Characters: All
NPC: Kagfak, Elloekothe, Uengghae, Irma Arsashaammu
Location: Pack of Daggers, near an asteroid in Daama's outer
belt
System: Daama
After safely returning to the ship, the crew waited for the space battle to
finish before returning to the base to place the mines.
With the op completed and not needed for other tasks, Vincent got to work on
the files he salvaged from the base computer. A good chunk of it was operating
system and software. While there was no longer any indication of supplies at the
base nor communications, there was plenty of raw sensor data going back two
years. It seems to primarily be traffic in and out of the system.
Soks comms the ship. "Captain Gvarokh, how did the operation at the base go?"
"Smoothly," Gvarokh replies, purposely leaving out the bobbled grenade incident.
"We left no survivors, and the proximity mines are in place."
"Good. Any data salvaged?"
Gvarokh relates what Vincent found.
"I see. Please send me a copy of the data."
Gvarokh complies. During the transmission he asks, "From what I could see of the
battle, it would seem that one of the ships got away."
"Yes. It's a pity that Khigiikuli couldn't complete his assignment. I may have
to re-evaluate his status."
"So are we to continue on to Gemid?"
"Some of us are. It would seem that Khigiikuli and Dhoknan both suffered damage
to their ships and will need to make repairs before jumping. I informed them
that it would be most unbecoming to go before the alphas with hull breaches and
scorch marks. We will proceed on ahead while they clean themselves up."
"Understood. Gvarokh out."
Gvarokh ponders what Soks' motivation could be for, what appears to him to be,
intentionally setting the captains against one another. He makes a mental note
to discuss this with Elloekothe.
Thirty minutes later, Soks' ship notifies Pack of Daggers that they're
going to jump now and sends the coordinates. Gvarokh checks that the coordinates
do indeed belong to the Gemid system. The navigation computer confirms that
they are. They lead right to Gemid itself.
Gvarokh gives the order to jump.
Characters: All
NPC: All
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Jumpspace between Daama and Gemid
A meeting has been called. All are gathered in the common area.
Vincent has finished extracting the data from the base, and he and Elloekothe
have finished poring over it to determine if there's anything of value contained
therein.
Vincent starts, "As I reported before jump, a good chunk of what was downloaded
was operating system and software. Nothing about the nature of the base or the
personnel. Not even communications. But we did get raw sensor data going back
two years, which appears to be when the base was erected. I say that because
there was a lot of traffic right around the base, mostly clippers and scout
ships. After the installation period, traffic at the base dropped off to monthly
visits from scouts and quarterly re-supply ships of the far trader variety.
"As for system traffic, we've got it all. Every corsair that refueled here
before jumping to Vilani space in the last two years was recorded. Of course,
it's not every corsair that raided the Vilani Empire, or every Vilani world in
this subsector for that matter. There's still Ugarun and Kashiin as potential
departure points. We know from our visits to those worlds that corsair activity
was common.
"The most interesting thing that turned up was Confederation Navy patrols. Every
week, a small group consisting of a frigate and two packets would pop in, hang
out for a day or two, and jump out. Not the same trio. They were on a six-week
rotation. Also, there was a larger task force that circulated through. This
larger group consisted of Naz-class battle cruiser—that's a 30,000
ton monster for those of you who aren't familiar—and it was escorted by
about ten other smaller ships, ranging in size from 400 to 2,000 tons. The
composition of the task force changed from time to time, but the Naz
cruiser was always present. It popped in every four weeks. This group would stay
for about three days before moving on.
"Our benefactor, Soks, was seen coming and going quite a bit as well. While
Vargr tend to run with their transponders off, Soks was easy to spot as
Desiree Keah class yachts are pretty rare.
"Oh, and we're in there, too."
Chuck asks, "Any Imperial traffic?"
"Oh yeah. Definitely. They made it easy by running with their transponders on.
I suspect that several ship captains are going to get in trouble with Vilani
customs for violating the embargo."
Once discussion on the topic of traffic has died down, Gvarokh says, "Thank you,
Vincent. Anything else?"
"Yes," Vincent replies. "Earlier, I'd said that we didn't get any communication
files—and that's still true—but we did find remnants of directory
structure. While the contents are missing, we found two sub-directories within
the operations directory. These two sub-directories were Luukuusiik and
Aap Niidun."
Lakir translates, "Both of these are Vilani words. Luukuusiik means
'leukocyte', which, as Irma knows, is the fancy scientist way of saying 'white
blood cell.' Aap Niidun means 'hot needle.'"
All eyes turn to Elloekothe and Irma.
Elloekothe, whose arms are folded across her chest, says, "I haven't heard of
either of these listed as code names for any Vilani Intelligence ops."
Irma raises a hand. "I have."
"You have?"
"Yes, when the Admiral recruited me for this mission, I overheard him talking to
someone on the comm just before I walked into his office. He said that he was
having difficulty collecting all the assets for 'hot needle' so 'leukocyte' was
taking precedent as it was an easier operation to get off the ground and not be
as noticeable."
Gvarokh says, "Wait. Are we 'leukocyte'? At least in part?"
Dougok's head tilts to the side, confusion evident on his face.
Irma answers, "It seems that way."
Gvarokh is about to say something, pauses, then adds, "If so, we're extremely
lucky they deleted the files before we could get them. Wow. That'd be really
bad."
Once discussion on this topic wraps up, Gvarokh turns to Elloekothe. "What is
Soks doing here? From my point-of-view, it looks like he's intentionally setting
members against each other. Is that just his MO? Because if I was Khigiikuli,
I'd be pissed that I got 'demerits' for not running a fight perfectly and for
having the new guy get extra credit just because he was allowed to avoid said
fight. To me that looks like he's doing everything to set Khigiikuli against us.
Is that just how he works, or is is he deliberately trying to set the two of us
against each other?"
Elloekothe's tail wags and she nods. "Yeah, that's his MO. Most of his clients
aren't smart enough to figure that out and willingly compete with one another
to gain favor. He remains above the fray, always promising favor to those who
succeed or please him. It helps him maintain control, remain the alpha, and
maximize his profits.
"The game has just become more deadly."
Gvarokh adds, "Then we're really going to have to figure out how to kill
Khigiikuli as quickly as possible. Once he puts things together, he's going to
be gunning for us directly. We have to figure out how to eliminate him as
quickly as we can."
Elloekothe nods. "Dougok, Kagfak, and Uengghae were all corsairs with the
Touzagh before they joined you."
All three start to protest.
Kagfak says, "But that was months ago!"
"We're loyal to Gvarokh!" Uengghae adds.
"That's not my point, pups," Elloekothe says. "You know enough about the Touzagh
that you should be able to find a path to him."
Kagfak and Uengghae exchange grimaces.
Uengghae says, "We were lowly packmates aboard the Bitter Tasting Poison From
My Teeth when we encountered this pack."
"Yeah," Kagfak adds, "We weren't even allowed to meet the base commander let
alone someone from senior command."
Elloekothe turns to Dougok, "Well, what about you, Dougok? You're always
carrying yourself like a vargr who's owed a kingdom."
"Kingdoms are not owed like some sort of debt. Kingdoms are either taken or
forged."
"That was an idiom—"
"I know, but it was misused."
"I—"
"I never met Khigiikuli, but my captain did. I don't know if the reason for my
expulsion from the Touzagh ever made it up to him."
Elloekothe folds her arms. "Yeah, saying that pinkies shouldn't lead wolves
wouldn't endear you to him."
Dougok tilts his head to the side. "How did you know that?"
"It was in your file."
Dougok lets a quick growl escape him.
"Regardless, you could probably fake it. You could tell him that you served with
the Touzagh under Uegvozodh for a while, but you were transferred to Gamgilebo
and was marooned after the attack on that base. It could provide you with a way
in."
Vlad interjects, "But if that Captain Uegvozodh is still serving with
Khigiikuli, Dougok would be screwed."
No one has an answer for this. Gvarokh requests the crew to brainstorm some
solutions and adjourns the meeting.
Characters: All
NPC: All
Location: Pack of Daggers
System: Jumpspace between Daama and Gemid
A final briefing has been called to get the crew prepared for Gemid.
Elloekothe places a holocrystal into a slot on the projector and, after everyone
has a cup of coffee, ovagghog, or other mentally stimulating beverage, cues it
up. A disembodied voice narrates as the video shows scenes of Gemid.
"Gemid is a medium-sized world with a very thin atmosphere, tainted by dust and
industrial pollutants. 33% of the world's surface is covered by water. Average
temperature is 20.5°C (68.9°F), but don't let that fool you. Summers
are a blisteringly hot 50°C while nights will freeze you to death in a
matter of minutes. So you never want to venture outside unprotected.
"The seven billion inhabitants are packed into domed cities with some of the
best climate control systems technology can create. And at tech level 16, you'd
never guess how terrible things are outside. Cities are adjacent to industrial
sectors, which aren't thoroughly covered in domes and vent their emissions
directly to the atmosphere."
A close-up of industrial sectors shows that the domes are very low in height
compared to those of cities.
"The planet is balkanized. There are city-states which are attached to certain
industries, each with their own demands and capitulations. These are deliberated
in a global council. While a visitor might think them a fractious lot, they are
anything but that.
"There's a global law level of 9 and a cultural belief in subservience to
authority. This has made it easy for the establishment of population controls.
The most notable is that there are only two generations of a family alive at any
one time. Before parents can have children, the would be grandparents must be
dead. If they aren't at the time of the birth of the grandchildren, they must
commit ipsikharmuluur, which roughly translates to 'fatal sacrifice for
family.' "
The video shows an ipsikharmuluur ceremony whereupon a grandfather kisses his
grandchild on the head before imbibing a dark liquid from a ceremonial cup.
Gvarokh interrupts the presentation. "Computer, pause." And then he pauses to
stare at the video for a moment. Then he says, "So they have to murder the
grandparents to have a child? That sucks. What happens if the grandparents flee
or enter exile? Is that dead enough?"
Chuck replies, "When I was in the scouts, we had a case where a VIP who was
providing intel on corsair activity was in that situation. So we had to go in
and 'liberate' him off-world, otherwise we would've lost some valuable data. He
could've chosen exile, but it's really ingrained in the psyche of these people.
His family was devastated by what they perceived as a betrayal of their values.
After he divulged his intel, he asked to be brought back home so that he could
restore his name. After explaining why he left, they forgave him...and he killed
himself shortly thereafter."
After pausing to let that sink in, he adds, "But yeah, there are the occasional
people who choose exile, but they're very rare. Most people who aren't
indoctrinated with their culture's beliefs, leave the planet as soon as they're
able to or don't have children."
"Computer, resume."
"While Gemid has what has been reported to have a tech level 16 naval base,
Vilani Naval Intelligence is baffled by how the world fell to corsairs. Even
with Ngath Confederation help, they shouldn't have been able to win. Their
numbers would've had to have been overwhelming and casualties still would've
been high. One possibility is that the naval base wasn't anywhere near as
powerful as foretold. Another possibility is that the Confederation had an
inside man.
"Whatever the reason may be, Vland feels that it is only a matter of time before
the Confederation exploits the technological treasures of Gemid and puts them
to nefarious use or sells them to the highest bidder, there being no shortage of
customers at this point."
Dougok growls at the idea of treachery but has little to say at the moment
rather waiting to see what his packmates might add.
"If you have questions not answered by this presentation, an avatar of limited
functionality may be engaged to answer them."
Gvarokh says, "Engage avatar."
The avatar appears in the form of a Vilani woman in what passes for fashion
among the scientist caste.
Gvarokh continues. "Almost no society has a uniform tech level. What are the
industries that are truly at TL16? What are the highpoints of those TL16
'treasures'?"
"Gemid's tech level sixteen attributes are notably in the fields of healthcare,
genetic engineering, anagathics, advanced applications of biological and
chemical studies, life support systems, advanced fusion power, energy storage,
and weaponry."
"And in which do they lag?"
"Sensors, avionics, propulsion, metallurgy, armor, FTL drives, terraforming,
gravitics, communications, computers, electronics, and robotics."
"Where are the primary military base and research station located?"
"Gemid's research facilities are scattered over the planet." The avatar
disappears, replaced by a globe with several colorful dots representing the
locations of the research facilities.
"There are military bases on the planet." Military bases are represented by
black dots on the globe.
"The naval base is located in orbit, constructed from the remnants of the
world's small moon." The video zooms out to show the naval base, a cube,
rotating about the planet.
As much to Elloekothe as the avatar, Gvarokh asks, "Do we have any idea which
research station is the bioweapons one or ones?"
The avatar answers before Elloekothe, "Yes." The video zooms in to reveal a
large research institute adjacent to a manufacturing complex.
"Only one?" Chuck asks.
"Yes," the avatar replies. "By treaty, each city-state specializes in one
aspect of the economy or sciences. With limited resources, the cities' leaders
believed this to be the most prudent use of said resources rather than having
multiple cities competing with one another and wasting tax revenue fighting
over these resources."
Lakir asks, "How are security measures administered amongst the different
research facilities handled? Any idea of what the force structures may have
looked like?"
"Citizens are free to travel from one city to the next, and each research
facility has at least some publicly accessible areas, though they may just be
areas immediately adjacent to the lobby and no more. Each research facility has
varying degrees of security. The level of security depends on the nature of the
research and the intensity of the executive suite. Individual retina scans are
not unheard of.
"I'm not familiar with the term 'force structures', however, I'm interpreting
this to mean the implementation of security protocols. There is no
jurisdictional differentiation from local law enforcement. They are branches of
the same tree, just as one would expect homicide and vice to be different
divisions within the same law enforcement structure, so too is research
security equivalently treated.
"If I have misinterpreted your question, please provide more data on your query
so that I may restructure the appropriate reply."
"It's fine. So, we can assume some number of three- to four-man fire teams,
equipped to TL 16 ground combat standards, and able to summon additional quick
response forces, should a threat to the facility present itself, depending on
the type of facility?"
"Yes. It should be noted that Gemid security forces do not employ robots except
in the most dangerous of situations, bomb disarmament for example. They will
employ drones for reconnaissance, but there are already a number of security
cameras in most places."
"Why don't they use robots?" Chuck asks.
"It's a reflection of a global policy. With such a large populace and scarce
resources, sociologists, economists, and politicians have concluded that it is
best if everyone is employed. It is their belief that robots take away jobs
from people and that leads to strife."
With everyone's questions satisfied, the meeting is adjourned.
Next: Arrival at Gemid