1x02 - The First Steps

Only few minutes in and Shepard Terminal was already showing all its charm. The crew of The Drunken Bitch was greeted by a threatening group of guards as soon as they put a foot outside the ship. Or at least their intent was threatening. As for the outcome... Well, let's say these were not the first guards the Javed had to deal with. Good timings and witty lines at the right moment were enough to fool the men and destroy any malicious intention they had. After asking for a generous "docking tax", the guards left the hangar, probably going to spend the easily earned birr.   There was no time to lose: the group immediately started to recover important information about the area. The station, the system, what's going on, and more importantly interesting job offers to help them repairing and refilling the ship.   The group split, asking around and searching through the public terminals for useful info. Shaeen aimed to one of the bars located in the Promenade, hoping to find something helpful. Indeed, it was his lucky day: While looking around between a Hookah smoke and another, he witnessed a group of men, angrily discussing about the Nomad activities in the area. One of them, a small and worried man named Nahib, was telling them how he just received a rescue signal from his cousin: "They're following him! We have to do something! Those Nomads bastards are chasing his ship and we need to do something before it's too late!"   Shaheen stepped up "Maybe we can do something for you" and, talking to his communicator "guys? I think we found a job"    

Information found

On Melik

   

• Over the last fifteen years, Dabaran Emirates launched a massive influence campaign over the system, rumors saying in the attempt to gain a place in Coriolis council.
• The system is loosely inhabited, with few interesting resources
• After the sudden massive influx of funds from the Emitares, several factions in the Third Horizon took interest in the system, as well as pirates, adventurers, traders and all sort of people trying to exploit the new political and economic situation.
• A Nomad fleet moved in the system a short time ago. Since then several raids against merchants and neutral fleets are reported.

 

On Shepard Terminal

• It was built by Dabaran Emitares over an abandoned outpost orbiting the mercury-like planet of Khufu
• The administration of the station is quite weak, and corruption and criminality is rampant
• Rumors say a new family of the Syndicate moved on the station, in order to exploit the System and strengthen their place between the major families
• Several small trading companies on the station bankrupted in a suspiciously short amount of time. It is said a Zenithian merchant named Massoud Rafati had a hand in it.

 

On Dabaran

• Behind the entire Melik operation there's a consortium of five Dars, investing massive amount of birr in order to take control of the system
• The Emirates are trying to win the control of the system through economy and influence activities, trying to afor now) military actions over the neutral governments
• Dabaran Emirates laws are harsh and direct. Talion and law of retaliation are quite common option on the lands managed by the Emirates.

 

Various

• Fasid sure knows a lot of what's going on. He promised to find a job for the group in exchange for a passage on the next system
• The Honest Abdul knows someone who needs to move a "sensitive" cargo. He's arranging a meeting on a private place.