Chapter 2.2

[yhlee]

[Sorry I didn't get this out earlier, y'all. Happy summer/winter holidays!]

The Cantata emerges from the rift on an approach to the Lanterner stronghold called Autumn Pyre. The Cantata hums very quietly to reassure the mothlings, then falls silent; it's been impressed on the Cantata that discretion will be necessary. For their part, the mothlings have free run of an enclosure with Fluffy the Vraselian pseudo-dragon, and both mothlings and dragonet seem to be entertaining each other with games of tag and hide-and-seek. They are happy to play with any humans who stop by, as well.

Scan reveals that Autumn Pyre is heavily fortified by the standards of the day, mostly with invariant weapons like railguns and missiles. A few dozen moths are already docked there, and several more are patrolling the area. Two small Lanterner patrol moths, nearly identical, veer lazily toward the Cantata.

Patrol moth #1 hails the Cantata in several different languages, including the high language. For its part, it transmits the Lanterner emblem--a stylized yellow lantern against a blue background--and the speaker is requesting that you halt and identify yourselves. "This is the Lanterner Federacy in the year 852," the speaker goes on, "under the benevolent rule of the Honorable Aramis kae Pharon. Are you human? What are your hospitality requirements?"

[Feel free to take advantage of the between-moves planning post if you need to, and to make whatever preparations, including rearranging the Cantata's variable layout, you deem necessary.]

Comments

finding our ostensible boss

[zuhrovet]

[What name is Flute going by in 852, and what is her moth's name?]

Re: finding our ostensible boss

[yhlee]

[Flute is going by Vel Vissen, and her moth's name is Catastrophe Axe.

Thank you for the random names, BTW; I totally swiped a few.]

Re: finding our ostensible boss

[zuhrovet]

[Let me know if you want more random names! I can always generate another list.]

shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

[zuhrovet]

Sasha instructs the pilot to halt, as requested. [slybrarian, I have a feeling that right now Alaric and Remi are the closest thing we have to qualified moth pilots. Do you want to drive, or let Remi do it?]

Through the grid, she tells Reshad, "Go ahead and hail them when you're ready. You can tell them we're looking for Vel Vissen." [We need another fake ship name, this one slightly piratical! Hornet Waltz? Shard of Swarms? Something to do with the fact that wasps drum on their bodies when they locate food? We can start another column on the table of pseudonyms once we pick something.]

Sasha herself starts analyzing the web of signals between moths and the stronghold. She checks her access to the local lattice, and starts downloading news and entertainments, along with a list of moths in port if she can get one.

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

[yhlee]

Most of the local news is in a mix of Lanterner languages, with high language subtitles or dub tracks, and vice versa. A lot of signal traffic recently appears to be devoted to discussing the rifts and their implications for Lanterner security and the local balance of power, with flamewars occurring even as we speak on discussion boards (Space Reddit, basically). The local Lanterner communications department has a designated representative who chimes in now and then, and encourages free debate, which is...different from what h*archate practice would be.

There's also a popular e-sports channel featuring a multiplayer strategy game called Prison & Pangolins Online; a long-running melodrama about Lanterner aristocrats, their political maneuverings, and their fashion choices; and an extremely well-regarded "safaris around the galaxy" show featuring Teveris kae Rapha, who in this time period seems to be a stout-hearted interplanetary traveler who records their encounters with wildlife on many worlds.

Sasha can get a list of visiting moths in port and their names; the Catastrophe Axe is among them, along with six other moths that will be named if/when they become relevant. For now, they're Flute's Swarm #2-7 (Catastrophe Axe is #1). The station is being coy about the exact identities of the Lanterner military moths in port, presumably for security reasons.

miscellaneous reconnaissance - paging Iawa and Sulen

[zuhrovet]

Sasha messages Iawa, including a link to the message boards:

take a look at the local chatter, theres lots of stuff about rifts. check if anyone seems 2 knowledgeable/sounds like active military

She messages Sulen:

FYI, Flute & her ships are at the stronghold. I will message her in a few minutes. Not planning to make a good impression.

She starts sharing files of her own, mostly mods and avatars for Prisons & Pangolins Online in a range of styles, some consciously retro, some from later in the ninth century. She checks on what styles of fitness trackers are currently popular (are they separate devices? embedded in jewelry? installed as an app?) and surveys the gyms, bars, and brothels near the docks.

Re: miscellaneous reconnaissance - paging Iawa and Sulen

[yhlee]

[Fitness trackers: currently jewelry versions are all the rage. The Lanterners have a whole set of mystical associations with different gemstones, which are highly divergent from the default heptarchate versions (largely aligned with faction colors); this can sometimes lead to hilarious cultural missteps and innuendo.

There are separate gyms for Lanterners and visitors due to some kind of notion of ritual purity that gets triggered by exercise but, strangely, not by brothels. Bars and brothels near the docks are open to anyone who has station clearance. One of the bars appears to cater to...that can't be right. Non-humans?

As for the brothels, Lanterner attitudes toward sex work are pretty similar to the heptarchate's: it's legal, but they tax it for the revenue and regulate it for health and safety reasons. The brothels are doing a roaring business right now because exploring different time periods'/places' sexual kinks and customs is all the rage right now. There's even an underground newsletter about it.]

Re: miscellaneous reconnaissance - paging Iawa and Sulen

[venndaai]

Sulen messages back,

are you in your office? i can be there for information on this time period/a second pair of eyes, if that would be of use

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

[hoardingpearls]

Research first, and then Reshad spends some time trying to fab something appropriate to a visitor. Her intended set of signals is a bit of a mashup: she has stones visible in a fitness tracker wristband and on the contacts of a flashy, but out of date, headset; she asks Sasha to insert a location tracker into both of those in anticipation of face-to-face work, and invites her to use them as vectors for other, less savory software if such things are needed.

Overall, she wants to look like a foreigner, but one who isn't totally ignorant of Lanterner culture. She tries to signal the kind of overblown 'I Am Dangerous!' common to the less refined sort of mercenary.

She opens hailing with a casual posture, affecting an accent close to a good-natured yokel on the show about the Lanterner aristocrats, and asks for Vel Vissen.

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

[zuhrovet]

If the patrol moths do not manifest sudden signs of hostility, Sasha sends a message to the Catastrophe Axe. The cleartext reads, simply, "Made it." The attachment, encrypted according to standard rebellion protocols, says:

zuhrovet sikandaret (vauri in this timeline) reporting on the wasp (symphony of bees in this timeline). sorry were late. whats going on.

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

[slybrarian]

[I am super far behind due to the holiday, but yes, I'll certainly pilot.]

Has history been changed?

[venndaai]

Once they're close enough to connect to the net, Sulen uses the protocol Aymad showed them to look up the history of their planet, Ulara 5, on Space Wikipedia. They're checking to confirm a few key events are the same- annexed by the Heptarchate in 629, gained full status as a Heptarchate planet fifty years later, had a planetwide purge of members of a populist political party in 805. They don't have high hopes that the removal of one ineffectual magistrate and a junior researcher would have much effect on galactic history, but who knows what else the rifts have been doing?

If nothing seems different they'll check a few famous events in Heptarchate history as well.

Re: Has history been changed?

[yhlee]

The big events seem to have stayed the same in outline, but Sulen is positive that the purge in 805 was more widespread in their timeline than it seems to have been here due to the distraction of rifts in the region. The rifts seem to have caused the Rahal no small consternation, on Ulara 5 and elsewhere.

One item that does come up is that one Magistrate Imris appears to have been commended for excellence during their term on Ulara 5 and was promoted to magistrate-errant for the system. Around 844, Imris vanishes from the record with a notation that says subsequent postings are classified.

Re: Has history been changed?

[venndaai]

Sulen is about to do a deeper search for any trace of a particular family from a rural farming community when they stop themself. It'll only be a distraction, both emotionally and morally. If the event was wrong then all those involved should be saved, not just the five that they personally care about.

And... they'll find out anyway, once Sasha and Aymad try to access their old accounts. Cousin-aunt Venka had been vehemently opposed to the children going into faction service, and going against her wishes was unthinkable. If Inquisitor Sulen still has a net profile, then they're all still dead.

Sulen carefully logs off, sends Sasha a message saying that the rifts seem to be making minor changes to the timeline, and then spends a while doing complicated jeng-zai readings with a card set they'd gotten the matter printer to manufacture. Trying not to remember the way dawn looked when you got up early to feed the goats.

With a short sigh they get up and take the cards into the common room, hoping to run into someone who knows how to play.

at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[zuhrovet]

Once the Cantata has docked, Sasha gathers a group of people to visit the Catastrophe Axe: Reshad, posing as the captain, Seyli, posing as second-in-command/security officer, Alaric, posing as an engineer, herself, posing as a tech named Vauri, and Mafyyil, whom she gives a bag full of prototype armor. She checks that everyone has a lokwor, and has received a lesson from Aymad in how to use it. There are two channels, one that can transmit to anyone in the rebellion with a compatible lokwor, and one encrypted for Cantata crew members only.

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[mafyyil]

Mafyyil has successfully resisted the urge to send inspiring poetry to the rest of the group. Instead, she immediately goes through the contents of the bag. "Ohhhh, how does this work?", she asks, curious.

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[zuhrovet]

"You wear it," Sasha tells her. "Probably not you personally--the flowers would get in the way. We may or may not do a demo when we get where we're going."

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[kese_seyli]

Seyli had, in fact, pulled a uniform out of the matter printer. It's a simple combat uniform --although there were designs for an undress option-- they felt more comfortable in tactical clothing. They wear the uniform like a second skin, the gun at their hip another extension of their being. They know Sasha wants them all to look incompetent, but they don't know how to turn that off. (Crashhawk status notwithstanding, who the fuck knows how they turned that off.)

They also aren't comfortable with is being a second in command, even playacting at it, but they keep that information to themselves. Seyli doesn't trust anyone here just yet. Still, with no other option, they align themselves to Reshad's right side.

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[zuhrovet]

[Never fear, Seyli! Your discomfort with the rest of the party will do the work all on its own!]

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[hoardingpearls]

Reshad gives Seyli an approving nod, well aware of their distrust and offering no apology for it. "We've got everything we need," she says, by way of reassurance, aware that they may already be monitored.

Despite the lack of anything to flow in the sensible uniforms the group had fabbed up before arrival, she manages to sweep forward as the hatch opens, and makes a show of being a leader of this group.

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[yhlee]

Checking in at the dock goes smoothly, although the dock workers and other passers-by tend to stare, most obviously at Mafyyil, but Alaric's lab coat also attracts some attention as well. Station control arranged for Cantata to dock near Catastrophe Axe and the rest of her troupe, so it's not even a far walk.

The interior of the dock is surprisingly pleasant: functional, but with more concern for what one might call the "user experience" than h*archate docks tend to have, especially at military facilities. The lights are bright, but not too bright; every bay is painted with a distinct botanical theme, although most of the plants will be unfamiliar. [Easily looked up on Space Internet and identifiable as favored herbs and spices in Lanterner cuisines.]

The Catastrophe Axe is a deceptively compact moth, well-maintained. Two of Flute's minions stand guard at the hatch, which is closed; both look like hired muscle, and wear khaki uniforms with lots of pockets. Neither is obviously armed, per station regulations. At the group's approach, one of them (apparently a man) raises his hand. "Stop," he calls. "Who goes there?"

[ETA: Feel free to circle back to this [4C] after resolving whatever happens in 4A and 4B. I think we all cross-commented!]

Re: at the dock - paging Reshad, Seyli, Alaric, and Mafyyil

[zuhrovet]

"We're with the Symphony of Bees," Sasha tells him. "We're expected."

meeting with Flute, cont'd

[yhlee]

[continued from this thread]

Re: meeting with Flute, cont'd

[hoardingpearls]

Reshad moves to cover Seyli's freeze (too late, Flute's attention says as much). Her cover- mercenary from here-and-now - has reason to dread that name, so she lets some of her dismay show on her face.

"That fox who's been running around with the Kel for ten years." The inaccuracy is intentional. "If we'd known you were planning to tangle with him directly..." She raises her free hand, rubs a little circle on her forehead. /What a headache,/ the gesture is calculated to say.

She recovers quickly, pointing to the screen where Alaric had just been demonstrating finer points. "Your people will definitely have a better chance with our supplies."

Re: meeting with Flute, cont'd

[zuhrovet]

Sasha's straight-out grinning, partly because (dangerous as it is) she's beginning to like Flute, and partly because she has now fulfilled half of her official mission. In theory, she could buy some Lanterner cordial and head back to Ashari right away; real-world implementations are never that simple, but the technicality amuses her.

"He's also the lover of the Shuos hexarch and a year or two away from committing mass murder," she says, for Fyedlet's benefit. "How soon is the projected assassination, will you need anything from us besides the schematics, and are you actually expecting this plan to work?"