Meanwhile the navy characters were meeting with Captain Labat and Admiral Krond aboard the Eurisko somewhere above Byrni. Over the past few months they had performed their duties well and this was, if not a reward, then a sign that they were trusted enough with an important mission.
Commander Boris (Engineering), Petty Officer Tipper (Line/Crew) and Lance Sergeant Hanz Waltz (Star Marines) stood to attention as Krond outlined the mission that they were to be sent on. For the next three months they would jump around the Borderlands subsector hunting down rumours to find the location of the pirate planet. They would be under cover as simple merchants, flying the trade routes in a captured far trader called Dirty Beast.
To help with the disguise they would be given MCr 2.0 with which to buy supplies for the flotilla and also to cover expenses. It was made very clear that should they not have a full cargo hold of required goods on their return there would be consequences.
Ergo and Falcon
First stop was Ergo, where they refueled at the automated station. With nobody to talk to they jumped as quickly as possible to Falcon.
At Falcon they managed to find the types of cargo that the flotilla required, and in sufficient quantities to fill the hold. This good fortune meant that unless they were attacked by pirates they would not need to do any more trading for the rest of their mission.
In the space port they asked around and even joined gambling games to find out information. Something they learned was that not long before a group of nobles had visited and lorded it over everyone. Rumour had it that they were really pirates and were trying to steal locals to force them to repair their pirate base. They also learned that at Exe a pirate base had been destroyed by the Imperial Navy although it wasn't clear if the two rumours were linked.
Exe
Jumping next to Exe they talked to the crew manning the refueling depot as well as some passing ship crews and got into a card game or two. They didn't stay long - there were only a dozen or so people to talk to - and didn't learn any useful information. They jumped as soon as was possible to Acrid.
Acrid
Acrid was an entirely different kind of space port to those that they'd seen on this mission. A huge class A facility, it housed tens of thousands of locals and visitors. They decided to spend a couple of weeks following leads, speaking to people, and frequenting gambling houses in order to learn useful rumours.
It was here they learned more about a group of ships, including a treasure ship, that had suddenly had to leave. Originally the rumours had been that the small ships were from Drinax and that they had hijacked the treasure ship. More recently information had come to light that the ships were really just far traders with some superficial external disguises added to make them look more impressive than they really were. They were apparently from Oghma but pretending to be from Drinax. This last rumour was strong and they got it from a number of people.
In the middle of their stay on Acrid Tipper got a message. He'd worked for GeDeCo as a spy in the navy for a few years now and was not entirely surprised when he was told that his time in the navy would be up and that he needed to find a way to get down to Byrni on his return. From there the GeDeCo operatives on the planet would get him away.
Around this time Hanz started getting quite frustrated and stressed about the mission. He managed to keep things under control but he knew he could get quite excitable, but was confident it would not get any worse.
Just over two weeks after arriving in Acrid, and with a number of strong rumours to report, they jumped to Inurin.
Inurin
The low tech level and lack of modern space port meant that when arriving visitors would be bombarded with radio messages suggesting that the ship land at one or another of many cleared areas that was all that could be declared a space port on the planet. The characters decided to land at one that promised to have refined fuel, but on landing (very heavily) they learned that there were only 30 tons or refined fuel, and that they probably didn't trust the refined fuel to be clear of pollutants. They bought the fuel and went about processing it in their tanks anyway.
The heavy landing had damaged the manoeuvre drive - not enough to disable it, but it would turn out to be less responsible that usual and difficult to use. Boris found some parts in a scrapyard and got to work. A couple of days later he decided he'd done as much as he could. The repairs were rudimentary but should hold although he wasn't very happy with his work.
Tipper went to talk to people around the port and the nearby town while Boris was repairing the drive. Hanz decided he could not contribute much to the rumour-gathering and with the ship just being in a field he stood guard. It was here that he started hearing voices.
As the locals came out to look at the ship - some to just gawk and others to try to sell goods or services - Hanz started imagining that he could hear their thoughts. At first he assumed they were saying these things out loud, but as time went on he realised that their mouths were not moving and the thoughts seemed to be more inward, reflective or self-narrative in nature, and not something you would say to someone else.
Eventually he shouted at people to just leave him alone and he went into the ship. That night he was sure he could hear Tipper thinking about going AWOL and jumping ship once they got to Byrni, but he said nothing.
IN the town Tipper had some success talking with the locals. They argued that Oghma and Tyr were the two planets mentioned as possible pirate planets. He also heard rumours about pirates and the navy having battles in the night sky above the planet. Many people had seen the lights above them and they had confirmed this with some navy ships that landed.
En route to Ergo
After powering up the thrusters and very shakily leaving the planet they got to the jumping point and jumped to Ergo. During this jump Hanz thought he might do some research into what he had been experiencing. The things he was experiencing were getting worse, which was making him stress out - which in turn made them worse still. Taking a few days to really get to grips with the problem he came to the only inescapable conclusion; he had psionic powers.
Sitting in his stateroom he tried to broadcast thoughts. "Bring me a drink!", then "I need a drink", "where's my drink" and so on until Tipper who, somewhat amazed, understood what was happening took a glass of water into Hanz's room and threw it in his face saying "here it is!". Nobody talked of this event again.
Ergo again, then Byrni
They refuelled at the station in Ergo and jumped to Byrni. Hanz trying his psionics more and more confidently but coming to a realisation that he'd be in big trouble if anyone in the navy found out about his powers.
Hanz decided that he'd not say anything about the thoughts he'd picked up from Boris (not really confident that the drives were fixed) and Tipper (still planning to go AWOL). Instead he would try to block his thoughts. From Tipper's point of view there was some mental straining and then a period of complete mental silence, followed with "well that seemed to work.".
Arriving in Byrni they docked with the Eurisko and reported immediately to Krond. He was delighted with what they'd discovered and declared that it was the final nail in the coffin for Oghma who had been protecting pirates for far too long. The three of them were given a week's shore leave as a reward.
Making decisions
Down on Byrni Tipper went through the motions of having a good time drinking and relaxing but was in reality waiting impatiently to be contacted and whisked away from the navy. Hanz was considering his options too. He was confident that he might be able to hide his powers now so was just taking it easy. Boris was relaxing by the pool unaware that the other two had things on their minds. It was Boris who heard a few days into their sojourn that the flotilla would be leaving about a week and a half after they reported back. It would be heading to Oghma.
Eventually Tipper was contacted by a hotel employee who made himself known as a GeDeCo operative and handed him a ticket to Vorito and a new set of identity papers. Hurriedly returning to his room Tipper pocketed his money and most personal possessions and left without saying anything.
Later, when Hanz couldn't find Tipper, he remembered that he had picked up thoughts from Tipper about going AWOL. He quickly concluded that if that happened he himself might be questioned about Tipper's activities, and that might lead to him being uncovered as a psionic.
Deciding he should at least find out where Tipper had gone he remembered seeing someone talking to Tipper in the hotel lobby. He searched for that person and, using his mind as well as his eyes, found him nearby. Rather than approaching he took a seat in the lobby and tried to tune into the other man's thoughts. With some effort he eventually heard the man wonder if Tipper;s ship to Vorito had left yet.
Rushing to his room he grabbed what possessions he had and made his way to the space port. He found a ship leaving for Vorito in the next hour and bought a ticket, persuading the person at the counter, with some psionic help, that he had the right papers to travel. He boarded with only minutes to spare..
Back at the hotel Boris was entirely unaware of what the other two were doing and lay back near the pool with a drink in his hand. He thought things had gone rather well and congratulated himself. What could possibly go wrong now.
To be continued... maybe.
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