>>5285260Your constant diligence has paid off as you realize your instinctive fear of crowds has faded and your words come easier to your mind. Now it will be easier to give speeches. More importantly, the morale of your crew is closer to being under your control.
>You have learned Novice Oratory. This shifts the difficulty of Oratory up by one tier.Your Warp transit is extremely rough. There's a crushing isolation and vivid nightmares every time you close your eyes. For some of the crew it's too much and they riot. 400 are killed in the violence before it's stopped and morale drops. This isn't the worst you've seen. Your bodyguard keeps the captain's quarters safe and crew are easily replaced. The Stirling Bank could've been damaged or worse, emerged at a different location in the sector.
You arrive at System 429 after three more months in the Warp. You've been very unlucky on the timing for these stable jumps over the last year. Maybe it's an omen. You pay your remaining men their wages of 339.3k, 113.1k per month. You have 6.199.7mil thrones left. You find the system is occupied. The blood in your veins is as cold as ice when the auspex scanners relay their findings. A Sword Frigate of the Imperial Navy is patrolling the system's outskirts. So far, they have made no reaction to your freighter and appear to be neutral to its presence. You are, or were, legally obligated to send a vox transmission informing any ships of the Imperial Navy of your identity, cargo, and destination but that is a problem. You are legally a pirate and they are legally obligated to disable pirate ships operating in the sector. That means they could cripple your engines and plunder your hold without recourse or destroy the Stirling Bank outright. You are outmatched in every way. Their armour is superior, their engine is faster, and their four macrocannons have a good chance of shattering your ship in a single volley. If it comes down to a boarding operation, their crew is far more numerous, far more motivated, far better trained, far better equipped, and it hurts to admit it, but far better led.
Your chances in an open fight are slim. Your best chance is to bluff but if their captain sees through it you're dead. You have superior distance and could flee back to Troth YV80 with little chance of them catching but that would set you back months at best. Assuming they didn't pursue you with their Navigator. You could be blunt with their captain and offer a bribe to overlook your passage or, if you're feeling bold and reckless, ignore them and pray to the Saints that they don't rake you with a broadside. If you were feeling suicidal, you could surprise them with your own macrocannons and hope for a miracle. This is a terrifying situation but you're in command and the burden is on your shoulders.
>What are your orders, captain? 