Restoring Dignity: Chapter III
25 Jan 2021Breez Blue
Restoring Dignity: Chapter III"What do you mean the both of you had to run from Moresby Dock? What did you do to get those hombres stirred up like a nest of hornets?" Eliano asked, leaning forward in his chair and giving Maurice a very stern stare.
"According to him it was necessary to upload a decryption cypher for schematics and other data that he couldn't crack from his office." he explained. The Spaniard stood up, his eyes betraying his stress as he heaved a heavy sigh.
"Do you have any idea what they could do to us if they actually find out what you two were doing, much less where you went? We don't have a navy defending this system at all and those Federation pendejos will run train over us if they figure this out." he elaborated as he began to pace behind his desk. "Not to mention you show up in a stolen Federal Corvette, thank Maria that it's a merchant ship and not a military vessel or we would be in some serious shit."
"Wouldn't someone in the shipyard be able to scrub its identity and maintenance history and make a transfer job look legitimate? The place is full of criminals after all." Maurice suggested. The security chief abruptly stopped pacing and stared at the Imperial from under his brow.
"Chinga la madre, I can't believe I'm about to say this. One time, Culinus. I will look the other way this one time, and that's to keep you and Morales from outright fucking the dog for the rest of us. Do it, but do not run that by me again." he growled, jabbing a finger at him to accentuate his point. "There's this one troublemaker I know who works at the docks as a maintenance tech, and he can get your request in with a guy at the shipyard. None of them will deal with you directly, so you need to find a guy named Nkizo Baxter. Just ask around the docks and you'll eventually run into him, and believe me you can't miss him. He's one of the Segonian guys if you know what I mean."
Maurice did in fact know what he meant, as he had seen a few of the genefreaks, or human-animal hybrids working the docks over the months. Until now he had never had a reason to speak with any of them.
"Thanks for the advice?" Maurice half-asked, noticing that the security chief was now clenching his fists on the worn top of his desk.
"Sure, Culinus. Now don't say a damn thing about this conversation because I'm gonna deny it up one side and down the other. If you mention me to Baxter or anyone else you ask the whole deal's blown, so watch what you say." Sanchez concluded. Maurice gave him a nod before turning on a heel and walking out of his office. The security chief heaved a sigh and sat back down, glancing at the digital clock above the doorway. After having to hear all of this he was ready for his shift to end so that he could spend a couple of hours at the bar, he needed a few shots after having to dance around the Imperial's impulses. Sure, there was apparent method to the sliver of madness that existed in most Imperial types as far as he saw it and he had to give the guy a bit of credit.
Minutes later when Maurice returned to his appropriated Corvette he found Sean waiting at the top of the cargo ramp, messing with the intercom on the outside of the airlock. He supposed that Sean must have been trying to reach him and thought that he was still aboard. He amusedly supposed that the mistake must have been made because the intel op hadn't yet gotten into the local surveillance systems. When he made his way up the ramp his back was still turned, and he could hear him speaking into the intercom. Yep, he supposed, He definitely had no way of finding him otherwise, at least not yet. When he reached the top he reached out and tapped Sean on the shoulder, causing him to spin around with a startled half yelp that he quickly stifled.
"There you are, I thought you must've been busy rummaging for my coffee." he responded with a boyish grin.
"Not yet, have you been able to run the data through Kincaid's intel suite?" Maurice asked.
"Same, I barely landed five minutes ago" Sean answered. "Unlike you I was being pursued, so I had to take a crazy route on my way here and refuel where I could. If I actually traced the route over a map of this area of the core systems it would probably look like Spirograph art done by an infant." Maurice suddenly remembered what Sanchez had told him earlier, and how easy it would be for the feds to literally take over the system.
"Did anybody follow you here?" he asked hesitantly.
"Pffff. Are you kidding? Kincaid was primarily built for transport, and despite the extra layers of armor plating she still has the jump range to back it up. I lost them almost a half hour ago." he scoffed in return. "Though the tanks were barely running on vapor once I finally got to Draguan Nu."
"Transport ship?" Maurice asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Which ship is yours?" Sean walked to the bottom of the cargo ramp and pointed a couple of pads over at a battered grey Type-10.
"Kincaid may be as fancy as a run-of-the-mill ash bin, but she always manages to get the job done regardless of whether she gets the shit kicked out of her or not." he said with a proud grin on his face.
"Does that happen often?"
"Nah, I mainly use her for jobs outside of Amun, but I've made junk heaps of my fair share of people who do too much poking around my business." Sean explained. "Seeing as how I can't exactly return to Amun anytime soon I suppose she will also be one hell of a fortified apartment." he joked. "So what's the plan on your end? Did Sanchez throw a fit about you showing up in this behemoth?" he asked, rapping his knuckles on one of the cargo ramp pistons. Maurice was amused at Sean's words, to him it looked like Sanchez had been one more bit of bad news away from exploding at the time.
"Let's just say that he wasn't happy about the circumstances. Speaking of which, there's a guy that I need to see about scrubbing the ID on the Corvette." he answered.
"Ooh getting into the underground markets now are we? Perfect, that will give me time to start organizing the information I pulled while at Moresby Dock. If Sanchez wasn't a happy camper then I might as well show him that what we found was worth it." Sean replied with a nod. "Just don't have too much fun, and if you do just don't name it after me okay?" He smacked the Imperial on the shoulder with the back of his hand before leaving the pad where Maurice's new Corvette was docked, heading towards his own ship.
"Who is dis fancy pants, ah?" the man-sized, black-furred rodent asked him, sitting cross-legged atop a cargo container with an open toolbox next to him, walking a crescent wrench between his nimble clawed fingers as he peered at the Imperial from under the top of the hoodie he was wearing. "Some othah high on his own fumes Imperiale who wants to take da system back for da Empiah?" Maurice wasn't too surprised by the genefreak's words, he'd been hearing something along those lines from other skeptics around Reightler Dock. He was, however, surprised that just over a hundred of the gene altered humans had been working under his nose the entire time.
In the time that he had been looking for the guy named Nkizo Baxter, he had run across no less than two dozen of the Segonian genefreaks. It made him feel incredibly out of his element, and in the case of the big ursine guy, Russell Gasperon, had been a bit uncomfortable. The old bear had regarded him with suspicion initially, but had been more friendly towards him after a bit of conversation and told him where he needed to go. Maurice was relieved when he got the response he wanted, as the guy looked like he could've broken his neck with a single backhand. This Nkizo fellow in front of him, however, was an entirely different story. Nkizo was outright taunting him, and what was worse was they both knew he was in a position to get away with it. He was clever, as his rat genus was by nature. His thick, guttural accent made his speech as smooth around the edges as a sanding barrel, to boot.
"I heard through the grapevine that you know how to get in touch with someone who can scrub the ID on a Federal Corvette." Maurice stated, remembering Eliano's words and being careful not to say who. "I asked around until I was told to find you here."
"Coahvette, as in dat gaudy red ting dat is openly known to be stolen?" Nkizo asked, his whiskers perking slightly with interest.
"Yeah, I guess that'd be the one."
"So who was it dat told wheah to find me, ah?" the rodent asked. "And do not lie about it, Imperiale. I do not like liyahs."
"It was a big bear guy named Russell, told me he is your supervisor. He didn't open up right away but he eventually told me where to find you." Maurice replied. Nkizo tossed the wrench into the toolbox and shut it, latching the lid.
"Hmm. I now know you ah telling me da truth. Seeing as how Mistah Gaspahron did dat instead of pointing you in da opposite direction says someting, Imperiale, 'dough none of us like da smell of you." Yeah, Maurice thought to himself, he had gotten plenty of that feeling since he had begun running into these guys in the utility corridors and elevators around the docks.
"So are you saying you'll help me out?" he asked. Nkizo picked up his toolbox and scooted to the edge of the crate, sliding off and landing deftly on his feet.
"Okay Imperiale, I will help you, but dis is going to be heavy on da cost. Dese services don't come cheap, ah? Da guys in da shipyahd have to make a living." He hooked the handle of the toolbox with his tail, freeing his hands while he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. "Aftah all, it is not like dey can fix much since da Brothahood took ovah da place." Maurice had found this out first hand, when he'd gotten into a fight on the way back to Reightler Dock from the Haritanis system he'd sent his ship to the local technicians to be repaired. Nowadays Francelle rattled when she idled almost to the point that it could be picked up over the comms. The genefreak stopped in front of a wide double set of cargo elevator doors, took a drag on his cigarette as he took a keycard and slid it through a reader next to them. A low whirr could be heard beyond the doors as the elevator made its way to their floor.
"How long will it take for your contact to get the ID on the Corvette cleared?" Maurice asked, causing the rat to turn around with a slightly irritated look in his gleaming eyes.
"I can give you no time frame on da ship, da job will be done once da job is done. I'd not go making demands of da shipyahd wohkas onless you wanna have a deal blow up in yah face, so be patient." Nkizo explained. "You depend on us, dat also means we got da shoat hairs; you chose dat, Imperiale." The cargo elevator arrived and the Nkizo crushed out his cigarette before stepping inside where there were six other dock workers waiting inside, a mix of human workers and genefreaks. Upon seeing Maurice their conversation instantly silenced, and all their eyes were on him. When Maurice stepped forward to follow him inside the rodent stopped him by holding out a hand. "Dis is wheah we paht ways, Imperiale. Do not contact me, I contact you, ah? You'll heah from me as soon as it is done."
As Maurice watched the doors close he contemplated the genefreak's words. He did find it very ironic that even Sanchez, of all people, had referred him to known career criminals. After a couple of decades of anarchy he supposed that help could come from anywhere, and even law enforcement used this strategy too.
Minutes later he arrived via shuttle to the docking bay, getting dropped of as close as possible to Sean's ship. Looking at it, Maurice had no idea how Sean managed to win dogfights in a ship that looked so unwieldy to him, but from what he'd seen so far the guy was full of surprises. If he could manage to find more like him, if even a few dozen, he would have a good start to what he wanted to accomplish. When he reached the top of the Type 10's wide cargo ramp, the airlock suddenly slid open and the two of them almost walked directly into one another.
"I was wondering what took you so long," Sean remarked. "I was about to step out for a walk, maybe take a look around the place and see how much it's fallen apart over the years."
"Yeah I wound up being sent on a bit of a scavenger hunt, this guy was definitely a secretive type and his buddies were hiding him." Maurice replied. "Have you had any luck yet?"
"You bet I have," he said, showing him the datatpad in his hands. "Let's just say that a lot of snakes have been followed directly into their burrows." Sean said with a grin, tucking the datapad under an arm and tenting his fingers like a stereotype of a confident villain. "Then we release the hounds..."
"Enough to get Eliano to calm down a bit?"
"Now that I'm not sure about." Sean stated. "When he finds out how deeply these criminal networks are dug in he might blow a head gasket if he still gets as wound up as I remember, hopefully he has been taking it easy on the tequila and chips."
"You're not going to steal another transport shuttle, are you?" Maurice asked as an afterthought. Sean made a face as though he were thinking about it before shaking his head.
"Not this time. Seeing as how you had to go on a scavenger hunt that took that long, I'm not sure if you've actually taken the time to look around the place. Have you?"
"What? Of course I have." Maurice said bluntly.
"I know you've been around and looked, but have you actually done any recon? Talked with folks other than business heads and truckers? Have you met the people on the bottom who will be affected by your regime change the most?" Sean elaborated. Maurice had to admit that he hadn't thought about it that far, and had purposefully avoided most of the problematic areas of Reightler Dock. What Sean was addressing was true, and if he managed to get support from people on the bottom he might get more political pull.
"From that thoughtful look on your face I can tell you haven't quite yet, so you and I are going to walk most of the way there since HQ isn't too far from us." the intel op interjected, interrupting his thinking. "That will allow me to show you a few things around here that I can already tell haven't changed."
It took them a little under two hours to arrive at the HQ for the local security, Sean having led the way as he showed him some areas along the route that he'd never bothered to explore. Sure he knew that Reightler Dock was a dump, but the areas where most of the residents lived, unless they owned a ship or a business, was in outright horrible shape. He'd had his eyes on the businesses, knowing that improving their flow of credits meant more favor towards his own plans, but hadn't paid attention to the areas where this was hardly happening at all. Sean told him that things like this, especially in this particular case, never happened overnight. Despite all of the focus being on the different factions within Draguan Nu and their constant street battles aboard Reightler Dock, the shit rolled downhill and stopped at the bottom. By that point, he stated, nobody else other than those directly affected cared about where it landed.
His explanation had given Maurice a lot to think about, and it helped to have someone helping out who also knew the place to a large extent. Unlike Chief Sanchez he was easier to work with as well, but then in his line of work Sean wasn't bound by red tape that he couldn't find a way to cut. Sanchez, on the other hand, had his hands tied so much that the local police were ineffective at best.
"Um.. were you two looking for someone?" the rookie red headed officer at the desk asked them. Her eyes were on Sean, who was busy munching on a steamed sweet potato he'd bought at a food stand on the way. Maurice briefly thought that if she cocked her eyebrow upward any further it might fly off of her face. He must've been grinning because her gaze quickly shot in his direction. Maurice elbowed Sean slightly, prompting him to wrap up the rest of the sweet potato and get the datapad from under his arm. He was holding all three items in one hand and dropped one of the two potatoes he was holding, sweeping an arm out and snatching it up before it could hit the floor.
"Yeah we were looking for-" Sean started before he looked over her shoulder and down the hallway towards booking. Maurice followed his gaze and saw Sanchez coming down the hallway towards the front. "Hey Chief, I'm back!" he shouted, waving the datapad above his head. Eliano's expression curdled slightly, and only seemed to get worse as he approached. Upon reaching the desk he heaved a heavy sigh and crossed his arms.
"Culinus didn't tell me you'd be visiting, Morales." he remarked.
"Wow that's a fuzzy welcome." Sean commented. "Sorry man, work been tough?"
"It got a lot more interesting a few months ago, and now I see that I'm really gonna have my hands full with both you hombres." he replied. "I hope you both are here to talk business, I've got a lot of crap on my mind related to the shenanegans by both of you, so I'm not in the mood for any bullshit."
"Kinda hard to fit a turd in a data port Sanchez, but I have a lot to show you regardless." Sean replied and showed him the datapad. Sanchez's curlded expression relaxed somewhat and he motioned them behind the desk.
"As long as it's not more potatoes I wanna see what you have." he replied and began to lead them back to his office. "If I hadn't known you for years already I'd maybe accuse you both of having delusions and throw Culinus in the tank for causing a ruckus, so I hope what you have is worth my time."
"Well you might still think that I'm crazy after showing you what is hidden right under the noses of your patrol officers." Sean added. Sanchez scoffed in reply as the two of them entered and sat down.
"Either I might think you're crazy or I might think my guys have gone soft." he added as he shut the door.
"You have got to be kidding me." Sanchez thought aloud as his eyes pored over a hologram projected above the desk by a small projector that Sean had brought with him. "They've been manufacturing their own explosives and nerve toxins on Five without us having an inkling of it."
"If it hadn't been for the budget cuts that had been made by the guys on the corporate level over a decade ago your patrols would have been able to invest in GPR devices to enhance their normal surface scanners, but according to this conference transcript from four months prior to that actually occurring they knowingly diverted the funds for those towards building an ammunition storage facility on Draguan Nu-1." Sean explained, sliding his datapad towards the security chief. Sanchez turned it around and began reading it.
"We were always wondering where their guys were processing everything they stole from merchants, none of the cargo was ever registered as having passed through Reightler Dock. That doesn't explain a thing about where they processed the materials for the weapons that were seized on their way to Kehperagwe."
"The atmospheric conditions of Five allowed the emissions from their refinery to avoid detection, not to mention completely hide any sort of heat signature below lower orbit. Sure I bet their hydraulics break down regularly but to most it's worth the trade-off when you look at the total profit margin they've accumulated since then." Sean replied, switching the projection on the holo disk that showed its floorplan below the planet's icy surface. "They used a network of tunnels to get it more easily between storage, the refinery and then from there they send it off-world over to One."
"From there they were picked up after being sent back into orbit, explains why my patrols would find canisters of refined metals in random spots around there. Titanium, platinum, gold, cobalt, shit tons of aluminum." Sanchez confirmed.
"All used in the manufacture of weaponry and heat sinks for them. From there what they aren't selling to less favorable types in places like Mangkhwal and Kehperagwe to keep the profits coming in. Some of these are even being sold back to some Imperial as well as Federal markets while a few are smuggled into Reightler Dock from HIP 6796, Ibold to be specific." Sean added. Sanchez leaned back in his chair, still reading the datapad as he listened. Once he finished he set it back down on the table, sliding it back over to Sean.
"Well that explains where a lot of our funding disappeared to, we can barely buy parts to fix our patrol ships and shuttles." he said as he stared at the hologram, deep in thought. "These bureaucratic putas have been sabotaging the entire system and us for their own profit while they let the pirates run amok." Maurice had been mostly observing, not having seen the data yet for himself, when Sanchez addressed him.
"Culinus, I doubt your experience but if you keep this guy with you working the logistics while you stick with the shooting you might be able to put a plan into action. My guys and I won't be able to help you so you're going to have to hire mercenaries; lots of them." he explained. "I won't be able to help you with the hiring process as I don't have the time for it. Morales, I'm putting you specifically in charge of that."
"So you're actually going to let us move forward with it?" Sean asked, sounding excited that for once the chief wasn't wanting to verbally explode at him for the first time that day.
"Against my better judgment I'm going to say yes, but that's because we can't keep a deteriorating starport working with things as bad as they are." Sean pumped a fist before shutting off his projector and putting it in his pocket. As he and Maurice stood ready to leave Sanchez stopped them by holding up a single finger. He then picked up his datapad and began to send type up a message. "Uno momento, hombres. If you're going to be bringing in mercenaries and blowing shit up I need to get you in contact with my sergeant. He keeps in touch with the patrols outside so I need to get some paperwork drawn up that way you two don't get your asses into trouble later." Maurice cocked an eyebrow at him.
"So first you allow me to scrub the information on a stolen Corvette, now we get a license to do stuff we aren't supposed to?" he asked. Sanchez set down the datapad, looking unamused.
"More or less that's what I'm doing. However if you two or any of your merc buddies wind up fucking the dog for everybody we need to know exactly who to blame. I'm sure as shit not taking the fall with you if that's what happens."
There was a knock at the door a mere minute later and Sean sidestepped before opening it. A Japanese man who was not much taller than Sean waited just outside. A friendly tip of his hat and a promptly offered handshake showed that this guy was even more professional about his work than perhaps the chief himself. Unlike the other PD guys this guy had a katana in a dark green sheath tucked into his belt opposite his service pistol.
"Well met, Sergeant Hiroshi Tendo. Chief Sanchez has asked me to work with you two for the time being." he greeted as the three of them exchanged handshakes. "The chief has asked me to pull some permits for you two, so I'll need you two to come with me to sign off on everything."
"Whoo, I guess that means that you're finally letting me use the stove?" Sean asked, turning back to Eliano.
"Chinga la madre guey, get out of my office before I start to question my judgment any further." he replied, waving a hand at him and Maurice in dismissal. Sean cringed slightly and ducked out of the office, joining Maurice and Sergeant Tendo in the hallway. The sergeant was pulling up something on his datapad with an amused grin barely visible on his face.
"Intelligence Operative Morales, have you always pushed the chief's buttons like that?" he asked, not looking away from what he was doing.
"I think the only reason he hasn't thrown me in the tank yet is because he owes me a couple of favors." Sean replied as Tendo set the datapad down on the counter in front of them, first handing Maurice the stylus and indicating where to sign.
"Judging by what he said to you earlier you might have already used those favors up. I'm going to suggest for the sake of what you're trying to do that you don't catch his attention any further." the sergeant suggested.
"You're gonna be a tough nut to crack, aren't you?"
"It's not that so much as I'm the kind of guy who's in the middle of this. I'm not exactly leaning either way right now because in time I'll find out exactly how serious about this you two really are. If anything I'm trying to avoid getting stuck with unnecessary paperwork. Once these forms are signed how that goes is entirely in your hands." he explained. Fair enough, Maurice thought to himself as he handed Tendo's datapad and stylus over to Sean.
The forms that had been contained in the set that he had signed had included interdiction permits, limited use of local police and former naval resources and databases, a very interesting one regarding removing the regulations on the types of ammunition that they were allowed to use, as well as permission to operate in areas normally cordoned off by the authorities amongst many others. As Sean handed it back off to the sergeant he checked the forms to make sure they were properly signed and dated he powered the device off before looking at both of them sternly.
"Look, the chief may be rough around the edges but I have a lot of respect for him. He is sticking his neck on the block for you two because nobody has brought together any serious plans to help us out. I like you two, and I'm seriously hoping that you don't disappoint me. If you two fail we know what bureaucrats, and by extension, the pirates will do to us in retaliation."
"We'll see to it that we don't, Sergeant." Maurice replied before the three of them exchanged handshakes once again. As the two of them left the headquarters towards a bay where a few transport shuttles waited not too far away. Maurice hoped they didn't let the guy down, something told him that if they screwed up that Tendo would handle them himself.