The Toll

Alea and Cornelius head off for the trade routes between Eden and the outer reaches of the Gaianan Stretch.

Most ships have been hit between Eden and a system used for navigation, radiating out towards the outer reaches

'''We travel through the webway; Alea notices a few small changes in its structure - not out of the usual, but more than she’d expect given the circumstances. We move stealthily through its passages, taking five days.'''

Our Associate Seneschal for Foreign Trade Relations, Adept Merchent, makes contact with the Eden trade rep - Second Assistant to the Deputy Chair of The Undersecretary to the Lord of Credit Boltsz, AKA SADCULC Boltsz

We retire to our diplomatic offices - a few large office/hab blocks cleared out and decorated in mismatched but very fine styles from across the area

Start sending out feelers re kraken tooth

An aide brings me suggestions for bars:
 * The Crazy Ivan Club - Gargantuan smoking room - lots of captains and retired traders. Fancy but not noble, screams pomposity and out-of-touchness, which is how the clientele likes it.
 * Jermaika Bar - Rowdier establishment - between slums and lower middle class habs; impromptu party house - (a reference to some long-lost planet?) - BYOB anarchy hangout; “owned” by a guy called Hamilton - his schtick is that he gives the bar to a new person every day, but he always manages to get it back at the end of the day. Place to party, drown sorrows, and engage in quiet business.
 * The Soapy Bubble - “a centre for pleasure and relaxation for the loyal men of the imperium”. Fancy middle class brothel/drug den. The sort of place that sergeants save for a year to visit, and the more unorthodox higher officers frequent on the reg. Guarded by huge ex-military guys who are extremely competent at their job - people who cause trouble don’t come back to cause more. Ever.

Cornelius heads to the Crazy Ivan in disguise as the Altruistic Oppressor’s captain 

Captain Mangell

The place is huge and opulent, although Cornelius’ acute senses detect that it is lower class that it initially appears - some paintings are forgeries, the plush furnishings are of slightly sub-standard materials given their apparent luxuriousness, the Zanthian brandy is an inexpertly produced blend of some finer vintages.

'''The obsequious doorman shows the junior officers to a basic pleasure room through a modest oak door and leads Cornelius/Mangell through to the Princess Bar and Grill, via an extremely fancy ironwood door. Cornelius makes a note of the spectrographic signature of the wood so he can search for it later.'''

'''The lounge is a bit Jetsons-meets-the-Imperium. Slightly chintzy, buffet style bar - high class provisions, but not quite as refined as a true noble establishment. Gun turrets or something behind the walls, plenty of surveillance.'''

Two senior people of interest:
 * XO Jameson Quintus, Aging commander - previously lt in navy, huge man, gone to seed. Ogling and gluttonous
 * Cpt Rosalind Shaxo, Older woman - captain of a frigate-size transporter, inherited ship from father. High social rank, but bored by hangers-on

'''Cornelius flatters Cpt Shaxo regarding her performance under pressure during an escape mid-war a few decades ago. They get a private table and he asks her about the strange goings-on'''

'''“The Toll” is an event that happens each time there is a warp jump between Eden and the far colonies. It’s always been a phenomenon but has become more evident as traffic increased - up to 80% going missing. Private contractors have investigated and not come back. The legends say that the region is accursed, with the chaos storm damaging morality; cowardice is rewarded and courage is disdained - to help is to damn oneself. Response to any distress beacon is shunned. When they started responding, they started dying'''

'''The rest of the evening is charming, although Shaxo sees through my disguise thanks to her sweet ass cybereye. She is totally into Cornelius though and gives him her number. On his way out, Simpkins (the servant) gives him a card for the Queen Suite'''

The Regalia hotel

M.Sgt Simeon brings the car around and we follow Quintus

Quintus is second to a self-styled Admiral of a fairly major trading concern in the region.

Servo skull traffic is heavy

We follow him back to the swanky hotel he’s staying in

+

'''Get a room near Quintus’ under the guise of a local merchant-lord. Cornelius and he bond over mistreating a servant and, after hours of drinking, Quintus reveals that he has some dodgy scheme going on, and he needs the schedule for the spaceport dock - asks to partner up.'''

Cornelius is planning on finding out more about the scheme then revealing his inquisitorial status and using the illegal goings-on to pressure Quintus into giving him all the info he can regarding The Toll.

“Skully” - personal servo skull, Simeon gets along well with it.

Cornelius goes to the Hall of Records to acquire the docking data

Disguised as Snorridge, minor official and brother in law of security chief

Go in and it turns out Griff, his brother in law, and he are having a relationship

Use my sneaky powers to get into basement and into the data processing core

Connect cogitator to the main data core

'''Got next two months’ data, but first two weeks of that is useless. Contact Quintus and let him know the data is available soon.'''

Got a week and a half until we can move forward with Quintus’ scheme.

Going to use the interim to visit other bars and probe for more contacts

Rock up to the Jermaika bar

I’m disguised as Godwyn, merc-esque badass

'''Meet Irving, a local tough. He buys me rum. Seems to be shipboard enforcers'''

Get a comm card to contact if I need work - in with the local criminal underworld

Hamilton - bar owner - is the guy to talk to

FItzgerald, pampered small-time captain in big trading concern, is current owner.

Give bar to Irving

Negotiate with the little scrub kids

Win fixed fight

Hamilton tells of disgraced Ordo Xenos inquisitor - “The Argonite”

'''Suzannah Borne, Ordo Xenos interrogator. Exceptional skill, but fell in with more hardline group. Cyclopis’ ex interrogator - turned herself in. Was cleared for duty after interrogation by Sisters of Battle. On a mission to prove something.'''

Set up a drop-off of a camera - go and take a photo of the Tooth and deliver it.

'''A couple of days later, go to meet with Quintus - at the Jermaika bar. Disguised (very well) as Scipio - flamboyant trader'''

Team 13 backing me up

Meet w/ dark eldar - get okay to fuck quintus

Team 13 sweeps the fancy hotel penthouse

Quintus dies in the firefight but about 20 high level prisoners are captured

Interrogate five lieutenants of Quintus’
 * First three are relative nobodies - don’t know much beyond the outlines
 * Quintus’ blood brother gets a good torturing - job was to pose as ship’s ambassador/factotum but actually stole navigational data. Dark eldar are connected to the Toll; always met outside of Eden; Quintus was receiving massive payments from them for the data. Consort has been with Quintus for at least seven years - used to be his trophy wife, but became more of an adviser. Remains aloof. Weird warpy shit occurred when they encountered the toll and the dark eldar attacked. He was outside the room where a meeting between Quintus, the Consort, and the Dark Eldar. Quintus shot everyone who disagreed with the deal with the xenos. Rest of the inner circle is dead. I shoot him.
 * Consort is interrogated. Turns out she’s an agent of the Inquisition - authorised by Inquisitor Kryptman (one of the Segmentum-level inquisitor lords). Codename Talia - has been undercover for years, initially a favoured deep cover agent run by a minor Ordo Xenos inquisitor, but seconded to Kryptman’s service as part of his network of agents throughout the segmentum.

Cornelius takes over Scipio’s household and leaves the hand with dark eldar tracker there.

'''Info comes back from Bureau - Talia is potentially a bit rogue. Her original Inquisitor boss is dead and she may have been getting false orders - about two years ago her orders changed from just info gathering to becoming more involved with Quintus.'''

Quintus was feeding info to the Dark Eldar that seems to have been used for them to exact The Toll on ships in the region.

'''Cornelius analyses the flow of data sent and received by Talia and find a blocked node, indicating either super high level political crypto or Astartes crypto. Seems that she’s been a pawn of either a *very* senior inquisitor/high lord of terra, or of Spess Mehreens'''

'''Talia provides a report on her interactions with the DE. Alea thinks they’re using some unclean webway transition technology - they seem to be able to rend a hole in space and hide in their sub-space pocket to launch attacks. Possibly wrought by the homunculi (who hate the Ynnari) although the DE that they’ve been dealing with aren’t homunculi themselves.'''

'''The DE appear to be forcing ships to drop from the warp into the webway, then preying on them at their leisure. Using information gathered from Eden to predict the ships’ schedules and routes.'''

'''On Quintus’ ship, the DE boarded via airlocks and only spoke to Quintus after seeing an Aeldari token that he gave to them. They implanted a chip in his hand and immediately left upon receiving the token. Talia is unsure of their fleet disposition.'''

'''Cornelius goes all Pepe Silvia on the data and identifies key areas where information is missing; filling in the blanks (and unfilling then refilling the blanks filled for sake of diversion) he recognises a signature. FUCKING DARK ANGELS'''

Info from Harlocke - Kryptman has confirmed that no inquisitorial orders have been sent to Talia and she’s listed as MIA.

Go back and look at commonalities between the missing ships - notice a couple of commonalities
 * 1) Taken ships are usually carrying items that are currently trading favourably on the markets
 * 2) Biological materials - rare specimens, xenos beasts, livestock, meat, furs, etc. - have been particularly targeted
 * 3) Individual ships usually get taken, or come out touched by the Toll (probably colluding)

'''Cross-referencing these factors, there’s a transport of five traders (basically unarmed) with two frigate as escort that looks high risk. Lots of travellers onboard - about a million souls plus crew, all told. Seems too juicy for the DE to pass up. It’s leaving Eden in just under a month. Auction is planned for two weeks’ time.'''

'''Rosalind may be Toll-Touched. She’s under surveillance but her abode is locked down tight. Not sure whether she’s colluding with DE.'''

Alea and Cornelius meet up and figure out where to go from here.

'''We investigate several of the Toll-Touched and try to identify whether they have the DE implant. Rosalind doesn’t.'''

'''The gem from the DE implant in Cornelius’ old hand has gone missing - it could be somewhere in Scipio’s house. Team 13 demolishes it professionally and checks into whether any of the housekeepers etc. have been tainted- seems not. Cornelius messages Scipio to let him know that he’s going to need a new life - he’s to report to Drakon 5 for reassignment. '''

[some days later, he replies saying he will do the Emperor’s will, although he doesn’t seem elated - going to set him up with a decent living and possibly some political power in either Ludd or Drakon]

Selling the Tooth

Auction is being held on the Altruistic Oppressor

About 50 bidders turned up (each with entourage)

Five of them seem high risk in terms of backstabbery, chaosiness, etc.

People of interest:
 * Imperial army R&D researcher; acquisitionist. Eccentric, prone to fits of extreme passion and morosity. Senile, rides around in a freighter voidship with his personal staff. - Farnsy. Seems like a serious heavy spender


 * We get some cool ideas for military tech - warp engine designs; all a bit batshit that is very much in early design stages
 * Ship’s captain, leader of a small armada. Been on the wrong side of several trade wars. Captain Julius Dolton. Possible radical.
 * Radical Malleus Inquisitor 

'''Interrogator Suzannah Borne comes with Storm Troopers in tow, looking haggard and crazy. She seems broken.'''

'''She fucks up the auction. Alea mind probes her from the bridge of her ship.'''

Borne starts shouting about restoring her honour and the power of the Dark Angels

Alea finds out:
 * 1) She’s fucking mad. Is laughing because she made a good deal...
 * 2) Not very corrupt
 * 3) Has had direct contact with coven of Homuncili; she’s been playing everything from the start
 * 4) Her memories are jumbled and blocked by some mind link
 * 5) She’s tyranidy and thinks that the things in her head will save the Imperium

FUCKING DARK ANGELS

FUCKING WORKING WITH CYCLOPIS

'''Interrogator Borne turns into a goddamn lictor monster thing. Cornelius backflips off the balcony and exfiltrates quickly with Rosalind and Team 13 on a Shadowhawk. The Dark Angels fire a bunch of boarding torpedoes in our direction and Alea shoots most of them down, but the situation is still fucked.'''

'''The Allocution of Silence drops a graviton flare and we get the fuck outta there. The Dark Angels’ Strike Cruiser deploys Astartes to tear apart the Altruistic Oppressor. Looks like they’re going into full “wipe everything” mode.'''

'''The Altruistic Oppressor is lost, but we get away. Rosalind managed to get the payment from the buyer - an archaeotech credit chit that will kick-start an economy. Gives +5 bonus Profit Factor for deals made in a given system. '''

'''We’ll need to spend several days hiding in the outer system. During that time, Cornelius contacts Harlocke and gives a sitrep.'''

Good news:
 * Confirmed that the Dark Angels and Cyclopis are working together and avoided destroying the DA Strike Cruiser
 * Taken out Interrogator Borne, and got *some* information from her

Bad news:
 * The Dark Angels are backing up Cyclopis, which means they might be gunning for us
 * Cyclopis managed to communicate with Borne surreptitiously, and Borne managed to fool the Sisters of Battle screening

Ugly news:
 * Took out radical Malleus Inquisitor who was sniffing around. Not our fault, but he was a bit heretical so maybe a win? Political fallout might be annoying.

We’re authorised to take down Cyclopis.

'''As far as Harlocke knows, there’s been no communication between Borne and Cyclopis. The Sisters of Battle cleared her - after three years of interrogation and purification - but she was still under Cyclopis’ thrall. Clearly something is majorly fucked up.'''

Harlocke offers assistance
 * Gonna get some stormtroopers


 * ~100? Need to be loyal and highly trained
 * Use them as personal guard, for hit-and-run missions, and high-impact spec ops work. Have them cross-train with House Guard forces and induct the most flexible into Team 13
 * Got a bunch of ship designs coming - might take a few months to deliver


 * Asteroid Mining Facility
 * Warpsbane Hull
 * Empyrean Mantle
 * Bombardment Cannons
 * Melta Torpedoes
 * Sunhammer Lance
 * Superior Damage Control
 * Crew Improvements
 * Macharius + variants
 * Threadneedle pattern boarding torpedoes
 * Assistance from Celestial Lions


 * Sensible marines
 * Only about 100 of them
 * Imperial Fists successor; tight with the Black Templars

'''Kristoff is main suspect for sending the Orky guys after us - he’s the only one with knowledge of both our and Van Holstein’s ships. Orky guys wanted what was on the Empeor’s Zeal - the Emperor’s baby clothes. But why attack our ships when he knows the clothes aren’t on there?'''

'''Kristoff asked for something from Trazyn but we don’t know what it was. He was very happy with the deal. Turns out Kristoff used Trazyn’s influence/magicks/etc. to rile up the pirates and get them focused away from the Emperor’s Zeal, carrying the Emperor’s baby clothes.'''

'''Weird grenade from Kristoff is some kind of beacon; currently deactivated. Elegant Necron/Eldar/Human tech combination - super heretek. Seems to function somewhat like webway technology.'''

Bobby G 

Tyranids

Ultramar

???

Could Cyclopis be working out of Ultramar?

Eldritch - Lithesh Sector capital

Aggressive terraforming - was dead world, but being forced into a Ultramar style idealised garden world with unnerving uniformity

Note: Luddite tribal leaders have an eye excised, and commanders always work in pairs

'''Alea and Cornelius track the convoy that we suspect the DE will target, but they don’t strike. They’ve probably gone to ground after the noise we caused, particularly getting rid of their tracker in Cornelius’ hand. Cornelius decides to leave the system and come back when the heat has died down.'''

The mission is not a complete loss - we gained valuable trading intel that we’re saving for later use in advancing our trade network (possible later profit bonus)