Campaign The Imynusoph Run: Imynusoph-Sarrish

[Aeshi Tillian]

The usual quiet trading post now bustled with people from every world in the Outer Rim and beyond, wearing badges and waving flags with logos for their favorite racer. Booze flowed freely across the structure built tall in the massive trees and a fence had been erected around the landing post originally designed for GUIDE vessels, where the six racers and their vessels had been lined up. Bookies and number sharks prowled the makeshift bars that had been set up through the structure, while the uniformed Rangers and Rescue Service personnel looked the other way.

Aeshi picked up the microphone to the holosystem and climbed to the top of the trade post, which now also flew the Rimward Trade League flag as it acted as the League's consulate general's office as well as the local Interstellar Merchant-Captain's Guild office. Probably the only building in the galaxy that was an embassy, guildhall, and distillery all at once. One did have to admire the versatility.

"Spacers, gamblers, addicts, and spectators!" Aeshi called into the microphone as a holographic image of her face appeared on set-up projectors across the structure. "It is finally time for the event we have long awaited for! The opening moments of the first-ever Imynusoph Run! From here to Morellia, thousands of light-years across tens of thousands of star systems, dozens of governments, and at least three different warzones. And if I miscounted, I'm sure another one will start up to prove me right anyway. In exactly ten minutes, the sirens will sound announcing the start of the clock. Once that buzzer sounds, are racers can turn their engines on and compete to see who can push themselves, their vessels, and the laws of physics the farthest to cross the galaxy in as little time as possible. It will be grueling, dangerous, and potentially deadly. They will have to choose what risks to take in favor of speed and when to sacrifice speed in favor for safety. This is a race of technology, of strategy, of guts, grits, endurance, and the willingness to put everything on the line in the endless contest between life and the cold hard vacuum of space."

She paused to let those words start to sink in and the chorus of cheers and applause settle down. A holographic timer started up, showing the countdown. Crowds closed in around the launch pad where the support teams were busy loading up the last of the supplies, filling fuel tanks, and making final checks on the ships on behalf of the Guild. Many spectators were climbing atop branches and limbs to get a better look.

"Racers, we wish you luck and good flying! May the Force be with you and don't forget to stick it to the law." That brought a loud roar of laughter from many in the crowd, even the law representatives present. "Remember what you're really flying for- not the fortune awaiting the winner donated by a couple of big businesses wanting to make it big out here on the frontier, or that luxury suite on that cruise ship where you can regale the rich and beautiful, or even the incredibly convenient life long insurance, but for yourself to see what you're really capable of. Test your mettle against the universe and the bragging rights of being the best karking spacer in the whole damn galaxy. That's really all that matters, isn't it? Prime your fuel lines but don't touch that engine yet! We'll see you on Sarrish! And for the rest of the galaxy- stay tuned to this channel! We're bringing you live footage and the best commentary, gambling odds, and smack-talking between here and Kaeshana!"

The timer continued its countdown as the crowds grew hushed in anticipation, until they broke into a chant, counting down for the start of the race. And when the buzzer sounded, a massive cheer would erupt that would almost drown out the sounds of the engines.

Spoiler

Jerec Asyr Aeson Keel Okkeus Dainlei Milla Kryst Gren Blidh Coren Starchaser Anyone else is free to join the thread as spectators on Imynusoph or anywhere along the route trying to catch a glimpse of the race.

​

 

[Jerec Asyr]

• One hundred meters of Tannhauser-class freighter: check.
• One souped-up hyperdrive: check.
• Four six-packs of lum in a cooler: check.
• Muk Moadda and his comfy sweater in the copilot's seat, slightly out of reach of the lum: check.
• One ring-bound hard-copy star map, including the Terminus bounce from the Hydian to the Corellian Trade Spine, the First Order and CIS borders, the Sanctuary Pipeline bypass, and the final offroad stretch to Sarrish: check.
• One warbly old playlist of space shanties: check.
• One passenger bound for Stennaros, a chatty Stennes Shifter named Kettad who, yes, was still sore about the Jedi committing genocide against his species six thousand years ago: check.

The buzzer went buzz, and the Infinity's Free detached from station with coaxium and ryll kor in her veins. As "Some Kind of Hero" and assorted anti-Jedi sentiments filled the bridge, Jerec cracked a can and confessed himself happier than he'd been in years.

 

[Milla Kryst]

Scar had done everything he could to prep for this race, it only sucked he didn't truly know how to be a mechanic. But with his PK droids and his astromech, he thought he'd have a chance. And, thankfully, because of CorelliSpace ( Gir Quee ), he felt he had one of the fastest ships in the outer rim. At least, one that could compete and make other spaces put their money where there mouth is. With the money he had from recent jobs, he put it all into making sure everything was ready. From oiling up his droids, to cleaning out exhaust manifolds, his limited abilities were maxed out as far as he could get them. The ship, his droids, and mostly important, Scar was ready. Even though he had no one cheering for him (maybe some booing for his most notorious crimes), he really saw this as an opportunity as an escape from this life. And maybe, just maybe, even if he didn't win.... he'd do a good enough job that CorelliSpace would look kindly on him for freely advertising the capabilities of their company.

There was nothing more he could do. The PK droids were set up to handle most repair duties and internal refueling if it called for it, and his astromech was on call for utilizing the turret if they got attacked and inputting hyperlane charting information. The rest was up to him, his reflexes, and his piloting abilities... which were all lackluster, but he felt such a small ship he had the ease of control with it compared to the other behemoths that exist in the galaxy. With his hands on the controls, he stayed silent and watched that count down. When the light hit green, he forced the engines into maximum capacity, even jostling the droids on board a bit. The Bajur literally zipping past Jerec Asyr Infinity's Free at the start of the race due to its extreme speed, but everyone knew with that freighters true power, and the Bajur was going to need a lot of luck if it was going to beat that teleporting barge to the finish line!

 

[Coren Starchaser]

For the Starchaser clan, the idea of flying a ship was as easy as breathing. Sure, Coren didn’t have any trusty racer, no, he had his trusty freighter, the YT-2000 Tachyon Rising. The ship was modified and the oldest vessel in his own personal fleet. Well, the whole of the Starchaser fleet, probably. Jared had a racer in his new Star Courier, and Kaia had her little freighter too. But today? It was just the Rising and Cuan Kunn, one of his most trusted pilots, sitting in the copilot seat. Too many Starchasers would just be cheating after all.

The ship was updated with the latest star maps, and had Coren and his family’s own notes. The nice thing about running a chartering service is that you knew where things were going.

<<Captain, we’re ready to launch. All systems green.>> Said the Sullustan in his native tongue. Coren grinned as he nodded.

“Good!”

The droid, orange and white R6-C5, commonly known as Porter, twittered as he plugged himself in. The ships systems would be maintained through the droid, not through Coren’s implant. If something went wrong in a race, it wasn’t that worth it, to cause his psyche a hit.

The lights were blinking in front of him, Porter setting them up on a holographic ahead of his controls. At the moment before the ship was untethered, the engines roared to life, a very familiar guitar riff came onto the speakers within the ship as the Rising launched itself from the station, heading to the hyperspace jump point.

 

[Brooke Waters]

Brooke was always enjoying races. Sure, she was Dathomiri and Corellian, but first and foremost, the Waters clan was from Pamarthe. Dad had her racing sailing vessels before hopping her into a fighter for races. It was in her blood and she loved being out for races. She hadn’t had time to prep the Starlit Sea or else she’d be out there too. Coren was out there, but it wasn’t only because he was in the race. No, the Witch loved to watch racing of all kind.

Well, as long as there was a vessel involved, she couldn’t really tolerate beast racing.

The start was always the best. From here she could see who was going to jockey for position and if they were going to knock someone out of the way for a hyperspace jump. One they were to light speed, well, things were a little less exciting until they came back. But she had a feeling that Coren may jump from Hydian to Corellian Run and bee line down. She didn’t know exactly where he’d come out to calculate the finish.

Maybe he’d try to slingshot Copperline. Who knew?

Turning to the screen, she sipped on her white wine. This was going to be a good few days. She was glad she was able to book a spot on a spectator vessel. And being outside Kriselist wasn’t so bad.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

OOC/ Applying my rolls to the table provided me in DM by our illustrious DM.

IC/
CAPTAIN'S LOG
S.S. INFINITY'S FREE

Well, this leg of the trip was supposed to take 26 hours, yeah? Nice and easy straightaway down the Corellian Trade Spine. Uh, no, that did not happen.

First problem was the traffic at the Hydian hop - at Terminus I mean. Found a nice bypass and things worked out without a delay, thank feth.

Then I hit the First Order border like I've done any number of times and, wouldn't you know it, picked out for a TOTALLY RANDOM BOARDING INSPECTION. So I ran for it, because I know for a fact that what's in Muk's bunk carries a racist and intimidating mandatory minimum in a couple of nearby systems, and I'm fuzzy on whether the First Order enforces that, and all that to say, it took me an extra hour to slip loose. Plus, uh, I should probably steer clear of the First Order for a minute.

Also, turns out the fuel gauge (which the guy SWORE was top of the line, like new, mint in box) needed concussive recalibration. Had to pull over at a depot off Kriselist for a pit stop. That burned a whole extra hour I didn't have.

And then to top it all off, I finally get Kettad to Stennaros, and the gorram spaceport's infested with mynocks. Would've been a simple chore if I'd picked a ship with better guns, but nooo. Had to spend a stupid amount of time clearing out mynocks from the landing bay and also from my ship because they got INSIDE and Muk was USELESS. But Kettad's happy to be back on his people's lost home, so...

...anyways. Muk's handling the rest of the mynock nonsense. I'm gonna sober up the hard way and catch a little nap. Kettad gave me a lot to think about and it's sort of weighing on my head. Karking Jedi. I want to handle the final offroad jaunt to Sarrish personally and I've been flying for...several hours.

All that to say, uh, the initial estimate was 26 hours and I think it's gonna take us an even 30. Ryv a jaggath.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Music blasting, and engines running full, the Tachyon Rising leapt from the station. Pushing towards the other racers, Coren wasn’t afraid to get close. His ship was a YT-2000 after all, they were built for durability, and his own? Well, that was one of the things he focused on. Speed in hyperspace and able to take a hit or two. He wasn’t your typical smuggler, after all. Jedi and Jedi accessories. Well, and of course, gear for the Underground. But today, it was a race, and the first leg was important. Always good to get the start off strong.

<<Captain… who primed the ship??>> Cuan asked as Coren was pushing the throttle to full.

“Eckin, he always takes care of the ship when he has the time… Why?” He looked over his shoulder, power was full to engines.

<<We’re burning really clean. He seemed to have done a full flush!>>

“Good! Then hang on!” Pushing the throttle to full, the Rising was making it was way for the hyper jump.

And once they were in hyperspace the crew was able to take a bit of a break.

***

Race Log Entry 1…

So, we had a pretty solid beginning, Eckin did some great work on clearing our lines, was able to get a bit more power out of the Rising as a result. I’ll have to remind myself to bring him home a bottle from Corellia. Felt good to get the jump on the pack, but with all good things something always comes up. Cuan and I were playing sabacc as we were in our first leg and then Porter called us up.

Pirates.

Great, right? Interdiction mines. Had to weave ourself through that. Wanted to do what I could before I hopped onto the Corellian Run. Some ion shots were able to do it, but we had to get through without getting too close. I probably could have left the mines, but I know myself, I’d have to sleep with that? No thanks.

I was able to leave a beacon after I cleared most of them. Hopefully the Treader will come through and pick the rest up, we could use that tech.

That added four hours I wasn’t expecting.

***

Race Log Entry 2…

Hyperspace went well after that, well, until we got to our egress point on the Run. You’d think my name would get me through, right? Apparently not today.

How did someone not hear of Starchaser? Kaia what have you been doing out here in the Core if they’re not letting me through…

Or has it been that long since we were really a presence. The Rim does need us.

Just for posterity, here is an excerpt.

“Tachyon Rising, this is Copperline Patrol. Please power down, prepare for inspection.”

“Uh, that’s a negative Patrol. Captain Coren Starchaser, Jedi Order. Transmitting clearance…”

“No good Rising. Protocols aren’t giving clearance for someone saying they’re a Jedi.”

“Well, Patrol, gonna have to catch me…”

Hate to cut and run, they're just doing their job... But lucky for me, that clean Eckin did. Got myself ahead of that patrol. Cuan was holding the flight, as I got myself to check the hyperspace path. Porter kept the most updated, but I always prefer to do it my way. Had to smooth it out, but once we hit hyperspace? The last bit of that hop to Sarrish.

Going to need to fuel up. May be five hours behind, 31 hours when we scheduled 26?

Also, remind me to have an ion pulse installed. Would fix those two issues, knock out mines, make patrol think twice. But for now, I gotta help Cuan as Porter plots our next track. Carida I think.

 

[Gren Blidh]

Life is a culmination of the past.

Gren Blidh stood atop the hull of the Somberlane to address the crowds with a laconic wave as his black trenchcoat billowed in the wind. His lone eye surveyed the rest of the racers as final preparations were made for takeoff and his crew designated by the Rimward Trade League made their final assistance preparations. Gren drank in the moment as the wind carried the hope of a thrill of speed and adventure amidst the stars. Fortune was nice, fame even more so. But ultimately, Gren would never resist the call to sing the song of danger, to point in the galaxy's face and say - I conquered you.

An awareness of the present.

The eyepatched smuggler disappeared then, dropping down into the hull of the Somberlane to find his pilot's seat. He had promised Sidra Ater a life of adventure if she left Tatooine with him, and now he would deliver. Buckling himself in, he began checking readouts on his dashboard. All systems green. There was no doubt his ship would overtake the others at sublight speed; he would need every advantage he could get due to a slower hyperdrive than the other competitors. His hand fired up the engines. The Somberlane roared to life and betrayed to the crowd a promise of breakneck thrust right out of the gate.

And an indication of a future beyond knowledge, the quality that gives a touch of divinity to matter.

Gren's hand hovered over the thruster as he awaited the go signal. Once they hit lightspeed, things would be business as usual - the real fun was the start of the race.

Once the indicators turned green, Gren punched it for all it was worth. The Somberlane shot forward, its engines clapping thunder, into the boundless possibilities of the sky for the joy of the crowd.

 

[Aeson Keel]

How long had it been since he'd been in a race? Twenty years? That sounded right. He'd been his family's only hope of fame and fortune and like every kid that grew up on Pamarthe he wanted to be racer. The secure link to an SIA database clicked off as his navigator, a very basic but up-to-date model of Arakyd Industries' navigation droid, waddled into the cockpit. He hated droids.

"Sir, it seems all systems are ready to go when the buzzer goes we-" The buzzer went. Aeson didn't wait for the droid to sit down, they didn't have that luxury. He could see it in them all, they were all damn good pilots. Especially Starchaser, he knew that name. Corellian AND a Jedi? That was almost a challenge. He smirked as he felt the sudden push of Gs on his body as the brand spanking new freighter flew from its mooring.

For a moment it felt like he had the edge on them as they all rushed for the egress point at the edge of Imynusoph's gravity well and one by one they winked into hyperspace.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Jerec made the final offroad jump stone cold sober, with Running Down from Kessel echoing through every corridor of his ship and his brain. Muk was down in the engine room keeping things shipshape.

Starlines collapsed to stars, a diamond-dust curtain that framed the rocky planet Sarrish and its string of bright little moons. Jerec set the sublight engines to full, leaned back in his chair, and laced his long fingers on his belly. The clock said thirty hours on the dot. In theory he could scan around and see if any other racer ships stood out, see whether he'd won. Right now he just wanted to bask in being done, and stare at Sarrish's moons, the String of Pearls.

Oh, and also-

He tapped the intercom. "Muk, drop the beacon, wouldja?"

A beacon kachunked out of the Infinity's Free and started broadcasting a hololoop of Jerec, for the benefit of fellow racers. "Welcome to Sarrish! Quekko's Choice Ship Emporium is pleased to offer comprehensive aftermarket modding services before the next leg starts. Need to swap out some guns for a better engine? Come see us planetside. We've got hyperdrive gear for every budget. Money-back guarantee - and no sabotage, on my honour!"

Genuinely helpful, but also a dick move. All of the above was intentional. Jerec was having a blast.



Aeshi Tillian - Totally up to you, of course, if you'd allow people to rejig their ship points before the next leg of the race once they get to Sarrish. If not, let's just say there's no time or Jerec gets his wrist slapped or whatever.

Aeson Keel Milla Kryst Gren Blidh Coren Starchaser Brooke Waters

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

On Sarrish, the IMCG agents were in orbit aboard a chartered vessel, taking precise measurements of the times in which the various racers would arrive in a stable orbit over the planet, which would be considered the finish line for each leg. They checked off Jerec's arrival and considered his offer for the other racers, before beaming a message.

"Welcome, Captain Asyr, and your offer is quite generous. As long as all modifications are finished in time for our teams to inspect the safety of each upgrade, then there is plenty of time. The next leg will start 12 hours after the final racer arrives."

 

[Milla Kryst]

Scar wasn't having the greatest time, although the obstacles he was faced with didn't actually affect him. Mostly, nothing impacted him on his leg to the finish line. He had to get through an infestation of Mynocks through one of the spaceports he flew through, but being a small and agile ship - with the turret armed and ready - he got through it like it never bothered him. There was even several hours where he was just having to ride through hyperspace, giving him a moment to rest, with no real occurrence except the race weighing heavily on his mind. Unfortunately, he was forced to drop out of hyperspace abruptly after his snooze because some mining ships decided to have a horrible fender bender, which meant there were debris all over in the epicenter of the hyperlane. But again, a small and agile ship made it easy to pass through. Scar never went around it, he was in a race, through he ran through it, as his droid popped any debris or ores in the way. Scar really didn't care about any lost ore, and he probably would never pay for the losses. Beyond that, all Scar had was some traffic into the hyperlane, but authorities offered him a bypass, so he was able to make the finish line in 'appropriate' time.... at least, for him.

In realizing how long it had taken to reach this end of the leg - over two days - he felt he needed to up the ante a bit. He knew he sped passed Jerec in the beginning, maybe even zipping passed most of the racers, but he paled in comparison to their hyperdrives. This ship was meant for running down criminals, not racing through hyperlanes. Scar quickly realized he would take weeks to get through every leg until he finished at the final leg, so after crossing the finish line - probably in last place - of the final leg, he quickly went for some upgrades. No idea how long he had, he might have to jury rig his whole ship just to get it done quickly and to pass inspection. Still, he had to contemplate the legality and the moral debacle of potentially cheating. Was it cheating to swap out hardware? Kind of took the uniqueness out of his craft. He only hoped CorelliSpace would never find out.

 

[Gren Blidh]

CAPTAIN'S LOG
THE SOMBERLANE

-We had our course charted as well as possible, and managed to cut some time by travelling off the beaten path a bit. Needless to say we ran into a hiccup, had to drop out of hyperspace for a moment to deal with a rogue asteroid. I had to pull some moves out of my ass that I haven't needed to call upon in awhile, but the ship handled the jolt and we were back on our way in moments and didn't end up losing any time. Close call though.

-When it rains it pours. As if rogue asteroids weren't enough, our space lane got flooded with debris after two mining transports collided. I decided to give the Somberlane's engines a little push and force my way through. Despite all the chaos it was nothing the sublight engines couldn't handle. We lost practically no time.

-Nothing else to report, the rest of the trip went smoothly. We should be arriving at Sarrish on the 48 hour mark directly as scheduled.

The trip could have certainly gone a lot worse, and Gren was quite pleased at how the Somberlane had handled the curveballs thrown his way. Unfortunately, upon arriving at Sarrish, his time compared to some of his competitors made it apparent that this was a my-hyperdrive-is-bigger-than-yours competition, and he was losing. Then Jerec Asyr 's visage plastered itself across his holoprojector.

That smug bastard.

Regardless, the smuggler turned to his datapad and typed in Quekko's Emporium to search for its coordinates. If he had any hope of winning or even placing in the Run, he would have to pay that scrapyard a visit. And perhaps, one dick move deserved another.

 

[Aeson Keel]

Spoiler

Points Allocation:
Hyperdrive Speed: 4
Sublight Speed: 3
Routine Operating Tasks: 3
Emergency Tasks: 1
Defense Capabilities: 1

Roll:
5 -A new navcomputer software update glitch delays the calculation process. (+1 hour, Routine) [-3]
Result: No significant increase on route time

"Come on, come on come on," He hated new software. To be honest, he hated anything that wasn't secondhand because it meant it hadn't been tested. This stupid ship was no exception.

"Sir, it appears as if the Navigation Bypass is having difficulties with the new Galaxy Map update I made to the navi computer. She is a nervous thing, you know with this being her first flight and all. I think she might be feeling a little sick."

A little sick was an understatement. They'd been flying for less than an hour when the blasted consoles started blaring at him. Aeson grumbled as he tried to hold her steady in the hyperlane. He flicked switch after switch trying to stabilize the nav bypass. Luckily with a combination of his pilot's intuition and, he admitted grudgingly, the excellence of his co-pilot's programing, they were able to solve the minor issue in the navigation computer without much of an issue. In fact, with the nav bypass they didn't even have to exit hyperspace.

 

[Thera Mayeen]

Aboard the ECV Queen of the Fringe
Orbiting Sarrish

Sarrish wasn't a pretty planet to look at. Indeed, pockmarked with impact craters, rocky, and barren, it looked more like a moon than a planet. It was however the site of the finish line for the first leg of this race he had thrown credits behind. Outside of extremely expensive and rare military technologies it was nigh impossible to track ships through hyperspace, let alone follow them with drones for filming. Due to hyperspace being a pocket dimension and all that, when a ship flew through it was almost as if it was the only ship in the Galaxy, even if they all launched at the same time through the same egress point along the same vector.

Luckily the pilots had all agreed to trackers being placed BEFORE the race so that spectators had at least the blips to watch as they made their ways through space. Even still it was a boring thing to watch...And so a day-long party was going on over Sarrish aboard the Errant Ventures cruise liner Queen of the Fringe, a heavily modified Permenance-Class battleship from the Lords of the Fringe. Once nothing more than salvage the Queen was now a resort for the richest folks in the Galaxy. There was gambling for the races, a casino, water park, sims, and the like. He had even ordered the Race Rings be placed out in orbit around the pearl-like moons of Sarrish for some low-stakes starfighter racing to amp up the atmosphere.

He himself stood on the bridge, overlooking the stars, dressed in a fantastical version of what a Lords of the Fringe naval uniform could have been. He wore the equivalent garb of an Admiral. He took a sip of his wine and sighed wistfully. He wished he could be the one out there flying. But he had a business, and a front to run.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Arriving wasn’t always bad. Coren was called to the bridge by Cuan as they were set to arrive. They’d been running the flight in six hour shifts, in the chair for six, running maintenance for six, and six for down time. Standard when you had places to be. If the race was along a practiced hyper trail and was less of a race and more just travel, they’d probably run things different.

But from all things, Kessel Runs to even just pushing guns into the core or the Sith, it was better to have eyes on the screens at all times. And if you were doing repairs, it always helped to have someone take a look at things. Cuan and Coren both knew this ship very well, but still, sometimes you needed a second set of eyes.

As the vessel reverted to real space, Porter started loading up all the ships that were in the neighborhood and started marking vessels. Most were coming in yellow, undecided, a few greens and even fewer reds.

“Get me in touch with the P.R.O. Gotta see if we got down time…” Coren ordered as the channel was switching.

“Captain Starchaser here, of the Rising. When does the next leg start?” Fuel was needed. And rack time.

Aeshi Tillian

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Coren Starchaser

On Sarrish, one of the Merchant-Captain's Guild staff would receive the message from Coren and Cuan, and receive their question as well as be able to provide an answer. "There is a 12-hour downtime between the arrival of the last racer and the start of the next leg."

In the meantime, the race officials were tabulating the official times traveled and arranging things for the launch of the next leg.

Spoiler

If everyone could post their total times in the discussion thread, I'll keep track of those, and if people want to start rolling for the next leg and posting dice rolls, the table is all ready to go.

 

[Aeson Keel]

Spoiler

Points Allocation:
Hyperdrive Speed: 4
Sublight Speed: 3
Routine Operating Tasks: 3
Emergency Tasks: 1
Defense Capabilities: 1

Roll: 15
A customs inspector is a diehard endurance race fanatic and waves you through. (-2 hours, Routine)

The malfunction with the navi-computer had nearly cost him a few hours but this? THIS was a mess. The sight of hyperspace turning red and warping was a tell-tale sign of interdiction, and he really didn't have time for a random customs check right now. The massive Indoctrination-class frigate loomed over him.

"This is Confederacy vessel CNS Pride. You've been picked for random border inspection. Shut off your engines, disengage hyperdrive, and prepare to be board- Wait a second." There was a pause, the sound of clicks could be heard.

"Wait, you're one of them racers aren't ye?" His accent was familiar, one he hadn't heard in a long while. Pamarthe?

"Aye sir, I'm Capin' of thee Blackstar. I'm trynna make up for lost tyme but-"

"Blackstar?! Well blow me sails Capin' I didn' mean fer one of me boys to get pulled out. In fact, no wait. Here. Take this, military-only hyperlane through CIS space. Should knock a few hours off your tyme. Sorry for the trouble lad. You better win this one for Pamarthe. Cain't be havin' no airsick nobodies beatin' a flesh and blood Pamarthen! From a fan!"

Aeson let out a hearty laugh as the lane coordinates were beamed to his nav computer. He could hear the wink in the old sailor's voice.

"Aye, aye. Thank ye Capin'! Fair winds to you and yours."

"Fair winds Blackstar May the storms be ever at your back and your skies clear!" The chat had lifted Aeson's spirits and the man had been right. This secret military lane merged with the main lane at some point but it would cut off at least a solid 2 hours.

"Now that's flying," he said with a smirk.

 

[Aeson Keel]

Spoiler

Points Allocation:
Hyperdrive Speed: 4
Sublight Speed: 3
Routine Operating Tasks: 3
Emergency Tasks: 1
Defense Capabilities: 1

Roll: 17
A customs inspector refuses to give you any special privileges and intends to board your vessel for inspection. (+3 hours, Defensive OR Sublight)

• Sublight =+3
  • Total Time Loss= 0

The first guy was lucky. A fellow sailor from Pamarthe AND a fan of the race? He'd given him a pass and a shot at really winning this. It had been clean flying for a few hours until...

"Another interdiction? How tight do these CIS chumps keep their space?!" This time it wasn't just a frigate. It was a full cruiser, one of the newer ones if the preliminary scans were right. He cursed under his breath.

"Hold on to something. They're launching fighters."

"Sir? Hold on to whaaaahaaaa!" the droid screamed as the Blackstar lurched into motion.

"Blackstar, you are to disengage engines and prepare to be boarded! Disengage or we will open fire!" There was no way they were catching him. He engaged his SLAM and felt his body sink back into his seat. They were nearly out of the gravity well and...

"NOW!" He pulled the hyperspace lever and they were back on track. Storms but that was close. If it wasn't for the nav computer issue they had earlier causing him to make some snap adjustments to the system they wouldn't have been able to calculate the jump in time before they were able to reposition and re-engage their gravity well generator. Aeson sighed in relief as they-

Hyperspace turned red again...

HOW MANY TIMES WERE THEY GONNA GET YANKED OUT?!