NationStates Jolt Archive

In seedy backstreet bars in a hundred nations the rumours spread, a meeting somewhere on Mars had been called for all those who acted as, well Pirates within the Sol sector. Getting to the place was hard; no firm location was given merely a series of contacts. But eventually the meeting was on and arranged. A seedy backroom in a true dive, the wall dripped with sweat, and the floor looked like it hadn’t seen a mop in decades. A foot literally stuck to the floor and needed to be yanked up if a person stood too long in one place. The occupants of the room where not too friendly either. This was a room filled with the scum of Sol, the people who preyed on the shipping between worlds, not a one in the room was without innocent blood on his or, indeed, her hands.

Eventually scattered talk began, no one was exactly sure who had gathered them here, or why they had been called but the rumours had persisted of the potential for great wealth. Now here they where, and no one was stepping forwards to admit they had gathered the many here. Eventually through a backdoor into the room opened and in walked Four, hooded thin well dressed figures. As the first of the Pirates rose to challenge the strangely noble looking gentlemen to enter the room he was met with a Shurikan impeding itself into his face while the figure who fired stepped over the body seemingly unconcerned. Few of the others rose in challenge now; none of them had seen the weapon appear in the man’s hands after all.

Eventually the figures strode to the front of the room and smiled to the assembled pirates pulling back hoods to reveal angular faces with pointed ears. The hosts, as it was clear these where their hosts smiled, it wasn’t exactly reassuring. Finally one of the figures stepped forwards to speak.

‘Look at you, this is the state of piracy in Sol, you raid garbage ships, in the hopes of avoiding patrols by the many vessels of law that hold this system in their iron grip. The birth place of many sentient species has rendered you weak and scattered, finding it near impossible to make a single good catch. It’s pitiful, and sad, and none of it fair. My friends and I, share your pain, we understand the risks you take in merely setting sail, in the knowledge that if the jewel is too bright the guard dogs will rip you apart before you even get close to looking upon it’s lustre, yet alone spending that wealth you have gained.’ Pausing the man smiled. ‘Your supposed to be the Wolves and the sheep are too well protected, what you need is distraction, what you need is a chance to get close to your prey and take your prize before the forces of order and law can respond. That my friends is where we step in.’

As he spoke another of the figures turned and set up video equipment flicking a switch the device flickered into life, showing a live feed of Sol, in the background Earth could just be made out. The feed focused on a strange object floating in space. ‘This is what we offer to you, my associates and I can lay these around Sol, at of course a slight fee, and when you plan an attack we can bring this to your aid. When you raid the forces of law will be looking elsewhere as this occurs.’

As he spoke the image changed suddenly it appeared as if a ship had just exited some FTL system just above the item, it appeared roughly like a Menelmacarai constructed Merchant vessel. It started to head in system. ‘The image itself is but a minor part of the device, other components project false mass readings, IVF data etc etc. basically an entire false vessel.’ The view changed again, now two small ships appeared to approach the recorded image and began to open fire. ‘As you can see we are now entering the second stage of the devices life span, it is now simulating an attack… in a second or two, yes.’

The speakers blurted out a obvious radio transmission This is the Starlight, we are under attack by Pirates and require immediate assistance I repeat we are under attack and require immediate assistance.

OOC Feel free people to join in. either as a Pirate at the meeting or as someone racing to defend the ‘Ship’ or even later I guess investigating this little group.

USS Nova – ort cloud just out side of sol:

--Captain Braxton a pale skinned young skinny figured man stood before the bridge looking out the view screen, his body was shimmering in the chrome white light of the nova class frigate, he sighed gently a breath of hot air slowly escaping out of his supple lips and nose, his black hair and tanned skin gleaming with the lights of the bridge, personnel walked around attending to there duties, walking back and forth from the turbo lift and bridge there black and grey uniforms shimmering in the light. Braxton turned away from the holo view screen and walked towards his chair, sitting down with a quick swip and rush of air, his smooth hands lay rested upon the armrest clutching them ever so gently, he turned his head looking around observing his crew it was a seeming normal day, they had been assigned by Starfleet to survey the area and report back.

The communications officer sitting directly left of Braxton, was busy attending his panel, he tapped on the flickering beeping HLCARS system his hands gliding smoothly over it.
Suddenly just as the officer was about to start another round of scans the communications array had picked up a transmission from inside sol, it was garbled slightly due to interference from radiation but it could be cleared up. Quickly the officer jerked his hands away from the scanning processes and tapped on the signal that was incoming it was marked as distress by the ship, quickly he turned over to captain Braxton who was sitting on his chair attending to his report and personal access code, the officer spoke in an urgent deep voice.

“Sir, we have an incoming distress signal its pretty garbled but I can clear it up do you want me to put it on screen?”

Braxton Looked over and nodded quickly his hands still resting on the armrests.

The communications officer tapped the button in front of him starting to play the message.

Braxton stood up and grasped his chin rubbing it ever so slightly with his hand, he paced around the bridge some what listing to the message and nodding, once it had finished playing he quickly shifted his head over to the tactical and helms officers his hands bolting to his side, in a commanding voice he called out.

“Red alert all hands to battle stations! I want a course plotted for where that freighter is Yesterday!”

Suddenly the insides of the ship went red and dark, battle readiness climbed from green to read in a moments notice Phaser arrays and photon torpedo tubes activated shields went active and ablative amour was deployed. The helms officer plotted a course for the now armored battle ready frigate, the medium sized one hundred and sixty five meter long armored frigate started gliding with impeccable speed, its armored hull gleamed in the distant light from sol its nacelles covered in armor s pushed the ship along. In a sudden burst of light from the back the ship rushed in to a micro warp jump, several moments later appearing at the sight of the distress call, it floated gently out of war as a stream of blue particles flowed behind it, the armored beast floated gently and slowly towards the two vessels firing.

Braxton stood up gritting his teeth and mumbling under his breath “Pirates…” with an ominous tone of voice… he looked over to his tactical officer and nodded saying with hasty command.

“Target both firing ships and open fire with phasers, I also want a message relayed to them to cease fire”

The tactical officer nodded.

Suddenly the armored frigate floated in to position its engines pushing it quickly it maneuvered erratically, suddenly two crimson orange beams of power phased particle fire lashed out from two arrays, it crackled and filled the void with its colors as it streamed towards the two attacking ships. The Nova class frigate maneuvered and turned firing again and again. Braxton had gritted his teeth his mind filled with hopes that he could save the vessel; his eyes panned the view of the two ships as his ship fired out lances of bright crimson particle fire.

The con officer had relayed a simple message.

to attacking vessels, this is the USS Nova, we have an obligation to defend civilian lives, Cease fire on this vessel immediately or we will continue firing, we repeat cease fire immediately

Braxton stood on the bridge looking out waiting for a reply.

Back on mars the assembled group watched, and smiled as they saw the TFU vessel warp in all weapons firing and demanding surrender. The lead Keigh spoke up now again. ‘As you can see it works as advertised, my associates and I can, for a small fee, seed sol with these devices picture every time you set sail knowing that when your attack is about to begin hundreds of simulated strikes will occur. Flooding the system with SOS calls how will they pick out the real one from the many fake I ask you?’

As he spoke the scene continued, the ‘Pirate’ ships continued to attack the small freighter not responding to the hail or the shots fired. Still the makers of the device had been clever enough to install some feedback, and the image did change a little to simulate damage to the ships. ‘I think we have all seen enough however, and to avoid being detected at this point…’ A small nod from the man and another of his associates pulled a small transmitter from his clothing, typing in a code. The recording stopped flickering to static as in the depths of space the camera that had been filming this entire incident self destructed, a moment later the ships disappeared as the device that generated them followed the camera into oblivion becoming more debris floating in space.

‘So what are our terms you ask? Well an initial fee of One Million Menelmacarai credits per-ship gets you signed up, followed by a cut from each of you of your takings. The price may seem steep but you have all seen the results, this will mean the end of the days of Garbage raids, and the start of real piracy here in Sol.’

Braxton stood looking rising an eyebrow and blinking ever so slightly in confusion he looked over to the tactical officer and said “Status report” in a commanding deep voice..
The tactical officer looked back tapping his consoles buttons quickly with his rough hands responding.

“I don’t know sir, it just disappeared, scans reveled nothing not even a trace of debris, and I’ll have to check over the sensor logs again…..

He was cut off by a beeping panel the officer looked at it and tapped a few buttons his rough toned hands taping against the smooth glassy panel. Quickly with a voice of haste and deepness he started to speak looking over to Braxton.

“Sir Sensors have indicated that there is some debris floating near by located in grid square 092 mark 890 mark four”

Braxton looked over to the officer and raised an eyebrow; his smooth face was shimmering in the dark light of the bridge that was seemingly still at red alert, Braxton sighed and responded with a deep voice.
“All right I want you to go to yellow alert, helm move us to that baring full speed ahead, I want you to look over the sensor logs and get me what ever data you can”

The helms officer nodded, suddenly the armored star ship started to move gliding slowly like an ominous ship of battle towards the debris, the impulse drives pushed it along as it shimmered ever so slowly in the light of the sun.

Braxton had sat in his command chair his hands once again on the arms rest, he looked around the bridge and pondered what had just happened, it seemed all too odd that ships would suddenly disappear an that debris was found where there shouldn’t have been debris. His mine raced with ideas and thoughts he was compiling what had happened hopefully the sensors logs would reveal some thing, and scans of the debris would also come up with clues.

In the back of the room, Captain Thaddeus Sorn leaned in close to his first mate. The big swarthy man looked quite like a lot of the assorted scum in the room. Not terribly well-kept and always looking for a fight, he was muscled and wore an assortment of dirty cloths and weapons. "All we need is a few of these buggers to pay up," he whispered to his equally pleasant looking compatriot. "Then we just wait for the chaos to ensue and take advantage of it."

The other man, also apparently human and having the look of an escaped convict about him nodded slightly. "But what about our financiers, couldn't they afford to pay for these devices?"

"They could," the Captain agreed. "Whether or not they would, is another matter though. Doubt it myself. We're not exactly earning them much as pirates or mercenaries. We need to prove ourselves before they'd risk much on us. It's how businessmen are."

The other man nodded again. "Yeah, I guess."

Shifting forward and standing the Captain Sorn addressed the cloaked eldar. "You ask a high price of a lot of garbage raiders," he challenged, loudly to the room. "We would need to be hitting some pretty serious targets to turn any kind of profit on this; risky, well-guarded targets."

Shrugging the speaker smiled back, ‘Your right we do ask a lot, and your right to make a profit you’ll have to target tougher vessels, but your also forgetting the other side of the picture. The merchants of Sol are complacent. For too many years to count now, they have been able to move freely around this system, if any of them get into trouble well, you have the Martian navies, the Yut navies the various navies of Earth all ready and willing to come to the rescue. Most of the ships in this region of space need only be strong enough to last out till support reaches them. You Mon-Keigh have all witnessed this. In fact replay the demonstration…’ as he spoke the Keigh by the recorder switched it back on, and the arrival of the TFU ship replayed. ‘This is how bad it has gotten. This vessel isn’t even From Sol, it was merely passing through. Its people are light years away. This is what we are giving you the chance to get around!’

His manner changed, becoming more dismissive of the room, ‘As for the comments on you being Garbage raiders, what was the biggest haul you have ever made in Sol? Any of you, what has been your most impressive raid, have any of you taken anything of worth? In the end, if any of you want to make a true profit something has to change, something in sol needs to change, and this is our offer. The first of many, we plan on redressing the balance in this system. If you’d rather stay small time, then leave.’

OOC Info for TFU
There are two pieces of wreckage the first on analysis would be consistent with a camera modified to house a small explosive device and larger transmitter. A look back over your sensor records would show a small transmission from it to somewhere on Mars, narrowing it down would say somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.

The second piece of wreckage is a substance I don’t think your people would have come across, mostly anyway. Some parts of it are more normal materials, and it appears the entire thing was a jury rigged amalgamation of various technologies. Overall through the vast majority f it is made up of this foreign material. It does not appear to follow any standard rules of electronics etc your people are familiar with

Captain Sorn nodded, listening carefully to the Eldar. Clearly, there was not going to be much negotiation in the price. "You're right. There's a clear opportunity, and one that would work. But there's risks as well, and a rather large price tag attached. I mean just how much of a cut are we talking about?"

He leaned over to his first mate, lowering his voice to whisper. "Call Kidd, and Shaw. Tell Zaire too, he'll want to pass the word on up. Looks like this could be a big job, if it plays out." The other man nodded, quietly excusing himself.

The Captain quickly straightened to continue before the Eldar could reply. "We have all been forced to find work where we can," he addressed the room. "As mercenaries, smugglers, even been forced to get legitimate transport jobs and the like. A lot of us are our on retainer. We stick our necks out, and those big navies come knocking afterwards, what's to insure our getting away clean?"

Far above the blazing surface of the Sun, there existed a motley colony of large ships, affectionately referred to by its inhabitants as Tortuga. This was the hub of activity for the large Pirate Gang that called themselves the Death Parrot Flotilla. Their ships were mostly old, their hulls in such disrepair that most still displayed battle damage and carbon and even in some cases rust. Of course, that had not happened here, but long ago when the ships had actually entered an atmosphere somewhere. Whether many of them were even still capable of that was debatable.

Every once and a while one of these barges (as they were generally referred to, a more eloquent name not appropriate for their appearances) would leave the safety of this oft abandoned center of the Solar System and strike out to establish a temporary trade station somewhere in the system. For a short period these outposts would be a centers of free trade, large quantities of legal and illicit commerce. Until, the captain would get tired of anarchy of business or one of the navies of Sol would scare the Pirates off.

One of these ships that looked to have started its life as a bulk freighter, but had long since forgone that role, startled to life as slowly the crew began the process of withdrawing the ships solar energy collectors and getting her moving. Its hull look much different that it had originally, having much of itself armored and weaponized, and many of its cargo containers converted to hangers, repair and construction bays, along with numerous other customizations. Despite all these changes it looked more like a dead hulk than a living starship. How the ship operated in such a harsh environment was a distressing mystery.

On the ships bridge, which looked much like the outer hull, ill-kept and oft modified, her Captain made her ready for service and trade. Standing tall and authoritative, Alexia Kidd struck a surprising visage. She was a beautiful raven-haired woman, well shaped and with an intimating glare. She was heavily armed, which only contributed to the trepidation she spread.

"Is Sorn's ship still docked," she demanded, pacing forward.

"Aye," one of her crew replied. "In Forward Bay Two."

"Make sure we start charging him for that once we establish the trade station." She stepped back. "Movyan, have you plotted a course that won't bring us too close to Planet."

"I have," was the answer from the Elf. "We will arrive far enough away from the world as to avoid the primary areas of operation of the Martian Navies. Is that where Sorn's First Mate requested we meet?"

"No," she replied. "He suggested the northern hemisphere of the Oort Cloud, but that too far from the major trade lanes and with the amount of cash he said we would need we'll need to set up shop somewhere. How about Riggs and Byte are they coming along?"

"Apparently," the Elf affirmed. "Riggs made some obscene suggestion regarding yourself and needing protection, completely ignoring Shaw's Battlecruiser. And Byte said something about profit margins."

She nodded. "Well, that should be more than enough for whatever Sorn has in mind. Sounds like we got ourselves a fleet."

Movyan turned. "Zaire said not to expect help. The Commodore is attempting to supply capital, but he suspected that the only help our financier will provide is in currency exchange."

"Great, means we don’t have to worry about cutting the haul." Kidd stepped over to a display, watching carefully as her crew stowed the solar arrays. "Well, then get my ship underway. We're going to need a million Menelmacari to cover ourselves. And I'm not covering anyone else."

It would another hour before the barge actually started moving. By then an ancient Battlecruiser and a couple of smaller vessels had pulled alongside. Assembled, the small fleet started moving toward Mars and they hoped a tidy profit.

‘The cut, well that’s where things get a little interesting. My associates and I want to make a profit, but we recognise that it’s you taking the risks. The bigger the prize you go hunting the bigger the risk, and the smaller the share we need to take in order to make our profit.’ Shrugging at this state of affairs he went on, ‘So your wondering what our cut will be, that depends on you. If you stick to your current practices, we’ll need a large share just to justify the expense we are going to, if you become more adventurous we’ll need a smaller cut, and we’ll only ask for a smaller cut.’ Looking around the room he went on. ‘Then off course it also comes down to the size of your ‘fleets’ if you have a large number of vessels available to you, well, you’re a bigger player than the others, again, a bigger player offers us more insurance of repeat business, your also a more important customer, as such, we’ll lower our percentages again to reflect your status.’

It seemed he had at least one potential customer and somehow where he had one he knew he’d have others, he just needed to convince one person and the others would join. No one wanted to be left behind in this line of work, you couldn’t afford it. With that said therefore he pulled forwards a seat and sat down facing the room. Leaning forwards a little before he went on. ‘We’ll also offer other benefits. My associates and I, are drawn from many of the Outcasts of Yvresse, well at least many of the outcasts not drawn to the ‘benefit’s’ of Duat.’ The other two chuckled behind him, as if sharing some inside, and slightly bawdy, joke. ‘So we have a large number of areas of expertise. Now to be honest, some of the people best suited to what I am thinking of here went to Duat, but many others have joined us. We have people who have expertise in numerous areas.’

‘This will be the complete package, you’ll be paying for here, we aim to make your lives easier, I haven’t a single Outcast working with me that has walked less than three paths. That’s three complete professional skills, ranging from medical care; since I know you can’t exactly go to a hospital with your woes, to shall we say baser instincts. We’ll enable blackmail opportunities for getting round that annoyingly persistent port master. Engineer’s to conduct repairs upon your vessels, you take the risks and we’ll make sure it continues to be possible for you to do so.’

"Well, that looks to be a rather enticing offer," Captain Thaddeus Sorn commented, still addressing the room. He had hoped to awaken a little more interest to the Eldar's proposition. Yet it seemed everyone was watching and awaiting the outcome of his own challenge of Eldar. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage. "There is however, the matter of targets. To gain the most profit for all parties, we would need to know where the most desirable cargoes are being transported and when. Could your associates provide that? Do you perhaps have any specific targets already in mind?"

As Sorn considered his next move his First Mate returned, the large man walking over to Sorn and whispering something in the Captain's ear. A smiled played across Sorn's face; he knew just what to do.

"Yes, an enticing offer indeed," Sorn repeated. "But will your plan work? We've seen your devices demonstrated on a small scale, drawing a single ship. But will they work across all of the Solar System? Will they fool the navies long enough for our crews to strip our prey?"

Sorn paused letting his words sink into the room, then smiling he proceeded, "Perhaps a larger scale demonstration is in order. It a big gamble, but I just happen to have a small fleet ready and waiting. And I’m feeling like playing some cards. For a reduced fee, I'm willing to provide all here with a proper demonstration of your system."

Pausing before answering the man turned to look at his companions a quick conversation occurs, in a strangely melodic language, filled with many Ch sounds. It seems a heated discussion before the three nod to each other turning back to the human that spoke to them the primary speaker nods. ‘Hmm you do present a certain quandary to our little group. My companions and I see that you are a serious man here, and we want to do business with you, and yet our price is very carefully worked out. So, what to do, we have an alternate offer for you. It requires a very brief back-story through first…’

Sitting now he looked only at the captain for a while the rest of the room seemed to fade from his consideration. ‘A long time ago, a group of Keigh, much like myself, left Tor Yvresse to walk the path of the Outcast. They gained control over a large fleet of Mon-Keigh vessels and set themselves up as Pirates within Sol. Unfortunately they had not… planned for the problems of Sol and Piracy and found things difficult to continue, and so eventually they returned to Yvresse, and the path system. Bringing with them their fleet, the fleet was used in some battle near mars, and was destroyed. However one asset survived the battle and was left abandoned in somewhere deep in space. It was their fleet base, a portable structure, with its own FTL drive, capable of acting as a port and repair base for the Pirate fleet. It was heavily damaged of course, and of, to the minds of the Keigh, inferior construction, metal instead of Wraithbone, and therefore not worth salvaging. Before I left Yvresse with my comrades, I had a vague idea of what I wished to do. We all did, and so, I sought out those Keigh that had been a part of this fleet and questioned them heavily, I wanted to gain an insiders view of Piracy in Sol.

In short I have the location of this structure, and am willing to include that information as part of our price tag. The structure of course will need work, it was and is heavily damaged, but when such work is done it will provide you and your comrades something unique. A Freeport, perhaps, where when the forces of Law approach it merely jumps away… preserving the cargo intact. I suspect a great deal of profit could be made from such a structure…’

OOC I've lost the details on what exactly the structure could do hence the massive repairs needed. After you've brought it online you'll be able to justify your own vision of it after all;)

Thaddeus Sorn paused as he listened. He had suspect that the Eldar were not prepared to barter their price, and he was right. What they were willing to barter however was far more interesting. And something he could not turn down. A fleet base was valuable to him and the informal pirate group he had joined. Add to that the advantages of a freeport, and you had an offer Sorn could not pass up. "Of course, we will need to have a team assess what it will take to bring this station of yours online, but that should be a mere formality."

He took a final look around the room. He had expected one or more of the others to jump when the Eldar outcasts had sweetened the deal with mention of the starport. Cowards they still feared the might of the navies of Sol, or they were simply hedging their bets by being here. Well, Sorn would take his chances by risking it all. Afterall, the true life of a pirate was about risk and reward and nothing else.

"Perhaps we can go someplace a little more private," Sorn prompted effectively attempting to sideline everyone in the room. "And discuss the necessary arrangements."

"Captain?"

Alexia Kidd looked up from the monitor showing the details of her business. Her ship, along with a few escorts now rested a save distance from the normal patrols of the space navies of Mars. Just far enough off to be safe and still get clients to come to modified bulk freighter turned small mobile freeport. The ship itself was practically falling about, but it provided a wonderful guarded position for neutral and illegal parties to do business. From trade to negotiation, it served as hub for the black market. There was even the occasional legitimate business that went on in her ship.

Her monitor detailed the major happening of that, which was not much. Most of the business was conducted in as much secrecy as possible. However, there also was not a lot of business happening. Maybe it was the proximity to Mars, usually a boon to such ventures, or maybe was something else, like the presence of the freighter’s escorts. The old modified Battlecruiser and couple frigates, all in the same state as her ship, could possibly be scaring off trade.

"Captain Sorn's Vessel is preparing to depart," her second in command, the tall terran elf Movyan Undómiel, informed her.

The words brought her quickly out of her thought. "That’s all we need," she vented. "Was there news from Sorn?"

"Apparently," the elf replied.

"Well, that means he has the job ready for us," Alexia said carefully thinking everything over. "And here we are short on capital. Might have to break into the stash on this one."

"We should be receiving more trade presently," Moyvan informed. "We have received word that Taggart and his barge are on their way to our location. They said Captain Sorn invited them."

"He did?" Alexia looked confused. "What does he want with a botanist?"

"Also, we intercepted a communication between Rigg and Skull," the elf continued, breaking from his monotone informing to sound a slightly mournful. "And it appears we will be receiving a visit from the Orc."

"Great," Alexia said sarcastically. "Sorn better have some amazing deal ready for us, or this is likely to end in a blood bath."

Sargent Smithers, the scooby neo-dog sat listening to the strange pointy earred beings. He was available as both a salvager and a licensed privateer. He sat next to his companion, Marcus Ohyes in a deep plush chair. Sarge listened his ears turning towards the speakers. Something smelled bad here. He took several more puffs from his cigar.

He remembered his history. A classic maneuver by a foreign power to reduce a nations enemy before attack. Also a tremendous opportunity for plunder and growth of his company, the Interspace and Underwater Salvage and Recycling Cooperative. Sarge smiled letting out a low laughing growl. Two could play at this game.

Marcus Ohyes's eye twitched slightly, he drank another cup of supercaf, and crossed his legs slightly.

{Pirate Meeting somewhere on the Planet Mars}

In the back of the room, there sat two gentlemen who looked very out of place. After all, they appeared to be a pair of gentlemen in a den of thieves. Compared to the Pirates in the room, their closely shaved and pristinely kept, expensive black suits, stood out. However there the similarities between the two ended for one was Asian and the other Causasian.

For the entire presentation by the Eldar and interchange from Captain Sorn they had simply watched, listening intently but without much apparent interest or reaction. Now, the Asian pulled out the Martian equivalent of a prepaid cell phone. There was a brief whispered conversation and he hung it up, resuming his watchful gaze on the room, the Eldar, and Captain Sorn.

Presently, a world away on Earth, a large sum of credits was deposited quietly into a Bank Account in the Corporate Islands.