Faction The Stim Must Flow (Darkwire, Spacers Guild, Sympathizers, Invite)

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

The cybernetic woman looked over the recent reports she could still get her hands on from the supervisors that were still freely speaking with her. Reports of withdrawals and violent outbursts from those suffering under the corporate thumb of Man-flu cutting into the profit margin for the strip mining operation here on the planet. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she sucked on her lip, causing a squealing sound before pushing back from her desk in The Nest's top level.

Staring across the city-scape, watching in silence as the city around them bustled with activity. Removed from the threats of withdrawal stricken miners threatening rebellion. Feeling a touch of shame for her hand in the new standard the company had implemented to cause this situation.

Jocelyn herself had been part and parcel to the idea of using Slumm as a way of increasing production for the mining employees under Diviak Manfloon on Sarko IV. The option was not viable given the high cost of the stimulant and the sheer amount required to keep the workers active and not suffering the side effects of the use. Exhaustion, near to the point of breaking the body had been a large hurdle to work around. But the suggestion of glitterstim had been made.

And initially it had been ignored, until they realized how feasible the idea was.

Using sprinkles of it in food, or through water sources had been sneaky and underhanded. Some had noticed while the large majority either remained blissfully ignorant or simply allowed themselves to fall victim to it. Others had been, coerced into using, and become unwilling participants to the crime. But it had done as intended, and better than expected. The want to remain on that blissful cloud, the cohesion of workers able to glean the problem or next step without speaking had been near breakthrough levels of accomplishment for the profit margin.

Until the withdrawals had set in.

Unrest had been rampant with those suffering from lack of glitterstim. And violence had been a common thing in the barracks of the workers, something that the supervisors had been made to deal with. A hand flexed in front of her hi-sense eyes, muscles and skin augmented to fight against those suffering almost inhuman levels of withdrawal symptoms that made them so dead set on receiving their share, that even the threat of death had been ignored.

All for the stim.

She'd secured the routes typically used by the company to bring in the cargo marked Slumm, which was merely a soft cover for the glitterstim spice they brought in. They had been receiving the shipment, but had not been distributing, and Jocelyn only kept enough in her own stores to supply her addiction recovery efforts for those who sought it.

The reports showed however the miners were being shorted, either through greed, or malicious intent.

Most of the employees suffering were long tenure folks, some twenty years of service or more when the young bucks came in to make credits hand over fist. Only to be hooked on something that the company could only give them. The company store charged outrageous rates for it's goods, but made it near impossible for the people working to leave the site and buy elsewhere.

Which was why a holo-message, heavily encrypted and anonymously sent had been prepared. Her figure bent over the desk, opening the terminal and allowing her finger to hover over the key to begin the mad house scramble that would commence. A heavy sigh found her tapping the key, and watching the progress bar begin.

---

[---Encryption protocol engaged----]
[---Server bounce commencing---]
[---Encryption complete---]
[---Server bounce engaged----]
[---Message distribution commencing---]

[---To all friends of the people, and to those looking to make a quick cred, or maybe get some rep.---]
[---There is a shipment of spice flying through space en-route to force knows where.---]
[---Enclosed is the location.---]
[---Your task is to snag it, and bring it to the enclosed location.---]
[---No questions asked, and leave your morals at the loading ramp.---]
[---Credit payout equivalent to the cargo you bring, no bonuses for saving or killing anyone aboard.---]
[---Whatever cargo you find besides the spice is yours.---]
[---And don't short me, I know down the last kilo how much is there.---]
[---Good luck.---]
​

Enclosed in the list is a point on the star map between Devaron and Sarko IV, a location for the ship in question, the point actively moving and being tracked. A small instruction that the cargo in question will be marked Slumm instead of spice, and the contents should not be opened at any time. Another location is marked as the delivery point. An asteroid field on the outskirts of Bogo Yagen.

The shipment in question was hidden aboard a BFF-1 Bulk Freighter, in one of the storage capsules possibly, or even inside the freighter itself. The crew is accompanied by a small security team and escort of three fighters under Director Manfloon's authorization. It is headed for Sarko IV, and actively being tracked for ease of success. The drop off point is hidden inside the asteroid field on Bogo Yagen, outside the net of civilians to avoid accidental discovery.

---

The crew aboard the freighter had not been linked into the holo-net systems, as their cargo was somewhat incriminating. Bribes kept the packaged marked Slumm from being examined too closely, and allowed them to depart in the final leg of their journey. The fighters formed a triangle around them, one ahead, and two behind.

A seemingly suspicious thing until one remembered that the Corporate Authorities didn't like their deliveries being messed with. The bulk freighter was scheduled to deliver and receive cargo on Sarko IV, before making their way to the next system for offload of the ore and a crew swap to begin the circular path over once more.

The security officer aboard was keeping in touch with the fighters outside, having just checked in with them and receiving the all clear on the starfighter scans for possible hostiles. It seemed like a blue milk run as usual.

All the while ignorant of the message that had just circulated.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Jocelyn Pavaliah


Now, Jerec Asyr liked a shiny custom ship. But doing work like this - piracy, effectively - required something with less panache. Something less memorable. The primary aim here was to maintain resale value: a distinctive ship with a record was one thing. A shuttle that shared a make and model with a pirate and a hundred innocuous transports was something else.

All that to say, three generic tri-wing Lambda knockoffs decanted from hyperspace nearby and accelerated for the little convoy's port side. They carried a respectable complement of basic laser cannons, forward-fixed but able to pivot down a good forty degrees for ground strafing. Not a lot to work with. But with a buyer willing to pay market price for the convoy's glitterstim cargo, there'd be all kinds of takers, and Jerec had put together the fastest strike force he could wrangle.

On the one hand, this might just be someone's drug war. But he didn't think so: cartels didn't hire randos. No, someone needed this spice bad enough to hire...anyone...to rip off a cartel.

All that ethical hemming and hawing got resolved as he recognized three CorpSec fighters flying escort on the BFF.

"Corpos moving glitterstim," he mumbled to himself aimlessly, and toggled the comms. "Alright, comrades, I want us all shooting at the near rear fighter. Make the other rear fighter deal with the stray fire and debris; maybe we get lucky and knock out both of'em. Target and fire when I say so. Now. Now is when I say so."

He took the shot; Muk and Cletus in the other shuttles did as well. A few laser cannons apiece did a decent job of bracketing the nearest of the two aft escorts.

 

[Saija Kwann]

Jocelyn Pavaliah , Jerec Asyr

I'm here for the job as well, hitching a ride with the Ithorian, Jerec. Once we do something about the fighter escort, I'm to breach the vessel from the outside so we can gain access to the ship.

"Corpos moving glitterstim," [Jerec] mumbled to himself aimlessly, and toggled the comms.

"Nothing surprises me anymore." I keep the chatter to a minimum as he gets on the horn and gives the signal to the strike team to begin the op. Seconds later, I can feel the deck plating vibrate as the ship's laser cannons charge up then fire at the enemy fighter escort.

On a hand-held projector, I bring up a schematic of the cargo hauler and spin the holo around so Jerec can see. "There's the secondary airlock...once we're inside the main corridor, it's a matter of figuring out which container the stims are in. It'll be the most heavily guarded one."

 

[Daiya]

"I hate space travel," the girl grumbled as the ship transitioned back from hyperspace. The tri-winged shuttle seemed ancient to her, regardless of whether it was, and the rumbling of the ship's engines reverberating up through the deckplates seemed to prove her right. She felt a gnawing pressure in her ears, and she worked the jaw hidden behind her facemask, trying to clear it. Her mouth imitated the process of chewing bubblegum, just without the bubblegum this time, a component that would have actually made the whole ordeal much easier. "Does anyone else feel like they need to pop their ears or is it just me?"

The blonde-haired teen shook her head to herself, not sure if any other members of the strike team cared enough to answer her. That left her to suffer her issues on her own, and still without any gum. Still, Daiya's issues with space and starship travel paled greatly by comparison to how much issue she took with spice. She would willingly suffer space, and the doom of never-popped ears, to take a crack at the drug trade. Street drugs might be common on Denon, but even street dealers were loathe to touch the likes of glitterstim.

From the words of the Ithorian pilot at the front, they weren't dealing with mere street dealers today.

As her hands readied the Kusak Heavy Blaster in their grip, the young shadowrunner steeled her mind for the mission to come. She felt the ship shudder again as laser blasts erupted from its cannons, and that checked off another item from their checklist. Just a few more to go until she was onboard with the rest of the motley assortment that comprised the strike team, seeking out the cargo of spice and dealing with anyone who got in their way.

They were just Corpos running drugs for their credit-loving masters. More than mere gangsters or street dealers, whose love of drugs extended only as far as they could sell. The Corpos knew the effects it had on a being's life, and more than that, the Corpos wanted those effects. It disgusted her, turning her insides over each other. Spice and Corpos in one mix was a deadly combination. She checked her weapon again, and the charge of gas in its power cell. She tightened the seals on her facemask, and tested its link with her armor. The girl nodded to herself. All set and ready to fight.

"This reminds me of that one job that me and Lori went on," Daiya started, still talking to no one in particular. It simply gave her a way to focus on something other than the roiling stomach and the pressure in her ears as the ship hurtled through the cold, empty void of space. " Loreena Arenais-Valhoun that is. If you've never seen a princess hunt down a shipment of spice, I'd say you're missing out."

Jocelyn Pavaliah Jerec Asyr Saija Kwann​

 

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

The crew didn't have the forewarning like the starfighters did. The aft pair only able to speak a few words about shields between them as the incoming ship opened fire. The closest took the hit on an engine, shields still warming as the farthest one got lucky and managed to absorb the shot as it gunned the throttle and pulled an immelmann to bear its pair of cannons.

While it fired its first salvo, the lead starfighter punched the throttle, and sailed off into the dark of space well ahead of the group. It didn't even seem like it had given a second thought to its actions while doing so.

The comm blared inside the transport as the disabled fighter warned those inside of impending attack. What little security was available scrambled from the tiny mess hall and towards the locker area to collect their gear. The ship lurched as the engines were maxed out, a poor attempt to get away as it slowly dredged up the speed.

The attackers would easily outpace the transport if they could deal with the remaining starfighters. The disabled starfighter made a lazy attempt at an immelmann, shields now operating as it tried to mimic the first defender.

Jerec Asyr Saija Kwann Daiya

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Saija Kwann Daiya

"I don't exactly have ears to pop," Jerec said philosophically, squeezing the triggers again, "and I don't think Twi'lek ears are much like human ones - so yeah, kid, it actually might be just you."

Humanocentrism. It's everywhere. He chuckled to himself and that chuckle died as laserfire crashed into the lead shuttle's shields. Theirs happened to be the lead shuttle.

He slapped the comm while weaving a tad. "Boys, keep fire on the fighter we hit. Simplest way to cut their firepower. I'll worry about the other one. Let's knock'em out before the forward guy gets brave."

A glance at Daiya and Saija-

"You two, you're shadowrunner types, any chance one of you can get on the transceiver and ruin their day?"


Jocelyn Pavaliah

 

[Daiya]

Daiya glanced at the pilot as he offered a pithy quip back to her instead of sympathy for her ears. The small chuckle that bubbled up to her lips broke the tension in the air around her, a moment before the small shuttle rocked under the force of the defensive fire. Gloved hands gripped the edges of the seat underneath her as the girl was pressed up against her restraints, and she grimaced against the terror of it all.

"This is the last time I go anywhere in a metal coffin..." Daiya muttered only to herself, and then reflexively wished she hadn't said anything. The universe was cruel enough to entertain the most twisted version of that prayer, and the young shadowrunner had no desire to test her fate any more today.

Jerec was saying something again from the pilot's seat, causing her to twist her head up to hear him over the cacophony of combat against the shuttle's hull. She might as well have been trying to listen to conversation at a heavy isotope concert, but after mulling over the few words and cadence she picked up, Daiya figured she had the gist of it. She nearly shook her head at the nauseating idea, but their situation wasn't improving. Setting her jaw, something not as easy to do behind her facemask today, the young shadowrunner undid her restraints and started to move toward the center of the shuttle.

Daiya could handle the shuttle's jerking movements, translated lazily through its over-stressed inertial dampeners. It was the uncertainty over the next big laser hit that made her flit from handhold to handhold, holding her breath each time to stave off any violent movement. Making it to the transceiver array, the girl grasped empty hands around in a desperate search for a handhold, finally discovering a small crevice running around the device that she gripped tightly with one hand. With her other, she began to work with the transceiver, wholly unprepared for the kind of work she was supposed to be doing.

There had been times before when she had seen someone else slice equipment, and the girl had tried to follow it once or twice. The process seemed utterly simple, a datapad or terminal with a few special wires, some strategic tapping on the screen as data flew past, and boom, done. Her hands tried to replicate it, but only got so far as to activate unfamiliar menus and options that she knew were not what she was looking for.

If only Daiya actually knew what she was looking for!

"Help me?" the girl pleaded as she glanced over to Saija. Turning back to her screen, Daiya pointed out the results she had discovered in one of the tertiary menus, a display that overlaid the current radar screen with HoloNet identifiers and transponder codes of the vessels around them. "The big one is easy, that's the freighter, right? But the little ones, the fighters, around it aren't showing any info. Does that mean their transponders are off and we can't slice them?"

Jocelyn Pavaliah Jerec Asyr Saija Kwann​

 

[Saija Kwann]

"You two, you're shadowrunner types, any chance one of you can get on the transceiver and ruin their day?"

"On it."

"Help me?" the girl pleaded as she glanced over to Saija. Turning back to her screen, Daiya pointed out the results she had discovered in one of the tertiary menus, a display that overlaid the current radar screen with HoloNet identifiers and transponder codes of the vessels around them. "The big one is easy, that's the freighter, right? But the little ones, the fighters, around it aren't showing any info. Does that mean their transponders are off and we can't slice them?"

I shake my head. "I've got another idea. Get on the gun turrets and wait for my signal."

As I enable ECM jamming to disable their comms and scanners, I begin to hack into their battle net de-scramblers. A screeching garble was all that could be heard on the local freqs. The ships outside also begin to fly erratically without their guidance systems as the pilots were now forced to fly Mark One Eyeball.

I decrease the interference slightly, just enough to send out a signal to bait them. "Change course to three-one-five mark two-seven." Without working instruments, the enemy fighters were about to fly directly into our line of fire.

"Daiya, now!"

 

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

The starfighter that had been leading the vessel had only made it so far as its self contained burst transmission was sent. Their attempt to finishing punching in jump coordinates cut short as all three starfighters began moving erratically and falling into the gunsights of the attackers.

The training for the pilots had not been so rigorous about flying blind, and each made frustrated attempts at course correction.

The crew on board the freighter were still scrambling, unsure where the interlopers would be assaulting as they tried to spread themselves over the airlocks without spreading themselves to thin.

They hadn't been trained for such a bold move. The large corporate insignia usually enough of a deterrent of such attacks. Even with their attempted cover of he airlocks, they were spread thin and had limited cover to speak of.

The bulkhead leading to the pilots slammed shut, electronic locks engaging as they tried to speed up further and only managing a lazy acceleration from the large beast of a ship.

Jerec Asyr Daiya Saija Kwann

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Daiya Saija Kwann Jocelyn Pavaliah

Jerec squinted through the shuttle canopy. "Whatever you two did worked. They're jiggling like a Huttese stripper." Not that Hutts wore clothes, but the idiom more or less tracked. He toggled the comms. "Boys, keep'em off us. I'm going for the ventral airlock."

The modded shuttle surged ahead and whipped upside-down relative to the big freighter. With consummate expertise, Jerec glomped the shuttle onto the airlock and engaged every fastener known to man.

"We're limpeted up," he said, unbuckling. "Just be aware we're upside-down. Or they are."

A concealed compartment disgorged blaster pistols and flashbangs - highly vanilla but more than enough to make a dent.

 

[Daiya]

Daiya found it easy to let Saija take over, happily relinquishing the responsibility over to someone who knew what they were doing. When it came to shooting someone, blowing them up, or sweet-talking them out of some information, the young shadowrunner could manage most trouble. Slicing and the digital interference chit was a whole other world that she had neither the knowledge or the confidence to handle.

Moving over to the gunnery controls instead, Daiya flipped a few of the switches that would give her direct control. Her hands took hold of the manual grips meant to aim the shuttle's weaponry, though as she peered into the viewfinder, the girl found that most of the work was automatic. The computer system guided her toward the right targets, keeping the weapons steady even as her hands shook from the craft's unwieldy motion, waiting on her for the command to fire.

A moment after Saija gave it, Daiya slammed her fingers against the triggers, unleashing a barrage of well-timed blasts from their laser cannons straight into the enemy fighters.

She pulled her eyes away when it was done, leaning back in the chair, tension leaching out of her. The call from Jerec ahead reminded the young shadowrunner to strap in once more, before she felt her stomach turning to match the orientation from outside the shuttle's viewport. As it shuddered into place against the airlock connection, Daiya held on even while others inside their shuttle began to unstrap and make their final checks before boarding.

"Nice flying," she managed to croak at the Ithorian pilot, her face a mirthless stone. It probably was, too, even if the sarcastic teen couldn't appreciate it right now. She might be in one piece still, but that was liable to change quickly as they made it onboard the freighter and towards the object of the day.

If she could get out of her chair first.

Cautiously, the girl unbuckled, gripping the chair until she was certain she wasn't going to fall towards the ceiling. Her mind couldn't comprehend the notion, being upside down when the freighter was right side up. Or rather, being right side up when the freighter was upside down. Her stomach had felt that maneuver distinctly, but now Daiya's eyes were telling her that this was the new right way up. She lurched from handhold to handhold as her body managed the transition a lot faster than her mind could follow.

She had all the blasters she needed, though Daiya added two flashbangs to the arsenal clipped to various spots on her Powderpunk Phase I Armor. A bit more steady on her feet now, though no less apprehensive of the momentary change upcoming, the young shadowrunner gathered with others around the floor hatch which allowed access to the airlock beneath. She wasn't confident enough to use her own arm to toss the flashbang in through the airlock seal once it opened up, lest it come back down on them instead, but someone else was.

A moment later, the teen unplugged her ears and opened her eyes again. The shuttle itself had mostly protected her from the flashbang effects, which would have dealt their full brunt to anyone on the freighter side of the airlock. Daiya looked to the others gathered in a circle around the airlock, and a nod began to make its way around. She readied her blaster in her hand, and dipped her head when it was her turn.

Then in they went, through the airlock and out into the freighter.

Jocelyn Pavaliah Jerec Asyr Saija Kwann​

 

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

The unknown vessel latched onto an airlock sending guards from one section to the other as backup for those already there. They waited patiently as the door opened, a younger guard shooting into the open doorway as the small canister rolled inside.

Some ducked, others stared at in in confusion as the older guards tried their best to get behind cover and protect their ears as the hotshot took the full force of the flashbang to his shooting eye and tumbled forward from cover at the ringing in his ears.

Several doubled over, and those in the back hadn't been warned as some in cover well behind the main group blinked and rubbed their ears in vain.

Several bodies had hunkered down though, suffering only the raucous noise as they presented blasters around the corner with mild hearing issues. They blinked as their senses tried to correct in the meantime, their aim thrown off.

The pilots in the sealed cabin did their best to try to close the airlock, finding themselves fighting against someone actively slicing the system and locking them out of that particular control.

Jerec Asyr Daiya