Deep Black Sea: Idiot's Array [Crew of the Gossamer]

[Dash Kessler]

[SIZE=9pt]MISSION[/SIZE]

• 
  [SIZE=9pt]Traverse the Nagai Trade Spine[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] across 150,000 light-years of intergalactic void to chart the satellite galaxy known as [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Firefist[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt].[/SIZE]
  
• 
  [SIZE=9pt]Relax and enjoy what downtime you have.[/SIZE]
  
  

[SIZE=9pt]VESSEL[/SIZE]
Designation: [SIZE=9pt]The Gossamer[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Class: Lotekk-class Deep Space Transport, heavily modified[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Length: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]1500 meters[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Armament:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Low[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Defenses:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Very High[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Hangar:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] 3 [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]two-seater starfighter[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] squadrons, assorted shuttles, assorted freighters/small craft belonging to various crew members[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Maneuverability: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Low[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Speed:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Moderate[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Hyperdrive Rating: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]0.5, backup 10[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]CREW MANIFEST[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Captain:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [member="Jorus Merrill"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Security Officers:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [member="Noah Corek"] (armorer), Daymon Vale (secondary role), Nyraen Mirhage (secondary role), [member="Nemo"], [member="Jake Awaud"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Medical Officers: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt][member="Isis Varida"], [member="Oros"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Tactical Officer:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [member="Aedan Miles"], [member="Dax Fyre"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Science Officers:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [member="Chip"], Oros, Jake Awaud (secondary role)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Communications Officers: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt][member="Kimiko"], [member="Jian Kylo"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Navigators: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt][member="Kalen Genet"], [member="Ivy Lasranae"], [member="Sebastian Thel"], Tegan Katarn (secondary role)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Shuttle/Fighter Pilots:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Ivy Lasranae (secondary role), [member="Daymon Vale"], [member="Hypatia Najwa"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Engineers: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt][member="Losena Kyru"], [membe=”Dash Kessler”], Noah Corek (secondary role), [member="Nyraen Mirhage"], [member="Simone"] (IT systems specialist), [member="Tegan Katarn"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]LOCATION:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Aft Maintenance Bay[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]OBJECTIVE:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Unwind, win a few tokens, make poor life choices[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Alright, you all know the rules now, yeah?[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]” The Corellian cast his gaze across the motley collection of individuals that were crammed into the aft maintenance bay, his hands almost a blur as they shuffled, cut and worked a dog-eared deck of cards between them. “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Two cards a piece, minimum bet is one nuts, maximum is ten. Don’t bet anything you’re not willing to lose, don’t begrudge anyone for skinning you alive.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]It hard started out as way to unwind after a long, thankless shift in the engine room. Nothing more than a quick, friendly game between the wrench monkeys that called the Gossamer home. Somewhere along the line, however, it had become something of a time honoured tradition onboard the vessel. Drawing in new faces from other sections and departments, filling the rusted chairs with navigators, comm operators and even the odd officer or two. [/SIZE]Things had really kicked off when some enterprising individual had managed to get the first Gossamer still up and running, producing the finest in mouth-burning, eye watering moonshine this side of the trade spine. And where there was hooch, there was eventually food. Greasy, artery clogging stuff from the cook’s personal stock. Kark, if the pair of them didn’t collectively a good ten years off your life, but no one was complaining. A battered music box had shown up a few nights after that.

[SIZE=9pt]To keep things friendly and civil, they’d wisely avoided using credits. Nothing worse than being on a ship this long and owing someone half your wages and your first born. That sorta debt had a way of getting folks shivved before too long. [/SIZE]Instead, they played for nuts. No, not the fruit. The tiny fasteners that secured bolts in place. They were engineers after all, and this was a maintenance bay. Place was rife with them and more to spare. Each player starting out with twenty five, usually sticking around until they went bust or walked away with bragging rights. At least until the next game convened, that is.

“For those new to the table, don’t worry none. After all, they say sabacc is a lot like sex.” He flashed a lopsided grin, tossing out the cards before the assembled players. Slapping the deck down in the middle of the camping table once done. “Everyone might think they are the best, but most folks haven’t got a karking clue what they’re doing half the time. Sometimes you just gotta put all your hope in your own hands.”

Spoiler

[SIZE=9pt]Okay, so don’t panic. This is seriously just a low key, zero stress thread about the crew having fun and unwinding. You don’t have to join the card game itself if you don’t want, you can either be a spectator or someone enjoying the aforementioned hooch/food/music. Whatever makes you feel most comfortable.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]For those that do wish to join in, if you’re unfamiliar with the rules of sabacc, you can find them [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]here[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t overthink it or turn it into a rules jockeying session. As I said, this is just about having fun. Decide what hand you’re dealt, throw your bets, banter. Simple.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Feel free to shoot me a message (here or on discord) if you have any questions/issues.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]As always, Wheaton’s rule applies. Have fun.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]

[/SIZE]

 

[Dax Perl]

The Rogue sat in the rickety metal chair, rocking back and forth as the cards were dealt. Dax had to admit, he still had no idea how Sabbacc worked. Not. A. Damn. Clue. But, since they weren't playing for any real money, he was more than willing to play, learn, and eventually kick their asses. Well, that was the reasoning that went through Dax's head, in reality the Rogue just got extremely lucky sometimes, and then extremely unlucky at others.

As the cards were passed around Dax brought his to the edge of the table and peered at them. Face expressionless he pushed the cards back onto the table. 'Kark...'

[member="Dash Kessler"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"All your hope in your own hands? Does that really work for you, grease monkey? Besides, when did you 'hope' need two hands anyway?"

The voice was easy and cutting and came from where Daymon, for once carrying only his disruptor pistol and armorweave jumpsuit with a spacers vest over it, sat leaned against a counter, eating a Corellian-fried bantha steak and washing it down with what swill the cook passed for beer. He was developing a taste for the stuff and wasn't sure what to think of that. But the comment came easily, the banter between comrades if not strictly friends. He liked Dash well enough. He just disdained cards, mostly because he was damnably lucky at them. And men resented officers that won money from them. Didn't have to be aloof, but never gamble with them. It was a line his old instructor had drilled into him.

[member="Dash Kessler"] | [member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Eyeing the Sabacc table with contempt, Sebastian sat curled up on top of a tank, to which there were several pipes attached. With a science fiction novel in his hands, he turned pages slowly with a wary eye shifting between the words and those gathered around the table. He was only glad that they were not using real credits and breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, there was a reason Sebastian disliked gambling, which dated back to his childhood.

"That must be why I don't like it." The navigator said in response to Dash comparing Sabacc to sex, not that he knew anything about the rules or how the game worked. His experience with gambling had been podracing on Ord Radama and he was not well-versed in games such as Sabacc.

That said, Sebastian found it difficult to resist a challenge. Taking a bite out of some kind of deep-fried sandwhich, he set his book aside and hauled himself off the tank. He left the sandwhich where he had been sitting and walked over hesitantly to the Sabacc table, where he stood for a moment and observed the actions of those playing the game.

"I'll bite, how does it work?" Cupping his chin in thought, Sebastian watched the cards from afar and began to piece together the outcomes in his head. In order to determine the winning numbers, he would need at least a run down of the mechanics of the game.

[member="Dash Kessler"], [member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Daymon Vale"]

 

[Heron Graile]

[member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Daymon Vale"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Dash Kessler"]

Dinko Graile had blessed her good fortune ever since landing this job, the first proper employment she'd nailed down in years. And sure, a junior deckhand berth didn't pay much, but it beat reselling defective medical gear in the Lower City. There were other perks, too: she'd expected her first trip off Taris to get her to the Wheel, not too far away. She'd saved up for that, and then some kind of Hutt feud wrecked the place, so she'd struck out for Ord Mantell on a whim to find work. One thing led to another, and now here she was in a whole other fething galaxy, playing sabacc for durasteel nuts and getting ready to make symbolic hypothetical bank.

"All you really need to know is three things, boyo. Cards have positive and negative value that adds up. Cards can change value unless you reveal'em and lock'em in by putting'em face up in the fixing field. When the fat lady sings, closest to positive or negative twenty-three wins, but if you're over twenty-three or under negative twenty-three, you've bombed out. Oh, and if you get a two, a three, and the Idiot, you win for sure." Dinko scratched at the neck of her envirosuit. "So I guess that's four things."

Her own cards were unimpressive: ten of staves, two of flasks. She fixed the ten, revealing it, and then a ripple of randomization went around the table: a Sabacc Shift. Everyone's cards changed value. Her two became a Master of Coins, giving her hand a total value of 24. If the hand got called, she'd bomb out. Either she could hope another randomization happened before then, or she could draw another card and hope it had a negative value. She did, it did, and she relaxed...for now.

 

[Lyle Hoken]

He'd hired on because he was broke. Or, at least, that was the story he used. It was half true, for what it was worth. Were he a more honest man he'd been more forthcoming, but no one needed to really know about the half dozen unpaid bar tabs, angry crime bosses, or the occasional father upset about the quality time he'd spent with said father's daughter. No, he'd keep it to himself and quietly skip town before someone hung him from a tree.

Discretion was always the better part of valor, after all.

He glanced at his cards and their new values. He didn't much care about suits and colors, that wasn't this kind of game. He grunted and froze the Ten in his hand and kept it's twin hidden. If the hand were called, he was close enough to chance it. If not, he had some breathing room.

[member="Heron Graile"]
[member="Sebastian Thel"]
[member="Daymon Vale"]
[member="Dax Fyre"]
[member="Dash Kessler"]

 

[Xin Boa]

A shift before they'd even circled once was a surprise. Xin pulled the corners of his cards up to see what they had become. A ten and an ace. 25. This was risky.

The nautolan relaxed back in his chair and let a size 5 nut roll between his finger and thumb. Someone had managed to get a size 4 in to sabacc pile one week and they had been forced to go through the lot one by one to find it by the Chief Engineer.

Xin had one particular advantage. He was empathic. His micro-expressions were also specific to his species. Shifts of patterns in his eyes and movement of his headtails were not things most humans knew how to read.

On the other hand be had two distinct disadvantages. His maths was awful and the monkey lizard on his shoulder had a habit of giving the game away.

Skreech's tuft of green hair had cut across his view as the curious creature tried to spot the value of his hand, but Xin had been too quick. Dressed only in a beige, sleeveless vest his shoulders often got scratched by Skreech if he got overexcited. Which was often on game night. If it was a boring session he tended to nip at his headtails which was worse.

There was a metallic clink as his nut went in the pile. He turned to see what [member="Delila Castillon"] was going to do. Xin would have to hold his hand a little longer, hoping for another shift before he had to chance getting a negative card.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Son of a...


Delila was staring at a Mistress and Endurance card for a grand total of five. Not exactly a winning hand despite the awesome sounding combination of cards. Frown set as her gaze looked at the cards again, expecting them to change magically because she willed it. Not so.


She was fairly competitive although Dells considered herself less skilled in sabacc than in holochess. Her favorite opponent was Brak - they were both competitive, took the game seriously, and things often took a rough turn considering they both played for credits. Here on the Gossamer it was nuts and bragging rights.


Either way her nut clinked into the pile after Xin's. She was trying to keep her mouth shut on the sex comment and not draw the conversation into total debauchery. Easy to do when she was at the helm of things.


"Come on and join us Thel. You'll only end up losing your nuts."



[member="Xin Boa"] | [member="Lyle Hoken"] | [member="Heron Graile"] | [member="Sebastian Thel"] | [member="Dax Fyre"] | [member="Dash Kessler"] |

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Dash Kessler"] - [member="Dax Fyre"] - [member="Daymon Vale"] - [member="Sebastian Thel"] - [member="Heron Graile"] - [member="Lyle Hoken"] - [member="Xin Boa"] - [member="Delila Castillon"]

Noah was a self-admitted man of many vices. Liquor, ladies and lots of violence were his three of choice but surprisingly gambling didn't even make the top ten. With his favorites he could at least have some assurance of enjoying himself but with gambling? Gambling often left him with less money than he came in with. Of course so did booze and women but at least he didn't remember most of the times, Noah liked those two vices to overlap as much as possible. Even though they weren't playing for cash he still preferred not to play.

Instead Noah sat off to the side quietly strumming a nice guitar and singing. Of course if anyone had any requests he'd oblige them but for now he played and sung a song a buddy had taught him long ago.

"I was patrolling a Pachinko.
Nude noodle model parlor in the nefarious zone.
Hanging out with insects under ducting.
The GIA on the comm.
Well!
Latina caribo, mondo bongo.
The flower looks good in your hair.
Latina caribo, mondo bongo.
Nobody said it was fair."

 

[Heron Graile]

Dinko whistled along to [member="Noah Corek"]'s tune. "Hey, Guns, you know that one song by that one guy? Corellian country, real twangy, the one about his wife leavin'im?"

Her grand total was sitting at a good eighteen. Better than most, not quite good enough. She took a risk, drew another card -- a one. Risky, risky, risky. If her hand randomized again, she could wind up with something north of forty. The pot wasn't too full right now, but a few extra nuts would go a long way toward digging her out of the hole and letting her start with a fresh hand. A fresh hand was always best: start new, sweep the old away, make the most of it, move on. She'd done her best to follow that principle in life and love and, in general, sabacc. Also nonlethal autovehicular incidents, but that was another story.

"All right, folks, I'm gonna call sabacc on this one." She laid down her cards in the fixing field. "Who beats twenty?"

[member="Delila Castillon"] [member="Xin Boa"] [member="Lyle Hoken"] [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Daymon Vale"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]
[member="Noah Corek"]
[member="Heron Graile"]

The tips of his headtails flicked in frustration. Skreech followed them with his gaze, considering nipping at them again. Last time Xin had tapped him on the beak for it so he held back this time. The nautolan bombing out was amusing on its own.

This was such a quick call that Xin had been caught out. He dropped his cards down, face up, and paid into the sabacc pot. There were few nuts left on the table in front of him now. He was going to have to play a few cautious hands.

There was a secret bet riding on the game and currently it looked like he was going to go bust before Dells.

 

[Delila Castillon]

| [member="Noah Corek"] | [member="Heron Graile"] | [member="Xin Boa"] | [member="Lyle Hoken"] | [member="Daymon Vale"] |




Delila resisted the urge to yell out 'Free Bird' at Corek. Probably best not to encourage Corek. Used to be the case back during their time in the Pyre and the redhead doubted he changed. They hadn't spent much time together beyond training some kids to be Rebels. Personally she was surprised he wasn't at the sabacc table - she did remember his penchant for sabacc back in the day.


"I've just got five. Nothing to write home about."


Cards were laid out and she tossed in her portion of nuts. Gaze drifted over to Xin and appraised the pile he had left. Smaller than her own by comparison, she had half of her 'money' left from playing conservative early in the game. Judging by his expression he was frustrated and all she could do was grin. Topic switched back to music.


"Corellian country? Aren't all the songs about their women leavin' them?"

Spoiler

 

[Lyle Hoken]

He set his cards on the table top and pulled a cigarette from a pack in his pocket. His thumb worked the lighter and after a brief flicker of flame, he took a few puffs and let the smoke fill his kjngs for a moment.

"I've got you matched at twenty," he said, exhaling the smoke in a white-gray stream as he spoke. "Guess that means we're at sudden death 'less someone else got us beat or matched in kind."

He took another drawn on the cigarette and leaned back in his chair, his body at a slight angle with an arm tucked behind the seat back.

The game was getting good. It would remain to see who won in the end, however.