[IC] Red Agenda

[Revelator]

The year is 4,300 I.E. or Intergalatic Era. About 150 years ago, two advanced alien races, the Darlok and the Iloidai appeared in human space fighting a war. In Ringbolt, the researcher Kasha Voynich with the aid of a few ultra allies and her followers the fled the Mars revolt discovered a way to shut down the punch gates, which they did, cutting themselves off from the rest of human space. However the few Darlok in system managed to deliver a nano/bio virus called the Melding Plague to the one true settlement in the system. Called Chasm City, this plague wreaked havoc on the nanite structres, causing them to grow out of control, and in many cases fuse with organic material. Such as their inhabitants. It slowly spread out to what is now called the Rust Belt, which is a region past the small moon orbiting Chasm consisting of thousands of space stations that run the gamut of shapes and sizes. Now many are completely uninhabitable, or only partially habitable. Its qutie lucrative, scavening and salvaging the old stations. However Dr.Voynich made the decision to cut off the one other punch gate to Eystur, which was a dead end system. Eystur is now one of but a handful of start systems spread through human space that hasn't been touched by war or biological and nanovirus attacks. Eystur has to inhabited planets. Mathison's World, a large minerally righ ice world. It's partially settled, though the overall population is low, numbering only 4 or 5 million. The other planet is a comfortable temperate world called Frarn. Frarn consists of eleven independent nations that are united by a council holding three members from each nation, and two from the Old trade city-state.

Now though Dr.Voynich has dissappeared, and her orginization was become very elusive and reclusive. The gates have turned back on now though. The Melding Plague is mostly neutralized at this point. Though Eystur is jsut now reconnecting with Ringbolt. And both systems have no idea what lays beyond the other gate, but many feel it's time to find out.

The rest of the galaxy is disorganize for the most part. The humans ended up getting caught up in the war. However since Humans are the first other spacefaring civilization the Darlok and Iloidai have come across, they weren't able to assimilate them to their ranks of captured slave races. Many of those managed to escape in the chaos of the three way war and now have thriving settlements and populations scattered around Human space. A few human systems were able to isolate themselves by defending their punch gate so well they were left alone. These systems are on par with Eystur in terms of stability and health. Most other planets are no longer united as whole worlds now. A few worlds are barely populated at all or were completely wiped out. Both of the alien powers used a lot of bioengineering and robotics to fight, and there are many horrid abominations roaming the galaxy, or in hiding. There are still rogue Darlok and Iloidai ships and factions still lurking around in human space as well.

[Revelator]

Trane Spikes


Mr.Spikes sat in silence after his contact had left. Some one was willing to pay a lot of money to find those scientists. He was trying to think of who to contact to find out. There were numerous people he could contact. He might as well contact a couple of them. He pulled out a data pad and made a few notes. He stood up and slipped it away. He simply nodded to the barkeep as he left. The bartender knew he'd get his money. Mr.Spikes was always a generous patron, and always paid his dues.

Once back to his cutter, he docked in and put a request into the small station control center for release. The station he was at currently was small. Oddly small, to meet a contact about this. Some one really didn't want him to know their identity. He considered hiding out and waiting for the next ship to leave and track it. He resisted the impulse though, it was bad business. He was being paid well enough to respect the wish for amnimoty.

Once undocked, he set it an autopilot coordinate and flew out of the slow zone around the station on manual. He then engaged the autopilot and went back to one of the four small rooms on the ship. His comms system was good, and he sent out one message right away to and old trusted associate. He wouldn't need a retainer. Next he pulled up a list and looked for some one new. He wanted a fresh take on this one. He saw one name he might try. Tiergia, not much known about her. That made her interesting to Trane. He decided to make it a live call. He punched in her frequencies and waited for a response.

[Revelator]

Captain Slee


Captain Slee had his seat reclined and his feet kicked up, resting on the back rest of Pilot's seat. He and the Kraken were stalking around on the outer edges of the Ringbolt system. Eystur was far too boring, plus they weren't as friendly to him as the denziens of Ringbolt.

Currently he and Kraken are on 'Alien Patrol'. Every few months Captain Slee takes his ship to the far reaches of the system and scans around searching for remnants of the aliens. There were always stories of alien ships being spotted. Captain considered it his responsibility to make sure there weren't actually any out here.

This was day three of the patrol, and he was getting bored of it. Pilot was too. Sniper's opinion didn't matter since he was a grump about everything. Soldier just wanted to blow stuff up. Engineer didn't seem to care one way or another. Captain Slee removed his feet and sat up, "Pilot, we shall go visit our Martian friends while we're out here. Take us there!"

Pilot nodded and began firing up the microwarpdrive's activation sequence. They had been on cruising speed previously, as it took much less out of the ship's plant. He suddenly got a call from Engineer Zud, "Captain! What's going on?"

"We're going to the Martian compound!," Captain Slee declared to the image of Engineer.

"No no no no no no! Turn it off! I'm in the coupling-coils of the MWD!," Engineer squealed at Captain.

Captain grunted and crossed his arms, "Fine. Nevermind Pilot. Engineer's currently IN the MWD. It will have to wait I guess...." with that he kicked back in his seat and pouted.

[Jason Sanborn]

Alex Redman

Alex was sitting in the pilot seat of The Panther, looking at an old, rusted out space station through the bridge view screen. They were a long way from the Rust Belt, and it was a curiosity how the station even got out here. The fact that it was in the middle of nowhere made it almost impossible to find. In fact, the only reason they even found it was because their current employer gave them the exact coordinates to find it. Apparently, there was something on this ship that was important to him, and he was willing to pay top dollar to get it. If all went well, this should be a simple snatch and grab. If that was the case, why hasn't he heard a word from the captain? He should be hearing the chatter of her and the two others with her.

"You there, Cap?" he asked into a radio. Static was the only response he received. He didn't like this. Something in the station was jamming their radio transmission. He waited a moment just in case, then tried again. "Captain Tiergia? Trevor? Mikhail? Can any of you read me?" More static. He cursed under his breath. It was too early to send in anyone else, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

Another console light began beeping at that moment. Long range communication. Of all the times for them to receive a call. Why must it always be at these times? He contemplated not answering it for a moment, and knew that was not a good idea. With a frustrated groan, he pressed a button to answer the call. His tone changed as soon as he spoke, not letting the caller know his irritation, yet. "Yello! Alex here. How can I help ya?"

[Revelator]

Trane Spikes


Trane smiled when Alex answered the comm. He had to pull up the dossier on the crew to figure out who he was currently speaking to. It didn't take more than three seconds, "Ah, Mr.Redman, I presume. I am Mr.Spikes. I understand your crew can provide a wide variety of services. However, if at all possible I'd like to communicate in person with Captain Tiergia about this job I have for you. These comm systems are too easily monitored. For sitting down and speaking with me I can offer a sum of a hundred thousand credits, whether you accept or not."

This time Trane had to contain a smile. A hundred thousand credits just to listen to a business proposition. That was an offer that had to have Alex salivating. He could leave their imagination to dream up the amount they'd be paid if they accepted and completed the job for him. The real reason Mr.Spikes was being so generous was quite simple. He wasn't priorly acquainted with The Panther and her captain and crew. He doubted they'd refuse that offer when he gave it to them. They'd most likely accept and try. Regardless, he'd have acquired a new associate. And while they worked for him, he'd learn as much about them, and what they could do. Or couldn't do.

[Jason Sanborn]

Alex Redman

Alex's jaw dropped. No one offered that much money just to meet. He knew they had a good reputation for getting the job done, but just to meet? Of course, they also had made a lot of enemies, and had become wanted on several worlds for their actions. Alex himself was still wanted by the military and due for a general court martial for what he did ten years ago. Could this be a trap to lure them into arrest?

There was silence for a moment as Alex thought about the offer. "So, Mr. -- uh, Spikes was it? -- You want to offer us a #$%*load of money simply to meet? I'm sure ya understand my suspicions here." He starts pressing buttons on a computer, looking for nearby systems that would be safe. Relatively speaking of course. "If we agree, I choose the location for the meet."

[Revelator]

Trane Spikes


"Of course, I understand your hesitancy. If possible I'd like to keep this in Ringbolt. The Eystur authorities aren't my biggest fan. I'll tell you what," Mr.Spikes said, trying to come up with a comprimise, "Why don't you pick any station in Ringbolt. You arrive there first, contact me, and I will be there in the next ten hours, depending on how far away the station is."

That would give him time to make it to any station in the system, even the furthest stations. However it wouldn't give him much time to call in more people, if that's what they were worried about. He felt it was a fair agreement.

"Also, I will be coming alone in a skimmer. The credits will be on a credchip so no need to bring accounts into this," that made it all the more appealing. They wouldn't try and rob him, since he had told them he was giving it to them anyway. If they had any sense anyway.

[Jason Sanborn]

Alex Redman

Alex thought for a moment. There was still a large risk of a trap here, he knew it. Choosing the location and having them arrive separately, though, certainly gave them an advantage should there be any sign of a trap or deception.

"A'right, Mr. Spikes. Ya got yerself a deal. We'll give ya the coordinates once we arrive. Just need yer communicator code so we can call ya." Of course, this was all dependent on them getting out of their current situation alive. He again wondered why he hadn't heard anything from the others.

[Jason Sanborn]

Thirty minutes ago....

Alex, Tiergia, and Trevor were on the bridge of The Panther, watching as the derelict space station came into view. Tiergia leaned forward in her captain's seat, as if that would somehow allow her to see it better. Her tan fur seemed to be standing slightly on end and her tail twitched with a bit of nervous tension. Something didn't feel right to her, and she didn't like that in the least.

"What are the sensors reading?" she asked, without taking her eyes of the station.

Trevor, was seated at the sensor console, pressing buttons. He was a pig, but quite atypical, due to his high intelligence that even rivaled many humans. When he spoke, his voice was soft yet clear, unlike the normal guttural sounds you'd expect to hear from a pig. "It's odd, Captain. Sensors can't read anything past the hull. There's some sort of dampening field in place."

Alex kept his eyes on his piloting, but still responded. "I don't like this, Cap. A derelic' like this shouldn't have that. Should be dead in space."

"Well, we don't know how long the station was abandoned. Dampening fields don't require much power. It and life support could run for months without anyone to maintain it."

Tiergia sighed in frustration. She hated not knowing what awaited them. "It doesn't matter, this is just another unknown variable we have to deal with. Not like we haven't had to deal with this type of situation before. We have a job to do, and we don't back down from our job." She stood up. "Trevor, you'll be coming with Mikhail and me over to the station. I'll need you to watch our backs."

Alex turned around and looked at Tiergia. "I should be going too, Cap. You'll need me with you."

Tiergia shook her head. "I need you on the ship, keeping it ready in case we need to make a quick escape."

"I feel that I should inform you that this dampening field could affect our communications as well. We might not be able to communicate with The Panther once we enter the station."

"No radio? I don't like that, Cap. If I'm gonna be stuck here, I'd at least like to know yer safe."

"I don't like it either, but it isn't like we haven't been in that situation before. Just find the docking bay and get us attached. Trevor, go get Mikhail and meet me at the airlock. We'll be going in our environmental suits until we're sure it's safe."

*******************

Fifteen Minutes Ago....

Tiergia, Trevor and Mikhail stood at the airlock, in their environmental suits, helmets in their arms. There was a slight bang and hiss as The Panther docked with the old station. A moment later, Alex's voice was heard over the intership comm system.

"We've gotta secure seal, Cap."

Mikhail shifted nervously, obviously not pleased with their decision to bring him along. "Um, Captain? Are you sure you need me right now? Couldn't I just stay here until it's safe?"

"It'll be fine, Mike. We're just going in and getting out. We won't be there long enough for anything to happen."

"Yeah, that's what you said back on Restair. Remember what happened there? My shoulder still burns from that."

"Just put your helmet on and quit your whining," Tiergia growled. Mikhail gulped and did as he was told, he knew what Tiergia was like when she was mad, and didn't want to make her more upset.

Trevor put a comforting hand on Mikhail's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mikhail. We'll keep you safe. Just in and out, remember?"

Tiergia and Trevor put on their helmets, and Tiergia spoke through the radio in the helmet. "Testing, testing. Can you read me?"

"Loud an' clear, Cap," came Alex's response. Both Trevor and Mikhail followed suit acknowledging the transmission.

"Okay, we're going in. If you don't hear from us in thirty minutes, then come get us."

"Sure thing, Cap."

[Revelator]

Trane Spikes


"Alright, Mr.Redman. I'll send it via infopack, so it's saved in your ships databanks," Mr.Spikes, said, punching in a few things on the keypad next to him. Basically, instead of putting it up on visual, it would be sent as a textual message that would remain in their ships databank until it was deleted.

"One other thing, time is something of import here. I hope you can understand, if I don't hear from you in twelve hours I'll have to try contacting another party for the job. With that being said, it's been a pleasure and I hope to be speaking with you in person soon enough," Trane told him politely. He gave a little salute and ended the communication.

Hopefully this crew would hold up. Trane was a wealthy man, and thirty three thousand credits was a small price to pay for another crew that would jump to work for him. He hoped it all went smoothly. He still had his first choice assigned the job, even if Tiergia didn't pull through. If he didn't hear from them, he would go ahead and contact another crew. There were plenty of fresh faces from Eystur floating around now too, though Trane wasn't hesitant to work with them. A little prejudiced, perhaps, something he'd have to try and fix he decided, starting to pull up Eysturian crews in the event Tiergia didn't get back with him.