Harlen’s World was the perfect embodiment of the idiosyncratic nature of Unity. It was an unremarkable, mostly habitable world with a population in the high millions. It lay on the very edge of the frontier, it straddled the line between a fully fledged frontier world and the backwaters of the Unity’s outer periphery. Officially it was a special economic zone, with exemption from the authority of most Unity regulatory agencies. This made it attractive for corporations that relied heavily on a loose regulatory environment. At the same time Unity had been engaged with a long running public private partnership with a syndicate of local shipwrights to develop Harlen’s World as a sector wide industrial hub with a focus on shipbuilding, complete with the heavy handed regulatory intervention that in theory, it shouldn’t do.
Rolled starting world traits
Technical Knowledge
Shipyards
Dask Donovan stepped out of the small shack that served as this landing field’s sales office and admired the vessel that he and his partner had just purchased.
“The price was steep for a vessel that was stitched together from refurbished salvage.” Midori Jones said while she took her own moment to survey the junker that they had just taken a significant loan out for. She swept a stray lock of her short black hair out of the way as the afternoon winds kicked up a little bit, which sent small eddies of dust drifting across the hard packed dirt of the landing field.
“It is within our price range, and Whillem’s report was promising, let’s go and see the man himself,” Dask said, then started across the landing field towards the flanks of the newly registered Hand of Fortune.
Midori and Dask found Whillem running an inspection on the outer hull of the far side of the ship. Whillem had his head half inside an access hatch, with one meaty paw he held a small torch over his head and tried to work enough light into the panel so that he could inspect the deeper recesses of the hatch.
“Good afternoon, Whil, what do you think of the new ship?” Dask asked.
With slow and careful movements, Whillem extracted his large, maned, head from the panel, then turned to look at Dask and Midori.
“Hrm, the forward hull was a TB Nine orbital utility vehicle, welded with the rear main structure of a Unihaul Model A light freighter. The engines are four Orbitech Ten Fifties, mated in a dual binary crossfeed configuration. Her grav system is a custom job that was rebuilt from an old Unity Navy Spectre class patrol boat, and I am still in the process of certifying the life support system, which should be a rebuilt GMI Series Three. This vessel is a kludge, but she is a kludge built with love and care.” Whillem said.
“Yes, built by the Three Peaks Shipwrights, a feral shipbuilding collective. That is what the broker told me.” Dask replied.
“Yes, feral built, sort of. My people don’t have the industrial base of the other races. We have to work with the scraps and cast offs that we can get from your table. That doesn’t mean our work lacks quality. She will fly and will keep you alive while doing it. I wouldn’t get on this boat if it didn’t have those qualities. I’ve also taken the time to inventory our parts. I’ve taken the liberty of trading for some additional spares for the wear heavy systems.” Whillem said.
Whillem’ Action - Traded - Ship Parts (3 credit discount for next ship repair).
“Nice work, I wish I had better news. Sadly this port is awash with freelancers. I can’t get any potential client to take a meeting, especially when there is all of this established talent that we have to compete with,” Dask said, then sighed in frustration.
Dask’s Action - Find Patron - FAILED
Whillem regarded Dask for a second, then turned back to his work.
“Pardon me, captain. but I have some more checks to go before I’ll certify her.”
Dask spread his hands in an apologetic gesture.
“Of course, let me know when you’re done.”
Dask started towards the main access ramp and Midori fell into step beside him.
“He seems serious and professional, for a feral.” Midori quipped.
“I’ve got good references for him, he could’ve named his price working for any of the merchant lines that run from the frontier to the outer periphery. I have no idea why he signed on with us. Let’s see if our other new hires have arrived.”
As Dask and Midori approached the main access ramp they spotted Estra sitting on a crate of rations while staring into the middle distance. Her wild black hair ran down to her shoulders and her robes were caked with a layer of dust. If Dask didn’t know better, he would’ve dismissed her as a regular human living homeless and in poverty on the frontier, not a precursor that had been alive almost a full century more than Dask.
“Hi Estra, how’d things go?” Midori asked as she strode up to the crate and leaned forward.
“Hrm, I took a walk to find a tea house that a nice man told me about the last time I was here, which was maybe a decade ago. The place was gone, but I found a nice noodle stand instead. So I had lunch and some delightful conversations.” Estra replied while keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the horizon.
Estra’s Action - Explore - A Nice Chat
Dask’s brow furrowed with growing impatience.
“Did you learn anything useful?” Dask asked.
“No, but it was a nice time.” Estra replied without looking at Dask.
“Well, Estra. We’ll be skids up in half an hour, so get yourself and your things stowed before then.” Midori said.
“Of course Midori, I’ll be ready. Now shoo, I’m watching the birds.” Estra replied.
Dask gave Midori a long, lingering gaze as they climbed the ramp into the Hand of Fortune.
“She’s your hire but I’m not sure exactly what she does.” Dask remarked.
“She grew up on a world under K’Erin occupation and has lived almost her entire life bouncing from starport to starport. She has been up and down the frontier twice and knows the ins and outs of the criminal fabric of most of the major worlds. If there is one person that can get us the kind of contacts we need, it is her. Her help has saved my life a couple of times,” Midori said.
Dask shrugged.
“Sure, anyway. What about the thing that I got you to do?” Dask asked.
“All done, I’ve submitted the decoy flight plans. Your horrible siblings should be off your trail for a while,” Midori said.
Midori’s Action - Decoy
Dask breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good, the last thing we want is my damn family trying to get in our way. What about our two aliens?” Dask asked as he rounded a corner and headed into the ship’s lounge; they came face to face with their two aliens.
P’Hol Tkan slid behind the towering form of Shoutheri with her lithe body and delivered two quick jabs to one of his kidney pairs. Shoutheri grunted with pain, then with more speed than an alien his size had any right to possess. Shoutheri neatly bowled over the thin engineer and tried to roll her into a hold. P’hol sensed that she would lose in mere seconds, rolled herself away from Shoutheri’s hold, then came up into a fighting stance. As Shoutheri rose to grapple her but P’Hol delivered a swift kick to Shoutheri’s knee. Shoutheri hissed and clasped his hands into a ball, then thumped the steel decking three times, the traditional K’Erin signal of submission while in sparring and training. At this point they both noticed Dask and Midori watching, then climbed slowly to their feet.
“You two seem to be getting on just fine.” Dask said.
“This one, her weak looks may fool you, but she can fight!” Shoutheri bellowed as he clambered to his feet and offered P’Hol an extended hand. P’hol smiled and threw her delicate arm into his meaty paw, forming a firm wrist on wrist grasp.
Dask studied P’Hol for a moment and not for the first time found it odd that this engineer would forgo the traditional environment suit and mask that her kind wore. Instead she wore a tight fitting catsuit with cut off arms and legs. She went bare headed and unmasked, her skin was ocean blue and her eyes regarded Dask with a playful smile as they danced between Shoutheri and Dask. She smiled a white, toothy smile at both of them.
“You honour me, Shoutheri. Alas I had the misfortune to be born into this body rather than one like yours.” P’Hol said with her sing song, almost musical, voice.
Shoutheri grunted in admiration, then released the clasp.
“There is always the next life, just don’t be in a hurry to get there,” Shoutheri said, then lumbered over to a nearby couch and sprawled out.
P’Hol’s Action - Training
Shoutheri’s Action - Training
“My captain, do we have our first contract as a crew?” P’Hol asked as she picked up a towel and padded the sweat of her neck.
“Yes and no,” Dask said, then went over to the main holo-table and inserted a data stick.
The holo-table hummed to life, showing a contour map of a small facility in a remote corner of Harlen’s World.
Opportunity Mission - Access
Deployment - Surprise Encounter
Notable Site - Person of Interest
Enemies - Corporate Security
“No joy in getting a client, but I have decent intel for a target of opportunity.” Dask paused as Whillem and Estra appeared in the entrance of the ship’s lounge, then gestured for them to take a seat.
“The holo you are looking at is a remote secure data storage facility operated by a company called Yetrium Solutions. Back in the core worlds they are a fly by night data escrow service, but out here on the frontier, they are almost legitimate.
Their main business is facility secure data transactions between less than scrupulous corporate entities and private individuals. They also don’t ask any questions about what they are exchanging, which has landed them in significant trouble with Unity regulators back in the core.
What I learned from a cursory dive into the planetary net was that Yetrium have recently received a data packet from a shadowy client who are operating even deeper in the frontier, and they are holding it for a core based client to pick up in a few days once the credits clear.
I also found a way to get us right up to the facility without the area scanners picking us up, we should be all over the local security by the time they even realise they are under attack.
Any questions so far?”
Whillem coughed, then raised a paw.
“Yes, what is the paydata?” he asked.
Dask shrugged, “I don’t know, doesn’t matter. All we know for sure is that it cleared five large UCs. It could be anything from deep space prospecting data to progress reports for a wildly illegal research project. No matter what it is, it is going to be valuable and I’m sure I can find a buyer.”
Estra cocked her head like a curious dog and studied Dask, before her gaze was drawn to the hologram.
“If it is research data, I want a copy. Otherwise no issues from me.”
“What about you three?” Dask asked Shoutheri, P’Hol, and Whillem.
The three of them looked at each other, then shrugged.
“No clean hands on the frontier, may as well get a taste of the action here until something better comes along.” P’Hol said, and Shoutheri grunted an affirmative.
Whillem growled a little bit, but shrugged.
“Our we have a ship, and a debt to service. I don’t think we can turn down any opportunity.” Whillem murmured.
“Excellent, then let’s get some credits.” Dask said with a smile.
I'm ready to see this play out!
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