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[Gentis Freem]

Hyperspace.

A requirement of their trade, Pirates needed to snake their way through hyperspace often. The crew of the Moguls Fortune was no different, and they found themselves in hyperspace now, on the way to their rendevous with an Imperial commander in nuetral space. S-9 on the Galactic Standard map, just due to the galactic north of Boz Pity, a short jump away - they'd be meeting an Imperial they had been introduced to through a third party, who had work for them.

Captain Freem was slightly on edge.

Technically he worked for the Hutt Cartel.

And that mean't his boss was at war with their boss. Perhaps this was all a trap? He certainly hoped not. "I don't trust Imperials." he looked over at Dismas (@Eccles) "Well, not all of them anyway." the Captain added, as he shuffled in his chair to make himself more comfortable. Ultimately all that mattered was that the Imperial could afford their help - then they could work out what he actually wanted.

"They call the meeting place the Cyborrean Reach. We're coming in here," he pointed to the bottom of the map "- a good distance away from where he's set to meet us, keeping us out of range of most major conventional weapons. There's an asteroid belt 'behind' us as we come in, and to our port will be a large gas cloud, off our stern will be the Imperial Vessel, assuming he is where he agreed." he ran through what he expected to happen.

Of course, the Imperial might have misled them.

But they'd find out. "Get us a route out. We'll keep the negotiations over the holo." he nodded, the orders given. Soon, they'd be exiting hyperspace, and meeting their would be client.

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas wasn't exactly comfortable with this meeting. After all, Captain Freem had already struck a deal with the Empire and was paid for that deal. Now he intended to accept payment again. The location of the meeting worried Dismas as well, because Blackout Fleet didn't normally meet capital ship to capital ship in space. This wasn't an arranged by the always careful ISB, that much was certain. Perhaps thats why the Imperials in question hadn't checked bureau files and already found Captain Freem and the Moguls Fortune on the payroll.

"Aye Cap'n," he replied as he already started preparing their next jump into hyperspace while yet to drop out of it. "Calculating best jump point out of the Cyborrean Reach." There were easiers reaches to escape from. The gas cloud would be terrible to fly through for the ship's exterior and engines. The asteroid belt was nice to hide in when you're a small ship, like an interceptor or a freighter, but not so much for a cumulus-class corsair. The Fortune was a mothership to their cutlass light-starfighters.

Then it happened. The ship left hyperspace and they found themselves in the Cyborrean Reach, prompting Dismas to work frantically at an increased pace. Replacing current active route with newly prepared one, setting in hyperspace point Alpha and then having the console calculate jump-point Bravo and Charlie, too. "Route set," he transferred the route to the pilot's console and then swiveled his chair to the Captain. His heartrate slightly elevator. This was risky business and was hoping to see the Captain recognized it as such while he communicated with the Empire.

@Nor'baal @Rimrald

 

[Otto von Bastion]

A lone Raider Corvette traveling outside of imperial jurisdiction during a time of conflict was not the most unusual thing, and that was something Otto hoped to take advantage of. He and the crew of the ship had exited hyperspace a short time ago and positioned themselves between a pair of asteroids in relative proximity to the coordinates agreed upon.

With the two attached fighters disengaging their docking mechanisms they would sweep the immediate surroundings and report no contacts on scanners. It was shortly after this report that one of the bridge crew would relay the following. "Captain, one contact soon to exit hyperspace, reading shows it should be the size of our expected party." The Captain would nod in response and turn to Otto.

"Comms are open to traffic and you will find the conference room through the door to the rear, down the hall and to the left. Third bulkhead labeled in kind." Otto nodded and turned on his heels to find the room in question.

This was a risky move, but it was a time to take such moves. The Empire was in need of people who would take action to defend her, not politicians and back room schemers - who would be just as happy to see the whole thing burn as they would be to see themselves come out a shining turd atop the pile. This was Otto's time to be a doer and secure the future of his Empire. These thoughts crossed his mind as his armored boots made echoing footfalls through the hallway until reaching the communications room. He would open the door and enter, flanked by one of his Sergeants from the 173rd Assault Corp who would take position out of frame and beside the entrance to the room. Securing the door behind them, the access button panel would flash red indicating it was locked.

Stepping up to the terminal Otto would open the comm channel and wait for an incoming message. "I hope this is worth it." would spill from his mouth under his breath as he adjusted his posture. @Eccles @Nor'baal

 

[Gentis Freem]

The Moguls Fortune thumped out of hyperspace. "All hands, man your stations." an alarm sounded across the bridge and the ship as the Captain barked his orders "Fighters crew, stand-by." Gentis added, as the fighter squad got ready for an immediate launch.

A Raider-Class was a well armed ship, and one that they would not be able to take without sustaining heavy casualities. Captain Freem ardently hoped it would not come to a fight.

"Keep us out of range of their cannons/" he signalled to the helmsman, as he scowelled at the Imperial vessel. This was a dangerous deal, one which had to be navigated with caution - the Empires guard was up, and a cornered beast was always a danger.

"Ahead flank, 50 degrees port." he ordered the Fortune to a bank to its left, keeping them out of range of the Imperial vessel, holding a steady distance from them.

He nodded to the communications officer, opening a holonet link to the Imperial ship. He would appear in their comms room as a holoprojection, sat in his Captains chair. Wearing a red jacket, and light grey trousers, he had heavy bantha hide boots on, and was holding in his right hand a cutlass, the point of which rested on the deck.

"Welcome to the Cyborrean Reach, matey." Gentis began, as Breeso, his Kowakian monkey lizard hopped up onto his shoulder "I be told your looking for a fierce crew to lend a hand in this spot of bother your Moffs find themselves in?"

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Fortunately for Dismas he wasn't in view for whichever Imperial was one the other line. He knew it couldn't be someone from Blackout Fleet, for they'd see the Mogul's Fortune marked as an asset on Imperial payroll already. Courtesy of Lieutenant Zaa Fenn. That left the Imperial Armed Forces as the most likely conversation partner and judging by the fact they're meeting in deep space most likely someone from the Imperial Navy.

All this was going through Dismas' head when Gentis opened the comms in a casual that was in direct odds with the Imperial codes of conduct in hyperspace communication. A pirate through and through.

The pilot seemed ready to steer the ship towards the primary jump-point for their getaway at hyperspeed, so Dismas made sure to subtly tell inform the Captain, "Hyperdrive is ready, Captain-" the starmap on his outdated console was showed three short jumps that would made it impossible for the Empire to track them without attaching some kind of beacon to their hull. "-but still, don't overdo it."

The entire crew of the Fortune knew that they were about to try and sell their hides to the Empire twice. Dismas had already paid them for privateering efforts against the Hutts and now the IAF would do so again. It was a sign that something within the Empire was going wrong and that internal plots and coups were underway. If the navy found out that Gentis was trying to cheat the Empire then there would be no safe port left for the fortune in all northern regions of the galaxy.

@Nor'baal @Rimrald

 

[Otto von Bastion]

"Aye, we are indeed in a spot of bother - I'm sure you're aware given the recent galactic happenings." Otto began, with an exhausted look on his face he would produce a datapad from out of the holoprojectors view.

"Right, so, given the recent issuance regarding Letters of Marque. I just need to collect some information on your vessel and crew." He looked up from the datapad giving the captain a once over before continuing "Being of ill-repute or not is really nothing we can be picky about right now.... Do you and your ship have a name?" Otto asked as he brought up the available databases and the forms needed for submission of a ship and crew into imperial logs for issuing a letter of marque.

Leaning back on the hip height wall that surrounded the holoprojection station Otto would do a cursory search for the ship. Flipping through image after image looking to identify the ship by class he would land on the information page about the
Cumulus Class Corsair. Narrowing his search by that criteria he would lift his head to give his attention to who he presumed was the captain of the vessel on the other end while he waited for the data to load on Cumulus Class Corsair's in Imperial record. @Nor'baal @Eccles

 

[Gentis Freem]

This Imperial was asking to many questions, and it made Captain Freem uncomfortable. Why he did need this information? What was he after?

"A letter?" he sneered over the comms "My crew does not require a letter of marque from your Empire, we will not be bound to your ambition - we need only payment." he clarfied, hoping to steer the discussion away from personal questions such as 'his name' and 'his ships name'.

Gentis knew the Empire needed every advantage it could pull together.

He and his crew could provide that. "Lets say 20 camtono of peggats for each Hutt standard-sized bulk frieghter we claim, with the sale of the haul guaranteed in Imperial borders at twenty per cent on top of the market price?" the Captain put his 'business brain' into gear.

"Of course my crew would need to know they can move in Imperial space unmolested by your more zealous operatives. So perhaps a standing order to allow my vessel safe passage? Get me these things - and we can start blasting Hutt supply lines this very afternoon." he grinned at the Imperial, his opening offer made.

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas watched and listened how an overconfident Captain Gentis laid down the terms that belonged to hiring the services of the Fortune. Dismas was considering whether or not it had been wise to inform the Klatoonian about the exact wording of the Imperial General Defensive Measures Act - Subsection J:143-72, under which these 'letters of Marque' were being handed out. It appeared that it had only increased the payment under which Gentis would accept the terms, not mentioning that essentially he had agreed to them already when the Imperial Security Bureau first contacted him and Dismas delivered the payment.

"Don't forget the advance," the navigator told the captain off-screen, for payment on delivery was good and all, but a crew had to be fed and replacement parts stocked in case repairs were needed post-battle.

Dismas swiveled back to face his console when Gentis mentioned something about getting a guarantee the Fortune would go unmolested inside Imperial space and they had already prepared for this demand. He quickly encoded a message and prepped it for ship-to-ship transfer. "We'd need an Imperial guarantee that this ship-code has free passage by order of the man on the other line," all Lieutenant van Bastion needed to do was to upload the code to the Imperial traffic authority and attach his own personal imperial code, stating that he was responsible if the Fortune made trouble in Imperial space as a result of their 'writ of free passage'. Ofcourse the shipcode that he send was for a ship know to hail from an independent Outer Rim world (without a spaceport, but good luck checking that) called the 'Crimson Demise'.

@Nor'baal @Rimrald

 

[Otto von Bastion]

"Yes, a letter of marque." Otto said flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking down at the datapad in his hands Restricted - Access Denied was what the screen read in it's first response to his query on Corsair-class vessels in Imperial records. Flipping through the remaining results he found impound records, seizure records, dismantle records and battle records. But his curiosity over the restricted report seemed to set a light bulb off when recounting the request to be paid in peggats. That was rather unusual to hear, at least for the Lieutenant.

Directing his vision upward again he would raise an eyebrow "You wish to operate without the protection of state sanctioned piracy, and demand payment in hutt currency. From an Imperial Army Lieutenant. Are you trying to play some game with me here Sir?" He paused but for only a single beat "You take a letter of marque like every other enterprising captain I have spoken with and get to work, or you get nothing and we are done here. I will not be paying you, your pay is in your victories. Sell your goods in Imperial ports or do not, I don't care."

"Now. Name of your Ship." Otto stated again with a clear tone of frustration. Muting his audio input on the holoprojector Otto would lean out of frame for a moment.

"Sergeant, go tell the Captain to make ready to leave this system at once, or to prepare for trouble - this might so south rather quickly." With that word of warning the Sergeant would find the Corvette's Captain and relay the warning. To which the ship's crew would be put on alert and standing by for the next move.

@Nor'baal @Eccles

 

[Gentis Freem]

"You take a letter of marque like every other enterprising captain I have spoken with and get to work, or you get nothing and we are done here.

Captain Freem cut across the man "Pah! How predicatable. We'll see your Imperial transports in my sights soon enough, Lieutenant. Cut transmission." he ordered, as the holotransmission went cold.

He shook his head in dissappointment. He was not about to wed the fortunes of his men to anyone - no kings, no masters. 'twas the way.

"Fighters, withdraw." he nodded to Dismas, signalling that as soon as the fighters where back safely, he was to commence the jump.

/exitattempt

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas was appalled at the response from the Imperial. The Imperial Security Bureau always paid their cartel-assets in the local leading currency because having them walk around with Imperial credits was a sure way to out them. A sure way for you assets to end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Everything about the man's response betrayed that he was not a member of the bureau or understood its way of doing things.

Regardless the name of the ship had been send and Lieutenant Otto von Bastion would see the name 'Crimson Demise' with its berth on an Outer Rim world of no importance or allegiance. His crew has received even before he demanded to know the name of the ship.

It seemed the Captain Gentis was equally appalled as he did something that pirate captains that stand to make an easy peggats only rarely do; he ended the call with a threat from a pirate to a galactic superpower.

Upon the captain's nod, Dismas and the pilot worked in cohesion to prompt the ship to the nearest jump-point and keep it steady enough for the starfighters to land. "Good thing they hid between those asteroids," Dismas remarked to the captain. Asteroid fields were great hiding spots if you wanted to be invisible to long-range scans, but in a fight they would be their undoing. The corvette wouldn't be able to pursue quick enough, having to dodge asteroids while still as low speed and accompanying bad maneuverability. "First fighter docked," the first of three docking lights turned red, signalling to the bridge that the docking station was occupied, and mere moments later the others turned red, too.

Jump point reached, Dismas placed his hand above the hyperspeed console, "Hyperspeed in three," the pilot locked in the coordinates Dismas had send him."Two," all lights were aligned with what they should be when it came to the hyperspeed procedures. "One, now!" Dismas and the pilot engaged the hyperdrive simultaneously and switched linked the astronavigation computer with the pilot console's autopilot.

[OOC: Exit Attempt]

Finally, the entire bridge crew swiveled around to look at the Captain. "My apologies on behalf of the Imperial Security Bureau," Dismas, who was himself a member of the bureau's blackout fleet, knew he would be held resonsible for this by the crew. After all, they knew he had joined them with a camtono full of peggats for the explicit reason to harass cartel shipments. More than that they really didn't need to know to jump to these conclusions. "For what it's worth; he said he was an army lieutenant," something that instantly stood out to him, "I can reach out, but I think he's was trying to hire us on a personal title. He probably couldn't even give the guarantees or credits we asked for."

@Nor'baal @Rimrald

 

[Otto von Bastion]

"Sergeant, retrieve the recording of this interaction and hand me the hard copy." Otto said with a frustrated tone. Waiting for a few moments as the data was retrieved from the projector and spat out onto a hard disk, the Sergeant would pass it to Otto.

Motioning for him to follow, both Otto and the Sergeant would make their way to the bridge. "Apologies Captain, it seems this lot is shiftier than the rest we have spoken with." Otto would find an opening between some of the bridge crew and lean on a railing observing what he could visually of the pirate ship and its fighters. "I would request we return to Raxus immediately. I have some business to attend to at the palace."

With the request the Captain and crew would prepare for a jump to hyperspace as well.

/Exit Thread Attempt

/End Thread?

@Nor'baal @Eccles