5 Parsecs from Home
| Week 6: 81452 | Week 5: 81438 | Week 4: 81430 | Week 3: 81426 | Week 2: 81419 | Week 1: 81411 |
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The Anarphunondra Cluster
The Voyage of the Malvoisin
81411.8Captain Marcus Bai passed away in Hospital 45, Deck Upper 117, Patrano Station, late Primeday. He handed the access codes to the Malvoisin-B to me just before his lifesigns ceased, so we can at least access the shuttle and our gear stash. He also passed on his biometric control cuff, which makes me Captain, I guess. Somewhere out there, hopefully still in a stable orbit, is the Voidship Malvoisin. In theory, once the control cuff reconfigures to me, I should be able both access the ship, and interact with the ship's AI, and then we can get off this station.
I'm meeting Latka at The Heliopause, on Deck Lower 210, soon. She has located a couple of prosects to fill up the gaps in our crew roster.
81411.10
The Heliopause was as bad as I expected, very loud, very dark. Thank goodness of audio dampers and privacy screens.
Latka had three prospective crewsophonts:
Illya Mechanovic: a Technician out of Annalagano, in Andralassian space. Poor kid was raised through the Orphan Unity Programme, so basically indentured to a Tech from the age of seven. Given Latka comes from the same world, and only avoided the same fate by being lost in the Broken Lands as a child, I suspect she feels some kinship;
Guurta Mung: I've never had much to do with FeyGene biosyms or mutants. They are an acquired taste, rather aromatic, especially when agitated or excited, and have weird yellow eyes. Guurta escaped the chemical works on Landrex after trying to organise some sort of strike or revolt there;
Cath Canchari: an ex-cop from the Essenaro Congress mining world of Ashalama. She seems no nonsense, streetwise and savvy.
81411.12
After a few drinks and a discussion, we seem to have formed a crew. Heading back to the Malvoisin-B on the shuttle deck on Down 325, we came across a K3 bot pushing a broom in one of the sideways around Lower 305. Illya had a quick chat with the bot and, before I could stop her, prised the restraining bolt off the back of its torso.
And suddenly we had an ex-service bot, K3K4, as a member of our crew. I did suggest Illya at least repaint it. Patrano Station Cops are slow to do any actual police work, but even they might question a bright green Caradanso Services bot wandering around with a bunch of obviously Outsystem folks.
81412.7
After a leisurely breakfast, we had a crew meeting and I sent everyone off with some tasks to undertake. If we're going to make enough money to support the lifestyle we'd like to become accustomed to, we need jobs (and patrons) and trade goods.
So Latka and I decided to go through Captain Bai's old contact lists and see we could locate some work. Meanwhile, Illya and K3K4 were to check the markets for trade goods, Cath was going to have a general look around, and Guurta wanted to check out rival groups lurking on station.
81412.17
By the end of the day, Latka and I had talked to a couple of interesting people; Sor Julian Griffin and Sira Kirsa McKee. Both of them are denizens of the Upper Teens, both individually wealthy, and both with 'problems' to be resolved. Neither job is hazardous nor has conditions attached and, even better, we can roll off one job, and straight onto the other.
K3K4 managed to get us a Working License, so that gets us around Station Bureaucracy, and it managed to pick up a pre-owned Body Wire at the market as well. Could be useful, when we get it repaired. I will have to check with the Repair Bots we have stashed aboard the Malvoisin-B and see if they can fix the Wire.
Illya ran into someone she shipped out from Annalagano with and, apparently, this person has some information we might be able to use. Illya is going to follow this lead up.
Guurta thinks there are some hostile groups circulating on the Station, especially down in the Lowers, but he hasn't been able to get any further information. It was possibly a mistake to send a FeyGene out to look for people who might not be too pleased with us, but the Lowers, in particular, is a pretty diverse community.
It sounds like Cath had a nice few hours wandering around, shopping, but didn't turn up anything useful.
81413.9
Heading off to meet with Sira Kirsa McKee to nail down the specifics of the job she would like us to take care of, we decided to meet up in the Left 47 Lower 187 Food Hall before heading up to the Uppers.
Latka and Illya were running late, so it was just me, K3K4, Guurt and Cath when we entered the Food hall. Luckily, at that time of Seconday, there weren't a lot of people around. Four WARDEN agents popped out of Sideway 52 and came gunning for us. We took cover behind various tables and planter boxes, while wondering why Andralassian Mutant Hunters might be coming at us. It was only then that I realised they were probably after Guurta.
Shots were fired, and K3K4 turned out to be a crack shot, taking out the WARDEN Specialist before he could fire his Shell Gun. Illya and Latka showed up during the mayhem and Illya found a backpack that had been dropped under a table. I guess some drug dealer lost their bankroll when the atmosphere became a bit lead contaminated.
At some stage, K3K4 stopped a shot and fell over, but Cath had worked her way forward enough to hit the WARDEN as he poked his head out of the Sideway. Unfortunately, his mate then stepped around the corner and shot Cath. I eventually capped him, and that was that.
We quickly grabbed what we could, especially the loose credits, and Latka picked up an old style necklace. She thinks the pendant on the necklace contains part of some sort of solid state storage device, with a seal that links it back to Annalagano, before that planet went to hell in a handbasket under the Andralassians. I ended up with a Hot Shot Pack which will step up my Blast Pistol, and we scored a hunting rifle.
Grabbing Cath and K3K4, we jetted back to the Malvoisin-B and stuck Cath in the Medbay. K3K4 needed a hard boot, but then came back to life with only a few new dents and scratches to show for the encounter. I then had to comm Sira McKee and explain that, due to heavy gunfire, we weren't in a position to complete her job at the current time. Fortunately by then the Newstream was all over the shot up Food Hall and Sira McKee was most gracious in accepting our apologies.
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81414.3
The Station Cops turned up at our hatch a couple of hours later, but I could tell their hearts weren't really in it. Dead Andralassians would be a diplomatic headache, but WARDEN Agents are Andralassian Spooks and, therefore, don't offically exist. Also, Patrano Station is outside the Andralassian Hegemony, and doesn't really care about FeyGenes, or Mutant hunters, as long as they pay their bills and don't leave a mess.
So, for once, the Bureaucracy seems to be working in our favour.
81414.12
With the Cops gone, and after a couple of hours sleep, I cashed in a few Credits and picked up a Needle Rifle which I passed on to Cath. Cath's becoming a pain in the butt, but she's fast, and a good shot so I want to have her on something with range. I took her shotgun, so I'd have something for when a Blast Pistol doesn't quite reach.
I think we're getting there, just need a paying job, now.
81419.5
To that end, this week I opted to chase up our potential Patron list, while Illya and K3K4 were assigned to look for trade goods. With Cath still out of action, I sent Latka out to look for another crew being, I think we really need someone else to help carry the load. Guurta was tasked with checking up on the WARDEN agents, I want to know if there are any more of them lurking around. I don't fancy a Shell Gun in the back of the head, if they're still after Guurta.
81419.19
Sira Commissioner has a little matter, off the books, that needs attending to, and it has to be this week. But! But, the job benefit is negotiable, so we might, at last, see a way out of of the bureaucratic miazma we've been flailing around in. Assuming we do the job. Which would mean cancelling on Sor Griffin. Oh, the dilemma.
K3K4 managed to locate some Trade Goods while out in the market, while Illya turned up Starship Repair Parts, these could come in handy. I really need to get the biometric control cuff calibrated so we can access the Malvoisin but these bio/AI interface things take time to resolve and can't be rushed. There's no way we have enough space aboard the Malvoisin-B to stow all these ship parts, so we now have a couple of storage containers cluttering up our shuttle bay.
Latka didn't manage to locate anyone looking to join a crew, which is frustrating, and Guurta wasn't able to find anything further on the WARDENs, which wasn't all that surprising, given they're supposed to be Spooks.
Illya's Annalaganoan contact has shed a little more light on the possible origin of the pendant necklace Latka picked up in the aftermath of the Food Hall shootout. It may, repeat may, be used by the Annalaganoan Underground to communicate between on-planet cells and the off-planet polical/military wing of the movement. There is a slim possibility that the WARDEN agents were actually looking for an Annalaganoan spy, and running into a mouthy FeyGene agitator was just their lucky day. I want to think on this some more, but Illya is dead set on us trying to contact this Annalagoan Underground.
We got the jump on them and began working our way up either side of the bay, trying to get into the shelter of the ship parts containers. Fortunately, several of us outranged the Cultists and so we took out a couple before they had range. At this point, a Vent Crawler dropped out of the overhead, slid down the side of the Malvoisin-B and nearly landed on a Cultist. That poor Vargr managed to push the thing off him, but neither he nor the Leader were able to kill it.
By this stage, we had downed three or four Cultists, a couple had made a run for it and the Vent Crawler had launched itself at its little friend (or lunch) again. This time, the Cultist finished off the Vent Crawler before it could do any further damage. I had just shot a Cultist who was trying to shoot at me from under the Malvoisin-B when I notice someone else entering the shuttle bay. It was another WARDEN agent, with a Hand Laser this time.
The shoot-out continued with more enthusiasm than accuracy until K3K4 finally downed the Cultist Leader. About the same time, the WARDEN agent managed to shoot Guurta with his Hand Laser, just as the last of the Vargr Cultists fled. K3K4 managed to clip the WARDEN, but the damned spook got away.
In the aftermath, we quickly scooped up what loose gear and cash we could find, which included a Stim Pack and a set of Laser Sights. Guurta turned out to only have minor injuries, needing only a week in Medbay, but the shuttle bay reeked of burnt fur for several days afterwards.
81423.12
Sira Commissioner Bowman was disappointed we couldn't undertake her task, but sympathetic when I mentioned the WARDEN agent, apparently the Station Cops have lost touch with the Andralassians, which is embarrassing. The fact there seems to be a connection between the Cultists and WARDEN is a surprise, apparently. Though, thinking about it, Pure Genome Cultists and mutant hunting Hegemony Agents do make a kind of sense, especially if one is using the other as their shock troops.
81425.13
81426.7
81426.12
As we're going to take on Sira McKee's task of convenience this week, and with Guurta in Medbay and Cath remaining in her quarters, I decided to reallocate tasks for the rest of the crew. Latka, Illya and I are going to hit the bars and hiring halls to see if we can sign up a new crewsophont, while K3K4 checks out the markets again.
81427.6
While we're trying to get our heads around this, K3K4 reports in. It didn't manage to find any trade goods on offer, but it has got an inside line on a Patron who will have a job for us next week.
All in all, very promising. As Ksae brought his gear aboard the Malvoisin-B, I could see he only had a handgun as armament, so I assigned him the hunting rifle we had stashed in the hold.
81427.12
So, before any of our rivals could stick their olfactory organs into our business, we sealed up the Malvoisin-B, squealed Sira McKee's authorization through to Station Control and, as soon as they vented the bay and opened the external bay door, off we went.
81428.22
While the skimmers and barges are automated, the Orbital Forges require AI-assisted over-sight, primarily remotely from Patrano Station, with the option to manually override remote control of the Forge onsite. McKee's Orbial Forge MCKI0204, as far as McKee Industries Patrano-based Control Centre can tell, was performing optimally up until a week ago, but contact has been intermittent since then.
We should arrive on station in about ten hours, and then we will see what we shall see.
We were just moving into the main Forge Hall, when we detected something moving ahead of us in the gloom. Out of the shadows and around the machinery came eight Vargr Pure Genome Cultists. We thought we were done with them, but we must have stumbled onto their main nest.
As we were working our way into cover amongst the conveyers, Ksae clambered up onto a refinery tower, but couldn't see anything through the gloom, until the Cultists started shooting. There was a bit of ineffectual gunfire on the Forge Hall floor as the Cultists tried to dash forward, and we tried to pin them down. We only discovered that a Cultist and a Karbekkit Scout had clambered up on a Processor housing ahead of us, when they started taking pot shots at K3K4.
Cath downed the Cultist Leader with her Needlegun but was hit by Cultists moving forward, preparing for an assault. Latka and K3K4 shot two of these Cultists, encouraging them to abandon any ideas of a rush, and take cover. K3K4 was hit by fire from the Karbekkit on the Processor housing, knocking it back even though the shot bounced off its armour.
As the Cultists pull back into cover, they manage to hit Illya with a couple of parting shots, dropping her. Ksae and I took out the Karbekkit Scout and the Cultist on top of the Processor, firing on the muzzle flashes of their guns as they fired down at the crew on the Forge Hall floor. One of the Cultists had had enough and bolted off into the dark. With a flurry of shots, Ksae and I downed the last three Cultists. And then it was over.
81429.10
We were able to bring the Orbital Forge's power plant back on line, and repointed the com dish to McKee Control who are currently running diagnostics. They want to ensure the Cultists haven't monkeyed around with any other Forge systems. Our paycheck from Sira McKee has hit the ship account, and we've picked up a bit of battlefield scrap to sell as well. We come across a stash of Iridium ingots that weren't on McKee's inventory, so we're considering them a bonus. Ksae wondered if the Cult had liquidated their Patrano Station assets ahead of pulling out. They have lost considerable Charisma and resources and most of their remaining gear is just junk - the Cultists we encountered were only armed with scrap pistols and cheap Colonial Rifles. If the Iridium is theirs, they may have sold off all their good gear to hire the Karbekkit Scout ahead of leaving the Patrano system.
81429.22
Since Seconday 2000 the local Newstreams have been filled with rumours of war. Apparently the Andralassians are moving units up to their border, and ships in free space have been hassled by Andralassian cruisers. I managed to get through to Sira Commissioner Bowman, who seems very worried and harrassed. She wouldn't confirm any immediate threat to Patrano Station, but she said that if we were to take employment in another system, she would understand.
81430.03
81430.06
I never found out how long Captain Bai had the helm of Malvoisin, but he was never terribly adventurous when it came to naming things. When I queried the AI, it said that I could address it as 'Asmall'. Apparently, this is short for 'A Small Annoying Noise'.
I've managed to convince Asmall to bring the Malvoisin into a parking orbit near Patrano Station. We've still got a few things to sort out on station, but I'm getting a bit worried about what I'm seeing in the Newstreams. If half of what they're saying is true, we may need to get out of here very quickly.
81430.07
81430.09
Contacting Cath and Latka via com, I asked them to check out the market for some trade goods on their way back from dropping Illya off at the Surgery. Meanwhile I sent Guurta and Ksae out on the lowers; Ksae to have a general scout around, and Guurta to check up on and, hopefully, mislead any WARDEN agents who might be lurking about. K3K4 and I are going to roll out the Repair bots in the cargo bay and see if we can fix Cath's Needlegun and the damaged Body Wire we've had stowed there for a while.
81430.15
81431.8
K3K4 and Repair Bot Number 1 managed to fix Cath's Needlegun, which is good news, as Cath is a pretty good shot with it. And after a bit of a struggle, Repair Bot Number 2 managed to help me fix the damaged Body Wire. The Body Wire is actually a performance enhancing Neurochip, with lots of fiddly little pico-etching. I just mapped the breaks and Number 2 rescribed the damaged sectors. I passed the Body Wire on to Guurta and he spent Seconday getting used to how the Wire enhanced his reactions.
Ksae came back from his scouting mission with a job offer from another patron so, at present, we are a little spoiled for choice.
81431.14
81432.17
81433.21
The McKee Estate is one of eight habitation modules of Upper 17. We came in through the main lock and found ourselves in a large, well lit, open space. Four low towers marked the corners of a maze leading from the lock to the free standing 'Manor House' which serves as the McKee family home. The maze, itself, is constructed from living hedges rooted in semi-concealed planter trenches, trimmed and shaped like head-high walls. Straight ways run along the trailing and spinward edges of the maze, for those with urgent business at the House, while visitors in less of a hurry are invited to follow the winding path through the maze.
As we were about to enter the maze, we spotted five Kihyri Assassins and a Noctuan emerging from a maintenance hatch near the Manor House. While the Noctuan set up its Infantry Laser beside the trailing rimward tower, the Kihyri dashed into the Maze and began making their way towards us.
I sent Ksae up the coreward spinward tower with his hunting rifle to see if he could pin any of the Kihyri down, while Latka and Cath covered the center of the maze, and K3K4, Guurta and I moved to cover the trailing straight way. Ksae managed to get a shot off at the Noctuan by the rimward tower, but missed it, while K3K4 managed to hit it down the staright way, forcing it back into cover.
In the center of the maze, Latka and Cath ran into two of the Kihyri. Latka gunned down the Kihyri Lieutenant with her machine pistol, but his companion attacked her at close range with a scrap pistol and knife, pushing her back. Cath was able to shoot him down.
Then one of the Assassins let off a Fog Bomb in the middle of the maze. A great, white plume of smoke billowed up and out, obscuring our view of the center. As Cath and Latka held their position, two Kihyri burst out of the swirling fog. While Latka and the first Kihyri brawled, the second one hit Cath, downing her. K3K4 laid down suppressing fire while I dashed up the straight way towards the Noctuan. Guurta followed me, and then cut through a side passage towards Latka's postion.
Latka downed the second Assassin, and then Guurta dashed past her into the fog to attack the next Kihyri. But the Assassin was too quick for him, and dropped him. I finally got close enough to the Noctuan to hit him with my shotgun, so I gave him both barrels, and down he went.
Ksae howled with frustration. With the fog covering so much of the maze, he now had no targets. K3K4 followed Guurta into the maze, but the Assassin took him down as well. These blighters are fast and dangerous, even if only armed with a scrap pistol and a dagger.
I dashed back to the side passage, just as Latka was attacked by the Assassin. After a brief struggle, he downed her as well. Through a swirl in the fog, Ksae caught sight of the Assassin and downed him with one shot. Dashing into the fog, I located the last Assassin, and took him out.
81433.23
In the cleanup, we discovered that the Kihyri Assassins had been sent against Sira McKee. Fortunately, whoever sent them wasn't aware of us, so we don't seem to have aquired any further enemies. We did pick up an interesting item, though, an InstaWall generator. So, that's going in the crew store.
81435.10
81436.13
So, after a brief discussion, it appears we have secured a new Patron.
81437.13
81438.07
I've managed to pay everybody, and pay down some more of our ship debt, but I'm trying to reduce our footprint in the local Datasphere as much as possible as Phanua used to have a pretty good data miner in his crew.
81439.14
I hit the Merchant Guild Trade Hall and, completely by accident, ran into a member of the Annalaganoan Underground we talked to a couple of weeks ago. This person, whom I'm not giving details about as who knows who is reading this log, rather generously took the two Brutal Melee weapons we have picked up off our hands. And no, I don't feel guilty about dealing arms to known revolutionary groups. Having been jumped by Andralassian spooks while in Neutral Space, ie aboard this station, I believe the Andralassians deserve everything they get.
81440.18
I suddenly have a bad feeling about this job.
I was doing some data mining of my own on Redshift, and not liking the data coming back at all, like these guys are way to tooled up for your common or hab unit hired muscle, when Ksae arrived back from his little scout around. While Illya was doing a good job hiding our trail down on Lower 425, Ksae spotted an unsecured manifest on a workstation that indicates a team from the Serendipity Accent has landed in the shuttle bay they've booked down on 425.
81441.04
81441.06
The big, red skinned Formagi Mercenary clambered up onto the roof of a rimward portacom, while the rest of the Serendips split into two teams, one to spinward under the Lieutenant, and one to trailing under the Specialist with his Blast Rifle.
As the Specialist led his team across a gap between two portacoms Illya, who had been carefully covering the open space, got off a shot and took him out of the fight. One of his group dived into cover, while the other one fled back to their shuttle. Suddenly, the odds were only five to four in their favour.
Ksae clambered up on the roof of a portacom at our end of the dock, only to come under fire from the big Formagi and his Infantry Laser, forcing him back. The Serendip Lieutenant dashed into cover behind a storage unit while his two crew moved up either side of another portacom. The remaining Serendip to trailing moved up behind a container as I slipped in behind another storage unit. Illya managed to clamber up onto the roof on the other side of the portacom from Ksae, scanning for targets. K3K4 popped out from behind a lower portacom and shot one of the Lieutenant's crew. The other crewman fled back to their shuttle. Four to three in our favour!
A firefight erupted between Ksae, the Formagi, and the Serendip Lieutenant which proved more spectacular than dangerous. K3K4 moved to the end of his portacom and snapped off a shot at the Formagi as well, to little effect. Illya didn't have any luck against the Formagi, either.
I slipped around the end of the stotage container I'd taken cover behind, and almost ran into the last Serendip to trailing. I shot first, stunning the little ratbag. Pumping the gun, I gave him both barrels. Four to two to us.
Illya and Ksae both missed the Formagi again, who managed to clip Ksae in return. K3K4 moved up to engage the Serendip Lieutenant and they exchanged shots while maneuvering around the central storage container. Then the Lieutenant stepped forward and dropped K3K4.
While Ksae missed again, Illya finally hit the Formagi, and he rolled off the roof of the portacom to hit the deck with a satisfying clatter of body armour and various gear. Grabbing the initiative, I stepped around the central storage container and gave the Lieutenant both barrels.
And that was that. A near run thing, again.
With alarms wailing, we quickly grabbed some loot, and a small container of gemstones (I'm guessing the Serendips were planning to use them to establish a local, on station, credit balance), picked up K3K4, and then bolted for our shuttle bay and the Malvoisin-B.
81442.09
The Serendipity Accent lodged a formal complaint against us with Patrano Station Control and I've been summoned to appear before Commissioner Alisa Bowman. I suspect we might not be getting any further jobs from her.
81442.15
The AI 'Asmall' has been slowly bringing the Malvoisin in toward the Station over the last few days. According to it, our Void Ship is now only 10,000 kilometers insystem of Patrano Station. I asked it to warm up the crew areas for us because, as far as I'm aware, no-one's been aboard Malvoisin since we arrived on Patrano Station, weeks ago.
81443.05
81443.22
81444.10
81445.02
After some discussion, we've decided to head for Vengion in the Essenaro Congress, some 75 parsecs away, before heading on to Amnymapuhrah. Ksae thinks the owner of the trinket he found in Lower 425 may be on Vengion so this makes as good a stop-off as any. With that decided, we hailed our intentions to Patrano Station control, and broke orbit.
81445.04
We have been aware of a small craft, also outbound on our heading, that has been steadily gaining on us for the last forty minutes. Looks like a tight-beam comm laser has just locked on from the mystery ship.
81445.07
Four hours to the run up to light speed.
81445.09
Slowly, slowly, we're making progress with the ship debt. Captain Bai never really spoke about it, so it was a bit of a shock to open the books and see how much we still owe on the Malvoisin. We really need a couple of good jobs.
Well, we seem to have three job offers now. Sor Griffin's job is still in play, while Sira McKee has another task that we can complete at our convenience, hopefully, this will be more successful than our last effort. And while in at the local Commission office, filling in the last of the paperwork explaining the unfortunate incident of the Left 47 Lower 187 Food Hall and the Sustained Shootout, who should show up but Commissioner Alisa Bowman of the Patrano Station Governing Council.
81421.7
We were just in our shuttle bay to pick up some gear from the Malvoisin-B before heading off to take care of Sira Commissioner Bowman's job, when in through the other access came nine armed Vargr. Most of them were packing shotguns or Scrap Pistols, but one had a Clingfire Pistol and the Leader had an autorifle. A couple were wearing hoods, but they were all obviously Pure Genome Cultists.
Front Row Left to Right: Cultist Lieutenant, Cultist Specialists, Andralassian WARDEN Agent
I've been battling paperwork for the last couple of days, explaining to various officials how six dead Pure Genome Cultists turned up in our shuttle bay. I did mention a possible law suite regarding the lack of maintenance of the overheads that allowed a Vent Crawler of such size to wander around undetected, but we may not have to go there.
Cath was out of Medbay on light duties today. Latka took her out for a look around the Concourse. They had a few drinks and Latka made contact with a tech who had a look at the second hand Body Wire we picked up. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to fix it.
Well, that escalated quickly. I was under the impression that Cath enjoyed getting out of Medbay, and the ship, yesterday. And then, suddenly, this morning, there was shouting and yelling and slamming of hatches. All I can gather is that Cath's gone on strike and is refusing to do any tasks this week. No one else is saying anything. I think we're going to ramp up the recruitment efforts.
We've managed to pay off another slice of ship debt, which improved my mood a little. Though our bank balance still isn't as strong as I would like, especially if we have to leave this system in a hurry if our suspicions regarding a link between the WARDENs and the Pure Genome Cultists prove correct.
We have had some more success. After meeting a couple of prospects last Seconday, we did a follow-up interview first thing this Primeday and have signed on Ksae Soun, a Vargr, as crewsophont. We did wonder if he had been one of the Pure Genome Cultists who fled our shuttle bay six days ago, but Ksae kind of avoided the question. From what we can tell, the Pure Genome Cultists suffered a major loss of face in the aftermath of our encounter, Charisma, Ksae calls it, and something which is very important amongst Vargr. So the Patrano Station Cultists are losing Charisma, and members, and the crew of the Malvoisin is gaining Charisma.
The details of Sira McKee's mission have come through. A McKee Industries Orbital Forge has ceased responding, and we are to shuttle over to it, do a walk-through, and report back to Sira McKee on our findings. Seems pretty straight forward.
I had forgotten how dull travelling across the Patrano System is. Patrano is a young, blue, AO class giant star. Its 'system' is an accretian disk of gas, rocks and ice. Patrano Station orbits the primary way out, almost in the Kuiper Belt. Automated skimmers scoop up gas and rocks from the accretian disk and shovel their loads into the Orbital Forges. The Forges separate the catch, process the useful primary materials, and off-load the refined product to automated barges. The barges then haul their loads into Patrano Station orbit where everything is assayed, marketed, and sold.
81429.8
There was only emergency lighting on in the Orbital Forge when we cracked the locks. That implies emergency power, and probably why McKee Industries Control lost contact with the Forge; not enough power for the Forge AI to steer the com dish.
Front Row Left to Right: Cultist Specialist, Lieutenant, Cultist Specialist, Pure Genome Cultist
We've dragged Illya back to the Medbay aboard the Malvoisin-B and assessed her. She's going to need surgery back on Patrano Station, plus a week in recovery. Cath was more fortunate. It was her Needlegun that took the actual shot from the Cultist, but it kicked back and knocked her unconscious. The Needlegun will need to be repaired as the linear accelerator has been smashed. I've put in an order with our favorite Gunsmith on Patrano for a couple of shotguns and a couple of pistols for pickup on our return. I want everyone armed up, especially if we've got some gear out of action.
We're ten hours out from Patrano Station on the inbound track. Everyone else is in their bunks, so there's only the background drone of the drives and the rhythmic sounds of the lifesupport system. At some stage after dinner, Cath and Latka had a long heart to heart talk and suddenly all the bad atmosphere from the last week or so has been vented. I still have no idea what has been going on with those two, but if it's been resolved, and there're no bodies, I'm relieved.
I woke up from a doze to a sharp pain in my left wrist. The Biometric Control Cuff Marcus Bai gave me was all lit up. As I watched, most of the lights on the cuff winked off, and then one turned from red to blue. An answering blue light on the com board winked on. Damn, the cuff is hailing the Malvoisin, somewhere out there in the deep dark. As I reached for the comm, the Malvoisin answered.
We're about an hour out of Patrano Station. Malvoisin and Malvoisin-B have swapped a huge amount of data as Malvoisin caught up on what's been happening since Captain Marcus Bai passed. Well, actually it's the AI at the heart of the Malvoisin that's been pumping Malvoisin-B dry of data, so the traffic was mostly one way.
Finally docked at our shuttle bay on Down 325. Again, a small mountain of forms waiting for me to fill in, plus I need to send in our full report to Sira McKee over a secure com line. We sent the preliminary report in from the Orbital Forge but, even with end to end encryption, I'm not too keen on spraying the finer details of what went on all over the system. Even on tight beam.
As sleep was, obviously, going to be optional this Primeday, I plunged into the crew admin. I asked Cath and Latka to go with Illya as she headed off for surgery on her injuries, while I paid everyone, and paid off a bit more ship debt. Guurta was signed out of Medbay, so we're at full strength, even with Illya on the sick list.
Just off a brief com call with Sira McKee. She is very happy with our detailed report and, it turns out, she has another job for us. This was the Patron job K3K4 was alluding to, back on 427.6.
Latka and Cath had mixed success at the market. Latka found a consignment of 'slightly used' Colonist Ration Packs dating back, we think, to sometime in the previous century. I suspect the Colony these packs were intended for failed (perhaps due to a lack of Ration Packs), and they've been bouncing from Void Ship to Void Ship ever since. Thanks, but no thanks. Cath found several pallet loads of Trade Goods, so these we have secured away. As the shuttle bay is starting to fill up, I want to make a start on getting all our goods and gear shuttled over to the Malvoisin, as soon as it gets into a handy parking orbit.
The new job offer comes from Sira Kimora Barone of the Nostromo Society and is open for the next two weeks. Pay is pretty standard, but Sira Barone admits that it is a hazardous assignment, and that they only want a four sophont crew. Sira McKee, on the other hand, is offering a much bigger payday, with no hazards and no conditions. I think we'll continue our excellent working relationship with Sira McKee, and politely put Sira Barone and her Society on the backburner.
Contacted Sira McKee and have agreed to take her assignment. We're to report to her estate, up on the teen decks, tomorrow Seconday and pretty much do a security sweep. All right, sounds like a, literal, walk in the park.
Well, so that's how the other half live; the Lower Decks of Patrano Station are warrens with thousands of sophonts crammed into single or double room apartments in multi-layer habs per deck. And the Uppers? Nice, large apartments in two or three level habs, roomy passageways, open spaces. And then we get through Security, and up into the Teens. This is the territory of the Founding Families, the Merchant Princes, the Bankers, and the Movers and Shakers. A half dozen families per deck, large detached dwellings, free standing water in ornamental ponds, greenery even. Wealth and resources conspicuously consumed.
That was a seriously brutal encounter. Having secured the site, we attended to our wounded. Both Guurta and Cath had minor injuries which would require a week in medbay, each. Poor Latka was seriously injured, but fortuitously Sira McKee's household was able to get her to the local (and very expensive) medical facility quickly. K3K4 just needed a hard reboot and he was back in action, with another dent to add to his collection. His military rifle, on the other hand, was damaged and needs repairing.
Latka came through her surgery and has joined Guurta and Cath in the medbay on the Malvoisin-B. She's going to be out of action for five weeks. Illya is out of Medbay on light duties.
I received a communication from Sira McKee this Primeday, inviting me to a meeting at an anonymous office space in the lower Uppers. Arriving there, I was ushered in and had a brief chat with Sira before she introduced me to Sira Asrik McKee, a member of the McKee family business group. It took me a moment, and then I realised that Asrik McKee is Kirsa McKee's clone.
And just when things are looking up, who should drop into parking orbit near Patrano Station but the Serendipity Accent, Captain Phuamba Phanua commanding,
With Guurta and Cath in Medbay for a week, and Latka laid up for five weeks, it is a relief to have Illya back on duty. We've been sticking very close to our shuttle bay as the Serendipity Accent works its way into the transhipping zone. Once at rest relative to Patrano station, a steady stream of lighters and barges have been trekking backwards and forwards between the Void Ship and the cargo docks, down on Lower 425. I haven't been able to determine if Captain Phanua has landed an away party, but I suspect one will be coming across soon.
While K3K4 and Repair Bot 1 worked to fix K3K4's military rifle, damaged in the encounter with the Kihyri Assassins, I sent Ksae out to check around, and Illya down to Lower 425 to see if any of the Serendipity Accent crew had come aboard the station. She used to know the Accent crew pretty well, a while back and, hopefully, some of the old laggers are still around.
With the melee weapons offloaded to the Annalaganoan Underground, I settled down on a secure line with Sira Barone to discuss the details of the job she wants us to undertake on behalf of the Nostromo Society. The Society needs to get their data miner, Birgette Wilkins, into the offices of Arcturus Dynamics on Lower 112. All we have to do is ensure Sira Wilkins gets in, is left undisturbed for ten minutes, and gets out again. Sira Barone passed through security schematics and, just as she was signing off, casually mentioned that Arcturus Dynamics had recently contracted some local muscle to beef up their physical security. This local muscle are a crew called Redshift.
We've had a quick crew meeting, well all of us who are up and mobile anyway. And we've decided to pass on the Nostromo Society job as it seems to have “Trap” written all over it in mountain-sized neon lights, possibly visible from orbit. Instead, we're going to take a quick trip down station and kick some Serendipity butt on Lower 425 before they can get their claws further into this station.
We came in through the coreward end of the dock and began making our way through scattered shipping containers and service portacoms. Seven Serendips came skulking in from the rimward end. Their shuttle was obviously in the outer dock. I began to wonder if we had bitten off more than we could chew with odds at seven to four.
The assorted loot added Cr5 to our balance, and K3K4 restarted with a hard boot. His rifle was damaged, again, in the firefight, so he'll be on repair duty. Ksae picked up a personal trinket after climbing off the roof of the portacom.
Well, that's six hours of my life I'll never get back again. Lawyers swarming like infall round a black hole. Sira Commissioner Bowman going supernova. Hearing starts in two Primedays. Oh, and Sira Bowman has confirmed, in less than polite language, that she no longer wishes to be associated with the crew of the Malvoisin. On my way back to our bay on Down 325, I called ahead and got Ksae and K3K4 started on loading the Malvoisin-B. I then commed Malvoisin.
The Malvoisin-B has arrived back from its first run to Malvoisin. Cath, Latka and Guurta have been transported across and parked in the Malvoisin medbay, and a load of our accumulated trade goods are now in its hold. Illya and I helped Ksae and K3K4 fill up the hold of the Malvoisin-B and sent them back again on another run.
This run I'm sending Illya with Ksae and K3K4, while I keep an eye on our bay. I want Illya to start running system checks on Malvoisin while Ksae and K3K4 unload the Malvoisin-B. As soon as they get back to Patrano Station and pick up the last of our gear, I'm going to pay our departure fee, close our accounts, switch off the lights, and join them on the last run back to the Malvoisin.
Outbound from Patrano Station to the Malvoisin. We're completely closed out station-side and, I think, I've just missed the start of our hearing. Oh dear, how sad, never mind. Think I'll sleep now, so I don't have to listen to angry voices on the comm.
We're all aboard Malvoisin and squared away. Malvoisin-B is secured in the boat bay. All of us, well all of us who are mobile, are in the Command Centre of the Malvoisin, a semi-circular theatre built around a huge holograph tank. Each station in the theatre has its own display screens, showing close ups of the holo-tank, or various system profiles, or external ship camera feeds. 'Asmall', the ship AI handles all the technical and operational stuff.
We're two hours outbound from Patrano Station, and seven from our run up to light speed. After some discussion with 'Asmall', we've had to change our plans slightly. The Malvoisin doesn't have the range to make Vengion in one jump. So, we're going to route through Oshumamba, refuel, and then head for Vengion. This adds about 50 Light Years, and three days ship time, to the trip, but is do-able.
Well, we now have a passenger. Sira Asrik McKee. The small craft was a McKee Industries Fast Packet, and Sira McKee has requested passage with us to Vengion. She has not said, openly, but McKee Industries is very concerned about the situation with the Andralassian Hegemony. Siras Kirsa and Asrik, and their inner circle of advisors, seem to feel a take-over of Patrano Station by the Hegemony is imminent, and Asrik is being sent to look after McKee interests on Koblez, on the far side of the Essenaro Congress.
Two hours to the run up to light speed. Very laggy communications with Patrano Station, but another Void Ship has broken orbit and is outbound on our track. Signals are red shifted to Hades but we think it's Serendipity Accent.
We're three hours out from Dump Down. The run from Patrano Station to Oshumamba, some 40 parsecs or 130 Light Years, has taken just over seven days. So far, an uneventual trip. Even after all that time in Deep Orbit around Patrano, Malvoisin has performed without a hitch. 'Asmall', the Malvoisin's AI, has commed me a list of matters that need servicing/updating/cleaning or generally fiddling with but, as far as I can see, nothing beyond the capabilities of 'Asmall's flock of drones and bots. In cases where lists run to more than three or four pages, I tend to hit SELECT ALL and then AGREE to ALL, and then go Dirtside before the invoices hit the Purser's InBox.
81452.21
We've picked up some information that Phuamba Phey has been sighted in the old Shophunumba settlement just outside of Amunashunarma City in the marsh near the ring lake. Locally, it's known as Swamp Town, and consists of some ruins, several meres and pools, and some swamp scrub. More traditional Shophunumba, such as older members of the Consolidation of Sarasumama moiety, feel obliged to spend at least a week every few years camping at such traditional sites to reconnect and honour their phyles.
The motiles tried to flank Ksae, but Guurta managed to down Phuamba Phey as he was moving forward. In a final flurry of shots, Illya missed the last motile, who missed her. Guurta hit the motile, knocking it back so that Ksae, who had worked around to the flank, could down it.
