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**TheKusari** · 04-22-2025, 11:12 AM,

On board the Sol:

This two-part story follows Alley, a person who has taken their first trip in what believe is one of Spa & Cruise's most luxurious pleasure liners within Sirius. Little did they realize the trademark signage, sterile vacant corridors and spartan quarters of the scientific crowd until it was too late. Too excited to begin their exciting trip to Gallia, Alley takes a spot near their bedside window and the Sol disembarks from Planet Stuttgart. The planet quickly vanishing as the ship makes it's way down the trade lane towards Cologne. The third part of this story takes place from the view of the vessel's owner and captain, Albert.

PART ONE - THE FOOD

The staff were all very polite. Cheery, smiling and ensuring all guests were taken care of. One could tell they came from Spa & Cruise, though Alley slowly noticed that something didn't line up. All the people were dressed as if it was the last day on earth, the colourful and high-class population sitting within the blank and monocoloured environment. Within one of the major halls, tables were lined with seating on either side. All of the passengers gathered on one end, lining up at the cafeteria to be served their first meal. Alley being the third in line, only due to being in the right place at the right time, gets their bowl filled with a form of green paste, and their cup with what looks like blue milk. Alley looked up at the cafeteria worker.

"Do we not get room service out here?"

"Welcome to the Sol, don't have much of anything here."

"I booked a holiday that came with room service!"

"We're disappointed too. You're holding up the line. Please take a seat."

Alley thought this was rather strange. No room service? What kind of Spa & Cruise ship doesn't have that? Surely they'd have that organized when they started advertising trips to Gallia. They placed themselves in front of a window, close by to the other two who had already gotten their food. Alley looked over at their food and saw the same mushed down paste, the same blue milk.

"Hey there, my names Alley. Do you know what's going on?"

"No idea, this isn't a Spa & Cruise ship. Look around... and this shit tastes like... well, shit."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence. Already off to a great start."

An hour or two pass by, with every few minutes the trade lane rings zooming by the window. Alley quietly makes a whooshing noise when one passes, thinking of ways to entertain themselves. When they returned to their room later, a message was left on their terminal. The terminal itself wasn't standard issue hardware. An hour was spent trying to figure out the legend so they could use it. Eventually, looking up the inbox was made easy. The Spa & Cruise staff informed everyone that they were on board a Starfliers liner. One that has been fitted for carrying passengers. The only issue is that a lot of their services and entertainment has not been worked on during the refit, so all who are on board will have to work with what the Starfliers has to offer. This was all organized last minute to get double booked passengers on their way to Gallia. This sent Alley into a frenzy, their first holiday. Ruined. Not only is it not something understandable like a waiter tripping over and spilling food everywhere, but they are on a ship that they didn't sign up to be on and have to deal with it being so far from home.

PART TWO - ENTERTAINMENT

It was the fourth day. The sight during this part of the transit to Gallia was Zurich's sun. A few people gathered A huge commotion was heard from bed, only to have it die down for a few minutes. Groggy, Alley woke up briefly onto to hear nothing once they regained their senses. With a shrug, they returned to their sleep only to have it disrupted again by another loud cheer. This time, fully awake, they got up off the slabbed bed and got dressed. Looking at the clock, Alley makes a mental note that this is much too early. Following the loud mix of cheering, yelling and shouting, Alley leaves the room with their terminal showing 2:34am. Didn't take long to find a group of people gathered around a terminal in the cafeteria, their loud noises being used a guidance to locate them.

"Alley is it? Get over here, check this out!"

It was the same person they spoke to on their first day. A space opened up beside them to allow Alley in.

"This is called Tetris."

Another in the group had the controls, wildly pressing buttons with everyone else seeing the shapes spin and fall.

"It's a game! I don't know why they don't have the other well known holos. Spa & Cruise cheaped out here. Wish they had Spiral Sliders 3. They have something called a Rubik's Cube, haven't tried that one yet."

"This isn't them."

The group roars in disappointment as the words "Game Over" appear onscreen. It quickly dies down with everyone's heads facing Alley.

"What?"

"Did not see the communication from the staff? They said this is not one of their liners. Some group called the Starfliers run this ship"

Some murmuring and whispers scatter among the group.

"The explorers? Why are WE here?"

"It's explained in the message. Just read it when you go back to your room."

"Well I don't know how to use that bloody terminal. Way too fancy and high tech for me."

"Listen, I get it. I'm tired, the bed is not comfortable and we don't even get alcohol out here."

"Alcohol! Goddamn, I want a drink now. Where's the staff? We should round up everyone later on and go make some noise."

"Give me a few hours of sleep, and I'll give you that noise. Fuck these Starfliers, I want my goddamn holiday."

PART THREE - COMPLAINTS

Infront of Planet Marseille, the Sol hangs in orbit doing their post-launch checks before departing for Rheinland. Albert McKenzie looks over his dashboard to see the list of complaints growing. Without hesitation, he swipes the display away wanting to ignore it. Though it hangs on his mind that eventually, these need to be addressed. A nearby Corse frigate was pinged on scanners. Knowing that they are of the same nature as Spa & Cruise, Albert hails them over local subspace frequency.

Code:
[21.04.2025 09:01:55] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Hello, can I get your assistance?

[21.04.2025 09:02:01] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Ah, there you are.

[21.04.2025 09:02:27] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: As we said earlier; we should be the one asking you that! We try to make sure the various liners that comes here are-

[21.04.2025 09:02:44] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: coming in one piece, without any problem. I trust this run has been going well?

[21.04.2025 09:02:55] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: The transit is going well.

[21.04.2025 09:03:09] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: However the issue I am experiencing is with the passengers themselves.

[21.04.2025 09:03:16] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Too excited?

[21.04.2025 09:03:25] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Too disgruntled.

[21.04.2025 09:03:30] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: *chuckles heard across the CIC*

[21.04.2025 09:03:51] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: I am receiving reports from my staff that the passengers do not enjoy being on the Sol.

[21.04.2025 09:04:27] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Ah. I thought it was pertaining to our various resorts. Well... maybe we can help out in redesigning, reworking, and so on

[21.04.2025 09:04:40] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: the interior; the various services proposed on board, and so on.

[21.04.2025 09:04:54] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Hmm, this vessel is primarily a science vessel.

[21.04.2025 09:05:11] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: I have had modules swapped to accomodate standard passengers.

[21.04.2025 09:05:22] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: It's quite a big ship though-- Yeah. Well, you're Starfliers, so... si, I can understand it.

[21.04.2025 09:05:42] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: What are your recommendations for an enjoyable experience?

[21.04.2025 09:05:54] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: As you know, this is not our primary venture.

[21.04.2025 09:06:04] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: I suppose you don't rush to see a science organization as the #1 liner travel organization. It's natural, earlier we had a

[21.04.2025 09:06:14] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: -GMS liner, so, yeah you're not the only ones!

[21.04.2025 09:06:31] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Well; for a starter, maybe *capitalize* on being a science vessel.

[21.04.2025 09:06:44] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: That is the intent, at least a future goal.

[21.04.2025 09:06:59] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: The task now is a test to see if this future goal is viable.

[21.04.2025 09:07:00] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Offer various, easy-to-digest, and varied courses on space, astronomy, the like. That would be pretty cool, I'd sign up!

[21.04.2025 09:07:30] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Oh, interesting. Make it educational.

[21.04.2025 09:07:36] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: For example, while travelling through a nebula, indicating various fun facts (not on the speakers of the whole ship) about

[21.04.2025 09:07:43] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: the nebula itself, and so on!

[21.04.2025 09:08:15] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Its composition, and so on; for example here with the Mer Mediterrannee, there's Planet Nice! Which is quite cool.

[21.04.2025 09:08:21] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Indeed; educational!

[21.04.2025 09:08:27] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: It appears the services provided on the Sol are not what Spa & Cruise's clientelle are used to.

[21.04.2025 09:08:45] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Capitalizing on the scientific aspect of the whole thing. -- and yeah; it'll need some refurbishing I assume.

[21.04.2025 09:08:47] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: This friction is causing unrest and disgruntlement.

[21.04.2025 09:09:08] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Thank you for the recommendation. We will indeed explore this educational angle.

[21.04.2025 09:09:10] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: But at least, some training for your crew on how to handle people; and so on. It's quite easy when you know how to.

[21.04.2025 09:09:23] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Si, any time. 

[21.04.2025 09:09:28] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Yes, well... we are not customer service.

[21.04.2025 09:09:40] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Training in that field may be necessary.

[21.04.2025 09:09:41] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: That's where partnerships between organizations comes in!

[21.04.2025 09:09:54] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Indeed.

[21.04.2025 09:10:11] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: You could skip the whole training part and, I dunno, hide some OS&C, or IDF's IDFS crew, and rotate the crew!

[21.04.2025 09:10:28] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Speaking of reports, the passengers from Marsielle are getting annoyed that we aren't moving.

[21.04.2025 09:10:32] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Train them on astronomy, astrochemistry, and so on.

[21.04.2025 09:10:39] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: There's a LOT of people indeed.

[21.04.2025 09:10:58] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: And we've noticed a spike in pirate and terrorist activity nearby, but not in Provence proper, thankfully.

[21.04.2025 09:11:00] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: But I will record this conversation for future reference.

[21.04.2025 09:11:07] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Of course, no problem.

[21.04.2025 09:11:10] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Your recommendations have been invaluable.

[21.04.2025 09:11:24] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: So yeah; educational angle on the whole ship, there's a lot of potential!

[21.04.2025 09:11:39] '\S/'SRV-Sol: Albert: Godspeed on your supply runs, Corse.

[21.04.2025 09:11:46] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Anytime, it is our goal to provide security and help to our friends!

[21.04.2025 09:11:51] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: Merci beaucoup!

[21.04.2025 09:12:03] UC/-UCW-Provenza|SOFP: CIC: May the stars smile at your new ventures.

Discovery's Best Faction: Starfliers
Second Best: Liberty Navy 46th Fleet

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