Operation Demnan Rendezvous: 2

This is a continuation of the briefing given to the advanced scouting mission sent ahead of the Deepnight Revelation. It covers the sectors of The Beyond and the Vanguard Reaches. It covers less space than the previous briefing, but this region is more complicated. It is the briefing given to Captain Gakim Nakeshkii of the Varikuur, and will also be made available to the command crew of the Deepnight Revelation.

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The Corellian League is a point of refuge on the journey spinward, and it is expected that the Varikuur will spend about a month here, performing any re-supplies and maintenance that is needed and also gathering information for the journey ahead. Though the flag of the Imperium isn’t flown very publicly here, there is still some trade and diplomatic influence, so the League can be trusted to be as safe as any civilised port can be. At Shekerleb, there will also be an IDES office which will be able to provide information and resources.

The Interworld Division of Enforcement Services is a private organisation funded by the Imperium in order to provide a way to simplify the job of obtaining information about, and dealing with, foreign nations which don’t have a strong official tie to the Imperium. Not only can they help produce propaganda that puts the Imperium in good light, but they are able to gather information and also have local contacts who can provide ‘services’ needed by Imperium citizens. They are a publicly known entity, and have offices at most of the major starports across The Beyond and the Vanguard Reaches, but not everything they do is necessarily public. For the most part, they provide a means of projecting soft power to distant worlds.

Unfortunately, the Zhodani Consulate also has a presence here, both with official diplomats and also through SORAG (their Study and Operations Recording Activities Group), which is a military intelligence of a sort. As such whilst you are here, there is always the risk of the Zhodani picking up intelligence about the mission. Mind reading without permission is illegal in the Comsentient Alliance, of which the League is a part, but that won’t necessarily stop Zhodani telepaths.

You are expected to arrive at Shekerlab in the final month of 1106, by which point knowledge of an Imperium expedition towards the uncharted end of the Great Rift will already be public knowledge, at least in Gushemege and nearby sectors. It will have probably filtered back to Zhodani intelligence by this point as well, and they may expect that the Varikuur is that mission, at least initially. The official crew mission briefings which you will have seen state that the Varikuur is a supply mission to Incognita Citerior, for scientific purposes. The Zhodani probably won’t believe that, though it is close enough to the truth. They may be expecting a run up past the spinward edge of the Consulate, so expect them to try to find out more.

Around the time that you are at Shekerlab, we expect to be announcing the full details of the mission anyway, so in a matter of months they’ll have more information to digest and you’ll be long gone.

So staying in the Corellian League for any length of time has its risks, but by this point the crew will be in desperate need of some shore leave, and you will need to try and gather what information you can about the road ahead. Little is known about the Vanguard Reaches, and even less about the systems beyond that, and the League and the Altarean Confederation are probably your last chances to find out what you can. We expect you to spend about 30 days in the League though, for rest, repair and information gathering. We have provided contact details for IDES agents who should be able to help you.

At this point your missions is:

• Gather up to date information on the polities in the Vanguard Reaches, this information will be of use to both yourselves and the crew of the Deepnight for planning their own route. In particular, the Jarnac Pashalic, the Zydarian Codominium, the Nakris Confederation, the Kajaani Triumvirate and the Alterean Confederation.
• Gather what information you can about star maps of the region spinward of the Vanguard Reaches. Given the unreliability of our maps beyond this point, anything more complete and uptodate will be invaluable to both yourselves and the Deepnight Revelation.
• Find out information on the current reach of the Aslan clans in Iphigenaia sector.
• Theron sector is known to be a source of ancient sites, so any up to date information on important worlds in this sector that the Deepnight might want to explore should be obtained.
• Any information you can gain on the Korsumug Empire in Theta Borealis will be useful to both yourselves and the Deepnight Revelation. Our last detailed information of that region was over fifty years ago, and the best guess is that they should be considered extremely hostile.
• Send any information you have back on the two fast couriers you have been provided with to Floria. Information can be left there, then carried to Tobia.

At this point, it’s possible that your own route plans will have changed, and if so sending the new route back on the couriers will be necessary in order to update planning for the second mission. The current plan though is to take a direct route to Arcturus in the Altarean Confederation, and then across Theron sector.

After leaving Shekerleb, the expected route to Eufalag in the Kajaani Trimvirate is a leisurely 50 days via the following star systems:

• J-4 to Siva
• J-4 to Aytah
• J-4 to Innuit
• J-4 to Eufalag (Kajaani Triumvirate)

The Kajaani Triumvirate is a Vargr dominated polity of 13 worlds held together by the combined charismatic reach of three Vargr “Queens”, based at Eufalag, Pernikka and Kajaani. At one point they were sisters, though our information isn’t up to date enough to know whether this is still the case or whether they have been replaced by new leaders. They are part of the Comsentient Alliance, though our latest information claims that this was a point of friction due to various practices which are common in the Triumvirate.

The Queens had set themselves up as spiritual leaders, and were close to having created a religion to keep the Vargr packs together though a mix of near constant propaganda, patriotism and spirituality. There were a large proportion of psions amongst the Vargr, especially amongst the priest classes, and this was one point of contention that the Alliance had due to belief that the psions were using their telepathic abilities to influence the populace.

The second was the common practice of duelling, in particular with bladed weapons – a type of vibroblade is common amongst the Vargr there and honour duels between rival Vargr were frequent and often to the death. Whether this practice is still in place we don’t know, but your crew should be cautious. Challenges to outsiders were said to be rare, but it pays t be safe.

It is recommended to spend as little time in the Triumvirate as possible, and to head directly on to the Altarean Confederation. The quickest route there is through the Amber world of Lithopaga (Harmony/1929). Last time our scout went through here, they were hostile to any ships flying the Imperium flag. Given that they had a naval base, unless more uptodate information suggests they are likely to be safe, a longer route is suggested.

• J-4 to Nassiri
• J-2 to Perveen
• J-4 to Kadri
• J-4 to Xiao
• J-3 to Doobs
• J-3 to Malcom’s Folly
• J-2 to Neechotova
• J-3 to Arcturus

Another 96 days should bring you to Arcturus in the Altarean Confederation. Again, a slower pace provides more time for the crew to recover before the travel across the wilderness of Theron sector.

The Confederation should be considered a safe haven, unless information to the contrary was discovered in the League. Again, it will be an opportunity to rest, repair and find out what information is possible about the final stage of the outward journey. Theron sector is thought to be uninhabited, the sites of several major battles of the Final War of the ancients, with plenty of ruined sites and the possibility of surprises left behind and still active after all this time. Extreme caution will be advised during this final leg of the journey.