Introduction
Perhaps I thought that we could avoid being caught up in the internecine conflicts of this little lifeboat of humanity. Perhaps I didn’t.
“Jack, what do you want with a warship?”
The question echoed in my mind. It never made much sense to me. But I felt it should. I wasn’t able to answer it for the longest time. It was…almost a subconscious need.
I think I knew. Part of me knew.
Part of me knew a darkness was coming…and I refused to be merely a spectator.-The Memoirs of “Gentleman” Jack Cartwright
18 March - 22 April, WY603 – Helena, Foxglove, Deep Space
Current Contract: We’ve Got Them
The crew continues to process the news from the rest of the Reach while awaiting the Bureau’s arrival. Later that day, Agents Gibson and Lee arrive with subpoenas of the ship’s data and warrants to inspect the ship’s magazines. The crew hides nothing from the ship’s logs. Agent Lee questions Cara about her relationship with Felicity Randall and Cara confirms the intervention by the San Anastasia was as much as a surprise to her as anyone. The Agents are also suspicious of Anderson Northwinds, as they have evidence that the insurrection may be smuggling tritium off of Helena. The crew truthfully doesn’t know anything about that, and reiterated that Northwinds mine had been shut down for almost a year due to the strike. Lee suggests to the crew (in a somewhat friendly, off-the-book manner) that they try to keep their nose clean, since the circumstantial evidence of them being involved with the insurrection is mounting. The two leave with the ship’s logs and sensor data.
Jeffrey Carter calls from Northwinds and delivers the crew’s full fee for the job, as well as the formal paperwork granting the crew a 1% stake in the enterprise.
Moving on to available work, the crew is contacted once again by Garrett Barnes of Consolidated Equipment Mfg.. The firm had hired Charity Cartwright and her ship ITC My Eyes Are Up Here, Asshole as bait to catch the recurring pirates with a special tracking rig that leaves “breadcrumbs” behind every jump. Charity’s ship was hijacked in Rebekkah on February 20th. Consolidated is offering a substantial sum to rescue the ship and discover the location of the pirate’s base. Naturally, the crew agrees to go save Aiden’s sister.
They take on passengers and freight and head to Foxglove to resupply. The dive causes Tomoe incredible discomfort, and she spends the dive in bedrest being monitored by Aiden. The crew finds Foxglove to be under even more severe martial control than before, the WDF dealing with disorder ruthlessly. Dirk spends the few resupply days with Polly, though she continues to rebuff his propositions to leave with them.
After a short, tense, stay at Sunrise Bay, Legitimate Salvage jumps to the location of the first breadcrumb. They follow the trail for two more jumps out into deep space north of the elliptic and finally arrive at what can only be described as a makeshift shipyard. It is guarded by a Murphy-Class Destroyer, WDF San Martin, but quick thinking from the crew and quick shooting by Roland lets the crew disable the destroyer with a well-placed mass driver shot through the reactor compartment.
While Swan and the marines are securing the destroyer, the crew studies the environment:
- The ITC My Eyes Are Up Here, Asshole is parked near the yard, its massive cargo (and possibly some of its components) in various states of being offloaded.
- The yard contains three massive portable refineries, able to fabricate nearly any goods from raw materials. Angelica hacked into one and discovered they were manufactured by a corporation on Grove that went defunct early in the war. She has the data tracing the refinery’s history of being hidden since the initial assault on the planet.
- The drydock gantry itself appears big enough to house something up to a cruiser or small carrier. It has a small office/hab attached.
Finding no other personnel than those on WDF San Martin, the crew board the construction hab to take a look around. An initial sweep finds a small living space that appears to be a communal brig. They find the word “Canto” scratched into the wall behind one of the bunks.
The investigation continues…
