Moon of TarinThe arid moon of Tarin, one out of dozens of sister moons orbiting the Gas Giant Jalaryias, the Great Mother. Unlike many of her sisters, Tarin was a among the few exceptional moons in orbit, for deep within her very crest was something truly valuable to the Garden Worlds and others, Renthulium, a priceless and rare mineral only found on a few moons and asteroids in Jalaryias' orbit, to discover a renthulium deposit is to know instant wealth.
Over fifty years ago, a surveillance vessel under the banner of the Unqiu Mining Guild, a small Aurolian-born mining company, had came upon the vast desposits of Renthulium that had dotted the moon's surface, it was the discover of the century as corporation from all across Jalaryias had raced to this gold mine of a moon, fifty years later onto the present day, Tarin had become an independent entity of its own, the moon now sovereign ground of the corporations for the most part, until unrest followed.
Working conditions had deteriorated over the years, renthulium mining operations becoming more and more hazardous, equipment and breathing masks have begun to break down, the latter causing a great number of deaths due to methane poisoning from the atmosphere. A number of the larger Corporations were less then sympathetic to the plight of the miners, causing great unrest as protests and riots soon hurled the moon towards violence, the miners defiance answered with firing squads, once footage of the violence spread throughout the system, outrage was on an all-time high, what became riots transformed into outright rebellion, leading to civil war. The disenfranchised miners soon formed a united front against their corporate masters, signaling the beginnings of the Tarin Revolutionary War.
Four years have past since the war started, the fighting grows ever more fierce and desperate as the Mining Unions and the Tarin Guilds struggle for supremacy, however, they are not alone in their fight, this conflict has now become yet another battlefront in a much larger Cold War between the Aurolian Federation and the Conordat. Early in the war, the Mining Unions were contacted by the Concordat's Star Chamber, who were sympathetic to their cause, the downtrodden miners and their families providing an ample opportunity for the Concordat to further field test their technological innovations, be they military or not.
Upon discovery of the Unions' Concordat ties, the Aurolain Federation had came to the aid of the Tarin Guilds as they offered their assistance in the form of a joint task force, whom are tasked with reinforcing the Guilds'battle lines, to keep a close watch over the Concordat's activities on Tarin and to a small extent, possibly, begin their own field tests.
Star Port City of Pavliu
"Capital" of the Tarin Guilds
Neon Tipsy Bar, Upper levelsCaris Vakir, a tired and worn out Ishkaan man laid against the wall of a moving elevator as it made it's ascent to the Neon Tipsy, cheapest bar in the Upper Levels in this former corporate city-state turned makeshift command center, Caris had just returned from a tour out in the southern wastes, his company acting as combat "advisors" for the guild forces there. In actuality, Caris' battalion was at the forefront of an assault on enemy positions, it was hard-fought, but unfortunately, it ended up in a defeat on their part, and were forced to pull out before the Mining Union forces could encircle them.
Some good soldiers were lost that day, Caris and several other officers had decided to throw a little drinking party for the fallen once, Caris maintaining his balance as he heard the "bing" sound from elevator, the doors sliding open to reveal bright neon lights, they really wanted to put an emphasis on the bar name that's for sure. The bar was half-full, filled with corporate security, loyalist militia and mercenaries drinking to their hearts content. Caris continued scanning the room until he took notice of a ishkaan hand waving at him, turning to that direction to see a trio waiting for him, a ishkaan woman, a janari and a human. Caris walked over as he grabbed a glass, he was fashionably late enough to have his drink ready. "Glad you could make it, sir." the Ishkaan woman, Isana Kariun spoke.
"Yeah..I had to make a few hard calls back home.." Caris replied grimly, the four now fallen silent for a brief moment. "To the fallen." The human, Ian Raxis spoke up, rising his glass. "Here here!" The Janari, Gard Razin spoke. Caris looked to Isana as she rose her glass, he "grinned" in his Ishkaan way and raised his glass. "May they know peace." he said as he gulped down his liquor. "Ahhh...good stuff." He for a brief moment he simply watched his officers enjoy their drinks. "Enjoy it while it lasts, we'll be getting our reassignment soon."
In a moment of open frankness, Ian spoke. "Damn it all." He spoke. "Sir, What are we even doing here?"
Caris sighed. "We were briefed on this. You know full well why the higher ups even give a damn."
"...Yeah...if the Conk's are involved, it's always bad for news."
"Exactly. They're taking advantage of this war for their own ends. So the Higher ups want us to keep a close eye on 'em."
"Hehe, there's even some out there rumors about some black ops project going on." Gard interjected.
"I'd be careful with that if I were you. "Isana said. "Never know who's listening."
Caris gulped down what remained of his drink, slamming the glass on the table. "You three go ahead without me, drinks are on me. I need a little time to myself, we're getting our new assignment next thing in the morning, be ready."