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Prologue: Cats on Mars
Topic Started: Feb 21 2011, 11:48 AM (928 Views)
Tojoyama
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Taken from Prologue: Cats on Mars

Timeline: Took place approx. two years before the current pre-BDM timeline.

(How the crew came to be together)

Cain returned to his hometown after the death warrant on his head from the 14k Triad was lifted. He earned the warrant after Tanaka, the Triad's old boss, was assassinated and his followers scattered after a power struggle within the syndicate. Tanaka was the protege of Ling, a crime boss who Cain assassinated some years back. It paid a blood debt, but at a terrible price. Cain left everything behind, and fled to the Rim where he lived day by day, doing whatever it took to scratch out a living on the fringes of known space. More than that, he left Jade behind, the only woman who he could truly say completed him.

The made a pact to reunite after a time, to start a life together on a new world. Time passed, and she never contacted him. He tried for years to find out what happened, to find her and come take her with him. Even if he had had to come to Ariel while the death warrant was still active, he would have. But, she disappeared. No word came for years, but he always had to know. Why had she vanished?

He came to Ariel to find her and reconcile a piece of himself that always remained here. To find the piece of himself that made him whole. His trail led here, to this quiet Shinto cemetery, Sengakuji, in the heart of New Macau. An unmarked grave was all that remained of Jade. No family had come to claim her. She had been killed by Tanaka for helping Cain escape off-world. Now, part of Cain was dead, as well.

Cain was also there to try to sell the Lucky Seven because he didn’t want to be a ship’s captain, but so far had only an offer of a ridiculously low price from a dealer. The Dragonfly was basically an antique with little or no value on the market, especially with the repairs that needed to be done. He was forced to consider the fourth offer he received, but he wasn’t happy about it, so he went back to the Lucky Seven to think about it.

On his way back to the ship, he met Africa Chamberlain, a bonded broker and licensed engineer assessor with Blue Sun, who wanted to look at the Lucky Seven for possible sale to some third party buyers. Her job was to evaluate the ship and file a report on the condition of the ship for numerous buyers around the core and border to review. She was paid a flat fee if a sale was made, and another later if there was no complaint. No commission to alter the price one way or the other.

Cain thought that it was a crappy trade-off for most buyers and sellers, It meant dealing through the big corporations and companies, shutting out the little guy trying to make a buck, but it also almost always meant a better deal since they could cut the margin, guarantee the ship's status.

He granted the woman permission to look around and told her that he was entertaining some other offers. He also told her that the Lucky Seven was a solid piece of machinery, even though she was much out of date. Rikka told him that she felt she could get a decent price, but would like to bill it with certain omissions, which may not be totally above board.

Cain reassured her that the Lucky Seven was a legitimate ship and that all her papers were in order so there shouldn’t be any problems with the armaments. But Cain understood Rikka’s position. The purchase of a ship with weapons such as that would required an arms dealer license. Rikka said she would build two different assessments, one with the weapons and one without.

They entered the ship and Cain told her that the Remora located in the cargo hold was NOT for sale.

Rikka liked Cain right away. Liked the way he was humble about being a captain and fondness of the Remora he possessed. She thought they were good qualities. Rikka was also quite honest herself and gave Cain every opportunity to check everything she was looking at while she did the assessment.

Cain heard some disturbing sounds coming from the bridge and told Rikka to hold tight because he was going to investigate.

Rikka’s liking of Cain deepened due to his trust in her as he went to investigate. She also heard the sound.

Cain found a man in the pilot’s chair, drew his gun and demanded who he was. The man’s name was Gogol Petrulengo and had heard Cain and Rikka’s voices in the corridor. The man was now looking for a way to escape, realizing that he was in trouble, but was found by Cain first.

Gogol said he was from Port Authority and seemed surprised that no one had told Cain that he was there. Cain did not believe him, seeing through his ruse right away, but offered to let Gogol continue so not to raise suspicions from Rikka. The alternative was Cain calling the authorities on him. In the meantime, Rikka flipped some switches in the engine’s console, putting the ship in standby mode. She was most interested in the ship.

Dema Sabian was also interested in the Lucky Seven. He was a companion and used the Companion Guild’s rep gain some information. That rep had been the last person Cain had talked to before Rikka arrived. Dema was in reality being followed and he wanted to lose the people tailing him and disappear. Dema felt that he lost his tails a long time ago, but was still taking precautions. He entered the Lucky Seven without permission. When he was sure, he put his bag down and started to look around. He also didn’t want to cause a ruckus, so he called out to Cain.

Cain recognized Dema’s voice. He knew him from before the war. He had rescued Dema from the clutches of a corporate mind control program. Since then he had kept in touch from now and again. Dema was useful for information, but he was also a friend.

Helena Cain, a former crew member, was also on board sleeping in her bunk when Cain woke her. He asked her to come to look after Gogol. Cain was herding everyone into the engineering area. His empty ship was suddenly becoming very crowded.

Cain introduced everyone to each other. Dema kissed Rikka’s hand, which made her blush. Cain was amused by her response.

Rikka went back to the Lucky Seven’s engine. She was happy that someone was there from Port Authority. She requested more information about the Lucky Seven that the ship’s log was missing. Cain looked forward to seeing how Gogol would talk his way out of that question. Rikka also asked Cain to unlock the launch codes so she could inspect the engine as it ran. She also wanted to talk to him about some things he should be aware of.

At Rikka told Cain of the fact she needed to talk to him alone regarding the ship, he became concerned, thinking that there might be something wrong that he did not know and could affect the price of the ship. Rikka confirmed that things were in such a state that only a hot shot pilot could probably fly it. She then admitted that while it might not be a huge problem, it could affect the price.

As Dema listened to Rikka, he decided he liked her right away, especially her nervous streak. But he told Cain that he was not interested in buying the ship.

Cain became defensive about the state of his ship and gave her the rundown of why things were the way they were in the engine room. He also admitted that he was indeed a pretty good pilot and if the buyer had a decent one, the ship was good as gold. Helena smiled at Cain’s answers to Rikka’s concerned, noting that Cain defended the ship like a wife, even though he wouldn’t admit it. Cain informed Dema that he had the place for sale and would not be leaving until he sold the Lucky Seven.

Gogol was amused, yet annoyed when Cain tried to pass his lie on to the people that they ran into. While Cain could lie like a pro, he felt that secondhand lies never worked. When Rikka asked him for more records, he gave her the answer that the records had been damaged and that replacements would be available the next day. But she then further said that her assessment would be further hampered by records that were not available. To mitigate the news somewhat she tries to reassure him that she would definitely represent the Lucky Seven’s positive points.

When she is finished, she gives him a slight bow of respect, but Cain tells her that he will key in the launch codes as she asked. He also says there is alcohol in the galley and offers everyone a drink. Rikka, of course, turns him down.

Dema thought that Rikka’s assessment sounded quite fair, but also noticed that Cain seemed more like a buyer instead of a seller and asked why he was parting with the ship. Dema also Helena also liked the ship and didn’t want to leave. She also didn’t know why Cain was trying to sell it. Cain dismissed the question.

Cain let Rikka test the ship.. Helena began a conversation with Rikka. She was surprised when Rikka admitted that she was looking for a job on a ship. Rikka was actually looking for adventure, for her real world experience was quite limited. As they talked Rikka asked if the people on the Lucky Seven were moving altogether to another ship or were going separate ways.

While finally with Cain alone, Dema proceeded on to what he came to ask. Because of his aunt, he had been in a life he did not like. He managed to drop out of her sight during the war, but due to his Companion status, he was required to visit Ariel every year for a medical exam. Each time he came, there were people waiting for him, but he would manage to give them the slip, but this year was different. His exam was 4 months ago and he had yet to effectively evade them yet. He explained that his options were not good. He could go back to his aunt and resume the life he hated or stop being a companion which would leave him with no means of work. Instead he offered Cain a job as his bodyguard in order to help him disappear again.

Cain was surprised at the offer, but turned it down, explaining that he was looking for a way to get out of the life. He wanted to do something a little safer, lest he end up dead too soon. He even alluded to the thought of finding a woman and having some kids. He wanted the peaceful life. In the meantime, he offered Dema a place to stay until the Lucky Seven is sold.

Dema was also surprised. He never thought that Cain would ever give up the life of shooting people and blowing things up, but he noticed Cain’s posture showed a certain amount of weariness. So he dropped the subject and asked if he knew anyone else who could do the job. Cain was about to respond when he felt the explosion.

Rikka and Helena talked some more as Rikka inspected the running engines. She heard Helena talk about the adventure of being in the black, but then she talked about how life wasn’t always an adventure. It confused her. Helena explained that life in the black was rough and that she had done things she wasn’t proud of.

One thing she did know was that the Lucky Seven was a good ship and if it had the right repairs, it would be a solid one as well.
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abbey
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Torrance “Mag”Burton’s searched for Pike after he received a cryptic, yet easily decodable message from him. He wanted to find him to kill him for what he had done to his unit in the Titan campaign (Mag first met Gwendolyn Andrews at that time although they had no personal interaction – she was the one who ordered Pike to kill Mag). In order to find the man, he met an information broker, Dierdre, who told him that he was actually a member of the Allied Forces. He was a turncoat who only pretended to be a browncoat the whole time Mag knew him. Mag felt like he was hit by a sledgehammer when he was told that. He learned that after Pike betrayed his squad at Titan, his records were hazy until he wound up working as a contractor for Dysson. Nothing was revealed about his duties there, which usually meant he was working on something extremely classified.

Dysson routinely hired former soldiers from both sides after the war to serve in their mercenary armies, which they in turn contracted out to the Alliance. It was interesting that his employment with Dysson at some unnamed off-world laboratory apparently ended six months ago. Pike's departure came at the exact time a major Dysson R&D datacenter breach was reported.

It seemed like Lazarus Pike had gotten himself into a little trouble. He recently arrived on Ariel and promptly received a 30,000 credit bounty on his head for a robbery at an Armatech warehouse where some weapons were stolen. It was pretty much chump change by bounty head standards, but it looked like a bounty hunter may get to him before Mag did.

Mag didn’t have enough money to pay her for all the information, so he gave her the 6,000 he had and offered to give her the remaining 4,000 later with interest. He took on the bounty of finding Pike to be able to pay her off.

As he searched for Pike, he received another communication from Dierdre that Pike had been spotted twenty minutes ago at the New Macau Spaceport by ISSP remote scanners. He was entering Hangar 24, a level that was supposed to be on lock down. How he was bypassing their security systems was unavailable. Another odd thing was that normally ISSP would be sending a squad to investigate, but this time they considered this a matter for the Port Authority even though the event was well within ISSP's jurisdiction.

Mag also learned that the Alliance was demonstrating a ship at the Spaceport with some kind of new dark matter propulsion system. It was scheduled for launch tomorrow.

Dierdre also did some more research on the coded transmission Pike sent Mag. The Dysson server he sent the message from apparently does not exist in any official Dysson facility. She did a geosync on the origin and it came from the middle of the Thar desert here on Ariel, but Dysson has no facility there. It didn't make any sense.

Mag plotted the fastest way to the Spaceport. When he got there, he noticed the name of a ship on an announcement: the Lucky Seven. He knew Jacob Cain and that he was a skilled bounty hunter. He incorrectly assumed that Cain was there for Pike’s bounty as well, but vowed that no one else would collect the bounty on Pike. It was his no matter what. Mag then set out to bypass security and gain access to the level where Pike had been spotted before. He found a maintenance shaft and when he was one level below the place he wanted to go, he spotted his bounty: Lazarus Pike.

Mag quickly forced his way out of the maintenance shaft and leveled his gun at Pike, asking him if there was a single reason why he shouldn’t kill him on the spot. Pike responded that he was glad that Mag found him and asked that he heard him out before shooting him.

Pike gave him some excuse about being double crossed at Titan as well, but before Pike’s story was even finished, Mag is thrown to the ground by a massive explosion knocking him unconscious. He came to only to see Pike escape. He also felt the structure of the hanger sway in instability. The route he was had been using collapsed and he only saw one way to escape. Right there in front of him was the Lucky Seven.

He found his shotgun, threw it in his pack, made way for the Lucky Seven and flung himself inside. When he arrived, he yelled at the top of his lungs that there was an explosion and that they needed to leave right away or be buried.
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abbey
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The explosion pulled halted all of their conversations. As Cain tried to ascertain what is happening outside, Mag arrived and conveyed what he needed to know. At Cain’s request, Rikka finished what is needed to get the Lucky Seven fully operational. It seems so natural for her. Seeing that the Spaceport was actually under attack from an external source, Cain gave the order to leave immediately, which Rikka attended to immediately, calling him “Captain.”

Cain sent Mag and Helena to the turrets, telling everyone to strap themselves in. In order to get out of the hanger, Cain used some of the ship’s weapons to blow open the hanger doors. Somehow the ship got operational enough to fly out the hanger doors just as it collapsed onto itself. Dema was dumbfounded about the way the hanger was being fired upon and asked Cain if he had ever seen anything like it before. Cain reported that he had only seen stuff like that in the war.

They broke atmo because the Lucky Seven’s power levels were erratic, plus there were no safe place to land in New Macau. They quickly discovered their g-line was damaged along with the AE35 communications antennae. Basically, they were dead in the water.

While Cain and the others waited, the news revealed that three Jupiter Class Orbital Defense Satellites around Ariel had gone rogue and were the cause of the destruction. The Bank of Ariel in New Madrid, part of the spaceport in New Macau and the Third Fleet Headquarters in Delphi had been destroyed before the platforms powered down. The destruction only took 6 minutes. It was blamed on a terrorist group called the Sons of Shadow who were reported to also be responsible for the destruction of the naval barracks on Persephone, the sabotage of the heavy cruiser, Tirpitz, and the viral outbreak at the Tardonis colony. Then a picture of Lazarus Pike was shown and he was identified as the person who carried out the terrorism on Ariel. A bounty of 30,000,000 had been placed on his head.

Cain also asked Mag what his “story” was. Mag confided that he had been there to kill Lazurus Pike under the auspices of collecting the smaller bounty. Dema suggested that they go after the new bounty on Pike. The money would go far in helping everyone achieve their goals: Mag would get his man, Helena would have a job, Dema could avoid the people he wanted to and Cain could get one last thrill before retiring. The only person they did not know what the goal would be was Rikka. Reluctantly, Cain agreed, but he needed to know more about Mag’s connection with Pike before he allowed the man to stay. Mag explained it all and Cain accepted his explanation. Cain also asked Rikka if she wanted a job. She took it and it was decided that they would divvy up the bounty evenly. Then they started to formulate a plan on how to find Pike.

Dema had a contact with the “Sons of Shadow” and that was a good place to start.
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