Jump Chain Gothic 12 - BTVS 4
Part 3
Epsilon Eridani. Halloween Universe.
Red Sector was an area of Babylon 5 that served as the station's commercial area. Businesses such as hotels, casinos, bars, and conference areas could be found here. Medlab, Security headquarters, and the Judiciary were also located in Red Sector.
Since I wasn't an ambassador, they mostly hung out in a different part of the station, and my group had a lot of money we were spending our time in Red Sector and while the crew from my ship going on shore leave had to take a shuttle back to the Phoneix at the end of the day I'd decided to rent quarters here for when I visited the station. Given how highly populated this system was I figured that I'd be doing plenty of business here in the future and this justified the expense.
I'd rented quarters large enough for a whole family and while I'd gotten some extra beds delivered I figured that my companions would end up spending the night in the Companion housing section of the Cosmic Warehouse, or go back to the ship if given the choice. They didn't mind ruffing it if they really had to do, but they were somewhat spoilt by the level of luxury and the advanced technology on my Battlestar.
Today I'd already been through several shopping centres on B5, and my favourite had to be the Bazaar which featured shops and stalls carrying goods from all over the known galaxy and given that this galaxy was a fusion of many, many versions of the Milky Way that meant there was a lot for sale around here. Most of it stuff on offer had been trinkets or junk, but I'd found a few real treasures among all the rubbish and finding them had been a fun way to spend an afternoon.
By late afternoon I'd made my way to the casino which offered a variety of games where all major currencies were accepted and since I'd raided the private safe of the captain of the ISS Banshee I wasn't lacking for currency these days. That man had taken so many little objects of value from his ship's raids, such as jewellery, a collection I added to with creations of my own, and by the time I'd done bartering with them during the shopping trip I actually ended up with more currency that I'd started with, something very odd considering how much pocket money I'd handed out to my younger companions.
On the subject of money, The Earth Alliance used a credit-based system, mostly for bookkeeping purposes and is exchanged via a computer credit chit that stores the owner's account details and DNA to prevent forgery. Visitors to Earth Alliance territory must usually exchange their native money at a local exchange, assuming it is a recognised currency and were then issued a credit chit that is tied to their EA account. Those who live and work in the Alliance have their salaries paid directly into their credit accounts.
Despite not having access to Earth or Mars, which used to be the two most important planets in the Earth Alliance, the EA colonies and outposts still used this form of currency and it was based on the perceived wealth of the EA and this was more than you'd think because the colonies and outposts like B5 taxed the trade that took place in their ports. The Earth Alliance didn't have advanced tech or a massive fleet, and while they did have military assets, the organisation had survived and prospered by making themselves useful to everyone else rather than trying to control terrorism and resources with their military might.
As B5 was a centre for trade between so many races and different human populations they used other forms of currency here. For example, the Abbai Matriarchate, which was the government of one of the more minor races, used a form of crystals as money. Another used nice looking triangular gems. And like in so many other places the Ferengi dealt in gold-pressed lantuim.
Strips of precious metals were allowed as well, and this worked well for as the Matter Furnace, the best thing I ever spend CP on, could provide me metals of value in exchange for great amounts of elements that were basically worthless to me. Even elements such as mithril, a metal normally used in the creation of magical weapons and armour, had value to the merchants here on Babylon 5 as magic was a fact of life in this universe.
I couldn't gamble at the casino as people with psychic powers were forbidden from doing so and they had the means to detect people those powers and would also know if they were used to win any of the games. As such, I left the Casino after having only one drink.
After that, I moved on to a placed called Dark Star, which was a bar and nightclub here in Red Sector, that was owned by a humanoid alien called Ock. The lifeform known as Ock took great pride in the fact that he procured only the very best female dancers for his establishment, and as a result, the club had a sector-wide reputation as a fine pleasure spot for all sentients. The dancers would perform sets in the main area and were also available to be hired for private shows.
The dancers came from many races, he'd even managed to find a Twi'lek despite them coming from a totally different galaxy. Someone like me was out there in a very fast ship and they were bringing people from the Star Wars galaxy to this one, or there could be a wormhole or something like that linking the Milky Way and the Star War Galaxy. In addition to the main area, the club also features a private area in the back for high stakes games of chance but since I had mental powers I wasn't allowed to gamble here either.
Because of this, I'd made my way to the Fresh Air Restaurant, which was Babylon 5's most expensive, high class and only five-star restaurant on the entire station. Located in Red Sector, Fresh Air was owned and operated by restaurateur Emerson Briggs-Wallace. The establishment was aptly named as the main dining area was roofless, affording a stunning view of the interior of the station's central core.
Fresh Air catered to clientèle from every major race on B5 (with the obvious exception of Vorlons) and many of the minor races that visited this version of the station were now also catered too. I'd come here alone to try some fine foods while my crew and companions went off to do some exploring and to find forms of relaxation.
I wasn't too worried about them as while we'd not been able to bring weapons on board the station, they all wore body armour, carried personal shields and had many of them had superpowers, even the crew I'd created had ways of protecting themselves that would come as a surprise.
While eating Lieutenant-Commander Susan Ivanova came over and sat with me, she was in uniform but she'd let her hair loose from its ponytail so I figured that she'd just gotten off duty, she had the look of someone who had to deal with idiots for hours on end. It was a look I'd seen on more than a few System Alliance officers during the Mass Effect Jump.
"Can I help you with something Commander?" I asked.
Before replying to me she ordered a drink from a passing waiter who rushed off to do her bidding.
"I like to take a little time to speak with people who look as if they're going to be spending some time on the station," she told me "I take the time to memorise their faces, just in case they cause me problems later, and I need to hunt them down".
That would have intimidating if not for the fact that I had an array of superpowers and enough magic to rip this station apart. Not that I ever would do that I didn't believe in causing collateral damage.
"Threat noted," I said.
As it turned out she had more to say on this subject.
"We scanned your ship, it turned up in some of our scans" she mentioned.
The warding magic prevented The Phoenix from being scanned directly, but it still emitted radiation and it had mass so unless it cloaked other people could still detect it without actually needing to physically see it. The defence wasn't perfect, yet it still served my needs nicely.
"And?" I asked.
The EA officer shifted slighting in her seat.
"It's not a normal Battlestar is it?" she asked, "I've seen Battlestars before and yours is different".
No, it wasn't.
"We just used the design when building the ship" I explained, "Its actually a much more advanced vessel than it looks".
This served my interests as it meant that enemies underestimated what my ship could do. The ISS Banshee was a good example of this. The captain of that vessel had thought mine to be easy prey despite them not being able to get any decent scans of the Phoenix.
"What do you do with your ship?" Ivanova asked me "I bet you can move a lot of cargo".
We sure could, and far more than we should be able to thanks to space expansion charms, but most of the major factions had their own ships so when I did shift goods I did for companies and minor worlds.
"Our mission is mostly exploration" I explained, "with some trading on the side, and most recently we became space pirates".
Ivanova stiffened slightly, and I could sense her concern.
"Don't worry we only prey on the bad guys" I assured her "We've hit a few raider bases sure, but we would never target civilians it goes against my code of ethics, and attacking anyone's military would only result in people chasing us around the galaxy".
I would have thought that my cool pirate outfit would have given the game away. Perhaps I needed an eye patch and a hat. I wasn't a hat person, but I could get a parrot. Sol didn't hang around enough to perch on my shoulder and he was a bit too big for that anyway.
"You don't seem like a pirate to me" Ivanova commented.
I might need to rethink the outfit.
"Well, I'm mostly an explorer," I said, "as well as a scientist, artist, inventor, warrior and wizard".
To prove that I was indeed a spellcaster I used my wand to conjure up some flowers for Ivanova. She didn't seem impressed or even flattered by the gesture. I figured that I would need to up my game and remember well the lessons the Immortal had taught me about how to really talk to women.
"A wizard, huh," said the station's XO "We've had a few magic-users pass through".
There were magical worlds out there, and people who lived on those worlds could be brought out into space, but right now that didn't concern me as I wanted to focus on seducing this very fine example of the female half of the human species. I decided to order up some more food and drink before making use of some of the knowledge the Immortal had imparted to me during my trip to Rome.
"And you're a telepath" the EA officer tried to casually mention.
I could understand her concern. Humans psychics weren't treated very well in the Babylon 5 dimension and because of this rather harsh treatment, Ivanova had lost her mother due to drugs telepaths who refused to the join the Psycore were required to take.
"Not really" I replied, "I can reach into a person's mind and read their surface thoughts, but unless I have a connection with them its a lot of work, and I rarely use my talents that way. My mental powers are geared more towards telekinetics than telepathy".
Since she herself was a latent telepath I doubted that she had a problem with me having mind powers, her issues were with the organisation that regulated telepaths. This turned out to be the case as the somewhat frosty woman began to talk more freely over time.
(Line Break)
Babylon 5. Halloween Universe.
Susan Ivanova didn't normally act like this, but after spending some time with one of the visitors to the station, a man called Captain Gothic, she now felt a strong urge to let go for a change and have some fun. Going to bed with a man she hardly knew was odd for her, but even she needed to a little wild sometimes, and there was something about Gothic that made her want to get wild with him.
Maybe it had been the meal they shared, that had involved too much wine, or maybe it was the man, she didn't care much right now she needed this. But first, she had to make sure that no one was going to interrupt her good time. She tapped the combadge which was on the back of her hand before speaking
"C&C," she said.
A voice came back over the channel.
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander?" asked an officer.
"I'm informing you right now that I am off duty having some personal time. If anyone, and I mean anyone, contacts me anytime in the next eight hours, then there had better be a pretty big emergency happening. Like the station is about to blow up or we have warships coming at with charged plasma cannons. Because if anyone, and I mean, anyone, disturbs me otherwise for anything less than world shattered news, they will find themselves spending their duty hours working the waste recycling plant in the Alien sector. Am I in any way unclear to you?"
There was an almost audible gulp at the other end and Gothic grinned at her.
"Okay, Lt. Commander. I don't believe we will need to reach you for anything" replied the poor guy on the other end of the call "We'll see you tomorrow".
Gothic was still grinning at this point as if that was all somehow amusing for him.
"Good. Ivanova out!" the XO almost yelled.
With that, she tapped the link again and led her new friend into her quarters. After he passed the doorway, Susan locked the doors and turned to face the Jumper. What followed was quite a lot of kissing, with plenty of over the clothes fondling, all of which felt far better than it had any right to be for the EA officer. She was rational enough to wonder if Gothic was using some sort of telepathic power on her, but she found that she simply didn't care right now. Her lust was too great.
For a while now she'd been feeling not unlike a cork about to pop and Gothic seemed to be the guy ready to do the popping. His hands ran over her body seeking ways to undress her and she had no problem helping with that. Going as far as to step back enough so that he could watch her start to undress.
"I'm going to slip into something more comfortable," she said before showing off too much "I won't be too long".
(Line Break)
Babylon 5. Halloween Universe.
"Thank you, Ambassador," I said as I took the data crystal off the alien who'd come here to drop off the bid for the ISS Banshee "I'll let you know soon if your bid is accepted".
Selling off the Terran Empire ship was proving to be more of a chore than expected. A lot more factions were interested in the vessel than I'd expected and they all wanted to pay as little as possible for it. The Narn who'd come to my quarters, he'd been some sort of military officer, had even made a few not so subtle threats, and what the Ferengi had offered me was plain wrong. He'd offered his own mother as part of a deal.
"Who's winning?" Fred asked.
The Texan girl was spending some time hanging around in the quarters with me as she wasn't as comfortable with this sort of place as my other companions who were more used to space travel and aliens. Not that Fred was xenophobic or anything like that she just needed to ease into this lifestyle more than the others. Amy was the same she'd already gone back to the Phoenix.
"For now, the UNSC," I told her.
Hardly surprising given how much in the way of resources they had in this system. Not only did they have many habitable planets in this system, far more than nature should allow, they also had a fair bit of industrialization meaning that they could produce a lot of goods.
"Aside from a lot of credits, and the star charts I want, they are offering me a brand new F-41 Broadsword" I went on to say "Which I'm thinking of accepting".
The fighter should be small enough to fit in a capsule or in the Hanger Bay addon, I was technically going to buy it so it should go in there.
"I've even been offered the salvage rights to a crash ship on a world near Earth called Aeos" I informed Fred.
While that wasn't enough in trade for a working starship I might try to buy the salvage rights separately as the crashed craft was of a type I recognised but knew very little about. That was something to think about later as for now I had to decide which offer to take. I ran the risk of antagonising some factions if I sold the ship to the wrong person, and if I spent too long thinking over my choices I felt certain that someone would try to steal the ship as it terms of size it was a heavy cruiser and could be upgraded easily enough by the groups with the more advanced tech.
"Master!" Ahsoka called out as she entered the quarters with Raven and Tali coming in behind her "I have something I want you to see".
She passed me a datapad and right away I realised that this was a proposal to go back to the Dragon Age world to deal with the Darkspawn. Like me, she could sense via the Force just how wrong they were, but I'd dismissed the idea of cleansing them from that planet since it simply wouldn't be worth the effort.
Despite that, the proposal was well put together, I could see that the girls had worked hard on it. They'd planned out a campaign to clear out the Deep Roads using a variety of droids. Ahsoka had drawn upon her experiences during the Clone Wars to help plan all this.
"I've already considered this" I reminded my apprentice "It simply isn't worth the time and resources it would take. That world is dangerous and has little to offer us".
While I'd not been bothered by the demons of the Fade while visiting that planet it didn't mean they wouldn't notice me if I went back, and there were plenty of other hostiles to worry about. Since I was a spellcaster and if the Chantry found out about this they'd send their knights after me, and that would be annoying. I'd find it hard to deal with the Darkspawn and an Exalted March, what the locals called a Holy Crusade.
"I have to disagree" stated Tali, "I think you overlooked something".
With her omni-tool, she displayed a map of the Deep Roads. The Deep Roads were a grand network of enormous underground tunnels that once belonged to the dwarven empire, spanning the length and breadth of Thedas. The Deep Roads once linked the Thaigs (dwarven cities) with one another and to the surface. These subterranean highways were works of unparalleled artisan achievement, with centuries of planning and engineering demonstrated in the geometry of their walls. Statues of the Paragons, honoured ancestors of the Dwarves, watched over passing travellers, and channels carried a flow of magma that kept the Deep Roads lit and warm.
"We took a lot of scans while orbiting that planet and so we have the layout of not only these Deep Roads but also the tunnels the Darkspawn have been digging," Tali said, "and while deposits of Lyruim do interfere with our scans of some parts of this underground network we do know that there are veins of ore worth mining".
Lyrium was a valuable but dangerous mineral-like substance. Physical contact with raw lyrium ore will cause serious injury and psychological damage for humans, elves, and Qunari, and will kill mages outright. A good reason for me to avoid it.
The Mining caste of the dwarves is the only group capable of safely mining and processing lyrium into a less dangerous and more useful form. How they achieve this is a tightly guarded secret. Generations of proximity to lyrium ore veins have made dwarves naturally resistant, though not completely immune, to its effects.
"You want to go on a mining expedition?" I asked.
While I already understood where Tali was going with this I wanted to hear more.
"Yes, Gothic" she replied "Scans from orbit can only tell us so much. We'll need to send down probes to collect samples and to get a better idea of what we might run into while down there. Not that any of us will be going down there we'll only be sending mechs as they can't be tainted".
The Taint is a corruption spread by the darkspawn that ultimately makes the victim hear the call of the Old Gods. It can be transmitted through contact with darkspawn blood and other fluids, or through objects imbued with the taint, such as eluvians, a kind of magic mirror. The contact does not automatically make one sick, but there is a great chance of it.
Some people and animals exposed to the taint are transformed into ghouls. The longer an infected creature lives, the more it will manifest aggressive or even rabid behaviour, hair loss and numerous deformities, protrusions, boils and sores. Once the taint progresses enough, the darkspawn recognize ghouls as their own kind, and ghouls can sense darkspawn and hear the call of an Archdemon
"From what I've read about the darkspawn you don't want to go near them if you can help it" Raven commented "And what they do to women. I really don't want to think about".
She was referring to Broodmothers, and I agreed with her view of the situation as somethings were best not thought about, and the mere existence of Broodmothers was a reason to go kill all the darkspawn.
Since bots weren't made of flesh and blood they couldn't carry the taint, and with enough flamethrowers and plasma weapons, the tainted living things could be destroyed by an army of bots. We'd lose bots because while the darkspawn only had medieval weaponry they had magic users and Ogres which were massive, brutish shock troopers of the darkspawn horde. But bots were expendable and I had my own heavy-hitting models.
"Once we have the samples we can test them" Tali was now saying "we have a list of the materials we want, like Dawnstone, but we have no information on these metals. They might be unique to that world and highly valuable on other worlds, but they might also be common metals with different names elsewhere that we anyone can get from a replicator. We need to go find out, and while there we can test the effectiveness of our mechs against the Darkspawn".
This sounded like a good idea to me, and if it didn't work out then we could just go elsewhere.
"I think we need to this" Ahsoka was now saying "These darkspawn creatures, if anyone was ever stupid enough to transport them off-planet, and there is always someone stupid enough, they could spread like a plague across this universe".
By raising a hand I ended the discussion.
"You've convinced me," I told them.
While my decisions were normally final, they'd put together a convincing argument and I wasn't so prideful that I would never change my mind once a choice had been made. Besides, it wasn't such a bad idea to test out my bots against the darkspawn.
"Once we're done here we'll head back to the Dragon Age world," I said, "For now you should go out and have some fun as we could be busy for a while".
Wiping out the darkspawn might take a while even with the large bot armies I could put in the field, and while it would get in the way of me getting to play space pirate for a time I'd been convinced that it was a worthy endeavour.
(Line Break)
Epsilon Eridani. Halloween Universe.
In the end, I'd accepted the bid for the ISS Banshee from the UNSC, and not just because of what they'd offered but because they had a shipyard in this system that could be used to take refit the Terran Empire or take it apart. and this meant that the Phoenix hadn't needed to tractor it very far.
Even now Padme, who'd transferred from the Halloween World colony to this ship, as she'd finished setting up the charitable organisation she'd wanted to create on that planet and it didn't need her direct oversight any longer, was finishing up the details of this deal with a UNSC representative, and she was masterfully handling the conversation. I didn't doubt that we have an easier time in the future striking deals with the UNSC.
She'd also spent some time smoothing some ruffled feathers with the parties that had lost the bidding. Ensuring people involved that there would be plenty of chances in the future to make some profitable bargains. Her ability to deal patiently with such people amazed me. She wasn't the only companion of mine to be able to do this, and even I could handle politics most of the time, but Padme had a natural talent for this sort of the thing.
I found it enjoyable to watch her work, and not just because I was sitting in my command throne behind her as she talked while wearing one of the form-fitting bodysuits the crew of this ship often wore.
"Gothic. Have you considered setting up a base of operations out here in this galaxy?" Padme asked me once she'd done with all the fancy talk "Having a trading port of your own would mean you wouldn't have to keep using other people facilities".
I had considered setting up a space station or something like that, but I'd not wanted to be tied down to anything while exploring this universe and any sort of base would need to be defended and staffed, which would be a drain on my resources.
"You wouldn't even need to build such a base" Padme was now saying "We can just rent a suitable space".
I didn't miss her use of the 'we' word.
"You want to run something like that?" I asked "A sort of embassy and trade centre?".
Normally I'd have Miranda manage such an operation, but she was taking a break from such things in order to be a mother to Violet Parr, and at some point, I should go and check up on them, I was supposed to be some sort of a father figure to Voilet and from past experiences, I knew this did take some time as well as effort.
"It's a far cry from the Senate or running a planet as its queen" she replied, "But I do want to help your work here and having somewhere to store goods you want to trade would be a good idea as even this ship can only hold so much".
Plus then she could trade stuff without me having to ferry it around as goods could be loaded on to other ships just as easily as mine. Well, maybe not as I really good transporter tech.
"I think it would be best to buy some land with a facility on it and then set it up as an embassy so that we don't have to worry about whoever owns the rest interfering too much with our business" Padme went on to say "Maybe somewhere here in the Epsilon Eridani system. We just made a good deal with the UNSC and they might like the idea of having a presence here as it could lead to further trade".
Since it was a well-populated part of the galaxy with many different factions calling it home there was a lot of people here to make deals with.
"We'll need a name for our organisation," Padme told me.
I gave the matter a little thought.
"Call us the Gothic Consortium" I instructed, "Register us as freelance traders, mercenaries, privateers that sort of thing".
I felt certain that there would be many other such groups operating in this crazy universe, but none of them would have a ship like mine, and the sale of ISS Banshee would let the factions out there know that I was a major player on the scene. At least when it came to making money. Not that I cared much for the money it was just easier to buy rare bits of tech than it was to try to find or steal it.
"A privateer?" Padme questioned.
I explained to her that we would be going after raiders, pirates and crooks not commercial and military vessels from legitimate groups.
"You can work from this ship," I told the former Senator "and if you need to go to any face to face meetings so as to set things up I'll make sure that you have a craft to get you there".
Maybe I should build her own vessel. That would give me something to do while the mining operations and darkspawn cleansing was going on.