Stardock Before you, berthed at this dock, is the oldest ship you've ever seen. Her cargo hatch is open, and she's taking on supplies. The Captain, a broad-shouldered man, greets you warmly at the top of the gangplank. "Welcome to the Trans-26, let me show you to your duty station." With a firm handshake, he turns, entering the transport. >EXAMINE TRANSPORT Not only is she at least a hundred years old, but you struggle to believe that she's really fit to fly. Crewmen work hard to re-fuel her, while crates are loaded in one at a time. >FOLLOW CAPTAIN You follow the Captain into the ship. Cargo Hold This space is vast: big enough to carry supplies and equipment for several regiments. The crew is working hard trying to fill her, struggling to get everything ready for transit. Crates are scattered about, and an open hatchway lies aft, leading further into the ship. "See that panel over there, with two rivets instead of one?" asks the Captain, turning to you. "It leads to a hidden compartment, stocked with a few essentials. It's strictly for emergencies, you'll probably never need to use it, but remember it's there." >ASK CAPTAIN ABOUT CARGO "Don't worry, it's just a standard re-supply mission," responds the Captain. "Now let's go." With that the Captain heads aft, out of the cargo hold. >AFT Secondary Junction This is the lower level of the hub; from here you can go forward to the Cargo Hold, starboard to the Main Airlock, aft to the Engine Room and port to the Armory. You can also see a ladder, leading up the the upper level of the hub. "Follow me," says the Captain as he climbs up the ladder. >FOLLOW CAPTAIN You follow the Captain up the ladder. Main Junction This is the upper level of the hub; from here you can go forward to the Bridge, starboard to the Radar Room, aft to the Crew Quarters, and port to the Galley. You can also see a ladder, leading down to the lower level of the hub. "Let's get you to your duty station," says the Captain as he enters the radar room. >READ SIGN Reading clockwise, starting from the fore, there are arrows marked: "Bridge", "Radar Room", "Crew Quarters", and "Galley". An arrow pointing down is labeled "Cargo Hold", "Main Airlock", "Engine Room", and "Armory". >I You are carrying: an OmniTrans (being worn) an Omnibus Galacticus datacard a uniform (being worn) a personal ident badge >X OMNITRANS The one gadget no Xulthe'en crewman would ever be without, the OmniTrans doubles as a translator and portable database. It has two slots for datacards; at the moment the first is occupied by the Omnibus Galacticus, while the second is empty. The OmniTrans will translate anything written in any known form of language; simply SCAN the writing (or the object it is written on) and a translation will appear on the display. Alternatively, LOOK UP will bring up all relevant information stored on the inserted datacards. >LOOK UP XULTHE'EN IN OMNITRANS You look up the Xulthe'en in the Omnibus Galacticus, and find a small section about the name. The name is derived from Xul, the name of the star in the primary Xulthe'en system. Strangely, the name was not coined by the Xulthe'en, but instead by the Zal'tacs, the first aliens to pass through the system. (In the Zal'tac tongue, it translates as "Children of Xul".) It is conjectured that the Xulthe'en, not having hitherto felt the need to give their species a name, accepted the Zal'tac term as a sign of friendship. >SCAN SIGN The OmniTrans displays: "Bridge", "Radar Room", "Crew Quarters", "Galley", "Cargo Hold", "Main Airlock", "Engine Room", and "Armory". >STARBOARD Radar Room The room is filled with equipment: computer banks, radar systems, even a prox-tar, along with three operating stations. The Captain is talking with the Ensign in charge when you walk in. An open hatchway lies to port. On the desk are a large cup and a prox-tar. "Sir, yes, sir," replies the Ensign to the Captain. "You'll be in good hands," says the Captain, patting you on the shoulder as he walks out of the room. "So, is this your first hop?" asks the Ensign. >SAY YES "Well, it won't be so bad," says the Ensign, patting you on the shoulder. "Let's get something to eat." With that, the Ensign exits the radar room. >EXIT Main Junction This is the upper level of the hub; from here you can go forward to the Bridge, starboard to the Radar Room, aft to the Crew Quarters, and port to the Galley. You can also see a ladder, leading down to the lower level of the hub. The Ensign heads quickly to port, into the Galley. >PORT Galley The Ensign grabs a plate of food, while a few crewmen eat at tables littered with empty plates. You can hear a mixture of rock music and loud explosions coming from the aft corner: someone's playing on the video game machine, and doing rather well by the sound of it. An open hatchway lies to starboard. On the counter are a robo-wash, a meal dispenser and a drinks dispenser. You can also see the Ensign here. >ASK ENSIGN ABOUT EMPTY PLATES "Don't worry about those," says the Ensign, "once we're done in here we'll just turn on the robo-wash and he'll take care of it." >PRESS MAIN ON MEAL DISPENSER Out pops a warm plate of food. >X PLATE Eggs, bacon, hash browns. It looks like they know how to cook the basics, at least. >TAKE PLATE Taken. >PRESS COFFEE ON DRINK DISPENSER "Hang on," says the Ensign, putting a cup in the cup-holder for you. "Can't have you making a mess on your first day!" You press the "Coffee" button and, after a bit of gurgling, the dark liquid that passes for coffee around here gloops slowly into the cup. >TAKE CUP Taken. >SIT DOWN You sit down at one of the tables, pushing the detritus of its last occupant out of the way. The Ensign sits down beside you. >EAT FOOD As you bite into the food, you discover that it tastes like cardboard. Before you can stop yourself, you spit a mouthful onto the floor, and everyone in the room bursts out laughing. The Ensign pats you on the back as he says, "Welcome to the Armada!"