1x03 - The careless miners

General Summary

No way guys, lending you an hand would mean I have to overlook my ethics. And my ethics need to be bought with more than this.

— Javed Maniad - The Jibri Incident.

Tough times for honest workers. In these troublesome periods once a ship leaves the safe walls of Shepard Terminal no one is really sure it can safely come back again. And it seems this time the shortest straw was picked by the crew of a pretty unremarkable mining ship named Mahfouz: the rescue signal reached the Dabarani station only few hours earlier. An unfortunate encounter with a Nomad vessel that resulted in a chase, and probably will end in an obituary in tomorrow's headlines.
"P-p-please, my cousin needs help. I-I cannot offer much b-but I can tap on the emergency funds of my company. I'm sure we can reach an agreement. P-please! The buoy was received only few hours ago, we c-can still save them! They s-s-say they're heading toward a moon of Jibri, t-trying to lose them. The Nomads are animals! Barbarians! I c-can only pale at the thought of what they will do to the poor crew, if they reach them. Oh, may the Judge protects them ". The frightened Nahib was shaking a lot, that's for sure. Poor man.
It seemed a job like anyother, after all a birr is a birr, but Javed was already a step ahead in the plan. "Hey, no problem. We're here to help" said, affably "And you know what? This is your lucky day! Keep your money, we'll ask you only what we need to cover the expenses for the trip. I'm sure you can repay us later in other ways. Part of the ownership of your company, perhaps? Oh, don't look at me like that! After all if you don't have a ship or a crew anymore, your company will be forced to close. And I'm... quite experienced in these type of businesses. Think about it, your cousin alive, the ship that sustain you unscathed and you will see your company grow as you never seen before! So... it's a deal, Partner?"
And so, leaving the first footstep in the system, and a broken Nahib, the The Drunken Bitch departed from the station, heading toward the location pointed by the buoy.

---

Moon A23, Blue Gas Giant of Jibri

Upon reaching the tiny moon of Jibri the ship was immediately contacted by the Nomad Ship. The captain, Abbas, welcomed them in the communication screen. "Greetings honorable pilgrims. This is the captain of the Nomad vessel Lamia. I'm not sure why you strayed so far from the trade routes of the system, but I must humbly suggest you to continue your travel. We have some thieves we have to take care of."
Soon the crew of the Drunken Bitch assessed the situation. A well messed situation. It seems the miners defiled a Nomad tomb, located in the asteroid belt they were working in. The relic they found was too tempting for them. The alarms went on and the nearest vessel was warned about the crime. And here we are, with a damaged miner ship hiding behind the curtain of a debris-covered moon and a bunch of Nomads demanding justice. A rather gruesome form of justice.
Not willingly to risk an assault on the dangerous space around the moon, the Lamia decided to put a long siege, waiting the starvation of the criminals. Bidding their time, the group kept talking to both factions, trying to reason with them. But the Nomads were uncompromising: only the relic and the heads of the entire crew would be enough to close the matter for good.
And so a decision was made: with a surprise attack, the Drunken Bitch opened fire against the Lamia, trying to prevail on the much bigger ship. And maybe some bored Icon decided to put an eye on them: after few shots exchanged between the vessels, the combat abruptly ended with a grievous damage on the Nomad ship.

I'm disappointed, Captain. I thought you were much better than this

— Abbas, Nomad captain of the Lamia

"Maybe we can talk about it, now" was the following message sent by Javed. The Nomads, defeated, gave up the field allowing the Drunken Bitch to rescue the mining ship. However, maybe for selflessness reasons, maybe for their personal agenda, the crew decided to take the relic and return it to the Lamia.
But a question was lingering on their mind, and it was the right time to ask it "Why do you keep attacking the trade routes in Melik? What changed from before?" And the rather surprised answer was not what they expected "Maybe it's better if you come aboard the Lamia. I'll wait you here"

Missions/Quests Completed

• Saved the Mahfouz and his crew. However no one will be particularly thrilled by the resolution. The Nomads will not be particularly pleased that thieves are alive, while Shepard Terminal population will see dealing with the Nomads as a rather dubious behaviour

Character(s) interacted with

• Nahib, owner of a small mining company on Shepard Terminal
• Abbas, Nomad captain of the Lamia
• Samad Al-Mufti, captain of the miner ship Mahfouz

Report Date

17 Dec 2019

Primary Location

The Blue Gas Giant of Jibri

Secondary Location

Shepard Terminal