Jam Session #2 - Raceway Bossa Nova

New Galveston Beat Arc Theme Song: “Getting Down” by The Kills // Session Intro Song: “Hot Rod Lincoln” by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

If you would like a recap of the previous session, check out Jam Session #1: Orbital Blues.

The session opens with Sirius Wang, de facto captain of The Mississippi Queen waking up quite disheveled from a night of drinking, smoking, and general debauchery sprawled out on a table in a private room his clothing and hair disheveled and his body reeking of… something. A moment of melancholy passed over Sirius as he earned his first Blues for overindulging. After taking a moment to collect his bearings, Sirius heads downstairs to the Rising Dragon Lounge’s all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet to stock up on some passably delicious foods before heading back to the ship. On his way out he crosses paths with Chilong, the Crew’s most recent patron, who asks again if the Crew is interested in the offered “corporate espionage” job. Sirius, unwilling to make the call without his crew, says he’ll get back to Chilong by lunch.

The camera cuts away to Glenallen Mixon III, who is waking up in the doorway of one of New Galveston’s private art galleries as a Khanate Mardet prods him with a steel-toed boot. Glenallen, who had ended the previous session feeling down on himself, had decided to stroll through New Galveston’s art district to soak up the works of artists more successful than he, wondering if it, just maybe, it was he who was the bad artist or truly if it was the fact that no one else understood him. He hadn’t intended on falling asleep outside, and had just sat down to rest his eyes for a few seconds… But, now awake, Glenallen decided it was time to make his way back to The Mississippi Queen and figure out what the Crew was going to do next.

We next find ourselves in the ship’s galley where Cher Pepasi and Kuru Toga are eating breakfast with the ship’s new cat, an ugly little stray named Cynthia. Cher had returned to the ship late last night while Toga had kept an eye on things after the attempted theft by the Rainbow Gang. Fortunately for these two, the night had passed by uneventfully.

The spotlight returns to Glenallen Mixon III, who rents an autocab and heads back to New Galveston’s towering spaceport and makes his way to the fourth story where The Mississippi Queen is docked. He nearly bumps into an older man in a blue jumpsuit and a utility belt and manages to mumble a half-hearted “Good morning” before moving along, completely unaware of the fact that the older gentleman is heading in the same direction. The two share that awkward moment when you’re walking somewhere and a stranger isn’t quite following you, but it’s starting to get a little suspicious. I’m sure we can all relate to that experience, being human beings who have gone out into public and all. Anyway, I digress. Glenallen arrives at the docking station, punches in the codes to the sealed doors, and (realizing that the older man has also stopped at the doorway) politely motions for the stranger to board the ship, not even aware of the action as he does so.

Thus does Scruffie the Custodian, having been tracking down The Mississippi Queen for nearly six goddamn months, finally return home. You see, it turns out that Scruffie had been on the payroll with the former owner of the casino ship, but in the middle of his shore leave Sirius Wang had won the ship in a game of chance. Cher Pepasi, the only other staff member to stay on with the new owner had insisted that they wait for “the janitor” to return to The Mississippi Queen before departing from Gan Di City, but after a few days Sirius grew bored and took off. Poor Scruffie watched from the security checkpoint as his big, beautiful boat took to the stars, leaving him behind…

Now being just another brick in the wall, most of the Crew doesn’t even notice Scruffie’s arrival (except, of course, Cher Pepasi, but he’s not exactly one to get a lot of attention in meetings). It wasn’t until Sirius returned to the ship and Scruffie began mopping up in the galley that Glenallen even realized that he had let this strange old man on board. There was a moment of confusion, raised voices, and possibly a stealthily drawn firearm by Kuru Toga before Cher was able to convince everyone that Scruffie wasn’t a threat and was, in fact, a member of the Crew. Scruffie, unflappable as always, simply continued mopping up the floor, not even pausing to properly introduce himself. He was, after all, simply “the custodian.”

Order restored to the Crew, the boys discussed the jobs they had available to them. Chilong was offering 2 Creds for a “simple smash-and-grab” job involving a shipping manifest belonging to Zhuzong Enterprises, a local fishing consortium who more-or-less owned New Galveston. It was discussed, but between the relatively low pay and Glenallen’s dislike for such work, it was ultimately passed up. Sirius, a little nervous to be telling a mobster “No” reached out to Chilong and was pleasantly surprised to find that the proprietor of the Rising Dragon Lounge was very understanding and had lined up a second crew to take on the job.

Next up was a salvaging operation that Sirius had learned about on the Holonet through a reliable contact the Crew knew as “Mifune.” A derelict shipping freighter owned by Balam-Ui Nolae was supposedly orbiting around Jupiter and was reported to have upwards of 6 Creds worth of various goods on board. The catch was the Mun Mulgogi’s orbit was rapidly degrading and it would crash into Jupiter in the next five or six days. Mifune said they had the location and the access codes, but was only offering them up for a price: 1 Cred. The Crew was interested, but Toga ran the numbers and after calculating the cost of fuel to get to the Mun Mulgogi and Mifune’s finder’s fee they’d only net 4 Creds after they found a buyer for the goods. The Crew decides to buy Mifune’s information so it doesn’t go to a competitor, but decide against following up on the job for now.

A bit disheartened, the Crew decided to follow up on Cher’s lead: a sabotage mission on behalf of retired hover racer Kazunori Sato. The FG Grand Prix’s next race was happening right here in New Galveston and Sato’s son Yuji was a few points behind Sato’s lifetime rival Adderly Jiang. While Yuji was a capable racer in his own right - a few more years and he’d break several of Sato’s records - Sato wanted to embarrass Jiang completely. He was offering the 2 Cred to carry out the job, with the chance for additional Cred if his son beat out Jiang. The session’s theme song, “Hot Rod Lincoln,” plays as the Crew members ready themselves for the job ahead.

Cher and Toga were sent to speak with Sato and Yuji to gather the details about the job, but were accompanied at the last minute by Glenallen (a pretty big Sato fan in his youth) and, unbenownst to them, they were all three followed by Scruffie (seemingly “just because”). The five (and later six) men met at the Rising Dragon Lounge for lunch, taking their meeting in a private room. Sato laid out his expectations: he wanted the Crew to sabotage Jiang’s hover racer the night before the race - any earlier and it’d be caught by an inspection team he hadn’t bought off. He had paid a local mechanic (Junseok Khang) to carry out the sabotage, but the Crew would need to get Jiang’s racer to the Khang’s garage in the space port. The race was on Friday, but there would be a public car show Thursday afternoon the Crew could use as a way to get inside.

Throughout the conversation, Yuji would try to chime in, only to be cut off by his father. Cher, whose relationship with his own old man, understood the young racer’s pain and the moment of self-reflection and introspection caused him to earn his first Blues as he watched a fellow talented young adult wither in the shadow of his parent. In that moment Cher resolved that he wasn’t going to outdo his father by playing the senior Pepasi’s games, but by striking his own path forward and making a brand new name for himself.

At the end of the meeting, Glenallen offered Sato a portrait that he had sketched during the proceedings. Sato, not realizing it was supposed to be a gift, autographed the picture and returned it. Glenallen, bummed out by the accidental rejection, earned another Blues. Yet another person who didn’t understand his art - and a childhood hero to boot!

The Crew regrouped and discussed their next steps. Needing more information - specifically about the raceway’s security - Sirius decided to do a little scouting. Scruffie and Toga were dispatched to speak with Khang to figure out if they really needed to bring the racer to him, or if there was some kind of alternative that could be worked out. After all, it might be easier to smuggle Khang in than smuggle a multimillion Yuan racer out.

Scruffie and Toga headed to the third story of the spaceport where Khang kept his shop and spoke with the short, gruff mechanic. Khang laid out the plan: he had a part he could install in Jiang’s racer that would slow down the shifting process, making it harder for Jiang to keep up with the other racers. Then, once Jiang was able to get his racer in top gear, it would forcibly overclock the engine, causing the racer to overheat and malfunction and hopefully forcing Jiang to crash. With the new understanding that Khang would only have to install a single part, Toga and Scruffie decided to have Khang show them how to install it so they could do the work themselves. Khang, not really wanting a lot of heat on himself anyway, agreed once he was assured he’d get his pay.

Meanwhile, Sirius scoped out the raceway. The main gate was guarded by four security guards, with another two stationed at the racer garage. The remaining six guards patrolled the promenade grounds. Tailing the patrols for a few hours, Sirius even figured out the passcode to get into the maintenance entrance of the garage, which would no doubt come in handy later. He hung around long enough to watch the shift change, learning that the nighttime crew was only six members. Not wanting to look too suspicious, Sirius ducked out and returned to the ship.

With their new information the Crew laid out their plan: Sirius and Cher - the stealthiest of the Crew - would head in during the car show and find a place to hide out until the night crew came on. Once inside, they’d wait for the opportunity to smuggle Scruffie inside so he could install the part in Jiang’s engine. But… while they were at the car show the pair figured they’d might as well enjoy themselves a little bit and mingle and maybe get a few autographs. As it turned out, one of Cher and Sirius’s favorite hover racers, Steve Fenderly, was going to be participating in the race. Sirius brought along his Fenderly t-shirt from the beginning of Fenderly’s racing career and Cher queued up some of his favorite clips from the racer’s earlier years. Cher played a few clips, highlighting how fearless Fenderly used to be during those years and pointing out that his record suffered when he grew too cautious. Fenderly, a good-natured man with a mean mullet and mustache combo, indulged the duo, promising to take Cher’s advice to heart and even signing Sirius’s shirt before giving Cher a pair of racing gloves.

With the car show winding down, Cher and Sirius beat feet to a public bathroom and stowed away above the drop ceiling. There were several minutes of arranging and rearranging as Sirius kept shoving a knee in Cher’s side. The lack of decorum and the inexperience of his compatriot caused Cher to reminisce about some of the jobs he would work alongside his father as a child where Pepasi the Younger would serve as a distraction as Pepasi the Elder got the “real work” done. Melancholy abounded as Cher earned another Blues.

As night fell in New Galveston Glenallen, Toga, and Scruffie took an autocab and were dropped off a bit of a ways from the raceway gate. Scruffie went on ahead as Glenallen and Toga stayed behind, ready to rush in as backup if needed, but really hoping they could just get away with smoking a few cigarettes along the highway. The two got to chatting and Toga quickly realized that his compatriot was an awful lot like one of the fellows he had ran with during his time as one of The Golden Girls. While “Dorothy” and “Sophia” had always been the leaders of the quarter, Toga (“Rose”) and Rosco O’Reilly (“Blanche”) had formed their own bond as the crew’s scrappy up-and-comers. The memories of the good times and the bad, and the final parting of ways between the four Golden Girls brought upon a wave of Blues for the normally stoic Kuru Toga.

Meanwhile, Glenallen’s gaze wandered over to a piece of artwork that had been commissioned by a renowned street artist named “Maukse.” Here Glenallen was, trying to make a name for himself as a real artist, and the temporary raceway stands and promenade had been decorated by the Maukse. Had Maukse sold out to the corporations? Did Glenallen want the opportunity to sell out and turn his art into Creds? The conversation between the two men shifted topics as Glenallen laid out his artistic woes to his friend, breaking into a new pack of Victory cigarettes as he talked his way through the newest case of the Blues.

Inside the promenade Scruffie, who had confidently flashed his janitorial I.D. to get past the first set of guards, made his way to the garage where he encountered Cher and Sirius, who had just left the bathroom to come get him. Surprised to see Scruffie already inside, they quickly entered the code to access the garage and motioned for Scruffie to head in while they kept watch outside.

Scruffie shuffled on through the garage, making his way to Jiang’s racer, but was stopped by a guard along the way who demanded to know what Scruffie was doing inside. The custodian, accustomed to such interruptions in his work, launched into a monotone tirade about being dispatched to handle a chemical spill before going through each of the items on his person in excruciating detail in an attempt to bore the poor guard near to death. The plan nearly worked, but the guard demanded to see the contents of a metal briefcase Scruffie had brought with him - the container for Khang’s device. Fortunately Scruffie had packed the case with a variety of other cleaning tools and supplies and was able to bluff his way through the inspection. However, the look in the guard’s eyes as Scruffie explained his life’s work caused Scruffie to wonder if he had wasted his youth working as a “simple janitor,” and the old man gained a Blues.

Alone in the garage, Scruffie handily installed the part - his eye for detail had made it easy to memorize Khang’s instructions from earlier in the day. Did he have to use an extra zip tie to keep the modulator in place? Sure, of course he did. But who was going to notice that? Satisfied with his work, Scruffie left the garage, regrouped with Sirius and Cher, and the trio departed from the promenade before heading back home to The Mississippi Queen with Toga and Glenallen.

Friday morning rolled around and the Crew headed to a space port sports bar to watch the events unfold. Unbeknownst to them, Jiang’s pit crew had discovered the modulator after the “impartial inspectors” had “missed” it. His racer in perfect condition, Jiang started the race strong, quickly taking the lead. However, perhaps the attempted sabotage shook him, or maybe there was something else going on in the life of Adderly Jiang, but the famed racer made several rookie mistakes and was soon overtaken by Yuji Sato, who was racing in rare form that morning. The Crew, excited at the prospect of an improved payday. But then, out of nowhere, Steve Fenderly rips through the pack and is suddenly neck-and-neck with Yuji Sato. The older racer is driving like a young man who thinks himself immortal. To his credit, Yuji Sato managed to keep up with Fenderly for several laps, but it became apparent that Fenderly was a man possessed and despite all odds he came in first, shaking up the FG Grand Prix standings.

The Crew fell silent in the bar, worried that Yuji’s second place standing would cost them their bonus. However, the young racer was still first place overall, narrowly beating out Adderly Jiang, and when they arrived back at The Mississippi Queen they found that their pay included a little something extra for their troubles.

As the credits roll to the tune of “Getting Down,” Sirius Wang scrolls the job boards for another lead. A lucrative one catches his eye: A young couple offering 8 Cred to be smuggled out of New Galveston as soon as possible. Not wanting to take away from the celebrations of his friends, Sirius jots down what little information the job poster listed before leaving his quarters to rejoin the Crew in the galley.

We’ll see you next time, Space Cowboys…

You can listen to the full Orbital Blues: The Mississippi Sessions playlist on Spotify.