Captain Bantageaux, an Apsu pilot in the service of the Co'ir Transport Company; Bah'ni Bantageaux is renowned across the Bythos as one of the best pilots there is.  Trained in a Science Guild Academy, his knowledge of the stars is bewildering.  Fresh out of the Academy he took a post on the freight ship TK1021 as a Lt Navigator.  His primary function being to take the navigators position on the bridge when the primary navigator was off duty.  One night during his off duty time, the ship was attacked by pirates.  During the siege the captain orders the young Lt to go to the data storage area and lock down the navigational files.  Here he encounters an unusual looking pirate.  The Apsu man is short, a bit chubby, and dressed more like a Cipa'ci gaffler than a pirate.  The awkward man, in an oddly polite manner asks the Lt. Bantageaux to gather the NAV data for him.  Lt. Bantageaux refuses, and attacks the odd little man; he has the man subdued in short order but one of his cohorts intervenes and in the ensuing scuffle much of the Data stores are destroyed in a small explosion that left a bit of debris lodged in Lt. Bantageaux's skull.  Hours pass before his body is found, while the rest of the crew was busy fighting the pirates.  In that time, his wound had already begun to heal, his body absorbing part of the media.  In a highly unusual result, the nanobots in his blood didn't reject the foreign material, but instead fusing the debris to his skull and wrapping the brain tissue about it. 

Already a highly skilled pilot, Bah'ni Bantageaux became a living NAV computer, from any point in space, he instantly can plot a course to anywhere else in known space, and even locate objects not previously known in the Galactic Record.  Unsure of his new abilities, he chooses to keep them to himself; often giving his captain courses without ever entering the data into the computers.  His ability to plot the fastest, most direct course makes Lt. Bantageaux a fast riser to Sr. Navigator, then eventually to captain of his own ship.  His first command, is of a small freight vessel, dispatched to smaller ports; transporting rare fineries from the edges of civilization.  On one such mission to a small moon settlement in the (name) system, Captain Bantageaux receives word from his superiors asking him to travel into the nearby Galaxies Edge to locate another ship that had gone there 3 years previous and never returned.  The captain of that ship, one Admiral (name,) was exploring the space beyond the Galaxies Edge in search of new trade for Co’ir but had not yet returned, or even sent back any communications.  So Captain Bantageaux and his small crew are sent to investigate.  Their only orders were to trace his last know course and find out if he was still alive.  But upon discovering that the Admiral was indeed still alive Capt. Bantageaux decides to track him down, believing that he was only a few days journey away.  That few days journey became a 5 year odyssey into unknown space with him losing his ship and most of his crew in the process. 
            On the planet (name) Capt. Bantageaux is horrified to find that nearly half the planets inhabitants are hopelessly addicted to a substance called soma.  And before he knows it, so is half his small 10 man crew.  Sidetracked by this horror he sets out to find the source of the scourge, on behalf of the planets rulers and himself; to save his crewmen, he travels to the planet said to be the source of the drug, where he is astonished to find that it is Admiral (name) who has taken over the exporting of soma across the galaxy.   As the drug was diminished during initial trial exports, an artificial form was prepared, and it was that artificial form of soma that was devastating (name).  The Admiral himself, deeply addicted to the drug believes himself to be saving people by sharing the great benefits of soma with other species.  He fully intended to spread it across the galaxy on the other side of the Galaxies Edge, but he was so riddled by the drug himself, and driven dysfunctional to the point that he could no longer arrange the efforts to complete his intentions.   Deranged from excessive use of soma, Admiral (name) refuses to leave the planet insisting that he has no desire to return to Co’ir and that he resigns his command, while keeping the title, to pursue his efforts to spread the “joy” of soma. 
            After escaping Admiral (name), Capt. Bantageaux is able to hitch a ride back to the galaxies edge where he travels with pirates back to civilized space.  After telling his tale, and discovering that a few of his original crew along with some of Admiral’s crew had made it back as well, he is given a new command, a new crew and given a new mission.  But Bah’ni Bantageaux is a changed man.  No more the stickler for rules and regulations, he wears his hair longer, his uniform looser, and is far more lax with his new crew than he had been on his first command.  His new ship, is actually his first ship, the first ship he served on, TK1021, which he named the Bythos Blitzer. 

Bounding across space, from star to star, station to station, Captain Bah'ni Bantageaux is the man Co'ir calls for the most dangerous and urgent of missions.  If its getting supplies to colonists on far off moon, tracking down a ship lost in space or escorting diplomats on urgent missions, no other spacer will do.  Though he is forbidden from transporting regular passengers, he is always in high demand from those that need to get somewhere fast. 

Just as Captain Bah'ni Bantageaux is no ordinary pilot, his ship, the Bythos Blitzer, is no
ordinary freighter, it his highly specialized, retrofitted engines, expanded freight space, a
reduced crew (only the best, bravest; some say craziest, spacers fly with Capt. Bantageaux,) and a palatial Iko's suite for those special passengers. The captain himself prefers more humble accommodations; he sleeps on the ships observation desk, where he has an overhead view of passing stars to which he has a hyper sensitive connection.   Despite his reputation for successfully completing the most dangerous and reckless of missions, serving on the Bythos Blitzer is seen and a career ender.  Most other captains look down on Capt. Bantageaux’s nature and style of command; he treats his crew like family, actually many of them are actually related to one another.  His crew is seen as lax and untrustworthy by other captains, but to a man, they will gladly lay down their lives for their captain. 

 

CREW MEMBERS:  All but one member of the crew were raised within the company; all but one are Academy graduates, trained to perform the duties they perform on the Bythos Blitzer. 

1st Officer: Apsu man, a highly talented pilot in his own right, he is totally devoted to his closet friend, and mentor Captain Bantageaux.  A decorated officer he is frequently chided for refusing to leave Bantageaux’s command.  “He had a promising career until he went to work for Bantageaux.

Science Officer/ Medic: Syk’a rii male, brother of Security Officer; with a crew of mostly Apsu and Syk’arans his medical duties are minimal.  So he spends most of his time working on his various research projects and assisting his sister maintaining the ships armament.

Chief Engineer:  Shalmana Natra
Shalmana - Peaceful, righteous, honest. (Aramaic)
Natra - Watchman, guardian spirit.
A Ravus female, raised at a LS Academy, in a mostly Apsu environment.  She is, like most Ravus, incredibly intelligent, and intensely curious.  Her curiosity is mostly directed at her Apsu shipmates who she finds fascinating.  One of her ongoing pet projects it to develop a device that will allow her to see to see full spectrum of colors as seen by most other species.  She feels it will allow her to achieve a better understanding of their wide range of emotions.   Ravus are color blind, and are in general very mild in nature though some of them can become quite inflamed when attempting to solve a problem. 

Asst. Engineer/ Programmer:  Apsu man (perhaps gay) A brilliant programmer, he is the first to crack the firmware developed by Nathaniel to hack into Co’ir and Cipa’ci ship’s systems.  He is also a fierce warrior, who fights with the reckless abandon of a savage warrior. 

Security Officer: Syk’a rii female, sister of Science Officer; with the assistance of her brother, she has equipped the Bythos Blitzer with the galaxies most potent array of on ship weaponry.  Most Co’ir ships have only a few standard cannons, that fire projectile ordinance; metal cased explosives. 

Guard 1:  A Priscan man, one of the few working for Co’ir.  Most work for Priscan concerns, even after attending LS Academies.

Guard 2:  An Apsu man, weapons and explosives expert he is the primary tactician for off ship operations. 

Navigator/ Cook: Apsu man, probably the least qualified member of the crew, he is not much of a navigator, but Capt. Bantageaux doesn’t need one.  He is however an excellent cook, which is why he is on the ship.

Chief Gaffler/ Quarter Master;  Apsu man, the oldest member of the crew, and the defacto conscious of the group, he was a member of Bah’ni’s original crew that ventured beyond the Galaxies Edge.  Despite his job, the Captain frequently goes to him for advice when making tuff decisions.  His four sons serve as gafflers under him. 

Gaffler 1:  The oldest son, loyal to his father to a fault, he could be a pilot on another ship, and on occasion he is allowed a duty shift on the bridge. 

Gaffler 2:  The second son, gruff in demeanor, he does his job, but never lets anyone go without knowing how much he hates it.  He is a constant complainer, but he works just as hard, if not harder than anyone else on the ship.  He is the handy sort and often assists the engineers with repairs, which he also complains about.

Gaffler 3:  The 3rd son, he has a different mother than his brothers.  He is the product of a liaison in the stars.  He did not attend the LS Academy, he serves at the discretion of the captain, but he is a brilliant, self taught programmer and engineer who only carries the title of gaffler for payroll purposes.  He is primarily an assistant engineer.  He and the Ravus chief engineer are the best of friends, she teaches him engineering, and he teaches her about being Apsu.

Gaffler 4: The youngest of the four brothers, he is not long out of the Academy and is working his first duty in the stars.  The other boys, had all server on other vessels. 

General Crewman:  Apsu, junior deck hands that serve on the bridge, during off duty shifts. 

General Crewman: Syk’a rii, junior deck hands that serve on the bridge, during off duty shifts. 

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