With two (now) derelict ships in tow, we made our way to Primo. OK, so we weren’t actually towing the two ships. I had Raven run the mostly intact ship by remote, after I was able to list it as salvage (since there were no living crew on board). We then used its grapple system to grab the hulk of Black Don’s ship, and drag it with us. That made the going slow, but we got to Primo regardless. The sale of the two hulks netted a cool 500K, mainly because the first ship was mostly intact, and could probably be quickly repaired, once a new bridge was built. So we were basically selling 80% of a ship, and a pile of scrap.
Jaynie and Sheila split the sale of the two slaves, since they were the only free members of the crew. A healer and a mechanic, even if the mechanic was one of the reptilian Ihm, were quite in demand on Primo now, since the recent earthquakes had wreaked havoc on things. They managed to get 200K for them as a set from a crew that was running disaster relief.
Of course, we handled all that on the orbital. No way the two pirate ships were landing, after all. With that cleared, however, we had cargo to deliver, so we began making our way to the town of Todeo, on the night side of Primo. See, Primo is strange, in that it is tidally locked, always one side facing its sun. And yet the atmosphere and tectonic stresses were mild enough that people could live and work on the surface without suits. I suspected that the in-game reason would turn out to be some alien artifact deep in the core, or some craziness like that, but I wasn’t interested in looking for it. Maybe if I had a treasure map, though…
Anyways, we landed at the small emergency field outside of Todeo. Since this was the center of the disaster relief zone, there were a few light freighters lined up in what used to be a nachtwheat field, along with some shuttles, either from larger freighters, or from people moving cargo long distances over the planet. I saw a bunch of emergency shelters nearby, along with what looked like a supply depot in the making.
As we opened the cargo hatch, we were met by a group of Imperial Red Cross workers. Medics and disaster relief outfit, as the old American and International Red Cross organizations used to be. I identified myself as ‘Captain Okuda’ of the Azeroth’s Call, and showed them the mission receipts to deliver the disaster supplies.
Protein Pack Delivery
The recent earthquakes on Primo have devastated food production for some of the smaller towns in the colony. Protein packs may be tasteless, but they are well suited to being used as emergency rations until production can be brought back online.
Difficulty
D
Task
Deliver ten crates of protein packs to the Quartermaster at the relief station outside Primo, outside Todea.
Payment
20000 Credits
Medical Resupply Run
The recent earthquake on Primo, orbiting Proxima Centauri, has caused a shortage of desperately needed medical supplies for some of the smaller towns on the tidally locked planet. Worse, we have reports that pirates are attempting to intercept relief shipments for sale on the black market. While the towns are short on cash due to the disaster, they are willing to offer goods in trade.
Difficulty
A
Task
Deliver four cases of medical supplies to the town of Todea on the Night Side of Primo.
Payment
200 units of Centauri Power Crystals (retail value 200,000 credits)
The two men were extremely grateful for the medical supplies. Things had been running short, it seems, since the last two transports had been hit by Black Don’s crew. Hence the lack of money for the desperately needed medical supplies. It was only four crates, but you could fit a LOT of medical grade nanomeds into a single 1m x 1m x 1m container. There were two of those, and the other two were filled with high grade painkillers and other medicines. They promised that the 200 units of power crystals would be in our hold within the hour.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
We had similar good fortune with the Quartermaster. With the disruption to the food production network, emergency rations were all they had to keep people from starving until things could be brought back online. Protein packs were basically a step up from those, since they were tasteless, instead of actively cardboard-flavored. You could eat them raw, if you were desperate, or you could cook them and season them to give some semblance of actual food. Properly rationed, a single protein pack could feed a family of four for a month.
Needless to say, the Quartermaster was happy to see them, since the officials were on the same emergency ration diet, so he paid us quickly. Unfortunately, our request for a shuttle to deliver a crate to a private residence on Sunside was turned down, but it was worth a shot. Best the quartermaster could do was give us a lead on someone who had other work to be done, and might be willing to let go of a transport.
Don Vivaldo Veta was the Sicilian-born local leader of the Biagini Family, a group of ‘legitimate businessmen’ and their associates who occupied much of the underworld of Alpha Centauri. Well built, even at age 60, he looked like he could take on most fighters and at least make them work for the win. He looked up when we were brought in to his cantina, one of the few buildings still standing in the neighborhood.
“Ah, so Georgio sent you to me? And you wish the use of a vehicle to transport your goods to discrete clients, hmm? Well, I believe we can work something out, yes. You see, a soon to be former associate of mine is very clumsy. I’m told that he is about to have an accident, and will no longer have need of his cargo hauler. If you would do me a service, then there may be rewards for you, yes?”
I nodded my agreement, and said, “What kind of service would you ask of us, Don Veta?”
Veta smiled, and said, “Ah good, good. Now, it is a very simple service. This associate, he has been considering seeking fresh employment elsewhere, you know? But he lacked the funds and connections needed to travel freely. So he made a deal with the Green Tiger Clan. They agreed to help him visit his family on C’attan Prime, but they required a price to be paid. They wished a hostage to better negotiate with me in an unrelated matter. I should like this hostage retrieved, before the insufferable Green Tigers get their hands on her. By coincidence, she is being held in a building belonging to my former associate.”
“Naturally, I have men who would normally be used for an undertaking like this, but I believe they are under observation by the Tigers, so they cannot make a move, or the hostage will be harmed. But an unrelated group? This is not something they will expect. Oh, and if you see the building’s owner, I will render extra payment if you arrange for his accident.”
I nodded as he sent over the data on the hostage, the address of the building, and the other particulars. The building was owned by Milo Jackson, a small-time hoodlum with delusions of grandeur. He was a local pimp and sidelined in running a small gambling house. Jackson had the hostage in a secret compartment of his mechanic garage that he used as a cover for his gambling house.
I gathered the crew, except for Carissa, who I left to watch the ship, and we geared up for a bit of dashing villainy. Making our way to Jackson’s garage was easy enough, since most people were in the refugee camps outside the city given that most of the buildings had fallen during the quake. The garage was still standing, and a sign said it was open for business. I saw the guard at the side door that led to the gambling room in the basement.
He put up a hand to stop us, and said, “Sorry, ladies. Private function today. Guests only, I’m afr-AKK!” Random Guard A got a little strange there at the end, probably because I used my pretty new Widowmaker dagger to slice open his throat. Bladeshimmer was definitely a cool ability. His weapons and armor were crap, but that suit was pretty stylish, and would fit me as Mirikon, so we stripped him. Unfortunately, he only kept 200 credits on his bracer, and everything else in the bank, so I didn’t bother stealing that. Did take his keys, though.
Weapons at the ready, I led the way down into the gambling club. The guard at the bottom of the stairs turned to look at me, but I unleashed a Mind Pulse, stunning everyone in the room for ten seconds. Ducking to the side of the door, my Energy Blade and Widowmaker made short work of that guard, while the girls behind me unloaded with their guns, taking down the rest of the guards. Does it sound like I was cheating? Well that was just the in-game equivalent of an entry team tossing a flashbang into the room and then clearing it out while everyone was stunned.
Checking the rest of the room, there were fifteen people left alive in the space. The bartender was the only member of the staff who was free. The two dealers and five waitresses were all slaves, a mix of knelfi, ihm, and one gauz male. The patrons were all human, and all but one were male. I spotted the person I was looking for though, since he was dressed in a stupid purple felt suit with a matching wide-brimmed hat.
Milo Jackson
Human Male
Level 25
Titles: Thug, Pimp, Slaver, Mechanic
Switching to my Psybreaker, I shot the man in the chest, while the girls covered the rest of the group. While he was stunned, I switched weapons again, grabbing my Onyx Psyber, and shooting him in the face with Stun shots until the clip was empty. Must have been a few crits in there, because that was enough to knock the fool out. The man wasn’t armed, but I drained 50K credits from his bracer, as well as the title to a modified light shuttle, which was apparently berthed in a hidden hangar outside the city. As an afterthought, I transferred the slaves to the Corporation.
Rosita Veta
Human Female
Level 3
Titles: Slave, Stepford, Companion
When I found the hostage, my vision pretty much went red with rage. Some sick bastard took a child, couldn’t have been more than twelve years old, and put a Stepford Defiance collar on her, and apparently trained her as a ‘Companion’? Oh HELL no! Using the sick bastard’s code, I deactivated that collar, cursing as the downside of my power boost tried to tell me otherwise, but damnit there were lines you don’t cross! Once the collar was off, I stunned the girl, so she wouldn’t have to see what was about to happen.
Carrying Rosita in my arms, I said, “Kill the free ones. Leave the sick bastard.” Seeing that the hostage was a young girl, the girls turned and coldly blasted the bartender and patrons into oblivion. No clue whether they were involved, but they picked the wrong day to be gambling.
Half an hour later, the best of Milo Jackson’s possessions (including: 20 cases of different types of alcohol, 30 kilos of assorted jewelry and precious metals, several rare art pieces, 8 TB of movies and books, 243 TB of porn, a Mk 10 Mitsuhama Nadeshiko drone body designed to look like Jessica Alba, and a small tactical fusion bomb) were all loaded up into the two grav-haulers Jackson kept in his garage. The seven slaves, one rescued hostage, and my girls all got into the two haulers as well. They were basically built like cargo vans, so there was a lot of room if you didn’t mind getting cozy with people. Oh, yeah, Jackson was in one of them, too, still knocked out.
I took Jackson’s grav-bike for my own, however. It was a sleek craft, and better yet, it was armed! I grinned and led the way back to Don Veta’s place. After what I (assumed) his daughter was put through, it was only right that I offered him the chance to make a personal contribution to Jackson’s demise.