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Jonathan Seabourne · 02-19-2020, 03:14 AM,

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Wanderlust Magazine
[Image: Luxury_liner.png]

"Tales From Where Angels Fear to Tread"
A White Spa Lines Publication, A Division of Orbital Spa and Cruise
18 February 827 A.S.

A Starlit Sea

Orbital's ships have combed much of Sirius to find the most exotic and thrilling locales for their passengers. But an explorer's job is never done, and even the most experienced captains can still be awed by making the sector give up new secrets. For captains Seabourne and Cross, an unexpected run-in with some freelancers out in Omicron Delta culminated in just such an experience.

The Red Velvet Club and Breezewood were discharging passengers to Freeport 11 on the edge of civilized space when several freelance pilots of the Forlorn Wing made an offer too good to pass up. For a few million credits, Nick.Stenn and his wingmates Regina.Silva and Sanada.Junko offered to guide the passenger liners to the edges of charted space to gaze down at something that would be worth the price. "We can always make more credits," said Seabourne, "but unique experiences are much harder to come by."

What ensued was a harrowing journey passed vaporized planets and ancient alien constructs. Passage through an unstable jump hole brought the ad hoc fleet to their final destination. "Welcome to the edge of the universe," said Stenn upon emerging from the jump hole. "You are now in a system that doesn't exist."

Below the vessels stretched a massive blue plane that seemed to reach out to the horizon of the cosmos themselves. A brilliant starry sky twinkled overhead as a dusty debris field swirled around the ships. "Floating above the surface, you felt like a nautical cruise vessel and not a space ship," said Seabourne. "It felt like Breezewood was skimming a starlit sea. I took the helm myself for part of the journey, the sensation was incredible."

The origins of the massive blue object are not known to Orbital Spa and Cruise, but Seabourne did report some strange markings on its surface. "It looked artificial," said the captain, "like it was built that way by design, but I shudder to think what kind of intelligence would have been powerful enough to construct it."

A Civil Encounter

Orbital Spa and Cruise has little tolerance for pirates. Terrorists who threaten our ships even less so. However, the universal language of credits has a way of turning tense encounters into mutually beneficial engagements, as newly returned Captain Steve Jones of the Barbuda found out.

The unretired Captain was ferrying passengers to the Renzu Shipyards in Shikoku when he was accosted by a Lane Hacker named Konrad von Gloda. Lane Hackers are mortal enemies of Ageira Technologies, but this one seemed to take a more pragmatic approach to other Liberty corporations. Perhaps the fact that he was alone in a Domedary freighter instead of a more combat oriented vessel factored into the Hacker's decision to talk instead of shoot, but in any event the captain soon found himself negotiating with the would-be pirate.

"Not wishing to disturb my dining guests with the sounds of battle and due to the pittance of a "donation" he requested I decided to spare him the indignity of being eviscerated in such a public way," said Jones. "He also, at my request preformed a close flyby, which delighted my travelling passengers." The Barbuda proceeded on to its final destination, the Hacker got his payday, and the passengers disembarked with a story to tell their friends. Charm, not steel, makes up the main armor of the luxury fleet. In this case, the Barbuda's rising tide lifted all ships.

An Uninvited Guest

Manhattan is a natural gathering point for travelers from across Sirius. The planet is centrally located between three houses in one of the most well defended sections of the sector. Many a pilot has found themselves shooting the breeze with whoever else queued up for mooring with Liberty's capital world, but for the crew of the Breezewood this one would feature a most unwelcome guest getting their comeuppance.

Captain Jonathan Seabourne's liner was in orbit near Trenton outpost. The ship was making preparations to receive a new batch of socialites from the surface and the captain was engaging a pilot named NO-F-Saronsen over open comms. "I had never met a pilot from the Natio Octovarium," said Seabourne, "and I never pass up the opportunity to make new potential friends and allies. You never know what interesting slices of Sirius they know like the back of their hand which the rest of us haven't even heard of!"

The Liner and the Pilot weren't alone in Manhattan space. Two Forlorn freelancers, Stenn and Junko, were also coincidentally present. "It was pleasant company," said Seabourne, "until the Gaian showed up."

Gaians, a radical eco-terrorist group, have long opposed any efforts at terraforming worlds. While most of their ire is centered on Planetform, they harbor a deep resentment for OS&C for its ecotourism. Planet Gaia, the most biologically diverse world in the sector, was closed off from development save for limited facilities for university researchers from Cambridge and for OS&C escorted tourists before the Gallic Invasion. That limited footprint was perceived as an existential threat to the garden planet by the Gaians, who attacked civilian shuttles rather than tolerate human visitors to the Eden of Sirius. The mostly-Bretonian faction ended up joining forces with the Gallic Royal Navy against their own government in a short-sighted campaign to drive the Queen's careful custodianship from the planet once and for all. Of course, the Enclave ended up settling the planet en masse with the collapse of the monarchy, erecting oil derricks to strip the planet of the rich hydrocarbon deposits left behind by all of its varying lifeforms. A curious fate the Gaians secured for their once pristine world.

But though their cause celebre now lies in ruins at their own hands, the Gaians can still field sizable military hardware, as one Gina-Caliburn demonstrated by flying a Gaian destroyer into the heart of Liberty. "We keep a menagerie of Gaian wildlife on board," said Seabourne. "I shuddered to think what they would do to our ship in the name of "liberating" those creatures."

The freelancers decided to move against the destroyer, spurred by a reward promise from the Breezewood. The Forlorn ships engaged the destroyer with the liner and NO pilot tagging along to enjoy the view. The battle was evenly matched as the destroyer headed for the safety of the Jersey Debris field until it made the fatal mistake of shooting at Saronsen. The NO pilot did not take kindly to the scratches on his paint job and joined the fight. "Hope you like rapid fire," exclaimed Saronsen as he opened up on the hapless Gaian capital ship with his chain guns at point blank range. With stripped shields and depleted batteries and nanobots, the vessel quickly was put out of action in spectacular fashion.

The Navy ship LNS-Shenandoah responded to the situation quickly thereafter, but only found dust and echoes to report. Seabourne paid the pilots for their service and their spectacle, even though the ship was running empty at the time. "It was a shame we weren't carrying passengers to entertain," said the captain. "But every once in a while it's nice to let the crew man the rails and enjoy something like a spectacular starfight too!"

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OS&C|Breezewood

Captain Jonathan Seabourne, Editor-in-Chief, Wanderlust Magazine

"Where Angels Fear to Tread"

Orbital Spa and Cruise

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