Session 6: Rising Above

   Ian was woken by a firm knocking at his door. It was well into the morning. He had become too accustomed to lazy mornings on the shuttle and had overslept on a day of important plans. He rolled out of his hammock in his empty rental house and pulled on his flight suit to answer the door. However it wasn't Lady Sakura waiting on him but rather the tall imposing blue-haired figure of Scraver Boss Lula Blue. She was flanked by a pair of big rough-looking Scravers holding heavy wooden boxes. She flashed a salesman smile at Ian and held out her arms in a cordial gesture "Welcome to your new home Charioteer.." she had her men set down boxes full of kitchen wares and towels and blankets "I brought you a few things to start out. I'm sure you would be short on the basics living on the shuttle for so long.." Ian was genuinely flattered by the thoughtfulness of the gesture but resented the sudden thoughtfulness in lieu of the contentious arrangement. He muttered a grouchy "Thanks". Boss Blue continued as she walked into his home uninvited and looked around thoughtfully "If we're going to be partners in your little endeavor it's wise for us to start out on a good footing. We have a lot of coordination to discuss before we go up to the ship.." Ian had sort of hoped that they would go up to Tikal and the Scravers would be left out of the loop until they wanted to deal with them, "Boss Blue, this is really a thoughtful gesture but I need to speak with my partners before we move on to discussions with your guild, give us a little time.." Lula forced a smile, it looks like she could have forced it better but wanted Ian to know it was a forced gesture "Of course, look at me.. I've shaken you out of your bunk, please forgive my eagerness. I'll be in my offices today and if you need to come by tomorrow to talk business you can have your Lady make an appointment. Looking forward to working with you Charioteer.." She raised her hand and waved her goons out of Ian's house, leaving him cursing and hurrying to dress. They had to get up to Tikal now!
   Kira woke early and picked over some of the Luxe leftovers she had stored in the Engineer's hall refrigeration cabinet. They did not keep well. The bulk of her fellows raced to get ready and soon she was alone with Apprentice Hume who was packing up his things. She sat down with him to explain that she and Ian were meeting with The Lady today to make plans and they should be going up to the ship within the next few days. Hume was confused and explained that the Scravers were taking him up to the ship today. Kira was blindsided and didn't want to tip her hand about plans to cut out the Scravers. She asked Hume if the Scravers even knew where the ship was. Hume only seemed more confused "I thought that was why you and Ian were coming along.." Kira was caught off-gaurd and not a fantastic liar so she smiled awkwardly and explained "Oh there's a plan don't worry.." Their conversation was cut short when an autowagon outside started honking it's horn. Hume ran to check the lot outside and Kira could see it was one of the Scraver buses. Hume asked her if she was ready to go and she shook her head, explaining she had to meet with Lady Sakura first. Hume told her he'd see her in Tikal, grabbed is toolbags and dragged them out to the bus. Kira needed to find Ian.
   Kira ran to Ian's home and caught up to him just as he had taken care of food and water for Pork Rind and was headed out to find her. She explained that Hume was "on his way" to the ship with the Scravers so they decided they needed to get Sakura and get up to the ship right away. Later at the Palace Sakrura calmed their panic and explained that the Scravers would still need time to get up an icy mountain to reach Tikal, then find the ship. Ian suggested that they go up in Baron Naganaka's flitter. Sakura diplomatically explained that her father was an agricultural baron, he doesn't have a flitter. Ian suggested using the Shuttle instead and Sakura explained that her father was never going to let Ian use his Shuttle and even asking him is a bad idea unless the want to involve House Li-Halan in the reclamation of a lost starship. For the same reason she didn't want her father's house guard involved unless there was no other choice. She suggested Ian use his guilt contacts to get something he could fly and they agreed they'd go out to Carllion the following day to talk to the Charioteer's guild. Ian and Kira spent the rest of the day in town shopping for expedition gear to stay up on the mountain.
   Early the next morning Sakura's coach arrived at Kira and Ian's homes to collect them. A fully recovered Mistress Aiko knocking at their door chipper and smiling conspiratorially "It's time to go Partner..". The usually long drive into town seemed like it wasn't long enough for all of the planning they did as one suggestion launched a dozen questions of how goals would be achieved or paid for. As they drove into town Sakura explained she had some diplomatic responsibilities in town and would find Kira and Ian later. The guilders went to the Charioteer's Guild, a decidedly classier guild office than they were used to It was more like a salon than a guild counter, Boatswain Phillip looking more like a Reeve than a Charioteer except his wheel livery on his Synthsilk Kimono. They put in a request to find a local charioteer with a flitter or skimmer that would be willing to rent it out for a few months and were told to check back in at the end of the day. As the were walking out a man in black synth jacket stoped them in the doorway and showed Ian his Kilroy Badge "A moment of your time Apprentice Corruthers." making the question sound very much like a statement of fact.
  Ian followed the Kilroy into the back where another man in black stood wearing shaded spectacles. They introduced themselves as Mr. Bridge and Mr. Hold and they emphasized the importance of the alleged starship he was trying to reclaim be registered with the Charioteer's Wheel on it's tail, that recent liberal permissions of the guild had weakened it's patent and that every opportunity to maintain guild control of new registrations was essential.
   Ian left his unexpected meeting with the Kilroys a bit shaken. They wandered the town shopping and Ian picked up his fitted armor. They checked in with the guild hall later to find a response from a local Charioteer willing to rent.
   Ian and Kira climbed the road out of town to a cliff-side manor for a Charioteer Captain EJ Smith. Lady Sakura and Aiko squawked them on the way and joined them up at the manor. Smith was the kind of Charioteer every Charioteer wanted to be, heavy in rank with enough connections that you can just buy a house somewhere beautiful and live off of your share in different enterprises. He was a little leery of the scrappy Charioteer and Engineer that wanted to rent his skimmer but comforted by a House Li-Halan noble in the mix. His Skimmer was and older model air-car, roomy and comfortable but a bit worn. They agreed on a rental price of 65 FB per month and Sakura transferred their belongings into the Air Car, sending her driver home with her Autocoach and they flew back to Lawton.
   Ian set down in the street outside his house and they started loading supplies for the mountain. Pork Rind was in a mood. She had torn down his hammock and scattered his bedding. They packed up rations and some firewood and put out more food for the dog before taking flight again. The 8 hour climb up to Tikal was a 30 minute flight. As they crested into the town at night the clouds were low enough to ruin visibility but the Air Car's sensor system made the landing easy. As the set down they could see the Blue Tours hopper up on the factory parade field. When they investigated it it was empty but they could hear shouting from below in the bay. They crept down the stairs to that lower landing where they saw the ship and round a Scraver armed with a shotgun waiting just inside. The standoff was brief before another Scraver ran up to calm the situation, explaining to the camp guard that these were the owners of the ship they were waiting for. The scraver introduced himself as Associate Lammy, they recognized him as one of the bus drivers that took them into the city. He led them into a small encampment inside the frigid workbay where Scravers were busily preparing for night on the Mountain.
   Lammy introduced them to Genin Fox. Fox was a young woman built like a Muster with tight synth clothes that showed off her muscles and her multi-color hair pulled back in a bun. She greeted Lady Sakura with fair etiquette and invited the owners over to a table where she outlined the status of the encampment. They found out that Hume had been working all day on cracking the airlock of the ship without success, that dinner was cooking and they were putting together a private pavilion for the lady. Fox introduced them to the rest of her 4-man crew, most of them hard at work scrubbing algae from the badly encrusted ship. The bay still had big puddles and most of it was as slippery as a soup bowl and it reeked badly from the stagnant water that had flooded the place for decades or longer. Fox explained cleaning was a lower priority but it would get taken care of eventually. While away from the Scravers, Fox confided that she has 4 men working off contract and morale is burning like a short fuse and that some kind of contract needed to be drafted soon or Boss Blue would step in. Ian wasn't going to be intimidated he told her until the door is open there's nothing to contract. Once they know if the ship is salvage or reclamation there's a contract for the Scravers, until then they're just early. Fox obviously didn't care for the answer she got but doesn't disagree either.
   The first night was cold even with coal-burning braziers, having massive bay doors in the roof opened into the mountain weather was more than their simple tents could fight off. They huddled in their blankets and fought off the cold. The morning came with the fresh stench of algae and watery coffee. Ian and Kira set about checking out the service bay. There were racks everywhere toppled and in disarray from the flooding and doors that when forced open led into big storage rooms with more gear and tools. They found three salvagable sets of mech tools and a few volt tools that were salvagable. They got a stack of old Life Support tubes that could be fixed with just a little scrubbing. As they began to gather salvage the Scravers also started grabbing gear and shifting it into a corner of the bay to claim as their own.
   Late in the afternoon after the Scravers had served lunch Hume finally cracked the airlock and cranked open the door. He and Ian put on breath masks and stepped into the ship. The air was thick with spores and fungus climbed the walls in many places having been left to run wild over the centuries. Water pooled in lower reaches of the ship with massive water damage from lifetimes of evaporation and condensation. Surprisingly a good amount of the electronics seemed to power up but the power plant was dead. Even stone cold Hume was excited about it. The power plant was peak 2nd republic technology, a legendary moun catalyzed fusion plant. The think machines on the bridge had sat cold for ages and Hume didn't expect they'd be able to do much. He imagined ships drive and parallel systems would match the splendor of the power plant. It was the most highly advanced piece of shit they had ever seen.
   While Ian explored the ship Kira explored the old Rollick offices and factory space. So much had been gutted from the building over the years it was hard to identify what the rooms were used for. She made notes and sketches in her anthopologst's notebook and daydreamed about what the factory was like during the Second Republic.
   Ian emerged and tasked Genin Fox with creating a list of what reclamation would need to be done to restore the vessel to ship-shape. When Fox brought him the list later it was long and vaguely priced. Hume noted that there was maybe one or two engineers on the planet that could work on a power plant that advanced. Later that night Ian called everyone together in the pavilion to make a decision on salvage or reclamation. They cooked food in the brazier and drank wine as they brought up pros and cons the more they discussed the more it became clear that everyone wanted a ship but nobody wanted to put any of the others in debt for it. Before they debate could become comical, Kira heard a strange beastial noise coming from outside the tent and reached for her gun. The pavilion wall behind Lady Sakura was torn open and standing behind her was a massive white canine creature, another tore open the tent behind Ian and two more stalked in through the pavilion's entrance.
   Sakura reacted quickly, rolling to her side and grabbing her vibrosaber. Ian did the same but was slow to get his sword free. The beast behind him slashed into his synthsilk but the blow didn't penetrate it's fibers. Mistress Aiko screamed and backed into the soft wall of the tent. Kira leveled her rip-roarer and begins plugging rounds into the beasts coming in through the front of the tent, red blood exploding into their white fur. The beast facing Sakura tried to slash her but found a deep gash cut into his arm from her sword instead. Ian sliced the chest of the Vulpine he faced, causing it to pour blood and roar in anger. Aiko dove for her shotgun and pushed the barrel into the chest of the monster fighting her lady, unloading both barrels to impressive effect. Ian was grabbed and dragged out of the tent. One of the Vulpine tried to swing at Kira but was tangled up in the collapsing Pavillion, the other surged past her to sideline Lady Sakura but the deadly noblelady spun away from the charge and sliced open the passing monster. Ian struggled with the beast holding him and he was thrown across the bay by it's great strength, landing on his knees. Kira kepts shooting the vulpin struggling against the collapsing tent, in the background she could see Scraver's running to her aid and soon someone with an axe began chopping the tangled beast through the tent. Sakura put down the second vulpin with a decisive stab through it's chest and Mistress Aiko dragged her out of the collapsing pavilion. The final beast seeing the battle turn began to run away but Ian raced after him recklessly and ran him through with his Vibrosaber and kept stabbing until the monster died.
   Following the attack the minor scrapes from the fight were tended to, mostly wounds from being hit by the collapse of the Lady's pavilion. Ian was furious and demanded to know what the guard was doing. Laramie the scruffy Scraver with the shotgun protested "I was taking a piss, it's not as if the latrine is very close to the camp!". Fox stepped in and called for order before weapons were drawn "Look, nobody told us to prepare for changed attacking the camp and we should have had a better plan for guarding the entry. Nobody is happy about this. We're all alive, lets make a plan, clean up the bodies and get some sleep before the workday starts?" grudgingly everyone accepted, they assigned a double-guard shift to watch the door and moved everyone into the Scraver tent to keep warm.
   The following day Lad Sakura suggested they give the Scravers some room while they flew into town to get supplies. Kira and Aiko volunteered to remain behind to oversee operations. There wasn't much to do other than watch Hume try to resurrect systems and watch the Scravers clean the hull so Ian agreed and they flew back to Lawton. Sakura stopped off to see the her family reeve and had a formal contract drawn to distribute shares of the reclamation. She had overheard her father speaking with one of the Count's Officers and the news put her on edge. While she was home she packed up a bunch of quilts and other comforts to take back up the mountain. Ian stopped at home to feed Pork Rind, but decided to bring her up the Mountain instead, she'd have to be a better guard than the Scravers. He shopped in the market for some fresh food, packed up the skimmer and flew Lady Sakura back up to Tikal.
   Kira took the day off to explore the ruins further, curious about sections of the old building that were boarded shut. She wished she had brought better tools to record what she was digging into but curiosity got the better of her. When she was halfway down a darkened staircase she heard gunshots carrying over the wind. She froze in place and waited, listening carefully for more sounds. She could hear yelling and someone sneaking into the ruins. She drew her gun and aimed at the doorway into the back reaches of the building. She could see a shadow and started aiming at it's forehead before Aiko called out in a hushed town "Miss Kira? I think we're in trouble.."
   As Ian set down in the air car and as they disembarked the work site was curiously silent. Moving to the stairs, Kira flagged him and Sakura down and motioned them into the building to let them know there had been a gunfight below and Aiko had seen some strange men in the bay. Ian and Kira decided that it would be wiser to keep Lady Sakura above, if they were Diakan Longdong they wouldn't react favorably to a Li-Halan. Reluctantly the Lady agreed. They both moved down the stairs to the entry to the bay. Kira swung around the corner with her gun drawn and saw five men near the entrance in armor with rifles and shotguns. The Scravers were lined up on the floor. She ducked back around the corner. One of the men spoke out "You low-landers sure do like to make a man wait.. how about your set down your gun and walk back in nice and slow..". Kira shouted back "How about you fuck off, we've got you outnumbered and cornered in there..". the voice called back "Drop your gun in the door way and come out with your hands up or I'll kill one of your friends in three seconds..3" Kira tried to explain they weren't her friends but the man kept counting. She called his bluff and there was a loud echoing gun report followed by the sound of Scravers squirming in fear. Before Kira could collect her wits the voice casually said "Lets do another.. 3.." Kira paniced and shouted back "FUCK YOU YOU BASTARD" drowning out the 2 and 1 while the Scravers protested with escalating urgency and there was another Gunshot.
   Ian yanked Kira back from the door "You're not talking anymore" and shouted out at the men around the corner "No more shooting.. I'm coming in.." he set his revolver on the floor and walked in  slowly with his hands up. There were four men behind cover with guns trained on the door and the biggest of them standing over the next living Scraver. As he saw Ian enter unarmed he nodded to him approvingly and lowered his gun "Thank you". Ian said "We're not our enemies, we have friends in Tikal.. what do you want from us. The man responded calmly "We want your shit and we want you off our mountain. Lowlanders in Tikal brings attention we don't want.". Ian nodded "We're working salvage, if we go others will just come back with more guns.. How about we give you what you want.. food? medicine? Ammunition?". Sakura overheard Ian offering insurgents bullets and just about vomited. The Daikang leader seemed to purse his lips as he looked at the work-rigging around the ship "Are you going to get her flying?". Ian nodded "I hope so..". The man looked at his team and then gave Ian a critical once-over "I've got an offer. We guard you while you fix her, keep you safe, you feed us, give us bullets and when she flies you take our men off planet..". "Ian glanced fearfully at the Scravers with bullet wounds not moving then back at the man "Where do you want to go?". The man just shrugged and said "Any planet other than this one..". Ian nodded "That's a deal.." trying to muster all of the conviction and trustworthiness he could. The big Diakang warrior dropped his assault rifle to his side and reached out, shaking hands with Ian before telling his men "It's done.. we're one side.." and slowly the Daikang fighters got out from behind cover and lowered their guns. Ian thought for a flickering moment of cutting them down while their guard was down but it seemed like there would be a better time for it.
   Kira lowered her gun and came in staring hatefully at the Daikang leader but she also understood there would be a better time. She quickly started checking the vitals on the Scravers. One of them, Laramie the guard was already dead, the Other Lammy the bus driver was fading. She quickly went to work with her first aid kit and Ian gave the Scraver kid a shot of Elixir to pull him out. And slowly, warily things just went onward.
   The Diakang Leader introduce himself as Yao Whitescar. Scravers gave the Daikang a wide berth and went back to work. The Daikang warriors disposed of Laramie's body and re-arranged the guard post with better protection on the door. The camp was shifted into one of the work rooms in the back of the bay with the Diakang warriors doing a lot of the heavy lifting. It was much more cramped but the smaller space was easier to heat. Once dinner was cooked everyone was feeling very anxious about the terrorists who had taken control of the camp but it was mostly business-as-usual.
  Sakura called Kira, Ian and Aiko aside to confide in them over dinner that she had overhead her father speaking to one of the Red Dragon Brigade Officers and the Dragons were coming to Tikal and they would need a plan to deal with them.