Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Uengghae, Kagfak, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Ugarun
NOTE: Ugarun keeps Vilani time despite the planet's 34 hour, 15 minute
day.
It was an uneventful week in jumpspace, though the crew kept busy with language
lessons, exercise, and simulation drills. Slade is starting to feel comfortable
with the new (for him) drives. Overall, the crew has become better acquainted
with their new surroundings.
Major Elloekothe offered some background on Ugarun. She explained that the world
was, and still is to some extent, a monarchy. The queen, Anmaa Ugarun, knew her
people didn't stand a chance against invading corsairs so she welcomed the
Ngath Confederation's invitation for statehood. It was smart as it spared her
people from bloodshed. While the Confederation maintains a presence, it hasn't
been oppressive. In fact, the economy has improved as the world's exports are
more in demand in the Confederation than they were in either the Imperium or
the Ziru Sirka.
While there are numerous stations and cities in orbit, the downport has a
monopoly on fuel. The stations and cities are "commerce only." However, one can
arrange to have fuel delivered to one of these stations if one doesn't want to
descend down into Ugarun's insidious atmosphere. There's a fee of course, and it
varies from one station to the next.
All of Elloekothe's contacts are on space stations.
Like all Confederation worlds, Ugarun is a haven for corsairs. However, some
corsairs are more welcome than others. And some Confederation naval personnel
aren't as welcoming as others. Through her contacts, Elloekothe knows that
there's a Captain Foeghsaerrrre who patrols this system and has a reputation for
giving corsairs a tough time. Rumor has it that he despised the Touzagh for the
way they operated. He's loyal to the Confederation but wishes they were pickier
about whom they offered sanctuary to.
Dougok and the rest of the crew were silent and attentive while Elloekothe
briefed them.
The ship emerges from jumpspace around Ugarun. As passive sensors come online,
they detect a mostly quiet system. There are a few small vessels (less than 500
tons) either heading in to Ugarun or on their way out. There are several more
making their way between the orbital stations and cities.
"We'll want to dock with station Ugarun-82. I know a wolf there named Sarruero.
He's more of a fixer, but his ears pick up all sort of whispers."
Transponder codes for the various cities and stations begin to pop up on the
navigation screen along with those few ships willing to broadcast (you currently
do not) their status.
"There it is," Elloekothe says. She taps the screen, calling up a holo of the
station's shape as transmitted by the transponder. It's a simple spoke an hub
design. The central hub is a landing bay for ships 1,000 tons displacement or
less. The ring is where the station's inhabitants live and conduct their
business. Access to the habitat ring is through the spokes. Docking is also
possible between the spokes on either side of the central hub, but only one ship
per space is permitted. There are no docking ports that link directly to the
habitat ring.
Gvarokh gives the order to decelerate and lay in a course for Ugarun-82 when the
passive sensors announce that a very large ship has appeared.
"Show me," orders Gvarokh.
Passive sensors show a 10,000 ton Foghoks class cruiser emerging from
behind a small moon.
You are hailed with a growl, "Attention, unidentified vessel. This is the
Confederation starship Oekhsarkhinsoerakha. Maintain current deceleration
vector and prepare to be boarded. Any deviation from your present heading will
be considered a hostile act, and you will be destroyed."
Elloekothe says reassuringly, "Standard procedure. We're flying a corsair, and
we came in with our transponder off. Someone saw our jump flash. The show of
force is intended to intimidate. The Confederation is serious about its 'no
poaching of Confederation vessels' policy. They just want to make sure we
understand."
Gvarokh sends an acknowledgement of the message back to the Confederation
cruiser. Afterwards he makes sure that everyone has the ship's story straight.
Everyone remains at their stations while the ship waits to be boarded.
For the record, here are those stations:
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Uengghae, Kagfak, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Ugarun
It takes some time for a shuttle from Oekhsarkhinsoerakha to rendezvous
with Pack of Daggers. The larger ship, which is only capable of 1G is
still working on its intercept vector.
The shuttle gives a warning hail when it is close to docking with Pack of
Daggers. A metallic chunk is heard, signalling that the docking collar has
been attached.
Vlad and Elloekothe leave the crew common area to greet the inspection detail at
the airlock. Five vargr in combat armor and carrying assault rifles emerge
through the airlock.
Elloekothe stands straight, sniffs the air, and says in Gvegh, "Welcome aboard
the Pack of Daggers."
The team leader says over his external comm, "Thank you for complying with our
boarding request. Are you the captain?"
"No—"
"Take us to him, please."
"Very well. Follow me."
Elloekothe leads the team up the central stairs to the bridge. Vlad remains
behind. Once on the bridge, Elloekothe says, "Captain Gvarokh, this is..."
"Lieutenant Sodzerz. Captain, I'll need to see a copy of your nav logs."
"Absolutely."
One of the Lieutenant's wolves heads over to the nav computer and sticks in a
holocrystal.
"You're new to this system." He says it as fact. "Are you new to Ngath
Confederation as well?"
"No, we've been running along the border for some time."
"Then you know that the Confederation accepts the presence of corsairs within
its territory, but it does not tolerate the raiding of its shipping."
"Yes, that was explained to us when we first entered Confederation space."
"Good. My wolves will need to inspect your cargo hold to verify that."
"Absolutely."
Two vargr leave the bridge and descend the stairs. As they do the vargr at the
nav computer has removed the holocrystal and placed it in a handcomp. There's a
silence on the bridge as he (or she) is communicating on a private channel with
the lieutenant.
"It seems that you've come a long way," Lieutenant Sodzerz says. "It was my
understanding that the hunting in Corridor was good."
"It was for a while," Gvarokh replies, "but after so many years it had grown
stale. There's a reason why we call it 'The Devoured Sector' now. So we decided
to try our luck raiding the Vilani."
"Why not stay within the borders of the Irrgh Manifest and raid the Vilani on
its spinward border."
"The Vilani have regained half of the Narrows subsector. Our leaders there have
lost face. And as I said, things have grown stale there. We needed to set out
for new hunting grounds."
"And you picked up some humans along the way."
"Their leaders...lost face as well. They felt betrayed when their leaders
withdrew their defense forces and left them vulnerable. There was no point in
remaining loyal to leaders who felt no loyalty to them."
"Yes, I can understand that. Tell me, have you heard of the Touzagh?"
Gvarokh replies, "We know of them."
"Well, then you know they tended to have mixed crews."
"I don't care what the shape of the person is. If they're good at what they do,
and they're loyal, they're accepted. I don't care if they're vargr, human,
hlanssai, or even silicate a-morphs. If they contribute, I'm happy to work with
them."
"Uh huh. That's very egalitarian of you. My point is that, unlike traditional
corsair outfits, the practices of this mixed race corsair band were unsavory."
Gvarokh takes an assertive stance and fixates his gaze on the lieutenant's
helmet. "We don't approve of slavery. Consider us traditionalists."
"Good. Then you won't have any problems while you're in Confederation space.
Good hunting, Captain." With that, he and his team depart the bridge and return
to their shuttle.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Uengghae, Kagfak, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Ugarun
Having survived the naval inspection, the Pack of Daggers has made its
way towards Ugarun-82, the station where one of Elloekothe's contacts
abides.
As mentioned earlier, Ugarun-82 is a simple spoke and hub design. Once
the ship is close enough, the computer indicates that it has received automated
telemetry from the station. On approach, the passive sensors display a visual of
the station. The doors to the central hub are closed but the lights are on.
Gvarokh hails them.
A male human voice answers, "This is station Ugarun-82. How can we be of
service?"
"We'd like to dock at your station. We have business to conduct."
"Docking is 100 Imperial or Confederation credits per day, unless you're
bringing us supplies, then it's free. Some of the merchants operating out of the
station offer parking vouchers, but you'll have to check with them."
The doors to the landing bay are opening. Gvarokh maneuvers the ship inside.
There are three other vessels present: two on the starboard side and one to
port. All three are Gaetung class traders (200 tons, 1G, J-2). Gvarokh parks
near the one to port.
Dougok watches with interest from his turret as they approach the station and
then dock. He secures the turret as they slip into their berth and heads to the
common room. Upon arriving, he nods to Lakir and Vlad. The monitor in the room
is on and is showing a visual of the bridge.
After Simrii, Uengghae, and Vincent arrive, Dougok asks, "Do we split up and
sniff out rumors?"
Vlad says, "I'm pretty OK with whatever the general consensus is."
Gvarokh is still on the bridge. He says, "Well, given that we are flying blind,
our initial best bet is to check out Elloe's contact."
Elloekothe nods in agreement.
"In addition," Gvarokh continues, "we probably ought to go out and mingle a bit
in order to see if we can find out things on the ground. We need to make sure of
human acceptance first. The human controller is a good sign."
Elloekothe says, "The vargr are outnumbered here 11:1. They pretty much handle
positions of authority and security. Because the queen complied with the
'invitation' to join the Confederation, the transition has been a relatively
peaceful one. There are 40 million humans in this system. They mostly live their
lives as they did before the Confederation moved in."
"So we can send out both human and vargr?"
"Yes."
"Good. While I'm quite willing to spend a day or two to check out other bases,
this will speed things up. Given that we're on number 82, I assume there are at
least 81 others we can check on."
"Not exactly."
Gvarokh tilts his head to the side.
Elloekothe notes the obvious question and answers it. "While it's number 82,
don't take it literally. There are many stations that came before it that don't
exist anymore. Others were renamed. At this point, 82 is just a name."
"Ok. Getting back to the plan, I'd say that after we check out your contact,
it's time for some good ole classic bar hopping."
Elloekothe rolls her eyes.
Vlad smiles and says, "Ah, now there's an idea I can happily glom onto."
Dougok joins in on the smiling and says, "I'm all for sniffing about. At least
the vargr are in charge here."
Gvarokh holds up a paw. "Actually, before we head out, we as a group need to
address the history of Dougok, Kagfak, and Uengghae. All three are former
Touzagh members, and their actual history of joining could be problematic."
He pauses to let that sink in. He then continues, "For Kagfak and Uengghae, the
story is that their ship's ambush of a merchant failed, and they wound up
joining them instead. Later, they defected to us as they decided being a
merchant wasn't for them. We won't let on that the 'merchant' and 'us' are the
same people.
"For Dougok, unless anyone has a better idea, the story is that after the base
was destroyed on Ikhog, he avoided the aftermath by immediately getting out and
ended up wandering for a bit before catching on with us.
"I know this is probably a little to much to worry about, but I really don't
want to have their Touzagh histories bite them, or us, in the ass. This way we
should all know the base story we can work from.
"And yes, this is an ideal time for Dougok to go sniffing about."
Dougok replies, "I think the story is a good one. I truly did avoid the
aftermath by getting out and did later join this crew. It doesn't have to say I
participated in the attack!
"Optionally, I could say that I left the group before the attack for personal
reasons and wandered for a bit before joining the crew. It's possible that there
are Touzagh around that knew that I was kicked out."
Gvarokh's tails wags as he says, "That's the idea! The point is having an
explanation that doesn't involve the old ship and 'old' crew. The cover story
acknowledges that you were on Ikhog when the attack happened, though it leaves
out the part you played, of course. Why you left Ikhog is up to you, and you
could easily have multiple stories. The rest of the crew doesn't know; they just
know you used to work for the Touzagh. But by the time you met us, you were
done with them, and now you're part of this crew. For the rest of the story,
it's all up to you.
"And the reason I mention having multiple stories is because no vargr is going
to want to admit that they were kicked out of anything. So you can have the
version of your story where you never quit, but saw a situation going bad and
left before it did. You can have a version where you quit and left because you
didn't want to get involved. Finally, there is the 'real' version where you were
kicked out. Make it layered. Make anyone who presses you, draw it out you. Make
it real in your mind. That there are layers and lies involved helps sell the
final story if you ever have to get to it.
"Just keep these important aspects in mind: you worked for the Touzagh at one
point, you were on Ikhog during the attack, you left, you joined us some time
later. Everything else is gravy for you to make up."
"Agreed," Dougok says with cheer, "Defense in depth! The first story will be my
leaving when I saw things going bad."
Lakir affirms, "Dougok's line is he used to work for the Touzagh, and we never
pressed him as we have to work with him. No one needs a pissed off Vargr bunked
down the corridor in jumpspace. The locals may run some counter intel on us, so
we need to stick to this line and let Dougok play it out. 'We don't know
nothin'' needs to be the party line, no matter how much booze you get into."
Gvarokh nods in agreement with Lakir's comment.
Dougok suggests that the vargr go out in pairs.
Chuck counters, "Since the vargr are in charge and humans are subject to
scrutiny, I think it makes more sense to have all humans accompanied by a vargr,
assuming any want to leave the ship."
Elloekothe follows with: "Gvarokh and I should meet with my contact. I don't
want a large group meeting with him. It would draw too much attention."
Dougok suggests that he and Chuck pair up.
"Uh uh," Chuck replies. "Not after what went down at Odinaga."
Lakir raises his hand. "I'll go."
"For what it's worth," Vlad says, "I'm of the opinion that Elloekothe and
Gvarokh should meet with the contact before we do anything else. We may as well
start out with as much information as we can."
"I agree with Vlad," Vincent offers. "That sounds like the safest plan to start
with, and since I'm not exactly the dominant race around here, I think I'm just
gonna stick with staying on the ship and make sure I know her in and out."
Gvarokh clears his throat. "It was my intention to allow the bar hopping after
meeting with Elloe's contact. For the very reasons Vlad said. Now, if there's
nothing else, Elloekothe and I need to track down her contact.
Lakir, you're in charge."
The meeting concluded, Gvarokh and Elloekothe return to their respective rooms
to gear up. A few minutes later, they're at the airlock. Checking through the
external camera, Gvarokh sees that the gantry arm hasn't connected to the ship.
He shoots Elloekothe a puzzled glance.
"Yeah, I know." She hits a button for the ship's internal comm. "Vincent, would
you please connect to the station's network. That's the only way we can get the
gantry arm to connect to the ship."
"Are you saying that I need to hack it?"
"No. You can access it normally."
Vincent does an available networks scan and immediately sees the station's
landing bay network. Once he connects to the network, a menu window pops up on
the screen, listing available services. He selects "Gantry Arm Controls" and
from there gets the option to "Connect to Ship". Not familiar with the controls,
he opts for "Auto-Connect".
The gantry arm springs to life. Passive sensors on the ship detect a radar scan
emanating from the arm. After a few seconds of calculations, the arm
effortlessly connects to the ship's starboard hatch.
Gvarokh and Elloekothe make their way down the gantry arm to the station
airlock. Unfortunately, the door doesn't open. An LED message by the door
states, "Please pay station access fee: 100 credits."
"I got this," Elloekothe says.
The station acknowledges receipt of the access fee with an audible "thank you"
in Galanglic. The door slides open and the two vargr enter the station.
Next: Elloekothe's Contact