To Palindrome
The journey to Palindrome was more or less event free. Arriving at a distant gas giant in the system, the shuttles would immediately head towards down to the planet, skim fuel, and then return to the freighter. The freighter meanwhile would be heading towards the gas giant - to reduce shuttle travel times - and then when it was nearly refueled it would head back to the 100 diameter jump limit so that once the fuel was refined it would be able to jump immediately.
The shuttles on the freighter were joined by other small craft and, in three shifts per day, they could fill the freighter in only four days. The work was exhausting for the pilots and the engineers manning the fuel purification plant, but it saved millions of credits as well as keeping them all away from prying eyes.
There were other ships that were encountered from time to time, but a megafreighter was a common sight in the Trojan Reach and it was not only enormous and slow but also clearly nonthreatening. The Harriers were prepped at all times to emerge to protect the freighter but were not needed.
Palindrome
When they arrived at Palindrome the freighter started its refueling routine while the party headed to the main planet in a Harrier to see Lady Yemar. She met them in her offices and was delighted not only that they were unharmed but also that they had been so overwhelmingly successful.
They told her about the preparations in the Wildeman base, the time in the space port waiting for the imperials, and then the brief battle that was ultimately very successful.
When it came to describing the ships that had been taken back from the imperial navy she became more somber. The presence of Admiral Darokyn and Hroal Irontooth's flagships interested her. Did that mean that there was a vacuum at the top levels of the pirate hierarchy? Slayed mentioned the same thought and that the imperial taskforce had perhaps been more successful than they had imagined.
Yemar reached over and typed something on her console, then asked the travellers what they would be doing next. They said that Theev was where they had agreed to take the freed prisoners, and then they would head to Drinax before heading to the space station in order to start repairs there.
She said that she had given orders to prepare her ship to take her to Theev, and that they should accompany her in the Harrier. They agreed and sent word to the freighter which would arrive a day or two later. The early arrival gave a good chance to prepare the way.
To Theev
Arriving at Theev the party sent the code that allowed them to approach the planet and landed in a small hangar. The clam door closed above them and they exited to meet Yemar at her hangar.
After a quick discussion they decided to walk around Blacksand City while Yemar went to meet people she knew. They would then meet up for diner at the restaurant on the top floor of the Grand Hotel.
The contrast with their previous visit, when there had been the threat of an Imperial Navy taskforce arriving, was clear. Shops were open that had been shuttered, people seemed more cheerful, and there were more of them walking around and doing business. They took care of the trade goods that they had brought with them, and inquired about maintenance costs (which would be astronomical) but generally took it easy and stretched their legs.
Dinner
That evening they dressed in their finest - Unter as bodyguard to Nitrane as usual - and headed to the Grand Hotel. There they were greeted and taken to a table some distance from the others where Lady Yemar and an elderly man with white hair were already seated. As they approached the man rose to greet them.
He introduced himself as Varuk Nirgal and welcomed them to Theev. His manners were impeccable and he was friendly and seemed to draw people into conversation with ease. The courses passed one after another - this was a very expensive meal - and talk turned to the raid on the Imperials and the freeing of the pirates.
Nirgal applauded the actions of the party and congratulated them. He admitted that he had become aware that there was a problem with so many pirate lords going missing, presumed deceased. He turned to Yemar and noted that not all was lost however and that perhaps for a while they would be less outwardly obvious. The hint was clear - no more loud brash pirate lords for the time being.
Lady Yemar broached the subject of the ships and Nirgal waved his hand and said that all repairs and maintenance would be taken care of by Theev as a thank you. He did caution that such a large fleet might be unwieldy and that the party might consider making donations of some of them to garner favours. He was clear that he did not mean himself.
Nirgal also noted that as they had done a great service to Theev they would be given certain rank and privilege on the planet. They would not be Pirate Lords, but a step below. Many of the opportunities and benefits without the responsibilities. This meant they were welcome to stay in the hotel that was set aside for the more senior members of the Theev ruling class. It also meant that they would be given bodyguards while on Theev - black widows - to accompany and protect them.
After dinner
As the mean ended Nirgal made his excuses and departed, escorted by a number of hulking minders who emerged from dark corners. Lady Yemar then breathed out a sign of relief. That was one of the two most powerful men on Theev - and had been before the pirate lords all disappeared too. His appreciation was genuine and they could not have expected a better result.
She asked what they wanted to do next, and the party and she talked for quite a long time discussing what to do with their fleet, where to go, and how they would approach the King.
As Slayed, Nitrane, Unter and Sparrow left, two black widows stepped up and walked with them, constantly scanning the area. This was different - in a good way. They seemed even more lethal up close. Arriving at the private hotel they noted that it made the Grand Hotel seem a little run down. They took up rooms and slept.
The fleet arrives
On the morning of the next day they received word that the freighter was en route from the jump limit and would dock at The Skull - the space station and shipyard - within two hours. They made their way up in a shuttle and saw that the arrival was expected.
A swarm of robots and shipyard workers took the ships out of the enormous cargo hold and they were distributed to different repair or docking stations depending on the needs. At every step they were kept informed via a terminal that was handed to them of the exact location and status of each. Another perk of having some standing now.
The first thing that they decided to do was send the mercenary cruiser out on a trading mission to Palindrome. They estimated that two round trips - about 8 weeks - would be sufficiently profitable and that the time would also be needed to find new crew members to man the freighter and to help repair the station. They badly needed engineers.
They arranged for fuel bladders to be installed in the freighter for 9000 tons of fuel - enough for another jump-3 which they would need for the next stage of their journey.
They also looked into setting up a base of operations on Theev, but when it looked like it would be about 5MCr per month for office space, protection, a hangar and storage facilities they decided against it. Perhaps Lady Yemar could receive messages on their behalf.
Departure
With the departure of the freighter set for eight weeks after it arrived, and with the mercenary cruiser busy trading, they decided that they could visit the space station in all the ships that were jump-3 or better, leaving some of them there to free up space on the freighter (now mostly full of fuel bladder) when they visited Drinax.
The fleet going to the space station would first stop at Salif and then jump to the station. This fleet consisted of the Sorrowful Maiden, Meatgrinder, the Far Scout and Fast Messenger, and the liner. It was this last one that would house the people left behind to start up the station again. When returning to Theev they'd just take the Sorrowful Maiden and Fast Messenger, leaving the others behind.
When they returned they would load up the freighter and head the most direct route - into empty hexes as they could refuel from the bladders - and take only three jumps to get to Drinax. There they would speak to the king and see what GeDeCo were up to.
To be continued.
Tuesday 23 April 2019
Monday 22 April 2019
Regrouping
Return to the hidden base
Arriving back at the Wildeman base after an in-system jump, the travellers worked out after some careful measuring that the freighter would just fit through the main doors and into the main hangar.
Once inside the prisoners disembarked and were welcomed into the newly renovated residential quarters. About a third of the freed prisoners had decided to join with Admiral Slayed and among these was a subdued Zheukvi the Corsair.
The remaining pirates showed their appreciation by swearing alliance and sharing the whereabouts of bases and safe planets. An arrangement was made whereby all those who didn't wish to join would be taken to Theev. Of Darokyn, Irontooth, Vallis or any of the other pirate lords there was no sign.
Plunder
The ships that had been captured by the Imperial Navy were removed from the freighter. Those that could be repaired were moved to the shipyard, but most of the ships were wrecks and were sent to the smelter and refinery. Some recognisable parts of the more significant wrecked ships, like those belonging to pirate lords, were kept.
Two of the repairable ships stood out. The first was Meatgrinder, a 1200 ton Aslan pocket warship which had been Hrol Irontooth's flagship. The second was Sorrowful Maiden, a 1000 ton destroyer escort which had been Admiral Darokyn's flagship. Whether that meant these two pirate lords were dead or captured, or on the run, the travellers did not know..
Among the other ships there was a mercenary cruiser, a gunship, a yacht, a 300 ton pirate carrier (with space for 10 light fighters, none of which remained), a salvage hauler that had also belonged to Admiral Darokyn and which the party were familiar, and more. Their fleet had doubled in size and more than doubled in capability.
Visitors
After two weeks a small sleek ship arrived at the asteroid and stopped there as if waiting for something. It didn't try to make contact and the occupants did not seem to be trying to find a way into the base. Eventually, after preparing the Harriers to rush out and confront the visitors should it be needed, Slayed opened a comms channel and asked what they wanted.
"We're here to speak to the Drinaxian delegate and to Admiral Slayed" they said. Slayed said to wait there and he would come out to see them. They agreed, and when the harrier was adjacent Slayed invited them to come over for a talk. The newcomers introduced themselves as Tipper and Hanz Waltz from GeDeCo. They had two pieces of information to impart from their masters.
The first piece was news was that the Imperial Navy taskforce had left Byrni and was en route to Oghma. They seem to have agreed upon Oghma as the main den of pirates and would teach the locals a lesson. They would then leave the reaches then head back to Imperial space.
The second was that GeDeCo had held up their end of the bargain that Lady Nitrane had unknowingly and unwittingly made in the Vorito vault. GeDeCo had started sending trade ships and support to Drinax to boost its position within the reaches. System Defense Boats were being given to Lord Wrax, and missile defense stations were being put in orbit.
They had also started clearing parts of the surface of toxicity and were working to help the Vespexers. Away from Drinax they had commenced negotiations to spread TL15 knowledge to lower tech worlds in the area in order to boost the general level within the reaches. Lastly offers had been made to the ruling elite within the area to send their children to the Scholar's Tower for the best education in the sector. This was a quite unsettling amount of effort on behalf of GeDeCo and the travellers didn't know what to do with the information.
The party asked what DeGeCo needed from then, and the answer was that the corporation needed nothing. Their plans for Drinax simply needed the agreement of a legally appointed representative. The party then asked if it might be possible to get supplies and trade goods - about 50,000 tons would be sufficient. Tipper was bemused. What did they need that for? Why not ask for money? But he shrugged and said that if his GeDeCo superiors authorised that they they would most certainly want to know what it was for. The party paused at that.
Finally Tipper asked how he might get in touch with them in the future. The party said that if they needed to be reached then in addition the base at Wildeman they should try Drinax or Salif. Tipper and Hanz Waltz left.with a promise to ask about the trade goods, and to keep them informed.
Preparing to go to Theev
Spending a few more weeks at the base gave the party time to let things die down, repair the TL12 ships, and plan their next moves. The decided to leave a crew at the Wildeman base to keep it running and hopefully make some money by selling manufacturing goods. They would also start work on some system defense boats for Tech-World.
Also staying at the Wildeman base would be the Patrol Corvette for defense, the trading ships to take goods to and from the Wildeman spaceport, and a bug-class salvage hauler to move materials around.
Deciding that the refuelling costs of the freighter were prohibitive (9000 tons of refined fuel would cost 4.5MCr) a fuel processing plant was manufactured to handle 3000 tons of fuel per day. This 150 ton system was installed in the cargo hold of the freighter and connected to the fuel system so that once the shuttles returned with fuel from skimming a gas giant it could be purified relatively quickly. This approach would not only save money but also allow the freighter to avoid inquisitive people at space ports.
The remaining ships were loaded back into the freighter - this time more carefully - and everyone prepared to make the three jumps through Exocet and Borite to Palindrome, before going on to Theev.
To be continued.
Arriving back at the Wildeman base after an in-system jump, the travellers worked out after some careful measuring that the freighter would just fit through the main doors and into the main hangar.
Once inside the prisoners disembarked and were welcomed into the newly renovated residential quarters. About a third of the freed prisoners had decided to join with Admiral Slayed and among these was a subdued Zheukvi the Corsair.
The remaining pirates showed their appreciation by swearing alliance and sharing the whereabouts of bases and safe planets. An arrangement was made whereby all those who didn't wish to join would be taken to Theev. Of Darokyn, Irontooth, Vallis or any of the other pirate lords there was no sign.
Plunder
The ships that had been captured by the Imperial Navy were removed from the freighter. Those that could be repaired were moved to the shipyard, but most of the ships were wrecks and were sent to the smelter and refinery. Some recognisable parts of the more significant wrecked ships, like those belonging to pirate lords, were kept.
Two of the repairable ships stood out. The first was Meatgrinder, a 1200 ton Aslan pocket warship which had been Hrol Irontooth's flagship. The second was Sorrowful Maiden, a 1000 ton destroyer escort which had been Admiral Darokyn's flagship. Whether that meant these two pirate lords were dead or captured, or on the run, the travellers did not know..
Among the other ships there was a mercenary cruiser, a gunship, a yacht, a 300 ton pirate carrier (with space for 10 light fighters, none of which remained), a salvage hauler that had also belonged to Admiral Darokyn and which the party were familiar, and more. Their fleet had doubled in size and more than doubled in capability.
Visitors
After two weeks a small sleek ship arrived at the asteroid and stopped there as if waiting for something. It didn't try to make contact and the occupants did not seem to be trying to find a way into the base. Eventually, after preparing the Harriers to rush out and confront the visitors should it be needed, Slayed opened a comms channel and asked what they wanted.
"We're here to speak to the Drinaxian delegate and to Admiral Slayed" they said. Slayed said to wait there and he would come out to see them. They agreed, and when the harrier was adjacent Slayed invited them to come over for a talk. The newcomers introduced themselves as Tipper and Hanz Waltz from GeDeCo. They had two pieces of information to impart from their masters.
The first piece was news was that the Imperial Navy taskforce had left Byrni and was en route to Oghma. They seem to have agreed upon Oghma as the main den of pirates and would teach the locals a lesson. They would then leave the reaches then head back to Imperial space.
The second was that GeDeCo had held up their end of the bargain that Lady Nitrane had unknowingly and unwittingly made in the Vorito vault. GeDeCo had started sending trade ships and support to Drinax to boost its position within the reaches. System Defense Boats were being given to Lord Wrax, and missile defense stations were being put in orbit.
They had also started clearing parts of the surface of toxicity and were working to help the Vespexers. Away from Drinax they had commenced negotiations to spread TL15 knowledge to lower tech worlds in the area in order to boost the general level within the reaches. Lastly offers had been made to the ruling elite within the area to send their children to the Scholar's Tower for the best education in the sector. This was a quite unsettling amount of effort on behalf of GeDeCo and the travellers didn't know what to do with the information.
The party asked what DeGeCo needed from then, and the answer was that the corporation needed nothing. Their plans for Drinax simply needed the agreement of a legally appointed representative. The party then asked if it might be possible to get supplies and trade goods - about 50,000 tons would be sufficient. Tipper was bemused. What did they need that for? Why not ask for money? But he shrugged and said that if his GeDeCo superiors authorised that they they would most certainly want to know what it was for. The party paused at that.
Finally Tipper asked how he might get in touch with them in the future. The party said that if they needed to be reached then in addition the base at Wildeman they should try Drinax or Salif. Tipper and Hanz Waltz left.with a promise to ask about the trade goods, and to keep them informed.
Preparing to go to Theev
Spending a few more weeks at the base gave the party time to let things die down, repair the TL12 ships, and plan their next moves. The decided to leave a crew at the Wildeman base to keep it running and hopefully make some money by selling manufacturing goods. They would also start work on some system defense boats for Tech-World.
Also staying at the Wildeman base would be the Patrol Corvette for defense, the trading ships to take goods to and from the Wildeman spaceport, and a bug-class salvage hauler to move materials around.
Deciding that the refuelling costs of the freighter were prohibitive (9000 tons of refined fuel would cost 4.5MCr) a fuel processing plant was manufactured to handle 3000 tons of fuel per day. This 150 ton system was installed in the cargo hold of the freighter and connected to the fuel system so that once the shuttles returned with fuel from skimming a gas giant it could be purified relatively quickly. This approach would not only save money but also allow the freighter to avoid inquisitive people at space ports.
The remaining ships were loaded back into the freighter - this time more carefully - and everyone prepared to make the three jumps through Exocet and Borite to Palindrome, before going on to Theev.
To be continued.
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