Prologue - The Ad Astra Incident
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Patrol Cutter Ad Astra - Ship's Log: 189.1102
FIRST OFFICER BARNETT: Skipper, telemetry shows the vessel designation Yukon. A Seeker-class vessel, 100 tons. No clearance on file for commercial activity in this system.
ARUNDEL: Comms, open a channel. (pause) Attention Yukon, this is Lieutenant Justan Arundel, commanding the Imperial patrol cutter Ad Astra. You are not authorized to operate in this area. Stand down and come to. Prepare for boarding and inspection.
YUKON: (garbled transmission)
WEAPONS OFFICER: Skipper, Gunnery reports that Yukon has powered up turret weapons, identified as a pulse laser and missile rack.
ARUNDEL: Weapons, prepare to fire- (explosion)
(alarm klaxons)
SHIP'S COMPUTER: Warning: Hull breach on main deck, bridge compartment.
ARUNDEL: All crew, clear the bridge. Damage control team to- (explosion)
WEAPONS OFFICER: Gunnery reports Yukon has been disabled, Sir.
ARUNDEL: Weapons, clear the bridge! XO, report! (silence except for alarms) Mister Barnett, status!
(secondary explosion)
:: LOG ENDS ::
SCENE ONE - INCHIN/District 268
"I need you to deliver this package to a journalist on Avastan. I'll pay you 25,000 credits each, on completion. She'll provide you with the evidence she has collected. But be careful - if the Navy finds out you have this evidence, they'll stop at nothing to suppress it. You'll spend the rest of your days in a deep, dark hole - if they don't space you first."
That really should have been the first sign that this wasn't going to be a simple job. But they owed it to Arlor Barnett to see it through - the rest of Eldon's ragtag crew had already suffered too much to let the Navy just whitewash the whole affair. Justan had sacrificed his command and his career - and lost friends and crew mates in the battle. Serina lost the man she loved in the unjustified attack. Justan had dragged Barnett from the burning ruins of his ship's bridge into a lifeboat. Arlor was badly burned, but the doctor on the rescue ship stabilized him. But Kellan had lost his other patient - Serina's mate - and his faith in himself, due to a mistake under pressure.
They weren't about to let the Navy cover it all up and pretend it didn't happen. They needed to find out what really happened, and they needed to be able to do so freely, without fear of retribution. And this package was their insurance policy.
* * *
Justan ducked as the bullet whizzed overhead, shattering a mirror behind him. Three assassins had interrupted their meeting, and clearly Barnett was their target. "Go!" he shouted to his comrade.
"Here!" Barnett called, tossing his sidearm to Justan before running toward the back door. Justan caught the weapon and checked to make sure it was locked and loaded. Serina grabbed the package by Justan's feet and dove behind the bar.
Justan kicked over a table and ducked behind it. Kellan rushed forward, medikit in hand, ready to render aid in case his crew mate became wounded. Justan tried to shout orders to the rest of us, but he could not be heard over the sound of the gunfire.
"They're Rowri's men!" Eldon shouted to the others. Iarl Rowri, the self-styled Baron of Inchin, was a paranoid egomaniac who was convinced that Avastan Portways Inc., a shipping company from a neighboring system, had sent agents to Inchin to foment labor unrest. Surely he suspected that Barnett was engaging in industrial espionage.
Justan fired off two quick shots at one of the assassins. His target jerked as the bullets struck him, and fell to the floor, out of the fight. One down, two to go.
Another assassin snapped off a couple of quick shots in Justan's direction, but they thunked into the synth-oak tabletop that Justan and Kellan had crouched behind. Then, Kellan did something unexpected. "Parlay!" he shouted, "Parlay!"
Surprisingly, the two assassins ceased fire. Kellan rose carefully, never one for violence. "What do you want?" he asked them. "Give us the package and we'll let you go," the taller of the two demanded.
While they were distracted, Serina crept toward the fallen assassin, hoping to steal his weapon. As she crouched to pick it up, the shorter assassin noticed her movement out of the corner of his eye. Exposed in the open, Serina had nowhere to take cover. His shot struck her in the shoulder. Surprisingly, she did not drop the package, tossing it to Eldon instead. He scooped it up and ducked behind the bar.
Realizing he had been duped, the taller assassin spun around and fired another shot at Serina. Struck in the leg, and already bleeding from her shoulder, Serina collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
Kellan rushed out to tend to his wounded friend, as Justan aimed carefully and took down another of the assassins. Eldon rushed out to pick up the wounded man's weapon, but tripped over some debris and stumbled, dropping the package. It fell at the feet of the remaining assassin, who picked it up and ran for the door.
Eldon regained his footing and picked up the body pistol. Only two rounds remained in its small magazine. He would have to make them count. Justan let out a breath and drew a bead on the retreating man, but his shot pinged off the wall, scattering plaster and wood chips against the assassin's back. Eldon's first shot fell short, ricocheting off the floor a meter behind the target.
Their foe was almost out of range. It would be a hard shot with Justan's autopistol, and nearly impossible with the short-range body pistol that Eldon held. The round in the chamber was its last.
Justan sprang over the table, running toward our opponent. He fired off a quick shot, and barely missed the fleeing man. Soon, the assassin would make it to the door and escape with the package. Eldon rushed forward, as fast as he could, trying to keep his bobbing weapon on the enemy's center mass. One last shot, he thought. Got to make it count.
His pistol barked and the last remaining enemy fell to the ground, a smoking hole in his back. It wasn't clear if any of the men had been killed, but there was no time to check.
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Time to go. Kellan helped Selina to her feet. She leaned heavily on him as they staggered toward the back exit. Eldon scooped up the package and joined them in the alley behind the hotel bar.