Characters: Gvarokh, Lakir, Slade, Vincent, Dougok
NPC: Elloekothe, Vlad, Simrii, Kagfak, Uengghae, Chuck, Irma
Location: Pack of Daggers, parked at GSC-37 Space Station
System: Gemid
Soks calls, "They're ready for you to pick up the merchandise. The instructions
are to land at the Gimarkikerkha downport, adjacent to the city of
Gimarkikerkha, an entire city devoted to biological research, specifically
agricultural pathogens. My understanding is that samples are brought in from all
over in hopes of finding the cure to whatever blight is affecting someone's
crops or livestock. And in order to find the cure, they had to learn how the
pathogen infects and kills. Apparently, they've weaponized that knowledge." Soks
pauses. "Obviously for security reasons, they're cut off from the rest of the
transportation grid, which is why they have their own downport. You'll find it
near the south pole.
"I'll be accompanying you with my boat. Once we land, we'll have to take one of
their ground vehicles from the downport to the facility where the merchandise if
made. We'll be meeting with Gegatsueg Ngaekh, CEO of the Skuethukhsgvasaalladh
Corporation. You may remember him from the committee meeting.
"Ready?"
"We are ready!" Gvarokh replies.
A few minutes later, Soks' ship's boat is spotted heading down to the surface.
Pack of Daggers follows.
During the descent, Vincent says, "While you guys are off collecting the weapon,
would you mind if I tried hacking the facility to see if I can gain access to
the system they have set up in place to manufacture the bioweapon? I can't
guarantee that I'll be successful or even find anything if the cores aren't
connected to the web here, but I figured it's worth a shot. If you'd prefer, I
can wait until you are headed back with the weapon just to make sure nothing
happens prior to that. Just radio in that you have it and are returning and
I'll start."
Gvarokh replies, "I'm good with that, but make sure there is at least one hop in
there, plenty of redirection, and the source until is otherwise isolated and
burnable."
"Of course!"
It's winter in the southern hemisphere, and the deep polar region where
Gimarkikerkha is located is in perpetual darkness. The fact that locally it's
the middle of the night seems irrelevant.
Soks handles the communications with the control tower, stating that they're the
guests of Gegatsueg Ngaekh, CEO of the Skuethukhsgvasaalladh Corporation. After
a moment, the control tower instructs the ships which hangar bays to land
in—they're adjacent—and the ships touch down.
While the hangar bay repressurizes, Gvarokh plugs into the downport's visitors
menu. He selects "vehicle rentals" from the transportation sub-menu. There are a
number of ground vehicle types, no grav options. An apologetic note states: "We
regret that the renting of grav vehicles is prohibited in Gimarkikerkha due to
security concerns. All of our vehicles have auto-pilot options. You need only to
tell it your destination, and we'll handle the driving for you."
Gvarokh says, "We need to keep things small, so let's say Dougok, Elloe, and
Lakir go with me to get the goods. Everyone else can sit tight on the ship.
Dougok will take the driver position, but is to let the auto-driver do its thing
unless something comes up."
Dougok says, "I recommend that we get a van rather than a large truck."
Gvarokh agrees and places the order.
The four gather their gear, exit the ship, and emerge from the hangar bay into a
modestly-lit tunnel where a white van, emblazoned with "Gimarkikerkha Transport
Rentals", awaits. Both sides of the tunnel are marked with hangar bay doors
with numbers painted on them. There's a sidewalk, too. Parked outside of Soks's
hangar bay is a sedan. As the four emerge from the hangar bay, it pulls
alongside. The passenger window scrolls down.
Soks is sitting in the passenger seat, smiling. "Not the nicest day, or night,
for a drive, but it'll have to do."
The sedan slowly moves on down the road, negating any chance of a reply.
The four get in the van. Dougok in the driver's seat with Lakir next to him,
taking notes on their course. Gvarokh and Elloekothe ride in the back seat. The
conditions are spartan. The seats are functional.
A female, but obviously computerized, voice emanates from an overhead speaker.
In Galanglic, it says, "Please state your destination."
Gvarokh clearly enunciates the address and the voice thanks him.
Soks's car and the van drive slowly through the downport until they reach the
transit tunnel that leads them to the city of Gimarkikerkha at which point both
accelerate to a higher speed. The tunnel's walls are transparent, offering a
view of the outside. Not that there's much to see. It's night, with lights from
the city in the distance. Some snow and ice is visible amongst a barren
landscape.
Once in the city, the vehicles slow down some, but are still able to maintain a
decent speed through the mostly empty highway. The cars take an exit and then
make their way to an industrial complex on the edge of the city. Soon enough
they arrive at a large facility with a large sign that says,
"Skuethukhsgvasaalladh Corporation" on the building. Through the letter, one can
see the shadowed remnants of letters belonging to the former company name.
Soks's car pulls up to the gate, the guard, a human male, speaks to them, talks
on a comm, and then returns to the guard house to lift up the gate. He then
waves the van on through as well.
The auto-pilot warns that is about to disengage and counts down, thus giving
Dougok enough time to take over the controls. He then follows Soks's sedan
around to the shipping and receiving bay. A garage door is already open and
Soks's car heads inside.
The shipping and receiving bay is roughly 100 meters long. Several container
trailers are lined up at one end while two tanker trailers are at the opposite
end. The loading/unloading dock is too high for the van, but in the middle of
the place is a set of stairs and a lift.
On the dock are eight security guards dressed in black flex armor and wielding
laser carbines and four humans wearing hazmat suits standing next to a gravsled
with a container on it. There's also a floating holoscreen projector displaying
the head of the loud orange suit wearing vargr from the committee.
Soks gets out of the car accompanied by two burly vargr from the back seat. The
human driver remains in the car. The smile that was once on his face is gone.
Dougok says, "I'm going to stay here in case a quick getaway is required."
"That's a good idea," Gvarokh replies.
He leads the others out of the van and over to Soks. He makes eye contact with
Soks and nods. In a quiet voice, he says, "Do you go first, or do I go first?"
Soks regains his familiar composure and says, "I'll go. He knows me."
"After you then."
Soks and his two guards head up the stairs followed by Gvarokh, Lakir, and
Elloekothe.
"Hello Gegatsueg!" Soks calls out as he approaches the holoprojector. He sniffs
the air reflexively. "I was hoping that you'd be down here to greet us, maybe
enjoy a celebratory uekhfarsal."
"Sorry Soks. Business at the starport kept me detained. I didn't have enough
time to get dirtside."
"A shame." Soks smiles, showing too many teeth. "Some other time then."
"Yes, of course." A pause. "Does your client have the money?"
"Yes. Gvarokh?"
Elloekothe hands him the credit chip. He takes it and walks over to the
holoprojector."
"Ah good. If you'll just place it in the card reader, Captain."
Gvarokh does as instructed.
"Thank you, Captain."
Gvarokh takes back the card and returns it to Elloekothe.
Soks is now standing by the gravsled. "So this is it?"
"Yes and no."
"I'm sorry?"
"Yes, it is the weapon, but no, it's not the one we're selling to the captain."
"I don't understand."
Gegatsueg turns away from Soks. "Captain Gvarokh, we're going to need you to do
us a favor."
While Gvarokh really wants to turn around and smirk at Elloe, he stifles the
urge, stays impassive, and simply says, "And that would be...?"
"We want you to use this weapon to assassinate Ngath."
Gvarokh blinks a couple of times as he thinks of how to respond. Soks picks up
the slack.
"Wow, Gegatsueg. I knew you were ambitious, but I didn't realize how much."
"We're sitting on a lanthanum mine here. Only a fool would let it go to waste."
Gvarokh returns to the conversation. "Since this is somewhat unexpected, I hope
questions are permitted."
"Of course," Gegatsueg replies.
"Good. Is there any particular approach to doing this that we are expected to
follow? Outside the use of the bioweapon, of course."
"Yes. You'll be leaving here just as soon as the conversation is finished and
make your way to Gvadhoe. Ngath has his palace there. You'll be meeting with
our contacts there, who will provide you with the means to get inside with the
weapon, whereupon you will detonate in close enough proximity to Ngath, that he
will die. You'll depart and return here with proof of your success. Then we'll
give you a weapon of your own to use as you see fit."
"I want some good 'loot' we can stage that makes sense to drive us to the
interior to sell. Can I get some on Gemid?"
"No," he scoffs. "You don't need a reason to travel to Gvadhoe. It's the
capital. That's reason enough."
"This will likely be a high-collateral operation. I assume that is acceptable."
"We're counting on it."
"What are the safety interlocks on this package?" He gestures to the box and
continues, "I figure there are guarantees with it that are designed to prevent
us from just taking it. How do we get to use it when the time is appropriate?"
"There's an onboard timer that will enable the arming computer to accept
security codes in about as much time as it should take you to get to Gvadhoe.
There will be three-week window that it will remain open. Should you not execute
the operation in that time frame, it will shut off again. The security code
will be presented to you on another device that also has an onboard timer that
knows when to display and transmit the code.
"Now that in an of itself will not prevent you from taking it to a different
target to ensure its usage. For that, we will provide you an escort. You will
follow a route that will be transmitted to you by your escort. Any deviation
from that route will be frowned upon."
"Are there any other actions we need to take to make sure that you get proper
credit?"
"Stick with the escort, and we'll handle the rest."
"What is our reward for doing this? We've already paid for our bioweapon. What
is the reward for doing this 'favor'?"
"We have altered the deal. Pray we don't alter it any further."
While Gvarokh ponders how to respond, Soks re-enters the conversation. "So, was
it Gvarokh all along? Or did you have a plan for the others?"
"We really didn't know what to expect from Gvarokh and his crew. Your
communications about Dhoknan and Khigiikuli gave us time to concoct a plan for
each of them though.
"If we went with Dhoknan, he would've claimed a victory for the 17th
Disjuncture, then we would've rallied the Confederation to avenge Ngath's death.
But with the attack on Roetingaz Station, that's already happening. Dhoknan
would never get close enough to execute the plan.
"If we went with Khigiikuli, he would've claimed a victory for the Touzagh, then
we would've rallied the Confederation to purge the Touzagh from our borders,
framing it as culture war. A need to return to traditional vargr values. Force
all corsairs to declare their fealty to the Confederation or lose the right to
use our worlds as a haven from the Imperials, vilani or otherwise.
"But Captain Gvarokh revealed how incompetent Khigiikuli was during the
application interviews. We felt that Khigiikuli lacked the ability to execute
the plan. His failure would've drawn negative attention to us."
"So what's your plan with Captain Gvarokh? Are you going to—please pardon
the expression—throw him to the wolves, too?"
"Not at all. He strikes us as a much smarter asset. If he gets his way and
assumes control of Corridor, even so much as a subsector, he'd prove to be a
valuable ally that we could use to choke off the spinward Imperials from the
vilani and the rest."
"But isn't that happening already?"
"Yes, but none of those there are our allies, and we're not sure that they're
capable of holding it. There are reports of resistance on several worlds.
Corsairs are great at taking, not so good at governing."
"But why the third-party?" Gvarokh interjects. "If we are to have escorts the
entire way, then you obviously have loyal forces in place that could do this on
their own. In fact, this operation is likely more complicated and labor
intensive by having us do this. What is the win for you by having us do it?"
Gegatsueg looks irritated by the question. "I just finished saying that we're
looking for an ally outside the Confederation."
"You're missing his point," Soks says, sauntering away from Gegatsueg's
holoprojector and standing closer to the weapon. "Why use him at all? Why not
use your own people? If they're loyal, they can do it, then you can claim credit
for it, demonstrating how weak Ngath is."
Gegatsueg takes too long to reply, so Soks continues, "It's because you know
that the blowback is more than you can handle. You need a... what's the word?
Ah yes, 'scapegoat'."
"No—"
"Yes! You already explained that if Dhoknan claimed victory for the 17th
Disjuncture, you would rally the Confederation against them, probably killing
Dhoknan before he could escape. And Khigiikuli declaring a victory for the
Touzagh would make them a target. Khigiikuli wouldn't live long enough either
to explain that it was part of your plan." Soks makes a grand sweeping gesture
towards Gvarokh. "And now he's going to be your scapegoat. So which enemy did
you choose?" He begins to pace back and forth, all eyes following him, as he
rattles off a list of potential invented foes.
"Random corsair faction from Corridor? Not plausible. Why make an enemy of a
potential ally when the vilani are just grazing in the field? Competition? Far
too soon to worry about that. Even the Provence states held off on bickering
with one another until after Corridor was devoured.
"Maybe a world that the Confederation has been salivating over? Hteh Hut,
perhaps? No, that would be suicide! Hteh Hut hasn't lasted this long because of
stupidity.
"Maybe the vilani sent an undercover group to decapitate the head of state as a
prelude to invasion!" He barks out a laugh. "As if the vilani had teeth for such
a brazen and ruthless attack. It would be undignified!"
Soks stops pacing, grabs the holoprojector, and confronts Gegatsueg. "So who is
it?"
Gegatsueg replies with a bit of defiance. "Actually, if you must know, it was
Hteh Hut."
"Ah ha!"
"The ruse would last long enough for us to not only rally the Confederation and
take Hteh Hut, but consolidate power as well. Gvarokh and his crew would be
escorted to the border with their weapon where they could travel back to
Corridor to establish their domain."
With Soks now smugly silent, Gegatsueg turns back to Gvarokh. "So what do you
say, Captain? Are you willing to abide by our terms?"
Gvarokh stands there, looking deep in thought. Before he can reply, someone
off-screen grabs Gegatsueg's attention.
"What?... When? ... Are you tracking them? ... Let me know as soon as you get
something." He then returns his attention to the group in the warehouse.
"Apologies."
"What's wrong?" Soks asks.
"Nothing you need worry about. A trespasser. Now, Captain Gvarokh, have you come
to a decision?"
Gvarokh responds, "Yes, I have." After a pregnant pause, he continues. "Yes, we
will accept the mission. It is the roadblock to get to our goal, but we're good
with it. However, I do have one request: We would like a small down payment on
our eventual delivery. Just a small application that will give us a back-up in
case things go awry. Lock it for 48 hours to make sure we are away from Gemid,
but after that, we have control of it. It needs to be enough to affect a large
room, but not a full package," waving his hand towards the delivery at hand."
Gegatsueg brow furrows and his head tilts to one side. "It will take some time
to secure that sample. There are preparations that need to be made to make it
safe for travel."
"We can wait."
"Very well."
After a moment, Gvarokh says, "Will our handlers help when we are eventually
attacked by Khigiikuli?"
"If that should happen, yes, they will."
"Thank you."
Gegatsueg nods, then says, "If that's all, then we're done here. We'll be in
touch when your sample is ready." To the group in the hazmat suits, he says,
"Load them up." With that, the holoprojection winks off.
The hazmat team move the gravsled off of the loading dock and next to the van.
Dougok gets out of the van and opens the doors for them. They load the weapon in
the van and depart back to the loading dock. Dougok closes the doors and gets
back into the van.
The guards keep watch the whole time.
Soks and his team return to their car while Gvarokh, Lakir, and Elloekothe get
in the van. Dougok then backs out of the warehouse and leaves the way they
came, returning to the hangar bay.
Character: Vincent
Location: Pack of Daggers, parked at Gimarkikerkha downport
System: Gemid
Vincent's laptop is awaiting him as he sits down. He establishes his local
internet connections and sets up a nine address node route with erasers
stationed at each one. The first target is the company's public face on InfoNet.
Inputting Skuethukhsgvasaalladh Corporation turns out to be a domain pointer
leading to the Nekamumdugin Corporation. Finding its IP address is easy enough.
He probes its firewall, looking for a weak spot. Thinking he has one, he
strikes.
He gets in with ease. Looking around, he realizes that it's not connected to the
corporate network. It's a standalone computer that's updated through FTP. He
downloads the login credentials file and the log files, then disconnects from
the InfoNet server.
The credentials file is encrypted, so he runs it through his decryption program.
It doesn't take long for it to crack the file. The "passwords" correspond to
retina scans. Now the questions are: Do any of these people have remote access
to the company's network and, if so, what are the IP addresses of those extranet
servers?
Every planet with an InfoNet has a central repository of IP addresses,
balkanized or not. Vincent just needs to access that repository. He finds the
organization on the InfoNet, but the addresses and who they belong to aren't
available to the public, so he needs to hack his way in to them as well.
Vincent is a little surprised by his success so far. "I guess the intel was
right. Their computer tech is lagging."
Nekamumdugin Corporation only has one extranet IP address. He logs in with the
credentials he snagged to find what he can about them.
Most of the people are in marketing, so they're fairly useless. One entry brings
him to an HR server. This person doesn't have access to the servers that
Vincent wants, but scrolling through the list of IDs in the HR records, he
discovers that one person he hasn't tried is in IT. He thinks, "Probably the guy
the marketing types go to when they need help with the corporate netsite."
Vincent logs in with this guy's credentials and discovers that he has access to
the extranet server, which determines which servers people have access to. He
also has access to all of the internal routers. These are labelled like
"Manufacturing Router" and "R&D Router". Once on the R&D router, he
notes that the R&D servers don't come with easily identifiable names. It's
all "research server 1", "research server 2", etc. And there's fifteen of them.
He decides to check them out one by one. Getting into the first server is easy
enough, and he discovers that he has root access, but when he tries to access
"projects", he is told "access denied." When he tries to download, copy, or move
the projects directory, the message repeats. The process is repeated on servers
two and three. At that point, Vincent knows that he has reached the limits of
this account.
He needs to find someone who does have access.
He returns to the HR server with the HR person ID. He finds an employee roster
database and searches for IT department personnel and copies it to his machine.
On a whim, he decides to grab the names of all the neurology personnel from the
database and all the executive science department personnel, too.
He logs back in as the one IT guy he has and goes to the extranet server to find
a better login ID. He finds IT guy's boss in the HR database and looks him up
in the extranet credentials database—far more complicated than the simple
InfoNet site server credentials file. Unfortunately, IT guy just has read-only
access to the extranet credentials database, so he can't upgrade his own
permissions or add a superuser.
He needs to be IT guy's boss.
Vincent runs his decryption program on the IT guy's boss's credentials. Doing
the whole database would be wonderful, but there isn't time.
Fortunately, he gets the IT guy's boss's credentials. He logs out and logs back
in as the IT guy's boss and goes straight to research server one. He gets into
the projects directory and finds that all of the project names are encrypted.
And there's 47 on this server alone. He doesn't have time to decrypt them all
one by one. He can go back and find one of the scientist VIPs, decrypt his
credentials, and then look around for the one project he needs, or he can
download each and every project from all fifteen servers.
Vincent sighs at the stumbling block, but then starts the download process.
While that runs, he establishes a firewall at the closest node, then gets to
work coding a worm that will delete everything on the research servers in two
days. He's about a quarter of the way done when he gets a notification that the
firewall he set up on node number nine is under assault and crumbling fast.
There's no time to save it. He has three choices: