Scene Two: Setback!
Having successfully, if cautiously, taken out the Makara WarCruiser orbiting high above a minor frozen colony world of the Janya; the two captains and their boarding parties land on the ship to commandeer precious silicate cores, radioactive alchemicals, and possibly captive colonists as well.
However, the interior of the ship is as cold and dark as the space between the worlds, and the Pretya “hungry ghosts” who haunt the ship prove damnably hard to kill. The antifreeze blooded Makara officers who lead the ghosts, equally dangerous in their own way, make good use of their native environs in the battle against our heroes.
Ultimately, the privateers are forced to retreat to their shuttles, having liberated the silicate cores…but not the radioactives, or the twenty captive colonists locked in a warmbox.

Scene One:

High above the minor colony world of Gomal, a Makara WarCruiser lurks in orbit. Awaiting the return of the second of two troop transports, it is slow to react to the stealthy approach of two privateer vessels approaching from the cover of the Yami Belt. In a brief exchange, Captain Chabra disables the WarCruiser, and shuttles from both privateer vessels narrowly maneuver into the hangar bay of the Makara vessel to begin salvage operations.

Are the boarding parties prepared for the darkness that awaits them?

Flawless Victory!

The Privateers completed all their scene and story goals successfully. They have a couple of governors in their pocket, solarship upgrades for free at a naval yard, and a 100% kill rate against the Void Devil forces. Great start to a new storyline.

Captain Kashi trades in his battered corvette for something a bit more his speed, a well armed private yacht, which he dubs the Marru.

Scene 4: Abhva ambush!

Our heroic privateers set up an ambush in a dark matter briar patch for an Abhva assault carrier with high attrition fighter complement, and carried the ambush off with aplomb. The provider’s military surplus corvettes were significantly outmassed, and one (the Marru) took a severe beating due to bad luck and suboptimal tactics. That ship disappeared into the cover of the belt mid-fight for emergency repairs, then rallied at the end to deliver the death blow to the enemy carrier.
Now to convince the Governor-Admiral of Betwa to not just tolerate these antics, but to support them!

Wakal is a bitterly cold outlaw colony, dedicated to refining raw materials and producing industrial products for the Quadrant that would otherwise be to expensive to import (directly, or through the addition of Mitrakam trade restrictions and tariffs). The Warlord’s Fortress is an abbreviated pyramid, with the bulk of the facility underground due to environmental as well as practical defense reasons.

Scene Three: the office of Akash Dewan.

Through a long conversation overcoming the Wartlord’s indifference, Captain Kashi managed to establish the letters of marque, trade in radioactives and silicate cores, and associate benefits of eliminating the usual arrival and departure fees for the Cosmodrome. Zher additional aggressive goal of obtaining a discount on fuel and repair is unfortunately, just out of reach.

The following conversation, regarding the strategic layout of this region of the Belt, and military intelligence addressing the movement of the Abhva in the area are likewise mostly successful, with a few promising leads on raiding patterns being shared.

Scene One: Solar trade lanes, 20 thousand kilometers from the colony of Wakal.

Captain Kashi seeks a meeting with Akash Dewan, the Warlord of Wakal, to register his Letter of Marque (and avoid any unpleasantness associated with transiting Dewan’s territory). Unfortunately the captain has insufficient reputation to obtain a face to face meeting with the Warlord. Hence, the following desperate plan: sneak through Wakal’s aerospace, charm the Warlord’s staff, and arrange an surprise meeting with the Warlord. Wakal’s orbital path is strewn with darkspace anomalies that should make the stealth approach easier, assuming more hostile inhabitants haven’t already claimed them.

Thanks to Captain Kashi’s alliance with Captain Chabra of Vatya’s Vengeance, Chabra agrees to act as a “stalking horse” and lead the way with full scanner visibility. Meanwhile Kashi follows with a low power / visibility de-orbital path, taking advantage of as many darkspace blind spots as zhe can manage.

Captain Kashi is mostly successful, putting down in the badlands to the east of the capital, while Captain Chabra lands in the capital’s Cosmodrome (and pays out the necessary bribes to get Kashi into the capital from landborne routes).