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19-20 February, WY603 – Helena

Introduction

“More news out of Helena, where Anderson Exploration continues to assert their increasingly unpopular control over the Tritium mining town of Anderson Northwinds. We’ve received word that AEX hired a veritable fleet to take the town back by force but were sent packing by The Indomitable Bastards. This devastatingly expensive defeat for both AEX and the Free Corps will almost certainly make the company think twice about their plans to break the strike.

There are, however, unconfirmed rumors that an unmarked destroyer came to the aid of IBI in their fight over Helena. If these reports are true, it will raise serious questions for Cartwright about his relationship with the insurgency and perhaps even question his involvement in September 23rd.

This event also marks the first time Jack Cartwright’s firm unleashed the full military might of the destroyer San Orestes they salvaged last year. This will be a clear wake-up call for corporations, private security, and the Council that the balance of power in The Reach has measurably shifted into the hands of the infamous and unpredictable “Gentleman Jack”.

Up next, we’ll be speaking with retired Colonel Sid Schroeder, author of “Jack Cartwright: Enemy of The State”.

-The Memoirs of “Gentleman” Jack Cartwright

19-20 February, WY603 – Helena

Current Contract: They’re Trying To Make Slaves of Us

As repairs on the ship were nearing completion, Cara announced to the crew that she’d received an encrypted data packet from San Anastasia before she left the system. It had taken a bit of time to decode, but she felt everyone needed to see it. They gathered in the galley and watched the following:

Recovered Endeavor Messages

A Transmission From Felicity Randall

On February 18th, 603 as the crew was defending the town of Anderson Northwinds, they were aided by a stolen destroyer commanded by Felicity Randall - Cara’s former partner. She relayed that the Sons of The Reach had discovered a device in the captain’s quarters of WDF Endeavor. While the device had self-destructed, it contained an extensive log of very short communiques. She offered up the following selection.

Felicity's Message

Hi Pookie.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I need you to know something - I’m taking a big risk here, please don’t think this is easy.

Endeavor’s skipper had a sort of communication device in his office. The thing was scuttled long before we got to it, but our Captain Merriweather wasn’t so great at this OpSec stuff and had the thing hooked up to a slate that was archiving the messages. They’re all tiny, text-only, but they’ve been a treasure trove. I’m sending you some choice excerpts.

Maybe. I hope. Maybe this will open your eyes a bit. I know you’ve heard this from me for decades, but there’s some serious evil empire shit brewing on Whistler. And lady, they’re really not your friends, not anymore.

I love you, still and always.

  • T7 602-02-24: ENDEAVOR DISPATCH TO MYRR - RETRIEVE IBI PERSONNEL FROM GAF MYRR - CO FELDMAN ORDERED TO HOLD IBI AND RELEASE TO YOU - HALSEY REQUESTS PERSONAL DEBRIEF - TERMINATE IN TRANSIT
  • ENDEAVOR 602-03-02: IBI ESCAPED GAF MYRR - CO FELDMAN IMPLICATED - OPERATIVE DEPLOYED TO JARILLO
  • W33 602-03-03: OPERATIVE EYES ON JACK CARTWRIGHT - ACTIVITIES INDICATE ILICIT REPAIR/REARM NAVAL VESSEL
  • T7 602-03-03: W33 CODE GRAY
  • T7 602-04-15: ALERT - G7 THEFT ATTRIBUTED TO JERICHO SPECOPS - RESCIND IBI KILL ORDER - CONFIRM
  • DAUNTLESS 602-04-15: THIS CANT BE A COINCIDENCE - YOU’RE MISSING SOMETHING
  • T7 602-04-15: STOP WASTING QUANT
  • T7 602-06-22: ALERT - ROJ SPECOPS TRANSPORTING ARTIFACTS SIGMA/NOVEMBER SIGMA/GOLF VIA GROUND CONVOY DEMETER 32N-15.2W TO SECURE FACILITY - DAUNTLESS INTERCEPT AND RETRIEVE IN TRANSIT AT ALL COSTS - CODE BLACK - BURN APPROVED
  • DAUNTLESS 602-06-23: BOTH ARTIFACTS RETRIEVED - BURN BURN BURN - TRANSPORTING TO VAULT S1 - INTEL IBI CREW MEETING WITH GATSBY - ORDERED ASSET CODE BLACK ITC A SERIES OF UNLIKELY EXPLANATIONS
  • T7 602-06-23: RESCIND THAT AND DIVE BEFORE YOU START A SHOOTING WAR
  • DAUNTLESS 602-07-05: AND NOW HE HAS A DESTROYER
  • T7 602-09-23: ALERT ALERT WDF OS SIERRA COMPROMISED - DISABLE CORES AND RESTORE EARLIER BACKUP - EXPEDITE EXPEDITE
  • DAUNTLESS 602-09-23: RESTORED - VIRUS IMPACTING HARBORMASTER LOCKOUTS - PHYSICALLY SECURE DOCKING CONTROLS
  • SABER 602-09-23: RESTORED
  • HORNET 602-09-23: RESTORED - SABOTEUR APPREHENDED
  • T7 602-09-23: ENDEAVOR CODE OMEGA DESTRUCT DESTRUCT
Link to original

The message confirmed several things (Endeavor had truly been sent to kill the IBI crew), revealed the names of other ships involved in the conspiracy (Saber and Hornet), and indicated the whole affair could’ve been kicked off my a coincidence and misunderstanding on Grove. The messages also confirm that Dauntless has the ability to create gravitic distortions that can pull a craft out of a dive, and all of the ships appear to have the means of instantaneously communicating over interstellar distances - solving the riddle of how Dauntless could’ve been waiting for Hamster in Roberts. Aiden points out that if the communication system is truly using quantum entanglement, as the messages imply, it would be a discovery that’s completely beyond the brightest minds in The Reach today.

Some hours later, Swan reports from the ground that two men in Free Corps uniforms emerged from the countryside and demanded that Aiden demand their surrender. Fearing a trap, the crew mulled over their options, going so far as to investigate the Free Corps’ default employment contract before shrugging their shoulders and heading down to the surface. There they found Lieutenant Henry Blackmoon and Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Scoville under guard but looking to sign on with IBI. After narrowly escaping prison time due to Dirk’s legal brief and Tomoe’s media campaign, the two men were dishonorably discharged from Guardian and joined the Free Corps. Once they realized the crew was at Helena and their target, they snuck off to defect while the Free Corps was loading their marines back up to retreat. The reunion is heartfelt and the two men are hired.

During the resulting celebrations in Anderson Northwinds, Tomoe catches wind of an unusual death on a private freighter a few months prior. Apparently a spacer by the name of Piney Newton was found dead on ITC Marginally Better Than Prison while they were in dive on a routine run from Curtis Landing (the only real spaceport on Helena) to Storey Anchorage in Storey. The death happened roughly four weeks after the initial cave-in at the Northwinds site, and all indications are Newton’s death was very similar to Wei Zhang’s. The crew reasonably suspects that Izzy Cordova could have used a ground vehicle to get to Curtis Landing, roughly fifteen hundred kilometers away, and gotten aboard the freighter. They resolve to investigate.

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