Arrival at Llaedh

Characters: All
NPC: Captain Nokh Khoen, First Officer Gunderson, and crew
Location: The Seeker of Prime Hunting Grounds (Aengkfaertoezthuedou)
System: Llaedh

1202.16.1 - 05:00 IST

It's been another good week aboard Aengkfaertoezthuedou. The new crewmembers continue to make inroads with the old crew.

Onguk is actually showing signs of liking Mazun's company, provided that they stick with engineering and physics. Getting to know the ship's doctor continues to be a formidable task, primarily due to Mazun's busy list of chores. Arthur continues to supervise Mazun's gun maintenance, but by the end of the jump Arthur gives Mazun a passing grade. "You've got the hang of it. You don't need me anymore."

Arthur continues to pick up a few basic Gvegh words by hanging out with Joe and the gunners, Rrokoth and Doukhken. Their space combat sim games have developed into a friendly rivalry. The combat chatter is sinking in.

Joe continues to sleep well in jumpspace, the hum of this ship's engines putting him at ease.

Upon Nokh's recommendation, Darrurz takes part in some of the space combat sims with the gunners. Gunderson supervises. During his downtime, he reads up on the Pack's economy through the ship's newsfeeds.

After emerging from jumpspace, all crewmembers are at their requisite stations. There's a bit of tension on the bridge; Gunderson explains to Darrurz in a whisper that it's because Llaedh is on the Pack's border with the Wilds. The ships on patrol here are wary of every ship that enters the system. Darrurz notes that his display shows three Thaksoeghuksaknag class frigates converging on their position.

Nokh handles contact with the local defense network. After a few minutes of terse exchanges, Nokh visibly relaxes and gives the order to decelerate.

08:00 IST, 07:15 Local Time (25:46 hour day)

Upon landing, Nokh disembarks first. He explains that he has a meeting to attend. He has the box that Darrurz brought to him from Warden Uegallae.

Gunderson finds the comm number for the Starport Warden's office so that Darrurz can drop off the relief supplies for Irkoetae.

Gunderson announces that after the crew have finished their assigned arrival tasks they're free to disembark. "This is our last safe port before we head out; the Captain says you guys should take advantage of it."

Mazun shouts out, "Planet walk! Planet walk! Who's in?"

His enthusiasm generates friendly guffaws from the vargr gunners. With all the chatter, it seems like everyone will be leaving the ship to take advantage of the restbit.

Joe replies, "No way, Mazun. I took a walk with you last time and nearly froze my ass off." He smiles widely to accentuate his humor. "This time I've got a different Idea."

Mazun laughs. "Have fun!"

Joe turns to Gunderson "Hey Gunderson. When you had me audit the survival locker while we were in jump I noticed something very familiar to me. Would it be possible to borrow a fishing rod and some lures? I remember some day long ago sitting on a river dock with my grandfather and learning to fish; it looked like there was a river near by I could go tap."

Gunderson cringes. "You need a fishing license." Joe looks at him with sad, puppy dog eyes. Gunderson quickly crumbles and sighs. "Aw hell. Go for it, but keep a low profile. If you get caught, I'm going to deny everything."

"Thanks, boss," Joe says with enthusiasm.

It takes the crew a couple of hours to finish their arrival chores, but once they're done, people split into groups.

The gunners, Rrokoth and Doukhken, are headed out to the hills for a run. They promise to get Joe to the river beforehand and pick him up afterwards.

Onguk states that he's going on a hike.

Mazun says, "Hey Onguk, long time no hike for me. Mind if I tag along? I've hiked my share of Lishun mountains."

Onguk tilts his head to the side, an ear drooping. "Sure. Come along."

Mazun stocks up with hiking shoes, a backpack, water, more water, food rations, sunglasses, a cap, and a water-proof jacket at the ship's locker, and happily tag along. Triple-check the shoes, take more water than needed.

He notes that Onguk doesn't bring anything along except for his comm. Mazun raises an eyebrow and asks innocently, "No equipment or supplies?"

Onguk chuckles. "I said I was going on a hike, not scaling a mountain. I'll be sticking to the trails. And I don't believe it gets any higher in altitude than 200 meters."

Mazun laughs. "I see, you said 'hike' and I thought 'mountain'. Never mind, I'll take the backpack anyway to get back in form."

Onguk laughs, too. "You erred on the side of preparedness. Nothing wrong with that."

Dathuel and Aru don't say where they're headed.

Gunderson will be headed out with Doctor Arkummu to pick up medical supplies.

Arthur and Darrurz opt to join Rrokoth and Doukhken on their run. Both figure it could do them some good.

The general consensus is that everyone will meet up later at a restaurant called "Vargr Siesta".

Hanging Out at the Vargr Siesta

Characters: All
NPC: Captain Nokh Khoen, First Officer Gunderson, and crew
Location: The Vargr Siesta
System: Llaedh

1202.16.1 - 17:30 IST, 16:45 Local Time (25:46 hour day)

An enjoyable day was had by all.

Arthur and Darrurz enjoyed their run with Rrokoth and Doukhken. At times, Arthur had a feeling of deja vu. Darrurz felt invigorated.

Joe had a calm, relaxing day fishing. He got caught, but the park rangers—one human male and one vargr female—didn't bust him. Instead, after hearing Joe's story, they let him go with a verbal warning. They also hung with him for twenty minutes or so before moving on. He didn't catch much, but he let them all go anyway.

Later, Rrokoth and Doukhken laughed when they heard how Joe talked his way out of a ticket. Gunderson looked relieved.

Mazun's hike with Onguk went well. While it wasn't what Mazun would consider challenging, it was a decent warm up for someone who hasn't hiked in several decades. He enjoyed the scenery and left Onguk to his thoughts most of the time. He noted that Onguk snacked on wild berries and drank from streams. When he looked receptive, Mazun engaged in friendly chatter, inquired about good hiking locations in the Pack's worlds, and offered his top ten Lishun hike accounts.

"I will never see those worlds, those mountains," Onguk said, somewhat somberly while they rested at a scenic overlook. He rattled off a few Pack worlds for Mazun to try: Tagan, Gvunaeknun (if he's willing to deal with the cold), and here on Llaedh. He pointed to some mountains in the distance. Mazun scrutinized them, making a mental note to check them out in the future.

Onguk asked him if he's ever done any mountain climbing on vacuum worlds.

"Funny you should ask. I was planning to just when the war broke out, had my next shore leave all planned and a nice large gas giant moon chosen. Then all went down the sink. Have you done it?"

"No, never had the chance. That's a completely different experience. I often wonder if it evokes the same feelings. For vargr, part of the allure of hiking is the chance to partake of the myriad scents of a world. But on a vacuum world...it may be a feast for the eyes but the nose will be starved."

Mazun nodded. "Never thought of that. I guess the ears will be starved too. I like the sound of nature almost as much as the humming of a well-tuned engine, not much of that on a barren world through your suit. Unless you put on a symphony in the audio system to go with the sights."

"Yes, yes. The ears." He looked skyward. "While a symphony has its merits, it still wouldn't be the natural environment. But what choice does one have? Listening to one's own labored breathing? Hardly inspiring."

Fortunately, everyone has had time to shower before heading over to the Vargr Siesta. The new guys are informed that the place serves up Solomani food from the North American continent. The place is a hit with both humans and vargr and has spawned many imitators.

Mazun wrinkles up his nose. As far as Solomani food goes, North American cuisine was not his favorite.

Nokh was apparently the first one there and has grabbed all the tables on 1/3 of the backyard patio. A warm breeze blows through, bringing in the scents of the city and the kitchen.

Dathuel and Aru are the last to arrive and are dressed in some rather nice street clothes.

Nokh is at the head of the table with Gunderson on his right and the ship's doctor on his left. Mazun sits next to her and Onguk sits to his left. To the right of Gunderson is Darrurz and Arthur. The gunners sit next to Arthur while the vargr ladies sit across from them and next to Onguk.

Mazun looks around while sitting, and in an awful imitation of the worst Solomani accent, he says, "Hey doc, how'd ya doing?" and smiles.

"I'm good, thanks. How was your hike?"

"Very nice, thanks for asking. It was good to stretch my legs again after all these decades," he jokes. "We went past through this beautiful valley..." and adds a couple of brief comments about the sights.

"Sounds wonderful. If I ever get the time, I'll have to check it out."

Mazun nods. "Let me know! I sure hope you do not get too busy, doc. Although I guess you have enough on your plate even if none of us is injured or sick, it's not a small crew to keep track of."

She nods. "There's always routine physicals, air and water samples to analyze and document, status reports to file. A doctor's work is never done." She adds a smile. "But I love it."

"Thank you for joining me," Nokh says. "This is our last friendly stop before our hunt in the Wilds begins, and so I'd like to share this meal with my pack.

"I've been in meetings," he rolls his eyes, "all morning, but I have good news. Tomorrow, the results of the expeditions to Unarsukhgnargvo and Korstsouth will be publicly announced. Unarsukhgnargvo came through relatively unscathed. Being a beach bum world paid off. Korstsouth took more damage but is also relatively intact."

Some cheers go up among the crew.

Nokh's voice drops to a lower level such that no beyond the table can hear him above the music and the din of the crowd. "But what won't be in the news reports is that we weren't the first to contact them. Pack Security wants to wait and see how our mission goes first.

"It seems that our target world has sent out some ships of their own. Locals on those two worlds told our recon teams that the Tsougak Trade Federation is alive and well and that Unarsukhgnargvo and Korstsouth are members. But from what our recon teams could smell, it seems like more bark than bite."

Onguk raises his paw. "So does this mean the mission has changed?"

"No, it's still a first contact mission, but it does change the nature of how we'll go in. While it's a relief that it won't be a Vakh world, we don't know if these wolves will greet us as allies or a rival pack trying to steal their food."

Joe says, "Yes, this is both good and bad news in one. Did you get a full copy of our scouts' report or just an abridged verbal heads-up? And did the scouts report back anything more about the nature of the Tsougak Trade Federation and the current situation of Tsougak as relayed by this TTF to the people at Unarsuki... errr whatever, and Korstsouth?"

Nokh replies, "I have the full report and it's all in there."

Mazun quickly asks, "Did the scouts get any info on whether the TTF knew about the Tagan's Pack? Was it a surprise for them, or should we expect expeditions going the other way right now?"

"The people on both worlds were surprised to meet our scouts. The TTF made no mention to them about us so we either have the element of surprise or the TTF know about us and didn't want these other worlds to know. If TTF expeditions come through, they'll encounter our patrols at Ourrgkhuzugh, Guekha, and Khugz."

Once the questions have been put to rest, Nokh picks up a shot glass and raises his paw. Everyone has one at their disposal. A quick whiff reveals that it is tequila. "To a successful hunt."

For those who have never seen a vargr do a shot, it's different than when they have a regular drink. With the latter, they normally lap up their drink from a bowl. With the shot, they slam it into the base of their mouths from the side. It looks a little weird, but it's an adaptation they've managed to make over the centuries to go shot for shot with humans.

Joe looks at his shot glass with interest and then following the example set by the others downs his shot. "Kurrphh—wow—Krek." He pats himself on his chest. "Wow, that's good stuff. Sure beats the juice they served at the hospital. What did you call it?"

"Tequila," Gunderson says while wincing. "Some actually call it 'ta-kill-ya'. I try not to have too many of them myself. Back to beer."

Joe makes it a point not to have anymore Tequila and switches to water to wash out the taste. It reminds him of something he'd rather forget.

The bulk of the menu is variations on meat, cheese, vegetables, and beans in some form of crunchy corn meal shell or soft corn meal based wrapper called a tortilla. There are other dishes that avoid this combination, particularly those that involve seafood, but it seems like refried beans comes with every meal.

The vargr gunners quit doing shots after about the fourth one. Arthur keeps up with them (he has to!) and Mazun does as well. Joe begs off but the gunners don't tease him.

Mazun socializes with the whole bunch, even the tight-lipped techs. He even gets to chat with the doc, who admits to being curious about the Imperium and what medtech they had ("I've heard stories.").

Mazun drops a couple of comments about the med suites from the higher-tech-end and tries to answer the doc's questions.

The doctor is intrigued by Mazun's stories and expresses her hopes of finding something salvageable out in the Wilds. "I suppose those of us who know about people like yourself, revived people from that time, hope that you can help us recover what was lost."

"I hope to be of help. I haven't really internalized how much has been lost. I mean, I know it intellectually, but not a day goes by without me looking up for some TL-15 piece of equipment in reflex or wondering why the computer does not anticipate my wishes."

"I'd imagine that it does seem hard to grasp. You went to sleep in one world and woke up in another. Maybe we'll come across something in the Wilds that will make it sink in."

After a pause in the conversation, Mazun says, "Say, if you could have a choice, what kind of equipment would you really like to recover?"

"Wow, that's a tough one." She taps her lips with her index finger. "I think I'd love to see one one of those advanced automeds. I heard that they're able to treat brain trauma with minimal intrusion into the cranium. And the broad spectrum retrovirus treatments sound fascinating. Limb regeneration, too. Maybe that one would be better. We have rudimentary organ cloning, but it has to be done in a hospital, and it takes months." She laughs. "You asked for one and I gave you about half a dozen. Let's make it an automed. But we'll need two: one to use and one for the engineers back home to take apart to see how it works."

All-in-all it's a fun evening, and after a few hours, the crew make their way back to the ship for a good night's sleep.

Leaving Llaedh

Characters: All
NPC: Captain Nokh Khoen, First Officer Gunderson, and crew
Location: The Seeker of Prime Hunting Grounds (Aengkfaertoezthuedou)
System: Llaedh, then jumpspace

1202.16.2 - 9:15 IST, 7:00 Local Time (25:46 hour day)

The crew wakes and prepares for departure.

10:15 IST, 8:00 Local Time

The ship lifts off from the starport. Nokh requests a jump plot to be laid in for Guekha's gas giant.

12:30 IST, 10:15 Local Time

Jump!

As promised, Captain Nokh distributes a copy of the reports that the Tagan Security recon teams filed for Unarsukhgnargvo and Korstsouth to the crew. He gives everyone six hours to review them. At which point, there will be a meeting whereupon the crew will be welcome to discuss the reports.

Unarsukhgnargvo

Once we emerged from the gas giant and coasted to the target, our orbital probe relayed the telemetry it had picked up while we refueled. It had picked up EM signals and heat signatures indicative of some kind of settlement. As there was no sign of any starships in orbit, we proceeded to the surface to investigate further.

As we descended to the location of the old starport, radar pinged our hull. Fearing a fight, we opened comms and broadcast that we were friendly. We received an invitation to land provided we kept our weapons cold. We complied.

Just before we touched the ground, we saw defensive positions with weapons trained on us. Once we emerged from the ship, they stood down and greeted us warmly.

Like our crew, they were a mix of vargr and human. After the initial tension upon our arrival, they were relaxed, even friendly. They explained that after the Vakh attacked, they got organized. Groups coordinated their efforts with others. People volunteered to form a defense force. Steps were taken to preserve the starport. We estimate their tech level to be 8.

There were eight starships in the port when they were first attacked. One was destroyed outright. Another lifted off on its own accord. Their written account of the incident indicates that while there was crew on board, the captain and the pilot were not. One ship left to find out what was going on and get help. It never returned. Years later, another ship was lost defending the planet.

The remaining four were mothballed and hidden until it was deemed safe. Several years ago, after a decade had passed since the last starship sighting, the ships were restored. Their deceased owners bequeathed them to their descendents who have utilized them for communal gain rather than private enterprise.

Their four ships consist of one Rangongoer class scout ship, one Angrorghag class seeker, and two Gzakhakhs class traders.

At the beginning of this year, they were contacted by an expedition from a group claiming to be the restored Tsougak Trade Federation. They had video to back up their claim along with a greeting from the Chief Trade Minister. The Tsougak just wanted to restore trade ties, like they had before the 17th Disjuncture came along. There would be no interference with how Unarsukhgnargvo would be run. They just wanted barrier-free trade among member worlds, destruction of all Vakh-infected equipment, and the immediate expulsion of all 17th Disjuncture disciples. It seems the Tsougakians blame the Disjuncture disciples for a good deal of the suffering that they've endured.

We departed with a simple treaty: Tagan Pack ships would be permitted to land and refuel, or use one of the gas giants. Intel on Vakh activities would be shared. The resources of all Unarsukhgnargvo system worlds would not be mined by any Pack ships, military or civilian, until a medium of exchange could be agreed upon. In the meantime, barter would have to suffice.

Mazun is intrigued by the summary and decides to dig further into the report. He queries the report: "How is the population really organized?"

Answer: Every adult votes. Every global issue is brought to a vote. Any adult can bring forth an issue that should be addressed in bimonthly meetings held in some large, common area in each of the planet's towns. Each town is linked via telecom equipment during the meetings so that arguments for and against can be debated. Lawkeepers for each town have been placed in charge of communicating the interests of the town when circumstances prevent a formal meeting.

Mazun asks, "They 'got organized' and the ship owners used the ships for 'communal gain', so how is the common good defined and how does organization work? Is there a president, a council? Who signs the treaties?"

Answer: Treaties are signed by the lawkeepers of each town after they have been voted on. Individual towns may not opt out of a treaty. This survey team recognizes that if discord arises, it may lead Unarsukhgnargvo into becoming a balkanized world. Right now, those who aren't getting their way on a vote are abiding by the decision of the majority.

There is no global leadership beyond the lawkeepers at this time. The lawkeepers and other people we spoke with recognize that formal representation may have to be established in the future.

"Common good" is defined by the electorate—food, clean water, shelter, medical treatment, defense—but individuals must volunteer their property to be put into service for the common good. At this time, private property trumps common good from a legal standpoint. The citizens may not vote to lay claim to an individual's property. Right now, there is a overall spirit of community within the population. It is the opinion of this survey team that so long as everyone is perceived as pulling their own weight, this thaegz aedho en ("the pack above all") will continue.

Korstsouth

Once we emerged from the gas giant and coasted to the target, our orbital probe relayed the telemetry it had picked up while we refueled. It had picked up very weak radio signals and faint heat signatures indicative of some kind of settlement. As there was no sign of any starships in orbit, we proceeded to the surface to investigate further.

We descended to the location of the old starport. There were no signs that it was functional: no radar, communications, or even landing lights. Once on the ground, we suited up and disembarked. A small boat carrying a welcoming party arrived. We startled them with our appearance, but we soon settled them down. After introducing ourselves, they related their story.

The mining rights turf wars continued even while the Disjuncture oversaw things. Their need for raw materials for starship production was too great to be concerned with what they perceived as petty bickering.

When the Vakh ships came upon Korstsouth, they immediately overran the naval base, destroying those that resisted infection. They then turned their attention to the world below. One island nation after another was bombarded into ruin while the surrounding islands looked on with the attitude of: "Better them than us." But this turned out to be short-lived. In the end, their refusal to work together resulted in the loss of over 90% of the population.

Since then, the surviving island nations have established mutual defense pacts and treaties of cooperation. The ruins of the starport had been cleared of debris, obviously permitting ships to land.

When scouts from the restored Tsougak Trade Federation arrived late last year, they helped to broker a revenue sharing plan with the purpose of revitalizing the starport and other lost infrastructure.

The representatives of the restored Tsougak Trade Federation had video to back up their claim along with a greeting from the Chief Trade Minister. The Tsougak wanted to restore trade ties, like they had before the 17th Disjuncture came along. There would be no interference with how Korstsouth would be run, but they would gladly offer their services as mediators. They just wanted barrier-free trade among member worlds, destruction of all Vakh-infected equipment, and the immediate expulsion of all 17th Disjuncture disciples. The Tsougakians blame the Disjuncture disciples for a good deal of the suffering that they've endured, and the Korstsouthians readily agreed.

We departed with a simple treaty: Tagan Pack ships would be permitted to land and refuel, or use the gas giant. Intel on Vakh activities would be shared. The resources of all Korstsouth system worlds would not be mined by any Pack ships, military or civilian, until a medium of exchange could be agreed upon. In the meantime, barter would have to suffice.

We estimate their tech level to be 6.

The locals didn't have any spaceships of their own. They fear that the naval base is still infected with Vakh, but they didn't have any evidence to back it up. Our scans showed no sign of any activity, nor did our probes. We recommend that a ground mission be sent there to verify. While the Korstsouthians didn't make any property claims to the ruins of the naval base, we have to assume that the Tsougak Trade Federation will be very interested and may already be preparing to mount a salvage operation of their own.

Mazun exclaims to himself, "A balkanized water world! Gotta love those." He queries the report: "So, how many mutually independent islands are there?"

Answer: There were 46 island chain states in 1130. There are now 14. While there was some consolidation, many islands are now completely uninhabited or devolved to anarchy. This survey team did not have the time (or permission) to investigate further. The captain instructed us to stick with those showing obvious signs of cultural and technological stability.

"And how organized is travel among them? Is it mostly sea- (surface) or air-based?"

Answer: Travel between islands is exclusively sea-based. Aircraft are viewed as hostile and are only allowed for self-defense against Vakh attacks or with the express permission of the state. An effort was underway to re-establish civilian air travel, but it was bogged down in the determination of approved flight corridors.

"What about deep-sea mining infrastructure? There might have been underwater bases, massive floating rigs, extensive refineries and the like."

Answer: This survey team was unable to verify the state of Korstsouth's mining infrastructure. We received conflicting reports from the locals. Some claimed that much of it was destroyed, but others insisted that it was fine and that many vessels hid during the Vakh siege. Both groups agreed that the Tsougak Trade Federation representatives were going to work with them to determine what still functions. Noting our interest, some warned us not to interfere as the TTF ships would be returning soon.

"Any large technological complexes that the locals also avoid due to Vakh apart from the Starport? Legends of large, free-roaming surface ships?"

Answer: The starport is neutral territory and is avoided primarily to prevent suspicions. The naval base is shunned out of fear of a slumbering Vakh presence. We assume the TTF will investigate upon their return. There are rumors that Vakh infected cities and ships may still be out there on the sea. Pirates living among the ruins are also possible. Merchants stick to heavily patrolled waters and do not stray.

Next: A Briefing on the TTF