Janus and Caldos

This article introduces Janus and Caldos, two neighboring systems that are the Spinward entrance to the Sindalian Main, aka "The Dustbelt". Unlike some previous posts, this is not a recap of prior events. Instead, it is a briefing for what you will be coming into. It will eventually be added to and turned into a traditional recap. The date will be Day 312 of the year 1105, 

Janus: The players decided not to stop in the Janus system except to conduct wilderness refueling, in favor of going to Caldos in hopes of linking up with a Baraccai Technum official that is presumed to be there. There was a rolled random encounter in the Janus system. En route to the outer gas giant, the crew discovered a drifting Aslan freighter (modified 200-ton Kteiroa-class, the "Ahren’alla") with the entire crew dead mysteriously. Dr. Furia would be able to identify the cause of death as "flipped chirality", having all your amino acids and proteins reversed for some unknown but probably Lovecraftian reason. Some of the Aslan crew decomposed spontaneously, others appear to have lingered for a bit. The Aslan ship was carrying 4 tons of "Talchur" (an addictive dustspice) to the Glorious Empire and misjumped disastrously while departing from Yestahwye/Goertol, an Aslan system about a dozen parsecs to Rimward. The "Ahren'alla" will need some overhauling and a cleanout, but could still be useful to the Senlis Foederate Navy.

NOTE: That quantity of Talchur has a significant trade value to several different parties prowling your AO. Likely customers include Aslan Ihatei, Alsan merc units from the Glorious Empire, and criminal syndicates that do business with Aslan customers. It is illegal in Aslan Heirate, controlled in the Glorious Empire, and not well-known outside of the Trojan Reach. You should probably keep your discovery on the down-low until you are ready to sell it. 

Baraccai Technum in the Dustbelt: The PC's know that two Baraccai Technum merchant cruisers (MV Mar de Damas, MV Decameron) are prowling around in the Trojan Reach. MC Mar de Damas was headed further to Trailing, starting at Acis and moving on to work the planets closer to the Aslan Heirate and the Great Rift. It had diplomatic specialists onboard for interacting with both the Aslan and the weird ultratech monarchies of the region. It is unlikely you will ever encounter it directly. On the contrary, the PC's have a close connection to the MC Decameron, having traveled out to Bantral onboard with their patron. That vessel was going to work through Albe, Realgar, Theev, Salif, and Tyr. MV Decameron carried a larger number of agents and brokers on board, so they could be dispersed onto smaller, locally-sourced ships to work the Dustbelt away from BT’s main efforts with the merchant cruisers.

Baraccai Technum plans on establishing factorates on Albe, Theev, Salif, Acis, and Tyr initially. All of these worlds are relatively advanced, moderate to high population worlds with something to offer Baraccai.  Once you reach Caldos, it is likely you will need to look for one of these smaller vessels (which could be nearly anything with J-2 or better) and the senior BT representative onboard. These corporate officers report to Mr. Shalkash's superiors and should have the same discretion to give you orders that he would if he were on site. 

Caldos (Trojan Reach 1317):

Caldos is a dry, barren world with a very thin atmosphere. There are about 800 million people divided between numerous small nations and independent city-states, mostly clustered around the few good water sources. Local technology is somewhat below average, TL-6. Much of the surface is rugged wilderness, haunted only by pirates and a few Ihatei bands. Caldos has a bustling Class-B starport and a strong economy based around mining and exporting processed metals and radioactives from both the surface and from the system's two asteroid belts. The highport is a neutral facility, owned by a local consortium, while nearly every nation and many city-states have their own downports of varying quality. The Caldos system is known to suffer occasional raids from both Tyr and the Glorious Empire, so travelers should be on their guard against both raiders and overly reactive locals when in unsettled areas.

The BT-flagged Far Trader “MV Pampinea” currently here working out deals with local governments, bringing along Director of System Operations Huwaida Mudir to represent Baraccai Technum in the region. DSO Mudir has an almost unlimited budget and authority, but only two assistants and two bodyguard/security types. She is currently trying to negotiate shipping contracts for a number of the smaller nations, some of whom are frozen out of the more lucrative trade arrangements with Tyr. She pitches the idea that if they were to form some sort of collective arrangement, they could demand better terms from the Tyrians, and BT would be more than willing to assist with those negotiations. She has run into some obstacles from one or two of the larger states who currently dominate most offworld trade.

Dr. Furiya and Dr. Thompson have both heard stories about the wonders of the Sindalian Empire. At its height it was TL15, and Caldos was part of that. In fact, just across the border in the somewhat unfriendly nation of Tarukistar, there is a ruined city called Sumashir. Both academic PC’s have heard tales of the research done at Sumashir Polytechnic, one of the premier universities in the Sindalian Empire. The rumor is that some of the research done there, of the sort banned in the Imperium, verged on TL-16. It is damned unlikely that the doctors would willingly be soooooo close to the ruins and not at least go take a look.

In the process of investigating the university, the PC's looted several bits of medical technology of ancient but still TL-15 design. They found several preserved corpses of a bunch of interesting major and minor races, including a couple they were unfamiliar with. They discovered an intact genetic profile archive of millions of the Sindalian Empire's subjects. This may be of some research value, but has no immediate utility for the PC's. Dr. Hompson discovered a number of diamondoid eagle statues in the unniversity gift shop, of some value to collectors of Sindalian artifacts. Most interestingly, the group encountered but did not engage what appeared to be some sort of nannite/crystalline ecology in a couple of the tunnels. They found a sort of ergovore crystal fungus, and what appeared to be a sort of mobile fractal tumbleweed that they studiously avoided. Dr. Menilaya may or may not have acquired samples.