Chapter 39

Stuggart star system, inner system.

Geostationary Orbit over Stuggart Prime, Defense One.

"Any problems with our hosts?" Asked Sarah as she walked onto the bridge.

Elteria snorted, before turning her hologram towards the captain.

"Captain, I'm sleeping with their CO. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, none of them would dare after Aura's little demonstration."

Sarah winced. Usually she tried to keep a low profile when there was no benefit to gain from being the center of attention. Unfortunately, having a fusion charge punch out of your secure hangar, and then having the orbital defence grid just glass a square kilometer of ground to take out your attacker was anything but discreet. The media had gone completely crazy, although thankfully in a good way.

Stuggart's entire prosperity rested on the mercenary trade. Back before the civil war, it had only been a fairly prosperous periphery system. But during the 15 years long conflict, it had become a neutral ground for mercenaries to repair, rearm, seek contracts, ect. Fast forward half a century and now the system was more heavily industrialized than some Core systems.

However a lot of that prosperity rested on it's neutrality and safety. Mercs came to Stuggart because they knew that they'd be relatively safe there. Relatively because assassinations and such still happened, but the defence force was this large to keep everyone in line, and prevent things from escalating too far.

If deploying nuclear weapons on the planet's surface wasn't escalation, then nothing was. Of course the 'nuclear weapons' in question were a fusion charge and fusion gun, which didn't even come close to the yield of the tactical nuclear warheads they had in the armory, but the point still stood.

"Fair enough. I just wish we'd be a little less...visible."

Elteria shrugged as she looked around at the empty bridge. Since they were docked to the single most powerful defensive installation in the entire star system, with several concentric spheres of battle stations and weapons satellites further protecting it, she was the only person on watch, as the rest of the crew grabbed some much needed R&R, this time under the careful watch of protective police services instead of contracted mercenaries.

Police officers backed up by a sizeable reserve contingent of Defence Force marines. No one was keen on taking chances at this point.

"The Syndicate is the one that started this revenge campaign of theirs."

"We did kill one of their system directors." Pointed out Sarah. She wouldn't shed any tears for the bastard -hell, even with everything that had happened she was still quite satisfied with removing this stain from the universe-, but the Syndicate did have its reasons, however twisted they might seem once you took into account Carmichael's little side occupation.

"And that man was a scumbag like you rarely see. They should be thanking us."

"That's not how criminal syndicates work, and you know it. Especially internally. No matter how justified it is, killing one of their directors made them lose face, and now they've got to recover it." Sarah smirked. "The problem is that they seem to have failed quite spectacularly so far."

Elteria nodded.

"Oh, and it's nothing compared to what's coming."

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"I received some updates from Aura. They can't quite conclusively prove the Syndicate is responsible, but they're getting really, really close. The Dominion has also started releasing evidence about the slave trafficking ring to the public. With all of that, no one will raise a finger if she decides to take the Syndicate's local leaders into 'pre-emptive custody'. She has ordered her contingency plans put into motion. System Security is about to ram half of their SWAT teams down the Syndicate's throat."

Sarah nodded. She'd missed that, then again her news downloads had been focused on the slowly exploding mess in the Fringe, not on Stuggart itself. It also felt a bit odd that Elteria's girlfriend was just able to order System Security around like that, but Stuggart's very nature made System Security and the Defense Force almost indistinguishable from one another, for better or worse.

"That's very good. We might be able to get some answers at least."

"And remind them not to fuck with us."

"Perhaps. But this is the Syndicate we're talking about. They're not going to stop after just a few setbacks."

"They'll hesitate at least."

"Hopefully." Sarah checked her schedule, and sighed. "Alright, I have to get to my office. I have a call scheduled with Old Joe."

"Good news?"

"No idea. He's paranoid, even for an information broker." Then again he had been an Imperial Shock Commando, that meant that paranoia was more or less a way of life for him. "Direct laser transmission. He doesn't even want to go through a secure relay. The only reason he didn't insist on an in-person meeting is because of what happened."

"Right. Full regalia?"

"No. That won't be necessary. He's enough of an old wolf to not care. I'd like you to sit in on the meeting as well."

"Alright then. I'll handle the connection details."

"Thank you."

*****

"Ah, captain. It is good to see that you could make it. Same for you Elteria."

Sarah smiled as she suppressed an instinctive shiver. Old Joe had access to tech that made even the Seeker's systems look like obsolete toys, and that meant that unlike almost everyone else in this backwater hellhole of a galaxy, he could actually fully interface with the ship's communication systems. His hologram was comfortably sitting on the other side of her desk, in a simulated...thing that passed for a chair for his specie.

"Please, call me Sarah. So, what did you call me for?"

Old Joe flicked his tentacles, laughing, and then quieted down.

"Of course, Sarah. Is this room secure?"

"As much as we can make it. Same for the communication systems." The Eternal Seeker had been intended as a black ops ships before she'd, ah, 'requisitioned' it, and it boasted some truly terrifying security systems. Many had tried to break through them over the years...none had succeeded. And most of them had died in the attempt.

"Excellent." Old Joe looked at her directly, and Sarah shivered. This time it wasn't due to the alien's off-putting appearance. She was fairly good at projecting authority and a command mantle, as some people called it.

Old Joe had been doing it before Alteria had even been colonized. Even the hologram exuded a weight like nothing she'd ever seen.

"I have found the information you were looking for Sarah. But...I must warn you, this is a very dangerous path you thread. If you must take it, do so carefully. Something is very, very wrong here, I can feel it, and whatever it is....whatever it is is going to go horribly wrong at some point."

"We're mercenaries, Joe." Said Sarah as she smiled feebly. "Getting into trouble is our job."

"Captain, I watched a galaxy die." Said the old commando, his voice rolling like thunder. "I do not issue warnings lightly."

Sarah swallowed. She knew, intellectually at least, that the Infinite Systems Federation had made, and used, galactic killer super-weapons during -and after- the war with the Taian Republic. It was one thing to read about it in the history books.

It was another to have someone that had seen them in action hammer it home.

"I...I understand."

"No, you don't. And I hope to every star and deity out there that you never truly do. But you are trying. That will suffice."

"Right." Sarah swallowed. "The information then?"

"My network has managed to track the divinium shipments to what appears to be a transhipment point. We could not figure out the true source, but we do know where they are injecting it into the galactic trade network."

Sarah swallowed. It had barely been two weeks since she'd seen the alien. What the hell kind of network was he running? The damned Dominion itself couldn't even figure out where their terrorists' equipment was coming from!

Something of her emotions must have shown on her face, as Old Joe chuckled.

"Captain, once you supplied me the peculiar set of divinium elements, it was relatively easy. Keeping a general idea of who supplies such a precious material is always a priority for one such as myself, and it turned out I already had some leads on the source. My agents just thought they were smuggling them from the Core mines."

"And they aren't?"

"No. No they're not." Old Joe gestured, and a galactic map flickered into being above the desk. It zoomed in, until only the relatively small disk of the Protectorate was left. One of his vines twitched, and the map divided into three disk, the Core, Periphery and Fringe, with glittering stars of varying colors, overlaid with a variety of symbols. "The transhipment point we identified is right...there."

A lone star system became highlighted, and Sarah sighed.

It was a Fringe system of course.

One right next to Sepia. Well, relatively.

"That...explains a lot."

"Yes, it does. The TRF's obsession with Sepia makes a lot more sense now, does it not?"

Sarah blinked.

"TRF?"

"You...don't know their name?"

Sarah and Elteria shook their heads, and Old Joe chuckled.

"Well, consider it a bonus then. They're the Thaumor Revolutionary Front. A bunch of complete fanatics, hellbent on freeing the Protectorate from the Dominion, through any means necessary. Any means."

Sarah nodded.

"They're the ones who financed the rebellion on Sepia?"

"And many, many more. I'd always wondered where they got their funds, and especially how so many...intergalactic merchants accepted to work with them. Thanks to you, I now know." Old Joe shrugged. "It won't matter for long, if you're going to do what I think you are, but it is still something some of my...friends will be interested in."

Sarah hid a shiver, and gazed at the alien, and saw...something in his not-quite-eyes. It wasn't exactly a secret that many of the Federation's expatriates throughout the Known Universe sent some reports back home when something unusual was happening. But Old Joe was too good to let that slip. Which meant that he was warning her...warning her that there were much higher forces in play here.

Given how the TRF had murdered a million innocents to protect their supply chain...she could definitely see why.

"I see."

Another thing glittered in the alien's eyes, and Sarah knew her acknowledgment of the warning had been received.

"Indeed. Regardless, this is only one of multiple transhipment points, but it is the only consistent one. The others are either only used once, or very sparingly."

"They probably own the government there then."

"Most probably, yes. It is also, quite possibly, their main source of equipment. Mining equipment is not hard to acquire, but it is bulky, and divinium refining systems are heavily restricted, for obvious reasons."

Sarah nodded. The Dominion, after all, didn't want someone finding another motherlode and not cut them in on the action. Precisely to avoid, well, exactly what was currently happening. A rebel group getting its hands on effectively unlimited funds, accepted by virtually any intergalactic gun runner or smuggler.

"Anything else?"

"I have acquired substantial scan data of several freighters that seem to be doing regular runs to and from the mine itself. They use different transponders each time, but they are very much the same ships." The alien shrugged. "They are armed, but most not heavily enough to pose any true threat to you. More than enough, however, to drive off anything short of a Dominion cruiser."

Sarah winced. For a ship to be this heavily armed...

"Q-Ships?"

"More along the lines of lightly armed fleet auxiliaries. Or purpose built blockade runners with added weapons. The details will be in the scans."

Sarah nodded.

"Thank you. You delivered above and beyond Joe."

The alien chuckled.

"It's my job and hobby Sarah." Sarah smiled uneasily at the reference that Old Joe was probably richer than the entire planet put together. She'd checked the pension for Imperial shock commandos, and they were...substantial, and he had a hundred millenia to build up his fortune. This whole neutral arbitrator and information broker gig was more his hobby to avoid being bored than anything else. The alien seemed to hesitate a second, before twitching several of his vines. "If I may ask, what are your intentions?"

Sarah blinked, and looked at him questioningly, and the alien gave her his equivalent of a shrug.

"I will not interfere, if that is what you are wondering, but what you are about to do will have...profound repercussions. I would rather be one step ahead, if that is possible."

"Well..." Sarah looked at Elteria, who shrugged. Old Joe could probably hack through their security systems like they weren't even there, so there wasn't any real point to hiding it from him. Besides, he seemed to be on their side...and had delivered above and beyond. "We intend to try to track down the source of the Divinium, and then sell that information to the Dominion. At a high price of course."

Old Joe gave his version of a nod.

"Very well. In that case, I wish you good luck to you all. I will have one of my men return your briefcase of Divinium through your ship." He seemed to hesitate again. "If you find something interesting in your investigation, don't hesitate to bring it to me."

Sarah nodded.

"Of course."

"Very well then, goodbye Sarah, goodbye Elteria!"

"Goodbye Joe!"

The communication channel shut down, and Sarah looked at Elteria.

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?"