Vieques Shipyard technicians had just put the finishing touches on the "giant storage tanks" that were otherwise referred to by those few engineers in-the-know as "Tinkerbell's Folly".
It was inevitable that one of the houses would one day construct such a ship but it filled Vladimir with pride that Junkers in Puerto Rico had built the first. Two kilometers in length, it was a monstrosity. Hard to maneuver and dock and slow to cruise, the leviathan referred to simply as "the barge" still invoked awe when first seen. Its simplicity was its greatest strength. Made almost entirely of scrap metal, redundant hull frames and reinforcements took the place of armor plating. Thin metal hull sections covered these frames with armor reserved only for specific areas such as engineering and command. While easy to knock off course and disable, the barge could absorb fire until it was rendered un-flyable. A few swift repairs to its frame and re-covering with scrap metal plate and it was as good as new. Engines and controls were simple and modular and quickly replaced with numerous spares kept scattered throughout the hull. The ship literally carried its own repair parts with it. All that was required to make it space worthy after a battle was a quiet dock where the work could be done. Such simplicity required a sacrifice of thrust and fine control but it made the ship imminently well suited to long-term forward deployment.
The barge could serve as a space borne flea market, a resupply depot, a listening station, troop carrier, commodity vault or a base-sized research center. Vladimir Tinkerbell had all these things in mind when he commissioned its design but he had even greater plans than these. In time, the simple barge design could be turned into a massive warship. By building the first, the Junkers were getting a head start on developing such a vessel--something Vladimir Tinkerbell was convinced would be needed to defeat the Nomads and their Wild spawn.For the present, the barge would make a psychological impact and help in funding development of forces capable of raiding Wild systems.
Tinkerbell smiled at the thought that Kusari would be the first large donors--helping fund the Junker's expansion. While it was regrettable that the Kusari emperor had turned a deaf ear to the new Junker ambassador--especially after such a promising first meeting--there were still the Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysanthemums to negotiate with. Their proximity to Tohoku was no coincidence either. Time would tell how effective this first strategy might be. If it failed, others were already in the works.
The Liberty patrol captain hated stopping Junkers. They always were up to something and always had some intricate story and excuse for it--which always wasn't true. Lieutenant Jamison was sure this time would be no exception.
The Junker "salvager" slowed to a near halt...typical Junker stubbornness...and the ship's pilot drawled, "How may I be of help officer?".
No doubt from Beaumont Lt. Jamison thought...used to be a lot of counterfeit software and cardamine through there. This one had a big ship and had probably hauled plenty of it. Getting any real facts from him was unlikely. Still...it's what the job required. "Transmit manifest and ID please."
"JSF-Wahoo, officer. Junker transport--Beaumont. Currently empty with no specific destination." Lt. Jamison noted the "JSF" was new--another one of the dozens of "custom" Junker tags that seemed to pop up every week. "What the Sam Hill does JSF stand for pilot?" the Lieutenant asked.
There was a click and a pause and then the Junker captain answered casually, "Oh nothing really--just means "Junker Security Force". Let's other Junkers know we are independent contractors available for service. Doesn't really imply much--just we are for hire. In fact, that's what we are doing...cruising about looking for fares."
Lt. Jamison choked back the laughter that wanted to come out of his mouth. "My right thruster you aren't up to something." The quick reply seemed to polished and practiced--almost like a scripted response. He didn't know what exactly JSF was but he'd be keeping an eye out to see what they might be up to.
"Alright, get out of here and go get a job scrap hauler. This is a busy traffic area."
"Aye, aye." answered the Junker captain...and Lt. Jamison could almost hear the smirk on his face.
Ambassador and now Admiral Vladimir Tinkerbell stepped into the armored security lock at Vieques. Holding his arms and hands outstretched, he stood immobile--his legs slightly apart--staring straight ahead. An emp pulse blasted the sealed chamber--strong enough to scramble any AI construct trying to pose as human. Bluish and red beams of ultraviolet and infrared light--with all the spectrum in between--cascaded and rotated rapidly in spinning arcs about his body...reading the visible and invisible tattoos imprinted beneath various layers of his skin. Each coruscated and reflected certain a frequencies of light at precise intensities, making a multi-spectral digital print of his identity. Ultrasonic pulses resonated from precisely waveformed embedded ceramic inks spelling out exact identity references. Retinal, palm, sole and fingerprint scans along with a rapid-sequence dna comparison sample completed the security process which ended with a spoken voice code sequence prompted by partial images from previously memorized security images. The chamber was state of the art and horrendously expensive but provided absolute security against cloned agents, AI humanoids and Wild possession.
Junkers had used dermal and sub-dermal tattoos for years. The colored monocles that read basic light frequencies were now replaced mostly by auto-nictating contact lenses. Most tattoos included not only reflected light but frequency tags that re-emitted altered reflected signals from radio emitters. In separate application, all these devices had been available but research by the early Junker Congress had brought them together and refined them under Ambassador-Admiral Tinkerbell's watchful and obsessive eye. Only the highest leadership of the Junker Congress and fledgling new independent navy used the chambers but they would soon be outfitted on every Junker base for all occupants passing though into secure areas.
For some time, Harvester biological sensors had been in use--spraying a fine aerosol of Harvester biofluids that reacted with any Nomad tissue present. A positive detection resulted in the emanation of a slight but electronic and olfactorily detectable pungent smell from the atomized subject. This was one of the first results of the early NORAD project that combined joint Harvester and Junker technologies to gain use of the discoveries gleaned in Vladimir's incessant experimentation the Wild. In his early days with Harvester 01, Tinkerbell had been able to forge a technological as well as political alliance with the Harvesters--though now they seemed quieter and more withdrawn.
Vladimir Tinkerbell stepped though the now open door and into command central of the Junker Shadow Fleet. Only a handful of the most faithful and devoted guardsmen were aware of its existence and his involvement . Many Junkers had volunteered to be a part and even they did not know what their purpose or mission was yet.
It was about time to tell them. Kusari was waiting.
The barge has finally been positioned in Kusari space. Arrangements have been made to emergency dock with a base in Kusari if push comes to shove but the goal is to stay moving in space and avoid detection. So far, covert operatives jacking shipping have brought over 3500 units of engine parts as well as polymers, h-fuel, niobium and various other high value goods that would be traded at Puerto Rico to help finance the fleet.
Contacts are about to be made to arrange for escort when the time comes to pull out. No doubt the Kusari are keen to not let the ship escape and we will need some cover. If the ship does make it out, its cargo will bankroll a whole new phase of operations for us. Let's keep our fingers crossed--the crazies are extremely organized and determined to stop us...we certainly have had enough ships crippled so far by them. Tonight our commerce raiding cruiser was put out of action. The flagship is still in refit so we will have to tread lightly a bit.
We stick to the plan and time is on our side. If successful it will open a whole new chapter for all Junkers in Sirius. Until then we lay low and don't advertise who we are and what we are doing--we just keep working quietly.
It took awhile but we have found a candidate. An independent with shared interests has been found to act as a representative in what is otherwise pretty much completely hostile space. The Admiral was right...check the bars and bring up that abandoned base and see what bites. I never thought it would work. I've always found his obsession a little crazy but apparently its shared by some...even here. Never ceases to surprise me.
Our commercial agent has been doing wonderfully--completely accepted by the locals-- and its his take and that onboard the research station that should finance most of the deal here.
I'd best get online with the Admiral and give him the good news. He's been a bit concerned with so many nosing after us. It's like they have some kind of sixth sense. Hopefully we'll be wrapped up within the week here and can move back home--unless the Boss has an even more dangerous idea. Sheesh...I need a drink!
I am Captain Koza Zukai and though born and raised in Kusari and weaned on the stories as a child I'd always found the tales of the old enemy absurd...like myths or fables. Though in my later years I had seen their ships and their weapons were fierce for their size I had never seen anything my brothers couldn't handle. For years I passed the traitor shogun's old stronghold and despite the eternal shield of its arch, I never saw even a trace of life there. It was populated only by old ghosts and a shield run by prodigious power plant that must one day run dry.
It was not long after I saw it flicker.
I blinked in amazement and rubbed my eyes. The shield was flickering! Quickly I called the crew of my little dragon and told them to prepare to receive salvage. The treasures that must wait inside! I contemplated firing bursts with our transport guns--while not fighter guns, they still packed quite a punch. Before I could make the call though, the shield was just--not there. With a trembling hand, I signaled the docking station and a staticy but still functioning control 'bot--I could almost hear the age of it in its broken and sometimes garbled response--replied and a tractor beam reached out to guide us to the Arch. It wavered and failed then reappeared--strong and steady. With a slight lurch we moved forward and Tekagi's fortress opened the doors to receive its first visitors in centuries...or so I thought. It was cold and the air was dank and thin. No doubt much atmosphere had been lost over the centuries yet the sheer bulk of the fortress had retained it. I and my ten crewmen were eager to explore--each of us competing to find the first grand treasure. My brothers Izu and Taro and their sons Ka, Rin and Toma led pairs of other crew members off to spy out this great lair and see if its secrets were available. As the eldest and captain, I took two men with me and headed for the quarters of the old shogun. If nothing else, my graffiti would proclaim that Captain Koza Zukai had been here! The thick walls of the fortress made radio communications sporadic within the citadel but we periodically updated one another on our progress. Most things we had found inside so far had been destroyed in some battle or corrupted by age. We saw no signs of life anywhere--not even mummified remains of those who lived here before. After a week of hunting only some scrap and a few dilapidated and obsolete pieces of ship's gear were obtained. Perhaps some of the personal items we had recovered would fetch a price as relics or valued souvenirs. I did leave my graffiti in what looked to be Tekagi's old palace room--though it was collapsed and almost inaccessible from explosive damage.
Exhausted from constant shifts searching the fortress, we took turns on lean shifts as we headed back towards Chugoku. It was when I awoke a few hours later that I encountered the first curiosity to result from our fated trip. One of our crewmen was acting most strange. Outwardly, he seemed normal yet his eyes seem cold and distant and on several occasions, crewmen had thought they heard him speaking softly to himself in a some strange language--though he stopped the moment they drew near. The ship's cook swore one night that as he had secured the galley that night that he heard strange sounds in a passageway and saw a flickering purple glow reflected from its bulkhead. When he took a cleaver in hand and investigated, nothing was there. We agreed to discuss it further after the ship had been cleaned and its systems were checked thoroughly to insure all was at optimal efficiency. The KNF or Hogosha or even Nomads could be encountered at any time and we always needed to be at peak readiness. A few hours later, I sat in the mess hall with my brothers and crew. "Haunted!?", I exclaimed. "Hai, Captain. The ship is haunted by spirits of the evil place we visited. They seek to follow us home!" replied the obviously frightened ship's cook. "Bah! Ignorant superstition!", I shouted in annoyance. Yet something in the tone of his voice almost made me shiver. Before we could speak further, an alarm sounded. Our engines had stopped! In fact, it was but a moment later and all ship systems failed--even the emergency back ups! We quickly sprang to stations and I barked orders for all to report after they had time to reach their stations. No one replied. I heard the sounds of gunfire and what sounded to be screams. I hailed the crew again and no one answered. The sounds had sounded as if they had come from engineering. Suddenly, power was restored and the ships lighting and gravity cam back online. I grabbed a sidearm and rushed towards the engine room emergency trunk. Just as I reached it, the frightened cook stumbled into view before me. He was holding a butcher's knife in hand and gurgled as if choking on some fluid. In horror, I watched him raise the knife and plunge it into his own throat. It was then I heard the shriek--not just in my ears--but in my mind. The cook was dead and as I shook myself and threw open the engineering hatch. I saw the corpses of all my brothers lying bloody and disfigured before me. A keening wail escaped my throat. I had never wept as a Dragon but did so now. I sank to my knees and from the corner of my eye saw a most horrifying sight.
From the cooks mouth, an amorphous, slug-like shape was exuding. It seemed to have wings flowing from inside and emanated a bluish-purple glow from its body. Spines twitched along would looked to be its back and a long stretched, serpentine neck still remained in the cooks mouth. The shape thrashed and flowed violently emitting a keening sound and I saw the knife twitch violently back and forth. The cook had known and had pinned the creature with his blade as he had plunged it through his own neck in an effort to protect me. A true samurai! I was ashamed to have valued him so lightly and swore to myself then to make amends with his family if I lived to return to Kyoto Station.
With a shriek that hurt my ears and my soul at the same time, the blobbish creature popped out of the cook's mouth fully. A blue, glowing slime poured from its "neck" and a flower shaped appendage reared head high and turned towards me. With a malevolent hiss, the creature slowed and undulated my way. I emptied my firearm into its bulk but the shots seemed to have little effect. In a near panic, I threw the gun at it and dashed towards the escape pod hatch. As I reached it, I saw the bloody corpse of my brother Izu stand to its feet. His gaze radiated a piercing purple light and though impossible, I saw smoke drifting from the corners of his eyes. The brilliance of the light increased until it was too painful to bear and as he began to lurch towards me, something made me move. My hand shot out and closed the escape pod hatch even as I saw Izu move in a lightening fast burst of speed that almost--but not quite--kept it from closing. With tears in my eyes, I blasted the pod away and dropped into unconsciousness.
When I was retrieved by a Dragon patrol and told them my story I was mocked and laughed at. The shield at Tekagi was a solid as always they told me and the Hogosha had been seen selling pieces of my vessel for salvage. Perhaps, they implied, I had caused the loss of my ship and family and did not wish to admit it?
I was too numb to answer their hostile suspicions and dejectedly placed my hands in my pockets with my head down. As I did so, I touched a smooth crystal cylinder. I had picked it up from the ruined "throne room". I had lost all for this. Angrily, I threw it at the feet of my accusers and said, "There is my evidence--my treasure! Take it--I wish never to see it or any of you again!!".
It was weeks later when I was contacted by our ruling Dragon Lord. He informed me that ...things...were seen and heard on the memory crystal I had thrown them that defied explanation. He offered me apologies on behalf of all my Dragon accusers and asked if I wished to return--to seek vengeance. New life sprang into me and I rejoined the ranks of my brothers. I have been pledged by the Dragon lord to say nothing to the others but I am routinely in communication with those who learned the crystals secret. I have been told all and it is most concerning.
The old stories were true--and Tekagi's base is alive again. May the spirit's of our ancestors help us to resist this scourge!
The barge is 75% full now. We've taken a few extra security measures to insure its safety and we are beginning to arrange for its defense when it debarks Kusari space.
The value of the goods onboard at time of departure are projected to be about 50 million credits. If returned successfully, it will finance the next phase of our operations in Kusari and the barge will no longer be required there.
Enemy efforts to locate it are fierce. It's going to be a bear to break it out. I'm sending a communique to our captains tomorrow to prepare for departure.
Personal Log: Captain Jack "The Jackal" Altreideis
Success! Over 120 million in primarily engine components, niobium and MOX was looted from shipping in Kusari despite vain attempts to locate the barge. I guess the thing does have some potential after all! I don't think our two accomplices were ever identified -- though as promised -- we have returned one to Liberty with us and have provided papers and a new identity for the captain and crew. The other will continue to serve with the Blood Dragons and we will upgrade his vessel as guaranteed. A small cost for the return gained and he may be of assistance to us in the future as well. Nice to snatch meat right off the damned Farmers and Hogosha's plate. Ha ha!
We have learned several navigational does and don't along the way as well. We are more proficient at hitting those jumpholes now -- though its still a bear! -- and we are much better at maneuver overall...what there is of it anyway. Our gunners have improved but there is still a distinct limit to our defense capability.
On our return trip we evaded Hogosha, Farmer and KNF patrols with only the Hogosha having even a chance of intercepting. One of the new Dragon clans sent a ship as a presence as we passed through a key system and I believe that was most helpful. Surprisingly, the Rheinlanders were quite impressed at the engineering of the barge and even the police treated us respectfully -- escorting us and guarding the lanes as we docked. I don't think they had any idea where our cargo came from. We were quite careful to not include contraband or prisoners as we passed through.
We'll take a short break at Aercibo and then on to our next forward basing assignment which will be a mining trial from what I am told. Sounds pretty boring but we still are raising funds for the big equipping. The Admiral has laid out plans for the future outfitting of the barge and it is dizzying in its complexity. Hessian, Junker, Gallic and Harvester technologies connected to Nomad organic neural components. Way over my head. I'm told that when it is complete it will provide a shielded area from "Dur Shurikin". No idea what that is but "shielded" has a reassuring sound to it.
A final rumor is that we may actually deploy to Gallia ourselves as part of the Admiral's ambassadorial duties. I can't imagine getting the thing in and out of there but it would be very interesting. When this is all done I've been promised captaincy of our biggest asset. Can't say anymore on that. WWe will remain a "Junker Naval Ship". No reason to directly tie the barge to the JSF and the Admiral can use it publicly then as well. Shame the Kusari are so psychotic. I heard the Emperor even spoke directly to Ambassador Tinkerbell at one point. Hard to imagine that and I can't imagine the loathing he would receive from his subjects if they knew. Guess he has concerns about a "Consortium". Some psycho cyborg things the Harvesters have told us about. Sirius is a strange place for sure.
Well...best get some sleep. Lots of boring mining to stay awake through tomorrow. Jack out.
"Lot of rocks. Yes, lot's of rocks," Captain Atreidies sighed as he felt the barge lurch into yet another rock. While he appreciated the point of the trial was to test navigability in asteroid fields, the rocks were really starting to concern him. Cruise often had to be disengaged to get free and precious time was lost when doing so. A few snags had been so severe as to almost overcome gravitational damping--something that could threaten to tear the ship in two. The creaks and groans and "THUNKS!" of rocks on the hull were also getting to the crew psychologically. "Damned glad when we are done with this!", mumbled the captain under his breath. A collective groan went up from the bridge crew as the ship's pilot called out, "Hard impact--disengaging cruise!" Well, at least it beat being thrown across the bridge when the bow suddenly popped free and the ship swung violently to compensate. The smell of vomit still hung in the air a bit from the last midshipmen on the bridge when that had happened.
So far they had done trials in three asteroid systems and had learned a few compensatory tricks in the process--so it wasn't a total waste of time. News had been received that they would be porting in a final system that command had determined was optimal to take on goods--ore mined from a vast field there by allies apparently. At least other ships would do the mining. The compete operation was still about 200 million credits from completion but things were falling nicely into place. The other day, a ronin Dragon in a Hathor had attacked the barge--chewing away most of its shield while stuck in asteroids. A passing Junker lent assistance and bought enough time for two other ships pursuing the renegade to chase him away. Finally clear of the rocks, it had taken forever to dock with the station there--all the while praying the pirate wouldn't return. the new armor had really made a difference though. A past encounter like that one would have ended in being disabled pretty quickly.
Captain Atreidies looked at the latest message blinking on his private com. "Hunh!" he exclaimed. This one had a bit of "diplomatic" reasoning to it. Guess it wasn't so bad. New territory for the barge to travel and exposure in one more area. "It will be nice to get back to Puerto Rico when all this is done.", Captain Jack thought to himself.
Personal Log
The Molly Republic welcomed us openly and assisted in loading the hold with "shiny" as they called it. We had navigated the rock fields through the Taus and come to Dublin via Newcastle--which has a lot of rocks of its own. It gave us a safe port from the Kusari devils and general trouble makers and a place to build a profitable cargo at as well. The Admiral even came and assisted with the mining. He toured the ship and gave the command staff a review of his strategy as well as our new sailing orders. One of our stress tests in this was navigating through the Molly minefield with the new hull reinforcement. I was stunned to say the least--shields may be redundant now. Quite impressive. One of our old business partners has taken note of the barge and is considering constructing one for themselves--their captain received a tour of the facilities today and asked a lot of questions. theirs will have a lot different use than ours. On our way to Bornholm, we sold the shiny on Ingolstadt in Munich and then passed by the Hessians with little fanfare. We've stopped on a recruiting and morale building visit at Bornholm and will salvage some "ceremonial" scrap and then go on to the next leg. That will be quite interesting.
We received a distress call today from several Junker Congress vessels under attack by BHG fulfilling the AFA bounty. We don't have many assets available to assist them yet and it was hard to only be able to vector a bulldog their way. Within the week, we should be in a very different situation. One of the Congress members opened his trade chest as he wants to see us active. We're very close now to unveiling.
![[Image: Tink_Shadow.png]](http://junkers.worldstrider.info/images/Tink_Shadow.png)