hexarchate_rpg | Chapter 2.2

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moves: chapter 2

Chapter 2.2

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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is a bit of a mashup: she has stones visible in a fitness tracker wristband and on the contacts of a flashy, but out of date, headset; she asks Sasha to insert a location tracker into both of those in anticipation of face-to-face work, and invites her to use them as vectors for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.

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.

Patrol moth #1 responds to Reshad: "Vel Vissen is an honored guest of the station," a Lanterner woman responds in the high language. "Please register with the station if you wish to join her in person." She also sends a list of rules that visitors to the station's vicinity are required to honor, fairly obvious stuff like "don't blow shit up unless you are cleared to blow shit up."

The patrol moths do not manifest sudden signs of hostility. The message does not appear to provoke any response.

After several moments, the Catastrophe Axe responds:

welcome vauri. were gathering intel on military forces in this region. brief you and your crew in person. you should dock.

Sasha responds, "will do," copying Reshad and Sulen, starts the station registration process [unless it falls into the category of "tedious paperwork" that Sulen has volunteered for], and instructs Alaric to head toward the station. She monitors message traffic between the other rebellion ships as well as she can at a distance.

[How long will it take to dock? Are we allowed to bring any sort of weapons onto the station?]

The station paperwork looks pretty routine and should not pose any great difficulty; it also optionally asks for allergies/medical notes and, non-optionally, for environmental considerations (in case one is a methane-breather and needs accommodations).

The rebellion ships are conferring at a low hum in standard rebellion encryption. Notably, nobody mentions Candle Arc, Jedao, or Hellspin unless they are doing so in some kind of code (not cipher).

[It should only take an hour or so to dock. The captain and their single designated lieutenant are allowed to bring on "reasonable" personal arms as a mark of their status, e.g. combat knife, sword, handgun; rocket-launchers, grenades, flamethrowers, not so much. No one else will be permitted to bring a weapon bigger than a spork. Note that the Lanterners have no way of checking who Sasha's "real" second-in-command is and are unlikely to care if she just designates someone who knows how to use a gun.]

Sasha reads up on station safety procedures while she's waiting for her fitness bot to make friends.

[Yeah, we're definitely designating Seyli as the lieutenant. If Reshad's combat skills are comparable to or better than Sasha's, we're also designating her as the captain as far as the Lanterners are concerned, and letting Sasha pose as a technical expert.]

[Seyli's is down for this role, would take their favorite gun with them. Are we doing a merc uniform of any kind or just doing a motley crew of pirates?]

Edited 2018-12-27 17:11 (UTC)

[Well, Sasha's definitely not going to insist on uniforms for anyone, because that would entail having an opinion about fashion other than "it exists to oppress me". Others are welcome to intervene!]

[Seyli suggests one*, then, if we want to appear more organized and put together. But notes that if we don't, then whatever we want to wear would make us look more like pirates who play fast and loose.

*A non Andan blue (Navy?) and black, if that doesn't overlap with any of the Lanterner uniforms]]

[If you want navy blue and black, that's fine by me and shouldn't overlap with the Lanterner uniforms unless someone else suggests a complication.]

"I intend us to look like a fucking mess," Sasha tells Seyli. "My life will be a lot easier if Flute thinks we're useless. But there's no reason you shouldn't have a uniform, if you want one. You can poke around the military bars and see if anybody's talking."

[Navy and pewter gray would have better contrast, or at least, that's why it constitutes two-thirds of my wardrobe.]

"I'll fit in better in some kind of uniform, if you want me running around the military bars, I'll make the machine spit one out. If only one of us is in one, it will be all the more confusing." They have no intention of looking like they're useless, however.

Edited 2018-12-27 21:38 (UTC)

Reshad is more than happy to use a uniform - even if it's poorly implemented. Flashy colors aren't necessary, but if we're looking like a flying disaster... well, one or two people who wear it badly, or only nominally, will be just fine.

Her combat skills are middling - she's okay with a gun but clearly does not make her living with it, and her hand-to-hand skills are lacking. If she's going to be playing Captain, she suggests that an armed assistant may be a very good idea.

"Shall we bring Seyli to the meeting with Flute, then?" Sasha asks. "Alaric or Ione could produce defensive chaos without being armed, for that matter."

"At least Seyli," Reshad suggests. "And if either of the others is interested - yes. Even if it's somewhat in violation of local standards." This, with a certain amusement.

"Right, then. You, me, Seyli, Alaric, and Fyedlet. The story for the station is that you're the captain and Alaric and I are the technical experts; the story for Flute is that Alaric is the brains of our operation, I got stuck in charge because I can translate between Alaric and normal human, and the rest of you would rather be anywhere else. Either way, Fyedlet can carry stuff. Sound good?"

Mafyyil overhears this and is slightly irritated the barbarian in charge keeps referring to her as "Fyedlet". She's very well educated (at least when it comes to poetry) and knows that word in three different languages: depending on the planet you're on, it can be an antiquated term for anti-freeze mixture, a rude comment about a girl's bottom or a poetic reference to a brick wall. Unfortunately, she has no idea which of these languages (or maybe an entirely different one?) Sasha speaks. Mafyyil doesn't bother asking either, she just chalks it up to barbarian manners. And also, she's way too enthusiastic to be included in a real mission!

"Ohhh, can I also get a uniform?" is the first thing she asks. She barely keeps herself from jumping up and down. "I can carry stuff and shoot people and recite the appropriate poems for the occasion!"

Sasha should really keep a pot of jam in her office. It would cut down on interruptions. "Yeah, you can have a fucking uniform, and you can recite all the poetry you want. But you can't bring your gun on station [is it a station? I'm not sure what 'Stronghold' implies!], because they only authorize weapons for two people, and we're trying to be subtle. Got it?"

[I'm assuming Mafyyil would have had no reason to study low-language Naxorian poetry, but tell me if I'm wrong!]

"Okay, subtle, no gun", Mafyyil repeats cheerfully. "I can be subtle, no problem! In this case I'll refrain from anything dramatic and stick to sonnets, those suit any occasion."

[I think Mafyyil has theoretically been educated in the poetic traditions of at least 20 different cultures, and should have at least basic understanding of the languages involved. Of course, practically she was so hopelessly bad at everything that she was sent off to die. So I doubt she speaks Naxorian - at best (worst?) she'll recognize a few cusswords because obviously those are the first she memorizes in any new language.]

"Someone tell me what the fuck a sonnet is?" Sasha asks the room at large.

[We've got fourteen lines, but it's usually 12+2. Is that heptarchate-safe?]

“A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem,” Virmad says automatically, “usually constructed in so-called ‘mirrored’ form, with either a six- or seven-line pattern that’s then repeated in reverse, with — for a six-line pattern — a couplet called the ‘axis’ between the two patterns. There are a number of popular variations; most of them are associated with the Liozh, for obvious reasons, but there are sonnet variations associated with every faction, and, of course, some that are faction-neutral.”

[I'm going to add a bunch more info to the wiki.]

Edited 2018-12-30 04:13 (UTC)

"It's a plan. I was talking with Seyli earlier, and unless any of the named are from this time or before it-" she quirks a brow, waits for a confirmation or a denial - "we likely don't need to change our names. After all, that's a measure against someone who has your identity on file. Anyone from forward-of-now, that's not a possibility unless they've operated back-of-now under that name before."

"And Fyedlet-" she trips not at all on the difficult pronunciation, having practiced it against a grid recording until she could handle the clustered consonants smoothly- "I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping direct attention." But the comment about poetry seems answer enough, and she nods.

"Can we hear some of your choices ahead of time?" Reshad is curious, but keeps the remainder of her thoughts to herself.

Mafyyil winces internally at being called Fyedlet again, but is happy to be included in the action. "Sure!", she says. "Wait. Direct attention to what? And why? Are we trying to educate them?"

She's less sure about how to deal with Virmad's uncultivated comment about poetry. Everyone (everyone civilized, anyway) knows that sonnets have 16 lines that follow a wheel of the year pattern - but of course Barbarians would not pay attention to this. She privately wonders if the two missing lines are sufficient to explain the He*archate's other cultural inadequacies as well. Surely this kind of crippled poetry will do horrible things to a people! Still - she's being very tolerant, she's going to stay polite...

"If you like", she offers Virmad, "at some point I can show you how to write a complete sonnet with all lines in place!"

Sasha says, in tones of great sarcasm, "Ashari gave me a very secret mission. I'd prefer not to discuss it outside this ship, so we're giving our contacts other things to think about."

To Reshad, she adds, "Seyli's a common name in all sorts of eras. As opposed to mine, which means 'legendary conqueror, daughter of the midday prayer.' Our future missions will be easier if we don't repeat too many names, but from what Sulen says the hexarchate hasn't been very sophisticated in its historical analysis, at least not till after this century."

Sasha is a little curious to see whether anyone jumps when she defines her father's name. The word "prayer" might have been deprecated, later; she's not sure.

Edited 2018-12-31 04:07 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

Re: shiny new fake ID - paging Alaric and Reshad

weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli and Reshad

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil

Re: weapons and fake titles - paging Seyli, Reshad, Alaric, and Mafyyil