Embedded Files
1) Hiring Phase - Screwing around on Heinlein: PC's are carrying a load of refrigerated gourmet beef and alcohol products from Deadwood (Blue Sun) to discriminating customers on Heinlein (Red Sun) for a military officer's wedding (Lt. Commander Remus Grimaldi, Free League Navy) and are looking for a job after that. The PC's are also invited to the reception party, as guests of the best man. While at the reception, the PC's are contacted by Boaz Sehari, Junior Companion. He flirts with the captain for a bit, then announces that his mistress wishes to engage the service of the captain and her vessel. The PC's are known to his mistress by reputation, and her investigations have convinced her that Sheriff Dylan is the right captain for the job.
Premise - The client is a rogue Companion who seeks transport for a budding Companion chapterhouse. They wish to get off the oppressive world of Jiangyin (Red Sun) and relocate to Meridian (Blue Sun), which is more friendly to its particular way of doing things.
Client - Shalini Montgomery, Senior Companion, formerly of House Lanhua. The Senior Companion has fallen afoul of the leaders of "House Lanhua (Orchid)" on Jiangyin, and desires to get off-planet ASAP. The main chapterhouse has willingly associated itself with the ruling military clique, servicing generals and admirals while turning a blind eye to the softer, kinder side of Companionship. It has prospered but lost its soul. She can pay with coin, connections, or favors, though she is loathe to resort to prostitution. Shalini has responsibility for three junior Companions who feel the same, and five support staff, including a single enormous bodyguard. They are willing to travel roughly if they must, but would prefer to have proper accommodations and privacy aboard ship.
Complication - In an effort to prevent negative attention or reputation from developing, House Lanhua has pulled some strings with Clan Tsvangirai to prevent any of the companions from departing. The issue is entirely the concern of Low Boss Samuel Lumbini, one of the midlevel mobsters in the town of Chengdu-8.
2) Extraction - The PC's will need to travel to Jiangyin, which is only a day's trip from Heinlein. Jiangyin is a very hot world, with a thick atmosphere. It is marginally habitable, with violent windstorms and occasional rainfall near the few large seas. Virtually all of the settlements are located above polar latitudes, where the climate is relatively nice. Other settlements are found at the tops of heavily eroded mountain chains. The lowlands are quite hot and most everything between 30* is desert. Humans can and do survive out on the plains, but not if they can help it.
They will be able to find a small cargo to offset the cost of the trip, but they will be boarded and inspected by the "Hej Navy". It will feel a lot like the old Alliance days, but unless someone is stupid, it will be uneventful. They will be instructed to land at Chengdu-8 Downport, and they will be followed down by a pair of Alliance-style fighters. This will also make for a nervous trip, but will mean nothing. Once they are down, they will notice that the Alliance way of life seems to be in full effect here. Boaz Sehari is "on assignment", and thus unwatched as far as he knows. He will meet them at the starport and brief them on current conditions.
Shalini is too high profile to simply confine to quarters, but she also cannot simply hide out until it is time to go. She is thus still in House Lanhua's country estate in the mountains south of Chengdu-8, where she has a private cottage. She is still seeing clients onworld to maintain her ruse, but will be happy to cooperate with extraction schemes so long as they are relatively nonviolent. Two servants also reside there. Three junior companions also share her sentiments, and have resolved to join her. Two (Lyris Price and Boaz Sehari) live at the compound in apartments, one (Mara Quinn) lives in Chengdu-8. There are two tasks here.
Extract Shalini and Lyris from the House Lanhua Estate. Lyris is actually a spy, keeping tabs on Shalini for the House Elders. She will alert the Tsvirangai to PC plans whenever she is involved. After the PC's make contact with Shalini, the ship will receive a visit from Changa goons. The first visit will be a crude attempt at intimidation. The second will be a respectful request with a bribe if the PC's were artful, or a brute squad if they were not. Arranging a visit to the estate isn't hard, but there is a lot of low-key security there.
Extract Mara Quinn from the residential block where she lives. Mara is being closely watched by Changa goons, and any obvious extractions will be resisted with force by a trio of gunsels camped out in a coffeehouse nearby - they have a cambug watching her entryway and will respond quickly to strange guests. They will pull knives first, but all carry silenced light pistols (d8 Shooting, 2d6-1/AP2), A Jiangyin naval officer lives on the floor as well and will intervene if gunplay happens. The building is a ten-story high-rise on the side of a hill, with a heliport on top and a garage beneath. She lives in Unit 8-4.
3) En Route (2 week trip) - For the two week run from Red Sun to Blue Sun, the ship will need to stop at Longnight Skyplex, a "deep black" fuel station that the PC's routinely use on the run from Blue Sun to anywhere. When the PC's are traveling, Tsvangirai will put a quiet bounty out on the ship and its prestigious passengers. They will be attacked by another team of bounty hunters, including a friend of the PC's, Zeke Choi. He is part of a crew that took the bounty, paying debts to the Changas that include medical treatment and some bionics. Once he discovers that the PC's are who they are, he will switch sides. This will make him enemies among the Changas, but he won't care much.
4) Meridian - Once on world, they will be attacked by opportunists with guns and stunners. THis will continue until they are able to make contact with the Black Cats, who will simply demand a cut of the new Companion House for a decade. Once this is agreed to, they will end the bounties through back-channel negotiations.
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