Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae
Location: Miishakaal, parked at Maran Naval Base
System: Maran
Gvarokh, Lakir and Vincent have returned from their meeting with Admiral
Khagamsusuu and various others. Gvarokh relates to the crew the general flow of
the meeting. He seems excited about this new opportunity and it's infectious.
He's about to have the crew ponder what they can do for the next few weeks while
Khagamsusuu puts everything together when the comm chimes.
It's Captain Su Daagudakur. She explains that her insurance company is willing
to offer reimbursement for reasonable expenses in the reclamation of her ship.
She wants to know if you guys are still interested in helping her out. The only
catch is that you have to bring her crew and an insurance adjustor along for
the ride.
Gvarokh replies, "We have to check on some things first before we can confirm.
We'll get back to you really soon though."
After terminating the call, he fills the crew in on the call and asks what they
think. "My only regret is that we only have our pulse lasers in the turrets.
Hopefully we won't run into any trouble."
Dougok suggests that they take on the job. "It would be a bit of good karma to
help out Captain Daagudakur and anything we can do to help local business will
be good for the area in the long run."
Vlad barks, "Agreed."
Lakir recommends that the command group check out the latest intel dump versus
possible upcoming ops and current weapons loadout and ship status. He asks,
"Will the new ship be on line in time, or are we going to do this with the
current config and loadout? We might be able to spin it as an 'enabling' routine
with the 'authorities having jurisdiction', if so required, and maybe front end
some additional hardware we can port to the new ride when it's online."
Gvarokh shakes his head. "No, the new ship won't be online in time. The admiral
was pretty clear that it was going to take several weeks before everything was
ready, including the ship."
Lakir shrugs. "I'm still willing to go for it as she was pretty hot." He winks
at the last part.
Chuck laughs but agrees.
Gvarokh smirks. "Ok, then. I'm glad to see that we're all agreed. I'll contact
the admiral to clear it with him. In the meantime, start prepping the ship for
departure."
Gvarokh contacts Admiral Khagamsusuu and explains the job Daagudakur has for
them.
"Sounds good. We should be ready for you when you get back."
With the admiral's signing off on the job, Gvarokh contacts Captain Daagudakur
and informs her that they can take the job. They'll pick her up at the starport
within a couple of hours.
Before the meeting ends, Lakir asks the group if they're good to go with their
current personal kit load out for boarding actions and starship clearing.
Dougok mentions that he finally has his vacc suit. "No more stupid rescue balls
for me!" After a few laughs, he adds, "It would be helpful if we can procure an
armored chest piece to help out in close range boarding actions."
Lakir volunteers that he would like to see them acquire some breaching charges,
flash bang distraction devices, and a top up on his ammo. "If there's a chance
we can pick this stuff up ourselves—with the blessing of the Admiral, of
course—that would be great."
Gvarokh says, "I agree. We're not going to find this stuff on the open market
though. I'll contact the admiral and see what he says. In the meantime, start
prepping the ship for launch."
Gvarokh contacts the admiral and tells him of their desire for boarding action
paraphernalia.
The admiral explains that the group's mercenary license permits them to possess
those things, but he can't give the stuff to them. "Remember, we're trying to
keep your connection to us a secret. There are too many prying eyes and snooping
noses about. When everything is official, this will still be a clandestine
operation. But I'll put you in touch with people who can make the acquisition
of those things possible."
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae & passengers
Location: Miishakaal, parked at Melika Starport
System: Maran
Miishakaal pays the 50 cr to park at the starport and pick up its
passengers. Fortunately, the ship doesn't need fuel or life support (Thank you,
Admiral!).
Since Kagfak and Uengghae are the low dogs on the totem pole, they're asked to
double bunk, so that the passengers can bunk in two rooms, and freshen up the
vacated stateroom. In addition, the insurance company rep requires a room.
Gvarokh wants Kagfak and Uengghae to bunk in the room right outside the bridge
as they both work there on a routine basis. He also tells Chuck and Vincent to
share Vincent's room. Dougok moves into Chuck's room. This keeps all of the
passengers together on the upper deck on the port side.
The passengers are Captain Su Daagudakur and the remains of her crew: Ki
(pilot), Bill (engineer), and Khamu (handyman). All four look to be of fairly
mixed solomani-vilani stock, though Khamu appears more vilani than the others.
Su is 1.65 m (~5' 5") & 55 kg (121 lbs) with auburn hair, brown eyes, and
olive complexion. Ki is 1.75 m (~5' 9") & 60 kg (132 lbs). She has green
eyes, black, curly hair and brown skin. Bill looks like he doesn't get much UV
exposure. He's the same height as Ki but around 73 kg (~161 lbs) with blue eyes
and blonde hair. Khamu is 1.8 m (~5' 11") & 80 kg (~176 lbs) with grey eyes,
light brown skin, and dark brown hair.
And there's the insurance representative: Ushin Numumshunnii.
Su handles the introductions. Ushin is of average vilani height (1.7 m ~ 5' 7")
and maybe a little less than average weight (66 kg ~145 lbs) with a slight
build. Like most vilani, his skin is light brown, his hair is black, and his
eyes are grey. His lips and nose are thin.
"Good drandir, Captain. On behalf of the Zirunkariish Corporation, I thank you
for providing transport for the opportunity to salvage Captain Daagudakur's
ship."
"Good drandir, Mr. Numumshunnii. It is my pleasure to assist in the recovery of
Captain Daagudakur's ship." Gvarokh thinks that's the proper response. If it
isn't, Numumshunnii isn't frowning at any slight.
Vlad remains his usual taciturn, yet oddly mysterious and alluring self.
The passengers don't have much gear. They have all brought suitcases for their
clothing and vacc suit garment bags. Once they're shown to their rooms, the ship
should be ready to go.
Lakir checks their vacc suit garment bags just to make sure they are what
they're supposed to be. When given odd glances, he explains, "Just want to make
sure we don't have to rely on any blasted rescue balls." That seems to satisfy
them.
He goes on to say to Captain Su, "Once we're in jump, I want to have a meeting
to get a handle on the ship's layout and a complete debrief on the way systems
were left, ship condition, known 'quirks', etc; anything to start building an
intelligence picture of the target. From there we can start looking at how your
crew will function once the ship is recovered, the route out, action on 'no fuel
for jump', and so on."
She replies, "You got it." She and her crew head up the lift to stow their
stuff.
The insurance rep smiles and nods as he walks by. Apparently, he was pleased by
what he heard.
Once they're all gone, Gvarokh comes over and stands next to him.
Lakir says, "This ain’t gonna be a 'cake flight' back to their ex-ride. They
need to prep for the SHTF scenarios."
Gvarokh replies, "I completely agree. I like being prepared, and you are the
best I know to make sure we are prepared." He then gives the order to leave the
starport.
Clear of the station. Outbound to jump point.
Jump!
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae & passengers
Location: Miishakaal
System: Jumpspace between Maran and Riinel
After giving the passengers a little time to get settled, Lakir has asked to
meet with Captain Su and her crew to go over some details about her ship.
It's a standard, Type A free trader with no deviations or modifications. Damage
was minimal. Su knew Ronni's Raven was no match for a Ueknou class
corsair, so she surrendered quickly. Just to make sure she knew they meant
business, they fired one round on her. That volley damaged a turret, poked holes
in two fuel tanks, and hit the jump drive.
Bill, the ship's engineer, explains that the damage to the jump drive was
minimal and could be fixed in a couple hours with parts manufactured from the
ship's fabricator.
Su's face contorts when she recounts the events after the Touzagh boarded her
ship. There's a mixture of anger and sorrow. "They went through our personnel
files and felt that the four of us were of sufficient value to be brought back
and auctioned off as slaves. My gunners, Mo and Bo, were deemed worthless to
them. Or too much of a threat. They were big guys...with big hearts."
Ki reaches over and hugs her for support. Her eyes are teary, too. The men bow
their heads.
The insurance representative, Ushin Numumshunnii, says, "As the damage to the
ship Ronni's Raven was far less than the loss of life, Zirunkariish
deemed this a low risk-high reward operation and accepted Captain Daagudakur's
claim."
Chuck asks, "Did you have time to send out a distress call? There's a scout base
in that system. They should've come to your rescue."
"Not for very long. We were forced to turn it off along with our transponder. I
don't know if they heard it. If they did, we were long gone before they showed
up."
Numumshunnii says, "We'll be investigating that. If there was some negligence on
their part, we'll seek legal recourse."
Lakir asks, "Do you have the heading?"
"Yes." The numbers are logged into a model of Envar's solar system. Given the
amount of time that has passed and the ship's velocity, the ship is likely to be
out in the system's meager Kuiper Belt by now.
After the meeting, Lakir spent time figuring out a salvage plan and coming up
with contingencies.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae & passengers
Location: Miishakaal
System: Riinel
Miishakaal exits jumpspace around the gas giant, Alejandro. Nothing shows up on the passive scanners so Gvarokh gives the order to head in to skim.
Deceleration begins.
Skimming begins.
Skimming complete. Ascent out of gravity well begins.
Acceleration terminated to ensure sufficient time to decelerate in the Ranilson system.
Safe jump distance. The ship jumps to Ranilson.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae & passengers
Location: Miishakaal
System: Ranilson
It's been a week of the usual stuff. Besides typical jump-week chores and
exercise, a couple guys work on other things. For instance, Simrii experiments
in the galley with some cooking. The aromas intrigue the vargr, and even the
humans. Dougok balances his exercise with chasing balls with Uengghae and Kagfak
that Chuck throws around the cargo hold and spends his downtime drinking with
the human.
But finally the ship arrives in the Ranilson system. While the ship decelerates,
it gets hailed by a Type T patrol cruiser. The captain of that ship starts to
give Gvarokh shit for coming in so hot, but the insurance representative, Ushin
Numumshunnii, appears outside the bridge and intervenes.
"Excuse me, perhaps I can be of help. I'm Ushin Numumshunnii of Zirunkariish,
insurance division." He flashes some kind of badge at the viewscreen. "We're on
a recovery mission and speed is of the essence. The longer we delay, the less
our chances are of achieving our objective. I have asked Captain Gvarokh to make
best possible speed whenever possible."
It isn't true, but Gvarokh doesn't contradict him.
"Difficult to do with a Garu class trader," the captain of the patrol
cruiser retorts.
"We make do with what we have, Captain. The war doesn't afford us the luxury of
fast couriers or warships."
The captain of the patrol cruiser chews on that a moment before saying, "Well,
just watch yourself around the shipping lanes. Not all worlds are as quiet as
this one." He terminates the connection.
Gvarokh turns to Ushin. "Thank you for the assist. I appreciate that very much."
He bows his head. "Glad to be of assistance, Captain."
The rest of deceleration goes by without incident. After contacting the
downport, Gvarokh gives the order to descend. The skies are clear so Uengghae
has no trouble bringing the ship down to the surface.
Once safely on the ground, Gvarokh remembers to check the "taint" flag listed
listed on the atmosphere code. The computer informs him that there's a strong
allergen that affects 11% of humans. There's no indication as to whether or not
it affects vargr.
The allergen is the pollen of the Ulakhigmunmamim. It resembles a Terran
Water Lily. At certain times of the year, great clouds of pollen are released.
Allergic individuals tend to suffer respiratory distress, in some cases
requiring medical attention. Otherwise the stuff is more of a nuisance, clogging
filters on equipment and coating surfaces in orange dust.
While going dirtside is a tempting proposition, Gvarokh knows time is a factor
and thus doesn't grant permission to leave the landing pad. The passengers head
outside for some fresh air.
Fuel and life support refurbishment is ordered, and Gvarokh puts in an order for
extra filters just in case the pollen becomes a factor.
With the ship refueled and life support refurbished, Gvarokh gives the order to depart.
Jump! Next: Arrival at Envar