~~~ IC ~~~

::Martel's attempt to get aid from the Avesti is still at best two weeks away, given travel times, and he isn't able to get anyone to break the sanctity of confession, though those he talks to do indicate a general lack of knowledge on the subject...

Budi is hitting the same investigatory problem as the Hazat.. there really isn't enough specific records since SO MANY military ships go back and forth on a weekly basis that one missing can't be narrowed down out of all the others on secret missions for various factions that have clearance but no call signs...

::Lan waits patiently for the right moment to tell An they need to sit down with somebody who really knows everybody in the Hazat, thoroughly, to rule some things out.::

for the guilders working on the wreckage you get basically the same list that An found...

And now it's June 1st, about 10 in the morning, on a sunny resort-day when you've all decided to meet, share info, and work on further courses of action::

::brings a large tray of still chilled protein munchy delicacies native to this planet, and several pair of chopsticks:: Hi, guys!

::Vasili stews, waiting to hear what everyone has come up with::

Well, ::leans against a wall:: how is everyones work coming?

I am hitting a Koonie, an barrier.

::sets down the food, and sits:: So. ::puffs cheeks:: I want to go over the who's who, again. We need to really figure out who our potential allies are, and we have a good start ruling people out. Right?

... What the hell are you talking about Budi?

Plus, I'm addlebrained for this noble namedropping stuff. Fortunately I took notes.

The records of the various ships are not as well kept as Criticorum

::starts dropping all the info he's found out, letting everyone know what he's found out::

Even the smugglers are kept track of there.

Well, I should have some of my friends from the temple here in a few weeks...and hopefully some more information about this orb.

::Vasili does the same.::

::nods and goes over it again, but looks up sharply at mention of the orb:: Oh? That I will be very curious to hear about.

Thought so myself. Oh, and I'm starting a lil noise with the Chainers that we might need an army sooner or later. Just thought you guys should know.

::blinks. Wow. He wasn't sure he'd not been joking before::

((argh. IM broken. Remind me exactly who Don Marcos is, again, kindly? ))

::nods:: All good stuff, so, what's our next step?

((how much time has passed?))

((bout two weeks))

((Don Marcos is a hazat knight you met that seems to know something about genelocks))

((he has not shown up before this downtime))

((Oh. Okay, that last part was what I wanted to know.))

So, has anyone met Don Marcos Fred..rick Duch.... something? ::gets out his sketchpad:: Marcos Frederick Dulcinea?

((have I?))

No. Never heard of him.

((I assume?))

Its still two weeks until the cavalry arrives at the soonest, and the priests on this world are horribly tight lipped. So I'm up for anything anyone has a mind to do. and nope, me either.

((nope))

::looks around expectantly:: Well, I can try and find daring young field surgeons. A decent mobile medical unit is indispensable for a military. Even a small one. Especially to morale.

::shakes his head::

Anyway. This dude Don Marcos, I want to know if we can recruit him. I think he's harboring a stash of 2nd Republic tech, and frankly, who knows what we could bring to the table in that case.

Not yet. Mostly the noise is just that. Noise to make people nervous. If it gets to it though, we might need a medical corp in the future.

Good point. any clue where it is?

... Oh. Right. ::feels vaguely stupid, as usual.:: Not really, but he's got access to, but I think, can't unlock it. I can. Pretty sure Marcos is a knight, too. So. ::checks sketchpad:: Yeah.

Sooo, we have something to trade him. Your ability to pick a lock, humorously enough.

::has his notes in alchemical notation. Which looks mighty cool, in addition to being nearly undecipherable.::

Right.

::nods:: Good work Lan, what do you think we'll find?

We should, like. Make ourselves look as strong as possible to as many people as possible. Anybody got thoughts on that? Well. Again, you never know. But if you were to find a trove of really choice gear, the emperor would have to notice, right? You could, yanno, share it with your fellow Knight, and all that.

Well, the stash might be a good place to start. trade him your skills for his backing and perhaps some goods from the stash.

((::can't help channelling shaggy when he plays Lan, at this point:: ))

((That's cause you're a damn pot smoking hippy))

((Like man, that was a really creepy thing to say. ))

::nods, totally out of his element and letting those who can handle nobles do the talking::

So, you ever hear that story about Robin of the Hood? Who, rigged stuff in the forest to make it seem like he had more men than he really had? ::lets the inarticulate story reference and some hand gestures explain themselves::

((Everyone, Cam has received a phone call that is very important and says he will be back in a bit.))

Good point. perhaps we should go ahead and hire a few mercs and get them to hang out a lot in bars saying they work for us. It might draw a few eyes. Plus we'd have at least an honor guard if we needed it in a hurry.

Tell your Mercs there's a great medical plan. ::grins::

::perks up:: I can talk to some people, get the mercs.

::sobers for a moment:: I mean. We are supposed to... ah. Exaggerate everything a little, when we play this kind of game, aren't we, An? ::shrugs:: Think we can get our Mercs in matching outfits? ::supresses a chuckle:: I mean, seriously though. Appearances. Hell. We could make up a story about how they're all extra-city Severan settlers. You know. A whole army of guys who're Just That Tough. Or. Some other appropriately scary place.

Where you from again, Vasili?

I'm originally from Cadavus.

This is good. Pick a few that have "Grizzled and eating nails" written on them that you think you can trust Vasili. They'll be our "officers"

I mean, I'm just a doctor. Maybe I'm smokin' selchaka here. But. ::shrugs::

No, its good. Wait, Selchaka, you ever get anyone who ODs Lan? Because we should also trace back where all the drugs are coming from. It might be related.

I think I know just the people.

Ah. Cadavus. You're a robust guy for a ... ::refrains from saying "cadav...an." Looks to the question instead:: Hmm. Well...

((Hey, boss, I'm rusty on the whole selchaka connection. Is that cuz I just never tracked it down? ))

((you all did track it down. Selchaka addiction was a growing problem on Aragon in 5000... you tracked it to the Jakovians on Severus. You almost got to destroy a warehouse full, but someone rushed in and tipped them off))

((the green selchaka is way more addictive than the white stuff which is grown naturally in Decados space))

((Oh yeah. I remember that. ))

((there's always a test later))

(( -- I suck. ))

((::binds some more stupid questions:: ))

((::in broadcast:: ))

Uh, really, that green selchaka is coming from Severus.

::Vasili isn't sure whether this stuff is green, but if it is it's almost guaranteed to be from the Jakovians::

::Like he said::

We established that pretty much for sure. I'm not sure ... wait. Is there something I'm missing about selchaka *here*?

Right. we should see if we can track down the source on this planet. Might stem the flow a little bit, and get some recognition at the same time. Only that stopping it on this planet would at least get us some favor amongst the locals.

I've been meaning to work on an unobtrusive anti-selchaka agent. Something like anabuse, for alcohol. ::shrugs:: Just haven't had the lab time. One is tempted to just put such a thing in the water supply. But, you know. Withdrawl can kill. ::shrugs::

Yeah, but it might cause a crimp in the military guard around certain sectors for a wh-- Sorry, idle thought. Go on.

I had it too, but we dont want to become the people we hate do we?

::quirks eyebrow:: Aw, P...priddlethorn. Is the *local* military widely hooked? I mean. The last thing this house needs is a selchaka-withdrawn defensive force.

Well, yeah. Sorry, thought you were listening when I briefed everyone earlier. The local military is having a real problem with the stuff... Could be a larger problem if it's not focused here. I've only paid attention to what I've been hearing in this area.

::blink:: Oh. Damnit, no. Sorry. Yeah, we should do something about that.

Crap. we need those troops off that stuff. They'll have work to do not too long from now.

::muses:: If we engineered a false crisis, and had a defensive force of our own standing ready when we cut off the supply... ::squints to indicate he knows its a hare-brained scheme that could go wrong in SO many ways::

::But Vasili is looking at Lan as if he was having similar thoughts::

::shrugs:: We'd have to figure out how to cut off the supply first.

War heroes make strong candidates for knighthood. . .

You... really buy that?

He's right, they do. But I dont see any way of engineering such a crises beleavably without getting people killed

::is just a country doctor::

Why not? It's a peaceful solution, more or less. The only people who suffer are those on the drug. They've already made their choice.

Right, right. The engineered crisis is the scary part. ::gets out his chopsticks and begins to munch heartily on the forgotton egg/meat/rice/seaweed/use your imagination rolls he brought, uncovering the tray. Way more than he can eat::

::Vasili tries to make eye contact with Lan, wishing to partake::

Hey, dig in, man.

I think the crisis idea might work, but its gotta be beleavable, and CANNOT be traced back to us.

Which is the trickiest part.

Well. I mean. That depends on, how it plays out in whatever passes for the press around here.

Again, I go back to the mercs.

I mean, if a few wrong people knew we faked it, but the populace thought we were heroes?

We could put layers between them and us, through me and my contacts. Perhaps we need a simpler plan, use this one as a backup?

Ooh. That sounds good. ::through a mouthfull of shrimp-like-stuff::

::Vasili grabs one and crunches, distracted::

mmm. ::shrugs:: We could concilliate or... you know, deal, with the minority that found out... ::swallows. Looks for something to drink. Gets up and goes and gets a glass of water::

::pops in a random grub like object:: mmm, ok, what kinda crisis? military uprising sorta thing? and again, how are we gonna do it without it looking really fake, and without getting a lot of people dead?

::feels eerie and freaked out, since he just actually suggested "dealing" with people. Perhaps he was going to hell.:: I keep thinking, void Krakens. I dunno. That's dumb. What if those cannibal folk in the desert looked like they were invading?

((the ones in the desert on another planet?))

((well, we dont WANT them on this p[alnet, right?))

Oh, wait. Those are ... nevermind. Sorry... ::comes back to the table::

What if we had a Kraken on our side? What could we not accomplish?

For the record, if this plan begins devolving into "dealing with people" I'm out, and so are my contacts. I won't be party to bloodshed. So long as we're clear.

No, I was thinking of a story, in which a guy supposedly once scared a bunch of people into working together by faking the appearance of a couple void krakens planetside. Yeah... ::looks in his glass: I know. I wasn't, thinking, lethal. Just... something.

Fine. So long as we're clear.

We're clear.

::quietly:: Right.

We are the good guys Lan, and we have to act like it, or it doesnt matter if we win or not, Moving on.

::gets vaguely self righteous:: Look. ::sets glass down noisily:: Nevermind.

Speak your mind, doctor.

Okay, I'm not going to be the callous bastard here. I'm a physick, get it? I heal people. You all want to play a game I know nothing about EXCEPT that I know there's carnage involved. I'm just brainstorming. Yanno.

And its muchly appreciated doctore. ::looks around:: Everything everyone is doing is appreicated. As far as I'm concerned, every idea right now is a good idea. ... unless it involves violence ::grins at Vasili;:

Thanks.

::shrugs. Scrutinizing his icecube::

Agreed. What we need right now is wild and crazy, so you are on the right track doc. We just gotta be careful we dont cross the wrong line.

Doctor, I'm didn't accuse you of anything. But I know the real-world consequences that this plan could have, just as you do. And I just want everyone, not just you, to know I will do whatever I have to do, whatever to ensure no blood is spilt. Nothing personal was meant by it. Now if we're done. . .::grabs another munchie with a half-smile::

::Shakes his head::

Right, so, back to planning. We are gonna help this knight guy get a 2nd republic trove, we THINK. anyway we can get the whole thing?

::mutters into his glass:: Put him into cryosleep and borrow it?

Then the next step is contacting him?

We need to decide if he's one of the folks we can form a coalition with. It would help, to know what he wants, generally, out of life, I think.

right. by the by, if its ok with Vasili, i think he and myself should act as your bodyguards for this Lan. And it would also help if we knew how well connected he was.

I have no problem with that.

::shrugs:: I dunno much all that much about him. But, I suppose, eiteher we deal with him as somebody to bring to the cause, or we do business with him. The latter is unlikely to have a good payoff for the time we'll have to invest, though mainly it's MY time, so, and, I'm not that good at, intrigue, or, you know. Dealing with people.

Allright, then we try to bring him to the cause. Tell him that we'll break the lock for him as long as he supports us for a run at the alter?

Sound good enough to start.

Agreed.

::nods::

::grin:: meybe we'll be REALLY lucky and he'll have an artifact scnner thingymajig in the stash eh?

::nods:: Yes, I want to play fair with this guy if we want him to help

When do we leave to meet him?

as soon as possible I say.

Okay. Well. Am I part of the entourage of a questing guy seeking Knighthood, when I go to him? Or, do we just want the notoriety of carrying really neat gadgets?

Questing guy seeking knighthood. we'll play it straight for now.

That's half the value of the technology, I imagine. Usually is. It gets people's attention. Captures their morbid fascination with the forbidden.

Good point

::nods as if to say 'hadn't thought of it that way before'::

I say to him, "Greetings, Don Marcos! I the humble servant of the worthy An-F Hotep will unlock the secrets of... your hidden cache... if you will allow the parts of it crucial to PR go to my master?" Somethin' like that? I don't talk Hazat, yanno. ::smirks::

::nods:: should work. me and Vasili will be there in case he gets Ideas.

::shakes his head at the slaughtering of his name::

((Dude. That's not how your name is spelled? ))

((<-- Sucks! ))

::clears his throat:: An-hotep-F, I mean. Griffin. Sorry, An.

::sigh:: An

Sorry.

*ahem* :hides grin::

Its alright... ::starts to laugh slightly::

Hey. You didn't see my ancestors hyphenating and clustering consonants like it was the living end.

::yep, more vowels than one mouth can safely pronounce was their watchword::

::breaks out in a good laugh::

::grin::

::munches, grinning through his food:: Okay. So. Maybe you could go to him, pronounce your name right, and say "My cringing servant here tells me you have been asking quesstions about things. We would be happy to help, but I'm strapped for reputation right now."

Sounds good, print and run!

hah! perfect.

I think that's just crazy enough to work. . .

Alrighty, then. And, we outfit, ahem, a small guard of really scary looking guys.

Indeed.

That might be overdoing it.

And. So. We ought to find that orb. I really want to see it. Plus THAT would be lots of reputation. Hey. You don't suppose ... ::blinks::

Oh, well, I think myself and him are enough for the first meeting.

yeah.

Agreed. between the two of us, we can fill most rooms.

Really.

::practeces creepy evil glower::

::also practices spelling::

::affects to cringe::

::tries his own creepy evil glower::

::Suddenly wonders if there's a gas leak. . .::

Would you guys knock it off?

heh.

::supresses a chuckle. Back to the food::

Sorry ::one last creepy evil glower::

Okay. We need a newspaper guy, who knows ... ah! Quit!

How long do you expect this to take?

PreCISEly... two weeks?

Longer if we keep making faces at each other.

::nearly snorts rice::

Probably.

hey Vasili, think you could get me an assault rifle of some sort for the meet? i'll be going incognito.

::Looks at Martel like he's drunk:: No.

Two weeks?

We're not going in armed are we? We're just for looks.

Just for looks

With me absent from the meet, it looks more like An is the guy pulling the strings. ... and. I don't want to wait two more weeks to try and find that orb.

Every week we loose is a week closer to loosing that orb.

Agreed.

I mean lose...

the weapons are for looks. If i was going to shoot someone I'd be using my flamer.

::puts down his wine glass::

I'm not risking a misunderstanding. If someone sees our "for show" guns, they might pull their "for real" guns and we have a situation.

Situations. Yeah. So, I meant to say earlier, if we had a force assembled, we probably won't have to wait forever for a *real* crisis to happen, if the military's all hooked on Decados selchaka. Anybody SEEN any of the local stuff?

No ::shakes his head::

I'm pretty new to the body guard thing, I just thought they were always armed ::shrugs:: but good point on both sides.

Okay, so, if it's *green*, who wants odds on whether a Decados embargo on selchaka is immanent anyway?

So what were looking at here is that any point the decados could cripple the Hazat army and destroy them?

I suppose that's not exactly convincing. Why wouldn't they be moving right now?

::grubles:: well SOMEONE sure is gonna try...

::You're all pretty certain that if any house, particularly the Decados, made a direct and focused attack on another house, then the Emperor would step in to intercede.. small skirmishes are okay, but he doesn't want another EWar::

::fortunately has the out of being politically ignorant:: But, then.... ::shrugs:: I dunno.

But they would weaken the army and let another force take them out. A vulture.

We ought to get a stash of emergency medical substitute... just to be safe.

Agreed.

::contemplates how readily such a thing can be procured or made, and whether buying a huge shipment wouldn't tip people off::

::a huge shipment of what?::

::a huge shipment of... some kind of methodone for Selchaka::

::what works to treat heroine?::

::methodone? blood transfusions?::

::i dunno, probably nothin easy::

::nothin FUN for sure::

::methodone works, to keep people from withdrawl and the "down"::

::Right.::

::just have to take it regularly. But, selchaka may not be the same::

::plans to mention that we'd need contacts in the miliatry to be ready for distribution if the supplies were cut::

::selchaka is made from the severan opiate poppy.. it's basically opium.. the green stuff is basically heroine::

So, at any rate. We can try and get a large shipment of some kind of methodone in, but that might tip people off to our existence.

Several smaller shipments?

Plus, we'd need contacts in place who could distribute the stuff in a crisis. ::shrug::

Not import. open lab here.

I thought about that, too. Cooking up narcotics, even medicinally valuable ones, isn't that hard to do in secret. Still, it looks awfully weird if we get caught.

true enough. dont wanna be accused of spreading the shit.

Doctor, how confident are you that you can make an antidote for the drug?

::especially since you'll need some opiate of your own to make into methadone::

So, should I go ahead and try to pull in some muster mercenaries?

Well. Antidote, I don't know. Something that would force people off it, maybe. A medication that would allow us to keep the military in place after the selchaka was cut off, much easier.

Why do we not sell this to the planetary Duke in exchange for the lady's hand and your knighthood?

If we cut off the supply, and then gave out the withdrawel treatment at the right time, we could be considered to be saving the military, with the right PR spin

::raises palms, nodding.::

If we have a working antidote for all the addicts in a short amount of time

Not an antidote. Just a replacement. That'll be easiest.

here is another question, how do we make these addicts take the meds? Its called an addiction for a reason.

So now we control the military?

One can dream, An, one can dream.

Addicts mostly want off. Seriously. Ask an addict. Once they're on, the do nothing but sit around, use, and talk abuot how they're going to get off. But I was saying, we'd need to find contacts who can distribute when the need arises.

I might be able to handle that.

Why contacts? The best is the duke.

Just let me get in contact with some of the local churches. and because i don't think we can trust the duke Budi.

::which duke? there is an *unclear power structure/Chain of Command* at the moment.

((There is no planetary ruler?))

::glad he's seated for epiphany::

((no! the entire Eduardo upper echelons *just died* and have *no one to replace them at the moment* this is *the problem*))

((well, there's weenie face, our foe, the heir appaarent. ))

((Let's get rep though him. ^^ ))

((no he's not))

((he's just the guy in control of maria.. he's only a baron, when all is said and done, trying to consolidate what little power he has))

((Er, he's got some pull... right. He's locally meaningful. Right? ))

Alright. I'm going to start working on calling some old friends in. Let me know if anything changes.

((yeah, locally connected, sure... in line for house or even planetary rulership? not hardly))

::Vasili stands from the table and nods to everyone.::

Right.

has left the room.

((wow, he really DID leave the room)

::nods good deal::

((yeah, he's gotta go to bed.. as do I also, soon, so if there's anything else you guys wanna do tonight, do it quickly like))

::or nods:: Good deal. I'm going to keep poking at my contacts.

One last thing. To mercenary, or not to mercenary, that is my question?

I don't see why we shouldn't have something lined up...

I will return to the port and speak with some of the engineers who helped clean up the wreckage and dig a bit further, If I can.

Tis nobler to suffer the swords and plasma of our outrageous fortunes, or to shoot back with bigger guns?

Get them ready.

Right then, I'll make the call.

Don't get them hired but let them know we might be looking

How many can we afford is now my question.

Use whatever contacts we need, alias and all... We could use Skorpios.

I have some spare change lying around, but An probably...

I got a bit of cash as well. What constitutes a decent sized army these days anyways?

I'll get a month's wages in two weeks.

Oh yes. I've got an account, just let me know how much you each need and I'll supply the cash.

I wasn't entirely joking about livery, earlier, by the way.

Neither was I. its the way to go, so we should find us a tailor.

deal only in cash we only want to keep the paper trail low

Fair enough, I'll make some calls. ::stands:: good day gentlemen. ::walks to the nearest call-the-chainers" booth whathaveyou.::

::finishes his water, lougnes:: Well then.

::sits back in his chair looking tired::

How you holding up, An? Getting any sleep?

((A wrap? ))

A little. I miss her.

::nods::

Eating any? ::shoves the plate at him:: You should eat.

((I like wraps))

((wraps))

~~~ OOC ~~~