A Piratocracy

[candothat]

After Blackbeard's miraculously successful fuckery and the mess that followed, Chekov kept more-or-less to himself.

Some of it is lingering embarrassment over his outburst on the bridge. The rest is a result of his talk with Frenchie; that made it very clear to Chekov that he is in a place that he doesn't truly understand with no escape plan. The Enterprise isn't coming to his rescue because it is no longer under Captain Kirk's control. He can't contact Starfleet because he fled the scene of a murder and is now a criminal. Talking to his friends, currently scattered across the quadrant, is unsafe until he can set up a means of communication that Starfleet won't be able to track back to the Revenge. And, on top of that, the longer he stays with a pirate crew (are they officially pirates now that the infamous Blackbeard is in residence?), the more difficult it will be to go back to his former life.

It's a lot to think about.

Chekov occupies himself with projects that don't really need to be done. He still sees his crewmates often enough -- with common sleeping quarters and the galley, isolation is virtually impossible -- but he isn't seeking out socialization. Some of the things he said to Frenchie were quite stupid and he's afraid of tripping up around someone less forgiving.

Perhaps if he had been talking to his peers more regularly, he would have known about the elections sooner. As it is, Chekov is unaware until he sees the hand-drawn posters on the walls of the Revenge:

CAPTAIN ELECTION
TODAY!
Do your duty!
VOTE!

The penmanship is immaculate with many lovely flourishes.

And is that... a ballot box?

Chekov puzzles over the poster and the box, wondering if this is a pirate thing or a uniquely Stede Bonnet thing.

Comments

[massiveaggressions]

Well, the fuckery's usually optional. Sometimes it's fun to do a regular ol' blast-and-board, really get the blood pumping.

[eccentricpirate]

I see, I see. How do you decide when to do a Fuckery and when to do the blast-and-board?

[massiveaggressions]

Fuckeries are for ships that'd be riskier to board: warships, ones with big crews, ships that have a bunch of kids on them. Those're the ships you don't want to do much hand-to-hand fighting with. For regular cargo ships, it's easier to take out the shields, beam over, and get to looting. Less planning. Less fun, too, but there's a lot of work that goes into a good fuckery.

[eccentricpirate]

There is SO MUCH for me to learn about being a pirate! I wish I had Lucius around to take notes.

Computer! Tell Lucius to come to the galley and take notes for me.

Yes, captain. Recording in progress.

Hrmph. I suppose that will do. [turning his attention back to Ed] What else do I need to know?

[massiveaggressions]

Uh... [Wow, the pressure's really on, isn't it?] D'you want me to start over at the beginning, or do I just keep going? Or I could, like... go put a presentation together or something.