Infiltrating the Aryan Base
The team considered various plans. In the same end, the fashioned a drone to infiltrate the Aryan base. It was a two part drone. The first was disguised as a goose and designed to deliver a mole device and then do aerial surveillance of the facility.
The mole drone would dig its way into the bunker and gather footage of slaves, read the chips of the prisoners, and transmit identities. The mole device would also record statements from prisoners it can make contact with. If detected, both were programmed to explode.
Kovac and Grrr programmed the targeting system to properly place the payload, as well as provide accuracy for the simulated bird poop deployment.
The drones were mailed to a silver mine on the same continent as the bunker by the cheapest means necessary so that it would spend at least one night in a postal warehouse on planet. There, the goose drone would escape the packaging and fly to the bunker to deploy the mole.
Bletherin’s Rendezvous
Bletherin received a message from “an old friend” suggesting that they get a drink. Bletherin sent coordinates to a bar. When he arrived, he was approached by an older, quite attractive, Garlan female, but they were actually not acquainted.
The female made small talk. She probed for details about the Bad Wolf’s recent transactions. She provided little information about herself. She asked about the auction, and mentioned that some species were under-represented. She hypothesized that someone was skimming off the top.
Bletherin recognized that she was the plant buyer, who hopefully had marines on standby. She mentioned that she had a buyer for some of the merchandise. She was interested in rumored enhancement pharmaceuticals said to be available. She mentioned a sporting event where a participant had used a bad batch with unpleasant results.
She asked for a copy of the catalog that Bletherin had already marked to identify potential Collective citizens. She was amused by the horse embryo cargo swap.
They parted amicably. Bletherin said that he would pursue the House Horusca end while the contact said she would keep him informed of her activities.
In the mean time, Grrr was assigned to do diagnostics on the medical bay to keep him on board during the meeting with the contact. In the process of performing it, he broke something. And Alex retrieved the hyperspace enabled shuttle
The Auction
While Alex monitored the auction from orbit, Grendel, Kovac, and Grrr went down to the planet, where Kovac noted who was buying, Grendel noted who was not buying, and Grrr admired the merchandise. They spotted the Garlan contact posing as a buyer. Some Antar buyers left the auction discreetly.
There were a number of people from the cruise ship who were uncomfortable, having thought that the whole thing was just a show for tourists.
The Garlan managed to purchase all the identified Collective citizens. The other Garlan Collective citizen was purchased by an off-world Garlan. They later overheard the buyer telling the Garlan that he was not going to make him do anything horrible or anything. The remaining two were purchased by a Estran local.
Grendel noted that there were not many Harth on the block, only a few more than humans. But there were also some from other unknown species. There were no Gfrar for sale, but there was one watching in the audience who did not buy anyone.
An Informant Uncovered
Kovac approached the Garlan buyer, who was a freighter officer and clearly uncomfortable at the auction. She learned that he was not a regular participant in the auction. He was cagey. Kovac introduced Grrr as the First Mate.
The purchased Garlan had clearly shown mechanical ability. Kovac learned that he was from one of the ships that went missing. He had been on a Gfrar ship for some time and then on-planet. His buyer encouraged him to talk. The slave said that they were looking for breeding stock. Everyone from his ship except the humans was sold in the auction.
As they parted, the buyer said to Kovac “good luck finding your friend.”
The Package Arrives
When they returned to the ship, the received notice that the package had been delivered to the mine, but was damaged in transit. The delivery took longer than expected to arrive.
The drone failed to infiltrate the databases, but did send back imagery that confirmed the presence of slaves, including the thief. They had enough information to call in the marines.
Mission Accomplished
Bletherin invited his “old friend” to dinner. She asked about Kovac’s conversation with the Garlan buyer. Bletherin told her that the buyer was not a problem.
Bletherin told the contact that they had located where the merchandise was being kept. She shared that she had a lead on a cargo to transport from Estra.
Follow Up
Kovac received a message from the Lost in Translation, a recently arrived ship waring pilots that something strange was happening in Hyperspace. It was apparently sent to all pilots. Kovac informed the captain.
Grendel searched local shops for useful materials, including grey market parts for the ship. He also acquired more elephant guns. Kovac talked with other pilots about the rumored Hyperspace monsters. Grrr went for a drink. He returned to the ship with a badge of honor for defending a Harth female…
The contact referred Bletherin to a consignment of “scientific equipment.” It was actually a load handheld weapons. It was a cover cargo to be sent to Reciba to facilitate their return to base.
Alex Shows Off
Alex went on a few test runs in the hyperspace shuttle. He flew in such a way as to get noticed by any hot rodders. He impressed some locals, and also himself because the intrastellar capabilities had also been enhanced.
He was challenged to a race and won, but only because he was the ship and could not pass out doing his more challenging maneuvers, unlike his opponent. Kovacs made a tidy sum on the betting, and Alex earned a reputation among the hotshot pilots. He was invited to take part in a regatta in a few months.
The Bad Wolf departed immediately upon the shuttle’s return.
Return to Base
The Bad Wolf set course for Reciba to deliver priority cargo. They jumped to Kavra without incident, but Kovac had a feeling that they were being watched. The jump to the Dark Point was also uneventful, and the reserve pilot had the same feeling.
The jump the Meric was also uneventful, but the science station had visitors, so they exchanged mail and Kovac passed on the rumor of Hyperspace monsters. The other pilot had heard them as well. The Bad Wolf received scientific data from both the ship and the station.
The jump to the Ilrin. There were several traders in system. There were no new piracy reports. They jumped to Reciba without incident. Nothing was amiss there.
Debriefing
The Antar debriefing officer was filled in on their findings regarding House Horusca and the colony planet. A small defense force was sent to Canaan. Bletherin reported that that planet was already falling apart.
With respect to the colony planet, Bletherin reported that technical details, and also that it was reported to have a presence of hostile, large, predators. He mentioned that it was proven that generic experimentation was being done on both humans and animals, allegedly to counter the hostile environment.
Bletherin also reported on the state of Gfrar politics. He reported that there had been a coup, and that the faction that had been dealing with House Horusca had been deposed.
The Gfrar that crashed on Karrick’s World, which as a plague planet, was still on planet. Whether they were trying to fix their ship, executing some nefarious plan, or trying to claim the planet, was uncertain.
The debriefing officer said that the ship would be shot down if it left that planet and tried to go the worlds of any species affected by the plague.
The Next Mission
Their next assignment was to infiltrate the Aryan base. Headquarters recommended keeping the trader cover for now, and change cover to a private scientific expedition or private survey ship at some dark point.
Bletherin elected to the survey ship cover, which covered the multi-species crew, as well as being in “uncharted space.” They refit the Alex Murphy with holographic paint where Alex could put up whatever appearance was required. The paint would also enable stealth ability across a limited range of frequencies.
They restocked supplies, food, drones, exotic cheese, planetary survey equipment, weaponry, and Garlan cigars, which smelled like barbecued beef. They were also assigned to crewmen who were experienced planetary survey personnel.