Drinax
Arriving at Drinax a few weeks before the coronation the travellers docked and disembarked to find a representative of the Queen-to-be waiting for them. Their presence was required immediately, they were told, and so they made their way to Rao's private rooms.
When they arrived they were warmly welcomed and a brief royal hug was bestowed on each of them. They were asked to sit down and an informal meeting started where they were asked about all the systems they had visited, and about the rulers or significant people they'd met along the way. It turned out that many of the people they'd already met would be coming to the coronation and, with representatives starting to arrive Rao wanted to take the opportunity to meet with them individually, accompanied by the travellers.
Before that happened she wanted to discuss with them the type of ruler she intended to be, and the type of kingdom she would rule. She trusted the travellers and wanted to hear their opinions.
Firstly she wanted to have a feudal government, just as it was in the days of the Sindalian Empire. When it came to security she wanted an end to the piracy that her father had supported, at least for the travellers. She would invest in ship building in order to protect the borders of her new kingdom, but would not be an aggressor. Lastly she wanted to exploit the technological advantage of Drinax by establishing Drinax-owned enterprises in other systems, but not actively help other systems. She reasoned it was this that gave Drinax it's advantage and to give that away would not be wise.
The travellers agreed with her forms of government and security. It made sense to hearken back to the old days of the empire and to clamp down on piracy. When it came to technology they reasoned that the kingdom would be stronger if Drinax helped in some way to raise the technology levels of the systems that were willing to pay for it. That way she might get a fleet or more advantageous trading situations much faster without losing any advantage.
Rao considered the advice from the travellers and saw that it was good. She had her clerks modify the terms of treaties and agreements to match what the party had suggested and that she now accepted as good advice.
Meeting after meeting
The meetings with the representatives of all the systems in the Trojan Reach started almost immediately and all followed a common theme. The Queen-to-be welcomed the visitors and with the travellers by her side talked about the types of government, security and technology and listened to their hopes and fears. She hoped that they would join her in creating a new power in the reaches to provide stability and prosperity.
The systems all considered her words and formed their own opinions. Overall a good number of systems pledged allegiance to the new Queen and promised to be faithful and loyal subjects to the new Kingdom of Drinax.
Around this time Varuk Nirgal from Theev, who was one of the systems that agreed to join the Kingdom, met with the travellers. He proposed that in addition to becoming a loyal and faithful vassal state to Drinax that it might be advantageous to have strong ties going the other way, the better to represent the interests of Theev on Drinax. To that end he proposed that the travellers become full Lords of Theev. There would be no more piracy, for that was the wish of the Queen-to-be, but the trading and shipbuilding capabilities made it important that Theev had their fair say in matters.
The party agreed that being Lords of Theev sounded just fine, and with a handshake it was done.
Crowning the new ....
So the day of the coronation arrived. Everyone was in their finest, and the ceremony begun with the whole population of Drinax either in the huge throne room, or watching on screen positioned around the palace.
Pride of place at the front was given to the travellers, and they sat with Lady Hil and Lord Wrax, as well as Imperial Ambassador, who shot the party dark looks from time to time and didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all.
The travellers were as surprised as everyone else when Rao was crowned not as Queen but as Empress, as she declared that with over thirty systems they had created the New Sindalian Empire. The ambassador looked sick, but the rest of the palace rang to resounding cheers.
Empress Rao thanked Nitrane, Slayed, Unter and Sparrow by name. She declared them all Arch Dukes of the Empire and bestowed upon them the titles of Arch Dukes of Tlaiowaha (Nitrane), SIndal (Slayed), the Borderland (Sparrow) and Tobia (Under). After she made a roll call of the systems that had joined, she sent out a message of good will to neighbours that had not. She wished them well and stated that when they saw the benefits of the new Empire they too would be welcomed with open arms.
After Party
Immediately after the coronation the party were again summoned to her rooms - now those of the former King. There she removed the coronation robes and in more comfortable attire sat with the party to discuss the next move, which she said should be a blockade of the trading routes from the Imperium to the Hie-rate.
She declared that trade passing her borders should be taxed. Nothing onerous at all, but something that would help fund the security and prosperity of her empire. In addition, it would take something like a blockade to persuade the Imperium and the Aslan Hierate that Drinax meant business and that a treaty should be negotiated. Without a treaty with the powers Drinax has nothing.
Slayed considered the tactics of a blockade and thought it would be possible. The two main trade routes, a jump-2 route and a jump-3 route, along with a few other systems that might be used to bypass the main route, could be blockaded to bring about what Empress Rao wanted.
Rao smiled, and put the travellers in charge of the blockade. After all, they had a small fleet of their own, as well as good relations with many of the systems in question.
To be continued.
Sunday, 16 June 2019
Sink or swim
Tech-World
Arriving at Tech-World on their way to Drinax for the coronation of Queen Rao, the travellers met with the ruling council to inform them that at last the three system defense boats that they had asked for were in production and would be delivered over the next few months. A virtual walk through was shown and the council were pleased.
On Tech-World the party also obtained a very high tech set of jewelry for the queen, including a psionic-blocking tiara, although being made of nano-technology it could take a number of shapes.
A sinking feeling
Two years earlier the party had cleared out the cargo hold of the Treasure ship on Sink, and being unable to take everything with them had put two hundred tons of cargo in storage. With Sink more or less on the way to Drinax they took the opportunity to see if it were still there.
Arriving at the now-familiar spaceport surrounded by massive lifting machinery and swamps they landed the Sorrowful Maiden and disembarked to see the Brother in Charge of Spaceport Operations waiting for them expectantly. They reintroduced themselves and asked for the ship to be refuelled, but he kept craning his neck to look around them. Eventually they asked who he was looking for and he asked if Admiral Darokyn would be getting off the ship. Apparently it was well known here.
Once they told him that Darokyn was not on board at the moment he asked if they were here to pick up his possessions. They exchanged glances before Lady Nitrane said a slightly tentative "Yes?". The Brother then asked for some identification. Perhaps there was something in the way that Nitrane responded, or the exchanged glances that made him suspicious.
Asking for a moment to get the papers, the party headed back into the ship and quickly put together some Darokyn-related evidence. They emerged and Lady Nitrane, who had been trained for this moment, spoke so persuasively in deceiving the Brother that he took their evidence as gospel and said that naturally he'd be glad to show them where Darokyn kept his personal possessions.
In the meantime they asked about their cargo and with an apologetic shrug were told that as per the conditions of the deal they agreed to two years ago the goods would be kept for 12 months, then when a further two months passed the cargo would be donated to the depths of the swamp. So it was all gone.
With little choice but to accept that outcome the travellers followed the Brother into the largest spaceport ziggurat. They were led down two levels to where a ramp led into a pool of water. Flanking the ramp were some diving suits on stands and a pump for breathing that was manned by an initiate.
Into the depths
Nitrane and Unter suited up, as did the Brother. Slayed stayed behind to watch the initiate. They entered the water and made their way a few hundred feet along a wide passage past a number of airlock doors before the Brother waved at them to stop and wrote on a board that they should open the one they had stopped next to.
After opening he door, he instructed that they should enter the airlock, disconnect their air tubes, and close the door. At that point the airlock would fill with air and they could open the inner door where Darokyn's possessions would be found. The followed his instructions, and after a brief struggle with the inner door found themselves in a small room with two wrapped and waterproofed small boxes. They took them and reversed their actions to find the Brother waiting for them and quickly connecting their air tubes again.
Emerging from the water and removing the suits they returned to the ship which was still being refuelled. They opened the boxes and found in the first some personal memorabilia from Darokyn's time in the Imperial Navy and some normal data chips, although three were immediately identified as having military grade security that they could not open with the resources at their disposal. The other contained the memory cores of two ships. One appeared to be the one he'd brought to the Trojan Reach when he defected from the imperium. The other a vessel he'd commanded for many years and which contained his full journey from that time.
In addition to the data and memorabilia they found 7 MCr, of which they game 1 MCr to the Brother in Charge of Spaceport Operations as a donation to his cause. They left for Drinax shortly thereafter.
To be continued.
Arriving at Tech-World on their way to Drinax for the coronation of Queen Rao, the travellers met with the ruling council to inform them that at last the three system defense boats that they had asked for were in production and would be delivered over the next few months. A virtual walk through was shown and the council were pleased.
On Tech-World the party also obtained a very high tech set of jewelry for the queen, including a psionic-blocking tiara, although being made of nano-technology it could take a number of shapes.
A sinking feeling
Two years earlier the party had cleared out the cargo hold of the Treasure ship on Sink, and being unable to take everything with them had put two hundred tons of cargo in storage. With Sink more or less on the way to Drinax they took the opportunity to see if it were still there.
Arriving at the now-familiar spaceport surrounded by massive lifting machinery and swamps they landed the Sorrowful Maiden and disembarked to see the Brother in Charge of Spaceport Operations waiting for them expectantly. They reintroduced themselves and asked for the ship to be refuelled, but he kept craning his neck to look around them. Eventually they asked who he was looking for and he asked if Admiral Darokyn would be getting off the ship. Apparently it was well known here.
Once they told him that Darokyn was not on board at the moment he asked if they were here to pick up his possessions. They exchanged glances before Lady Nitrane said a slightly tentative "Yes?". The Brother then asked for some identification. Perhaps there was something in the way that Nitrane responded, or the exchanged glances that made him suspicious.
Asking for a moment to get the papers, the party headed back into the ship and quickly put together some Darokyn-related evidence. They emerged and Lady Nitrane, who had been trained for this moment, spoke so persuasively in deceiving the Brother that he took their evidence as gospel and said that naturally he'd be glad to show them where Darokyn kept his personal possessions.
In the meantime they asked about their cargo and with an apologetic shrug were told that as per the conditions of the deal they agreed to two years ago the goods would be kept for 12 months, then when a further two months passed the cargo would be donated to the depths of the swamp. So it was all gone.
With little choice but to accept that outcome the travellers followed the Brother into the largest spaceport ziggurat. They were led down two levels to where a ramp led into a pool of water. Flanking the ramp were some diving suits on stands and a pump for breathing that was manned by an initiate.
Into the depths
Nitrane and Unter suited up, as did the Brother. Slayed stayed behind to watch the initiate. They entered the water and made their way a few hundred feet along a wide passage past a number of airlock doors before the Brother waved at them to stop and wrote on a board that they should open the one they had stopped next to.
After opening he door, he instructed that they should enter the airlock, disconnect their air tubes, and close the door. At that point the airlock would fill with air and they could open the inner door where Darokyn's possessions would be found. The followed his instructions, and after a brief struggle with the inner door found themselves in a small room with two wrapped and waterproofed small boxes. They took them and reversed their actions to find the Brother waiting for them and quickly connecting their air tubes again.
Emerging from the water and removing the suits they returned to the ship which was still being refuelled. They opened the boxes and found in the first some personal memorabilia from Darokyn's time in the Imperial Navy and some normal data chips, although three were immediately identified as having military grade security that they could not open with the resources at their disposal. The other contained the memory cores of two ships. One appeared to be the one he'd brought to the Trojan Reach when he defected from the imperium. The other a vessel he'd commanded for many years and which contained his full journey from that time.
In addition to the data and memorabilia they found 7 MCr, of which they game 1 MCr to the Brother in Charge of Spaceport Operations as a donation to his cause. They left for Drinax shortly thereafter.
To be continued.
Saturday, 15 June 2019
Friends and two bases
Visiting new friends
As Prince Harrick entered the Harrier, Princess Rao stopped short, turned to the travellers, and asked if they would swear fealty to her as their future queen. Nitrane and Unter did so immediately. Slayed and Sparrow then followed after a moment, exchanging glances.
As Prince Harrick entered the Harrier, Princess Rao stopped short, turned to the travellers, and asked if they would swear fealty to her as their future queen. Nitrane and Unter did so immediately. Slayed and Sparrow then followed after a moment, exchanging glances.
Rao smiled widely, nodded graciously, and thanked them. She then asked if the four of them were capable themselves of flying the Harrier by themselves. They said that they could, and she asked for all other crew to be removed from the ship while they went to see the Zhodani agent.
On the trip to the rendezvous point Prince Harrick wanted to see the inside of a Harrier as he'd not had the opportunity previously. He seemed suitably impressed by the fabulous cargo bay and immediately grasped that it was to impress visitors.
Upon arriving the ship was brought to a halt as the Princess told them to wait for the Zhodani ship to arrive and make itself known. She wasn't sure how they would react to seeing the Harrier instead of her yacht.
Chbradlklodgiepr Dlmshar
When the ship was finally detected it was already adjacent to the Harrier. It's stealth properties were incredible, but went some way to explaining why there were no rumours of Zhodani ships in the area - nobody was detecting them.
A docking tube was extended and the party could hear the ships connecting. The Princess went to the airlock to welcome them with Admiral Slayed. Prince Harrick and the rest of the party stayed in the bridge awaiting the Zhodani.
Two Zhodani in armour appeared first, followed by a swarthy man with a mustache that curled up at both ends wearing a wrapping style headpiece. He was wearing robes and carried himself in a manner that indicated he was very sure of himself.
He bowed low to the Princess and announced to anyone who might be in earshot that he, a humble servant of the Zhodani Empire, was most honored to again meet Her Royal Highness, the Princess Rao, who in her wisdom, and in with the betterment of their two body politics had most graciously agreed to meet him.
Upon being invited onto the bridge the two guards took up positions while he introduced himself as Chbradlklodgiepr Dlmshar, representative of the Zhodani Empire, He explained that he was interested in Drinax as they were clearly the most civilised system in the Reaches, and as such the obvious partners with which to work to being prosperity to the area.
He asked to look over the ship, and was taken by Slayed and Nitrane, with Prince Harrick, to look at around. He seemed impressed but asked few questions. Returning to the bridge the conversation continued for a little while on topics that seemed innocent and innocuous he declared that he was ready to leave.
Speaking earnestly to each person in turn, grasping their hands in his, he wished them well, told them that they would do great things, and that he hoped that the alliance between Drinax and the empire would flourish. Each person got his full attention in this way. Prince Harrick was also advised to take his sister's words to heart and trust her and her judgement, to which he nodded.
Dlmshar took his leave, flourished a wave, and returned to his ship. Tracking it as it left he was there one moment and then, as they must have turned on some stealth technology, disappeared.
Back to Drinax, and bad news
The Harriers rendezvoused and jumped to Drinax where it was discovered that King Oleb had passed away. When they docked the Princess returned to her quarters where her retinue brought her up to speed with the events that had transpired since Harrick had taken her to Asim.
The palace was in mourning, and the coup still in their minds it was not sure what would happen next. Prince Harrick calmed the situation by proclaiming that he was fully supporting his sister to be queen and that his followers must also support her from this moment on or be accused by him of treason.
Princess Rao advised that the coronation would take place in six months and that the heads of state of all systems in the Trojan Reach would be invited.
To the Space Station
The party needed no more prompting to head to the space station, which had been their destination all along. With the limited jump range of the Harriers it took five weeks to reach it whereupon they found that the megafreighter was connected up and providing power, and that already the mining and smelting facilities were running and stockpiling raw materials for manufacturing.
Goff had also supervised, with the help of the robot Maria, the repairs to the computer systems. The party needed to enter the Ducal codes provided to them by Oleb many years ago now, which they did with some trepidation - Goff had attempted to start the computers a day or two earlier and all defensive systems had sprung into near-catastrophic action. Nobody had been killed but it was a close thing.
Entering the codes deactivated any self-defense modes that the computer was in, and people could start the business of repairing the station once again. The computer greeted the travellers and called itself ALF, short for Artificial Life Form. It advised that it would be able to watch and control everything in the station. In its databanks were the manufacturing blueprints for anything the station needed to make - including the station. It was able to fully maintain itself once the engineers got things into an operational state after many centuries of neglect.
To the Hidden Base
Once things were in progress on the space station the party's thoughts turned to the Wildeman base. They travelled in the Sorrowful Maiden: the Harriers would meet them at Drinax for the coronation in a few months. Their journey started on Theev where Lady Nitrane picked up some dresses and gowns for when they returned to Drinax. The others picked up suits and uniforms as well.
Travelleing via Marduk and Exocet they reached Wildeman with three months to go to the coronation. There they found that Ben Parr, whom they had left in charge, had with Gobbo's advice built some additional manufacturing plant to increase capacity. This would allow the shipyard to work on three production lines rather than just the one it was previously.
The base was sending one trading ship per week to Wildeman - jumping in-system to disguise the source of the materials. In addition it was creating System Defense Boats for Tech-World has had been promised by the travellers some time ago. Slayed took some of the profits that had been made.
Considering how to get the SDBs to Tech-World, Sparrow suggested they stop SDB production to quickly produce a cargo ship capable of transporting one SDB at a time to its destination. Plans in the system were found and slightly modified to create a 600t ship with jump-2 and docking space for the 300t SDB. It would take a few weeks to create at which point the SDB production would continue.
The party stated on Wildeman for two weeks and then headed to Tech-World via Exe.
To be continued.
Upon arriving the ship was brought to a halt as the Princess told them to wait for the Zhodani ship to arrive and make itself known. She wasn't sure how they would react to seeing the Harrier instead of her yacht.
Chbradlklodgiepr Dlmshar
When the ship was finally detected it was already adjacent to the Harrier. It's stealth properties were incredible, but went some way to explaining why there were no rumours of Zhodani ships in the area - nobody was detecting them.
A docking tube was extended and the party could hear the ships connecting. The Princess went to the airlock to welcome them with Admiral Slayed. Prince Harrick and the rest of the party stayed in the bridge awaiting the Zhodani.
Two Zhodani in armour appeared first, followed by a swarthy man with a mustache that curled up at both ends wearing a wrapping style headpiece. He was wearing robes and carried himself in a manner that indicated he was very sure of himself.
He bowed low to the Princess and announced to anyone who might be in earshot that he, a humble servant of the Zhodani Empire, was most honored to again meet Her Royal Highness, the Princess Rao, who in her wisdom, and in with the betterment of their two body politics had most graciously agreed to meet him.
Upon being invited onto the bridge the two guards took up positions while he introduced himself as Chbradlklodgiepr Dlmshar, representative of the Zhodani Empire, He explained that he was interested in Drinax as they were clearly the most civilised system in the Reaches, and as such the obvious partners with which to work to being prosperity to the area.
He asked to look over the ship, and was taken by Slayed and Nitrane, with Prince Harrick, to look at around. He seemed impressed but asked few questions. Returning to the bridge the conversation continued for a little while on topics that seemed innocent and innocuous he declared that he was ready to leave.
Speaking earnestly to each person in turn, grasping their hands in his, he wished them well, told them that they would do great things, and that he hoped that the alliance between Drinax and the empire would flourish. Each person got his full attention in this way. Prince Harrick was also advised to take his sister's words to heart and trust her and her judgement, to which he nodded.
Dlmshar took his leave, flourished a wave, and returned to his ship. Tracking it as it left he was there one moment and then, as they must have turned on some stealth technology, disappeared.
Back to Drinax, and bad news
The Harriers rendezvoused and jumped to Drinax where it was discovered that King Oleb had passed away. When they docked the Princess returned to her quarters where her retinue brought her up to speed with the events that had transpired since Harrick had taken her to Asim.
The palace was in mourning, and the coup still in their minds it was not sure what would happen next. Prince Harrick calmed the situation by proclaiming that he was fully supporting his sister to be queen and that his followers must also support her from this moment on or be accused by him of treason.
Princess Rao advised that the coronation would take place in six months and that the heads of state of all systems in the Trojan Reach would be invited.
To the Space Station
The party needed no more prompting to head to the space station, which had been their destination all along. With the limited jump range of the Harriers it took five weeks to reach it whereupon they found that the megafreighter was connected up and providing power, and that already the mining and smelting facilities were running and stockpiling raw materials for manufacturing.
Goff had also supervised, with the help of the robot Maria, the repairs to the computer systems. The party needed to enter the Ducal codes provided to them by Oleb many years ago now, which they did with some trepidation - Goff had attempted to start the computers a day or two earlier and all defensive systems had sprung into near-catastrophic action. Nobody had been killed but it was a close thing.
Entering the codes deactivated any self-defense modes that the computer was in, and people could start the business of repairing the station once again. The computer greeted the travellers and called itself ALF, short for Artificial Life Form. It advised that it would be able to watch and control everything in the station. In its databanks were the manufacturing blueprints for anything the station needed to make - including the station. It was able to fully maintain itself once the engineers got things into an operational state after many centuries of neglect.
To the Hidden Base
Once things were in progress on the space station the party's thoughts turned to the Wildeman base. They travelled in the Sorrowful Maiden: the Harriers would meet them at Drinax for the coronation in a few months. Their journey started on Theev where Lady Nitrane picked up some dresses and gowns for when they returned to Drinax. The others picked up suits and uniforms as well.
Travelleing via Marduk and Exocet they reached Wildeman with three months to go to the coronation. There they found that Ben Parr, whom they had left in charge, had with Gobbo's advice built some additional manufacturing plant to increase capacity. This would allow the shipyard to work on three production lines rather than just the one it was previously.
The base was sending one trading ship per week to Wildeman - jumping in-system to disguise the source of the materials. In addition it was creating System Defense Boats for Tech-World has had been promised by the travellers some time ago. Slayed took some of the profits that had been made.
Considering how to get the SDBs to Tech-World, Sparrow suggested they stop SDB production to quickly produce a cargo ship capable of transporting one SDB at a time to its destination. Plans in the system were found and slightly modified to create a 600t ship with jump-2 and docking space for the 300t SDB. It would take a few weeks to create at which point the SDB production would continue.
The party stated on Wildeman for two weeks and then headed to Tech-World via Exe.
To be continued.
Friday, 3 May 2019
Much a-coup about nothing
Coup at the Palace
The travellers decided to land the ship at the main docks as instructed. They could see plumes of smoke as they approached the landing platform and there were people below running and taking cover. The palace seemed to have gone mad. Lady Nitrane tried to get hold of Lord Wrax on the comms but was unsuccessful. It seemed that so much was happening that they would need to fend for themselves.
Emerging from the ship they noticed Kasiyl and Rachando, the latter with some bodyguards, exchanging fire with a group of Prince Harrick supporters. As they watched two of the bodyguards went down and the others ducked for cover. Gunfire and shouting could be heard coming from deeper inside the palace.
The party were wearing heavy armour and were armed with powerful weapons, but instead of attacking they shouted out that the Harrick supporters were dangerously close to committing acts of treason and that the King was alive and in the party's care. It took a little time but the Harrick supporters stopped and rallied behind the travellers.
Elsewhere in the palace Harrick supporters were converging on the throne room and on the life support section. They hoped that by taking these areas the might be in a position to negotiate a successful victory. Rao's supporters had other ideas and converged on the throne room. A pitched battle broke out and there were many casualties on both sides.
The travellers moved into the life support section where Harrick supporters had entrenched themselves behind barricades. Lady Nitrane, wielding her sword, led the charge. Under heavy fire more Rao supporters fell but the party started to overwhelm the Harrick defences. Just as they thought they might carry the day a group of androids arrived to bolster the defenders and the battle broke out again.
In the Throne Room sufficient Rao supporters arrived to persuade the Harrick supporters to drop their weapons or to join with Rao. The outcome was now a foregone conclusion and the last of the androids in Life Support were destroyed to finish the coup.
Aftermath
Lady Nitrane immediately went to the starport docks and patched into the palace-wide communications channel. She broadcast the video that she had taken on King Oleb as he was close to death down on the surface. The entire palace heard how he promised whoever found his medical kit would be made an archduke. The whole palace also however heard that the King thought the Scholar's tower were vampires for what they did to Prince Harrick, and that the King wanted to die instead.
The King was also heard saying that the floating palace was a joke, and that the party had been given a Letter of Marque and that he had instructed the party to go pirating. If they could, through piracy, bring back the kingdom they would be forgiven. Lastly he said that Prince Harrick was not the right person to be King after Oleb, which meant that it would be Queen Rao, but not without saying that she was too scheming and tool political and that she should be told to stop.
The people of the palace were shocked. Lord Wrax almost certainly smiled. Ambassador Polx of the Imperium could be heard exploding in anger. Lady Nitrane shrugged at the enormity of the thing she had done, saying "they all knew anyway".
The hunt for Rao
Neither Price Harrick not Princess Rao were to be found. Asking around they found that Princess Rao had been seen entering Prince Harrick's yacht and was not pleased about going. There were no guns pointed at her, and she was not tied up, but the observer got the feeling it was more a kidnapping than a cooperative act. That was one and a half days ago. People in the startport control told the party that the Prince had gone to Asim. The party decided to follow.
Putting the King on the hands of the Hawk Warriors seemed best, and they were instructed to have the king looked after in the Scholar;s tower and to not let anyone harm him. Lady Nitrane also instructed Lord Wrax to stay neutral but he just dismissed her.
The Harrier took off and arranged with the other two Harriers to jump to Asim. The yacht would come to pick up Kaisyl to take him to his scout, hidden in the outer reaches of the system, before he and the freighter headed to the space station. Rachando came with the party on the Harrier. His two ships were on trading missions but he just wanted to get out of Drinax.
Dull and brown
Arriving at Asim the party were reminded how brown the place was. Dull too. They scanned for any signs of the yacht but were not surprised to find no trace of it given it's lead. As they headed down to the spaceport the other two Harriers arrived and were told to stay in orbit to scan for ships leaving or arriving.
Coming in to land the party looked for a yacht but saw none. The Asim spaceport was an immense expanse of flat ferrocrete and it would be impossible to hide a ship given there were no enclosed hangars. They checked at the spaceport nevertheless but were told that no records would be given to them. The animosity of the Asim people to Drinax was strong.
Rather than go incognito they decided to contact Governor Telwax, the most senior Drinax official on the planet. She would be delighted to see the party in three hours at the Governor's Palace. The travellers had no choice it seemed but to wait.
The governor
Arriving at the palace at the appointed time they were taken in to meet the governor, her wife, and her child. Pleasantries were exchanged before they moved into the governor's office to talk about more serious matters.
Nitrane opened with a statement that the King was still alive and that the coup was over. The governor was clearly shaken at the news, although suspicious were aroused when she was interested more in why they were here rather than more news about a coup and the near-death of the King.
Nitrane and Slayed convinced the Governor that her best course of action was to put aside any misgivings and just tell them where Prince Harrick could be found, and she relented and told them he was at the Dragon Fortress in the mountains.
Dragon Fortress
After Drinax took control of Asim, primarily due to the huge technology level advantage they Drinax had, they created a fortress in the mountains that would be all but impossible for the locals to penetrate. It consisted of a large flattened area for ships to land, and a number of hundreds of metres deep vertical tubes leading down to a maze of kill zones and passages. To anyone with a grav belt it was simplicity itself to just waft downwards.
Unter and Slayed knew roughly where to look and almost immediately the landing area was spotted, along with a flight of Hawk Warriors flying protectively above. Deciding to approach as if they were permitted to be there they landed without being challenged.
Emerging from the ship, Lady Nitrane in ceramic armour and the rest in battle dress, they started towards the nearest vertical tube when three Hawk Warriors emerged upwards out of it. The warriors landed near the edge and one opened its helmet. A woman with somewhat familiar features curled her lip and looked distastefully at Lady Nitrane.
"Hello mother!" she snarled. "Hello dear" Lady Nitrane replied cheerfully.
The daughter of Lady Nitrane and Lord Wrax, Colonel Sedelti didn't have Lady Nitrane's attractive appearance and looked more like her father. Nitrane looked to be eighteen whereas Sedelti, without the benefit of anagathics, looked to be approaching middle age.
Sedelti shouted for her guards to arrest the party, but Nitrane shouted forcibly that they should not. They were representing the King, she said, and that any move against them would be clear treason. The guards faltered, and Sedelti, if possible, looked even more aggrieved.
Nitrane demanded to be taken to Price Harrick and, with little choice, and perhaps even hoping that the Prince would put Nitrane in her place, Sedelti ordered a grav-sled be raised for the party to be taken down.
Their highnesses
Led into an antechamber the party could see into the next room - a huge open space - and in there were Prince Harrick and Princess Rao, the latter sitting grumpily with her arms crossed. They appeared to be having an argument when the party arrived.
Looking up the Prince and Princess gave 'so what do you want' looks at the party. Nitrans told them that their father had gone missing but had been found and was still alive, and that there had been a coup and that it had been won my Princess Rao's forces with the help of the party.
Initially both stunned, the Princess recovered first and looked a lot more cheerful. She started telling her brother that his concerns were groundless. She told him that they should go and see the Zhodani envoy to put his mind at rest.
The party were nonplussed. It seemed that the princess had been seeing Zhodani agents for months and that the Prince had gotten wind and was concerned for the safety of the princess and for Drinax. The Princess on the other hand was entirely certain that the Zhodani could be trusted.
The travellers started arguing that the royal siblings should come immediately to Drinax but Princess Rao dismissed the idea. It would take a week to get back but this rendezvous with the Zhodani would take only a day or two as they were already in the system waiting. Perhaps King Oleb, unhinged as he is, had a point about his daughter.
As the Prince and Princess started walking out of the chambers and back towards the surface Nitrane tried again to persuade them to return immediately to Drinax, but was yet again dismissed.
Not knowing what to do, she looked to the other travellers for help.
To be continued.
The travellers decided to land the ship at the main docks as instructed. They could see plumes of smoke as they approached the landing platform and there were people below running and taking cover. The palace seemed to have gone mad. Lady Nitrane tried to get hold of Lord Wrax on the comms but was unsuccessful. It seemed that so much was happening that they would need to fend for themselves.
Emerging from the ship they noticed Kasiyl and Rachando, the latter with some bodyguards, exchanging fire with a group of Prince Harrick supporters. As they watched two of the bodyguards went down and the others ducked for cover. Gunfire and shouting could be heard coming from deeper inside the palace.
The party were wearing heavy armour and were armed with powerful weapons, but instead of attacking they shouted out that the Harrick supporters were dangerously close to committing acts of treason and that the King was alive and in the party's care. It took a little time but the Harrick supporters stopped and rallied behind the travellers.
Elsewhere in the palace Harrick supporters were converging on the throne room and on the life support section. They hoped that by taking these areas the might be in a position to negotiate a successful victory. Rao's supporters had other ideas and converged on the throne room. A pitched battle broke out and there were many casualties on both sides.
The travellers moved into the life support section where Harrick supporters had entrenched themselves behind barricades. Lady Nitrane, wielding her sword, led the charge. Under heavy fire more Rao supporters fell but the party started to overwhelm the Harrick defences. Just as they thought they might carry the day a group of androids arrived to bolster the defenders and the battle broke out again.
In the Throne Room sufficient Rao supporters arrived to persuade the Harrick supporters to drop their weapons or to join with Rao. The outcome was now a foregone conclusion and the last of the androids in Life Support were destroyed to finish the coup.
Aftermath
Lady Nitrane immediately went to the starport docks and patched into the palace-wide communications channel. She broadcast the video that she had taken on King Oleb as he was close to death down on the surface. The entire palace heard how he promised whoever found his medical kit would be made an archduke. The whole palace also however heard that the King thought the Scholar's tower were vampires for what they did to Prince Harrick, and that the King wanted to die instead.
The King was also heard saying that the floating palace was a joke, and that the party had been given a Letter of Marque and that he had instructed the party to go pirating. If they could, through piracy, bring back the kingdom they would be forgiven. Lastly he said that Prince Harrick was not the right person to be King after Oleb, which meant that it would be Queen Rao, but not without saying that she was too scheming and tool political and that she should be told to stop.
The people of the palace were shocked. Lord Wrax almost certainly smiled. Ambassador Polx of the Imperium could be heard exploding in anger. Lady Nitrane shrugged at the enormity of the thing she had done, saying "they all knew anyway".
The hunt for Rao
Neither Price Harrick not Princess Rao were to be found. Asking around they found that Princess Rao had been seen entering Prince Harrick's yacht and was not pleased about going. There were no guns pointed at her, and she was not tied up, but the observer got the feeling it was more a kidnapping than a cooperative act. That was one and a half days ago. People in the startport control told the party that the Prince had gone to Asim. The party decided to follow.
Putting the King on the hands of the Hawk Warriors seemed best, and they were instructed to have the king looked after in the Scholar;s tower and to not let anyone harm him. Lady Nitrane also instructed Lord Wrax to stay neutral but he just dismissed her.
The Harrier took off and arranged with the other two Harriers to jump to Asim. The yacht would come to pick up Kaisyl to take him to his scout, hidden in the outer reaches of the system, before he and the freighter headed to the space station. Rachando came with the party on the Harrier. His two ships were on trading missions but he just wanted to get out of Drinax.
Dull and brown
Arriving at Asim the party were reminded how brown the place was. Dull too. They scanned for any signs of the yacht but were not surprised to find no trace of it given it's lead. As they headed down to the spaceport the other two Harriers arrived and were told to stay in orbit to scan for ships leaving or arriving.
Coming in to land the party looked for a yacht but saw none. The Asim spaceport was an immense expanse of flat ferrocrete and it would be impossible to hide a ship given there were no enclosed hangars. They checked at the spaceport nevertheless but were told that no records would be given to them. The animosity of the Asim people to Drinax was strong.
Rather than go incognito they decided to contact Governor Telwax, the most senior Drinax official on the planet. She would be delighted to see the party in three hours at the Governor's Palace. The travellers had no choice it seemed but to wait.
The governor
Arriving at the palace at the appointed time they were taken in to meet the governor, her wife, and her child. Pleasantries were exchanged before they moved into the governor's office to talk about more serious matters.
Nitrane opened with a statement that the King was still alive and that the coup was over. The governor was clearly shaken at the news, although suspicious were aroused when she was interested more in why they were here rather than more news about a coup and the near-death of the King.
Nitrane and Slayed convinced the Governor that her best course of action was to put aside any misgivings and just tell them where Prince Harrick could be found, and she relented and told them he was at the Dragon Fortress in the mountains.
Dragon Fortress
After Drinax took control of Asim, primarily due to the huge technology level advantage they Drinax had, they created a fortress in the mountains that would be all but impossible for the locals to penetrate. It consisted of a large flattened area for ships to land, and a number of hundreds of metres deep vertical tubes leading down to a maze of kill zones and passages. To anyone with a grav belt it was simplicity itself to just waft downwards.
Unter and Slayed knew roughly where to look and almost immediately the landing area was spotted, along with a flight of Hawk Warriors flying protectively above. Deciding to approach as if they were permitted to be there they landed without being challenged.
Emerging from the ship, Lady Nitrane in ceramic armour and the rest in battle dress, they started towards the nearest vertical tube when three Hawk Warriors emerged upwards out of it. The warriors landed near the edge and one opened its helmet. A woman with somewhat familiar features curled her lip and looked distastefully at Lady Nitrane.
"Hello mother!" she snarled. "Hello dear" Lady Nitrane replied cheerfully.
The daughter of Lady Nitrane and Lord Wrax, Colonel Sedelti didn't have Lady Nitrane's attractive appearance and looked more like her father. Nitrane looked to be eighteen whereas Sedelti, without the benefit of anagathics, looked to be approaching middle age.
Sedelti shouted for her guards to arrest the party, but Nitrane shouted forcibly that they should not. They were representing the King, she said, and that any move against them would be clear treason. The guards faltered, and Sedelti, if possible, looked even more aggrieved.
Nitrane demanded to be taken to Price Harrick and, with little choice, and perhaps even hoping that the Prince would put Nitrane in her place, Sedelti ordered a grav-sled be raised for the party to be taken down.
Their highnesses
Led into an antechamber the party could see into the next room - a huge open space - and in there were Prince Harrick and Princess Rao, the latter sitting grumpily with her arms crossed. They appeared to be having an argument when the party arrived.
Looking up the Prince and Princess gave 'so what do you want' looks at the party. Nitrans told them that their father had gone missing but had been found and was still alive, and that there had been a coup and that it had been won my Princess Rao's forces with the help of the party.
Initially both stunned, the Princess recovered first and looked a lot more cheerful. She started telling her brother that his concerns were groundless. She told him that they should go and see the Zhodani envoy to put his mind at rest.
The party were nonplussed. It seemed that the princess had been seeing Zhodani agents for months and that the Prince had gotten wind and was concerned for the safety of the princess and for Drinax. The Princess on the other hand was entirely certain that the Zhodani could be trusted.
The travellers started arguing that the royal siblings should come immediately to Drinax but Princess Rao dismissed the idea. It would take a week to get back but this rendezvous with the Zhodani would take only a day or two as they were already in the system waiting. Perhaps King Oleb, unhinged as he is, had a point about his daughter.
As the Prince and Princess started walking out of the chambers and back towards the surface Nitrane tried again to persuade them to return immediately to Drinax, but was yet again dismissed.
Not knowing what to do, she looked to the other travellers for help.
To be continued.
Wednesday, 1 May 2019
Grand High Tum-ti-tump of the Outrim Void
Theev to Salif
The party spent two weeks working through the plans with Goff. The power plant from the freighter would mean that they could power the smelter and refinery and start preparing raw materials for the manufacturing plant by using the ores collected by the mining drones. The priority therefore was to get as much manufacturing, smelting and refinery machinery repaired as possible.
The pillars of the destroyed city resembled the fingers of a blackened corpse, reaching towards the skies above. There were thousands of them, rising from the wreckage below at random angles. The metal of the pillars made the place a huge field of lightning rods, and as the bolts jumped between the pillars it made scanning nearly impossible. It was apparent now why the Hawk Warriors who accompanied the King were having difficulty finding him.
The head of Olebs guard, Brie Tollar, was coordinating the search. With the party having seniority and in a ship that would be better equipped to find the King, she flew to the ship and boarded to assist them.
Nitrane did a sensor sweep and detected nothing. The size of the city and the atmospheric conditions made it too difficult. Sparrow considered the information they had - Oleb's path, the downward trajectory that he was last seen on, and other factors, and calculated that the King was most likely in a small area a few hundred metres long that he carefully piloted the ship into.
Being much closer to the surface - and with Sparrow constantly having to adjust and trim the Harrier in he winds - meant that Nitrane finally got a reading. A small beacon that belonged to the King.
Oleb's Alive!
Landing very carefully, Sparrow put the travelers as close to the detected position as he dared. The party suited up and left the ship to search on foot. Soon they found the king, impaled on metal spikes in a small hollow. Hit breathing was laboured and Nitrane immediately knelt next to him and stabilised him as best she could with a medical kit.
The party carefully took him into the ship and plugged him into the medical bay, which started injecting drugs and spraying his wounds with chemicals to disinfect and seal them.
To the palace
Taking off Sparrow headed the ship towards the palace, but as they got closer a flight of atmospheric flyers intercepted them and a voice came over the comms channel telling them to divert course to the main starport dock instead of the royal docks. The voice was Lord Wrax. He sounded worried. And there was gunfire audible in the background.
A coup had started.
To be continued.
Admiral Slayed and the travellers arrived at Salif with their jump-3 and -4 capable ships. There they refueled and met with Tiznee Zazzle to tell her about the liberation of the captured pirates and the seized ships. She was delighted that they were safe and that they had been successful.
Salif to Space Station
Jumping next to the space station they found it as it had been left - powered down and running silent. There were no signs that anyone had been there since they left. However, as soon as they reached the cargo bay that held the two dozen planet-buster and bio-weapon torpedoes they were shocked to find them all gone, and the word "Thanks!" painted on one of the walls.
With all power off there were no cameras or other clues as to who had taken them. A quick check confirmed that nothing else had been taken, and there was no damage other than the forced opening of the door to the cargo hold. Nitrane, Unter and Sparrow were philosophical. They had wanted to be rid of them from the start. Slayed on the other hand was worried. Where were they, who had them, and why did they want them?
Planning Repairs
There was nothing they could do so they got to work powering up the systems that had previously been brought to the station. The longer term plan was to bring the megafreighter to the station and use its enormous power plant to run the station until the one on the station could be repaired. In the meantime they would use what power they had to start repairs anticipating the later power that would be available.
There was nothing they could do so they got to work powering up the systems that had previously been brought to the station. The longer term plan was to bring the megafreighter to the station and use its enormous power plant to run the station until the one on the station could be repaired. In the meantime they would use what power they had to start repairs anticipating the later power that would be available.
The party spent two weeks working through the plans with Goff. The power plant from the freighter would mean that they could power the smelter and refinery and start preparing raw materials for the manufacturing plant by using the ores collected by the mining drones. The priority therefore was to get as much manufacturing, smelting and refinery machinery repaired as possible.
Space Station to Theev
After setting things in motion the party took the Sorrowful Maiden and most of the crew back to Theev. There they met up with the trading crew who had made a decent profit, and with Jaggad who reported that she had been successful with hiring new crew.
With nothing else left to do they all boarded the megafreighter and headed to Drinax.
Theev to Drinax
The trip to Drinax was uneventful. The first stop was in deep space and they transferred the fuel from the bladder to the fuel tanks with no problems. Then to Torpol where they happened to meet a local system defense boat in orbit around the gas giant and with their highly regarded reputation it stayed for the week to protect them while all tanks were filled.
Arriving in Drinax near a distant gas giant the freighter started refueling while the three Harriers and the yacht, which was to be a gift to King Oleb, headed to the main planet. The Harrier with Slayed, Sparrow, Nitrane and Unter went on ahead and as they opened up the thrusters to top speed they opened comms and were asked whether then wanted the highport, lowport or palace. The lowport was new, but they asked for permission to land at the palace, which was granted.
Man Missing
As they were on approach to the palace a new voice came over the comms. It was Lady Hil, a close friend of the party. She sounded distressed, but trying to hide it, and asked if instead of landing they could help locate a missing person. In fact it was the King, who had just gone down with a broken grav belt. Various questions that the party had were answered - Lady Hil sometimes having to ask others near here - but in very little time the ship was over one of the old bombed cities of Drinax.
The pillars of the destroyed city resembled the fingers of a blackened corpse, reaching towards the skies above. There were thousands of them, rising from the wreckage below at random angles. The metal of the pillars made the place a huge field of lightning rods, and as the bolts jumped between the pillars it made scanning nearly impossible. It was apparent now why the Hawk Warriors who accompanied the King were having difficulty finding him.
The head of Olebs guard, Brie Tollar, was coordinating the search. With the party having seniority and in a ship that would be better equipped to find the King, she flew to the ship and boarded to assist them.
Nitrane did a sensor sweep and detected nothing. The size of the city and the atmospheric conditions made it too difficult. Sparrow considered the information they had - Oleb's path, the downward trajectory that he was last seen on, and other factors, and calculated that the King was most likely in a small area a few hundred metres long that he carefully piloted the ship into.
Being much closer to the surface - and with Sparrow constantly having to adjust and trim the Harrier in he winds - meant that Nitrane finally got a reading. A small beacon that belonged to the King.
Oleb's Alive!
Landing very carefully, Sparrow put the travelers as close to the detected position as he dared. The party suited up and left the ship to search on foot. Soon they found the king, impaled on metal spikes in a small hollow. Hit breathing was laboured and Nitrane immediately knelt next to him and stabilised him as best she could with a medical kit.
‘Starcursed grav belt gave up on me,’ he muttered, ‘and I fell. I dropped my emergency medical supplies out there somewhere. Go fetch them, and I’ll make you a bloody Archduke of somewhere.’The emergency medical pack turned out to contain a bottle of red wine.
‘Gah. I’m dying. That’s boring,’ muttered the king. ‘Listen, don’t let those vampires from the Scholar’s Tower get their claws into my carcass. I saw what they did to my boy Harrick. I don’t want to end up like the Duke of Albe, pulled out of stasis once a century to sign a form and take a dump. No, let me die. You, come up with some really good last worlds. I appoint thee Court Poet Extraordinary of Drinax, Bard of Sindal, and Grand High Tum-ti-tump of the Outrim Void.’ Oleb coughed up what appeared to be most of a lung. ‘Want to be Space Pope too, and absolve me of all my sins?’As the wine – and the painkillers – took hold, he became less lucid, although it was hard to tell given Oleb’s usual sense of reality.
‘We can’t stay here. The Floating Palace... it’s a joke. A cage. A... stupid thing. We were dragons once. We will rule the stars again. I gave you a Letter of Marque when we started this campaign... of piracy. It’s still good. Bring back the Kingdom, and all will be forgiven.With that, Oleb lapsed into unconsciousness, and started to snore.
‘Listen, listen lads, listen. Tell. Prince Harrick...no... he’s not right for it. Rao... she’ll be Queen, but she needs someone to... warn her... there’s too much of the Sindalian in her... warn her... no more...’
The party carefully took him into the ship and plugged him into the medical bay, which started injecting drugs and spraying his wounds with chemicals to disinfect and seal them.
To the palace
Taking off Sparrow headed the ship towards the palace, but as they got closer a flight of atmospheric flyers intercepted them and a voice came over the comms channel telling them to divert course to the main starport dock instead of the royal docks. The voice was Lord Wrax. He sounded worried. And there was gunfire audible in the background.
A coup had started.
To be continued.
Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Visiting old friends
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.
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.
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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