High Law and Low Justice, Part 5

[DrZombie]

"Anything to give these k'Kree basterds a good square kick in the general groin area. Now, navy intelligence being what it is, I don't really mind playing our cards as we see fit, not as some snot-nosed smart aleck fresh from academy seems to think how they should be played.

Maybe having some marines combing the dockyard for one of the crew wouldn't be too bad. Something like that. Something to give a little credit to our story.
"
He grins an evil grin. "Never been to a port where I couldn't get into tropuble wih marines. 'specially on a planet in the arse-end of the universe."

 

[Wilphe]

OOC:
[sblock] While you discuss, here's the blurb on Shirgegge[/sblock]

IC:

Shirgegge, Ley 1511

Guadix Drift Subsector

B55778B-B Ag. Ni 905 K0 V G5 D

Starport - Class B, though not a very good class B at that

Size 5 - 8000km or so, lowish gravity

Atmosphere 5 - Thin

Hydrographcis 7 - 70% water

Population 7 - Ninety Millions

Government 8 - Civil Service Bureaucracy

Law Level B - Extreme. Rigid control of civillian movement, possession of weapons prohibited

Tech Level B - Low Average Interstellar

No planetoid belts, 5 gas giants


Shirgegge is a tightly controlled world, ostensibly this is to prevent unnecessary human impact on a thin atmosphere, and generally fragile ecosystem. As a predomiantly agricultural world, any disruption could be catastrophic. Large parts of the surface are considered reserves, farmers on the rest of the planet are subject to strict controls as to what they can plant, and what techniques they can employ.

In practice however, the system has become self-justifying, people put up with it because the standard of living is okay, even if it's intrusive and oppressive. Live in the cities is closely monitored, it's less so in the countryside, but you need a permit to travel outside the urban areas.

Stock raising is disfavoured and largely forbidden, as it is considered wasteful of resources. This probably explains why the K'kree have stopped here, it's hard to find a human world with a lot of open space that doesn't have a significant meat industry.

 

[Wilphe]

The ring goes off to let you know you have an incoming message, Lt De Paolo is waiting on a secure channel...

 

[DrZombie]

Gwydion looks around. "so we all agree then? we'll do it, but our way? And we don't let mr pipsqueek know about it?"

 

[Wilphe]

"You have one new message, message recieved today at 16:44 pm. To listen to your messages press 1"

You can get back to de Paolo in your own time.

Meanwhile a little bit of independent research reveals that the K'kree are staying a few hundred miles away from the captial in a small town named Unterhaven - a place renowned for nothing except its production of soft fruit and mild climate. Several large K'kree tents have been pitched there and the K'kree Patriarch Talks Little Laughs Much, his wives, family and retinue have taken up residence. Most of the crew of the Lashing Tail are on shore leave as well, with only a token crew left in orbit.

The little community is therefore:
20-25 ships crew (another 10-15 in orbit)
50 K'kree soliders as bodyguards and security (another 10 in orbit)
100-150 K'kree Civillians, 2/3 females and children, the rest diplomatic staff, servants and retinue.

Shirgegge's weapons laws have been applied to the K'kree, so they shouldn't have any firearms at all. However their guards have been allowed to retain their polearms as "ceremonial weapons" and no one goes hand-to-hand with even an unarmed K'kree if they can avoid it.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

While chewing on his ideas for a revised plan, Ruzz'koff presses 1.

 

[DrZombie]

"Maybe we should just try to contact them fairly directly. Sell them something and pass a message that we wish to see them privately? Make the deal, get he money and get the hell outta here?"

 

[Wilphe]

The message is, unsuprisingly, from Lt De Paolo, "Good afternoon gentlemen and lady, I hope that local customs have not been not uncooperative.

PS: If you've decided about the chess problem I sent you, I've got another piece of the puzzle for you."

OOC:
Trans:
If you have made your mind up to take the job, I have the altered data ready to go.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

"Maybe we should just try to contact them fairly directly. Sell them something and pass a message that we wish to see them privately? Make the deal, get he money and get the hell outta here?"

Ruzz'koff bares his teeth. "I prefer something a little more secure, I think.

"Whomever killed Antonesque, had the disc and discarded it into the trash knows that the imperials will have searched the ship and found the disc. If we still HAVE the disc, without any sort of explaination, it will be highly suspicious, and probably be enough to get us killed.

"What we need is a plausible way for us to possess the disc and be in a position to sell it. And, unfortunately, that is very problematic. I have already demonstrated a great deal of rigidity to our shadowy opponents -- were I to suddenly be willing to sell the secrets of the imperial navy, that would send up red flags that would make the most mentally retarded groundpounder suspicious.

"What we need to do is create the illusion of a split in the crew -- one or two crew members, probably Tuan and one other, who see the potential for a quick buck and who can be resistant to my military bearing and strict morality.

"I dislike the ruse, because it divides our strength, but it's the sort of situation that our shadowy enemies will believe, and will be likely to try to exploit. So long a we can come together and support each other when the time comes, this is the safer course.

"So what I'm suggesting is that we return to the ship and I go about the daily business of running the ship -- perhaps stomping around and showing a bit more of the tyrant. And Tuan and one other start to twitch and struggle under the strain, until Tuan reveals that he was able to make a copy of the disc, and Tuan and his ally start looking for a buyer as we make our next few stops.

"We should also assume that there may be new watchers/killers in the next group of passengers -- this plan needs to be laid out before we return to the ship, and we should not break character until all of the cards are played out -- we'll need to have a code word or phrase that any of us can say to call the whole thing off. The passengers should see the split in the crew, the tension and the stress. And they should overhear Tuan and his conspirator talking about the disc. At the same time, we need to protect Tuan and his conspirator very carefully -- a killer, the same or a different one, may try to kill Tuan and take the new disc.

"What do you think?"

-rg

 

[Wilphe]

OOC:

The only passengers for the next run to Bleue Mer are the Administator and his party + a Vet working for PharmaCorp; the Administrator and co are getting some shore leave. Where you go after that is up to you, but you are still a long way from the borders of Imperial Space (10+ jumps)

In addition the Navy apparently expects you to do this deal in the system.
If you try this in a different system and get caught then you are on your own and facing Life for a breach of Imperial High Law. Not to say that the same wouldn't happen here of course...