Issue #45
Monday, November 28th, 2005The Liberation
Class D planets are not the vacation resort everyone seems to think they are. Oh, they have the sandy beaches, but the lack of any large bodies of water gives no contrast to the vast dunes across the planets. The peoples that live there are a tough lot, which makes them ideal candidates for the vile slave lords who have crept onto these planets and taken control. Their only interest? Profit – especially in terms of gems and jewels.
Now these slave lords are a greedy lot. They really don’t care HOW they get the profit, and from time to time, they will…acquire slaves at a good price that they can resell at a good profit. The Tiacken Slave Traders have no interest in these types of slaves – these are not the people we are here to help – and when we come across these types, we do our best to make sure these types get to a safe sanctuary. They are generally easy to spot as these slaves have a different aura that surrounds them. There is a bit of life to them – much more than the typical pathetic slaves that inhabit the planet. While we don’t have the resources to find the home for each and every slave, we do drop them off with friendly locals in neighboring sectors who have promised to help.
Anyway, while closing down the Zirr operation a few weeks ago, we came across a Ska’ari that was quite outside the typical Zirr ‘resdient’. After a few quick questions, we knew we had another outsider to take care of and began the process of pulling her out of our operations. It was during this time that I caught a strange look from Hank as he looked at the Ska’ari.
Looking back at the Ska’ari, and noting nothing unusual, I turned back to Hank. “What’s up?
Hank stared at the Ska’ari for a few more moments before responding “I think I recognize her.”
I glanced back over at the Ska’ari before looking back at Hank. “You mean you can tell a difference between them?”
But Hank was already busy looking through missing persons reports. Hank obviously knew what he was looking for as it took him just a few minutes to pull up a match. “Yeah, see the ID marks here, here, here, and here” as he pointed to various Ska’ari features on the screen. “We found her – I wonder how she ended up here?”
I was in awe. I’d never been able to tell the difference between Ska’ari before (outside of spray painting a number on their shell on the rare occasion when we needed to differentiate between them). “Where’d you learn all this Hank?”
Hank was still looking over the specs of the missing person report as he rattled on. “During my time in the Keldon cluster, I did some crabbing – you learn very quickly the attributes of Ska’ari….” He stopped and looked up when he realized what he’d just admitted to. Crabbing was the capturing and selling of Ska’ari to ‘interested parties’. It was obviously a questionable action at best, but the skills had proven useful this time.
Changing the subject, I looked back over his shoulder and onto the screen. “So, anybody we know?” Hank was silent for a second lost in his thoughts before snapping out of it and banging away on the console. A Ska’ari family lineage appeared and Hank began banging through screen after screen in quick succession. Something caught my eye before Hank moved on to the next screen.
“Whoa Hank, pull it back, pull it back.” Hank backed up a screen and I began looking through the chart in earnest. The name I recognized was the human name for a particular Ska’ari I knew of: Dmitriy. It seems our visitor was related to Dmitriy in some form or fashion (I couldn’t read a Ska’ari family tree to save my life) Nudging Hank out of the way, I pulled up a few star charts on the console and located Dmitriy’s starbase. A smile spread over my face as I turned back to Hank who looking at me curiously.
“Hank, you just earned yourself a raise. Have Eldritch get my ship ready. I have a VIP to bring home to Legion Enclave.”
I’d had a few dealing with Dmitriy in the past but this was the first time I’d actually met him in person. Introductions were not needed by my VIP as there was an immediate recognition on both parts and a reunion of sorts between the two. After the immediate reunion, I formally introduced myself and we had a chat.
I’d done some research on the Legion Enclave and the area. Legion Enclave had the potential to be a very good starbase for Lahola, but it wasn’t being used to its full potential. Based on Dmitriy’s ship type and watching the Enclave stocks, I deduced that Dmitriy had little current interest of managing the starbase stocks himself. The TST had potential interest in Lahola and a starbase in the area would likely lock in our next destination. So I steered the discussion of the rescue of his relative to the starbase, to its operations, and ultimately, to his current and future plans for it.
Dmitriy obviously knew where the discussion was headed, but enjoyed the game and played along. After several hours of discussion, a tour of the base, meeting some of the people in charge, lunch, a tour of the local sector, and then dinner: The question finally came down to this: Would Dmitriy be willing to loan the TST his starbase for a few months while we get Lahola up to speed to where it needs to be.
There was silence between us as he considered his options. The starbase was not being used to really support Lahola. There were tens of thousands of tons of energy that needed to be moved and the population of the base was stagnant. The energy at the time was FREE and still not being moved. Ships and materials were being produced on a semi-regular basis, but the base had potential that wasn’t currently being reached by a large margin.
It was an awkward silence broken by the occasional crack or creak that came from the Ska’ari as he moved.
Finally he spoke: “You know, I’ve been meaning to do some ranking in the Empire. I sure wish I had someone I could trust to run my starbase for me while I’m gone. Do you know of anybody that might be willing to work the base for me?”
I grinned. “I might be able to find somebody to help you out with that.”
Two days later. Legion Enclave transferred ownership to the Tiacken Slave Traders. There was no ceremony, no good-byes, just a quick comment over the comm. system, and Dmitriy was gone.
Walking into OPS for the first time brought the entire place to a standstill. The look of shock on the current residents and workers there was absolutely priceless. I was almost ‘escorted’ from the floor until someone realized who I was. It would take a bit of time to realize that I wasn’t the infamous person rumor had me to be.
As I kicked my feet up on the desk, I realized that this was just the beginning. There was a lot of work to do. There were mines to build, there was metal to smelt, there were preparations to make, and ultimately, there was a message to send and a people to free. But for the time being, it felt good - good that the first steps of the revolution had begun.
Bounty Hunters Back in Action
You have to admire Eldrioth as a bounty hunter. He does whatever it takes to get the job done. This week, Eldrioth managed to finagle his way behind Mooninite MO’s where he began collecting bounties on a few buildings back there. He was able to take down two buildings before the Mooninites organized ambushes to oust the outsider. Needless to say, it’s not very likely Eld will be welcomed behind the Mooninite MO’s any time soon.
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Outrage in the Empire
It was a tradition in Tribune HQ to celebrate “Thanksgiving” with a turkey feast and all the trimmings and such. However, last year’s celebration went a bit too far, and there was enough left over turkey that it took eight months to finally rid the station of turkey embryos. Needless to say, when Thanksgiving came along again this year, residents of Tribune HQ decided to try something new this year: seafood.
Reports are saying that the feast at the station was incredible. Attendance at the party was the highest the starbase has had in record (and likely broke a few safety violations). It was a party to remember – and even MORE memorable when it was discovered that the crab was not, in fact, crab, but instead, a misplaced shipment of black market Ska’ari parts on its way to Rashkir territory.
Empire officials are outraged over the fact, but Federation officials are noting that it was an empire pilot who brought the ‘feast’. Both sides are pointing fingers, but regardless of the finger-pointing, Federation guests in attendance are noting it was the best damn feast they’ve had in a long, LONG time!
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Piracy has existed since the basic development of conventional seafaring. Yet, by and by, a few pirates made it to become beyond famous - they became legends. Many times a simple cutthroat was just a bloody sabre apart from being a captain, but only a few were able to hold their position long enough to make history.
But those who kept their ransacking and murdering crew under control; and enriched themselves with the hard work of others with tricks and perils were able to impress their enemies. Many legends were created out of the fantasies of surviving marine officers and adorable ladies, who could go back home to their rich families for quite a ransom.
The pirate’s charm lies not in the ankle-deep puddles of blood he wades through, and also not in the tons of rum he captures. What counts is his unshakeable daringness, his inspiring ingenuity and - last but not least - who he kills without turning a hair and who lets survive.
Famous Pirate is space flotilla consisting of bold and veteran pirates, who sail under the same flag to make history once more. Not money stands in the foreground of our goals, but glory and rum. Down to the last crew member of our alliance, everybody is deeply convinced of the great importance of these goals.
Some legends die after a generation, others live thousands of years. We take this challenge!
Do you have what it takes to become a Famous Pirate?
WORD SEARCH
15 Words Related to Paruds – can you find them all? (purposely didn’t give you the words – have fun!)
F S D L T H V N H Q C T D B W O E N V S N P O D S Z I O M P O V Z S B T E H P B G A P G T D A H D D G J M Y Y P C E X Q F L J I R J H E P O U K P N R D S E C X U S Q Y I C E A F H N A U T N A G R A G U N C S U V A I V B P X S Y V R Q S K L M W C R P I G R G J A E E N E T K A C R W A W S W T Q N L V U T D A U S M E D U S A J E Z S Q A Y H R C W O R M H O L E R K A K N L A O W N V I A D B S T I V V A D C R E T L E M S G R G Y U B P V Y Y N U Y T W
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUCEMENT
The next lesson begins soon. Preparations are well underway. For those citizens on those desert planets needing a reason to worry? The time is closing in. Zirr was just a sample of what you will receive. A small sample. The lesson will be learned. We will make sure of it. Enjoy your ‘peace’ now.