK X-II Prototype Combat Cyborg, self-chosen designation Killbot. You...might’ve liked him.” A small sense of emotion rang in the A.I.s modular voice.

X-1 was silent in mental response for a moment. “I am sorry to have touched a sensitive subject Warsong. I will do my best to honor his memory and callsign,” while having the conversation with Warsong X-1 patched himself over into Carcanos ear, X-1’s soft synthetic voice coming through flawlessly.

“Commander, I have patched into my weapons system and everything is reading nominal. I will be physically present in 4 minutes. I will be able to remote access my gun from now on. The downside being that the delay of commands decreases with range. From anywhere onboard the ship this will be less than negligible. Port-side this delay will be more serious, so we will only be able to use it to hit stationary targets.”

[SikstaSlathalin]

The countdown began and the crew buckled in. The engines reeved and soon began to roar, then with the count of one the Black Star took off through the hangar doors and through the scorching early rays of dawn on Carin they tore through the sky and escaped the pull of gravity. The engine roared louder and louder until the vacuum of space silenced the persistent roars.

Now with Carin and Barrow disappearing behind them the Sharterran gives a single hand motion. The stolen warp drive begins to glow with live and all around the ship buckles and harnesses were being tightened. The old crew knew the insane kick this drive had, it was meant to move Skorne Planet Crackers not little speeders like the Black Star. The fear of it just rattling the ship to pieces or blowing them all to dust was a very real threat. But because of the history with this ship and crew they'd never be cleared to use Alliance Star Gates, and everyone agreed putting their own lives in the hands of someone with Star Gate clearance was a bad idea, each of them had a massive bounty on their heads and the underworld knows no honor. So the only two options left were either fly their normally which would take them the better part of a year or run the risk of Skorne tech killing them, but in this universe that's normal, Skorne tech is always designed to kill.

"Be remembering friends, do not hold breath. Your head will be exploding." Was the last thing Jeela said to everyone over the P.A. before everyone's soul and kicked into the back of their seats and the Black Star vanished in a blur of light. While it only seemed like a handful of minutes for the privateers when they came out of the warp the atomic clocks on board said a full twelve hours had passed for the rest of the universe. Once the drive powered down Warsong groaned through Jeela's headset.
"I...hate...you...organics...so much." The artificial woman sounded like she just ran a 200k marathon at full sprint. "Nothing...damaged...this time, but we'll try...again...in six hours. Good thing that first jump... ate up most of the distance to Dark Harbor." With that the ship seemed to power down leaving the Privateers to run on solar power gathered from the nearby sun.

The Captain's body felt like two-hundred and fifty pounds of lead. Sharterrans are a powerful race used to heavy gravitational pressure, but that was a kicker. In the deep sea of Piscia the pressure pushes down on you from all sides, but it's so widespread you don't notice until you return to the surface, but that warp drive seemed to push all the g-forces of the deep sea directly onto your head and chest. The alien woman knew she'd have a splitting headache for a week after this trip, but for now the Warp Drive needed to recharge and the crew needed to get themselves centered and get some food and drink in them.
Reaching over Dar-Jeela pushed a small yellow button on the arm of her command chair. A crisp jingling bell sound filled the halls of the ship, that was the dinner bell. The bridge crew put the ship on auto-pilot and shuffled to the mess hall everyone feeling a similar headache as the Captain.

With the help of the ship's own Food Droid Scab put together a filling meal for each member of the crew. Built on a list of their own preferences and racial attributes it was a quiet meal all around, no one felt much like talking. This was jet-lag's steroid driven grandfather, lethargy, headache, and second guesses about signing on to this. Only simple questions were asked mostly why that Warp had kicked everyone's asses and why they had to do it in two phases. Being the Head Mechanic it fell on Geppetto to answer.
"Well the Warp Drive the last crew stole was from the Skorne Empire, and as you all know Skorne tech is very heavy, loaded up with armor, guns, ships you name it. They need a lot of force to move even their smaller fighters."

Medbot who was currently checking one of the on ship mechanics who had been complaining about blindness caused by the warp chimed in with another anecdote.
"And the Skorne themselves are very resistant to all forms of physical trauma, intense g-forces included. That jump would've just tickled them long enough to make'em put down whatever slave they were playing with and scratch their nose."

Anders nodded before continuing.
"And the drive we have on this ship is for the biggest ships in the known universe. The Skorne Planet-Crackers each weighing about a million tons by Terran standards. Now in space that means very little, but when it comes to moving those things you need a Warp Drive with enough oomph to make it practical. So whenever we use the Warp Drive it like using an Alliance Ion Cannon to power a paper plane. A massive amount of force pushing something not even a 16th of the intended size. Dangerous yes, but it'll put use in the Zeta Quadrant before damn near all other Planet Rushers. First come first serve as they say."

That answer seemed to please enough of the crew that everything fell back into companionable silence for the duration of the meal. Once the meal ended the crew was dismissed to spend the remaining time until the next jump picking out bunks and squaring away their gear. The Captain simply tossed her pack and weapons into the redone Captain's Quarters and looked through what her father had left behind when he stepped down.
There wasn't much, Togga was never one for ostentatious belongings or room. Everything was well-made, but also practical a Shar sized bed, weapon's cabinet, sturdy desk built into the floor and wall, and a small bubble collar work/refilling station. Only Sharterrans have the tech to build a proper bubble collar and it's one of those big secrets they don't let other people know about. Jeela hoped she would never need to use it, bubble collars are annoying as all hell to work on and time consuming to boot. Luckily refilling the collar or changing the water was as easy as purifying normal water and adding the minerals Shars need to live, those mineral were once again a closely kept secret. Dar-Jeela often wondered how her people were so widely welcomed and accepted and could still keep secrets from others. One of the many mysteries of the universe, it seems. Moving to the desk which she has decorated with pictures of her family, friends, and her prizefighters belt Jeela spent the remainder of the cool down putting a few entries in the Captain's log.

Her wrist comm chirped up at her with the five minute warning for the next warp jump. Jeela saved her journal entries and grabbed her vest moving back to the bridge. The Bridge Crew was just retaking their seats a holotimer appearing on the communication screen counting down to the automatic jump.
Jeela pressed the PA button again and announced to any of the crew not paying attention.
"Be preparing for the next Warp Jump friends, same places and orders as before. Buckle in and keep breathing." She connected the holotimer to everyone's wrist comms and tightened down her harness hope this jump isn't as bad as the last one. Once again the warp drive came to live and the engines glowed angrily as the thrusters moved the ship into the designated position. The tense moments passed and some people visibly cringed as they began to feel their ribs crush into their lung and their stomachs jumped into their throat just like last time. The timer reached zero and once again the Black Star vanished in a streak of light charging over the last leg of their trip to Dorcha a 'chala.

No one expected this jump to be any different from the last...but as fate would have it for these ambitious Space Pirates. It was different, the course had been plotted to dump them out into empty space in orbit around the planet. Clear of debris and with a wonderful bird's eye views of the pioneer's space port. But instead the ship came out in the middle of an asteroid field far to the west of the port and nearly on the edge of A 'chuan dearg, the red ocean. Named for the massive swaths of red crabs that choke the surface waters every year. If they landed in the water it would mean certain death as either the engine take in so much water and crabs they overload and blow-up, or the crew drowns as the miles of Crustaceans keep them from surfacing for air.
"WARSONG BE STEERING US INTO THOSE DUNES AT THE BASE OF THAT MOUNTAIN NOW!" When the A.I. didn't respond Jeela ran to the Navigation station and took manual control of the ship as the asteroids pummeled the metal shell warning going off all around the bridge of breaches in the hull and the exo-steel door began slamming shut closing off as much of the vacuum of space as possible. Someone had died the Captain was sure of it, but she needed to try and save the rest of the Privateers so even as they began to make reentry and the Black Star began to fall apart around them she steered them to safety blacking out only just before impact.

The woman awoke an unknown time later. She was laying on a cot made of animal hide and her body was stripped down to just her bra and panties. Her body ached like every bone had been broken and she was covered in bandages many of them dyed a maroon from old blood being soaked up. It was dark, but she could tell she was in a big single room with the uneven breathing of others around her. Sitting up her body let out a scream of pain forcing her to slump down and support herself on her elbows. While muffled she could hear a faint almost sad sounding song waltzing slowly through the air. A gust of wind flew past her nose and filled it with the smells of her crew. It made her heart dance a little to smell so many o them here which hopefully meant they were alive.

Clearing her throat she croaked out to her crew.
"Captain...Dar-Jeela...here sound off if you are not dead Privateers!" She fell back onto her cot holding her clawed hands to her head. Yup this headache is here to stay.