Characters: All
NPC: Kagfak, Uengghae, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Jumpspace between Ugarun and Kashiin
It's a short jump to Kashiin from Ugarun, which is for the best as during the
mid-jump meeting, Elloekothe described a bleak picture of their destination.
Kashiin was settled during the First Imperium days. During the Long Night, it
clung to the worst aspects of Vilani bureaucratic culture. When Scouts from the
Third Imperium re-contacted the world, they recommended against Imperial
membership. Client state status would be better as it would give the world time
to modernize. As such, when Emperor Lucan recalled all fleets to Core sector to
protect the capital, the world obeyed without question—The Vilani said
"Piss off" and seceded. Like so many other border worlds, the inhabitants were
left vulnerable to invasion. The Ngath Confederation didn't hesitate to make a
move.
Today, the human population toils away at mining and refining on the mainworld
to provide raw materials to build Confederation Navy ships. The occupational
government has been kinder to belters as they're more capable of mining the
asteroid belts, which would require an investment in ships and personnel it is
unwilling to make.
The Naval base is intact, opting to surrender with a handful of ships rather
than be destroyed. The Confederation Navy has maintained the base and provides
patrol ships to its neighbors, Ugarun and Daama. The Navy ignores corsairs so
long as they don't attack any shipping. As the world is heavily dependent upon
agricultural imports from Ronni (Kashiin is a desert world), any disruption to
the food supply would be catastrophic.
Local TL is 7. The old order was adamant that change was very bad. How bad? The
law level is 14. Disruptive ideas were considered punishable by death. The new
vargr power behind the red tape are keeping the laws in place as they serve to
help them maintain control. However, they are selective about doling out
punishment. Appearing merciful compared to the humans in charge is seen as a
plus for the long run. Eventually they plan on supplanting the existing
government with something less bureaucratic.
Elloekothe warns that, once outside the ship, humans should be in the company of
at least one vargr at all times. And said humans should be deferential to their
vargr companion.
"The mixed crews of the Touzagh were frequent users of the starport to resupply
their ships for raiding Vilani worlds. Unaccompanied humans will likely be
picked up on suspicion of being Vilani spies. The locals have ID badges
indicating their identity, residence, and work assignments. Speaking in Gvegh
instead of Galanglic will help as the locals only know the most rudimentary
words, if any at all. Children, on the other paw, are learning it in school.
"The infrastructure here sucks. It might take some effort to determine if the
vargr trader we're looking for is here. I have some contacts here who will
hopefully be able help us track him down.
"Any questions?"
Dougok asks, "How much of the population is Vargr?"
"Only 4%. That might not seem like enough, but as I explained earlier, the
government didn't tolerate dissent, much less weapons in the hands of its
citizens. Kashiin's defensive forces had no problem keeping a beaten populace in
line, but they were no match for invading vargr forces with superior firepower.
Now that 24 million vargr are there—civilian and military—it's more
than enough."
Dougok bares his teeth slightly. "Human or Vargr, it takes only a few masters to
rule the flock if they wield the whip ruthlessly. It is disgusting to oppress
people like this whatever their race."
"You'll get no argument from me," Elloekothe responds.
Gvarokh looks around the room. "Anything else? No? Then the meeting is
adjourned."
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Kashiin
Pack of Daggers emerges from jumpspace around Kashiin. Even at this
distance (500,000 miles), it isn't difficult to notice the reddish tinge of the
planet at 1x magnification.
While the ship decelerates, it is scanned but unchallenged. Starport Traffic
Control contacts the ship to give notice regarding the approach lane but that's
all.
The ship is finally given permission to dock at the orbital starport, a typical
spherical structure common to former First Imperium worlds. Uengghae maneuvers
the ship to the designated landing bay and sets the ship down on the deck.
Once the 100 credit berthing fee is paid, the starport datalink is established.
Gvarokh curses under his breath when he see that unrefined fuel is going for
500 credits/ton and life support refurbishment clocks in at 1,500
credits/person-week. Still, it has to be done, so he makes arrangements.
Elloekothe uses her private comm—after paying a 100 cr network
fee—to contact the trader that her Ugarun contact referred her to. She
doesn't get him, but she does get his ship.
The comm system operator's voice is a gruff male vargr. "He's down on the planet
conducting business."
"When will he be back?" she asks.
"When it's done."
"Do you have any idea when that will be?"
"No."
"Do you know where he is on the planet?"
"Yes, but I'm under orders not to reveal where."
"Can you at least let him know that I called?"
"Yes."
"Thanks for your—"
Click.
Elloekothe growls after the call is terminated.
Turning to Gvarokh, she says, "I guess that leaves us two options: Wait for the
son of a bitch to call us back or head down to the planet."
Dougok looks up from reading the information in the library database about the
planet and perks his ears forward. "Let's hit the planet. Let's see if we can
find records of the small craft he took to the planet and narrow down his
location. It beats waiting here cooped up like a herd animal."
Lakir shakes his head. "Heading down would be a really bad idea, at least
for us pinkies. We don't have a decent base to work from, and no real
time idea how the surface reacts to our kind showin' up.
"Given the prices they charge, I'm sure Vincent can make hash of their network,
so the 'lectronic gig might be better for the short term, at least until we can
gain some surface intel.
"I'm not keen on hitting dirt without a plan on being able to make it back up,
or an idea of what it looks like dirtside. It seems to be one whipped human gig
down there."
"I agree," Chuck says. "Let's see if Vincent can hack the network to find the
guy. With the law level so high, you know that they had to file a flight plan to
land, vargr or not." He looks over to Elloekothe. "Do we know the name of the
guy's ship?"
"Dhuekherdorr."
Vincent says, "I'll be more than happy to." He turns to Gvarokh. "Just give the
ok, Captain, cause I'll need to hack into government networks."
Dougok wags his tail. "Of course we'll want to track him down. With this law
level it could be dangerous for any of us. I say a couple of the vargr crew ask
around a bit about heading planet-side and separately about the
Dheukherdorr while the hacking is going on."
Gvarokh answers, "Some digital recon would be a good idea. Try to spoof, though,
so we are less likely to be discovered. With such a high law level, I think
it's safe to assume that hacking would be a felony."
"Alright," Vincent replies, "I'll get to work on it. Should only be a few
minutes." He turns his attention to his laptop and starts typing away.
After a few minutes, Vincent announces, "I'm in. Ok, looking for traffic
regarding the Dheukherdorr...Here it is: A Muumshiizi class ship's
boat left for the surface 18 hours ago. Hmmmm, you don't see one of those too
often. And it went to the downport outside the capital, Kashiinaa."
"Well, that doesn't tell us much," Chuck says drily.
"No, it doesn't. Let me try something else." Vincent breaks the connection with
traffic control and tries for something else.
"Dammit!"
"What?" Elloekothe asks.
"I tried to hack the Dheukherdorr but I couldn't get in."
"You didn't!"
"Well, no. I couldn't get in."
"Why did you do that?"
"We needed more intel. Finding your guy down in
that city would be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Did you get caught?"
Vincent looks over the log report. "Nope. Should I try again?"
"No!"
"Okay..."
"Look, Dhunkul isn't your average merchant. He's been very successful, and he
realizes the need for strong network firewalls. He's hired some very skilled
people."
Chuck speaks up in Vincent's defense, "Vincent is very skilled."
"Yes, I know," Elloekothe says. "I didn't mean it that way. Dhunkul is the kind
of guy that has his wolves set traps. It's actually better that you didn't get
in on the first try. It means he wasn't expecting to get hacked." She turns to
Gvarokh. "I think we're going to have to send a group down to the surface to
track him down. Either that, or wait for him to call me back."
Dougok wags his tail. "Well done, Vincent. You've sniffed a trail to the
planet's surface. They may try to hack us back if you were detected so we should
be extra vigilant ourselves."
Elloekothe shakes her head, but doesn't say anything.
Dougok asks, "Can you access the traffic cameras around the downport? We should
be able to track him through the city if there are enough accessible cameras."
Now Elloekothe speaks up. "He can't. The tech level on Kashiin is only seven.
Yeah, they've got better tech here at the starport, the downport, and the naval
base, but there's no global network for him to access. There are occasional
pockets of better tech—stuff that's imported by VIPs—but he'd have
to wander around with his laptop looking for stray wi-fi signals or break into
a place and plug in directly to an ethernet port. Neither of those is a viable
option."
Vincent says, "Tell you what guys, I can take the laptop and go for a walk
around the starport with an escort and give it another try. Least that way if I
get caught it's not linked back to the ship, and I can claim I was doing it for
personal gain. I'm willing to give it a try, not to mention I don't like failing
at a hack attempt. Makes me feel like less of a man."
Vlad says, "I'm not so sure that's a great idea. Unless there is no way for the
laptop to be tied to our ship."
"No, let's not," Gvarokh says with authority. "I'm not sure I even trust the
ability of a human to walk around the starport without trouble on this weird
world. At this point, it probably isn't worth the risk. Looks like the fates
have determined that someone gets to walk into the teeth of this world."
With a smile, he continues, "And don't worry about not getting in. In fact, if
Elloe is right, then you actually succeeded as it means you weren't traced. If
you had gotten in, you would have. So this ended up being trouble avoided,
rather than an attempt failed."
Vlad raises his paw. "I'm content to keep the pinkies company on the ship.
Unless someone thinks I'd be more useful dirtside."
Chuck scrunches up his face. "Never figured you'd wuss out on a vargr planet,
Vlad."
Lakir says, "Cap'n, if you figure you gotta send some meat inta' the grinder ta
get contact, I'll volunteer to be the sacrificial pinkie with the group. I'm
sure it'll blow dead goats, but hey..." He shrugs.
Elloekothe says, "It shouldn't come to that. All we have to do is prove that our
humans aren't locals. It's not like all humans are scooped up and enslaved as
soon as they step foot on the planet. All we need to do is head over to the
customs office and get tourist visas. So long as we have those and not do
anything stupid..."—she pauses for emphasis—"we'll be fine.
Touzagh crews used to stop over here all the time. And aren't we at least
pretending to be corsairs?"
Dougok snaps his jaws in the vargr equivalent of a shrug. "We'll have to sniff
them out the old fashioned way. We'll need a cover story for heading planetside.
We might as well tell the truth that we are looking for a wolf. No need to give
a name. They'd expect such things from corsairs."
"Right," replies Chuck. "There's only 24 million vargr there. I think we'll
have to give 'em a name. Shouldn't we be able to say that we have business to
conduct with him and leave it at that?"
Gvarokh speaks up, "Let's go get those tourist visas. We're going to take the
ship down to the downport after we refuel. This way we can stay together for as
long as possible. And if we need to make any sudden getaways, it'll be far
easier to just get up and go."
Elloekothe leads the way down to the customs office. No one bats an eye at the
group. The crowds that the group sees along the way are 65% vargr, 35% human.
There's a 50 credit fee per person, but the visas are good for a year, and if
you renew before they expire, the renewal fee is only 20 credits.
"Reason for visit?"
"Business."
The vargr bureaucrat drafting up the visas is satisfied with that explanation.
The group returns to the ship with time to spare before the refuelling crew
arrives.
Gvarokh files a flight plan with traffic control and permission is granted to
head to the surface.
Refuelling and life support refurbishment is complete. The Pack of Daggers departs from the starport and descends to Kashiin's downport.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak, Uengghae, Major Arsashaammu, Major Elloekothe
Location: Pack of Daggers, parked at Kashiin Siir Downport
System: Kashiin
It's late afternoon local time when Pack of Daggers lands at the
downport. The blazing hot sun is starting to set in the sky, so things are
starting to cool down. The temperature is down to 34°C (93°F). The
evening breeze has begun. The temperature will eventually drop to freezing due
to the planet's thin atmosphere and lack of appreciable bodies of water.
As soon as the ship is down and the maneuver drive powered down, Dougok says, "I
definitely want to sniff about. And we should go in pairs for sure. Human and
vargr ideally."
Vincent says, "I'm gonna sit and guard the ship. Me's a pinky and doesn't want
to end up dead."
Vlad jerks a thumb towards Vincent. "I'm going to guard him."
Elloekothe states that she's going to head into the city. "I have a couple
contacts that might have seen him."
Chuck says, "I can look around the downport for his boat."
Uengghae volunteers to go with Elloekothe, while Kagfak says that he'll go with
Chuck.
Dougok says that he'll go with Uengghae and Elloekothe, while Gvarokh says that
he'll go with Kagfak and Chuck.
"No," Elloekothe says with a clenched jaw.
"What?" Gvarokh asks.
She puts a paw on Uengghae's shoulder. "I can manage this one," then she points
at Dougok, "but he's not coming with me. I'm not going to be responsible for him
wandering off like he did on Odinaga, and I can't risk him jeopardizing the
relationships I have with my contacts here by strutting around like some bad ass
corsair who thinks he owns the place."
Dougok wags his tail. "Small risk, small reward."
Gvarokh looks at Elloe for a couple of seconds then responds, "OK. Go."
Just as Elloekothe turns to go, Lakir says to her, "If you don't feel I'll
compromise your search, I'll go."
She focuses on Lakir. "You would be an asset. I'll meet you at the
airlock." She briskly exits the room.
Uengghae follows her, but turns to face the group before he exits. He cringes, a
look of "what did I get myself into" written all over his face.
As soon as the door closes behind Uengghae and Elloekothe, Gvarokh says to
Dougok, "Do you want to look around the downport instead?"
Dougok replies, "Yes, let's see what we can find out sniffing around the
downport. Staying holed up like we are hiding something will only attract more
attention than strutting about."
"Stay out of trouble," Gvarokh says as Chuck, Dougok, and Kagfak get up to go.
"And check in hourly. I don't want a repeat of Odinaga."
Character: Dougok
NPC: Chuck, Kagfak
Location: Kashiin Siir Downport
System: Kashiin
The trio exit the ship and walk up the gantry arm to the downport concourse. The
air in the walkway is stifling. Upon pushing open the door to the concourse, a
blast of cool air welcomes them.
Kagfak and Dougok sniff the air. It tastes dry and there's a slight chemical
smell, like baked vinyl. It might be coming from the carpet, the high traffic
short pile variety.
The ship has touched down in the private, non-commercial traffic wing of the
downport. There is no pedestrian traffic. There is one token bench of plastic
chairs for each gate, and each faces the huge plate glass windows that look out
upon the tarmac. The concourse is six meters from gate to far wall. A sign on
the wall across from the gate door states that the main terminal, where the
bustle of downport commerce can be heard, is to the trio's right, along with
gates 1-9 (the ship is parked at gate 10). Gates 11-30 are to the left.
Chuck points to the left and says, "Let's head this way and see if we can find
that Muumshiizi boat. I can't imagine that there's more than one here.
They're pretty rare."
"Let's do it," Dougok says.
"What do these moom-shee-zee boats look like?" Kagfak asks, struggling to
pronounce the ship's boat class name.
"Easy," Chuck says with a grin. "If you see one you don't recognize, call me
over to look at it."
Kagfak chuckles.
The trio walk around the bend, spotting several starships and small craft. After
they've rounded another bend, they spot a Muumshiizi boat at gate 23.
It's short in length, wide in width, and two decks high. The gantry arm is not
connected to the craft.
"Looks like they took private ground transportation," Chuck says. "Stay here and
keep an eye on it. I'm going to make sure there aren't any more of them."
He jogs down the rest of the corridor and then comes back. The whole time he
remained within sight.
"This is the only one. I'm going to radio it in to the captain." He taps his
comm and says, "Captain, we've found our friend's boat. It looks like he took
private ground transportation as the gantry arm isn't connected to his boat.
What do you want us to do?"
"Hold on a second. Vincent, is there enough of a computer system in the downport
to hack?"
"Well, there's no wireless. I'd have to do a walkabout to see what they've got,
if anything, for a network."
Gvarokh answers Chuck, "Keep tabs on the boat. You don't have to do a full
stakeout, as that would probably be suspicious, but keep checking it out every
fifteen minutes or so." He then adds, "Oh, where exactly is this? How long will
it take to get to it if I hit it at a dead run?"
"About five minutes. It's just around the corner from where you're parked."
"Roger that. Gvarokh out."
"Ok, you heard the wolf," Chuck says after the call has commenced. "Let's set up
a stakeout. This concourse is rectangular. One of us can watch from the corner
from where we came. Another one of us can watch from down here." Chuck points to
the other entrance to the concourse. The other guy can then mill about in the
terminal. Every fifteen minutes we rotate, ok?"
Dougok's stomach rumbles. He looks past Chuck, hoping to find some kind of food
kiosk but doesn't see any. There has to be a food court somewhere in this
downport. He's never been to one that didn't have so much as a vending machine.
Probably in the main terminal.
"Make it twenty and you've got a deal," he replies to Chuck. That should give
me enough time to find something to eat when it's my turn to sniff about the
main terminal.
"Ok...deal. You stay here. I'll hit the main terminal. Kagfak will go back the
way we came and watch from there. We rotate clockwise every twenty."
Both vargr nod. Kagfak heads to his position while Chuck heads out to the main
terminal.
With the first shift elapsed, Dougok heads out to the main terminal. His
Galanglic isn't great, but he recognizes the word "food" no problem. He follows
the signs to a large hall that has "food court" emblazoned at the top. One human
male in a police uniform stands at the edge of each side of the entrance, which
is seven meters wide.
The aromas of burnt human food commingle with that of more savory fare. His
nose and hungry stomach give him the courage to press on. Once inside, he
immediately spots a sign that says "Vargr Table" and heads over there.
There's no line so he heads right over to the young man at the counter.
"I'll have the Chewy Kibble Bitz to go, please."
"Yes, sir. Coming right up. Anything else?"
Dougok flips his ears in the negative. "No, just an order to go and a bulb of
water."
"That will be 10 credits."
Dougok growls at the price, but doesn't want to make a scene. He decides to pay
the bill from his meager Confederation Credit stash to keep up the group's cover.
Dougok leaves the food court with his Bitz and water and makes his way back to
the main terminal. A quick glance at his chronometer reveals that he has
completed his food run just in time. He makes his way to his next stakeout
position. He spots Chuck. Upon noticing him, Chuck nods, gets up, and walks over
to his next stakeout spot.
Dougok is back where he started on the rotating stakeout. The Bitz were ok; they
smelled better than they tasted. He's thinking about where he might wander to
on his next turn in the main terminal, when two starport security personnel,
both men, walk into the private terminal wing and past him. They look at Dougok
as they walk past, but don't stop and don't say anything.
Dougok ignores them.
The next couple of shifts are uneventful, though those involving sitting are
boring. Dougok is back where he was when the two starport security personnel he
saw earlier come by again. This time they stop.
One of them says in bad Gvegh, "Sir. Help do you require? Lost perhaps?"
Dougok straightens. Although he is even with the humans in height, he assumes a
clearly dominant pose. "Help is not required. I am waiting on a lady friend to
make herself even more attractive."
The speaker replies, "But an hour you here." He pauses, gives his buddy a slight
elbow to get him to focus on what he's about to say, and says, "Supposition of
mine: females take long time to prepare dress up. Human vargr no difference."
Both security guards yuk it up. Dougok joins in to put them at ease.
They continue on their way. As soon as they're around the corner, Chuck appears
by Dougok's side.
"I think we should go," he says. "The guards recognized you. If they see you on
their next round, they won't believe your story."
Verroel wags his tail as Chuck approaches. "Agreed. We can't risk getting pulled
into the local station for questioning. We'd never get out. Let's gather Kagfak
and head back to the ship."
The pair turn the corner and spot Kagfak. He looks apprehensive.
He says, "Security just asked me why I was here. I think they believed me, but
I'm not sure."
"Me too," says Dougok. "We're headed back to the ship, just in case."
The trio return to the ship without incident.
Next: Heading Into Kashiin Siir