Trade War - Part 1

 

Where the Travellers escape Aramis Subsector only to be drawn back by the growing war between Oberlindes and Tukera.

This note is from our April 5th, 2015 session and was mostly written by Carl and Kay with additional material provided by myself. I did the pictures of Aramanx Station using Sketchup and Kerkythea.

Continued from: Kidnapped on Aramanx

Date: 271-1104 Imperial.

Location: Aramanx station, orbiting the planet Aramanx in the Aramis Subsector.

With the documentation about Lisa's kidnapping, and information about Jellica Chan, we left Aramanx Station and headed for the Patinir Belt. Our plan was to go from there to Natoko or possibly Aramis. We planned to stop in Patinir and let the residents know that the person responsible for nuking the supply ship had been found and dealt with. Our overall plan was to talk with the Navy in person. We didn't count on our messages having been received or taken seriously. The kidnap issue, we hoped, would lend some more credibility.

278-1104
Safely docked at Patinir-Leading Station, we started making our contacts. Sam was doing the normal cargo sell/buy when he received a message:

250-1104

Natoko Down
Natoko/Aramis

To: Sam Penney, Skylark 2, Patinir/Aramis

Sam:

I heard about Banneri on Aamanx. Good work, I am glad to hear that SOB won’t be nuking any more supply ships.

Just a heads up, I would stay out of Aramis System if I were you. There was some sort of heist at the Aramis Museum and the authorities want to talk with you. Even the Marquis is involved and has the Navy stirred up. Word on the street is that you smuggled out whatever they took on the Skylark.

There were some PI’s, bounty hunters or something in here yesterday asking questions about you guys. Keep your head up and your engines hot.

If you do come across something valuable that needs to be moved, you know me, I am always looking to make a deal. I know this guys who knows someone…

Ulrich Baseru

So.... maybe we won't go right to the Navy... Or Aramis... Or Natoko.

Time to rethink this whole thing.

Over the next few days we got our thoughts down on paper, as intelligently as we could and composed our own message.

FROM: SKYLARK 2, FREE TRADER/ARAMANX STATION

TO: IMPERIAL NAVAL BASE, ARAMIS

We understand through news from channels that there was a “heist” at the Aramis Museum and the Navy wants to talk with us. The Marquis is involved and the Navy is involved. There was word on the street that we smuggled out whatever they took on the SkyLark 2.

The above is the extent of the information we were given on the subject.

This message is to attempt to set the record straight and to inform the Imperium of other – unconnected- actions that should be brought to your attention.

1) If this is what “they” are referring to: 2 of our crew broke up a mugging on Aramis of a Vargr, please see attached video. For our personal security we use cameras with live feed when we are on a planet, just in case of times like this one. After we returned to the ship and the other crew were informed, we discovered the same attackers looking for a free trader to take an object to Junidy for them; and another crew member who had not been present at the mugging, but recognized them afterward from the video, agreed to do so. We suspected that the object (a Vargr brooch) had been taken from the mugging victim the night before and we intended to try to return it to its rightful owner. After receiving the brooch and examining it, we discovered that it had a magnetic strip attached and some sort of encrypted information. Upon asking around, we discovered that apparently this type of device was known to be used by Vargr pirate couriers. At this point, we attempted to decrypt it with no success. After a short discussion we decided to turn it over to the Navy at Aramis, for decryption,but having a time-sensitive cargo to deliver, we sent it by a third party under the name “the Red Baron”. If it was harmless, we were uninvolved; if it was not harmless, we were still uninvolved.

I hope that assists you in whatever investigation you are conducting.

2) On a – hopefully- unrelated note, we wish to report a crime that occurred on Aramanx, the kidnapping of Ms. Lisa Fireau, please see attached recorded testimony. The reason for informing you on Aramis should become obvious. Our ship was present on Aramis when the Mammoth went down and crashed with a cargo of two meson guns. We were on planet during the inquiry. So we were aware of the Chief Engineer, Jellica Chan, who, by all accounts was either the most incompetent engineer of all time, or criminal. We then went to Zila where the original Tukera Line ship, the Titan, had to stop for unscheduled repairs and the regular engineer was attacked and hospitalized, and Jellica Chan replaced him. So we were aware of all of this as background.

Our cargo from Zila to Aramanx included passage for Ms Fireau. When we arrived at Armanx and were getting paid, Ms. Fireau disappeared, and we assisted in the search. The station video showed her leaving the station in the company of a woman we recognized from the Aramis feeds, Jellica Chan, only she was now going by the name, Arion Jamail, she had been there for 3 months registered for Tukera corp from Junidy, with a job title of management security, for Tukera’s internal security force. The attached testimony should speak for itself, in that Ms. Fireau was kidnapped by Chan/Jamail and another, held on the planet, and escaped.

3) A second event occurred to us on planet Aramanx, on a different cargo run, (196-1104) that has a direct bearing on all of this. We had gone to the conference center in Tavanix for business, and a war broke out. We fled the city with some other off-worlders who got caught up in the fighting as well. One of them was a Vargr (different Vargr) who identified himself as Kfouzorr from a pirate group called the Aegzaeng; he said he left that group after another group, the Kfourzung, took it over. The Vargr said recent activity by the Kforuzung gang had big news that they’re building a warship called the Ozarr with a meson gun at great expense. He had no idea where they can get one. They needed more money, it’s why they hired on as a battalion in Lannix. This alarmed us because we had been at Aramis when a cargo of 2 meson guns went down in (now very) suspicious circumstances. Unfortunately, he died in a gun battle as we were trying to escape from hostile forces and he didn’t give us any other details than that.

Between finding out that the Vargr pirates are planning on getting a meson gunship, that 2 meson guns crashed as a result of questionable behavior of Jellica Chan/now Arion Jamail, who was working for Tukera (or is she?), and kidnapped our client. Another piece of the puzzle was that Tukera has been re-routing ship maintenance to Notoko, (everyone assumed it’s for a trade war).

We began to see a far more alarming pattern now. This is entirely speculation, but: what if – Tukera entered into an agreement with the Vargr group to supply them with a meson ship - that has to be built at a major shipyard –which requires re-routing of other ships to keep them away from the construction site? Tukera, or a small group of employees within the organization, conspired to deliver the meson gun(s) to the pirates by covering up the theft with the crash? What if only one meson gun is going to the pirates and the other gun is also missing and bound for somewhere? Or one gun was left in the crash to provide wreckage to cover the theft of the other gun?

We have no way of finding out any answers to these questions unless we trip over them in our travels.

4) On a slightly related note, the Vargr who gave us the information on the meson gunship, was on Aramanx with a mercenary group attempting to kidnap a man by the name of Banerjii, captain of the Free Trader, Wolblutn. When the shooting started, everyone in the hotel we were staying at ran for their lives, and both of them ended up running in the same direction we were. In the next few days of cross-country fleeing, we were told both by Banerjii (who was a SternMetal representative at the conference) and the Vargr, that Banerjii was involved in mining lanthium ore in the Patinir Belt, taking it to the Vargr Extents, waiting on Aramanx with his ship, and then bringing the ore back into the Imperium as a Vargr export. The reason for this uncharacteristic charity of information was that Banerjii had his ship on planet and nearby, so he was trying to get back to it to escape, and wanted our help to get him there intact. He had to explain to us why he was breaking several laws in having the ship on the ground. The Vargr’s information was that the Kfourzung group had planned a raid to capture the SternMetal rep and secondarily use the rep (Banerjii) who had info on a shady deal, and the Kfourzung group would use it as leverage (I’m assuming against Sternmetal).

Unfortunately, the Vargr was shot, wounded and died getting into the ship, and once we had taken off from the planet and were picked up by the Aramanx patrol ships, Banerjii was found dead after being questioned by the authorities on the station. Banerjii took the blame, but we suspect SternMetal.

Our next several scheduled runs will not take us to any system with a naval or scout base, so we are sending this message at all available speed to you. We expect to end up on Rhylanor for several months at the end of our scheduled runs and hopefully this message reaches you before then.

Signed,

Kipenzi Momoh, Chief Engineer, Skylark 2, FreeTrader

Some days passed before a ship came through heading to Aramis/Natoko. We sent one copy with an Oberlindes ship, routing to Aramis via Pysadi, but wanted at least one more to go by different ship.

287-1104
A 200 ton freighter, the Dead Reckoning, came into the Belt. As Free Traders do, we spoke some, learning that they did a Junidy-Aramis run. Sounded good to us, and they agreed to take another copy of our letter. Bases covered as best we could, it was time to think about where we might go next.

During our time at Patinir, a news article came in (OK, many did, but this one was more interesting to us.)

⑆ARAMANX/ARAMIS (3005-B657974-7)                                                                       Date: 276-1104

¶ TNS - Pirates today attacked cargo carrier Grand Tour as it left the Aramanx system, succeeding in ransacking the ship, disabling the drives and then abandoning the ship before jumping beyond the range of local defense vessels.

¶ Casualty reports have not been made but it is estimated from communications monitors that three crew are dead and more than half a dozen injured.

¶ It is expected that salvage and rescue operations will be completed within three days.

¶ Piracy in the subsector has been virtually non-existent since a spate of raids occurred in the Lewis area in 1090. Ω

Grand Tour is an Oberlindes ship, and we wondered if the attack was coincidental, or prompted by Tukera for his/our actions in the sector. It also might be the Vargr getting the funds for the meson gunship they were building.

This was the first piracy in the subsector in a long time, and gave us even more reason to head elsewhere.

Thinking fondly of our time in the Ancient facility on Fulacin, and the world map that indicated one more possible at each pole, we set out to investigate there.

294-1104

The Dead Reckoning headed out on their cargo run, our message safely with them.

302-1104

We jumped out for Pysadi. Tales of Howood just falling out of the sky had Sam rubbing his hands gleefully at the thought of buying it cheap and selling it elsewhere at a huge markup. In the fundamental analysis, we are traders. We could also use Howood to make more copies of the Vargr brooch.

309-1104

In Pysadi system. The dictatorship aspect of this planet had put us off before, but the port was considered safe. We stayed in port, got a little Ho wood and regular cargo, and learned that for real cargo loads of Howood we would have to go out in country and harvest it in "traditional ways”. Sam even more gleefully rubbed his hands when he learned that "traditional" meant using dynamite.

312-1104

Another message came in, this time from Oberlindes-Paya, with special encryption. Our association and working relationship with Oberlines had gotten us the keys for their company traffic, and we sadly read about the attack on Grand Tour again.

Communiqué (Oberlindes Paya to captains of Oberlindes Lines ships) Date: 290-1104

The unprovoked and unforeseen raid by unknown pirates on the cargo carrier Grand Tour has created some concern among Oberlindes Lines crews. The best method of alleviating that concern is to provide all details and allow crews to act accordingly. It is standard procedure for OL to provide complete details of such accidents and situations as soon as the details become available.

Grand Tour was approached by a patrol cruiser signaling for a routine quarantine checkout and ceased acceleration to comply. Upon being boarded, the crew was confronted by armed pirates and ordered to aid in the ransacking of the ship. Three crewmembers in the drive room resisted, and were gunned down before the drives were disabled. Five crew were pistol-whipped for various reasons having to do with resistance to orders by the pirates. The ship was saved by Oberlindes vessels which responded immediately but not before the raiders left by jump. The entire cargo of bulk plastic was dispersed in an act of vandalism through the cargo doors and the pirates took approximately MCr. 2 in equipment, funds and goods.

No blame has been attached to crew for their actions; the dead and wounded are to be memorialized by Oberlindes Lines for their efforts.

319-1104
Launching out of Pysadi for Vinorian.

326-1104
In Vinorian. Just trading and fuel on this stopover.

333-1104
Jumped out for Henoz.

340-1104
Arrive at Henoz, get news of pirates near the Vargr border. One attack in Aramanx areas, where it’s been quiet for along time. We buy and sell cargo, and intercept an Oberlindes communique about Llewellyn. The date of the communique was 312, but the ship was attacked on 296. They had tried to intervene in what appeared to be a pirate attack, only tohave both ships turn to attack them:

Communiqué (Oberlindes Paya to captains of Oberlindes Lines ships) Date: 312-1104
Llewellyn reports being sucked into a situation where two ships played at being in a fight and then turned to attack whoever stepped in to assist. This sort of thing has happened before and will happen again. The captain of Llewellyn is to be commended for his quick thinking, including concentration of fires and the closer and more vulnerable target (the ship’s boat) in the situation.

It was only the Llewellyn’s heavy firepower (three lasers, three missile racks) that allowed her to intervene in the first place and stand up in the second.

Two days later the report from the TNS came in:

⑆ PAVANNE/ARAMIS (2905-E310000-0)                                                                          Date: 296-1104

¶ TNS - Oberlindes Lines far trader Llewellyn was attacked by unidentified raiders today as it maneuvered to protect a ship’s boat which was itself under attack.

¶ In a preliminary report, Llewellyn indicated that she moved to assist a ship’s boat which was fleeing a patrol cruiser, and after coming between the two, came under fire from both ships. Upon receiving unexpectedly heavy fire from the far trader, the ship’s boat was taken aboard by the patrol cruiser and they jumped outsystem.

¶ Llewellyn reports no damage and has provided pictures of the raider to the authorities. Ω

347-1104
Heading out of Henoz for Fulacin. Before jump we get a report from Regina dated concerning rumors of Zhodani fleet movements:

⑆REGINA/REGINA (2314-A788899-A)                                                                          Date: 270-1104

¶ Rumors of major Zhodani fleet movements were disputed by the Navy’s PR office after forward observation vessels failed to detect any unusual operations. Ω

355-1104
Arrival in Fulacin. On approach we got good scans of both poles. We were saddened, but not really surprised, to see that there was a big hole (now iced over) at each pole. The size and shape bore a striking resemblance to the hole where the Octagon building had been. Oh well...

A Traveller's News Service bulletin informed us that on 302-1104 an Oberlindes facility on Nasemin had been burned down. This was starting to be a trend, and we considered going back to Aramanx. Calmer heads prevailed and we pressed on for Rhylanor.

⑆ NASEMlN/ARAMIS (3003-B98A422-B) Date:                                                              302-1104

¶ TNS - The Oberlindes Lines trading station on Nasemin was burned to the ground in a fire of suspicious origins yesterday.

¶ The facilities were a total loss, including approximately Cr. 400,000 in cash and negotiable instruments and Cr. 650,000 in goods in storage, according to an Oberlindes spokesman.

¶ There were no casualties. Ω

362-1104
Jump for Rhylanor

001-1105
We celebrated the New Year in jump.

005-1105
We settled in to Rhylanor for some needed R&R and to take some training. We planned 3-6 months of recovery, refurbishment, retraining. The Skylark needed its annual maintenance too. Medicus tried to finish his medical degree, but fails his Steward course – something about his bedside manner picked up from his prison days. Fig gets his prosthetic arm checked and takes classes in piloting.

Our vacation on Rhylanor was periodically interrupted by disturbing news coming from Aramis Subsector:

⑆ TOWERS /ARAMIS (3003-B98A422-B)                                                                     Date: 320-1104

¶ TNS - Oberlindes Lines today stated that Wallen Bar, a 400-ton Oberlindes-owned merchant, was overdue from Feneteman, giving hijacking as the most likely reason.

¶ The company had no further comment. Ω

Communiqué (Oberlindes Paya to captains of Oberlindes Lines ships)                      Date: 339-1104

Wallen Bar, posted officially as a possible hijacking, is believed to be lost with all hands due to sabotage from agents of Akerut operating on Feneteman. Effective immediately, all ships are instructed to implement stringent cargo and service monitoring procedures in order to avoid a similar situation.

Messages kept on coming. One dated 325-1104 told us that Oberlindes thought a concentrated effort against the line was the cause of the attacks:

Communiqué (Oberlindes Paya to captains of Oberlindes Lines ships)                       Date: 325-1104

The recent fire in the Oberlindes facilities at Nasemin provides evidence that a concerted effort is being mounted against Oberlindes Lines to reduce profits and increase expenses. It appears that the offices were ransacked prior to being torched and that all items of value were taken (approximately Cr. 400,000) before the fire. All ships are advised to be aware of passage serial numbers, especially those written from Nasemin with numbers 450-89 as prefixes. They are stolen and should be treated as void; notify local authorities and nearest company office immediately.

Confidential to Captains: A tradewar situation appears to have started and evidence is that either Tukera or Akerut is responsible. Treat contacts with either corporation with extreme care.

Researching tradewar, we found the following information:

Tradewar: Economic war between business entities, especially mega-corporations, that extends beyond the customary peaceful means of competition in the marketplace is termed tradewar. Tradewar is a practice which brings companies directly into physical conflict, involving destructive raids, industrial espionage, and other violent acts.

The History of Tradewar: The tradewar concept is an old one, tracing its beginnings to the struggles of the Long Night. On old Earth just before spaceflight, giant corporations competed with each other in the marketplaces of Earth’s industrial society. That society was highly regulated, and competition was civilized, restricted to price wars, industrial spying, and advertising.

The advent of space travel took corporations to a new frontier, infinitely more difficult to police and regulate than any world surface. Companies began to resort to occasional violence to gain commercial advantage. The collapse of the Second Imperium removed all restrictions; tradewar began to resemble ordinary war, and these corporate wars contributed to civilization’s collapse. The experience of the Long Night established the principle that tradewar that escalated to violence needed some controls; the result is a fairly well established set of unwritten restrictions on tradewar, generally adhered to by all parties, which both control a tradewar’s excesses and lend it an air of legitimacy.

Violence being generally illegal, tradewar is practical only in situations where its perpetrators can assume there will be no reprisals from the law. Sometimes, a company with great resources can bribe or coerce government into looking the other way. More often, tradewar’s violence finds a setting on the frontiers of the Imperium or beyond its borders. Since the Imperial navy and other law enforcement arms cannot be everywhere at once, tradewar cannot be eliminated as an outlet for corporate rivalry.

Imperial mega-corporations and corporations are known to resort to tradewar when it is practical but always with certain assumed limits in force. First of all, any company’s customers (as well as all innocent bystanders) are considered exempt from the effects of tradewar. Violence cannot extend to them, they may not be injured or killed and their property may not be damaged as an incidental effect of any tradewar action. Employees of either company are considered soldiers in the war and are fair game. Equipment and installations of either company are considered fair targets.

Second, since the object of tradewar is to disrupt the enemy companies operations, there are no restrictions on actions against the enemy’s mercantile operations. Similarly, the resultant effects of tradewar on customers (lost shipments, delayed deliveries and so forth) are accepted, even intended, in the effort to destroy the rival. This is an exception to the previous rule, in many cases, insurance will cover some or all of the loss.

Third, the conduct of tradewar must not become such a cause that the original aims have been forgotten. Once a company begins to win a tradewar campaign, the other side must be allowed to withdraw and continue its operations elsewhere. Expenses must be watched and the cost of totally destroying an enemy company is usually greater than is justified by the resulting gains.

Current Usage: Tradewar is considered an important part of commercial rivalry. Where it is possible for a company to engage in tradewar practices with little possibility of being caught or punished, it remains within the range of options available to the ambitious manager.

However, tradewar is expensive and the rewards must equal the possible expenditures. As a result, the decision to begin tradewar with a rival company usually rests with the head of the company (or the subsector manager in the case of a mega-corporation). Almost always, the board of directors or higher managers must also approve.

Usual goals for tradewar are to completely control specific markets or trade routes, or to drive the rival company from a specific field (such as electronics or pharmaceuticals).

040-1105
We received another message, this one specifically for us. Oberlindes (the Baron) wanted us to come back and participate in an upcoming action.

Communiqué (Oberlindes Paya to Skylark 2)                                                              Date: 346-1104

Personal and confidential. Leaving Paya for Oberlindes Aramanx. Arrive three weeks. Request you rendezvous there at earliest convenience. Need your services. (signed) Oberlindes.

The Skylark is a jump-3 ship, but using the cargo bay for fuel we have the ability to make an almost immediate follow-on jump-2. It seemed like a good idea, after we decided that yes we would go back. That discussion did not last long, though we all lament the travel without trading aspect.

Dodging a naval transport in the heavily trafficked space over Rhylanor, we hit a communications mast while cutting too close to an orbital habitat. It took another day and a big fine and repair bill, but we finally got out of system on 042-1105.

Passing through Jae Tallona, Henoz, L'Oeul d’Dieu, Pysadi to Aramanx. Just gas up and go. This was the first time we had used the "Cargo Bay as Fuel Tank" trick in practice. The only problem we encountered was a small hydrogen leak and a large heat leak through the iris valve between the cargo bay and the airlock. It just meant that we couldn't use the airlock as a shortcut between the common area and engineering which was a bad habit to have anyway.

079-1105
Returning to Aramanx, we met with Oberlindes' personnel for a meeting.

Arrlanroughl conducts the meeting, explaining that Oberlindes has been tied up overseeing the conduct of an investigation into an attack against the Oberlindes freighter Bottom Line, the victim of the latest ambush of this growing tradewar situation. This leads the Vargr into a review of the recent attacks including three more that we had not heard of. He goes over each report in turn, summarizing the evidence that Tukera has decided to block the expansion of Oberlindes operations in Aramis subsector by the strongest means open to them.

Oberlindes, Arrlanroughl says, has decided that the company must begin striking back. Losses cannot continue to be one-sided. Although Oberlindes Lines has nowhere near the resources of Tukera, it may still be possible to make this tradewar so unprofitable that Tukera will back down, that, at least, is the hope behind the plan Oberlindes and Arrlanroughl have evolved.

That plan needs good people to carry it out people who are tough in a fight, who can be relied upon to keep up their end of things. From past encounters, and particularly the Fireau kidnapping incident, Oberlindes thinks the Skylark 2 crew will be the ideal people to carry out this plan.

Through a lucky break, Oberlindes Lines has gained access to a part of an Akerut shipping schedule before an erase order purged the computer it was stored in. This fragment gave the co-ordinates of a breakout point used by jump-1 Akerut ships traveling from Feneteman to Aramanx (and vice versa). The co-ordinates are in hex 0705 of the subsector map; this region of open space is so vast that, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to locate the breakout point.

Akerut ships which use the point have to spend several hours shifting fuel reserves end testing jump systems before resuming their voyage. During this time, the ships are vulnerable, unable to run. Standard co-ordinates are assigned by Akerut to allow the company to trace overdue ships, narrowing a potential search area in case of some disaster. The point is also, apparently, a frequently used rendezvous for Tukera courier ships, especially those in the service of the Vemene.

For a short time – until ships become overdue enough tocause concern - it will be possible for Oberlindes to cause considerable damage to Tukera by exploiting this deep-space secret rendezvous, now no longer asecret. A series of ambushes at this point can act as a clear beginning to the Oberlindes counterattack.

Oberlindes wants to use the Skylark 2 to help out in this counterattack. The basic plan calls for a two-ship team – one ship a well-armed patrol cruiser that can bring almost any Akerut ship down in a short action, the other a decoy to spring the trap before the hapless victims can realize their danger and escape. Oberlindes wants Skylark 2 in the latter role.

A third ship, the New Horizons, an Oberlindes-owned cargo ship, will also join the expedition to carry extra cargo and to take messages back to Aramanx if necessary. A deep space rendezvous has been set up in the Aramanx system to receive captured Akerut ships. All three ships must carry extra personnel to serve as skeleton crews to pilot captured ships to the rendezvous. With cargo bay staterooms, the Sklark 2 can carry 12 extra crew members, the patrol cruiser 14 and the free trader 22, for a total of 48. The standard Akerut freighter can make a single jump with a skeleton crew of 4 (pilot, navigator, and two engineers), so as many as twelve ships could conceivably be taken.

Next, he introduces the crew to the John "Jack" Daniels, captain of the Guardian, the patrol cruiser which is to accompany them. Arrlanroughl further indicates that the Skylark 2 crew will be in command for purposes of tactical decisions, although Guardian’s captain, who is responsible to Oberlindes Lines, makes the ultimate decisions on disposition of cargo and other non-battle-related matters. This balance of responsibilities looks after company interests while still preserving for Skylark 2 the ability to call the shots once they have to move into danger.

Oberlindes provided us with a 3-setting transponder to disguise our identity. We were pleased to learn that no killing was planned (OK space combat is risky, but the captured crews and ships were to be ransomed back). The Oberlindes ship New Horizon will be the third.

We started our working life together as traitorous smugglers, now we could up the ante an be pirates!

Our cargo bay was loaded with containers that would house 12 additional crew, for taking the prizes. The idea is for the target ships’ officers are to be stored in low berths and the rest of the crew locked in cabins while our prize crew takes the ships back to a drop point. The Hercules class freighter can be operated with a skeleton crew of 4. With the crew the New Horizon, the Guardian and we were carrying, we could potentially take 12 ships which is the average number of Akerut freighters that pass through the area in three weeks. Ambitious. Everyone figured we would have 2-3 weeks of basically free access to Akerut and Tukera shipping. Oberlindes also got us another annual maintenance

Our role was to act as an Akerut ship and call for support, then pretend to be pirates. We are definitely over the line of law/not, instead of just straddling it as we have for 5 years.

Later that afternoon Gvoudzon and Medicus both got into the swing of things by going out and buying some proper accoutrements. Gvoudzon comes out of the fresher with a striped orange and green dye job, at least a dozen earrings in a row on one ear, and silver covers on his canines. Medicus, with Gvoudzon’s help, now wears a Nehru jacket, a fake goatee and a turban with a pin in it with an eye symbol. He now looks completely like a scary Zhodani telepath right out of an imperial propaganda poster. Gvoudzon introduces themselves as “Captain (something menacing)” and his Zhodani interrogator. G-dog wants to play the pirate captain who will demand the surrender of the target Tukera/Akerut cargo ship. Kipenzi starts addressing Gvoudzon as “Captain Toto Destruction”.

After the laughter died down, Kipenzi came up with a few observations:

One, Kipenzi - having been the victim of a pirate attack before (by Gvoudzon's former mates) is not ready to do that to others who are only doing their jobs on merchant vessels.

Two, we're going to be caught in a cross-fire between one well-armed cargo ship and a better armed patrol cruiser-class vessel, and we don't have shields, or a lot of firepower.

If we are only going to be used as a forward lookout, to go in, scout the position to find out if there are targets there, and then call in the attack ships, get ourselves out of the way before the shooting starts... then maybe... just maybe... we might survive this.

But frankly, the profit margin had better be: we retire immediately and run to Rashev to hide.

We're not mercenaries - i.e. fighters/soldiers, where that's our primary mission.

We'll use military tactics when we need to, but it's not what we do for a living.

Because if we're caught, we end up at Keanu again, and not in a good way.

There's also a meson gunship somewhere out there with Vargr mercenaries, and it's only a matter of time before it shows up.

We have never fought someone else's battles before. Our skill set is more along the lines of espionage, salvage (if it looks abandoned, we'll pick it up)

but we won't kill someone to take it from them by force.

Think of it this way, remember when Kipenzi and Gvoudzon were fighting for their lives against pirates attacking the Tower Newburg? Gvoudzon REALLY didn't want to fall into their hands because he had left the group.

All we need is one person on the ship being attacked to have the same attitude, and we'll be in a fight to the death, probably ours. Oberlindes’ ship got away from two attackers by focusing firepower on the weaker ship… that would be us.

The difference between us and mercenaries? They're paid to get shot at and killed. We're getting paid to transport cargo.

Fig’s response was: I cannot really disagree with any of this, but we threw our lot in with Oberlindes, and overall I think we should support him. Several of his people have already been killed, and more will follow if nothing is done.

That the targets are mostly/all just crew folk is a telling point, but if innocent people was a real factor for us, we would not have started our work life together by bringing back two navy fighters and handing them over to black market.

Remember: "we aren't the good guys. We just don't like the bad guys"

I will go with the crew decision, but will also be OK with Kipenzi sitting this one out on Aramanx. If we go that way I would want to transfer the bulk of the Skylark money to her, in case we don't come back.

Overall, Fig will support his old drinking buddy and take the risks involved. Tukera has it in for us already. If this works they learn nothing, and if it doesn't then Tukera will have it in for us.

Kipenzi’s further response was: the more telling point I wanted to make was: we're not fighters and our ship isn't fitted out to start, be in, or finish a fight.

WE don't have what it takes to survive a ship to ship shooting match.

If they just want us to be a scout ship that pops into the space, looks to see if there are targets, send a signal, and then get out of the way of the patrol cruiser, then maybe we can get out of this intact.

If Tukera has it in for us, I'm fine with kidnapping the head honcho and forcing him into signing a treaty, but not going after merchant ships, they are not our enemy.

If innocent people are NOT a real factor for us, we'd be fighters with +90% gunnery skills, or we would have sold the bioweapons for the Dr on Keanu.

We're free traders, as someone once said "we're helpless, we're harmless, we just want to sell you things".

Besides, I'm fully expecting us to find the meson ship on this trip; and if it turns out that Tukera wasn't responsible for sabotaging and destroying one of their own ships to help mercenaries create one (or even more especially if they did), Kipenzi really wants to find the ones responsible and hurt them - a lot.

What's going on in the back of my mind is that Oberlindes is not entirely above suspicion. We have Oberlindes’ back channel to find that his ships are being attacked, but what if what we've gotten was all faked, and we're being setup as patsies by Oberlindes? What if Oberlindes and SternMetal are friends and we've just screwed SternMetal royally with Banerjii. Which brings me to "Why ask us?" He’s got access to professional mercenaries and pirates out-right, why ask us?

So mull it over. I could suggest that we make it clearer to Oberlindes' forces that we can't fight, we would only have the resources to be the lookout and send the signal when there's a target for them. Then fade into the background with a flat black paint job and null transponder.

The bad guys we don't like are the ones who hurt innocent people. Dr. Bioweapons, Gamma Research station experimenter, Lisa Fireau's kidnapper, and yes, the pirates who killed Medicus's mother.

We're not going to be those guys.

And on further reflection, what if we’re looking at puzzle pieces but the real picture is different? If the Vargr are attacking more ships to get money to buy the meson gun, then maybe Tukera isn’t working with them the way we thought. What if Tukera ships are being attacked as much by the pirates, and the communications between Tukera and the pirates was to ransom their ships back? Then the Tukera ships are going to react as badly as Oberlindes ships to our raid.

Who wants a Vargr pirate group to have a meson gun? People who want mercenaries, not pirates. The Zhodani had a base on Fulacin, one 3-jump away from Rhylanor, the subsector capital. And there was a recent rumor of major Zhodani fleet movements near Regina dated 270-1104.

Medicus chimes in "We need to sit down and discuss strategies. I would prefer for there to be as little life lost as possible."

095-1105

After loading all of the supplies we might possibly need, portable airlock, etc. we head out to Oberlindes' site in the outer system where we can change the appearance of the ship well out of view of Aramanx Station. In route, a plan begins to take shape. The captain of the Guardian calls over asking if the crew of the Skylark would like to run some computer simulations of possible scenarios while the ship is being painted.

Continued in Trade War - Part 2.

See Also: Dramatis Personæ, Skylark 2, Campaign Starts, The 2nd Adventure, The Chamax Plague, Horde, Shadows, Research Station Gamma, Twilight's Peak, Prison Planet, Leedor on Aramis, First Call at Zilla.