1610: More old campaign news (part 1 of 2)
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From: [r--dd--n] at [ttidca.TTI.COM] (John Redden)
Subject: Other Suns : 15
------------------ OS.15 ----------------------------------------
This is being posted to the net by myself for Niall Shapero.
Others Suns is copyright by Niall Shapero. This gaming material is
distributed on a shareware basis. If you do not use the material you
owe the author nothing. If you do use it please pay him what you
think it is worth at a fair price becasue it took a damn lot of work
to develop and playtest. The USmail address is:
Niall Shapero
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Los Angeles CA 90066
USA
Those of you with modems can dial into his BBS using this phone number:
(213)822-6729
Please email any comments to my electronic mailing address and I will
pass them on to Niall.
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Official Truth
Novaya Amerika
July 8, 1802 AE (campaign date roughly equivalent to 19 May 1986)
COMMONALITY NAVY RE-ENLISTMENT RATES DOWN
by Alirona Nicolaevna, Staff Reporter
SOUTH PORT--Early this morning, mates and offspring of naval
personnel of the 369th Assault Group will fill the observatories
outside South Port to catch their first glimpse of the attack
carrier Zverev and its escorts the Manitoba, Nemesis, and Cygnus
since they left on routine patrol of the DMZ in early January of
1799.
The 369th, its mission extended from twelve months to over forty-
two by increased client state conflicts in the Zone, will bring
home 8,295 navy personnel. Several pilots off the Zverev landed
earlier this week at South Pole Base in advance of the main
force.
Three Year Patrol
More than its crew, the Zverev brings home a growing problem for
the Navy: How can the Navy persuade its personnel to stay in the
service when they are commonly required to leave home for upwards
of three years at a time?
"This isn't the Suzrainty," said Commonality Representative John
Towers, "Maybe the three-year separation is getting to be too
long for the softer citizens of Novaya Amerika and the Commonal-
ity."
The First Secretary of the Novaya Amerikan Navy, Mikhail Nicolae-
vitch Bakurin, said that pressures arising in the home against
re-enlistment has become a significant problem in his effort to
find enough personnel to provide the 4,000-ship NA Naval "contri-
bution" dictated by Commonality Directive 1209. "We've definite-
ly seen the effect of this in the last ten years," he said in an
interview. "Since the Hainite civil war shifted the burden of
frontier defense to the Commonality, patrol times have grown
steadily; and the wives of our men in uniform have not been
pleased by the consequences of our added responsibilities."
To ease the Navy's burden on family men, Bakurin is working with
Commonality Representative Towers in trying to hold down the
length of time ships are on patrol. But the NA and Commonality
Navies' growing commitments come first, ahead of the family
lives of Fleet personnel.
As a consequence, said Admiral Sherisa Linehoffer, NA Fleet
Commander, the number one reason for leaving the Navy "is without
a doubt family separation."
Official Truth
Novaya Amerika
July 8, 1802 AE (campaign date roughly equivalent to 19 May 1986)
COMMONALITY NAVY RE-ENLISTMENT RATES DOWN
by Alirona Nicolaevna, Staff Reporter
SOUTH PORT--Early this morning, mates and offspring of naval
personnel of the 369th Assault Group will fill the observatories
outside South Port to catch their first glimpse of the attack
carrier Zverev and its escorts the Manitoba, Nemesis, and Cygnus
since they left on routine patrol of the DMZ in early January of
1799.
The 369th, its mission extended from twelve months to over forty-
two by increased client state conflicts in the Zone, will bring
home 8,295 navy personnel. Several pilots off the Zverev landed
earlier this week at South Pole Base in advance of the main
force.
Three Year Patrol
More than its crew, the Zverev brings home a growing problem for
the Navy: How can the Navy persuade its personnel to stay in the
service when they are commonly required to leave home for upwards
of three years at a time?
"This isn't the Suzrainty," said Commonality Representative John
Towers, "Maybe the three-year separation is getting to be too
long for the softer citizens of Novaya Amerika and the Commonal-
ity."
The First Secretary of the Novaya Amerikan Navy, Mikhail Nicolae-
vitch Bakurin, said that pressures arising in the home against
re-enlistment has become a significant problem in his effort to
find enough personnel to provide the 4,000-ship NA Naval "contri-
bution" dictated by Commonality Directive 1209. "We've definite-
ly seen the effect of this in the last ten years," he said in an
interview. "Since the Hainite civil war shifted the burden of
frontier defense to the Commonality, patrol times have grown
steadily; and the wives of our men in uniform have not been
pleased by the consequences of our added responsibilities."
To ease the Navy's burden on family men, Bakurin is working with
Commonality Representative Towers in trying to hold down the
length of time ships are on patrol. But the NA and Commonality
Navies' growing commitments come first, ahead of the family
lives of Fleet personnel.
As a consequence, said Admiral Sherisa Linehoffer, NA Fleet
Commander, the number one reason for leaving the Navy "is without
a doubt family separation."
86,000 single parents
It is only in the last decade that long deployments have become
routine, Brevna said. Now, during a normal ten year tour, an
Enforcement Navy man can expect two and possibly three three-year
patrols. Some Naval personnel return to see a child for the
first time when he is spending his first year in school.
And even during a Navy man's time at home, frequent planetary
space training missions mean that he probably will spend half of
that time off-planet as well. The Zverev, which returns to
Novaya Amerika this week after an forty-two month patrol, spent
only three months in Novaya orbit in the year preceeding its
departure.
Training missions prove particularly frustrating for the crews of
ships assigned to defense of Novaya Amerika. They may spend
months in Novaya system space -- out of touch with their families
but still within sight of their homeworld.
Separation may have less of an impact on Navy families than it
has on others. Professor Valentina Dubrovna, a mathematical psy-
chologist at the 2 City Akademy Nauk, said that military families
"have a more rigid sense of duty and obligation," and they are
more likely to accept a spouse's absence if necessary for the
continued safety of the motherworld.
An in-system fighter pilot with two teen-age children insisted
that, despite his three extended deployments during his 15 years
in the Navy, "I don't think I've neglected my children."
But he has paid a price. The officer, who could not be named
under Navy security ground rules because he had served aboard the
Zverev during its deployment in the DMZ, has been home with his
children two years out of the last ten, and missed the births of
both children.
"He wasn't really involved," his wife said. "These kinds of ex-
periences I definitely have deep regrets about. Not resentment,
but regret. He has missed that."
Bakurin said the problem of finding able-bodied sailors "has been
with navies since the beginning of time."
"Back on old Earth, impressing merchant marine personnel into the
Navies was a common practice," he said, referring to the 2nd
century pre-atomic British Navy practice. "We have better tech-
niques now."
One of these techniques was to limit the duration of far patrols.
In the last decade, when patrol durations crept up to four years,
the Navy has faced a severe shortage of senior enlisted and
engineering specialist personnel -- considered crucial to the
operation of a ship. The Navy has tried to persuade needed
personnel to stay by offering re-enlistment bonuses (a practice
frowned upon under Combine and Althing law, and forbidden under
Suzrainty and Directorate law).
"But bonuses failed," Admiral Linehoffer recalled. "The basic
problem remained -- 'Daddy was out THERE for three or four
years.'"
When the superdreadnought Hirata returned from a five year patrol
at the edge of the DMZ, Linehoffer said, "retention was only 45%,
morale was terrible. Captain Shrenovskii resigned, along with
half his bridge crew, rather than try taking out the Hirata
again."
The Navy is trying to hold patrols down to eighteen months. A
spokesman said the Navy has found that to be an idea patrol
length: long enough to make efficient use of a ship but not so
long that morale becomes a serious problem.
The Navy has not always met this goal. The battleship Silva left
Novaya Amerika South Pole Base in April of 1792 and returned last
March, nearly ten years later after taking part in operations
along the Frontier, and in exercises in the DMZ and near the
border with the Auuran Independent Territories. It made no port
visits during its 863,000 light-year voyage; it was resupplied
with fuel, ammunition, and other needed materials by Military
Space Transport Command cargo carriers in deep space.
"When the Navy went through all the ballyhoo on cutting down on
patrol durations, it didn't count on the Hainite Civil War,"
Linehoffer said.
Maybe it should have. According to a study by Academician Ilyena
Kapliski of the Novaya Rossiyan Institute for Advanced Studies
and Academician Josif Chang of the 2 City Akademy Nauk, such a
civil war has been inevitable since the decision in 1778 by the
Hainite Board of Strategy to increase security and defense expen-
ditures. This increase came at the expense of what few social
welfare programs the Hainite central government had maintained
over the centuries.
To meet demands being placed upon the NA Navy by the Commonality,
Bakurin is overseeing the growth of the NA fleet from the 2,348
vessels in service at the time of Commonality Directive 1209 to a
target of 4,000 ships.
Navy Grows
The NA Navy's personnel has been growing dramatically in recent
years, from 8,328,000 in 1780 to 12,480,000 in 1800 to an ex-
pected 13,109,000 next year.
Beyond trying to limit patrol lengths, the NA Navy has estab-
lished its family assistance program in recognition of the
hardships faced by Navy families. CBBSs updated daily provide
information to those at home about ships' progress and about
assistance available to Navy families.
The NA Navy has come a long way. Only fifty years ago, said Lt.
Cmdr. Shyakin, an administrative officer at South Pole Base,
family assistance meant little more than a post-patrol briefing
for wives of deceased personnel in which an officer stated, "your
husbands aren't coming home -- their personal effects may be
picked up at the final clearance desk on level three -- aircars
will be provided to take you back to your home city after you are
done there."
"In the last few years," said Lt. Cmdr Shyakin, "it's as though
the Navy just discovered we're not celibate. When I enlisted in
1743, there was a saying that if the Navy wanted you to have a
family, they'd have issued you one."
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And something somewhat less "recent" (this item was "datelined"
roughly mid-1800 AE (the campaign date corresponding to late in
November 1985):
FIGHTERS MEET ALONG THE DMZ (1 of 3)
Space Battle on 'Routine' Reconnaissance Mission
by Vistova Lewer, at Starsend Station
Auuran crews, in Hegemonic-designed deep space FTL patrol craft
on a "routine reconnaissance mission" into the demilitarized zone
between the Hegemony and the Second Empire, fired upon and de-
stroyed two Empire-built Mkaran 'Tsarina' class assault scouts on
8 July, the Auuran Combined Wings military command announced. It
is the first such incident since the DMZ was established, six
months after first contact with the Empire.
This clash between the Auuran Independent Territory and the
Mkaran League coincided with the opening of talks on New Sparta
between their respective backers -- the L'Doran Hegemony and the
Second Empire of Man.
Assessment Deferred
Firstspeaker Ikyera of Whitewings Aerie congratulated her Aerie's
starfighters but deferred judgment on the long-term significance
of the clash. "One should not speak of trends on the basis of
one incident," she told an Ata'an interviewer.
According to the official statement released here on 17 July, the
Mkaran scouts attempted to intercept the Auuran patrol. Military
sources here added that the Auuri fired anti-shipping missiles
when the Mkaran ships closed on them inside an unspecified safety
range.
FIGHTERS MEET ALONG THE DMZ (2 of 3)
The two Tsarinas were destroyed several parsecs inside Imperial
territory according to the official account. Combined Wings
Force Commander Ikkekkik of Starwinds Aerie confirmed in an
interview that his people's warcraft pursued the Mkaran scouts
into Imperial space, then destroyed them.
A Mkaran military communique released on the 19th said the Auuran
craft were driven out of Mkaran space "without achieving their
aims". It made no mention of any ships being destroyed.
Hegemonic military sources, quoting reports from the Fleet's
Frontier Observation Command, confirmed the basic Auuran version
of the clash.
The Auuri have destroyed three hundred Mkaran spacecraft in five
pitched battles in deep space during the last year, wiping out
nearly a fourth of the Mkaran League's war fleet. The Auuri have
lost no ships in space battles with Mkaran war craft, although
one Auuri ship was destroyed by the planetary defenses of one of
the Mkaran worlds.
The last Mkaran-Auuri space battle occured in March of 1799. The
Auuri also destroyed two Mkaran Tsarinas on that occasion.
The Auuri have maintained regular reconnaissance patrols in the
Demilitarized Zone despite the withdrawal of all Hegemonic and
Imperial war craft from the region. The flights are intended "to
insure that no new threat develops" in the area, according to
Auuran Aerieleaders. Normal patrols, consisting of up to four
spacecraft, fly "several times a month," the military sources
said.
A senior Auuran defense source said the Mkarans had recently
relocated some of their bases nearer the normal Auuri flight
paths, close to the DMZ.
FIGHTERS MEET ALONG THE DMZ (3 of 3)
Concerned about the possible clashes, Auuri pilots were told that
if Mkaran ships give apparent challenge, they should, if
possible, break off their reconnaissance and head back to their
bases, this source said. And, he said, an Auuri patrol group did
just that on 3 July.
On 8 July, however, the defense source said, the Mkarans appeared
to be moving into firing range, giving the Auuri pilots no choice
but to fire first.
According to Auuri military sources, the Mkaran spacecraft never
fired on their wing.
"The minute you see a ship trying to intercept ... then you take
the necessary action," one of these sources said, "You don't take
chances. You can't ... It's less than a minute" to react.
The Mkaran Tsarinas are equipped with twelve missile tubes and
eighteen Yastreb C+ attack missiles with a speed of 360 light-
years per hour, and an effective range of six to seven light-
years, according to Auuri military sources. "If you let them get
into the range, then it becomes an academic question later who
opened fire."
The sources refused to reveal whether the spacecraft involved
were Hunters or Hellfires, both of which are Hegemonic designs.
The Mkaran communique spoke of two Auuri Hunters.
While Mkaran ships sometimes monitor the Auuri reconnaissance
missions, they usually keep their distance. Auuri military
sources said it was unclear why they did not do so this time.
"I don't know if it was a locally initiated incident, or a pilot
decision, a decision on Vikakr [the capital world of the Mkaran
League], or a decision on New Sparta [the Imperial capital]" one
of the sources said.
The Vikakr warleaders have been replacing their losses with the
Empire's most advanced fighters, the Tsarina, Dragonfly, and
Vindicator, according to Auuran military sources. The Mkaran
space force now has more than 1100 warships.
The Tsarina has four A4R2 TC batteries, D12 shielding, and twelve
missile tubes. It carries 18 C+ and 60 normal space attack
missiles, has an FTL cruise speed of 50 light-years per hour and
a normal space acceleration of 1500 gees (neutralized internally
to 4.5 gees).
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Well, as it happens, the Commonality of Man was pulling what might be called a
"fast one". This little news article was really a crafty piece of
"disinformatzia". It seems that the Commonality was working on building ships
like mad, and staffing them with crews from the old War Worlds (high-gee
worlds colonized by the First Empire -- people who took the LONG view at the
time).
Then, when the time was ripe, and the Altani were in their worst political
situation in centuries, the Humans trotted out a quarter of a million capital
ships and a good four million "new" warships that no one knew anything about.
Something about highly automated manufacturing facilities going full bore for
twenty-thirty years...
The Altani were suitably "impressed". The Humans got a representative on the
Central Committee, and control of the Colonization Control Board for the
Commonality region (guaranteeing future control of Commonality space...and
beyond).
A terrorist "raid" by isolationist members of the Second Empire of Man gave
the Commonality government just what they wanted -- a suitable target to
demonstrate their new forces -- and it was "all elements of the Fleet to move
against the Empire."
The fall of the Second Empire to Commonality forces lead to problems within
the Commonality, and the Silithii Rebellion (lately crushed in the local
campaign) cost them their Second Empire territories and have left the
Commonality in a bit of a mess. Need I say that the Rebellion was financed
(in a very large part) from the treasury of the Imperial Resistance movement,
and backed by numerous Imperial starships that somehow never got turned over
to the "victorious" Commonality forces?
But those are stories for another time.
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Your ship is a 15000 metric ton armored scout. The normal crew
complement of this class ship is 10-20. Your normal cruise speed
in jump space is 30 ly/hr, and you can handle up to 1200 gees in
normal space (99% neutralization, so you'll feel 12 gees if you
start zipping around this fast). Normally, acceleration in nor-
mal space is kept down to 1 gee. Approaching your base, or any
of the other central worlds, at more than 1 gee will get you in
a LOT of trouble...mostly from all the intentionally unpleasant
junk used to protect the central worlds from relativistic spit-
balls.
You normally want to be 2 AU out from a star before you start to
power up the jump drive. It takes anywhere from 60-360 seconds
for you to power up the jump field and "disappear". You need to
be AT LEAST ten planetary diameters out before you DARE go into
jump, and AT LEAST 1 AU out from the star (well, a G2 star, any-
way). Once the drive sequence is started, you can either dump
(and make a lot of radio and other noise, as well as a pretty
light show) or you can try and go into jump. If you're too deep
in a gravity well when you try to go into jump, you will come
right out again...scattered over a sphere that is roughly 20 AU
in diameter. This hurts a lot. It is not a suggested practice.
On entry to a new system, the first order of business in to do a
sky map. This operation takes about 50 hours. Breakout should
be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5AU out from the primary (it
could be less -- or more). During this time, the ship is sitting
with all systems except life support, minimal power, and passive
sensors shut DOWN. You're trying to be VERY quiet.
Once the sky map is done, you'll know where the planets are. And
you'll have identified and located any radio or neutrino sources
in the system. Radio means a fairly advanced society. Neutrinos
mean a fusion/total-conversion power society (VERY advanced, and
likely your equal or superior).
Any time you move on your contragravity drive (or when you start
up or shut down your stardrive) you're going to generate gravity
waves -- which someone else with the right sort of detectors can
spot. You've got the right sort of detectors (good ones). If
someone can spot you this way, they're likely fairly advanced.
On a planet (in an atmosphere) your ceegees make noise...LOTS of
noise (imagine being 100' directly below a 747 on takeoff). You
will also light up the local sky with a very nice light show --
very pretty, and impossible to disguise. If a local doesn't know
what it is, it's "just a bunch of funny lights in the sky". If
he does know about contragravity, it tells him a whole lot more.
You are barred from landing on any world with a pre-starflight
society, save on direct orders from the CNO. Violation of this
general order is one of the "crash landings" for which you WILL
be courtmartialed. The flight recorders record EVERY instrument
reading, and every second of feed from the security cameras. The
security cameras cover every square centimeter of the ship's in-
terior. There are also sound recorders, and all their output
goes into the little black boxes. You cannot alter the records
that those black boxes make; trying will get you nowhere. The
people who designed them are VERY good, and the Arms have been
working on making them tougher to bust for nigh onto five thou-
sand Terrestrial years. Anything you say on any of the comm cir-
cuits on any of the suits ALSO gets fed into the recorders. The
telemetry on the suits gets fed into the recorders, and they are
also "wired for sound" so anything you say while IN one of the
suits will get recorded somewhere where you can't erase it.
The Arms haven't figured out a way to record telepathic communi-
cations, though, so there's still ONE secure line available. And
you can always go somewhere and take off your suit to talk in
private. But remember...the fact of the suit being removed will
be recorded, and the matter will likely come up during debrief-
ing after you get back to base.
There's another wonderful rule to remember: if you break biolog-
ical containment, for any reason, all affected parties will end
up in orbital quarantine for 1 terrestrial year on return. There
a biological containment area on board ship; it is not possible
to reach biological containment without going outside the ship.
It is possible to eject the biological containment section -- it
can be "launched" from the bridge. The bio section gets launched
using a fair amount of explosives, and leaves a large "hole" in
the ship, so don't try any high speed manuevers in an atmosphere
after you do this. Decontamination works fine, so long as you're
wearing a suit or you're decontaminating a shuttlecraft, etc. If
you've been exposed directly to a biohazard, it's off to the bio
containment section for you for the remainder of the voyage.
No "alien" scenarios, here, thank you. You LEAVE CONTAMINATED
CREW BEHIND FIRST. Failure to comply with this little rule can
get the Captain shot. And the XO. And anyone else with command
authority. A VERY BIG NO-NO. The People Who Matter back at base
will become very unpleasant with violators of bio-control; pro-
motion chances will be, shall we say, very much reduced?
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Recent news in the StormGate Aerie local campaign
(part 1 of 2)
8 Apr 1818: HSS Landry out of Valhalla siezed by COMMNS Weneger for
smuggling contraband [Heaven Tea] in Novaya system.
9 Apr 1818: Instel Liner Rim Princess collides with system defense
cluster in Novaya system.
13 Apr 1818: COMNSS Weneger rescues survivors, Rim Princess accident.
17 Apr 1818: COMNSS Weneger arrives Novaya Amerika to drop off survi-
vors of Rim Princess accident, and turn over prisoners
from HSS Landry.
4 May 1818: Pitched battle between Imperial troops and Steel Angel
Human supremicist group in Kensho (New Sparta). Casual-
ties in excess of 3000. Cruiser Vindictive brought into
atmosphere to provide close support for Imperial troops.
10 May 1818: Trials of captured Steel Angel Deacons begin in Kensho.
5 Jun 1818: Trials of 4 May Insurrectionists completed. Offered the
choice of "Transportation for life or death by hanging",
the majority of the defendents choose death by hanging.
Julius Carver and Aloysius Hardasty, Steel Angel Execu-
tive Council members, choose transportation for life.
6 Jun 1818: Sentences of convicted Insurrectionists carried out. The
prison ship Brethaven, carrying Carver, Hardasty and the
other transportees leaves for Endeavor colony.
10 Jun 1818: Instel experimental craft IXMJS 202 stolen from Cordovan
research installation [Novaya system belt]
11 Jun 1818: Attack on Corvette transport Hercules 1500ly from Novaya
system by four surviving Silithii raiders.
20 Jun 1818: ISS Frieslander leaves New Sparta system.
7 Jul 1818: Task Force Sierra Five (BB Vespasian, CA Xerxes, CA Von
Clausewitz, CVA Dreamland, CVA Nightmare, CVA Sponotake,
DD Hunter, DD Starfox, DD Wolf, DD Nemesis, WAC Catseye,
and WAC Longview) at breakout, edge of Novaya system.
10 Jul 1818: Task Force Sierra Five reformed, inbound Novaya system.
17 Jul 1818: Hercules arrives Novaya system. Reports having destroyed
three raiders, possibly damaged one other. 6 Casualties
reported (crew of 25).
18 Jul 1818: ISS Frieslander arrives Novaya system with news of pro-
blem in Second Empire.
22 Jul 1818: COMNSS Weneger damaged by impact with "space debris".
24 Jul 1818: Leaves and liberties cancelled for all SP personnel on
Novaya Amerika.
25 Jul 1818: COMNSS Weneger "space debris" identified as pastrami on
rye, with mustard [travelling at approximately 0.02c]. A
strong protest is sent on open channel by the CO to Task
Force Sierra Five...
26 Jul 1818: Task Force Sierra in orbit, Novaya Amerika. Liberty be-
gins at 2000 hours local. Shuttles begin landing, 2100
hours. 14000 Navy pukes hit port after 28 months in deep
space. 480 of these Navy pukes are fighter pilots.
REBELLION ON HAN
MARTIAL REVOLT - FATE OF GOVERNMENT IN DOUBT
by Irena Lewer, for ComNet
10 September 1807, T'Chin Yan, Han
Twelve thousand mutinous Tuu and Au pack ground troops made co-
ordinated attacks against five key military installations and the
Hall of Legislators yesterday, leaving hundreds of casualties and
the fate of the democratic government of Han in doubt.
First Minister Kin-Po Ira Shan was unhurt in the sunset attack on
the Hall that was repulsed by troops still loyal to the govern-
ment. CIC Ground Forces, San Ira Po, continued to maintain that
she and the First Minister were in control of the situation. No
comment was available from either Tuu or Au pack representatives.
Rebel forces today secured large portions of at least three mili-
tary installations and both of the C+ transceivers at the poles.
Heavy weapons fire continued throughout the night in T'Chin Yan.
Exiled Members Offer to Return
Members of the old Board of Strategy currently on Illeewoe denied
involvement in the rebellion, but stated that they would be
"willing to return to Han to advise the rebels or to resume their
legitimate rule."
"Honorable Warriors and True Soldiers"
By this morning, rebel soldiers lead by Komdar Tuu Ira Chan had
seized key control points of the T'Chin Yan landing field, Han's
major spaceport facility. Fighting continued around the Academy
Spire. Surrounded by rebel soldiers in powered armor, a spokes-
vixen for the mutinous troops delivered a prepared statement in
which she pledged that her troops would "fight to the death to
restore the traditional values of Han."
"We are not loyalists, destructuralists, or a revisionist group,"
said the unidentified spokesvixen. "We would like to assure
everyone that we are honorable warriors and true soldiers of
Han." In open defiance of the Legislature and the First Minister,
the rebels stated, "We have taken it upon ourselves, as servants
of the True Way, to continue the struggle for true justice and
duty which our so-called leaders of the Legislature have failed
to do."
"The political leadership of Han has clearly failed in its duty
to the family associations and to History."
The rebels then claimed that they were in control of Chara base,
Han's space defense command center, as well as Sirado base, the
Paratemporal Arm's central command center, adding "We expect to
have the capital and much of South Continent under control within
three days." Calling on all soldiers to join them, the rebels
added, "We also ask the whole of the Altani race to join us in
the quest for a new and proper direction. The earlier we resolve
this conflict, the better it will be for Han and for all the
Central Worlds."
Sagraloi, the government controlled news agency, quoted CIC San
Ira Po as telling her officers and troops "not to believe propa-
ganda being broadcast by traitorous mutineers who have seized
transmission stations around the planet."
CIC San Ira Po claimed that the rebels had only four thousand
renegade troops and that "their coup attempt has already failed."
Sagraloi added reports that the Minister of Defense and all other
cabinet level ministers have remained loyal to the present re-
gime.
Kin-Po Ira San issued no statements after her initial announce-
ment, in which the First Minister stated, "I would like to tell
our people that, first of all, I am unhurt and that CIC San Ira
Po is dealing with this situation."
The First Minister delivered her planet wide broadcast several
hours after she was awakened in her quarters underneath the Hall
of Legislators with news of the coup attempt.
She concluded by saying, "In a few hours we can resolve this."
Soon after CIC San Ira Po confirmed that the coup attempt had
failed, rebel units defeated loyalist forces at T'Chin Yan field
and shut down operations at the space port. It was clear that CIC
San Ira Po and her troops were not in complete control of the
capital.
The Legislature has moved to alternate facilities to the north of
T'Chin Yan, and security measures there have been stepped up.
FORMER TUU REPRESENTATIVES DENY INVOLVEMENT
STILL WILLING TO RETURN
by Nicholas Shugran, for ComNet
12 September 1807, Complex One, Illeewoe
The exiled former Tuu pack representatives to the Board of Stra-
tegy denied today that they were in any way involved in the muti-
nous attacks on Han, saying that the violence was a direct result
of the desperation of the general populace.
"We are not involved and there is no need for us to be involved
in the Hainite situation. The people are desperate, hungry, sick
and frustrated. They have realized that there is widespread cor-
ruption and disregard for the traditional values of honor and
duty, and they are expressing their righteous indignation by
rebelling against the current corrupt regime."
Later, in a v-phone interview broadcast on ComNet's "Frontline"
program, the former representatives said that the rebellion was
growing into a systemwide uprising involving all levels of so-
ciety from warriors and scientists down to merchants and even
Codii.
Asked whether they hoped to play a role if the rebels gained
control, the former representatives said: "we hope that they will
remember us, that they will allow us to advise them, and that
they might consider returning us to our rightful places as rulers
on Han."
They stated that, under the agreements between the Hainite gov-
ernment and the Central Committee concerning their exile, they
cannot leave Illeewoe without permission.
From: Nicolai Shapero
To: All Msg #263, 20-Nov-89 20:44pm
Subject: More old campaign news (part 1 of 2)
TROOPS' FATAL MIX-UP SHOWS DEEP DISTRUST
(Part 1 of 2)
by Irena Lewer, for ComNet
15 September 1807, T'Chin Yan, Han
At the start of a bloody uprising here on Han, Ground Arm Com-
Richtor Larn Ira Kal received a battle wound that she said will
never be a source of pride.
A combat veteran, CR Larn Ira Kal and thousands of fellow
soldiers had decided to side with First Minister Kin-Po Ira Shan
against a politically powerful band of over twelve thousand rene-
gade troops mutinying against her rule. And CR Larn Ira Kal was
aboard one of many armored vehicles that moved up on the 14th to
reinforce loyalist soldiers attempting to retake the rebel held
T'Chin Yan spaceport.
Fire on Reinforcements
Suddenly, several loyalists turned and fired on the arriving
reinforcements. A two-hour battle left seven civilian bystanders
and four hundred twelve soldiers dead and more than fifteen
hundred wounded, among them CR Larn Ira Kal, who had taken part
in the 1787 rebellion that placed First Minister Kin-Po Ira Shan
and her associates in power.
What happened was a mistake, a military spokesvixen, Komdar San
Ira Pla announced three hours after the battle's end. "It was a
`misencounter'," she said, "due to poor communication." But to CR
Larn Ira Kal, the incident is a source of shame. She said that
she will wear it as a scar for the rest of her life. The wound,
from a grazing blaster bolt, seared flesh and burned fur on her
jaw.
Sign of Military Mistrust
For several neutral military observers, who joined journalists to
witness twenty hours of fighting between loyalists and rebels it
was an illustration of the deep divisions, distrust and demorali-
zation now plaguing the Hainite armed forces.
"It doesn't matter who wins this battle," one Human military
analyst said as artillery and missiles arced across the city sky.
"No matter who wins, the people lose."
Pentar Akal Ira Po, commander of Orbit One, who declared for the
rebels on the 13th, described the situation in even stronger
terms in a v-phone interview with this reporter.
"This is not an end to it even if the rebellion is crushed to-
morrow. It is not over until we have restored The Way. Each and
every incident that fails will only serve as the seedbed for the
next. Each incident will strike deeper and excise more of the
rot, until the patient at last is cured. We can be Silenced, it
is true, but one has not converted an Altani by Silencing her."
CIC Space Command, Kin-Po Ira Liu, gave orders relieving Pentar
Akal Ira Po of her command after hearing of her support for the
mutiny, and later announced that Akal Ira Po had been arrested
and would be tried shortly.
Pentar Akal Ira Po, a rebel who took part in the Civil War that
drove Akal Ir Chen and the Board of Strategy into exile, stressed
that none of the mutineers favored Akal Ir Chen or any of his
people. In fact, she said, they believed they were "finishing the
work we began twelve H-years ago."
"The current administration is little different from that of Akal
Ir Chen's," the Pentar said, "A revolution cannot be said to have
been successful unless there is a significant change in the
government -- otherwise all we have done is to change one set of
tyrants for another. And the tyranny of the unenlightened mob is
the worst form of tyranny imaginable."
CIC San Ira Po and her senior officers insisted after the first
day of the rebellion that the armed forces were solidly united
behind the government of the First Minister. These same officers
have made the same claim each day since.
In reality, divisions within the armed forces have deepened
radically, Human military analysts said. A reflection of this
division can be seen in the First Minister's initial planet-wide
statement in which she condemned the rebels as "traitors" and
"monsters" to whom she has "nothing to say."
Moreover, CIC San Ira Po has made no effort to try to negotiate
with her former supporters, moving instead, on the First Mini-
ster's orders, to attack rebel positions with heavy artillery,
war gases, mobile infantry, and armored atmospheric craft.
TROOPS' FATAL MIX-UP SHOWS DEEP DISTRUST
(Part 2 of 2)
by Irena Lewer, for ComNet
15 September 1807, T'Chin Yan, Han
CIC San Ira Po has noted that were defeated in the field, rebel
leaders have just "disappeared" along with the majority of their
troops and she said "The seeds of the government's future pro-
blems have been sown."
Several other significant signs of the split and the ensuing
ineffectiveness of the military were evident during the early
stages of the rebellion. From the first, there have been virtual-
ly none of the Star Arm or elite Stroga ground units among those
loyal to the government. The government units have consisted of
security forces from the Support Arm, ground troops from the Home
Defense Command, and naval personnel from the Air Arm.
"My guess is that until the regular army decides one way or the
other," a Bjoran military analyst said, "the rebellion will con-
tinue. If the army goes with the government, the rebels will
fail. But even if it fails this time, what will happen the next
time? Who knows?"
It wasn't until CR Larn Ira Kal and her armored column moved in
on the spaceport that the loyalist assault had any apparent
chance of success.
Troops Hid Behind Ground Cars
Before the armored units arrived, most of the loyalist security
troops hid behind ground cars or in civilian offices at the first
sign of opposition. Hundreds of troops hid in emergency hospital
facilities just outside the landing area for hours after the
rebels took the spaceport.
Several times, Support Arm troops accidentally dropped their
weapons, which then discharged, injuring or killing civilian
bystanders.
At one point, during an Air Arm strike against rebel positions
outside the city, a frightened Support Arm non-com asked this
reporter whether the aircraft was bombing his base or the rebel
base.
"There's no question that these are sad excuses for soldiers,"
said Colonel Joseph R. Towers, a Human military/political analyst
on the scene. "You can just imagine how little they'd be able to
do fighting Imperials, or any Humans for that matter. There is a
deep schism between the soldier who is interested in his duty,
and the senior officer who is interested only in personal gain.
The junior officers and enlisted personnel -- the underdogs --
cannot take advantage of political patronage, as the senior offi-
cers are doing. They do the dirty work and plow through the
fields while the Komdars are below ground in air conditioned
offices sitting on shimmeree pillows and talking to politicians."
"The problem," he continued, "has deepened to the point where the
Altani military forces in L'Dorai system have lost their identity
as an organization."
The key question, according to key military analysts, is what the
elite units will do.
One Star Arm ComRichtor, who asked not to be identified, appeared
to have already made her decision.
"When our own troops start shooting at us, while all we're trying
to do is come to the rescue," she said, "I'm not so sure that I
want to be on the Government side.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAINITE GOVERNMENT FALLS IN LIGHTNING COUP
by Irena Lewer, for InterNet
Han: 14 September 1819 AE
Rebel forces today continued to battle pockets of government
holdouts in the planetary capital, but Komdar Kin-Po Ira Tal,
leader of rebel forces in T'Chin Yan, declared that the religious
government of Han has been been crushed.
T'Chin Yan field, closed for four days because of the fighting
here, reopened today, a spaceport spokesman said.
Komdar K'P'Tal's assertion of victory yesterday came a day after
rebel forces siezed the Academy Spire in a fierce day-long bat-
tle.
At the same time, Central Committee Representative John Towers
(Commonality) said that he is prepared to order military inter-
vention if necessary to protect Human lives and commercial inter-
ests.
Rebel snipers began the fourth day by firing rockets and small
field pieces at Government House and the Temple of the Huntress
outside T'Chin Yan from lower levels of the Spire. Government
troops returned fire with tribarrels and heavy machine guns.
An estimated four thousand government troops are still holding
out in Embassy Row. An Imperial diplomat said earlier today that
the building that houses his government's embassy was attacked by
the government troops on the first day of the rebellion, and that
government snipers were now inside and shooting back at rebel
forces on the street below. Similar incidents have been reported
all along Embassy Row.
At least seven hundred soldiers have been killed and thousands
more wounded. In addition, there have been at least thirty thou-
sand civilian casualties, making this the bloodiest uprising on
Han since the Hainite Civil War.
"The cost has certainly been high," conceded rebel leader Komdar
K'P'Tal.
But the Rebels are flushed with a sense of victory. By midday
today, more than five thousand government troops had surrendered,
including Kornam dal Au Ira Shan, CINC Ground forces and high
priestess of the Cult of the Huntress.
"The Government and it's religion have been crushed," Komdar
K'P'Tal declared at a news conference this afternoon. She added
that only "mopping up operations" remain.
Security personnel captured an L'Dreyan agent before she could
explode a grenade at the outdoor stage were Komdar K'P'Tal was
speaking, a rebel spokesperson said today. MilKomdar Tau Ira
Tien said that the agent was shot as she was removing the grenade
from her pocket. No sophonts were reported injured in the inci-
dent, as the agent was taken away for "questioning".
Central Committee member John Towers formally notified the Cen-
tral Committee today in a speech that Commonality forces stood
ready to defend Human interests on Han. "At present, we do not
see an immediate need to intervene on Han," Towers said. "But we
are prepared to take additional actions to protect the lives of
Terro-Humans, should they be threatened. We are, further, pre-
pared to take action in order to protect commercial interests of
the Commonality on Han, should this prove necessary."
_____________________________________________________________________________
WE'RE ALL BOZOS ON THIS BUS
by
Kay Shapero
Well, it happened like this...
We were all sitting around the briefing room conversing and
generally wondering what the fates and the high command were
going to send us this time for a captain, seeing as how our last
one had reportedly vanished, screaming, into the night, when the
door opened to admit a tall individual. A very tall individual. A
fourteen foot tall individual. A fourteen foot tall Bjoran
individual. With a vaguely sour look on his face. Lirarl, the
biochemist, leaned over and whispered to me. "D'you suppose
that's him?"
I whispered back. "If he is, I sure hope you brought enough
dye..."
Sure enough, he introduced himself as Gregor Gohkra, our new
commander and proceeded to explain the details of our next mis-
sion, namely taking a look at the planets, if any, of a couple of
stars and checking them for anything of interest. I must say that
there is one thing for which I occasionally envy those overseri-
ous vulpine hotheads the Altani, and that is their telepathy, as
it would have been interesting to see how much, if any, of the
annoyance our new captain was trying to hide was due to something
about the mission itself, and how much was due to being picked to
command a ship crewed entirely by H'Reli. I wonder what he did to
deserve US.
The ship went into Jump with no problems past the usual
accompaniment of urping crewmembers. Including the captain -
entertaining, that, considering the legendary cast-iron stomachs
possessed by the Bjora. But then, nobody ever quite gets used to
Jump nausea. Once the ship was safely underway, there were a few
days before anything of interest happened, thus giving Lirarl and
me plenty of time to coat part of the back inside section of the
captain's spacesuit with a colorless substance guaranteed to dye
that portion of his fur brilliant yellow. All for naught, alas,
for when we did encounter something and he ordered everyone into
suits, he wore the one from his cabin locker instead. We hadn't
gotten to that one, since the lock on his cabin had thus far
proven impossible for me to pick.
Anyway, the emergency in question involved the presence of
four other ships, one large, and the rest small. Upon contacting
them, we found that they were Hegemonic, a liner and three scat-
terships, respectively, crewed largely by Altani. The positions
of two of the scatterships as they approached our general area
would have made things perfect for a slalom run, but the captain,
the spoilsport, wouldn't let me try it. How am I supposed to
maintain my reputation as a hot pilot if I never get to try
anything interesting? Oh, well, I suppose the Altani might have
decided to be obnoxious about it - they do get upset at the
strangest things.
I suppose I'd better introduce the rest of us. The command-
er, you already know about, and the biochemist. I'm Yealurowlu-
ro, the pilot (and part-time communications officer), and the
others on this trip were as follows:
Srilurow - power systems engineer
Lawaro - geologist
Aryialo - electrical engineer
Rawlaow - astrogator
Ailurowlurr - geologist and medical expert
Sawalaro - weapons expert
Wailuro - survival expert
The ship itself was designated with some long string of
numbers and letters that I'm not going to bore you with, but we
always called it "The Boomerang" because, as Lirarl put it "No
matter how many times you throw it away, it always comes back and
hits you in the back of the head... ", which, judging by the
assignments we've drawn is probably the opinion of the High
Command. Some people have no sense of humor.
Several days later, about thirteen silvery ovoids, each
somewhat smaller than our ship, turned up and arranged themselves
about the Jump drive pilons. I slowed down a bit for a closer
look at which point one of them moved forward and nudged the hull
(I nudged the whateveritwas back, eliciting an annoyed look from
the captain), then dropped back when we sped up. So I tried to
contact it and it replied with something that overloaded the
communications gear and blew out part of the board (eliciting
another annoyed look from the captain). We finally guessed that
they were a small variety of space whale (space dolphins?) who
merely wanted to ride our shock wave for a while. Eventually,
they left, too fast for me to try longer range communications. To
the relief of Aryialo, who had just finished fixing the gear.
And Lirarl and I had a conference.
He - "Figured out the lock on the captain's cabin yet?"
Me - "Nope. Looks like we can't get at his spacesuits,
sigh."
He - "What'll we do, then?"
Me - "Lesee... What does he have, or where does he go that
he can't lock up or guard?"
In unison - "The Head!"
Few crews can have watched their captain's every move quite
as much as we did for the next few hours. But at last, he was
observed entering the aforementioned facility, we waited 10
seconds, and I hit the gravity switch. Immediately, the 5 second
warning sounded, followed by the loss of all gravity. And I
waited another 10 seconds, then switched it on again, figuring
that while the gravity on/off warning usually gives people time
to brace themselves, in this case... Well, while none of us ever
found out precisely what happened in there, he did take rather a
long time to come out again.
And on to the first system, with the captain, who of course
had no idea exactly who had pulled the deck out from under him,
somewhat annoyed with all of us. Naturally giving all those who
weren't in on the gag plenty of incentive to come up with their
own.
Prime candidate for most interesting object in the system of
the first star was a planet located in the habitable range,
complete with plants, animals, water and so forth. Mapping from
polar orbit showed a big magnetic anomaly which turned out to be
9 miles of very wrecked spaceship, so we went down to look at it,
landing about 5 miles away in a forest clearing, due to the usual
captainly paranoia.
Speaking of captainly paranoia, it soon became obvious that,
since I was the only decent pilot on board, I was not going to be
allowed to go over to the wreck with any of the exploratory
teams. After being stuck inside this undersized flying object for
over a week, too! The party that did go included Wailuro, as
survival type, and Lirarl on one grav sled, plus Lawaro and
Aryialo in another. At least they did carry remote cameras so
that the rest of us could see what was going on. The wrecked ship
appeared to have been designed for beings considerably taller
than the captain(!), about twenty feet to be precise, a judgement
confirmed by the discovery of a humanoid skeleton in the remains
of a rubberish outfit, while otherwise nothing much of interest
turned up.
While all of this was at least mildly amusing, being stuck
inside was a considerable annoyance, so I pretended to be off to
the head, instead went aft where nobody was likely to spot me,
got out a light environmental suit as did Sawalaro, who had
joined me somehow on route, ducked out the airlock and spent
about 15 minutes looking about, keeping well out of view from
the bridge. While it was hardly as pleasant as being outside on a
planet where we didn't need suits and could breathe fresh air, it
still helped ease the irritance of being stuck inside so long.
Apparently 15 minutes was long enough for the captain to get
suspicious, because we returned inside barely in time to respond
to a roll-call. I dare say the captain may have found it suspi-
cious that we answered from the place we did, but he could hardly
prove anything.
And the exploratory team found a still functioning artifact
- i.e. a twenty foot tall, operational Security robot which took
an immediate dislike to them. Deactivating it was an interest-
ing experience, to say the least, but they did manage it, then
asked if the captain would please send a couple more grav sleds
out so they could bring the thing, and the skeleton, back to the
ship.
"Captain?" I inquired, hopefully.
"No!"
And he proceeded to send Sawalaro and Srilurow (the latter
in scout grade powered armor), instead. Grrrr.
While they were headed out, I took advantage of a couple of
free minutes and left the bridge, this time for the captain's
cabin. As I hadn't managed to pick the lock, I poured epoxy into
it instead. We'd see if he liked being locked out as little as I
did being locked in.
They had just loaded up the robot plus the skeleton, when
another robot turned up, just as pugnacious as the last one...
This time, the resulting fight munged one grav sled, Lirarl's
left arm (sliced right off), and everyone's peace of mind. It
also left the captain with a problem, namely who to send out with
Ailurowlurr, who was the closest thing to a medical officer we
had on board.
"Look", I said, "I'll wear powered armor. I'll wear MARAUDER
armor, for crying out loud. If anything bothers me, I'll person-
ally sling it into orbit!"
"Oh, all right."
So I finally got out to the ship after all. It was marginal-
ly more interesting seen close up. And the flight out and back
was no trouble at all.
* * *
Several hours out from the planet, the captain decided to go
to his cabin with results that were heard all over the ship.
Marvelous stuff, epoxy. I think Ailurowlurr was about to go offer
him a firmer to use as a cutting torch, when the captain solved
the problem by ripping the door off its hinges. Bjoran muscles
are pretty good, too.
The next few hours were spent replacing the door at the
captain's orders while he sat in his room so we wouldn't do any-
thing to the contents.
Another conference.
Me - "Well, he's learning."
Aryialo - "Maybe. But while he's in there, he can't watch us
out here. As long as he's going to go ripping doors up, let's
make this one as flimsy as possible."
Me - "You do that, while I make up about a dozen duplicate
keys."
After all, he hadn't said NOT to...
* * *
The first planet of the next system was a rather scorched
bit of rock entirely too close to the primary for my tastes. We
took the usual mess of pictures and departed for planet number
three taking three *urp* jumps.
Figuring that it was about time to branch out from physical
practical jokes, I next acquired a bottle of beer from Srilurow
when he wasn't looking (he was spending most of his free time
bugging the captain's quarters while the latter was on the
bridge), wrapped it up nicely, put a tag on it addressed to the
captain, and left it on his acceleration couch. Where in due
course he found it and unwrapped it with such caution that I was
almost sorry I HADN'T used contact paper. Eyeing the enclosed
bottle as though he expected it to explode momentarily, he
thanked us all, patted Aryialo on the head and removed the beer
carefully to his cabin. I hoped he would have great fun trying to
figure out what was wrong with it since, unless Srilurow was
booby-trapping his private stock, nothing was. Mind games, any-
one?
The planet looked like something one might actually care to
live on. Certainly someone had, for a temperature anomaly we
noted from orbit proved to be a ruined city which was especially
good at soaking up the sun's heat and reradiating it at night. We
landed five miles away, as usual. I glanced at the captain, hope-
fully.
"Forget it."
Sigh.
The exploration team consisted of two grav sleds; one con-
taining Wailuro and Ailurowlurr, the other Sawalaro and a lot of
equipment. All three were in scout armor (the lightest form of
powered armor), while Srilurow, who wasn't even going along, was
ordered to stand by in marauder armor (two more steps along the
scale between suit and ship) at the ship in case of trouble. Once
again, they carried cameras so we could see what was going on.
There was little to see but buildings and indecipherable street
signs (all duly recorded), until Wailuro spotted a car parked on
one of the streets. He investigated, pulling at the door which
promptly and enthusiastically came off in his hand.
I glanced over at Rowlaow. "Think the captain's been giving
lessons?"
I was universally ignored as Wailuro reported a life form
inside which closely resembled as twelve legged tarantula, and
attempted to catch it in a specimen container. Skitter, skitter,
skitter, WHAP, skitter, skitter, skitter, WHAP... it took him
three tries to catch the thing, by which time most of us were
betting on the spider.
A couple of hours later, they reached the center of the
city, to find a building in somewhat better shape than those
they'd seen earlier. It was about twenty or thirty feet tall,
with huge double doors which showed no interest in opening until
someone poured penetrating oil on the frozen hinges. Inside, the
building appeared more like three hundred feet tall, leading us
eventually to the conclusion that power sufficient to operate
holographic projectors was still on.
Next morning, the exploration team went back out to the
building, suited as before (with poor Srilurow still standing by
in marauder armor, back at the ship) and investigated, finding
inside a central dais with a head-setted chair on it, in which
latter Ailurowlurr had to be prevented from sitting. General
poking around located a shaft beneath the dais leading down into
a lot a gadgetry associated with a power plant, as well as a lot
of little thingies closely resembling robotic versions of that
spider (not that there's much difference, at that). So they
closed it up and continued looking around.
Something of a lull having come up, I decided that this was
a good time to slip the hygroscopic stuff Lirarl had given me
(stuff starts as a powder, but absorbs enough from the air to get
really slimy in a few hours) into the captain's bed. Unfortunate-
ly, the captain proved to be ON it when I opened the door with my
copy of the key. Oops...
"Hi there", I observed brightly. "You seem to have left your
key in the hall and I thought I'd bring it back to you."
He silently fished out his key and showed it to me.
"Well, I found this one in the corridor..."
This met with a notable lack of belief, and the captain
promptly confiscated the key and started in on a rather compre-
hensive lecture on the subject of my perfidious doings. I stood
there admiring his oratory for a while, then handed him a dagger
and exposed my throat. He broke off in mid-harangue with the most
beautiful double-take I'd seen in a long time, paused a second,
then took the dagger, grinned, said something about that not
being necessary and held up one hand. His claws, unlike the
dagger, not being rubber, I thoughtfully went elsewhere.
The captain turned up on the bridge shortly after I did and
insisted on being given all of the duplicate keys. I think he got
most of them, at that, but it was at this point that we were
distracted by what was going on out at the exploration site.
Since the captain had carefully ordered that no one was to dis-
turb, or especially to sit in the chair on the dais, Sawalaro,
her curiosity finally getting the upper hand had sat ON it.
And quickly sprang back off of it again, with a glazed ex-
pression. Seems that not only did the thing increase the psionic
capabilities of anyone using it for as long as they did so, it
also increased them exponentially for every second of operation.
With all the new data being piled on her each second, she'd been
lucky to keep her sanity. At least the effect did not seem to
last once she got off again. Predictably, the captain ordered
everyone out of the building.
Elsewhere, the explorers found a skeleton. Sort of. Well, a
couple of bones. Fortunately, they also found what appeared to be
a library with five paintings of the locals, who resembled six
foot teddy bears (mini-Bjora?), and LOTS of books. 760 of the
latter were removed very carefully so as not to let them fall
apart, and brought back to the ship.
And, after debriefing, Sawalaro went straight to the brig.
The captain ordered the rest of us not to smuggle anything in to
her, which is probably why Ailurowlurr, having already sneaked
her a handfull of keys to the brig (don't ask me where she got
them *snicker*) promptly retired to the food facilities out of
sight of the captain and concocted an entire platefull of fancy
hors d'oerves, then brought them down to the brig. She was about
to hand them to Sawalaro, when the captain, who'd been watching
the whole thing from the brig surveillance equipment remotes hit
a switch, causing the door to the next cell to swing open. Ailu-
rowlurr took the hint, gave half of the hors d'oerves to Sawala-
ro, and proceeded into the next cell with the rest of them. I
hope she didn't mind Sawalaro's flute practice.
We finished mapping the planet and departed, to spot some-
thing about eighteen feet long and missilish, with a stylized
bird figure painted on it, falling into the system on a hyperbol-
ic curve. Tracing its path backwards, we figured it might have
come from the first system we looked at. At any rate, while we
didn't know for sure what it was, it did give off rather more
radiation than the background, so we settled for nudging it into
a stable orbit with the tractors and left it. Let someone else
try to figure it out if Fleet was really that curious.
Shortly thereafter, it became apparent that Srilurow wasn't
the only one who'd bugged the captain's quarters, for the captain
returned to his cabin to find a large sample of Bjoran porno-
graphic art on one wall of the corridor, speakers inside his room
broadcasting bawdy Bjoran music, plus a small, but active device
squirting Bjoran pheremones into the air. The captain may or may
not have been amused, but he DID promptly give his cabin a thor-
ough going over, removing ALL of the bugs, speakers, cameras
etc., etc. Sigh. He also found Srilurow's device for spreading a
nice little cloud of harmless, but stenchful smoke (rather like
burning insulation) which cloud was promptly gobbled up by the
air filters.
We didn't see much of interest on the way back with the
exception of six small ships we didn't recognize - we left them
alone, they left us alone; plus an Altani armored scout with whom
we exchanged howdies. It can be fun to see the expression on an
Altani's face when s/he realizes there's a H'Reli on the other
end of the conversation.
A few hours from our destination, the captain decided to
hold suit drill, presumably with malice aforethought, for the
suits smelled even worse than usual. Of course, none of us said
anything, with the exception of Srilurow, who promptly asked
"Captain, have you been putting air freshener in the suits? Mine
smells much better than that marauder armor did."
When drill was over, it soon became obvious that the smell
was going to linger in our fur for quite a while, even for Aryia-
lo who'd noticed the stench and switched quickly into the suit in
his cabin locker. So we all took to hanging around the captain
until he got sufficiently annoyed to order us to go wash up.
Which we did, and noticed that, thanks to the suits, everyone but
Aryialo, Lirarl (in sick bay), and the two in the brig now had
tails brightly colored in various shades of photographic dye
(mine was cyan). Which gave me an idea, so I got hold of various
dyes and, rather than try and dye my tail to match the rest of
me, patterned the rest of my fur. This caught on beautifully, and
the good ship Boomerang soon had the most Technicolor crew in
space.
The rest of the trip was rather hectic, what with various
members of the crew trying to pull something equally interesting
on the captain, who wasn't venturing out of his cabin without his
suit, but soon we were sufficiently busy with approach that
nobody had time for anything sneaky. I did have hopes for the
frictionless goop I spread on the captain's acceleration couch,
but when he came out for final approach he wasn't wearing his
suit for a change and managed to notice it before he sat down. Oh
well. It did cause him to go back to his cabin for the landing,
so after we touched down, Aryialo and I sloshed the rest of the
frictionless lubricant down the hall outside of his door. I hear
it took him an hour to get out...
And that, my friend, is how this fad got started. Now,
would you prefer your ears pink or international orange?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CATS, FOXES AND SQUIRRELS, INC.
by Kay Shapero
DEPT OF INTELLIGENCE
HOMESHIP CHA PARO
CONFIDENTIAL
PERSONAL: Dihad Sacha Tiaou-Chaital Ashan
Yes, I know you've already gotten my official report, but
this has been one of the all-time weird assignments, so I thought
you'd appreciate a less formal account. S'T'Ashan, old friend,
you have no idea how much you miss back there at headquarters.
Or is it that you DO know?
Anyway, I THINK I've got it all sorted out...
As you know, I was ordered to investigate the operations of
a part of the Hegemonic merchant marine. So, under the name of
Tiaou Ir Tanlir, I joined a group of individuals on Novaya Ros-
siya who'd saved enough money to jointly buy a ship and go into
business for themselves. They were still a bit short on cash,
let alone crew (they badly needed a navigator) and were so anx-
ious to get started that they barely checked my credentials. And
after all the care we used in forging them, too!
We were a mixed crew - two Korli, a H'Rel, and two Altani
(well, one of more recent Altan ancestry than the other, but we
won't go into that, will we? ). One of the Korli, Tatikat, was
chosen as captain, at least partly because he was a lawyer as
well as a computer specialist. He'd concentrated on commercial
law with a side interest in criminal law and had recently ac-
quired an excellent law library. As things developed, THAT may
have been the brightest move in this entire affair!
Coronip, the other Korli, was one of the engineers. She had
the typical Korli temper; low flash point, high yield, but rela-
tively little long term fallout. The other engineer was an
Altan, Ysan Ira Tyar and appeared to have specialized equally in
Power Systems and Paranoia. Accent on the last. How those two
managed to get along so well I have no idea, but I guess engi-
neers are strange anyway.
Our pilot was the H'Rel, Yewlira. While he seemed to have
the usual propensity for practical jokes of his kind, he never
indulged them on shipboard. Even H'Reli have some sense of self
preservation, I guess. He also took great delight in gambling,
at which he was quite good. I suspect that's where most of his
money came from, especially since he didn't appear to be above
altering the odds in ways forbidden by the rules...
And, as indicated above, I was the navigator. A highly
responsible job on THIS tub, I assure you!
Speaking of which, what we got was a 250 metric ton, human
built and registered ship, Ysana Maru. Slightly used, with a
rather dumb computer, but she did have 145 tons of cargo capacity
and seemed likely to carry cargo from point A to point B without
falling apart en route.
We carried three types of cargo; legitimate, semi-legiti-
mate (as long as they don't catch you) and... oh, well... The
first category consisted of 91 tons of machinery, 35 tons of
electronic gear, and a mixed consignment of 17 tons of more of
the same from Instel meant for Valhalla. Which is why we decided
to go there.
There was also a legal private cargo of whoopie cushions,
marbles, fur dye, stink bombs and joy buzzers bought by Yewlira.
The rest of us unanimously insisted that he keep the stink bombs
in vacuum containers and store them somewhere out of the way.
WELL out of the way. Good thing, too, as it turned out.
The second category was a really good, if under the table,
deal that Coronip found in high grade marijuana. We were headed
for a human planet anyway (the stuff gets humans lit quite as
effectively as caffeine does us), so Tatikat, Coronip and Y'Tyar
bought 375 kilos and I forged a tax stamp. A very artistic
effort, if I do say so myself.
And finally....
First, there was one of those things you rarely need, but
have no time to acquire when you do, i.e. a fake set of ship's
papers. Y'Tyar, Coronip and Tatikat followed up the marijuana
deal by asking where they could get some. This led to a rather
dingy place containing an expert forger where, at the cost of
90,000 SMU they acquired the ability to prove that we were actu-
ally the Sun Seeker, of Ata'a registry. Then Tatikat returned to
the ship, while Coronip and Y'Tyar asked to see something else.
And did. Coronip made a terrific dope deal (including one dose
of kwesin extract, no less) and Y'Tyar went off and bought lots
of ordinance. To be precise, two tripod mount blasters plus
ammunition, forty M21 machine rifles also plus ammunition, and a
grenade launcher plus about thirty grenades.
OK; there you have it - one dope smuggler, one gun runner, a
captain with a spare set of (forged) ship's papers and a cargo of
marijuana with a forged tax stamp, one innocent (!) H'Rel and an
L'Drey spy. Who says life in the merchant marine is dull and
boring?
Amazingly, the trip out was no trouble. The SHIP behaved
herself beautifully, if maybe a bit creakily. Came the arrival
and the Customs Officials, all human, wearing Marauder armor, and
including one telepath. Oh, oh...
The (false) tax stamp passed inspection, as did the (real)
ship's papers. Next, all but one of the Officials began inspect-
ing the ship with various devices while the telepath conducted
his own investigation by reading the mind of a crewmember chosen
at random. You remember Yewlira? The H'Rel? The only one on
board with no guilty secrets? Guess who the telepath picked?
I'm amazed the Customs man didn't notice the collective relief of
the rest of the crew.
After a while, the guys with the sniffers came back and
reported something amiss. Oops, I thought, they've discovered
Y'Tyar's weaponry. I braced myself for an explosion (did I say
she specialized in paranoia? Make that P*A*R*A*N*O*I*A!) should
Y'Tyar decide to use some of those devices, only to learn that
what they'd picked up was one of Yewlira's stink bombs. The head
Customs official told the captain to put any H'Reli crewmembers
in spacesuits at once. Evidently, whoever he'd bought all of
that stuff from either didn't like H'Reli or had an excessively
weird sense of humor, for the "stink bombs" he'd supplied Yewlira
with were filled with a H'Reli specific nerve toxin capable of
killing within a few seconds, and the "joy buzzers" were rigged
to fry the user's hand off.
The telepath was able to tell them that Yewlira had had no
idea of what he'd brought along, so the officials contented
themselves with summoning the bomb squad to deal with the twenty
"stink bombs" and fifty "joy buzzers". We had to pay the bomb
squad 5,000 SMU, but it beat trying to get rid of the things
ourselves!
So much for the Customs inspection. We landed, delivered
the consignment, sold off our cargo (making a sizable profit on
the marijuana, incidentally) and Coronip decided to go unload
some of her private stock.
Fortunately for all of us, Y'Tyar tagged along, at suffi-
cient distance to disguise the fact that the two of them were
together. After all, Coronip knew of Y'Tyar's gun purchase,
which made it important to keep her out of too much trouble.
Fat chance. Eventually, Coronip located a slightly seedy
looking Altan to whom she suggested the availability of kwesin
extract (the stuff doesn't work on any other species, you know).
Unfortunately, he was indeed interested. Extremely. He was a
narcotics agent on a stake-out! The agent's immediate response
was to hit a collar tab summoning a large combat car from wherev-
er it had been lurking nearby, draw his blaster, and order Coro-
nip to freeze. Coronip seems to have panicked - after all, human
world or not, unpleasant things happen to people caught selling
that stuff - and ran for the nearest building. Blaster fire,
plus the arrival of that combat car merely caused her to run all
the faster and throw in some dodging as well. Not wishing the
cops to catch Coronip (especially alive), Y'Tyar drew a weapon of
her own, but Coronip vanished into the building before Y'Tyar
could do anything. Y'Tyar lost track of her and, the building in
question being a government one and currently surrounded by
narcs, decided it was time to get back to the ship.
Which she did, in a terrific hurry. After hearing from her,
I wasn't too happy either, and the two of us talked Tatikat into
taking off as soon as we could get flight clearance. This had
the effect of making him highly suspicious of US, but beat hang-
ing around and maybe having the police after us. So we left.
Of course Coronip hadn't been stupid enough to carry that
kwesin extract with her. I never found out for sure what hap-
pened to it, but I suspect Y'Tyar took it herself. I don't know
how much good the potential life span of one thousand or so years
it will give her will do her, though; if she keeps on like this
I'll be surprised if she's alive next year!
Our next port of call was yet another human world, Homefree,
where, due to the captain's mistrust of most of his crew and
Y'Tyar's and my interest in getting as far away from the Valhalla
incident as possible, we sold the ship, divided the money plus
the profits from the trip, and took off in different directions.
We did discuss meeting again on New London in a Han-year, but I'm
not too sure I'll go. Enough is, after all, enough.
So I'm hoping Fleet will let me come back for a visit in the
not too distant future. You should know before I do. Meet me in
the usual place? These Altani are entirely too uptight.
MilPentar Sacha Tiaou-Ashata Tanlir
MESSAGE ENDS