>>35463815

>Reposting intelligence gained from having a real military code-breakers and modern comms gear, and the Slavers and Pirates combined powers of having shitty ciphers, shittier comms discipline, and not being able to shut the Hell up to save their lives:

The Slavers hit a refugee fleet, probably coming off the Southern Fringe as the Krorkinthan war heats up. The ships were probably almost as bad off as your ragged fleet of one-way Hecutors, if not worse, before the Slavers started punching holes in them. Most of the hulls seem to have been dropped on the planets surface and linked together, housing 20,000 inmates in their soon-to-be-infamous Flesh Bazaar. Their fleet is the usual rag-tag collection of converted tugs and junk freighters gunned up enough to scare off small-time pirates, rival Slavers, and put a hurting on colony worlds defended only by a handful of archaic Patrol ships. Your Patrol ships could probably give them a serious run for their money, though. The pirates... Not so much.

The Pirates are a fleet of 15 ships: Nine old Draconis Combine Frigates, and five Missile Carriers of a comparable vintage. Their only remotely modern warship is an old Rift Federation Gladius-class Destroyer which, while past its prime, is still a perfectly serviceable warship with proper modernization. The construction fundamentals on those ships were *Excellent*. Thankfully, they don't seem to have upgraded it yet. Your Patrol ships could probably put up a fight against the Frigates, though not a very successful one, but the Missile Carriers and that Destroyer will wipe them.

The Slavers seem to be holding their own Bazaar hostage under threat of kinetic bombardment, while the pirates are waiting for the swarming Bugs on the surface to wear down their hasty ground defenses and ships ammunition enough that their position will become untenable.

>CONT

>>35463927

The Bugs appear to have been driven underground years ago by Slavers setting up outposts, and kept down through periodic orbital "scrubbing". If they did their homework, they'd know that this would only result in the Rachs digging deep and building up numbers slowly for a breakout. Now their legions swarm around the makeshift defensive walls of the Bazaar, held back by a constant stream of orbital strikes directed by spotters among the Slavers few remaining ground forces.

Thankfully, most of the Pirates ground forces are dead, having been overwhelmed in an attempted sneak attack on the Bazaar at the opening of this situation by Bugs coming up behind them. Some of the toughest ones put up a fight, but they ultimately never stood a chance. The Slavers heading out to scavenge their weapons while under the delusion that they'd been taken out by a local swarm, not an element of a planet-scale assault, didn't last a tenth as long.

The Slavers leadership, particularly the self-proclaimed Lord Spine (Ha) are on the whole stupid, cowardly, and totally unprepared for this situation. Their leaders are frozen in fear, and the crew aren't faring much better.

The pirates have the opposite problem: Their leadership is doing *too much*: Kommodore Scarr (HA. HA.), a dangerously unpredictable Narcissistic Psychopath, has just realized how much his Captains and Crews hate him and each other, and is unofficially holding all 14 of his Captains hostage in an "extended strategy meeting" on the heavily armored bridge of the Lying Skull. A combination of mounting paranoia, politics, and greed stemming from the profit to be made off the slaves and spare parts on the planet below have finally brought the situation to a head, and now the only thing holding the fleet-crippling explosion of mutinies back is fear of being the only ship that tries to break off, and promptly getting swarmed and destroyed.

>CONT

The conspiratorial comms chatter between crew has actually given you a damn solid understanding of how many capable fighters the Pirates have left and their position and arms, as well as the somewhat hilarious knowledge that there are so many mutually interfering mutinies that not only will the entire crew of every single ship be trying to kill each other, but there are at least two turncoats in each faction. One faction is actually made *entirely* of traitors for other factions.

Now you have an interesting situation: You have an extreme advantage in infantry fighting capability, while the enemies already inferior capability is at best severely weakened and about to cripple itself, but no means to project that force without resorting to underhanded trickery.

You smile. Trickery it is.

You have 20,000 well-trained, well-armed, loyal infantry with a highly capable commander, 6,000 extremely well armed, experienced Mercenaries under the command of a ruthless soldier of fortune, 80 Amphibious Light tanks, one renegade Cobra Supersoldier, and one Mark XXXIV BOLO, retired and refitted for mining operations: No weapons, but covered in drills and heavy lifting claws, and heavily armored enough to withstand considerable orbital bombardment from the Pirate Warships.

You also have 25 lightly armed Patrol/Rescue ships, currently being assembled and checked for flight, one dismantled Orbital Trade Station, a towed Cloudscoop Station, and all the equipment needed to start a Mining Colony, including a Space Elevator with all the bells and whistles.

And you want you that Destroyer.

>ACTION?

>>35464289
I didn't have a chance to go into the IRC, so I don't know what plan they came up with there.

I remember that the plan at the end of the last thread was:
1. contact the Commodore, tell him we've heard of his reputation and exploits (we should have picked up something from the intercepted comms; if not, start snooping), and want to offer him a chance to work with us to create a Tortuga (free pirate port), getting him cheap fuel and repairs, and a base of operations with a seemingly legit cover.
1a. We ask for a face to face, and try to get on his ship with a negotiation team/honor guard, composed of our Cobra, some Kzin, and some Guards
1b. Either we kill the team that tries to pat us down and make our way to the bridge to kill the Commodore, or do it when we get to the bridge (since the Cobra is super-fast and doesn't need weapons to be super-deadly).
2. We convince the lieutenants that the Commodore has gone crazy, and has started purging the Captains and his own crew on the Destroyer, and now is the time to act.
2a. We convince them that we want to create a Tortuga colony, but they need to get control of the fleet first. Resulting in the Lieutenants turning on each other.

>>35464289
Fake transmissions from lieutenant to lieutenant focusing on those on the missile carriers. Make sure the Kommodore knows that the lieutenants are communicating but can't tap into the calls.
Next contact the Kommodore privately saying offering the mighty pirate a deal offering to become their Tortuga and as a gesture of goodwill we are willingly to support their groundside problems as we were once a free trader. Ask to personally negotiate the deal on his destroyer. Remember to take an honor guard with a mix of humans, cyborgs and kzin. Ask our assassin if he could kill the Kommodore if we could get him onboard the destroyer.
Take over the ship and 'free' the captured captains.

>>35464630
gaining with this guy.

>>35464631
I like the idea of asking for negotiations aboard his ship. Just us and the cpbra is all we need. Hell, maybe we shouldn't even risk ourselves right now.

I'm personally more worried about some uppity pirate firing on us. Maybe we should try and get a ground force happening. How many men can we load into a BOLO? Storm their position, unload transport, take and fortify defense.

Does anyone have plans to get the underground bugs? If we can set up a psychic field or exterminate all the brain bugs we should have a relatively easy time destroying the rest of the bugs.

>>35464630
>>35464631
>>35464688

Confirmed. Writing.

>>35464630
>>35464631
These sound good to me.

>>35464926
I think we should ask our alien friends the Chtall. They did have ways of manipulating wildlife.

>>35464926
The problem with landing anything is that the Slavers still have their own fleet.
It's not much, but it's still enough to do quite a bit of damage to our fleet.
And then there's the problem that their orbital strikes are the only thing keeping the Rachs from overrunning the ground defenses and getting at the 20,000 slaves.
Not just the slavers, but the slaves as well.

So we need to properly consider how to keep the Rach suppressed while somehow neutralizing the Slaver fleet without damage, and landing our own ground forces without getting them into a fight with the slavers directly.

Remember that the Slavers have enough firepower and ammo to kill roughly half the Rach hives, or to actually damage our BOLO if they concentrate fire on it.

>>35464630
>>35464631
>>35464688

"Am I speaking to the famed Kommodore Scarr?" You ask, trying your best to project an air of authority, once again in your patently ridiculous Governors uniform.

"Perhaps. And yourself?" The man on the other end has the voice of a connoisseur of broken glass, with all the charm of a tumbler of gravel.

"I am Michael Greystone, Commonwealth Governor of the Mining Colony of Tempest, currently occupied by the... rabble holding their own base hostage in from orbit there. I would like to make a deal."

>You are offering to establish a Pirate Haven, with the cheap fuel that comes along with having a Cloudscoop on hand
>Roll 1d100 +20 (Greed and desperation) to convince him.

>>35465032
>I think we should ask our alien friends the Chtall.
No.
That was already asked last thread, and it won't work because the Rach aren't just dumb insects; their Brain Bugs use telepathy to control the warriors, not pheromones.
There's no way to break the Arachnid control of their hives.

>>35465044

We could just keep on truckin' with (most of) the Pirates plan after we steal their ships. But that leaves the problem of us not having capable crew on hand. Maybe we can just bluff really hard?

Rolled 41 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35465054
>You are offering to establish a Pirate Haven, with the cheap fuel that comes along with having a Cloudscoop on hand
>Roll 1d100 +20 (Greed and desperation) to convince him.

Rolled 78 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35465054
Come on, Greystone!
Dice, give us strength!

Rolled 57 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35465054

Rolled 18 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

Test roll, please ignore

>>35465125

Hey, clear up my confusion on this. When it says +20 in the dice field, is that bonus being added automatically or do we manually add the 20? Because the old version added it automatically. It lookedlike this:

Rolled 1d100-10=54

>>35465208
Yeah, the new code doesn't add it to the result automatically.
I mean, it's useful for identifying what the bonuses/penalties are at a glance, but not for when you want to know if the result was high enough to pass/fail.

>>35465109
>>35465111
>>35465125

>Success, Success, CRITICAL SUCCESS

The scarred-up face projected before stops and stares for a moment, before the laughter begins. You try your hardest not to cringe, because it is not the laughter of a sane man.

Finally, he turns bloodshot eyes back to you: "This will work out well for the both of us, Friend. This will work out very, very well. Though I gotta insist we keep the slaves and booty off that base planetside. You can do whatever you want with the rusted-out hulks they got down there."

>Accept (Lie)
>Deny
>Other

>>35465467
>>Accept (Lie)
sure guy....keep laughing crazy man before we put a bolt through your face.

>>35465467
>>Accept (Lie)

>>35465467
>Accept (Lie)
Sure, sure. Though mention that we'd like a discount off of the first thousand mining slaves we buy from him; we need to look "legitimate" after all.

>>35465467
>Other: noncomittal
"Why don't we work out the details over a bottle of old janx spirit?"

>>35465730
>>35465662
>>35465642
>>35465556
What about accepting but saying we should work out the details over some spirits we've got?

>>35465556
>>35465642
>>35465662

"Fine by me, boy. But I've got a problem needs taking care of first. You see, I've got word that certain traitorous scumbags have never heard the ancient saying that the deepest circle of the Pit is reserved for traitors and Mutineers. I've got problems brewing on my ships. Not that I'm losing control, mind you: The heads of the conspiracy are in my custody on this very ship, and will be dealt with. However, it would help to have a bit of extra muscle to keep the crew from getting unfortunate ideas before they get back into the daily grind again."

"If you can put a "Peacekeeping Force" of your Civil Guard-you do got yourself a Civil Guard, don'tcha?- on my problem children, I'll give you a 5% cut of the profit we make in transactions under cover of your lil' Fiefdom. Of course, I'll have to ask that you and your senior officers come aboard my ship as guests against your good behavior until we have deal with this current situation. This a deal you can get behind?"

>YES
>NO
>"7%, and first pick of any loot that isn't promised to someone else"
>Other

>>35465949
>>"7%, and first pick of any loot that isn't promised to someone else"
he's asking a lot of us, we should show that we are game, but not prey, if you get my drift.

>>35465949
>"7%, and first pick of any loot that isn't promised to someone else"
I prefer this because it keeps up the act of us being a selfish and greedy governor.

>>35465949
>>"7%, and first pick of any loot that isn't promised to someone else"

>>35465949
>"7%, and first pick of any loot that isn't promised to someone else"

He's on our kill list anyway, but we need to play the part.

>>35466011
>>35466014
>>35466201

"Aye. A man after me own heart. You'll be coming along, with your right-hand and left-hand man, the senior Merc if you got em', and a bodyguard or two and any special troubleshooters you got if you're feeling paranoid. Don't expect em' to do you much good if you try anything, though."

With that, the connection is severed.

>Who will you take?

>Cobra
>Ras
>Nal and the Hunters (Fastest, stealthiest Kzin)
>James Wittmore (General of the Tempest Army.
>Georg Mustavych (Mercenaries Union Rep)
>Protection Detail (One Infantry Squad)

>>35466347
>>Georg Mustavych (Mercenaries Union Rep)
and
>James Wittmore (General of the Tempest Army.
we should also take a small detachment of competent soldiers with us as well.

>>35466347
>Cobra
>Nal and the Hunters (Fastest, stealthiest Kzin)
>James Wittmore (General of the Tempest Army.
>Georg Mustavych (Mercenaries Union Rep)

>>35466347
>Cobra
Bodyguard
>Ras
Left-Hand
>James Wittmore (General of the Tempest Army.
Right-hand
>Georg Mustavych (Mercenaries Union Rep)
Senior Merc
>Protection Detail (One Infantry Squad)
Special

I would like to bring Nal and the Hunters, but I think that would arouse too much suspicion.

Go over the general plan with everyone beforehand; we cooperate, get into the armored bridge, and then look for an opportunity to kill everyone there.

>>35466380

>Not taking the Cobra
>Not taking the Kzin
>Not taking Ras

This is worst suggestion.

>>35466539
I just figured to not take everyone if shit were to go shit south to chaos.

>>35466520
backing this

>>35466347
>Cobra
>Nal and the Hunters (Fastest, stealthiest Kzin)
>Protection Detail (One Infantry Squad)

We need heavy combat, not leadership, bringing officers is an unneeded risk.

>>35466347
GR, is the capacity for violence and just how goddamned deadly they are in CQC of the Kzin widely and generally known?

Like, using the in-character knowledge of Michael as both a military man who fought through the wars and as a Free Trader who dealt with aliens, would he know that a squad of Kzin would be immediately taken as a far greater threat than a squad of human soldiers?

>>35464575
>and one Mark XXXIV BOLO

Mark 34.

>The last - and largest - Bolo introduced into service. The Mark XXXIII weighed no less than 32,000 tons

From the wiki. Mark 33.

So what the hell is a Mk 34 Bolo?

>>35466566
>>35466520

You begin to board a luxury shuttle, complete with its own minibar, as James and Georg ensure that everyone knows the plan one final time.

Approaching the Destroyer, you begin to feel the shakes you get in the wait before a fight, painfully conscious of how exposed you are in your stiff, inflexible, impractical, goddamn POMPOUS uniform. Your "Traders Ensemble", complete with your concealed weapons, repaired light armor, and your trusty Clark are in a bag being toted by a nearby Soldier.

You have to bypass three docking bays before you come to one that works, grimacing at the obvious poor maintenance surrounding you.

You've been on pirate ships before, and normally there are men here and there, lounging around, playing cards, or attending to their duties. Now all the pirates you see are gathered in small knots, with guns on their hips or slung over their shoulders, good cover at hand, and not a one with his back to a door. More evidence of the "small problem" Scarr is having with his crew. You can hardly imagine those bloodshot eyes belonging to a loved leader.

The more heavily armed and noticeably more competent Pirates waiting at the bottom of the ramp escort you up the ship towards the bridge, glares following your passage inwards.

You arrive at an antechamber, and are held there by guards as the signal is given for your soldiers to begin shipping over to Pirate vessels.

One large, dusky-skinned pirate with fangs and musculature that speak of combat mods somewhere in his family woodpile comes up to you, a Pulse Laser Rifle hanging from its sling over his chest.

"The Boss says that you get cozy here while your boys deploy. He's 'settling some matters with his senior staff, and will be ready to receive you shortly.' Sit tight."

He leaves, the antechamber occupied only by a a dozen glum pirates.

>Wait quietly
>Try to make small talk
>Other

>>35466812
Obviously something that puts the Mark XXXIII to shame.

But seriously, since we're in a custom setting, the Marks might have been numbered differently.

>>35466641
>bringing officers is an unneeded risk.
However, bringing officers is necessary to our deception.
Unless you want Nal and the Cobra to impersonate our Kzin right-hand cat, and the Cobra to be the Senior Merc Rep?

>>35466911
>Other
scope out the pirates, their weapons and how they act. First had info is more valuable then second hand anyway.

>>35466911
>>Try to make small talk
Ask about the area. I mean we are kinda new here.

>>35465949

You know now we should talk with the lieutenants telling them (in small groups) that we plan to take over the slavers base the commodore's ship but we need partners for that to work. We take out the commodore in his ship and they take out their counterparts. That way the fleet kills itself while we secure the Destroyer and deal with the few survivors from a position of strength without endangering our fleet.

>>35466812

Different universe. The basic concept was lifted, but I didn't steal it quite as completely as I did the Kzin. There were a fair number of "Experimental" Marks that never were put into wide use, such as the 34 you have now, and several Marks that were more or less steps backward in response to one giant Apocalypse or another. Scythe is a capable war machine, despite his years, but he is not a Planetary Siege Unit all by his lonesome.

>>35466657

Yes. The Kzin are one of Humanities main rivals, and their sheer fighting prowess has only been overcome by human numbers, ingenuity, and technology.

>>35466911
>>Try to make small talk
>>Other
Use this opportunity to subtly move our group around to be ready to take down the pirates when the door to the bridge opens.

For small talk, ask the pirates about their rations and alcohol, commenting that getting stills and breweries up and running is going to be one of our first priorities once we take down the Slavers.
Move the conversation towards asking about the command staff, like the Chief Engineer, the Bosun, the state of the reactor and hyperdrive, commenting each time on whether we have the parts in stock or not, to make it look like we're just a trader looking to make a quick buck.

>>35467009

To late for this?

>>35466935
>>35466972
>>35467024
>>35467057


>Roll 1d100

There are no officers within the room.

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>35467175
here goes nothing.

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>35467175

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>35467175
Don't choke, Michael! Keep it up!

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>35467242
OK

>>35467236
Not good!

>>35467227
Awesome!

>>35467227
>>35467236
>>35467242

>Success, Failure, CRITICAL SUCCESS

Slowly, the Pirates start to open up, aided by a bottle of fine spirits one of your guards brought from the shuttles minibar. The Destroyer is in relatively good condition, especially the vital systems, although they haven't had a place to make decent repairs in a long time, and it shows. The other ships are much worse off, mostly spared from the lash of the Kommodores Chief Engineer and Slave-driver. Literally. Most of the competent engineering crew are in fact slaves taken from raided colonies and given a crash course in starship mechanics, those with families, friends, or lovers having theirs taken as hostages.

Here the facade gets difficult to keep up, though your men perform admirably. The Pirates begin talking about how they can't wait to restore their stocks of "Sex Objects" once they take the Slaver base. After all, every crew has that one sadist who just HAS to take a knife to a captive that would have still been usable for another month. As the bitching about the "those guys" continues, it becomes clear that not all of those "objects" were adults.

To prevent your men from snapping and spraying down the entire compartment with automatic fire, you gradually change the conversation to rations and other supplies, managing to make them think they're clever for realizing that you're looking to make a profit off selling them what they need, and soon you have more inf than you know what to do with. Their rations suck, their booze is from scrap-stills and may blind you, their medical care is shit, and they've barely taken enough loot in the past six months to give the men enough money to get drunk at the shitty bars on Carhall. All in all, things are not looking well. This Slaver base is viewed by most as a sign that their luck may be changing, but throughout, you sense an undercurrent of disdain for every superior they mention, and carefully concealed fear and hatred for their Kommodore.

>CO

>>35467599
>Most of the competent engineering crew are in fact slaves taken from raided colonies and given a crash course in starship mechanics, those with families, friends, or lovers having theirs taken as hostages.
Okay.
The engineering crews get to live.
All other pirates will be summarily thrown out an airlock, in order to save the cost of the bullets.
Or fed to the Kzin.

Any objections?

>>35467599

At long last, the door opens, and the towering fanged Pirate beckons you forward.

Your men are arranged to quickly stack up and breach the room if needed, following the Cobra and Ras sprinting in to begin a berserk festival of murder.

Ras' nose twitches, and he holds up a closed fist to signal you to wait, before motioning forward while covertly re-sheathing his blade. The pirates are none the wiser.

>Breach and start killing
>Follow Ras peacefully, see what's up
>Other

>>35467724
>Follow Ras peacefully, see what's up
Back the play of the super-experienced Kzin warrior who almost has legends about him in Kzin lore.

>>35467724
>>Follow Ras peacefully, see what's up

Man, thank god we have Ras around. He earn his place twice over now.

>>35467724
>Follow Ras peacefully, see what's up
Lets not start killing just yet.

The Kzin have proven their worth three times now.
The Neo-Tokyo Exiles, proven to be useful by getting us that Cobra (by hacking that comm frequency).
The Cthall have been shown to be useful, but are just as shrewd as a Human trader once it gets down to real trade.

The Neo-Jeffersonians have a lot of proving to do.

>>35467872

Speaking of the Neo-Tokyo Exiles we should get a team of them with experience in super-computers to get ours up and working. Good equipment is only as good as it's users.

>>35467759
>>35467777
>>35467800

You file in behind him, a show of innocence and composure. Your Cobra, wearing a Belters suit and Holo-Glasses borrowed from your cache of civvie electronics to cover the most obvious of his implants and his augments turned down to allow him to mimic normal human movement, hovers unobtrusively behind your left shoulder as Ras proceeds forward into the charnel house that is the bridge.

Blood splatters every surface, and in the center lies a pile of dismembered corpses, at the feet of a knot of 12 Kzin warriors.

Kommodore Scarr enters the area with a flourish, a man in heavy wrappings stalking behind him, about to launch into some dramatic speech, but stopping in his tracks upon seeing Ras.

Ras, meanwhile, is greeting another of the Kzin, the second most scarred of all of them, as if he's an old friend. The soldiers behind you look suitably shocked, although Georg seems completely nonplussed.

>Wait and watch.
>Talk to Scarr.
>Something is bothering you. Roll 1d100 -10 to discover it.

>>35467972
How should we treat the Yakuza castoffs?
Just tell them to wash their feet of crime and go legit?
Or tell them that they can run their gumi's, but only if they follow the old ways.
Old ways:
No extorting the weak or poor.
Provide protection for those that can't protect themselves.
Do not operate openly.
Keep a tight leash on criminals; no violent crimes.

Rolled 7 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35468065
>Something is bothering you. Roll 1d100 -10 to discover it.
Come on, Michael! This looks to be really important! Don't choke on us now!

Rolled 93 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35468065
>Holo-Glasses

Could those actually do anything? They are holograms!

Also roll

Rolled 88 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35468065
>>Something is bothering you. Roll 1d100 -10 to discover it.

>>35468127

How come my "-" turn into a "+"?

>>35467972
Problem is the hackers among them are gonna have a field day. Which may or may not be a good/bad thing.

Personally I am more concerned about their criminal elements and political troublemakers.

The Neo-Jeffersonians are gonna be a pain in the ass in general. Question is whether they'll be worth the pain.

>>35468065
>wait and watch

It gave us that signal for a reason.

>>35468100
Trick will be allowing them to...do their business but make sure we keep an eye on them and they follow a code of conduct.

If they don't bad things happen.

Code of conduct alone will do wonders and keeping an eye on them will insure we know whats going down and get a cut.

Not a chance in hell we can stop crime or unsavory activities but that doesn't mean we can harness it and minimize the damage.

>>35468138
wait +10...not that should be -10...whatever you guys can do math.

>>35468155
>>35468165
The coding for the function adds the third variable ( the + ). So you need to add a negative number to get a subtraction.
e.g.
dice+1d100+-10

>>35468198
that is...fucking retarded

>>35468198

I want to slap whoever coded that.

>>35468218
>>35468227
Go ahead and contribute a better dice() function if you can do better.
It would really help out.
Oh, and make it show a total number again, too.

>>35468125
>>35468127
>>35468138

>PARTIAL SUCCESS

Well, the corpses on the ground are obviously his "guest" Captains, probably murdered by his SURPRISE PET KZIN as a show of how brutal he can be to those that betray him, but one with a gun still clutched in one hand seems to have been killed by having his neck both broken and twisted completely around, with two very human looking handprints bruised into his neck under the slash wounds inflicted on his corpse to make him blending. On top of this, he is the only corpse that isn't a Captain. He looks like just another one of the bridge techs.

Ras continues his conversation, having turned to a more serious tone, with many of the Warriors Exile-Marked ears signalling interest in whatever he's saying, and many making covert glances at the Captain.

Scarr seems content to sit still and glower for now, obviously peeved at you stealing his big moment by bringing an alien of your own.

>Ask Ras what's going on
>Wait and see what will happen
>Initiate conversation with Scarr

>>35468303

>Blending should be Blend In

>Captain should be Kommodore

>>35468303
>>Wait and see what will happen

>>35468303
>but one with a gun still clutched in one hand seems to have been killed by having his neck both broken and twisted completely around, with two very human looking handprints bruised into his neck under the slash wounds inflicted on his corpse to make him blending. On top of this, he is the only corpse that isn't a Captain. He looks like just another one of the bridge techs.

Signal the Cobra for an explanation on what could do that? I don't want surprises.

>>35468303
>Wait and see what will happen
>Other
Act like we're a little sick at the scene, and step over towards the Cobra and to Greg,
Motion towards the one odd corpse, but make it end as a general wave at the pile.
"Do you see that? It's just..."
Rub our throat, as if we're just sickened and frightened with the idea of being bloodily murdered, but to draw the Cobra's and Greg's attention. Maybe they can understand the significance.

I think it means that there's a human super-soldier among the Commodore's crew, or he's a supersoldier himself.

>>35468386
I think we should be subtle about it, though.

>>35468303
>Initiate conversation with Scarr

Act casual. Leave Ras to chat it up.

>>35468452

We should try but he put the bodies in display to make a point not thing overly suspicious about us being a little alarm at the horrific display.

>>35468495
Alarmed at the horrific display and saying so to our "bodyguard", Right-Hand Man and Senior Merc Rep are fine.
Pointing out that one of the bodies isn't like the others, tips our hand and I think it should be avoided.

>>35463815
can we please get a twitter to notify new chapters?

>>35468522

Lets just get our Cobra closer and make it look like we want more protection while asking what the fuck did that.

>>35468553
>while asking what the fuck did that.
If it's a super-soldier, they've probably got hearing augments, and whispering would let them know we suspect something.

>>35468592

Our could be a huge brute with metal arms, lets just make sure our super-soldier makes note of it. Does that sound acceptable to you?

>>35465044
>The problem with landing anything is that the Slavers still have their own fleet.
no, the slaver's fleet was destroyed, the PIRATES have a fleet.

the slaver's defenses are completely destroyed, they are currently desperately trying to hold back the rach (which will overrung them in a few hours) while holding the slaves hostage to prevent the pirates from killing them via orbital bombardment.

the only real threat in the system is the pirate fleet. once we take that, we can use orbital bombardment to take out the rach and use our ground forces to take out slavers.

heck our bolo can take anything on the ground, but it will be destroyed by the pirates via orbital bombardment unless we take their ships

>>35468344
>>35468386
>>35468436

You don't have to act to be repulsed by the stench of blood and viscera, as you walk closer to Georg and the Cobra, whose name you should really get once this is done with.

At your gesture, Georg gives an almost imperceptible nod, while the Cobra remains passive, his grey eyes obscured behind blue walls of light.

Finally, Scarr decides to speak, stepping down from the dais around his Captains Chair.

"Here you see the rewards for treachery, paid by my most senior officers. The creatures you see behind the corpse pile are, as you no doubt know, are Kzin. A cruel and brutal race, I keep their animalistic thirst for blood assuaged by providing them with those that raise their hands against me. You would be wise not to include yourself in that count."

You cringe inwardly as you see the assorted Kzins ears signal irritation and anger, while others signal unhappy resignation. Ras begins speaking with more conviction now, gesturing in your direction.

"Of course, you are evidently familiar with this barbaric race. Tell me, how did you come by your elderly pet over there?"

>Around
>I've got a colony of them looking to set up a haven here
>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.
>Other

>>35468693
>Other
he just showed up on my doorstep one day,

>>35468693
>>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.

>>35468693
>>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.

With respect, and he's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.

>>35468693
>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.

>>35468693
>>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.
fucker can't insult our crew.

>>35468682

The Slavers do in fact have a fleet, as is outlined in the OP. However, it's a shitty cobbled-together fleet built from makeshift laser cannons, railguns, and dumb rocket launchers scrapped to cut-rate junk freighters and tugs. Your Space Coast Guard ships could probably give them a lengthy battle with 2-1 casualty rates based on speed and accuracy alone. However, once they run out of ammunition, the Pirate ships WILL wipe them out with pathetic ease.

>>35468693
>He's not a pet. You asked me to bring my left hand "Man", and I took a little liberty with the request.

Hey Ras, he's calling you old~

>>35468693
>Other
"That is a story in and of itself. But yours must be more impressive, since you claimed a dozen of them."

I don't want to provoke him yet; Ras is still negotiating with the Kzin to defect to us. I want to buy him more time.

>>35468742
>>35468759
>>35468762
>>35468775

Scarr seems a bit taken aback at this, and he stares at you for a long moment. You get the feeling that although he's been looking at your face quite a bit in your talks, he's really seeing you for the first time as his eyes focus on the visible scars on your hands and face, and on the hardness you've been told is in your eyes.

Across the room, the 12 Kzin seem to have been swayed to whatever Ras was proposing by what you just said, as, starting with the veteran Kzin Ras greeted earlier, the one by one bow to acknowledge the authority of a superior as the leader hands Ras his knife hilt first, a thing you know to be part of swearing fealty to a Warleader.

Back on your side of the deck, the cloth-wrapped man has moved closer in, the light illuminating his strange garb. While he doesn't move with nearly the inhuman fluidity of your Cobra, his height and hulking physique are obvious.

Scarr snarls at you, seemingly oblivious to his Kzins change in loyalty, as the atmosphere in the room grows hostile.

"I will brook no disrespect, Governor. Need I remind you who holds whose life in WHOSE HANDS? You think one aged fighting animal will impress me? You freak. I bet you're a Xenophile. I bet you want to fuck that cat there, you faggot Xeno. I could have you killed in an INSTANT. With a WORD. And not a single drop of blood on my hands."

He holds the aforementioned hands up to light, his expression rapturous as though he's never before realized how many useful things they do for him in a day and the epiphany fills him with wonder, the exasperated expressions on the faces of his crew, despite the tension of the situation, leads you to believe that they've heard a speech or two about his immaculate hands.

"These hands have nary seen a drop of blood since I began my true career. I think it's safe to say the same is far from true for you. A rough-palmed brawler raised up far beyond his station, perhaps?"

>CONT

>>35467717
sounds good to me.

>>35469058

>"I've never been one to hide behind my men."
>"Aye, I've trashed a few Spaceport bars in my time."
>"And what station did you come from, pray tell? It couldn't have been very lofty.
>Other

>>35468303
>with two very human looking handprints bruised into his neck under the slash wounds inflicted on his corpse to make him blending
the commodre is probably a super soldier, potentially even cobra tier and must have done that neck snapping.

>>35469087
"Eat me."

Blow him away.

>>35469087
>>"And what station did you come from, pray tell? It couldn't have been very lofty.

>>35469058
we are going to kill this fucker soon right?

>>35469087
>"I've never been one to hide behind my men."

>>35469094
Nah, its the cloth-wrapped man. Thank god we brought Cobra.

>>35469087
just shoot him with your side arm.
not even worth an honorable duel.

>>35469087
>Other
keep him bragging, specifically
>This man over here (point) was killed by human hands, enormously powerful ones. I am impressed, you got a super-soldier working for you?
this is for the sake of our allies to make sure they noticed it too.

>>35469155

Your guns are in the bag.

>>35469087
>"Aye, I've trashed a few Spaceport bars in my time."
Use this time to get our men in position.

Don't fuck this up, guys!

>>35469123
>>35469124
>>35469128
>>35469139
>>35469155
Do you guys realize that WE DO NOT HAVE OUR GUNS ON US?
They are still in the bag one of our men is holding.

Or the fact that the Commodore's goddamned super-soldier has moved in closer towards us?

We need to subtly prioritize targets and who targets what.

>>35469244
well improvise.

>>35469244
we have the cobra and all his kzin with us if he trys something then he dies

>>35469244
But we just got his armed wardogs. If we somehow signal Ras to get his people to attack the Kommodre it would work.

>>35469244
>Or the fact that the Commodore's goddamned super-soldier has moved in closer towards us?

He is not a super-soldier, its the dude in the cloth-wrapped man. Read the post again.

>>35469087
>Other

Raise hand, point, 'Kill him'

>>35469087
>Other
No friend, a BOLO commander.

>>35469308

>the Commodore's goddamned super-soldier
>Commodore's

As in, something the Commodore possesses, not something the Commodore IS.

>>35469308
>the Commodore's goddamned super-soldier
>the Commodore's
The sentence is referring to the super-soldier that the Commodore owns, not that the Commodore is a super-soldier.

You need to read more carefully if you're making silly mistakes like that.

>>35469356
>>35469381

lel epic hivemind XD

Anyway, let's get a few votes behind one of these proposals so we can kill this fucker. I am sad that we didn't get to hear some Patrick bateman esque "My HAAAAAAAAnds" speech though.

>>35469381
>>35469356

Yeah, sorry about that.

>>35469087
>"Aye, I've trashed a few Spaceport bars in my time."
play the role, play it cool

>>35469442
Keeping him talking let's us move towards the Guard with our guns, and him towards us.

Starting a fight right now means we're in close range of a super-soldier with no weapons, and there's still the dozen pirates that are right outside.

>>35469123
>>35469128
>>35469155
>>35469335

>Order your men to open fire
>Walk up to him and slap him in the face with one of the white gloves that came with your uniform: The universal human challenge to a ritualistic dual of swords.
>Other

>>35469562
>Order your men to open fire
presumably we were smart enough to arrange a code word ahead of time and can slip it in a sentence.
I am partial to jungle ball.

>>35469562
>Order your men to open fire

>>35469189
>>35469206
>>35469244
>>35469528
>>35469535

>Play it Cool wins, disregard earlier post

>So, what kind of pet is that behind you? Impressive strength.
>I've trashed a few Spaceport bars in my time
>Other

>>35469619
>So, what kind of pet is that behind you? Impressive strength.

>>35469619
>I've trashed a few Spaceport bars in my time
Keep him talking, don't let him realize that we've noticed.
Going against the persona we created is what tipped Scarr off that we're more than we seem.

>>35469680

SHIT! I didn't even realize that. We were acting like some sleazeball asshole out for profit, and then suddenly do a COMPLETE 180 and go all "Bitch, don't disrespect my crew"

>>35469738
The only consolation is that, while it shortened the time we have to get spread out in order for our Guard squad to have proper arcs of fire and got the enemy super-solder closer to us, it made the Kzin defect faster.

Will we be getting to fire a Mortia at a Bug's nerve stem?

I'm going to need a consensus on your next course of action.

>>35469619
>>35469938

>>So, what kind of pet is that behind you? Impressive strength.

Lets go with this keep him talking.

>>35469938
Order our dudes to open up on them.

>>35469959
this keep him talking and revealing info.

>>35469959
That's not the option that keeps him talking!
That's the option that let's him know that we're not who we said we were, and that we're a threat that needs to be eliminated!

>>35469959
>>35470097
Did neither of you see >>35469680
or >>35469738

>>35469938
We want to keep Scarr talking, while getting the Cobra and our men to get into position, with the Guard that has our stuff moving closer towards us.

Why do we need him to keep talking? the kzin joined us. nothing else will happen and the clock is ticking, we should just kill him and his men ASAP.

>>35470139
Yes, this

>>35469959
>>35469652

He chuckles.

"Observant. Smiler is one of a kind, a survivor in a universe turned against him and his ilk. His tastes are... Unfortunate, and we've been forced to stretch of late to fulfill his desire for flesh, but his services are well worth the price. You see, strength attracts strength: I am ruthless enough a leader to attract the services of one of the most formidable warriors this Galaxy has ever known."

"Now, if we can remain civil, your men are ready to embark from the cargo areas of my ships, but seem to be waiting on a signal from you to commence their duties. If you could be so kind?"

Your men have moved subtly into position, with the Cobra just slightly between you and the unknown Supersoldier. Ras nods slightly at you, the remaining Kzin standing silently behind him. The soldier with the bag containing your effects is standing to your right, ready to cover your retreat behind console.

>Initiate Operation "Explosive Unrest", triggering mutinies across the pirate fleet while your men bide their time in cargo bays.
>Give the signal to attack, starting the fight both here and on the other ships.
>Other.

>>35470177
>Give the signal to attack, starting the fight both here and on the other ships.

>>35470177
>>Give the signal to attack, starting the fight both here and on the other ships.

>>35470177
>Initiate Operation "Explosive Unrest", triggering mutinies across the pirate fleet while your men bide their time in cargo bays.
>Other
Give the signal for our men to start the fight here on the bridge.

This way, we can minimize the casualties among our soldiers by letting the pirates kill each other first before the soldiers mop up.

>>35470177
>Give the signal to attack, starting the fight both here and on the other ships.

>>35470177
>>Initiate Operation "Explosive Unrest", triggering mutinies across the pirate fleet while your men bide their time in cargo bays.
fuck why risk our guys when fuckers own can kill each other.

>>35470200
this

>>35470200
that is actually an interesting idea.
as long as the pirates ships don't shoot at each other and kill our troops who are waiting in the hold.

>>35470195
>>35470198
>>35470223

Guys. Guys.
Can you explain to me why you want our soldiers to start fighting their way out of the cargo bays while the pirates are at full strength, instead of triggering the mutinies first and having our soldiers finish off the pirates after they've started fighting among themselves?
And we can have them wait while we initiate the battle on the bridge independently.

I'd really like to hear your reasoning, because I'm not seeing why you'd throw our soldiers at the pirates while they're still at full strength.

You have a good reason for doing this, right?

>>35470200
>>35470232
>>35470242
AND JAM TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE DESTROYER TO THE REST OF THE FLEET TO HIDE OUR TREACHERY!

Almost forgot to include this.

>>35470243
If we spearhead the mutiny and kill the captain ourselves we become a player in the game. Waiting and trying to make it all look like an accident is not only difficult and risky, but less profitable.

>>35470230

Because if we take the bridge and kill the commodore, we control the Destroyer. Meaning we can strong arm the rest of the fleet and end the fighting faster.

>>35470243
1. our troops should have no problem killing them even at full strength
2. we risk them damaging the ships in their clumsy pirate fighting
3. mutineering ships might be fired upon by other ships
4. the kommodore explicitly had us send troops to prevent mutiny. he might get suspecious of us and escape the room while his supersoldier holds us back instead of dying in the initial volley.

that being said, reason 4 can be nullified if we give the order to attack in this room FIRST and then give the other orders.

>>35470340
We sort of want the pirates to blow themselves up, none of their ships are all that special anyways, let this threat implode on its self while we try to get this destroyer out of the line of fire. Consider the survival of the destroyer a secondary objective.

As for when to imitate combat?
I say at the same time, now in this room.

someone just flip a fucking coin and get it done with already.

>>35470491
>We sort of want the pirates to blow themselves up, none of their ships are all that special anyways
they are special by virtue of having our soldiers on board.
he asked why do we want the soldiers to seize the ships now when the pirates are at 100%, saying we would take losses
i am countering with saying that if the ship blows up 100% of our soldiers on them die.

>>35470340

From what you've seen of the Pirates communications, most of the mutineers are specifically planning to take their ships with minimal damage, and most, if not all, of their heavy weapons are abandoned on the planets surface.

>>35470315
Then why not just initiate combat here on the bridge, without having our soldiers fight their way out of the cargo bays?

You DO realize we could just start the fight here on the bridge of the Destroyer without ordering our men to attack, right?

>>35470539
alright, fair enough
in that case I switch my vote to the writein of initiating combat in here to kill the commodare and simultanously initiating the mutinees.

>>35470340
>we risk them damaging the ships in their clumsy pirate fighting
They're pirates; boarding actions and fighting on ships so that they don't accidentally blow up the ship with loot and themselves on it is kind of their specialty.

I don't think you've thought this through enough.

>>35470195
>>35470198
>>35470223

>>35470200
>>35470230
>>35470232
>>35470242
>>35470555

You give a three-fingered gesture to James behind your leg as you reach back to straighten your belt.

A number of things then happen very quickly.

He closes and opens his fist rapidly, causing your squad to immediately move four feet in a random direction from where they were standing and take a knee as they raise their rifles.

The Supersoldier behind Scarr reacts instantly, moving with predatory grace as he shoves the Kommodore aside and races towards you and the soldier covering your retreat behind a nearby console. He is not fast enough for the Cobra, however, and the inhumanly agile Cyborg has already landed several cuts with a combat knife and shed his bulky outer clothing before Smiler even has a chance to react.

You hear a thundering roar from across the room, louder than anything you thought possible, sending a shock of primal fear through your mind. you realize what it is as a dozen more echo it, and everyone opens fire.

Roll 1d100 +35 (Surprise+Kzin)

Rolled 47 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>35470837

Rolled 96 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>35470837

Rolled 50 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>35470837
you take best of 3, right?

Rolled 49 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>35470837
Opening up a can of whoopass!

>>35470848
>>35470851
>>35470900

>First of three

You're drawing your Bowie and cutting off the ridiculous uniform as soon as you're out of the open. The soldier stands above you, firing controlled bursts from his chattering Trigun, making you supremely grateful that there are no hot cases to shower down on you.

Dressing with the extreme rapidity born of a spacers endless hull-breach drills and more than a few close shaves with unexpected husbands, you are up and armed in no time, only to see that you seem to have missed most of the party.

The armed pirates are down, having been cut down instantly by your soldiers, Scarr is on the ground, in more or less the same condition you were in when you got into your little spat with the Cultists, and the Cobra is in the process of dismantling the larger, slower Supersoldier. He's fast, faster than any of your men, maybe faster than the Kzin, but he is n match for the horrifying, inhuman speed of your assassin.

Speaking of the Kzin, they are just finishing mopping up the remnants of the bridge crew who tried to fight, the remainder dropping their sidearms upon seeing how fast the Kzin dealt with their fellows. You smile, because the only way they'd have time to do that is if Ras had called for a pause for this exact purpose.

Behind you, the door swishes open as the soldiers on rearguard duty fire down the hall at an advancing counterattack.

>Roll 1d100 +10

Rolled 33 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35471153

Rolled 6 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35471153

Rolled 66 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>35471153
what do you mean first of three?

Rolled 18 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35471153
Come on, rear guard! Don't let us down!

Rolled 78 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35471153

>>35471173
>>35471174
>>35471202

>FAILURE

The lightly armed crewmen in the first wave are cut down quickly. However, the grenade launched up the passageway and into the Fireteam left on rearguard duty covers the advance of a second wave of relatively well-equipped and experienced Pirates.

You see the dark Gene-Mod who spoke to you earlier, before he blasts you in the chest with his rifle.

Dammit, here you are again.

>Roll 1d100 -10 to GET UP

Rolled 47 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471259
Goddammit, Michael! Get into some goddamn cover!

Rolled 52 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471259

Come one

>>35471202

First three. Sorry.

Rolled 74 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471259

>>35471278
ok, so, what do you do with the first three?
average them? best of? add them up?

>>35471282
>>35471275
>>35471271

>FAILURE

Not again, dammit. As the Pirate counter-attack floods the room, a wall of orange-yellow and fangs erupts from the command consoles to the front, leaping down over the command dais to slam into the Pirates ranks just as the rest of your men open fire, resulting in a sudden and lethal reversal of momentum.

Several pirates have taken cover near you, firing bursts of their rifles over a console along with one man with cybernetics worked into his skull and a Laser Rifle.

To the other side, you see that Cobra is nearly done putting down his opponent: His skin is slashed with wounds from a combat knife and a web of monofilament wire he got from... Somewhere, that wields with supreme skill. The enemy warrior looks to be on the verge of collapse, and the Cobra is unrelenting.

>Shoot Smiler (1d100-10)
>Shoot the Pirates (1d100-10)
>Crawl to cover. (1d100)

>>35471310

If successful rolls outnumber failed rolls, you win. If not, you lose. Rolls of below 10 or above 90 after bonuses are Critical Successes and Critical failures, which count for two rolls.

Rolled 69 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471401
>Shoot the Pirates (1d100-10)

>>35471401

Forgot to write in you struggling, dragging to drag yourself to your feet and failing as blood trickles from the broken mess that is your chest armor, and failing. You can imagine it, though.

Rolled 99 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471401
In other words dice gods are gonna have a blast fucking us.

>>35471438
er correction make that fucking with us is what this anon meant.

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>35471401
>Shoot the Pirates (1d100-10)

File: Drive me closer.jpg (90 KB, 750x600)

90 KB JPG

>>35471401
>Crawl to cover. (1d100)

Seriously, forget 'light' body armor. Next time, we negotiate from inside a tank.

Rolled 65 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>35471401
>Shoot the Pirates (1d100-10)

>>35471424
>>35471438
>>35471449

>SUCCESS

You raise your Clark to your chest, getting proper posture before you start letting loose controlled bursts and screaming "KARMA'S A BITCH!"

The Armor-Piercing rounds sometimes punch through three pirates at a time before they expend their energy, leaving a swath of broken, dying men on the deck alongside one unfortunate killed by the grenade blast.

The remainder are suppressed by your LMG man, allowing the Kzin to sweep over them like a lethal tide.

You hear a sharp crack, as your Cobra, in a twist of delicious irony, breaks the neck of Smiler, letting the huge, muscular soldier drop to the floor.

>Get up (1d100)
>Reload weapon
>Other

>>35471583
reload weapon.

also, shouldn't it be a crit success? or does the -10 change that 99 to a regular success?

>>35471583
>>Reload weapon
fuck yeah.

>>35471583
>>Reload weapon

>>35471583
there is only reload and open fire.

>>35471600

> or does the -10 change that 99 to a regular success?

Yep. 89. The Dice Gods are notoriously fickle, and here they choose to mock you without killing you.

>>35471600
>>35471602
>>35471615

You pop a fresh magazine into your Clark, preparing for the next wave.

It never comes. Or rather, your people ARE the next wave. Half the squad advances with Georg and the Kzin and Cobra to the fore, cutting down any opposition in their path until they secure the Antechamber, modified with firing ports and extra plating to make a serviceable bunker.

James walks over, carrying a medkit.

"Two things, sir: One, I am apparently not nearly as well cut out to be a bodyguard as I thought I was, considering that you just got shot twice in as many weeks, and Two: We need dedicated Medics."

>"Don't worry, I'm not doing this again"
>"Luck of the draw. Some Civil Guard get to protect the fat second sons of Dukes, you get me."
>"No time for that. What's the overall situation?"
>Other

>>35471583
>Reload weapon

>>35471682
>>"No time for that. What's the overall situation?"
also get medics.

>>35471682
>Yep. 89. The Dice Gods are notoriously fickle, and here they choose to mock you without killing you.
ah, i see. that means that a +10 makes it impossible to crit fail and a -10 means you need to roll a 100 to crit success...

>>35471682
>"Luck of the draw. Some Civil Guard get to protect the fat second sons of Dukes, you get me."
also
>Make note to hire medics
also
>"What's the overall situation?"
yes time for that, we can get informed of situation and dictate commands while lying down and taking our medicine.

also, compliment our men on a job well done. including the kzin and the cobra.

>>35471682
>>"No time for that. What's the overall situation?"

>>35471682
>"Luck of the draw. Some Civil Guard get to protect the fat second sons of Dukes, you get me."

>>35471858
>>35471696
>>35471732
>>35471740

He laughs under his breath before calling up a holographic overview of the battle on his wrist-Module, a military version of your Holocom.

"The Pirates are killing each other with great enthusiasm on every ship, and we've advanced and take control of about half of the Frigates and one of the Carriers, with the rest expected to follow soon. Enough of the crew, particularly engineering and communications officers, are slaves that we can run the ships on a skeleton crew, but their combat capability will be greatly reduced. Not nearly reduced enough to give the Slavers a snowballs survival odds on Dante, though."

"The Slavers have no idea what's happening, except that there's a Colony ship sending shuttles to the Pirates that are about to kill them. The prevailing theory among those who aren't too busy freaking out to think seems to be that we're giving them tribute in exchange for our lives. Lord Spire has been hailing us for half an hour, begging to make a deal to smuggle him to safety. He's claiming to have some buried treasure in empty star systems near here, and a cache of the most valuable slaves he's ever collected, which he hoped to sell when his Bazaar became well known. It's really pathetic. Please tell me we can kill him too."

"Oh, and we're also going to need a way to more troops on this ship. We've got a strike team of my best men, as far as I can tell so far, and our best armed Mercenaries ready to board as soon as we shut down the automated Point Defenses. I'd recommend sending the Cobra, since the local forecast is bullets, and what I saw of his fight with Scarrs freak was absolutely terrifying."

>Send Cobra to take out PD
>Inject painkillers and open negotiations with Lord Spire
>Ask to speak to Ras about his new friends

>>35471871
>>Send Cobra to take out PD
>>Inject painkillers and open negotiations with Lord Spire

>>35471871
>>Send Cobra to take out PD
then
>Ask to speak to Ras about his new friends

>>35471871
>Lord Spire has been hailing us for half an hour, begging to make a deal to smuggle him to safety. He's claiming to have some buried treasure in empty star systems near here, and a cache of the most valuable slaves he's ever collected, which he hoped to sell when his Bazaar became well known. It's really pathetic. Please tell me we can kill him too."
yes we are going to kill him to.
hopefully we could use the smuggle thing to get them into a trap too.

and goodnight, this is my last post for thenight. 3am i am off to bed

>>35471897
>>Send Cobra to take out PD
This.

>>35471871
>Send Cobra to take out PD
do it
>Ask to speak to Ras about his new friends
i don't think anything needs to be said. they swore fealty to him.

>>35471871
>>Send Cobra to take out PD
>>Inject painkillers and open negotiations with Lord Spire

After this is done, get Neo-Tokyo to make us better armor and the Cthall to make some combat gene mods.

>>35471890
>>35471897
>>35471925

Your Cobra simply nods at your order, but as he turns to go, you call out, "Wait"

Given his unnatural speed, a shout intended for when he turned to go reaches him when he's already at the door. He obligingly turns back to face you, with that same utterly unpredictable jerking motion he always uses.

"You have a name besides 'Cobra'?"

He ponders for a moment, before breaking into a wide smile, for once devoid of malice or murderous glee. It looks strange on his face.

"Call me Spider."

With that, the fate of whatever poor bastards faction has control of the PD stations is doomed.

Ras re-enters the room with his apparent new bestie, both covered in human blood, although one more so than the other.

>Inject painkillers and open negotiations with Lord Spire.
>Speak to Kommodore Scarr
>Talk to Ras about his new friends

>>35472021
>>Talk to Ras about his new friends
so...been meeting new people?

>>35472021
>>Talk to Ras about his new friends

>>35472021
wait, kommodore scarr is alive?
well, i guess we should have him tied up and the cthall can produce some serums to make him talk. milk him for all info we can... later. and then kill him.

>>35472021
>Talk to Ras about his new friends

>>35472021
>Talk to Ras about his new friends

>>35472035
>>35472040

"So... Been meeting new people?"

Ras barks out a typically harsh, rasping Kzin laugh, before gesturing at his new follower: "Michael, allow me to introduce you to Kasdan, one of my pupils former, I believe the closest human rank would be 'Officer Cadet'. He has remembered my teachings well, and seeks to establish a place for his band of exiles in this region of space. I have told him that I will ask you to forgive the aid he gave these cowardly animals, in exchange for his bands joining our cause. He had reason enough: Through means fair or, most likely, foul, our 'Kommodore' has acquired a number of fertile Kzinerrettes, Kzin Females, that he is holding in cryogenic suspension in a secret cache hidden somewhere below this bridge. We were about to convince him to reveal it, but I thought it would be prudent to ask for your pardon first."

>Pardon Kasdan
>Refuse
>Other

>>35472266
Pardon Kasdan

>>35472266
>Pardon Kasdan
BABIES!

>>35472266
>Other
There is no need for a pardon. He worked for the good of his men and others of his own species. Mercenaries cannot choose their employer, after all one must work to continue living.

>>35472266

>>35472302 here switching to >>35472329

>>35472266
>>Pardon Kasdan
laugh and say that any friend of Ras was a friend of mine.

>>35472288
>>35472302

"Completely acceptable. I can see how the desire to build a new place for yourself would make even an honorable warrior lower himself to consorting with vermin like this."


"I am still RIGHT HERE," Scarr shouts from his inglorious of being position handcuffed to a grate in a lineup of his surviving bridge crew, "And you will NOT get away with this! I will hunt you down! HUNT you DOWN! And you will die without a drop of your blood staining my hands!"

Speaking of which:

>Speak to Scarr
>Open negotiations with Lord Spire
>Other

>>35472384
>>Speak to Scarr
Some "interrogation" to find out where those females may be necessary.

>>35472384
>>Speak to Scarr

>>35472384
>Speak to Scarr
Making Spire wait only makes him more desperate for our 'rescue'.

>>35472384

>Inglorious position of being handcuffed

>>35472329

This has been retroactively added. He gives you a look that you have seen on Kzinti faces before, one that gives away a Warrior beginning to wonder if he has not badly misjudged humans. Though few of those moments both began and ended with the Kzinti in question being friendly.

>>35472402
>>35472415
>>35472416

The former "Kommodore" glares at you from his position on the floor, silently plotting your slow dismemberment.

You stare at each other for a long minute before he finally speaks:

"Have to admit you did that with style. I saw the Cobra coming even less than I saw that old Kzinti, or my Kzin turning on me. I'm starting to think they might have objected to me calling them fighting animals. Anyway, what the Helld o you want? Because if you're here to gloat, you won't get a reaction out of me."

>"Where are the Kzinerettes, Scarr?"
>"Come now, at least i haven't shot you."
>"Your fate may be decided by the existence or nonexistence of a secret treasure cache on this ship. Know of anything like that?"
>Other

>>35472491
>>"Your fate may be decided by the existence or nonexistence of a secret treasure cache on this ship. Know of anything like that?"
let him fuck himself.

>>35472491
>>"Where are the Kzinerettes, Scarr?"
this is the big thing

>>35472491
>"Where are the Kzinerettes, Scarr?"
Your still useful for your skills but I want to get this over with before we start negotiating. The more you help me now the better it will be later.

>>35472491
>"Where are the Kzinerettes, Scarr?"

Talk or i walk away...and leave you with these 'Animals'.

>>35472510
>>35472532
>>35472539
I thought the treasure was the Kzinerettes?

>>35472501
>>35472510
>>35472532

He snarls at you: "Why in the secret name of the Great Mother would I give you that? You'll NEVER find my goodies compartment. And even if you do, the trinkets and currency will have to cleaned thoroughly to wash away the stench of decay and Cryofluid seeping from a FAILED casket! Their lives and legacy at an end, without an ounce of effort from my royal hands!"

>"I may be able to arrange for your pardon, in exchange. Preserving innocent life is the most important consideration" BALLSY LIE (1d100 -20)
>"Nice hands you have there, shame if something were to happen to them."
>Other

>>35472601

As unlikely as we are to succeed, I just want to see his reaction when we go BITCH I CANT BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THAT. and then Laugh.

>>35472601
Just torture the fucker and send everyone who we can spare to look for the females.

>>35472601
>stench of decay and Cyrofluid seeping from a FAILED casket
I sure hope he is not referring to the Kzinerettes who were supposed to be in cyrofluid.

>>35472601
Ask him how painful and how long he wants it to be before he is executed.

>>35472601
>>"Nice hands you have there, shame if something were to happen to them."
I guess this is the one were going for.

>>35472601
>>"Nice hands you have there, shame if something were to happen to them."

>>35472628
>>35472660
>>35472650

He turns ghostly pale.

"You... You wouldn't dare. My hands have been unmarred by hard labor or bloodshed through my superior cunning and pragmatism my entire life. They are the trademark of my success, my...Legacy..."

He stops for a moment, staring whistfully into space, before he speaks, "There is a switch on the fourth console from the backup Viewscreen. The bridge tech from that section will show you how to activate an automatic check of the fire suppression system, during which the switch can be used to open a door. At the bottom lies my meager collection of treasures, my personal armory, and the females your new warriors desire. I hope that the pain is bitter when they turn on you as they have on me."

You follow the indicates Bridge tech as a Soldier uncuffs him and leads him to his station. The door slides open as promised, leading to a crude metal stairwell descending into a small hold underneath the Bridge.

Opening the metal door at the bottom and stooping to fit, with the Kzin behind you almost bent double, you see a number of neatly stacked boxes, a sparsely populated weapons rack, and a stack of Cryo-Caskets. A quick check reveals that they were recently remotely deactivated, with the females inside thrashing around in cold liquid darkness, sustained by the form-fitting emergency oxygen masks supplied for a failure of the Cryp system.

"as cruel as it sounds," Ras begins, "We should leave them here for now. They will go into a sort of hibernation in those boxes, and remain perfectly fine until the air runs out in 72 hours. We should have plenty of time to transfer them to our section of the Harvest, and later to the surface."

Something seems just a bit off about this entire scene, but you can't quite put your finger on it. You know from log experience not to ignore such feelings, and the past week has only reinforced that.

>Investigate: 1d100 +10
>Return to Bridge

Rolled 45 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35472882
>>Investigate: 1d100 +10
motherfucker

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>35472882
>>Investigate: 1d100 +10

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>35472882

Rolled 99 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35472882
I'll just roll another time.

>>35473032
>>35473035
darn it…

>>35472903
>>35472950
>>35473032
>>35473035

>I'd actually decided to start counting four rolls, since that was usually the number of rolls I got. Worked out well for you.

You look around the room, staring at various boxes and corners in search of the source of your hunch, before seeing that the panel where the inside door-handle used to be is loose. A brief search yields a hastily concealed Omnitool, and the box it came from.

Someone was trying to break out of this room.

From the inside.

>Draw gun, expecting trouble
>Search for further secret compartments
>Check to make sure all the caskets actually contain Kzinerettes.
>Other

>>35473079
>>Draw gun, expecting trouble
this might be a Kzinerette so lets not jump the gun here people.

>>35473079
>>Draw gun, expecting trouble

>>35473079
>>Draw gun, expecting trouble
Mention it quietly to the others.

>>35473092
>>35473131
>>35473151

You pull out your Clark and chamber around.

When the Kzin turn to you in alarm, you whisper hoarsely: "Look at the handle, someone else is in in here and doesn't want to be."

Both immediately go on alert, scanning the room. But they see nothing, and eventually the youngers expression softens to confusion.

>Search for additional compartments
>Check to see if the Caskets actually all contain Kzinerettes
>Other

>>35473201
>>Check to see if the Caskets actually all contain Kzinerettes

>>35473215
>>Search for additional compartments
yeah that seems like the best course of action.

>>35473201
>>Search for additional compartments
>>Check to see if the Caskets actually all contain Kzinerettes
both. we search for compartments, others check thecaskets.

>>35473222
Of course what kind of horror movie is this without finding an empty container with a eerie sound coming straight at us.

>>35473215
>>35473222
>>35473245

You split your efforts, Kasdan and Ras checking each Casket in turn, and you going over the walls with a dedicated Smugglers eye.

You both turn up mostly empty-handed: Ras and Kasdan discovered several Caskets with dangerously low air supplies, and you found several small hidden compartments filled with jewels, data-chips, small antiques, and other treasures. Neither of you found your mystery guest.

"I do not doubt the evidence of my eyes," Ras begins, "But there is no one in here but us, no room for an invisible assailant to have not collided with us, and no scent but that of Kzinerette."

>Wait, something about that sentence... (1d100 +10)
>Go back to bridge

Rolled 47 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35473325
>>Wait, something about that sentence... (1d100 +10)
cmon dice don't fail me now.

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35473325
>Wait, something about that sentence... (1d100 +10)

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>35473325
When will the governer get perks and better skills from all these failures?

>>35473325
>no scent but that of Kzinerette.
So it could be a Kzinerette who quickly went back in her tank?

Rolled 39 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35473325

>>35473405
no way, she must have a cloaker or no longer be in the room with us.

Rolled 16 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>35473325
>Wait, something about that sentence... (1d100 +10)
Wait, there shouldn't be any scent at all since they're in sealed cryo-caskets. There shouldn't be a Kzinerette smell in the first place.

>>35473438
>went back into her tank.
Maybe one of the tanks can be opened from the inside / the lock has been damaged or openend.

>>35473337
>>35473382
>>35473392
>>35473405

>Level up soon, fellow player

Impossible. Kzinerettes are non-intelligent. They are non-tool-using demi-animals with a language that consists of just under a hundred words, meant to convey simple needs to their caretakers. The very notion is preposterous.

And yet...

"Ras, are those Caskets in the same position they were in when we entered?"

"Yes, I made sure of it, in case it was significant. Why?"

"Probably nothing, but give me a second here."

You cautiously approach one Casket on the floor, its stack having apparently toppled over. Ras sees your destination: "This caught my attention as well, but there is nothing special about those containers."

"Let me check," You say, opening the forward-most Casket, "Human curiosity and all that."

At first glance the Kzinerette within is completely typical. Short, shorter than most humans, squat, more like an overgrown Terran housecat than a walking Tiger. However, though you are by no means an expert on Kzin biology, you start noticing discrepancies: She is unusually tall and slender for her kind, with far more muscle and less body fat, her limbs seem better adapted to traveling upright than on all fours most of the time, her forepaws seem more like manipulators than feet, with three dextrous fingers instead of the normal stubby two and a thumb that looks like it would actually be useful for gripping tools. Above all is the odd sense that she is... Feigning the cold-induced hibernation state, that you can almost see her ears twitching to listen for your movement through the thick fluid.

For one not very well versed in dealing with Kzin, it would take a side-by-side comparison to notice the differences. But you know they are there. This one is *Different*.

>Inform Ras
>Close it and leave
>Other

>>35473452

>DING DING DING

This piece of evidence may be used to help convince Ras, if you so choose.

>>35473542
>Inform Ras
mans got a right to know...I think?

>>35473542
>inform Ras
Imo the description of that specific female reeks of cross breeding

>>35473542
>Close it and then inform Ras
Use >>35473452

>>35473542
Wait, before we answer:
Does Michael know anything about Kzin culture and how it treats females?
Like, is there some kind of taboo on trying to teach females anything?
Or taboo on genetically modifying females?
I know that the Kzin males have undergone species-wide genetic manipulation to become better warriors.

>>35473608

According to Kzin legend, the female sex once possessed minds equal to their mates, and fought and dueled as males in many tribes, but were stripped of their souls for their treacherous ways by the Fanged God. Most Kzinti simply regard it as superstition, you know, and that the females have always been unintelligent. If the voice in the back of your mind is correct, as it usually is, then this is something either very new or very, very old.

You can't be sure of Ras' reaction, but the cunning old Warrior was atypical enough to defect to humanity, so that may be a good sign.

>>35473542
>>35473653
Okay.
>Put the lid back on the Casket, walk back towards Ras as if we haven't seen through the female's trick, make sure we're well behind the Kzin, THEN tell Ras about the female, using our evidence to convince him.

>>35473558
>>35473590
>>35473592

"Ras, how is there Kzinerette scent in this compartment if they've all been sealed in their Cry-Caskets?"

His ears shoot straight up at this, and he and Kasdan begin sniffing the room in earnest. Finally, after a brief exchange in Kzin, Ras turns to you: "You are correct in this, Michael. But how could it come to be?"

You re-open the Casket. "See anything strange about this female? Especially the forepaws."

He looks down for a long moment, before muttering something under his breath and turning to you: "We have other matters to deal with, and we have tarried here long enough," He reaches out and gently closes the lid, "We will revisit this matter when we have the time to do so. Until then, I ask that you keep your thoughts within your head. As a friend."

>Yes
>No
>Other

>>35473700
>>Yes
BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

>>35473700
>Yes
Respect his wishes; the cat has saved our life, and he's got a point: we have a pirate fleet to get control of.

>>35473700
>Yes
To earn trust, we must give trust.

I just hope it doesn't end with the intelligent Kzinerette being executed as an abomination.

>>35473700
What's to stop her from leaving as soon as she is alone? She might wreck a lot of havoc.

>>35473678

Retroactively added to:

>>35473700

The change is that the female, if intelligent, would only be aware of increased scrutiny, not that she had been found out.

>>35473735
thats where we come in to save the day.

>>35473730
>>35473724
>>35473723

As you leave, you notice Ras tape down the lid and place a small mark on it, while Kasdan changes the oxygen cells of the endangered Caskets.

Back on the bridge, James has a report: "Sir, I present to you... Our stolen pirate fleet!" He extends his arms with a flourish towards the re-activated holo, showing a cloud of ships in what you recognize from your blockade runs as an interdicting pattern around the Slaver fleet.

"We're still working on getting control of this ship, but attempts to retake the bridge are sporadic at best, and often disrupted by other factions within the crew. Troops are boarding... Now."

You smile. "Outstanding work, James".

>Contact Lord Spire
>Ask Scarr where he got the Kzinerettes
>Other

>>35473805
>>Contact Lord Spire
Scarr is ours for a while
Anyway I'm knocking out now, catch you dudes later.

>>35473805
>Contact Lord Spire

Kzin matters can wait until we're in private.

>>35473805
>Ask Scarr where he got the Kzinerettes
I want to know if more intelligent Kzinerettes are to be found.

>>35473805
>>Contact Lord Spire

>>35473805
>Contact Lord Spire

>>35467872
I think James might be a Neo-Jeffersonite.

>>35473805
>Contact Lord Spire

>>35473821
>>35473827

You grin to yourself. Time to deal with the last scum in this system with orbital capability.

The Slaver Fleet isn't much to speak of, and part of you is giddy over the idea of sending all 40 clunkers into the atmosphere in pieces, but the Outlaw in your heart sees a potential auxiliary force to back up your Patrol ships and serve as a Point Defense network if some nasty, bust not overly advanced, aliens come knocking with missiles. It's happened before.


But for now, you face the not overly challenging challenge of talking a desperate, stupid bully into doing what you want, and the somewhat more arduous task of taking all his stuff without feeding the 20,000 slaves on the planet below to swarms of hungry insect-soldiers.

The only question is how.

>Next Time on GOVERNORS QUEST!
>I will return at 9:00 PM EST, as always
>https://twitter.com/MarcLeconite I accepted membership in the Herd for you people, be grateful. If Gametime is cancelled, I will tweet you (God, that Chef movie made me hate that phrase) about it.

>Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the Assassin Drones bite.

>>35473990
Here's my idea for getting the treasure caches that Spire is trying to bribe us with:
We contact him, tell him that we can arrange for transport off-world.
He's offered prize slaves and hidden treasure caches. We'll take him up on those,

We can't take all the slaves, of course, but we can cut a deal with the pirates for the Slavers; we convince the pirates to take up orbital strike positions, the Slaver fleet lands, our shuttles land, the Slavers get in our shuttles with whatever goods they can carry, and leave the rest for the pirates.
We tell Lord Spire that using our Cloudscoop operation as leverage, we've been able to negotiate this deal for him.
Of course, the pirates will simply kill them all if they do something stupid like boobytrap or kill the slaves. Just that this is a way to salvage his operation to start over on another planet, one we're willing to partner with him on.

Of course, these are all lies and we're going to kill every single slaver as soon as Spire tells us the locations of the treasure caches.
But this is to make Lord Spire think that he has a chance at not only saving his own life, but to also come out of this not completely broke.

If he's as stupid and desperate as we think he is, he'll jump at the chance.

>>35474131
But we also need to free the slaves he has captured, without him blowing them sky high. Maybe we somehow can convince him to bring up the slaves under guard, and when they (and spire) are aboard, we gut him and the guards, free the slaves and open up on the slavers below?

>>35474481
>without him blowing them sky high.
That's why we tell him that the deal we brokered with the pirates is for the slaves he can't take with him, and that boobytrapping the slaves would mean instant retaliation from the pirates.
>Of course, the pirates will simply kill them all if they do something stupid like boobytrap or kill the slaves.

I don't know how I can make this any clearer.

Here's a crazy, but simple, idea for how to deal with the slavers:
>Send a small announcement that we are in charge now.
>Do not under any circumstances communicate with them ever after.
How how would this work? Their only reason to threaten attacking the slaves is if they think they can threaten us with it. They can only do this, if we talk to them. If we don't talk to them, they will (hopefully) be focused solely on surviving.

A slight variation of this would be this:
>Send a message that we are in charge.
>Tell them, that we will take over the slave operation, we will save them, but they have to work for us now.
>Don't talk with them anymore, but send boarding parties to the ships in orbit put ground forces down to destroy the insects. (Use our orbital weapons as well.)

In both cases they will know that there is no benefit if they kill the slaves, that we are their only hope for survival, and that killing the slaves might piss us off.

>>35474131
looks good.

although an alternative idea is to say
>I am the new governor of this planet
>I negotiated with commodore scarr has negotiated for making it into a new tortuga
>I pointed out that once my colonists land we have a bunch of empty ships here that needs crew. As such it would be most profitable for all involved if the slavers will be recruited by the pirates
>My own destroyer will need a captain, since obviously i am setting up a palace on the ground. Spire is the most obvious choice as the leader of the slavers. naturally he will owe a cut to scarr, but he will have a home berth and the customers have an insatiable hunger for slaves.

>>35475533
>My own destroyer will need a captain
The Destroyer was well known to belong to Scarr, though.
He may be dumb, but I don't think Spire is THAT dumb.

>>35474751
>>35475533
there is a way to combine the two.
>I am planetary governor
>This (some scary looking soldier that works for us) is commodor scar's replacement, having just finished a successful mutiny
>He sees more wisdom in gaining your services then just killing you all.
>Insert plan where they join our merry pirate band

>>35475563
i meant our flagship before we captured scarr's warship.
we had a destroyer, he had a destroyer. scarrs destroyer was more heavily armed. now we have two destroyers.
if i got it wrong that we change it to whatever is the proper appellation for the biggest strongest ship in our colony fleet.

>>35475583
>biggest strongest ship in our colony fleet.
We've got a bunch of system patrol boats that even the Slaver's patched together scrapheaps can mess up.
Even our best projections showed that we'd still lose a good portion of our system defense ships, even if they won.
And they're just some small cutters, not anything noteworthy.

>>35475570
>join our merry pirate band
We don't want them to think too much about the plan.
We want the plan to be good enough that they'll take it without thinking too hard on it, but still seemingly exploitable enough that they think they can get out of this without going completely broke.

Making them join up with a pirate group is not conducive to those goals, while promising safe passage to any planet and system of Spire's choosing in exchange for his treasure caches, is conducive.

>>35475658
safe passage is far less plausible then swearing fealty to a pirate king as an underling.
With a few hostages and a supervisor or two per ship

... although it occurs to me that we control their comms entirely. we can block all their comms and send fake comms.

leveraging the above we can contact their ships individually on behalf of the pirates and try to get each one of them to defect and join the pirate fleet.
To help encourage that, we could let them overhear fake communication that makes it seem like other ships in their fleet are already doing the same.

Afterwards we set them to work shuttling slaves for us. whenever one of them docks to unload slaves, we kill the slavers and replace them with our soldiers, who then undock.

or we could convince them to dock for "repairs, upgrade and resupply" on our biggest colony ship.

>>35473700
thoughts
1. natural mutation (or some sort of intersex kzin?)
2, someone tinkering with kzinettes for reasons (we already have a bunch of genetically engineered ex sex slaves whom we took on as colonists... holy shit that means some of them must be chocolate elves!)
3. A furry who had treatment to make her partially kzin. basically a human with some gene mods.

>>35475730
>safe passage is far less plausible then swearing fealty to a pirate king as an underling.
Safe passage is exactly what Spire is asking for and he expects to bargain for.
It's far better to drive a hard bargain for something he already wants, than to offer him something else.

>>35475811
His request is based on misinformation and if we don't play through the ruse correctly than it falls apart. Not to mention we are offering more than he asked for to play on his greed

Also, he is asking us to smuggle HIMSELF from under scarrs nose without getting caught while all his men are slaughtered. working on the assumption that we are a planetary governor who paid tribute to scarr in exchange for not being killed.

this will not get us all his ships, or his crew, or the slaves.
We need to "recruit" his men to join the "pirates". since really a slaver is just a specialized pirate this becomes trivial. its not like commodre scars troops were loyal or cohesive. With the ruse of scarr being deposed by a different pirate, one amenable for recruiting the slavers then this isn't a problem
they will continue being slavers. in new ships, giving a cut of their profits to the commodore.

Heck, we can try both plans if we leave out the part where we are are together with the pirates

that is
plan A
>One of our men contacts him, claims to be scarrs replacement, offers to recruit them. confirm that the new planetary governor knows his place and paid tribute for being spared
if this fails
plan B
>Contact him personally, why yes, I did pay tribute to pirates, and yes I can smuggle you out in exchange for secret locations

we can even swap the order if you want
>We contact him agreeing to his request of being smuggled out. and saying that yes, we are paying tribute for being spared.
>fake pirate contacts him claiming to be scarr's replacement, suggest they join his fleet.

regardless of the above, we can also do the thing where we contact each individual ship on its own since we rule their communication lines. they won't even know what is happening to them.