Port Wander

The shipyard reports indicate that the ship will be completely repaired and refitted in two weeks time. Much had been accomplished by the crew of the (what did you rename the ship Micah?) but some important tasks still needed to be attended to before the end of the repairs.

Cadmus

A summons from your brother comes to you one afternoon while you are looking over the ships books with Hycler, your new purser. Decimus demands that you come to Flavius mansion to consult with him about your upcoming mission.

(Journey to the mansion, it is your ancestral mansion built inside the space port. Here is the brief description I have written for it: “dusty, looks almost abandoned. Only a few servants keep the place up. An old butler who worked for your grandfather when he was a boy and two house servitors. Decimus’ enforcers’ are guarding the exterior and interior.” Fill in the rest of the details when you go in to meet with Decimus, get creative.

Yorke

The Fortunatus and your current ship both have nothing in the way of navigation charts for non-Imperial space. Navigational coordinates, or better yet, a map of the Koronus Passage, needs to be acquired. You know that Rogue Traders jealously guard their charts so as to keep others away from competing with their business ventures. You know that charts are sometimes sold in the local market though. Being a Benetek you also know that the charts of your family might be attainable.

(Choose a method of finding a chart for the passage).

Riker

Your recruiting from the former Zephyr crew has landed you five able bodied men to be part of your enforcer squad. Mr. Dilan, after some thought, declines your offer to join the squad preferring to stay among his men. After searching through the weapons and equipment onboard the ship you realize that your men will have to be better equipped to properly do their job. Time to go shopping!

Tybalt

While performing your overseeing duties one day, a weak hand railing on a set of stairs snaps under the pressure you place on it. Your right hand and arm take a bad slicing from the jagged and rusty metal. The wound looks bad enough for a trip to the infirmary. You travel to midship and open up the hatch to the medical compartment. You walk back into the churgeon’s quarters in search of him and find him standing in his room facing away from the door in which you stand. The man is tipping back a metal flask of some very strong drink, such so that it stings your nostrils even a few feet away from it.

Cadmus

Cadmus nods, rising from beside Hycler. “We’ll see how you do on this voyage, but be warned that I do not tolerate dishonesty on my vessel.” With a nod, he walks out from the room and through the ship returning any salutes with a brief look and nod as he moves to the exit.

Walking up the street, Cadmus’ thoughts tumble over each other from his inadequacy at command to memories of his childhood in this port. With these in mind, he approaches his ancestral home, passing through the enforcers and only briefly glancing at the slightly rusting and cumbling exterior.

As he enters the metal door, his hand slides over the masonry architecture around the doorframe. “So many memories here,” Cadmus murmurs absentmindedly. Entering into the foyer, he glances around at the vaulted ceiling and twin staircases that curve to the upper floor. Pillars that at one time gleamed with golden filagree now are tarnished and dusty.

His grandfather’s old servant approaches with a bow, the man seems to be almost as old as the house if that is possible yet still fit enough for service. “Master Cadmus, your brother is expecting you.” he offers with another bow. Cadmus nods, “Is he in the planning room?” The servant nods again. Cadmus moves to the stairs, which used to be white but now gray with age and crumbling in places. The bannister is a tarnished bronze.

As he reaches the second floor landing, it opens into a long hall in either direction that curves around the entire upper floor of the house. Tapestries and family portraits adorn the upper hall. It is obvious that more care has been taken to preserve the family portraits. Cadmus pauses for a moment with bowed head before those of his father and brother. “What would they think of me now…?” Cadmus whispers to himself, resting his head on the wall between them.

He reaches the planning room, pausing on the threshold. The room is arranged exactly as on board a ship, betraying the comfort level of the family, more accustomed to shipboard than landside rooms. Cadmus enters, looking to Decimus. “You sent for me?”

Decimus is sitting at the head of a long black wood table, the twin of the one on the Fortunatus. He looks up at Cadmus from some data slates he is poring over and lets out a annoyed sigh. “Finally. Did you take a turn through your room to play with your toys? Nevermind, I don’t have time to waste. I leave on the morrow on an important task for the Machenko Dynasty. My handling of the situation with the Throat Slitter pleased them greatly. It is fortunate that they believed my story about the pirates rummaging through their goods. One of my enforcers informed me that you and one of your minions were snooping around in the cargo bay before I had time to secure that area. Just what were you doing down there! I told you that cargo was not to be bothered with!”

Cadmus takes a seat without being offered, leaning back slightly as cold fury washes over him. However, nothing is betrayed by his face, though his voice has a slight edge to it as he looks into his brother’s face. “And I told you that my first priority was to ensure the security of that very cargo. I knew you would secure the ship, and I did not want any cargo accidentally damaged or lost. Or don’t you think that I know how much our family’s reputation hangs by a mere thread?”

Decimus looks back at Cadmus with negative emotion that isn’t veiled. “If you know that then you should also know that petty theft will not do us any favors. A small amount of that shipment was missing when I turned it over to the Dynasty. I swore to them that it was that those items had been sold off by the pirates before we could take the ship. I hope very much that I did not have to lie to our new benefactors.”

Cadmus frowns, a muscle twitching in his cheek, his voice a deathly calm… “Just what are you trying to imply……. Decimus?”

Decimus responds, “Lt. Harger brought some of the pirates on board the Fortunatus for questioning after we took the ship. After some… persuasion, they confessed that the pirate captain had not sold any of the stolen cargo. They also admitted that they were unsure what the cargo was and that their captain was equally clueless as to what he had stolen really was either. That means that if the missing items were not sold then they must be in someone’s possession on that ship. You and Riker were seen snooping through the crates. Is there anything I should know?”

Cadmus smirks, leaning back further. “If you have to ask that question, then you really don’t know how highly I hold our family honor. To answer you more directly, no…neither Riker nor myself touched the cargo. My only aim, as I have already SAID, was to secure the cargo. I don’t know what was in the crates, nor do I care. If there is some cargo missing, then it is none of my doing.”

“Hmmph. Very well. I suggest that you keep a close eye on your pet pirates then. I would have preferred putting them all to sword but I knew this would upset your dialect sensibilities. If those missing items are found among your men, which is the only logical place for them to be hiding, you will turn them over to me. But we must discuss other matters now.”

Decimus picks up a dataslate and lazily slides it down the table with a flick of his wrist. “Those are your instructions for you mission to Footfall. You are required to escort Rhys’ ship “the Emperor’s Bounty” to the port. You will also have your navigator chart both paths through the Koronus Passage and five ACCURATE copies will be made of those charts. Cpt. Rhys has already paid me for allowing him to use you and my new ship. He spoke of a possible bonus if his daughter made it safely to Footfall and he wants you to carry some of his cargo in your hold as well. I hope you will be able to keep your men from pillaging the shipment. Any questions dear brother?”

Tybalt

Tybalt enters with a chuckle, “Oi, Churgeon, What do you have there mate? Is that de-greaser I smell or what?” The Churgeon turns around quickly, fastening the top of the flask and stowing it behind his back in a quick, albeit wobbly movement.

“No worries Doc,” says the voidmaster as he pulls out his own bottle from inside his uniform. “Sometimes you need a drink, but would you mind taking care of my hand, this rusty bucket of shrapnel sliced me a bit.” Tybalt waves his bloodied palm to the Churgeon, “I would have poured some of this ’ere Amasec on it to sterilize it, but it’s a shame to waste the stuff, can you help me out?”

Cadmus

Cadmus stifles his anger, picking up the dataslate and glancing over it with a quick, penetrating gaze. “It is as I had already discussed with Captain Rhys.” Looking up at Decimus with a steely gaze, he responds “Not at all…” rising “and if there’s nothing further? Or perhaps you would like to accuse me of allowing this house to fall into disrepair next? After all, I’ve only been gone for several years, it must be my fault.”

Decimus leans back in his chair while rolling his eyes. “Such a dramatic. Really Cadmus. This tendency of yours to be so easily affronted is part of our downfall in my opinion. Titus and father were both the same way and what good did it do them? When you see that the axe is about to fall you step out of the way not try to stand against it.” He then waves a dismissive hand, obviously wanting to be done with the topic and carries on, “I have additional tasks for you while you are at Footfall that do pertain to family business. If you are done playing the martyr I will explain.” He says with a questioning glance.

Tybalt

The churgeon wipes his mouth with back of his hand. The man wears a blood stained white overcoat. His hair is black with gray streaks and his face communicates a certain weariness. The man gives a wry smile in response to Tybalts words. “It certainly would have been a waste. Amasec. I can’t remember when last I had any of that fine drink in my belly. All I’ve had at hand this last year has been this here Rat Piss.” He says as he waves the flask he had hidden behind his back.

“Now we do use this as a disinfectant here on the Zephyr.” He walks over to a cabinet while speaking and removes some medical equipment. He then begins to see to Tybalt’s arm. “However, The new pursuer just brought me some much needed supplies so we get to save our shipbrew for drinking instead.” The Churgeon, despite having just had some obviously powerful drink, quickly cleans and dresses Tybalt’s wound expertly.

Tybalt inspects the bandaged member and finding it adequate passes over the bottle and the remaining few swallows of Amasec therein, to the the Churgeon. “I see that you are like myself and never drink too much, just enough!” Tybalt laughs and grins at the man. " I appreciate your help doc, if there are any supplies you need before we leave port I don’t mind seeing what I can ferret out for you."

Tybalt’s joviality is obviously catching as the Churgeon ends up chuckling along with him and having a swallow of Amesac. “Not a problem shipmate. Say, I didn’t catch your name. I don’t get out of this sick bay often enough to meet all the new faces. Everyone ends up meeting me here eventually anyway. Sarcio is my name.” He says extending his hand. “Most just call me Doc or Churgeon of course.”

At that moment a banging sound is heard at the sick bay entrance. A skeletal thin man that Tybalt barely recognizes as Rica stumbles into the compartment looking dull eyed and haggard. Heavy bandaging still covers his left shoulder, the arm having been cut away completely some 7 weeks ago. He stammers out “Churgeon… CHURGEON! Pain killll…erss. Need them…NOW!”

Upon seeing Rica, Tybalt looks to the Doctor, “How long has he been like this?” He then turns his attention back to Rica, “Have a seat buddy, you look right awful you do.” The pilot puts a hand on Rica’s back and lightly guides him to a place to sit. “By the way Sarcio, my name is Tybalt, pleased to meet ya.” As he says his, he gives the Churgeon a questioning look, clearly questioning the state of Rica’s health.

Churgeon Sarcio has a look of understanding come upon his face as he rummage through the cabinet for a bottle of pills, “Ahh… so you’re the one that’s been overseeing the repairs. One of the new cpts command crew. Well, I didn’t expect any of you to be so… normal, if you catch my meaning.” The man approaches Rica with 4 pills in hand. “Calm down now shipmate and take these.”

(medicae +30 if you have the skill, otherwise INT +0)

Rica seems reluctant at first and demands some other pills in his slurred speech. Sarcio manages to convince him to take the new pills instead after some coaxing. As the pills start to have some calming effect on Rica, Sarcio whispers to Tybalt, “He was a mess when they brought him in here. But then so were about a hundred others. With the power being down it was all me and my assistants could do just to keep people alive. I had to cut off the arm to save him. I regret it but it was the best I could do for him. He was comatose for almost 3 days after that. When he finally did awake he was in a lot of pain, so much so that he was disturbing the other patients. At the time all I had was Giga’s Rat Piss and Tranq. Cpt. Kranmer didn’t believe in spending thrones on medical supplies though he didn’t mind buying some drugs for the men. I set Rica up on Tranq to ease him until we finally were able to get real medicine here at Port Wander. He seems to have become addicted to it. Though his symptoms are unusual.”

Cadmus

Cadmus’ face clouds over for a moment, “I recognize that you lead our family’s interests, but… not another word against either father or Titus. What is this family business in Footfall? It was my understanding that we had not penetrated that far yet.”

Tybalt

A deep look of sadness crosses Tybalt’s face and in the same low whisper he replies to the doctor, “I have seen the horrors of drug addiction firsthand and know them to be truly evil. Please try and wean Rica off any addictive substances, we do not need someone unstable on this ship while we are still trying to get everything in order.

If you see no improvement in the next week, I will speak to the Capt. and we may have to lock him in the brig and make him involuntarily de-tox. He has been through a lot, Rica, and I can’t bear to think what would happen if he continued down the path of a junkie.”

A questioning expression glides over Tybalt’s face, “Does Rica or for that matter, do any other members of the crew have symptoms I should be made aware of Sarcio?”

Riker

Riker took Mr. Dilan’s decision not to be an enforcer as a bit of a disappointment. He assumed that Dilan’s reputation with the crew would help when it came to enforcing the rules on board the ship with any crew member that stepped out of line. He still believes Dilan has potential and that maybe his usefulness would come into play in another capacity, sometime down the road.

Strolling along the ships corridors towards the cargo hold to meet up with his new selected enforcers for a bit of basic enforcer training, Riker thinks to himself, “Without Dilan, I guess I’m going to have to be a lot tough than I wanted to be on the new recruits to get them in tip top shape and have the right attitude when it comes to getting the job done.” He continues his thought, “Its been quite a while since I’ve trained any troops. I haven’t done anything like this since I promised Cadmus’ dad that I would watch over Cadmus’ well-being. It feels good to get back into the swing of things and whip these vagabonds into real soldiers.”

Riker had decided to use the Cargo Hold as a training area. Upon entering it he notices that his five recruits are there and presumably ready to begin the process of becoming the ships enforcers. Dilan had recommended these men to Riker as being good, loyal and reliable. Riker was going to find out just how much they would hold up to there recommendation.

Standing on the other side of the hold in a small circle are the five experienced crew members of the original crew of the Zephyr. There is Mort and Frastus, both from Imperial worlds but landed at Port Wander in there teenage years and spent most of there life before the Zephyr as port hands. Zuriel and Zek were the only ones with any military experience as they both served on warships during tours in the Imperial Navy. Klightus, born on a trading vessel, has pretty much been on a ship most his life. They all turn towards Riker as he approaches but not in any significant posture.

Riker address the men as he walks up to them, “You men need to stand at attention when your commanding officer enters the room!!!” As soon as they hear Riker’s commanding voice, they snap to attentions, shameful that they did not do so before. Riker continues, “Dilan told me you men had experience that I could work off of, but it looks to me you will need to go back to the basics. Today and for the next few weeks we will be running through a thorough basic training to wipe out any bad habits you might have picked up while the pirates were running things on this ship. After that we will go to the weapons and armory surplus in the port to fit you with the ‘right’ gear available to us. The crap that is left on this vessel to use is bare fit for a mutant, nevertheless a real solider like I’m going to mold you into.”

Cadmus

Decimus rolls his eyes again at Cadmus’ obvious anger. “Very well, we shall keep to current family business then. Thank you so much for recognizing what I have been doing the last two years.” He clears his throat loudly and then proceeds. “No. We haven’t yet ‘penetrated’ Footfall. Your mission for Rhys will serve as our first step into the Koronus Expanse. The Baron Montcalm just absorbed one of our last lucrative trade routes last month and now I must look elsewhere for the families fortunes. I am moving the dynasty into the Expanse itself. Our warrant of trade gives us unlimited rights to move beyond Imperial space. Our forbears simply chose to stay within settled space. You will spend your time in Footfall finding a suitable berth for our holdings and you will begin the process of making contacts there that can assist us in establishing new trade routes.” He slides another data-slate your way. “That slate covers what I require you to do while in Footfall. I hope that you will be handle these responsibilities.”

Cadmus takes the proffered dataslate, his voice even, “Thank you SO much for the trust you’ve placed in me.” He rises from the table, intent on leaving quickly. “Anything else dear brother? If not, I’m heading to the tavern for a drink.”

Decimus waves a dismissive hand as he turns his attention back to the charts and data-slates in front of him. “No, no. Go waste your time on folly.”

Tybalt

Sarcio’s former exhausted look comes back to his face after dealing with Rica. “No. No more addicts than would be unusual that I’m aware of. Some are better at hiding it than others. Rica is a different case altogether. I’ll keep a closer eye on him.”

Rica is now in a deep sleep. His chest rising and falling at an unusually fast rate. Sarcio starts doing some basic tests on the unconscious man, checking vitals and the like. “Well it was a pleasure to meet you Tybalt. I’m going to see to my patient and then hit the rack for some rest of my own. Stop by tomorrow to let me get a look at that arm.”

Tybalt claps the Churgeon on the back. “Aye, I’ll see ya tomorrow Sarcio.” With that, he takes one last look at Rica, shakes his head, and mutters, “Poor lad, you seem to be Fate’s whipping boy.” As he watches the rise and fall of Rica’s breathing a thought crosses the pilot’s mind. The voidmaster reaches inside his uniform and takes out a ship charm, something he has carried with him since his first days in the Imperial Navy.

Opening Rica’s cloak and pins the charm inside. “He needs this a lot more than me it seems” Tybalt mutters halfway to himself." Looking at Sarcio’s questioning look the voidmaster just smiles. “I’m privileged to have other things protect me, this lad hasn’t had such a fortunate life, maybe this will help him some. There is no need to tell him where it came from.”

Tybalt pats Rica on the head as he fidgets uncomfortably. As he does he notices that Rica is covered in a slight sweat. Whether it is from the drugs, pain, or nightmarish visions of his life, Tybalt has no idea. “It all goes away Rica, drugs will lose their grip if you let them, pain will fade with time, and fear is not shameful, it equips you to face the dangers that are out there. Stare into the face of that danger and laugh, because fear is a one weapon monster. If you can hold you wits while being confronted with terror, you have already won. Grow stronger and keep your faith shipmate.”

With that Tybalt leaves the room. As he shuts the door he feels the urge to walk down through the crew’s quarters. Tybalt always was the sympathetic one in his family, much like his mother before the death of the Tybalt’s father. A crew needs to know that they aren’t just expendable, even if they may very well be.

His thoughts continue emanating from him like a great billowing storm as he recalls his family. Father, proud but too much so. Mother, graceful but now a disgrace. Tacitus, dark and cruel. Tira, dedicated to every task and nigh an unstoppable force if faced with opposition. She will be making much trouble soon for those that have crossed lines that should never be crossed. Tira is an unmatched hunter, which is why no one argued when she offered to protect mother in her state of weakness. If only she could get out of the grasp of that accursed drug, she could possibly restore herself to her former glory.

Tybalt continues in thought as he walks down the hallways, nodding to the crew as he passes.

The crew has become more familiar with Tybalt over the weeks in port. All of them great him with salutes that would be due an officer, some with cautious smiles. After walking along the corridors for a bit Tybalt comes across Lt. Abrams and Bosun Barret. They look like they are about to head out into port and after seeing Tybalt they invite him along.