Iron Stars - valeria-arakelyan

Valeria awakens in her small room in her apartment building on Jagrati, capital of the New Moon Cooperative. It's been weeks since she put her application in to rejoin polity service- an ambitious young woman looking for something new - something to recapture a life she used to have and lost. There is a yellowed envelope sitting on the welcome mat inside your apartment. The knock of the courier is what must have woken you up, and the bronze slightly corroded mail slot is still swinging gently with the force of the paper being pushed through. The refrigerator is gurgling again, and outside you can hear the road work crew once again hammering away at something just below the street- making just enough noise to be a disturbance now that you are awake.

2

Val sits up, startled. Without realizing it, her hand had shot to the pistol hidden beneath her pillow. As her heart rate goes back down to normal, she stands up, stretches, and goes to retrieve the envelope.

"Come on," she mutters to herself, "it's been two months already. He's not going to find you here."

The envelope is stamped with the seal of the NMC government on the front and paper mail is generally used for actual semi secure orders and higher. Whatever this is seems to be the real deal. Inside you can see a note stating you’ve been selected for a special government project based on your previous experience as a spacer, something urgently needed for a coming assignment. You and the other selected candidates are to meet at the palace tonight to meet with the special military council for more details and questions. The letter advises you that if selected you’ll be gone for some time

She spends the rest of the day getting her affairs in order before leaving.

09:51

(I assume she won't be able to hold onto the apartment?)

(You can hold onto it )

01:57

The group is about twenty individuals , meeting st the steps of the palace when you finally make it there. Someone in the uniform of the Cooperative home office is waiting at the top of the steps with a datapad and looks like they’re about to begin the briefing , generally giving the details and from there those interested will remain. The group looks about evenly split between security types and more expert administrators , the ship already has a crew attached to it as part of normal cooperative navy operations.

01:58

Around you the lights of the palace gradually begin coming on and the summer sun hangs lower in the sky turning it a brilliant shade of Cooperative yellow , a good omen for sure.

Valeria nudges the person next to her. "Any idea what sort of job this is?"

1

They don’t get a chance to answer. The briefing is long but a Cooperative agent named Clara Kenner found 50,000 colonists on a nearby world who had been cut off from the cooperative. The fleshshapers destroyed the ecosystem of the planet and it’s slowly dying , leaving too little water and too little food to support the people living there now. Evacuation is the only solution and this mission is going to use one of the NMC troop carriers to bring them here to Jagrati. The main danger is panic and people stampeding at the destination in their bid to get to landing crafts for safety. Inventorying who is coming in, their specialties and keeping an eye out for any opportunistic banditry that may hamper evacuation operations are all responsibilities of the contract , and the mayor there has kept news of the coming evacuation to a minimum to prevent rioting.

Sounds like it will pay well, she thinks. She reads over her packet once more. (Any idea on what the payment will be?) (edited)

(generally its at least 5,000 credits for a short mission but I usually don't advertise credit amounts ahead of time- if something ends up being more work than expected I will do more, if our thread boils down to "I do the thing" or there's very little detail, might be less since there's nothing much to judge your work based off) (edited)

(ok cool! And will other PCs be joining or is this a solo mission?)

(First mission is usually solo so I can see how we mesh and whatnot. NMC doesn’t have a lot of people in it and everyone else is in the middle of something as well )

As the briefing concludes, Valeria reads the room to get a preliminary assessment of who might be on the mission with her. Specifically, she's assessing the brain-to-muscle ratio.

The team looks to be favoring security. About 75% of the 50 people going aboard the transport ship with you looks to be focused on security , namely close quarters. You can imagine the locals being somewhat panicked to get a spot on the various small boats meant to bring them to the evacuation ship. The rest look to be administrators and experts to assist with various last minute duties at the destination like shutting down reactors, copying surviving local records and so on.

Valeria then does whatever she needs to do in order to get onboard the transport ship. She has been doing her best to lay low in the wake of her escape from Milton's clutches, so she has very few affairs that need to be taken care of.

1

(We've got six days of downtime from here to the destination system. I'll post the world anvil article for it, and downtime can be found in our rulebook in #rules-and-books

15:44

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

Skandalis

Ok great!

(just let me know what you want to spend the downtime on, and we'll get to business!)

Valeria spends her time learning as much as she can about Skandalis. In particular, she will be looking for information on the influential people who live there

Clara Kepner identified the mayor as the only real influential person on the ground. The rest of the locals are refugees from the dying areas in the rest of the planet- all fleeing toward the shrinking green belt, and the city of Henge in the middle of it all. No time for a real social order to have emerged from all the different personalities rapidly melding together had happened yet, and with the evacuation ship now arriving in the system- likely won't. Lights and chimes begin sounding on the deck as you emerge from the six days of travel, announcing you'll be on the planet in six hours as the sublight engines fire at maximum speed. The expedition deck where the cargo lighters are kept is a busy place, and the place you're meant to report to for a short address by the captain, and the ground team lead.

Valeria does one more pack check before departing for the expedition deck.

The lighters are being fueled and will be many trips from the surface to the ship and back before everyone is rescued. The briefing is what you'd expect. People are going to panic. There might be violence either in the crowd or against evacuation fleet members. The rules of engagement are simple- If you fire to protect yourself, innocent life, or a member of your team- even if you shoot first- then the shooting is justified- but the team is not here to massacre a population before carrying away survivors. They expect many people in the mob will be armed, and securing power cells or physical ammunition or securing weapons themselves is something that is going to have to be determined on the ground.

20:08

(if you need anything clarified we can do that now, or else we can get right into it)

(let's get into it!)

Henge is a large town made even larger with the sea of tents and scrap shelters going up both in and around it. Your launch craft sets down a kilometer outside the city on its north side- away from the populace for the moment, but you've no doubt been seen coming down. You've been put in charge of this section of the evacuation thanks to a quick field promotion on the way down. Five soldiers, and an administration expert also accompany you. You can already see activity in the town as the ramp begins to lower - and an open topped jeep begins making its way to your landing site. The figure in the passenger seat matches a photo of the mayor you;ve been given, and then park 20 short meters from you, approaching slowly once they get out with their hands visible.

"Madam mayor? I'm Valeria Arakelyan. What's the situation here?"

Clara points to the portly man making his way out of the vehicle. "He's the mayor, I'm the Cooperative scout sent ahead to see what was happening here. News of the evacuation hasn't been widely shared yet but we're not going to be able to keep a lid on this for long. We want to move people expediently, but we want to prevent a panic as well. Food and water are getting low in Henge. We're on rationing already, and there are a few sicknesses in the community you'll want to screen for, and get treatment for once they're aboard the transport ship. I think some proper nutrition will do these people well, and prevent the worst of the issues. We do need to come up with an evacuation plan, and I've come out here with the mayor (who has now joined you and is listening )to talk things over. "

"Mr. Mayor, we're glad to see you. Sorry to hear about the troubles on the planet, we're here to make sure we can get you and your people off-world as soon as possible. First order of business: we need any available doctors, nurses, and medical staff to set up a screening clinic to make sure we're not bringing anything dangerous onboard. We'll also need your staff to get everyone organized and ready to go. Once they do that, we can start to issue emergency supplies in a fair and orderly fashion while we start moving groups onto the evac ships."

1

20:06

She points at the jeep. "We're, ah, most likely going to need that to help move supplies. Mind if we borrow it?"

20:08

Valeria adjusts her NMC jacket in a way that emphasizes the logo on her chest.

"Of course, its yours. We need to get back to the village ,why don't you come with us, get eyes on the place, and you can drive it back "

She looks at the mayor to see if he's telling the truth, or if there is something he's hiding. Then, she signals to the guards to come with her as she climbs into the jeep.

He has no reason to lie about this or much of anything. He has little power now and loses nothing by evacuating Henge.

16:09

(Not sure what you thought was a lie. If that didn’t answer your questions let me know)

(she's mainly trying to see if this mayor is genuine in his intentions to get his people off world safely or if he's trying to profit off of it in some way)

He seems earnest in his desire to want the people of Henge to be safe. Homes and factories can be made somewhere else. Lives cannot be replaced he explains as you drive through the village. You can see sickness and suffering everywhere and he looks to have taken on a number of those same physical and mental scars himself. “I lost my wife and two kids to the Grey Pox in the first few months after the shapers left. Spread like wildfire through Henge. Almost everyone got it. More people come in from the countryside all the time. I don’t want any other families to have to go through this “

As they drive to the village, Valeria scans the horizon. As they pass by a plague-stricken camp tucked behind a thicket of bushes, Valeria asks, "Tell me more about this Pox. How does it spread?"

15:08

Seeing his discomfort at the question, Valeria attempts to reassure the mayor. "I know this is painful to talk about it, but we need to know the details in order to best set up an evac procedure."

"Through air, coughing specifically, not to be gross but we think it bonds to the droplets that eject from the body during coughing and sneezing. We ran out of enough atmofilters and spare filters a long time ago, and the disease more or less ravaged the community. E veryone left here from the original people living in Henge had a natural immunity for recovering from the disease. We made a vaccine based on that, but we don't have the kind of lab set up you really need to mass produce something like that. I would say with all the immigrants coming in, maybe 1 in 4 is immune now, between the original people getting sick, and those who were inoculated later. We're sitting on a hotbed of it spreading again. Otherwise, food and water are also becoming thin here. We're supporting far more people than this region was ever intended to support. We're on rationing, supplies will hold for another month or two, but morale is low due to the hunger"

Valeria pulls out her compad (or one of the soldiers') and sends the following message to the evacuation coordinator: "I recommend distributing the following message to all volunteers: There is an airborne illness spreading through the local population. Everyone should wear an atmofilter if available."

14:42

"Additionally, our medical teams should get to work in synthesizing a vaccine against the illness."

14:43

(How much time can Valeria expect an evacuation to take?)

(Kind of depends what you think some prudent moves might be. Cargo lighters can make 3 flights an hour and can have a hundred or so people packed into them for that short of a transit, I think the things that would slow you down would be medical screening and any potential unrest )

"I also recommend we start screening for the illness ASAP and getting those deemed healthy onboard the cargo lighters."

Entering the center of the city the vehicle parks in front of the Mayor's office. "You said you wanted to see the settlement before this got moving. Is there something specific you were interested in? "

"I'm interested in the living situations of the people here. See if anything we can do to offer some extra help to those we can't get out earlier."

“Well the jeep is yours. I’ll begin getting information together for the first wave of people to send out to your ships. Feel free to tour about town and see things for yourself. “

(I didn't get you a lot to work with, this isn't a bump but I'm going to move us on since there's not much for you to do but say "okay i go drive") Passing from the center of the city to the slums you can see that the water situation here is perilous. People are clustering around dirty well water and pipes forced up from underground. You see many of the poeple here are thin, showing obvious signs of malnutrition, and are wearing clothes that have been patched and repatched several times over. Weapons are abundant but this armed society seems to be a polite one so far, and you don't see much disorder around where water or food are being distributed. Everything here is recycled. Nothing is new, and these people are suffering the same slow death that their planet is.

Valeria notes that she should pick up a load of emergency water purifiers when she gets back to her ship.

18:27

In fact, seeing as that's the most apparent need, she turns around and heads back to speak with the quartermaster.

You're able to connect with the Ship quartermaster via your compad. He has not descended with the other away team members, needing to remain in orbit aboard the ship to facilitate the settling of people coming in, and the distribution of goods aboard the ship. none the less, you're the first ground team member to report in, he is ready to listen and support.

(oh eff, my last message didnt send)

15:40

"Hey Lt. Pacho, it's Valeria. How many water purifiers and how much PPE do we have on board to spare? Looks like we have quite the biohazard down here."

"The locker has enough for the crew, and we can dip into our extended stores for another 100 sets, but not enough for nearly everyone down there. We have a couple options, quarantine once aboard and we only decon ourselves, and they get released into a camp once we get to Jagrati until their symptoms are handled, or we try to get the healthy ones out, and treat the rest on the ground there - making two trips "

"We should avoid making two trips if possible. If we leave the sickest behind, things will get much worse; untreatable, even. We can't risk the crew getting sick either. I suggest we pull as many sets as we can spare. We can triage on the ground and bring aboard the sickest and ensure they stay separate from the crew. Then bring aboard a mix of sick and healthy people and evacuate as many as we can."

17:35

"This should lower the strain on the available resources and help those who have to stay behind survive a little bit longer."

(I think you've put forward the best plan we can given the situation. I'm sure you're eager to get this resolved and get into the things you personally find interesting, so we can fast forward to the results or first bumps in the plan if any if you want to)

(sure thing!)

By evening the first of the medical supplies have made it to the planets surface and two immigration collection points have been established. NMC agents have begun moving into Henge to collect the most sick, though there is a bit of unrest ship armsmen need to break up at the imagery of hazard suited offworlders seemingly randomly selecting people to be taken away. Tensions are elevated but simmering as you begin the first of the screenings, doing what you can to keep the most sick isolated once they make it up to the colony ship and the landers are sanitized in between each run. There is some violence near the center of the city overnight as a few rival gangs decide to try to settle some scores between them before leaving the legal gray area of the frontier. At the western collection center, the first wave of those who are well begin streaming in by morning, and the tensions begin settling down. There is likely going to be a second wave of infection starting during the voyage home, and authorities on Jagrati will be getting a message from your ship a few days before you're scheduled to enter the system when it comes time to finally depart. Every twenty minutes there is a lander flight from the surface to space and within the next two days Henge has been evacuated, and everyone is ready for the long journey home. There may be challenge and tension on the way, but the first half of your task is complete.

Valeria stands by for further orders

(3xp and 5000 credits for what we did so far. That should level you up, so we can handle that first )

(ooh great, I'll go ahead and do that!)

(Her HP increased to 9, she gained Administer and Shoot at level 0, and increased her Talk to 2. She took the Alert focus, which also grants her the Notice skill at 0.) Valeria spends her free time practicing shooting with the security team. From her work during the evacuation, she's gained invaluable training in the arts of administration and negotiation.

1

Upon reaching Benavides for fuel it becomes apparent that the sickness in the lower decks is spreading despite your best efforts to keep things clean. A few crew members are sick with it now as well due the ship air scrubbers not being able to keep up with what is demanded of them. The ship service depot here is six hours away and is debating with the captain of the vessel on if they should let you dock, given the communicable disease on board.

1

15:24

On the bridge, you're listening into the conversation, and the captain is entertaining any ideas in terms of how this could be handled.

"Captain, if I may... their hesitancy to allow us to dock is reasonable. True, we are in less than ideal conditions, but this was to be expected. Perhaps we can set our technicians to improving the efficiency of our scrubbers?"

16:46

"The ship itself isn't in any immediate danger. If refueling can be managed without biological contact between the crews, what do we risk by continuing on to Jagrati?"

16:47

"What I'm saying is this: there's no need to put the station in danger. We can forgo the run-of-the-mill maintenance if it means saving lives in the long run."

"Alternatively, we could offload a portion of the healthy survivors on Benavides to reduce our load. Then we continue on to our destination."

(would it be ok to go back and swap a skill from my level up? I realized I dont have anything in Lead and would like to keep talk at 1, and raise Lead)

(sure, lets get that handled out and we'll continue)

18:27

"Scopping fuel here with our own scoops means four days in orbit. Four days the people in the hold might not have, as opposed to just six hours to quickly get what we need from the ship service depot here"

"ah, it seems you misunderstood me, Captain. What I meant is that we should continue onto the station but minimize contact between the crews. I can help oversee our efforts to minimize contamination."

18:43

Valeria is still riding the high from helping the evacuation. For the first time, she feels like she's a part of something greater. However, it's made her somewhat overeager to help.

(Talk/cha)

00:51

(The station at this time isn’t going to let you dock even with minimal contact so we need to somehow convince them)

(Talk/Cha: 7)

The station has a plan. They can do this through EVA but refueling and repairs are dangerously done this way. They’ll need assistance from your own crew and with everyone in space , in a vac suit, there’s no chance for accidental contamination

"It's a good idea, Captain. We can take our time -- a few extra hours of work will save more lives in the long run."

"This was your plan. I'd like you out there if you think you can handle it. We need all the help we can get"

Valeria nods. She moves next to the ship's communications officer. "I'll admit that I'm no comms or programming guru, but I know that we'll need to coordinate expertly between the teams. Let's set up a meeting with the chief engineer of our ship, the chief engineer of the station, you, and me to see if we can work out system that'll minimize contact while optimizing communication."

1

08:38

She opens her commpad and sends the following message to one of the ship engineers in the directory: Hello Lieutenant. Please forward to me a summary of ship docking and remote refueling procedures ASAP. Sending 3 credits for coffee with this message. (edited)

The ship will forgo docking rings and will refuse crew transfers. Ship stores won’t be topped off since the cargo bay comes in contact with where the evacuees are being stored. Fuel can be run from outside the ship through several maintenance compartments to the reactor , and they’ll need a team running the hose through it.

Valeria will help oversee the team running the hose through the maintenance compartments. Prior to the transfer, however, she'd like to spend some time studying the procedures.

1

(I dont have a specific ship floorplan or anything, I figured we'd just RP moving through the ship and skill checks at points that make sense)

(sure thing, I generally prefer theater of the mind anyway. Since Val isn't a technician, I figured she would need to spend some time with ye olde operator's manual)

It seems like to start, you'll be getting into a vac suit to meet the engineering team on the outside of the ship, on the roof of the ship's mid point where the engineering panel can be pried away and the hose run. Technicians can handle the actual procedure, but a face like yourself is going to be needed to keep the tense situation from boiling over, and an extra set of hands can never hurt. Yourself and two other ship crew prepare to head topside via an airlock. Tethers and mag boots will help keep you to the hull as you move around.

"Comms check. Everyone good to go?"

The team sounds off one by one. They are ready. The shipyard personnel are nervous even with all the containment procedures in place, but are ready to work none the less.

(hey my apologies, I'm on vacation in Istanbul but will be back Friday!)

(Enjoy your trip!)

"Let's move out! Watch your tethers, everyone."

The team begins unspooling the large fueling cable, bringing it over to the exterior maintaining hatch, where a team inside is going to begin winding it through the ship. The shipyards folks are nervous, even out here with the void of space and two layers of vacuum hardened suit between them and direct contact with anyone from your vessel.

"Don't fret, friends. Any pathogens on our suits and equipment are getting toasted by the radiation from the sun."

1

Your steady leadership over the next few hours outside the vessel and radioing to those withing keeps everyone calm. The ship is refueled after a long six hours, almost remotely, and although ship stores cannot be replenished, empty bellies will have a chance to be filled once you make your way to Jagrati. (from there, its up to you if we want to move into other things or not i know this 'first mission' has been basically your entire time here so far)

After returning to her quarters for a shower and nap, she heads out to see if she can meet with the captain.

09:27

(this is fun, no worries! I care less about advancement and more about the story. I like the fact that I've only rolled once)

The captain has returned to his place on the bridge and you can see he is now wearing his full ship suit inside, with the helmet closed and locked. some other members of the bridge crew are doing the same right now.

(the bridge is sealed off, I presume?)

(not for you since you're crew, but for the general public)

Seeing how busy they are, she heads for the mess hall. She sits at one of the tables reserved for officers.b

(He would have talked to you, they're just taking plague precautions, that was all i was trying to signal)

(ahh I see)

16:37

In any case, she'll wait for a time until it's appropriate to approach the captain for a quick chat

16:38

(we can say she revisits the bridge in an hour, having realized the suits were for the plague)

16:38

"Captain, do you have a moment?"

"Of course. We're just going to be moving for a few hours before hitting the system jump point. Thanks for your work keeping everyone calm out there"

"I was happy to do my part. I'm glad to be a part of the team. In fact, I'd like to continue working with the NMC in some sort of humanitarian or diplomatic role. Would you happen to have any leads?"

The Cooperative could use some kind of peacemaker. My report is going to mention the contributions you've made to this mission and I think you'd be able to hang your hat on it.

17:42

"This far from Jagrati I'm not sure what the current news is, we won't find out until we make port. By time you get through decontamination when we get there, and then the quarantine for symptoms I think there will be plenty of leads- and my report will be in plenty of hands:

"Thank you Captain. I'll be looking forward to what the future brings."

17:59

Valeria will spend the rest of her free time on the ship getting to know the crew and sifting through the news & entertainment feeds downloaded on the ship.

Entering Jagrati a few days later you finally get clearance to head planetside and undergo decon and release. The colonists will be handed by follow on groups of administrators and your duty is done.

13:34

The captains report circulates and it seems that you’ll have your pick of assignments around the cooperative now. All you have to do is announce your interest.

13:34

(If you didn’t have any immediate plans I can get a mission list together , but I’ll defer to any ideas you might have first )

(Sure thing, what's on the list?)

(nothing you've seen or read jumping out at you? )

(Meda seems like an interesting place to start. Seems like a lot of diplomatic effort is needed there)

(There are a bunch of crawlers we haven't contacted, would you want to spearhead spreading some NMC connections out there?)

(sure!)

(4 days of downtime for the shuttle ride from Jagrati to Meda, we don't need to worry about packing a ton of trade goods or anything right now, mostly just seeing whats happening on the ground and what we can do)

Valeria spends the time tending to any duties she's been assigned. When not on duty, she hangs out in the crew common areas like the gym & cafeteria in order to get to know the people onboard.

12:14

She naturally gravitates towards the officers.

(if there was info or something you needed we can play that out, otherwise im happy to get us there)

(let's get to it)

1

Arriving in orbit over Meda you can see the first tendrils of green spreading plants on the planet below. Many of the crawlers are still continuing their endless treks across the sand to find whatever resources they can and tensions within them are ebbing as the powerful wire storms on the surface no longer demand a constant flow of parts and materials just to keep their hot, cramped homes moving. 35 million people still live here, crammed into the city sized desert crossing machines, and their movements are something you can easily track from space.

(from what I gather from World Anvil, Medans no longer need to live the scavenger lifestyle due to the new biosphere, correct?)

(it is moving in that direction, the transformation of their world is going to be a longer process than this. Right now things are better and there is more to go around but they still need to move somewhat regularly to find resources)

14:43

(There just isnt as much of the do or die intensity that there was before)

She goes to the shuttle pilot.

16:52

"so, where on Meda are we heading?"

"We don't have an ordered destination. We can see where the crawlers are. Figured yo'd decide where to land and we can see how the first group of locals are doing, try to generate some leads and goodwill from there"

"Let's do that. I bet the crawlers plan routes and destinations based on the locations of various resources. Perhaps we can land at a nexus."

(the crawlers are highlighted on the meda map, we can pick one to land near and go from there)

"Right. Let's go for the crawler in the middle of the map, on the main continent."

Upon landing, your ship comes in within 500m of the crawler and they have come to a halt to meet with you. The scale of the vehicle is immense as tens of thousands of people live and work inside.

1

18:07

18:07

(for scale)

Upon realizing how large the crawler is, Valeria shivers. She turns to one of the members of her delegation. "So, I presume those things are armed?"

"They are, but they're Cooperative citizens. They have no reason to use them on us. They used them on each other quite often before they joined the Cooperative during the resource skirmishes they fought with one another"

She nods. "Well, let's get this show on the road." She steps off the ship's ramp onto the surface of Meda.

The crawlers main expedition ramp lowers and you see dozens of people beginning to make their way out into the warm Meda sunshine. There is almost a carnival like atmosphere of sorts at the prospect of greeting an off world guest and at the head of their delegation three human figures in red robes with an onyx colored trim lead the others out. They look to be in charge of the crawler and one walks with the assistance of a cane made from recycled rebar and piping. "Greetings, Cooperative Representatives!" he calls, making his way down the ramp with support from the others, his people keeping in step behind him.

Not exactly sure what she's supposed to do, Valeria gives a short bow from the chest. "Greetings. I am..."

19:24

For a minute, she forgets which title she's supposed to use.

19:24

"My name is Valeria Arakelyan. Who do we have the pleasure of addressing?"

"I am the captain of this crawler , Captain Corso, and our crawler is named the same, the Corso. We did not expect the Cooperative to send someone to greet us so quickly, and in person none the less. Your visit is well received"

"Well, as one of the NMC's newest members, naturally we want you to feel welcomed and supported. It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain."

"You've surely come for more than just to say hello. How can we help you? More importantly, we'll hope you stay for the festival. An honored guest from offworld is more than enough reason to celebrate!"

"The NMC made a commitment to Meda, and we're here to help see it through. A festival, you say? I was unaware we were arriving during one!"

“Any time we have contact from off world it is a reason to celebrate. Clan Amol welcomes you as an honored guest and recipient of our hospitality. Come. Come. We will walk together and talk about Meda”

Valeria follows. "So, has there been any resistance to Meda joining the NMC?"

"Each clan has a different opinion. Most of the resistance to it, or pride against joining it went away when the Cooperative was able to transform the climate and got the wire storms to stop. How does one show that kind of ingratitude to the main challenge to our lives suddenly going away. There are always slavers and worse things out in the sands that no doubt are going to find it harder to operate now"

"There are always those who would prefer to keep the status quo. As that is the case, you can consider our mission as one of ironing out any of the last few kinks so that we can get you fully integrated with the NMC."

19:09

(my apologies, been distracted -- I live in a country that borders Russia and the past week has been stressful mentally)

19:11

(for this mission, I think Valeria is looking to resolve some conflicts specifically with those opposed to the NMC with the overall goal of giving Meda the reputation boost it needs as a newly-inducted planet)

(I cannot even imagine, no worries, well we'll get into some issue then)

17:01

"The deserts sands are dangerous,. there are still slavers out there, and now that the wire storms have cleared there are all kinds of small skirmishes over resources or settling down near the most prosperous areas"

"So, pacification seems to be your current priority. I'd like to offer my services, if you'd have me."

"We'd welcome any help you want to give. There are many dangers out in the sands, and making them safe means we can help the Cooperative, not just ourselves"

As they continue their walk, Valeria asks more and more specific questions about the issues in the deserts. She's looking to get specific names and places.

There are no fixed places in the desert. Communities move on massive crawlers and ruins from under the sand can be exposed and then buried again over the course of a day if the winds and sands are right. To the south they last had a distress call that a clan of slavers was in the and were chasing down a much smaller crawler. The signal ended about 20 kilometers from your current position but any assault on this crawler would be foolhardy. If the slavers have a name for their criminal band, the locals do not know it.

"Corso, how many souls are aboard your crawler? If it came to a direct engagement, could you hold off slavers?"

“Easily. We have over 50,000 souls on board and dozens of picket vehicles we can deploy if they come this close. They wouldn’t survive “

"Would the slavers be open to negotiating?"

“Probably not if slaves aren’t part of the price and that’s not something we are willing to entertain. We won’t sell our people into that fate and the slavers are a blight on this planet. They should be exterminated “

"I would never suggest such an arrangement, but the slaving must be stopped -- preferably without mass bloodshed." Valeria rubs her chin thoughtfully, then turns back to Corso. "How difficult would it be for you to rally your allies against the slavers? Perhaps, with a strong enough display of force, we could give the slavers a chance to give up their ways."

“We can easily coordinate with them especially with polity backing and the fact you’ve handled the wire storms here. We can divert enough away from other resource gathering operations to try to stop this. What’s your plan if they decide to fight it out. You’re going to have to become comfortable with the fact that blood is going to have to be spilled now to prevent more later “

"I can see if the NMC would be willing to provide logistical and tactical support. However, that's above my paygrade; I must speak with the ambassador about your predicament first."

16:12

"I worry that too much force might signal to some that the NMC allies are more of an occupier than an ally. The bulk of the push must come from you and the other crawlers.

(we can bring it up in the polity chat as well, and the group can discuss sending in forces. The NMC army isn't deployed anywhere at the moment)

(I figured that's where it was going -- I'll write something up)

(sounds great!)

17:15

(there's plenty of mission for you to do too but this will at least give you the additional forces) (edited)

As Valeria brainstorms some solutions, she contacts the ambassador. "Ambassador, this is Arakelyan. I'm sending you a report on the status with the Medans. In summary, we have amicable relations. However, the slave trading situation in the deserts is still a major problem. Before we take any potentially drastic measures, I would like to meet these slavers and find out what motivates them to take slaves in the first place."

There is a long pause on the line as your words are digested. "Meeting with slavers? Do you have any assurances from them or the locals that you won't just end up as another product for them to sell, or ransom back to us?"

"I'll admit that no, I don't. But the risks could be minimized by meeting at a neutral location with a security team keeping eyes on things."

06:47

"The slavers know they are outnumbered and outgunned. I don't think they'd pass up a chance to put up some demands on their own."

"And if you become collateral for those demands? The Cooperative won't negotiate for your release. I want to make you aware of that before you commit to this action"

"I mean sure, it's a possibility. It's possible Corso might, however."

15:06

"Here is my idea: we offer Corso the support of the NMC forces if things get bad, contingent on them helping me if the slavers go back on their word. That way, the NMC wouldn't negotiate the release, but Corso would have the negotiating power."

15:06

"The slavers are backed into the corner. Pit them in an unwinnable fight, and they'll burn down as much as possible. I hope that can be avoided by offering them an out. I think it'll be worth the risk."

'I don't like it, but you were sent here to solve problems and you're the only one with a solution., so we'll back you on this while you negotiate. We can give you transport out to them, and from there we'll have to see what the slavers do"

"I'll wear security armor if that'll make you feel better."

(I didn't really have anything else to add here, he did his job to try to convince you not to go, but we can get you brought to the slaver crawler when you're ready)

(let's do it!)

(if you wanted to requisition some stuff, we could before you get into the meeting)

(maybe some diplomatic clothing with security clothing underneath? I forget what the entry is in the rulebook , I know there is an armor like that)

(The armored undersuit?)

(yep that)

An armored undersuit that fits is found for you and with done desert robes over it that would look in place at a diplomatic function. The shuttle that brought you here drops you off about a kilometer from the slavers and upon noticing the ship their crawler turns to approach you. You can see several armed men on the roof, at least a half dozen.

Valeria radios the shuttle. "Keep in comm range. If things start to get hairy, contact the NMC."

They affirm, and otherwise lift off to circle the meeting so they can keep an eye on things while remaining unobserved. You feel on your own now with the swirls of sand dying away, leaving you staring down the approaching crawler.

Valeria moves to the top of a small hill and stands to face the crawler. She waits.

The crawler parks 100M from you and it’s front ramp lowers. Rusty metal kicks up desert sand and three slavers in tattered armor and several layers of desert robe emerge from it and begin making their way over to you, weapons held low but ready