Mission Briefing

[Hvalreki]

Thank you all, please take your seats.

I know it’s a bit unusual asking you to accept a contract without knowing all the details, but now that we’re past that and you’re fully bonded and onboard we can cover the situation.

Again, everything I say from here on out is classified and not to be discussed outside of the team.

As you know, Imperial Intelligence Services operate within and beyond our borders and is charged with gathering intelligence and protecting Imperial interests.

One of our covert operations has gone dark. A few months ago, two members from a deep reconnaissance team assigned to Reft Sector arrived back in Imperial space, dead. The team all had standard reparation bonds, and their bodies were returned to the nearest Imperial Naval base. They had no personal effects, and both died from laser wounds according to the autopsies.

The team’s mission was intelligence gathering serving as crew aboard the Perfect Stranger, a Type R Subsidized Merchant. The crew consisted of undercover Naval and Scout Service personnel as well as a couple of corporate agents and an Imperial Intelligence officer.

Their job was plying the trade lanes of the Islands Cluster as a merchant vessel and observing from the inside. They were to report back their raw data and findings to the Imperial Intelligence office on Zuflucht.

The Islands Cluster are one of only a few crossing points of the Great Rift and obviously of key strategic importance to the Imperium. This region lies outside Imperial jurisdiction and our direct influence there is limited.

The whereabouts of the Perfect Stranger as well as the rest of the crew at this time is unknown and that’s where you all come in. Both crewmen were shipped from Amondiage in the Old Islands subsector which is where you’re heading from here.

Your mission is to find the Perfect Stranger and return her to Zuflucht. The IIS team there will access her data cores and then return the ship to service in the Islands on a new mission. If you’re able to uncover what happened to the crew and return them as well so much the better but the data on that ship is irreplaceable. If necessary, the ship may be considered expendable as long as the data cores are recovered and returned with the data intact.

As stated in your agreements, upon delivery of the data each of you will receive 250,000 credits. This is a success only contract.

In the envelopes in front you, you’ll find 10,000 credits in cash for expenses once you arrive on Amondiage. You also have access to a credit account of up to 10,000 credits per month per person for mission necessary expenses arranged for through the government of Amondiage. As the region is somewhat unstable, governments hostile to Amondiage may not always honor their credit.

The Access codes for the Perfect Stranger are on those cash cards and identify you as legitimate crew so don’t lose them. The rest of the documents should provide sufficient proof of your identity as recovery agents from Hortalez et Cie and should allow you to legally take possession of the ship.

You’ll be travelling commercial cold so your baggage is limited to 10kg. Don’t worry, you’re not flying on a 40-year-old tramp vessel. We’ve booked passage on one of the new Tukera fast couriers to Filentred ,then transfer on one of our cargo haulers into the islands. It’s still going to take months to get you in position, so you’ll be leaving immediately. By our calculations you should arrive at Amondiage sometime in early 1102. They don’t celebrate Holiday there so the sun cakes will have to wait until you get back home.

Good luck and godspeed!

[Hvalreki]

[Hvalreki]

[Hvalreki]

[Hvalreki]

KIA



MIA