Iron Stars - the-good-company

( @Singysinger and @Dasvan we will use this thread. Both of you have finished missions just before starting this, if we need to handle any shopping, we can take care of it in your personal threads. Once we're situated, we'll push off for Supriya)

( awesome! Is there any gear you’d recommend before starting this mission?) (edited)

1

(We are going into a combat zone, so anything you think might help you survive that)

(There are four days of downtime from Jagrati to our destination, and I've updated the world anvil article with our most recent information Spartos collected last time he was there)

( Sorry been dealing with finals for down time id like to continue training admin) (edited)

(Same here with finals lol, I'll continue my sneak progress)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/supriya-location

Supriya

5:03 PM

(if we want the ship to come in sneakily, we would just need a program/int from one of you, if neither of you are trained in it, an npc crewman could take the check. Ships need a pilot at the controls 24/7. even in spike travel, and a sensor/comms officer, so three people is generally the minimum crew needed to make the ship run. If we don't have the skills to cover that spread, we'd need some npc crewmen)

( I’m trained in pilot )

(I've got none of those lol need them npcs)

(the good company has life support for 6, so aside from Spartos, Annie, and Penelope eventually, we can say those other three spaces are the NPC crew to watch the ship while we're out doing stuff)

( that’s reasonable!)

(so two pilots and a comms, and you folks fill in on those stations when we're around. If we want to sneak into the system we would need a program/int, and if none of you have that skill, the NPC crewman can take the check. Their roll would be 2d6+2, and from there I can do the modifiers for hiding and sneaking myself)

( gotcha should we make that roll?)

(one of you should! or one of you can roll for the NPC if we need to use them, I'll roll for the planet, and we'll see if you're detected coming into the system or not

(Yeah I don’t have program so if Annie does go for it or one of us can make the npc roll)

(Sounds good. We can roll that out based on what she has )

(Rolled an 11)

2

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+2] Roll: [5, 3] Result: 10

(11 beats 10, the Good Company is stealth coming into the system)

9:47 AM

Sensor baffling protocols seem to be working. If anyone is watching from the ground they are going to be looking at a patch of empty space, though the Good Company is very much present. Transmissions and other activity that might defeat the jamming profile will draw the attention of any tech watching down there, but for now the vessel is entering the system unobserved. Sensors begin coming online, and the situation on the ground from this 50,000 foot level looks to be much the same as it was when Spartos left lastmonth.

(sensors wouldn't be able to do much more from up here, so it is up to you guys how we want to approach a landing, if we want to land, ect)

(Sorry for being so afk, gonna help move this forward)

Spartos looked out at the chaos below and decided to meet with Annie quickly to discuss their immediate plan of action. He had a rudimentary picture of the situation, but hoped that Annie's leadership skills would help them take advantage of his leads. He addresses her and muses, "3 factions, two civilian and the third is what remains of their government. I made contact with a member of one of the civilian factions, called the CDL. Helped fix their transport. Told me about their story, sounds like they're the common man, the other civilians are the merchants avoiding the dirty work, and the government remnant are assholes. What do you think?"

(feel free to take the lead Spartos, we can push on ourselves if we need to)

(Oh god sorry meant to respond. ) “ So we got a government remnant trying to maintain power, a merchant class trying to exploit labor, and civilians dealing with the brunt of both factions. Do you know the relationship between the merchants and the remnant?”

“Not in detail. Figure they’re opposed in name but linked in practice, corruption and all that. I’ve figured the CDL would be best aligned with the Cooperative, power to the people. If we can make contact, we could do a lot for them.”

Annie nodded in agreement. “ Agreed. What are your thoughts on convincing the Merchants to work with the CDL against the remnant? It’s alot easier for the cooperative to reign in greedy merchants, and would take the most dangerous piece off the board.”

“Not sure… it’s worth a shot though, I follow you. Probably our best option anyway given how limited we are.” “Any reason we shouldn’t just land where I did last? Can’t tell where the factions have been pushed to in this skirmish, but it’s not likely to have been a huge change in territory.”

“ We could do that. Though we have a new ship with new codes versus what you used last time. So this first landing might be the best chance to meet one of the other groups before opinion of us moves one way or the other. Even if we plan to undermine them or fight them we’ll need knowledge of them. “ (edited)

“Fair point. In that case, I think we should go find the Merchant class. Use this chance to make ourselves known to them then work on bringing them and the CDL together against the Remnant.”

“ That seems wise to me, but I’ll leave the final choice up to you. Should we open communicating frequencies and head over to one of their towns?”

"Sounds good to me. Scout it out before going down there."

Annie would send the order to head to the nearest area controlled by the merchants and send out a communication frequency. (edited)

The de-facto capital of this merchant faction has been moved from the running battles in the capital city to the countryside, and a town 400km to the southwest is where they have made residence. By comparison the countryside seems peaceful, but the ring of defenses and fighting positions around the settlement, and the distant plumes of smoke to the northeast take away from the idyllic impression of a countryside. As The Good Company sends out a communications request , someone from the ground station here answers it wanting to know who is communicating, and what you want.

Annie opened up her voice channel and said. “ Hello I am agent of the crown Annie De-Sitter and captain of the star ship Happenstance. We are hoping to survey this conflict, and initiate diplomatic relations. May we have permission to land?”

Spartos gets in a quick whisper off comms, "Good start, cap. Better you than me."

"Desitter, land at the edge of town. Weapons aren't permitted off your ship, aside from a sidearm. You'll be met on the ground by local security"

Annie gave the order to land the ship and off loaded her weapons in her locker.

(If you're not trying to conceal anything we won't bother with the sneak and notice checks between you and the locals)

( would it be a check to hide a weapon using holoskin?)

(No that’s not what the cyberware does. You’d need a holdout cavity )

( sounds good I won’t bring a weapon than!)

Spartos stored all of his weapons besides his knife and muttered to Annie, “You’re the talker, but I got your back, cap’n.”

Annie looked to spartos as she said. “ I hope the talking isn’t just left to me. Your thoughts are valuable, I’d like to hear them, and I’ll make sure these capitalists listen to them.”

He looked a bit taken aback, then nodded in agreement before slightly smirking. “I’ll try not to ruin the negotiations.”

Annie holds up a fist towards spartos, looking for a bump as she pushed the button to open the hanger door.

The smirk widened as he gave her the fist bump and tried to resist fiddling with his knife. The less hostile they seemed, the better.

The ramp lowers and two representatives from the merchant class are waiting a respectful distance from it. Each of them has two bodyguards armed with antiquated looking rifles.

7:41 AM

They do not approach the vessel, but otherwise have their eyes on you.

Annie took the lead, and closed that respectful distance to offer her hand to the merchants. “ Hello as I said over the comms I am agent of the crown captain Desitter, and this here is my fellow crown agent Spartos Redimere. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you.”

Spartos walked at her side and stayed when she got in close, wanting to test if either of the merchants would extend the courtesy to him or just to the one of them speaking.

"You found us then, and Agents of the Crown? So Deeveers made it through the Shapers and the time after did he?" one of the merchants says, looking at his companions. "Old boy had more fight in him than I guessed. Well you're here now, you said you wanted our thoughts. We have to ask where those thoughts might be going once we finish this meeting, and what your plans are for this world"

Annie nodded at the representative as she took back her hand. “ Wise to ask those questions up front. This information and any requests for aid I cannot immediately resolve will go to the higher ups at the NMC. As for plans for this world I am of the mind that you focus on the step in front of you first and foremost. I don’t see this world finding stability while remnants of that government are allowed to exist. After that I’m sure some agreement can be made where the nmc will help establish/rebuild infrastructure in exchange for a trade partnership.”

"on that we agree. We're working hard to fight against the tyrannical vestiges of the previous government ,and the uninformed commoners standing up against us. Rich or poor, we were common just like them, and they refuse to see it. We're defending ourselves against both groups right now, such is our right."

Spartos's eyes narrowed as he saw the merchants get straight to business. He chimed in, "Right, you're just like them, why would they think otherwise...? If you're so similar, haven't you tried to make an alliance, even temporary, to take care of your common enemy? I'd think you could inform the common folk of the graver threat to your freedom."

Annie looked to Spartos, and cracked a brief smile before going back to a professional disposition as she turned to the merchants. “ Well put thank you agent Redimere . From my evaluation the remnant seem to be the gravest danger present, but I must ask why do the commoners fear your faction so?”

"We;ve tried. How do you expect us to talk when they shoot our envoys on sight? We've tried on several occasions. There's a limit to how many people we sent out into harm's way with no gun, only to have them get sent back to us in a box. "

“ I empathize with your frustration. During my experience negotiating with rebels, and other populist movements the most difficult part has always been making them see me as anything besides a foe. From there it’s all about redirecting the energy of their cause to useful means. I’d be willing to negotiate my personal involvement in establishing an alliance between your people and these uniformed commoners should you desire it.”

"YOu have a ship? What's to stop you from taking the money and just leaving? If you get a delegate from the civilians here who has the power to negotiate, and we come to a deal. I'd be happy to pay you for the trouble, but you must take me for a fool if you think you're going to get a single credit out of me before that happens"

Annie sighed “ You question me as if those aren’t the exact terms I would have recommended. Onto business I’ll need some terms to pitch to them to get them to the negotiating table.”

"A neutral ground, two delegates, no weapons, that will apply to both sides. They can scan us, and we'll do the same to them to make sure there's no funny business. :

11:03 AM

"Choice of neutral ground is something we've never been able to get to, like I said, they shoot out envoys on sight now"

“ We should be able to get that much. I’d also like for your organization to start preparing for a joint operation against the remnant. We’ll have you pitch a combined effort to start the negotiations.”

"We're happy to talk strategy, but we're not going to equip an army or get the wheel spinning for expensive operational planning until we secure their support. That would be a foolish waste of credits"

“ I never said you’d supply them. More that if your organization comes to the table with a plan to strike a blow against the greater foe already in place you’ll have a significant upper hand in negotiations. “

"The strategic planning is something we can discuss with them when the time comes, and not a moment before. "

1:52 PM

(They just are not going to tell you what they're planning. You're two people who just stepped off a ship and they don't trust you )

( I was more asking that they have a plan to pitch at the negations. Not now.)

(yeah, he's saying they do, so if things work out they know what they want to do , he just doesn;t want to give away operational details to people they dont know)

2

Annie shrugged, and looked to Spartos. “ If this all sounds good to you we can get to work.”

He scowls at all the bickering and adds, "We bring them to you and make sure they don't kill you, then you work with them to wipe the remnant off the planet." He turns to Annie. "Not a problem."

"You know how to find us. We'll make our way to the meeting point once they decide on the neutral ground. Just let us know where it is, and give us a day to make out way there." the merchant delegate says, squinting as the sun rises from behind distant trees to become slightly blinding.

Annie heads back into the ship and closes the entrance. Once they are alone Annie while rolling her eyes would say" Guess its now onto those Uniformed commoners"

Spartos chuckles humorlessly and assures her, “They’re better than those haughty dicks, we just have to convince them we’re on their side.”

" It never ceases to amaze me the things folks with money can convince themselves of. Though who am I to talk we have our own starship"

“You earned this ship, we went through hell for it. Something tells me these merchants have never seen war themselves or known what it brings…”

“ They’ve seen war alright. Seen how much profit it brings them.”

(I don’t think the merchants have much else to add until you do your half. They’re not going to be leaving this area so we don’t have to hunt for them later )

( so do we want to head to the common folk?)

(I can move us there if we want to, so long as Spartos didn't have anything else he wanted to do here. I wasn't sure if you two were still roleplaying or if you were ready to move on or not so I posted what I did. There wasn't really a clear breaking point the way I was reading it)

(We can move on, my bad, I’m ready to head to the common faction)

(program/int , one of you, lets try to find a signal and figure out where the commoners have a base or somewhere to meet)

( I’ve got a minus 1 to that if you want to try it spartos )

Dasvan

( I’ve got a minus 1 to that if you want to try it spartos )

(I do too lol so it can be either of us)

(Hell yeah brother)

12:24 PM

( that’s a 3!)

1

(annie you are an expert so you can re -roll this check if you want to use your expert re roll for this mission) (edited)

( not a bad call)

1:45 PM

( rerolled for a 6)

There is a faint signal in the mountains 5km to the east of the capital city. The signal is not on any of the pre-war military bands or anything that you've seen the merchants using, giving you a strong indication this is a civilian faction communication relay

2:10 PM

You are not sure if anyone there is listening based on how weak the signal is, but if you broadcast, and someone is listening, they will hear you.

Spartos uncharacteristically walks over to the comm and tells Annie, “Let me try.” He grabs the comm and broadcasts towards the signal. “This is Spartos Redimere, Agent of the Crown and member of the starship Happenstance. This message is for the Civilian Defense League. We’ve come to negotiate official aid and a potential truce with the Riverland League against the remnants of your government. If you read us, we request permission to land and discuss with you.” He steps back and hopes that maybe the men he helped on his first visit were in a position to vouch for him, or failing that, that he presented a strong enough case to grab the faction’s interest.

There is no response from the Civilian Defense League. The communications hiss with static, someone is trying to talk and makes several attempts at doing so before they give up, and you're instead given a set of coordinates to a plateau in the mountains a kilometer further east of where the CDL was supposedly entrenched

Sighing, Spartos turns to Annie and muses, "Looks like that's the best we'll get. Think we're in the clear?"

Annie gave the order to follow the signal. " Anything I should know about this group before we head in?"

https://discord.com/channels/345912178072879106/1031698526360567808/1037002833804927006 (Spartos if you don't feel like writing a summary, this is the beginning of the meeting he had with the CDL, there aren't many posts here, this is like a five minute read, but encapsulates the entire encounter had so far)

(Yeah that's plenty, I'll really just comment on it) "I preferred the two I met to those two merchant reps. They'll likely be more skeptical, but if we gain their trust we can do much for them."

“ I’ll leave it to you to lead the way than.”

Spartos nods and directs the ship towards the coordinates they were given.

THe landing zone is a flat plateau of rock to the east of a series of cave systems worked into the mountains overlooking the capital. Scans of the area return no information, as the tunnels are layered under too much rock. Two civilians in battered looking gear are waiting there by the mouth of the cave system and are paying rapt attention as the ramp of your ship lowers. One of them raises a hand in hello as the engines power down, and speaking becomes possible.

Stepping down the ramp, Spartos returns a wave of his own as he approaches with Annie. "Thanks for the welcome, warmer than the stiffs from the merchants we met with. That's why we're here, though."

"leadership will meet you" one of the guards here says "No weapons inside though. Anything you have you're going to have to keep on your ship"

“Of course.” Spartos heads back up the ramp to disarm and waits for Annie to do the same before returning to the guards.

Annie disarmed herself as well.

(Just so it does not come up as a surprise later, we are fully disarmed? Not concealing anything?)

1

(Yes completely disarming)

(Yeup. My true weapons are my charisma skills)

A quick scan and pat down for each of you confirms no weapons are present. You are brought into the sprawling cave network that makes up the inside of this mountain past civilian fighters cooking, maintaining their equipment, sorting supplies, and a brief walk past the med wing shows doctors and attendants doing what they can with limited supplies. Heroics are no doubt performed every day in that room. You pass a body being taken outside with a black plastic sheet over it by four stretcher carriers, their faces downcast. The winding and walking takes you into a large chamber deep within the mountain, and inside there are five leaders of this civilian faction. Three are women, and two are men ,all human as there are no other races on Supriya.

6:36 PM

You are invited to sit in a pair of chairs that face the long bench they sit behind. AS the people seeking the meeting, you are invited to speak first.

Spartos leans forward with his hands clasped and says, “As we said, we’re here to discuss a temporary truce with your merchant counterparts so you can focus on eliminating your common enemy. Last time I was here, I helped a couple of your men fix their vehicle. They told me your story. I was swayed. If we make this work, we want to bring Supriya back into the NMC fold on the people’s terms. We all win.” He stood straight once more and studied the faces of the civilian leaders, trying to deduce their thoughts.

While Spartos looks over their faces Annie would try to support his claims. “ As my comrade has said a joint operation will put Supriya on a much better ground when it comes to relationships with the NMC. Taking the initiative to use diplomacy to broker a truce and remove a player from this conflict would build this movements reputation as a sound ally. Allowing your group to come to the table with a much stronger position. “

"We've tried reaching out to the merchants before. Their peace plan involved our 'caste' being used in a general labor capacity. This is no better than where we were before. Not to mention they shoot at us a whole bunch whenever they even come close to us in the city. The merchants need to change their entire way of thinking of we're going to just be under the jackboot of someone else" one of the rebel leaders says. They have the scars of fighting, and are missing several fingers between both of their hands.

Annie took on a professional tone as she answered the leader “ Well said I’m sure we’ll rely on your experience in the days to come. That superiority complex the merchants have is the key to this plan working out in the people’s favor. As we all know their power comes from wealth, and their interests are easier to predict compared to the government remnant. This makes them vulnerable to political, and diplomatic maneuvering especially once an outside force helps negotiate an armistice. “ She gave a brief pause to let others consider her words, but before anyone could speak up she would continue. “ Going after the remnant will force the merchants to pick a side, and since the remnant’s goals conflict heavily with the outcome the merchants desire the choice they’ll make is clear. From there as peace is established the greed of the merchants will be easy to manipulate. The NMC will prevent the merchants from establishing themselves as a pseudo nobility by supporting enterprises that have strong worker’s rights. This wealth from off world trade will bring most the merchants in line with the peoples interests. Those merchants that don’t will be faced with betraying a peace agreement, and the other merchants two moves of political suicide. “ “ Though this leads to one concern. I’ve seen you all have the martial skills to fight this war, but does your movement have individual’s with the domestic skills needed to be lead the people through rebuilding this planet once the gunfire has stopped?” (edited)

"We have some. Most are either at this table, or work for us analyzing intelligence or handling other operations that are more sensitive. Whatever talent we lack, necessity and the needs of our recovering planet will provide. "

Annie nodded at the rebel. “Momentum will be our main resource we get from taking out the remnant. Would it be possibly to have your civic talent create infrastructure and districting plans that the merchants could possibly agree to? If those are ready by the time the remnant is gone you’ll be able to take the lead in negotiations” (edited)

"Some ideas. It's hard to put anything into place without knowing how much of the city is going to be left at the end of this, but we know how to do more with less, and we know how to get things where the people need them. "

"Good. We'll need that flexibility. One problem at a time, though. We need to actually have a truce."

"We told you what the conditions are. We want a power sharing agreement, and we want them to stop shooting at us every chance they get. They're an enemy faction that wants to put their jackboots on our necks just like the Duke and now his remaining officers do. We have an agreement drawn up they can sign. We've sent it to them before and they laughed at us. but it's what we want. "

“ Could we take a look at how this agreement is worded? We may be able to put your wants in a way that that the merchants will be amicable with.”

(I didnt have a whole pre written treaty but they want 50% representation in any post war government they engage in with the merchants, and want some basic social safety net programs for all citizens)

“I’m not the talker here, but we should be able to entice them with the thought of eliminating the remnant and getting their grubby hands on what’s left. It’s your best hope.”

"If you can work out a cease fire by getting them to agree to our terms, we have no problem with abiding by it" Is all the CDL officials have to add . You have the means of travel and are a neutral party in this, so we're counting on you"

“ Is there any further incentive that can be offered to make this stick? My recommendation would be to consider what your organization lacks, and disguise asking them to do that work as a concession. For example if a group lacked diplomats they could ask for equal representation and offer the other side the power to appoint diplomats and oversee a council to handle foreign affairs. “ “ They’ll see you as giving ground when in reality your just off loading labor your not equipped for “ (edited)

“Isn’t giving them an incentive the same as giving ground? This is all we are prepared to offer. They’re free to agree or disagree , but the status quo will endure if our demands aren’t met “. The last of the delegates says. He looks to be older and of military stock compared to the rest. “This is a list of demands we are making if the merchants want an alliance. This isn’t a negotiation. There is no negotiating with them. They’re free to decline but there will be no recognized neutral status given to them or their combatants if the refuse “

“Then the prospect of victory will have to be enough. It’ll be our job to make the incentives work. Shouldn’t be a problem for you, eh Cap?” He lightly elbows Annie in jest.

Annie sighed. “ Well if it was gonna be easy we wouldn’t be here. We’ll get the job done. We’ll have both Groups meet at a neutral location to finalize details.”

"Your choice then. We will be waiting. Make no mistake, we're motivated by peace ,a nd are interested in it, but this peace is going to result into another war if we can't come to a compromise. Right now the merchant's aren't being as generous as they think they are"

“ Peace is the goal, but taking a hostile player off the board is important. I’ll forward the coordinates for where the meeting will take place.”

(they don't have anything else for you, sounds like we're going back to the merchants and setting up a safe place to talk, and from there we'll see what happens)

2

(Agreed)

Leaving the CDL behind,you board your ship and are re united with your left behind kit. As the ship moves back into orbit its powerful communications software does what it does best and begins transmitting to the planet below. You're able to find the merchants comm frequency, and they quickly connect to the systems aboard your ship.

“ We’ve have a arranged a meeting and can forward you a list of their initial demands. “

The merchants have no way of knowing what they are if you do not, so they promise to accept the transmission if you send it. They're eager to see some kind of progress in this war.

Annie faxes over the request for 50% representation in which ever government system is decided on post war.

“Think they’re gonna accept it as is? I’m not optimistic, the merchants are the ones to watch for any sort of dishonest or backstabbing behavior.”

“ I’m more worried about their stupidity. 50% government representation is more than enough to ensure the government stays off the ledgers for their businesses. They’d have to be idiots to turn down this chance to get back to business.”

“Right. Whether or not they realize that is our job.”

“ I hate to do it but I’ll put on my corpo voice if I have to.”

The merchants accept the offer, and are willing to agree to a cease fire.

Annie looked down at the reply. “ It was this easy?” She muttered in disappointment.

(its been two more months of war exhaustion since Spartos has been here last. You're also an impartial 3rd party arranging it, so there's not the mistrust they;d have when dealign with one another directly)

1

“Must be more desperate than we thought. They certainly put up a good front when we met with them. Better get these talks underway if we’re gonna get them going.”

“ Yeah they put on such a front, I expected a few demands. Makes our job easier.”

(we did the getting them together, if we want to continue to help here it would be pushing against the remains of the government, or if we're not really interested in combat or war stuff, we can move on to a new mission)

( I’m good to check out there if that’s alright. )

(Same here, I’m good with what we’ve accomplished)

(3xp, 5000 credits each. lets handle any level ups and shopping now, and we can move into something new)

( I appreciate you as a gm and this community seems cool, but I think I’m gonna call it here.)

(sounds good. Spartos, did you plan to continue on?)

(I'm going to assume no response for a few weeks is a response in itself. I'll archive everything until you are wanting to come back)