I go ahead and make forty crew members for my new ship - Elder Air Elementals, Polymorphed into Halflings and buffed up like I made for the crew of The Brute - and set them in various stations. For now, that's sixteen engineers (if all systems get wrecked at the same time… they'll be able to patch them all into temporarily working order very quickly while still being able to divert power to the shields, engines,or wherever), one gunner (we only have the one gun, so…), one pilot (there's just the one ship to steer), five science officers (one for each science officer action), five magic officers (one for each magic officer action), five chief mates (one for each chief mate action), five for “open crew” actions (again, one for each action), and have the other two assigned to fill in if someone kicks it… and I STILL have ten seats to fill. Oh yes, and they don't need to eat or sleep, so they can maintain readiness constantly. I figure I'll use the crew cabins mostly for guests and officer's cabins for the handful of real people I'll have on board. I'm taking the captain’s cabin, of course.
Big ships rock if you have enough highly trained people… or “people” in my case… to run them.
I give my crew some orders - things like “keep the place free of boarders” and “maintain combat readiness” - and flag Stephanie on my magical com, “Good news, your permanent body is ready. We'll get you out of that rust bucket and into a proper shell shortly… and the new one has some fun surprises in store,” like turning into a human-sized and shaped creature on demand.
“Wonderful!” she sends back, “Where should I dock for the transfer?”
“You'll be docking with your new body. Here…” I send her the coordinates, “Once you've docked, we'll transfer you over, and we'll use the rust bucket for an orbital shuttle, fighter, and fuel depot.” Oh, I shouldn't forget the Industry… eh, meh, not worth adding, she knows about it.
“I can't wait Captain!” She sounds excited. Well… it is a pretty meaningful upgrade. And once she accepts it, we can breed her again… and she really likes that.
I head to the docking canopy to meet them, and get a call on my magic com, “Ah… we're here. Where are you?”
Oh, right. Well… I open the docking canopy, and cast Minor Image to highlight it, concentrating on the spell to show where everything is, as I can see just fine with True Seeing.
“Sorry about that,” I let them know, “I have a similar stealth setup on the new body as we have on the rust bucket. I'm highlighting the canopy with an illusion. Come on over….”
We manage to dock the two invisible ships without too much hassle after that, I dismiss the illusion, and Stephanie gets on the com again, “We have a hardline… do you mind typing a few commands into the captain’s chair for me so we can initiate the transfer? It will require your command codes, for obvious reasons.”
I smile, “Certainly…” head up to the bridge, and enter the various commands that will allow the transfer… basically just giving her full access, really, and letting her transfer herself.
“I'm about to begin,” Stephanie updates, “Bandwidth and storage tests say this will take about two hours; everything will be offline during the changeover, of course.”
“Of course…” I send back, “Take your time; I'll just use the local infosphere to look for dinner, then our next gig,” or maybe “gigs” - we have three ships that have Drift engines and decent amounts of cargo capacity at this point: The Brute with five cargo bays, Stephanie with eight, and the Rust Bucket with four. Heh. And if we keep adding Docking Canopies to Stephanie, and loading her up with copies of the Rust Bucket, we can effectively multiply her cargo space by a factor of four… six, if we skip the Industry and Fuel Synthesizer on them. Huh.
Of course, with Euler running The Brute, and Stephanie running herself, that just leaves myself and Cowbird for running The Rust Bucket… and I'm not sure I want to leave either Cowbird or Stephanie alone for too long. Yes, I could use my magically manufactured manpower, but I wasn't just blowing smoke at Euler when I said why I don't want to do that. So for now… The Rust Bucket will stay docked to Stephanie. I do make four more manufactured minions to pilot it, though, give them some orders, and send them over. They'll be ready to undock and harass the enemy if there's a fight… as long as we keep them in com range, it should be fine. The rest of the time, they'll be making UPB's - aka, money - for me and fuel for the other ships.
I also call Cowbird on her com, “Time for walkies. Get out here. Oh, and I'm taking you station side, so make sure to put something on.”
I wait a little while she dresses and maneuvers through the tight corridor the docking canopy provides between the two ships.
When she arrives, I slap her (and incidentally apply True Seeing so she can see the ship), and chastise her, “Faster next time. Now come along…” I consider making a choke collar, but I don't want to give the impression that Cowbird is an unwilling slave, so I skip that for now.
I introduce Cowbird to all the summons so they'll not vainly try to kill her, call Euler on the com, and we all head out for lunch… not that any of us need to do so, but all of us can eat, so we may as well do the social bonding thing while Stephanie is busy, right?
As we walk, I pull up a guide to local restaurants, pick one based on reviews of the ambiance, make reservations, and start heading that way. It's a nice walk… this section of the station has lots of trees, grass, flowers, and other decorative plants (did I mention Absalom Station is HUGE? Because it is). We chat about nothing important as we travel… well, Euler and I do. Cowbird walks two steps behind and only speaks when spoken to… until she doesn't.
Even then, she sends a text on the magical com she's carrying, “Mistress, we're being followed. And they're happy. We're walking into a trap.” Great. More XP. Just what I need… not.
Is it telling how far I've come that I'm not even slightly concerned about what they might try to do?
“That's fine,” I reply, “I'd prefer to avoid a fight, but I can handle one if it comes up.”
“Yes Mistress,” she responds.
They leave us alone the entire way, and when we get to the restaurant, they still don't do anything obvious. However, I do notice what they're doing.
They have two ugly, gruff looking guys standing, obviously armed, just outside the front door, shooing most folks away. As the regular customers leave, they send more of their guys in to replace them, so the restaurant stays full… and I honestly don't care. Good luck finding something that can hurt us meaningfully. Still… I start the recording I had my minions add to my Ruby Sphere Aeon stone. It can do a few hours of full video, and thanks to the Wayfinder, it doesn't even need to be out to do it.
Dinner is good - it's been a while since I've eaten… well, anything, really… but the fake chicken pot pie was delicious. About the time we're done, the last of the restaurant's real customers leave (although the fake ones do order, and even eat lightly), a hologram who has designed his hardlight body to look like a kindly old man approaches us, pulls up a chair, sits down at our table, and looks at me.
“I'd like to have your technology, Captain Alex Abrams,” he starts without preamble, “and you’re going to give me a most excellent deal on it.”
I can't actually sell what I do, for a couple of reasons, “I don't imagine that will work out, Mister….?”
“Balmer. Johann Jakob Balmer,” he answers, “And you absolutely will. You traded away an advanced gray cloak - the single best stealth unit known to exist - and after that, we watched you make three ships disappear… and not even the Ultra sensors of Absalom Station can see them. You traded it away because you can make something better… and quickly, too. And you're going to teach me how.”
I'm really not, “And what are you offering that you think I will find compelling, Mr. Balmer?”
“Your lives,” Oh, how cliché.
Let's get this over with… I chuckle, “You don't have them for trade, Mr. Balmer.”
“Don't I?” the hologram pauses, presumably for dramatic effect, “Stand up, men, and show these ladies just how outnumbered they are.”
Everyone in the restaurant that I didn't bring with me stands, of course… including the wait staff.
I look around, “So that's how it's going to be, then?” and cast two spells: Spell Enhancer, so ninth level spells are in reach… and Fleeting Spell Time Stop.
The world stops….
I go ahead and make forty crew members for my new ship - Elder Air Elementals, Polymorphed into Halflings and buffed up like I made for the crew of The Brute - and set them in various stations. For now, that's sixteen engineers (if all systems get wrecked at the same time… they'll be able to patch them all into temporarily working order very quickly while still being able to divert power to the shields, engines,or wherever), one gunner (we only have the one gun, so…), one pilot (there's just the one ship to steer), five science officers (one for each science officer action), five magic officers (one for each magic officer action), five chief mates (one for each chief mate action), five for “open crew” actions (again, one for each action), and have the other two assigned to fill in if someone kicks it… and I STILL have ten seats to fill. Oh yes, and they don't need to eat or sleep, so they can maintain readiness constantly. I figure I'll use the crew cabins mostly for guests and officer's cabins for the handful of real people I'll have on board. I'm taking the captain’s cabin, of course.
Big ships rock if you have enough highly trained people… or “people” in my case… to run them.
I give my crew some orders - things like “keep the place free of boarders” and “maintain combat readiness” - and flag Stephanie on my magical com, “Good news, your permanent body is ready. We'll get you out of that rust bucket and into a proper shell shortly… and the new one has some fun surprises in store,” like turning into a human-sized and shaped creature on demand.
“Wonderful!” she sends back, “Where should I dock for the transfer?”
“You'll be docking with your new body. Here…” I send her the coordinates, “Once you've docked, we'll transfer you over, and we'll use the rust bucket for an orbital shuttle, fighter, and fuel depot.” Oh, I shouldn't forget the Industry… eh, meh, not worth adding, she knows about it.
“I can't wait Captain!” She sounds excited. Well… it is a pretty meaningful upgrade. And once she accepts it, we can breed her again… and she really likes that.
I head to the docking canopy to meet them, and get a call on my magic com, “Ah… we're here. Where are you?”
Oh, right. Well… I open the docking canopy, and cast Minor Image to highlight it, concentrating on the spell to show where everything is, as I can see just fine with True Seeing.
“Sorry about that,” I let them know, “I have a similar stealth setup on the new body as we have on the rust bucket. I'm highlighting the canopy with an illusion. Come on over….”
We manage to dock the two invisible ships without too much hassle after that, I dismiss the illusion, and Stephanie gets on the com again, “We have a hardline… do you mind typing a few commands into the captain’s chair for me so we can initiate the transfer? It will require your command codes, for obvious reasons.”
I smile, “Certainly…” head up to the bridge, and enter the various commands that will allow the transfer… basically just giving her full access, really, and letting her transfer herself.
“I'm about to begin,” Stephanie updates, “Bandwidth and storage tests say this will take about two hours; everything will be offline during the changeover, of course.”
“Of course…” I send back, “Take your time; I'll just use the local infosphere to look for dinner, then our next gig,” or maybe “gigs” - we have three ships that have Drift engines and decent amounts of cargo capacity at this point: The Brute with five cargo bays, Stephanie with eight, and the Rust Bucket with four. Heh. And if we keep adding Docking Canopies to Stephanie, and loading her up with copies of the Rust Bucket, we can effectively multiply her cargo space by a factor of four… six, if we skip the Industry and Fuel Synthesizer on them. Huh.
Of course, with Euler running The Brute, and Stephanie running herself, that just leaves myself and Cowbird for running The Rust Bucket… and I'm not sure I want to leave either Cowbird or Stephanie alone for too long. Yes, I could use my magically manufactured manpower, but I wasn't just blowing smoke at Euler when I said why I don't want to do that. So for now… The Rust Bucket will stay docked to Stephanie. I do make four more manufactured minions to pilot it, though, give them some orders, and send them over. They'll be ready to undock and harass the enemy if there's a fight… as long as we keep them in com range, it should be fine. The rest of the time, they'll be making UPB's - aka, money - for me and fuel for the other ships.
I also call Cowbird on her com, “Time for walkies. Get out here. Oh, and I'm taking you station side, so make sure to put something on.”
I wait a little while she dresses and maneuvers through the tight corridor the docking canopy provides between the two ships.
When she arrives, I slap her (and incidentally apply True Seeing so she can see the ship), and chastise her, “Faster next time. Now come along…” I consider making a choke collar, but I don't want to give the impression that Cowbird is an unwilling slave, so I skip that for now.
I introduce Cowbird to all the summons so they'll not vainly try to kill her, call Euler on the com, and we all head out for lunch… not that any of us need to do so, but all of us can eat, so we may as well do the social bonding thing while Stephanie is busy, right?
As we walk, I pull up a guide to local restaurants, pick one based on reviews of the ambiance, make reservations, and start heading that way. It's a nice walk… this section of the station has lots of trees, grass, flowers, and other decorative plants (did I mention Absalom Station is HUGE? Because it is). We chat about nothing important as we travel… well, Euler and I do. Cowbird walks two steps behind and only speaks when spoken to… until she doesn't.
Even then, she sends a text on the magical com she's carrying, “Mistress, we're being followed. And they're happy. We're walking into a trap.” Great. More XP. Just what I need… not.
Is it telling how far I've come that I'm not even slightly concerned about what they might try to do?
“That's fine,” I reply, “I'd prefer to avoid a fight, but I can handle one if it comes up.”
“Yes Mistress,” she responds.
They leave us alone the entire way, and when we get to the restaurant, they still don't do anything obvious. However, I do notice what they're doing.
They have two ugly, gruff looking guys standing, obviously armed, just outside the front door, shooing most folks away. As the regular customers leave, they send more of their guys in to replace them, so the restaurant stays full… and I honestly don't care. Good luck finding something that can hurt us meaningfully. Still… I start the recording I had my minions add to my Ruby Sphere Aeon stone. It can do a few hours of full video, and thanks to the Wayfinder, it doesn't even need to be out to do it.
Dinner is good - it's been a while since I've eaten… well, anything, really… but the fake chicken pot pie was delicious. About the time we're done, the last of the restaurant's real customers leave (although the fake ones do order, and even eat lightly), a hologram who has designed his hardlight body to look like a kindly old man approaches us, pulls up a chair, sits down at our table, and looks at me.
“I'd like to have your technology, Captain Alex Abrams,” he starts without preamble, “and you’re going to give me a most excellent deal on it.”
I can't actually sell what I do, for a couple of reasons, “I don't imagine that will work out, Mister….?”
“Balmer. Johann Jakob Balmer,” he answers, “And you absolutely will. You traded away an advanced gray cloak - the single best stealth unit known to exist - and after that, we watched you make three ships disappear… and not even the Ultra sensors of Absalom Station can see them. You traded it away because you can make something better… and quickly, too. And you're going to teach me how.”
I'm really not, “And what are you offering that you think I will find compelling, Mr. Balmer?”
“Your lives,” Oh, how cliché.
Let's get this over with… I chuckle, “You don't have them for trade, Mr. Balmer.”
“Don't I?” the hologram pauses, presumably for dramatic effect, “Stand up, men, and show these ladies just how outnumbered they are.”
Everyone in the restaurant that I didn't bring with me stands, of course… including the wait staff.
I look around, “So that's how it's going to be, then?” and cast two spells: Spell Enhancer, so ninth level spells are in reach… and Fleeting Spell Time Stop.
The world stops….
