Sanctuary
06 Sep 2020Tharrn
Undisclosed location near Colonia, in a rocky ring of a gas giant"This is a right mess. How is two comming along?" Zahariel inquired, his hands on his hips. In the roughly hewn chamber in front of him the smoldering remains of what must have been the installations water purifier sent sparks into the thinner than usual atmosphere.
Dale scratched his grimy head. "Few more weeks if all goes well. Months if it doesn't. And right now nothing goes well with the dratted wars out there"
"The wars" was referring to a series of conflicts that had been inflicted on Colonia by several of the CEI factions and SPEAR. Sworn to evict the Nameless from Carcosa the already dire situation had turned into a nightmare.
"How many refugees from the Rock?" Zahariel asked. It was to be expected that those that already had nothing but had found a home on Robardin Rock tried to leave rather sooner than later. Most of them were criminals. Not the mastermind sort or gang members - simple people who had been forced to smuggle, steal or distill alcohol on a small scale to feed their families. To the wannabe rulers they were scum to be sent to the mines or - if they were lucky - to be evicted.
Life was still harsh in Colonia. A fact few of the billionair independent pilots living in their comfy lounges on the upper decks of the big orbital stations saw or wanted to see. To them Colonia was about exerting control over systems. Power games the populace had to pay dearly for.
"More and more each day. You don't happen to have a few tons of spare water lying around in some warehouse, do you?" Dale was desperate, and he didn't even try to hide it. He knew that Zahariel was still into humanitarian aid. The company he had founded was just a front to earn money. Consequently he had already done calculations in his head of what was needed and where to get it.
"Sure, I'll get you food, medicines, water and machinery. Let's try to get two done though. We need a proper docking bay" Zahariel replied.
Sanctuary, a hollowed out asteroid, only had a small landing pad. The big project they had been working on for months now was a bigger station. Sanctuary II, hidden in the Colonia Nebula. An unregistered installation in one of the many rocky rings out there - a place very unlikely to be visited by anyone. Anyone with a working transponder at least.
A burly, bearded man with an eye patch stepped into the tight corridor, filling it completely. "Something broken again, eh?" he asked glancing at the water purifier.
Zahariel ignored the question. "Any traffic around two?"
Augustus Milanov, head of the mercenary group known as Milanov's Reavers was responsible for the security of the construction site. The star density in the Nebula was high enough that no explorers had entered the system so far. Only a few nosey bounty hunters of the CEI factions following Milanov's ships or the rag-tag transports carrying material to the site had to be lured away and destroyed to preserve the secret of the location. It was a risk that just couldn't be taken. They'd probably proclaim it to be a terrorist hideout, just existing to endanger their precious little kingdoms.
"All quiet for now. The patrols are rather dull..." Milanov left his request unspoken, but it was clear that he expected a shipment of wares to keep his people in the mood. Another line on the shopping list.
"I'll see to it" Zahariel promised. So much to do, so little time.