Serro's Ship Log

Entry 217

The moonspiders! The cursed moonspiders. Nykus finally revealed to me where we were headed, the main fleet and headquarters of the moonspiders. At least he tells me he has an IFF signal we can broadcast to prevent us from getting shot out of the void, and enough to speak directly with their leader, the spider sovereign. He can't tell me why until we get there in front of the sovereign. With that I upped my price up to 3 million credits. That would succeed in getting rid of 90% of the debt I took out on the ship. He insures me he is here on behalf of the Melthos government, and they are willing to provide whatever necessary to fulfil this mission. Apparently using Melthos branded ships for it would have been to conspicuous, so a private trader was the perfect cover.

The world we are seeking, which supposedly has the moonspider main fleet is still a few days away. If we get there, and there is nothing, I'm still charging full price.

Entry 218

The fleet was imposing. It's a massive grouping of ships, mostly small ones - transports and smaller, covering so much of the orbit of this cold world. They let us pass through because of that signal given to us by Nykus. The fleet commander directed us to a small inconspicuous courier ship among the fleet. It supposedly housed the spider sovereign. I got to thinking how great of an idea. What better way to hide your fleet leader than in a smaller ship. Most would prioritize a carrier or juggernaut. It could backfire though because a courier can't really take much of a hit. The Needle is a bigger ship.

Upon docking we are met with an armored escort to the main room of the ship, and there she was, the spider sovereign herself. A regal looking quiv with several limbs out her back, each controlling their own holo console. Upon seeing Nykus, she turns the consoles off, and folds her arms back, and greets him, but it is far from a friendly greeting.

Nykus explains the situation, and it was no less surprising to me. The new nation of Melthos is dying. They won the rebellion by the skin of their teeth, and with a few less than ideal worlds wrested free from Primeus, including their abused homeworld. Now they find that all the tourin lanes leading to and from their space are all slowing down, minimalizing outside trading and support. They need to make a bold move, and make it fast to keep the new way of life for the quiv alive. They wish to take Krutos. At first I was confused, then it made perfect sense. Krutos is the ideal tradeworld. All lanes leading to and from it are fast and healthy, and it's right on the edge of Primeus space, next to the Melthos border. Melthos controlling that world would be leagues of help for the nation, but a major blow to Primeus pride. If that wouldn't be stabbing the bug's nest you just escaped from, then I don't know what would.

Nykus went on to explain that according to the intel he just recieved from Jin'kins' package, Primeus was busy elsewhere. Their main defense fleet was united with Tinteron fighting something at the edge of known space. We don't know what, but now is the perfect time to strike Krutos, and Melthos needs the help of the moonspiders.

The sovereign seemed to be thinking it over, then said if she was to help, a few things would need to be done, one had to be taken care of right now. An angry looking cha'el stepped forward. The sovereign introduced him as Shevs, and he was the lifemate of the moonspider ship's captain Gra' killed a week ago.

We tried to offer up Nykus' bodyguard as an apology especially since the one we killed was a battlebred also, but he didn't seem interested, and charged Gra'. Shevs was a skilled cha'el psionic, and brandished a psi-blade and psi-shield. Gra' immediately went for a grapple, holding the cha'el in a deadly lock. He struggled the entire time while Jin'kins took shots with his claws. It was a close battle, the cha'el made a powerful mind attack which nearly stunned Gra', but they eventually finished him off. Onlookers were cheering at the spectacle and exchanging credits. I stepped in and appologized ot the sovereign about the cha'el's death, but mentioned he chose his fate. The sovereign didn't seem to mind. She agreed to discuss things privately with Nykus. We headed back to our ship.