Yes, he was. I have just been really busy at work for a change....
Well, that's a GOOD thing, I guess! Keep it up.
Leif, the trick is that your definition of Detached Duty is totally different than the canon definition.
Scouts on Detached Duty in canon simply receive an annual stipend, and the use of a standard Scout vessel.
What you're talking about is more like active duty, or perhaps some kind of deputization. That would probably entail a more traditional monthly salary...or perhaps a per-mission reward.
Hmm, yeah, ok, my semantics were faulty for sure. The thing is, I don't really want you deputized by the IISS. I have other plans and a totally different, totally non-canon organization to employ you as the "Galactic Effectuators"* you shall soon become.
*Shamelessly stole/borrowed this term from Jack Vance. I have his novel "Galactic Effectuator" on order as I type this.
So the group is on detached duty as a ill-defined group.... The annual stipend is suspended in exchange for ..... In place of a standard Scout vessel, -----
You are not on detached duty with the IISS. Your stipend is not annual, but monthly via direct deposit -- amount to be determined/announced when I figure it out. Your organizational benefactor/employer is an interstellar cartel known as Zeering Conglomerate. [changed the spelling to differentiate from Zoe's name - my bad, shay.] (Actually, my original plan was to start you out with the IISS and then have you be noticed by Zeering Conglomerate, but, hey, life's too da** short to screw around with unnecessary steps, so I've made a command decision to cut to the chase.)
Each member of the team has been assured by the Zeering Powers that Be that he or she does indubitably bring something of high value to the collective ability of the Team, even though some individual team members may be uncertain just what it is that he/she does bring. Each has been assured that all will become clear in time. The Team is euphemistically known as "the Repair Squad," which you believe is just a more innocuous-sounding turn of phrase than "Fixer Squad." Zeering has holdings and operations that are very far-flung -- Imperial holdings, production facilities, and corporate offices, Zhodani holdings, investment portfolios, and corporate offices, Vargr holdings and retail outlets, K'Kree holdings and production facilities, and even some Droyne holdings as well. All of these are open to you as Corporate Operatives -- you are
not only welcome at any of Zeering's facilities, but you had
better be shown the proper respect when you are there, or the fecal matter will be impacting the whirling blades for some poor schmuck who dropped the ball. The team is a mix of races/backgrounds to facilitate easy entry into whatever situation the team finds itself, and also to conceal the fact that there is a monolithic master behind such a perverse and diverse collection of beings.
You do not have a standard Suleiman Class Scout Vessel but that's ok, because you have been provided by your benefactors with a superior vessel -- a Yetsabl Class Zhodani Courier, the
Zax Hakjohn Quik in case anyone has forgotten, but I've mentioned it so much and so often that I really don't see how anyone could have done so. I'll be retaining Dr. Aexander Hannigan as an npc medico aboard the
Zax, because I have a feeling that you lot are going to be in a scrape or two and medical attention might be a real necessity. If the reality proves to be otherwise, I'll certainly entertain a motion to drop Doc Hannigan. As long as Doc is with us, any player should feel free to speak/act for Doc whenever necessary - say, to patch up your pc after some sort of battle. His skills are listed in the rg, so just look up what you need, set the scene for us, and roll to patch up your pc.
Your Current Mission
You have been given the assignment of visiting Zeering's factory on Edenelt/Trin's Veil (it's actually called Simulgrab Power Processors, makers/designers of chip sets for high end computers -- Simulgrab is under the Zeering corporate umbrella, and Zeering provides the "Fixers" for all affiliated corps in order to provide both themselves and you with an extra layer of separation and also to facilitate your plausible deniability and their plausible denial of you.) You're being sent to Edenelt to deliver some 'encouragement' to the management there. Another euphemism, you're quite certain: "Sister Eden's" production has been down for three straight quarters now, and Zeering HQ is keen to find out why, and if a few heads get knocked together in the process so much the better, or so the Memos that you've been shown in preparation for this task would seem to indicate.
The group has been together for a year or two in its present form (I leave it to the players to decide the details). You have successfully completed several missions for Zeering, but so far these have been rather of the "vanilla" variety -- quieting some unrest among striking workers, facilitating and assisting with collective bargaining, and doing some very minor corporate espionage involving Zeering's competitors in the IT sector.
Any questions? Oh, you'll still be starting at the same place where the
Zax is currently in the Glisten system. You've made your contacts on Glisten and received your mission as stated above. Your contact in Zeering Conglomerate is known to you only as "Zed," and so far, he has had an uncanny ability to appear wherever you find yourselves with whatever information and special tools you need for your current job. [My, Leif, how very 'Ian Fleming-esque' of you!]
But, hey, wasn't Lou going to play?
Looks like I've got some reading to do.
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