AAR Introduction - Waxwing Pilot
After Action Report Introduction: Freefall, 28-29 July, 2007
‘The captain of the Waxwing was nervous as his Angel Class C Light Transport settled into a berth next to the Freefall Trading Post on the Border Moon Ataraxiain the early morning hours of 28 July planetside. He had a holdful of guns to be smuggled past the Magistrate’s prods, and an Alliance dropship following him in on the glide-path down to the mining town of Freefall from high orbit, and not cargo nor passengers booked for the return trip to the Core Planets. To add to the uncomfortableness, he’d just received a wave from his contact on the ground tellin’ him that the miner’s revolt had spread to Freefall Mine as well, which meant that his quiet little gunrunning spot was bound to be crawlin’ with lawmen lookin’ for Browncoat Resisters, and mercenaries nosing around for easy pickin’s. “Captain,” said Crash, the pilot, over the pop and creak of the shutdown atmo turbofans cooling, “You might want to take a look out the window. I think we have company.” The Captain stepped up to the cockpit glass and looked down. Three heavily-armed thugs stood in the glare of the Waxwing’s landing lights. “Hope they brought their jimmies,” said the Captain, “’cause we ain’t open for business ‘til sunup. You don’t crack the seals for no one ‘til I give the word, you hear me?” Crash nodded, looking a little spooked; this was his first run to Freefall. The Captain said, “Good. I’ll be in my bunk.” “Oh, yeah,” he thought to himself as he made his way aft to the engine room to round up his wife, “Yeah, this is gonna be just Shiny….”’
Mercenary
My Associate and I were just minding our own business, which was nothing at the time, when a dusty, nervous miner approached us with a business proposal. He stated that the miner's revolt had begun on ataraxia and the "revolution" if you could call it that needed some help holding one of their mineheads. I volunteered our services for 4 gems, plus one per kill. We set up our ambush by the mine and waited. Before too long, that nervous miner sent some of his buddies after us to make sure we didn't take off on them. some people just don't know how to trust. I could tell these miners had never held a gun, except maybe for some squirrel hunting. Before too long we found out why they hired us and not the other wannabe shooters around town. They had an alliance patrol after them. They came in with their typical alliance fanfare, oh so predictable. Making so much noise you could shoot them in the dark. we popped the first one that came within 20 yards of us. While he was on the ground moaning and groaning, his team leader asked us to hold fire. clearly a master tactician. we "agreed" and let them come closer, and wouldn't you know it they were all practically holding hands when we lit them up again. There was one trooper left and he took some cover, he was obviously the one that should've been the team lead, but after some maneuvering, there he was laying on the ground, bolt open, bleeding. and with that, we walked over and had a laugh at their misfortune and went to collect payment. We brought one of the scared miners with us to verify our headcount of 5.. well after he was finished cleaning his shorts out. neither him or the other two miners with us fired a shot. I don't blame them, this kind of business should be handled by pros like us. Now the lead miner was a little reluctant to pay us as he was uncertain that his mine would stay secure.. not our problem, we did what we were paid to and that was that. on our way back to town to spend our loot, some of that alliance patrol had gotten patched up.. probably by one of the miners that hired us. well since they was looking for us and I had a pocketfull of gems, i took off into the woods.. my partner, pockets empty, stalled the troopers long enough for me to get around their flank. He hit one of them, and so did I. about that time i realised they wouldn't let me out of the woods if they thought it was me who shot them, so i let off a few rounds in the air and gave a pretty convincing death cry.. convincing enough for the alliance goofballs anyway. They even thanked me for taking out their harrasser.. hahaha..
So we went on our way to change some of those gems into folding money. We figured our best bet to be that starship that had just landed. I talked to the captain and he just couldn't afford it. oh well.. I headed into the store to try and find another job, and there sits the magistrate. I figured it would be a good time to buy some strawberries, but he wasn't hungry, so i ate them right in front of him.. I putzed around town to find a hiding spot for my loot until i could move it, and once it was hidden, i felt a little social, so i approached the magistrate again, and one of his goody goody guards hit me with a stunner. I didn't appreciate it much, but right at that moment, it wasn't the time to settle the score. I worked the crowd over a little.. managed to palm 30 ataraxs off the companions table and headed back into the store to spend it when i spotted the magistrate taking a nap. his other guard was off somewhere skirt chasing and he left his apprentice there to mind the boss. he wasn't minding him too well because the magistrate had a crisp alliance credit just hanging out of his pocket. I positioned myself behind him and snatched it, and while doing so, noticed a hefty lump of cash down in his pocket. my partner new what i was up to already and asked the guard to assist him with his gear. I snatched a handful of cash and walked over to my hiding spot.. after that, we both took a breather and downed a cold one.. not ten minutes later the magistrate and his guards came over and started questioning me. and here i thought no one had noticed. well, no one noticed very well because neither of the guards actually saw what happened and the magistrate had more cash than he could count. So they hooped and hollered and fussed around but I didn't have it on me and wasn't going to tell them where it was. since this is confession time, they were standing almost on top of it. It was hidden in the bushes. 'course they didn't check..
A little later we were approaced by the the local scumbag crime boss. She wanted to rip off the store in a big way, but didn't have the firepower to get away clean. we took the job for a 40% cut and waited outside the store. Their robbery went off ok and we skedaddled only to find 3 creeps just hanging out in their hideout. I dispatched them and caught a bullet in the leg for my trouble, but such is the life of a merc. As my partner was in arranging the split i went to get patched up by the doc. By the time i made it back to the hideout, they were still counting. Thats about the time the sheriff showed up and plugged the 3 robbers. My associate and I returned fire, but quickly noted we were the only ones doing so. We instantly had the same thought, if theres no one there to stop us, why not take all the cash?? I pocketed the loot and we took off, putting a couple rounds between us and the sheriff on the way out. Back to the loot hiding spot to deposit the cash and headed into the shopkeeper to try and bribe her into keeping her mouth shut. unfortunately the crime boss had gone to the doc and gotten patched up and wanted her cash. I gave her the 40 ataraxs i had in my pocket and told her it was one of her boys. Later on that night both of her stoolies who were apparently sharing an IQ questioned me and I again pointed them to their compadres. I thought that was enough action for one night, but apparently the ship captain was also being chased by the alliance and needed a hand blowing up their ship.. he paid good too 100 alliance creds up front and after. I felt kind of bad taking it from him, cuz in my opinion he paid too much. but nonetheless we got his shooter to her RPG and the alliance ship with hardly a shot fired. He paid us our back end and we called it a night.. Day two's report later... .
I awoke the next day to pastries that the shopkeeper had "made" for the whole town. Don't know why, really didn't care. I was still trying to fence the gems I was paid with the day prior. I consulted the ship's captain again about this and he related to me that his courier hadn't arrived but had landed that morning. He was speculating that something happened to her. I took my team (had three more mercs arrive in the night) for a walk around to find out what happened to her.. No luck though, ship was empty and no sign of her. When I arrived back in town I spotted the magistrate and I hadn't forgotten how his guards snubbed the day before. I stopped looking for jobs as he became my priority. After a botched kidnapping attempt, my team decided to come at him from a more legitimate angle. His wife was killed in a mine collapse and word around town is the magistrate had something to do with it. We started kicking over some stones and got the names of the guys hired to do it. As I was passing this info on like a good citizen, one of the suspects walks right by. We grab him, question him, and grant him immunity. He confesses that the magistrate hired him and his associate to collapse the whole damn mine right on her head. now the sheriff wanted to keep his job and continue breathing, and apparently those wants are not conducive to arresting magistrate types. So he hired us to do it. it was not without incident. Lots of stunners going off and a lot of fistfights and stabbings and eventually.... he escaped in his armored car. for awhile. my team fired on that thing forever and the worst it probably did was give the magistrate a headache.. Hell i even got a pistol into one of the gun ports but the damn things shielded.. so we had to wait for him to come back to town. and he did. We overpowered the guards and Jim, my associate managed to drag the magistrate out of town, only to be mistaken as a magistrates guard on the way up the hill. Well instead of Jim carrying out the "human sacrifice", some other punk did it for us, and wounded Jim in the process.. instead of looting him like i should've, i dragged Jim's body to the doc and let the magistrate rot in the sun... luckily I got Jim though, because he'd gotten the magistrates cash before he was hit. There was hardly anything there and we knew he'd stashed it. We lounged around for almost the rest of the day when opportunity knocked again, there was a shootout at the mineheads and everyone went to get a piece, except for me and my crew of course.. we knocked over the store, stole a sword and stabbed everyone in town. including the magistrate, again. I also ran the sheriff and his deputy through and got a nice shiny star.. and as my rampage came to a close, i poked the alliance team leader and he fell into a sewage ditch. I kinda felt bad about that. almost. but as they say, those who live by the sword, die by the sword, and thats what happened, someone poked me with their pig sticker and there I layed until someone pulled me inside with the rest of my victims. fade to black, roll credits
Mercenary
Here I find myself on backwater moon thats way to hot, my last credit spend on the trip here and not a familier face around. I've spend most of the morning in town trying to find work while watching the Magistrate hire the bigger groups of mercs. It's a little after noon when an alliance squad comes marching into town. The last thing I needed was for the alliance to show up and smooth things over befor I can get a peice of the action. Luckly while in the trading post I overheard they are here to set up some bank. The Alliance moves on while I cool off in the shade of the trading post were I find my frist job. A merc (I think) wants me to ask the Magistrate some questions about some murder. His money is good and whats the worst that could happen, one of the Magistrates goons could stun me. While waiting for the Mag to be alone
(Well just him and his two goons that are always close by) I hear it's the Mags Wife Who was murder in the Mines. With this new info my new Associate
informs me he has been offered a large reward if he can find out who killed her and if I help out it's worth half. We head down to the mines to ask some questions and stumble on a fire fight between the alliance squad and what must be the miners (hopefully they all aren't so trigger happy). We move around the fight(no sents getting wounded in fight with no pay in it) and have a talk with the miners but they seem to know nothing and it was the same way with the rest on the port. We spend most of the day walking and talkinng and no one knows nothing. A few small jobs picking up wounded and dilivering goods for the Doc, but no leads on the murder. Finally we get something some miners coming up to town say they heard something. It takes a some shiny green gem I got for the Doc to pray the info from them.
Two Ex crime boss thugs told them the ships crew was invalved. With the day growing short we took the info back to the Companion's bodygurad (my Associate's emplyer). We gave what info we had and he swiffly turned around and punch the Miner boss in the face(I gess he was spending alot of time with the ships crew). The ships Engineer jumped the bodyguard from behind and quickly brought him down(That girls go a mean right hook). Soon Everyone was up and after a talk with the Companion's, the bodygurad, the engineer and the Miner boss we came to the relization that we must have been misinformed. We decided to return to the mines with the miner boss to point out which Miner was respossable for his punch to the face(And get my gem back). When we got there we found the alliance had set some gizmo up over the mine. I don't think the miner boss like it much because when there were no troopers around he had one of his miners take out the alliance tech. The ships engineer started messing around with the gizmo when an alliance trooper stumbled back over. After a quick burst and one downed engineer followed by alot of quick talking by the miner boss they all picked up the wounded and headed back of the port leaving us to watch the gizmo(paying us of corse).
Soon the Commander of the alliance troop came over with anther merc and hired us to make sure no one got close the the gizmo(nothing like getting paid twice for the same job). We fanned out around the gizmo thing and prepard to defend it. Maybe it was the lack of action or may heat stroke starting in but I grab a few z's under the shade of some trees as we spent the rest of the day on gurad duty. Never did find out who Murdered the Mags wife though darn it. I could have use tht money.
The next day my Associate informs me some of his pals came in over night and he was going to hook up with them and see what trouble he could get into. So once again I find myself alone looking for work in the port. It's not long till I see the Magistrate armored car start up and he's heading out with alot mercs in tow. Best I can figure is they were heading down to mines to take it back by force. With no work to be found here I quickly started moving to the mines to inform them and see if they wanted to hire another gun. After moving though an alliance potrol I found the Miners coming up to port. With news of the car rolling they hired me on and they moved for the Cargo ship. Seems the crew feels for the miners and were trying to get a better deal for them or get them off the this little rock if it comes to that. Most of the crew is warry of talking around me(I find out mercs have been trying to get on board all day so trust is hard to come by). After I help repell a couple of boarding attemps and after dragging the captian back in after he was wounded do they start easing up around me.
Most of the day is guard duty on the ship broken up with small fire fights. The crew let out a cheer with the return of there Pilot and the Companion close behind him (People said they went missing last night during the reaver attack but I can only gess what they were really doing). I was keeping an eye on the rear enterance of the ship when I overheard the Companion say "I wish someone would just shot that man"(the Magistrate). Well I had to inquire how much it would be worth to her to see that done. The pay was good, so took on the job. If I saw a opening to put one it the Magistrate I would take it. My moment wasn't long off. A large brawl started in port, stunners flying everywere and people brawling in the street. And after it all to my luck the Magistrate was being led out of town with only one merc. Here was my chance and I sprung at it.It all when perfect I don't think the Magistrate even saw me and I would have got away clean if it hadn't pilot sneaking around out back of the ship. I was already back inside the ship informing the Companion that the deed was done when I heard the pilot telling the captian, and the captian was not happy. After a failed attempt to sneak out I found myself cornerd in the back of the ship. After a quick look I saw the captian and the other merc who was guarding the ship moving in I decided it was time to talk. I quickly point out I was doing A job for the Companion, Luckly she was in ear shot and step into the hall between me and the captain to cofrim my story. Only after I agreed to keep a low profile and defend his ship till takeoff did he cool down. Once again it wasn't long to prove my word as somebody tryed to bust in through the back were I was catching my breath. They were quickly repled and I sealed off the back again. A while later I watch the crew move out and try to take down the armored car. I sat thier for what seemed to long. No one had come back, I was about to get up and take a look out side when someone came bursting though the back doors. A well place shot brought him right down, It was the pilot(I can't belive he just came running though when every one had an finger ready on the trigger)and i had just shot him. I moved over to get a medpak to him when shot bounced off a wall and got me. Great now i'm down and there are unfriendls out side and no one back here. I call for medic and here foot steps coming from out side. The commander of the alliance squad comes in though the opening at the same time I can see the captian is move up from the front of the ship. Both have guns drawn and look ready to use them. They inch towards the corner of the room neither one able to see the other. All I can think is another disaster is about to happen right in front of me and I can't do anything about it. When the captian comes around the corner he quickly lowered his weapon and the disaster was avioded. The pilot and I are up with minor wounds and I resume my guard duty as the Commander and Captian go up front to talk. It's pretty quite for a while till the rest of the crew gets back. The ship has permission to leave but they are keep waiting for the Miners to show so they can get them off world. When someone trys to break in throught the front door it's time to get off this little world(they were even plus one alliance trooper). The engines fire up the ship starts to lift off just as someone spots the miners moving in. The ship makes a U turn to pick the miners. We open the back doors and the minors come running in along with one of the Magistrate goons(I don't know how he ended up here Thats for someone else to tell). The ship finally takes off as the miner boss moves to the front of the ship to thank the captian. The alliance trooper sees the miner boss and opens fire dropping him. The alliance trooper soon has the back of his head blow out by the kind doctor and is quickly removed from the ship through the front airlock. Well I got off that little rock alive and I got a good bonus from the Captian to. If he pays this well often I may just stick around.
Arms Supplier
I was approached by the local store owner, who was concerned for the safety of her store. Being a member of the Guild of War Harbingers, I was more than happy to provide weapons, support, and intelligence to all sides. I accepted the store owner's request to provide security for her store and assisted the Sheriff with in-town duties while he was away.
The local Crime boss attempted to bribe me with her worthless money, not knowing that my sheer love for destruction and mayhem would be all the payment she needed to secure my services. The concept of money, bribery, and greed sickens me. The embrace of destruction and death is my salvation.
I provided weapons to all sides right underneath the nose of the Federation. My one hope was to get off that greedy backwater world to spread wanton destruction across the galaxy. But I was viciously maimed by roving thugs and left to die in the hot sun while the sheriff crawled away.
Alliance Commander
Alliance Federal Task Group 7
Entry Log 7582
MISSION:
Quell hostilities in the Freefall area by separating the violent striking miners called the Browncoat Resisters from the forces of the Magistrate of Ataraxia.
STATUS:
MISSION SUCCESSFUL. Most of the browncoats are dead, left planet, or have been working with Federation troops on planet. The magistrate’s authority has crumbled and his jurisdiction replaced by Task Group 7. Both sides may cause more trouble in the future, but for now have been reduced in strength and fighting power.
MISSION:
Control traffic into and out of the mine head area to prevent tampering with the investigation site.
STATUS:
MISSION SUCCESSFUL. Although delayed due to forces trying to stop us, all three sensors were successfully completed and the automatic excavator was created and ran smoothly without interruption.
MISSION:
Cooperate with local authorities in re-establishing order in the community. Provide needed services to locals as the situation warrants. The Freefall Safe Area is the jurisdiction of the Sheriff, while the Free-fire Area is within the Magistrate of Ataraxia's jurisdiction. Your Commanding Officer is authorized to override these jurisdictions in the event of a breakdown in order.
STATUS:
MISSION IN PROGRESS. Worked with locals to provide bolster to economy, medical supplies to the doctor, and help when needed. Due to corruption and anti-Federation activities, the Magistrate's authority over the mines was removed during the second day. The magistrate was also going to be brought in for questioning but chaos ensued and people revolted against the magistrate. If the Magistrate is still on world, he will be apprehended and formally questioned. Proof of the magistrate's wife's murder was found and documented, pointing all information back to the local crime boss. Local Sheriff and Deputy aware of this information. Currently working with local law enforcement, the Sheriff, on restoring order to Freefall. Crime boss’s removal deemed critical in establishing order on planet; probably more-so than the Magistrate.
MISSION:
Monitor all air traffic in the environs, and call in intercepts of any unauthorized vessels entering or leaving the airspace of the Freefall investigation site.
MISSION IN PROGRESS. One unidentified vessel landed but no information available. Transport ship, Waxwing, was allowed to take off under my command. Some local trade goods, a few local passengers, an ambassador friendly to the indentured miners, a local doctor, and a Shepherd were all allowed to leave the planet of Ataraxia. Mercenaries attempting to take over the ship were delayed by Alliance troopers long enough for the Waxwing to take off.
MISSION:
Enforce the judgment of the Federal Terraforming Investigator, should she require that any person or persons in the Freefall area be voluntarily interrogated, and/or Bound by Law.
MISSION SUCCESSFUL. Any and all information requested by the investigator was obtained, analyzed, and properly reported. Inspector survived the battle, Ataraxite gems were collected in bulk quantities and stored for safekeeping, and topographical sensors mapping the mines were successful in revealing the un-safe nature of the mines. Proper documentation of the condition of the mines sent to command. Automatic excavation of the site was also successful.
MISSION:
After learning of the nature of the mines and the importance of the Ataraxite gem, Federal Task Group 7 is to no longer concern themselves with the populace of Ataraxia. You now have a high priority mission to secure mine head #2 and set up automatic excavating equipment that will mine the gem slowly over time. Do everything necessary to protect the operable excavator and maintain control over the mine. You have been cleared to use any means reasonably necessary to do so and funds have been wired to you on planet.
STATUS:
MISSION SUCCESSFUL:
Task Group 7 continued to maintain relations with locals after doing so deemed necessary for mission success. Mine head #2 was immediately secured and the automatic excavator established. Both the browncoats and mercenaries were paid to cooperate in defending the excavator. Even though ownership of the mine was now obviously in Federation control, no outside forces attempted to stop the mining operation and mission was a complete success. Mines are now in complete direct Federation control under the jurisdiction of Task Group 7.
CASUALTY REPORT:
Task Group 7 Troopers were well equipped and armored for this mission. Although wounded numerous times, MedPack, Field Dressing, and Surgery supplies were sufficient to keep everyone in satisfactory condition. One Trooper KIA reported during the battle during the takeoff of the transport ship, the Waxwing.
Mercenaries on planet damaged one federal dropship, which was repaired. Those responsible are unconfirmed.
ENTRY NOTE #1:
A formal request is being submitted to prematurely end and void the indenturement contract between the local miners and the Magistrate. Contract a considerable source of hostilities and it’s removal may help the situation on planet.
ENTRY NOTE # 2:
A full inquiry is being requested on the Magistrate and his actions on Ataraxia. Magistrate had shady dealings with numerous mercenaries, attempted to destroy the topographical sensors Task Group 7 was sent in to establish, actively opposed my authority, and enlisted forces to display open aggression and resistance to Federal Task Group 7. When told to stand down, the Magistrate disobeyed but did not continue hostilities. Mines were documented as un-safe. In the Magistrate’s defense, no sabotage of the mines was discovered; the Magistrate’s wife’s death was discovered to be the act of the local crime boss and not a scheme of the Magistrate. Alliance forces attempted to defend the Magistrate to ensure Federal Protocol was maintained and local “thug” law was not imposed on the Magistrate. A recruit trooper shot and wounded the Magistrate during the confusion of the browncoats trying to capture him. A formal apology can be submitted by myself and compensation for this can be arranged.
ENTRY NOTE #3:
Unlawful thugs and mercenaries are too numerous in Ataraxia’s port. I am submitting a formal request to issue an economic forfeiture to identified people who assaulted Task Group 7 personnel with intent to harm and steal. A citation is requested to positive identification of each assault documented. Documentation has been sent of trustworthy operators on planet along with those that have directly opposed Task Group 7 and assumed there to be no consequence
ENTRY NOTE #4:
I am submitting a formal request for a shipment of Alliance Stunners for future policing actions of the Freefall safe zone. Local Sheriff’s actions were commendable, but due to the influx of thugs and mercenaries, the situation quickly became more than he could handle.
ENTRY NOTE #5:
Due to internal corruption, a request to continue the elevated command authority of Task Group 7 is being submitted. Federation interests were best served and positive relationships with locals established when Task Group 7 could overrule operational jurisdiction of other authorities on planet. Maintaining this command authority deemed critically important in continued operations of Task Group 7 on planet.
ENTRY NOTE #6:
Reavers attacked in the middle of the night during day one. Alliance Troopers and local townsfolk put up a defense and repelled the attack. Task Group 7 was unable to pursue Reavers the next day due to high priority missions related to the mines and the port town of Freefall.
Alliance Federal Task Group 7 Commander Kerrik – END ENTRY LOG.
“Permission to speak freely, Commander?” asks the nearby trooper who assisted in the details of the Task Group 7 entry log.
“Permission granted, Trooper”, casually replies the commander.
““Sir, I’m confused on a few details of this report. I don’t understand why you didn’t just demand the gem be handed over or confiscate it when it was found? Also, why even bother with voiding the indenture contract? We could have used the workers with the reopening of the mine. “
“Trooper, you need to learn a little bit of how people work out here on the rim. Things are a whole lot different than the core worlds. Some of these people have given their lives trying to scrape together an existence based off of those gems. If we take them away, it would be like stealing to them. We didn’t bleed for those gems to get them out of the ground and if we demand to have them without compensation then they will probably vow to make us bleed for them later. Add to the mix that a lot of these miners are former Independents from the war; they already don’t like the Alliance. If we push them around again, it will be that much harder for them to cooperate. These people have also been slaves to the magistrate and have been willing to give their lives fighting against it. If the request is approved and we end the indenturement, we might just have some allies on our side… or at least people that won’t shoot at us. If the Alliance wants the gem on this world that bad, they will be willing to pay for honest work.” replies the commander.
“Why did you let the Waxwing take off? You were so sure the captain was dealing with so many shady people on planet and Alliance forces even saw the anti-vehicle weapon on their ship that was used to disable our dropship!”
“No, we saw a possible RPG weapon. We do not know if it was technically used against our ship. I’m also going to assume that the captain wouldn’t make such a mistake as to disable one of the only other ships on this moon capable of getting back into space. Doing so would allow and prompt us to commandeer his vessel and I don’t think the captain would have wanted that. Knowledge of this would have also allowed me to deny his take off, thus grounding him on the planet. There was also only one person skilled enough to sabotage one of our sensors; someone who had a real knack for machines and how they work. But I am going to assume the benefit of the doubt and trust that the Captain was doing justifiable business.”
“With all this supposed evidence against the Captain of the Waxwing and his crew, I still don’t understand why you let them go?” asked the Trooper.
“Trooper, you’ve only been in service of the Alliance for less than a year. I’ve been in it long enough. I was in the war. I was at the bottom of the pecking order and did what I was told, but I didn’t believe in that fight. But some of those Independents, those browncoats, did believe in it with all their heart and soul. When I lay there, bleeding out on the battlefield along with some browncoats and so sure of my own death, it was the Waxwing, the angel of mercy, which took me away from that hell. I’m alive today because of the people on that ship. Those browncoats who bled the same color as I, who believed in their cause so completely, came out of the war with reeducation and slavery. The crew of the Waxwing, who risked their lives and went out of their way to save anybody regardless of their side, came out of that war with nothing. And then there was me; an Alliance Trooper who didn’t believe in the fight who only did what he was told, that came out of that war with a promotion. To me, there is something wrong with that. Considering how logic abandoned both of them, the browns and the Waxwing, during that war then perhaps some logic can abandon them now; that is why, officially, the voiding of the indenturement contract and the permission for take off were critical to our missions success.”
A puzzled look follows the conversation as the Trooper is dismissed and returns to his post. The Commander returns to his small quarters in the Federal Dropship and changes the dressings on his numerous wounds gained from two days of fighting. The people here are money grubbing, dangerous, and most of them untrustworth. Some of them even shot or stabbed the only people on planet that would pay them for what they had; telltale signs that some of the people on planet don’t think too hard about the bigger picture. But they have been given a chance. If only they knew that this Alliance Commander was probably their best chance of being left alone. What happens next relies heavily on Alliance Command and on the populace of Ataraxia. As for the Waxwing, whatever items the captain managed to smuggle out and whatever money he scrounged up on planet will hopefully keep their ship flying a little bit longer. After sitting down and double-checking the details, he finishes the report and contemplates what will happen next on this small border moon.
”I refuse to be the one that clips the angel’s wings this time around…” says the Commander to himself as he presses SEND.
Smuggler
It’s never easy, is it? My business partner – a former geologist name of Christopher Dennett – and I take an excursion out to our trash heap of a ship, intending nothing more than to stash a certain piece of less-than-legal artillery onboard and come straight back. Easy, right?
Wrong. And the real galling thing about it? It weren’t even the Alliance that nabbed us on the way back. Apparently, that young gun longshoreman had made a bid for the position of Crime Lord and subsequently decided that holding his sometime-coworker at gunpoint would be a good idea. We end up getting frog-marched the rest of the way into Freefall by a trio of brainless thugs. They’re lucky they weren’t stupid enough to try and loot me (not that I had anything but medipacks, a year on this rock had used up every penny we had on our persons, but it’s a matter of principal) or I’d have taken a special care to shoot them on some later date.
Now that little encounter led me to believe that a change of employer was in order. Not that I hadn’t been thinking it before, but this time we managed to be overheard by a slightly strange fellow with no shoes. Apparently, he’s the pilot (named Crash – I do hope that isn’t any sort of indication of his flying skills) for the Waxwing and considers my fondness for irritating the Feds to be a job qualification worth hiring. Got us onto his ship faster than you could blink, I was almost a bit concerned that it was a trap. But optimism paid off this time – turns out he was just an exuberant sort.
Captain wasn’t quite so enthusiastic, though. Something about wanting to stay off the Alliance radar. His mind started to change a bit when I told him about that stash of ataraxite the crime boss owed me, and how I’d be willing to steal it to pay my way off this rock.
Jao dao mei, when we raid the former boss’ warehouse there ain’t nothing there but a couple of black market guns and the three brainless thugs sitting shot and bleeding just outside the door. Now there’s all manner of ways those gems could have left their theoretical home, but they don’t really matter as things were starting to heat up in a projectile-laden way right quick.
I manage to get through the back airlock just fine, but Dennett got himself shot (the boy’s got a bit of a talent for that, I’m afraid). Feel a bit guilty for just leaving him outside the ship, but there weren’t no way I could see if the coast was clear or not and I wasn’t too sure that the Captain would trust me to leave the ship again quite so soon.
Now, it does appear that I was underestimating him, as before too long me and Dennett (who’d gotten himself patched up by a good Samaritan of some sort) were practically crew.
We laid low for much of the rest of the day, but that did put us in a position of awareness for more shady deals than a bookie in a basement. The sunniest one of these deals involved a companion (might I say, a refreshing touch of civilization that I ain’t seen since I left Sihnon), her apprentice, and their bodyguard all seeking to go the same place I was headed – Anywhere But Here. I say all, but the apprentice (that’s the Magistrate’s daughter) was convinced that her momma’s death wasn’t an accident and intended to stick around long enough to eviscerate whomever was responsible.
The other, more dimly-lit deal was one we had on with the Browncoats. Some wanted to buy their way out of indenture, some wanted just to get off-planet, and all of them wanted to sell the ataraxite they’d broke their backs for down in the mines to do it. Trouble was, there wasn’t near enough cash on the Waxwing to pay for more than a handful of the gems, and the Captain had a powerful need to stay on planet instead of taking off to deal with his fence.
Never one to despair (grumble, curse, and shoot things for amusement, but not despair), he called the crew together and told us all that we needed to look for the pilot of the little two-man planet-hopper he’d heard was parked out in the woods somewhere. ‘Course that was one of the fastest pieces of recon ever, seeing as how I was standing right behind him.
Which still leaves the issue of my ship being in a prime position to be blown up as soon as it leaves the treeline, but it was soon realized that that piece of artillery I stashed onboard would do more than enough damage to keep them from noticing much that wasn’t Morris dancing on their heads.
Having procured a small army of mercenaries and Browncoats with itchy trigger fingers, we set out to get my baby and give the Purplebellies a very bad day. You’d think a troupe of heavily armed folks would attract at least a little bit of notice – the Feds didn’t even come running when they heard the blast made by a rocket-propelled grenade hitting their base of operations. The things a girl has to do for attention in these parts…
Things get a mite more interesting when we get back to the Waxwing to report on our success. Nothing directly to do with us making things go boom, just the side effects of having put both feet right in the middle of a what was turning out to be a new, smaller, and far more doomed Independence war.
After some adventures in hiding, we sent Decoy (the Waxwing’s resident muscle) out to live up to his namesake. After giving him a bit of lead time, Dennett and I headed for our ship, escorted by the Browncoat lieutenant Mirage, with five ataraxite in my knapsack – three green and two gold. Enough to fetch a pretty penny on the black market.
Of course, on the way we manage to run afoul of a pair of mercs we neglected to notice were working for the Feds. Mirage and I get away just fine, but Dennett… I swear he’s magnetic, and I do not mean his personality. I might have just left him, but it’s his expertise in the field of gems that’ll get me the price we want from the fence, so I end up hunkered down in the shrubbery until those wahg-ba dan duh biao-tze leave.
With my partner back in the land of the conscious, we leg it to our ship and hit sky as stealthily as we possibly can. I can’t tell you how tempted I was to just take the money and run, but I guess my dress code hasn’t changed as much as I thought it had. Besides, I can’t abide clichés, and there’s this one about honor and thieves…
Smuggler's Assistant
We came to that out of way moon because of the promises of a large quantity of Ataraxite gems. By we, I should say my partner Margaret Blake and I. She is a good skiff pilot, and really enjoys blowing things up with her rpg launcher when she gets a chance. The gems are hugely valuable on our home world of Shinon; about 400 or 500 alliance credits for gold ataraxite, around 1200 for the green, and 2000 or more for the white. The crime lord who set up shop near the free port of Freefall promised us almost a chest full of the gems. However, that was almost a year ago already. She kept asking us to do odd jobs, and promising us that we'd earn the gems after the next one, and the one after that. Until it came to a few nights ago, when the Freighter Waxwing landed. It's appearance didn't really affect us until the next day, when the alliance dropship landed. The two-man ship we came to Ataraxia in, was tagged for some crime or another over by Persephone, and if we launched off the ground our ship would trip the dropship's sensors. Then, the alliance would, very politely, blow us out of the sky. So even if we got the gems, we would be stuck on that gorram moon.
After Margaret placed her one true love and some party favors in our ship, we came back to town, we got “pinched” by the crime boss thugs. Apparently the Crime Boss wasn't around at that moment. After explaining who we were, and why we were there at least three times, they finally escort us to town. Now, I don't know much about escorting, but they hardly looked away from us, and didn't check their surroundings. It was basically an open invitation to get shot in the back, and I'm glad there weren't any other mercs around dumb enough to try it.
Well we got back to town and a man wearing yellow goggles, and no shoes, came up to us and asked us if we were friends with the alliance. Margaret never really has been a supporter of the Alliance, and normally I'm apathetic towards them, but since they have an embargo on our profit line, I wouldn't mind causing some disruptions. As long as Margaret and I were able to get off world with the gems.
The man turned out to be called Crash, and he was the pilot of the Waxwing, and I am hoping his name is just a sad attempt at irony. However, his captain seemed to think that pestering the Alliance wouldn't bring his crew any good. I'd say I'd have to agree. It would be easier to get off world without the Alliance prods on our backs. Margaret, on the other hand, looked deflated at the thought. I'm sure she was hoping to be able to cause mayhem, and get paid for it.
We discuss payment for getting off world. The Captain said it was 400 or 500 credits depending on how many people were already on board, and if we help defend the ship, or do other work for the crew, the prices drop. About this time, Margaret and I realized we should tell the captain about the stash of gems that the Crime Lord has. Well, really Margaret realized, and I just stood back and watched, adding some details about how valuable the gems could be.
This peaked the Captain's interest, but about this time we hear yells coming form outside the ship. Turns out our brilliant thug friends are trying to scream down some mercs coming from the town. Eventually someone shoots, and a whole firefight erupts. To our luck, we see that all the thugs got themselves shot.
Around that time, we realized we no longer needed the crime boss, and decided to look around the, now deserted, warehouse for the gems. The gems were naturally not there, but after checking around, we found three illegal firearms just waiting to be taken.
On our way back to the Waxwing, Margaret gets inside the secondary entrance, but I'm still stuck outside when a few “shoot first, ask questions later” types come around the north side of the ship. I'm hiding next to the entrance, and one is creeping along the ship, while one is in the bushes nearby. I would have tried to rush into the ship, if it wasn't for the fact the captain wouldn't be to happy with me bringing down the heat on his ship. The one in the bushes sees me, but I jump out of cover and shoot the merc next to the ship. That merc must have had quick reactions, because as soon as I jump out he shoots back. Just goes to show that Margaret was always better than me with a gun.
So, there I was lying on the ground bleeding, and I could hear the merc I shot finally slump over dead. I even felt someone take my med-packs, but they must have been in a hurry, because they didn't search long enough to find the gems I had in my pocket, or the two smuggled guns in my bag. Eventually, more honorable mercs came along, and carried me to the doctor in town. He patched me up, and asked for payment. Since I didn't want to be indentured to him, I gave him the only things of value I had; the two gems. He discreetly covered them up on his surgery tray and told me I should probably rest a little bit, but I'd be fine.
Not to be one to hang out in the trade post surrounded by the Magistrate's men, and the Alliance, I quickly disregarded what the doctor said about rest, and made my way back to the Waxwing. After having a discussion with Margaret about why she didn't come back and get me, we heard about the sensors that the Alliance were setting up on the mine heads. Apparently if they succeeded, this place would be crawling with Alliance making sure that every molecule of Ataraxite was in their property. If that happened, it would be a lot harder to smuggle what Ataraxite we could get off world, especially in a large ship like the Waxwing. The miners wanted to have the ship's engineer disable the sensors. So a group of browncoats and mercs went off to defend her, while she tried to disable one of the sensors. Margaret and I stayed on the ship for a few hours waiting on news, and discussing options with the Captain, and the rest of the crew. We watched a companion open up her bodyguard's gun “because she was bored.” Eventually the Engineer came back after disabling a sensor, even though she and a few others ended up wounded.
Around this time the Captain got his hands on some Ataraxite of his own; five pretty shimmering gems, if I remember correctly. But he was looking for a way to get them off world without the Alliance noticing, and get the money back. His ship apparently was not cleared for take off, but his ship's sensors picked up two other ships. The Alliance dropship, and, of course, our little skiff. We had failed to tell him we had our own way off world. Since the alliance were not likely to just hand over the access codes and let us take their dropship for a spin, Margaret felt it was as good as time as any to reveal that we were the proud owners of a two-man skiff not far away from the Alliance dropship. Trouble was, the alliance dropship was still operational, and unless the entire crew was out getting Ng-Ka-Pei, it was doubtful we'd make it out of their range before their missiles came calling.
Our only option was to disable the monitoring systems on the ship, or the whole ship. Madison, the ship's engineer, seemed to feel that it would probably take too long to disable the ship, especially if the Alliance showed up and wanted to crash the party. So, with a gleam in her eye, Margaret described how easy it would be to blow up the dropship with her rpg launcher. Naturally, we decided upon the much more stealthy rpg launcher.
Seeing as the crew of the waxwing, and the browncoats all wanted to see us safely off to get more money for supplies, we assembled a small army of browncoats and mercs to escort Margaret. Whether archaic views of chivalry, or the fact that she was the only one who could wrap her head around that rpg of hers, or the fact I couldn't fly the skiff, I decided to watch her back. Pretty much my reasons for both days of fighting we were involved in, but I had heard rumors of mercs turning on the people who hired them, after they got paid. I just wanted to be there to make sure that nothing bad happened to Margaret.
The group split into two, one going to cut through the woods directly to our ship, and the other to stay on the path and meet them at the ship. It was tense getting to the ship, and even more tense after Margaret loaded the rpg, and the army moved off toward the drop ship. The group that went along the path worked a head to the dropship, while our group arrived second. We found that the first group received no resistance. Apparently my thoughts about the Ng-Ka-Pei, wasn't far off. The alliance was busy running around protecting their sensors, none of them thought to protect their ship. The army had been summoned almost for nothing. Margaret let off the round, disable the ship, and we left. All without a single enemy in sight.
After we made it back the the ship, the Alliance seemed to still be unawares their ship is disabled. They even asked the captain of the waxwing to keep an eye on a third sensor being set up slightly west of his ship. Trouble was, now the alliance were guarding this sensor with what seemed like all their men. Margaret and I needed to get past them to get to our ship, and they looked like they might be stopping anyone trying to get past.
The captain asked Mirage, a browncoat, to get us past on the south path, but the sensor was pretty much right between both paths, so alliance could still see us from where they were guarding. Mirage decided it wasn't safe, so we went back to the ship, and Mirage and a crew member, aptly named DeCoy, went to see if they could walk past the Alliance with no trouble. After waiting for a half hour, with the threat of night coming, Margaret and I decided to head out. A merc joined us, and we headed down the path for our ship. Oddly though, there must be something about the way Margaret and I smell or something, because again, no alliance waited for us near the sensor.
When we made it into the forest we passed two mercs, who we didn't know and didn't know who they worked for, but we were in a hurry so we just passed them with out making sure, after they seemed semi peaceful.
Turns out we were wrong. As we went down the path, with our ship in sight, they opened fire on our backs. Mercs never seem to have much for honor. Anyway, I was hit again. But Margaret and the merc with us got away. Actually I'm pretty sure the merc didn't stop running until he didn't hear any bullets anymore. The Alliance mercs didn't stick around, and Margaret was able to get a med pack to me, and we made it to our ship. And for a brief respite, we were off the war-torn moon, selling the gems. Too bad we had to come back. Margaret was either greedy for more credits, or she still has some vestiges of honor herself, because she was the first to suggest we make the return trip. Since she was flying, I didn't think I'd argue, even if I wanted to.
Waxwing Pilot
I can’t say I was pleased with the Captain’s decision to land us on Ataraxia. I mean, I’m all for doing work in the Core – things there are lawful, and there’s always someplace worthwhile to spend your credits when you earn ‘em. Work on the rim just makes me nervous – everyone out there is looking out for nobody but themselves. Not nice places to be.
I was pretty jumpy after we landed. To tell the truth, I didn’t want to leave the Waxwing, and felt like it was in our best interest to just land, dump or cargo, get our credits, and get flying again. But everything went downhill real fast.
In the first place, there wasn’t going to be a clean exchange of goods. With the local Magistrate and the crime boss both showing a keen interest in our business, we had little choice but to hire one of the local mercs to help us move goods. Since every one of them seemed less trustworthy than the last, it fell to me and my people skills to find one that would work. And I felt none too good about my choice.
We sent him off to do an exchange, and waited, tense, in the Waxwing. It was a long while before he returned, bearing a small gem and telling us some story about getting it exchanged for soft currency.
Surprisingly, he was good to his word, and he stayed with the ship for the next two days, serving exceptionally as a guard at the door and making occasional runs, as well as serving as escort when we had to trek out to the mines or go talk to the Alliance.
The Alliance folk sure surprised me. I was used to their slightly abusive practices in the Core, but here, among this untidy mess of desperate and ill-kept humanity, they proved themselves much like the old warriors of ancient times – honor before personal concerns. I was especially impressed by the commander, who more than once got us out of scrapes that would probably have landed us all in the grave. It’s my greatest regret that I betrayed that trust and if I’m ever found out, I’ll likely be running from the Alliance until I’m an old man.
It wasn’t the firefight. That was an accident. We were trying to reach the larger of the two mineheads, and when we got near, my companions sent me ahead to see if there were friendlies or mercs up there (like I said, I can usually talk my way out of bad situations). Well, I heard the people coming down out of the woods, so I put my hands above my head and waited. Out they came, far down the trail but with a clean line of sight. As soon as they saw me they got real aggressive, shouting at me to get my hands up (they already were!) I wasn’t too nervous, because I knew all my friends were hiding behind me – including Mirage, the sniper we had hired on. But these people were advancing rapidly, guns leveled, and I my calm started to leave me, because they were still yelling at me to get my hands up!
It was too much. They were still shouting at me, and I was just standing there, and I just knew they were going to shoot me. So I turned, ducked, and ran.
That’s when I noticed that they weren’t yelling at me. They were yelling at my companions, who weren’t hiding after all, but were just standing next to the small transport ship at the head of the trail. Great.
A moment later I was hunkered down, returning fire as that poor ship took all the damage for us.
We had little choice but to run. We made it about thirty yards into the woods before we found the relative shelter of a fallen tree and decided to make our stand.
Everything after that is a blur. Bullets whizzing everywhere. Mirage taking a hit and me taking over his sniper rifle. The sharp searing pain as a bullet grazed the edge of my ear, taking out a good chunk of flesh. And our relief as we discovered we had surrendered to the Alliance commander and his men.
There were much apologies for the misunderstanding, and he was good enough to escort us all back to the Waxwing where the doctor told me I could get a real nice piece of jewelry for my new piercing.
Yes, we got off Ataraxia. We’re back in the black now, and I couldn’t be happier. But it was in the leaving that things really got bad. That I took all that goodwill the commander of the Alliance granted us and threw it right in his face. I just hope he never knows.
It was pure chaos. Mercs were intent on taking the ship, and I was trying to fire everything up. We had finally gotten clearance to take off, and peace was just moments away.
I was in the airlock feeding off the cockpit, guarding our main entrance. I had an angle on the door, and there was a lot of banging out there – someone shouting to let them in. The captain was at the door, refusing entry, and the man outside was shouting that he was Alliance. He was wearing an Alliance uniform, but I didn’t believe him. After all, he was surrounded by mercs, and they easily could have killed one of the Alliance and taken his clothes. And we asked him to use the code knock that we had given the commander, but he didn’t know it.
There was no way he was getting through that door – the captain never would have opened it. But then we heard him say “there’s more than one way to get in to a place like this”, and one of the mercs handed him a gun. I thought there was a grenade launcher on it – not sure, but it didn’t look good, and the man seemed confident. I was sweating bad by then, yelling to the captain that they were going to force the door, shouting at the man in the Alliance uniform to get away from the door, and then the captain was telling me to fire upon the intruders, and . . .
It was an easy shot – they weren’t far away, and no one was shooting back. I could have just fired some warning shots. But I didn’t. I shot him, and I can’t say I’ve shot a lot of people before, and after that our launch was further delayed for a few minutes, and through all the chatter we discovered that an Alliance trooper had been killed trying to gain entrance to the Waxwing.
I don’t know why he was trying to force the door. I don’t know why all those mercs were with him. I can’t even be entirely sure he was really Alliance, and the captain didn’t just mishear on the radio. But it doesn’t really matter. I’m pretty sure he was one of the commander’s men, and I shot him dead.
Now? I can’t really say. I’m scared they’ll be on to me, ashamed at what I did, and yet, there’s a bug in me – being down on that world, with all the guns blazing and so much chaos – it was a little addicting.
We’re off to safer pastures for the time being, but I can’t help wondering when we’ll next find ourselves landing someplace with a little more excitement than you find in the core . . .
Of course, the best part about this whole thing was the two Companions we met there. Too bad the one got all chewed up by the Reavers, but the other one is now with us. Guess that makes everything all better, doesn't it?
Browncoat Resisters Strike Leader
Freedom, such a thing.
Ruled only by the law, and I'll probably incriminate myself right here.
Last thing I want to do is go back through that "Social re-insertion" program.. Didn't help.
Hell, after I got back I headed up a strike, shot four, slashed two necks, and helped smuggle heaps of contraband? What more proof to do you need? (Speaking of proof, you don't have any on the above!)
Irrelevant. Still, I'd rather commit another 100 crimes than go back to those mines. Rocks ain't my cup of tea. Even if those rocks are worth a small fortune. We never saw a penny of it, anyway. Until recently.
Let me tell you, that revolt wasn't a spur-of-the-moment deal. That had been planned out.. but plans almost never go over perfectly. Ours sure didn't.
The arrival of the Alliance was a mishap. Apparently we were not the only ones aware of the Magistrate's crooked deals. Truth be, those Alliance boys wern't too bad. Even helped us out in a pinch!
The words are the same, but we don't speak the same language. Total of four firefights over mis-communication.
I got another battle scar because of it. Add to the collection.
Anyway, The mine heads were given up almost as soon as we took them. We didn't need them.. it was a red-herring. We had already been taking a cut of what we mined, and reporting that the mines were getting dangerous. An excuse for our low-productivity.
You have to watch what you say, though. No sooner as that was enscribed on the mining-report, it became the scapegoat for an "Industrial accident". Meh.
I'll have to take a short break here.. Weapons don't clean themselves.
This next planet? Yeah, even I'm worried about it. (Infact, I'm going to start cleaning 'em right now.)
Magistrate
To: General Li Zhaolin, Ariel High Command, Union of Allied Planets
From: Victor Draken, Magistrate of Ataraxia
Re: Recent Discovery of Ataraxite
Dear General Li:
It is my pleasure to inform you of the recent discovery of a very rich vein of Ataraxite which will bring much income to the already wealthy and powerful Alliance . None could be more pleased than I when one of your scientists was able to overcome many adversities and locate this rich deposit on my humble and distant moon.
I regret that not all of my news is of such a cheerful mood. There are many small issues which have surfaced to cast a pall over the exuberance that this discovery would otherwise cause in me.
First of all, there is the location of this very rich deposit. It is, unfortunately, located near a remote region which is not legally within my jurisdiction. The town of Freefall is technically a free port of call and as such, I am legally limited in what I am allowed to do to ensure that the mining of the Ataraxite is conducted safely and without trouble. To be sure, the area of the mines is clearly within my jurisdiction but, with this free port operating outside of my guiding hand, certain rogue elements have taken the opportunity to try and interfere with the lawful operations of both myself and the Alliance .
Secondly, there is the issue of the mine itself, for which there have been concerns brought to light about their safety. I, myself, have a personal stake in this since it was the untimely death of my wife inside of one of these mines that alerted me to the seriousness of the concerns. (Thank you for the condolences that were sent over by your secretary, I had hoped to hear from you, but I am sure that you are very busy)
I attempted to investigate the concerns over the safety of the mines, but found that the local miners had become impossible to reason with, or even to safely approach. I sent out representatives to speak with them, but could not secure a peaceful meeting with their leader. I attempted to go to them myself at one point and found that the lawlessness of the Freefall port had spread out from that town to threaten my escorts, my shuttle and myself. All of which brings me to my third issue, which is that of the Alliance Commander with Task Group 7 in the area.
When I arrived in Freefall, I had concerns about what I could do with these lawless and backwards people, but upon seeing the arrival of an Alliance dropship, I felt my hopes rise. I felt sure that with the Alliance present and with my own considerable authority, all things would be straightened out quickly. I would be able to speak with the miners peacefully and perhaps show these folk how civilized people conduct themselves. At the very least, I felt confident that myself and my beloved daughter would be as safe here as on Ariel itself.
Alas, how wrong I was! The Commander refused to take my advice and heed my knowledge of the miners resorting to violence. I graciously offered the use of my own hired help to strengthen his numbers so that any wayward miscreants would quickly realize that a peaceful meeting was the only real solution. But, he refused me flatly. He marched off with his brave (but few) soldiers and foolishly (in my opinion) and succeeded in only encouraging the rebels elements to attack them. Had he listened to me, I think things would have gotten better, not worse. As I understand it, the Commander believes that he has done a good thing by defeating the ‘brown coats’, but what this young man fails to understand is that they were the workforce for the mines (which will now have to be replaced) and that I held contracts with all these miners who have now either been killed, driven off or are working for the Alliance directly (in violation of their lawful duties to me).
Furthermore, as things progressed, the Commander was forced to deploy forces outside of the port of Freefall which resulted in a rise of criminal activity and general confusion within the town. I refer to a daylight robbery in the town, I refer to myself being arrested by the local sheriff and brought to face ‘charges’ the were both ridiculous and insulting (which were of course dropped immediately), I refer to a general brawl involving the Commander, I refer to myself being kidnapped, robbed and shot, I refer to my personal shuttle being stolen and taken over by the ‘defeated’ brown coats, I refer to myself being kidnapped again (more on this later) and shot a second time, I refer to general mayhem in the town, where the sheriff and his deputy were stabbed and robbed, as was I.
All of these things could have been avoided if the Commander had listened to me and went out to negotiate with the ‘brown coats’ from a position of strength and calm.
To which I make the following suggestions:
First, in accordance with the policies of the Union of Allied Planets, place the town of Freefall clearly under my jurisdiction. This will allow the local population (through me) to govern themselves and enable peaceful cooperation with the Alliance .
Second, in accordance with the rule of law, all contracts with miners will be enforced and the Alliance will back up any action taken by the Magistrate of Ataraxia in this issue. As an act of compassion in this matter, I am willing to negotiate with the miners to allow them to ‘buy back’ their contracts at some future date. We were attempting to negotiate this very thing, when Alliance troopers opened fire on us and I was shot a second time.
Third, while the Alliance wields supreme authority within the known universe, it sets a bad precedent to have a Commander in the field overrule the decisions of a Magistrate without the situation being a present and direct threat to the security of the Union of Allied Planets. Since none of these issues come even close to such, any future activity on Ataraxia will have to meet with my approval. In return, I am willing to be lenient and interfere only in the most dire of circumstances. But the authority of my office (such as it is) must be respected by all who honor the rule of law.
I certainly exemplified this when spurious charges were made against me and I respected the authority of the sheriff of Freefall and submitted myself to his questions.
I close this letter with my best wishes for you and your family. Congratulations on the birth of your grandson. I wish you success on your run for a position on Parliament next spring and if I were able to vote, it would be for you.
You know that I have always supported your party and plan on increasing the size of my contribution as much as I am able.
Sincerely,
Victor Magnus Draken, Magistrate of Ataraxia
Armored Skiff Driver
Ataraxia Regulatory Force
Senior Officer's Log: 28 July
0700 HRS Received duty assignment: Transport and safeguard the Magistrate while he conducts business in the Registered Port of Freefall. No further information given. Requisitioned one armored BA-64 Skiff, call sign "Dog-1". Due to a shortage of available senior guards (goram miner's revolt has spread us thin) one junior guard in training will assist.
0900 HRS Arrived at Port of Freefall: Locked down "Dog-1" to secure the Magistrate's assets within. The Magistrate informs me, he needs to get answers to his wife's death and hire more mercenary prods (not a man to ask a lot of questions of) so I start the usual visual scan for potential threats and instruct the junior guard on crowd control.
1200 HRS The safe area around the Trading Post is anything but safe. I have identified 5 individuals with knives and a merc with a stunner. There is every form of lowlife here from criminals to indentured drudges and professional mercenaries wanting to score some Alliance Credits. Only the freeholders are willing to step aside for the Magistrate.
1310 HRS The Magistrate has conducted many meetings with the local Crime Boss and Sheriff in hopes of locating the Strike Leader, no luck yet. Contact with the Magistrate's daughter proved to be adversarial but not threatening.
Additional merc prods have been hired to expedite the needs of the Magistrate.
1325 HRS The personal perimeter of the Magistrate was breeched requiring the stunning of two goram mercs (my granddad always said "if you don't wanna get bit by the jackal, don't wait till he opens his mouth, shoot him when he growls") unable to ascertain whether the mercs were working alone or were paid to test the Magistrate's defenses. Federal troops have landed and they have a Terraforming Inspector with them just to add to our problems.
1500 HRS The Magistrate has failed to follow standard operating procedures. When in a hostile environment test all food and drink before consumption. I believe there has been an attempt to poison the Magistrate. The Magistrate's condition has been stabilized but he is currently unconscious. The junior guard is also showing the effects of an unknown toxin. (my granddad always said "don't you be taken berries from strangers")
1520 HRS The Magistrate’s daughter has attempted to gain passage aboard "Dog-1" to travel to the southern mine head. She was informed of her father’s current condition and denied a travel permit.
1525 HRS The Magistrate has been robbed of some Fed Credits. After bringing the Magistrate to consciousness a short investigation and foul stench lead us to the gos se mercs. Do to the local law enforcement, we were unable to use A.R.F. techniques for recovering the stolen property. Disciplinary actions will be taken against the junior guard who was present at the time of the theft. (my granddad would have been proud of the well executed way these mercs pulled off this theft, but they're really starting to piss me off!)
1612 HRS The junior guard has been instructed by the Magistrate to relocate
some of the Federal Inspector's sensor components. This task was completed with out incident.
1800 HRS There is evidence of possible rehabilitation of these lowlife mercs as a ceasefire is put into effect. Grand entertainment to truly rival that which is held at the Magistrate's mansion, and a pig roast topped off the evening. The need for a skiff patrol out to the mine heads cut the nights entertainment short.
2014 HRS The miner's revolt have left the mine heads in less than desirable condition. No sign of the Alliance Federal Task Force or Browncoat Resisters. "Dog-1" returning to Port of Freefall.
2200 HRS With the approach of Reavers to this isolated area the BA-64 skiff
is locked down and the Magistrate's safety is secured for the night. END LOG
